Televison – See No Evil 1977
Televison – Venus de Milo1977
Televison – Friction 1977
Televison – Marquee Moon 1977
Televison – Elevation 1977
Stranglers – Outside Tokyo 1978
Lou Reed – New York Telephone Conversation 1972
Television – Guiding Light 1977
Television – Prove It 1977
Television – Torn Curtain 1977
Stranglers – Tank 1978
Stranglers – Toiler On The Sea 1978
Stranglers – In The Shadows 1978
I know, I have another cassette with lots of Television. So here are the same plus some missing from Marquee Moon, Guiding Light, Prove it, See no Evil, all of them excellent. This leaves just the charming New York Telephone Conversation and some Stranglers. The best of those is Toiler on the Sea. Or is it In the Shadows? But they were already on the decline in my opinion. There are few bands that made more than two great records. The Stranglers were not one of them.
Link _________________ When the stewardess is near do not show any fear.
This leaves just the charming New York Telephone Conversation and some Stranglers. The best of those is Toiler on the Sea. Or is it In the Shadows? But they were already on the decline in my opinion. There are few bands that made more than two great records. The Stranglers were not one of them.
I am all in favor of dogmatic assertions. I do it all the time. And I am certainly not going to argue. Just humbly saying: you are wrong here.
Oh sorry I think I'm quoting someone here
I love the early Stranglers and I do agree that the albums that came just after were a bit worse.
But some of their more recent albums are again very good, especially this one:
Norfolk Coast by The Stranglers
Beatles – Here Comes The Sun
Beatles – Come Together
Beatles - Something
Beatles – Octopus’s Garden
Beatles – Let It Be
Beatles - Across The Universe
Beatles - The Long And Winding Road
Beatles - Back In The USSR
Beatles – While My Guitar Gently Weeps
Beatles - Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-D
Beatles - Get Back
Ottawan – Hands Up 1981
Beatles – The Ballad Of John And Yoko
John Lennon – Imagine
John Lennon – It’s So Hard
Yoko Ono – Beautiful Boys 1980
John Lennon – Woman
Kim Wilde – Kids In America
Kim Wilde – Tuning In Tuning On
Stars on 45 – Stars on 45 1981
Adam And The Ants – Stand And Deliver
Adam And The Ants – Beat My Guest
[unknown instrumental] – Hands up
Kim Wilde – Chequered Love
Kim Wilde – Shane
Starting with a disclaimer. This is certainly not one of my cassettes. Probably drifted from my brother to me. It was broken and I repaired it. So probably after nearly 40 years, it was played again. And if for no other reason than it makes my usual choices look more interesting I present it here.
There is not much to complain about the first side. You can’t do wrong with the Beatles, can you? Actually, you can by including the horrible Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da. (But that might be an idiosyncrasy of me.) How did Ottawan make the list? Hearing this, always makes me smile. It is a horrible piece of music. But in the mid-80s I would sometimes go to a flea market where they had a kids’ disco and I would see the 5 to 7-year-olds dance enthusiastically to Hands up. And I guess there should be music appealing to the very young.
The murder of John Lennon was one of the great tragedies for me personally. I loved the man. But listening to Woman, the one consolation we have, is that we very probably would not have gotten anything worth listening to, had he lived. The Yoko Ono song is at least different. Adam and the Ants and Kim Wilde? The horror of the 80s.
I have some sympathy for Stars on 45 though. At least they openly admitted that they had no musical idea at all. _________________ When the stewardess is near do not show any fear.
Electric Light Orchestra – Roll Over Beethoven 1973
Fleedwoods – Mr. Blue 1959
Bryan Hyland – Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini 1960
Eddie Cochran – Teenage Heaven 1959
Frankie Vallie – Falling Angel 1976
Vera Lynn – We’ll Meet Again 1939
Maureen McGovern – The Morning After 1973
Hot Chocolate – Man To Man 1976
Beach Boys – Country Air 1967
Elton John – Your Song 1971
[unknown]
Golden Earring – Kill Me (Ce Soir) 1975
Paul McCartney And Wings – Live and Let Die 1973
John Denver – Calypso 1975
This is another cassette that needed heavy surgery and quite some amputations. What remains is not high sound quality. But the songs are pretty good. Maybe with the exception of the first one. I was never really fond of this although mixing Beethoven and Berry seemed a bright idea at the time. Problem is that both originals are rather cliché and this seems to emphasize exactly what was bad (or overexposed) in B&B. Mr. Blue is one of my all-time favorites. "Our guardian star lost all his glow the day that I lost you." Not that I ever understood what was going on. "I'm Mr. Blue when you say you love me". But it is so wonderful to sing along to. And one of the songs I sing to myself when I am all alone out in the woods. Call me Mr. Blue. (Would have been a perfect nickname for this site.) Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini is another beautiful novelty song. (And I thought Connie Francis did a German version, but I cannot find it.) Not much from Teenage Heaven, I could just barely recognize the song. With Falling Angel, the cassette gets better again. Did I mention that I love Frankie Vallie’s voice? I am sure I did. I am quite sure they played Vera Lynn on the radio because Maureen McGovern reminded the DJ of her. Another song that deserves to be sung whenever opportunity arises. And McGovern nearly as good.
How many pop songs are there that tell us about lost love? But talking to the guy who took away your love - man to man, like Hot Chocolate do, is quite unique. It is so embarrassing to plead to him. For the children’s sake. But what courage or desperation it takes. Does anyone know of a song like this? Nice Beach Boys and classic Elton John next and some unknown before we come to the hightlite of this selection. While I do not think that I have ever been to any party where Radar Love was not played, I have not heard this song in the last 25 years, I think. And what a pity it is that it is not more popular. And the funny thing is, I understood the lyrics now for the first time. I always thought they sang about the fascination (French pronunciation) of being a Rock 'n' Roll star. Brilliant. Live and Let Die I had somewhere else and so the final song belongs to John Denver, singing about Calypso in his unique way that lets you believe for some minutes that life is great.
Best song: Mr. Blue
Link _________________ When the stewardess is near do not show any fear.
[unknown]
--
Joe Jackson – Steppin Out 1982
Monty Python – Always Look At The Bright Side Of Life 1979
[unknown] – Bolero
Frank Sinatra – My Way 1968
Tremelos – Silence Is Golden 1967
Wedding Present – Katrusya (John Peel Session) 1989
Assailous Snail[?] – Pony
Fun-Da-Mental – Seize The Time 1994
This one is probably the last one in this diary. (Unless I find some other one somewhere). And it does not really count because obviously at least some songs were taped in the 90s. But it is a colored cassette. I do have quite some black/grey cassettes that I taped in the 90 or 00s. These were almost exclusively recorded from John Peel shows and maybe I do another diary with them.
So. A nice unknown is followed by some radio feature on ancient saints by Conrad Zander. Joe Jackson is one of the few artists who made acceptable records in the 80s. And Steppin Out is one of those. Always Look At The Bright Side Of Life is of course in a league of its own. As is My way. And Bolero. Silence is Golden was during the 70s probably one of the most played songs on the radio. Nice song but not as great as people once thought.
Katrusya by the Wedding Present I had completely forgotten. Quite good. One problem with John Peel was that I had trouble understanding him. The name of the artist sounds like Assailous Snail. Does anyone have a clue?
Seize The Time is the kind of song that I just hated at the time. No idea why I left it. Now, it does not sound all that bad to me.
Best song: My Way
Link _________________ When the stewardess is near do not show any fear.
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