A rainbow-themed selection (in the correct polychromatic order, of course, none of this nonsense) was the inspired idea of Martin at New Amusements, who kick started proceedings with a rather excellent selection last Thursday.
Suitably fired up, Rol at My Top Ten followed a guest post featuring bands called Rainbow (great work, George) with his own selection of 'rainbow' songs on Wednesday. Again, a fab list with some forgotten gems.
And so, never one for an original idea at the best of times, I couldn't resist the temptation to have a go at my own selection of songs featuring the colours of the rainbow in the title. More by accident than design, the oldest song here is from 1994, the most recent 2023.
The song that immediately popped into my head was Basement Jaxx and Red Alert, featuring the aptly-named Blue James (or Blu or Bluski or Belinda, depending on how well you know her). Not only is it a great song, it's also a natural opener and gets things off to a rousing start. Other versions are available, though the radio edit comfortably hits all the sweet spots in just over three and a half minutes.
Taking things down a notch musically but ramping things up lyrically is Elevated Orange by Ali Shaheed Muhammad, on one of his solo outings from A Tribe Called Quest in 2004. I don't know who the intended target of the song is but with its title and lyrics like
Them laws you make
It’s not going to keep you safe
You straight transgressed the means, now it’s time for you to come clean
When I mix it up, it’s going to leave your face twisted up
It’s not going to keep you safe
You straight transgressed the means, now it’s time for you to come clean
When I mix it up, it’s going to leave your face twisted up
I can't help be reminded of a certain pus bag (former) US president in the here and now...
Lee 'Scratch' Perry up next with Yellow Tongue from his superb 2008 album The Mighty Upsetter, produced by Adrian Sherwood. 'Scratch' is joined on this song by Tunisian-French singer Samia Farah, who I first encountered as one of the On-U Sound collective guesting on Sherwood's 2006 solo album Becoming A Cliché. It's hard to believe that it's coming up to two years since Lee 'Scratch' Perry left us, so present is his music in the soundtrack of my life.
I know very little about The Allender Band as this song appeared on a freebie CD with Bristol's (now defunct) listings magazine Venue back in 2008. Discogs tells me that Green Wound was also the lead song on their EP from the same year, In The Grip Of Light. The Allender Band released an album called Outer Dark in 2009 and that appears to be it. Founding member Robin Allender joined Yann Tiersen's touring band that year (as did drummer Dave Collingwood) and appears to have had a fruitful and diverse career since, not least as a solo musician and a stand-up comedian. I really like this song, so I should check out more of Robin's music, especially as it's Bandcamp Friday.
Blue was my first purchase by Bark Psychosis and came on the back of frankly lazy music journo comparisons with late-period Talk Talk. Bark Psychosis are/were much more than that, though Graham Sutton (as Boymerang) did go on to remix .O.Rang, the band formed by former Talk Talk members Paul Webb and Lee Harris. My copy of Blue is on rather lovely but very crackly white vinyl 12" single with the full length version of the song. This edit was on the CD and 1997 compilation Game Over.
Indigo was an easier choice for me as I have a few in my collection but The All Seeing I's remix of the 2000 single by Moloko was my immediate thought. Any excuse to shoehorn Róisín Murphy into a post for the second time this week. Jason Buckle is currently a member of Jarvis Cocker's 'other band' and has released a steady stream of albums this year - two in July alone - as JP Buckle, which are all worth checking out. With song titles like Guns Versus Butter, Return Of Super Dirty, Quick Jimmy Riddle and Tinker Taylor Soldier Funk, you know you're onto a winner.
Violet was a toss-up between an Andrew Weatherall song and my final choice, Stonehouse Violets from The Bluebells' wonderful album from earlier this year, In The 21st Century. I didn't know much about The Bluebells apart from 1980s singles Young At Heart and Cath and the album - their first in over three decades - is a great listen from start to finish. This is one of my favourite songs, too.
1) Red Alert (Jaxx Radio Mix): Basement Jaxx ft. Blue James (1999)
2) Elevated Orange: Ali Shaheed Muhammad (2004)
3) Yellow Tongue: Lee 'Scratch' Perry ft. Samia Farah (2008)
4) Green Wound: The Allender Band (2008)
5) Blue (Edit): Bark Psychosis (1994)
6) Indigo (All Seeing I Glamoloko Edit): Moloko (2000)
7) Stonehouse Violets: The Bluebells (2023)
And if you're disappointed with Mr. Tumble and a succession of other charlatans giving the wrong colours of the rainbow in the wrong order, here's my go-to...
Oh, and a final thanks to John Medd, for inspiring me to take pictures of old red telephone boxes for the monthly photo challenge on his blog, Are We There Yet?
Today's image is a filtered, messed around with photo of a solitary red box in a neighbouring village. All looks quiet and peaceful, but cropped out of sight was what seemed to be a mass gathering of villagers milling on the street for an imminent party. Hopefully, not of the lynching variety, having spotted the 'not local' skulking around their precious phone box. Needless to say, I beat a hasty retreat after a long distance photo...
