All At Once - Dalton & Mont-gomery

A summer song as fresh as a Wall's Mini Milk or maybe a choc ice. A luxury choc ice, mind, not one of those cheap ones from Bejam.

Up until 1963 pop songs were generally written by songwriting teams and performed by vocalists-for-hire called Bobby or Mary. Dalton & Montgomery are an example of a songwriting team performing their own material instead of hiring someone to sing it. A fleeting pop cycle, but an important one nonetheless, like when the stuffed toy became a stuffed toy and pyjama case before going back to being the stuffed toy.

By the 1970s, the pop duo had been replaced by the 'sensitive male singer/ songwriter', a deplorable breed who were only sensitive in the manner of the North London Art Director in the black polo neck jumper who gives his girlfriend neck massages in Crouch End wine bars and then a black eye when they get back home.

> Download this (1.5 MB)

Portobello Road - Cat Stevens

An interesting if idealised pean to West London sung by the 'sensitive singer songwriter' and given an artificial 'Mary Poppins Swings like a Pendulum Do' flavour by Californian co-writer and Bubblegum Machine hero Kim Fowley.

I tend to whistle this tune one one of the rare occasions that circumstances force me to I walk up Portobello Road on a Saturday afternoon, dodging the creepy-looking Germans with big lips and bum bags, the female couples with a special interest in the films of Jodie Foster shopping for combat trousers made from hemp, and wading past the stalls selling bags made from packets of Japanese soap powder.

I was glad when Cat Stevens became a Muslim fundamentalist. His songs had become something from the Sylvanian Families range of collectable figures. Though felt mice in gingham dresses are only marginally less creepy than singer/songwriters.

> Download this (2.2 MB)

Manifesto & Book News

If it's ever been on K-Tel or Ronco, it's in. If it features hand claps, cow bells, syrupy orchestration, walls of sound, wrecking crews, sha-la-las, toothy teen idols, candy-based metaphors for carnal acts or lyrics about hugging, squeezing and rocking all night long, it's in.

Trying to think of a joke where the punchline is 'The Pat Sharp Boys'.



> Martin Lampen (latest book news, contact details and other stuff)

Collect 'em all: week 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36 | 37 | 38 | 39 | 40 | 41 | 42 | 43 | 44 | 45 | 46 | 47 | 48 | 49 | 50 | 51 | 52 | 53 | 54 | 55 | 56 | 57 | 58 | 59 | 60 | 61 | 62 | 63 | 64 | 65 | 66 | 67 | 68 | 69 | 70 | 71 | 72 | 73 | 74 | 75 | 76 | 77 | 78 | 79 | 81 | 82 | 83 | 84 | 85 | 86 | 87 | 88 | 89 | 90 | 91 | 92 | 93 | 94 | 95 | 96 | 97 | 98 | 99 | 100 | 101 | 102 | 103 | 104 | 105 | 106 | 107 | 108 | 109 | 110 | 111 | 112 | 113 | 114 | 115 | 116 | 117 | 118 | 119 '| 120 | 121 | 122 | 123 | 124 | 125 | 126 | 127 | 128 | 129 | 130 | 131 | 132 | 133 | 134 | 135 | 136 | 137 | 138 | 139 | 140 | 141 | 142 | 143 | 144 | 145 | 146 | 147 | 148