Alphabet Soup Week 41: Artists Filed Under U

A chance encounter with a 1988 live performance that completely obliterated one of my self-imposed musical blind spots leaves me wondering where else I should be shining the light.

Over the course of the 40 weeks I've been writing this series, I've settled into a fairly consistent routine: select the tracks, sequence the playlist, write the blurb for each track, and finish up with writing the intro and closing sections. In most weeks I have no idea what I'm gonna cover in the intro; it can be challenging at times, especially when I'm down to the wire, to come up with something interesting and/or meaningful. So it's exciting when a topic organically appears out of the blue, which is exactly what happened this week.

On Thursday evening, while scrolling through my Instagram feed, I found myself at the suggested reels section which tends to magically appear whenever I need a rabbit hole to dive down. The three second preview seemed to be showing a concert performance from what I assumed was the mid-90s; I didn't recognize the band. Being the music lover that I am, and given that I was clearly already in the grips of distraction, I was obliged to click into the reel to watch the whole thing. What "the whole thing" turned out to be was a performance of Where Is My Mind? by The Pixies on a Dutch TV show in 1988.

The thirty second clip wasn't long enough, so I headed over to YouTube, found the full video, and watched it in its entirety several times. I sat there transfixed by the rawness and immediacy of the performance; the music was loud yet quiet, the band was tight but not, Kim Deal was otherworldly with her "ooh ooh" backing vocals and her infectious sense of joy. Something was CLEARLY wrong with the universe. You see, The Pixies have long been "a band that I never liked". But what I was hearing in that moment? It was rearranging my musical worldview. Where was my mind? Reeling. Blown away. And wanting more. But it was close to midnight and I had an early start the next day, so it was off to bed.

I awoke the next morning, still shaken by the experience of the night before, but determined to investigate further. After breakfast I put on the noise cancelling headphones, fired up Spotify, and found the song and then the album, 1988's Surfer Rosa, and pressed play. 13 songs and 33 minutes later my head was exploding. How. Had. I. Been. THIS. Wrong? How had I managed to write this band off all those years ago?

Given who I was in the late 80s, and where I was in my life, I'm not really surprised that this band didn't do it for me. In September 1989 I left Bermuda for Halifax to begin my university studies; looking back now I can see how small-minded I was in so many ways, including musically. At that point in time I was deep into my love affair with reggae, in particular with Bob Marley's entire catalog as well as the latest dancehall sounds coming out of Jamaica. When I did happen to play recent and "popular" music, as I did at the frosh week parties during which I became known campus-wide as a party animal, I was partial to the likes of Milli Vanilli, Neneh Cherry, Rob Base and DJ Easy Rock, and Biz Markie.

The Pixies, clearly, were not even anywhere close to being on my musical radar. I can comfortably (if not happily) accept that, even if I had heard of them or listened to their music in the late 80s, I would have dismissed them out of hand. I wouldn't have understood what I was listening to. I would've thought it was "weird".  Fast forward to the early 90s. I saw a Frank Black video, presumably from his solo debut, and I really didn't like it. I don't have a clue what the song was, but I do know that, in that instant, I wrote off not only Frank Black but also The Pixies - they were relegated to "band I don't like" status. And there they remained until Thursday night.

Thankfully, as I've aged so I have evolved, in so many areas of my life, including musically. While I have, particularly in recent years, taken time to revisit bands and albums that I'd previously written off, I do continue to have these self-imposed musical blind spots. Even after Kevin Alexander, whose musical taste I have a lot of respect for, included The Pixies Doolittle at number 30 on his 100 Greatest Albums of All Time, I didn't bat an eyelid. Because they were "a band I don't like". But Surfer Rosa had changed all that and I'm very much looking forward to digging in to Doolittle soon.

This past week in the latest Greatest Albums installment, Kevin included another band I'd long ago written off - The Replacements - and I'd already added them to my listening queue (Kevin - I've already checked off Damn the Torpedoes and Heaven or Las Vegas; both excellent). I'm also currently working my way through a list of psych rock albums suggested by Michael K. Fell. So far, not so great if I'm being honest Michael, but there have been some good ones. But at least I'm trying. I'll keep trying with Fiona Apple's Fetch the Boltcutters but by now, after numerous attempts, I feel like I'm fighting a losing battle on that one.

I no longer want to consign myself to musical contempt prior to investigation. If I don't like something musically, that's okay. But I want it to actually be an informed opinion. So I'll keep an open mind and I'll try to keep shining the light on those musical blind spots. Having said that, I think it'll be quite some time before anything shocks me and rearranges my musical world as much as listening to The Pixies has this week.

Do you have any musical blind spots? Are there bands or albums that you hated or wrote off but later learned to love months, years or decades later? If so, please let me know in the comments; I'd love to hear your story!!

Oh yeah, we do still have a playlist to talk about, so let's jump straight into Week 41 - the U Artists.

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ALPHABET SOUP WEEK 41: Artists Filed Under U

This week’s selections:

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ARTIST: The Upsetter

TRACK: "Dread Lion" from Rockers OST (1979)

The Upsetters were the house band for legendary Jamaican reggae producer Lee "Scratch" Perry. They also served as the backing band for a couple classic reggae albums in the late 70s, namely Junior Murvin's Police and Thieves and Max Romeo's War Ina Babylon. I could've gone with a selection from either of those fabulous albums but it felt like cheating as The Upsetters weren't the title artist. I have instead chosen Dread Lion which appeared on the amazing soundtrack to the 1978 film Rockers. This soundtrack would certainly be one of my top reggae albums as it's a stunning collection of roots reggae.

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ARTIST: The Uniques

TRACK: "My Conversation" from The Story of Jamaican Music (Tougher Than Tough) (1993)

In 1993 Mango, a subsidiary of Chris Blackwell's Island Records, released the four-CD box set The Story of Jamaican Music (Tougher Than Tough). Across 95 tracks listeners are introduced to the evolution of reggae music, from ska through rocksteady, dub and reggae to the more recent (at the time) dancehall and ragga. It was a brilliant primer on the story of Jamaican music, featuring a multitude of some of the genre's foundational artists. My Conversation by The Uniques was produced by Bunny Wailer and originally appeared on the band's 1968 debut Absolutley the Uniques. This was an early release on Trojan Records (originally an imprint of Island Records), a label that would become hugely influential in introducing reggae to the UK.

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ARTIST: The Untouchables

TRACK: "Tighten Up" from Trojan Records "Tighten Up" Box Set (2000)

Beginning in 1998, the aforementioned Trojan Records released a slew of box sets, over 70 in total. These were typically three-CD collections comprising 50 tracks although a few, more rare, Japanese releases contain more tracks. Our next selection, Tighten Up by The Untouchables, comes from the sixteenth box set in the series, "Tighten Up". I only physically owned a handful of these collections but would ultimately end up with many of them in my digital collection during my more piratical days. The song was originally recorded under the name The Inspirations, a duo comprised of Trevor Shaw and Ransford White, but was later released in the UK under the pseudonym The Untouchables.

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As you make your way through this week’s playlist, I’d love to hear your thoughts. Do any of these tracks really stand out for you? What do you like? What don’t you like?

Please click the button below to leave a comment.

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ARTIST: U-Roy

TRACK: "Wear You To The Ball" from The Original Labour of Love Collection (2000)

We continue the reggae vibe with a track from the classic reggae toaster U-Roy. Wear You To The Ball, which was written by John Holt and originally recorded and released by The Fabulous Paragons, appeared on U-Roy's 1971 album Version Galore. The first time I heard the track was when UB40 included it on their 1989 covers album Labour of Love II. In 2000 Trojan Records released the 25-track compilation The Original Labour of Love Collection which included many of the original tracks from UB40's three Labour of Love albums released in 1983, 1989 and 1998. While I knew those albums were filled with cover songs, it was lovely to hear some of these original releases. That album was what really turned me on to the fantastic compilations Trojan Records were releasing.

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ARTIST: UB40

TRACK: "One in Ten" from The Best of UB40 - Volume 1 (1987)

I was a little late coming to British reggae band UB40 as the first album I ever owned by them was 1983's Labour of Love. By that point the band had already released three prior albums since forming in 1978. One in Ten was the second single from the band's second album, 1981's Present Arms. The anti-Thatcher protest song spoke to inequality and levels of unemployment (10%, hence the one in ten title); indeed, the band name itself was derived from the form used to apply for unemployment benefits (the Unemployment Benefits Form 40). The single peaked at number 7 on the UK Singles Chart, representing the band's fourth top ten hit, and helped the album to spend 38 weeks on the UK albums charts.

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ARTIST: UNKLE

TRACK: "Be There" from Psyence Fiction (1999)

I wrote about UNKLE's stunning debut album, 1998's Psyence Fiction, back in week 24 when I covered Lonely Soul from the same album. I consider that to be a top twenty track of the entire trip hop genre and I'd certainly rank the album itself within the top 50. Be There was the second single released from the album and is essentially a vocal version of the instrumental track Unreal that appears earlier in the album. The track was written by DJ Shadow with vocals provided by Ian Brown of The Stone Roses.

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ARTIST: U2

TRACK: "Seconds" from War (1983)

I've previously written about my love for U2's album War, the first album by the band I ever heard and the first I owned. I've always considered it to be their best album and nothing's happened in the last 41 years to change my mind. This was one of those albums that represented a turning point in my music listening habits; it quite literally rocked my world and altered my musical universe irrevocably. Listening to it today, it sounds as fresh as it did then. It also reminds me, with its themes of nuclear proliferation, just what a scary and dangerous time that was. To know how "hot", violent and chaotic the world is forty years later just reinforces how short humanity's collective memory is and of our unique ability to consistently act against the self-interests of our species.

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ARTIST: Urge Overkill

TRACK: "Girl, You'll Be a Woman Soon" from Pulp Fiction OST (1994)

When I was a kid, I'd love it when my parents "entertained" as I got the chance to listen to my dad's six-hour reel to reel "party tape" that included such 70s classics as Simon and Garfunkel, ABBA and The Bee Gees. But my favorite musical memories from that playlist were those fantastic Neil Diamond tracks (Cracklin Rosie, Kentucky Woman and Holly Holy come to mind). Girl, You'll Be a Woman Soon from Diamond's second album, 1967's Just For You never made Pop's playlist as far as I'm aware. Despite the track reaching the top ten, I never heard it until the Urge Overkill rendition appeared on the 1994 soundtrack to Pulp Fiction (a fantastic film, although my wife would strongly disagree).

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ARTIST: Urbs

TRACK: "Ununited" from Toujours Le Même Film (2005)

In 2005 I came across the wonderful debut album Toujours Le Même Film by Paul Nawrati, the Austrian DJ and electronic producer who releases albums under the pseudonym Urbs. I think Derek Beres captures the feel of the album perfectly when, in his review of the album in the Phoenix New Times, he writes: "His throwback style pays homage to film noir à la Serge Gainsbourg and Ennio Morricone, wrapping light electronica around heavy jazz to score virtual soundtracks for non-existing movies." This is a laid back and diverse album, one that's extremely versatile, whether it's background music for a dinner party, a late night listen after a night on the town, or focus music while working. Because of its versatility and easy listening quality, it's an album I've gone back to regularly over the years.

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ARTIST: Us3

TRACK: "Cantaloop (Flip Fantasia)" from After Midnight: Another 20 Cool Cuts on the Lighter Side of Jazz (1994)

I've written previously about my love for compilation albums, from film soundtracks to collections of reggae, 80s music, blues, soft rock, goth rock, trip hop or, as is the case with this week's final selection, the wonderful world of jazz. One of the best sources of compilations in the genre, certainly within my CD library, was Verve Records. In the mid-90s I went on a tear buying up Verve compilations and probably ended up with at least a couple dozen including After Midnight: Another 20 Cool Cuts on the Lighter Side of Jazz, on which Us3's Cantaloop appears. The track, which originally appeared on the band's debut album Hand On the Torch, would peak at number 7 on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming the band's only top 40 single.

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Day One in Orkney

After a couple days of travel, from Dublin to Glasgow to Inverness, we finally arrived in Orkney yesterday via a four hour car journey and a ferry ride. Today, on our first full day in the archipelago, we took a ferry to the small island of Rousay. I wasn’t quite prepared for the abundant neolithic remains and the beauty of the coastline. We’ll be here for another five days and if today is anything to go by, we’re in for a treat!

Here are a few photos from a magical day of exploring:

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Here’s the link to the running playlist which is updated on a weekly basis as each new installment is published:

ALPHABET SOUP RUNNING PLAYLIST

Tracks missing from the Spotify playlist:

• Allegory by Murray Attaway (Week 02)

• Face Me and Smile by The Lover Speaks (Week 12)

• From Your Mouth by God Lives Underwater (Week 13)

• This Can’t Go On! by The Lover Speaks (Week 23)

• Two for the Show by Trooper (Week 40)

• Twenty One by Marry Me Jane (Week 40)

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Thank you for reading Joy in the Journey, I appreciate you being here! If there’s someone in your life you think may enjoy this post, feel free to share it.