Twenty years ago a young band from Ireland released a debut album of near flawless indie pop tunes called "Immigrants, Emigrants & Me". That band was Power Of Dreams.
Listening to it at the time it was hard to believe that so much confidence and ambition could have came from a band still in their teens. The tracks on the album were direct, raw and, above all, truthful. That there was so much passion, energy and great tunes packed into a debut release was astounding. The lyrics seemed to touch a chord with everyone who heard the album. Most tracks are about lead singer, Craig Walker, being dumped by the love of his life and are shot through with an honesty and craft that belied his tender years.
Over the next four years, they released a further three albums and continued to play shows worldwide, including four return visits to Japan. However, commercial success never quite matched the level of critical acclaim achieved and so the four members went their separate ways in 1995.
According to the band's website they are currently working on a new album so hopefully in the not too distant future we should see some new material.
They were once described by Alan McGee as “A genius band who should have been massive” and he was right.
More accessible than many other roots outfits, The Mighty Diamonds boasted soulful, gorgeously pure harmonies and tight, catchy songwriting. They were devout Rastafarians, but balanced their spiritual and political messages with sweet romantic material, which gave them a more universal appeal than militant groups like Culture or Black Uhuru. Their sweet sound and polished choreography were distinctly inspired by the Motown groups of the '60s.
They were formed in 1969 in Trenchtown, an area of Kingston made famous by a certain Mr Marley and finally started to receive some recognition in the mid 70's and in 1976 they signed to Virgin Records and released the classic Right Time album. In 1981 they recorded a track called "Pass The Kouchie" which went on to be a bit of a hit, selling over 4 million copies, when covered by 5 teenagers from the U.K. called Musical Youth.
The Mighty Diamonds always brought a startling emotional commitment to their best material, and their debut album, Right Time, still stands as one of roots reggae's all-time classics.
Ted Hawkins was almost pre-destined for a troubled life, being the unwanted son of a prostitute and alcoholic mother and an absent father. A the age of 12 he was sent to a reform school where, fortunately for us, he started to show a fascination with the guitar. During his teens he continued getting into trouble with the law but also continued his love of music. As well as teaching himself guitar Ted was by now getting noticed as a bit of a singer, being heavily influenced primarily by the emotive vocals of Sam Cooke.
In the mid 60's he packed himself off to L.A. to try and make it in the music industry. It was here in the early 70's whilst busking on Venice Beach that he was discovered by producer Bruce Bromberg who encouraged Ted to record some songs in his own personal blues style, rather than the cover versions that had been his mainstay up until then. Unfortunately, Ted's habit of getting mixed up with the local police had followed him to California and he spent a number of years in jail. During this time he lost contact with Bromberg and the 1971 recording sessions were left just gathering dust.
Eventually in 1982, out of prison and free from an earlier heroin addiction, Ted once more met up with Bromberg and the tracks that they had cut 11 years earlier were released as an album, Watch Your Step on Rounder Records. True to form, Ted wandered off after making this one album and it was another four years before he could be pushed into a studio to record again. This time the session produced the 1986 release, Happy Hour and this was the record that was to be the catalyst that launched his career around the world.
Part of the problem with Ted's music was that it was almost impossible to categorise with elements of soul, gospel, country and blues all merging together to create a unique sound that was distinctly Ted Hawkins. Over in the U.K. his music was picked up and championed by Andy Kershaw. At one point in the late 80's you would rarely tune into Kershaw's show without hearing at least one track by Hawkins.
It wasn't until 1994 that he finally came to the attention of the US public, when Geffen Records picked up on his talent and persuaded him to record what was to be his final album, 'The Next One Hundred Years'. Sadly, just as sales of this record were taking off, Ted suffered a stroke on the 28 December 1994 and died a few days later on New Year's Day.
Ted Hawkins dark and often quirky songs are balanced with a suprisingly upbeat sense of humour. With his rough-edged soul/country voice and simple acoustic guitar, Ted brings you into his moody world and all his tracks are sung with a total investment of emotion and with an oddly lyrical twist that frequently has a beautiful sweet edged melody that is completely at odds with a somber theme. There is an intensity about Ted's singing and playing that was completely captivating back in the mid 80's and is still so to this day.
1983's Festive 50 was largely dominated by New Order, The Smiths, The Fall and The Cocteau Twins which was certainly no cause for complaint in these quarters. There were 2 tracks, however, that always stuck out for me - the first was Good Technology in which The Red Guitars itemise the sundry achievements of modern science over a quite stunning melodic soundscape.
The other was The Natural-Ites and The Realistics who made it into the Top 10 with Picture On The Wall. I still remember buying the single the day after I first heard it on Peel and was one of the first tracks to get me listening to reggae music. There's a real feeling of joy and spiritual power in the vocals and the melody and counter melodies of the horns are simply sublime. Peel played this song to death and it's very easy to appreciate why he loved this track so much.
The powerful sax playing of Clarence Clemons lit up so many of Springsteen's classic tracks that it is almost impossible now to think of The E Street Band without "The Big Man".
His saxophone solos became a signature sound for The E Street Band on so many key Springsteen tunes and always added to the song rather than being showy and overshadowing them. Clarence was a vital part of Springsteen's sound over the years and was a truly wonderful musician and by all accounts a truly wonderful man.
I have been fortunate enough to see Springsteen a couple of times in concert and to see "The Big Man" up close and personal playing the solo on Jungleland was truly magical.
There are good pop songs, there are great pop songs and then there are Undertones pop songs. With their debut in '79 they made one of the best pop records of all time. Not a single track over the 3 minute mark and no need for there to be. No excess,no waste, just pure pop perfection. The band played with such unabashed joy that even tracks that hint at the darker side of life - Jimmy Jimmy, Family Entertainment - are delivered with such a sense of optimism that was lacking in so many other bands of that era.
The Undertones never seemed to take themselves that seriously, just a bunch of mates having a bit of a laugh but somehow they managed to release 4 great albums in their short time in the limelight that contain many, many timeless little masterpieces that spoke directly to their fans with lyrics they could all relate to. They made it all seem so easy which I think is part of their lasting appeal alongside the fact that almost their entire output still sounds as fresh today as it did when it first came out over 30 years ago.
A couple of years back Salvo released another Undertones Best Of but this one also included a second CD of demos, out takes and live tracks including these 2 tracks...
Get Over You is Live at The Lyceum in '78 and shows that all you need is 3 chords and a great tune while The Love Parade is a self produced demo from '82 that Damian O'Neill thinks is vastly superior to the recorded version and I would have to agree.
For the best part of 20 years Colorblind James and his ever changing ensemble made some of the most intelligent, heartfelt and original music to appear out of the U.S. of A. It's difficult to find a genre of music that did no find it's away into the recordings of his band, The Colorblind James Experience. There's elements of Rock'n'Roll, country, folk, jazz, gospel, polka and a bit of Tex Mex thrown in for good measure. An early critic described their music as "The sound of the working class ascending to heaven." That's a pretty decent approximation of their sound.
Their three minutes of fame came to them in the late 80's when John Peel and Andy Kershaw started played tracks from their eponymous debut which eventually reached Number 5 in the Indie Chart. The pinnacle of the album and the track that got them a coveted slot in the Festive 50 was Considering A Move To Memphis where James considers the consequences of relocating to Elvis' hometown sung to a tune that blended all the finest musical elements of the band into a perfect six and a half minutes.
** This posting is for my best mate as, due to suffering from an ever increasing tendency to forgot what I done 5 minutes ago never mind remember dates of birthdays each year, I managed to completely forget his birthday a couple of weeks ago so this is for you mate.
With a few exceptions live albums, per se, are generally not that good. One of the exceptions is Aswad's Live and Direct. The band is on fire and the album captures the moment perfectly. This is Aswad at their very best full of energy and oh so sweet bass lines playing some old fashioned reggae with lots of brass. The rawness of the sounds adds to the overall feel with that tight as you like horn section making this a classic.
Of course we all know that Aswad captured some chart success later on with some "soft reggae" offerings that don't really do the band justice but if you only ever buy one Aswad album this is the one to go for. Crank it up loud and enjoy not just one of the best reggae albums of all time but also one of the best live albums. Few live albums manage to capture perfectly a band at the height of their power. Live and Direct does just that.
Finishing off Soul Week on Spools Paradise is one of the all time classics. Respect Yourself came together after Stax Records singer Luther Ingram told Stax house songwriter Mack Rice that "black folk need to learn to respect themselves" and the rest, as they say, is history.
Pen a lyric about self empowerment for African Americans during the time of the Civil Rights Movement, add a solid funk groove, give the song to The Staple Singers, team them up with the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section and you end up with one of the finest soul tunes ever recorded with Mavis Staples' delivering what has to be one of her most uplifting and soulful vocal performances.
The track has been covered many times but none of the covers come anywhere near the original.
You would know you've written a pretty decent tune if you hear it being covered by the likes of Otis Redding and Alex Chilton. That was the case with Lowell Fulson's and his 1965 hit, Tramp. Never afraid to experiment, Lowell stated off playing his beloved blues but by the mid 60's whilst on Kent Records he was playing funk injected sounds that restored him to R'n'B stardom. With a strong baritone vocal and some mean blues guitar playing Lowell Fulson made a great contribution to the popularisation of blues music in the 50's and 60's.
One of his best known tracks, Reconsider Me was later recorded by someone by the name of Elvis and was selected by The Rock'n Roll Hall Of Fame as one of the 500 songs that shaped Rock'n'Roll.
Few bluesmen managed to remain contemporary the way Lowell Fulson did for more than five decades. And fewer still made such a massive contribution to the blues scene.
Felice Taylor started off on the Valiant label as part of a trio with her sisters, but her greatest success came on the Mustang label where she released 3 singles which were all co-written and produced by none other than The Walrus Of Love himself, Barry White.
Her vocals were very reminiscent of Diana Ross , which is certainly no bad thing. She later recorded for the legendary Kent label and also with The Equals in the U.K. Sadly there do not appear to be any recordings after the early 70's.
From 1968, I Can Feel Your Love is a bit less sugary than some of her earlier recordings with a truly great rhythm intro....
Although he was often compared to both BB King and Bobby Blue Band, Little Milton never quite achieved the crossover success of either of them.
Little Milton originally recorded for Sun Records, before releasing material for Chess and Stax. His early recordings were very blues influenced but his albums from the 70's on the Stax label are most definitely of the soul variety. He was backed often by Stax stalwarts The Memphis Horns and combined with his distinctive choppy guitar sounds and his gritty, expressive vocals made some great soul tracks that are up there with the likes of Sam Cooke and Bobby Bland.
He also recorded some tracks for the now defunct Checker label in the 60's including this little number that reached Number 1 on the R'n'B chart in the mid 1960's....
Described by author Nelson George as "the most beautiful woman ever signed to Motown," Brenda Holloway is remembered not only for her stunning looks but also for a sweetly soulful singing style.
Brenda caught the eye of Berry Gordy in 1964 while singing along to a Mary Wells track at a disc jockey convention in California and became the first West Coast artist to sign to Motown. Her firs single Every Little bit Hurts was also her biggest hit and landed her a support slot on The Beatles 1965 US tour.
Brenda had an early retirement from The Biz at the ripe old age of 22. She did thankfully return to recording in the early 80's when she released a gospel album after spending the best part of 20 years in the church. She then went on to record some material for Ian Levine's Motorcity label in the late 80's as she had always remained in the hearts of fans of the Northern Soul scene in the U.K.
Brenda Holloway was one of the best and perhaps most under-rated female vocalists ever to record for Motown. Hard to believe she was only 17 when she recorded her first single for Motown.
On May 16th 1969 - Malcolm X's birthday - Jalal Mansur Nuriddin, Omar Ben Hassan and Abiodun Oyewole officialy formed The Last Poets. They almost single handedly laid the groundwork for the hip hop scene that emerged in the late 70's.
In 1970 they released their first album which contained withering attacks on everything from racists to government to the bourgeoisie preceding politically laced albums by the likes of Marvin Gaye and directly influencing the work of later rap bands such as Public Enemy and Boogie Down Productions. The album reached the Top 10 U.S. album chart but before they could mount a tour Oyewole was sentenced to 14 years in prison for armed robbery. The follow up album, This Is Madness even landed them on Nixon's Counter Intelligence Programming Unit and had tracks that were more radical and politically charged than the debut offering.
Several albums followed but none had the same impact as those first 2 albums both of which contain music of style, force, intensity, creativity and passion and are fundamental building blocks of rap and hip hop music.
Listening to some early Cocteau Twins this morning brought to mind the exquisite, shimmering vocal that Elisabeth Fraser delivered for Felt's finest moment, Primitive Painters. With production from fellow Cocteau Twin, Robin Guthrie this is the track that most people think of when Felt are mentioned and quite rightly as it is a gem of a track that has one of Fraser's best ever vocals.
Lawrence formed Felt in the late 70's after being influenced primarily by both Tom Verlaine and Vic Goddard and over the course of the next decade released some of the most idiosyncratic and contrary music of the 80's. They always seemed to be out of step with whatever everyone else was playing at the time. Although they had a loyal core fan base even they sometimes were thrown off balance by the shifting sounds that Lawrence created and released under the moniker of Felt. Since they split it has become somewhat cool to name check Felt with the likes of Belle and Sebastian citing them as an influence.
Lawrence's flat, affected vocals and cultivated, fey, witty lyrics gave the band both a sense of feminity/androgyny and an air of sophistication, assisted by the sinewy, decorative guitar of the classically trained Maurice Deebank. Felt was, however, most definately Lawrence's pet project which had an ever changing lineup.
Deebank left the band in '86 and they then released one of their finest tracks in Ballad of the Band. The song recounts their failed attempts at gaining a wider audience and contains one of Lawrence's best lyrics that admonishes Deebank for his lack of commitment to the group and his hanging out with "all those Jesus freaks". As a final goodbye to Deebank and to rub salt in the wound the track is dominated by the Hammond sound of his replacement in the group, Martin Duffy.
It is now almost 20 years since Felt split up but they remain a vital part of the UK's music scene and a indie pop benchmark.
Stains On A Decade is a great place to start if you don't have any Felt records in your collection being that rare thing of a "best of" that serves both as an introduction to the band and a vital addition to any fan's collection as 11 of the tracks do not appear on the band's albums.
