The Explorers Club/"Grand Hotel" (EC Records/Rock Ridge)
Although a fairly fine album, their 2008 debut "Freedom Wind" was at times almost uncomfortably derivative (of the Beach Boys' so-called mid period) and one didn't really expect anything of substantial originality from those guys after that. So, file under: Fondly Remembered, then...
Not so, though. Of course they still wear their influences firmly on their collective sleeve - we wouldn't really want it any other way - but this time around they happen to be a bit more varied. The Beach Boys have been joined by Messrs Bacharach and Mendes in The Explorers Club continuing pursuit of perfect pure pop past.
And it is an overall excellent and successful mission at that. Haunting instrumentals melt nicely with melodic and nostalgic homages to timeless summers of the past, such as (of course) "Summer Days, Summer Nights" and "Run, Run, Run".
Without a doubt, in my book at least, the album of the year. Nonetheless, another close contender just happens to be...
The Beach Boys/"That's Why God Made The Radio" (Brother Records/Capitol)
OK, when the news got out that the Beach Boys were celebrating their 50th anniversary with a reunion tour as well as a brand new studio album I don't think anyone was expecting their best LP for 35 friggin' years (Since 1977's "Love You"). As a matter of fact, I don't think anyone was expecting anything much at all. Oh, but how wrong we all were...
"TWGMTR" was THE surprise of the year, as far as I'm concerned. I played this CD to bits, aptly enough, during the summer. And the icing on the cake for me personally was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see the boys live in concert in Berlin in early August. My favourite band in my favourite city - Yeah!
The "boys" may longer be exactly boys, but they sure did deliver the goods - with no small help from Brian's brilliant backing band of the previous 13 years. They probably couldn't have done it (the album AND the tour) without Mr. Foskett & Co. We thank you all.
But, needless to add, it didn't last. Probably because it wasn't meant to. Nonetheless, it was great while it lasted. Mike, Brian, Dennis, Al & David....universally loved...and unexpectedly, the live band of the year.
Graham Gouldman/"Love And Work" (Rosala Records/Absolute)
A massively successful songwriter in the '60s (Penning hits for Herman Hermits, The Hollies, as well as The Yardbirds), the '70s (As a member of 10 CC), the '80s (The duet Wax with his pal, the late Andrew Gold), and the '90s (Kirsty MacColl, Madness), Graham Gouldman has always known his way around a melody...to say the least.
Personally, I've also always loved his late '70s solo-should-have-been-a-hit, "Sunburn", from the Farrah Fawcett movie of the same name...
That being said, this new album was a surprise of some magnitude to me at least. The hooks are many and infectiously memorable to boot. And there's even an irresistible, instrumental Shadows (probably an early influence) tribute, "Black Gold", thrown in for a good measure.
The record is dedicated to the memory of his Wax-pal Andrew Gold, who died in 2011.
And please take the time to check out Graham Gouldman's official website. One of my main regrets of 2012 is that I let his 10 CC concert in Reykjavík slip by me...
Susanna Hoffs/"Someday" (Baroque Folk)
Oh, Susanna's still alive! And very much so, I must add. Following 2011's fine Bangles outing, "Sweetheart of the Sun", here comes Susanna's first proper solo LP (she has done some excellent - for the lack of a better word - "concept" duet albums with another power pop icon, Matthew Sweet, in the meantime....and more to come!) since the mid '90s. And, blimey, it's her best yet!
OK, so Mitchell Froom's production is somewhat understated and it doesn't pack as much punch - or power - as we're used to from the princess of power pop, but the tunes are still there in abundance...or so to speak; there's mere 10 of them. But what they lack in quantity they make up for in quality.
Popular Christmas music.I have to be honest here, I just don't like
the stuff much - it's mostly overly sappy and sentimental. Which is perfectly fine for the Elton Johns
and Chris Rea's of this world (no offense). Therefore I happen to like my Yuletide muzak (’Cause,
let’s face it, that’s just what it is…to be played in elevators and department
stores) a bit more rocking and rolling...if you know what I mean. Albeit with the
proverbial tongue-planted-firmly-in-the-proverbial-cheek. Nonetheless, not unlike many other music nuts, I like to make lists (AND check it twice, at least). And now, for better or for worse and in spite of all my aforementioned reservations regarding the issue, it's time to reveal my Top 40 all time favourite Christmas tunes. Obviously - and, given my fondness for nearly all things Spector, perhaps not all that surprisingly - as far as I'm concerned, the always amazing Darlene Love is the undisputed queen of Christmas. Long may she reign. So, here goes... (In
no particular order, neither numeral nor alphabetical):
The Kinks/"Father Christmas"
Ramones/"Merry Christmas (I Don't Want to
Fight Tonight)"
Duncan Faure/"This is Christmas", "Party on Christmas" + "Christmas
Song"
Cheap Trick/"Come on Christmas"
Fountains of Wayne/"I Want an Alien for
Christmas"
Steeleye Span/"Gaudete"
The Damned/"There Ain't no Sanity
Clause"
Captain Sensible/"One Christmas Catalogue"
Bay City Rollers Starring Les McKeown/"Rock & Roll It's Christmas Time"
Billy Idol/"Yellin' at the Xmas
Tree"
The Pogues & Kristy MacColl/"Fairytale
of New York"
The Waitresses/"Christmas Wrapping"
Blondie/"We Three Kings" Joan Jett & The Blackhearts/"Little Drummer Boy" MUD/"Lonely This Christmas" + "Lean
on Me"
John & Yoko/"Happy
Xmas (The War is Over)"
Ertha Kitt/"Santa Baby"
Darlene Love/"Christmas (Baby, Please
Come Home)" + "It's a Marshmallow World" + "Winter
Wonderland" + "All Alone on Christmas".
Bruce Springsteen & The E-Street Band/"Santa Claus is Coming to Town" (Early '80s Live version) U2/"Christmas (Baby, Please Come Home)" (Yup, the same song) Gary Glitter/"Another Rock & Roll
Christmas"
Sniglabandið/"Jólahjól"
The Monkees/"Riu Chiu"
Beach Boys/"Little Saint Nick" + "Winter
Symphony"
Showaddywaddy/"Hey Mr. Christmas"
Band Aid/"Do They Know it's
Christmas?"(The original)
Stevie Wonder/"Someday at Christmas"
Brenda Lee/"Rocking Around the Christmas
Tree"
Bobby Helms/"Jingle Bell Rock"
Smokey Robinson & the Miracles/"Deck
the Halls/Bring a Torch, Jeannette, Isabella".
Slade/"Merry Xmas Everyone"
GregLake/"I Believe in
Father Christmas"
The Jackson
5ive/"I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus"
Mike Oldfield/"In Dulci Jubilo"
Jona Lewie/"Stop the Cavalry" Roy Wood & Wizzard/"I Wish it Could
be Christmas Everyday"
And...the very best Christmas albums:
V.A./"The Phil Spector Christmas
Album"(1963)
V.A./"A Motown Christmas"(1973)
Elvis Presley/"White Christmas" (Compilation, 2000)
OK, so I can be a bit sappy & sentimental
myself after all ;-)
Here's wishing y'all Happy Holidaze...however
you may celebrate.
Paul Williams. My relationship with the man is complicated.
On one hand he has penned immaculate pop hits for the Monkees and Three Dog Night among others, while on the other his dreaded early '70s Carpenters-phase leaves me completely cold. Not to mention Barbra Streisand. Sorry.
However, towering above all that is his seminal debut solo album "Someday Man" from 1970. This Soft Rock/Sunshine Pop classic has few equals in the genre.
In the mid-'60s Paul Williams was, by his own account, "An out of work actor who started writing songs for his own amusement."
By 1968, though, he had started writing songs with one Roger Nichols, who had the previous year recorded the "Roger Nichols & The Small Circle of Friends" album for A&M Records (Another Sunshine Pop classic, according to many). But also by then Williams had formed the group The Holy Mackerel with his brother Mentor Williams - himself later a composer of Dobie Gray's fantastic 1973 Soul/Country hit "Drift Away" - and others, and they recorded their sole self-titled LP for Reprise in '68.
Mixed male/female singing groups like Mamas & the Papas, The Sunshine Company and Spanky & Our Gang were all the rage during this era and The Holy Mackerel proudly placed themselves in that line.
But as far as The Holy Mackerel LP goes, it's an almost too eclectic effort mixing C&W with Psychedelic Soft Rock and the then-burgeoning Bubblegum sound. So it's an understandably uneven album which sounds at times either frustrating and/or fascinating, but definitely not without its charms.
Mostly it's written by Williams alone, although one of it's stronger cuts "Bitter Honey" is a Nichols/Williams composition.
In the wake of the album's commercial failure there were a couple of non-LP 45s issued. Among them was the Nichols/Williams penned "I Just Haven't Got What it Takes", which later resurfaced as "To Put Up With You" by American Breed and several others before Williams himself at long last recorded the definitive version for the "Someday Man" album.
After the inevitable break-up of The Holy Mackerel Nichols and Williams really hit their stride - although they merely enjoyed an "artistic success" to begin with. Dobie Gray recorded a great version of "Do You Really Have a Heart" - later also to appear on the "Someday Man" album - while The Monkees had the first crack at "Someday Man" itself (both were issued in 1969).
But it wasn't until spring 1970 when the absolute Nichols/Williams artistic pinnacle appeared in the form of that first Paul Williams solo album, "Someday Man".
Today, though, both Williams and Nichols claim it was much more of a collaborative effort than that. Perhaps, then, the credits say it all: Lyrics by Paul Williams; music by Roger Nichols; produced by Roger Nichols.
Basically, the record consisted of properly recorded versions of what had been their best publishing demos of the previous two years.
Although initially this record, as they say, disappeared without a trace, it's just incredible how many of its songs have been covered by other artists. For instance, "So Many People" - a personal favourite of both of its writers - has no less than seven different versions listed on YouTube - but the original betters them all!
The title track has "only" five notable covers listed on YouTube, and again it's Williams very own version which tops the list...
Similarly, the aforementioned "Do You Really Have a Heart" inspired at least seven covers, none of which is quite worthy apart from Dobie Gray's original recording and Paul Williams' very own "interpretation".
All of which just goes to show how far and wide aforementioned publishing demos travelled.
Backed by bits of "The Wrecking Crew" (Hal Blaine, Larry Knechtel), "Someday Man" sounds superbly timeless and classic today, and it just beggars belief it was so overlooked at the time.
In the past decade people have awoken up to its charms though, most notably with Mojo magazine rightly claiming it to be a "lost classic" a few years back.
In the aftermath of that long overdue recognition a lovingly compiled "Deluxe Expanded Edition" CD re-issue was released in the U.K. by Now Sounds/Cherry Red a couple of years ago. Needless to say it's an essential purchase.
By pure curiosity (I'd always loved the Monkees' version of the title cut, while also viewing Paul Williams merely as "the guy who wrote some songs for the Carpenters"), I was just lucky enough to stumble upon a nearly unplayed original vinyl copy of "Someday Man" some years ago and was I ever in for a revelation!
Since then it's been a constant companion, both enjoyed and admired regularly...
Nov. 9th, 2012: And they just made a movie about this guy. Hooray for Hollywood! Or something.
A few years ago I read Ken Emerson's amazing account of the Brill Buliding era, "Always Magic in the Air". In fact, everyone even vaguely interested in the golden era (the early '60s) of American pop music should. Furthermore, for every ill-informed idiot who claims there wasn't a whole lot going on Stateside until the almighty Beatles first crossed the Atlantic in '64, this should be a required reading.
Focusing on the masters of song, such as Leiber & Stoller, Goffin & King, Pomus & Shuman, Greenwich & Barry, Mann & Weil, Bacharach & David, and Sedaka & Greenfield, Emerson's tale was obviously an inspiration for the good folks at U.K.'s Ace Records, who launched their still-ongoing CD "Songwriter series" around the time the book was first published, in the mid-'00s.
Apart from the aforementioned songwriter teams, said series have also featured the early works of Neil Diamond and Phil Spector (separately, of course :-), plus career overviews of Boyce & Hart, Randy Newman, Sloan & Barri, Lee Hazlewood, Bert Berns, Chip Taylor, and Jackie DeShannon - to name but a few.
Of course every serious music enthusiast owns, for instance, Bobby Vee's big hit version of Goffin & King's "Take Good Care of My Baby". But not everyone's aware of the fact that Dion recorded the original version of that little gem. Well, Ace's compilers take both matters into account and include Dion's scarcely heard interpretation rather than Bobby's more familiar - and, frankly, better - one on their Vol. 2 collection of Goffin & King's compositions.
There are numerous other similar examples of how these excellent Ace series both educate and entertain the listener.
Digging for dusty obscurities ripe for (re)discovery is also something the Ace people obviously see as an often rewarding challenge.
Apart from the obvious highlights of the series (Goffin & King Vol. 1, Mann & Weil, Greenwich & Barry), personally I was also pleasantly surprised by the Sloan & Barri CD, as well as the Penn & Oldham, Jackie DeShannon, and Chip Taylor collections. Previously something I thought were merely a few hit wonders, thanks to the Ace folks, I am now a proper fan.
According to the almighty Wikipedia, this here is the ultimate defintion of Nederpop.
Whatever. Thru the years (and decades) I've always been fascinated by the abilty of the Dutch to make such authentic-sounding and internationally-appealing pop/rock - yet unique in its own way. From the unforgettable late '60s riffage of Shocking Blue's "Venus" to Diesel's equally exceptional, yet not nearly as renowned, late'70s/early '80s sounds of "Sausalito Summernight".
And although I prefer to focus on my era of expertise - in short; the '70s - as far as I know, the Dutch might very well still be doing it right.
So, as one sometimes does, I decided to make a list. Not a Top 5 - or even a Top 10 - but a Top 11 of Nederpop artists of the past and their crowning moments. In MY opinion. And I can not stress that last sentiment heavily enough.
Already it's been pointed out to me that key artists such as BZN, Earth & Fire and The Cats are all absent from said list. So sorry, but I am just not familiar enough with them!
Furthermore, in some folks' opinion I probably leave out Bonnie St. Claire & Unit Gloria's musical manifesto "Clap Your Hands and Stomp Your Feet", as well as George Baker Selection's ultimate holiday hit "(Una) Paloma Blanca". But sorry again; I just ain't too keen on 'em!
However, feel free to set me (and anyone else interested) straight via the liberal and ever so open-minded comment system here below.
But without any further adiue, here's my Top 11, in a pretty much chronological order...
SUNNY FOUR/"Goodie Good Ice Cream Man" (1969)
Shamefully, I was only introduced to this bona-fide Bubblegum classic via a "rather recent" cover version. The Andersons!'s (featuring the wonderfully versatile Robbie Rist) killer rendition of this obscure Nedergum classic on Not Lame's excellent "Rigth to Chews" Bubblegum tribute CD from 2002 very nearly even equals the original.
And, admittedly, I know absolutely NOTHING else about the original. I am only TOLD (by the dubious "authority" that is YouTube) that it is Dutch, but it appears to be the sole release by the ever mysterious Sunny Four.
Arranger/producer Carl Maduri seems to have worked in the U.S. both before and after - if it is, in fact, the same person.
THE SHOCKING BLUE/"Venus" (1969) & "Never Marry a Railroad Man" (1970).
OK, "Venus" definitely needs no introduction. SHOCKingly though, it is perhaps a lesser known fact that the song borrowed heavily (and that's not an understatement) from the Big Three's (featuring the future "Mama" Cass Elliott) 1963 folk hit "The Banjo Song (Oh! Suzanna)"....
However, my other favourite Shocking Blue song is somewhat less well-known. "Never Marry a Railroad Man" from 1970 nonetheless built upon the true and tested formula of "Venus", although it's somewhat more "original" in another sense of the word....if you know what I mean.
GEORGE BAKER SELECTION/"Little Green Bag" (1969)
Initially, a merely moderate hit internationally ( #21 in the U.S.; didn't chart in the U.K.). But via Quentin Tarantino's 1992 brakthrough film "Reservoir Dogs" it eventually enjoyed the resurgence it truly deserved.
And puzzlingly enough, it sounded nothing at all like anything the so-called George Baker would ever attempt again.
Born Johannes Bouwens (also known as Hans Bouwens), he took up the more internationally-friendly name of George Baker in the late '60s after a brief stint with the Dutch band Soul Invention, which then evolved into the George Baker Selection.
Mid '70s success was secured as the sunny-sounding "Paloma Blanca" (also known as "Una Paloma Blanca") became a worldwide hit.
Since then, our "George" has had a Euro hit or two and still enjoyes some success on the oldies circuit in the continent.
FOCUS/"Hocus Pocus" (1972) & "Sylvia" (1973)
And now for something completely different...
The yodelling Prog-rockers Focus lead by flutist extraordinaire Thijs Van Leer and guitarist Jan Akkerman, these guys made at least two bona-fide Nederprog classics in 1972's "Hocus Pocus" and the following year's "Sylvia".
MOUTH & MAcNEAL/"How Do You Do" (1972) & "I See a Star" (1974)
What adjectives can one muster up about the unusual pairing of Willem Duyn (AKA Mouth) and Sjoukje van't Spijker (Alias Maggie MacNeal), masterminded by producer Hans van Hemert, who later also put together Dutch disco act Luv? Perhaps predictably, the beauty and the beast certainly springs to mind.
The once-heard-never-to-be-forgotten "How Do You Do" went on to become their biggest hit, reaching the U.S. Top 10 and selling approx. 2 million worldwide.
In 1974 they represented the Netherlands in the Eurovision Song Contest with "I See a Star", but finished "only" third. However, this was the very year when ABBA won with "Waterloo", so the competition was most certainly somewhat stiffer than usually.
Well, shortly after the '74 ESC the pair split-up and went their seperate ways.
Both did continue in the music business and Sjoukie has done so, mostly, under her real name.
Duyn, meanwhile, kept trading in on his Mouth & MacNeal fame with other partners but tragically died of a heart attack in 2004 at the age of 67.
BONNIE St. CLAIRE & UNIT GLORIA/"Voulez-vous (Yes I do, I Love You)" (1974)
The brainchild of Peter Koelewijn, yet another '60s/'70s Dutch songwriter/producer, who originally discovered blonde singer Cornelia Swart (AKA Bonnie St. Claire) in the late '60s, and recorded her successfully solo before teaming her up with the backing band Unit Gloria.
In 1972 their greatest hit, "Clap Your Hands and Stamp Your Feet", was released to a worldwide acclaim and regional cover versions bonanza. "The Dutch Suzi Quatro" had arrived.
However, in my humble opinion, their greatest moment came in 1974 with "Voulez-vous". Hmmm... Yes, please.
GOLDEN EARRING/"Radar Love" (1974) & "Twilight Zone" (1982)
Remarkably, formed in the early '60s and still active today, Golden Earring along with the Rolling Stones and a handful of others, at 50+, is one of the world's oldest surviving Rock bands.
A wordwide hit in 1974, "Radar Love" is arguably their magnum opus. A "Heavy Rock" classic on a pair with Edgar Winter's "Frankenstein" and Fogath's "Slow Ride", it's a rock-solid classic of the genre.
Eight years later, Golden Earring again made a mark, this time on the MTV generation with their memorable music video to the hunting "Twilight Zone"...
TEACH-IN/"Dinge-Dong/Ding-A-Dong" (1975)
Another Eurovision Song Contest entry, though this time a winner, this song is just plain silly! But silly fun. "Dinge-Dong", the original Dutch-language version is way better than the obligated English version which became a big hit all over Europe.
Regrettfully, later on in the decade, this group was churning out dreadful disco-fare such as "Dear John" - a John Travolta tribute no less. C'est la vie.
PUSSYCAT/"Mississippi" (1976)
A convincing C&W pastiche from Amsterdam of all places just goes to show, once more, the Dutch pop people's ability to adapt.
It SHOULD've been a worldwide hit but settled for a sizeable Euro smash (#1 in the U.K., no less).
Fronted by a trio of singing sisters, one of whom, Tonny Willé - the lead, still today performs as Pussycat in Oldie festivals around Europe - Germany in particular (the pic below was taken by yours truly at one such occasion, in Essen Germany in December 2008).
"She was just seventeen, if you know what I mean". How can that intro ever go wrong?
That, combined with the Guys'n'Dolls/The Great Gatsby image of those people and the winning mid-to-late '70s contemporary pop/disco sounds not unsimilar to ABBA, they somehow could not fail.
Their debut single and biggest hit, "Rock & Roll Star" wasn't as good as the second one, "Oh me, Oh My, Goodbye", though, but check out this unashamedly ABBA-esque promo clip.
DIESEL/"Sausalito Summernight" (1979) & "Down in the Silvermine" (1979)
A bunch of seasoned Nederpop veterans (Kayak) sporting an uncertain image, they somehow cracked the U.S. Top 40 in 1981 with "Sausalito Summernight", a song they'd had a hit with in their native Netherlands two years previously...
Undeniably a pretty unique piece of music for the early '80s, today it still stands out as something that should've been much bigger and better known.
"Down in the Silvermine", another single from their original 1979 Dutch debut album, is most memorable in its resemblance to Slade's 1984 hit "Run Run Away". Well, just judge for yourself...
And there it is: The Golden Age of Nederpop/Glam/Gum/Prog...as far as I'm concerned. Again and always, feel free to challenge my opinion and show me the error of my ways and/or introduce me to something I am not aware of...
It is always sad to hear of one of your musical heroes' passing. After all, in many cases you've grown up with their music; it has been a constant presence throughout your life.
Thus today, upon learning about Davy Jones' untimely death at 66 from a heart attack, one's thoughts inevitably turn to the past: to one's youth specifically. Music having been such a big part of my life for as long as I can recall, The Monkees' music has been there longer than most other.
I can very vaguely remember The Monkees' T.V. series being on in the late '60s, but being born in 1964, I was certainly way too young to acknowledge and appreciate them at the time.
As a teenager I dug feverishly into my older sisters' record collections when they weren't around...and usually without their knowledge. And I seem to recall a snowy winter's day in '77 or '78 when I came across The Monkees "Greatest Hits". And to make a long story short, I've been a fan ever since...
The Monkees were controversial from the very beginning - to say the least. People either loathed or loved them. Sure, they were "manufactured", but still recorded some of the most memorable pop songs of the '60s - many of which were written by some of the best songwriters of ANY era. Goffin/King, Neil Diamond, Harry Nilsson, Boyce/Hart, Paul Williams, etc. and so on.
Davy being the only Brit in the band, having been a star of stage and screen in his homeland from a very young age (he appeared on the same Ed Sullivan Show as The Beatles in 1964, as a member of the Broadway cast from "Oliver!" - he received a Tony nomination for his performance - which he had previously performed in London), he became instantly recognizable to American T.V. audiences due to his accent first and foremost, as well as his physical stature (He was short, which became a running gag throughout The Monkees' two years on the air).
The Monkees were an immediate hit and Davy, in particular, was the popular pin-up choice.
The Monkees' history is very well documented elsewhere, so I see no reason to dwelve any deeper into their remarkable history here.
Nonetheless, their mid-period albums such as "Headquarters" (1967 - The first album they were allowed to play their own instruments on), "Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones, Ltd." (1967), "The Birds, The Bees & The Monkees" (1968) as well as the soundtrack to their film "Head" (1968 - Co-written by one Jack Nicholson), are all certified late '60s pop classics.
But inevitably when the T.V. series went off the air their popularity waned and by 1970 the game was up.
Solo careers were launched all around and Davy's debut post-Monkees effort was 1971's "Davy Jones" on Bell Records.
A nice enough bubblegum album, "The Road to Love" is one of its strongest cuts.
But in spite of a memorable guest appearance on "The Brady Bunch", sales were disappointing and Davy's solo career never really took off.
During the '70s Monkees reunions and semi-reunions (Dolenz, Jones, Boyce & Hart) were attempted, but with diminishing returns.
In the early '80s Davy returned to solo work and briefly became a big star in Japan.
During the mid-'80s The Monkees' old T.V. series started to enjoy a revival in re-runs on American cable stations, MTV in particular, and the old Monkee music was also up for a timely reappraisal and critical re-evaluation.
Thus the time for a reunion was ripe and in 1986 Arista Records issued a new compilation album on CD - then a new format - which also contained a couple of recently recorded Monkee tunes, including their version of the Mosquitos power pop classic "That Was Then, This is Now"...
For the past 25 years Monkees reunions (usually minus Michael Nesmith, though) have been a regular occurrence.
In between those Davy always returned solo work (his last show was a couple of weeks ago) as well as the occasional T.V. and film gig. His first love, horses (he was a jockey in his younger days), was never far from his heart and mind either.
Rest In Peace "Someday Man" - You will be missed!
A trivial footnote: Without Davy, there wouldn't have been a David Bowie. Bowie, initally known as David Jones, was forced to change his name to something else as soon as Davy Jones became a household name. Hmmm.
