Teenage me was obsessed with U2 and the ubiquitous Columbia House music club. That I bought the 1987 compilation The Island Records Story 1962-1987 should be no surprise. That it was a bit “pearls before swine” also isn’t too surprising.
Nearly 40 years later, it makes absolute sense to me but at the time it seemed rather odd. Not that it didn’t have enough to satisfy- I always loved Frankie’s “Relax” and Buggles “Video Killed the Radio Star” - new wave essentials. Sparks were weird but accesssible. Bob Marley of course, and two classic rockers- “All Right Now” by Free and “Do Anything You Want to Do” by Eddie and the Hot Rods- with some added Robert Palmer.
It seems like such a random grab bag if you have no context.
It was the first place I heard Julian Cope and “World Shut Your Mouth” had surprisingly ensconced Cope in the pantheon of artists the cool high school kids adored like The Cure, the Psychedelic Furs and Depeche Mode.
This may have been the first place I heard Tom Waits and probably the first I heard those earworms of Millie Small’s “My Boy Lollipop” and Desmond Dekker’s “Israelites”. I was less impressed with Steve Winwood’s contributions which weren’t as Radio friendly as his then contemporary hits- as he was represented by Spencer Davis Group, Traffic and 1981s “Night Train”
What’s funny is I thought this large group of quite diverse artists were quite obscure. Fairport Convention, Jimmy Cliff, Grace Jones, Sly and Robbie, Black Uhuru and Jim Capaldi are much more recognizable to me now decades later. Similarly, Amazulu, Third World, and British pop soul stars the Christians make more sense with knowledge that they are included here.
The standout discovery here though may have been Broken English by Marianne Faithfull. It wasn’t punk as I knew it (angry and fast bands like the Sex Pistols and the Ramones) or new wave (keyboard heavy in a way you would want to dance to it like bands like Depeche Mode and New Order)
Still it was (and remains) undeniable. I was too old for 1980 but it a perfect example of that time frame where poetry met experimentalism. That it did not chart on the US Top 100 is both surprising and not surprising to me. It is of course both punk and new wave, just not recognizable to me as a MTV watching teenager of the later 80s.
Faithfull is more prolific than I remember. As younger artists showed appreciation- her albums became star studded affairs. 2002s Kissin Time features Beck, Billy Corgan, Blur and Pulp. 2005s Before the Posion was an even bigger splash. Released on the Anti-label, PJ Harvey and Nick Cave produced and wrote most of the songs. 2008s Easy Come Easy Go and 2011s Horses and High Heels were produced by Hal Willner and brought back most of her recent collaborators and more like Lou Reed, Keith Richards and Cat Power. Her last three studio albums in 2014, 2018 and 2021 were produced and collaborated with British musician Rob Ellis (PJ Harvey) and Nick Cave collaborator Warren Ellis.
There are again a multitude of famous names on these last three albums- Cave, Roger Waters, Brian Eno, Steve Earle, Ed Harcourt, Anna Calvi and the Clash’s Mick Jones.
If Faithful had died in the 1980s or early 90s, her reputation would probably be built on her 60s singles and Broken English - at least in the US.
Instead she became known to a whole new notice. In 1997, she shared vocals on Metallica’s “The Memory Remains”. It reached 28 on the US Billboard chart- to date, the band’s third highest placing on the charts. It was in constant rotation on MTV.
It is to my mind, a perfect song too- matching latter era Metallica’s more concise and traditional song structure with Faithfull’s charismatic and hypnotic presence.
Her 21st Century albums starting with Before the Poison were well received critically and artistically were as vital as anything that was being released in same spaces. That she started as a pop star who like Nico and Francoise Hardy, became a cool cult icon with great influence is a great postscript.
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