Bideodromage
The great vocalist/pianist/composer performs both solo and with his group Raspberries. The range and breadth of Mr. Carmen’s talent has really never been fully appreciated. And his voice is truly a thing of wonder.
Thaumaturge, wizard, vocalist/performer/showman supreme. Mr. Ian Anderson, and his idiosyncrasies.
Note: Revised 7/31/2019.
And:
The Dubliners and The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem and Shane MacGowan work their inimitable magic. Treasures abound. Don’t miss Brennan & Roche.
Special extra added bonus: a performance by the not-really-that-Irish Chad Mitchell Trio.
Mr. Warren Z, non-perfunctorily, does *not* mail it in. Ever. Talkin’ about The Man.
Kings of the 2-minute and under weight-division, the Ramones pack quite the copious wallop of mordant wit into their creations. And Joey Ramone leaves no doubt in these masterful performances as to his total command of the vocal art. Remarkably inventive, powerful, sublime.
The stunning talents of Jeff Lynne are here featured. Few are his peers. The braintrust of Electric Light Orchestra, Lynne composed, arranged, and produced nearly all of the band’s material, while also contributing lead vocals and multi-instrumentalism. A musical polymath, and an immensely gifted artist.
From one of the finest song-delivering groups of an era, here are more-than-a-few magical moments with the Bee Gees.
Mr. Glenn Tilbrook, longtime lead vocalist for Squeeze, is without doubt one of the foremost practitioners of his craft. There is little he can’t do, and beautifully. Then-member Paul Carrack, primarily a keyboardist, sang lead on the iconic Tempted, for some reason. He certainly did a creditable job, but it sure is a fine thing to hear Glenn take his rightful place at the microphone, for the two live versions presented above. Pulling Mussels, In Quintessance, and Is That Love all illustrate the band’s talents for creating clever, catchier-than-thou pop classics, and Tilbrook is precisely the man you’d want to sing them. Black Coffee in Bed stands as a mighty exemplar of Blue-Eyed soul, with Elvis Costello and Paul Young performing backup vocal duties. Good ol’ Jools Holland makes an appearance or two, here, to boot. A marvelous {and vastly underrated} band.
{Note: this post thoroughly revised, 8/10/2019}
{Revised: 7/6/2019}
“Bowing, and squawking, Running after tidbits; Bopping and squinting, Just like a nitwit…”
Mr. Elvis Costello: One of the very greatest, most idiosyncratic performers and composers. Of this, or any, century/epoch. We will not see his likes again.
A selection of some of the most wondrous moments in re: “Girl Group”-dom. We have: The Ronettes, Martha and the Vandellas, The Shirelles, The Royalettes, Betty Everett, Doris Troy, The Shangri-Las, Lesley Gore, and Ruby and the Romantics.
Bideodromage 