So I was listening to Cerys Matthews on 6Music a couple of weekends back and I heard a song which sounded instantly familiar... even though I was convinced I'd never heard it before. One thing was certain: I wanted to hear more by this artist.
One of the many great music blogs I often frequent via my sidebar is Badger & SWC's When You Can't Remember Anything. I'm not entirely sure why they call their blog that, but it's a title which sums up so much of my life. My memory is not the greatest thing. I drive my significant other insane by writing notes to remind me of even the slightest little household task, because I know without them I'll forget. And yet... I can remember the lyrics of a song I haven't listened to in 25 years when it pops up on the radio. The mind is a cruel, cruel mistress.
However.
Occasionally in the comments section here, someone will commend me on my musical memory. To be honest though (despite what I said above), I don't really think it's that great. Yes, I can remember lyrics. But I can't remember where I bought the LPs of my youth (like Brian can) or recall entire conversations I had 20 years ago that revolved around obscure novelty records (like Jez can). I certainly can't bring back the kind of heartwarming musical anecdotes that Badger, SWC, Alyson, and others manage to regale us with on a regular basis. Half the time I feel like I've forgotten more than I'll ever remember about the music of my past...
...which brings us to this:
7. Jake Thackray - The Blacksmith & The Toffee Maker
If you're a year or two older than me, you probably remember Jake Thackray from his many television appearances in the late 60s and early 70s. Having done my research, I now think I do too. I recognise his voice (notable as it's local to me: he's from Kirkstall, a half hour drive away, but a place I have visited since I was a teenager as it is home to the first and oldest multiplex cinema round these parts) as well as his wry, minutely detailed songwriting. Morrissey & Jarvis were both early fans - and you can hear his influence on their witty lyricism. According to iffypedia, Jake fell out of favour in the 80s as his songs were seen as both bawdy and occasionally sexist... nothing wrong with the former, and as to the latter, well... as I'm now the proud owner of a 4 disc collection of his work*, I say: bull. (I could write more about that, but this post is already going on way too long.)
The point? I'd forgotten Jake Thackray completely until Cerys played the song below. And now I feel like a long lost friend from my childhood has come knocking. Except... could I be imagining that? Could I actually not remember Jake Thackray at all? Could it be he's exactly the kind of amusingly erudite wordsmith I adore, and I secretly want to claim him as mine when really we're complete strangers? I just don't know.
I can't remember anything...
*I had to buy the digital collection, sadly, as the OOP CDs would have set me back a couple of hundred quid.
Good post about a man who - despite his bawdy songs - seemed too sensitive for showbiz. I had a chum who was a huge fan of Jake Thackray, so got know some of his work. He wasn't exactly to my taste but he made me smile - and think, which is not always a bad thing.
ReplyDeleteIt's never a bad thing.
DeleteRain on the Mountainside is a beautiful song, and On Again is like someone reading my mind and then writing a song from it! ;)
ReplyDeleteThat would be the one that iffypedia points the finger at for sexism then. ;-)
DeleteAh, Jake was wonderful! Yes I am a year (or ten?) older than you and yes I do remember him well (my theory about memory is that we recall a lot from the distant past more vividly than the recent past because our 'recording' equipment wasn't so worn out at the time, i.e. it's the state of our recording faculties not our playback faculties that makes the difference...) So he was present throughout my childhood and a favourite with my mum in particular. Having listened to him a fair bit since I would also never think of him as sexist, just a fantastic observer of humanity in its many forms.
ReplyDelete'Last Will & Testament' sticks in the mind, surely must be the best song about death ever - hopefully it's on your 4 disc (digital) collection.
Have also seen some great documentaries about him in which he comes across as a thoroughly decent bloke and, yes, very much an amusingly erudite wordsmith.
Yes, Last Will & Testament is in my collection, and it's great. Will surely make its way into a Top Ten one day soon.
DeleteYou'll be able to work out exactly how many years you have on me on Sunday.
I've a reasonable memory re music but can't recall Mr Thackery whatsoever....if you'd asked me who he was I might have guessed he was one of The Wurzels....he has that sort of name does he not?
ReplyDeleteJC
His name sounds more like a Wurzel than most of the Wurzels did... with the possible exception of Sedge Moor.
DeleteYep I remember Jake Thackray from That's Life with Esther Rantzen. Haven't thought of him in years though.
ReplyDeleteI think we remember all the things we want to remember and they are then permanently stored in that seahorse-shaped bit in the brain called the hippocampus - It's tiny, but as you say it retains the lyrics to songs we may not have heard in 25 years! As for my stories, it has been pointed out that I do have a good memory for the fine detail of happenings from long ago, thus I started the blog as a way of recording them before the old hippocampus packs in. Sadly, I don't remember what I did earlier today at work.
I've been trying to work out exactly when Jake appeared on That's Life to see if I remember him from that. I did watch it as a kid, but more the Doc Cox era, so I suspect if I did see Jake on there it would have been towards the end of his run, when I was very young.
DeleteYes he was an earlier contributor I think as I doubt if I watched it much in the later years. You would have been very young if you do remember him from that show but he did have a very distinctive style so quite possibly made a memorable impact - Took me back listening to the clip again.
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