I was flicking through the channels the other day during one of the many commercial breaks that accompany Sky Sports coverage of the Ryder Cup when I discovered that one of the movie channels was showing There's Something About Mary.Now besides from being a fairly funny film - Ben Stiller usually makes me laugh y'see - the appearance of Jonathan Richman makes it a firm favourite in Villain Towers.
The passing of time means I've now forgiven Jonathan for a truly awful live appearance in Glasgow a couple of years back - one of the first gig reviews I ever posted on TVV right here - and if and when he does come back, I suppose the lesson is to get there when the doors open, just in case.
I've a fair few of his recordings over what is now something like a 35 year career, and I'll willingly admit that some of it is a bit patchy. But there's an awful lot to love than hate about one of Boston's favourites sons.
Jonathan never made any secret of the fact that he was motivated to make it as a musician when he discovered Velvet Underground, and in 1992, he wrote and recorded a tribute to his favourite band:-
mp3 : Jonathan Richman & The Modern Lovers - Velvet Underground
By an amazing coincidence, the same year saw the release of this great single:-
mp3 : The Rockingbirds - Jonathan Jonathan
Yup. a tribute to Mr Richman recorded by a UK country-rock band who never quite got beyond cult status. Read more about The Rockingbirds here.
And while I'm here, I may as well post the only other single I own by the band as it is rather lovely:-
mp3 : The Rockingbirds - Gradually Learning
Oh and the video for Gradually Learning is available at The Video Villain
Happy Listening.
8 comments:
I loved 'Gradually Learning' since the first moment I heard it, but I haven't ever been able to track down much else by the Rockingbirds, so cheers for that.
Did you know I was looking for 'Gradually Learning' from comments over here? If not, that's a tad eerie JC. Had the (CD) single, put it on The Tape for my Future Mrs (because it seemed to say so much) but mislaid the original years back. Lovely song. Thank you.
Davy - I had no idea and the really spooky thing was that I only in a sense put Gradually Learning on as an afterthought as you'll deduce from the title of the posting.
Glad to have been of some use.
Strangely I've been looking for the Rockingbirds album for some time. I lent it to somebody back in the late 90s and never got it back. There's another track on there - can't remember the title - that is full on Dexys influenced. You can sort of hear the Dexys influence on Gradually Learning. I can't for the life of me remember the tune I want to hear though...it was faster and stompier...that's a good word!
I love this song. I think it may just be to blame for turning me from Heavenly-loving indie kid to country fan at an impressionable age. All in all, a very good thing.
I seem to recall the Rockingbirds appearing on stage at the time in some telly programme (probably kids) with Right Said Fred. Is that possible ? Or am I weirdly fantasising ? Just checked and, for some inexplicable reason, I haven't added this album to my ipod. I am off to the cupboard to rectify that immediately.
Add me to the list of spooked-by-Gradually Learning bods, since Alan Tyler ex- of the Rockingbirds is playing at Glasgow Opry soon, & some of us were just discussing the song in the pub the other night, a pal being one of the folk helping to arrange the gig, hence the reminiscing.
Saw the R'birds at King Tuts 16 yrs ago, a thoroughly enjoyable performance IIRC, thought their LP was an under-rated wee gem - although my copy is longlost to time & carelessness - & have been humming the tune to myself all week. So many thanks for the mp3 surprise.
JTK, you're not going mental about the Right Said Fred thing - it was all due to a circa-1992 Heavenly Records thing called The Fred EP, a charity doodah with proceeds going to the Terence Higgins Trust. From memory, it went like this:
Saint Etienne - I'm Too Sexy
Flowered Up - Don't Talk Just Kiss
the Rockingbirds - Deeply Dippy
- and had a rather sweet cover pic of RSF's Richard Fairbrass looking nonplussed & with the Heavenly logo stamped upon his baldy napper. Hope this reassures you... if 4am confirmation of such a strange pairing can really be termed "reassuring".
BTW, what a fine blog you have here, Mr VV. Really wish I'd stumbled across here long ago, having just spent a pleasant hour or so scuffing through yr older posts & marvelling at the beauties previously on offer. And apologies for the first paragraph containing what appears to be an unsubtle plug - truly, I was posting cuz of the pleasant coincidence & a bout of insomnia rather than any mendacious bilking. Still, the pal in question was at Forster last Sat, & (re: yr Associates post) Sulk chnaged my life & Skipping IS the best song they ever made, so perhaps there's just some curious six-degrees-of-serendipity in the Glasgow air at the mo.
yrs, off to raid the medicine cupboard for some Kalms
DMcA
Davis
Thanks so much for the kind words. If there's any songs from previous postings that you desperately want to hear again, just drop me an e-mail....
Post a Comment