Classic_Pop_Issue_30_July_2017

96

DAVID BOWIE

CRACKED ACTOR –

LIVE LOS ANGELES ’74

PARLOPHONE

WENDY & LISA

EROICA

CHERRY RED

THE MEMBRANES

THE COMPLETE

RECORDINGS 1980-1993

CHERRY RED

BA ROBERTSON

INITIAL SUCCESS/

BULLY FOR YOU/R&BA

CHERRY RED

This is a limited-edition 2CD

digipak of a triple vinyl album

originally released for this

year’s Record Store Day. It was

recorded on the Philly Dogs

Tour in September 1974, some

material from which appeared

in the iconic BBC documentary

Cracked Actor helmed by up-

and-coming TV director Alan

Yentob. Whatever happened

to him?

It comes with a 12-page

booklet featuring notes from

the original LA Amphitheatre

show programme and a

contemporary piece about

the shows by Rolling Stone’s

Richard Cromelin from 10

October, 1974, neither of

which was included in the

vinyl package. It was recorded

on the same tour that gave

us Bowie’s first in-concert LP,

1974’s David Live, only minus

that album’s studio overdubs

and spotty sound. It also

features a more R&B-oriented

band including Luther Vandross

on backing vocals, who had

assembled to perform the new

Young Americans material.

Cracked Actor has been

mixed by Tony Visconti, Bowie’s

longtime producer, who brings

everything to vivid life.

Available for years in bootleg

form, this is its first official

release, a fine document of

Bowie in transition from glam

icon to white soul man. PL

Prince acolytes Wendy Melvoin

and Lisa Coleman were

mainstays of Prince & The

Revolution (and indeed are

part of that unit again, having

recently reformed for some live

shows), and you can hear his

Purple influence all over this,

their third and final album for

Virgin, from 1990.

Even the spread of influences

evinced the breadth of music

enjoyed by their old boss, from

Sly Stone to Joni Mitchell, a

dizzying mixture that stretched

from psychedelic freak-funk to

ornate folk.

This expanded 22-track

double-CD iteration of the

album includes the singles

• the Raspberry Beret-ish
  Strung Out, the purple funk of
  Rainbow Lake, whose tinny
  drum machine pulse is very
  Sly-circa-There’s A Riot Goin’
  On, and sweeping orchestral
  ballad Don’t Try To Tell Me –
  with guest contributions from,
  among others, kd lang, hurdy-
  gurdy man Tony Berg and horn
  merchant Eric Leeds.
  Bonus tracks on disc two
  include single mixes as well
  as rare B-sides, and the
  whole thing comes with a
  comprehensive booklet.
  As for the album itself, it
  contains some of the best-
  received music of Wendy &
  Lisa’s careers, from the
  woozy Mother Of Pearl to the
  daringly arranged Staring At
  The Sun. PL

Subtitled Everyone’s Going

Triple Bad Acid, Yeah!, this

boxset collects the work of

the post-punk band formed

by journalist, author, editor of

Louder Than War magazine

and all-round lifelong punk

and Mancunian motormouth,

John Robb.

Featuring no fewer than

99 tracks, the titles alone are

priceless: Cor Blimey! Ain’t

England Snidey, Phoney TV

Repair Man, Jaw Cracker

Fuzz and 24 Hour Drinking At

Northern Prices, suggesting a

warped intelligence garnered

from a mixed diet of Mark E

Smith, Captain Beefheart and

Half Man Half Biscuit.

Then again, The Universe

Explodes Into A Billion Photons

Of Pure White Light has some

of the fearless freaky quality of

prime-period Flaming Lips.

The music itself will appeal

to fans of quirky noise, but it’s

not just clatter and hum: Typical

Male Penis is two minutes and

44 seconds of sheer controlled

carnage and Everything’s

Brilliant isn’t too distantly

related to something vaguely

resembling pop.

Some of the aforementioned

fans include Sonic Youth, Pussy

Galore, Butthole Surfers and

Nirvana producer Steve Albini

• The Membranes were the
  first band that Albini worked
  with outside the groundbreaking
  Big Black. Now you can
  hear why. PL

Scottish actor-musician Brian

Alexander “BA” Robertson was

a perennial of British music and

TV between the late-70s and

the mid-80s, enjoying a slew of

catchy, near-novelty new wave

hits with quirky, humorously

askew lyrics that were almost

like Eurovision Song Contest

entries penned by Ian Dury:

Bang Bang (No.2 in 1979),

Knocked It Off (No.8, 1979),

Kool In The Kaftan (No.17,

1980) and To Be Or Not To

Be (No.9, 1980). His sense of

humour was underlined when

he penned We Have a Dream

for Scotland’s 1982 World

Cup campaign. A sucker for

punishment then.

He has co-written songs for

Cliff Richard (Carried and the

million-selling global hit Wired

For Sound) and Mike & The

Mechanics (international smash

The Living Years), even coming

up with theme songs for TV

shows such as Multi-Coloured

Swap Shop.

Most of Robertson’s big-hitters

came from his third album,

Initial Success (1980), which

reached No.32 with its Elvis

Costello-lite guitar-pop barbs

(he even donned new wave

regulation garb – suit jackets

with upturned collars and

skinny ties – at the time),

while follow-ups Bully For You

(1981) and R&BA (1982) –

issued for the first time on

CD – show him broadening

out stylistically. PL

CP30.Reissues.print.indd 96 08/06/2017 11:13