AUSTRALIA(N): MARTY WILLSON-PIPER

So another non-australian, eh? Well, at least I'm consistent and, asked to bet on it, most familiar with the name will assume his nationality as australian, predominantly as his most active service has been with long-running Oz jangle-meisters, the Church. But he has had a long and varied outside his tenure with this still active band. (Indeed, I had toyed with they being the theme for this piece, but I felt some variety might be of wider interest, plus I had recently had to kick myself for missing a rare recent low-key solo gig by the man himself.)

The Church would be the place to start, by now a near Sydney, NSW, institution, since their formation in 1980. Briefly a 3-piece, Willson-Piper chanced upon them playing in a bar, he having recently arrived in the country, promptly inviting himself/being invited aboard, remaining a constant for 33 years. An unashamed guitar band, riding the crest of new-wave, but with a host of other influences bursting through, evolving constantly. I always saw them as a cross between the Byrds and Television, nothing shabby about either band, with gradual neo-psychedelic shades creeping in, echoes of Paisley Park both stylistically and sonically.

                                                   'Under the Milky Way'/The Church

There were always tensions within the band, notably between W-P and the other guitarist, main singer and songwriter, de-facto leader, Steve Kilbey, with minor flounces and prolonged hiatuses from and of  the band regularly taking place, during which other projects were avidly pursued. With getting on for 20 records released in the years he was with the band, it is difficult which best to commend, it possibly being best to start with any of several greatest hits packages. However, a different approach might be to pick up 2005s 'El Momento Descuidado', billed as an acoustic album,  mix of new and re-visited. His guitar play is  electric therein, even minus the electricity. In 2007 he left the band, relocating to Sweden, where he still resides.

During a couple of prolonged lay-offs from the Church, W-P became involved with UK folk-goths, 'All About Eve', as a replacement for their original guitarist, staying for their 3rd and 4th records, and al later re-union tour.

                                                        'Hide Child'/All About Eve

Solo work has often been in collaboration with long-term associate Andy 'Dare' Mason, as Noctorum, 4 albums appearing under that name. No transformation here into techno or C&W, the ambience is still of well-structured guitar based songs, emphasising the full use of the capabilities of a guitar, from melodic leads to high in the mix picking and strumming.

                                                  'Picadilly Circus in the Rain'/Noctorum

In between all of this, he has popped up in all manner of guises, often as a cameo role or even uncredited. This has included work with Aimee Mann, Tom Verlaine, 'Wedding Present'-er Dave Gedge and, a compulsory mention, given this fortnight's theme, aussie punk veterans, the Saints. Currently he is involved with swedish prog band, Anekdoten, still finding time to tour with his wife, the show I missed. Apparently it was a corker. Here's some footage from the actual gig, playing an old Church number, his wife, Olivia, on violin.

For further background, here is a fabulous recent interview. I also felt some readers may be interested in his crate-digging enthusiasm, he, as well as playing on all manner of records, collects the damn things to.......

Start?

Happy/Unhappy Couples: Voices Carry

’Til Tuesday: Voices Carry
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If you watched MTV in its early days, you almost certainly saw the video above, of ‘Til Tuesday’s 1985 song “Voices Carry.” It was one of the most popular videos of that era, winning the MTV Video Music Award for Best New Artist in a Video, and singer Aimee Mann won Best Female Performer at the American Video Awards. It has taken up residency on most lists of all-time great videos, and it likely propelled the song to a No. 8 slot on the Billboard singles chart. Despite positive critical reception, the band never again reached that level of popularity, broke up after its third album, and Mann went on to a successful solo career (managed by ‘Til Tuesday drummer Michael Hausman).

The video, directed by D.J. Webster, was unusual, in that not only was it shot like a movie, it included dialogue over the music. It tells the story of an unhappy couple—a man, played by actor Cully Holland, dressed and acting like a rich, obnoxious Wall Street guy, and a woman, played by Mann, with untamed, platinum blond hair, the bassist in a New Wave band. The man is controlling and dismissive, denigrating her music as a “hobby,” and trying to get her to act and dress like the arm candy that he believes he is entitled to. Meanwhile, we see Mann playing and singing with the band, and when she returns home, her boyfriend yells at her and, to the extent possible in a video shot for MTV in 1985, forces himself on her, while he fantasizes about a romantic lovemaking session with a brunette, neatly coiffed, version of Mann.

The final, iconic, sequence (based on a scene from Hitchcock’s The Man Who Knew Too Much) starts with the couple, dressed to the nines (if anything, the video shows that Aimee Mann can pull off hats), in the audience at Carnegie Hall, surrounded by similarly well-dressed people. The boyfriend’s smug superiority turns to disgust when he notices that Mann has a small rattail braid peeking out from her hat, and as his annoyance increases, Mann begins to sing along with the song, increasingly forcefully, as the audience begins (not at all without cause) to look askance. As the boyfriend becomes more and more agitated, Mann begins singing louder and louder, before finally standing up, elbowing him on the way, ripping off the hat, displaying her wild hair, and belting out, "He said, shut up! He said, shut up! Oh God, can't you keep it down?” And as the audience turns to watch, the boyfriend buries his head in shame. In so many ways, this song, and especially the video, was way ahead of its time. Add your hashtags here.

Interestingly, Mann originally wrote the song, and the band performed it, about a lesbian relationship. But the record company was not that progressive, so they changed it to an abusive heterosexual couple. Cully Holland, the actor playing the toxically masculine boyfriend, died in 1991, with only three other credits on his IMDB page, and a little Internet research turns up that he died either of AIDS or suicide, and that he was likely gay. So, you had a song about lesbians turned into one about heterosexuals, with the aggressive male member of the couple played by a gay man. The mind reels.

Although many of Mann’s songs deal with difficult and serious topics, she has a great sense of humor. I’ve seen it in her live performances, and it emerges in interviews. Understanding the place of the “Voices Carry” video in music history, she decided to parody it, in a video for her 2012 song, “Labrador.” It begins with a faux “Behind the Scenes” interview with director Tom Scharpling, played by Jon Hamm (who appears to be game for anything), suggesting that they do a shot-by-shot remake of “Voices Carry.” Mann states that she thought it was a stupid idea that she was tricked into doing when Scharpling claimed that the contract was a birthday card for his nephew, which she signed while on the phone, The video is, essentially, the same as the other one, although Mann, more than a quarter century on, and with long, straight hair and dark framed glasses, looks nothing like she did in the original, and the boyfriend is played by drummer Jon Wurster, whose high-pitched voice and little pony-tail mocks the Wall Street bro look of his predecessor. There are other fun bits in the “Labrador” video, which actually looks like it was shot in New York (Boston was the location of the original, except for the façade of Carnegie Hall), but I’ve written too much already, so just watch:

May/Might: You Might As Well Pray

Jules Shear (w/ Amy Rigby): You Might As Well Pray
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Jules Shear has had a pretty interesting life, for a musician who has never really become famous. He’s released more than 20 albums since 1976, most recently in 2017, as a solo artist and with others. He’s acknowledged as a top-notch songwriter, and has penned hits for Cyndi Lauper ("All Through the Night"), The Bangles ("If She Knew What She Wants") and has had written or co-written songs recorded by artists as diverse as Olivia Newton John, Iain Matthews, Aimee Mann, Art Garfunkel, Alison Moyet, and Roger McGuinn. He dated Aimee Mann, who wrote a song about their breakup. He’s worked with Todd Rundgren, Tony Levin, Elliot Easton, Rick Danko, Jimmy Vivino, Rod Argent, and Chuck Prophet, among many others. Shear was the inspiration for, and host of the first 13 episodes of MTV’s Unplugged. And yet, he is one of those musicians who have had a long career tarred by the phrase “critically acclaimed, but commercially unsuccessful.” Although I don’t know for sure, I’ll assume that Shear has been able to make financial go of it for all these years, but I bet it wasn’t always easy.

I remember seeing his second and third albums, as a member of Jules and the Polar Bears, released in 1978 and 1979, around the WPRB studios, but they made no musical impression on me. I have no recollection of having played them on the radio, but maybe the name was distinctive enough to stick in my brain. I’m also pretty sure that I don’t remember hearing any of Shear’s music until his 1998 album, Between Us. (I wasn’t watching MTV back when Unplugged was on). And I’m fairly certain that I heard songs from the album on WFUV.

Between Us quickly became a family favorite. It is an album of 15 low-key duets between Shear and (mostly) female singers (and one instrumental duet with bassist Rob Wasserman). The songs are charming, interesting, and I remember listening to them in the car as my family sang along (and I kept my terrible voice quiet). Some of the highlights are his duet with Suzzy Roche (“On These Wheels Again”), complete with barking dog, “Who's Dreaming Who,” with Rosanne Cash, and “Betrayal Takes Two,” featuring Angie Hart (best known, I guess, as a member of Australian band Frente).

But another favorite from the album was his duet with Amy Rigby, the wistful “You Might As Well Pray.” I think that it is about a couple looking at the damage they have caused each other, yet hoping that just maybe, with divine intercession, they can work things out. I could be wrong, of course, because the lyrics are a bit vague, but as is common in a Jules Shear song, they are interesting and well chosen.

I’ve picked up a few of his albums over the years, both recorded before and after Between Us, and while I have enjoyed them, nothing of his has stuck with me as much as that album. It’s an interesting thing about music, isn’t it? As good an album as I think Between Us is, it is far from universally appreciated, even among Shear fans (and it doesn’t even appear to be available in downloadable form anywhere). But it was a combination of the music, and the time in my life when it came out, and the fact that my wife loved it (and still plays it from time to time), that has cemented it in my mind. With music, like comedy, sometimes timing is everything. There are times when I hear a song on the radio, and it does nothing for me, but it reminds me in some respects of stuff that I like, and I wonder if I might have felt different about the song if I had heard it, say, 20 years ago. Or conversely, whether music that I love would leave me cold if I heard if first today.

MAR* SONGS: March 11th 1962/Mary Gauthier

When this assignment was sent out, it was on the understanding that March might be too restrictive a heading, something the plethora, perhaps, of military band favourites will demonstrate as being a tad pessimistic. But are there many songs about March the month? April, July and September seem to have plenty, I have learnt, but few seem to acknowledge this month, variously either that of the roman god of war or of, largely, the zodiacal fish. Actually, there are a few about pisces. So what could be better than a song that actually references a date, a birthdate, even. (OK, a birthdate that follows, by a day or so, the end of this fortnight, but.......)

Mary Gauthier is somewhat of an unexpected success story, not writing a single song until she hit 35, and probably then never expecting to have an 8 album and counting career. All at the age of, do the math, 55, for March 11 1962 is her true birthdate, as well as being the title of the song above. The Foundling, from 2010, is an inherently autobiographical song cycle based upon her always less than mainstream life. Given up for adoption at birth, truly a foundling, she spent her childhood in the care of an italian catholic couple, from whom she ran, aged 15. Seeking, I guess, herself, she found little but drugs, alcohol and trouble, spending her 18th in jail. Via an abortive period studying philosophy, she learnt cooking and opened the restaurant she ran for 11 years, 'Dixie Kitchen', also the name of her first album, the sale of which funded her 2nd, and breakthrough album, 'Drag Queens and Limousines'. Her almost instantly recognisable drawled tones, imagine an even more raddled Lucinda, often portray tales of life between low and the gutter. Perhaps her most famous song is this, 'I Drink', featured in these very pages some years ago. Here's a link.

But that would do her disservice, to attribute her merits solely to a quasi-Tom Waitsian underworld of squalor and disappointment. Her songs can also lift the soul. Eagerly awaited as I scribble is her latest, a work in conjunction with U.S. army vets and their families, described here. Not out yet in my home country, she is over for a short tour later in the year. Never yet having caught her live, I hope to remedy that. And here is a song from the forthcoming.

Never cute, never gentle, always acutely precise and demanding of thought, here's to you, Mary, have a great 11th.

Dig in!

One: One

I've always wanted an excuse to post the three most popular versions the Harry Nilsson composition, One, so away we go...

Harry Nilsson: One

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As with most songs, the composer, Harry Nilsson, has the best performance of the three. Nilsson had originally released it as an independent single in 1963, under the pseudonym Bo Pete, to some small local radio airplay. Probably the most covered song of his entire catalogue, One is a straightforward tune about loneliness and the desperation it brings.


Three Dog Night: One

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Three Dog Night covered One in 1969 with a completely different arrangement, more fleshed out with thick layers of instrumentation, as opposed to Nilsson's simple approach. The great success of their version (it made its way to #1 on the US charts) launched them on the road to covering other previously charted songs, such as Randy Newman's Mama Told Me Not to Come, Laura Nyro's Eli's Coming, Russ Ballard of Argent's Liar, Hoyt Axton's Joy to the World, among others. It's not my favorite take of the song, but one can still appreciate the fine Pop craftsmanship at work.


Aimee Mann: One

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Aimee Mann's approach is the most stark of the three, which I feel serves the song well, since it was the opening of the 1999 American drama, Magnolia, Paul Thomas Anderson's film about isolation and the human condition. Mann composed the soundtrack along with her husband, Michael Penn and fellow bandmate, Jon Brion.


One can be the loneliest number - Harry Nilsson did a great job in song explaining how important interpersonal relationships can be to our humanity. Each of these three versions are unique unto themselves, the true proof of artistry is how musicians turn their interpretations into vehicles of distinctive self-expression, which all accomplish with much brilliance.

Soundtrack Songs: Save Me

Aimee Mann: Save Me

[Purchase]

The PT Anderson film Magnolia came out in 1999 and starred many notable actors, including Tom Cruise, Philip Seymour Hoffman, William H. Macy, Julianne Moore and John C. Reilly. The film explores a number of different characters all going through life crises and introspection. These characters are all connected, one, by all living in the same area, the San Fernando Valley, around Magnolia Ave. and also through life circumstances and coincidences. Another way they all become connected within the movie is with its music. Near the end of the movie all the characters find themselves listening to an Aimee Mann song, all of them have reached rock bottom and all of them are singing along. The song in question isn't the one I post here today only because that song wasn't specifically written for the film.

Mann and Anderson were friends before he started writing the script for the movie, and he got many of his ideas for the film through listening to Aimee's music. Within the liner notes of the soundtrack he states that he heard a line from one of her songs and wrote backwards from it to get the whole movie. In the end, most of the music that appears on the soundtrack was already in the works before the movie, but a few songs were written specifically for the film. One was "Save Me", a melancholy song that Mann wrote about how the film's characters all are in a dark place and looking for a savior of one kind or another. The song beautifully closed the film off, and was nominated for an Academy Award for best song the following year.