On This Day..
1972 During sessions at RCA Studios, New York City, David Bowie recorded “The Jean Genie”, which became the lead single from his 1973 album Aladdin Sane. The track spent 13 weeks in the UK charts, peaking at No.2, making it Bowie’s biggest hit to date. The line “He’s so simple minded, he can’t drive his module” would later give the band Simple Minds their name.
1979 “Gotta Serve Somebody” gave Bob Dylan his twelfth US top 40 hit when it entered the chart for the first time. Recorded at Muscle Shoals Sound Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, the song won Dylan the Grammy Award for Best Rock Vocal Performance by a Male in 1980.
2007 Queen’s groundbreaking promo for their 1975 hit Bohemian Rhapsody was named the UK’s best music video in a survey of music fans. Out of 1,051 adults polled by O2, 30% named the six-minute video their favourite.
2011 Starship’s “We Built This City” was named ‘the worst song of the 1980s’ in a poll by Rolling Stone magazine. “The Final Countdown” by the Swedish band Europe came in second and “Lady in Red” by Chris de Burgh was third. Also making the top five were Wham!’s “Wake Me Up (Before You Go Go)” and “The Safety Dance” by Men Without Hats.
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Brand New Music
Kelela | Take Me Apart
Her first studio album is incredibly multi-faceted. A layered, cerebral sidewinder of a record that works to redefine Kelela’s previous works into a new aesthetic all it’s own. Sexy, subtle and clearly aiming to write anthems, Kelela’s LP lands hard. Sweeping flawlessly between pop, R&B and a lot of wonderful experimental writing and song-crafting, Take Me Apart is consistently exquisite.
Ducktails | Jersey Devil
It’s easy to dismiss Ducktails as a sort of easy listening adult rock, but you’d be cutting out the essence of this much more nuanced and shaded record. More than the clear-cut college rock vibe from his previous record St. Catherine there’s a clear style shifts that develop into cleverly worked melodies and great choruses. Remaining supremely chill is no problem, but Jersey Devil comes also with a razor sharp focus on groovier tunes combined with a melodic haze.
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith | The Kid
A high art perspective of new age pop, Smith’s sixth record in five years (!) is still able to conjure entire universes from her 1970’s synthesizers. The Kid, probably her grandest project to date, is awash in alien echoes. And although it remains difficult to get your head around, as avant-guard music sometimes is, it’s also welcoming, encompassing and warm. The entire work is absolutely stunning and blossoms time and time again with feeling. This record demands attention and thought.
