I Sing the Supremes Part 1.

I fancy myself a singer (see "One Night Only" post) and here is the proof. This sounds tinny because of the poor quality speakers on your pc. Try listening through headphones for a slightly better listening experience. This is the first prduct of my new found ability to digitise cassette tape recordings, of which I have several hundred.

Happy listening.

I Sing the Supremes Part 2.

I fancy myself Diana Ross and here I am channelling her style of free singing that is liberated from the tyranny of the melody and consistent keys. Not to make excuses, but the circumstances under which this was recorded were two tape recorders playing in both ears earlier recordings of the song while I accompanied myself on guitar and kazoo and attempted to sing in tune and remember the words while not getting too close to the 3rd tape recorder's microphone so as to drown out everything else. Something of a technological tour de force, in my view. Recorded in 1983, in Throckley. the rock'n'roll capital of the world.

This is also the conclusive evidence as to from whence Lily's vocal abilities do come.

Sunglasses

I fancy myself someone who takes listening to music seriously while at the same time deploring people who take music seriously. I do believe that you should be able to say what it is about a piece of music that you like, how it affects you and what thay feels like. But having said that, I do not really know why I like this.It reminds me of 1970s interval music. The vocals are sweet and urgent. I like singing that has that kind of careful enunciation and clipped English tones. And obviously the subject matter is of vital, biting importance.

Don't Let Him Touch You

I fancy myself as moral but I find that this song manages to be salacious while preaching morality. Not an easy trick. Jonathan King wrote and produced it. I am not going to be cheap and make a comment about that, given the song's title. Nice big chorus, always a plus in any song, I think. I like the cello and slightly hesitant vocal in the verse too. It even pulls off the one trick normally guaranteed to make me never want to hear a song again, namely a key change in a reprise of a chorus. The singers of this later sang backing vocals on Bryan Ferry's version of "A Hard Rain's a-Gonna Fall", amongst other things.

Remember, girls "if he has you, he will leave you. Don't let him touch you".

That's The Way A Woman Is.

I fancy myself intelligent but find that as I get older I like music that is much stupider than what I used to listen to. This song makes me feel happy. I like that its only lyrics are "Uh huh uh huh huh huh huh huh huh uh huh uh huh huh huh huh huh huh huh that's the way a woman is". There are some other words as well but they are only there to fill in the song until we get to the good "Uh huh uh huh" bit again. You certainly get absolutely no insight into the way a woman is. But you can't argue against a good rhythmn and a good tune. The fact that it makes no sense is irrelevant. In fact, it is probably something to be celebrated. I like that it reminds me of when I first heard music, and what I heard was the overall sound of the record. How loud were the drums, how noisy were the guitars, what was the singer's tone of voice like. This is what was important then and all songs could have gone "Uh huh uh huh huh huh huh huh" for all I cared.

The Rose of Allendale

I fancy myself as growing up immersed in the music of the North East but know that probably is not as true as I would like. I fancy that I learnt this song in school but I suspect I actually first heard Nic Jones' version on John Peel in 1977. This is my favourite version of this song, by the Copper family from Rottingdean. People assume that this is a Scottish or Irish song but Allendale is just outside Hexham. People also assume that this is a traditional song but it was written in the 1840s by two blokes. However, through the folk tradition a Victorian composition set in a tiny village in Northumberland is passed down by a family of East Sussex agricultural workers.

This is dedicated to my beautiful wife who will illustrate the song for you. Her middle name is Mary, which has relevance to the song, as you will see. I have a particular attachment for the final verse. Not the stuff about Africa's burning sands, obviously, but the stuff about my life being a wilderness.

My life has been a wilderness
unblessed by fortune's gale,
had fate not linked my lot to hers
the rose of Allendale.

One Night Only

I fancy myself a singer but this is a real singer. This is my daughter singing on the radio. She is an actress too. All kinds of people can act but very few people can sing like this.

She must get it from her mother.