FEATURE: Isn’t That a Great Saying? Kate Bush’s Moments of Pleasure at Thirty-One

FEATURE:

 

 

Isn’t That a Great Saying?

Kate Bush’s Moments of Pleasure at Thirty-One

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THERE might be some repetition…

in this feature, as I have written about Moments of Pleasure a few times now. Let’s get some stats and facts down and done first. Released as the second U.K. single (as the first single, Rubberband Girl, was released in the U.K. and other countries; Eat the Music in the U.S.), it reached number twenty-six. Released on 15th November, 1993, it arrived two weeks after The Red Shoes (released on 1st November, 1993). I am not sure whether that timing was relevant regarding a fairly low chart position. Maybe people had got the album and did not have huge appetite for the single. I think one of the issues is that the single is quite emotional and slower. In terms of it not being as bouncy and upbeat as the singles that came before from the album. There are some fascinating lines to pick over in the lyrics. The title of this feature is a response to something Kate Bush’s mother, Hannah, wonderfully said: “Every old sock meets an old”. I think that Moments of Pleasure is the most intriguing set of lyrics. I mean more so than perhaps even anything on Hounds of Love. That is quite a big claim! In terms of how arresting and personal the song is. There is a mix of fantasy and the personal. The fact Bush talks about something her mother said. How her mum laughed when Bush told her about that lyric. I am going to come straight back to the lyrics. Before I do, the Kate Bush Encyclopedia collates words from Kate Bush regarding the magnificent Moments of Pleasure:

“I think the problem is that during [the recording of] that album there were a lot of unhappy things going on in my life, but when the songs were written none of that had really happened yet. I think a lot of people presume that particularly that song was written after my mother had died for instance, which wasn’t so at all. There’s a line in there that mentions a phrase that she used to say, ‘every old sock meets an old shoe’, and when I recorded it and played it to her she just thought it was hilarious! She couldn’t stop laughing, she just thought it was so funny that I’d put it into this song. So I don’t see it as a sad song. I think there’s a sort of reflective quality, but I guess I think of it more as a celebration of life.

Interview with Ken Bruce, BBC Radio 2, 9 May 2011

I wasn’t really quite sure how “Moments of Pleasure” was going to come together, so I just sat down and tried to play it again– I hadn’t played it for about 20 years. I immediately wanted to get a sense of the fact that it was more of a narrative now than the original version; getting rid of the chorus sections somehow made it more of a narrative than a straightforward song.

Ryan Dombai, ‘Kate Bush: The elusive art-rock originator on her time-travelling new LP, Director’s Cut’. Pitchfork, May 16, 2011”.

This verse really leaves a lump in the throat: “Just being alive/It can really hurt/And these moments given/Are a gift from time/Just let us try/To give these moments back/To those we love/To those who will survive”. That thing about being alive can really hurt. Bush never sounding so rare and exposed. You could feel her reacting to a sense of dislocation and upcoming loss. Her mother died on 14th February, 1992. “To those we love/to those who will survive” seems to relate to Bush and her mother. So heartbreaking. I am not surprised that Bush re-recorded Moments of Pleasure for 2011’s Director’s Cut. Not because she was dissatisfied with the oriignal. Maybe keen to put an older voice on the song. I love the mentions of New York in Moments of Pleasure. That connection to snow. She returned to that coloration and chemistry for Snowed in at Wheeler Street where she sang with Elton John. Her mentioning taking a photo in New York (“9/11 in New York, I took your photograph”). The lines “On a balcony in New York/It’s just started to snow/He meets us at the lift/Like Douglas Fairbanks/Waving his walking stick/But he isn’t well at all”. That was a reference to when Bush met Michael Powell in New York in 1989. That was around the end of that year. Michael Powell co-wrote and co-directed the 1948 film, The Red Shoes, with Emeric Pressburger. The inspiration for Bush’s album title. Powell died on 19th February, 1990. I think there were plans that they would meet again or do something together. A song with loss hanging in the air. Powell dying in 1990. Hannah Bush in 1992. However, there is a lot of love and romance. Scenic visions and strength to be found. I love all the little lines and details. Characters coming in. A reference to the “case of George the Wipe”. George the Wipe was a tape op (a person who performs menial operations in a recording studio in a similar manner to a tea boy or gopher) at Townhouse Studios, where Bush previously recorded.

 IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush in 1993

Moments of Pleasure seems to be Kate Bush in a snow globe. This scenic and passionate setting. However, there are flashbacks and these visions of the past. When she sings “Hey there Teddy/Spinning in the chair at Abbey Road”. I know Bush and her crew used to play a game at Abbey Road where they would spin in the chairs to see who could survive it. Who would keep their balance and stomach content! Bush usually won as she could focus on a spot in the distance or keep her composure. The line in Moments of Pleasure seems to be more about Andrew Powell I feel. He produced Bush’s first two albums, The Kick Inside and Lionheart. I believe ‘Teddy’ comes from the nicknames Andrew Powell, Kate Bush and Jon Powell (who co-produced Never for Ever (1980) together) gave themselves at the time (Andy Pandy, Loopy Lou and Teddy, from Andy Pandy). Bush once again mentioning sadly-departed Bill Duffield in lyrics. She did for Blow Away (For Bill) from Never for Ever. “Hey there Bill/Could you turn the lights up?”. A nice nod again to Duffield on Moments of Pleasure. You get the feeling of ghosts from the past, professional or personal. The music video was also used in the short movie the Line, the Cross and the Curve and features Bush rotating around in the snow, lip-synching the song and meeting various actors near the end of the song.

I will wrap up in a minute. There is not much written about Moments of Pleasure. I want to bring in a feature that was published back in the summer. An examination of the brilliance and interesting details that you get from one of Bush’s finest songs. Far Out Magazine went deep inside a song that I feel deserved a much higher chart position:

“Kate Bush is best known as a weaver of narratives. Her albums are rich with stories borrowed from folklore, mythology and Bush’s own vibrant imagination. But for ‘Moments Of Pleasure’, the singer brought her music back to the world of fact, dedicating one lyrical ode to the act of remembrance amidst a period of grief.

There are glimmers of this throughout her discography. In rare instances, Bush seems to suddenly peel back the veil and allow her listeners in. As a famously private musician, and now an utterly and infamously-impossible-to-reach one as she’s retreated out of the public sphere, these momentary glimpses of her life feel like a tender touch and a total privilege for her fans. Hearing about her family life on ‘Bertie’ or her dedication to her dance teacher on ‘Moving‘ are the moments fans get to connect with their audience.

Backstage at Joni Mitchell's show at the Hollywood Bowl

But even if her life doesn’t find its way into her lyricism, her music has always been a deeply personal affair when it comes to her collaborators and team. From her debut album to her last, Bush’s music is crafted by her and a tight-knit circle, including her brother, Paddy Bush, her guitarist and old boyfriend, Del Palmer and her husband, Danny McIntosh. Even when her albums feature big names, they’re always friends first, such as David Gilmour who was a family friend before he agreed to help her out with her first record.

This means that the behind-the-scenes world of her music is a deeply sentimental realm, with her albums not only holding her talent but capturing moments in the lives of her, her family, her friends and her relationships. Some of her most beloved memories are attached to her music, bringing together all of her favourite people in service to her craft.

On ‘Moments Of Pleasure’, Bush flicks through these memories like a kind of sonic photo album. “Some moments that I’ve had / Some moments of pleasure,” she begins as if it stands as a title ahead of a bullet point list of images that have stuck in her mind.

However, specifically, ‘Moments Of Pleasure’ exists as a kind of memory box for Bush’s grief. In the final moments of the song, she calls out into the beyond, recounting lost friends by name as a beautiful dedication. “Hey there, Bubba / Dancing down the aisle of a plane,” she sings, remembering Gary ‘Bubba’ Hurst, a dancer on her 1979 tour. She recalls her frequent guitar player “S Murph, playing his guitar refrain,” after his passing in 1989. She thinks about her Never For Ever sound engineer John Barrett, referring to him tenderly through his nickname as she thinks of “Teddy, Spinning in the chair at Abbey Road.” Another member of her collaborative team remembered is Bill Duffield, who inspired the track ‘Blow Away’ after dying in a tragic accident during Bush’ 1979 tour, singing “Hey there, Bill / Could you turn the lights up?”

There’s also a call out to Michael Powell, the influential British director who co-created the film The Red Shoes, which inspired the record. Powell was a fan of Bush’s and had stated that he wanted her to create the music for one of his films before his death in 1990. As if calling out to her inspiration for approval, she sings, “Hey there, Michael / Do you really love me?”

There’s also another person who now presides over the song’s dedicated remembrance. Bush’s mother passed a year before the album’s release. However, the singer said that she’d already recorded the track and played it to her. “There’s a line in there that mentions a phrase that she used to say, ‘every old sock meets an old shoe,’ and when I recorded it and played it to her, she just thought it was hilarious! She couldn’t stop laughing. She just thought it was so funny that I’d put it into this song,” she explained.

But even after her mother had passed, adding another element of grief to the track, it remained a beloved number to Bush, who saw it as a perfect way to remember these lives and moments that moved her. “I don’t see it as a sad song,” she said, “I think there’s a sort of reflective quality, but I guess I think of it more as a celebration of life”.

On 15th November, it will be thirty-one years since Moments of Pleasure was released. You hear it played on radio now and then, though it is not heard as much as other Bush tracks. It warrants more respect. I mentioned the song when discussing The Red Shoes for recent anniversary features. I wanted to return to the song as it is such a great example of Bush’s gifts and distinctions as a writer. How she can drop in these lines that provoke imagination and beautiful visions. Heartache alongside celebration. Such a touching and rich song that sounds so relevant and poignant to this day! It is one of the sparsest songs on The Red Shoes. In the sense if is Bush at her piano (with lush orchestral arrangements by Michael Kamen). Not cluttered or with that many layers. The Director’s Cut version had a challenge to improve on the original, as Bush did not need strip too much away. Instead, I think the biggest change is her vocal. That new depth and age that somehow adds extra wisdom and potency to things. Giving the song new perspective rather than correcting any production issues or overcrowding. Moments of Pleasure is simply…

A beautiful song.

FEATURE: Life from the Other Side: Inside Kate Bush’s B-Sides

FEATURE:

 

 

Life from the Other Side

Inside Kate Bush’s B-Sides

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EVEN if I have written about this before…

I wanted to reinvestigate Kate Bush’s B-sides. Not all of them. I am omitting her very best B-side, Under the Ivy, as I am reserving that for a special feature down the tracks. There is some relevance and timing behind the feature. On 30th November, it will be six years since Bush’s B-sides were released as part of her definitive remastering project in 2018. The full set arrived on 8th March, 2019. I am going to focus on five standout B-sides that showcase new sides to Kate Bush. I think the trouble is people focus too much on A-sides. The singles that we all know and hear. People rarely dig to the albums tracks or songs that we do not hear that often. It is a big problem. So many people not aware of Kate Bush’s B-sides. So many interesting cuts that are worthy of investigation. I would suggest anyone who does not have the album to check it out. One of the issues is that The Other Sides is largely out of stock. You can find copies through Discogs, but it can come at quite a price. As Kate Bush has reissued her studio albums and they have had recent revision, how about something like The Other Sides?! You can check out the tracklisting here.  I think this is as close as we have come to Kate Bush opening up the archives. I think there are rarities and demos that are recorded that we have never heard. In terms of retrospection, she has been pretty dogged about the studio albums. No extras. I do wonder one day whether we can get the studio albums reissued with B-sides and some unheard takes. That may be a long shot. In the meantime, we do have The Other Sides. It is a shame that Selections from ‘The Other Sides’ on Spotify only has a couple of tracks available. There are some golden B-sides and covers that I think people need to hear.

I will talk about her B-sides and why they are so intriguing. I want to spotlight five particularly strong B-sides. The cover versions are great too. Maybe I will leave that for another feature. Her interpretative gift. It is a shame that there is not more written about The Other Sides. The B-sides did get a mention in this review of Bush’s Remastered Part II boxset:

“Sadly The Other Sides does not catch all of the non-album tracks – The Empty Bullring, Ken and the Live On Stage EP in particular are noticeable by their absence, but we do get one previously unreleased track, Humming.

Humming was recorded in 1975 and was produced by Andrew Powell, who also worked on The Kick Inside & Lionheart. It sounds very much of its time, with a mid-70s country lilt to the guitar work, but the song is missing the playful and adventurous arrangements of the songs that followed three years later. Recorded when Kate was 17, its a strong vocal performance and whilst it is good to hear music from Kate’s formative years, I feel that Humming would have sounded out of place on The Kick Inside.

A highlight of The Other Sides is Lyra, Kate’s contribution to The Golden Compass soundtrack. This is the first time the song has been released on a Kate Bush compilation. Its an understated but emotional track, and Lyra reminds me a little of the early recordings from the sadly now inactive Clannad.

Similar to the first collection of remasters, this Part II collection is a must-have if you don’t already own the albums. If you already own them, you will appreciate hearing the albums in these best sounding versions. The album’s are also available as individual releases, apart from The Other Sides, which remain exclusive to the CD and vinyl box-sets”.

B-sides are fascinating. For Bush’s first two albums, 1978’s The Kick Inside and Lionheart, we had B-sides that were albums tracks. The first single from her third studio album (1980’s Never for Ever), Breathing, featured a B-side of The Empty Bullring. Originals and cover versions featured more as B-sides from this point on. Some really interesting cover versions. Cloudbusting, the second single from 1985’s Hounds of Love, featured Burning Bridge and My Lagan Love among its B-sides. Burning Bridge concerns a woman desperately pleading with her lover to step up his level of commitment to her. The 12” edition of the single also included My Lagan Love. A cover of a traditional Irish song. From 1980 onwards, Bush’s B-sides were a mix of originals that were not album tracks, some album tracks and some eclectic covers. I love This Woman’s Work from The Sensual World. The album’s second single, we were treated to Be Kind to My Mistakes. That was on the U.K. 7” single. I’m Still Waiting was also on the 12” and single release. I love how a rare and elusive song like Show a Little Devotion was a B-side on Moments of Pleasure. From The Red Shoes, the single was released on 15th November, 1993. It is a whole world of its own the B-side. Often dismissed as an inferior song or something that was lying around, I think some of Bush’s most revealing or interesting songs were B-sides. We definitely got a more rounded impression of her as an artist. Everyone has their favourite Kate Bush B-side. As I say, I will reserve a special place for Under the Ivy in a later feature. That was the B-side for Running Up That Hill (A Deal with God).

It is really hard to select only five great B-sides. Very little is written about her B-sides. Most people, when they concentrate on Bush’s songs, go for singles or album tracks. Very little consideration of those B-sides. I am leaning on the always brilliant Kate Bush Encylopedia for their information and authority when it comes to providing more details regarding Bush’s work. The first B-side that comes to mind when recommending a deeper dive is Be Kind to My Mistakes. Appropriate for This Woman’s Work, it was originally written for a film. This Woman’s Work was written for She’s Having a Baby and was first heard in 1988. It would then appear on The Sensual World the following year. Be Kind to My Mistake, given to the film Castaway (Bush was approached to appear but dodged a bullet and didn’t have to film with Oliver Reed!), is a great track:

‘Be Kind To My Mistakes’ is a song written by Kate Bush, originally written for the soundtrack of the movie ‘Castaway’ (1987) and released on the soundtrack album. The line “Be kind to my mistakes” is spoken by Oliver Reed’s character at the end of the film, as he anticipates the future publication of Irving’s memoirs about the year she had just completed alone with him on a desert island.

Versions

There are three versions of ‘Be Kind To My Mistakes’: the original version, released on the soundtrack of ‘Castaway’ (1987), a version of that one which was released on a promotional 7″ single, and a remix version, released on the B-side of the single This Woman’s Work in 1989. The original version of ‘Be Kind To My Mistakes’ has a longer intro than the 1989 remix and also has a slightly different ending, with more echo on percussion. The version on the promotional 7″ single fades out, where the album version on the soundtrack crossfades into track 2 of the album.

Formats

‘Be Kind To My Mistakes’ was originally released on the soundtrack album ‘Castaway’ (1987). A promotional 7″ single, featuring Kate’s track plus ‘Chemistry’ by Brian Eno, was released in Germany only. Two years later, a remix of the track appeared on the B-side of the single This Woman’s Work and on the American mini album Aspects Of The Sensual World”.

Burning Bridge is a gem of a song. I doubt most Kate Bush fans are aware of the song. I do hope that we get all these songs back on C.D. and vinyl and readily available, as they do need to be treasured. Whilst one can get the studio albums, The Other Sides has sort of fallen out of favour. Not as much attention paid to it. Even if Kate Bush feels the song is a throwaway, I think it is a great B-side that should get more praise. I would love to see a video or visualisation of the song. It is interesting learning a bit more about Burning Bridge:

“Burning Bridge’ is a song written by Kate Bush. It was originally released as the B-side of the single Cloudbusting in 1985. According to Kate, it’s just a positive and trivial song, with superficial lyrics.

The track was first released on CD as part of the This Woman’s Work Anthology 1978-1990 box set. It was also included in the 1997 ‘EMI Centenary’ re-release of Hounds Of Love.

Kate about ‘Burning Bridge’

Again it was a song that was totally created for a b-side, and I knew that it was going on the other side of ‘Cloudbusting’. ‘Cloudbusting’ is not necessarily an up-tempo song and I feel that flips of records should be something that counterbalances the energy of the other side. So, I wanted something that was relatively up-tempo, and just a fun song. I don’t think the lyrics are by any means profound, but it was something that I felt was fun to do and was a very different energy from the a-side of the record. (Doug Alan interview, 20 November 1985)”.

Because of its importance, Warm and Soothing needs to be mentioned. In terms of its importance and how it links to Bush’s experiences with Abbey Road Studios. It is quite rare as it was a B-side to a single that was not included on an album. It means it is more obscure than many of her B-sides. I can picture Bush and her team recording Warm and Soothing. It is quite evocative to think of her in Abbey Road Studios and performing this song! It is one of my favourite lesser-known Kate Bush songs. One that more people need to know about. One of her very best B-sides:

“Warm And Soothing’ is a song written by Kate Bush. It was originally released as the B-side of December Will Be Magic Again in 1980.

The lyric starts out with a description of the warmth of a family home, but ends up describing a fear of growing old, trapped in a relationship that doesn’t seem to be very warm nor soothing.

Kate about ‘Warm And Soothing’

‘Warm And Soothing’ was a demo-tape which we did basically just to see what Abbey Road sounded like. We wanted to work there, and we went into Studio Two, and really the only way we could tell if it was going to sound good was if I went and did a piano vocal. So I did, and it sounded great. (Peter Swales, ‘Kate Bush’. Musician, Fall 1985)”.

I am going back up the tracklisting for the penultimate B-side recommendation. In addition to the fact it is Kate Bush singing in French – which is among the most beautiful things you could hear! -, it is a B-side that featured on lesser, relatively unsuccessful singles. One fears the B-side was not heard that much when it originally came out. The song is Ne T’enfuis Pas. Most people would not have heard it. This is a song that really needs to be experienced on vinyl. I do hope that there are future plans to reapproach The Other Sides. Here is some more information about a sublime song:

“Ne T’enfuis Pas’ is a song written by Kate Bush with French lyrics by Patrick Jeaneau and Vivienne Chandler.

‘Ne T’enfuis Pas’ (‘Don’t Run Away’) tells the story of a woman, worried that her lover is about to leave, wrestling with her conscience over her plans to make him stay.

Versions

There are two versions of ‘Ne T’enfuis Pas’: the original release on There Goes A Tenner and Suspended in Gaffa and the remix version (featuring ‘cleaner’ sounding vocals) appears on the 1983 single release and on the This Woman’s Work Anthology 1978-1990 box set, released in 1990.

Formats

The song was originally released as the B-side of the singles There Goes A Tenner (in the UK) and Suspended In Gaffa (in Europe). The title was misspelled as Ne T’en Fuis Pas in both instances, which means nothing in French. In July 1983, the song was released as a single in France and Canada, featuring Un Baiser D’enfant on the B-side.

In September 2019, a limited edition 12″ single, featuring the remastered versions of ‘Ne T’enfuis pas’ and ‘Un baiser d’enfant’ was released in France. Copies were sold out within days, but more copies were pressed later in the year.

Critical reception

Although ‘Ne T’enfuis Pas’ was not released in the UK, some copies were imported by Conifer, a record import/export firm. The song was played on BBC Radio 1 a few times and there was even a review in the UK press:

It begins with an earth shattering Linn drum pattern, with Del Palmer adding a rich fretless bass. Kate plays fairlight and breathes sensuously over the top…

Electronics and Music Maker, September 1983”.

Perhaps one of Kate Bush’s most explicit and direct B-sides, it is appropriate that the song appeared as  B-side of Babooshka. That song is about a wife that suspects her husband is unfaithful and tests that infidelity. The wife uses the pseudonym of Babooshka and sends notes to her husband in the guise of a younger woman. The B-side, Ran Tan Waltz, also is about fidelity and trust, though far saucier and perhaps not as clever or cryptic. One of the best combinations of songs. Kate Bush perhaps knowingly wanting to keep on a similar theme but do something more humorous with the B-side. I also love how it was wonderfully and eccentrically staged and performed during Bush’s 1979 Christmas special. A visualisation that was more T.V.-friendly but quite odd. I love it! Most people would not have known about Ran Tan Waltz. I think it is much more worthy than being this oddity. A great song that is among my favourite Kate Bush B-sides. If you have not heard the song or know anything about it, then here is a bit more detail:

“Ran Tan Waltz’ is a song written by Kate Bush. It was released as the B-side of the single Babooshka in June 1980.

The tone of the song is rather comic, while switching traditional gender roles. A young husband is left home holding the baby while the wife is out drinking and philandering.

Performances

The song was actually premiered during the Christmas Special Kate in December 1979. It was the only performance of the song ever”.

If you want a deeper dive into her B-sides and demos, this website is exceptional. So much detail! I am not the only one who is shining a light on some of Kate Bush’s B-sides. The very best. Others have had their say. This feature from 2023 mentions two honourable mentions: Home for Christmas and Passing Through Air. The latter is especially important (“Recorded soon after her 15th birthday in 1973, this is the earliest Kate Bush track to be officially released. The song, recorded at David Gilmour’s studio (and featuring Gilmour on guitar), was meant as a demo and shows how very different Bush’s career could’ve been. It’s the kind of light pop one could imagine a more middle-of-the-road female singer performing, though there are some surreal asides in the lyrics (“You mix the stars with your arms”). As Bush has issued so few previously unreleased tracks, this is a rare peek inside her vault”). Something I did not think about but might explore for another feature is which single and B-side combination is the strongest. For me it is Running Up That Hill (A Deal with God) and Under the Ivy. I don’t think any artist ever has released a better A and B-side. Two perfect songs that perfectly go side by side! This feature ran a poll and presented the results. It shows that other people share my view! However, it is a shame that December Will Be Magic Again/Warm and Soothing did not get more love. We need The Other Sides reissued and more widely available. A more affordable Kate Bush: Remastered in Vinyl IV. Many people are missing out on some wonderful B-sides and covers. I wanted to spend time on some golden B-sides. There are many more that we can explore and discuss. As I say, I am spotlighting Under the Ivy soon. Without a doubt, it is one of the best B-sides…

EVER released.

FEATURE: One for the Record Collection! Essential November Releases

FEATURE:

 

 

One for the Record Collection!

 IN THIS PHOTO: Michael Kiwanuka

Essential November Releases

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THERE are quite a few…

IN THIS PHOTO: Du Blonde

great albums out next month that you’ll want to add to your record collection. I will recommend those worth pre-ordering. Perhaps fewer than previous months, there is still a lot of great music coming. I will out with albums due out on 1st November. There are two I am going to recommend. The first is Du Blonde’s Sniff More Gritty. If you need more information about this tremendous album from one of our best young artists, then you can pre-order it here:

“Sniff More Gritty is an album of many faces, some belonging to Du Blonde, others belonging to a host of characters from past loves, to record industry executives, each played with humour and heartbreak in a one-man pantomime of glam-rock, punk, and a single, acrylic nail adorned middle finger. The glimmers of pop teased on 2021’s acclaimed Homecoming LP become firework displays that illuminate stories of missed connections, anxiety, controlling relationships and hard earned peace. In spite of darkness, Du Blonde is choosing fun.

Having self-produced her third album, after years of working relationships with record labels and industry producers, Du Blonde found herself able to finally express herself musically in a way that her previous situation would not allow. The freedom that came with her move to production and engineering opened up a new sonic world for Du Blonde, one that is arguably catchier, more colourful and more exciting than anything she had been allowed to bring forth previously. Sniff More Gritty is entirely performed (drums aside!), engineered and produced by Du Blonde, and also features unique collaborations with Skunk Anansie’s Skin, Against Me!’s Laura Jane Grace, Maximo Park’s Paul Smith and The Futureheads’ Ross Millard, with additional mixing by Sam Grant of Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs”.

One of the biggest and most anticipated albums of the year comes from The Cure. It is going to be exciting having their new album out in the world and seeing how it is perceived. Songs of a Lost World is going to be one of the biggest and most acclaimed albums of the year. The music they have released from the album so far has received so much love. Perhaps among their finest work ever. Here is where you can pre-order their upcoming album:

“Songs Of A Lost World is the long-awaited new album from The Cure, their 14th studio release and their first in 16 years.

Songs Of A Lost World was written and arranged by Robert Smith, produced and mixed by Robert Smith and Paul Corkett and performed by The Cure - Robert Smith: Voice / guitar / 6string bass / keyboard, Simon Gallup: Bass, Jason Cooper: Drums / percussion, Roger O'Donnell: Keyboard, Reeves Gabrels: Guitar. The album was recorded at Rockfield Studios in Wales.

Robert Smith created the sleeve concept, and Andy Vella, a long-time Cure collaborator, handled the album's art and design. The cover art features 'Bagatelle', a 1975 sculpture by Janez Pirnat”.

Even though the release date is listed as 1st November and it is available on Bandcamp that date, Rough Trade list it as 8th November. I am not sure whether 1st November is the U.S. release date. Even so, I would recommend people go and pre-order Mount Eerie’s Night Palace. It sounds like it is going to be a terrific album:

“Night Palace appears as a culmination of eras, arrived at after tumbling through decades of a tumultuous life and building from scratch in the settled dust. The 26 track album is a palace of many rooms, all welcoming, all varied. The songs stand vivid in their diamond sharp eloquence and distorted feedback, but only after traveling the album as a whole do we find the door. The palace is dilapidated with moss dripping through, airy, bright and open.

This is a return to the beloved deep analog fuzz world of the Microphones' the Glow pt. 2 (2001) and the many thickly embroidered Mount Eerie universes that have followed. Smashed tape, breathing air organs, crackling tube amps and a welcome living reality just outside the open window all entwine to push the definition of what's "home" and what's "studio", of what's a "song" and what's at the heart of the unmediated idea itself.

Phil Elverum has slowly acquired an underground cult status since the late 1990's for exactly this kind of work; building recorded atmospheric worlds that are distinctly bottomless with a fuzzed out mystery, while the songs themselves speak with a raw intimacy that can be shocking to hear. These are recordings of an individual mind and heart going deeper within while turning over each stone along the way.

Mount Eerie released another ambitious world of an album called Sauna in 2014. Immediately after, Elverum became a father and then his partner fell ill with a fatal cancer and died a year later. These and other brutal waves of change kept pounding for years and it was all documented in the white knuckle songwriting on the albums A Crow Looked At Me (2017), Now Only (2018) and Lost Wisdom pt. 2 (2019).

After a natural disaster, things do grow back. A person catching their breath after a traumatic experience has a kind of reoriented clarity. Art that is made without urgency or expectation has a chance to reach beyond the usual. It was in this patient clarity that Night Palace came to be written and recorded from 2022 to 2024. Elverum's life settled back down and he reassembled the old analog reel to reel studio at his quiet deep woods home and began experimenting again.

"I saw lighting last night, but heard nothing", the first song's first words announce. Mystery is back! Over the next 80 minutes the songs weave our concrete reality together with the charged and rippling world beyond. Birds squawk and we speak back. These are songs of re-surrendering to a state of wonder and abandoning the wrung-dry skepticism that this hard world can impose. And here is the hard world too, in songs of decolonization and backwoods protest. "Some zen, some Zinn" Elverum has joked. With two feet on the ground, he writes with a sharp eye trained toward the quiet flashes in the blue distance. The ground shifts”.

Before moving onto 15th November, there is one more from 8th that I want to spotlight. Primal Scream’s Come Ahead is another album you will definitely want to pre-order. If you need more information about the upcoming album from the legendary band, then there should be enough to tempt you below. I am definitely going to check out their new album. It sounds like a slight change of direction from Primal Scream:

“Come Ahead is Primal Scream’s 12th full length record. 11 new songs that find Bobby Gillespie preparing to release some of the most personal songwriting of the band’s career.

The songwriting process for Come Ahead began in 2019. At which point Bobby Gillespie had no idea if he would make another Primal Scream album again. For the first time, the lyrics came before the music. The story came first. Bobby wrote alone, using an acoustic guitar. Ideas flowed fast, in long bursts of inspiration. This process, in tandem with encouragement from producer David Holmes, provided a new way in. Working with Holmes and Primal Scream guitarist Andrew Innes, the Come Ahead sessions were completed between Belfast, London and Los Angeles.

“I'm very excited about this album in a way that you would be making your first record. If there was an overall theme to Come Ahead it might be one of conflict, whether inner or outer. The title is a Glaswegian term. If someone threatens to fight you, you say, ‘come ahead!’ It’s redolent of the indomitable spirit of the Glaswegian, and the album itself shares that aggressive attitude and confidence. They have a word for this up there, gallus. Come Ahead’s quite a cheeky title too.” Bobby Gillespie”.

There are four albums due on 15th November that you’ll want to consider. The first is Gwen Stefani’s Bouquet. It is an album I would urge people to pre-order. There is not a lot of information about the album available. It would be nice to have a bit more detail and insight. However, this People article from September gives us a little bit of insight. Whilst Bouquet might suggest a Country-heavy album, that is not necessarily going to be the case at all:

“While Gwen Stefani may have been sporting a cowboy hat in the photo that accompanied her album announcement for Bouquet, she has revealed that she isn't sticking to country music.

“It’s not a country record," she told Rolling Stone in an interview released Friday, Sept. 20.

Gwen Stefani performs during the iHeartRadio Music Festival at T-Mobile Arena on Sept. 20, 2024 in Las Vegas.

While the album was recorded in Nasvhille, the record is actually full of '70s pop-rock songs with Stefani's signature flair.

“It’s all the stuff I listened to in the station wagon on the way to church,” she said of the forthcoming record. “Yacht rock, though it wasn’t called yacht rock then. The music I listen to now, I wanted this album to reflect that.”

Stefani, 54, added that she wanted Bouquet to be "one big statement."

"That’s why I feel Bouquet is a really perfect title,” she said. “Like each song was handpicked with meaning”.

There is another great album out on 22nd November that you will want to pre-order. The amazing Michael Kiwanuka releases Small Changes. Following on from the Mercury Prize-winning KIWANUKA, it is going to be another prized and tremendous album from the London-based artist. If you want to pre-order the album then you are in for a treat:

“Small Changes is the eagerly anticipated follow-up to Michael’s eponymous third LP, the Mercury Prize winning, and Grammy Award nominated Kiwanuka. Small Changes was produced alongside Danger Mouse and Inflo, the team behind the globally acclaimed Kiwanuka and its equally acclaimed predecessor, Love and Hate. The new record was recorded between London and Los Angeles. The core trio made up of Kiwanuka and his trusty co-producers expanded into a wish-list ensemble that featured legendary bassist Pino Palladino (D’Angelo, John Mayer, Beyoncé) and Jimmy Jam of the iconic Jam and Lewis songwriting and production duo (Janet Jackson, Prince, SOS Band). A welcome return for one of Britain’s most talented of songwriters, most recognisable of vocalists, and most virtuosic of guitarists”.

On 15th November, Mary J. Blige releases Gratitude. Two years after Good Morning Gorgeous, we get another great album from an icon. There is not too much information out regarding Gratitude. There is an article from People that reacted to Mary J. Blige’s recent induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. If you are a fan of Blige’s work then you will definitely want to order your copy of her forthcoming album. I am really interested to see what it offers:

“Mary J. Blige’s induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame was nothing short of emotional.

Seconds after performing a sweat-producing medley of favorites from her decades-spanning body of work (“My Life,” “Love No Limit,” “Be Happy,” and “Family Affair”), the Queen of Hip-Hop Soul poured her heart and some tears into her speech at the Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse in Cleveland on Saturday, Oct. 19.

"If you’re a fan of Mary J. Blige, you know that I needed God," she told fans from the stage. "I needed something other than men."

After wrapping a photo shoot backstage, Blige spoke with PEOPLE about her new single, "You Ain't the Only One," out now, and more.

"I listen to a lot of stories that my fans talk to me about. I've been through a lot, but sometimes you listen to other people's stories, and you say, 'Wow, I'm just complaining' because their stories is worse than yours,” Blige says about the first single off her upcoming album, Gratitude.

Through teary eyes, the Grammy winner explains how listening to challenging stories from fans over the years has given her perspective on challenges of her own.

“Everyone has something that they're dealing with and that they're suffering through,” Blige says. “The single is basically saying, 'You're not alone. You're not the only one out here dealing with life. Life is not life-ing for you only."

Following the induction, the "Just Fine" singer hopes fans visiting her Rock & Roll Hall of Fame exhibit will walk away knowing more about her pre-stardom beginnings.

“The jersey [in the exhibit] represents how I came into game,” she says. “I came into the game with knee pads on, jerseys, leggings, hat turned backwards. It just shows the history of how I've been and who I am right now.”

After profusely thanking God in her acceptance speech, Blige also shared her gratitude for longtime collaborators Dr. Dre and Wu-Tang Clan's Method Man, who inducted her into the Rock Hall.

“Y’all have always been there for me from music to television," she said of the rappers. "I love y’all and appreciate you so much. These guys are here with me today, and they’re my friends."

Method Man and Blige collaborated in 1995 on "I'll Be There for You/You're All I Need to Get By.”

“I wouldn't be here if Mary didn't make the phone call. She actually called me to be here for her tonight,” Method Man tells PEOPLE backstage after the moment. “[Mary has gone] through trials and tribulations, most of her career being misunderstood, being put in spaces that she does not belong in, or she's too big for…I love her. I’m always rooting for her.”

Blige’s Gratitude comes out Nov. 15, and the title represents her current focus in life.

“I start my day off by giving thanks,” she says. “I do not step on the floor from out of my bed without giving thanks and praise to the most high God... And that's how I move. That's how I move”.

Before moving onto 22nd November, there is another album from 15th November that you will want to check out. Warmduscher’ Too Cold to Hold is an album I would recommend people look into. You can pre-order the album here. It sounds like it is going to be a pretty exciting album with some great guests contributing:

“Too Cold To Hold is undoubtedly their best and most ambitious album to date. Taking on board the repetitive and polyrhythmic grooves of gqom (an alluring South African take on house music), adding in a dash of hip hop flavours and even jazz, and then harnessing that to their punk-funk, disco pogo, it’s a spellbinding mix. The album is produced by the band’s Ben Romans Hopcraft alongside Jamie Neville.

Too Cold To Hold sees the band stretch out, open up and produce their most dazzlingly eclectic and honest album to date. One of the many aces in Too Cold To Hold is that not only does it give people what they want, it also provides what they need. Having come off tour enthused about what the future held for the band.

Guests include Irvine Welsh, Lianne La Havas, Janet Planet, Jeshi and CouCou Chloe”.

I am going to finish off with two great albums due on 22nd November. The first I want to bring your way is Father John Misty’s Mahashmashana. I love Father John Misty’s work, so this is going to be another awesome album by the sound of things. Even if you have not heard his music or are quite new to it then I would urge people to investigate the new album. There is a bit of information about it below:

“After a decade being born, Josh Tillman is finally busy dying. Mahashmashana is the sixth album by Father John Misty.  It was produced by Josh Tillman and Drew Erickson. It was engineered and additionally produced by Michael Harris.  It was arranged by Drew Erickson.  It was performed by Josh Tillman, Drew Erickson, Jonathan Wilson, Dan Bailey, Eli Thomson, David Vandervelde, Chris Dixie Darley, Jon Titterington, and Kyle Flynn.  It was executive produced by Jonathan Wilson.It was recorded and mixed at Five Star and East/West , United and Drew's House

Mahasmasana - great cremation ground, all things going thither”.

One notable album from this week that you will want to pre-order is Kim Deal’s Nobody Loves You More. The former Pixies and The Breeders musician prepares to release her first solo album. With its striking cover and eleven incredible songs on it, you will want to pre-order Nobody Loves You More. It does seem like it is going to be an album that you will not want to miss out on:

“Kim Deal releases her new album, Nobody Loves You More. Featuring recent single ‘Coast’, the collection of 11 songs is the Dayton, Ohio resident’s first full-length album under her own name.

Nobody Loves You More is Kim Deal’s debut album although it’s not the first time she has gone solo – she self-released a five-part, ten-song seven-inch vinyl series in 2013. In keeping with Deal’s meticulous approach to her art, the album was refined over several years. Its oldest songs, ‘Are You Mine?’ and ‘Wish I Was’, were written and originally recorded in 2011 shortly after Deal came off the Pixies’ “Lost Cities Tour” and relocated to Los Angeles (early versions of those songs were included in said vinyl series); the last recording for Nobody Loves You More took place in November 2022 with legendary engineer and close friend Steve Albini, who helmed final track ‘A Good Time Pushed’ at his Electrical Audio studio in Chicago. Along the way she has brought in a variety of collaborators from Breeders past and present (Mando Lopez, twin sister Kelley Deal, Jim Macpherson, Britt Walford), to Raymond McGinley (Teenage Fanclub), Jack Lawrence (Raconteurs) and Savages’ Fay Milton and Ayse Hassan. Nobody Loves You More was mixed by Marta Salogni and mastered by Heba Kadry.

Every song has a story behind it, from the winter vacations with her parents in Florida Keys (‘Summerland’), wedding band covers of ‘Margaritaville’ (‘Coast’) to her mother’s dementia (‘Are You Mine?’). All in all, the record is a celebration of Deal’s unmatched artistry, nodding not only to her career highlights with celebrated bands across the alternative landscape (Pixies, The Amps, The Breeders), but also to her immovable cultural weight influencing musicians like Kurt Cobain and Olivia Rodrigo through the generations”.

There are other albums due next month that you can see here. The ones above are those that I would recommend you pre-order or consider. It is an exciting month for new releases. Maybe not quite as over-stocked as the summer, there are still plenty of albums well worth buying. It goes to show that the quality of releases is pretty strong as we head towards…

THE end of the year.

FEATURE: The Digital Mixtape: Scary Songs

FEATURE:

 

 

The Digital Mixtape

PHOTO CREDIT: Joanne Adela/Pexels

Scary Songs

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THIS may not be the most melodious…

PHOTO CREDIT: Moisés Fonseca/Pexels

or instantly accessible Digital Mixtape I have put out. As Hallowe’en is two days away, I felt it was only right to put out a suitable playlist. Rather than do what I do every year and compile Hallowe’en songs from the past and present or songs that have a spooky connotation, I have chosen songs from albums that are deemed to be among the scariest ever. That, or some intense or creepy tracks from albums. I would advise a note of caution going into the playlist. Not in terms of language and anything explicit. More a mood and particular tone. It is quite a heavy listen but, as we are a couple of days shy from a very scary and dark day on the calendar, it is fair that such a mixtape should come forth. For those who like scares and edginess in music to come from the sound and lyrics rather than the themes and a general, less tangible vibe, then this is for you. To mark the approaching Hallowe’en, below is a Digital Mixtape with some biting cuts that can…

PHOTO CREDIT: cottonbro studio/Pexels

PROVIDE chills and scares.

FEATURE: Black History Month: Bringing New Music Series to the Screen

FEATURE:

 

 

Black History Month

PHOTO CREDIT: Josh Hild/Pexels

Bringing New Music Series to the Screen

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AS it is Black History Month…

PHOTO CREDIT: John-Mark Smith/Pexels

in the U.K., it makes me think about the representation of Black artists and stories on the screen. In terms of original series, there has not been a whole lot recently. I am not particularly talking about documentaries. In terms of music series, there are relatively few that features Black actors. It is easy to say that it is due to a lack of opportunity or space on the air. Maybe few filmmakers and writers coming through. I am also thinking about American series. I have been thinking of ideas that are set at particular points in times. Maybe people will say the ground has been covered when it comes to Hip-Hop in the 1980s or Disco in the 1970s. I have been thinking particularly about female Black actors bringing musical genres and periods to life. Maybe an original series that features a female Hip-Hop group in the late-1980s. Perhaps set in Brooklyn or another part of New York. Featuring a soundtrack of other artists from the time, it would be interesting because we would get another exploration and examination of a phenomenal time in music. One where Black artists were laying down these incredible messages and timeless albums. I know it was a tougher time for women in that day. Not given as much room and respect as their male peers. Regardless, there is no doubt that a lot of the best and most original music from that golden age of Hip-Hop was from the queens.

IN THIS PHOTO: The National Museum of African American History and Culture/PHOTO CREDIT: MIke Von/Unsplash

There are a few reasons why it would be wonderful seeing a series set in the 1980s or 1990s. Focusing on Hip-Hop and some of the queens of the genre. Perhaps it would be a fictional trio. One that has to fight for rights and power among some of the heavyweights. The backlash they face. Their relationships with each other and outside the group. The way they have to work from the bottom to get to the same level as their peers. It would be a compelling multi-part series that I think would get a lot of viewers. Either featuring some amazing women from Hip-Hop in New York or, and maybe we stay within the state, a series that takes on Disco as its centre. Perhaps not a Disco troupe but something like Studio 54. A series that looks at some of the last days of Disco and some incredible Black stories. Rather than having well-known artists and figures from the time tell their story, they would be part of the tapestry and background. I would love to take a look inside the Disco movement of the late-1970s. All of the social and political tension around then. How there was all sorts of music. Not that Disco is an entirely Black movement. It would put Black characters at the centre. We have seen an absence of original and grippling music series across streaming channels. I am trying to think of the most recent examples. Nothing comes to mind.. I have been watching great documentaries like Summer of Soul and am inspired. How they are so intoxicating. Summer of Soul is a 2021 American independent documentary film about the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival. I was awe-struck by it. I was looking around Disney+, Netflix and Paramount+ and you don’t really see many series with music at the core.

I do feel there would be a huge demand. Maybe a series that looked at different periods of music and history around New York. Starting in the late-1960s and maybe Harlem. Late-1970s and Disco. Hip-Hop of the 1980s. Perhaps then ending with the 1990s. Perhaps a ten-episode arc for each series. The fact the soundtracks would be so eclectic and stunning is a big draw. Highlighting some amazing rising actors and telling inspiring stories. Putting Black stories to the front. At the moment, I can’t see any on the horizon. I think we need to have more music series available. I am not sure what would rule them out. Perhaps the cost of clearing music. Harder to make the storylines and characters as appealing or watchable as something that was more dramatic or conventional. I don’t know. There would definitely be plenty of humour. As we are coming towards the end of Black History Month, my mind has been opening up. How few music series we have seen in the past few years. How there are even fewer that centre Black actors. I would love to see that shift. I am not sure what the title of the series would be. As I say. If it is a conceptual series that has four different series in different periods, it would provide more scope. The budget would not need to be huge. Logistically, I think something ambitious could be created without it being inaccessible. I do think networks should think about it. If there are writers and directors out there with these ideas. Once one comes to air and invariably takes off, there would be even more series blossoming…

IN THIS PHOTO: Inside a New York Disco in the 1970s/PHOTO CREDIT: Bill Bernstein via The Standard

AFTER that.

FEATURE: Kate Bush: The Tour of Life: 1994-2005: Taking a Break and Stepping Away

FEATURE:

 

 

Kate Bush: The Tour of Life

IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush in London at the 1994 fan convention on 8th May

1994-2005: Taking a Break and Stepping Away

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I want to be quite up front…

IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush in 1993/PHOTO CREDIT: John Stoddart

and transparent when it comes to my inspiration for various Kate Bush features. At the moment, I am re-reading a few biographies about Kate Bush. One by Tom Doyle, another by Rob Jovanovic and the other by Graeme Thomson. I will nod to each of them as I put these features out. In the course of reading back through them, they provide ideas for features. One that was influenced by Graeme Thomson and Under the Ivy: The Life and Music of Kate Bush concerns a subject I have touched upon when writing about 1993’s The Red Shoes and 2005’s Aerial. It is Kate Bush taking time out and stepping away from the industry. Not a full retreat, but definitely a need to lessen the workload for the improvement of her health and happiness. It is an important topic to alight on. A reason why Aerial was such an album of wonder and scope. Perhaps more rested, refreshed and revitalised by infusions of happiness and new responsibility. The birth of her son in 1998. Recognising that she did need to shift her priorities to herself rather than the music. As someone who spent days and weeks in studios slavishly working over songs in the pursuit of near-perfection, it was hard to break out of a routine. Bush had not really had much time to relax and not think about music since she was a teenager. Consider the years 1978 through to 1993. That fifteen-year period of intensity and work. Her appearance on Top of the Pops in 1994 performing And So Is Love was her final T.V. outing. You can see how tired she looked during that performance. It was clear that Kate Bush needed to repair. In fact, on page 281 of Graeme Thomson’s essential book, he writes, with regards to 1993’s The Line, the Cross and the Curve film and the overload of 1993 and some mixed reception, how “there was to be a break in transmission. Necessary repairs”.

I find that period between 1994 and 2005 fascinating. There was a feeling that Kate Bush had disappeared. There is a song on Aerial called How to Be Invisible. In media terms, Bush had disappeared. She has at the moment too. The fact that then and now, she has not been releasing music means people assume she is not active or relevant. Today, Bush is still engaging with fans and doing stuff. Providing us hopeful words that suggest a new album will come along soon enough. Even though she is not putting anything new out there at the moment, she is still keeping busy enough. When she did step away from regular recording and releasing music after 1993, it was a period of transition and readjustment. Apologies if I repeat previous features or ideas. She did pack a fair bit into the years between 1994 and 2005. I will concentrate on various events from that period in future features. I am not going to mention Aerial too much, as I covered the album a bit recently for anniversary features. I love how Kate Bush was focusing on her health, home and family. Building a new one. On 4th July, 1996, the wonderfully and reliably unique Kate Bush was ranking her favourite singers. Rather than them being human singers, Bush listed a couple of birds. Specifically, songwriter Don Black was on BBC Radio 2 and talked about a meeting with Kate Bush. She revealed her two favourite singers. At number one was a blackbird and the second was a thrush!

Whilst some would see Kate Bush moving to the country and breaking from transmission as something melancholic and ordinary, they forgot their history. Like Hounds of Love, Aerial’s music and moods were inspired by the scenes and sights of her surroundings. The infusion of the landscape and visuals. How she was free from too many distractions to write in a more open and imaginative way. Rather than a move to East Wickham Farm, Bush now moved into a 160-year-old building, a former mill house, at Theale. It is a beautiful and pricey house that Bush adapted and modified. A gorgeous and big garden plus a studio right by the lock. Similar to 1983 and 1984 when a bespoke studio was built near her family home, in the 2000s, Bush had her studio decked with harlequin floor and ballet bars. In public, there was this sense of ignorance and assumption. That Bush had either broken down or was gone for good. Definitely no sense that, actually, she was slowly and productively planning the next stage of her career. I am always compelled by Kate Bush’s connection to home. The connection between her surroundings and the way she writes. How her music comes together. Maybe it was a conscious effort to return to her post-The Dreaming life. Burned out in 1982, 1983 was a year of rebuild and refresh. Consciously exiling from smokier and more suffocating surroundings and building her own studio. Facing a similar exhaustion and breaking point after 1993, Bush set about giving herself some time to start again. At least create a more comfortable surrounding. Release another album when she wanted. Whereas there was only three years between The Dreaming and Hounds of Love, we waited twelve years for a follow-up after The Red Shoes.

IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush in 1993

I think that there was genuine hesitation releasing an album and maybe getting caught in a promotional cycle that could have caused more damage and stress. Bush clearly gathered plenty of inspiration from her garden; the birds that visited and her new family. Someone always captivated by people and things around her, she would not keep these recordings private. She wanted the world to hear a new album. However, knowing how bad things were by 1994 – the fact her mother died in 1992 and she broke up with Del Palmer – meant that she would have thought long and hard about putting out an album and how she would promote it. I love imagining Kate Bush in the mid/late-1990s in a great home with this cool studio gradually putting together Aerial. Bush’s new life in Theale (just outside Reading) meant that the everyday and family was back into her music. Something much more important and personal. Maybe she felt her music was becoming less personal or easy to write. Not that Aerial was easy to write. However, you get the feeling of more air and space. Things gradually wound down after promotional interviews for The Line, the Cross and the Curve in April 1994 (the film got a limited cinematic release). She released a cover of The Man I Love in 1994. As I will discuss in a future feature, Bush donated original artwork to War Child for a celebrity auction.

I actually think that her post-The Red Shoes years was more interesting and diverse than the years before. Rather than plugging an album or releasing a new one (Regarding King of the Mountain) - “She first recorded a rough track just two years into her hiatus. Most of the vocals were from the original demo because she couldn't capture the same feeling when she revisited the tune years later” - she was laying foundations and focusing on things away from music. It is a little strange and heartbreaking knowing Kate Bush had some regrets about The Red Shoes. Somewhat apologetic in terms of its quality and potential. Maybe a little over-long and not as good as it could have been. The 1994 fan convention was the last Kate Bush attended. Negative press around The Red Shoes and The Line, the Cross and the Curve contributed to serious exhaustion. Bush was burned out. She did need to regroup and retreat. Some artists would have retired or come back with a lesser work. Instead, Kate Bush needed to get out of the studio. When speaking during a dubbing session for The Line, the Cross and the Curve, Bush said she needed to get away from the studio. She had not wasted many years or had any significant break. Not to lean too heavily on Under the Ivy: The Life and Music of Kate Bush but, when reading about Bush’s plans after 1994, there were some genuinely emotional observation. Her mentioning – during that dubbing session – the love of the sea and being there recalled childhood trips to the seaside. A mention of the joy of museums took us back to 1976 and that pre-The Kick Inside time when she was taking in art, literature, culture and strands of inspiration. It was clear that she was a little lost and needed to find her way back.

IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush at the Q Awards on 29th October, 2001

In a future feature, I will discuss how 1994 and 1995 were particularly tough years. What is curious about the time after 1994 is how the press jumped on this absence. How Bush, always seen as a recluse and odd figure, was in some castle or gothic mansion away from the light. The rather insulting and dismissive terms they employed. Kate Bush needn’t have worried. She needed that time away. Bush was always wary of the press and their intrusive nature. Bad enough that they were spreading rumours about her when she stepped away from the spotlight a bit, there was a new wave of media in 2000 hysteria when Peter Gabriel accidentally let slip that she had a new son. Bush started recording interviews she was involved with from 1990 onwards. Keen to be represented correctly. Not being misquoted. Although the start of this period of downtime and rebuild was marked by some black months, there was this sense of nesting and rebuilding. New home, studio and family. I think that many people assume the twelve years between The Red Shoes and Aerial was Kate Bush doing nothing. In fact, there were bursts of activity and visibility. Away from the media and behind the scenes, she was busy drawing up blueprints. Spending some necessary and positive time focusing on life and ensuring that she could continue her career. Things would change with her new album. I do think there is an entire book in the years before Aerial’s arrival. How many interesting things happened in that time. Including Kate Bush writing a series of short compositions for adverts for a new drink, Fruitopia. Bush recording her rendition of Mná na hÉireann in 1995 for the 1996 compilation album, Common Ground – Voices of Modern Irish Music. In future features, I will also check off some of the events and notable moments after 1996. A 2001 Q interview. Her appearing at the Q Awards and being photographed with John Lydon. All the while, she was recording and putting together a future double album. Finding time to rest and recharge. Something she hadn’t had the chance to do since she was a teenager. In 2005, the divine Kate Bush returned…

STRONGER and more wonderful than ever.

FEATURE: The Digital Mixtape: The Top Twenty

FEATURE:

 

 

The Digital Mixtape

PHOTO CREDIT: kelvin carris/Pexels

The Top Twenty

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THIS is a somewhat…

PHOTO CREDIT: Digital Buggu/Pexels

simple Digital Mixtape. I am including twenty songs with numbers in them. Specifically, it is albums or songs with the numbers one through twenty included, in sequential order. Starting with the number one and then working down to twenty. Just a nice way of including some broad and diverse music and having that numerical theme. Many people might have their own altering opinions when it comes to the songs and albums collated. I think that ‘1’ was quite obvious from my viewpoint, though there are many albums featuring that number. It has been fun thinking about what to include and some numbers where there are fewer options! A great top twenty of interesting songs and albums, this Digital Mixtape is one I have been meaning to do for a while now. I hope that you enjoy…

PHOTO CREDIT: Mick Haupt/Pexels

THIS numerical blend.

FEATURE: The Digital Mixtape: Prince Charming: Adam Ant at Seventy

FEATURE:

 

 

The Digital Mixtape

Prince Charming: Adam Ant at Seventy

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ONE of music’s…

true innovators and personalities turns seventy on 3rd November. The brilliant Stuart Goddard, a.k.a. Adam Ant fronted the brilliant Adam and the Ants. One of the most distinct and pioneering bands ever in my mind. Their lead filled with this charisma and raw talent. The dandy highwayman. This Prince Charming! Even if you were not old enough to be there in the 1980s and see this incredible showman and songwriter at the peak of his powers, you will recognise songs like Prince Charming, Antmusic and Stand and Deliver. In fact, Adam Ant is currently touring the U.K. He will play Manchester on his seventieth birthday, so I hope he gets an extra-warm reception! To mark the approaching seventieth birthday of Adam Ant, I am going to end with a playlist with some Adam and the Ants and Adam Ant tunes. A mix of classics and deeper cuts. Prior to getting to that playlist, AllMusic provide some biography about the peerless and phenomenal Adam Ant:

“One of the seminal figures of new wave, Adam Ant (born Stuart Leslie Goddard) had several distinct phases to his career. Initially, he explored a jagged, guitar-oriented post-punk with his group Adam and the Ants before giving way to a more pop-oriented, glam-tinged musical direction that brought him to the top of the charts. After that had run its course, he refashioned himself as a mainstream singer, which enabled him to stretch his career out for a couple of years. Once it seemed that his musical career had evaporated, he made an unexpected comeback in the early '90s as an adult alternative artist. During all this time, he recorded several great pop singles and had a surprisingly large impact on alternative rock.

Adam Ant formed Adam and the Ants with guitarist Lester Square, bassist Andy Warren, and drummer Paul Flanagan in London in 1977. The group's approach was more theatrical than most punk groups, incorporating sadomasochistic imagery into their concerts. During this time, the group's lineup was fairly unstable, with Square being replaced by Mark Gaumont. The band released their debut, Dirk Wears White Sox, on the independent label Do It in 1979. Dirk was an ambitious and somewhat dark album, filled with jerky rhythms and angular guitar riffs, and elements of glam rock crept into Adam's vocals; Adam re-acquired the rights to the record in 1983, reissuing it in a resequenced and remixed form, with the tracks "Catholic Day" and "Day I Met God" replaced by "Zerox" and "Kick," as well as including a new version of "Cartrouble."

At the time of its release, Dirk Wears White Sox wasn't a critical or commercial success, and the band felt the need to rework their image. Ant hired Malcolm McLaren, the manager of the Sex Pistols, to help redefine them. McLaren dressed the band in pirate outfits and suggested a more accessible and pop-oriented, rhythmic variation on punk. Adam and the Ants followed his advice, preparing material for a new album. However, McLaren persuaded all of the Ants to leave Adam, using them as the core members of Bow Wow Wow. Adam Ant immediately formed a new version of the Ants, adding guitarist Marco Pirroni, bassist Kevin Mooney, and drummers Terry Lee Miall and Merrick (born Chris Hughes). Pirroni, in particular, became very important in the band's musical direction, co-writing the majority of the songs with Adam, thus beginning a collaboration between the duo that would continue into the '90s.

Driven by a relentless, driving beat and chanting melodies, the new band's first album, 1980's Kings of the Wild Frontier, became an enormous hit in the U.K., launching three Top Ten hit singles, including the number two "Ant Music." The band's success was helped by a series of visually enticing videos, prominently featuring the skinny, handsome Adam Ant decked out in pirate gear. Prince Charming, released the following year, retained the same formula as Kings of the Wild Frontier, spawning two number one singles, "Stand and Deliver" and "Prince Charming." Even though the album was a commercial success, the formula was beginning to wear thin.

After Prince Charming, Adam Ant ditched the Ants for a solo career, retaining Marco Pirroni as a songwriting collaborator and a supporting musician. Adam's first solo album, Friend or Foe, was released in 1982 and featured the number one single "Goody Two Shoes" and the Top Ten title track. Although his next album, 1983's Strip, had some highlights and hit singles, it marked the end of his reign as one of Britain's top pop stars.

Released in 1985, the Tony Visconti-produced Vive le Rock had some fun moments, but the performance was too studied and the record didn't earn any hit singles, so Adam Ant pursued a surprisingly successful career in acting. In 1990, Ant made a comeback with the catchy hit single "Room at the Top" from the Manners & Physique record, but the album failed to produce another hit single. For the next five years, Ant concentrated on acting.

By the time Adam Ant returned to recording in 1995, echoes of his music could be heard in the spiky singles of Elastica, the neo-goth industrial rock of Nine Inch Nails, and the pseudo-glam of Suede. Instead of capitalizing on the burgeoning new wave revival, Adam Ant's 1995 comeback, Wonderful, had little to do with the stylish, intensely rhythmic music he made in the early '80s. Instead, the album repositioned him as a more mature pop-rocker, with crafted songs that featured acoustic guitars as prominently as electrics. The album was a moderate hit in the U.S. and the U.K., as was the single "Wonderful."

Following the promo push for Wonderful, Adam Ant and Pirroni attempted to write a new clutch of songs but no finished album came of it, nor did anything surface from various sessions over the next few years. Instead, the rarities-studded retrospective Antbox appeared in 2000. Ant continued his attempts to launch new projects -- including a collaboration with Morrissey guitarist Boz Boorer, who did appear on Wonderful -- but he also suffered from erratic behavior, resulting in several arrests between 2002 and 2003, leading to a period of hospitalization for mental health (he was later diagnosed with bipolar disorder). A further round of reissues arrived in the mid-2000s, this time expanded double-discs of his first six albums, all containing a second disc with rarities, B-sides, and unreleased material. At the conclusion of this campaign came Stand & Deliver, Ant's autobiography, which he promoted with his first live performance in 11 years. Soon, Adam Ant began to mount a proper comeback, beginning a new label called Blueblack Hussar Ltd in 2010, then starting to perform with regularity, touring the U.K., Europe, U.S., and Australia as he began to work out new material. This new material finally surfaced in January 2013 as the messy, ambitious pseudo-concept album Adam Ant Is the BlueBlack Hussar in Marrying the Gunner's Daughter”.

I am looking forward to 3rd November and seeing how people pay tribute to Adam Ant. Someone I hope has not done in terms of albums. It would be great to see another album from someone who still seems impossibly cool and otherworldly. Like David Bowie in a sense. Someone who has this persona and magnetism that is constantly engaging and exciting. Those three albums from Adam and the Ants – 1979’s Dirk Wears White Sox; 1980’s Kings of the Wild Frontier and 1981’s Prince Charming – is one of the greatest golden runs in all of music. No dropping a step with three timeless albums. With plenty of Adam and the Ants and some Adam Ant blended together, below is a mixtape saluting Stuart Goddard’s Adam Ant…

AT seventy.

FEATURE: Volume Control: Why Clubs and Gigs for Neurodivergent People Is Particularly Important

FEATURE:

 

 

Volume Control

PHOTO CREDIT: Laura Stanley

Why Clubs and Gigs for Neurodivergent People Is Particularly Important

_________

TAILORING gigs to people…

IN THIS PHOTO: Sensory stimulation at a Disco Neurotico event/PHOTO CREDIT: Wendy Gannon/wo0 Photography

with particular needs it quite difficult. I don’t think a lot of venues have quite cracked it when it comes to providing safe and easy access for disabled people. There are also the needs of women to take into consideration. If they feel threatened at a gig and need a calm space of safety. There are a lot of considerations today. It is a good thing that this is being discussed. Live music should be accessible to all. In terms of adapting spaces so that this is the case, how easy is it? Maybe smaller venues might have a more difficulty in adapting and modifying so that they can support a variety of different people. It is quite hard for neurodivergent people to feel comfortable at gigs. For me, it is the noise of gigs and not being able to be heard. I feel quite nervous and awkward around other people, so it is not that easy and experience going to gigs. I go to the odd gig but, when I do go for one, it tends to be smaller venues to see an artist I know well. I tend not to take risks when it comes to spaces and new acts. It is a pity that it is quite stressful going to gigs as I would like to do it more. It might be impossible for all gigs and venues to cater to neurodivergent people – even though they are a large part of the population. I think there are a lot more neurodivergent people out there than we think. With conditions such as autism or ADHD. The gig-going experience can be daunting for many. I know there are special club nights and gigs that are designed for those who live with neurodivergence. In fact, a recent article from The Guardian investigated the rise of clubs and gigs for neurodivergent people:

“Neurodiverse is the umbrella term for a range of diagnoses and experiences, including but not limited to autism, ADHD, dyslexia and dyspraxia, and which often occur together – it’s estimated that one in seven people in the UK are neurodivergent. Out of Body Pop is part of a growing clutch of music events geared towards these audiences, many of whom find regular nights out difficult. My own experience as a music journalist with ADHD has been marked by festival meltdowns: sudden bursts of anger or tears after days of sensory and social overwhelm.

“For weeks before I go to a show, I will be stressed out about it and going over every single potential outcome,” says Marianne Eloise, a writer whose book Obsessive, Intrusive, Magical Thinking explores the convergence of autism, fandom and fixation. “Everything about it is overwhelming, no matter how many times I do it: travelling there, getting inside, standing around annoying people, finding a space, leaving. I hate every second of a show that isn’t the precise 90 minutes I am watching the band, but that time is so precious and feels so good that all the other bullshit is worth it.”

IN THIS PHOTO: Will Soer, the founder of Out of Body Pop, a ‘neuro-inclusive’ event in London/PHOTO CREDIT: Rita Simao

The aim of neuro-inclusive gigs is to reduce these obstacles, and let autistic fans and those with other neurodivergences access music spaces without such a physical and mental toll.

From dedicated events such as Out of Body Pop and Disco Neurotico to relaxed performances from the London Symphony Orchestra, and queer-centric events like Dalston Superstore’s Spectrum club night, the neuro-inclusive live music scene is as diverse as the people who make it. As charities like Stay Up Late campaign to increase nightlife access for autistic people and adults with learning disabilities, neurodivergent promoters are taking matters into their own hands, informed by lived experience and community research.

“In terms of my own neurodivergence, I feel like I experience things at quite a low level of intensity,” says Out of Body Pop creator Will Soer. “So part of Out of Body Pop is trying to create an environment where you can sink into something in various different ways” – hence the painting as well as dancing.

Accessibility for neurodivergent people often revolves around making spaces feel less overwhelming, and brands are taking notice. Take earplug manufacturers Loop: while their products were initially positioned as an aesthetically pleasing way to prevent hearing loss among concertgoers, recently the brand have made the neurodiversity angle explicit, with their Loop Engage 2 earplugs marketed as “earplugs for ADHD”.

However, many neurodivergent people actively seek out highly sensory experiences, finding comfort or joy through texture, sound or movement. When it comes to music we might be fans of black metal, EDM or the looping rhythm of shoegaze; anything you can lose yourself in. Live, the music and the crowd can block out other mental input and positively overwhelm the senses, leaving little space for the looping, intrusive thoughts neurodivergent minds can be so prone to. “I do also enjoy a pop show and have seen a ton of pop girlies live, but there is nothing like a rock show,” says Eloise. “Something about the chaos, the wall of sound, the bodies crashing into each other – it doesn’t really leave room for getting irritated or overwhelmed. Most of the time.”

But even sensory-seekers may still feel overwhelmed at gigs, fuelled by other difficulties with things such as crowds, expectations and emotional regulation, so the challenge for promoters is how to best serve these often conflicting needs. Disco Neurotico, a reimagined rave series that puts on events for neurodivergent and anxious clubbers across England, are now looking to implement “chaos rooms”: spaces filled with soft-play structures, drum’n’bass and strobe lighting, which will provide a safe environment for sensory-seeking punters”.

It is a good thing that a range of projects are out there for people with various neurodivergent needs. Every punter has different needs. It is complex coming up with a single solution. I worry that regular gigs will alienate more and more people. If we specifically want to go and see a particular artist, it may be far too stressful. I guess you cannot change things radically so that every person feels safe and relaxed. For me, it is bigger and packed crowds that is quite intimidating. A lot of noise. The stress of having to talk over loud noise and a lot of chatter. You can’t really do much about this. It is a shame that so many people with neurodivergence avoid most gigs because they feel like they will suffer so much. I am also routine-based and find it quite intense if I do not get home at a particular time. It is not as severe for me as it is for many, though I do find gigs quite intense and full of obstacles. Struggling to really relax and enjoy things. It is interesting that many neurodivergent people prefer the stimulation of excess. The bodies crashing into one another. The distraction and catharsis that they can find there. Many are the opposite. They go for something calmer and more private. For me and so many others, there is a tolerance level. A certain size of crowd. The largest gig I went to was to see Queens of the Stone Age at the O2 years back. It was quite daunting going in and queuing up but okay when the show started as I was so high up and the volume was not that bad. I was sat down too so it was more like going to the cinema in a sense. Seeing people near the band compacted and jumping around was quite nervy and unsettling. I have been to smaller gigs where you are close to people and it is quite awkward. Not sure how to move, react or emote. I find the volume there is more noticeable and intense.

PHOTO CREDIT: Photo By: Kaboompics.com/Pexels

I do like the fact there are these initiatives and ideas to make live music more appealing and less stressful for people who are neurodivergence. It is going to be very difficult catering to everyone. Neurodivergence is a broad spectrum. Someone who is ADHD has different symptoms and difficulties compared to someone who is autistic or has other needs. Tailoring gigs that much is not going to be feasible. However, as much as I like the consideration going into these bespoke and tailored spaces/ideas, I do wonder about regular gigs. Is it possible to make it more appealing for the neurodivergent?! I am seeing Nadine Shah play at the 02 Kentish Forum next month and I am excited, as she is one of my favourite artists. However, from the nerves of finding the place and getting there on time to having enough space to see the gig and not be crowded, through to the noise and whether I will truly enjoy the performance, there are these things nagging and niggling. Maybe it isn’t really possible to adapt the gig-going experience so that it is truly all-inclusive. As I mentioned earlier, women who perhaps feel intimidated in a venue and fearful of sexual harassment or assault, how do you truly protect and make them feel safe?! The more discussion we have, the more we can make gigs fun and safe for everyone. Also, there is this issue with venues closing at an alarming rate. Quite a difficult time for live music. It would be ideal, in years to come, if we can preserve as many venues as possible and make the gig-going experience happy and comfortable…

FOR everyone.

FEATURE: No Longer a Pretender: Madonna's Iconic Like a Virgin at Forty

FEATURE:

 

 

No Longer a Pretender

IN THIS PHOTO: Madonna during an MTV interview in 1984

Madonna's Iconic Like a Virgin at Forty

_________

ONE of the most important albums…

of the 1980s turns forty on 12th November. Like a Virgin is the second studio album from Madonna. It followed a year after her eponymous debut. I am going to get to some feedback and reaction to the album. Produced by Nile Rodgers, the album is one of the most important and iconic of all time. Like a Virgin’s title track was Madonna’s first number one single; Material Girl reached number two. I want to open things with a bulleted interview that appeared in the May 1985 issue of SPIN. It is a fascinating insight into Madonna’s career and life at that time:

“Trash

I like to look the way Ronnie Spector sounded: sexy, hungry, totally trashy. I admire her tonal quality. I don’t have a deep, throaty voice or a womanish voice when I sing. I think my voice sounds innocent and sexual at the same time. That’s what I try to tell people, anyway; but they always misconstrue what I mean when I say “sexual innocence.” They look at me and go, “innocent, huh?” They think I’m trash.

Sexcess

I couldn’t be a success without also being a sex symbol. I’m sexy. How can I avoid it? That’s the essence of me. I would have to have a bag over my head and over my body; but then my voice would come across, and it’s sexy.

Idols

My first pop idol was Nancy Sinatra. Go-go boots, miniskirt, blond hair, fake eyelashes — she was cool. My first movie idol was Marilyn Monroe. The movie character I identified most with, though, was Holly Golightly; because when I first came to New York, I was lonely, lived by myself, was going to parties and not fitting in. I loved Brigitte Bardot, especially in Contempt. She kept saying, “Do you love me? Tell me what is beautiful about me.” I can relate to that totally because I really care abut the way I look. I wanted to look like Brigitte Bardot. I wanted to make my hair blonder and wear pointy bras and go out with Roger Vadim. I also wanted to look like Jean Seberg in Joan of Arc. I was religious, in a passionate, adolescent way. Jesus Christ was like a movie star, my favorite idol of all.

Look-Alikes

If I were a girl and knew me, I’d want to dress like me. If I were a guy, I’d dress either like Gregory Peck, when he was really young, or James Dean. I’d either wear ripped jeans and a T-shirt or a suit and tie.

Eating Out

At one point I was living in New York and eating out of garbage cans. Actually, it was not a garbage can on the street; it was the garbage can in the Music Building on Eighth Avenue where I lived with Steve Bray, the guy I write songs with. (He’s Useful Male #2 or #3, depending upon which article you read.)

I had been squatting in a loft, living there illegally, but it burned down. There was no heat or hot water, so I had all these electric space heaters around this little piece of carpeting I slept on. I woke up in the middle of the night surrounded by a ring of fire. One of the heaters had set fire to the rug and it was spreading. I jumped up and dumped water on the fire, which made it spread more. Then my nightgown caught fire. So I took it off, got dressed, grabbed a few things, like underpants and stuff — all my important things like tapes and instruments were already over at the Music Building three blocks away — and I went over to the Music Building and started sleeping there.

I had a band at the time and was playing places like Max’s and C.B.G.B.’s. All the money we made paid for the van that transported our equipment. We shared our rehearsal loft with another band, so they practically paid the rent for us, and all our equipment was in that one room. Steve and I slept between amplifiers. We budgeted what little money we had to about $1 a day. We had credit in all the Korean delis within a five-block radius of the Music Building and with our dollar we’d get some yogurt and peanuts. Then Steve and I would fight over whether we should mix the peanuts with the yogurt. He liked to eat them together and I liked to eat them separately. When we’d run out of money, I’d pass by the garbage can in the lobby of the Music Building, and if it smelled really good — like if there was a Burger King bag sitting on top that someone had just deposited — I’d open it up, and if I was lucky, there would be french fries that hadn’t been eaten. I’m a vegetarian, which is why I didn’t eat the burger.

Money

The first real money I ever got was $5,000 from Sire Records, and the first expensive thing I bought was a Roland synthesizer. The next big money I got was publishing money for writing songs. I would get $1,000 for every song I wrote. I wrote most of the songs on my first album, so I got what seemed like a lot of money at the time, and I moved to the East Village and got my first apartment. With the next money, I moved to a loft in Soho, which was triple the rent I was paying in the East Vil-lage. These were all necessary things. The most extravagant thing I ever bought — that I felt really guilty about buying — was a color TV. I never had a TV before in the seven years that I had lived in New York. When I grew up I didn’t have a color TV. So I got a color TV, a VHS machine, and a push-button remote control.

Belly Buttons 

My favorite button is my belly button. I have the most perfect belly button: an inny, and there’s no lint in it. I never wore a jewel in my belly, but if I did it would be a ruby or an emerald, but not a diamond. When I sticky my finger in my belly button, I feel a nerve in the center of my body shoot up my spine. If 100 belly buttons were lined up agaisnt a wall, I could definitely pick out which one is mine.

Crucifixes

Crucifixes are sexy because there’s a naked man on them. When I was a little girl, we had crucifixes all over the house, as a reminder that Jesus Christ died on the cross for us. Crucifixes are something left over from my childhood, like a security blanket. I liked the way they look and what they symbolized, even before they were fashionable. I buy mine in Spanish bodegas, where they have rosaries in lots of colors. I have a really long one that looks white in the light, but glows in the dark. Every new-wave designer has crucifixes in the their line. Calvin Klein doesn’t, but he’s Mr. Mainstream. Girls who buy Calvin Klein jeans don’t wear crucifixes.

Bras

I have to wear a bra. I’m the only one in my family with breasts. Bras that open in the front are the best, and torpedo bras are the sexiest. On my Like A Virgin record cover and in all my photographs, like when i did the MTV show, I’m in my bustier. Bustiers are very restricting.They have ribs that make you feel like you’re suffocating and zip up the back. They’re tight and squeeze you in. I wear them because they’re very 19th centuryish. They have that really svelte look. I like the way it makes my body look. It’s very sexual. I have about five of them. I go to a regular lingerie store and get the basic nylon bustier, with no frills, and have it customized with lace or tulle. I wish I was flat-chested and didn’t have to wear a bra. It’s one extra piece of clothing to worry about.

Returning Calls 

I used to call different management companies, agencies, A&R people, club owners, you name it, and no one ever returned my calls. If someone did, ten-to-one it was some horny old man who was in charge of listening to tapes and when he’d hear my voice, he’d want me to come in and bring the tapes, and then he’d put the make on me. Now when I call people they come right to the phone. Everyone except John Peters, the big Hollywood producer who did Flashdance, and my movie Visionquest. He’s a real schemer — wheeling and dealing all the time — and the only one who doesn’t call me back.

Sister Madonna 

If I wasn’t doing what I’m doing, I would be a nun. The reason I’m not a nun is because you can’t take your own name. How could I change my name? I have the most holy name a woman can have. But if I had to change my name, I’d use my confirmation name, Veronica. I chose her because she wiped the face of Jesus, which I thought was really dramatic.

Physical Attractions 

I dig skin, lips and Latin men. I’m attracted to bums. When I went to Paris, I hung out with Algerians and Vietnamese guys who didn’t have jobs, who just drove around on motorcycles and terrorized people. I’ve always been attracted to people like that, because they’re rebels and they’re irresponsible and challenge the norm. I try to rehabilitate them. I’m just trying to be the mother I never had.

Virginity

I wouldn’t like to sleep with a guy who was a virgin. I’d have to teach him stuff and I don’t have the patience. I’d rather deal with experience. When I say virgin, like in my song, I’m not thinking about sexual virgin. I mean newness. Even after I made love for the first time, I still felt like I was a virgin. I didn’t lose my virginity until I knew what I was doing.

Monogamy

The longest monogamous relationship I’ve had was two-and-three-quarter years, right before Jellybean, with someone who never wants to see me again. He’s the guy trying to run me over in my “Burning Up” video. It wasn’t just because I was seeing someone else. Our relationship was deteriorating anyway. But I’ve had my heart broken, too. All my boyfriends hurt me in their way, by lots of thing, but I’m not telling you.

Stepped-on Men

All those men I stepped all over to get to the top, everyone of them would take me back because they still love me and I still love them. I wish I was a million different people so I could stay with each boyfriend while moving on to another one. I learn more, want more, and suddenly — that person isn’t enough. The problem is, after you start to love someone, you start to hurt them. I get interested in somebody else and I latch on to that interest to get me through the other one. It’s awfully painful, but then I have this new guy to look forward to.

IN THIS PHOTO: Madonna in 1984/PHOTO CREDIT: Tabak/Sunshine/Retna UK

Records

The first song I remember hearing was “The Twist” by Chubby Checker. The first record I ever bought was either “Incense & Peppermint” or “Give Me a ticket for an Airplane.” I don’t remember if there was music playing when I lost my virginity, but the best music to make love to nowadays is anything funky or soulful, like the Gap Band, Prince or the Isley Brothers. The best music to wake up to is “Moments in Love” by Art of Noise and the best music at the moment to workout to is anything by Prince, Lime, Bronski Beat or Bruce Springsteen. My first album was a total aerobics records. I make records with aerobics in mind. When I’m mad or have a fight with my boyfriend, I work out.

Bad Press

I get so much bad press because people associate a girl who’s successful with a bimbo or an airhead. Sexy boys never get bad press. Do you think they’d bug Prince if he pulled out his dick on stage? If I ever did something like that, I’m the slut of the year.

Fights

Most of the fight I have with boyfriends are how I’m not paying enough attention to them or I’m always off doing things for my career. Of course, I disagree. I have a lot of shit to do right now. I’m always surrounded by people. I have a very visible career. I got to go out West and audition guys to be in my videos and I got to kiss guys in my movies. But I always say it’s the quality of time and not the quantity of time. If you spend the time that you do have together not fighting, you might enjoy each other.

Little Madonna

I was never a Girl Scout, but I was a Campfire Girl and a Brownie. Campfire Girls had the cooler uniform. I was never good at being part of an organization. When I was a Brownie, I ate all the cookies. When I was a Campfire Girl, I’d camp out with the boys and get into trouble.

Fantasy Photo

Of all the great photographs in history, I’d most like to have been in one of me having dinner with John Kennedy, with Marilyn Monroe sitting next to him, singing “Happy Birthday”.

I want to move to a feature from Entertainment Weekly from 2022. I did not know that an ex-manager of Madonna suggested Like a Virgin sound like Michael Jackson’s Thriller. You can see why there was this feeling. A commercial album that is one of the all-time greats, it was a bit of an awkward moment. In the end, what we hear on Like a Virgin is timeless and individual:

“The Queen of Pop always got what the Queen of Pop wanted — even when she was still a rising princess fresh on the scene.

Madonna has revealed that one of the most memorable eras in her career was preceded by a "frustrating" period of conflict, as she battled high expectations after her meteoric rise to stardom and a manager attempted to retool her sound while they prepared to release her second studio album, 1984's Like a Virgin, with superstar musician-producer Nile Rodgers.

"I thought there were so many great songs on the record, and then suddenly my first album [1983's Madonna] started to become popular. I mean, it was a good thing. It was a good thing, but also frustrating," Madonna said in a new conversation with Rodgers in Paper magazine, with the Chic band co-founder and iconic David Bowie collaborator explaining that the pair finished work on Like a Virgin while her self-titled debut LP was "still the focus" for promotion.

"I was irritated that another song of mine was doing so well and now I had to wait to put something out that I was so excited about," Madonna continued. "Not that I didn't love Reggie Lucas and 'Borderline' and my first record, but the thing is, when I put out my first record it didn't really do that well. People didn't know who I was and then they weren't sure who I was, so it kind of had a resurgence right at the time we were going to release [it]."

Rodgers added that things got worse when Madonna's ex-manager, Freddy DeMann, started pressuring them to make Like a Virgin sound more like Michael Jackson's 1982 masterwork Thriller because label executives were still "a little bit unsure" of her potential for global success.

"I'll never forget when we played the album and Freddy said, 'Can it sound a little more like this?' And he put on f---ing Thriller [laughs]," Rodgers recalled. "And we said, you know, Michael Jackson has been a star his entire life and he worked his way up to Thriller. So he said, 'Well can you put a little more bass on it?' And all Madonna did was just write [the words] 'Bass Up' on the record. We never changed a thing. She just wrote it on the box the next time."

Madonna's intuitions about the album were correct: Like a Virgin would go on to become a defining pop bible for both the musician herself and pop music in general. It received diamond certification in the United States for selling more than 10 million units, and made pop cultural staples out of songs "Like a Virgin," "Material Girl," and "Dress You Up."

Still, as she told Jimmy Fallon on The Tonight Show earlier this week, Rodgers initially wanted the era to kick off differently, with "Material Girl" as the lead single instead of "Like a Virgin."

"Those are the days when I had no say in anything. Can you imagine those days even existing?" Madonna said. "I don't know why [we eventually] chose 'Like a Virgin' because I thought it was quite controversial. But it turned out the controversial thing wasn't the song itself, it was my performance on the first MTV [VMA] Awards. I did that show and I walked down these very steep stairs of a wedding cake and I got to the bottom and started dancing and my white stiletto pumps fell off. I was trying to do this smooth move and dive for the shoe to make it look like choreography, and my dress flipped up and my dress was showing. Those were the days when you shouldn't show your butt to have a career. Now it's the opposite. It happened by accident… when I went backstage, my manager told me my career was over with." (Obviously, her manager was wrong.)”.

The exceptional Like a Virgin still sounds amazing and exciting forty years later. This Billboard article from 2019 ranked the songs on Like a Virgin from worst to best. On an album that is iconic and packed with brilliant moment, it is a hard call ranking the tracks. However, their top three is pretty solid:

“3. “Dress You Up”

On the final single from Like a Virgin — which was the last track added to the album — Madonna promises to dress her man up in some head-to-toe loving. Her fourth top 5 Hot 100 hit off of the LP, it completely captures her in the process of becoming a sex-positive icon. For a song that Madonna didn’t have a hand in writing — Andrea LaRusso and Peggy Stanziale did the honors — it sounds so much like her. Or at least the Madonna she was back in 1984.

2. “Material Girl”

Long before Madame X entered the public consciousness, this was the tune that coined Madonna’s most famous nickname. As with many of her classic ’80s singles, it’s hard to separate the song from the video, but even more so with this one: Her spin on Gentlemen Prefer Blondes established her as a Marilyn Monroe-esque figure in her own right. This was the real beginning of the Blond Ambition era. The song itself may not hold up as well as some of her other early stuff, but this No. 2 Hot 100 hit is still synth-pop perfection.

1. “Like a Virgin”

The title track of Like a Virgin is on the short list of Madge’s best — and biggest — singles. Madonna’s first Hot 100 topper changed the game for her, taking her from the downtown dance diva she was on her eponymous debut to the future Queen of Pop. Written by the ’80s hitmaking team of Tom Kelly and Billy Steinberg, the song paved the way for other female pop artists — from Janet Jackson and Britney Spears to Beyoncé and Ariana Grande — to unapologetically explore the sexual wilderness. And 35 years later, it’s still catchy AF”.

Apologies if this is a little bit random and scattershot in terms of information and chronology! There is a lot to discuss when it comes to Like a Virgin. I hope that people celebrate it on its fortieth anniversary on 12th November. Classic Pop wrote how her second studio album turned Madonna from a New York club queen to one of the most famous and recognisable artists in the world:

“As New York’s achingly hip art set gathered at legendary nightclub the Paradise Garage on 16 May 1984 to celebrate artist Keith Haring’s first Party Of Life, the girl who had once dominated the dancefloor with her exuberant moves to Larry Levan’s iconic DJ sets, took to the stage for a special guest appearance in front of the vibrant crowd of which she had once been a part.

Having spent three months holed up in the city’s Power Station studios, Madonna saw the Party Of Life as the perfect platform to premiere two brand new tracks from her recently wrapped second album.

Although she was excited to air her new material for the very first time, the hipster audience remained largely indifferent as she performed Like A Virgin from a bed adorned with white lace before changing into a customised Haring jacket and skirt for Dress You Up.

Only pop culture prophet Andy Warhol had the foresight to recognise the earth-shattering potential of these new songs. “The crowd didn’t really take to Madonna,” recalls artist Kenny Scharf. “But Andy loved her – he told everyone that she was going to be the biggest thing ever.”

Madonna had been working on her second album since the beginning of 1984, penning songs with long-time friend and writing partner Stephen Bray. Her self-titled debut album had been a disappointing experience for her creatively, leaving her frustrated at how little her input and ideas had been welcomed by producer Reggie Lucas.

Despite the moderate success of that LP and Holiday becoming a Top 20 hit, Madonna was keen to move on and start work on her next project – and to do so on her own terms.

Determined not to repeat the mistakes of her debut and to ensure that the album would be exactly as she envisioned it, Madonna informed her label that she wanted to produce the record herself, a request that was immediately vetoed, much to her fury.

Aside from her previous LP not sounding the way she had wanted (with the exception of the tracks she and John ‘Jellybean’ Benitez had remixed before release), Madonna felt that she wasn’t taken seriously, and her talent was being undermined.

She saw the second album as her chance to prove herself. Livid that Warner Brothers didn’t believe in her enough to grant her full creative control, she publicly vented during interviews, detailing her battles against label bosses to who she referred to as “a hierarchy of old men”.

“It’s a chauvinistic environment to be working in because I’m treated like this sexy little girl,” she fumed to Rolling Stone. “I always have to prove them wrong. This is what happens when you’re a girl – it wouldn’t happen to Prince or Michael Jackson. I had to do everything on my own and convince people that I was worth a record deal. After that, I had the same problem trying to convince them I had more to offer than a one-off girl singer. I have to win this fight.”

Refusing to back down, the record label offered Madonna a compromise – the choice of any producer she wanted. Mollified, she appealed to Sire Records boss Seymour Stein for help in a letter in which her frustrations over “the producer predicament” were evident.

“Here I am forced to choose a man once again – help me!” she wrote, listing possibilities such as Trevor Horn, Jellybean, Laurie Latham, Narada Michael Walden and Nile Rodgers before signing off, “Furious love, Madonna”.

Although she had presented a shortlist of ideal collaborators, Madonna had made it clear that Rodgers was her first choice, declaring him a “genius”, citing his production work with Diana Ross, Sister Sledge and David Bowie as examples, as well as his own Chic records which she adored.

A meeting with Nile was arranged during which she played him the demos she’d written with Stephen Bray and told him: “If you don’t love these songs we can’t work together”. Affronted by her bluntness, Rodgers later revealed that he told her: “I don’t love them now, but I will when I’ve finished working on them!”

Satisfied, Madonna accepted her label’s offer to have Nile produce the entire album. Writing in his autobiography, Le Freak, Nile revealed that the fee he earned for producing the album was more than most artists earn from their own records, adding: “I’m pretty sure she hasn’t paid a producer as much since then either!”

The subject of money remained prevalent once recording had begun, with Madonna’s tyrannical manner of communicating with musicians proving problematic. She was in every recording session for the entire duration – whether she was required to be or not and expected similar dedication from the personnel.

If a musician arrived late or didn’t seem to be giving 110%, Madonna barked at them, “Time is money, and the money is mine!”, something which did not go down well with the experienced professionals.

Nile had brought along the Chic Organisation band with him to play on the record, including bassist Bernard Edwards and drummer Tony Thompson, as well as sound engineer Jason Corsaro whose idea it was to record digitally, at the time a new way of recording.

The combination of synths and programmed drums with live instrumentation gave the album its bombastic, dynamic sound, elevating it from the dance-pop feel of Madonna’s earlier tracks which she felt were “weak”.

Despite the band having a wealth of experience between them, working across genres and with a myriad of artists, Madonna had no qualms about telling them if she didn’t like the way they were playing something or suggesting alternatives.

Whether it was because she’d been burned by the experience on her debut album and felt the need to overcompensate to make her ideas heard or was just plain rude, the band did not appreciate someone they saw essentially as a rookie being so abrasive and disrespectful towards them.

On one occasion, after she furiously berated a musician for taking a toilet break, Nile walked out of the studio and told her he was leaving the project, forcing Madonna to apologise and rethink the way she communicated from that point onwards. Though it wouldn’t be the last time they would have disagreements, they were resolved cordially.

When Warner’s A&R Michael Ostin played the pair Like A Virgin and Material Girl, songs he felt would work alongside Madonna’s own compositions, she instantly loved the former, immediately taken with the provocative title as well as the song itself.

Rodgers wasn’t initially sold on the track and felt Material Girl was the better song, but Madonna was adamant that Like A Virgin was going to be the first single and would also be the title of her second album. Nile reminded himself that it was ultimately her decision as it was her name on the LP cover.

With work on the record complete by May 1984, Madonna was readying it for a summer release, but once again faced pushback from the label who decided to delay it due to the sudden success of her debut album.

Thanks largely to heavy rotation on MTV, Borderline had just become her first Top 10 single in the United States and the album was climbing the charts on the back of that, approaching one million sales. Though she was desperate to release her new material, Madonna relented and agreed to postpone its release to November.

The restless singer utilised the time that she had originally planned to be promoting her album by flying to Venice to shoot the video for Like A Virgin and signed on to star in her debut film, Desperately Seeking Susan. She also worked with stylist Maripol and photographer Steven Meisel on a series of photoshoots which would become the cover of the album and singles.

While some of her peers slammed the brazen sexuality of her performance as trashy and cheap – her manager Freddy DeMann was backstage furious thinking her outrageous set was career ending – the appearance could not have garnered better publicity for Madonna, whose rebellious spirit endeared her to legions of teenage girls across the US. With her name on everyone’s lips, the timing was perfect for the unveiling of the single and album in November 1984.

“It’s a lot more grown up than my first album,” the proud star told MTV. “It’s more well-rounded, style-wise. My first one was termed a dance record and was all up-tempo dance music, but this one has a lot of different sounds. There’s stuff that sounds like old Motown, there’s stuff that’s very high-energy, some songs are very English-sounding, very techno, there’s lots of synths, and two ballads. Ultimately, it shows my growth as a singer and as a songwriter.”

The album received mixed reviews from critics but was a commercial smash, transforming Madonna from pop star to pop icon, sparking ‘Madonnamania’.

It reached No.1 around the world and dominated the charts for most of 1985 thanks to its four hits (its singles run was punctuated by Crazy For You and Gambler from the Vision Quest soundtrack as well as chart re-entries of her older singles), the Virgin Tour of the US and a show-stopping performance at Live Aid.

In the UK, the album was re-released to include Into The Groove (taken from the soundtrack to Desperately Seeking Susan), extending its success even further, leading to eventual sales of over 21 million copies worldwide.

In January 1984, Madonna had shocked the world when she announced to Dick Clark on American Bandstand that she wanted to rule the world. Just 18 months later, thanks to the astounding success of Like A Virgin, she was well on her way to achieving it”.

On 12th November, we celebrate forty years of Madonna’s Like a Virgin. Such a huge album, I don’t know if I have even scratched the surface! You can read more about it here. Madonna followed Like a Virgin in 1984 with 1986’s True Blue. That was a big move forward in terms of sound and her image. Ranking highly in polls like this and this, I think that Like a Virgin is even stronger and more important than it is given credit for. On 12th November, 1984, Madonna released an album that would soon change Pop. It turned her into a superstar. Everything changed. Rather than it being an album of its time, it is still relevant, powerful and hugely affecting…

FORTY years later.

FEATURE: Kate Bush’s Lionheart at Forty-Six: Why Those Unsure of the Album Need to Buy the Reissued Vinyl

FEATURE:

 

 

Kate Bush’s Lionheart at Forty-Six

IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush in an outtake from the Lionheart cover shoot in 1978/PHOTO CREDIT: Gered Mankowitz 

Why Those Unsure of the Album Need to Buy the Reissued Vinyl

_________

IF I had to recommend…

anyone new to Kate Bush to buy one of her albums on vinyl, I would be torn between head and heart. My head would say 1985’s Hounds of Love, though my heart would always suggest The Kick Inside (1978). However, its follow-up, Lionheart, is one I feel the most sympathy for. An album that got some mixed reviews and has never really been talked about. Seriously. People don’t write about the album or celebrate it! I think that it is great shame. Released on 10th November, 1978, I want to mark its forty-sixth anniversary. I am also going to bring in a bit of information about its singles and what Kate Bush was doing through August-November 1978. In such a chaotic year – where she released two albums and promoted her music around the world -, it is a minor miracle she managed to put out a second album! Let alone one that has so many strong moments. The angle of this feature is recommending people invest in a vinyl copy of Lionheart. Recently, Kate Bush reissued her studio albums with these induvial designs. Each vinyl getting their own colour and mood. They all look brilliant! Even though they are all fabulous, I think the best-looking and most pleasing vinyl is for Lionheart. It is described as ‘Dirty Pink’. I love those words! It suggests a cocktail or a potentially huge song. So many different suggestions and possibilities. The biggest problem is that the vinyl reissue is only available in the U.S. I guess my biggest argument then is why the album should be widely available here (though, as I state later in the feature, it is available via Rough Trade UK). It is a beautiful new design. Because it is such an underrated album, we need to make it more available. Sure, you can buy it on vinyl around the world, though I love the new design and think it should be more widely shared. I love the fact that Bush brought the Lionheart Tour (or The Kate Bush Tour/The Tour of Life) around the U.K. and Europe. Her second studio album being a big focus. Her only tour being off the back of Lionheart. On her website, where you can order the vinyl (if you are in the U.S.), there is a quote from Bush around the revolutionary wireless/head microphone that transformed and re-shaped the live experience: “The live shows followed shortly off the back of this album. Because I wanted to sing and dance, I needed a mic that didn’t have to be held. Together with the live sound engineer, we invented the first headset. I suggested that we patent it, but he said, ‘How do we patent an old coat hanger bent into shape?’”.

As I said in the previous anniversary feature for Lionheart, Bush’s attitude to the album changed. In 1978, she was talking it up and it seemed like recording in France – she was situated and camped at Super Bear Studios (Berre-les-Alpes, France) during a hot summer – and being over there. Even if there were some downsides (she could not play with the band of her choosing and did not get too much say in the production; Andrew Powell making most of the decisions), I argue Lionheart is hugely underrated. So why invest in the vinyl copy?! Whether the new reissue or one she reissued a few years back, everyone needs to check it out. I will try and sell that argument by going inside the two singles from the album, Hammer Horror and Wow. Symphony in Blue was released in Japan in 1979. Before getting to the songs, here we get some words from Kate Bush. How she perceived Lionheart around the time of its release:

“[Recording in France] was an amazing experience. I mean it’s the first time I’ve ever recorded out of the country. And the environment was really quite phenomenal, I mean it was just so beautiful, it was so unlike anything I’d seen for a long while. And I think there was so many advantages to it, but there were a couple of disadvantages – the fact that it was so beautiful, you couldn’t help but keep drifting off to the sun out there, you know, that sort of thing. But you just didn’t feel like you needed a break, because the vibes and the weather and everyone around was just so good, you know, you didn’t feel like you were working. It was really, really fun.

Lionheart Promo Cassette, EMI Canada, 1978

It was a difficult situation because there was very little time around and I felt very squashed in by the lack of time and that’s what I don’t like, especially if it’s concerning something as important for me as my songs are, they’re really important to me. But it all seemed to come together and it was really nicely guided by something, it just happened great. And there were quite a few old songs that I managed to get the time to re-write. It’s a much lighter level of work when you re-write a song because the basic inspiration is there, you just perfect upon it and that’s great. And they’re about four new songs so they all came together, it was great. In fact, we ended up with more then we needed again, which is fantastic.

Lionheart Promo Cassette, EMI Canada, 1978”.

I will end by making some arguments as to why people need to get Lionheart on vinyl. I cannot bear the thought of it being unheard, overlooked and un-bought! First, let’s spend some time with the album’s first single, Hammer Horror (released on 27th October, 1978) . Before some insight into the song, here are some reviews of the first single from Kate Bush after The Kick Inside. There were a lot of eyes on her:

“On Radio 1’s Round Table on October 27, 1978 the single was reviewed by DJ’s John Peel (“I didn’t like the album at all and I’m not too enthused with this either”) and Paul Gambaccini (“It doesn’t grab me immediately as The Man With The Child In His Eyes“). There were also reviews in the written press.

Kate keeps up the formula and doesn’t upset the fans… sounds like Joni Mitchell popping tabs with the LSO. Offbeat, quirky and all that stuff…

Ronnie Gurr, Record Mirror, 11 November 1978

The non-thinking man’s Joni Mitchell… Her approach is fresh and distinctive enough, but when you go a little deeper you find that unlike Joni Mitchell there isn’t much there…

Alan Lewis, Sounds, 11 November 1978

Ominous post ELO orchestration with the unrequited lust of a broken affair viewed as living dead love-bites-back as in classic 50’s British celluloid, a real nail biter, hypnotic and disconcerting.

Tony Parsons, NME, 11 November 1978

Kate about ‘Hammer Horror’

The song is not about, as many think, Hammer Horror films. It is about an actor and his friend. His friend is playing the lead in a production ofThe Hunchback of Notre Dame,a part he’s been reading all his life, waiting for the chance to play it. He’s finally got the big break he’s always wanted, and he is the star. After many rehearsals he dies accidentally, and the friend is asked to take the role over, which, because his own career is at stake, he does. The dead man comes back to haunt him because he doesn’t want him to have the part, believing he’s taken away the only chance he ever wanted in life. And the actor is saying, “Leave me alone, because it wasn’t my fault – I have to take this part, but I’m wondering if it’s the right thing to do because the ghost is not going to leave me alone and is really freaking me out. Every time I look round a corner he’s there, he never disappears.”
The song was inspired by seeing James Cagney playing the part of Lon Chaney playing the hunchback – he was an actor in an actor in an actor, rather like Chinese boxes, and that’s what I was trying to create.

Kate Bush Club Newsletter, November 1979”.

IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush in 1978/PHOTO CREDIT: Brian Aris

I will come to the three singles. I will end with some thoughts and retrospection. People see Lionheart as a rushed follow-up to The Kick Inside that added nothing new and had few standout moments. If you actually dive deep into the ten songs, it shows just how fascinating and extraordinary they truly are! I could write several additional features about Lionheart and approach it from different angles. I will end with the timeline of 1978 and how Bush pulling together an accomplished second studio album was a major achievement. Someone who has gone deep into the songs of Kate Bush is the Dreams of Orgonon blog. I will illustrate their beautiful and insightful words that bring out the layers of three amazing songs. Starting off with Hammer Horror:

“There’s lots to unpack here apart from the macabre humor of pissed off thespian ghosts. There’s of course a strain of theatrical anxiety in here — Bush is talking about stage fright. Digging further, this play on performance has plenty to say about the anxiety of imitation and legacy. Since Aristotle human beings have known that storytelling is at its base an act of imitation, casting shadows on the wall (“shadow” was indeed once understood to mean “performer”). These shadows are often our ghosts — in the words of Doctor Who, “stories are where memories go when they’re forgotten.” In “Hammer Horror”, Bush looks at the shadows and sees memories coming to haunt her. But these aren’t the shadows of strict monsters. It’s a man playing multiple monster roles at once: the one he never got to play onstage, the Hamletian spectre crying out from the afterlife, and the legacy of the Great Man himself demanding history pay him his dues.

So the conflict of the song is inherently masculine. There’s the frail actor falling apart under the weight of his friend’s legacy, and there’s the ghost of his friend beating him down with the club of established superiority. The ghost howls in rage while the living man cowers in fear and guilt (“the first time in my life/I leave the lights on to ease my soul,” “rehearsing in your things/I feel guilty”). A possibly once strong relationship has been broken, and Bush’s black humor ties in well with her taste for tragedy. The story of the song is shot through with manpain. But instead of committing to the manpain, Bush repurposes it for feminine camp.

There’s also an element of musical gender play at work in “Hammer Horror.” Bush chooses a male story with a masculine narrator and tells it through a feminine perspective with dashes of camp. This is where her “actor in an actor” fascination comes in. She’s telling someone’s story and embellishing it in radical ways. If Mick Jagger sang this track, it’d be him spitting autobiographically at Keith Richards, who would reply with some vicious chords in open D. Bush plays the actor as a frightened damsel, terrified of the stranger in the dark. She begins the song with a trembling “yooooouuu stoooood,” moving down her vocal range for a more playful “they’ve got the stars for the gallant hearts” (the most innocent confession of pissing oneself ever put on record), howl-belting out “HAMMER HOR-ROR” for the chorus, and lapsing into a more classically Bushian “are we really sure about this” in the post-chorus. It’s the most daring Bush vocal we’ve heard on this blog so far. No male artist would go this far in 1978.

IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush in August 1978 from the back cover series of photos for Lionheart/PHOTO CREDIT: Gered Mankowitz

Bushianism and Goth are also more invested in femininity than previous forms of rock. Early Gothic literature had no shortage of femininity, from Mary Shelley to Emile Bronte to Carmilla. Post-punk music had a number of largely women bands, including The Raincoats and The Slits. Lots of women were involved in early punk, but the more famous faces of the movement were largely young men. Goth’s inherent ambivalence in its identity allowed for crossing over of gender. Women assimilated into the subculture and rose to the forefront of it, allowing someone like Siouxsie Sioux to maintain a presence in the singles charts and alternative music. Eccentric spaces allow women and minorities to thrive more than the mainstream does, and that’s far from incompatible with Kate Bush.

There’s also of course the visual similarity between Bush and the Gothic, with dark clothing and dark make-up cast against white faces (Bush and Goth both have complex relationships with race). But the two paths leads to different conclusions. Goth rock artists were interested in abjection, descending into the gutter. Bush, for all her winking at the camera, imitates her Gothic subject in a way that preserves reverence for it. These approaches aren’t diametrically opposed — they form an intersection instead of a metro running over a motorway. Bush just stumbled on some fresh cultural ideas at the same time as some other dramatically minded young musicians. She navigates her way out of the Gothic avenue into another street altogether — she resolves the tension of influence and anxiety by doing something weirder.

Demoed at 44 Wickham Road, Brockley in 1976. Recorded at Super Bear Studios in Berres-les-Alpes, France between July and September 1978. Personnel: Kate Bush — vocals, piano, production. Andrew Powell — production, harmonium. Jon Kelly — engineering. Stuart Elliot — drums, percussion. Del Palmer — bass. Ian Bairnson — electric and acoustic guitar. Duncan Mackay — synthesizer. David Katz — orchestra contractor. Performed live on the Tour of Life in 1979. Images: from the cover of Andi Harriman and Marloes Bontje’s Some Wear Leather Some Wear Laces; Lon Chaney and Patsy Ruth Miller in The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923, dir. Wallace Worsley); The Gurning Queen; Siouxsie and the Banshees”.

A huge thanks to Dreams of Orgonon for adding weight to the fact that Lionheart, whilst not her best album, is definitely worthy of greater discussion and investigation. Forty-six years after its release, I still don’t think it has been properly represented and unpacked! This feature on Wow gives new perspectives on the second single (the last in the U.K.) from Bush’s second studio album:

“The elation of the chorus is belied by the knowing facetiousness of the verses, with the shit-eating grin they flash at showbiz. Bush’s sweet-natured delivery of “we think you’re amazing!” efficiently hides the fact those lines are probably written with gritted teeth. It’s not that “Wow” is bitter, but it’s taking a few potshots as it falls through showbiz. The first verse is rife with tension, laden as it is with the song’s intro, acting as something of a rehearsal for the chorus. There’s a clash of the rehearsed tendencies of the song with Bush’s more communal ones. To her, creativity is a collaborative act, where the audience and artist unite to move each other. “We’re all alone on the stage tonight” sounds like Bush’s invitation to the audience, as if the stage is an arena for both player and spectator. She has a number of songs about music itself. In something like “Saxophone Song,” music is a way of tapping into the beauty of the universe. Back at the beginning of her pirated discography, Bush ascribes musicality to a beautiful figure in “Something Like a Song.” To her, music is a sixth sense, something humans do in the same way we breathe. It’s like John Cage’s mantra “everything we do is music,” except it makes music both catalyst and end result.

The first verse treats spectatorship as a kind of prepared act in itself: “we know all our lines so well/we’ve said them so many times/time and time again.” The star is one half of the act, how their work is received is another. The character of the audience is as rehearsed as Bush is herself. In a theatrical act, both player and spectator are expected to demonstrate certain behaviors. The spectator is supposed to laugh at the right moments, break into applause at the end of the show, and tell their friends to go do the same. Verse two shows what happens when this process breaks down, with the actor onstage failing to reach his goals. He “dies too soon/to fast to save himself.” It’s not a great outcome for him. As Bush raises fingerguns to her head, she delivers the killing blow: “we’d give you a part, my love/but you’d have to play the fool.”

Overall, this is just a fun song. More than on any other song here, Bush is having a ball. She pulls off horror, Britishness (“he’ll never make the Sweeney”), and more importantly, naughtiness. “He’s too busy hitting the Vaseline” accentuated by Bush tapping her bum is a shoe-in for the best moment in any Kate Bush video ever. There are nice little details to the song, such as Paddy Bush’s mandolins in the chorus, and the ecstatic return of the KT Bush Band in guitarist Brian Bath and rhythm section Del Palmer and Charlie Morgan. Was there ever such an honest and thoughtful reunion on record? It’s hard to think of many.

Recorded July-September 1978 at Super Bear Studios in Nice. Released on Lionheart 12 November 1978 and as a single on 9 March, 1979. Performed on the Tour of Life. Personnel: Kate Bush — vocals, piano. Charlie Morgan — drums. Brian Bath — guitars. Del Palmer — bass. Ian Bairnson — electric guitars. Paddy Bush — mandolin. Duncan Mackay — synthesizer. Andrew Powell — production”.

A single in Japan but not the rest of the world, Symphony in Blue is a song I have written about a lot. Including the latest Lionheart feature. I want to return to it as it is very special. One of the new songs written for the album, it goes to show the more we listen and write about the songs on Lionheart, the harder we fight towards giving it overdue credit. How an artist barely out of her teens released something so spectacular. The psychology and sophistication of a song like Symphony in Blue:

“To Bush, blue is “the color of my room and my mood.” It’s a ubiquitous color for her, present on the walls, in the sky, “out of my mouth” (a possible pun), and “the sort of blue in those eyes you get hung up about,” perhaps an allusion to the ever-growing canon of songs about blue eyes. Bush is making a world of blue, one where external hue, metaphor, and internal state collide in a musical act of mise-en-scène. “Symphony in Blue” is a dive into introspection wherein the act of introspection becomes the entirety of Bush’s world. Bush’s fixation on blue largely rises from dissatisfaction, remaining in a state where all you can grasp is the banal details of your immediate environment.

The second half of the first verse fixates on the thoughts that arise when “that feeling of meaninglessness sets in,” ones that pertain to “blowing my mind on God.” This part of the verse is mostly a list of idioms describing God, from the basically metaphorical (“the light in the dark”) to the scriptural (“the meek He seeks/the beast He calms”) to the bureaucratic (“the head of the good soul department”). Bush’s God always occupies the role of the enigmatic man in Bush’s songs, more an amalgam of resonances and qualities than an identifiable person. He is a presence, but a largely offstage one used by Bush to hurl her anxieties at.

In its second verse, “Symphony” explores red, a more fatal, dramatic, and alarming color than blue. “I associate love with red/the color of my heart when she’s dead.” Bush invokes a sense of viscera, with thoughts of death coming to mind as she ruminates in her room. For a second it looks like she might not survive the song. The rest of the verse is more straightforwardly physical, with Bush delivering the astonishing line “the more I think about sex, the better it gets.” As the song navigates its way out of emotional traps by listing potentials ways out, sex is inevitably going to come up.

The best way for Bush to articulate her ennui is visually: she will compare her mood to something visible. Blue is of course the color of many songs — in many ways, it’s the most musical color. One of the foundational genres of popular music is the blues. Blue is used as a synonym for sadness, a catalyst for innumerable amounts of music. Lord knows there’s no shortage of songs about blue — an even slightly comprehensive list would take up several blog posts. “Symphony in Blue” obviously apes its title from Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue,” yet kicks things up a notch by moving the color up from a mere rhapsody to a whole symphony.

Perhaps the most relevant song to “Symphony in Blue” for our purposes is David Bowie’s contemporaneous and relatively similar “Sound and Vision.” From its title to its repetition of “blue, blue, electric blue,” the songs are similar in a way that’s difficult to nail down as a total coincidence (although it is entirely possible Bowie’s influence on Bush in this case was subconscious). Both use the surroundings of blue rooms as reflections of internal dissatisfaction. Crucially, both songs unify sight and sound into a single phenomenon. Bush’s chorus begins with “I see myself suddenly on the piano as a melody,” wherein melody is both a reflection of self and a visual reflection. Bush’s favorite theme of music’s tangibility has reached its apotheosis. Lionheart is paying off a debt to The Kick Inside via one of its fullest realizations of its ideas.

Musically, “Symphony in Blue” references more artists than just 20th century ones such as Gershwin and Bowie. The song deliberately gestures at 19th century French composer Erik Satie’s most famous piano compositions, the Gymnopédies. Like “Symphony in Blue,” Gymnopédie No. 1 is in ¾ and begins with a G major 7th chord. Both pieces are airy and chromatic (a trend in 19th century music to be found in the work of, for example, Debussy, another favorite composer of Bush’s), and Bush’s drifts slowly through G major, often falling onto 7th chords or flattening 6ths. There’s a jazz-influenced airiness to “Symphony” which is also inherited from the Gymnopédies and is clearly evidenced by its use of F7sus4, a true mind-fuck of a chord. The resemblance is intentional — “Symphony in Blue” is a pop song, as its reliance on Iain Bairnson’s electric guitar demonstrates, but it’s outright smuggling classical music into the charts. In Bush’s Christmas special, she begins “Symphony in Blue” by playing Gymnopédie No. 1, dutifully playing the song in G before pivoting on a D minor chord to “Symphony.” Bush is playing the cultural creator, collecting influences and displaying them for posterity. When she draws on tradition, it’s not merely to recreate visions of the past, but to find new directions for preexisting ideas. Bush spends a lot of her time looking at blue, so there was no chance she’d blue it.

Recorded July-September 1978 at Super Bear Studios in Nice. Released as lead track of Lionheart on 12 November 1978; released as third single of said album on 1 June 1979. Played live on Tour of Life. Personnel: Kate Bush — vocals, piano. Stuart Elliott — drums. Iain Bairnson — electric guitars. David Paton — bass. Duncan Mackay — Fender Rhodes”.

This site gives us the timeline of Kate Bush’s summer and early-autumn. I was under the impression Lionheart was released on 13th November, 1978, though they say 10th November. It is a bit of a split depending on which site or streaming platform you go to. It seems like the international release was 10th November. Just to show how amazing Lionheart is considering how quickly it was recorded and out out, we also need to salute Bush and what she achieved in the months and days leading up Lionheart’s release:

“August, 1978

It takes ten weeks at Superbear to record twelve tracks, of which ten are used for the new album. [These two unreleased tracks have never been identified.] Kate has definite aims for this album. She sees her first album as having affected the senses. Lionheart is to be aimed at the guts. In this she comes into some conflict with Andrew Powell, who is again acting as producer. She is allowed more of her own way in the studio, and after applying some pressure, she is able to bring the KT Bush Band in to play on some of the tracks. Kate is credited as assistant producer, but Lionheart is the end of the road for the Bush-Powell partnership.

September 5, 1978

Kate debuts one of the tracks from Lionheart on a U.K. children's television programme, Ask Aspel. She later explains that she wanted to sing In the Warm Room, but felt that it was too risque for a children's show. She sings Kashka From Baghdad, a song about two gay lovers, instead.

As the album takes longer than expected, Kate is recalled to London by EMI to do some prior promotion. At her own request, Kate is interviewed by a diverse collection of publications ranging from The Sun, to Vegetarian and Vogue (the last featuring Kate in photographs by David Bailey).

October 11, 1978

From completing the final mix of the album, Kate is straight on a plane for Australia, where she is to preside with that month's teen pop sensation Leif Garrett over the Tenth annual TV Week King of Pop Awards before a live audience of 1,000 in a circus tent, and a television audience of two million on the Nine Network.

The next day Kate also performs live on the television programme Countdown, debuting the routine for Hammer Horror, devised in her hotel room. Hammer Horror is planned as the first single from the new album.

October 17, 1978

Kate moves on to New Zealand, specifically Christchurch, for a television special. There she again performs Hammer Horror.

The live tour is put back to February 1979

November, 1978

Julie Covington, who has known Kate and her family for many years, releases an album including her own cover version of The Kick Inside.

Kate promotes Lionheart in the Netherlands, German and France [although I have no record of any television appearances dating from the trip].

November 7, 1978

Hammer Horror enters the British singles chart at the unexpectedly low place of number 73. [Contrary to usual record-company theory, saturation of the market place with new, rushed product nearly immediately after the success of a debut album is more often than not a poor business move, and usually does as much damage as good to the artist's budding popularity. The commercially mediocre sales of Lionheart should not have surprised anyone.]

Lionheart has its international launch at the 14th-century Ammersoyen Castel, two hours' drive from Amsterdam. 120 guests, from EMI Europe, Canada and the UK, and including disk jockeys Tony Myatt and Kenny Everett, as well as Dr. and Mrs. Bush, attend the reception. After dinner, in the grounds of the castle, Leo Bouderwijas, the President of the Association of Dutch Phonographical Industries, presents Kate with the prestigious Edison Award for the best single of 1978. Kate is also presented with a platinum disc for sales of the album in Holland.

November 8, 1978

Kate flies back to the U.K. for a private buffet at The Venue for the presentation of the Melody Maker 1978 Poll Awards. In the first year of her public career Kate has been voted Best Female Vocalist and Brightest Hope of 1978”.

Even if the imported vinyl of Lionheart is expensive, I would recommend people buy it. It is such an important release. Following on from the success of The Kick Inside, Bush managed to compile songs that have elements of her debut but also transition into new territories. She would soon head on tour. You could feel Bush wanted to produce her second studio album. She got that opportunity with 1980’s Never for Ever. If you spend time with Lionheart and think about everything written above, it makes for a stronger listening experience. How deep the tracks are! What Bush created with the singles. How she was promoting The Kick Inside but also working on Lionheart – or at least about to step into a new studio and country to record. It is an amazing feat! The Tour of Life brought songs from the album to life. More and more people should write about Lionheart. On 10th November (tomorrow), we mark forty-six years of this stunning album. I always write about it in defensive tones. I feel I have to, as it does get attacked…or merely ignored. It is much grander and more worthy than that! Spend thirty-seven minutes of your life immersing yourself…

IN this incredible album.

FEATURE: Twenty-First Century Girl: Kate Bush and a Change in Promotional Tact

FEATURE:

 

 

Twenty-First Century Girl

IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush in 2005/PHOTO CREDIT: Trevor Leighton

Kate Bush and a Change in Promotional Tact

_________

BRIEFLY returning to Aerial…

IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush in 2005/PHOTO CREDIT: Trevor Leighton

and it reminds me of how promotion changed for Kate Bush. I guess this all goes back to the thing I hate most when it comes to anything related to Bush. How she is called reclusive. In fact, how she isa dubbed weird and mysterious. This secretive and selected human. I am going to mention this more in other features. We need to reframe how we see Kate Bush. This wonderfully open and giving artist, how can she be defined as ‘reclusive’?! What does that even mean?! I suppose a lack of live performances gave this impression that Bush was shunning the public and wanted to be firmly out of the spotlight. Instead, she was busy in studios and putting her music together! It was not as though she was out of the limelight through the 1990s. Even after The Red Shoes was released in 1993, Bush was still making music and was around. Spending time living a normal life, there was never this thing about her being reclusive and battening down the shutters! It is the normalness and everyday nature of Kate Bush that wrongfoots and bamboozles people. How could someone who came onto the scene with Wuthering Heights (1978) be anything other than this odd and relative human?! Right from the off, it was evident Kate Bush was not going to be more publicity hungry like many of her peers. She did not want fame; she rejected that term. I was listening to interviews around the time Aerial came out in 2005. On a few occasions, she was asked about this reclusive tag. In fact, in 2011 when she was promoting Director’s Cut and 50 Words for Snow, that word kept coming up. She definitely wasn’t and isn’t! Even to this day, she lives a normal life but does not need to be in the public eye in a rather forced way to make herself relevant.

I think something shifted from 1993. It was not only the intensity of promotion, but also the nature of it. I am going to dip my toes back into the fresh, inviting and warm waters of Aerial again very soon. A fascinating and very open promotional campaign that you would really not see much today. Many artists, when they are interviewed about albums, normally go to a restaurant, neutral venue or a studio. They want to stay away from their home, although you do get some artists who open their doors. When it comes to major artists, it is a bit hit and miss whether there are home interviews. Most tend to go out and about, and there are promotional photos too. Throw in all the social media side of things and it is very much about making an impression and getting your music and face out there. Kate Bush was not immune to this in 1993. The Red Shoes is a great album, though there was this combination of some slightly negative reviews and still this intensity of fascination. Whether Bush was being interviewed for Q (by Stuart Maconie) with a photo on the cover and a rather odd and weirdly-worded, false quote – “Booze, fags, blokes and me” –, or a somewhat cringe-inducing and very inappropriate interview by Michael Aspel for his talk show, you can see why things had to change! There was this air of seediness, sexism, misappropriation and fawning. Kate Bush either being painted as a sex symbol and asked about this or projected as this somewhat out-of-character rebel or something edgier. Perhaps an attempt to make her seem more relevant and cutting-edge in 1993. At a time when bands like Suede were coming through, did The Red Shoes seem as alluring and engaging as everything around it?!

The press from that time is quite odd. There are a couple of confrontational and uncomfortable interviews that leave you a bit cold. Bush didn’t do much T.V. and radio in 1993, though it was clear that the T.V. side of things would stop. Aerial was her first album where she did no T.V. promotion. There are publicity photos for the album but none of her during interviews so far as I can tell. She did some print bits, although it was mainly radio promotion. Rather than talk about the album itself, I wanted to chat more about the way promotional aspect shifted. Into the twenty-first century, it could have been so different. With the Internet a prevalent thing in many people’s lives, it did afford the opportunity of doing more print and blog interviews. I guess it was still sort of in its infancy. Social media was not really a thing. However, it was clear Bush was not going to enter the new century and repeat an exhausting pattern of the previous one. The notable changes with this new phase of her career was the location of promotion and the intensity. A 2001 interview at Harrod’s in London was a rare occasion of Bush being interviewed in public. However, it would be a few years later when she would engage in a more committed cycle of interviews. What we saw with Aerial was Bush was very willing to let people into her home. Whereas albums previous would see newspapers, magazines, radio stations and everyone else interview her at her home, random locations anywhere possible, Bush was more selective this time around. She was about to release a masterpiece and so she could afford to be picky. However, it was a big return after twelve years. She had to strike a balance between promoting the double album and not falling into old habits. Ones more dictated by EMI. She was still with the label then. I will end with Fish People and how setting up the label not only gave her more musical and creative control. There was also this sense that she did not have to do what was expected of her by a big label.

IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush in 2005/PHOTO CREDIT: Trevor Leighton

It is obvious that the birth of Bertie, her son, in 1998 changed things. She wanted to keep closer to home. Not really bothered by what EMI wanted. As Graeme Thomson writes in his biography, Under the Ivy: The Life and Music of Kate Bush, people like Bob Mercer were not driving up to Reading to check in and get updates. Make her do anything she didn’t want to. The new century was a clean slate in terms of promotion. It is extreme that Bush was never seen during promotion. How to be invisible, indeed! She was heard and her words printed in magazines, newspapers and on websites. However, there was no lure or excitement about promotion. She would have had reservations about it. As such, she was very selective. Between Mark Radcliffe and John Wilson for BBC Radio, she covered a lot of ground. Giving very long interviews to them. People she listened to and trusted. People of similar ages. I don’t think any female interviewers (maybe less confrontation or a better interview she would have thought?!). It was a case of providing more time to fewer people. Definitely no T.V. or live chats. If she was going to promote albums in the twenty-first century, then it was going to be on her terms. She did not come back with music after resting and spending time with family to be burned out by the pressure and process once more! Because of this, there was no crappy Saturday morning T.V. show interviews or even many print inches. Maybe she felt she was misrepresented, misquoted and turned into somebody she wasn’t. Easier to guide the narrative, there were no photoshoots or any way we would see big-print quotes giving the wrong impression. Or even quoting things she never said! You could spend hours discussing all the interviews Bush did in the 1970s and 1980s. How they ranged from quire respectful to downright insulting, standoffish, misogynistic or hugely unprofessional.

When Aerial came along, she invited people to her house in Theale. As extraordinary as Kate Bush is, the interviews were set in this rather everyday and un-starry locale. It was less about aesthetics and traditional promotion as it was drilling down to the core and heart of the matter: the music itself. Something that continued into 2011 with two albums then - and promotion since then. Bush gave more interviews for 50 Words for Snow than Aerial I think, though she was still very much not playing the role of a traditional major artist. Perhaps she started to trust people more and did do press interviews. However, it was people she would have known about and had trust in. As such, I don’t think there is any issue of things being taken out of context or any awkward encounters. When writer Tom Doyle – whose book, Running Up That Hill: 50 Visions of Kate Bush, is a must-read – spent four hours in her company in 2005 for Aerial, there were no real challenges. He did give her his mobile number to call if she had any issues. She did call, though it was more to do with a minor change rather than any issue with the interview. Bush opening her home and hearth. But this was secure and safe. Maybe insecure about her body and looks, videos would feature her less and less. That notion of an artist showing their home to say they are normal and member of the real world. It was not an act or anything contrived in my mind. Instead, as she was a relatively new mother, she did not want or need to travel.

IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush in a promotional photo for 2011’s Director’s Cut

After nearly burning out in the 1990s, this was someone with a new lease and purpose in life. One that did not necessarily have to be all about music and her career. Between the kid’s DVDs, pizza, cream cakes and anything knocking about the Bush residence, we saw her through a new lens. What the twenty-first century also offered was the digitisation and computerisation of music. Bush was suspicious of it. Once a music video innovator, things had shifted in terms of technology and how videos were made. King of the Mountain was Bush shot from the waist up. Directed by the late Jimmy Murakami, she had a lot of input and say about the video, yet she was conscious about how she looked. However, as someone very natural and grounded, what was extraordinary about her promoting her albums this century was how ordinary things were. One of the curses of any artist coming back to the fore is the tabloid media. By 2011, when she was promoting Director’s Cut and 50 Words for Snow, perhaps there was less stock and titillation. Bush was in her fifties, so maybe a little less interesting to the scuzzy and lurid gaze of the filth rags. However, there was still this labelling of Kate Bush as reclusive and witch-like. People unable to distinguish the artist from the woman. People reading too much into the songs and assuming Kate Bush is being literal. This ignorance and myopia shared the media perception and still goes on now! In 2007, Bush did create some storm with security camera at her seaside Devonshire home. Trying to divert two footpaths that brought trespassers and members of the public into her garden. She wanted her privacy and very much valued her safety. New music and focus inevitably meant there were more eyes and unwelcomed obstacles her way. However, Kate Bush was very much willing to invite the media into her house. Very welcoming and hospitable, this was a dynamic that has continued to this day. I think there were a couple of 50 Words for Snow interviews where she was not at home, though she did do phone interviews from her landline and did not stray far from her family.

Detailed, deep and compelling interviews with some trustworthy and respectable people rather than this rotation of shorter interviews with anyone from anywhere. I could go into detail about the way Bush handled promotion in 2011 very differently to artists of her stature. The role (or lack of) from technology. It must have been trepidatious putting out new material after so long and considering how she was going to conduct publicity. That eschewing of photos, televised interviews and being very tactful and selective about images that went out. Maybe feeling overexposed and hugely objectified through her career, this was a woman with a young son and a new life. She was still so passionate about her music, through that idea of having to promote herself and be everywhere was gone. I think her setting up the record label Fish People was a major step. Cutting ties with EMI meant she could release albums how and when she wanted. Perhaps the last real tie to her previous incarnation. What now?! The post-Stranger Things Kate Bush has revisited her albums and lyrics book. She posts updates to her official website and gave an interview (from her home on the landline) for Woman’s Hour in 2022. I suspect, if anything new is coming (which Bush has hinted at recently), there will be a similar promotional feel to that of Aerial. After all, her latest studio album turns thirteen in a matter of days. It is an exciting time where Kate Bush is very much with us and engaging. Teasing new music into the bargain! However, after the 1990s, she changed how she engages with the press and promotes her work. Apart from thousands seeing her in the flesh for her 2014 residency, Before the Dawn, this supposed ‘recluse’ has altered how she approaches interviews and getting an album out there. Not in terms of technology and modern practises. More to do with a healthier and more personally-led ethos that goes against what she went through in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s. More modest and domestic than modern and starry, I think it has yielded some of her deepest and most compelling interviews. As such, you reapproach her later work and get so much from then. Bush not being misrepresented or misled in interviews. More questions about the music rather than odd tangents and personal stuff – though there was some of that in 2005 and 2011. All of this has led to a woman and artist who seems much…

HEALTHIER and happy.

FEATURE: Groovelines: Fugees - Ready or Not

FEATURE:

 

 

Groovelines

Fugees - Ready or Not

_________

THE reason I am featuring…

this song in Groovelines is because Fugees have been performing recently. Check out this review of them playing in Manchester. Billed as Ms. Lauryn Hill/Lauryn Hill and Fugees, this is a reunion tour that few thought would ever happen. Alongside Hill is Wycleff Jean. Unfortunately there is no Pras with them. Due to an ongoing beef, it is the two-piece who are playing on stage at the moment. I want to quote this review from The Guardian before moving on:

“Lauryn Hill apparently knows what most people in the room are thinking. Punctuating an amped-up Final Hour, she cocks her head towards the front row and announces: “Lauryn Hill is in Cardiff, it’s real.”

As recently as a week ago, that didn’t seem like a sure thing. This tour was due to bring together Hill and Fugees, the megastar rap trio she co-founded with Wyclef Jean and Pras Michél in the early 90s, in a co-headlining blowout. But a US leg of the tour in August was cancelled, with Hill blaming “media outlets’ penchant for sensationalism and clickbait headlines” for low ticket sales. Then Michél sued Hill for fraud and breach of contract relating to the group’s cancelled 2023 comeback run, claims that Hill has described as “baseless”. So while Wyclef is here, Pras, unsurprisingly, is not in the building.

For fans, this was the latest twist in a narrative that goes back to 1998 and the release of Hill’s era-defining solo album. As the long wait for a follow-up to The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill has stretched on, some of the music’s power has perhaps become shrouded in beef and counter-beef, with tours pulled, reports of lateness at shows and a constant sense of uncertainty about who will show up, and when.

So as Hill strides on stage a few minutes after nine, decked out in an oversized pink-on-grey pinstripe suit and platform boots, it feels like seeing a mythical creature in the wild. She instantly lights up Everything Is Everything, the melody malleable in her mouth as its unmistakable chords land like precision jabs.

Throughout, Hill meticulously conducts each movement made by her dozen-strong band. She peels off pitch-perfect vocal runs with undimmed intensity while flicking her wrists in search of a minor adjustment towards a sound she’s chasing. The overall feeling is of seeing something come to life in real time, and it’s thrilling.

Ex-Factor is beefed up with muscular drums but Hill sells its vulnerability, nailing the falsetto and threading trills between a hook that’s held down in equal parts by her backing singers and the crowd. Conversely, she explodes into the verse of Lost Ones, delivering precise, pugnacious bars at high speed while the bass ducks and weaves”.

PHOTO CREDIT: Callum O'Keefe

One of the biggest and most important albums of the 1990s arrived in 1996. Fugees’ second studio album, The Score, is a classic. Following from 1994’s slightly underwhelming Blunted on Reality, their follow-up is a Hip-Hop masterpiece. Standouts from the album include Fu-Gee-La and Killing Me Softly. I will highlight one of the best-loved songs from Fugees, Ready or Not. Released as a single on 2nd September, 1996, I want to go deep with it. A chart-topper in several countries – including the U.S. and U.K. -, Ready or Not features a sample of Enya’s song, Boadicea. It is a wonderful and inspired sample. In fact, the sampling on the song is a standout. A groundbreaking track, Wikipedia collated sources and snippets that discuss the legacy of Ready or Not:

“Philosopher Alison Stone credits "Ready or Not" as one of the earliest examples of a rap song with combined rapped and melodic elements in its vocal parts or with a "straightforwardly melodic" chorus. Lauryn Hill's verse in particular has been noted as precursor for modern melodic rap from singing-rappers like Drake and Young Thug. Hill's verse saw her addressing misogyny in the male dominated hip-hop scene, along with taking aim at gangsta rappers at the height of gangsta rap, while carving out a lane for The Fugees in alternative hip-hop. Journalist William E. Ketchum of Billboard, proclaimed that Hill "is largely considered as the greatest woman rapper of all time", and added that her verse on the song showcases "her bars on full display". Complex named it one of the best rap songs of 1996, and wrote "Like much of the East Coast hip-hop from the '90s, "Ready or Not" was rough around the edges, informed by the harsh realities of life in the ghetto. But instead of relying on fictitious tough talk, the song harnessed that energy for positive, referencing the strength of Bob Marley, Muhammad Ali, and Haitian refugees passing through Guantanamo Bay."

IN THIS PHOTO: Wyclef Jean, Lauryn Hill and Pras of the Fugees on 16th August, 1996 in Chicago, Il./PHOTO CREDIT: Paul Natkin/WireImage

"Ready or Not" has often received praise for its strategic use of sampling. The song's use of the sampling the Enya song "Boadicea" from the Stephen King movie Sleepwalkers (1992), marked one of the earliest rap songs to sample from a horror movie soundtrack. "Ready or Not" also aided in further exposing music from Enya and The Delfonics to a generation of hip hop audiences through sampling, with the song "Boadicea" being sampled numerous times by other artists following the release of "Ready or Not". Chris Tart of HotNewHipHop wrote "Most hip-hop songs derived from something from the parent generation, and this one is no exception. The creative juice that melted the Delfonics, Enya and some Brooklyn-based refugees is very much a cause for celebration. "Ready or Not "; is one of the greatest moments in rap history”.

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame included Ready or Not in their list of Songs that Shaped Rock. When marking twenty years of The Score in 2016, Billboard provided a track-by-track guide. This is what they said about Ready or Not: “Ready or Not”: Built around an ice-cold Enya sample, this U.K. chart-topper and one-time favorite song of presidential hopeful Barack Obama is another example of the Fugees going the divide-and-conquer route. Clef and Pras bookend the track with relatively unfocused verses, leaving L-Boogie to once again attack whack MCs and deliver the finest lines. Her best is viciously witty and a little vulgar: “So while you’re imitating Al Capone, I’ll be Nina Simone / And defecating on your microphone”. Scandalously little has been written about one of the best and most important Rap songs ever. I hope this tour from Ms. Lauryn Hill and Fugees shines new light on The Score and Ready or Not. A young generation should know about this truly iconic song. I want to introduce words from this blog and what they wrote about Ready or Not earlier in the year:

“I tried to claim that The Fugees earlier cover of ‘Killing Me Softly’ was hip-hop’s big arrival as a chart force. But actually, this is the moment. This is no funky cover of a seventies classic; this is uncompromising rap. (Though it is built around a very distinctive, very haunting sample from Enya, so I suppose it does have some mum-friendly credentials.) Like Peter Andre’s ‘Flava’, which was a particularly modern sounding pop song, this is modern rap – East Coast rap, apparently, though I’m not qualified to clarify what that actually means – and could have been a credible chart-topper anytime between 1996 and now.

It still makes use of Lauryn Hill’s amazing voice, in the chorus, but while she sang angelically on ‘Killing Me Softly’, her voice now drips with deadpan attitude. Ready or not, Here I come, You can’t hide… Around this, each of the three MCs take turns telling us how the Fugees are poised for world domination. I like Hill’s alliterative voodoo line, as well as: While you’re imitating Al Capone, I’ll be Nina Simone, And defecating on your microphone… But perhaps the most important verse is Pras Michel’s, which focuses on the group’s immigrant background: I refugee from Guantanamo Bay, Dance around the border like Cassius Clay… (the band name is, after all, short for ‘Refugees’).

Although uncompromising, this isn’t gangsta rap. Hill’s verse even calls out stereotypical rappers: Frontin’ n*ggas give me heebeejeebees… Enya threatened to sue the trio for sampling ‘Boadicea’ before she realised that the lyrics went deeper than just guns and pimping. (Although, while there’s no swearing, there is the above-mentioned debut appearance of the n-word in a UK #1.) Meanwhile, though it isn’t strictly a sample, the chorus is heavily based around the Delfonic’s ‘Ready or Not Here I Come (Can’t Hide from Love)’, a minor hit in 1969.

In calling this a ‘shadow #1’, I don’t mean to suggest that this doesn’t have musical merit. The verses are impressive both lyrically and in the way they are delivered, while the use of ‘Boadicea’ is one of the all-time great samples (so effective that this won’t be its only appearance in a number one single…) There was also the small matter of a multi-million dollar video featuring submarines, sharks and helicopters to promote it. But no, all that aside, this is an impressive and important song, and I say that as someone with a fairly low tolerance for rap”.

I have been thinking about Fugees as they – well, two-thirds of them! – are on stage and have been wowing audiences around the U.K. When thinking about their finest songs, the amazing Ready or Not sprung straight to my mind. I think it is that perfect fusion of the trio’s individual strengths, together with this incredibly well-chosen sampling and amazing production. It all fuses together into a song that will live through the ages. Ready or not, here they came! This incredible musical force whose legacy will live on, there is denying the fact that The Score’s third single is a diamond! Go and play it now and appreciate just how compelled and confident it is. For me, the standout is Ms. Lauryn Hill’s vocal and writing. You could tell she was this star who would break away and have her own career. With only one solo studio album to her name, 1998’s The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, we all hope there will be a second album someday. As she has proved on stage recently, the years cannot diminish…

HER staggering talent and relevance.

FEATURE: Spotlight: Judeline

FEATURE:

 

 

Spotlight

Judeline

_________

A fascinating…

twenty-one-year-old artist who has released a series of brilliant singles and E.P., de la luz (2022), you need to know about Judeline. I am quite new to her work, though I am really interested. I think many others should check her out. I want to bring in a few interviews with the Cádiz-born artist. Lara Fernández is a tremendous Spanish singer. She began her career in 2020 at the age of seventeen after moving to Madrid to pursue a music career. In September, SPIN spoke with the wonderful Judeline. They highlighted an incredible talent with Venezuelan roots “enchanting her country’s underground, along with El Movimiento’s old and new school”:

“Judeline first popped up in early 2020 on “Solo Quiero Huir” (“I Just Want To Run Away”), a downtempo reflection on escapism dusted heavily with Auto-Tune and produced by Trillfox, shortly before the first COVID outbreak. A string of singles followed leading up to her first EP, de la luz (of the light), an ode to her hometown that reflects on heartbreak and isolation to the tune of pared-down electropop, house, and even the tonada, a Venezuelan folk genre popularized by Simon Díaz. Early track “tonada de la luz • madrugada” sees her collaborate with her father on the Venezuelan cuatro, a small guitar not unlike the ukulele.

“My dad would show me Venezuelan music on CDs, a lot of traditional and ‘80s pop like Medio Evo, in the car when I was small, and we were always in the car because [Caños de Meca] isn’t really connected to schools or hospitals or grocery stores. [Caños] being such a small village meant I spent a lot of time bored and alone. I was very inspired by the sea; sometimes it felt like a person,” she muses. “Whenever I’m lost or in a bad moment, I can go near the sea and feel that connection.”

She’s coy when asked about further diving into Venezuela’s rich musical history, speaking carefully but excited about the possibilities of tapping into her roots with experimental flair. “I honestly really want to,” she says. ”I feel like people will hear what I make and maybe be like ‘that’s not a joropo [Venezuela’s most popular folk rhythm]’, but in the end they’re genres I’ve listened to a lot. Sometimes my dad accompanies me on the cuatro and the bandola, and it’s special.

Outside of the Venezuelan music she grew up with, Judeline has been playing with El Movimiento’s signature sound: the dembow beat. At the end of 2022, she released “TÁNGER” and “ZAHARA,” the latter of which went viral. This love story in two parts—a floaty ballad about pining for a bad boy on the shores of Tangier and a perreo track full of longing to live with him in a house by the sea—sees Judeline embody a tortured muse plotting to break her lover out from behind bars. On her man’s shady business dealings, she sings with loyal resolve: “Tengo bien guardado lo que se cayó / Solo lo sabemos Dios, el mar, y yo” (“What fell away, I’m keeping close / That’s for me, God, and the sea to know.”)

“ZAHARA” blew like a desert wind through the Latin Club scene, soon being mixed and remixed by acts like Miami producer Nick León and Chilean-Swedish DJ Dinamarca. With her star rising parallel to Spain’s new avant-garde, artists like Rusia IDK’s Ralphie Choo and rusowsky as well as acts like former collaborator Oddliquor, Judeline found herself propped up in both the Spanish and Latinx undergrounds. More dives into South American and Caribbean genres followed with preceding singles “CANIJO,” a baile funk-tinged party starter about toxic love, and sultry downtempo reggaeton track “2+1,” an ode to threesomes that puts Britney Spears’ “3” to shame and features emerging reggaetonero Alvaro Díaz’s distorted voice on the hook. Judeline even covered Shakira’s first foray into reggaeton, “La Tortura,” becoming the first Spanish artist to appear on the Spotify Singles series.

“I feel like Puerto Rico is where the fathers of reggaeton came from. Most everything I’ve learned about the genre has come out of Puerto Rico,” she says. “I’ve always been a fan of J. Balvin and Tainy, artists who you can tell were inspired by what was happening in the U.S. and brought it to the genre, things like synthesizers and Auto-Tune. Even the samples Tainy uses…I feel like I’ve come to know reggaeton as a curious and advanced genre.

The unique cultural makeup of Cádiz—with its famous Moorish alcazar, with its echoes of Arab-Andalusian culture playing alongside Spanish Catholic aesthetics—and its quiet way of life have been a steady guide for Judeline as she’s found her artistic voice and its visual direction. The Nono + Rodrigo-directed video for single “mangata,” a track sonically built from a deep house beat and bolstered by chanting that calls to mind traditional Andalusian cante jondo (“deep song”), moves from her bedroom (where mysterious cloaked figures watch over her) to the rave and, finally, the sea. In the haunting final shot, Judeline pleads directly with the gods of the ocean, who shine moonlight on her as she wades the deep.

She continues to explore this world of underground parties, mysterious cloaked figures, sea gods, and Catholic mysticism on “INRI.” Rather than be weighed down by its name’s religious connotation, “INRI” sees Judeline seduce a potential love to the tune of flamenco handclaps and an Arabic pop-inspired beat. The accompanying video, shot in mosques and churches, syncretizes the sonic duality with visuals that draw from mysticism. At one point, Judeline sings to her reflection in a pool while donning a crown of thorns, evoking both Jesus Christ and the Hermetic magical principle of “as above so below.” Latest single “Zarcillos de Plata”, a touching ballad to a lover and the nightstand they share, shows a softer side. Judeline’s mystical bombast is tempered by an Auto-Tuned croon that stretches between earthly desire and communing with the divine.

“I have such a desire to experiment with my voice in this new era,” she says. “‘mangata’ has those choirs that remind me a bit of llaneros. I’ve felt the influence of flamenco as much as música llanera and joropos. [Venezuelan] music makes me feel that same solitude flamenco does, these super intimate moments.”

As she gears up to release her debut album later this year via Interscope, Judeline is continuing to build on what she’s laid a foundation for since moving to Madrid from Caños de Meca. Working with longtime producers Tuiste and Mayo and continuing to refine a proven ear for mixing multiple genres with high concepts, Judeline’s world—where bikers break our hearts on the beach before riding off, where we pine under the pale moonlight before getting on late-night flights to Puerto Rico, where spellcraft exists in the churchyard and the sea—slowly becomes reality”.

Her debut album, Bodhiria, is out on 25th October. There will be a lot more attention the way of Judeline when it arrives. There are not that many recent interviews with Judeline at the moment. I hope that more do become available in the next week. I want to end with an interview from Rolling Stone. I think that Judeline’s debut album will rank alongside the best and most essential of this year. She is an original and fascinating talent who I hope commands huge stages very soon. Her music is definitely helping bring Spanish artists to the fore. Something we do not hear in the media and radio too much. If you have not heard this artist then check her out now:

“Since she started making music, the 21-year-old artist constantly created characters and personas. One that kept popping up was Angel-A, a woman she couldn’t seem to shake from her songs. “I always loved that name and, for a while, I was sad that I had called myself Judeline,” she says with a laugh. (Judeline actually took her name from the Beatles song “Hey Jude.”) She started writing from the perspective of Angel-A, eventually shaping a story that’d become her debut album, Bodhiria. The LP, out Oct. 25, is a gorgeous, labyrinthine narrative of a woman trapped in a surreal kind of afterlife, desperate for her lover to remember her. “The album represents those highs and lows — it takes you through that journey,” Judeline says.

The LP starts with “bodhitale,” a spoken-word intro in which the album character confesses her love to the person she wants to be with and tells him how deeply connected they are. (She cleverly credits the song as being by Judeline, featuring Angel-A.) It’s on the haunting “Luna Roja” that Judeline’s protagonist starts to realize her lover is forgetting her, making way for more intense sounds on the album. “That’s kind of the point where it descends into something more toxic,” Judeline says. The hurried “Joropo” follows; it’s a standout that experiments with the Venezuelan genre of the same name while adding in ripples of Autotune and electronic-driven flourishes.

The plot twist works well for Judeline’s voice and style: Her vocals are ethereal and incandescent when they need to be, despairing and frantic during the album’s more intense turns. “I feel like I played with my voice a lot [on this album],” she says. “I usually sing very quietly — but for example on ‘Joropo,” I break with that.” The album also serves as a look at the cutting-edge talent among a new generation of Spanish artists: Judeline teams up with the ever-intriguing artist/producer Rusowsky on “Heavenly,” while Rusowsky’s longtime collaborator Ralphie Choo — who just worked on the Rosalia track “Omega”—appears in the production credits a few times. Other production highlights come from Tuiste and Mayo, whom Judeline has been working with for years, and Judeline herself.

For her, the entire album has been a process — one that’s allowed her to keep leveling up and finding new avenues as an artist. “Above all, this was a lot of learning — it’s much harder than I imagined to finish a project,” Judeline says. Still, she’s hoping her listeners walk away with a clear vision of the ideas she had, and the imagery that existed only in her head before she finished Bodhiria. “I would want it to take people somewhere, for scenes, moments, and feelings to appear in their heads,” she says. “I would be happy if it really moved something inside them”.

On 25th October, we will get this much-anticipated and sensational debut from Judeline. One of the most promising rising acts of the moment, there is a bright future ahead for her. I am really keen to see where she heads next. Go seek out and follow her. In a music landscape filled with artists that sound like others, there is something original and unique about Judeline. When it comes to this incredible young artist, there really is…

NOBODY like her.

___________

Follow Judeline

 Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/judeli.ne/

Twitter:

https://x.com/judeline__

TikTok:

https://www.tiktok.com/@judeline__

Spotify:

https://open.spotify.com/artist/1H6X7yhnXZg73f9bssaj1Q

YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCivaiE8RNombvmGOrcF1YBA

FEATURE: The Digital Mixtape: Freshly Squeezed: The Legendary Chris Difford at Seventy

FEATURE:

 

 

The Digital Mixtape

Freshly Squeezed: The Legendary Chris Difford at Seventy

_________

THIS outing of The Digital Mixtape…

IN THIS PHOTO: Chris Difford with Glenn Tilbrook of Squeeze

features the wonderful Chris Difford. Primarily known as the lyricist/guitarist of Squeeze, Difford turns seventy on 4th November. I want to end this feature with a playlist of the best Squeeze songs and some deeper cuts. Some solo work too. You can find Chris Difford’s official website here. Before I get to that playlist, this article provides some biography about one of the finest – and also underrated – writers of his generation. Responsible for so many classic songs:

“Lyricist/guitarist Chris Difford teamed with singer/composer Glenn Tilbrook to lead Squeeze, one of the most acclaimed and longest-lived bands to emerge from the new wave era. Often regarded as the Lennon and McCartney of their generation, the duo's smart, sophisticated brand of pop never achieved commercial success commensurate with their critical favor, although singles like "Pulling Mussels (From the Shell)," "Tempted," and "Black Coffee in Bed" remain timeless cult classics.

Born November 4, 1954, in London, Difford began writing and performing with Tilbrook in 1973, and the following year they formed Squeeze; the group's self-titled John Cale-produced debut LP followed in 1978, yielding the minor hit "Take Me, I'm Yours." Released in 1979, Cool for Cats was Squeeze's U.K. chart breakthrough, generating a pair of number two singles, "Up the Junction" and the title track. The follow-up, Argybargy, yielded the lesser hits "Another Nail in My Heart" and "Pulling Mussels (From the Shell)," but solidified the group's critical standing on the strength of Difford's wry, literate wordplay and Tilbrook's crisp, clever melodies.

Squeeze's masterpiece, East Side Story, followed in 1981, scoring the band's biggest U.S. hit to date with the memorable "Tempted"; though 1982's Sweets from a Stranger cracked the U.S. Top 40, buoyed by the single "Black Coffee in Bed," creative exhaustion forced the band's breakup soon after. A 1983 hits collection, Singles 45's and Under, ultimately went platinum. After writing the Imperial Bedroom track "Boy with a Problem" with Elvis Costello, Difford resumed his collaboration with Tilbrook, composing songs for fellow Squeeze alum Jools Holland, as well as Paul Young, Billy Bremner, and Helen Shapiro. The duo also mounted Labeled with Love, a short-lived 1983 stage musical adapted from their songs.

A self-titled 1984 album credited simply to Difford and Tilbrook also appeared, but the following year they reunited Squeeze to release Cosi Fan Tutti Frutti. 1987's Babylon and On was their biggest U.S. hit, notching a pair of Top 40 singles in "Hourglass" and "853-5937," but subsequent efforts appealed almost exclusively to their devoted cult following. Difford went on hiatus from the group in 1999. He launched his solo career in 2003 with the album I Didn't Get Where I Am, which featured production and some songwriting help from Francis Dunnery. Capturing Difford live and playing classic Squeeze material, the CD/DVD combo South East Side Story appeared in 2006, followed by the cleverly titled The Last Temptation of Chris in 2008. Although a reunited Squeeze continued to be a going concern -- early in 2010, Difford announced that he and Tilbrook were writing new songs for the group -- Difford didn’t abandon his solo career: he released his third solo album, Cashmere if You Can, in the summer of 2011. The long-awaited Squeeze reunion album, Cradle to the Grave, finally materialized in 2015 and the group toured in support of it. In 2017, Difford's solo albums were boxed as the Chris to the Mill set, which also included a disc of demos. ~ Jason Ankeny, Rovi”.

I want to also highlight the biography from Chris Difford’s official website. It adds some more texture and details to the one that is sourced above. If you have never heard of Chris Difford, I would urge people to listen to Squeeze and Difford’s solo work. Such a remarkable and accomplished songwriter:

“Chris Difford is a Grammy nominated and double Ivor Novello Award winning lyricist who has brought us characters and sketches from everyday life, and has successfully turned the mundane into the beautiful, the urbane into the exquisite, for over 40 years.

Chris has co-written some of the most enduring and best-loved songs of our time such as ‘Up The Junction’, ‘Cool For Cats’ and ‘Labelled With Love’, ‘Tempted’ and many others. Squeeze returned with two new albums in recent years ‘Cradle to the Grave’ in 2015 and ‘The Knowledge’ in 2017, followed by extensive world-wide touring supporting Hall and Oates in the US and Madness in the UK. The Squeeze tour Food for Thought in 2022 virtually sold out and raised over £30,000 for various food banks. The band has never sounded better.

Chris hosts songwriting retreats and has done so for over 30 years, some in Prisons, some in Rehabs, but mostly in Somerset with the Buddy Holly Foundation and The Cutting Edge Group at Pennard House Somerset. He is one of the country’s most respected songwriters and has co-written with a host of musicians and performers that reads like a veritable who’s who of the music industry

His autobiography ‘Some Fantastic Place’ was released in 2017 and found some wonderful praise in the UK press and with fans around the World who recognised his journey into recovery while touring with his friends in Squeeze. The book continues to be part of his solo touring and became the focus of his sell out two week run at the Edinburgh Festival. A stand up show with a bit of sit down. Chris returns to Edinburgh this year in 2023 with a brand new stand up show.

In 2023 Squeeze are writing new songs and have completed a successful tour of the USA with the Psychedelic Furs. Meanwhile Chris is somehow finding the time to still run his beloved songwriting workshops for the charity Help Musician’s as well as recording series 3 of his highly acclaimed Podcast ‘I never thought it would happen’. Chris is an ambassador for Help Musicians and Music Minds Mater, two charities close to his heart.

A Patreon is being launched in 2024 with lots of lovely surprises, including Podcasts you will not find anywhere else and news of online solo shows and workshops. It’s all happening”.

On 4th November, the legendary Chris Difford turns seventy. I hope it provides opportunity for radio stations to play some of his hits. The man responsible for lyrics that verge on poetry. He definitely has this way with words that few other songwriters possess. To highlight and celebrate that, below is a Digital Mixtape containing some prime cuts. Not only a great songwriter in his own right, Chris Difford is…

ONE of the greatest ever.

FEATURE: Dispelling the Myth of the Sophomore Slump: Kate Bush’s Lionheart at Forty-Six

FEATURE:

 

 

Dispelling the Myth of the Sophomore Slump

Kate Bush’s Lionheart at Forty-Six

_________

IN the first of two…

IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush in 1978/PHOTO CREDIT: Brian Aris

anniversary features around Lionheart, I want to do what I have done with other Kate Bush albums celebrating anniversaries. I want to take a look at Kate Bush’s words and also some critical feedback. Many see Lionheart as a far inferior version of The Kick Inside. Bush’s debut album came out in February 1978. Nine months later, she put out her second studio album. It would have been mad enough if there was no activity or commitments in between!. Bush would have been thinking about hoe she wanted to express herself on the second album. Taking time to write more songs and be more involved with the album. Think about big artists today, and very few put out two albums in the space of a year and also do promotion and everything else associated with the circus and never-ending rush that the music industry demands. In the case of Kate Bush, there was this instant and unexpected explosion after the release of The Kick Inside. An artist like nobody else, one can understand EMI wanting to capitalise on that. However, in their rush for commercial sustainable, profit and slightly milking their star, they forgot history. When Bush was signing with them as a teenager, there was this feeling that she could take some time to make music, and there was not this insistence that she would be in the studio or on tour. As such, The Kick Inside is an album that feels unhurried and organic. Even if the songs were taken from earlier days and years, the recording and production was not really set to a tight timeline. Lionheart felt like an album that was out quick to get a good chart position. Bush had time to write three new songs, though there is a feeling that there was too much pressure and expectation.

However, on 10th November, 1978, we did get the second studio album from Kate Bush. I am of the opinion that Lionheart is far beter than it is given credit for. In interviews and promotion around 1978, Bush was saying how she felt Lionheart as stronger than The Kick Inside. More representative of who she was and what she wanted. Rather than it being false confidence and hype, you can see where she was coming from. Two new songs, Fullhouse (how it is listed on the original album back cover, though it is named Full House on Spotify and YouTube) and Coffee Homeground are more experimental and darker than most of the songs on The Kick Inside. Reverberating with paranoia and a strange tension, perhaps they tapped into the psyche and mindset of an artist pushed and pulled around the world on promotion. I don’t think it is a bad thing. Consider 1982’s The Dreaming and the brilliance of the songs she created when she was going from studio to studio. Symphony in Blue, another new song, is a beautiful and mature cut that nearly tops everything on The Kick Inside. For an album that mainly consists of dusted off songs from the past, there are some genuine gems. Oh England My Lionheart, Kashka from Baghdad and Hammer Horror (the lead single from the album) are exceptional. The iconic Wow is one of her most revered songs. Apart from a slight feeling of underwhelm on one or two tracks – critics highlight Don’t Push Your Foot on the Heartbrake and In the Warm Room as being a bit average -, there is not much to fault on Lionheart. It pulled off the trick of sounding a bit like The Kick Inside and having similar dynamics and colours with some updated angles, stories and depths. Signs and suggestions of what could come from her third studio album. An artist, only twenty when Lionheart came out, who was so much more interesting than most of her peers!

I want to come onto some interviews where Kate Bush discussed Lionheart. Thanks to the Kate Bush Encyclopedia for being such a reliable go-to for archives and information! For a young artist who was optimistic and excited to put out a second studio album, she must have been dented and deflated by some of the reviews. Even if she distanced herself from Lionheart slightly years after its release, she was still happy about it when it came out. Despite not being involved as much with production as she’d like, she was more part of the process than The Kick Inside. Regardless, reviews like this must have stung:

‘Mature’ lyrics sung in that twee irritating schoolgirl-siren voice… Actually most of the time she’s nearer a vague British lineage – Barbara Dickson to Lynsey de Paul – than a Joni/Janis wonderland.

Ian PenmaN, NME, 25 November 1978

A product which is at best moderate, lacking and often severely irritating… The feel is often bland and soulless. Strictly MOR with a clever tinge. This is flat conceived silliness. I simply dislike it.

Chris Westwood, Record Mirror, 25 November 1978

I love her and I hate her and you all feel exactly the same way only you’re too unreal to confess the terrible crime. You have to take her seriously in spite of all the flying sneers and jeers. The songs themselves aren’t individually strong at all. It’s more the aura she creates.

Dave McCullough, Sounds, 25 November 1978

I think, in years since 1978, there is a feeling that Lionheart is far from a sophomore slump. A ‘difficult second album’. Even if it can’t match the heights of her later work, it is such an important album and proves how gifted, hard-working, diverse and passionate the teen Kate Bush was! It is interesting how Kate Bush spoke about Lionheart when it was released and a few years later:

“Maybe I’m a bit too close to it at the moment, but I find it much more adventurous than the last one. I’m much more happier with the songs and the arrangements and the backing tracks. I was getting a bit worried about labels from that last album; everything being in the high register, everything being soft, and airy-fairy. That was great for the time but it’s not really what I want to do now, or what I want to do, say, in the next year. I guess I want to get basically heavier in the sound sense… and I think that’s on the way, which makes me really happy.

I don’t really think there are any songs on the album that are as close to Wuthering Heights as there were on the last one. I mean, there’s lots of songs people could draw comparisons with. I want the first single that comes out from this album to be reasonably up-tempo. That’s the first thing I’m concerned with, because I want to break away from what has previously gone. I’m not pleased with being associated with such soft, romantic vibes, not for the first single anyway. If that happens again, that’s what I will be to everyone.

Harry Doherty, Kate: Enigma Variations. Melody Maker, November 1978

[Recording in France] was an amazing experience. I mean it’s the first time I’ve ever recorded out of the country. And the environment was really quite phenomenal, I mean it was just so beautiful, it was so unlike anything I’d seen for a long while. And I think there was so many advantages to it, but there were a couple of disadvantages – the fact that it was so beautiful, you couldn’t help but keep drifting off to the sun out there, you know, that sort of thing. But you just didn’t feel like you needed a break, because the vibes and the weather and everyone around was just so good, you know, you didn’t feel like you were working. It was really, really fun.

Lionheart Promo Cassette, EMI Canada, 1978

It was a difficult situation because there was very little time around and I felt very squashed in by the lack of time and that’s what I don’t like, especially if it’s concerning something as important for me as my songs are, they’re really important to me. But it all seemed to come together and it was really nicely guided by something, it just happened great. And there were quite a few old songs that I managed to get the time to re-write. It’s a much lighter level of work when you re-write a song because the basic inspiration is there, you just perfect upon it and that’s great. And they’re about four new songs so they all came together, it was great. In fact, we ended up with more then we needed again, which is fantastic.

Lionheart Promo Cassette, EMI Canada, 1978

I had only a week after we got back from Japan to prepare for the album. I was lucky to get it together so quickly. But the songs seem to me, now, to be somewhat overproduced. I didn’t put enough time into them.

Richard Laermer, Kate Bush Touches the U.S. At Last, Pulse!, 1984”.

Prior to getting to a review of Lionheart from 2013, I want to bring in an interview from 1978. A promotional chat with Melody Maker that I have sourced before. Although there are clear comparisons between The Kick Inside and Lionheart, it is evident that, in a short time, Bush had developed and was very ambitious. Coming near the end of a year that could have broken her, you could feel an enthusiasm and the sense of an artist looking ahead at what is to come:

“There are similarities to the debut album. Lionheart is produced once more by Andrew Powell and, generally, the musicians who did the honours on The Kick Inside are recalled. Kate wants the connections between her first and second album to stop there.

For instance, her own band makes a slight contribution to the new album, being featured on two of the tracks, Wow and Kashka From Baghdad, and had it not been for a mix-up in the organisation, might have made a heavier contribution. It is, it appears, a sensitive situation, and one that Kate doesn't care to dwell upon, but she's still determined that, eventually, her own band--Charlie Morgan (drums), Brian Bath (guitars), Del Palmer (bass), Paddy Bush (mandolin)--will play a more prominent part in the recording proceedings.

On the subject of producing, it's significant that Kate is accredited as assistant producer and so is acknowledged as playing an active role in mixing the sound as well as performing. She takes an immense interest in recording techniques and states intentions to pursue ambitions in that area. There was, however, a problem in communication when she was involved in the production and her lack of professional lingo for various methods of recording often led to confusion and amusement in the studio.

"I feel I know what I'm talking about in the studio now. I know what I should hear. The reaction to me explaining what I want in the studio was amusement, to a certain extent. The were all taking the piss out of me a bit."

Overall, Bush was concerned that the new album should differ quite radically from her first. &ocq.Maybe I'm a bit too close to it at the moment, but I find it much more adventurous than the last one. I'm much happier with the songs and the arrangements and the backing tracks.

"I was getting a bit worried about labels from that last album: everything being soft, airy-fairy. That was great for the time, but it's not really what I want to do now, or what I want to do, say, in the next year. I guess I want to get basically heavier in the sound sense...and I think that's on the way, which makes me really happy.

"I don't really think that there are any songs on the album that are as close to .bf ital Wuthering Heights .pf as there were on the last one. I mean, there's lots of songs people could draw comparison with. I want the first single that comes out from this album to be reasonably up-tempo. <The first single was Hammer Horror .> That's the first thing I'm concerned with, because I want to break away from what has previously gone. I'm not pleased with being associated with such soft, romantic vibes, not for the first single anyway. If that happens again, that's what I will be to everyone."

She is acutely aware of the danger of being pigeon-holed, and is actively engaged in discouraging that.

"If you can get away with it and keep changing, great. I think it should be done because in that way you'll always have people chasing after you trying to find out what you're doing. And, anyway, if you know what's coming next, what's the point? If I really wanted to, I guess I could write a song that would be so similar to Wuthering Heights . But I don't. What's the point? I'd rather write a song that was really different, that I liked, although it might not get anywhere."

Have you heard her new single, Hammer Horror ? Now that's really different.

The major changes in the preparation for Lionheart was undoubtedly that Kate, over-burdened with promotional schemes for the first album, was for the first time left with the unsavoury prospect of meeting deadlines and (perhaps) having to rush her writing to do that. It was a problem she was having trouble coming to terms with at our last meeting, when she spoke in obvious admiration of bands like Queen--who came up with the goods on time every year, and still found time to conduct world tours.

But Kate insisted that she wasn't going to be rushed, and eventually the songs came along. In all, it took ten weeks to record the twelve tracks (ten are on the album), an indication of the meticulousness shown by Bush herself in exercising as much control as possible over every facet of the work. "I'm not always right, and I know I'm not," she says, "but it's important to know what's going on, even if I'm not controlling it."

I'll be interested to read the reviews of Lionheart . It'll be sad, I think, if the album is greeted with the same sort of insulting indifference that The Kick Inside met, when Kate Bush was pathetically underrated.

Lionheart is, as the artist desired, a heavier album than its predecessor, with Bush setting some pretty exacting tests for the listener. Kate's songwriting is that much more mature, and her vocal performance has an even more vigorous sense of drama.

Musically, the tracks on Lionheart are more carefully structured than before. There is, for instance, a distinct absence of straight songs, like the first album's Moving, Saxophone Song, The Man With the Child in His Eyes and The Kick Inside . Here, only Oh England, My Lionheart makes an immediate impression and I'm not sure that the move away from soft ballads (be it to secure a separate image) is such a wise one. As Bush proved on those songs on The Kick Inside, simplicity can also have its own sources of complication.

There is much about this album that is therapeutic, and often Kate Bush is the subject of her own course. Fullhouse is the most blatant example of that. <There is no evidence that this song is autobiographical.> On of the album's three unspectacular tracks musically (along with, in my opinion, In the Warm Room and Kashka From Baghdad ), it is still lyrically a fine example of ridding the brain of dangerous paranoias. The stabbing verse of "Imagination sets in,/Then all the voices begin,/Telling you things that aren't happening/(But the nig and they nag, 'til they're under your skin)" is set against the soothing chorus: "You've really got to/Remember yourself,/You've got a fullhouse in your head tonight,/Remember yourself,/Stand back and see emotion getting you uptight."

Even Fullhouse is mild, though, when compared to tracks like Symphony in Blue, In the Warm Room and Kashka From Baghdad, which exude an unashamed sensuality. Symphony in Blue, the opening track, is a hypnotic ballad with the same sort of explicit sexual uninhibitiveness as Feel It from the first album. "The more I think about sex,/The better it gets,/Here we have a purpose in life,/Good for the blood circulation,/Good for releasing the tension./The root of our reincarnation," sings Kate happily.

In Search of Peter Pan, Wow (running together on the first side) and Hammer Horror are are examples of Kate's strange ability to let the subconscious mind run amok in the studio. Wow is tantalisingly powerful and Hammer Horror (the single) is most impressive for the way it seems to tie in so many of the finer points of the first album and project them through one epic song.

That leaves three tracks, Don't Push Your Foot on the Heartbrake, Oh England, My Lionheart, and Coffee Homeground . All of them with totally contrasting identieds but all succeeding in areas that many might have considered outside the scope of Kate Bush.

A few months ago, in the paper, Kate said how one of her musical ambitions was to write a real rousing rock'n'roll song and how difficult she found that task. James and the Cold Gun was her effort on The Kick Inside, and with Don't Push Your Foot on the Heartbrake she has tackled the art of writing a roasting rocker on her own terms. Heartbrake (another piece of emotional therapy) might not be considered a rocker in the traditional sense of racing from start to finish but it's still one of the most vicious pieces of rock I've stumbled across in some time. The chorus is slow, pedestrianly slow. The pace is deceiving. It slides into the chorus. Bush moves into a jog. Then the second part of the chorus. It's complete havoc, and when it comes to repeating that second part in the run-up to the end, Kate wrenches from her slight frame a screaming line of unbelievably consummate rock'n'roll power that astounded me. A rather unnerving turn to Kate's music, I think”.

I don’t think that Lionheart is the worst Kate Bush album. She has never released a bad album. Far from being this weak The Kick Inside, it is a fascinating snapshot of this artist trying to move on from her debut but also wanting to retain some of that sound. If she had been given longer to record and write, who knows what Lionheart could have been! In the second feature, I will explore some of the songs from Lionheart. I think that it is an amazing and eclectic album with so many different wonderful stories. Perhaps the best track on the album is Symphony in Blue. The divine opener opens this toy box and treasure chest. Sumptuous and wise, we then treated to a blend of sweetness and fantasy alongside some darker moments and personal fear. An accomplished work that could have been even better than The Kick Inside was slightly let down by time pressure. It reflects badly on EMI that they did not give Kate Bush enough opportunity and time to record her second album. Regardless, I think it is a magnificent work. This review from 2013 offers positives that other do not afford the album:

“Ok, here’s the party line on Kate Bush’s second album Lionheart.  It was the “difficult second album”;  rush released too soon after her stupendous debut, The Kick Inside. The material was under cooked,  it was recorded hastily.  It was a commercial disappointment. Lionheart has always been viewed as the gawky, homely sister to The Kick Inside.  It languishes in the same purgatory as Fleetwood Mac’s Tusk and Michael Jackson’s Bad.  Those were all albums that were tasked with following up a monster critical and commercial smash; too much to expect of any mortal record.

However, what if The Kick Inside had never existed, and Lionheart had been her debut? Take away the baggage  and the job of reviewing becomes a little more interesting.

Lionheart is not a perfect album yet its still a staggering achievement.  Had  it been the opening missive in Kate’s discography,  jaws would have still dropped just as far. This record is a potent example of the complexity of Kate Bush and her audacious voice, charisma and songs.  Had it been her debut, it may not have conferred upon her the instant mantle of “Icon” (as ‘Kick’ did), but that might have been a good thing.

IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush in 1978/PHOTO CREDIT: Gered Mankowitz

Sure, Lionheart could have benefitted from more time in the bottle or… maybe not.  Kate had all the time in the world to worry over The Dreaming.  Was it a better record? I’ll let you know when I get around to listening to it as many times as I have Lionheart.  Lionheart is a grower that is unique in her canon. Every track on Lionheart earns and rewards repeated visitations.

Let’s get the obvious out of the way. The song “Wow” is a wonderful confection of fantasy/pop.  Equal parts torch ballad and bubblegum, it was a smart and successful single that could turn the heads of tabloid writers and music critics alike.  And “England, My Lionheart”, is quite simply one of the most beautiful and  unique melodies ever written.  Usually in pop song craft you can hear echoes of the familiar; even if the artist is stealing from him/herself.  This song exists on a different plane.  That the lyrics are penned by a teenage girl is stupefying and magical.  Why this song hasn’t been declared Britain’s national anthem is beyond me.  It still might someday.

The epic “Hammer Horror” could be the subject of an entire review unto itself. By 1978, the term “Rock Opera” had become devalued currency.  “Hammer Horror”  is definitely a rock opera (albeit a tightly compressed and edited version of the form).  Kate whispers, wails, moans and rumbles like both a siren and natural woman.  She’s got some burr in her saddle in the form of a stalker, ex-boyfriend, ghost, or some unholy permutation of the three.  Whatever happened, it’s now an ever-present nightmare of the soul.  The tinkling piano ending turns the neat trick of being pretty and dissonant at the same time. The delayed reaction gong crash signals a melodramatic end to a brilliant and melodramatic record, and the cover art will rock your world.

Elsewhere, things get more eclectic and esoteric. “Coffee Homeground” courts Cabaret and Broadway and elevates both forms.  Lead track, “Symphony In Blue” evokes a heavenly cocktail mix of Carol King on ecstasy and helium.  On this album, even more than The Kick Inside, Kate takes her voice to its full, death defying limits.  Many argue it takes listeners to their limits as well.  Like Dylan, Kate’s voice is her signature, money maker, and albatross all rolled into one.  One must come to the party prepared to marvel at her athleticism and then dig deep into the music itself.  The rewards are there.  Kate Bush is not a passive listen. We’ve got Sade for that.  No, Lionheart is a three ring circus of emotion, estrogen and technique.  And you know what?  EMI put it out at just the right time.  I’m glad we got two albums documenting Kate’s eloquent, teen dream genius.  Soon our little girl would all grow up to be a woman. Lionheart didn’t do anything wrong, it’s just a matter of the paint on her masterpiece hadn’t quite dried yet”.

On 10th November, it will be forty-six since Lionheart came out. It reached number six in the U.K. I am glad that, in an interview from 1989, Bush expressed how happy she was with Lionheart considering it was extremely rushed. I wonder how she feels about it now. With very few podcast episodes or articles written about Lionheart, we need to spend more time discussing its merits and importance. In my view, Kate Bush’s second studio album is…

A genuine gem.

FEATURE: Spotlight: Yasmin Williams

FEATURE:

 

 

Spotlight

PHOTO CREDIT: Ebru Yildiz

Yasmin Williams

_________

FOR this Spotlight…

 PHOTO CREDIT: Ebru Yildiz

I am spending time with the wonderful Yasmin Williams. Her new album, Acadia, is one of the finest of 2024. Following on from 2021’s Urban Driftwood, this album proves that Williams is a huge talent with a sound and lyrical voice like nobody else. The Virginia-born composer and solo-performing finger-style guitarist is someone who should be on your radar. I am going to finish with a couple of reviews for Acadia. Prior to coming to interviews with Yasmin Williams, here is some biography about a wonderful musician and singular talent:

“When guitarist and composer Yasmin Williams sits down to compose music, she doesn’t scour her subconscious for unheard melodies or clever chord progressions. Instead, she goes granular—fixating on a single note. She’ll play it over and over, sustaining it, varying the attack or the release to change its essence, eventually adding notes to form chords.

She has a name for this. She calls it “ruminating” and describes it as a key part of her writing. “I’ve learned a little about how to sit with a note, and to give things time,” the Virginia native says. “You find some tiny idea and just play it over and over again until something else pops up … You have to trust that sometimes a note will take you to where it wants to go next.”

This intuitive process led Williams to the breathtakingly tactile and rivetingly understated Acadia, her Nonesuch debut. Its nine original songs expand, dramatically, on the sonic space Williams created with her acclaimed 2021 album, Urban Driftwood. In addition to the crisp fingerpicked guitar that helped establish her as a fast-rising star of instrumental folk, Williams plays kora, harp guitar, banjo, and electric guitar and bass—all with authority. And where her two previous records have been mostly solo, Acadia finds Williams collaborating with artists across a wide stylistic range, including the vocalist Aoife O’Donovan, violinist Darian Donovan Thomas, the folk quartet Darlingside, synthesist Rich Ruth, and jazz alto saxophonist Immanuel Wilkins.

Williams needed these ninjas to help her execute the simultaneously detailed and open-ended music she envisioned. Though her Acadia songs evoke sloping hills and rustic ambles, they’re not folksy folk: Many are structured as complex suites and are notable for sudden shifts of mood, spontaneous re-harmonizations, and the extended mounting- tension ramp-ups common in progressive rock. Williams organized Acadia in three sections: The opening set of songs evokes the wily exuberance of old-time music, then gently stretches its conventions; the second explores lush, layered textures and zones of vast atmospheric ambience; the third, which introduces electric guitar(s) and drums, has an experimental, improvisational spirit. She wrote the songs while touring, and that’s audible: This music has a breathless, world-in-motion sweep to it. It’s alive with wanderlust—specifically, that elevated-awareness feeling of journeying when you don’t know exactly where you’re going.

That openness is something Williams says she longed for during the extended Urban Driftwood tour. “I used to really love the verse-chorus-bridge structures of folk songs,” Williams says. “A lot of my earlier music is organized that way, which I call ‘quick tunes’ and I still love playing.” After doing that a lot, she says, she longed for a more experimental ethos. She’s grown “more comfortable with letting things stretch out. I don’t feel like I need to maintain absolute control over the structure. For me, music is now more about flexibility than it ever has been before.”

That could be an unexpected side benefit from the touring she’s done since 2021: The road throws surprises at every turn, and how an artist responds can be telling. Williams mentions working on a new song the night before her first performance at the Newport Folk Festival. She didn’t finish the song, which is called “Cliffwalk,” but on the golfcart ride to the stage psyched herself up to perform it anyway; she’s since worked her improvisation from that day into the arrangement.

Williams has similar stories of spontaneous serendipity about nearly every Acadia track. She mentions “Harvest,” which was conceived as a duet with the pathfinding acoustic guitarist Kaki King. Listening back to the final take, Williams kept hearing another sound, particularly in the middle section where harmonic artifacts from the two guitars intertwine in haunting ways. She invited the violinist Darian Donovan Thomas to the studio and shared her idea; literally twenty minutes later, Williams recalls, “Harvest” was transformed, its middle section blossoming into a divinely inspired array of overlapping halo tones. “He figured out the world of that tune really quickly, and just lived in that world.”

Williams’ calm, gorgeously consonant music inspires this type of alchemy. Songs like “Sisters” and “Virga” seem to float across scenery in suspended animation, as though propelled by placid mountain breezes. These pieces are centered around long-held consonant tones; they could easily have grown from those single-note explorations Williams uses as a composition prompt.

“My fourteen-or fifteen-year-old brain told me: ‘We should let the notes ring out for as long as possible as often as we can,’” Williams says about her penchant for grand sustained guitar sounds. In high school, she played guitar for five or six hours a day—more time than she devoted to her first instrument, the clarinet—and much of that was spent exploring ways to massage and sustain tone. “It just sounded better to me to do that,” Williams says. “Still does. It requires a lot of practice, getting hands in the right place … But I love when notes ring out. I love it when notes have time to develop, in my music and the music I listen to.”

Williams doubts that listeners would notice if she one day stopped letting her notes ring out. But it matters to her. And her attention to such a small element of music reveals something essential about Yasmin Williams: She might seem to be way up in the upper atmosphere conjuring ethereal sounds, but at the same time she’s in the engine room, tweaking the small details of performance, using often-overlooked elements of craft to underscore and amplify her compositions.

There are only so many ways for fingers to engage with the strings of a guitar, and most of them are evident on Acadia: Williams pounds the strings, conjures dense chords with a shredder’s lust for dissonance, dances through intricate scampering leads (“Dream Lake”), chops out syncopated patterns with mechanistic precision, arpeggiates with a feathery grace. And then, when it’s time to pare things back to an essence, she’ll lean into a note and hold it for a good long while, to see what it has to offer.

“I was taught to be picky about stuff like articulation,” Williams says with a laugh. “I guess I learned it. Honestly, this is the stuff that’s really important to me—the little things. They might go over people’s heads a little bit. They go over my head sometimes. That’s OK, because they become part of the songs.”

**

Yasmin Williams grew up in the Northern Virginia town of Woodbridge in a family with a deep reverence for music. They’d harmonize together on car rides, with Yasmin handling the highest parts. She recalls listening to a wide range of artists, including Chuck Brown, the pioneer of Washington, DC’s go-go sound. She describes herself as an ordinary rock kid (favorites: Jimi Hendrix, Nirvana) in high school; her listening broadened while earning a degree in music theory and composition at NYU. It was there that she began to explore nontraditional approaches to the acoustic guitar, developing a fingerstyle technique with the instrument resting on her lap. She’s recorded two previous albums—her debut Unwind (2018) and Urban Driftwood (2021)—and used each to expand her array of sound tools and techniques: She sometimes positions her kalimba, the African thumb piano, atop the guitar so she can play both at once. She also plays kora, harp guitar, doubleneck guitar, banjo, and percussion instruments.

Though many of those instruments are prevalent in folk and oldtime music, Williams doesn’t regard herself as a folk musician. “I don’t subscribe to the folk idiom,” Williams says. “It’s not like I listened to folk as a teenager. I feel folk music now is very much in a corner. It doesn’t allow itself to … accept new influences. It promotes conformity in some aspects, and to me that’s the opposite of what folk music is about.”

— Biography written by Tom Moon”.

I am moving along to an interview from FADER. They note how, on Acadia, Yasmin Williams pushes beyond conventional Folk and incorporates Bluegrass, Jazz and Ambient music. It is a wonderful album that I would recommend to everyone:

“Her third album, Acadia, out now via Nonesuch Records, is expansive both structurally and sonically. Collaborators weave in and out — O’Donovan, saxophonist Immanuel Wilkins, neo-traditional bones player Dom Flemons, and guitarist William Tyler, another guitarist stretching the limits of the American folk tradition — and the sound shifts with them. The bluegrass of “Hummingbird,” a collaboration with Allison de Groot and Tatiana Hargreaves, exists on a different plane to the electric “Dream Lake,” which features jazz-rock drummer Malick Koly. Williams has always been in conversation with folk conventions, but Acadia runs completely counter to tradition. Written in three parts, it is constantly in flux. There is sax and harp and electric guitar, songs written on the banjo and turned into jazz-rock tracks. There’s a key change at the end of “Malamu,” the closer, that seems like a final flourish, a statement against categorizing Williams as anything other than an artist interpreting her instrument and her craft in her own unique way.

What were you looking for in a collaborator on this record?

I was looking for someone who seemed super comfortable and confident in their playing style, someone who is as close to masterful as you can get on an instrument, and someone who was just nice to work with. There are 19 folks on this record, and I picked all of them. They all serve the function of masterful playing and fitting into the worlds I created in the tunes, which are complex and difficult. There's a lot of tempo changes, key changes, technical things that are difficult about the songs. For them to pick that up quickly and insert themselves in a seemingly personal way was super special for me to witness and hear. I just wanted people who were comfortable doing that, not afraid to improvise, not afraid to take a leap of faith.

You mentioned the worlds that you've built around these songs. Do you feel that they each have their distinctive worlds?

I think each song has its own narrative and journey. I ordered them in this particular way because they come together in groups of three. The first three songs live in an acoustic world; they're very organic. The next three are almost like suites, bringing in more instrumentation, experimenting more, and including vocals — a different thing I decided to do on this record. They're ethereal-minded. The last three tracks are electric, with electric guitar prominent and a different vibe altogether, but they still bridge the gap between the first two sections. They're organic in a different way and also ethereal in a different way, but they bring even more instrumentation. I think of the album as three sets of trios, like suites. Each song has its own world, and I was in various moods when writing these songs. Pretty much every song is super personal to me and represents something I was going through at the time of writing it.

What's it like communicating the personality and personal nature of a song when most of the time you're not using lyrics? Is it something that you're often relying on your audience to pick up on, or is it more for you?

For me, it's really freeing not to rely on lyrics. It's freeing not to tell the audience what to think. They can interpret the songs how they want to. If they happen to get a record and look at what the song's about, cool, but I'm not banking on that. I like to put music out into the universe and let it take people where it takes them. People are going through whatever they're going through, so a song will hit someone differently than it hits someone else. For me, the songs are definitely about various things like relationships and the difficulties of being a musician and traveling so much. I listen to tons of instrumental music, so I prefer not to have to worry about being told what's going on. I can just let the music wash over me and figure things out for myself.

You’ve talked in the past about “ruminating” on a particular note when you write. What does that process entail? What does it mean for you?

I think it's kind of how I've always been. I'll just play a phrase over and over again, and if it sits right with me, then it'll stay; if not, it'll disappear. That's how I process music and use it to process the world around me. Music gives me space to think and let my emotions out in a constructive way. It's not a conscious thing. I'll remember it, write it down, or record it. If months go by and nothing becomes of it, cool. If years go by and I remember the phrase again and want to use it, cool. It's a vital process. I need to give myself time to play phrases over and over and see how they intertwine, see how they play with each other. It's a very necessary part of the process.

This goes as granular as single notes, not just phrases—the sustain of a particular note.

Absolutely. For me, it's imperative to let notes ring. I don't know why; that's just how I've always been since I started playing guitar. I love when notes ring and have time to develop, even if I'm playing something that's technically fast. Letting the notes ring and develop is necessary to me, especially on acoustic guitar, because that's where it shines brightest — how the notes change over time.

Where do you think your relationship with folk music is right now?

I appreciate it for what it is. I love listening to old-time music. I honestly love how a lot of it sounds the same. Even people who are steeped in the tradition aren't sure if it's this song or that song because they sound exactly the same. I think that's really cool that they have such a cemented style. For me personally, it's not flexible enough sometimes. I feel like the aesthetic of folk music is not in line with what I'm trying to do sometimes.

But very different sustain. Does that push you even further out of your comfort zone, knowing that you're not going to get that same sort of resonance?

Yeah, that's really interesting you bring that up because I find myself gravitating toward melodic style, which gives you that sustain in different ways. Instead of playing a scale on a single string, you play a major scale going up the fretboard and let the open strings ring out. There is that ringing aspect in melodic style that I appreciate. That's why I gravitate toward that style in particular. It's tricky to get notes to ring out on the banjo; your finger placement has to be exact. But once it works, it sounds great”.

I will round off fairly soon. Before I do, this interview from Stereogum is well worth exploring. I have taken sections from it. The more I read about Yasmin Williams, the more I want to explore her music. She is a tremendous artist that needs to be known by all. I hope she performs in the U.K. soon:

“On top of being a really cool artist, you’re technically extremely skilled. I’m curious if you have a daily routine as a musician.

WILLIAMS: [Laughs] No, I don’t. I don’t practice nearly enough. But when I do practice, I have a couple warm ups that I’ve made up over the years that are really helpful. Usually, before shows, I play a song by Elizabeth Cotten called “Vastopol” that I really like. It centers me and grounds my mind, which is really nice.

Fair enough. With such an intricate formula, I’m curious if you could talk to me about your writing process. Is your music rooted in improvisation or do you know everything you’re going to play before you play it?

WILLIAMS: I would say it’s a bit of both. So mainly it seems that, at least lately, when I sit down to play, I don’t really think about writing a song. It just happens over time. I might come up with a phrase or something that I really like and just repeat that over and over again. Eventually, I come up with other phrases that fit with that and I repeat those over and over again. The songs kind of write themselves.

It’s a mix of improv, for sure, but sometimes, when I sit down to play, there’s already something stuck in my head and I just play it on the guitar and see how it fits and go from there. But yeah, improv is very, very important to the overall writing process. Usually, it takes me several months to finish a tune. Sometimes it doesn’t take that long, but usually it’s a pretty long process because I like to sit with things and see how I feel about it over time.

This new album feels like a pretty big step forward on a lot of levels. I’m curious how you feel your music has grown and changed since Urban Driftwood.

WILLIAMS: I feel like Acadia is just a representation of where I wanted my music to go, as far as expanding instrumentation, using more complex song structures, or maybe not depending so much on song structures. I feel like I grew up with a lot of music that was, like, verse-chorus-verse-chorus-bridge — that sort of thing. And recently I’ve wanted to not depend so much on that. Because I do love that structure in songwriting. But I wanted to challenge myself and see if I could write longer tunes and tunes that didn’t rely on such a rigid structure and use different chords and chordal shapes.

I incorporated collaborators — there’s, like, 19 guest artists on the album, which is kind of insane. I didn’t plan for there to be so many people, but that’s just how it worked out. I think it’s a really cool expansion of Urban Driftwood, and I think Acadia sounds like me. But it has more going on, if that makes sense.

Yeah, for sure. Could you talk to me about the recording process for Acadia?

WILLIAMS: I recorded most of my guitar tracks and other tracks I played at this studio near me in Maryland, Blue House Productions. Some of the guest artists, like Tatiana Hargreaves and Allison de Groot, I had them fly over here. They recorded “Hummingbird” with me. A couple times, I did have to go to New York and Boston to record with Marcus [Gilmore] and Immanuel [Wilkins] and Malick [Koly] for their tracks. And to record with the string ensemble that’s on “Sisters,” which was really cool.

For the most part, a lot of the collaborators were remote. They just sent me tracks from wherever they recorded and I would give them notes. And they would send me more stuff, and I would give notes, or it would be perfect. It wasn’t super long of a process, in terms of figuring out the guest artists I wanted to be on there. All of the tracks, I had specific things in mind. The people I asked to be on the record were the people I wanted on the record first. So it worked out.

One of the things I love about your music is how much it pushes genre. I feel like this album does that even more. And you’re about to tour with Brittany Howard, which seems a little bit unexpected given where your music lands. But it’s also very cool, and speaks to how much range you have. With all that in mind, I’m curious where you view your music dwelling stylistically, if you do anywhere at all.

WILLIAMS: That’s a question I’ve been trying to answer for years, and I have no clue. I mean, I feel like when my first album came out, I was labeled as a percussive fingerstyle player. I don’t know if you know Andy McKee or Kaki King or those types of people”.

 PHOTO CREDIT: Ebru Yildiz

The final interview that I am featuring comes from The Guardian. A modern-day guitar hero, it makes me think about the guitar and how we view it now. Less about Rock and shredding, players like Yasmin Williams are modern idols. How we reframe the instrument. It should lead to new discussion:

“Williams is certainly forthright – earlier this year she wrote a popular op-ed for the Guardian criticising Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter as “a capitalist gesture” in the world of Black country and folk. But while Urban Driftwood was inspired by injustice, unrest and despair, its mesmerising instrumentals established a different mood: one that was meditative and uplifting. “We didn’t need another reiteration of the pain and destruction people were going through,” Williams says. “It wasn’t escapism, exactly. But I wanted to believe that things could get better and focus on that. I chose hope over simply stating what the reality was.”

Urban Driftwood was rapturously received, as were a home-recorded Tiny Desk concert for NPR in October 2021 and Williams’ triumphant performance at that year’s Newport folk festival. She acknowledges Newport as a turning point: “It was the biggest stage I’d ever played. The acceptance from the crowd, the intense listening, made me feel I could succeed as a professional musician, which had always seemed far-fetched before.”

‘I wanted to believe that things could get better’ … Williams performing in 2021. Photograph: The Washington Post/Getty Images

In this headspace she conceived Acadia, challenging herself to vacate her comfort zone. She embraced collaboration, working with saxophonist/composer Immanuel Wilkins, guitarists Kaki King and William Tyler, vocalists Darlingside and Aoife O’Donovan, and more. And she further widened her frame of reference, accompanying her acoustic guitar with tap shoes and calabash drums, playing kora and making clear her sound couldn’t be contained within the American folk tradition.

“It wasn’t about emancipating myself from genre, because I never felt attached to genre in the first place. I put together folk traditions from various places and various time periods.” She cites the funk subgenre go-go as well as “jazz, rock, cosmic country and classical. I fell in love with Hindustani classical music in college, and west African classical music – kora music, specifically – in high school. The syncopation, the note choices, the different timbres all made me reevaluate what I was doing. Acadia brings all this music together.”

It’s a blossoming, alright – one that unfurls Williams’ own vision and challenges preconceptions. “If people want to place me within the folk genre, fine,” she says. “I’m trying to expand people’s notion of what folk music is. It’s the music of the people. But if you consider ‘the people’ to be just one kind of people, well … that’s simply not correct.” She pauses for a second and then smiles. “There’s a whole universe here”.

Let’s end with a couple of positive reviews for the amazing Arcadia. It is one of the best albums of this year in my opinion. Pitchfork shared their views on Yasmin Williams’ new album in their review. They raise some interesting observations:

“Yasmin Williams is one of the most inventive guitar players of the last decade, an artist devoted to deploying seemingly every technique imaginable to coax new sounds and ideas out of her instrument. She hammers the strings and wallops the body and taps the frets; she strums and drums and plucks with such speed and agility that her performances feel like sleights of hands, as though she owes as much to Ricky Jay as she does to Leo Kottke. But it’s all in service of her tautly, gracefully composed songs, which she approaches with a storyteller’s eye for setting and specificity, just as a lyricist might. Williams didn’t merely write her 2021 album Urban Driftwood during the tumultuous year of 2020, but wrote it about those hard times. “I Wonder (Song for Michael)” was one of several inspired by the demonstrations she attended in Washington, DC. But instead of evoking the commotion and peril of facing off against the police, Williams was much more interested in the warm camaraderie she felt for her fellow demonstrators, all of whom were taking similar risks toward a common goal.

Warm camaraderie of a different sort defines her follow-up, Acadia. It’s a bright, imaginative expansion of Williams’ sound, gregarious where Urban Driftwood sounded ruminative and solitary. Almost all of these songs feature a different set of players: The folk duo of Allison de Groot and Tatiana Hargreaves color in “Hummingbird” with banjo runs and fiddle reels, respectively; the Nashville cosmic-jazz musician Rich Ruth adds soft synths to “Virga.” Dom Flemons plays the rhythm bones on “Cliffwalk” as Williams’ riffs subdivide like fractals, adding impossible grace notes, and Immanuel Wilkins concludes the album with an ecstatic alto saxophone solo. That motley assortment of musicians reflects the variety of Williams’ interests, which range from folk and old-time to jazz and classical composition.

Acadia takes her far from the streets of DC and deep into the woods and mountains. She signals as much with the song titles, but also with the music itself. “Hummingbird” flutters through a garden, the busy guitar and banjo buzzing around a central theme and settling into a familiar old-time jig. This song and several others settle into what sounds like an early ending, only to take flight again, as though Williams’ mind, like a hummingbird’s wings, is always in motion. On “Harvest,” she picks long melodic lines on her guitar, which sound like they have less to do with the physical labor of bringing in crops and more to do with the pleasure of exhaustion. You can almost see the sun setting over empty fields.

Her songs remain as focused as ever, and she uses these other musicians with the same consideration with which she uses various techniques; nothing is simply spectacle. More than anything else in Williams’ catalog, Acadia is open to tangents, wild ideas, sudden realizations, and sustained moods. Listening to “Virga” and “Sisters” is like finding shapes in clouds: The music is daydreamy, each sound blurred around the edges, changing so gradually you may not notice until it’s something entirely different. Some of the album’s finest moments deploy the human voice like another instrument. The pillowy, almost New Age vocals on “Virga” sound like they’re suspended in the air, blown by a gentle breeze, and when this choir sings actual words, it’s nearly impossible to make them out. It’s fitting for a song named after the meteorological phenomenon of rain evaporating before it hits the ground.

Williams appreciates the friction of sounds and ideas, so her songs rise and fall, build and crest, shout and whisper. They’re alive to both the orderliness of a carefully constructed melody and the chaos of being in the moment. As Acadia progresses, it blossoms and expands, adding new instruments. She picks up an electric guitar on “Dream Lake” and shreds bucolically. She trades licks with Wilkins’ saxophone on “Malamu,” and the song rocks unselfconsciously. It’s the biggest and riskiest moment on the album, a finale whose fusion of jazz and folk and rock frees her up to go in any direction on her next album. Unexpected yet exuberant, it sounds like the work of the harvest giving way to the celebration of the feast”.

I will end with a review of Acadia from The Skinny. Even if you are not a fan of Bluegrass, Folk or Ambient music, you will definitely find much to enjoy and appreciate through her album. I would suggest people watch this amazing artist. Someone who warrants as big an audience as possible. I am fairly new to her music but am definitely a fan now:

“Earlier this year, Yasmin Williams raised the hackles of the Beyhive when she criticised Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter in an op-ed for The Guardian. She accused the Texan superstar of sidelining the Black musicians she claimed to celebrate, arguing that “Beyoncé has put the Carter before the horse.” No such accusations could be levelled at Williams, whose latest album sees her backed by a revolving cast of collaborators.

Cliffwalk opens the digital edition of the album, with Williams accompanied by music scholar Dr. Dom Flemons; the clacking beats of his rhythm bones punctuating her guitar like dancing shoes on a hardwood floor. This celebratory tone continues on Hummingbird, in which Allison de Groot’s banjo and Tatiana Hargreaves' fiddle conjure up images of barn dances and flannel shirts draped over faded denim. Elsewhere, the soft vocals of indie-folk outfit Darlingside lend Virga the gentle, unbothered feel of a week spent living amongst nature: stirring with the sunrise, and sleeping under the stars.

Williams may be known for her inventive approach to the guitar – inspired as much by the spiritual blues of Elizabeth Cotten and American primitive guitarist John Fahey as it is Guitar Hero II – but it’s her egalitarian approach to collaboration that makes Acadia so alluring”.

Such a terrific guitar player and notable songwriter, Yasmin Williams is undoubtably a musician who is going to inspire so many other people. I really love her music and can’t wait to see where she goes next. It is going to be fascinating to see how Williams heads…

IN years to come.

____________

Follow Yasmin Williams

PHOTO CREDIT: Ebru Yildiz

Official:

https://www.yasminwilliamsmusic.com/

Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/guitar.yaz/

Twitter:

https://x.com/guitar_yaz

Spotify:

https://open.spotify.com/artist/4j8CsPzssbM8TCjSvgnmSs?si=NLpASTX3TVyzbnnYFkK8VA

YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCR0c-RN_gr3UmcRgoXV0uIw

FEATURE: Groovelines: Madonna – Like a Virgin

FEATURE:

 

 

Groovelines

 IN THIS PHOTO: Madonna in 1984/PHOTO CREDIT: Getty Images

Madonna – Like a Virgin

_________

THERE is a special reason…

as to why I am featuring this iconic 1980s song in Groovelines. Madonna’s Like a Virgin might be her most famous and best-known song. There is competition, though there is an argument to suggest it is one of her most popular songs. In 2016, Rolling Stone ranked the song fifth in their Madonna’s top fifty ranking:

“Even if the word "virgin" is the only sexual reference in the lyrics, "Like a Virgin" still sounds saturated in lust – it's all in the way Madonna sings it over that Nile Rodgers funk throb. The song was written by Billy Steinberg and Tom Kelly, who were told they might have to change the title to get it recorded. But Madonna loved it. ("They're so geeky, they're cool," she said of the lyrics.) She gave "Like a Virgin" a memorable debut at the 1984 MTV Video Music Awards, a moment as indelible as the Beatles on Ed Sullivan – the song is forever linked with the image of Madonna, in a wedding gown, brazenly humping the stage. "I was surprised with how people reacted to 'Like a Virgin,'" Madonna told Rolling Stone in 1987, perhaps a tad disingenuously. "Because when I did the song, to me, I was singing about how something made me feel a certain way – brand-new and fresh – and everyone else interpreted it as, 'I don't want to be a virgin anymore. Fuck my brains out!' That's not what I sang at all”.

In 2018, The Guardian ranked her seventy-eight (to that point) singles. Like a Virgin came in at twenty-one. Even if not seen as worth of higher acclaim by some, one cannot argue against the importance and significance of Like a Virgin. The lead single from the album of the same name, we mark forty years of Like a Virgin on 31st October. The album of the same name is forty on 12th November. It was such a crucial time in Madonna’s career.

Her second studio album was released just over a year from her eponymous debut. This was a slightly bolder artist. Madonna wrote a lot of her debut album. On Like a Virgin, there was more in the way of collaboration. She wanted to produce Like a Virgin herself. This was instantly denied by Sire Records. Even though there was mixed reaction to Like a Virgin upon its release, the album is iconic. In terms of this future Pop queen coming through. How her music and image are engrained in history. Singles Like a Virgin and Material Girl are among the most recognisable songs of their day. The album itself is slick and nuanced. Its deeper cuts offer rewards the more you play them. Its title cut is seen as the best track on the album. It is an iconic song that reached number three in the U.K. and number one in the U.S. I want to start with this feature published in September. An instant hit, Like a Virgin was written and composed by Tom Kelly and Billy Steinberg:

“A Musical Revolution

“Like a Virgin” was a departure from Madonna’s debut album, “Madonna”, which had been more disco-focused. The new single showcased a more refined, pop-infused sound, with a sweeping orchestral arrangement and a distinctive guitar riff that would become one of the most recognizable hooks in pop music. The song’s blend of catchy hooks, introspective lyrics, and Madonna’s distinctive vocal delivery – which blended elements of Tina Turner, Aretha Franklin, and a hint of innocence – resulted in a sound that was both fresh and retro.

Controversy and Censorship

The song’s provocative lyrics, however, sparked a firestorm of controversy. Madonna’s impassioned delivery of lines like “you’re gonna be the pride of my life” and “Jesus is the answer” prompted critics to label the song as blasphemous and sacrilegious. The Catholic Church even protested the song, calling it “desecrating the sacred memory of the Virgin Mary”. Despite (or perhaps because of) the backlash, the song’s popularity only grew.

A Fashion Revolution

The song’s title, of course, referenced a specific fashion trend – and Madonna was always the fashion plate. The song’s iconic fashion moment came when Madonna’s white wedding dress was pulled apart on live television at the 1984 MTV Video Music Awards. The look was instantly imitated and parodied, cementing Madonna’s status as a style icon and ensuring that the song would be forever tied to the fashion of the era.

Breaking Barriers and Setting a New Standard

But “Like a Virgin” was about more than just a memorable music video or a provocative fashion moment. The song changed the game by breaking ground for future generations of female pop artists. Madonna’s success showed that a pop star could be a powerful artist, a savvy businesswoman, and a style icon – all without sacrificing her art or her commercial appeal.

Legacy of the Song

More than three decades later, the impact of “Like a Virgin” continues to be felt. The song has been inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame, and its influence can be seen in everything from Lady Gaga’s “Paparazzi” to Britney Spears’ “Toxic”. It is a testament to Madonna’s enduring legacy, both as an artist and as a cultural phenomenon.

Conclusion

When “Like a Virgin” was first released, it was hailed as a game-changing hit that would shake up the music industry. Today, it’s safe to say that the song has lived up to its promise. As a cultural icon, Madonna’s “Like a Virgin” represents a pivotal moment in pop music history, showcasing the power of innovation, creativity, and vision. As a song, it will continue to be enjoyed and studied by artists and fans alike, its legacy cemented in the annals of music history”.

There is no doubt that, with Like a Virgin, we were introduced to one of the most inspiring and provocative Pop stars of all-time! Someone who was confident and challenged the mainstream. You can feel the sonic and lyrical shifts between Madonna and Like a Virgin. Madonna more confident as a performer. Her videos started to grow more ambitious. She was a screen idol. Captivating and cool. Sexy and shy somehow. The way she could be this relatable and girl-next-door figure but she was also a superstar. In 2014, this feature explores how Like a Virgin had changed over thirty years:

“Thirty years ago, a blithe little song about fresh romance made pop music feel so shiny and new. Madonna was already something of a household name when "Like a Virgin" was released, on Nov. 6, 1984 (two months after we heard it for the first time at the inaugural MTV Video Music Awards), but the song made her pop's impending queen. It gave Madonna her first No. 1 single, sitting atop the Billboard chart for six weeks.

Arguably still her most famous song, "Like a Virgin" is now a staple at wedding receptions, on the airwaves and on lists of controversial moments in popular culture. But you're much less likely to see Madonna perform a standard rendition of the classic today. Most of her tours have featured a remastered version, which means we've heard several wildly different iterations of the pop standard. Here's how "Like a Virgin" has evolved in the 30 years since it was released:

Back when MTV was an infant, and the inaugural Video Music Awards favored acts like Herbie Hancock and The Police, seeing a 26-year-old burgeoning pop star writhe around in a wedding dress and "BOY TOY" belt buckle was enough to redefine an entire era of music. This infamous September 1984 performance was the first time most people heard "Like a Virgin." Madonna reportedly wanted to perform alongside a full-grown white Bengal tiger. When that idea was nixed, she chose to emerge from a 17-foot wedding cake. The floor action was pure improv. On her descent, a stiletto slipped off, and Madonna decided to pretend it was intentional by rolling around on the floor to retrieve it. After the performance, some said her career was DOA. Somehow she made it through the wilderness anyway -- all thanks to a wardrobe malfunction”.

I don’t think that Like a Virgin sound dated forty years later. A song instantly recognisable to those who grew up listening to it, you can also be struck by it if it is new. Such a memorable chorus lodges the song in your head! I would recommend people check out this Wikipedia article. In terms of the legacy of Like a Virgin. Its cultural impact. You get a sense of how important the track is. Its creation and writing is really interesting too. I want to highlight the critical reaction and legacy of this classic. It is interesting how various people view the song. How it was perceived in 1984 and now. How it made this indelible mark on popular culture:

“Like a Virgin" was released as the album's lead single on October 31, 1984. Rodgers wanted "Material Girl" to be released as the lead single, but "Like a Virgin" was chosen instead, a decision Madonna herself found "quite controversial". Afterwards, the song was included on the singer's compilations, The Immaculate Collection (1990), Celebration (2009) and Finally Enough Love: 50 Number Ones (2022), as well as the EP Like a Virgin & Other Big Hits! (1985). Upon release, "Like a Virgin" was met with generally positive reviews from music critics. On his biography of the singer, J. Randy Taraborrelli described it as a "coy song that suggested [she] really was a virgin - excited, sexy and willing". Author Thomas J. Ferraro called it "hilariously tongue-in-cheek". In The History of American Pop, Stuart A. Kallen referred to it as "light and catchy, easy to dance to, and just plain fun". From AllMusic, Stephen Thomas Erlewine named it, along with "Material Girl", one of the album's "definitive statements" that "overshadow" the rest of the songs; Stewart Mason from the same website, felt it was "pure bubblegum fluff" and the song in which Madonna "sounds most like Marilyn Monroe". Rolling Stone's Debby Miller deemed it "terrific", and opined that, despite her "little-girl voice [...] when she chirps, 'You made me feel/Shiny and new/Like a virgin', [...] you know she's after something". The same magazine then said that, "even if the word 'virgin' is the only sexual reference in the lyrics, ['Like a Virgin'] still sounds saturated in lust". From Billboard, Brian Chin praised the singer's "flawlessly phrased, witty" vocals and referred to the song as her "most pop-oriented cut yet". Kenneth Partridge, also writing for Billboard, compared it to "Billie Jean" and referred to it as a "complex song about purity and sex". Parade's Samuel Murrian singled out "just how clever and skillfully constructed this song is".

IN THIS PHOTO: Madonna in 1984/PHOTO CREDIT: Brian Aris

A song that's sexy as hell while maintaining a core sweetness and never coming off the slightest bit exploitative. It's a rare thing to promise and a rarer thing to deliver, and it's the primary reason why "Like a Virgin" is still such an enjoyable listen 35 years after its release.

—Spin's Andrew Unterberger's review.

The staff of Cash box opined that, "though the hooks are not as interesting as on her previous singles, Madonna's voice is in full force". While Yahoo!'s Nicole Hogsett said it was a "flirtatious, innocent-sounding (yet not innocent at all) [...] undeniably fun discussion of love", The Guardian called it "saucy".  Amy Davidson from Digital Spy praised its "instantly memorable" lyrics, and said it had "one of the best basslines in pop". For The Arizona Republic, Ed Masley wrote that, "['Like a Virgin'] features young Madonna at her chirpiest" and, when compared to other singles such as "Justify My Love" (1990), it "does feel pretty virginal".Stereogum's Tom Breihan pointed out that "Rodgers' production and the Chic members' playing is sharp and in-the-pocket [...] [Madonna] projects personality all over it. But she also sounds tinny and small", ultimately concluding that it was a "pretty good" song. In less favorable reviews, Entertainment Weekly's Dave Karger felt it came off a bit repetitious and immature. The Backlot's Louis Virtel opined it's the Madonna song that has "aged [the] worst and most" since its release. Sal Cinquemani from Slant Magazine dismissed "Like a Virgin" as a novelty.

"Like a Virgin" has been recognized as one of Madonna's best songs, as well as the one that turned her into a superstar. Samuel Murrian named it the singer's ninth greatest song, that marked "the moment she went from being a big star to being an icon". It was also named her third best by Gay Star News' Joe Morgan. PopMatters's Enio Chola added that, "when ['Like a Virgin'] hit, [Madonna's] status was elevated to that of pop culture icon. [...] [it's] the song that defined for us who Madonna was (at the time) and would be turning into (in the near future)". Sal Cinquemani named it "iconic", as well as "the first—if not the—signature song of her career".

Entertainment Weekly's Chuck Arnold named it the second best song of Madonna's catalogue, as well as one of the best songs from the 1980s decade; a similar opinion was shared by Andrew Unterberger from Billboard, who named it one of the decade's "defining" tracks, and the singer's 10th best. Writing for Consequence, Allison Franks and Michael Roffman said it would always remain a "cultural artifact of the 1980s". Mike Wass from Idolator named it "one of the most iconic pop songs of all time". Matthew Jacobs added that it was the singer's most famous song, as well as a "staple at wedding receptions, on the airwaves and on lists of controversial moments in popular culture". Nicole Hogsett deemed it an "undeniable classic". "Like a Virgin" is one of the songs that "have come to define our times, influenced trends and triggered change in politics and culture", discussed in the 2003 documentary Impact: Songs That Changed The World.

"Like a Virgin" has been recognized as one of Madonna's best songs, as well as the one that turned her into a superstar. Samuel Murrian named it the singer's ninth greatest song, that marked "the moment she went from being a big star to being an icon". It was also named her third best by Gay Star News' Joe Morgan. PopMatters's Enio Chola added that, "when ['Like a Virgin'] hit, [Madonna's] status was elevated to that of pop culture icon. [...] [it's] the song that defined for us who Madonna was (at the time) and would be turning into (in the near future)". Sal Cinquemani named it "iconic", as well as "the first—if not the—signature song of her career".

Entertainment Weekly's Chuck Arnold named it the second best song of Madonna's catalogue, as well as one of the best songs from the 1980s decade; a similar opinion was shared by Andrew Unterberger from Billboard, who named it one of the decade's "defining" tracks, and the singer's 10th best. Writing for Consequence, Allison Franks and Michael Roffman said it would always remain a "cultural artifact of the 1980s". Mike Wass from Idolator named it "one of the most iconic pop songs of all time". Matthew Jacobs added that it was the singer's most famous song, as well as a "staple at wedding receptions, on the airwaves and on lists of controversial moments in popular culture". Nicole Hogsett deemed it an "undeniable classic". "Like a Virgin" is one of the songs that "have come to define our times, influenced trends and triggered change in politics and culture", discussed in the 2003 documentary Impact: Songs That Changed The World”.

On 31st October, it will be forty years since Like a Virgin was released. One of the most recognisable and important Pop songs ever, I hope that Madonna recognises the legacy of this song on its anniversary. The album it is from turns forty on 7th November. I will write about that very soon. Its amazing lead single, forty years after its release, still sounds…

SO fresh.

FEATURE: The Way Things Are: Fiona Apple - When the Pawn... At Twenty-Five

FEATURE:

 

 

The Way Things Are

Fiona Apple - When the Pawn... At Twenty-Five

_________

I want to mark the approaching…

twenty-fifth anniversary of Fiona Apple’s second studio album, When the Pawn… That is the short title of the album. Its full title is When the Pawn Hits the Conflicts He Thinks Like a King What He Knows Throws the Blows When He Goes to the Fight and He'll Win the Whole Thing 'fore He Enters the Ring There's No Body to Batter When Your Mind Is Your Might So When You Go Solo, You Hold Your Own Hand and Remember That Depth Is ... I am not sure why she wanted such a long title, though it does definitely make it stand out! Her follow-up from 1996’s extraordinary debut, Tidal, I think that When the Pawn… is her best album. It contains my favourite Fiona Apple song, Paper Bag. Although the album has received some mixed reviews – NME gave it 5 out of 10 -, it has gained a lot of retrospective love and new respect. Trying to fit into the scene in 1999, When the Pawn… was like nothing else. This remarkable young songwriter who had this lyrical voice that buckles the knees. A singular spirit and phenomenally engrossing artist. I think that When the Pawn… is one of the best albums of the late-1990s. I am going to get to a couple of reviews before finishing off. In 2019, Rolling Stone reflected on an album where Fiona Apple faced down her critics. Songs of anger and resilience that have endured through the years and inspired a whole new generation:

“If you’re looking for a statement of intent on Fiona Apple’s second album When the Pawn…, which turns 20 on Saturday, it’s right there in the opening of the second track. Over the steadfast piano plunks and rolling drums of “To Your Love,” the then-22-year-old takes aim at her detractors by invoking their own taunts towards her work: “Here’s another speech you wish I’d swallow/Another cue for you to fold your ears/Another train of thought too hard to follow/Chuggin’ along to a song that belongs to the shifting of gears.” It was this mix of sophisticated pop writing and unabashedly juvenile needling – devoting an entire verse to quoting your haters – that made Apple both an annoyance to critics early in her career and a folk hero to her legions of young fans.

In 1999, Apple was three years – and three million album sales – removed from her debut, Tidal, an album she recorded at age 17. That LP arrived with powerful, is-that-really-just-a-teenager? vocals and forceful lyrics; Apple once said that her songwriting stemmed from penning argumentative letters to her parents. It’s no wonder that precocious teen girls, longing for the final say in a world eager to dismiss them, gravitated towards adolescent torch songs like “Sleep to Dream” or “Shadowboxer.”

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Grown-up critics admired the jazzy, traditionalist sound and plush moodiness of Apple’s output, but when her directness extended outside of her music, public perception of the young artist began to sour. Even as Apple was expected to deliver autobiographical, minute-by-minute detailing of her pain within her lyrics, they also expected her to be a mere vessel for that pain, delivered as the cool, meek girl behind the piano. The matter-of-factness with which she addressed sexual violence in songs like “Sullen Girl,” coupled with her forthright approach in interviews, triggered a kneejerk reaction from largely established, largely male writers, who enjoyed pointing out the contradiction between her blunt, blistering attitude and her shrinking stage presence almost as much as they enjoyed referring to her as “waifish.”

It all came to a head during her infamous “this world is bullshit” speech at the 1997 MTV Video Music Awards, derided at the time as a tantrum from a spoiled brat who knew nothing of the celebrity culture and exploitation that she was criticizing. Around the same time,  Mark Romanek’s provocative music video for “Criminal” branded her as a doe-eyed sex symbol to be gawked at — a “Lolita-ish suburban party girl,” as the Times put it — despite her having little say in the project. (She hadn’t known, for example, that her whole wardrobe would be nothing but lingerie. “It ended up working [for the song], because it was a sexual video and I got everything that I wanted,” she would say of it in 2005. “But then I didn’t feel good. I actually did feel like a criminal after that.”)

Following a Spin cover story that featured photographs by (who else?) Terry Richardson, Apple flipped open a copy of the magazine on tour to find a whole page of negative letters directed towards her. This, she has said, was the final straw, and she responded in typical fashion, writing a breathless poem that would become her next album’s title:

When the Pawn Hits the Conflicts He Thinks Like a King / What He Knows Throws the Blows When He Goes to the Fight / and He’ll Win the Whole Thing ’Fore He Enters the Ring / There’s No Body to Batter When Your Mind Is Your Might / So When You Go Solo, You Hold Your Own Hand / and Remember That Depth Is the Greatest of Heights / and If You Know Where You Stand / Then You Know Where to Land / and If You Fall It Won’t Matter Cuz You’ll Know That You’re Right

In the days before Instagram monologist Caroline Calloway, this seemed like the most self-absorbed block of text you could unleash on your audience. Nowadays, post-Tumblr and post-Livejournal, Apple’s poem reads as comparatively lucid, once you get past its posturing, I’ll-show-you exterior. Apple herself pegged it as more of a letter to herself than towards her detractors, a self-help “reminder” of how to push past criticism even as it got uglier and more ridiculous. (And it did: Spin later ran a story in which poetry professors and linguists delivered navel-gazing analyses of the title’s meaning.)

Across its 10 songs, When the Pawn is more outward-facing and self-aware than its predecessor, daring to go on the offensive while reserving Apple’s harshest critiques for her own tendency to self-sabotage. Even so, she relishes in her ability to grapple her way towards adulthood in public. “I don’t know what I’m doing, don’t know, should I change my mind?/I can’t decide, there’s too many variations to consider,” she intones on opener “On the Bound,” in a sing-song voice that only grows more nonsensical as she shows off her syllabic prowess: “No thing I do don’t do no thing but bring me more to do/It’s true, I do imbue my blue unto myself, I make it bitter.” Later, on “A Mistake,” Apple takes on shades of her “Criminal” persona, threatening to make bad choices “on purpose” and “have fun while fumbling around.” But when she admits to “always doing what I think I should,” she reveals that this is a manifesto of a perfectionist with her hands tied, wanting desperately to get loose for once.

Apple’s vocals on these songs abandon the oceanic smoothness of Tidal, and while they’re nowhere near as jagged as on later works like The Idler Wheel, it’s thrilling to hear her enter that rock & roll register while still working in the structural mold of Tin Pan Alley and Paul McCartney. A song like “Limp” demonstrates a full-throated anger that Apple previously didn’t seem capable of.

On top of that, the word “crazy” appears in no less than three tracks on When the Pawn, a self-explanatory reclamation of a slur against Apple and her female contemporaries. Two of those songs went so far as to be singles. At first glance, “Fast As You Can” is an upbeat warning to future partners, with its scurrying tempo changes and high-wire bravado. Yet with it comes the sneering, uncanny line “You think you know how crazy/How crazy I am,” sung like she’s trying to prove it to you.

On “Paper Bag,” the boastfulness in the way Apple delivers “I went crazy today” remains one of the more sardonically funny moments in a song full of them. (An all-timer: “He said, ‘It’s all in your head’/I said, ‘So’s everything,’ but he didn’t get it.”) The elaborate musical production of its video, directed by Apple’s then-boyfriend Paul Thomas Anderson, would make Stanley Donen proud, but it only heightens the disconnect between the song’s optimistic melody and the way its lyrics drain out desire like tub water by the end. Apple told the Washington Post that when choosing how to sequence When the Pawn, she measured the amount of hope found in each track; for the listener, those varying degrees of buoyancy are more ambiguous. With her frank and often jarring references to her own mental state, Apple leaves you guessing as to whether she finds validation in “the beast” that “blooms” inside her.

When the Pawn both highlights and navigates its own melodrama with the help of Apple’s producing partner, Jon Brion, who’d already collaborated with singer-songwriters like Rufus Wainwright and Aimee Mann. Working over piano and vocal tracks recorded by Apple – using lyrics and rhythms she’d written entirely on her own – Brion added baroque flourishes to the album that imbue it with just enough manic energy while never losing sight of the woman at its center. With a small group of session musicians, Brion could embellish the “To Your Love” chorus with an electric piano that sounds downright menacing, or a see-sawing guitar on “The Way Things Are” that conflicts with Apple’s insistence on moving forward. Through it all, there’s always that propulsive, insistent piano, reminding you always that Apple’s instrument of choice belongs in the percussion family.

“I think I have figured out what I’m good at,” she allegedly told Brion when they began working together. “I write pretty well, I’m a good singer, and I can play my songs well enough on piano.  You’re good at everything else. So I think that’s how we should proceed, and if we are ever off-base, I’ll let you know”.

Prior to getting to an amazing review from Pitchfork, Albumism celebrated twenty years of When the Pawn… A great feature from 2019 that offers new perspectives on one of the most accomplished and individual albums of the 1990s. One of the all-time best in my opinion. I hope that people who might not be aware of Fiona Apple pick this album up. The more I listen to it the more I get from it:

“With musician/producer Jon Brion in her corner, Apple delivered an album that confronts the murky truth of love and relationships, the glorious highs and the heartbreaking lows, as well as a journey of discovery and the hidden sides slowly revealed as the newness of a relationship gives way to the realities of its existence.

Apple’s songwriting prowess is front and center throughout “When The Pawn…,” with many sessions recorded with her at the piano as the starting point. Then with that firmly drawn sketch, Brion would embellish and accent the details with his own multi-instrumentalist skills and those of a key group of musicians. The result elevates Apple’s performance, solidifying them without overshadowing them. It also gives the album a sonic consistency, like you are sitting in on one session rather than a sporadic collection of performances.

Opening with “On The Bound,” the music is stalking, almost foreboding as Apple growls, “You’re All I Need” in a spiraling overture to acceptance and taking a leap of faith and trying, at best, to surrender to the anxiety inducing power of love. There’s a maturity and complexity at work in the arrangements on the album that reward the listener.

Themes range from impassioned longing for acceptance (“To Your Love”), codependency and abusive relationships (the strikingly bold “Limp” with its own comeuppance), relationships with expiration dates (the delicately haunting “Love Ridden”), the letdown of belief and hope (the lyrical twist held in “Paper Bag”), resignation (“The Way Things Are”), and the clarity when things are all said and done (“Get Gone”).

The power of the album is in the off-kilter arrangements and zig-zagging melodies that thread through each song. They keep you a little on edge as Apple owns and exorcises her emotional demons with pure candor. It can be brash. It can be confronting. It can be alarming. But it is always engaging.

She’s doing things on her own accord and embracing them. Her honesty is never to paint herself as victim or as hero, never to self-aggrandize. Instead she presents the emotions and complexity of her position in a way that offers access and empathy,  and even an occasional wry smile. Her lyrics are like diary scrawlings, presenting what many may think but dare not say.

She’s also maturing and pushing against the expectations laid at her feet. She won’t be tarred and feathered by others, or have her caricature be a paint by numbers for the critics. As she owns in the alluring “A Mistake,” she is more than happy to “do another detour / unpave my path.”

And that she does. With gusto. It’s what makes When The Pawn… such a compelling listen. One worth returning to often”.

There are other incredible features like this that I would urge people to read. Before getting to a final review, Pitchfork from 2019. They went properly in-depth for Fiona Apple’s second studio album. They commended the razor-sharp, diamond-cut writing that “mines the depths of her psyche and emotion":

“Fiona Apple started writing in order to more effectively argue with her parents. As a kid who’d been identified as troubled and sent to therapy, she struggled to make authority figures see her side of conflicts. “So I’d go back into my room and I would write a letter and an hour later, I’d come out and read it—‘This is how I feel’—and I’d go back into my room,” Apple recalled in a 1999 Washington Post interview. “I would love the way that it felt to have your side of an argument right here in front of you. If I wrote a letter, I didn’t even need to win an argument.”

In this, as in so much else, she was precocious. Great art has been motivated by that same impulse to correct the record—to impress a divergent worldview on those who’d prefer to ignore it, whether that audience numbers two or, in the case of Apple’s first album, 1996’s Tidal, three million. That remarkable debut contained rejoinders to a fickle lover, a rapist, and anyone foolish enough to write off Apple because she happened to be young or small or female. As a hip-hop fan, Apple understood the power of a boast. In its bluntness, Tidal also functioned as a preemptive act of self-defense from a person already accustomed to being misunderstood.

A legion of new fans, many of them girls younger than Apple (who was 18 at the time of the album’s release), understood her messages of individualism and resilience instinctually. But her candor didn’t exactly prevent the press or the public from judging her harshly; though her notorious “this world is bullshit” speech at the 1997 VMAs constituted a cannier analysis of celebrity culture than most people in the entertainment industry wanted to admit, its messiness suggested that she was still a more eloquent writer than speaker. By the time she started composing her second album, Apple had a reputation—as a bitch, a brat, a heroin-chic waif and possible anorexic, a performer who, according to The New York Times, “plays a Lolita-ish suburban party girl” on TV but comes on more like a “shrinking violet” in concert. It was hers to shake off, or at least to reshape on her own terms.

Although When The Pawn is, on its surface, a suite of 10 songs that dissect embattled loves and unhealthy desires, demonstrating the impossibility of maintaining romantic relationships when you’re always at war with yourself, the “you” to whom Apple addresses so many of her lyrics isn’t necessarily singular. Female singer-songwriters are generally presumed to be memoirists, but Apple has always maintained that the songs on this record were composed without any specific, personal incidents in mind. Often, she could just as plausibly be speaking to a derisive, judgmental public.

The first clue that she was looking outward as well as inward is in the 90-word poem she chose as the album’s title:

When the Pawn Hits the Conflicts He Thinks Like a King What He Knows Throws the Blows When He Goes to the Fight and He’ll Win the Whole Thing ’Fore He Enters the Ring There’s No Body to Batter When Your Mind Is Your Might So When You Go Solo, You Hold Your Own Hand and Remember That Depth Is the Greatest of Heights and If You Know Where You Stand Then You Know Where to Land and If You Fall It Won’t Matter Cuz You’ll Know That You’re Right

Dismissed at the time as a meaningless ploy for attention, the poem is in fact pretty legible (despite the mixed sports metaphors) as a pep talk to a vulnerable person who’s gearing up to defend their unpopular truth in public—and, inevitably, get pilloried for it. Apple composed it on tour, after paging through reader responses to a 1997 Spin cover story, with photos by Terry Richardson and slobbery physical descriptions to match, that had painted her as a pretentious, melodramatic pill. “I had just sat on the bus and there’s Spin with Bjork on the cover and I picked it up and there were all these terrible letters in reaction to my story—‘She’s the most annoying thing in the world, etc,’” she recounted in the Post profile. “And I got so upset, I was crying, and I didn’t know how to make myself go on, make myself feel like it was all going to be OK.”

But she did go on, by pushing back against her public image with blunt self-analysis. Released on November 9, 1999, When the Pawn isn’t a carefully constructed self-portrait so much as an aura-photo that captured a snarled psyche untangling itself with a fine-tooth comb. The narrator’s mistrust of happiness threatens an all-consuming romance in opener “On the Bound.” On “A Mistake,” over cymbals and synthetic boops that suggest an emergency without resorting to siren samples, Apple’s voice builds urgency as she confesses, “I’ve acquired quite a taste/For a well-made mistake/I wanna make a mistake/Why can’t I make a mistake?” Yet what begins as self-destructive rock cliché transforms into a lament about the not-exactly-punk qualities of conscientiousness and perfectionism: “I’m always doing what I think I should/Almost always doing everybody good/Why?

In place of the bravado of Tidal’s “Sleep to Dream” and “Never Is a Promise,” there is Apple’s keen understanding of the effects her intensity can have on others. And it doesn’t seem like a fluke that this theme is most pronounced on the singles. A jittery, syncopated sprint that plays up the nimbleness of her smoky alto, “Fast as You Can” famously taunts, “You think you know how crazy/How crazy I am.” It doubles as both a warning to a lover and a reclamation of a slur that had followed Apple throughout the publicity cycle surrounding her debut—one that has been used to dismiss willful female artists since the beginning of time. Years before pop culture got serious about authentically depicting mental illness, the song likens her inner struggles to sharing a body with a beast that could never be defeated or appeased, characterizing that fight as a process of “blooming within.” (In 2012, Apple began speaking publicly about her experiences with OCD.)

“I went crazy again today,” she sings in “Paper Bag,” the Grammy-nominated single that may be the most fondly remembered track on When the Pawn. It’s Broadway meets the Beatles in its triumphal horn blasts, but as the melody grows ever bouncier, the words increasingly counter that levity with disappointment. The lyric starts out all stars and daydreams and doves of hope, before dispelling those pop song illusions to reveal the grim reality that the man Apple desires sees her as “a mess he don’t wanna clean up.” She’s never had trouble laughing at herself, and “Paper Bag” hinges on a sly reference to her own solipsism—“He said ‘It’s all in your head’/And I said ‘So’s everything’/But he didn’t get it”—that drags the singer and an uncomprehending public at once.

The song is emblematic of an album that broadened Apple’s fragile, mercurial image not just with self-awareness, but also by expanding her sound beyond the jazzy, beat-backed piano ballads of Tidal. When the Pawn’s producer Jon Brion (whose baroque arrangements had recently created context for the dateless, scene-less voices of Rufus Wainwright and Aimee Mann) intuited that her style was distinctive enough to absorb other elements without losing cohesion. Still, even in his own estimation, he tends to get an outsized share of the credit for the record’s innovations. In a conversation with Performing Songwriter, Brion clarified that its unusual rhythms—namely, the time-signature shifts in “Fast as You Can”—originated with Apple’s songwriting. “In terms of the color changes, I am coordinating all of those,” he said. “But the rhythms are absolutely Fiona’s.”

It was, in fact, Apple who dictated that division of labor. Brion recalled her beginning their collaboration by playing an almost fully realized When the Pawn on the piano, then telling him plainly: “I write pretty well, I’m a good singer, and I can play my songs well enough on piano. You’re good at everything else. So I think that’s how we should proceed, and if we are ever off-base, I’ll let you know." With that in mind, he recorded her vocals and piano first, sometimes simultaneously, then added other instruments with help from a deep, impressive roster of professional session musicians. Despite mixing diverse sounds and styles, Brion’s arrangements cohered, giving the album a darkly romantic texture that overrode the clichés of any one genre.

When the Pawn was, if anything, more frank in its descriptions of physical intimacy than Tidal had been. Yet the later album avoided exploiting Apple’s sex appeal in quite the same mode as that first album’s witty and widely misunderstood song “Criminal,” whose seductive slink and infamous video nonetheless resembled innuendo-laden ’90s teen pop more than anything she’s put out since. Apple’s new approach to sexuality was aggressive to the point of being fearsome. “I’m not turned on/So put away that meat you’re selling,” she growled in “Get Gone.” The frenzied chorus of “Limp” evoked gaslighting, sexual assault, and the public’s predatory voyeurism at once: “Call me crazy, hold me down/Make me cry; get off now, baby/It won’t be long till you’ll be lying limp in your own hands.”

With the leverage of an artist whose first album had gone triple platinum—and a brilliant collaborator in her boyfriend at the time, filmmaker Paul Thomas Anderson—Apple also exerted control over the way she presented herself in music videos. A production number that had her dancing with besuited boys in a goofy reverie, Anderson’s clip for “Paper Bag” struck a blow against her morose reputation. In “Fast as You Can,” she wipes a foggy window until the camera can see her clearly. Most striking, “Limp” situated her in a home as dark as the one in “Criminal”; she puts together a self-portrait puzzle but fails to locate the piece that would complete a word scrawled on it: “angry.” In the final seconds, she stares down the camera as she spits out, “I never did anything to you, man/But no matter what I try, you’ll beat me with your bitter lies.” Every video in this series challenged the way viewers thought of Apple; “Limp” went farthest, implicating everyone outside the frame who would attack a well-intentioned stranger for sport.

By 1999—a year dominated by rap-rock, teen pop, Smash Mouth, and Santana’s Supernatural—her singularity was apparent. (So devoid of Apple analogs was the pop landscape at the time that author and Rolling Stone critic Rob Sheffield allowed himself a rare overreach: “In a way, Apple’s music is a spiritual sister to the angst-ridden rap-metal of Korn and Limp Bizkit.”) In retrospect, her real peers were artists like Erykah Badu, the Magnetic Fields, Lauryn Hill, and Cornershop, unclassifiable songwriters who blended old and new styles into something timeless. As Entertainment Weekly framed it in their When The Pawn review, “the seemingly nonstop blur of young acts swamping the charts and MTV’s ‘Total Request Live’ does make one occasionally yearn for performers with—how to put it delicately?—longevity and substance.”

It would take two more stunning sui generis albums (2005’s Extraordinary Machine and 2012’s The Idler Wheel…) to usher in the rise of pop feminism, and a more open, informed public conversation about mental health to convince the wider world of what sad teen girls had known since 1996: that Fiona Apple is far from crazy. But When The Pawn was so good it forced her detractors to take her seriously anyway, earning their grudging acclaim and launching the opening salvo in a fight she’d ultimately win. “What I need is a good defense,” Apple had pleaded on “Criminal.” Three years later, she’d become her own best advocate”.

I am going to wrap up very soon. Before I do, there is another review that I want to highlight. AllMusic were full of praise for Fiona Apple and When the Pawn… Although most critical prefer Tidal, I think that When the Pawn… is a stronger and more enduring album. One that I come back to more than her debut:

“Fiona Apple may have been grouped in with the other female singer/songwriters who dominated the pop charts in 1996 and 1997, but she stood out by virtue of her grand ambitions and considerable musical sophistication. Even though her 1996 debut Tidal occasionally was hampered by naiveté, it showcased a gifted young artist in the process of finding her voice. Even so, the artistic leap between Tidal and its long-awaited 1999 sequel When the Pawn Hits... is startling. It's evident that not only have Apple's ambitions grown, so has her confidence -- few artists would open themselves up to the ridicule that comes with having a 90-word poem function as the full title, but that captures the fearless feeling of the record. Apple doesn't break from the jazzy pop of Tidal on Pawn, choosing instead to refine her sound and then expand its horizons. Although there are echoes of everything from Nina Simone to Aimee Mann on the record, it's not easy to spot specific influences, because this is truly an individual work. As a songwriter, she balances her words and melodies skillfully, no longer sounding self-conscious as she crafts highly personal, slightly cryptic songs that never sound precocious or insular. With producer Jon Brion, she created the ideal arrangements for these idiosyncratic songs, finding a multi-layered sound that's simultaneously elegant and carnival-esque. As a result, Pawn is immediately grabbing, and instead of fading upon further plays, it reveals more with each listen, whether it's a lyrical turn of phrase or an unexpected twist in the arrangement; what's more, Apple has made it as rich emotionally as it is musically. That's quite a feat for any album, but it's doubly impressive since it is only the second effort by a musician who is only 22 years old”.

On 9th November, we mark twenty-five years of Fiona Apple’s When the Pawn… I recall when it came out in 1999 and how different it was to anything else. I was sort of aware of Apple but was compelled to dig deeper when her second album arrived. It is a stunning work with no weak moments. In fact, nothing less than stunning. If you have not heard the album before then please do. Twenty-five years after its release, When the Pawn… highlights how we need to…

BOW to the queen.

FEATURE: Spotlighting a Hugely Important Subject: Why Artists Discussing Motherhood Through Their Music Is Eye-Opening

FEATURE:

 

 

Spotlighting a Hugely Important Subject

IN THIS PHOTO: Charli xcx

Why Artists Discussing Motherhood Through Their Music Is Eye-Opening

_________

I have discussed the subject myself…

IN THIS PHOTO: Laura Marling with her daughter/PHOTO CREDIT: Tamsin Topolski

in various features through the years. I think the most recent occasion related to Laura Marling’s new album, Patterns in Repeat (out on 25th October). The subject is motherhood. She is mother to a young daughter and you can hear her pride running through her latest album. I think her priorities have changed now away from music and touring and more to family. Someone who also is not going to be stopped from making music because she has a young child. Even so, it does raise questions about women in music having children and making sacrifices. Often having to choose their family life or music. Hard to have both and balance. The industry not as supportive towards women who have children. Many having to perform less because they have children. One of the downsides is many women not going into the industry because they want children and feel like they cannot sustain their career. There is a legion of women in music now who are asking some big questions. Whether they want children or are ready for them. Although things are improving solely, the music industry still has a long way to go when it comes to ensuring women can have children and a successful career. That they do not have to choose one or the other. Because of this, whenever we hear songs with lyrics revolving around motherhood and that choice, it does come with that extra sting of importance. I am going to come to a recent article that highlighted how Charli xcx has been raising these questions and is bringing motherhood/children into her music. She is not the only one. It is a hugely important subject that I know many women will resonate with.

There is so much to consider. Women pressured or expected to have children and seen as bad role models if they do not. Many wanting to focus on their careers and be in the industry for decades means that it is harder to set aside time to have children and make that sacrifice. Many wondering whether the amount of time it would take them out of music is worth it. Others feeling that it is a very difficult question without an easy answer. When they are in their late thirties or into their forties, that window starts to close and they are put in this impossible position. Other women liberated and extolling the virtues of a child-free existence. How they can have a fulfilling and happy life without children. Whether you have heard BRAT or not, one cannot deny it is a brilliant work. Charli xcx’s best album perhaps. Many consider the album to be about frivolity, fun and this rebellious, free and exciting letting loose. Being independent and partying. However, if you listen closely, there are moments that stop you in your tracks. Songs that ask big questions and put some huge life choices in the spotlight. This arresting and fantastic article discusses Charli xcx and her pondering birth control, motherhood and children. They also expand and discuss the women in music who have brought motherhood into their music. Those women who have not have children and maybe are judged by some. So many complex layers and arguments to take into consideration:

“While you might assume there’s a gulf between “brat” and “childless cat lady”, nestled near the end of Charli xcx’s album there is actually a song that closes the gap. “I think about it all the time” explores the question of whether or not to have children – less Brat energy, more 31-year-old woman getting existential about her fertility window.

Charli sings about holding a friend’s baby and wondering: “Should I stop my birth control?/ Cause my career feels so small/ In the existential scheme of it all”. Her acknowledgement of how huge and ever-present this decision is for women in their thirties feels very real.

As does the questioning tone of the track, turning over the pros and cons of having a baby: “Would it give my life a new purpose?” “Would it make me miss all my freedom?” Charli nails the uncertainty that chases around the minds of thirty-something women who are constantly told their fertility is about to fall off a cliff.

There is, of course, a resplendent history of female stars not having children – think Dolly Parton, Kylie Minogue, Debbie Harry, PJ Harvey, Stevie Nicks, Kim Deal (who once sang “motherhood means mental freeze”). Many have spoken about how being a musician isn’t terribly compatible with starting a family. As Nicks once put it: “It’s like, do you want to be an artist and a writer, or a wife and a lover? With kids, your focus changes. I don’t want to go to PTA meetings.”

But what’s notable now is how female musicians in their thirties are talking within their music about what the decision would mean for their lives. It reflects, perhaps, the fact that pop stars often have longer careers these days – ageing along with their fan base, and musing about that process in their songwriting through their thirties and forties, rather than being ditched by labels for the next hot young thing.

Consider Florence and the Machine’s “King”, a brilliantly honest look at the difficult decisions women face. “We argue in the kitchen about whether to have children/ And about the world ending, and the scale of my ambition/ And what art is really worth”. While it was dubbed a “feminist anthem” for its gender-role-defying refrain “I am no bride, I am no mother, I am king”, Welch admits the song came from a place of “rumbling panic” about the career vs children question. The 38-year-old told Vogue that “the whole crux of the song is that you’re torn between the two.”

And it’s striking how many artists are using their lyrics to ask unanswerable questions – there’s a cascade of them on the now 38-year-old Swedish popstar Tove Lo’s sprightly “Suburbia”. She starts off wryly sceptical: “So if we had a baby/ You’d love them more than me?/ What if I’m way too lazy/ For the mom Olympic team?”

Other people’s opinions on your reproductive choices also inspired Jenny Hval, 44, to address the theme of childlessness across her 2019 album The Practice of Love. “Everyone my age is asked, inappropriately, ‘Don’t you have [children]?’ or ‘Shouldn’t you have?’” she told Pitchfork. “This was not my dream, so why do I feel like I’m pressured into thinking about it? There is a lot of stigma with being without child.” Her song “Accident” relates a story of two child-free friends discussing the subject, while “The Practice of Love” samples her conversation with fellow musician Laura Jean about the alternative roles available to women who don’t have kids.

And it seems thirty-something female artists get dragged into culture wars around motherhood, whether they’re singing about it or not. The endless speculation and judgement Taylor Swift faces about not yet having kids is often intensely misogynistic – witness that odious piece in Newsweek arguing she’s “a bad role model” because she hasn’t married or spawned.

It’s notable that Swift’s lyrics – primary subject: herself – have never addressed the children question head-on, even if there are nods to life not working out as expected, especially on recent record The Tortured Poets Department. Swift casually nails the divide in friendship groups in your thirties with the line “my friends all smell like weed or little babies” on “Florida!!!”, and hints at lost dreams on “Loml” – “You shit-talked me under the table/ Talking rings and talking cradles/ I wish I could un-recall/ How we almost had it all”.

Nonetheless, calling herself “Childless Cat Lady” is about as close to blowing an explicit raspberry to those that say she should have kids that Swift has come. Not that she owes anyone a definitive statement of her feelings either way on this topic: it would be as unfair to expect Swift to celebrate being child-free as it is to say she “ought” to start a family.

That said, it is fair to observe that there seems to be a growing appetite for alternative narratives about child-free women these days. Consider how much Self Esteem’s ardent fanbase connects with the 37-year-old’s gloriously unabashed statements about not having kids”.

Some may say I am not particularly qualified to discuss motherhood and have opinions on artists who debate the issue. That is fair enough. However, it is eye-opening and something that interests me. I have discussed maternity and motherhood in music. How women in the industry have to make a really hard choice. Can they sustain a career if they have children? Will fans judge them if they have not had a child if they are in their thirties or forties. Artists such as Charli xcx asking these important questions through her music and wrestling with these life-changing considerations. There should be more discussion about it. Holly Williams’ article in the i is really timely and engrossing. How artists are discussing the fertility window and sharing their dilemma with their audience and fans. These thirty-something women who are debating this commitment. The article commends women for not keeping mum about the subject of children. Perhaps once taboo in music or too thorny an issue, the more women raise this issue through their music, the more open the debate becomes. There are no easy or right answers. It is a very personal choice. However, it is clear that motherhood and committing to that decision is a lot harder and more complex than many imagine. It should open eyes through the industry as to how they can better support women who want children. Also, there should not be stigma on women who decide not to. Whether their reasons are simply because they do not want them or there is another reason, fans should not be judging them. The media should not call them out or see them as bad role models  The subject of fertility, motherhood and making that ultimate choice is something we will hear in music…

MORE and more very soon.