Monday, December 17, 2007

Five tunes from the Five-Centres ipod No.7


Christmas songs on loop, but plenty of room for some others:

Killing The Blues/Robert Plant and Alison Krauss. Wow! Something new on the F-C playlist. (The only time I ever get to hear anything new is on those freebie cds from The Word, which are great to just blindly pick from, burn onto a compilation and put in the car. If you like what you hear, then you go back and see who sings it. I never pick by artist for fear it might put me off. But that's just me). So I heard on Radio 2 and it blew me away immediately. The King of Rock meets the Queen of Bluegrass and never looked back. Dreamy slide guitar and vocals so tender you could eat them, as tears prick the backs of your eyes. The whole album's a corker too.

Clog Dance/Violinksi. Remember this instrumental folky ELO-y stomper from 78 or 79? It's way too much like ELO not be ELO, and it's on their record label too. Are they involved somewhere? Does anyone know? This is the sort of thing that became a surprise hit way back then, when more or less anything could make the charts. Now those days are gone. If Who Pays The Ferryman? were released today, it wouldn't bother the charts. TV themes don't become hits nowadays, do they?

I Feel Just Like A Child/Devendra Banhart. I've been resisting him for ages, finding his being responsible for the whole 'bringing folk to the masses' thing quite irritating, as surely that was me? Anyhoo, now I know where I've heard this voice before, on many adverts etc. Not mad on it. It's like a cross between Marc Bolan and Donovan, and some of the folkiness is like he's taking the piss. Pure whimsy. But this song's worth a listen. A grower.


It's Raining/The Darts
. Didn't you love the Darts as a 13-year-old in the late 70s? I bought their first few singles, then got embarrassed by them and dropped them from my life. I remember this one of course, but not how lovely it is when you hear it now. I like a nice 50s pastiche, don't you? Super harmonies. One of their more serious ones, in the same vein as the wonderful Don't Let It Fade Away.

I Started A Joke/The Bee Gees. This band a like a pick and mix counter. There's a vast selection to choose from, but you don't like everything, so you just pop the ones you do like into your bag. And this is one of them. Not quite sure what it's all about, but I love the grand scale of it. Delusions of grandeur really. From their imperial period.

15 comments:

Clair said...

ELO anorak here...Violinski are the band of Mik Kaminski, who played with ELO in their heyday. Can't you just tell?

I'm looking forward to the Bee Gees musical. I think it will be brilliant.

Mondo said...

Forgot all about that JET label - top design. Riva was another winner and an action packed graphic.Private Stock (with the New York skyline pic' on the label)also seemed very cosmopolitan. 'Boy From New York City' was my fave Darts track with it's almost 'Tainted Love' riff.

TimT said...

I don't remember ‘It's Raining’, but I used to love Darts as a teenager as well. They were way cooler than Showaddywaddy, probably because they avoided the ‘multicoloured teddy boy outfit’ schtick.

I used to own not one but two Darts albums - I wonder if I've still got them? If only my record player wasn't broken, I could go home tonight and listen to them and relive my youth...

Jon Peake said...

Well done Clair. I knew you'd know.

Isn't it nice that we're all Darts fans here?

A Kitten in a Brandy Glass said...

I was always a bit confused by Darts as a child, mainly because I thought that this bloke and Vila from Blakes Seven were the same person.

I liked the singalongness of them, though.

Kolley Kibber said...

I loved 'It's Raining', though it wasn't cool to admit it at the time ( I was busy inventing Punk Rock, see). I can still remember all the words, which isn't bad after 30-odd years. Mind you I can't remember what I had for lunch.

Valentine Suicide said...

Darts were ace weren't they! I must confess to something of a soft spot for pre-falsetto Bee Gees, although Robin Gibb does have the most unattractive voice EVAH!

isbw, you had plaster for lunch. Again.

office pest said...

Re TV themes not becoming hits F-C, I suppose with downloads being counted in the charts it's more possible for anything to become a hit now, than ever before?
Granted that the promotion isn't there in the way it used to be; I remember the themes from Blakes 7, Van Der Valk, The Sweeney and Minder amongst others all getting in the charts! I think I've heard that the BBC have released the theme from Strictly Come Dancing as a 'single' now, but I can't see it measuring up to the classic "Eye Level" by the Simon Park Orchestra'
On record labels and accompanying sleeves I always liked the RAK ship, Asylum's door, the Vertigo spiral and Epic's bright orange get up. Thinking about it, I don't think anything I've bought since, or will ever buy will thrill me as much as a brand new 7" single used to.
Perhaps it was the smell of the vinyl, ahem.

Jon Peake said...

I miss vinyl - oh those labels. What about Penny Farthing, Rocket, York, Lightning, orange period CBS and Epic and the one that Lone Ranger by Quantum Jump was on?

On another note, I was sitting on the tube thinking how sad it is that Christmas ain't wot it used to be, then took a look at this week's top 40 and see it's alive with Shaky, Greg Lake, Band Aid and other faves. So perhaps Christmas is wot is used to be after all.

Al McGregor said...

There's only one Den Hegarty - or was that Peter Capaldi?

office pest said...

Ah you mean this one:

http://www.netsoundsmusic.com/nsudsii/2/333087166/542/2.html

Jon Peake said...

Ooh a new face! Mrs F-C is from Jersey.

Jon Peake said...

Thanks OP, that's the one. Wasn't it also home to Yellow Dog and Blue, of Gonna Capture Your Heart fame?

office pest said...

I don't believe so F-C. According to my extensive research around the internet, it appears that Yellow Dog were on Virgin:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/YELLOW-DOG-Just-One-More-Night-7-Single_W0QQitemZ170179301114QQihZ007
QQcategoryZ27422
QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1
QQcmdZViewItem#ebayphotohosting

Blue were on Elton John's Rocket label:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/BLUE-7-
Single-Gonna-capture-your-heart_W0
QQitemZ130102375743QQihZ003
QQcategoryZ27422QQrdZ1
QQssPageNameZWD1
VQQcmdZViewItem#ebayphotohosting

The Electric label, home of Quantum Jump, was one of Pye's labels;
http://www.zibarecords.co.uk/record
s-by-label.php?genre=10&product_id=
1206&aid=553

I actually used to work this stuff out like some kind of label family tree! As you do when you're in your teens and obsessed by things.

Al McGregor said...

I'm not a real bean - more a grockle

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