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Released on the Cooking Vinyl label in 1990, this was The Happy End's third and last album proper, and the only one to feature vocalist Bernadette Keeffe. Robert Wyatt contributes guest vocals on the title track. It was engineered by Tim Cumming and produced by Tim, Glen Gordon, and myself.
Click on the "play" icons to hear RealAudio extracts of individual tracks, or here for all of them. If you don't have RealPlayer installed, you can download a free version.
Please note that these extracts are mono and compressed for quick download: they do not reflect the quality of the original CD!
Track Listing
The Oakey Strike Evictions
The 1889 lyrics, by the "Pitman's Poet" Tommy Armstrong, describe the evictions
of striking miners in the north-east of England. Glen Gordon rearranged the
traditional tune to a funky New Orleans groove.
Turn Things Upside Down
Lyrics from the late 19th century exhorting the overthrow of the rich by the
poor, set to a slow, bluesy swing by Mat Fox, and interpreted by Robert Wyatt.
What Keeps Mankind Alive?
My setting of Brecht and Weill's song about man's inhumanity to man from The
Threepenny Opera stays faithful to the original's biting anger, and adds
a squealing four saxophone free improvisation in the middle.
Nkosi Sikelelei' Afrika/ANC
Glen starts with a hymn-like setting of the ANC's anthem and then kicks off
into a swinging township jazz development.
Starstruck
Mat's lyrics are simultaneously love story and analysis of the Strategic Defence
Initiative (Star Wars); the music, which features Latin and Afro-Cuban grooves,
was always a dance favourite at gigs.
Sailing The Seas (Depends Upon The Helmsman)
Starting with a Maoist lyric set to a Happy End version of traditional Chinese
music, the piece segues into a rock-funk beat and Mat's counter-argument.
The Big Rock Candy Mountain
Made popular as a children's song by Burl Ives but originally written during
the Depression by Harry McClintock, an American socialist, Glen's epic arrangement
and Bernadette's wonderful vocals highlight the Utopian hopes and humour of
the original.
Rhumba Por Nicaragua
A Cuban rhumba arranged by Caroline Hall, and another dance favourite at live
performances.
The Red Flag
Once the anthem of the British (Old) Labour Party, my arrangement starts and
ends in some melancholy, but in between bursts into an unashamed Basie-eqsue
swing - perhaps reflecting the ambiguities most people on the left in Britain
feel these days.
Order Details
CDs of Turn Things Upside Down can be ordered using the form below. Your order will be handled by PayPal. Please note that you do not have to be a PayPal member to pay by credit card.
Prices:
Per CD: £10.00
Plus Postage & Packing:
£2.00 for first item, £0.50 for
each additional
Please allow 28 days for delivery, and e-mail me if you have any queries about your order.