Author:Andrew Darlington, Martin Hutchinson, Matt Karpe
I’m not hugely well up on The Small Faces – like most people I immediately think of All or Nothing. Itchycoo Park, Lazy Sunday and Tin Soldier but that’s about it. They successfully transitioned from sharp suited mods to the flower power era before Steve Marriott left to form Humble Pie and the remaining members became, with the addition of Rod Stewart, that archetypal good time band The Faces. Thus is a really well written enjoyable read, which covers the recorded output of both incarnations and also has sections on Humble Pie, and the solo work of Marriott, Lane and Stewart. A Nod’s As Good As A Wink is an album I clearly recall buying as a teenager and playing to death, although I was rather less enamoured of its follow up Ooh La La, complete with its novelty sleeve. There always seems to be talk of a reunion and new music but it never seems to get any closer, and as the years pass it seems less and less likely. In the meantime, enjoy this potted history, listen to the records again and remember the glory days.
I know a version of The Stranglers is still around but I lost interest at the point Hugh Cornwell departed following 1990’s ‘10’ album. The albums they made with him in the ranks had some good, varied and interesting music on them, and I was always struck by the marked contrast between early songs such as Hanging Around, Get a Grip on Yourself, No More Heroes and Something Better Change and their gentler more mellow side, the likes of Always The Sun, Strange Little Girl, Skin Deep and of course Golden Brown. To be fair, I’ve only ever had a cursory listen to the post Cornwell records but it felt to me like the band had lost a key cog from the machine. The book takes an in depth look at all the albums on the usual song by song basis, right up to 2021’s Dark Matters, and also examines live recordings and solo albums too. An interesting read for sure, but for me the first half of the book was far more engaging than the latter part.
Where Prince is concerned I’m really a Parade and Around The World In A Day man. Purple Rain isn’t a record I return to that much, although as well as the epic title track it does of course contain the mighty When Doves Cry, one of his finest moments. Always planned as both an album and a film, it was a bold step for Prince but one that ultimately paid off handsomely as this remains his best selling release. 2024 marks the 40th anniversary of its release, and this rather slim volume looks at the background to the project, the individual songs and their recording including those featured on the later deluxe box set, and the subsequent world tour, Overall, a well researched book on this album that sheds some interesting light on its creation.
Length of Read:Short
Might appeal to people who enjoyed…
The music of these artists.
One thing you’ve learned
There’s always something new to learn.
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