The response to June’s “Discs and Doughnuts” follows.
I suppose Computer Love is more “accessible” than earlier Kraftwerk. More lyrics, more harmonies. I guess “warmer”. It’s more dancey too, I suppose. It has a rhythm though…that kind of minimalist repetitive cycle which gets quite hypnotic…not as, I dunno “colourful” as it was on Autobahn. I do like it though. Hard not to like anything by Kraftwerk. Masters of the game.
Never heard Rubberband Man before ever in my life before. Detroit Spinners I am guessing (without looking into it – doing in totally blind) are Motown – it’s Detroit, right? That funk centric thing cannot help but be fab and uplifting. It’s the BVs that make it for me.
I love Jim – Iggy, I mean. I admit to not exploring The Stooges so much. I’ve gone to in the past. Obviously being led to Iggy via Bowie and learning Raw Power was produced by David so it was a natural progression of discovery to look into Iggy and Lou Reed, etc. I guess The Stooges didn’t pull me in as strongly as Iggy did as a solo artist.
I gotta say the Sparks track is catchy. Lol. It has great harmonies. Fun for the novelty value. On this first listen I can’t see it being something I will be playing in years to come thinking “wow, what a classic!” Lol. I mean, it isn’t exactly The Number One Song In Heaven, is it?
How do you like people who think you suck arse, Jim? Lol. All I remember is Mac going on about, well, maybe not so much you, I dunno…but he was always dissing Bono and back as a lovelorn teen it would fucking piss me off. Lol. I prefer other Bunnymen songs, I think. (Lips Like Sugar – wonder why that would be? Lol. The Cutter.)
4th And Vine. Bhangra beat! It’s almost like (apart from the actual marriage aspect of the song) the “lockdown let out ladies let’s get dolled up release”. Lol. Put the bins out – bin isolating dress up excuse. Lol. It’s got all that getting married/love stuff in it. Meh. Lol. (I’m just envious, is all.)
Life In A Northern Town: It’s a magic mix of melancholy and joy. It has that softness in between those drums. For Aussies like me, it kind of reinforced that feeling of like “geez, England looks sssoooo oppressive!” Oh, as that line comes in “as the train pulls out of sight…byyyyye byyyye” – the protracted delivery of the “bye bye” – that used to induce tears I’m not ashamed to say. As oppressive as England looked, it always drew me in though. The music made me the most extreme Anglophile. Because the music ALWAYS transcended how life looked. And the same went for Scotland too. When I moved here – first to England, then to Scotland – both felt like “coming home”. As much as I loved growing up in the western suburbs of Sydney – there was always something that never felt quite like I belonged. I dreamed of getting out.
I love musicals. I’ve seen a few. And this is where I let my guard down and admit that my favourite musical is the Disney version of Beauty And the Beast. Lol. I’ve seen it about seven times on the stage in Sydney, London, Bristol (during the early stages of whooping cough in 2002 – surprised they didn’t chuck me out of the Hippodrome – I couldn’t shut up!) and Milton Keynes. Own copies of the animated film and the original cast recording of the Australian production (Hugh Jackman as Gaston, thank you very much – sadly I didn’t get to see him on the stage, he was only in the Melbourne production and didn’t come up to Sydney, DANG!). Went and saw the live action remake a few years back. Yep!
Anyway…moving on! Tom Waits…well…yeah, he’s kind of an acquired taste. Lol. I could take him in small doses. Not sure I could deal with that voice for a whole album or concert. It is a lovely languid version and not dripping with pretension – which is always good. And it’s musically pretty lush.
Well…no need for me to do a playlist in response just yet, eh, Jim? (As if he’s looking or gives a flying fuck. Lol. Asked the fans what their choices would be in the post today – no interaction! Oh, Mr Kerr, you are a master at dangling a carrot on a stick, you really are).
I keep telling myself I will try and walk away. Save myself. But I always come back for more!
Speaking of Motown…
Of course you can hear Sir’s playlist HERE