Category: music

First album/movie/novel syndrome

I listened to Terence Trent D’Arby’s first album on the way to work the other morning and two things struck me.

First, that it’s hardly dated at all – his voice still sounds so fresh and the music is, let’s face it, pretty darned good.

Second, though, and that’s the pressure that people such as Mr D’Arby must feel, once they produce a ‘hit’ with their first release.

I know Terence was a bit of an egomaniac, but nothing he did afterwards ever quite hit the same heights – Neither Fish Nor Flesh got totally panned and he never quite recovered.

He’s not the first and doubtless won’t be the last in the ‘entertainment’ profession.

Take Donna Tartt, for example. The Secret History was such a huge success and widely acclaimed and it took her more than a decade to follow it up with the Little Friend, which didn’t quite get the same reviews.

Movie-makers are no different. Many acclaimed directors have shown early promise, but come to nothing. Guy Ritchie is a classic example – someone who was thought to be capable of great things, but soon became exposed as a one-trick pony.

All power to these people for making their name in the first place, but it must suck not to be able to reach those peaks again.

On that note, though, enjoy this live recording of the venerable Mr D’Arby, who now goes under the name Sananda Maitreya, from way back when.

iPod rage

iPodMy intention today was to take up Cliff’s challenge and see if my iPod was in sync with my life.

Unfortunately, my iPod decided to wipe itself completely while connected to my work computer this afternoon.

And when I say wiped, I mean wiped. We’re talking not a sausage left on it. From Aaliyah to Zager and Evans, the whole lot has gone.

Obviously I’ve got them all backed up at home and as I sit here writing, my ‘restored to factory settings’ iPod is being synced up with my iTunes.

I suppose it just really bugged me, though, because it proves how easily a music collection can be erased.

And for all those people who reckon that downloads are the future, my experience is exactly why CDs (or another similar format) won’t go away just yet.

Because, if your iPod goes gaga and you lose your electronic music, you can still rip your CDs all over again.

Thank god!

Golliwog’s Cakewalk, eh?

Sometimes my iPod surprises me. I don’t mean that it suddenly tells me a joke, or puts on women’s clothes… mind you, wouldn’t that be a great development for Apple. Quick, where’s Steve Jobs’ email address?…

Anyway, what I really meant was that it throws you a curveball with what it plays. So I’d just listened to a nice Feist track, when a pleasant piano piece came wafting through my earphones.

Hmm, what’s that, I thought? I don’t recognise it.

I look down at the screen to discover it’s called Golliwog’s Cakewalk by Debussy.

It only seems like yesterday that the golliwog police clamped down on any representation in public life (although it was probably more like 20 years ago), forcing the likes of Robertsons to remove it from their labels.

And when I was a kid, golliwogs were a fact of life. In fact, I had one as a kid that sat on my bed, alongside Big Ted and Little Ted (imaginative, wasn’t I?)

Anyway, in case you’re interested to hear what Golliwog’s Cakewalk sounds like, here’s a recital.