JJ BARRIE – “No Charge”
I was aware of this song long before I heard it – as a young boy it was quoted at me by my Dad should I ever object to tidying my room. Since my room was rarely tidy, I became very familiar with the central notion of “No Charge”. Like my Dad, I can find immense amusement and pleasure in this style of song – talking country with a sentimental edge – but this is far from a great example.
You might think, at first, that the style stands or falls on the strength of its concepts: not so. “No Charge” has a fine concept – mawkishness and moralising are assets here! – but where JJ Barrie falls down is on development and details. Once our young entrepreneur has presented his list, and been slapped down by Mom, the track has nowhere to go, and explores that nowhere thoroughly for two minutes. Contrast it with something like “Teddy Bear” by Red Sovine, where tears are ruthlessly jerked right up to the final words. Barrie, on the other hand, adds no new details and just repeats himself. This is partly because “No Charge” is a cover version, and you can hear what I assume is the original melody being hollered in the background: it sounds rather as if it’s trying to escape.
2
Tom in FT /Popular • featured content/Pop • 6,270 views
I certainly still care about the process of change and the need for it. Passed through Phonica Records on Saturday last – Record Store Day – and there was this duo called Woodcraft Folk doing an in-store set. They appeared to comprise a greying, bespectacled, 1974/Deke Leonard-permed chap on keyboards and another chap dressed as a woodpecker or something similar. Musically it could have been 1973 Rick Wakeman and there were solemn chaps (the stench of bloke on Record Store Day was quite overwhelming) standing around in solemn appreciation and I thought this has to go. But who/what’s going to replace it, now that every loose stitch is sewn up?
Hm, I quite like Woodcraft Folk, and I don’t see how a fairly obscure underground group without any great connection to the zeitgeist represent much anything at all that’s going on in music as a whole.
Admittedly I’ve only heard their records (i.e. this – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HDeVHQ0-fFQ – and an excellent cover of The Fall’s ‘English Scheme’ which I can’t find on the internet) but I’d place them much more in the lineage of Neu rather than Rick Wakeman. Hey ho.
It was one of these straw/camel/back/broke moments.
Oh dear, Marcello. Knew how to play their instruments did they? How terrible!
He knew how to play Vangelis tunes. I wouldn’t have put money on him to run through three choruses on “Bemsha Swing” though.
I wouldn’t know, I haven’t heard him.
Of course, the big problem with Thelonious Monk (and even more of a problem with Ornette Coleman and John Coltrane, and I know this is one area where you and I are on the same wavelength so behave yourself, ok?) is that they have had many imitators, but the imitators rarely had anything like the same mastery of their instruments that Monk, Coleman and Coltrane had and the result is a god-awful mess. The same kind of god-awful mess as 1977 punk was. Give me Little Richard or Beefheart instead. But I’m not ditching my Genesis/ELP/Soft Machine/Steely Dan albums on your account either.
I’ve never been a particular fan of Rick Wakeman but I would imagine that, as an accomplished pianist, he probably could have a good crack at Bemsha.
Why would you want to ditch any of these?
Also, as per ‘Trane, Monk, Ornette etc., examples please.
You want names? Dozens of wannabes in jazz pubs and clubs up and down the country. Blowed if I could ever remember names.
Thinking about record stores, I wonder how successful Record Store Day was as a whole? My nearest independent record store (Rockbox in Camberley) entered into the swing of things with gusto, featuring an instore acoustic set from Jettblack, as well as offers on some rare, albeit rock-centric vinyl. Plus they have a new-for-old policy on vinyl and CD’s. This kind of service you don’t get from the high street or online, and I’ll be only too glad to support them in the future.
About the only interesting thing about RSD was that most of the young ‘uns in the stores on Saturday were going for the vinyl, pretty well all of whom would not even have been around the last time vinyl was the main thing. I wonder why – is it what they’ve heard about superior sound quality etc., is it just a fashion, is it buried memories of parental nostalgia?
Upshot of Record Store Day: it seems fact rather than wishful thinking that young ‘uns are buying vinyl these days.
Reasons why? They’re tactile, there’s the artwork, the smell of vinyl, and the notion that listening to music should be more ceremony rather than wallpaper (I make tea with tea leaves, too, in a pot. It feels right). CDs will always have a place for a certain generation or two, but they now seem more like means of storing data (which they always were) rather than an indestructible format (industry lies!) with no clicks (people like clicks!).
I’d be interested to see the statistics but suspect that downloads far outsell either vinyl or CD – no tactility, no artwork (unless you download it), music as utilitarian tool at mercy of listener/re-creator (now there’s a revolution) and that can be wallpaper or not (but then, isn’t any form of stored music more or less the equivalent of wallpaper?).
I would expect the increased prevalence of downloads, streams etc to lead to an increase in demand for vinyl and a commensurate decrease in demand for CD, which begings to look increasingly like a poor third choice.
downloads – simple, easy
vinyl – if you want a physical artefact with cover art, label
Noticeable how CD packaging is trying to ape vinyl as best it can – all remasters/reissues tend to eschew the ugly jewel case in favour of cardboard gatefold sleeves.
I don’t think it’s a nostalgia thing, vinyl is just a great product and a lot of young record buyers love it, perhaps it has the statement aspect too. Even cassettes are making a bit of a comeback with the kids apparently…
I think it’s purposely (and fetishingly) looking backwards, which is always unhealthy unless it adds to the future.
CDs are fine by me; they’re easy to store/stack and don’t make the house smell like digestive biscuits. In my Oxford days I was compelled (by my then other half) to store all the vinyl in the garage for that precise reason.
I love the smell of digestive biscuits!
Sorry Punctum, I didn’t think I needed to say that downloads outsell vinyl. The point I was making, if not that clearly, was that record shops have been saying for years that kids are getting back into vinyl. Now it’s clearly true. Of course it’s niche, but it’s not invalid. I think of sitting down and listening to (certain types of) music as more than just an aural sensoryexperience – I’m guessing you do too, but please tell me if I’m wrong. It even has a smell. My home smells like digestive biscuits.
Help!! Can anyone suggest singles from 1976 that are multi-part (or post Bo Rhap) beyond Silver Star, Music, and I’m Mandy Fly Me? I’m blanking. There must be some flops as well as hits. A pint and a thank you in my forthcoming Bumper Book Of Pop will be yours.
“The Summer Of My Life” by Simon May and “City Lights” by David Essex spring immediately to mind.
Hopefully your Bumper Book Of Pop will not overlap with our forthcoming Beginner’s Guide To New Pop book (which will not be called that; most probable title at present being Floodlit New Pop League).
Everyone’s got bumper books of pop on the go!
I’m all for romanticising the music experience but I honestly know in 10 years time I’m going to be just as nostalgic for late-night hit-and-hope P2P browsing, or the communal post-release/leak babble of discussion, or the minor but genuine delight of backlit cover art on your iphone lock screen*, as I am now for CDs, tapes or vinyl. So I’d rather enjoy all that stuff in the moment than look back too much.
*Nite Slugs releases in particular look gorgeous like this!
I’ve been living in a top-floor flat with its own attic for three years now, and last week I finally took the plunge and moved all my vinyl and CDs into it, to join the cassettes mouldering away there. Buying one of these and hooking it up to one of these swept away any lingering fondness for staring at shelves full of CDs more or less overnight (fortunately, I did all the necessary ripping a few years ago, although the vinyl still awaits). A pack or two of these made the storage of 1600 CDs as neat as it could be. Essentially, we regained a whole wall of our living room for a few hundred quid. The boxes of plastic are still there for whenever I want to commune with the objects rather than the music they contained…. my nostalgic side wants to think this will be a regular urge, but my realistic side knows it won’t.
Re 294: I agree. I constantly fear for Spotify and Youtube and think this will be seen as a golden age in the future. But what do they make me want to do? Hunt out original vinyl copies, or make cd compilations…
Re 293: Thanks Marcello. I KNEW there had to be an obvious one eluding me, and it was the much maligned Mr May.
There’ll be a New Pop chapter in my book (which frankly I’m crapping myself about you lot reading….) but also Skiffle, Soft Rock, Doo Wop…
Is your one all about New Pop? Or are you keeping your powder dry for now?
It’s going to be a joint collaboration between Lena and myself and the idea is to do an easy-to-understand (at least on the face of it) lighthearted everyman’s guide to New Pop – its origins, its forebears, its principles, its (continuing) history – with lots of pictures, colour, sidebars etc. and regular insertions of photos of Big Tony Hadley, Robert Elms &c. looking confused about why they’re not New Pop. In other words, we probably need bigger resources than Zero Books can offer but we want to make it approachable.
Wichita – does “The Killing of Georgie parts 1 and 2″ count? Distinct parts, even if the “oh Georgie stay” is a lengthy coda rather than a separate part. I remarked elsewhere that post Bo Rhap the duration of a song could be promoted as a selling point in itself, viz the Record Mirror ad promoting a new Gilbert O’Sullivan single as “Five minutes and sixteen seconds of sheer magic from Gilbert”! I’m sure we can come up with others.
Agog with anticipation of a Popular thread crashing the 300 barrier!
I bought that Gilbert O 45 from gemm after someone (maybe you? maybe Marcello?) flagged it up elsewhere. Nah. It just doesn’t know when to fade.
But… yes! The Killing Of Georgie is another. Many thanks. Now I’ll have to find out your real name!
There must be other ambitious ’76 singles that didn’t chart – all of these (bar City Lights) are Top 10 hits. Hmmm. Why punk didn’t have to happen (pt.34).