As I hinted last time “Little Help” showed up, it’s probably the most inappropriately covered Beatles song. It’s such a strong sentiment and such a rousing tune people can’t seem to resist it, but it only really works for me when Ringo takes his best sturdy shot at it on Sgt.Pepper’s. Everyone else sounds too confident, Marty Pellow certainly included. Pellow starts humble enough here but for the second half of the song he begins to showboat, borrowing phrasing from the Joe Cocker version (“ooh I get BAH widalittle help from MAH FRENDZ”), then ‘cutting loose’ to put some of that studied throatiness into the tune on the “love at first sight bit”, the 80s soul man’s vocal version of designer stubble. Though that’s also the only bit this perpetual smoothie sounds sincere on, since it strongly implies ditching those gooseberry “friends” forthwith in favour of Hot Pellow Action. Who needs them anyway? A little help can’t beat a whole lot of lovin’!
It’s undoubtedly Wet Wet Wet who pushed this charity single into our consideration, but for some fans it’s redeemed for its smuggling Billy Bragg to number one. Bragg’s side is certainly better: not lovely or subtle or re-listenable as the Beatles’ version, but it’s an intelligent cover by people who’ve thought about the song. Lugubrious though he is, his “She’s Leaving Home” shaves a half-minute off the Beatles’ original, mostly through switching the arrangement from George Martin orchestral lacework to simple piano-and-voices. That also fits a change in tone in the song. Though the Beatles’ version draws a lot of its power from McCartney’s sad, even-handed lead, there’s a straightened-doilies prissiness in the music which links with the lightest of backing vocal sneers from Lennon to tilt your sympathy towards the fleeing girl. You know exactly why she’s running and what she’s hoping to find – she wants to break out of the Berni Inn, light programme sixties and jump into colour and life.
But in Bragg’s version it’s less clear-cut: Cara Tivey sings the parents’ side with a flat, baffled sincerity, and the robust piano makes the song all the more hurt and stoical. By 1988, after all, a lot had changed, and ideas of “fun”, upward mobility, aspiration and cutting free of your roots were a little more double-edged – especially to a socialist like Bragg. The sadness and ambivalence were in “She’s Leaving Home” already: for me Bragg just shifts their direction a little, back towards the parents and away from the girl and her man from the motor trade with his Wet Wet Wet album on the in-car tape deck.
Score: 4
[Logged in users can award their own score]
Bits of business:
– The songs get 3 and 6 respectively: overall mark weighted down because it wasn’t the good side that was inescapable on the radio.
– Well worth reading Marcello on Sgt Pepper: http://nobilliards.blogspot.com/2009/08/beatles-sgt-peppers-lonely-hearts-club.html
– If this had a video I can’t find it.
You couldn’t help but love Wet Wet Wet and their charismatic lead singer Marti Pellow. Despite having to change his name from Diamanda Gallus in order to avoid any confusion, his beaming, jolly Glaswegian face and the near-military deportment of his arm-rolling brought welcome light to many a housewife’s TV screen in those far-off days of the late 1980s. He was the Les McKeown of his era, a merry minstrel wandering from house to house dispensing goodwill like a pop pharmacist, and Wet Wet Wet were certainly the Marmalade of their day. Unfortunately our Marti was under the impression that he was Al Green, and so Soulful, Passionate and Honest was his belief that not only did he take the band down to Memphis to record with Willie Mitchell – the legendary producer quipped, “Yeah, Wet Wet Wet, they’re great, I’ve got all their records at home – sorry, who is it we’re talking about again?” – but he got his then girlfriend to pour scalding grits over his back (“I’ve an open mind but that was way too kinky for me,” she subsequently quipped to the Desk Sergeant) and attempted to become ordained as a minister at St Mungo’s Cathedral, from which he was briskly ejected by a stern Pastor Jack Glass (“Don’t ye dare breathe in ma hoose…it’s the DIVIL’S air!!” he gruffly quipped).
But music lovers from nine to ninety were transported by Wet Wet Wet’s initial stream of hits, including “Wishing I Was ABC,” the heartbreaking tale of an unemployed Glasgow youth who, on learning that “there might be a job in the Cit-AY,” sets off for London in his dinghy called Dignity. Sadly, by the time he reaches the great capital, someone else has beaten him to the job and his boat collides with a beached whale outside Battersea Power Station, leaving him with no choice but to return home ignominiously on the National Express coach with its compulsory three-hour break at Charnock Richard. Then there was the happy-go-lucky “Sweet Murder Mystery” in which Pellow paid heartfelt tribute to his hero Van Morrison by paraphrasing all fourteen verses of the great man’s “TB Sheets,” to which Morrison’s lawyers promptly responded with their own legal action/80% songwriting credit and royalties tribute. For the mums there was the heartrending ballad “Angel Face,” in the video for which Pellow, in his crumpled pinstripe suit, was determined to show those Johnny Hates Jazz who’s yuppie pop boss.
But the happy-go-lucky Clydebank quartet achieved their first number one with the aid of the NME, a journal not previously known for their explicit championing of the Scritti-inspired soulcialists, who put together the Sgt Pepper Knew My Father album to raise funds for the children’s charity Childline. Different NME-friendly acts were given one track each to reinterpret in their own way, but Wet Wet Wet led the way with their happy-go-lucky reading of the old Ringo favourite. Pellow thankfully doesn’t go down too far down the post-Joe Cocker soulpassionhonesty route but nevertheless steers an uneasy course between teenpop jollity and Real Music earnestness in his happy-go-lucky delivery, while the backing track appears to have been knocked together on a used Bontempi in about two happy-go-lucky minutes.
The Billy Bragg half of the double-A side is the “Anitina” of charity chart-toppers – i.e. it was never played – but Bragg was an apposite choice to sing “She’s Leaving Home,” especially since his “Levi Stubbs’ Tears” can be interpreted as a sequel of sorts; the escaped woman, five or ten years on, finding herself in a different kind of trap, seeking desperate redemption from her old Motown 45s. His reading is straightforward and moderately touching, with sensitive support from Ms Tivey on piano and counterpart vocals, and certainly an improvement on Bryan Ferry’s 1976 reading, which latter sounds like he is auditioning for the lead role in Adam Faith: The Musical, though appreciation of the track depends on your tolerance for Bragg’s harsh, catching Barking consonants – the Alma Cogan of Red Wedge? A pity that the NME didn’t risk giving the other side to “A Day In The Life” as reinterpreted by the utterly apt choice of the mighty Fall – moreover, the I Am Kurious Oranj line-up of the Fall – as they and perhaps only they are capable of carrying off. For effort, though, a respectful five.
As a regular freelancer — though only for a matter of weeks now — I used to have two sightly different copies of this LP; one — possibly now worth TRILLIONS — had an uncleared sample on it or something. Anyway, something that had to be withdrawn and pulped.
Being an idiot when it comes to money, I chucked out both copies years and year ago. I think I recorded the Sonic Youth version of “Within You Without You” for posterity, plus the Fall, obviously.
I still have the cassette copy for which I sent my HARD EARNED CASH to the NME all those years ago and am pretty sure that the track in question – 3 Wize Men doing the title song – still has the intact sample on it, though clearly I will need to check since it is literally decade since last I played it.
Would still rep for ‘Wishing I Was Lucky’ a little (key change an’ all) – part of the ‘dole queue’ pop pantheon along with ‘Wham Rap’ and ‘Money’s Too Tight To Mention’. Nothing good to say about these covers tho – 1 each.
Maybe they swapped one sample for another? I know there was something they had to redo.
Bragg: Wow, talk about ambushed-by-unexpected-emotion. An achingly beautiful re-weighting, perhaps a touch Wyatt-esque in its delivery… that little crack at “motor trade”?
Wet Wet Wet: Ye gods, what unspeakable Hootenanny-foreshadowing folly is this?
Sgt Pepper Knew My Father: Only The Fall’s “A Day In The Life” stays in the memory. This must have been the first of many NME covers projects, and I’d struggle to recall more than two or three decent results. The Foo Fighters, of all people, did a rather good “Live And Let Die”, and I seem to remember Suede doing a nice job on “Brass In Pocket” and the Manics having a decent stab at “Out Of Time”.
#5 Yes I think WIWL was a good song. All downhill from there unfortunately.
#2 MC – don’t forget that “Angel Eyes ” “borrowed” some lyrics from Squeeze’s “Heartbreaking World” to add to your list of crimes.
Can’t work up too much passion about either side (Actually I barely remember the Bragg one).
Two minor corrections on SLH – the length of Bragg’s cover is about the same length as the proper mono mix of the track on Pepper, which is sped up compared to the non-Beatles-supervised stereo mix, and the original’s arrangement wasn’t by George Martin – it was one of a *VERY* small number of non-Martin-arranged Beatles tracks, but was arranged by Mike Leander, who wrote, produced and arranged all Gary Glitter’s records.
Mike, Chris Difford wasn’t that bothered by the theft, and in fact is now Pellow’s manager/lyricist. They also stole (I think also in Angel Eyes) from John Martyn.
If I had bothered to get a copy, I would have taped the Shocked/Mekon Lovely Rita before disposal. I get Cara Tivey confused with Lorraine Bowen. Am I sexist?
I have no clear memory of these tracks from the time although I have vague memories of hearing the WWW song since. For me it deserves a lower mark than Perfect. I’m not that bowled over by the BB song either if I’m honest.
#10 Thanks Andrew, didn’t know that.
I am perhaps unduly influenced by the TOTP performance which came up when I searched for this on YouTube (having not heard it at the time); Marti grins through it and the record seems all too grinny as well, a rather self-satisfied ‘woo!’ record rather than the lovable downbeatness that Ringo brought to the original. Especially that “to love, to love, to luh-uv” bit, and the piano line which can only be described as “sprightly”. 3 is bang on.
The only YouTubing of the flip-side is a rather substandard live version (on TOTP as it happens), so instead I’ll go by Spotify and on the assumption that the version from this single is the one collected on “Reaching to the Converted”. And indeed I rather like it; the piano is perhaps a little overbearing, but on the whole it’s not much worse than the original and it happens to work well with Bragg’s singing voice. 6 is fair, then, topping the record as a whole out at a 5.
This was the 9th best selling single of 1988, apparently.
PS “Being for Benefit of Mr. Kite” by Frank Sidebottom. Cor.
Yuk! A side of smarm smarm smarm, and a side of the usual foghorn sensitivity of Billy good-bloke-ideologically-sound-man-of-the-people-salt-of-the-earth Bragg. Neither makes their song sound any good. The public had clearly learned their lesson by the time that the Wets attempted their next Beatles cover version, a soulful very slow reading of I Feel Fine two years later, which only got to number 30.
Yes, I did buy Sgt Pepper Knew My Father off the NME in 1988. Like everybody else, The Fall are the only thing on it that I still listen to – although I rather like The Triffids version of Good Morning Good Morning, too. Wet Wet Wet are in suitable soulcialist company on side 1, which also features The Christians interminable reading of Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds and Fixing A Hole with Hue & Cry.
#2 Watch: Three weeks of Kylie Minogue’s touchingly gauche ‘Got To Be Certain’, a highly superior single.
Light Entertainment Watch A: Many appearances fot the Wets on UK TV down the years;
ALL ALONG THE WATCHTOWER: Wet Wet Wet (1999)
BIG WORLD CAFE: with Eagle Eye Cherry, Mariella Frostrup, Wet Wet Wet, Quincy Jones (1989)
BRUCE’S GUEST NIGHT: with Julie Grant, Natalie Cole, Wet Wet Wet, Frank Carson, Bobby Davro (1992)
DES O’CONNOR TONIGHT: with Freddie Starr, Lesley Joseph, Wet Wet Wet, Mark Hurst (1992)
DES O’CONNOR TONIGHT: with Phil Collins, Phillip Schofield, Wet Wet Wet, Naomi Campbell (1994)
DES O’CONNOR TONIGHT: with José Carreras, Brian Conley, Wet Wet Wet (1996)
DES O’CONNOR TONIGHT: with Shirley MacLaine, The Bee Gees, Wet Wet Wet, Johnnie Carson (1997)
MICHAEL BALL: with Wet Wet Wet, Ray Charles (1993)
THE MONTREUX ROCK FESTIVAL: with Steve Winwood, Bros, Wet Wet Wet, Mica Paris, Blue Mercedes (1988)
THE NATIONAL LOTTERY LIVE: with Bob Monkhouse, Alan Dedicoat (The Voice of the Balls), Rowan Atkinson (Mr Bean), Wet Wet Wet, Anne Gregg (Reporter), Mystic Meg (1997)
NOEL’S HOUSE PARTY: with Noel Edmonds, Brian Blessed, Gordon Burns, Mr Motivator, Michelle Collins, Vanessa Feltz, Leslie Grantham, Tiff Needell, Wet Wet Wet, Ros Astengo (1997)
THE O ZONE: Wet Wet Wet On The Isle Of Man (1992)
THE O ZONE: with Capella, Wet Wet Wet, Rick Astley (1993)
THE O ZONE: Wet Wet Wet Special (1995)
THE SMASH HITS POLL WINNERS PARTY: with Phillip Schofield, Yazz, Wet Wet Wet, Climie Fisher, Salt ‘n’ Pepa, Rick Astley, Jane Wiedlin, Brother Beyond, Bananarama, Bros (1988)
STEVE WRIGHT’S PEOPLE SHOW: with Wet Wet Wet, Yasmine Bleeth, Gary Rhodes, Haddaway (1995)
SUNDAY, SUNDAY: with Wet Wet Wet, Ian Charleston, Pauline Collins, Jim Davidson, Leo McKern (1989)
WHISTLE TEST: with The Smiths, Wet Wet Wet, Glasgow Gunslingers (1987)
WOGAN: with Dave Clarke, Julie Fitzherbert & Penguins, Unity Hall, Engelbert Humperdinck, Peggy Makins, William Rushton, Wet Wet Wet (1988)
WOGAN: with Hilary Jago, Sandy Millington, Patricia Warren, Bob Geldof, Wet Wet Wet (1990)
WOGAN: with Tom Conti, Andrea Newman, Stephen Rashbrook, Wet Wet Wet (1990)
WOGAN: with Wet Wet Wet, Annette Bening, Cliff Richard (1992)
Light Entertainment Watch B: Billy Bragg has been on television a fair few times, as well;
HARRY HILL: with Billy Bragg (1997)
THE LAST RESORT WITH JONATHAN ROSS: with Nick Plytas & Ecstasy, Jonathan Kydd (Voice-Over), Billy Bragg, Tina Fisher (1987)
THE LATE EDITION: with Billy Bragg, Sue Perkins, Alex Lowe (2006)
NEVER MIND THE BUZZCOCKS: with Mark Lamarr, Sean Hughes (Team Captain), Phill Jupitus (Team Captain), Billy Bragg, Sarah Cracknell, Suggs MacPherson, Jeff Green (1996)
NEVER MIND THE BUZZCOCKS: with Mark Lamarr, Sean Hughes (Team Captain), Phill Jupitus (Team Captain), Sarah Blackwood, Neil Morrissey, Richard Fairbrass, Billy Bragg (1997)
NEVER MIND THE BUZZCOCKS: with Mark Lamarr, Sean Hughes (Team Captain), Phill Jupitus (Team Captain), Billy Bragg, Justin Currie, Mary Ann Hobbs, Jonathan Ross, Tony Burrows (1998)
NEVER MIND THE BUZZCOCKS: with Mark Lamarr, Phill Jupitus (Team Captain), Bill Bailey (Team Captain), Billy Bragg, Ian McLagan, Gay-Yee Westerho, Mark Steel (2002)
ORS 85: with Billy Bragg, The Three Mustafas 3, The Alarm (1985)
THE SOUTH BANK SHOW: Billy Bragg / Michael Crawford (1985)
T•F•I• FRIDAY: with Will Macdonald, Andrew the Barman, Caroline Aherne, Baby Bird, Billy Bragg, Jack Dee, Skunk Anansie (1997)
T•F•I• FRIDAY: with Will Macdonald, Andrew the Barman, John Barnes, Billy Bragg, Cake, Faith No More, Sinéad O’Connor, Super Furry Animals (1997)
THE TUBE: with Jools Holland, Leslie Ash, Eurythmics, Billy Bragg, Dawn French, Jennifer Saunders, Peter Adamson, Pete Frama, Mark Hurst, Tina Turner (1983)
THE TUBE: with Jools Holland, Paula Yates, The Alarm, Shriekback, Peter York, Rik Mayall, Billy Bragg, Grandmaster Melle Mel, Redskins, Muriel Gray (1984)
THE TUBE: with Jools Holland, Paula Yates, Sting, Loose Tubes, Muriel Gray, Billy Bragg, Barry Humphries, Brian Johnson, Robert Elms, Deyan Sudjic (1986)
WHISTLE TEST: with Howard Jones, The Faith Brothers, Billy Bragg (1985)
WHISTLE TEST–ON THE ROAD: with Billy Bragg, The Boomtown Rats (1984)
WOGAN: with Billy Bragg, Daniel Day Lewis, Adam Faith, Marie Helvin, Merry Mac Fun Show, Eddy Shah (1985)
You know those end-of-term talent shows where the teachers get up on stage and do a “turn” much to the amusement of the pupils…not all schools did it, but some did. That’s the feeling I get from Billy Bragg (cool woodwork teacher) and Cara Tivey (approachable RE teacher). But even that overshadows the desperate blandness of Wet Wet Wet.
I had never heard this version of SLH before and it conveys all the gut-wrenching emotion of family schism, almost as much as Paul and John had. I quite like Bragg’s Essex twang and the rare TOTP performance on YouTube from which I’m appraising this, has Billy’s voice almost breaking more than once, notably on the “motor trade” line. Kudos for singing live in the studio (Marti Pellow lip-synchs) but live vs lip-synch is an age old argument which I’m sure has been played out more than once in the Blogosphere.
Marti & co try to strengthen WALHFMF, which kind of defeats the object simply because that vulnerability and fragility conveyed by Ringo is a major part of the song’s appeal. That Cocker bombast is thankfully absent all but for a few Pellow inflections as Tom mentions above, but this is barely enough seasoning on a bland and stodgy dish, served lukewarm by a grinning waiter expecting a massive tip.
My girlfriend at college had a copy of Sgt Pepper Knew My Father. Yes, aside from The Fall, most of it was pretty rubbish, although Frank Sidebottom’s version of Mr Kite is a giggle.
The British media seemed to be going through a fairly intense period of Beatles-worship around 87-88. Aside from the staggered release of the back catalogue on CD, there was an avalanche of hype surrounding the 20th anniversary of Pepper in June 87. Then one Bank Holiday in May 88 Radio One cleared their entire daytime schedule and played nothing but Beatles records all day. I seemed to recall Peel was particularly irked by this, and said so on air.
I love both of the originals. Neither of these covers do anything for me, and, assuming there’s no charity angle here, I say it really would be better if neither existed. Only the WWW is seriously unpleasant to listen to (note that, as with someone above, my only experience of WWW’s track is the gurning-laden TOTP vid that’s on youtube – bloody hell…), but I honestly fail to see why anyone would ever listen to Bragg’s cover more than once (i.e., you listen once to hear if it’s one of those rare covers that goes beyond being functional/routine, confirm that it isn’t, and skip it ever after). Next!
2 (1,3)
#2 Marcello
– Ha, ha ha! Pastor Jack Glass, Gallus, and the reference to Deacon Blue via the ‘dinghy’ called Dignity. Not to mention Charnock Richard Services, where every self-respecting scot breaks the journey ‘twixtThe Smoke and Glasgow.
Brilliant. Thanks!
I sort of appreciated the emotion of the Billy Bragg rendition. Someone should have married the two sides and told Ol’ Bill that – in the interests of aural hygiene – he, too, had to “try not to sing out of key”. Fat chance!
Marti Pellow might insist on singing with that aural smirk, but his histrionics are fairly restrained here and his voice suits the altruistic tone of the song better than Joe Cockers hair ‘n’ sweat growling. He even finds an original angle for the ” would you believe in love at first sight?” bit. Surely the real drawback on this version of WALHFMF is that cut-price backing track. Wasn’t this Wet Wet Wets fifth hit? Surely they could afford a better mix. It brings a double meaning to the phrase ” charity single “.
On ” She’s Leving Home ” Cara Tivey steals the show. Her piano playing is remarkable and her vocals go right to the heart of the songs lonely, melancholy Englishness. Billy Bragg sounds a bit nervous as if he’s all too aware the song is a test for his technical range.
Is this the first shared double A side to appear on Popular?
My favourite version of She’s Leaving Home is the Jaco Pastorius sponsored steel drum version… I kid thee not. I like the Bragg version too, but must admit I’ve never heard the Beatles original.
Weird that the first and only NME-sponsored Number One should be so un-NME-like (if we accept that this was a double A-side in name only; obviously Bragg was as NME-friendly as they come). I can’t think of any other hits that have been brought so directly into being by the UK music press – have there been others?
Out of a sense of duty I tracked down the lip-synched TOTP performance by Wet Wet Wet, and now feel the need to rinse out my brain. It’s like a joke cover-version from a Royal Variety Show.
Billy Bragg’s “She’s Leaving Home” via Spotify wasn’t much better, to be honest. The label “worthy” springs to mind, and not in a good way. Around this time Bragg was one of those artists you felt you should like if you were at all left-leaning, but I really couldn’t take to his lugubrious vocals. Decent bloke, but musically just not my bag.
(1 + 3)/2 = 2.
#25 Manic Street Preachers’ Suicide is Painless was also taken from an NME charity album (Ruby Trax)
The Wets version of this is bland, bland, bland. It does sound like a karaoke cover, and even the bits where they deviate from the norm, e.g. “would you believe”, sound like he’s just lost the place and is struggling to catch up again.
Despite being from Glasgow I never felt any sort of “ownership” or “protectiveness” of WWW, the way so many of my fellow Glaswegians seem to have done. It was as if, although they were cr*p, they were OK because they were local.
As Rory mentioned, the Billy Bragg track just sounds worthy. You’re supposed to respect it, even though it’s really not terribly good.
The Frank Sidebottom track was my own favourite on the NME album. I’m not sure if he’s been discussed much here, although he has covered a number of #1s, including Bo Rap and Kylie’s 1st. So maybe here is as good a place as anywhere to wish Frank (and/or Chris) a swift and full recovery from his recently diagnosed illness.
Like Punctum (whose skewed take is a lovely counterpoint to Tom’s perceptive write-up), I’ve got the cassette version of Sgt Pepper Knew My Father and now – goddammit – I’m going to have to reacquire a tape player to find out if I have the sample.
Another problem I have with Marti Pellow is that he always sounds pleased with himself, especially on “Angel Eyes”. It seems to be his default state.
I’d be pleased with myself too if I was that handsome.
Without doing some memory research I can’t remember what I was doing in 1988 but the last few chart toppers passed me by without leaving a mark. I remember them but have no strong feeling either way about them and I don’t think I did at the time. An indication of their ordinary nature but I’ve a feeling I was hitting the point when I just didn’t care that much about the charts and was more interested in club music. A few years before this sort of thing would have annoyed me intensely and led to a few rants in the pub but now (or rather, then)… I couldn’t care less.
The densely packed vocal line thankfully allows no room for Pellow’s soulful tick of filling in the gaps with “oh yes I do’ or “oh yes it is”. I guess it’s nicked from Sam Cooke but coming from Marti it sounds more like he’s opposite Molly Weir (or Sheena Easton if he’s lucky) in panto.
Whenever I hear Billy Bragg I remember an interview he gave circa ’85 saying that being in love was nothing like he imagined it would be from growing up with Smokey Robinson songs, because Smokey never mentioned rows about washing up, or farting in bed. He felt cheated. At the time, still in my teens, I believed him and was prepared, when the blessed day came, for something more prosaic than My Girl. But the older I get, the more I feel sorry for Bragg – I wonder if he still can’t relate to Oo Baby Baby or The Love I Saw In You Was Just A Mirage.
@wichita. Worth a look in case you haven’t seen it is a relationships-y film for which Bragg did a lot of the soundtrack, Walking and Talking, the 1996, first film from Nicole Holofcener (it introduced the world to Catherine Keener, Anne Heche, Liev Schreiber, Todd Field). There are a couple of well-known Bragg songs incl. “She’s got a new spell”, but there are also a bunch of nice noodly guitar bits that soundtrack driving home, rows in the the kitchen, when someone stares at themselves in a mirror originally just morosely then more intently as she notices a new mole that looks dark, and so on. Anyhow, I thought W&T was pretty fab at the time, and it fitted brilliantly with the slightly bruised, prosaic romanticism that was Bragg’s signature (non-political) mood. Bragg-land transplanted to NYC. As far as I know, however, Bragg has never worked with Holofcener again.
Yeah, when I was doing my blog post about the Wets track, I couldn’t find the video either, although I remember there was one: they flashed up the phone number for Childline at the end. I did find a video of Pellow and Joe Cocker singing it together, but I’m too kind to actually link to that here.
TOTPWatch A: Wet Wet Wet twice performed With A Little Help From My Friends on Top Of The Pops. The Christmas edition I’ll document in the fullness of time;
12 May 1988. Also in the studio that week were; Harry Enfield, The Adventures, Narada, Starturn On 45 Pints and Fairground Attraction. Mike Read and Simon Mayo were the hosts.
TOTPWatch B: Billy Bragg performed She’s Leaving Home on the Top Of The Pops transmitted on the 19th of May 1988. Also in the studio in an otherwise rather superior week were; Prefab Sprout, Derek B and Aztec Camera. Gary Davies and Simon Bates were the hosts.
Re my post no 28 and others. Very sad to hear today of the passing of Chris Sievey, a.k.a. Frank SIdebottom. RIP Chris.
Jon Ronson’s Sidebottom memories (via his Twitter feed).
fatgit at #19 – vulnerability and fragility were just words in the dictionary for the Wets, and not on the well-thumbed pages either. This is unpretentious karaoke, never analysing the meaning of what they’re singing, never striving for sincerity and throwing in a few variant vocal flourishes towards the end – but as a pop performance it does its job pretty well. Lightweight and throwaway, and you move onto the next song without a backward glance – but then that’s some people’s definition of pop. I wouldn’t make any great claims for it, but it’s fun to spend time with (and even the perma-grin is toned down).
Billy Bragg’s voice suits soulful material (the aforementioned “Levi Stubbs’ Tears” being a total standout) but yes it’s a pity the wonky TOTP appearance is the main version available on YouTube. The world’s a much better place for the existence of both Bragg and “She’s Leaving Home”, but maybe they were better apart. Agree with Anto #23 about Cara Tivey though.
Still, a very worthy charity – I didn’t give Childline much thought and wasn’t exactly a fan of Esther Rantzen until one year she turned up as the recipient of the Biggest Hero award at a Smash Hits poll winners party. To get that from a constituency that encompasses the people you’re working to help – fair play.
Oh, and Marcello at #2 – I only understood the reference to Pastor Jack Glass through having read about his fury at Billy Connolly’s routine on the Crucifixion. Apparently at gigs after this spat Connolly did a reworking of “Jumpin’ Jack Flash” that went “Pastor Jack Glass is an ass, ass, ass…”
MMWatch: Andy Darling, 7 May 1988;
“Jesus H Wept… It’s not that Bragg has “ruined” a “classic”. It’s just that Lofty’s sub-pitiful fumbling attempts at playing Wilmott-Brown’s guitar and singing some of the campfire songs from his army days now seems remarkably prescient. And Bragg was in the army too, wasn’t he…”
Darling awarded single of the week to ‘Christine’ by The House Of Love. Also reviewed that week;
David Sylvian – Orpheus
Voice Of The Beehive – Don’t Call Me Baby
Sam Brown – Stop
Kevin Rowland -Walk Away
i picked up a copy of ‘sgt pepper knew my father’ from my local oxfam today (£2.99, if your interested). here’s what i reckon, typing pretty much as i listen
side one
1.the three wize men – sgt pepper: who on earth are the three wize men for a start? actually suprisingly enjoyable in a sub-pwei sort of way, i quite like the bloke’s voice. reminds me a bit of a rap version of the thomas the tank engine theme tune that my son was very into for a while.
2. wet wet wet: what everyone said; too perky by half
3. the christians – lucy in the sky with diamonds: i’ve a bit of a soft spot for the christians, but this doesn’t seem to feature any of the stuff that was ever good about them and is not good. mind you, it’s not exactly a great song to begin with.
4. wedding present – getting better: not so bad – i think i always liked the wedding present more when they were doing covers (i.e. with decent songs). for some reason david g confesses to beating his brother rather than his woman – political correctness gone mad.
5. hue and cry – fixing a whole: to give h&c their due, they clearly spent some time thinking about this and genuinely have made the song their own. unfortunatley they’ve done this through turning it into a sort of waltz-time pseudo soul abomination. fascinatingly horrible.
6. billy bragg – she’s leaving home: not a big billy fan, but this is quite affecting and yes, cara tivey is the best thing about it.
7. frank sidebottom – mr kite: i think maybe you had to be there to get much out of poor frank.
side two
1. sonic youth – within you without you: i was dreading a bit because i’m not normally a fan of their covers – ‘superstar’ is hateful and even’into the groovy’ isn’t all that. but this is excellent. it misses the brilliant tablas and strings and whatnot from the original, but the, ahem, feedback storm they whip up instead has some real dynamics and drama to it. if i just heard this as a standalone record, not knowing of the original i’d be totally blown away. much the best thing so far.
2. courtney pine – when i’m 64: starts off pleasant but uneccessary. but then goes of at a tangent and becomes really quite good, before going on a bit too much. i’m *really* not a jazz expert.
3. michelle shocked – lovely rita: blimey: EXACTLY the sort of shit folky cover that everyone goes crazy about these days. i’m amazed it hasn’t been in a john lewis advert.
4. the triffids – good morning, good morning: oh dear. if you want a brilliant sneering canter, listen to the original. if you want awful hamfisted gothery though, this is perfect.
5. three wize men – sgt peppar reprise: seems less good this time round. some okay vocoder.
6. the fall – a day in the life: www apart, the only one i knew before. i like the echoeyness and the way he says ‘hat’. (and the way he says everything else, being mark e smith.)
so the winners are….sonic youth.
not sure it’s a record i’ll be returning to too often. now, did we ever establish how to tell if it’s a super-valuable copy?
I do have that cassette version Marc mentions in #4, so…
Morrissey – Every Day Is Like Sunday (#8 peak) and Sabrina – Boys (Summertime Love, #3 peak) were released on the same week (June 11, 1988.) Now they’re the two polar extremes of Western pop culture.
Three Wize Men were an early Brit-hop act, most famous for their single “Cruisin’ for a Bruisin'” (might have been some Zs in the spelling, actually). I remember it being quite funny/good, but the misty-eyes of history may be playing a role there. Will have to have a re-listen when I get home.
#43. One’s a saucy little number about sun, sea, sand and the removal of clothing. The other one’s by Sabrina.
At least after this the great British public got wise to the Wets, thus ensuring they’d have no future success with cover versions ever again. (Is this right?)
Pretty routine stuff from the Wets, but I quite like Billy’s take on She’s Leaving Home. For the total package, a generous 5/10 from me.