Seven Songs for the Week #85 - 20th Nov 24

This seemed to be under the radar, a new FF song and album to follow in January. But then again, FF are a very different band these days with only two of the original line-up present, yet soldiering on as if nothing has changed. They haven't been particularly prolific either, going nearly 7 years between albums. Anyways, a Spanish toot notified me they had a new song, which on first listen was underwhelming, but is now quite an earworm. I then found myself looking at footage of them from South America this week and gosh darn it they still put on a good show. I saw the original foursome a bunch of times and they were never less than excellent. You know more FF songs than you think, and now you know one more.

Of course FF did an album with Sparks, called FFS which is well worth listening to. I put this song on here because I was on hold this week, and really, Ron & Russell have really nailed something specific about the 21st century human condition here.

You might have heard the song Taste by Sabrina Carpenter, someone who is very much having an excellent pop year. There is a moment that borrows from Kim Carnes' Bette Davis Eyes in that track. This song is 43 years old (!), the equivalent is a song in 1981 quoting a song from 1938. There's not much happening in Bette Davis Eyes, I mean, it's hugely familiar, but that synth riff is really quite sparse but conveys a lot. I recall the 7up/PacMan ad as a kid which used a reworded version of the track, a cultural mash-up of 1981 that only needed a Rubik's cube to complete the set.

You can go on YouTube and watch Kim perform this song repeatedly over the years. She's now in her late 70s and she still performs it with care. Is that a blessing or a curse?

The fun part is that this is a cover. If I told you the original version from 1974 was a ragtime, jazzy confection would you believe me. It sounds like 1938!

This song crossed my mind and I went to stream it and found that Robbie Williams had a song of the same title. Sadly it was not a cover version, I think he'd do a good job. I then listened to a number of actual cover version but came back to the original. It's a song I like but it also feels ridiculously twee, but maybe we need to be less adverse to sincerity these days.

The 50th anniversary of George Harrisons 51 year old album, Living In The Material World, came out last week. I bought the very pleasant 2CD version which comes with a little book and a poster and music. Unfortunately I haven't had a proper listen yet because a significant proportion of my home has no floors at the minute and I have nowhere to have a proper listen to the remixed album. Still we get this version of the track Geogre gave Ringo for his eponymous album. The line up? George, Ringo and The Band (minus Richard Manuel).

A teenager was listening to this in the kitchen and I thought it was some 90s indie female group that I'd missed. It's not.

Julian Casablancas has decided that in order to do a collab he needs to bring along Owner of a Lonely Heart. More 80s throwbacks. Call the lawyers.