Bowie Vinyl, is Heaven Sent

Jeeni Blog

Helping the next generation of talent to build a global fanbase

Bowie Vinyl, is Heaven Sent

New David Bowie vinyl is heaven sent, for fans and collectors alike. We all have phones and computers bulging with playlists or demand 'Alexa' instantly plays a chosen track. However, the buzz around vinyl is real, after years of being cast off to the world of the geeky collector. If you have never sat next to a deck and placed a needle on a record, you've missed one of the joys of life. Record labels are now taking vinyl more seriously than they have probably done for 30 years and production is now seen as key to any new release.

January 8th 2021 would have been David Bowie's 74th birthday. To mark this occasion, Parlophone/ISO are offering two previously unreleased cover versions, pressed onto a limited edition, double-sided 7" single. This heaven sent vinyl offers the tracks, 'Mother' by John Lennon and Bob Dylan’s 'Tryin' to Get to Heaven'.

The 7” single is limited to 8147 (Bowie's birth date) numbered copies, 1000 of which will be on cream coloured vinyl, available only from the official David Bowie store and Warner Music’s Dig! store (the remainder will be black). Both tracks will be available to stream and download.

Bowie's version of 'Mother' was produced by Tony Visconti in 1998 for a Lennon tribute, that never materialised. It was originally recorded by Lennon for his 1970 album John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band. Bob Dylan’s original 'Tryin' to Get to Heaven' was released on his 1997 'Album of the Year' GRAMMY winning 'Time Out Of Mind'. David’s version was recorded in February 1998 during the mixing sessions for the ‘LiveAndWell.com’ album.

As if this wasn't enough for the die-hard Bowie fans and vinyl collectors, Parlophone are also marking the 45th Anniversary of Bowie's 10th studio Album, 'Station To Station' with a limited edition pressing in red and white vinyl, to be released 22 January 2021.

David Bowie - 'Station to Station' anniversary release

Originally released 23rd January 1976, it has remained a classic among fans and critics alike. The album was unusual as it contained just six tracks, but still offered at a little over 38-minutes of music.

'Station to Station', was the first David Bowie album to become a bigger commercial success in the USA, than in the UK. It reached #3 on the Billboard 200 and #5 on the official UK album chart.

Four of the 'Station To Station' tracks were released as commercial A-sides by RCA, with 'Golden Years' being the pre-album hit on both sides of the Atlantic. The song scored Bowie yet another top ten just in time for the Christmas UK chart in 1975, where it remained right up to the release of the album in January 1976.

45 years on from its release, 'Station To Station' is now seen as a musical bridge between the ‘plastic soul’ of 1975’s 'Young Americans' and the start of Bowie’s Berlin era with 1977’s 'Low'.

For more information go to: www.davidbowie.com

BACK

19
May

Five Great Songs About Real Places, by Wendy King

A songwriter finds many things to write about; emotions, events, people, and even places. Some of the finest songs of all time have been written with somewhere in mind, a place that touches the soul of the person with the pen.Mull of Kintyre, written by former Beatle Paul McCartney, is an example of this. It’s written about a part of Scotland the singer had a home and is a reference to feeling at home when he’s there. West Coast punk band Rancid, perhaps at the other end of the songwriting scale, had a song called Olympia WA on their album and Out Come The Wolves, written as much about New York as the Washington state capital.Those songs might not immediately trip off the tongue, but they are strong efforts in terms of writing about places. It isn’t always cities either – Gainsville resident Bacon James recently won a songwriting competition for a song about the Santa Fe river, called Lost and Found (At the Santa Fe). It drew emotions he experienced from the river with an actual place, in much the same way as McCartney did, and as many others have done about different places. Often, it isn't the place that is the full subject of the song, but how that place made the writer feel.This is a theme you’ll see running through some of the entries in our round-up of five great songs about places. Christie Road – Green Day (click to play) Green Day might be a global phenomenon now, a rock band that sells out arenas, but in 1994, pre-Dookie, they were just three angry, disaffected kids looking for an outlet. Back then, Bille-Jo Armstrong and bassist Mike Dirnt used to hang out at a place called Christie Road, doing what a band named after marijuana would be expected to do. Christie Road is an ode to their wasted days, their safe place before stardom came calling. Ewan MacColl - Dirty Old Town (click to play) The first song on our list made famous by another artist is Dirty Old Town by Ewan MacColl. It’s written about Salford in England, an industrial town that was once in the shadow of towers belching out smoke thanks to its place on the Manchester Ship Canal. MacColl wrote about his life there and finding love and an oasis of tranquillity, amongst the smoke and dirt. The song was later recorded by The Pogues, to critical acclaim. The White Stripes - Hotel Yorba (click to play) When you think of songs about Detroit and locations in Motor City, you most likely think of Kid Rock or Eminem, but the duo The White Stripes produced an iconic two-minute ode to a hotel along the I-75, the Hotel Yorba. It is now subsidized housing, but Jack wrote the song after hearing, incorrectly, that the Beatles once stayed there. Whilst there’s not a lot of emotion behind the location, it is a demonstration that a song doesn’t have to be written about a famous place at all. Billy Edd Wheeler - Jackson (click to play) Johnny Cash was a great storyteller, and whilst one of his most famous songs is a story about a place, he didn’t write it. Jackson, possibly written about Jackson, Tennessee, was actually penned by Billy Edd Wheeler and performed by the Kingston Trio. Cash made it his own, singing as a duo with June Carter. Jackson serves as a place of sin and iniquity, offering the married protagonist respite from what feels like a loveless marriage, the exact opposite of Johnny’s lifelong union with June. Lynyrd Skynyrd - Sweet Home Alabama (click to play) We’ve mentioned Kid Rock already in this article, and he’s going to get a mention again, but not for songwriting. He helped catapult Sweet Home Alabama, a rock classic, back up the charts in 2007 when he dropped All Summer Long, his tribute to growing up in Michigan, that borrowed the Lynyrd Skynyrd song’s structure. As for the original, it is rather more controversial than even the infamous Robert James Ritchie – it’s written as a retort to Neil Young’s anti-slavery song, Alabama, and seeks to defend the state’s people from being tarnished by the darkness of its history. Now that is a little more contentious than signing about a hotel! Have you written a great song about a place that's significant to you? Then upload it on Jeeni for everyone to enjoy. Who knows, you might just have a solid-gold hit on your hands! Several of Jeeni's most popular artists have done exactly that, including the award-winning Richard Murray. (click to play) This item was written by Wendy King for jeeni.com

26
Aug

Bradley Jago - A Brilliant Artist Exploring Queer Identity

When you first listen to Bradley Jago, right away, you are overpowered by the sheer force of his voice. It takes centre in what feels to be an intimate stage, one that exists outside of space and time, where you and only you become privy to not only the beauty of Jago’s soulful voice, but also the profoundness of his lyrics. Rain is a song that is full of feeling, full of something rare in music - accountability. Jago tells me that the song is about change, letting the rain wash over you and forgetting the mistakes that you’ve made. He asks if we can hear the rain pour, and we can. Behind the beat, there is the unmistakable pitter patter of gentle rain sounds. But this question conceals another. When talking to Jago about the intention of the song, he told me: “I was… looking back at everyone I dated and I was like “Oh damn, there’s some people that I’ve actually fucked over a little bit.” … And Rain is an apology to those people, to say I’ve changed now, and even though I have caused you pain, I hope we can move forward after. [It] is a metaphor for the pain I have caused them.” The song itself has smooth jazzy influences. Jago’s clear voice overlaps itself in a layered harmony with a gentle underscored bass, Jago seemingly having a quiet moment of reflection to himself, as he sings to “let it rain”. The song’s intimacies are intentional. According to Jago “It’s kind of like a quiet moment to yourself. You’re at the gig with me in this intimate venue.” Then, the drums kick in. There is a desperation to the song emphasised by the changed tempo - the emotion becomes fevered as he sings “let it rain” - the words repeating, creating a heightened emotional effect - it feels as if he is begging, bargaining, hoping. There is no longer just a sweetness and a softness and a sadness. There is a frenzy, a fury to be understood. And that’s what love, remorse, and pain is like. There’s also important depth to be acknowledged within Jago’s music. Jago himself is a queer artist, who writes from the queer perspective. Why is this important to be acknowledged? Because in a song that is this intimate and honest, you need to understand why it is also brave. Queer identity comes with an enormous amount of negatives - it’s a terrifying thing to out oneself, and make yourself inherently vulnerable to the disdain of others, and also yourself. Jago is changing the game by bringing this honesty to his music, in a world where queer people still find themselves being judged, discriminated against, the context of one love song can change from being a sweet romantic piece to a dramatic profession of bravery. Jago is interested in analysing both sides of the spectrum of queer experience. “I think I’d want to write about the negatives [of queer identity]. Being queer is celebrated a lot (as it bloody well should be). But also there are negatives that people aren’t talking about.” It’s important to note that queer art, music and writing should not be made distinct by its queerness. Of course it adds depth and context to the art itself, but it is important to acknowledge the art as full of feeling, and therefore, universality. As Jago himself points out: “If I can relate to a straight song, a straight person can relate to my queer song.” So what’s in store for Jago for the future? He is doing festivals Victorious, and The People’s Lounge - “Because the music is so honest, I don’t want to do too much to the music. I want it to be really raw and still sound great - but very authentic and sound like it’s coming from my soul.” He also tells me: “I’m writing a track at the moment called ‘New Gay Sadness’ (there’s a little snippet available on Jago’s instagram) - it’s about the gay yuppies in London who are living their life but cannot find love. There’s a lot of pressure… ‘okay, we’re getting to a place of equality, still a long way to go… it’s like ‘oh you should be happy now’ but you have all these other life pressures of why aren’t you in a relationship. Why haven’t you achieved this yet?’” You can catch Bradley at the Victorious festival on the People's Lounge stage at 5:10pm on the 27th of August. Listen to his amazing track RAIN here Here

28
Apr

Two Ways Home ‘Waiting on Luck’ Single Review

This UK-based alt-country songwriting pair sets a new standard of warmth and bliss with their newest rock-tinged single, ‘Waiting on Luck’. Two Ways Home consists of Lewis and Isi both contributing instrumental and vocal roles into the sweet, harmonious compositions that they write together. Having been a part of Jeeni for a while now, this wholesome, multi-genre duo has blessed many of Jeeni’s channels with their fun, easy-listening tunes including folk, country, rock and americana. Check out their showcase on Jeeni here: https://jeeni.com/showcase/two-ways-home/ Interestingly, this new single opens with a chorus; an increasingly rare structural choice. The section is heard stripped back, with just Lewis and Isi harmonising and a basic acoustic guitar accompanying them both. By displaying arguably, the most vital structural section of contemporary music first thing, it makes the listener instantly familiar with the chorus even if this is the first time that they’ve heard the track. That means that when the part is heard at full power, it is a total delight due to the listener subconsciously desperate to hear the part again. This decision can lead to a confusing and peculiar feeling in a song’s structure, however on ‘Waiting on Luck’, this device is heard at its most effective. As is the typical way with country music, this single is exceptionally mixed and mastered, especially in regard to the layered vocals sitting in the mix with all other instruments so effortlessly. The singing from both members is so warm, and rich, thanks to the obvious synergy that they hold in their performative relationship. The introduction of some harder, more rock-styled sounds like distorted guitar and rolling, tom-heavy drum beats work perfectly with the country foundation that they laid down in the opening moments of this track. Lewis and Isi’s understanding of song structures and musicianship holds their pieces together and really pushes their music to higher levels and this understanding is heard best in ‘Waiting on Luck’. Check out the new single from Two Ways Home’s showcase on Jeeni: https://jeeni.com/showcase/two-ways-home/ How can Jeeni support artists like Two Way Home? JEENI is a multi-channel platform for original entertainment on demand. We’re a direct service between creatives and the global audience. • We give creatives, independent artists and performers a showcase for their talent and services. And they keep 100% of everything they make. • We empower our audience and reward them every step of the way. • We promise to treat our members ethically, fairly, honestly and with respect. • Access to artist liaison and a supportive marketing team.

Jeeni Blog