It Must Be Love

 

Cover version of the month #95 
Madness cover Labi Siffre

One of Scotland's most beloved musicians is Bobby Bluebell of The Bluebells. I really enjoy following Bobby on X/Twitter where he regularly posts about his love of music, political beliefs (right on!), Celtic and Glasgow sunsets. 

Towards the end of 2023, Bobby retweeted a black and white video, stating that this was a performance by 'the most overlooked British songwriter ever'.

Naturally, I had to check it out! Who was it? What was the song?

I was surprised to find that it was a performance of the song It Must Be Love and the original tweet stated; December 11th 1971, this little piece of magic was climbing the charts at no.17.

Hang on a second! Isn't It Must Be Love a Madness song?! 1971?!?! 

Well, It Must Be Love is yet another example of me thinking a cover was an original. Labi Siffre is the artist that Bobby was proclaiming to be the most overlooked British songwriter ever.

Siffre released It Must Be Love as a single in 1971 (peaking at 14 in the charts in January 1972) and then on his 1972 album Crying, Laughing, Loving, Lying. Madness released their version 10-years after the original in late-1981. Siffre makes a cameo appearance as a violin player in typically brilliant Madness video.

It's pretty easy to hear why Madness were attracted to the song. And after listening to a couple of Siffre's albums, it's clear to hear why Bobby declared Siffre the most overlooked British songwriter ever.

Siffre's melody and song are immediately captivating. The song starts with a countdown into a kind of skiffle groove with that incredible vocal melody over the top. Siffre is heartbroken, pining for a lost love and recognising how much he needs her. It's the classic - don't know what you've got 'til it's gone song!

I never thought I'd miss you

Half as much as I do

And I never thought I'd feel this way

The way I feel

About you

A gentle beat and horns come in for the bridge which underlines how much Siffre has woken up and recognised how head over heels he was. The chorus is simple and extremely effective

It must be love, love, love

It must be love, love, love

Nothing more, nothing less

Love is the best

There is another short verse, bridge, chorus, bridge and chorus. That's it. Siffre keeps it beautifully simple. he is never rushed, just hits the sweet spot and flows. There is a lovely freshness to the song.

Madness take Siffre's melody and just put their own unique stamp on it. Piano replaces the skiffle riff, Suggs accent is quintessentially English and the video is quite poppy - white room with the band predominantly in black, saxaphone and guitar solos in a swimming pool. And Suggs (at least going by the start of the video) is singing to someone who has died. 

Madness don't really stray too far from the original ... yet they don't really appear to have ever truly highlight that they didn't actually write the song.

I guess you could say they made it their own ... Their version definitely stands out and is very memorable, but having now discovered the original, I definitely prefer it.

Labi Siffre - Top of the Pops

Madness (official video)

Siffre's original and the Madness cover version are added to my Everything Flows Cool Cover Versions playlist on Spotify which also features all of the songs below. Search for the title or CLICK HERE

Previous covers of the month blogs

1. You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin' 

2. Going Back To My Roots

3. Nirvana play The Vaselines

4. Slip Inside This House

5. Top 10 covers by Teenage Fanclub

6. Only Love Can Break Your Heart

7. Time For Livin' 

8. Sound and Vision 

9. All Along The Watchtower

10. I Am The Walrus 

11. Guiding Star

12. You’ll Never Walk Alone

13. Hurt

14. This Guy's In Love With You

15. I Wish I Never Saw The Sunshine

16. California Soul

18. Wonder wall 

19. Dancing In The Dark

20. Always On My Mind

21. Ceremony

22. Heroes

23. Different Drum

24. Wild Horses

25. Respect

26. Mr Tambourine Man

27. I Heard It Through The Grapevine

28. Superstar

29. Twist and Shout

30. Purple Rain

31. Baker Street

32. Not Fade Away

33. Stop Your Sobbing

34. I Don't Want To Grow Up

35. Serious Drugs

36. Dancing With Myself

37. How Does It Feel To Feel?

38. Love Buzz

39. ABBA-esque
40. Jumpin' Jack Flash

41. Discoland

42. Varshons 2 by The Lemonheads

43. The Langley Schools Music Project
44. Witchi Tai To
45. Our Lips Are Sealed
46. Sunshine Of Your Love
47. Here Comes The Sun
48. I Think We're Alone Now
49. Don't Let Me Down 
50. It's Oh So Quiet
51. Alcoholiday 
52. Summer Holiday
53. Who Do You Think You Are?
54. Head On
55. Nothing Compares 2 U

56. Hey Jude

57. Seven Days Too Long

58. L.O.V.E Love

59. Into Your Arms

60. Heart Of Glass

61. Take Me To The River

62. We Can Work It Out 

63. Talking In My Sleep

64. Lola

65. Lost In Music

66. My Little Red Book

67. Isn't It A Pity

68. Walk On By

69. Walk Away Renee

70. Tainted Love

71. Girls Just Wanna Have Fun

72. Listen The Snow Is Falling

73. Mrs Robinson

74. He's Gonna Step On You Again

75. In My Life

76. Caravan Of Love

77. The Only Way Is Up

78. Dancin' Round & Round

79. With A Little Help From My Friends

80. Killing Me Softly

81. Ain't No Mountain High Enough

82. Drop

83. Sittin' On The Dock Of The Bay

84. Sympathy For The Devil

85. I Bet That You Look Good On The Dancefloor

86. Love Will Tear Us Apart

87. Indian Rope Man + bonus Strawberry Fields Forever + This Wheels On Fire

88. Can't Take My Eyes Off Of You

89. Love The One You're With

90. Cum On Feel The Noize

91. Addicted To Love

92. Valerie

93. Ride On Time

94. Let's Dance

Podcast launch episode 1 - Bobby Bluebell interview

 I have recorded a few podcasts over the years. You'll find 5 of them on mixcloud, including an interview with Duglas T Stewart to celebrate the 30th anniversary of BMX Bandits.

Over the last year I've really enjoyed a number of zoom calls with fellow music fans and on a couple of occasions I had the thought 'this would make a good podcast'.

Yet I never did anything about it until I received an email from Bobby Bluebell. I had emailed Bobby some questions with the intention of writing a feature blog on the reissue of The Bluebells Sisters album on the Past Night From Glasgow label.

Bobby replied but he had recorded his answers rather than type them out. I thoroughly enjoyed listening to Bobby talk really openly, warmly and passionately about music; from fanzine culture, imaginary bands that he made up that led to him writing a song, the formation of The Bluebells, the Glasgow music scene, writing and future plans.

So because I enjoyed it and because I thought 'this is going to take ages to transcribe!' I asked Bobby if I could turn it into a podcast. I still intend to finish my blog on Sisters!

I now intend to record bi-monthly podcasts with fellow music fans, bands, artists, managers, promoters, DJ's ... the podcast will be people who love music, talking about music. It's kind of Bobby Bluebells fault!

My podcast site is HERE and on Spotify 

Here is a little bit more about episode 1.

The Bluebells, Bobby second from left

For many, many years I would see someone cutting about Glasgow with unruly curly hair, big thick cool glasses, a duffel coat (quite regularly) and turn up jeans. I would see this guy at loads of gigs.

Eventually we met when my friend Stephen Watt held a launch party for his book MCSTAPE and it finally dawned on me that this was Bobby Bluebell from The Bluebells.

We'd messaged each other on Twitter a few times about music and Oriel Records, but I didn't know what he currently looked like! 

Bobby was open, energetic and very friendly, qualities I'm sure that most people that have had the pleasure of his company would highlight if asked about him.

Last year I was delighted to finally hear The Bluebells Sisters album when it was lovingly reissued on Past Night From Glasgow and I was really hoping that I'd see The Bluebells play in my hometown of Uddingston at the second annual music festival that was scheduled for September. 

I'm writing a blog on Sisters. It's taken longer than anticipated as I wanted to live with the album for a bit before writing about it. 

To accompany my review of Sisters, I asked Bobby if I could interview him. Upon sending through a few questions, Bobby replied with an audio recording that I intended to transcribe into a blog.

However, I think it is lovely to hear directly from Bobby himself, 

Early gigs, hanging out at clubs and gigs in Glasgow, friendships, the reissue of Sisters, gigs and new Bluebells material?

1. How did The Bluebells form as a band?

2. Was there an early song that you wrote and performed when you thought 'yeah we have something'?

3. Were you intentionally working towards an album (that became Sisters)? You had released a number of singles and an EP beforehand.

4. What was the Glasgow scene like for you back then? Who did you admire and who did you hang out with?

5) What was it like being in The Bluebells back in the 80's? You seemed to just get on with everyone (which still seems to be the case). How did you get on when you ventured south?

6) How much have you enjoyed the remastering and reissue process? What memories did it bring back?

7) When was the last time you had listened to the album before the reissue process started?

8) What do you think of the album now?

9) What do you think of the current Glasgow scene? You and some of your contemporaries like Stephen Pastel are still very active and encouraging of new artists.

10) Do you hope to take the album on tour post lockdown/restrictions?

11) Will The Bluebells write and release new material?

SEARCH FOR BOBBY BLUEBELL INTERVIEW ON SPOTIFY OR CLICK HERE