It takes a lot of effort to appear effortlessly hip. Even for we seasoned surfers of the zeitgeist the pressure of trying to find the next obscure thing - be it Paraguayan prog or Bhutanese beat-boxing - can sometimes be a bit overwhelming.
When that happens I like to decompress by listening to something that might not be considered cool by my achingly hip audience but can help me attain inner calm and regain my equilibrium. In which spirit, here are two tracks from Ms Joan Armatrading's self-titled 1976 album.
When I was about 17 and living in Dorset I won a bottle of pomagne at the local church fete. I went home, ran a hot bath and sat there sipping the pomagne and listening to this album on a cheap cassette player. At the time I thought it was the height of sophistication.
"Somebody Who Loves You" - Joan Armatrading
"Save Me" - Joan Armatrading
Of course the real height of sophistication is the great Françoise Hardy, who I have just heard left us yesterday. I have had a crush on her since I found this EP when I was an impressionable young man and was instantly smitten. RIP Ms Hardy.
There's a Bandcamp page for Agharta.
ReplyDeleteWell spotted. I will be downloading the free live demo immediately. In the perhaps unlikely event that others wish to do so here is the link: https://aghartapy.bandcamp.com/album/agharta-live-demo
DeleteSad news about
ReplyDeleteFrancoise Hardy. Hadn't heard that
The CCs are big fans
Good to have further evidence of Mrs CC's civilizing influence on you.
DeleteJoan Armatrading is not too shabby either.
ReplyDelete"It takes a lot of effort to appear effortlessly hip."
ReplyDeleteI dunno, Ernie - you make it look so easy. Clearly you need a bit more Queen and Barry Manilow to knock the edges off.
I'll pass on Queen. Barry has his moments but in my humble opinion does not bear comparison with true greats like Neil Sedaka or Gilbert O'Sullivan.
DeleteOnly an effortlessly hip person could even think of looking for Paraguayan prog and Bhutanese beat-boxing. Not so sure the results are, though, unfortunately (you had my hopes up there).
ReplyDeleteRIP Francoise, the epitome of Gallic cool.
Can't disagree with you. I suspect there might be some half-decent Paraguayan prog out there somewhere but I won't be delving deeper into Bhutanese beat-boxing.
DeleteI'm in my Friday night compression chamber as I type and can assure you that Joan Armatrading is the epitome of cool whether heard in 1976 or 2024. The drinking of pomagne and hot bath sound enticing but my experience is much more prosaic - I borrowed the album from the library and listened to it whilst I ate my fish n chip supper. Same seducing effect obviously.
ReplyDeleteAs for Francoise Hardy, for me she was always the more collected and mature of that vintage of ye-ye 'girl' singers.