COTM ARTIST #12 - 40 Years ago

[OverHillandDale(Admin)]

Greetings Mooniverse.

June of 2011 marks the 40th anniversary of the release of the first solo effort by Peter Hammill. The name of the album 'Fool's Mate.' I know, I know, he is not everyone's favorite singer. But, he is a great songwriter and composer. And this first album, with a song or two exempted, are darn near melodic.

No, the 'emotional' but not fully trained voice is actually very common back in the early 70's. Punk was starting up, and many other innovative musicians also fit this bill. Several in our sphere of music come to mind. Brian Eno, Bryan Ferry, David Bowie, and later David Byrne. Interestingly enough, Eno collaborated with all of these gentlemen except Peter Hammill.

Mixed into today's playlist are a couple of tracks from Bowie, Eno and Bryan Ferry w/Roxy Music. Just to remind you that it is not always about the full quality of the voice. I'm sure you can name many more artists of different genres that share this trait (like, say, Bob Dylan, Iggy Pop, and Leonard Cohen).

I will also pair Peter's Debut album with a 1992 release, Fireships. This is going to be an Aural Moon debut as it was not in our extensive library yet. I find this to be a very pleasant, although perhaps a little dark, album. Nice arrangements.

I hope you will give all of today's music a serious listen and not just jump onto the Hate Wagon. We know how many of you feel about it, so let's just stick with the positive comments today. Come to praise him, not bury him.

Thanks everyone.

Dale