Discover Top Posts Tagged with #ba robertson

Despite the title, this was the theme to the final two years of "Noel Edmond's Multi-Coloured Swap Shop" back in the 80's, not "Saturday Superstore" (Which was Swap Shop's replacement)

One of BA Robertson's little earworms.

#ba robertson #80's television #noel edmond's multi-coloured swap shop #Youtube

@thegroovyarchives from the r&ba booklet, ft. snacks, maggie bell, & an absolutely bitchin sweater

#tiddytaco #ba robertson #b. a. robertson #maggie bell

Bang Bang - BA Robertson

#ba robertson #bang bang #music #70s music #1979

Living Apart Together Screening

So onto the film itself. The plot is fairly straightforward Richie (BA Robertson) is a local musician who's hit the big time and is thus away from home a lot leaving his wife Evie (Barbara Kellerman) stuck back in Glasgow looking after their two young children. At the start of the film Richie hears about the death of an old friend which leads to him taking some time to go back home and having to try and see if he can save his marriage.

I hadn't any real idea where Peter's character, Joe, would fit into all this and must admit I was expecting something of a 'blink and you'd miss him' appearance. As a result I spent the opening scenes desperately scanning the crowd scenes in case that'd be all he'd be in. As it turns out I shouldn't have worried. Early on in a bar scene where Richie has been persuaded to perform the camera focuses in on a young looking Peter Capaldi making his way over to Evie and then proceeds to sing along with Richie while making eyes at Evie.

Peter has several other scenes including one where he's trying to flirt with Evie which was somewhat undermined by his costume which I can only describe as a bright plaid shirt, big 80s jeans and braces which must be one of the most tragic 80s fashion attempts I've ever seen. Thankfully his other scenes feature more sober wardrobe choices. All in all he looks terribly young (I couldn't believe when I checked later that he was only 2 years younger than BA Robertson).

The film is very '80s' in its look and as it features music by BA Robertson I kept being reminded of the reasons why I'd tired of his music back then. However, it's interesting in showing a shaky marriage and not heaping all the blame on either party totally - though I suspect I'm supposed to find Richie more endearing than I did. Along with Peter there are also small roles for John Gordon Sinclair (who'd made Gregory's Girl the previous year) and James Cosmo. I don't know that I'd recommend the film purely on its own merits but its certainly a fun curiosity for Capaldi fans.

#Living Apart Together #Peter Capaldi #BA Robertson #Barbara Kellerman

Leo Sayer - Vital Again

(All Dayer Records)

*****

For those too young to remember Leo Sayer from his decade long reign of terror, he is a singer with curly hair, who sometimes dresses up as a clown. Or was. For like Johnny Cash, Neil Diamond, and I suppose, in a way Tom Jones, he is now all serious, and has put away those childish things to make a solid, legacy-redefining statement.

And like Johnny Cash before him, he has teamed up with a legendary million-selling producer, who has literally taken him to pieces and reassembled him atom by atom. Instead of adhering to the Rick Rubin formula, Sayer has shrewdly chosen Wogan-theme-composer, and Bang Bang-er B.A. Robertson. It’s a decision that suits him well, as Robertson’s access to top notch session sax players and way with a vivacious bass-line puts a spring in Sayer’s step. It’s got vitality then, but is it vital?

Album opener, I’m Mean (as in Average) certainly is. It’s a stripped down delta blues number, backed by the gospel stylings of (EP favourite) Angela Ford. It skilfully dismantles Sayer’s glossy, celebrity sheen, and reveals him at heart to be a regular guy (in both senses).

Celebrity Big Brother thematically unites both Robertson and Sayer (as you remember Sayer famously tried to get out, while Robertson spent a fruitless decade trying to get in) so the second track “Well, Well, Orwell” is of particular interest. Its jazz-tinged guitar and mellow sax distract from the sinister undertones. “There are simply too many flies on this wall” wails Leo, at one point.

The first of this set’s two covers is Sayer’s take on (Can’t Get No) Satisfaction. One suspects if he paid more attention to the dynamics and emotional core of the lyric, rather than the syntax and grammar, he might have been more successful. His insistence on changing the lyric to “I can’t get any satisfaction” is a needless distraction.

"The Walnuts” picks upwhere his own eighties housewife-heartache classic “Orchard Road” left off.Thirty years on, The Orchard Road of the title is long gone, having made way for a shopping mall called The Walnuts. Sayer’s tale of a chance encounter with an old flame in British Homestores is affecting and displays an incredible eye for detail. That said, this reviewer would have preferred a bit more on the romance and slightly less information on the parking facilities.

The second cover “Should I Stay Or Should I Go” is given an interesting country edge, featuring pedal steel guitar and banjo. Again Sayer feels the need to deal with the syntax, inserting a high-pitched, spoken word section in which he explains that logically it would be better to go, as there is double the amount of trouble if he stays, means he has to subsequently change the chorus to “I am going to go now.” I’m not sure this approach has worked as well as it might have.

Sayer’s own subtle and witty song-writing is highlighted on Predisposed To Passion in which he assumes the role of a barrister defending his client’s need for frequent, extra-marital sex, and Neither Here Nor There which charts the highs and lows of the singer’s steamy romance with his satnav.

But it is the last song, As We Approach The Ice Age that is the most affecting dealing, as it does, with the slow decline from middle age to the grave. His insistence that “the endless night is falling” and “we’re almost out of tomorrows” is delivered with such conviction that you could be forgiven for thinking that this is Sayer’s swansong.

Final track “Wake Up Alice” puts paid to all that. In a sudden tonal left turn, Sayer becomes a clown again, in a somewhat misjudged comic song (penned by Robertson, we should note) which tells the story of an elderly man trying to rouse his dead wife with a series of loud noises and enticing fragrances. “Alice awaken! It’s eggs and bacon!” runs a sample lyric against an authentic music hall setting, complete with booing from a clearly enraged audience.

Whether this album rejuvenates Sayer’s career and opens him up to a new, younger audience remains to be seen, but it serves to remind us of what a versatile performer Sayer still is. Not vital, perhaps, but definitely a potential option.

Tracks:

I’m Mean (as in average)

Well, Well, Orwell

(Can’t get any) Satisfaction

The Walnuts

Should I Stay Or Should I go?

Predisposed To Passion

Neither Here Nor There

As We Approach The Ice Age

Wake Up Alice

#Album Reviews #Leo Sayer #Vital Again #ba robertson