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Yes. It is. He ignored the calls to boycott South Africa, went there to work with Black South African musicians, and brought the likes of Ladysmith Black Mambazo to an international audience.
Agreed. However to this day there are still disputes about the ownership/copyright of some of the tracks on the record. It's perhaps a mixed bag at best.
Anyway, I respect the adjudication of the OP and will say no more.
Gracelands is hip and cred-ful 👍
From watching Robin of Sherwood as a lad, i regularly have a listen to Legend by Clannad.
What are they, Swedish? Dutch?
Brummies!
Can recommend their 'Who we are' album.
That's some Brummie accent, he sounds like Joey Tempest.
Script For A Jester's Tear - Marillion.
<<END OF THREAD>>
Still love it, still play it, still turn it up to 11.
[EDIT]
Love Over Gold by Dire Straits – Telegraph Rd is a work of genius. Also reminds me of my late Dad.
Same. Dad's favourite album. He didn't get much time to himself, but he played Love Over Gold every Saturday morning. Fond memories of it thumping through my bedroom floor.
Brothers in Arms gets all the glory, but Love Over Gold is simply a masterpiece.
I've had a thread idea in my head now for a couple of years, "you've been listening to the wrong album all this time."
What a thread!
I have sooo many of the albums mentioned. Talking of Dire Straits, I'm very partial to 'Badges, Posters, Stickers and T-Shirts' the B-side to Private Investigations...
But in my attempt to bring in a thread-closer, I am still a huge fan of the album...
Heartbeat - By Don Johnson...
It has it all! The video of the title single has Dweezil Zappa playing guitar (though he actually played guitar on a different track, fact-fans...) but the rest of the album has '80s class too: there are TWO tracks that feature Stevie Ray Vaughan, there's a duet with Willie Nelson... What more could you ask for? 🙂
I love Dire Straits, but definitely couldn't claim them to be cooL.
Read a good interview with Knopfler once and he clearly struggled himself with the occasionally over-produced, (over?) ambitious nature of some of their stuff. He had a good quote about sitting in a bar and Telegraph Road coming on the jukebox. It was followed by "Rave On" by Buddy Holly and he just felt utterly depressed by the immediacy, vibrancy and simplicity of it by comparison.
Matt_outandabout - Rain Town is a work of genius. Dignity (in Scotland at least) surely transcends all notions of cool or hip. Fond memories of belting it out in an (otherwise!) quiet bar in Tignes with another long ex-patriated Scot after (remotely) attending a friend's funeral last year.
Love Over Gold is simply a masterpiece.
Beaten only by
Heartbeat – By Don Johnson…
I mean, wow...
Heartbeat – By Don Johnson…
got a copy of that too
Thought about, just for the craic, dropping in some albums that I know people on here will love but looks like I've been well and truly beaten to that scheme. Cards on the table, I love 'The Crunch-era' Rah Band stuff...
In a similar manner to the above.
Listened to this album loads when it came out and genuinely thought it was great.
Tried again and it certainly grates.
Tried again and it certainly grates.
Understatement of the century!
I vaguely recall liking that way back then...
On the same subject, reminds me of Robson & Jerome...
I think if the musicians involved take themselves far far too seriously but still manage to produce either: Over blown thinly disguised rip off of Beethoven - all Prog or; despite quite impressive individual skills - M.O.R. 4 bar R&R - All hair metal from the Eighties, then you're well on the way to both un-hip and cred-free.
Crocodile Shoes gets all the attention but the real Jimmy Nail bomb is 'Ain't No Doubt'.
I've not been able to post a YouTube video since they change the forum so you'll have to hum it.
Missed them first time round unfortunately but they made some great albums in the 70's.
Graham Parker & The Rumour.
Nobody admitting to owning any Country and Western then?
Slim Dusty (I lived in Country NSW for a while)
Not hip, soooo coooool, still played (on Spotify) -
A bit of love for Propaganda up there. Check out https://www.theguardian.com/music/2022/may/24/the-return-of-propaganda-susanne-freytag-claudia-brucken-ztt
but Love Over Gold is simply a masterpiece.
Only let down by the inclusion of ‘Industrial Disease’. Thankfully, CD allowed me to skip that track, and I didn’t include it in the download on my phone.
Over blown thinly disguised rip off of Beethoven – all Prog
#rollseyes. There’s more heavy rock that involves orchestra, for example Deep Purple, or even ELO; true, some Prog got very self-indulgent, ‘Tales From Topographic Oceans’ being the classic example, it’s really up its own ass - it needs a proctologist to check its teeth for cavities - but most Prog owes more to jazz than anything else; Gentle Giant, Greenslade, Soft Machine, King Crimson, Gnidrolog, Caravan, all are far more jazz influenced, with very little classical. Gentle Giant has more influences from madrigals than classical.
A few notes from a Mellotron, and it’s a Beethoven knock-off?
Back on topic, I’ve been trying really hard to think of anything that’s ‘un-hip, cred-free’, that I still love, and I don’t think there is. Black Sabbath I used to enjoy, haven’t listened to them in years, I bought a T’pau CD on the strength of a single, played it once. ABBA, perhaps, but all my favourite songs of theirs are on their last album, and aren’t their big hits - possibly the nearest I get. The only music I ever heard growing up was on the radio, through the 1960’s, so lots of classic pop, until 1969 when I borrowed King Crimson’s ’In The Court Of The Crimson King’ and ‘21st Century Schizoid Man’ changed everything. Things like Tangerine Dream, Faust, Zeppelin, Deep Purple, Jethro Tull, the Prog bands above, as well as folk, I’m led by what I hear, if I like it, great, I don’t care what it is, or what anyone else thinks, ‘hip’, and ‘cred’, mean absolutely nothing. Only the hairs on the back of my neck standing up - actually, that’s made me think of one album that I’ve adored after reading a review in a hi-Fi magazine about its quality of production, and it’s never been considered to be the best by the artist, and that’s’Hearts And Bones’, by Paul Simon. It was supposed to be a Simon & Garfunkel record, but Artie was doing a movie or something, Simon got pissed off, removed the bits Artie had done, and put it out as a solo album. It’s never listed in a top five or ten of Simon’s albums, but I think it’s one of his finest.
Whatever, I’ve just read an article about a new Album by an artist called Amanda Shires, who I know nothing about, but I’ve listened to a track called ‘A Hawk For The Dove’, and went all tingly, so I’m just going to download the album. Hip, cred? Dunno, you tell me, but I’m liking what I hear.
@10 the very idea that Prisoner is lacking cred! It's one of the best debut albums ever. I utterly love it.
Am I allowed Bad Boy Chiller Crew?
Ding ding - we have a winner! A group that started out as a parody but segued into being 'serious' artists when their audience expanded enough to stop noticing the joke. That is despicably lacking credibility 😀
Only let down by the inclusion of ‘Industrial Disease’.
Oh, I like Industrial Disease, it's a bit of silliness to lighten it up. And it has the surprisingly profound lyric "two men think they're Jesus... one of them must be wrong" which I think is a fantastic quote.
I thought "It Never Rains" was the weak spot. It's just kind of... bland as an album closer.
Jean Michelle Jarre Forgot all about him - had a few of his albums on cassette back in the 80s.
Did all sound a bit samey after a while and all the track titles were just the albumn name followed by a number - so probably not a surprise it wasn't very varied.....
Whatever, I’ve just read an article about a new Album by an artist called Amanda Shires, who I know nothing about, but I’ve listened to a track called ‘A Hawk For The Dove’, and went all tingly, so I’m just going to download the album. Hip, cred? Dunno, you tell me, but I’m liking what I hear.
@countzero OT but she is fantastic. She plays in the 400 unit, is married to Jason Isbell (another fine musician and songwriter) and plays in another band called The Highwomen. She did some brilliant live sets with Jason from their barn throughout lockdown. Well worth watching on YouTube
I’m a massive fan of this. I have the LP so fits the remit. Nobody I have ever played it to has lasted long so I think it counts.
I absolutely love the Tommy soundtrack. I even think Oliver Reed’s singing is fantastic. The Who’s Tommy is one of my favourite albums, but the soundtrack album is great also.
As for unhip albums, I’m somewhat partial to:
Little bit concerned about two points, Firstly from the title of the thread, my first thought was Debbie Gibson. But already mentioned. Secondly a lot of the albums mentioned I own on vinyl. What does it say about me (and the other members of the STW collective).
But if we are going uncool, I like to enter Script for a Jester's Tear by Marilliom. What a load of twaddle. Still gets a regular outing
But if we are going uncool, I like to enter Script for a Jester’s Tear by Marillion. What a load of twaddle. Still gets a regular outing
See 21 posts above 🙂
It is *AB*solute nonsense but I love every second of it. Have done since I was 13. Am now 52.
Misplaced Childhood gets all the glory cos of that Kayleigh horsehsh1t, but Script is their magnum opus.
I don’t know if Transvision Vamp are cool or not these days but I can’t resist a good blast of Velveteen on a road trip.
But if we are going uncool, I like to enter Script for a Jester’s Tear by Marilliom. What a load of twaddle. Still gets a regular outing
I have MC somewhere, but I tend to listen to either Real to Reel or Seasons End.
I think Market Square Heroes on R2R is probably my favourite Marillion track.
I remember, many years ago, being in the ATC and in a minibus back from the Mildenhall airshow, which to Stockport was a looooong way. Anyway, it had been an early start, a long day, and we were all very bored, not too mention a bit tetchy.
One of the lads suggested that he could do some Marillion - not sing it, as he knew he couldn't sing it, instead he'd just recite the lyrics. It was suggested to him that, should he do such a thing, he may find himself outside of the minibus fairly rapidly, and not necessarily via the door 🙂
I think Market Square Heroes on R2R is probably my favourite Marillion track.
I'd agree - absolutely love that version and that album. But, if I listen to Marillion these days it tends to be Clutching at Straws which grew on me as I got older. ( I saw them on that tour but didn't like the album when it was released.)
The Alice Band - sugary enough to rot your teeth - absolutely special
more modern -Pale Waves - nothing at all should recommend me to these 'effectively one vocal trip' pony
Clutching at Straws ... grew on me as I got older.
Same, weirdly.
Sugar Mice is a damn fine track.
Love this album, I'm sure it qualifies as un-hip.
I thought “It Never Rains” was the weak spot. It’s just kind of… bland as an album closer.
Great first four minutes, then just disappears up its own behind a bit. But then again, 'Love over Gold' does something similar. Prefer 'Making Movies' as an album, despite a couple of duff tracks.
Just inspired me to listen to Why and No More I Love Yous on youtube, Annie has such a wonderful singing voice!
I can't remember the last time I listened to any of my CD collection, these days it's just so convenient to listen to tunes from the giant internet jukebox.
At what point does an album become un-hip and cred free? When it's over 45 years old, almost as old as I? It might well be the last album I bought ~12 years ago! 😮
Sorry Fleetwood Mac are surprisingly hip these days.
And Eurythmics/Annie Lennox are debatable.
Simply Red though, you're shooting at an open goal mate. Ditto Marillion.