| Author | Message | ||
     Matthias Treml Member Username: Matthias Post Number: 31 Registered: 05-2005 |
OK. It's taken some months (some might say years) but I've finally gotten my hands on Robert's 3 Solo records (not count IHANYG covers one). Thanks to all those who suggested various on-line stores. In various threads people have discussed elements of each album. I always find analysis and re-analysis at various points in life fascinating. So for all those who own all 3 solo records, indulge me with your insights on this work, album by album. What are your favorites and why? What are less than stellar and why? Also, it appears from reading other threads that the Warm Nights band (was there also a film of the tour?) included a different band than the one who recorded (did it include Adele and Glenn?) Anyone know why? Anyway, So if this assumption is true than tell us which songs were better by which band. Confusing? I hope not. And feel free to include commentary on anything else I missed (art work, lyrics, etc.) I'll start off: Danger in the Past - the 1st one I owned. Haven't listened to it for years until recently after purchasing the other two. It is still to me the best, most fully realized record he put out. Strong songwriting, interesting melodies, chording, good tension in the music and lyrics. Great production. Favorites: Baby Stones, River People, Heart Out To Tender, Justice. But certainly an album where I can listen through the whole way without fast forwarding any songs. Calling From A Country Phone - a recent acquisition and a close second. Atlanta Lie Low is gorgeous and an interesting starting track. It bookends my listening of the album as it seems like an ending track to me and I always finish listening straight through the record and the CD player flips back to it - perfect. 121 is a great rocker song. I first heard it on the 1999 acoustic tour with Grant but it turned out to be exactly how I imagined it to be with a full band. I like most every song on this record too. There are a couple I could take or leave, can't think of them now. Warm Nights - the second one I acquired and must say I was quite disappointed. Even though I only paid $5 on ebay. It's partly production and partly songwriting. Perhaps the songs would be easier on the ears if they were recorded like DITP and CFACP but for some reason, this would have made a good half Go-betweens record as I only like about 4 or 5 songs. I think they are the last four too. Rock n Roll Friend doesn't bother me like it does many others. It actually makes me smile. The blatant 'Like a Rolling Stone' arrangement is befitting in some way. I do like the original much more, but it's a nice diversion. The rest of the record seems less melodic, musically and lyrically. So there you go fellow friends... have at it. | ||
| Kurt Stephan Member Username: Slothbert Post Number: 68 Registered: 04-2005 |
Matthias, evidently you and I have been shadowing each other in the acquisition of the RF solo albums. They're really hard to find in the U.S., so I finally started tracking down used copies online through eBay and Amazon. Anyway, I generally agree with your thoughts on the three albums of RF originals--but even with DITP (the best of the lot), I find a bit of boredom setting in when listening to the entire album. Maybe it's Robert's voice or songwriting style--it just doesn't wear as well song after song as it does when he's trading off songs with you-know-who. "CFACP" and "Warm Nights" actually seem fairly comparable to me, though the former's highs are higher and lows aren't as low...though "Girl to a World" makes me lunge for the fast forward button, I have to admit. And, as I recall, lots of people here don't like "Cat's Life" too much, but it's my favorite on the album. "Warm Nights" has some very good stuff in the first half, but sinks with three consecutive duds that seem to go on forever: "Jug of Wine"/"Fortress"/"Rock 'n' Roll Friend" (the Dylanesque arrangement's OK, but RF's strange vocals kill it for me). Like GM's albums, I enjoy them all in small doses, but mostly they make me want to hear a GoBs album instead. | ||
| david pestorius Member Username: David_pestorius Post Number: 17 Registered: 08-2005 |
The confusion with between the group Warm Nights and the RF album with that title is perpetual. Glenn and Adele with RF comprised the band Warm Nights. Invariably, when the group played live it was billed as such, and not, for example, as 'RF and Warm Nights'. I think the primary reason why Glenn and Adele did not play on the album was financial. Basically, RF wanted to record the album at Edwin Collins' studio in London and budget restrictions had the effect of limiting him to recording with local musicians, one of whom (David Ruffy), I note also played on 'Oceans Apart'. I seem to recall that Edwin Collins' studio had a lot of old analogue gear in it which RF felt was appropriate to the sound he was looking for at the time. That this necessitated the decision to record without Glenn and Adelel was something of a disappoinment for a number of people, not least of which Glenn and Adele themselves. I think some effort, however, was made by the artist Leni Hoffmann when she designed the album cover, to signal that 'Warm Nights' was bigger and than RF himself. It was perhaps a subtle gesture, missed by many at the time, but if you look at it again now, the title is in much larger type to RF's name, which appears, almost incidentally in the lower right corner. As I say, I think this was intended as a subtle allusion to Glenn and Adele, and to the absent band that had developed the Warm Nights music. Personally, I think the Warm Nights' songs suffered in translation when recorded by the studio band, however, in the years immediately following RF always maintained he was happy with the results. I also seem to recall now that the single 'Crying Love' (for which a crazy video was made), was shortened from how it was played live prior to its recording: that in an attempt to make the song more radio-friendly a couple of minutes in the middle were cut out. Again, I think something was lost in that process, and certainly it was not the hit it really ought to have been. The only film of Warm Nights (the group that is), is the one which is the subject of another thread, which also contains other information on the group at that time. | ||
| Donat Member Username: Donat Post Number: 85 Registered: 11-2004 |
Matthias, I strongly recommend that you track down the EP for Drop/Falling Star as it has the magnificent b-sides 'Lonely Boy' (the closest Robert's ever gotten to a real rocker in a Buddy Holly sense of the term) and the seemingly autobiographical 'Brookfield 1975' which is one of my all-time favourite RF solo songs. Robert seems to have a few songs in his solo career that reflect upon his Brisbane life in the mid-to-late 70s, particularly 'Snake Skin Lady' (about a girl called Jane who was one of the first female punks in Brisbane), 'On A Street Corner' and the one I mentioned before 'Brookfield 1975'. I have no idea whether or not the Drop/Falling Star EP is easily obtainable, though gemm.com might be a good start. | ||
| david pestorius Member Username: David_pestorius Post Number: 18 Registered: 08-2005 |
Hey Donat, I recall you saying earlier that you thought 'On A Street Corner' was RF's 'Idiot Wind', and you might well be right, but I was only recently listening to 'Planet Waves' and couldn't help but think that there was something of the same dragging tempo and intensely bitter flavour in the song 'Dirge'. Have a listen and see what you think. | ||
| david pestorius Member Username: David_pestorius Post Number: 19 Registered: 08-2005 |
Just one other recollection: during the 'Calling From A Country Phone' period I recall RF being heavily into the Texan country of Guy Clark, which of course is directly hinted at in the album's title (not to mention many of the songs), but if you look closely at the album sleeve design, RF more or less copies not only the typography on the cover of Guy Clark's first album 'Old No.1', but also the way the musicians are there referred to as 'Pickers'. I also note the same goes for the 'Drop' EP, where RF amusingly 'clarifies' the useage of this country music jargon in the credits as follows: "Musicians or Pickers as they wish to be known". | ||
| Donat Member Username: Donat Post Number: 86 Registered: 11-2004 |
David, yes - I am listening to 'Dirge' right now and my goodness, it's certainly mining similar lyrical themes. I almost forgot about this song. "I hate myself for lovin' you and I'm glad the curtain fell" | ||
| Peter Azzopardi Member Username: Pete Post Number: 121 Registered: 09-2004 |
Fantastic Dylan song. David, thanks for pointing out the Guy Clark connection. I read somewhere that "Old No. 1" was one of Forster's favourite albums. I got into Clark because of Forster and I've never looked back. His latest album, 2002's "The Dark" is as good as any and a great place to start for the uninitiated. In fact, I leant it to my next-door neighbour a few days ago. | ||
| david pestorius Member Username: David_pestorius Post Number: 20 Registered: 08-2005 |
A few of us, including RF and Karin, went to see a Guy Clark show in Brisbane in February 1996. RF had just returned from recording the 'Warm Nights' album in London, while Clark was playing material from his recently released 'Dublin Blues' album. He was playing just as a duo, with his son on bass. They were truly amazing to watch and listen to together. There was this quite remakable sense of anticipation and understanding between them. I was reminded of this show a year or so later when I went to see a show in Germany (it was in the Rhineland, I think perhaps in Krefeld), that RF and Karin played together as a duo. 'Dublin Blues', by the way, is a wonderful album and comes thoroughly recommended too. The only track I have some reservations about is 'Shut Up and Talk to Me' with its slightly misogynistic aspect. I suspect RF's interest in Texan country music intensified when he was living in Bavaria in the early 90s. Of course, the Baby You Know millieu would have been a big part of it, but maybe, as an Australian, he also felt a strange affinity with this slightly wierd interest in country music that seems to exist in southern Germany. Perhaps Erhard Grundl can fill out the picture here a little bit ? I've always found the interest the country music in the south of Germany a curious thing. I've heard its origins attributed to the proliferation of U.S. army bases (and their associated radio stations) in Germany in the aftermath of WW2, but could it be as simple as this ? | ||
| jerry_h Member Username: Jerry_h Post Number: 13 Registered: 07-2005 |
May be we should start another thread about Texan country singers? Guy Clark's album Old No.1 and Old friends are really good, I've not got any others but will try and find them. Other great texans are the fantastic Flatlanders ( with Jimmie Dale Gilmour, Butch Hancock and Joe Ely) all there in solo albums are good particularly the Butch Hancock albums. There are a couple of compilations of his which are really worth getting ( Own and Own-as I remember).Joe Ely is a bit more rockabilly-which I'm not so keen on. Terry Allen is also a great eccentric painter poet musician who has recorded some great albums ( can't find many on CD) but his one of his earlier(est) Jaurez has recently been reissured. On a personal note I got into all these about the same time the go-betweens broke up. Its interesting to know that Guy Clark was an influence on Robert. In London at the time there were alot of bands touring from texas and getting good audiences at the Borderline and other places.May be it was because Andy Kershaw was a great fan. | ||
| Adam Sanderson Member Username: Adam_sanderson Post Number: 5 Registered: 09-2005 |
I interviewed Robert for a small mag when "Country Phone" was released, prior to him playing in at the Orange in London. He was very enthusiastic about Guy Clark indeed. "Old No. 1" has recently been released coupled with "Texas Cookin'" on one CD. On the subject of Terry Allen, his masterpiece, in my opinion, has to be "Lubbock (On Everything)", it's pure genius. Anyone into Townes Van Zandt? | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 50 Registered: 05-2005 |
Seeing as everyone else is doing it ... I can also reveal that Robert mentioned Guy Clark and Merle Haggard when I first interviewed him on the Warm Nights tour. The context was that I was asking him about the country influence on Warm Nights. He mentioned a couple of other country singers as well. George something was one of them, famous guy, I just can't think of his surname. | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 71 Registered: 03-2005 |
George Jones, I assume. I should check out Guy Clark. I'm well familiar with Merle Haggard's work. In fact "Sing Me Back Home" is a great favorite of mine. I seem to have a bit of thing for the Bakersfield sound but I've only got so much of an appetite for country music, there being so much posturing in that field from the 1970s forward. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 51 Registered: 05-2005 |
George Jones it was! Thanks Randy! | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 52 Registered: 05-2005 |
I'm pretty sure he mentioned Townes Van Zandt too. I must dig out the tape sometime and listen to it again. | ||
| Brook Crowley Member Username: 1_fan Post Number: 54 Registered: 02-2005 |
Padraig, I think you have more knowledge about Robert Forster's post-Go-Betweens solo career more than any of us. Do you (in fact, does anyone)know if Robert recorded any songs he co-wrote with his famous bandmate Grant McClennan, but the Go-Betweens did NOT use? | ||
| Peter Azzopardi Member Username: Pete Post Number: 122 Registered: 09-2004 |
Townes Van Zandt is great. "Our mother the mountain", his second album, is haunting, though maybe too cinematic in its lush orchestrations to be considered real country. His 70s albums are straighter, "Flyin' Shoes" being my pick. Of course, Clark and Van Zandt were great friends. Anyone who hasn't seen the doco "Heartworn Highways" should for Van Zandt's performance of "Poncho and Lefty" alone. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 53 Registered: 05-2005 |
Hi Brook, I definitely am not the most knowledgeable person on this board in regard to any aspect of the Go-Betweens, either as a band or solo. I just love them, that's all. We would not all be dedicating time and energy to this board if we didn't love them! Robert and Grant very rarely wrote together Brook, despite the songs being credited to both of them. It's a Lennon, McCartney thing. So, I doubt very much there are any songs Robert and Grant wrote together that Robert has recorded and The Go-Betweens did not. None that I know of anyway. | ||
| Erhard Grundl Member Username: Erhardgrundl Post Number: 3 Registered: 09-2005 |
trying to fill out the picture: Why Bavaria, or certain bavarian music lovers embrace the Texas scene, is something which can`t be tracked down easily, i think. Maybe it is because both states are known to be very conservative...and this brings out the rebel in certain people, but i don`t know really. The vibe among the Regensburg-Dylanfans/Baby You Know-crowd in the late Eighties was very much: "Texas Outlaw Singer/Songwriters rule". People like Steve Young, Kinky Friedman, John Prine, The Flatlanders, but most of all Guy Clark and Townes Van Zandt were constantly revolving on our record players. Their songs had a lot of impact on how we went about to write our own. When Robert arrived on the scene, he of course had known all these musicians and their records already but maybe had not been exposed to these singer/songwriters as much and as penetrating as in the "german farmhouse". The absolute peak to the whole thing were the "Berlin Independent Days 1990" with not only Guy Clark and Townes Van Zandt on the bill but also Robert Forster&Baby You Know. Later on Robert wrote the linernotes to the Townes live album recorded there and he was special guest at the record release concert 6 months later. Through some lucky coincidences i got to know Townes rather well. Baby You Know played with him and were on the same record label at a certain time. His death on Jan 1st 1997 to me almost marks the end of an era. Around here Texas singer/songwriters where never that popular again. | ||
| Donat Member Username: Donat Post Number: 87 Registered: 11-2004 |
Brook, there's a stack of songs that the band have written, performed live and have never recorded in the studio past a rough demo form. The recent 2CD reissues of the first six albums strongly underline this point. Perhaps when EMI reissue the back catalogue, we might get to hear some of them - assuming that they'll do. | ||
| Guy Ewald Member Username: Guy_ewald Post Number: 53 Registered: 02-2005 |
Regarding I Had A New York Girlfriend… while I agree that a “covers” album often suggests some sort of malaise has settled into the career of the album’s maker (usually writer’s block) Robert’s Pin Ups-move is quite good. It’s a treat to focus on Forster’s vocal performances. He’s not a great singer in any traditional sense (he might be described as a song stylist), but he is very effective in covering a wide range of material. The song selection is more varied than any similar album I can think of and the arrangements/settings are quite wonderful and varied. I remember when NY Girlfriend came out I was really tickled that he'd included versions of two songs I had included on a recent (heavily-played) mixed-tape; Grant Hart’s 2541 and Keith Richards' Locked Away. The man has good taste; don’t pass it up out of some kind of warped “principle.” | ||
| Guy Ewald Member Username: Guy_ewald Post Number: 55 Registered: 02-2005 |
My own 2-cents on the rest of RF’s solo career… I’ve always considered Danger In The Past to be his finest solo album, but I recently put it on a CDR with Country Phone for mobile listening purposes and the physical melding has triggered a qualitative melding in my mind. The production sound on Country Phone highlights the natural acoustics of an ensemble performing in what sounds like a rather spacious studio. I often listen to music at relatively low volumes (apartment dweller) and the album always seemed to lack punch. I listen on headphones a lot too, but don’t remember ever focusing on Country Phone through the cans. Now that I’m listening to it through my Discman peanuts, it sounds very compatible with Danger; I still tend to nod towards the more dramatic DITP material, but both albums are excellent. Warm Nights has always sounded a bit rushed to my ears, as if a great deal of time was spent on a few of the songs while the rest were knocked-out in short order. Some tracks are awash in effects and others are quite dry. I haven’t gone back to it in a while… time to revisit. | ||
| Matthias Treml Member Username: Matthias Post Number: 36 Registered: 05-2005 |
One thing I failed to mention on my first go around... Does anyone else notice the similiarities of Danger in the Past and Echo and the Bunnymen's Ocean Rain album in production, vocals, and guitar treatment? Particularly on Dear Black Dream and Heart Out To Tender. It's uncanny to me. They remind me so much of that album and particularly of Thorn of Crowns. | ||
| gareth w Member Username: Gareth Post Number: 7 Registered: 05-2005 |
I love 'Ocean Rain'. Side two is one of the best sides to a record i've got. Haven't heard any of their records since 'Rust' (which is a great track). Anyone here keeping up to date with the Bunnymen's stuff? Sort of fizzled out for me when Les left. Quite like the 'grey' album too. Over-produced but some great tracks on there. | ||
| Jeff Whiteaker Member Username: Jeff_whiteaker Post Number: 121 Registered: 10-2004 |
matthias, something that may be key in any similarity in sound between 'ocean rain' and 'danger in the past' may be that they were both recorded in large, spacious, echo-y rooms. i think that for me the similarities end there, though. i've had a long running obsession with 'ocean rain.' | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 75 Registered: 03-2005 |
God, I haven't listened to "Ocean Rain" in so long that I've only got a vinyl copy. Out it comes . . . . | ||
| jerry hann Member Username: Jerry_h Post Number: 17 Registered: 07-2005 |
Ocean Rain was advertised/promted as the best Album ever recorded. It was good but not that good. But after Gareth's comments I'll have another listen. | ||
| M. Mark Burgess Member Username: Fortysomething Post Number: 30 Registered: 05-2005 |
If you like the Bunnymen, check out their new one-Siberia. In many ways they and the Go-B's careers have taken similar paths,i.e. starting around the same time, breaking up around the same time and reuniting, give or take a couple of years, around the same time. It's also interesting that both reunions have produced work nearly equaling their past achievements. Really, Siberia is excellent, like Ocean Rain probably their best post-comeback album and even using one of their old producers. | ||
| M. Mark Burgess Member Username: Fortysomething Post Number: 31 Registered: 05-2005 |
Oops, meant to say like Oceans Apart. Interesting Freudian slip there. Does anyone know if Robert or Grant has an affinity for E&TB? | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 71 Registered: 05-2005 |
Yeah, but The Go-Betweens never toured or recorded with a dodgy replacement singer. | ||
| B. Rider Member Username: Boundary_rider Post Number: 14 Registered: 05-2005 |
I used to like the Bunnymen, but McCulloch's lyrics always struck me as embarrassing doggerel. Maybe will have to given them another spin. | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 88 Registered: 03-2005 |
B. Rider, when I listened to "Ocean Rain" after its mention on this thread I found myself laughing at the lyrics for being embarrassing doggerel. I don't think you'll have a new impression. "Seven Seas" seems particularly ludicrous. On the other hand some of the tunes are great, especially "Killing Moon." I saw the Bunnymen live at the Palladium in Hollywood in about 83 or maybe 84. I can't remember if it was before or after the release of "Ocean Rain." I was very disappointed, they were terrible. They couldn't play and they seemed to be totally unengaged. It was the worst live performance I've ever seen by anybody. I figured "okay, they're a studio creation." Maybe they just all had a really bad flu. | ||
| peter ward Member Username: Peter_ward Post Number: 1 Registered: 06-2005 |
I read somewhere that Robert said something along the lines of that in time the 80's will be remembered for three bands.. The Smiths, Echo+the Bunnymen and the Go-Betweens. The Clarke Sisters always reminds me of The Killing Moon | ||
| Kurt Stephan Member Username: Slothbert Post Number: 75 Registered: 04-2005 |
Hmm, interesting to hear the Bunnymen were so crap in '84, Randy. I was a huge fan of their first two albums and erroneously thought at the time that they'd be bigger than U2. I saw them twice in small clubs in SF around '81/'82 and they were intense and tight as a drum. Great shows. By '84 were they touring "Porcupine"? It was the album that killed my love for them--most of it is a headache-inducing mess that features McCulloch's worst sub-Bono tuneless wailing. "Ocean Rain" was a nice comeback--"The Killing Moon" is sublime and "My Kingdom" is close, but the stupid lyrics (c-c-c-cucumber, c-c-c-c-cabbage, etc.) and self-importance are still a problem. Interestingly, I have a chance to see the Bunnymen in Seattle in a few weeks and am trying to decide if it's worth it. It's just McCulloch and Sargeant with a new rhythm section. I haven't heard any of the comeback albums, but it might be worth it for the faves from the '80s. The Bunnymen's reformation is not disimilar to the GoBs', but somehow the Bunnymen seem more about '80s nostalgia--probably because they were much more successful back then. Also, unlike the GoBs, they arguably overstayed their welcome in their original incarnation. Still, an interesting if flawed band--capable of greatness at times. | ||
| Guy Ewald Member Username: Guy_ewald Post Number: 59 Registered: 02-2005 |
KS: "a headache-inducing mess that features McCulloch's worst sub-Bono tuneless wailing." I used to like Echo & The Bunnymen, but when I bought a couple of the reissues last year I did not find that they'd aged well at all. I honestly can't remember what I liked about them twenty-odd years ago what with all that headache-inducing sub-Bono tuneless wailing! :-) | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 90 Registered: 03-2005 |
Kurt, I know the show was at least promoting "Porcupine" if not "Ocean Rain." The only Bunnymen thing I heard before "Porcupine" was "Rescue" which a friend had put on a sampler cassette for me. In light of your experience with the band on stage earlier, it's clear that the show I saw was just a really bad one when there was probably something bringing everybody down. I will say that it pretty much put me off them. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 72 Registered: 05-2005 |
I have the Bunnymen's comeback albums and there are some stunning tracks on all of them. A couple of their singles from the first comeback album also had brilliant b-sides (two great b-sides on each single). I saw them live on that tour and they were great in parts, a bit rubbish in others. For McCulloch to slag the Irish when playing in Dublin was also pretty dumb. He was trying to be funny, but utterly failed to pull it off. We tend not to look too kindly to that sort of attitude from English people. Even the admittance that his mother was Irish offered little mitigation. I'm sure McCulloch slags off the natives wherever he goes though, that it's not just in Dublin. | ||
| M. Mark Burgess Member Username: Fortysomething Post Number: 35 Registered: 05-2005 |
I would add XTC to Robert's list of bands from the 80's that will be remembered. Their "comeback" albums from a few years ago are stunning (Apple Venus 1&2). | ||
| Geoff Holmes Member Username: Geoff Post Number: 27 Registered: 05-2005 |
I saw the Bunnymen in Sydney in 2001 and they blew me away...they were fantastic! I have always hated their live tracks and thought that they would be crap but they weren't. I would go if I was you Kurt!!..with bells on!!!! "Siberia" I have not taken to. The first song sounds like some weak off-take from McCulloch's first album. IMHO, only the second half of the first comeback album is anything near to the standard of their classic stuff. Another comeback album I bought at the same time is grabbing my attention at the moment - the new McCartney one. Best since "Tug of war" 22 years ago I reckon. Now THAT'S a comeback!!!!! Pity he won't comeback to Auz!!! And of course there is ABSOLUTELY no chance of seeing XTC doing Apple Venus unfortunately! | ||
| Jerry Clark Member Username: Jerry Post Number: 110 Registered: 08-2004 |
The first four Bunnymen albums are untouchable. Each was a a progression, in sound and atmosphere, never had a problem with the lyrics. It all went wrong after Bring On The Dancing Horses. The grey album had some good songs (Lost & Found/Lips Like Sugar), but it all got lost in the piss poor production. They always had the beating of U2, if I may opine, since their careers were symmetrical for the first 7 years or so, comparisons are inevitable. | ||
| Kurt Stephan Member Username: Slothbert Post Number: 81 Registered: 04-2005 |
I've heard "Siberia" a couple of times now and it's OK, although it sounds a bit generic, maybe just because so many bands have worked that same basic formula for so long. I suppose somebody unfamiliar with their history might view them as too heavily influenced by Interpol, Coldplay, etc. A couple of tracks have a whiff of the old Bunnymen excitement, though. Ian's voice is corroding a bit, however...not as badly as Reed's or Dylan's, but it's gained a phlegmy gurgle in the lower register. The songs are pretty forgettable too--but aren't as self-important as in the band's heyday, which I suppose is progress. Jerry, I agree with your Bunnymen vs. U2 comparison, except I have to give the third round to Bono and Co. ("War" vs. "Porcupine"). Their careers were oddly symmetrical for awhile, weren't they? Oh, and one other thing: I think Robert's quote was that the Smiths, Go-Betweens, and R.E.M. were the three bands of the '80s, not the Bunnymen. If I'm remembering correctly, he dismissed the Bunnymen as crap somewhere in David's book. And I've always wondered what he and Grant thought of XTC. Despite Partridge's stage fright, they were a great band live--at least on the "Drums and Wires" tour. | ||
| Hardin Smith Member Username: Manosludge Post Number: 1 Registered: 03-2006 |
My fave of RF's solo work is "Danger..." and the covers album "NY Girlfriend", though Robert Christgau (the "Dean of Rock Critics", who, in fact, reveres the GoBs) dissed it by calling it a "covers record that runs out of material"...it didn't run out of steam for me. His version of the Keith Richards solo tune, "Locked Away" is fairly sublime. Funny, apparently RF follows Keef's career so closely. (I'd love to read RF's review of the latest Stones disc, but alas, have been unable to find it online.) All of the RF solo discs are, however, well worth owning if you're a GoBs fan of fair to middling obsession. | ||
| spence Member Username: Spence Post Number: 211 Registered: 05-2005 |
I agree on both counts..DITP will be looked upon as genius in 10 more years time, Girlfriend is a stunning interpretation. Howeve I am let down by Warm Nights, played it in the car the other day, it just sounds like a 3rd rate wannabee Western band, but without the excitement... | ||
| Wilson Davey Member Username: Wilson Post Number: 49 Registered: 05-2005 |
The bunnymen were/are massively influential. probably more so than the Smiths. Coldplay owe a massive debt to them. Mark E Smith siad that STone Roses were a funked up version of them and he was right. The Ocean Rain material was at its best when they were playing it live before they recorded the LP which was overcooked. If you get to hear the 1983 live version of songs like Silver and Killing Moon they were slighty faster and less "epic". I have a boot' of the Royal Albert hall gig July 1983 which is just awesome. There's a guy on Ebay selling Bunnymen DVD's of TV appearances. The Tube Autumn 1983 is recommended. | ||
| david pestorius Member Username: David_pestorius Post Number: 40 Registered: 08-2005 |
For those people interested in RF's solo work, his writing in the last couple of issues of The Monthly are definitely worth a look. Each month it's about 1000 words on a music subject of his choosing. Last month he reviewed the new Neil Diamond album while this month it's the latest albums from Catpower and Beth Orton. In many ways there seems to be an parallel autobiographical structure to these and earlier pieces. That is to say, while he is not strictly talking about the Go-Betweens in these reviews we do get a sense of what RF values in a performer and this can often involve a certain degree of self-reflexivity and the sheding of light on his own situation. Unfortunately, The Monthly is not available on-line, so that pretty much limits access to Australian audiences and for them it means a trip down to the local newsagent. | ||
| spence Member Username: Spence Post Number: 225 Registered: 05-2005 |
I love Edwyn's work dearly, but have never agreed with his production style, like A House's I am the greatest, the production was the poorest, his Gorgeous George I thought the production was very harsh, which brings me to Warm Nights, I realise what they were tring to achieve, but really would have preferred the sightly Bad Seedsesque style production that came with Danger in the past. Having said all of that, Crying Love I played the other day and loved, all the songs are fine, its simply the poduction me thinks. Mind you, when money's tight... | ||
| Geoff Holmes Member Username: Geoff Post Number: 68 Registered: 05-2005 |
Wilson, I have an old tape of a video of the Tube show I think you were describing. Was that the one with Killing Joke on it too? At that stage, Ocean Rain hadn't been released and Ocean Rain the song especially sounded GREAT with Adam Peters(?) on Cello - WAY better than the album version. I would dearly love to get my hands on a clean recording! Has it been released in the U.K. or is it only a bootleg? | ||
| Jerry Clark Member Username: Jerry Post Number: 189 Registered: 08-2004 |
There's a very good version of Ocean Rain on the Complete Peel Sessions. No cello just the 4 Bunnymen with Ian McCulloch providing overlapping vocals. | ||
| Wilson Davey Member Username: Wilson Post Number: 50 Registered: 05-2005 |
Geoff, yes same one. I have too have it on tape but BETAMAX ! so I cannot play it. I have an audio boot of the Albert Hall gig Summer 83 but its far from clean, I don't know if it has been released in any other form. |