Music from Seattle

Seattle’s Museum of Popular Culture goes deep on Seattle’s contribution to music. Not very broad because it’s a relatively small city, but it goes really, really deep.

I’d argue there is music in there that is ‘from’ Seattle but not necessarily ‘of’ Seattle. Jimi Hendrix was shaped here but grew up on the road and needed to go to London to make his mark. The likes of Heart and Sir Mix-a-lot probably could have come from a dozen towns in America.

One major movement was ‘of’ Seattle. It came from and created a local scene which had an identity that was quite uniquely Seattle. It exported bands with a similar sound and sensibility, and of course the world took to them. Continue reading “Music from Seattle”

Unrequited

Last week’s edition made the case for unrequited love being the second most common source of inspiration in popular song.

As in life, so with unrequited love – there are the situations you find yourself in, and there are the ways you choose to deal with them. Songwriters generally go one of four ways.

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French

The Cyrille Gosselin Band played their French songs in French in Seattle last Sunday night, and they were excellent.

Like many French musicians, Cyrille’s command of French is quite good. Not typically ones to join the rush to Anglicize, some outstanding French singers and songwriters (see Francis Cabrel) have been bound to their domestic market and foregone a wider audience.

On the other hand, throughout the 1960s and 1970s, British acts were encouraged by their record companies to record French, Spanish, German or Italian versions of their hits to reach a wider audience. This gave us David Bowie’s ‘Héros’ and the Beatles’ ‘Michelle’ (French versions of ‘Heroes’ and ‘Michelle’, for all you non-French-speakers).

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Seen and not heard

Every seven years, around this time, I start to get excited. Filming for 63 Up starts in a few months, for broadcast in May 2019. It will be the ninth instalment in the 7 Up series which has followed 14 boys and girls (now men and women) since 1964. The series documents their lives – different backgrounds, different paths. Some struggled around 21 and 28 with mental health and homelessness, some struggled around 35 and 42 with relationships, but around 49 Up you started to see a more content group, with more under their belts and less to prove. Set your alarm for May 2019 and get a glimpse of 63.

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Darts

Darts. The most rock and roll of sports. It has everything. Drink. Drugs. Larger than life characters. Well, booze and cigarettes and fatties.

The Ivy Shop at the foot of Richmond Hill (London suburb) used to have unique rock and roll photos in the window. My favourite was one of Keith Moon, drummer of The Who, wearing a t-shirt with three darts hanging off it, tips deeply embedded in his tummy.

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