Day 3 on the trip and countdown to Christmas and the theme of famous people from history in songs continues. Today it is a song titled “Hudson” from the particularly magnificent Vampire Weekend. The lyrics are based on a poem that the band’s singer Ezra Koenig once wrote about seafarer Henry Hudson. The song was included on the band’s 2013 US number one album ‘Modern Vampires Of The City’.
Henry Hudson was in search of a North West Passage to Asia and on one such trip in 1611 he was cast adrift by his crew, along with his son and seven others. The crew mutinied as they did not want to proceed any further. Hudson and his party were never seen again. His legacy is that the Hudson Bay and Hudson River are named after him. Nothing much is known of his early years other than he was English and was born most likely somewhere between 1565 and 1570.
It is day two of the twelve days of Christmas famous people from history songs. Today it is Buddy Holly who is honoured in song. Weezer formed in Los Angeles in 1992 and are still going strong. Perhaps their best known song is “Buddy Holly”. It was on their self titled debut album from 1994 which is often referred to as the Blue Album. The single hit number 12 in the UK chart and number 2 in the US Alternative charts. The song also mentions Mary Tyler Moore the American Actress who died in January 2017 aged 80.
Buddy Holly was killed in a fatal air crash that also took the lives of Richie Valens and the Big Bopper on February 3rd 1959. Holly’s demise has featured in many songs, perhaps most notably in Don McLean’s 1972 classic “American Pie” which refers to that fateful day as “the day the music died”. The video for the Weezer song is set in Arnold’s Drive In from the 1970s American SitCom ‘Happy Days’. It was directed by Spike Jonze. The video was also one of the songs on the Windows 95 set up CD.
I thought I would resurrect my themed twelve days of Christmas posts for 2017. The theme for this year is songs about historical figures from many branches of life. First up is probably my favourite ever Bob Dylan song about Rubin Carter a.k.a. The Hurricane a middleweight boxer who was jailed for twenty years for a triple murder that he did not commit. He was born in New Jersey in 1937 and died in Toronto, Canada in 2014.
Carter was tried and convicted twice for the 1966 murders (in 1967 and 1976). The second of those was overturned in 1985 and Carter finally became a free man as a result. Dylan read Rubin’s book ‘The Sixteenth Round’ which lead to him writing (with Jacques Levy) and recording the epic (more than 8 minutes long) song “Hurricane”in 1975. It was the lead off track on the 1976 Dylan album ‘Desire’. “Hurricane” was released as a single in 1975 in edited form. It reached the US top 40, number 43 in the UK and made the top ten in Australia. For me when Dylan was angry he was stunning, especially on this song.
Strangely the December 8th show is not on the poster!
Amazingly this was the first time I had seen the Icicle Works. Led by Ian McNabb they have been around for nearly 40 years since forming in Liverpool in 1980. It is criminal that their chart success has been so limited. In the UK they only made it into the top 50 singles chart once. That was back in 1984 with “Love Is A Wonderful Colour” which reached number 15. The band release five studio albums between 1984 and 1990. Since 1993 McNabb has issued eleven albums. His second solo album, ‘Head Like A Rock’ from 1994 was recorded with Crazy Horse and was nominated for the Mercury Prize that year. Sadly it lost out to M People. A point which McNabb poked excellent fun at during his set at the Brudenell.
This show was billed as an Icicle Works gig, although we were treated to a few McNabb solo outings as well. Ian McNabb is a stunningly talented singer songwriter and guitarist. His older songs have really stood the test of time well and the newer songs sound fresh and sometimes edgy. At times his playing reminded me of Neil Young at his best perhaps during his ‘Weld’ album days. The band played two sets with a fifteen minute break, by my estimation they were on stage for just under three hours. That is on a par with some of the best Springsteen shows for length. It would be difficult to pick out any low points from the show. But particular highlights in the first half were Icicle Works songs; “Evangeline”, “Seven Horses”, “Starry Blue Eyed Wonder” and a McNabb solo tune, “Hurricane Elaine”.
The second set was relatively evenly split between Icicle Works songs and Ian McNabb solo excursions. The best of the second set for me were; “I’m A Genius”, “Fire Inside My Soul”, “Understanding Jane” and “Clarabella (Come To The Window)”. The latter is the mountainous, emotional blockbuster of a song that closes his new album ‘Star Smile Strong’. Just when you thought things couldn’t get any better, I honestly would have gone home happy at the end of the second set, the band came back to the stage for a heartfelt, soulful and powerful encore of three Icicle Works classics; “Love Is a Wonderful Colour”, “Birds Fly (Whisper to a Scream)” and live favourite “Hollow Horse”. McNabb and his and; Matthew Priest on drums, Richard Naiff on keyboards and Roy Corkhill on bass, were on top form and seemed to enjoy the night immensely. The crowd joined in a spirited romp through “Happy Birthday” to celebrate Richard Naiff’s birthday that day. Do not wait as long as I have to see this band, get out to hear them at your earliest opportunity, you will not be disappointed. My thanks to Andy Golborne for his great musical taste and for getting the tickets for this show.
Public Service Announcement: All photos sourced via Google searches and videos courtesy of YouTube searches
Supposedly the Horrors always request a surprise on their gig rider. On one occasion that surprise was a girl dressed as a cat hidden inside a crate. Even the band were a little shocked and said that they realised someone was in the crate and were a little scared to open it until after the show.
Like many bands the Killers considered many names before finally settling on the Killers. At one point they apparently considered the Genius Sex Poets. I don’t know about you, but for me that would have been so much better. I can even picture it on a T Shirt. The reason they chose the Killers is thanks to New Order. It was the name of a fictitious band on the drum kit during the video for “Crystal”. Which was released the year Brandon and the gang got together; 2001. You can watch that video at the end of this post.
While we are speaking of the Killers, did you know that “Mr Brightside” has appeared in the UK charts every year since its release in 2003. This includes 35 consecutive weeks from July 2016 to March 2017. But it has never made it any higher than number 10 to date. Interestingly and rather surprisingly they have never had a UK number, well up to now anyway. But “Human”, “When You Were Young” and “Somebody Told Me” all made the top 3. But to make the band feel better all five of their studio albums hit the top spot over here in dear old Blighty.
Four bands for under a tenner at the City Screen Basement in my adopted city of York. Stuff Black Friday this is indeed a bargain given the calibre of the bands on stage at this gig. First up were the Glass Traps and this lot would have fitted perfectly into the post punk environment of the late 70s/ early 80s. I can sense a bit of Tom Verlaine and Television along with a smattering of 60s style psych garage rawness. This young band is very tight and play like they have put in the time rehearsing. Their versatility is strong given that three of them are able to sing lead vocals. A very talented band from York! Click here to hear their excellent new song “No Tomorrow”
The next band is not one that I had heard before, but I definitely will again, positive proof that York has a thriving music scene with some truly marvellous bands. The Sunset Radio produce excellent power pop and oh so much more. Personally I heard shades of the Jam and the Levellers at times with a nice slice of the Manic Street Preachers. In fact I reckon their lead vocalist could give James Dean Bradfield a good run for his money. They might not look like punks but they project a great punk style and attitude in their music. Introducing some powered up punk snippets of “La Bamba” and “Twist And Shout” into their final song (which I think was called “Burning Up”) was genius!
Second on the bill were the the magnificent Crybaby. I saw them over a year ago at the Crescent in York. Click here for my review of that gig.Crybaby are yet another stunning band from York. I suspect that I may be guilty of overusing words like punk and punky in this review. But Crybaby are a punky, hard rocking bunch with a dash of the Killers about them. Some of their songs suggest to me what perhaps Oasis might have become had they taken a more heavy approach after their first two albums. A big shout to their drummer too, he is bloody ace. Has he been injected with some of John Bonham’s DNA?
Finally it was time for the headliners another of York’s finest bands, the mighty riffmonsters that are Bull. A band that I last saw in 2015, click here for that review. This is a band that everyone needs in their life. At times they appear shambolic, but it is easy to see that they are in fact totally on top of their game. Their gargantuan Godzilla sized sound is built around some stunningly simple yet exquisite songs. Those tunes evoke everyone from the Ramones to Elvis Costello via Nick Lowe and the Pixies. They have moments of quietness that jump to frenzied sonic magnificence. Punk happened back in the 70s to allow the creation and generation of bands like Bull. To summarise, Bull are fucking brilliant!
Images were ‘borrowed’ from each bands Facebook page and the videoes were found on Youtube.
It is now just over 45 years since I went to my first gig (the Jackson 5 if you’re interested) and here I am still going, as are the incredible Average White Band. I saw them once in London back in the 70s and they were great back then. I can honestly say that they still are, in fact they are better than great. The Irish Centre is a magnificent venue, although this is only the second time that I have been here, the last was many years ago for Chumbawamba.
It always amazed me that a bunch of white Scottish blokes managed to out funk and pour more soul into their songs than some of the finest black soul and funk musicians that the USA could muster. When I first heard that phat slab of funk that is “Pick Up The Pieces” back in 1974 I assumed that it was by someone like the BarKays. I believed that for weeks until I read an article in the UK music press, probably Blues and Soul magazine.
There may only be two original members of AWB left in Onnie McIntyre (guitar) and Alan Gorrie (bass, keyboards and lead vocals), both of whom can still find the funk, but they have picked some stunning players to join them in the seven piece band that blew the crowd away at the Irish Centre tonight. I think they all deserve a mention; Rob Aries (keyboards and bass guitar), Cliff Lyons (alto and tenor sax), Fred Vigdor (tenor sax and keyboards), Rocky Bryant (drums and percussion) and Brent Carter (Lead Vocals).
When someone describes a band as ‘tight’ the Average White Band epitomise and define what it is to be a ‘tight’ band. At times they showed that they could have been backing James Brown and would never have been fined by the Godfather of Soul for playing a bum note. All the really big hits were aired tonight; “Pick Up The Pieces”, “Cut The Cake” and a stunning encore, with full crowd participation, of “Let’s Go Round Again”. Yes even I shook my rump to the funk on that one. The occasional deeper cuts were played, with “When Will You be Mine” being a particular highlight. The Average White Band have enjoyed success with some cover versions of songs that they really made their own. Particularly soul standard “Walk On By” and a version of “Work To Do” that in my opinion tops the original by the Isley Brothers. Both of these tunes were given full and funky workouts tonight along with a new take on another Isley Brothers classic “Harvest For The World”. This was a truly exceptional performance from a band that remain at the top of their game. I would also like to thank my gig buddy Audrey for making this such a fun night.
I was saddened to hear of the death of David Cassidy aged just 67. He was perhaps the true definition of a teen idol in his heyday during the early 70s. Obviously back then us boys would never be a fan. But all the girls at my school were either fans of David Cassidy or Donny Osmond, with a few more rebellious girls opting for David Essex. Back in the days when the pop charts really meant something these three were top 20 regulars in the UK.
Cassidy found fame in the American TV series the Partridge Family where he played Keith Partridge. It was a musical show and his first success came with the recordings he did under the Partridge Family name. His mother in the show whose character was called Shirley Partridge was in fact his stepmother Shirley Jones. Before the Partridge Family David had made the odd appearance in shows that included; Bonanza, Marcus Welby MD and Ironside.
David Cassidy had two number one singles in the UK, “How Can I Be Sure” in 1972 and “Daydreaming/ The Puppy Song” in 1973. On top of that he had a further thirteen UK top 20 hits if you ad in the Partridge family singles. His album ‘Dreams Are Nothin’ More Than Wishes’ made it to the top of the UK album charts in 1973. Whether or not you were a big Cassidy fan there is no denying that he left a significant mark on pop history. David Cassidy RIP.
Despite departing this mortal coil nearly two years ago David Bowie is still breaking records. He recently reached his billionth stream on Spotify. That is not the highest by any artist, I know that Drake has had more than ten billion streams of his songs. Ed Sheerhan’s “Shape Of You” has had more than a billion streams in its own right. But nonetheless a billion streams is a great achievement in my opinion. The top ten Bowie songs streamed on Spotify completely bypass anything released after 1983. The sixties has one entry, the eighties has two and the seventies a mighty seven.
In terms of albums represented by these ten songs, in reverse order it is;
Space Oddity (a.k.a. David Bowie) 1 track, Diamond Dogs (1 track), Heroes (1 track), Let’s Dance (2 tracks), Hunky Dory (2 tracks) and Ziggy Stardust (3 tracks)
The magnificent, late, great Mick Ronson was also a part of the original studio recordings of five of these tracks too.
Heroes
Let’s Dance (One of only two on this list to reach number one in the UK)
Space Oddity (the second of two on this list to reach number one in the UK. But only after it was reissued in 1975)
Life On Mars
Starman
Rebel Rebel
Moonage Daydream (Never released as a single in the UK)
