This was a live session that Little Boots did with Gary Numan on BBC 6Music. Check YouTube for some of their other duets but this is my favourite from the bunch.

Little Boots + Gary Numan – Stuck On Repeat. Turn up the bass.

Incidentally check out Little Boots YouTube account if you’re a real fan. Lots of personal YouTube videos and covers. Here is one of my favourite finds:

Little Boots – Don’t You Want Me(Human League)

The last couple of months at Kingfisher yachts were rapidly becoming a farce, the guys that knew what they were doing had all left, mainly because once Colin had been replaced by Graham, it was clear to the rest of us left that the company was now like the metaphorical chicken running around after it’s  head’s been cut off. Lots of energy and noise being created, but nothing acceptable actually being achieved.

A succession of lads were interviewed and given a start to work with me, each lasting a few weeks before realising the writing was on the wall for this place. There was Martin, didn’t come across as the sharpest tool in the box, a nice lad, but left once he realised he was being used as a maintenance monkey, painting the building, making general repairs, when he’d actually joined because of his love of boats, and wanted to get into the marine industry. Then came a mate of mine, Shane, far too volatile for Graham, and some of the things he did to Grahams tea still make me shudder now when I think back. We’d been school friends on and off, but it was becoming more off than on after leaving school, he had a healthy sized chip on his shoulder, and was a nasty bully when it took him, either way, he wasn’t cut out for boat building so it suited all parties when he left.

 The last of these was Dez, a Mod, he turned up for his meeting with Graham on a Vespa scooter, wearing his long green Parka coat with a bulls eye on the back and The Who in big letters across it, smart drainpipe trousers, ten pin bowling alley shoes, and with smartly cropped hair, short but not too short, for Mods, image is everything. The ten pin bowling alley shoes had there own story too, part of the Mod look were these flat soled, half and half black and white shoes, much favoured by Paul Weller and co of The Jam. It just so happened that the bowling alley shoes were almost identical, and as you only had to check in your own shoes for a pair when you went bowling, once the penny dropped, kids all over the country were digging out their worst pair of shoes and heading off ten pin bowling, and walking out with a smart pair of bowling/ Mod shoes. The bowling alleys caught on eventually, but not before they’d supplied half the Mod youth with their footwear.

Me and Dez hit it off straight away. While I loved music, I’d never before considered why anyone would ‘follow’ a specific style of music like I did my football team. I suppose it goes back to the days of Mods and Rockers from the 1960’s, panelling the crap out of each other with deck chairs on Brighton beach over Bank holiday weekends, and making national news at the time just created a legend, something for later youth generations to live up to.

There seemed to be violence everywhere in those days, football violence we took for granted, it was as much a certainty as the game itself, either in, or around the ground, in or outside the railway stations, at service stations on the motorways going up to away games, anyone was fair game on match day. But with all these different musical genres and their distinctly identifiable uniforms, youth clubs became battle grounds too, Punks against Teddy boys, Mods v Rockers, Ska boys and Skinheads against pretty much anyone not like them.

And now I had a ‘Face’ as a mate, not that it occurred to me at the time, we just got on. Soon I was spinning around on the back of his Vespa, listening to his impressive record collection, virtually every Who album made, and strumming on one of his electric guitars round at his Grandads bungalow. Dez had what I’d call a ‘quiet authority’ about him, he’d been one of the top boys in his year at school, not because he picked fights, but he had a reputation for going doo lally when picked on, then battering the shyte out of whichever idiot had miscalculated by starting on him. The Dez I knew was more interested in music and girls, can’t fault that.

His mum and dads place was an old Victorian style terraced town house, the front door opened straight onto the pavement, behind the front door, the staircase up to the first floor, and kitchen, lounge, and parents bedroom, and Dez’s room upstairs from there, in the attic. I hardly ever saw his parents, and they rarely spoke when I did, but I could sense this was something Dez was quite happy to keep up, young as I was, they did seem a little odd to me. There was a stale, musty aroma about the place, something I’d come to recognise later as ‘old people’ scent without heating, like the human smell had fused with the bare floor boards and old papered walls. Back then it wasn’t at all uncommon for the only source of heat in a house to be the fireplace, that’s probably why Dez preferred to go round to his Grandads bungalow, much warmer, no stairs.

For a couple of months we knocked about together, left Kingfisher yachts and entered the world of unemployment, fortunately for me, Dez had been down this route before, and walked me through the whole process, which was just as well, because I’ve always hated form filling whatever the reason for it. It was about this time that I got to know a new group of friends, they were a year or two younger than me, Dez began dating one of them, Mandy, a diminutive Punk girl with short spiky, dyed red and blue hair, and not a bit shy. They were at it like rabbits for a while, until, Dez confided in me later, he split his foreskin during one of their sessions together, ouch!

Mark and Flo seemed to be the leading couple in this group, mainly because she had access to a beach hut, it was early summer 1980, and one of the unforgettable memories of that year was of, on more than one occasion, the two of them shagging in front of us under a blanket in the beach hut, with the doors flung open so Mark could carry on a conversation. We’d all sit around chatting, drinking, and smoking, like it was perfectly normal, other times we’d be round at Flo’s parents place, but the format didn’t change, just the location, and the fact that they only seemed to shag in the bath when at Flo’s. Because we were all so young, it didn’t seem odd that Flo was still at school, just mildly amusing that she was a 14 year old at a Catholic girls school. She dragged me into a few rooms for some passionate encounters during that summer, but never for long enough for us to go the whole way, more was the pity. She was a gorgeous looking free spirit, funny how girls from girl only schools and vicars daughters often go that way, rebelling through promiscuity.

That summer of 1980 saw the tailing off of Ska, and Punk, and the beginning of the New Wave, with Human League, Heaven 17, Duran Duran, and Spanday Ballet among others filling the airwaves. It also marked the first year of my apprenticeship as a boat builder at Watercraft LTD.

To be continued:–

Emusic is no itunes. Not even close.  Recently I downloaded 48 free songs.  35 of them came from emusic thanks to ticketmaster’s giveaway while the rest was from itunes.  I must add that emusic pretty much sucks.  I should have been a been to choose 35 songs in about 2 minutes.  Instead it turned into a 2 hour long hunt for some descent music.  No Madonna, Lady Gaga, Bat for Lashes, Weezer, REM, I started to get desperate after a while.  I did end up with good songs but it took far too long. 

Here’s what I got:

Ozzy Osbourne  Tribute album

Little Boots Stuck on Repeat and Meddle

Lady Hawke  Paris is Burning

Ladytron   Ghosts, Runaway, Blue Jeans (Temple of Jay Remix)

Adele   Chasing Pavements and Hometown Glory

Santigold   LES Artistes and Lights Out

Creature     Who’s hot, whos not and Pop Culture

Roisin Murphy   You know me better (Body Jack Remix)

Kim Carnes     Bette Davis Eyes

Coolio    Gangsta’s Paradise

Bush       Little Things

Savage Garden     To the Moon and Back

Nik Kershaw     Wouldn’t it be good

Human League    Love me Madly?  and Sin City

Ever use emusic?  What do you think?

Kagehime

I’ve always considered music and storytelling in any format entwined. Which probably goes to say why I prefer narrative music videos and overall songs with fantastic lyrics. (Don’t get me wrong I like a fair helping of hardcore techno as well). But I find music helps me to write but it also shows us structurally how a story unravels.

(This is one of my favourite music videos. Thank you Tunng.)

As part of the individual tutoring I’m doing at the moment I’m helping a student to write a monologue for her to perform as part of a playwriting exam. I told her to think of songs with lyrical content as the ultimate monologue. They can be in the first person or third person narrative but their intended goal is the same; to tell a story and keep us captured for however many minutes. There have been many times when lyrics hit the spot, they make us stop and sit up at how poignant they are. Or how they resonate. They’re both taking you by the hand and willing you to listen intently, which you do.

In my lesson before I talked at length about the Snow Patrol song ‘How To Be Dead’. I wouldn’t count myself as a massive fan but the reason I liked this song is because it doesn’t have a chorus (which is why it didn’t make that much of an impact on the charts). It’s a clear cut story with two parties identified and contains the beautiful lyric that I never forget, “It seems I’ve stepped over lines you’ve drawn again and again”. Crystal clear, beautifully written and forever imprinted in my mind. But aside from that it’s storytelling, it’s all dialogue.

I also talked about how classic rock ‘n’ roll songs from the fifties are very ‘of the time’ and even more narrative. They’re all about losing their baby or wanting to kiss their girl before dropping them home and persuading them to stay out later or uncouth women (!). The reason I adore my motown is because the lyrics are familiar (not from over-play) because they a story and everyone remembers a good story. We’ll sometimes even go as far as describing a story as being lyrical. One of my most memorable motown songs is a classic, “The Tracks Of My Tears” by Smokey Robinson and The Band. It’s there in its sad tortured self for all to see it’s a story of love-lost and the forlorn qualities of seeing an old flame with a new spark. And it’s laden with beautiful images.

So building on the idea of songs being the perfect template (structurally, I understand that lyrics tend to be more expositional or abstract at times) for monologues my lesson plan included this task. Taking a song that’s fairly narrative add or detract punctuation and/or scene directions to change a list of lyrics into a performable monologue. The story is already there so that’s one less thing to worry about; your aim is to raise the tension, craft the drama and give it the theatrical flavour. As an example I read out lyrics to Death Cab For Cutie’s, “Bixby Canyon Bridge” and Elbow’s, “Scattered Black and Whites”. Then handed over both for my student to explore and basically hack into her own piece of work. As a further experiment to highlight how this might work I did it myself before the lesson and decided to tackle Human Leagues’, “Don’t You Want Me”. Stupidly I didn’t realise that the song is multi-narrative until I came to picking it apart so it ends up being a two-hander, but you’ll get the point.

Click on the photo and you should be able to read it.

I had immense fun doing this and it’s nice to concentrate on what makes something dramatic, garnering a sense of conflict from something that you know or might not know already. You shouldn’t feel constrained by repetition or lyrics that end abruptly or aren’t succinct sentences. It’s something to play around with. Looking at my example I merged sentences, I isolated certain words. I for one am a big fan or the power of silence on stage so play around with pauses. Nothing’s concrete as I keep telling myself and my student; just because you’ve written it down doesn’t mean you have to keep it there. Imagine how different something would read if a pause was entered before a revelation or after. If a fullstop entered half way through the sentence. If the character was whispering or shouting. Depending on what song you choose it’s only a page of work. If you do it yourself please tell me what songs you used and how you found it. Turn a song on it’s head. Maybe give it another meaning… nothing’s concrete.

The first essential mix by the French Electro duo Justice on BBC’s Radio 1. Mixing 70 tracks in just two hours, keeping the energy and flow from each track is a hard thing to master but these two have mastered that art.

Essential Mix – 06-10-07

Mixed By: Justice
Release: 2007
Genre: French Rock, House, Disco and Electro

Tracklist:

1. In The Stone – Earth Wind and Fire
2. What Have You Done For Me Lately – Janet Jackson
3. Earthquake – Prince
4. ? – DMX Crew
5. Musique – Daft Punk
6. Rainbow Man – Busy P
7. Musique – France Gall
8. Valentine – Justice
9. In Love With You – The Paradise
10. Run Into Flowers [Jackson Remix] – M83
11. Sometimes – Les Rythmes Digitales
12. Spacer Frau [Boys Noize Remix] – I Robot
13. Private Eyes – Hall and Oates
14. Tenderoni – Chromeo
15. Minuit Jacuzzi [Data Remix] – Tepr
16. Everybody Dance – Chic
17. Shadows – Midnight Juggernauts
18. Bring It On – Goose
19. Destroy – The Proxy
20. Double Dostiev – Zongamin
21. Tape Me – Zombie Nation
22. Super Lady – Boule Noire
23. It Doesn’t Matter – The Chemical Brothers
24. ? – TC Crew
25. ? – Surkin
26. Lucky Boy [Surkin Remix] – Dj Mehdi
27. Outlander – Vamp
28. ? [Sebastian Remix] – Fields
29. Sekstyle – Feadz
30. Something About You [Mr. Oizo Remix] – Jamelia
31. Fire – Jesse Velez
32. D.A.N.C.E. [Live Version] – Justice
33. Radio Fireworks – Surkin
34. Freakin – Soundhack
35. Stress – Justice
36. Lower States – ZZT
37. Stress – Justice
38. Both Gotta Move On – Scenario Rock
39. Be My Baby – Vanessa Paradis
40. Be My Baby – The Ronettes
41. Happy Rabbit – Breakbot
42. Les Cactus – Jacques Dutronc
43. DVNO – Justice
44. Testarossa Autodrive – Kavinsky
45. Freak – LFO
46. Lotus Suite Koln – Mr. Oizo
47. Most Keys Are Auto Repeat – Autorepeat
48. Into The Galaxy – Midnight Juggernauts
49. Elstree – Buggles
50. Underground – Das Pop
51. Alone Again – Gilbert O’Sullivan
52. Things That Dreams Are Made Of – Human League
53. Defend It – Savas Pascalidis
54. ? – Rainbow Brothers
55. Ah Oui Comme Ca – Chromeo
56. Leonizer – Leonard De Leonard
57. Chord Memory [Daft Punk Mix] – Ian Pooley
58. Dont You Want Me – Human League
59. Girls – The Prodigy
60. Gravitys Rainbow [Soulwax Remix] – Klaxons
61. Liege – Para One
62. Vivre Ou Survivre – Daniel Balavoine
63. Requiem For A Hit [Gegm Remix] – Miss Kittin
64. Stunt – Mr. Oizo
65. Murphy – Handycap
66. Mother – The Rave
67. Inside Of You – Fancy
68. Sweet As Candy – Syreeta Wright
69. Night On A Bald Mountain – Modest Mussorgsky
70. California – Joni Mitchell

Download:

http://www.mediafire.com/?diwnmyidnjn

congratulations to wall of sound on an inspired signing.

human league, things that dreams are made of (ilya santana remix)

Roland System 100

On the german musician portal bonedo.de there is currently a way cool and interesting video feature with Martyn Ware (Human League) speaking about their music production and recreating of one of the late 70’s electronic music classics: “Being Boiled”.

Lots of Roland System 100 and Korg 700 coolness included. Enjoy the show over there at bonedo.de!

I thought I would share with you a little project I undertook on Facebook during December. I called it my Advent Calendar of Uncovered Cover Versions. It is repeated here exactly as it appeared daily on my Facebook pages. I hope that my regular Blog readers enjoy it and that you all enjoy a wonderful Christmas and a brilliant 2010

December 1^st

OK so the advent calendar is all about uncovering something good each day leading to Christmas right? So Ithought I would try to do something slightly related and try and post a cover version each day until Christmas. Starting today 1st December with Patti Smith’s version of Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit“

December 2^nd

December 2nd of my advent uncovered cover versions project (did you like yesterdays?) Todays is Florence and the Machine with an excellent cover of the Source featuring Candi Staton’s “You Got The Love“…….. enjoy!

December 3^rd

and so on to Day 3 of my under the cover versions advent project. The top tune for today is a cover of Britney Spears’ ‘Oops I Did It Again’ by the rather talented Richard Thompson. What do you think of it?

December 4^th

Day 4 (December 4th) of the Advent Calender uncovered cover versions project (or obsession) of mine Under the little cardboard flap today you won’t find some cheap and bland chocolate. Instead you will find Jimi Hendrix playing what in my opinion is the greatest cover version of all time. It’s Jimi’s version of Bob Dylan’s “All Along The Watchtower” recorded at the Isle Of Wight Festival in 1970 … enjoy!

 December 5^th

 It’s December 5th and here is Day 5 in my advent uncovered cover versions project. This one is a real doozy! It’s Richard Cheese covering the rather spiffing Blink182 song “What’s My Age Again?” I love this one, what do you think?

 December 6^th

 December 6th and day 6 of my Advent oncovered cover versions project. Today it’s the turn of Suzi Quatro with an Elvis classic “All Shook Up” . I chose this one because it is even in the news today. Check the story here

 December 7^th

 It’s December 7th and therefore Day 7 of my Advent uncovered cover versions. Today’s is a bit obvious, but nonetheless a great cover. It’s Jacko’s ‘Smooth Criminal’ as done by the fantastically named Alien Ant Farm

 December 8^th

 It’s December 8th and therfore Day 8 of my Advent Calendar Uncovered Covers project. Today’s was an easy choice really. On the 29th anniversary of his death this is John Lennon with a great cover of Ben E King’s “Stand By Me” I love this song

 December 9^th

 Hello again peeps, it’s the 9th December which brings us to song number 9 in my Advent Calendar uncovered cover versions. Todays is a bit of an indulgent one in that it is a cover of the excellent Pendulum’s “Blood Sugar” by my son Luke’s band Steal The Smile. Enjoy!

 December 10^th

 Hello folks. December 10th and obviously day 10 of my Advent uncovered cover versions project. Todays is one of my favourite songs as covered by my favourite band ever! It’s the Clash with Junior Murvin’s “Police And Thieves“

 December 11^th

 It’s Friday December 11th and therefore it’s Day 11 in the Advent uncovered cover versions project. Today it’s the turn of Me First And The Gimmee Gimmees (and let’s face it no covers project would be complete without them). This is their version of the Olivia Newton John hit written by John Denver “Take Me Home Country Roads” By the way this is NOT a country version!

 December 12^th

 December 12th and halfway through Advent calendar time, so onto Day 12 of my Advent uncovered cover versions project. Today’s is a must have as far as cover versions go. It’s Nouvelle Vague with an excellent cover of the Joy Division classic “Love Will Tear Us Apart“. Enjoy

 December 13^th

 December 13th and the thirteenth cover version of my Advent Uncovered Covers Project. Today’s is one of my most favourite cover versions ever. It’s the late, great Jeff Buckley with a live version of Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” (You may know it as the one that was somewhat massacred by Alexandra Burke last Christmas courtesy of Mr Cowell! This version really is the dog’s testicles though, what do you think?

 December 14^th

 December 14th and strangely enough Day 14 of my uncovered cover versions project. Today’s is sung by someone who in my opinion the greatest female singer ever (very sexy too). Yes it’s Kate Bush with her version of Marvin Gaye’s “Sexual Healing“

 December 15^th

 Day 15 in my Advent Calendar of uncovered cover versions. Todays is perhaps one of the strangest. It is the Deep Purple Classic “Smoke On Water” a true guitar shop classic as played by Senor Coconut and his Orchestra. Go on give it a listen, you know you want to

 December 16^th

 Day 16 of the Advent uncovered cover versions project and today is a song that many people often don’t realise is a cover. It’s the Beatles with their excellent version of the Isley Brothers song “Twist And Shout“. Listen to this and you’ll see just how weak Olly Murs version from the X Factor was!

 December 17^th

 It’s already Day 17 in my Advent Calendar Uncovered Cover Versions project. Today’s song is performed by the Section Quartet and it’s a great instrumental orchestral cover of the brilliant Muse song “Time Is Running Out“

 December 18^th

 Day 18 of my Advent uncovered cover versions project and I thought it was about time for a Christmas song. This is a cover of “Do They Know It’s Christmas” for a whole myriad of charities and it features some brilliant bands and artists (well in my opinion) Fucked Up, Tegan & Sarah, Bob Mould, the wonderful Yo La Tengo and many, many more

 December 19^th

 Day 19 of my Advent uncovered cover versions and thanks to the inclement weather I nearly missed this one (but more of that story another day!). Todays song may surprise some of you. It’s Marvin Gaye with “I Heard It Through The Grapevine” which was in fact a cover of the original hit by Gladys Knight. Personally I prefer Marvin’s version!

 December 20^th

 It’s now Day 20 of my Advent Uncovered Cover Versions project. This one is especially for the boys at Chris’ 50th last night (so that’ll be me, Glen, Neil, Phil and obviously Chris! Apologies from Bryan and Keith sadly!) The song goes back to the mid 70’s and was originally done by the Glitter Band. It’s “Let’s Get Together Again as recorded and mixed by the Human League. If you’d like to hear the original here it is

 December 21^st

 And on to Day 21 (that’ll be 21st December then!) in my Advent uncovered cover versions project. Today’s song is the Oasis classic “Wonderwall” as sung by the brilliant Ryan Adams (not Bryan ok!!) Apparently Noel Gallagher thinks that Ryan’s arrangement is even better than his own. For the hell of it here is the link to the Mike Flowers Pops version too!

December 22nd

Day 22 of my Advent Uncovered Cover Versions Project and there will be more Christmas songs included but not today. The selection for December 22nd is the Foo Fighters with a cover of the rather good Wings song “Band On The Run“

December 23rd

Day 23 of my Advent Calendar Uncovered Cover Versions Project, that means just one more day after this! So I decided to make today and tomorrow Christmas songs as the big Chrimbo thingy is upon us. Obviously I was always going to use this one. It’s “Peace On Earth/ Little Drummer Boy” from Bing Crosby and David Bowie

December 24th

It’s Christmas Eve and here it is, the final song in my Advent Calendar Uncovered Cover Versions Project (until next year anyway!) It is a song that originally featured on the Phil Spector Christmas Album from 1963 (Incidentally that album was released the day JFK was killed!) It is “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)” originally by Darlene Love and played here by U2. The original song is my favourite Christmas song by a long way. Happy Christmas everyone and I hope that Santa brings you what you wish for Joriginally by Darlene Love and played here by U2. The original song is my favourite Christmas song by a long way. Happy Christmas everyone and I hope Santa brings you what you wish for

May the new decade bring better fashion and music choices.

12/31/89

Dear Journal,

New Years Eve!!

I can’t wait until later tonight! I am going to my cousins house for a party. (Anna’s)

Yesterday Mitchell didn’t call me so I went shopping and got these amazing “New Kids on the Block” jeans! They are so cool! I absolutely love them! Later!

This is quite possibly the only time the words “New Kids on the Block” and “so cool” were used in the same sentence together.

As a new decade was about to dawn on us, did I take those last moments to reflect on the last ten colorful years? Did I ponder what the dawn of the 1990’s might bring? No and no. Instead I enthused over a pair of acid washed pants with airbrushed graffiti on them spelling out “New Kids on the Block” in bubble letters down one of the legs and the band members down the other. (I have scoured the Internet looking for a comparable photo, but there isn’t one, which can only mean they were one of a kind. Thank heavens for that.)

I could try to defend myself by saying that not hearing from Mitchell caused some sort of fashion temporary insanity. Because there’s retail therapy and then there’s retail suicide. The truth is, I was briefly a fan of this boy band (Joey was my favorite, in case you’re wondering, which you probably aren’t). My taste in music and clothing would take another few years to improve, but at least I ended the decade on a sufficiently tacky and colorful note.

As for the end of the 80’s, I always thought I was born ten years too late. While I was blessed with some fantastic cartoons and sit-coms (Thundercats, Jem & The Holograms, The Facts of Life, Perfect Strangers, Diff’rent Strokes… my definition of “fantastic” is probably not the same as yours), I missed out on a lot of the pop culture being so young. Sure, I had the enormous hair and wore enough shoulderpads to stand in for a quarterback, but I never got to get tarted up like Lucky-Star-era Madonna back then. Wearing fingerless lace gloves a decade later just wasn’t the same. And sure, in recent years I ended up seeing a lot of the new wave and post-punk bands I was too young to appreciate back then (Pet Shop Boys, Sisters of Mercy, Duran Duran, The Cure, Depeche Mode, Human League, etc.) but it would have been really special to see them in their heyday.

I think a lot of people feel out of time in their era. I was a reluctant participant of the 90’s and will always feel like I was stuck with a bum decade to come of age in. And as a another new decade is about to roll in I can’t imagine what kids growing up today will contend with. All I can wonder is whether we’ll ever get those damn flying cars.

In the meantime, I hope somebody out there is tinkering with and putting the finishing touches on a time machine that will one day let me return to the 1980’s and experience it in person again, this time as an adult. I’m sure I’ve glamorized that time period far too much in my mind, and maybe it’s best left in those nostalgic corners. Still, a girl can hold out hope.

Recorded live in parents backyard garden, in Denderbelle (Belgium) on August 15, 2000

Then there was the Flying Dewaele Brothers in 1999…(vinyl)

Later 2manydj’s where formed… 2009(cdj’s)

The history of pop music has been a constant power struggle between artists and business interests. Initially, the money-grubbing managers, record companies and producers were firmly on top. In the 1950s, it was normal for people who didn’t write the songs to get themselves credited as the writer or co-writer of the song, thus claiming their unfair share of all future royalties.

A famous example is Buddy Holly’s manager Norman Petty, who probably helped Holly to develop artistically, but undoubtedly ripped him off by writing his own name into the songwriting credits. Indeed, if Holly hadn’t been so badly shafted financially, he might not have been forced to do the Winter Dance Party tour which led his horrible plane-smashy demise.

Simlarly, the sublime ‘Why Do Fools Fall in Love’ was written by Frankie Lymon and fellow Teenagers Herman Santiago and Jimmy Merchant, but producer George Goldner changed the credits to write himself into them and Santiago and Merchant out of them. He later transferred the credits to Morris Levy as part of a business deal. It took Santiago and Merchant until 1992 to get themselves recognised as the song’s co-writers – that’s 36 years. Meanwhile, the song had become one of the most played songs on the world’s radios, accruing industrial quantities of royalties. However, the story has one final, bitter twist, because in 1996, the ruling was overturned, and once again Santiago and Merchant found themselves airbrushed out of the song’s magnicent history.

Things changed in the 1960s, and bands like the Beatles had much more artistic and financial control over their work. In the 1970s, punk put the artist on top, as record companies realised they didn’t have a clue about what young people were listening to, and started chasing the new bands right, left and centre. Hence the Sex Pistols getting massive payouts from EMI and A&M for doing, well, pretty much sod all. Having said that, it still didn’t stop them having to battle their manager Malcolm McLaren in the courts to get their fair share of their earnings.

In the early 1980s, even mainstream pop artists were innovative, interesting, and in control of their work. Take the Human League, for example. Dyed in the wool socialists from South Yorkshire, pioneering synthesized pop sung by a man with long hair only on one side of his head and pierced nipples before anyone else had even thought of piercing nipples. And song lyrics covering anything from the exploitation of silk worms to Judge Dredd cartoons to the plot of A Star is Born. And this bunch of total eccentrics were on Top of the Pops and the front page of Smash Hits, for heaven’s sake!

Cut to 2009, and Simon Cowell looks down from his magnificent castle built from pure shite, and gloats in the knowledge that he totally dominates the the pop landscape he surveys. The Christmas number one is his and his alone, and it will be for the next 1,000 years. Lord Cowell constantly wears designer ear-muffs around his neck which he can whip on to protect him in case he should accidentally hear any of the brain-meltingly awful records he spews out. He enjoys effectively hours and hours’ worth of free advertising on prime time ITV1 for weeks and weeks, thus ensuring the maximum sales for his toxic products.

And crucially, he has ended the power struggle. The artists have lost and the managers have won. Under the guise of being democratic (‘I’ll turn an ordinary member of the public into a pop star!’), he’s actually created a situation where the artist not only has no artistic control whatsoever, but also have to pay a huge tithe from the  money their records earn to him.

But what’s that I hear in the distance?

A plucky band of rebels has set up a Facebook page to try and knock Cowell’s latest stinking pop stool from being pooped into the Christmas number one spot. They’re asking people to buy Rage Against the Machine’s ‘Killing in the Name’, so that it becomes the yuletide chart topper instead.

I’m not a particular fan of RATM, but as soon as I heard about this, I thought it was a brilliantly funny idea. A rap-metal song with the punchline, ‘Fuck you, I won’t do what you tell me’ topping the charts over Christmas? Hilarious!

Now it’s more than funny, it’s positively thrilling. The Facebook group has over 800,000 members and RATM are apparently 65,000 ahead of Cowell’s nonsense in the midweek charts.

So I urge you to join the Facebook group straight away, and buy the single from one of the chart outlet sites it lists. It’ll cost you less than a quid for getting the chance to ruin Cowell’s Christmas.

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2228594104&ref=ts

In the Pop Wars saga, it’s time for the Artist to Strike Back.

By MIKE RUBIN

Published: December 4, 2009

Link

IT was at a party in 1970 that Ralf Hütter first glimpsed the potential power of the Man Machine. Kraftwerk, the avant-garde musical group he had founded that year with Florian Schneider in Düsseldorf, Germany, was playing a concert at the opening of an art gallery, a typical gig at the time. Trying to channel the energy of the Detroit bands it admired, like the Stooges and MC5, the duo had augmented its usual arsenal of Mr. Schneider’s flute and Mr. Hütter’s electric organ with a tape recorder and a little drum machine, and they were whipping the crowd into a frenzy with loops of feedback and a flurry of synthetic beats.

As the show climaxed, Mr. Hütter recalled: “I pressed some keys down on my keyboard, putting some weight down on the keys, and we left the stage. The audience at the party was so wild, they kept dancing to the machine.”

Thus began a careerlong obsession with the fusion of man and technology. It would take four more years (and three largely instrumental records of electro-acoustic improvisation) before Kraftwerk heralded the coming of electronic pop on its landmark 1974 album “Autobahn,” and another four years before the members proclaimed themselves automatons on “The Robots,” the band’s de facto theme song from 1978’s “The Man-Machine” album. But even in 1970 the hum of what Mr. Hütter calls electrodynamics was buzzing in his veins.

“This rhythm, industrial rhythm, that’s what inspires me,” Mr. Hütter, 63, said. “It’s in the nature of the machines. Machines are funky.”

Few bands have done more to promote that once incongruous concept than Kraftwerk. Though its image shifted over the years from conservatory longhairs to Weimar-era dandies to stylized mannequin machines, it consistently provided a blueprint for the circuitry of modern pop music. David Bowie, an early adapter, channeled the band’s chilly vibes for his late ’70s “Berlin Trilogy,” and in the early 1980s synth pop groups like Human League and Depeche Mode followed suit.

Kraftwerk also became the unlikely godfather of American hip-hop and black electronic dance music, inspiring pioneers in the South Bronx and Detroit. Today Kraftwerk’s resonance can be heard in works as varied as Radiohead and the Auto-Tuned hip-hop of Kanye West and T-Pain.

“Kraftwerk were a huge influence on the early hip-hop scene, and they basically invented electro, which has had a huge influence on contemporary R&B and pop,” the techno artist Moby said. “Kraftwerk are to contemporary electronic music what the Beatles and the Rolling Stones are to contemporary rock music.”

Yet 35 years after “Autobahn” Kraftwerk remains relatively anonymous, thanks largely to a carefully crafted cloak of secrecy, one that an hourlong phone conversation last month with Mr. Hütter from Kraftwerk’s Kling Klang Studio outside Düsseldorf failed to penetrate significantly. On topics ranging from the band’s creative hibernation of the last quarter-century (only two albums of new material since 1981’s “Computer World”) to Mr. Schneider’s departure from the group late last year, Mr. Hütter was pleasant but revealed little. “It’s important for me that the music speak for itself,” he said.

This month the music should do just that with the release of “The Catalogue” (Astralwerks/EMI), a boxed set of newly remastered versions of the band’s last eight albums, beginning with “Autobahn” and including all of the records with the so-called classic Kraftwerk lineup: Mr. Hütter, Mr. Schneider and the electronic percussionists Wolfgang Flur and Karl Bartos. (Five of the remastered albums are also available individually.) Like Mr. Hütter’s infrequent interviews, “The Catalogue” doesn’t divulge much that fans don’t already know. There are no liner notes, no unreleased tracks, no digital mini-documentaries, just some additional photos and revised album graphics.

The music, however, is much more generous. The remasters render Kraftwerk’s glistening, icy textures even more shimmering and crystalline, the repetition more entrancing. “Autobahn,” for example, welds a bouncy Beach Boys harmony to the hypnotic 4/4 motorik beat pioneered by the German band Neu! (whose Klaus Dinger and Michael Rother were part of an early Kraftwerk lineup) to create a 22-minute synthesizer symphony evoking a pleasant highway drive. (A three-minute edit of the song reached No. 25 on Billboard’s singles chart in 1975, the group’s only hit in the United States.)

“For the first time, I think the music sounds the way we always heard it and produced it in our Kling Klang Studio,” Mr. Hütter said.

After “Autobahn,” albums like “Radio-Activity” (1976) and “Trans-Europe Express” (1977) further refined the group’s experimental pop sensibility. Borrowing from the German tradition of sprechgesang, or spoken singing, Mr. Hütter’s flat, affectless voice — sometimes treated with a vocoder to further dehumanize it — is an odd match for the band’s lilting music-box melodies. “What I try to do on the synthesizers,” Mr. Hütter said, “is sing with my fingers.”

But for some critics the group’s synthetic songs just didn’t compute. “Fun plus dinky doesn’t make funky no matter who’s dancing to what program,” Robert Christgau wrote of “Computer World” in The Village Voice. “Funk has blood in it.”

Such distinctions didn’t seem to matter to club crowds: New York’s downtown scene embraced the group. François Kevorkian, a D.J. at underground clubs in the late ’70s and early ’80s, would use Kraftwerk to blend tracks by Fela Kuti and Babatunde Olatunji into his sets. “What was really remarkable was that their music was getting played just as much at Paradise Garage as it was getting played at the Mudd Club, and there were very, very few records that had that ability to cross over between all the different scenes,” said Mr. Kevorkian, who would later work with the band on its “Electric Cafe” album. “Kraftwerk was, like, universal.”

Kraftwerk had long been a staple of the D.J. sets of Afrika Bambaataa in the South Bronx, and in 1982 he and the producer Arthur Baker decided to combine the melody from “Trans-Europe Express” (which Mr. Baker had noticed kids playing on boom boxes in a Long Island City, Queens, park) and the rhythm pattern of “Numbers” (which Mr. Baker had seen wow customers at a Brooklyn record store). The result was the pioneering 12-inch single “Planet Rock” by Afrika Bambaataa and the Soulsonic Force.

“I’m trying to remember a record that created that much mayhem on the dance floor when it first came out, and I can’t,” Mr. Kevorkian said of the reaction to “Planet Rock.” Most early hip-hop songs were slow, “from 90 beats per minute to 110,” Mr. Bambaataa said. “We went to 130 beats per minute, and from that came Latin freestyle, Miami bass and all that.”

“All that” encompassed an entirely new genre, electro, which paved an alternate route for hip-hop. It’s hard to imagine the productions of Timbaland or the Neptunes without the innovations of “Planet Rock,” and its repercussions can still be heard the world over, from Bay Area hyphy to Brazilian baile funk.

The roots of techno wind their way back to Düsseldorf too. In Detroit the radio D.J. Charles Johnson — better known as the Electrifying Mojo — built a fervent following on the urban contemporary station WGPR-FM in the late ’70s and early ’80s by ignoring the rigid formatting of other local stations. He had fished a copy of “Autobahn” out of the discard bin at a previous station and soon acquired a copy of “Trans-Europe Express.” “It was the most hypnotic, funkiest, electronic fusion energy I’d ever heard,” Mr. Johnson said. Kraftwerk became a staple of Mojo’s show “The Midnight Funk Association.” When “Computer World” came out, Mr. Johnson played almost every song on the album each night, making a lasting impression on a generation of musicians.

“Before I heard ‘The Robots’ I wasn’t really using sequencers and I was playing everything by hand, so it sounded really organic, really flowing, really loose,” the Detroit D.J. and producer Juan Atkins said. “That really made me research getting into sequencing, to give everything that real tight robotic feel.”

Over the next several years Mr. Atkins, along with his high school friends Derrick May and Kevin Saunderson, would become the pioneers of techno, which Mr. May once famously described as being “like George Clinton and Kraftwerk caught in an elevator with only a sequencer to keep them company.”

Techno would eventually explode internationally in 1988, with raves in London and trance in Goa, India. Back in Detroit, “Computer World” would assume the status of a sacred text. Kraftwerk was “considered like gods,” said Carl Craig, a Detroit techno producer. “Black people could relate to it because it was like James Brown. It was just this kind of relentless groove.” Mad Mike Banks, founder of the Detroit techno collective Underground Resistance, said he considered the song “Numbers,” from “Computer World,” the “secret code of electronic funk.”

“That track hit home in Detroit so hard,” Mr. Banks said. “They had just created the perfect urban music because it was controlled chaos, and that’s exactly what we live in.”

For Kraftwerk it’s a civic connection that has come full circle. In the last decade Mr. Hütter has developed relationships with some Detroit artists he inspired, including Mr. Banks. It seems to be a kind of “brotherhood, like Düsseldorf and Detroit,” Mr. Hütter said, saying he’s fascinated “that this music from two industrial centers of the world, with different cultures and different history, suddenly there’s an inspiration and a flow going back and forth. It’s fantastic.

“All this positive energy, this feedback coming back to me, is charging our battery, and now we’re full of energy. It keeps my Ralf robot going.”

Indeed, compared with Kraftwerk’s near invisibility throughout most of the ’80s and ’90s, the last few years have seen a relative flurry of Kraftwerk activity. Laptops have allowed the group to take its Kling Klang Studio on the road, so it has been touring regularly, adding 3-D graphics to the live show this year. Now that “The Catalogue” is completed, Mr. Hütter has promised a new Kraftwerk album soon, which would mark the band’s first recording without Mr. Schneider. If Mr. Hütter has any reservations about working without his musical partner of four decades, he kept them to himself; perhaps robots are incapable of showing emotion?

“There’s so much to do,” Mr. Hütter said. “I feel like we are just starting.”

It’s been awhile since the last volume of the never-ending Guide to Rock & Roll. The last time we gathered to enjoy libelous tales of the has-beens and never-weres of the rock world, we tackled only requests. This time around there isn’t a request to be found. It’s not because I don’t take requests. It’s more likely due to my scattershot posting schedule, shortened attention span and mandatory attendance of several premature funerals for rock and roll.

At this point, Oates knew the relationship was over, both with Hall and MTV itself.

Hall & Oates
1/2 moustache, 1/2 blond, Hall & Oates epitomized 80’s pop in a way few others did, except possibly Wham!, whom they were often confused with. The parallel chart success of this pair of duos saw tanned and well-rested men jousting for the affection (and money) of “the ladies.”

They deployed every weapon imaginable, including smoldering good looks (Wham!, Hall & Oates), short shorts (Wham!), moustaches (Oates) and prolific hitmaking, all despite being saddled with an underperforming partner (Andrew Ridgley, John Oates).

Once their made-for-VH1 meteoric rises and falls were over (“falls” being more accurate, especially when handcuffed to “meteoric” by some hack blogger), it became apparent that only one band was truly in it for “the ladies.” (Not Wham!) However, the information came too late to affect anything more than their respective solo careers (except for Andrew Ridgley, who ran down today’s specials for me at the local Outback).

George hid his anger well, but he had specifically told Paul to dry his guitar on "Delicate."

George Harrison
Known as the “fifth Beatle,” after being displaced by Yoko Ono and Linda McCartney, respectively, Harrison nonetheless had a successful and prolific solo career which spanned over 20 years. Famed for his combination of psychedelia and folk rock, Harrison proved that there is life beyond the Beatles (although not so much for Lennon) and enjoyed some chart success (although not as much as Paul McCartney, who was upgraded to “The Only Beatle”).

In addition to his musical contributions, Harrison was also known for:

• Not being Ringo.
• Not shoving his vegan ideals down his touring bands’ throats.
• Impressive facial hair.
• Being slightly smaller than Jesus.

Human League shortly before their defeat at the hands of Tyrell Corp.'s More Human Than Human League.

Human League
As one of the forerunners of the New Romantic movement, Britain’s Human League found itself defending its turf (and pedigree) against all comers, including the Anti-Nowhere League, the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen and the newly-minted (and freshly dead) Zombie Nation.

They enjoyed a seven-year run on top of the musical heap before succumbing to hair metal, synthpop backlash and internal wrangling (which is not so much a reference as an indication that more people should be listening to Clinic).

As the band slowly fell apart, their legacy lived on with multiple appearances on 80’s compilation and the Grand Theft Auto:Vice City soundtrack, which would mark the only time 50 million people purchased the (Keep Feeling) Fascination single, which came bundled with a lawsuit-baiting, open-world murder simulator.

Iron Butterfly, featuring (clockwise from top) Guy Pearce, Matthew Broderick, Steve Zahn and Steve Coogan.

Iron Butterfly
Known for a single track (In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida) which spanned three albums due to the space limitations of vinyl. Their monstrous hit song was one of the first singles to “go platinum,” albeit in a stripped-down three-minute version, which trimmed off nearly 90 minutes of psychedelic excess.

The track’s title (loosely translated by Hooked on Phonics as “In the Garden of Eden“) was a staple of their live shows, thanks to its sprawling length, which gave each band member a chance to dick around while their audience members retrieved their drugs, took their drugs or purchased more drugs.

During their brief heyday, the average Iron Butterfly set list looked like this:

1. Intro
2. In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida
Encore (In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida [reprise])

Having paved the way for mainstream awareness of psychedelic hard rock, Iron Butterfly abruptly lost all relevance and faded into obscurity, leaving behind an overwrought back catalog, which proved useful for seed-and-stem sorting.

As his music career faded, Rick James hit the tour circuit as a Whoopi Goldberg impersonator.

Rick James
Rick James (born Dave Chappelle) took the late ’70s funk scene by storm with his hit single Superfreak, which set the stage for the brief flareout of a “career” that was the Reverend MC Hammer. Following his own blueprint for brief success followed by spectacular failure, James made some runs at chart success with a few other, less sample-worthy singles before deciding to follow his true calling: drug addiction.

After joining nearly every other musician ever in eventual irrelevance, Rick James briefly lifted his head from the dusted mirror to release an album in the mid-’90s, approximately 15 years after anyone gave a shit. Unable to produce the “skills” to pay the “legal bills,” James returned to obscurity and blow, taking with him his talent (which at this point was as weak as the 3/4-baby laxative blend “coke,” whose possession resulted in immediate arrest).

-CLT

To his Granny (with whom he lives) he is known as Vincent Frank, but to us he is known as Frankmusik, 80s inspired, synth inspired, style inspired (and inspirer), live act and DJ, Frankmusik! The sharp and striking 23-year-old, born in Thornton Heath, London, released his debut album, Complete Me, earlier this year through Island Records. But music was not always in the card for Vincent, or at least not this style of music.

Vincent was originally into beat-boxing, which did not go down well at his posh upper-class boarding school, although he made it pretty far in some notable British talent competitions. He went on to become a fashion school dropout also, at the London College of Fashion. Whilst we don’t doubt his fashion abilities, we are mighty pleased that he instead chose to focus on his music career, with his debut album reaching the top 10 in UK music charts and his debut tour with Ladyhawke and Ida Maria, two of our favourite women!

As a young lad, Vincent was heavily influenced by 70s and 80s music, like Human League and Billy Ocean. He still loves songs like Billy Ocean’s “Get In My Car”, because whilst they’re corny, everyone knows the lyrics because “they’re such great songs…”none of this boom boom pow crap” (so far officially the worst song of the year and I can’t see anyone else outdoing it!)

Frankmusik & Acid Girls – Wake Up ** Highly Recommended

Frankmusik – 3 Little Words (Outside Inside Boy Remix)

Frankmusik - When You’re Around (Boys Noize Remix) ** Highly Recommended

Frankmusik - 3 Little Words (Louises Lovers Remix) **Highly Recommended

Frankmusik – Better Off As Two (Math Head Remix)

Frankmusik – Better Off As Two

Ella Goulding feat. Frankmusik – Wish I Stayed

The Click Click - Did You Wrong (Frankmusik Remix)**Highly Recommended

Bonus

Human League – Don’t You Want Me

Billy Ocean – Get Out of my Dreams and into my Car

Ladyhawke – Paris Is Burning (Alex Metric Remix)

Ida Maria – Oh My God**Highly Recommended

Good news from the BBC on collaborations between Gary Numan and Little Boots and Heaven 17 and La Roux!

Heavenly Live Combos

It does make me happy to see a new set of synthpop acts not only become so successful but to give great respect to the pioneers in the field who made the music happen!

Little Boots already collaborated with Phil Oakey of the Human League on her debut album, by the way, with the excellent track “Symmetry.”

Så det ser ut som att det är dags att göra vägvalet. Har hört många berätta om exakt samma grej som Martyn Ware (Human League) berättar om i del 2 från ca 2:50 eller ja 3:05. “I still can’t drive, but I still got that synthesizer”. Jag har bara sett två delar än så länge, fortsättning följer!

Synth Britannia (part one of nine): Aliented Synthesis: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WeVRYPjcVXg&feature=player_embedded

Synth Britannia (part two of nine): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U4KlnuTeH08&feature=player_embedded

“Get around town,
Get around town.
Where the people look good,
Where the music is loud.
Get around town,
No need to stand proud.
Add your voice to the sound of the crowd”.

From “The Sound OF The Crowd” by Human League.

My daily working life involves gathering and analysing evidence, forming opinions and offering professional advice.  My days regularly involve preparing for meetings with clients, investors or stakeholders whose actions may be influenced in part by what I bring to the table.

Yesterday I had a board meeting with a difference.  My preparation involved taking cover in an underground carpark, dispensing with my suit and trying to avoid suspicion from other carpark users and ensuring I was out of sight of any CCTV cameras. 

A couple of minutes later, I emerged back into the natural daylight to be greeted with strange looks from those wandering about Holyrood Road, Arthur’s Seat and Our Dynamic Earth.  Soon a little crew of like-minded individuals had gathered, all looking a little like fish out of water in the shadow of the Scottish Parliament building.   

Was it a flash-mob?

Was it a publicity stunt?

Was it a demonstration?

What was it all about?

Find out here.

Diskussionen om politiska sympatier bland popmusiker dyker upp då och då. För några år sedan lanserade Timbro och PR-killen Erik Zsiga en version i ett desperat försök att framstå som relevanta inför sina bidragsgivare.

Zsigas metod var att dels med hjälp av diverse hiphop- och punktexter behäfta “popvänstern” med våldsglorifiering, dels skuldbelägga alla som uttryckt den mest försiktiga vänsteråsikt och samtidigt tjänat pengar på sin musik. Borgerliga ledarskribenter som Per Gudmundsson och Peter Wennblad har å andra sidan försökt klämma in så skilda saker som den svenska DIY-scenen, 90-talsindien och Manchestervågen i en högerkontext, med lite olika argument.

Grundfrågan kvarstår dock – olika tricks åsido, varför är så få popband öppet höger? Till och med de glättiga engelska syntpopbanden på 80-talet visade sig vara vänster när man skrapade lite på ytan – Depeche Mode flirtade med socialismen i intervjuer och i naiva texter, Wham! stödde de strejkande gruvarbetarna (men dissade fackbossen Arthur Scargill) och Martin Ware från Human League gjorde socialistisk konceptpop med Heaven 17.

Gary Numan, en outsider redan i småskolan, väckte uppståndelse när han deklarerade att han röstade på Thatcher. Här i Sverige blev Lustans Lakejer utskällda för sin utstuderat borgerliga image, men den känns i efterhand mer som ett sätt att reta upp proggare och punkare i stickade tröjor än som ett äkta politiskt statement. Därtill var det alldeles för mycket verklighetsflykt.

Naturligtvis finns det drösvis med band i diverse subkulturer som integrerat extremhögersymbolik och ibland också -åsikter i sin image – inom black metal, neofolk och vit maktmusik. Men det är ändå något fjärran från den ideologiska liberalism som Zsiga och ledarskribenterna bekänner sig till. I Sverige framstår fortfarande Alexander Bard som en särling i det att han kombinerar en genomtänkt liberal politisk ståndpunkt (och på sistone en politisk karriär i folkpartiet) med en framgångsrik artistkarriär. Men Bard skiljer å andra sidan nuförtiden oftast noga på de två rollerna.

Tanken på ett band som imagemässigt går in för att hylla arvet efter thatcherismen och önska hårdare tag mot fackligt organiserade, arbetslösa och sjukskrivna känns mest som något lika utstuderat som norska black metalbandet Mayhems hyllningar till diktaturerna i Albanien och Nordkorea.

Frågan om popvänstern och avsaknaden av en pophöger diskuterades i P1 senast i dag. Per Gudmundsson, som enligt egen utsago driver en kampanj för att “skriva om pophistorien ur ett högerperspektiv” pratade med Martin Aagård, vänsterintellektuell kulturskribent och medlem i Doktor Kosmos, ett band som i sin studentikost “lustiga” proggighet kan få vem som helst att drömma om att starta det där högersvaret på Mayhem.

Aagard har adopterat popvänsteretiketten på samma vis som homosexuella gjort med sina nedsättande epitet och säger sig vara stolt över att vara popvänster. Gudmundsson efterlyste tydligare politiska etiketter på låtar som i största allmänhet handlar om “frihet” – trots att de bästa brukar ha udden riktad mot sådana som honom. Programledaren lyfte fram en gammal spaning utbyggd till en lång artikel i Bon härom året om att det blivit hippt med borgerlighet bland annat eftersom vissa band anammat en ironisk tennis- och seglarstil och eftersom en ny generation vänsterengagerade ungdomar har bättre klädsmak än man hade på 90-talet.

Inte så värst intressant alltså, och mest småmysigt när det egentligen var upplagt för en ordentlig fight. Är det något som genomsyrat popmusiken de senaste 50 åren så är det passion.

Jag tror dessvärre att utgångspunkterna för diskussionen hamnat helt snett. Per Gudmundsson har tidigare velat se högerdrag i Joy Divisions musik med huvudsaklig hänvisning till att Ian Curtis röstade på tories i det enda val han hann med, vilket naturligtvis är en otroligt banal iakttagelse. Och övriga medlemmar var vänster. I dagens radiodiskussion talades om bristen på plakattexter om skattesänkning och privatiseringar, också det ett banalt sätt att resonera.

Om vi istället betraktar popmusiken på samma vis som Fredrik Edin gjorde med film nyligen finner vi att det självfallet finns mängder av högerinriktad populärmusik: All denna musik som genom att inte på något vis gå emot den rådande ordningen i själva verket blir ett stöd till den. Och då menar jag självfallet inte att det som krävs är vare sig gammal och ny progg eller förutsägbart “arg” musik som Rage Against the Machine eller Atari Teenage Riot – en ljudbild kan också vara politisk, som Tobbe i The Embassy en gång så klokt uttryckte det.

“Popvänstern” skapades genom att Erik Zsiga lyfte fram vartenda förment vänstervridet citat han kunde hitta hos svenska kändisar, inklusive Cardigans-Ninas försiktiga avståndstagande från höga chefsbonusar och till och med högertjejen Linda Skugges krönikor. I själva verket lider Sverige av att popartister talar alldeles för lite om sina politiska åsikter, alternativt är genuint ointresserade. Och det fåtal som öppnar käften tenderar tyvärr att vara olika sorters proggare.

“I’m working class. Give me a gun and I’ll shoot all the Young Conservatives” sade Primal Screams Bobby Gillespie när bandet var som allra störst. Den sortens tydliga ställningstagande för något radikalare än ett regeringsskifte väntar vi fortfarande på att höra från någon svensk artist i hans position.

Mer om Per Gudmundsson, Martin Aagård, P1, proggare, popvänster, pophöger, Wham!, Primal Scream, Bobby Gillespie, Cardigans, Linda Skugge, Erik Zsiga, Peter Wennblad, Doktor Kosmos, The Embassy, Fredrik Edin, Rage Against the Machine, Atari Teenage Riot, Joy Division, Ian Curtis, Mayhem, Alexander Bard, Gary Numan, Lustans Lakejer, Depeche Mode, Thatcher, Human League, Heaven 17

Tava lá tomando banho e vizinho resolve tocar essa pérola:

É pra rir, né magrão. Dancei loucamente no chuveiro. Essa musga surge sempre que tô pra fazer algo sensacional. Bora mandar AQUELE e-mail maroto e cheio de ginga.

We’ve had “festivals” before. We’ve had “big-names” before. However, there was something about SoundCity that set it apart immediately. For me it was a chance after 13 years to watch some bands that I actually wanted to see!  Looking back at 13 years, there was Paul Weller (with terrible sound) and Jose Gonzales (with terrible sound), but neither would have been first on my list if they’d been playing Manchester. So there was a lot riding on this.

I identified a list of bands I had to see, essentially a list of four; Doves, The Courteeners, Super Furry Animals and Echo and The Bunnymen. The remaining bands would be a bonus.

We joined the first day at around 7pm. Within moments of arriving The Farm kicked off their set. It was exactly what we expected, a competent cabaret-esque trawl through their hits from a bygone age. Please, don’t get me wrong, it was good. Enjoyable. But I don’t understand why promoters/organisers in Dubai believe they have to book bands from the baggy or Britpop eras! Been there, done that, grew up. There have been several successful events and club-nights around the city over the last few years that have proved decisively that there is a market for current, challenging independent music. But like I said, The Farm – enjoyed it. Of course they closed with “All Together Now”. (Now a surprise appearance by Pete Wylie would have been a treat).

The Futureheads. Next band up. I didn’t know what to expect. From Sunderland apparently. The certainly put the effort in and had the crowd bouncing. I think the 21 age limit on entrance had certainly been blown several times – the “mosh-pit” was certainly well populated by sixth-form students.

(Just a quick comment on “mosh-pit”. When did that enter the English language? It sounds American to me. With a rock-tinge. It was always “down-the-front” when I went to concerts. You didn’t go down to the front to “mosh”, you went there to get crushed to death, spat on or brutalised by a pyscho. Mosh. Hmmm. Let’s leave the moshing to death-metal fans).

Back to The Futureheads. Like I said, lots of effort. Good fun. And their closing cover-version of “Hounds Of Love” was excellent. They’ve certainly got something to offer.

Then came Doves.

These were the guys I was waiting for. My mate Phil brought me their first album over from the UK back in 2000 and I’ve been following them ever since. I’ve had a love-hate relationship with some of the albums. Initial dislike, followed by appreciation (for the more recent releases); Kingdom of Rust having received minimal iPod or CD Player play-time since it arrived. The same Phil had informed me by SMS a couple of days before that their live sets were really good at present, so I was looking forward to the show. They didn’t disappoint. Snowden, Kingdom of Rust, There Goes The Fear, Cedar Room……..every track a gem, and played live, sounding even better.

For those of you who missed it, my sympathy. You’re not going to see anything like that in Dubai for at least a year. This wasn’t music-for-bed-wetters (a la Coldplay or Keane) or thinly-veiled stadium rock (Kings Of Leon). Doves are the real deal.

They should have played for longer (that’s one complaint about the festival – the headliners were not on long enough). But eventually they had to give the stage up to the old-guard.

Phil Oakey. Bald. Tall. Hot. Must have been very hot in that long, dark woollen overcoat. The girls. Still can’t sing. Still look great. It was a greatest hits medley, end-to-end. It was also entertaining. (In a similar, cabaret act vein as The Farm). They broke the hits with a stunning rendition of Empire State Human, but that was it for the good stuff. We had to suffer “The Lebanon” of course. They are iconic. And respect is due. They were entertaining.

So there closed Day 1.

Overall. A great evening. The event was slick. The band changes quick. Unfortunately this was not to continue.

BBC’s brilliant, brilliant multi-part documentary on the British synth pop movement of the 80s is finally on youtube in its entirely. For any fan of this kind of music this is a revelation and brings it all home, and most importantly it makes the clear, unabashed causal link between punk and electronic music, and how its roots lay in disaffected, poor, lower class British youth, of which Softsynth has written extensively. Watching it was so exciting it made your humble blogger’s heart beat faster and actually gave us a new appreciation for Donna Summer’s “I Feel Love” in the history of the movement and shows vintage live footage of bands like Human League that will blow you away. We’ve gone over an awful of this history in previous posts here but to see it laid out so beautifully and to have gotten interviews with *all* of the key players of the day is breathtaking. A must see:

Part one:

Part two:

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anne clark

Sinnersday 2009 !

Sinnersday 2009 in het Belgische Hasselt liet met een uitverkochte Ethias-arena en topacts als Anne Clark, Gary Numan en the Human League zien dat de jaren 80 nog voortleven. Een verslag van dit festival is te lezen op http://www.femuz.nl

I’m a few weeks late in putting this up, but the last stop on my recent UK vacation was Glasgow, Scotland, where I caught Spandau Ballet on their Reformation tour.

Glasgow was a nice city but actually the most boring one of the four that I visited. So how to pass the time? Shop for music!

Avalanche

Adam Ant, Strip. The second solo album by Adam Ant was produced by Phil Collins, which is why you hear that distinctive Collins drumbeat throughout the whole thing. Who knew Phil new from New Romanticism? Yet here the album is, replete with saucy Ant songs like “Strip” and “Puss N Boots,” each evoking Ant at his playful, dancing best. A double bonus? The title track features backup vocals by Frida of ABBA, whose album Collins also produced circa 1983. This disc and Adam’s other solo albums were remastered in 2005.

Associates, Double Hipness. The Associates were Scotland’s greatest contribution to New Romanticism and the world of music lost a giant in songwriting when vocalist Billy MacKenzie killed himself 12 years ago. Double Hipness, the last Associates album I was missing, is really a compilation of various leftover tracks and outtakes as well as stuff MacKenzie recorded under the Associates moniker at various points after the band were really done. Most interestingly, it contains the single “Steven You’re Still Really Something,” said to be a response to Morrissey in The Smith’s song “William, It Was Really Nothing.” (Morrisey’s first name is Steven, you see, and MacKenzie’s was William!) Moz denies a connection in the songs but it’s still a damn good glammed-up tune.

Human League, Secrets. The Human League have been touring quite a bit in recent years but haven’t put out any fresh material since Secrets in 2001. It’s a solid album that indicates that the Human League should record some more stuff. Supposedly, Phil Oakey has said, the band is considering a sort of duets album where they collaborate with other musicians in the near future? Meanwhile, Oakey has dueted with Little Boots on her debut album with the song “Symmetry.”

The Other Two, Selfish. Stephen Morris and Gillian Gilbert are awesome and deserve devastating amounts of musical respect as the drummer and keyboardist of New Order respectively. However, it’s hard to imagine that a lot of people were wondering what they were doing while Bernard Sumner and Peter Hook pursued other projects for much of the 1990s. Well, they called themselves “The Other Two” and recorded some tracks. Now that you know, you don’t really need to hear them. They are completely lovely but absolutely forgettable.

Siouxsie and the Banshees, The Scream (Deluxe Edition). One small advantage of not owning the first album by Siouxsie and the Banshees was that I could buy the deluxe edition eventually with no remorse of duplicating my purchase! The second advantage was that Avalanche had it at a fabulous price. As lovely as Siouxsie can be and as great a band as this was, the first album isn’t really their best work anyway. (Thankfully the extras here include such goodies as the 7″ version of “Hong Kong Garden.”)

Fopp

Bronksi Beat, Age of Consent. Surely, my admiration for New Romantic dance pop isn’t surprising to you at this point. So here we have vocalist Jimmy Somerville and bandmates Steve Bronski and Larry Steinbachek on keyboards and drums. Interestingly, Bronski Beat took their name as a riff on Roxy Music and partly inspired by Gunter Grass’ novel The Tim Drum, a big influence on many New Romantic musicians. Bronski Beat’s first album contains some extremely good dance tunes like the instantly recognizable “Smalltown Boy.”

Sonic Youth, Experimental Jet Set, Trash and No Star. The Sonic Youth rampage continued! This album, their ninth studio album from 1994, contains such exotic post-punk gems such as “Bull in the Heather,” which pretty much sums up the band’s entire musical attitude both musically and lyrically. A must-have for any new Sonic Youth fan, like me.

Sons and Daughters, Love the Cup. When in Scotland, buy Scottish bands! So here we have the first entry by Sons and Daughters, children of Glasgow, who I first heard at Liberation Dance Party when their latest album was released. It’s a fun jangle rock cacophony of Scottish wailing and ooh’s, which kind of serves as a hallmark for the band’s sounds. Not for everyone, but worth a try if you are looking for some new indie rock music to buy.

Talk Talk, The Party’s Over. I took the opportunity to round out my Talk Talk collection when I was in the United Kingdom and I could actually buy the physical albums in physical person (something that I can be a bit obsessive about at times). The Party’s Over, their first album, contains terrific tracks like “Talk Talk” and “It’s So Serious” and it would seriously rate on my list of best albums of all time (somewhere) due to its incredible synth arrangements and lush but dense production. Colin Thurston, who produced the first two Duran Duran albums, scored another New Romantic knockout with this album, in my opinion.

Talk Talk, The Spirit of Eden. By the time of their fourth album, Talk Talk had moved into experimenting with a lot of different instruments, which made record companies unhappy after their out-of-the-park hit “It’s My Life” on their second album. Still, while Mark Hollis was inventing a whole new genre with “post-rock,” he managed to create some beautiful, ethereal songs that will likely make you recognize what a tortured genius he is.

Television, Adventure. Punk band Television are among the slowest to ever produce an album, which might be unfair of me to say since I don’t know what obstacles they have really faced. Still, the three they have put out to date (with a fourth on the way perhaps??) contain excellent examples of punk guitar, yielding utterly respendent rock gems that make you want to listen to them again and again.