Mulberry

I've had black and blue
Straw, rasp, goose and lingon too
But never a mul

Kings of the Wild Frontier by Adam & The Ants

When I was a kid growing up in the UK in the 1980s, Top of the Pops was the place where you see and hear new music for the first time. An outrageous or charismatic performance was guaranteed to be the talk of the playground the text day and more than likely would send the single shooting up the charts. 

Adam and the Ants were one such band. Why was that guy dressed like a 18th century hussar? Why did he have a white stripe tippexed across his nose? What was the deal with having *two* drummers? They quickly got a reputation as a teeny bopper band but this album shows they had a lot more going on than impressive clothes and fancy videos.

Aside from the African Burundi beat inspired tribal drumming, this album has influences from punk, rockabilly and even a bit of surf guitar from musical magpie and lead guitarist Marco Pirroni. Adam himself was a great frontman and lead vocalist with a different costume for every song.

Pirate-tastic!

https://album.link/gb/i/1108061200

Clouds, Bright Lightning

Clouds lit from within
Were lights dancing overhead
Sparks from Thor’s hammer

A Girl Called Dusty by Dusty Springfield

Dusty Springfield was easily one of the most engaging and versatile vocalists of the 60s, covering a huge variety of songs including blues, soul, ballads and show tunes. She effectively had two parallel careers with different songs hitting the charts in the USA and back home in the UK. 

The original version of this album was just under half an hour, but this remastered version more than doubles that, with some real gems included. My highlights are a delicious version of 24 Hours From Tulsa, Anyone Who Had a Heart and a very different take on Mockingbird. There’s guaranteed to be something on here that will appeal to just about everyone. Simply delightful.

https://album.link/gb/i/1443726966

Plum, Plenty

Preparing the fruit
Making plenty of crumble
A plum job, for sure

Protection by Massive Attack

I really enjoyed Massive Attack’s debut album Blue Lines and their 1998 release Mezzanine, but for some reason this one passed me by at the time. Part of the reason for that may have been the departure of Shara Nelson who was responsible for the vocals on their biggest hit Unfinished Sympathy. However, they invited Tracy Thorn of Everything But The Girl to deputize on two tracks and Tricky on two more, and they are both excellent.

Musically, this is a great example of Bristol Trip Hop with deep, vibrant bass lines almost heading into dubstep territory in a couple of places (and there is a dub remix of this album too, that I’ve just spotted). The only slight misstep is the inclusion of a live cover of Light My Fire which doesn’t really work in context. There’s nothing wrong with it per se, but I’d rather have a full live album than a tacked on bonus track.

https://album.link/gb/i/724410562

Wisteria

Wisteria (noun)
The state of being both wistful
And hysterical