Red Hot Chili Peppers

The Red Hot Chili Peppers are back with a new single and album. The days of bands like these having a top 40 hit are probably over, the single "Dark Necessities" reached number 97. The album though will no doubt sell bucket loads and then you will have many people who will say they're not as good as they used to be.

It is 25 years this year since "Blood Sugar Sex Magik" was released. I wasn't familiar with the band at the time, but around 1992/93 they were on the list of bands you should listen to according to the rock fans at school. I then discovered that they were the band that did the take me to the place I love song and was somewhat surprised that they would be a band rock fans should listen to because to me it wasn't rock music.

They were a friend of mines favourite band and he gave me a copy of the "Blood Sugar Sex Magik" album. I thought it was a fantastic album, but again I didn't really think of it a rock music. I listened to it so much that I ended up snapping the tape so had to go back to my friend to get another copy. I also asked him about the other four albums they'd released prior to this, but he said they were all rubbish.

In 1994 they released "Give it Away" as a single and rereleased "Under the Bridge" which charted higher than the original release. It seemed a bit strange how they were releasing singles from a 3 year old album, but maybe they were only just starting to have a real impact on the UK.

By the time they released their follow up, "One Hot Minute" in 1995 I was very much into the rave scene, but I still listened to the Red Hot Chili Peppers and was very much looking forward to hearing new material from them. I didn't think much to the first single "Warped" and found the video quite disturbing, but I thought the next single, "My Friends" was excellent. The final single from the album, "Aeroplane" was pretty average I thought. I never bought the album at the time, probably because my priority was to build up my rave collection.

By 1999 I hadn't listened to "Blood Sugar Sex Magik" for some time and had pretty much forgot they existed. Then they appeared on Top of the Pops with "Scar Tissue". To this day I still don't think I've heard a tune which flows as nicely as this and it prompted my to started listening to them again. Hearing "Around the World" and "Californication" as well made me decide to go out and buy the "Californication" album the following year. On a side note, I know "Otherside" was released as a single between these two but it passed me by.

The "Californication" album I found was a lot more melodic than "Blood Sugar Sex Magik" but that was no bad thing. Whilst not as good, I still thought overall it was a decent album. I then decided to buy the "One Hot Minute" album, but didn't think much of it and ended up swapping it with a friend of mine for Alice Deejays "Who Needs Guitars Anyway?" album. I was ridiculed for doing that at the time, but I still to this very day think I ended up with the better album and my friend thinks he did, so we're both happy.

During this time I saw quite a bit of them on the music channels include quite a bit of footage of them in concert. To be honest I don't think they're very good live, Anthony Kiedis seems to struggle with his vocals on the stage and it just seems a bit flat. Needless to say I've never been to a concert of theirs.

By 2002 they seemed bigger than they'd ever been before despite some members now being in their 40s. A friend of mine was telling me their new single "By the Way" was the best thing since sliced bread, but then I heard it and to be honest I thought it was awful. My main criticism of it was that he spent most of the song shouting random words, my friend told me that was rich coming from someone who listens to Scooter. I didn't think much of the follow up singles either, to me this was the point the Red Hot Chili Peppers had got so big they didn't bother writing good music anymore. Another theory was that previously they had albums come out in 1991,1995 and 1999 so they should have waited until 2003 to keep the four year gap between albums, this was too much too soon.

They actually did wait for another four years until their next album, "Stadium Arcadium" in 2006. To me this album gave them a new lease of life. Anthony had grown his hair back too so maybe the power was in the hair. I thought "Dani California" was a decent first single from the album, but I thought the follow up singles were all even better, I really liked all of them. As for the album, I liked it but being a double album it maybe goes on a bit too long.

It was five years until the next album came out. Maybe its to do with the way we consume media these days, but the release of that album seemed a bit blink and you'll miss it. I did listen to some tunes from that album but they didn't have much impact on me. I can't actually remember what any of the tunes are called, or even remember what the album was called. If you really want to know it can easily be googled. By this point, Anthony had gone back to short hair so maybe the power really was in the hair.

So with Anthony's hair still short, will this album be any good?

Well we have "Dark Necessities" which I've posted here which I've listened to just the once and think it has potential. Another track from the album has been posted to YouTube which I've also heard once and again I think it has potential.

Will it be as good as their older stuff?

I'm sure it will be as good if not better than a fair chunk of their older stuff, would be difficult to beat some of their older material but you never know. Being a band that have released some excellent music and some pretty poor music their whole career there is just no telling. Saying that, this is just my experience, we'll all have our opinions and many will differ so the best thing to say is make your own conclusions.

Record of the Year 1960: Johnny & the Hurricanes - Beatnik Fly

This has been the toughest year so far to pick a record of the year because there are several to choose from. In the end I've gone with Johnny & the Hurricanes - Beatnik Fly.

Having been a dance music fan most of my life, I've always had older people and rock music fans criticise dance music because so much of it samples older music and also because a fair amount of it has no vocals so therefore isn't proper music.

Here we are back in 1960 and we have a record which is a Rock n Roll version of an old song, "Blue Tail Fly", and has no vocals.

The first time I heard this record was on an episode of Father Ted where Ted goes to borrow the car of the dancing priest, who is dancing to this record. Then some years later I found out on the internet what the record was and then listened to the full version on YouTube.

Johnny & the Hurricanes first hit the charts a year earlier with "Red River Rock" which was a Rock n Roll version of "Red River Valley". All their UK hits were Rock n Roll versions of older songs. Johnny was Johnny Paris who was a saxophone player and the only constant member of the band. What differentiated the band from other instrumental groups at the time was their use of the saxophone and organ taking the lead compared to other groups being very guitar driven.

Their chart time came to an end the following year in 1961. They were by no means finished though, in 1962 they played in Hamburg where a band called the Beatles opened for them.

Johnny Paris would continue to tour right up to his death in 2006.

UK Singles Chart: 1960

A new year, a new decade and the first thing that strikes me about the chart music from 1960 is that it is probably the most stereotypical 1950s style music we've had so far. It is the same sort of variety of music you're likely to hear in Frankie & Benny's.

This was the year that music went both happy and sad, and also saw a rise in instrumentals.

The act to have the first new number one of the year came from Liverpool, a theme we would frequently see throughout the decade. This was not the Beatles though, they are yet to debut on the charts this year. It is actually Michael Holliday with "Starry Eyed". He made his chart debut back in 1956, and this would be his penultimate hit, his last being "Skylark" which reached number 39 later on in the year.

The beginning of the year also saw the long awaiting chart debut of the Drifters who reached number 17 with "Dance With Me". The Drifters are quite well known for their ever changing line up and already by this point there were no original members left in the group.

We also had the chart debut of Brenda Lee who reached number 4 with "Sweet Nuthins". I found this quite surprising as I've always had Brenda Lee down as being a 1950s singer. Further to that, she was just 15 when she entered the charts with this song.

During the 1950s I mentioned that 7 of the 20 acts who charted in the first year of the charts, 1952, would have hits beyond the 1950s. Three of these had hits in 1960, they were Max Bygraves, Nat 'King' Cole and the Four Lads, who would have their final hit with "Standing on the Corner" which reached number 34. The reason they could claim their final hit this year is because in March the charts were extended from 30 to 50. For the purposes of this blog though, I will just be looking at the top 40, partly because that's what everyhit.com covers, but also this is the traditional cut off point on things like top of the pops etc.

We had another Rock n Roll death this year, with Eddie Cochran being killed in a car crash in April. He would then score his one and only number one the following month with "Three Steps to Heaven".

The instrumental music I mentioned came in all sorts of forms, but the one which stands out is the instrumental Rock n Roll. Duane Eddy, who started the ball rolling charts wise in the 1950s would continue into 1960. We also had John Barry Seven, Johnny & the Hurricaines and Bert Weedon who had a hit with Apache. However, it was Cliff Richards backing group, the Shadows, whose version would be more successful with their cover reaching number one. We also had the chart debut of the Ventures later on in the year who had hits with "Walk Don't Run" reaching number 8 and "Perfidia" reaching number 4. Surprisingly, they would have no further UK hits.

In America at the start of that year, there were three consecutive number ones where someone would die in the song. They were "El Paso" by Marty Robbins, "Running Bear" by Johnny Preston and "Teen Angel" by Mark Dinning. All three songs were hits in the UK that year, but only "Running Bear" got to number one. However, we had our own number one where somebody died. This was a one hit wonder by Ricky Valance called "Tell Laura I Love Her" which knocked "Apache" off number one in September. This was then knocked off number one by another sad song, "Only the Lonely" which was the chart debut for Roy Orbison.

The next number one was "Its Now or Never" which was the fifth number one for Elvis Presley, which would make him the act to have the most number ones outright. Following this, we had the first Christmas number one for Cliff Richard who topped the charts with "I Love You".

The year also saw the first Motown artist hit the charts, Marv Johnson who reached number 7 with "You Got What it Takes", though this wasn't actually released through Motown as they were still in their infancy at the time, but Marv Johnson was signed to the label and would have hits released by Motown later on in the decade. Another notable chart debutant of the year was Ray Charles who reached number 24 in December with "Georgia on my Mind".

We welcomed two new nationalities to the charts in 1960. There was Little Tony from Italy who reached number 19 with his only hit, "Too Good". Then there was Makadopoulos & His Greek Serenaders from Greece who reached number 36 with their only hit "Never on a Sunday". We also had the first Eurovision winner hit the charts, "Tom Pillibi" by Jacqueline Boyer from France.

Overall the year still seems very 1950s with slight hints that the 60s are on the way. We'll see how close the 60s as we know it are when we look at 1961 in a couple of weeks.

Bubblegum: The History of Plastic Pop

As I wasn't born in the early days of pop music as we know it, my knowledge of music from the early days comes from reading things in books or on the internet, watching TV shows and of course actually listening to music from that era.

When I've been doing my singles chart reviews I like to have some bands/artists in mind to look for such as those in the rock and roll hall of fame. The downside to this example and indeed many internet resources is that a fair amount of the music which gets highlighted was big in America but virtually unknown in the UK.

For years I've had a book called Bubblegum: The History of Plastic Pop, but I've only recently got around to reading it.

It is written from a UK perspective and has a chapter per decade beginning with the 50s. It actually starts in a similar fashion to my chart analysis that in the beginning the charts were dominated by traditional pop music but then along came rock and roll and the teen idol was born.

Also in the book are short pieces about select musicians that were significant to the subject. However, not all of those musicians in the 50s chapter were mentioned in my singles charts reviews so I thought it would be interesting to take a look at these. Here are the artists:

Frankie Avalon - It is said in the book that he had 7 top 10 hits in the space of 2 years in the late 50s, but looking at everyhit.com he didn't have any top 10s. Looking at Wikipedia though, he did have 7 in the US charts. In the UK his biggest hit was "Venus" which reached number 16 in 1959 which was his follow up to "Gingerbread" which reached 30 in 1958. He then had two further hits in 1960 with "Why" reaching number 20 and "Don't Throw Away All Those Teardrops" reaching number 37.

Fabian - There's a good reason why he never got a mention, he never had any UK hits. Seemed to enjoy some chart success in his native America though.

Terry Dene -  A slight improvement on Frankie Avalon, he reached number 15 with "Start Movin" in 1957 which was his follow up to his debut "A White Sport Coat" which reached number 18 a month earlier. His only other hit was "Stairway of Love" which reached number 16 in 1958.

Vince Eager - Another one who never had any UK hits. Unlike Fabian though, he was English and had no chart success, but was presumably mentioned because he was quite famous because of his music performances on the TV at the time.

So none of them really troubled the charts too much. I've also since discovered that the author of the book was born in 1967 so isn't going off memory himself.

Some of the information in the book is factually inaccurate and it seems like virtually nobody well known in music is exempt from his plastic pop definition. However, it is quite interesting reading about the evolution of pop and the way different eras were marketed to be successful for a short period of time.

At the time of writing this, you can buy the book second hand on amazon for 1p plus P&P so you have nothing to lose by buying it, I'd say overall its worth a read.

UK Singles Chart: The 1950s

A question I've often asked myself is what exactly does the UK singles chart represent in the world of music?

The simple answer is its the music that sells a lot of singles. At the same time though it should serve some sort of guideline as to what's popular at the time without being definitive.

The early part of the 50s showed in some ways that the singles chart has gone full circle, because like the modern era there are a limited number of artists actually in the charts, plenty of collaborations with each other and artists who are very much performers and not songwriters.

It's quite interesting to see that despite the 50s nostalgia being centred around Rock and Roll, it wasn't until 1956 when this started to have a big impact on the charts, and even then there was still plenty of traditional pop music in the charts at the same time.

What was also interesting though was what little impact certain well known artists had on the charts. For example, Clyde McPhatter, Carl Perkins and Ritchie Valens were all one hit wonders. Furthemore, Clyde McPhatter had left the Drifters in the 50s, but the Drifters were still yet to make their chart debut by the end of the decade. Then you also had acts like James Brown, Ray Charles, Bo Diddley, BB King, John Lee Hooker, Johnny Cash and The Flamingos who were all yet to make their chart debuts.

Arguably the first Rock and Roll hit in the charts was "Shake Rattle and Roll", but this was a cover. The original artist, Big Joe Turner, actually never had a UK hit. Other well known 50s acts to never have a UK hit include Muddy Waters, Hank Ballard, Jimmy Reed, Bobby Bland, Little Willie John and The Moonglows.

It's also interesting to see that despite hearing about how big Skiffle was in the late 50s which influenced many 60s bands, the only Skiffle artist to have a real impact on the charts was Lonnie Donegan. Then despite the Skiffle craze being over by 1958, Lonnie Donegan was still going strong in the charts.

The charts were very different by the end of the decade compared to the beginning in terms of personnel. Of the 20 acts who had a hit in its first year, 1952, only 7 of them would have further hits beyond the 50s. Of those 7, you had the Four Lads who only had 2 hits in the 50s and scored their 3rd and final hit in early 1960 courtesy of the charts extending from 30 to 50 (note my blog only considers top 40 as a hit, this reached 34). Then there was Al Martino and Bing Crosby who had to wait until the 70s before they had their next hit. You also had Doris Day who would have just one further hit in 1964, Max Bygraves who had four more hits including one in 1973 and Nat 'King' Cole who continued to have hits up till 1962 and some posthumous releases many years later. Only Louis Armstrong would have his better charting days ahead of him which would include his only number one.

So next up is the swinging sixties, but did the charts reflect what their remembered for? and how would the big 50s musicians fare?

UB40 @ The O2

You may or may not know that there are now two versions of UB40. Lead singer Ali Campbell left the band in 2008 and was followed out by keyboardist Mickey Virtue. UB40 replaced Ali with his brother Duncan and they carried on. Then in 2013, vocalist Astro left the band and joined forces with Ali and Mickey to form their own version of UB40.

The one I went to see at the O2 was the one with Ali, Astro and Mickey.

I'd previously been to see them at IndigO2, the smaller venue in the building and I don't recall it being sold out, so wasn't sure if there would be enough people to fill the O2. On arrival though, there were plenty of people inside, though the top tier was closed.

This was billed as the Labour of Love 1 and 2 tour, this being the name of their albums of covers. As you would expect, tracks from these albums dominated the playlist. They opened up with a cover of "Keep on Movin" by Bob Marley from their Labour of Love 1 album.

They played several well known hits such as "Homely Girl", "Wear you to the Ball", "Many Rivers to Cross" and "Please Don't Make Me Cry". A surprise omission from the playlist though was "Here I Am (Come and Take Me)" which was their opening track last time I saw them, and also when I've seen footage of others gigs they've done.

Then at 22:15 they said goodnight, but of course we knew there was going to be and encore. Personally, I'm not a fan of encores, they mark the point where you know the gig is almost over and you start thinking of the journey home.

First of all the drum came out and did a solo, he was good but didn't really see the point myself. Then (I think) they played "Rat in Mi Kitchen" (note, they did play it but forget if before or after the encore). Surprisingly, they then played two tracks from a new album they have coming out. Many people started to leave at this point, presumably they only wanted to hear the anthems and/or wanted to beat the crowds on the tube. To be honest I don't really remember too much about the tunes themselves.

Finally, they played "(I Can't Help) Falling in Love With You" and finished the night with "Red Red Wine" by which point the encore had been going for around 35 minutes.

All in all a good gig and I'm sure I picked the right UB40 to see, I can't really imagine how the other UB40 can pull it off without Ali or Astro.