Bideodromage
Mr. Donovan Leitch, the Scottish singer/songwriter, was right in the thick of it during the heyday of The Beatles, Bob Dylan, and the like. And he penned and performed some of the most sublime, memorable compositions of that, or any era.
An introduction to some of the provocative musical goings-on way back in the 1980s. We have: The Vapors, Falco, Eddy Grant, Peter Schilling, Dead or Alive, Wang Chung, The Alarm, XTC, Lene Lovich, Pete Shelley, Echo and the Bunnymen, Paul Young, Bryan Adams, Human League, Simple Minds, Pet Shop Boys, Lloyd Cole, Fiction Factory, Psychedelic Furs, Orchestral Manoeuvers in the Dark, Dream Academy, Crowded House, Split Enz, Squeeze, Tears for Fears, and The Housemartins.
The great Jackie Wilson gives two electric performances of Higher and Higher, circa 1974. His mindboggling gifts are on full display throughout; it’s as if time/space were suspended.
We have here a modest collection of some of the most brilliant, gifted vocalists ever: Peggy Lee, Chris Connor, Anita O’Day, Lulu, Billie Eilish, and Dusty Springfield.
Addendum: also Marilyn McCoo, Irene Krall, and Dinah Washington. And Edith Piaf.
The extraordinary, powerful, and, upon its 1965 release, highly controversial composition Eve of Destruction is performed live by vocalist Barry McGuire on the Hullabaloo show. McGuire, after being introduced by Jerry Lewis, delivers an emotionally charged rendition that made ripples—more like tsunami—across the US.
Composer P.F. Sloan recalls a few fascinating and unlikely (as in, almost credulity-straining…yet not) details: during the studio recording session, “Barry was reading it for the first time off a piece of paper I had written the lyric on! Okay. McGuire’s record is released but ‘Eve’ is the B-side. Somewhere in the Great Midwest of America a DJ played the wrong side by mistake!”.
Banned and denounced as unpatriotic, Eve only became more and more popular, most likely benefiting from all the wild, incorrect accusations and censure. Its creator and performer were not so fortunate, however; Sloan: “It ruined Barry’s career as an artist and in a year I would be driven out of the music business too.”.
A number of further One {approx.} Hitters from the 1970s. I cannot emphasize enough that some artists represented herein are responsible for more than 1 “hit”, somewhere in the world. Right. So, we’ve got The Blues Image, Ocean, Norman Greenbaum, The Sanford-Townsend Band, Wild Cherry, Flash and the Pan, and Sniff ‘n’ The Tears, this time around. Enjoy.
A soupçon of personal favorites, from a decade rich in great material. In order, we have: Edison Lighthouse, Pilot, Lee Michaels, Zager and Evans, Daddy Dewdrop, The Fortunes, The Ides of March, King Harvest, Hurricane Smith, Clint Holmes, Jigsaw, Walter Egan, John Stewart, Looking Glass, Tee Set, and JD Souther.
A sampling of some of the titanic moments created by John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr. As far as rapid, intense, super-concentrated evolution goes, as well as profound alteration of the musical landscape, The Beatles have only John Coltrane and Beethoven as peers.
So. We’ve got Andy Devine, John Daker, Hap Palmer, Telly Savalas, Arthur Brown, Mrs. Miller, Industrial musicals, H. R. Pufnstuf {featuring Jack Wild}, Leona Anderson, Charles Bronson, and The Wombles {the creation of pop svengali Mike Batt}.
Addendum: Recently added are immortal performances by James Brown, Eric Violette {Free Credit Report commercial}, and two from Beat of the Traps {Song Poems}.
Added Addenda: The inclusion of Zwol, ME Pearl, Shatner, and the indomitable Bobby Conn. And, of course, Takeo Ischi. Erlend and Steinjo, yo, also.
All of which falls into/under the Certain Kinds of Things rubric.
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.
Bideodromage 