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20.09.13 MusicWeek 63
NEW REISSUES / CATALOGUE ALBUMS
BELINDA CARLISLE •Heaven On Earth(Edsel EDSG 8025)/Runaway Horses (EDSG 8026)/Live Your Life Be Free (EDSG 8027)/Real (EDSG 8028)
With The Go-Gos gone, lead singer Belinda Carlisle embarked on a solo career in 1985, releasing
the album Belinda on IRS. Although a hit in America it failed to chart in most other territories, and Carlisle was allowed to join Virgin. She immediately entered the most successful phase of her career, recording four albums for the label - all of which made the Top 10 in the UK. Newly licensed to Edsel, all four are now released in casebound, remastered and significantly expanded editions. The original albums are augmented in 2CD sets, with a plethora of single versions, remixes, B-sides, demos and bonus tracks. A third disc - a DVD - houses the relevant promotional videos and a Mark Goodier, while the Heaven On Earth set also includes a 14- track Belinda Live concert video, filmed in Philadelphia in 1988. As well as being Carlisle’s most
successful work, these albums are her most commercial, with the edginess of The Go-Gos replaced by a glossy pop sheen, exemplified by massive hits like I Get Weak (an early indicator of the massive talent of songwriter Diane Warren), Leave A Light On, (We Want) The Same Thing and Big Scary Animal. No fewer than 17 of the songs made the UK charts, demonstrating that not only were these albums among some of the brightest pop confections of their time, they were also crammed with hits.
JOHN MARTYN • Sweet Little
Mystery ~ The Essential (Spectrum SPEC 2148)
Curmudgeonly but brilliant
singer/songwriter John Martyn’s recording career spanned more
than 40 years, and ahead of the expansive 18-disc set The Island Years - which comes lavishly packaged later this month, with a £150 price tag - this considerably more modest undertaking is nevertheless the ideal starting
point for beginners. Priced to sell at less than £5, Sweet Little Mystery is a highly satisfactory microcosmic meander through his Island career, with tracks spanning 11 albums and 20 years. Encompassing folk, blues, jazz, rock and even reggae, it is an impressive primer, with Martyn’s wonderfully beguiling voice taking centre stage. Highlights include the ethereal One World; the fabulous Primrose Hill, with engrossing sax/piano interplay and a vocal from former wife Beverley; the gently beautiful title track and, most impressively of all, an edgy take on The Slickers' reggae classic Johnny Too Bad, complete with soulful vocals and dubby fretwork.
VARIOUS • The Dawn Of Psychedelia ((El ACMEM 255CD)
Comprising entirely of recordings made prior to the summer of love and the dawning of the age of
Aquarius, this double disc set isn't exactly easy listening but it is fascinating, plotting the artistic
momentum of the era and the evolution of the genre via archive recordings of jazz, Indian classical music and fuzzy raga, to name but three. Herbie Mann’s version of Gershwin’s It Ain’t Necessarily So is a trip in itself, with his flute initially picking out the melody of the song but then veering off for a 20-minute extemporisation. Sounds Inc’s Taboo is also big on the flute but combines it with almost tribal drums and fuzz guitar that were right out there, and way ahead of the curve for 1962. Beat poet Ken Nordine’s rich spoken word delivery of Spectrum - a forerunner to his album Colors - is wonderfully inventive, and attributes values to colours, with red, for example, wearing rust and blush and sitting next to covetous neighbour orange, which ‘has a look of Monday’ - all set to a jazzy backing track. The counter culture is well represented, with short spoken word tracks interleaved with the music - Aldous Huxley talks about taking mescaline, Timothy Leary discusses transforming American society and Alice B Toklas goes into great detail about how to make hashish fudge, in a track recorded the day before her 83rd birthday in 1960.
VARIOUS • Lipstick, Powder & Paint: The New York Dolls Heard Them Here First (Ace CDCHD 1377)
This 24-song New York Dolls compilation - the latest in a series that has previously focused on
those who influenced Elvis Presley, Cliff Richard and The Ramones - is a corker. Each of these songs was subsequently recorded by the group but is presented here in the version that inspired their cover. Spanning R&B, rock ‘n’ roll, soul and bluegrass, it is a collection of undeniable pedigree, with Joe Turner’s title track, Muddy Waters’ Hoochie Coochie Man and The Four Tops’ Reach Out, I’ll Be There prime amongst them. They also covered some lesser known songs by well known artists, hence we get The Kinks’ almost Vaudevillian warning about the dangers of Alcohol, Elvis Presley in a rare duet of Crawfish with Kitty White, and Wilson Pickett singing about life as an International Playboy.
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