The Tribal Chief Is Turning 80

 

Today, Sunday Adeniyi Adegeye – better known as King Sunny Adé – is celebrating his eightieth birthday. He is a Nigerian singer and multi-instrumentalist who reigned as the master of juju music in his native Nigeria long before the rest of the world took notice. His 17-piece band, the African Beats, was legendary for marathon gigs lasting up to eight hours. In the 1980s, he achieved a global breakthrough with his polyrhythmic Yoruba style, in which he let his guitar do the talking. This was not only because the Talking Heads also adapted his sound. His songs are steeped in tradition and consists of long, hypnotic, interlocking grooves, complex guitar arrangements and percussive rhythms.

Happy birthday King Sunny Adé

King Sunny Adé - Synchro System

King Sunny Adé - Ja Funmi

Clap Your Hands

 

Not all handclaps are real; some are generated synthetically. A good example is a song by New Order that is mentioned far too rarely.

The Talking Heads also made use of this stylistic device in 1983.

To round things off, here’s a song where the rhythm is created by clapping, which acts as the perfect counterpoint to Hope Sandoval’s ethereal voice.

Singles Released This Week Years Ago

 

No long introductions. The songs speak for themselves. As always, songs that were in the charts and a few obscurities.

1993: Counting Crows

1966: Marvin Gaye & Kim Weston

1966: Donovan

1967: Small Faces

1968: Manfred Man

1977: Talking Heads

1971: Don McLean

1972: Focus

1961: Gene Chandler

1980: Rockpile

1994: Madonna

1979: The Clash

The Last Houses

   

 Everything comes to an end, even going around looking at different houses. We conclude this short series with a few songs that couldn't be more different.

The first one is from the fifth album by Talking Heads in 1983. This song shaped exactly the style of the bands last episode. Combining funk and new wave in an excellent way. It's no surprise that this would become her biggest chart success in the United States.

The next one is a seldom played song by Jimi Hendrix. Perhaps only because he didn't launch into his usual feedback orgies here, instead demonstrating his technical skills with a classic blues number.

Want more blues? Gladly, because with House Rent Boogie and John Lee Hooker, we're going back to its roots. Everyday stories are told with great emotion and a classic guitar. George Thorogood later conjured up a killer slide guitar riff from this.

Last but not least, a classic from LCD Soundsystem that has already been discussed extensively. Even after all these years, it remains a great song.

Singles Released This Week Years Ago

 

1970: Neil Young

1978: Talking Heads

1961: Aretha Franklin

1972: Focus

1986: Peter Gabriel and Kate Bush

1989: 10.000 Maniacs

1968: The Zombies

1982: Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers

1978: Gloria Gaynor

1984: Frankie Goes To Hollywood

1994: Nirvana

1968: Cloud Nine

1965: Santana

1979: Madness

1979: Marianne Faithful

Singles Released This Week Years Ago

 

This week's look back mainly takes us back to the time before punk changed everything, but also includes a Bruce Springsteen track that is one of my favorites of his.

1972: The Hollies

1960: The Shadows

1971: Paul Revere and the Raiders

1973: Elton John

1973: Paul Simon

1978: Bruce Springsteen

1966: The Beach Boys

1975: David Bowie

1979: Talking Heads

1976: Todd Rundgren

Singles Released This Week Years Ago

 

One more journey to some songs from my musical education.

1967: The Kinks

1981: Talking Heads

1998: Madonna

1970: The Temptations

1982: ABC

1966: Wilson Pickett

1980: Roxy Music

1969: Joe Cocker

1974: Bad Company

1987: Suzanne Vega

X Again

 

Yesterday's post was dedicated to the latest album by SAULT. Our friend Ernie has left the following comment: Good stuff but I thought from the title this would be your tribute to the pioneering LA punks of the same name. Maybe there is a follow up post there. Let his wish be my command, because it can't be that this band has never been mentioned here before.

X was one of the first punk band formed in Los Angeles in the late seventies by John Doe and Exene Cervenka. Doe was raised in Brooklyn and got infected to punk when he saw Talking Heads at CBGB's and The Heartbreakers at Max's Kansas City. He packed his things and moved to the west where he met Cervenka where they got friends and formed this legendary group together with guitarist Billy Zoom.

In 1980 they released their debut album Los Angeles which got some critical acclaim but it wasn't successful at it's release. I owned this album by recommendation of my local music dealer and not really knowing what kind of music awaits me. The album thrilled me right from the start because it doesn't just consist of three chords, but the musicians have mastered their instruments (although that shouldn't be essential). The fact that they have allowed other influences such as Eddie Cochran and rockabilly right from the start sets them apart from West Coast punks like the Black Flags.

Their songs, in which Doe and Cervenka alternate, are highly melodic and the quirky harmony vocals became the band's most distinctive element. With their following album Wild Gift they added more country influence to their sound and I think The Gun Club was inspired by their sound. In the mid eighties X vanished from my radar and I got aware of them again when they released their last album last year. 

I don't know why they didn't got the reputation The Ramones got because their first records were highlights from this music/decade.

X - Johnny Hit And Run Paulene

X - Soul Kitchen Cover from The Doors probably because Ray Manzarek produced their first albums

X - Los Angeles

X - The Once Over Twice

X - Beyond And Back

X - Some Other Time

Singles Released This Week Years Ago

 

Another week and another foray through the releases of new songs from the last 60 years. There wasn't much of note, but enough to fill this post.

1977 - David Bowie released Low, probably his best album from this decade and Sound and Vision was one of the highlights from this album.

1958 - Doo Wop is not the thing I listen often but I like this song by The Monotones without any reason.

1980 - The Clash released Train In Vain from their epochal album London Calling. Still fascinating.

1966 - From his album Blonde On Blonde Bob Dylan released One Of Us Must Know one of the best songs from this album.

1967 - A classic pop song by The Turtles was released.

1972 - Dr. Hook appeared on the scene with a one of the best songs about lost love.

1966 - The Walker Brothers released their masterpiece. Scott Walker's voice is still thrilling.

1980 - Talking Heads released Fear Of Music and showed on this song why they were one of the best bands from this time.

Singles Released This Week Years Ago

 

From time to time I go online just to see what has happened musically on that day in the past. It's always amusing to see which basically unimportant events are mentioned on various sites. What makes it interesting for me is that albums or songs are mentioned that were released on a certain day. I'm often reminded to listen to them again or what memories I have of them. Here are some songs that were released years ago this week, with no direct connection between them. We'll see if this becomes a series.

Loggins and Messina were an American country-pop duo and became famous in the early-mid seventies with some great songs. I own only their live album On Stage from 1974 where this song is from. It shows how good the Westcoast sound could be in these days.

Joan Armatrading was in the early eighties one of the best opportunities to new wave and independent music. Blessed with a great voice and well arranged songs she had her time rightly.

The Small Faces were ace and still the best mod band in the sixties.

Rockabilly returned with The Stray Cats and Dave Edmunds at the controls. The sound of this summer.

In 1981 Talking Heads released Remain In Light one of the best albums this year and this song is still great.

New Song On Sunday

 

I couldn't imagine that my employer would give me so much work to do in my last weeks before I retire and that I would have to finalize projects. I also had to deal with a lot of correspondence with the pension fund in order to fulfill the formal requirements for my pension. For this reason, and because I couldn't muster the time, I decided to take a break from updating this blog last week. Last Friday, as usual, I had a look through the new releases of the week to see if anything had been published that was worth mentioning. The only thing that stuck in my mind was the release of Come Undone, the latest release by Glasgow's Walt Disco. Their music is more than retro and is orientated towards the best times of David Bowie, Roxy Music,Talking Heads and glam-pop, who try to bring their music to the dance floor. Surely not groundbreaking but good and a journey back to these days.

Time To Listen To The Originals

 

I really like cover version. Especially when an artist rejig the original and reinterpret the song like he could be a song written by himself. During the last days some cover versions came to my ears and I thought by myself if it was necessary to release this versions. Sophie Ellis Baxter had a number one hit back in 2001 with Murder On The Dancefloor, a veritable piece of dancefloor back then. Now she's back at the top ten because her song was shaded for a scene in American movie Saltburn. Since you can find a lot of cover version and remixes especially on Soundcloud. One of them is made by Australian band Royel Otis. It is a nice one because they gave them a flavour of indie-rock. It is a nice version but I don't need it really.

Paramore's version of Burning Down The House is an example of a needless cover version. Made for a tribute album for Talking Heads that should be released soon. A version that is so close to the original that I ask myself did they ever listened to this song enough to understand what David Byrne meant when he wrote it. Absolutely waste.

  

Münster, Westphalia

 

Today I start for a further training for my job in Münster. I can't tell you the reason why my boss sent me for this with a younger colleague because my working time is finite but I accepted to go for the trip. Münster has an old tradition and there was the peace of Westphalia was concluded, ending the Thirty Years' War back in 1648. I was there ages ago and I remember Munster as a town worth to be visited with it's beautiful old dome and an animated old town. I am sure that we will have a nice evening in a great town before our education will start the next day.

I looked for some artist/bands from Münster to feature at this place but didn't find one that was worth for it. So I decided to take a song that shuffled from my mobile phone earlier today. Tom Tom Club was the side project by Tina Weymouth and Chris Frantz as a side project from Talking Heads. They released their self-titled debut album in 1981 that was filled with funky dance-floor inspired sounds. Genius Of Love was a formidable hit at these days and many could agree with this sound for these summer.

Tom Tom Club - Genius Of Love

Violet Drive

Kerala Dust is a band formed in London in 2016 and now living and producing in Berlin. As they said about themself, they grew up with the sound of Tom Waits, Can and Velvet Underground you can hear references to them in their sound. They added to their rhythmic sound a bit of Talking Heads and dancefloor and you have a melange that is incredible. They released their last album earlier this year but I forgot to listen to it. But now I found the time to enjoy their unique kind of music. 

 

Sympathy For Life

 

Brooklyn's indie-rocker Parquet Court released their new album during the last week. I expected from them nothing more than another good album filled with good indie-music. And they fulfilled the expectations from the first song a post-punk hymn full of verve. So far so good. But there are songs on this album where they step out of their cliches and integrate groove and electronic into their sound.  Marathon Of Anger has a minimal groove and the chant imitate Talking Heads to lead us into an Ian Curtis-inspired post-punk hymn.

Plant Life is more a dance-jam that could be a leftover from a forgotten sessions Primal Scream or Happy Mondays did in the early 90s. I think it has nothing to do with copy a great sound it is more transporting great things from the past into today's world. With these songs Parquet Courts show us that they are far better than many of their workmates.

Slippery People

The last album arrived in 2020 was by one of the best findings from last year. I first got aware of them by a review by Beatselector 'Rheinzand is a Belgian collaborative project between Reinhard Vanbergen, the multi-instrumentalist producer, Charlotte Caluwaerts and Mo Disko from the renowned duo The Glimmers. Rheinzand’s songs are a mixture of dance music’s rich history, giving nods to old and new genres, forgotten and popular scenes in order to create their own take on today’s musical landscape. Their exotic style caught the ears of Kenneth Bager’s label Music For Dreams on which they have released their debut self titled album on May 8, 2020.' I listened a lot to this during the last weeks and I can't get enough of the music they make. Their hybrid of modern dancefloor and morphing in and out of shapes of great melodies and vivid instrumentation. That Rheinzand has the courage to cover Talking Heads in a superb way shows how fantastic they are.

 

Ophidiophobia

 

Turkuaz is a New York based funk band that is active since a couple of years. A few days ago they released a new song developed from a collaboration with Jerry Harrison and Adrian Belew. And it sounds like Talking Heads in the mid 80's with it's dominating bass and funky guitar licks. A song that is great and filled with positive vibes. Not too bad in these dark times. 

Purchased (Not Only) By The Cover

One of the first synth-pop album I purchased was Reproduction by The Human League in 1979 because it was part of a sampler called Who's Afraid Of The 80's featuring very new sounds by Talking Heads, The Ruts, XTC and The Human League. Empire State Human was a song I really played often at my place and I can't explain why I this kind of music became a part of me since. It was different to many others I used to hear and it introduced me into another kind of music. I think without them and their first album I didn't got aware to many other electronic and synth based bands that came after them.

The Human League - Empire State Human
The Human League - Morale .. / You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'
The Human League - Zero As A Limit

Bad Blood

One year ago I used to listen to Working Men's Club first single Bad Blood from time to time but forgot them later this year. Now this song shuffled up on my mobile phone early last week and I have to admit that this song has still something special. Maybe it is the mixture of stolen sounds by Talking Heads, Gang of Four, a Mark E. Smith guitar or just a post-punk bass-line at the beginning that made me listen to this several times. Anyway, it is good that new bands were taught by my old heroes.

Purchased (Not Only) By The Cover

Talking Heads released their third album back in 1979 and it became very famous critical acclaims. And it was very right. When they released their first album the cover was just red and written Talking Heads 77. Nothing more or less. They developed their sound from only nu-punk to disco and world music. The sleeve is completely black and embossed with a pattern that resembles the appearance and texture of diamond plate metal flooring. Just the simple print of the cover impressed me very much and lead me to want want to buy this record. What I heard on this album made me wonder why other artists were able to combine new wave with traditional music. A record that combined old and new music like never before.

Talking Heads -  I Zimbra
Talking Heads -  Life During Wartime
Talking Heads -  Heaven