This time I am honouring my Top 9 living musical geniuses. The 'vertical' ones. That means not dead... By 'genius' I mean genius. And not at just one thing. The following folk have the lot... #thatisall
Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, he gave us that. Yeah. That's true.
...And those wonderful tunes.
Alright, I'll grant you that the melodic basslines and the wonderful tunes are two things that McCartney has done.
...And Wings.
Well yes, obviously Wings. Wings goes without saying.
But apart from those melodic basslines, the wonderful tunes
and Wings...
...Cute doe-eyes?
...Happiness to millions, ...entertainment, ...great drumming too...
Yes alright. Fair enough.
...And that wonderful Scouse sense of humour...
Oh yes. True.
Yeah, that's something we'd really have missed if McCartney was never around.
...Brought loads of money into Great Britain.
All right ... all right ... but apart from those melodic basslines and wonderful tunes and Wings and cute doe-eyes and happiness to millions and entertainment and great drumming and that wonderful Scouse sense of humour and bringing loads of money into Great Britain ... what has Paul McCartney done for us?
...Brought peace?
What!? Oh ... Peace, yes ... shut up!
He is also the only artist to have UK number ones as a solo artist, and as part of a duo, trio, quartet, quintet and as a conglomerate.
So stick that in your (peace) pipe and smoke it...
Benny and Björn are like hot chips and mayo, or (vegie) bacon and eggs. They are pretty darn good on their own, but utterly magical when they come together.
Add two glorious chanteuses into the mix and what you have is pure pop perfection.
Once upon a time, I was chatting with an old friend
(who shall remain nameless. Hi Richard...) and mentioned that I thought Stevie Wonder was the most beloved musician ever. I'd never known anyone to say they disliked him.
Sure, many people got sick of 'I Just Called To Say I Love You' but that was mainly because it was never not being played somewhere.
Until that aforementioned chat, I hadn't encountered anyone who couldn't stand him.
And contrary to popular belief, Kate is not here to feature as a token female. She is here because she meets my stringent criteria; Kate writes, plays several instruments and produces music.
She has been a massive influence on a multitude of artists and reinvents herself time and time again.
Admittedly, this video is here because the lovely Hugh Laurie has a cameo in it...
I'm very lazy when it comes to learning other languages. I prefer to learn a few choice words or phrases for any country I happen to visit and use them often. Therefore, I don't know what any of the following songs are really about. And I don't care. They are each wonderful in their own way. I think it goes some way to show that melody is more important than lyrics in most cases. Enjoy...
I'm not sure what language this is in, if indeed it is one. The style is called drone. Nevertheless, it is extraordinary. When I first heard this track in the late 90s, I was dumb-founded. I went out and bought the CD, Moonsung, put it on and listened to it in awe. Sheila Chandra was originally in Monsoon, who had a UK number 12 hit with 'Ever So Lonely'.
See? I don't just listen to The Beatles... (did I mention Monsoon covered 'Tomorrow Never Knows'??)
Translating as 'I Love You...Me Neither' (inspired by a comment made by Salvador Dali), 'Je T'aime...moi non plus' was written and recorded by Serge Gainsbourg for and with his girlfriend at the time, Brigitte Bardot. In 1969, having moved on to British actress Jane Birkin, they re-recorded it. It made UK chart history, when by being banned, it was withdrawn by the original label, Fontana, and then issued on Major Minor. This meant that shops were selling two different labels (although the same song, if you see what I mean...) The one on Fontana reached number two, whereas the one on Major Minor went all the way to the top spot in October that year. If you haven't heard it before, you may now see why it was banned back then in parts of Europe and the UK. For its solo week in pole position in the UK,Top Of The Pops played an instrumental version, re-recorded by Sounds Nice, a group of session musicians. Also reached number one in Austria, Norway and Switzerland. Rather poetically, it got to 69 in the US!
The track inspired Donna Summer and Giorgio Moroder to write 'Love To Love You Baby'.
Here is Donna's version of 'Je T'aime'.
See silver-tongued Serge make his moves on Whitney Houston back in the 80s below. Trèsamusing!
And I'm gonna shoehorn this in too, if only because I love Diana Rigg. Jane Birkin makes a brief appearance at the end of the clip. If you have never seen Evil Under The Sun, you so should...
If you lived in Australia in 1980, there was almost no way you could have avoided this song by Genghis Khan (or Dschinghis Khan to their Teutonic pals). Its English-sung counterpart was used as the theme tune for the Moscow Olympics, which no doubt helped it rise to the top of the Australian charts, enjoying five weeks there. A great, great song. Sounds just a tad like Boney M, yes?
In 1988 I was living on a Kibbutz, a few miles from Lebanon. I was being very nearly starved of decent television (apart from Moonlighting, Israel wasn't big on showing Western programmes and I had only brought with me two videos, containing This Is Spinal Tap, Mister Jerico and A Clockwork Orange), books (I managed to find two books in English that one volunteer had left - although I can read Hebrew, I don't really understand it - one was a Bowie biography and the other a harrowing autobiography by Linda Lovelace. I read them both from cover to cover. Twice) and music for several months. Then this track became a favourite of some of the people I was working alongside, and I was hearing it several times a day. I was enchanted by this record. Quite a departure from my pop-loving-self's tastes. It seems I wasn't the only one who liked it. 'Yé ké yé ké' was the first African single to sell over a million copies.
I'm a fan of Falco (R.I.P.) He was more than just 'Rock Me Amadeus'. He is also one of few popstars who have/had perfect pitch.
'Der Kommissar' topped the chart in several European countries and Japan. Although it failed to get anywhere in the UK, it reached number four in New Zealand and seven in Australia.
After The Fire's English version got to number five in the US, 17 in Australia (and according to my book, although Falco's was originally released in 1981, both versions were in the chart simultaneously) and 47 in the UK. It also made number two on the South African chart.
An interesting cover was released by Gloria Branigan (R.I.P.) in the same year as After The Fire's version. Technically, it is the same song, albeit with new lyrics. If I knew how to add music from my own collection on here, I would have offered up my 45. But I can't, so here is her live version.
Up till now, 'Sukiyaki' is the only Japanese-language song to top the US Billboard chart. Its proper title is 'Ue O Muite Arukō"'('I shall walk looking up'), but the issuing label, Pye, felt it would be too difficult
for English-speaking folk to pronounce. Sukiyaki, a Japanese
food dish, has nothing to do with the meaning of the song.
'Sukiyaki' also got to number two in Australia, and six in the
UK, selling more than 13 million copies worldwide since its
release almost 50 years ago.
Sadly, Kyu was killed along with 519 other passengers and
crew on Japan Airlines Flight 123 (the second-biggest plane
crash in history) on 12th August 1985.
A Taste Of Honey's version was rewritten with (unrelated) English lyrics by member Janice Marie Johnson, on the understanding that she would receive no money or credit for doing so. It reached number three in the US, and 24 in Australia. Here they are on the much-missed Solid Gold.
4PM (which stands for 'For Positive Music')'s version, using Janice Marie Johnson's lyrics, was released in 1995. It got to number eight in the US, three in Australia and five in New Zealand.
Who loves Eurovision? I do. For all its crapness and countries voting for their closest neighbours, sometimes it throws out a truly great pop song. Like this one. I know that there are people who disagree with me (as shown by the disparaging comments when I posted it on facebook a couple of months ago) but I don't care. I love it and it comes from my favourite year in pop music (during my lifetime) - 1979. Oh, and by the way, this won Eurovision that year...
Name 10 famous Belgians**... OK, name five famous Belgians... Alright then, just the one... If you're in your 40s, I'm guessing it's going to be one Roger Jouret, better known as Plastic Bertrand. He was the original Milli Vanilli (allegedly), and didn't sing a note on his first three albums. Which includes this track, 'Ca Plane Pour Moi' (roughly translated as 'All's good for me').
In the 1990s, MTV declared him the 'most wanted comeback artist'. Really? Great song and all, but...really??
And here's a little something for the boys...
**Here are nine more famous Belgians: Rene Magritte (my favourite artist), Audrey Hepburn, Django Reinhardt, Jeanne Deckers (The Singing Nun), Adolphe Sax, Kim Clijsters, Herge, Jean-Claude Van Damme...and um, Hercule Poirot!
'Ti Amo' is quite possibly my favourite foreign language song ever. Although I don't understand a word...OK, save for possibly the title, it never fails to move me. When I was young, the pronunciation of one word in particular made me giggle. Four-letter words (or ones that sort of sounded like them) were very amusing to a ten-year-old. Surprisingly, this song only reached 25 in the Australian charts. I say surprisingly, because it reached the top spot in Melbourne, which usually meant a high national placing. Here it is in English. Not nearly as good...
I have been most fortunate to see many gigs in my time.
More than a thousand, I'd be happy to guesstimate. And 107 of them were in the pleasure of the company of Paul McCartney.
The majority have been amazing. There have been a few that were beyond bad, but I won't mention any names...Actually, I will. Please see below for two of the worst. Luckily, they were both freebies...
'The whole is more than the sum of its parts' never rang more true in the case of Robin Gibb (Melbourne, 2010). As a Bee Gee, he is a third of a musical dynasty. On his own, sadly, he was goddamn awful. With a weak voice and little stage presence, it was - if you pardon the pun - a tragedy. As my accompanying friend conveyed, "This is the worst concert I have ever seen...!" I concur, Jodie. I concur...
And when Whitney (Wembley, 1991) began urging the audience to accompany her on 'He's Got The Whole World In His Hands', I exited. Shortly after vomiting. Twenty years on I still haven't forgotten how shitty it was. My sister is more fortunate. She doesn't even recall being at the gig...
My first gig should have been ABBA in 1977. No, I don't want to talk about it. I shall probably be in therapy for the rest of my life because of it.
Nevertheless, three years later, I made my debut appearance at V.F.L. Park to witness KISS.
It was awesome! We were so far back that my sister, dad and I could barely see anything. We did have the foresight to bring along a pair of binoculars, but I recall lending them to the people around us for most of it.
It didn't matter. Just being there was amazing enough.
Aside from The Beatles, Queen have been my favourite band for as long as I can remember. They hadn't toured Australia for nearly a whole decade, so when it was announced in 1984 that they were to do four concerts each in Melbourne and Sydney, I packed myself off to the Entertainment Centre to line up for tickets. For three days and nights! It wasn't too bad. Several friends came by to keep me company and bring me refreshments. We even met Tom Jones who was performing there one evening.
Even being front of the line didn't guarantee me front row. I remember my ticket allocations for the four Melbourne shows. The rows spelt out B.A.B.E. Some lucky people had managed to procure their front row seats by simply calling up the ticket agency. Outrageous!! I did manage to be front row centre each night anyway. Freddie called me up on stage twice, but I was too shy! (True!)
And the lovely Brian invited me and a fellow fan up to see them in Sydney, hence the smashing passes shown here.
A truly under-rated band is Jellyfish. I fell in love with them at the start of their career, and they still hold a special place in my heart. With luscious harmonies and delicious melodies, Jellyfish were obviously too wonderful for most people to handle! I guess the arrival of grunge pretty much coinciding with their debut release helped put the kibosh on what should have been world domination.
They only released two albums, yet there is a four-disc boxset and even a tribute CD, so there's a definite fanbase out there.
Their gig at the London Astoria was triumphant. Is there anything hotter than a gorgeous, long-haired, Californian lad playing wacky time signatures on a stand up drumkit whilst singing perfect power pop? I think not.
Andy Sturmer, I salute you!
(I was lucky enough to be put on the guestlist for this gig, which meant not being given a physical ticket. I did however, find one a few years ago on a popular internet auction site. I've been looking everywhere for it but can't place it right now. When I do, I'll upload it...)
