Oh man, Ipod just burped up American Music Club’s Johnny Mathis’ Feet. Swoon…..
There was a time I thought Mark Eitzel was the greatest songwriter in the world.
“You’ve got learn to disappear in the silk and amphetamines”
Go and search this out now. And when I get near a proper keyboard I’ll tell you about the night me and my sister and her very drunken mates got thrown out of a Eitzel gig and ended up in his autobiography…..
New Wanderers, This Man In Love. A great little brassy stomper with a huge British Invasion sound, a bit like Motown covering Gerry And The Pacemakers. Especially when the guitar solo comes in. Great vocals, and a real good singalong chorus.
Cynthia Sheeler, I’ll Cry Over You. Gorgeous mid paced ‘modern’ soul tune, with lovely vocals and a great spacey piano part. Go and search it out…..
Ipod chucked Weller at me this morning. Have You Made Up Your Mind was the lead single from 22 Dreams, and it was on the surface, a fairly typical Weller solo single, complete with Steve Craddock on guitars, and its soul meets White Album stylings, not a million miles from something like Out Of The Sinking. But closer listening pointed out a certain mid 70s sheen, like 10cc on I’m Not In Love, the sheen hiding the weirder ambiences below.
There are these queasy strings rolling around, and extra sharp guitars; the backing vocals have too much reverb, and the melody takes you down some odd turns. And Weller sounds almost heartbroken, which he hadn’t done since the early days of The Style Council. (Nearly 30 years ago!) Its possibly my favourite Weller tune in 20 years, and was a pretty definite indication that we were in a new Weller phase.
Probably Costello’s greatest, especially the flawless first half, and one of my favourite EC bitter slowies Riot Act. Arguably responsible for all those ex-punks playing Motown riffs during the 80s. Came before Dexys first album, by minutes, and it shares a similar attitude. And as for Weller, he was dining on those two albums a lot I suspect.
If you’re not sure where to start with Costello pick Get Happy. You’ll not be sorry.
Grrr. Just wrote a post and lost it, even in draft.
First tune up on shuffle this morning is this lovely little slice of blue eyed soul by the elusive Mr Taylor, who quit the music business in 2006. None of his albums are officially available, but Amazon has a good selection at mostly decent prices.
This track is from Stoned pt 1, which like most of his works sits firmly between prime era Marvin, and the slick sounds of Steely Dan at their peak, with more than a touch of Stevie. Its full of beautiful hazy tunes, lovely grooves and a great voice.
If you like your soul music you will not be disappointed – go search out, and the immerse yourself in some fantastic music.
Do you ever have one of those days when what you really need is a holiday?? I’ve been ratty and snappy and generally ready to just turn around and walk out of work. Stopped myself. But only just.
Meanwhile you really must search out The Shirelles “No Doubt About It”. A lovely skippy rainy day groove, with some beautiful vocals of course, but a gorgeous tune too.
Recommended. Goes on for 12 minutes and manages to improve on the original. Has a really cool bassline and a lovely rough live feel. And cowbell.
Delicious.
A couple of other blogs – Vinyl Villain and Crying All The Way To The Chip Shop – posted the great Pete Wylie and Wah! yesterday. Story Of The Blues is one of the greatest singles ever in my opinion, and its probably the reason I woke up with Design For Life by the Manic Street Preachers in my head.
I’ve always thought that Wah were a huge influence on this, its a similar working class left wing anthem, with themes of pride and dignity, and huge soaring vocals and sweeping strings. Very Spector in the garage. And definitely no accident that Mike Hedges is manning the desk on production duties.
Actually Hedges is responsible for a huge chunk of my favourite records, including the Associates Sulk, The Beat Special Beat Service, some classic Siouxsie & The Banshees, and of course The Cure. Go check out his production discography – its like the greatest hits of the bloggers I follow!
Theres also some sadness to this song. Following on from JC Vinyl Villain and Dave Planet Mondo’s very sad news these past two weeks I’ve found myself thinking about my mum. She loved this song, thinking it to be a very good picture of the Welsh. The drinking, the melancholy, the rough pride and the intelligence; the desire to better yourself and even escape, were all things she recognised.
Like I said, my music isn’t accessible right now, so you’ll have to trust me when I say you should search out this grungy funky little Northern stomper with a great fat vocal and glorious backing vocals.
I’m almost dancing on the train…..
The Songs That People Sing 