ordinary pop songs and why they're great.

Monday, July 05, 2010

 
Welcome back to the oldest posts - over 7 (count 'em) years ago!! Gawd bless bloody Foreigner eh?

In the absence of the ol' record playing equipment such as I had handy back then, I realised I've lost touch with all those original best friends that were my records so I can't pick one out of the ether to wax lyrical over. They will rise again but until then I find myself thinking in themes. So ......

The knotty issue of "favourite song". This is a concept that you realise at some point is patently ridiculous, but I used to like it when I tried very hard to adopt one, or two or - indeed - three. And these were they:-

When I Was A Young Girl by Julie Driscoll/Brian Auger/The Trinity. The first and probably most credible. 1968 album, Streetnoise, Marmalade label and all that. Borrowed with glee and anticipation from the record library. Zipped through each track in a cavalier fashion until the lyrics to this one stopped me in my tracks. The nearest I ever got (despite a fuck of a lot of trying) to understanding the blues. And this isn't it by a long shot (but I really don't like Nina's original). You simply cannot follow this song, it's way way too powerful. Ditto "Use Me" by Teardrop Explodes.

Tell Me What He Said by Helen Shapiro. This became a favourite by virtue of sheer elusiveness. I hunted high, low, near, far for this having heard it on the divine Jimmy Savile Sunday oldies show which was my total lifeblood and source of fine things. It just bops along a treat, terrific arrangement and - scariest of all - I just KNEW it was a Norrie Paramor job. Whatever happened to names like that eh? This does actually have a bit of "and why it's great" about it but it's a tough one to put into words.

and finally,

Nobody Does It Better by Carly Simon. This is almost nothing to do with the song (save for it's a very pure, perfect and singable melody line) and everything to do with the context. My response to that vexed question - what were you doing when Elvis died would be that I was listening to this in a holiday flat in the New Forest realising that the TV was about to be swamped with godawful films from the - ahem - King and that the scheduled Arena programme on lesser British beat groups of the 60s (which I had been anticipating with glee since the Radio Times had arrived the previous week) was undoubtedly now going to be sacrificed. Joy of joys, it wasn't!! And what's more when this song came on the radio that day, just for once they played it to the very end - oh how I lived for that "sweetness, you're the best" ending. And I shall remain loyal to this one for the rest of my days.

Favourite songs, what nonsense!