Music Labyrinth Episode 059
How To Tame Lions / Washington
Hello Listener, and welcome to episode 59 of The Music Labyrinth. Depending on age, the Listener might recall the 59th Street Bridge Song from 1971 by Simon and Garfunkel, which is probably better known by its subtitle, Feelin’ Groovy. Well, I positively encourage you to feel groovy about this episode of The Music Labyrinth. We have plenty of music to assist putting you in that frame of mind over the next couple of hours. My only word of caution in linking this episode to the jaunty ditty that is the 59th Street Bridge Song is the lyric about feeling dappled and drowsy and ready to sleep - there will be none of that thank you, at least until we reveal the end point of tonight’s episode. But - I’m ahead of myself again. In the words of Karen Carpenter, we’ve only just begun - and we began this episode with Megan Washington’s award winning song from 2009, How To Tame Lions. There are surprisingly few songs which refer to lion taming and lion tamers, but one which does is this hit for The Kinks from 1967.
Death Of A Clown / The Kinks
On The Music Labyrinth, that was The Kinks with Death Of A Clown. The writing and release of that song is interesting, and tells us a bit about the relationship between Ray and Dave Davies of The Kinks. Writing credits for Death Of A Clown were claimed by Dave Davies and the song was released as his debut solo single in 1967. However, it appears to be widely accepted that Ray Davies co-wrote the song with his brother, and the song appeared on The Kinks album Something Else By The Kinks, released later that same year. The relationship between the brothers was famously feisty. Dave Davies once said that Ray was only ever happy for three years in his life: the three before Dave was born! Now, if all this talk about feuding brothers and their toxic relationship within a band is directing your attention to another set of brothers, well, that is entirely the plan. Noel and Liam Gallagher are, in many ways, the modern versions of Ray and Dave Davies. Noel and Liam’s relationship difficulties are well documented. After a disastrous gig in Los Angeles in 1994, Noel and Liam fought, and Noel walked out on the band. He was eventually talked down from a permanent split from the band by an acquaintance, and it is those events which led to the writing of this song. This is Oasis with Talk Tonight.
Talk Tonight / Oasis
Welcome back to The Music Labyrinth where we last listened to Talk Tonight by Oasis. After Noel and Liam split for the last time and Oasis came to an end, Noel Gallagher was involved in a number of other projects, including Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds. This next song, The Death Of You And Me, by that band was released in 2011. When asked if the title is a reference to his brother, Noel Gallagher simply stated that the song is about people escaping the circumstances they are in and having a jolly good time and living happily ever after. Which sounds to me like a “yes”. Here is The Death Of You And Me.
The Death Of You And Me / Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds
From 2011 that was Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds with The Death Of You And Me. Chris Sharrock had been the drummer with Oasis at the time of the demise of that band, and he accompanied Noel Gallagher to the High Flying Birds project. During the 1990s, Chris Sharrock had been a member of Karl Wallinger’s World Party, and his drumming can be heard on this World Party track from 1993. This is Sooner Or Later.
Sooner or Later / World Party
From their 1993 album Bang!, that was World Party with Sooner Or Later. Interestingly, Karl Wallinger, the driving force of World Party, is a left handed guitarist who learned to play on a right handed guitar. As a result, he plays with the usual order of strings inverted, with the highest pitched string on the top and the lowest on the bottom. There are several professional musicians who learned guitar in this fashion and continued to play that way for their whole career. One of them was Jimmy Cliff, whom you might remember for I Can See Clearly Now, and also for this - the title track from the soundtrack on the 1972 film The Harder They Come.
The Harder They Come / Jimmy Cliff
Here we are in The Music Labyrinth where we just listened to The Harder They Come by Jimmy Cliff. That song has been covered plenty; by Joe Jackson, Madness, Willie Nelson, Jerry Garcia and Keith Richards. It was also covered by an outfit which was called Joe Strummer and the Mescaleros, which was Strummer’s last band prior to his death in 2002. From their 2001 album Global A Go-Go, this is Joe Strummer and the Mescaleros with the curious and quirky Mondo Bongo.
Mondo Bongo / Joe Strummer and The Mescaleros
We like a bit of curious and quirky here at The Music Labyrinth, and that song, Mondo Bongo by Joe Strummer and the Mescaleros, meets the selection criteria. It also featured on the soundtrack of the 2005 movie Mr & Mrs Smith. Now, we’ve spoken before about the merits of that film (in episode 45), and I think we said all that needs to be said. However, as we concluded back then, unlike the film, the soundtrack does contain some things of interest, including this bit of a “stinker” from the J Geils Band.
Love Stinks / J Geils Band
From the 1980 album of the same name, that was the J Geils Band with Love Stinks. Now, whether he cares to admit it or not, that song was co-written by Seth Justman, long time member of the J Geils Band. Seth’s brother Paul Justman, was the director of the excellent 2002 music documentary Standing In The Shadows of Motown - which leave us spoilt for choice about which direction to head in next - well, it would have, had not most of the tracks on the soundtrack album been made unavailable to an Australian audience. I just cannot fathom how, in an allegedly global market, that situation can occur. Anyway, one of the standout tracks of that soundtrack is Joan Osborne’s cover of What Becomes Of The Broken Hearted which, thankfully, is available via Joan Osborne’s 2007 album Breakfast In Bed.
What Becomes Of The Broken Hearted / Joan Osborne
Yes! This is The Music Labyrinth and we just listened to Joan Osborne’s performance of What Becomes Of The Broken Hearted from the soundtrack of the movie Standing In The Shadows of Motown. That movie is a celebration of the music of The Funk Brothers, a very large and very porous conglomeration of musicians who contributed to the great Motown hits of the 60s and 70s. Wikipedia provides a HUGE list of musicians who might have claim to inclusion in The Funk Brothers, and a list of about 110 hit songs on which they played. That list includes a number of songs we have featured in previous episodes of this program. When I scanned it recently, this one stood out to me for a whole bunch of reasons, not least of which is the funky little sitar introduction.
Signed, Sealed, Delivered, I’m Yours / Stevie Wonder
That, of course, was Stevie Wonder with Signed, Sealed, Delivered, I’m Yours. Stevie Wonder has - deservedly - won pretty much every award and been nominated for every honour possible as a professional musician and songwriter. In 2009 he participated in some live shows to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame. During those shows he performed the song we just heard. He also appeared on stage with Sting and they performed a short medley of Stevie Wonder’s Higher Ground and a version of this classic by The Police.
Roxanne / The Police
That was The Police, from their 1981 album Outlandos d’Armour with Roxanne. That song is sampled in this track from the Fugees from their 1994 album Blunted On Reality. This is the Refugees Hip Hop Mix of Vocab.
Vocab (Refugees Hip Hop Mix) / Fugees
We’re still here in The Music Labyrinth where we last listened to the Refugees Hip Hop Mix of Vocab by The Fugees. The Fugees consisted of Lauryn Hill, Pras Michael, and Wyclef Jean. We know that Lauren Hill went on to a very successful solo career, with her album The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill becoming one of the best selling albums of all time. Wyclef Jean also went on to a successful solo career as a musician, rapper, music producer and actor. His 2000 album, The Ecleftic: 2 Sides II A Book, reached number 9 in the Billboard charts in its first week of release. It included this collaboration with some Good Friends Of The Music Labyrinth. This is Runaway.
Runaway / Wyclef Jean (feat. Earth, Wind & Fire & The Product G&B)
From his millennial album The Ecleftic: 2 Sides II A Book, that was Wyclef Jean with Earth Wind & Fire and The Product G&B with Runaway. Now you may be thinking that I only brought us in this direction as an excuse to play an Earth, Wind & Fire favourite, and - to be honest - you probably wouldn’t be entirely wrong!
Shining Star / Earth, Wind & Fire
From the 1975 album That’s The Way Of The World, that was Earth, Wind & Fire with Shining Star, their only single to top both the Billboard Hot 100 and Billboard Soul charts. The song has been described as “sweaty funk”. It got even more sweaty when given a work over by the music producer known as The Reflex. Another song that got The Reflex work over was this 1978 hit for Loleatta Holloway. I would love to play you the Reflex mixes of both these songs, but because they are created for dance floors, they each run to about 10 minutes in length. If you get a chance, I recommend having a listen to the work to The Reflex. Anyway, for now, please enjoy the original recording of Mama Don’t Papa Won’t by Loleatta Holloway.
Mama Don’t Papa Won’t / Loleatta Holloway
From her 1978 album Queen Of The Night, that was Loleatta Holloway with her original version of Mama Don’t Papa Won’t. Now you may think that you have not heard Loleatta Holloway sing before, but I reckon you are mistaken. Her vocals, from her 1980 single Love Sensation were sampled and could be heard all over the first version of this next hit from 1989. However, the sample was used without Loleatta Holloway’s authority, and the song was subsequently re-recorded with Loleatta Holloway’s vocals replaced by the voice of Heather Small.
Ride On Time / Black Box
That was the Italian dance group Black Box with their 1989 hit Ride On Time. As we mentioned in the introduction, the main vocal which replaced the sample of Loleatta Holloway, is the voice of Heather Small, who went on to great success with the English dance group M People, particularly with this hit from 1991.
Moving On Up / M People
That is M People with Moving On Up. In addition to selling a gazillion records, that song featured in the 1997 British comedy film The Full Monty, as did this hit from 1966.
Land of 1000 Dances / Wilson Pickett
On The Music Labyrinth we just visited the Land of 1000 Dances with Wilson Pickett. That song is forever associated with Wilson Pickett, but his version is a cover of an earlier original recording of the song by its writer, Chris Kenner. I’ve checked the lyrics and can confirm that considerably fewer than 1000 dances get a mention, yet several do, one of which is the jerk, which Wikipedia describes as follows: The arms move and hands move as if conducting. The wrists cross in front of the chest and then sweep out in time, or at half time, with the music. The hands are up at face level. On count 1, the outward sweep, the hands are quickly pushed out, giving the jerky motion. For a little more style, the fingers may be snapped on the two outward movements—the first and third counts of the hand motion. [end quotation]. So now you know he theory, you can put it into practice. This song about the dance was written in 1966, but is covered here by The Go-Gos. This is Cool Jerk.
Cool Jerk / The Go-Gos
Originally from their 1982 album, Vacation, that is the Go-Gos with Cool Jerk, a song written in 1966 and originally recorded by The Capitols. In fact, the version we just heard is a double cover. In 1982 The Go-Gos covered the 1966 version of the song. Then, in 1990, The Go-Gos covered the 1982 Go-Gos version by re-recording the song for their greatest hits album. Someone else who re-recorded his own songs for a greatest hits album is Jeff Lynne who, in 2012 released an album of re-recorded Electric Light Orchestra songs for the album Mr. Blue Sky: The Very Best of The Electric Light Orchestra. From it, here is the wonderful Mr Blue Sky.
Mr Blue Sky (2012 Version) / Electric Light Orchestra
Mr Blue Sky was one of several ELO songs which appeared in a 2006 episode of Dr Who called Love & Monsters. That episode was part of the second series of the “revived era” of Dr Who with David Tenant as The Doctor. Several episodes earlier in the same series, whilst in the Tardis, the Doctor can be heard listening to this hit from 1978.
Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick / Ian Dury & The Blockheads
Welcome back to the final section of episode 59 of The Music Labyrinth, where we just brandished our rhythm sticks and hit whatever was in striking distance. That song was, of course, Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick by Ian Dury And The Blockheads. One of the wonderful things about it (and there are plenty) is the twin saxophone solo played by Blockhead saxophonist Davey Payne. The technique was inspired by the American jazz multi-instrumentalist Rahsaan Roland Kirk. Terry Edwards is a saxophonist who also played with The Blockheads for a while, and in 2016 he was part of PJ Harvey’s Hope Six Demolition Project, and he is credited with the twin saxophone solo on this song, The Ministry Of Defence by PJ Harvey.
The Ministry of Defence / PJ Harvey
From 2016, that was PJ Harvey with The Ministry Of Defence, and the song comes from PJ Harvey’s 2016 album The Hope Six Demolition Project. One of the key musical contributors to that album was Mick Harvey, who is no relation to PJ Harvey. Mick Harvey is an Australian musician, singer, songwriter, composer, arranger and producer who has worked with Nick Cave in The Boys Next Door, The Bad Seeds, and The Birthday Party. In 1994 he co-produced the album The Honeymoon Is Over for The Cruel Sea, which contained this wonderful song. This is Delivery Man.
Delivery Man / The Cruel Sea
From their 1994 album the Honeymoon Is Over, that was The Cruel Sea with Delivery Man. And that song brings us to the final track for this episode of The Music Labyrinth. Thanks very much for your company. Please come back again in a fortnight when we will continue our wandering through this vast labyrinth of modern music. Dont forget that you can provide feedback about the program via any of a whole bunch of alternative methods, all of which are listed at www.themusiclabyrinth.com. Get on there and let us know what you think. I’m like that robot No. 5 in the movie Short Circuit. MORE INPUT! Now, lets turn our attention to the song which will end this episode of The Music Labyrinth and commence the next. The song we just listened to was by The Cruel Sea, which is also the name of a 1951 novel by Nicholas Monsarrat. Another book which has had its title adopted in the world of music is Arthur Janov’s 1970 text The Primal Scream. In fact, there are two ways we could go from here, because the band name Tears For Fears comes directly from Janov’s text. However, given that earlier in this episode we heard from M People with Moving On Up, I thought that the most appropriate selection to end this episode was the band Primal Scream with their song Movin’ On Up. Stay safe Listener. Talk to you in a fortnight!
Movin’ On Up / Primal Scream
Hello Listener, and welcome to episode 59 of The Music Labyrinth. Depending on age, the Listener might recall the 59th Street Bridge Song from 1971 by Simon and Garfunkel, which is probably better known by its subtitle, Feelin’ Groovy. Well, I positively encourage you to feel groovy about this episode of The Music Labyrinth. We have plenty of music to assist putting you in that frame of mind over the next couple of hours. My only word of caution in linking this episode to the jaunty ditty that is the 59th Street Bridge Song is the lyric about feeling dappled and drowsy and ready to sleep - there will be none of that thank you, at least until we reveal the end point of tonight’s episode. But - I’m ahead of myself again. In the words of Karen Carpenter, we’ve only just begun - and we began this episode with Megan Washington’s award winning song from 2009, How To Tame Lions. There are surprisingly few songs which refer to lion taming and lion tamers, but one which does is this hit for The Kinks from 1967.
Death Of A Clown / The Kinks
On The Music Labyrinth, that was The Kinks with Death Of A Clown. The writing and release of that song is interesting, and tells us a bit about the relationship between Ray and Dave Davies of The Kinks. Writing credits for Death Of A Clown were claimed by Dave Davies and the song was released as his debut solo single in 1967. However, it appears to be widely accepted that Ray Davies co-wrote the song with his brother, and the song appeared on The Kinks album Something Else By The Kinks, released later that same year. The relationship between the brothers was famously feisty. Dave Davies once said that Ray was only ever happy for three years in his life: the three before Dave was born! Now, if all this talk about feuding brothers and their toxic relationship within a band is directing your attention to another set of brothers, well, that is entirely the plan. Noel and Liam Gallagher are, in many ways, the modern versions of Ray and Dave Davies. Noel and Liam’s relationship difficulties are well documented. After a disastrous gig in Los Angeles in 1994, Noel and Liam fought, and Noel walked out on the band. He was eventually talked down from a permanent split from the band by an acquaintance, and it is those events which led to the writing of this song. This is Oasis with Talk Tonight.
Talk Tonight / Oasis
Welcome back to The Music Labyrinth where we last listened to Talk Tonight by Oasis. After Noel and Liam split for the last time and Oasis came to an end, Noel Gallagher was involved in a number of other projects, including Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds. This next song, The Death Of You And Me, by that band was released in 2011. When asked if the title is a reference to his brother, Noel Gallagher simply stated that the song is about people escaping the circumstances they are in and having a jolly good time and living happily ever after. Which sounds to me like a “yes”. Here is The Death Of You And Me.
The Death Of You And Me / Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds
From 2011 that was Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds with The Death Of You And Me. Chris Sharrock had been the drummer with Oasis at the time of the demise of that band, and he accompanied Noel Gallagher to the High Flying Birds project. During the 1990s, Chris Sharrock had been a member of Karl Wallinger’s World Party, and his drumming can be heard on this World Party track from 1993. This is Sooner Or Later.
Sooner or Later / World Party
From their 1993 album Bang!, that was World Party with Sooner Or Later. Interestingly, Karl Wallinger, the driving force of World Party, is a left handed guitarist who learned to play on a right handed guitar. As a result, he plays with the usual order of strings inverted, with the highest pitched string on the top and the lowest on the bottom. There are several professional musicians who learned guitar in this fashion and continued to play that way for their whole career. One of them was Jimmy Cliff, whom you might remember for I Can See Clearly Now, and also for this - the title track from the soundtrack on the 1972 film The Harder They Come.
The Harder They Come / Jimmy Cliff
Here we are in The Music Labyrinth where we just listened to The Harder They Come by Jimmy Cliff. That song has been covered plenty; by Joe Jackson, Madness, Willie Nelson, Jerry Garcia and Keith Richards. It was also covered by an outfit which was called Joe Strummer and the Mescaleros, which was Strummer’s last band prior to his death in 2002. From their 2001 album Global A Go-Go, this is Joe Strummer and the Mescaleros with the curious and quirky Mondo Bongo.
Mondo Bongo / Joe Strummer and The Mescaleros
We like a bit of curious and quirky here at The Music Labyrinth, and that song, Mondo Bongo by Joe Strummer and the Mescaleros, meets the selection criteria. It also featured on the soundtrack of the 2005 movie Mr & Mrs Smith. Now, we’ve spoken before about the merits of that film (in episode 45), and I think we said all that needs to be said. However, as we concluded back then, unlike the film, the soundtrack does contain some things of interest, including this bit of a “stinker” from the J Geils Band.
Love Stinks / J Geils Band
From the 1980 album of the same name, that was the J Geils Band with Love Stinks. Now, whether he cares to admit it or not, that song was co-written by Seth Justman, long time member of the J Geils Band. Seth’s brother Paul Justman, was the director of the excellent 2002 music documentary Standing In The Shadows of Motown - which leave us spoilt for choice about which direction to head in next - well, it would have, had not most of the tracks on the soundtrack album been made unavailable to an Australian audience. I just cannot fathom how, in an allegedly global market, that situation can occur. Anyway, one of the standout tracks of that soundtrack is Joan Osborne’s cover of What Becomes Of The Broken Hearted which, thankfully, is available via Joan Osborne’s 2007 album Breakfast In Bed.
What Becomes Of The Broken Hearted / Joan Osborne
Yes! This is The Music Labyrinth and we just listened to Joan Osborne’s performance of What Becomes Of The Broken Hearted from the soundtrack of the movie Standing In The Shadows of Motown. That movie is a celebration of the music of The Funk Brothers, a very large and very porous conglomeration of musicians who contributed to the great Motown hits of the 60s and 70s. Wikipedia provides a HUGE list of musicians who might have claim to inclusion in The Funk Brothers, and a list of about 110 hit songs on which they played. That list includes a number of songs we have featured in previous episodes of this program. When I scanned it recently, this one stood out to me for a whole bunch of reasons, not least of which is the funky little sitar introduction.
Signed, Sealed, Delivered, I’m Yours / Stevie Wonder
That, of course, was Stevie Wonder with Signed, Sealed, Delivered, I’m Yours. Stevie Wonder has - deservedly - won pretty much every award and been nominated for every honour possible as a professional musician and songwriter. In 2009 he participated in some live shows to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame. During those shows he performed the song we just heard. He also appeared on stage with Sting and they performed a short medley of Stevie Wonder’s Higher Ground and a version of this classic by The Police.
Roxanne / The Police
That was The Police, from their 1981 album Outlandos d’Armour with Roxanne. That song is sampled in this track from the Fugees from their 1994 album Blunted On Reality. This is the Refugees Hip Hop Mix of Vocab.
Vocab (Refugees Hip Hop Mix) / Fugees
We’re still here in The Music Labyrinth where we last listened to the Refugees Hip Hop Mix of Vocab by The Fugees. The Fugees consisted of Lauryn Hill, Pras Michael, and Wyclef Jean. We know that Lauren Hill went on to a very successful solo career, with her album The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill becoming one of the best selling albums of all time. Wyclef Jean also went on to a successful solo career as a musician, rapper, music producer and actor. His 2000 album, The Ecleftic: 2 Sides II A Book, reached number 9 in the Billboard charts in its first week of release. It included this collaboration with some Good Friends Of The Music Labyrinth. This is Runaway.
Runaway / Wyclef Jean (feat. Earth, Wind & Fire & The Product G&B)
From his millennial album The Ecleftic: 2 Sides II A Book, that was Wyclef Jean with Earth Wind & Fire and The Product G&B with Runaway. Now you may be thinking that I only brought us in this direction as an excuse to play an Earth, Wind & Fire favourite, and - to be honest - you probably wouldn’t be entirely wrong!
Shining Star / Earth, Wind & Fire
From the 1975 album That’s The Way Of The World, that was Earth, Wind & Fire with Shining Star, their only single to top both the Billboard Hot 100 and Billboard Soul charts. The song has been described as “sweaty funk”. It got even more sweaty when given a work over by the music producer known as The Reflex. Another song that got The Reflex work over was this 1978 hit for Loleatta Holloway. I would love to play you the Reflex mixes of both these songs, but because they are created for dance floors, they each run to about 10 minutes in length. If you get a chance, I recommend having a listen to the work to The Reflex. Anyway, for now, please enjoy the original recording of Mama Don’t Papa Won’t by Loleatta Holloway.
Mama Don’t Papa Won’t / Loleatta Holloway
From her 1978 album Queen Of The Night, that was Loleatta Holloway with her original version of Mama Don’t Papa Won’t. Now you may think that you have not heard Loleatta Holloway sing before, but I reckon you are mistaken. Her vocals, from her 1980 single Love Sensation were sampled and could be heard all over the first version of this next hit from 1989. However, the sample was used without Loleatta Holloway’s authority, and the song was subsequently re-recorded with Loleatta Holloway’s vocals replaced by the voice of Heather Small.
Ride On Time / Black Box
That was the Italian dance group Black Box with their 1989 hit Ride On Time. As we mentioned in the introduction, the main vocal which replaced the sample of Loleatta Holloway, is the voice of Heather Small, who went on to great success with the English dance group M People, particularly with this hit from 1991.
Moving On Up / M People
That is M People with Moving On Up. In addition to selling a gazillion records, that song featured in the 1997 British comedy film The Full Monty, as did this hit from 1966.
Land of 1000 Dances / Wilson Pickett
On The Music Labyrinth we just visited the Land of 1000 Dances with Wilson Pickett. That song is forever associated with Wilson Pickett, but his version is a cover of an earlier original recording of the song by its writer, Chris Kenner. I’ve checked the lyrics and can confirm that considerably fewer than 1000 dances get a mention, yet several do, one of which is the jerk, which Wikipedia describes as follows: The arms move and hands move as if conducting. The wrists cross in front of the chest and then sweep out in time, or at half time, with the music. The hands are up at face level. On count 1, the outward sweep, the hands are quickly pushed out, giving the jerky motion. For a little more style, the fingers may be snapped on the two outward movements—the first and third counts of the hand motion. [end quotation]. So now you know he theory, you can put it into practice. This song about the dance was written in 1966, but is covered here by The Go-Gos. This is Cool Jerk.
Cool Jerk / The Go-Gos
Originally from their 1982 album, Vacation, that is the Go-Gos with Cool Jerk, a song written in 1966 and originally recorded by The Capitols. In fact, the version we just heard is a double cover. In 1982 The Go-Gos covered the 1966 version of the song. Then, in 1990, The Go-Gos covered the 1982 Go-Gos version by re-recording the song for their greatest hits album. Someone else who re-recorded his own songs for a greatest hits album is Jeff Lynne who, in 2012 released an album of re-recorded Electric Light Orchestra songs for the album Mr. Blue Sky: The Very Best of The Electric Light Orchestra. From it, here is the wonderful Mr Blue Sky.
Mr Blue Sky (2012 Version) / Electric Light Orchestra
Mr Blue Sky was one of several ELO songs which appeared in a 2006 episode of Dr Who called Love & Monsters. That episode was part of the second series of the “revived era” of Dr Who with David Tenant as The Doctor. Several episodes earlier in the same series, whilst in the Tardis, the Doctor can be heard listening to this hit from 1978.
Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick / Ian Dury & The Blockheads
Welcome back to the final section of episode 59 of The Music Labyrinth, where we just brandished our rhythm sticks and hit whatever was in striking distance. That song was, of course, Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick by Ian Dury And The Blockheads. One of the wonderful things about it (and there are plenty) is the twin saxophone solo played by Blockhead saxophonist Davey Payne. The technique was inspired by the American jazz multi-instrumentalist Rahsaan Roland Kirk. Terry Edwards is a saxophonist who also played with The Blockheads for a while, and in 2016 he was part of PJ Harvey’s Hope Six Demolition Project, and he is credited with the twin saxophone solo on this song, The Ministry Of Defence by PJ Harvey.
The Ministry of Defence / PJ Harvey
From 2016, that was PJ Harvey with The Ministry Of Defence, and the song comes from PJ Harvey’s 2016 album The Hope Six Demolition Project. One of the key musical contributors to that album was Mick Harvey, who is no relation to PJ Harvey. Mick Harvey is an Australian musician, singer, songwriter, composer, arranger and producer who has worked with Nick Cave in The Boys Next Door, The Bad Seeds, and The Birthday Party. In 1994 he co-produced the album The Honeymoon Is Over for The Cruel Sea, which contained this wonderful song. This is Delivery Man.
Delivery Man / The Cruel Sea
From their 1994 album the Honeymoon Is Over, that was The Cruel Sea with Delivery Man. And that song brings us to the final track for this episode of The Music Labyrinth. Thanks very much for your company. Please come back again in a fortnight when we will continue our wandering through this vast labyrinth of modern music. Dont forget that you can provide feedback about the program via any of a whole bunch of alternative methods, all of which are listed at www.themusiclabyrinth.com. Get on there and let us know what you think. I’m like that robot No. 5 in the movie Short Circuit. MORE INPUT! Now, lets turn our attention to the song which will end this episode of The Music Labyrinth and commence the next. The song we just listened to was by The Cruel Sea, which is also the name of a 1951 novel by Nicholas Monsarrat. Another book which has had its title adopted in the world of music is Arthur Janov’s 1970 text The Primal Scream. In fact, there are two ways we could go from here, because the band name Tears For Fears comes directly from Janov’s text. However, given that earlier in this episode we heard from M People with Moving On Up, I thought that the most appropriate selection to end this episode was the band Primal Scream with their song Movin’ On Up. Stay safe Listener. Talk to you in a fortnight!
Movin’ On Up / Primal Scream