Act One - Goodbye My Love (We're Through) (1974)

Found this wonderful B Side whilst running through a pile of singles this morning - I always judged Act One on "Tom" but this shows the soulful side of them - worth looking out for.

 

Mercury - 6008 005

45Cat Entry

    

Bobby Womack Poster

In my current clearout phase this poster from my collection has to go - you can bid for it on ebay at LINK - bidding started at just £5.

I have to stop buying all this stuff!

Smash!

Is anyone else watching Sky Atlantic's series Smash!.  US TV at it's best, this follows a stage show production based on the Marilyn Monroe life story.  Here we see the writers (including an excellent Debra Messing); a single minded Brit director in the form of Jack Davenport (This is the best i've seen him - totally beleivable as bastard!); Angelica Houston as a recently divorced producer trying to find her business feet on her own for the first time.  The stars really are Megan Hilty (Wicked on Broadway) and Katherine McPhee (apparently a runner-up in American Idol a few years ago).  Hilty clearly shows her stage show experience and is mesmerising - with a powerful voice.  If this ever makes it to the stage I want to hear her do it (sorry lost in the story there for a moment).  McPhee is a revelation as her green newbie character gets to sing songs from the show and others whilst we see her at karaoke bars, performing at a bar mitzvah etc - she has an all round voice - I particularly like her take on Florence's "Shake It Up"


This is good TV and a great Saturday night music fix rolled into one.  I'm so taken I've  just ordered the soundtrack.  Be warned keep way from the Smash website as it will spoil the plotline, iflike me you are watching outside the US where the first season is only mid-way through.

Ronnie Laine - Brother, Can You Spare Me A Dime? (1975)

Ronnie Laine's take on an old song about the US depression.  This was used in a 1975 David Puttnam BBC2(?) TV documentary on the subject and the track was used as the closing credits rolled.  Good version of a powerful song.

To hear it go to BoyRed's SoundCloud/Brother

45Cat Link

Island - WIP 6229

Q. Am i right in thinking that this has also been recorded as "Buddy, Can You Spare Me A Dime?

The first RCA CD Catalogue - ever! (1983)

In 1983 I was working at RCA Records European office coordinating CD releases.  The format launch first in Japan in October 1982 and then Europe in March the following year had gone so well that there was a worldwide shortage of manufacturing capacity.  RCA had got in on the act quickly and had put out about 20 releases both pop and classical.  Whilst you would normally never see both in the same catalogue, this was produced to entice the audiophiles to buy RCA rather than the dominant Philips catalogue. 

Here is the cover of the first ever CD catalogue from the label.

 (The US launch would occur in October 1983)

Marvin Gaye Live In London - 1976

Thanks to Nathalie - who on reading my posts on the MPG gig I attended in 1976 found this picture from the Royal Albert Hall appearance two days later.

Related Posts

The Live Album

The Gig on 27th September 1976

Donna Summer

Sad news of Donna Summer's passing.  Here was a true artist that although always labelled "disco" delivered much more.  Her career in the 70's will forever be associated with the dancefloor and her work with Giorgio Moroder.  Together they took the US disco movement in a fresh direction with the use of electronics that until that point were the tools of experimental rock bands.  Her "I Feel Love" was ground-breaking, and whilst those sounds are familiar to us all now in all genres of music it is her and Moroder's legacy.  One obit this week quotes Bobby Gillespie as saying that he bought "I Feel Love" on the same day that he bought the Sex Pistols "God Save The Queen".  Summer moved away from the scene by recording more mainstream songs on her albums "The Wanderer" and "She Works Hard For The Money" with great success.  For me, her reinvention was complete when she recorded the self titled album produced by Quincy Jones and featuring "State Of Indepedence" "Living In America" and the jazz standard "Lush Life".  Yesterday I spent a long train journey in the company of her career on my ipod.  Her "On the Radio" greatest hits concentrates on her dance-floor hits but includes many lesser known tunes (here anyway) such as "I Love You" and "Sunset People" alongside her "Love To Love You, Baby" her voice and delivery are superb, she was a writer and production contributor.  The "Four Season Of Love" album marked the emergence of dance as a major force outside of the 4 minute (or extended 10 minute) single.  The album shows the magic between Summer and Moroder and Pete Bellote by delivering a consistent piece. 

Much will be said this week about her, the trials with the conflict of her faith and the sexual nature of her image, her dismissal as a diva disco queen - we should value a game changing body of work, the result of the fate of the early coupling with Moroder/Bellotte and her second and third coming.  Hopefully it may be a catalyst in helping Disco find it's place in serious music history.

For now let's remember her as a fantastic artist.

Westminster Record Fair 2

Attended yesterday's fair with great expectations of a good days crate digging.  This VIP fair isn't as big as the Music Mania event (next one in November) but probably good for those collectors willing to pay the big ticket desirable items.  I'm more of a pile it high and flog it cheap merchant as i like to sort through stuff.  One man's tat is another man's treasure.  So shorter day than expected, but met with the boys in doing so and swung by Fopp! on the way back.  Small haul in the form of Simply Red and Sinatra CDs for my son, together with the "Wondrous Stories" prog compilation and a couple of 70's Biddu albums on vinyl (to follow up meet my current disco craving).

New Songs For Aretha

Many older artists that we revere have made comeback albums with critical success.  Mavis Staples has enjoyed plaudits for her "new" solo career; Solomon Burke found success through his work in the late 90s and until his death a few years back; Gil Scott-Heron was bang up to date with his "I'm New Here" set just before his death last year and the first sounds from the Bobby Womack album are promising.

The one I want to hear is a new Aretha album.  So here's some songs I think she could make her own.

1. Leavin' - Shelby Lynne
2. Just One Kiss - Raphael Sadiq
3. You Are My Everything - Mary J Blige
4. None Of Us Are Free - Solomon Burke (amongst others)
5. I'm Through Trying To Prove My Love To You - Bobby Womack
6. Ruby Lee - Bill Withers
7. I Never Dreamed You'd Leave In Summer - Stevie Wonder
8. Between A Man And A Woman - Kate Bush
9. The Nick Of Time - Bonnie Raitt
10. Down By The River - Neil Young

Love Saves The Day - Tim Lawrence

Sub-titled "a history of american dance music culture, 1970-1979" Tim Lawrence's history of the era that is much maligned and dismissed simply as disco is in depth and well informed.  Sources include many of the major players involved from the star DJs (including David Mancuso, whose 1970 Valentine's Day party at his, soon to be The Loft gave the book it's title); the owners of the clubs; record industry figures; record pool organisers; producers, artists and; many dancers and participants along the way.

From the bringing together of the sounds that existed at the turn of the decade in sets that included soul, motown, Led Zeppelin, African drums, classical, latin and rock tracks creating an eclectic celebration of music above all else.  This was Mancuso's aim.  It was underground, it was new, it was inclusive, throwing off the silo nature of musical taste and the tribes that ascribed to them.  It was based around a downtown New York scene.  Soon it would co-exist with another incarnation by invading mid-town and the hedonistic, indulgent and elitist scene that most people associate with popular disco was born.  Studio 54 was this strain epitomised in one club, but there were many more and as money was the driver this was the form that clubs the USA and the world adopted.  Mancuso continued to be the father figure that everyone looked to but he seemed alone in not chasing the money by sticking to his orginal vision.

The search for new sounds brought mixes, mixers and extended mixes - soon to become a record sales point as these longer versions (or not in some cases) appeared on vinyl in the form of 12" singles.  DJs became remixers, then producers, then artists.

Some of the clubs have become watchwords for musical integrity - The Warehouse, The Paradise Garage, The Loft, The Gallery, Whilst others are notorius for other reasons, mainly sex and drugs.

Nicky Siano, Frankie Knuckles; Tom Moulton, Giorgio Moroder, Earl Young are amongst the artists contributing here.  The featured labels - Prelude, Philadelphia International, SalSoul, Casablanca (which virtually brought down a major single handed) punched above their collective weight against the might of the US entertainment business.  Europe invaded via Giorgio Moroder (albeit with an amercan ex-gospel singer called Donna Summer), Electronics came to the fore with their "I Feel Love" and the adoption of Kraftwerk's "Trans Euro Express" - sounds that would feature heavily in the development of dance music way beyond flares, open shirts and that medallion.

Saturday Night Fever is seen as a high point by many but perhaps that was the beginning of the end - the mass success could be duplicated by individual artists and mainstream acts that tried out the format (Streisand, Stewart etc) soon moved on or back.  The music industry, dissapointed in the lack of the long term cash cow, turned away.

Disco begat House and the development during the 70s sowed the seed for that birth. Whilst disco may be dismissed by many (and there is much to be treated so) the directions taken and the club culture then is the foundation of what came about in the 80s and on.

Tim Lawrence's book shows uses the detail to reflect the cultural shifts not just in the music scene but in the political and social landscapes, and this is the true value of this very important work.  It is well written and draws you in, whether you know some of the obscure tracks (and i've tried to find some since) or not.

It includes discographies from each DJ/Club and an extensive bibliography.

Punblished: 2004 by Duke University Press

ISBN: 0822331985

Lianne La Havas

Like a lot of people I found the beautiful Lianne La Havas via the always reliable "Later With Jools Holland" on BBC2.  Those solo performances with just her unique voice and guitar were mesmerising.  I found the EP "Lost and Found" which included the standout track from the show "No Room For Doubt" - when it arrived the other tracks were there too together with the excellent "Final Form"

all good then - the follow up "Forget" did not disappoint.

The debut album "Is Your Love Big Enough" is due on 9th July - can't wait.


Lianne's Web Page

Bobby Womack - Please Forgive My Heart (2012)

The first track to be issued from the forthcoming album by Bobby Womack is "Please Forgive My Heart" - you know i'm a fan but when I first heard of the album of "BW with beats" I was dubious.  No fears now then after hearing this lead track. Soulful as ever, the voice remains the same and is actually complemented by Damon Albarn and Richard Russell's work.

Absolutely outstanding but nothing more than I expect from him - thanks to Albarn and Russell he's back in the studio - if this is a good indication of the album "The Bravest Man In The Universe" due in June, then I can't wait.

Quality stands out and this does by a country mile.

YouTube Video

Phill Brown - Are We Still Rolling? (2011)

I came across this during my research for Made In Walthamstow and ordered it as it seemed a rather unique take on the record business of the 70s and on - from the perspective of a well respected and accomplished sound engineer.  How fantastic that I found it even more enjoyable as it talked about the work of some of my heroes and favourites (Robert Palmer, Alan Spenner and Steve Winwood in particular) and about albums that I was responsible for manufacturing whilst I was at PolyGram (1978-1983).  It is a personal account of Phill's journey through a career of many highs both commercially and artistically (and at times chemically); of the characters that worked the industry for good or bad (a third devil category are those, there by chance and who treated it all with indifference); of the creation of some fantastic music; of the techniques used and the knowledge, experience and luck that brought them together.  Robert Palmer's forward describes it well when he says -

"This is not a technical manual (although it will certainly function as one) - it's a contemporary thriller.."  "That's what Phill Brown has written here - an adventure story.."  "It's a how-to book and a love story! A self-driven need to understand why creative people do what they do, and how to survive it and them"

When I was trying to get into the business I was told "get a job making the tea and then make yourself useful" - Phill Brown had an entry via his brother who worked at Olympic Studios and he would go and watch/help, obviously fascinated by the process - he found his way in and then did the "make himself useful" bit by working as tape operator at many of the never ending days and night owl sessions of the stars of the day including Hendrix, the Stones, Dusty Springfield. 

I love the mix of tech - mic set ups and reverb units and echo capture and the commercial reality, but the description of the periods of frantic creative process handled by a mixed cast for each new project; the issues (face fits? perhaps?) that led to being on a session or not all give another angle to the industry that interests us all.

One story of a recording struck a particular note with me.  Almost by accident, the author got involved in the recording of an album by Paul Carrack ("NightBird"), eventually co-producing the tracks and organising the sessions comprising a band (for me) to die for (Spenner, Lindscott, Hubbard, Renwick, McCalla, Collins).  Released in 1980 this was one of the last albums I worked on at the PolyGram factory before moving "up west".  I was making the vinyl of some of my heroes. Excited to see Carrack's name on the release sheet ("How Long" remains a favourite) I was disappointed by the artwork and the lack of interest actually given the release by Phonogram - i think we pressed all of 2-3,000.  Reading the chapter, and knowing some of the record guys concerned, tells me why.  I like it as an album - not a favourite - but it has class and epitomises the British rock,soul sound that was fairly ignored by the labels through the late 70s - shame because the Brits were pretty good at it.

As he moved on from the 70s working with Talk Talk, Faithless and Dido you get the feeling he pined for the old days - certainly (like me) he felt the presence of less record men and more money men.  At times his dilemma was compounded as he loved the work that he did and for one reason or another he never got to finish the final product (or be paid) or would lose the friends he had made over the years (his feelings after hearing of Spenner's death and of attending his funeral are understandable).

I finished this liking Phill Brown, seemingly a straight up ordinary guy, who worked in a high period for the industry, just before the suits moved in, he evolved and survived through the respect gained from his previous work - what better recommendation to have.  He doesn't pull punches but also refrains from putting people down, many biogs of this type big up the author by rubbishing their contemporaries - it and he are all the better for it.

He continues to work in the business - holding on to those "old" values of putting the creative process beyond the accountant and by the end you feel that he has (just) come to terms with the 70s being history - he and this book are part of that story and these pages are a worthwhile read and are highly recommended.

ISBN: 978-0-9779903-1-3

Tape Op Books

Phill Brown Web Site