Vintage poster restoration! I had no idea there was such a thing.
“Here Comes the Night … Oh! Oh!”
I consider myself a hopeless sucker for vocal pop. But even I have my limits. This was produced by the once-great master of sunshine pop, Curt Boettcher. For more on him, listen to Andrew Hickey’s excellent episode on “My World Fell Down” by Sagittarius.
Disco was an odd phenomenon. For a year or two people couldn’t get enough, then a massive “disco sucks” reaction set in. I struggle to think of another popular genre that lost so many of its fans so quickly and vehemently. I also struggle to think of a genre where so many artists from other genres so spectacularly made asses of themselves trying to cash in.
There’s also an extended club mix of “Here Comes the Night” posted on YouTube, if you really must.
Fun fact (just learned from Hickey): that’s Glen Campbell singing the lead on the verses of “My World Fell Down.”
Something Fishy
Turns out Endless Shrimp was more than a lousy idea; there may have been shrimp-supply chicanery involved. But the attraction here is Patrick Boyle, who gets the comedy of business like no one else.
Beatles’ Worst Moment?
Overall, I wouldn’t rate this as their worst track. I don’t much like the song, but it goes well enough until that cheesy organ break comes along. That break might be their worst moment. I went back to All The Songs to refresh myself on just what they were thinking. Turns out George played a fast-vibrato guitar part that John liked but George Martin rejected as too edgy. So Paul recorded an organ solo worthy of a déclassé 60’s supper club. Was he being funny on purpose? Were they just ready to be done with it so thought, “fuck it, it’s filler anyway, leave it there and let’s move on?”
Of course everyone, no matter how great, steps in it every now and then. Beethoven wrote Wellington’s Victory, an embarrassing piece of garbage celebrating, as the name suggests, Napoleon’s defeat. He’d once been a fan of Napoleon, dedicating his explosively innovative 3rd symphony to him. He later removed the dedication in disgust after Napoleon crowned himself emperor, and subsequently wanted to rub Napoleon’s nose in it after Waterloo. Defensive and touchy about the work, Beethoven probably knew it was trash. It seems to me that such music (i.e. written for overtly political or moralistic purposes) is usually garbage. John Lennon’s preachy songs come to mind. But I’d love to hear what pops into your bastardly heads in the Great Artist/Shitty Work category.
Christmas Comes Early
An obvious fake, or those choristers wouldn’t be keeping straight faces. I died laughing anyway.
The War on Sugarlumps
“Here Come the Nice” was Marriott/Lane’s ode to their dealer. The song clearly says, “he’s always there / if I need some speed,” but this one got past the Beeb censors, peaking at a respectable #12. But sugarlumps? Forget it. Maybe they were so busy looking for metaphorical drug references that they missed explicit ones.
Something Cringey
I recently re-watched The Beatles Anthology with recent convert, Renfield Jr. Great series, but I had a hard time making it through this video featuring the hirsute-era Beatles mooning over and frolicking with their significant others. I’m not sure why anyone thought this would be entertaining, but maybe the point was narcissism rather than entertainment.
Journalists Love Sociopaths
Another great video from Patrick Boyle.
Splice or Error?
In his In The Midnight Hour episode, Andrew Hickey tells a great story about the recording of Mustang Sally. While the tape was rewinding after recording in one take, the capstan flew of the recorder, shredding the tape into fragments and sending them flying all over the room. The volatile Wilson Pickett was about to explode, when Tom Dowd told everyone to calm down and take a 30-minute break. Dowd then spliced the fragments, a total of 40 splices, an average of one every three or four seconds. Hickey plays a 30-second sample containing the only possible splice he can hear (it’s at 2:22) but thinks it’s more likely a drumming error. Nah, that’s a splice.
I can’t hear the other 39. Tom Dowd was a badass.
How Does Anybody Do This?
Even professionals can’t keep a straight face.