45 45s AT 45 : NUMBER 21
When I was the new wave kid on the block, I used to snigger behind the backs of the guys at school who were fans of bands like Pink Floyd, Genesis, Led Zeppelin and Yes. (I didn’t do it to their faces as they were bigger than me and would have giving me a right good kicking).
I did so because, unlike them, I got to hear the songs that I liked getting played on the radio, and sometimes I even got to see the bands that were my favourites appearing on the telly. I was of a very impressionable age, and my attitude was that you were a nobody if you didn’t get played on Radio 1 or Radio Clyde this side of midnight. And an even bigger nobody if Noel Edmonds, Jimmy Saville, Tony Blackburn or Dave Lee Travis didn’t read out your name in a rundown during Top Of The Pops.
In my wee world, it wasn’t relevant that the sorts of bands – the ones that so excited the guys with long hair, the combat jackets and the patchouli oil - could sell LPs in their millions and play concerts that recreated all the albums note-for-note in shows lasting three hours in length - mainstream recognition was the be-all and end-all.
So, its just as well that as I’ve got older my attitude has softened –for I would never have found a place in my heart and mind for the greatest act to ever come out of Australia.
In a career that now goes back more than 20 years, Nick Cave, whether with The Birthday Party, The Bad Seeds or Grinderman has had one commercial hit that got him on TOTP. And even then, that was because fans of Kylie Minogue bought the single....
He has released one great LP after another throughout his career. Each LP has spawned two or three singles, some of which have been astonishing in their ambition. Some have been tremendously catchy with great tunes and big choruses, while others have been gorgeous yet understated ballads that are poems set to music. He’s even made all sorts of promotional videos, many of them entertaining and eye-catching in an effort to get some mainstream attention.
All to no avail.
Instead his fame and career is now so similar to the dinosaurs of the 70s in being based entirely on critical acclaim album sales and live performances that leave you panting for more without ever troubling the compilers of the singles charts.
All this means is that an awful lot of folk who have an interest in music, but no real depth of passion or soul for it (i.e. they’ll maybe buy what they hear on the radio but never take risks) are missing out on his genius and talent. I suppose that’s good in one way as it means Nick Cave will ever get so big and famous that his live shows move to arenas and stadia. But overall, don’t you agree that his music should be in every household?
Yet again, there were a number of singles that I hummed and hawed over before selecting one for this rundown. It goes back to 1994:-
mp3 : Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds – Do You Love Me? (single version)
mp3 : Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds – Cassiel’s Song
mp3 : Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds – Sail Away
A single drum note. The haunting sound of the stacatto Hammond organ. Nick mumbling the one line over and over to himself. The bar-room piano that comes crashing in on top of everything. And that’s just the introductory 45 seconds - a sort of overture for all that follows.
Is this a song that is a plea for affection from someone who wants so much to be loved back??
I’m not sure....
I’ve always thought it is something altogether far more creepy and sinister – the song of a dominating control-freak who breaks the soul and spirit and eventually the body of their lover because although she gave him everything, it was never ever enough to satisfy his lust.
In many ways, it’s a bit like The One I Love by REM. If you just catch the most audible part of the song, it all seems innocent enough. But listen closely and you'll notice that there's a lot of venom and poison lying within……
The video was shot in Sao Paulo, Brazil where Nick was temporarily living at the time. If you’ve never seen it before, its well worth five minutes of your time by clicking here. You’ll also find a great live version alongside it.
8 comments:
I think Nick Cave is really underrated as a singer. He gets a lot of praise for songwriting and performance, but I think he's a great singer in the old fashioned sense.
Straight To You, from the album previous to the one this track is on, is likely to turn up on my pages sooner or later. Such a beautiful powerful tune.
This is good too. I'll have to dig out my copy when I get home tonight!
And, funnily enough, while I was discovering punk and Mod classics at school (early 80s) the cool kids at school were getting into Floyd and Zeppelin.
I still don't like Pink Floyd.
In one sense I agree with you and in one I don't.
Compared to where Nick Cave was when i first got into him (seeing the video to 'I Had A Dream joe' on ITV's Chart Show), you could say that he has become if not mainstream, then accepted by the mainstream. The recognition each release gets in the press attests to that and I read somewhere that he has appeared on Later With Jools Holland more than any other act. So while it's true doesn't necessarily sell singles, his reputation and recognition is soaring.
I'm not entirely sure I've got my point across as I'm very tired as I right this.
As for this single, I think I played it to death. Amaziong a-side and two pretty damn great b-sides.
The Nick Cave boat left me standing on the quayside. The basso profundo voice leaves me cold. The dirgey music that critics swoon over is uninspired. Next please.
Ctel
You've just won the prize for the most honest and forthright commment ever left here......
I was getting worried that the 45s series was getting universal approval.
I'm far too polite to leave a message like Ctels but I have to say he hit the nail on the head. Still looking forward to the next 20.
I never was a fan but I like the way you wrote about it and the interpretation of that song. Nice to hear what you have to say about all the songs whether they are my personal faves or not. Maybe when I am on the brink of 45 I will be organized enough to do something like this, but somehow I doubt it.
(from the other Greer)
Still a Cave fan, finally saw him for the first time in 2004 at Glasgow academy then early 2006 when the lineup that would make the Grinderman album played Edinburgh.
I first got into him in 1991 when i heard Tender Prey. Very dark and even more scary and otherworldy than the lies of the Cure, Smiths, Sonic Youth, Jane's Addiction I was then discovering for the first time.
Still the coolest Australian ever in my eyes and the best Ozzie band ever (yes, even above the go-betweens. And I know some of the bad seeds were from Germany, but you get the point)
Ed
As a Nick Cave fan of around 20 years, I find myself constantly repeating that if people find Cave's music "dirge-like" or depressing, they don't understand it. Like Leonard Cohen and Tom Waits, he's always had a sense of humor and a wry sense of detachment from the media's notion of his persona.
Anyhow, music blogs are supposed to provide a variety of material, meaning sometimes there'll be selections not to your taste. You can look at this as an opportunity to expand your horizons, or just wait til the next post.
As someone who bought the vinyl 45 back in the day but was never able to play the thing (my record player died) I particularly appreciate this post. :)
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