Archive for the ‘Marianne Faithfull’ Category
Friday, March 19th, 2010
Listen: Moments In Soul / JT & The Big Family JTBigFamily.mp3
JT & The Big Family, not even sure who they were. Didn’t hang around long enough to find out – them not me that is. Not forgetting, one of the hardest and bravest things to do, in addition to being seminal, breaking new ground etc etc, is making derivative schlock formula pap pop. There were, still are, several masters at it, and the general public many times eats it up. For instance, the Greenaway/Cook machine churned out things like White Plains and The Brotherhood Of Man. And I loved them all.
Along comes this bunch, throwing Art Of Noise and Soul II Soul samples into a blender, and out comes a, well….classic. Classic schlock, to some that is – and no problem. I, for one, am not offended by the term – but don’t forget, reinterpreting classic music through a new combination of samples isn’t all that easy. If it were, I think everyone would have done it well.
As Marianne Faithfull once sang in ‘Guilt’: “give me more more more more, more”.
Tags: Champion, JT & The Big Family, Marianne Faithfull, Soul II Soul, The Art Of Noise, The Brotherhood Of Man, White Plains
Posted in Champion, Greenaway/Cook, JT & The Big Family, Marianne Faithfull, Soul II Soul, The Art Of Noise, The Brotherhood Of Man, White Plains | No Comments »
Thursday, October 29th, 2009
Listen: Forever Now / The Psychedelic Furs PsychedelicForeverNow.mp3
I’ve been meaning to get a dedicated section on this blog for ‘Songs That Should Have Been Singles’. Some day, one day, as The Seekers once sang.
So now I have to decide, if something was pressed up on 7″ for promotional use only, is it a single? Or is a single a record that was actually released on 7″ for the public to buy? The plot thickens, given that some labels in the 60′s would promo a single to radio, then only press retail copies if it felt like airplay was possible. Feel free to discuss but I’m thinking if I can hold it as a 7″ piece of plastic, then yes it is a single.
One such promo only 7″, in a classy, almost UK type sleeve, was the (unfortunately) unedited version of The Psychedelic Furs ‘Forever Now’ (the over produced, ‘dynamic and percussively textured middle breakdown’, to quote a wordy journalist from the period, should have, in my opinion, been zapped). Despite that, the track is possibly one of their best. To hear the guitars REALLY pop, wear headphones. I’ve been listening to it almost exclusively since seeing the band for the first time in years, a few weeks back. I will not leave it so long ever again.
It’s always helpful to look great as well as sound it. Richard and Tim Butler indeed look exactly the same as they did thirty years ago. It defies logic. As importantly, they sound fantastic. Despite being the only two originals left, those integral parts Vince Ely and Jon Ashton created on this song are well reproduced in person.
And it’s those bits that make this recorded version so vital. Drummer Vince Ely flawlessly provides incredible swing underneath it all as a result of an interplay with Tim Butler’s bass that’s impeccable. John Ashton’s razor sharp guitar tones make his anthemic playing powerful and perfect. Then there’s Richard Butler’s classic vocal inflections and one of a kind lyrics: “everybody’s busy listening and pulling blinds”, beautifully marrying David Bowie with John Cooper Clarke.
‘Forever Now’ was the last song of their final encore that night, proceeded by the crowd jaw dropper, an unexpected ‘She Is Mine’. The end to a perfect evening. Only the goodnight kiss from Marianne Faithfull could top it.
Tags: Columbia, David Bowie, John Ashton, John Cooper Clarke, Marianne Faithfull, Richard Butler, The Psychedelic Furs, The Seekers, Tim Butler, Vince Ely
Posted in Columbia, David Bowie, John Ashton, John Cooper Clarke, Marianne Faithfull, Richard Butler, The Psychedelic Furs, The Seekers, Tim Butler, Vince Ely | No Comments »
Tuesday, October 6th, 2009
Listen: What Am I Living For / Mark – Almond MarkAlmondWhatAmILiving.mp3
Listen: The City / Mark – Almond MarkAlmondTheCity.mp3
I was lucky enough to see one of the early shows John Mayall did in support of his then brand new album TURNING POINT, basically himself, Jon Mark, Johnny Almond and Steven Thompson. A fantastic drumless lineup – so different at the time. If you have the album, well the live show was exactly the same. A perfect evening.
Always on the move musically, John Mayall soon reinvented himself, possibly due to the formation of Mark – Almond. They too, were a super good act live. Several of the songs from their first two albums on Bob Krasnow’s Blue Thumb label were progressive radio staples, including ‘The City’. It was frankly shocking to hear it on a JetBlue flight recently via their Sirius radio feed. It had been years since that came out of any radio. Got to hand it to Sirius, they play a lot of great stuff.
Learn something everyday: I was completely sure ‘What Am I Living For’ had charted, even peaking in 30′s/40′s on Billboard’s Top 100. Not so. Never even entered. I heard it often as a current during the summer of ’72. It was a high point of the live show as well.
Mark – Almond double billed often with plain and simple guitar bands during their 4-5 year run. Despite the company, every audience listened and appreciated their undeniable musical superiority. Jon Mark, the consummate acoustic, 12 string player, with Johnny Almond at his side, swaying to the music, eyes closed. His seemingly euphoric state took up almost as much stage time as his playing, which by the way, was superb.
Listen: Solar Level / Johnny Almond Music Machine JohnnyAlmond.mp3
Prior to the John Mayall association and subsequent Mark – Almond period, Johnny Almond made a few albums for Deram’s jazz leaning long player roster (along with the likes of Henry Lowther, The John Cameron Quartet and The Mike Westbrook Orchestra). All highly desirable now, primarily for their sampling potentials, it’s interesting to think that the label would actually release singles from said endeavors, which even more oddly, I ended up liking a lot.
Listen: Night Comes Down / Jon-Mark JonMarkNightComes.mp3
Jon Mark, in fact, started years earlier, playing guitar on various Marianne Faithfull singles, like ‘Come And Stay With Me’ and ‘Summer Nights’. It was during that period (’65) that he too recorded a version of the Shel Talmy written ‘Night Comes Down’, which I post a few days back by The Mickey Finn in a much more psychedelicized style.
Tags: Blue Thumb, Bob Krasnow, Columbia, Deram, Joe Cocker & The Grease Band, John Mayall, Johnny Almond Music Machine, Jon-Mark, Marianne Faithfull, Mark - Almond, Patto, Shel Talmy, Sirius, The John Cameron Quartet, The Mickey Finn, The Mke Westbrook Orchestra
Posted in Blue Thumb, Bob Krasnow, Columbia, Deram, Henry Lowther, Joe Cocker & The Grease Band, John Mayall, Johnny Almond Music Machine, Jon-Mark, Marianne Faithfull, Mark - Almond, Shel Talmy, Sirius, The John Cameron Quartet, The Mickey Finn, The Mike Westbrook Orchestra | No Comments »
Thursday, August 20th, 2009
Listen: Where The Action Is / Freddy Cannon FreddyCannonAction.mp3
Let’s face it. The theme song to ABC’s syndicated daily pop show, WHERE THE ACTION IS, titled ‘Action’ by Freddy Cannon, was so good, even The Ramones could have covered it.
I lived for WHERE THE ACTION IS and saw many a great act each day after school. Our local Syracuse affiliate, WSYR-TV, was wishy-washy, and many times pre-empted it with other things. Looking over the complete, chronological list of episodes and guests, I’ve only just discovered missing Pinkerton’s Assorted Colours, The Action and Dave Dee Dozy Beaky Mick & Tich for just that reason. Indeed, I’m a bit crushed having now discovered these atrocities. Scumbags.
But seeing an LA centric act almost daily, given they were basically down the street from the studios, must have been daily bliss. To name a few: The Guillteens, The Ikettes with and without Ike & Tina Turner, The Vejtables, The Leaves, The Seeds, Gary & The Hornets, Love, Dino Desi & Billy, The Buffalo Springfield, Jan & Dean.
Not to mention the RnB stuff: Martha & The Vandellas, Doris Troy, The Royalettes, Mary Wells, Brenda Holloway, The Toys, Maxine Brown, Kim Weston, Carla Thomas, Billy Stewart, Bobby Hebb, Alvin Cash & The Crawlers or Felice Taylor. I still replay The Vibrations doing ‘My Girl Sloopy’ vividly in my memory.
Then there were the black and white segments from England, a real high for we Anglophiles: The Small Faces, Gary Farr & The T-Bones, Them, The Mindbenders, The Zombies, The Moody Blues, The Kinks, Unit 4 + 2, The Who, Wayne Fontana, Marianne Faithfull, The Yardbirds and The Cryin’ Shames.
Tags: ABC-TV, Alvin Cash & The Crawlers, Billy Stewart, Bobby Hebb, Brenda Holloway, Carla Thomas, Dave Dee Dozy Beaky Mick & Tich, Dick Clark, Dino Desi & Billy, Doris Troy, Felice Taylor, Freddy Cannon, Gary & The Hornets, Ike & Tina Turner, Jan & Dean, Kim Weston, Love, Marianne Faithfull, Mary Wells, Maxine Brown, Pinkerton's Assorted Colours, The Action, The Buffalo Springfield, The Cryin' Shames, The Guilteens, The Ikettes, The Leaves, The Mindbenders, The Moody Blues, The Ramones, The Royalettes, The Seeds, The Small Faces, The Toys, The Vejtables, The Vibrations, The Who, Them, Unit 4 + 2, Where The Action Is, WSYR-TV
Posted in ABC-TV, Alvin Cash & The Crawlers, Billy Stewart, Bobby Hebb, Brenda Holloway, Carla Thomas, Dave Dee Dozy Beaky Mick & Tich, Dick Clark, Dino Desi & Billy, Doris Troy, Felice Taylor, Freddy Cannon, Gary & The Hornets, Gary Farr & The T-Bones, Ike & Tina Turner, Jan & Dean, Kim Weston, Love, Marianne Faithfull, Martha & The Vandellas, Mary Wells, Maxine Brown, Pinkerton's Assorted Colours, The Action, The Buffalo Springfield, The Cryin' Shames, The Guilteens, The Ikettes, The Kinks, The Leaves, The Mindbenders, The Moody Blues, The Ramones, The Royalettes, The Seeds, The Small Faces, The Toys, The Vejtables, The Vibrations, The Who, The Yardbirds, The Zombies, Them, Unit 4 + 2, Wayne Fontana, Where The Action Is, WSYR-TV | No Comments »
Friday, June 12th, 2009
Listen: Mercy, Mercy / Don Covay & The Goodtimers DonCovayMercy.mp3
I woke up one day realizing albums by The Rolling Stones serve as introductory encyclopedias for figuring out the best American RnB and Blues originals. I felt really behind the curve at that moment, but considering it was still 1969, I caught up ok. The band, or someone in their camp, had impecable taste when picking this stuff. I still read the occassional story of their early visits to the US, whereby they’d all flock to now infamous record shops in Harlem or East LA just to buy all the black releases. Man, those stores must have been amazing. And where are all those records now? There were plenty of those original US pressings amongst the Tony King collection…..
Don Covay entered my world via OUT OF OUR HEADS. The Rolling Stones started side one of the US version with ‘Mercy, Mercy’. OUT OF OUR HEADS was their fourth and final US album to pressed initially (first run only) in the UK, then exported to the US and sleeved here. Just recently have collectors been alerted to this detail, but for years I was buying up those UK copies at garage sales for $1. They are particularly easy to spot. The font is obviously different than US London labels, but they’re also deep groove, and they indicate ‘Made In England’. Quite helpful. A few other London releases during the era (’64 – ’66) were intially pressed in the UK as well: Marianne Faithfull, Tom Jones and Them.
When I worked at Island in the late 80′s, Chris Blackwell signed Don Covay, who came by regularly to see Holly Furgeson and her office was next to mine. She did the A&R admin, and Don Covay handled all his own business. I remember him working diligently on the project only to have it shelved, a bad habit Island always had.
I was well pleased to find not only the original DJ copy of ‘Mercy, Mercy’ amogst Tony’s records, but a very nice UK reissue as well, both pictured above.
Tags: Chris Blackwell, Don Covay, Don Covay & The Goodtimers, Island, London Records, Marianne Faithfull, The Rolling Stones, Them, Tom Jones, Tony King
Posted in Chris Blackwell, Don Covay, Don Covay & The Goodtimers, Holly Furgeson, Island, London Records, Marianne Faithfull, The Rolling Stones, Them, Tom Jones, Tony King | No Comments »
Monday, March 9th, 2009
Listen: Is This What I Get For Loving You? / Marianne Faithfull MarianneIsThis.mp3
They all wanted to produce like Phil Spector back then – even Andrew Loog Oldham. I’m not quite sure if Andrew ever really produced despite his label credits, and this comes from both conversations with him and his press, not necessarily my observation. As this single clearly demonstrates, there was more than good intention required in order to reproduce Phil’s special sound.
Having said that, I still love Marianne and Andrew’s version. It got some play in my hometown (see chart), always sounded great on the radio and I must have played this baby 500 times in the day.
More on Marianne down the road. We became close friends during my days at Island, made some great albums together and found time to have some fun rides. Soon come.
Posted in Andrew Loog Oldham, Decca, Island, London Records, Marianne Faithfull, Phil Spector, WNDR | No Comments »
Wednesday, October 22nd, 2008
Listen: A Thousand Shadows/ The Seeds
A
I often find myself referring to records as night time or winter. Chris Blackwell once said of Marianne Faithfull, “She’s very much a wintertime artist”, making me quite happy to hear I wasn’t the only one who thought that way. Probably stems from, particularly in the case of night time, when I’d hear the actual music the most, or at least initially.
With The Seeds, I have confidence I never heard them during the day, not once, when they were current. In the northeast, they only were played at night, when the playlists loosened up a bit. Funny, given that on the west coast, like Love and X, they were pretty much mainstream which came with being local. Those singles by The Seeds are just imprinted as night time records for me, and I like that. They have a darkness and mystery to them, every last one. All a bit menacing, due to the eerie keyboards mostly. Sky Saxon is one of a kind too, you just never mistake his voice. When ‘A Thousand Shadows’ was released in summer ’67, it coincided with my first ever radio show, Friday nights from 6 – 8 pm on the very small, very local AM station WMCR. I had successfully been blagging records off them for about two years at that point.
I lied. Told them I was from the local Children’s Hospital and seeking donations of their unplayed teen records, as their format was adult contemporary at the time. And I mean very adult, your parent’s music if you will: Mel Torme, Steve Lawrence, Eddie Fisher. We turned our nose at this stuff, but would go home and freak out to Scott Walker. In hindsight, it was pretty much the same sound but with a much better haircut admittedly. Mark Warner, then evening DJ while home from college for the summer, got me the job, I think, once he went back to school in the fall. His parents owned the station. They knew all along the donation drill was a scam, but figured they weren’t using the records anyways, and Mark’s Mom coined me that clever little boy that loves his music. That was the last time I ever heard that one, but bless her. I got a radio show out of it instead of being ratted on. Mind you, it only lasted a few weeks into the school year.
About seven years ago, December ’01 to be exact, when I went home to visit my Mom and Dad, I just drove by for the heck of it and decided to ring the bell. It was Christmas Eve, lo and behold, Mrs. Warner was there and still in charge! She was so sweet, welcomed me right inside. The place was pretty much the same, still had the two Gates turntables in the control room. She even took me downstairs to see what was left of the record library. “If you see something you really want now, I’m sure it won’t be missed”. All these years later, it just doesn’t get any better than this.
The Seeds were the first band I played, ever, on the radio. The theme of the show was to pretty much stick with the latest sounds from England, so how The Seeds got the first spin…but they did.
Posted in Chris Blackwell, Eddie Fisher, GNP Crescendo, Love, Marianne Faithfull, Mel Torme, Scott Walker, Sky Saxon, Steve Lawerence, The Seeds, Willie Alexander, WMCR, X | No Comments »
Tuesday, June 10th, 2008
Listen: Wipeout Beat / Alan Vega
Wipeout
1983, the year before Howard Thompson offered me my first real job doing A&R for Elektra, I was finishing an electrical engineering degree at RIT in Rochester. I was part of a popular local punk band and apparently a good candidate to anchor a two hour weekly show on the town’s AOR station. The program was called ‘Import/Export’. The point being to play all the very happening music the college and underground kids were devouring and giving the station a touch of needed cred, as well as allowing them to sell spots to local clubs promoting those bands as they passed through town, and charging the labels for some time buys on these releases without really having to play this uncommercial music during the earlier hours, when people actually listened. I was thrilled and should have appreciated it more, as no one has ever offered me a similar opportunity since.
When visiting town last year, I gave the station a listen. It’s an interesting, but sad, time warp, still playing ‘Iron Man’, Styx, J. Geils Band, things I can’t even remember now that dropped my jaw when they came on, a playlist that recently put some of the employees responsible for this programming out of jobs. Oh well, they stifled music culture for long enough. My show, hidden at midnight on Tuesdays. was hosted jointly by Roger McCall, a more wonderful person you just will never meet.
Roger and I would play ‘Wipeout Beat’ weekly for months. Like Marianne Faithfull’s ‘The Ballad Of Lucy Jordan’, it constantly gets overlooked when the press sites early music that helped start electronica and dance are sighted. Produced by Ric Ocasek, as was Alan’s band, Suicide’s ‘Dream Baby Dream’, Roger and I would not answer the constantly ringing request lines as we blared this on 11, a high point of the evening for us always.
When I joined Elektra a year later, Howard and Michael Alago, who signed Alan to the label, introduced me to him and we became amazingly close friends quickly, closing Danceteria almost nightly with booker Ruth Polsky, visiting UK bands like Sisters Of Mercy, The Smiths or New Order, Joey Ramone, Arturo Vega, Mickey Leigh, Monte Melnick, Marina Lutz, Duane Sherwood, a then, unibrowed, Madonna, and of course Howard and Micheal.
With Marty Rev, his other half in Suicide, you can save yourself a lot of time and money by seeing one of their very occasional New York shows. You won’t need to spend either much time or money on going out again. They are so powerful, it’s almost unbelievable. How the likes of Beyonce etc. aren’t lining up to get Marty’s beats onto their new recordings is shocking. Why acts get out of bed in the morning trying to compete with Suicide is quite baffling to me.
Unfortunately, the reality is that a few years back, Roger was cruelly and needlessly murdered. His killers are still unfound. Given that he worked at the station I refer to above, WCMF, for something like 30 years, I heard he may have been the longest employed DJ at any US rock radio station, I’m shocked that, despite the large voice and influence WCMF had in that market, they didn’t use it to bring any attention or help to finding the people who did this, not stopping until justice was served. But no, only more archaic music numbly being broadcast as though nothing had happened.
Tags: Alan Vega, Suicide
Posted in Alan Vega, Arturo Vega, Danceteria, Elektra, Giorgio Moroder, Howard Thompson, Joey Ramone, Madonna, Marianne Faithfull, Marty Rev, Michael Alago, Mickey Leigh, Monte Melnick, Roger McCall, Sparks, Suicide | No Comments »
