Spectacular Ivor Raymonde arranged piece of bombastic melodrama
Label: Decca
Year of Release: 1969
The name Paul Slade may seem somewhat unfamiliar to most readers, but as
a songwriter he managed to get credits on a number of hits in the
seventies and eighties, perhaps the most well known examples being Grace
Jones's "I Need A Man" and Changes' enormous disco smash "Searchin'".
Obviously, though, our story doesn't begin there. Way back in the
sixties when Grace Jones was just the stuff of our wildest nightmares,
he was a jobbing bass guitarist and backing vocalist, usually working as
a session musician for visiting live artists in London. Having been
spotted playing at the Revolution Club in London, he was offered a
management contract and a deal with Decca followed not long after,
resulting in two incredibly scarce singles, "Heaven Held" and "Sound of
Love".
"Sound of Love" is, to be frank, an unexciting Bee Gees cover which may
be of interest to fans of the group, but is unlikely to get casual
readers of this blog hot under the collar. Slade performs it
convincingly, but the arrangement is rather by-numbers and fails to sell
the song at all well.
Of far more interest is the flip "Odyssey", which was co-written by
Slade and is a melodramatic, moody piece of seemingly Scott Walker
inspired hullabaloo about a missing lady. Punctuated by punching strings
and something that sounds like the Thames TV ident (but isn't) Slade
informs us "She haunted me wherever I go... And Still The Wind Carries Her Name!"
It's over-the-top, frantic and fantastically arranged, putting the
A-side to absolute shame. As the B-side to an unremarkable ballad, it's
obviously been somewhat buried over the last fifty years, but that
really deserves to change - "Odyssey" is ambitious and constantly
interesting throughout its three minutes.
Paul Slade eventually signed to CBS where he began recording folk-rock
records, including the LP "Life Of A Man", but he met with little
success in the UK. Some appreciation on the continent, on the other
hand, was forthcoming, leading to large volumes of songwriting work for
French and Italian artists. Though he's largely retired and residing in
rural France these days, he still occasionally produces new music.
If the previews below aren't working for you, please go right to the source.
1 comment:
Hi!
Thanx for this one. A "new" artist here = "new" hears here. Immensely agree = "B" side is MUCH better.
Cheers!
Ciao! For now.
rntcj
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