Time to Roll

In late December 2015 a new David Bowie box set was announced that would be focused on his rise to rock stardom in the early 70’s. With the dawning of the new year, news that the music world feared came true, that Bowie had been seriously ill for years and had passed away. Like when most celebrities pass away, interest and demand for their output rises and it took me a bit of work to secure a copy of this box, in anticipation of its arrival I used the time to pour back over David’s back catalog of this era, from The Man Who Sold The World through Aladdin Sane as well as the few official live records, the brilliant Santa Monica 72 show, the Ziggy soundtrack, and the David Live were all in steady rotation.

Such an unimaginative title for such a imaginative boxful. Across four discs and 105 songs, Cliff Richard's earliest catalog comes in for precisely the kind of treatment every rock & roll star should have: an all-encompassing study of his most important period. Even more impressively, though the song titles all sound familiar, the performances rarely are. Thirty-seven tracks are bona fide unreleased (South African 78s notwithstanding), but several dozen more are culled from scarce EP-only mixes, rarely resurfacing B-sides, and unusual mixes.

Such an unimaginative title for such a imaginative boxful. Across four discs and 105 songs, Cliff Richard's earliest catalog comes in for precisely the kind of treatment every rock & roll star should have: an all-encompassing study of his most important period. Even more impressively, though the song titles all sound familiar, the performances rarely are. Thirty-seven tracks are bona fide unreleased (South African 78s notwithstanding), but several dozen more are culled from scarce EP-only mixes, rarely resurfacing B-sides, and unusual mixes. One cut, an undubbed take of "Willie and the Hand Jive," was hitherto available only on a mid-'80s budget-priced single disc, covering much the same period as this. It wasn't aimed at collectors, it wasn't heavily advertised, and it probably didn't sell many copies. Of such things do completists dream, but when you have a beakful of hen's teeth to sort through, do such things really matter? Discs one through three are the conventional ones.

The term 'rock 'n' roll' has become a kind of punchline, a synonym for dusty gender roles, old-fashioned, wide-legged quirkiness that has become music. So, as in so much today, it's about time to renew completely – THE Deadnotes call their third album "Rock 'n'roll Savior" and thus give the diffuse collective word a contemporary, long overdue update.