Gems #038 ‘How Bizarre’ - the album-length playlist including Bad Company, Paul McCartney & Wings, Jon Anderson, and more
Classic and new tracks, compiled by Ian Sharp: music writer.
Welcome to Gems, my weekly playlist ranging from classic to current tracks. Each playlist is 40–45 minutes long, sequenced as ‘Side 1’ and ‘Side 2’.
Gems #038: How Bizarre
The Spotify playlist, and a link to the Apple Music version, follow after the notes.
Side 1
1. Bad Company 2. Paul McCartney & Wings 3. Reb Fountain 4. Mike Campbell & The Dirty Knobs 5. Pat Metheny 6. Baaba Maal
Some classic, classic rock to open with Bad Company. Recently I was reminded it was 50 years ago when The Who played The Valley (Charlton Football Club), and Bad Co. were there, playing one of their first gigs after emerging from the splinters of Free. ‘Can’t Get Enough’ was their first single and still sounds great in this remastered version.
The Paul McCartney & Wings live album One Hand Clapping is finally released officially this week. ‘Hi Hi Hi’ was always one of my favourite Wings singles and it’s designed to be played live.
Reb Fountain is someone I knew nothing of until listening to some of this week’s new releases. This is a great cover of ‘How Bizzare’, a song I remembered and couldn’t place - a search tells me the original was by her fellow New Zealand countrymen OMC.
Mike Campbell & The Dirty Knobs are continuing the spirit of Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, where Campbell was second in command. ‘Hell or High Water’ is a duet with Lucinda Williams and showcases a more gentle approach than normal from the band.
Pat Metheny is one of the all-time great guitarists, often playing in the laid-back jazz-rock style used here. Great technique or dangerously close to elevator music? What do you think?
This week’s WOMAD track is by Baaba Maal; he’s headlining the Sunday evening of the festival this year as an old favourite there. He’s also back with a great new album from which ‘Ndungu Ruumi’ is extracted.
Side 2
7. Jon Anderson & The Band Geeks 8. MEER 9. Michael Berkeley, Neil Tennant & David Gilmour 10. Olivier Rocabois 11. The Ravonettes
Let’s get progressive for a couple of tracks. Jon Anderson’s voice remains as distinctively high register as ever. He’s found a new band since his falling out with Yes and their album is arriving soon. ‘Shine On’? He’s certainly doing that.
MEER are a Norwegian band. This lovely track ‘Golden Circle’ is from their new album Wheels Within Wheels.
I was intrigued when I saw David Gilmour and Neil Tennant’s names attached to the track ‘Zero Hour: Zero Hour’ by Michael Berkeley. This is from his compilation album Collaborations and is classed as ‘classical’ by Apple. The song is at the progressive end of his wide range of work. Berkeley has collaborated with many artists, not all classical (i.e. The Edge). He’s otherwise known as Lord Berkeley of Knighton.
Olivier Rocabois takes us deeper into thought-provoking strangeness. How’s this for a concept: “The Afternoon of our Lives is a collection of 11 songs describing the slow disintegration of a human body and the self-liberation of a 50-year-old bald and chubby man who found solace in music and love.” (Quoted from his Bandcamp page.)
Finally, Danish duo The Raveonettes take us back to the 60s with their cover of ‘All I Have To Do Is Dream’
Plus …
Hats Off Gentlemen It’s Adequate - ‘Copenhagen’ isn’t streaming yet and can be heard (and bought) on Bandcamp. It's another fine song and is a prelude to their new album.
Video Gem of the Week
R.E.M. reunite at 2024 Songwriters Hall of Fame. They said it could never happen …
Messages and comments are open. I’d love to know which track you enjoyed most this week.
LP is back with another dive into the archive on Monday.
Enjoy the music,
Ian
Thank you for taking the time to listen to Gems, and read the notes. LP also includes a weekly 5-minute read (a Glimpse) about a classic album and long-reads for paid subscribers. If you have not yet subscribed please do - paid subs are invested in buying new music and keep me writing, and free subs demonstrate your support for music writing.
Really interesting playlist. Glad to see Mike Campbell carrying the torch high.
Continuing to dig myself out from under an avalanche of unread Substacks and just making it to your playlist. While I understand the comparison to elevator music, I for one really like the Pat Metheny track. I really enjoyed Baaba Maal’s 2023 album but he didn’t quite make the cut for my AOTY list.
The Michael Berkeley track is lovely! Never heard of him before but will have to do a little digging. I’d completely forgotten about the Raveonettes! It’s probably been over a decade since I last listened to them.