Sergeant Pepper is 50 years old.

When I heard this was coming out, I got very excited. I don`t usually go in for these expensive box sets, with several versions of the same tracks and an all-singing, all-dancing, super duper re-mix and a documentary on dvd. However, for some reason, this one got me going. I got permission from my boss, the wife, before ringing up Bull Moose Records and placing it on order. We have a limited budget and this was a big expense. As the days got nearer, I had a change of heart and almost cancelled my order. It was all about the money. Then I decided to make some of the cost up by getting rid of a bunch of cds, I probably wouldn`t listen to again. However, I put them on file before taking them. Took nearly $40 off the cost.
This was released when I had just turned 11 years old. It did not get "dropped" [what an idiotic expression that is]. I had finished junior school and was about to go to the poshest grammar school in the town. I was not yet buying records myself, so we didn`t own the album. My knowledge of it was listening to it on tiny little radios or occasionally on an old black and white tv, with a miniscule speaker. In those days tiny speakers meant tiny noise and televisions didn`t get decent sound until well into the 90`s. So, I grew up listening to this adventure in sound, on poor equipment, but, in those days, music was made to be heard that way. If it didn`t sound good on a tiny transistor radio, then it wouldn`t sell. Fortunately, of course, it did sound good, great, in fact. The Beatles were still the biggest thing on the planet and this album got played all the time, even with no single release. [In the UK anyway, don`t know about the USA]
The first time, I heard it on a reasonably decent stereo system, it was at school. We had an English teacher, who liked to break away from the normal english lesson. We dissected and studied I Am I Said by Neil Diamond, in one lesson. Listened to the entire cast recording of Under Milk Wood over several weeks, at another time. He brought this particular album to class, primarily, as I remember it, because it had the words on the back. So we got to talk about the lyrics, why certain tracks sounded the way they did, that kind of thing. When I`m 64 having an old music hall feel to it, because it was about growing old, How, She`s Leaving Home was sad, musically and lyrically. This was an english lesson! Hence, this record has a special place in my mind as well as my audio heart.

It did not put me off the music. I was a die-hard Beatles fan already. Plastic wig, collar-less jacket and plastic guitar. And one wall of Beatles wallpaper, in a bedroom I had to share with my sister. Wish I`d kept that stuff. I still have my sister, but she is thousands of miles away.
Well, I just listened to the new stereo mix cd. Yes, I can hear it more clearly, but, it doesn`t make it a better album. Remember, I grew up hearing this on poor quality equipment. When I had my own decent stereo and, finally, purchased a copy of Pepper, it was like hearing a new record. Probably in the same way a lot of people are hearing this new stereo mix. I have not heard anything, in this new version, that makes me enjoy the album any more than I did. It was never my favourite, but would still be in a top twenty of all time albums, I like, if I could ever be bothered to do a list like that.
The Sessions cds are another thing, of course. I already have all the BBC stuff and the Anthology set, so I am used to hearing this kind of stuff. I even had a dodgy cassette of, what was known as The Black Album, with a lot of recordings, used later, on the Anthology. They are always very interesting, musically. Always interesting to hear slightly different versions of classic tracks. However, I prefer hearing more of the chat that went on.  Hearing the tone of voice, when instructions are being given. I like that part. Also, they have such interesting talking voices. They may have been four cocky young Liverpudlians, but they all had a distinctive tone to their voices. Could have done with more of that. I do, however, love the humming version of the final chord. The two sessions discs have a feel of a soundtrack album. Incidental music played under scenes from a movie, to get a feel for the whole album.

Listening to the mono version, I can hear the difference in clarity, but it`s still a great record and this is how I would have heard the tracks, first time around. They would have been on vinyl and that may have made a difference too. Of course, there are extra tracks, including Strawberry Fields and Penny Lane, extracted to give Brian Epstein a single release. They are forever singles, in my mind and I feel they would be out of place on Pepper. Here they are just additions, which is fine.
So I decided to get my stereo vinyl version out. I bought it sometime in the seventies, when I finally started to collect the Beatles catalogue of work to add to my, already increasing, record collection. This is probably still my favourite version, with the crackles and pops. It may be because this is the copy I played the most. It may be a little vinyl snobbiness. I certainly enjoyed hearing it the way it was in my head. My head is full of vinyl.
To top off the audio experience, I brought out my 1987 stereo release of the album. Let`s go for a whole day of Pepper, I thought. This stereo cd is a good quality recording giving us the great album in nice clear tones, but still keeping the memories of first hearing the songs, intact.
I have now listened to  4 different versions of the album from across the years, 2 cds worth of sessions from the recording. What do I think? It`s still a great album and has sounded fresh every time I have played it, today.
Let`s have a special mention for Getting Better, Fixing A Hole and Lovely Rita. Tracks that are often overlooked when discussing this record. All tracks would be celebrated on other albums, but are almost seen as fillers here. They are not. They are, of course, part of the overall soundscape of the work. Part of "the concept". Without them, this is a completely different piece. Isolate them, give them an extra listen. They are melodic, inventive and fun, as is the rest of the album.
There is a large "coffee table" book, included in this box set. A few articles by people with their own memories and takes on the relevance and importance of the album. Entertaining and irritating and informative in turn. However, I got to the chronology section, the one with the dates and facts in coloured searchlights. A pet peeve of mine is the use of coloured fonts against coloured backgrounds. We have to read this, people. It should be easy. In fact, some of the sections have perfectly clear writing with a dark font and light background. There`s a reason newspapers have black print on white paper. It`s called contrast and makes for easy reading. This spoiled, what would have been, an excellent way of matching other events to the Pepper timeline.

As for the dvd, the first thing I watched was The Making of Pepper, made on the 25th anniversary, I believe. I do like a documentary with access to the original masters, producer and a mixing desk. You get to hear the beautiful simplicity of the melodies, underpinning the whole process. An extremely complex album, but it`s full of good tunes and that was always the Beatles strongest asset. Good to hear George Martin talking about it, with such fond memories. What on earth would have happened if they had not found each other? Could have done with some up to date material, revealing the impact of the band and this album, especially, on current musicians. We have already seen this and the "music videos" included. This is, possibly, the biggest disappointment of the set. The audio part is there, I assume, so people don`t have to get up from their couch after watching the dvd. You get the album plus Strawberry Fields and Penny Lane.
So, was it worth it? It`s a heavy piece of kit and will look great alongside my other Beatles albums. Unless you have the fanboy urge, like me, it`s probably best to stick to one of the smaller editions of the release. I`m glad I bought it, I have enjoyed taking a step back in time to listen to a piece of pop music history and reading about how it all came together.
Looking forward to a similar treatment for the White Album and Abbey Road, now. I must start saving.

Fierce Mercy by Colin Hay

Since seeing Colin appear on Scrubs, the medical sit-com, I have re-engaged with Colin`s voice and overall sound. I have enjoyed his last two albums and looked forward to this one, when I heard it was on the way. I was not disappointed. It`s a beautiful, total album. Not just a disjointed bundle of tracks, but a piece of sound where all the individual, and enjoyable, parts make for an even more enjoyable complete work.
I started to see why I like this guy so much. Not just his easily recognised voice, his sincerity, his easy way with a melody, some catchy hooks and all the usual stuff, but also he fits right in with some of my other favourites, Andy Fairweather Low, Gilbert O`Sullivan and Nick Lowe, to mention three.
It is good to see his popularity increasing. I am already looking forward to future works and may even delve in to his back catalogue.
Of course, most people know him from his days with Men At Work. I had their first two albums and

loved that sound. One world beater of a single, Down Under, and a masterpiece, Overkill, along with a whole host of other enjoyable tracks.
Usually, I like to give an overview of an album, but thought I would delve a little deeper into this one. I found some very personal stuff and was amazed at the variety of subject matter, some personal, some general. Here is my take on the individual tracks of this new addition to my cds that will stay in the car and be played regularly. His last one`s in there too.
I must also mention his songwriting partner, on most of these tracks. Michael Georgiades, who was also
with him on his previous two albums.

Starting with an uptempo number, Come Tumblin` Down, with a country-lite feel. Seems there will always be songs lamenting how “Fings Ain`t What They Used To Be”. Very sunny sound for a downbeat subject. Great starting track.

Secret Love is not from the Doris Day musical, Calamity Jane, where she claims the love is not so secret anymore, but a song about unrequited love that will go on unrequited. He has said this was influenced by Roy Orbison, Gene Pitney and The Righteous Brothers, but it puts me in mind of James Blunt`s “You`re Beautiful” . One of those songs where Colin pushes his voice to the edge. I`d like to hear someone like Raul Malo have a crack at this.

A Thousand Million Reasons seems to tell us that we can never be really alone in a world full of people, there should be someone out there for each of us and. If we find them, we will have a thousand million reasons to be thankful.Quite ethereal in places.

The Best In Me has a Gilbert O`Sullivan feel to the lyrics, I can almost hear Gilbert`s voice and distinctive piano bashing this one out.

Frozen Fields Of Snow seems an appropriate track, living in Maine and the snow is coming down. Again. The lyrics feel like a meandering train of thought, while looking out of the window across the frozen fields of snow.

The Last To Know puts me in mind of a sad-sounding Andy Fairweather Lowe vocal. They have a similar overall feel and it shows particularly on this track.

I never have a problem with drug based songs. I just don`t have a frame of reference. Never been tempted and can never understand the need. Having said that, I`m Gonna Get You Stoned feels a little weak compare with the other stuff on here. More formulaic than some of his other stuff. However, still a good listen.

The stand out track for me is I`m Walking here. You may be forgiven for thinking “where did that rap come from?” However, it fits seamlessly and adds another dimension to Colin`s soulful sound with the rap by Joe Manuel "Deploi" Lopez. A song reflecting on how people are not always free to just walk home. Inspired by the sad event in Florida when a young guy, called Trayvon Martin was shot down, just walking home.

Two Friends starts off by letting us know the singer had two friends who died last week. Where do you go from there? A sombre backing track and Colin`s natural haunted vocal make for a heartfelt lament with a hopeful chorus. “Carry on, my brothers”

She Was The Love Of Mine is a very personal song about the loss of his mother and the time they had left together. As such it feels a little intrusive, listening in, especially if, like me, you did not have that kind of relationship. A haunting melody with a lush string and brass arrangement makes for a beautiful sound.

Ordinarily that would be the end of the album and a really downbeat ending, but I got the extended edition of the cd. The first extra track is I`m Inside Outside In, a very upbeat number, that would not be out of place on the waltzers at a travelling fairground.

Blue Bay Moon is a slow, smooth, swing number with a plush arrangement, very country. A generous helping of pedal steel guitar, courtesy of Jim Hoke, Nashville`s master of all trades. Makes me want to hear a real country album from Colin. He has the voice and songwriting talent for it.

Love Don`t Mean Enough is the last of the extra tracks, the last of the whole cd and, possibly, the weakest track on the album. That only means it is pretty good alongside all the “very goods” and “excellents” on here.

Return To Ommadawn by Mike Oldfield.

This album has been out for a few weeks now. I didn`t get my copy straight away as I live in a backward country called the USA.  😏 There was not a release date so I had to go to South America and order it from the Amazon forest. At least that`s how I understand the system works. 😀

While waiting, I had pulled out my vinyl copy of the original Ommadawn and played that for the first time in a lot of years. It felt very familiar and comfortable. That also pretty much describes my feeling on  Return To Ommadawn. This new album will not make any converts, but it is good to be back in Mike Oldfield`s world again. No-one quite does this stuff like he does. If I hadn`t gone back to listen to the original piece, I may have mistaken parts of the new one for the original. It has a lot of similar themes and even goes back and lifts pieces of "On Horseback". "Hey and away we go" indeed.
I have listened to it several times now, but probably won`t give it the amount of time it requires as I like to wander around my collection and that is a longer journey than it was when Mr. Oldfield made the original Ommadawn and also my favourite of his works, Incantations.

My problem with listening to a lot of new releases by new artists, is that I hear their influences and even what seem like direct lifts of melodies or vocals. Well Mike has done that but at least it his own work that he has lifted from. Not groundbreaking stuff but a worthy addition to my collection of Oldfield music.

  

Beat Bugs and other ramblings.

I have recently loaded all my Beatles` [you remember them] cds on to my laptop, so I can make a disc for the grand-kids to listen to in the car. I was making a cd of particular tracks that featured on a cd of the kids` show, Beat Bugs. They use Beatles` songs and they are very good. The

cd is excellent, some really good versions, with artist like Rod Stewart and Robbie Williams on board.. Far and away, the best Beatles covers album, I have ever heard and I do have several. I thought of just copying the disc for the car, but felt the need for them to experience the originals rather than have the new versions become their standard. Toby, the oldest of the American grand-kids was exposed to the big four as a baby. It was on his parents` ipod and played to help him go to sleep. It will be interesting to see if he remembers any, several years later. On the Beat Bugs soundtrack was a version of Rain, a Beatles` B side. I discovered I did not have it on cd! I know. I was shocked too. I do have it on vinyl, a few times. So now I have to get copies of Past Masters, the cd set that has all the B sides and unusual items. I have most of them, mainly on the Rarities album, from a vinyl box set, released a long time ago. As for the cd I have made, I included a few extra tracks, not featured in Beat Bugs. Ob-la-di Ob-la-da and Octopus`s Garden, for instance.


The initial premise for this blog was to talk about acts that have had very little action in the US charts, while being successful in the UK. Each time I think about doing a particular act, I find they had a bigger presence than I realised. I can still do that, but I need to be free to talk about non-US acts without restriction. I may even mention the big boys every now and then, just to give my personal view and let you in to my collection a little more. People like Gilbert O`Sullivan, ELO and Mike Oldfield. Mike, of course, has a new album out this week, Return To Ommadawn and I will be getting it and reviewing it. I was listening to the original this weekend. Really good album that.




So, now I feel free to talk about any non-American act, on here, from a purely personal standpoint.

January 1974, a very British Chart

Listening to the wonderful Paul Gambaccini, left, an American, playing the UK hits of 7th January 1974, on BBC Radio 2`s Pick Of The Pops show. It struck me how much I loved some of these tracks and also how they all seemed to be British. So I looked it up. As you do.

http://www.officialcharts.com/charts/singles-chart/19740106/7501/

Without the Osmonds, America had no-one in the top twenty. At least not the week I looked at. Look a little further down or in the weeks around it, there were signs of our cousins across the pond. Diana Ross, Perry Como, Andy Williams and so on. Very old school, that lot. I loved that "new" Perry Como and Andy Williams stuff, I really did. Good modern songs, by new writers, great production, class all the way. Robert Knight was there, thanks to Northern Soul djs picking up on his 1968 track, Love On A Mountain Top. All the originality and fun, however, was British with a smattering of Europe.
Golden Earring are there with Radar Love, but they were Dutch. Possibly still are! The 70`s were wonderful for people, like me, who love a variety of music. Such choices. However, what this meant was, that for the first time, records started appearing that I really did not like. Not the Osmonds. They were a phenomenon and although I did not buy their stuff, I did not mind hearing it on the radio or television. They were everywhere at the time. Gloriously American and showy as all get out.
I mean stuff like The Stylistics. I really do not like that noise they make. It`s watered down soul music and is an affront to Stax, Motown and all of that stuff. There are a lot of tracks in the 50 that I would not buy or play, but none that I absolutely hate. Not even schmaltzy stuff like Max Bygraves` version of Deck Of Cards or the geriatric duo of Millican and Nesbitt. But schmaltz is okay for some, giving pleasure to older souls than myself.
 I had to look up Lonely Days, Lonely Nights by Don Downing, but still did not remember it when I heard it. The other 49 I remember or was aware of.
Christmas was still around, with Wizzard [my favourite Christmas single of all time], Elton John, the amazing Gaudete by Steeleye Span and the new champions of the season, Slade. Merry Christmas Everybody was still selling by the bucket load and still does today. Roy Wood, right, the mastermind behind Wizzard, also had a wonderful Beach Boys` pastiche number called Forever, in the charts.
Even The Beatles are well represented. Only George is missing. John`s excellent Mind Games [great album too], Helen Wheels from Paul, a great rocking number and Ringo`s memorable Photograph. Makes you wonder what those tracks might have been like if they had stayed together.
The blemish, known as Gary Glitter, was in the middle of his greatest fame, making some wonderful singles. We can not now listen to his stuff without the thought of his crimes. I do not belittle his past, but it is a big chunk of Glam Rock taken out of the equation. Don`t think I have heard a Glitter track in over 20 odd years.
Some great, lesser known singles on here. How Come by Ronnie Lane [The Faces] is a wonderful record, sounding like no other. The beautiful Amoureuse by the beautiful Kiki Dee and the quirky Lamplight by the quirky David Essex  He did not want to be in the same category as David Cassidy [I like his version of The Puppy Song], hence the strangeness of his early releases.
Oddities like Alvin Stardust and Barry Blue made the case for people slagging off the whole decade, but even these guys made reasonable pop records and never claimed to do anything else.

Great singles like Pool Hall Richard by The Faces, Street Life by Roxy Music and Roll Away The Stone by Mott The Hoople made the case for people, like myself, who absolutely love the 70`s. This chart reflects the broad selection of styles and talent, not even covering bands who were album acts, such as Led Zeppelin.
David Bowie and T. Rex had what, for them, were minor hits, with Sorrow and Truck On Tyke respectively. Mud, an underestimated pop band were there too. Their greatest hits is a catalogue of good 70`s pop, no pretensions. Leo Sayer was having his first taste of fame, as a singer with The Show Must Go On, having previously written Giving It All Away for Roger Daltrey`s solo album.

Gilbert O`Sullivan was at the end of his top ten run with Why, Oh Why, Oh Why. He still had a few lesser hits to come and even now he is still making great music with wonderful songs and a distinctive vocal/piano style.
The TV show Happy Days is represented by Pinky Tuscadero in her earlier guise as Suzi Quatro, legendary 70`s female rocker. I haven`t even mentioned The Carpenters, Matt Monro, Stevie Wonder, The Four Tops or The New Seekers. Lesser artist such as Cozy Powell and  Drupi or soul representatives Eddie Kendricks and Harold Melvin.
I think that covers all 50. This chart, picked, as I say after listening to Paul Gambaccini, represents nearly everything I love about the 70`s with the variety of talent and sounds available. All that`s missing is the requisite novelty song, but there were plenty of those still to come and I loved most of them too. Most of my favourite acts are from the 70`s, not all of them in this chart, however. 70`s fashion and music was ridiculed for a long time but the music, especially has stood the test of time. A lot of it still sounds fresh today.
As for the Billboard Hot 100 for this week, it`s pretty much the other way around, with American artists in the ascendancy of course. There are crossovers with some of the same singles. Helen Wheels, Photograph and Mind Games to name three. They have a couple of novelty records and some of the same artists, but with different releases. Even a single by the Zep! Although I like most of the American chart, my heart belongs to the Limey stuff. Even more so, now I am thousands of miles away.