TOP OF THE STAIRS MUSIC

Quite a day yesterday as got some serious downloading done to the ipod:

13 tracks of The Coasters. Fab and funny kinda doo wappers of the 50's who had a string of hits like Yakkety-Yak and Charlie Brown. These will be played on a day when I need a lift.
More Dakota Staton tracks making 25 in all in my collection, dynamite voice and jazz vocalist from the 50's and 60's.
16 tracks by the Big O, Roy Orbison and I have a feeling I will be adding many more soon.

Also took a brave decision and did away with a lot of my iTunes playlists as I had way too many. It has such a brilliant search facility that they are not really needed. Still wobbly after doing though and feeling I won't be able to find that one track I desperately need to hear!

This blog was to chart the major sorting out of my vast music collection and started almost 3 years ago, so 3 years down the line I now have only 3,252 tracks on the poddy and still a huge pile of CD's cassettes and LP's - but I am enjoying the journey.

Caught up with the BBC 4 documentary on Roy Orbison last night. It would be pointless me writing about THE voice as everyone, wether you like it or not, knows THE voice. Instead I want to write about how the documentary actually turned me from being a peripheral fan to a more avid appreciator of this true legend.
It was fascinating to hear him tell of the way he wrote songs, he said he didn't really know how to put them together so he just wrote how he wanted to sing, he would let a song evolve rather then it be constrained by technique, hence all those impossible to sing, rich and dramatic songs which perhaps only his phenomenal range could sing. And if you really listen to say Crying, it takes you all over the place from low and slow to high and achingly sad.
Watching the old footage I was struck with how he doesn't move, he simply doesn't move anything except his mouth and his hands playing the guitar and perhaps a foot tapping. He just stands solid in front of the mic and without any effort, or so it seems, sings. Even hitting the high notes seems to be a breeze.
And he was mysterious with his dark glasses hiding any emotion and his dark clothes and immaculate hair and again without any gestures coming in movement, he presents his songs which is what he is all about. But off stage he wasn't at all mysterious, with his quiet talking voice, he was gentle and appreciative of all that his talent bought him. This was doubly touching given all the tragedy he suffered in his early life, the death of his first wife and then 2 young sons. He did rebuild his life and through his second wife he found happiness again.
I am ashamed to say that I have very little Orbison in my music collection, something I aim to correct this week!

Do check out www.orbison.com - a beautifully presented website to the BIG O.

What an extraordinary album this is, somehow old fashioned enough to be called so but also beggars it to be played every so often. Released in 1981 it's most successful track being State of Independence which also became a big hit for Donna Summer. I'll Find My Way Home seems to be a BBC Radio 2 fave as it's gets repeated plays but for me the best track is The Mayflower. A track of such anthemic proportions it makes your hair stand on end, clever both musically and lyrically.

The title track is an homage to 1940's movies complete with car skids and machine gun special effects.

Anderson voice is as choral as ever and you can hear the signature Vengelis keyboards in every track.

This week I played this album, fancied a little bit of retro [1981]. Even now I get totally distracted by Stewart Copeland's terrific drumming/percussion. I had never heard drumming like when I first heard him. The short cymbal roll at the start of Every Little Thing She Does is Magic is just perfect.
The gravity of Invisible Sun still pulls and you just cannot not singalong to this track [or any of the others actually]. And doesn't it just make you feel great when you sing along with the French pieces in a song even though you don't have a clue what they mean - track 5 Hungry For You [j'aurais toujours faim de toi].
I found myself listening to it a bit aggressively but it has such energy, totally infectious energy and in comparison to Copeland's unique style, the little electronic guitar swirl at the beginning of Too Much Information is fantastic.
One World is enough AGAIN Copeland does not stay in the background, this is his track!

Didn't know this about the cover:
"The cover art for Ghost in the Machine features an LED-inspired graphic that depicts the heads of the three band members each with a distinctive hair style (from left to right, Andy Summers, Sting with spiky hair, and Stewart Copeland with a fringe); the band was unable to decide on a photograph to use for the cover. The album's cover is ranked at number 45 on VH1's 50 Greatest Album Covers. The graphic was designed by Mick Hegarty."

Today's audible treat is a catch up on one of the Podcasts I subscribe to: Brian Ibbotts wonderfull Coverville.
www.coverville.com
Just listening to a cool cover of Michael Jackson's I Want You Back by Discovery.
I am very much into covered and remastered tracks and am working on a series of shows for hospital radio. It keeps great songs alive and gives artists a chance to be really creative.
Coverville number 590 is all Jackson covers if you are interested.

Have been doing this blog for 3 years and never received comments which are 'advertising'! What's that all about? Made me very angry and deleted both. A new way of hiving no doubt and a very lazy thing to do and noticeable that they were both posted to my Michael Jackson post obviously because he has been the main website trend over the last 2 weeks.

Last Thursday saw our hospital radio station's 2nd Acoustic Night at Dockers in Leamington Spa. Probably the hottest night of the week long heatwave, we tumbled out onto the street but still the music could be heard from Ben Clempson a local singer, song writer who plays numerous instruments but especially talented on the guitar where he slaps it like a drum, very much in the style of John Smith.
His talent is undeniable and meeting him afterwards he is extremely likeable and honestly accepting of the compliments I and others paid him. His voice is a surprise, low and gravelly, not suiting his willowy looks. I would say he is bluesy/folk - whatever - you cannot ignore his arresting delivery. Signed to a local record label, I wish him well.

Check him and hear his stuff at www.myspace.com/benclempson - make sure you listen to He's Got All the Whiskey

Have just downloaded the new software from Ambrosia called Soundboard and am mightily impressed:

"The concept of Soundboard is similar to the “cart machines” that once populated radio stations — devices that played back endless-loop tape cartridges used to play commercials, sound effects and other audio content. You can create libraries of audio clips using Soundboard, then trigger the effects by tapping hot keys on your Mac’s keyboard. You can drag in any audio file your Mac can play. Soundboard includes editing tools, and lets you apply effects or filters. Imported sounds are converted to Apple Lossless format to retain high fidelity and ensure instant playback. Soundboard can also be controlled using MIDI devices, with effects like panning and gain possible as well."

Well as someone who used cart machines for many years at hospital radio, this really appealed. It is easy to use and is also a really cool way to file your sound effects, just drag and drop them and save. It's much easier to push one of the button to instantly preview it than to have to the click on a sound file and choose where to open it etc. It is going to make home recording so easy especially alongside the already overwhelming capabilities of Garage Band.

It's from the same folks as Wire Tap which is another simple application I can recommend.