Del boy

..
tour I’m involved in at the moment – even older than Brian Cadd
– and I was reminded of this fact when having one of my several chats
with fellow MOTE guest singer and ‘male, independent Australian singer-songwriter
based in Melbourne’, Lior. I’m nearly twice Lior’s age, (he
turned 36 a couple of weeks ago), and I think he’s intrigued to discover
what drives me in my improbable post-non-career career. Or perhaps he’s
just being polite.
His attention, polite or not, is intoxicating and I find myself saying some
wacky things. Like, the other night I suggested he should have a listen to Del
Shannon. Del who? The young man looks puzzled. I don’t know why I said
that and my brain searches for a convincing rationale. Hats Off To Larry
had floated into my mind earlier in the evening as songs occasionally do for
no reason. I explain that Del had a signature piercing falsetto and that his
hit songs had a certain poignancy, but other than that I can’t really
work out in my own head why I should want to recommend him.
I can remember seeing Del Shannon in Christchurch in 1962. He was touring with
Bobby Rydell, who’s still touring incidentally. I was pretty naïve
in those days but even I could tell Del (real name Charles Westover) was as
pissed as. When he came on stage he made a wild grab for the mic, missed handsomely
and nearly fell on his face. (Fellow MOTE guitarist, Tony Naylor, toured with
Del in 1974 and said that everything was fine till they got to Shepparton when
Del’s wife had to fly home to the States to cope with some domestic drama.
At the BBQ the promoter put on for him and the band in the afternoon Del drank
himself unconscious and had to be nursed back to some semblance of sobriety
to perform that night).
But he was great. His biggest singles, Runaway, Hats Off and Little
Town Flirt were totally apt backing tracks to my youthfully inept amorous
adventures – and musically speaking I still have great affection for the
tone of Del’s voice with the strategically placed falsetto lines – and
the band, for that matter. Who can forget the Musitron* solo on Runaway
that practically everybody from that era can quote it note for note?
(Tony also tells me that Del actually covered The Beatles’ From Me
To You and had chart success with it in the States before The Beatles did,
which is something I wasn’t aware of. He also said that Del had been invited
to join The Travelling Wilburys after Roy Orbison’s untimely death, but
Del took his own life before that eventuated).
Anyway, it finally came to me last night why I thought Lior might appreciate
the Del Shannon canon, funnily enough after I’d seen the highly touted
movie Hugo in company with bro’ Dick. We both actually wanted
to see The Artist, but wasn’t on yet so we saw Hugo instead.
I didn’t have too many expectations, although my mum had mentioned that
morning she’d seen it and liked the fact it didn’t have any gratuitous
violence, but now I’ve seen it I reckon it suffers from the same malaise
as quite a few movies I’ve seen over the past few years. The criterion
for a successful movie these days, (you were waiting for that), seems
to rest entirely on achieving an observable level of technical sheen. Being
made in 3D makes it even more obvious. In the event, the acting in Hugo
comes across as leaden and unenthusiastic as the actors, and presumably the
director, struggle to maintain momentum between 3D set-ups. Even Sacha Baron
Cohen’s token ‘Allo ‘Allo impression failed to arrest my waning
attention. Bro’ Dick thought it might work as a children’s movie,
but I’m not convinced. Re’ the hype, laudable intentions alone do not
a good movie make.**
(I’m worried now that The Artist might not live up to its hype.
I’m hopeful that being French might be its saving grace).
There’s a parallel in music. In the classical sphere there is a growing
perception that the desire for that same technical sheen has robbed contemporary
live performances of any character. There was a program on the Stvdio channel
recently, (God bless Foxtel), featuring some of the great violinists of the
20th century. Menuhin was there, (he’s one of those making this complaint),
along with a host of others, including Jascha Heifetz. Of course I’ve
heard Heifetz before, but I was astonished (again) at his verve and confidence
and, incidentally, at his technical prowess. Today’s fiddlers seem limp
by comparison. The contemporary virtuoso violin performance seems to be aiming
at being merely mistake-free rather than being of the moment, full of risk-taking
with the consequent sublime highs – and perhaps the odd blemish.
That’s why I love Jeff Beck so much. He takes risks. He occasionally fucks
up. You wouldn’t think that rock musicians would be subject to perfectionist
inhibitions, but when I listen to The Eagles’ Hell Freezes Over
I wonder.
To make things worse, modern audiences have become part of the conspiracy. The
Who did the half-time entertainment at the Super Bowl a couple of years ago.
I thought it was a terrific performance, but there were howls of protest from
the critics, self-appointed and otherwise, who thought it sloppy and dated.
There is an irony there, considering some of Townsend’s early ‘die
before I get old’ themes, but I think you get the point.
And maybe that’s why I recommended Del Shannon to Lior. Technical perfection
wasn’t an option in the early ‘60s, but give me a catchy tune wiv
a beat and most importantly with a performance and you have something
to build a dream on. (’you have something on which to build a dream’,
while being technically correct, just doesn’t cut it..)

* The Musitron was an early synthesiser invented by Del’s
keyboard player, Max Crook. I always thought it was a Farfisa.

** Not everybody agrees
with me about Hugo. Maybe nobody does. Read Stuart Beatty’s thoughts on the
Correspondence
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