ENTERTAINMENT NEWS - Compiled and for the most part penned by KPH Editor Chris du Plessis.
The fresh new corona compositions
History shows us that in times of extreme happiness and sorrow, many people tend to either drink more or break into song. Or both. But despite the fact that for some countries this honoured, time-tested cocktail of social conduct has been hampered by an alcohol ban, it has not stopped people from indulging in the other half of this once blissful marriage.
Herewith some of the more notable efforts by artists to capture the global dilemma in lyric and melody.
Australian folk singer Mike Brady came up with a jaunty quasi-country ditty that makes light of the lesser sanguine moments of social inaction and self-isolation during lockdown which he, no doubt in an unprecedented burst of creative expedience, elected to call Lockdown Blues.
Ice Age
Oft described as a punk-rock collective, the Danish group Iceage concocted with more of a driving rock anthem for this melodic encapsulation of the coronavirus pandemic which is, equally unimaginatively, also dubbed Lockdown Blues. Not a bad aural summary of the crisis in the mesh of distorted guitars and Elias Bender Ronnefelt's anguished bellow.
Your river flows again my love/You know you've been choked/A loosened clamp around your beak/While crowds at parties mock the weak/A sudden fatal tenant seizes the room/Didn't grasp what I had until it was robbed away too soon
Chorus: Covid-19 Lockdown Blues/The only way out is through/A wraithlike peril spread across out seven seas. Empty shelves in our barren streets/confined domestic quarantine/How the itching for lost touch is deafening.
The lid is on the kettle/measured to subdue/Steamed figures rising/in a sulk warped to for its roof/Like rings propagate in water/motions no vaccine. Those cut-off wages darlin'/don't rinse down with Listerine.
The Danish punk-rock band Iceage. Photo: Facebook/Iceage
You’d better (Rubber) Duc
But, saving the best for last, we herewith introduce you to the decidedly homegrown acoustic dance music call to action by our very own Rubber Duc titled Talk About It. “When gatherings of more than 100 people were no longer allowed, we knew our industry would be hit extremely hard. Within a day, all our future earnings came to a standstill. It was at that point that we knew we had a choice, we could either curl up in our shell or use our voice to inspire and encourage people to act,” said Nick Jordaan, lead singer of Rubber Duc, who wrote the single. "We had an idea, but not enough time to get to it at our studio, so we decided to do it in isolation."
The band performed in Knysna and Plettenberg Bay as part of the annual concert series Get Lucky Summer in December last year.
The group all got on board with the project quickly, according to bassist Amiel Gopal. “While we were working on music for an episode of our vlog, we found a sample that just triggered a feeling. Everyone was on board, we just knew it would be a lockdown project. I guess once we had the completed song, it was easy to drive the vehicle.”
SA band Rubber Duc featuring (from left) Amiel Gopal, Brendan Campbell, Nick Jordaan and Kabeey Sax. Front: Leeroy Sauls. Photo: Blake Linder
The Revamped Covers
From the US
Not long after it was posted, pop balladeer Neil Diamond’s revamp of the lyrics to his tried-and-tested chart topper Sweet Caroline – now peppered with Covid-19 references – had over a million hits (in the new finger-tapping sense of the word). All in all not a bad take for someone who didn’t become a household name for his sense of humour. Unless of course he was being serious. Which, come to think of it, he might well have been. Either way, if you happen to be so inclined, tap your feet to the slow intro, conjure up that familiar melody in your hindhead and sing along to: "Where it began, I can’t begin to know it. But then I know it’s growing strong. It was in spring and spring became the summer. Who’d have believed you’d come along? Hands…washing hands…Reaching out… Don’t touch me, I won’t touch you. Sweet Caroline (velocity of the optional Pah-PahPah’s here depending on what’s left of your liquor stock), the good times never felt so good. Sweet Caroline I’ve been inclined to believe they never would."
From just us
By far the most notable contribution in terms of reconditioned cover version lyrics from our shores comes from one David Scott – founder and primary member of the musical concept The Kiffness which visited Knysna last December.
Better known as a purveyor of live electronic (mainly house) music, multi-instrumentalist David is sometimes joined by sax and synth player Rainan Hansman and other vocalists.
Apart from converting Danny Flores’ famous 1958 mambo instrumental Tequila, David swapped lyrics on two other well-known tunes. He plays the Herb Alpert-like trumpet himself on Tequila as well as replace the thrice-uttered title in the original tune with the word “corona”! And in his most ambitious virus-vignette to date, he tackles Queen’s rapid rhythm-changing anthem Bohemian Rhapsody: “This is the real life/this isn’t fantasy/Caught in a lockdown/no escape from the quarantine./ Time really flies if you keep yourself busy/three weeks at home boy/you could write your own symphony. Or you could… play the drum/learn to sew/watch your favourite TV show/ Stuck outside the window/just stop the spread of Covid 19…19…” He also transforms John Lennon’s highly lauded ballad Yesterday thus: “Yesterday, Covid-19 seemed so far away/ Now it looks as though it’s here to stay/Oh I believe in yesterday. Suddenly, I’m spending three weeks in quarantine/Is this virus taking over me/Oh Yesterday came suddenly…”
Listening lists
No data exists to gauge what constitutes a South African lockdown hit list, but according to the new Official Charts Company in the UK, Brits and Europeans are split between "feel-good" classics and "apocalyptic" or "tongue-in-cheek" isolationist songs. Families have also taken to popular 1950s US "Sing-along-with-Mitch'' type behaviour by belting out popular saamsing-songs with their offspring to keep the mood up.
Whether it be via self-constructed playlists on streaming platforms or just sharing music to counter their blues, common themes have emerged in The Official Lockdown Listening Top 100 List which tracks the fastest-growing catalogue songs compiled from streaming data from a wide range of chart-reporting services, including Spotify, Apple Music, Deezer, YouTube, Tidal, Amazon and many more up until the end of March.
Back to basics
Not surprisingly, many people have dusted off "stirring, feel-good melodies" such as You'll Never Walk Alone, the 1963 chart-topper-cum-football anthem and musical standard by Gerry & The Pacemakers which has seen a near 150% week-on-week uplift in streams according to Rob Copsey of Official Charts. ''Interest in the song surged after a number of radio stations across the UK and Europe including BBC Radio 1, Radio 2 and many more played it simultaneously in a show of solidarity against coronavirus last Friday (March 20).''
Other classics enjoying an unexpected boost in popularity, Copsey writes, include Junior Senior's Top 5 hit Move Your Feet, up over 50% week-on-week, possibly as the nation adjusts to exercising at home. John Lennon's timeless ode to global harmony, Imagine, makes a similar leap, while S Club 7's ever-optimistic Reach is up almost 40%. Pharrell Williams' spirit-lifting Number 1 hit Happy is up over 20%, as is Bruno Mars' staying-in anthem The Lazy Song.
Embracing the blues
The overriding principle behind the blues is: if you're feeling down, singing about it makes you feel better. Embrace your emotions or they will shackle you. Here are some of the more melancholic melodies people chose to confront their mental maladies.
The Police's hit Don't Stand So Close To Me, freshly morphed into a social distancing anthem, rose 70% week-on- week at least until the end of March, and REM's apocalyptic It's The End Of The World As We Know It which made its Official Singles Chart Top 40 debut in December 1991, jumped 40% over the same time period along with their melancholic 1993 hit Everybody Hurts according to Official Charts.
Two more popular choices come from US rapper Akon: Locked Up which has surged over 140%, while Lonely is up by almost 60%. Both were huge hits in 2005, with the latter reaching Number 1.
Other themed hits on the rise include Queen classic I Want To Break Free, and Stayin' Alive by the Bee Gees, each seeing a boost of more than 20%.
Top 20
- You'll Never Walk Alone – Gerry & The Pacemakers
- Locked Up – Akon
- Don't Stand So Close To Me – Police
- Lost – Frank Ocean
- Lonely – Akon
- Move Your Feet – Junior Senior
- Imagine – John Lennon
- It's The End Of The World As We Know It – R.E.M.
- Reach – S Club 7
- Everybody Hurts – R.E.M.
- Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me – George Michael, Elton John
- Three Little Birds – Bob Marley & the Wailers
- Best Song Ever – One Direction
- Music Sounds Better With You – Stardust
- Walking On A Dream – Empire of the Sun
- Love On Top – Beyoncé
- Kiss – Prince & The Revolution
- Signed, Sealed, Delivered, I'm Yours – Stevie Wonder
- King – Years & Years
- I Am Your Gummy Bear – Gummibär
Non-hit list
Music-wise not only has actual music being listened or made as a result of the lockdown given rise to our current state of blues, but also music that is NOT being made because of the lockdown according to Rob Copsey of Official Charts. Not only because live performances have been cancelled and records stores are not deemed essential services, but because many musical acts and artists are being forced to push back or postpone album releases they had scheduled in for the coming months. Herewith a list of some of the most notable albums we CAN'T look forward to in the near future
- Alicia Keys – Alicia – new release date: May 15. Alicia tweeted about the delay of her album and tour last month: "Everyone's health and safety is the #1 priority! Thank u for ur deep love."
- Alanis Morissette – Such Pretty Forks In The Road – New release date: May 22. Alanis' ninth studio album and first in eight years was originally scheduled for 1 May.
- Prince reissues – new release date: 29 May. Four Prince titles were to arrive on vinyl for the very first time on 17 April: One Nite Alone..., the 4 LP set One Nite Alone…Live! and the double-LP One Nite Alone: The Aftershow…It Ain't Over! will be pressed on Prince's signature purple wax, while The Rainbow Children will get a crystal-clear pressing.
- Willie Nelson – First Rose of Spring – new release date: 3 July. Country music legend Willie Nelson will have to wait a little longer to hear First Rose of Spring originally due on 24 April but now scheduled for 3 July.
- DMA's – The Glow – new release date: 10 July. Originally scheduled for 24 April, Sydney trio DMA'S announced: "All pre-orders will be honoured and sent out for the new date, and despite the delay [in] the release, we will have new music for you soon – stay safe.''
- The Pretenders – Hate For Sale – new release date: 17 July. The 11th studio album from the Chrissie Hynde-fronted band is now due on 1 May "due to retail and shipment restrictions".
- Lady Gaga – Chromatica – new release date: TBA. Her sixth album is postponed with no new date given except a "2020 release". "It just doesn't feel right to me to release this album with all that is going on with this global pandemic," she said in a statement. Gaga's run of Vegas shows between April and May have been called off, though her Chromatica Ball shows this summer have not.
- Sam Smith – Title TBA – new release date: TBA. Sam has used this period to rethink their upcoming third album, which was originally titled To Die For but will now be renamed. "I have done a lot of thinking the last few weeks and feel that the title of my album and its imminent release doesn't feel right," he said.
- Liam Gallagher – MTV Unplugged – new release date: TBA. Originally scheduled for 24 April, the vinyl pressing of Gallagher's recent MTV Unplugged live album has been delayed, Liam announced on Twitter. "I'll keep you posted. Wash yer hands, scrub yer toes, scratch yer bum and pick yer nose," the Oasis vocalist told fans.
- CNCO – new release date: TBA. In a livestream, the biggest boy band in the Latin-pop world band said the album, which was expected as early as this month, is postponed.
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