On the subject of honourable mentions Im laughing at the songs of Ivor Cutler this morning, bit of a genius.
I saw Ivor Cutler once, half-way down a bill of rock bands at the Camden Roundhouse in the 1970s. He was pedalling away at the harmonium, accompanied by Phyllis April King, who stood in a high-collared long frock with her hands clasped, warbling his funny and bizarre 'Songs from an Edwardian Scottish Drawing-Room'.
My mate, who's in the band 14 Iced Bears, is a huge Big Star fan. Imagine his surprise when he went to see said doc and he's in the first scene!
Ha 14 Iced Bears!! Remember them well, saw them so many times back in the days of C86 - Rob still going strong I see - who is your mate!?
It is Rob. Rob Sekula. I'll tell him about you seeing the Iced Bears when I next see him, which might even be today. He does a lot of gigs in the States. They've still got quite a decent following over there. He told me that when he went to see Television at the Round House, Stuart Lee made a point of coming up to him and said, 'Love the Iced Bears, mate.' He's actually a pretty decent footballer. Spurs fan.
Damn, damn, damn. I LOVE Jeff Buckley. How could I have missed him off my list? And I know that clip very well because he delivers a heart-stopping vocal. And seeing him there, is it any wonder that the first 10 rows of his gigs was all women? Looked like a film star. A great loss to music. And incredibly influential, more so than Cobain, in my opinion.
I think I may have said this on here before, but a girl I really fancied in Selectadisc in Soho in the Nineties noticed I was buying up all the Tim Buckley albums and asked if I wanted to go and see Jeff Buckley with her at the weekend. My reply, and it has haunted me ever since, was, 'Why would I want to see Tim Buckley's son?' Stupid. STUPID!
I have a lot of Todd rundgren stuff in my collection : wizard ,true star , something anything ,runt etc etc and would have had him in that list too save for the fact that the choice was limited to five. The song : you're much too soon on the War Baies record with todd on backing vocals is one of my faves. But He is also rumoured to be a massive pain in the arse and general ego maniac .he pretty much cocked up the production of xtc record Skylarking remedied only by a recent release and re master and pretty much came to blows with Andy Partridge over his domineering approach . So far as Daryl Hall is concerned his white soul pipes while now on the wain were totally untouchable in my view.his Sacred songs collaboration with Robert Fripp is also never too far towards the back of my play list. I will also be at that H and O show at Hammersmith on 11/7 .hope that you will enjoy it as much as I intend to.proper musicians playing songs that stand the test of time.
My third post in a row on this thread. You're Much Too Soon is a fantastic song. My favourite song on War Babies. And, of course, I love Todd's backing vocals. Kenny Rogers, of all people, once described Todd as the best backing vocalist he's ever heard, because of course Todd does all his own backing vocals.
The bad-feeling in the Skylarking sessions is legendary. You probably know, but Todd was foisted upon them by their management in a bid to make them sound more US friendly. And, it is true, that not many artists have enjoyed working with him as a producer. Levon Helm threatened to kill him, to genuinely kill him, when Todd was engineering the Stage Fright session. In fact the only artists I can think of off the top of my head who actually liked him at the time as their producer, rather than in hindsight, like Meatloaf, are Patty Smith, the New York Dolls, Tom Robinson and Steve Hillage.
On the subject of honourable mentions Im laughing at the songs of Ivor Cutler this morning, bit of a genius.
inspired shout shrew, everyone, rush to wherever you need to, and stick on ivor's "velvet donkey". "if your breasts are too big you will fall over, unless you wear a rucksack", or "life in a scottish living room", or, or, or....there is so much to enjoy...
Comments
Elvis Presley
Bob Dylan
Van Morrison
Bruce Springsteen
Bonobo
Roots Manuva
Nick Drake
Alice Russell
That was hard work, missed out so many others - Elliot Smith & AL Green, Otis Reading, Aretha & Amon Tobin could have easily made that list
And I know that clip very well because he delivers a heart-stopping vocal. And seeing him there, is it any wonder that the first 10 rows of his gigs was all women? Looked like a film star. A great loss to music. And incredibly influential, more so than Cobain, in my opinion.
I think I may have said this on here before, but a girl I really fancied in Selectadisc in Soho in the Nineties noticed I was buying up all the Tim Buckley albums and asked if I wanted to go and see Jeff Buckley with her at the weekend. My reply, and it has haunted me ever since, was, 'Why would I want to see Tim Buckley's son?' Stupid. STUPID!
The bad-feeling in the Skylarking sessions is legendary. You probably know, but Todd was foisted upon them by their management in a bid to make them sound more US friendly. And, it is true, that not many artists have enjoyed working with him as a producer. Levon Helm threatened to kill him, to genuinely kill him, when Todd was engineering the Stage Fright session. In fact the only artists I can think of off the top of my head who actually liked him at the time as their producer, rather than in hindsight, like Meatloaf, are Patty Smith, the New York Dolls, Tom Robinson and Steve Hillage.
Rick Astley
Peter Tosh
Nick Heyward
Sonia
All legends
Marvin Gaye
Aretha Franklin
Barry Manilow ( yes, me too, Golfie!)
Ben E King
Janis Ian
Carole king
Van Morrison
John Prine
Ps it would be easier to ask most hated 5 soloists of all time. Any takers? Also a top five (musical) guilty pleasures would be interesting.
John Lennon
Patti Smith
Stevie Wonder
Michael Jackson
Billy Joel