Excuse me for writing about something other than my MA or anything to do with English Language Teaching, but I thought I would post about a gig that I went to last night. I went to the New Theatre, Oxford, to see scottish popmeisters Deacon Blue on their 25th anniversary tour of their debut album, 'Raintown'. Tenuous link: lead singer and writer, Ricky Ross, used to be a teacher in Scotland. I have included two videos below. One video I made in South Korea in 2007 and one is a recording from last night's gig. I didn't record the whole thing, just a couple of songs.
Not content with merely churning out the old hits, this time the band have gone back into the studio to record a brand new set of songs - there first for 111 years, and put them together on an album entitled, 'The Hipsters'. There is more than a hint of irony in the title, as Deacon Blue have never been particularly 'hip', being slightly older than the average pop stars when they first started out and releasing music that was more Radio 2 fodder than the more 'hip' Radio, 1 even back then.They do actually claim that long departed, original guitarist, Graeme Kelling, who died of pancreatic cancer in 2004, was the only hip one amongst them. The new album is surprisingly good, certainly compared with the average Homesick, which accompanied their 2002 comeback or the 'Best Of - Singles' package that accompanied their 2007, 20th anniversary tour.
I have been an unembarrased fan of Deacon Blue since they first re-recorded 'Dignity' in 1987 with 'more hooks' in order to make it a more radio-friendly single. The Jon Kelly produced 'Raintown' was released in April 1987 and contained the hit singles, 'Loaded', 'Chocolate Girl', 'When Will You Make My Telephone Ring' as well as the aforementioned 'Dignity'. I bought each and every single they released subsequently, following them through to their second album, 'When The World Knows Your Name', when coincided with their commercial peak - ticket sales for shows in Glasgow's SECC in both May and December 1989 broke the world record at the time for the fastest sell-out - most notably do to 'Wages Day' and the woop-woop of Wayne Rooney fave, 'Real Gone Kid', although the album version is not the best version of that particular song. Much better were 'Queen Of The New Year, 'Love and Regret' and 'Fergus Sings The Blues', a latter being a wonderful paen to Ross being Scottish but having one eye and certainly all of one heart firmly fixed on the transatlantic music, such as Blues and Soul, that came out of the United States. I saw them play live for first time at the Hammersmith Odean, as it was called then, in December 1989, then again around Christmas time, 1991.
Following 'WTWKYN' they released an ep of 4 Hal David and Burt Bacharach songs, from which the lead track, 'I'll Never Fall In Love Again' which hit no.2 in the singles chart. A great song and an OK version by the band.
I continued my love affair with the band through third album, 'Fellow Hoodlums', which I prefer to 'WTWKYN' but still can't beat 'Raintown' in terms of emotional intensity. 'Your Swaying Arms' and 'A Brighter Star Than You Will Shine' are particularly good tracks. I referred to the title track when I revisited Glasgow earlier this year for the IATEFL conference, with it's nods to Glasgow city centre landmarks, such as St Enochs and Buchanan Street. Since then I have called the bloggers that I follow and mention on this blog as 'fellow hoodlums' without really implying that there anything of the kind.
I was disappointed by their fourth album, 'Whatever You Say, Say Nothing', which apart from a terrible title, saw them 'trying' to be 'hip', having dance remixes and slices of poorly executed Prince-style R'n'B. It contain the fantastic 'Only Tender Love' and 'Bethlehem's Gate'. I saw them in Leicester DeMonfort Halls. But I wasn't too upset by a decision to call it a day. That was 1994.
I completely missed the release of 'Love Hurts', which didn't chart, and the subsequent 'Walking Back Home' compilation in 1999, buying it much later.
Then nothing, until 2002's comeback, 'Homesick', which had one decent song, 'Everytime You Sleep' and a couple of others worthy of mention, 'This Train Will Take You Anywhere' and 'Silverlake'. It also contained the lamentable 'A is for Astronaut' which I remember them showcasing on BBC's 'Watchdog' and I felt embarrassed to have ever liked them.
Fast forward 5 years, and hindsight is a wonderful thing. I was beginning my career as a teacher of English as a Foreign Language, in South Korea, when I learned of their 2007 tour. I had 2 concert performance CDs from that tour shipped out to me and it rekindled my love, culminating in me using two aforementioned tracks from WTWKYN for a personal video I made in a freezing cold Seoul, New Year's Eve 2007 - see below.
A review of the Oxford gig follows.
A review of the Oxford gig follows.
There is no denying the popularity of Deacon Blue amongst what are now middle-aged 40-50 year olds who, likewise, have never been hip. Like me, those that bought 'Raintown' back in '87, of which there seemed to be many tonight who were familiar with the songs from that debut, have never strayed far from loving the band. Songs like 'Ragman' and 'Loaded' still resonate today, to borrow a line from 'Born In A Storm', 'like they always did.' Ricky might complain of being old, but he is in good company.
The gig kicked off with three tracks from the new album, and the title track, 'The Hipsters' sounded really good. 'That's What We Can Do' is another singalong that went down well. 'Your Swaying Arms', from 'Fellow Hoodlums' is the first classic track, an underrated single with a memorable bassline - here supplied by Lewis Gordon. 'The Day That Jackie Jumped The Jail' is an odd track, as Ricky Ross narrates the story of the eponymous 'Jackie', Glasgow landmarks and '30,000 fireworks taking the piss out of Princes Street Garden'. New single, 'The Outsiders', again, refers a little to Deacon Blue's claim to being 'unhip' and it's before this that former guitarist, Graeme Kelling, gets a mention. 'Your Town' comes along suddenly and is performed without megaphone, as did 'The Outsiders' which has Ricky singing both parts of the distorted call and response in the verse from the recorded version. When Maria-McKee inspired 'Real Gone Kid' kicked in, however, you knew that it remained the most familiar track. There is just something special about Lorraine McIntosh's 'Whoo-hoo's'. 'Spencer Tracy' is nice, with Dougie's 'bongo patting', although I think most here might have prefered, for a slow-paced Raintown track, to hear 'Chocolate Girl' at this point. That track gives way to Lorraine strapping a guitar and then not really playing it while she warbles the straightforward, hymn-like, Ricky-less 'Cover From The Sky' from FH. 'Love and Regret' is padded out to include harmonies from the audience, while Laura from Memory is dedicated to a departed family member.
Born In A Storm brings us right back to the start of Raintown, which as can be seen below, is naturally followed by the title track. I first heard a slowed down piano version of this track as a b-side to the Dignity EP, when it was re-released in January 1988. This Jim Prime lead song about Glasgow still resonates deeply with me and it was appropriately bucketing down with rain outside during the whole gig. 'Loaded' is also have padded out, as it gets infused with Woody Guthrie's 'I Ain't Got No Home'. Another crowd pleaser, 'Fergus Sings The Blues' is introduced by a rambling story about the 2014 Commonwealth Games. Lorraine's vocals again are shown off to be a perfect complement to Ricky's rasping chords, during new track, Stars, as she floats her harmonies above her husband's. The night ends with an encore which predictably includes the wonderful singalong, 'Dignity' and an embellished, throwaway, 'Twist and Shout' - not their best song by a long way, because it's source is too obvious, although they at least acknowledge that by doing the 'original'. That leaves a melancholy Dylan cover, 'Forever Young', with everyone up front on vocals, with which to say goodnight. 25 years in the making, Deacon Blue's anniversary live show truly hits the mark. Home. Faith. Work.
Set List:
Here I Am In London Town
The Hipsters
That's What We Can Do
Your Swaying Arms
Ragman
The Day That Jackie Jumped The Jail
The Outsiders
Your Town
Real Gone Kid
The Rest
He Looks Like Spencer Tracy Now
Cover From The Sky
Love And Regret
Laura From Memory
Born In A Storm+
Raintown+
Loaded / I Ain't Got No Home (Woody Guthrie)
Fergus Sings The Blues
Stars
She'll Understand
Dignity
Wages Day
Wages Day
Twist and Shout / Twist and Shout (Phil Medley/Bert Russell)
Forever Young (Bob Dylan)
+ Born In A Storm/Raintown
