I love (being horrified by) the fact that my listening to a song by a '60s artist when I was in high school is the equivalent of my nephew listening to someone from the aughts, now. But it's even weirder to learn a childhood favorite was a actually cover by a superstar from a generation before me, as I did yesterday when Tracie Young posted this on Twitter about her song "Thank You":
The PW in question, of course, is Paul Weller, who "discovered" Tracie after running an ad looking for artists for his newly formed Respond Records label.
"Thank You" had originally appeared on a Vandellaless Martha Reeves LP called "The Rest of My Life," which also featured her version of the O'Jays song "Now That We've Found Love," which would later become a huge hit for Heavy D in 1991. Tracie may be right that her vocal is sped up a bit too much. But I love her take -- and the original -- just the same.
Playing this one to honor Billy Franks (ex-Faith Brothers) who my friend Tracie Young posted has passed away too soon. (That's the two of them at a one-off comeback gig of Ms. Young's in 2009.)
AllMusic remembers his band as a passionate brand of rock, spiced with an old soul feel, that allowed them to address important political and moral issues without needing to preach. Their debut single, "Country Of The Blind," in 1985, set the tone, an attack on a nation in the clutches of consumer fever and a decaying welfare state.
This summer, Somerset House, in collaboration with Nice Time Inc Productions, is proud to present The Jam: About the Young Idea. With unprecedented access to The Jam’s archive, Somerset House will curate the first comprehensive exhibition about the extraordinary band whose music immortalised life for Britain’s disenchanted youth during the late 70s and early 80s. Through unseen material and fan memorabilia, the exhibition will chart the trio’s journey from Sheerwater Secondary Modern in Woking to superstardom, kick-started by the release of their debut hit single ‘In The City’, whose lyrics are referenced in the exhibition’s title, and ended six years later with 18 consecutive UK top 40 singles and over 14 million global album sales.
For the very first time, all three members of the band – Paul Weller, Rick Buckler and Bruce Foxton – the Weller family and music archivist Den Davis have opened up their archives, especially for the show. The collection, which is curated by frontman Paul’s sister and former head of The Jam’s fan club Nicky Weller, Tory Turk and Russell Reader with additional advice from DJ Gary Crowley, includes hand written lyrics, original stage outfits, personal photographs and footage, unreleased music videos, early scrapbooks, letters and postcards, posters and fanzines, and the band’s instruments. The exhibition, designed in reference to album artworks and featuring original graphics from celebrated artist Anthony Burrill, will provide a unique and personal insight into the band’s trailblazing life and the retrospect legacy The Jam left on music, style, politics and culture.
Although I came of age even more during Weller's Style Council years, The Jam had a huge influence on me, and the exhibition looks like something I could spend a week straight going through. That Paul Weller hates nostalgia as much as Madonna makes the moment all the more special, as it seems he has truly embraced it.
Perhaps the only thing more joyous than seeing Paul, Paul Weller, Rick Buckler and Bruce Foxton all in one place is this photo of onetime backup singer and Respond artist Tracie Young (and her son) with her former mentor. I mentioned having recently dined with Tracie when I met Paul a few years ago and his face lit up. Although Respond never took off the way many had hoped, for a brief moment in time, Tracie et al. were the shit! Complete show info HERE.
The way my childhood obsession with Tracie Young turned out has already exceeded all my wildest expectations. (In 1984 her poster hung on my wall, in 2010 we became friends!) But perhaps even more amazing is that a record label took it upon itself to unfault the Paul Weller protege's shelved sophomore album, "No Smoke Without Fire," which arrived in the mail today. Tracie had already given me a low-quality homemade CD of nearly all of the tracks, but I can already see that Cherry Pop's finished product -- complete with a thick booklet of liner notes and photos and remastered tracks -- is a real treasure. Digging in now, but its arrival had me look on YouTube for any new additions, and sure enough the video for her second single, "Give It Some Emotion," suddenly popped up. It's my first time seeing it, too! Order "No Smoke" HERE.
The most frequent question I get since getting laid off from work is, "Do you get bored?" While I suppose people are just trying to make conversation -- and perhaps they're not sure what to say when a touchy subject like losing your job is involved -- I never hesitate answering with an emphatic, "Are you kidding me?!" That I live in a city with a million things to do, see and experience on any given day makes the question inherently ridiculous. Yet truth be told, I would feel the same way if I lived in Minot, North Dakota. Even putting the museums, parks, bars, clubs, restaurants and shows aside, with a stack of three-dozen unread books, hundreds of rarely played CDs and 1,192 unread e-mails -- oh, and what if I got into Netflix? -- my sudden unemployment has me asking myself, "How did I ever find time to work before?" In addition to reading my first book in too long (Patti Smith's "Just Kids," which was good but not what I was expecting), the three most thrilling things to happen in the weeks since my last day at work were getting to meet several childhood "idols" of mine, in three disparate settings.
First up was the beautiful and talented Tracie Young, with whom I have become friendly via e-mail and Facebook in recent years. She and her adorable son, Liam, were "on holiday" in New York recently and asked me to dinner. I've had the biggest gay-crush on Tracie since I first saw her singing backup for The Jam and Paul Weller back in the early '80s, and grew to love her even more when she released a handful of singles and an album shortly thereafter. Over the course of three bottles of wine -- those Brits keep drinking, and I kept spilling (I was more than a tad messy before it was over!) -- I got to ask her every question I ever wanted to about the '80s New Wave music scene (Marilyn was actually quite sweet), how her recording career came to such an abrupt end (she got her label sued) and what she's been up to ever since (married/divorced with two kids and she hosts a show on the radio). Tracie is gearing up for the glam Cherry Pop CD reissue of her 1984 debut, "Far From the Hurting Kind," complete with nonalbum singles, b-sides and surprises (she's completely in control of it!). As if a lovely evening of chat -- oh, and once forced singalong (hey, I said I was drunk!) -- weren't enough, Tracie also brought me a bootleg CD of her sophomore album that was never released. What a crime that the label chose not to release it then, it's really wonderful stuff (especially "No Smoke Without Fire," "Me and Jimmy Stone" and "Love Without Jealousy" plus the demo of Style Council-esque "Waking Hours"). Luckily for her fans, Cherry Pop will also finally give this gem the proper release it deserves. As they say across the pond: brilliant. Cheers for that, Tracie!
Last Saturday, Michael and I had the honor of seeing performance artist Karen Finley's latest one-woman show, "The Jackie Look," at the Laurie Beechman Theatre in Times Square. In it, Finley excoriates the state of celebrity culture through the eyes of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, playing her as if she were alive and giving multimedia lectures on the subject of trauma. Finley doesn't believe Jackie would think too much of the Sixth Floor Museum online gift shop -- anyone the "proud" owner of the Dealey Plaza Holiday Ornament? -- but also tackles a range of topics from the media's obsession Michelle Obama's arms, daughter Caroline's, um, unfortunate, um, run for, like, the Senate, the art world, and the lasting impact of the assassination of JFK.
Finley doesn't try to "become" Jackie -- her Illinois accent wouldn't allow for that. But her take on what Jackie would likely have felt about the uncivilized world of blogs, reality television and 24-hour news coverage feels right, and had me thinking Jackie would long for the days of just Ron Galella stalking her if she were alive today. After the show, the show's producer (and my pal) Chip Duckett introduced us to Karen and her gorgeous daughter, Violet. While Karen was never "one of my girls" back in the '80s -- we all loved "Tales of Taboo," but were terrified of the woman behind it -- I'm so thrilled that I finally got to see her work in person. (There's still one more show -- tickets HERE. Thanks, Chip!)
And then there was the night I'd waited nearly 30 years for that finally happened a few feet in front of me. Nabakov Nerds Pal Shazar and Andrew Chinich -- better known as Slow Children -- reunited for their first show since 1982 on April 14 at the Living Room on the Lower East Side. Regular readers know that I'm obsessed with the band's two quirky SAT-vocab-friendly albums -- "Slow Children" (1981) and "Mad About Town" (1982) -- and have been friendly with Pal for years since finding her playing solo gigs downtown years ago. But to finally hear her and Andrew together doing the songs that I used to play over and over again in my childhood bedroom -- "Too Weak to Eat," "Suspense," "Late Night Transatlantic Flight," "Brazilian Magazines," "President Am I" and "Spring in Fialta" -- was an experience that I will never forget. (Good news to fans who missed the gig: this is NOT a one-off gig!)
The evening was all the more special because I was joined by Chip Duckett and Lesbian Power Couple Urvashi Vaid and Kate Clinton, who are both sharp as tacks and had me laughing all night and even persuaded me to eat dinner at a Cambodia restaurant. (Kenny, you're not at Better Burger anymore."
Of course, no evening would be complete without the "pic with." Andrew and Pal both looked and sounded terrific and clearly relished every minute of their long-overdue reunion. Still, I'm willing to bet I know who in the room had the most incredible night, and he didn't have to be at work the following day. (See all my videos from the night HERE. All photos from the Living Room by John C. Espinosa.)
It might come as a shock to some of you what an '80s-music-inspired spring I'm having. I'd been getting the hard sell on British synth-pop duo La Roux for about a year now -- "You'd love 'em, they're sooooo '80s!" -- but have pretty much ignored them because I was too preoccupied trying to collect O.M.D. b-sides from '81. (There are only so many hours in a day, even for the underemployed.) But then on Easter my friend Frank came over to help me figure out the new version of MS Word -- like Word 98 wasn't good enough? -- and he put on the group's No. 1 hit "Bulletproof." Before the chorus even started I was already singing along (Frank was confused, wondering if I had already heard it or something) and I couldn't deny that it was good stuff. He and some of the gang were buying tickets to the upcoming gig at Terminal 5 (where I'm seeing Hole later this month) and he wondered if I wanted to come along.
Earlier, I had gotten a Facebook message from onetime Paul Weller protege and U.K. "one hit wonder" Tracie Young, who told me she was coming to New York and wanted to know if I'd be interested in having dinner. (Um, of course!) Subsequently found out Tracey Thorn was here this week also, to promote her upcoming solo album. Still trying to figure out how to get her to join Tracie and me -- and if there's any chance Tracey Ullman might be willing to fly in from L.A. so I can die happy.
The following day I stumbled upon Bleecker Bob's records down on West 3rd Street -- just down the way from AC's new digs -- and started flipping through the sidewalk bins. I immediately got nostalgic when I found "Rhyme & Reason" by Missing Persons and the first Curiosity Killed the Cat album (that Ben!), but when I noted how few New Wave records they had (most of the others were R&B) another customer mentioned that there were "lots more inside" and then promptly snatched the Missing Persons album and ran to the register!
Inside was a trip down memory lane, with a B-52's "Whammy" poster hanging in one corner (just like at Greg's house!), and all of my favorite albums (Bananarama's "Deep Sea Skiving"), EPs (the classic Missing Persons one with "Words" and "Destination Unknown") and 12-inch singles ("Burning Up," the first Madonna video I ever saw, "Just What I Always Wanted" by Mari Wilson) neatly placed in the bins.
Although I have no use for records these days (I haven't had a turntable since 1990), I felt an overwhelming urge to buy something (the desperate-looking guys behind the counter may have contributed to this).
When I came across a 1982 issue of Flexipop! magazine with Debbie Harry on the cover -- plus Fab Five Freddy, Snuky Tate and the Brattles, who were all singed to Chris Stein's Animal Records back in the day -- I knew I'd found my purchase.
The cover promised Adam Ant, Marc Almond, Simon Le Bon, Haircut 100 and Kate Bush inside, so even though I'd already heard the "new Blondie" song the flexidisc boasted (an annoying holiday version of "Rapture" called "Yuletown Throw Down"), 15 bucks to feel 16 again for a moment seemed like a bargain.
And then yesterday, I had lunch with a friend-of-a-friend (Dave) who I knew shared a mutual love of Prefab Sprout and Yaz. Over sushi, he set out to convince me that my Scritti Politti blind spot needed to be rectified. (I always got Scritti confused with Feargal Sharkey, which Dave was OK with so long as I wasn't getting him mixed up with Haysi Fantayzee -- whom I love, btw!)
I promptly came home and downloaded "Cupid & Psyche 85" (which I'm listening to as I write this). While I'm enjoying what I hear (I already knew "Perfect Way" and "Wood Beez (Pray to Aretha Franklin," of course), and am aware of the fact that Green Gartside has become quite a darling of the critics over the years (I remember The Times going on and on about his "White Bread Black Beer" disc in 2006 and thinking, THAT Scritti Politti????), there's no doubt that some of these things have to be experienced at the time to be fully appreciated. Every breath, lyric and guitar strum of Lloyd Cole and Commotions' "Rattlesnakes" resides deep inside my every fiber, and I'd swear to anyone that it's the greatest album of all time. But somehow I doubt it would affect me the same way if I heard it for the first time now as it did as a teenage boy suffocating in suburbia.
Later, I thought about getting the La Roux album (and concert tickets with my friends) and just admitting I like a "new" artist. Then my two most trusted current-music advisers -- Christopher and Taffy -- both said things that gave me pause. Christopher says La Roux are "the 21st century Human League -- one good song and the rest all sort of a lamer same" while Bruce left their album off his list of 2009's best discs, but put "Bulletproof" on his singles picks calling it a "burbling electro-ditty" that was "the peak moment of La Roux’s debut album." It was at this moment I decided that while I might be inching my way into the new century(!), it might be best to take baby steps. An occasional Killers single here, a La Roux single there. It's only 2010 and there's no need to rush. As I've learned this week, there's still a lot of music from the '80s I still have to learn about, and we all know where my loyalties lie. See ya on Friday, Tracie!
One of my favorite unsung singles of the 1980s, Paul Weller protege Tracie Young covers the old George McRae hit "I Can't Leave You Alone," and gives it a burst of soulful energy the original so sorely lacked.
At first blush it would be easy to dismiss the British pop singer Tracie Young as just another "'80s one-hit wonder." In fact, it is true that Tracie! -- as she was simply known -- had just one Top 10 hit in her native England -- the infectious "House That Jack Built," which hit No. 9 back in March of '83. But the truth of the matter is her brief career belied a talent that was so true that on any given night -- even two decades later -- you can still find fans chatting and blogging about Tracie's heyday, with always a lingering hope that she'll still one day make a grand comeback.
Born in 1965 in Derby, England, Tracie got her start when she responded to an advertisement a certain Paul Weller had placed in the pop magazine Smash Hits. Paul was looking for new artists to sign to his burgeoning Respond Records label, so when Tracie sent in her demo cassette the wheels were quickly in motion. Although she was just child, the schoolgirl from Essex had the voice of a soul diva trapped in the body of a white girl -- something far more unusual back then in the days before Christina Aguilera, Joss Stone and Natasha Bedingfield burst onto the scene. Weller was duly impressed.
By then, already besotted by all things Motown, Paul was putting his Mod days behind him and needed a strong female voice to back him up on The Jam's soul-based farewell single, "Beat Surrender." The pairing was a huge success and the song debuted at No. 1 back in '82, and served as Tracie Young's introduction the world. In early '83, she gave another stellar performance on Weller's new band's debut single, "Speak Like a Child," a No. 4 hit by the Style Council. (How many one-hit wonders can claim achievements like this?)
By spring '83, her aforementioned debut single -- "The House That Jack Built" (penned by Paul Barry and John Robinson of the Questions) had become a huge hit, and the fresh-faced girl with the big voice was all over the place. Tracie'd become a regular "overnight sensation." As work got under way on her long-play debut with Weller at the helm, a stop-gap single, "Give It Some Emotion" (a personal favorite of mine), was released, charting at a more modest No. 24.
It was a disappointment, but it kept her on the radio and, more importantly, on Top of the Pops. Unfortunately, it also keep her in the pop magazines where she began to alienate some fans by developing a bit of an attitude -- perhaps not that surprising from a small-town girl suddenly enjoying instant fame (can you say Terence Trent D'Arby?) -- dissing the likes of Simon LeBon, Boy George and Nena. Back in the studio, the LP "Far From the Hurting Kind" was taking shape, and with a slew of songs penned by Weller himself, Barry/Robinson, plus a beautiful new ballad Elvis Costello contributed to the project -- "(I Love You) When You Sleep)" -- the album seemed like a sure-fire hit. But as Young later explained, tensions were brewing behind the scenes: Weller insisted on leaving her two previous chart hits off the album ("The House That Jack Built" and "Give It Some Emotion" had already been on "Love the Reason" in 1983, which featured a selection of songs from Respond's roster of artists), and then she and Weller butted heads over what should be the first single. (She remains convinced that the title track would have been a definite hit while Paul wanted "Nothing Happens Here but You. In the end "Souls on Fire" was the compromise and it bombed.) The end result wound up being something Tracie was not entirely happy with, and it stalled at No. 64 on the U.K. charts. Devoted fans, however, were delighted. With a wonderful variety of pop, soul, dance and ballads, (The Tracie-chosen cover of "Thank You," an old Martha Reeves song, was a highlight.) I quickly counted it -- along with "Cafe Bleu" and "Talk Show" -- as one of my favorites of '84. Tracie managed to bounce back with a lovely backing vocal on the Style Council's single "The Boy Who Cried Wolf" off of 1985's "Our Favorite Shop," and she continued to record with the intention of releasing a sophomore album. (By now I believe Respond was going under and Polydor was distributing her music, which only complicated matters.) But when subsequent singles produced diminishing returns -- the spectacular "I Can't Leave You Alone" peaked at No. 60 and "Invitation," "(When You) Call Me" and "We Should Be Together" failed to even chart -- the album was scrapped entirely and, sadly, a "devastated" Tracie called it a career.
In 1996, "Far From the Hurting Kind" got the royal Japanese treatment when it was finally issued on compact disc, complete with its original artwork plus seven -- 7!!! -- bonus tracks, including two charming songs from the scrapped second album. (The CD was Japanese only and quickly out of print, so the rest of the world got rooked and eventually had to pay upward of a 100 bucks for a copy on eBay.) Around the same time Tracie re-emerged into the public eye (or ear?) after years of married life (two kids) and running pubs in the Midlands, when she became a DJ/radio personality at Essex FM. She later moved to Dream 107.7 FM, and is currently at Southend Radio 105.1 FM. (Not to be confused with the other DJ Tracy Young.) Despite the ongoing adulation from fans that continues to this post day, Tracie remains adamant that a comeback is not in the cards. (In fact, interviews make it clear that she is no fan of her old work.) But despite this dismissiveness, she stunned her fans (and maybe even more so herself) in February 2008 when she performed a beautifully rearranged version of her most tender song -- the Paul Weller composition "Nothing Happens Here but You" -- on the Infernal Racket Show earlier this year. (Click title for video!)
As regular readers know, I've spent the past few years attempting to right some of the wrongs of the music industry, making sure albums that were never re-issued digitally see the light of day now (Slow Children, the Vels, the Waitresses, Haircut 100 and dozens more). So it's with that sentiment that I offer you DOWNLOAD access to two zip folders of MP3s of everything I have from the lovely lass from Essex, much of which was converted from the original vinyl by my friend DJ Joe Ross. (If you're interested, e-mail me HERE. Please put TRACIE YOUNG in the subject.) None of this is available for sale anywhere, but if someone who owns the rights to the music objects to my sharing, please let me know. But if it's you, Tracie, then I say this: your fans still love your brief but prolific career. I still get countless inquiries from fellow fans who see I've written about you, so why not just take pride in knowing you've brought joy to so many? We love you when you sleep. We love you when you're awake. But most of all we love you when you sing.
UPDATE 06/29/09: Since writing this post, I have been completely inundated with e-mails from fellow Tracie fans. It's been a real treat hearing from all of you. As many of you may know, Tracie came out of "retirement" and performed a live set on June 6. 2009, at Shepherds Bush Empire (opening for Billy Franks) -- and would you believe that she contacted none other than YOURS TRULY to get MP3s of her old songs in order to prepare for the gig? (What a doll -- we've become great online pen pals in recent months.) The most exciting news of all, however, is that Tracie recently re-acquired ownership of her back catalogue and has begun releasing her material (some of it previously unreleased). Anyone looking to purchase Tracie's music can now go straight to her MySpace page HERE and she will be properly compensated for her works. I've already picked up her first EP, "It Happened One Night ... and other songs" and I must tell you the acoustic radio session take of "Give It Some Emotion" may just be the definitive version of this wonderful song. Welcome back, Tracie. And keep those songs from the scrapped second LP coming!!!
UPDATE 04/06/10: Join the official Tracie Facebook Fan Page HERE.
UPDATE 04/22/10: Read about my dinner with Tracie in New York City HERE.
UPDATE: 08/16/10: Cherry Pop has reissued "Far From the Hurting Kind" -- complete with a dozen bonus tracks plus liner notes by Tracie herself. Check it out HERE.
"FAR FROM THE HURTING KIND" (Japanese edition) / Includes: "(I Love You) When You Sleep"; "Souls on Fire"; "Nothing Happens Here but You"; "I Can't Hold on Till Summer"; "Dr. Love"; "Thank You"; "Moving Together"; "Spring, Summer, Autumn"; "What Did I Hear You Say"; "Far From the Hurting Kind"; "I Can't Hold on Till Summer" (without strings); "Thank You" (instrumental); "Fingers Crossed" (heartbeat demo); "Fingers Crossed"; "I Think You're Lucky"; "Far From the Hurting Kind" (early track 1); "Far From the Hurting Kind" (early track 2)
"BEYOND THE HURTING KIND" / Includes: "The House That Jack Built"; "Give It Some Emotion"; "I Can't Leave You Alone"; "Invitation"; "We Should Be Together"; "(When You) Call Me" (extended); "The Boy Hairdresser"; "You Must Be Kidding"; "Same Feelings Without the Emotions"; "The Country Code"; "Find It in Your Nature"; "Italian Girl"; "Mama Never Told Me" (with The Questions); "Give It Some Emotion" (extended); "Souls on Fire" (long version); "Moving Together" (club mix); "I Can't Leave You Alone" (Pick 'n' Mix); "Invitation" (RSVP mix); "We Should Be Together" (the Jezamix); "Harvest for the World" (with The Style Council and The Questions); "19" (The Wickham Mix); "Souls on Fire" (single edit); "Tracie Talks"; "Tracie Raps"; "Nothing Happens Here but You" (2008 version)
An early look at The Style Council, with Paul Weller, Mick Talbot, Tracie Young and The Questions. It was Paul's original idea to have the group be a revolving collection of players and singers, and on this track he, two of the Questions boys and a very young Tracie take turns on lead vocals on the cover of the Isley Brothers' "Harvest for the World," which was never released on any of the band's albums. If anyone has this song as an MP3, please contact me!
How fantastic to come across this 1983 clip of Paul Weller and the Style Council performing "Speak Like a Child" alongside teen queen Tracie Young, Paul's Respond Records protegee. I've read that Tracie is now a successful DJ in England, but I'll always be "Far From the Hurting Kind" pretending it's 1984. If anyone has any old Tracie tunes I'm missing ("Harvest for the World," anyone?), please contact me.
Had a wonderful time seeing legendary songwriter Jimmy Webb at City Winery with my friends David, Lynn and Lucy. Webb, who is now 80 but sti...
Fake Jan Alert
My blog is featured in Susan Olsen's tell-all about the ill-fated "Brady Bunch Variety Hour"!
Little Kenny
Growing up in Madison Heights, Mich.
Back to the Old House
The Web leads to an unexpected return to a house I grew up in.
Oceans 11
Carlsbad, Calif. (2008)
1983
Go Behind the Music of my high-school band, A La Plage
A Death in the Family
Little Larry left us too soon.
Once I Had a Love
With Debbie Harry
'Jungle' Fever
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Roger & Me
With Roger Federer
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With Ed Burns
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