http://www.trollheart.com/tricolour2.jpg

With the onset of a new month I thought it might be time to check out some more of the best in Irish music. Not rock by any means --- but then, I never said all the albums featured in “The Very Best of Irish” would be! --- it's an essential album indeed, by one of Ireland's favourite and best-loved sons, the inimitable Christy Moore.

Ordinary man --- Christy Moore --- 1985 (Walker)
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...rdinary551.JPG

Christy has long been acknowledged as one of the best ever songwriters and musicians the Irish folk scene has ever produced, and his output ranges from out-and-out traditional, folk and some blues influences to rockier material and some gorgeous ballads, including the superlative Jimmy McCarthy song, “Ride on”. Some of his songs are satirical, some sharply so. His song “Lisdoonvarna”, written about the Irish music festival that takes place there annually, is just good fun, as is “Don't forget your shovel”, but he can write some very cutting stuff too. This album opens with “Sweet music roll on”, a lovely little trad-type ballad on acoustic guitar with oileann pipes backing. “Delerium tremens” is a hilarious but very serious little ditty, ostensibly about the “D.T's”, the withdrawal symptoms from alcohol addition, but features many references to Irish polticians, religion and other Irish figures too. Most of the lyric will probably be incomprehensible to anyone not Irish, but it's a great little song, carried on acoustic guitar and bodhran.

Christy tends to sing a lot of his material almost sotto voce, in a manner somewhat similar to John Martyn: he seldom raises his voice and you often have to strain to hear him, but his singing is the better for this. The standout track on the album breaks this habit, as Christy snarls out the title track, a sharp indictment of the plight of the workingman, when he snaps ”The owner says he's sad/ To see things have gone so bad/ But the captains of industry/ Won't let him loose/ He still drives a car/ Smokes a big cigar/ He still takes his family on a cruise!” It's a mid-paced ballad, with great guitar and some nice steel pedal guitar too, tom-toms keeping the percussion beat.

Most of the album is simple acoustic guitar with minimal percussion, some banjo and the odd keyboard flourish, the oileann pipes adding some colour as well as harmonica and maybe fiddles, hard to say and I have no instrumentation listing. But it's very, very Irish and very, very Christy. “The reel in the flickering light” opens on mournful keys and banjo or mandolin, features some lovely piano too, then Christy's guitar takes over and he returns to the normal way of singing for him, which is almost that of a man practicing alone in a room. This is part of Christy's charm: there are no airs or graces about the man. He plays on stage as he would at home alone, or on his records, and he's as honest and unassuming a man as you're ever likely to meet.

Another ballad then in “The Diamandtina drover”, and there's another instrument to add in: the accordion. Not normally one of my favourites, but it works very well here. “Blantyre explosion” opens with sounds of rain and thunder, and settles into another laidback ballad about a mining disaster in Scotland. “Hard cases” is another little jaunty tune, in something the style of “Delerium tremens” but a little slower, and a lot of accordion, while “Continental ceili” (pronounced “kay-lee”) recalls his satirical “Don't forget your shovel”, another jaunty, pleasant little ditty just celebrating the Irish traditional way of life (a ceili is an Irish dance with traditional music), and “St. Brendan's voyage” depicts the journey of the Irish Saint Brendan the Navigator with a typical Christy Moore slant as he asks [i]”Is it right or left/ For Gibraltar?/ What tack do I take/ For Mizzenhead/ I'd love to settle down/ Near Bantry Harbour/ Saint Brendan to his albatross/ He said.” Great stuff!

The album was supposed to have included a song written by Christy commemorating the forty-eight young people killed in one of Ireland's worst accidents, the fire at the Stardust nightclub in 1981, but legal complications prevented him from adding it, and so instead, where “They never came home” should have been, we have “Another song is born”, which itself alludes to why songs are written, a direct attack at the powers that stopped him releasing “They never came home”, which was sharply critical of the Irish government for their treatment of the disaster and its aftermath, as well as the Butterleys, the owners of the nightclub, who themselves had strong ties to the party in power, Fianna Fail.

The album closes on the lovely “Quiet desperation”, featuring ex-Clannad member and solo artist Enya on backing vocals and keyboards. It's another lonely ballad, fragile and beautiful, perfectly crafted and delivered with gorgeous mandolin accompaniment from Donal Lunny, and it brings down the curtain on a fine album by a national Irish treasure.

TRACKLISTING

1. Sweet music roll on
2. Delerium tremens
3. Ordinary man
4. Matty
5. The reel in the flickering light
6. The Diamondtina drover
7. Blantrye explosion
8. Hard cases
9. Continental ceili
10. St. Brendan's voyage
11. Another song is born
12. Quiet desperation

Suggested further listening: “Ride on”, “Voyage”, “H Block”, “The time has come”, “Smoke and strong whiskey”, “Unfinished revolution”, “Traveller”

http://www.trollheart.com/popcorn.jpg

Something of a companion section to my recent feature “... As heard on TV”, this will feature my favourite music from film soundtracks. So, lights down, quiet please, the movie is about to begin...

Kick off with a classic, opening titles from the original “Star Wars”.


And from the polished, digital Star Wars soundtrack, right back to 1968 we go for a scratchy, vinyl recording of the theme to one of my favourite ever movies, “The odd couple”, starring Walter Matthau and the late Jack Lemmon. Class!


Oooh, don't you feel a big man with that cannon in your pocket, Inspector? The one, the only, Clint Eastwood as “Dirty Harry”. Here's the seventies-heavy theme.


One of the greatest film composers of all time, Maurice Jarre with “Lara's theme” from the film “Doctor Zhivago”.


And we couldn't leave out the haunting theme from “The Godfather”.


A little (!) more up to date now for the theme from one of the greatest sci-fi movies ever (with two of the worst ever sequels!), “The Matrix”, of course.

The great Michael Nymen with the theme from the film, “The piano” (which I didn't see...)


Something from “The Lord of the Rings: the Two Towers”, perhaps?


Let's hear it for the webslinger!


And we'll finish with a timeless classic. Bogey and Bergman, what else but “Casablanca”?


That's it. Please remember to take your rubbish with you when you leave. Please wait until the houselights come back on --- I said PLEASE WAIT... oh, never mind.

http://www.trollheart.com/tunneloflovelogo.jpg

Something a little different on the ol' Tunnel of Love this time: this entire edition is dedicated to nonsubmissivewife, who I know loves soul music and has accused me of not playing enough --- any, in fact, which is true. So to make up for that, every selection here is a soul classic. Enjoy!

And what better way to start than with the man whose very name is not only synonymous with soul, but with “lurve” too? Yeah, it's that man-mountain of cool, the guy with a voice deeper than the Mariana Trench, Mister Barry White!


Oooh yeah! If you ain't in the mood for love after that, you're never gonna be! Keeping it cool and laid-back with another icon of the smooth, sexy soul sound, it's Luther Vandross, with “A house is not a home”.


Oh, she'd kill me if I didn't let the ladies do their thang, so here is Patti Labelle with “If you asked me to”.


And how could we leave out Oleta Adams?


A true all-time classic from the Commodores, their number one which kickstarted Lionel Ritchie's career, this is of course “Three times a lady”.


Another true icon of soul, here's Smokey Robinson with “Being with you”.


Randy Crawford, with a lovely version of the truly stunning “Rainy night in Georgia”.


A great, slightly more recent hit from Atlantic Starr, this is “Always”.


Back to the guys now, as we approach the end. Here's another master of the soulful smoothie, George Benson, with “In your eyes.”


And let's finish with a true classic, the Stylistics with “You make me feel brand new”.


Hope you're feeling all nice and relaxed and chilled out after that. Next time, the Tunnel of Love will revert to its usual format. Hope you enjoyed that, nsw, and that it temporarily sates your desire for soul music, here in the pages of my journal. Later... ;)

Bad attitude --- Meat Loaf --- 1984 (Arista)
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...d_Attitude.jpg

After the phenomenal success of “Bat out of Hell” and the very successful followup, “Dead ringer”, Meat Loaf fell out with producer, songwriter and collaborator Jim Steinman, and released two albums without him, before they kissed and made up for 1993's “Bat out of Hell II: Back into Hell”. The first was the pretty abysmal “Midnight at the lost and found”, which is more or less universally acknowledged to be Meat Loaf's worst and most disappointing album. “Bad attitude”, by comparison, is a lot better, but it's still no “Bat out of Hell”. Still, for an album on which Meat Loaf was, as it were, flying solo, this time he did a much better job, and the album is very close to his original sound.

Although lacking any of the longer compositions that characterised both “Bat out of Hell” and “Dead ringer”, and no spoken parts or tracks, this is an album full of snappy, catchy, chartworthy rock and pop songs, and to be fair, there's not a bad one in there. Two of the songs are Steinman-penned, but the rest are mainly written by the songwriting partnership of Sarah Durkee and Paul Jacobs, the latter of whom also plays piano and keys on the album.

It starts with the title track, and the signature motorbike sound to get a decent rocker going, with Meat in fine vocal form. Bob Kulick adds a new dimension with his ferocious guitar playing, and additional vocals by Roger Daltrey help this song stand out, and it's a great opener. Taking as its theme the old teenage rebel idea, the song declares ”Every hero was once/ Every villain was once/ Just a boy with a bad attitude.” The first and most successful single from the album is next, “Modern girl” beginning on a piano ballad melody, which then kicks into a high-powered dramatic rock song so typical of Meat Loaf. On this song Meat duets with Clare Torry, who we've heard before on Floyd's classic “Dark side of the moon” (she's that amazing voice on “The Great Gig in the Sky”), and there's great rollicking piano and good heavy guitar, with great backing vocals and a very infectious melody. Two songs down, and no complaints so far!

“Nowhere fast” is one of the two songs contributed to the album by Jim Steinman, and it's a rocking, thundering hurtler, with typical Steinman lyrics involving motorbikes, cars, girls, roads and freedom. It features some very electonica-type drum machines and programming, which somehow don't seem at odds with the album but fit in very snugly alongside the guitar and keyboard sound. For a Steinman song it's remarkably simple: no fitting in forty words per line as is his usual habit, and this works in the song's favour, making it very accessible and very memorable.

His other song on the album actually comes from his own album “Bad for good”, the exquisite “Surf's up”, with a very “For crying out loud” motif --- this one has as many words squeezed into each sentence as possible! But it's a powerful, emotional song, backed by piano and some pretty powerful guitar, though here it's Meat Loaf's bombastic voice that carries the song. Ive heard Steinman's version, and it's damn good, but here Meat just knocks it, as they say, out of the park. He really gives it everything he has, and you can almost imagine the sweat dripping down his ample frame as he belts out the vocals, growling ”My body is burning/ Like a naked wire/ I wanna turn on the juice/ I wanna fall in the fire/ I'm gonna drown in the ocean/ In a bottomless sea/ I'm gonna give to you/ What I hope you'll be givin' to me.” Hell, you feel exhausted just listening to the guy!

“Piece of the action” starts (and ends) like a ballad, but the song is a powerful rocker, decribing the hopes and dreams of a man who wants to rise above his humdrum life and get out there, into the big wide world. Great piano on the intro and Meat Loaf at his gentle best before he ramps it up and roars his frustration. “Jump the gun” is another fast rocker, with additional “gunshot” sounds (!), with a beat sort of in the mould of “Dead ringer for love”. A common thread running through this album seems to be the idea of starting a song off slow, like a ballad, then speeding it up, and this happens again with “Cheatin' in your dreams”, one of two songs penned by John Parr (he of “St. Elmo's Fire” fame). This he writes himself, while the next one up is co-written. “Cheatin'” has a really nice boogie rhythm, sort of mid-paced, the slowest, other than “Surf's up”, on the album so far. Very soul/motown backing vocals.

Parr's other song, “Don't leave your mark on me”, starts with slow, spacey synth and an almost Doors-like keyboard intro, but soon reveals itself to be another fast one, with a cantering beat and some great keyboards, but the best has been held back to close the album, as “Sailor to a siren” gets going. Opening with a Fairlight-programmed choral vocal which pretty much runs through the song, it kicks in and gets faster, with a superb guitar solo by Kulick in the middle.

If nothing else, I believe “Bad attitude” proved that Meat Loaf was not just “the guy who sang Jim Steinman songs”, and that he could survive without his partner in crime. This is a superb album, and the fact that he (generally) did it all on his own is tribute to Meat Loaf's expertise and talent. Okay, so it's no “Bat out of Hell”, but it's no “Midnight at the lost and found” either!

TRACKLISTING

1. Bad attitude
2. Modern girl
3. Nowhere fast
4. Surf's up
5. Piece of the action
6. Jump the gun
7. Cheatin' in your dreams
8. Don't leave your mark on me
9. Sailor to a siren

Suggested further listening: "Bat out of Hell", "Dead ringer", "Back into Hell: Bat out of Hell II", "The minster is loose: Bat out of Hell III", "Welcome to the neighbourhood"

Random Track of the Day
Sunday, October 2 2011
Bit of electronica today for a change. Air are a band I have featured once before, when reviewing their album “The Virgin Suicides OST”, but this is from their debut album, released all the way back in 1998, called “Moon safari”.

Kelly watch the stars! --- Air --- from "Moon Safari" on Virgin
I haven't heard too much of Air's output, but this seems to be a fairly typical electronica song, with lots of synth and keyboard, weird whooshy sounds, drum machines and liberal use of vocoder to repeat the one and only line of lyric, the title. Not half bad. The synth-bass sort of reminds me of Human League's smash “Don't you want me”. Yeah, that's how much I know about electronic pop music!
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...albumcover.jpg

http://www.trollheart.com/dailyworm3.jpg
Somewhat in keeping with our special soul version of the Tunnel of Love, the worm keeps it smooth with a song which is generally agreed to be the first real disco song, George McCrae with “Rock your baby”.

http://www.trollheart.com/70sweek4.jpg

Dig out those ridiculously high platforms, scour the attic for the wingtip collar shirts and get ready to BOOGIE! (Or, more likely, rock!) All this coming week is 70s week on Trollheart's journal. I'll be reviewing albums from the seventies, the Daily Earworm will be firmly trapped in the seventh decade, and any other sections that can be related to the 70s will be.

Obviously, Random Track of the Day can't be just seventies tracks, as it's totally random and I've no control over what year it pulls out, but everything else I can manage to root in the seventies will be.

The seventies were a good time for me. Born in the early sixties, I was just getting into music around that time, and much of the 70s music forms a lot of the soundtrack of my life, so quite a few memories coming up. See ya there!

http://www.trollheart.com/70sweek5.jpg
http://www.trollheart.com/dailyworm3.jpg

Okay, let's get this seventies party started! The worm presents one of the classic songs of the late 70s, John Paul Young with his only hit, from 1977, this is “Love is in the air”.

Random Track of the Day
Monday, October 3 2011
Well, it would have been nice if the random-o-meter had managed to pick out a seventies track, but that would have been stretching it a bit, no? As it happens, it's gone for a track from Suzanne Vega's excellent “Solitude standing”, a great little track called “In the eye”.

In the eye --- Suzanne Vega --- from "Solitude standing" on A&M
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...ngnan21-1-.jpg

A tough and brave little song, where Suzanne warns her assailant that even if he kills her, she's still going to look him in the eye, and stay in his memory. A real “go ahead and try if you're hard enough” sort of idea, with a fastish, rocky tune behind it. One of many different styles and themes on this super album: it's more than just “Tom's diner”, you know!

This journal is HUGE. Keep up the good work dude

http://www.trollheart.com/70sweek5.jpg

Tapestry --- Carole King --- 1971 (Ode)
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...-_Tapestry.jpg

One of the mega-albums of the early seventies, a huge hit and a massive success for singer/songwriter Carole King, “Tapestry” was in fact her debut album, which makes it all the more remarkable that there were five hit singles from it, four of which reached number one! Since its release, to date, “Tapestry” has sold over 25 million copies. Not bad for a first effort!

Carole King had of course written songs for other artistes, and many had hits with her songs, like Aretha Franklin, who made “(You make me feel like) a natural woman” something of a signature tune for herself, and of course James Taylor, who scored a massive hit and enduring success with “You've got a friend”. But this is Carole's album: she writes or co-writes every track, and what she doesn't write on her own she contributes the music to, as in two tracks where the lyric is supplied by Toni Stern. On three others she shares songwriting duties with ex-husband Gerry Goffin.

The album opens with “I feel the earth move”, a pacy, upbeat song about love, which has been covered by many artistes down the years, the most recent I recall being Martika. The style of the album from the off is quite laid-back, almost jazzy, folky in places, but it's by no means an album of ballads. “So far away” is one though, a wistful, almost pleading song asking why people don't stay together. It's a simple piano-driven song, with King's voice as simple and yet as distinctive as that of the late Karen Carpenter, singing as if she's been doing this all her life.

“It's too late” is one of the standout tracks on the album, a disarmingly uptempo song whose subject matter is far from fun, the bitter realisation that a breakup is unavoidable, as Carole sings ”Stayed in bed all mornin' just to pass the time/ There's somethin' wrong here, there can be no denyin'/ One of is changin', or maybe we just stopped tryin'”. It's carried on bouncy piano with some nice acoustic guitar, and was one of the many hits from the album. It's also one of the few Carole did not write, lyric duty falling to the aforementioned Toni Stern, music by Carole.

A great fusion of pop and folk modes, “Tapestry” was in fact the biggest-selling album by a solo artiste until Michael Jackson came along with “Thriller”, and smashed all records. Not bad though: that was 1982, so she kept the top spot for eleven years. The album features some names which were to go on to be rather huge, including Joni Mitchell, James Taylor, Russ Kunkel and a young Danny Kortchmar. Another piano ballad, with country flavour and a touch of gospel, “Home again” keeps the quality high with some lovely piano from Carole, and a simple melody and theme.

“Beautiful” is a much more uptempo, happy song, with a “smile and the world smiles with you” idea, with an almost carnival ending, while “Way over yonder” fuses blues and gospel perfectly in a touching little ballad that's almost a hymn in disguise, with some supersmooth sax work. There's just nothing that can, or needs, to be said about the next track. A huge, massive hit for James Taylor, as well as others, I think everyone knows “You've got a friend.” It's followed by “Where you lead”, a sort of mid-paced rocker with some great keyboards and a soul chorus line. It's the second track on the album written by Toni Stern, though interestingly there's a line in it which very closely mirrors one in “You've got a friend”... The song would be seen nowadays as sounding like the words of a submissive, subservient woman, with lines like ”Where you lead I will follow” and ”If you wanna live in New York City/ Honey you know I will”, but come on, this was 1971!

Another hit next, already a big success for the Shirelles in the sixties, again everyone knows “Will you love me tomorrow?” and yes, Carole King wrote it, along with Gerry Goffin. Her own version is a much slower, laid-back and piano-led version than the bubblegum pop of the original release, and so much the better for taking its time, with excellent and powerful backing vocals from James Taylor and Joni Mitchell. Another collaboration with Goffin, “Smackwater Jack” was also a hit, although of the singles taken from the album, this is one I have never heard prior or since, but it's a bluesy bopper, with a great piano line and striding guitars. Honky tonk! Without question the most fun track on the album.

The title track is a nice little ballad played on piano and guitar, almost the testament of a much older woman, with an interesting little parable within its lyric, and the album closes on another by-now famous song, that one that made Aretha so famous, “(You make me feel like) A natural woman” ends this incredible debut on a high, with a powerful, anthemic love song with gospel overtones.

Carole King is one of those people who a lot of music fans will not know, or even know of, but the chances are that her music has touched almost everyone, whether it's through TV or film soundtracks, hits for other artistes, or her own music. Like the title of the album says, it's all part of the one wonderful interwoven tapestry. Now approaching seventy years of age, Carole is still busily recording, and doesn't look likely to slow down for some time. It's rather fitting, then, that our week of seventies album reviews kicks off with such a classic, iconic and timeless offering from a woman who has had more impact upon the music scene over her forty-year career than just about anyone else I can think of.

TRACKLISTING

1. I feel the earth move
2. So far away
3. It's too late
4. Home again
5. Beautiful
6. Way over yonder
7. You've got a friend
8. Where you lead
9. Will you love me tomorrow?
10. Smackwater Jack
11. Tapestry
12. (You make me feel like) A natural woman

Random Track of the Day
Tuesday, October 4 2011
Epica, Epica, bloody Epica! :) Seriously, doesn't the random-o-meter know that choosing the same band over and over is not random? I think this is about the fourth time we've had a track from this band, and here they are again, this time from their album “Design your universe”, this is “Martyr of the free world”.

Martyr of the free world --- Epica --- from "Design your universe" on Nuclear Blast
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...ica_design.jpg

A somewhat heavier and more straight-ahead rock song than previous tracks we've featured from Epica, this is a pretty powerful song, with thunderous drumming and great guitar, but on the minus side they do tend to use that bloody “death growling”, even though it's only in backing. Interesting use of choral vocals too, making up a fairly complex track really.

http://www.trollheart.com/70sweek5.jpg

Black Rose : a rock legend --- Thin Lizzy --- 1979 (Vertigo)
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...ock_Legend.jpg

Right on the very cusp of the seventies, one of Lizzy's most successful albums, and yet Black Rose is usually eclipsed by the likes of “Jailbreak” and “Renegade”, even though it charted higher than either. It also features the “classic” Lizzy lineup of Phil Lynott, Gary Moore, Brian Downey and Scott Gorham, and gave birth to some pretty big hit singles for the band. But it's on the songs that weren't released as singles that this album really shines, as we shall see.

It kicks off right away with one of Lizzy's top hits, “Do anything you want to do”, with the utterly distinctive twin guitar sound of Gorham and Moore, one of the most tuneful guitarist pairings of that era. Lynott is in fine form as he dispenses his advice: “People that despise you/ Will analyse and criticise you/ They'll scandalise and tell lies / Until they realise you/ Are somebody they should have apologised to/ Don't let these people compromise you.” It's a simple song, an empowerment song with a great beat, and excellent rumbling, echoey drumming from Brian Downey.

It leads into “Toughest street in town”, continuing Lizzy's typical rejoicing in their “street” roots, of being ordinary guys, as Lynott sings of the typical goings-on that could be attributed to any street in Dublin, London or indeed any other town where people are disaffected and bored. Opening with a great soaring guitar riff, the song has some great backing vocals from Moore and Gorham, and of course the obligatory guitar solo from Gary Moore, ripping right through the heart of the track. Lynott rails against street crime as he snarls ”It's just another black spot/ Where far too many people have died/ It's just another graveyard/ And there's not too many people left alive!”

“S&M” is much funkier, with a lowdown bass opening, but in fairness it's a little hard to take seriously, especially the faked cries of “Ouch!” which even betray a grin behind them. Decent guitar solo, but overall I think a weak track. Nothing of the sort about the next one, another big hit for Lizzy, “Waiting for an alibi” has everything a hit single could want: melody, hook, great vocals and a blistering solo, with a chorus that sticks in your head like Superglue. From the opening growling bass to the soaraway guitar lead it's a winner, kind of revisited years later on the “Thunder and lightning” album, another song of gambling and losing. Great backing vocals again, very important.

Everything goes all pop then for the ballad on the album, Lynott's sugary-sweet tribute to his newborn daughter, Sarah. Helped along by Moore, Lynott crafted a song which although it's by far the most lightweight thing Thin Lizzy have ever done, still retains the classic trademarks, the guitar sound, Lynott's distinctive singing, even a Gary Moore solo. But there's no doubt "Sarah" is commercial fodder, and indeed when released as a single, did very well. Hey, at least it's not “Kathleen”!

“Got to give it up” is one of only two tracks on which Scott Gorham contributes, which begins with an almost acapella vocal by Lynott, sweet blues guitar by Moore leading the track in before it becomes another hard-edged rocker with the story of another addiction, this time that of dependence on alcohol. It retains something of the basic melody of “Jailbreak”, and one would have to wonder whether it was autobiographical, considering Lynott's problems with drink.

Although Lynott writes, or co-writes every song on the album, “Get out of here” is the only one on which he pulls in an outside influence, this being Ultravox's Midge Ure, who would of course go on to be a successful artist in his own right, and one of the leading lights of the Live Aid movement in the mid-eighties. It's a good rocker, though it is hard to see Ure's influence on it, as it doesn't sound that much different to any of the other Lizzy tracks. “With love” is a Lynott solo effort, not as might be expected a ballad, but another rockin' tune with a hard guitar edge delivered by Gorham, its melody very closely approximating at times his big solo hit “Dear Miss Lonely Hearts”, which he would not pen for another year, though perhaps he already had the basic tune in his head.

The album closes on the title track, suffixed with the Irish translation, so that the complete title becomes “Roisin Dubh (Black Rose): A rock legend” --- the Irish part is pronounced “Row-sheen duv” – and is split into four sections, running to a total of just over seven minutes. It's quite unique, being in fact four traditional songs strung together, each forming a part of the song. Part I is “Shenendoah”, a rollicking, rocking intro to the song, where Lynott uses the tales of Irish mythology like Cuchulainn and Maeve and interweaves them into the narrative of the traditional song, before part II comes in on the familiar air of “Will ye go, lassie, go?” performed by Gary Moore with great technical expertise and an obvious respect for the original song, even throwing in an Irish reel for good measure.

Part III is “Danny boy”, churned out with mad enthusiasm by Gary Moore, with the final part being “The mason's apron”, bringing the piece to a rocking, pulsating close, and indeed finishing a fine album off in fine style.

“Black Rose” serves to show just how versatile Thin Lizzy could be at their very best, and this is as close as it gets. It's not suprising the album did so well, and is so highly regarded among Lizzy fans and critics alike. It's also bittersweet, as there would be only three more Lizzy albums before the tragic death of Phil Lynott as 1986 began. If there was a pinnacle to be reached, I believe Thin Lizzy achieved it with “Black Rose”.

TRACKLISTING

1. Do anything you want to
2. Toughest street in town
3. S&M
4. Waiting for an alibi
5. Sarah
6. Got to give it up
7. Get out of here
8. With love
9. Roisin Dubh (Black Rose): A rock legend

Suggested further listening: "Renegade”, “Jailbreak”, “Bad reputation”, “Thunder and lightning”

http://www.trollheart.com/70sweek5.jpg
http://www.trollheart.com/new2wall70S.jpg

Time for some real weird sh1t, man, from the weirdest of weird times, the seventies! One guy who made his name during that time was Japanese electronic music pioneer Isao Tomita, usually just known as Tomita. Kind of a Japanese Vangelis I guess, but judge for yourself. This is from his 1974 debut album called “Snowflakes are dancing”, and it's a little piece called “Arabesque No. 1”.


Then we have seventies folk supremo Gordon Lightfoot, with a hit single from his 1978 album “Endless wire”, this is “Daylight Katy”.


Can't have a seventies selection without my elder sister's pop idol at the time, Gilbert O'Sullivan! This is from 1970, and it's a clever and quite biting in ways song called “Nothing rhymed”.


Everybody by now knows Tony Christie's 70s hit “Is this the way to Amarillo”, due to its re-release and popularity a few years back, but did you know that the single prior to that, 1971's “I did what I did for Maria”, charted higher than its better-known cousin?


And to finish up, a song I thought I'd never hear again, but thanks to YouTube here it is. From 1975, Peter Shelley and a song that coloured much of my teenage years, “Love me, love my dog”.

http://www.trollheart.com/70sweek5.jpg
http://www.trollheart.com/dailyworm3.jpg
Today the worm remembers a great man and a great song, from 1977, the late Gerry Rafferty with the all-time classic “Baker Street”.

Random Track of the Day
Wednesday, October 5 2011
I guess it's inevitable that some of the RTOTDs are going to be repeats of tracks from albums I've already reviewed, though my music collection is large enough that they should form the minority. Here, however today, is another one. Blackfoot, from their 1981 album “Marauder”, and it's the opening track.

Good morning --- Blackfoot --- from "Marauder" on Atco
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...otmarauder.jpg

A great opener to the album, “Good morning” is a rocking, rollicking powerstormer that just rattles along at breakneck speed, faster than a desperado outrunning the posse! Probably not the sort of song you want to wake you up, but hey, you wouldn't sleep through it! :)

http://www.trollheart.com/70sweek5.jpg
http://www.trollheart.com/runcover.jpg
Well, if you're going to cover a song, at least make sure your version stands out from the original! That was certainly the case when Ken Boothe covered the big Bread hit “Everything I own”, and scored a huge hit with it in 1974. Rearranging the love song for a reggae beat and speeding it up slightly, and also adjusting the lyric to "anything I own" rather than "everything" --- for what reason I don't know --- Boothe's version actually outperformed Bread's original by getting to the number one slot, whereas the original had only made it just below the top thirty when released two years previous. Boothe also managed, through the reggae treatment, to introduce the song to the Caribbean and West Indies music scene, where it was played regularly on the radio there.

I personally don't think he did a bad job with it (certainly better than Boy George, who essentially just copied his version, speeding it up a little), but I'm a Gates fan and I prefer the original, with its wistful, melancholy and bittersweet tale of love lost and regret for things passed. At any rate, here as usual are the two versions, so you can decide which sounds better to you.

Oh, and yes, I do realise that the previous “Run for cover” also featured a David Gates/Bread composition: pure coincidence, I assure you...

http://www.trollheart.com/70sweek5.jpg
Spanish train and other stories --- Chris de Burgh --- 1975 (A&M)
http://t0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:A...8hqflrqabY_UWW

My favourite and without doubt the best of Chris de Burgh's early albums (see my review of “Crusader” for a rant and diatribe on his later material), “Spanish Train”, as it is generally known, is a great album, but it does suffer from a few duff tracks. Only his second album, it broke him wide open commercially, spawning the massive hit and perennial Christmas tune, “A spaceman came travelling”, as well as the uproarious “Patricia the stripper”. And just like that, Chris was a household name, and could do no wrong.

But it's the opener, and title track, that truly shows de Burgh at his very best. A slow-paced tune with more than a little Spanish guitar, castanets and violins, it's the tale of the Devil trying to take souls and God fighting him, and the Spanish train in the title is the train that will ferry the dead to Hell, in an update of the Greek myth of Charon, boatman of the River Styx. It's a powerful song, mostly sung almost in a murmur by de Burgh, except for the chorus, where he gets quite animated. It's a real storyteller's song, and a complete triumph on every level.

“Lonely sky” comes in as probably the second-best track on the album (no prizes for guessing the standout!), a mournful, piano-driven song of loss and longing, with some lovely choral touches. At times it sounds like there's mandolin in there as well, but I don't see it credited on the album. Nevertheless, some lovely orchestral arrangements on a fine song. “This song for you” shows, for me, a slight dip in quality next, with its First World War theme, accordion and piano driven and sounding very twenties, the sort of song that might be sung at one of those godawful “knees-up”s that the English are/were so fond of (we call it a sing-song, but I still hate them).

To give Chris de Burgh credit, he writes every song on the album himself, and also plays guitar as well as piano on two tracks, this being one of them, and he knows how to write a good song, as evidenced by the two opening tracks, but personally I hate “Patricia the stripper”, which maintains the 1920s theme with a very vaudeville/Oscar Wilde-type narrative in the lyric, which is, not surprisingly, about a girl who strips for a living. It was a big hit, and is one of the songs he always performs live --- or performed, I'm not sure if he does live appearances anymore --- but it just never hit a chord with me.

Of course, the next track is known to just about everyone (and quite possibly hated by some, in the same way that Slades “Merry Christmas everybody” can be), as one of the overplayed songs you hear on the radio and TV at Christmas: in fact, expect to hear some Djs spin it anytime soon --- only eighty shopping days left, you know! To be fair, it's a great song, if a little simplistic, with its tale of the alien who comes to Earth and promises to return again in 2000 years. Its infectious chorus is hard to resist, and the verses are sung with quiet reverence by Chris, with fairly minimal instrumentation, the band really only kicking in fully at the chorus. Trust me, if you haven't heard “A spaceman came travelling” before, you soon will. As mentioned, it was the song that gave de Burgh his first worldwide hit, and set him on the path to international stardom.

As so often happens with albums, there is a “tipping point”, and for me this is it on “Spanish train”. The next few songs are okay, but nothing special, certainly nothing like the calibre of the previous tracks. “I'm going home” is a pleasant ditty, recounting the joy at returning from foreign parts, and is probably one of the faster tracks on the album, with some nice keys and the odd jerky guitar solo (!), while “The painter” is a stark tale of suspicion, betrayal and revenge, played out against a very minimal melody, and an almost spoken vocal, closer to poetry than song, until the chorus when it becomes a sort of jazzy/boogie tune. De Burgh is at his most manic on this song, almost spitting out the lines as he grins like a lunatic, promising ”I swear I'll take care/ Of that painter!" A good sax line helps the melody along with almost New Orleans jazz and be-bop.

Things slow down then for “Old friend”, an introspective little song about friendship and memories, carried mostly on de Burgh's acoustic guitar. The song gathers a little more speed near the end, becoming a shade like previous track “This song for you”, and ends on a jaunty acoustic line, with nice backing vocals.

The album ends strongly, as it begun, with two tracks to close it. The first being the excellent mediaeval fairy tale “The tower”, another acoustic offering about a man who imprisons a woman in his castle but cannot secure her love. The rhythm of the song is almost lyrical poetry, and it's a lovely song, handled with clear and precise vocals from Chris. The finale comes with “Just another poor boy”, a thinly-disguised story of a Jesus figure and the woman who falls in love with him. It's powerful, emotional, evocative and impressive, with the end lines ringing in the ears long after the song has faded away: ”Accusing him of spreading lies and hate/ His public meetings were a danger to the State/ Some soldier said 'Who was he, anyway?”” Simple, powerful, and in many ways a chilling end to an album which begins with a battle between God and the Devil, and ends with the return of the Saviour.

As I say, “Spanish train” is not flawless. It suffers from some poor tracks, especially near the end, but the sheer quality of the better tracks bolster up the weaker ones, and it's the likes of the title track, “Lonely sky”, “The tower” and “Just another poor boy” that you're left with remembrances of. Oh yeah, and that spaceman!

After this album, Chris de Burgh went from strength to strength, becoming a bona fide pop star, not only in his native Ireland, but all over the world. He became known for deep, thoughtful love songs as well as powerful statements in song, and successful album followed successful album. Up until that fateful day when he composed that thrice-accursed “Lady in red”, and became forevermore extricated with that song. After that, a large percentage of the public could only ever see him as “the guy who wrote that song”, and though his album sales didn't suffer, I believe his artistic integrity did, and for me, he was never again the man he had been in the seventies and eighties.

“Spanish train” is something of a time capsule, an artist of unparalleled talent caught at the very cusp of his creative flair and genius, as he reached for, and achieved, the fame he so richly deserved.

TRACKLISTING

1. Spanish train
2. Lonely sky
3. This song for you
4. Patricia the stripper
5. A spaceman came travelling
6. I'm going home
7. The painter
8. Old friend
9. The tower
10. Just another poor boy

Suggested further listening: "Crusader”, “Eastern wind”, “The getaway”, “At the end of a perfect day”, “Man on the line”

http://www.trollheart.com/70sweek5.jpg
http://www.trollheart.com/dailyworm3.jpg
Hey, the worm ain't vain (what's to be vain about when you're only a few inches long and can't even stand up?) but he likes this seventies classic from Carly Simon, ostensibly written about Warren Beatty, but no-one is really sure.

http://www.trollheart.com/70sweek5.jpg
http://www.trollheart.com/dailyworm3.jpg
One of the top disco/pop bands of the seventies and early eighties, the worm fondly remembers Errol Brown's Hot Chocolate, and one of their big hits. From 1978, this is “Every 1's a winner”. Cool, man!

http://www.trollheart.com/70sweek5.jpg
http://www.trollheart.com/thegirls.jpg
Starting off a new section this month, featuring music from the fairer sex, and being Seventies Week, what else would we concentrate on but women who had hits in that decade?
To start off, here's one of the biggest of the big, Diana Ross with the theme from the film “Mahogany”, from 1975, “Do you know where you're going to?” Pure motown class.


Now for one of the premier ladies of country, it's Crystal Gayle and a huge hit for her in 1977, “Don't it make my brown eyes blue”.


From country to disco, for one of THE divas of the seventies, this is Donna Summer, with a huge pop hit that crossed over into electronica territory, the fabulous “I feel love”.


Not forgetting Debbie Harry, an upcoming feature in our “Gone solo in the game” slot soon, here she is with her band Blondie, and one of their biggest hits, “Heart of glass”.


And let's finish up with my all-time favourite crush of my teenage years, the sexy Suzi Quatro with one of her heavier hits, this is “Devil gate drive”.


That's it for now: watch for more from the ladies soon!

http://www.trollheart.com/70sweek5.jpg
Harvest --- Neil Young --- 1972 (Reprise)
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...albumcover.jpg

One of the defining albums of Neil Young's early career, “Harvest” was his first solo album after leaving Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, and provided him with his first number one hit single, and international fame and recognition outside of CSNY. A very country-tinged album, it features guest appearances from such luminaries as James Taylor, Linda Ronstadt and the other three from CSNY. Apparently its instant and worldwide success so shocked Young that he made a conscious effort after this not to repeat its style, going more out on the fringes where he was most comfortable.

The album opens with “Out on the weekend”, a mid-paced country tune with lots of harmonica, pedal steel and acoustic guitar. It's fairly understated, a little introspective, and a slow opener that seems to be to kind of wander around for four and half minutes without any real idea where it's going. The title track is more guitar based, but slower paced, with again pedal steel making its presence felt. Young's voice is throughout clear and distinct, mostly sounding a little mournful or depressed, perhaps due to the acrimonious split with CSNY. The record is certainly very country, a subtle change in direction from the traditional folk approach of Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young.

“A man needs a maid” starts off very quietly, Young's singing a little hard to even discern, the instruments even lower in the mix. The addition of the London Symphony Orchestra turns out to be a masterstroke though, as their full-blooded rendition of the music expands the song and makes it much more powerful and accessible. It's a ballad, but with the help of the LSO it turns out to be quite a powerful one. His big hit single is next: “Heart of gold” took him to the top of the charts in 1972, and is an acoustic song with a somewhat staccato format, a song of longing for the perfect love, helped along by some very effective harmonica. Neil is at his clearest and most passionate singing on this track, with backing vocals from Taylor and Ronstadt, which no doubt helped in its success as a single.

Things get faster and more upbeat then for “Are you ready for the country?”, which is piano led, and just a fun song, kind of reminds me of Dan Fogelberg's early work, like “Home free” (which, coicidentally, was released the same year). Lines like ”I was talking to the preacher/ He said God is on your side/ Then I ran into the hangman/ He said 'It's time to die'” give a sometimes rare insight into Young's acerbic sense of humour, and everyone just sounds like they're enjoying themselves on this track, a somewhat welcome break from the morose nature of what has gone before.

“Old man” however takes us back into the realms of the dour and the melancholy with another sharp semi-ballad, while “There's a world” opens with dramatic film soundtrack overture, big booming drums and bells, the London Symphony Orchestra making a reappearance, but then the track turns into a pastoral ballad, and ends up alternating between the two styles. “Alabama” is the first time you properly hear electric guitar, a track with the hardest edge on the album so far. It also again features Neil singing more passionately and strongly as he does on “Heart of gold”, so that you don't have to strain to hear him, as on so many of the other songs. It's certainly the track that comes closest to breaking out of the country mould and into the world of rock.

Back to acoustic then for “The needle and the damage done”, a song about heroin addiction which has become one of Young's signature songs. There's a definite sense of frustration and helplessness in the song, and it's the shortest on the album, at just over two minutes long. If “Alabama” is the rock song on “Harvest”, then “The needle...” is the folk one.

The album closes on a big bluesy jam, “Words (Between the lines of age)” with the re-emergence of the pedal steel guitar and powerful backing vocals from Linda Ronstadt, James Taylor and the remaining members of CSNY. The final song becomes something of a masterclass in guitar from Young, with a lengthy solo to bring the song to its end, and indeed, the album to a close.

I think Neil Young is something of an acquired taste. I don't claim to be a fan, though I do like some of his work, and this is in fact my first listen to this album. While I can see how it went down so well in 1972, I probably would not have rushed out and bought it when I was young (sorry!), being more into metal and rock at that age. But for Neil Young fans there's no doubt this album stands as one of his most respected and successful, an album that put him on the map and began a long and rewarding career for him.

TRACKLISTING

1. Out on the weekend
2. Harvest
3. A man needs a maid
4. Heart of gold
5. Are you ready for the country?
6. Old man
7. There's a world
8. Alabama
9. The needle and the damage done
10. Words (Between the lines of age)

Random Track of the Day
Thursday, October 6 2011
Personally, I always found Dido to be a real moany little cow, but that's just me. I did buy the album, and liked one or two tracks on it, but so many of them came across as moody and sullen to me, I don't play it anymore. Which is my roundabout way of telling you that today's Random Track of the Day comes from her, and is in fact her big hit from that album.

Thank you --- Dido --- from "No angel" on Arista
A huge hit for her, and later popularised further by Eminem and Elton John, “Thank you” is one of the better tracks on the album, but then like so many songs that become famous, it was overplayed on the radio till I was just sick of it. However, the random-o-meter doesn't care how I feel, so here it is...
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...-Angeldido.jpg

Coming soon: from the deranged mind of Trollheart....
 

http://www.trollheart.com/crimes9.jpg


Evenin' all. This is Inspector Quaver, of the Yard, and I require your h'assistance. We all know, I am sure, of your normal crimes --- your robberies, your murders, your fraud --- all serious crimes, and all quite properly tackled, dealt with and prosecuted. But there is, I am sorry to say, h'another, less well publicised but no less 'enious crime, which up until now 'as been let run rampant. Myself and my colleague, Sergeant Crotchet, 'ere --- “Evenin'” --- are part of a new task force what has been set up to h'investigate, pursue and prosecute those crimes we 'ear little of in the daily newspapers, on the news or on the h'internet. Yes, I am afraid I am talking about crimes h'against music.

For years now, decades h'even, these dastardly criminals 'ave been gettin' away with it, recording the most awful, cringeworthy, pointless music AND makin' a packet out of their nefarious work, to boot! Well, this is where it stops. We --- Sergeant Crotchet and I --- are the “thin blue line” what is going to make sure these people pay for their crimes.

H'obviously, I am not at liberty to reveal any of the h'identities of the villains in question, as we are in the middle of several h'elaborate stings to try and catch them, h'entice them out of 'iding, where many of them 'ave been for over thirty or forty years, thinkin' they're safe. Well, not no more they isn't! But careless talk costs lives, as they say, so until we 'ave completed our h'operations, mum's the word, eh? (Course, were I to mention a certain type of bird, countless Christmas parties, and were Sgt. Crotchet to dance in a particular way --- come on, Sergeant, it's nothing to be ashamed of --- well, I think you can draw your own conclusions as to the sort of sick people we are talkin' about, without me givin' the game away, eh? Word to the wise...)

We aim to track these people down, bring them to court an' make sure that, through careful and proper legal channels, they is incarcerated for their crimes, of what they have got away with for so long till now: you can see, to my left (your right) that we have a cell all ready an' waitin' for them to be detained at 'er Majesty's Pleasure. We just needs to build our case, and set our trap, which is what we're in the process of doin' right now.

Of course, we are always anxious to have 'elp from members of the public in our h'endeavours, so although we 'ave a list as long as the long arm of the law (little police humour there, ho ho!), we can't be sure we know every criminal out there. There may be crimes wot 'ave been goin' on without our knowledge, but which you as a member of the law-h'abidin' public knows about, and in that case we would be most h'eager to talk to you. So if you 'ave any h'information, please do drop in to our local nick to talk to myself or Sgt. Crotchet, or leave a comment, I believe is the proper parlance these days, h'advisin' us of the perp and any h'information you may 'ave on 'im, 'er or indeed them. Who are they? When was the crime perpetrated? What tipped you off? 'Ow long 'as the criminal been on the run? Where was 'e seen last? Any details you can provide will be h'invaluable in 'elping us catch, try and h'imprison the rogue, so that they are taken off the streets.

We 'ave a dream. A dream where people --- decent, h'ordinary people --- can in the future turn on their radio or television or --- what, Sergeant? The inter-what? Oh, yes --- go on the h'internet in the knowledge that they will not h'encounter such gross travesties of music h'ever again. And I must warn anybody out there contemplating committing such a crime: we will bring you to justice!

Thank you for your time. This 'as been an h'official appeal on behalf of the new Serious Crimes Against Music task force, or SCAM. We look forward to h'updatin' you on our progress in the near future, and meanwhile any h'information you 'ave will be most 'elpful. Once h'again, thank you and remember, CRIME DOES NOT PAY!

This album became one of those 'must have' albums for people who didn't really listen to music but wanted to own a popular album at the time. Commonly classed as coffee table music like Sade's Diamond Life in the 80's and Moby's Play in the 90's this was everywhere in 2000 and it's a real shame that it has it's detractors.

It is certainly understandable as there is some absolute pap on the album but when her brother Rollo (Faithless) gets involved and introduces Electronica then it really does go up a notch and there are some standout tracks on the album:




are all really good tracks in my eyes and wouldn't be out of place on an ambient Trip Hop album but she never capitalised on this sound and continued to give us the moody and sullen sound that you mentioned.

Her last album found it's way into the ubiquitous poundland which is never a good sign but I will listen to anything for a pound so gave it a go. I could not find one single redeeming thing about the album. It was bland insipid crap on the highest level. Shame as I like a lot of her lyrics and I find her quite attractive too (not that this a reason to like an artist) but there is absolutely no progression in her music at all.

The only decent stuff she does these days is her continuing work with the aforementioned Faithless:

Haha, this is brilliant. Justin Bieber sentenced for life? No chance of parole? :)

Yeah, I think it may have been a case of "too much too soon", as the Specials (was it?) said it. She got famous off the back of that track and people as you say kind of saw the bandwagon come and leaped aboard, then realised it was going the wrong way, but couldn't or didn't want to get off. They'd paid their fare, so would complete the journey.

Similar to how, as I mentioned previously, the "beautiful people" latched on to The The's "Infected" and made it cool --- which it is, a fantastic, fantastic album --- for a short while, till they got bored and moved on. Of course, in that case, "Infected" remains as a classic album: didn't need the stamp of approval of the glitterati to make it so, but in my opinion it suffered a little by having its star hitched, as it were, to that caravan.

The only real track on "No angel" that I love and play often is "Take my hand" --- I love that. Is Faithless involved in that? Sounds quite electronica...

http://www.trollheart.com/70sweek5.jpg
Stranger in town --- Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band --- 1978 (Capitol)
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...er_in_Town.jpg

I've been a big Bob Seger fan since I heard “Night moves” and “Hollywood nights”, and have bought all his albums (apart from the really old ones, like the ones with the Bob Seger System) to date. At the moment, I feel he's in danger of losing his way, as his last two, “It's a mystery” and “Face the promise” have done little to fire me up: in fact, the last good album from him I recall was 1991's “The fire inside”, and with four years between that and “It's a mystery”, and eleven between it and his current, “Face the promise”, I would have expected better. But all of that is a conversation --- or indeed, review --- for another day.

“Stranger in town” comes from the peak of Seger's commercial appeal, and the zenith of his creative period. With albums like “Against the wind”, “The distance” and “Like a rock” to follow, there was, almost quite literally, no stopping Bob Seger. Two years prior to this he had released his first really commercially successful album, 1976's “Night moves”, which provided him with three hit singles, and one smash, with the title track. This, the follow up, spawned another four hits, and although “Still the same” reached number 4, it is rather oddly perhaps the less commercially successful (number 13) ballad “We've got tonight” which made the biggest and most lasting impression on the public, perhaps in part due to the cover some years later by Kenny Rogers and Sheena Easton.

This is his ninth album, but only his second with the Silver Bullet Band, who would become to him what the E Street Band are to Bruce Springsteen. The album kicks off with the rollicking, galloping “Hollywood nights”, the tale of love and fame found and lost in Tinseltown. It rocks along at a great pace, with Seger in full voice, and excellent backing vocals. Mainly piano-driven, as many of Seger's songs are, it's complicated by great, but relatively sparse, guitar from Drew Abbot, but the thing that really drives the song is the steam-train drumming of David Teegarden, which just trundles the whole thing along like some unstoppable behemoth. As opening tracks go, it's right up there with the best.

“Still the same”, by contrast, is a low-key acoustic number, concerned with gambling addiction as Seger sings ”A gambler's stake/ The only risk that you would take/ The only bluff you couldn't fake”. The piano again plays its part on this track, but the guitar takes a much more active role. It's not a ballad, but has a very definite country flavour to it. It's one of the songs that has stood the test of time, and was, as already mentioned, the highest-charting single released from the album. Like most Seger songs, it has a very catchy melody, and the backing vocals do a lot to make the song. It's followed by a track which gained fame when it was included in the soundtrack to the movie “Risky business”, and has since become something of a standard. “Old time rock and roll” is a boppy, upbeat and nostalgic look back at the rock music of yesteryear, indeed beginning with a Jerry Lee Lewis-like piano run, courtesyt of Robyn Robbins. It's a real “take me as I am” song, in which Bob declares with feeling ”Today's music ain't got the same soul/ I like that old time rock and roll!” Great sax from the very appropriately named Alto Reed --- I swear: I don't make these names up! --- and a great “handclap” pause near the end which no doubt exorts the audience to join in when Bob plays live. Just great fun, rockers enjoying doing what rockers do.

Another semi-ballad next, in “Till it shines”, again guitar led, and with some great lines: ”Storm the walls around this prison/ Leave the inmates, free the guards!” This album features guest appearances from two of the Eagles, and it's Glenn Frey who contributes a great little guitar solo here, while Don Felder makes his presence felt later on. Next up is a fast rocker, another favourite live, where Bob puts a voice to the frustration of depersonalisation as he sings “Feel like a number”, the whole band jammin' away and having a great time. ”I work my back till it's wracked with pain” he moans ”Boss can't even recall my name!” and putting his finger firmly on the problems with society, back then and now, he laments ”To teachers I'm just another child/ To IRS I'm another file!” A real song of feeling helpless and nameless, but played with power and passion as Bob strikes back: ”Gonna cruise out of this city/ Head down to the sea/ Shout out at the ocean/ 'Hey! It's me!'”

The only cover on the album, Frankie Miller's “Ain't got no money” is a low-down and dirty rocker, with a really great guitar solo from, as mentioned, ex-Eagle Don Felder. Another song that's just pure rock and roll fun. Then we're into the standout, the tender ballad “We've got tonight”, which remains one of Seger's best ever songs, and one of his best known and loved. It's a real song of two strangers (in town?) finding themselves thrown together unexpectedly, both lonely, and thinking about getting together. Could be seen as a one-night-stand song, but the way Seger writes the lyric, it's tender, touching and powerful: ”I know it's late, I know you're weary/ I know your plans don't include me/ Still here we are/ Both of us lonely...” Beautiful piano and again sumptuous backing vocals.

“Brave strangers” is something of a retread of “Night moves”, though faster, as Bob recalls his youth (as again he would on the title track to 1986's “Like a rock”) and his conquests. It's a mid-paced, unapologetically raunchy song of two lovers trying to find their way in the world, and finding comfort in each other's arms, but knowing there's no fairytale ending: they're not going to end up together, as Bob acknowledges: ”So we walked out, hardly speakin'/ Disappearin' in the night/ Saw each other a few times later/ But we never really got it right.” Great bluesy sax halfway through, as the song slows down for the “love scene”, then everything speeds up again for the awkward goodbye. Perfectly observed: the act of making love set to music.

The album closes on a powerful and evocative ballad, the superlative “Famous final scene”. Seger has made something of a habit of ending his albums with ballads, and it's a good thing, as you're left humming a really good song, more often than not, at the end. “The famous final scene” is no exception, with great opening piano and guitar, a longing for things lost, chances missed and hearts broken, as he sings “Everything must have an end/ Like an ocean to a shore/ Like a river to a stream.” Robbins' piano gets very intense and dramatic during this song, as if he's putting his whole heart and soul into the performance.

This is a Bob Seger album with few, if any, bad tracks. I had my doubts about “Night moves”, and even “Against the wind”, his next after this, had one or two duff ones, but to my mind, 1978's “Stranger in town” stands as one of Seger's finest, most complete and almost totally flawless albums, certainly deserving of its six-times multi-platinum certification, and its place among the hearts of Seger fans and lovers of good rock music.

TRACKLISTING

1. Hollywood nights
2. Still the same
3. Old time rock and roll
4. Till it shines
5. Feel like a number
6. Ain't got no money
7. We've got tonight
8. Brave strangers
9. The famous final scene

Suggested further listening: "Night moves”, “Against the wind”, “The distance”, “Like a rock”, “The fire inside”, “Nine tonight” (live double)

Random Track of the Day
Friday, October 7 2011
Music from one of the weirdest of the weird, this is a track taken from an album which was in fact the soundtrack to a movie about human biology, called “The Body”. It's composed by Ron Geesin and Pink Floyd's Roger Waters, and it's just, well, weird! Each part or function of the body is set to music, so you can expect some pretty rude sounds in there! This is from near the end of the album, and it concerns the throat.

Mrs. Throat goes walking --- Roger Waters and Ron Geesin --- from "Music from The Body" on EMI
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...s_The_Body.jpg

The best I can describe this short piece as is a jazzy/funky tune with mostly bass, and a sort of scat-singing which I expect is the eponymous wife of Mister Throat. Hey, it's weird, it's random, it's Friday --- whaddya want from me? ;)

http://www.trollheart.com/70sweek5.jpg
http://www.trollheart.com/dailyworm3.jpg
Ah, Slade! The single biggest reason for the decline of the quality of spelling in Britain, years before the introduction of text messaging! They had a slew of hit singles in the seventies, and many number ones, and this is one of them: “Cum on feel the noize”. 'ere, that Noddy 'Older don't arf know how to yell, does 'e? :)

http://www.trollheart.com/70sweek5.jpg
http://www.trollheart.com/asheardtv.jpg
Without question, there were some truly great (and some truly awful!) TV shows in the seventies, but good or bad, you can't deny one thing: it certainly was not boring. And any repeats we had were exclusively on the BBC, not like today... wouldn't have happened in my day... TV these days... No such thing as a remote control... four channels and were happy … etc etc.

Aaaaanyway, let's check some of those groovy (or not so much so) TV themes out from that golden age of television we call the seventies. Starting off with one of my favourite shows of the 70s (guess why?), it's the distinctive theme from “Charlie's Angels”. No, not the film, you fool!


That's one for the guys, now how about the ladies? Well, here's Erik Estrada and Larry Wilcox, the boys from the California Highway Patrol, otherwise known as “Chips”! See what they did there? ;)


Who would ever have thought the networks would buy the idea of a TV show about a Medical Examiner? But they did, and it made Jack Klugman a star. Here's “Quincy”.


Who could forget the coolest cops of the seventies, Starsky and Hutch? Whatever happened to Starsky?


Oh, we just have to have the theme to “The Incredible Hulk!” Though I do prefer the end theme...


… and here it is!


One of the funniest shows of the 70s, with the funkiest of themes, this is “Soap”.


And let's not forget “Family ties”, the show that made Michael J. Fox a superstar.


Anyone remember listening to WKRP in Cincinnati?


And to round off this look at seventies TV themes, I slagged off the singing talents (hah --- sorry!) of one Telly Savalas a little while ago, so to make it up to his fans, here's the theme to the show that made him a household name, “Kojak”.


So there you are. If you weren't around in the seventies, you not only missed some great TV but also some great music. Serves you right, not being born into the best decade of all! What were you thinking? :D

Anyway, next time we'll be back to the usual format. Hope you enjoyed this selection.
(Note: Apologies for the fact that some of the themes are very low volume: guess people taped them off their TV or something, so the quality leaves a little to be desired. Nothing I can do about that, unfortunately. Hope it didn't spoil your enjoyment of these classic TV themes.)

http://www.trollheart.com/inspector.jpg
Ah, as I may 'ave mentioned, careless talk costs lives, Sir, so I am not in a position to confirm nor deny the h'information you 'ave. 'Owever I will say this: we are in pursuit of a seventeen-year old gentleman of Canadian extraction, 'oo is wanted on several counts of crimes h'against music, and we are closin' in on 'im as I speak. More than that I am not h'authorised to reveal at this present time, for fear of the felon 'avin' it away on 'is toes, as it were. I'm sure you understand...?

Jolly good. :thumb:

Random Track of the Day
Saturday, October 8 2011
Nice little laid-back ballad for a change, as the random-o-meter decides the weekend is the time to relax, and picks a great track from Kim Wilde's “Another step” to ease you into the weekend.

Don't say nothing's changed --- Kim Wilde --- from "Another step" on MCA
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...other_Step.jpg

A surprisingly good album from Ms. Wilde, if not exactly on the same level as her follow-up “Close”, this is in fact the closing track from the album, and it's about as laid-back and relaxed as you can get, a bittersweet ballad, sung as ever with sultry appeal by Kim.

http://www.trollheart.com/70sweek5.jpg
http://www.trollheart.com/alive2.jpg

Returning to our examination of live versus studio versions of famous songs, we have to look at the phenomenal love song by Thin Lizzy, which became an absolute standard at their gigs, often held back to the the encore. But the original version of “Still in love with you” is far, far different to the live version we all know and love. Taken from the album “Night life”, which I have to say I find one of their weakest recordings, the original is more a jazz/blues song, played at a faster pace than it was on stage, and though the guitar solo is still there, I find something missing about the studio version: it just doesn't sound as emotional as it did when they played it live.

Okay, so Gary Moore is on the guitar (as indeed he should be: he was the only one in my opinion who can really put the heart and soul into the song, though John Sykes was a decent replacement, if Moore could ever be replaced), but you have additional vocals by Frankie Miller, which I think take from the song, and there's no fast part at the end, as there is on the live version. For me, it's live or nothing --- I never listen to the studio version. Would “Still in love with you” have become the classic it is, requested/demanded/expected at every Lizzy performance, if they had played it live the way it was recorded originally? You have to wonder... But I'm glad they beefed it up for the live set.

Here are the two versions for you to compare them. The live version, one of many, comes from the very last live appearance of Thin Lizzy, at the Reading Festival in 1983, as transmitted by BBC Radio One.

http://www.trollheart.com/70sweek5.jpg
http://www.trollheart.com/dailyworm3.jpg

The worm isn't ashamed to admit he's a fan of the Carpenters --- and thinks many hardened rockers hide just such a guilty secret! --- and here presents his penultimate selection from the seventies, with “A kind of hush”.

http://www.trollheart.com/70sweek5.jpg
Four wheel drive --- Bachman-Turner Overdrive --- 1975 (Mercury)
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...heel_Drive.jpg
One of Canada's biggest musical exports in the seventies, Bachman-Turner Overdrive --- or BTO as they are usually known --- are probably best known for their massive hit “You ain't seen nothing yet”, from the previous album, “Not fragile”, but I prefer this album, from 1975. It's their fourth, and it's full of classic rock gems. Even though it was rushed out in order to capitalise on the sudden, almost overnight success of “You ain't seen nothing yet”, it doesn't come across as hurried or thrown together, despite the fact it was apparently recorded in six days! And on the seventh, they rested...! :)

Starting off with the title track, it's a ZZ-Top-ish boogie, rockin' along at a great pace, real rock and roll, with great gruff vocals from C.F Turner (he and Randy Bachman share the vox on this album) and a slinky guitar solo from Bachman, steamhammer drumming from his younger brother Robbie. It's a real road song, and you can just imaging cruisin' down the highway with the wind in your hair as this blares out of the stereo at the heart of the seventies. Sweet! It's followed by “She's a devil”, which begins deceptively quietly, making you think this may be a ballad. It's not! After a low-key lead-in, Turner lets loose with a growling vocal performance, and Bachman rips off the guitar riffs, giving the song a kind of Deep Purple feel in places. Lovely slide guitar from the fourth member of the quartet, Blair Thornton, adds real class to the song.

“Hey you” was the most popular track from the album, released as a single and getting right to number one in Canada, just failing to make it into the top twenty south of the border, but still a big hit. This time it's Bachman who takes over the vocals, on a song much more commercially accessible, and you can see how it became a hit, with its almost pop overtones, nice jangly guitar and very West Coast feel (despite the guys being Canadian), and its absence of any “hard” rock guitar solos or growled singing, as was the forte of Turner. Bachman's voice definitely suits the radio better: it's his voice you hear on “You ain't seen nothing yet”.

We're back with Turner then for “Flat broke love”, and it's another dirty, grinding, blues rocker with heads down and no apologies to anyone, a riff almost reminscent of “Smoke on the water” running through the song. Some nice bass work on this, and then some guitar in a very Carlos Santana vein in the middle. Then it's back to the pipes of Randy Bachman for “She's keepin' time”, another grinding rocker, with some nice backing vocals, quite commercial really. Great southern boogie-style guitar solo here.

Turner takes over for “Quick change artist”, with a kind of Springsteen vibe to it, but the artist I keep coming back to with comparisons is ZZ: it's really quite amazing how similar to the Texas trio BTO can sound. No bad thing, to be sure. There's a definite celtic flavour to “Lowland fling”, with Bachman again on vocals, and some great guitar too, kind of reminds me of mid-seventies Rainbow. Oh, and yeah, this is an album with no ballads. Not one.

Closer “Don't let the blues get you down” is another rocker, with snappy guitar and gruffly effective vocals from Turner to take the album to its conclusion. I can hear echoes of Tom Robinsons's “2,4,6,8, motorway” here, though of course it would be a few more years before that would hit the charts. Good boogie rock fun, this, and a good way to close an album that has few, if any, flaws.

TRACKLISTING

1. Four wheel drive
2. She's a devil
3. Hey you
4. Flat broke love
5. She's keepin' time
6. Quick change artist
7. Lowland fling
8. Don't let the blues get you down

http://www.trollheart.com/70sweek5.jpg
http://www.trollheart.com/dailyworm3.jpg
As Seventies Week draws to a close, the worm would like to go out with a bang (not literally, of course!) with this one, a real stompin' classic from 1977, Tom Robinson with “2-4-6-8 motorway”. Pedal to the metal --- yeah!

http://www.trollheart.com/70sweek5.jpg
The rise and fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars --- David Bowie --- 1972 (RCA)
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...gyStardust.jpg

Our final album for Seventies Week is a true classic, one of the most interesting, deep, disturbing and enduring of David Bowie's catalogue, an album which jointly spawned a new cult and threatened to destroy its creator. “The rise and fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars” (usually shortened to “Ziggy Stardust”) is a concept album, Bowie's fifth outing, and was a huge success for him worldwide. Although there were no huge commercial hits from it, the single “Starman” gave Bowie his first hit since his debut “Space oddity”, but more importantly, reminded people Bowie, after what were generally perceived as four unremarkable albums, was still very much around, and indeed about to become not only a potent force in music, but a true cult figure, influencing everything from fashion to political thinking, mostly --- almost exclusively --- in young people.

Having created the character of Ziggy Stardust, an alien who comes to Earth to warn us we have only five years left before the end, Bowie was later to find himself so inextricably bound up in this alternate persona that it would become hard, almost impossible, for him to differentiate one from the other. Was he Bowie playing Ziggy, or Ziggy playing Bowie? This dichotomy would continue to dog his later years, and would only be resolved when he made a conscious effort to move away from all the stage trappings that made Ziggy who he was.

But for now, Ziggy had arrived and the world was Bowie's. He had once sung about “The man who sold the world”. On the basis of his new-found fame, David Bowie could conceivably now have been referred to as “The man who bought the world”. His star was on the rise, kids were flocking to his gigs, and he was, almost, the new god. It wouldn't last of course, but his fame would, and “Ziggy Stardust” would serve as the springboard that would catapult him to international and lasting fame and success, and he would, in a musical sense, never really look back.

The album opens with “Five years”, the lament for the impending death of the Earth, which starts off slow and low-key but builds in intensity as it progresses, carried on piano as the fate of the Earth is revealed, that it only has five years left before total destruction. The song features some of the most intense singing Bowie had engaged in up to that point, as the desperation and frustration in his voice reaches fever pitch. Beautiful strings, arranged by guitarist Mick Ronson, give the song a really emotional, dramatic feel. “Five years” is of course also an early eco-song, as Bowie warns the people of the Earth that their planet is dying due to a lack of natural resources. As Homer Simpson once remarked, as true today as it was then. Unfortunately.

Things keep fairly slow and laidback for “Soul love”, with more of Ronson's guitar bleeding through and giving the track a harder edge, and a great sax break from Bowie himself. The concept of “Ziggy Stardust” is well known: Ziggy, an alien, tries to warn people of the impending disaster, while beings known as “Infinites” arrive, their mode of travel to jump from universe to universe via black holes, one of which is coming to swallow the Earth. After they arrive, they descend to the planet and rip Ziggy apart onstage in order to become corporeal. “Moonage daydream” is a heavier track, the heaviest so far on the album, but still slow in pace, comparatively. It terms of the plot, it's the song wherein Ziggy Stardust is created, born from the fears, hopes and dreams of the people into the archetypal lover and rock star, and in the next track, the single “Starman”, he tells the Earth of fantastic aliens who are coming to save the planet.

“Starman” is carried almost entirely on acoustic guitar and Bowie's soulful voice, joined later by strings and electric guitar, the latter particularly effective in the end riff, which has by now become famous and instantly recognisable. “It ain't easy” is the only cover on the album, the old Three Dog Night song, and it's a mid-paced rocker with lots of guitar, both acoustic (played by Bowie) and electric, courtesy of Ronson, with a slight country twang, as the song was originally written by Ron Davies, a country performer.

“Lady Stardust” utilises a little of the melody of “Starman” and indeed also borrows a little from “Life on Mars”, and is generally accepted as being a tribute to Marc Bolan, who would die five years later --- spooky, huh? In the story, Ziggy's appeal increases as he nears cult hero status, and begins to lose himself in his own personality (no doubt an allegory, whether intended or not, to the struggle Bowie himself would have against his own “Jekyll and Hyde” syndrome). “Star” is driven on a Jerry Lee Lewis/Little Richard style piano, with a rhythm and melody that would surface again in “Suffragette City”, later on in the album. Ronson's guitar again makes its mark, particularly near the end of the song.

Perhaps strangely --- even uniquely --- for a concept album, “Ziggy Stardust” does not contain any long or epic songs, or any multi-part ones. In fact, there are only three songs over four minutes on the album, and four under three minutes, or just on three minutes. “Hang on to yourself” is a fast, rocky, almost fifties-style song with punk overtones, lots of guitar and sharp riffs. The title track starts off with a classic, famous riff, and details the rising career of Ziggy, and his fall from grace as he becomes too big for his own good. This of course would become Bowie's signature song in respect of his persona of Ziggy, and would or should have served as a cautionary tale for other musicians who pushed things too far: body and soul can only take so much. It's a rough, raw song that almost completely encompasses the album and its overall arc.

It runs into “Suffragette City”, the fastest track on the album, with mad guitar and thundering drums, great sax and fifties rock piano. It also features the immortal line “Wham bam, thank you ma'am!” It's really Ziggy's last hurrah on the album, as the next one, the closer, is a much more introspective and acoustic number. “Rock 'n' roll suicide” features the arrival of the Infinites, who approach Ziggy onstage and tear him to pieces, in order to make their own antimatter bodies compatible with being on the Earth. It starts off with a strummed acoustic guitar and a lone vocal from Bowie, then begins building to a climax, and again although it fits into the story as told above, it can also be seen as another warning to aspiring musicians and rock stars to keep control of their excesses.

Saxophone breaks in and electric guitar picks up the melody as the percussion drives the song on towards its conclusion, and Bowie's vocal gets more frenzied and desperate as the track, and the album, reaches its end. “Rock a
'n' roll suicide” can also be seen in less metaphorical terms than the destruction of Ziggy by the Infinites, taking this as an allegory for his fans taking so much of him that he is left with nothing, and collapses, due either to age, drug or alcohol addiction, or just plain exhaustion.

If you're a Bowie fan, you've heard, and most likely loved, this album. If you're not a fan, you've certainly heard of it, as much of its parlance has passed over into the mainstream, and there's probably very few people over even eighteen now whom you ask who Ziggy Stardust is associated with, who would not know the answer. A seminal album, a timeless classic, and a fitting way to bring our sojourn through the 1970s to a satisfying end.

TRACKLISTING

1. Five years
2. Soul love
3. Moonage daydream
4. Starman
5. It ain't easy
6. Lady Stardust
7. Star
8. Hang on to yourself
9. Ziggy Stardust
10. Suffragette City
11. Rock and roll suicide

Suggested further listening: "Diamond dogs”, “Aladdin Sane”, “Station to station”, “Heroes”, “Scary monsters and super creeps”, “Let's dance” and many more!

http://www.trollheart.com/70sweek5.jpg
Seventies Week: a final word.

Over the last seven days I've done my best to give you a flavour of what music was like in the 1970s. Of course, there was a lot of really bad pop and other music --- even some bad rock! --- and some truly execrable “novelty” records, like “Grandad” by Clive Dunn, “The trail of the lonesome pine” by Laurel and Hardy, and “I am a cider drinker” by The Wurzels, to name but a few, but then, what decade has not such unnecessary dross in it? The point is, the seventies produced some huge, huge stars, like Bowie, 10cc, Neil Young, The Who, ABBA, Chicago, Rod Stewart, T-Rex, Queen, The Sweet, Barry White, Slade, Free, Elton John, Thin Lizzy, Hot Chocolate … the list goes on.

It was also a decade long before such crass mass-produced music as Pop Idol, the X-Factor and their ilk, before you phoned in to make someone famous or successful, and before anyone who thought they could sing could become a star. It was a time when bands struggled to get deals, to even get gigs; when the pathway to success was not lined with gold and TV appearances but with long, wet nights playing in run-down clubs and pubs, putting in the hours at the studio and hoping for that one big break. When careers were not made online, but by radio and word of mouth, and people bought albums and singles, not downloaded tracks.

I think very few decades before or since have given us such a plethora of names that have lasted down through successive years and decades, many surviving, and indeed thriving, right up to this day. Many bands and artistes we love and revere today got their start in the seventies, and so I think we have a lot to be thankful to that time for.

I hope my little slice of the seventies has helped those of you too young to have lived through that period in music to appreciate the huge wealth of talent that came out of that time, and the debt we owe those years, and for those who remember the 70s, well I hope the series served to rekindle some old memories, remind you of some old favourites and reawaken in you love and respect for the music of that time.

And now, as I hop back into the time machine and set the controls for 2011, all that remains is to say goodbye to the seventies: I feel sure we will never see your like again.

Engaging time circuits.... Time circuits engaged …. pop!
(Tomorrow's Journal will be broadcast in its usual timeslot, October 2011. Thank you for listening.)