Classic Pop: Issue 1

This is the first issue of a brand new magazine called Classic Pop. For those of you who love 80's music this is a magazine well worth reading! This was one of my main reasons for going into town two days ago. I was convinced that it would be a monthly publication and that I had missed it probably. That was only compounded when I got to Easons (which is excellent for magazines) and it wasn't there. Cue the the disappointment because a friend got it and told me it was a great read. As it turns out, it is released every two months, and as it was released at the start of October it would still be on sale. Wooo! Now, all I needed was to find somewhere that would sell it, which is harder than you'd think because Easons tends to be the best place for more specialist magazines such as this. Anyhow, for some reason on the magazine site it specifies what shops sell it, and Eason's isn't one of them. Thankfully, one shop that does sell it is Sainsbury's and yesterday I just so happened to be traveling past a shopping center near me which has a very big Sainsbury's. As you can tell, they had the magazine. One look at the cover will tell you my main reason for getting this, but there's also a lot of other music I really like in it too. It had amazing full page sized pictures of Kate Bush, Bernard Sumner, Madonna and The Smiths. 6 pages of the legacy and influence of Kraftwerk, a feature on the ZTT record label (which is one of my favorite record labels) and best of all: 10 pages on Pet Shop Boys career. The article was very interesting too! You can tell whoever had wrote it clearly had a good grasp of their work which is refreshing, there's nothing I hate more in music journalism when people write articles on an artist and you can tell that they basically know their greatest hits and nothing else. There's a lot of other interesting articles in the magazine, basically for someone "who's brain is stuck in the 1980's" (which is how a good friend of mine once described me), this is a great magazine. Anyhow, this is a great magazine and will perfectly counterbalance my other music magazine of choice; NME, which is great for more modern music! If you can get this I really recommend it!

Pet Shop Boys - Leaving Remixed

This is a small bit of history for me actually: its my first Pet Shop Boys single! Honestly, this one was a serious shock, I got it in Head which is my preferred store out of the two we have. Where I live the Pet Shop Boys selection - well its not woeful- but as someone who has all their studio albums and the like then its nothing I haven't got. As such, I've only got four out of what must be around forty PSB CD's from the record stores in town: Discography, Disco, Elysium and now this. The selection in both record stores is pretty limited really for Pet Shop Boys stuff. I always check them both just out o habit, but prior to Elysium the last PSB purchase I made in town (discounting vinyls from a now defunct store) was over a year ago. In fact, HMV and Head don't even sell singles anymore so finding this was a real shock. I knew Head had stocked Blur's new single from earlier in the year (which I purchased) but I thought that was because it was a one-off thing. In any case seeing the new PSB one was a surprise. Especially considering they didn't have Winner at all when it was released! When I saw it, I couldn't resist it.They also had the 12" too but it was £8. They didn't have the Chris cover (which is CD 1) but I hope the fact they had this is a sign they will have it at some point!

Electronic - Patience of a Saint

This is the more hidden of the three Electronic tracks that feature Neil Tennant of Pet Shop Boys. Its the only one that has always been an album track on Electronic's self titled debut, with previous single Getting Away With It only being added on the album on re-releases and Disappointed following some time after the album release. Despite some incorrect attributions, its the only song in the Electronic catalogue that is a full collaboration with Electronic and Pet Shop Boys, as its the only Electronic track that features Chris Lowe. Pet Shop Boys receive co-writing/co-performance credits on this track. The song is definitely a more darker and atmospheric track for Electronic I think. It has a very icy bass line that definitely makes the song have a foreboding atmosphere which is a perfect back-drop for the lyrics. Lyrically, the song is about someone who is an utter hell to live with, quite literally someone who tries "the patience of a saint". However, it might be about two people that are incredibly difficult to live with as opposed to just one. Both Neil Tennant and Bernard Sumner take co-lead on the track and thus it makes Patience of A Saint a duet. Perhaps most tellingly, out of the three Electronic songs that feature Neil, its the only one were they both share co-lead. Maybe that's coincidental but maybe it isn't. It's entirely plausible that the song only features one lyrical persona, so essentially Neil and Bernard are singing different sets of lyrics but the narrator is the same. Having said that, if they are indeed voicing two separate characters then the song is almost certainly about a gay relationship. Its not very obvious which of the two it is; I mean the song doesn't have lyrics that feel conversational between two different narrators. To be honest, both Bernard and Neil have very similar lyrics in terms of tone. If indeed it is two separate characters that Bernard and Neil are portraying then you get the idea that they are just perfect for each other. I mean both lyrical persona are self confessed as being hell to live with. In that cause although they drive the patience of a saint, they make themselves saints for having to put up with each other. It becomes quite moving then in that case I think, and its also a very clever and implicit way of showing how two people are made for each other. The song has one of my favourite sets of lyrics of all time for their ambiguity in this regard. If I'm honest, this was one of the songs on the debut album that I wasn't so fussed about. I just felt that it was lacking something compared to the other tracks on the album. Now though my opinion has completely changed with regards for the track. Not only is it one of the highlights of Electronic's discography (and their high point in terms of lyrics), I'd also say it has a certain quality that I'd find in the very best of Pet Shop Boys own discography. Believe me, I rate their best work highly! An overlooked track with lyrics to think about in my opinion!

Joy Division - Unknown Pleasures

Unknown Pleasures is the first album released by seminal post-punk group Joy Division. Sadly it was to be the only album Joy Division would release during frontman Ian Curtis' lifetime, as sophomore album Closer would be released in the wake of his suicide in 1980 as a posthumous album. Unknown Pleasures is regarded as one of the best British albums of all time and with very good reason, I'd put this in the top ten albums I have ever heard by anyone. It's a musical opus really.

Unknown Pleasures though had utterly no impact on the charts when it was initially released, which did surprise me I have to admit given it's classic status as an album now. Amazingly, the highest position Unknown Pleasures obtained on the UK Albums Chart was a very lowly #71, and even then this was in 1980 following the release of Closer. Despite it's lack of chart success this has always been a critically acclaimed album though.

Of course, whilst the band are all excellent here you can't fail to ignore someone else key to making this album work as well as it does: the late Martin Hannet. Martin Hannet produced the record in such a way that gives it a transcendental nature. Simply put, the album has a timeless quality that ensures it still sounds as strong as it did when initially released. They did this by recording each instrument separately on tracks which gives it that cavernous and consequently eerie atmosphere. Whilst in the studio, their aim was to simply not recreate the feel of Joy Divisions live shows and by doing so I think that's how they've made Unknown Pleasures an album with real longevity. As much as I love Joy Division's live sound, there is an ambient and spacious feel to the album that really makes the listener resonate with Ian's voice. Honestly, the only production mishap for me was burying the guitar deep in the mix in She's Lost Control. I actually prefer the live version on Something Goes because the studio version of She's Lost Control just sounds a little bit too watered down for my liking. That minor criticism aside though, this honestly is one of the best production jobs on an album I've ever heard.

Consequently the production on the album leads me onto another reason why I love this album so much. It has an amazing atmosphere that really envelopes the listener into the soundscape of the record. Honestly, I think only those albums of the highest musical caliber can entice you in in such a way. It's eerie and unsettling in places, and its not just down to hindsight in knowing the sad fate for the band. I tried to listen to Shadowplay a number of years ago and even without knowing anything about the band it still gave me chills. It's a listening experience really unlike any other I have heard. From the opening chords of Disorder to the final seconds of I Remember Nothing you really do feel like you are someplace else with the album. Even the first lyrics sung on the album "I've been waiting for a guide to come and take me by the hand" make you feel like you are going on a journey. The album is sequenced in such a way too, on the LP version side A is called Outside, and contains the first five tracks from Disorder to New Dawn Fades. Subsequently Side B is called Inside and contains the following five tracks, from She's Lost Control to I Remember Nothing. It's appropriate in a way I think, as the second half of the album is even more of a soundscape than the first, particularly the final three tracks. It's maybe the single most cohesive album I have ever heard. Every track has its place on the album and every track brings something to the record. There's honestly not a track here I class as filler at all.

All in all I think this is one of the most consistently brilliant albums I have ever heard. Some of the more commonly known tracks include She's Lost Control and Shadowplay but honestly, those would be two tracks on the album that I find myself playing less frequently. Songs like Candidate are among some of the best that Joy Division would record in their sadly all too brief career, and Unknown Pleasures has one of the greatest pair of opening and closing tracks (Disorder and I Remember Nothing) that you'll ever hear. I will concede that the album has a cathartic tone that may be off-putting, but if you persevere you will be rewarded with some of the most beautiful production work - and music in general-  you will ever hear on record. A mesmerizing album that only gets better the more you listen to it. I'll go so far to say that not only is it one of the best albums ever, it may just be the best debut album I've ever heard. By any artist.

Michael Jackson - I'm So Blue

So in the last month or so Bad 25 has been released, which aims to be a fitting tribute to one of Michael Jackson's most revered albums. I'll admit that Bad isn't one of my favourite albums actually, but the Bad 25 package does seem terrific value. I've yet to actually get my copy but thanks to Spotify I have managed to hear the tracks on it (bar the live ones, I'm saving that for when I'm able to watch the DVD) and I have to say that the unreleased tracks really suprised me actually. Of the unreleased tracks, Free and I'm So Blue are my favorites. Actually, I think I'm So Blue is fast becoming one of my favourite Michael Jackson tracks! The lyrics of the song are rather simplistic, basically the narrator of the song's lover has left them for another man, and their coping mechnaism for this break-up is more or less to sing. The lyrics of the song are rather sad I think but what really makes the song more moving is Michael's vocal delivery. I absolutely love the little "dah dah dah's" that provides the song's main hook. For me at least, they sound like they come from a narrator who is obviously hurting following the end of their relationship. Although I do get an underlying sense of optimism from them as they obviously take such comfort from singing, (if that doesn't sound daft). The lyrics don't have the depth that makes songs like Man In The Mirror classic tracks, but they're not the main reason why I love this song. What I love about the song is that it has a much more organic sound that was disappointedly lacking in Bad. Whilst its still a very good album it's too polished and glossy in sound for me. I think I'm So Blue would have made a refreshing change from the highly polished nature of the other tracks on the record. Without sounding too harsh, I think the song has actually aged better than more or less every track that was on Bad. It could be just me, but I actually think I'm So Blue sounds like it could have fitted relatively well on Thriller if I'm being honest. Listening to this makes me wonder if there's any other tracks of a similar ilk (and knowing how frequently Michael recorded, its very likely there is) that have been simply left in the vaults for all these years. Really, it makes the posthumous Michael album seem like even more of a joke than it already was. A great song that I'm pleased has been brought to light!

Blur - Bang

Widely touted as their worst song, Bang was Blur's third single from their debut album Leisure. It was a song that didn't take long to do at all, fifteen minutes was the grand total according to Blur bassist Alex James. Being written in such a quick time you can't really expect an artistic masterpiece hardly, although I still quite like the song really. It's very straightforward though and lacks the creative element (much like their whole debut album really) that would make subsequent albums from Blur ones of high caliber. If I'm honest, its your typical early 90's indie fodder. Lyrically the song has a very simple message. It seems to be about someone who seems to be just coasting along ("bang goes another day; where and when I could not say") without much of a care in the world. They're happy to just do what is the norm "Everybody's doing it so I'll do it too". Then comes the chorus - and whilst it doesn't exactly give the song depth (its far too typical of its era for that really) - it does redeem it lyrically somewhat. Basically, the narrator shows a deep down vulnerability, whilst they don't rely on anyone in particularly they're willing to admit "a little love would make things better.". Despite its jangly guitar pop sound (including that shuffle esque rhythm which every guitar pop band seemed to be doing at the time); I think the lyrics are quite sad really. I personally get the image of this rather tragic figure aimlessly living their life without any real sense of direction. Despite this the lyrics really are a far cry from Damon Albarn's best work. Honestly, I find it hard to believe listening to this song that Damon Albarn would go on to be one of (if not the) most creative minds that British music has produced in the last 20 years or so. Even the band agree, the song has been utterly disowned by them and Damon has even gone on record saying its crap. Whilst I think its a nice little song it does feel like its being performed by a group that have yet to reach their musical peak in all honesty. Having said that I do love the music video, its probably one of my favorite videos Blur have done (It's drummer Dave Rowntree's favorite actually) and it does enhance the song. A pleasant enough song although its very rightly not looked on as their finest moment. Not quite the disaster the band make it out, but it also doesn't justify their talents at all.

Happy Mondays - Pills 'n' Thrills and Bellyaches

Pills 'n' Thrills and Bellyaches is Happy Mondays third studio album, released in 1990. The album for me epitomizes the late 80's/early 90's "Madchester" scene much more so than the other leaders of the era, The Stone Roses who always had a much more retro sound compared to the Happy Mondays more contemporary style. The album is their most successful, as well as their most critically acclaimed and its not hard to see why: it would personally be in my top ten most favorite records of all time!

With Pills 'n' Thrills and Bellyaches, Happy Mondays frontman Shaun Ryder finally got to work with the producer that he was vouching for: Paul Oakenfold, no doubt thanks to the success of his "Think About The Future" mix of Wrote For Luck. Their singles would be typically remixed by DJ's anyway so really a more dance oriented album was a pretty natural move I think. In any case, the sound on Pills 'n' Thrills and Bellyaches was the sound that Shaun had always hoped the band would go for. Happy Mondays were always a band that lent towards the dance end of the music spectrum but with Pill N Thrills and Bellyaches they finally embraced their dance influences. By doing so, they created their defining album and many people agree. The album reached #4 in the UK charts which was a colossal leap from previous album Bummed, which only reached #59.

The album also spawned their two biggest hits: Step On and Kinky Afro. To say that these are the best songs though would do the other tracks a massive disservice. If anything Step On and Kinky Afro are two of my least favorite tracks on the album. The album tracks on Pills 'n' Thrills and Bellyaches more than match (they surpass in my opinion) the singles released from the set. The only song that I'm not overly keen on is Grandma's Funeral but I like or love every other song. With the other Happy Mondays albums, as much as I like them all they do always have a few songs I'd regard as filler. With Pills 'n' Thrills And Bellyaches though there is a special cohesion here: every song adds to the album really and it really is Happy Mondays at their peak.

Another thing I must pay special attention to is Shaun Ryder's lyrics on the record. Shaun Ryder has always been a really good lyricist in a twisted and manic sort of way. Its his lyrics coupled with Happy Mondays hard hitting dance rhythms that give them a certain edge I think. On Pills 'n' Thrills and Bellyaches his lyrics are particularly strong. Kinky Afro has got some of the most twisted and consequently funny lyrics I have heard and the same can be said for God's Cop. Really, the whole band are at their peak here. No aspect of the band has ever sounded stronger than on Pills 'n' Thrills and Bellyaches in my view.

All in all, if British indie music is the 90's is your thing then this is an absolutely essential listen. All of the songs are memorable and the band are at the peak of powers in every respect from the music to the lyrics, right down to the choice of producer. Currently the band are in the studio recording their first studio album to feature the original line up since their fourth record, 1992's Yes Please. Whilst you can never rule anything out really, its hard to imagine they'll ever top this record. It's that good! 

Favorite Tracks:

• Dennis and Lois
• Bob's Yer Uncle
• God's Cop