Pop Memories

I remember around the age of 9 or 10 suddenly discovering the joys of pop music. Like with so many other youngsters in Ireland at the time, a special status was attached to late night listening on Radio Luxembourg. So I soon prided myself on being well versed on everything new emerging on the pop scene. So I can still remember the humiliation I experienced when chatting with some school pals in St. Anne's Park in Dublin after a football match. A newcomer who was in a junior class had joined the group and immediately asked me "Well! What do you think of Cliff Richard"? I tried to correct him suggesting that he meant Little Richard! However he was quite sure that it was not Little Richard to whom he was referring! So I had to own up to my shame that I had not heard of Cliff! This was back in 1958 and Cliff's first single "Move It" had just been released. Needless to say I became quickly aware of Cliff after this episode and remarkably he is still going str...

I cannot say that I was ever a great fan of Ray Charles though I could appreciate that he was very talented. I do remember however that one of the early singles that I purchased was his biggest hit "I Can't Stop Loving You". Those early single purchases were momentous occasions back then providing welcome relief from school routine. I recall the HMV label on which it was released in Ireland with its pale blue colour. In those days one would inevitably flip over the other side to see if it contained some hidden treasure. (It generally didn't)! However I can still hear the closing refrain "Born to lose, and now I'm losing you". As is well known the peak of Ray Charles' popularity came in the early 60's when - unusual for a black performer - he recorded two albums devoted to Country and Western material. "I Cant' Stop Loving You" was a single taken off the first album. However my own particular favourite was "Take Thes...

The 60’s was a great era for female singers in the UK with the likes of Shirley Bassey, Petula Clark, Sandie Shaw, Helen Shapiro and Cilla Black all making a big impact. However perhaps the most fondly remembered of all is Dusty Springfield. I remember well her earlier incarnation as the girl singer in the Springfields. It was a very competent folk trio that was like the British equivalent of Peter, Paul and Mary. Indeed they had a top 20 twenty hit in the States with “ Silver Threads and Golden Needles ” before the Beatles which was completely unheralded then for a British group.   Though strangely this missed out completely in Britain, they soon established themselves there with " Island of Dreams ” (written by Dusty’s brother - now called Tom Springfield). They had become extremely popular, regularly appearing on radio and TV, when they suddenly broke up. There was no doubting that Dusty was the undisputed star of the group and having discovered the music of Tamla M...

It has been recounted many times how the song  "Killing Me Softly With His Song"  arose from the attendance of the young folk singer Lori Lieberman at a Don McLean concert in the early 70’s. The song in this case that “killed her softly” was “ Empty Chairs ”. I remember experiencing a similar moment when attending my first Don McLean concert in the National Stadium (a boxing arena) in Dublin in the late 70’s. However on this occasion it was the song “ Tapestry ” that had the effect. Though included on his first album, I had not yet the heard this song and was completely knocked out by both the beauty of the composition and the quality of the lyrics. 35 years later I would be very much of the same opinion and would consider it quite simply as the best environmental song I have heard. Indeed when one listens to this superbly crafted composition, one realises that it is so much more than a “pop” song with its relevance for our world even greater today than when it ...

I must admit that the music of Nick Drake largely passed me by when he first appeared on the scene in the late 60's. Only recently when invited by a friend to give an opinion on his work have I returned to his earlier recordings to realise that " River Man " and " Northern Sky " were already to a degree familiar. Some things immediately tweaked my interest when I did a little research on Nick. I found for example that we were born in the same year in June (within a few days of each other). Also I could easily identify with a certain aspect of his personality which I believe is essential to understanding his music. He possessed - what I would term - an existential personality (i.e. where deeper questioning regarding the meaning of existence tends to dominate normal every day experience). So it did not surprise me to find that he had a copy of "The Myth of Sisyphus" by his bedside when he died. There were also some other interesting details e.g. in t...

Like so many my first introduction to Eva Cassidy was through the grainy black and white promotional video shown on BBC's Top of the Pops 2 (around 2000). This was shot in a small club (Blues Alley) in Washington DC and showed Eva performing "Over the Rainbow". I found her performance absolutely riveting and though I rarely weep, the tears were flowing down my face long before the song was completed. Indeed I remember it as one of those special moments - never to be forgotten - when I was deeply touched by beauty in the form of a truly unique female singing talent. When I then discovered the treasure trove of some of Eva's best recordings on "Songbird" my initial impression was only enhanced through the marvellous interpretations of other songs such as the title track "Songbird", "Fields of Gold" and "I Know You by Heart".  And it soon became readily apparent that not alone could Eva interpret romantic ballads in an exquisite m...

Gilbert O'Sullivan has once again been appearing here in Ireland. It is a long time now since his hay day in the early 70's. However due to the poverty of the present pop scene, nostalgia for the hit makers of early years still grows so that interest in his career will never entirely wane. Indeed I was quite a big fan of Gilbert O'Sullivan (and still am). Though I did not like his original image branding him somewhat in stage Irish terms as an uncouth tramp, I could see that he undoubtedly possessed considerable singer/songwriting talent. Indeed before his first big hit "Nothing Rhymed" he had recorded a song called "Mr. Moody's Garden" under the name "Gilbert". Listening to it again, it seems to have borrowed tunewise - and perhaps also in name - somewhat from "An English Country Garden". And the voice here does have an exaggerated Irish slant (though O'Sullivan had already been long resident in the UK). However one can a...

Some years ago in the mid 90's I found myself following an internal bleeding incident on a busy hospital ward in a Dublin hospital. All human life seemed to be on that ward but with the constant noise and unending interventions from staff and patients alike I sometimes wished for a little less of that life. Then after several days of stoical endurance, I was unexpectedly transferred to a private room. Luxuriating in my new found peace, I turned on the hospital radio to hear that a Dionne Warwick special was about to start. And for the next hour as one marvellous Bacharach/David song followed another I felt as if in Heaven. Dionne Warwick seemed to me to embody true class and sophisticated elegance. Due to her unusual vocal abilities and musical training she was the ideal vehicle to do justice to the intricate and complex demands posed by so many wonderful Bacharach melodies. And Burt Bacharach not only wrote these songs (with Hal David as lyricist) but also produced her recor...

In the early 70's I spent part of the summer doing some construction work with a motley group in a rehab centre in south Dublin. As the weather was good we lunched outdoors in the middle of the day. A record player was found and an album that I had never heard before was played which I found captivating. One song in particular "Needle of Death" really impacted with me in a way that only a handful of tracks have ever done. Music has the wonderful capacity to resonate - at least occasionally - in a profoundly meaningful manner. And this certainly was one such occasion! I remember looking at the album sleeve and mistakenly leaving with the impression that it was by Bert Yance. And on several occasions over the years, I tried without success to learn more about this artist. Then some 25 years or so later, I spotted a notice outside the College where I work in Dublin promoting an upcoming performance by Bert Jansch nearby in Whelans. In that moment I realised the true id...

Recently an old Brenda Lee song "I'm Sorry" has been featured on a TV ad here in Ireland. Though not heard that much nowadays, I remember the time when Brenda Lee was the dominant female performer of the early 60's. Though I never particularly liked her voice - which I found a little too hard and raucous - she certainly had something special. From an early stage - following her early recording of "Dynamite" in 1958 (at the age of 13) - she became known as "Little Miss Dynamite" which was a perfectly apt description that lasted throughout her career. Her voice had a special punch in it (perhaps unequalled by any other performer) whereby she could turn immediately from soft to belting mode. Thus she was at her best on certain rock ballads such as "I'm Sorry" which especially profiled this ability. She also fell into that category of a truly precocious performer that had already attained a remarkable maturity of performance at an e...

Bob Lind was an American singer song writer who briefly appeared on the scene in 1966 and in certain limited respects sounded like a precursor to Don Mc Lean.  He had the ability to write very interesting pop tunes with poetic - and sometimes - baffling lyrics.  The best of these were often to be found on the B sides of his singles e.g. "Cheryl's Goin' Home", "Truly Julies's Blues" and "We May Have Touched".  Another outstanding song and performance is "Spilling Over" (where his voice does indeed sound like Don McLean!)   However it is "Elusive Butterfly" for which he will always be known. This is simply a wonderful song - and still one of my favourites - with a truly magical lyric of poetic reverie. This for me perfectly "encapsulates" the truly fleeting nature of romantic love.  Sadly for Bob his own encounter with fame was to resemble the elusive butterfly of his song as he quickly became consigned to that unenv...

The Carpenters (more correctly, Carpenters) surely deserve a unique place in the annals of pop music. The group comprised the brother and sister duo, Karen and Richard Carpenter who both were gifted with very special talents. Of course Karen is the one we nearly always hear on record with that pure, clear wonderful singing voice that perhaps remains unmatched by any other female performer. Though not especially gifted singing wise Richard was a bit of a musical genius who wrote (with John Bettis) some of their best songs and was chiefly responsible for the truly superb production values of their recorded albums. Their first album - initially titled "Offering" - contained their cover of the Beatles' "Ticket to Ride". Though sung in a slow tempo not really in keeping with the original, it displays well the remarkable quality of young Karen's voice. Though this was their first single release and proved a minor hit the album contains a few superb tracks that...

There was an interesting programme featuring Joan Baez on BBC TV last night. It was fascinating to watch again her early appearances in Club 47 in Cambridge, her collaborations with a young Bob Dylan, and her very public stance as a political activist (esp. as supporter and friend of Martin Luther King). Looking at the concert footage is compelling as one sees a truly beautiful young woman with a unique guitar style and singing voice flawlessly presenting a large repertoire of the "old" folk songs. However on the critical side, perhaps these performances were just a little too perfect leading to the material acquiring a certain off-putting similarity. Ironically though her meeting with Dylan is credited with inspiring her with wonderful "new" songs, somehow even these started to sound like the "old" when given the familiar Baez treatment. I instinctively felt this reservation about her performances - even back in the early 60's - which prevented me fro...

Cat Stevens (or Yusuf Islam as he is now called) appeared in the O2 in Dublin recently to receive a somewhat mixed reception. I cannot say that I was ever a huge fan of his though I did respect the fact that he was - at his best - a superb songwriter. When he burst on the scene in the late 60's with a somewhat overproduced sound he was hailed as a great new talent (in the singer/songwriter genre). The gimmicky - though hardly great - "I Love My Dog" was quickly followed by "Matthew and Son" and the rather similar sounding "I'm Gonna Get me a Gun". These were included on his 1st album (which not surprisingly was also a hit). Then he seemed to quickly fade from view releasing another overproduced album (like its predecessor) that attracted little notice. However this contained what perhaps was his best - and most commercial - recording "The First Cut is the Deepest" which oddly did not receive at the time the attention that it clearly w...

Ricky Nelson (or Rick Nelson as was called for much of his career) was a pop idol at the same time as Elvis and arguably even better looking. Though churning out a succession of hits over a number of years he has been largely forgotten at this stage suggesting perhaps that his success was due more to image and marketing rather than any exceptional talent. However I would not share this perception and would consider him one of the true greats of the early rock and roll era. What I particularly liked about Ricky Nelson was the absolutely clear quality of his singing voice. Others indeed possessed more powerful and exciting voices but no male performer - with the possible exception of Don McLean - can match him on this score. Indeed in this respect he reminds me very much of Karen Carpenter. To be honest I was never a great fan of Bob Dylan as I always found it very difficult to hear what he was saying (due to a voice that sometimes resembled the scraping of sandpaper). With so much...

To be honest I was not a great fan of John Denver during his period of great commercial success in the US in the early 70's. His first great hit - apart from "Leaving on a Jet Plane" recorded by Peter, Paul and Mary - was "Take Me Home Country Roads". I have to say this is just one of those songs that does nothing for me (whether sung by John Denver or on a cover such as that of Olivia Newton John). I felt the same about many of his other popular "country" efforts such as "Rocky Mountain High"and "Sunshine on My Shoulder". Indeed I did not even like his voice at the time! Though this changed somewhat with "Annie's Song" and "I'm Sorry" it was not till the early 80's that I became a fan (and a big one at that!) What changed my opinion so much was the album "Seasons of the Heart" given to me by a Denver fan at work. It left an indelible impression on me with a couple of tracks on it still amon...

I have a simple confession to make. There is no pop single that I loved as much as "Telstar" by The Tornados on its release in August 1962. Though this love has diminished somewhat with time, I consider it a truly great pop single that still stirs something of that initial excitement I originally felt when I heard it all those years ago. At the time I would have considered myself well informed on the pop scene. So I was already aware of the Tornados from a previous unsuccessful single "Love and Fury". Once however I heard Telstar I decided "this was it" and that I had never heard a better pop instrumental. So like a religious missionary I quickly spread the "good news" to my school pals predicting that it would be a massive hit. On this at least I was proven correct in a manner that then exceeded all my expectations. Indeed its success filled me with such a sense of pleasure that it might as well have been my own creation. It quickly wen...