80’s

Way Back Wednesday: Alexei Sayle – “Ullo John! Gotta New Motor?”

May 19, 2021 — Leave a comment

The British stand-up comedian taking no wind out of their Sayles. Let’s go Way Back!

  • Pictured: Cover Art for “Ullo John! Gotta New Motor?” (Single) (1984) (Springtime/Island Records)

Good Morning to you! It’s Jacob Braybrooke here, as per usual, and it’s time for you to read all about your daily track on the blog, since it’s always my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! Today, we are revisiting the unlikely UK Top 20 chart success that was ‘Ullo John! Gotta New Motor?’ from Alexei Sayle. Sayle is a stand-up comic and novelist from Anfield, Liverpool – and a popular one at that. In 2007, he was voted by Channel 4 viewers as the 18th greatest gagster of all-time on their ‘100 Greatest Stand-Ups’ programme in 2007. He’s famous for his work in Shakespeare’s ‘The Tempest’ on the West End, his ‘Imaginary Sandwich Bar’ radio comedy on BBC Radio 4, and his often surrealist comedy routines in TV comedy programmes like ‘The Young Ones’ and his appearances in the ‘Carry On’ series of films. ‘Ullo John, Gotta New Motor?’ was originally released in 1982, before receiving mainstream attention when it was re-released in 1984. Sayle produced the track with Clive Langer and Alan Winstanley, who have produced for Madness and Elvis Costello. The 12-inch Vinyl single package also saw many different versions arrive at shop shelves thanks to it’s profanities. He released two other albums prior to this single, and so it wasn’t a completely random venture into music. Sayle released two follow-up singles that were included on ‘Panic’, his third and final album, which is a parody of Michael Jackson’s ‘Off The Wall’ of 1979. See if John’s Gotta New Motor yet below!

By the time that ‘Ullo John! Gotta New Motor?’ was re-issued in 1984, Sayle had starred in the popular BBC sitcom ‘The Young Ones’ and the ITV sitcom ‘Whoops Apocalypse’, which explains the better commercial luck the second time around. There has also been loads of different re-workings of the track, and a re-working from Ian Dury was ordered by Toshiba for an advertisement in 1985 because promoters started to spot the success of the single. Set to a Synthpop or soft Funk backdrop with some New-Wave synths and a few guitar licks, Sayle proceeds to perform a Spoken Word or light Rap set of sentences playing the character of a loudmouthed Liverpuddlian. The lyrics are generally a mix of banal absurdity and seemingly unconnected jokes, with off-kilter references to Barry Manilow, Bongo Drums, Avon representatives and Billy Joel taking up the picture. “Is there life on Mars?/Is there life in Peckham” is my favourite line, but “I keep tropical fish/In my underpants” and “Ere you wanna brown ale/Mine’s a light and bitter” are good moments too. There isn’t much that you can sensibly compare this record too, but there’s a playful sensibility of Ian Dury here, an abstract jumble of puns that remind me of Dry Cleaning, and it’s all dressed up in a Monty Python or Horrible Histories sense of British wit and humor in obscurity. There’s no chorus, no story, and seemingly no point, but Sayle is mocking a stretched Cockney banter that people used to talk in a certain manner around the city nearer back to the time. It’s a bit obsolete now, but Sayle pulls it off with an enthusiastic performance and a musical backdrop that uses distorted vocal effects and delay pedals to warp things a little and add to the bizzare humor. There’s not much musically here and it’s not an artistic masterpiece of complex multi-layered art, but it was never trying to be. I couldn’t really understand most of the lyrics without looking them up, but this adds a little depth to the vocals. Overall, it’s still a fun throwback to the times when comedians recorded Novelty singles around BBC Comic Relief time to assert themselves as a comedic force and that’s rather quaint these days. That said, I probably wouldn’t be asking for Michael McIntyre to record a Metal-themed parody about his Wheel, although a Novelty single from Rev Richard Coles would make sense due to his past experience as a member of Communards. It’s still a track that had me laughing though, and I’m probably going to be sorry when I find myself repeating it around the kitchen all day tomorrow. I’m sure you will be too.

  • Pictured: Alexei Sayle pictured in an article for The Irish Mirror (2016) (Photo Credit: The Daily Mirror)

That’s all for now! Tomorrow, I’ve got some new music to share with you from an emerging female solo act from Los Angeles who describes herself as a “Jazz School drop-out” who is now making her very own Rock music independently. The 22 year old singer-songwriter may have just a handful of releases out there in the world, but she’s also known for working with her childhood friend, Marinelli, on lyrics that have pointed observation and self-deprecating pop culture references about the surreality of growing up. If you really liked what you just read, why not follow the blog to get notified when every new daily post is up and why not like the Facebook page here?: https://www.facebook.com/OneTrackAtATime/

WWE WrestleMania 37 Weekend Special: Peter Gabriel – “Big Time”

April 10, 2021 — 1 Comment

If the Big Ben clock tower fell on your head, it would hurt. Big Time. New post time!

  • Pictured: Cover Artwork for “So” (Album/LP) (Released on 19th May, 1986) (via Charisma Records)

Good Morning to you – I’m Jacob Braybrooke, and it’s time for me to get typing up for your daily track on the blog, because it is always my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! Another year in lockdown has past – and so WrestleMania is “Back In Business” as their marketing tagline tells us. A two-night extravaganza of the ONE TRUE sport gives me perfect reasoning for a two-night spread of wrestling-themed posts on the blog for your entertainment and leisure, and so we start off with WOMAD’s Peter Gabriel with ‘Big Time’ – taken off his fifth album ‘So’ – released in 1986. The track was used as the theme song and marketing slogan of WrestleMania 22 in 2006, which saw John Cena defeat Triple H to win the WWE Championship in the main event. Elsewhere on the card, Rey Mysterio went over Randy Orton and Kurt Angle in a Triple Threat match to begin his first WWE World Heavyweight title run following the tragic death of Eddie Guerrero. The classic Hardcore match which saw Edge famously beat Mick Foley took place, The Boogeyman was booked to go over Booker T & Sharmell in Handicap action, and The Undertaker beat Mark Henry in a Casket Match to keep his then-Streak going. ‘Big Time’ was Gabriel’s second top-ten single on the US Billboard Hot 100, peaking at #8, and it reached #13 on the UK Singles Chart. Let’s revisit the official music video below.

This year’s WrestleMania is the 37th annual incarnation of the PPV event, and it takes place at the same site where it was supposed to be held last year before the COVID-19 pandemic tore those plans in half – and that venue is the Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida. As a result, this is the first time that any WWE programming for the last year will be taking place with a paying live audience in attendance, although to a limited capacity of around 25,000 fans. Tonight will see Sasha Banks defend her WWE Smackdown Women’s Championship against this year’s Women’s Royal Rumble winner Bianca Belair in the headline spot. Bobby Lashley (c) vs. Drew McIntyre for the WWE Championship is also scheduled to happen tonight, along with celebrity Latin hip-hop star Bad Bunny finally putting some in-ring training to good use by battling The Miz & John Morrison with Damien Priest as his partner. Seth Rollins vs. Cesaro, and a Women’s Tag Team Turmoil match to earn a shot at the WWE Women’s Tag Team titles on night two makes up the undercard. Back to the matter at hand – ‘Big Time’ was an Art-Pop crossover success that told a narrative about a man from a small town with big dreams of achieving fame, and he grows to become larger-than-life. Paired with percussive bass guitar sounds and Funk-inspired rhythm guitar licks, Gabriel croons lines like “I’ve been stretching my mouth/To let those big words come right out” and “I’ll be a big noise with all the big boys” that form a satirical study on the basic human urge of success. It grows deeper on the chorus contextually, where lines like “I’m on my way, I’m making it” and “So much larger than life, I’m going to watch it growing” are paired with a triumphant female backing vocal and some off-kilter Organ segments. As the track progresses, the theme grows more mildly psychotic, as Gabriel’s voice becomes more highly processed and the groovy bassline gets more frantic, with drum beats that get slightly more rough-edged. This can be read as a social commentary of the economic consumerist boom enjoyed by those who had not been affected detrimentally by the policies of Margaret Thatcher, with a self-referential style of songwriting that gives lines like “When I show them to my house, to my bed/I had it made like a mountain range/With a snow-white pillow for my big fat had” an irreverent sense of humor. Overall, I rather quite like this. Groovy and full of instrumentally boastful attitude, it manages to sound mainstream enough without losing it’s artistic concepts. A ‘Big Time’ 80’s treat for those Synth-loving ears.

  • Pictured: Peter Gabriel performing in 1996 (Photo by Ebet Roberts/Redferns/RollingStone.com)

That’s all for today – but don’t forget to set a reminder on your phone to tell you that I’ve got more pro wrestling-themed content on the way to your eyes and ears tomorrow, for the second entry in this year’s two-night spread of new posts inspired by the ‘Showcase Of The Immortals’ that is WWE’s WrestleMania. If you really liked what you just read, why not follow the blog to get notified when every new daily post is up and why not like the Facebook page here?: https://www.facebook.com/OneTrackAtATime/

Way Back Wednesdays: U2 – “Sunday Bloody Sunday”

April 7, 2021 — Leave a comment

What do you say to Bono when he gives you flowers? I love U2. Time for a new post…

  • Pictured: Bono (Lead Vocals/Rhythm Guitar/Percussion), The Edge (Lead Guitar/Synths/Backing Vocals), Adam Clayton (Bass Guitar/Keyboard) & Larrry Mullen Jr. (Drums) (2020) (Photo by Olaf Heine)

Good Morning to you – My name is Jacob Braybrooke, and it’s time for our weekly throw back to one of the seminal sounds of the past that have influenced those of the present, and possibly the future to come, since it’s always my day-to-day pleasure to get writing up about a different piece of music every day! One of U2’s most outright political Rock tunes, ‘Sunday Bloody Sunday’, released as the opening track and the third single from 1983’s ‘War’, their third studio album, it was largely notable for it’s connotations to Easter Sunday in it’s ending of the lyrics. Along with being well-received by critics and fans alike, this is a track which helped to propel U2 to reach a wider listening audience, and it became one of their most-performed and best-known tracks in the process. U2 are obviously mega-famous now, but, at the time, the two gut-punch of this track, along with ‘New Year’s Day’, made for a solid introduction to the Dublin rockers before the stardom set in. Although creating some controversy, the real subject matter of the track is the ‘Bloody Sunday’ incident of 1972 in Derry where British troops shot and killed unarmed civil rights protesters. Although a music video wasn’t shot, the 4-piece settled on this live performance to promote the tune instead.

Rolling Stone once declared ‘Sunday Bloody Sunday’ on their poll of ‘The 500 Greatest Songs of All-Time’ and, since it’s doing-the-rounds of the 80’s, it has been covered by over a dozen of different artists before – with the bunch including Lance Angelus, Electric Hellfire Club and Evergreen Terrace, to name just a few. Known for it’s vaguely militaristic drum beats, it’s melodic harmonies and it’s abrasive guitar sequences, the lyrics were written from the perspective of a third-person observer of ‘The Troubles’ period in Northern Ireland. Lines like “Broken bottles under children’s feet” and “Bodies strewn across the dead-end street” describe the violent aftermath of a pointless oppression, and lines such as “There’s many lost, but tell me who has won” and “When fact is fiction and TV reality” protest against the forthright and intentional damage of the tragic world situations that inspired it. The guitar riffs have a brittle feel to them, and the two-step drum beat introduces some ambiguity, yet the chorus is accessible and catchy fare. Along with the blame in refusing to accept violence as a resolution to political problems, the track speaks specifically about the hope of the Irish Easter Sunday uprising, with “The real battle just begun, To claim the victory that Jesus won” closing the track as a final repeat of the chorus is given some fresh context. Nods to human nature (“The trenches dug within our hearts”) and the role that it plays in resistance are here, while the addition of a String section towards the end (famously added by Irish Violinist Steve Wickham, who approached ‘The Edge’ at a ‘chance meeting’ at a bus stop) helps to give the track a nod towards classical Irish folk music. Overall, while there’s no denying that ‘Sunday Bloody Sunday’ is now a pretty ‘radio-friendly’ track by any means, it’s sometimes important to remind ourselves that these sounds are beloved, and that these kinds of artists – like U2 – have had so many hits coming off the back of it’s recognition. Enriched by core cultural messages, ‘Sunday Bloody Sunday’ still manages to pull it off to this day.

  • Pictured: Cover Artwork for “War” (LP) (Released on 28th February, 1983) (via Island Records)

That’s all for today – Thanks again for embarking on my weekly ‘Time Machine’ trip to the history of music with me. I’ll be back tomorrow, as always, where you can join me again to see how the first new single from The Offspring in nearly a decade has shaken out… I’m actually looking forward to that quite a bit now.  If you really liked what you just read, why not follow the blog to get notified when every new daily post is up and why not like the Facebook page here?: https://www.facebook.com/OneTrackAtATime/

Easter Sunday 2021 Special: Dolly Parton – “He’s Alive” (1989)

April 4, 2021 — Leave a comment

“He is not here, for he has risen, as he said” – He has risen indeed! Easter post time…

  • Pictured: Cover Art for “White Limozeen” (LP) (Released on May 30th, 1989) (via Columbia Records)

Wishing you a Happy Easter – it’s Jacob Braybrooke, and it’s time for me to get typing up for today’s track on the blog, just like always, because it’s always my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! No Scuzz Sundays post this week, because I’ve got something Easter themed to share with you instead today to roll with the holiday season. Dolly Parton is an artist who I don’t feel I have to give much introduction for. She’s only probably the most famous Country music star of all time, and so her discography and socio-economic impact is pretty blindingly obvious. “He’s Alive” is a track which was actually written by Worship music icon Don Francisco in 1977, released on his album ‘Forgiven’, but Parton put her own spin on the track for the closing section of her staggering twenty-ninth main album release, ‘White Limozeen’, in 1989. I’m not familiar with that record (Country music isn’t really my thing, as I’m sure that you’ve probably noticed by now), but my research indicates that she aimed to return to the Country roots of her prior work after 1987’s ‘Rainbow’ saw disappointing results. She did so to great success, with the record spending a total of 100 weeks on the US Country Albums chart, earning positive reviews, and it went certified Gold in sales. ‘He’s Alive’ looks at the resurrection of Jesus Christ from Peter’s viewpoint. Last year, Parton shared an acoustic performance of the track to her followers on Instagram, and since arguably not much has changed in the way of lockdown restrictions since then, it still feels punctual today. Let’s check it out below.

“Somebody said the other day, oh, we’ve had a rough week”, “and just think about the rough week that Jesus had, and look how well that turned out for us. I’m going to sing about that” was a lovely way for Parton to introduce her acoustic rendition of the track in the video of her performance above, and ‘He’s Alive’ had previously earned it’s original producer, Don Francisco, similarly rock solid success in the way of two notable Dove music awards following it’s release way-back-when. Parton gets her version off to a bang with her signature voice and some stirring, naturally acoustic guitar chords. Parton balances a noticeably grounded tone with some more profound odes to religious events during the track, with lines like “Looked down into the street, Expecting swords and torches, And the sound of soldiers feet” and “The stone’s been rolled away, And now his body isn’t there” narrates the story of Peter’s revelation of seeing that Jesus’ body had been risen from the tomb on Easter Sunday in a more Spoken Word form. The grand finale of the track sees Parton exclaiming “I believe it, He’s Alive” and “Sweet Jesus” above a slightly more rough guitar rhythm and nothing more, as she celebrates the revelation in unbridled joy. Parton would usually perform the track with a Choir to back her up, but she joked that “there wasn’t enough elbow room” for one last year (and there still isn’t this year…) and so, using nothing more than her acoustic guitar and her natural voice in the solo performance, she does a great job of bringing some religious context to a holiday that is commercially about overpriced chocolate and a longer weekend. It really isn’t “my thing” in the personal opinion sense, but it makes a good reminder for what the strange holiday of Easter has been built upon. Seriously, why have it on a different day every year? It’s to do with the Moon and the Equinox, but just how? Anyways – You go and have a good one.

  • Pictured: Dolly Parton at the 53rd Annual CMA Awards in Nashville (2019) (Photo via Forbes.com)

That’s all for now! I’ll be back tomorrow for another Easter-themed post that is contemporary, and so that makes for a switch-up. Bank Holiday Monday… it looks like I forgot to book it off. I’ll catch you tomorrow then. If you really liked what you just read, why not follow the blog to get notified when every new daily post is up and why not like the Facebook page here?: https://www.facebook.com/OneTrackAtATime/

Way Back Wednesdays: New Order – “Fine Time/Don’t Do It”

March 24, 2021 — Leave a comment

Just over 20 years later – Is there still ‘Truth Faith’ in this track to soar? New post time!

  • Pictured: Bernard Summer (Lead Vocals/Rhythm Guitar/Synths), Phil Cunningham (Lead Guitar/Electronic Percussion), Gillian Gilbert (Keyboard/Programming), Tom Chapman (Bass Guitar) and Stephen Morris (Drums/Splicing/Percussion) (2021) (Photo taken from PR/Factmag.com)

Good Morning to you! My name is Jacob Braybrooke, and it’s time again for me to get typing up for your daily track on the blog, because it is always my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of new music every day! It’s Way Back Wednesday – where we revisit one of the important sounds of the past that has influenced the exciting, fresh sounds of the present. New Order are cool – and it’s about ‘Fine Time’ that we featured some of their material on the blog. Although this track probably isn’t given the same mainstream airplay as ‘True Faith’, ‘Blue Monday’ or ‘World In Motion’, it still reached #11 in the UK Singles Chart. Although I probably wouldn’t consider New Order to be one of my top favourite artists upon my initial instincts – I have consistently enjoyed the music that Bernard Summer and his co-horts have put out over the years, and since a bulkload of that music was from before my time, I think that has something to say about their funky musicianship and crossover appeal. ‘Fine Time’ was officially released in 1988 as the A-side of a 12″ Vinyl release, which included the B-side of ‘Don’t Do It’. Written and recorded partially while the band were on tour in Ibiza, the lyrics were modeled after a witty incident where drummer Stephen Morris’s car was towed, and he had nearly forgotten to pay the fine for the penalty. It was another modest hit for the band in the UK, but it also found success within the Top 10 chart in Finland, Ireland and New Zealand, along with finding commercial success in the US, where it landed a spot on three of Billboard’s genre charts. The track was later included as a single from the band’s fifth studio album, ‘Technique’, a year later. Let’s cast our minds back with the official music video below.

“My car had been towed away and I had to remind myself to go and pay the fine”, Summer said to his press team on the track back in the day, “I just wrote ‘Fine Time’ on this piece of paper, to remind myself to go get it and, I thought that’s a good title” was the statement that he used to explain how, at times, the human eye is the most responsible component for creativity. The critics were also big fans of the single, with Aaron Febre of Niner Times writing that it’s off-kilter sound had “refurbished the band and gave them a fresh start, and Ned Raggett of AllMusic writing that it “not only had paid attention to the acid-house/Ibiza explosion but used it for its own ends, capturing the frenetic energy that the musical eruption on British shores had unleashed with strength and style” in his review. It certainly has a vibrancy and a sense of experimentation which gives it a distinctive edge, especially for a group who were off the back of their commercial peak at the time, with the low-pitched voice samples and the hyper-energetic synthesizer sequences going for an outgoing vibe. The keyboard sections also feel wonky and not conventionally structured, with an overall Disco influence that feels subverted by the explorations of Neo-Psychedelia. The vocals contemplate the moral universe of the dancefloor, and by extension, party life. Lyrics like “You’re much too young, to be a part of me” and “You’ve got class, but most of all, You’ve got love technique” feel enigmatic, but witty due to their drunk-sounding effects. We get to a bridge were “The past doesn’t matter” is repeated by a robotic sound effect that evokes the Industrial Motorik of Kraftwerk or Visage, but the instrumentation feels less flat and the lyrics feel more daft. Overall, it is a likeable anthem because it sounds like something I would feature on my “That Was A Hit” segment of my radio show, in the sense that it feels like a hit that was unusual for being that. This clearly breaks away from the typical Pop format with the seemingly unrelated vocal hooks and the musical non-sequiturs making for a strange mixture. It felt like a bold creative direction for the group to take, however, because they were determined to re-invent with the use of a crazy, silly ode to the Ibiza Club and Acid House dance music explosion and, for all of these risks, it succeeds in paying them off.

  • Pictured: Cover Art for “Technique” (LP) (Released on January 30, 1989) (via Factory Records)

Well, it really has been a pleasure to stop and muse as always… but it’s about “fine time” that I got on with a few other jobs on today’s list now. I’ll be ready to go back at it again tomorrow, however, with an in-depth look at a collaborative single that seems to have gone down as a hit for the BBC Radio 6Music listener’s group on Facebook, coming from a lesser-known US indie Post-Rock band from Illinois who based their debut album on the frontman’s early experience of living among a Cult. If you really liked what you just read, why not follow the blog to get notified when every new daily post is up and why not like the Facebook page here?: https://www.facebook.com/OneTrackAtATime/

Way Back Wednesdays: Jason Donovan – “Too Many Broken Hearts”

February 24, 2021 — Leave a comment

Wouldn’t you have liked to been Neighbours with Scott Robinson? Let’s go Way Back!

  • Pictured: Cover Art for “Ten Good Reasons” (Released on May 2nd, 1989) (via PWL/Mushroom Records)

Good Morning, I’m Jacob Braybrooke and it’s time for this week’s Blast From The Past as part of our “Way Back Wednesdays” series, where we celebrate the sounds from before 2000 – not forgetting that it’s always my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! My mother is a massive fan of James Donovan, the Australian star who has graced our screens and the stage since the 80’s. Whether it’s playing the titular role in ‘Joseph and The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat’ throughout the 1990’s, or singing with his fellow Neigbours soap star alumni Kylie Minogue on ‘Top Of The Pops’, Donovan is never the kind of guy to give up the fight for anything – except ITV’s latest series of entertainment show ‘Dancing On Ice’ – where back injuries led to his very unfortunate exit from the competition. Not gonna lie, that threw a wrench in my plans a tiny bit when I heard the news yesterday because I planned to write this post over a week ago as a pick-me-up for Donovan’s luck in the contest. Nevertheless, he’s pulled out to Fight another day – I guess. Donovan’s had a very successful Pop career too, although arguably little may remember “Ten Good Reasons”, his debut album, it was still the best-selling album in the UK of 1989, and Jason’s had four UK #1 Singles along with a figure of 3 million records sold in the UK. On that note, I’m going to revisit ‘Too Many Broken Hearts’, Especially For You, below.

Released in May, 1989 by PWL and Mushroom Records, ‘Ten Good Reasons’ would go on to spawn three UK #1 singles for Jason Donovan, including this track, the Kylie Minogue duet track that I slipped in as a pun above and “Sealed With A Kiss”, with their commercial success making history for Donovan, who became the first Australian-born male solo artist to hold the pole position spots for both the UK Single and UK Album Charts simultaneously, at one point, back in the heyday. This is a simple, high energy and uplifting pop love song from the 80’s, and so it arguably plays out exactly how you would expect. Led by a recognizable guitar riff and a grooving drum opening with a few splashings of Brass instrumentation thrown in to give it a punchy feeling, Donovan starts to sing: “Last night you talked about leaving/I said I can’t let you go” to set the scene. The bridge puts the steering wheels in motion, with lines like “You give me one good reason to leave me/I’ll give you ten good reasons to stay” and “You’re the only one I believe in” being sung over the top of a mildly odd Xylophone dynamic and the trundling, light string section. The vocal delivery is a little strained, but the backing track is catchy and the rhythm is very upbeat. The chorus of “Too many broken hearts in the world, there’s too many dreams can be broken in two” and the final line of “I won’t give up the fight for you” makes things even more upbeat and melodic. I suppose it’s fair to say the crooning here is a little flat, in the original recording, but he has obviously sharpened up his skills in the decades since, and it would make for a fun live performance by today’s standards. I find the dated feel quite charming, however, and I think Donovan is a likeable vocal prescence here. The chorus is a bit karaoke – but it’s a catchy ear-worm and I find the lyrics to be mildly amusing, although I’m not sure why. Although auto-tune wasn’t really a thing back then, it’s still nice to hear his real voice being used. Overall, the label were clearly looking for a hit here, but I feel it’s perfectly fine and pleasant to listen to because it’s catchy and it doesn’t feel like it’s been over-played in the modern times. It’s not the most deep and meaningful songwriting I’ve ever heard, but it’s a pop career vehicle from the 1980’s, so I know what grain of salt to take it with and it’s not meant to be taken too seriously. Pretty good overall, I think the song deserves more credit than it may get nowadays and that Jason’s still got plenty of Fight in him left. *Picks up Kylie*

  • Pictured: Jason Donovon at the stage door of The London Palladium (2018) (Photo by Irene Cecilia)

That’s all for today – Thanks for your support in checking out what I had to share today! Please join me again tomorrow for more of the same, where I’ve got brand new music to review from a Lo-Fi/Indie Pop non-binary singer-songwriter based in the suburbs of Chicago who just released their debut album on Saddest Factory – the new record label owned by the woman of the moment, Phoebe Bridgers. If you really liked what you just read, why not follow the blog to get notified when every new daily post is up and why not like the Facebook page here?: https://www.facebook.com/OneTrackAtATime/

Way Back Wednesdays: The Sugarcubes – “Birthday”

February 3, 2021 — Leave a comment

I went to Iceland before. I left with a Frozen Pizza and an Indian meal. New Post time!

  • Pictured: Bjork Guðmundsdóttir (Lead Vocals), Einar Örn Benediktsson (Trumpet), Sigtryggur Baldursson (Drums), Þór Eldon (Guitar) & Margrét Örnólfsdóttir (Keyboard) (1992) (via Pinterest.com)

Wishing you a Good Afternoon – I’m Jacob Braybrooke and it’s time, yet again, for me to get typing up for your daily track on the blog, because it is always my day-to-day pleasure to write about a different piece of music every day! I recently made my own audio documentary podcast for my MA degree coursework which explored the socio-economic impacts of Bjork as a contemporary cultural icon, and when I asked my mother and my father if they could recall her early work as the lead singer of The Sugarcubes, both of their faces looked a little too blank. On this note, I thought that “Birthday” would make a great choice for our weekly vintage music appreciation feature – here on the blog. This old Icelandic Post-Punk band were arguably where it all started for Bjork, and “Birthday” is widely considered to be her first international hit. Released as the first single from their debut studio album, “Life’s Too Good”, back in 1998 – “Birthday” is a fitting embodiment of the subversive and slightly playful character of Bjork and The Sugarcubes, and after gaining support from BBC Radio 1 icon John Peel, along with the influence and support from trusted publications like NME and Melody Maker at the time, “Birthday” reached #2 on the UK’s Indie Singles chart, and the band would find success in the US after performing the track on an episode of Saturday Night Live, in October 1998. Check out the (English) video below.

“Life’s Too Good” turned out to be a surprise success for the group of 1980’s Icelandic Punk culture producers, with the band taking elements from the Post-Punk sound that characterized both the Icelandic modernity and long-standing naturalist views of their country of the time, and they blended these old capitalist ideas with a quirky twist on the conventional Pop song structure in their compositional approach. The lyrics find Bjork singing about the character of a child who has strikingly unusual habits for a five-year-old girl. The repetition of the line “Today is her birthday” makes these themes clear, although the vocals are more based around very tight wordplay, as opposed to a clear and straightforward context. Lyrics such as “She has one friend, he lives next door/They’re listening to the weather” and “Collects fly wings in a Jar, Scrubs horse flies, and pinches them on a line” are guided through the off-key melodies created by the fairly industrial New-Wave shrills. The list of weird interests and the jumbled poetry on the imagination of the character rattle along to upbeat keyboard riffs, warm syncopated percussion and the clunking Trumpet melodies, while it never becomes very clear what the small girl is doing. Instead of following the build-up with an evident response, we instead get a very experimental method of singing from Bjork, which some listeners may conceive as yelling – as a refusal to conform to any specific style or format. The cries are guttural and expressive, and while the band follow a typical Pop song structure, there’s a noticeable touch on Dance music elements that gave this single it’s depth to stand out. The drums keep things moving along at a swift pace, and the swooping guitar melodies evoke a Cocteau Twins-like feeling of Shoegaze for me to create a more ethereal and brighter atmosphere. The sound would have been a very forward-thinking one at the time, and it was also very notable for that star-making performance from Bjork, who has a career of such longevity. There’s absolutely no wonder to what she would go on to do.

  • Pictured: Cover Art for “Life’s Too Good” (Released on April 25th, 1998) (via One Little Indian Records)

Well – there’s some nostalgia that I never could have properly had. Way Back Wednesdays will be back at the same point next week. Before then, I’ll be continuing to champion fresh new tunes on the blog. That’s true for tomorrow – with an in-depth look at a hot-off-the-press artist who has yet to even release a full length LP. We turn to the Contemporary R&B genre for our introduction to a female artist who took the bold decision to drop out of her training at the BRIT’s School, and she’s since supported Rita Ora and Ray BLK on tour. If you really liked what you just read, why not follow the blog to get notified when every new daily post is up and why not like the Facebook page here?: https://www.facebook.com/OneTrackAtATime/

Way Back Wednesdays: Visage – “Fade To Grey”

January 13, 2021 — Leave a comment

A melancholic classic from a band who you could say were… Strange. New post time!

  • Pictured: Steve Strange (Lead Vocals/Producer/Writer), Steve Barnacle (Bass Guitar), Robin Simon (Rhythm Guitar/Synths) and Lauren Duvall (Backing Vocals) (in 2013) (Photo Credit: David Levine)

Good Morning to you – My name is Jacob Braybrooke, and it’s time for a brand new installment of our weekly Way Back Wednesdays feature, where we recover a gem that holds up today, yet pre-dated the 2000’s. This is just the second edition of the feature, and so if you could give me a like and a follow, I would really appreciate it – because it’s my day-to-day pleasure to write up about a different piece of music every day! “Fade To Grey” was released way back in 1980 by the English Synthpop act Visage, via Polydor Records, and it’s still one of the few Non-Pet Shop Boys or Non-Erasure 80’s Synth-Dance tracks to have really survived in the mainstream public’s conscience since that era of futuristic Pop and Kraftwerk-inspired Electronica. Although it failed to make too much of an impression the first time around, it became much more popular when it was re-released in 1991, a time which saw it reach #8 on the UK Singles Chart. As well as making a huge impact for the group in the 80’s LGBT culture, it saw extended success on the European club circuit, reaching #1 in Germany and Switzerland. Steve Strange was the lead vocalist, who kept the act going until 2015, where he tragically passed away from a heart attack. Looking upwards, Visage were significant to the blossoming New Romantic fashion movement, which I wish that I was born to see, during the 1980’s. On “Fade To Black”, Strange wrote the lyrics, while the French vocal sections were written and composed by Rusty Egan’s Belgian love interest – Brigitte Arens. You could still check out the original music video below.

“Fade To Grey” was certified as Silver in UK sales in 1981, and the music video was particularly significant for another key reason, in that it was one of the first music videos to be directed by the team of Kevin Godley and Lol Creme, who went on to direct very famous videos for The Police, Duran Duran, Herbie Hancock, Ultravox, Yes, and several others of 80’s fame in popular culture. It starts off as soft and gentle, before a sweeping Synth line and French backing vocals set the scene. Strange croons: “One man on a lonely platform, One case sitting by his side, Two eyes staring cold and silent, Shows fear as he turns to hide” on top of off-kilter keyboard keys, and the repeating Synth groove. The electronic beats feel flat in a sense, heavily inspired by the technological views of Kraftwerk and David Bowie as a potentially tyrannical force. The lyrics of the refrain, where Strange sings: “We fade to grey”, create a fairly uneasy atmosphere, whilst the verses play on introversion and Gothic themes. The mood is enigmatic and hostile, yet it’s sold with the calm tones of it’s cinematic quality. The synth instrumentation is cerebral, yet melodic enough for the Post-Disco sounds and the industrial pop elements to create a danceable atmosphere. Although I can’t understand the French vocal interludes because I’m a roast beef dinner, as the Frenchfolk may say, they add a suited sophistication to the methodical, artsy style. Pretentious in the best way, I still feel that the track manages to sound contemporary and futuristic. The Synth riff is iconic, and the detailed production goes a long step in the way of exuding an atmosphere to fill a dim-lit dancefloor with mascara-running teens. Yet, it’s exotic. For a minute, it feels like the gloom of the AI-age future to come.

  • Pictured: Cover Artwork for “Visage” (Self-Titled LP) (Released in 1980) (via Polydor Records)

That’s all for today! I’ll be back again tomorrow, and wouldn’t you know it, I have finally got some brand new music to share with you. Tomorrow’s track comes from a Hertfordshire-based English indie folk trio of three sisters who began their musical journey by performing together at open mic nights in Watford hosted by their local pub, and they were scheduled to perform a live set at Glastonbury festival last year before, well, you know what, to mark the end of a four-year hiatus. If you really liked what you just read, why not follow the blog to get notified when every new daily post is up and why not like the Facebook page here?: https://www.facebook.com/OneTrackAtATime/

New Year’s Eve Special: The Ramones – “Merry Christmas (I Don’t Want To Fight Tonight)”

December 31, 2020 — Leave a comment

Medicine to get us all through the end of this dumpster fire of a year. New post time!

  • Pictured: Cover Artwork for “Brain Drain” (LP) (Released on March 23rd, 1989) (via Sire Records)

Top ‘O’ The Morning to you! My name is Jacob Braybrooke, and it’s time for me to get writing up about today’s track of the day on the blog, since it’s always my day-to-day pleasure to spotlight a different piece of music every day! As we wave goodbye to 2020, and we look to the future that 2021 holds, we’re going to take a listen back to 1989 for our latest festive track on the blog. Legendary rockers The Ramones are the band in question for today, a group who have been credited for being the first, if not one of the first, true Punk music bands. An amusing story about The Ramones is how they were inspired to record music by their love of The Beatles, and they used to check into hotels under the name of “Paul Ramon” – as a tie-in reference to Sir Paul McCartney. A seasonal offering that was included as a Bonus Track for their eleventh studio album, “Brain Drain”, released in 1989, “Merry Christmas (I Don’t Want To Fight)” was later used on the soundtrack of “Christmas With The Kranks” in 2004. “Brain Drain” was a tough album for every member of the band to partake in, with financial issues and personal issues a-plenty. However, it still contained some of their trademark material, like the huge radio hit “Pet Sematary”, which was used in the film adaptation of the Stephen King novel of the same title. It was also their first album to feature the return of Marky Ramone, their last one to feature Dee Dee Ramone as the bassist and their last to be distributed through Sire Records. Sadly, “Merry Christmas (I Don’t Want To Fight Tonight)” failed to chart in the UK. Let’s take a listen to it below.

Despite having relatively limited commercial success at times – The Ramones still remain to be one of the most influential groups in music of all-time, and they are still well-known in the public eye. Their achievements get merited as such by countless journalists and publications, including being named the second-greatest band of all-time by Spin in 2013, along with being awarded the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2011, and getting inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame back in 2002. The festive track was originally released as the B-side to “I Wanna Live” in 1987, and a bunch of slightly different versions have been recorded ever since. A slow intro is quickly proceeded by a sharp-edged lead guitar riff, and Joey chants: “Merry Christmas, I Don’t Want To Fight Tonight with you” in a primitive and yearning tone. This cues for the sleigh bells to get jingling, and Joey laments lines like: “Where is Santa and his sleigh? Tell me why, is it always this way?” and “I love you and you love me, And that’s the way it’s got to be” over the top of delayed pedal effects and suspended chords. An electric Drum melody is briefly noticeable, while the chorus feels more ballard-driven and hook-led, with Joey singing: “Merry Christmas, I Don’t Want To Fight Tonight with you” while the bass guitar lines continue to amble in and out of the seasonal sounds. The lyrics are written with a witty middle-aged marriage theme, and lines like “All the children are tucked in their beds/Sugarplum fairies dancing in their heads” emphasize these reflections on youth, and the vocals remain Christmassy enough to qualify as an Alternative Christmas single. In fact, it even sounds like an ode to the Phil Spector-produced Christmas tracks for the most part, but with an off-kilter hard rock/soft metal style that includes guitars being played a small fraction out of tune, giving off a Post-Punk facelift to proceedings. The moment may have passed a little, but it is still a robust and solid effort from one of the classics.

  • Pictured; Joey Ramone (Lead Vocals/Rhythm Guitar), Johnny Ramone (Lead Guitar/Percussion), Dee Dee Ramone (Bass Guitar) & Tommy Ramone (Drums) (1976) (Photo by Roberta Bayley/NYTimes.com)

Thank you for spending some of your New Years Eve right here! Why not ring in the New Year with me again tomorrow? – Where we are going to be taking an in-depth look at a slight hidden gem of a festive track which promises some crowd-pleasing results. It comes from an American Soul singer and businessman who has won five Grammy Awards, and he was once a half of the Southwestern Alternative Hip-Hop duo Gnarls Barkley. It also features a cameo appearance from an ensemble cast of Muppets – the most famous Jim Hension creation of all-time.  If you really liked what you just read, why not follow the blog to get notified when every new daily post is up and why not like the Facebook page here?: https://www.facebook.com/OneTrackAtATime/

Boxing Day Special: ‘Weird Al’ Yankovic – “Christmas At Ground Zero”

December 26, 2020 — Leave a comment

Believe it or not – I will be in Tiers by the time that this is all over with. It’s Boxing Day!

  • Pictured: Cover Art for “Greatest Hits Volume II” (Released on October 25, 1994) (via Scotti Brothers)

Stuffed yourself with all of the trimmings yet? Good Morning, I’m Jacob Braybrooke and it’s time for me to get writing up about your daily track on the blog, because it is always my day-to-day pleasure to write to you about a different piece of music every day! That means… Boxing day, since there is no rest for the weary-eyed. “Christmas At Ground Zero” is a rather bizzare and obscure Christmas-themed track from 1986. It was written and performed by the Comedy Rock singer “Weird Al” Yankovic – who was one of the original viral favourites. A track that is essentially about Nuclear Omnicide, the title of “Ground Zero” refers to the area where the Twin Towers stood, prior to the terrifying events of 9/11, once in New York City. Before this, however, it was a reference to the spot where a Nuclear Missle was targeted to hit, and since it was recorded in 1986, that’s what Yankovic is playing around with here. He wrote it in a parody style of a Phil Spector-produced Christmas track – so just think about The Ronnetes, Darlene Love and The Crystals – and you’re there. It’s pretty mind-bending to think about just how successful that Yankovic has been for a Comedy artist writing music about niche subject areas. He’s been going since 1976 and since that time, he’s managed to sell over 12 million albums, performed more than 1,000 live shows, and he’s also won 5 Grammy Awards, along with a further 11 award nominations. In more recent years – Yankovic has written two children’s books. Let’s stream the track below.

With his trusty Accordion at hand – Yankovic has managed to perform many viral hits in Comedy parodies for the likes of Michael Jackson, Lady Gaga, Coolio, Madonna, The Backstreet Boys, The Rolling Stones, Nirvana and loads more, mostly within his signature Polka style. “Christmas At Ground Zero” is no different for hitting the consistent running gags and eliciting some belly laughs in the process. Juxtaposing uplifting Sleigh bells to shots of disastrous nuclear explosions from the music video, Yankovic sets up the scene with: “It’s Christmas at Ground Zero/There’s music in the air” over the top of typically melodic Saxophone samples, before he adds: “The sleigh bells are ringing/The carolers are singing/While the air-raid sirens blare” as the tone shifts. Festive Trumpet melodies contrast with Macabre scenarios as Yankovic happily sings daft lyrics like: “We can dodge debris while we trim the tree, Underneath the Mushroom cloud” and “Just seconds left to go, I’ll duck and cover with my Yuletide lover” above the saccharine, 50’s sounds of Jazz instrumentation that conveys a jolly yet psychotic beat, while a subtle pair of Air Raid sirens sound blare quietly in the background. It’s the bridge at the end that spells it out for us, as Yankovic sends us off with: “What a crazy fluke, we’re gonna get nuked” as the depressing reminder that it’s the Ground Zero settlement that we’re dealing with springs to mind once again. It feels very child-like and silly, yet it struck a chord with audiences. I think that’s because Yankovic manages to subvert the standard Christmas track in terms of the musicality and lyrics with the darker, but still comedic and quirky, undercurrents. It’s a fun alternative to your bog-standard Band Aid or your obvious Cliff Richard fare, albeit probably not one that is suitable for the whole family. How very festive indeed.

  • Pictured: Cover Artwork for “Polka Party!” (Released on October 21, 1996) (via Scotti Brothers)

That’s it for Boxing Day! On another note – join me again tomorrow for a festive edition of our Scuzz Sundays feature – where we take a look back at one of the Pop-Punk or Emo-Rock ghosts of Christmas past to see if they can still deliver the goods to us in the present times… and this next one was a collaboration for the ages! If you really liked what you just read, why not follow the blog to get notified when every new daily post is up and why not like the Facebook page here?: https://www.facebook.com/OneTrackAtATime/