Coldplay - Christmas Lights

I Love 1980 - 27

(Just Like) Starting Over - John Lennon

In October 1980 John Lennon's comeback was about as warmly received as Yoko Ono's presence in a Beatles recording studio in the late 60s. Amongst the emerging new wave sounds in the shiny new decade, Lennon's anachronistic (Just Like) Starting Over with it's rock n roll ballad style, faux-Elvis/Orbison vocals and "doo-wap" backing just spelt out "boring old fart". Lennon & Ono had left the UK in 1971 to settle in New York effectively 'betraying' Blighty and British fans. And while contemporaries such as Bowie, Brian Ferry and Elton John had all moved on and progressed, for many Lennon's recluse since 1975 had meant out of sight out of mind.
That said, the comeback single made a decent enough entry into the UK charts in November, gradually creeping up to the top 10 before dropping heavily after just 4 weeks. It was radio-friendly and Lennon's enthusiam for his return and the new album trickled through in the odd press interview. David Hepworth's 3 out of 10 review in Smash Hits was both scathing and brutally honest, ominously commenting that "Lennon needn't bother about a follow-up til 1999".

After Mark Chapman brutally shot and killed John Lennon on 8th December 1980, sales of the single and parent album rocketed and the opening "our life together is so precious..together" took on a whole new meaning.

Whatever you thought of of Lennon, Yoko or their Double Fantasy, (Just Like) Starting Over was, in hindsight, a cracking comeback single and a fine example of the Lennon genius. The tinkling bell at the start echoes and lighten up the opening chimes of "Mother" (bringing it all "full circle" in Lennon's own words), the 'let's start again' message is universal and multi-purpose, the rock n roll pastiche is note perfect and the treated voice of Yoko reciting poetry in the coda makes it just that little more interesting and modern.

The single became the UK Christmas Number One.

wikipedia
chart stats

nice long piece by Chris Hunt on Double Fantasy

I Love 1980 - appendix 6

John Lennon
shot dead 8th December, 1980

(yes, there are also some reasons why I don't love 1980...)

4'33"

I Love 1980 - appendix 5

Streisand album, 1980

Streisand single, 2010

Daft-o-tron

French electro-musos-cum-robots-cum-men-in-helmets Daft Punk (left) have done the soundtrack for the new Tron Legacy movie, out soon.

Although their robotic image would be well fitted to such a soundtrack, musically, it's perhaps not quite what you expect from les Dafts, and is more of an epic Vangelis meets Emerson Lake and Palmer sort of affair, with odd bits of Vivaldi and, er, Daft Punk thrown in. Unlike, say, the soundtrack to Chariots of Fire by aforementioned Greek maestro, the Tron Legacy music doesn't really mean much without an film attached to it, especially as most of the album's 22 tracks are scene-sized short pièces, which barely hold out on their own.

Anyways here's one the most Daft Punk-y sounding tracks, the brief "Derezzed", complete with movie visuals.

Partial as I am to a bit of gorgonzola now and then, the original Tron was a little too cheesy for moi, and perhaps came a little too late, or too early depending on how you look at it. The tale of "former employee of the software corporation ENCOM, now running a arcade" who gets swallowed up by a computer didn't really fit in with the more analogue 70's /80's sci-fi of my childhood/youth. Anyway now the time may be right to catch up on the deliciously retro original, and the soundtrack which I see was done back then by one Wendy Carlos...

I Love 1980 - 26

Spandau Ballet - To Cut a Long Story Short
And yes it was 30 years ago this week, about, that five grown men in kilts, tablecloths and floppy fringes made their way onto Top of the Pops to perform their first single. Emerging from The Blitz scene which had been bubbling in London's underground clubs and things during the past year or so, this was the first hit single of the genre generally known as New Romantic, whatever that means, meant or was meant to mean. Some may argue the re- vamped Ultravox preceded and indeed inspired everyone else and Bowie's Scary Monsters album simultaneously drew from and fuelled the movement both in fashion, attitude, ....oh and the music, although Spandau Ballet are generally considered to be the first of their kind to hit the big time with several others to follow, including Brummy rivals Duran Duran who were still sweating it out in frilly blouses on the Midlands club circuit.

Sad in a way that the Spans soon abandoned the dish-cloth style and bold, rhythmic, electro-based music which first brought them onto the scene, preferring a more MOR "soul boy" approach within a couple of years with True and all that, suited though it was to the upcoming wine bar culture (itself the logical consequence of the Blitz scene?).
We immediately loved 'em just as they were, bringing in something new and exciting, and - as far as I was concerned more importantly than the kilts - vaguely electro (even tho the driving synth line had been mixed down vis à vis the original demo versh). It was foppish but laddish at the same time, a pint of lager with lipstick on the rim, epic poetry for the dancefloor ....listen to the sound of the Spandau Ballet..

To Cut a Long Story Short - chart stats
Spandau Ballet's first mention in Smash Hits (p.15)

Night night people

"..get around town, get around town, where the people look good, where the music is loud.."

The Human League present Night People .. and it's 1981 all over again.. Add your voice..

No files on me

I was horrified to discover that those "nice" people at fileden had suspended (ie. exterminated) my account over there without even a word of warning. This means that not only do I lose my files on there but also the player and relativetracks which I painstakingly incorportaed into this 'ere blog no longer werk .. Lost in Music is now lost without music.
I suspect this all came about after somebody requested that a post of mine featuring the new David Sylvian and Ingrid Chavez albums on Samadhi was also "suspended" because it contained an "offensive" link .. wtf??? I can only take that as referring to the fact that there was the Sylvian track "Therapy" in the player at the end of the post, the file of which was duly hosted by...fileden.
So all this beacuse I went out of my way to give a free plug to Samadhi bleed' Sound and the bloomin "new" Sylvian and Ingrid Chavez albums.
Gah! So much for free advertising..
Seriously considering giving up on blogger next year.

PS this post contains no links or files whatsoever ..

I Love 1980 - 25

Organisation - Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark

Organisation. An album from a faraway age when a band could be obscure, enigmatic, industrial, experimental, interesting, moving and still get to number 6 in the charts. Although it had come just months after their debut, Organisation was light (or dark) years away from the garage prototype synthpop of OMITD. The move to Advision Studios, the conscription of prog-musician Mike Howlett as producer , a "good haircut" and radical change of wardrobe did wonders for Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, making them one of those rare outfits which suited both NME and Smash Hits.

It's hard for me to be objective about Organisation, such was its impact way back in the dark winter of 1980. To paraphrase others, men of mystery and imagination came crashing into my little world and nothing would ever be the same again.
But let's try.......The grey and black sleeve, the bleak cover picture, the semi-dark portrait on the back all served to give an indication of what this record was going to be like. You felt angstful just owning the thing.
The upbeat, already-a-hit single Enola Gay, albeit with a darker message, was there sure enough as the opening track but with its placing at the beginning of the opus the message was clear: Ok, that's the hit out of the way, let's get on with the album proper.
Indeed, it's the gloomy chimes of 2nd Thought which really get the Organisation ball rolling. "The order in our lives left some time ago, along the way" softly sings McCluskey to a steady electro beat and synthetic choral track which was to become their trademark. It’s typical of the album: soothing yet disquieting at the same time. Angst you can dance to.
The more angular VCL XI (get the hidden Kraftwerk reference?) brings us back to the Manoeuvres' more experimental mode with treated piano, irregular thrashing electronic percussion and lyrics which, to this day, remainincomprehensible . With Motion and Heart - briefly considered as a single - we're back in the pop mode and, although a more disciplined affair compared to it's Peel Session predecessor, it remains one of their most mysterious tracks.
The melancholic and heart breaking Statues closes side 1. Allegedly a tribute to Ian Curtis RIP ("The way you, move, I can't explain"), his suicide and the Closer album are said to be heavy influences on Organisation. Statues goes beyond that and lines like "I tried to care and understand" and the final cry "I can't imagine how this ever came to be" and fade-out have as much anguish and suffering as the Mancunian's "When routine bites hard" or "..people like you find it easy". Warning: this song may make you cry.

End of side one.

Side Two fades in with The Misunderstanding, a track rescued from McCluskey & Humphrey's The Id days and dutifully darkened for Organisation. Anger, confusion, frustration. It's all there.
The cover version of Warren & Gordon's The More I See You is often seen as the black sheep of the Organisation herd, a track which both McCluskey and Humphreys have since derided and regretted, but the dark twist on the original is perfectly in line with the album, and its minimal synth and drum pads make for top geeky dancing and air-drumming. Believe me.
Humphreys' atmospheric Promise (singled out by OGWT to promote the album) is a hardly an adequate match to McCluskey's solo efforts, (he would fare better with Souvenir the following year), but it's a perfect lead into the final, over-six-minutes long Stanlow, the album's crowning glory; moving, industrial, masterful, majestic and, yes, it's a love song about an oil-refinery on the Wirral.

End of Side Two... end of Organisation.



An interesting addition to the LP however was a four-track EP of a live performance of Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark at Eric's Club in 1978. The unique performance's experimental instrumentation and atmospheres are well suited to Organisation, like Electricity, Messages and Enola Gay had never happened. Titles like Introducing Radios and Distance Fades Between Us again give us an idea of the band's combined ethos: the experimental and the sentimental.

Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark - a decent haircut did them a world of good

Human Monster People

The Human League have finally got the ball rolling on new material with an official site, mailing list, and a countdown to the release of the new single "Night People". The track was premièred in Berlin on 4th November at the Electronic Beats Festival. (spoiler video here)

The new album Credo is out "early next year" has been produced by fellow Sheffield electro-citizens I Monster.


IMonster myspace

Blancmange are back ..

something else to look forward to in 2011 ..

New Blancmange album Blanc Burn (geddit?) due in February 2011, with live dates in March.

mange-site: blancmange.co.uk
mange-space: blancmange2006
mange-face: blanc-book
mange-twit: blanc-tweets