Stuart Bailie
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Over and Out
Stuart Bailie
Late Show Presenter
So what鈥檚 the perfect goodbye song? I鈥檓 not sure there鈥檚 anything as immense as Roy Orbison and 鈥業t鈥檚 Over鈥�. The trembling delivery, the staggering beat, the swelling apprehension and worse. The girl has been untrue and she tells Roy that they鈥檙e emphatically done. No more rainbows, only lonely sunsets. The song surges for the last time and the sorrow takes us to a hitherto unreachable summit of disconsolation. Even the stars are weeping in the sky
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I may have mentioned Soft Cell before and the imperial 鈥楽ay Hello, Wave Goodbye鈥�. Seek out the 12 inch version for the most lonesome clarinet solo, ever. But while Roy Orbison had a kind of dignity in despair, Marc Almond is more theatrical and less generous with his exit. He takes a few bitchy sideswipes as he stumbles out the doors of the Pink Flamingo and into the rain. But beyond the posturing, there鈥檚 an ill-disguised heartbreak. David Gray used this in his version of the song. Then he had the smart idea of hitching it onto Van Morrison鈥檚 鈥楳adam George鈥� - the tune with the most protracted and soul-shredding outro in popular music. A hundred goodbyes, and it鈥檚 still never enough.
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Yet on the other side, there is resignation. You鈥�
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Playlist, July 22
Stuart Bailie
Late Show Presenter
Meryem Abouloufa
Meryem Abouloufa is from Casablanca. Her voice has a dreamy, measured tone that will please fans of Natalie Merchant and Stina Nordenstam. She was recently recorded in Marrakech, Morrocco by a team from Belfast 鈥� travelling out there with the British Council. The delegation included members of And So I Watch You From Afar, Start Together Studios and No Dancing Records.听
A portable studio was delivered, 15 songs were recorded in 6 days and by all accounts, it was emotional. There鈥檚 a lovely symmetry in this story in that for many decades, artists from Northern Ireland complained that the system was against them, that there were few facilities and that the infrastructure was bust. Now we have evidence of some confident guys from these parts, actively helping another music community. That鈥檚 Meryem in the centre of the photo, with Rocky O鈥橰eilly and Jimmy Devlin.
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It was so hot in the makeshift studio that they windows remained open and so during the Meryem sessions, you can hear the鈥�
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The Blackboard Of My Heart
Stuart Bailie
Late Show Presenter
David Bowie once put a major question out there. 鈥淎in鈥檛 there one damn song that can make you break down and cry?鈥� he wailed on 鈥榊oung Americans鈥�. Well, here鈥檚 a response. For some years, I鈥檝e been blogging in instalments about records that have a personal significance. My 鈥楪otta Hear This鈥� series has covered some of my favourite tunes, but also includes lesser-known records with my own intense narrative . One play and I鈥檓 utterly back there, either in glory or returned in that mood indigo. Music can sure hit the recall zone. TS Elliot called this 鈥渢he objective correlative鈥�. What he was really saying is that it鈥檚 writ deep in the blackboard of his heart.
Here then, is a list of the tunes and links to the relevant blogs. I鈥檝e also put together a Spotify playlist here:
The Graham Parker recording on Spotify is an inferior live version and Hamilton Bohannon鈥檚 鈥楲et鈥檚 Start The Dance鈥� is an earlier recording. But sure, you get the drift. My Monday night Radio Ulster show will also revisit some of these tunes in the coming weeks. Thanks, as ever, for the indulgence.
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1. Willie Tee 鈥揥alking Up A One Way Street
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Bury My Heart At Eagle鈥檚 Rock
Stuart Bailie
Late Show Presenter
La Faro, Glasgowbury 2013.Photo by Stuart Bailie
Hey LaFaro, you鈥檙e looking good. Johnny wears a black halter neck dress with matching trainers. Herb has opted for a white tutu and tights and he does an elegant pas de deux while sucking on a ciggy. Al is on drums with a black diamant茅 bra, possibly a homage to Gautier while Dave鈥檚 over-the-shoulder ensemble is on loan from Wilma Flintstone. Thus attired, LaFaro summon up their riffs from the鈥� -
Playlist July 15
Stuart Bailie
Late Show Presenter
Such a happy occasion to hear the Kowalski album. There were times when we worried that it might never drop 鈥� that one of the sweetest bands in recent years would shuffle off without a true legacy. I don't know all of the issues that delayed its arrival, but 鈥楩or The Love Of Letting Go鈥� doesn't manifest any of the pain. Rather, it shimmers and swoons and rightfully shows up when the sun is bright and the days are expansive.
You will already know 鈥極utside鈥�, a song that finds poetry in oil slicks and persuades you that love鈥檚 young dream can still resonate. Many of the songs are sited by the鈥�
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We Belong To Glasgowbury
Stuart Bailie
Late Show Presenter
I was shocked when the news bulletin revealed that Glasgowbury Festival was听 ending this summer. I鈥檝e been attending since 2004 and have missed only once. I鈥檝e seen it in makeshift spaces, in a challenging sports field and once when it retracted to the Cellar Bar in Draperstown and was besieged by drunken meatheads.
In all of these situations, Paddy Glasgow has been a dependable feature, mobilising his team, a great propagandist for the rural story and our introduction to the mind-expanding vistas of the Sperrins and Eagle鈥檚 Rock. I have frozen on those hillsides and I鈥檝e bonded with dear鈥�
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Mad About The Whipping Boy
Stuart Bailie
Late Show Presenter
Whenever I hear a song 鈥� which isn鈥檛 often enough 鈥� I have a vision of Ferghal McKee on stage, his hair brutally hacked off and his face streaked in congealed white powder. He was quite an artist, but he didn鈥檛 seem at ease with the gig. And when people praised him, he cranked up the self-sabotage regime. In this respect, the guy was successful. He was never famous, even though the Dublin kids adored him and the eulogies came from farther away. Still, we鈥檒l always have 鈥楬eartworm鈥�.
Not a few Irish critics have ranked the second Whipping Boy album as one of the greatest in the鈥�
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Clameen Genies
Stuart Bailie
Late Show Presenter
Surely you will love The Clameens. Youthful beat-merchants from Derry, raved about by Soak, by at Radio Foyle and profiled this Monday past by Radio Ulster鈥檚 . That鈥檚 Sean, Ryan, Hayden and Ethan, with freshness in their bones and a seeming affection for Alex Turner and Peter Doherty. The vocals are smartly declaimed, the drumming is brisk and sweet and new release 鈥楽he鈥檚 Got My Heart鈥� is a certified pop tune that finds Sean in an unrequited discussion with another girl in the neighbourhood. Ah, those Derry wans.
听You can see them at and at .鈥�
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Playlist 8th July
Stuart Bailie
Late Show Presenter
鈥楽immer Down鈥� is a record that can鈥檛 get started soon enough. The horns are colliding, the harmonies are on it and the supreme players from The Skatalites are the backing band. Which gives this 1963 recording the maximum ska value. But that鈥檚 only part of the narrative, because among the guys who front this recording are Peter Tosh, Bunny Wailer and a young Bob Marley. This first release from the Wailing Wailers would top the Jamaican charts early in 1964.
Musically, you can see how Marley was paying his dues to Curtis Mayfield and The Impressions, especially in the way that the backing鈥�
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Born On The Fifth Of July
Stuart Bailie
Late Show Presenter
Fans of The Great Gatsby may remember the July 5, 1922 was the date of an extravagant party at West Egg. The narrator has written down the names of the visitors and there are some amusing snapshots of the old money snobs from across the bay. That includes SB Whitebait, Clarence Endive in his white knickerbockers, the Chester Beckers and Doctor Webster Civet. Not forgetting Ripley Snell, who was so drunk that Ulysses Swift ran over his hand with his automobile.
A few local establishments have tried to put on Gatsby-themed parties, but without the resources of a millionaire bootlegger. The real鈥�
