Simon's Graceland

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts
  • Lateralthinking1

    #16
    Gawd, what a fraught trip that was around Tescos today. I need to study for a postgraduate degree in shopping vouchers. Thanks for the comments. For a moment I thought Latlife was the title of a New Order album, then I realised that was Lowlife.

    Paul Simon was known for his sensitivity from early on - Old Friends, April Come She Will, My Little Town etc - whereas McLaren was expected to do outrage. Both their futures in the early 1980s though were uncertain. McLaren was being seen as increasingly tame. "Hearts and Bones" (1983), Simon's only original album between 1975 and 1986, had only reached number 35. It is difficult to assess McLaren's main fan base. Even if some of those who sent Buffalo Gals into the charts had been Pistols' fans, they were with him for the entertainment rather than the politics. While a few odd musos and politicos might have had sleepless nights about elements of Puleng in Double Dutch, what remained of the masses only revolted later over the punk negator Madam Butterfly.

    I rather like the varied self-indulgent twists and turns of McLaren's eighties' output. For someone so fiery, his music never quite triggered internal emotions in the way that he thought. His emotion was always largely directed towards posturing. However, he was highly attuned to the zeitgeist and went to great lengths to bring new sounds to a wider public. While heavily crafted, his records could either be energetic or things of icy beauty. Cynicism's a funny thing. He was the epitome of it in his aptitude for promotion and the very opposite when it came to having a genuine enthusiasm and not simply churning out the obvious.

    Anyhow, he was on the wane. As it turned out, Simon wasn't. Graceland was not merely a huge success but an international phenomenon. I do think that some of the bitterness is about that success. Don't forget that sixties' folkies were supposed to have been working anonymously in offices long before 1980. Recording until 70 and beyond wasn't a part of the new generation's game plan. And then, as far as the journalists born in the 1980s are concerned, I think any shortfall in knowledge is countered by modern day prejudices. South Africa isn't quite the promised land the international community wanted it to be. Someone has to be blamed for it. The easiest target is probably an old white Jewish American millionaire who is only just over five feet tall.
    Last edited by Guest; 23-05-12, 21:24.

    Comment

    • Lateralthinking1

      #17
      ........A Latlist - South Africa beyond Graceland -

      South Africa, Lesotho and Swaziland - http://open.spotify.com/user/worthyf...WzGnczIRBXmQfZ

      But what of the other countries?

      Those are here. Obviously they are only draft documents at present.

      Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Guinee and Cape Verde -



      Benin, Burkina Faso, Togo and Nigeria -



      Congos, Cameroon and Gabon -

      Last edited by Guest; 05-07-12, 17:27. Reason: Struggling over the Comoros Islands

      Comment

      • Lateralthinking1

        #18
        ..............Oh alright then, if you insist. -

        Zimbabwe, Botswana, Namibia, Zambia, Rwanda, Angola, Burundi and Malawi -



        Mali - http://open.spotify.com/user/worthyf...gOoywOri6h1u3M

        Senegal - http://open.spotify.com/user/worthyf...f5GyXo9DTWBzsx

        Ghana, Ivory Coast, Liberia and Sierra Leone - http://open.spotify.com/user/worthyf...8SWcU3Kd89kkTb

        (but the fourth is very poppy and I don't like it so much)
        Last edited by Guest; 05-07-12, 17:26.

        Comment

        • antongould
          Full Member
          • Nov 2010
          • 8836

          #19
          As a very, very, great fan of Paul Simon I feel we must all remember he is a very prickly interviewee - I don't know if anybody remembers a Sue Lawley (standing in for Wogan I think) interview when she made the, seeming, mistake of mentioning his age. Or the interview after Glastonbury when he seemed perplexed that not everyone there was familiar with his latest album.
          But nonetheless to me he was and if fact continues to be quite brilliant - all strength to his grumpiness!

          Comment

          • johncorrigan
            Full Member
            • Nov 2010
            • 10424

            #20
            Johnnie Walker on rollickin' radio 2 has a Bank Holiday special on 'Graceland' for tomorrow midday complete with P Simon interview.
            In a special edition of the series, Johnnie talks to one of his musical heroes, Paul Simon

            Comment

            • BBMmk2
              Late Member
              • Nov 2010
              • 20908

              #21
              Radio 4 should leave thgings alone like thgat, if they can't do a job properly!

              I love all that album! I found it quite amnazing!
              Don’t cry for me
              I go where music was born

              J S Bach 1685-1750

              Comment

              • johncorrigan
                Full Member
                • Nov 2010
                • 10424

                #22
                Originally posted by Brassbandmaestro View Post
                Radio 4 should leave thgings alone like thgat, if they can't do a job properly!

                I love all that album! I found it quite amnazing!
                Did I say radio 4, Bbm? Sorry I meant Radio 2 - I think Graceland's pretty great too.

                Comment

                • BBMmk2
                  Late Member
                  • Nov 2010
                  • 20908

                  #23
                  No problems!
                  Don’t cry for me
                  I go where music was born

                  J S Bach 1685-1750

                  Comment

                  • Globaltruth
                    Host
                    • Nov 2010
                    • 4301

                    #24
                    Can't remember if this was mentioned in this thread, may be of interest to some readers

                    Comment

                    • Lateralthinking1

                      #25
                      Originally posted by Globaltruth View Post
                      Can't remember if this was mentioned in this thread, may be of interest to some readers

                      http://www.worldmusic.net/news/news/...ion-in-london/
                      Very big news, interesting timing and a lot of dilemmas. This one, that one or (I really shouldn't financially) neither.

                      Comment

                      • johncorrigan
                        Full Member
                        • Nov 2010
                        • 10424

                        #26
                        Very interesting doc I caught last night on the Imagine strand, but without whatsisname (always a ), about Graceland. Ladysmith reminding of the effect they had when they first burst on the scene - hadn't seen the clip from Saturday Night Live before. I was interested in Simon's stance, politicians v artists, which he made with the son of Oliver Tambo who was far too reminiscent of Oliver Reed, but forgave him in the end (spoiler alert) - also an interesting suggestion of why the Boyoyo Boys are not on the album, when in some ways they were the original inspiration. Needless to say woke up this morning with the 'Mississippi Delta was shining like a National Guitar' in my ear.

                        Comment

                        • aka Calum Da Jazbo
                          Late member
                          • Nov 2010
                          • 9173

                          #27
                          saw it as well very good story of making the album and the deep relationships involved ... i am happily convinced that Simon was right to do it and all the pontificating boycotters were not ...Simon did something inherently non-hostile positive and exemplary ... and his refusal to kow tow to the serious political weight thrown at him is admirable imv ... and the music speaks now just as powerfully as it did originally ...

                          review in torygraf
                          According to the best estimates of astronomers there are at least one hundred billion galaxies in the observable universe.

                          Comment

                          • johncorrigan
                            Full Member
                            • Nov 2010
                            • 10424

                            #28
                            Terrific the way he talked of the influence of the musicians in the way he wrote the verses for Graceland I thought. Also, PS had first seen Ladysmith on a BBC film, made secretly in South Africa in the late 70s - here's a couple of takes from Rhythm of Resistance from Youtube - looks well worth a look at the whole thing.
                            Available on DVD from www.digitalclassics.co.uk and all major retailers. Filmed secretly, and at considerable personal danger, this film examines the vital r...

                            Comment

                            • antongould
                              Full Member
                              • Nov 2010
                              • 8836

                              #29
                              I thought it was an excellent programme and PS, for once, came out of it very well although the Grauniad disagrees. He was, I thought, scarily honest to admit to almost racist thoughts re the Boyoyo Boys performance and to state that he just wanted to get the hell out of there.

                              For me I woke up singing (well you know what I mean) Homeless much to the irritation of Lady Gould and then my workmates!

                              Comment

                              • johncorrigan
                                Full Member
                                • Nov 2010
                                • 10424

                                #30
                                Originally posted by antongould View Post
                                I thought it was an excellent programme and PS, for once, came out of it very well although the Grauniad disagrees. He was, I thought, scarily honest to admit to almost racist thoughts re the Boyoyo Boys performance and to state that he just wanted to get the hell out of there.
                                I don't think the guy from the Grauny likes Paul Simon.

                                In the doc, I liked the way PS talked about the artist's place in the hierarchy of things, especially where the politicians were concerned. There was a suggestion that the artist could come as long as it was on the terms of the politicians, and he wasn't prepared to do that, maybe because it would affect the art. Reminded me of the story of Richard Feynmann wanting to go to Tanu Tuva, and folk said well you're a Nobel Prize Phycisist - so he was told 'all you need to do is go to Moscow - present some lecture or another and then in the process get the required visa to take you to Kyzyl' - he said, 'What would be the fun in that?'. Of course he never did get there!

                                But more than anything the programme reminds me of how fantastic Ladysmith were when they first appeared. They were everywhere for a while from Beans' ads to Sesame Street. Then we forget how wonderful they sound because their sound was so distinctive. Great to be reminded of it and the incredible voice of Joseph Shabalala in particular.

                                Comment

                                Working...
                                X