Wikipedia isn't always right

Wikipedia isn’t always right. I know this as members of the public occasionally refer to it in order to tell me how to do my job. Why anyone would trust a website with life and death decisions is beyond me. Especially one that tells you “West End Girls” by Pet Shop Boys wasn’t released in the UK.

Yes, that’s right. According to Wikipedia, West End Girls in its original form, as produced by Bobby Orlando, wasn’t released in the UK. Both the listing for the song and the main entry for the group state: “In April 1984, "West End Girls" was released, becoming a club hit in Los Angeles and San Francisco, and a minor dance hit in Belgium, and France, but was only available in the United Kingdom as a 12" import."

It really doesn’t matter that this statement is referenced with a link to the BBC website as it’s demonstrably wrong. 

To start with, the same Wikipedia page that says the single was only available as an import lists the original UK release along with all of the others. Secondly it is a matter of record that West End Girls reached number 121 in April 1984 on the UK Gallup singles chart. Thirdly and most tellingly of all is the fact that I, and many others, own a copy of the ‘Epic’ UK release.  

The original version of West End Girls was recorded in New York in September 1984 and produced by Bobby Olrando. It was released on Orlando’s “Bobcat Records” in the USA and subsequently licensed to various record labels in the rest of the world. In the UK, Epic Records offered a one off deal to release and distribute the track. Thus Epic Records catalogue number A4292 (7”) and TA4292 (12”) released on 9^th April 1984 is Pet Shop Boys “West End Girls”. 

That’s a fact, no matter what the BBC or Wikipedia may tell you.

It's OK not to love Tubular Bells.......

Like many others, the first Mike Oldfield record I ever heard was Tubular Bells. I didn’t buy the album when it came out as it was released the same year I was born. In fact, I didn’t buy it at all. Back in the 80’s when CD players were first becoming popular; manufacturers would bundle in free CD’s with a new player. One of my five (yes five) freebies was Tubular Bells. When I first played it I was totally bemused by it and rarely listened to it again - I was expecting something different.

It wasn’t until I saw the premier of Tubular Bells II on TV a few years later that I thought this Oldfield guy might actually be quite good. I went back to Tubular Bells but still found it a bit too odd and gritty for my taste. The sequel however, was a glistening and fluid journey through a magnificent musical landscape. I decided to blindly venture into Oldfield’s extensive back catalogue and see what else came up (not something I would recommend without assistance).

Now, if the next album I had bought had been Discovery or Islands my Oldfield odyssey might well have ended there and then. Happily my next purchase was Crises. As a fan of the Fairlight the title track was an immediate favourite. If you couple that with Moonlight Shadow and a few other less well known but interesting songs, you have a great album. In fact Crises (the track, not the album) remains my favourite Oldfield composition. Suddenly I was a Mike Oldfield fan.

When The Songs of Distant Earth was released I was stunned. For some reason I found it a quite affecting piece of music and the more I revisited the album the better it seemed to become. I still like to listen to the whole album rather than selected tracks as it is such a cohesive and moving piece of work. It remains my favourite Mike Oldfield album by quite some way.

Fast forward twenty years (surely not...*checks*…yes twenty) and Oldfield has just released some nonsense remix album that is barely worth the entrance fee. I started reading some reviews online just to check that my opinion of Tubular Beats isn’t too out of step with fellow fans. As a devotee of electronic, rather than acoustic or guitar driven music, I always assumed my opinions on Oldfield albums were often contrary to the majority of his fans. But the more opinions I read online the more I realised my destain for Tubular Beats and love of Crises and The Songs of Distant Earth is shared by many.

So if you are a Mike Oldfield fan; I’d just like to say, it’s OK not to love Tubular Bells. You are not alone.

Roland D-10: it's everywhere! (almost)

The first ‘real’ synthesizer I ever used was a Roland D-5 – it blew me away. Inevitably, the D-5 was soon stolen from our school and replaced by a D-10. I used this synth for various projects until I left school in the early 90’s

The D-10 isn’t the poor man's D-50 as its name would suggest; the two were very different machines. In fact it is a shame the D-10 has the ‘D’ prefix at all. The D-10 was a kind of early multi-timbral ROMpler that Roland began to perfect with the JV series in the 90’s. Even though it wasn’t much of a synthesis tool (changing the presets would incur a severe reprimand at our school) the D-10 had some nice sounds and was easy to operate.

Many years later when I had left school, I bought a second hand D-10 as it was familiar and, by then, cheap. Yet, I never really heard the D-10 presets on records and found I couldn’t quite get the sound I wanted from it (I was listening to lots of dance music in the early 90’s). I assumed the D-10 was just too ‘cheap’ for professional musicians and that I needed something more modern. I parted company with the D-10 around 2001 and haven’t missed it at all.

However, in recent years I am hearing the D-10 everywhere. Electronics’ “Lean to the inside” is almost completely Roland D-10 presets (actually a D-110 in this case) and the song "Idiot Country" features the Jamisen sound. 808 State used it for the lead sound on ‘In yer face’ and used various other sounds less prominently on their "Ex:el" album in 1991 (lots of Korg M1 and D50 on there too). The title track from Tangerine Dream's album "Lily on the Beach" features the drums and the preset HarmoPan and there are several other presets scattered around the album.

The most prominent use of the D-10 is probably by Mike Oldfield; his album “Earth Moving” features the D-10 on almost every song. Listening to the track “Innocent” I realise the drums, bass, and various other bits are all D-10 presets. I am at a loss as to why I never noticed the use of these sounds before.

The D-10 will never be a classic, but it was used by recording artists and there is evidence to prove it. So a synthesizer I dismissed as terrible (but one of few I could afford) is undergoing a re-appraisal.

Where is my phone? I need to look at my eBay app.

 

UPDATE MARCH 2023 - I've added a couple of other tracks I have noticed feature the D-10 and I have also recently acquired a D-110

Delta Machine is actually quite good!

The last few Depeche Mode albums have disappointed me. I guess, like everyone else, I am hoping each new release will be the “Violator 2” that, in reality, we will never see or hear.

I am gradually letting the idea of reliving my youth go and trying to accept each new album on its own terms. Yet producer Ben Hillier’s sound isn’t to my taste and both “Sounds of the Universe” and ”Playing the Angel” fell short of their potential. I will be honest; I wasn’t expecting much with new release “Delta Machine”, but I have been pleasantly surprised.

The single “Heaven” is a brooding “grower” in the “Only When I Lose Myself” mould. “Secret to the End” has some really clever touches that almost sound contemporary and hold the presses……even has some sounds that aren’t distorted. “Soothe My Soul” sounds like the “Personal Jesus” riff is about to break out at any minute and rumbles along very nicely. Tracks such as “Slow” aren’t to my taste, but there is much else to like on this disc that means the poorer tracks don’t seem to matter. “Soft Touch” sounds almost circa 1983 and “Goodbye” is a fitting ending.

So don’t approach “Delta Machine” with caution (even if Corbijn has outdone himself in terms of crap sleeves). It’s not a pop-fest by any stretch of the imagination, but it is a good album full of new ideas (and plenty of old ones) which not even Hillier could ruin.

My CD is cheaper than your mp3

In previous posts I have reasoned that buying CD’s should be dispensed with and that buying music digitally really is the best way forward. And yet I find myself continually buying CDs at a steady rate. So why? Well here is one reason why:

Today I realised a big hole had appeared in my music collection. I’m not 100% sure if I ever bought Massive Attacks “Mezzanine” or if I have lost it; either way, I don’t seem to own it at present. To remedy the situation I went straight to my chosen retailer (always amazon.co.uk as I’m lazy) and searched for the album. Just before I clicked on buy mp3 for a reasonable £2.49 I saw the price of a second hand CD.

A small light bulb lit above my head and I clicked on "used". Why would I buy a collection of mp3's when the cheaper option is to buy a CD for 1p? That's right 1p. 

I have bought a few books on amazon for this price before, but never CDs. Most people are just trying to have a clear out and figure they will make some money on postage I think, but you really do get the item for 1p. Yes, the postage is £1.20 or something, but it still works out cheaper to buy a CD than buy a digital copy. 

So all of my rhetoric about buying music in digital form has been undermined and my CD collection keeps expanding not shrinking. I will have to live with the headache of where to store all of these CDs; but with a few more pounds in my pocket.

Mr Poo Sky

Jeff Lynne seems like an affable bloke. He always comes across as a normal guy with a huge talent who has nothing to prove to anyone. He made the Electric Light Orchestra (ELO) a phenomenon in the ‘70’s and rode the wave of stardom from the bleakest parts of Birmingham to the brightest lights of Los Angeles. He has written and produced some of the greatest pop songs of the 20^th century and has collaborated with The Beatles, George Harrison and Roy Orbison to name drop but a few.

So why in the name of god has he resorted to producing the cynical pony that is “Mr Blue Sky”? Is his Los Angeles mansion costing him a fortune to air condition and he can’t afford the electricity bill? Lynne justifies the existence of “Mr Blue Sky” in the same way Mike Oldfield defended the re-recording Tubular Bells: new technology and experience means the flaws of the original can be rectified and a long held dissatisfaction can be eradicated. But as with all such re-recordings, people love the original recordings so much that a modern version is going to have to be very special to even come close to matching the original.

I for one don’t like these new versions. The opener “Mr Blue Sky” is OK, but suddenly ends where the extended coda of the original took the song into a dream like fantasy. Sure, the song is Lynne’s to do with as he wants, but as he points out in his liner notes, “Who’s in charge, you or the song?” For me it’s the song; and Lynne is trying to wrestle back too much control. Most tracks rumble by as just flat versions of the originals with the exception of “Telephone Line” and “Showdown” which I single out for special criticism. The only track to be improved is “10538 Overture” which was aptly the starting point for the band and the end of this album. Let it be the end of ELO.

Scissor Sisters Live

Until last night I had never seen Scissor Sisters live. But as Ana Matronic phrased it: Boy, I was bent over a barrel last night. It was not only the outstanding musicianship on show from the band, but the energy and sheer sense of fun that made this an outstanding performance.

As Jake danced around peeling off his clothing (a la Andy Bell circa 1988) and Ana whipped the crowd into action you couldn’t help but be drawn in by their enthusiasm. A great set list saw all the old favourites played with the assurance and self confidence of a band that have been performing together for ten years. Special mention also goes to the backing singers who were quite briliant when allowed to shine.

Wikipedia describes Scissor Sisters performances as “controversial or transgressive”, but I saw no evidence of that whatsoever last night. All I witnessed was great musicians and in an inclusive and fun loving atmosphere. Scissor Sisters live come highly recommended.