I'm in the process of re-listening and re-evaluating my record collection, in no particular order. I'll be sharing the results of my evaluation and thoughts on the music in this blog.
Apparently the Pipettes were conceived by their guitarist Monster Bobby as "an experiment in band-making" - which accounts nicely for their name, both a laboratory instrument and a reference to The Ronnettes, one of the girl groups from pop's golden era whose sound The Pipettes were determined to modernize. Bobby assembled a band of male backing musicians (nicknamed "The Cassettes") who stay in the shadows while the 3 female vocalists steal the spotlight. Fortunately he didn't go all Phil Spector on them and try to mastermind it all from the backstage, but instead he let them function as a true rock band: All (boys and girls) share the songwriting credits, although the lyrics are always written from the girls' perspective - usually a bit on the naughty side, reveling in a role reversal of the classic boy/girl pop narratives: these girls deride guys for thinking they could be more than an "One Night Stand" on the eponymous upbeat number, or for being bookish and not interested in having sex with them on "ABC". And they also do have a song called "Sex", but don't get me wrong: this isn't some kind of female Mötley Crüe - more like a PG-rated version of 60's girl pop that recognizes that girls are entitled to have some fun, and to be independent, even kind of naughty if they so feel like. The music strikes a perfect balance between retro and now-pop: the girls' harmonies, polka-dot dresses and dance moves come straight from the early 60's, just like the old-fashioned strings and brass arrangements. The beats on the other side -even when they pay tribute to Motown, as in the album's highlight "Pull Shapes"- have a frenzier, more danceable quality, incorporating everything that came later, be it ABBA, Bananarama, or electro-pop. And while it's the faster, more manic, numbers that stayed with me ("Your Kisses Are Wasted on Me", "One Night Stand", "Dirty Mind"), others may be drawn to the ballads ("A Winter's Sky", "I Love You") with their seductive vocals and sugary strings. Truth be told, at least 10 of the album's 15 songs (including bonus track "Really That Bad") could have been singles: they're hooky as hell, melodic, danceable, lots of fun, and never overstay their welcome with most of them clocking under 3 minutes - the complete CD duration stays well below 40 minutes. Opener "We Are The Pipettes" stands out from the rest with its early B52's sci-fi schtick. It sounds a bit silly at first, but after listening to the whole CD a couples of times it comes through as an original, zany, entertaining, moment inside a more calculated whole. Because, although it'd be unfair to say the songs all sound the same, they mostly seem to follow the same recipe. Like the abuse of a special effect in a movie: impressive at first, but every time it's used it loses some of its power and the green screen magic behind it threatens to get exposed. I guess that's the one fault of The Pipettes: A brilliant idea, impeccably executed, yet still there's something artificial about them. Compare them with their organically-grown 80's counterparts The Go Go's, and you'll see what I mean.
**** for Pull Shapes, Why Did You Stay?, Dirty Mind, Your Kisses Are Wasted on Me, One Night Stand
*** for We Are the Pipettes, It Hurts to See You Dance So Well, Judy, A Winter's Sky, Tell Me What You Want, Because It's Not Love (But It's Still a Feeling), Sex, ABC, I Love You, Really That Bad
I bought this CD on a sale recently for €1, together with a bunch of albums I missed out on in the 00's. All these albums were best-sellers at the time, most of them had at least a couple of songs on heavy rotation on the radio - people were listening to the radio not so long ago, I swear! No streaming services at the time, no Spotify, and no youtube! Back then, the only way to watch your favorite videoclips again was to stake them out on MTV, and press REC on your VCR the moment they begin playing. When I saw this CD on sale, I thought it was worth picking up if only for "All The Things She Said", rightfully one of the biggest pop hits of the 00's - plus I was curious to hear how they'd approach their Smiths cover "How Soon Is Now".
Ever since The Monkeys, there have been many made-up pop groups put together by shrewd music business executives, so in this respect there's nothing special about the formation of t.A.T.u.: this Russian producer conceived of a teen girl group and started by conducting auditions for singers. Lena Katina and Julia Volkova, the two girls that won the audition were 14 and 15 years old at the time. Shapovalov (the producer) had a specific marketing strategy on his mind, which centered on provocation: He named the band t.A.T.u., telling the press that it means "Ta Lyubit Tu", or "This [girl] Loves That [girl]" trying to promote them as a "teen lesbian couple" and sexualizing their image by presenting them in short skirts and fetish-like schoolgirl uniforms, having them kiss on video clips and public appearances, and pose as if they were doing a soft porn photoshoot. This would have been controversial in any case because of the homoeroticism and (especially) their age - by the time of their international debut 200 km/h in the Wrong Lane, they were still just 17. But it wasn't only the puritans who were enraged: the fact that it was all a ruse, that the girls were neither romantically involved with each other nor gay, made many critics cry sexploitation. When I read the story it reminded me of how Hollywood producer Kim Fowley formed The Runaways in the 70's. They were also just 16 when he marketed them in a way that was too sexual for their age. But Joan Jett, Lita Ford, Cherry Currie and the rest were no mere dummies. Fowley may have masterminded the group and their public image, but he also nurtured their talent, encouraging them to play their own instruments and write their own songs. One may argue that there's a degree of sexploitation with all teenage pop stars anyway, but it's targeted at their age peers while with t.A.T.u. one gets the impression the marketing was targeted at teen pop fans and dirty old men equally. Anyway, all these antics served their purpose of putting the band on the spotlight, but also managed to divert attention from the music. Was it really necessary? Judging from lead single "All The Things She Said", not at all: the infectious chorus, urgent tempo, and mix of alternative rock and synth pop scream "hit potential" from afar. Kudos must go to British producer Trevor Horn, who made the most of the mediocre songs and thin Lolita vocals by stressing the hooks and dressing the tunes in a modern techno/dance sound with just a hint of 80's new wave. The second big hit here is opener "Not Gonna Get Us", an upbeat number with electronic beats and alternating sweet and shrilly vocals. The girls are going for a "teen rebels" sound but on this album they sound more like spoiled brats. Their singing deficiency becomes painfully obvious in the Smiths cover "How Soon Is Now": where the lyrics cry for teenage melodrama, they are betrayed by the unemotional squeaky vocals. Another track featuring awful singing (with heavily accented English, to boot) is "Malchik Gay". "Show Me Love" fares better: the chorus mimics "All the Things She Said" with the title repetition etc, but featuring a more rhythmic electronic beat. "Clowns (Can You See Me Now?)" is in similar style, both OK for their genre. "30 Minutes" is slow and atmospheric trip-hop style, while "Stars" is interesting because of bringing together mismatched elements: its melodic pop is augmented by a folkish instrumental solo, and interrupted by some Russian-language rapping. Somehow it works. To boost the duration to CD length, the producers added Russian versions of "Not Gonna Get Us" ("Нас Не Догонят"/Nas Ne Dagoniat) and "All the Things She Said" ("Я Сошла С Ума"/Ya Shosla S Uma) as well as a couple of useless remixes of "Show Me Love" and "30 Minutes". I'm not sure whether the two Russian songs are new recordings or they are taken from the band's debut proper 200 Po Vstrechnoy, recorded in 2000. That album got them noticed in Eastern Europe, but with international release 200 km/h in the Wrong Lane t.A.T.u. stroke gold. Whether due to Trevor Horn's excellent production work, or Shapovalov's provocative marketing antics, it sold millions of CD's abroad, becoming Russia's biggest pop export ever while the girls graduated to sex symbols - especially in Eastern Europe, where they still have fans. The rest of the world forgot about them pretty quickly: after winning 3rd place on next year's Eurovision contest they all but disappeared from view. Maybe their producers should have invested more in singing and songwriting lessons, rather than promotional tricks. So yes, this CD rightly belongs in the bargain bin where I found it - but at least, timeless single "All The Things She Said" has earned t.A.T.u. a place in pop history.
**** for All the Things She Said
*** for Not Gonna Get Us, Show Me Love, 30 Minutes, Stars, Я Сошла С Ума, Нас Не Догонят, Show Me Love (extended)
** for How Soon Is Now?, Clowns (Can You See Me Now?), Malchik Gay, 30 Minutes (Remix)
According to received wisdom, pub rock kept the "flame of original rock'n'roll" alive during the dark prog era of "bloated" concept albums with symphonic ambitions - at least until punk rock came to remind us of the simple values of rock'n'roll. Nonsense, I say! Prog and punk? They're apples and oranges! As for rock'n'roll? Cherries! Because exactly how are Richie Valence and Johnny Rotten similar? That said, I've found out that I quite like this pub rock thing. It's not a homogenous genre: there are different combinations of rockabilly, R&B, country, garage rock, even reggae, involved. What all these bands have in common is simpler song structures, the element of fun, and lack of pretention and self-importance which was often evident in 70's mainstream rock. The immediacy of their approach worked best in small venues like pubs, which gave this "genre" its name in contrast to the "arena rock" - even though some of those stadium rockers (e.g. The Rolling Stones) weren't musically a world away from pub bands like Ducks Deluxe, meaning that pub rock wasn't as revolutionary as music critics imply.
One thing's for sure, punk rockers were listening. The laddishness of pub bands like Dr. Feelgood spoke to them at least as much as their energetic music, while the absence of outlandish glam costumes (prog and glam being the era's dominant music trends) made it easier to think of them as "one of the guys". Suddenly it once again seemed possible for anyone to pick up a guitar and form a band, no "rock star quality" needed. Something that always struck me as odd, though, was how these British pub rockers seemed totally enamoured of the American culture: from their love for the American roots sounds of country, soul, and rockabilly, to their lyrics. In this album too, references to middle America abound. Check "Daddy Put The Bomp", a country-ish tune which somehow reminded me of Creedence's "Lodi", with its references to New Orleans, and lyrics like"My daddy was a preacher...My mommy Texas lady". Same goes for the roadlust exhibited in opener "Coast to Coast", a raucous garage rocker written by Nick Garvey, and reminiscent of The Flamin' Groovies - maybe not coincidentally, as he once served in the Groovies' road crew. It's followed by another wild rocker, a cover of Eddie Cochran's "Nervous Breakdown". Martin Belmont wrote and sings lead on a soul ballad called "I Got You", as well as on the more satisfactory folk rocker "Heart On My Sleeve". He shares lead vocals and songwriting credits with Garvey on the fast R&B rocker "Don't Mind Rockin' Tonite", while Garvey sings lead on "Nervous Breakdown", sped-up Stones cover "It's All Over Now", and his own composition "Please, Please, Please" - also reminiscent of The Stones, circa Between The Buttons. The rest of the songs feature Sean Tyla on lead vocals. These include the propulsive proto-punk "Fireball", soulful R&B "Falling For That Woman", laid-back funk "Too Hot To Handle", and "West Texas Trucking Board" - the latter reminded me of Them's cover of Dylan's "It's All Over Now Baby Blue". All in all, Ducks Deluxe is an excellent debut whose timeless songwriting is both a throwback to the 60's and a precursor of new wave artists like Elvis Costello and Graham Parker. Martin Belmont did end up playing in Parker's backing band The Rumour, while Nick Garvey co-founded successful new wave band The Motors, and Sean Tyla fronted the Tyla Gang. So, while Ducks Deluxe broke up after only one more album (1975's Taxi To The Terminal Zone), at least their legacy lived on in those other bands. The band's two LP's were never re-released on vinyl, but they have been bundled together for a CD reissue, plus there are some compilations going around, both in vinyl and CD form. All well worth checking out, probably among pub rock's finest hour - next to Dr. Feelgood, of course.
**** for Coast To Coast, Nervous Breakdown, Please Please Please, Fireball, Don't Mind Rockin' Tonite, Heart On My Sleeve, Falling For That Woman, West Texas Trucking Board, Too Hot To Handle
*** for Daddy Put The Bomp, I Got You, It's All Over Now
Arthur Lee's 21st century comeback was one of the most amazing and unexpected in show business - I count myself very lucky to have witnessed it. I had fallen in love with the music of Love when I first heard it in my late teens. Their tunes, the lyrics, and Arthur's voice really moved me - both their acclaimed masterpiece Forever Changes and their simpler garage folk debut rank among my all-time favorites. But I never expected to see them live: rumors were that Lee was a lost cause, his talent was totally spent, and his behavior was too erratic for any labels/concert organizers to bother with him. He was almost forgotten by the mid-80's but the 90's saw his popularity rise steadily, so that he was able to tour again and release a pretty decent album (to be presented here sometime, along with the rest of his discography). Until, that is, the American penal system decided to make an example out of him: he was sentenced to 12 years in prison for the "negligent discharge of a firearm", which basically means shooting in the air. Who could imagine that a victimless offence could carry a heavier penalty than, say, voluntary manslaughter? Well, that's what you get in California under the "three strikes law" - especially if you happen to be black, as many observed at the time. He was released on December 2001 after serving 5,5 years - not so much because of the support movement by a handful of musicians and fans, but because the judge who convicted him was found guilty of judicial misconduct, leading to a lot of his decisions getting overthrown. Lee immediately contacted Baby Lemonade, the neo-psychedelic band that had backed him during his first attempt for a career revival in the 90's, and they started touring the world again. This is when I first had the chance to see them, summer 2002 in an open air double bill with Porcupine Tree as headliners. I came to the gig apprehensively: yes, Arthur Lee and Love had produced some of my favorite records, but -even in the 60's- they never had a great live reputation, plus the man had been out of commission for years. Well, I've seen hundreds of gigs but this counts as one of the best ever: I've never seen someone so exhilarated to be on stage and to be able to perform his songs in front of an audience. When he sang those lyrics from "Red Telephone" you really felt chills up your spine "They're locking them up today/They're throwing away the key/I wonder who it will be tomorrow, you or me?...We're all normal and we want our freedom". One could feel the "love" flow to and from the audience, and it seemed that happy endings are indeed possible. Next year the band were back, this time augmented with horns and strings, to play their masterpiece Forever Changes the way it was meant to sound, replicating the ornate studio arrangements. If the 2002 tour was the unlikely resurrection of an underground legend, the Forever Changes Tour was the victory lap: High-profile media coverage, big venues, and a live CD/DVD in the works. Once more, the enthusiasm was palpable. The third, and last, time I saw Artur Lee and Love was in 2005. This time they relied more on their experience and musical affinity rather than some sense of elation. After 4 years touring together, Lee and Baby Lemonade had morphed into the new Love, and arguably better than the originals were: not burdened by drug problems, clearly in love with the material, the younger guys happy to be playing alongside one of their heroes. As a bonus, Johnny Echols from the original band was there to provide another link with the past, and he obviously had great chemistry with both Lee and the other band members. For this occasion I had come together with my girlfriend to share my excitement about the band with her. At the time I thought she was unlucky to have missed the first two magical concerts, but in the light of what happened next, she -and everyone else who witnesses Love during those last years- was very lucky indeed. 3 months later, Arthur Lee and Love would cut their tour short and part ways. The general assumption was that this was due to a relapse to Lee's old quirks which had hindered the original band's progress, plagued his solo career and driven him to prison. Some kind of unnamed health issue was also mentioned. He never publicly acknowledged its seriousness, and was busy making plans for a new Love line-up featuring members of fellow Memphis residents The Reigning Sound. It later transpired that the man was sick with leukemia, and only had a few months to live. He never played again, and finally died on August 3rd, 2006 at the age of 61. Had the judge's decision not been overturned, he probably would have died in prison and be remembered as just another psychedelic casualty like Syd Barrett. Fortunately that didn't happen. Instead, these last 4 years as an active musician (2002-2005) have reconnected him with his audience, fed his legend, and brought him the international acclaim he so richly deserved and which had eluded him the first time around.
In interviews conducted during his post-prison renaissance (2002-2005) Arthur Lee often teased about having new material and about recording an album with the new incarnation of Love (AKA the neo-psychedelic band Baby Lemonade). And while I knew he wasn't the most reliable person in the world, I really wanted to take him at his word and hoped he still had another good album in him. As it is, the great outpouring of songwriting genius that was Forever Changes was followed by a series of sympathetic but somewhat patchy albums 1969-1974, some live recordings, and just two more studio LP's in the course of the next 3 decades. As I mentioned in my lengthy prologue, Arthur Lee and Love were still a great live experience at that point, but the songwriting muse had left long ago. Which makes this short EP a real treat: with the exception of a rare 1994 7' single, this is the only studio recording of the tightest and longest-running Love line-up. Even more importantly, these are Arthur's very last recordings - 15 years after his passing, it's safe to assume that if there was anything left in the vaults it'd have appeared by now. "Rainbow In The Storm" is a great opener in the ornate style of Forever Changes: same kind of arrangement, with Lee sounding eerily like his 23-year old self. "All I Want Is You" is a pleasant upbeat number - at the time I thought it was a new song, but it later appeared in a live bootleg from the 90's, so I guess it had been sitting on the shelf for more than a decade. "Love Me Again" is -surprising as it seems- a reggae/ska song, and "Message To Pretty" a faithful recreation of a gorgeous folk rock ballad from Love's 1966 debut. The closing "Feathered Fish" is a big gift to old fans: this scorching garage rocker was written by Arthur Lee sometime prior to 1966 and given away to his friends in a band called Sons Of Adam (their drummer Michael Stuart would soon join Love, while singer-guitarist Randy Holden would go on with Blue Cheer). Collectors had been trying to find the "original" Love version forever, but it turns out they had never recorded it, not even as a demo. I'm not sure whether they even ever played it live, maybe they thought that it was too similar to their other garage dynamite "7 + 7 Is". Artur did play it with Love/Baby Lemonade sometime in the 90's, but that version wasn't officially released, although it later surfaced on a bootleg. Which makes this 2004 recordingthe only official version of "Feathered Fish" by its writer. The playing on all tracks is very good, as is the recording quality. Too bad it didn't get picked up by a record label and given a wider release: the band pressed it on CD-R and sold it at their gigs (I got it at the aforementioned 2005 show). Maybe a few copies reached the stores, but I don't think there are a lot of them around. Given that the paper label is glued on the CD-R and that the glue is known to affect CD-Rs negatively over time, many of these CD-Rs have began to deteriorate - or so I'm told, my own copy still plays well. Hopefully it'll get a good quality repress sometime, ideally on vinyl. The historic value of these recordings is huge, while the artistic one is not to be faulted either.
**** for Rainbow In The Storm, Message To Pretty, Feathered Fish
