Marianne Faithfull - Broken English

Marianne Faithfull - Broken English

August 1964, the Americans are in Vietnam, Bob Dylan turns the Beatles onto marijuana (allegedly), The Rolling Stones’ live show in The Hague is stopped after fans go wild after 15 minutes and Mick Jagger’s girlfriend of the day, Marianne Faithfull topped the charts in the UK with her version of As Tears Go By. Faithfull, a former folkie, would release two albums – one pop/one folk – on the same day the following year (both of which will be available on Lost Tunes very soon) and her Stones’ affiliation had made her a media celebrity of the day. Fifteen years on, Marianne had moved on from Mick, acted in movies and released a string of albums before he post-punk, fag-addled masterpiece, 1979’s Broken English. Two years prior she’d been holed up in a country folk vein but this new album, following the musical turbulence of the mid-‘70s, had allowed her to create a truly special album that covered social issues, personal trials and everyday life laid bare. ‘Broken English’ examined her Catholic upbringing, drug use, infidelity, the class system and the place of women in the world, the delivery, with occasional disruptive synths majored on her growling, groggy vocal that became her trademark, a damaged rasp with a soulful range that told it like it was and recast her a million miles from the pastoral elegance of her 1965 debut and the simple charm of As Tears Go By. Some 44 years since As Tears Go By first elevated her to public attention, her tour earlier this year was cancelled and a message from her management revealed that: "Due to general mental, physical and nervous exhaustion doctors have ordered Marianne Faithfull to immediately cease all work activities and rehabilitate. The treatment and recovery should last around six months, we all wish Marianne a speedy recuperation period and look forward to her new album release and tour in 2009." After being diagnosed as suffering from the disease hepatitis C in October last year, this protracted lay off was to be expected but, as Lost Tunes rolls out over the next few months we’ll be adding many of her classic tracks and, the more the team hears them the more the idea of Dame Marianne Faithfull makes sense. A true broken English icon, no less. Marianne Faithful - Broken English

All The Right Songs By all The Wrong People

Aaaagh! The cover version. An art likely to get you compared with your idols, or a reworking often scarily strange and demonstrably different. The Lost Tunes site is littered with gems

All The Right Songs By all The Wrong People

Aaaagh! The cover version. An art likely to get you compared with your idols, or a reworking often scarily strange and demonstrably different. The Lost Tunes site is littered with gems. Whole albums of Beatles’ stuff, a plethora of trad arrs in the folk section and all manner of mangled melodies in our dub cupboard. But allow us now to wallow in ten classics that deserve your attention: 1. Mockingbird by Dusty Springfield Charlie And Inez Fox’s much travelled lament to primary romance and gift giving as interpreted by an occasion original beehive-wearer Dusty Springfield. Wedding rings bought and sold. 2. Louis Louis by Friar Tuck And His Psychedelic Guitar A garage belter with touch of psychedelic string trickery, The Kingsmen’s ‘Louie Louie’ (there area million versions and spellings) with an acid paint job. 3. I Am The Walrus by Spooky Tooth Continuing the downward spiral of shard-shattering guitar fuzz, it’s Mike Harrison and Spooky Tooth giving an elongated rasp to the fabs’ tune that must have inspired the latter day Oasis cover. 4. Come Together by George Benson Go long again. George Benson reworked the whole of ‘Abbey Road’ as did Booker T And The MGs, this melody from the under applauded guitarist is mellow and rocking in equal proportions. 5. Ninety Nine & A Half by Creedence Clearwater Revival Old soul never sounded so good. John Fogerty gets his seemingly sandpapered larynx around this belter for a religious experience all of his own. 6. Gypsy Woman by Brian Hyland Let’s take it down. The Curtis Mayfield ode to the ladies given a mellow country groove by this former pop icon (he studied ‘Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini’ turned moody balladeer. 7. Didn’t Want To Have To Do It by Roger Nicholls And The Small Circle Of Friends The prowess of John Sebastian of The Lovin’ Spoonful as a songwriter should be roundly trumpeted and this laidback sunshine pop version is a great starting place. 8. Crazy by Joey Heatherton The country classic of Patsy Cline given new meaning by the shirtless Joey (see sleeve). I think the original Hip O Select CD issue had a tasteful black bar added, but hey, we’re liberated, as this song is, at Lost Tunes. 9. Satisfaction by Andrew Loog Oldham He came, he saw, he managed, he produced and to cover his bets he did a whole album of orchestral easy listening versions of Stones’ tunes just in case their bubble burst. Now where’s that pin? 10. I’m An Old Cowhand (From The Rio Grande) by Dan Hicks And His Hot Licks We love Dan Hicks at Lost Tunes and this barnyard ballad, a tale of final realisation that the soccer team, presidential elections and Hollywood stardom are just too far out of reach kind of appeals to us.

Jet Harris & Tony Meehan - Diamonds & Other Gems

After joining Cliff Richard’s backing band The Drifters – who were renamed The Shadows – Jet Harris and Tony Meehan left the group, the former while they were topping the UK charts for nine weeks, the latter to work at Decca Records. Harris embarked on a solo career and in ’62 joined up with Meehan for a string of twangy hits in their own right. This 20 track sets includes singles as a duo, with Harris solo and 1963’s Tony Meehan Combo, all of which have that intrinsic British sound and coffee bar jukebox quality.