Seven Songs for the Week #57

The comedian John Mulanely is halfway through a week of six live kinda-talk shows on Netflix. The idea is the show looks at LA while Netflix has its Netflix Is A Joke comedy festival, so, you know, synergy. (In between the first and second show Mulaney headlined the Hollywood Bowl, which is impressive.). The style/design/vibe of the show is a very pleasing aesthetic and it seemed to me they had really nailed the 1980s-ness of the theme tune, until I realised it was this song.

There's never a bad time to listen to Blackberry Way. Where to begin with The Move? A truly fantastic band who were badly managed and released four great albums but with lousy timing. Blackberry Way, their sole number one, is also an anomaly in their catalogue as it was produced by Jimmy Miller, who later in 1968 would helm a run of acclaimed records by The Rolling Stones. Miller's production sets it apart from other Move tracks because it does have a vibe, a creepiness. It's a pity we never got a proper Jimmy Miller-produced Move album, but Roy Wood was too self-contained for that.

Blackberry Way is here because Richard Tandy died this past week. Best known as the keyboard player for ELO (and the only member of ELO that Jeff Lynne seemed to remember to bring along during his comeback tours of recent years), Richard also plays the harpsichord on Blackberry Way.

(I wish this was the stereo version, doesn't appear to be on streaming.)

I saw someone posting tracks from The Clean online. An unknown quantity to me, they have some tunes.

I would have been 11 or 12 when I first heard Vienna by Billy Joel and it left a mark. The most recent time I heard it was last night buying an ice cream while the lady behind the counter sang along. While it is still somewhat of a deep cut, it is discombobulating to find out that it is also his most streamed song. How did that happen?

I passed through Liverpool St station in London last week. The first time I was there was the summer of 1997, just after this came out as a single. To understand the significance of all this, you need to watch the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XZ5wWdLvdWk I have thought about that video every time I've passed through Liverpool St Station over the years. Incredibly it seems like a more innocent time. The antics in the video would have you hauled up on some kind of terrorism charge these days.

The DJ said "after the break it's David Essex" and you'd be hoping for Rock On, but this is a close second.

I have two major beefs with current pop music. One is that all piano playing is dogsh*t. Clumpy four chords played with three fingers all the bloody time. Second beef is that snare drums also sound like poop. Is Antonoff to blame? Maybe. This track has great sounding drums and synths. Essex is a curious one, he has some amazing songs, but it's all over the place.

ICYMI there's been a Drake vs Kendrick Lamar rap battle going on this week. Do you take it seriously or is it pro-wrestling posture. Probably both. The battle was over before it began because, ummm, Kendrick is simply the best. Always exciting/interesting to listen to, while Drake, is not. Granted my hip-hop listening is as limited as most MRWMs (Mojo-reading white male). Not Like Us is probably the best bop of all the tracks Kendrick put out last week, but Euphoria is a bit more palatable.