Thursday, September 15, 2005
Nostalgia For A Life Not Led
'Let's keep it coming,
Just keep it real,
That good sensation is what I feel,
You know this is heaven,
Heaven here on Earth,
So don't stop the music
'Cause it needs to be heard,
It's a beautiful, beautiful scene,
It's a soul, soul heaven...'*
*Goodfellas, 'Soul Heaven' (Dave Clarke remix)
This post is dedicated to reader Happyviolet - I told you I'd do it one day!
I never bother reading music magazines any more, because they're mostly filled with rubbish, but the other day a very good friend of mine showed me an article from 'Q' magazine, which was of some considerable interest to me. It consisted of an interview with a band called The Doves, of whom I'd faintly heard, and at the end of it they listed their favourite Northern Soul tunes. Their list consisted mainly of the classics - and why not? I can't remember what won, or even the order of the songs I can remember them picking, and being a dozy pillock I've lost the clipping, so being a connoisseur myself, I thought I'd give you a top ten run down of the very best NS anthems.
10) The Poets - 'She Blew A Good Thing'
9) The Casualeers - 'Dance, Dance, Dance'
8) The Showstoppers - 'Ain't Nothing But A Houseparty'
7) Frank Wilson - 'Do I Love You (Indeed I Do)'
Perhaps the most famous of all northern soul tunes. A beautiful love song, with a nice and funky beat, and Frank's rather sexy voice over it all. Niiiiice.
6) The Carstairs - 'It Really Hurts Me Girl'
Most NS was very upbeat, but this provides a moment for reflection - a park in the midst of a bustling city.
5) The Adventurers - 'Easy Baby'
The tune that started it for me. If it weren't so brilliantly catchy, I may have never developed this addiction, and saved you ten minutes of your time now. Oh well, too bad.
4) Judy Street - 'What'
This tune is a brilliant example of changing attitudes in society - I don't for a minute think that this song, consisting as it does of Judy trying to convince her man to stay by promising to do anything for him, would be made today. A great tune, though.
3) Candy & The Kisses - 'The 81'
Producer Jerry Ross and songwriter Kenny Gamble were at a record hop in Philadelphia in the early sixties, when they saw some kids doing a rather strange dance to Martha & The Vandellas 'In My Lonely Room.' Ross, who produced Candy & The Kisses, had them make 'The 81' based upon this dance. It was that rare thing for NS tunes - comparatively commercially succesful, landing somewhere just outside the top 50 in the American charts.
2) Gloria Jones - 'Tainted Love'
Long, long before Soft Cell, and the subsequent nine other versions of this classic, Gloria Jones was famous on the NS circuit for 'Tainted Love.' Everything about it is perfect, from the blaring brass introduction, to the furious driving beat, to Ed Cobb's wonderful lyrics, to the emotion Gloria packs into it. Gloria, however, would disagree - she preferred the Soft Cell version.
FASCINATING BONUS FACT -
Gloria was good friends with Marc Bolan, and joined T-Rex, where she was a backing singer and sometime keyboardist. She later married him, and was driving the car at the time of the accident that killed him.
1) R Dean Taylor - 'There's A Ghost In My House'
This is, put simply, my favourite piece of music ever recorded. Some songs just mean something special, and this is one. It starts at a bare canter, and as Taylor becomes ever more frustrated, and the lyrics tear him apart, it speeds up until its racing along at a furious gallop, driving and driving and driving until the listener ceases to listen to it, as such, and starts to feel it, almost be a part of it. Careful listeners will note the way the tune changes for the 'footsteps on the stairs' line, so that it sounds like - go on, guess - footsteps! Genius. The lyrics are so beautiful, they're a poetry of their own:
'There's a ghost in my house
The ghost of your memories
The ghost of the love you took from me.'
'Well, our love used to be
Only shadows from the past I see
Time can't seem to erase
The vision of your smiling face
Though you found someone new
I can't get over you
There's a ghost in my house
I can't hide
From the ghost of your love that's inside
It keeps on haunting me
Just keeps on recalling me.'
'In my mind I know you're gone
But my heart keeps holding on
To the memories of those happy times
To the love that once was mine
Though we're far apart
You're always in my heart
There's a ghost in my house
I can't hide
From the ghost of your love that's inside
You're still such a part of me
Still so deep in the heart of me.'
'I just keep hearing your footsteps on the stairs
When I know there's no-one there
Every day I love you more
So much more than the day before.'
'Sitting in my easy chair
I feel your fingers running through my hair
Looking down in my coffee cup
I think I see your face looking up
All alone without you
Your voice that goes through
There's a ghost in my house
And I can't hide
From the ghost of your love that's inside
It keeps on haunting me
Just keeps on reminding me.'
I just keep hearing your footsteps on the stairs
When I know there's no-one there
You're still such a part of me
Still so deep in the heart of me
I can't hide
From the ghost of your love that's inside.'
The source of the magic . . .
Just keep it real,
That good sensation is what I feel,
You know this is heaven,
Heaven here on Earth,
So don't stop the music
'Cause it needs to be heard,
It's a beautiful, beautiful scene,
It's a soul, soul heaven...'*
*Goodfellas, 'Soul Heaven' (Dave Clarke remix)
This post is dedicated to reader Happyviolet - I told you I'd do it one day!
I never bother reading music magazines any more, because they're mostly filled with rubbish, but the other day a very good friend of mine showed me an article from 'Q' magazine, which was of some considerable interest to me. It consisted of an interview with a band called The Doves, of whom I'd faintly heard, and at the end of it they listed their favourite Northern Soul tunes. Their list consisted mainly of the classics - and why not? I can't remember what won, or even the order of the songs I can remember them picking, and being a dozy pillock I've lost the clipping, so being a connoisseur myself, I thought I'd give you a top ten run down of the very best NS anthems.
10) The Poets - 'She Blew A Good Thing'
9) The Casualeers - 'Dance, Dance, Dance'
8) The Showstoppers - 'Ain't Nothing But A Houseparty'
7) Frank Wilson - 'Do I Love You (Indeed I Do)'
Perhaps the most famous of all northern soul tunes. A beautiful love song, with a nice and funky beat, and Frank's rather sexy voice over it all. Niiiiice.
6) The Carstairs - 'It Really Hurts Me Girl'
Most NS was very upbeat, but this provides a moment for reflection - a park in the midst of a bustling city.
5) The Adventurers - 'Easy Baby'
The tune that started it for me. If it weren't so brilliantly catchy, I may have never developed this addiction, and saved you ten minutes of your time now. Oh well, too bad.
4) Judy Street - 'What'
This tune is a brilliant example of changing attitudes in society - I don't for a minute think that this song, consisting as it does of Judy trying to convince her man to stay by promising to do anything for him, would be made today. A great tune, though.
3) Candy & The Kisses - 'The 81'
Producer Jerry Ross and songwriter Kenny Gamble were at a record hop in Philadelphia in the early sixties, when they saw some kids doing a rather strange dance to Martha & The Vandellas 'In My Lonely Room.' Ross, who produced Candy & The Kisses, had them make 'The 81' based upon this dance. It was that rare thing for NS tunes - comparatively commercially succesful, landing somewhere just outside the top 50 in the American charts.
2) Gloria Jones - 'Tainted Love'
Long, long before Soft Cell, and the subsequent nine other versions of this classic, Gloria Jones was famous on the NS circuit for 'Tainted Love.' Everything about it is perfect, from the blaring brass introduction, to the furious driving beat, to Ed Cobb's wonderful lyrics, to the emotion Gloria packs into it. Gloria, however, would disagree - she preferred the Soft Cell version.
FASCINATING BONUS FACT -
Gloria was good friends with Marc Bolan, and joined T-Rex, where she was a backing singer and sometime keyboardist. She later married him, and was driving the car at the time of the accident that killed him.
1) R Dean Taylor - 'There's A Ghost In My House'
This is, put simply, my favourite piece of music ever recorded. Some songs just mean something special, and this is one. It starts at a bare canter, and as Taylor becomes ever more frustrated, and the lyrics tear him apart, it speeds up until its racing along at a furious gallop, driving and driving and driving until the listener ceases to listen to it, as such, and starts to feel it, almost be a part of it. Careful listeners will note the way the tune changes for the 'footsteps on the stairs' line, so that it sounds like - go on, guess - footsteps! Genius. The lyrics are so beautiful, they're a poetry of their own:
'There's a ghost in my house
The ghost of your memories
The ghost of the love you took from me.'
'Well, our love used to be
Only shadows from the past I see
Time can't seem to erase
The vision of your smiling face
Though you found someone new
I can't get over you
There's a ghost in my house
I can't hide
From the ghost of your love that's inside
It keeps on haunting me
Just keeps on recalling me.'
'In my mind I know you're gone
But my heart keeps holding on
To the memories of those happy times
To the love that once was mine
Though we're far apart
You're always in my heart
There's a ghost in my house
I can't hide
From the ghost of your love that's inside
You're still such a part of me
Still so deep in the heart of me.'
'I just keep hearing your footsteps on the stairs
When I know there's no-one there
Every day I love you more
So much more than the day before.'
'Sitting in my easy chair
I feel your fingers running through my hair
Looking down in my coffee cup
I think I see your face looking up
All alone without you
Your voice that goes through
There's a ghost in my house
And I can't hide
From the ghost of your love that's inside
It keeps on haunting me
Just keeps on reminding me.'
I just keep hearing your footsteps on the stairs
When I know there's no-one there
You're still such a part of me
Still so deep in the heart of me
I can't hide
From the ghost of your love that's inside.'
The source of the magic . . .
