Glasgow-born John Wright (Full name: John Baxter Connor Devine Wright) had his one and only solo LP "Laughter Through Tears" issued by Scottish folk label Neptune/Lismor Recordings in 1979. According to the sleeve notes:
No profound message or moral is intended, he [John] has simply written a set of twelve contemporary ethnic songs entitled "Laughter Through Tears", which express the humour that the natives of Glasgow manage to sustain in a tough and sometimes hostile environment.
And around 15 years ago John wrote this to me about the enterprise:
'Laughter Through Tears' was my first "pro" recording, produced by the Mcready Brothers ('Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep' - Middle of the Road). It was recorded "live" in 4 days in their studio in Klrkintilloch (just outside Glasgow) and released on the Lismore label (1979).
The resulting record is an honest and melodic effort in a simple, no-frills, folk-pop vein. Lyrically it is story-based and seems to draw primarily from the author's upbringing in Glasgow. Tales of the local homeless shelter as well that of a juvenile romantic rendezvous in a public park blend effortlessly together with those of "a kid being embarrassed at having to take his Granny's laundry down to the council wash house" - to quote, again, the album's sleeve notes.
Wright clearly knew his stuff and his next move in the music business was somewhat surprising...or perhaps not. He teamed up with singer Leslie McKeown, who then had recently left Scottish teen pop sensations the Bay City Rollers for a solo career. Wright, now having reinvented himself as the pop-person Scobie Ryder in effect became McKeown's co-writer and co-conspirator for the next two or three years, as well as signing a short-lived solo deal with EMI, which issued three Scobie Ryder solo singles in 1979 and 1980. To quote the artist, again from my e-talk with him early this century: In the space of 8 months I could hardly recognize myself, and of course in that time (living in a van parked in Soho Square) I changed my stage name to Scobie Ryder and have been him ever since.
In the decades since "Laughter Through Tears" John Wright/Scobie Ryder has continued working as an artist of some sort or another; be it performing or producing other musical acts; working in television, or as a writer. Or, as the man himself sums it up:
Being an artist can be a strange and somewhat bizarre lifestyle, drifting from one discipline to the next, always on the lookout for a new way to express one's self ...though not always successfully ;-)
Arguably a couple of the first, best and most important albums in the history of punk (and popular music in general), both "Never Mind the Bollocks...Here's the Sex Pistols" and "Damned, Damned, Damned" have been reissued countless of times over the years, although I do believe the reissues to end all reissues (perish the thought) were the 35th anniversary issues of both which were released a couple of years back.
The Pistols' one is a bit more lavish of the two containing three CD's of the original album, demos and live shows, a DVD, a massive "1977: The Bollocks Diaries" coffee table book, a replica of the infamous A&M 7" single "God Save the Queen" + reprinted lyrics, a poster and stickers.
The Damned one contains four CD's of the original album, demos, radio sessions, live shows and interviews, a book of reprinted lyrics, poster and badges.
Both - in spite of hefty price tags (70 quid for Pistols; 60 for the Damned) - come highly recommended. Apart from their obvious and undisputed historic importance the music itself is timeless and sounds as fresh and vital as the day it was committed to tape. That's something that can not be said about every piece of music recorded more than 35 years ago. That said, I can hardly wait for the 40th anniversary editions...
Big Star being inarguably one of the most remarkable acts of the 1970s, it's not all that surprising then that their saga is almost equally riveting. Musical brilliance, madness, substance abuse, suicide, not to mention a total and undeserved lack of commercial success - it has it all, and is told in fascinating detail in Rob Jovanovic's book "Big Star - The Story of Rock's Forgotten Band".
Also well worth checking out is the recent, award-winning documentary "Nothing Can Hurt Me".
But apart from all that, it is the music that counts. During their all-too-short early to mid '70s heyday Big Star produced a trio of LP's, from "#1 Record" (1972) and "Radio City" (1973) to the flawed ramshackle of a masterpiece that is "Third/Sister Lovers" (Recorded during 1974/5 - released in 1978) - a "SMiLE" for the '70s - the music is, quite simply put, achingly beautiful and tortured. Big Star is the ultimate cult band.
It's been four years since founding members Andy Hummel and Alex Chilton left this world. It's been thirty six since Chris Bell did. Only drummer Jody Stephens is still around. Nonetheless, the legend of Big Star just continues to grow, and with a bloody good reason...
Big Star, recommended listening:
"Keep an Eye on the Sky" (4CD Box) (2009, Ardent/Rhino)
Big Star, recommended reading:
"Big Star - The Story of Rock's Forgotten Band" by Rob Jovanovic (Revised & updated edition, 2013 Outline Press/Jawbone Press - although the innumerable typo's are a pain in the rear).
Big Star, recommended viewing:
"Big Star - Nothing Can Hurt Me" (2012, September Films/Ardent)
,,Sid [Vicious] was a good singer, he was a great front man", pre-show Glen Matlock matter-of-factly informs a somewhat sceptical and puzzled yours truly about his clearly musically-challenged, albeit more (in)famous successor, in, arguably, the greatest Punk band of them all, the Sex Pistols. Understandably though, he isn't quite so kind when it comes to discussing Sid's bass-playing abilities, or lack thereof; Matlock, in spite of having left the Pistols, played bass on their seminal, sole masterpiece, "Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols" - without receiving the credit for doing so at the time. All the while - briefly - Vicious took the glory and the fame and became the face of Punk before succumbing to the life and, ultimately, death of a sad and pathetic heroin addict-cum-(most likely)murderer.
But that's an entirely different story altogether.
Meanwhile...
Spot, Kópavogur, Iceland, Thursday May 8th, 2014.
In between typically zealous sets from two locally-legendary Icelandic Punk acts Q4U and Fræbbblarnir, Glen Matlock, formerly of the Sex Pistols, and the Rich Kids, takes the stage delivering an impassioned acoustic gig to an overall indifferent and under appreciative audience, most of which clearly doesn't realize it is being treated to a performance by a living bloody legend. IMHO.
Taking in all the major signposts of his career, from the Pistols to some of his latter-day solo stuff, Matlock's repertoire is a diverse beast, to say the least.
From the underrated Rich Kids, the massively misunderstood Power Pop band he formed after he left the Pistols - featuring, amongst others, former Slik and future Ultravox singer Midge Ure - both "Burning Sounds" and the powerful title track of their only LP "The Ghosts of Princess in Towers" (Quite possibly the coolest album title of all time!) get an airing. And so does "Ambition", a song that was demoed by Rich Kids, but eventually recorded by Iggy Pop for his "Soldier" album in 1980, which featured Matlock as well.
A section of old faves and influences, including the Small Faces' "All or Nothing", The Kinks' "Dead End Street", and the Monkees'/Paul Revere & the Raiders' "(I'm Not Your) Stepping Stone" (The latter was covered by the Sex Pistols) follow suit.
The audience momentarily shows life signs during solo song "Yeah, Right". Matlock's 1996 Creation Records solo set "Who's He Think He is When He's at Home?" (Quite possibly not the coolest album title of all time!), all simultaneously wall of noise, melody and guitars, is a lost treasure indeed.
A couple of the biggest canons from the Pistols arsenal - "God Save the Queen" and "Pretty Vacant" - get the crowd kinda going as well.
As someone who was famously kicked out of the Pistols because he liked The Beatles (or so John Lydon maintains although Matlock himself insists he left the band), Glen Matlock is nonetheless a vital part of the Pistols' history and, therefore, legacy. Obviously, he had a hand in writing all of their key tracks. And let's just face it, after he left/was kicked out, they were pretty much over and done with...Never mind Malcolm McLaren. Plus the fact that Glen Matlock has been asked to join in all subsequent Sex Pistols reunions should lay the leather jacket wearing ghost of Sid Vicious to rest once and for all.
Glen Matlock recommended listening:
Sex Pistols/"Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols" (LP, Virgin Records, 1977)
Rich Kids/"Ghosts of Princes in Towers" (LP, EMI, 1978)
Glen Matlock/"Who's He Think He is When He's at Home?" (CD, Creation, 1996)
Recommended reading:
Glen Matlock with Peter Silverton/"I Was a Teenage Sex Pistol" (Rocket 88, 2012)
Last month it was twenty years since the passing of one Harry Edward Nilsson - often referred to as simply Nilsson, a singer-songwriter extraordinaire.
Over the past couple of years a renewed interest in the man and his music has resulted in a feature length documentary, a book, as well as a boxed CD set containing his complete RCA catalogue.
Although most fondly remembered as an excellent songwriter, it is all the more ironic that Nilsson's greatest successes as a performer came with songs written by other people, namely Fred Neil's "Everybody's Talkin'" and Badfinger's "Without You". A number of artists also covered Nilsson's songs and it is my intention with this little tribute to highlight the best of those...in no particular order.
One of Nilsson's earliest admirers in the mid '60s was producer Phil Spector, who placed at least three of Nilsson's songs with artists he produced - although said songs were to remain unissued for 25 years. Here are a couple of those:
Brian Wilson also loved this song and recorded his own version for a Harry Nilsson tribute album issued shortly after Harry's death in the mid '90s.
The Monkees were also early Nilsson fans via their then-producer Chip Douglas who had been a member of the Modern Folk Quartet before joining the Turtles for a short stint. These couple of songs also appeared on Nilsson's first two solo albums for RCA:
British girl singers Lulu and Sandie Shaw also seem to have been listening to the first two proper Nilsson albums since each of them covered songs from those albums. Unfortunately Lulu's excellent cover of "Without Her" (Renamed "Without Him" for the obvious reasons) is not available on YouTube.
And Three Dog Night had a monster hit with Nilsson's "One" in 1969. Undervalued Motown chanteuse Chris Clark covered it later that same year. Aimee Mann also did a passable cover in the '90s.
Originally written for Welsh songstress Mary Hopkin in 1968, '70s teen idol David Cassidy took "The Puppy Song" all the way to number one in the U.K. in 1973, as a double A-sided single coupled with "Daydreamer". Cassidy, clearly a massive Nilsson fan, also covered "This Could Be the Night" a couple of years later, and "The Story of Rock & Roll" a year or two after that.
Even Sinéad O'Connor has tackled Nilsson. Her fine cover of "The Lord Must Be in New York City" popped up on the "You've Got Mail" soundtrack, which was a lot better than the movie itself.
"The Story of Rock & Roll" was, apparently, first offered to The Monkees although The Turtles ended up recording it - undoubtedly thanks to Chip Douglas. Harry is rumoured to have played piano on The Turtles' studio version.
The Ronettes, The Shangri-Las and The Supremes all recorded a version of Nilsson's Girl Group opus "Paradise". I have a tremendous difficulty picking one version in favour of the other two. However, The Supremes' 1972 Jimmy Webb-produced possesses a certain understated charm...
In spite of all of the excellence entered above, it is better to start the excursion into all things Nilsson with the original source. And as previously mentioned there are currently avenues aplenty to begin the journey. Enjoy it.
....is without a shadow of a doubt (in my mind at least) The Sex Pistols. In December 1977, they were nice to kids of striking firemen and clearly, in their heart of hearts, real softies. They even censored the lyrics to the poisonous "Bodies" for the occasion. You can have your Beatles and your Stones, good or bad, they say that attitude equals Rock 'n' Roll. Or is it the other way around? Whatever. Never mind the nasty image, enjoy the Sex Pistols the way they really, truly were...
And R.I.P. Ronnie. A true punk, if there ever was one.
Being, quite literally, disgusted ("Goodnight Tonight" ?! "Say Say Say" ??!! "Temporary Secretary" ???!!! - Y'all can't be serious!) with the recent, so-called "Paul McCartney's 40 Greatest Solo Songs" in Rolling Stone magazine (OK, so it's Jann Wenner and who exactly has taken that guy seriously since the early '70s?), I decided to make my own list. Except it's a Top 45. And it's in chronological order, and ballad-heavy during the '80s. So what else is new? It's classic Macca!
Arguably, TRB's "Power in the Darkness" (1978) is one of the finest debut albums in the history of popular music. In my humble opinion at least. Never mind the classic rock radio staple (The phenomenal "2-4-6-8 Motorway"), which, by the way, is NOT included on the original LP - it's just a cracking rock album, chock full of anthems and energy...as such albums should be.
So why isn't it more widely lauded then? Well, wrongly pigeonholed in with the burgeoning Punk/New Wave movement of the time could have had a little something to do with it. After all, TRB wore flares - a Punk no-no - and had a Hammond organ-player in their midst...although the Stranglers also had one of those. Furthermore, perhaps, the gay rights posturing/preaching may have been a factor. Say what you like about Tom Robinson, but he was/is never one to shy away from a topic close to his heart and mind. Just take a listen to the unforgettable (You have been warned: A '60s hippie term coming up) 'protest song' "(Sing If You're) Glad to be Gay" (Again, NOT on the album!) to find out...
Produced by then-recent Sex Pistols/The Clash accomplice Chris Thomas, "PITD" packs a powerful punch. "Long Hot Summer", "Ain't Gonna Take It", "The Winter of '79" (My favorite line: "Spurs beat Arsenal - What a game!") and single "Up Against the Wall" are just some of the highlights.
And odd as it may seem, Danny Kustow is for some reason not a household name today. THE lost guitar god of the '70s if you ask me.
Inevitably, for the follow-up album, the big, currently hip American producer (Todd Rundgren, in this space and time) was flown in and the record was hastily finished in, eh, record time.
"TRB 2" (1979) wasn't an entirely bad record, but it wasn't very good either. A Peter Gabriel co-write "Bully For You" (Later in the year nicked by Pink Floyd of all people for the depressing disco of "Another Brick in the Wall Pt.2") was a strong track and an obvious single, but which somehow - inexplicably - failed miserably chart-wise.
By then the writing was on the wall and by 1980 TRB had broken up.
Their fearless leader has never been completely out of the spotlight since, though in later years his profile has been somewhat lower.
But fear not. Recently EMI had the good sense to put out the excellent and exhaustive 3CD/1DVD "Tom Robinson Band Anthology 1977-1979", containing all the essentials, previously unissued demos, live recordings and the like. It should be available at a (net)store near you.
And, by the way, Tom Robinson Band recorded one of the finest Dylan covers the '70s served up. But, yet again, it wasn't included on the album. Which just goes to show how many good songs they had to begin with. I suppose.
In spite of the massive commercial success the Motown record label enjoyed during the '60s, there's an argument to be made for the early '70s as being its most creatively successful era ever. And I am not just talking about Marvin Gaye and Stevie Wonder here.
After gradually starting to move their main operation from Detroit to Los Angeles in 1969 (to be completed in 1972), there just was no way turning back.
Evidence A: The Four Tops.
Commercially on an undeserved downhill slide, the Four Tops issued their most artistically accomplished album to date in 1970. Peaking just outside the U.S. Top 10, its title track "Still Waters" was a 2 minute and 41 second triumph.
Even better still was the Tops' cover of Tommy Edwards' late '50s standard "It's All in the Game", which became their biggest '70s hits for Motown, excluding a collaboration with the Supremes, before they left the company for greener pastures at ABC-Dunhill a couple of years later.
But perhaps the strongest cut on the album was a love song (of sorts) to Motown's new hometown, the gorgeous "L.A. (My Town)".
Never a proper single in its own right though, it belatedly appeared as the B-side to "A Simple Game" (1972), one of the Tops' last Motown singles until their return to the label in the late '80s.
At ABC-Dunhill from 1972 to 1978, the Four Tops produced a fine body of work, especially during the first half of that period under the firm guidance of producers/songwriters Dennis Lambert & Brian Potter.
Arguably the greatest Motown vocal group of all time, The Four Tops' name will, as it should be, always be synonymous with Motown.
Evidence B: The Supremes.
After parting company with their charismatic leader - one Diana Ross - in early 1970, the Supremes' future prospects were somewhat in doubt. Especially after Motown boss Berry Gordy had vetoed Ross' successor Jean Terrell and "washed his hands" of the group altogether.
Nonetheless, the aptly named "Right On" L.P. appeared in the spring of 1970, its lead-off single "Up the Ladder to the Roof" having just previously hit the U.S. Top 10.
In hindsight at least the change was all good. Prior to Ms. Ross' departure the Supremes sound had become stale and, notwithstanding the fact that their records did not always feature all of the Supremes, somewhat soulless. Surely Las Vegas boomed, but at what cost?
Further Jean Terrell-led albums followed: "New Ways, But Love Stays" (1970), "Touch" (1971), "Floy Joy" (1972), as well as an Jimmy Webb (mostly)written & produced album (all of which were collected on the marvellous "This is the Story - The '70s Albums, Vol. 1, 1970-1973 - The Jean Terrell Years" Hip-O-Select CD set from a few years back), not to mention several albums' worth of collaborations with the almighty and previously praised Four Tops.
And although the hits became fewer and appeared further in between than in their '60s Ross-led heyday, the excellence of said material is indisputable. "Stoned Love", "Nathan Jones" and "Floy Joy", to name but few, all became size able hits in their own right.
To make a long story short, The Supremes continued to record for Motown well into the disco era, although with diminishing commercial returns. But one of their most rewarding recordings appeared on their self-titled 1975 album and, as far as I know, wasn't even issued as a single: Lambert & Potter's perhaps aptly named disco-lite opus "It's All Been Said Before"...
Evidence C: The Miracles.
Another Motown vocal group left in the lurch by its fearless leader at the turn of the '70s, although Smokey postponed his amicable departure from the group after the then three year old Stevie Wonder catchy co-write "Tears of a Clown" surprisingly hit #1 hit on both sides of the Atlantic in 1970.
Three years later though, the inevitable could no longer be postponed. A position as the vice-president of Motown awaited Smokey, as well as a looming lucrative solo career.
His replacement Billy Griffin made his recording debut as a Miracle on the "Renaissance" album in 1973.
A great yet unfairly overlooked album at the time, and so was its follow up "Do it Baby" (1974), although its funky title track became a Top 20 U.S. hit - the Miracles' first in three years.
But, as often is the case, the best was yet to come.
The Miracles' next album, 1975's "City of Angels" (Yet another Motown love letter to L.A.), is undoubtedly their strongest and also yielded their biggest post-Smokey hit in the disco stomper "Love Machine" - a U.S. #1.
Other highlights included the unintentionally hilarious early pro-gay paean "Ain't Nobody Straight in L.A.", which contains this unforgettable nugget: "Homosexuality is a part of society, I guess that we need some more variety..."
In spite of having a number 1 single and a Top 30 album on their hands their next album, "The Power of Music" (1976), failed to follow up its predecessor's success and became the Miracles' swansong for Motown. A move to Columbia proved to be a failure as well and by the late '70s this legendary act had pretty much fallen off the radar.
Nonetheless, their legacy remains undisputed and although their '73-'76 Motown tenure isn't as universally lauded as their late '50s - 'early '70s work with Smokey Robinson, it certainly deserves a reappraisal.
