“ROME – Nearly 200 million children in poor countries have stunted growth because of insufficient nutrition, according to a new report published by UNICEF Wednesday before a three-day international summit on the problem of world hunger.”

You can gather some details around this grim news by reading an article here.

Meanwhile, Jacques Diouf, director-general of the Food and Agriculture Organization through the United Nations has called on the world to join him in a day of fasting ahead of the summit to highlight the plight of one billion hungry people.

Mr. Diouf said he hoped the fast would encourage the deliverance of boat-loads of cash action by world leaders who will take part in the meeting at his agency’s headquarters starting Monday.

I certainly don’t mind participating in a fast. However, I do have some questions. And, perhaps this needs to be one of the points of this particular post. I’m skeptical enough people actually ask enough of the right questions before they take any form of action. We’ve all heard the saying: “Fools rush in”. So, let’s hesitate, review some easy to find information, and then consider some options.

So… Apparently most of this “stunting” occurs in Africa (and, Asia, to a lesser extent).

In my community Christian missions to Africa are currently all-the-rage. People from local churches raise a lot of other peoples money to go on holiday and build schools (with no teachers), aqueducts for farms (that have no seeds or education around seasonal planting strategies), and distribute condoms to communities that are led by men that punish their wives for breast feeding because it’s inconvenient taboo to have sex with women who do so (… and, are too stupid to sort out that unmanaged sex combined with moronic traditions equal starving children). Some people call this “rewarding bad behavior” – my Nana (Grandmother) would have. The evangelista’s call it “opportunity”.

This has replaced creationist-frenzied missions to China – that were all-the-rage two years ago when obnoxious Chinese started asking too many questions around logic, evolution, fossils, and accountability.

Perhaps it’s all that fasting that’s got people thinking non-strategically.

Aside from Darwinian-driven campaigns of genocide and various efforts towards ethnic cleansing, what has changed in-and-amongst these continents the last one thousand years? It’s called the “Dark Continent” for a lot of reasons, right? Well… Other than North America and Western Europe pouring billions of dollars into programs that are designed to prolong life and grow populations that exist in arid regions that were, otherwise, designed by God to support thirty percent of their current populations.

…shifting feet, now.

I’m told (only) hundreds of millions of dollars (ministries and non-profits often seemed challenged when it comes to accurate financial accounting) apparently go towards travel to foreign countries and the delivery of poorly distributed resources.

Lest we go too far without recognizing some programs of merit, I do applaud efforts like that of friend Oprah and Madonna opening schools, and making sure they have the resources to be self-sufficient and self-sustaining. I like education-oriented and self-perpetuating programs (because this is an indication they work), myself.

In any event, what about troubled children in North America? Remember that 60 Minutes segment on Mountain Dew (owned by PepsiCo) guzzling school-deprived children in the mountains of Tennessee? Their teeth are rotting out of their sugar-saturated heads. Mountain Dew is apparently less expensive than bottled water, and there is often no running water in several of those regions. That’s great profit for PepsiCo, but bad for children. Let’s educate the kids and be a real part of the solution, and not the problem.

It strikes me that boycotting PepsiCo would be both a healthy and noteworthy mission. Possibly more productive than fasting.

I could go into more detail through some of the touchy topics I’ve referenced above. But, I’ll add a short story, of sorts, so we can move and rap this post up…

I’m often approached by locals that want me to pay their expenses for mission trips to Africa. I always say no (I might even arch my eye brow when I do so). This scenario played itself out, yet again, late last week when “Phil” swung by my offices with such a request. When I declined his generous offer to allow me to pay for his family holiday, Phil went all rigid-like and advised me that I am “..not setting a Christian example”. I thanked him, of course, and then asked why he simply did not pay for the trip himself? He was clearly annoyed with me, to be sure, but told me it was not part of their “financial planning”, and they could not afford it. So, I suggested he drive up (I’m sitting next to Haley Anne as I prepare this post, and she assures me, with an emphatic finger pointed up, that’s the right direction) to Tennessee and build a water tower near a school. I offered to pay for the whole trip and materials. He didn’t even hesitate, as he actually looked me in the eye and said: “that’s not Gods will because we make a bigger difference in Africa, and my kids would get more out of the Africa experience any way”.

My first thought, as he said that to me was: “I have standing before me a great example of good money thrown after bad (a lot of bad)”.

Okay… My points are some times clear, and some times not so clear. I know what I mean. Some times people call me about them. I get a lot of emails because of them. Every now and then, I get visits around them. But, I hope this one makes a difference.

You don’t need to fast. But, you can do your homework. And, while your at it, save hundreds of millions of dollars that could then be leveraged into schools in our own backyard, as we develop young and great minds that can then come up with better solutions than holiday junkets to far away lands, visiting with people that think it’s perfectly fair and reasonable to starve their own children, who would rather not fast in such a fashion, if given the choice.

For a lot of reasons (but, probably not why you might think), I’m listening to Only You as performed by Alison Moyet (and Vince Clark) while she was still with Yazoo (They were only known as “Yaz” in the United States). Then under the causality of “why not”, go take a peak at Flying Pickets covering the same arrangement.

Think different. That’s a good point, eh.

Peace be to my Brothers and Sisters.

Brian Patrick Cork

 The Graham Norton Show 

Mondays, 22:35 on BBC One

This is not a show I normally watch. Honest. In fact, I’m not much of a fan of chat shows. I do quite like Jonathan Ross and find him mildly amusing but I don’t even watch his Friday night chat show. None of the current hosts are appealing enough to make me want to watch them irrespective of guests. I’m the same with the US shows and can’t much be bothered with Letterman, Leno or the rest. I didn’t even like Parky. I think what I’m saying here, in essence, is that I don’t like chat shows much.

The only time I’ll watch is when somebody is on that I find interesting. No prizes for guessing that I tuned in on Monday night to see David Tennant. It was not without some trepidation. I have seen this show a couple of times or at least its BBC Two equivalent and was mildly shocked by some of the content. Norton can be excessively crude but rather than complain I choose not to watch. But the temptation of Tennant was too much.

The current trend for this type of show to have presenters who do stand-up or at least have a stand-up comedy monologue element to their show is, I feel, a good one. It’s hard to imagine the more staid, some might say professional, Michaels Parkinson or Aspel, or Russell Harty, trying to entertain an audience this way. No doubt their argument would be that people aren’t interested in the host but in the guest. It may be true in the age of the cult of personality that these shows have skewed too far in the direction of the presenter as paragon and the most frequent criticism I see is that someone like Ross makes the show all about him. It’s a solid argument. Certainly it means that the guests are filtered through the personality of the presenter but this doesn’t really bother me.  

The next decision for a chat show is whether to have all the guests appearing together, either from the start or by accumulation, or to give each of them there own slot. Norton goes for the first option. It comes over a little lop-sided and the guests do almost seemed to be seated in preference, in this case, Tennant nearest, then Jonny Vegas and finally Alison Moyet. Norton does try to engage with different guests at different times but Tennant seems to be the main man and a lot of Vegas’ contribution was initiated by the force of his own personality.

Norton was rude and a little bit naughty, but not crude. Yes, there is a difference. There was a lot of talk about going to the bathroom in tricky situations but considering the subject matter even these were relatively tame. There were quite a few laughs scattered throughout the show, Vegas being responsible for most of them. I’m not a fan of his work, per se, but he does often come across as quite funny on these types of things. Tennant was his usual charming, cheery self, quite self-deprecating and amusing. He managed to avoid giving anything away about his upcoming finales. He’s far too good a fan to mess up, unfortunately.

The audience participation stuff that Norton always does was quite entertaining, although suspiciously stagy. And no telephoning people up midway through the show which was always a bit hit-and-miss from what I could see. I don’t know if it’s all been calmed down because he’s now on the ‘big’ channel and I don’t know what the real fans think but I enjoyed it more than I normally do.

I still don’t think I’d watch it unless there was someone on who I particularly wanted to see, however. But I’ll maybe start paying more attention to listings to see who’s on in future.

“Om jorden vore orörlig, skulle denna tid sammanfalla med tiden för månens faser”

01. The Psychedelic furs – Forever now
02. Hurriganes – My only one
03. The Flys – Love & a Molotov coctail
04. Grover Washington, Jr. – Soulful strut
05. The Mission – Bridges burning
06. SH! – Mitt i
07. The Mighty lemon drops – Fall down (Like the rain)
08. Texas – Future is promises
09. Rich Kids – Strange one
10. Alison Moyet – Weak in the presence of beauty
11. Eric Gale – Island breeze

Upon hearing of the sad passing of actor Patrick Swayze, it of course got me thinking about what a great movie Dirty Dancing is, and not just for the immortal lines “Nobody puts Baby in a corner” and my personal favourite, “I carried a watermelon.” The defining scene at the end of the film which features Swayze and Jennifer Grey (with her old, better nose) dancing in the hall at the end of summer gala, to the tune of “Now I’ve Had The Time Of My Life” is, without argument, one of the greatest dance scenes in the history of film. That gem of a song was a duet sung by Bill Medley of the Righteous Brothers and Jennifer Warnes.

Warnes, an American singer, songwriter, arranger and record producer, is an overlooked talent. A lifelong friend of Canadian living legend Leonard Cohen, she recorded one of the best albums of the 1980’s [and a tribute to Cohen], Famous Blue Raincoat, whose songs have handily shown that Warnes is one of the most talented interpretive singers of our time. The combination of Cohen’s breathtaking poetry and Warnes’ incredible soprano/ contralto voice make for a one of a kind listening experience for those mellower fall moments.

Alison Moyet is another hugely underrated voice. While we are far too often subjected to the shrieking histrionics of types like Mariah Carey not to mention the much lesser talents we’re forced to endure in today’s culture, it’s an opportune time to revisit the recorded work of Alison Moyet. Formerly a member of the shortlived Depeche Mode offshoot Yazoo, she went solo after that and went on to conquer the genre of white soul, albeit not as completely as Scot Annie Lennox did. Her album Hometime (2002) ranks among her best work, and is aural proof that the best rhythm and blues music tends to be understated and not overproduced bombast. Less is more, no?

Another record I associate with autumn is Release by Pet Shop Boys (2002). It’s the poorest selling album in their discography, yet one of their most critically acclaimed. Despite having no trademark disco stompers or radio hits, Release metaphorically signifies the end of a something, a relationship, a dream.. a literal release, containing songs like “Birthday Boy,” “London,” and my personal favourite, the resplendent “Here.” Adding to all this sonic gorgeousness is The Smiths’ Johnny Marr whose guitar work is all over this. On the track “Samurai,” lead singer Neil Tennant even muses on the challenges of being an aging popstar: “It’s not as easy as it was / Or as difficult as it could be / for the samurai in autumn…”

PET SHOP BOYS “Here” from Release
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F3P4MlzF104

And how could I neglect to mention that THE ENTIRE FREAKING BEATLES CATALOGUE HAS BEEN REMASTERED in stereo and mono and is now commercially available, so you seriously need to go buy it (or some of it). As expected, the music sounds utterly fantastic in the new stereo mixes. Some people swear by the mono recordings, but unless you’re playing the music on a single-speaker audio unit, don’t bother with them. The Beatles have always been autumn music to my ears. We are now upon one of the most beautiful seasons of the year; now.. Go set it to a great soundtrack!

SP

Hay canciones que marcan una época, en la historia de la música, en lo personal…

Por su innovación, por su composición, por la voz del cantante, por la letra, por el momento en que la escuchas por primera vez…

Only you fue compuesta en el año 1982 por Vince Clarke, como regalo de despedida a sus antiguos compañeros de grupo Depeche Mode. Así que me pilló con unos 18 años. Por su sencillez en la composición, por su letra, y sobre todo, por esa voz maravillosa de Allison Moyet, siempre me ha parecido una de las mejores canciones que se han escrito.

Un año después, en 1983, se hizo una versión magnífica por los Flying Pickets, una versión “a capella”.

Y después se hizo una remezcla en 1999, intentando modernizar su producción y que no sonara tanto a tecno pop. Y aunque la voz de Allison Moyet sonara igual de espléndida, perdía el encanto de la versión original.

Yo me quedo con la primera.

Looking from a window above
Is like a story of love
Can you hear me ?
‘Came back only yesterday
We’re moving further away
‘Want you near me

All I needed was the love you gave
All I needed for another day
And all I ever knew…
Only you

Sometimes when I think of her name
When it’s only a game
And I need you
Listen to the words that you say
It’s getting harder to stay
When I see you

All I needed was the love you gave
All I needed for another day
And all I ever knew
Only you

This is gonna take a long time
And I wonder what’s mine
Can I take no more ?
Wonder if you’ll understand
It’s just the touch of your hand
Behind a closed door

All I needed was the love you gave
All I needed for another day
And all I ever knew…
Only you

April Showers - Abandon Ship (with superb orchestration by Anne Dudley)

Jonathan Bernstein and Beatrice Colin together formed April Showers – a fleetingly brilliant Glaswegian pop duo who released just one single “Abandon Ship” on Big Star, a subsidiary of Chrysalis in 1984.  It quickly gained a cult following due to its sparkling production from Anne Dudley (Art of Noise) and string-heavy arrangements. This quality was echoed on B-side “Everytime We Say Goodbye” with the 12-inch featuring an instrumental of Abandon Ship “Abandon Ship Sing-A-Long-A-Wonder Mix”. Due to its rarity and the presence of Anne Dudley this record is now highly sought after – good job I recognised its quality back in 1984! Both vocal version and instrumental are included in the compilation below. 

In converting some rare Eighties vinyl to CD I thought it would be churlish of me not to share some of this hidden treasure. Where tracks are easily obtained via download sites or on CD compilations I haven’t included them. Hence Nick Neyward’s ‘instrumental version of ‘Whistle down the wind’ is included here because the vocal version is easy to obtain.

The instrumental 96.8 is on the B side of ‘The Highest High’ by China Crisis (1985), the year that I launched a Saturday afternoon sports show on Worthing Hospital radio and used this piece of music as its theme. It still sounds great to my ears – and is absolutely unavailable anywhere else.

The Secret Seven are so obscure that they do not have an entry on Last FM – but the 12″ mix of ‘Hold onto Love’ is an eighties favourite of mine – all glorious 7 minutes of it with sumptuous string arrangements and the signature programmed drum sound of the time.

Another favourite of mine was Virgin Dance – part of the thriving Liverpool scene that produced The Teardrop Explodes and others. The quintet consisted of Edwin Hind (vocals & guitar), Kenny Dougan (guitar), Lorraine Gardner (keyboards), Graham McMaster (bass) and Cliff Hewitt (drums, previously in Modern Eon). Led by vocalist Edwin Hind, the band released one album, “Against the Tide”, and scored one indie hit, “Are You Ready (For That Feeling)?” which is included here in both its 7″ and 12″ guises.

‘Weak in the presence of Beauty’ by Floy Joy was later covered by Alison Moyet but this version has the thrill and the passion of its writers in full flow.

Blow Up despite the name were nothing to do with the 60s film of the same name although they derived their name from it.  The title of the track suggests they had Brighton roots and that was where I was living at the time, which is how Norman Cook who was working in Rounder Records in The Lanes, Brighton at the time managed to convince me to buy it. I have never regretted it. Norman (Quentin in those days) always did have great taste.

White & Torch were a Walker Brothers for the Eighties and ‘Parade’ is simply superb, both in vocal performance and arrangement – majestic sounding even now.

1. April Showers – Abandon Ship (12″)

2. April Showers – Abandon Ship (12″ instr)

3. Blow Up – Pool Valley

4. China Crisis – 96.8

5. Floy Joy – Weak in the presence of beauty

6. Mondo Kane – New York Afternoon

7. Nick Heyward – Whistle down the wind (12″ instr)

8. Sivuca – Ain’t no sunshine (12″)

9. Sophie & Peter Johnston – Happy Together

10. The Beautiful Americans – Beautiful Americans (12″)

11. The Secret Seven – Hold onto love (12″)

12. Two People – This is the shirt (12″)

13. Virgin Dance – Are you ready for that feeling? (7″)

14. Virgin Dance – Are you ready for that feeling? (12″)

15. White and Torch – Parade (12″)

Here they are:

 http://rapidshare.com/files/275750038/Eighties.zip

The British Diva That Is Miss Moyet!

Oh I was sooo looking forward to reviewing her. There are sooo many things I wanna say so let’s get crackin’!

I first came across her in the band Yazoo (or as we Americans knew them, Yaz) back in the 80’s. You remember them right? The song “Only You”? The guy in the band originally was in Depeche Mode for a hot minute and then after Yazoo went on to be the second half of Erasure? There ya go!!

I gotta tell you, when I first heard “Only You” I thought it was a guy singing.

Alison Moyet has this sultry, deep, and smoky voice that doesnt quit! When I found out it was a girl it was right when the band split up. Alison had gone on her own. Thank God cuz honestly as much as I love 80’s new wave and as much as I loved “Only You” it was evident to me that her voice was capable of much much more.

Boy was I right! I am not a huge fan of r & b but when I saw Live Aid and saw her duet with Paul Young I fell in love! I have been a fan ever since but because she was mainly just a star in the UK I really wasnt able to follow her career. Thanks to the internet however, I was able to make up for lost time!

Her earlier work has an abundant level of 80’s cheese, but thats ok because her powerful voice really makes it easy to look past it. As time went on though she was able to really play with different genres if only a bit. Mainly just take essences of different genres and still do what she does best.

I’m torn between Essex and Hometime as being my favorite albums by her. Essex really plays into some acoustics where Hometime is more jazzy and electric, reminiscent of Portishead. Hometime has my favorite song too, Say It.

The other thing I love about her is her look. I first SAW her when she did Live Aid. Ive been a big girl my whole life so when a rotund 10 year old girl like me saw Miss Alison Moyet waltz across the stage, I have to say I was shocked and then wowed AND THEN ecstatic. She really made me see that if you have the talent it really doesnt matter how big you are. Not only that, but she also made me see that despite size, you can still be fucking beautiful. Omg, those eyes! That smile! Shes gorgeous!!! I love her!! I call her the Secret Diva. She is a Diva ( in the most respected of terms ) who really doesnt draw attention to herself. Her talent and her beauty just proves it and thats what I love about her. Her weight has since gone down but so what? Big or small shes amazing and I love her!

Ok video: I gotta say her videos are never great EXCEPT FOR ONE!! I am a HUGE Dawn French fan. When I found out these two were close friends it just made sense to me. They just seem to click so well. Then!! I realized, Dawn French was in a video for Whispering Your Name. Anything with Dawn French in it is funny so here ya go!!

Only You 1982

Excerpt ~ Def 1000 songs: This is where you can find Alison Moyet before she became Alison Moyet [huh?] As founder member and main songwriter for Depeche Mode, Vince Clarke had already made his mark with such classic pop songs as “New Life” and “Just Can’t Get Enough”, yet arguably it was with his next band that he firmly worked his way deep into the living rooms of Britain. Departing from Depeche Mode swiftly …… more

Number 951 - Yazoo – 1982 – ENG – Genre: Pop - Play Song

prev post [[click above for music vid, bio + much more!]] next post

email crowbarred

I’ve often been asked, “what’s your dream concert? Who would you kill to see/to have seen?” The answer has always been immediate and without hesitation – Yazoo. They only properly toured once and never in North America, plus they disbanded in 1983. Yet, this odd mixture of Vince Clarke’s propulsive, driving electronics with Alison Moyet’s big soulful, bluesy voice worked as few acts have since, electronic or otherwise.

Softsynth has discussed Yazoo before, and full disclosure, their debut album, Upstairs at Eric’s is our all-time favourite album, bar none. Their follow up, You and Me Both wasn’t as original or as compelling, but was still chock a block with memorable keepers. 

Yazoo, formed when Clarke left Depeche Mode at the end of 1981, and he needed a singer to help him record the last song he ostensibly wrote for DM, “Only You”, was expert at something we don’t see much these days, even in electronic music, the keyboard riff. Back in that day it was commonplace for electronic songs to be built around powerful riffs; now songs tend to be richer, more densely produced, less dependent on the riff (though ironically, when they do use riffs these days it’s as often as not using riffs from the Golden Era, lifted from Soft Cell {Rhiana}, Depeche Mode {Hilary Duff} or even Yazoo, themselves {the odious Shawn Desman}). The riffs from “Only You”, “Don’t Go”, “Situation”, or “Nobody’s Diary” are instantly recognizable, even today and even lesser-known songs like “(Didn’t I) Bring You Love Down”, “Walk Away From Love”, or “Sweet Thing” stand up as unmatched in terms of the catchy memorable riff. 

But it was Moyet’s voice and aura that made Yazoo something special, something different from any band before or since. Just listen to “Winter Kills”, her piano-based ballad, or best of all, “Midnight”, one of the most emotionally powerful songs ever written and you get a sense of the full power of her voice and her larger-than-life presence. It was a perfect combination – the emotion hidden within the electronic soundscape yanked out for the world to see by Moyet’s delivery; the powerful energy behind Moyet’s soul stylings yanked out by Clarke’s unparalleled synth prowess. It just worked and no one ever again quite managed to bottle the formula quite so well. Even Clarke and Moyet themselves – they split in 1983 after just two albums, unable to sustain the combustible energy these two different personalities and styles balanced – they never quite reached those highs again. Moyet would go on to have a successful debut, Alf, and a series of less successful, but occasionally winsome albums. Clarke would go on to record a hit single, “Never Never’ with Eric Radcliffe and Feargal Sharkey as The Assembly, and form the enduring Erasure with Andy Bell, which would make its own indelible mark on the music scene with a number of classics of their own, but it just wasn’t Yazoo. Often great, but never quite so…”special”. Never quite so unique. Moyet and Clarke would team again in the mid 90s on her song “Whispering Your Name”, which Clarke remixed in his own style and it was the closest thing we’ve had to a new Yazoo song, and while it was kind of awesome in it’s own way, it still lacked the punch of their earlier, magical material. 

Strangely, after being asked for years who we would most have liked to seen in concert, Clarke and Moyet re-teamed last year to launch a tour that finally took them to North American shores. Financial and timing reasons prevented this writer from attending, even as they played New York, a not-unreasonable trip from here, and the regrets begin anew. Will there be another chance? Will they one day record something new to see what could have been? Might there be another Yazoo moment yet to come? Who knows, but in the meantime, we miss them still. 

Watch: Don’t Go

I watched the second part of this BBC documentary on catch-up last night, having foolishly missed the first part (although I’ve managed to catch some of that on YouTube). The first part had ended with Siouxsie Sioux and Kate Bush, showing how a new independent spirit and refusal to comply with prescribed roles had informed women in music, after years of being the passive vehicles of ruthless, controlling Svengalis. Part Two continued that thread with Annie Lennox and Alison Moyet.

The section on Lennox was particularly interesting as it reminded viewers of her experimentations with gender roles, from the shaved redhead of the early Eurythmics videos, through to her Elvis at the 1992 Grammys. Nevertheless, you felt the documentary missed a trick: after all, Lennox was continuing the tradition of androgyny that Bowie had begun a decade earlier; and furthermore there was no comparison with Grace Jones’s contemporaneous efforts. Indeed, the Annie-kissing-Annie scene in the video for Who’s That Girl is, as an idea, a direct steal from Jones’s My Jamaican Guy, in which Grace likewise plays herself as a man kissing herself as a woman. There were however bonus points for ignoring most of the Eurythmics’ bland, uninspired post-1984 output – save that is for the delightfully weird, and very rarely heard, 1987 single Beethoven (I Love To Listen To). Meanwhile, the section on Alison Moyet was a reminder of probably one of the most underrated artists in this country. With Yazoo, she like Lennox, used her powerful, soulful voice as a humanising counterpoint to the icy synths – subsequently, she fought to keep her individuality, a struggle compounded by the depressing media focus on her body.

Having concentrated on empowered, individual women, the documentary then suggested a reversion of the trend by moving on to Kylie. Yes, Kylie, an Australian – but as if to silence any dissent, Pete Waterman shouted (Pete Waterman hardly ever just talks) that she was
“more British than Australian”. Kylie’s attempts to break free from the sexless shackles of the Hit Factory and present herself as a sexual, sensual being were derided by Waterman (ever the champion of feminism) for making her look “like a prostitute”. Meanwhile, her indie phase of the mid-nineties (represented here by Confide in Me and Where the Wild Roses Grow) was treated as some sort of blip, a lapse in judgement rectified with her (literally) half-arsed Spinning Around video. Granted, it’s true that that single and the monumental sequel, Can’t Get You Out of My Head, rescued Kylie from several years of poor sales and elevated her to national treasure status. Yet it also felt as though a documentary that had, ten minutes ago, been celebrating independent spirit, had now done a complete U-turn and was criticising her for daring to do what she wanted, rather than just being a disco diva all along.

Quite what Geri Halliwell was doing there, I’m not sure. We were supposed to swallow the notion that it was Halliwell, not Simon Fuller, who was the “brains” behind the whole Girl Power phenomenon spearheaded by the Spice Girls, although archive clips merely served to expose once more the idiocy of the concept. Pushing your face in the camera, throwing yourself all over men and shouting a lot isn’t liberating. It’s just demeaning, for everyone involved. Trying to suggest that the Spice Girls were “punk”, as though putting them on a par with Siouxsie, was just insulting. Siouxsie just needed a look of sneering disdain to get the upper hand on the drunken, lecherous Bill Grundy. And, like Kylie, Geri was criticised for turning her back on the image that made her big in the first place, although given her subsequent train-wreck of a career, there was perhaps some justification in this instance.

The section on Amy Winehouse was poignant, inasmuch as it featured clips from a few years ago of a younger, clean, lucid and articulate Winehouse, back then a highly promising new talent rather than the messed-up tabloid staple she’s subsequently become. Winehouse’s subsequent relationship with Blake Fielder-Civil has done nothing for her health; but on the other hand, if it hadn’t happened then we wouldn’t have got one of the best albums of the decade. The notion of a woman suffering for her art made it feel like things were moving back, back to Marianne, back to Dusty – and then the final piece really did bring the documentary full circle. By ending with Leona Lewis, Queens of British Pop demonstrated that, despite the push for equality instigated by punk, the situation now is really no different from nearly half-a-century ago: Britain’s biggest female pop star is the passive vehicle of a ruthless, controlling Svengali. But whilst Sandie, Dusty and Marianne (and Kylie) all eventually broke free and went on to feted indie collaborations, it’s hard to see either Leona or her Mini-Me Alexandra Burke being allowed to do the same. Better instead would have been some mention of today’s British alt-queens and inheritors of the Kate/Siouxsie mantle: Alison Goldfrapp, Natasha Khan (aka Bat For Lashes) or MIA. They might not shift as many units as those carried along on the Cowell juggernaut, but I suspect they’ll still be around when the wheels finally come off.

Another negative point to make about the documentary was the quality of the talking heads. At the start of this episode, we had the likes of Marc Almond and Dawn French discussing gender politics and the music industry; by the end, things had regressed to Simon Cowell and Nicky Chapman regurgitating their corrosive lies about the democratising power of programmes like The X-Factor (which, like all free-market enterprises, ultimately serves to further the monopoly of one particular entity). Overall though, as a whistle-stop tour of women in pop over the last 50 years it was interesting. But now we’ve had the primer, it would be nice to have a proper series with, say, a whole hour devoted to one artist at a time. Our attention spans can still withstand those demands, you know.

Chris

I’ve left a little bit of time between Part Four and Five. For a number of reasons, being a little busy with work and life in general is obviously one of them. But mainly I wanted to ensure that I wasn’t just plucking some of my favourite songs out of the air because they were the first that came into my head. I want this list to be as accurate as it possibly can be..

I know there’s been a little bit of a break, so or those of you who don’t know what I’m going on about, check this out.

18. Genesis – Invisible Touch [3:26] [time remaining 940:26] (Direct Link) (Alt Link YSI)

I know what you’re thinking…Genesis?? Are you actually joking?…Well no, I’m not. For those of you that actually know me, this will be no suprise at all. Phil Collins is probably my number one guilty pleasure in terms of music. I don’t know what it is about him, but I think it links to my childhood as my Dad is probably one of the biggest Phil Collins fans you’ll ever meet (aren’t most Dads?). So as far as Phil’s back catalogue goes, well it was basically part of my staple diet as a kid. I know its abit corny, but screw it.. its a damn catchy track and never fails to make me smile or sing along, just as I did as a child, in the car with my Dad.

19. Alison Moyet – Only You [3:12] [time remaining 937:14] (Direct Link) (Alt Link YSI)

I suppose after mentioning Phil Collins, there’s not much more I can say to embarrass myself any further, so I may aswell add to that guilty pleasure section and then we can move on and speak no more about it, right? Continuing along the same theme, this track is one that will always remind me of my Mum. Not only does it have that emotional attachment for me, I really do find ‘Only You’ remarkable. Although I’ve labelled this as Alison Moyet, ‘Only You’ was actually the first single for her band Yazoo in 1982, a year before I was born. Riddled with that classic 80’s sound, it has nostalgia written all over it and will always strike a chord with me. Nobody writes ballads like they did in the 80’s, I swear.

tbc…

x

As we all know, pop culture can’t get enough of the mysterious ‘Orient’ and its ubiquitous exotic women. The ’80s New Romanticism movement is a case in point. Known for its exaggerated and often outrageous attitudes to fashion and music, the movement inspired pop musicians to take on faraway locations to shoot their videos: Duran Duran’s “Hungry like the wolf” (in Sri Lanka) and “Rio” (in Antigua) are some fine examples. Following in their footsteps is Alison Moyet’s desert nomad fantasy, otherwise known as “Love Resurrection”.

In the video, Moyet emerges from her Bedouin tent in her black hijab and starts singing about how meaningless her life is (“What can I do to make light of this dull dull day/ What switch can I pull to illuminate the way”). Or maybe she’s singing about how bored she is, as she is later seen wandering around bare-footed on the scorching hot dunes, performing everyday mundane tasks like fetching water and sitting around under her tent. But then she starts singing some rather sexually explicit lyrics about needing “a warm injection” and “for you to grow in her her hand”. You start to wonder if Bedouin life is a little oppressive on her erotic desires.

Fanum has an interesting interpretation of the song title and symbolism in the video:

… this video clearly draws on the ancient fertility traditions of the pre-Islamic Middle-East, evoking the sumptuous world of Sumerian poetry, in which fertility and sexuality are sensuously interwoven, casting Moyet as full-figured Canaanite Ishtar. (“What seed must I sow / To replenish this barren land?”).

According to this tongue-in-cheek reading, the ‘Love Resurrection’ of the title would of course be the resurrection of Adonis/Dummuzi/Tammuz, the dying-and-rising lover of Aphrodite-Inanna-Ishtar. I might add that the lyrics’ blurring of ejaculation, falling rain, and the restoration of cosmic fecundity recalls Zeus and Hera’s lovemaking-scene in Iliad 14, and [Camille] Paglia would no doubt opine that the complex polyrhythms of disco have their origins in primitive earth-cult. Tammuz is of course a shepherd, and the mysterious image of a goat’s face reflected onto the rocks appears repeatedly during the video. This seems to be linked to the little clay goat’s head which Moyet fashions, whilst looking towards the menfolk of the tribe with an unreadable expression. She then crumbles it into dust. Is she perhaps performing a spell, drawing on women’s mysterious ability to control fertility, and thus taking arms against a sea of patriarchy, hitting them where it hurts?

Just as interesting is the video’s documentary-like approach. Although the people in the background–or her ‘props’–do not engage with her in any way or make eye contact with the camera, they are depicted like normal people going about their everyday lives without the Hollywood-style treatment of Arabs. The division of labour and gender roles are clearly portrayed here: women do the domestic jobs, such as cooking, looking after the children, and making clothes. The men, on the other hand, are seen riding camels and vegging out with their mates whilst sipping tea.

There is also no direct reference to polygamy here, although Alison Moyet may be cast as the prized non-Muslim wife of a Muslim man. And as the only white woman around, Moyet portrays herself as a pioneer and adventuress in a hostile land, sort of like a female version of Lawrence of Arabia. It’s a position of dominance, as her foregrounding in the music video will tell you. You might even say that being the only white person in a foreign environment simply adds to a sense of authenticity.

After watching the “Love Resurrection” a few times, I find it inexplicably more and more fascinating. Fanum’s analysis on the significance of the omnipresent goat and possible pagan spells doesn’t sound too far-fetched, seeing that pre-Islamic customs still thrive in many Muslim societies today. But unfortunately for a pop video narrative, that’s probably the most meaningful the images can get.

However you choose you to view the video, either by reading the meaning behind its complex symbolisms or dismissing them altogether as frivolous pop nonsense, you can be certain that this is yet another form of exoticisation of the Middle East. Muslim women are rarely spared in this process to what then becomes a veil fetish. And by choosing to play one, Moyet exoticises and fetishises herself, as most self-absorbed pop singers do.

Tune into BBC1 tomorrow at 22:45 for the first in a new two-part series chronicling the careers of 12 iconic female singers and musicians from the 1960s to the here and now. Narrated by Liza Tarbuck, the first installment of ‘Queens Of British Pop’ spans the ’60s to the cusp of the ’80s with features on Dusty Springfield, Sandie Shaw, Marianne Faithfull, Suzi Quatro, Kate Bush and Siouxsie Sioux.

Kate Bush herself unfortunately does not provide new interview material, but longtime collaborator Del Palmer crops up to talk about the halcyon days of her early career. Obviously there’s no fresh input from Dusty either, but Marianne, Sandie, Suzi and Siouxsie will look back in fondness at their own remarkable trajectories to stardom. Other contributions comes from various friends and fans, including Sir Tom Jones, Lulu, Burt Bacharach, John Lydon, Martha Reeves, Nancy Sinatra, Mark Radcliffe, Henry Winkler, Marc Almond, Peter Gabriel, Claire Grogan, Jarvis Cocker, Kiki Dee and Adele. 

The second programme, aired next week, traverses the last two decades by looking at the impact made by Annie Lennox, Alison Moyet, Kylie Minogue, Geri Halliwell, Amy Winehouse and Leona Lewis. If you can’t wait ’til then, you can watch plenty of preview videos from the programme here. The BBC are also running a public poll to determine “the ultimate Queen” that will run until midnight on April 21st. The winner will be announced on the 24th. Choose from 60+ artists here.

* * *

Online dating site and chroniclers of all things sex, Nerve, has published a list of their Top 40 sexiest frontwomen in the history of rock. Not sure when the likes of Liz Phair, Fiona Apple and Peaches – there are others – were ever technically frontwomen, but whatever. It makes for interesting (if sometimes angering!) reading, and you’ll never have predicted the winner. If you did, we’ll send you a lollipop. Read it here.

* * *

Alan Pedder

Some artists occupy an irreplaceable space in your heart without you realising it. Music your folks used to dance round the living room to while you screwed up your face in embarrassment on the sofa. Songs that take you right back to the days of just-ten-more-minutes before bed. 

There are so many amazing ways to discover and connect to music these days but the records of your childhood have the ability to reconnect you. They possess a time-travelling power that reunites you with moments, feelings and places your mind had previously lost down the back of the sofa sometime in 1989.

Listening to last.fm radio sent me on this musical memory trip. Strong female singers like Alison Moyet, Joni Mitchell, Chrissie Hynde and Tracy Chapman were a big presence in our living room. That’s my mum and dad bopping in the corner…

The Pretenders ‘Don’t Get Me Wrong’
Joni Mitchell ‘Come In From The Cold’
The Communards ‘Don’t Leave Me This Way’
Thompson Twins ‘Hold Me Now’
Suzanne Vega ‘Marlene On The Wall’
Erasure ‘A Little Respect’
Alison Moyet ‘Weak In The Presence Of Beauty’
Joni Mitchell ‘My Secret Place’
Tanita Tikaram ‘Good Tradition’

Last night, Murphy and I went to a show at the Variety Playhouse in Atlanta. The singer was Adele. Her voice was so rich and powerful that we were absolutely mesmerized. The soul and passion could be felt in every note. While I was expecting the sultry songstress to impress with her vocals, I didn’t expect much personality in between the songs. Yet, Adele was delightful, clever, and genuinely excited to be performing for the sold out crowd. She sang several songs from her debut, 19, covers of Etta James and Sam Cooke and not once made me regret staying out past 10:30pm on a week night. While she has been compared to many, Alison Moyet works for me. As we headed to the car, we ran into Mara Davis, Elizabeth, and Mike. We all agreed that we witnessed something really special and we wouldn’t see her in a small venue like this again. Go see her if you have the chance.

I got the “breaking news” email from Billboard yesterday that two more Virgin Records locations are slated to close, and I opened it with a little trepidation, because I didn’t want to see Denver listed.

Last Saturday, I got to stop in and browse a little bit, which hasn’t happened much recently, and it seemed like every catalog item was on sale. I didn’t buy much (Alison Moyet’s “Singles” for $5), but in a weird way, it was comforting to wander around the store, listen to Snow Patrol on the overhead, and check out all of the listening stations with music that most people will never care about. I have always coveted the time I’ve spent in record stores, even after I escaped the retail rat race, and to see that opportunity go away is not a pleasant thought to me. The whole “world of music at your fingertips digitally” is great when I know what I’m looking for, but for me, there will always be a longing for a more tangible music experience.

As I checked out, I couldn’t help myself, and I asked the woman “you all aren’t going anywhere any time soon, are you?” Her response was a bit awkward, as if I’d asked a question she hadn’t heard before. “We never find out about these things until it’s too late.”
Yeah…I know the feeling. The store was actually pretty busy, as it is located in a great area for tourists to shop, and I wonder if that’s the only reason the store has survived as long as it has.

I’ve said it once, and I will say it again. If you will miss this type of experience, please make sure that you support your musically-oriented brick-and-mortar record shops. Through an acquaintance, I’ve heard that one of the granddaddies of the Denver music scene will probably be going out of business soon as well, and it’s probably inevitable. The only way a music store will remain viable is if they become destinations for more than just CDs. They’ve tried…oh, trust me, they have. Video games, DVDs, t-shirts, electronics, incense, books…you walk into some music stores, and sometimes it’s hard to locate the music. However, with sales of CDs slipping double-digits every year, we’re going to see music sales go back to just being a department in a bigger store, and even that is slipping away as well.

Here’s a prediction you can count on: by the end of 2011, a well-known record company will announce that they are going to stop producing physical CDs. I don’t think you will see wholesale defections from the format for a few more years, but some labels that cater to demographics with high digital-sales figures would be more inclined to do this (someone like Tommy Boy or Astralwerks comes to mind). It’s a vision I would rather not see come true, but it’s time has come.

Michel Legrand and Alison Moyet Ths Sage Gateshead Feb 18 2009

The Thomas Crown Affair is a great film and Windwills of Your Mind is one of my all time favourite songs.  This show was by Michel Legrand and his orchestra with Alison Moyet joining him for a few songs (including Windmills).  I’d read that the first half was instrumental only, with Legrand and his orchestra playing selections from some of the  many film scores which he has written in his long (he is in his late 70s) career.  Alison was due to join during the second half.  So I timed my arrival to hit the interval (I really was just going along to hear Windwills; I also had to be up at 6am the next morning to go to London for a meeting).

My timing jus about worked. I arrived just as the first half was finishing. I bought a programme and took a seat at the back upstairs (I had a cheap ticket; and upstairs was by no means full). Legrand opened the second half with a couple of instrumentals and a song which he sang himself. He then introduced Alison Moyet who sang 6 or 7 songs.  Windmills of  Your Mind was sung as a duet with Legrand; pretty good and great to see the composer playing it. I also recognised What are you doing the rest of your life, and one other which sounded familiar.  Alison left and Legrand and the orchestra played a selection from the theme to the Thomas Crown Affair, which ended the show. There was no encore.

This was quite a different type of gig for me, but I enjoyed it, and was pleased that I had made the effort. I was also pleased that the evening finished quite early (around 10pm) so I could get some sleep before my early start.

Ace guitarist, writer and legendary tight trouser wearer RICK  DRISCOLL has re-ignited KENNY…

Rick began his career as the lead singer with 70’s glam rockers and teen idols KENNY. Best remembered for such classic hits as The Bump, Fancy Pants and Julie-Ann, KENNY were one of the UK and Europe’s top selling glam bands of the 1970’s and along with the hits they also managed to
find fame when they battled cereal giants Kellogg’s who had
objected to the bands “K” logo.

The Bump continues to be played at weddings, birthdays and parties
everywhere and is always guaranteed to be found on numerous 70’s
compilation albums.

After leaving Kenny Rick joined the iconic band STEVE HARLEY AND COCKNEY REBEL, this time as lead guitarist, where he toured extensively with them. All through this period Rick was active as a composer writing music for many TV and radio commercials including Coca Cola, Johnson’s, Mitsubishi Cars.

Through his live work Rick met up with ALISON MOYET, with whom he
struck up a strong working relationship and became her Musical Director for the ALF tour.

For updates on the ‘New’ Kenny check Ricks space:
www.myspace.com/rickdriscoll

/ Only you, Mute, 1982

Or how to point the way towards a new musical genre using a B side.  While ‘Only you’ was a huge synthpop hit for the unlikely coupling of former Depeche Mode song writer Vince Clarke and bluesy soul singer Alison ‘Alf’ Moyet, reaching number two in the UK, it was in the grooves of ‘Situation’ that you could truly hear the future; the bleeping and percussive melody of A Guy Called Gerald’s ‘Voodoo ray’ germinating alongside the pitch-shifting squelch of many another acid house club classic.  And thanks to exposure as a single in its own right in the US, where the remix by François Kevorkian made number one on the Billboard dance chart, arguably ‘Situation’ also became one of the strains influencing Detroit techno, Chicagoan house and New York electro.

With his hair in his eyes, that classic signifier of the shy, Vince Clarke was obviously a reluctant pop star.  But he was also a man with a golden touch as sure as any pop Midas you care to mention, for in his time he has founded no less than four groups – Depeche Mode, Yazoo, the Assembly and Erasure – which have gone on to have top ten hits.

For writing more joyful pop songs, for singing them better than Phil Oakey (not hard), I prefer Depeche Mode over the more originally inventive Human League.  ‘Dreaming of me’, ‘New life’ and ‘Just can’t get enough’ were an opening hat-trick of which a pop group of any era might be proud, revealing a melodically-gifted song writer whose inward-looking lyrics were typically characteristic of a self-obsessed young man desperate to leave behind the boredom of school days for a life of unfettered musical dreaming.  And while ‘Don’t you want me’ was the biggest hit, it was ‘Just can’t get enough’ just as much as ‘Open your heart’ that had pop-obsessed school boys pestering their parents for the Casio VL-Tone as that year’s Christmas present.

Disinclined to follow Depeche Mode into the darkness suggested by the emerging themes of Martin Gore’s song writing, Vince left the group after this trio of singles, with the Mode still in the first throes of fame.  Though I warm most to Clarke’s relatively innocent and supremely poppy version of Depeche Mode, when Dave Gahan danced like a Thunderbirds puppet on a string rather than suffering like the junky Christ on a cross he (penultimately) became, Martin Gore’s Mode still had a lot to offer, and continued the extraordinary run of great pop singles started by Vince.  Gore was still fashioning traditionally structured melodic pop songs in the fresh clothes of synthpop even as the Mode left the last vestiges of their Basildon youth behind and headed for the decadent delights of a Weimar Republic Berlin phase.

When Vince re-emerged as one half of Yazoo, he didn’t have to tag himself as ‘formerly of Depeche Mode’ for long.  ‘Only you’ was immediately striking and sentimentally powerful, and it still sounds fine today, an upright and evergreen early standard of the age of electronic music, with the substance to survive and shrug off the irritant factor of the Flying Pickets’ a cappella version, a Christmas number one in 1983.

With Liverpool’s year as European Capital of Culture just come to an end, it’s worth pointing out that with Yazoo’s debut LP Upstairs at Eric’s, we are not talking upstairs at that city’s second (or third) most famous club, but upstairs at Blackwing studios, where Eric Radcliffe engineered the early Depeche Mode singles and Yazoo’s two albums.  Opening salvo ‘Don’t go’ is ‘Situation’ worked up into a dance-pop anthem, while the electro-funk of ‘Bring your love down (didn’t I)’ completes a trio of potential floor-fillers along with the hi-energy proto-house of ‘Goodbye 70’s’.  Meanwhile ‘Too pieces’ and ‘Bad connection’ are in the classic vein of early Depeche Mode, with Moyet starring in the role Gahan might have taken and coming out about even – she fits less well but score points over Dave through sheer oomph and natural singing ability.  And on ‘Midnight’ Yazoo pulled off what was probably the first true meeting of soul and synthpop.  There’s even room for an experimental spoken word piece, ‘I before e except after c’, a cross between the ‘I am sitting in a room’ that Paul Morley writes about at such edifying length in Words and music and the venerable gobbledegook of Ogdens’ nut gone flake enlivener Stanley Unwin.  It was a mind-bending puzzle for a young listener; hypnotic too.  I played Upstairs at Eric’s so much that my copy bears the characteristic sound of my first record player’s stylus permacut into the vinyl’s grooves.

By the time You and me both was released in 1983, the balance has tipped too far towards Alf’s bluesy soul, with Clarke suffering a dip in song writing form; Moyet’s songs were easily the best of the bunch.  ‘Nobody’s diary’ was undeniably yet another great pop song, more confidently executed by the duo than anything on Upstairs at Eric’s, but no less fresh in its intertwining of electronically generated music and soulful human voice.  ‘Ode to boy’ reworked the Human League’s ‘Being boiled’ as a ballad of lovesick infatuation; its tones of Japan (both the country and the group) lingered long in the ear, as did Alf’s near-operatic performance on ‘Anyone’.

And that was it for Yazoo, until last year’s reunion and box set.  Vince had a subsequent run out as the Assembly, with Feargal Sharkey surprisingly doing the vocal honours on the single ‘Never never’.  Feargal you’ll recall was the man who had sung with the Undertones of his perfect cousin:

His mother bought him a synthesizer
Got the Human League into advise her
Now he’s making lots of noise
Playing along with the art school boys
Girls try to attract his attention
But what a shame it’s in vain total rejection
He will never be left on the shelf
Cos Kevin he’s in love with himself

It must have been a not dissimilar working relationship to Vince’s with Alf, save that it’s even harder to imagine the combination of the garrulous Feargal and the mute Vince once tools and mike were downed.  (Train spotters’ note: you can hear a pre-programmed rhythm from the aforementioned Casio VL-Tone on ‘Stop/start’, the B side of ‘Never never’ – it comes in at 0:33.)

An increasingly militant and intolerant teenage disciple of indie, I soon lost track of Alison Moyet, our paths only crossing again when she sang ‘Make a change’ on Tricky’s post-Maxinquaye project, Nearly God.  Not so much a song as a series of vocal phrases over a typical Tricky loop, other Nearly God vocalists – Terry Hall, Björk – were better served musically than Moyet.  I could never summon up the remotest interest in Erasure.  Rightly or wrongly my in-built switch-off device kicked in, and I couldn’t tell you the name of even one of their hits.  Evidently Vince decided to let his hair down – or rather, pushed it out of his eyes – and concentrate on having fun, and good luck to him.  But it’s his early magical moments to which I regularly find myself returning, travelling back to glimpse those mechanically mercurial sounds of the future.

• Yazoo – Situation (extended version)