THE MUSIC THAT MADE MY MUM

A Personal Tribute

I don't normally post anything too personal on this here blog - my last post covering my trials and tribulations through 1989 to 1992 notwithstanding - but my dear old Mum recently passed away so I thought it would be nice to take a little stroll through my hazy memory banks and pay tribute to her by enjoying some of her favourite music in video form.

My Mum was born in 1943 and so came of age as it were in the late 50's when Rock and Roll took over the world. Like most young women of that era, Elvis Presley was her first major musical love, quickly followed by the sharp-suited and be-quiffed likes of UK-born Elvis wannabes Billy Fury and Cliff Richard before The Beatles and The Rolling Stones blew the bloody doors off - so to speak. By the time I came along - in 1969 - Mum's favourites had narrowed to a particular type of easy-listening crooner with the UK cabaret star Jack Jones and his US counterpart Neil Diamond top of the pile. Growing up in the 70's, most of my memories of Mum's music listening habits consist of the likes of early Elton John - when he was still really good - David Bowie, Rod Stewart, Barry Manilow, The Eagles, Queen, Abba and Eric Clapton, alongside a bizarre infatuation with the French perma-grinning ivory-tickling oddity Richard Clayderman and a deep love for cheese-filled one hit wonders such as Dan Hill's 'Sometimes When We Touch'; 'I Wanna Kiss You All Over' by Exile; Harry Nilsson's epic ballad 'Without You' and 'Classic' by Adrian Gurvitz - a song I hated back in the day but which I now think of as something of a mini-masterpiece. She also absolutely adored the extraordinarily bizarre 'Clouds Across The Moon' by long-lost 80's weirdos The Rah Band - a song that is nigh-on impossible to describe here. (Here's a link to it so make of it what you will: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gs8md1U6EaA) There was also a huge love for the likes of J.J. Cale, Dire Straits, Pink Floyd, Stevie Wonder, ZZ Top, Michael 'Three Haircuts' Bolton, Chris Rea and George Michael as well as later 90's and Noughties acts that I turned her onto such as The Verve, Embrace, Coldplay, R.E.M. and Travis. 

Suffice to say, my Mum loved her music and I know that her constant need to have something on in the background - she even kept the radio on all the time when we were all out for the day just to keep the pets happy - has rubbed off on me over the years and has had a major influence on me writing this blog. I've chosen 5 tracks that I feel encapsulate all of my Mum's favourite styles of music and which - I'd like to think - she's listening to somewhere out there in the hereafter with a smile on her face and a glass of Vino Collapso in her hand.

Rest in peace, Ma. X

THE HOLLIES: 'The Air That I Breathe'

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7duPNQCp-w4

First up is Mancunian crew The Hollies who, after their first initial flush of success in the 60's, had faded away somewhat by the mid-70's before this soaring, string-laden love song saw them reach number 2 in the UK charts in 1974. Originally written by US singer-songwriter Albert Hammond, the song has been covered countless times - most recently by another early fave of my Mum's in Cliff Richard. This version is the best though and when my Mum was in hospital for a week or so in the early 80's and invited onto the hospital radio station to pick her favourite songs, she chose this as her all-time Number One track. It's not hard to see why either. With the deep, rich and soulful vocals of Allan Clarke backed by a pair of laid-back acoustic guitars across the first verses, the song builds slowly into the huge chorus - all crashing drums, heart-stopping strings and that squalling electric guitar fill. It's all rather epic actually. The lyrics touch on everything that was important to my Mum - "Sometimes, all I need is the air that I breathe and to love you" - but it's the track's bridge that really grabs you:

"Peace came upon me and it leaves me weak. Sleep, silent angel, go to sleep." 

Wow.

The Hollies are still a going concern and still fronted by the evergreen Clarke. They will be touring the UK next year - Covid restrictions permitting - and, in an alternate universe, I think I'd be taking my Mum along to see them.

10CC: 'I'm Not In Love'

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cgJckGsR-T0

Another Mancunian bunch next, and another crew who had made their way through the 60's as successful songwriters for hire - bassist and vocalist Graham Goldman had written hits for bands such as The Yardbirds and - just to prove I don't just throw this blog together - The Hollies. Lead vocalist Eric Stewart on the other hand had been a member of Wayne Fontana's band The Mindbenders who had garnered themselves a massive hit with 'The Game Of Love' before Stewart replaced Fontana and hit Number One with 'A Groovy Kind Of Love'. Stewart and Goldman hooked up with multi-instrumentalists Kevin Godley and Lol Creme in 1972 and over the course of the 70's racked up huge hits - 'Donna', 'Rubber Bullets', 'Life Is A Minestrone', 'I'm Mandy Fly Me', 'The Things We Do For Love' - and record sales in the millions before fragmenting into two warring factions in 1977. Godley and Creme went on to have some success as a performing duo but are most known for their music video work - the videos for 'Every Breath You Take' by The Police and 'Two Tribes' by Frankie Goes To Hollywood brought them monumental acclaim. Stewart and Goldman continued as 10CC and had a worldwide smash hit in 1979 with 'Dreadlock Holiday' before a horrible car crash involving Stewart curtailed their career. All four members of the band have reunited sporadically over the years but it's their 70's work that will stand the test of time. 

This track in particular - a huge Number One smash in the summer of 1975 - will go down as their one true masterwork. A six-minute symphony of ear-caressing synths, dulcet piano and - for it's time - a groundbreaking backdrop of multi-tracked vocals and all-encompassing walls of sound, the song was written by Stewart as a riposte to his then-wife who would complain that he didn't tell her that he loved her often enough. Stewart's idea for the song was to see how many times he could say the words 'I Love You' without actually uttering them. Once again, this was the kind of song my Mum would fall head over heels in love with, playing it to death for months. (The 'Be quiet...big boys don't cry' section always thrilled her). And, once again, she picked this as one of her favourite songs of all-time on that hospital radio chat almost 40 years ago. (As a postscript, the band's drummer in their later years - ex-Pilot sticksman Stewart Tosh - became a family friend for a few years in the early 80's and would regale my Mum with tales of the band's travails on the road. This pleased her no end.)

NEIL DIAMOND: I Am, I Said

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NS76IGdnD3o

One of my Mum's all-time favourite artists next, and an ever-present on the household stereo system throughout the 70's and most of the 80's. New York born and descended from Russian and Polish immigrants, Diamond had spent his early music career writing songs for others - most notably as part of the famed Brill Building roster of songwriters - before striking out on his own in the late 60's. Having tasted commercial success with some of his songs becoming hits for the likes of The Monkees, Cliff Richard, Lulu and - rather tremendously - Deep Purple, it wasn't too long before Diamond hit the charts by himself with the lush, string-laden likes of 'Solitary Man' and 'Cherry, Cherry' hitting big. He then swerved into a more introspective, emotionally deep vein of songwriting - very much in vogue at the turn of the 1970's with artists like Neil Young, Joni Mitchell and James Taylor all selling millions - and by the early 70's he was one of the most successful artists in the world with monumentally huge songs like 'Sweet Caroline'; 'Cracklin Rosie' and 'Song Sung Blue' topping charts far and wide. Diamond carried that success on throughout the next decade, ending his first ten years on the scene as a bonafide movie star too - his starring role in the remake of 'The Jazz Singer' garnering him decent notices as well as a massive-selling soundtrack as well - hello there, 'Love On The Rocks'. An operation to remove a tumour on his spine curtailed his career somewhat in the early 80's but he has continued to record ever since - recently reaching Number 2 in the UK chart with his latest album 'Classic Diamonds'. He was also one of the world's most successful touring acts for close on 40 years, until a diagnosis of Parkinson's disease 5 years ago forced his retirement. A huge wrench, no doubt, for an artist so intrinsically linked with the live arena he once said this:

"I have a love-hate relationship with songwriting. I love it because it's so satisfying when it works. But I hate it because it forces you to dig inside yourself. It is without doubt the most difficult thing to do. Performing live though, is the most joyful and happiest thing I do. The bigger the audience, the more anticipation there is, and more excitement".

My Mum's love of Neil Diamond wasn't just down to his music. It's fair to say that if there was ever one person in the public eye who she would have wanted to turn up on her doorstep and carry her away from her day-to-day life, it would have been Neil. The dark, swarthy looks and flowing mane of hair no doubt helped but it was his sweet demeanour and ready smile that always put him head and shoulders above most of the artists my Mum enjoyed looking at as well as listening too. And when it came to the songs, most of her much-loved favourites came from his pen. The aforementioned 'Love On The Rocks' and 'Song Sung Blue'; the thunderous 'Beautiful Noise'; the gorgeous 'Longfellow Serenade'; the heartfelt 'Hello Again' and the stunning duet with his old friend Barbra Streisand on 'You Don't Bring Me Flowers' which could well have been the most perfect song ever written for women of a certain age who may have felt taken for granted at any point in their lives. Mum was also lucky enough to see Diamond in concert many times over the years and would always be over the moon upon returning from a night out at Wembley Arena or Earls Court in his company.

Choosing just one Neil Diamond tune for this piece wasn't easy, but I'll always remember my Mum telling me that his 1971 album 'Stones' was her one true favourite of his, and having gone back to listen to it, it's easy to see why. A quite glorious collection of laid-back, acoustic-led ballads, the album is a mix of Diamond originals and exquisitely chosen covers - Leonard Cohen's 'Suzanne'; Joni Mitchell's 'Chelsea Morning' - that helped him cross over to a younger audience. And when you open a record with the astonishing emotionally-charged wallop of 'I Am...I Said' then you know you're on to a winner. Written in the aftermath of a failed screen test for a movie, Diamond spent close to four months tinkering with the track before plucking up the courage to release it. It's an intensely personal track, which Diamond later admitted stemmed from sessions with his analyst. Soft and gentle throughout it's verses before exploding in the chorus , the song is now quite rightly regarded as a classic of the early 70's singer-songwriter genre. Over the last ten years or so, I've realised what a tremendous songwriter Diamond has always been - no doubt helped by his astounding Rick Rubin produced '12 Songs' from 2005 - and all the Vegas style glitz and glamour of the 80's that once tainted my view of him has drifted away. I have to hand it to Mum on this one, she really knew her onions when it came to Mr. Neil Diamond.

BARBRA STREISAND/BARRY GIBB: Guilty

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h27J_95OtQA

 Mum wasn't a particularly big fan of many female artists - she liked a bit of Diana Ross, Tina Turner and Annie Lennox to name but three - but most of them left her cold. (She absolutely loathed Madonna, for example). But, if there was one female singer that Mum wouldn't hear a bad word against, it was the most successful female singer of all time - and possibly, the biggest diva too. Barbra Streisand grew up in New York in the late 50's and early 60's and - despite an astonishing lack of familial support from her mother in particular - pushed herself to become a worldwide superstar, not just in music but in movies too. After huge success in the mid-60's with her first few albums, she won an Oscar for Best Actress in 1968 for her performance in the musical 'Funny Girl'. After that, she could pretty much write her own ticket - releasing whatever she wanted over the intervening 50 years and spreading her talents across music, acting, directing and television production. There has been huge Number 1 singles like 'The Way We Were', 'Evergreen', 'Woman In Love' and the aforementioned 'You Don't Bring Me Flowers' with her long-time friend Neil Diamond. There have been massively successful films such as 'The Way We Were', 'A Star Is Born', 'Yentl', 'The Prince Of Tides' - which she also directed - and 'Meet The Fockers', which pitted her against Dustin Hoffman and Robert De Niro. There has been countless Broadway and television specials, huge tours, 10 Grammy Awards, 2 Oscars, 9 Golden Globes, 5 Emmys and a multitude of other honors. She has also remained on the same record label - Colombia Records - since her debut recording in 1963, and only a certain Mr. Bob Dylan can beat that. She truly is a marvel of the music world, and my Mum absolutely adored her - owning several of her albums and proudly claiming that 1974's love-lorn romantic drama 'The Way We Were' - starring Streisand and Robert Redford - was her favourite film of all-time.

Streisand's incredible vocal stylings are obviously her calling card - deep and rich with an extraordinary range - but her very best songs became instant standards for a reason. They are all magnificent. Her best ballads are heartfelt and emotional without being cheesy (a difficult skill to master) and her uptempo numbers - like the truly glorious 1979 Donna Summer disco collaboration 'Enough Is Enough' - are quite fantastic. She made old school standards like 'Send In The Clowns' sound like originals, and her duets are legion. Neil Diamond of course, but also Celine Dion, then-boyfriend Don Johnson, Kim Carnes, Bryan Adams, Barry Manilow and even Frank Sinatra. Her most enduring pairing though, was this utterly joyous hook-up with Barry Gibb in 1980. Gibb - hugely successful in his own right of course as one third of the Bee Gees - was still surfing the wave of stratospheric fame that 1977's 'Saturday Night fever' soundtrack had given him and his brothers, and had become the go-to songwriter if you were after a huge Number one single. Dionne Warwick borrowed 'Heartbreaker' from him, Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton had taken Gibb's 'Islands In The Stream' to the top of the charts all over the world and the theme song to the movie 'Grease' was also one of Barry's big hitters. But, the release of the 'Guilty' album gave both Streisand and Gibb even more success - featuring as it did 3 massive international hits including 'Woman In Love' which is one of the biggest-selling songs of all time. The best of the bunch though is the title track - a wonderfully life-affirming disco-tinged tune that sees Streisand and Gibb's narrators declaring their love for each other despite the fact that they're both locked inside dead relationships. It shows off both Streisand's and Gibb's vocals perfectly - and Gibb's entrance for the second verse is a thing of wonder. There were many albums of Streisand's that Mum owned back in the day that she played often, but this one was always the pick of the bunch for her when she decided on an afternoon of Babs whilst doing the ironing. 

EAGLES: The Heart Of The Matter

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GeXNVEQY3AM

Throughout all of my Mum's musical ups and downs, faves and non-faves, likes and hates - there was always one band she went back to over and over again. L.A.'s gargantuanly successful easy-on-the-ear country-rockers the Eagles were her go-to band whenever she felt the need for something soothing and relaxed to ease any worries and to take away any pain. Their 1976 magnum opus 'Hotel California' may well have been Mum's favourite album of all-time, featuring as it did not only that wondrous title track that still gets played hundreds of times a day across worldwide radio stations 45 years later, but also the likes of ballads such as 'The Last Resort' and, in particular, 'Wasted Time' that would reduce my Mum to tears every time. Conversely, other huge hits of the band like 'One Of These Nights' and 'Heartache Tonight' would have her dancing round the kitchen on a Sunday afternoon. Throw in the legendary early classics like 'Lyin Eyes', 'Take It To The Limit' and 'Tequila Sunrise' that she would sing along to in the car, and it's no stretch at all for me to state that the Eagles were without doubt the best group in the world as far as she was concerned. She was a huge fan of all of the band - all that long hair and faded denim really did the trick for her - but held special affection for the raspy voiced drummer and vocalist Don Henley, who had formed the band with co-vocalist Glenn Frey in 1971. Henley and Frey garnered a pretty hefty reputation throughout their tenure in the group as seriously savvy businessmen and no-fucks-given dictators - getting rid of fellow bandmates Bernie Leadon, Randy Meisner and Don Felder when they felt like it - and as such, never really came across as particularly likeable chaps. It didn't detract from the music however, and - no doubt because of my Mum's love for the band - I remain a big fan myself to this day. I also treated my Mum on a couple of occasions in the late 90's - when the formally estranged group had reconvened after a fractious break-up in 1980 - to days out at Wembley Stadium and Earl's Court Arena to see the latter line-up of the band - Henley, Frey, Joe Walsh and Timothy B. Schmidt - run through their biggest hits to an adoring audience. She absolutely loved it.

Mum's love for the Eagles extended to most of the member's extra-curricular efforts during the 80's. She owned a Glenn Frey album and liked the odd Joe Walsh tune, but it was Don Henley's solo albums that she really enjoyed. 1982's 'I Can't Stand Still' which featured the stomping thud of 'Dirty Laundry' was a big hit with her, as was the 1984 follow-up 'Building The Perfect Beast' which contains the utterly peerless 'Boys Of Summer'. But it was with Henley's third solo release - 1989's 'The End Of The Innocence' - that everything changed. A ten-track masterpiece of melancholia, Henley's songs on this album focused on lost love, relationships ending, the transition from youthful braggadocio to adult responsibility and the realisation that life is fleeting and should be embraced fully. It was a huge commercial success, selling millions and winning a Grammy Award to boot. It featured the likes of Bruce Hornsby on the stunning title track, Axl Rose, Gloria Estefan, Sheryl Crow, Ivan Neville, Edie Brickell, the legendary L.A. session musician crew from the early 70's of Waddy Wachtel, Danny Kortchmar and Jim Keltner, as well as vocal and songwriting contributions from Henley's old 70's sparring partner - and former Eagle - J. D. Souther. Listening back to it today, some of the synths and production values date it most solidly to the late 80's but it's still dripping with incredible songs. The final track on the album - the heart-wrenching 'The Heart Of The Matter - was always the one that my Mum would focus on more than any other, sometimes playing it on repeat over and over again. Written by Henley in the wake of his divorce, it resonated with my Mum massively as she was dealing with her own marriage break-up at the time. Indeed, she played the CD of this album so often between 1990 and 1992 that I actually had to buy her a replacement copy because the original was so overused. It's a stunningly accomplished song which Henley still sings today during his appearances with the Eagles. The above performance comes from that first Eagles reunion tour in the mid 90's - the so-called 'Hell Freezes Over' tour - and not only shows off Henley's wonderful vocals but also proves what an incredibly strong songwriter he can be. To this day, the chorus of this song gets me right in the feels:

"I've been trying to get down, to the heart of the matter. But my will gets weak, and my thoughts seem to scatter. But I think it's about forgiveness, forgiveness. Even if, even if, you don't love me anymore".

As I said at the beginning of this piece, I'd like to think that wherever my dear old Mum has ended up, she'll be near a celestial stereo system that will be playing these wonderful songs on a loop for her - even the fromage-encrusted fodder like The Rah Band. I know for a fact though, that whenever I hear one of the above-mentioned tunes, I'll be raising a glass of something suitable in her memory and singing along.