Listen: Strong In The Sun / Tir Na Nog
Strong In The Sun / Tir Na Nog

I was desperate to see Tir Na Nog when they toured the US in ’72. It never happened.

Although being the college concert chairman at the time, having pushed through Rory Gallagher, Chicken Shack, Savoy Brown, Colosseum, Atomic Rooster, The Electric Light Orchestra, The Pretty Things and The Incredible String Band against everyone’s “who the fuck are these people” stances in one school year mind you, it didn’t really allow me any more puts. By then, the budget was spent anyways. Otherwise, they’d have been there.

Tir Na Nog’s second and third albums were released in the States, and I particularly loved that third one, STRONG IN THE SUN. It was, well still is, a seminal recording, right up there with the best from Tyrannosaurus Rex, John Martyn and Nick Drake. Indeed the album includes a cover of his ‘Free Ride’, itself worthy of 7″ status. Tracks like ‘Cinema’ rivaled some of Pink Floyd’s tracks from MEDDLE for being…cinematic, funny enough. If you’d told me Norman Smith, Denny Cordell or Peter Asher had produced some of this stuff, I’d have believed you. The album is that good.

Indeed, Matthew Fisher from Procol Harum was in charge of production, and as with similar duties on Robin Trower’s BRIDGE OF SIGHS, did an A+ job.

When I up and headed for London during summer ’73, I took a night off from The Marquee to see them play a small, sit-down-cross-legged room, God knows the name of it now. But the show remains a vivid memory.

There was a time, around ’85, and Howard Thompson was looking at cover songs for 10000 Maniacs. I guess as a potential single, possibly a one-off film submission or something. I recommended ‘Strong In The Sun’. I thought Natalie Merchant would have done it some beautiful justice and Tir Na Nog could have gotten some well deserved recognition. Didn’t happen. ‘Peace Train’ was chosen instead, against the band’s wishes. Years later, turns out Natalie insisted it be removed from that album. Elektra complied..

There has to be someone out there in need of a great song to revive their sagging career: Nelly Furtado, Jewel, Anna Nalick, Five For Fighting, Vanessa Carlton, Paula Cole or wait, Natalie Merchant.

Listen: Senses Working Overtime (Single Version) / XTC [audio:

http://www.somanyrecordssolittletime.com/records/XTCSenses.mp3]

You have to hand it to Steve Lillywhite. He can produce a record alright. God, he was on a roll during this early 80′s stretch. XTC, Peter Gabriel, The Psychedelic Furs, Simple Minds, Joan Armatrading, U2. If you couldn’t make great records with that bunch, you’d be pretty useless – but seminal ones as they turned out to be – well not necessarily that easy.

Having a great engineer is the magic formula – one who can eventually learn the craft and rise to the occasion. Such the case with Hugh Padgham, Steve’s original engineer who produced this – and The Police among others.

Early on, XTC opened a US tour for The Police, the only time I got to see them. And I’m honestly not sure how many times thereafter they returned. Their saga is long. And this is a well known hit, but never one I tire of.

Listen: When The Tanks Roll Over Poland Again / Automatics Automatics.mp3

Who is the best living rock producer? Steve Lillywhite.

There are many, and I’m probably writing this without really thinking it through. Whatever. Steve has made so many great records for decades. The list is staggering: XTC, The Psychedelic Furs, Joan Armatrading, Eddie & The Hot Rods, Ultravox, fuck it – loads.

U2 – even if the band isn’t, to my tastes, great – the recordings are wonderful. For all the sonic wonder he has added to U2 alone, he still had to start somewhere.

Enter The Automatics. Certainly not his first, but definitely an early production. He’s come a long way. Or did he arrive fully formed?

This certainly captured the sound of London ’78. Those shouty vocals, bratty guitar grinds and the beautiful clunk of a noisy rhythm section all rolled up into a loveable mess. Either its great or it isn’t, and this is. If you add to that recipe an anthemic song, well, you end up with ‘When The Tanks Roll Over Poland’ by The Automatics, for one.

Listen: Dangerous Rhythm / Ultravox UltravoxDangerousRhythm.mp3

It was March ’77, Corinne and I had perfectly timed, as it turns out, our first trip to London. As chronicled in previous posts, Howard jammed what seemed like a year’s worth of record shopping and live shows into a fourteen day window. It was only a month prior that he’d sent the debut 7″ from Ultravox ‘Dangerous Rhythm’ pictured above, release date sticker still intact. We were ready.

They were playing The Nashville, we’re there. Visually a mix of New York, London punk and Berlin. Sonically jagged, metallic, white noise in parts yet cold and stark all at once. That early Ultravox lineup, their first album and a bunch of the singles following are never spoken of enough. In fact the whole John Foxx era is under appreciated. They were a great live band and a catalyst towards my appreciation of Neu, Can and many things German that I had previously overlooked.