Category: Less Talk, More Music (Page 3 of 5)

Less Talk, More Music: Deacon Blue on “The Heaven and Earth Show”

February 5, 2008 / Will Harris

Despite several US releases, Deacon Blue ended up having their name added to that great list of bands who never managed to make the translation from the UK charts, but they’re a really great group. I think Americans just didn’t know what to make of a band who blended pop, rock, and folk like they did…and even if they’d started to, they were no doubt completely flummoxed when the group teamed up with Steve Osborne and Paul Oakenfold to produce their fourth album, Whatever You Say, Say Nothing.

This performance of “Dignity” – a song which comes from the band’s 1987 debut, Raintown – was performed in 2006 for the BBC’s now-defunct “Heaven and Earth Show,” a Sunday morning religious program. I’m trying to come up with any American religious program short of a Billy Graham affair that would have someone so cool as a musical guest…and I’m failing miserably.

Alternative, Artists, External Music, Less Talk, More Music, Pop, Rock, Songs, Videos

Less Talk, More Music: Peter Murphy on “The Jon Stewart Show”

January 29, 2008 / Will Harris

To remember when Peter Murphy still seemed as interested in writing a memorable hook as being a gloomy gus, you’d have to go back farther than 1995’s Cascade, because as you can see from this performance of the album’s first single, “The Scarlet Thing In You,” Murphy was downright cheerful during this era…well, at least by his standards, anyway. It was the least of his solo albums up to that point, but it turned out to be the best we’d get out of him ’til 2004’s Unshattered. (2002’s Dust wasn’t just dark; it was deadly dull.) By the way, if you’re a longtime Jon Stewart fan, you’ll know that this is from the syndicated version of his show rather than the old-school MTV version from 1993…not that it really matters one or the other.

Artists, Less Talk, More Music, Pop, Rock, Songs

Less Talk, More Music: Webb Wilder on “The Pat Sajak Show”

January 22, 2008 / Will Harris

Truth be told, the clip I really wanted to show from Pat Sajak’s short-lived late-night talk show was from when Squeeze appeared to promote their Frank album, but, alas, it’s nowhere to be found on YouTube. (I’ve actually got it on a VHS tape; maybe one of these days I’ll upload it myself.) Still, when I stumbled upon this performance from the great Webb Wilder…his first-ever on network television, if Pat’s intro can be trusted…I couldn’t resist posting it instead. It’s not my favorite of Webb’s tracks – that honor belongs to “Tough It Out” – but the guy’s got a powerful heap of energy in just about everything he’s ever recorded, so I have no complaints about “Hittin’ Where It Hurts” serving as an alternate.

Alternative, Artists, Less Talk, More Music, Pop, Rock, Songs, Videos

Less Talk, More Music: Morrissey on “Not the Jack Docherty Show”

January 15, 2008 / Will Harris

Continuing with the recurring theme of posting clips from shows I’m barely familiar with myself, we bring you Morrissey performing the underrated single, “Alma Matters” (from the equally-underrated album, Maladjusted), on something called “Not the Jack Docherty Show.” The most I know about Mr. Docherty and his program is that it served as a springboard for one Graham Norton to become a household name in Great Britain, but according to his Wikipedia entry, he also caused quite a star by hosting the 2000 BAFTA (British Academy of Film and Television Arts) Awards and opening the night by revealing the ending of “The Sixth Sense.”

Nice one. Bet that went down like gangbusters.

Alternative, Artists, Less Talk, More Music, Pop, Rock, Songs, Videos

Less Talk, More Music: Prefab Sprout on “Wogan”

January 8, 2008 / Will Harris

I came into the Prefab Sprout camp pretty late in the game, knowing precious little about them until they released their greatest-hits disc, A Life of Surprises, in 1992. Why did I finally take the plunge and pick up that collection? Because of my friends Brian Becknell and Jessie Oulahan, who drove up from Chesapeake, VA, to see me graduate from Averett College, and informed me that Prefab Sprout was the soundtrack to their entire drive. Both those kids have damned fine taste in music, and when they told me that, I knew I needed to give the band a chance. So I picked up the best-of, then began working my way backwards, starting with the group’s most recent album (at the time), Jordan: The Comeback, which opens with this song.

Now, Prefab Sprout’s one of my favorite bands and, if you saw my list of my favorite music of 2007, you know that the recent reissue of their Steve McQueen album was one of the best CDs I heard last year. (Even if you already own it, trust me when I tell you that the new disc of acoustic re-recordings is worth the price of admission.)

Paddy MacAloon, you rule. Now, c’mon, give us another album, eh…?