A virtual representation of those records that you used to hide at the back of your collection, hoping that your close friends would never find them and ridicule you while secretly reveling in their awfulness
File this one next to Transvision Vamp & Betty Boo in the 'high-concept group that Joel only liked 'cos he fancied the singer' drawer...
Westworld were formed by Bob 'Derwood' Andrews from Generation X and were fronted by American Elizabeth Westwood. 'Sonic Boom Boy' was the first of an ever diminishing run of singles before the group disbanded with Andrews & Westwood next resurfacing in the trip-hop band Moondogg.
OK, I'm back after an enforced absence due to real life! So, let's kick things off again with one of those Europop tunes with a brain-numbing synth hook I seem to love so much.
At the beginning of the 90s, the Pet Shop Boys started their own record label called Spaghetti Records. The first signing to the label was David Cicero, a 20-something New York-born, Livingston-raised singer. The PSB production and backing vocals are all over this effort which hit the heady heights of no. 19 on the charts in Jan 1992 - in fact this could be a PSB track if Neil Tennant decided to affect a Scottish brogue...
Yes, another musical but this one I didn't grow up with. I don't know if it was the subject matter or the fact that JCS is far more 'rock opera' than 'musical theatre' but this was the only Rice/Lloyd Webber musical (up to and including Phantom/Chess) that my parents neither took us to nor owned the soundtrack.
For the uninitiated, JCS is the story of the Passion but told from the point of view of Judas and raises some great talking points regarding free will, betrayal and eternal damnation without coming across as particularly sacrilegious. It is also far more grounded in rock and pop than the later bombastic ALW productions. Even as a kid, I was aware of the title song though not really sure what it was about - and of course in true playground style, the lyrics were modified to:
'Jesus Christ Superstar,
Came down from heaven in a Yamaha.
Did a skid, killed a kid.....
Knocked his head on a dustbin lid.'
The score has been recorded many times but my favourite is still the original concept album version featuring Murray Head as Judas and Ian Gillan (yes, him from Deep Purple) as Jesus. Here's the former singing 'Superstar':
I first came to JCS via the film version directed by Norman Jewison in 1973. Jewison had also directed the film version of Fiddler On The Roof and it was that film's Mendel (Barry Dennen) who suggested that JCS be the director's next film (Dennen having already played Pilate on both the concept album and Broadway). The movie was filmed in Israel (mostly at Avdat) using as little set dressing as possible. If you have not seen it, I highly recommend it. It is absolutely gorgeous to look at with some great performances featuring many of the original concept album and Broadway cast. You can watch the whole thing online via the usual streaming services.
Carl Anderson was cast as Judas in the film, having understudied Ben Vereen on Broadway and would go on to play the part on and off for the next 30 years (often opposite the movie's Jesus, Ted Neeley). Here is Carl with possibly my favourite song in musical theatre 'Heaven On Their Minds', which in 5 minutes tells you everything you need to know about the character and storyline:
Yvonne Elliman was Mary on the concept album and Broadway and also reprised the role for the movie. 'I Don't Know How to Love Him' was the other huge hit from JCS:
'King Herod's Song' is probably the one comedy moment in the entire score and was performed in the movie by Josh Mostel, the son of Zero Mostel. Zero. who had been Teyve in the original Broadway production of Fiddler, had been bitterly disappointed to lose the role in the movie version to Chaim Topol (the London West End Teyve). When he heard that Jewison wanted to cast Josh as Herod, he reportedly exclaimed "Tell him to get Topol's son!"
Rik Mayall gave a far more sinister portrayal of Herod, channeling the MC in Cabaret, in the 2000 filmed production of JCS. This movie was interesting due to the updating of the setting to contemporary times and portraying the Jesus figure as more politico/social reformer than Messiah. A different take but also recommended - you can stream the whole film at the usual streaming sites.
Bonus Clips: Here are just a few of the very many performances of JCS material out there on the Web. First up, a live performance of 'Gethsemane' by the 1996 London production's Steve Balsamo:
and finally a lovely unplugged performance of 'Everything's Alright' from a Volendam, Holland cast.
Note: the entire Volendam recording from 2005 is available here:
Another one of those 'earworms' that pop into your head when you least expect them and another group that made a fleeting appearance on the UK charts and then promptly vanished. I believe Kon Kan were Canadian and when I first heard this on the radio back in 1989 I could have sworn it was New Order thanks to the lead vocalist's uncanny Bernard Sumner impersonation. This track also features samples from Lynne Anderson "(I Never Promised You A) Rose Garden" amongst others. Some time later I found the album this track came from in a used record store. Nothing else on there came anywhere close to this and in fact the album version was subpar to this single version...
This popped into my head today for absolutely no reason and I suddenly recalled how much I loved this track way back when - I'm no quite sure why but it was probably a combination of the 'We Will Rock You' beat, 'I Am The Walrus' style verse and "zhum zhum zinny zinny" (as transliterated by Wikipedia) loop. Sly Fox were an American duo who seemed to come out of nowhere and then disappeared just as fast. The only thing I remember is a fantastic, albeit mimed, appearance of this song on Top Of The Pops.
I think that 'The Riddle' was one of the, if not THE, first cassettes (remember them?) I ever bought with my own pocket money (although that honour may have gone to a cheapo Barron Knights compilation from Woolworth's - don't ask). Nik Kershaw had a handful of large hits in the mid 80's including the anti-nuke 'I Won't Let The Sun Go Down On Me' and 'Wouldn't It Be Good' from his first album 'Human Racing'.
This, the title track from his second album, was mostly well-known for having a typically 80s bizarre video plus a competition ran by his record company offering a prize to anyone who could decipher the lyrics, without bothering to ask Nik about them. Had they, they would have found the lyrics were, in Nik's words "nonsense, rubbish, bollocks, the confused ramblings of an 80s popstar"!
After a third album bombed, Nik continued to record but achieved more success as a songwriter for other artists - remember 'The One & Only' by Chesney Hawkes? That was him...
