Living To Music – Love ‘Forever Changes’

This Sunday (May 1st), at 9pm, you’re invited to share a listening session with some likeminded souls, wherever you might be. This can be experienced either alone or communally, and you don’t need to leave the comfort of your own home to participate. Described as ‘one of the first racially diverse American pop bands’, Love, led by Memphis born ‘black hippie’, Arthur Lee, broke the mould. Hailing from Los Angeles, the band issued their self-titled debut album in 1966, following up with ‘De Capo’ in early ’67, before releasing the LP they’re best remembered for, ‘Forever Changes’ towards the end of the same year.

Cute Cute In A Stupid Ass Way

Scott Walker is a proper artist. Born in the US, but finding fortune and fame in the UK, at the height of his Walker Brothers 60’s celebrity, with pop hits and screaming girls a plenty, he turned his back on it all to follow his own unique path, inspired by the music of Belgian born French recording icon, Jacques Brel, who, in a strange twist of fate, he’d first heard at the flat of a bunny girl he’d picked up at the Playboy Club's opening-night party in London.

Ball Of Confusion

Most of the interviews you do throw up the same type of questions, but every now and again someone takes a completely different approach, which can be very refreshing. One such occasion was a few years ago when I received a request for an interview by Berlin based DJ and writer Finn Johannsen, who told me he was doing a feature series for the blog ‘Sounds Like Me’ in which he asks people to chose a favourite record that has strong personal associations. Once I’d informed him of my choice, ‘Ball Of Confusion (That’s What The World Is Today)’, a key single of my formative years by The Temptations, he came back with a whole heap of insightful questions that really caused me to get deep into my reasons behind this selection, including my views on its socio-political relevance, the role of the protest song, and the innovations of its producer, Norman Whitfield.

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