Hubo un tiempo (1979 - 1980) en que existían DOS bandas de música que me encantaban y que se llamaban "The Beat".
Los que publicaron su disco en 1980 eran de Birminghan (Inglaterra) y grabaron una maravilla popera llena de reggae, ska y otros ingredientes rítmicos. Muy, muy buenos. Pero no son estos los que me han movido a escribir esta entrada.
Los otros eran una banda de power-pop de Los Ángeles. Su líder se llamaba Paul Collins y provenía de "The Nerves", una banda efímera pero muy influyente. Ellos no se comieron un colín (Blondie tuvo más suerte convirtiendo en hit uno de sus temas: "hanging on it") pero dos de sus miembros, Paul Collins y Peter Case, lideraron sus propias (maravillosas) bandas.
El caso es que el otro día me enteré que hace un par de años se había reeditado un disco que grabó en 1992. Acababa de marcharse de España, donde estuvo viviendo unos años, los años de la Movida madrileña, a San Francisco, cuando del sello DRO le propuso grabar un álbum. Él quiso hacerlo con músicos locales. El disco está muy bien para entender todo el bagaje musical que había acumulado. Además aquel fue EL disco de su época-desierto: esas épocas con la que muchos músicos deben lidiar; en las que, además de no vender, NO están a la moda.
Vale que no es absolutamente genial cómo su primer disco. Se queda en "cojonudo". Es mucho. Me ha encantado recuperar su sonido e historia.
Now that you've found your paradise
This is your Kingdom to command
You can go outside and polish your car
Or sit by the fire in your Shangri-la
Here is your reward for working so hard
Gone are the lavatories in the back yard
Gone are the days when you dreamed of that car
You just want to sit in your Shangri-la
Put on your slippers and sit by the fire
You've reached your top and you just can't get any higher
You're in your place and you know where you are
In your Shangri-la
Sit back in your old rocking chair
You need not worry, you need not care
You can't go anywhere
Shangri-la, Shangri-la, Shangri-la
The little man who gets the train
Got a mortgage hanging over his head
But he's too scared to complain
'Cos he's conditioned that way
Time goes by and he pays off his debts
Got a TV set and a radio
For seven shillings a week
Shangri-la, Shangri-la, Shangri-la, Shangri-la, Shangri-la, Shangri-la
And all the houses in the street have got a name
'Cos all the houses in the street they look the same
Same chimney pots, same little cars, same window panes
The neighbors call to tell you things that you should know
They say their lines, they drink their tea, and then they go
They tell your business in another Shangri-la
The gas bills and the water rates, and payments on the car
Too scared to think about how insecure you are
Life ain't so happy in your little
Shangri-la
Shangri-la, Shangri-la la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la
Put on your slippers and sit by the fire
You've reached your top and you just can't get any higher
You're in your place and you know where you are
n your Shangri-la
Sit back in your old rocking chair
You need not worry, you need not care
You can't go anywhere
Shangri-la, Shangri-la, Shangri-la, Shangri-la, Shangri-la, Shangri-la
Back in the 1960’s, journalists & assorted music fans would often refer to the Mothers of Invention (Frank Zappa’s band) as ‘Comedy Music’, as if their music was just a joke. Yes, it was often funny but there was always so much more going on than just the laughs that it inspired. This always bothered me since The Mothers were so influential on so many different levels. As soon as a band deals with a humorous theme in their lyrics, they get pigeon holed and are not often taken seriously.
We recently got a box in from a collection, ‘The Kinks Pye Years’ with some 10 albums from the 1964 - 1970. We have been listening to every album and realizing just how many great songs the Ray Davies has written. The lyrics often make us smile and occasionally laugh out loud. Listening to the words, we can look at ourselves and see how ridiculous our world is at times. The above song is called “Shangra-La” and it is taken from ‘Arthur’, a rock opera of sorts about ‘The Decline and Fall of the British Empire’. The lyrics are often funny, incisive, thoughtful, provocative and honest about society. We just listened to the ‘Lola Vs The Powerman’ album the other day, which is about the darker side of the record business. I cracked up several times while listening to it. You will as well if you give it a listen. We all need to laugh and remember laughter is our medicine. - BLG at DMG
