Youthful magic

The sixties gave birth to some of the best songwriters of the whole century whose music resonates still today. On my radio show, I limit myself to songwriters in English, but, the interesting thing is that these writers really had more of an impact on world music than Gershwin and Irving Berlin in the half century before. YouTube has Beatles tunes in many other languages to back up my point.

Another facet of the sixties' artists is their willingness even as  songwriters themselves, to do each other's famous songs. [Here are two I played recently:Things we said today from the Beatles movie Hard Day's Night done by Bob Dylan. Then Dylan's If not for you done by George Harrison.]  

One group that were eager to meld music and pop-art into rock were the Who. Their pop-art tune of Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere  is a classic example of how pop music at the time was very anti-establishment and trying to widen its influence. The Who's shows were quite the Happening back then. And if you don't know what a Happening is, then, any written explanation will simply fall flat. As the saying goes, you had to be there.

If you were young and a music lover in the UK in the sixties, your weekend began with Ready, Steady Go. The youth show for quite awhile. Its first theme song was  5-4-3-2-1 from Manfred Mann. It was released as a single and was their first hit. They went on to many more hits. Made great interpretations of Dylan tunes too.

Liverpool was not only home to a great number of groups that found fame in Britain and the rest of the World when the youthful music and joy of the Beatles became a true sociological phenomenon. However, it was not just music that caught our attention. There was a vibrant arts scene there too, specifically poets and poetry readings. When I say they attracted attention, I'm not kidding. One particular group, incorporated poetry and music into their act and have carved out a career as long as the Beatles. It was the Scaffold. They had a number of pop hits and even a No.1 chart hit, Lily the Pink.  The Scaffold consisted of 3 people, Mike McGear, real name Michael McCartney, yes, Paul's brother, John Gorman and Roger McGough. McGough was a poet, who along with Brian Patten and Adrian Henri had a Penguin Modern Poets Volume 10 published to huge success. My friends and I all bought it and read it constantly. Their style was modern and very much sounded like the life we wished to live. It has gone on to become the most successful poetry publication in Penguins long list of poetry books.

Ah, we were full of  bliss under our blue suburban skies. (Thank you Penny Lane.)

women's suffrage, Michael and music

2018 marks the 100th anniversary of women's suffrage in Nova Scotia. Specifically, April 26, 1918 was the date the bill was passed in the Provincial Legislature. Other Provinces celebrate other dates. Britain also  marks its 100th anniversary this year; However, none were universal suffrage; there were limits to women. For example,  being 30 or older, Homeowners or married to  Homeowners. Wider enfranchisement came later.

I arrived in Canada on March 15th 1970. I was sleeping on a friend's "Davenport".  Couch surfing before it was a thing. I had no job, only a suitcase and dreams. There were no Sunday papers, so 6 days a week I scoured the classified columns for employment, which was scant at that moment. But I did enjoy reading the paper from front sheet to back. There was a lot of talk about the "Women;s movement". Possibly sparked by the March 20th news item - 

Betty Friedan gave her farewell address as outgoing president of NOW (the National Organization of Women), and called for a nationwide women’s strike on August 26 (the 50th anniversary of winning the vote.  Although, it took the 1965 Voting Rights Act to ensure Black women could execute that right which the 19th Amendment should have granted in 1920.) As the momentum for a women's march built,  and the myth of bra-burners gathered steam, I found most of the people in my new circle were strongly modernists in their outlook. The circle of friends and acquaintances all supported a wider role for women in society. That included the males. 

As noted above, Women getting the vote, women working side by side with men in factories throughout two wars, was not enough to break the many barriers that women faced in life. Regardless of race, ethnicity or status. It was these invisible, but very durable barriers that women needed to break. 

Women had been successful in music and the entertainment industry in limited numbers, but the music itself did not address their struggle and receive wide distribution. 

It took until 1971 for music to catch up. 

Helen Reddy's feminine anthem I am Woman, was out in 1971 on her debut LP but was not a single until 1972 when it topped the charts. Of course, it went on to win the Grammy for single of the year and in her acceptance speech, Helen Reddy, thanked a female God. It was a pivotal moment for increasing awareness of the issue.  Also in 1971, Carly Simon released That's The Way. Although that shortened title belies the mood of the song which the full sentence conveys very well: That's the Way I've Always Heard It Should Be". It's about a young woman coming of age and seeing her parents unhappy marriage & friends mindlessly settling down and giving up on their dreams.Not sure why, but I bought the 45 when I did not have a record player. Still have it in fact. (Just to re-deem myself, let me clarify, I had a cassette player & a friend put it on a cassette for me to hear in my bare bones bachelor apartment!)

These are the Helen and Carly numbers:

I am Woman - Helen Reddy

That's The Way - Carly Simon

A final thought, regardless of these decades of increasing power and control for women, the #metoo movement has made it clear that society has far to go still. If you are young and powerless when seeking employment, women face not just "barriers" but harassment as men remain the gatekeepers to the entry to so many paths. Mind you, it is clear, young men face similar harassment in many industries, too.

Skip Spence

 Skip Spence was born in Windsor Ontario but grew up in America. He was born on April 18, 1946.
He was one of the early members of Jefferson Airplane. I loved Jefferson Airplane in their early days and played Surrealistic Pillow  again and again in the late 60s and right up to the 21st-century. But Skip apparently was a troubled soul. he left the airplane and joined a bunch of other groups before cofounding Moby Grape,  another great 60s band.
I met Skip  in London in a friends flat in Tottenham Court Road. It was August 1969  Skip had flown in to see the free concert that Blind Faith was putting on in Hyde Park and my friends and I had gone as well and when I return to my friend’s flat, his flatmate introduced me to Skip.  They had become friends when he was studying in California. I have to admit I was a little silly and starstruck and didn’t say anything sensible.  And that particular day though Skip was full of fun and bright, and didn’t foreshadow a terrible breakdowns that he suffered in the 70s .
Skip wrote My Best Friend, a lovely tune the Airplane put on Surrealistic Pillow.

Mik's Life with music and especially music with friends

   Recently, the Rolling Stones released a  CD made up of tunes that they played when they were on the BBC Radio. The recording quality is good and some of the tunes really hearken back to their early blues & rock stuff.  Listening to the tracks  reminded me so much of standing in a room above a pub completely immersed in stale cigarette smoke "groovin' to the vibes" !

   A long time ago, I made  a list of acts I had seen. Of course, 45+ years of moves has meant that a lot of paperwork has disappeared. Recently, I began re-creating the list of performers that I saw live. I shared it with a friend in the UK to compare our memories. 

Not surprisingly, my list from another continent did not match his exactly; Although, from our early years of going to clubs, there was a lot of overlap on many of the artists. Furthermore, it was a large music-loving group that I used to hang out with. Hence, I truly do not recall who was where & when at many of the events. For example, a large group of us saw Janis Joplin at the Royal Albert Hall, and Yes was her opening act. We had the whole row filled with  friends - but who was there with me?  I cannot recall who they were.

   We saw Aretha Franklin, it is my number 1 live show. She & the backing group were dynamite. We were lucky to see the Stax-Volt package. We  were at the London Hammersmith Odeon show, the only one of the series of European shows that had Sam & Dave, Carla Thomas and Eddie Floyd, Arthur Conley plus Booker T & the MG's with The Mar-keys, too. Otis closed the show. I feel privileged to have seen this wonderful artist, when he was backed by the Mar-keys plus the great Steve Cropper & Booker T.

   The early blues fanatics that we were saw Sister Rosetta Tharpe at the Blues & Gospel caravan show. We saw the Yardbirds when  Eric Clapton was with them; and even the time they had Jeff Beck AND Jimmy Page together!!

   My friends, who were not only from school but lived near me, went to see a young Pete Brown; the folksy man who wrote Sunshine of your Love and White Room for Cream. Our school's catchment area was vast. Many of my friends lived miles away. Of course, we journeyed far to see performers.  We were lucky to see the blues era Rolling Stones, (more than once,)  but also all the blues greats : T-Bone Walker, Otis Span,  Buddy Guy (he was just 19 I think). Memphis Slim, Muddy Waters, many, many more. They were at the Croydon Folk & Blues Festival we attended. One of the highlights of a music going life.

   As a DJ with a  Beatles and Beyond show now, the songs from that era, such as The Boxer by Simon & Garfunkel and Richard Harris'  MacArthur Park really left an impression on me.

    The odd thing for me is, that, back then, I never owned either of those songs. A good friend  had the 45 RPM of Boxer & and another had Harris' LP which his sister (who lived in the US,) sent him. Every time I was at their places, (I should say, "we were") those songs got played.  Of course, they were also ridiculously popular tunes on the radio and we heard them wherever we hung out. I have a very vivid memory of being in Dorset with all of us sitting outside the pub by the seafront and MacArthur Park came on. I close my eyes and I can "see" us hanging around. Searching out tunes for my show has made me understand that so often my choice of material, and dialogue to go with it, raise memories even from the tunes I never owned or played at home.

   I didn't expect that in the beginning when I started to work for the Station years ago. In addition, the memories become linked together, even if they actually occurred at different times. My brain has simply catalogued them together -- often as "good old times with friends."

Special thoughts of Leonard Cohen
   I so sad hearing of Cohen's passing. Not just his music: Suzanne, Famous Blue Raincoat & others, which reminded me so much of  a dear friend, first, and then of his wife, too.

   But my strongest memory is of sitting with him, and usually, two other friends,  but occasionally a cluster of others. This friend's "apartment" a term I use very loosely (!) as it was more a cold-water,  garret in Highgate, North London. We would be  toasting bread on the gas fire while Leonard sang (& to complete the vision, Janis Ian's Society' Child!)
They were such innocent times full of potential and hope -- our giggles were such a counter-point to the music. Our attempts to "plan for the weekend".... which we were so inept at doing.  The weekends always ending up a mystery. With my friend sleeping over at our house overnight on Saturdays on many an occasion, before a pub & music at lunch time.

   However, Leonard's music, although appreciated by most of us, was linked with that friend because he was the first to buy Songs of Leonard Cohen.  Suddenly, as I heard of Leonard's death, my thoughts flooded back to those evenings in Highgate.

To borrow from Bob Hope, thanks for the memory--  Mr. Cohen and my old friend, MJB.

Tartan Day Playlist (Brief one)

April 6 is Tartan Day here in Nova Scotia 

We have a right to be proud as  Tartan Day in Canada originated with a proposal from the Federation of Scottish Clans in Nova Scotia and has since been proclaimed by all the provincial legislatures. 

In Australia the similar International Tartan Day is held on 1 July, the anniversary of the repeal of the 1747 Act of Proscription that banned the wearing of tartan.

I am 1/4 Scots myself. A member of Clan Borthwick. The Borthwick family still exists in Scotland and own an impressive castle, named unsurprisingly, Borthwick Castle. I haven't  been there to see my bedroom yet, but its on my bucket list.

The next few tunes all show respect for things Scottish.

Loch Lomond sung by Martha Tilton with backing by Benny Goodman & his Orchestra, The Far Cuillins by Andy Stewart and the Skye Boat Song - theme from the Outlander TV series the song features Kathryn Jones.

Another song that harkens of far away places is Vera Lynn's Travelling Home. A tune she recorded in 1957. with lyrics like -

I'm travellin' home
Travellin' home
Far have I roamed from the faces I love
Winds that have blown me on my way
Blow me right back to harbour

appropriate for a playlist for Scotland, (and other distant places.)

The rock n roll show to watch in the UK in the 50's was Oh, Boy! on Saturday's.  It was produced by Jack Good who left UK for California and found fame as the producer of Shindig. Jack just passed away in Sept 2017. The next obscure hit, was from the band who played the backing for most of the artists on Oh, Boy,  Lord Rockingham's XI.  "Hoots Mon". It is a rocked-up version of the traditional Scottish song "A Hundred Pipers", featuring Scotticisms like "Hoots mon, there's a moose loose aboot this hoose!", talk about cultural appropriation!! But, I believe it is done in fun & not meant  in a mocking way. 

SONGS

Loch Lomond - Martha Tilton & Benny Goodman Orchestra.

The Far Cuillins - Andy Stewart 

Skye Boat Song - theme from Outlander featuring Kathryn Jones

Travelling Home -Vera Lynn

Hoots Mon - Lord Rockingham's XI

The Animals

It was summer 63. My friends and I heard of a new group from Newcastle upon Tyne that were up and coming. We went to The Scene Club, one of the  trendy clubs just off Piccadilly Circus. Not our usual haunt. It was a small, stuffy basement club, but the animals were on and they were fantastic. Following the Beatles success on the Ed Sullivan show in 1964, the next British band with an American No.1 was the Animals with this classic, House of the Rising Sun.
I helped book them into the Polytechnic for a Saturday Dance, too. They were amazing; again. Another member of the Social Committee sold the television rights to the BBC for 8GBP ! The whole evening  was an amazing success.

Movies and Rock - a Playlist from Daddy Cool

This playlist is shining a spotlight on the Beatles and other artists of their era whose material was featured in movies.

Hollywood had made musical films for half a century almost. The great Bugsby Berkley extravaganzas, Broadway shows turned into great movies, such as my favourite, South Pacific. Cheap fad movies that played on new cultural norms, Like Don't Knock the Rock and Don't Knock the Twist. I admit that I saw them all. However, The Beatles and the growing post-war youth market, was not captured very well until the Beatles first film, Hard Days Night. London-based, American director Richard Lester hit the nail right on the head; It truly captured Beatlemania. Many other movies followed that were aimed at teenagers, not  Hollywood's idea of a "teenager" which was a 30-year old Doris Day saying "Golly Gee". This playlist featuring films of the Beatles era & Beyond has to begin with  Hard Day's Night. The Beatles first film.

Hard Day's Night, is followed by Ko Ko Mo from The Beach Boys. It is not the title of a film but is from the soundtrack of a young Tom Cruise movie, Cocktail. It was released as a single and topped the charts. Their first big hit for a decade.

SONGS

Hard Day's Night .- The Beatles

Ko Ko Mo - The Beach Boys

Probably the defining rock festival for my generation was Woodstock. The promoters knew they had something special and planned to film it, as it happened. They commissioned Joni Mitchell to write a song to play over the credits. A month before I emigrated to Canada, I saw Joni perform at the Royal Festival Hall on London's South  Bank art institutions. She premiered it there. Her version is a simple piano driven song. She put it out on her Ladies of the Canyon LP. Before she played it, she mentioned that the producers did not feel her version fitted the wild rock atmosphere of the event so were having it re-recorded. Of course, when I arrived in Toronto, and the film Woodstock came out that spring, I could see their point. Here is CSN & Y's version from the film followed by the Rolling Stones' Gimmie Shelter. It is the title song from their film Gimmie Shelter by The Mayles, which captured the disastrous Altamont concert in California where a spectator is killed by the security crew. It is a haunting film, and this tune fits it well, too.

Then,  Help!  the title song from the Beatles second film.

SONGS

Woodstock - Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young

Gimmie Shelter - Rolling Stones.

Help! -The Beatles

Riding on the wave of the British invasion were Anglo-Australian group The Seekers. This was their big hit, which was the theme  from the film Georgy Girl which starred British actress Lynn Redgrave. Some film producers saw the extra bucks to be made from movies with a hit song included which could lead to a popular soundtrack LP. One huge movie in winter of 1969-70 was Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid. Producer John Foreman and Director Roy George Hill commissioned Burt Bacharach & Hal David to compose a song that is incorporated into the movies' narrative as an idyllic sequence that foreshadows the 2 protagonists need to move on and get back to their old lifestyle.  Raindrops Keeping Falling on my Head by B.J. Thomas is the resulting tune.

SONGS

Georgy Girl - The Seekers

Raindrops Keeping Falling on my Head - B.J. Thomas

Windmills of your Mind is the tune from Canadian Director Norman Jewison's  blockbuster film The Thomas Crown Affair.  Dusty Springfield had a hit with it. She is followed by the theme song, Mrs. Robinson from Simon & Garfunkel which is in the iconic 1960's movie, The Graduate ; One of the defining cultural events of the baby boomers' life.

SONGS

Windmills of your Mind - Dusty Springfield

Mrs. Robinson - Simon & Garfunkel

The movie hit of summer 1967 was an odd British one, To Sir with Love starring American actor Sidney Poitier. The theme song was sung by Scots gal Lulu. It was released as a  single and it topped the charts. The Beatles 3rd film was a weird animated one based on the 1966 hit song Yellow Submarine from the Revolver LP. The film  and its soundtrack were released in 1968. It was panned at the time but is now loved, as  the Boomers tend to hold memories that are tinged with rose-tinted nostalgia.

SONGS

To Sir with Love - Lulu

Yellow Submarine - The Beatles

The following are movies that  tried to cash-in on the British invasion and featuring other popular bands playing themselves on a journey to musical success. All have hit songs in their title. Mrs. Brown You've got a Lovely Daughter by Herman's Hermits. I saw it recently on Turner Classic Movies channel. I assure you this film is not a classic. Ah, well, then Catch Us if You Can from the Dave Clark 5 and  Ferry Across the Mersey featuring Gerry & the Pacemakers. Both from movies with those titles.

SONGS

Mrs. Brown You've got a Lovely Daughter - Herman's Hermits

Catch Us if You Can - Dave Clark 5

 Ferry Across the Mersey - Gerry & the Pacemakers

What's New Pussy Cat was a 1965 film cashing in on the world's, but especially America's, curiosity for all things British, and over the top action of James Bond movies The hit song is by Tom Jones. In their early days, the Beatles featured film tunes in their live sets and 2 were on their first LP, Please, Please Me. One tune is Taste of Honey from the British film of the same name, and Til There was You from the 1962 film The Music Man. 

SONGS

What's New Pussy Cat - Tom Jones

Taste of Honey - the Beatles

Til There was You - The Beatles

The 4th film the Beatles owed  the studio  was planned as a movie about reading for a live concert and the concert itself. However, internal group strife resulted in a cut-and-paste movie from the hours of  recording in the studio instead and the previous  movie idea was aborted. However, the idea of a concert film resurrects itself  towards the end, where the Beatles perform 5 songs Live on the rooftop of their Saville Row HQ of Apple Corp. The film was  called Let it be, which was also a single released in March 1970 before the movie came out. While the Beatles did win an Oscar for the soundtrack, in 1973, Paul McCartney, now with his band Wings wanted an Oscar for himself and produced the Theme song for the James Bond film, Live and Let Die. He lost out in the Oscar stakes to The Way We Were (Evergreen.)    

SONGS

Live & Let Die - Wings

Let it Be - The  Beatles

Enjoy this playlist from Mik & Daddy Cool