Named after the debut single by Teenage Fanclub.
This blog is all about being a music lover in Glasgow; reviews, interviews, memories, old faves, new discoveries (past and present), playlists and more. Thanks for visiting - I hope you discover something amazing you have never heard before, or that you rediscover an old favourite.
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Showing posts with label T in the Park 1995. Show all posts
Showing posts with label T in the Park 1995. Show all posts
Trust me #102 Just When You're Thinkin' Things Over by The Charlatans
Released on August 7th 1995, just as the country was getting fixated with the Blur v Oasis Battle of Britpop, The Charlatans released the infinitely cooler and superior Just When You're Thinkin' Things Over , showcasing a loose, groove-infused sound reminiscent of Exile On Main Street-era Rolling Stones.
For me, this was the sound of summer sun. At T in the Park the previous month, the band had kicked up a dust storm as they played in baking hot sunshine, with this song sounding particularly sweet and soulful.
Check the TV footage that someone has thankfully uploaded to YouTube. Burgess and co are playing a blinder, finding a real dirty groove to ride at the end. My brother and I were right down the front and it was immense.
The Charlatans were in a deeply rich period of creativity during the mid-90's that saw them release 3 incredible albums and 10 singles within 4-years.
1994 – Up To Our Hips
Can’t Get Out of Bed – January 1994 / I Never Want an Easy Life If Me and He Were Ever to Get There – April 1994 / Jesus Hairdo – August 1994
1995 – The Charlatans
Crashin’ In – Boxing Day 1994 / Just Lookin’ / Bullet Comes” (double A-side) – May 1995 / Just When You’re Thinkin’ Things Over – August 1995
1997 – Tellin’ Stories
One to Another – August 1996 / North Country Boy – March 1997 / How High – May 1997 / Tellin’ Stories – September 1997
Just When You're Thinkin' Things Over begins in the groove. Acoustic guitar and piano sounding like they were made for each other. Burgess comes in with an infectious top line melody, instantly recognisable, immediately memorable. By 40-seconds he's into the chorus that includes the beautiful line you look good when your heart is on fire.
I'm coming home
You look good when your heart is on fire
It's a matter of taste yeah!
Mark Collins introduces a piercing guitar solo after the second chorus and at 2-minutes 30 the song bursts further into life with Burgess singing to an old friend/flame?
Right now, where do you come from
Kick up, yeah go find your love
I ain't knocking on your door
Things slow down to the acoustic groove, before piano and beats come back in and it all sounds beautifully simple, easy and natural.
and all your friends seem disappointed
'cause they're not your friends now
Tim and the band are in full flight as they fly to the end, finding the kind of groove they could ride for hours. I wonder if there is an old demo of them just playing on and on.
What a song, what a band ... I can't wait to see them again in The Barrowland Ballroom this December.
Just When You're Thinkin' Things Over is added to my Trust Me playlist; search for Everything Flows - Trust Me on Spotify or CLICK HERE. Check below for all previous blogs in my Trust Me series.
I've reminisced about the blisteringly hot summer of 1995 on a few occasions over the last month or two.
T in the Park absolutely baked and I remember a dust storm when Black Grape and The Charlatans played the main stage. There was a lot of excellent music around to soundtrack the time and later that month The Charlatans would release their eponymous album.
The Charlatans - T in the Park 1995
The band had barely paused for breath, the LP was released only 17-months after Up To Our Hips and with the run of singles off both albums, it seemed pretty seamless. That is something The Charlatans have always had, particularly through the glorious 90's - consistency. Quality and quantity.
The Charlatans was originally going to be called The First Shag In Ages! Which would of course have been an excellent title, but on reflection, the eponymous title is a definitely more classy!
Lets revisit the album, a melting pot of songs, grooves & jams. The Charlatans have always had a lovely sense of looseness about their work, but on this album in particular, it's showcased in a beautifully raw way, more so than anything before or since.
Nine Acre Court opens the album and there is a groove and urgency to the track that the band really had in 1995. I always remember the band opening their Knebworth set with this song. Emotions were running high on stage and off.
They take it up a notch with Feelin' Holy. Tim Burgess lays the band's drug intake bare in his Tellin' Stories autobiography and there is no doubt what he is on about here. The band gel superbly on this LP, there is a raw live feel to much of the album and a sense of energy, purpose & belief.
One drop, can make you feel how I love
One sweet buzz, can make you feel how I feel
Feeling holy, hello bellow me
Just Lookin' has a super cool vibe to it, the band know they are on form - you can feel it and you can see it in the video and footage from their appearance on Later with Jools. It's super loose, the band are locked in a groove and Burgess sounds fantastic. I love when the beat cuts out allowing him to sing;
I bet you talk about freedom
Then throw it to the sea
You better smile on for my sweet dreamer
You'll never shake it away from me
The closing 45-seconds capture The Charlatans at their best, Jon Brookes gives things an added kick, Mark Collins is in the zone - lovely!
Crashin' In is simply sublime. The sound of a band smashing it. This is one of my all time favourite Charlatans songs and my favourite ever TV performance by the band was them tearing through it on The White Room. Just look at Tim looking on in admiration at his band and Jon Brookes on drums in particular. They are on fire. Did I mention Mark Collins being in the zone? He's all over this album, guitars pushed to the fore.
Then the classic Charlatans hammond sound takes over for Bullet Comes, the beats are heavy, Burgess starts with a whisper, building to ask what you gonna do when the bullet comes round? And then giving the advice to live it like you love it
It's a great groove. When I look back to this era and this year, The Charlatans were capturing a loose live sound on record like no other band at the time. At 3 minutes 28 seconds you can hear Burgess mumbling something, which makes me think this was captured live. The last 90-seconds are the sound of the band lost in music and Burgess urging live it like you love it.
Talking of grooves, Here Comes a Soul Saver rides in on one, Burgess sounds sweet, the organ is just sublime, everything gels beautifully for the instrumental and then Tim comes back in it's the sunshine of your life, can you feel it when it's right?
The loose Stones-y sunshine vibe of Just When You're Thinkin' Things Over sounds just as fresh today as it did back in 1995. You look good when you're heart is on fire, it's a matter of taste yeah! is one of my favourite Charlatans lyrics. There is plenty of time over the 5-minutes for the band to groove, the first instrumental starts quite slow and then builds with Mark Collins really fizzing on guitar, building it up and then letting it fall back into the shuffling Stones-y riff & rhythm. The last minute is the band in full flight.
From Stones-y to stoned. Tell Everyone has a lush, dreamy, slow & stoned feel to it. Toothache is a dirty, loose n raw jam with such a menacing groove that it attracted a remix by The Chemical Brothers, who released their debut album Exit Planet Dust in that glorious summer of 1995. Then we're into No Fiction, The Charlatans are totally on it.
A sense of escapism comes across on See It Through, it takes a while to get going, and then there is a flowing vocal melody underpinned by Rob Collins on hammond.
I want to free all the monkeys
Don't want to live in the zoo
Thank You closes the album, a funky psychedelic instrumental, save for Burgess saying a few words, beginning by saying thank you, as if talking to fans.
I've really enjoyed revisiting the album and hope you do too.
A great little documentary came out on the band via Granada as they were recording the album. Check it out below.
I'm really looking forward to Kylie at Glastonbury this Sunday with her hit packed set due to be broadcast live on BBC1. Oh to be there as Kylie takes a sun soaked crowd on a glorious pop journey through her greatest hits. Her new Step Back In Time collection is out today.
Kylie is a pop princess who I grew up with, from Neighbours, through the Stock, Aitken and Waterman years, indie Kylie, duets with Nick Cave, the second coming in the 00's, several heartbreaks, cancer and becoming a national treasure.
Kylie at T in the Park in 1995 was a dream. I was determined to get to the front of the stage and ducked and dived through the crowd, looking round to find I was leading a conga with one guy saying 'we're following you wee man, keep going'. I still regret not buying a Kylie Kat t-shirt in the style of the Kit Kat logo.
The second time I caught Kylie I was in the second row of the SECC Armadillo. What a night that was! My friend Phil and I spent the afternoon in McChuills and jumped a cab. We sang and danced our hearts out. This was post Spinning Around and Kylie was on the way back up after some years in the wilderness. Gold hot pants that Kylie bought in a charity shop became a national talking point!
The third and final time I caught Kylie was in the SECC and again I was right down the front losing it to her pure pop perfection. What a show she put on!
Of course I fancied Kylie, I still do.I love her songs, I love her attitude, her performances and her personality. I think she will be incredible at Glastonbury.
Here are my top 10 favourite Kylie songs
1. Better The Devil You Know
Pure euphoric pop. Hi NRG with Kylie smouldering in a thin black dress. I love Kylie's hair in this one - stunning. I used to play this song when I DJ'd and by the end I would turn the chorus down to hear the crowd singing. Even if it was the first time people had heard it they would be singing along. The power of pop. Pure pop perfection.
2. Spinning Around
This was a kind of comeback single. Kylie hadn't featured in the UK top 10 since 1994's Confide In Me before the release of this incredible pop gem in the summer of 2000. It was everywhere; Kylie was back, Kylie was everywhere and the world seemed like a brighter and happier place.
3. All The Lovers
Dance, it's all I wanna do, so won't you dance?
What a line to open a song and then you have the chorus;
All the lovers that have gone before, they don't compare to you
How would you feel if Kylie sang that to you?!
It's 2010 and this is a different Kylie; more mature, assured, giving advice rather than doubting herself. The song takes off with a glorious synth solo, the video has Kylie crowdsurfing on top of underwear clad models in downtown LA, sounding breathless, sexy, in control.
4. I Believe In You
A co-write with Jake Shears from the Scissor Sisters (apparently there is a long lost album of co-writes) this is stunning pop that flows superbly, lifting for the chorus. The synths bubble into action and as the beat kicks in. Pop perfection.
I don't believe I'd love somebody just to pass the time
I, I, I believe in you
5. Love At First Sight
Released in 2002, Kylie was riding high on a run of sensational pop singles that started with Spinning Around and took in Kids with Robbie Williams, Can't Get You Out Of My Head and In Your Eyes.
Kylie bopps about in the video, looking sensational. The song grabs you instantly and takes off into Donna Summer at times. It's Kylie pop brilliance.
6. Can't Get You Out Of My Head
WHAT. A. TUNE! Written by pop genius Cathy Dennis, Can't Get You Out Of My Head is an earworm that you can't get rid of. It is a pretty simple song, but it's hook heavy and the hooks are rammed home.
2000 TO 2002 was peak Kylie for me, a pop princess was crowned during this iconic performance at the Brits when the song was mashed with New Order's Blue Monday. CLASS!
7. Some Kind Of Bliss
A co-write with the Manic St Preachers, this single only reached number 27, incredibly low for Kylie, but I love it. It's indie Kylie, it's refreshing that guitars are to the fore and synths are banished, with key strings underpinning the chorus. And Kylie sound very fresh, natural and it is clear that she is enjoying singing it. Another fave Kylie hairstyle of mine.
8. What Do I Have To Do?
Catchy, cheeky, hi energy pop, this comes during the first of Kylie's two current career peaks (in my opinion). Released in 1991, it was the 3rd single in a glorious run of Better The Devil You Know, Step Back In Time, What Do I Have To Do? and Shocked. The Stock, Aitken and Waterman glory years!
Kylie looks fantastic, smouldering on a throne like chair in a blonde wig, tearing up the dancefloor in as a brunette pixie and looking fresh in a pool. The chorus takes a minute to kick in but when it does it is absolutely HUGE and it is repeated for good measure.
What do I have to do to get the message through
How can I prove I really love you
9. Put Yourself In My Place
It would be easy to place Step Back In Time or Shocked in my top 10, but I'm going for Put Yourself In My Place from 1994. It's a different side to Kylie and I love the way her voice soars when the chorus comes in with the line you know the circle will come around
Kylie had left the Stock, Aitken and Waterman stable that had brought her so much success and signed with indie label DeConstruction. Kylie was now working with the likes of M-People and Brothers in Rythm to widen her artistic credentials.
The video is pretty incredible! Inspired by Barbarella, Minogue floats around in a spaceship shedding her clothes. As an 18-year old this blew my mind!
10. I Should Be So Lucky
It is pure unadulterated pop, simple, catchy and you find yourself singing on first listen ... on every listen. Minogue dancing through her living room and into the bath captivated the world, but the video needed the song with it. What a song; imagination, dreams coming true, lucky in love ....
