In Memoriam-Karl Wallinger

[purchase Best in Show, a World Party greatest hits compilation]

We’re back again for some In Memoriam posts, honoring some of those from the music world we lost in 2024.  How many posts?  We’ll see....

Back in 2014, in my early-ish days writing here, I wrote about the first CD that I ever bought, World Party’s debut, Ship of Fools, in 1987.  I didn’t even have a CD player at that time, but saw the disc at a used record store, and because I had already heard some of it on the radio, I bought it.  The CD player came shortly after that, and I’m still buying them (I’m an old guy, and like to own my music, and yes, I do download music, too.)  The video above is of the hit song from that album, “Ship of Fools.”

Karl Wallinger was born in Wales in 1957, exhibited his musical talent at an early age.  He was a Beatles fanatic, but not to the exclusion of other music, and ended up with a musical scholarship to Charterhouse (the alma mater of, essentially, the original lineup of Genesis and their first manager/producer Jonathan King, as well as Led Zeppelin manager Peter Grant, and the composer Ralph Vaughan Williams, and many other notable Brits, dating back to its founding in 1611).  After deciding that the life of a classical musician was not for him, Wallinger moved into rock music, forming a band with two guys who went off to be in the Alarm, and doing studio work. 

Answering an ad for a guitarist for The Waterboys, Wallinger convinced Mike Scott that the band really needed a keyboard player, and he joined first as a sideman, before his skill on numerous instruments, and his production talents, led to his joining the band full time for This Is The Sea, and helping to shape “The Whole of the Moon,” probably the Waterboys’ best known song. 

The growing rivalry and infighting between Scott and Wallinger resulted in Wallinger leaving to work on his own material, eventually recording as World Party.  As he later said, World Party consisted of “me and whoever is playing with me at any given time.”  Most of his albums were recorded with Wallinger playing the bulk of the instruments and singing, with guests, including Sinead O’Connor, contributing as needed.

It is hard to listen to World Party without hearing the Beatles’ influences, but he was far from a one trick pony, and his music included other influences ranging from folk to funk and psychedelia, often with lyrics with environmental or anti-war messaging.  World Party’s first three studio albums were critical and commercial successes, with the second, Goodbye, Jumbo, considered by most to be their best work.  But the band’s next two albums were less popular.  During this period, Wallinger also worked with other musicians and on soundtracks.

In 2001, Wallinger suffered a brain aneurysm, which affected his vision and prevented him from working for about five years.  During this inactivity, he was supported, in great part, by royalties from a popular cover of his song, “She’s The One,” by Robbie Williams.  Despite that, Wallinger was pissed off that he wasn’t informed about the cover, and that Williams often introduced the song as one of the best he’d ever written.  In fact, Williams has apparently only rarely publicly admitted that his version is a cover.

Wallinger was able to return to touring in 2006 but never released another studio album of new material.  In 2008, the album Big Blue Ball, a project that Wallinger worked on with fellow “Old Carthusian” (that’s what they are called), Peter Gabriel was released.  It was based on recording sessions from 1991, 1992 and 1995 and Gabriel recalled that working with Wallinger was “the most creative and fun week I have ever had in the studio.” In 2012, Wallinger released Arkeology, a five-CD compilation that included rarities and covers of Beatles songs. 

On March 10, 2024, Wallinger died of a stroke at his home in Hastings, at the age of 66, survived by his wife, sculptor Suzie Zamit, son Louis Wallinger and daughter Nancy Zamit, as well as two grandchildren.

FAMILY: BLOOD WEDDING/OYSTERBAND

What could reflect the joy and terror of families better than a wedding, especially after a few gargles have been downed? It was only during the penning of my last piece I realised how little these pages have featured Oysterband, possibly the band I have seen live the most, from a small folk club gig in about 1986, to a classy arts centre last month, by way of myriad gigs and festivals in between. Yup, I love this band, even if I occasionally don't, citing enough is enough, they then pulling some trick or other to haul me back. Bastards!

Anyway, this song comes from their 1983 record Holy Bandits, and is a glorious amalgam of Fisherman's Blues era Waterboys and the thrash folk-punk of the Levellers, back-filtered with a bit of a lick and a polish: at the time the Oysterband were described as "like the Levellers after a good wash", a somewhat back handed compliment to either band. Still a staple in their live shows, it reflects the more boisterous part of their repertoire and acts as ballast against some of the more thoughtful material. It is a glorious hooley.  As anyone who has been to lots of weddings can confirm, and I have had three of my own, the combination of booze and bonhomie can bring out the best and worst of individuals thrown together by dint of circumstance. If the adage is that you can choose your friends, but never your family, so too you can choose your spouse, but as with your own, the family comes gratis. And how often has the proud son of Mr Oil met with the beautiful daughter of Mr Water? The nuptials of the Petrol family with the family Flames come also to mind. (Mind you, it can and does work the other way too, my first wife and I always saying we could never divorce because of the parents, as in them getting on so well. Until, um, we did.)

"do you take this woman? 
 said yes I do 
I love her like crazy
and I think she loves me too 
but we'll do without the family 
if it's all the same to you 
happy ever after 

your mother is a flake 
my father's full of shite 
your sister says you married me 
in white just for spite 
well a party's not a party 
till it ends up in a fight 
happy ever after 

and there was my lot and your lot 
and us two in between 
this is the last time I get married 
this is the last time I get married

my brother's never short 
of a substance to abuse 
rum & glue & Thunderbird 
& wizz & Special Brew 
any minute now he'll show us 
all of his tattoos 
happy ever after 

nephews are obnoxious
nieces are too tall 
a dozen drunken uncles 
are pissing up the wall 
grandad is grinning 
but there's no one home at all 
happy ever after

for richer, for poorer, 
for better or for worse 
now we are married, a blessing or a curse 
kiss me & don't forget 
what you see is what you get

and the best man is the worst man, 
the best man is a beast 
underneath the table 
with the sister of the priest 
the way he's going at it 
she is probably deceased 
happy ever after 

granny's on the brandy
getting bleary-eyed 
guys I went to school with 
want to see me outside 
someone's pulled the bridesmaid 
anyone seen the bride? 
happy ever after

and there was my lot and your lot 
and us two in between 
this is the last time I get married 
this is the last time I get married "

I also feature (above) a video of this song, from barely two years ago, band, and audience for that matter, despite english being their second language, clearly still revelling in the song, as well showing the curiosity of melodeon, cello and fiddle in a six piece rock band. (OK, folk-rock band.) Together (below) with an example of the 'more thoughtful material' alluded to above, and probably the song, 'London City', they sing after leaving the stage following the featured, their traditional closer and encore for many a long year. And, in their 41st year, hopefully still to come.

Whet your thirst!

RED, YELLOW or ORANGE: SEVEN YELLOW GYPSIES

Pick a colour, any colour. Well, from the three offered, and, bang, into my I Tunes search in goes yellow, coming up with the delightfully unwoke title above. Good as any, say I, little dreaming the deep and rich seam of history associated. And not a little fantasy/phantasy, as I soon learnt. So, just because I starting with Kacy and Clayton hipster central, don't for a second feel I am going to not immerse you in the full trad.arr.

Kacy and Clayton seem to have hit a rich seam of late. Having started off as mere celebrated Canadian folkies, by dint of association with Jeff Tweedy, he producing their last two recordings, and, before you know it, they are on trend and turning up on Aquarium Drunkard's esteemed Lagniappe Sessions. And good for them, say I. Gypsies comes from their earlier (and well entitled) 2015 debut, Strange Country. The song? Much earlier. A staple of the british folk song tradition of landed ladies running off with ne'er do wells and scoundrels, it has existed in many forms and has had many names. With yellow a colour I have never necessarily associated with either the romany or irish itinerant gypsy populations, the song also comes in as raggle tangle, as well as may other descriptors or titles. Here is a pretty good synopsis, even if it fails to mention some of the more mainstream connections, which is my job. So, no surprise, it has been covered by the great and good of the UK folk tradition, any variation of Watersons and Carthys, to the great and much missed Nic Jones (the definitive version, IMHO). But you may not have appreciated also the selection of more mainstream artists who have either also covered it, or used it as a starting block:

OK, so maybe not such a stretch, Mike Scott oft ploughing a rich seam of celtic into his big music, especially in the Spiddal years, but this is the closest to pure and unadulterated fiddle-dee-dee in his repertoire, his vocal shifting from his usual mid-irish sea amalgam to the pure scots of his Edinburgh birthplace.

Yup, Black Jack Dav(e)y  is another variant of the song, the lyrics and bits of the tune the same message. The White Stripes strip it back and amp it up, but it is all there. Tucked away on the b-side of a single, it's worth the search.

A pretty straight version here by Hooray For the Riff Raff, another Black Jack Davey. Now more an overtly americana act, this earlier piece sounds way more appalachian than any doo-wop loving child of the Bronx should ever produce.

Well, a bit different, and perhaps not what you's expect from the voice of Yazoo, orchestral and cod-operatic. Back to the (w)raggle taggle, I don't think it is one I'll seek out again.



That's much more like it. I confess I had never heard this version before, despite loving all of his work. Possibly put off by the running together of black and jack into blackjack, I had never seen it as being the same song, assuming a gambling and drinking connection, not unheard of in his song choices and writing.

Finally something completely different, ol' Taj here seems to be channeling Sam Cooke over an acoustic skank. It shouldn't work, but, o my, it does, it does. "My man Black Jack Davey" indeed.

That's seven. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5(!), 6, 7.

FARMING: CARTWHEELS/ANTHONY THISTLETHWAITE

                                                               

Unusually, at least for me, this post is prompting you toward an entire LP, arguably also maybe the entire solo output, of journeysmith muso Anto Thistlethwaite, one of those awkward northern English names that never look as if they are spelt right. Or ever could be. A name such as Thistlesthwaite smacks of the soil to me, and it is thus no surprise that his oeuvre is chock-full of earthy and organic delights.

His name is probably best known to 2 groups of fans, those of the Waterboys and those of the Saw Doctors, 2 different reflections of an Irish heritage, the sublime and the ridiculous, the romantic and the rowdy. (OK, chief Waterboy, Mike Scott is a Scot, but it is arguably his band and its foray into County Clare that is best known these days.) Between the formation of the Waterboys in the early 80s, through their "Big Music" phase, and their first disintegration, in 1991, by then an almost entirely Celtic inspired quasi-folk (rock) band, Anto was first on sax and later also on mandolin, harmonica and keyboards. For a recent 25th anniversary tour, reprising the various editions and volumes of Fisherman's Blues, he rejoined the ranks (and I was lucky enough to see the band when they touched down in Birmingham, U.K.) After the Waterboys, and a tour or so guesting, he became an official member of the Saw Doctors. He has also notched up a hefty range of sessional work with artists as diverse as Donovan and the Vibrators, Bob Dylan and the Psychedelic Furs, to mention a handful, as well as 5 solo albums. It is to the 2nd of these, from 1994, that I refer.

A&M were the record company of the Waterboys for some time, who were no doubt counting no few chickens as the band first began shedding members, as each departee seemed to establish further success, Karl Wallinger being the first such example, his World Party also signing to the same label. As Anto jumped ship they were likely waiting for him, an unsurprisingly similar aura hanging over each of the various alumni, raggedly sturdy vocals fronting a jangly, melody driven school of songwriting. So, getting finally on theme, Cartwheels. Throughout this record is a a rural ambience, redolent of ploughed fields and evocative of hedgerows. With input from the likes of Kirsty MacColl, Eddi Reader and Sharon Shannon, the idea of there being an earth mother is never far away, with perhaps Ralph McTell there to be the wise scarecrow, seering and sageing the ages. But other cameos include Mick Taylor, yes, that one. and Sonny Landreth, so the hint of guitar pyrotechnic, albeit with a lazy vibe, is never too far away. Here's 3 songs to prove it, the lyrics tending towards an explanation of my choice.

This last must be the only song that, I think (and it's hard to be sure) that has a spoken dedication to a tractor, at 3.46!

This is agro-rock by any exemplar. I hope you have been uplifted enough to seek it further, so here's the link!

Anniversary-Go Deeper: My First---Ship of Fools

World Party: Ship of Fools
[purchase]

The second Star Maker Machine theme was perversely, “My First,” and it was designed to have people post about the first 45, LP, cassette, CD and digital download they ever bought with their own money. After all these years, I can’t remember which was the first 45 or LP I used my own money for, and I have no recollection what my first download was, but for some reason, I do remember my first CD, World Party’s Private Revolution, which was released in 1987. I’m pretty sure that I didn’t even own a CD player at that point, but I knew that I was going to be getting one shortly. I saw it on sale, used, in a small record store on the Upper West Side of Manhattan and figured, why not—I knew it was good.

It was a big step for me. I had many, many records—more than is probably healthy, but I also saw that the music world was moving toward the digital, and I knew that I would be following. I’ve never been an audiophile, so I won’t weigh in on the “vinyl through a good system sounds better than CDs” debate, but I did appreciate that CDs didn’t scratch (as easily) as records.

World Party was really just a solo project from Karl Wallinger, who played most of the instruments (although a pre-fame Sinead O’Connor and Waterboy Anthony Thistlewaite contributed a little), and this album, his debut, had a nice pop feel to it, with clear Beatles/ELO and Prince influences. There also was a message of world improvement, and what can be bad about that? “Ship of Fools” was a minor hit in the U.S. and U.K. and a slightly bigger one in Australia. It took Wallinger a few years to release the more successful Goodbye Jumbo, and he spaced out 3 more albums, the last of which was released in 2000. Since then he has recovered from a brain aneurysm (!), worked on films and other musical projects, and toured.

After buying Private Revolution, and an actual CD player, my CD buying ramped up and my LP buying decreased. At some point, I started to replace LPs with CD’s often used from eBay. At a certain point, I stopped replacing the needle on my turntable, and following a renovation of our house, which eliminated the shelves where I had stored my albums, they have remained in boxes in my basement waiting, for, I don’t know what. Getting rid of them seems complicated, because I suspect that most of the collection is worthless for various reasons, and I know that I have a certain sentimental hesitancy to part with a collection that I spent time, money and effort amassing through my youth.

I now find myself buying more digital downloads than CDs, so that collection, which supplanted the vinyl, and is currently bursting out of its shelf space is growing much more slowly. (And the digital collection is pushing the limits of my iPod Classic).

Although as I mentioned, I cannot recall the first song I ever downloaded digitally, because I admittedly partook of the early smorgasbord of Napster and similar questionable services, I do know that the first song I downloaded from eMusic was a song called “AYSO” by #Poundsign#, a tune about the soccer organization to which I have devoted an incredible amount of time over the past nearly two decades, and which I continue to serve, even though my kids have long since stopped playing.

1988: Fisherman’s Blues

The Waterboys: Fisherman’s Blues
[purchase]

I’ve never understood why this Jewish New Yorker loves Celtic influenced rock music. It doesn’t make much sense, but it is true. It’s not like I was exposed to much of this style of music before I went to college, other than a little Jethro Tull and some Van Morrison, yet I remember falling in love with Horslips when I first heard them. And although I still think their soul inflected first album was better than their big hit, “Too-Rye-Ay,” I liked Dexy’s Midnight Runners’ version of Celtic infused pop. Over the years, I learned to appreciate more traditional Celtic music by bands such as The Chieftains and have become a fan of Fairport Convention and, of course, Richard Thompson, who often included British and Irish folk music, either traditional songs, or as influences on their original music, in their repertoire. More recently, I have enjoyed punkier updates on the sound by The Pogues, Flogging Molly, Dropkick Murphys and The Tossers. I guess it just goes to show you that you can’t always tell what art will appeal to a person based on their background. Some things just grab you emotionally, and other things don’t. Which is why someone can like The Clash and Genesis, or The Drive-By Truckers and Pat Metheny.

So, I liked The Waterboys’ early efforts, but Fisherman’s Blues was the first disc of theirs that I loved. Its mix of big, U2 style pomp, Van Morrison blue eyed soul, American country music and Celtic music resonated with me in my New York apartment. In the boisterous title track, I really like the way that the fiddle kicks in about 7 seconds in, and the way Mike Scott, the lead singer, exuberantly yells, “Wooh,” as if he was overcome by the music about 10 seconds before he starts singing the lyrics. It is a love song, in which the singer wishes that he could be free of his responsibilities and be with his beloved in his arms, and you can hear the joy and desire in his voice. Or, at least that is how I hear it.

“Fisherman’s Blues” was used in two pretty good movies, “Good Will Hunting” and “Waking Ned Divine,” as well as the underrated and prematurely cancelled TV show, “Lights Out.”

Independence: The Raggle Taggle Gypsy

The Waterboys: The Raggle Taggle Gypsy

[purchase]

There is a common motif in folk songs, where a wealthy woman, often a noble, seduces or goes off with a man with no money. The husband discovers this, and goes after her or finds her in the act. From here, either the husband kills the lover and sometimes the wife as well, or you get something like what happens here. In The Raggle Taggle Gypsy, the husband reminds his noble wife of all that she is giving up, and begs her to return. She makes her choice, and leaves with the gypsy, and the husband lets her go. Why does he let her go so easily? Remember that she is a noblewoman, and that means that she is in an arranged marriage. These kinds of marriages were all about status, with love being an occasional happy accident. In this case, he does not seem to love her any more than she loves him. Her escape is a declaration of personal independence, although the actual declaration comes at a point earlier in the song, and most people miss it. The gypsy comes to her door, and she goes upstairs to change clothes. In The Waterboys’ version, the lady “put on her suit of leather-o”. Other versions make it even clearer, saying, “Then she pulled off her silk finished gown and put on hose of leather, O!” This isn’t simply a matter of practicality. The changing of clothes here is a ritual act that represents casting off her old life in favor of the new.

Erin Go Bragh: Last Call at the SMM Pub

The Waterboys: Why Look At the Moon

[purchase]

Mary Black: Columbus

[purchase]

We're nearing Last Call at the Star Maker Machine Pub - I offer up two more raised glasses of mayhem and melody to help close out this festive St. Patrick's Day week!

Mayhem comes in the form of The Waterboys - I was not familiar with them until I bought the Sweet Relief tribute, which I wrote about here... but I'm so glad I educated myself. This song immediately comes to mind any time I'm outside at night looking skyward, which is often - no matter the phase (full, half, crescent or new), I can't help but sing this to myself (and sometimes out loud, depending on my company and condition). Catchy and fun - I predict it will become an earworm for many of you as well...

Melody can't come much sweeter than Mary Black - although she doesn't write much of her own material, she is a song stylist extraordinaire. Her gorgeous voice has you believing every word - this tune is one of the most melancholy I know... and I use it as wallowing therapy when I really just need to feel something in my heart... before I move on to process it in my head...

May you have warm words on a cold evening,
a full moon on a dark night,
and the road downhill all the way to your door.

Questions : When Will We Be Married ?

The Waterboys : When Will We Be Married ?

[purchase]

The Jayhawks : Will I Be Married ?

[purchase]

(bonus track) : Estil C. Ball & Orna Ball : Paper of Pins

Although they (almost) share the same title, those two songs from 1988 and 1989 ask questions about a future wedding in opposite ways : while in the Waterboy's song, marriage seems like a hope, the Jayhawk's character pictures it with fear. But in the first song, I can sense a hidden threat from the courting guy ("when you'll go, you'll go with me", the "black bow"). Is it because he's determine to take her whatever happens and to take her even to death's shores? But maybe it is just my interpretation or my twisted understanding of English...

The bonus track has no question in his title, but I found it yesterday while digging for old rarities for River's Invitation. I didn't know this folk song, but in a certain way it's an answer (in a man and woman, call & response way so popular in the beginning of the century)to the first 2 songs, with a great punch line.

BTW, this month will be our 7th wedding anniversary. I realized that AFTER picking the songs (not that I had forgotten...).