Category: Lost Albums (Page 12 of 14)

Lost Albums: SPARKS Gratuitous Sax & Senseless Violins

19 January 2013 /


After a quiet number of years even by their standards, the original synth duo SPARKS secured the backing of DEF Management and made a triumphant return in 1994 with ‘Gratuitous Sax & Senseless Violins’. It was very much a determined comeback released on the German based Logic label, then home to trendy dance acts like SNAP! and COSMIC BABY.

SPARKS’ career had been very up and down, but the Mael brothers were never deterred by public or media ambivalence and always returned like a phoenix from the flames just when people least expected it. First finding fame with the glorious ‘This Town Ain’t Big Enough For Both Of Us’, they had originally been HALFNELSON whose Todd Rundgren produced debut was released on Bearsville Records founded by Bob Dylan’s former manager Albert Grossman.

They changed their name to SPARKS when Grossman suggested they should rename themselves ‘The Sparks Brothers’ after the comedy siblings Marx. Following an appearance on ‘Old Grey Whistle Test’ in late 1972, presenter Bob Harris was unimpressed and said they were the worst thing he had ever seen… this same esteemed music expert had poured scorn on ROXY MUSIC a few months earlier by announcing they were “unimpressive hype” and later called NEW YORK DOLLS “mock rock”!

Luckily, British promoters were fascinated by the quirky brothers and they were booked for a series of well-attended club dates. At one of their headline gigs at The Marquee, they were supported by a group of upstarts named QUEEN! Ironically, the US would later embrace the music of QUEEN and indeed SPARKS, but it was indifference towards Ron’s classical keyboard interludes and Russell’s camp operatic falsetto that led to the Maels leaving America and uprooting to the UK to find fame and fortune.

They recruited a new backing band where one of the audition adverts had the prerequiste of: “a really good face that isn’t covered by a beard”! Although one of those who failed the audition was Warren Cann, later to join ULTRAVOX, the rest as they say is history.  Who wasn’t frightened to death by the snarling stares of Ron Mael with his Chaplain-esque moustache (…well, that’s what we are going to say!?!), sitting motionless behind his RMI Electra-piano on ‘Top Of The Pops’ in the late Spring of 1974?

Released on Island Records, their quirky glam albums ‘Kimono My House’ and ‘Propaganda’ bizarrely found a screaming teenybopper audience. But beneath the hit appeal of ‘Amateur Hour’, ‘Something For The Girl With Everything’ and ‘Never Turn Your Back On Mother Earth’ was an artistic eccentricity that captured the imaginations of notable soon-to-be songsmiths like a certain Steven Patrick Morrissey.

Meanwhile a Basildon lad named Martin Lee Gore was to later cover ‘Never Turn Your Back On Mother Earth’ in a busman’s holiday from DEPECHE MODE! However, despite an appearance in the George Segal film ‘Rollercoaster’ in 1976, SPARKS spent a number of years in the artistic doldrums.

Photo by Sophie Muller

Eventually, Russell and Ron opened their ears to the burgeoning electro-disco sound as heard on Donna Summer’s ‘I Feel Love’ and were put into contact with her producer Giorgio Moroder. With aspirations to work with a band, the Munich based Italian set to work with them immediately, the result being the tremendous ‘No1 Song In Heaven’. Released in 1979, it actually only made it to No14 in the UK charts but this was a few months before TUBEWAY ARMY’s seminal ‘Are Friends Electric?’, often seen as the cultural turning point for the synthesizer.

Eventually the sound of the synth was everywhere, but despite a Top10 follow-up hit in ‘Beat The Clock’, the album ‘No1 In Heaven’ failed to sell and SPARKS eventually got lost among all the British acts they had helped pave the way for like SIMPLE MINDS (just listen to ‘Life In A Day’ and ‘Chelsea Girl’!), OMD (ditto ‘Motion & Heart’), DEPECHE MODE (Founder member Vince Clarke would go on to remix SPARKS) and SOFT CELL (ditto David Ball!).

SPARKS returned to America with a rockier band sound produced by QUEEN cohort Mack. Tracks like ‘Angst In My Pants’ and ‘Funny Face’ were radio hits on LA New Wave station KROQ, but the rest of the world were starting to fall under the poptastic spell of PET SHOP BOYS and ERASURE, two duos who owed more than a small debt to the Maels’ image blueprint of one who does something and the other who does nothing! With the rise of dance culture and the music technology now available to work totally on their own terms, SPARKS came up with ‘Gratuitous Sax & Senseless Violins’.

The bold artwork with headlines such as “Room service cover up! It was hot but it wasn’t on the menu!” and “America’s Most Miserable Man” laid down their tongue-in-cheek intentions. The centrepiece was the launch single ‘When Do I Get To Sing My Way?’, a masterclass in electronic pop. It had everything; atmospherics, subtle rhythmical infections, an anthemic uplifting chorus and a narrative on sibling rivalry which was superbly illustrated in the vintage Hollywood blockbuster styled promo video directed by Sophie Muller.

The follow-up ‘(When I Kiss You) I Hear Charlie Parker Playing’ was very much in the frantic Eurodance vein of the period sounding like ‘Yesterday When I Was Mad’ being covered by Freddie Mercury! Actually, it was quite difficult to get through this album without thinking of PET SHOP BOYS and their stomping 1993 LP ‘Very’.

Despite the lush synthonic strings and beat driven template, Russell Mael brought his obviously more quizzical character into proceedings, particularly on the cutting ‘I Thought I Told You To Wait In The Car’ with its Arabic overtones and unsettling multi-tracked chants of “CAR! CAR! CAR! CAR!”.

‘Now That I Own The BBC’ was obviously more like ERASURE, the Maels ironically reflecting on their return to the fame game and using The Beeb as its metaphor. Also on the uptempo side of proceedings, ‘Let’s Go Surfing’ was perhaps a less accomplished relative of ‘Now That I Own The BBC’, but immediately enjoyable just the same, with orchestra stabs and an anthemic chorus thrown in for good measure.

But the album was not just an electropop experiment in idiosyncratic accessibility. ‘Frankly Scarlett, I Don’t Give A Damn’ was an amusing musical skit based around the acclaimed Oscar winning epic ‘Gone With The Wind’. Spot-on observations in the narrative of Rhett Butler such as “That soft southern accent delivered without the slightest trace of a British accent, even that’s starting to wear on me” confirmed the Mael Brothers’ lyrical humour had remained intact over the years as SPARKS sent up a great American institution!

Best of all was the brilliantly chilling ballad ‘Hear No Evil, See No Evil, Speak No Evil’, now in hindsight sounding like MUSE gone synthpop! ‘The Ghost Of Liberace’ was like an update of ‘Never Turn Your Back On Mother Earth’ but like with all good albums, there was the inherent inconsequential filler and that came with ‘Tsui Hark’… it consisted of acclaimed film director Tsui Hark repeatedly announcing “My Name Is Tsui Hark, I’m a film director” over an inconsequential dance number! Thanks heavens for CD programmers!

Although ‘Gratuitous Sax & Senseless Violins’ was not a huge seller in the UK, it re-established SPARKS as a viable cult act with a headlining tour and notably, an invitation to support BLUR at their 1995 Mile End Stadium gig. In Germany however, the album was a big success when ‘When Do I Get To Sing My Way?’ got to No7. In a country where age and artistic wisdom were not seen as a barrier to cultural acceptance, they found a brand new young audience.

However, the Maels lost it all again with the pointless 1997 reworkings album ‘Plagiarism’ featuring special guests ERASURE and FAITH NO MORE, and then capped it all with the poorly received follow-up ‘Balls’ in 2000. But as always, they bounced back again in 2002 with the acclaimed classical concept album ‘Lil’ Beethoven’ and have been discretely playing to their fanbase throughout the world since, most recently with the well received ‘One Mouth Two Hands’ tour. Their eccentric sound continues to be heard in modern acts such as MARINA & THE DIAMONDS and GOLDFRAPP.

For the song titles alone, ‘Gratuitous Sax & Senseless Violins’ is worthy of rediscovery. This collection is from a time when Britpop was taking a hold and electronic pop generally meant dance music; as an item of buried treasure, this album is a fabulous document of when the Maels briefly joined the house party that they had obliquely helped to inspire.

“And instead of the usual bass and drums, he heard…”

‘Gratuitous Sax & Senseless Violins’ was released by Logic Records and is available on remastered CD via Lil Beethoven Records

http://allsparks.com/

https://www.facebook.com/sparksofficial

https://twitter.com/sparksofficial

Text by Chi Ming Lai
19th January 2013

Lost Albums: THE BARRY GRAY ORCHESTRA No Strings Attached

29 December 2012 /

Stand By For Action!

For many of a particular generation, the sad passing of Gerry Anderson was like the loss of a childhood friend. His pioneering shows ‘Fireball XL5’ (1962-63), ‘Stingray’ (1964-65), ‘Thunderbirds’ (1965-66), ‘Captain Scarlet’ (1967-68) and ‘Joe 90’ (1968-69) all used a bespoke technique christened Supermarionation.

These heroic Sci-Fi stories set in Century 21 all boasted high cinematic production values. This was unheard of at the time within children’s television programme making, especially when compared to the charming if amateurish cardboard sets of the BBC’s ‘Dr Who’ series. The magnificent range of spaceships, aircraft, submarines and vehicles featured only added to the appeal while the subsequent Dinky Toys merchandising helped complete the emotional connection for those youngsters watching.

Made in association with Lew Grade’s ITC organisation and the now defunct ITV regional channel ATV, ‘Thunderbirds’ in particular was a worldwide success that allowed Anderson to branch into live action with ‘U.F.O.’ (1970-71), ‘The Protectors’ (1972-73) and ‘Space 1999’ (1975-78) before a return to marionettes with ‘Terrahawks’ (1983-84).

These shows also acted as an apprenticeship for special effects designers like Brian Johnson who would go on to work on ‘Alien’, as well as influencing films such as ‘Star Wars’. Anderson’s legacy is present in today’s popular culture, most notably with the hilarious puppet satire ‘Team America : World Police’.

Photo by RG Balkham, Rex Features

It was the era of The Cold War; the world was in state of turmoil following the Cuban Missile Crisis and the assassination of John F Kennedy. China was in a volatile period with The Cultural Revolution while the United States were entering Vietnam and the Soviet Union soon invaded Czechoslovakia.

But there was also The Space Race where the two super powers were vying with each other to get a man on the moon as a symbol of their technological AND ideological superiority.

This culminated on 20th July 1969 with America’s Neil Armstrong becoming the first man to set foot on the lunar surface. It was within this backdrop that Gerry Anderson, together with his wife Sylvia, would create an array of escapist fantasy civilisations in space, under water and on earth.

But as well as iconic programmes, Gerry Anderson’s creations also featured iconic theme music composed by the genius of Barry Gray. The best of these Supermarionation signature tunes were gathered on a 10 inch mini-album entitled ‘No Strings Attached’ in 1981.

Subsequently reissued as a CD in 1999 by Castle Music, most of the material like the unforgettable ‘Thunderbirds’ theme, the conga madness of ‘Stingray’ and the lush crooner ballad ‘Aqua Marina’ (both sung by Gary Miller) was obviously orchestral based.

But several of the latter-era compositions featured assorted electronic experiments. These futuristic embellishments trod a similar musical path to THE TORNADOS’ 1962 international hit ‘Telstar’ with its memorable Selmer Clavioline organ line but were perhaps not as haunting as the BBC Radiophonic Workshop’s ‘Dr Who’ theme. Incidentally, Gray did create the special audio effects for the 1965 Peter Cushing film ‘Dr Who & The Daleks’ which also starred Roy Castle!

A case in point is ‘The Mysterons Theme’, an eerie piece that now sounds like the sonic prototype for LADYTRON’s ‘Aces High’ from ‘Gravity The Seducer’. It was also quite obviously the inspiration for ‘Mysterons’, the opening track on PORTISHEAD’s ‘Dummy’ album. The shimmering lead melody was achieved by Gray using an Ondes Martenot; this was an early electronic keyboard which featured a proximity sensor in a similar vein to the Theremin to implement the pitch bend qualities often associated with vintage horror movies.

He had been interested in using electronics since acquiring the Ondes Martenot for the earlier Anderson vehicle ‘Supercar’. The same spacey tones can also be heard accessorising the main ‘Captain Scarlet Theme’ with the indestructable timpani motif being absorbed into a lively spy number that spelt action and intrigue like every good TV theme tune should.

The most synthesized track on ‘No Strings Attached’ however was ‘Joe 90′ which began with pulses from an audio sweep oscillator. Only just missing out on the advent of the VCS3, Britain’s first commercially available synthesizer, this would have been one of the only ways at the time to produce such an effect other than a importing an expensive Moog or Buchla from the US. In 1968, only a millionaire musician like George Harrison could have afforded such a luxury.

Thus composers like Barry Gray had to be extremely innovative in order to find the sounds they had only imagined in their heads. Although the track’s main thrust came from some melodic surf style guitar and a healthy percussive groove, it was complimented by a superb counterpoint via a reedy transistorised organ not unlike the Vox Continentals used by acts such as (rather appropriately) ? & THE MYSTERIANS on ’96 Tears’, and much later ELVIS COSTELLO and OMD.

Barry Gray would go on to compose brilliantly memorable themes for other Gerry Anderson productions like ‘U.F.O.’ and Year One of ‘Space 1999’.

But rather like a lot of great artistic output from the UK, Year Two of ‘Space 1999’ fell victim to an American market revamp in 1976 so Gray, along with several of the cast and scriptwriters became surplus to requirements. His involvement in film scoring effectively ended there and he retired to further his hobby of drawing and calligraphy.

He occasionally appeared at Anderson related fan events and continued to play his music for his own pleasure. There had been talk of him working with Anderson again but he passed away in 1984 leaving behind a fine catalogue of music.

Although operating in different artistic spheres, Gerry Anderson and Barry Gray both complemented each other to provide a spirit of adventure and enjoyment that still resonates in many childhood memories and is likely to continue to do so for many generations to come as more discover the joy of Supermarionation through today’s modern media. As Commander Shore in ‘Stingray’ used to say: “Anything can happen in the next half hour!”.

Dedicated to the memories of Gerry Anderson (1921-2012) and Barry Gray (1908-1984)

Selected Fanderson Trivia:

The Tracy bothers from ‘Thunderbirds’ were named after five of the Mercury 7 Astronauts; Scott Carpenter, Virgil Grissom, Alan Shepard, Gordon Cooper and John Glenn. In the Thunderbird 2 launch sequences from the show, there was never any footage of Pod 2 being carried although it did feature obliquely in an episode entitled ‘Security Hazard’ when a young boy was taken home from Tracy Island after stowing away aboard T2.

The Angel pilots in ‘Captain Scarlet’ were based on real media personalities; Destiny Angel was a likeness of sexy Swiss actress Ursula Andress, Melody Angel was Eartha Kitt, Rhapsody Angel was British model Jean Shrimpton while Harmony Angel was based on Chinese actress Tsai Chin who played Fu Manchu’s daughter in the infamous film series. She also had a hit with ‘The Ding Dong Song’ in 1959 and played Helen Rubenstein in ‘Grey’s Anatomy’!

The vocal version of the ‘Captain Scarlet Theme’ was recorded by THE SPECTRUM. Their drummer was Keith Forsey who went on to work with Giorgio Moroder. Forsey became a producer in his own right, working with Billy Idol and THE PSYCHEDELIC FURS. However, he hit pay dirt by jointly penning ‘Flashdance’ and ‘Never Ending Story’ with Moroder while also co-writing SIMPLE MINDS’ US No1 ‘Don’t You (Forget About Me)’!

Captain Peter Carlin, the skipper of Skydiver 1 in ‘U.F.O.’ was played by the late Peter Gordeno. However, he left after only 7 episodes of the 26-part series when his agent warned him about being typecasted. He was better known as a dancer and cabaret singer, later hosting the 1978 ‘World Disco Dancing Championships’. His son, also named Peter, has been DEPECHE MODE’s live keyboard player since ‘The Singles’ tour in 1998!

Minor Year Two ‘Space 1999’ character Yasko was played by Yasuko Nagazumi who is now a print advertising campaign manager in Hollywood, handling clients such as Guess Jeans, Donna Karan, Armani and Pirelli. Along with Tsai Chin, she also appeared in the James Bond film ‘You Only Live Twice’. Her daughter is Mikki Berenyi, singer / songwriter from indie band LUSH who had hits such as ‘Single Girl’ and ‘Ladykillers’ during the Britpop era!

‘No Strings Attached’ is still available on CD by Castle Music

‘Stand By for Action! – The Music of Barry Gray’ is available on CD via Silva Screen Records

‘Fireball XL5’, ‘Stingray’, ‘Thunderbirds’, ‘Captain Scarlet’, ‘Joe 90’, ‘U.F.O.’ and ‘Space 1999’ are available on DVD via Carlton Entertainment.

http://www.barrygray.co.uk/

http://gerryanderson.co.uk/

https://www.facebook.com/GerryAndersonOfficial/

http://www.fanderson.org.uk/

Text by Chi Ming Lai
29th December 2012, updated 24th April 2017

Lost Albums: RIECHMANN Wunderbar

18 November 2012 /


The story of Wolfgang Riechmann is tragic and had his life not been cut short, he certainly had the potential to become a revered and respected cult musical figure like his German contemporaries Michael Rother from NEU! and Manuel Göttsching of ASHRA.

With regards his only solo album ‘Wunderbar’, the resonant melancholy of its content becomes even more poignant once it is learnt that Riechmann was murdered in Düsseldorf just weeks before its release by Sky Records in August 1978. The victim of a random knife attack, he tragically died two days later.

Riechmann is the forgotten man in the Düsseldorf axis which spawned NEU! and KRAFTWERK. Indeed, he was even in a band called SPIRITS OF SOUND with Michael Rother and Wolfgang Flür before each separately joined KRAFTWERK at stages of Kling Klang’s development.

In 1976, he became a member of Düsseldorf rockers STREETMARK whose first album ‘Nordland’ was produced by the legendary Conny Plank. Despite recording an album ‘Eileen’ with them, in Autumn 1977 Riechmann headed down to Star-Studios in Hamburg to make his first solo record.

With his multi-instrumental virtuoso ability, he recorded a beautiful collection of instrumentals using an electric violin, guitars and a Röhrophon-studio vibraphone plus various synths; these included an ARP 2600, an ARP Odyssey and a corresponding ARP sequencer. STREETMARK’s Hans Schweiß added live drums as required but otherwise, this was a true independent work.

The opening ‘Wunderbar’ title track chimes with a Cold War spy drama intro before the melodic, almost oriental piece becomes PINK FLOYD meets CLUSTER over a delicate schaffel beat. Swimmy Jarre-like string machine washes float over ‘Abendlicht’ and in particular, ‘Silberland’. The latter is a lengthy piece not dissimilar to a downtempo ambient rendition of KRAFTWERK’s ‘Metropolis’. They were coincidentally both conceived around the same time!

The influence of the Berlin axis such as Klaus Schulze and TANGERINE DREAM looms on the trancey pulses of ‘Weltweit’ but clocks in seven at rather than twenty minutes, while ‘Himmelblau’ heads back to Düsseldorf, driven by a light Motorik beat. In a nod to the manic NEU! drummer, ‘Himmelblau’ even reprises the style of ranty vocal gibberish that was the preserve of Klaus Dinger circa LA DÜSSELDORF. The shimmering synth textures and the hypnotic rhythms lift the listener to a blue heaven as suggested in translation.

A mightily sweeping tune, it’s up there with La D’s epic ‘Rheinita’, Rother’s dreamy ‘Flammende Herzen’ or even RFWK’s ‘Ohm Sweet Ohm’ in the history of great melodic Kosmische musik. The six track album ironically closes with a short unsettling mood piece ‘Traumzeit’, a Wendy Carlos type tribute that chillingly recalls ‘A Clockwork Orange’ and the film’s ultraviolence with which Riechmann sadly met his end.

‘Wunderbar’ is an elegant and ultimately fragile collection with a fine balance of electronic technology and real instrumentation where none of the elements are overdone. Perhaps ahead of his time, on the cover Riechmann sported an iceman look that Gary Numan used six years later for ‘Berserker’. Who knows what could have happened had he lived and how much more brilliantly brooding music there might have been to come.

‘Wunderbar’ is available as a download via Bureau B under license from Sky Records GMBH

Vinyl LP available from https://shop.tapeterecords.com/riechmann-wunderbar.html

http://www.bureau-b.com/

Text by Chi Ming Lai
18th November 2012

Lost Albums: BERLIN Love Life

7 July 2012 /

In their prime, BERLIN only actually recorded one mini-LP and two albums with the nucleus of Terri Nunn and John Crawford. Although not the original vocalist, Nunn joined multi-instrumentalist Crawford to become partners in life and music with BERLIN.

Although DEVO and OUR DAUGHTER’S WEDDING had featured electronics in a more artful fashion, BERLIN’s 1982 independent mini-LP ‘Pleasure Victim’ was one of the first occasions of an American pop act embracing the synthesizer which had changed the face of music in Europe. It led to a deal with Geffen Records and notoriety with the deviantly fuelled breakthrough single ‘Sex (I’m A…)’. At this point, mainstream USA was still getting excited about macho rock posturing like JOURNEY, TOTO or John Cougar (as the man born Mellencamp was then known)!

BERLIN’s brilliant songs such as ‘The Metro’ and ‘Masquerade’ with their motorik drum machines and Teutonic pulses were a far cry from the way instruments made by Sequential Circuits, Moog and their sisters were being used Stateside. “We were first inspired to create our sound from a couple of European bands ULTRAVOX and KRAFTWERK that were using these new kinds of keyboards that created very different sounds than those of a standard keyboard or piano.” said Nunn, “It created a whole new dynamic that we fell in love with”. Meanwhile, the title track with its pretty synth melody showed how emotive such instrumentation could be, even in songs that were perceived to be AOR ballads.

Featuring an expanded line-up including David Diamond (keyboards and guitar), Ric Olsen (guitar), Matt Reid (keyboards) and Rob Brill (drums) plus an array of devices such as the ARP Quadra, Memory Moog, Prophet 5, Pro-One, TR808, OBX-a, DX7 and Fairlight, Nunn and Crawford delivered their first full-length album together in 1984 called ‘Love Life’.

With this, BERLIN enhanced their reputation and planted the seeds that led to them becoming household names for a short while. Produced mostly by Mike Howlett who had worked with OMD, A FLOCK OF SEAGULLS, BLANCMANGE and MARTHA & THE MUFFINS, he brought his interest in German experimental music and experience as a seasoned musician with GONG to combine Eurocentric electronics with a Trans-Atlantic flavour that was perfect for the MTV generation. The revenge themed ‘Now It’s My Turn’ was the ultimate culmination of that, a mysterious monochrome verse counterpointed by a belting chorus that sounded like HEART’s Ann Wilson fronting ULTRAVOX.

Opening number ‘When We Make Love’ soared vocally and accompanied by some rousing modern backing, provided the cinematic mood for the rest of the album which was dressed in a sleeve picturing Nunn as a vintage film starlet. ‘Touch’ had a similar feel but was slightly more frenetic with synths and guitars blending to produce a unique sound for the time. However, despite starting side two, ‘Pictures Of You’ was really just a pedestrian rock retread of ‘The Metro’.

Taking the pace down, ‘Beg Steal or Borrow’ was BERLIN having fun in the vein of ALTERED IMAGES gone electro while ‘In My Dreams’ was melancholic but dreamy pop. With its atmospheric sweeps and chiming guitar lines, ‘For All Tomorrow’s Lies’ recalled A FLOCK OF SEAGULLS’ ‘Transfer Affection’ before the album closed with the lovely John Hughes’ movie romance of ‘Fall’. The end product resulted in BERLIN sounding neither entirely European or American, walking an enjoyable fine line between FM rawk and New Romantic. Despite the US Top 30 success of ‘Love Life’, the band fragmented, leaving only Nunn and Crawford plus Brill to continue…

By way of a musical prophecy, the album’s Top 30 US hit single ‘No More Words’ was to be the undoing of the close if tempestuous bond between Nunn and Crawford. That song and another album highlight ‘Dancing In Berlin’ were produced by Giorgio Moroder and the blueprint of the Linn driven synth / rock fusion later developed further on his album with THE HUMAN LEAGUE’s Philip Oakey.

Moroder and Nunn got on very well during the sessions so he asked her to sing on a song he had written with his Ferrari mechanic Tom Whitlock entitled ‘Take My Breath Away’. It had already been demoed by Martha Davis of cult new wavers THE MOTELS who had a couple of US Top 10 hits including ‘Only The Lonely’. The Oscar winning ’Take My Breath Away’ became a No1 around the world in 1986 having been featured in the film ‘Top Gun’ but the success was bittersweet. While it was the ultimate guilty pleasure, the song was unrepresentative of BERLIN’s previous work, especially as it only featured Nunn with no input from Crawford who had been the band’s main songwriter.

Despite an extensive tour supporting FRANKIE GOES TO HOLLYWOOD, the accompanying rock oriented album ‘County Three & Pray’ (produced largely by Bob Ezrin) did not sell well despite the inclusion of ‘Take My Breath Away’ and another great single ‘You Don’t Know’. With confusion over their musical direction and deteriorating personal relationships, BERLIN fell apart, ironically three years before the actual city’s wall did!

The majority of the ‘Love Life’ line-up including John Crawford were persuaded to reform for VH1’s ‘Bands Reunited’ programme in 2004 but today, only Terri Nunn remains, touring regularly under the BERLIN name having bought the name from Crawford and occasionally recording. Sadly, their original Geffen back catalogue is difficult to obtain outside of North America and inferior re-recordings appear on various ‘Greatest Hits’ and ‘Live’ CDs.

It’s a shame because although they were plagued by the legacy of a massive hit song they didn’t write, BERLIN are worthy of recognition as American electronic pop pioneers for a sound that had been alien to most of their countrymen pre-MTV. For this reason alone, their work from this imperial period deserves to be heard.

‘Love Life’ is available as a CD via Rubellan Remasters at https://www.rubellanremasters.com/online-store/Berlin-Love-Life-Expanded-Edition-p179552492

http://www.berlinpage.com/

https://www.facebook.com/berlinofficialband/

https://twitter.com/realterrinunn

Text by Chi Ming Lai
7th July 2012, updated 21st March 2020

Lost Albums: ONE DOVE Morning Dove White

23 June 2012 /

ONE DOVE were a moody Glaswegian trio comprised of and Dot Allison, Ian Carmichael and Jim McKinven. Their only album ‘Morning Dove White’ took its title from the Native American name of Elvis Presley’s grandmother.

McKinven was best known for his stint in ALTERED IMAGES during their ‘Happy Birthday’ and ‘Pinky Blue’ period. This project couldn’t have been more different, especially when compared with his former band mate Johnny McElhone who formed TEXAS with Sharleen Spiteri.

Producer Andrew Weatherall signed them to his Junior Boys Own label after hearing their independently released single ‘Fallen’ and became involved in the recording process, along with Gary Burns and Jagz Kooner from SABRES OF PARADISE who both later went on to form THE ALOOF.

Seasoned by the icy but angelic voice of Dot Allison, ‘Morning Dove White’ was something truly unique in the sphere of post-Acid House electronic dance music.

Dot Allison’s resigned opening line on ‘Fallen’ of  “I don’t know why I’m telling you any of this…” was simply seductive. The accompanying groovy rhythm section on a slight off-beat made it the most club flavoured track on here with the reggae-inflections of LEFTFIELD’s ‘Release The Pressure’ as its backdrop.

Although often referred to as a dance act, ONE DOVE’s sound was actually characterised by primarily electronic textures with heavy processing influenced by laid back Jamaican dub and Eno-esque ambience. This recalled the work of former PUBLIC IMAGE LIMITED bassist Jah Wobble who incidentally guested on ‘Morning Dove White’ and later recorded an album with Brian Eno called ‘Spinner’.

The single versions of ‘Breakdown’ and ‘White Love’ mixed by Stephen Hague were actually quite brilliant, accessible and are far less intimidating than the full-on dub attack of the lengthy album cuts. But even as radio mixes, they were hardly the glossy pop of SAINT ETIENNE.

London Records had taken over the Junior Boys Own label and wanted to make ONE DOVE’s music more radio friendly. The band may have been unhappy about the commercialisation of their sound and there is something to be said about fighting for your art, but what is the point if people can’t access your work through conventional media and grow into it, especially if it is relatively radical? In hindsight, London Records were being well intentioned, but this led to a dispute which delayed the release ‘Morning Dove White’ for a full year until 1993.

A compromise was reached with ONE DOVE working with Stephen Hague in the studio during the remix sessions. ‘White Love’ was wonderfully dreamy with its subtle piano and gospel salvo predating Moby’s ‘Play’ by several years. Their biggest hit ‘Breakdown’ had a surprising Van Morrison influence, taking its chorus from THEM’s ‘Here Comes The Night’. In both, Dot Allison’s sexily whispering vocals were the distinctive key.

But the album’s crowning glory was the Phil Spector in the 23rd Century mystique of the stupendous ‘Why Don’t You Take Me?’ featuring Wall Of Sound effects galore and reverbed steel drum samples, it was almost funereal but actually possessed an uplifting quality. Although there was a Stephen Hague assisted mix sans steel drums available on the single release, in this case it was Andrew Weatherall’s original vision that is won the day.

Of the supporting features on ‘Morning Dove White’, ‘There Goes The Cure’ was very ‘Twin Peaks’ in atmosphere, punctuated by Dot Allison’s chants of “he’s gone”. Constructed around some tinkling piano and deep ambient drones, its heart was suddenly invaded by Jah Wobble’s distinctive bass run before returning full circle with the aid of a dramatic percussive climax.

Both ‘Sirens’ and ‘My Friend’ recalled Weatherall’s work on PRIMAL SCREAM’s ‘Screamadelica’ while ‘Transient Truth’ was a superb instrumental with an ‘Ipcress File’ meets King Tubby twist. The echoey drum machine and the various incessantly repeated spy drama riffs provided a suitably hypnotic soundtrack.

With a promising debut album greeted by enormous praise and critical approval, a follow-up was eagerly anticipated. A reworking of Dolly Parton’s ‘Jolene’ and the song ‘Skanga’ which were included as B-sides to’ Why Don’t You Take Me?’ gave an indication of the heavier dub reggae sound that was being pursued. There was even rumours of a cover version of SIMON DUPREE & THE BIG SOUND’s ‘Kites’, the concept of which had the potential to be amazing.

But there was no second album. It was recorded but never released. Frustrated and drained by business politics, ONE DOVE disbanded in 1996.

Dot Allison went on to release a series of acclaimed solo albums including ‘Afterglow’ and ‘We Are Science’ as well as working with DEATH IN VEGAS and MASSIVE ATTACK.

‘Morning Dove White’, like THE ALOOF’s ‘Sinking’, was infinitely superior to the overrated trip-hop albums such as PORTISHEAD’s ‘Dummy’ or TRICKY’s ‘Maxinquaye’ which dominated the mellow coffee-table dance niche of the time. Some of the full on dub excursions have degrees of over-indulgence and may not be to everyone’s taste, but one of the beauties of modern digital formats is the ability to compile a version of the album to suit the mood.

It may not have been the journey that the band intended but this collection is a challenging and rewarding listen that deserves reappraisal.

‘Morning Dove White’ is still available on CD via London Records

https://www.onedove.org/

https://dotallison.com/

https://soundcloud.com/one-dove

Text by Chi Ming Lai
23rd June 2012

« Older posts Newer posts »

© 2017 ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK | Email: theelectricityclub@googlemail.com
Privacy Policy

Up ↑