Pop Memories

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...