Babybird/Stephen Jones: opinions?

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by manicpopthrill, Jun 9, 2018.

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  1. StevenC

    StevenC SUEDE > Both Oasis AND Blur.

    In the San Fran Bay Area, English music was played more regularly so I heard it and enjoyed it then. Lots of music was ripped off back then. Listen to one of the most popular Britpop songs "Connection" by Elastica, whom I loved, and then go listen to "Three Girl Rhumba" by Wire. It's staggering.
     
  2. manicpopthrill

    manicpopthrill Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    ICT, Kansas
    Listened to There's Something Going On this morning and loved it. I have CDs of it, Ugly Beautiful, and the reunion album from 2006 (Between My Ears There's Nothing but Music) on the way.
     
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  3. RichC

    RichC Forum Resident

    Location:
    Charlotte, NC
    Well, after hearing Greatest Hits, I was pretty interested in hearing Ugly Beautiful, especially since it already had the "confirmation" of the UK masses. So I first heard "You're Gorgeous" in the context of that album.... and to be specific, I was probably disappointed in the entire thing. Most of the disappointment came from how neutered the full-band versions sounded compared to the demos. No rough edges at all. "You're Gorgeous" was probably one of the few songs I enjoyed, especially since I had no original version to compare. It was only when the demo came out on the "Cornershop" single that I realized the original of THAT one was better too. (Pre-Internet, I probably assumed Jones wrote that one specifically for UB.... In hindsight, I'm pretty sure that entire album was re-recordings of old demos.)

    It was fun being an Anglophile during the 90s though.... Don't get me wrong, I also enjoyed all the American "alternative" acts (especially Pearl Jam and NIN), but there was definitely a coolness factor involved in being the only one in town who'd even heard of Manic Street Preachers. And plenty of other great acts besides Baby Bird failed to gain traction in America.... including Pulp, Doves, Gomez, Travis, and Elbow. And yeah, I was Coldplay's biggest American supporter from the time I got the advance of Parachutes two months before its U.S. release... to the time "Clocks" made them completely mainstream and kinda burned me out on them. (Don't get me started on the last decade of Coldplay's career trajectory....)
     
  4. RichC

    RichC Forum Resident

    Location:
    Charlotte, NC
    Yeah, Elastica was the most blatant example, and lost most of their publishing to Wire as a result.
    I feel like several of Jones' demos were "goofs." Certainly in 1987, he was writing "Cornershop" as a blatant parody/piss-take of Katrina & The Waves, complete with his sped-up vocals. By the time it gets re-recorded and released a decade later, there's basically zero K&TW influence left, proving that arrangement is everything when it comes to musical theft. (Ask Robin Thicke...)
     
  5. Danby Delight

    Danby Delight Forum Resident

    Location:
    Boston
    As I noted in a later post that you seemingly ignored, everything about the early buzz about his demo cassettes suggested that I would love them, because his early material is in a style that I have adored for decades.

    But then when I heard the cassettes, I thought they were, to repeat myself, mostly crap.

    He asked for opinions, and among others, he got mine. Weird that it bothers you so.
     
  6. StevenC

    StevenC SUEDE > Both Oasis AND Blur.

    Justine was still hot though so I forgave her
     
  7. manicpopthrill

    manicpopthrill Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    ICT, Kansas
    Meant to come back to this post. Why do you say you might like him now?

    I really don't get the emphasis on britpop with this guy, aside from 'You're Gorgeous' (which sounds like something James could've written...that's not a criticism either).

    I definitely hear a kinship with a guy like Fred Cornog, so it made sense when I learned they did a split 7" at one point.
     
  8. Etienne Hanratty

    Etienne Hanratty Forum Resident

    Location:
    uk
    For me, a lot of it was the timing. I turned 18 in 1995. In the early 1990s, music was getting really interesting with the likes of Ride/MBV/Slowdive etc. At the time, I didn’t really appreciate any of it because I was barely out of short trousers and my musical journey took me from Jive Bunny to U2 to Morrissey. By 1993/1994, things had become more parochial but there was a certain eccentricity to it. Come 1995, it was mostly drab aor or second rate sixties retreads. I remember hearing about Baby Bird, probably from Melody Maker, and really finding my interest piqued by the idea of a sardonic low fi bedsit troubadour. When I eventually heard him, though, he really didn’t seem to be offering anything I hadn’t heard before. There might’ve been a bite to the lyrics but the music was dull and, in an era of overwhelmingly dull music, it just sent me into the arms of David Bowie and Scott Walker.

    As I’ve grown older, I’ve found myself responding to lyrics more and getting less irked by pedestrian music and drab arrangements, so I do think I’d get something out of him now.
     
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  9. Colin Allstations

    Colin Allstations Forum Resident

    Location:
    UK
    It's easy to forget that prior to 'You're Gorgeous' Stephen Jones was very credible - the first four lo-fi albums were critical smashes and it looked like he could have been the British answer to musicians along the lineage of Stephin Merrit, Lou Barlow or perhaps Ariel Pink (who broke through much later). Although it was a gigantic hit, Your Gorgeous effectively killed his credibility. It may have been an ironic, anti-pop song but to seemingly everyone who didn't buy it, it was as annoying a novelty hit as Peter Andre's 'Mysterious Girl' from earlier in the year.

    While it does sound like such a cliche, I do believe that a lot was lost when he switched to full band, studio recordings. His vocals, which on the lo-fi recordings were often pitch-shifted and delivered with some degree of intimacy, became bombastic and overwrought and the change in production I don't believe suited him, although there were some exceptions - in fact, I'd argue that the single version of Goodnight may be the best thing he ever did. I don't think the band/studio years were completely without merit, but a lot of it did in hindsight sound more like out of tune, stodgy indie. The press also turned on him a lot in 1997, not helped by the fact he had a reputation for behaving belligerently in front of audiences.

    I can remember him releasing 'If You'll Be Mine', which sounded like another shot at a big ballad hit and it just sounded naff. I can remember some other songs like 'Wave Your Hands' and 'The Way You Are' (from Bugged, the last album I bought) which were just completely insipid. I remember people saying to me, "why do you like this crap?" in the wake of' You're Gorgeous', 'Candy Girl' etc. and admittedly it was quite difficult to say "no wait, there's some early good stuff". My friend from school who absolutely despised Baby Bird did concede that Goodnight was a good song though.
     
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  10. Etienne Hanratty

    Etienne Hanratty Forum Resident

    Location:
    uk
    Interestingly, it’s the Stephin Merritt parallels that I think I might respond to now.
     
  11. Colin Allstations

    Colin Allstations Forum Resident

    Location:
    UK

    Others will disagree, but I'd recommend getting the first four albums and listening to them in isolation. Try the later stuff if you want to hear more....
     
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  12. Alf.

    Alf. Forum Resident

    Location:
    UK
    There's Something Going On is his finest hour.......all dark corners, and twisted perspectives.

     
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  13. ottosander

    ottosander Forum Resident

    First maxi-cd I bought from Babybird and probably still my all time favourite. Great b-sides on the maxi, too.
     
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  14. manicpopthrill

    manicpopthrill Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    ICT, Kansas
    Anybody have a handy list of b-sides?
     
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  15. manicpopthrill

    manicpopthrill Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    ICT, Kansas
    Fukluv & Hospital?
     
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  16. igbee

    igbee Forum Resident

    Location:
    Toronto, ON
    I remember in university I could buy "There's Something Going on" out of the $1 bin at Media Play and flip it online for a lot more (early 2000s back when people cared about CDs). I kept a copy for myself and really enjoy that record. This is one of the stand outs for me. The video is terrible though.
     
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  17. ottosander

    ottosander Forum Resident

    Yes
     
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  18. ottosander

    ottosander Forum Resident

    Another classic track.....
     
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  19. colinzeal

    colinzeal New Member

    Location:
    UK
    Start with There's Something Going On'. then the new compilation 'Happy Stupid Nothing', full of the Babybird tracks from recent years. Then listen to Ugly Beautiful before going through all the lo fi albums.
     
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  20. colinzeal

    colinzeal New Member

    Location:
    UK
    no need to, now there's a neatly compiled 'Best Of' the Bandcamp stuff out now Happy Stupid Nothing, by Babybird
     
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  21. colinzeal

    colinzeal New Member

    Location:
    UK
    on the Babybird club YouTube channel.
     
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  22. colinzeal

    colinzeal New Member

    Location:
    UK
    It will always be his masterpiece, an extraordinary record. But this new collection comes very close, and its growing on me with each listen Happy Stupid Nothing, by Babybird
     
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  23. Octowen

    Octowen Forum Resident

    I’ve only become a fan in the past year or so and haven’t listened to everything he’s released but I’ve loved most of what I’ve heard. Here’s what I’ve thought of the album’s I’ve listened to.

    First I listened to the full band albums, starting with Ugly Beautiful, which I loved, and then There’s Something Going On which I thought was disappointing and had too many similar-sounding songs for me to fully enjoy it. I enjoyed Bugged quite a bit and was surprised by the mostly negative reception of it, and thought Between My Ears There’s Nothing But Music was similar to There’s Something Going On in that it wasn’t bad but was a bit too average sounding for me. Exmaniac was great, and is probably my second favorite after Ugly Beautiful. I especially loved the closing track “On The Back Seat of Your Car”, which is probably my favorite Babybird song. The Pleasures Of Self Destruction is probably my least favorite album I’ve heard yet, the songs yet again sound really similar and none of them manage to come anywhere close to match g any of the band’s previous best songs in terms of quality. I also checked out the new compilation Happy Stupid Nothing which I more or less consider to just be a full-blown studio album, and while I loved many of the songs I thought it was way too long and included too many boring instrumentals and experimental tracks.

    And now I’m listening to the early lo-fi albums. Currently on Bad Shave, which I think is very good, and I thought I Was Born A Man was great. The production has taken a bit of getting used to since I’m not a huge fan of lo-fi music, but the songs are very well-written and are strong enough for me to look past the production.
     
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  24. Dayfold

    Dayfold Forum Resident

    I first heard Baby Bird on an NME comp tape sometime in the mid-90s. The song (it has taken a bit of digging to remember this) was Losing My Hair and it really got under my skin at the time, playing it over and over and playing it to friends who just didn't hear the appeal.

    I couldn't find the album it had come from back then but bought The Happiest Man Alive cd and listened to that a lot too, thought it was great, though the only song from it that remains in my memory 20-odd years later is Gunfingers.
    "When I was fourteen I found out that there were other things to be done with your fingers
    like exploring dark spaces in between your head and your toes
    somewhere you’re told never to explore
    Weird man, I had that wet dream again last night
    Gunfingers, gunfingers, gunfingers,
    fish fingers
    "

    I didn't go any further than that with Baby Bird at the time and then You're Gorgeous came along and I thought 'good for him' but I didn't buy the record.

    This thread has renewed my interest though and I think I'll seek out the There's Something Going On record and some of the newer stuff I've been enjoying.

    Cheers
     
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