FEATURE: Box Clever: Could There Be a Music T.V. Revival in 2021?

FEATURE:

 

 

Box Clever

PHOTO CREDIT: @scheier/Unsplash 

Could There Be a Music T.V. Revival in 2021?

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ON this site…

 IMAGE CREDIT: MTV

I have written about music T.V. quite a bit through the years. I grew up watching MTV, VH1, and any other form of music T.V. there was available at the time in the 1980s and 1990s. To me, it was the most instant way of bonding with what was happening in music and, when it came to discovery, every week brought new bounty! It could be said that the Internet has replaced the usefulness of music T.V. and, in fact, with Spotify playlists and radio in general, do we actually need anything on T.V. at all!? I would argue that there is an appetite and definite need for music television. Just to side-step a bit, and I also like the idea of a T.V. series that features music of a particular period. There is a Netflix show coming, Everything Sucks!, that is set in 1996 and, no doubt, will explore the soundtrack of the time. In another upcoming T.V. series where the ‘80s Two Tone scene is to be explored, it shows that creators and stations are at least eager to commission shows that feature music at their heart. I have always felt that a 1990s-set T.V. series would not only provide a perfect opportunity to deliver a mixtape of all the varied sounds of the decade, but it would also feed in the culture and political events of the time. Sort of like High Fidelity, the show could feature a record shop or be set in the music industry – like the U.S. series, Vinyl -, and there would be definite value in having a series that has a great central plot and characters; one that grips you and mixes humour and seriousness, combined with a terrific soundtrack.

That is just me imagining but, looking around, and I can’t really see anything like that about at the moment – and I am not quite sure why. Returning to the subject of music T.V. and, perhaps alongside an original series, there does need to be a platform that allows artists to perform and, to some extent, return to the sort of shows we had decades ago. I guess something like Top of the Pops might be out of the question as, not only was it cancelled in 2006, but I think it would just seem odd and forced – and could you really summon up the magic and unashamed cheesiness of that show in the modern age?! It would be more like what we have now with Jools Holland’s Later… show. This is really the only U.K. music T.V. show, and it has been on the BBC since 1992. I do really love the show as the premise is simple: each week/edition, a selection of eclectic artists perform in the studio and there are interviews too. Some have criticised the show for not moving on and for seeming a bit outdated. I feel that the situation we have now is really strange. Jools Holland’s show is not on every week and, for regular T.V. music content, one has to watch cooking or politics shows! I have raised this before, but it seems insane that the only live music one sees on T.V. is on shows that have nothing to do with music.

I know there have been ill-fated attempts at music shows in the recent past – such as the BBC’s Sounds like Friday Night ,- but I think the format was wrong on that show and it was targeted at quite a narrow demographic – very much the BBC Radio 1 crowd. It was good that this show existed but, as it only ran briefly between 2017-2018, I do think there is an opportunity to kickstart something in 2021. I think it has been great that artists have streamed gigs and connected with fans during the pandemic, and there has been more of that visual interaction than we have seen in years. I do feel like a weekly T.V. show would be popular if the concept was right. There are so many rising artists and great musicians who want that platform; there is such a variation of great music in the underground and mainstream artists who could combine on a show. It would be similar to Holland’s show, but there is that opportunity to stretch the concept to include more features. I think Sounds Like Friday Night failed is because it was throwing in comedy sketches and the artists featured were very much narrowed to a young audience. A new show could include more in the way of range, and there are features that could appear. Not to tread on what I have said in the past, but there could be music news, a classic album feature; maybe clips from the music archives (and bits of older T.V. shows), spotlighting of a particular venue each week and so many other things.

It could be quite a packed show that has a good amount of live performances, but there is also these breaks with interesting and promising features/segments. Getting the hosts right would be a challenge, but there are plenty of worthy candidates out there who could more than handle the show and make it a big success. I wrote about music T.V. a while back and got a response that suggested so many artists out there would be open to the show and it would be long-overdue that they had this opportunity to perform on a bigger stage/format. As much as anything, I do not feel that the Internet can replace music T.V. or provide the same sort of benefit. Especially with live gigs being delayed until next year, it is clear that the appetite and demand for live music intense, and next year will see an explosion of popularity and new gigs. With many venues under threat, I do think having a ‘T.V. venue’, as it were, would be useful. I don’t know what other people reckon, but I refuse to believe that music T.V. is a thing of the past and the modern age has rendered it worthless. The fact there are live performances (as such) on T.V. proves that artists need that sort of promotion and there is a chance to create a new long-running format in 2021 that could elicit some of the thrill and memories of the classic music T.V. shows - and have something modern that would reach a lot of people and succeed in its own right. If a balance can be struck and the format is just so, then I think a great new music T.V. show could…

 PHOTO CREDIT: @anniespratt/Unsplash

GET people hooked.

FEATURE: Why Should We Love You? Bringing a Career-Spanning Kate Bush Documentary to T.V.

FEATURE:

 

 

Why Should We Love You?

IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush circa The Line, the Cross and the Curve, 1993/PHOTO CREDIT: Guido Harari

Bringing a Career-Spanning Kate Bush Documentary to T.V.

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RATHER than repeat…  

 PHOTO CREDIT: John Carder Bush

what I wrote last year regarding Kate Bush and a documentary, I wanted to put out something constructive and evidence-based that shows, in 2020, how her stock is higher and more valuable than ever. Her last studio album of 2011, 50 Words for Snow, was hugely praised and it is an album that sounds incredible to this very day. Since 2011, Bush has not exactly been idle and leaving people dry of music and substance. In 2014, as we know, she returned to the stage for Before the Dawn, and then we got her studio albums remastered and released in boxsets in 2018 – I have written about them and would suggest people seek them out as great Christmas presents. Even though there has been no new music for nearly nine years, Bush’s appeal has slightly risen I would say! This year alone has seen some cover versions, three magazines dedicated to her music/featuring it as a large part (including a forthcoming release from Record Collector), a documentary about Hounds of Love on BBC Radio 6 Music to mark its thirty-fifth anniversary - in addition to thousands of mentions of Bush on social media. I think we all sort of tend to celebrate musicians more when albums have anniversaries but, if you think about her music and the artists around today, Kate Bush’s influence is everywhere. This year has seen some of her big albums celebrate anniversaries, but I have heard so many new artists who have elements of Bush in their sound; many established artists who splice in bits of Bush’s variegated talent and sound into their own mix.

At sixty-two, there is more love and affection for Kate Bush than there has ever been, debatably. I want to introduce a great feature from COMPLEX written earlier in the year that explains her popularity and influence:

“If you haven’t been as lucky to come across Kate Bush’s music in a film or through the recommendation of a friend, there's a chance you’ve unknowingly grown accustomed to the sounds she pioneered. From FKA Twigs’ Magdalene to Billie Eilish’s When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?, Bush’s influence—whether direct or not—exists in so many modern pop projects today. Hints of her dramatic vocals carry on through Florence Welch’s delivery and her experimental, futuristic production provided a blueprint for artists like Charli XCX to push pop forward. Her mime-like dance moves coupled with intimate orchestration is echoed in Lorde’s performances. Sinead O’ Connor’s penetrating lyrics in “Troy” and Sia’s roaring vocals in “Chandelier” both conjure the spirit of Kate Bush. Her heirs include other greats like Tori Amos, Björk and Enya. Even electronic artists like Grimes and rock artists like Stevie Nicks have been compared to the UK artist.

Through storytelling and literary themes, Bush created engaging, thought-provoking material that transports listeners to different eras and places. With her music, Bush spawned a melodic synopsis for Emily Brontë’s best-selling novel (Wuthering Heights), a detailed perspective of the death of a magician ("Houdini") and entertained the idea of switching genders for deeper understanding ("Running Up That Hill"). As a result, Bush’s diverse and boundless collection of songs has led to an international, devoted fan base. From a worldwide holiday dedicated to re-enactments of “Wuthering Heights,” hosted by fans, to a 53-minute documentary showcasing different people's moving stories about how Bush's work has affected their lives, the musical phenomenon Bush has given rise to is abiding.

 She is highly praised by her peers, too. Big-time artists like St. Vincent and Adele have publicly expressed how Bush’s music influenced their own work. Prince noted her as his favorite lady. Even Tupac was a Kate Bush fan. Big Boi, a longtime stan of “Running up That Hill,” shared that he would listen to the song everyday on his bike ride to and from school. During a phone call earlier this month he told us, “I fell in love with her songwriting and how her songs would tell stories. It was deep. From there she became one of my two favorite artists." The connection he formed to Bush's music grew so deep that he spent a week in England trying to pin her down while he was in town for press meetings”.

This all brings me back to the subject of a documentary and how, in 2020, there has not really been an authoritative and career-spanning documentary dedicated to her work! I guess the last Kate Bush documentary was in 2014 with the BBC’s The Kate Bush Story: Running Up That Hill. It is an hour-long documentary that has a lot going for it. It features a lot of important people involved in Bush’s career (including David Gilmour and Del Palmer), in addition to artists and famous figures that were keen to explain what she means to them. I think 2021 is going to be a year where there is a lot more activity regarding Kate Bush.

I know there is at least one book coming out that looks at her albums and songs in depth, and I think we may hear something in the way of new music – although this is just me guessing at this point! I know there is a Mark Radcliffe documentary coming out around Christmas that examines Wuthering Heights and its impact, so there is a definite appetite around. Given that there is so much attention her way and different people want to express what Bush means to them, I do think that there is a definite opportunity and demand for a larger documentary. Back in 1979, there was a Nationwide documentary that followed Bush as she prepared for The Tour of Life. Since then, there have been a few other documentaries but there has really not been anything in the past decade or so that digs deep into her career. I have been wondering whether the BBC would commission another documentary about her just over six years since theirs, but it seems unlikely that they will commit to that – from my experiences of pitching an idea, I think they do not want to repeat themselves. I think a Netflix-fronted and backed documentary might afford a larger budget and space. There have been some great music documentaries and shows on the station through the years and, with Bush having a worldwide fanbase, a documentary there would allow for wider distribution and attention.

To me, it could be a three or four-part documentary that, like the BBC’s broadcast, would bring in a range of people who explain Bush’s relevance in their life. It would be awesome to have back Del Palmer, David Gilmour and several others from the BBC documentary, but there are so many other artists that did not feature in that documentary – including Anna Calvi, Rufus Wainwright and Charli XCX – who could appear. Also, there are so many musicians and engineers who have worked with Bush, in addition to photographers like Gered Mankowitz and Guido Harari who could share their memories – not to mention writers and other fans that could give some insight (many of whom would have seen Bush play in Hammersmith during her Before the Dawn residency in 2014). To me, a documentary series would not only need to explore all of her studio albums and live appearances, but there are so many aspects and angles that need to be expanded and illuminated. Just thinking about the sheer number of people who count Kate Bush as an idol/influential figure – from directors and actors through to authors – is immense! It is encouraging that there have been these one-off radio shows and a lot of column inches have been shored up to focus on Kate Bush but, in terms of modern televisual representation, there has not been a lot over the past couple of decades. I think a three or four-part documentary would introduce Bush’s work to new audiences - and it would also provide existing fans with new insight and information.

In terms of narration and chronology, the documentary need not be linear and start out pre-Wuthering Heights (her debut single) and run up to the current day. From figures like Caitlin Moran and The Anchoress (Catherine Anne Davies) to Andy Samberg and author David Mitchell, there are so many figures that would help bring a documentary to life. I like the idea of focusing on various time periods for each part of the documentary but, within each episode, there does not have to be this rigid adherence to timeline – we could jump back and forth and investigate various albums from different perspectives. There is so much footage already out there that is important to include in a documentary. I do feel that previous documentaries have not adequately exploited what is already out there in terms of interviews with Kate Bush. Rather than have a narrator guiding the flow, there are interviews with Bush through each stage of her career that would provide that sense of explanation and revelation. Also, whilst many production companies would want Bush involved in the documentary, I think that is highly unlikely.

She would give her blessing, of course, but I don’t think she needs to be part of the documentary to make it authoritative and a success – there is going to be more than enough demand to make it a viewing success! At the end of a busy year for Kate Bush in terms of media representation, I think it is only a matter of time before new music is released – which would mean that a documentary could bring us right up to date in that sense. It will be interesting to see what comes from the Mark Radcliffe documentary and how it applies to Wuthering Heights, as that song along could command its own huge documentary. I think her albums require proper investigation and love, so that is why I am keen for a documentary to come about! I feel Netflix would be the best home in terms of the way the documentary could be shot and budget, and for all I know one could already be in the works regarding Kate Bush – though, for my sake, I hope not! I think, if done right and proper attention and backing is given to an idea, then an authoritative, fully-fledged and deep documentary about one of the music world’s true treasure and most influential people would lead to…

 ENORMOUS demand.

FEATURE: The Mighty Power of The KT Fellowship: A Return to Kate Bush’s Before the Dawn Live Album at Four

FEATURE:

 

The Mighty Power of The KT Fellowship

A Return to Kate Bush’s Before the Dawn Live Album at Four

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MAYBE it is good that Kate Bush’s…

IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush’s on stage during Before the Dawn at the Hammersmith Apollo in 2014 PHOTO CREDIT: Ken McKay/Rex

2016 album, Before the Dawn, is not available on Spotify. I guess Bush wants people to hear it on physical formats as that provides people a more immediate and immersive experience. I have the concert on vinyl and, released on 25th November, 2016, it must have been quite a task for Bush and her engineers to mix and organise the release of the album! It came two years after Bush completed her Before the Dawn residency in Hammersmith and, as many of us could not make it or get tickets, the live album provides something close to a front row seat. I love the sound of the album and the fact that there is an extra track, Never Be Mine (which was not actually performed during the twenty-two-date residency), is a bonus. The track Prologue (Live) was made available for streaming on 28th September, before King of the Mountain (Live) was released as a promotional single on 21st October, and And Dream of Sheep (Live), along with an accompanying piece of film used during the concerts, was made available as the album's official single on 18th November 2016. I think one of the great things about the live album is the personnel involved and what an incredible cast Bush had supporting her! From her musicians Kevin McAlea (keyboards, Uilleann pipes, accordion), Jon Carin (keyboards, guitars, programming, vocals), David Rhodes (guitars), Friðrik Karlsson (guitars, bouzouki, charango), John Giblin (bass), Mino Cinelu (percussion), and Omar Hakim (drums), through to those who provided speaking parts (including her son, Bertie, and her brother, Paddy), to the technical crew who provided sound, lightning and design, it is a huge production that received dazzling reviews!

  PHOTO CREDIT: Ken McKay/Rex

I think the last interviews that Kate Bush provided were for the Before the Dawn album in 2016. Whilst she did not promote the residency itself particularly, the live album afforded her the chance to look back on the show and discuss what went into the mixing and production - maybe she was too nervous and focused for interviews in 2014. Five years after she was promoting 50 Words for Snow, it was nice to see Bush back in the media and talking! It has been four years since her last interviews, so one hopes we do not have to wait too long before she returns. I think the fact that we do get to hear such a wide-ranging and dramatic listening experience perfectly produced and mixed means that, even though missing the gig was painful for me and many, one gets so much from the album. I will move on and include some promotional words regarding the album but, in terms of reviews, many sources were really moved and impressed! This is what Pitchfork wrote in their review:

“Live albums are meant to capture performers at their rawest and least inhibited, which doesn’t really apply to Before the Dawn. Bush is a noted perfectionist best known for her synthesizer experiments and love of obscure Bulgarian choirs, but her recent work has skewed towards traditional setups that reunite her with the prog community that fostered her early career. With marks to hit and tableaux to paint, the 2014 shows were more War of the Worlds (or an extension of 2011’s Director’s Cut) than Live at Leeds.

 But never mind balls-out revamps of Bush’s best known songs; with the exception of tracks from Hounds of Love, none of the rest of the setlist had ever been done live—not even on TV, which became Bush’s primary stage after she initially retired from touring. These songs weren’t written to be performed, but internalized. Occupying Bush’s imagination for an hour, and letting it fuse with your own, formed the entirety of the experience. Hearing this aspic-preserved material come to life feels like going to sleep and waking up decades later to see how the world has changed.

Rather than deliver a copper-bottomed greatest hits set, Bush reckons with her legacy through what might initially seem like an obscure choice of material. Both Acts Two and Three take place in transcendent thresholds: “The Ninth Wave”’s drowning woman is beset by anxiety and untold pressures, with no idea of where to turn, mirroring the limbo that Bush experienced after 1982’s The Dreaming. That suite’s last song, the cheery “The Morning Fog,” transitions into Aerial’s “Prelude,” all beatific bird call and dawn-light piano. The euphoric, tender “A Sky of Honey” is meant to represent a perfect day from start to finish, filled with family and beautiful imperfections. “Somewhere in Between” finds them atop “the highest hill,” looking out onto a stilling view, and Bush’s eerie jazz ensemble anticipates the liminal peace of Bowie’s Blackstar. “Not one of us would dare to break the silence,” she sings. “Oh how we have longed for something that would make us feel so… somewhere in between”.

   PHOTO CREDIT: Ken McKay/Rex

I guess one loses the visual sense with a live album and, despite there being some sounds of the crowd, so much of Before the Dawn relied on its staging and incredible sets. I think the live album, instead, offers listeners a chance to visualise the show themselves and, rather than glaring at a screen if the show was on DVD, they can listen through vinyl, close their eyes and experience the show in a very real way! I really love the album and do not think that I missed out a huge amount by not having a DVD or attending it on one of the night – though it would have been awesome to have been there! In their review, The Guardian offered up the following:

“That answers the question about what the point of Before the Dawn is: like 2011’s Director’s Cut, it’s an album that shows Bush’s back catalogue off in a different light. And perhaps it’s better, or at least more fitting, that her 2014 shows are commemorated with an album rather than a film or a Blu-ray or whatever it is that you play inside those virtual reality headsets people are getting so excited about. They were a huge pop cultural event, as the first gigs in four decades by one of rock’s tiny handful of real elusive geniuses were always bound to be, but they were shrouded in a sense of enigma: almost uniquely, hardly anyone who attended the first night had any real idea what was going to happen.

PHOTO CREDIT: Ken McKay/Rex 

Even more unusually, that air of mystery clung to the shows after the 22-date run ended: virtually everyone present complied with Bush’s request not to film anything on their phones, and the handful that didn’t saw their footage quickly removed from YouTube. Before the Dawn provides a memento for those who were there and a vague indication of what went on for those who weren’t, without compromising the shows’ appealingly mysterious air: a quality you suspect the woman behind it realises is in very short supply in rock music these days”.

When Bush was interviewed by MOJO in 2016, she explained how, when she wrote the Before the Dawn programme in March 2013, she had her son very much in mind; he was instrumental in getting the show together. Bush revealed how she really wanted a piece of theatre rather than a series of gigs – travelling to different locations was definitely out of the question! With drummer Omar Hakim among the first to be recruited (as Bush feels the drummer is the beating heart of the band/show), it was interesting learning (from the interview) how Bush did not have time to have further vocal and dance instruction as preparations were so intense! With books of ideas and sketches, she would attend these long meetings as the show concept and feel was dissected and discussed – how far away it must have seemed that these notes and images would materialise in something so realised and wonderful! Bush explained how the love and energy she got from the audience was amazing.

Every night was different but, in each show, the audiences receptive and full of cheer. It must have been quite strange bringing Hounds of Love’s The Ninth Wave to the stage some twenty-nine years after it was first heard. Many listeners would have heard that suite years ago and formed their own images so, when it was brought to the stage, maybe there was a certain pressure to succeed. Bush didn’t feel any pressure in that sense and, from what the reviews say, the conceptualisation and realisation is immense and utterly memorable! Bush didn’t reveal too much to MOJO regarding compiling the material for the live album and the process but, when she spoke to BBC Radio 6 Music’s Matt Everitt, she did say how much work it was and she didn’t have time to write new material. The question cane up regarding future albums and, though she did not dismiss that notion, it seemed like Bush was keen to do something different. Two years after she released the Before the Dawn album, she remastered her catalogue and put out these boxsets – like Before the Dawn, a lot of planning and hard work must have gone into making them sound like they do. As she has been working on pre-recorded and older material for her past releases, maybe there is the temptation to clear the decks and get back to writing new material – who can say when? I do love the Before the Dawn live album, as it is so interesting to listen to. Maybe it doesn’t replace the thrill of being with Bush on the night(s), but one witnesses this glorious return to the stage after so long that meant so much to her and thousands of fans. If you have not experienced the album and added it to your collection, then I would encourage everyone to…

 PHOTO CREDIT: Ken McKay/Rex 

DO that right away!

FEATURE: Spotlight: BENEE

FEATURE:

 

 

Spotlight

BENEE

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WHEN choosing a subject for Spotlight this week…

PHOTO CREDIT: Imogen Wilson

I just had to include Stella Rose Bennett, a.k.a. BENEE. She is not really underground or rising now, as her music has been shared around the world and her social media figures tell you that she is a hugely popular and loved artist! That said, there are many who will not be aware of her so, for that reason, I want to expose her music and drop in some interview quotes where one really gets a sense of who she is and what her music is about. Her anticipated debut album, Hey u x, was released on Friday (13th), and it an album you need to order and play - it has received huge applause already. The New Zealand-based artist has a bittersweet life at the moment. On the one hand, the country is allowing live music again, so there is a rare freedom that the vast majority of musicians do not have right now. On the other hand, she is cut off from the rest of the world and, just as her career is taking off, she has had to reschedule some big dates! Before going on, I want to borrow from a COMPLEX interview where they introduce BENEE:

“New Zealand’s Stella Bennett, better known to the world as BENEE, has had a crazy year. After taking a leap to pursue music full-time in 2017—the Auckland native left after two weeks in a communications program at Auckland University of Technology—her career has grown at breakneck speed. Shortly after taking the leap, BENEE earned the attention of fellow Kiwi Josh Fountain, a producer and founding member of the band LEISURE, and the two started working together. 

Their collaboration spawned “Soaked,” BENEE’s second single with Fountain and the 19-year-old’s first breakout hit in 2018. This year, BENEE built on that foundation with the release of her debut EP FIRE ON MARZZ earlier this June and the follow-up STELLA & STEVE in November. All that, along with her energetic live performances, laid the groundwork for BENEE’s sweeping four awards at the 2019 New Zealand Music Awards.

How did you get started making music?

I started posting a few covers on SoundCloud in 2017, and that got me into contact with my producer who I still work with, Josh Fountain. That was when I properly got started. I had a Gnarls Barkley cover—they were stripped back, acoustic versions. I played the guitar in one of them, weirdly.

What’s your process for making a new song?

I always take notes on my phone of lyric ideas. Like with the dream thing—I’ll wake up and remember everything about the dream and I’ll write it down or record it on my phone. I do it on the Voice Memos app with melody ideas. And I’ll bring those ideas into the studio, have a conversation with the producer and play Josh a bunch of music I’ve been listening to. He’ll whizz away on the production side, and we’ll bounce ideas off each other while I’ll be writing lyrics.

What was it like to be an artist in New Zealand? How did you break out of the local music scene?

New Zealand’s quite small. We’re quite isolated and it’s this nice, quiet place, and that inspires and drives a lot of us to be creative. And because it’s small, the music industry is pretty small here. Everyone kind of knows everyone in the industry. It’s not as hard as, say, America to release a song and be like, "Hey I’m a musician." People are constantly looking for new music—it wasn’t so hard to say, "Hi, I’m BENEE".

I guess social media provides artists from smaller nations like New Zealand promotion and opportunity that wouldn’t have been available decades ago. There is no fluke when it comes to BENEE. She is an exciting young artist who defies comparisons; someone who is resonating with so many people and creating music that is instantly wonderful and easy to appreciate! It must be tricky having all of this great music that you cannot bring to the world but, like so many artists, technology has allowed her to deliver in a new way. Even though it is not ideal, this year has been quite a busy and eventful one BENEE. As this feature from The Guardian highlights, the songwriter has enjoyed some highs among the lows – and they go on to comment on BENEE’s accessible and endearing mannerisms and personality:

“But by forcing almost all performance and press opportunities online, the pandemic brought the world to Benee. She made her US television debut from Auckland, performing for Ellen DeGeneres and Jimmy Fallon, and collaborated remotely with Grimes, Lily Allen and the rapper Flo Milli. “Sometimes I feel a little bit guilty,” she says. “This year has been so hectic, and so horrible for so many people; it feels weird for me because it’s been the biggest year so far of my career. It feels very weird to celebrate anything when the world is literally falling apart.”

There is an endearing goofiness and intimacy to Benee that feels like a tonic in this doomed year (and which distinguishes her from the major-label pop stars desperately trying to go viral on TikTok). Advised to follow up Supalonely’s smash with a “relatable” song, she instead wrote one called Snail, sung from the perspective of her favourite animal. She is entertaining company, even at a remove of 12,000 miles and 13 hours’ time difference, speaking in slang (“next-level shooketh” – meaning shocked) and revealing her self-doubt in a way that feels true of a new twentysomething. On World Mental Health Day, Benee shared seven photos of herself crying to show her 560,000 Instagram followers that “most people feel shit sometimes”.

In New Zealand, there is less pressure for pop stars to fit a “certain mould”, Benee says. Naturally, some have made cheap comparisons between Benee and other young, female pop stars. But if she is anything like Billie Eilish, as some headlines have suggested, it’s that she shares that musician’s irreverent approach to presentation: Benee often performs in cat ears, cargo pants and a spacesuit, and was disgusted by the recent social media body-shaming of Eilish. “I’ve never been someone who likes to put her body out there anyways,” she says. And while she was frustrated to be dismissed early on as a “knock-off Lorde”, she envies how her countrywoman has balanced celebrity and anonymity. “She hasn’t been active on her Instagram for, like, a year, but she’s still relevant”.

Before he debut album came out, BENEE already put out a couple of E.P.s already. Last year’s Stella & Steve is a fantastic effort, and one that really announced her as a seriously strong and promising talent. If you have not heard the E.P., then have a listen, as it is a really great listen! I am slightly new to that E.P., so I wanted to find out a bit more and what it was all about. BENEE spoke with Billboard last year - and  the subject of the E.P. was at the fore:

“We're meeting a few weeks before the due date of BENEE's Stella & Steve EP, a tight handful of R&B and electronic-tinged pop tracks that showcase where she is here and now. There's the buoyant "Find an Island," which is about wanting to get far, far away from someone ("Find an island far away from me/ A shipwreck lost at sea"), and “Monster,” a silky, spooky ballad with a twist: “But then instead of eatin' me/ He offers me a blueberry.”

Quirky lyrical twists like these -- coupled with rich vocals and smooth production -- are a trademark of BENEE's style (which has quickly earned her chart success in New Zealand and Australia, and tens of millions of Spotify streams). That style then translates to her songs, artwork, and even the clothing she wears. All of this is what the singer-songwriter calls “BENEE vision.”

“I'm still experimenting, still molding BENEE,” she explains. “It’s like, I have this blank canvas and I'm just starting to add some paint and stuff, but it's going to kind of create a big thing.”

As for the title, BENEE's obviously the “Stella,” but who’s Steve?

“I call everything Steve. Since I was little, I'd go on, like, holiday and call hermit crabs Steve.” She chuckles. “And I still do. I'll name a snail Steve. Everything is called Steve in my world. My car is also called Steve.” (Steve the Car also features in the EP artwork, with BENEE standing on top of him.)”.

I am going to finish off in a minute, but there are a couple of other interviews and bits that I want to get together and put out there. I think the R&B and Pop sounds BENEE is putting out are among the most arresting and memorable out there! She is an artist who will continue to build and produce ever-brilliant work. The frustration of having all this energy and brilliant material when the world is restricted and closed off is a clear frustration. So many artists will be unleashed next year, and we will see more live music than ever before! Many might know BENEE from the aforementioned hit, Supalonely - and it is a good starting point if you are yet to discover her music.

In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, BENEE talked about the song and what it is like rising in popularity during this current time:

“What is it like having your breakthrough moment during a global pandemic?

It's pretty strange. I mean, it's the first time it's ever happened to me, so I'm not used to it or anything. It's crazy, but I feel like it's kind of nice, because I don't have to move anywhere. I don't really have to do all the stuff that you would usually have to do if you had a song that was doing something. I've just been literally in the same spot doing Zoom calls.

On "Supalonely," you're sort of wallowing in your own sadness, but it is an extraordinarily buoyant and effervescent little pop song. So it does have that down in the trough and up on the rooftop [feeling] at the same time.

It does, yeah. I think writing it, I was trying to be super self-deprecating, because it was a breakup song and I was poking fun at myself for being sad. I don't know, with most of my music, I think, the themes are quite sad but I'll want to keep it kind of upbeat and happy to contrast”.

It seems like the future is very promising for the twenty-year-old New Zealander. Here is an artist who has the talent and ammunition to go as far as she likes in music.

Her sound is fresh and unique, but she has always been surrounded by music. I was keen to explore what her influences are, and what comes next for her. 2021 is going to be a pivotal year and, when she spoke with DORK recently, my questions were answered:

“What kind of artists have inspired you over time?

Ohh my there are so many! I have been obsessed with Radiohead, Bjork and James Blake forever. I grew up with my parents playing me a bunch of Grace Jones and Groove Armada, but I'm constantly finding new artists to listen to and all of them inspire me in some kind of way.

You've got two EPs under your belt now, is there an album in the works?

There is! My first evaaaa one, I'm so excited. I plan on releasing one before the end of the year.

If so, who are you working with on it?

Mainly with my producer Josh Fountain! I'm also working with a pal of mine Djeisan Suskov who's worked on a bunch of ma other stuff with me. But also worked with Kenny on a beat and a couple of other people!

Obviously, times are tough at the minute, but are you planning to get on the road when 'all of this' is over?

Faw shawww! I can't wait till it's safe for me to start touring again. I didn't realise how much I'd miss it”.

Make sure you follow the incredible BENEE and follow what she does next - and go and get her new album. She is a fantastic artist, and I hope that she does get to travel the world and gig as much as possible very soon. I guess she is lucky living in New Zealand, but it won’t be too long before other countries open up for business. This year has been a rough one but, with artists like BENEE out there, there are these real…

GLIMMERS of gold!

___________

Follow BENEE

PHOTO CREDIT: Undine Markus

Official:

https://beneemusic.com/

Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/BENEE/

Twitter:

https://twitter.com/BENEEMUSIC

Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/beneemusic/

YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCqkzefLq9-QoYwFwolcImQw

Spotify:

https://open.spotify.com/artist/0Cp8WN4V8Tu4QJQwCN5Md4

FEATURE: Vinyl Corner: Jay-Z - Reasonable Doubt

FEATURE:

 

 

Vinyl Corner

JAY-Z - Reasonable Doubt

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THIS is one of these album recommendations…

where the vinyl copies sell for quite a bit! That said, I think that JAY-Z’s Reasonable Doubt is definitely worth grabbing on vinyl, as it is a fantastic album that everyone should investigate. Released on 25th June, 1996, it is the debut studio album of JAY-Z. The album features production by DJ Premier, Ski, Knobody, and Clark Kent, and it also includes guest appearances from Memphis Bleek, Mary J. Blige, Jaz-O, and The Notorious B.I.G. Some might overlook the album because of its intense and gritty themes; songs about material wealth and hustling. Reasonable Doubt is a very honest and open album and, whilst some might feel JAY-Z is boasting and being cocky, there is plenty of wit and humour to be found. He is a rapper who has gone on to record some of the most influential Hip-Hop/Rap albums ever, and I think his debut is really promising. I have always been a big fan of JAY-Z’s delivery – so different to his peers at the time. In terms of transformation Hip-Hop, Reasonable Doubt is a major player. In 2016, Billboard wrote a track-by-track guide - and they highlighted the contrast between JAY-Z’s delivery and the potency and the importance of his lyrics:

“Jay was able to do so largely because of his delivery. On Reasonable Doubt, he slings denser, wordier rhymes than he would on subsequent albums, and yet his flow is remarkably casual -- confident with the faintest hints of sadness and stress. Even when he's rapping about moving product and really playing up the mafioso character he portrays on the LP's cover, Jay sounds like the world's most approachable godfather.

Which isn't to say he wasn't cutthroat about certain things. Jay was originally signed to Payday Records, but when the label didn't support him like he wanted, he teamed with friends Dame Dash and Kareem "Biggs" Burke to form his own company, Roc-a-Fella Records. This wasn’t your typical music-biz operation -- Mary J. Blige and other contributors were reportedly paid with bags full of cash -- but it suited Jay’s purposes. As he told Yahoo! Music in 1999, Payday "didn’t know how to work a record." He added: “The things that they were setting up for me I could have done myself. They had me traveling places to do in-stores, and my product wasn’t even available in the store."

If there's one thing Jay knew about, it was supplying product. In hustling, he’d found a way out of poverty, but throughout Reasonable Doubt, he hints at the remorse he feels flooding his community with crack. He also catalogs the spoils and thrills like someone who’s maybe not ready to give it up, though by his own admission, he was.

"I didn't want to sell drugs," he told Yahoo! “I wanted a better life. I wanted to perform and I didn't know where performing would take me exactly, but I knew it would take me far away from where I'd come from”.

If you want a taste of Reasonable Doubt, sample it on streaming platforms, but I think it is one of those albums even those who are not overly-keen on Hip-Hop will be able to appreciate. A lot of its themes and subjects will be relevant today, and whilst some have argued that Reasonable Doubt is more a success because of its army of producers than JAY-Z himself, it is evident that the album is hugely influential. I disagree that the production outstrips the weight and quality of JAY-Z’s music. JAY-Z would go on to make more radio-accessible albums in later years, but his debut remains this incredible direct and honest album that one cannot ignore. In their review of Reasonable Doubt, this is what AllMusic had to say:

 “Before Jay-Z fashioned himself into hip-hop's most notorious capitalist, he was a street hustler from the projects who rapped about what he knew -- and was very, very good at it. Skeptics who've never cared for Jigga's crossover efforts should turn to his debut, Reasonable Doubt, as the deserving source of his legend. Reasonable Doubt is often compared to another New York landmark, Nas' Illmatic: A hungry young MC with a substantial underground buzz drops an instant classic of a debut, detailing his experiences on the streets with disarming honesty, and writing some of the most acrobatic rhymes heard in quite some time.

(Plus, neither artist has since approached the street cred of his debut, The Blueprint notwithstanding.) Parts of the persona that Jay-Z would ride to superstardom are already in place: He's cocky bordering on arrogant, but playful and witty, and exudes an effortless, unaffected cool throughout. And even if he's rapping about rising to the top instead of being there, his material obsessions are already apparent. Jay-Z the hustler isn't too different from Jay-Z the rapper: Hustling is about living the high life and getting everything you can, not violence or tortured glamour or cheap thrills. In that sense, the album's defining cut might not be one of the better-known singles -- "Can't Knock the Hustle," "Dead Presidents II," "Feelin' It," or the Foxy Brown duet, "Ain't No Nigga." It just might be the brief "22 Two's," which not only demonstrates Jay-Z's extraordinary talent as a pure freestyle rapper, but also preaches a subtle message through its club hostess: Bad behavior gets in the way of making money. Perhaps that's why Jay-Z waxes reflective, not enthusiastic, about the darker side of the streets; songs like "D'Evils" and "Regrets" are some of the most personal and philosophical he's ever recorded. It's that depth that helps Reasonable Doubt rank as one of the finest albums of New York's hip-hop renaissance of the '90s”.

Twenty-four years after its release, and Reasonable Doubt remains this immensely striking and accomplished debut – surely one of the best debuts of that decade. I think it will get a lot of love and new exposure on its twenty-fifth anniversary next year.

I am going to wrap up in a second, but I wanted to bring in a review from Pitchfork, who go into serious detail regarding the album – highlighting its many pluses and how impactful it is:

 “In Jay’s mind at least, the album certainly marked the end of an era. At this point, by his own cold-eyed accounting on the song “Politics As Usual,” he had been selling drugs for “10 years.” Along a parallel track, he had been flirting furtively with being a rapper. He linked up with Big Jaz (later Jaz-O), doing a stint as the older man's baby-faced sidekick and kicking the triplet-time “figgity-figgity”-style flows that were sweeping New York at the time. He toured, briefly, with Big Daddy Kane, and spit some freestyles for New York hip-hop radio. He was an impressive local kid, but no one’s idea of a worldwide star.

In that murky time between his puppyish Jaz-O beginnings and his sober and assured reappearance on Reasonable Doubt, he figured some things out. First, nobody wanted to hear Jay Z excited. Composed, assured, jaded, deeply unimpressed—these were emotions he could radiate without even trying, and they were truer to his nature. Gone were the endearing attempts at dancing alongside Jaz, looking like a kid at his own bar mitzvah being coaxed onto the floor. His years selling drugs had presumably hardened him, and by the time he opened his mouth on Reasonable Doubt’s opening track, “Can’t Knock the Hustle,” he had mastered an unshakable godfather pose. It is hard to convincingly telegraph “above it all” from the bottom of the food chain, but Shawn Carter had a natural haughtiness that couldn’t be faked. “You ain’t havin’ it? Good, me either/Let’s get together and make this whole world believe us,” he barked”.

Go and grab a copy of a Hip-Hop classic, as it was the start of the career of one of the music world’s biggest artists. Reasonable Doubt is a masterful album, and one that I have been going back to time and time again over the past few weeks. Although it made a big impact back in 1996, I still think JAY-Z’s debut album sounds and feels relevant…

TO his very day.

FEATURE: The Lockdown Playlist: Great Synth Tracks

FEATURE:

 

The Lockdown Playlist

IN THIS PHOTO: Wendy Carlos in her New York recording studio in 1979/PHOTO CREDIT:  Len DeLessio/Corbis/Getty Images

Great Synth Tracks

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I want to grab from…

 PHOTO CREDIT: @a8ka/Unsplash

a terrific article in The Guardian regarding the synth genius, Wendy Carlos, and how she helped transform music. This Lockdown Playlist is dedicated to songs that feature synthesisers or some form of the technology – although there is a wide array of music, I shall try and narrow it to an extent. as The Guardian explain in their feature, “She (Carlos) went platinum by plugging Bach into 20th-century machines, and was soon working with Stanley Kubrick. But prejudice around her gender transition pushed Wendy Carlos out of sight”. She is a hugely important figure that, perhaps, does not get the credit she deserves:

“This summer, an 80-year-old synthesiser pioneer suddenly appeared online. She had been silent for 11 years, but now something had appeared that she just wouldn’t tolerate. “Please be aware there’s a purported ‘biography’ on me just released,” wrote Wendy Carlos on the homepage of her 16-bit-friendly website, a Siamese cat and a synthesiser behind her portrait. “No one ever interviewed me [for it], nor anyone I know,” she went on. “Aren’t there new, more interesting targets?”

Given that Carlos is arguably the most important living figure in the history of electronic music, it’s remarkable that Amanda Sewell’s Wendy Carlos: A Biography is the first book about her. This is the musician who pushed Robert Moog to perfect his first analogue synthesiser, from which pop, prog, electronica and film music flourished. Her smash-hit 1968 album Switched-On Bach made the Moog internationally famous and became the second classical album ever to go platinum in the US. Then came her extraordinary soundtracks for A Clockwork Orange, The Shining and Tron. She made an ambient album five years before Brian Eno did, and jumped from analogue machines to do leading work in digital synthesis, but worried that her status as one of the first visible transgender artists in the US would overshadow it.

Carlos’s high standards and industrious work ethic began in her childhood. Born in 1939 into a working-class Rhode Island family, her music-loving parents couldn’t afford a piano: her father drew a keyboard on paper so she could practise between lessons. She built a hi-fi system for her parents by cutting wood and soldering wire and won a science contest at 14 by inventing a computer. She then made her first tape machine for music-making, after falling in love with the early electronic music of Pierre Henry and Bebe Barron.

By the time she found Robert Moog napping on a banquette at a New York audio conference in 1964, she was a music and physics graduate of Brown and Columbia. Moog soaked up her suggestions for sound filter banks and pitch-sliding controls, which became original features of his synthesiser; Carlos also wanted a touch-sensitive keyboard, not standard on the instrument until the late 1970s.

By 1981, Carlos was known everywhere as Wendy: she had completed her gender confirmation surgery in 1972, and talked about it for the first time in a 1979 Playboy interview. Only two columns were devoted to her music in the piece, which she saw as a betrayal. Nevertheless, she revealed just how much “forced secrecy” had affected her career. Switched-On Bach’s popularity had made things hard for her, she said. She had “lost an entire decade” avoiding live performances and connections with other artists because she didn’t yet feel ready to disclose her gender transition publicly. Once, Stevie Wonder came to check out her synthesiser set-up, and Carlos hid as he knocked. Sewell writes in her book how Carlos still faces prejudice from record companies today: Warner Music has not still corrected her name on the soundtrack to A Clockwork Orange”.

In honour of a great figure who revolutionised music, I want to dedicate a Lockdown Playlist to her and wonderful music that features the synthesiser. Through the years, it has been deployed in so many classic tracks and, as you will hear, it can elevate a great piece of music…

 PHOTO CREDIT: @didierjoomun/Unsplash

TO the next level.

FEATURE: Collector's Cut: Show a Little Devotion: Kate Bush: Collectables, Single and Album Covers, Signed Goods, Memorabilia Etc.

FEATURE:

 

 

Collector's Cut: Show a Little Devotion

IMAGE COMPOSITE: Kate Bush News 

Kate Bush: Collectables, Single and Album Covers, Signed Goods, Memorabilia Etc.

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I am going to go into a lot of detail…

about Kate Bush and the collectability and fascination of her work because, on 3rd December, Record Collector is putting out a magazine dedicated to her. A lot will be covered, including a re-examination of her albums - and a lot more besides. It promises to be a bonanza for fans!

“This latest RC special gives fans the definitive guide to collecting one of the most extraordinary musicians of our times with a comprehensive UK discography, in-depth guides to collectables and memorabilia, all of her studio albums revisited by some of RC’s finest writers, fans and musicians on what Kate means to them, unpublished photographs, an evocative piece on her remarkable live comeback, and so much more”.

I am going to tie together a couple of themes and features that I have worked on recently. November is a packed month when it comes to Kate Bush albums and their anniversaries. Not only are the studio albums The Red Shoes, Aerial, Lionheart, and 50 Words for Snow all a year older this month – the latter is nine in a matter of days -, but her series of remastered albums (when Bush re-released her albums remastered and included a set of lesser-heard tracks) is two; the live album of her 2014 residency, Before the Dawn, is also about to turn four – I have written about that album and will publish the feature on Wednesday.

 IMAGE CREDIT: Kate Bush

In addition to great albums celebrating anniversaries, there have been (including the upcoming Record Collector edition) three magazines published where Kate Bush is a huge part – MOJO dedicated one of their Collectors’ Series to her; PROG marked forty years of her third album, Never for Ever, and featured stories behind the album and spotlighted Bush in a big way. I love all the attention her music has been getting recently, and there have been excited whispers from the community and fans that this intense burst of activity and celebration is prefacing an imminent album release. Of course, it is incredibly unlikely that the writers and editors of these magazines have some inside knowledge or, like animals that can predict when it is about to rain, they are sending this early warning! I think it is more likely that this year has been tough and this is a good uplift; Bush is more popular now than ever (I feel), so it is just a great year for magazines and column inches dedicated to her! Most of Bush’s studio albums have been released between August and November (inclusive), so it is unlikely she will put out an eleventh studio album this year or early next but, Bush being Bush, one can never tell when an album will arrive and what it will sound like! I am deviating, but I am looking forward to the upcoming Record Collector edition, as it will look at her 2014 residency, Before the Dawn, in addition to her collectable nature.

 IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush during her Before the Dawn residency in 2014/PHOTO CREDIT: Noble and Bright/Rex Features

I am familiar with her albums and a lot of what will be in the magazine, but it is great that Before the Dawn will get some focus! If anyone was fortunate enough to catch one of her twenty-two dates from 26th August to 1st October, 2014 at the Eventim Apollo Hammersmith, they would have witnessed a once-in-a-generation event that very few would have anticipated! Having released a studio album, 50 Words for Snow, three years previous, a return to a big live commitment after thirty-five years (following 1979’s The Tour of Life) was unexpected. It was Bush embarking on a fresh and different challenge – after releasing two albums, including Director’s Cut, in 2011 – and giving flight to songs that have never been mounted for the stage – including the suite from Hounds of Love, The Ninth Wave, and Aerial’s second side/disc, A Sky of Honey, in all their glory and imaginative best! For those who were not fortunate enough to see Bush back in Hammersmith, the live album of Before the Dawn is available and, having listened to it several times, it is spine-tingling! Bush has her own shop for merchandise where you can buy some good stuff…but there is a link for merchandise from that Before the Dawn residency that is not working. As you can see from this page from Kate Bush News, there is some great and collectable merchandise that people would have been able to buy when attending the shows – including a ‘rescue tin’ (tied to The Ninth Wave and the story of a protagonist being lost at sea and rescued at the very end), and a badge set. Many of these items that people do own are being sold on eBay and other auction sites and the prices are quite high. Even though these items are small and easily produced, they mean so much to people who saw her live - and there are many fans of Bush who would snap these up!

 IN THIS IMAGE: On The Stage Tonight... is an unofficial album release featuring the content of the original (official) Live at Hammersmith Odeon release. It was released in 2014

I wonder whether Record Collector will explore her live performances and what is available on vinyl because, to me, that is one of the most under-represented areas on the marketplace. Bush’s 1979 E.P., On Stage – containing four tracks recorded during The Tour of Life at the Hammersmith Odeon on 13th May, 1979 – is something everyone should own on vinyl. I know there are bootlegs and demo recordings on various sites, and even though they are not official releases, hearing Bush at a very early stage – many are recordings from as early as 1973 and before -, is fascinating! I can understand why people want to own any live or rare recordings, as Bush herself has not released too much officially. Many would like her T.V. performances on DVD or an album with a full set from The Tour of Life, or her Christmas special from 1979 on its own album. I want to mention various single and album covers but, in my view, I think a lot of contributors to the forthcoming Record Collector magazine will talk about those golden collectables. A quick search of eBay makes for alluring and exciting viewing! From a 1984 signed letter, to one from 1980, there is great value in simply having Bush’s handwriting! I know the lyrics to her single, The Man with the Child in His Eyes (The Kick Inside, 1978), were in the possession of her former boyfriend, Steve Blacknell (who it is said the song is about), and that song was written in felt tip pen - and, to every Bush fan, that would be one of the most-prized and demanded items! He auctioned them off in 2010, and it is a shame that he did not keep hold of them!

IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush with Steve Blacknell/IMAGE CREDIT: Eli

Even a Taiwanese cassette version of my favourite album, The Kick Inside, makes for essential purchasing; a rare release and item that is really cool and will be worth quite a bit in years to come! Look at a site like this, and there are some great collectables that I was not aware of (a programme of a show that Bush dedicated to Bill Duffield (a lighting technician on The Tour of Life who died after the warm-up show in Poole in 1979) is something precious; a test pressing of Experiment IV (included on her 1986 greatest hits album, The Whole Story) is another great collectable! Of course, there will be items that various people have – from attending her gigs or following her music for years – that they do not want to auction off or get rid of. I think we get a very limited view of Bush’s music and career through the media and radio. Many of her songs are never played, and there aren’t too many features written about her not tied to an anniversary or special event. These collectables and rare items provide new details and pieces to the puzzle of her career! I think the main source of collectables and memorabilia comes in the form of the albums and various pressings. I came across an interesting article from Kate Bush News, where some great sites are mentioned that give fans access to collectables:

“I have to admit I’ve never been a must-have-everything collector of Kate’s stuff but recently I have been filling out some of the gaps in my Kate Bush vinyl collection. There’s something about owning those original artefacts from a particular time in Kate’s career that can be very satisfying. I had decided to limit my current renewed passion for collectible records to UK releases, but when you inevitably start to dig further…there’s a LOT of interesting stuff out there and it can get overwhelming. Luckily we have some great Kate Bush collector sites to help us out, even if we know that realistically we’ll never get our mitts on many of these treasures. Here are three sites, all from genuine fans, that come recommended… 

IN THIS IMAGE: The cover of the Dutch C.D. single release of Rubberband Girl (The Red Shoes, 1993)/IMAGE CREDIT: Eli

Firstly, for years I’ve relied on an excellent site called “The Single File” by John Heislman which he has maintained since the 1990s. It focuses on Kate’s career as a singles artist and is bang up-to-date with the re-recorded Running Up That Hill from 2012. With neat navigation, effective use of national flag symbols and pictorial chronologies for all formats he takes the guess work out of what was released when and where. A brilliant site.

Next up, if you’re looking for a site that also takes in albums, books and all manner of memorabilia you simply have to take a look at the “World of Kate Bush” blog site. The site owner has been tireless in photographing and describing their impressive collection. This is collecting at its most serious, and a revealing pleasure to browse through for even a casual fan.

Since 1978, thanks to robust work by EMI Japan, Kate has been a noticeable presence in that territory. Some of the most expensive collectible Kate Bush items on the market today emanate from Japan and there is a LOT to discover. Luckily longtime fan Bart Lienard has put together “All We Ever Look For“, an exhaustive labour of love which lists just about every Japanese Kate Bush album, single, box set, video and book as well as a large array of magazine articles. Fascinating”.

Discogs is probably the best resource when it comes to Kate Bush and her discography, but there are great collectors sites like this where one is in danger of maxing their credit card because of all the goodies – I especially fancy the copy of Never for Ever signed by Bush with a ballpoint pen!

 IMAGE CREDIT: Discogs

Given the number of singles and albums Kate Bush has released through her career, I think there is great interest and value when it comes to the different versions of covers and, if you want to be extra-exclusive, then early pressings are worth investment! There are two-hundred-and-thirty-eight versions of The Kick Inside through various formats and countries and, whilst my favourite is the Japanese cover with pink lettering and Bush in a pink leotard, there is a great Brazilian E.P. from that time, 4 Sucessos, that has a great photo and an interesting assortment of four much-loved songs from that album. Skipping a few years ahead, and the 1983 eponymous E.P. from Kate Bush released for North America is fascinating when you see all the different-coloured vinyl out there! I like all the different version of Lionheart and the 1980 Christmas single, December Will Be Magic Again, is not often seen or played; a great release to own! One top release I would recommend is the U.S. Aspects of the Sensual World from 1990, as you get Ken (from The Comic Strip Film G.L.C.) and a rare track, I’m Still Waiting. One can find some rare releases here; many of these have been released but are not available to buy – making them all the more valuable for those who own them and coveted for those who do not (myself included!). There are a lot of in official releases that are blocked from sale, but it is best to visit a site like Eli for those items that you can purchase – among all the items, I especially love the Polish release of The Man with the Child in His Eyes.

 IMAGE CREDIT: Discogs

There are many more items and avenues I have not explored but, as you can see, there are some great collectables and rarities from one of the music world’s most influential figures! I recently mused how there should be a Kate Bush pop-up shop where, alongside her albums and merchandise, one can get some rarer stuff. Maybe a cassette vending machine with her albums there; some T-shirts available from various websites (that are then stocked in the shop) and, in one section, all these great collectables and memorabilia – including various album and single versions, signed goods, must-have items and all manner of Kate Bush gold! I look forward to seeing the Record Collector edition next month, as they will go into a lot more detail than me - and there will be listings of so many more collectable items and rarer editions that every Kate Bush fan should snap up! I do tend to think that people forget that there is a world of Kate Bush items that one would not see in record shops or even larger sites like Amazon. One of the guiltiest pleasures (and most expensive!) is looking at signed goods and rare pressings that go for hundreds and wondering whether we should just go a bit crazy and spend the money. Fortunately, I have not done that yet but, when the forthcoming Record Collector comes along, I can see myself being a few hundred quid lighter! Among my wish-list is some programmes or merchandise from The Tour of Life, a few editions of The Kick Inside and, if it exists, a signed copy of that album (non-personalised). There is so much more I want to buy, but I shall end things there. From U.S.-only releases, rare vinyl and manner of wonderful merchandise and collectables, dig deep enough and one will discover…

 IMAGE CREDIT: Whyte’s

A beautiful world of delights!

FEATURE: The Very Thought of You: Billie: Shining a Spotlight on the Remarkable Billie Holiday

FEATURE:

 

 

The Very Thought of You

PHOTO CREDIT: Rex 

Billie: Shining a Spotlight on the Remarkable Billie Holiday

___________

WHEN we think of musicians…

IN THIS PHOTO: Billie Holiday with Louis Armstrong 

who have lived a life worthy of a big screen portrayal, one cannot avoid Billie Holiday. There is a biopic in the works for next year but, on Friday (13th), a new documentary, Billie, was released. I shall come to that soon but, for many, Holiday is notable for a couple of tracks and that is about it. I don’t think many people realise just how complex her life was and what she had to endure – in terms of the abuse and racism she faced and, sadly, the addiction problems and controversy that would have been a natural reaction to such suffering and hardship. The fact her music is so transcendent and powerful, maybe, comes from a soul who had witnessed such horror and darkness, but I think Holiday was one of those naturally gifted singers who was able to access something no other artists could. I am looking forward to seeing what comes of a planned Billie Holiday biopic and whether it succeeds like the best biopics have – in terms of balancing reality and the true artist and also being accessible to everyone -, or if it will shy away from the harsher and more disturbing aspects of Holiday’s life. I will end with a playlist of her finest recordings, just to show what an extraordinary artist she was and, since her death in 1959, it is clear she changed the face of Jazz and left an enormous legacy.

I want to bring in an illuminating article from The Independent from last year, where Martin Chilton discussed Holiday’s unique spirit - in addition to the battles and bleak days she faced through her life:

“Holiday was a true one-off: a wild, outspoken and forceful woman, who also happened to be one of the greatest singers that ever lived. It makes it all the sadder that her final days were so painful and that she died such in such degrading circumstances in the early hours of 17 July 1959, at Harlem’s Metropolitan Hospital. She had been under arrest in her hospital bed for the previous five weeks. She was weak, underweight, bed-ridden and trying to fight off heart and liver failure problems at a time when police found a small tinfoil envelope containing heroin in a different part of the room. It was widely suspected that the drugs had been planted. She was interrogated by narcotics detectives. Her books, flowers, radio and record player were confiscated. She was finger-printed without her consent.

Her childhood was often brutal. She was sexually abused by a neighbour and had a tough time at the Catholic reformatory in Baltimore (she was forced to spend a night in a locked room with a child’s corpse in a coffin as a penalty for misbehaving) and went on to earn a living in a series of menial jobs. She also claimed to have worked as a prostitute in a brothel in Baltimore. “I was turning tricks as a call girl, but I decided I wasn’t going to be anybody’s maid,” she said in her own – often unreliable – memoir Lady Sings the Blues.

Holiday said she had always wanted her voice to sound like a musical instrument and was pleased when trumpeter Miles Davis praised her style by saying, “Billie Holiday doesn’t need any real horns, she sounds like one anyway”. Some of her recordings with Teddy Wilson in the 1930s – including “What a Little Moonlight Can Do” and “Miss Brown to You” – remain joyful masterpieces. “Billie Holiday is very rare,” said the late club owner and saxophonist Ronnie Scott, “she means every word she sings”.

She is responsible for some of the best jazz song recordings ever made. It says something about the brilliance she brought to so many songs that even experts are divided about her best work. Motown legend Berry Gordy believes it is “God Bless the Child”, a recording he said “spoke to me and in some ways changed my thought about life”. For poet Philip Larkin, it was her version of “These Foolish Things”.

She was often the victim of appalling violence. During their stormy affair, saxophone player Ben Webster assaulted her, leaving Holiday bruised and with a black eye – prompting Sadie to get “real mad”, in his words, and attack him with an umbrella. In 1949, her manager John Levy gave her a black eye and stole her $18,000 silver-blue mink coat. Her second husband Louis McKay, whom she wed in 1951, also gave her a shocking black eye”.

One feels immensely sorry for Holiday and what she endured through her short life but I think, strangely, she channelled a lot of that torment into her music; maybe the reason her songs are so resonant and real is because, unlike a lot of artists, that pain and struggle was real. Holiday isn’t an artist one should associate with melancholy and tragedy. Some of her most beautiful songs are those where she sings of love and affection; a woman who wanted stability and happiness in her life, you listen to songs like The Very Thought of You (written by Ray Noble in 1934), and that is as true to who Holiday was as a song like Strange Fruit. There were multiple sides to her and, if you can, try and catch the Billie documentary. It has already gained some really positive reviews. Here is what NME had to say:

“Cadillac riddled with bullet holes; an ounce of heroin stuffed into a dog collar. Billie, a new documentary about the late jazz great Billie Holiday, is filled with arresting details about one of the most original musicians of all time. And yet, as is the case with so many previous attempts to capture this mercurial talent, her inner-workings remain just out of reach, dancing in the shadows of a Harlem nightclub.

Holiday’s ascent – to the infamous Café Society nightclub in Greenwich Village; recording the astonishing ‘Strange Fruit’; huge chart success in the 1940s – and heartbreaking decline, heroin addiction and tragic death at the age of 44 in 1959, is here told through the prism of Kuehl’s unpublished biography. The journalist, who died in 1979, spent eight years compiling hours of interviews with Holiday’s associates, from Basie and Hammond to her family and childhood friends. The latter remember a sweary kid who, says one, “lived fast”.

What drove Billie Holiday? She was raped as a child, says one friend, who suggests that this unspeakable trauma caused her self-destructiveness. It’s not a new revelation, but is freshly devastating in the context of a documentary that touches on what could have been – in later life, Holiday longed for domesticity and to provide a home for disadvantaged children. Instead, still in the grip of addiction, she died from heart failure with $750 to her name. Beyond the aforementioned theory, expressed only briefly, Billie never truly gets under its subject’s skin, leaving her motivation largely unexplored”.

Although it might sound like the documentary is hard-going and a tough watch, there is that positivity and the extraordinary music that she gave to the world. When they reviewed Billie, The Independent noted there is a brighter side:

 “Amid it all though, Holiday’s perseverance and musical greatness shines through in the film. The final scene is footage from Holiday’s last ever TV appearance in March 1959, just four months before she died. Her physical frame is rather more diminished than before, but her vocal dexterity is typically brilliant.

“As well as the darkness of the story, I wanted people to have the pleasure of, effectively, an evening in the company of one of the greatest singers of all time,” says Erskine. “Which, to me, is a rare treat".

I shall leave things there because, whilst I have only scratched the surface of who Billie Holiday was, I would urge people to watch the documentary, listen to her music, and get a better impression of one of the most iconic artists who has ever lived. The legendary Billie Holiday left behind so much great music and was…

A truly staggering talent.

FEATURE: “While Bing Crosby Sings White Christmas” Kate Bush’s December Will Be Magic Again at Forty

FEATURE:

 

 

“While Bing Crosby Sings White Christmas”

Kate Bush’s December Will Be Magic Again at Forty

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WHEN one considers the cannon…

 IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush at Abbey Road Studios

of Kate Bush, they often look at the more popular tracks and songs included on albums. Many forget that she has released and recorded some terrific tracks that either flew under the critical radar or were never included on studio albums. One song that I especially love that doesn’t get a lot of love from the media is December Will Be Magic Again. Released on 17th November, 1980, its fortieth anniversary is upcoming, and it is a song that, despite only reaching number-twenty-nine in the U.K., is actually one of Bush’s most underrated songs! I guess a lot of artists put out Christmas singles but, in 1979, I wonder whether there would have been any demand from EMI for Bush to do that. I think it is more likely that she had this image of a wintery scene and it tied into Christmas. Bush always had that sense of wonder and, on her first commercial Christmas outing, she managed to record something appropriately magical. I have mused whether it should have been included on her 1980 album, Never for Ever, but I guess it is very specific so would have not really sat alongside the rest of the songs. It is interesting to think that, thirty-one years after December Will Be Magic Again was released, Bush put out 50 Words for Snow – extending the themes and dynamic of December Will Be Magic Again but making it more expansive, immersive and rich.

I really love December Will Be Magic Again, as it is a great single that beautifully conjures the romance of snow and the Christmas period. There are few who would rank it alongside the classic Christmas numbers but, as Bush premiered another song, Home for Christmas, on The Comic Strip in 1992, the initial single must have inspired her in some ways all those years later. Despite there being no official video for December Will Be Magic Again, Bush did perform the song on T.V. twice. Once was on the Christmas Snowtime Special on the BBC on 22nd December, 1979; she then performed it for a Christmas special called Kate on 28th December, 1979. The original track was written and originally recorded in at Abbey Road Studio 2 London with Preston Heyman on drums, sleigh bells and maracas; Alan Murphy on guitar; Kuma Harada on bass, with Bush on piano. There is that mix of the traditional Christmas imagery (“December will be magic again/Take a husky to the ice/While Bing Crosby sings White Christmas/He makes you feel nice/December will be magic again/Old Saint Nicholas up the chimney/Just a-popping up in my memory”) mixed with lines that could only come from Bush’s imagination (“Light the candle-lights/To conjure Mr. Wilde/Into the Silent Night/Ooh, it's quiet inside/Here in Oscar's mind”). She definitely ticks off the Christmas song wish-list of common images: snow, Father Christmas, Silent Night and mistletoe are all lovingly mentioned.

Bush’s voice is soothing, beautiful and child-like; she is never wild and acrobatic, yet she manages to summon up this postcard scene of houses topped with snow and there being this stillness. I really love some of the more descriptive passages (“Ooh, dropping down in my parachute/The white city, she is so beautiful/Upon the black-soot icicled roofs/Ooh, and see how I fall/See how I fall/("Fall!") [backwards]/Like the snow/Come to cover the lovers/(Cover the lovers/But don't you wake them up)/Come to sparkle the dark up/(Sparkle the dark up/With just a touch of make-up)/Come to cover the muck up/(Cover the muck up/Ooh, with a little luck”). In their list ranking all (twenty-nine) of Bush’s singles, December Will Be Magic Again came in twenty-fifth according to The Guardian:

“Kate Bush had a whole album’s worth of flatly brilliant, at least vaguely festive-themed music in her – 2011’s 50 Words for Snow – but her first attempt at a Christmas single 31 years earlier fell oddly flat, never quite sounding as magical as its title suggests”.

December Will Be Magic Again’s B-side is Warm and Soothing - it finds Bush singing with just her piano accompaniment. This was the first song she recorded at Abbey Road Studios. Maybe some felt that songs like Warm and Soothing, and December Will Be Magic Again sound too similar to Bush’s first two albums; maybe they were looking for progression or a deeper vocal, perhaps.

There is a definite shift in terms of sound regarding the songs Bush recorded at AIR Studios and those at Abbey Road Studios. In January 1980, Bush moved to Abbey Road Studios when recording for Never for Ever, and one can hear a definite flourishing and change from that point on. I like the image of Bush sitting in Studio 2 and writing this beautiful song, perhaps with no specific plan for it right away – just capturing something that was in her mind that struck her. It is a shame that people do not really write classic Christmas songs anymore, and I listen back to songs like December Will Be Magic Again and cherish them. If the song was released in 1979 as initially hoped, it would have been slayed by Paul McCartney’s Wonderful Christmastime - which got to number-six and was a big success ((would the public have been as kind to Bush’s single if they had McCartney’s one out there?!). The fact December Will Be Magic Again got to number-sixteen is not so much seasonable largess and kindness, and more the fact the track is very beautiful and absorbing – many of her other singles did not reach as high yet are celebrated more! Forty years after it came out, I think people should add Kate Bush’s December Will Be Magic Again to their Christmas rotation. I would put the song in my top-twenty favourite songs of hers, and it deserves keener ears and more love! Maybe we will not get a white or ideal Christmas this year but, one listen to December Will Be Magic Again, and one is…

 PHOTO CREDIT: @ellladee/Unsplash

TRANSPORTED to an idyllic Christmas snow globe.

FEATURE: A Buyer’s Guide: Part Twenty-Nine: George Harrison

FEATURE:

 

 

A Buyer’s Guide

Part Twenty-Nine: George Harrison

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THIS is quite timely…  

 IN THIS PHOTO: George Harrison in 1970/PHOTO CREDIT: Wolfgang Heilemann

as George Harrison’s masterpiece, All Things Must Pass, turns fifty on 27th November. I am looking ahead to that important anniversary and, whilst considering that album, I was interested to look in the back catalogue and investigate the work of a terrific songwriter. It must have been hard for the former Beatle to stand out on his own and make a name but, through the years, Harrison produced some marvellous albums! I have recommended the best four, the underrated one worth a look, in addition to his final album – and the book that you need to own. Since his passing in 2001, I think a lot of new ears have discovered his albums away from The Beatles and found a new side to the legend. If you need a guide as to which George Harrison albums to buy then…

 PHOTO CREDIT: Ed Caraeff/Getty Images

KEEP reading on…

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The Four Essential Albums

 

All Things Must Pass

Release Date: 27th November, 1970

Label: Apple

Producers: George Harrison/Phil Spector

Standout Tracks: Wah-Wah/What Is Life/All Things Must Pass

Buy: https://www.discogs.com/George-Harrison-All-Things-Must-Pass/master/56036

Stream: https://open.spotify.com/album/4I4xtHaIFOzhZfp1NIHkY6

Review:

“Without a doubt, George Harrison's first solo recording, originally issued as a triple album, is his best. Drawing on his backlog of unused compositions from the late Beatles era, Harrison crafted material that managed the rare feat of conveying spiritual mysticism without sacrificing his gifts for melody and grand, sweeping arrangements. Enhanced by Phil Spector's lush orchestral production and Harrison's own superb slide guitar, nearly every song is excellent: "Awaiting on You All," "Beware of Darkness," the Dylan collaboration "I'd Have You Anytime," "Isn't It a Pity," and the hit singles "My Sweet Lord" and "What Is Life" are just a few of the highlights. A very moving work, with a slight flaw: the jams that comprise the final third of the album are somewhat dispensable, and have probably only been played once or twice by most of the listeners who own this record. Those same jams, however, played by Eric Clapton, Carl Radle, Bobby Whitlock, and Jim Gordon (all of whom had just come off of touring as part of Delaney & Bonnie's band), proved to be of immense musical importance, precipitating the formation of Derek & the Dominos. Thus, they weren't a total dead end, and may actually be much more to the liking of the latter band's fans” – AllMusic

Choice Cut: My Sweet Lord

Thirty Three & 1/3

Release Date: 19th November, 1976

Label: Dark Horse

Producer: George Harrison (assisted by Tom Scott)

Standout Tracks: Dear One/This Song/Crackerbox Palace

Buy: https://www.discogs.com/George-Harrison-Thirty-Three-13/master/74914

Stream: https://open.spotify.com/album/7y9Fefugnr5b8fHHt9eE7X

Review:

“Among the new compositions is, ‘This Song’ which was George’s musical comment on his trials and tribulations over the plagiarism accusations of ‘My Sweet Lord’ and its similarities to The Chiffons’ ‘He’s So Fine’.

‘Crackerbox Palace’ is George’s account of his meeting with the manager of the comedian, Lord Buckley, earlier in 1976. For many, the standout track on what some have called, ‘George’s soul album’ is the exquisite, ‘Pure Smokey’ a tribute to Smokey Robinson. This delicate and beautiful ballad in recognition of the Motown legend features two of George’s most lovely guitar solos.

The lead single from Thirty Three & 1/3 was ‘This Song’ and another track off the album, the gorgeous, ‘Learning How To Love You’, was chosen as the B-side. George’s UK single, ‘It’s What You Value’ features the opening track ‘Woman Don’t You Cry For Me’ as its B-side. ‘It’s What You Value’ was written after drummer Jim Keltner asked for a new Mercedes sports car, rather than a cash payment for touring with George in 1974.

The record features one cover, ‘True Love’ a version of Cole Porter’s song, made famous by Bing Crosby in the film, High Society.

Thirty Three & 1/3 outsold both, Dark Horse and Extra Texture in America, peaking at No.11 on the charts. Inexplicably, given the quality of the songs, it only made No.35 in the UK, entering the chart on 8 January 1977; but then again, two days after George finished recording his album, the Festival Of Punk took place in London’s 100 Club… the musical times were a-changin’.

‘This Song’ and ‘Crackerbox Palace’ peaked at No.26 and No.19, respectively, on the Hot 100; none of the three singles released in the UK charted” – Udiscovermusic

Choice Cut: True Love

George Harrison

Release Date: 20th February, 1979

Label: Dark Horse

Producers: George Harrison/Russ Titelman

Standout Tracks: Not Guilty/Here Comes the Moon/Faster

Buy: https://www.discogs.com/George-Harrison-George-Harrison/master/74951

Stream: https://open.spotify.com/album/5LEZHIvSR7NRc9J4ojDUwU?si=2lHYyCvES7moD-FoBHG83g

Review:

“Another nod back to his Beatles’ years, “Here Comes the Moon” acts as a natural sequel to “Here Comes the Sun” from the Abbey Road album. This subtle, acoustic track features fine methodical accompaniment including vocal effects and a vocal chorus. Inspired by the hallucinatory effects of some Hawaiian “magic mushrooms”, the good-timey ragtime tune “Hard Hearted Hannah” features a fine acoustic lead and some call and response vocals. Perhaps the finest overall track, “Blow Away” features an exquisite combo of electric piano and slide electric guitar in the lead in along with a very catchy chorus hook and great guitar link back from chorus to verse. The song was the lead single from the album and became a hit in the United States and Canada.

The album’s second side starts with “Faster” an upbeat, celebratory tribute to Formula 1 racing which also served as the early title for this record. Next comes two subtle love songs, “Dark Sweet Lady” with a beautiful Caribbean style and the methodically strummed acoustic of “Your Love Is Forever”. A leftover from Thirty Three & 1/3, “Soft Touch” was re-written in Hawaii with a tropical theme and musical arrangement, while the closing track “If You Believe” wraps things up with an upbeat and positive message” – Classic Rock Review

Choice Cut: Blow Away

Cloud Nine

Release Date: 2nd November, 1987

Label: Dark Horse

Producers: Jeff Lynne/George Harrison

Standout Tracks: Cloud Nine/This Is Love/When We Was Fab

Buy: https://www.discogs.com/George-Harrison-Cloud-Nine/master/74960

Stream: https://open.spotify.com/album/1nbq8GgaVdINI3PulXvPUq

Review:

“Throughout Cloud Nine, Harrison and Lynne add layers of inspired production touches that make undeniable aural confections even out of some of the album’s lovely but slight songs (“Fish on the Sand,” “This Is Love,” “Just for Today,” “Got My Mind Set on You,” “Someplace Else”). When the team brings its sonic smarts to bear on more substantial numbers (“Cloud Nine,” “When We Was Fab,” “That’s What It Takes,” “Wreck of the Hesperus”), the results make for sublime pop.

Cloud Nine is an especially heartwarming return to form because it suggests Harrison has come to terms with his own Beatledom. “When We Was Fab,” the eerie Sgt. Pepper-sound-alike track that ends the first side of the album, is Harrison’s droll sendup of and tribute to his days as a Beatle. And on the album sleeve, George saves the last of his special thanks for John, Paul and Ringo. And that’s only appropriate, because Cloud Nine is a totally fab record that lives up to the legacy of all those years ago” – Rolling Stone

Choice Cut: Got My Mind Set on You

The Underrated Gem

 

Living in the Material World

Release Date: 30th May, 1973

Label: Apple

Producer: George Harrison  

Standout Tracks: The Light That Has Lighted the World/Living in the Material World/The Lord Loves the One (That Loves the Lord)

Buy: https://www.discogs.com/George-Harrison-Living-In-The-Material-World/master/56051

Stream: https://open.spotify.com/album/1UdvnEcaxCI30ywmt7fgGP

Review:

“The second side opens with the excellent composition, “The Lord Loves the One (That Loves the Lord)” with melodic vocals and musical flourishes, leading to climatic slide lead to end the track. Lyrically, Harrison sought feedback about Krishna philosophy, which encouraged him to develop such themes that are unorthodox in popular music. “Be Here Now” is a quiet and surreal acoustic ballad with some earthy and ethereal sounds, as “Try Some, Buy Some” (a leftover from 1970 co-produced by Spector) is a musical waltz built on a descending riff and it reaches for grandiose heights with horns and other “wall of sound” production techniques. Next comes the Beatlesque acoustic ballad “The Day the World Gets ‘Round”, short and sweet but with rich production. The album concludes with the aptly titled “That Is All”, a forgotten classic filled with melancholy emotion and musical aptitude, where Harrison really stretches his vocal range with high-pitched sustained notes” – Classic Rock Review

Choice Cut: Give Me Love (Give Me Peace on Earth)

The Final Album

 

Brainwashed

Release Date: 18th November, 2002

Labels: Dark House/EMI/Parlophone

Producers: George Harrison/Jeff Lynne/Dhani Harrison

Standout Tracks: Marwa Blues/Stuck Inside a Cloud/Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea

Buy: https://www.discogs.com/George-Harrison-Brainwashed/master/124223

Stream: https://open.spotify.com/album/2VFLjY1S0D8nKml6nlU2MD

Review:

“George Harrison went quiet not long after the second Traveling Wilburys album, surfacing only for the Beatles' Anthology in the mid-'90s. He was recording all the while, yet he died before completing the album that would have been the follow-up to 1987's Cloud Nine. His son, Dhani, and his longtime friend/collaborator Jeff Lynne completed the recordings, released late in 2002, nearly a year after George's death, as Brainwashed. Given its baggage it's easy to be suspicious about the merits of Brainwashed prior to hearing it. Posthumous efforts often feel incomplete, Harrison's albums were frequently inconsistent, and Lynne favors ornate, cinematic productions that run contrary to George's desire for this project to be simple and low key -- nothing that would suggest that Brainwashed would be a success. Defying all odds, Brainwashed isn't just a success, it's one of the finest records Harrison ever made. No, it doesn't achieve the splendor of All Things Must Pass, nor is it quite of its time like both Living in the Material World and Cloud Nine were, but it's a quiet, subtle gem, one that strikes close to the heart of Harrison's music. It's intimate, alternately insightful and cheerfully lightweight, balancing his trademark black humor with silliness and good humor. Anyone searching the album for his views on mortality -- as he faced not only cancer, but an attacker that nearly took his life -- will surely find it, but this is not a somber album, it is a warm album, the sound of someone enjoying life without losing his wry sense of humor. This same spirit carries over to the music, with Harrison abandoning the idea of getting a hit and simply relaxing, primarily by playing a lot of ukulele and guitar. There aren't any major songs here and perhaps a tune or two could be pegged as throwaways by the cynical, but there are no down moments and it all holds together well -- better than most Harrison albums -- and it's a fitting way to say goodbye, every bit as good as Double Fantasy and, in some respects, even sweeter” – AllMusic

Choice Cut: Any Road

The George Harrison Book

 

George Harrison: Be Here Now

Authors: Barry Feinstein/Chris Murray/Donovan

Publication Date: 29th September, 2020

Publisher: Rizzoli International Publications

Synopsis:

“On hand from 1970 to 1972 for Harrison's blockbuster Triple Crown--the release of All Things Must Pass; The Concert for Bangladesh; and Living in the Material World, which helped make Harrison the best-selling post-breakup Beatle, Barry became good friends with George during the three-plus years they worked together. Feinstein captured George Harrison at home, in his garden, onstage, and in the studio. Nearly all the images are previously unpublished. The book contains never-before-seen ephemera related to these seminal releases during George's most richly creative time post-Beatles, including handwritten letters talking about album ideas, album-cover thoughts, and putting together the Concert for Bangladesh. This collection also features beloved performers that George convened for that Concert for Bangladesh--where Barry was the only sanctioned photographer onstage--including George's friends Bob Dylan, Ravi Shankar, Eric Clapton, Ringo Starr, Leon Russell, and Billy Preston. The book coincides with the fiftieth anniversary of All Things Must Pass. George Harrison: Be Here Now is a deeper visual dive that the significantly large and passionate Beatles/George Harrison fandom will want to add to their collection” – Waterstones

Order: https://www.waterstones.com/book/george-harrison/barry-feinstein/chris-murray-donovan/9780847867752

FEATURE: The Lockdown Playlist: Sweet Soul Music

FEATURE:

 

 

The Lockdown Playlist

PHOTO CREDIT: @julianxmyles/Unsplash

Sweet Soul Music

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WHEN tackling genres…

 PHOTO CREDIT: @jadoca/Unsplash

for these playlists, I have covered off quite a few, but I have not given Soul a proper spin. In this Lockdown Playlist, I am diving into some wonderful Soul music that is arresting, beautiful and truly captivating. It is a genre that is around today, but not in the same from as from the 1950s through the 1980s. It was a wonderful time for music, and legends like Aretha Franklin and Otis Redding delivered these iconic songs defined by their amazing voices and the energy and passion that is put into every note! To celebrate such a bountiful and inspiration genre of music, have a listen to the cuts below; guaranteed to get you into…

 PHOTO CREDIT: @sharonmccutcheon/Unsplash

A better and finer state of mind.

FEATURE: Song of Summer in His Hand: Delius from Kate Bush’s Never for Ever

FEATURE:

 

 

Song of Summer in His Hand

IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush in 1980/PHOTO CREDIT: John Carder Bush (from the book, KATE: Inside the Rainbow)

Delius from Kate Bush’s Never for Ever

___________

I have already put out a recent feature…

about Kate Bush’s Never for Ever, because I have ordered a copy of PROG that looks at the album on its fortieth anniversary - and I was able to learn quite a lot from it. I have written about Never for Ever before and focused on a few different songs. One such moment from the album that I have not investigated fully is Delius – or, with its subtitle, Delius (Song of Summer). In my last feature regarding the album, I focused on another song, Violin, but I think many people do not know about Never for Ever or, when they do play it, songs such as Babooshka, Army Dreamers, and Breathing are played. There is nary a weak track on Never for Ever, and there are so many different interesting sounds and vocal performances. As we know, Bush discovered the joys and opportunities the Fairlight C.M.I. provided, and this meant that she could open up her songwritring and add so many different sounds to the mix - even though she utilised the technology a little too late to completely infuse the album, one can hear its influence and power in several songs! There is an embarrassment of riches on Never for Ever regarding potential singles. I have covered this before, but aside from Babooshka, Breathing and Army Dreamers, I think The Infant Kiss, The Wedding List, or All We Ever Look For would have been great singles.

On The Kick Inside, and Lionheart of 1978, singles were released in the U.K. and others were released exclusively for other nations; as a way of reaching more territories and also putting out a range of songs. On Never for Ever, Bush stuck with three singles. Breathing featured The Empty Bullring as its B-side; Babooshka had Ran Tan Waltz as its B-side, whereas Army Dreamers featured Passing Through Air, and Delius. I think it is great that Bush released non-album tracks as B-sides and I feel Ran Tan Waltz is especially underrated. Maybe it was a missed opportunity not releasing more singles and having B-sides featuring great tracks like Violin, or maybe All We Ever Look For. I am glad the remarkable Delius made it onto the B-side of Army Dreamers. It is the second track on Never for Ever and it follows Babooshka. I love how the broken glass sound – producing using the Fairlight C.M.I. - then opens Delius. It was clear that Bush was becoming more experimental, not only regarding technology and sound, but the way she programmed albums and composed. Running the two songs together keeps the momentum going, but that glass sound also bridges the spirited Babooshka with the more choral and heavenly Delius – Bush also put in a sub-one minute song, Night Scented Stock, to bridge The Infant Kiss, and Army Dreamers.

 IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush in 1980/PHOTO CREDIT: Andy Phillips

The ‘Delius’ is named for the English composer, Frederick Delius. It is quintessential Kate Bush that she would draw inspiration from a composer! Looking at the Kate Bush Encyclopaedia and we get some more information about the track:

“Song written by Kate Bush as a tribute to the English composer Frederick Delius. The song was inspired by Ken Russell's film Song of Summer, made for the BBC's programme Omnibus, which Kate had watched when she was ten years old. In his twenties, Delius contracted syphilis. When he became wheelchair bound as he became older, a young English admirer Eric Fenby volunteered his services as unpaid amanuensis. Between 1928 and 1933 he took down his compositions from dictation, and helping him revise earlier works.The song was released on the album Never For Ever and as the B-side of the single Army Dreamers.

A music video for 'Delius' exists, which was shown on television at least twice: during a Dr. Hook television special on 7 April 1980 and during the Russell Harty Show on 25 November 1980. The setting is a quiet, lazy English riverbank filled with reeds and grass. By the bank is a wheelchair-ridden old man, his body covered by a throw-rug, his head obscured by a large yellow disk resembling a sun. This figure presents an image of Delius much like the one which was depicted in the BBC television film  by Ken Russell. Gliding along on the river is a young swan-girl, represented by Kate in a gossamer white gown with wings”.

I do love the lyrics of the song: “Ooh, he's a moody old man/Song of summer in his hand/Ooh, he's a moody old man/...in...in...in his hand/...in his hand/"Hmm."/Ooh, ah, ooh, ah/Delius/Delius amat/Syphilus/Deus/Genius, ooh/To be sung of a summer night on the water/Ooh, on the water/"Ta, ta-ta!/Hmm/Ta, ta-ta/In B, Fenby!"/To be sung of a summer night on the water/Ooh, on the water/On the water”. I think the real power comes from Bush’s voice, which floats and flies through the song. It is one of her most beautiful performances and, with Paddy Bush and Ian Bairnson providing bass vocals, there is a sumptuous blend! Percussion is provided by a Roland (and Preston Heyman), and there is some nice sitar from Paddy Bush. With Paddy Bush playing the role of Delius, and the song detailing the decline of Delius’ health, it is an amazing song that is both richly detailed and simple. A fitting tribute to a brilliant composer, I think Delius is one of the best tracks from Never for Ever. Even two tracks into Never for Ever, one is truly startled by very different songs that sort of set you back! I want to finish by quoting from an interview in 1980, where Bush was asked about the sonic difference on Never for Ever (compared to her previous albums) and the story behind Delius:

“I: Has a great effort gone into the sound of this album, not just the music but the sound?

K: Yes. I thinks sounds are so important because that is what music is - it is the sound of the music - and the way sounds mix and move together is incredible. It is again so similar to colours and to have a pure colour and pure sounds are very similar things. In many ways I think we saw a lot of the sounds a visual things - this is the way I often interpret music, I see it visually, and so in many ways you'd interpret a mountain in the picture into a very pure guitar sound or whatever. I think everyone was very aware of sounds and the animation of it and how a certain sound could imply so much more at one piece in the song.

IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush in 1980/PHOTO CREDIT: John Carder Bush 

I: You are the co-producer of this album with Jon Kelly. I suppose this then was your job in that regard, the direction of the sound?

K: Yes. The whole thing was so exciting for me, to actually have control of my baby for the first time. Something that I have been working for and was very nervous of too, obviously, because when you go in for the first time you really wonder if you are capable - you hope you are. Every time that we tried something and it worked it just made you feel so much braver. Of course it doesn't always work, but everyone helping and concentrating on the music, it's such a beautiful thing, it really is a wonderful experience - everyone's feelings going into the songs that you wrote perhaps in a little room somewhere in London, you know, it's all coming out on the tape.

I: From "Babooshka" we mix literally quite nicely into "Delius (Song of Summer)" and this is the one which contains references I must confess I don't understand. I don't know who Delius was or for that matter what Fenby is?

K: Delius was an incredible classical composer, an English one, he was from Bradford, I think and he was Fred, Frederick Delius. He was a wonderful composer and he in fact got neurosyphilis, which completely ruined his body; he became totally paralysed and he could no longer play the piano or write his music. I don't know whether he was a very bad tempered man before, but during his illness he became bad tempered. From that time on he lived his life in a wheelchair and he needed someone to write his music for him.

For years he kept getting young writers coming along who'd meet him and sit down and try to transcribe his writing, but he had no voice. He couldn't sing. He had no pitch in his voice, no real sense of timing. He would sit there and just grunt like going aargh, aargh, and the writer would just not know where to start. He didn't know what key it was in, the time signature, what notes the guy was ginging. And Delius would not tell him, he'd just say write it down. All these guys ran away, they couldn't take it, it was too much. One day a gentleman called Eric Fenby (who is in the song) turned up. He tried to get through this barrier until eventually he could understand everything Delius was saying. Fenby stayed with him until his death and he wrote all his music out for him. Through Fenby, Delius' music came alive again. It was such a beautiful concept - this man whose body was almost completely useless and yet inside him all this life and colour and freedom. It was only through Mr. Fenby that it could come out. It's such a beautiful story, he really need a song”.

Forty years after Never for Ever was released, I think its influence and importance has inspired a new generation of songwriters. I will write another Never for Ever in the future, but I wanted to focus on Delius, and there is so much to love about it! I especially enjoy Kate Bush’s vocal and how the song springs, swoops and moves the senses. It is a wonderful song on an album that hosts…

MANY unique gems.

FEATURE: Normal Person: The Music Industry Post-COVID: What Will the State of Affairs Be in Spring 2021?

FEATURE:

 

 

Normal Person

PHOTO CREDIT: @globelet/Unsplash

The Music Industry Post-COVID: What Will the State of Affairs Be in Spring 2021?

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IT is quite optimistic to say that…

 PHOTO CREDIT: @tonyphamvn/Unsplash

things will be back to normal by the spring, but there is a potential vaccine available and, presuming it passes safety checks, it will be rolled out very quickly. If it works and one does not need to get repeated boosters too often, I think it will provide relief for so many people. Let’s hope that things go according to plan but, when it comes to the music industry, I am not sure there will be this immediate return to how things were as early as February this year. Many will be cautious about getting too close to people as I think we have lived a particular way for so long that that comfort we used to get from being in a live setting or very close to people we didn’t know might take a little while to come back. I do think that record shops will be a corner of the industry that will thrive – and has done all year -, and I do worry whether a lot of self-employed workers who are relying on furlough payment or universal credit will come back. From amazing journalists and those in P.R. to people who work at venues, there is going to be a depletion. The big question on everyone’s mind is whether this vaccine and potential recovery very soon will save venues under threat and mean festivals can go ahead as planned in the summer. This year has seen most musicians push back tour dates and, whilst you hate to see it, it is for everyone’s safety.

 PHOTO CREDIT: @hariprasad000/Unsplash

I have seen some dates rearranged for March sort of time, and I get the feeling that they might need to be pushed back further. The majority of big tours have been rebooked for spring onwards, so it does seem timely that we have this potential lifeline in the form of a vaccine that should be widely available by then. The fate for many venues at the moment remains pretty precarious and fraught. Last week, NME ran an article explaining how many venues are in trouble and how the Music Venue Trust are helping:

“The Music Venue Trust have launched a new campaign to save 30 UK venues still in danger of being lost forever in the wake of coronavirus restrictions. See the full list and how you can help below.

Last month, the music industry celebrated over 1,000 venues, festivals and theatres being awarded the first share of the £1.57billion Cultural Recovery Fund to survive until April and weather the storm of closures and complications brought on by the coronavirus pandemic – before a second round of funding was announced rescued another wave of arts spaces and organisations, a third saw a number of large clubs receive upwards of £1million each and finally the likes of The Academy Group and London’s Social and Ronnie Scott’s were awarded large sums at the weekend.

An impressive 89 per cent of England’s grassroots music venues who applied for the Arts Council grants were successful, meaning that hundreds will be receiving a share of over £41million and largely mothballed until at least April when it is hoped that full-capacity gigs might be able to safely return. Now, the MVT are focusing their #SaveOurVenues campaign on the 30 UK music venues which received either no funding or not enough to survive.

PHOTO CREDIT: @nivtop/Unsplash 

MVT’s new #SaveThe30 ‘Traffic Light’ campaign will highlight the venues considered safe, at risk or in imminent danger between now and March 31. Venues in ‘critical’ red status include The Lexington in London, Brixton Windmill, The Venue in Derby, The Railway Inn in Winchester, The Gellions in Inverness and The Lantern in Halifax.

“If we don’t act to save them right now, we do expect a large number of them to be permanently closed – it’s as simple as that,” Music Venue Trust CEO Mark Davyd told NME. “This is the final option. Unless a significant movement is made in the next four weeks, we should expect them to start closing in the middle of December.”

He continued: “Without the public and artists getting behind the #SaveOurVenues campaign, 500 venues would already have closed since March. The fact that we’re now looking at over 400 being safe is a remarkable achievement. If everyone comes back with the same support, we could genuinely save these 30 venues.”

Davyd added: “If people want these local venues to still be there when this is over there is a very clear call to action: choose a venue, get donating, get writing, get calling, get organised. Save them all. Reopen Every Venue Safely”.

As there is no set date as to when venues across the country can reopen and welcome artists back, it is down to the Government to provide additional funding that means we lose as few venues as possible. I think that there will be inevitable casualties and that will damage local economies and prove devastating for artists who rely on these spaces to reach new people and hone their craft!

 PHOTO CREDIT: @michaelbenz/Unsplash

Looking ahead to the festival season of 2021, and that is another big concern. Even the largest festivals felt a big loss and have been damaged. It is a pity that we did not get to revel in the sunshine of this summer in fields watching great artists but, as many are keen to restart next year, there are problems to address. As The Guardian reported, there are complexities to navigate before restarting festivals:

“MPs are to examine how UK music festivals can survive in 2021 after the coronavirus pandemic wiped out a majority of festivals this year, resulting in revenues falling by 90%.

A new inquiry organised by a Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport committee will consider how the government can support music festivals next year as legal and social-distancing requirements determine the viability of large-scale events.

Committee chair MP Julian Knight said: “We have so many legendary festivals that have given the UK a worldwide reputation – it would be devastating if they were unable to come back with a bang, or if smaller festivals that underpin the talent pipeline disappear entirely.”

Despite no confirmation of when large events will be permitted, many UK festivals are still planning for 2021: Stormzy and Liam Gallagher will headline next year’s Reading and Leeds festivals; Glastonbury co-organiser Emily Eavis has said she hopes the festival will return in June. Wales’s Green Man festival has said it would consider temperature checks on entry. News of the Pfizer/BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine breakthrough may provide a clearer path to festivals reviving next summer.

PHOTO CREDIT: @yohannlibot/Unsplash 

The committee seeks written contributions from festival staff, fans, musicians, local communities, suppliers and the vast freelance workforce affected by this year’s cancellations to address issues including the economic and cultural contribution of the British festival industry, the impact of cancellations, the risk to future festivals and the measures required to allow them to proceed. “It’s crucial that support to enable music festivals to go ahead in 2021 and beyond is put in place,” said Knight”.

As I said earlier, I wonder how many people will feel comfortable even after a vaccine has been rolled out, what with the trepidation and anxiety we have been living with for so many months?! There is an eagerness for people to see live music in theory, but I wonder whether there will be a slight dip in demand in those first few months as we readjust back to a life that resembles normal. Live music in larger venues is another area where we need to consider how to operate safely after the vaccine has been deployed. This NME article from earlier in the week detailed how Ticketmaster were possibly going to operate next year:

“Ticketmaster are working on plans to verify fans’ coronavirus vaccination status before allowing admission to future concerts, according to comments from company president Mark Yovich.

Speaking to Billboard, Yovich said that, although their were still logistical factors to consider, preparation has already begun to look at how verified vaccination could speed up the return of more familiar live event settings across the world.

PHOTO CREDIT: @bobby_hendry/Unsplash 

“We’re already seeing many third-party health care providers prepare to handle the vetting – whether that is getting a vaccine, taking a test, or other methods of review and approval – which could then be linked via a digital ticket so everyone entering the event is verified,” he explained.

Yovich continued: “Ticketmaster’s goal is to provide enough flexibility and options that venues and fans have multiple paths to return to events, and is working to create integrations to our API and leading digital ticketing technology as we will look to tap into the top solutions based on what’s green-lit by officials and desired by clients.”

After purchasing a concert ticket, fans would need to verify that they had already been vaccinated or tested negative for coronavirus approximately 24 to 72 hours prior to the concert, providing them with approximately one year of protection.

Any fans who tested positive or didn’t take a test to verify their status would not be granted access to the event. Ticketmaster confirmed they would not store or have access to fans’ medical records, and would only receive verification of whether a fan is cleared to attend an event on a given date.

Marianne Herman, co-founder and principal reBUILD20, said the initiative was “one key way to reimagine how we’re going to get fans back to live events”, adding: “The experience of attending live events will look completely different, but innovation married with consistent implementation will provide a framework to get the live sports and event industry back to work”.

 PHOTO CREDIT: @jesseskitt11/Unsplash

Although that plan would be effective and few would object to being that thorough if it got them back to gigs, there was a report on the BBC website where the above report was debunked by Ticketmaster:

“However, Ticketmaster clarified in a statement to the BBC that it could not enforce any requirements on ticketholders.

"Ticketmaster does not have the power to set policies around safety/entry requirements, which would include vaccines and/or testing protocols," it said.

"That is up to the discretion of the event organizer. Ticketmaster continues to work with event organisers on all Covid safety measures and it will be up to each event organiser to set future requirements, based on their preferences and local health guidelines."

It said the plan discussed in Billboard was one of many "potential ideas" it was exploring to enable the return of live music”.

It is obvious that there will be a lot of planning and restrictions for a while yet but, looking ahead, and it seems like there might be ways that live music can return in a big way when a vaccine has been approved and delivered. I do worry that music venues who are struggling now might not have enough in the kitty by the spring so that they can welcome people back - and I hope the Government ensures that there is extra funding and support for those who are struggling. In terms of stability across the industry, the legions of hard-working self-employed who are not able to work at the moment also need support, as they are a valuable part of the infrastructure; a key beating heart of the industry that needs backing. I also hope that there are safety measures in place across all venues and festivals going forward as not to assume that a vaccine means that there is no risk and we can all go back to how things were this time last year. As much as anything, the past eight months have shown that, when the music industry has been hit and restricted, there is this community support and strength that is heartening to see! This week has seen reports and articles emerge speculating the future of venues and festivals and what needs to happen so that they can keep going in 2021. Let’s hope that the casualties are few and we can start to get back to normal. Although some musicians like Lars Ulrich (Metallica) have predicted large-scaled performances will not return until late next year, if we have an effective tracing system, combined with a successful vaccine, then there might be a way of making it happen earlier. Everyone has been very patient and missing live music so much; embracing it like we did before is something that we have…

 PHOTO CREDIT: @dannyhowe/Unsplash

WAITED so long for.

FEATURE: The Lockdown Playlist: Incredible Tracks from 2020

FEATURE:

 

 

The Lockdown Playlist

IN THIS PHOTO: Run the Jewels/PHOTO CREDIT: Dan Medhurst 

Incredible Tracks from 2020

___________

THOUGH it is a subjective thing…

 IN THIS PHOTO: Pillow Queens/PHOTO CREDIT: Faolán Carey

everyone will have their own opinions regarding the best songs of the year. I have already produced a Lockdown Playlist of from the finest albums of this year, but this is a bit broader. It has been a fantastic year for music and, inevitably, I am going to miss so many songs that I should have included. The list below is a good representation of this year’s best music, and it makes for pretty heady and impressive listening! Enjoy a selection of some terrific songs from 2020 that show that, in a very bad year, artists have responded with music that has exceeded our expectations – there are many tracks that will linger in the memory for a long time. With so much quality this year, it bodes well for a very productive and…

IN THIS PHOTO: Janelle Monáe/PHOTO CREDIT: Juco

STRONG 2021.

FEATURE: You Want Alchemy: Kate Bush’s Remastered in Vinyl at Two

FEATURE:

 

 

You Want Alchemy

IMAGE CREDIT: Fish People/Parlophone/Rhino 

Kate Bush’s Remastered in Vinyl at Two

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I am writing about Kate Bush’s…

 IMAGE CREDIT: Fish People/Parlophone/Rhino 

remastered albums and boxsets because November is a big month for anniversaries. In addition to The Red Shoes, Aerial, Lionheart, and 50 Words for Snow celebrating various anniversaries, The Whole Story turned thirty-four on 10th November. The most-recent anniversary that is coming up concerns Kate Bush’s remastered albums (in boxset form). The vinyl albums (all of her studio albums) were released in four separate boxes; the first two arrived on 16th November, 2018, whilst the latter two came out on 30th November. The C.D. boxes were staggered on the same dates and the remastered albums are all available om digital platforms. If you have not got the sets, they are available here, but I want to bring in a news piece from Kate Bush News when they announced the releases (and at the start, I have included Bush’s response to the reception the news accrued):

“I just can’t believe the fantastic response to yesterday’s announcement of the Remastered project. I’m totally blown away! It’s really exciting and incredibly rewarding for everyone involved to see it being received so positively.

I really wasn’t expecting such an overwhelming reaction. Thank you.

All best wishes,

Kate

As well as the 10 Kate Bush studio albums being made available for purchase separately on vinyl and CD, Kate is also releasing box set Remastered collections – four box sets on vinyl and two box sets on CD. The vinyl albums – all Kate’s studio work – will be released in 4 separate boxes, the first two on November 16 and the latter two on November 30. The CD boxes will be staggered on the same dates. The remastered albums will also be made available as digital downloads.

 The four vinyl box sets are called Kate Bush – Remastered in Vinyl I, II, III and IV and present Kate’s 10 studio albums across three individual box sets, with the fourth set being a brand new 4LP rarities collection of 12″ mixes, remixes, b-sides and covers. The first three LP box sets feature artwork imagery from The Dreaming, The Sensual World and Aerial, unadorned by any text, to mark each era of recordings they contain. The rarities LP box set features a portrait of Kate on the cover. The Red Shoes is now presented in a double vinyl gatefold sleeve format. Note: The Before the Dawn live album set has already been made available by Fish People since 2016 in its own 4LP box.

The two CD box sets are called Kate Bush – Remastered Part I (featuring her first 7 albums), and Kate Bush – Remastered Part II which features Aerial, Director’s Cut, 50 Words for Snow, Before the Dawn and a brand new 4CD rarities collection of 12″ mixes, remixes, b-sides and covers called “The Other Sides” Note: The rarities CDs will only be available as part of the second CD box set.

The Other Sides – Track-listing of rarities discs (vinyl and CD):

12” MIXES

Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God)

The Big Sky (Meteorological Mix)

Cloudbusting (The Orgonon Mix)

Hounds Of Love (Alternative Mix)

Experiment IV (Extended Mix)

 IMAGE CREDIT: Fish People/Parlophone/Rhino 

THE OTHER SIDE 2

Home For Christmas

One Last Look Around The House Before We Go

I’m Still Waiting

Warm And Soothing

Show A Little Devotion

Passing Through Air

Humming

Ran Tan Waltz

December Will Be Magic Again

Wuthering Heights (Remix / New Vocal from ‘The Whole Story’)

THE OTHER SIDE 1

Walk Straight Down The Middle

You Want Alchemy

Be Kind To My Mistakes

Lyra

Under The Ivy

Experiment IV

Ne T’Enfuis Pas

Un Baiser D’Enfant

Burning Bridge

Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God) 2012 Remix

IN OTHERS’ WORDS

Rocket Man

Sexual Healing

Mná na hÉireann

My Lagan Love

The Man I Love

Brazil (Sam Lowry’s First Dream)

The Handsome Cabin Boy

Lord Of The Reedy River

Candle In The Wind”.

I have pulled off quite a lot to chew here, but one big reason for marking the second anniversary of the remastered sets is two-fold. For one, it is close to the anniversary of The Whole Story. Prior to The Whole Story in 1986, there had not been a greatest hits package from Bush. This Woman's Work: Anthology 1978–1990 was released in 1990, but that was more of a collection of all of her albums rather than a precise presentation of her best work on a single album. Nearly three decades after that huge retrospective, Bush put out these great packages. Previously, it was quite difficult to get certain studio albums on vinyl – as I have said - and here we have the studio albums on their rightful format!

katebushnews.com · Kate Bush Fan Podcast Episode 10: Eat The Music - Musings on a Feast of Remasters!

What was most interesting to me was that, on the fourth vinyl box, we got The Other Side (parts one and two), and In Others’ Words – giving us a chance to hear some B-sides and great covers. A lot of the material would have been familiar to many, but putting out the studio albums and rarer tracks was a great opportunity to reach new fans. Some people wondered whether there was a missed chance in terms of putting out even more material in terms of unheard demos, live recordings and unique rarities, but I think there is a great spread across the sets. In 2011, Bush released Director’s Cut: reworkings of songs she was not overly-happy with on The Sensual World (1989), and The Red Shoes, and this was another case of revisionism and retrospection – something she had not really done in the past. Ahead of Christmas, I do think the remastered sets are a perfect gift for any Kate Bush fan and those who are unfamiliar with her work. I will mention the second reason why I wanted to mark the anniversary of the boxsets, but one notable thing about the remastered sets is that Remastered Part I (Remastered Parts I-II in Vinyl), and Remastered Part II (Remastered Parts III-IV in Vinyl) were released on Bush’s Fish People label (alongside Parlophone and Rhino) – The Other Sides, released initially as part of the Remastered box set, and subsequently as a stand-alone four-C.D. set on 8th March, 2019 (released through Fish People and Rhino).

  IMAGE CREDIT: Fish People/Parlophone/Rhino

The fact the albums were released on Bush’s own label meant that she could remaster the albums in order to fit how she would have wanted them to sound originally. There is debate when it comes to remasters as to whether they improve on the originals and are necessary but, as she remastered/reworked songs from The Sensual World, and The Red Shoes in 2011, I guess she was quite keen to look at the other albums – many albums were also out-of-print prior to 2018, so many fans would have experienced these albums for the first time in remastered form. Bush didn’t like when her albums sounded too compressed and digitised so, contrary to how many artists approach remasters, the 2018 versions almost sound less modern and sharp. The 2018 remasters feel warmer and fuller than the original albums in a way, and I think that completion closed a chapter whereby Bush got to correct ‘errors’ or unhappiness she felt with the original studio albums. I will wrap up soon, but I just want to bring in a couple of reviews for the remastered sets. This is what Classic Pop Magazine had to offer:

“The Kate Bush Remastered CD Box 1 (or Vinyl Box 1 and 2) collects the albums from 1978’s The Kick Inside to 1993’s The Red Shoes and is frequently staggering. Her debut spawned not only the phantasmal Wuthering Heights but also The Man With The Child In His Eyes, a miracle of insatiable, mystical dream-pop.

 IMAGE CREDIT: Fish People/Parlophone/Rhino 

Bush’s first albums brimmed with art-pop of almost unconscionable vim and imagination. Lionheart (also 1978) and Never For Ever (1980) found her training a childlike eye on adult emotions via meditations such as In Search Of Peter Pan and the fluttering Babooshka. By her 1982 masterpiece The Dreaming, Bush was both feverishly sampling and producing her own album – unheard of in those sexist times.

Her vocals, alternately raw and immaculate, were a thing of wonder on 1985’s Hounds Of Love and 1989’s The Sensual World (a quintessential Bush LP title). On The Red Shoes, she further explored themes of sex, sensuality and gender roles.

The albums making up Kate Bush Remastered CD Box 2, from 2005’s Aerial to 2011’s 50 Words For Snow, are bigger on stylised reflection and lighter on impactful pop hooks, but harbour moments of genius such as poignant 2005 single King Of The Mountain. Bonus tracks include 12″ mixes, B-sides and (in the CD box only) 2016 live album Before The Dawn.

Driven, visceral, thespian, experimental and yet capable of conjuring up sheer pop nuggets, Kate Bush has always been a groundbreaking, very British artist like no other. That Johnny Rotten knew what he was yelling about…”.

  IMAGE CREDIT: Fish People/Parlophone/Rhino

In another review, Attitude praised the remastering job and sound - and they made some interesting observations regarding omissions.

“Kate worked in conjunction with James Guthrie on the remastering and they’ve done an amazing job. Rather than just pumping up the volume, they’ve gone for nuance and clarity so the drums on ‘Running Up That Hill’ pound a little harder and the shattered glass on ‘Babooshka’ is crystal clear.

An even bigger treat for fans is 'The Other Sides', a four-disc compilation of 12 inch mixes, B-sides and rarities (like the haunting ‘Under The Ivy’), one-off singles (like ‘December Will Be Magic Again’) and cover versions such as Kate’s reggae take on Elton’s ‘Rocket Man’ and her surprisingly faithful version of Marvin Gaye’s ‘Sexual Healing’.

Also included are the 1986 remix of ‘Wuthering Heights’ and the underrated ‘Experiment IV’, both of which originally featured on singles collection 'The Whole Story'. The fact said best-of isn’t included in either set and nor is the live 'On Stage EP' means this isn’t quite the whole Kate Bush story”.

It is interesting what they write about songs that should have been included. Thirty years after that This Woman’s Work package, maybe there is a demand for a new collection or a greatest hits package like The Whole Story that fills in the gaps between 1986 and now. I do feel that live recordings have been lacking when it comes to packages and boxsets. Bush’s Before the Dawn live album has already been released in a vinyl box, but what about 1979’s The Tour of Life?!

  IMAGE CREDIT: Fish People/Parlophone/Rhino

Maybe there aren’t great recordings of those sets, but many would jump at the chance to hear as many live recordings from that incredible tour on vinyl. Similarly, there must be demos and some earlier recordings that would go together on a new set. I wonder whether Kate Bush will ever consider opening the pantry wider when it comes to those recordings, or maybe she is just looking ahead to releasing new material. The second reason why I wanted to mark two years of the remastered sets being released is that, next month, a very special magazine is being released. Kate Bush News gives us more details:

“Something we’ve never seen before – an ENTIRE full colour issue of the legendary Record Collector magazine devoted to Kate Bush. It hits the shops December 3rd. This magazine has always taken Kate very seriously over the years as an artist who also happens to have a highly collectible body of work. As such they always put Kate’s fans front and centre. This “bookazine” is no exception, pages upon pages of content here illuminate just what Kate means to fans AND for the very first time is rich with illustrated features about collecting the music that we love – and there has been significant input from Kate’s fans to make this very special indeed. We’re excited. Do not miss! PRE-ORDER YOUR ISSUE HERE!

IMAGE CREDIT: Record Collector Music Magazine 

Here’s what Record Collector says: “This latest RC special gives fans the definitive guide to collecting one of the most extraordinary musicians of our times with a comprehensive UK discography, in-depth guides to collectables and memorabilia, all of her studio albums revisited by some of RC’s finest writers, fans and musicians on what Kate means to them, unpublished photographs, an evocative piece on her remarkable live comeback, and so much more. Available for pre-order: 5 November. Release date: 3 December – Note: Due to lockdown, there may be a slight delay with dispatch of your order”.

It ill be great to see that magazine, as it will go beyond the studio albums and obvious and introduce people to the entire Kate Bush universe. 2020 has been an interesting year where three different magazines have been published that go deep with Kate Bush’s work – the first was MOJO’s Collectors’ Series, and then PROG’s celebration of Never for Ever at forty. There is still this appetite and fascination regarding Kate Bush’s work and, as the upcoming Record Collector magazine will show, there is so much love out there for her! As we mark two years since Bush’s last significant output - and one that goes deep and covers her whole career -, I think the magazine is good timing, as it will be a career retrospective and it will urge people to buy the studio albums. If you have not got the 2018 remastered sets, then I would encourage people to buy them as they are…

  IMAGE CREDIT: Fish People/Parlophone/Rhino

WELL worth some investment.

>

FEATURE: The November Playlist: Vol. 2: I Don't Want Press to Put Your Name Next to Mine

FEATURE:

 

 

The November Playlist

IN THIS PHOTO: Billie Eilish/PHOTO CREDIT: Sara Jaye Weiss/Rex 

Vol. 2: I Don't Want Press to Put Your Name Next to Mine

__________

THIS week has produced…

 IN THIS PHOTO: BENEE

a couple of huge songs from brilliant artists. Billie Eilish has released the single, Therefore I Am, ahead of a possible new album, and there is also a terrific song from Foo Fighters. Alongside them is new material from Loye Carner, Django Django, Pom Poko, BENEE, Sharon Van Etten, AC/DC, Paris Jackson, and Drug Store Romeos. Throw into the mix some Phoebe Bridgers, Haim, The White Stripes (a new video for a classic song), Paul McCartney (an older song on a new E.P., Home), Pale Waves, and the BBC Radio 2 Allstars, and it is a really varied and solid week for music! If you require some jolt and motivation to get the weekend started, then take a listen to the Playlist - as there is more than enough in the mix to get the spirits up and boost those energy levels. So close to the end of the year and, as you can see below, those in the music industry are really not…

 IN THIS PHOTO: Foo Fighters/PHOTO CREDIT: Danny Clinch

LETTING the quality drop!

ALL PHOTOS/IMAGES (unless credited otherwise): Artists

__________

Billie Eilish – Therefore I Am

 PHOTO CREDIT: Dean Chalkley

Loyle Carner – Yesterday

PHOTO CREDIT: Brantley Gutierrez

Foo Fighters – Shame Shame

Django Django – Glowing in the Dark

Paul McCartney - Home Tonight

PHOTO CREDIT: Jenny Berger Myhre

Pom Poko – Like a Lady

IN THIS PHOTO: The White Stripes in 2001

The White Stripes - Apple Blossom

Alfie Templeman  - Shady

BENEE – KOOL

PHOTO CREDIT: Suki Dhanda/The Observer

Sharon Van Etten - Blue Christmas

Haviah Mighty – Atlantic

PHOTO CREDIT: Janell Shirtcliff

Paris Jackson – Scorpio Rising

AC/DC – Realize

Lil Nas X – HOLIDAY

Drug Store Romeos – Jim, Let’s Play

Haim - Feel the Thunder (from The Croods: A New Age)

IN THIS PHOTO: Maggie Rogers/PHOTO CREDIT: Cameron Pollack/NPR

Phoebe & Maggie – Iris

Phoebe Bridgers – Kyoto (Copycat Killer Version)

BBC Radio 2 Allstars/BBC Children in Need – Stop Crying Your Heart Out

Pale Waves – Change

PHOTO CREDIT: Luka Booth

Marika Hackman – Playground Love

Katy J Pearson – Tonight

Run the Jewels – No Save Point (from Cyberpunk 2077)

PHOTO CREDIT: Shervin Lainez

The Antlers - It Is What It Is

Celeste – A Little Love

PHOTO CREDIT: Donald Milne

Teenage Fanclub – Home

IN THIS PHOTO: Violet Skies

Violet Skies (ft. Molly Hammar) – Lonely

The Pale White – Glue

Lilla Vargen – Blueprints

Rico Nasty – OHFR?

Baby Queen – Online Dating

GRACEY – 99%

PHOTO CREDIT: Becky Fluke

Chris Stapleton – Starting Over

Anne-Marie - Problems

PHOTO CREDIT: Marieke Macklon

Ruby Gaines – Without a Gun

Litany - Uh-huh

Liv Dawson - Trust Issues

Liza Owen - STARRY EYED

George Maple - Fade

FEATURE: Second Spin: MARINA – Love + Fear

FEATURE:

 

 

Second Spin

MARINA – Love + Fear

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OVER the past few weeks…

I have been listening to a lot more Pop that I wouldn’t normally investigate. I have always known about Marina Diamandis and her Marina and the Diamonds, and her albums are really strong; they can cross borders and age barriers and resonate with everyone. I don’t think one should label and pigeonhole artists and albums and, with Marina and the Diamonds, it is just great music that anybody can bond with. Love + Fear (2019) was the first album under the mononym, MARINA, and that does not signal a radical departure in terms of the previous three studio albums. On her fourth outing, I think there is more ambition, ‘herself’ and variation than any album previously. Love + Fear is a double album that is divided into two eight-track sides. It is an interesting concept and, whilst other artists have done similar, I think Diamandis really adds something new and unique to the mix. According to the songwriter, all human emotions stem from love and fear; there are tributaries and similar emotions, but there is that starting place of love and fear – from love comes happiness and peace, whereas fear leads to guilt and hate. It is an interesting approach, and I think that idea could be widened to a visual project or short film. I am not sure whether there are plans to adapt the album, but I think there is more life in it. That is one reason why I think critics overlooked it somewhat!

I admit that there are more strong songs on the album’s first half – with Handmade Heaven, and Orange Trees -, but there is great consistency and very few weak moments. At sixteen tracks and running at under an hour, I don’t think Love + Fear outstays its welcome; there are great non-singles like To Be Human, and Too Afraid that warrant new interrogation. Diamandis manages to keep the listener invested and interested from the start to finish! The album did get a few massive reviews, but many were sort of three-star assessments that offered positives and some constructive criticism. In their review, this is what Pitchfork observed:  

“Elsewhere, though, Marina finds herself unable—or maybe afraid—to offer any originality. “True” is little more than a string of bland body-positivity slogans, too stale for a Dove commercial a decade ago. “Superstar” hints at substance by pairing foreboding minor-key synths with the opening lyric, “Before I met you, I pushed them all away,” then devolves into a standard, sugary love song. On “To Be Human,” Marina stretches the bridge of U2’s “Beautiful Day” to the length of a full song, and fills the space with a bizarre reference to Vladimir Lenin’s embalmed corpse. Though Marina has called “To Be Human” the album’s “most political song,” she resists making any definitive statements.

When she sings, “There were riots in America/Just when things were getting better,” she doesn’t deign to place the lyric in context. Which riots? What was getting better, and for whom? By contrast, “Savages,” a standout from 2015’s Froot, offered a blazing indictment of human aggression that simultaneously demonstrated Marina’s strength as a songwriter: “I’m not afraid of God/I am afraid of man”.

I do think that Love + Fear has so many depths and standout moments and, whilst I had not dug into too many Marina and the Diamonds albums prior to last year’s Love + Fear, after hearing tracks on that album I then went back and compared the albums. In a more positive and accurate review, AllMusic went into depth:

“Shedding the "and the Diamonds" appendage of her stage name, Welsh pop maven Marina emerged from a self-imposed four-year absence to unveil a revitalized approach on her fourth album, Love + Fear. Stepping into the spotlight without the protection of her former moniker, she reveals a renewed confidence and tempered optimism, shedding some of the quirkiness and cheek of her early efforts, while moving past 2015's lackluster Froot. Following the difficult promotion of that album, Marina was worn out and considered quitting music. She retreated to recalculate life, studying developmental psychology -- a process she describes in "Handmade Heaven" -- and shedding the Diamonds to be herself. Alongside producers Joel Little, OzGo, Sam de Jong, and others, she crafted a double-album concept presented as complementary sides reflecting the two base emotions (according to psychiatrist Elisabeth Kübler-Ross).

Kicking off the album with Love, Marina embraces optimism and peace with joyous dance-pop cuts and feel-good anthems packed with enough lyrical life mantras to fill a gallery's worth of affirmative self-help posters. Even on existential ruminations "To Be Human" and "End of the Earth," the purity of Marina's wonder helps pull some clunky "We Are the World"-esque lyrics from drowning in corny sentimentality. Most of the album's standouts reside in this first half, such as the shimmering "Handmade Heaven" and the pulsing "Superstar." Marina's irresistible Latin-kissed hit "Baby" -- a collaboration with Clean Bandit and Luis Fonsi -- slides comfortably into the mix, while the insightful "Enjoy Your Life" empowers with a motivating message that finds Marina sharing her positive headspace with listeners who might need this aural pep talk.

Hopping over to Fear, she delves deeper into the troubled thoughts and anxieties that bubbled beneath Love's sparkling surface. "Believe in Love" sounds like a Reputation-era Taylor Swift song, a bittersweet heartbreaker that pairs twinkling piano and a mid-tempo beat with the sentiment that "losing you is what I'm afraid of." "Life Is Strange" prolongs the inner turmoil as Marina admits "[I] don't know what I'm doing with my life" before concluding "all we know is life is strange" with quirky production that echoes her Family Jewels sound. These songs are a bit lyrically heavy for pop, but they remain catchy enough to dance and groove through the gloom, especially on the Broods-featuring "Emotional Machine," a throbbing club track that eschews the rest of this half's by-the-numbers approach (which falls somewhere between Swift and Ellie Goulding).

By the time Marina reaches her big cathartic moment on album closer "Soft to be Strong," she's realized "when love is lost, it's only fear in disguise" and resolves that "love has to be soft to be strong”.

As the first offering of a new stage in her career, Love + Fear not only reveals its creator as newly hopeful, but it also gives hope that future efforts might be carved in a similar fashion. Marina's Electra heart still beats, it's just pumping smoother and with a confidence born from a renewed and mature perspective”.

I would urge anyone who has not yet approached the album to give it a spin. Even if you are not a huge Pop fan or think it is not up your street, spend a little bit of time with one of last year’s most underrated albums. I do love a good concept album and I think Love + Fear is rich and well developed. MARINA, in her new guise and formation, sounds phenomenal throughout and, as a co-writer on all tracks, you get this conviction and connection to the material. Over a year after its release, I think Love + Fear should get some more focus as it is a really solid album and it will be interesting to see where MARINA heads on her next album. From Baby, to End of the Earth, through to Life Is Strange, and No More Suckers, Love + Fear is an album full of…

TERRIFIC songwriting.

FEATURE: Too Good to Be Forgotten: Songs That Are Much More Than a Guilty Pleasure: Europe – The Final Countdown

FEATURE:

 

 

Too Good to Be Forgotten: Songs That Are Much More Than a Guilty Pleasure

Europe – The Final Countdown

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I am moving onto a song from the 1960s or early-2000s…

for my next instalment but, thinking of when I included Boston’s More Than a Feeling a few weeks back in this feature, I think another song from a similar sonic field that gets an even worst rap is Europe’s The Final Countdown. To many, the video and song represents the very worst of Glam Metal/Hair Band; it does not really have much bite or weight, and the lyrics do not seem to mean too much! One might find this song on a collection of the best driving Rock anthems, and there is this feeling that the song is a guilty pleasure and not one you’re really meant to love. Like so many songs that are considered dated and a bit cheesy down the line, in 1986, The Final Countdown did really well. The Swedish band were inspired, apparently, by David Bowie’s Space Oddity in the lyrics, and there was originally no intention to include it on any album – it would be a good song to open their sets. Reaching number-one in twenty-five countries, The Final Countdown became an instant smash! I can appreciate why the song did so well: it has a big chorus and it is easy to sing along to; it is catchy and, if you are not looking for too much out of it, the track definitely delivers. I really love the song, as it is pure fun and gets you in a good mood.

One can definitely not argue with its chart position but, as I say with many of the songs featured in this piece, only certain radio stations are likely to willingly spin Europe’s The Final Countdown – in the U.K., probably BBC Radio 2. Written by the band’s keyboardist, Joey Tempest in 1981, he initially came up with a riff and that was it. Bassist John Levén suggested making that into a track and, when it was presented to the band, there was mixed reaction. Tempest won out and he was a bit nervous that the song was a bit different and soft for a Rock band. The Final Countdown appeared on Europe’s third album of the same name and, whilst that album has received some negative reviews and is not often talked about, AllMusic saw positives:

“One of the most glorious launches in history, the title track for the thrice-platinum The Final Countdown is so bombastically brilliant, such glorious garbage, that this nuclear hair assault could only spew from the vacuous '80s. But the full-tilt follow-up "Rock the Night" rules also: "You know it ain't easy/Running out of thrills." "Carrie" comes off a consummate butane ballad. Meanwhile, the rest of the disc packs so much power that Swedish superheroes Europe get away with all the processed pretension. In fact, the lofty ambition of "Danger on the Track," "Ninja," and "Cherokee" (each as tasty as its title) combines with heated drive and hot delivery to meld The Final Countdown into a unique portrait of propulsive prog and a worthy addition to any hard rock collection.

This is the story; this is the legend told by Teutonic guitars and predictable keyboards ringing pure and hurtling through each and every convention perfectly. The quintet's big-boy Epic inaugural, The Final Countdown deftly combines the Valhalla victory of Europe's heroic debut with the American poodle pomposity that devoured the band. You could live without The Final Countdown, but why?”.

I think AllMusic have it right regarding The Final Countdown as a track and the fact it is throwaway, bombastic and silly. It is a great song that is not necessarily looking to be taken all that seriously, so I think there are a lot of Rock purists that turn their noses up. Often, when I hear The Final Countdown mentioned, people feel a bit reserved and think of it as a guilty pleasure. I just want to finish up with a feature from Louder Sound, where the thirtieth anniversary of the song was marked (in 2016). It is clear that Europe still love the song and, though it experienced some blowback and resistance prior to it being unleashed into the world, the joy it brings to fans all of these years later is palpable and not to be taken lightly

“Inspired by his love of UFO, Tempest laid down its galloping beat with the help of a drum machine, and after the word ‘countdown’ popped into his head wrote a set of lyrics that mention of ‘leaving together’ and ‘heading for Venus’. “After that it all came together quite quickly,” he says. “The voice stays in one monotonous line throughout, with the chords moving underneath. Only later in life did I realise that’s how many classical composers work. It’s hypnotic and quite cool.”

Finally, Europe decided that it was time to, in Tempest’s words, “stick our head above the parapet and do something a little different”. In the studio, with John Norum attempting to channel Deep Purple’s Lazy in his guitar solo, the band vetoed Journey producer Kevin Elson’s suggestion of ditching its intentionally British-style beat for an American-sounding one – more of a four-on-the-floor thing.

Tempest insists now that the commonly held perception of the song causing Norum to quit the band is an over-simplification, explaining: “John’s real problem was with Kevin Elson’s radio mix, which turned up the keyboards and vocals and minimalised the guitar.”

However, nobody within Europe’s organisation was prepared for the success that the song brought, topping the singles charts in 25 countries and almost overnight castrating any kind of credibility that the band might have accrued as a rock band. In his early 20s, with poodle-coiffure pretty-boy looks, Tempest found the pop magazines pitting him against the pearly-toothed Jon Bon Jovi, whose singles Livin’ On A Prayer and You Give Love A Bad Name were also riding high in the charts on both sides of the Atlantic.

In The Final Countdown’s 30th anniversary year, Europe having heavied up the delivery a little from the original arrangement, and Tempest insists that all the band still enjoy playing it on stage.

“I love looking out at all the smiling faces when then that intro kicks in,” he says proudly. “In all four corners of the world I’m often told that it’s a bucket-list moment for fans who never saw us play it before. And that’s a very special thing for a musician to hear”.

So many years after its release, and I do think that The Final Countdown divides people. I don’t think that 1986 was necessarily the best year for music when you look at Rock but, with albums like Paul Simon’s Graceland, The Smiths’ The Queen Is Dead, Run-D.M.C.’s Raising Hell, and Metallica’s Master of Puppets, there was some good stuff out there! Look at other songs from 1986 like Bon Jovi’s Livin’ on a Prayer, and I think that was a more successful attempt at melting big hair, great choruses and fist-pumping lines. I like that period of 1985-1986, as you had this songs that are a bit dated now but are great fun – like Huey Lewis and the News’ The Power of Love, for example. I have a fondness for Europe’s The Final Countdown, and in a year when we all need some cheer and energy, it is a song that has a whole new quality and meaning! Though some feel it a guilty pleasure, I think Europe’s The Final Countdown is a song you can…

LOSE yourself to.

FEATURE: The Lockdown Playlist: Some of the Best Guitar Riffs Ever

FEATURE:

 

 

The Lockdown Playlist

PHOTO CREDIT: @markusspiske/Unsplash 

Some of the Best Guitar Riffs Ever

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I have skirted around guitar music…

 PHOTO CREDIT: @vinilowraw/Unsplash

and harder sounds before but, in these playlists, I don’t think I have looked at the finest riffs ever. You have all these lists and albums compiling the great riffs and guitar passages ever; we all have our favourite and, looking through the ages, and there are some epic and brilliant licks and riffs that have stuck in our head and come back to mind over and over again. I really love a good riff so, in the latest Lockdown Playlist, I have put together a passionate collection of stunners that should give you a little bit of…

 PHOTO CREDIT: @itssammoqadam/Unsplash

KICK and spark.

FEATURE: Getting Better: Revisiting The Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band

FEATURE:

 

 

Getting Better

Revisiting The Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band

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NOT related to any anniversary…  

 IN THIS PHOTO: The Beatles in 1967/PHOTO CREDIT: David Magnus

or catalyst for inspiration, I have been listening back to The Beatles a lot and re-exploring that timeless question: Which album of theirs is the best? I think that, obviously, is a subjective measure, but through the years there has been a change of position between Revolver, Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, and Abbey Road. There was this period when Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band was considered the best, as its cultural impact was so obvious and powerful. I think Abbey Road is seen by most as the crowning achievement from the band, and Revolver has always had a reputation as being this work of genius. To me, I think Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band is The Beatles’ most influential album, and I think it is one of their most important. From its release on 1st June, 1967, there was this incredible reaction from the public. From its iconic cover through to the fact that the band were at their experimental best, Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band had this reputation and enormous legacy. By 1966, The Beatles retreated from touring because of its stress and the fact they could not hear themselves sing, and the group faced hurdles after their first tour following the completion of Revolver in 1966 – there was a threat from Tokyo based on The Beatles’ plans to play the sacred Nippon Budokan arena.

There was less need for the band to tour and, with a real lack of impetus and excitement from the lads, the studio became somewhere where they could channel their energies. I think Revolver was a definite high-point, and I do wonder what kind of follow-up album The Beatles would have produced if they kept touring. Pushing the studio to the limits, Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band was such a pivotal album. From the band putting out this ‘concept’ of them as a fictional band, to the extraordinary closing track, A Day in the Life, one can understand why Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band has this reputation and it was seen for so many years as The Beatles’ best album. I think one of the reasons why Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band has been ‘downgraded’ in terms of its quality and position in the list of The Beatles’ best albums is because of its consistency. I will mention in a moment why I am revisiting the album, but I think a lot of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band’s popularity was to do with aspects away from the songs themselves. The cover and the visual aspects of the album were celebrated, in addition to the way the album changed culture in the 1960s. The band were experimenting more with drugs and LSD was a drug that Paul McCartney especially embraced for the first time. Perhaps in an effort to connect more profoundly with John Lennon as a writer, there is this sense of psychedelia and lysergic influence running through the album.

Of course, 1967 was the Summer of Love, and there was this sense of revolution and positivity from Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. Whilst the album did not promote peace and a huge change in that sense, one cannot overstate how important Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band was in 1967! I think that impression sort of followed the album for decades. John Lennon, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr felt freer with this band-within-a-band concept, but not every member of the band was as necessary as committed as McCartney. There is this shift in terms of leadership with McCartney taking more control and Lennon, depressed and imbibing LSD more, was less focused and happy – Starr, it is said, was quite bored and not overly-interested. Harrison was not as engaged in McCartney’s concept, and there was this sense of the band being divided. The sheer popularity that Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band obtained was unheard of in the twentieth century. The album brought The Beatles music to new age groups and audiences, and there was this sense that The Beatles were ‘serious’ musicians now. In terms of concept, there is not a particularly strong thread that holds the songs together. Apart from the opening title track and the reprise that comes before A Day in the Life, it is quite a loose concept of this fictional band – many have highlighted this as a reason why Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band is not that important or significant.

Other reasons why Revolver, and Abbey Road have overtaken Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band through the years is because the material is not necessarily as consistent as that which we find on other albums. I don’t think Revolver has a weak track and, apart from Maxwell’s Silver Hammer, Abbey Road is pretty flawless – and with its song cycle on the second side, it is innovative as it is astonishing! Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band is not exactly a weak album, but I have seen many critics highlight Lovely Rita, When I’m Sixty-Four, and Good Morning Good Morning as less impressive tracks. Getting Better, and Fixing a Hole are fairly similar in nature and, even if McCartney was the main creative drive, some of his songs were mentioned as less impactful as Lennon songs like Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!, and A Day in the Life (McCartney wrote a bit of that track but it was mainly Lennon). Harrison’s Within You Without You is his love of Indian music at its most expressive and potent but, at over five minutes, it is a bit long! Even if Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band has been reassessed since 1967 and The Beatles put out stronger albums, its relevance and influence is clear. Earlier in the year, Udiscovermusic explained the legacy of the album – I have highlighted a few sections:

“Within five months, Jefferson Airplane released the experimental Sgt Pepper-influenced After Bathing at Baxter’s, which was substantially different to Surrealistic Pillow, a record they had released earlier that year. The Moody Blues were also quick off the mark in adapting to a new musical landscape. Released in November ’67, their Days Of Future Passed album utilised the London Festival Orchestra to help create a psychedelic rock/classical sound that owes much to The Beatles.

 In December, The Rolling Stones released Their Satanic Majesties Request. The album was branded a cynical psychedelic response to Sgt Pepper, and even Keith Richards admitted: “It ended up as a bit of flim-flam. It was time for another Stones album, and Sgt Pepper was coming out, so we thought basically we were doing a put-on”.

Sgt Pepper is sometimes hailed as the first concept album. Even if that’s not necessarily accurate (drummer Ringo Starr freely admitted that there was no consistent theme to the record, and two superb songs from the very early sessions, ‘Strawberry Fields’ and ‘Penny Lane’, were issued separately as singles), people believed it was a “concept” album and the term became part of music folklore.

Perhaps the best summary of why Sgt Pepper was so influential comes from Roger Waters, who explained why it played a big part in forging Pink Floyd’s 1973 masterpiece The Dark Side Of The Moon. “I learned from Lennon, McCartney and Harrison that it was OK for us to write about our lives and express what we felt… More than any other record it gave me and my generation permission to branch out and do whatever we wanted”.

For me, Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band is such an important album now as it was back in 1967. At a time when there has been so much hate and division, it seems like things are starting to improve – with the election of Joe Biden to the U.S. presidency. Not that there will be a huge revolution, but I have been thinking about Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band at a time when it seems like more peace and acceptance will come in.

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I have always loved the cover of the album and all the various famous figures included. Even though many people overlook songs like When I’m Sixty-Four, I really love it and the range of McCartney’s work on the album. He penned my favourite song on the album, She’s Leaving Home but, from the incredible title track to the Ringo Starr-led With a Little Help from My Friends, to the great backing vocals on Getting Better (“It couldn’t get much worse!”); Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band is a wonderful album that is deserving of all its praise and reputation (I would recommend you listen to this podcast for more information and detail about the album). I can only imagine what people felt like listening to the album for the first time in 1967 and the effect that had, not only in the U.K. but the U.S. and the entire world! I recall hearing Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band for the first as a child and being fascinated! The anniversary editions came out in 2017, and there is some debate as to whether the sound and mix is better on the 2017 versions compared to the original. At a hard time for everyone, I have been listening to The Beatles more than ever. As much as I love every one of their albums, there is something about the endless scope and influence of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band that keeps me coming back. So many years after I first heard it, Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band remains…

SO important to me.