Friday, April 08, 2005

NOT TOO LATE FOR GOODBYES, APPARENTLY

Julian Lennon is an angry man - his back catalogue has been deleted, and yet he believes himself to be a great songwriter. Why, wasn't Saltwater a number eight hit just fourteen years ago? And yet now, you can't get hold of it. And what about Just Too Late For Goodbyes? That was a mighty number six, and yet try asking for it in Woolworths, or even at a branch of W H Smiths, and after the assistant has gone "John Lennon, you mean? Julian? You sure?" they'll tell you that this musical classic, too, is unavailable. Since the record labels can't be trusted with his work, then, Lennon is going to start his own label to release a greatest hits album. With Saltwater, Just Too Late For Goodbyes and... uh, other hits on it. Julian muttered:

"I've been thinking about how much of my past work is unavailable because the labels and distributors I worked with in the past have shelved my CDs.

"One goal this year is to make my past catalogue available again. I'd like to release them, or what's the point of having made them in the first place?"


Well, we did actually wonder that at the time, to be honest.


5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Being a little harsh here, aren't we?

The man has put out some nice music over the years. He's no John Lennon, true, but neither are those two brothers that pretend to be the Beatles and wreck hotel rooms.

So what if he thinks highly of his music which you find less than desired just because it didn't do as well on the charts as inspiring musical giants such as Brittany Spears. It's not like he's using tax payers' money to re-release his back catalog, right?

Anonymous said...

I agree..with being too harsh.. I like Julian Lennon's music. I honestly was too young for the beatles. I don't compare Julian to the beatles at all. He is his own person. I hope he continues to privilege us with some more of his fantastic work.

Simon Hayes Budgen said...

Anonymous...

Have you heard Saltwater? Really? "I think I said when an elephant dies, saltwater falls from my eyes" or whatever. It's dreadful, dreadful sixth form poetry set to dirgey music which a Catholic would deem too gloomy for a Pope's funeral. Had he not had a famous Dad, he would have not got a step over the Top 40 entry way.

Oh, it's not that he doesn't compare well with The Beatles - it's that he compares too well with John Lennon.

Anonymous said...

Way harsh, you can pull banal seeming phrases from just about anyones work.
Plus, he's an awful lot better than a lot of charting "artistes" out there, doing bubble-gum pop and dance.
Plus, in a time when it's uncool to have a peace message, he goes against the grain.

Simon Hayes Budgen said...

Anonymous...

Yes, anyone's work can be pummelled to make a banal phrase fall out. With Juju, though, you don't have to try very hard at all. Just at random:

Look for me when you dream/
Or when you're all alone/
Lets look at where we've been/
The future is unknown

Or:

And I wait sitting here by the phone/
With the hope that your heart isn't stone

Or:

You suck me in, and then you spit me out/
It makes me wanna scream, and it makes me wanna shout


First three songs I pulled the lyrics up for, three clunking, poorly conceived cliched lyrics. His entire body of work is second hand - if anything, I was harsh singling out Saltwater which is probably, shamefully, one of his better efforts.

And where do you live if you think a peace message is "uncool" and "against the grain" - Pennsylvania Avenue?

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