In previous blog posts I have alluded to the fact that popular music is no longer the sole purview of the young man/woman. When I was watching Top of the Pops as a teenager, most of the artistes weren't a great deal older than myself and those that were tended to be refugees from the sixties (Paul McCartney, Mick Jagger, ruddy Cliff Richard etc). Furthermore, there was an assumption that the majority of pop careers would be relatively short. You would either have your fifteen minutes of fame, the public would grow tired of you and you would seek an alternative career in A&R or something similarly riveting or alternatively you would split up at the height of your fame citing musical differences but in reality it was because you suddenly realised you hated each others guts and the lead singer wanted to pursue a lucrative solo career whilst the drummer wanted to release ambient jazz records!
It was generally accepted, therefore, that pop was a young persons game. In any case these were the days of the fabled generation gap where youths would be upstairs in the bedrooms with their windows open terrorising the neighbourhood with "Never Mind the Bollocks" or "London Calling" or "No Sleep Til Hammersmith" whilst Mum and Dad would be downstairs listening to the gentle strains of Mantovani and James Last. The whole concept then of popular music being made and indeed to by people over the age of 40 was frankly ludicrous!
Oh how time has proved us wrong.
These days popular music is a pan-generational (Big phrase of the day award) business. I was at a Franz Ferdinand gig recently and the age of the audience ranged from 17 to 70. Pop music is being produced by toddlers such as Justin Bieber and Lorde AND seemingly eternal old timers such as Bruce Springsteen and the Rolling Stones. It seems that the only thing that can terminate a music career is a jail sentence or death......and actually I am not so sure about the latter as Whitney Houston's Greatest Hits has just gone back into the super soaraway Top 20 Album chart and apparently Michael Jackson has a new album out next month!!
Hardly anyone stays split up or retired any more. The vast majority of bands that called it a day in the 80s and 90s have reformed (in one form or another) and have trod the boards or released new material (to varying degrees of success). The list of bands that could reform (i.e all the members are still in the land of the living) but haven't are few and far between (The Smiths, the Jam with Weller, The Teardrop Explodes, The KLF) and is seemingly reducing by the month. There are ominous rumblings of an Abba reunion (Loved Abba but leave it be, please) and Kate Bush shocked everyone by announcing her first live concerts since 1978!
The fact of the matter, though, is that bands are reforming and artists are prolonging their careers because there is a clear market for it (Although whether there is a demand for a Jive Bunny and the Mastermixers reunion is another issue entirely). Back in the 70s and 80s our parents told us in no uncertain terms that we would grow out of this pop music malarkey and gravitate to a nice bit of Bach. But they were wrong, rather than pack up our pop music along with the Action man figures and Matchbox cars, we took it with us into "adulthood". Now we're often parents and, Lord help is, grandparents ourselves and still listening to the damn stuff. And whilst many of us do like to keep up to date with new artistes, we still like what we liked when we were youths. So if they get back together to put out new stuff or tread the boards again, we're there!
In addition there's also the fact that a more mature audience quite appreciates more mature artists as they will or should write songs appropriate for an older audience. Now lyrics in pop music are a funny beast. I don't necessarily think that a singer has to sing lyrics that are appropriate to my situation rather I expect them to come from his/her heart and be appropriate to their situation. So Alex Turner is a 28 year old single man, there is nothing wrong with him making an album in AM that comprises largely of songs about a frankly horny chap looking for some slap and tickle. However as acts get older, we expect the subject matter of their songs to be appropriate to their growing older and that's good for us as chances are those songs will speak to us in our lives too. There is something vaguely unsettling about a 71 year old Mick Jagger telling us he can't get no satisfaction but we respond to acts like Elbow, on their album "The Take off and Landing of Everything" and Manic Street Preachers on "Rewind the Film" as these are albums full of songs clearly written by people approaching middle age
Which brings us (eventually) to Henry Priestman!
Now many of you may say "Who? Never heard of him!" and actually you'd be wrong. Mr Priestman has been around since the late 70s. Firstly he was in a well regarded (which I admit can be a euphemism for "Loved by critics, ignored by public") Liverpool band, the Yachts. He then formed It's Immaterial, who are best known for the Top 20 hit "Driving Away from Home (Jim's tune)" (On which Henry played as a session musician as he had left the band by this point.). Henry then found fame as keyboardist, vocalist and songwriter for the Christians
At which point you, my loyal readers, exclaim "Oh I've heard of them!" And indeed you have! In 1987/88 The Christians were one of Britains biggest bands and their debut album sold over a million copies and was noted for the wonderful singing of the Christian brothers and Henry's fine songwriting (I still rate "Ideal World" as one of the best songs of the latter part of the 80s). Whilst the follow up album, "Colour" debuted at Number 1, it sold a fraction of its predecessor and as Madchester and Grunge dominated the musical landscape (along with Simply Red, but one prefers to forget that), the Christians faded from public view.
I still retained a considerable fondness for their debut album and therefore was intrigued (as well as surprised as it had been over 15 years since I'd last heard anything from the man) when I read in Uncut in October 2008 that Henry Priestman had released his debut solo album "The Chronicles of Modern Life". I seem to recall that I had just discovered Youtube (Back in the day) so I checked out the lead off track (I don't think you could call it a single) "Don't you love me no more?" which was about a man who had just been made redundant. 2008 saw the start of the credit crunch which then obviously became the recession so the song was certainly pertinent and, more to the point, almost uniquely pertinent as no one else was addressing this subject matter. As for the music, well, perhaps to be expected it sounded nothing like the Christians, there were no sweet harmony vocals or smooth 80s production. But it was a fine song, with a great lyric, strong tune and a rousing chorus.
So I went and brought the album and was absolutely blown away. First and foremost, returning to my theme, here was an album that spoke to me. Here was a man of a similar age to me writing about subjects that I was experiencing too. Songs about realising that you are the same age as your dad was when you thought he was old ("Old" oddly enough), of looking back at the punk years and wondering whether it was still worth it ("Did I fight in the Punk Wars for this?") and still being passionately in love even after all these years ("Grey's the new blonde"). I consider myself to have a wide musical pallet but I was struggling to think when I had heard an album that was so relevant to me. Of course I have to add that the tunes were fantastic too. In all honesty, it is hard to categorise the record. I would say acoustic but there's some Billy Bragg-esque electric guitar on "Punk Wars". I would say "Folk" but lazy minds conjure up images of untimely death, fey youths, English gardens and hey nonny nonny and none of these are featured here. Let's just say that these are magnificent songs, great melodies, loads of robust choruses and not a duff track in sight.
It was by some distance my favorite album of 2008 and was one of my top three albums of the decade (alongside "Truth, Soul and Rock and Roll" by the Elms and "Streets of New York" by Willie Nile). The question was, could he follow it up? The answer was "Not straight away, mate!" "The Chronicles of Modern Life" was originally released on Stiff records and was, I believe, more successful than anticipated and was, therefore, promptly picked up by Island Records and re released. Henry appeared on salubrious places such as BBC Breakfast and the next album, provisionally entitled "Hunting and Gathering ain't what it used to be" was due for release in early 2010.
And then nothing! It then emerged that sadly both Henry's mum and his mother in law had passed away and Henry understandably decided that this would change the type of album that he wanted to release. Time passed. The days of myspace gave way to Twitter and Facebook and details of Henry's activity and his forthcoming album began to appear. Brilliantly he was doing several house gigs and running music workshops in schools.
The album, now entitled "The Last Mad Surge of Youth" was released on 17th February but through the wonders of the internet, I received it two days early and, when it landed "plop" through the letter box, I foresook my ironing duties and rushed upstairs to give the album the attention it deserved.
The first thing that struck me was that, whilst Henry Priestman has a very distinctive sound and style, this was clearly a different record to the first one because of the circumstances that shaped it and this is apparent from the opening track "At the End of the Day". This is a beautiful tribute to his mum. Almost hymnal in tone, with some lovely muted brass and moving lyrics ("Who will fix my broken heart? Who will dry these lonely tears, be the one that's here to stay and bring peace at the end of the day"), it is a stunning start to the album. Speaking as someone whose mum has died, the songs clarity and emotional honesty really resonated with me. As a lyricist Henry has a tremendous ability to put emotions and issues over clearly but without being sentimental or trite.
It's also in many ways a brave start to the album. Unless you are intending to write a very downbeat record or are an awkward cuss, it is traditional to start with a vigorous. catchy, attention seeking number. However given what Henry had been through and the fact that it had impacted on the type of album he was making, it was undoubtedly the right way to start proceedings.
Next up comes a track that to my mind sums up what Henry is about perfectly "True Believer". I have had the great fortune of seeing Henry Priestman live at the Green Note in Camden. I'm sure most people have images of pop stars, particularly those from the 80s as either having enormous egos or barking mad or lifestyles so far removed from normal people that they may as well be from an alien race or all three. Henry, however is nothing like that at all. He comes across as, well, an ordinary bloke and a good guy with concerns and feelings similar to the rest of us. He's also someone, who like the rest of us, has had their fair share of knocks but still retains a strong sense of optimism, of love for life and that good times are just around the corner. The chorus goes "I believe that life goes on, what doesn't kill you make you strong, somewhere deep inside you're gonna find peace of mind and blue skies. I'm a true believer". In less skilled and honest hands, lyrics like this could come across as potentially trite but because you know that Henry has lived life and you know that he means them, the words have real impact.
And talking of living life...One thing that Henry is superb and almost unique at is writing songs about normal day to day to experiences. On the Chronicles of Modern Life, you had "He ain't good enough for you" about a dad's view of his daughter's boyfriend. Here we have "We used to be you" regarding parents talking about their teenager heading off to University. If there's another song about empty nest syndrome in modern pop, I haven't heard it. It's certainly not a song that you can imagine Thom Yorke or George Michael writing.
Then we have a taste of politics. Right back in the days of the Christians, Henry's writing has always been informed by the political ("Ideal World", "Hooverville" "Forgotten Town") and that's still very much the case in his solo work. On his first album you have "Don't you love me no more", "It's called a heart" and "The idiot" whilst here we have "Goodbye common sense" "Hunting and gathering ain't what it used to be" and "Same circus, different clowns". Just to clarify when I say political songs, I'm not necessarily saying that we are looking at a "Vote Labour" chant here. Henry writes songs about everyday life and therefore by definition you can't help by being political. Henry is a man who is championing the values of human decency, of honesty, of defending equality and justice of speaking out against greed, against callous large corporations and governments who only look after their cronies. "Goodbye Common Sense" in particular strikes me as a clever track. Right wing commentators such as the ever ghastly Richard Littlejohn always try to hijack "Common Sense" as a right wing concept. Here though Henry flips it on its head and points out that actually caring for the poor and showing love and compassion is, frankly common sense "Farewell equality and sharing the common good, send your scant regards to the unwashed and misunderstood. Hello you power hungry men of eminence, goodbye common sense"
From politics then to love. There is no doubt that Mr Priestman is an old romantic, "Grey is the New Blonde" - a song for his wife of many years- was one of the stand outs of the first album. On this album there is "Valentine's Day". Whilst I cannot deny being an old romantic myself, I've always regarded the love song with a degree of caution because this is a genre whose entrance doors have a sign thereon stating "Danger! Here be dragons!" and said dragons are called "Sentimentality" "Schmaltz" and "Tooth Rotting Old Dreck". I could write an entire blog about the Love Song in Pop Music but suffice to say that it is a very hard thing to get right. "Valentine's day" gets it right. As with all of Henry's best songs, it's simple and you just know it comes from real life experience and the heart. The opening line "You light up the room and you don't even know" is superb. The lyrics are reinforced by a simple, straightforward musical accompaniment. No mass orchestrations or choral bombardments here, thank you very much. Just a beautiful tune, well played, with some lovely backing vocals by Lotte Mullan.
The second half of the record (or second side, as we old farts would call them back in the days of vinyl) is quite heavily taken up with songs about where Henry is in his life right now. I fully appreciate that at this point you may be heading for the sign marked "Exit" as it conjures images up of either Van Morrison in the 90s (For those of you unfamiliar with Van the Man, his output during that decade seemed to consist entirely of songs about...er...Van the Man and how hard done by he was. They are all unbelievably tiresome!) or, more bizarrely, Lady Gaga! Please rest assured that the record does not delve into either "Poor me" territory or surreal self referencing. Coming back to my original theme, this is a man in his fifties (although he doesn't look it obviously!) talking about his own life experiences and they will strike a chord in many people of a similar age.
First up there is the magnificent and magnificently self depreciating "In My Head" in which Henry compares how he likes to picture himself in his head and the reality "Cos I'm cool and I'm fit, kinda witty, oh so quick. Despite advancing years it has been said that I'm a catch and I'll go far. I'm the latest superstar but then real life kicks in and instead it's all in my head". It's a wonderful song that never fails to bring a smile to my face and probably my favorite on the album. It will have you nodding along in recognition.
Then comes "The Last Mad Surge of Youth". I'm 49 and my wife says that this is my song!! Well if it is, it's a bloody good one. Effectively it's saying that we may have lived many years but there's still (hopefully) many more years still to be lived so let's make the most of them: "The ambitions of those early years are no longer in my sights. Ah but there's still so much that I've got to do and so much that I want to say and the source of my enlightenment though she's gone still guides my way". The tune meanwhile is beautiful, reflective and waltz like.
Then there are two what I can best describe as "Railing against the dying of the light" (With apologies to Dylan Thomas) songs, "Rant and Rave" and "A Pint of Bitter and Twisted Please" (and if you don't think that's a brilliant song title what's the matter with you?). Both dovetail into the political songs (particularly "Rant and Rave"). This is Mr Priestman saying that there may be miles on the clock but there are still rights to be wronged, injustices to be put right and things to be said and sung and that's what he's going to do. This certainly strikes a chord with me. When my mum was 70 and I was 26 I remember her saying to me that in her head she was still 28. At the time I thought that was bobbins but she was spot on. As far as my mind is concerned I'm in my twenties and I'm still as pissed off at injustice, bigotry, prejudice and greed as I was then and there are things that need to be done. From these songs I believe that Henry feels the same!
I appreciate that in this review I have concentrated more on the subject matter and lyrics of the songs than the music. To sum things up musically I would firstly use a word that is often misunderstood when talking about music, these are simple songs. Not simple as in rudimentary but they are straightforward. The arrangements are clear and not over complicated. It's probably more of an acoustic record than "Chronicles" but with some lovely touches particularly brass. The melodies are strong as are the tunes. Indeed many of these songs will get stuck in your head very quickly. The production is clear and the singing is excellent and suits the songs very well.
In summary, this is an excellent record. Full of wonderful songs that have tremendous character and that have I think a unique voice in terms of the issues they cover and the way those subjects are addressed. It's wonderfully tuneful, beautifully played and sung really well. Hopefully, life permitting, the next Henry Priestman album will be on its way to us soon because I sense there are plenty more great songs from where these came from. Henry recently said that he was in a conversation with someone in the music business and they said that from a business perspective he was ready to move to the next level. To which he felt that he was quite happy with the level he was at!! He'd been to the next level back in the 80s. These days he's quite content doing school workshops, house gigs, small scale gigs and making wonderful records such as this. Quite right sir, this level suits you. Under the mainstream radar (whatever that is) he may be but Henry Priestman is still one of the finest songwriters that this country has to offer!
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