Thank You For The Music: Mark Hollis

I always intended to carry on recognising musicians who have had a major impact on my musical journey, who have passed on under the Thank You For The Music section of this blog. But I never thought I'd be writing this for Talk Talk's Mark Hollis so early.

I got on to Talk Talk from the off in 1982 as a new romantic band who produced a debut album of catchy pop hooks (The Party's Over) and with an intensity that was missing in many of the pop bands at the time. It was produced by Colin Thurston who produced Duran Duran's first two albums, so the new romantic references are pretty valid.

The band initially consisted of Mark Hollis - Vocals, Simon Brenner - Keyboards, Lee Harris - Drums & Paul Webb - Bass

Mark Hollis had a songwriting credit in all but one of the tracks on the original album - and even had the sole writing credit on three tracks. So it became obvious who the songwriting force was within the band. But I never thought in a million years that their musical journey would lead them to such beautiful and artistic music. 

In 1984 - the band, now down to an official three piece with the departure of Simon Brenner, released their second album, It's My Life. An important change for album two was the arrival of Tim Friese-Greene as producer and keyboard player. He, with Mark Hollis, pushed the sonic direction of the band as the songs became more intricate and intoxicating. And tightened Mark's grip on the songwriting credits. It was now definitely Hollis' band. It's My Life contained three exceptional singles with It's A Shame, Dum Dum Girl and It's My Life.

Two years later in 1986 came album three - the ground breaking The Colour Of Spring.

Talk about a giant leap for mankind. Mark Hollis and Tim Friese-Greene ditched the electro basis of the first two albums and turned to a more organic and acoustic based soundscape. The quality of the songs had also taken another great leap forward. Songs like te opening Happiness IS Easy pointed the way for future Talk Talk albums as instrumentation like acoustic drums, Pianos, organs, acoustic guitars and even a children's choir brought to life the almost jazz like delivery of the songs. 

For many fans, this is their favourite Talk Talk album.

And it was the first album written solely by Mark Hollis & Tim Friese-Greene. I absolutely adore this record.

To many, the peak of the band's artistic vision came two years later in 1988 with he release of The Spirit Of Eden. Again written solely by Mark Hollis & Tim Friese-Greene it was the result of  months of recording in Wessex Studios London. Sources at the time talked of recording in darkness, hours of directionless jamming, experimentation in production and instrumentation. Keeping to a mostly acoustic template the band produced the record of their lives and included many acoustic instruments and players which ranged from Cor Anglais to Dobros. Indeed, an album of only six tracks, it  produced one single, the severely edited but still sublime, I Believe In You.

 

It was a further three years (1991) before Talk Talk produced their final album. The elegiac and moving Laughing Stock.

Following Spirit Of Eden, Paul Webb had decided to leave the band as a duo of  Mark Hollis and Lee Harris with Tim Friese-Greene once again on board as producer and keyboard player. It was recorded in the same vein as it's predecessor with weeks of arduous hours in the studio. Once again it was an album that contained only six tracks. But what a sextuplet they are written almost entirely by Mark Hollis. With these last two albums, it was obvious the band found their ways of producing music together tough going. So it came as no surprise that Laughing Stock ended up being the band's farewell.

If ever a band had followed and produced the perfect artistic and commercial career, then it was Talk Talk. 5 almost perfect albums showing the growth and inspiration of  its main man, Mark Hollis.

Many music observers at the time thought that this might lead to Mark Hollis following his own musical path. But this was not to happen. A man of a seemingly singular musical vision and integrity, it was a further seven years, 1998, that Mark surprised the musical world with the emergence of his one and only solo album, simply titled Mark Hollis.

Mark's final musical offering to the world stands as a fitting epitaph. Gentle, stately, and very, very beautiful. Indeed, the beauty of the music is often contained within the silence and empty space of the record. 

Talk Talk and Mark Hollis have never been far away from my turntable or cd player. He leaves an amazing legacy of sound and vision which will be discovered by artists and musicians for many years to come.

To me personally, the loss of Mark Hollis to music is right up there with the loss of Buddy Holly. He chose to have such a short career in music. He believed, I feel, that he had reached an artistic peak with his solo album, that he had no more left to say. Like Arthur Rimbaud, he chose silence as his final artistic statement. It was a beautiful way to close and say goodbye. 

Photo courtesy of Frank Bauer

Thank You For The Music: John Wetton

I never thought I'd be writing another Thank You For The Music so soon into 2017. I keep these pages for musicians who have passed that have had an influence in MY musical adventures over the years.

I met John Wetton. Only the once. It was after one of his solo gigs in the 90s. In Ebbw Vale of all places. But more of that later.

He was, and always will be, a musical giant. His influence has been widespread and his legacy is varied and interesting, which I hope to highlight in this page.

The first major band that John was associated with was Family. He was with Family in '71 & '72 and appeared on the Fearless and still influential Bandstand album.

Unlike his contemporary, Greg Lake, John was integral in several bands over the years. He brought his musicianship and melody to King Crimson in 1972 as he replaced Greg Lake in the band, His recording debut came with the album Larks Tongue In Aspic, released in 1973. He was singing lead and playing bass, exactly as Greg had done.

John was to stay with King Crimson until 1974 and appeared on another two seminal Prog Rock albums - Starless & Bible Black and Red and co-wrote the majority of the songs on both albums.

Following his successful stint in Crimson, John found his way  into another 70s English institution, Uriah Heep. Playing Bass, Keyboards and Vocals, he was with the band for two of their mid-70s albums, Return To Fantasy (1975)  and High & Mighty (1976). He even co-wrote a couple of songs, including Weep In Silence with Ken Hensley.

John was never shy of a collaboration and during the 1970s he appeared on record and played live with a multitude of the finest musicians and bands including Brian Eno, Roxy Music,  Phil Manzanera  and Yes man Peter Banks.

But in 1977, John formed his new band UK, with former band mate in King Crimson, Bill Bruford, violinist/ keyboardist Eddie Jobson and guitarist Allan Holdsworth. They released their eponymous debut album in 1978. John was the lyricist on all but one track and co wrote the music on all of the tracks. It featured John's soaring vocals and his ear for a good melody, which would serve him well throughout his career.

The debut was followed up in 1979 with the album Danger Money.

Following the demise of UK in 1979, John went on to record and release his first solo album, Caught In The Crossfire in 1980.

With all songs written by John himself it is the precursor to the mega success that would come to him in 1981 with the release of the first album by 'Supergroup' ASIA.

No-one expected the success of ASIA. I know, I was there in 1981! Everybody expected a Prog led debut considering the Prog pedigree of the band. John Wetton on Bass/Vocals (ex King Crimson), Geoff Downes (ex Yes/Buggles) on Keyboards/Vocals, Steve Howe (ex Yes) Guitars/Vocals and Carl Palmer (ex ELP) on Drums. But, what was released was a glorious slice of AOR. That was singles oriented and SO radio friendly. To say it took off in America is an understatement. It was the biggest selling album of the year in 1982.

With those classic Rock Star good looks and that amazing, soaring voice, John proved the ideal frontman for this new venture. The lead off single from the album was the brilliant Heat Of The Moment. To say Prog fans were shocked didn't tell the full story. Lots hated this new band - I loved 'em. The album spent nine weeks at the top of the US charts and went on to become 4x Platinum by the mid 1990s. Total worldwide sales reached over 10 million copies.

The follow up single Only Time Will Tell was another smash hit worldwide. With all tracks written by John Wetton & Geoff Downes, it was to be the start of a fruitful writing partnership and a lifetime friendship

This original line-up had one more album in them and a year later in 1983 the album Alpha was released. Although not reaching the dizzy heights of their debut, Asia found themselves with another number 1 US album and a couple of hit singles which remained popular in their sets all throughout their career.

Lead off single was Don't Cry.

As per the previous album, all songs were written by John & Geoff except the follow up single, The Smile Has Left Your Eyes, which was written solely by John Wetton.

Following the perceived non-success of Astra and for whatever reason, John left the band in 1983.

John next appears on a project with Roxy Music guitarist Phil Manzanera called Wetton Manzanera, which also featured Alan White from YES on drums in 1987. It's very much in the vein of what ASIA was producing in the early 1980s with all of the songs in the 3 or 4 minute mark. It's very much a product of the 80s but not a bad listen.

The 1990s saw John release a brace of solo albums. In 1994, in Japan only, Voice Mails is released. It is later re-released under the new title of Battle Lines. Very much in the vein of his earlier album release it contains some good work and proved that John hadn't lost his way with a melody.

In 1997, John released his next solo album, Archangel. 

Throughout the 1990s and beyond John also released many live albums recorded all over the world.

In 2002, John reunited with former ASIA colleague, Geoff Downes to form Icon. Taking a more Progressive path than their previous commercial route, the album contains some lovely work from both members and reignited the Wetton/Downes songwriting partnership that was such a force on the first two ASIA albums.

In 2006, ASIA regrouped in their original line-up following years of touring with various line ups and the start of the 'Two Bands' era of ASIA.

The original line-up released a new album in 2008, Phoenix. It was as if they'd never been away.

From 2006, there we two more Icon albums, 2 & 3 and three more ASIA albums - Omega (2010), XXX (2012) - after which Steve Howe left the band. Gravitas (2014) featured new young guitarist Sam Coulson, with all tracks again written by Wetton/Downes.

As I stated at the beginning of this piece, I met John Wetton. Only the once. It was in the early 1990s when he was touring alone. He booked to play a gig at Ebbw Vale in the Welsh Valleys. 

He arrived two and a half hours late because of travel problems he had no control over. Most people had left. We were an audience of about 10 waiting for John to turn up.

I'll never forget it. He came in - all dressed in white. Armed with a 12 string acoustic, he played for us 10. He didn't manage a full set because of the curfew in the hall. In fact, we actually went downstairs in the bar. But he played all the hits and even some Crimson. Later he talked to us in the bar. He gave me a hug - thanked me for staying to listen. We had a good chat about his music and his days in Crimson. I told him I especially liked his worked with U.K. - he seemed pleased at this and said he wished he had pursed it for longer. He was a genuinely nice guy, with no pretensions whatsover. A true gent.

Over the last year, John has been fighting a brave battle with cancer. In a brave move, he often posted about his fight on social media by talking about his illness and posting photographs from his hospital bed while getting treatment.

He met Robert Fripp again over the Christmas 2016 holidays and posted the photo below.

John with Robert Fripp

John finally fell to the disease today and died in his sleep this morning - 31st January 2016. He was posting positive messages on social media right up until this month. 

After his death, it was revealed that he had colon cancer.

He is survived by his wife Lisa and son Dylan.

But he also leaves a body of work that will show what a supreme legacy he has left for Music Fans and Musicians alike.

The Great Gig In The Sky has another excellent Bass Player and Lead Vocalist tonight. Rest In Peace John. You will be missed Sir.

click for The John Wetton Website

Thank You For The Music: Glenn Frey

Last week, another Musical Legend left us. Maybe not as high profile as David Bowie but just as talented. In fact, Glenn Frey, with his band Eagles and solo, has been played played many more times in Fleet Towers than Mr Bowie. It's just MY musical taste.

Glenn Frey was one of the lynchpins of one of the biggest bands ever to have emerged from the USA. The band was the Eagles. Together with songwriting partner, Don Henley, Glenn fronted the band for it's whole career. And within that group, wrote some of the best songs of the 1970s.

But, let's take a step back.

Glenn came to California in 1968 after a brief stint with Bob Seger aged 19 in his home town of Detroit. In California, he met up and shared a house with two fellow musicians who went on to have stellar careers in the Music Business, J D Souther and Jackson Browne.

And it was as part of a duo with J D Souther called Longbranch Pennywhistle, that Glenn first flexed his songwriting and vocal muscles. They released one album together. Good luck in finding one.

In 1970, fate stepped in - J D Souther had a girlfriend - a lady named Linda Rondstadt. She was a singer in need of a backing band. This band brought together Glenn Frey, Don Henley, Randy Meisner & Bernie Leadon. In 1971, they went on to form Eagles. The rest is indeed, History.

Glenn was on Vocals, Guitar & Keyboards - Don Henley on Vocals & Drums, Bernie Leadon on Vocals & Guitars and Randy Meisner on Vocals & Bass. 

Later to include Don Felder on Vocals & Guitars.

Eagles went on to produce 4 albums between 1972 and 1975 - that one a year. Eagles (1972) Desperado (1973) On The Border (1974) One Of These Nights (1975).

Glenn was the songwriter, with Jackson Browne, of Eagles first hit single in 1972 - 

the brilliant Take It Easy.

This started a run of classic hit singles which lit up the US charts in the early to mid 1970s.

All the singles were brought together for one of the biggest albums ever released - the seminal Eagles: Their Greatest Hits 1971 - 1975. This album alone has sold over 42 million records. And these were in the days where you physically had to make your way to a record store and buy a copy on either 12" Vinyl, Cassette or 8 Track Cartridge. In the 70s, it was absolutely everywhere. I think what sealed the deal in he UK was the fact that guys finally caught on that girls liked the album. You'd always see guys walking around with this album tucked under their arm heading to the nearest party. 

From their first album, Glenn had formed a formidable songwriting partnership with Don Henley and many of the groups best songs and hits contained the special (Henley/Frey) on the labels. 

This is one of those beauties - with Glenn on piano. Desperado.

Glenn was still writing with his first songwriting partnner, J D Souther and this is one is an absolute gem.

Although Don Henley carried the majority of the lead vocals, this just made it a bit special when Glenn took the lead.

Following on from the success of Greatest Hits - Bernie Leadon quit Eagles for pastures new and this brought in Guitar Hero, Joe Walsh into the fold and the recording took place of one of the biggest albums of all time  - The Majestic, Hotel California. Released on December 8th 1976, it went on to sell over 30 million albums. That's two of the biggest albums of all time - one after the other!

Again, the majority of the album was based around the songwriting duo of Henley/Frey - with one or two various co writers. Glenn had the lead vocals on one of the biggest hit singles on the album - New Kid In Town.

Although it's always given me a giggle that Eagles brought in a real rock n roll guitarist in Joe Walsh which, for many, signaled a toughening up of the band, and as his first song with his new group brought one of the sweetest songs the band ever recorded in Pretty Maids All In  A Row.

But the crowning glory of not only the album - but possibly of the whole Henley/Frey canon is the truly breathtaking The Last Resort

It was not until 1979 that Eagles got together again to record their follow up to Hotel California - it was a rather patchy album called The Long Run.

The songwriting duo of Henley/Frey came back yet again and Glenn provided lead vocals on Opening single Heartache Tonight.

The guys then called it a day until 1984 when the reunion album Hell Freezes Over - named after a famous quote by Don Henley about the band - was released with 4 new songs - one being Glenn Frey's The Girl From Yesterday with Glenn taking lead vocals.

Following The Long Run, Eagles disbanded to follow solo pursuits. And 1982 saw the first of 5 solo releases over the years with No Fun Aloud. 

In 1984 came the biggest success of Glenn's solo work with the album The Allnighter. It spawned two hit singles with Sexy Girl & Smuggler's Blues which was used in the Miami Vice show.

This year also saw Glenn contribute The Heat Is On to the soundtrack of Beverly Hills Cop - and was a worldwide smash hit.

1988 saw the album Soul Searchin again hit the charts and Glenn still had the knack of producing the hit single  with both the title track and True Love.

Many of Glenn's solo songs ( and some Eagles songs ) have been written with his old friend Jack Tempchin - a fine songwriter in his own right,

By the time Strange Weather was released in 1991 Glenn's solo work was finding itself a victim of the law of diminishing returns and his singles had now stopped troubling the charts.

The Eagles had re-established themselves as a band int he early 2000s and had finished several small tours before they got together to produce their last album with Glenn, 2007's Long Road Out Of Eden. But with 20  tracks on the double album, only 4 were written by that great team of Henley/Frey - all of the others were individuals bringing their songs for the band to perform. In my opinion it would have made a much better single album than the double it was released but perhaps the band felt they needed to get the songs out as they felt it could be their last Hurrah.

It was perhaps no surprise that the band returned to their Country Rock roots for lead off single How Long - written by J D Souther with Glenn on lead vocals - coming full circle and back to where they had all started.

But Glenn had one more solo album in him and 2012 saw Glenn go where many have gone before and produce an album of covers based on the Great American Songbook with a couple of songs by Brian wilson & Ranndy Newman thrown in for good measure. This album was After Hours.

So January 18th 2016 saw Glenn going to that Great Gig In The Sky but leaving us with a wealth of gorgeous music to continue to enjoy and probably now the final demise of one of the greatest bands ever to come out of America.

I, for one, salute you Glenn. You will be missed.

Thank You For The Music: David Bowie

This is NOT an obituary. Top Journo's write the obituaries. This is just one Music Lover's acknowledgment that today we have lost a shining light - not only in the field of Music but all aspects of the visual arts too.

I will say here and now that I am not a total fan of David Bowie. I had a few of his albums - together with ChangesOneBowie & ChangesTwoBowie but a lot of his material left me cold. But some was truly remarkable.

I first came across David Bowie by hearing my cousin Belinda's copy of Hunky Dory. 

I couldn't afford to buy a copy - so I taped it. That was about 1972 I think. I loved its theatricality looking back. I was just getting into Prog and Hunky Dory has some killer songs. Little did I know at the time that Prog God Rick Wakeman is all over the album.  Anyway, I know it was before Bowie's breakthrough performance on Top Of The Tops - his performance of Starman.

It was one of those Iconic moments that only Top Of The Pops could produce. It was the talk of the schoolyard the following day. And it started a spate of haircuts that must have kept the local hairdressers and barbers in hairspray and product for the whole year. I was lucky - Belinda was a hairdresser. The 'Bowie Cut' cost me and cousin Peter nowt. 

From this magnificently camp performance came the Ziggy Stardust album. I didn't enjoy this as much as Hunky Dory and the following several albums left me cold - save for the occasional songs and hit single such as The Jean Genie, Sorrow or Golden Years. And I let my hair grow long.

Where Bowie really got me back into the fold was on the next 3 albums - the Berlin Trilogy of Low, Heroes & Lodger.

This was music I was more in tune with. This was David Bowie at (up to then) his most experimental

.

Bowie was often great at finding the right collaborator and in Berlin he found a kindred spirit in Brian Eno. They brought the best out of each other at the time to produce three extraordinary albums.

If it was just for his career up to this point, David Bowie would be forever remembered. But there was so much more to him. He was a producer, songwriter for others such as Mott The Hoople, he was a painter and an actor.

Bowie never captured my Imagination to the same extent again. Yes he produced the occasional song that was superb out of leftfield. But by this point it was expected rather than surprising.

I have vivid memories of the great song that Bowie produced with Queen - Under Pressure.

1985 brought Live Aid and Bowie was one of the performers who played a blinder that day. 

He even gave up one of his songs to let the broadcasters play the video of the cars Drive. That one decision by Bowie apparently generated millions of pounds just by showing that one video with one selfless act. Nobody who saw that at the time will ever forget that moment.

The Cars Drive Live Aid Video introduced by David Bowie

Bowie did join forces with my favourite guitarist Pat Metheny for a song from the soundtrack of the film The Falcon & The Snowman called This Is Not America.

But, David Bowie went on to produce more varied and original work.

He was Fearless, He was an Innovator, He was an Inspiration.

In 2013, after a health scare and a ten year absence, Bowie returned to rave reviews with his album The Next Day. This one I liked. It was stately, elegiac and somewhat nostalgic and majestic in places.

And finally, just two days ago, he released his Swansong, Black Star. 

David knew his time was short. He knew it would be his last album. It got rave reviews before it's release. Now it will be dissected in a totally different light. 

He had time to plan his own goodbye. Black Star IS that goodbye. Make of it what you will. It still sees an artist working to push boundaries right up to the final moment.

David Bowie Blackstar

That is how I will see and remember

David Bowie. 

Above All - As An Artist.

Thank You For The Music: Chris Squire

Well, with the law of averages - and being 54 years old - I knew there would probably come a time when I would have to write an obituary for a member of my favourite band - YES.

And it fills me with pain to have to write about the passing of The Fish - Chris Squire.

I worked it out earlier, if you add up how many hours I've probably listened to YES and the films, documentaries and dvds I've watched since I first discovered them back in 1972, then I've probably spent more time with members of YES than anyone except my wife.

I will never forget my first introduction to YES music - in  fact the first notes I ever heard of YES were by none other than Chris Squire.

The song was Survival, from the first YES album - they had released up to Close To The Edge by the time I first heard them. But I was struck by the sound of Chris' bass. I have loved bass ever since and that distinctive Rickenbacker 4001 stereo bass has a sound like no other and perfectly sums up the individuality of Chris Squire.

I'm not going to go into the history of Yes & Chris Squire. There are far better journalists with more information than I could ever obtain who will do a much better job. All I can say is how much he meant to me - as a fan.

Chris has gone on to influence every bass player worth his salt since he first appeared on the scene with his distinctive lead style with his pre-YES band Mabel Greer's Toyshop.

But not only was he a fine bass player but he was also an exceptional vocalist. Indeed , he started out in boy's choirs as a child but in YES contributed many a sublime backing vocal both alone and also as part of the 'YES CHOIR'.

He was the only founding YES man to be in all incarnations of the band and appeared in every live tour - except this year, where the illness that took his life took hold and forced a replacement in Billy Sherwood - specifically chosen by Chris to perform Bass duties on the 2015 USA Fragile/Close To The Edge Tour.

I have seen YES many times over the years up to the 3 albums turn in 2014 and Chris has always been the most flamboyant and animated member of the band - always seemed the most pleased to be up on that stage and giving it large,

He was seen by nearly all YES fans as The Keeper Of The Flame for YES.

Chris has always contributed to the music of YES both as a writer in his own right and co-writer with other members of the band - as most of the YES music was written. Here are some of Chris' contributions to YES.

He also found time in his YES schedule to record one of the best Christmas songs - the classic Run Like The Fox with his partner in rhythm Alan White.

He was certainly not frightened of a collaboration as he showed with Steve Hackett in Squakett and with Billy Sherwood in Conspiracy.

But these other collaborations never overshadowed his work with YES. In 2014, Chris found himself as undoubted leader of the new version of YES who released a new album Heaven & Earth, to which again, Chris contributed in the songwriting department. One song being, The Game.

A couple of months back, Chris revealed that he was fighting a rare form of leukemia. But true to form, he announced a new YES 2016 Tour Of Europe where YES are going to play Fragile & Drama in their entirety. The two albums that most YES fans wanted after the successful 3 albums tour of 2014. 

And during the 2016 Tour I was finally going to meet my bass hero in Bristol. I had already worked out what I was going to say to him in the very short time we would spend together - how much I loved YES music, how much I loved his bass playing and would he PLEASE release another solo album. Nothing heavy.

But, it is not to be. That meeting will never take place. So, I will have to live with the one solo album from Chris - Fish Out Of Water and the catalogue of YES albums from the 1960's to the present day.

On such a sad day yesterday, it was lovely to see the outpouring of love from the YES fans and especially from Chris' fellow musicians.

The one bright light is that Chris has left us with a wealth of recorded music as his legacy. He WILL continue to influence and inspire future generations of bass players.

I hope that YES will continue - they already have a replacement in Billy Sherwood. They already have a tour booked for next year. I'm sure Chris would love the band and the music to continue and expand.

Chris, I loved your music. You were a HUGE part of my musical life. And by God I'll miss your presence in my favorite band.

And whenever I hear thunder from now on, I'll think to myself - it's only Chris Squire practicing for the Great Gig In The Sky.

This is how I chose to celebrate the life of Chris yesterday - I think he'd approve

Goodnight Big Man - you'll be missed.