Marvin Lee Aday, Meat Loaf (1947 - 2022)

With the death of Meat Loaf, the Meat Loaf tandem Aday - Jim Steinman is no more. Steinman died last year. That leaves Ellen Foley as the only pivotal person left in the creation of that grand illusion called 'Paradise By The Dashboard Light'.

I have never been a fan of Meat Loaf. Looking back in hindsight, I take it to be for the same reason that I never became a Bruce Springsteen, perhaps even a Billy Joel fan. That part of U.S. rock just never appealed to me.

Paradise By The Dashboard Light became a hit in the winter of 1978 in The Netherlands. The huge, fat man in the video made for an extremely unlikely pop star, especially in contrast with the woman he was wooing, Karla DeVito. We did not know about Ellen Foley yet. The bombast, the sweating huge man, the song as a whole, give me 'Denis', 'Wuthering Heights', 'We Are The Champions' or Lust for Life' any time said the 1978 version of me.

Did that change over the years? Oh, yeah. What made me change my mind were the parties on the 7th floor of an ugly, detonating flat in Leiden, where we sang and danced to the song, splitting up the boy girl roles. The best fun was when the girl new the lyrics well enough and had the timing right. The enormous power of the song hit home and still does in 2022. Decades older we can still do it when we meet and the song comes by in the here and now.

This is the kind of impact that a song can have on a person, strong enough to last a lifetime. Do I play the song at home? No, never. Did it make me curious to learn more? No, it did not. There's no need. I know I do not like Meat Loaf's music over all. Paradise By The Dashboard Light though has the ability to make me feel good instantly. Playing music myself now, I hear far better what happens musically, the strong shuffle worked in there, all the elements that make it such a strong song. And, yes, the drama and bombast worked in there are a huge part of it.

Meat Loaf has scored far more hits, even another number 1 hit over here. I've been told that six of the seven songs on 'Bat Out Of Hell' have found their way into the Top 2000. That is a statement of how popular the band and album still are 45 years after its release. This does imply that one of the great rockers has left this planet. Meat Loaf was just not my kind of rocker.

Wout de Natris

Michael Nesmith, Steve Bronski, John Miles, RIP

On Saturday 11 December 2021 all through the day news reached me that another musician had died. Besides the news being sad for the people closest to them, something they had in common struck me. The all had a short period of intense fame, after which their career in the spotlights was over, with Michael Nesmith having a career with some more longevity.

Michael Nesmith (1942 - 2021)

Nesmith's name is forever connected to The Monkees, the tv series that ran for a short period of time in the second half of the 1960s. The band scored several hits in a period of two years, of which two are all time classics: 'I'm A Believer' and 'Daydream Believer'. Although I do not remember having seen the original series often, my parents did not want a television set for quite some time, the band as such made an impression anyway. I still have a comic book with adventures of the four young lads striving to be a pop group. Michael Nesmith was called "wolpet" in Dutch, "woolen hat" in Enlish, I only just learned. As I wrote about The Monkees fairly recently, after the demise of Peter Tork, I will not repeat my words.

Of the four Monkees Nesmith was the most ambitious as a musician and wanted to write and record his own songs. He was the one that pulled the final plug on the band, although the popularity had already taken a nosedive. If I remember correctly he scored two solo hits in The Netherlands. The first in 1971, 'Silver Moon' with The First National Band. I only have a faint recollection of a country song. In 1977 he scored a solo hit in The Netherlands and a bigger one in Australia, where I live for five months at the time. 'Rio' is a great, undercooled song, contrasting tremendously with Peter Allen's  'I Go To Rio'. the number one that spring (in Australia). To this day I love the song. Not as much as my two or three really favourite The Monkees songs. I would like to add 'Pleasant Valley Sunday' here, with 'The Monkees Theme Song' and 'Last Train To Clarksville' following close. 'Rio' is a fantastic song that I love hearing till right this day. After that it became quite around Michael Nesmith.

In later life he opted for the fame and money of the band he so much despised when young. The Monkees went on tour to play its hits with Nesmith joining as the last member. In 2016 there was even a reunion album. After Davy Jones, Peter Tork and now Nesmith, drummer and main singer Mickey Dolenz is the sole surviving member of the band that at the time was not a real band but managed to become one through the years. And that is an achievement not many can claim to have achieved. "Hey, hey we're The Monkees" is there forever.

Steve Bronski (1960 - 2021)

The man giving his name to the band he formed in 1983, Bronski Beat, died. One of the two guys standing in the background to that little guy with the extremely close-cropped hair and high voice. The first single, as far as I know, was a number one song. 'Small Town Boy' was a song about a homosexual young man, fleeing his environment to go the the city in the hope of a better life and acceptance. The band scored one other big hit 'Why?', a number 2 here, and recorded one album, before singer Jimmy Summerville quit the band to continue as The Communards and scored a few big hits with 80s reworks of disco hits from the 70s. The Bronski Beat continued with a new singer and scored a hit song which at the time was my personal favourite, 'Hit That Perfect Beat Boy'. After that it was all over for the band. At the age of 24 or 25 Steve Bronski was an ex-popstar, who never really was one, as he was one of the two anonymous faces behind Summerville, who is the sole survivor of the trio, as Larry Steinbachek has already died in 2016.

Looking back especially 'Why?' is appreciated much more by me. It simply is a great track. 'Small Town Boy' has undergone that transformation from a mwah track to a nostalgically appreciated song. The kind that appeals because it has become attached to a certain feeling coming with other memories of the time.

John Miles (1949 - 2021)

John Errington, as was Miles' real name, is known for one song by most people in the world. The mini pop-opera 'Music'. And what a song it is. A symphony orchestra must have been invited to play on it. It is classic rock in the literal sense, as it mixes classical music with rock. At the time I did not even like the song that much. It just did not touch me as profoundly as another one hit wonder did a year later in 1977, 'Worn Down Piano' by the Mark and Clark Band. 'Music' however has deserved its place in the pantheon of mini pop opera's like 'Eloise', 'Just A Little Bit Of Peace In My Heart' and the like. John Miles produced that one song that secured his spot in the limelight forever. The kind of song that may always be played because of its unique approach, the dynamics, its liveliness. I have no clue what else the man produced, except that he was the band leader later in life of a live music show supporting whatever musician stood up front. With himself undoubtedly playing his own, one hit. A true one hit wonder has past.

Wout de Natris

George Kooymans, Christopher Plummer

Friday 5 February was a warm day for a winter. A day spent in a voluntary lockdown, with an afternoon stroll as usual by now. A day with a curfew from 21.00 hours onwards. A day chatted on Zoom with my son who lives in Oslo because he can due to the closed university for who knows how long and a day that I found 'The Little Black Book' filled with Oasis songs, lyrics and chords in a mini library along the strolling route of choice.

Friday 5 February was also the day that I woke up with my girlfriend telling me that George Kooymans is extremely ill and is not able to perform ever again and the day that Christopher Plummer died. What has that got to do with each other? you may ask. Let me tell you.

Kooymans plays in Golden Earring, a band I got to know as Golden Earrings and scored many a hit when I was very young. The first one I can truly remember is the band's first #1 hit 'Dong-Dong-Di-Ki-Di-Ki-Dong', that single the band did not want to be remembered of not much later. There are not many bands that can afford to ignore their number one hit single later on in their careers. Golden Earring(s) could, even when it went acoustic in the 90s, reviving its career.

Christopher Plummer played captain Von Trapp in 'The Sound Of Music', the first movie I remember seeing. Not just me, my mother, my aunt and even my grandmother was there in Rotterdam in the Cineac. I guess I'm the only one alive who can tell about it, perhaps my younger brother was there also. If so he probably can't remember. I'm not certain when we saw it, what I do know is that I have the single 'My Favourite Things' / 'Edelweiss'. And who leads the latter into the singing, staging the beginning of the flight to Switzerland? Christopher Plummer, the man who hated frivolities in the movie. Plummer died, aged 91. 'The Sound Of Music' was one of my very first, intense, musical experiences. A story and songs that made a tremendous impression on a 6 or 7 year old.

George Kooymans turns 74 this year and can't perform / play guitar any more because of ALS. There's not to be a self-chosen goodbye after 59 years of being in the band that conquered the world, due to the Covid pandemic. In any other circumstances it might have been possible to do.

I have heard 'Radar Love' played in three continents, from a carnival in Spokane to a pub in Mudgee. Together with 'Venus' the song is everywhere. Kooymans wrote so many extremely great songs. The list of hits of Golden Earring(s) is near endless. Several of the songs are beyond memorable. They are exemplary. I never gave a lot about the band for its albums, exceptions noted, but as a singles band they were so good. Check out any greatest hits albums and you'll find out why.

Christopher Plummer, as an actor, of course is a musical footnote in my life, George Kooymans has been an integral part of my life since 1968. Truly a deep, deep thank you to all four Earrings for all those songs and performances.

It turns out that due to Covid I saw one of his last performances with Vreemde Kostgangers on 5 March 2020, days before the country closed itself, when jokes could be made from the stage about a lockdown, while I was already half watching people around me whether they were coughing. No one takes that experience away from me.

Wo.

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Trini Lopez (1937 - 2020)

Trini Lopez, was the man still alive?, I mused when I heard on the radio this morning that he had passed away. Somehow I had him filed under music of my parents' age and time. Somewhere with Frankie Laine, Louis Armstrong, Doris Day and Pat Boone. Singers of the few albums we had in the home, that my mother had brought from Canada when she emigrated to The Netherlands.

The reason I had filed Lopez incorrectly had a simple reason I found: his big hit song 'If I Had A Hammer' is around for as long as I can remember, so that includes the albums of my mother and the singles of my uncle and aunt that were played when I was very small when visiting my grandparents, but had nothing to do with their choice of music. I must have heard it somewhere else on a radio or whatever. The song was just always there.

'If I Had A Hammer' turns out not to be a pre-rock and roll single but post rock and roll from 1963. By the time that I started to find out what hits were and develop my own taste in music Trini Lopez was an almost forgotten memory. Probably touring the golden oldies circuit quite successfully.

My guess is that Lopez appealed to the part of youth and perhaps their parents that had barely lived through rock the craze or scare depending on a person's response to the devil's music. It is a nice, innocent song of warning, etc. When I hear it my nostalgic streak is immediately pleased but that is about it.

Diving in deeper, only two other songs pop up: 'America', the 'West Side Story' song and 'Lemon Tree'. Another song that I sort of know for ages but for a long time did not know who the singer was. That turned out to be Trini Lopez as well. He does get one thing very wrong in 'Lemon Tree'. Obviously he had never heard of Limoncello or limone granita. Granted, I do not eat lemons.

I do not own a single song by Lopez. For that I'm not interested enough. He remains a pre-The Beatles artist of a not rock and roll and blues kind. So in spirit does belong to my parents', who did not care for music really, day and age.

I do have 'If I Had A Hammer'. My mother brought the single for me from a fancy fair or something like it. Not by Trini Lopez but by Rob Denis. Look at the picture listen to the, English singing, voice and it is clear. A very young Rob de Nijs, one of The Netherlands most famous singers of the past 50 years gave a go at an English language career that never got off the ground. But that is a different story.

Trini Lopez died at the age of 83 of Covid.

Wo.


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Peter Green (1946 - 2020)

Peter Green is not an artist/guitarist that I gave much thought to over the past decades. Looking back it is shocking to notice how short the man's career really was: 1968 - 1970. After that it was basically over. But what an enormous legacy. Several of Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac hit singles are hits for eternity. With my current hobby/cover band we play two of his Fleetwood Mac's songs: 'Need Your Love So Bad' and 'Black Magic Woman'. Just like the band I was in before that.

I'm someone who can say that I did and did not know Fleetwood Mac's first single at the time. The song became a hit twice within a year's time and I can't remember it from 1968 but do from 1969. My first conscious single was the instrumental 'Albatross' that climbed the Top 40 early in 1969. 'Oh, Well, Part 1' was the first Alarmschijf and the band's number 1 hit in The Netherlands. To me the song still sounds so great. The final hit was 'The Green Manalishi', although I'm sure I only got to get to know the song a few years later.

At the time I'm sure I did not know who Peter Green was, really. The blues was not really for me as a boy. Despite the fact that most of the band's singles are in my possession today, they never inspired me to delve in deeper. Hence I do not own a single album of Fleetwood Mac's first (and second) era. In fact, I only got to listen to an old Fleetwood Mac album for the first time just a few weeks ago, coincidentally. I do know that I'm on the look out for 'Mr. Natural' if I see it second hand. The blues and I relate quite well these days. Getting to play 'Need Your Love So Bad' as a lead guitarist is quite satisfying to do. The song was a staple in my high school years, to dance to with the girls in semi-lit conditions, not being able to sleep for hours afterwards. Just to listen to the song still works totally. It is so subtle and full of feeling.

Coming back to that extremely short period of activity of Peter Green (and the other two guitarists of the band Danny Kirwan and Jeremy Spencer). The story of Peter Green losing the way in his head due to excessive LSD (ab)use is well known. The question I can't answer but for always will be asked is, what would have happened had Peter Green been able to continue? For one we may never have heard the great hits with Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks, but what would Peter Green have been capable of?

To go on the two last hits of Fleetwood Mac with Green, 'Oh, Well' and 'The Green Manalishi', they suggest that Green was able to grow beyond the blues, as he would have had to do as blues was being left behind by bands and audience in 1970/71. 'The Green Manalishi' of course can also be seen as the manifestation of a man who was losing his mind fast. There are not that many songs sounding this haunting/haunted. It may well be Green became to scared of his own writing and had to step away from it. At the same time it is clear that the world missed out on several great songs that may have followed. Someone who can write songs of this quality would most likely have become better at this trade. We will unfortunately never know. It's always is a shame when a talent goes to waste and that certainly happened here.

I own one, maybe even two of his solo records released around 1980, but they do not stand up to what he presented the world with before. The magic was gone. What remains for me is a small oeuvre to discover and I intended to do so soon.

The fact the band continued with the rhythm section and namegivers of the band is also amazing to conclude. Three guitarist leave in a matter of months under ever strangers circumstance. Usually meaning the end. The more amazing it is that Fleetwood Mac soared to even higher peaks in the second half of the 70s. So different and also there forever. Go your own way indeed.

Wo.

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Dave Greenfield (1949 - 2020)

Almost unnoticed Dave Greenfield passed away on 3 May. Time to spend a little time and attention to the keyboard player of (post) punk band The Stranglers, as he certainly placed his stamp on modern music.

"Golden Brown, texture like sun", Hugh Cornwell sings, but it is the keyboard that makes the song, that gives it its so utterly distinct melody, texture and attractiveness. I do not know any songs in the post punk years that incorporated something that seems to come from the Middle Ages to be transported into early 80s Britain. Utterly successful as well. 'Golden Brown' is a Dave Greenfield composition. The song is set apart from all contemporary music and the punk where the band, finally, broke through with. So delicate, musically so strong but above all different. This includes the subtle drumming of Jet Black and the playful guitar solo of Cornwell. It is the whole band that brings 'Golden Brown' to a next level, resulting in the band's most well known and greatest hit.

I have never been a real The Stranglers fan, as went for the whole of punk at the time. I was more curious that interested. So The Stranglers were discarded as not so interesting at the time. I think I have three albums. All from 'La Folie' onwards, with the singles of 'Aural Sculpture' as my favourites. There was no reason to go backwards after a first listen in the mid 80s.

Were the members of The Stranglers true punks or more the stragglers, jumping the punk train? They were years older than their contemporaries, like e.g. The Police members and Ian Dury were also, and had been active in many bands, including progrock where Greenfield was concerned. He joined The Stranglers in 1975 when punk did not exist yet. The band pretended to be punk in my opinion, but then why not? It gave the world a few very special songs in the 80s, that have more in common with new wave than punk.

Greenfield's keyboard (and original musical interest and influences) set the band apart from most other punk bands that just had guitar-bass-drums as a basis. Most likely the members were more experienced and proficient on their respective instruments than necessary for a punk band. The production in the 80s perhaps is more what the band originally had in mind, once it could do what it wanted. It certainly became more interesting.

I have put on the 'No More Heroes' album on Spotify to see if I'm wrong with my past pre-conceptions and listen to a nice keyboard solo in 'Bitching' and 'Dead Ringer'. The latter could have been played on any Yes record. There's absolutely nothing punk about it. Cornwell's sneering way of singing, certainly is, but also sounds a bit forced. I do not have to change my opinion, I find, but in a way that is a shame.

Dave Greenfield remained a member of The Stranglers until his death through a Covid-19 infection. The band played regularly without its original singer who left the band a long time ago and performs the same songs solo. What remains is a fairly original sound in songs that, for me, never belonged to the top in music. Dave Greenfield has given the world that sound. Foremost in 'Golden Brown', just like I perk up my ears when I hear 'Skin Deep' and especially 'No Mercy' which contends for my favourite The Stranglers song ever, where 'Aural Sculpture' is my favourite album.

Wo.

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Richard Penniman aka Little Richard (1932 - 2020)

Another icon of the rock and roll era has left us on our own. With Elvis Presley, Chuck Berry and Jerry Lee Lewis, Little Richard was the top that made young America and the rest of the western world move from 1955 onwards. He was a huge influence on the beat generation in the U.K. and especially Paul McCartney who found his Little Richard voice in his rock and roll songs through the numerous times The Beatles played rock and roll covers in Hamburg.

Both Little Richard and Chuck Berry were men from an era before my time, artists that I got to know through the cover versions of U.K. beat and rhythm & blues bands, when I started back tracking their records from the late 70s onwards. My introduction to rock and roll came from a totally different event: carnival in Noord-Brabant.

When as young teenagers we snug into the pub where our parents were celebrating their carnival there always was a live band playing carnival songs. A drummer, keyboard and guitar player doing all these routine songs. Later in the evening there was always a rock and roll block of three songs, where the men showed what else they were capable of. Something I totally did not realise at the time but probably they played every weekend once or twice and not just four days in a row with carnival.

What did they play? Always the same three songs: 'Kom Van Dat Dak Af' by Peter en zijn Rockets, 'Tutti Frutti' by Little Richard and 'Johnny Be Goode' by Chuck Berry. Always these three songs, twice in a whole evening and always the roof was lifted off of the ceiling. The carnival hits of that year and all the years past were fun for the occasion, this was music in my adolescent ears. Not that I was a rock and roll fan per se. I never went out to buy a rock and roll album for instance.

The second introduction was through the compilation hit single by Long Tall Ernie and the Shakers, where 'The Girl Can't Help It' was incorporated into. That basically remained it, until I got to play in the Flopsband in the late 90s and got to play a few Little Richard songs myself.

Looking at the old pictures and reading the stories a few things can be reflected upon, things that strike me. Firstly, how incredibly gay Little Richard looks in all the photo's, etc. While totally getting away with it without anybody apparently noticing or taking offence. Most likely what he did was already so outrageous that he could hide in plain sight. The second observation is that in all his music there are expression of hysteria. Part of his show is overdoing it in wild ways, with emotions flying off the rails all the time. The third is that within Little Richard, like in Elvis and Jerry Lee, two flames raged: the one of youth and rebellion and one of the Lord calling on them to stay on his side. In Little Richard perhaps the loudest of all as he quit music to become a priest and back and forth. Fourthly that in retrospect his music is less wild than the other three. The horns in his work always make it seem less dangerous to my ears. It is his voice that creates the wildness and madness, see the previous points. The final point is that his career was basically over in the 50s already. He played his old hits for decades but nothing influential came out of him any more. As he wrote his own music, that was not necessary up front. It seems like he had said all that there was to say in those few years.

To me Little Richard is a man of the past but a name that was always there from the time I got to know music more seriously. Although I never got further than buying a beautiful 4 cd box rock and roll set with the greatest rock and roll hits and unknown gems by long forgotten rock and roll artists. It gave me Little Richard's greatest songs. Two of which I still play with my new band, Sweetwood. 'Lucille' and 'Tutti Frutti'. Some songs will never go away for party bands. It's past 45 years since I discovered that at those carnival evenings.

Of the big four there's one last man standing, Jerry Lee Lewis, but to be honest he is my least favourite of the four. Chuck Berry is my absolute  number one though.

Wo.


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Bill Withers, 1941 - 2020

It is already more than a week that Bill Withers died. I had intended to write sooner, but things and other music got in the way. As far as I'm aware Withers' death was not Corona related, but from heart failure.

When I read about his death, I realised that I know nothing of the man and that I know only three of his songs, one of them covered by someone else, 'Lean On Me', although I can't for the life of me remember by home. Another song also covered by Michael Jackson, when he was an early teen. That version is of course totally eclipsed by Bill Withers' original. The third I know best because of the remix made around 1988, 'Lovely Day'. That is all.

Coincidence has it, that I heard 'Ain't No Sunshine' and the original 'Lovely Day' in the week before he died on the radio. Now we are all contained in our homes, my girlfriend is at home much more often, meaning that the radio is on a lot more. She is very content with what a program manager presents her with, while I'm always playing my own choices and new music for this blog. An enormous difference in passive music consumption. There is a third category: songs we play in the band we are both a member of, Sweetwood. Now that is upended as well, we play a front garden show each Saturday afternoon for our neighbours in their gardens, on their balconies, in the doors or social distancing by car lenght in the street. As we try out new things every week, a lot of songs come by on repeat to learn to sing and in my case, play them on acoustic guitar. 'Ain't No Sunshine' is one of the songs we our contemplating for the coming weeks as a tribute.

That brings me back to Bill Withers and coincidence. When I heard the songs, fairly close together, let's say one a day, I was reminded to the fact that I had never heard anything else by the man. My impulse is still not to go to Spotify but to buy a chance second hand album for a few Euro's and bring it home. As that may be a while and can't remember ever chancing upon a Bill Withers album second hand, I'm going to Spotify right now and turn on Withers' first album ... 'Just As I Am' from 1971.

Spotify ranks the first five most listened to songs from all artists. The three songs I mentioned at the top are his top three. Ranking in the 200 and 100 millions clicks. Bill Withers is one of the artists who have made a little money for his pension from Spotify. That's a nice thought.

A few days after I had this thought, and forgetting about it just as fast, I have to admit, the news reached me Bill Withers had died at the age of 79. Not old, certainly not young, but forever with us. Three songs millions upon millions of people know, old and young. Three songs that never cease to impress me. Although the sanity of a man whose total happiness depends on the presence of one woman needs to be feared for, not to mention the burden placed on her, with it Bill Withers wrote one of the most beautiful, if desperate love songs.

In the meantime I'm listening to a jazzy soul song 'Grandma's Hands'. It may well be that I will like more by Bill Withers soon. And, I had totally forgotten he was the singer of Grover Washington's hit single 'Just The Two Of Us'. A nice legacy to have.

Wo.


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Adam Schlesinger (1967 - 2020)

It is with quite a heavy heart that I am starting to write. Not because I have lost somebody physically, personally close to me. It is because I lost someone who has touched me deeply musically. Adam Schlesinger was one of the members of U.S. pop group Fountains of Wayne. With the eponymous debut album they really and truly touched me. Although that it is years ago I played the album, who knows it may even be a little disappointing 25 years later, most of the songs play around in my head regularly without any prompting.

'Fountains Of Wayne' was released in 1996 and had an immediate impact on me. The album rocked, soothed, cradled and partied all in one. The band played exuberantly but also nailed down resignedness and melancholy in a perfect way, but always with glimmers of hope. Despite all albums, except for the last one, have there (extremely good) moments, they never impacted me like 'Fountains Of Wayne' did. Probably because such an impact is simply impossible. Every next album comes with expectations and a back log of impressions.

I would have seen the band live twice were it not that the first time I travelled to the, then, Nighttown venue in Rotterdam, ticket in hand to arrive there at the booth being looked at by a puzzled person saying we have no show tonight and no, we have never booked this band. In fact, we found out that they are not even in the country. I was not the only person showing up that evening, but this was extremely mysterious as the ticket was sold to me through an official vendor, in the pre-Ticketmaster online sales. Most likely the exchange bank at the train station. Somebody had put the tickets for sale and announced the shows through the official channels.

The second time was after the 2003 'Welcome Interstate Managers' album, in Melkweg, Amsterdam in March of 2004. It was a great experience to hear all these great songs live.

To be honest, I haven't a clue which songs are Chris Collingwood's and which one Adam Schlesinger wrote. Probably who sings could be a clue. I do not really care, to be honest again. Together with Jody Porter and Bryan Young, who I also saw playing with The Posies, they created a bunch of great songs as a band. Songs that deserved to be heard for eternity and not just 'Stacey's Mom' because of its naughty video. Just like they did not deserve to be killed because of the equally loose video of 'Mexican Wine'. Sex is totally different from having a girl drink a glass of wine. The video does put Fountains of Wayne on the same footing as Golden Earring, another band whose career was killed in the U.S. because of a video, for 'When The Lady Smiles'.

Fountains of Wayne ought to be remembered for songs like 'Survival Car', 'Radiation Vibe', 'Leave The Biker' and Sick Day'. Songs so diverse and each so good. And yes, then add 'Stacey's Mom'. Not before. THE song however, is 'Maureen', the single of the compilation of b-sides and whatever leftovers album 'Out-Of-State Plates'. The stuttering, ultimate powerpop song is the crown to Fountains of Wayne's attire. It's a mystery to me how this could ever have been a leftover, unless deliberately written for the album.

Adam Schlesinger died in a pandemic after having been hospitalised two weeks before. The respiration unfortunately did not aid him enough to recover. Corona, as we call it, or Covid takes indiscriminately, like deceases tend to do. Here it is someone who is on the young side of statistics. It is with a sad heart I'm writing this. Also because if only political leaders of the two most important countries on earth had acted sooner and more decisively on the looming crisis, it perhaps could have been avoided. If only they had thought of their people first instead of their personal cult, myths and popularity.... For once I let some politics enter a post, as it is a story that needs repeating, when incompetence stares the world in the face.

Adam Schlesinger leaves behind two daughters and a whole set of wonderful songs and deserves to be remembered because of them.

Next to his band career he has composed lots of other successful songs I was totally oblivious of. That leaves a legacy to be discovered. Play his songs folks, get acquainted if you like great pop songs. Fountains of Wayne has them in abundance

In the meantime I have played 'Fountains Of Wayne' once again. Sang along from a to just about z while sunrays entered my glum home, as outside there was not a sun in sight. Just dark clouds. It is ultimate good time music. The album has not aged a second. It sounds fresh, vibrant and so incredibly alive. There are not many albums that have aged so well. 'Utopia Parkway' is up next.

Wo.


Listen to our Spotify Playlist to find out what we are writing about:

https://open.spotify.com/user/glazu53/playlist/6R9FgPd2btrMuMaIrYeCh6?si=KI6LzLaAS5K-wsez5oSO2g

Marie Fredriksson (1958 - 2019)

No, I have never been what one can call a fan of Roxette. For that the band was to poppy and too much 80s in sound. Not rock, not pop, what was Roxette really?

For me several of the singles of the band did add up to a guilty pleasure. The first single I got to know was 'The Look', something like 1988 I'd say. I just liked the firm sound of the very danceable song. Something that was important, as I at the time was the "musical director" of our student flat. Come a huge party, I'd be mixing cassette tapes for the whole evening. From 50s rock and roll songs, to 60s hit, 70s disco and hardrock to the latest hits in the 80s. 'The Look' certainly will have been one of those songs, to sing and dance to together with our friends.

So while the duo at such meant nothing to me, 'The Look' is a song to still enjoy in 2019 each time it comes by. After that I mostly remember semi ballads like 'It Must Have Been Love' or 'Listen To Your Heart'. As ballads were at the time, they had to be firm in sound, with strong, loud drumming and loads of tinkering keyboard/synths. It may be because of this amount of toughness that I can listen to them. They are not my favourite Roxette songs, but sort of alright, with 'It Must Have Been Love' as my personal favourite.

The second song by Roxette having true meaning to me is that other rocksong, 'Joyride'. A number 1 on the Top 40 in 1991. It has that same sort of toughness, 'The Look' has. This one being sung by Per Gassle. Looking in my singles collection I ran into 'Spending My Time', but do not have any recollection of the song at all, yet must have bought it at the time. (Not on hearing either.)

Only now I found that Roxette had been active off and on right up to a few years ago. I had no idea, but then this band had other fans than me.

A day after we heard that an acquaintance of us is going to die because of a brain tumour, the news that Marie Fredriksson had died from the same disease was made known. Although she was more a memory from a time long ago when life was extremely uncomplicated, with still so much more to learn, the news affected me. And not just because of the previous news.

What brings it closer, is that she is of the same generation as I am. A sign of my own mortality and all the things that can go wrong within a body. How lucky those being healthy are, and let me count myself in that group. Something to cherish and enjoy. Although a little older than I am, 61 is extremely young. There's still so much to do.

Roxette is no more, I suppose, but for me it was over after 'Joyride', 28 years old this year. So thank you, Marie and Per, for two great songs. Two songs I still love to hear when they come by somewhere and will always sing along to.

Wo.


Listen to our Spotify Playlist to find out what we are writing about:

https://open.spotify.com/user/glazu53/playlist/6R9FgPd2btrMuMaIrYeCh6?si=KI6LzLaAS5K-wsez5oSO2g

Afscheid van BY

Onlangs overleed Bert Hilberts of in de tijd dat WoNo Magazine nog een digitaal blad was dat uitkwam wanneer het uitkwam, BY. In de eerste paar jaar schreef Bert over zijn passie voor klassieke muziek, maar ook over zijn eerste en grootste passie The Shadows. Samen met broer Eddie speelde hij in The Flying Arrows, een band die lokale bekendheid verwierf in de Groninger Ommerlanden en verre omstreken met hun versie van Rock and Roll.

Op de foto die ooit in een WoNo stond, staan twee jongens, zo jong, maar duidelijk bevlogen. Bert met een originele Hofner bas, zo een als Paul McCartney beroemd mee werd. Verkocht in de jaren 80, want Bert zou er nooit meer op spelen. Toen eenmaal duidelijk was dat de doorbraak er niet in ging zitten, koos hij radicaal een andere richting. Waardoor wij, Wo. en .No, hem dertig jaar later zouden leren kennen. Juist via de muziek leerde ik Bert beter kennen en werd hij de gewaardeerde collega waar ik vele fijne gesprekken mee heb gevoerd door de jaren heen.

Afgelopen vrijdag was het afscheid. Bert was al jaren ziek zo bleek. We waren elkaar uit het oog verloren, zoals dat in het leven gaat. Zijn vrouw en twee zonen maakten een twee uur lange viering van zijn leven, waar muziek en vooral The Shadows een grote rol speelde ter ondersteuning van alle andere activiteiten en belangrijke gebeurtenissen in zijn leven. Twee uur die lieten zien hoe een gewoon iemand bijzonder is en zijn stempel op vele manieren drukt op zijn omgeving. In zijn gezin, zijn werk, buurt en verenigingsleven.

Een bijzondere vermelding gaat uit naar zijn broer, Eddie, die, zo vertelde Bert toch met enige trots lang geleden, wel door was gegaan in de muziek. Als producer. Als ik me goed herinner noemde Bert 'Mississippi' van Pussycat als voorbeeld. Hij zong met prachtige stem de The Hollies hit ' He Ain't Heavy He's My Brother', zichzelf begeleidend op een akoestische gitaar. Mooi, emotioneel, zonder franje of vals sentiment.

Zijn kleindochter zong een Cliff Richard en The Shadows nummer. Een ongetrainde stem, die meteen opviel. Muzikaliteit valt niet ver van de boom blijkt.

Rust zacht Bert en dank voor de tijd dat we collega's waren. Een tijd die bijzonder was om verschillende redenen, die verder niets met muziek heeft te maken, maar het ook mogelijk maakte dat er zoiets als een WoNo in een werkomgeving ontstond.

Wo.

Peter Tork (1942 - 2019) and Mark Hollis (1955 - 2019) 2

A discussion took place online between three gentlemen following the demise of Peter Tork on 21 February. Here we share the fine details.

Mark, 22-2:
I've just seen that a second Monkee has passed away: Peter Tork. They were my favourite group in 1966. Loved the TV series. Still have the singles: I'm a Believer and Last Train to Clarksville are classics. Alternate Title was enjoyably wacky. I was not really up for seeing them as old men on the reunion tours but then Davy Jones suddenly passing away was a real jolt and now another sad moment that seems like a door shutting on our thrilling pop-filled youth.

Gary, 22-2:
Terrible news Mark,

Yes, the passing of our heroes really brings home the ravages of old-age!

 

Wo. 22-2:

Just now my band Sweetwood decided to try out I'm A Believer after our last session as next new song on the setlist.

My memories of The Monkees are faint. I must have seen a few of the episodes at the time, but not regularly as my parents did not see the use of a tv at the time. I do have a comic book, still, on The Monkees adventures. Fairly luxurious with a hard cover as well. It's somewhere on the attic.

Musically I still think several of the hitsingles are fantastic.

 

Wo., 25-2:

Here's a link to a little something I wrote this evening. (The blogpost on Tork and Hollis, Wo..)

https://wonomagazine.blogspot.com/2019/02/mark-hollis-and-peter-tork-rip.html

 

Mark, 26-2:

Very interesting piece, Wout - talk the Tork! I don't know much about Talk Talk - just a vague memory of John Peel playing them on his daily radio show which I listened to every night throughout the 1980s.  I just did a search and found this:  https://www.johnpeelcentre.com/john-peel-s-hidden-gems-no-20-spirit-of-eden/   So I probably have a few tracks of theirs on the cassettes I recorded off his programme . These are in a box in the garage awaiting dusting off when I get round to putting some order into my archive - after I retire next month (31 days to go till "no more six o'clock alarm"! Tork played the piano on Daydream Believer actually).  

I might also find the time to make it to one of the gigs at the John Peel Centre in Suffolk. His widow Sheila is a sponsor of that venue and she completed his autobiography which was writing when he died suddenly during a trip to Peru. I bought a copy in a charity shop a few weeks ago: an interesting read takes you via anecdotes through the shifts in pop trends during the 60s-90s. I had a close encounter with Peel when cycling home from work one day, he pulled alongside me at the lights in Portland Place near the BBC. He had an ageing but impressive Mercedes Benz which was a left hand drive import - so it was indeed a close encounter! I'm still looking for a decent vinyl copy of the Fall sessions that they did for his programme - a BBC release it can be rather pricey on eBay.

Talking of rummaging in charity shops which as you know I can't resist doing, I bought a perfect copy of the Zorba The Greek soundtrack e.p. for just 50p last weekend - wonderful sound with an unmarked picture sleeve featuring Anthony Quinn arms out...... It's a nice companion for my Never on Sunday e.p. by Melina Mercouri - which makes up the sum total of my collection of Greek records!

Gary, 26-2: 

TalkTalk? I thought they were a telecoms company that has been rated multiple times among the worst landline and broadband providers?😆

Yes, I love the Monkees and I used to watch them avidly on TV in the 60s… although a few years later I ‘disowned’ them as I read that they did not write or play on most of their hits. I remember around that time they were referred to in the music press as the Pre-Fab Four! It was much later I got to hear their own compositions and work which was actually pretty good. Besides the ubiquitous ‘Monkees greatest hits" (or whatever it is really called?), I still have their albums Headquarters; Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones Ltd; The Birds, The Bees & the Monkees; Head… the latter was actually the music from their film of the same name which was nothing like their slapstick, comedic style TV series! See the film here: https://youtu.be/Q4nT-5DyjX0 

I also recall around this time the unbelievable news that Jimi Hendrix opened for The Monkees on one of their tours…. I still can’t get my head around that one to this day!

Yes, With Davy Jones (who I can still remember being in Coronation Street in black and white… God that makes me feel old!) and now Peter Tork gone… memories of my tender youth has also disappeared! Sad… but I suppose all part of experience of the human condition?

I am enjoying retirement and I think you will Mark!

I hope you both have a great day!

Wo., 26-2:

How fast things go in popular life is shown by the Twitter account of The Monkees. Peter Tork may not even be buried or cremated yet and "The Monkees present The Mike Nesmith and Micky Dolenz experience" tour.

What I remember from Davy Jones is that he was mentioned as the grandson of the Ina Sharples character in Coronation Street. A series my grandmother used to watch. I remember how different the street looked from what I was used to over here. Now I understand he was in the series, so not the real grandson? And that David Jones became David Bowie because of Davy Jones or so I read once.

Funny you both only have scant recollections of Talk Talk. Of course that were my, belated, college days, so its music was around everywhere. Like Tears for Fears, Simple Minds, Talking Heads, The Waterboys and Marillion and for a short while Everything But The Girl. Talk Talk definitely was up there with those bands in the mid 80s. I played a greatest hits cd, I totally forgot having, yesterday evening after writing the blogpost and was remembered that several of their songs are actually quite good. Soon the two albums I have lying around and that cd 'Spirit Of Eden', that I could not get through in 1988, will get a spin.

I decided to push back my retirement plans for some time. Too busy having fun working and doing things like this on the side whenever I feel like it.

P.S. Wo., 5-3:
I notice I forgot to respond to the Zorba record, Mark. It is in my collection for 30 years this year from the collection of one of my late aunts who passed away then. Zorba the Greek always made an impression on me when I was a small kid. The way the song kept going faster and faster, spinning around until I got dizzy. Now I would probably through up within seconds if I tried anything like it.

And Gary, that is an impressive The Monkees record collection. I profess not to have more than one or two singles, second hand, and a Greatest Hits collection from 2001. Now, in 2019, it does not matter any longer who exactly wrote and played what on the records. The hits of The Monkees are timeless pop gems that prove to last through the decades and will for a couple more I'm sure.

Tonight we are practising I'm A Believer for the first time. Ought to be a piece of cake and real fun to play.
 

RIP Aretha Franklin (1942 - 2018)

During my holidays "the Queen of Soul" died after having been terminally ill for some time. Glancing into an Italian news paper, mainly to find out what had happened in Bologna and how that could effect our return journey I noticed a photo of Aretha. With the few words we could determine, being non-speakers, we saw that she was dying. It reminded me of the Freddie Mercury announcement in 1991.

We were sitting in a temporary bar on a square right outside the medieval city centre of Calderola. The bar, were people were drinking all sorts of alcoholic beverages around noon time, used to be in the city centre. No more. The whole centre was a ghost town. Deserted since the earthquake of 2016. Despite the fact that the buildings in Calderola were looking more than o.k., certainly compared to what we had seen on the west side of the Monti Sibilini mountains, the conclusion had to be that it is most likely this part of Italy will never recover in the way it used to be. I had never experienced devastation on this scale before and was basically shocked. Especially as we had no idea beforehand, winding up in the Sibilini more or less at the spur of the moment. Where shall we go next?, is a question answered on the evening before packing things up.

In the final days of our holiday I noticed that I heard Aretha songs here and there. Coming home I saw a two day old newspaper with her photo all over the front page. Apparently the news had opened with her demise. Was she that big? Clearly, but also a bit surprising. Aretha Franklin never scored so many hits here. What was Aretha Franklin to me?

Foremost, a singer who scored her hits just before I consciously knew what hits were. There were songs and Aretha's were not a part of my childhood universe of U.S. and U.K. popsongs that came by in the background of my early youth. It is over the years that I got to know her biggest hits, without being able to point to a specific occasion. Soul was not my territory any way and still is not really. It also wasn't of the people who exposed me to pop music in the 60s. Soul became a more or less an acquired taste later on in life. Thinking about it now, I notice that acts like The Supremes and The Four Tops must have been so much more popular, as I do know most of their songs much longer. So Radio Veronica, my pirate station at the time, must have played their music a lot more.

So what do I have in my record collection? A greatest hits double cd bought somewhere around 2000, I guess and a live album that was played in a record store I entered and bought immediately. Only to play it two or three times since.

Her career mostly was stagnant for decades. In the 80s of course she scored a few big hits, but in the slipstream of then popular artists. The Eurythmics, George Michael, Keith Richards provided her new hits, even her only #1 hit in The Netherlands with 'I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me)'. Looking at Aretha Franklin as a chart presence, it is one song that really sticks out, the soft spoken, modest and fiery 'I Say A Little Prayer'. This is her only really big solo hit in this country. After 1971, 'Spanish Harlem', her career as a hit singer was over until the aforementioned mid 80s.

Aretha became a staple solo name for a new generation in the 1980s because of two single events. Her role in 'The Blues Brothers' where she sang 'Respect' once more and a tv commercial for 'Chocomel' were a young girl mimed 'Think'. This fairly unknown 1968 hit became a dance party staple for years after that commercial. The song is so strong. It perks me up every time I hear it. Impossible to sit still.

Whatever else Aretha may or may not have been in the mid 60s, she is not to me. I have no recollections to share of Martin Luther King. It all passed me by as I was too young. To me Aretha Franklin is a great voice, with some songs I like and a few I truly like, in a genre which is not mine. Like with Otis Redding, dead for over 50 years now and other soul stars of the 60s. So yes, Taking it all in, I am a bit surprised how huge she apparently is perceived to be.

Wo.

Listen to our Spotify Playlist to find out what we are writing about:

https://open.spotify.com/user/glazu53/playlist/6R9FgPd2btrMuMaIrYeCh6?si=KI6LzLaAS5K-wsez5oSO2g

and that commercial (and no we are not sponsored):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ynwrWnu8YNA

Johnny Hallyday (1943 - 2017) or French pop in general. A conversation

The demise of Johnny Hallyday triggered a conversation between Gary, Mark and Wo. France is in collective mourning, while these three gentlemen are truly wondering what the fuss is all about. This led to the following conversation on almost everything but Johnny Hallyday, in which it even proved hard to spell his last name right (Halliday vs. Hallyday).

Gary, 6-12-2017

Sad news about Johnny Hallyday passing away at the age of 74….

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-4224

Wo., 6-12

I just saw it on the news, Gary. Strange to think that this man's career, who was huge in France, was over in this country before I got a notion of music beyond what my elders played.

It was years if not decades before I found that this famed rock and roll guy people always seemed to write about, was the same of that song 'Pour moi la vie va commencer'. I never connected the two.

Mark, 6-12
I don't know any of his records but you could say before The Beatles changed everything  the top teenage icons of rock'n'roll were Elvis, Cliff and Halliday but only Elvis big in all these markets.  Cliff never broke America and presumably Halliday blocked him out of the French teen market? How big was Elvis in France compared to UK? 

Largely unknown in UK, a francophonie footnote in the rock annals of rock, Johnny Halliday is precious national French property - like Alain Delon. He wasn't tempted by Hollywood and similarly Bardot who dipped her toe only from time to time (Doctor at Sea with Dirk Bogarde and Shalako with Sean Connery) and thought better of it.

"Can the French do rock'n'roll and be cool?" is an old joke on our side of the Channel. I can't name a single French rock band....just the odd curiosity like Plastic Bertrand.

I am in love with Francoise Hardy, however, and have all her records. Her late 1960s early 1970s lps like Question are excellent - and Nick Drake was besotted with her (they met once but no recordings ensued). Damon Albarn invited her to sing on a Blur track.  She hated the French production values of her early records and later recorded with Charles Blackwell at Pye Studios (La Maison ou J"ai Grandi) (with The Kinks in the studio next door). Bardot's records also had horrid production - except when she hooked up with Serge Gainsbourg. Francoise steered clear of Halliday as an uncool aging rocker:  I don't recall they ever duetted on record (she did with Alain Delon actually on a song on Parentheses releases in 2006 - now he IS the epitome of French cool!)

Wout, 6-12

Gary, if you could add your bit, it seems we have an item here.

Gary, 6-12

As a follow up to Mark’s comments, Plastic Bertrand (real name Roger Jouret) was of course a Belgian (born in Brussels in 1954... so just a few years older than me an Mark!). And although not really “my cup of tea”, was actually a reasonable drummer and loved and was inspired by the Stones. As his unique fame dwindled in 1987 he represented Luxembourg in the Eurovision Song Contest with the song "Amour Amour". This failed to impress the juries, however, scoring only 4 points and placing 21st out of 22 entries! 

I am sure there are many French ‘Pop’ and MOR artists that have ‘escaped me’ 😂 and to be honest I am not about to immerse myself in French ‘popular beat combos’. But as a proponent of Progressive Rock, I have bought or listened to some French Prog bands and artists over the years. Two in particular you may have heard of?

Magma: Led by classically trained drummer Christian Vander, the Paris-based Magma have been, in their way, perhaps the ultimate progressive rock group; while other artists have achieved greater commercial success and critical acclaim, Magma have typified the many ambitions and excesses of the genre that won them as many detractors as fans, even going so far as to invent their own lyrical and musical language in order to bring their unique vision to life. With 12 studio albums released since 1970, Magma is one of the greatest prog groups emerged from France and have been popular with Prog cognoscenti in the UK and USA… Live version of Epok I - Sowiloi:   https://youtu.be/wpbGNDw41eQ 

Jean-Luc Ponty: Jean-Luc Ponty isn’t only a virtuoso violinist but also one of the greatest Fusion composers who blended different genres with great success and a pioneer of the electric violin, his solo works include very different albums as the brilliant and almost symphonic Aurora or the less inspired Afro Jazz oriented Tchokola, in other words not only a prolific but also a very eclectic and talented Progressive musician. Ponty has collaborated with many great bands and artists over the years including Return to Forever, Mahavishnu Orchestra, Frank Zappa, Jon Anderson. Jean-Luc Ponty has a global reputation…. If you have not heard of him, here is his track ‘Mirage”: https://youtu.be/iS_p5sgfJb0

Ange: Formed in Belfort in 1969, Ange are one of the first progressive rock bands emerged from France. The group’s debut album, Caricatures, was released in 1972. Ange released 23 studio albums in total, and numerous live, compilation and single releases! Unheard of in the USA and the UK, they were/are quite inventive. Take a listen to Le Cimetière Des Arlequins (1973): https://youtu.be/k3RNmKfOh-I 

Thierry Zaboitzeff: Composer and multi-instrumentalist, one of the members of 'Art Zoyd’ (Pink Floyd?) from 1971 till 1997, Thierry Zaboitzeff writes nowadays for dance, theater, multimedia events and movies, as well as for his own projects and performances. In the period from 1997 until 2017, Zaboitzeff has released 17 albums which are situated somewhere amongst the genres of symphonic rock, electronic music, and acoustic music. Llibre Vermell - O Virgo Splendens:  https://youtu.be/fLJsdQEMGMM

Richard Pinhas: French guitarist Richard Pinhas led the group Heldon from 1974 to 1978, releasing seven albums with them. Pinhas’ solo work covers a lot of ground. Since 1977 he released 19 studio albums, the latest being this year’s Reverse. Little known in the UK and the USA (which is a pity!), here is a recent track that demonstrates his innovation… ‘Ruitor’: https://youtu.be/NTffJo1l7kA 

Enjoy!

Mark, 6-12

Gary's knowledge of the heavier prog side is far deeper than mine! 

On the lighter side and,  while rather niche,  I think we have to mention Alan Stivell from Brittany who made quite an impact on the UK folk fraternity (The Chieftains, Steeleye Span etc), had a run of albums in the 1970s and toured the UK but then disappeared from our view at least as the folk boom faded in the 1980s.

Do you have many French readers, Wout,  who may be rather bemused by our reflections on their musical icons?

Mark, 7-12

Just watched a short biography about Johnny Halliday on French tv. To his credit he seems to have stayed closer to his rock'n'roll roots than Cliff and was still filling stadium concerts until recently. 

As was trend for a while in the 1960s, Cliff tried his hand at foreign language versions of his singles and released a few highly collectable French e.p.s. and there were his big films like Summer Holiday (a European road film) which I presume were released in France.

I wonder if Halliday sang in English at all? He did play the Albert Hall not so long ago - a concert mainly for his UK-based French fans presumably. Francoise Hardy is an impressive multilingualist who recorded singles and entire albums in Italian, German and English.

Wo., 7-12

It seems that Halliday sang in English. The last time he performed over here was to promote an English language album it seems. It all past me by. Like my newspaper wrote, in a page big obituary no less, Halliday was the most famous popstar you never heard of. That last bit's not true, but I know only one of his songs. And do not like it. When I take "hear" literally it certainly is true.

What I did know is that he is of Belgian descent, having a Belgian father. His real name was Jean-Philippe de Smet.

French singers and bands? I am afraid there are frightfully little in my collection. I was never one for chansons for one. The song I always truly loved is 'Poupée de cire poupée de son', by France Gall, the winner of the Eurovision song contest 1965.  And there's Les Poppies with 'Non non je ne regrette rien'. True pop songs do not get much better. The scandalous Gainsbourg-Birkin singe 'J'e t'aime - moi non plus' is another long time favourite. Whatever else is going on there, the music is fantastic.

There are a few incidents along the road to 2017. Plastic Bertrand is one, a 45 I have for nearly 40 years. 'Etienne' by Guesch Patty another, like 'Ella Ella' by France Gall.

Only in the past two years I have encountered a few French albums that are noteworthy. Mainly because of the blog. I ran into Lou Doillon, daughter of Jane Birkin who has released two great albums, 'Places' and  'Lay Low'. Her step-sister Charlotte Gainsbourg, daughter of both, has just released a deliciously mysterious and sensuous record called 'Rest'. Her '5.55' album, made with Air is quite o.k., like some parts of 'Moon Safari' by Air itself.

The tiny record label Tiny Room Records here in NL has released two French acts recently. The singer-songwriter folk of Queen of the Meadow and the lo-fi album by Garciaphone, 'Dreameater'. Especially the last one I truly like. It captures many flavours, including symphonic rock, without any of the exuberant bombast that is part of that music.

Next to all that there are of course songs by Julien Clerc, Gérard Lenorman, etc. that became hits in the 70s. They're nice but not really my cup of tea. After the 70s music from France was played less is my impression or went unnoticed by me. Over the past years there were some rap songs in French, but me and rap?

My focus is mainly on the U.K., then the U.S. and in this decade certainly NL. There's a lot of good stuff happening over here that I truly like. Some by bands that most likely no one will ever hear of. I will send you a few links to my favourites to discover in a separate email.

Gary, 7-12
Yes, I had forgotten about Serge Gainsbourg and Jane Birkin (although Birkin was a Brit living in Paris and has subsequently been awarded an MBE…. I am not sure why… "for services to simulated orgasms”? 😂). As an aside, Birkin was married to composer John Barry who produced the iconic Moog lead from the British TV series ‘The Persuaders’ theme, of which the single I still have! https://youtu.be/PIQwzWg7-1E ). Whilst surfing the late Serge Gainsbourg, I found this photo from 1981… how typically Parisian he was! 😆

Note of the editor: unfortunately due to copyright infringements we can not show the photo. Just imagine a smoking Serge Gainsbourg, looking very much himself.

Wout, 7-12

Mark, to come back to another question. Yes, there are regular views from France. How many people this involves is impossible to know.

Gary, the references you made are in some cases not even names to me. Totally obliviousness on my part I'm afraid. I'll be certain to listen at some point just to find out.

I know the name Jean-Luc Ponty, because he played with Frank Zappa somewhere in the 70s. I counted him more as jazz-rock, I think. At least that's my impression. 

Wout, 7-12

This is my blogpost of yesterday. I think you'll appreciate the reference 😊

http://wonomagazine.blogspot.nl/2017/12/rest-charlotte-gainsbourg.html

Mark, 7-12

You mention France Gall: I might one day check the other so-called "ye-ye girls" including her and Sylvie Vartan (who was married to Johnny Halliday) - but Francoise Hardy was as I understand it the most sophisticated of these as a songwriter and her records have largely stood the test of time (and as testimony of that her albums are now being re-mastered).  

If I were to recommend one song from her oeuvre to turn you on to her it would be Rêve from the album Question released in 1971:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_VHS1bW-rL8  

Ingenious arrangement: you have to wait a while for the wonderfully cool deadpan spoken lyric:

tu m'émerveilles comme un rêve

qui c'est enfin réalisé et tu me fais mal comme un rêve dont il va falloir m'éveiller.

(You mesmorise me like a dream that is at last realised - and you hurt me (because) it is a dream I will have to wake from.)

Topped by an impressive solo guitar flourish at the end. Play that and tell me your spine isn't tingled: I think it is a timeless gem.

A much earlier recording J'attends plus personne features not only a hard-hitting vocal to match a very strident lyric but allegedly a certain jobbing session musician by the name of James Page. Certainly a very early example of fuzz guitar, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IvRUUTY5Vs0

She was the most well-known of the French pop singers in the '60s in the UK; she featured regularly in all the English pop publications of the period, was a fashion icon - and was so photegenic - such a timeless beauty (but never rich hippy or trashy). C'est pourquoi je l'aime.

Wout, 7-12

I just listened to the whole album ('Question', ed.). Very Brazilian the music that goes on in the background. Yes, I liked this introduction. You should like the Charlotte Gainsbourg album also, is my guess.

Currently I am listening to Jacques Dutronc in the background. Her (Françoise Hardy. ed.) husband so I found. One of his songs, one of the two NL hits he's had in NL, 'Le Responsables' features in a Thalys add currently on television about two senior citizens who decide to escape the old folks' home they are in and head for Paris.

Dutronc had only one major hit over here, in 1968: 'Il est cinq heures Paris s'reveille.' Totally out of the order of his pop-garage-rock songs that seem to have been his standard in the 60s it seems. And that became the hit here. What does that tell you about this country? If I remember correctly it was the likes of 'Lazy Sunday' and 'Summertime Blues' that topped the charts at the same time, so not all bad.

Mark, 11-12
The funeral in Paris was impressive and a moving tribute to his prominent place in French culture.  I doubt there will be anything on that scale for Cliff Richard, ennobled even though he is as "Sir Cliff". The year after next it will be 60 years since he first topped the UK charts (with "Living Doll"). 55 years ago my mother took my brother and me to see "Summer Holiday" in an open air cinema in Aden in what is now war-torn and famine-stricken Yemen but at that time a British colony. How times have changed but the film is still an enjoyable watch as a European travelogue with happy and carefree youngsters, and a clutch of catchy tunes, Hank Marvin twanging away on some of them to fix it firmly in the pre-Beatles era.

Wo. 11-12
That's a beautiful, if somewhat sad, ending to our foray into French music.

Gary Hunt
Mark Carvell
Wo.

P.S. from the editor: Would anyone from France like to respond and put things in context for us? That would be a nice addition. Reach out and we will make it happen.