No, it’s not Bachman-Turner Overdrive’s done-to-death 1974 classic rock anthem. It’s comparatively obscure Alan Hull-led British folk rock band Lindisfarne–from one of their lesser-known albums at that.
Hull’s genius–given rightful consideration in this video–was seldom reflected by record sales. 1973’s Roll On Ruby didn’t even tickle the chart’s nether parts in the UK, much less America.
But somehow this jaded little ditty about the manipulation of artists by the industry seems both painfully autobiographical and kind of fun.
That’s what a good writer does: turns his own pain into our pleasure.
Got six or seven minutes to spare? That’s all it takes to come to an appreciation of what distinguished Jefferson Starship from Starship.
Before the Mickey Thomas-fronted corporate rock of “We Built This City” and “Find Your Way Back”, Jefferson Starship, as you might expect of a band that arose from the ashes of 60’s San Francisco psychedelic rock outfit Jefferson Airplane, operated like a harmonious musical commune.
All seven band members shared in the writing credits on Spitfire, 1976’s follow-up to the massive Red Octopus album, and vocals too were a democratic affair.
The vocal and writing styles of Marty Balin, Paul Kantner and Grace Slick, though distinct from each other, came together in a wondrous stew, their layers of vocals weaving with instrumental virtuosity aplenty to create magic on songs like “St. Charles”.
David Freiberg, Pete Sears and lead guitarist Craig Chaquico (who joined the band as a teenager) are the unsung heroes in the musical mix. There’s a lot to listen to, and listen for, in a Jefferson Starship song.
There is nothing like this in the catalog of the band’s 80’s incarnation. But “St. Charles” was actually released as a single in ’76, peaking at #64.
6-time Juno Award-winning Canadians Sam Roberts and company just keep making earnest, honest pop rock records.
Although the theme of their latest album is, for Roberts, one of reinvention, a do-over, and breaking from one’s past, fortunately the music has their familiar ring of well-crafted, ear-friendly pop.
Ok with me if you keep doing what you’re doing, guys.
Bruce Melodie & Shaggy: “When She’s Around (Funga Macho)” (2023)
It can take just one artist to break down barriers of taste. It can take just one song to stretch a listener’s music appreciation by the breadth of a continent.
Rwandan singer Itahiwacu Bruce is that type of singer. And “When She’s Around” is that type of song.
Over the years artists like Juan Luis Guerra (Dominican merengue and bachata), Trio Mandili (Eastern European folk music), and Julieta Venegas (Latin pop) have helped this writer overcome any limitations a classic rock/American pop upbringing would impose and embrace whole new worlds of sounds.
Artists such as the Proclaimers, Brave Combo and the Latvian Women’s Choir didn’t hurt, either.
Just as one ought to have playlists on hand for every mood and occasion, a true lover of music should endeavor to live in a wide, disparate world of sounds and musical parlance.
And I’m not saying “When She’s Around” is exotic or any great stretch for an American ear.
But that’s the point. The song is sung mostly in English and has a tasty hook. And Jamaican reggae singer Shaggy plays an ambassador, adding a note of familiarity.
But songs like this can bridge us to the exotic. The fresh. The new sounds that can be the antidote to four more minutes of your life spent listening to Springsteen’s “Dancing in the Dark” for the 2,316th time.
Sorry, Bruce–not sorry.
My only hope, as always with artists making a bid for international notoriety, is that they don’t become international by sounding international; that is, compromising what makes the sounds distinctive and representative of their corner of the world.
There are already signs that Bruce Melodie may be going in that direction. Let’s hope as some of us are encouraged to discover his roots he doesn’t forget them.
The power-pop magic of the Tripwire’s 2007 debut (spotlighted here) is no less potent on its follow-up.
It was difficult to select which of John Ramberg’s sticky melodic delicacies to pull from the House to House LP, but Johnny Sangster’s Keith Richards-style rhythm guitar stabs in the chorus of this smash-up of a car song put it over the top.
And that’s the thing about good power-pop. It owes more to the Stones, Badfinger, Nick Lowe and the Raspberries than the innocuous decaf version that sounds like the musical equivalent of an inflatable life raft lowered from the side of yacht rock.
The Tripwires are survivors of the 90’s Seattle rock explosion who continue doing it their way, making irresistible tunes that call back more riff-centric eras of rock and pop.
Every one of their releases is highly recommended–it’s just a shame we have to try to narrow it down here.
The beautiful and heartbreaking 2014 Studio Ghibli film When Marnie Was There ends with the beautifully heartbreaking “Fine On the Outside”, which seems to sum up its main character and protagonist.
I can’t recommend the film more earnestly. If it’s not one of the more “magical” of the Ghibli films, it is the finest work the studio has ever produced in this writer’s opinion and boasts gorgeous animation and a poignant story about a girl and…well, spoilers.
Priscilla Ahn plays a remarkably faithful version of the end credit song in the below video.
Every Moment Has A Song 