The final A for August post (where did that month go?) for the MMB
Asia are an English rock supergroup formed in London in 1981. The most commercially successful lineup was its original, which consisted of four members of different progressive rock bands who had enjoyed great success in the 1970s: lead vocalist and bassist John Wetton (King Crimson) (d. March 2017), guitarist Steve Howe (Yes), keyboardist Geoff Downes (Yes and the Buggles!) and drummer Carl Palmer (Emerson, Lake & Palmer). Their debut album, Asia, released in 1982, remains their best-selling album and went to number one in several countries. Second album Alpha, released in 1983, was also a success but none of the following 11 studio albums since has surpassed those first two.
This week the theme of SLS is to find a song that incorporates the Memphis Sound. Thanks once again to Jim for the prompt.
Memphis soul, also known as the Memphis sound, is the most prominent strain of Southern soul. It is a shimmering, sultry style produced in the 1960s and 1970s at Stax Records and Hi Records in Memphis Tennessee featuring melodic unison horn lines, organ, guitar, bass, and a driving beat on the drums.
Al Green came into contact with Memphis record producer Willie Mitchell who hired him in 1969 to be a vocalist for a Texas show with Mitchell’s band. Following the performance, Mitchell asked Green to sign with his Hi Records label. The rest (as they say) is history.
I don’t know why i love you like I do After all the changes you put me through
You stole my money and my cigarettes And I haven’t seen the worst of it yet
I wanna know can you tell me Am I in love to stay?
Take me to the river and wash me down Won’t you cleanse my soul And put my feet on the ground Oh take me to the river right now
I don’t know why you treat me so bad Think of all the things That we could have had
Love is a notion that I can’t forget Sweet sixteen i will never regret
I wanna know can you tell me Am I in love to stay?
Take me to the river and dip me down Won’t you cleanse my soul And put my feet on the ground Oh take me to the river right now
Hold me in then I know I’ll be there Hold me in and wash me down Then I know I’ll be there
Take me to the river and wash me down Won’t you cleanse my soul And put my feet on the ground Oh take me to the river right now
Apollo 440 (also known as Apollo Four Forty or @440) are a British electronic music group formed in Liverpool in 1990. The group has written, recorded, and produced five studio albums collaborated with and produced other artists, remixed as Apollo 440 and as ambient cinematic alter-ego Stealth Sonic Orchestra, and created music for film, television, advertisements and multimedia. They notched up ten UK top 40 singles with three top-tens, and had a chart presence worldwide.
Over 50 different Apollo tracks have featured in movies, trailers, TV, games and ads worldwide, the latter including globally branded cars, beers, soft drinks, phones, audio and software. They have also written two entire soundtracks for the Sony Playstation and provided the themes for ITV World Cup ’98 and Formula 1 2000 to 2002 coverage.
The track Krupa pays homage to the Polish/American drummer Gene Krupa. The only lyrics in the entire song are “Yeah yeah” and “Now back to Gene Krupa’s syncopated style” (a sample from dialogue in the film Taxi Driver). The main focus of the song is on the drumming rhythms, which were sampled from “The Ballroom Blitz” by the British glam rock band Sweet.
The Nashville Sound originated during the mid-1950s as a subgenre of American country music, replacing the chart dominance of the rough honky tonk, which was most popular in the 1940s and 1950s, with strings and choruses, sophisticated background vocals and smooth tempos associated with traditional pop. It was an attempt to revive country sales, which had been devastated by the rise of rock ‘n’ roll.
This is my choice for the theme:
As I drive From your pearly gates I realize that I just can’t stay All those mountains They kept you locked inside And hid the truth From my slighted eyes
I came to you with a half-open heart Dreams upon my back Illusions of a brand new start Nashville Can’t I carry the load Is it my fault that I can’t reap what I sow Nashville Did you give me half a chance With your southern style And your hidden dance away You dance away And you dance away
All these voices They whisper through my walls They talk of falling fast They say I’m losing it all They say I’m running blind To love of my own But I’ll be walking proud I’m saving what I still own
I fell on my knees to kiss your land But you are so far down And I can’t even see to stand In nashville You forgot the human race You see with half a mind What colors hide the face Nashville I’d like to know your fate I’d like to stay a while But I’ve seen your lowered states today I’ve seen ’em today Honey I swear I’ve seen ’em today
Now I’m leaving I’ve got all these debts to pay You know we all have our dues I’ll pay ’em some other place Ah I never ask that you pay me back We all arrive with more I left with less than I had
Your town is made for people passing through A last chance for a cause I thought I knew But nashville You tell me what you are gonna do With all your southern style It’ll never pull you through Nashville I can’t place no blame But if you forget my face I’ll never call your name again No never again No never again
I fell on my knees to kiss your land But you are so far down And I can’t even see to stand In nashville You forgot the human race You see with half a mind What colors hide the face Nashville I’d like to know your fate I’d like to stay a while But I’ve seen your lowered states today I’ve seen ’em today Honey I swear I’ve seen ’em today I’m running away I’m running away I’m running I’m running I’m running away
Here we are in mid-August already! Another A theme this week.
The Alarm are a Welsh rock band that formed in Rhyl, Wales, in 1981. Initially formed as a punk band, the Toilets, in 1977, under lead vocalist, Mike Peters, the band soon embraced ‘arena rock’ and included marked influences from Welsh language and culture. By opening for acts such as U2 and Bob Dylan, they became a popular new wave pop band of the 1980s.
The Alarm’s highest charting single in Britain is 1983’s “Sixty Eight Guns”, which reached number 17 on the UK singles chart. Their 1984 album Decleration, which contained “Sixty Eight Guns”, peaked at number six on the UK Albums Chart.
Hey!
And now they are trying to take my life away Forever young I cannot stay Hey! On every corner I can see them there They don’t know my name, they don’t know my kind They’re after you with their promises (Promises of love) they’re after you to sign your life away (Yeah, yeah)
Sixty-eight guns will never die Sixty-eight guns, our battle cry Sixty-eight guns will never die Sixty-eight guns, our battle cry Sixty-eight guns Sixty-eight guns The sixty-eight
Living in the backstreets That’s our home from home The painted walls were all we’ve ever known ‘The Guns Forever’ that’s our battle cry It is the flag that we fly so high For every day they’ll try and drag us down (drag us down and down) I cry with anger I have done no crime, no (Yeah, yeah)
Sixty-eight guns will never die Sixty-eight guns, our battle cry Sixty-eight guns will never die Sixty-eight guns, our battle cry Sixty-eight guns Sixty-eight guns The sixty-eight guns
Sixty-eight guns will never die Sixty-eight guns, our battle cry Sixty-eight guns will never die Sixty-eight guns, our battle cry Sixty-eight guns Sixty-eight guns The sixty-eight guns
The theme of this week’s SLS is to find a song that was backed by the Wrecking Crew. Thanks once again to Jim for the prompt.
The Wrecking Crew were a collective band of session musicians who backed hundreds of chart-topping hits throughout the 1960s and ’70s. They backed a number of Glen Campbell classics, most notably the hit “Wichita Lineman,” (my favourite song of his), “Galveston,” “I’m Not Gonna Miss You,” and “Rhinestone Cowboy” are among the other Campbell tracks that feature the Crew’s stylings. In fact, before his highly successful solo career, Campbell was a member of the Wrecking Crew himself.
I am a lineman for the county and I drive the main road Searchin’ in the sun for another overload I hear you singin’ in the wire, I can hear you through the whine And the Wichita Lineman is still on the line
I know I need a small vacation but it don’t look like rain And if it snows that stretch down south won’t ever stand the strain And I need you more than want you, and I want you for all time And the Wichita Lineman is still on the line
[Instrumental Interlude]
And I need you more than want you, and I want you for all time And the Wichita Lineman is still on the line
Well, it’s already a week gone in August. So here we go with a solo singer or band starting with the letter A (first or second name).
The Art of Noise were a British avant-garde, synth-pop group formed in early 1983 by engineer/producer Gary Langan and programmer J. J. Jeczalik, along with keyboardist/arranger Anne Dudley, producer Trevor Horn, and music journalist Paul Morley. The group had international Top 20 hits with its interpretations of “Kiss”, featuring Tom Jones, and the instrumental “Peter Gunn”, which won a 1986 Grammy Award. The band is noted for innovative use of electronics and computers in pop music, particularly its innovative use of sampling. This is Another hit from the band which was originally released in 1984. This terrific live version is very close to the….original (including the samples!).
The red rose has bloomed at last. This bright red bloom decided to make an appearance in my garden yesterday. It goes by the very posh name of: ‘Dame De Coeur’
The theme of SLS this week is songs recorded at the famous Sunset Sound Studios in Hollywood, California. Fever is the first single taken from the album Turn Blue by the American rock duo The Black Keys (Guitarist Dan Auerbach and drummer Patrick Carney). The majority of the album was recorded at Sunset Sound in 2014. This was the first Black Keys album that I bought and It’s my favourite.
Fever, where’d you run to? Fever, where’d you run to? Acting right is so routine Fever, let me live a dream
Fever, I’m a slave too Know I misbehaved too Fever, they’re misunderstood Wouldn’t leave you if I could Fever
Fever ’cause I’m breaking Fever got me aching Fever, why won’t you explain? Break it down again Fever got me guilty Just go ahead and kill me Fever, why won’t you explain? Break it down again
Fever, can you hear me? Fever, can you hear me? You shook me like I’ve never been Now show me how to live again
It used to be a blessing But fever’s got me stressing Realize I have been played But fever let me play the game Fever
Fever, ’cause I’m breaking Fever got me aching Fever, why won’t you explain? Break it down again Fever got me guilty Just go ahead and kill me Fever, why won’t you explain? Break it down again
Now if the cold pale light in your eyes Reaches those horizon lines You know not to leave her Now if the cold pale light in your eyes Reaches those horizon lines You know not to leave her Fever
glyn40wilton 