So Much Honey, the Bees Envy Me.


I'm regularly drawn back to Sixties-era Motown and more specifically to songs like this.


I know my chosen example’s hardly obscure but it’s still worth another listen to remind you how note-for-note perfect it is. It’s not just the song; it’s the performance and production, which manages to capture the sentiment of head-over-heels love in a vivid snapshot. There’s something about the sound the Motown studio committed to tape back then that’s so different to what the UK produced - it probably helps that it’s almost always the same backing band, though that’s not just it - and while the mics and engineers were partially responsible, I think it's largely due to the musicality of the lead vocalists and backing singers that blend so perfectly.

This song brings back memories of the first time I toured the Netherlands in 2004 as the bassist on a Sixties compilation show. We were staying in the Dutch equivalent to a Center Parcs with the band spread across four or five log cabins, and while everyone else had a room to themselves, I drew the seemingly short straw and had to share with another member of the cast, the actor & musician Jon Trenchard.

A primitive mobile photo of me in my backstage somewhere in the Netherlands (2004)

While we were initially frustrated to not have our own rooms, we got on so well as roommates and as a household that we decided to stay sharing when a spare one eventually came up, and what should have been a pretty grueling tour (which was easily the longest I'd worked away from home as well as the most time spent out of the UK) was one of the most fun jobs I worked on.

Another backstage shot; "listen to the flower people..." (2004)

(But what’s the link to My Girl, damn it?)

The setlist for the tour featured some of the best music of the period, with an a cappella version of My Girl sung by Jon being a particular highlight. I think it stood out partly due to the fact the band was boosted by a click track for much of the show, with the guitar, bass and drums as the solely live nucleolus, so this was one of the few moments when we had to survive on our own talent without the soulless rigidity of a metronome-lead backing to accompany us. The other reason was Jon’s lovely performance. These two things combined make for the defining memory of a tour that's already strangely long ago, though hearing the song takes me back in an instant.

Popular posts from this blog

Shakerpuppetmaker.

Image
Have Parker from Thunderbirds and Noel Gallagher ever been seen in the same room? The resemblance is uncanny. So much so, I think something’s afoot. If my suspicions are correct, I've stumbled across a secret that will blow the music and puppet industry wide apart. In the mid-60s / mid-90s at least. It doesn’t take long to see the signposts. There’s the similarity between the name of Oasis’ first single, Supersonic, and Supermarianation, Gerry Anderson’s puppetry technique. The Gallagher brothers would often wear Parkas . Live Forever was clearly a reference to Captain Scarlet and Standing on the Shoulder of Giants to the size difference between Noel and his bandmates. The more you think about it, the more brazen it gets. It’s fishier than Area 51, Paul is Dead and JFK's assassination put together. The only glitch to the theory is scale . According to Wikipedia, Anderson’s marionettes were 1’10” and Gallagher is 5’8”. How does he maintain an illusion of avera...
Read more

Stevenage: A (Tiny) River Runs Through it.

If ever a river was mis-sold, it’s the Roaring Meg in Stevenage. I just walked past it on my way to the retail park that has taken its name. They’re similarly uninspiring. The river is less of a roar and more of a dribble; cystitis sufferers produce greater flow. The retail park is soulless. What was once a thriving enterprise is nearly devoid of atmosphere, save an underlying essence of emptiness and despair. With a Toys R Us. When it was first built I was excited. Back then, the thought of a bowling alley, an ice rink, a Harvester and a Blockbuster Video within a small surface area was enticing. I celebrated many birthdays on site. There was an indoor cricket pitch there for a while where I once had a joint party with a friend. Why someone with an almost pathological fear of sport would agree to such a venture is beyond me, but I did it. Now, there’s very little at the Roaring Meg of note. The river would be a metaphor for the shopping ce...
Read more

Hoo-ray and up She Rises.

So much has happened since my last post in March that this blog risks sounding like an itinerary. The main news is that Hitchin Mostly Comedy will return in the summer at a new venue, the Queen Mother Theatre . The road to this decision was convoluted, though enough fell into place en route to leave me optimistic about this new start. The catalyst was a survey I ran via our mailing list a few months back, in which I asked, "If the club returned in the current climate, with tickets still around £15 (and with similar line-ups), would you still attend?"; the response to which, in simple terms, was a resounding yes. Nearly 250 mailing list subscribers responded in a single week, with around a hundred also taking the option to leave some feedback. And only two people were abusive, which counts as a win when you consider they posted their comments online anonymously. Imagine how many more insults we would have received if the comedy club was a woman. Particularly if she was Diane ...
Read more