The Whine

My wild years are dating a good while back. That was when I was wearing the blackest black Helena Rubinstein Mascara and eye liner with pale powder, silver lipstick and black nail vanish. I dressed in black almost exclusively - mini skirts and patterned tights and pointed shoes. I had a version of the gothic flu that was going about for years then. We were young and hungry for life and mysteries, there were parties about 5 days the week and I wasn't willing to miss one of them if it could be helped. And then there were the party songs: songs that were played at every party. And one thing that was inevitably played at every party was "Blister in the Sun" by Violent Femmes - even if it usually scared half the crowd from the dance floor.
I really liked the Femmes back then and bought almost all their albums. My best friend was an even more devoted follower. After I moved to Hamburg, she kept coming whenever the Violent Femmes were playing there. A Violent Femmes Concert is a straight forward affair. Special effects: 0. Fun: 100.

The Band was founded in Wisconsin in 1980. The main members Gordon Gano (lead vocals/guitar - one of these hyper-active seeming charismatic shorties - middle in the pictures), Brian Ritchie (bass guitar/vocals - right in the picture) and Victor deLorenzo (Drums/vocals - left in the picture). Usually what they produce with their vocal cords and instruments is labelled as Alternative Rock or more to the point as Folk-Punk, a musical genre to which the Violent Femmes served as midwifes. What you can expect is this: honest hand made guitar-focused music - sometimes quiet but more often fast and angry. Add the simplest of drum set in professional music. DeLorenzo is a purist, without a big organ of drums and fancy thingys or - God forbid! - beat machines, just a basic set, often less than that. On top of that comes Ganos voice which is absolutely unique. Mind - I did not say beautiful! His voice has a disctinctive whine and has the charm of a rusty chainsaw. It does however work very well for the rebellious, explicit and sulky content of their song texts. Imagine someone singing "I dig the black girls", "Add it up" or "Gimme the car" with a beautiful melodious voice - no one would take them serious. Let Gano screech like a madman and suddenly everything makes sense. Can he sing? I'm not sure, sometimes the songs have a few dissonants - but not only in the voice. And then again in the more quiet songs like "See My Ships", "I know it's true but I'm sorry to say" or "Good Feeling" he can convince despite the fact that he has a voice like talking through a beer can, so maybe he really is a good singer. Or maybe that is not really all that important. In the end what counts is that the Violent Femmes helped form something original, new and off the beaten tracks. You don't hear that much of them today - the last album was released 2002. I guess the high times of Folk-Punk are gone, the members have acquired the feared 4B's (Belly, Beard, Bald Spot & Boring Clothes). But I am sure that just as in my own musical selection they are still remembered fondly by many other people that vanished from the dance floor whenever the undancably fast and erratic beats of "Blister in the Sun" bellowed from the speakers.
And since the text is so comfortably short and simple and speaking (and because the text to "Add it up" is a bit too blunt and rude to print this early in our blogging relationship) I want to give you the lyrics to "Fat", one of my favourite Femmes Songs:

Fat

I hope
you got
fat
cause if you got
really fat
you just might want to see me come back
I don't care
how heavy or how skinny
just gimme
something to love
a little extra weight would never look no nicer on nobody else but you
and I could always use a little bit more
to hold on to
and if I get a fright in the middle
of the night I'll cling to you

About the Magic of Voices

Today I listened to Richard Ashcroft's first Solo album.

Anyone who has ever seen Ashcroft and was wearing their prescribed goggles at the time, knows that he is not ... mildly said ... the model-type. The best you could say is that he looks kind of cool and rock-stary with a face that speaks of too much drink and not enough healthy food and sleep.

Some years ago I saw Ashcroft live at the Grosse Freiheit in Hamburg, Germany. When he came out on stage, I felt like I wanted to have a word with his mother or his doctor and lecture them on how to look after a young man properly.



That is ..
until he started singing. Then suddenly he underwent a drastic metamorphosis on stage. Where just a moment before a too thin and unhealthy looking, far too-pale boy with dark shadows under his eyes had been standing, there was this rather dashing looking guy. By the end of the first song I thought he was beautiful. By the end of the fourth song I had a major crush on him. By the end of the concert I was ready to have his babies.

It is rather fortunate that only few men have the power of a voice that holds such magic for me. Otherwise I would probably have ended as a far too well-known backstage groupie.

Richard Ashcroft's voice doesn't really make me think of old days or love or any other nice thing. It just renders me unable to think at all. My braincells (the few that are left) go into stand-by modus and are replaced by endorphin inducing sound waves. I know of only a few voices that have this compelling magic over me. Ashcroft is the first that comes to mind. I already much admired his voice when he was still lead singer for "The Verve". Thom Yorke is another vocal magician who can reduce my brain to jelly within seconds.

I don't know all that much about music or music theories. What gives one voice such power? Are they simply better singers? Do they know they can do this?

Na, don't expect any answers from ME!!!
Here for you: Richard Ashcroft "Song for lovers" live.