Vicki Sue Robinson (1976)

Congas,swirling strings,passionate backing chorus,throbbing bass... it must be Vicki Sue Robinson!

it is really a pleasure to encounter album recorded in the golden age of disco,the original artifact - not just some nostalgic pastiché,but the real thing - and surely Robinson's mid-1970s LPs are joy.

The album starts strongly with one-to punch of "Daybreak" and "Should I stay" medley following right after,two irresistible dance-floor stompers with some backing choruses almost frightening in their intensity. If you ask me,I would continue album in the same style and had it filled with celebratory dance songs completely,alas,someone has decided that we need ballads here so ballads we got and they are - there's no way to put it nicely - simply boring.Everything that sounds original and passionate on disco numbers is just mannered and annoying on ballads.

Robinson's disco albums all share same characteristics - songs are either hands-in-the-air disco affairs or agonizingly slow and overlong ballads. Skip the ballads and go for disco.

The Ronettes Early Years '61-'62

Pre-Spector recordings showing that girls really needed better material and inspired producer next time around.

it is common now to throw mud at Phil Spector but the guy was genius and his magic touch made all the difference. Almost all of his singers (with few exceptions,like Ike & Tina Turner) were not known before he started working with them and Ronettes were just one of the many names from the list of hopeful wannabies.

Ronnie had appealing,sexy voice and and it's (almost) fun to hear her in this sub--par material,without earthquake going on around her. One cannot really hear other girls as Ronnie is front and center,and as for musicians,well to me it all sounds like demo anyway. Everything sounds like demo compared to Phil Spector!

What is truly fascinating is how bad these material is - even Supremes debut album had more depth - gimmicks,clichés,derivative ideas... you name it,it's here. Even girls squeaks have already been done (much better) by The Tammys. From historical perspective,it is interesting to hear Ronettes the way they were as "diamonds in rough" but from music standpoint this was just awful because there is nothing here that hasn't already been recorded by everybody else + songs themselves are offensive in their simpleness.

Girl-group era had a lot of inspired highlights,but this is not one of them.

"A bit of Liverpool" by The Supremes (1964)

If you can't beat them,join them.

While "british invasion" swept away some big stars,others managed to cope with changes - Supremes recorded the whole album of songs by british artists,toured UK and posed for the pictures in new british fashion. it smeels very much like jumping at the bandwagon to me - if it moves,cover it - and it makes me think what would they do in cause Josephine Baker with her banana dress came in fashion (surely they would all go bananas). Yes we know, it wasn't girls but big bosses telling them what to do and that is why Supremes 1960s discography thematically have nothing in common ,as they hit left & right,trying to outdo Connie Francis at the game. Supremes sings country... Supremes sings Sam Cooke... Supremes sing Christmas... Rodgers and Hart... Funny Girl... Supremes singing Yiddish,hell yeah.

How does it sound? Cutesy,as expected. Songs are well known and copied not for note,so it's not even a matter of different interpretation,more a matter of different voices. If you ever wanted to hear "House of a rising sun" sung by Minnie Mouse,this album is for you. Surprisingly,"You really got a hold on me" by Smokey Robinson is also here because he influenced british rock aristocracy.

Music is of course,nice,but we already know originals so this is a bit pointless.

Carl Spitzweg

Long,long ago and far away,when I was a teenager spending afternoons in the libraries (instead of being at school) I remember seeing certain paintings by some german painter and in the corner of my mind I registered him as somebody I liked. Now,decades later I decided to find him,but of course it was like searching for a needle in a haystack - the only things I remember were "german" and "painter".

Thanks to internet, I have finally traced him - Carl Spitzweg - surely he lived in different times and one might describe his paintings as cutesy,but to me he is clear spiritual ancestor of Norman Rockwell - they both love their subjects (paintings are always full of delightful little details). As opposite to some other artists who share their nightmares with everybody, Spitzweg and Rockwell deliberately and decidedly focus only on happy little everyday moments. Even when Spitzweg paints night watch sleeping alone in the middle of the square,with starry sky above him,he does it in such nice gently way that we are not laughing at him,we somehow feel for him.

Seeing Spitzweg's eccentric and likable characters (in mostly crowded paintings with lots of beautiful dreamy architecture) reminds me how much I always loved similar much older paintings by old dutch painters (you know,those with lot of people skating on frozen rivers and so on) so maybe this was connection between them,kind of torch pasing.

Hidden past of Ella Fitzgerald

The quintessential difference between two Jazz Goddesses who actually lived at the same time,knew same people and even performed at the same stages was that Billie Holiday surrounded herself with aura of melancholy,drama and suffering while Ella Fitzgerald somehow reflected happiness and optimism. It showed in their music,although it must be admitted that roles could occasionally swap - Billie could do uptempo,happy songs and Ella would surprise you with yearning ballads. However,they are remembered as dark and sunny oposites.

Recent discoveries about Fitzgerald's early start in life enlighten us about her personality - we all know that she had won that fateful amateur night contest at the famous "Apollo" but years between death of her mother and "Apollo" are usually not mentioned whatsoever. It is almost as she was born that night at the "Apollo" and come to think of it,Ella herself liked to remember it that way - but reality was somehow different,as police records showed that after being shuffled between relatives,the child run off on the streets (probably not without a reason!) and was arrested & placed in the reformatory for period of two years,where girls were regularly tortured and beaten.

Fitzgerald herself never spoke about these years and though she was undoubtedly deeply traumatized with them,she never allowed inner demons to show in her work. Quite opposite to Holiday who created "suffering diva" personae but apparently was strong-willed and high-living person,sunny and happy Fitzgerald had her share of problems but kept them in check.

Nothing is what it seems!

Carole King Early Recordings 1958-66

Woah,this is really an explosion of happy,bubbly 1960s pop - King's early recordings and demos are thrilling in their energy, earnestness and enthusiasm.

Long before "Tapestry" she was well known as a gifted composer,but this information doesn't really register until one hears this generous compilation of rarities recorded a full decade before superstardom - if "Tapestry" was gentle,melodic and melancholic,these early 1960s songs were all irresistibly happy,tuneful and danceable. It is also cute to note where king picked up her influences - doo wop,The Drifters,Neil Sedaka and others somehow mirrored in her music,clearly she tried a little bit of everything.

Downright funny (and good natured) answer song "Oh Neil" that starts this compilation,might suggest that this girl would turn into some gimmicky one-trick Pony and before you know it,King blossoms into irresistible (and instantly recognizable) weaver of magic melodies - surely,this is all based on 1960s girl-group sound but if you like music from this decade,this CD is Holy Grail. With a few over-cooked exceptions,most of these songs are highly enjoyable and King herself sounds much better than demo tracks singers.

"Loving and free" by Kiki Dee (1973)

Very pretty early 1970s album by now almost forgotten Kiki Dee.
Her life-long champion Elton John stands behind production and most of the material here,no wonder it sounds as it could have been Elton John's album with calm and sensitive female voice added later. It is very tuneful and melodic collection of folk-rock (Jackson Browne amongst many composers represented here) with only misstep being aggressive rock guitars of "Supercool" that somehow doesn't fit with the rest of the album.

Kiki Dee is a pleasure to hear here,that fine and clear voice reminding listener a bit of Dusty Springfield (but less theatrical and somehow more controlled). She might have been a bit buttoned-up but to me that's fine,I prefer collected and calm singer anytime to a over-souling of any of today's charted girls.

At the very end of the album are perhaps the strongest points: "Song for Adam" (Jackson Browne) that suits Kiki Dee to a T, and her own "Sugar on the floor" that was later turned into soul showpiece by Etta James. Overall one of the best studio works by very likable,sincere singer who deserved much better fate than to end up like one-hit wonder.

Seka Kojadinović 1973. single

Seka Kojadinović is my recent discovery and completely accidental one - helping a friend with covers of Dusty Springfield,we somehow stumbled upon this obscure singer who literary had 5 minutes of spotlight before she left music business. I am fairly familiar with all things retro and know all the forgotten singers of Ex Yu but Kojadinović was a surprise even for me.

Fairly competent singer who was at the right place in the right time,Kojadinović graced late 1960s rock scene of Belgrade and performed with some important & famous musicians ("Korni grupa", "Eclipse") before going solo,but this solo career never really took off. Either lady was not commercial enough or was it question of luck,promotion,determination,who knows.

However,Kojadinović did left several singles behind and this one (recorded in 1973) have interesting choice of songs - A side is wasted on something simple enough to get radio play (it didn't,although it was presented on Belgrade pop festival that year) but side B has a stunning ballad "A moje usne šapuću Tebi" with spiraling piano introduction,beautiful melody and some serious drama going on. This ballad was so good and strong that it could have been title of an album,instead of being forgotten and sentenced for B side of the single - honestly,it would not have been out of place on Dusty Springfield album!

Classic story of beautiful gem hidden on a B side of the forgotten single.

Catania & Cannoli

So,I have left South Africa behind - but so far,not really seeing much of Europe because new work is really overwhelming + to be honest,I have 365 days of continuous sailing behind me (without one single day off) so naturally right now at this point just show me the bed and I don't need any sunlight. The working hours are ridiculous but this is not a place to complain,just occasionally I feel sorry for myself and think of "normal life" where one works 8 hours and rest afterwards.

However I did go out in Catania,Sicily.

I know the place quite well - at least I am familiar with the centre and everything that one can walk through. Catania has a beautiful old architecture and obviously a lot of history. Unfortunately place is completely run-down and it just goes worse every year I visit,it's really a disgrace and whatever might look romantic in the night,looks really bad in the bright sunlight. All my colleagues say the same thing: the place looks post-apocaliptic and it needs to be seriously re-painted,re-built or simply saved because the way it is, it does not look pretty at all. I can imagine finances are the problem here but still,if things are done step by step maybe some kind of improvement could be done.

One saving grace for Catania are Cannoli,the most delicious sicilian dessert that looks almost obscene (like a huge cuban cigar,filled with riccota cheese cream and dipped in pistacchio)

and the best ones are to be found either in ancient cake-shop "Nona Vincenza" (the same family owns this shop for several centuries) or close to the main square, at the very beginning of famous Via Etna. In the both cases Cannoli are divine and definitely some of the best desserts I have ever tried in my life. One might search for Cannoli in other parts of Italy but nothing ever matches these beauties found in Catania - other Cannoli were always smaller,drier and lacked some special magic - these in Catania in particular are just sensational and when I'm there I gorge on them like there is no tomorrow. In fact,because of Cannoli I am (almost) ready to forgive them for not tiding up this old town just once.

Another curiosity: there is an elephant sculpture in the main square,apparently some kind of midget elephants used to live in Sicily long before the man and this little elephant is official protector of Catania. At some point,locals realized he lacks the male equipment and after much push & pull,they added testicles on the sculpture!

"Now Voyager" by Barry Gibb (1984)

Gibb's falsetto in an acquired taste,but we got used to it thanks to "Saturday night fever".

if you wonder does his solo album sound any different than Bee Gees,the answer is: not really.

Here he leaves disco behind and moves into 1980s synthesizers land,balancing between funk and mid-tempo ballads. Lots of multi-voiced songs,so if you are not really into his voice,better avoid Barry Gibb choir. It is had to take seriously somebody with such an odd collection of vocal tricks: Gibb squeaks, whines,growls and attempts to sound soulful but often ends being just downright funny. Even when he gets "passionate" on occasions, before you know it,he croons boring ballad with fellow Aussie Olivia Newton-John so he is neither artist stretching bravely beyond commercial horizons, neither hit maker here.

For some reason (perhaps because I was familiar with his work as successful composer for others) I really wanted to give this album a proper chance and listened it far more than I should have - there are a few interesting moments here,but the overall impression is that Gibb used his inspiration on other artist's albums and not much was left for his own project. Perhaps somebody like Quincy Jones could have done better and give production more appealing twists or perhaps Gibb should have just wait until he collects enough strong songs for the whole album.However,after this he quickly returned to the group.

"Lady of the night" by Donna Summer (1974)

Very interesting curiosity,a complete album recorded before her disco glory and apparently released only in The Netherlands.

Moroder and Belotte were on board even than,playing around with different music genres and trying new things all over the place. It's all very mild and relatively innocent (compared to what's around the corner), wholesome 1970s pop that appealed to locals who liked it well enough to chart the album high.

Summer uses her real voice,deep and powerful alto that blows the studio walls away - she was a really strong singer even than and it is a pity that producers very soon transformed her into moaning & groaning disco marionette who sings with "feminine" falsetto,before she got successful enough to go back to her real voice.

First disco hits like "Love to love you baby", "Try me I know we can make it" or "I feel love" were all done in annoying high register,because that is what producers probably wanted (whispering sex fantasy) but Summer did not need any gimmicks as she already had a strong talent and experience behind her, I am really glad that later she started singing normally again later.

Phil Spector - influenced "Lady of the night" and blaxploitation movie that-never-was "The Hostage" were hits.

"Kantautor" by Arsen Dedić (1985)

Very pretty piano-and-voice album where famous croatian artist celebrates work of his colleagues.

Title of this album refers to a word croatians literary picked up from italian - "cantautore" (singing author) - that sounds far more sophisticated and elegant than clumsy english "singer songwriter" To my knowledge Dedić never called himself "kantautor" except mockingly - he calls himself "craftsman" since his work encompassed everything from children's music, soundtracks,TV and theatre music to composing for himself and other singers,not to mention several published books of poetry,truly fascinating man.

A very gifted singer-songwriter himself,Dedić has already glanced at other people work - his early EP singles were full of covers and there were two albums from 1977. and 1980. where he recorded material associated with lyrics writer Zvonimir Golob and various poets. This time in 1985. - in the time of thundering synthesizers and gimmicky MTV video clips - Dedić recorded piano-and-voice album where he focuses on other brothers in arms: Jacques Brel, Luigi Tenco, Fabrizio De Andre even John Lennon.

The lack of big production means the stage is set to spotlight Dedić and lyrics - only his serious,declamatory voice and wonderful,simple music coming from the hearts of his fellow colleagues. As ever eclectic, Dedić re-visits not only famous international stars and his idols,but also a local songwriters and friends (Hrvoje Hegedušić, Kemal Monteno, Đorđe Balašević) not to mention completely off-the-wall choice of some old hit from 1950s ("Hvala Ti" by long forgotten Zvonimir Krkljuš) where campy old love song turns into heartfelt and sincere mournful ballad. Borrowing - or should we say celebrating - songs from left and right,Dedić shows excellent taste and strangely enough whatever he sings has such a strong stamp of personality that it might have been written by him.

Since I lived with this album for many years and know it by heart now,I noticed that Dedić never limited himself on usual love song stuff - just like in his own songs ("Djevojka za jedan dan"/"The Girl for one day" - single from 1970.) on several occasions here he refers at loving a girl who is a prostitute. There are few songs on this album that obviously appeal to Dedić,where protagonist falls head over heals for a girl who does not belong to him or anybody. It is very interesting because it's not like he loves a whore,he is overjoyed and excited about a girl who laughs at him,who basically don't love him but his heart burst nevertheless - the more I listen this songs,the more I find nuances and different meanings - it could also be a song about man growing older and girl being young and beautiful and unavailable.In this case,the way it was written,the girl is described as a prostitute but she is simply a symbol for Dedić's deep yearning for that girl forever out of our reach,she does not and never will be his.

Fritz Wunderlich: Wunderlich in Wien (1966)

Wunderlich goes Tauber - sweet voiced german singer could apparently sing anything and was always waving magic,be it Mozart,Bach or lieder.

On this 1966 album Wunderlich visits famous operetta arias and as usual he approaches them with same seriousness as anything he has ever recorded,making a point that good music has no limits - if he was great in sacral or operatic music,well,he could as well shine in operetta and why not?

Lesser known fact is that Wunderlich actually studied early music (Monteverdi) while singing and playing popular music on the side,to make a living,so this early period obviously shaped his personality in a way that he was able to simply live and breathe music no matter what style,he was simply great singer who could do anything.

This particular recording is delightful in a very much same way Elizabeth Schwarzkopf's operetta album - sparkling like champagne,creamy as any austrian cake, or at least what we imagine Austria is - sweet melodies,very romantic and certainly very hummable,this is light-hearted music for a sunny day (no dark shadows here) and if massive orchestra and wordless choir perhaps makes everything a bit too much like Disney movie, never mind,the idea was to match world-class singer with a seductive,easy listening material and it was done with perfection,in fact I think if Wunderlich was alive today,it could probably not have been done any better - just look at any classical singer recording popular music (traditional folk songs or something like that,yes we are looking at you Bryn Terfel) and no matter what kind of voice they have,the production is more or less very similar to this 1966.recording, except that instead of Vienna Volksoper Choir today's releases would probably add some celebrity duet as extra attraction.

Easy-listening Austrian bon-bon with one of the best voices in the business.

"Millenium Trilogy" by Stieg Larsson

Strangely enough - or perhaps not,considering that I always stay away from "current trends" - I kept away from Stieg Larsson's trilogy until a colleague recommended "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo". It's funny because I am the book addict and my colleague was never ever sharing my passion for reading, but apparently crossing over from Europe to South Africa was so slow and boring that even he felt compelled to check the book from his own shop and he read it at work,sitting there for hours with nobody around.

"The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" was on my shelf for a long,long time - having it there was enough for me,while other books got my attention and I was happy buying and choosing something else from local bookshops in Durban. Have I mentioned that bookshops in South Africa have little coffee shops inside,so people meet friends and sip coffee while reading newspapers,it is a very cute little invention in my opinion.

Finally,after I finished everything else,one evening I decided to give it a try - it was a little slow to start and swedish names were a bit difficult to remember but I was determined and something in there kept me going until I got hooked on a story and really enjoyed it - it turned into a gripping tale with completely fascinating twists and turns,nothing was what I expected it to be and to my biggest surprise two characters finally emerged as memorable and interesting as anything in classic literature. What started as court defeat of a famous journalist,turned into his research into long forgotten,unsolved crime mystery and from that point the story just kept going more and more interesting until everything lead to even more mysteries,crimes and nail-biting chapters where I had to control myself from peeking at the end of the book.

By some strange coincidence,another colleague was reading a sequel "The Girl who played with fire" but I couldn't wait until he finished,so when my ship docked in Cape town I bought two sequels,knowing I will devour them during my long crossing to Europe. "The Girl who played with fire" had both characters working on the same murder case separately and again I used every spare moment enjoying my book,reading it not only long into the night but also on my short afternoon breaks,actually stealing time from afternoon rest and getting lost in the story instead of having a nap (after all,we are working whole day from morning to night here).

Now I started the third and final book "The Girl who kicked the Hornets' Nest" and it started very good - I have no doubts it will be as enjoyable as the first two,it looks like everything is happening on a much larger scale because media is involved and if the first book had a certain winter feeling (very first crime research was happening in snow covered little village) the current story is spread all over TV and newspapers,so I am curious how will our beloved little heroine keep her head above the water with the whole world watching - specially as media already presented her as maniacal mass murderess and now the real truth have to be explained.

My ship has finally docked - after 6 agonizing days of sailing - and instead of going out in Dakar (dirty and depressing place) I will stay on the ship and guess what,reading my book.

Atlantic crossing

Finally crossing over to Europe - can't believe that I am sailing and working so long,I actually embarked at beginning of July LAST YEAR and than somehow continued on another ship,than another and instead of working typical 6 months it turned into 12 - no wonder I feel exhausted,after all it is 7 days a week work with no breaks except if one gets sick.

I enjoyed Europe very much - Baltic or the Med it is the same beauty of cities,interesting streets,architecture,shops,food,variety of culture and one easily gets lost in sheer abundance of everything. South Africa unfortunately is very limited in this,or should I say it was my ports that were uninteresting (see previous post) so now I'm really looking forward to arrival in Europe,the moment I step outside in Tenerife this is already Spain and exciting.

So how does it work on a crossing? For the start,we do have passengers and these are people who have chosen slow sailing over quick plane flight. Why would anybody do this is not easy to explain,because I myself would certainly prefer just to get over with it fast,but these (mostly elderly) passengers are not in a hurry and apparently satisfied with sitting around,playing cards,reading their books and looking around the shops (without really buying anything because as I said,they are not in a hurry).

It gave me chance to count all the inventories and dust everything around and than some more. But unfortunately it also means I had to go through 6 agonizingly slow days of sailing,when the shops had to be opened non-stop "just in case" if anybody decide to shop,which of course never happens. So I stood there for 6 days,from morning to night (with a little break in afternoon) counting,dusting,counting,dusting,looking through the window at the sea that changed color from depressing grey into beautiful deep blue (we finally crossed over into Atlantic ocean) and checked the calendar to see how much longer this can last. Four more days until Canary Islands,which is already part of Spain,thanks God.

Today the very first land - Dakar,Senegal - but it is such dirty and depressing place that I decided not to even bother to go out. I saw it last year and was appalled with everything,never mind Dakar. I have no interest in exotic african (or any,come to think) place with flies and beggars everywhere. Instead of going out and suffering people on the streets pulling my sleeves and following me everywhere,I will rest on the ship,have a coffee,read my book and give a break to my tired legs,after all I am standing for 14-16 hours daily so for a change I can just lie down and listen some classical music.

Than again,two more "sea days" and finally Tenerife,can't wait. Just the change of scenery will be enough to cheer me up and bring some excitement.