Robbie Williams, Suede and Britpop

Robbie Williams has made a name in the music press again recently, allegedly slagging off most of the Britpop bands that emerged around the same time his solo career took off.

He was responding to comments made by Suede singer Brett Anderson, a vocalist with a similar loose tongue when speaking to the press. Robbie listed by name most of the British bands who created vital and amazing music during the 1990s. He seems to forget that they were (and still are) his peers who, with the help of the music press, created a scene that allowed him a place to exist in, and afforded him some credibility that otherwise would not have been afforded to him.

He writes, and I quote:

"ANY QUARTER-DECENT 3 CHORD KNOBHEADS COULD AND DID GET A DEAL IN THE 90'S …"

...and as if your music is soooo much more listenable than that of, say, Kula Shaker and Sleeper, Mr Williams?

Not casting aspersions on the man or his work, but Britpop was a scene that was sorely needed in the 1990s, by all accounts. According to BBC6Music's documentary "Don't Look Back In Anger - The Story of Britpop", in the wake of grunge a wave of pensive, moody adolescent melancholy from America descended over the music world and most Britons just didn't relate to that (ironic given the depressing weather over there). But, at the same time, there seemed to be no vibrant new British music to combat this. The Stone Roses has disappeared, The Happy Mondays were becoming a self-parody, the Rave scene was drying up by the end of 1992 and there seemed to be little more on the horizon.

Enter Robbie Williams and his vapid boy-band Take That. There was a dearth of these awful bands at the time, and they had no credibility in music circles. I Think their lack of cred was due to the manufactured, "designed for mass consumption and to sell millions of copies" appearance they had. Some people like that sort of thing, and that's OK. I, for one, find that music that is calculated for mass success often leaves me feeling cold and empty (more on that in a later post).

Once Robbie was sacked from Take That, he created his own solo career out of some classy and well polished grown-up pop music. It seemed to slot in with the other Britpop bands, and it certainly was marketed as such with other bands of that nature in places outside of Britain. The UK music press actually reviewed his albums favourably and they sold in massive quantities. He was held in similar esteem for a time as his more lauded-indie peers. His performances on stage were stellar, so I'm told. Although, according to CDNow.com he "he invests each track with an energy many of them don't deserve." And quite often, the drug use and his sometimes-delusional egotism seep through in his work.

He seems to forget that the Britpop scene reignited a passion for British music, both at home and around the world. Stacks of amazing records were made; some were rightly celebrated, some were cruelly ignored. Robbie's albums received plenty of respect when they may not have always deserved to. His comments on his blog sound like, to me, as if he is placing himself above others who had worked hard not only to get where they were, but to make British music respectable again. Most of the bands he named did so without an eye on the money, but in the name of creating great music - the money and fame was a bonus. Those bands well and truly achieved their aim with the purest of intentions. What was your motivation, Mr Williams, the money or the music?

In my opinion, I think it was the former. Whatever his reasoning, he needs to remember that Britpop really did him and his solo career a favour. Publicly dissing it in the fashion that he has, he has demonstrated that he really is biting the hand that feeds him.

Further reading:

Brett Anderson from Suede and his original comments that Robbie reacted to

Britpop Band Menswear react to Robbie's criticism

Sunday Sessions: Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon

This week, for Sunday Sessions, I have decided to mark the 40th anniversary of the release of Pink Floyd's most successful album "The Dark Side of the Moon", which occurs today.

Like The Beatles' "Sgt Pepper..." there's not a lot one can write objectively about this album.  It's already been said, or anything else is tainted with rose-coloured bias.  As user comusduke wrote in their review of the album on RateYourMusic.com any new writing about the album generally falls into one of two categories: either anecdotes or personal reflections.  

So I ask this question instead: Where were you when you first heard "Dark Side of the Moon"? Maybe you've never heard it?  Maybe you've been curious about listening and want to know more.

In this writer's opinion, it is definitely worth hearing at least once, from start to finish, in a comfy chair, and with a decent pair of headphones preferrably.  

That's how I heard it at 14, in 1990 when I purchased a second hand vinyl copy for $1 at a neighbour's garage sale.  At the end of the entire 40 minute experience, suffice to say: Little. Teenage. Mind. Blown.  This album is not only on my shortlist of the 100 albums that changed my life, it's probably a contender for a spot in the top 10.

Until that point, I'd played the album a couple of times.  I heard it in year 6, age 11, in my uncles' tape collection.  Aside from the track "Money", I hated it.  On tape, you can't see when the tracks are, so I couldn't work out where the songs began and ended (they're all joined together with no silence between them).  With an ear to the local FM radio stations while in high school, I'd heard bits and pieces of the record.  I knew it was on the LP charts in the US for an unbroken 741 week run, but it didn't make sense until I listened to it on vinyl, holding the LP cover in my hands following the lyrics, hearing the sounds swirling around my head.  For some reason, musical ruminations on death, greed and lunacy all make much more sense when you're a disaffected 14 year old...

One of the funniest stories about this album is how it supposedly syncs up with The Wizard of Oz.  I'd heard that story years ago but I'd never been able to test the theory.  Thanks to the technology age and YouTube, now we all can.  Below is the full Dark Side of Oz, with The Wizard of Oz film footage synched with The Dark Side of the Moon.  To find out all the synch points, look here and in the notes of the original video upload on YouTube.

Enjoy!

And here's the original LP for you to listen unfettered by conspiracies about being in sync with yellow brick roads and the like.

Novel Playlist #2: Queen - "As It Began"

This playlist is the soundtrack to "Queen - As It Began", written by Queen fan-club presidents Jacky Gunn and Jim Jenkins.  In my view, it is still the definitive biography of the band, despite it being published in 1993.  To my knowledge, it has not been revised, updated or reprinted.  It is a brilliant summation of the bands career with a short chapter on each of the founding members that leads into how they all crossed paths and formed Queen.

This playlist features 148 songs listed by name in the book, as well as a couple of key artist tracks as bonuses.  Thus, it takes in Queen classics, hit singles, BBC Sessions, Demos, B-Sides and live tracks, plus a few pre-Queen tracks when Roger and Brian were known as Smile.  As well as records that were influential in the formative stages of the band member's lives, it also includes some solo work by the band members, (not all of the band's solo work is available on Spotify, so I've included all I could find), and a good selection of the guest appearances the band made for other artists.

As with all these biography playlists, it is not essential to have read the book to enjoy the music.  However, when reading the book it is a lot of fun to listen to the songs that are referenced in the text, as it adds more context to the narrative.

Enjoy!

Novel Playlist #1: Jools Holland's "Barefaced Lies..." Soundtrack

This is the soundtrack to Jools Holland's autobiography "Barefaced Lies and Boogie-Woogie Boasts". This playlist contains 75 of the songs named by Jools in his book. This list contains some of his most treasured favourites as well as his contributions to the work of others, along with favourites from his tenure in Squeeze and his own R'n'B orchestras and ensembles.

Take a listen, and I hope you enjoy it.

Paul Kelly and Neil Finn Live

On Monday 18th of March Neil Finn and Paul Kelly played the final show of a short tour together, at the Sydney Opera House.  It was streamed live on YouTube.

The set list was a nice mix of old and new with the song choices split roughly 50-50 between the two songwriters.  Neil cherry-picked songs from a number of his former projects - Split Enz, Crowded House, The Finn Brothers and his solo records.  They ended with two covers: Buddy Holly's "Words of Love" and the standard "Moon River".

It was one of those shows that featured a set list where most music fans could sing along to most, if not all of the songs.  It was an event where both lead singers showed tangible mutual respect for each other and each other's artistry.

One particular highlight was when both singers elected a song from the other singer's back catalog and took lead vocal on it.  Paul chose "Into Temptation", a moody offering from the second Crowded House LP.  Neil chose the more obscure song "You Can Leave Your Shoes Under My Bed", and he sang it beautifully.

The two performers were embellished by a number of additional musicians: Paul's nephew Dan on lead guitar, Neil's son Elroy on drums and Zoe Hauptmann on Bass.  As a unit they were tight and managed to pull off the diverse range of material well.  They knew when to rock out ("Deeper Water") and when to empty out an arrangement for effect ("Private Universe").  In fact, on "Private Universe" it was a real treat to hear both Paul and Neil taking turns at singing vocal lines all through the verses.

The acoustics in the concert hall at the Opera House have never been the best and they have never been fixed, so as to what it actually sounded like in the venue is another story.  On YouTube it was professionally filmed and the sound quality was crisp, clean and well balanced.  I'd love to see this released on DVD one day.

Here's some of the promo clips for the show, with Paul singing Neil's "Into Temptation" and the pair of them doing Paul's "Leaps and Bounds".  Enjoy!





The full show can be watched at this YouTube link

The Stone Roses

Manchester's The Stone Roses recently played here in Sydney, ironically at a festival called the "Future Music Festival". Ironic in the sense that the band had their biggest flush of fame in 1989.

The band had a long, slow gestation before hitting it big time in 1989 with their first, self-titled LP. They survived massive amounts of hype from the press in the UK and sold huge amounts of records. In Australia, they didn't fare too well, with only "Fools Gold" selling enough to land it in the top 20.

Musically they were an interesting mix of Beatle-esque jangly guitars, moody introspection a la fellow Mancs The Smiths, coupled with some dance beats from the emerging rave/house music scene. The sweet sounding melodies from vocalist Ian Brown often belied some dark and political lyrics, especially on tracks like "(Song for my) Sugar Spun Sister" and "I Am The Resurrection".

The band fell into legal disputes for a number of years which prevented the follow-up album "Second Coming" from being released until 1994. By then, the band had evolved and changed, but the album was panned by the press at the time because it didn't sound like "Stone Roses Part 2". There were a lot more trad-rock elements in the mix, such as some heavy slide-guitar on "Love Spreads".

The band imploded in 1996 leaving behind a massively convoluted discography. They only made two official albums, but they issued many non-LP singles on small labels, plus heaps of singles in conjunction with their albums that also had essential B-Sides on them. They have been collected on various albums such as "The Complete Stone Roses" but even then, well known versions of songs were substituted for demo versions or the tracks were heavily edited. As it stands, the first period of the band's work on small indie label Silvertone, has been recycled many many times, but the band's second LP has been given short shrift, with no comprehensive reissue or wrap-up of that period available.

The "Second Coming" LP is also a great listen, but be warned: as great as it is, if you compare it to the first record, it sounds disappointing. It is an album that stands on its own merits, but it is quite different from the work the band created before.

If you're a fan, you probably already have all the music as well as the 3 CD collectors reissue of the band's first LP. The Collectors version is on Spotify and it is essential listening throughout, as it pairs up the full original album, plus all the singles and B-Sides as well, in their full unedited versions.

If you've never heard the band before, it's often hard to know where to start. I'd suggest starting here, with The Very Best Of The Stone Roses, which couples the best of the singles and key album tracks from both albums. It's all killer and no filler - it's all essential listening.

Enjoy!

Sunday Sessions: Neil Young and Pearl Jam

In 1993, at the height of the grunge era, the MTV Video Music awards happened and, as expected, a whole heap of alternative rock bands scooped the pool of awards. Pearl Jam don't usually turn up for awards shows, but I'm glad they did this time. They went on stage and performed a song that hadn't been released as of yet, and then, they introduced a special guest...

Once upon a time, Pearl Jam could be intense and fiery, as well as pensive and angsty. In 1993, they were full of sprite and energy. The track they played at the 1993 VMAs was "Animal" which was to appear on their forthcoming second LP "VS". They plowed through the song with their usual fervor, and then they welcome Neil Young to the stage to jam with them. They play Neil's social justice anthem "Rockin' In The Free World", a song from his 1989 LP "Freedom".

It seems like an odd pairing, but in retrospect, Neil had been working semi-regularly with a very grunge-y styled band for about 20 years (by that point) called Crazy Horse. Crazy Horse specialised in massive volume, feedback squalls, long jams and ragged but tight playing. The bands of the 90s grunge movement considered him "The Godfather of Grunge". In this performance, Neil out-grunges Pearl Jam with more noise and feedback than they ever did. The band turned in a solid, thumping performance of the song before Neil puts on a masterclass in amplifier torture that would have made Kurt Cobain jealous. Here's an old troubadour showing the young-uns how it was done, and they loved it.

This pairing was both timely and poignant, as less than 12 months later, the self-deprecating leader of the grunge movement, Kurt Cobain, was quoting lyrics from one of Neil Young's heaviest, grungiest songs ("Hey Hey My My (Into The Black)" from the "Rust Never Sleeps" LP) in his suicide note...

This match-up of young (no pun intended) and old led to a full scale collaboration LP in 1995 called "Mirror Ball" which featured 11 new Neil Young tunes played by Pearl Jam as a backing band. It's too bad that the new material Neil supplied for the album wasn't as strong as "Rockin' In The Free World".

This is Pearl Jam in their prime, playing with a passion that has all but dissipated from the band, both on record and on stage. It's thrilling to watch (it's too bad they didn't play with anywhere near this much energy when I saw them in Sydney in 1998). And then, to see ol' Neil come on and play one of his greatest songs with the band is a real treat. Pearl Jam regularly use this song to close the encore of their stage show. Take a look below.

NOTE: apologies for the poor audio fidelity. The uploader transferred this clip from an old VHS cassette.

Enjoy!