Comments on: 500: 78-97

By: Martin

Martin — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 00:39:40 +0000

Hey, what happened to this series? I want to read more! I am selfish!

By: Matthew

Matthew — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 18:19:11 +0000

Robert Wyatt’s “Sea Song” is one of my favourite things to listen to ever… That is all.

By: Tom

Tom — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 14:47:13 +0000

Wyatt’s voice is certainly an acquired taste – he’s a singer I would be happy to hear do almost anything at all, without actually disagreeing with your description of him one bit Kat!

By: Pete

Pete — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 14:34:12 +0000

Its a lot better than EC’s version which probably is that octave lower, but drips (only slightly but noticeably so) with jazzy self satisfaction. He certainly doesn’t sound like a Shipbuilder, unlike Wyatt.

The Tasmin Archer version is the actual best obv!

By: Kat but logged out innit

Kat but logged out innit — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 10:16:14 +0000

I’ve never knowingly heard it before so I just had a listen to ‘Shipbuilding’ on Youtube – love the double bass and the sparse arrangement in general, but I really don’t like his thin shallow voice. I guess it’s not exactly meant to be comfortable listening but I think I’d rather listen to Thom Yorke (maybe). Perhaps if Wyatt had sung this an octave lower it would sound less strained?

By: Tom

Tom — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 19:59:51 +0000

#1 It will I think! But as I remember there’s not a huge number of crossover tracks for me to deal with – a bunch in the next instalment which thanks to the semi-chronological nature of the P500 I’ve mostly already dealt with (or am about to); one in 1990, one in 2000…. beyond that not a lot.

I wrote about two more of my favourite #2s for the book, though!

By: lonepilgrim

lonepilgrim — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 19:41:16 +0000

Ahhh…Altered Images…Claire Grogan….mmm…Happy Birthday – such a wonderful, wonderful toon – and what a loss to pop that CG drifted off so soon.

As for ‘Shipbuilding’ it’s a great performance from RW – although the line ‘Dad they’re going to take me to task’ (a punning reference to the Falklands Task Force – for those who may not know) sums up everything I find irritating about ECs lyrics – using a ‘clever’ pun rather than a simpler phrase, in this case one more appropriate for speech supposedly coming from a young man facing combat. IIRC this stuttered up the lower reaches of the UK chart (probably due to the BBC avoiding playing it) and the week it made its biggest leap, when it would have been a strong contender for a TOTP performance there was some kind of technicians strike which took the programme of the air. By the next week it had dropped down the chart and its moment had passed. Great sleeve for the single with a Stanley Spencer Glasgow welder.
I guess they chose this song for its link back to EC and its time of release but I’m not sure that this is the richest example of RWs work…

By: a tanned rested and unlogged lørd sükråt wötsît

a tanned rested and unlogged lørd sükråt wötsît — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 19:29:23 +0000

the spoiler bunny applies in your homes and in your heads

By: Mark M

Mark M — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 19:27:12 +0000

So now that you’ve caught up with Popular chronology-wise, will the Spoiler Bunny apply to this project?