This popped up out of nowhere at the weekend, an early 90s rock/ dance/ power ballad sung by Maria McKee and written/ recorded in collaboration with and produced by Youth. Someone somewhere said it's like the rock version of Sunshine On A Rainy Day which is quite apposite- Youth co- wrote and produced that record too, except Zoe took Sunshine On A Rainy Day to the top ten while Sweetest Child got stuck at number forty five.
The bass and drums chug along in an early 90s way and Maria sings her heart out, a big sounding, soaring love song. The much missed Throb from Primal Scream plays guitar and lets rip with a huge solo. Saul Davies from James contributes violin and Nick Burton, formerly of Westworld and future Two Lone Swordsman, plays drums. The extended mix is nearly eight minutes long, a nicely drawn out affair with the last few minutes a Throb guitarfest.
As a compare and contrast/ enjoy them both together bonus, here's 90s flower child Zoe and her 1991 single, a genuine pop- dance classic.
Maria McKee is responsible for one of my all time favourite albums. 1993's 'You Gotta Sin to Get Saved' is also terrific, but for me 'Life is Sweet' from three years later is the one. It's stylistically all over the shop, with raw lyrics and eccentric vocals. In places she sounds on the verge of a nervous breakdown. It's gripping, unhinged, edge of the seat stuff and a million miles removed from Lone Justice.
ReplyDeleteNot familiar with either of those Swede, will add them to the list.
ReplyDeleteI never get tired of listening to either of those songs, thanks, Adam.
ReplyDeleteI'd second The Swede's praise for Maria McKee. My friend is a huge fan so I was exposed to her solo albums via him. I think it's a bootleg but I picked up a CD titled Acoustic Tour 2006 several years ago which amply demonstrates that she's a great live performer too.
There's a fascinating section in Bill Drummond's The 45, which overall is a failure of a book, where Drummond gets Stock, Aitken but mainly Pete Waterman in to try and get the band Youth and Jimmy Cauty are in a hit single. Waterman turns up, produces a single almost as an uninterested overseer popping in and making sure everyone's following his process exactly, treating it like a manufacturing job where nobody gets too invested in what they do, ie insisting on hiring a session keyboardist to play a single synth line which means nobody's emotionally invested in that bit staying in. The single wasn't a hit but, as Drummond says, all involved pay close attention. Within a couple of years Drummond, Cauty and Youth are all producing hit singles based on what they learned watching Waterman.
ReplyDeleteI'll have to re- read that chapter Tom, got 45 but haven't read it for a good few years. Youth also did the chart trick with Blue Pearl's Naked In The Rain.
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