It was a shock to hear that Sinéad O’Connor has died. She was only 56 and as far as I knew wasn’t in poor health.
I had been thinking for some time about including her first UK hit Mandinka among my Friday music posts but thought there would be plenty of time for that.
She was one of those people who do not find it in themselves to compromise. An admirable trait but also one which can make life difficult. Her famous ripping up of a photograph of the Pope as a protest against child abuse in the Catholic Church was, unfortunately for her, ahead of its time.
It was Nothing Compares 2 U though which sealed her place in the music firmament (even if I of course deplore the text speak in the title.) Her lasting achievement.
Sinéad O’Connor: Nothing Compare 2 U
Shuhada’ Sadaqat (Magda Davitt,) born Sinéad Marie Bernadette (Sinéad) O’Connor: 8/12/1966 – 26/7/2023. So it goes.
When I checked this out again before including it here the opening few acoustic guitar chords of this reminded me of A Day in the Life; but it’s something entirely different.
All the more so for me as Pulp was my elder son’s* favourite band at that time.
(*He was into good music at a very early age.)
Mackey was an important contributor not only to Pulp’s sound but also to their look and their videos.
This song is from 1992 but wasn’t a hit until it was included on The Sisters EP two years later, though it has achieved a BPI silver disc award, presumably from downloads/streaming.
Pulp: Babies
Stephen Patrick (Steve) Mackey: 10/11/1966 – 2/3/2023. So it goes.
It is fair to say that the 1960s would not have been the 1960s without their songs to help soundtrack the decade. Most of their songs have become standards.
In memoriam I present perhaps one of their lesser known compositions. Like many of theirs it was a hit in the US for Dionne Warwick (albeit with a slightly altered title) but in the UK it became Adam Faith’s last top twenty success.
Electronica – dance music in general – isn’t my thing. But the sound of Faithless, whose lead vocalist Maxi Jazz, died last week hadn’t passed me by: even if up until two or so weeks ago I didn’t know their name. It finally penetrated my consciousness when I heard their track God is a DJ on the radio.
One of the band’s claims to fame is that the following gained the distinction of becoming the runout music for West Bromwich Albion FC. Not a bad achievement.
Faithless: Insomnia
Maxwell Fraser (Maxi Jazz,) 14/6/1957 – 24/12/2022. So it goes.
The second single from the 1998 album of the same title. Not an obvious choice for a single but Pulp were still riding the Common People wave at the time though trying to get away from it.
