Category Archives: Robert Wyatt

Where’s our ‘Ghost Town’?

Posted on by
Reply

the-specials-ghost-town

So there we were, a week or so ago, out on a Saturday night for a curry, Me and Mrs. 17 Seconds, and quite a few friends, including members of Aberfeldy and the Last Battle.

At one point during the meal – in relation to discussions about the Tory HQ in London being stormed at tuition fees, someone said ‘Where’s our Ghost Town?’

To which someone else replied ‘Give the bands a chance [the Colation]’s only been in for a few months!

I think if you’ve read this blog before, you probably know how I feel about the present government. It’s not to say that having a right-wing government in power automatically leads to a counter-culture of music, books and film, and as Mike Leigh pointed out on TV one night, not something that should be taken as being a good thing either.

But just watching this video nearly thirty years after the song came out…it’s never been more timely, sadly:

The Specials -‘Ghost Town.’ mp3

This was the Specials’ last single before they split; though the Special AKA worked with Rhoda Dakar to produce a record that remains truly frightening, about date rape, entitled ‘The Boiler’ and then to score a major hit with ‘Free Nelson Mandela.’ Two very different and awesome tracks.

Rhoda with the Special AKA -‘The Boiler.’ mp3 (*WARNING* – this track will freak you out. You have been warned)

The Special AKA -‘Free Nelson Mandela.’ mp3

Of course, there were other British folks* writing political music in the eighties, writing about what was happening in Britain and further afield. Elvis Costello wrote ‘Shipbuilding’ about the Falklands War, which was also performed by Robert Wyatt; and also two other classics in ‘Pills and Soap’ and ‘Tramp the Dirt Down.’ Morrissey’s solo debut Viva Hate finished with ‘Margaret On the Guillotine.’ The Jam did ‘Walls Come Tumbling Down…’ and then there was pretty much the whole career of Billy Bragg, New Model Army…yet the last twenty years have seen little to compare with these. Sure there have been a few songs; Apache Indian’s ‘Movin’ On (Special)’ about the election of the first BNP councillor in 1993; early stuff from the Levellers (Check out ‘Battle Of the beanfield’ and Gene’s 1999 single ‘As Good As It Gets’ about New Labour.

Of course, songs do need to be good and get out there. ‘Ghost Town’ was a number one. Billy Bragg’s ‘Take Down The Union Jack’ may have had admirable sentiments but the song was piss-poor, frankly.

What we need is a song that is a HIT that unites the people. Ain’t there one damn song that can make me break down and cry?

Elvis Costello -‘Shipbuilding.’ mp3

Robert Wyatt -‘Shipbuilding.’ mp3

Gene -‘As Good As It Gets.’ mp3

Billy Bragg -‘Waiting For The Great Leap Forwards.’ mp3

* I’m not meaning to undermine how important Hip-Hop was here – Public Enemy alone deserve several posts devoted to them.

Another Festive Fifty themed post

Posted on by
10

What can I say? It was just such fun (if bloody time consuming) doing yesterday’s Peel-related Post here that I thought I’d do something similar again…In the process, I have realised that a great number of these come from 1982, confirming my belief that 1977-1982 was the greatest era ever, for music. Followed by 2001-2008, obviously).

First up, Pete Wylie under various guises had several entries in the Festive Fifty, here are two of my favourites. It’s sometimes hard trying to work out what was Wah!, Mighty Wah! or Wah! Heat (or Shambeko Say Wah! for that matter, but I think these were both as the Mighty Wah! That is what the CDs say, anyway)

Mighty Wah! -‘Come Back.’ mp3

Mighty Wah! -‘The Story Of The Blues.’ mp3 (1982 Festive Fifty, No.7)*

The song Shipbuilding was written by Elvis Costello in 1982, about the Falklands War and Robert Wyatt recorded it first, nearly topping the Festive Fifty in 1982. Elvis Costello recorded his own version for Punch The Clock in 1983. Both versions are fantastic, Wyatt’s version and piano are gorgeous, though Costello’s version is great too, and features Chet Baker on trumpet.

Robert Wyatt -‘Shipbuilding.’ mp3 (1982 Festive Fifty, No.2)

Elvis Costello -‘Shipbuilding.’ mp3 (1983 Festive Fifty, No.48)

And in different guises, Coventry also had a fair amount to say about social issues of the time, both at home and abroad.

The Specials -‘Ghost Town.’ mp3 (1981 festive Fifty No.21)

The Special AKA -‘Free Nelson Mandela.’ mp3 (1984 Festive Fifty No.41

As ‘New pop’ replaced or post-punk evolved, depending on your point of view, there were certainly many bands who were commercially successful on in both the charts and the festive fifty (even Frankie Goes to Hollywood made the Festive Fifty in 1984, with their nine-weeks-at-the-top-of-the-proper-charts Two Tribes). Though Peel bemoaned on his 1994 Festive Fifty that some of the records had made the chart, and where had he gone wrong, it’s probably fair to assume he had his tongue firmly planted in his cheek. These are both from 1982:

Yazoo – ‘Only You.’ mp3 (1982 Festive Fifty No.12)

Associates -‘Party Fears Two.’ mp3 (1982 Festive Fifty No.14)

Peel also played Hip-Hop when no-one else on Radio 1 was doing so (Peter Powell reportedly once told him that he shouldn’t on the grounds that Hip-Hop was the music of Black hooligans, allegedly).

Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five -‘The Message.’ mp3 (1982 Festive Fifty no.3)

Erik B & Rakim -‘Paid In Full.’ mp3 (1987 Festive Fifty no.27)

* There are several different versions of this track in existence, including the Parts 1&2 version that Peel played on one of his last ever broadcasts in 2004. I have put the ‘Part 1’ version here.

When is a cover not a cover?

Posted on by
11


OK, maybe I’ve just got too much time on my hands, but this question has been occuring to me for a while…And where does that leave prefering one version over another?

First up, ‘China Girl.’ Co-written by Iggy Pop and David Bowie in 1977, it appeared on Iggy’s The Idiot in 1977, and then on Bowie’s Let’s Dance in 1983. I suppose that Bowie’s version is a cover coming technically afterwards, but he did produce The Idiot. And I sorta prefer Iggy’s voice on his version, but i love the bass on the Bowie version. Hmm, go figure…

Iggy Pop -‘China Girl.’ mp3

David Bowie -‘China Girl.’ mp3

And what about ‘Shipbuilding?’ Elvis Costello co-write this poignant ballad about the Falklands’ War, in 1982, Robert Wyatt recorded it first and had ahit with it, then Costello recorded his version for his own Punch The Clock LP in 1983. I like Wyatt’s voice, but Chet Baker’s trumpet is heartbreaking.

Robert Wyatt -‘Shipbuilding.’ mp3

Elvis Costello -‘Shipbuilding.’ mp3

As for this last one, well, I guess it always was a James Kirk track, even if there were twenty years between the version he did in Orange Juice and then recording it for his own solo You Can Make It If You Boogie in 2003. Or was it?

James Kirk -‘Felicity.’ mp3

Please leave any thoughts below…