KATE BUSH - THE DREAMING @ 40

 

September 13th marks the 40th anniversary of Kate Bush’s fourth studio album, The Dreaming, which was released on this day in 1982. Two years in the making, it was the first album Bush produced on her own, which gave her the opportunity to push her boundaries both creatively and technologically.

With her previous album, Never For Ever, Kate had begun dabbling with a new bit of musical gear in the form of the Fairlight CMI digital sampler & synthesizer. For that album, it was essentially a novelty device and was relegated to mostly providing a few sound effects. However, The Dreaming would embrace it as a primary creative tool, making it an integral component of the compositional process. Its presence would give the production a whole new palette of sounds with which Bush could paint her sonic pictures.

In addition to the tech innovations, Bush also seems to have been influenced to a degree by some things going on in the world of “post-punk” as evidenced by her recruiting of Townhouse engineer Nick Launay to help on the album. Nick had made a name for himself while working on Public Image Ltd’s Flowers of Romance LP, for which he garnered a great deal of attention with his walloping drum sounds. They had become notorious enough to get Phil Collins to pull him into engineering for him in order to get a similar sound. Those influences ended up putting parts of the album next of kin to the likes of Siouxsie & The Banshees while also veering into traditional English folk territory, all the while maintaining a highly experimental edge.

Though producing the album on her own gave her a new creative freedom, it also put her under new pressures and stresses. The sessions for the album ended up being intermittent as Kate struggled with creative blocks, which resulted in work taking much longer than originally anticipated. This included taking extended breaks in the process in order to regroup and refocus her efforts properly.

Once the album was completed, it sold & charted respectably, but its sales were noticeably less than her previous albums. Critics and fans offered mixed reviews as they were put off by the experimentation and were, perhaps, a bit overloaded by Bush’s “maximalist” approach. However, The Dreaming has become a work which benefited from maturity. In the ensuing years since its release, both fans and critics have come to reappraise the album and appreciate its innovative edginess. It may not have the immediate appeal of some of her other works, but its strangeness has charms which work their magic through repeated exposure and familiarity. It may jar on first listen, but it works its way into the listener’s soul when you give it a chance.

IGGY POP - LUST FOR LIFE @ 45

 

Marking its 45th anniversary today is the sophomore solo LP from Stooges front-man, Iggy Pop, with Lust For Life being released on September 9th, 1977. It followed closely on the heels of his debut solo release, The Idiot, which was issued in March of that year. After touring to support that album, Pop and David Bowie, who’d produced the first album and toured with Pop’s band on keyboards, returned to Hansa Studios in West Berlin to work on the followup.

While Bowie had exerted significant control and influence over the first album, writing many of its songs, Iggy was adamant that he have more creative input on this one. Iggy wanted to take on that task now that the process of cleaning up from drug addiction was further along and his musical juices were flowing. Bowie still helped out with some arrangements, but even here Iggy had a greater hand. The result is an album that cleaves much closer to the kind of proto-punk that Pop had done with the Stooges rather than the cooler “Krautrock” influenced detachment of the previous record.

The album was recorded throughout May and June, utilizing essentially the same band which had toured to support The Idiot. Brothers Tony Fox and Hunt Sales held the rhythm section on bass and drums, respectively, and guitarist Ricky Gardiner filled out the band with Bowie returning on keyboards. Bowie & Pop were assisted with their production duties by engineer Colin Thurston. As previously stated, the music took on a harder, rawer tone and was, overall, more favorably received by both critics and fans, who felt Pop had returned to something closer to the raucous persona they were expecting from him.

After its release, Pop became frustrated with RCA and finished off his contract with them by issuing a hastily cobbled together live album. He furthermore moved away from working with Bowie for his next studio albums, not renewing that working relationship until later in the next decade. The legacy of Lust For Life has left both the title track and The Passenger as seminal songs in Iggy’s musical canon.

RUSH - A FAREWELL TO KINGS @ 45

 

Marking 45 years on the shelves, Rush’s fifth studio album, A Farewell to Kings, was released on September 1st, 1977. After their breakthrough release, 2112, from the previous year, A Farewell to Kings succeeded in expanding their burgeoning audience while introducing one of the groups most seminal and memorable singles.

After touring in support of 2112 for a grueling 16 months, rather than indulge in any vacation time, the trio plowed straight into recording a followup album to keep their hard won momentum rolling. With the first blush of success at their backs, they decided to record in the UK for a change of pace and set off to Rockfield Studios in Rockfield, Monmouthshire in Wales. In addition to the unfamiliar surroundings, the group decided to further challenge themselves with some unfamiliar instrumentation, with each member tackling something new for the sessions. This was where the group began introducing synthesizers to their sound, with Geddy, in particular, finding his palette expanded by the use of a synth bass pedal, which feed up his hands to play a Mini-Moog synth. This configuration was actually something he picked up from Cameron Hawkins of fellow Torontonian prog-rock trio, FM (which also featured Nash the Slash). Cam had this same kind of setup and he helped Geddy acclimate to this new performing technique.

Rush spent three weeks recording in Wales before heading to London to spend two more weeks mixing the album at Advision Studios. The album featured a mix of longer conceptual pieces with more concise, radio friendly tracks, particularly the song, Closer to the Heart, which was chosen as the single. The album did well, cracking the top 40 zones of the charts in Canada, the UK and the US, further advancing the band’s popularity. The single has gone on to become a signature song for the group and one of their most recognizable compositions.

The tour in 1977 to promote the album happened to come through my home town of Thunder Bay, ON, and their show at the Fort William Gardens became my first proper rock & roll concert at the tender age of 14. My older cousin took me to see them and I recall Max Webster were the opening act for the show. This was the era of silk kimonos with big billowing sleeves for Rush’s stage attire, which I thought looked pretty cool at the time, though they’ve been razed for their threads of the time over the years. The big concrete echo chamber of the stadium wasn’t a great place for acoustics, but it sure was LOUD and I marveled at the throngs of jean clad teens smoking weed and rocking out. It was a scene I’d never quite witnessed before and it was a little intimidating! I suppose, for a Canadian teen of the 1970s, you can’t complain about having your first concert be by one of Canada’s most iconic bands touring on the heels of what would become one of their most notable albums.

PINK FLOYD - PIPER AT THE GATES OF DAWN @ 55

 

Released on August 5th, 1967, Pink Floyd’s debut LP, Piper at the Gates of Dawn, is celebrating its 55th anniversary today. It’s the only album by the group which was fronted by co-founder, Syd Barrett, who disintegrated into an LSD fueled state of mental illness within a year of the album’s release, necessitating his departure from the band before they could complete their second album. However, Syd dominates the songwriting credits for this debut with his otherworldly & whimsical take on psychedelic pop taking up all but three of the albums songs.

Prior to their debut LP, the group had been playing together under various configurations and alternate names since about 1962, beginning like most British bands of the times from an American blues influenced foundation. By the time the mid 1960s were beginning to shift into the rear view mirror, the group had begun on a trajectory which included extended live improvisations and solos. Part of the reason for this evolution came from their lack of songs to perform and a desire not to repeat pieces during their sets. They realized that they could avoid repetition simply by extending the duration of the songs through solos and improvisation. As the psychedelic influence of LSD began to take hold, the groups sound began to be associated with the movement, even though by most accounts, it was only Barrett who was a true aficionado of the drug.

By 1967, the group had reached the status where they went professional by signing a record deal with EMI. They released a few singles earlier in the year before heading to EMI Studios in London’s Abbey Road between February and May to record the album. They made extensive use of the facilities more advanced production tools including EMT plate reverberation, automatic double tracking (ADT), and the studio’s vintage echo chamber. Next to The Beatles Sgt. Pepper, recorded at the same facility around the same time, the production of the album set the bar for cutting edge experimental engineering techniques for the times.

After signing to EMI and even before the album came out, the press were getting hyped up about the group. The sensationalism surrounding the psychedelic LSD movement resulted in numerous salacious tabloid stories from the likes of the News of the World paper and others. The label did their best to try to disassociate the group from this scene, but their reputation had been well established by then from their ongoing live residencies at London’s UFO Club. As the recording sessions for the album progressed, Barrett’s own indulgences began to escalate and impact his ability to function in the studio and within the group.

Upon its release, the album quickly garnered critical raves and, with the help of relatively successful singles paving the way, was a hit for the band, establishing them as prime movers of the London psychedelic scene, often lauded as its most sophisticated and articulate exponents. While some felt the LP hemmed in the more extreme experimentation of their live shows, the restraint in the studio ultimately helped to make the album more accessible to a larger audience and more marketable for the label. Subsequent to its release, it has become an essential document of the creative genius of Syd Barrett before his ability to function was derailed by his mental illness. Within their overall catalogue, it may be something of an outlier and atypical of the music they’d produce without Barrett’s influence, but it remains a fundamental cornerstone of the band’s mythos.

KLAUS SCHULZE - IRLICHT @ 50

Released in August of 1972, the debut solo album from Klaus Schulze, Irrlicht, is marking half a century on the planet this month. The album's complete title is: Irrlicht: Quadrophonische Symphonie für Orchester und E-Maschinen (German: "Will-o'-the-wisp: Quadraphonic Symphony for Orchestra and Electronic Machines"). Though Schulze may be known as a synthesizer master, there are actually none used on this album. The sounds all originate from a manipulated recording of an orchestra rehearsal and tonalities extracted from a broken and modified electronic organ.

The initial conceptions for the album arose while Schulze was still part of Tangerine Dream, but he came into conflict over the direction of the project with Edgar Froese and, failing to resolve their issues, Schultze left the band to work on it as a solo effort. Because he was still under contract with Krautrock label Ohr due to his association with Tangerine Dream, the label insisted that his solo recordings were covered under that contract and they released the album. This was actually not a problem for Schulze as the experimental nature of the recordings would have been a hard sell if he’d had to shop them around to other labels, so the fact that the record came out at all was to his benefit.

Stylistically, the music combines elements of Musique concrète with electronic drones in a manner which was a precursor to what would eventually become ambient music. It is alien and austere and evocative of science fiction vistas and atmospheres.

MICHAEL NESMITH - AND THE HITS JUST KEEP ON COMIN'

 

Released in August of 1972, Michael Nesmith’s fifth post-Monkees solo album is celebrating its 50th anniversary this month. It was an album built on a whim, but it became one of Nesmith’s most nuanced and eloquent statements.

After three LPs with his “First National Band” and one with his restructured “Second National Band”, Nesmith was band-less when it came time for his next album, save for his stalwart pedal steel guitar master, Orville "Red" Rhodes. Red was the constant at Mike’s side throughout all the incarnations of the National Band and would remain so until his untimely passing in the mid 1990s.

With RCA Records breathing down Nesmith’s neck looking for some “hits”, Mike was feeling the weight, but he wasn’t about to try slapping together another band. Instead, he had the inspiration to go in another direction altogether. For this next record, he’d keep it simple with just Red on the steel guitar and himself on vocals and acoustic guitar. And by gosh, that’s just what they did for the whole album. In deference to RCA’s pleading for hits, he duly titled the album “And the Hits Just Keep on Comin’”, in a typically ironic, tongue-in-cheek move born from the frustration of lackluster sales which were the fate of his previous solo albums.

Sadly, at the time of its release, it continued the trend of being ignored in the charts and by the record buying public, but it would not go without eventual vindication. In the years that have followed its release, it has steadily gained stature within his solo canon as one of his most heartfelt, elegant and haunting releases. Its simplicity and restraint serve to highlight the beauty of the songwriting and Rhodes’ steel guitar dreaminess lifts it all into the heavens of sublime perfection. What began as a move of desperation resulted in an artistic triumph. Listening to it against the backdrop of the modern world, it has a timelessness that makes it one of Nesmith’s most important works.

ELVIS COSTELLO - MY AIM IS TRUE @ 45

 

Marking 45 years on the shelves today is the debut album from Elvis Costello, My Aim Is True, which was released by Stiff Records in the UK on July 22nd, 1977. Though it was recorded before his band, The Attractions, were assembled, and the production is a bit on the brittle side, it is still considered one of the strongest debuts to come from the late ‘70s punk/new-wave movement.

Before he was Elvis Costello, he was Declan Patrick MacManus and he’d been slugging around the clubs of Liverpool and London trying to get his career off the ground since 1970. By the time his demo tape caught the attention of Stiff founders, Dave Robinson and Jake Riviera, he was performing under the name of D.P. Costello, a name chosen to honor his great-grandmother. He was also paying his bills by working a day job as a data entry clerk for Elizabeth Arden.

Though Costello was the first artist to sign to the newly minted record label, he did not release its first title. Robinson & Riviera felt they needed to work on his image to get him into a position which would leverage the burgeoning punk scene that was taking the country by storm. Costello’s performances were considered lackluster and without a sense of edginess or anger and he basically looked like a mild mannered computer geek. To remedy this, they decided to exaggerate his appearance and got him some heavy Buddy Holly style glasses, tight blazers and turned up strove-pipe jeans. The transformation was completed with the D.P. dropped and replaced by “Elvis”, a move most considered insane given its connection to the legendary Presley. But Costello was into it and the method of the madness would prove itself sound as it gave record buyers pause when encountering him in the record bins.

When it came to putting together a band for the album, Costello had no money to support musicians, so the label recruited a San Francisco country-rock band named Clover who’d managed to gain something of cult following in the UK and had moved there to take advantage. They were based in Headley Grange, where Costello would travel for rehearsals before coming back to London to record. While the band were competent and Costello would later praise them for their skills, creatively, they didn’t always see eye to eye and, ultimately, their association with Costello would end after the sessions for the LP were completed. They were not credited on the album either due to contractual disputes with another label. Interestingly, the lead singer for Clover at that time was none other than “The News” future front-man, Huey Lewis, who didn’t take part in the LP sessions, taking a vacation while the rest of the band worked on the album. Besides the creative frictions, Clover didn’t fit in with the “punk” aesthetic the label were courting, looking like American West Coast hippies, so they were replaced by what would become The Attractions before Costello began performing in support of the album and its singles.

The album was recorded during a series of six four hour sessions booked from late 1976 through the beginning of 1977 with the band often cutting the bed tracks live and in one take. Costello continued to work his data entry day job during the sessions, but would call in sick when he needed to rehearse with the band. The songs for the album were written by Costello over the course of a couple of weeks. The album was produced by Nick Lowe, who also contributed musically to the album on bass and some backing vocals. The LP was recorded at Pathway Studios, which Costello described as a “phone booth” due to its cramped size. It must have been a pretty basic facility because the album does suffer slightly from underproduction and shrill sound, especially compared to the crisp, full bite of This Years Model the next year.

Despite weak production, the quality of Costello’s songs and the energy of his performances won over critics, though the fans took a little longer to catch on. The death of Elvis Presley in August of that year, less than a month after the release of Costello’s album, gave sales an unexpected boost and suddenly record buyers were getting converted to the spindly bespectacled troubadour with anger issues. That name change started to pay off with the record buying public getting curious about this fellow with the audacity to use that sacred name!

Personally, it’s not my favorite of his early albums, those being This Year’s Model and Armed Forces, but it does have a clutch of really great songs, especially the back half of the record and the bonus single of Watching the Detectives, which was not originally on the album, but came as a single that was later included in reissues. It still showcases Costello’s raw power at it’s beginning and many continue to appreciate and praise it as one of his best albums. It certainly made a great statement for the times as an important young artist first making his mark on the world.