Sometime in the early '70s the term "blue-eyed soul" was invented to categorize singers (usually white) who sang with a more soulful manner, and without connections to Motown. These vocalists brought an easily-identifiable sound to their records and were unmistakable. I'm gonna spotlight five of those singers this week.
I start with a singer whose career spanned 3 decades, and at least three iterations. Back in the '70s, his band Ace released "How Long". It was 3 minutes and 21 seconds of pure radio perfection--an infectious chorus with a single verse that was repeated twice. This song is 43 years old, and you can still hear it on "classic rock" stations.
Once Ace broke up, he went under the radar, then re-emerged as the lead singer of Mike + the Mechanics, a side project started by Genesis guitarist Mike Rutherford. Mike needed something to do while Phil Collins was selling billions of records as a solo artist. M+TM had a couple of hits, then Rutherford went back to Genesis.
Then it was on to Squeeze, a UK critics' darling band that did so-so over here. But his vocal on "Tempted" was unmistakable and drove the song into the top 10. Our singer moved on to a solo career, the highlight of which was "Don't Shed a Tear", a mid-tempo song that showcased his voice even though it was almost 20 years after Ace. He also did some work with Roger Waters of Pink Floyd amongst others.
Paul Carrack was labeled "The man with the golden voice" by the BBC, and even today his music is everywhere (even WalMart, a certain indicator of cultural significance). So let's go back to the beginning, to the album Five a Side, and Ace's one hit (#3). How long, indeed.
Tomorrow, another long-tenured voice with lots of soul. See you tomorrow...
Pete
No comments:
Post a Comment