FEATURE: Kings of the Stone Age: When Will the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Acknowledge Music’s Queens?

FEATURE:

 

 

Kings of the Stone Age

IN THIS PHOTO: Courtney Love Cobain/PHOTO CREDIT: Nicholas Hunt/GI

 

When Will the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Acknowledge Music’s Queens?

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THE tone…

 IN THIS PHOTO: Jessica Hopper/PHOTO CREDIT: David Sampson

of this article from Billboard, I think, seems to downplay slightly the imbalance that is evident at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Courtney Love Cobain publicised and called out the gender imbalance this week. Rock critic Jessica Hopper pointed out some alarming statistics, and Love Cobain emphasised the poor showing. Hopper’s post noted that 61 — about 8.5 percent — of inductees are women. Hopper went on to write that the representation of women in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame is “worse than women-artists-on-country-radio numbers (10%) and women headliners at major music festivals (13%)”. This is what Billboard wrote about the recent controversy and discussion:

“Citing a tweet from author Jessica Hopper, from the same date, in which the journalist criticized the institution’s programs celebrating Women’s History Month, Love captions a screengrab of Hopper’s post, “So over these ole boys. #fixtherockandrollhalloffame.”

The author’s original post says that of the 719 Rock Hall inductees, only 61 — roughly 8.5 percent — are women. Hopper goes on to report that the representation of women in the Rock Hall is “worse than women-artists-on-country-radio numbers (10%) and women headliners at major music festivals (13%).”

“Thanks so much @msjesshopp I’ve been begging someone to do this math for decades,” Love added.

In 2020, ahead of the year’s Rock Hall induction ceremony, NPR reported on a similar — though lower — percentage. That year, according to the nonprofit media organization, less than 8 percent of inductees were women.

IN THIS PHOTO: Cyndi Lauper is shortlisted for induction into this year’s Rock & Roll Hall of Fame 

Janet Jackson also spoke out on the lack of women in the Rock Hall during her 2019 induction speech, closing with, “Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, please: 2020, induct more women.” Whitney Houston, Pat Benatar and Chaka Khan (with Rufus Featuring Chaka Khan) were nominated for the 2020 class. Of the three, only Houston was inducted that year.

In the second image of her carousel post, the Grammy-nominated rocker shares what appears to be a text message she sent to Dave Grohl, who was inducted into the Rock Hall in 2021 with the Foo Fighters, and in 2014 with Nirvana. “Have fun at rock hall Dave. Make sure and hold the seats of Tina turner & carole king, both who have been eligible for 30! Years each,” her text reads. (Both Turner and King were inducted as solo performers in the 2021 class; the former was previously inducted as part of Ike & Tina Turner in 1991, while the latter was inducted as part of the songwriting duo Goffin/King in 1990.)

Billboard has reached out to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Grohl’s rep declined to comment.

Six women have been nominated for the Rock Hall’s class of 2023: Kate Bush, Sheryl Crow, Missy Elliott, Cyndi Lauper, Gillian Gilbert (with New Order) and Meg White (as part of The White Stripes). The inductees are set to be revealed in May; the ceremony will happen in the fall”.

This year has some legendary female artists on the shortlist, but there are only four women who have been nominated. I think, in the case of Meg White and Gillian Gilbert, that is sharing credit and they are, at best, fifty percent of the act they are part of. It is like people saying there is a female headlining Glastonbury Festival this year because Guns N’ Roses has a woman playing in the band. It is stretching things and de-valuing the worth and sheer number of incredible women out there. Maybe Cyndi Lauper will make it in this year, as the vote goes to the public and she is in a fairly comfortable position. Courtney Love Cobain fronts Hole, and she is someone who deserves entry. There are notable omissions (including Love Cobain) who should make it in. Not being biased, but why has Kate Bush not been inducted already? Someone who is now more visible and relevant than ever, she is someone who should get a free pass in there. Love Cobain should, and I think that Tori Amos should be too (and others agree). How about Ms. Lauryn Hill (as lead of Fugees, she is also soon eligible as a solo artist?! The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame is not about including only Rock bands. The name is a bit of a misnomer. It used to be a little generic and single-minded, but it is actually embracing of all genres. It does still seem to be the way that those who gain entry are white males.

I would love to see De La Soul inducted, or maybe have another iconic Hip-Hop act. This year, A Tribe Called Quest are eligible and shortlisted. Aside from George Michael and A Tribe Called Quest, there are not many male acts I would fight for this year. I am a fan of Soundgarden, so maybe them, but it is women like Kate Bush, Sheryl Crow, Cyndi Lauper, and Missy Elliott that should be inducted. One feels it will be another year where men dominate. I would class ten of the fourteen artists nominated as male/male heavy. That would include The White Stripes, as Jack White is the lead, and I sort of feel like that is who the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame are responding to. What about female-led bands like Hole or Garbage. It is great that some male artists do call out the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, but most of the time it is women fighting for other women. Why do male artists who are shortlisted or inducted not use their platform to call out the injustice?! Maybe that would some ungrateful and a snub, but it is important to raise awareness. Many might say that the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame is ancient and irrelevant, but the idea is to celebrate iconic and legendary artists who have made a big impact. The current record and relative lack of women nominated and inducted does seem to suggest their place in music history is irrelevant or small.

We could all compile a list of the women who have not been inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame who are more than worthy – in the same way we could easily list headline-worthy festival women who are denied or pushed lower down a bill! I do think that there are no excuses in any field when it comes to gender inequality in music. The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame considers artists an individual artist or band must have released its first commercial recording at least twenty-five years prior to the year of nomination. Look to 2024, and we would be able to go back to 1999. I think Britney Spears would be eligible then. The late-‘90s saw an influx of incredible women come through and cement their reputations as queens. Also consider the fact that countless amazing women that this criteria could include. From the 1960s icons through to the plethora of innovative and popular women/female-led bands of the 1980s and 1990s. The choice should give such pleasure and inspiration to those who decide who is shortlisted for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame! I would love to have the privilege of selecting some incredible women. Thanks to Courtney Love Cobain and Jessica Hopper, as they have reignited a debate that has been raging for years. So many times the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame has overlooked women or not made efforts to ensure that their fourteen nominated artists includes greater attempts.

IN THIS PHOTO: When will Björk (whose international solo debut album came out in 1993) be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame?!

It is not simply them doing this to please people and be seen as progressive. It is actually acknowledging the fact that there are scores of women who are worthy and have been left out. It is hard to argue against the statement that the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame is a boys’ club when, year after year, most of the nominees are male/male-led. I have been thinking about all the female artists who inspired and influenced me growing up. Alongside Courtney Love Cobain, I can think of dozens who are eligible for inclusion in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and are as worthy and important as any of the male bands who have been shortlisted this year. Kate Bush will miss out this year by the look of things, and let’s hope at least one women is inducted (I am not including the fact that there is a female member deep inside of Joy Division/New Order, for Christ’s sake!). Something does need to change very soon. I don’t think it is good enough to say that they (the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame) is trying and steps are being made. That is what major festivals say when they have to explain why there are no female headliners. It is very tiring. At a time when we know there are incredible women who could headline festivals, and there are these queens who have impacted music in such a profound way, what is the real reason for bodies like the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame repeating the same patterns?! I don’t think it is good enough – and that has been echoed by so many on social media since Courtney Love Cobain and Jessica Hopper shared the statistics. The inductees are announced in May, and we the ceremony takes place in New York City. Thinking about The Big Apple puts me in mind of Fiona Apple. Another amazing woman who has not been inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame! It reaffirms the clear and undeniable fact that things need to…

CHANGE for the better next year.

INTERVEW: Maggie Miles

INTERVEW:

  

Maggie Miles

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IN this interview….

I get to find out more about an amazing musician. Maggie Miles is based out of Nashville, and she is a wonderful artist that everyone needs to know about. With an awesome new single, Asleep, out, I wanted to know more about it. Miles also discusses her upcoming album, The Lack Thereof. Out on 17th May via Warehouse West Entertainment/BMG Rights Management, she discusses the themes explored on the album, and which of the cuts stands out as her favourite from the pack. I ask which new artists coming through she would recommend, whether there are tour dates coming up, and whether Miles will come to the U.K. and play for fans over here. With such incredible music out in the world, there is a lot of love and demand around her right now. There is a growing fanbase in the U.K. I do hope that she is able to come over here...

VERY soon.

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Hi Maggie. How are you? How has your week been like so far?

Hi! Well. Thanks for asking. I’m pretty great. Currently posted up at Dose in East Nashville, cold emailing and tinkering away at some work.

Tell me about the new single, Asleep. What was the inspiration behind it, and what was your reaction hearing it back the first time?

Asleep came from a place of honest contempt for apathy. I had just released my debut project and knew that the next thing had to happen soon. My producer Liam and I produced the songs together in tandem while I wrote the lyrics. So, hearing it back the first time wasn’t much of a reality for me. It was more. We laid it out and created the soundscape all in real time.

The verse came from me hopping up to the mic not knowing what I was gonna say, but I started humming that intro with a hard tune on my voice and then decided to turn that hum into the word “I’m” then the following sentence “…needing attention, lacking every good intention”. Fell out pretty effortlessly. I remember turning to Liam, exchanging a glance of approval, and sort of running with it.

 It is from your upcoming album, The Lack Thereof. What kind of themes does the album explore, and what was it like recording it?

The Lack Thereof sort of tackles everything: from faith to doubt, apathy to inspiration, and pride to humility. It’s the duality, I think. But most of all, I want people to take what they want away from it, or the lack thereof. ;)

Do you have a favourite track from the album or one that means the most?

I’d say that’s a tough choice! I think Close holds a special place in my heart because it came as such a surprise to create. It was an accidental track. We went into the studio (which was just Liam’s living room decked out with synths, amps, instruments, and outboard gear) with the intention of creating what we thought would be the album ‘intro track’, later known as Stomach. But instead we came out with an entirely new cut. It’s short. It’s sharp. And it’s direct. I love it. Horrified to sing it live haha.

Take me back to the start. How early did music come into your life, and which artists and sounds resonated with you growing up?

Music was always around. But I was sort of too intimidated by it to pursue it. That, and I was pretty stage fright. But I loved the overwhelming emotion it instilled in me to be around it. I started writing because I kind of had to, and it greatly helped me and my mental-health in my formative years. I understood my songs most and they understood me back. That was super stable and affirming. I loved it. The music I listened to spanned throughout my growing up. But early years? One Republic’s Dreaming Out Loud, Coldplay’s Parachutes, Twenty One Pilots, Nirvana, Foo Fighters, The Fray.

Growing up as a pastor’s daughter, did that positively or negatively affect you as an aspiring artist? Were your parents accepting and open to your career path?

My parents have always been very supportive in my pursuit of music. I couldn’t be more grateful.

“There is such talent in this city, and I couldn’t be more grateful for that”

You are based out of Nashville. How important is the city and people when it comes to inspiring your music and creativity?

I think it’s a wonderful place to be sharpened. Lots of iron. But like anything, there’s lots of traps. I can’t become too concerned with comparison and never let it dictate my decisions or career. There is such talent in this city, and I couldn’t be more grateful for that. Let it inspire you rather then drown you.

With a new album coming soon, what does the rest of the year hold? Can we see you on your anywhere?

I’m working very hard to get on a tour for this summer. I’m determined to make it happen! But until then, yes! I am playing an album release show on release day - May 17th - here in Nashville! Headlining the beloved Exit/In. Can’t wait.

I know there are going to be people in the U.K. keen to see you one day. Have you played here before, or are there plans to do so in the future?

That question just hyped me up so much. The U.K. holds such a special place in my heart. I love my Brits! And I’d be elated to get over there! London has actually been my top-streamed city for about two years now. We gotta make it happen!

There are a lot of great young artists like yourself releasing such impactful and brilliant music. Are there any fellow artists you want to give a shout-out to?

There sure are. Here’s a few that I LOVE right now:

Manic.

Laney Esper

Abby Holliday

Moony

Little Image

Finally, and for being a good sport, you can choose any song you like (from another artist) and I will play it here.

Love it. Here’s IDK WHAT I WANT by Abby Holliday.

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Follow Maggie Miles

FEATURE: Beauty Queen: Roxy Music’s For Your Pleasure at Fifty

FEATURE:

 

 

Beauty Queen

 

Roxy Music’s For Your Pleasure at Fifty

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LOOKING ahead quite a bit…

 IN THIS PHOTO: Roxy Music (Brian Eno, Bryan Ferry, John Porter, Andy Mackay, Paul Thompson and Phil Manzanera) in 1973

I am thinking about a terrific album that has its fiftieth anniversary. Roxy Music’s phenomenal second album, For Your Pleasure, celebrates that anniversary on 23rd March. Featuring Roxy classics like Do the Strand, their second album was a stronger and broader work than their 1972 debut, Roxy Music. With stronger material from Bryan Ferry, and finer and more remarkable production, there is greater experimentation and variety through For Your Pleasure. One of the best albums of the 1970s, and one of the most influential Glam Rock/Art albums, I hope there is a new release or a reissue of For Your Pleasure closer to its anniversary on 23rd March. Even though it was not commercially successful in the U.S., the album did reach number four in the U.K. With Do the Strand and Beauty Queen opening the album, you are absorbed into For Your Pleasure right away. I want to get to a couple of positive reviews for a masterpiece album. First, I found a 2012 feature from Pop Matters, where Jason Mendelsohn and Eric Klinger discussed the merits and impact of For Your Pleasure. For those who I have never heard it, then go and listen to this remarkable album:

“Mendelsohn: I’m completely confused by Roxy Music’s For Your Pleasure. I’m unsure how to work it in to my musical narrative, let alone placing it contextually in the canon of great albums, so I’m just going to work it out as we go. From the outset, this album seems a little off-kilter and yet so progressive and forward-thinking that it sounds a full decade ahead of its time. There are so many opposing forces working in the music that it’s hard to believe the band could make a coherent whole, and that strange dichotomy seems to be personified in the presence of Roxy’s dapper frontman Bryan Ferry and the flamboyant, oddball Brian Eno.

This record is strange and wonderful. I’m left wondering why I hadn’t given it much of a chance until now but I can’t help thinking that a certain amount of patience and appreciation for the forebears of the punk and glam standard would first have to be cultivated. In my younger days, I don’t think I would have made it past the first couple of bars of “Do the Strand” and that would have precluded me from finding the scary genius of “In Every Dream Home a Heartache”, the epic grandeur of “Strictly Confidential”, or the sly funk of “The Bogus Man”.

My only question is, where did this album come from? Looking back to the early 1970s British rock scene, you have a rather large power vacuum created by the absence of the Beatles now slowly being filled in by the likes of David Bowie and Pink Floyd. To my ears, Roxy Music is more in line with the glam that Bowie was proffering than the bluesy space funk from Pink Floyd. Even so, For Your Pleasure seems like such a non sequitur in comparison to Dark Side of the Moon or The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars. Or are we looking at a music supernova—an odd mix of both—where the rambling, explorative space funk ran headlong into the bright lights and glitter of the glam ethos?

Klinger: Well, it certainly seems that there are two distinct forces at work here, between the grit and glitz of glam and the more esoteric soundscaping of what critics used to call “art rock”. And you’re right, in one sense For Your Pleasure seems very rooted in its time, and yet it also sounds very much like something we could call the headwaters of New Wave. I’ve always heard a distinctly retro sensibility in glam, although sometimes it’s hard to put my ear-fingers on exactly what I’m hearing that puts me in that mind. Still, I suspect it’s very much there, from Mott the Hoople’s “All the Way from Memphis” right up to Bryan Ferry’s modified quiff. There are flavors of that all the way through For Your Pleasure as well, especially when Andy Mackay’s saxophonery heads down into the honking range, like it does on “Do the Strand”.

The first review I want to bring in is from AllMusic. In their five-star review, they highlighted how tensions between Brian Eno and Bryan Ferry within the band did result in some peaks. The differences of direction and ambition saw Eno shortly leave Roxy Music, but it also resulted in a terrific album where those differences provided beneficial. Nearly fifty years after its release, For Your Pleasure remains this iconic and stunning album that truly announced a mighty force in music. The band would follow For Your Pleasure very quickly. In fact, November of 1973 is when they put out Stranded:

“On Roxy Music's debut, the tensions between Brian Eno and Bryan Ferry propelled their music to great, unexpected heights, and for most of the group's second album, For Your Pleasure, the band equals, if not surpasses, those expectations. However, there are a handful of moments where those tensions become unbearable, as when Eno wants to move toward texture and Ferry wants to stay in more conventional rock territory; the nine-minute "The Bogus Man" captures such creative tensions perfectly, and it's easy to see why Eno left the group after the album was completed. Still, those differences result in yet another extraordinary record from Roxy Music, one that demonstrates even more clearly than the debut how avant-garde ideas can flourish in a pop setting. This is especially evident in the driving singles "Do the Strand" and "Editions of You," which pulsate with raw energy and jarring melodic structures. Roxy also illuminate the slower numbers, such as the eerie "In Every Dream Home a Heartache," with atonal, shimmering synthesizers, textures that were unexpected and innovative at the time of its release. Similarly, all of For Your Pleasure walks the tightrope between the experimental and the accessible, creating a new vocabulary for rock bands, and one that was exploited heavily in the ensuing decade”.

I am always keen and excited to mark important album anniversaries. A fiftieth is a thing to be proud of. I wonder what Bryan Ferry and the rest of the band think of For Your Pleasure all of these years later. It is one of the all-time great British albums. It has lost none of its passion, oddness, beauty, intelligence, and influence after fifty years. Pitchfork offered their thoughts on For Your Pleasure back in 2019. I have selected some sections of the review that caught my eye and are particularly insightful and interesting:

“Throughout the album, the band is puffed up with ideas, and desperate to make an impression. Ferry summarizes his passions for artifice and postmodern thought in manifestos: “Part false, part true, like anything/We present ourselves,” he sings in a theatrical baritone that recalls, at various times, Noël Coward and Dracula. For Your Pleasure is happily pretentious and self-involved, the juncture where glam and prog meet with the greatest degree of success. Glam steals from prog’s song lengths and love of soloing, and prog swipes glam’s exclamation marks and sex appeal.

Ferry was drawn to the anxious, feminine side of R&B, evident on the album’s most retro moment, “Beauty Queen,” which the band bookends into a salmagundi of a song, complete with tempo changes navigated by stalwart drummer Paul Thompson. Ferry is dumping a woman who has “swimming pool eyes,” but it sounds more like he’s pitching woo. He lavishes her with purple praise, promises she’ll be fine without him, and carefully lathers his words with his heaviest Scott Walker vibrato. Ferry, with his fondness for dualities, uses theatricality and even camp to prove his sincerity, implying that everything make-believe is also real, and vice versa.

For Your Pleasure’s two longest songs, “The Bogus Man” and the album-closing title track, leave plenty of time for Eno’s deviations. This first sketches out a musical design for trance, years ahead of it, with a long, minimalist break that confirms Eno’s mantra, “Repetition is a form of change.” Each instrument mutates, minutely transmogrified, on some mysterious cycle. On “For Your Pleasure,” Ferry makes only a brief vocal appearance. Over the last four and a half minutes, producer Chris Thomas and Eno are playing the recording studio as though it’s an instrument, conducting the song at a mixing board, and building a panoramic disorientation. They add more echo on the electric piano, more reverb on the guitar, phasing, tremolo, the drums slip away, and it gently becomes hazy and puzzling: Chopped-up bits of “Chance Meeting” from Roxy’s first album come in—Roxy are sampling themselves—then Judi Dench murmurs, “You don’t ask why,” and almost randomly, la fin. An album that began with Ferry’s request for your attention ends with Eno placing you in the strange new world you were promised. A new sensation has delivered new sensations of arousal and uncertainty.

A few months after For Your Pleasure was released, Eno left the band, quitting before he could be fired, and starting an unparalleled career as a solo artist and producer. Bryan and Brian were incompatible. Ferry was a neurotic—Woody Allen trapped in the body of Cary Grant—while Eno was a disruptor. In interviews, Ferry withdrew like a turtle; Eno excelled at them, and talked fluidly about Marshall McLuhan, Steve Reich, or his ample pornography collection. Eno most avidly pursued the band’s androgynous style, and dressed like he was Quentin Crisp’s glam nephew (leopard print top, ostrich feather jacket, bondage choker, turquoise eye shadow). Out of the chute, he was a cult hero, and Ferry grew tired of hearing punters yell “EEEEEE-NO!” in the middle of ballads, or seeing Eno credited as his co-equal.

The music had no immediate impact in the U.S., where it grazed the album chart at number 193. The band’s two-album deal with Warner Bros. had expired and the label happily left them go. American audiences, Ferry told a British interviewer, “are literally the dumbest in the world, bar none.”

But in England, it was the album of the moment, and Roxy returned to TV’s Old Grey Whistle Test, where Whispering Bob Harris, a stodgy presenter who was still stuck in the ’60s, sneered at them, as he had the previous year as well, dismissing them as great packaging with no substance”.

On 23rd March, the incredible For Your Pleasure turns fifty. One of the best Roxy Music albums in a career that has more than its share of brilliance, the album is still played to this day. I am not sure what is planned for the anniversary, but I do hope that something happens. If it has been a while since you heard For Your Pleasure, then spend some time today re-familiarising yourself with…

THIS work of genius.

FEATURE: The Digital Mixtape: We Got the Beat: The Best Female Drummers Ever

FEATURE:

 

 

The Digital Mixtape

IN THIS PHOTO: Meg White of The White Stripes performing on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart in 2005/PHOTO CREDIT: Scott Gries/Getty Images


 

We Got the Beat: The Best Female Drummers Ever

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AFTER receiving praise, defence, and love…

 IN THIS PHOTO: Karen Elson/PHOTO CREDIT: Emily Dorio for The Glossary

from the likes of Questlove, I wanted to talk about female drummers. Backing it up a bit, Questlove came out to defend Meg White after a journalist stated how The White Stripes (who she was in with Jack White) would be a better band without her. Karen Elson also showed her support for a fantastic drummer:

“This week, a tweet from political journalist Lachlan Markay surfaced in which he claimed that The White Stripes would have been a better band with “a half decent drummer”.

“Yeah, yeah I’ve heard all the ‘but it’s a carefully crafted sound mannnn!’ takes. I’m sorry Meg White was terrible and no band is better for having s***ty percussion,” Markay continued.

The reporter’s sentiment has been widely rebutted by the music industry. Elson, who was married to Meg’s ex-husband and bandmate Jack White between 2005 and 2013, tweeted: “Not only is Meg White a fantastic drummer, Jack also said the White Stripes would be nothing without her.

“To the journalist who dissed her, keep my ex husband’s ex wife name out of your f***ing mouth. (Please and Thank You).”

“By now you’ve probably seen an ill-advised (and since-deleted) tweet I sent out yesterday about the White Stripes and Meg White. It was an over-the-top take on TWS and White as a drummer, and was, let’s face it, just truly awful in every way. Petty, obnoxious, just plain wrong,” he wrote.

“... To Meg White: I am sorry. Really. And to women in the music business generally, who I think are disproportionately subject to this sort of shit, I am sorry to have fed that as well. I’m really going to try to be more thoughtful in the future, both on here and off”.

Not only was Meg White a bad-ass and fantastic drummer, she put so much personality, power and originality into her beats, enhancing The White Stripes’ music, and making it so enduring and world-class! I wanted to build off of the controversy and debate by including her in a playlist featuring some of the best female drummers there has ever been. I may have missed a few great drummers (and the songs are listed by band rather than highlighting the drummer’s name), so apologies if there are any missing! With Meg White leading the charge, below are women whose drumming…

IS in a league of its own.

FEATURE: How Music Shapes Our Lives… Physical and Streamed Music, and How It Impacts and Shapes Memories

FEATURE:

 

 

How Music Shapes Our Lives…

PHOTO CREDIT: lookstudio via Freepik

 

Physical and Streamed Music, and How It Impacts and Shapes Memories

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HAVING read…

an interesting recent article from The Guardian from journalist and author Jude Rogers, it got me to thinking about the way music shapes our lives and how it affects memories. It relates to her excellent book, The Sound of Being Human: How Music Shapes Our Lives. I have always assumed that the physicality of older music leaves a bigger impression in the mind. Memories are deeper and more vivid because of the lack of instant accessibility to everything. The fact that, by saving up and buying albums and singles, they are more precious and that tangibility is more evocative and longer lasting. Rogers explored her memories and theories:

“I’ve always been fascinated by how music affects us and I delved into neuroscience in my book to discover how our brains and bodies are hardwired to respond so powerfully. According to a 2013 University of Helsinki study, humans are capable of memory-building from the womb (a group of babies were tested just before birth, then at four months, to see if they recognised a specific version of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star played to them in utero – and they did). Music can help give us security in our changing identity when we are hormonal adolescents, our bodies telling us to define ourselves separately from our family to help us mate beyond our genes. Wonderfully, I discovered through research that favourite songs can give us the same dopamine rush as an orgasm.

PHOTO CREDIT: Gareth Iwan Jones/The Observer

Music also helps us when we hurt and when we grieve, giving us a familiar place to help us explore and express our feelings – and our brains still respond to music right through to later life, including in people experiencing dementia. I’ve realised I want music to support my son in his life as well as it has supported me, and this feeling is intensifying as he gets older. He was only seven when I wrote my book, getting into his first pop songs that weren’t just for children. We have now travelled from his first love, the Spice Girls, a band he loved dancing to with his female cousins, to a playlist that he shuffles through skittishly. It’s more than 150 tracks long.

My worries about my son’s engagement with music, I realise, are partly about it existing in a digital space, where he can get lost in mood music, or give up self-control. But a chat with Professor David Hesmondhalgh, Professor of Music, Media and Culture at the University of Leeds, gave me pause. He referred me to his 2021 journal article, Streaming’s Effects on Music Culture, which underlined how music has always been tied to functions, from social rituals like weddings and funerals to intimate rituals like singing babies lullabies to send them to sleep. “The recent concerns about the use of music to accompany other activities can seem rather odd when seen in this historical context,” he added.

Upstairs, I can hear my son’s feet dancing through the ceiling…

Hesmondhalgh’s article also cited a sample of 5,000 streaming-service users by Norwegian researcher Anja Nylund Hagen in 2015, which involved people keeping strict music diaries, showing many of them “exercising skill and creativity in searching and browsing, and engaging in substantial curation”. Another study by Dutch marketing professor Hannes Datta showed that new users of a streaming service significantly increased their consumption of artists, tracks and genres that they had not previously encountered.

My son’s playlist is a mishmash of genres that also collapses the distance between decades. Alongside contemporary tracks by Nova Twins, George Ezra and Olivia Rodrigo are Roxette by Dr Feelgood, Copacabana by Barry Manilow and Song For My Father by Horace Andy. He also changes his top 10 all the time: his current favourite is Bonkers by Dizzee Rascal which, unbelievably, is now 14 years old.

The closest I got to this was making mixtapes in my mid-teens: a laborious process involving a double tape deck and much more planning involving controlling the order of songs. When I was in my mid-20s, my mother found a box of cassettes that included a similar tape made by my father. The clunk of record and play buttons being pressed together between songs by Kim Wilde and Roxy Music still hit my heart like a hammer.

‘My life has been shaped by songs.’ The Nova Twins. Photograph: Samir Hussein/WireImage

My “reminiscence bumps” – otherwise known as the vivid recollections of favourite music for people over 40 – are something neuropsychologist Professor Catherine Loveday, of the University of Westminster, is an expert on. So does waiting for music or saving up for it increase the intensity of connection to songs? “Hearing people say, ‘This was the first record I bought’ or ‘I saved for ages to get this’ is common in my work, yes – but it’s important to remember I have interviewed people from their 40s to their 80s,” she says. The older people’s experiences of accessing music were very different, but the way their reminiscence bumps work was very similar.

When Loveday’s older interviewees were teenagers, pop music was not on mainstream radio or TV and music was much harder to buy. Even though young people’s access is almost immediate if they have the right technology, Loveday thinks younger people will experience similar reminiscence bumps when they’re old enough to be studied – and may have an even deeper connection to songs”.

 PHOTO CREDIT: cottonbro studio

The question she posed in the article is whether streaming sites will affect our musical memories. The younger generations are having a different connection and relationship with music compared to someone my age (late-30s). Maybe there is something idealised and romanticised when it comes to past decades. It is true that we had to save up for albums and often record stuff off the radio. We didn’t have access to a wide selection of genres and music as we do not. Mixtapes were quite hard to put together. Now, we can assemble playlists that span the years and genres. It provides these new memories. People can connect with the past, but they can also have these new layers of memories, as Rogers wrote in her article. It is an interesting debate. I do feel that physical music should be preserved and kept alive. Rather than cassettes and C.D.s being seen as relics or something quite kitsch and past their time, you do get a different experience and sensation hearing albums on these formats rather than digital. I am not sure whether I would have such a primal, tangible and long-lasting fascination with music if it were not for the way I connected with it physically. I do feel that streaming and digital music is very valuable. There are definite advantages and disadvantages to how we can access music now. Whilst digital services can provide wide access and richness that we did not have when I was growing up, maybe the accessible, inexpensive, and almost ubiquitous nature means that there is not the same value. I think a lot of the memories I have are because of the way I saved up to buy something, shared it with friends, and kept playing. If you are scrolling playlists and do not have that sense of pride from saving up and owning something, do the memories last as long and mean as much?

 IMAGE CREDIT: Freepik

I am fascinated by the whole subject. I was struck by the article, so I wanted to source some of it here. But I also realised a couple of things. I don’t think that everything was better in the past regarding the way music was digested and handed down Whilst I always maintain that it means more if albums in physical form are passed down and shared, that is not to say that tradition has been abandoned. Parents now have kept hold of albums on vinyl, cassette ands C.D., but playlists and streaming means that younger listeners can bolster that education and palette. The reason I have attachment to particular tracks and albums is because of the setting and people around me. Whether it is falling for Steely Dan because of car trips with my aunt, or the music I was listening to at high school during a formative time or playing a cassette on my go cart whilst whizzing it around the block with friends hanging off the back. Or remembering hearing Betty Boo’s Where Are You Baby? during a warm day as a child and being hooked by its infectiousness. Sure, the physical sensation of putting an album into a device and playing it and sharing it meant that it has stayed in my mind. I feel it is less to do with the physicality or music and more to do with the lack of distractions and the individuality of music. I love the fact that anyone can hear anything now. You do not have to save up for a single album and, therefore, are not able to buy too many albums. It means your tastes are less chart-driven and singular. Streaming services can lead you to artists you might not have thought of. And you can still have that social aspect. You can share songs and playlists with friends. It does not have the same physical and connective aspect. I love the fact that I still have in my family home albums I bought growing up. They each hold fingerprints and memories. I am not sure whether playlists will ever do that.

The point of this was to raise a couple of points. First, things are not as clear-cut as they sound. Jude Rogers’ experiences with her son and the memories he is getting from a combination of streaming playlists and her collections is powerful. It is more than I had growing up, so that sort of education and mixture of physical and digital could mean longer-lasting memories. He gets an attachment and knowledge of his parents, but there is also this new chapter and instant access to old and new music without having to wait or save. The other thing I wanted to raise is how important the physical aspect is. Even if albums and singles were quite sparse in terms of affordability, we keep hold off them and each play and time we revisit stirs up older memories. I do feel playlists and digital music is so vast and accessible, we take it for granted and it is harder to form specific memories and experiences around albums and songs. Maybe a more solitary and less focused listening experience, will children now look back twenty or thirty years from now and remember times they shared music with friends or had precious family moments with particular songs? In all of my prized memories where music plays a big part, I was focused and undistracted.

 PHOTO CREDIT: lookstudio on Freepik

If it was listening to music in the car and particular songs heard on the way back from the airport after a family holiday or a song I heard played in a classroom when I was in primary school, I was always attuned to the sound and let them in. I do worry people in general are more distracted and skimming through music rather than dedicating their full attention and time to it. That may be a generalisation, but it is clear there are blessings and curses with digital music and the relative lack of physical music. The way generations now will remember music and how their memories will differ is really intriguing. I hope physical music is retained and protected as much as possible, as there is no substitute for it. I also would much rather keep the childhood I had, rather than be young now and have the experiences with music young people do now. That said, I never had libraries of music at my fingertips when I was growing up. I can only imagine how that would have impacted my life and what effect that would have had. It is an interesting debate and generational conversation that should be kept alive and relevant. Thanks to Jude Rogers’ article, it has made me think more deeply about music and memories. I think we can all agree about the importance of music. How they keep memories alive, and how they score important times like nothing else. Its power is clear. Music bonds us and creates a very raw and wonderful connection. It keeps alive friends that have left us, and it also gives us inspiration and clarity when it comes to the future. I think we can all agree on that…

 PHOTO CREDIT: Brett Sayles

REGARDLESS of age.

FEATURE: A Legendary Compilation Series: Looking Ahead to the Fortieth Anniversary of NOW That's What I Call Music!

FEATURE:

 

A Legendary Compilation Series

  

Looking Ahead to the Fortieth Anniversary of Now That's What I Call Music!

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IT is no exaggeration…

to say that the NOW That's What I Call Music! compilation series opened my eyes to Pop music. The first copy of the series I bought was in 1993. That was 24 in the U.K. Ten years after its inception, they were already putting out the twenty-fourth instalment! I am throwing fairly far ahead, but this year is the fortieth anniversary of the iconic series. Back in November, NOW That's What I Call Music! 113 was released. As you can see from the official website, the compilation series has broadened through the years. There are compilations relating to decades and genres. On 28th November, 1983, the first NOW That's What I Call Music! was released. I am not sure whether the makers have any plans to mark forty years. As the number forty is relevant to the charts (the top 40 etc.), then maybe something around that? A forty-track ‘best of’ from through the years? It will be tough to whittle down the series to the best forty. The volume that first introduced me to the series came out on 26th April, 1993. That was a couple of weeks before my tenth birthday. As I have said in previous features, I think I may have bought it not long after my birthday. The joy of having the double cassette in my hands might seem quaint now. The NOW That's What I Call Music! series compiles the best music from the charts from throughout the years. Even though it is broadly Pop-based, there is that diversity and range that takes in other genres.

Before I explore my memories of the series and why I think there should be something special done for the fortieth anniversary, here is some background and history regarding the magnificent and iconic NOW That's What I Call Music! compilation series. Something that has a very special place in so many music lovers’ hearts:

“The compilation series was conceived in the office of Virgin Records in London and took its name from a 1920s British advertising poster for Danish Bacon featuring a pig saying "Now. That's What I Call Music" as it listened to a chicken singing. Richard Branson, owner of Virgin, had bought the poster for his cousin, Simon Draper, to hang behind Draper's desk at the Virgin Records office. The pig became the mascot for the series, making its last regular appearance on Now That's What I Call Music 5, before reappearing in 2018, 2021 and 2022.

Original United Kingdom and Ireland series

The idea for the series was conceived in the office of Virgin Records in Vernon Yard, near Portobello Road in Notting Hill, London, by the head of Licensing and Business Affairs at Virgin Records (1979–1990) Stephen Navin, and General Manager (1983–1988) Jon Webster. The concept was taken to Simon Draper (managing director at Virgin Records) and then Peter Jamieson (managing director of EMI Records (1983–1986)). Jamieson had similar plans to launch such a compilation, and he agreed to the partnership. The deal was negotiated and finalised on Richard Branson's boat moored in Little Venice.

The series took its name from a 1920s British advertising poster for Danish Bacon featuring a pig saying "Now. That's What I Call Music" as it listened to a chicken singing. Richard Branson had bought the poster for his cousin, Simon Draper, to hang behind Draper's desk at the Virgin Records office. Branson wrote, "He was notoriously grumpy before breakfast and loved his eggs in the morning, so I bought him the poster, framed it and had it hung behind his desk." The pig became the mascot for the series, making its last regular appearance on Now That's What I Call Music 5, and made a reappearance on the cover of Now That's What I Call Music! 100 in 2018 and Now That's What I Call Music! 109 in 2021.

The first Now was released on 28 November 1983 and featured 30 UK hit singles from that year on a double vinyl LP or cassette. Although the compilation of recent hit songs into a single release was not a new concept (K-tel and Ronco, for example, had been issuing various-artist compilations for some years), this was the first time that two major record labels had collaborated on such a venture. Virgin agreed to a deal with EMI, which allowed a greater number of major hits to be included (the first album in the series included a total of "eleven number ones" on its sleeve). The album went to number one, and soon after, CBS/WEA's The Hits Album adopted a similar format to Now!. The two series co-existed for the rest of the 1980s, and when Universal (formerly PolyGram from Now 8 in 1986 through to Now 42 in 1999) joined the collaboration, the Now! series was more successful commercially. The Out Now series by MCA and Chrysalis was also established as a rival to the series, but was short-lived and lasted only two volumes”.

I was well aware of Pop music and the charts before I got a copy of NOW That's What I Call Music!, but there was something unbelievably exciting about having so many different chart tracks on the same album! Until then, I was listening to studio albums and stuff from my parents. Getting a compilation featuring so many great songs was this amazing selection box. I was a devoted purchaser of the NOW That's What I Call Music! albums right until high school. I think the last one I bought would have been around about 1999 when we were on number forty-four (there were three that year; 44 was the final one of 1999). The fact that the series is still going strong proves a couple of things. For one, there is this appetite for a physical compilation when, effectively, one can do the same on Spotify. Rather than do something digitally and listen in your ears, people are going to buy the album and are playing it in its true form. Whether people are investing in the series and keeping the collection going, buying it so they can revisit it years from now, or they are new to the magic and history of NOW That's What I Call Music!, it is so encouraging to see the series thrive and grow! To me, it is a journal and yearbook of the best music from the year. If the series is quite commercial in terms of the artists that it includes, I think that is the point. What I loved when I got NOW That's What I Call Music! 24 back in 1993 was that here were these chart hits from through the last year/few months that were all in one place! It is a sort of best of the best series, but you do get some surprises thrown in.

 PHOTO CREDIT: @ztapesrecords

I think that there should be some anniversary plans. Not that it is available at the moment – at least I don’t think it is -, but it would be wonderful if the series so far was brought to vinyl and cassette. You can get some of the ‘Yearbook’ and others in the series on vinyl, but not the numbered ones I believe (unless you go through other websites). Maybe that would be an expensive and logistical nightmare, but there are so many who want their favourite NOW That's What I Call Music! album on these amazing formats. Definitely in terms of cassettes, I envisage this NOW That's What I Call Music! pop-up shop forming where you get a vending machine(s) where each album has its own slot/section. It would be numbered 1-113 (or whatever number we are up to later in the year), and you can pay by cash or card and then get the album on cassette from the vending machine. Maybe something old-skool in terms of it being a record shop where you could browse only NOW That's What I Call Music! albums. There is definitely demand for these albums on physical formats. One can buy C.D.s at the moment but, if you want cassettes or vinyl, then you need to hunt online…and it can be quite expensive. You are going to get second-hand copies, and this sort of takes something away! I feel there will be a special compilation to mark its fortieth, but maybe a documentary or podcast that looks back at its inception and legacy. I feel NOW That's What I Call Music! will continue for many more years. For almost forty years, we have bought this amazing series. Long may this wonderful compilation…

CONTINUE on strong!

FEATURE: We’re Not Alone on the Stage Tonight: Kate Bush’s The Tour of Life: The Planning and Anticipation

FEATURE:

 

 

We’re Not Alone on the Stage Tonight

IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush performing at the Falkoner Teateret in Copenhagen, Denmark during The Tour of Life on 26th April, 1979/PHOTO CREDIT: Jørgen Angel
 

Kate Bush’s The Tour of Life: The Planning and Anticipation

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BECAUSE we are in March…

 PHOTO CREDIT: Max Browne

I am thinking ahead to next month and a Kate Bush anniversary. The Tour of Life started with a warm-up gig in Poole on 2nd April, 1979. It was a triumphant night, despite the fact that it ended in tragedy. When checking the venue after the gig for any leftover bits and bobs that might have been left behind, young lighting assistant Bill Duffield fell through an open panel high on the lighting gallery. He died of his injuries a week later. Although it was a devastating start to what should have been (and was) a magical and successful tour, it was a blow to suffer that loss before the first official show. When Bush performed in London on 12th May, the concert had a very different setlist because this was a benefit performance, In Aid of Bill Duffield, that featured guest stars Steve Harley and Peter Gabriel. I wanted to discuss a particular aspect of The Tour of Life. If you do not know about Kate Bush’s one and only tour, then the Kate Bush Encyclopedia provides some useful background and details:

“The Tour of Life, also known as the Lionheart Tour or even the Kate Bush Tour, was Kate Bush's first, and until recently only, series of live concerts. The name, 'Tour of Life', was not coined until after its completion, with all promotional material referring to it simply as the Kate Bush Tour.

Consisting of 24 performances from Bush's first two studio albums The Kick Inside and Lionheart, it was acclaimed for its incorporation of mime, magic, and readings during costume changes. The simple staging also involved rear-screen projection and the accompaniment of two male dancers. The tour was a critical and commercial success, with most dates selling out and additional shows being added due to high demand. Members of the Kate Bush Club were provided with a guaranteed ticket.

Rehearsal

The tour was to become not only a concert, but also incorporating dance, poetry, mime, burlesque, magic and theatre. The dance element was co-ordinated by Bush in conjunction with Anthony Van Laast – who later choreographed the Mamma Mia! movie and several West End smashes – and two young dancers, Stewart Avon Arnold and Gary Hurst. They held morning rehearsals for the tour at The Place in Euston, after which Bush spent afternoons in Greenwich drilling her band. Off stage, she was calling the shots on everything from the set design to the programme art”.

The intercontinental tour was a whirlwind where Bush was performing this huge, almost theatrical set each night. I have recently written about how it would be good to have a release around The Tour of Life. There has not been a lot of retrospection or evaluation of such an important moment in Bush’s career.  In 1978, she put out two studio albums. In November came Lionheart. That was ninth months after her debut, The Kick Inside. It would have been in her mind that year but, having been made to put out a couple of albums in fairly quick succession, it would have motivated her to perform live rather than get right back in the studio. Also, as Andrew Powell produced both of those albums (even though Bush assisted on Lionheart), Bush wanted to do something in her vision. One where she had more control and license. I am fascinated by that preparation and run-up to the tour. It is a pity there is not more documentation about The Tour of Life. Two official recordings were released, both recorded at the Hammersmith Odeon in London. There is the On Stage E.P. that was released in September, 1979, and there followed an hour-long video, Live at the Hammersmith Odeon, featuring twelve songs from the set. Since then, there has been nothing in terms of a remastered set or any new release of a set from the tour. Anyhow, it must have been a thrilling undertaking for Bush and her crew.

As Bush put so much of her own money into it to ensure that it was executed and realised as she wanted it (and reach as many people as possible), it was also really the first time she was surrounded by a team and musicians of her choosing. Although she had a good time and bond with the musicians on The Kick Inside and Lionheart, she would have liked her own band to be there on those albums. I can understand a certain sense of influence from EMI with their new artist. When it came to showcasing her new material internationally, of course the label had input and some control. The Tour of Life very much saw Kate Bush and those closer to her construct something that mixed together theatre, mime, dance, and other aspects. It as an unconventional and groundbreaking tour that was not going to be a normal or straightforward Pop performance. Having watched the Nationwide documentary that showed footage of Bush and her team planning the tour and rehearsing, I do love how much work and time went into it. From the rehearsal side, Bush was eager to get her musicians perfectly in time and step. She wanted the songs to sound as honed as possible, but she also had flexibility when it came to her movements. One of the big desires from Bush was to be able to dance and not to be restricted. She wore a wireless head microphone for the shows. She was the first artist to do so, and it was originally designed from a refashioned coat hanger, until they made something permanent for the shows! Not only did Bush want to get the band tight and well-rehearsed. She also put so much effort into her dancing and movement.

Each song pretty much had a different feel and costume, so Bush would dash backstage to get changed between numbers. Similar to her 2014 residency Before the Dawn, Bush was very hands-on and had say in every element. Over twenty-nine dates, she wowed the crowds! I am not sure when the preparations and planning began, but there were some rather chilly (weather-wise) morning rehearsals held at The Place in Euston. After that, Bush would race over to Greenwich where she would drill the band to make sure all was right. If it seems rather strict, I think it was a combination of Bush wanted to present something that could be ambitious and professional. This was larger than anything she had undertaken, so putting the hours in was essential. Also, she was a disciplined artist who was a success after two albums. Her career was still new, so anything seen as sloppy or below her best could have caused backlash or commercial dents. As it was, the run of shows was a big success with crowds and critics alike! The build-up would have been a combination of nerves and excitement. After working through the routines, set changes, and knowing what the shows would look like and sound, it was now ready for the audiences. Starting officially on 3rd April at the Liverpool Empire, and completing at London’s Hammersmith Odeon on 14th May, Bush , her team, and the set had gone everywhere from Sunderland to Amsterdam to Mannheim (Germany). It was a whirlwind that, whilst exhausting, was also a lot of fun and success.

Even though she lost money from the tour, and it took a physical drain, it was also confirmation of two things. Firstly, that she could assume responsibility (with a team) and create something in her own vision. The fact that her next album, 1980’s Never for Ever, saw her co-produce for the first time (alongside Jon Kelly) was as a result of The Tour of Life. She was no longer willing to let another producer call all of the shots. Another it showed that there was this huge love out there. You get a sense of her popularity with chart positions and reviews, built the physical reaction to her performing from the stage each night was a direct and visceral feedback. People rapturously cheering and applauding Kate Bush. Even though she did not embark on another large-scale live experience for thirty-five years, Bush recalls The Tour of Life fondly. The 1979 extravaganza was something that was necessary after a busy year where she released two studio albums and was hailed as a unique and promising talent. I am not sure that anyone had any idea of the scale and size of The Tour of Life! I think about what it must have been like plotting the logistics. Those early sketches. From the set design ideas through to the rehearsals in London to the warm-up show on 2nd April, there was this anticipation, excitement, and sense of trepidation. As it was, nobody in her circle should have been fearful. The twenty-nine-show run was…

PHOTO CREDIT: Max Browne

AN absolute runaway triumph!

FEATURE: The Legendary Band’s Most Underrated Album? The Beatles’ Please Please Me at Sixty

FEATURE:

 

 

The Legendary Band’s Most Underrated Album?

  

The Beatles’ Please Please Me at Sixty

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DEBUT albums…

are always a little tricky and divisive. Few artists produce their best work at the start, and it usually provides the building blocks for better and more evolved music. Many would argue that about The Beatles’ stunning debut, Please Please Me. It was released on 22nd March, 1963. I wanted to mark its upcoming sixtieth anniversary, as it is a historic album. Whilst it is not the band’s very best album, I do think that it is their most underrated. Many review Please Please Me in terms of its context and the way it introduced The Beatles. Few actually discuss the quality of the album. Yes, there are some rough edges and quite a few covers on the album. Maybe one or two of the cover versions are not as good as they could have been but, when you consider some of the brilliant originals on the album (I Saw Her Standing There and P.S. I Love You among them) alongside some brilliant cover versions (Boys is especially thrilling and standout), it is an album that stands the test of time! Fresh, live-sounding and full of variation, The Beatles mix Pop, Rock and the sound of R&B girl groups in one of the most exciting albums I have ever heard. It would begin a very busy and important career. By 10th July, 1964, the band released their third studio album, A Hard Day’s Night. In just over a year they had not only recorded that much material, but their original and incredible songwriting was coming to the fore.

Paul McCartney and John Lennon’s genius was coming through. Even by 1964, they stood out as the greatest songwriting duo of their time. There is plenty of promise throughout Please Please Me. I love how much there is to love. Each Beatles gets a turn in the spotlight in terms of vocals. The driving and compelling I Saw Her Standing There opens the album in a perfect way (with Paul McCartney on lead vocals). Of course, Please Please Me ends with John Lennon – with a sore throat and cold – sounding shredded, raw, and tired providing one of the all-time great vocals for Twist and Shout. Quite a straightforward album, The Beatles would definitely expand and change their sound. One cannot deny the historic nature of Please Please Me and how it did launch The Beatles to the wider world. To me, their debut album is one of their strongest. They are at that stage where you can hear howe excited they are to be together! Even though albums from Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967) onward are great, splits were starting to form. Please Please Me is the Liverpool quarter at their closest. Even though the fourteen songs on the album are very much a product of their time, Please Please Me is so relevant and identifiable in 2023. At fourteen tracks, you might expect it to be bloated and over-long. With a few exceptions, most of the songs are under two-and-a-half minutes. I will wrap up soon, but I wanted to bring in a couple of different perspectives on The Beatles’ debut. This is what NME wrote in 2016:

“In truth, the real magic on ‘Please Please Me’ lies in the cover versions, The Beatles at this point were born interpreters. Here is where you can literally feel their charisma and their character, honed over those million nights in a million shitty clubs, emanating from the speakers: the way George’s lead vocal gets swamped by his over-keen bandmates’ harmonies on ‘Chains’; the Fabs’ lapdog humour in giving Ringo a song called (and about) ‘Boys’; Paul’s doe-eyed balladeering on ‘A Taste Of Honey’ and John’s ever-so-slightly over-egged, throat-shredding attempts to stamp his ‘I’m a rebel, me!’ credentials over soppy ballads ‘Anna (Go To Him)’ and Burt Bacharach’s ‘Baby It’s You’. Where the magic is most potent here is on ‘Twist And Shout’: where all of these things beautifully combine to present the world with the two-and-a-half minutes that evoke the image of Beatlemania, and thus the earliest peak of pop culture better than any other. Perfection that is all over the shop. Anarchy you could take home to mum. Rock’n’roll that is about fuck-all and absolutely everything at the same time.

They’d make better records, and better recorded records, and more perfectly realised statements, and get Ringo to get rid of the not-very-moptop-at-all quiff he sports on the cover. The Beatles were learning as they went, but the resulting, snapshot nature of their first foray into albums is exactly what makes it so great. It is, and was, buoyed by the excitement of ‘Please Please Me’ the single, for certain. Had they spent another 12 months in the studio re-jigging things and making it ‘just right’, the world may well have moved on to something else. Yet it just came out as it was, imperfect but beautiful enough, then a month later there was another new single, then a couple of months after that another new single, and then a couple of months after that another, better album, and so on. Repeat ad finitum. They wouldn’t let people forget them. Thank God”.

I do genuinely feel Please Please Me is The Beatles’ most underrated album. In terms of how people feel it is promising but not essential. There is such joy, depth, and variegation that you keep coming back to the album time and time again and discover new things. Produced by the legendary George Martin, the album topped Record Retailer's LP chart for thirty weeks, an unprecedented achievement for a Pop album. Intended to replicate the sound of The Beatles live, all but four tracks from the album were recorded on 11th February, 1963. Eight of the fourteen tracks  were written by Lennon and McCartney, which I think is an amazing achievement. The band could have put more covers in, but we get to hear some of the most original Lennon and McCartney originals at the start of their career. Even if Please Please Me has been voted among the best albums ever by some publications, you rank The Beatles’ albums and most would place it down there with Yellow Submarine (1969), Let It Be (1970), or Beatles for Sale (1964). I would actually out Please Please Me third or fourth in the list. Maybe not as strong as Revolver (1966), Rubber Soul (1965) or Abbey Road (1969), it can challenge Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967). That is a big claim, but one I think that is not an exaggeration. This is what BBC had to say about Please Please Me when they reviewed it in 2010:

“Producer George Martin was, in Paul McCartney’s words, unsure of the band’s musical abilities when he invited them to Abbey Road to record songs they’d spent months perfecting live. In that environment they regularly shined, but studio experiences were still comparatively alien. What Martin recognised was a focus, a desire for more than their present lot. He listened beyond the music of the moment, hearing a future that these four young men would shape for themselves. The self-contained pop group was born, and quicker than either band or producer envisioned.

The recording of Please Please Me was fast, the band committing ten of these tracks to tape in just a single day – “a straightforward performance of their stage repertoire,” was how Martin summarised the sessions. Previously released single tracks and b sides completed the set. Featuring more originals than not, Please Please Me saw the McCartney-Lennon songwriting partnership blossom – from the title track to Love Me Do, There’s a Place to I Saw Her Standing There, the collaboration was incredibly productive, and would continue to bear fruit until the group’s Let It Be swan song of 1970.

The immediacy that these songs carry remains irresistible, and Please Please Me’s lengthy reign at the top of the UK albums chart proved the perfect response to Decca’s rebuttal that guitar groups were “on the way out” when the label turned down the opportunity to sign the band. Lennon’s vocal on the climactic Twist and Shout is perhaps the most wonderfully loose, ragged-edged element of the entire record, and the essentially ‘as live’ recording showcases a group with their feet still very much in the clubs and theatres, performance just preceding actual arrangement. Their way with composition is relatively simple; effective, but black and white nonetheless, playing exclusively to recognised strengths.

What followed made The Beatles the inspirational band they’re regarded as today. But the grandest oak begins as the tiniest acorn, and Please Please Me is just that: perfectly formed for what it is, and ready to split when promise is realised”.

On 22nd March, 1963, the world received this unbelievable and bombshell debut album that changed Pop. It reached number one in the U.K. In 2013, Please Please Me’s fiftieth anniversary was celebrated by current artists mirroring The Beatles by re-recording the album in a single day. It and the other recordings were broadcast on BBC Radio 2. I think that Please Please Me is one of the best albums ever. It is The Beatles’ most underrated album – in spite of the fact it has received lots of positive reviews and has been placed high in rankings lists. On its sixtieth anniversary on 22nd March, I hope there is some celebration and a big event. I wonder how Ringo Starr and Paul McCartney will mark the occasion. The joyous and iconic Please Please Me is considered to be one of the most important albums ever. That is going to be the case…

FOR the rest of time.

FEATURE: Laughter Lines: Will We Get a Modern-Day Classic Comedy Soon?

FEATURE:

 

 

Laughter Lines

PHOTO CREDIT: Anastasiya Lobanovskaya/Pexels 

 

Will We Get a Modern-Day Classic Comedy Soon?

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I know this isn’t strictly music-related…

 IN THIS PHOTO: David Jonsson and Vivian Oparah in Rye Lane/PHOTO CREDIT: Chris Harris/20th Century Studios

but, as I am writing the treatment and story for a music-related comedy film, I am interested in exploring modern comedy. It is a very hard genre to ‘get right’. Whereas other genres like Horror can excel and produce surprises, it seems that comedy stalls. Maybe it is because of budgetary issues. Even bigger American comedies do not get the same budgets as other types of films. I know some of the very best comedies ever were made on a very small budget. I am thinking of the likes of Airplane! (1980) and This Is Spinal Tap (1984) – two of the greatest comedies there have ever been. That said, there is definitely a lot more money available from American studios. That is not to say that British comedy – or the entire genre – is in danger of dying. Recent releases such as Rye Lane show there is innovation and new angles to be found, but it is still quite safe in terms of its comedy (the film was criticised for gentrifying the South London area it was set in). Whereas there have been some incredible and boundary-pushing recent films, comedy is not offering up surprises. Even when it tries, it seems to miss the mark. I am wondering when the last ‘modern classic’ of the genre was. When it comes to answering that question, many look back to 2011’s Bridesmaids. An American-made comedy co-written by Kristen Wiig, has there been a better-received comedy since then? I guess one can call recent films like Knives Out (2019) and Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022) comedy-adjacent at least. The latter is an award-winning film, but neither are out-and-out comedies. They have comedic elements. I am trying to recall the last pure comedy that set critics alight. I like the fact Rye Lane is doing well and has scooped more than its share of good reviews. The chemistry and heart of the film is clear, even if the comedy doesn’t go far beyond what you’d expect from a typical Romantic Comedy.

Olivia Wilde directed 2019’s Booksmart. Maybe that is a more recent ‘modern classic’. Again, that is an American comedy. I am not ragging on British comedy, but the best of the best has always come from America – and I think that is always going to be the case. They have the budget and studios that produce the bigger comedies. Maybe there is something in the culture that inspires broader and more ambitious comedies. Of course, when things do go bad for comedies, then it can leave a fouler taste and be subjected to more slander and vitriol! If a comedy really gets the tone wrong, is just plain offensive, gross, misguided, or flat, then it can bomb and disturb in a way other films simply can’t! It is risky getting things right. Many might argue that, actually, 2017’s Paddington 2 is a modern-day British classic. I might concede that. Every five years or so, we do produce something in comedy that is genuinely terrific. As we are in 2023, that six-year gap is being felt! I am not just talking about Britain exclusively when it comes to privation of expectation and a deficit in high ambitions and originality. America does produce the best comedy films in general, but even they have not done a whole lot over the past few years. I am not even talking about merely ‘great’ comedies. Rather, the ones that will be ranked alongside the very best in years to come. If you look at lists of the funniest comedies ever, you have to scroll pretty far down the list before you get anything fairly recent (and, invariably, I think that Bridesmaids usually is the highest-placed comedy that can be considered relatively ‘modern’.)

I see award-nominated films that have these great concepts and push things. Even if there is less money available for comedy films, what is holding back filmmakers from taking a gamble and doing something genuinely fresh and out-there? I don’t think a lack of talent is a reason why there are few genuinely terrific comedies being produced. Can anything come along that challenges the very best of the best? This is a moment that someone will ask the inevitable question. Sure, I have not written one myself, and scripting any film is hard enough. Comedy is such a subjective thing so, even if you think you have a masterpiece on your hands, it may not connect with a lot of people. Writing comedy is extremely difficult, and audiences will perhaps be less accepting or something that is a bit bonkers or has the same high concepts and ambitions as huge films in other genres. I am not saying the comedy I am writing (or trying to) could ever rank alongside the very best, but in terms of concept/hit rate/storylines, it is very different to everything out there – and it goes to great pains to ensure that there are as many jokes as possible on each page. Money is an issue. Even a conservative estimate of the comedy I am thinking of would place the budget at over $25 million. Few studios would ever take a chance on a new comedy writer with an idea that cost that much! Perhaps budget is killing a lot of bigger comedic ideas. Many might argue that the essence of a great comedy film are the jokes. Sure, you do not a bigger budget for jokes and set pieces that are larger in scale, but there are so many modern comedies where the concepts and scripts are so ordinary and predictable.

 IN THIS PHOTO: Yara Shahidi/PHOTO CREDIT: Clara Balzary for DAZED

I am not sure what the problem is. Some simply terrific comedy writers are out there, but are they pitching projects that are being rejected by studios? It is frustrating that there is such potential for timeless and all-time-great comedies to come along…but it doesn’t happen. For every terrific and five-star comedy that we get every five years or so, there are a slew of average, pretty good or downright horrible ones! Whilst there has been a selection of refreshing and interesting comedies from the past few years, most stick in my mind because of the concept and acting rather than the jokes. Others are memorable because of the wittiness and comedy rather than anything original or brave. It is hard to balance and blend the two. I am finding it impossible to get a treatment to anyone. Finding a co-writer who can help bring my comedy to light, Simply getting it to the next stage is proving such a burden. I guess that hinders a lot of people. I have a long cast in mind that would include Elizabeth Olsen, Chelsea Handler, Florence Pugh, Hannah Waddingham, Whitney Cummings, Yara Shahidi, and Rachel Brosnahan. There are writers like Kristen Wiig, Michaela Coel and Greta Gerwig, who I admire but could never reach – the same goes for producers and actors like Margot Robbie. Maybe a lot of ideas and big plans are being dampened and extinguished by the sheet difficult in getting them to people. Perhaps they are changed or told to tone down when it comes to make something affordable or popular. I am not sure. Comedy is essential and one of the greatest forms of film. If you make a classic, it will live for years and give joy to generations to come. Whilst we have seen some sparks and potential classics fairly recently, it has been many a year since something has exploded onto the screen that can sit there with the absolute best. Let’s hope that this will be addressed and corrected…

SOON enough.

FEATURE: The Prettiest Star: Looking Ahead to Big Anniversaries for David Bowie’s Aladdin Sane, and Let’s Dance

FEATURE:

 

 

The Prettiest Star

IN THIS PHOTO: David Bowie as Aladdin Sane/PHOTO CREDIT: Brian Duffy

 

Looking Ahead to Big Anniversaries for David Bowie’s Aladdin Sane, and Let’s Dance

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I am looking quite far ahead…

but there are two David Bowie albums that celebrate big anniversaries next month. One is more notable than the other – that is the one I am going to start with. I shall come to Let’s Dance. That was released on 14th April, 1983. Produced by Bowie and Nile Rodgers, Let’s Dance followed 1980’s Scary Monsters… And Super Creeps. The first album I want to come to is Aladdin Sane. One of his greatest works, it followed two of his other great works. Released on 19th April, 1973, Aladdin Sane came out a year after The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars. That came a year after Hunky Dory. Within such a short time, Bowie had created this run of very different btu equally magnificent albums. A new persona for each one, Ziggy Stardust was gone. In their place was something darker and a little different. I will start off by taking a look at the masterful and iconic Aladdin Sane. As it is fifty on 19th April, I wanted to take a look at David Bowie’s sixth studio album. In the middle of a phenomenal run of creativity and evolution, this was the first album released by Bowie where he was a bona fide star.. Produced by Bowie and Ken Scott, there are contributions from Bowie’s band, The Spiders from Marks. A lot of the songs were written between U.S. shows. It is a fascinating window into this artist adopting this new persona.

There is a much more America-leaning sound on Aladdin Sane. This would not be the last time American influences came into his music, but it was one directly influenced by touring the country. As such, many of the lyrics dissect the dark sides of touring. Coping with this newfound fame, the resultant music could have been a mess. As it is, Aladdin Sane ranks as one of Bowie’s greatest albums. This is what AllMusic wrote in their review:

“Ziggy Stardust wrote the blueprint for David Bowie's hard-rocking glam, and Aladdin Sane essentially follows the pattern, for both better and worse. A lighter affair than Ziggy Stardust, Aladdin Sane is actually a stranger album than its predecessor, buoyed by bizarre lounge-jazz flourishes from pianist Mick Garson and a handful of winding, vaguely experimental songs. Bowie abandons his futuristic obsessions to concentrate on the detached cool of New York and London hipsters, as on the compressed rockers "Watch That Man," "Cracked Actor," and "The Jean Genie." Bowie follows the hard stuff with the jazzy, dissonant sprawls of "Lady Grinning Soul," "Aladdin Sane," and "Time," all of which manage to be both campy and avant-garde simultaneously, while the sweepingly cinematic "Drive-In Saturday" is a soaring fusion of sci-fi doo wop and melodramatic teenage glam. He lets his paranoia slip through in the clenched rhythms of "Panic in Detroit," as well as on his oddly clueless cover of "Let's Spend the Night Together." For all the pleasures on Aladdin Sane, there's no distinctive sound or theme to make the album cohesive; it's Bowie riding the wake of Ziggy Stardust, which means there's a wealth of classic material here, but not enough focus to make the album itself a classic”.

There are a couple of things I want to mention about Aladdin Sane, before I get to a BBC review of the album. The Southbank Centre are celebrating fifty years of Aladdin Sane. There is an exhibition that centres around the lightning flash portrait of Bowie by Brian Duffy, in addition to live music and talks. It will be a must-see for all Bowie fans. Also, there is a fiftieth anniversary release of Aladdin Sane. This is what the BBC had to say when they approached David Bowie’s 1973 masterpiece:

“From the first crashing chord of ''Watch That Man'' you know that this is a rock'n' roll album. If Ziggy Stardust was his Sgt. Pepper (a loose-fitting concept about an alter-ego rock band, but staggeringly good songs), then Aladdin Sane is Bowie's Exile on Main Street and, as if to prove a point, there's even a cover of a Stones song on here: the staunch rocker ''Let's Spend the Night Together''.

The riffs come thick and fast. Mick Ronson might lack Keith Richards' blues licks - he plays guitar like a Hull mechanic, which was pretty much what he was when he joined the Spiders from Mars - but boy, can he play. Listen to ''Jean Genie'', ''Cracked Actor'' and ''Panic In Detroit''. Ronson's six-string shuffle turns his guitar's sound into something that chases you with teeth.

Bowie described this album as 'Ziggy in America', and the rock'n' roll is certainly more down to earth than its predecessor, with the notable exception of the space-age ''Drive in Saturday'', the other-worldly ''Lady Grinning Soul'' and ''Time'', with its echoes of pre-war Berlin cabaret neatly prefiguring Bowie's own sojourn in that city in the later Seventies. Mott the Hoople turned down ''Drive in Saturday'' as a follow up to ''All the Young Dudes'', which was a shame perhaps, but Bowie's recording is wonderfully atmospheric, and it is difficult to imagine anyone else capturing that languid 'Gee it's hot, let's go to bed' feel in quite the same way. 'Pour me out another phone', he sighs, before name-checking Twiggy and someone called Buddy.

Pianist Mike Garson is consistently great throughout this album, and an important adjunct to the Bowie house-band. His weary, decadent piano - put to particular good use on the title track -''Aladdin Sane (1913-1938-197?)'' - was one of the album's talking points when it was first released in 1973. It's lost none of its freeform, jazzy sparkle in thirty years and still sounds as Jackson Pollock's blobs might, had they been splattered onto sheet music instead of canvas.

The bonus disc accompanying this 30th anniversary pressing comprises four relatively interesting tracks - Bowie's own 1973 recording of ''All the Young Dudes'', a sax version of his 1972 hit, ''John, Im Only Dancing'', and the single mixes of ''Time'' and ''Jean Genie'' - and various live out-takes from American gigs of the Seventies.

Aladdin Sane is one of the finest forty-five minutes in rock. 'Crack, baby, crack; show me you're real' he demands on ''Cracked Actor'': a chameleon lost, for one glorious moment, in his own camouflage”.

Let’s come to 14th April, as that is when Let’s Dance turns forty. The ‘80s is not Bowie’s most celebrating or interesting decade, but I do think that Let’s Dance is worth celebrating. Even if Bowie reflected on the aftermath of Let’s Dance success and his subsequent next two albums as a low period (he compared his output to that of Phil Collins), Let’s Dance is fascinating throughout. Recorded at the Power Station in New York City, this album marked some shifts. There were new players on board this album. Bowie also did not play any instruments on Let’s Dance. That was the first time that has happened. Incorporating some Post-Disco and New Wave, it is a shame that Bowie did not bring any of this to his next album, 1984’s Tonight. Let’s Dance was a huge commercial success. Topping charts in many countries, his 1983 release is still his most popular. It is a case of critics being divided concerning the material and Bowie’s new direction. The public and record buyers reacted very differently. They wholly embraced Let’s Dance! I want to move on to a 1997 review from Ken Tucker in Rolling Stone:

“AS A POP-CULTURE changeling flitting from pose to pose, David Bowie is overrated. Ultimately, there isn’t that much difference between Ziggy Stardust and the Elephant Man — they’re both ugly misfits who want to control their worlds. However, as a pop musician, endlessly experimenting and exhausting new styles, Bowie is unduly neglected. He has been consistently astute in his choice of collaborators, from Mick Ronson to Brian Eno. And now, the Thin White Duke has teamed up with a master of black rock, Chic guitarist Nile Rodgers, for an album of chilly dance music.

Let’s Dance sounds great; it’s all beat, brains and breathiness. The album’s most intelligent strategy is its utter simplicity: Rodgers serves up guitar lines in thick slabs, and Bowie’s voice cuts across their surface like a knife slicing meat. His mannered whine is alluringly distant — charming but formal, inveigling but austere. This is as true of a song like the loud, slamming “Modern Love” as it is of the quiet, pulsing “Without You.”

Working as coproducers, Bowie and Rodgers have updated each other’s sound. Although Bowie revitalized his career in 1975 by ripping off a James Brown riff for the hit single “Fame,” Chic’s brand of black rock & roll is more suitable for him. The icy sheen of aloofness that glistens on Chic’s greatest hits (“Good Times,” “Le Freak”) is a lacquer that coats Bowie’s whole career, from “Space Oddity” through the fractured, mysterious LP, Lodger. Rodgers and bassist Bernard Edwards formed Chic at the height of discomania, and while Chic’s work remains interesting and vital, the duo’s career has not: their last two albums have stalled on the charts, and their remake/remodel of Deborah Harry on Koo Koo was a disaster.

For his part, Bowie hasn’t been heard from much since 1980. Scary Monsters was a good album, but it was also a dead end, concluding the themes of dislocation and alienation developed on Low, “Heroes” and Lodger. By superstar standards, it was only a modest commercial success, and its pervasive feelings of dread and sadness were oppressive. If Bowie has become this much of a downer, his audience seemed to say, give us Gary Numan.

But now Bowie and Rodgers are back, and the title song of Let’s Dance is a jittery, bopping single as vital as anything on the radio. It’s also relevant to add that Gary Numan is a has-been: there’s a difference between following trends and running them into the ground, after all.

The trend Bowie and Rodgers are following is Eighties-style dance music. Let’s Dance is synth-pop without the synths — or, at least, without their domination. Although Rob Sabino adds splashes of keyboards, Rodgers’ guitar does the work that synthesizers usually do these days, providing the foot-tapping hooks and an aura of cool.

For all its surface beauty, though, there’s something thin and niggling about Let’s Dance. Perhaps it’s Bowie’s choice of material, some of which is recycled: “China Girl,” cowritten by Iggy Pop, appeared on Pop’s 1977 LP, The Idiot; “Criminal World” was recorded by Metro; and “Cat People (Putting Out Fire)” is a rerecording of Bowie and Giorgio Moroder’s theme song for Paul Schrader’s Cat People film. Subtract these three tunes — and they are certainly the most subtractable songs on the album — and you’re left with five songs. Of these, “Ricochet” borrows the tape trickery, anonymous voices and rhythms of Eno and David Byrne’s My Life in the Bush of Ghosts, while “Let’s Dance” refurbishes the hook of Chic’s “Good Times.”

That leaves three pristine lovelies, and I’m tempted to employ a reviewer’s cliché and say they’re worth the price of the album. I’ll resist, however, for it is only in the context of the whole record that “Modern Love,” “Without You” and “Shake It” take on their most dramatic effects. This trio of songs offers some of the most daring songwriting of Bowie’s career. The lyrics are so simple they risk simple-mindedness, yet I’d give a hundred “Space Oddity”s for the elegant cliché twisting at the climax of “Modern Love”: “Modern love gets me to the church on time/Church-on-time terrifies me.” As a rock statement about growing up and facing commitments, that couplet beats the hell out of Jackson Browne.

“Without You” and “Shake It” are two of a kind: the former features the most exquisitely unaffected vocal performance Bowie has yet attempted, while the latter adds wit to candor. Quite aside from a verse about Manhattan that should make cabaret writers Kander and Ebb squirm with jealousy (“I could take you to heaven/I could spin you to hell/But I’ll take you to New York/It’s the place that I ??now well”), “Shake It” is Bowie’s most triumphant stab at deflating the portentous persona of David Bowie Superstar. Having spent a career donning masks, acting existentially neurotic and pushing his latest image, Bowie lets his voice slip demurely behind the lurching beat and a squealing backup chorus, only to suddenly surge forward and deliver the lines that end the album: “When I’m feeling disconnected, well, I sure know what to do/Shake it, baby.”

It’s a great, giddy moment: David Bowie cuts a rug, and cuts the crap. Love is the answer, get down and boogie. Let’s dance, indeed”.

Just before finishing up, back in 2018, Albumism revisited Let’s Dance for its thirty-fifth anniversary. Whilst not in the upper tiers of David Bowie’s incredible and peerless catalogue:

“Several projects on the stage and the silver screen—notably The Elephant Man and Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence—kept Bowie busy post-Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps). This is to say nothing of his 1981 alliance with Queen on “Under Pressure.” The pace picked up though in 1983. The musical upstart had not only signed a new deal with EMI Records, but sessions for his next project, Let's Dance, had begun to percolate. Having (temporarily) parted ways with his longtime musical partner Tony Visconti, Bowie took up company with Nile Rodgers, the founding member of the seminal disco-soul outfit Chic and an emergent producer and songwriter in his own right.

The Bowie/Rodgers relationship, later reprised on the unsung Black Tie White Noise (1993), has been one of much discussion and study. Some have remarked that their pairing was the shrewdest of partnerships, but the music they made together posited that there was more happening between the two. Both men were pushing the other toward the limits of his imagination during the three week incubation period for the forthcoming album. Let's Dance is the ultimate expression of David Bowie's absolute awareness and application of his abilities in song.

With exceptions issued to “China Girl” and “Cat People (Putting Out the Fire)”—pieces that existed in prior iterations and were re-recorded for Let's Dance—the rest of the material is fresh faced. The selections swagger (“Shake It,” “Let's Dance”), they flirt (“Modern Love”) and they think too (“Ricochet”). As a songwriter and vocalist, Bowie hadn't lost his touch—everything on Let's Dance is biting and bright, anchored in a rhythmic, melodic rock/pop/R&B hybrid ideal for radio play.

Out of the eight entries on the long player, half went out as commercial singles from March to November 1983—“Let's Dance,” “China Girl,” “Modern Love,” and “Without You.” Drawing focus upon the title track, it upstages his previous urban-pop masterpieces “Young Americans” and “Fashion.” Comprised of a heady mix of humid brass, bluesy guitar riffs and peppery percussion, “Let's Dance” is forward thinking, funky and irresistible.

Like no other long player before or after it, Let's Dance managed to smooth out Bowie's mercurial eccentricities without totally expunging them and dropped him dead center into the “I want my MTV!” era. Overnight, Let's Dance collected silver, gold and platinum certifications the world over, secured its status as a definitive record of the 1980s, and sent its creator out on an eight-month concert tour encompassing ninety-six shows that touched sixteen countries.

Bowie had done it. He had finally crossed the commercial threshold. Even better, he had come out of the experience unscathed and artful as he ever was. Or had he? For the rest of the decade, Bowie was dogged by expectations to match and exceed Let's Dance—Tonight (1984) and Never Let Me Down (1987) suffered as a result.

Although Bowie's post-1980s recordings improved dramatically following these few missteps, he never again achieved the equilibrium of art and commerce as he had on Let's Dance. Regardless, this record further extended Bowie's pop music omnipresence, showing that even for the briefest of moments he could gracefully command the often antithetical elements of creativity and commercialism”.

There are a couple of important David Bowie anniversaries happening next month. Let’s Dance comes first. We will wish that album a happy fortieth anniversary on 14th. I think that producer Nile Rodgers will have something to say about his time working on the album. I have not heard of any anniverssary release or events happening. That is not true of Aladdin Sane. It will turn fifty on 19th and, as such, there is a Southbank Centre exhibition and a reissue and anniversary release of the mighty Aladdin Sane. Both albums are different yet incredible. I know that Black Tie White Noise is thirty next month but, as one of Bowie’s lesser-known albums, I did not include it here. I was keen to celebrate two big anniversaries of important and sensational albums from David Bowie. Aladdin Sane and Let’s Dance show that there was and is…

NOBODY like him.

FEATURE: Revisiting… Lorde - Solar Power

FEATURE:

 

Revisiting…

 

Lorde - Solar Power

_________

FOR this Revisiting…

PHOTO CREDIT: Ophelia Mikkelson Jones

I am coming to an album that was given mixed reviews when it came out. Lorde’s third studio album, Solar Power, was released on 20th August, 2021. Lorde wrote and produced the album with Jack Antonoff, with whom she also worked on her 2017  studio album, Melodrama. An album that went to number one in several countries and hit number two here in the U.K., the third album from the New Zealand-born Ella Yelich-O'Connor is phenomenal. I saw a lot of two and three-star reviews, but there were also some hugely positive ones. It split critics quite a bit as good as Melodrama, it does come close! I think that Solar Power was given a bit of an unfair shake in 2021. Listening now, and it is an album that keeps reveal layers and wonderful moments. Prior to getting to some positive reviews for Solar Power, I want to source a couple of interviews. With songs written by Yelich-O'Connor (she credited herself as Lorde when it came to production) and Antonoff, Solar Power is this incredible album that will stay with you. In August 2021, The New York Times featured Lorde. Stating here was someone who achieved hits as a teen and is now chasing the sun, Solar Power seems like Lorde’s most important work to date:

“It’s not even that the singer and songwriter born Ella Yelich-O’Connor, now 24, presents as especially perfect, or self-assured or immune to criticism. It’s not that she doesn’t suffer from second-guessing, insecurities, bouts of vanity, impatience or mindless cellphone scrolling.

But Lorde — the human and the artist — can usually be found one step ahead, intuitively and emotionally, having thought through her reality from most angles: how something felt to her, how she might express that, how it will be received and how she might process how she was interpreted. This is a skill set that many people who become known like she did — as a gifted small-town teenager with an out-of-the-gate smash success — can feign pretty well. But few do it as convincingly.

“I know enough to know that people in my position are symbols and archetypes and where we meet people, in the context of culture and current events, is sort of outside of our control, so I try not to fret too much,” Lorde said recently, with characteristic consideration and Zen, ahead of the release of her third album.

“It’s a very funny position to be in,” she acknowledged. “It’s absurd.”

But it’s this sense of perspective and self-awareness that has kept Lorde going in an often unforgiving industry. In fact, she made an entire album about finding balance.

“Solar Power,” out Aug. 20, is what happens when a pop star outwits the system, swerves around its strange demands, stops trying to make hits and decides to whisper to her most devoted followers how she did it. For Lorde, the trick was having a life — a real life — far away from all of this. And also throwing her phone into the ocean. (A therapist didn’t hurt either.)

After the reign of “Royals,” her first single — which spent nine weeks at No. 1 and won two Grammys — and her three-times platinum 2013 debut “Pure Heroine,” Lorde took four years to release a follow-up. Her second album, “Melodrama,” in 2017, paled in comparison commercially, but it realigned out-of-whack expectations, establishing the singer as a phenom-turned-auteur, earning her rave reviews and another Grammy nomination, this time for album of the year. Then she hoarded four more years for herself.

Along the way, Lorde became an industry blueprint for a sort of world-building, precocious wallflower singer-songwriter, helping to usher in a generation including Halsey, Billie Eilish and Olivia Rodrigo. But Lorde hasn’t really stuck around to see it.

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“I went back to living my life,” she said of her recent hiatus, identifying as “a hothouse flower, a delicate person and a massive introvert,” drained after a year-plus of promotion and touring for “Melodrama.” “It’s hard for people to understand that.”

“The question I’ve gotten a lot recently is, ‘What have you been doing?’” she added. “I’m like, ‘Oh, no, no, no — this is a break from my life.’ I come back and perform these duties because I believe in the album”.

 PHOTO CREDIT: Justin J Wee for The New York Times

I want to move on to NME. An artist hugely admired around the world, there was a lot of attention and press around Solar Power. NME noted how there is a singularity to the album. It is a hugely intriguing and nuanced album that does unfold over time. Maybe many critics need to revisit it and approach with fresh ears:

“Aside from Lorde herself, the biggest character on ‘Solar Power’ is our planet. The album is a celebration of the natural world, from the musician’s insistence that we should “hope the sun will show us the path” on album opener ‘The Path’ to ‘Fallen Fruit’’s disappointment in past generations leaving today’s youth to deal with the climate crisis. Even the sounds on the record reflect the nature she was so inspired by, her beloved 808 drums and synths – which made 2013 debut ‘Pure Heroine’ and its 2017 follow-up ‘Melodrama’ so compelling – replaced by acoustic guitar and analogue drums.

“There’s some statistics about electronic music being more likely to be made in cities or urban environments and the opposite is more likely to be made in open pastures,” she says. “I think that makes sense based on my experience. ‘Melodrama’ was very much made in a city and also for a different time of day. I think when you’re trying to bust the 808s out to represent the golden hour…” She trails off, laughing at the idea.

‘Solar Power’ is a singular record in 2021’s musical landscape. It has elements of the Laurel Canyon folk influence that you can hear in record’s such as Clairo’s ‘Sling’ (the gen-Z star also provides backing vocals on several tracks) or Birdy’s ‘Young Heart’, but the way Yelich-O’Connor marries that with other influences – referencing Primal Scream, Natalie Imbruglia and, brilliantly, S Club 7 and Robbie Williams on the title track alone – pulls it into its own unique space of sunkissed folk-pop that feels like its sprouted from the soil itself.

“I guess that was part of why I stepped back from consuming the internet in a really consistent way – I wanted to know what I would make when I wasn’t dialled into what everyone else was making,” she theorises. Lorde has gone mostly off-grid – she’s locked out of her social media accounts, has blocked Google on her phone and YouTube on her laptop, and made her phone grayscale to try and pull herself out of a digital addiction. “One of the things that starts to happen when you have any sort of community is you start to move as one, in a way. I honestly don’t think I could have achieved this if I tried four years ago, just because [I was in] the whirlpool.”

“I was like, ‘Is this all I can do? Is this the sum of my parts, being an entertainer?’”

In the past, the 24-year-old says, she would have been drawn into trying to make her own version of what she saw other people doing. “I would even just see someone wear something and I’d be like, ‘I really need to get that, that’s what we’re wearing now’,” she says, laughing. Divorcing herself from being so in touch with the cultural zeitgeist allowed her to put the focus back on herself and follow her instincts.

For each of her albums, Lorde has undergone a big personal transformation. Records, for her, are ways to unpack the events and relationships in her life. In the four years between ‘Melodrama’ and ‘Solar Power’, she says “so much” has changed, particularly in the way she’s reset her relationship with fame and the by-products of it. Rather than view her pop star existence as her “normal” life and her time at home as a holiday, she sees it as being very much the other way around.

“For someone like me, there’s a lot of fractals,” she begins. “There’s me in my house with my loved ones; my neighbours who know me to be a famous person; people in my country who know me to be a famous person; people in other countries who know me to be a famous person. It takes a second to figure out what your relationship is going to be.” To work that out for herself, she says, she needed to tap out and sink into a more domestic life at home – one where she gives herself weeks at a time off work, living in a very “luxuriously unstructured” way until she feels the itch to get back in the studio”.

I want to bring in a review from Rolling Stone. They had plenty of praise and positive points when it came to the incredible Solar Power. I think that it ranks alongside the best albums of 2021. If you have not heard the album, then make sure that you rectify that:

“Nothing moves up a quarter-life crisis quite like a global climate catastrophe and a pandemic, so Lorde’s is right on time. With Solar Power, she’s right in the thick of it: wearied by teenage fame and capitalism, worried about the state of the earth and grieving the loss of her beloved dog Pearl. To abate the bubbling undercurrent of grief and stress, she escapes to the beachside resort in her mind. It’s the dawn of a new Lorde — dare we say, in her Margaritaville era? — trying to channel her inner chill to mixed results.

The title track led off Lorde’s album cycle, a Jack Johnson-y slice of commercial sunshine pop that embraced some of the lush harmonies of her previous two albums but pivoted far away from the underlying darkness. The rest of Solar Power has the same approach in mind: Clairo and Phoebe Bridgers fill out the background vocals on a mix of Laurel Canyon-esque acoustic cuts and serene ballads. As she promises on “Oceanic Feeling,” her “cherry-black lipstick’s gathering dust in a drawer/I don’t need her anymore.

Lorde spends a lot of the album shedding her skin. Phones get tossed in the water. She bids adieu to “all the bottles, all the models” and “the kids in line for the new Supreme.” The music she loved when she was sixteen gets left back in New Zealand, probably collecting dust next to the lipstick. She essentially Gone Girl’s herself from her past, taking a sparse few memories with her, like the one of Carole King presenting her with a Grammy Award on “California.” But even her relationship with her own music is fraught: “I thought I was a genius/But now I’m 22, and it’s starting to feel like all I know how to do is put on a suit and take it away/With my fistful of tunes that it’s painful to play,” she admits “The Man With the the Axe.” The ballad itself is a bit sleepy; while there is ambient emotional tension threaded through the album, that doesn’t always translate to the way a song sounds, leaving some of those reflections feeling more whimsical than they probably should.

Meanwhile, those glimpses into her early twenties psyche don’t mesh and often complicate the more satirical moments. “Mood Ring,” which is sonically a highlight and lyrically a miss, is one of the more obvious satires, tackling wellness culture through the lens of Sixties commune life. While a valiant attempt, what it misses is that one of the best parts of Lorde’s songwriting is her incredible earnestness. When that is let loose, like on the absolutely stellar “Oceanic Feeling” and Big Star-esque “Big Star,” she is an unstoppable pop force.

Solar Power largely meanders through the anxiety, a bit of a relatable smooth brain approach to all that’s going on in the world. Lorde admits as much on the album: she basks in the inconclusiveness of her deep thoughts. Even Robyn, who appears at the end of “Secrets From a Girl (Who’s Seen It All)” as a flight attendant on Strange Airlines, destination Sadness (quite literally) is not even sure where the tour will take you. (And though always pleasant to see Robyn, imagine the type of sweeping dance floor monster the pair could’ve made in a different part of Lorde’s musical journey!)

The timing of the songwriter’s most inward album yet is a bit funny: we are seeing the impact of her first two albums absolutely dominate popular music. Her influence has left an indelible mark on the likes of Olivia Rodrigo and even Billie EIlish, both of whom hit the same notes on how taxing celebrity can be before they even hit their twenties. We are hearing a version of Lorde everywhere nowadays, but Lorde herself can’t hear any of it with all those seashells pressed to her ears, listening deep for the sounds of crashing waves in the distance. She’s figuring out her life in real time, chipping away at who she is and who she could be through her music. And has enlightenment been found? No, she professes, but she’s trying”.

I am going to finish with a review from NME. Awarding thew album five stars, Rhian Daly was stunned and blown away by an artist who has released three stunning albums in a row. I am curious to see what album number four might offer:

“On her previous two albums, Lorde made modern classics. ‘Pure Heroine’ surveyed the life of teenagers in 2013, bored and over the typical milestones of what we’re told success is, too busy drifting around the suburbs in friends’ cars to care about the trappings of luxury. Four years later, on ‘Melodrama’, she took us into one night at a house party and the dissolution of a relationship, deftly capturing every angle of a break-up.

For her third album, the Kiwi star is bringing things back to our most basic level – paying tribute to nature and the Earth itself. “The beginning of summer is my favourite time in New Zealand, and this year in particular it feels like a gift,” she shared with fans in a round-robin email last year, before ‘Solar Power’ was announced. The first piece of material she previewed from the record – its title track – captured that feeling perfectly. “I hate the winter / Can’t stand the cold,” the 24-year-old sings. “But when the heat comes/ Something takes a hold.”

Lorde revels in the environment throughout the album, whether she’s suggesting jumping off Bulli Point on her home country’s Lake Taupō on album closer ‘Oceanic Feeling’ or looking to the skies for answers on ‘The Path’. “Now if you’re looking for a saviour – wellm that’s not me,” she tells us on the latter, dark and moody flute melodies floating beneath her. “Let’s hope the sun will show us the path.”

While ‘Solar Power’ draws its potency from Mother Nature, its creator doesn’t sugarcoat the reality that the natural world, which is so inspiring to her, is in danger of irreversible change. “Wearing SPF 3000 for the ultraviolet rays,” she sings on ‘Leader Of A New Regime’, a stripped-back island escape that makes hermitting yourself away from the chaos of daily life sound like a dream (“Got a trunkful of Simone and Céline and of course my magazines / I’m gonna live out my days”). ‘Fallen Fruit’ takes on the generations that came before us, condemning them, over unsettling folk music, for leaving “us dancing on the fallen fruit”. She asks: “How can I love what I know I am gonna lose?”

‘Solar Power’ reflects Lorde pulling from Earth not just lyrically, but musically too. Where ‘Pure Heroine’ and ‘Melodrama’ were filled with euphoric synths and crisp digital sounds, this album peels away all our technological advances and relies on more organic sounds. Even when swathes of mellotron or Wurlitzer coat the tracks, as on ‘Fallen Fruit’ or ‘Secrets From A Girl (Who’s Seen It All)’, they do so in a way that feels like they’ve been pulled from the soil rather than coursing with electricity.

Elsewhere, the record deals with grief – not for the climate especially, but for Lorde’s dog Pearl, whose death in 2019 delayed this release. “‘Member what you thought was grief before you got the call?” Lorde asks herself on ‘Secrets…’ and, later, Swedish alt-pop don Robyn dials into the track for a spoken word verse that tells us: “Welcome to sadness / The temperature is unbearable until you face it.” It’s a gentle, generous song that softly urges Lorde to keep going and get through her pain, nudging her to trust in her instincts and believe in the answers she holds inside herself.

Pearl pops up again on the reverent ‘Big Star’, which pays tribute to the pure, non-judgmental relationship between pet and owner. “I’m a cheater – I lie and I’m shy / But you like to say hello to total strangers,” Lorde murmurs on its first verse, summing up her late dog’s accepting nature, which is at odds with humans’ flaws. “You’re a big star,” she adds fondly. “Want to take your picture / ‘Til I die.”

To counter ‘Solar Power’’s worship of our planet and its creatures, ‘Mood Ring’ offers a tongue-in-cheek look at wellness culture. Dropping references to yoga positions and crystals, the track depicts relying on the titular jewellery to know how you’re doing. “I can’t feel a thing,” Lorde sighs. “I keep looking at my mood ring / Tell me how I’m feeling.” The subtly amusing lyrics also find her noting: “Can’t seem to fix my mood / Today it’s as dark as my roots.”

There are comments on ageing too; on ‘Secrets’, the 24-year-old laments how quickly her last decade has slipped by, and the gorgeous ‘Stoned At The Nail Salon’ sees her meditate on growing up. “All the beautiful girls, they will fade like the roses,” Lorde notes, later adding: “All the music you loved at 16, you’ll grow out of.”

‘Solar Power’, though, doesn’t feel like a record that will suffer that same fate – this is an album that grows in quiet stature with every listen, new nuggets of wisdom making their way to the surface, peeking through its beautiful instrumentation that weaves a stunning, leafy tapestry. Few artists strike gold on every record they create but, for the third time in a row, Lorde has done it again, crafting yet another world-beater”.

An album that I think was unfairly criticised by some. Many feel a little disappointed, but I feel Solar Power is a typically remarkable album from Lorde. One of the greatest songwriters of her generation, we are going to hear a lot more music from her. A fine work that deserves a lot more love, I know that Solar Power will…

SHINE bright for years.

FEATURE: The Digital Mixtape: Tracks from Incredible Duos

FEATURE:

 

 

The Digital Mixtape

IN THIS PHOTO: Outkast

 

Tracks from Incredible Duos

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WHEN defining a ‘duo’…

 IN THIS PHOTO: Confidence Man

I am talking about the vocals and the two people synonymous with the act. There are some duos such as Steely Dan and Tears for Fears who played with musicians. One would class Tears for Fears more as a duo. Steely Dan may seem like a band but, as they were fronted by Walter Becker and Donald Fagen, I think of them as a duo with musicians around them. I was compelled to think about duos after re-listening to Charles & Eddie’s 1992 hit, Would I Lie to You? I was musing as to whether you get male vocal duos anymore. It seemed like there was a time when we had that sound, but it is not so common now. There are great duos today like Wet Leg, and Let’s Eat Grandma. I think about the evolution of duos and the scope they possess. From harder-edged to more Pop-based, there have been some great duos through the years. Again, I am classing a duo as two people that are backed by musicians. Here is a playlist featuring some terrific songs from…

 IN THIS PHOTO: Charles & Eddie

GREAT duos.

FEATURE: Revisiting… Toni Braxton – Spell My Name

FEATURE:

 

 

Revisiting…


Toni Braxton – Spell My Name

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I have included…

Toni Braxton a fair bit on my blog through the years. I have not mentioned her latest studio album, Spell My Name. The ninth studio album from the R&B legend, it was released by Island Records on 28th August, 2020. For this amazing album, Braxton assumed more control in terms of writing and producing the material. Spell My Name also features a range of collaboration, including appearances from H.E.R. and Missy Elliott. Quite underrated in my opinion, I wanted to shine some new light on an album that has a lot to offer. Before coming to two differing reviews, I want to quote from a couple of interviews. The Guardian  interviewed Braxton in August 2020. It is interesting learning more from one of music’s most influential legends:

“I didn’t realise I could sing until my teenage years. Singing was so much a part of me and my family. We got up, we sang, we went to bed. I think at elementary school I realised I had a different tone. My voice was always low. I remember everyone in class singing Joy to the World and I was the only one who couldn’t sing it in the key. I was always the kid in the room with the low voice that made you turn around.

Nobody believes how I was discovered. They think it’s a story for publicity, but it’s absolutely true. I was in college and one day I was at the gas station, singing to myself while I filled the car. The attendant [William E Pettaway Jr, writer of Girl You Know It’s True, by Milli Vanilli] comes up to me and tells me he likes my voice and that he’d like to do some demos with me. I thought it was just a line, but I went with it and here I am. He went on to buy the gas station!

I regret not having more sex when I was younger. I should have drank more. I should have partied more. Smoked more, even. I think my religious upbringing stopped me doing a lot of things that I should have done. It’s not a good look at the age I am now. The way it works is you do that stuff in your 20s and 30s and then in your 40s you’ve earned enough to pay for the therapy.

I was starstruck meeting Stevie Wonder. He was touching my face – which is how he “sees” – and telling me how beautiful I was. I was, like: “You could cop a feel right now, Stevie, and I wouldn’t care – you’re Stevie Wonder!” I’m a huge fan. Meeting him was absolutely massive to me”.

One of my favourite artists ever, another reason I wanted to highlight Spell My Name is that Toni Braxton’s eponymous debut album is thirty in July. A month where a lot of terrific albums have big anniversaries, Braxton has lost none of her magic, passion and talent. Her latest album is one that needs to be heard by more people. FAULT chatted with Toni Braxton in December 2020 about her latest album. I have selected a few questions from their discussion:

“Do you feel you achieved everything you wanted to with the Spell My Name album?

Toni Braxton: I think I did – sometimes the concept of an album comes to me right at the start, and sometimes it comes at the end, but for this particular project it all came together pretty quickly. I knew I was going to do a heartbreak album, but one with a lot of hope in it.

There’s always been an old school versus new school R&B discussion, but you bridged the gap working with both longtime practitioners and relative newcomers this album – was that a conscious decision?

Toni Braxton: I’ve always wanted to collaborate on a song with Missy, I’m a huge fan of her work. HER is very talented – she’s a musician who plays a roster of different instruments, and I was impressed when I saw her on a morning show playing the piano – she reminded me of myself as a young musician. So it was more out of admiration for the different artists than a statement.

What would you say was the most challenging part of your musical journey so far?

Toni Braxton: My lack of knowledge about the business side of the industry. As an artist, I just wanted to sing and let my art to be out there, but it’s a journey that you have to take by yourself, and thankfully along the way it got better. 

I think your learning moments also helped educate other artists on their journey – does that give you some comfort?

Toni Braxton: I think so, I also learned a lot from other artists like Anita Baker, Stevie Wonder and Whitney Houston. I was in 12th grade when Whitney came out, and I loved her so much, and I think you always have to pay it forward.

You’ve seen the industry change during your tenure as an artist, do you feel enough real progress has made?

Toni Braxton: It’s changing slowly, but women still aren’t heads of record companies, and there are so many talented female writers and producers that you don’t hear about. We’re not celebrated like men are. Missy Elliot, for instance, is a fantastic producer and writer but I don’t feel that’s truly appreciated. The same goes for me, Mariah, Alicia Keys and so many others but I find with guys in the business, they’re always being bigged up for their talent while people don’t recognise the talents of female artists the same way.

What do you want your art to say about you?

Toni Braxton: That I’m a risk-taker, a trendsetter and a real talent”.

I am going to get to some reviews for Spell My Name. Many were not taken with the number of ballads on Spell My Name. Maybe more synonymous with more energised, sultry, or spirited songs, the 2020 album does seem more introspective and slower than some of Braxton’s earlier work. This is what CLASH observed in their review of an album that deserves a lot more love and revisiting:

“Toni Braxon is an unimpeachable icon, one of the voices who reconfigured R&B during its 90s Imperial phase. Later turning her hand to acting with a run of hugely successful Broadway appearances, her 2018 album ‘Sex & Cigarettes’ lit up the charts. Clearly, this American legend has nothing to prove.

‘Spell My Name’ is hard to fault, then, but also difficult to truly love – her new album, it’s a slight affair, clocking in at a slender 10 songs, one of which is technically a ‘bonus’.

‘Un-Break My Heart’ goddess is an impeccable vocalist, and the highs on display rank with some of the best of her career. ‘Gotta Move On’ for example, pairs Toni Braxton with modern day trailblazer H.E.R., while the vastly popular single ‘Do It’ couples the divine R&B chanteusse with indefatigable creative iconoclast Missy Elliott.

Aside from these songs – and frisky opener ‘Dance’ – it’s a largely down tempo affair, and this leads to each song blurring into the next. There’s a preponderance of slo-mo balladry, and while the likes of ‘Spell My Name’ and ‘Happy Without Me’ are expertly sung, it’s no more than that – the sound of a legend showing off her chops, maybe, but ceding ground at the cutting edge.

It’s far from a failure, with ‘Spell My Name’ boasting moments of rich maturity, the kind of lyrical openness that has always made her work so intriguing. Yet there’s also an unwillingness to embrace contemporary movements in R&B, in the manner of, say, Brandy’s recent LP.

But perhaps that’s churlish. Toni Braxton has more than earned the right to exist on her own terms, and fans will find much to adore on her tenth studio album.

6/10”.

In this feature that revisits incredible albums from the past five years, a treasure from 2020 came in the form of Toni Braxton’s Spell My Name. It is an album that gets more stronger and more rewarding the more you listen to it. In a four-star review, The Guardian offered the following observations and impressions:

“It’s been eight years since Brandy’s last album – forgivable for someone who’s “been an original since 1994”, as she boasts on I Am More on this new one. The R&B singer is such an icon that when you google the phrase “the vocal bible” her picture comes up, all thanks to the supremacy and range of her voice.

B7 isn’t exclusively a trip down memory lane, but it does cruise past a few old haunts. Brandy’s trademark raspy vocals and sublime harmonies on Rather Be and Lucid Dreams are nostalgia-inducing for anyone who grew up listening to her acrobatic riffs and runs. Baby Mama featuring Chance the Rapper is a rhapsody to her 18-year old daughter and an anthem for single mothers. “I’m every woman,” she sings, evoking Chaka Khan and Whitney Houston.

Perhaps Brandy shouldn’t quit her day job when it comes to rapping – her attempt on High Heels is so-so – but the singer sure knows how to duet. Love Again, featuring Daniel Caesar, ripples with lavish melodies, and their layered and distinct voices marry to create the bespoke cocktail your strange summer’s been missing. So good it could square up to 1998’s beloved The Boy Is Mine”.

If you are a fan of Toni Braxton or not, I would recommend that you listen to the wonderful Spell My Name. Maybe there are one or two tracks that are a bit similar or could be nixed, there are also some modern-day Braxton classics. I especially love Dance, Do It and Happy Without Me. Such an influential artist, let’s hope there are more albums from the iconic Toni Braxton. Spell Me Name, whilst not up there with her very best, is a worthy and solid album with many highlights and deeper cuts. It shows that, nearly thirty years since her debut album, she is an artist we…

ALL should cherish.

FEATURE: I’m Amazed: Pixies’ Timeless Debut Album, Surfer Rosa, at Thirty-Five

FEATURE:

 

 

I’m Amazed

 

Pixies’ Timeless Debut Album, Surfer Rosa, at Thirty-Five

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LOOKING ahead to…

 PHOTO CREDIT: Rob Verhorst/Redferns

21st March, and that is the thirty-fifth anniversary of one of the greatest and most influential debut albums ever. Pixies’ Surfer Rosa was released on the British label, 4AD. Produced by Steve Albini. Even though Surfer Rosa is now regarded as a classic, it failed to chart in the U.S. or U.K. Surfer Rosa was rereleased in the U.S. by Elektra Records in 1992, and in 2005 was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America. The Boston band released something truly distinct in 1988. Prior to the release of Pixies' debut mini-album, Come on Pilgrim, in October 1987, 4AD’s head, Ivo Watts-Russell, suggested they return to the studio to record a full-length album. The plan was to use producer Gary Smith (who produced Come on Pilgrim), but due to a disagreement between him and the Pixies’ manager, Steve Albini was hired. The legendary producer (who went on to record Nirvana’s In Utero in 1993) was a superb choice – a name suggested by 4AD. To mark the approaching thirty-fifth anniversary, I will come to some reviews of the album. Prior to that, there are some features to bring in. Guitar highlighted and saluted the genius of Surfer Rosa for a feature in 2020:

“David Bowie called the album, which went Gold on both sides of the Atlantic, “the most compelling music outside of Sonic Youth made in the entire 80s”; it blew PJ Harvey‘s mind; Kurt Cobain admitted to ripping off Surfer Rosa; the artists not yet known as Smashing Pumpkins and Radiohead were listening closely, too.

Surfer Rosa‘s origins lie in the Purple Tape, a demo recorded over six days in March 1987 using $1,000 borrowed from singer and guitarist Black Francis’ father. 4AD boss Ivo Watts-Russell was impressed enough to sign the band and put out eight songs from the demo as the EP Come On Pilgrim. By the time Pixies went into Boston’s Q Division Studios to record Surfer Rosa with producer Steve Albini in December 1987, they were a tightly wound unit. Countless hours of rehearsals in a sewage-soaked basement rehearsal room enabled the whole thing to be wrapped up in just 10 days, costing $10,000 – with 4AD paying Albini a flat fee of $1,500.

Wantonly unorthodox

Central to the chilling brilliance of this strange, unsettling album is the balance and contrast between the three main players – Francis (real name Charles Thompson), Philippines-born lead guitarist Joey Santiago and bassist Kim Deal. Francis’ more controlled rhythm playing is a steadying counterpoint to Santiago’s wantonly unorthodox approach, while Deal’s chugging basslines bring a melodic levity to the seething brew. Try to imagine Gigantic without her simple yet immediately evocative contribution, for example.

Both guitarists, who met at the University Of Massachusetts, wanted to use Telecasters on Surfer Rosa, but Francis got there first, deploying his blonde 1980s American Standard into a Vox AC30 for the sessions. Santiago settled on a Les Paul, borrowing Deal’s 1970s Goldtop and plugging in to a Peavey Special, while the bassist used an Aria Pro II Cardinal Series through a Peavey Combo 300.

“A Les Paul is a really good complement to a Tele,” Santiago told Guitar.com in 2018. “If you’ve got the Fender, you’re gonna have to have the Gibson to counteract it, unless you want to be a country act, and then you’re all Tele’d out. It’s Mick Jones and Strummer and all that good stuff…”

Both players were determined to carve their own niche, too, rejecting the histrionic hair metal tropes that dominated rock music in 1987. “Mainstream guitar had a lot of typewriting skills,” said Santiago. “The only thing that was impressive about it for me was the speed. But in the back of my mind I was like, ‘I don’t care’. It just wasn’t my thing.”

Francis and Santiago were ripping up the rule book, messing with song structures and pairing chords and riffs that sat uneasily, Santiago’s anti-solo stance at the heart of many of the album’s most memorable moments. Witness the thrilling sense of discord in the riff and churning unison bends on Where Is My Mind? That song’s solo, too, is unusual, Santiago playing notes from the B minor pentatonic scale over major chords.

“The music is unconventional,” Francis told Guitar.com. “There’s a lot of half-steps, a lot of chords that don’t theoretically go with the key, but it seems to work”.

Before getting to a review, there is another great feature that is worth sourcing. The Quietus marked the thirtieth anniversary of Surfer Rosa in March 2018. Aside from the wonderful production and compositional brilliance, The Quietus argue that it is Pixies’ strange and often disturbing lyrics that helps give their debut album (and subsequent Pixies albums) its unique and urgent edge:

“Surfer Rosa was, and still is an amazing record. It’s Pixies’ best, something that becomes ever more apparent with the passage of time (reviewing Bossanova for Melody Maker in 1990, Bob Stanley remarked that he didn’t really get the genuflection before Pixies albums, since they had so much filler; he’s largely right, but Surfer Rosa is by a distance the one with the least filler). It’s a landmark record because it doesn’t sound of its time, whereas so many of 1988’s other critical favourites do sound of their time, for reasons of technology or fashion or context: NME made Public Enemy’s It Takes a Nation of Millions To Hold Us Back it’s album of the year, with Surfer Rosa at No 10, which was a perfectly reasonable position to take - Millions is a great, groundbreaking album - but 30 years on, Surfer Rosa is the one that has aged into timelessness rather than becoming a period piece.

I think the reason Surfer Rosa sounds timeless, sounds classic, is that, at heart, it is a very traditional album. Listen to it closely (even better, don’t listen closely; just have it on in the background). It’s not a revolutionary statement of musical intent. It’s a Classic Rock album. No, it doesn’t sound like Boston or the Stones or ZZ Top or any of the behemoths of American radio formats; it’s a bluesless album, a product of the great schisms of the late 70s in which not just punk but hard rock, too, expunged the shuffle from guitar music that wasn’t specifically celebrating the blues. But so much of its DNA is in Classic Rock that it’s easy to see why British audiences seized on it: while satisfying fetish for newness that British music fans like to identify in themselves, because of its dervish noise and lyrical perversity, it offered so many familiar comforts that you didn’t need to be a maven of the underground to love it. Conversely, maybe it was neglected in America because the underground tastemakers noted Pixies’ conservatism, while it remained too leftfield for the actual Boston and ZZ Top fans.

The clarity of that spacious sound – unusual in the mid-to-late 80s, when engineers and producers were taking advantage of new technology to make records as full and overwhelming as possible – made Surfer Rosa very easy to listen to. It might not be lush, but because it eschews maximalism it means the melodies – the vocal melodies, the guitar lines, the countermelodies of the bass – are always foregrounded. All its hooks are evident, and for all the ferocity of the guitars, the instrumental set-up never conceals them.

Now, one might plausibly argue that had Pixies made the exact same album musically but paired them with the lyrics of, say, The Wonder Stuff, then history might have been different: would critics have frothed over the Surfer Rosa with quite the same urgency had they not been singing about incest, violence, more incest, more violence, and sundry other unsettling kinkiness? Had the critics not frothed – this being an age when the weekly music press still wielded influence – would the indie public have embraced them so wholeheartedly? Had the indie public not embraced them so wholeheartedly, would they have passed into pantheon of great bands, or would they be another of those groups who get occasionally reissued, gushed over in the specialist press a bit, then forgotten again, like The Feelies, a pioneering American indie band who remain consigned to the margins?

Surfer Rosa endures. It will continue to endure. Teenagers will continue to discover Pixies – you see them at the shows – thrilling to the lyrical transgression; adults will continue to listen to them, reliving a past. Younger bands will continue to acknowledge them – Kings of Leon, of all people, cited them as an inspiration when the two groups shared a bill in Hyde Park last summer. Nowadays, the notion that Pixies are a classic band isn’t something to dispute. It’s only a hop from there to accepting them as Classic Rock”.

Unsurprisingly, the reviews for Surfer Rosa in 1988 were phenomenal. Retrospective ones have perhaps been even more constructively positive and amazed. This is what AllMusic observed in their review of one of the finest and most enduring debut albums that has ever been released. It is clear that Surfer Rosa is this majestic and astonishingly consistent and faultless work from the sublime Pixies:

“One of the most compulsively listenable college rock albums of the '80s, the Pixies' 1988 full-length debut Surfer Rosa fulfilled the promise of Come on Pilgrim and, thanks to Steve Albini's production, added a muscular edge that made their harshest moments seem even more menacing and perverse. On songs like "Something Against You," Black Francis' cryptic shrieks and non sequiturs are backed by David Lovering and Kim Deal's punchy rhythms, which are so visceral that they'd overwhelm any guitarist except Joey Santiago, who takes the spotlight on the epic "Vamos." Albini's high-contrast dynamics suit Surfer Rosa well, especially on the explosive opener "Bone Machine" and the kinky, T. Rex-inspired "Cactus." But, like the black-and-white photo of a flamenco dancer on its cover, Surfer Rosa is the Pixies' most polarized work. For each blazing piece of punk, there are softer, poppier moments such as "Where Is My Mind?," Francis' strangely poignant song inspired by scuba diving in the Caribbean, and the Kim Deal-penned "Gigantic," which almost outshines the rest of the album. But even Surfer Rosa's less iconic songs reflect how important the album was in the group's development. The "song about a superhero named Tony" ("Tony's Theme") was the most lighthearted song the Pixies had recorded, pointing the way to their more overtly playful, whimsical work on Doolittle. Francis' warped sense of humor is evident in lyrics like "Bone Machine"'s "He bought me a soda and tried to molest me in the parking lot/Yep yep yep!" In a year that included landmark albums from contemporaries like Throwing Muses, Sonic Youth, and My Bloody Valentine, the Pixies managed to turn in one of 1988's most striking, distinctive records. Surfer Rosa may not be the group's most accessible work, but it is one of their most compelling”.

I am going to end this feature with a review from the BBC. They  note how the lyrical mood and themes had shifted quite a bit from Come on Pilgrim. There is something altogether more serious and darker on Surfer Rosa. Even though the lyrics are a bit different, Pixies ensure their debut album is eclectic, elastic and has plenty of light and layers. It still stands up and sounds fresh thirty-five years later:

“Though the specialist subjects of sun, surf and dubious sexual encounters of their debut ep (1987’s Come On Pilgrim) had been retained, the overall mood masterminded a year later on their first full length record was altogether more unruly.

The Bostonian quartet, formed by guitarist and singer, Charles Michael Kitteridge Thompson IV - who for understandable reasons of alt rock credibility rechristened himself Black Francis – fell in with producer Steve Albini to create an album which though failing to chart at the time, had a telling influence on those picking up on the harsh, surly undertow of its (at times) frat-house humours.

Albini’s production simultaneously amplifies The Pixies’ endearing naiveté and hectic energies, contrasting the polarities of throwaway trash (the tongue-in-cheek nerdy B-52s-type hero worship of “Tony’s Theme”) versus the snarling thrash of “Vamos” (a remade carry-over from Come On Pilgrim) which does much to lend the album its unsettling volatility.

Although “Gigantic” co-written and sung by bassist Kim Deal, shows they were more than capable of delivering hook-laden pop, it credibly opened up the kind of territory which Kurt Cobain and pals would later claim as their own.

Indeed such was its legacy, David Bowie covered “Cactus” on 2002’s Heathen. Somewhat sanitised on that occasion, the original version here has a don’t-go-there edge to it, and is one of the best songs ever to burst in and shine an FBI-style flashlight onto the darker, closeted recesses of obsessive love; ‘Bloody your hands on a cactus tree/ Wipe it on your dress and send it to me.’

The left-field locations continue with “Bone Machine,” the limelight veering between Francis’ tale of parking lot molestation and a wonderful solo by their ingenious lead guitarist, Joey Santiago. Beginning like James Brown’s “Sex Machine” being not so much taken as frog-marched to the bridge, it rapidly leaps into a revved-up blast recalling one of King Crimson’s Robert Fripp’s patented chordal solos; a genuinely thrilling 18 seconds that you never want to end. Though the follow-up, Doolittle (1989), ultimately widened their appeal, this is indispensable warts-and-all stuff that set the benchmark”.

On 21st March, one of the all-time great albums turns thirty-five. The all-conquering Surfer Rosa is a debut masterpiece from Pixies. The album had a profound effect when it came to shaping the sound of Grunge and Alternative Rock. Nirvana’s Kurt Cobain explained how the album formed the basis and inspiration for their Nevermind. You can hear a lot of Surfer Rosa’s dynamics and themes in 1991’s Nevermind. That connection alone shows how phenomenal and important Pixies’ debut album is. In reality, the album has had a gigantic impact on the music world. Ahead of its thirty-fifth anniversary, I wanted to highlight the brilliance of…

THE amazing Surfer Rosa.

FEATURE: Second Spin: Miley Cyrus - Bangerz

FEATURE:

 

 

Second Spin

  

Miley Cyrus - Bangerz

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A huge selling 2013 album…

 IN THIS PHOTO: Miley Cyrus at the 2013 MTV Video Music Awards/PHOTO CREDIT: Kevin Mazur/WireImage for MTV

from Miley Cyrus, Bangerz went to number one in the U.S. and U.K. Perhaps her finest album to date, I wanted to write about it for a couple of reasons. First, Cyrus released her incredible eighth studio album, Endless Summer Vacation, on 10th March. If many critics feel this is her finest work yet, I want to look back a decade to an album that arrived on 30th September, 2013. Whilst there were plans at the time for Cyrus to focus on her acting career, that was changed. She started work on Bangerz in mid-2012. Not as Pop-orientated as her previous work, there is something edgier and more Hip-Hop/R&B-based on Bangerz. Whilst there is Pop at the core, fans and critics noted how this was a departure from Cyrus. There are some incredible collaborations on Bangerz. Britney Spears, Big Sean, French Montana, Future, Ludacris, and Nelly feature. Cyrus co-wrote twelve out of sixteen tracks. Maybe shedding a more wholesome and Disney-esque image that one might have got from the Hannah Montana star, Bangerz established a more provocative, liberated, and sexual artist. Someone who was maturing and entering a new phase. It seemed deliberate that she was pushing away that alter ego and former life. If the public bought the album in droves and many publications listed Bangerz in their favourite albums of 2013, the reviews were a bit mixed. I am going to bring in a couple of the bigger and more positive ones. There were quite a few two and three-star reviews for an album that is much stronger and better than that. A moment where Miley Cyrus took control of he rpublic image and released an amazing alvbum, I think that people should revisit Bangerz almost a decade from its release.

If Endless Summer Vacation is an album that talks about Los Angeles and is a love letter to the city, Bangerz is more about romance and a young artist establishing herself fully. Shaking off the past. There were a lot of positive review for Bangerz, but there were far too many mixed ones. Before getting to review, this MTV feature speaks with the co-writer and producer of Adore You (one of the singles from Bangerz), Oren Yoel. He looked back at Miley's major leap into adulthood, and the album's legacy a decade on:

“You can’t think of 2013 without picturing Miley Cyrus. Rocking a flesh-toned two-piece bikini, Miley and her twerk-centric performance with Robin Thicke at the MTV Video Music Awards in late August caused an uproar, but really, the then-20-year-old artist was just out there having fun, embracing her young adulthood, and expressing her autonomy. And she brought that fun and exploration fully to life on the album she released a month later, Bangerz.

After the release of her sophomore LP Can’t Be Tamed in 2010, Miley revealed in a Billboard interview that she felt “disconnected” from it and the rest of her older music. “I was 16 or 17 when I made it. When you’re in your twenties, you just don’t really know that person anymore,” she said. A few years earlier, she told MTV News, “The more I make music that doesn't truly inspire me, the more I feel like I'm blending in with everyone else.”

Unlike her previous albums which were fully centered in pop (or country, in her Hannah Montana era), Bangerz found her taking the adventurous route, dabbling in hip-hop, as heard on her hits “We Can’t Stop,” “FU,” and “Love Money Party,” as well as in and her collaborations with rappers like French Montana and Big Sean. But Bangerz’s opening track, the tender “Adore You,” kicked off this new version of a nearly 21-year-old Miley with a tender look at love from a more heartfelt place.

Oren Yoel, who co-wrote and produced the track, revealed to MTV News that the star wanted to show off both her fun-loving spirit and her maturity. “This was her way of showing that she's growing up,” he said. “I think she always wants something that touches her and hits the soul viscerally.” He said Bangerz was meant to reflect the changes in Miley’s life at the time, including throwing “awesome parties.” And Miley got real with her creativity during this era. “She pulls the things that she likes from different things and puts them together,” he continued. “So I think she wanted some big-booty bass and then just a great song.”

To make the track, Yoel met up with Miley in Philadelphia in 2012, where her then-partner Liam Hemsworth was filming a movie. “We got cheese steaks brought to us,” he said. “We worked at the studio, and there was this one huge room, gorgeous, and then a little room in the back that was barely hanging on. Miley wanted to work in that room. I remember [thinking], ‘Well, all right, OK, let's do it.’” Yoel tidied the place up (“I like a little feng shui in the room”), and then the two of them, along with co-writer Stacy Barthe, “hung out in this little back room, eating some cheese steaks and just talking about life. It was a really, really cool time.”

The end result was “Adore You,” which led off Bangerz on an earnest note. Although her other love songs such as “Wrecking Ball,” “My Darlin’,” “Someone Else,” and “On My Own” touched on heartbreak, the R&B-inspired pop ballad “Adore You” found Cyrus embracing the positive aspects of a growing love. The accompanying music video depicted a surreal montage of Miley lying under the bed covers and in the bathtub, suggestively expressing the star’s dual erotic and romantic feelings for her lover. The lyrics were simple but straightforward: “When you say you love me / Know I love you more / And when you say you need me / Know I need you more.”

“When somebody else is excited about love, it makes you excited about love, the possibility of it,” Yoel said. “And so I think that her excitement touched me, and it's just that all-encompassing thing. Everybody needs love, and when you find somebody special and you want to show them why they're special and her talent, amazing talent is to sing. And she showed that the best way she could to him.”

Yoel feels pride for how the song has touched others’ hearts. “I've gotten videos of it being played at weddings and a whole bunch of stuff,” he said. “I was sitting in the car and saw somebody listening to it next to me, bawling and crying. [I’m] very proud of how special that record has become for certain people.”

“Adore You” peaked at No. 21 on the Billboard Hot 100, while fellow Bangerz singles “Wrecking Ball” and “We Can’t Stop” reached No. 1 and No. 2, respectively. The latter originated from musical duo R. City, a.k.a. Rock City, who initially wrote it with Rihanna in mind. In a 2013 Vixen interview, the pair said Bangerz producer Mike Will Made-It pitched for Miley to take it instead. “We felt like this could be somebody’s first single,” R. City’s Timothy Thomas said. “We knew it was going to be big because it was very original.” A glimpse of Miley’s lively parties was featured in the hit’s music video, which was filled with bizarre props like giant teddy-bear backpacks, a mountain of white bread, a French-fry skull, and a woman simulating slicing her fingers. Even more surprising, Miley got into a brawl with her party guests. Director Diane Martel explained its significance to MTV News in 2013. "That fight scene is awesome. What female artist lets themselves get their ass kicked in their own video?" she said. "This is what I mean about her. Miley is my hero”.

I am going to come to a couple of reviews. In a positive assessment of Miley Cyrus’ Bangerz, this is what Rolling Stone had to say about an album that I think that everyone should hear and get to know more about. A decade on, and it still sounds brilliant and full of highlights:

“WAY TO KILL it, Milez. Your VMA performance put the Internet in traction, enraging liberals with its dicey racial burlesque and scandalizing conservatives with its twerking-toward-Bethlehem decadence. You’ve taken raging-bull control of your sexuality, even if it has often looked like LBJ taking control of our policy in Vietnam. And now you’ve sealed the deal with the Rihanna-meets-Gaga-meets-Pink-meets-Britney party grenade of a record your special moment merits.

Bangerz is the sound of Hannah Montana gone Miami Vice. “You think I’m strange, bitch?/Shit’s bananas like a fuckin’ ‘rangutan, bitch,” she rhymes in a sketchy hip-hop drawl on “Do My Thang.” It’s strange but it’s also traditional: Her Disney-steeped voice never takes a back seat to the wide-ranging production (from the likes of Pharrell, Will.i.am and Dr. Luke), and Billy Ray’s daughter rocks a country vocal during several tracks. Some skeptics – let’s call them haters – might argue that Cyrus isn’t wholly comfortable in her new dirty/crazy persona. But that’s part of the strange charm: “We Can’t Stop” undercuts wild-child woo-hoo with dark, uneasy sonic textures, and ballad crushers like “Wrecking Ball” ride the hunger and confusion that make great coming-of-age pop. “I just started living,” she sings on the starkly beautiful album opener, “Adore You.” There’s as much terror as power in that realization. That’s what makes it stick”.

I am going to finish with a review from Entertainment Weekly. One of the most effusive reviews of Bangerz, I do feel a lot of critics should have been on their page when it comes to a very strong and enduring work from Miley Cyrus. It is an album that can be appreciated by existing fans, in addition to those who are new to their work and want a place to start. Bangerz is the sound of Cyrus starting fresh and making a statement:

“Ever wonder what the grinning naked women in Robin Thicke’s ”Blurred Lines” video were thinking? Miley Cyrus might’ve solved that riddle with ”#GETITRIGHT” — created, as it happens, by ”Blurred Lines” mastermind Pharrell Williams. Over scratchy funk guitar that evokes Daft Punk’s ”Get Lucky,” the 20-year-old describes a heightened state of nude (or nudelike) being to an absent lover: ”Would you believe I’m dancing in the mirror?/I feel like I got no panties on/I wish that I could feel ya/Now hurry, hang up that damn phone!”

The song’s every bit as immodest as you’d expect from a young lady who recently spawned a craze for swinging unattired on public pendulums. It also establishes who gives the orders in Mileyland — and who lays claim to the spoils: ”I got things I wanna do to you,” she declares, after she’s already recounted an orgasm. Bangerz, executive-produced by shrewd Atlanta beatmaker Mike Will Made It, is the onetime Disney star’s fourth studio album, but her first as the master of her own destiny and — with the two lead singles already landing at No. 2 and No. 1 — a pacesetter in music. It’s also utterly fresh, a pop blitz from a hip-hop blueprint, and proof that Miley won’t settle for just shocking us.

In fact, she wants us to know her heart. A couplet like ”We were meant to be/In holy matrimony” could sink the hardiest song, but she coolly carries it off in ”Adore You,” a pretty, goop-free ballad that flaunts a key facet of her versatile voice: the throaty diva swoon. The M-word pops up all over Bangerz, most notably in ”Drive,” a sad-Kanye-esque track that Miley has said she started last Valentine’s Day, after first grazing the rocks with now ex-fiancé Liam Hemsworth. But she rebounds quickly: Immediately following the self-explanatory ”FU,” which folds starry Adele-style sass and a French Montana verse into expertly inlaid dubstep wub-wubs, comes ”Do My Thang,” a ripping dance track in which a rapping Miley issues a general warning to ”stay in your lane.”

Yes, Miley raps. And if you can’t stand Ke$ha, you probably won’t take to Cyrus’ skills, either. Her confidante Britney Spears rhymes too, on ”SMS (Bangerz)”: ”They ask me how I keep a man/I keep a battery pack!” But it’s all in Cyrus’ toolbox, along with everything from mutated honky-tonk (the winningly nutty Pharrell production ”4×4,” with Nelly) to shameless frat-party-starting (”Love Money Party,” featuring Big Sean paying tribute to red Solo cups). She’s not only game for ”My Darlin’,” a trippy duet with Auto-Tune artiste Future, she makes it a genuine weeper. And when she’s handed conventional EDM club bait such as ”Someone Else,” she calls up her chops and throws into relief just how meek typical DJ bros like their hook girls.

Miley’s not one to use her guests as ornamentation — she needs them to turn her pop pedigree inside out. Wherever her passions alighted in the past, she’s obviously infatuated right now with hip-hop and its perpetual drive for new and exotic sounds. Bangerz may be about breaking up and wilding out, but it also agitates for the future. When she sings, ”Been wondering where you been all my life,” in ”Adore You,” she might as well be addressing her own reinvented self. A-“.

Go and listen to the amazing Bangerz. Released in 2013, it celebrates its tenth anniversary in September. Although the brand-new Endless Summer Vacation can be seen as one of her most complete and best albums, I think that Bangerz is still at the top. An amazing collection of songs from an artist breaking from the past, it needs to be heard and respected…

BY all.

FEATURE: The Digital Mixtape: The Best of Lana Del Rey

FEATURE:

 

 

The Digital Mixtape

  

The Best of Lana Del Rey

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ON 24th March…

the sensational and iconic Lana Del Rey releases her ninth studio album, Did You know that there’s a tunnel under Ocean Blvd. Although she (Lizzie Grant) released the eponymous debut Lana Del Ray in 2010, I think Born to Die is her true debut. That 2012 album is hugely underrated. Since then, she has released some of the best albums of the past twenty years. One of the greatest songwriters of her generation, we will see that demonstrated through Did You know that there’s a tunnel under Ocean Blvd. I recently read the superb profile and interview that Hannah Ewans conducted for Rolling Stone UK. It is such a deep, interesting and great piece of writing where we learn more about Lana Del Rey’s past work, career and her new album. I think her ninth studio album will be among her most personal, arresting and enduring:  

“Del Rey’s music once had a cool distance. It felt like she was melancholically singing over your shoulder. Now, however, her lines are played straight to the camera and then knock the fourth wall aside entirely to speak to you directly. There’s a playfulness, freedom and an honesty about her immediate reality on her new album, Did You know that there’s a tunnel under Ocean Blvd. Tracks flow in a jazzlike trance; classic piano and acoustic songs blend into hip-hop, pop, gospel and choral numbers. Colloquial lyrics move as fast as a Beat writer’s poem: they seamlessly speak to a friend about culture, offer mundane updates on what’s going on in her daily life, present notes on dark relationships. But songs frequently, as Antonoff notes, come together with a “voice of God, some joy or hopefulness”.

Antonoff returns as a producer on multiple tracks. “You have a weird whiplash of not knowing what you’re supposed to feel,” says Antonoff of the second single, the horror folk meets internet rap track, ‘A&W’. “That sensation is across the album: you could dissect the tone of whether it’s hints of gospel or bringing back some of the 808s and the fucked-up side of things. But in the studio, it was just about finding what is shocking in the moment.”

PHOTO CREDIT: Chuck Grant

The tunnel under Ocean Boulevard is a real place. In LA’s downtown Long Beach, the abandoned Jergins Tunnel will still gleam if you cast a light on its white, sand and caramel-coloured tiles and beige mosaics on the floor. People walk above today not knowing what lies beneath. In the late 60s, it was sealed off and closed to the public, but once upon a time it was a subway for holidaymakers to access the beach. Cotton candy and souvenir vendors lined those walls. Not to be too literal, Del Rey says of Did You know that there’s a tunnel under Ocean Blvd, but “would it be a worrisome concept to be boxed out and sealed up with all these beautiful things inside with no one able to gain access except maybe family?”

Lana wears own dress, gemstone bracelet by Swarovski, bangles and rings stylist’s own (Picture: Chuck Grant. Styling: Joseph Kocharian)

It’s a revealing query that shows Del Rey’s sensitivity around how she’s perceived and understood has softened but remains an enigmatic concern. “That was a question I had because that’s a very plausible thing that could happen with the music, with how pointed people’s perceptions of my music can be,” she explains further. “Would it probably, plausibly, get to the point where it became a body of work that made me a vessel that was sequestered to the point where only family would have access to the metaphorical tunnel?”

This album is a box of treasures of its own dedicated to family. You hear it in the constant reminders that this is what Del Rey calls a “name-out or call-out album”. She mentions her father, sister, brother, Caroline’s baby and all those loved ones around her to “keep them close in the music” because they’re with her every day. Some jokes and lines are drawn directly from conversations with her girlfriends, like on ‘Fishtail’ when a friend’s date promised he would come over to her house to braid her hair, but he never did. “If people think my music is good it’s because there’s other people involved in the songs and in the process of making it. So many people,” she says, with a smile at just how good it is”.

Looking ahead to her new album and back at the incredible work she has produced so far, below is a career-spanning playlist featuring her singles and best deep cuts. I hope that Del Rey continues to release albums for years to come. With such an expressive and mesmeric voice and style, that is matched with her unique and engrossing songwriting. The recent Rolling Stone interview lets us into a truly amazing human. I look forward to hearing what Did You know that there’s a tunnel under Ocean Blvd offers. It is going to be another successful and acclaimed album from…

A genius and hugely compelling songwriter.

FEATURE: Get on the Floor: The Legendary Quincy Jones at Ninety

FEATURE:

 

 

Get on the Floor

PHOTO CREDIT: Rich Fury/Getty Images for EJAF 

 

The Legendary Quincy Jones at Ninety

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ON 14th March…

 PHOTO CREDIT: M Records/Getty Images

the legendary producer and musician Quincy Jones turns ninety. His illustrious and amazing career spans over seventy years. He has accrued eighty GRAMMY Award nominations, 28 GRAMMYs, and a GRAMMY Legend Award in 1992. I am going to mark his approaching ninetieth birthday with songs from albums that he has produced. Whilst he is best known for his work with Michael Jackson on his albums Off the Wall (1979), Thriller (1982), and Bad (1987), he has worked with a range of different acts through the decades. Before getting there, AllMusic have an incredible biography of the master Quincy Jones:

“In a career spanning over seven decades, Quincy Jones has earned his reputation as a renaissance man of American music. Since entering the industry as an arranger in the early 1950s, he has distinguished himself as a bandleader, solo artist, sideman, songwriter, producer, film composer, and record label executive. A quick look at a few of the artists he's worked with -- Miles Davis, Frank Sinatra, Count Basie, Lesley Gore, Michael Jackson, Peggy Lee, Ray Charles, Paul Simon, and Aretha Franklin -- reveals the remarkable diversity of his career. He has been nominated for a record 80 Grammy awards, and has won 27 in categories including Best Instrumental Jazz Performance for "Walking in Space" (1969), Producer of the Year (1981), and Album of the Year for Jackson's Thriller (1983) and his own Back on the Block (1990). Outside recording studios, he has produced major motion pictures, helped create television series, and written books, including Q: The Autobiography of Quincy Jones (2001). An inductee into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (2013), he has continued producing and recording, contributing the song "Keep Reachin'" for the documentary Quincy: A Life Beyond Measure (2018).

Quincy Delight Jones, Jr. was born in Chicago, Illinois on March 14, 1933. While still a youngster, his family moved to Seattle, Washington and he soon developed an interest in music. In his early teens, Jones began learning the trumpet and started singing with a local gospel group. By the time he graduated from high school in 1950, Jones had displayed enough promise to win a scholarship to Boston-based music school Schillinger House (which later became known as the Berklee School of Music). After a year at Schillinger, Jones relocated to New York City, where he found work as an arranger, writing charts for Count Basie, Cannonball Adderley, Tommy Dorsey, and Dinah Washington, among others. In 1953, Jones scored his first big break as a performer when he was added to the brass section of Lionel Hampton's orchestra alongside jazz legends Art Farmer and Clifford Brown. Three years later, Dizzy Gillespie tapped Jones to play in his band, and later in 1956, when Gillespie was invited to put together a big band of outstanding international musicians, Diz chose Quincy to lead the ensemble. Jones also released his first album under his own name that year, a set for ABC-Paramount titled This Is How I Feel About Jazz.

In 1957, Jones moved to Paris in order to study with Nadia Boulanger, an expatriate American composer with a stellar track record in educating composers and bandleaders. During his sojourn in France, Jones took a job with the French record label Barclay, where he produced and arranged sessions for Jacques Brel and Charles Aznavour, and traveling American artists like Billy Eckstine and Sarah Vaughan. Jones' work for Barclay impressed the management at Mercury Records, an American label affiliated with the French imprint, and in 1961 he was named a vice-president of Mercury, the first time an African-American had been hired as an upper-level executive by a major U.S. recording company. Jones scored one of his first major pop successes when he produced and arranged "It's My Party" for teenage vocalist Lesley Gore, which marked his first significant step away from jazz into the larger world of popular music. (Jones also freelanced for other labels on the side, including arranging a number of memorable Atlantic sides for Ray Charles.) In 1963, Jones began exploring what would become a fruitful medium when he composed his first film score for Sidney Lumet's controversial drama The Pawnbroker; he would go on to write music for 33 feature films.

In 1964 work with Count Basie led him to arrange and conduct sessions for Frank Sinatra's album It Might as Well Be Swing, in collaboration with Basie and his orchestra; he also worked with Sinatra and Basie again as an arranger for the award-winning Sinatra at the Sands set, and would produce and arrange one of Sinatra's last albums, L.A. Is My Lady, in 1984.

While Jones maintained a busy schedule as a composer, producer, and arranger throughout the '60s, he also re-emerged as a recording artist in 1969 with the album Walking in Space, which found him recasting his big-band influences within the framework of the budding fusion movement and the influences of contemporary rock, pop, and R&B sounds. The album was a commercial and critical success -- the title song won a Grammy award for Best Instrumental Jazz Performance, Large Group or Soloist with Large Group -- and kickstarted Jones' career as a recording artist. At the same time, he began working more closely with contemporary pop artists, producing sessions for Aretha Franklin and arranging strings for Paul Simon's There Goes Rhymin' Simon. While Jones continued to work with jazz artists, many hard-and-fast jazz fans accused him of turning his back on the genre, though Jones always contended his greatest allegiance was to African-American musical culture rather than any specific style. (Jones did, however, make one major jazz gesture in 1991 when he persuaded Miles Davis to revisit the classic Gil Evans arrangements from Miles Ahead, Sketches of Spain, and Porgy and Bess for that year's Montreux Jazz Festival; Jones coordinated the concert and led the orchestra, and it proved to be one of the last major events for the ailing Davis, who passed on a few months later.)

In 1974, Jones suffered a life-threatening brain aneurysm, and while he made a full recovery, he also made a decision to cut back on his schedule to spend more time with his family. While Jones may have had fewer projects on his plate in the late '70s and early '80s, they tended to be higher profile. He produced major chart hits for the Brothers Johnson and Rufus & Chaka Khan, and his own albums grew into all-star productions in which Jones orchestrated top players and singers in elaborate pop-R&B confections on sets like Body Heat, Sounds...And Stuff Like That!!, and The Dude, the last of which resulted in a Grammy for Producer of the Year. Jones' biggest mainstream success, however, came with his work with Michael Jackson. Jones produced his breakout solo album, Off the Wall, in 1979, and in 1982 they teamed up again for Thriller, which went on to become the biggest-selling album of all time. Jones was also on hand for Thriller's follow-up, 1987's Bad, and the celebrated USA for Africa session which produced the benefit single "We Are the World" (written by Jackson and Lionel Richie), and he produced a rare album in which Jackson narrated the story of the film E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial. Jones' own Back on the Block, released in 1989, hit the pop Top Ten and led to five more Grammy awards, most prominently Album of the Year.

Having risen to the heights of the recording industry, Jones moved from scoring films to producing them in 1985. His first screen project was the screen adaptation of Alice Walker's novel The Color Purple, directed by Steven Spielberg. In 1991 he moved into television production with the situation comedy The Fresh Prince of Bel Air, which gave Will Smith his first starring role. Jones' production company also launched several other successful shows, including In the House and Mad TV. He produced a massive concert to help commemorate the 1993 inauguration of president Bill Clinton, and at the 1995 Academy Awards won the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award. In 1996 Jones performed at the Montreux Jazz Festival to celebrate his 50th anniversary in the music business. The concert was captured on video and released as a DVD.

Jones spent the rest of the '90s and first decade of the new century concentrating on his music publishing business, completing Q: The Autobiography of Quincy Jones, and being an "unofficial" cultural ambassador for the United States. In 2004 he helped to launch the We Are the Future (WAF) project, benefiting children in conflict-inhibited situations all over the globe. In 2010, Jones released Q: Soul Bossa Nostra, his first album in 15 years. As with many of his previous solo albums, the set featured appearances by popular vocalists like Amy Winehouse and Usher. Three years later, he was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame as a recipient of the Ahmet Ertegun Award. He continued working with artists including Emily Bear, Nikki Yanofsky, and Terrace Martin, and released the Chaka Khan collaboration "Keep Reachin'," recorded for Quincy: A Life Beyond Measure, a 2018 documentary about his illustrious career”.

To celebrate the ninetieth birthday of the fantastic Quincy Jones, below is a playlist of singles/songs from albums he has produced. The man’s golden touch is all over some of the all-time great albums. It just leaves me to offer the icon…

THE very happiest birthday wishes.

FEATURE: Lines, Crosses, and Curves… Musing About Kate Bush Possibilities for 2023

FEATURE:

 

 

Lines, Crosses, and Curves…

 

Musing About Kate Bush Possibilities for 2023

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I am thinking ahead…

 PHOTO CREDIT: Guido Harari

to 30th July, as that is the sixty-fifth birthday of Kate Bush. I was planning on doing a series of celebrations but, as I think Bush herself would not want that sort of fuss, maybe something a bit more toned-down! Closer to the time, I will start a run of features. I might also do a podcast about Lionheart. Her second studio album, it was released in November 1978. That might be a fitting tribute. It will be exciting building up to 30th July and seeing how the world reacts. Last year was an unexpectedly busy one when it came to Kate Bush and her music. In addition to articles and books (including Tom Doyle’s excellent Running Up That Hill: 50 Visions of Kate Bush), there was a lot of love for her online. Rather than me repeating myself about what I predict will happen this year, there are a few possibilities and hopes that I hope will come to be realised. We have just celebrated the forty-fifth anniversary of her debut album, The Kick Inside (on 17th February), and there are one or two big anniversaries this year. Naturally, fans around the world hope that this year is one where Bush will announce some new music. You never know what might happen, but I think we could hear something around summer sort of time. That would be amazing to read! Apart from that, of course there will be cover versions and the usual array of magazine features – and there is a new Hounds of Love 33 1/3 book coming later this year too.

I wanted to both reintroduce a few ideas and subjects I have covered before, but sort of muse on what could come to light or what is missing from the market. You never know what could be announced, which is why it is always exciting being a Kate Bush fan. In the same way that I am going to scale down any ideas for Bush’s sixty-fifth birthday, she herself would not really embrace a full-on blitz of books and projects. Rather than cashing in on her recent success and fresh resurgence, what we will see are lovingly assembled and researched books. I always bemoan the lack of Kate Bush podcasts, but I think we will see more this year. Not that it is being marked by a big anniversary but, as, on 2nd April, it will be forty-four years since Bush embarked on The Tour of Life, that warrants attention. That was the warm-up gig to her only tour. In terms of artefacts and mentions about it, you do not get a lot. There are three things and releases that I think should come to light. A release relating to The Tour of Life is one. Whilst there has been physical release for 2014’s Before the Dawn – Bush’s twenty-two-date residency in Hammersmith – and there is memorabilia available online, there is very little concerning The Tour of Life. Apart from the On Stage E.P. – four tracks taken from the tour, the E.P. was co-produced alongside Jon Kelly -, there isn’t a great deal. I know that Bush herself has said she loved the tour, and it was a great deal of fun (if tiring). There are so many people who do not know about it. A podcast covering it would be a good starting point for many. Perhaps speaking with people who were there back in 1979, taking a deep dive into the tour and its impact would be fascinating.

Although a podcast would be easy enough and great, the audio and visuals of The Tour of Life are sort of in bits and would benefit from being remastered and combined. I have written about this before but, as I think this year is one where more people know about Bush’s music, this iconic and hugely important tour needs to come to physical formats. There are some remastered videos of Bush performing during The Tour of Life, but nothing official. There is a Nationwide documentary that looks at the preparation and aftermath of the gigs, but either a Blu-Ray/DVD release of a full set and that documentary, or maybe a YouTube video or new documentary where we get remastered footage from several dates on the tour, and that is then cut with with parts of the Nationwide feature. It would kind of be a new Kate Bush documentary, but one that is specifically about The Tour of Life. It would be fascinating to see that come to life. It would need to be agreed between EMI and Kate Bush, but the Tour of Life is one of the only major parts of her career without an official album or release. We have the studio albums, a greatest hits collection (The Whole Story), plus a few other things. A full set from The Tour of Life, with cassette and C.D. options – vinyl would be the main attraction of course -, together with some linear notes/photos would be more than fair. I am not sure why there has not been a release, as Bush would support it and has fond recollections of The Tour of Life.

Before moving to an idea around two studio albums from Bush that celebrate big anniversaries later in the year, I keep coming back to the idea of photos. This is a big thing for me when it comes to Kate Bush. Nothing has come in recently, and I think there is a whole archive of wonderful photos that could come to light. Cherished volumes like John Carder Bush’s Kate: Inside the Rainbow show that there isa affection and demand for photos. As I have also written about, I am not sure whether it is easy to collate press photos (from official shoots and interviews) from through the years. I would love to see more photos of Bush by Gered Mankowitz. He took a lot of fabulous images of Bush in 1978 and 1979. Guido Harari sort of took up the baton from there, and there are two large and more expensive coffee table books from them both. I think something similar to Kate: Inside the Rainbow that is more affordable and maybe combines great images of her through the years would be welcomed. Maybe bringing in addition or unseen photos from John Carder Bush, it could be a chronological book. Maybe bringing in interview snippets, information about her studio albums and other information, there is a whole world of Kate Bush imagery that would look beautiful in a new book. Again, I don’t think that this is something that she would object to. Maybe in collaboration with John Carder Bush, Guido Harari, and Gered Mankowitz, there could be this celebration and salute of an icon. If it were possible to have some press photo and images from The Tour of Life and Before the Dawn, then that would provide a brilliant and wonderful compendium for established fans and new alike.

 PHOTO CREDIT: John Carder Bush

Two of Kate Bush’s studio albums have big anniversaries this year. Both are in November. The Red Shoes turns thirty, whilst Lionheart will be forty-five. Both are underappreciated albums. Whilst we will not see anniversary reissues, there should be something around the anniversaries. When it comes to Lionheart, there are interviews and music videos. I do hope that magazines and websites take some time out to mark an album that is very strong and does not get the attention and respect it deserves. There have not been many (if any) podcasts exploring the album. Whilst albums such as Hounds of Love and The Kick Inside will get articles written about them, there has been precious little when it comes to Lionheart. Bush’s second studio album, it was a little rushed. Even so, at only ten tracks, there is no real wastage. Some of her best songs can be found on this album – including the newly-written Symphony in Blue and one of the singles, Wow -, so I do think that there is a need to highlight this album. Again, podcasts could come about, but I do hope a magazine dedicates some pages to the making of Lionheart and shining new light on it. It did then lead to The Tour of Life, where all of its tracks were performed live. In fact, an alternate title for the tour was The Lionheart Tour. Perhaps tying in something to do with Lionheart and The Tour of Life could happen. It would be nice to think.

In terms of albums that do not get a great deal of focus, The Red Shoes is right up there. Similarly to Lionheart, the 1993 album has plenty of great tracks. Whilst I do not consider it to be as strong as Lionheart, it does have some magnificent work on it. Rubberband Girl, Eat the Music, Moments of Pleasure, and Lily alone are enough to confirm that it is well worth a lot of love! I would love to see something come about in November for its thirtieth anniversary. Again, there will be no reissue or anything like that but, as I have said for a long time, there are not many remastered videos. Rubberband Girl, Eat the Music and Moments of Pleasure have great videos. HD versions of them would be awesome. Also, and also turning thirty later this year (13th November) is the short film, The Line, the Cross and the Curve. This short film, directed and written by Bush (she also starred) was maligned. Bush herself put distance from the short, but I think it has some fabulous moments. Perhaps a remaster of that too would welcome it to new fans and, in the process, shine new light on its better moments. Magazine articles definitely need to come for The Red Shoes, as this was the last studio album by Bush before a twelve-year hiatus. It was a fascinating period!

 PHOTO CREDIT: John Stoddart

There is the possibility to put together some great articles, podcasts and events to mark some key Kate Bush albums and occasions. Of course, there is no telling what else could be coming this year in terms of commemorations and acknowledgements. I still think that there should be something to do with The Tour of Life, as it is a monumental and hugely important part of her career that has not really been explored or revised since 1979. A lot of people do not even know about it. With photobooks of her the subject of real fascination, they illuminate a beguiling and multi-layered artist. I know there are so many images out there that are striking and complex that could sit together beautifully. I have been thinking about this because of the occasion of her sixty-fifth birthday on 30th July. It has got me thinking about how there should be something in the world before then. In a previous feature, I suggested the idea of a tribute album. Rather than flood the market with a Kate Bush swell of things, something like a Tour of Life release or a podcast about Lionheart would fulfil a need. Not only would be it be beneficial for established and older fans of Kate Bush. It would also be revelatory and beneficial…

FOR the younger generations.

FEATURE: Spotlight: Mae Muller

FEATURE:

 

 

Spotlight

  

Mae Muller

_________

YESTERDAY…

it was officially announced that London-based artist Mae Muller would be representing the U.K. in this year’s Eurovision Song Contest. Coming from Liverpool, it will be a year where many people think we will win it. Sam Ryder finished second last year. Many are tipping Muller to go one further. With her terrific track, I Wrote a Song, impressing fans and press alike, it seems like there is a sure-fire winner already concocted. It has all the components needed to get the judges handing out big scores on the night. It is a timely moment to put her in Spotlight and highlight her work. An amazing artist who has released two E.P.s, Chapter 1 (2019), and no one else, not even you (2020), there will be this demand and expectation of an album. After she appears at Eurovision in May, there will be many more people with their eyes trained the way of her amazing music. Before I get to some previous interviews so that we can discover more about the stunning Mae Muller. Here is more information about out Eurovision hopeful and how she came to represent us:

“Following an extensive search headed by 2023 partners the global music management and publishing company TaP Music, the BBC can confirm that singer-songwriter Mae Muller will be representing the United Kingdom at the 67th Eurovision Song Contest, set to be held in Liverpool on behalf of Ukraine, in May 2023 with I Wrote A Song.

The news was exclusively revealed by Zoe Ball on the Radio 2 Breakfast show earlier today (Thursday 9 March) and tonight at 8.55pm on BBC One and BBC iPlayer, Scott Mills will have the first exclusive TV interview with Mae and the first televised broadcast of the official music video.

Mae was still working at a pub when she landed her first publishing deal. Within two years she’d released 3 EPs full of pop gems that stood out for their melodic hooks and lyrics that were feisty and unapologetic in their frankness. Stealing the attention of the industry, she supported Little Mix on their 2019 stadium tour, landed millions of YouTube views, and scored a top 10 US chart hit with her platinum selling single ‘Better Days’ which she performed on NBC’s The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.

Having signed to Capitol Records UK (part of Universal Music Group), Mae continues to stand out and in 2022 she was nominated at the MTV EMAs and VMAs. Since then her music has reached over two billion streams and 5.5m monthly listeners on Spotify.

Mae Muller co-wrote I Wrote A Song with Brit-Nominated songwriter Lewis Thompson (David Guetta, Joel Corry, and Raye - Bed) and Karen Poole, who has written for Kylie Minogue, Lily Allen, David Guetta and Alisha’s Attic.

Mae Muller says: ”I'm SO excited to participate in Eurovision this year and represent the UK! I've loved watching Eurovision all my life, so to compete in such a massive music competition is simply brilliant. I’m a huge fan of so many of the artists that have found success at Eurovision, from ABBA to Måneskin! Sam Ryder was so amazing last year and proved the UK can be back on the left-hand side of the leader board! I wrote the song I Wrote A Song a few months ago when I was going through a hard time and wanted to feel empowered about relationships, so for it to be chosen for this year’s UK Eurovision song is honestly a dream!”

TaP Music co-founders Ben Mawson and Ed Millett say: “We have always been fans of Mae for her voice, songs and star charisma, and when we heard I Wrote A Song, we were really taken by its impactful message - “songs as a form of therapy” (a great message for the biggest song contest in the world!) alongside its playful tone and up-tempo fun production. From the moment we met Mae, we knew she would be an incredible ambassador for the UK at Eurovision. Alongside her abundant talent, she has the most wonderfully warm and fun personality and expressed positivity and excitement about the opportunity to represent the UK. We are super excited to work with Mae, EMI and her management company Modest! on supporting Mae to get another great result at Eurovision.”

Jo Charrington, Co-President of EMI says: “We’re incredibly excited for Mae to be the UK’s entry for Eurovision. Mae is a standout talent with superstar quality, she’s bold, charismatic, fun and a mesmerising performer who has already amassed a global following through her music. Working alongside TaP, Modest! and the BBC, we feel hugely confident Mae will deliver an iconic moment for the UK at this year's momentous show in Liverpool."

Rachel Ashdown, Lead Commissioning Editor for Eurovision at the BBC says: “We’d like to thank TaP for their extensive search for the UK entrant for Eurovision this year. Mae’s commitment and drive in representing the UK is undeniably clear and I am certain that she is going to be a brilliant ambassador with I Wrote A Song.”

Suzy Lamb, MD of Entertainment & Music at BBC Studios says: “BBC Studios are so excited Mae Muller will be flying the UK flag on home turf in this very special Eurovision year.  We could see from the very first time we met her that she is a ball of positive energy and we can’t wait for the rest of Europe and beyond to fall in love with her and her fabulous song.”

Tonight on BBC One and iPlayer at 8.55pm, Eurovision 2023: Meet the UK Act will introduce Mae to the UK audience in an exclusive interview with Scott Mills. In the show, Scott will delve into Mae’s career and hear how Mae is preparing for the contest in Liverpool. It will also showcase the music video in the first televised broadcast.

The contest itself will take place in Liverpool in May. The UK are hosting on behalf of Ukraine, following the country’s victory at the 2022 contest with the song Stefania by Kalush Orchestra. The Semi Finals will be broadcast on BBC One and BBC iPlayer on Tuesday 9 and Thursday 11 May at 8pm and the Grand Final will be broadcast on BBC One and BBC iPlayer plus via BBC Radio 2 and BBC Sounds on Saturday 13 May from 8pm.

For the latest information on the United Kingdom at Eurovision 2023, follow @bbceurovision on Twitter, Instagram and TikTok and BBC Eurovision on Facebook.

The BBC One coverage of the Eurovision Song Contest 2023 is a BBC Studios Entertainment Production commissioned by Kalpna Knight-Patel, Head of Entertainment. The Head Of Delegation is Adam Wydrzynski, and the Assistant Head of Delegation is Lucy Youngman. Pete Ogden is the Creative Director for BBC Studios in the North. Suzy Lamb is the MD of Entertainment & Music at BBC Studios. The Lead Commissioning Editor for Eurovision for the BBC is Rachel Ashdown”.

I have known about Mae Muller’s music for a couple of years now, but I did not know much about her in terms of her tastes, upbringing, and ambitions. One of our best Pop artists that can sit alongside Dua Lipa and Charli XCX, she is a fantastic talent who is going to release so much more great music. I know there will be a lot of people crossing fingers she releases a debut album this year. In 2021, Glamour spoke with this incredible rising talent. It is fascinating getting to know more about Muller and the sort of music she listened to when young. She is a strong role model for women around the world. Someone who is empowering, inspiring and hugely talented:

“When you think of big UK music talent you picture Dua Lipa, Adele and Little Mix amongst others. Well, have we got news for you, Mae Muller is about to join this epic roster of talent and we’re getting a front row seat!

Singer, songwriter and professional baddie in our eyes, Mae Muller, 23, confesses that perhaps her passion behind performing came from growing up in her North London family home, fighting for all attention to be on her — blame it on middle child syndrome — although she confesses that her parents went on to have more children, her passion for showcasing her talents didn’t go away:

“I'd stand on the coffee table and sing songs and force everyone to have a look at me. I was always just that annoying kid.” she reveals as she virtually sits down to kiki with GLAMOUR.

It’s obvious that Mae has been working on her impeccable stage presence and her captivating flair for performing for some time, with a unique sound that has the power to span generations.

However, Mae Muller didn’t actually get into music until she turned 19. She reveals that she struggled to find a way in, so resorted to where some of the greats like Justin Bieber and Adele did — social media. “I started putting videos of me singing on Instagram and I put a song up on SoundCloud and then from there it just kind of snowballed. I started getting into sessions and just making more and more music and working on improving my writing skills.”

Mae Muller is now working on her latest music projects and is the ambassador for Love, MeMeMe – a Gen-Z, forward-thinking wellness and skincare brand. We managed to squeeze into her busy schedule to talk all things music, therapy and sharing advice for young women that money can’t buy...

My musical taste comes from listening to Dixie Chicks CDs on long car drives...

“Both of my parents are big music lovers. My grandparents used to live in Wales and I remember being in the car with my mom on these really long car journeys to see them. She’d put on the Dixie Chicks’ album, Home, and I just fell in love with it. I loved their songwriting and storytelling. I just thought it was so beautiful. I think that was really instilled in me from a young age.

I have imposter syndrome, but I also have the opposite as well…

My mom then bought me the All Right, Still album by Lily Allen, and I was definitely too young for those stories, but that was another album that has kind of changed my life. I was like, ‘Who is this girl? She just says whatever she wants, how she wants to say it, telling these insane stories.’ I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, I want to do that’ and obviously because she's singing with her London accent, I really heard myself there, I thought it was amazing. It's started my love story for music and storytelling.”

I want to be able to create music that you hear, see and feel...

“I also loved Florence & The Machine. I loved Gwen Stefani, I was obsessed with her when I was younger. Who wasn't? All three of them [including Lily Allen] are such different artists, but what I think they all have in common is that they're really strong women who are amazing storytellers and great writers.

"I'm a very visual person. Whenever you listen to their music, you can really see it and see what they're saying. That's something that I've always really wanted to do on my own art.”

I’m surrounded by powerful woman on my team…

“There are things that are out of your control, like the people that lead your label, and that are on the board of things, but I try to request my direct team to be women, because I think they deserve to be in these spaces too and that makes me more comfortable.

"I've always said, I want my manager to be a woman. I have minimal interest [in being] surrounded by middle-aged men, because – I'm sorry – how can a group of middle-aged men understand exactly what's best for me?

"The president of my label is a woman, which is rare and great. I think women just get it and they just see things differently.”

We need the music industry to be more inclusive...

“We need to look out for each other. I’d like to see people that are in the top positions employing more women. I feel like a lot of the time when you're in the studio, a lot of the writers are women, but a lot of the producers are men. I'd say around 95% of the producers I work with are men. I feel as thought there are so many talented women out there that are just not being given the same opportunities. I think it's just about giving everyone an equal chance and just being vocal and proactive about it”.

Let’s skip forward to last year. As an artist who as releasing material and trying to break through and tour when the pandemic hit, maybe there is a bit of a delay in terms of Mae Muller being on people’s radar. The last couple of days have been a whirlwind for her. So much promotion for Eurovision. A hot tip to win for sure, it will be intriguing to see what she does when it is over in terms of her direction and plans for releases. Women in Pop spoke with Muller about the track, Better Days, songwriting, and taking control:

“You are a major pop powerhouse. The rest of the world sees Sweden as next level when it comes to incredible pop music. Do you feel a little bit like you're in Valhalla at the moment?

Oh, the level of talent here is insane. I've done a writing trip here once before, I had two weeks of writing. And if you do two weeks of writing, and you get two, maybe three good songs that's a good trip, you know? Every single song that I wrote here with the people that I was working with were all amazing. They know how to write a good pop song.

You are a powerhouse, and I have read a couple of interviews where you confessed you were a middle child spotlight puller - great thing! How did you get into music? How did you go from ‘mum, dad look at me’ to where you are today?

Honestly, I just always loved the attention! I've always really enjoyed writing and I've always loved music, but I just didn't really know how to get into it. It was always this big unknown thing. And I would ask, ‘How do people do it? How do you become a singer?’ and people say ‘you get a record deal’. And I'm like, what? You just skipped right to C, what’s A and B first? It was very confusing to me. I just started putting music out on SoundCloud actually, just doing it myself because I was like, ‘I'm just gonna get out there, it doesn't matter if it's not the most sparkly shiny thing’. I just wanted to get my stuff out there. I used to do these little singing videos on Instagram and they were not very good, but then through that I met management and then I just was writing every day and in sessions. I was releasing music independently for a year, and then I got signed [to a label] and that's when it really started popping off.

I want to talk to you as well about your last EP, 2020’s no one else, not even you. This is a work of art, of heart and words. I just love the way you put that EP together. You clearly had your hands on every single moment of the process and I can almost feel like you're learning as you do it and you're leading with your integrity. What does creating and being that present in music, do for you?

It's just a release. I feel like it's really easy to get caught up in the deadlines, the ‘when is this going to happen?' When can we make this work?’ You forget that we're here to make music and I'm so lucky that I'm so involved in the process. It’s been a great release for me and those songs on that EP are so important and it came at such an integral part of this journey. I just feel really lucky that I have, basically, free therapy isn't it? It’s fantastic!

On that, who were those sheros that you were listening to growing up? Who were those women that you were not just pretending to be and singing along to, but who were the ones that you were like, I want to make that?

I used to love Lily Allen when I was younger and especially in a lot of my earliest stuff like you can really hear her influence because I just wanted to tell stories. I used to listen to her and she sang with her with her own accent, with her own voice. She was just herself and I really really liked that. And then I listened to Florence & The Machine, who I love whose storytelling was just incredible. My mum used to play Dixie Chicks and Simon Garfunkel in the car, which was very different to what I do, but it's just amazing storytelling and I've always just been so swept away with that. I've always known that whatever I do, and whatever kind of music I make, I want people to be able to see it and to feel it and for there to be as a message”.

I am going to finish off with a feature from DORK from August. An artist who has captured widespread attention and is someone who is impossible to ignore and dislike, the passion she has for music is clear. After a successful and big year in 2022, this one is going to be the most eventful, successful and greatest so far for her I think! There will be a lot of new fans coming on board and discovering her music. Again, that demand for an album will be undeniable and large:

“You’ve done quite a few collaborations now, but how did this one come about?

I’ve been such a big fan of Marshmello, has such a legend and to work with him was such an honour. I think he heard ‘American Psycho’ while I was in the studio and loved it, so he then made it a million times better. I couldn’t believe it at the time; this was when ‘Better Days’ was really starting to do its thing too, so my life was going absolutely crazy. I’ve been a fan of Trippie Redd for a while and just wanted a cool rapper on it, so we went for it and asked him – the worst he could do is say no, but he said yes and smashed it! His verse added something that neither of us could ever have done. It’s a very unlikely trio, but it really, really works.

You’ve expressed that this song is kick-starting a new era – what’s changed?

‘Better Days’ was my first introduction to success on a new level, and I’d never experienced that level of elevation before; it felt very new. Now that I’ve seen what I can do, I’m trying to go even bigger. This era visually is a bit darker, more intense; it brings out a completely different side to me that I haven’t really shown before. A lot of my stuff is sassy and tongue in cheek, which is a big part of who I am, but it is nice to say no; I can offer some serious shit now. It’s been good for me personally to express that.

You started working on music aged 19 and have been grafting away for the last five years. How did the sudden exposure from that track feel?

Really weird. It happened overnight in a way; it became this massive thing that just kept growing super quickly. I have actually been working on my music for five years, though, it took us so much hard work to get here, and then suddenly, it finally broke through. I felt ready for it because I had worked for that long and had time to figure out who I am. I think it looks really appealing to have overnight success with your first song, but that must actually be really scary because you wouldn’t really know what you’re doing. I feel really blessed to have had that time to grow – I might have found it hard, and I did get a bit impatient, but now that this is happening, I’m really grateful.

Your songs use negative events in your past to instil a sense of self-worth in the present – why do you think that has connected with so many people?

I think that is a universal experience. It’s really easy to get lost in the fear and anxiety of past trauma, and that can stop you from enjoying certain things in the future. Trust is a big thing – once your trust has been broken, it can be really hard to trust someone again. I wanted my music to show that there is life after that negativity, in relationships or anything else. If you feel bad now, that’s not going to last forever. I’ve been through some shit, and yet here I am – you can find power in that”.

Our Eurovision representative this year, and an artist who is being talked about a lot right now, go and follow and support the sensational Mae Muller. I would be interested hearing an album and what else she has to offer. I Wrote a Song is her Eurovision entry. It will definitely be a popular choice on the night! After the dust has settled on the contest in May, all eyes will be on this…

ORIGINAL and fantastic young artist.

___________

Follow Mae Muller

FEATURE: The Digital Mixtape: C2C: Country to Country at Ten

FEATURE:

 

 

The Digital Mixtape

 

C2C: Country to Country  at Ten

_________

AS a special anniversary…

 IN THIS PHOTO: Lainey Wilson/PHOTO CREDIT: Alex Berger

starts today and is continuing through this weekend, I wanted to mark it with a playlist. C2C: Country to Country is a huge festival that was set up ten years ago. I am not a huge Country music expert, but I do like the new crop of artists coming through. There are some legends of the genre, and it is a great scene to get involved with. I am going to end with a playlist of artists playing across the C2C: Country to Country festival, in addition to some other modern-day Country gems. Before then, here is some background to a crucial and celebrated event in the music calendar:

“C2C: Country to Country is Europe's biggest country music festival created by AEG Europe and SJM Concerts in association with the Country Music Association. The festival takes place each March in London, Glasgow and Dublin, with three days of the best in country music and programming. Performances come from the world’s best country stars as well as emerging talent from Nashville, UK and Europe.

C2C was first launched in March 2013 at The O2, London as a two day event with Carrie Underwood and Tim McGraw as headliners. This was Tim McGraw’s first UK appearance.

In 2014 C2C launched in Dublin and in 2016 C2C grew into three days and added C2C Glasgow. In London, new stages outside of the arena included the Bluebird Café, BBC Radio 2 Country Stage and the Late Night Sounds Like Nashville Stage.

C2C 2022 saw multi award-winning headliners Luke Combs, Darius Rucker and Miranda Lambert along with Kip Moore, Brett Young, Ashley McBryde, Russell Dickerson, Scotty McCreery, Flatland Cavalry, Tennille Townes and Hailey Whitters take to the arena stage.

C2C is delighted to announce that it will return for its ninth year on 10th to 12th March 2023”.

To mark ten years of C2C, and also celebrated some great modern Country music, below is a playlist with a selection of artists who have/will appear at the three-day festival. If you are not overly familiar with modern Country or need some guidance, then hopefully the playlist will be of assistance. Below are some are some terrific Country tracks from…

SOME true greats.