This writer and Marc Almond have a few things in common, not least the fact that we're both Northerners transplanted to the South of England. But I hadn't expected us to find common ground in the fact that we both have one leg slightly shorter than the other. This allows us to complain, as people of a certain age frequently do, about our respective lifetimes of lower back pain.
"Forty years of wearing Cuban heels hasn't helped the situation very much," sighs Almond, talking to RC in a hotel in London's Soho, dressed in regulation black, apologising for being late back from his acupuncturist.
With our physical ailments taken care of, we can turn our attention to Almond's fabulous new album, a covers collection called I'm Not Anyone. It's about identity, as you might imagine, a theme explored in depth through songs by Neil Diamond, Mahalia Jackson, Paul Anka and others. In case that sounds a bit depressing, it's anything but, with Almond inserting his trademark soaring wails and emotive narration into music ranging from upbeat rock and funked-up pop to the torch songs that built his early career.
It's the dimensions of the songwriting that hit me hardest: the album ends with an eight-minute waltz, Don McLean's Chain Lightning, on which Almond asks life's biggest questions about who we are, why we're here and where we're going. This should come as no surprise given that his old band Soft Cell made their name with songs that questioned the role of society's misfits.
Denne historien er fra July 2024-utgaven av Record Collector.
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Denne historien er fra July 2024-utgaven av Record Collector.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
WINDOWS ON THE WORLD
At the peak of their powers in the early 70s, by 1975 there were signs that Led Zeppelin were burning out, and their legendary appetite for excess, not to mention stadium-straddling, mythically charged, epically inclined hard rock, might be waning.
HI-FIDELITY?
Running a record shop is a dream for many music aficionados. Steve Burniston investigates how to run a successful one
THE ENGINE ROOM
The unsung heroes who helped forge modern music
UNDER THE RADAR
Artists, bands, and labels meriting more attention
45 SHEFFIELD 45s
Continuing our celebrations of RC's 45th birthday and following on from our look at the best 45s to come out of Manchester, Liverpool, Bristol and Glasgow, we focus on the urbanisation formerly known as Steel City: Sheffield. Close to the (Nether) Edge: Jeremy Allen
Finished Symphonies
In the late 80s, Shelleyan Orphan made rarefied, ravishing, precious (both meanings) baroque pop, all chamber quartet accompaniment and literary reference points, like an 18th century Cocteau Twins.
"BLACK BRITISH PEOPLE HAD SOMETHING TO SHOUT ABOUT"
Breaking new ground for black music in Britain from his teenage years in Matumbi in the early 70s, Dennis Bovell went on to become one of reggae's most highly regarded producers, helping popularise lovers rock. He also played a pivotal role in post-punk's experimental incorporation of dub influences on records like The Slits' Cut and The Pop Group's Y. As new compilation, Sufferer Sounds, reaches back to his early days to compile some of his best early dub plates, Lois Wilson gets the full backstory from one of British music's most enduring forces.
FRENZY REUNITED
Swindon's finest musical export, XTC were also one of the most quietly influential British bands, setting a template for Britpop while pioneering a brand of left-field guitar pop – from herky-jerky invention to consummate craftsmanship – that has spawned many imitators.
Paperback Blighters - The books every record collector should read.
The books every record collector should read. Vinyl, you may have heard, has made a big comeback. In 2022, sales of vinyl albums surpassed compact discs (CDs) for the first time in more than three decades in terms of global revenue, racking up more than $1.2bn.
"Beware the Savage Lure/of 1984..." - David Bowie is one of the most venerated musicians ever. But even he had his bad periods.
David Bowie is one of the most venerated musicians ever. But even he had his bad periods. For many, 1984 remains the nadir of his Phil Collins” phase; an artistic/sartonial/tonsorial disaster area. But was it really that awful? Forty years on, Matt Phillips explores Bowie's so-called annus horribilis.
