The Proclaimers - Sunshine On Leith

  

" Sunshine on Leith" was the second album from unfashionable Scottish twin brothers Craig and Charlie Reid, who with their NHS glasses and dress sense made you feel comfortable with your choice of fashion.

I saw them play "I'm Gonna Be ( 500 miles )" on Pebble Mill At One when I should have been studying, and thought it was really good. I had previously only heard "Letter From America" but I had read somewhere that they had acquired a rockier edge, playing with a full band sound, adding guitar, drums and keyboards. 

I really didn't know what to expect when I purchased the album but I was pleasantly surprised to find it was excellent, with a mix of love, drinking and protest songs, in particular in favour of Scottish Independence. There were plenty of catchy, sing along song, a few tender ballads, and the lyrics mixed insight with humour. The brothers were capable of strong harmonies, as well as frequent counter-point vocals. 

Many people don't sing with an accent, but that is something the Proclaimers could never be accused off, being unmistakably Scottish. They were labelled by some as a Scottish Billy Bragg.

Five songs on this album were used in the Dexter Fletcher directed "Sunshine on Leith" film/musical, which I found pleasantly entertaining when I saw it on TV a few years ago as a late night Christmas offering, as long as you didn't apply too much critical thinking to the plot, especially near the end when hundreds of people in Edinburgh spontaneously break into a choreographed dance routine to I'm Gonna Be ( 500 miles ), as we all do !

I could remember all twelve songs on the album and whilst just about everyone knows "I'm Gonna Be ( 500 miles", "I'm On My Way", "Cap In Head", "It's Saturday Night" and "Sunshine On Leith" were also very strong songs. 

Side One begins with "I'm Gonna Be ( 500 Miles )", and I was surprised to learn it only got as high as number 11 in the UK charts. It introduced the Scots word "haver" to the wide public, which apparently means to talk foolishly or to babble. The electric guitar riff and drumming immediate catch the attention, as do the "Da-da da da (Da-da da da), Da-da da da (Da-da da da). Da-da dum diddy dum diddy dum diddy da da da" in the post chorus, in what underneath it all, is a song about undying love.

"Cap In Hand" is a jaunty protest song in which the singer explains many things they understand, like telling the difference between margarine and butter, can pronunce Saskatchewan without starting to stutter, and why Stranraer lie so lowly, they could save a lot of points by signing Hibs goalie, but can't understand why we let someone else rule our land, cap in hand.

"Then I Met You" is a sweet story of how a couple met and how pointless the singer’s life was until that moment, whilst "My Old Friend The Blues" is a cover of a US Country singer Steve Earle song. It's slow and mostly just acoustic guitar.

"Sean" makes a reference to Elvis Presley, "I’d say the best one came from Tupelo, Mississippi" and has another recurring refrain of "Irish girls are pretty". There is also a soaring pre-chorus of "uh, hi-ya, hi-ya, hi-ya".

Side One closes with the piano ballad "Sunshine On Leith", a song about their home district in Edinburgh, but which apparently is now often played at funerals, probably due to the repetition of "my heart is broken". A violin is also prominent, in both the middle break and the final chorus and outro.

The joyous "Come On Nature" opens side two but with the Scottish accents sounds like "come on Nietzsche !"

"I'm On My Way" is a sing along toe-tapper with a jazzy piano. "I'm on my way from misery to happiness today. Ah-hah (Ah-hah), ah-hah (Ah-hah)" whilst the chorus goes "And now that I don't want for anything (Ooh), I'd have Al Jonson sing I'm sitting on top of the world".

"What Do You Do" is the second protest song and has a plucked acoustic guitar intro and features a whimsical country slide guitar. "What do you do when democracy fails you","Pat votes the Scots way just like her mother, but the South takes all, just liker her brother", & "what do you do when minority means you". 

"It's Saturday Night" is one of my favourite songs on the album, with a slow pace similar to "King Of The Road" but is a drinking song, "the drink that I had three hours ago, has been joined by 14 others in a steady flow". The middle break has a whistling solo.

"Teardrops" is just the two voices and an acoustic guitar. "Teardrops, they're running down your face"

The album closes with "Oh Jean", another love song. "I'd never been lucky with girls I confess, don't know who to blame for my lack of success. Cause even with ones up the back of a bus there was always the risk of a slap in the puss. But Jean, Oh Jean, You let me get lucky with you".

Track Listing :

Side One :

1. I'm Gonna Be ( 500 Miles )
2. Cap In Hand
3. Then I Met You
4. My Old Friend The Blues
5. Sean
6. Sunshine On Leith

Side Two :

1. Come On Nature
2. I'm On My Way
3. What Do You Do
4. It's Saturday Night
5. Teardrops
6. Oh Jean

Released 1988
UK Chart Position : 10

Singles :

I'm Gonna Be ( 500 Miles ) ( No 11 - 1988 )
Sunshine On Leith  ( No 11 - 1988 )
I'm On My Way ( No 43 - 1989 )

 

  

The Police - Zenyatta Mondatta

 

I'm not really sure why I bought this album. Whilst I like their debut album, I didn't buy the follow-up "Regatta De Blanc" until several years after this album, and I wasn't overly sold on the two singles from Zenyatta Mondatta. 

Unlike "Regatta", where Stewart Copeland received writing credit on six tracks, here it is just two, as Sting compositions dominate. 

Even as a teenager, I thought the lyrics for "Don't Stand So Close To Me" were a little bit too pervy, whilst "De Do Do Do, De Do Da Da" was at best pleasant nonsense. Despite this I bought the album, but didn't think much of it, and looking at the track listing now, I had no recollection of any of the tracks apart from the two singles, and that I liked "Canary In A Coalmine", even if I couldn't remember it now.

It would be interesting to see if I remembered any of it, or thought it was better than a dud !  

Actually. on replay, it is slightly better than a dud but still a poor album. For me, the four traditional The Police reggae influenced songs work best, and whilst they try to explore new territories, the tunes on the funk/dance tracks simply aren't strong enough, and the two instrumentals are basically fillers. 

Side one opens with "Don't Stand So Close To Me", song about a teacher having sex with one of his teenage students. Sting was a teacher before joining The Police. It possesses a typical Police reggae beat and the weird synthesizer in the middle is actually quite good.  There is a Lolita reference, "It's no use, he sees her, he starts to shake and cough. Just like the old man in that book by Nabokov" and the backing vocals in the outro chorus are very similar to that which Sting sang afterwards on Dire Straits "Money For Nothing". This should have been a Covid anthem !

Now that I have had a chance to read the lyrics "De Do Do Do, De Do Da Da" makes sense and I liked it much more than I thought I would. "Poets, priests and politicians have words to thank for their positions, words that scream for your submission, and no-one's jamming their transmission" 

"Canary In A Coalmine" has a lively ska beat and a very short piano piece in middle. It's about the most fun The Police had over their first three albums !

"Man In A Suitcase", a song about life on the road, also has a toe-tapping reggae beat. "Another key for my collection, for security I race for my connection. Bird in a flying cage you never get to know me well. The world's my oyster, my hotel room a prison cell, must I be man in a suitcase ?" 

Apart from these there isn't a great deal to recommend. "Driven To Tears" is funky, there is some nice high-hat drumming, but the manic guitar solo doesn't really fitting with the rest of the song. and the lyrics sometimes don't fit the tune. The "Driven To Tears" refrain is quite catchy, but overall the song is pretty dull. 

The Police moved into Disco/Night Club territory, not my favourite genre, with "When The World Is Running Down", and I found it boring. Likewise "Voices Inside My Head", with a long funky instrumental before chanted vocals come in.

"Bombs Away" is a Copeland written song and is pretty ordinary, with a self-indulgent guitar solo that  wouldn't be out of place from a dire progressive rock band, whilst the 5 minutes long "Shadows In The Rain" has a funky bass and piano intro, but overall it's awful.

Of the two instrumentals, Andy Summers' "Behind My Camel" is OK and could be a James Bond theme or something from a low budget horror movie. Sting apparently hated it and refused to play the bass. I've already forgotten Copeland's "The Other Way Of Stopping", apart from there was some nice guitar at the end.

 

Track Listing : 

Side One

1. Don't Stand So Close Me
2. Driven To Tears
3. When The World Is Running Down......
4. Canary In A Coalmine
5. Voices Inside My Head
6. Bombs Away

Side Two

1. De Do Do Do, De Do Da Da 
2. Behind My Camel
3. Man In A Suitcase
4. Shadows In The Rain
5. The Other Way Of Stopping

Released 1980
UK Chart Position : 1

Singles :

Don't Stand So Close To Me ( No 1 - 1980 )
De Do Do Do, De Do Da Da ( No 5 - 1980 )

 

 

The Police - Regatta De Blanc

 

"Regatta De Blanc" was the second album from the trio The Police and loosely translates as White Reggae, following how many critics had labelled them, rather than an empty yachting festival.........

I didn't rush out and buy it on release, and only acquired several years later when I spotted it going cheap in a sale. I didn't play the album very often, as like their first album, I thought it was mix of some great tracks, and a lot of fairly ordinary songs.

The album was a rush job to cash in on success of "Outlandos d'Amour, on which Sting had a writing credit on all ten tracks, with just two being co-written. However on "Regatta De Blanc", drummer Stewart Copeland received writing credits on 6 of the tracks, although I thought the 5 best were solo Sting compositions, and the only ones I could remember when looking at the track listing. 

As has repeatedly been said by many bands, you have your whole lives to make your first record, and then six months to do the follow-up. Regatta contained reworkings of some old songs, a couple of hasty fillers, together with some outstanding new songs. "No Time This Time" had been the B-side of the "So Lonely" single.

The album contained two number one hits in the UK, the brilliant "Message In A Bottle" and "Walking On The Moon". I was surprised to discover that "The Bed's Too Big Without You" wasn't a single, although it was a hit for Sheila Hylton in 1981.

I saw an interview with guitarist Andy Summers when the song was topping the charts on how the main riff for "Message In A Bottle" was derived, based on classical arpeggiated chord sequences. Since then I have since read in several places that it was Sting who came up with the chord sequences !

The album opens with "Message In A Bottle" with its Robinson Crusoe style "Just a castaway" lyrics. I only now noticed how good the bass playing on this is, having previously been mesmerized by the guitar riff . I like the clever "Seems I'm not alone in being alone" lyric. 

"Regatta De Blanc" is mostly an instrumental, with some scat/yodelling vocals. It's based on the extended breaks played during live versions of "Can't Stand Losing You". The drumming and bass are pretty good.

"It's Alright For You" is a hi-energy song but is pretty forgettable but "Bring On The Night" is one of the highlights on the album. A classical style guitar accompanies the verse before a glorious ska chorus. In the middle is a psychedelic guitar solo.

Side one closes with "Deathwish" which has funky beat and almost the Bo Diddley riff, but is basically a filler. 

The reggae influenced "Walking On The Moon" has a minimal structure based around a simple bass line, a slow verse, but comes alive with the chorus. It is dominated by Copeland's inventive drumming. A flatmate at college used to sing "giant steps are what you take, when you've got VD".

"On Any Other Day" is written, sung and played by Copeland and is a reasonably witty take on dull suburban life. It has a fast ska beat and the chorus reminds me of another song that I can't remember. "My wife has burned the scrambled eggs, my dog has just bit my leg". 

"The Bed's Too Big Without You" is essentially dub reggae but still sounds excellent. whilst the vocal in chorus of "Contact"  reminded me of Jon Anderson from Yes "Have we got contact, can we be"

"Does Everyone Stare" has a jaunty jazz piano intro and vocal by Copeland, before Sting sings the rest of the song. It could be a Supertramp song !

The album closes with the punkish "No Time This Time". The drumming is manic but the guitar and bass line in the chorus is derivative of the style of the time, but still good ! It has a great finish though.

Listening again to "Regatta De Blanc" I still think it is an uneven album, but the fillers didn't sound so bad now ! 

Track Listing :

Side One :

1. Message In A Bottle
2. Regatta De Blanc
3. It's Alright For You
4. Bring On The Night
5. Deathwish

Side Two :

1. Walking On The Moon
2. On Any Other Day
3. The Bed's Too Big Without You
4. Contact
5. Does Everyone Stare
6. No Time This Time

Released 1979
UK Chart Position : 1

Singles :

Message In A Bottle ( No 1 - 1979 )
Walking On The Moon ( No 1 - 1979 )

The Police - Outlandos d'Amour

 

Reaction to "Outlandos d'Amour" and the three singles from the album had been lukewarm in the UK when they were released,. I had jumped onto the bandwagon earlier than most though, after having seen them perform "Can't Stand Losing You" and "Next To You" on The Old Grey Whistle Test late in 1978. I was impressed and went out an bought the LP. 

However, I thought it was a patchy album, with the three singles being outstanding, "Next To You" had bombastic punk energy whilst "Truth Hits Everybody" and "Born In The 50s" were catchy but a little lightweight. The other four tracks were forgettable and I had forgotten them. Side One was definitely a lot stronger than Side Two.

The re-release of "Roxanne" in 1979 brought The Police public attention, and they became overnight sensations. Several of the girls in the 6th Form became besotted and arranged to see The Police when they played at the Brighton Dome. By the time I had figured out tagging along would be a good idea, the tickets had sold out !

The Police were considered by many to be New Wave but I felt the label didn't really fit due to the variety of the music, with a strong reggae/ska influence, hints of jazz, funk and pop in addition to some hi-energy. Their obvious technical ability also didn't adhere them to the punk movement !

The breakthrough hit "Roxanne" remains a classic. A song about a boy falling in love with a prostitute, it has some laughter and a bum piano note whilst the staccato reggae/ska plays at the beginning. The song moves to a rock style chorus. "Roxanne, you don't have to put on the red light, those days are over, you don't have to sell your body to the night".

"Can't Stand Losing You" is another song with a reggae/ska verse and a rock chorus. Its apparently about a teenage suicide after the girlfriend has left him. "I see you sent my letters back, my LP records and they're are scratched". The lyrics clearly seem to have been an inspiration for Goyte's "Somebody I Used To Know"

"So Lonely" is my favourite song on the album and again has the reggae/ska verse and a faster rock chorus. It has a free-form reggae bridge "I feel low, low, low, I feel low, low, low" in the middle section and there is a great guitar solo and even a very short burst of harmonica. The song also contains a famous.mondegreen, as many people thought Sting was actually singing "Sue Lawley", who was a presenter on the 6pm News and Features TV show Nationwide at the time, leading to it being played on the programme.

"Hole In My Life" is something completely different to the rest of the album, with a funky/Jazz beat. It reminded me a little of "Hit The Road Jack", but it does goes on a bit too long.  

"Next You" is as close as The Police get to punk with pounding drums, jerky guitar, a frantic pace and wild guitar solo whilst "Peanuts" is not too far behind with fast drums and a frantic, almost tuneless guitar solo, and it sounds like there is some saxophone. Close to the end Sting screams "Peanuts !" a few times. I am not sure what the meaning of this but it comes across as an impersonation of  a street hawker food seller.  "I don't want to hear about the drugs you're taking" 

"Truth Hits Everybody" is an uptempo toe tapper and was better than I remembered and "Born In The 50's" is a song about being a teenager in the 1960s, which Sting and Stweart Copeland were. It has a fairly catchy chorus

"Be My Girl - Sally" is a poor medley of a half-finished song by Sting and an Andy Summers poem about a blow up doll spoken over some occasional piano. I couldn't stop thinking of Ivor Biggun.........

"Masoko Tanga" has a ska beat and it sounds like it was mostly improvised. I'm not sure what language the lyrics are in, it could be made up nonsense, but I read somewhere that the title roughly means white reggae. The track did nothing for me and would be quite happy to never hear it again.

In some ways "Outlandos d'Amour" reminded me of Orange Juice's "Rip It Up" album, with a few classics, some dross and an forgettable track in an unintelligible foreign language. However, I rate "Outlandos d'Amour" higher than I used to after listening to it now.

Track Listing :

Side One :

1. Next To You
2. So Lonely
3. Roxanne
4. Hole In My Life
5. Peanuts

Side Two :

1. Can't Stand Losing You
2. Truth Hits Everybody
3. Born In The 50's
4. Be My Girl - Sally
5. Masoko Tanga

Released 1978
UK Chart Position : 6

Singles :

Roxanne ( No 12 - 1979 )
Can't Stand Losing You ( No 2 - 1979 )
So Lonely ( No 6 - 1980 )

Pink Floyd - The Wall

"The Wall" was the last Pink Floyd album I purchased. Like most double albums, I thought it contained some good songs but there was a fair amount of filler, mostly designed as part of the story telling. I was disappointed, especially considering how good their previous three albums had been.

"The Wall" is one of the best selling concept albums of all time, and has also been called a Rock Opera. Rogers Waters had for some time been banging on about an invisible wall between the audience and the band on stage during concerts, and this idea was the basis of the story. It is very much Waters' project, with David Gilmour only receiving three co-writing credits, and Richard Wright none at all. The absence of any 10 minute plus magnum opuses was also noticeable.

The plot involves the life of Pink, a fictional rock star ( but loosely based on Waters and former Floyd member Syd Barrett ), starting with the trauma of his father being killed in the war, an unhappy time at school and a dominant mother, then becoming depressed when a star, feeling isolated with a drug dependency, before hullucinating of being a fascist dictator. In the end, the wall he has built around himself has to be destroyed. 

I didn't like a lot of Roger Waters' strained singing on the album, which whilst important for stressing the story line, at times made for painful listening.

One unexpected surprise was that Floyd had the Christmas Number 1 in the UK in 1979, with the very unseasonal "Another Brick In The Wall Part 2" 

The album was turned into a film starring Bob Geldof, but I still haven't got around to seeing it.

Like with "Animals", I bought the book with the sheet music for the album, but the only track I could play was "Outside The Wall".

Looking at track list now, I could only remember how about 10 of the 26 songs went, mostly the proper songs rather than the fillers to keep the story going.

The story begins with "In The Flesh ?", which is not to be confused with the Blondie song of the same name ! There is the faint sound of the melody of the closing track to begin with, then launches into a dramatic rising theme after which the verse is a slow tempo and gives an introduction to what is going to follow. The track ends with the sound of a plane crashing and a baby crying. Together with the reprise its probably my favourite song on "The Wall". 

"The Thin Ice" comes next, starting with piano and David Gilmour's soothing voice, then Roger Waters takes over the singing. "If you should go skating on the thin ice of modern life.... don't be surprised when a crack in the ice appears until your feet".

"Another Brick In The Wall, Part 1" is a slow, sinister version of the hit single.

"The Happiest Days Of Our Life" opens with the sound of a helicopter and a school master shouting "You! Yes, you! Stand still, laddie!" The track's most distinctive feature is the threatening bass lines. "And in the town it was well known that in the night their fat and psychopathic wives would beat them within inches of their lives"

The surprise hit "Another Brick In The Wall, Part 2" has an almost disco guitar riff but is mostly known for the children singing, in London/cockney accents. The song has a nice guitar outro.

"Mother" ends side one. Beginning with just acoustic guitar and Waters' vocal, the instrumentation builds. Gilmour sings the lines of the mother and plays a blistering guitar solo. "Hush now baby, baby don't you cry. Mamma's gonna make all of your nightmares come true. Mamma's gonna put all of her fears into you".

Side two commences with "Goodbye Blue Sky" and a child saying "Look mummy, there's an aeroplane up in the sky !". The song is mostly a pastoral acoustic guitar not too dissimilar to "Grantchester Meadows" and Gilmour provides the vocal.

"Empty Spaces" is a slow track with a marching beat and paranoid vocal.

"Young Lust" is a rock song, reminiscent of "The Nile Song" from "More". I like the organ playing on this. "Ooh, I need a dirty woman". The song ends with a phone call which leads into "One Of My Turns", one of the most interesting tracks on the album. It starts with a groupie talking "Oh my god, what a fabulous room.....you wanna take a bath !" proceeding into a slow, quiet synthesizer and vocal, but midway through it breaks out to a hard rock song as Pink starts to lose it and the groupie decides to flee. "Why are you running away ?"

"Don't Leave Me Now" is another slow number with initially a strained vocal and just keyboards. Eventually the drums and electric guitar come in.

"Another Brick In The Wall, Part 3"is next, a rockier version of part 2. "I don't need no arms around me. And I don't need no drugs to calm me".

The side ends with"Goodbye Cruel World", a sad,slow lament, with just voice and organ.

Side three opens with "Hey You" with an acoustic guitar intro and Gilmour's tender vocal. It has a typical searing guitar solo and the middle section is sung by Waters. "United we stand, divided we fall", and the echo voice at end uses the same technique as used on "Dogs"

"Is There Anybody Out There" begins with radio sounds then the the title being repeatedly spoken. Eventually there is some nice classical acoustic guitar.

"Nobody Home" has more radio sounds, a melancholic piano and vocal, and strings for final two verses "I've got a little black book with my poems in, got a little bag with a toothbrush and a comb in, when I'm a good dog they sometimes throw me a bone in".

"Vera" is another slow number with strings, acoustic guitar and organ. "Vera, what has become of you, does anyone else in here feel the way I do ?"

"Bring The Boys Back Home" has military drumming and a choir/crowd scream the title. It ends with a phone ring tone and "Time to go !" then "Is anybody out there ?"

"Comfortably Numb" closes side 3 and is one of Floyd's most popular numbers.It was covered by The Scissor Sisters and was a top 10 hit in the UK for them. The chord progressions are from "So Far Away" on Gilmour's solo album. The verse is sung by Waters and the chorus by Gilmour. The guitar solo is also reckoned by many to be one of the best recorded by Floyd.

The ah-ah and ooh backing vocals of "The Show Must Go On" have a Beach Boys feel to them and the track has a jaunty piano, Gilmour provides the vocals.

"In The Flesh"is a reprise of the opening track but with a choir and with different lyrics. "I've got some bad news for you sunshine, Pink isn't well and stayed back at the hotel and he sent us along as a surrogate band, we're gonna find out where you fans really stand. Are there any queers in the theatre tonight, get them up against the wall. There's one in the spotlight he doesn't right to me, get him up against the wall. That one looks Jewish, and that one's a coon, who let all this riff-raff in the room ? There's one smoking a joint and another with spots. If I had my way I have all of them shot". I doubt lyrics such as these would be written today...........

"Run Like Hell" is mid-paced stomping rocker, with the guitar part taken from "Cry From The Street" on David Gilmour's solo album.

"Waiting For The Worms" has similar backing vocals to "The Show Must Go On", a slow pounding drum. and a voice regularly spoken through a megaphone inciting the forthcoming riot. "Would you like to see Britannia rule again ? All you have to do is follow the worms".

"Stop" is only 31 seconds, with just a strained vocal and piano.

"The Trial" co-written by producer Bob Ezra, is a Gilbert and Sullivan or music hall style courtroom scene. The vocals are all by Waters but with different accents for each character ( Scottish, Cockney & Northern England ) "The evidence before the court is incontrovertible, there is no need for the jury to retire"  then "Tear down the wall !" A stunning track !

The story closes with "Outside The Wall" with a mournful clarinet intro played over the sounds of the wall being blown up. It's the quietest song on the album but has a beautiful melody. Waters recites the lyrics whilst a children's choir sings them.  

Overall, "The Wall" sounded a great deal better than I remembered and I ended up really liking the album, and didn't think there were any fillers ! My favourite songs were "In The Flesh", "One of My Turns", "Hey You" and "The Trial" but I don't think there is a bad moment on the album. 

Track Listing :

Side One :

1. In The Flesh ?
2. The Thin Ice
3. Another Brick In The Wall, Part 1
4. The Happiest Days Of Our Life
5. Another Brick In The Wall, Part 2
6. Mother

Side Two :

1. Goodbye Blue Sky
2. Empty Spaces
3. Young Lust
4. One Of My Turns
5. Don't Leave Me Now
6. Another Brick In The Wall, Part 3
7. Goodbye Cruel World

Side Three :

1. Hey You
2. Is There Anybody Out There ?
3. Nobody Home
4. Vera
5. Bring The Boys Back Home
6. Comfortably Numb

Side Four :

1. The Show Must Go On
2. In The Flesh
3. Run Like Hell
4. Waiting For The Worms
5. Stop
6. The Trial
7. Outside The Wall

Released 1979
UK Chart Position : 3

Singles :

Another Brick In The Wall, Part Two ( No 1 - 1979 )

 

 

Pink Floyd - Animals

 

"Animals" was the first Pink Floyd album to be released after I had started following them. In the build up to its release, Nicky Horne on Capital Radio played a six-part The Pink Floyd Story, with the final episode broadcast a couple of nights before the album went on sale, and included the with the whole album being played. I bought "Animals" within a week.

"Animals" had already hit the national headlines in the weeks before it was released, as the giant inflatable pig that was being used to take photos at the Battersea Power Station broke loose of its moorings, causing disruptions to aircraft on arrivals at London Heathrow Airport !

I also bought a book with all the sheet music for the album, and was actually able to play "Pigs On The Wing" on an acoustic guitar, but I wouldn't be able to do that now ! 

My father was working in Berlin at the time, and managed to get a ticket for me for the tour date in Berlin in the Deutschlandhalle, and the internet shows the date was Saturday January 29th, 1977. My seat was in the upper balcony but had a restricted view, so I didn't see much of David Gilmour. "Animals" was the first half of the concert, followed by "Wish You Were Here", with "Money" being the encore. Both albums were played in their entirety. 

"Animals" contained three songs over 10 minutes long, sandwiched between two short versions of "Pigs On The Wing". At the time I thought it was the best Floyd album to-date, especially the outstanding guitar playing throughout. The album is loosely based on George Orwell's Animal Farm but instead of being a criticism of Soviet Communism, its anger was at capitalism and the state of British society in the mid 1970s.

"Pigs On The Wing ( Part One )" opens the album, a short tender acoustic song at just one minute 24 seconds long. It sounds a little old fashioned, with just acoustic guitar and vocals.

The 17 minutes long "Dogs" takes up the rest of side one. It begins with an urgent acoustic guitar intro before Gilmour's vocal come in. The bass, drums and organ come in for second verse followed by a trademark guitar solo. The mid-section has a slower pace, with the guitar motif leading into slow acoustic guitar and the sound of dogs barking. A burst of drums leads into another guitar solo and electric piano, then the vocals return, but with a different melody, and the final "dragged down by the stone" line is repeated through a vocoder over just organ and more dog barking. The final section has dog whistles over a synthesizer, and gradually the opening acoustic guitar riff returns and Waters sings before a reprise of first guitar solo leading into second guitar solo. Waters also sings the lengthy coda.

Some pig grunts start the 11 minute long mid-tempo rock song "Pigs ( Three Different Ones )" which opens side two with the intro being a repeated electric keyboard motif, during which the bass, then then the electric guitar join. Waters sings the verse but the chorus is vocal through a vocoder. There is a lengthy slow break between the second and third verses. Eventually the electric keyboard motif returns before the third verse, and th outro is a blistering guitar solo. The three pigs are businessman in general, Prime Minister Mrs Thatcher and morality campaigner Mary Whitehouse, who attracts the use of the f-word. 

"Sheep" has bleating sheep sounds over a slow jazzy electric piano intro before becoming an up tempo driving rock number with Waters on vocals. The mid-section break has the repeated vocoder "stones" from "Dogs" before a slow rising guitar solo then the fast pace briefly returns but then suddenly stops to leave just the bass and some keyboards and a parody of psalm 23 through a vocoder. The song then returns for another verse with and a great guitar piece for the outro and more bleating sheep to finish.

The album closes "Pigs On The Wing ( Part Two )" similar is similar to to part one, and the same length but has different lyrics. 

Listening again to "Animals" it remains a fantastic album. 

Track Listing :

Side One :

1. Pigs On The Wing ( Part One )
2. Dogs

Side Two :

1. Pigs ( Three Different Ones )
2. Sheep
3. Pigs On The Wing ( Part Two )

Released 1977
UK Chart Position : 2

 

Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here

 

"Wish You Were Here" was the long awaited follow-up to "Dark Side Of The Moon", released in September 1975. Being late to jump on the Floyd bandwagon I purchased my copy sometime in the summer of 1976, and thought the album was at least on a par with Dark Side, if not better.

I really liked David Gilmour's guitar playing on the album, ranging from the tremendous different blues flavoured licks on "Shine On You Crazy Diamond", to the rock hero playing on "Have A Cigar" and the crisp acoustic guitar sounds on "Welcome To The Machine" and "Wish You Were Here". Richard Wright's keyboard playing throughout the album was also fantastic, as were the lyrics, some of the best written by Roger Waters.

It is often reported that the central theme of this album is one of absence, most notably that of former band member Syd Barrett, who left the band after suffering mental health issues after the release of Floyd's debut album, and the 26 minutes mostly instrumental nine part opus "Shine On You Crazy Diamond" is a homage. "Shine On" is the main substance of the album, which sandwiches the three other songs on the LP. 

The album came inside a black plastic wrapper, of which mine was discarded after a couple of years.

I was fortunate enough to see Pink Floyd play the entire album in Berlin in January 1977 as part of the "Animals" tour, "Wish You Were Here" comprised the second half of the show.  

Part 1 of "Shine On You Crazy Diamond" is perhaps an appropriate beginning with a slow mournful synthesizer before the guitar plays the individual notes of the motif. Part 2 introduces a new motif guitar then the drums, bass and organ come in. Part 3 consists of a slow mini moog followed by a guitar solo accompanied with an organ.

The vocals arrive in Part 4, which has accompanying female backing vocals, but it's Dave Gilmour's guitar playing the melody that is the highlight. "Remember when you were young, you shone like the sun, shine on you crazy diamond. Now there's a look in your eyes, like black holes in the sky"

Part 5 features Dick Parry on saxophone and the time signature changes as the pace increases mid-way through. The sax fades out and segues into "Welcome To The Machine" and the throbbing sound of a machine. A single strum of an acoustic guitar is eventually played after which Gilmour's vocal enters. The song has an acoustic guitar break then synthesizer and strings before the second verse and more synths to finish. I don't think there is any drumming on this track. "What did you dream ? It's OK were told you what to dream".

Side two opens with "Have A Cigar", which has a guest vocal by Roy Harper, who I had previously known for being an English folk singer. Its a mid tempo rock song, written by Roger Walters about the greed and cynicism of the music industry and the allegedly true story of an record label executive asking "By the way, which one's Pink ?" There is a guitar and organ intro before Harper starts singing "Come in here dear boy, have a cigar". There is a trademark Gilmour guitar solo, and the track concludes with a guitar solo  which is abruptly interrupted as the music reduces in volume to a tinny, radio-like sound then the sounds of someone moving between stations on a radio. This effect is used as a transition to the title track, with initially the same treatment for the intro acoustic guitar.

"Wish You Were Here" is acoustic ballad and is considered by many to be one of Floyd's most popular songs. It was famously covered by Ed Sheeran, with Nick Mason on drums, during the closing ceremony of the 2012 London Olympics. The outro of the song is the acoustic guitar lines, piano, and winds for a fade out leading in to the next parts of "Shine On". "We're just two lost souls swimming in a fishbowl, year after year"

Part 6 of "Shine On" features more moog over a throbbing bass line, before the guitar and drums eventually take over. Part 7 is a reprise of the the vocals whilst part 8 has a plucked electric guitar intro before electric organ, piano and bass join with a Jazz like feel. Electric guitar and synthesizer then take over.

"Shine On" closed with a funeral like synth over piano for Part 9, and finishes with a short, slow excerpt from "See Emily Play" as a final nod to Syd Barrett.

Listening to "Wish You Were Here" again, I now think it is a much better album than "Dark Side Of The Moon", with every second of music being brilliant, whereas there are some duff moments on "Dark Side". It is now my favourite Pink Floyd album. 

Track Listing :

Side One :

1. Shine On You Crazy Diamond ( Parts 1 to 5 )
2. Welcome To The Machine

Side Two :

1. Have A Cigar
2. Wish You Were Here
3. Shine On You Crazy Diamond ( Parts 6 to 9 )

Released 1975
UK Chart Position : 1