Melody Maker, February 6, 1993: Difference between revisions
(add first section of transcribed text) |
(add further transcribed text) |
||
Line 47: | Line 47: | ||
Weird. | Weird. | ||
“London’s dismal and divine/And I know one day, one day/ It’s gonna be mine “ | |||
IT would seem, then, that we are to be left to guess as to Costello’s motives. The amateur psychologist will contemplate the self-conscious cleverness of “[[Spike]]”, the ornate overcooking of “[[Mighty Like A Rose]]” and the astonishing “[[The Juliet Letters|Juliet Letters]]”, and conclude that Costello, while maintaining his knack for writing splendid pop, feels too old or embarrassed to sing it anymore. Certainly, he’d have been hard pressed to find a better voice for the brace of venom-laced fizzbombs assembled here – while Wendy is unlikely as ever to take Callas to five sets, she’s got a great punky yelp, and her breathy purr on the slow ones strikes its usual balance of gush and gauche. | |||
And what a story he’d got to tell. | |||
The rise and demise of Transvision Vamp and their wilful frontwoman, a tale of ambition soured and hope betrayed, in two sides. I would like, if I may, to be the first of thousands to suggest that it reasonably approximates a rampant hybrid of “[[This Year's Model]]” and “Evita”. | |||
“There are,” admits Wendy, “some lyrics that I take absolutely personally, and some that are more hypothetical. But the tracks do have a certain order to them, yes, and it does historically count ups and downs of rejection and success and failure and having to grow up. More times than not, I am singing from a completely personal point of view.” | |||
It gets quite bitter at times. | |||
“All of the songs, from the melancholy songs to the glory glory hallelujah songs, are all rather cynical. And there isn’t a moment on the album where you can get away with anything, because you’re being asked to look at yourself in a very hard-hearted manner every step of the way, and there are many times when it’s cutting someone’s ego, whether it’s mine as the singer or someone else’s.” | |||
Given that Costello doesn’t know you, and presumably winged it on the basis of your letter and anything he may have heard or read, did you never feel at all defensive? | |||
“No, no, all that is good, I mean, I’d like to shatter some of those illusions that I had about myself and that other people had about me. How can you have progress without change? Understand it and learn from it. And some of these songs helped me to do that.” | |||
“Incorruptible/Unattainable/Unacceptable/Unforgiveable/Unforgettable” | |||
The last time Wendy James spoke to Melody Maker, just less than two years ago, she made the infamous predictions that she would one day win Oscars, that before she died, ''the whole world would know her name''. It was a spectacular performance, exactly what we used to pay her for. | |||
When this is brought up today, it elicits a guilty-though-unrepentant smile of the kind people make when recalling some Christmas party indiscretion and the – understandable, if nonetheless disappointing – assurance that “that’s all history”. All Wendy James today appears to have in common with the Wendy James of Transvision Vamp is the same well-judged showing of black-root-hair and the same unrelenting, unblinking, and frequently unnerving blue-eyed glare. | |||
“Look, without wishing to sound like a cliché, I just want to feel proud. My appetite for pop stardom has… lessened. I don’t want to be that anymore. There are other things that are more important to me now.” | |||
“We can make this easy on you or we can make it rough/By the way I have to say you didn’t love me enough” | |||
On February 8, “[[Now Ain’t The Time For Your Tears]]” – the title is Wendy’s own work, which is to say she nicked it from [[Bob Dylan|Dylan]] herself – will be officially heralded by the release of a single, “[[The Nameless One]]”, a funky wah-wah-drenched free-association of names, slogans and puns. The album follows a month later, and it’ll do fine. With a glee and a verve not heard since “Armed Forces” and “Get Happy!!”, Costello has let his trash instincts run riot. Songs like “[[London's Brilliant]]”, “[[Fill In The Blanks]]” and “[[We Despise You]]” are purest New Wave froth. | |||
Elsewhere, on the jewellery-rattling ballads (“[[Basement Kiss]]”, “[[Do You Know What I'm Saying?|Do You Know What I'm Saying]]”, the grand finale “[[I Want To Stand Forever|Stand Forever]]”, which will have them thumping the seat-backs in theatres up and down the land), you’ll be reminded of the delectable, ornate fripperies of “[[Imperial Bedroom]]”. | |||
Wendy would like it stressed – when Wendy says she would like something stressed, you don’t argue – that the actual sound of the thing has more to do with her own efforts and those of former [[The Rolling Stones|Rolling Stones]] producer Chris Kimsey than any help from her bespectacled auteur. Live in the studio, she says, her and her hand ([[Pete Thomas]] on drums, former Terence Trent D’Arby bassist Cas Lewis and occasional [[Van Morrison]]/Bob Dylan sideman Neil Taylor on guitar) all together, every take. | |||
{{cx}} | {{cx}} |
Revision as of 09:56, 19 October 2013
|