Told that Record Collector would be arriving at 4pm, Neil Finn figured this would finally afford him the chance to ease the effects of the jet lag. It's been two days since he arrived in London from his hometown of Auckland in New Zealand, but any sleep lasting longer than two hours has eluded him. In the early hours of the morning, he awoke in his Marylebone hotel bed fretting about the session Crowded House were due to perform for BBC Radio 2's Vernon Kay on his mid-morning show. Three songs in total, with the station's in-house orchestra.
In the event they did something old, something new and something borrowed: their 1992 hit, Four Seasons In One Day; recent single, Oh Hi; and a version of Petula Clark's Downtown. As for something blue, well, anyone even passingly familiar with their body of work will know that beneath the surface of every Crowded House standard seemingly built for mass participation - Don't Dream It's Over, Weather With You, Fall At Your Feet, Better Be Home Soon - lurk deeper undercurrents of melancholy that, decades previously, saw some perceptive wag label Finn's songwriting style as "Leonard [Cohen] and McCartney".
Should you have heard the session - executed as it was, with seemingly effortless insouciance - you might wonder what aspect of it could have possibly been prompting Finn's nocturnal anxieties. "Oh, it was just the thought of screwing up live on radio," he explains, "The conductor's there and he's going to signal you in at a certain moment. And so, of course, even though it went great - you're so full of adrenaline that you go back to your hotel to sleep, and you've never felt so wired in all your life!" There's no self-pity in Finn's demeanour, more an amused exasperation at his own shortcomings.
Bu hikaye Record Collector dergisinin July 2024 sayısından alınmıştır.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Giriş Yap
Bu hikaye Record Collector dergisinin July 2024 sayısından alınmıştır.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Giriş Yap
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.
