Bideodromage
The Scottish band Pilot emerged in 1974 with {arguably…} the greatest pop single ever recorded. Written by lead vocalist David Paton, and produced by Alan Parsons {with whom Paton and two other members were to later join forces}, “Magic” became a monster hit for the group. The first and last videos are live; the 2nd is lip-synched, to the studio version of the song, on which Parsons allegedly speeded up David’s vocal track a tad.
Three of the most important and enthralling creators in jazz.
The diminutive Williams constitutes one of the leading lights in the composer-ing of the last century.
Titans of the Indie music display their awesome gifts. Featuring Neutral Milk Hotel, The Shins, Beta Band, John Vanderslice, Luke Haines, The Mekons, and Black Rebel Motorcycle Club.
Addendum: Vandaveer, Richard Hawley, Iron and Wine, The Postal Service, Darden Smith, Cats on Fire, Hot Hot Heat, Gledhill, Western States Motels, Decemberists, and Robbers on High Street. And Mercury Rev. And Flaming Lips. And M. Ward.
Hailing from Sheffield, Pulp’s Jarvis Branson Cocker remains a titan and figurehead of the British music world. The “Erotic Coathanger”‘s quirky, enigmatic ways make him a source of immense curiosity to millions. Then, there are his hand-antics, the likes of which are unprecedented in the annals of such things.
The great Gordon Lightfoot, who is not only a legend in the music world, but {arguably} rates as the highest-ranked Canadian of all time, has written some of the most iconic and memorable songs ever. A mere sampling is here presented, including some criminally neglected gems.
Composer/Vocalist Townes Van Zandt is responsible for many poignant masterpieces; this represents merely a small-ish sampling. Loretta would be a prime example; though the lyrics are warm, a sense of melancholy nonetheless pervades the song. His “hit” Pancho and Lefty was covered by Willie Nelson/Merle Haggard, and wistfulness clearly prevails. The powerful Waitin’ Around to Die speaks for itself.
Tremendously influential, Van Zandt led a life that was quite troubled, being tormented not only by his bipolar condition, but by numerous addictions which eventually cost the great man his life. He contributed in ways difficult to fathom, however, to the musical landscape, and will not soon be forgotten.
A modest collection of brilliant live performances by Mr. David Bowie, with some studio tracks, plus a wondrous, pared-down demo thrown in for good measure. The constantly auto-reinventing, quasi-androgynous David Robert Jones pioneered his way through the music world, leaving the landscape forever altered—with new worlds and vistas previously undream’t of—in his wake.
Two mighty renditions of this Bounding classic.
The maestro of haunting, enigmatic songster-ing, Al Stewart not only achieved immortality via his Bounding {Glaswegian Method} exploits; some of the most indescribably poignant, mysterious works ever composed/performed are entirely his doing.
Stewart here performs the timeless, iconic Year of the Cat; the mighty Lord Grenville {perhaps his finest, most evocative composition…}; and Palace of Versailles, so difficult to ignore or forget.
Few are in the class, charisma-wise, of The Steven Patrick Morrissey. The mononymous one, co-founder of The Smiths, with guitarist Johnny Marr, ventured out on his own, diary in hand, to great fanfare in 1987. As it turns out, he did rather well.
To quote the great man: “I don’t recognise such terms as heterosexuality, homosexuality, bisexuality, and I think it’s important that there’s someone in pop music who’s like that. These words do great damage, they confuse people and they make people feel unhappy, so I want to do away with them.”
In a 1989 interview, he said that he was “always attracted to men and women who were never attracted to me” and thus he did not have “relationships at all”. In 2013, he released a statement that said, “Unfortunately, I am not homosexual. In technical fact, I am humasexual. I am attracted to humans. But, of course . . . not many.”
Bideodromage 