The Man, The Medd, The Legend

Today's Dubhed selection is dedicated to John Medd. If you've been following his blog Are We There Yet? (and if not, start today!), you'll know why.

 

I've gone back through all the comments that John has left on this blog in 2024 and curated a 19-song selection from the songs or artists that he's liked, plus some that he suggested I check out and consider for a future post. Well, today's the day and this is that selection.

 

I think (I hope) I've tracked down Frank Sinatra's original take on a Gershwin classic from 1954, he revisited and recorded the song many times in his career, from what I can gather. That's by far the oldest song here, with many fresh out in 2024, including a live version of The Zuton's infectious single Creeping On The Dancefloor.

 

One artist that John hasn't mentioned here this year (so far) is Robyn Hitchcock, But I have John and fellow legend The Swede to thank for their own enthusiasm leading to my belated appreciation of the Robyn's work, so he sneaks in with the penultimate song on this selection.

 

The working titles for this selection were 'Medd in Nottingham' and 'Dear John', but a chance comment on the monthly photo challenge over at John's blog on Sunday sealed the deal. 

All in, just over an hour and a half of eclectic and great music, which I hope will provide some entertainment over the coming days and weeks.

Will be thinking of you tomorrow, John, and sending good vibes and love your way.

 

xx

 

  
1) Only The Best Will Do (Album Version): ABC (1997)

2) Aim High (Aim Higher) (The Amorphous Androgynous Remix): Paul Weller (2010)

3) Teenage Lament '74 (Single Version): Alice Cooper (1974)

4) They Can’t Take That Away From Me (Album Version) (Cover of Fred Astaire): Frank Sinatra (1954)

5) Silently (Album Version): Blonde Redhead (2007)

6) They Don't Know How To Fall In Place (Album Version): The Lemon Twigs (2024)

7) Take You Down: Daniel Pemberton (2017)

8) Creeping On The Dancefloor (Live @ Hertford Corn Exchange): The Zutons (2024)

9) A.L.O.E: Bicep (2024)

10) Unfinished Symphony (Ion Rayne Remix): GusGus (2023)

11) Paper (Single Version): Saint Etienne (1992)

12) Love Plus One (BBC Radio 2 Piano Room): Haircut 100 ft. BBC Concert Orchestra (2023)

13) Transition 2: Joy O & Ben Vince (2018)

14) Aqua Grey (2019 Short Edit): Meditation Y.S. (Yoshihiro Sawasaki) (1994)

15) "Bed Heads": Jezebell (2022)

16) Hallelujah (Ewan Pearson Remix): Happy Mondays (2020)

17) ONE (Extract XI): Noema (2023)

18) Belltown Ramble: Robyn Hitchcock & The Venus 3 (2006)

19) The Good Old Human Race: World Party (2012)

 

1954: Songs for Young Lovers: 4

1974: Alice Coopers Greatest Hits: 3 

1992: Avenue EP: 11

1997: Skyscraping: 1

2006: Olé! Tarantula: 18

2007: 23: 5

2010: Wake Up The Nation/Change Up The Nation (Deluxe Edition): 2 

2012: Arkeology: 19

2017: The Man From U.N.C.L.E. OST: 7 

2018: Transition 2 / Systems Align EP: 13

2019: Perfumed Garden Edits EP: 14 

2020: Hallelujah EP: 16

2022: Shelter Me: 15

2023: BBC Radio 2 Piano Room, 16 February 2024 (bootleg): 12 

2023: ONE: 17

2023: Unfinished Symphony EP: 10

2024: A Dream Is All We Know: 6

2024: CHROMA 001-005 EP: 9

2024: Live @ Hertford Corn Exchange, 22 February 2024 (bootleg): 8

The Man, The Medd, The Legend (1:31:39) (KF) (Mega)

Decade II: 1982

Side 1 of a cassette compilation, recorded sometime in March 1990, lost sometime in the next two decades, reimagined and recreated 11th August 2024.

 

And the hits just keep on coming...

 

If you were here for last weekend's opening brace of 80s-themed mixtapes, you'll know that of the five cassettes I recorded in 1990, only three remain. 

 

The two lost volumes covered 1982 to 1985 and I've had a go at recreating the track listing and cover art (kind of) from scratch. Some songs I vaguely recall being on the original mixtapes, others I've no idea, but I've excluded any songs that I couldn't have owned or borrowed in spring 1990. Lots had to be left out, inevitably, but I think the end results are faithful reproductions that sit well with their contemporary cassettes.

 

1982 was another fantastic year for pop and I realise how lucky I was to grow up surrounded by all this diverse and exciting music troubling the Top 40. Synths were fully embedded in the mainstream by now but with all sorts of influences and flavours stirred in. 

 

Looking back, there's a marked shift towards heavy marketing and promo by this point: videos, double pack 7" and 12" picture discs with free posters, saturation on kids' TV shows, and so on. If a single wasn't a hit, it would be re-mixed, re-recorded and re-re-re-released until, damn it, it became a hit.

Kiss Me is a prime example of this. Stephen Duffy originally formed the band Tin Tin with a couple of guys from Fashion, a Dexys Midnight Runner and producer Bob Lamb. Kiss Me was their debut single in November 1982 and flopped. The single was remixed and released in the USA by François Kevorkian in 1983 and became a minor club hit. 

 

Taking notice, Duffy's label released the remix in the UK in 1984 and it scraped to #78. Undeterred, Kiss Me was remixed yet again, this time by J.J. Jeczalik (Art Of Noise) and Nicholas Froome, and given one last shot in early 1985. Fourth time lucky, as Stephen 'Tin Tin' Duffy reached the dizzy heights of #4 and enjoyed several other hits afterwards.

I've cheated a little here and gone for François Kevorkian's remix from 1983, partly because I didn't own the original Tin Tin single back in the day and partly because it's a much better version than the 1982 original.

I've also plumped for the 12" remix of Talk Talk's eponymous single to open proceedings. An early purchase from Plastic Wax Records in Bristol, back when it was in Old Market, opposite the Trinity. As with most Talk Talk extended mixes, there are fewer vocals than the single/album version and lots of none-more-80s bridges, bells and whistles.

I was tempted to drop in the 12" mix of Party Fears Two by Associates but it pops up quite frequently in my 80s mixtapes so I've stuck with the single version here instead. Hearing this for the first time on Top Of The Pops was an attention-grabbing moment and began a lifelong love of Billy MacKenzie. What a voice.

Making their debut here along with Talk Talk are Tears For Fears, Blancmange and Scritti Politti, who will all (probably) reappear in later volumes. Others, like Yazoo, ABC and Monsoon make one-time appearances in this series.

Squeeze wrapped up an incredible run of singles with Annie Get Your Gun, recorded to promote their essential compilation, 45s And Under. 

And should any 1982 collection be without Pete Wylie's epic The Story Of The Blues? No Wah!, sorry, no way!

 

No prizes for guessing the year in tomorrow's post...

1) Talk Talk (Extended Mix Long Version): Talk Talk

2) Don't Go (Album Version): Yazoo

3) Party Fears Two (Single Version): Associates

4) Living On The Ceiling (Single Remix): Blancmange

5) The Story Of The Blues Part One (Single Version): Wah!

6) Mad World (Album Version): Tears For Fears

7) Kiss Me (U.S. Remix) (7" Version): Tin Tin

8) Poison Arrow (Single Version): ABC

9) Windpower (Single Version): Thomas Dolby

10) Ever So Lonely (Single Version): Monsoon

11) Asylums In Jerusalem (Album Version): Scritti Politti

12) Annie Get Your Gun (Single Version): Squeeze

Side One (45:46) (KF) (Mega)

John Martin

Apologies to all those John Martyn fans hovering over their keyboards, poised to point out my typo. Of course, I'm talking about John Cale and Martin Fry, both celebrating their birthday today.

 

This is the third time I've celebrated John Cale's birthday, starting with his 80th in 2022 and then belatedly last year. First time for Martin, though he (and ABC) have been regulars here, most recently with a Dubhed selection in January.

Whilst John will be blowing out 82 candles today, Martin will be taking a deep breath to tackle 66. Between them, they have been responsible for some of the greatest music of the 20th and 21st centuries. Not bad for a couple of lads out of Garnant and Stockport respectively.

 

I had the very great honour of seeing John Cale live in concert last August. I've not (yet) seen ABC, though I know a man who has and I see that Martin is back on the road with an intimate night of music and conversation later this year.

 

To celebrate, rather than the usual format of six videos, I've picked one for each gent and refreshed the two Dubhed selections that I've previously posted for each, with links at the bottom of this page.

 

The first video is Pretty People, posted just over a month ago, and one of the two tracks exclusively available on a bonus 7" with the double vinyl of Mercy, John Cale's most recent album.

 

The second is an archive clip of ABC on TopPop, Netherlands music TV show and favourite here since I discovered it on YouTube. Dating from May 1987, not only does Martin perform When Smokey Sings, but he also gets to meet Smokey Robinson for the first time in a linking segment. 

 

It's a delightfully awkward moment and the presenter sticks with an understandably fazed and nervous Martin whilst Smokey pops off for a remarkably swift costume change and performance of his own song, Just To See Her. A lovely 10 minutes.

 

Many happy returns, John and Martin!

 

 

Try To Separate Me From My Life: John Cale (2023)

 

Waiting For My Hearing To Return: John Cale (2023)

 

The Kindest Cut's The Cruelest Part: ABC (2022)

 

It's Fry Day, I'm In Love: Martin Fry & ABC (2023)

It's Fry Day, I'm In Love

It might not be Martin Fry's birthday until March but what the heck, let's celebrate with ABC anyway!

 

I last (and first) posted an ABC selection here back in November 2022, but I had the privilege of having a follow-up Imaginary Compilation Album hosted by JC at The Vinyl Villain in April 2023. So, adhering to the (made up right now) mandatory requirement to observe Fry Day randomly once per year, here's a brand new 12-song selection, split into two slightly overlong vinyl sides. Heck, if Ronco and K-Tel could do it in the 1970s and 1980s, so can I.

 

I've intentionally included one song from each of ABC's nine studio albums to date, from 1982's The Lexicon Of Love to it's eventual - and inevitable - sequel in 2016. I've included a couple of late 80s 12" A-sides too, plus a collaboration with David Arnold covering a James Bond theme tune, all of which choices were more by feel than design. 

 

Overall, I think it's a fairly representative overview of how much - and little - has changed in over four decades: the line-up, the lame suit, the lush orchestration, the lyrics. Things may come and go, but Martin Fry's vision (and incredibly, his voice) remain undimmed. 

Side One

1) Love Is It's Own Reward (1997)

2) The Ship Of The Seasick Sailor (2016)

3) Validation (2008)

4) The Night You Murdered Love (Sheer Chic Mix By The Funky Sisters ft. Contessa Lady V) (1987)

5) Poison Arrow (Album Version By Trevor Horn & Gary Langan) (1982)

6) This Must Be Magic (1991)

Side Two

1) Thunderball (Cover of Tom Jones): David Arnold ft. Martin Fry (1997)

2) Unzip (1983)

3) Love Conquers All (Extended Version By Dave Bascombe) (1991)

4) Never More Than Now (Album Version By Graeme Park & Mike Pickering) (1989)

5) Fear Of The World (Album Version By ABC & Julian Mendelsohn) (1985)

6) Jealous Lover (1987)

1982: The Lexicon Of Love: A5

1983: Beauty Stab: B2

1985: How To Be A... Zillionaire!: B5

1987: Alphabet City: B6

1987: The Night You Murdered Love EP: A4

1989: Up: B4

1991: Abracadabra: A6

1991: Love Conquers All EP: B3

1997: Shaken And Stirred: The David Arnold James Bond Project: B1

1997: Skyscraping: A1

2008: Traffic: A3

2016: The Lexicon Of Love II: A2

 

Side One (26:30) (KF) (Mega)

Side Two (25:47) (KF) (Mega)  

 

You can find my previous ABC selection from 2022 here

 

Health warning: Side 1, track 4 features The Funky Sisters who are neither sisters nor women, but rather Hit Factory head honcho Pete Waterman and PWL remix artists Phil Harding and Pete Hammond.

The Kindest Cut's The Cruelest Part

The Lexicon Of Love by ABC regularly features in "Greatest Albums Of The 1980s", usually to be found in the Top 10, often in the Top 5. I loved the singles, I loved Martin Fry's gold lamé suit, I loved the lush orchestration of the songs. All that and I didn't own the album until I bought the 30th anniversary deluxe CD of The Lexicon Of Love in 2012. 

 

It was buying belated sequel The Lexicon Of Love II in 2016 that finally prompted me to catch up with ABC's back catalogue, seven further albums in the 34 years between each Lexicon.

 

Through the 1980s, the stable core of a revolving line-up was Martin Fry and Mark White. White retired from music after 1991's Abracadabra album and ABC has continued with Fry as the sole founding member ever since.

 

It's been an interesting ride: second album Beauty Stab tried so hard not to be The Lexicon Of Love II and was a relative commercial failure, but the album reveals some great pop songs nevertheless. How To Be A... Zillionaire! and Alphabet City brought back some of the more familiar ABC sounds whilst being more firmly rooted in the 1980s than their arguably timeless debut. I remember being appalled by how awful When Smokey Sings was when I first heard it. The UK record buying public disagreed and I'll admit that I've grown to like the song over subsequent years.

 

Up and Abracadabra were blatant attempts to tap into the dance/pop crossover, 1991's Unlock The Secrets Of Your Heart name checking Shoom and The Hacienda (808 State's Lift, anyone?) At the time, I considered ABC past their sell-by date. Martin Fry already seemed old as the hills - he was actually in his early 30s - and it was hard to imagine him throwing shapes in a club. These songs have perhaps dated the most but on reflection, Fry and White's knack for a good tune and lyrics was pretty spot on.

 

The 'solo' albums Skyscraping (1997) and Traffic (2008) are lost gems, familiar ABC characteristics intact, both recalling Beauty Stab's (synth) guitar-heavy sound. Something that I'd missed/forgotten until returning to write this post was that much of Skyscraping was co-written with Heaven 17's Glenn Gregory, who also contributes keyboards. On Traffic, Fry reunited with former ABC drummer David Palmer, one of two co-writers and performers on the album, the other being Rod Stewart collaborator Chuck Kentis.

 

So, here's my first ABC selection, a C90-friendly side of eleven songs, spanning all nine albums providing a healthy dose of sunshine pop, grit and glitter, strings and tears. 

 

The title for today's selection is a line from All Of My Heart. The cover photo is from a school trip to Paris, circa 1986, and I'm guessing is a view atop the Arc De Triomphe. As the photo was taken on an (even at the time) crappy old camera and is blurred, dull and out of focus, I've applied a Leonardo Da Vinci filter from LunaPic to zhuzh it up a bit.

 

1) The Love Inside The Love (2016)

2) When Smokey Sings (7") (Remix By Bernard Edwards & Julian Mendelsohn) (1987)

3) Unlock The Secrets Of Your Heart (1991)

4) That Was Then But This Is Now (1983)

5) All Of My Heart (Album Version By Trevor Horn & Gary Langan) (1982)

6) Ocean Blue (Pacific Mix By Julian Mendelsohn) (1985)

7) One Better World (Album Version By ABC, Graeme Park & Mike Pickering) (1989)

8) Think Again (1987)

9) Life Shapes You (2008)

10) Ask A Thousand Times (1997)

11) Be Near Me (Album Version By ABC, Martyn Webster & Julian Mendelsohn) (1985)

1982: The Lexicon Of Love: 5

1983: Beauty Stab: 4

1985: How To Be A... Zillionaire!: 11

1985: Ocean Blue EP: 6

1987: Alphabet City: 8

1987: When Smokey Sings EP: 2

1989: Up: 7

1991: Abracadabra: 3

1997: Skyscraping: 10

2008: Traffic: 9

2016: The Lexicon Of Love II: 1

The Kindest Cut's The Cruelest Part (46:25) (KF) (Mega)

Hell For Leather On A Helter Skelter

Sometimes, only a poptastic playlist will do. Over 500 posts in and I'm surprised that this is the first appearance on this blog for a-ha, The Lover Speaks, Kool & The Gang, The Kane Gang, Split Enz and ABC (unless you count the latter's appearance in a mash-up mix by Go Home Productions last year).

 

I have a large sub-folder of music, which was my go-to when Lady K was very young. Very loosely labelled "Pop", it is better described as upbeat, uptempo songs without any sweary bits, although I came a cropper when this one popped up in the car. Fortunately, Mrs. K wasn't present and the F-word wasn't firmly embedded in Lady K's vocabulary from there on.

 

I'm a little bit more relaxed about the playlist these days, although you still won't find me playing either "Part 4" of this song by Alexei Sayle from the 12" vinyl or the current single by Julian Cope when Clan K are within earshot.

 

No parental advisory for this selection, 11 tunes for a (hopefully) sunny September Saturday, wherever you are.

 

1) Take On Me (Extended Version By Alan Tarney): a-ha (1985)

2) Every Lover's Sign (7" Remix By Andy Wallace & Bruce Forest): The Lover Speaks (1986)

3) Think Twice (Edit): Ralph Myerz & The Jack Herren Band ft. Christine Sandtorv (2003)

4) Take It To The Top (Album Version By Eumir Deodato): Kool & The Gang (1980)

5) Funky Kingston: Toots & The Maytals (1973)

6) Beat The Clock (Short Version By Giorgio Moroder): Sparks (1979)

7) Six Months In A Leaky Boat (Album Version): Split Enz (1982)

8) Respect Yourself (R & B Mix) (Cover of The Staple Singers): The Kane Gang (1984)

9) Mystify (Album Version): INXS (1987)

10) I Want You To Know (Album Version): Charlotte Hatherley (2007)

11) Viva Love (Album Version): ABC (2016)

Hell For Leather On A Helter Skelter (45:06)