It has been a while since posting a YouTube find but this particular video was worth it. Squeeze, bringer of Jools Holland, appeared on the Jimmy Fallon show a few weeks ago to promote their upcoming tour. Besides giving a rollicking performance of this classic from 1980, the performance featured an iPad piano solo – the first on television! Organ is featured throughout but their keyboardist throws in this gem at 2:27 into the performance. It is outstanding to see the precision in his fingers as well as the excellent sounds coming from his tablet.

Speaking from experience, few keyboardists would give up a human-surrounding rig of keyboards for an single device, but gigging musicians can continue to dream…

Ah, the good genre of 80s music videos. You get all sorts of crazy stuff in these videos and today’s pick has many rather interesting ingredients. Rapture by Blondie is the perfect fusion of New Wave, Disco, Funk and pop music and is one of their best known songs. Everyone knows it and loves the groove. So onto the music video itself. o in this video we’ve got

• The Man From Mars – He appears several times in this video. He opens up with some nice hopping. He’s the dude in the white top hat and suit who has sunglasses and likes to dance
• Debbie Harry – Who looks fantastic in this video, kicks things off by dancing at a party. Then she starts lecturing the DJ about the works of Fab Five Freddie and Grandmaster Flash before wandering off into the bizarre street below.
• Random Street – So Debbie walks onto this street from hell where various ‘special‘ characters – including a graffiti artist, some disco ravers, the Man from Mars, a nice chap dressed in the flag colours of the United States waving at the camera, a red indian who appears from behind a bush, a telephone booth with a large queue, a young ballet dancer – can be found. Interesting.
• The Man From Mars (again) – Starts dancing crazily on the phrase ‘punk rock’. Watch out for the goat in the background at this point for bonus points.
• Debbie Harry (again) - Appears again in another outfit. Then you see a nice lady dancing against a wall, as you do. Then Debbie dances with the Man From Mars who eventually leads the ensemble out of a door, up some stairs and off into the night, never to be seen again..

What is this video and song about then? A nightclub from hell? The clubbing experience in New York City in the late 1970s, the Studio 54 area? Being a crazy drug trip? Rap music? Being Blondie? I’ve listened to his song quite a bit and it has inspired the of stuff that I’ve done with The Gatefold and continue to do so in the near future. However, my opinion of what it is?

The best video of the 1980s.

As the caption on this video says “They look almost as good as they did in the 80's” – yes they do! Madness are always fantastic and this new cut from their recent album sticks in my mind and hasn't left. The Clerkenwell Polka may not have any accordions but everything else about this song is brilliant. Suggs has to be one of the best front men, ever.

I think an entire band dressed in rather snappy suits is timeless, never looks old fashioned.

REM: Accelerate
Every R.E.M. release that comes out is claimed as a return to form but Accelerate might have turned the band’s fortunes around. After loosing founding drummer Bill Berry in 1997, the band haven’t produced anything as hard rocking or compressed in years. Recorded in only a few months, you won’t find anything like Loosing My Religion here but songs such as Supernatural Superserious, Sing For The Submarine and the title track make up for this with fast paced overdriven riffs that remind us R.E.M. are still as important and independent as ever.

Last Shadow Puppets: The Age of the Understated
Full of edgy indie rock music with symphonic twist, the combination of Miles Kane (of The Rascals) and Alex Turner (of the Arctic Monkeys) has produced one of the most popular albums of the year. Lots of influences from both bands and numerous James Bond soundtracks make this a youthful yet killer album, right for any mood of the day. Highlights include the title track, Calm Like You and In My Room.

Coldplay: Viva La Vida
Talk of Coldplay loosing their edge was completely unfounded. Taking a new edge with a more experimental nature but with the pop sound you know and love from their previous work. The input of super producer Brain Eno managed to let the guys expand their sonic map. Highlights include the anthemic Viva La Vida, the thumpy movements of Violet Hill and the foot stomping Lost!.

Although Chris Martin says Coldplay will disband in the near future, you haven’t seen the last of them just yet, with the recently released Prospekt March and a round of stadium gigs coming up next September.

Oasis: Dig Out Your Soul
It has been several weeks and more listening time from my initial review and my opinion has not changed in the slightest, this is their strongest offering in years and the 60s hard rock influences have worked and the translation to live performances has been made successfully, according to YouTube at least. Take a look at the current single I’m Outta Time and Bag It Up to get a taste of where Gallagher and company are headed with the latest reason.

Elbow: The Seldom Seen Kid
Rivalling Coldplay with several stadium gigs in 2009, it is good to have Britain’s favourite Britpop band back in action. The more I listen to Elbow’s back catalogue, I wonder why they have not been heard of before now. Their music is so unique and they’ve been kicking around since 1990 apparently, missing out on Britpop, becoming critics choice before hitting it big time and winning the Mercury Prize this year. Grounds For Divorce has become the most popular song with continual build ups and break downs with yet another stomping beat. On Day Like This has traces of U2 but with a less commercial sound and simply down to earth. Elbow are heading out to the academies next year so catch them live if you can, the rumour goes they are phenomenal.

AC/DC: Black Ice
AC/DC are like comfort food for listeners, providing reassuring and consistent hard rock and Black Ice is no different. Stomping rock with a modern production makes this an album of bliss for any music lover. Brian Johnson’s singing may not be as high pitched as in the past but it’s lost none of its passion and Angus Young brings out those solos as viciously as ever. A short tour of UK arenas next year has sold out, too quickly for this reviewer.

Randy Newman: Harps and Angels
Most will recognise the odd voice from the soundtrack of Toy Story. Growing up to the sounds of You’ve Got A Friend In Me often makes people forget Newman is a real artist who was writing songs 20 years before the release of the ground-breaking Disney-Pixar film. Musically out of tune with the times (and only reaching #48 on the UK charts), the album is based around rather old school beats and piano heard in New Orleans records of the past, like those of Fats Domino. Potholes discusses the inevitable memory lapses of old age while A Few Words In The Defense Of Our Country reassures the rest of the world that some Americans dislike their government too. For something totally different to everything else this year, try this.

The Verve: Forth
Far surpassing anything Richard Ashcroft has done since Urban Hymns, Fourth shows the band have made a triumphant return, firing on all cylinders with their mix of rock with sampling and acoustic ballads. A headlining performance at Glastonbury brought them back to household name status, and showed they have lost none of their magic. No doubt you will have heard first single Love Is Noise, but looking at Valium Skies and Sit And Wonder shows you just how flexible they can still be.

Kings of Leon: Only by the Night
The UK’s favourite import from across the seas (apart from Kopparberg of course) have solidified their sound into plain old sound rock with their southern indie edge. Adding to their string of popular albums, the Kings are no doubt en route to the heights of super stardom over the next few years. They might have lost some of their experimentalism since the previous album, but have filled in for this with better tunes and inspiring lyrics. A testament to this is how much Use Somebody is still being played weeks later. Don’t forget the hit single Sex on Fire too.

MGMT: Oracular Spectacular
The underwhelming live experience with this band have not tainted how wonderful the album is – strong songwriting, catchy riffs and music that would not be out of place in 1975, MGMT have hit the music scene in the face and remind everyone not to take the world too seriously. Time To Pretend has been an anthem for our generation while Kids and Electric Feel have provided bouncing fun songs that everyone can enjoy. Where they can go from here is anyone’s guess, but enjoying this music is certainly not hard. Their dream producer of Barack Obama may yet happen.

David Byrne and Brian Eno: Everything That Happens Will Happen Today
Their first collaboration in over 20 years is an album in tune with the times – featuring plenty of crazy sound effects, acoustic strumming and precise singing – everything you would expect from the ex-Talking Heads man and the super-producer, who gets a second mention here.
Apparently, it has gospel and electronic stylings, but you’ll have to judge this for yourself. Not getting a physical release, you can stream the album free from everythingthathappens.com to hear one of the best collaborations of the year, and one of the strongest albums Byrne has produced in a while.

Maybe the best thing from the album is the Songs of David Byrne and Brian Eno tour that is crisscrossing around the world as we speak, hitting the Sage, Gateshead next year. It is unfortunately without Eno, but features modern dancers and setlists ranging the 30 year career of Byrne, making it one not one to be missed

Summary
Honourable Mentions must go Duffy for Rockferry, with some of the years biggest singles from Wales’ newest hero, The Killers for another strong offering with Day & Age, The Feeling for producing more Queen-Supertramp infused pop with Join With Us and Guns’n’Roses for finally releasing Chinese Democracy, layered with guitar solos, each one out-doing the last. Over the Christmas break, why not indulge in what this year has offered in music? Happy listening!

Originally published in Palatinate Issue 702

2008 has been rather a good year for rock and popular music – new records from Oasis, Kings of Leon, The Raconteurs and Zutons, while some fantastic acts have broken though like MGMT, Glasvegas and The Ting Tings. MGMT seem to be quite well known in Durham and the student population but the world as a whole has not been enlightened their mix of psychedelic rock, while Glasvegas have brought a solid, simple and down to earth nature to rock music once more. However, The Ting Tings have brought something that seen for years in pop music – the male-female rock duo.

The Ting Tings are not everyone’s cup of tea – the brash, upfront attitude of lead singer and chief guitarist Katie White will ensure many potential punters will put their wallets away immediately. Simply mentioning the name in musical debates can split opinions. The drummer and other member of the band, Jules De Martino brings musical clarity to the band with some of the most powerful drumming seen in a while from an English album. Possibly the true musician behind the band, some crafty pedals provide more sounds you imagined impossible to hear from only two people. Their debut album We Started Nothing rocketed to the top of the charts in May this year and you would have a hard job missing their singles – Shut Up And Let Me Know, Great DJ and That’s Not My Name – the hits just keep on coming from a band only formed for two years. Apple also chose Shut Up and Let Me Go for one of their silhouette iPod adverts, joining the likes of U2 and Bob Dylan as the select few. Live, the Ting Tings are not as impressive. Their record sounds tight, clean and modern but this sound is not transfered live successfully, maybe a few experienced people would help to pad our their sound and provide a better experience to paying punters? Their performance at Radio 1’s Big Weekend demonstrated they have the essential skill of expanding and changing songs for a live performance but something was still lacking. While pondering this, I was watching a DVD featuring another band and the similarities between the two were stark. After some digging around on the iTunes Store and my music collection, I discovered who Ting Tings have taken a great inspiration from. A band who were in their prime twenty years ago – the Tom Tom Club.

The Tom Tom Club came from a slightly different background compared to their modern counterparts – formed as a splinter from the all conquering Talking Heads. Husband and wife rhythm duo Chris Franz and Tina Weymouth admitted they needed something else to bring money to feed their family, as Talking Heads were still a niche band and their songwriting input was limited. Teaming up with some top session players of the day that support the Heads live, their self titled debut album was more successful than the Talking Heads release from that year. With hit singles Wordy Rappinghood and Genius of Love, they took the pop sensibilities of their other band with a 80s synth-pop infusion and some funk thrown in for good measure. The Tom Tom Club made an appearance in the groundbreaking concert film Stop Making Sense, treating the audience to a fantastic live version of Genius of Love. The Ting Tings should take a look at the movie, often described as “the Citizen Kane of concert films” for advice on giving the audience the greatest show on earth.

The similarities between the bands are numerous – both have a male drummer that provides a huge portion of their sound, both consist of a male-female duo that are the songwriting honchos behind the name, both make use of keyboards to pad out their sound (although the Tom Tom Club may have taken this a bit too far), both have a woman lead singer and guitarist, both were very successful in their own time, both infused pop with a mixture of rock and funk, both have slightly aggressive lead singers and on a more trivial note, they have a similar name.
Unfortunately, the story of the Tom Tom Club didn’t last long. After their first album, Chris and Tina blended back into Talking Heads which would go on to become one of America’s biggest bands of the decade and subsequent releases from their side project have gone unnoticed, apart from the usual die hard fans. Occasionally, they continue to perform the occasional live show, mostly in a America but have been spotted in the UK and Europe in recent years.

Whether the Ting Tings will go the same way as the Tom Tom Club is yet to be seen – their appeal is broad but will the restrictive nature of this uniqueness become their downfall? Can the aggressive Katie write another album of rocking pop songs? Will Jules support her with his drum kit and fancy pedals? Will they be able to evolve their sound, something the Tom Tom Club didn’t do? Either way, both bands have made a significant contribution to the history of popular music.

If you enjoyed making some shapes to That’s Not My Name in Studio recently, why not take a look at something similar that was lost in the pages but provides a great listen?

Originally published in Palatinate Issue 699