Named after the debut single by Teenage Fanclub.
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This blog is all about being a music lover in Glasgow; reviews, interviews, memories, old faves, new discoveries (past & present) and more. Thanks for visiting - I hope you discover something amazing you have never heard before, or that you rediscover an old favourite.
Regular features/playlists; Never Ending Mixtape / Cover Version of the Month/ Trust Me.
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Gene Clark departed The Byrds in 1966 after a whirlwind period of recording, releasing, and touring. In just a few years, the band had blazed a trail—three albums, a string of hits (including two number-one singles), and pioneering sounds that reshaped the landscape of guitar music. From the chiming 12-string perfection of Mr. Tambourine Man and Turn, Turn, Turn to the psychedelic folk-jazz brilliance of Eight Miles High, The Byrds (pardon the pun) were in full flight.
Clark was at the heart of it all, including penning the pure adrenaline rush ofI’ll Feel a Whole Lot Better—one of favourite songs by The Byrds. Gene, as well as writing songs, playing guitar and singing, was effortlessly cool with a tambourine in hand.
The Byrds had soared, but what goes up must come down. With a lineup brimming with talent and strong-willed songwriters, creative tensions were inevitable. Clashes ensued, departures followed. Clark was the first to leave, with David Crosby not far behind.
Clark didn't hang around, releasing his debut album Gene Clark With The Gosdin Brothers (later reissued as Echoes) in January 1967. Clark wrote 8 songs and co-wrote another couple.
One of those songs was So You Say You Lost Your Baby, 2-minutes 7 seconds of utter bliss. In that short time there is driving rhythms, beautiful orchestration, a dreamy melancholic melody and emotional vocals, mixed effortlessly with stunning harmonies.
Riding in on an electric guitar riff that sends tingles down your spine, So You Say You Lost Your Baby is performed, arranged and produced absolutely perfectly. Strings float in behind Gene Clark as he begins to sing;
Well you're smolderin' with fly words
Catch the moment on the run
The Gosdin Brothers harmonise effortlessly;
And you stand inside your wind stilts
Watch the sentence act begun
There's a brief pause before a gorgeous little lift in the strings after the second verse and chorus, Clark and the Gosdin Brothers sound sublime together, the beat drives things to conclusion
So you say you lost you're baby
Do you know that you're the one?
Almost 40-years down the line, Death in Vegas, Richard Fearless and Tim Holmes, were forging a reputation for fantastic taste in music, production and ambition. Psychedelia was in their hearts; taste, knowledge and appreciation of great songs from 60's, mixed and matched with passion for electronic music and all the possibilities it brought.
2003's Scorpio Rising album saw them collaborate with Liam Gallagher on a sprawling title track, Hope Sandoval on the heart melting Killing Smile, Dot Allison on the dreamy wonder Diving Horses and Paul Weller on their version of So You Say You Lost Your Baby.
That Death in Vegas stay very true to Clark's original is testament to the band and Weller's love and affection for the song. The main difference is probably the fact that Weller is singing on his own with no harmonies. Death in Vegas also play a little with the aforementioned string lift after the second verse and chorus. Weller's voice, as I witnessed first hand at the Barrowland last November, is exceptionally strong, perfect for this slice of psychedelic pop.
Noel Gallagher was so taken with the album that he approached Death in Vegas to produce Don't Believe The Truth. The sessions collapsed after 3-4 weeks with Gallagher reflecting that Fearless and Holmes were trying to polish a turd. An honest assessment. If the songs had been up with Gallagher's best then it is tantalising to think of the string arrangements and effects that DiV could have introduced. But that's potentially another blog for another time.
The Gene Clark original and the cover by Death in Vegas and Paul Weller of So You Say You Lost Your Babyare added to my Everything Flows Cool Cover Versions playlist on Spotify which also features all of the songs listed below. Search for the title or CLICK HERE
Paul Weller rocked into Glasgow for a couple of nights at the Barrowland Ballroom. Reports from his show at Dundee Caird Hall on the Sunday night were unanimously rapturous. Friends who went to the Monday night at the Barrowland agreed and assured me I was in for a real treat.
How right they were!
The Barrowland Ballroom was awash with anticipation, Weller haircuts, Fred Perry polos, Harrington jackets, desert boots and boxfresh Adidas. Punks, skinheads, mods, Britpop kids, parents with their kids ... Weller united people from all walks of life last night.
Weller bounded on to the stage at 8.45pm sharp and after a warm welcome he warned us that he had a lot of songs to get through. He wasn't wrong! With his crack band, Weller blitzed the Barrowland with a 26-song set over 2-hours, only paused to change guitars (very quickly thanks to a top class roadie/guitar tech) or walk over to his keyboard.
Looking suitably sharp, fit, energetic and healthy, Weller's voice was rich and soulful, his guitar playing was exceptional and his band were as good as any I have seen.
Paul Weller has been releasing music since April 1977 when he brought In The City out with his seminal mod/punk/new wave band The Jam. The Modfather shows no signs of slowing down with his latest album 66 being his 13th solo album this century, his 17th overall. In addition, Weller released 6 studio albums with The Jam and 5 with The Style Council - quite the catalogue.
With his discography, status and fanbase, Weller is at the age and stage in life where he can pick and choose where he wants to play, when and what he wants to release. He could play larger venues than the Caird Hall in Dundee or the the Barrowland Ballroom, but Weller and his crack band thrive on relatively intimate shows where they can see the whites of their audiences eyes.
Steve Cradock, in almost obligatory shades, was sensational on guitar, while Weller had 2 drummers driving the beats and percussion, bass, horns and keys to assist with his delivery of songs from across his catalogue.
I can't confess to being up to date with Weller's output, but every single song was excellent. I have to confess to being a little confused about how to capture how good this show was .... I am just going to spew my thoughts out ...... here goes!
Song wise, there was plenty from Weller's impeccable 'comeback' in the 90's, the era I discovered him as a teenager and still the period of his career I enjoy the most. We had sprinkles from his eponymous debut solo album; a dreamy Above The Clouds relatively early on, the band easing effortlessly into the stoned soul groove, the crowd helping with backing vocals. Later on there was a charged Into Tomorrow.
From Wild Wood we had the pastoral title track, impassioned All The Pictures On The Wall, acoustic and electric guitars sounding sublime. Hung Up is one of my favourite Weller solo songs and it sounded truly impeccable at the Barrowland. It's a gem!
Stanley Road was released in 1995, almost 20-years after Weller's debut with The Jam. There can't have been many artists through history that have released albums of this quality so far into their career!
The title track, a gorgeous Broken Stones, an outstanding Out Of The Sinking (one of my favourites from the set), an electric Changing Man into Porcelain Gods with a dash of I Walk on Gilded Splinters and the sheer beauty of You Do Something To Me.
Will Weller play some Stanley Road 30th anniversary shows in 2025? Tickets would be snapped up!
I'd have been pretty happy with that set, but there was so much more!
'You might not know this one, but I'm gonna f**king play it anyway' was how Weller introduced Fat Pop, while he opened the show with Cosmic Fringes followed by That Pleasure from the same album. The former was a superb choice to set the energy for the entire show.
Shout From The Top from The Style Council years was another real highlight, a total crowd pleaser, a joyful soul stomp. My Ever Changing Moods was dropped early, swiftly followed by Have You Ever Had It Blue?
As for The Jam, Start! was funky and cool, played halfway through the set, Weller was on fire by this point. The song lifted the crowd and the band responded.
The night ended with a romp through That's Entertainment with Weller spitting out the lyrics and then a blast through Town Called Malice with the Barrowland jumping.
As I said at the Start!
What a show! What a night!
I'll add - what an artist! What a songwriter! What a voice! What a band!
Song of the year - Love and Hate in a Different Time by Gabriels
Earlier on in 2021 Paul Weller curated a mix CD titled Into Tomorrow for Mojo magazine. One of the songs wasLove and Hate in a Different Time by an artist called Gabriels. It stood out a mile and I played it a lot in the car.
But ... I never checked up on the artist. I just assumed that it was an old soul cut from the late 60's or early 70's, an era that Weller is passionate and knowledgeable about.
In late September sunshine I was driving my Mum and sister to North Berwick and I had the CD on. My sisters ears pricked up as Gabriels played.
WHAT IS THAT?!
Oh it's a song on a Paul Weller compilation, brilliant isn't it?
WHO IS IT?
Emmmm can't remember, the CD cover is in our kitchen!
On the way back we played the song again and Carla sent me a message to remind me to check the song and artist when I got into our kitchen. I did and Carla checked up on Gabriels.
IT WAS RELEASED THIS YEAR! THE EP IS AMAZING
Carla tends to send messages in block capitals when excited!
And then a couple of months later.
GABRIELS IS PLAYING KING TUTS IN APRIL ... CAN YOU GET US TICKETS?!
I could and I did. By this point Love and Hate in a Different Time was our song of the year. The gig is SOLD OUT. Check this dreamy live performance.
Gabriels is singer Jacob Lusk with producers Ryan Hope and Ari Balouzian. The trio release Loyalty (feat. Ashley Sade) as their debut single in 2018, a slow burning soulful confessional gem, beautifully structured and delivered.
There was a gap of two years to 2020's In Loving Memory, another ballad. Lusk's voice is stunning, whispering his story, the backing vocals are exquisite, the finger snaps really SNAP. The production is sublime.
Love and Hate in a Different Time was released in June this year as an EP, also including the songs Professional, In Loving Memory and their debut single Loyalty.
As mentioned, the title track simply blew me away; the lyrics, arrangement, playing, voice and production. The use of backing vocals, strings, handclaps, effects .... Love and Hate in a Different Time is ridiculously good. Classic, timeless, pure, beautiful, sublime ...
We lost it in the fire
Love and hate in a different time
We lost it in the fire
What I did to make you mine
Professional is gorgeously swoony and dreamy, Lusk's voice is simply heaven sent and again, the strings and arrangement are just incredible. So beautiful. Lusk is backed by fellow angels as the song takes a gentle but lovely twist.
You were supposed to protect me baby
You were supposed to love me
Bloodline, released on 3rd December, is the second EP of the year for Gabriels. The songs continue to display vast riches in terms of writing, performance, vocals, arrangements and production.
Innocence is moody, dark and atmospheric. Stark at times, beautiful strings offer glimmers of hope at others. Lusk sounds wounded, singing ain't love a hypocrite? when he sounds like he already knows the answer.
Lusk sounds more hopeful Blame, but he also sings of being lost and asking who will catch him when he falls down.
Can't be a slave if I'm already free
Can't be a captive if it's where I wanna be
The highest compliment I can pay Gabriels is that they sound like nothing else going on (that I have heard) at present. It's just sublime
Stranger is quite outstanding. Again, just dripping with soul, aching with hurt, the instrumentation, the arrangements - utter genus. Just before 2-minutes the melody begins to flow...
I wish I would've told you
We had something I never had
I wish that I could hold you
I f**ked up and can't take it back
Lusk goes on to realise now we're just strangers, two distant strangers, you're just a stranger.
Dreamy strings usher in Bloodline, there is an old 50's jazz style feeling to the song - vocals and instrumentation. Lusk tells a story of his ancestors, his bloodline, getting poetic by urging people to speak bravely, speak truly, do it with all of your heart. Imploring keep rising, keep shining, 'til the ocean meets the stars, ending by saying don't let it destroy you
Links to all the songs I have previously featured in my Trust Me series are listed below.
And you can check them all via my Trust Me playlist on Spotify by CLICKING HERE or searching for Everything Flows Trust Me.
Thanks for visiting my blog and the most recent additions to my Never Ending Mixtape on Spotify, now sitting at 1,346 songs, 89 hours and 31 minutes of music.
Dig into a couple of Beatles classics and marvel at McCartney's driving and flowing Paperback Writer. I recently discovered Weller's beautiful Instrumental Pt 1 and rediscovered Say Something by James. Elsewhere we have euphoric pop by Belinda Carlisle, stunning soul from Baby Huey and also from The Fantastic Four and incredible guitar pop from The Bluebells and from Echo and the Bunnymen. And much, much more including a gem I just discovered by Candi Staton.
Search for Everything Flows Never Ending Mixtape or click below where you'll also find a list of the latest additions. Dig in and enjoy.
Paperback Writer - The Beatles
Instrumental Pt 1 - Paul Weller
Say Something - James
Day Tripper - The Beatles
Ike's Mood 1 - Isaac Hayes
Caught In The Middle - Cerys Matthews
Heaven Is A Place On Earth - Belinda Carlisle
California Dreamin' - Baby Huey and the Baby Sitters
Mighty Mighty - Baby Huey and the Baby Sitters
What Becomes Of The Brokenhearted? - The Fantastic Four
I Touch Myself - Scala and Kolacny Brothers
I Can Change - LCD Soundsystem
Circling The Sun - Jonny
It Helped - Yakima
The Ship Song - Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
I'm On Fire - Bruce Springsteen
Why Does It Always Rain On Me? - Travis
Driftwood - Travis
Writing To Reach You - Travis
All of the Time - Alex Chilton
Can't Seem To Make You Mine - The Seeds
Blue Moon - Big Star
Fortunate Son - Creedence Clearwater Revival
I Heard It Through The Grapevine - Creedence Clearwater Revival
Medicated Goo - P.P. Arnold
Standing By Love - Eula Cooper
Hallelujah Anyway (Larse Vocal) - Candi Staton
We've Gotta Find A Way Back To Love - Freda Payne
Everybody's Somebody's Fool - The Bluebells
Seven Seas - Echo and the Bunnymen
The Charlatans have swiftly followed up their excellent and well received Modern Nature album, which contained some career highlights, with Different Days - the bands 13th studio album. And I am delighted to report it's a cracker! There is a great feel across the whole album, a sense of freedom, of confidence, of fun....the production is fresh and flowing. Co-produced by the band and Jim Spencer at the bands studio in Cheshire.
That sense of confidence and freedom is enhanced by the guests The Charlatans invited to participate - Johnny Marr, Paul Weller, Ian Rankin, Stephen Morris, Pete Salisbury, Anton Newcombe, Sharon Logan, Kurt Wagner and Nik Void.
The Charlatans are the band that keep giving; restless, relentless, innovative and constantly developing. In addition to the 13 studio albums, there have been live albums, remixes, EP's, compilations.... not to mention Tim Burgess' solo efforts. Are they the most prolific British band over the last (near) 30-years?
Tim is singing better than ever and as this blog has mentioned before, he has embraced social media (and the change in the record industry) with an energy and understanding that other artists should look to for inspiration.
The Charlatans launched Different Days with a ..... different day. Taking over Oldham Street in Manchester's super cool Northern Quarter. There was Tim Peaks Coffee, their own beer, items donated to Oxfam, a signing in Piccadilly Records and much, much more. Check this short documentary film.
Fear not, the band return to the traditional promo model with a UK tour at the end of the year, including a date at the O2 Academy on Monday 4th December. Shame it's not the Barrowland, next time!
On to the album;
Bathe in the sunlight
Is everything alright?
Hey Sunrise ushers us into Different Days in a beautiful warm manner; acoustic guitar, piano and a hushed Tim vocal and then it all lifts gloriously in that special Charlatans punch the air, euphoric, feel good style. Written at 5am, hence the hook;
It's beginning to look like it's light
It's beginning to look like it's quite bright
The Charlatans are a band who always look for solutions to challenges, they are glass half full, so Solutions is a great song title for them. Described by Tim on Twitter as 'Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young meets Neu!'
Always running out of time
Building a dream out of reality
You would expect the title track to be good.....and it is. A Japanese introduction leads to a beautiful melody (vocally and piano).
Future Tense is a clever bridge from Different Days into Plastic Machinery, continuing the melody and with a spoken word by Ian Rankin that leads into a burst of pure Charlatans pop.
Plastic Machinery was the lead single for the album and it was the right choice. The band sound fresh, vital, urgent.... Johnny Marr on guitar.
I too feel part of the machinery
I know it's hard to be accepted
Our life is just like a dream to me
At times it's good to be rejected So let's just run, even if only in our heads
Not Forgotten sounds like it could have been lifted from The Charlatans eponymous album released over 20-years ago. It has a real groove to it
I know where the past begins
And the future ends
Time is my friend
There Will Be Chances is sunshine romance, with a cracking melody and groove - pure summer. Set to be a Charlatans favourite. Described during the Twitter listening party by Tim as 'super optimistic, giddy euphoria, spacey.'
If you stare into space
You might not find answers
But if you look to find a trace
There will be chances
Over Again is brilliant, Burgess is on fire with his vocal melodies and delivery across the whole album, speeding things up, slowing things down....just sounding like he is having fun. The electronic pulse and percussion driving this tune is great. It's quite New Order - a compliment I'm sure Tim will love. Apparently written for Neneh Cherry to sing, hopefully that will happen sometime.
Write a message in the sky
Anything to get your eye
The sense of fun and freedom that Burgess has across his wide portfolio of artistic endeavours these days really comes across on The Same House - it is pure Talking Heads! Ace! Very different, very cool and just wait for the extra beat and groove to come in - superb.
We can live in the same house
We can all wear matching shoes
Let's Go Together is another beauty, it sounds and feels remarkably fresh, the playing and production across the album are sublime.
The Setting Sun is a brilliant short instrumental (possible entrance music) leading into the stunning finale of Spinning Out, a co-write with long term hero and friend Paul Weller who plays piano and sings backing vocals. This will melt your heart. Tim sounds amazing and there is such a nice feel to this - an emotional one - a good one. Described by Tim as 'Memories of childhood and the ones you make today for your children.'
Different Days is out now - get a physical copy from your local record shop or by visiting www.thecharlatans.net or head to Spotify or iTunes.
This weeks tunes are inspired by the DJ Greg Wilson. I can't get enough of his amazing selection of mixes over at his soundcloud account
Greg's mixes are flawless and he drops in some amazing surprises at times.
We start with 'Ain't No Mountain High Enough' which appears at the end of his Bestival set, the edit played is just sheer joy. This is a rare and unreleased version that Greg may have got his hands on.
We then change pace with this Leo Zero edit/remix of 'No Tears To Cry' by Paul Weller - check the strings when they kick in, gorgeous.
Followed by a romp by ELO 'Last Train To London' again with glorious strings that Greg makes full use of in his Bestival set. The refain 'I really want tonight to last forever, I really want to be with you' would have sounded amazing at a festival.
Fleetwood Mac are next with the stunning 'Everywhere'. The opening lyric is just so catchy and emotional. 'Can you hear me calling, out your name? You know I'm falling and I don't know what to say.'
I'll end with a tune Greg has ended his sets with, the euphoric 'Movin' On Up' by Primal Scream.
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