‘Be Still My Beating Heart’…Nothing Like the Sun is Thirty Years Old

“I was accosted late one night on Highgate Hill by a staggering drunk who grabbed me by the lapels and, after tranquillising me with with his foul breath, pointed to the moon which was swollen in its fullness and demanded of me threateningly, “How beautiful is the moon? … How beautiful is the moon?” he repeated. Thinking quickly and not wishing for an early toxic death, I fixed him with my eye and declaimed, “My mistress’ eyes are nothing like the sun.” Shakespeare is always useful I’ve found for calming down violent drunks if only because it gives them the impression that you’re crazier than they are. “A good answer …” he said. “A good answer” as he set off on a tack for Kentish Town like a listing Galleon.”

Yes. Well, inspiration does come from the strangest places. Sting does seem to have a certain level of fascination with Shakespeare as a number of his songs over the years have featured lines borrowed from various works by the Bard. And why not? As Sting himself has remarked, the man is hardly in a position to complain. ‘Consider Me Gone’, for instance, features lines adapted from Sonnet #35. Here, a line from Sonnet #130 found its way onto a sultry number entitled ‘Sister Moon’ and gave Sting’s second solo studio album its title – …Nothing Like the Sun – a number one album which celebrated its 30th anniversary in October this year.

‘Sister Moon’ was an appropriate choice as a title track. It has a reflective feel, and its themes of women and motherhood are something that recurs on a number of songs on the album. Opening track ‘The Lazarus Heart’ and the politically charged ‘They Dance Alone’ both share those themes. Indeed, Sting’s mother sadly passed away during the making of …Nothing Like the Sun. The album is dedicated to her, and this may well have contributed to its more reflective moments.

All of which brings us neatly onto the first single lifted from the album; ‘We’ll Be Together’. This song is not ‘reflective’ in any way. It is a completely over-the-top, somewhat frivolous synth-fest which, although good fun, sticks out like a sore thumb within the context of the rest of these songs. Originally, Sting recorded a more straight-forward version that was much more of a conventional rock song, featuring stand-out electric guitar fills from Eric Clapton. However, for reasons best known to himself, Sting discarded this recording and produced an entirely new version with Bryan Loren for inclusion on the album. The arguably superior original remains consigned to the obscurity of Sting’s long list of B-sides, though a remixed version was later released on 1994’s Fields of Gold compilation.

Perhaps part of the reason ‘We’ll Be Together’ was re-recorded may have been because …Nothing Like the Sun is very much keyboard orientated. Though regular Sting collaborators such as Branford Marsalis (saxophone), Kenny Kirkland (keyboards) and Manu Katché (drums) all feature, there is no one guitarist in the recording line-up. Eric Clapton and Mark Knopfler made subtle contributions to ‘They Dance Alone’, the late Hiram Bullock played the soaring guitar solos on the outstanding cover of Jimi Hendrix’ ‘Little Wing’, Police guitarist Andy Summers played on ‘The Lazarus Heart’ and ‘Be Still My Beating Heart’, and Sting himself played on ‘History Will Teach Us Nothing’ and the thought-provoking ‘Fragile’ – a song that remains an integral part of Sting’s setlists as the set-closer to this day, with that final harmonic ‘ping’ signalling the end of the concert. Though a number of songs do feature guitars, the overall soundscape of the album is created largely by keyboard sounds. ‘Be Still My Beating Heart’ is a particularly sublime example of the lush textures that characterise this album. 

It would, of course, be remiss of me to complete this article without mentioning ‘Englishman in New York’, which would eventually become one of Sting’s most popular recordings. Inspired by Sting’s friend Quentin Crisp, who moved to New York late in his life, it is one of those songs that has all the hallmarks of an all-time classic. The chorus is instantly memorable and one that concert goers are only too happy to sing along to en masse. A jazzy instrumental interlude following the bridge is broken up by a crashing drum solo, representing the variety of sounds one might hear whilst walking along a New York street. And then there is Branford Marsalis’ iconic saxophone solo outro, which playfully continues after the remainder of the song has faded out. Though not a hit initially, the song was remixed in 1990 and this was when it finally achieved the recognition it deserved.  Indeed, none of the singles from …Nothing Like the Sun actually reached the top 40 but became popular through other means – a demonstration that whilst The Police were a hit making machine, Sting’s focus into his solo career was much more on his albums as a body of work.

The album was co-produced by Sting and Neil Dorfsman, a prevalent producer at the time who had also co-produced Dire Straits’ iconic Brothers in Arms with Mark Knopfler. Like Brothers in Arms, …Nothing Like the Sun was recorded at the now sadly abandoned AIR Studios on the Caribbean island of Montserrat, where so many great artists recorded some of rock’s finest albums. And, like Brothers in Arms, …Nothing Like the Sun is very much a production of the 1980s, and yet both seem to have stood the test of time rather well. It shows that even through the prism of 80s production values, the quality of the songwriting shines through. Following the success of Sting’s debut solo album The Dream of the Blue Turtles, it properly established him has a fully fledged solo artist, free of the creative shackles of The Police. As well as being a polished production, it is a notably mature album, with Sting taking a wider view of the world as exemplified in songs such as ‘They Dance Alone’ and ‘Fragile’. It is unquestionably a classic album, which remains as much of an enjoyable listen in 2017 as it was in 1987.

Pet Shop Boys – A Catalogue of Brilliance

Yes. It may come as some surprise to some people who know me, but I am a fan of the Pet Shop Boys. And with the Catalogue re–releases of their latter career Parlophone albums, it seems an appropriate time to explain just why I think they are among the all-time greats.

Pet Shop Boys – Neil Tennant (R) and Chris Lowe (L)

Now, we all know the big PSB classics of the late 1980s and early 1990s: ‘West End Girls’, ‘It’s a Sin’, ‘Go West’ etc. Not to mention the interesting costumes. But it’s their comparatively more recent music that I want to focus on because this, I feel, is really where they have come into their own in creative terms.

Nightlife, one of the albums recently re-released as part of the Catalogue collection, was originally released in 1999. Its first couple of singles passed me by, but the third single, ‘You Only Tell Me You Love Me When You’re Drunk’, got my attention. It was played on heavy rotation on the radio at the time and became a sizeable hit for PSB. What was special about this track was that it had a distinct country influence, and yet it was merged with the electro-pop sounds more commonly associated with the duo. And this is one of the things that makes Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe unique – whilst a lot of electronic music is laden with sampling, looping and generally shapeless compositions, they write good, traditional pop songs that have a recognisable structure, but then record them using a largely electronic medium.

Ever since the release of that single back in 2000, I have followed PSB with much interest. They consistently come up with such interesting material which will often challenge the listener. One of the many facets of their output that makes their music so captivating is their ability to write songs that are not only musically challenging, but also lyrically ingenious. There are countless examples. ‘Sad Robot World’, from 2016’s Super, is set in some futuristic world in which robots have evolved a sense of self-awareness. Within songs such as ‘I Get Along’ and ‘I’m With Stupid’ you’ll find veiled political satire. And there is even more fascinating material amongst their many and varied B-sides. ‘The Resurrectionist’, from the I’m With Stupid single, was inspired by a book about Victorian grave robbers working for medical scientists. And then there’s ‘Hell’, from 2012’s Leaving single, which features some of the cleverest lyrics I know of. I think Neil must have been challenging himself to see how many evil dictators and mass murderers he could possibly squeeze into one song. It’s well worth a listen.

Quite apart from the clever clogs lyrics, there are many songs of the more introspective and emotional nature. PSB have a knack for writing and recording ballads that have such a depth of texture. Another B-side, ‘Always’, is one of the very best examples of this. ‘King of Rome’ from 2009’s Yes album is another, as is the gorgeous ‘Luna Park’ from 2006’s Fundamental. Neil Tennant’s almost angelic vocal style compliments these songs perfectly. Almost every album seems to produce at least one of these songs and it’s one of the things I most look forward to when PSB have new music coming out.

As Neil Tennant mentioned in an interview promoting the Catalogue collection recently, many people seem to assume that older artists who are still making music are merely ‘going through the motions’ – perhaps just looking for that extra bit of publicity that they are perceived to crave. And that may well be true in certain cases. But this is certainly not the case where Pet Shop Boys are concerned. There are few artists as prolific or indeed as innovative as Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe. Just look at the sheer volume of material they have come up with – particularly in the last twenty years or so. The quality and variety of that material is quite incredible. They are a unique musical duo who clearly have a great love for what they do. And I hope they will continue to entertain us for many years to come.

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Shania Twain – In the NOW

Ah…Shania. I well remember first discovering her on a Top of the Pops 2 special, way back in 1999. I remember thinking how she was just one of those people who had everything. Not only did she happen to be an incredibly beautiful woman, but she could play guitar and, of course, she had that distinctive, powerful voice. I might have fallen a bit in love. 

Shania Twain performing for the BBC’s Top of the Pops 2 in 1999

At that time, Shania was dominating the charts with her record-breaking album Come On Over, which spawned such iconic mega hits as ‘That Don’t Impress Me Much’, ‘You’re Still the One’ and ‘Man! I Feel Like a Woman’, which was complimented by quite possibly the most memorable video in pop history. Come On Over was followed by 2002’s Up!, which once again produced a plethora of hit singles. But, following this album and the subsequent world tour, she promptly fell off the map.

Much water has passed under the bridge in the thirteen years since that tour. On top of some well documented changes in her private life, Shania contracted Lyme Disease which attacked her vocal cords, threatening the loss of her singing voice.

Happily however, her vocal cords were not beyond repair and with some determination her voice was restored, albeit with a slightly deeper tone than we had been accustomed to. She later embarked on a successful run of shows at Caesars Palace, Las Vegas between 2012-2014, followed by a North American tour during 2015. Eventually, she got around to writing some new songs and the result is Now, her first original studio album in some fifteen years. And if you were expecting the light-hearted, happy-go-lucky Shania of years gone by, this is something almost completely different.

Though there are one or two subtle hints of the bubbly country-pop of her previous albums in songs such as ‘Swingin’ With My Eyes Closed’, Now is a brooding, soul searching affair. Many, if not all of the songs are written very much from the heart, reflecting on the difficulties and the changes that have occurred in her life over the years leading up to this album. Now without her ex-husband and co-writer Robert John ‘Mutt’ Lange, Shania has taken it upon herself to write on her own and there are a number of excellent songs on here that do indeed prove what a formidable songwriter she can be. Of particular note are ‘Light of My Life’ with its chorus that will repeat over in your head for days, ‘Poor Me’ and the poignant ‘Soldier’. There are even a couple songs, namely ‘Because of You’ and closing track ‘All in All’, that I can well imagine being sung by the great Emmylou Harris.

Now has its weaker moments, with ‘Roll Me On the River’ and lead single ‘Life’s About to Get Good’ perhaps being examples. But there is one lingering issue I have with this album, and that is the way in which it has been produced. The biggest problem is the use of the dreaded autotune. The modern day charts are flooded with artists using this effect. Whenever I enter a shop or a restaurant, all I ever hear on the jukebox is the robotic sound of somebody’s voice, computerised beyond all recognition. Producers are using autotune on just about every voice in the business now, whether they can sing accurately or not, as a means of achieving absolute perfection. It has become all too common. Here, it is being used on one of the most distinctive voices going and I’m sorry, but with a voice as good as Shania’s, it simply shouldn’t be needed. I want to hear her voice in its natural form. The album is far from a disaster, but this and the rather over-egged production do unfortunately let it down to a certain extent. Producers need to realise that imperfections and inconsistencies are a part of what makes music special and genuine, and artists should never allow commercial demands and trends to dictate how their music is produced.

I love Shania. She’s still the one. As I alluded to earlier, she has certainly proved here that she is an excellent songwriter in her own right and as evidenced by her recent appearance at Hyde Park, she is still as brilliant a performer as she ever was. I very much hope she’ll continue making records in the not too distant future, but I would just love to hear something more band-orientated and rootsy from her the next time around. The building blocks are there.

Cover photo from Shania Twain’s new album NOW

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Sting – 57th & 9th – Live in Chicago

Sting does say he loves to tour. And that certainly rings true, given that he has been touring in one form or another every year since 2004. His desire and enthusiasm to be on the road, be it with a stripped back rock band or the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, is clearly relentless. In Sting’s own words, he likes to “keep the muscle flexible”, in terms of the type and size of the shows he plays. Some tours visit relatively small and intimate venues such as clubs or theatres, whilst others visit large arenas, stadiums and festivals where he plays to tens of thousands of people.

For the opening leg of 2017’s extensive 57th & 9th world tour, supporting his first ‘rock’ album in many a year, Sting went for the stripped back rock band and intimate venue option. Part of one of these shows has been captured on a special vinyl album entitled 57th & 9th – Live in Chicago, which has been released exclusively for members of Sting’s official fan club. It makes for an excellent companion to Live at the Bataclan, released on Record Store Day 2017, for fans who were able to drag themselves out of bed early enough in order to grab a copy of that album. Live in Chicago‘s ten songs were recorded at the Aragon Ballroom on 3rd March 2017.

A refreshed touring line-up consists of Sting’s guitarist of 27 years, Dominic Miller, Dominic’s son Rufus (“just for insurance”) also on guitar, Josh Freese on drums and the man himself on bass and vocals. That core line-up is augmented by the addition of Sting’s son Joe Sumner and members of Tex-Mex outfit The Last Bandoleros on backing vocals, and finally Percy Cardona on accordion. The songs, both old and new, have clearly gained a certain raw energy with this band which has proved extremely popular with both fans and critics alike.

The 57th & 9th gigs thus far have opened with Sting performing ‘Heading South On the Great North Road’, a new song from the latest album, accompanied only by himself on acoustic guitar and Dominic on an electric. The opening acts then play their sets, and Sting then returns with his band, launching into the 1983 Police hit ‘Synchronicity II’, getting the main set off to a decidedly powerful and crowd-pleasing start. This is followed by another Police hit, 1981’s ‘Spirits in the Material World’, featuring one of Sting’s many trademark simple-but-effective bass riffs. Sting is indeed much underrated as a bassist, as is clearly evidenced throughout this live album.

Next up, ‘I Can’t Stop Thinking About You’, the lead single from 57th & 9th, is delivered with as much of the driving rock feel of the original. Side A concludes with a particularly fine performance of ‘Fields of Gold’, which works surprisingly well without keyboards and with Dominic’s guitar solo replaced by an accordion solo.

Three songs from 57th & 9th open Side B, starting with ‘Down Down Down’. Once again Sting’s bass playing on this performance is particularly strong. The rip-roaring ‘Petrol Head’ follows, which has had its outro altered slightly since the album version was recorded. Though the original did not immediately appeal to me, this live version with its much improved ending is arguably much more effective and is perhaps one of the best performances on the record. Another superb performance of ‘Pretty Young Soldier’ wraps up the selections from the new album. Side B closes with two of Sting’s most celebrated hits – ‘Desert Rose’, from 1999’s Brand New Day, and the iconic 1983 Police classic ‘Every Breath You Take’.

Although 57th & 9th has not had anything like the impact that previous Sting albums did in terms of charts and sales, the relatively simple arrangements of its songs clearly translate very effectively to a live context and they are obviously being received well by audiences. One would hope that at least some of them will remain in the set for a good few years yet. 

Though his advancing years have inevitably resulted in him making a few key changes to certain songs in order to make them easier on his voice, the extensive touring over many decades has not in any way diminished Sting’s ability to perform. That distinctive voice of his, surely one of the finest in rock, is still as clear and penetrating in tone as it ever was. Most of all, from listening to this recording, he seems to be more relaxed and having more fun playing live than ever. And having fun is what being in a live band is all about. He is keeping things simple on this tour. There is no spectacular light show and there are no large video screens behind the band. The focus is very much on the music…as it always should be.

Coldplay’s ‘Kaleidoscope’ of Sound

AS strong an album as 2015’s A Head Full of Dreams is, it did give me cause to worry that Coldplay were beginning to stray too far away from sounding like a band.  Whilst still producing unique material, the increased amount of electronic production was starting to detract from the true musical chemistry between the band members, and with the over-compression of bass frequencies and the use of auto-tune in certain places, it could even be argued that they were starting to sound too commercial.

‘All I Can Think About is You’, the opening track on their new Kaleidoscope EP, serves to dispel some of my fears. More band-orientated than most of what you will hear on A Head Full of Dreams, it features two distinct sections. Opening with a relatively sparse arrangement consisting of piano, guitar, vocals, drums and bass, all of which are loaded with copious amounts of reverb, it then morphs into an epic, euphoric rock song reminiscent of ‘Death and All His Friends’. The feel good factor in songs like this is the kind of thing Coldplay are so adept at creating. The only problem with the song is the rather abrupt ending. It’s as if they hadn’t quite worked out how to finish it. A song of such epic proportions perhaps warrants a slightly more climactic ending. But it is such a good song – I think I’ll let them off on this occasion.

‘Miracles (Someone Special)’ is a whole other kettle of fish. It opens with a synth pad sound which abruptly cuts in and out. I wondered for a moment whether there was something wrong with my CD, but as the other instrumentation comes in the effect is disguised. This is another strong song which references the late Mohammad Ali. Musically it has a subtle, almost 70s disco feel with a guitar part that wouldn’t sound unfamiliar in style to fans of Nile Rodgers. It’s all going well until about 2:30 when a chap who calls himself Big Sean starts talking over it.

The next track, ‘A L I E N S’, is another of the more electronic variety which references the ongoing refugee crisis. It sees the return of producer Brian Eno, who worked so successfully with the band on their seminal albums Viva la Vida and Mylo Xyloto. None of the magic of the collaboration between Eno and the band has been lost here.

‘Something Just Like This’, a collaboration with The Chainsmokers, will already be familiar to many. The version of the song included on this EP, however, is a mixture of elements from the studio version, and a live version recorded in Tokyo. Live performances of ‘Something Just Like This’ have proved somewhat superior to the studio version, largely because of the use of real drums, which give the song far more ‘weight’ than the sequenced drums on the original. The recording has been mixed in such a way that the audience, all singing along with Chris Martin, almost become an extension of the arrangement. The only unfortunate element of this track is the use of the dreaded auto-tune on Martin’s voice.

The closing track is something rather special. ‘Hypnotised’ was made available as a single track download some time prior to the release of this EP, and I remain captivated by it. It is an extraordinary song. Every element of it comes together beautifully. Coldplay are not generally known for lyrical depth, but the words here are well thought out, and Chris Martin delivers them to perfection. It is quite possibly the finest recording Coldplay have ever made. There is a certain melancholy about it, and yet it is conversely uplifting.

Coldplay have said that A Head Full of Dreams might be their final album. And that would be a shame, because this EP, truly a ‘Kaleidoscope’ of sound, shows just how much creative juice they have in the tank. And if they can record such sublime songs as ‘Hypnotised’, then I very much hope there is much more to come from the last great world-conquering rock band.

Lindsey Buckingham and Christine McVie – Getting ‘On With the Show’

Rumours (if you’ll excuse the pun) had been circulating since perhaps 2013 that a new Fleetwood Mac album might be on the way at some time or another. The band had been in the studio recording material, and did in fact release a digital EP featuring four new songs, including the brilliantly uplifting ‘Sad Angel’.  Then, out of the blue, Christine McVie rejoined the band in 2014 and the most recognised of the Mac line-ups toured together for the first time since the late 1990s later that year.

Singer Stevie Nicks, however, was reluctant to contribute to the album and decided to focus on her solo work. With Lindsey and Christine continuing to bounce song ideas off one another, the project evolved into a collaboration album between the two of them featuring contributions from Mick Fleetwood and John McVie, so what we have ultimately wound up with here is a Fleetwood Mac album which features all members of the band except Stevie.  And you know what?  Without wishing to belittle what Stevie brings to the band, they have come up something that is as good as any Fleetwood Mac record.

The eponymous album features ten tracks in all, five of which were written by Lindsey, two by Christine and the remaining three are co-writes.  The album was produced by Lindsey, along with veteran producers Mitchell Froom and Mark Needham.  Those familiar with Lindsey’s solo work will be aware that it tends to be a little more on the experimental side than what he brings to the band – the fact that his solo career operates much more ‘under the radar’, compared to the massive exposure Fleetwood Mac attracts, allows him the creative space to make music that is more left-field and closer to the kind of music that he naturally gravitates to.  However, that experimentation has been paired back somewhat here, and other than on two or three of the songs, even Lindsey’s guitar playing has taken more of a back seat than usual in favour of focusing more on the collaboration and the arrangements as a whole.

The album opens with ‘Sleeping Around the Corner’, an extremely catchy tune driven along by a big synth bass line which was originally intended for Lindsey’s 2011 solo album Seeds We Sow.  This gives way to the first of the co-writes, the playful ‘Feel About You’, followed by the instantly memorable lead single ‘In My World’, another of Lindsey’s songs.  The highlights continue with ‘Red Sun’, another co-write which once again provides an unforgettable chorus hook.  The next track, ‘Love is Here to Stay’, is beautifully layered with acoustic guitars and vocal harmonies.  A simple but extremely effective electric guitar hook from Lindsey drives the insanely catchy ‘Too Far Gone’.  Christine’s ‘Game of Pretend’ is one of the more touching songs on the record, with its chorus once again layered with wonderful vocal harmonies.  Lindsey’s ‘On With the Show’, which gave its name to the Mac’s 2014/15 world tour, and Christine’s ‘Carnival Begin’ are odes to the fact that they are still associated with a band that has such a storied history, with the latter closing the album strongly on a characteristically big guitar solo from Lindsey.  There are no throwaway tracks on this album.

One thing you’ll notice about all of these songs is that the lead vocal is sung exclusively either by Lindsey or Christine. There are no ‘duets’ as such, and yet the collaborative feel is still very clear.  Their distinctiveness as writers and performers combines beautifully, as if the thirty years since 1987’s Tango in the Night had never passed.  The legendary duo of Mick Fleetwood and John McVie on drums and bass gives many of the songs a decidedly Fleetwood Mac-esque sound which only adds to it.

This really is a superb album. When you listen to it, and certainly when you see the 15-minute EPK posted on their official YouTube account, the chemistry between these two legendary artists is plain to see. Their partnership is as strong as ever. While there is now very little prospect of a future Fleetwood Mac album, it is wonderful to see that Lindsey Buckingham and Christine McVie still have plenty of creative juice left in the tank, and after next year’s Fleetwood Mac tour, it will be fascinating to hear what they might come out with next.

Back On His Feet – Paul McCartney’s Flowers in the Dirt

The great British public, the cynical bunch that we are, have not always taken the post-Beatles Paul McCartney all that seriously.  Other than his undisputedly monumental achievements with The Beatles, the first thing some of us may think of is that tune he wrote for Rupert the Bear.  Some even believe that he has not achieved anything musically significant since he left the band in 1970.  Paul is, to some degree, a victim of his own past in that everything he has ever released over the course of his 47-year career with Wings and as a solo artist has either been compared with his work with The Beatles, or if not, with Wings’ iconic 1973 album Band On the Run.  I have lost count of the number of reviews I have read of new McCartney albums that boldly hail them as ‘his best work since Sgt Pepper’ or ‘his best work since Band On the Run’.  And it has become rather tiresome.  Music should be appreciated on its own merit, regardless of whatever went before.

Paul has been a consistently prolific writer over the years and has released a vast array of material, constantly exploring new ideas and broadening his own musical horizons.  Few artists can claim to have been so productive for so long.  Some of his albums have been more experimental than others and with arguably mixed results.  1986’s Press to Play was one such example.  This album, though far from a disaster, received a somewhat lukewarm reception and has perhaps not stood the test of time particularly well.  The follow-up, however, was another matter entirely.

Flowers in the Dirt, which recently became the tenth album to be released as part of the Paul McCartney Archive Collection series, was originally released in June 1989 and was perhaps his most cohesive set of songs for some time.  Listening to the album, there is a distinct feeling that Paul has made an especially concerted effort to make a solid and well-produced record.  Indeed, for the first time in a decade, he was intent on going out on an extensive world tour behind this album and therefore wanted to make an album that was worthy of such an undertaking.  He was evidently happy with the result, as he would subsequently embark on the Paul McCartney World Tour which stretched from September 1989 to July 1990 and took in a total of 103 shows, and was later documented by the Tripping the Live Fantastic album.

Work on Flowers in the Dirt began as far back as 1987 and recording took place over the following two years, involving numerous producers from a variety of musical backgrounds including the likes of Mitchell Froom, Neil Dorfsman, Steve Lipson, Chris Hughes, David Foster, Trevor Horn, George Martin and Paul himself. The result was a diverse mixture of songs, from acoustic based songs such as ‘Distractions’ and ‘Put it There’, to more electronic driven recordings such as ‘Rough Ride’ and ‘Ou Est Le Soleil?’

Another of Paul’s collaborators during this period was one Declan MacManus – better known as Elvis Costello. The two of them struck up a songwriting partnership circa 1987. The first result we heard of this was a song called ‘Back On My Feet’, which appeared as the B-side to ‘Once Upon a Long Ago’, from the All the Best compilation. Four of the songs they co-wrote were to make it onto Flowers in the Dirt, including the Beatles-esque lead single ‘My Brave Face’. The contrast of songwriting styles between Paul and Elvis is plain to hear on all of these songs, and they were a demonstration of just how formidable a partnership this was. Sitting together with acoustic guitars in Paul’s office above his Sussex studio, the two men would write songs together and then, immediately upon finishing them, head downstairs to make stripped down, basic recordings of their new creations. These wonderful recordings have now been released on a bonus disc with the Archive edition of the album. There is enough material here for a separate album in its own right, and it is fascinating to hear these songs at the very beginning of their life – “hot off the skillet” as Paul himself has worded it. 

The fact that ‘My Brave Face’ did have that slightly Beatles-esque feel was a sign that Paul was finally ready to embrace his past, where previously he had seemed to want to escape from it. As has been well-documented, the break up of The Beatles had been somewhat acrimonious, but after nineteen years it was perhaps time to look back at the happier memories of his time with the band. Indeed, the setlists on the subsequent world tour were to be dominated by Beatles material. Even the Höfner violin bass made a comeback (with Elvis Costello’s encouragement during the recording of Flowers), and Paul has continued to use the instrument extensively ever since. 

The whole album does seem to represent the beginning of a new era for Paul. He now had a steady band with whom he would tour and record over the next four or five years, and certainly when you consider tracks such as the uplifting ‘Figure of Eight’, or the big sound of ‘We Got Married’ featuring his sometime collaborator David Gilmour, his music seemed more robust than it had been for some years both in terms of the songwriting itself and the quality of production.

The deluxe set of new Archive edition of the album is as lavish as we have come to expect from the series. Everything that you can possibly imagine, including the kitchen sink, is thrown at these releases. Flowers in the Dirt takes the form of a large slipcase boxed set, beautifully covered with the album’s original artwork. The set features a book on the making of the album with interviews with Paul, the production team and his band members of the time, a facsimile notebook with handwritten notes and lyrics by Paul, a photo book with images from the making of the promotional videos for ‘This One’, and a catalogue of Linda McCartney’s 1989 Flowers in the Dirt artwork exhibition at The Mayor Gallery, London. 

And I almost forgot…they’ve also included some music with this set. The first disc is the remastered album itself. As has been the case with all the previous Archive releases, the remastering has brought the very best out of the original recording and the album is sounding just about as good as it ever has. The quality of these Archive remasters makes the 1993 Paul McCartney Collection remasters sound pedestrian by comparison – a clear demonstration of how far remastering has come over the last twenty years or so. The character of the original recordings has been retained, whilst enhancing their fidelity as much as possible. As mentioned previously, the second disc features Paul and Elvis Costello’s original 1987 demos, which once again sound sublime. 

Also included with the set is a third disc featuring these same songs at the next stage of their evolution, recorded with Paul’s band during 1988. These make for fascinating listening, as it is interesting to hear how the songs that did make it onto the album evolved into their final versions. ‘Don’t Be Careless Love’, for instance, had a much more pronounced reggae feel when the demo was recorded. And I must mention here that the final track on this disc in particular, ‘Playboy to a Man’, is an outstanding recording. The fourth disc is a DVD which includes all the music videos produced for the singles from Flowers, as well as the excellent Put it There documentary made at the time of the album’s original release. There is also some wonderful behind-the-scenes footage included here, showing Paul and Elvis obviously having the time of their lives during some of the early recording sessions.

My one criticism of the set is that all the associated B-sides and remixes, normally included on one of the bonus CDs, have been made available as downloads only which can be accessed via the Paul McCartney website using a unique code. Given that these sets are not exactly cheap, you wouldn’t think it would hurt just to find the space for one extra disc. Still, there are some gems amongst this bonus material, a highlight being ‘Lovliest Thing’ which is, as its title suggests, rather lovely.

Realistically, Flowers in the Dirt is not among the most historically significant albums Paul has released. Though it was a critical and commercial success at the time of its release, it has not remained firmly within the public consciousness, and its lengthy and somewhat complicated production may well be an explanation for the more guitar based nature of his next album Off the Ground, released in early 1993. Nevertheless, Flowers in the Dirt was a strong effort which featured some of Paul’s strongest compositions for some time. It was proof, if any was needed, that his musical talents are just as remarkable whether with The Beatles, Wings or otherwise and deserve to appreciated as such.

It Was Worth the Wait…

It feels slightly odd listening to a new Pop/Rock album from Sting, some 13 years since the last one (though we mustn’t discount 2013’s largely folk-based The Last Ship, which I think is a masterpiece).

57th & 9th certainly demonstrates that he has not lost his songwriting touch. It’s really the first conventional band-orientated album he has recorded since Mercury Falling, which was released 20 years ago. This one is very much centred around guitar, bass and drums. He hasn’t gone over the top with the production in any way. It is largely simple, accessible Pop/Rock music – something we have been waiting to hear from Sting for a long, long time.

It is wonderful to hear him recording with Dominic Miller and the mighty Vinnie Colaiuta again, and to hear their work right at the front of the mix for the first time in so many years, though keyboard player David Sancious unfortunately doesn’t appear on this album to complete the brilliant line-up that recorded 1993’s classic Ten Summoner’s Tales. There are subtle keyboard parts here and there, but the emphasis is very much on guitar-based arrangements.

The whole album is superb, but among the highlights for me are I Can’t Stop Thinking About You, Down Down Down, Pretty Young Soldier, If You Can’t Love Me, Inshallah and the utterly heartbreaking closing track The Empty Chair. If that song does not extract a tear or cause a slight wetness of the eyes, nothing will.

As a fan of over 20 years, it has been wonderful to hear Sting getting back to writing again with The Last Ship and 57th & 9th. He has proved himself to be an incredibly versatile musician many times over, and it is about time people took him a little more seriously. He is in fine form right now – perhaps the best form he has been in since he was regularly writing and recording back in the 1990s. I very much hope it continues, and I look forward to seeing him taking these songs on the road in 2017.

A Wonderful Crazy Night at Longleat

Elton John has been among my biggest musical heroes for nearly twenty years.  The first album of his that I heard was The Big Picture, a much underrated album that was released in September 1997 and for which I still hold a great deal of fondness.  I have followed Elton’s output ever since that time and have enjoyed hearing how his music has developed since then.  From the lush, atmospheric sound of The Big Picture, the music became increasingly roots-based in nature over albums such as Songs from the West Coast (2001), Peachtree Road (2004) and The Captain and the Kid (2006).  In recent years, he has been producing with T Bone Burnett, a collaboration that has resulted in three albums – The Union (2010, with Leon Russell), The Diving Board (2013) and his current album Wonderful Crazy Night (2016).  That last album has a distinctly upbeat rock emphasis, and is possibly the finest he has recorded in many years.

Though I have enjoyed listening to Elton’s recording output over the years, I had never taken the opportunity to see him and his wonderful band live until his show at Longleat on 12th June 2016 was announced.  Elton has remained a terrific live performer throughout his career and with Longleat being relatively local for me, I did not want to allow this opportunity to pass.  I am extremely glad that I didn’t let it pass – the reasons for which will become clear over the following paragraphs.

Outdoor shows are new to me – artists I go to see generally play smaller indoor venues but with Elton John having the large following that he quite rightly has, a larger show is in order, and Longleat is a wonderful setting for an outdoor show with the surrounding grounds and house providing the perfect backdrop.  We also had perfect weather for this show, which was somewhat of a relief as the forecast had not looked in any way favourable all week.  The only issue, however, was the traffic congestion in the general area surrounding Longleat coming from all directions.  Many fans, myself included, did not arrive at our seats for the start of the concert as a result.  I could hear the set opener, Funeral for a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding, whilst walking from the car park towards the arena.  Unfortunately, Elton was three or four songs into his set by the time I reached my seat, but it was immediately clear from what I was hearing that he and the band were in superb form – Elton was in excellent voice and sang perfectly throughout the whole two and a half hour show.  He didn’t put a foot wrong.  And, of course, his talents as a pianist are extraordinary to say the least.  His performances on classics such as Rocket Man, which takes on a significantly extended form at his live shows, Burn Down the Mission, Levon and Saturday Night’s Alright for Fighting to name but a few, were spellbinding.

I must also mention his band – Davey Johnstone on guitar, Nigel Olsson on drums, John Mahon on percussion, Matt Bissonette on bass and Kim Bullard on keyboards.  Davey Johnstone and Nigel Olsson have been integral components of Elton’s sound for over forty years and are still playing with the same fire as they ever did, if not even more so.  Nigel’s bass drum was phenomenally powerful.  Enough to cause a small earthquake.  The interplay between all of them was quite something – the exchange of solos between Elton and Davey on Levon was hugely impressive.  The whole band were clearly having the time of their lives on stage, particularly so on Saturday Night’s Alright for Fighting.  It was at this point that John Mahon spotted a young girl in the front row and, clearly impressed by her dancing abilities, he lifted her up onto the stage to dance energetically for the 15,000-odd people attending.  Stage fright was clearly not an issue for her.  That will be quite some claim to fame in years to come!  The audience was positively captivated by the whole performance – everyone, without exception, was standing and dancing and singing along for at least the last third of the set.  It is difficult to single out particular highlights.  The entire show was one huge highlight.  Being there was an electrifying experience.

There was, however, an emotional element to this show.  The set featured three songs from Elton’s newest album, Wonderful Crazy Night.  Upon announcing Looking Up, the first of these songs, Elton told us that this album would be his last.  He said that, with it being such an upbeat album, he wanted to go out on a happy note.  This made his performance of A Good Heart, a ballad and highlight from the album, all the more emotional than it already is.  He was also sure to thank everybody for all the years of love and support later on in the show.  If Elton is indeed looking to retire in the next couple of years, Wonderful Crazy Night would be a great way to finish because it truly is a brilliant album which demonstrates the formidable combination of Elton and Bernie Taupin, a legendary songwriting partnership that has endured some fifty years, and the wonderful musicians he tours and records with.  And clearly Elton and his band are right at the top of their game as a live act at this point, so he would certainly be going out on a high.

The show ended with performances of Candle in the Wind, dedicated to those who lost their lives in the horrific attack in Orlando over the weekend, and Crocodile Rock to which we were all made to sing the famous hook – everyone, of course, obliged with the minimum of fuss.

As we all filtered out of the arena, a helicopter was seen departing the venue, evidently taking Elton home directly after completing his set.  I felt mixed emotions as I watched him fly away into the distance.  I was buzzing from witnessing such an astonishing show, but considering all the history he has made over so many years, there was a degree of sadness that this will probably be the first and only time I will ever see the great man live.  Elton John and contemporaries of his like are special.  They are special because they are unique, and with the direction in which the music business is going now, musical uniqueness and genuine talent in the commercial sense has become increasingly rare.  We will probably never see their like again.  So, I would urge you, if you have an opportunity to see him and other legendary artists of his era live, for heaven’s sake take it, because great performers such as Elton John are not going to be here forever.

The Dream of the Blue Turtles – an appreciation of Sting’s debut solo album 35 years on

“The title of the album came from a dream that woke me up on my first night in Barbados. I dreamed I was sitting in the walled garden behind my house in Hampstead, under a lilac tree on a well manicured lawn, surrounded by beautiful rosebushes. Suddenly the bricks from the wall exploded into the garden and I turned to see the head of an enormous turtle emerging from the darkness, followed by four or five others. They were not only the size of a man, they were also blue and had an air of being immensely cool, like hepcats, insouciant and fearless. They didn’t harm me but with an almost casual violence commenced to destroy my genteel English garden, digging up the lawn with their claws, chomping at the rosebushes, bulldozing the lilac tree. Total mayhem. I woke up to the sound of Branford [Marsalis] in the room upstairs, riffing wildly on his tenor sax, followed by his unmistakeable laughter.”

And so Sting’s debut solo album, The Dream of the Blue Turtles, was born. It was a risky move. Only the previous year, Sting had completed the Synchronicity tour with The Police. The Synchronicity album itself had been a massive success, and they were very much the biggest band in the world by this stage. Yet, at such a juncture, Sting struck out on his own. Indeed, throughout the subsequent solo career he carved out for himself, he has consistently taken musical risks and explored new and unexpected ground. It’s never really possible to predict what he might do next. One minute he is touring with a stripped-back rock band, the next he is recording an album of 16th Century lute music. After that, he is touring with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, followed by another tour with a rock band. Leaving The Police would allow Sting to flex his creative muscles much more freely – to demonstrate just how versatile a musician he really is. The Dream of the Blue Turtles was the beginning of an amazing journey he has taken us on in the 35 years since it was released in June 1985.

To record this album, Sting surrounded himself with some of the best players in the business. Omar Hakim played drums, Daryl Jones played bass, Branford Marsalis played saxophone, Kenny Kirkland played keyboards and Janice Pendarvis and Dollette McDonald sang backing vocals. Sting himself was content to play mostly small guitar parts and focus primarily on singing, whilst allowing the talents of his new Blue Turtles band to shine. This was particularly notable in the case of Kenny Kirkland and Branford Marsalis, both of whom were immensely talented instrumentalists and went on to become regular contributors to Sting’s work for many years afterwards. Kenny sadly died in November 1998 at the age of just 43 and is much missed.

Sting live at the Mogador Theatre, Paris, May 1985. Still taken from Bring On the Night, a ‘rockumentary’ which captures the build-up to the opening show of the Blue Turtles tour.

Though the musicians in his band had a background in jazz, describing Blue Turtles as a jazz album would be somewhat inaccurate. The album opens with lead single ‘If You Love Somebody Set Them Free’, an almost anthemic rock song which is perhaps among Sting’s best known solo recordings. Sting has described it in the past as the “antidote” to ‘Every Breath You Take’, in that ‘Every Breath’ was a dark song very much about control, whereas ‘Set Them Free’ was exactly the opposite. ‘Love is the Seventh Wave’ follows with its fun, reggae-infused feel.

The subject matter of ‘Russians’ was inspired by the Cold War situation of the day. A friend of Sting’s had a device which could steal the signal from a Russian satellite, and the two of them found themselves watching Russian children’s TV programmes very late at night, hence the lyric “what might save us me and you / is if the Russians love their children too”. The next track, ‘Children’s Crusade’, was an ambitious attempt to draw a parallel between the carnage of the First World War and the loss of life resulting from drug addiction 70 years later. While being a delicate waltz for the most part, this song also demonstrated the abilities of Branford Marsalis with an outstanding saxophone solo break. A significantly re-worked version of ‘Shadows in the Rain’, originally a Police song from their third album Zenyatta Mondatta, was also a showcase for the soloing abilities of both Branford and Kenny Kirkland.

‘We Work the Black Seam’ was another song inspired by current events of the time, in this case the coal miners’ strikes. As will be a familiar story to many songwriters, the tune had existed in his head for some years before Sting finally found some subject matter for it. ‘Consider Me Gone’, a subtly jazz-infused song, borrows from Shakespeare for its lyrical content. Years later Sting would claim that he liked borrowing from Shakespeare on the basis that “he never complains”. The title track, a short, instrumental and rather playful affair is followed by the wonderfully stealthy ‘Moon Over Bourbon Street’, and the album closes triumphantly with ‘Fortress Around Your Heart’ which, although released as the third of the album’s five singles, was not a significantly big hit here in the UK and perhaps deserves more recognition with such an uplifting chorus and arguably some of Sting’s finest lyrics.

The very best artists are those who have the ability to write and record music that can stand the test of time – music that transcends generations and remains just as effective as when it was brand new. Sting is one such artist. One of the astonishing things about Blue Turtles was that it was recorded and released right in the thick of the 1980s. The charts of the day were dominated by synth-pop, and yet here came Sting recording an album in a much more traditional manner, very much atypical of the era. With a band. And – shock, horror – real drums! In spite of this, Blue Turtles was a massive success and it proved that Sting was a more than viable act without The Police. He didn’t have to think in commercial terms and was now able to follow his own natural creative path, unconstrained by the sonic limitations of his old band. The big risk of leaving such a successful band at the very peak of its powers had ultimately paid off.

The Dream of the Blue Turtles is not an album of its time. It could be an album of any time, and that is why it still sounds so good to this day. It simply hasn’t dated. That is the mark of a great recording, and a truly great artist.

Check out the newly remastered videos for ‘If You Love Somebody Set Them Free’, ‘Love is the Seventh Wave’, ‘Fortress Around Your Heart’ and ‘Russians’ here.

A special picture disc edition of The Dream of the Blue Turtles