Song Lyric Sunday: A Lot Of Sax

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No, you didn’t misread that! This week’s Song Lyric Sunday theme is to play a song that features a saxophone, as Jim tells us in his post The Coolest Instrument. As usual I couldn’t keep this down to just the one song, so I’m playing three – the first two of which may well be familiar, though I’m pretty sure the last one won’t be.

This week’s lead song is a cover version with an interesting back story. This clip cuts off a tiny bit of the intro, but it is still by a distance the best one I could find – the one on her own YouTube page comes in part way through the first verse!

And the lyrics:

We passed upon the stairWe spoke of was and whenAlthough I wasn’t thereHe said I was his friendWhich came as some surpriseI spoke into his eyes
 
I thought you died aloneA long, long time ago
 
Oh, no, not meI never lost controlYou’re face to faceWith the man who sold the world
 
I laughed and shook his handAnd made my way back homeI searched for form and landFor years and years I roamedI gazed a gazely stareAt all the millions here
 
We must have died aloneA long, long time ago
 
Who knows?Not meWe never lost controlYou’re face to faceWith the man who sold the world
 
Who knows?Not meWe never lost controlYou’re face to faceWith the man who sold the world…
 
 
 
Source: Musixmatch
Songwriters: David Bowie
The Man Who Sold the World lyrics © Chrysalis Music Ltd., Bmg Rights Management (uk) Limited, Tintoretto Music, Chrysalis Music Ltd, Emi Music Publishing Ltd, Rzo Music Ltd
 
As I’m sure you knew, even before you saw the credits, The Man Who Sold The World was a David Bowie song, the title track of his third album, which was released in November 1970 in the US and March 1971 in the UK. It wasn’t particularly successful, only eventually reaching #24 in the UK and #105 in the US after a 1972 re-release, though it did better in 2016 when many of his albums made the charts again posthumously, getting to #21 in the UK and #38 in the US. None of the album’s tracks were released as singles, until this version appeared. It was released in January 1974 and peaked at #3 in the UK Singles chart, though it wasn’t a hit in the US. The story goes that Bowie invited Lulu to a concert he gave after which he met her in his hotel room to tell her that he wanted to make a record with her, as he thought she was a great singer. Lulu didn’t think it would happen but he followed up two days later. She has said that he was ‘über cool’ and she just wanted to be led by him. Apparently she had no idea what the song was about, but in the studio Bowie kept telling her to smoke more cigarettes, to give her voice “a certain quality.” It seemed to have worked! This was described by critics at the time as having a sleazy Berlin cabaret style to it, which was enhanced by Lulu’s appearance on Top Of The Pops dressed as a gangster – the performance in this video. The saxophone? Guess who played it? Yup, Bowie himself, though the instrument didn’t feature on his own recording. Nirvana covered it some years later without a sax but this still remains for me the best version: the sax makes it great.
 
My second song for today is also from the early Seventies – still in my view some of the best times for music. This is another that was a big hit in the UK but didn’t do a thing in the US:

Roxy Music released Virginia Plain as their debut single in August 1972, and it peaked at #4 in the UK and made the top twenty in several European countries, but as I say it didn’t make the US charts. that doesnt appear to have stopped it being recognised over there, though, as it was ranked at #348 by Rolling Stone magazine in their 2021 updating of their list of the 500 Greatest Songs Of All Time. I think that is a well merited accolade, even if it took them nearly fifty years to get there! The band’s eponymous debut album had been released a couple of months previously, but this song wasn’t included: they hadn’t even recorded it when the album came out. After its success as a single it was however included on later re-pressings of the album. Quite right too, as I’m sure it had something to do with the album getting to #10 here. The sax is played by Andy Mackay, by the way.

As I said earlier, I would expect those two tunes to be fairly well known, especially to British readers. But I’m guessing that just about no one will know my third tune (though I can think of one who might – we’ll see). This is another from that same vintage, Wikipedia describes Audience as being ‘a cult British art rock band’ who were around from 1969 to 1972, during which time they released four albums. This is a track from the third of those:

As the video shows, You’re Not Smiling was a track on The House On The Hill, which was released in May 1971, and this was taken from it as a single. Wikipedia doesn’t show any chart placings, and neither does the Official Charts Company, so I’m guessing my love for this album wasn’t shared by the masses. The description of them as a ‘cult’ band seems to be fairly accurate! I bought this on the strength of hearing a couple of tracks on late night radio, and I wasn’t disappointed: and I managed to convert a couple of fellow students on my uni residences corridor to it! The band was led by Howard Werth, whose rather unique vocals give them a distinctive sound, and the other members were Keith Gemmell, on sax, recorder, clarinet and flute, Trevor Williams on bass and Tony Connor on drums. This track was co-written by Howard and Keith, both of whom make their trademark on it. Tony Connor went on to join Hot Chocolate, and he is still with them. The other three reconvened between 2004 and 2013, but only for live shows: they didn’t make any more records. Keith Gemmell died of tongue cancer in 2016 but the others are still with us, happily.

That’s my selection for today – you can never get too much sax, can you, and I’ve managed to do this without playing what I think might be the most obvious song, certainly for a Brit. Think Sherlock Holmes…

See you again for Tuesday Tunes 🎶

47 thoughts on “Song Lyric Sunday: A Lot Of Sax”

  1. Okay, it’s been a while, but Ifinally found the “rock” sax solo I was looking for. I know you did not like the full song when I pitched it to you once before, but maybe you didn’t play it all the way through. (Maybe you did, I am not judging!) Anyways, this video is over 3 minutes long, but the actual solo does not start till over a minute in, if you want to jump right to it… The intro to it is soft and slow, so it should not offend the ears…

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      • It was part of the 19 minute What Love Suite by The Collectors. Maybe I have you mixed up with another Brit, who knows these days. I’m feeling kinda like Joe Biden, thinking one name but saying another. I think he did himself in calling Valenskyy “Putin” and Harris “Trump!” I’m forever typing one thing, but thinking something else. My fingers just sort of go their own way.
        But i’m not very important to how this world works…

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      • No worries! Biden’s demise is sad to see. Not much of a choice for the country which thinks of itself as the most important in the world, is it: the honest senile one or the criminal senile one.

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      • To me there is no choice. But Americans seem to think there is one, and that is the scariest fact in the world right now. And we have to listen to the bullshit for at least another 4 months.
        Your second sentence above shows me you feel similarly to me on the United States of Arrogance. They have jockeyed themselves into a position most of the world believes it, and if they do go MAGA the rest of us could find ourselves st war with a Putin-Xi-Trump Axis, and civilization will be set back 2000 years — if it usn’t completely destroyed. I don’t want us to have to go there.

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      • I share that fear, as I suspect it will happen. An insular, ignorant nation that thinks it is superior to the rest of us, which is stupid enough to vote him in again. I don’t approve of violence in any context but can’t help thinking that a good sniper could solve the problem.

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  2. Pingback: Bye Bye June | Take It Easy

  3. Thank you for the reminder about the old David Bowie song. I listened to three versions this morning – Lulu’s, David Bowie’s, and Nirvana’s. Interesting that Lulu’s is the only one with the sax.

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  4. I also love the Sax…the first and second tracks are good examples. Although I liked track three you were correct I hadn’t heard it before…I will definitely be listening to more though..Thank you for the intro , Clive xx

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    • I’m glad you like it too, Carol, as I think it can add a lot to a song if used well. Lulu’s version of Bowie’s song is very different from his own, which doesn’t have the same feel. I’m pleased you enjoyed Audience too – an underrated band. xx

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  5. I agree with your friend that the sax is the coolest instrument. I don’t know if you have heard any music by the rock band Quarterflash before, but the lead singer, Rindy Ross, usually includes a cool sax solo in many of their songs. Her husband, Marv Ross, does most of the heavy lifting on the guitar. Their biggest hit in Americas was Harden Your Heart, but I like many of their other songs better, including this one, Find Another Fool.

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    • Thanks for this, Pete. I vaguely remember Harden My Heart but couldn’t have put a name to the band. It was a minor hit here – their only one. Like you I prefer this one – it has a feel of Heart about it, with sax appeal.

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  6. The only song of the three I know is, of course, Audience. Their first album was special. In my mind their later stuff did not live up to the promuse this album presented, but this is one of my all-time favourites. It displays all their talents, their writing ability, and a wide variety of styles. (Of couse, it was not easy to find Audience in Canadian music stores. They had to be special ordered, at a huge mark-up.) Maybe that was why their later albums didn’t impress — I felt screwed by the impirters.
    This cut, an excellent choice. Rod Stewart’s saxual skills, sorry, no my cup of tea.

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  8. The Lulu version is a winner, The Roxy song is poppy but quirky and distinctive, much like the Audience one- it’s one of those slightly off-centre songs that coulda even shoulda made a breakthrough but failed to find an audie-

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    • It is that, isn’t it. A big hit here and deservedly so – much better than Boom Bang A Bang! The Roxy one didn’t feel all that quirky at the time – they had some big mainstream hits here.

      Well done on that element of self restraint 🤣

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      • ‘Boom Bang A Bang’ is not a patch on the deeply artistic and layered subtlety of that classic ‘I’m A Tiger’ though… Seriously, the songs Britain put out to try to win the Eurovision song contest! (I’m thinking this Lulu bodge-up, Sandy Shaws ‘Puppet On A String,’ The by then clean cut Cliff’s lamentable yet crushingly cheerful ‘Congratulations.’) Every bubbly one had all the bells and whistles plus a brass band on amphetamines and an oom pah pah band heaved into the kitchen sink. Too much by far.

        Thanks Clive; I’ve been told by professionals I could use more restraint.

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      • More than fifty years on we still feed Eurovision a load of crap. But at least we used to win it sometimes back then!

        Your professional should be proud of you 🤣

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  11. I didn’t know The Man Who Sold the World, but I loved the story around it. I enjoyed the upbeat Roxy Music song although it was new to me. You are right about your third song for m not knowing it, but I did find it pleasant. Thanks for joining in again, Clive and I look forward to your Tuesday Tunes with the tea theme.

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    • I thought I might be introducing American readers to three new songs with these. Glad you enjoyed them, Jim.

      Sorry, change of plan for Tuesday. I’m not satisfied with the tea selection I have so far made so I am deferring it for now. I’ll be revisiting a previous theme this week, but with new song choices. Tea is still on the agenda though.

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  14. Today I was only familiar with The Man Who Sold The World, and that’s because of Bowie. This is the first time I’m hearing the Lulu version. I was prepared to know the Roxy Music song because we were huge fans back in the day and had almost all their albums but, no …. it didn’t sound familiar. Absolutely no clue about the third song and the singer has that kind of voice you don’t easily forget. One sax for getting to first base today, Clive! 🎷

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    • I think Bowie turned his own song into a far superior version with Lulu. Not a hit there so I’m not surprised you didn’t know it. The same goes for Roxy – a non-album single so I guess it wasn’t in your collection. Here it is their signature tune – the one that began it all for them.

      I threw the Audience in as one of my obscure choices, just to see the reaction. I really did love that album!

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