Okay, first post right after the introduction. Let's get right to it. Seona Dancing.
Formed in 1982 by two students in their final year of college in London, Seona Dancing was a new romantic duo who by all accounts were pretty damn cool. A misty eyed Ricky Gervais provided vocals with David Bowie inspiration and Bill Macrae worked synthesizer, piano... whatever.
When I think about it, Macrae kind of looks like an extra from Pokemon with that gravity defying haircut. It's also strange to think that that's an overhead shot and the two are standing way, way too close together to achieve it.
Anyway I'm thinking 'Bitter Heart' was their second released single in 1983 after 'More To Lose' which I'll cover at a later date. It peaked at #79 in the UK and stayed in the top 100 for three weeks but garnered zero attention.
Here is a link to the very poorly posted music video
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zXhSqmfRTfY)
The Wikipedia synopsis of this strange and cheap video is "A girl in a wedding dress who was about to get married has just had her husband leave her, after which she becomes angry and destroys most of the objects in the room".......
That... pretty much sums things up actually.
Ricky sings very well it must be said and the lyrics are good, the chorus being a catchy one I can't get out of my head. Macrae hammers pipes in the background yet somehow manages to also man his synthesizer which is evident throughout and is played with gusto as Ricky tells us about how he's going to end the angered cries and twisted joys that rage in a bitter heart. Basically, the relationship sucks so he's letting it go and he doesn't care what you think.
The B-side 'Tell Her' is not a song I enjoy in all honesty but this one is a keeper. It's a nice and sadly overlooked tune by a man who later went on to win several awards and gain national fame as a comedian with a great sense of humor.
Personally, I love it and it's sad that after no chart success, these two split up after only two singles. I think Macrae runs a record shop at current but I like to think he gets his piano out now and again and remembers when times were good and he was occasionally crowded by Pokemon fans.
Here is a link to a good quality version of 'Bitter Heart'
and the lyrics are below.
"Bitter Heart"
You're losing out, now
You scowl and shout
Irrational accusations as I turn my head
Your threats and trials
My carven smiles
Revolts you in your torturous insecurities
You scowl and shout
Irrational accusations as I turn my head
Your threats and trials
My carven smiles
Revolts you in your torturous insecurities
With pleasured last goodbyes, I break the noise and we silently fly apart
I'll end the angered cries and the twisted joys that rage in a bitter heart
I'll end the angered cries and the twisted joys that rage in a bitter heart
Go on, hit me, do
I won't hit you
You'd love that too much, 'cause it means that they'd all hear
Tell them you're free and
Tell lies of me
I'm out of range now so there's nothing more to fear
I won't hit you
You'd love that too much, 'cause it means that they'd all hear
Tell them you're free and
Tell lies of me
I'm out of range now so there's nothing more to fear
With pleasured last goodbyes, I break the noise and we silently fly apart
I'll end the angered cries and the twisted joys that rage in a bitter heart
I'll end the angered cries and the twisted joys that rage in a bitter heart
With pleasured last goodbyes, I break the noise and we silently fly apart
I'll end the angered cries and the twisted joys that rage in a bitter heart
I'll end the angered cries and the twisted joys that rage in a bitter heart
Massive fan of Gervais and discovered this song due to his rise to fame as a result of The Office. Really great song. Multi-talented guy!
ReplyDeleteYeah. The guy is very good at what he does. Wish he would do a reunion with this guy for like comic relief or something.
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ReplyDelete(Producer from London)
ReplyDelete..Watch this space. A rework and remix is in progress. It's harder than was first proposed due to the master tapes not existing anymore. Sadly, and to my eternal regret, they weren't taped over ('cos they did that in those days, you know. Ampex 456 1" tape cost an absolute bundle in 1984, & small studios weren't compensated for the reels), no, they were actually kept - but the recordings lost due to the cellulose oxidisation and buckling over time, and as a result, not playable, and discarded.
With no multi-track masters it's impossible to do a proper remix as you can't separate all the components..
However, Ricky did do one thing right - he didn't play around with his vocals too much. Or at least - his producer didn't, but knowing how talented and creative Ricky is, he probably contributed ideas to the overall sound.
This meant that isolating certain elements - or removing them - was a little easier. His centre panned vocal allows for almost total removal in certain places, which is amazing. The reverse is also true, but not to such a great extent, sadly. Isolating his vocal is nigh on impossible due to frequency overlap and phase linearity. A slight hope, is that some VERY expensive & powerful software at another studio in London is going to analyze his entire vocal string (about 3.2 terabytes of data) and remove and clean up his vocals and reconstructing where possible EVERY cycle. Each cycle is 1 96,000th of a second.
The results, apparently, are not always a revelation, but are much better than most people achieve on basic software.
Anyway, to end this exhaustive posting, I will just say that when I finish it.. if I finish it.. phew.. I will let you know - and post the result on Youtube (with Universal's and YTs blessing, hopefully on a standard licence) and with any luck, you'll like it.
Yaaay ;-)
Thanks for this post.. I'm loving this song for as long as it's out..
ReplyDelete