Ten Other Albums From 1973

Last week I finished the 'best' of 1973 post. Of course, all of those albums are super-amazing, etc. etc. yadda yadda yadda. All the same, I listened to a whole pile of albums and several were noteworthy for a bunch of reasons. Some were great in some respects, but just didn't quite make the cut; others had moments that were stellar but were disappointing elsewhere. Some were really not great, but were very interestingly not great. Here is where I would like to note a few of these...

In no particular order:

Runners Up Award

The O'Jays - Ship Ahoy

Philadephia International Records (PIR) had already had some monster hits with the O'Jays. 1972 had seen the release of Backstabbers, which contained two monster hits - the title track and the evergreen Love Train, which pointed the way towards disco. This album has only the one massive hit, Now That We've Found Love, but is quite likely the better album.

It's cooler and heavier. Check out the intro to For the Love of Money. It's been sampled to death of course, but how cool is that bass line? The title track is a lengthy vocal workout, one a slow, mid-tempo groove. There are a couple of up-tempo tracks; Put Your Hands Together is made for the dancefloor and People Keep Tellin' Me is a 70s throwback to Motown rhythms. So musically, it's cool, but a key element of what's cool about this is that it is evidence of the socially conscious dimension of Gamble and Huff's label. It's easy to think that PIR is all love songs, but here it's about the people. Even the massive single, which sounds like a love song, isn't. Rather than the finding of love within a couple, it's societal - once we overcome our differences and cease to be divided as a community, what are we to do then? How will we make the best of it?

Runners Up Award

Gary Higgins - Red Hash

Another tale of woe here - sort of. Higgins had a pretty decent career rolling along, living in Connecticut and playing gigs in Albany, supporting other artists. He was then caught in a drugs bust and sentenced to prison for selling marijuana. Just before going to prison, he gathered some friends and quickly cut this record. After prison, he thought the time had passed and he entered mainstream society getting jobs and whatnot. In 2005, the album was picked up the label Drag City, since it had achieved a cult status. It was re-released to critical acclaim!

And it's gorgeous. It's sitting in the same sort of West Coast folk rock tradition as Dave Crosby (despite being 2000 miles East). It's all acoustic guitars, flutes, occasional strings and sweet melodies. It has a melancholic tone - tales of loss and fear, space and openness. This is not urban music. It is a record for quiet nights in. I don't smoke dope anymore - it's been a very long time. Nonetheless, I'd suggest that if I did, this would go down very nicely.


The Award for The Album That Could Benefit the Most From a Quick Edit

Elton John - Goodbye Yellow Brick Road

Don't get me wrong, this is a very good album and it has some of Elton's very best songs on it. Bennie and the Jets is incredible, the title track is phenomenal. Candle in the Wind is a beautiful to tribute to Marilyn Monroe so long as you can convince yourself to forget that it was ever associated with Diana. And we could carry on. Of the albums 17 tracks, I'd suggest that there's half a dozen gems and probably another half dozen songs that if not gems, are still pretty incredible.

But then there's a handful of songs that should never have made it this far. Social Disease is often commented upon as a song that should not be here, but my personal least favourite is Jamaica Jerk-off. Cod-reggae is never a good look and singing about jerking off is not going to make up for that. There's also something a bit off about All The Girls Love Alice. It's a story about a straight girl who prostitutes herself to ageing lesbians until she kills herself. I can live without that. All in all, these tracks are faltering steps in an otherwise great album.


The Award for the Unjustly Maligned

Yoko Ono - Approximately Infinite Universe

Amongst the things that annoy me in the universe - and despite my efforts it's a long list - one seems to occur more often than makes sense - it is total assassination of Yoko Ono. Sure, she's avant garde and difficult; she's not for everyone - she'll never be mainstream (whatever that is). But let me speak frankly - the criticisms of her whiff a little of ignorance, misogyny and perhaps even racism*. Like most artists on the fringes, what she does is not easily accessible and sometimes appears absurd or at least jarringly different. When it is placed against the traditional it is doubly jarring - such as the famous clip of her joining in with Memphis Tennessee alongside John and Chuck Berry. Even I'll admit that Berry's reaction when Ono comes in is pretty funny. But it does not constitute a dismissal of what she does.

This dismissal is tragic. She was an fascinating artist and made several records that contribute interesting and important elements to contemporary rock music - especially music created and performed by women. Unsurprisingly, she is held as a key influence by many female artists from the 80s onwards - Kim Gordon, Kim Deal, Cat Power, Peaches and so on (check out the list of people that have sought to collaborate with her!)

Approximately Infinite Universe comes at a turning point in her career. She has not abandoned the out and out avant-garde that is characteristic of Fly or Plastic Ono Band (with John Lennon), but she is turning towards more straightforward song forms. It's not absent, but the stereotype of her shriek cum yodel, takes a backseat to more straightforward singing. It is true that Ono's voice is not a typically strong one, but that fragility reflects different elements and allows for other feelings to become part of the music. (Good singing can obscure the point of a song sometimes just as much as bad.) The songs here are not uniformly amazing, let's be honest. Some of them are just OK and as a double album, perhaps some (a fair amount of) editing would have benefited. But there are some outright great tunes - one of my favourites is Death of Samantha. It concerns the efforts a person will go through to look like they are OK, when they are dying inside. Here, the frailty of her voice adds to the delicacy of the lyrics.

Lyrically, she has a directness that is refreshing. Check out I Felt Like Smashing My Face In a Clear Glass Window concerning the alienation she felt in respect to her parents. All over a jaunty rock'n'roll tune, no less. Or What a Waste, even more jaunty, engages with the inanity of anti-abortion campaigners, and how perhaps it would be better for women to withhold sex until men begin to understand the true meaning of equality. There was no-one quite like her and it is plain that she brings so much to the party.

So can we quit harping on about her now? It's really silly.

* Would she have been SO criticised if she were male or white? White, maybe - male, certainly not - especially the riding John's coat-tail trope. (Especially since she had a respectable career in conceptual art long before she met John!)


The Award for the Best Cover Art

Mustafa Ozkent - Genclik Ile Elele

This little nugget deserves our attention for at least one reason - it is my very very favourite album cover ever. I mean just look at it. A chimp, all dressed in a nice yellow sweater, hosting a radio show, with loads of unravelled tape! Hilarious! And the dynamic, exciting, genre tags - rhythm and soul, blues and jazz, rock and pop. Total nonsense of course, but it's hard not to love this sleeve.

The record, well, it's OK. It's kind of funky, 70s, europop. It's the sort of music that people danced to in movies from 1971; movies that thought they were cooler than they actually were. That or music from TV montage sequences. It's crisp and the drumming is on point - you have to give it that. The second track in particular could have been an awesome break-beat. But in truth, the sleeve is much better than the album. I don't begrudge the album space in my collection - there are far worse records hanging around, but it's never going to make a best of list. But it is the very essential of remarkable - I like to remark about it!


The Award for the Best Riffage

King Crimson - Larks Tongues in Aspic

I'm not a massive prog rock fan but neither am I allergic. Obviously Dark Side of the Moon made the top ten. Genesis' Selling England By the Pound was largely enjoyable. On a similar note, there wasn't that much heavy rock on the longer list either. Zeppelin and Sabbath were there, as were Blue Oyster Cult and Queen. But the best riff by far is found on this record, on part one of the title track. It is a monster. I strongly recommend turning it up really loud.

That's all I have to say, really.


Award for Having the Most Instruments You've Never Heard Of Before

Planxty - Planxty

Apparently no-one is quite sure what 'planxty' means. The sleeve notes suggest that it might be a corruption of  'sláinte', which means 'good health'. It might often be given to a particular tunes, as it is here for track 3, Planxty Irwin. I don't know anything about that, but I do know that this is one of the three best Irish folk albums I know of (the others being The Dubliners' debut and Sweeney's Men's second album Dreams for Me). It's possible, I suppose that there are better, but I hope to never find them as my head might explode. There's only so much awesomeness I can handle.

It was inevitable that Planxty were going to be good since they were comprised of serious talent. Andy Irvine had come from the aforementioned Sweeney's Men. Christy Moore had already made a name for himself on the London folk scene. Both Donal Lunny and Liam O'Flynn had established themselves as first class session players of the bouzouki and the uilleann pipe respectively. While they fixed themselves on traditional Irish music, they imbued it with energy, vigour and atmosphere, somehow finding a way of marrying the purism of tradition with the dynamism typical of contemporary rock music. Perhaps the best illustration of this for me is their version of The Blacksmith. It's a classic traditional tune, and this is one of the best versions I know. The bulk of the song is sung over guitar and mandolin (or what I take to be a mandolin anyway), but at the end pipes and drum come in, and it is awesome.

Award for Token Jazz Inclusion

Herbie Hancock - Head Hunters

Who's cool as fuck? Herbie Hancock. That's who. He was a prodigy at 11, joined Donald Byrd in '61 and Miles Davis shortly after. He played with Davis for five years before going solo. This album, Head Hunters, was the biggest selling jazz album to this point. He veered between fusion and acoustic jazz by way of classic electro single Rockit in '83. He's still at it. He is a bona fide genius, so far as I am concerned.

Head Hunters is seriously funky. The opener, Chameleon, kicks off with squidgy bass and then jittery guitars, all wah-wahhed up (I don't know the proper terminology). When the horns kick in, we're a step and a half from Stevie. If you're sitting still, you might be dead. The version of Watermelon Man is impossible to resist, all pipes and bass and killer drums. This is happy time music. Sly is back on more traditional jazzy territory, lots of skittering rhythms and changes - still, it is super cool and feels like a 70s film noir set in a lagoon. Album closer, the strangely titled Vein Melter, cools everything right down and is smokey and comforting. One of my top 3 straight jazz (i.e. not vocal) records.

The Award for Girl Group Least Likely to Yell 'Girl Power'

The Three Degrees - The Three Degrees

There were plenty of girl groups in the 70s - some great groups like Love Unlimited, Labelle, The Supremes (sans Ms. Ross, of course). But for a little while, the top of the pile were Philadelphia International's own The Three Degrees - Prince Charles' favourites.

The Philly sound favoured lush, sweet soul music. It sat at the vanguard of disco, pointing in the direction of travel without ever (or at least not yet) committing to it. The Three Degrees had been recording for best part of ten years before they signed to Gamble and Huff's legendary label, including two great albums on Roulette records, where they included the psychedelic soul classic Collage. They followed a more straightforward approach at PIR and hit big money with the magnificent When Will I See You Again. It's a gorgeous song but in an era where you have Millie Jackson, Denise La Salle and Laura Lee all beginning to claim Women's Love Rights (Lee), it's horrendously passive. Dirty Old Man is better. They busy themselves calling out some undesirable attention. It's a nice tune, though. However, I most conflicted about the second track. It's a gorgeous slow jam and has a great arrangement and nice orchestration. However, it's called A Woman Needs a Good Man. It is exactly as the title suggests - for a woman to be fulfilled, she needs a man - a strong man at that. Otherwise, well, she's not going to have a great time. 'A woman needs a man like a fish needs a bicycle' this ain't.

It's a little distracting, but if you can phase it out of your mind, it's great record!


Honorary Award for Lifetime Achievement

The Beach Boys - Holland

The music business is full of injustices: people, groups and albums that have been given a bum deal. I have mixed feelings about whether The Beach Boys should be included in this - after all, everyone has heard of them, they are universally acclaimed and considered, along with The Beatles, as one the very very best groups that the sixties had to offer. And that's my point. The typical story is that they produced a slew of great singles, released Pet Sounds in 1967, the song Good Vibrations later that year, and then.... poof! Gone, disappeared.

Except they didn't. Sure Brain Wilson had a massive breakdown and the group ceased to function as it had. But they regrouped, re-purposed, other members began to pitch in songs and they re-fashioned themselves as the decade came to a close and into the 1970s. I'm not going to claim that anything they produced rivalled Pet Sounds, but they made some damned fine records that ought to have received a LOT more attention than they did.

Holland is on one of those records. It has all the lush harmonies that you would associate with The Beach Boys but the music has grown up. It is more complex both in structure and in instrumentation. It is harder, more weary and less idealistic (although every so often Mike Love comes along and scuppers that). It opens with two driving, solid numbers. Both fairly slow in tempo - they move at the pace of the steamboat they describe - but listen to the arrangement! Dennis Wilson is really coming into his own with two great songs; notably Only With You, a delicate, emotionally bared love song, which is gorgeous - one of the best soft-rock ballads of the 70s, beautifully arranged by Brother Carl.

I think that The Beach Boys have suffered an injustice. While this might be no-one's favourite Beach Boys album, more people should know it.



I'm busy working on 1974 lists now, as well as a few notes for the end of the year...

10 'Best' Albums From 1973

Yup, I know it's been a while. I've been busy. But I have not forgotten. I've done 1970-1972, but it's time to pick it up once again and get to grips with 1973. I hope you will agree - 1973 is an amazing year. There were many many classic albums that year. Here are my top ten.

I have changed the way that I have done things. If you are interested how click here, but if not let's get on with the malarky.




These are in reverse order:


Leroy Hutson - Love Oh Love

Leroy Hutson is probably not very well known. This is a shame, he should be. For starters, he was a peer of the great Donny Hathaway, collaborating on the classic, The Ghetto. Secondly, he was Curtis Mayfield's choice of replacement when Mayfield left The Impressions. When Hutson then went solo himself, two and a half years later, he released an incredible run of albums over the 1970s and early 1980s.

Love Oh Love was Hutson's debut solo album and is a luscious example of 70s smooth soul. It has the slight disco groove that will become unavoidable later in the decade, but it is far too well constructed to reduce to being 'just' another disco record. It also bears the unmistakable stamp of Curtis Mayfield in the string arrangements and the lyrical structure at time, but Hutson is too much his own to be a mere copyist. In all, it's just lovely.

Bob Marley & The Wailers - Burnin'

I'll admit that for a long time I fell into a weird brand of musical snobbery with Bob Marley. I think his ubiquity, especially with a certain kind of dope-smoking student, along with his willingness to embrace the Eurocentric mainstream (he wasn't Prince Far I or Burning Spear or one of the 'cooler' lesser-known reggae superstars), blinded me to the fact that he was really, really good. I still find the cult of Marley a little silly (he is kind of cool, though), but I am glad that I shook that nonsense off and started to explore his discography. Every record brings something awesome to the mix.

Marley had been recording for best part of a decade before he signed to Island Records in 1973. And what a start! First Catch a Fire, which is a monster, and then this - which is, for my money, even better! It is rougher and less polished than it's predecessor, and thematically, it is darker and more militant. I also has two of the greatest tunes Marley ever wrote:  Get Up Stand Up and  I Shot the Sheriff. What a record!!


Kool & the Gang - Wild and Peaceful

For starters, any album that has Funky Stuff and Jungle Boogie and Hollywood Swinging on it is going to be hard to beat. James Brown once referred to these guys as the 'second baddest', so you know they had some credibility. If you only know them from later so-so efforts like Celebration, I really encourage you to revisit. Anyway, in their earlier days, they sat in a strange nexus between jazz and party music (much like early Earth, Wind and Fire), and their records are an irresistible combination between serious musical chops and getting down. Even when they smooth things out and cool down a little, they chill out so far it's impossible not to want to kick back with them. As they themselves say they're 'scientists of sound, mathematically puttin' it down'.


Pink Floyd - Dark Side of the Moon

I imagine that one or two readers might get a little huffy at this - Surely Dark Side of the Moon is the best album of the year, philistine!  To which I respectfully say, Suck it! Write your own stupid list!

Seriously, I like it but I can't say that I love it. In fact, quite often I find the idea of the album boring. I certainly play it less often than I ought because of this. However, when I actually do play it I remember that it's actually awesome, despite pretty much defining Dad-rock for me.

Part of the reason that I don't love this album is because it has extended periods of ponderousness, and while I appreciate this, I don't often enjoy it. It doesn't excite me very much. It's too cerebral and not physical enough. I know that higher in the list there are other 'serious' records, but at least they have the decency to be fun, or pretty, or least make so that I can tap my feet or drum my fingers on my desk. So yes, this is a great record, and undeniably an album of the year. But it's never going to be top.


Judee Sill - Heart Food

I wrote about Judee Sill recently, praising her lyrics. I'm happy to extend this praise to her music in general. But before I do, let me again take a second to note her career - or rather the lack of it and the tragedy that that involved. She was a teenage runaway, getting involved with heroin and bank robberies. But she had two things that worked in her favour; a musical gift that channelled both Bach and Brian Wilson, and a mystical sense of religious passion. These two features are writ large on her two albums.

The beauty and complexity of the songs here are simply breathtaking. Listen to The Kiss - (don't worry about the lyrics no matter what I said last time) - listen to how she uses the harmonies, the simplicity of the piano line, the use of horns, how she can utilise strings so delicately. It genuinely lifts me. It is a song that is honestly breath-taking. You'd think it un-toppable, until you hit The Donor. It is eight minutes of slow building worship. The vocals ebb and flow and rise and catch you as they repeat and become a round of sorts. The bells and timpani draw you on. Seriously, if mystical revelation had a sound-track this would be it.

If you've never heard it, please do so as soon as you can. If you have heard it, pop it on again.

Sadly, after this, she slipped back into heroin addiction and died penniless in 1979.


Marvin Gaye - Let's Get It On

Too cerebral is never a charge you could make of Marvin Gaye's follow up to What's Goin' On? This is a record with one true objective and a person's brain is not a relevant factor. Marvin Gaye's conflicted sexual attitudes are well documented but there's no doubt which side is winning out one here.

It is possible that this is even better than What's Goin' On? There's no lengthy interludes where he points to God or Jesus; there are no bits that slow down to make you think. It's just over half an hour of the sweetest expressions of sexual love and desire. The album is single-minded in making you groove and the groove is so good - I can't but nod my head, tap my fingers, sashay through the kitchen to make a cup of tea and imagine myself the Lothario that I am not even sure that Gaye was.

Marvin Gaye was a genius. I love him.


Roxy Music - For Your Pleasure

In honesty, I struggle a bit with Roxy Music's self-titled debut. I feel like the ideas are there and despite a couple of strong tracks, the album never quite makes it. However, I think they found their feet pretty darn quick because their second and third albums, both released in 1973, are amazing! I have a hard time deciding which I preferred. The third album, Stranded, was Brian Eno's favourite (which I always thought really big of him, since Bryan Ferry kicked him out after the second.) It also has Mother of Pearl on it - a monster of a tune if ever there was one!

But For Your Pleasure wins it.

You can see where the tensions between Brian and Bryan were brewing. The art in art-rock is writ pretty large here. While it is plain that Ferry wants to edge towards more straightforward interpretations, the out-there sound textures provided by Eno are pulling in the opposite direction. Listen to The Bogus Man with its metronomic rhythm and discordant saxophone blurts, Ferry's croon is stretched right out to try to accommodate it. On the title track, the piano is phased as far as it can take while almost everything is stripped away into nothing - it feels like it is decaying before your eyes. And then the dystopian moments of In Every Dream Home a Heartache, which is so dark... But, Do The Strand and Editions of You (especially the latter), in possibly the best double A side ever, both kick ass when it comes to sophisticated pop music.


John Cale - Paris 1919

I could well understand if someone had not heard John Cale or even had spent much time with him, and then listened to this album why they might be a little bemused in its inclusion here. After all, at first listen, it might appear a pretty unremarkable album.

A little context might help. John Cale is, for my money, one of the most interesting and under-recognised artists in contemporary music. If people have heard of him at all, they may know him as the dude that wasn't Lou Reed in the Velvet Underground. This makes me a little sad in that the Velvet Underground, at least in its original (classic) iteration, is at least as much an expression of Cale as it is Reed, if not more so. (As much as I love or respect Lou Reed's further career, he very rarely did anything as interesting as Cale.) For instance, even before the Velvet Underground, Cale was a classically trained musician, learning under renowned avant-garde musicians such as John Cage and Terry Riley. Following the Velvet Underground, aside from his solo album, he produced some albums that have come to be regarded as classics in their own right (Nico, The Stooges, Patti Smith, Happy Mondays and others). And there are his solo albums, which are various in texture and sound.

Paris 1919 might be regarded as Cale's 'breakthrough' album. It wasn't his first, but I read it as the one that people regard as his first fully realised contemporary album. It is a minor key affair, best described as 'chamber pop' - relatively quiet and peaceful - musically very beautiful. It is so delicate, it would be easy doubt that it was the same John Cale of Sister Ray (or even of his own later Rose Garden Funeral of Sores). Cale's own relatively weak voice adds to this sense of fragility. The melodies, however, are subtle and lodge themselves in the mind so firmly, the extend permanently in the mind and produce a sepia toned reality that is warm. As you'd expect from anyone so talented, musically it is gorgeous.

Paul McCartney & Wings - Band on the Run

I genuinely don't care what you think about this being the second best album of a year as good as 1973. I don't care that Paul McCartney can be a bit irritating. I don't care that he did the Frog Chorus or Mull of Kintyre or any of that. I don't care that Paul McCartney will never be as cool as John Lennon (he won't, but that doesn't matter). What I care about is that Paul McCartney has one of the best ears for popular music known to humankind. When he is on form, he will write better than pretty much anyone you care to mention. There's a reason The Beatles are so great - one of them was Paul McCartney.

And Band on the Run is nine tracks of Paul in peak condition. Some commentators have suggested that prior to this, Paul's reputation was already looking shaky. Legendary NME writer Charles Shaar Murray suggested that Paul was the Beatles least likely to re-establish his credibility (after Ringo!). I don't know, I'm certainly no psychologist or anything, but I think that part of the Beatles' incredible fertility of ideas was a product of intense sense of competition between Paul and John. I wonder if this album is so good because that rivalry reared its head a little. I might be wrong, I don't know.

But it is an absolute barnstormer. There are no duff songs at all and there are hooks galore. Besides Kool and the Gang and maybe Stevie Wonder, nothing in 1973 was as much fun to listen to. Listen to Jet: with the reggae guitar line it could easily have slipped into cod-reggae (a tendency that scuppered at least two other huge albums in 1973*) but it doesn't - it keeps the rhythm interesting, just as it should. When the main riff kicks in - a synth-horn blast - it's impossible not to get swept away. Or perhaps the album close: Nineteen Hundred and Eighty Nine. It's jaunty piano line, the supporting swish of synths (there's probably a better word), the endless vamping at the end - what an upbeat close!

It's worth closing by returning to Charles Shaar Murray. Having doubted Paul's credibility he concludes that 'Band on the Run is a great album. If anyone ever puts down McCartney in your presence, bust him in the snoot and play him this. He will thank you afterwards.' Can't argue too much with that...


* Elton's Goodbye Yellow Brick Road and Zeppelin's Houses of the Holy both attempt and fail to include reggae. The latter also attempts funk - the execrable Crunge, which is easily the worst thing in the world ever.

Stevie Wonder - Innervisions

In 1950 Alan Turing suggested the Turing Test as a way of determining whether something was a person. He could have saved himself some time and simply said we should pop on Innervisions, by Stevie Wonder, and if it has a reaction it's a person. (I am aware that I am also suggesting that if someone does not have a reaction that they might not be a person. I'm OK with this...)

I guess that that is a little unfair on Turing - he was a genius but not a time-traveller.

Anyway, the early 70s were a spectacular purple patch for Stevie. 1972 was incredible - he released two incredible albums, Music of My Mind and Talking Book which has the eternally danceable Superstition on it. Both of them are great. He also produced the first album by Syreeta, his then wife, which is also awesome. I suppose 1973 was a quiet year - he only released one record. But what a record!

Innervisions is flat out incredible. While it doesn't have anything as unspeakably kinetic as Superstition, it is nine tracks of the smartest, funkiest, coolest, deepest, wokest (yes, I did just use that word) music that anyone could hear in 1973. Stevie was always one of the hardest working and most disciplined in the Motown-universe and on this album, much like his magnum opus, Songs in the Key of Life (1976), he brings everything to bear. It is a celebration of all things Stevie. I love it so much!


And also...

A few albums would have made this list, but they've been talked about elsewhere too recently. Roxy Music's Stranded, Al Green's Call Me, David Bowie's Aladdin Sane, Bill Wither's Live at Carnegie Hall, Dr. John's In the Right Place and Lou Reed's Berlin all might have gotten a mention had it not for this rule.

For the same reason, but in reverse, Steely Dan (Countdown to Ecstasy) and Millie Jackson (It Hurts So Good) are being held off until next year.

Other albums that came close but didn't quite make it included: Gary Higgins' Red Hash, Herbie Hancock's Head Hunters, The Isley Brothers' 3+3, ZZ Top's Tres Hombres and Elton John's Goodbye Yellow Brick Road.

If you really want to see the whole list in order, click here.

10 Lyricists I Admire

I'm going to keep this brief. It's a long standing point of discussion amongst my friends and I as to the value or prominence of lyrics. It keeps coming up in part, I think, because I find it so interesting. I am mostly indifferent to lyrics. Of the things that stand out when listening to a record; lyrics are typically very low on the list.

I wonder if what we are seeing here is something that is distinctive about my brain and contrasting to the brains of my friends. I have a brain that does not register lyrics as prominently as my friends, who have 'opposite' sorts of brains.

Nonetheless, there are songwriters whose lyrics do register. Below is a list of 10 songwriters who I typically hold to write lyrics worth me making the effort to think about. Or, to put it another way, here are lyricists who have broken through my obliviousness, and whose words have arrested me in some fashion.

In no particular order:


Bob Dylan

Let's get this one out of the way first because it is so obvious. I disagree with those who say that there is nothing much to enjoy beyond the lyrics with Dylan. I'll confess (or carelessly proclaim) that I enjoy listening to many Dylan records without the faintest clue what the words might be. As a songwriter he is excellent and, while lyrics may be part of that puzzle, they necessarily include rhythm, melody, textures, the way that the sounds of the words correlate with the music, and so on. And Dylan is really good at this. For me, at least, I enjoy listening to Dylan without lyrics.

But, when I do register Dylan's lyrics (and with a reputation like his, how could I not?) I know that I am listening to something interesting. As a task, it is most straightforward in the earlier 'protest' songs, Blowing in the Wind, Masters of War, With God on our Side, but even when we get the more personal songs that follow, it is plain that Dylan uses lyrics in a way that very few come close to. And that carries even when the meaning of his lyrics become opaque, as, for me, they sometimes do - they remain interesting and stimulating to listen to. They rarely feel forced or artificial or plastic. If you want to put in the time, you will rewarded at least on some level.

It's worth noting that what I have said about Dylan carries to some degree to everyone else on this list. Especially the only possible rival to Dylan's reputation...


Leonard Cohen

Another confession: I think I prefer Leonard Cohen to Dylan. That is not intended as a slight, I just really love the tone and aesthetic that Cohen conjures, especially on those first half dozen LPs. (All the same, for those who care, the songwriting crown is still Dylan's - his sheer volume, range, consistency, influence, is sufficient to secure it for him.)

Cohen, even more than Dylan, is a poet who happens to write songs. The palette is much more the personal. I find Cohen to be more direct than Dylan but there remains a sense, for me, that there are strata that I am not getting or perhaps even looking for - that there are depths of meaning and interpretation that are religious in importance. Cohen's lyrics often feel like scripture to me.





Gil Scott-Heron

Here is another poet so perhaps it is unsurprising that Gil Scott-Heron's lyrics are worthwhile. One thing to note: unless you are listening to his overtly poetic material (principally his first LP, Small Talk at 125th and Lenox) - Scott-Heron's albums are really easy to listen to without thinking about lyrics at all - the music is cool and loose. But if you start listening to the lyrics, they moves effortlessly from the political (he was massively influenced by Proto-Hip Hop pioneers, The Last Prophets) to the personal - including his own, deeply dysfunctional life. Check out: Pieces of a Man (from the album with the same title), The Bottle, or Johannesburg.


Judee Sill

This is probably the most obscure person on the list. I am sad about this, as her albums are amongst the most beautiful in my whole collection. Briefly, Sill was on the edge of the Californian Folk Rock scene of the early 70s - first signed to the Geffen label. She had had a run of bad luck and bad decisions that led her prison and addiction. Ultimately it was the latter that took her from us, but not before releasing two of the most gorgeous albums from that scene. Her records bring together the sacred and profane like no other. I'm not going to say any more - I'll just type out the lyrics to her song The Kiss. It is both deeply religious and yet sensual and physical.

Love rising from the mists,
Promise me this and only this,
Holy breath touching me, like a wind song
Sweet communion of a kiss

Sun sifting through the grey
Enter in, reach me with a ray
Silently swooping down, just to show me
How to give my heart away

Once a crystal choir
Appeared while I was sleeping
And called my name
And when they came down nearer
Saying, dying is done,
Then a new song was sung
Until somewhere we breathed as one
And still I hear their whisper

Stars bursting in the sky
Hear the sad nova's dying cry
Shimmering memory, come and hold me
While you show me how to fly

Sun sifting through the grey
Enter in, reach me with a ray
Silently swooping down, just to show me
How to give my heart away

Lately sparkling hosts
Come fill my dreams, descending
On fiery beams
I've seen 'em come clear down
Where our poor bodies lay,
Soothe us gently and say,
Gonna wipe all your tears away
And still I hear their whisper?

Love, rising from the mists
Promise me this and only this,
Holy breath touching me, like a wind song
Sweet communion of a kissElvis Costello

Elvis Costello is the only Briton on this list. What's that about? I guess, though, he is so well-school in American song-writing that perhaps it doesn't matter...

I bought King of America when I was about 15. It is very well-regarded but it was never one of his classics. Either way, I was immediately struck by it, despite it being very different to my typical listening habits. It was far more literate and grown-up. While it was obviously clever, it was neither preachy or seemingly like the cleverness was the point - I didn't feel like I was supposed to go away thinking ooh... that Elvis Costello, he's clever, isn't he? He just enabled me to see the world in different ways - whether the song was personal like I'll Wear It Proudly, or political like Little Palaces or just telling a story like Glitter Gulch.

Obviously, I have since bought most of his other records and the consistently striking thing is that here is a dude that can write a song.


Will Oldham (a.k.a. Bonnie 'Prince' Billy)

Anyone that knows me will be waiting for this one, I guess. Another story-teller who inhabits so fully the characters that he writes and sings about that it is often hard to disentangle the singer from the song. Oldham becomes these losers, Lotharios, back woodsmen and adventurers so completely that it is sort of disappointing when you realise that he is none of them.

And yet, there are insights that he brings. Perhaps my favourite song of all time is his: I See a Darkness. It encapsulates the virtues of friendship, especially in the face of loneliness and emptiness. The only thing that can get us through the darkness of life is the connection we feel to our friends and those we hold close. Here it is:

Well, you're my friend

And can you see
Many times we've been out drinking
Many times we've shared our thoughts
But did you ever, ever notice
The kind of thoughts I got?
Well, you know I have a love
A love for everyone I know
And you know I have a drive
To live, I won't let go
But can you see this opposition
Comes rising up sometimes?
That it's dreadful imposition
Comes blacking in my mind

And then I see a darkness
And then I see a darkness
And then I see a darkness
And then I see a darkness
Did you know how much I love you?
Is a hope that somehow you
Can save me from this darkness

Well, I hope that someday, buddy
We have peace in our lives
Together or apart
Alone or with our wives
And we can stop our whoring
And pull the smiles inside
And light it up forever
And never go to sleep
My best unbeaten brother
This isn't all I see

Oh no, I see a darkness
Oh no, I see a darkness
Oh no, I see a darkness
Oh no, I see a darkness
Did you know how much I love you?
Is a hope that somehow you
Can save me from this darkness

Other songs tell different stories. Songs of betrayal, love, loss, victory, purpose and purposelessness. I never get tired of Oldham's songs.


Bobbie Gentry
                                                         
Hardly any songwriter that I can think of is as effective at evoking a mise-en-scene within a song as Bobbie Gentry - and that is within country music, which is typically evocative. Perhaps one of the reasons is that she sings about the world that she grew up in and she speaks the language of the world that she is conveying. This carries when she is offering a slice of life song such as Chickasaw County Child or Papa, Won't You Let Me Go To Town With You which sound so authentic that you can almost feel the dust and dirt beneath your nails. But it carries just as well when she turns to personal matters. In I Saw An Angel Die Gentry captures both flush of love and the tragedy of it's decay in so few words. I value economy and directness in my lyrics. (This is why Sad-Eyed Lady of the Lowlands will always remain opaque to me.)


Ghostface Killah

You'd think that Hip Hop might figure higher on this list. After all, I like Hip Hop and it is densely lyrical. Some of my friends have expressed incredulity that I could like Hip Hop and yet be indifferent to the lyrics. I get it.

However, in the most part it is that very denseness that scuppers it. That and the fact that there is often limited returns. But where the general consensus agrees that the rapper has something to say; they are often too obscure in their references and metaphors for me to catch the meaning; that, and, it's often just too fast to keep hold of in my mind. By the time I have caught one thought, the rapper is already deep into the next - and so on.

This is certainly the case with Ghostface. He is not known for going slowly so the thick kid (me) can keep up. On the contrary, his tracks are a juggernaut. But, unlike most rappers, I will often try to hang on even if I only catch bits and pieces. This is because he tells such wild and engaging stories. When I listen in and catch a phrase or something, it sounds like the best movie I never saw. I always want to catch more, and more.

I rarely do, of course.

Smokey Robinson

Smokey has the toughest gig of all the people listed here, since he is constrained more than any by the limitations of the early 1960s music business - two and a half minutes, easily identifiable and repeatable. It's hard to pack that much into such a song. This is one of the reasons why so many pop lyrics devolve into pap. But Smokey manages to work within those limitations and yet to bring something special. Look at some of his classics - and they are classics; My Guy, My Girl, Shop Around, The Tracks of my Tears, The Tears of A Clown, Ain't That Peculiar and so on. His lyrics squeeze a lot of meaning into very few words. He is easily the most economical of everyone here.





Paul Simon

I'll brook no argument here: Paul Simon is the third person in the Holy Trinity of Blessed Lyricists (along with Dylan and Cohen). From his days backpacking up and down the UK, bumming at empty train stations in the early 1960s to the present day, his songwriting is exemplary. His words are playful and thoughtful; naive and childlike, and yet grown up and reflective. It is arguable that he has written more contemporary mainstream classics than anyone on this list, including Dylan.

I think that the thing that marks Simon out is the crispness of phrasing. Some of his songs slip out of meter and become almost conversational, and yet to hold to the rhythm and the purpose of the song.

I'm listening to his 2011 album So Beautiful or So What? It rivals Dylan's Time Out of Mind as the perfect album about getting old. And yet, it is still innovative in a way that Dylan hasn't been since the late 90s. Simon's most recent album, Stranger to Stranger from 2016 was inspired, in part, by Harry Partch's 43 tones in an octave. And again, it is awesome.

The dude is a genius.



Also rans: Lloyd Cole, Bill Withers, Chuck D, Laura Nyro, Michael Gira, Townes Van Zandt, Tom Rapp, Mickey Newbury, Randy Newman, Tom Waits, Morrissey

Also - it has not escaped my notice that the Holy Trinity of Blessed Lyricists are all Jewish. What are you gonna do? It is what it is.

10 of My Favourite Hip Hop Albums

OK, let's admit this - this is not a list of stone-cold classics. Some are, for sure. But some, even I will admit that they are not the best. This is a list that may, if push came to shove, be my 10 Hip Hop Desert Island Disks. But as you'll see from the runner-up list at the end, I wouldn't be happy restricting myself so...

In no particular order....

Kanye West - My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy (2010)

Let's get this out of the way up front. So far as I am concerned Kanye is one of the greatest musical artists of the contemporary period full. stop. And I'll argue it all day and night if needs be. You can be troubled by him if you like - I am - but his first five solo albums (up to this one) are all great. While I would say that the records that have followed it have not maintained quite the same standard, I'd still say that they're good.

So anyway, this record is the culmination of Kanye's career thus far - it has the sweet soul samples, pop hooks, an expansive musical palette and a willingness to experiment and try new things. It is a record that never (or virtually never) gets boring. People often complain about Kanye's rapping, but honestly, I think he does fine here - he's often more interesting that his features. His mastery of tone is exceptional - especially in the field of hip hop. The recent news of his bipolar disorder is no surprise if you've spent time with this record - we have exultant joy and self-belief, melancholia and self-doubt - and musically, everything fits without feeling artificial or contrived. In short, I think that this record is phenomenal.

In short, if you still think that Kanye brings nothing to the party, the problem is yours; not Kanye's.

The Sindecut - Changing the Scenery (1990)

Let's do this one next - the one that NO-ONE has heard of. The music business is full of tragedies, and to me, this is a clear example. They were a London Hip Hop collective who were signed in the very late 80s in a wave of UK dance and Hip Hop artists, but with a sudden lurch back to popular guitar bands and a restructuring at Virgin, they were dropped just after having released this, their only LP.

In truth, they were awesome. Like the best of UK Hip Hop, it has its roots in the sound systems. Compared to the other stand-outs of the era - London's Soul II Soul and Bristol's Wild Bunch (Massive Attack), The Sindecut is far more high-energy and rough around the edges. Whether it is the RnB of Louise on Having and Slow Down, or the ultra-fast rapping of Living the Life or Braincell; or the Dancehall call-outs, Wisdom; the album bristles with energy. Listen closely, and you'll spot the rough edges but it sounds like a party. A really good party. I recommend cranking this up REAL LOUD and imagining that it's 1989 in a sweaty basement club in Camden or somewhere. (If this album ever sounds weak, it's when played quietly)

Wu-Tang Clan - Enter the 36 Chambers (1993)

OK, this is a stone-cold classic. I am sad to say that I came to Wu-Tang a little late (with Wu-Tang Forever), so I was already too late to hear this as the total game-changer that it was. By the time, I registered them, the world had already changed and the tricks developed by RZA were already commonplace. Part of the excitement of Wu-Tang is the murky sonic world they inhabit; the kung-fu clips, indecipherable lyrics, the sheer clannishness of them. RZA's production is mesmerising. It has these sparse samples that feel incomplete and yet the propel the music forward relentlessly. I am listening to Da Mystery of Chessboxing right now, and I am reminded of Space Invaders (the video game) - how the simple sounds create a sense of approaching menace.

In truth, I am struggling to say why I like this so much - I just do. Either way, there's no-one alive who hasn't listened to this a million times, yes? I'll shut up now...

Ghostface Killah - Fishscale (2006)

Wu-Tang Clan basically formed a cottage hip hop industry. Every member went off and released their own albums (of course, featuring Wu-Tang alumni). What marks them out, though, is that an awful lot of those albums are great. Sure, there are some dodgy Wu-Tang affiliate LPs, but there are also some monsters. For my money, the member with the best hit:miss ratio is Ghostface Killah. He has released several albums commonly regarded as very good or better and very few less than good. In addition, he is a master story teller, is perhaps the funniest clan member and has the best flow. Musically he tilts heavily into the soul-funk territory which suits me perfectly. (Hip Hop without a bit of soul music is an uphill slog for me.) Fishscale is just relentlessly good to me - almost every track is compelling, every beat great, and every guest appearance brings something to the party.

Scarface - Mr. Scarface is Back (1991)

Straight up gangsta shit.

In truth, I really don't care about violent lyrics. I watch violent movies, play violent video games (when I get the chance); it would be inconsistent of me to start getting cranky here. I love The Geto Boys, the group Scarface was in, and their high-points are awesome. (The Geto Boys' My Mind is Playing Tricks on Me is probably my favourite hip hop track ever). However, The Geto Boys have some serious low-points. Their misogyny is off the scale. Scarface, however, keeps the ridiculous ultra-violence and holds the excessive pimp-raps to a minimum. (One track - track 2 - easily skippable - also easily the weakest track on the album).

Once we hit track three, it's like all your favourite shitty action movies have come at once. Wall to wall heists, drug deals, double-crosses, revenge, insanity. So long as you don't take this seriously, it's mostly hilarious and weirdly invigorating. Musically, it sticks to the classic gangsta template; funk and soul samples a-go-go - what's not to love? And while there's no big name producers here, it's put together really nicely. And Scarface, there's a reason other rappers love him - he's good. He's rarely fancy, and a little like Guru, tends towards the monotone; but here are 12 tracks, no guest spots, all just Scarface, and it never gets dull.

Gang Starr - Step in the Arena (1991)

Gang Starr are probably the purest outfit here, in terms of classic hip hop tradition - one rapper, one dude with a turntable. The eighties produced a load of classic outfits with that make-up. Boogie Down Productions, Eric B & Rakim, Pete Rock and CL Smooth for starters. All of those mentioned are well respected, but none of them had careers that stretched as long as Gang Starr. Of course, there are plenty of reasons for why that might have been (the tragic death of Scott La Rock, for one). However, I suspect that one reason might be that, with Gang Starr, you have two of the very very very best at what they do. DJ Premier is rightly regarded as one of the finest on the turntable. His beats are pristine - super-economical, nothing extraneous or distracting. In addition, he draws from nothing but the finest soul-funk-jazz samples. Guru is basically a great old school rapper. He is a little monotone, but his rhymes and flow are impeccable. Again, a great listening experience that never gets tired.

It is possible that someone might prefer the next few albums to this one. This, their second album, marks where they found their sound. It is also the first album that I heard of theirs. They had a run of classic albums throughout the 90s - all are worth listening to.

Tribe Called Quest - People's Instinctive Travels and Paths of Rhythm (1990)

A more genuine hip hop fan would have picked either of the two follow-up albums to this, The Low End Theory or Midnight Marauders, which are both excellent. But for me, I plumped for this one - most likely exactly because it is the least purist of the three. I do not think that this album has any pretension for being a great example of hip hop; instead I think that it only has one aspiration - I think that it is Devoted to the Art of Moving Butts. It is as much about being young, finding yourself, misadventure, love and loss, good food and having a good time. I think that it is a party album, a club album. It is easiest the most danceable album on this list. It also stands up as one of the best nearly 30 years later. It won't have escaped your notice that six of these ten were released between 1988-1993. As much as I love them all, some of them do sound like they've been around over a generation. They sound old school. Of course, there are elements that date this album, but I don't believe that there is anything detrimental here. I think it still sounds fresh and as much fun as it did in 1990.

MF Doom/Viktor Vaughn - Vaudeville Villain (2003)

If the Wu-Tang Clan are indecipherable, what does that make MF Doom? I love the sound of his rhymes; they are fun and inventive, complex where they need to be, and direct otherwise. But as to what he is rapping about - I haven't a clue. I believe that some people know, but I am not those people. He is as inventive with his beats as he is with his lyrics. Again, I am not sure how much I understand them, but they are very enjoyable to listen to. I haven't heard an MF Doom album (Doom operates under a number of aliases - Viktor Vaughn is one, King Geedorah is another) I haven't enjoyed a great deal. But this one makes me smile the most. Whether he is rapping about Star Trek (at least some of the lyrics in A Dead Mouse), failed relationships (Let Me Watch - a tragic and depressing mini-play) or simply pretending to be terrible in an open-mic night, it's just a fun listen.

Mr. Lif - I, Phantom (2002)

Mr. Lif, on the DefJux label, is unquestionably a conscious rapper (as opposed to what exactly...?) , by which I mean that his records are intent on saying something (ultimately positive). That said, me being me, I have very little idea what that something is. I know that some of it is about the empty drudge of the working life because it has an amusing track about fantasising about killing your boss. Otherwise, you know, stuff. All I can say is that it's a lot of fun to listen to. A lot of the beats are provided by El-P and Edan - both of whom I really like. Do have to care about the 'stuff' to enjoy a CD? No, I didn't think so - it's 47 minutes well spent.

Public Enemy - It Takes a Nation of Millions (1988)

I said at the outset that there were not that many stone-cold classics in this list. That is true, but this is definitely one such case. I'm really not that sure what I can say that hasn't already been said a million times. It's exhilarating, fun, enlightening, marks a maturation of hip hop (both musically and lyrically), a one record revival of James Brown's house band - The JBs. It's good from start to end. What else to say? It's so good that even Flava Flav can't fuck it up.

Others: Jay-Z's American Gangster is a favourite as is the Black Album. Any of Kanye's other records prior to MDBTF could have made a list. Mos Def's Black on Both Sides is amazing as is his album with Talib Kweli, Black Star. Of course, pretty much anything by Kendrick Lamar would deserve a place here. There are several other Wu-Tang related records I love. I really like Eden's Beauty and the Beats as well as El-P's I'll Sleep When I'm Dead. Speaking of El-P, Run the Jewels are awesome as is Killer Mike's R.A.P. Music. That Fugees album is pretty awesome too... Oh, I quite like Lupe Fiasco's Food and Liquor and The Cool too....

10 Favourite Sitcoms

I think that my favourite television format is the half-hour sitcom. There are plenty of examples of other shows that I think are amazing, but I always return to the sitcom for comfort. I love looking back at old sitcoms that I missed or were before my time. I love checking out the new crops of shows as they appear each year.

It is indeed that time. Watching new shows makes me think about shows that I already love and in the spirit of this blog I thought a list of my 10 favourite sitcoms would be a nice diversion.

As ever, in no particular order:

The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin (1976-1979)

This is perfect 70s satire. It begins with what was billed as the perfect life - Reggie, married to his adoring wife, lives in a lovely suburb, his children all grown up. He goes to his nice upper-middle management job and looks forward to a comfortable retirement. Except, no. The show, in its first season (I'll adopt the American lingo), demonstrates the emptiness of such a life - showing the hidden fears and anxieties that are obscured by such an existence. The second season adopts even bigger targets; capitalism, consumerism, value. And the third, the idea of fulfilment itself. In all, Perrin, perfectly played by Leonard Rossiter, attempts to dismiss these ideals only to fail upwards.

It is absurd, stupid and incredibly clever. In truth, it's probably the 'cleverest' show on the list.

The Office (US) (2004-2013)

No disrespect meant to Ricky Gervais' original, which I think is very good, but I just don't find it nearly so satisfying as the US remark. Ignore the very dodgy first season - it is plain that they can't quite find their way from under the original's shadow. Early in the second season they find it; they abandon the devastating cynicism of Gervais, and allow the characters room to breathe and grow and crucially, tell jokes. The US remake is much much funnier than the original.

It is also warmer. While it never quite lets go of the cringey qualities that characterise its origins, it is also unafraid of letting us unironically love Michael Scott (Steve Carell) and see the human side of Dwight and even learn to love the mundanity and the emotional vacuum that is the office itself. Even after Carell goes, and the show does dip a little in quality, it nonetheless maintains enough heart and jokes to not outstay its welcome until its 9th season.

Black Books (2000-2004)

A tiny, small and stupid show about an alcoholic bookshop owner (Dylan Moran), his hapless employee (Bill Bailey) and neighbour (Tamsin Greig). Very little happens over three short seasons. The three leads get drunk a lot, do stupid stuff, fall out a bit. And yet, it makes me laugh a lot.

An awful lot relies upon the cruelty and haphazardness of Bernard Black (Moran). He is another character (this list features a few of these) that is somehow sympathetic despite being quite unpleasant.

The Mary Tyler Moore Show (1970-1977)

This is a new addition to the list and time will tell whether it stays a firm favourite or not. But right now I am coming towards the end of the sixth season and am enjoying it a great deal. So we'll see...

It concerns Mary Richards (Moore), a newly single thirty something who comes to Minneapolis and stumbles into a job as a TV producer. The show revolves around her private life, in particular her friendship with Rhoda Morgenstein (Valerie Harper), and her developing career with her boss, Lou Grant (Ed Asner).

This show appeals, I think, because its general sense of warmth. No characters are totally cynical (apart from possibly Betty White's Sue Ann Nivens) - everyone, even hapless newscaster, Ted Baxter (Ted Knight), tries their best. What the show does best is show the ever growing and evolving relationships within the cast. I could say a lot more and perhaps will again elsewhere*, but in the final assessment, The MTM Show is just a world that feels good to live in, and sometimes that is exactly what you want.

Malcolm in the Middle (2000-2006)

Perhaps I’m wrong, but I never felt that Malcolm in the Middle got the acclaim it deserves. Despite running for seven seasons, I get the feeling that it is steadily fading away in our collective cultural memories (unlike other sitcoms that seem to maintain a very healthy afterlife - Friends, obviously, but also the wildly inferior Scrubs, HIMYM and others). I’m genuinely not sure why. Even though it did lag towards the end of its run - they ran out of ideas for Frances, for instance - it remained consistently funny and inventive. It also boasted a pretty impressive adult cast: most obviously Bryan Cranston, but also Jane Kaczmarek and the eternal Cloris Leachman.

Perhaps the reason it is fading from view is that it was not iconic (as say, Cosby or Roseanne). I think another reason is that it is a member of slightly derided class of sitcoms, the family sitcom. All the sitcoms that have sustained acclaim have typically featured predominantly folk in the 20s. This is a shame as there are some great family sitcoms. Anyway, MITM captures the anarchic rivalries of brotherhood and the stresses and strains of parenthood, as well as the underlying love and loyalty that is often obscured. A great show.

Father Ted (1995-1998)

A more unenthralling premise could not be pitched: three failed priests exiled to a remote island off the coast of Ireland. Yet perfectly pitched performances from the three leads, especially the late Dermot Morgan, along with awesome scripts from Graham Linehan (also Black Books!) and Arthur Matthews. The gradual expansion of the central characters to include locals, priests and more priests kept the ideas fresh and developing. I also enjoy that it has a good dollop of being clever ('that would be an ecumenical matter') but it never gets in the way of rank stupidity (the tunnel of goats!).

Cheers (1982-1993)

I am not sure that I need say very much here. Cheers marks the total arrival of the modern sitcom and as such it has it all. It has warmth (we really learn to care for Sam, and who didn't feel sad when Coach passed away), cynicism (Carla's barbs), cleverness (we meet Frasier and Lillith), stupidity (Woody) and good old fashioned romance (Sam and Diane). Cheers, of course, defined the on-again-off-again relationship. 

I'd concede that the format begins to get weary once we hit the Kirsty Alley era, but even then, it remains funny and there is plenty of growth for the more peripheral characters. It's a classic for a reason.

The Good Life (1975-1978)

Part of the pleasure of The Good Life is the warmth and the downright pleasantness of the show. Everyone is nice and it is just nice to be part of the gentle, indeed, genial world that is shown. All sorts of things are nice, of course, but that doesn't make it a great sitcom. Funny lines and great performances do that, and it is harder to imagine a better comic team than the cast. All four leads are giants in the field of comic acting and all four have made the marks in more than one classic sitcom (Briers - Ever Decreasing Circles; Eddington - Yes, (Prime) Minister; Keith - To The Manor Born; Kendall - Carla Lane's Solo).

Married.. With Children (1986-1997)

OK, let's be honest. While it lasted 11 seasons in total, only the first few were really very good. After a while, it increasingly became a pastiche of itself, recycling the same tired jokes. But for a while, at least four seasons, it offered the exact opposite of what most sitcoms had been up to that time - specifically, it was the anti-family sitcom. Here were four people who hated each other - it was unfortunate that they also happened to be family.

What drove it and made it so good were the leads of Ed O'Neil and Katey Sagal as Al and Peggy Bundy. O'Neil, in particular, pours so much pathos into the dismal, relentlessly empty existence of Al Bundy, shoe salesman. The show predates and offers direct inspiration to so many shows that ultimately followed (including a few on this list): The Simpsons, Roseanne, Seinfeld, Malcolm, It's Only Sunny in Philadelphia. It was the first sitcom to revel in the gallows humour of the socially and economically desperate.

Seinfeld (1989-1998)

Again, like Cheers, what is there to say? For me (and others, I think), it is a show that one learns to love. The first episode I watched I recall thinking that it was OK; the second, pretty good; third, no - good!; and after a few more, I'd decided that it was comic gold. Here, I think that it is the writing that takes centre stage - it is SO sharp, so perfectly framed, even when read aloud, it's hilarious. The performances of the leads (perhaps excluding Jerry) are genius. And again, the ever-increasing cast of peripheral characters steadily create a world that one can immerse oneself in. And no show has done so much to add to the quotia of catch-phrases that have entered my world. I'll never grow tired of this show.

And so, there we have it...

Two final things!

1) I do not claim that these are the BEST sitcoms, only that they are my favourites.

2) I could have called about another 10-15 shows my favourites and had I compiled this list on another day, it might well have included some of those and not these. Just in case you are wondering, these were:

• Curb Your Enthusiasm
• Black-ish
• Spaced
• Blackadder
• 30 Rock
• Parks and Rec
• Frasier
• Community
• Porridge
• Rising Damp
• M*A*S*H
• Phoenix Nights
• The Good Place
• Fawlty Towers
• Yes, Minister

* This was not the blog post I intended to write. I intended to write about sitcoms I found interesting for one reason or another and MTM was on that list. Anyway, I got sidetracked by this post so maybe I'll write the other one on another occasion.

10 Tracks That I Wish Were Available on CD

I buy CDs - lots of them. I have a large collection. Maybe I am compensating. Anyway, there are a bunch of tracks that I wish I could add to that collection. Some of them are available on vinyl but, as you know, vinyl is no good to me.

Anyway, to sum up, half of this list is old stuff that never got a CD release, the other half is RnB/Hip Hop releases that came out as mixtapes.

I carry on hoping and wishing....

As ever, in no particular order.

Leather Nun - Slow Death (Live)

I won a vinyl copy of this on the legendary Roger Hill's BBC Merseyside show in the 1980s and it immediately blew my mind. Side one comprised the original Slow Death EP - a jarring mix of hissing industrial music and the most abrasive, broken punk music. Side two held a live version of Slow Death with the band accompanied by Genesis P. Orridge and Monte Cazzara. This version stripped out the industrial hissings and brought something almost Sabbath-y to the mix. As ever 15 minutes of a dude muttering about dying over music that sounds like slowly moving slurry is irresistible. It has never been released on CD. Recently, Jonas Almquist has finally re-released a lot of old Leather Nun recordings on vinyl - perhaps he'll do a CD comp at some point...

In the video, it cuts in about 3 and a half minutes into the song... but all the sludgy nihilism is still there!

Bonnie Prince Billy - Bertrand My Son

I could fill this list with Will Oldham (Bonnie Prince Billy) releases. He is always releasing odd songs on vinyl that never see the light of day on CD. I have about half a dozen of these singles. Amongst them is a split 7" devoted to the songs of Larry Jon Wilson, who had recently passed. Oldham did a lovely cover of Wilson's tribute to his son, Bertrand, which is itself one of the most gorgeous songs about parenthood. Oldham plays it straight and it is, too, lovely.

Incidentally, I was tempted to pop Wilson's own albums on this list although strictly speaking they are available on CD, if you are willing to drop a crazy sum.

I could not find a youtube link of Oldham's cover, so here is the original...

Chance the Rapper - Coloring Book

This dude is on his third album, but thus far none have had an official physical release. Not, I add, because there is insufficient business to be made. Chance has made a name for himself guesting with Kanye, Beyonce, Kendrick, and is regarded very highly. No, he has not released them simply because he hasn't wanted to.

And they are amazing. Coloring Book is his most realised album to date drawing in Hip Hop, RnB, Gospel alongside an incredible list of collaborations. The whole album is awesome but here's one track...

Spectral Display - Spectral Display LP

A Dutch electronic music project funded by EMI, led by Michel Mulders and Henri Overduin, Spectral Display have been more or less unjustly forgotten. I came across them via MIA's third album, where she covered It Takes a Muscle. It is an odd but compelling track. A sad slightly haunting earworm with a soft, plastic reggae beat. It is awkwardly sung, and yet the coming together of the various parts is lovely. The album is a 50/50 affair - a few tracks come close to Muscle, others less so. Either way, it is a tragedy that it has never been released on CD - currently it is only available on vintage vinyl or download.

Princess Nokia (Destiny Frasqueri) - Orange Blossom

Princess Nokia finally released her 1992 Deluxe debut on Rough Trade last year but she'd been releasing bits and pieces as mix-tapes for a long while. These are pretty ragged releases in all, but even though some tracks are little more than her singing over old records (or the Soul Train theme tune in one case), they are fun and deeply appealing. They also reveal an artist that is pretty determined to make her career under her own terms, refusing to fit in comfortably with any preconceived notion of what she should be like. Orange Blossom from her Honeysuckle mixtape, billed under her own name, is a perfect summer tune - warm, lazy, blissed out. Some people have made noise about her similarities with Kali Uchis (see below); James hears it, James don't care...

Kanye West - The Life of Pablo

Kanye, Oh Kanye.... (Now just Ye, of course). I feel like my appreciation of Kanye's music is pretty well documented at this point. He might have moments of profound idiocy, which may stretch the patience of even his most adoring fans - his recent proclamations re: Trump and slavery are cases in point, but his musical chops are unarguable. Either way, he is annoyingly obstinate at times and this is one of those times. Feeling a little harangued, I think, about the finalising of The Life of Pablo, his seventh solo album, he kept wanting to tinker with it. There was also something about who was going to release it, Tidal or whatnot...Anyway, I am not sure quite what happened but he decided - and has apparently stuck with it - that this album would never be released on CD. Frankly, it is not his best - but even Kanye on an off day is more interesting than most artists on a good. And whilst, as an album it is a little uneven, the highs are incredible: the gospel inflected opener Ultralight Beam (featuring Chance the Rapper), the Sister Nancy/Nina Simone sampling Famous, the Kendrick Lamar collaboration, sampling Junie's magnificent Suzie Thunderpussy - No More Parties in LA. Those three tracks alone are enough for me to want a CD release NOW!

Indians in Moscow - Indians in Moscow

Indians in Moscow were a short-lived synth-pop band from Hull. They broke-up just before they gained some proper recognition with an opening slot on The Tube. They were most well known for two properly stupid songs, Naughty Miranda and Jack Pelter and his Sex-Change Chicken. They are stupid, but charming and slightly deranged. On the album that was posthumously released, they display a richer range of styles and reveal themselves a band that, had they taken a deep breathe, resisted their stupider urges, and most importantly, not broken up, had a properly interesting career. The album, incidentally, was reissued on Russian label, Other Voices a few years ago along with a bunch of extra tracks. It's worth a listen.

Missing from the release, however, is this eponymous track. It is moodier and heavier than the album. Again, I don't want to sell it as some kind of lost genius or anything, but I think it has some nice touches and suggests that they could have offered more. Despite its limitations I enjoy listening to this album now and then, and I really wish that this was on it....

Kali Uchis - Drunken Babble/Por Vida Mixtapes

I've been raving about Kali Uchis for months now and I don't think I have successfully converted anyone. No mind - I think she's awesome. Part of the reason that I feel this way is the story that precedes her. Childhood musical chops gave way to rebellion and getting kicked out of home. She sorted herself out and recorded a bunch of stuff in her bedroom. This is what became the mixtape Drunken Babble. Predictably it is rough but it leaves no doubt that she is anything less than talented. It straddles pop, RnB, hints at her Columbian heritage, and allows reggae influences to sneak in from time to time. This track, 'Never Be Yours' is a gem, riding an old Delegation sample perfectly and has become the summer jam in our household. Babble was followed by a slightly slicker, but no less charming, Por Vida in 2015. This year, at last, saw her debut album proper. Have I mentioned how much I love it?

Ganzheit - Brains To the Wall EP

This was another record I acquired via Roger Hill. I know nothing about them at all. Super independent label. As is often the way, the band don't really know who they are or what they want to be. Most obviously, they want to be an early industrial electronic band like Front 242 or Nitzer Ebb. But they also have more typical 80s indie elements, not out of place in C86 scene. There are also elements that remind me of some Siouxsie B-sides. Anyway, is it a mess? A little, but yet I find it compelling.

But it is the third and final track, Harmony, which takes a step away from the first two tracks and towards something quite different and makes it ache for proper recognition. It is almost African, but then again, not quite. A persistent tom rhythm with a repetitive percussive bass pattern, flute samples and a guitar sample that could have been lifted from the Bhundu Boys. Above the fray are samples, I assume, of singing, which again, to these ears, sound African. Such as it is, though, that I could be wrong about it all. If someone has better points of reference and wants to have a shot at describing it, please chip in.

Nightmares in Wax - The Birth of a Nation EP (and early Dead or Alive singles)

Sadly, Pete Burns is known primarily for one song. It is incredible and I hope that 'You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)' kept him in biscuits until his untimely passing in 2016. A few people may know one or two others - perhaps his first major chart hit, a cover of K.C. & The Sunshine Band's 'That's the Way (I Like It)'. What few people know is that hit represented the second phase of his pop career. There were five singles/EPs released between 1979 and 1982. I only know a couple of them - 'I'm Falling' was on a compilation 'The Indie Scene 1981' and 'The Stranger' appeared on the Sophisticated Boom-Boom reissue on Cherry Red. Both are fantastic. But neither of them compare to Nightmares in Wax who released only one EP, entitled The Birth of a Nation. Side A contained the magnificent 'Black Leather', while side B had 'Girl Song' and 'Shangri-La'.

In truth, like so many tracks here, they are pretty ragged. But they hiss and spit with life and energy and passion. I find them both thrilling and weirdly hilarious. I have the Birth of a Nation EP, but I would pay very good money for a decent compilation covering the whole period up to their signing with Epic.

Strictly speaking I cannot include Black Leather on this list as it was included on the awesome Revolutionary Spirit box-set, but check out any others...

10 Thoughts About Vinyl Records

The vinyl revolution is so well established that it is almost old hat. Even Sainsburys sells vinyl. I sold all my vinyl about 20 years ago and made the leap to CDs. Since then I have bought a lot more CDs - a lot. So I have some thoughts about this vinyl resurgence...


Vinyl is pretty

No question. It really is. The thrill of opening up a nice gatefold, especially if new with that new smell, is indescribable. A well presented 12" is a piece of art.


Vinyl has old school cache value

There are associations to records that you just don't get with CDs, or even other formats - now mostly obsolete. Picturing someone with a bunch of records under the arm is just innately cooler than picturing them with a clutch of CDs.

And then there is the theatre of selecting the record...


There is a large stock of cheap old vinyl

People have begun to twig onto this (I saw one guy on Facebook trying to sell his grandmother's James Last records for a tenner!) but there are a lot of old records, still in decent condition, kicking around for very little money. If you don't care about buying new, vinyl is a fast way to get a decent collection on the cheap.


Vinyl may sound better than CDs (See below)

I cast doubt on this below, but certainly back in the 80s, vinyl sounded clearly better than CDs, which sounded thin and unconvincing. People suggest that there is a greater warmth to vinyl. Maybe...


However,


Vinyl is big

Records take up a lot of space. In terms of length and breadth, you can get four CDs in the space you can a record.


Vinyl is bulky

Moving house with my collection is a nightmare. The CDs take about 30 banana-boxes, which thankfully stack quite well. Vinyl is much heavier. I don't know how many boxes I would need, but I am confident in saying more, many more.


Vinyl is vulnerable

People made exaggerated claims about the invulnerability of CDs when they came out. You can fuck up a CD. However, not like you can fuck up a record. Back when I played records regularly, I remember ruining a few with the slightest errors of judgement. A house party was like a zombie apocalypse for records.


Vinyl is forcing record buyers to rebuy what they already have

OK, the record industry has been doing this for a while. How many CD editions are there of 'Kind of Blue' or 'Dark Side of the Moon'? But if you already have a decent edition of an album on CD, why buy it again on vinyl?


Vinyl typically offers the buyer a less good deal

A case in point. Numero recently produced an excellent compilation, Basement Beehives, charting obscure girl group records from the 60s. The vinyl edition was a double album with 28 tracks. The CD edition was cheaper and had all those 28 tracks, plus 28 more. Again, the Rhino vinyl reissue of 1968 compilation What is Soul? had the original 12 tracks. The CD edition, again cheaper, had an additional 14 tracks (all excellent, by the way, and making it my #1 recommendation for a single disk 60s soul compilation).


Vinyl is wildly over-priced.

Records are, if you are buying new, off-puttingly expensive. A ridiculous example: I was in Sainsburys. They had Chas and Dave's Gold, a shameless cash in on the sad death of Chas, on both vinyl and CD. The CD edition had three disks and cost £5. The vinyl edition was a single disk and was £18. That is a particularly egregious example, but look at record store day or any new crop of releases and ask yourself whether £18-£25 is a good price compared to the price of a CD.


Vinyl rarely, if ever, sounds better

All of this might be understandable if vinyl was clearly a better representation of the music. If you popped on a record and the music was richer, clearer, lovelier etc., then the fragility, cumbersomeness, and cost would be worth it. However, it doesn't - at least not in the majority of cases.

I said above that in the 80s vinyl did sound better and that is incontestable. However, CD technology has come on a LOT. Where they were thin sounding, they now - assuming a nice mastering job - sound rich, and so on. It is possible that records do still sound better but only under conditions out of reach for most record buyers. If you have a very good hifi and a very good set of speakers and perhaps a very good pair of ears, then maybe they sound better. But if you're playing on an average High Street stereo, I seriously doubt it