N°40 - CHRIS SINGLETON - LADY GASOLINE

Not much to mention about this song except that Chris Singleton is a Dublin born artist. So far he released two albums. Twisted City in 2006 and Lady Gasoline last year (2010). This last album contains only three singles of which the one posted here obviously is the title track and the album is supposed to tell the story of a lustfull muse. 

Twisted City on the other hand is a journey through with the London tube through the city and his impression on different stops of the underground metro.

Enjoy.

N°39 THE DUBLINERS - WHISKEY IN THE JAR

Nothing about the band this time since my time to write this is limited but let's give some background information about the song.

It's a typical Irish drinking song fom the southern counties Cork and Kerry. It is actually sung like this by Thin  Lizzy and Metallica while The Dubliners sing 'far farmed Kerry mountains'. It's a song about betrayal as well by the main character being a thief and robber but also about the woman he loves who betrays him with another man.

The song should origin back to 1650 since it has much similarities with a song called Patrick Flemming. Other sources say it originates to another song. We'll never know for sure I guess. It was also a very well know drinking song in America but there it got wraped by using mainly American characters. It appears on numerous albums since the 1950's around the globe. It even has Israëlian, Swedish and Russian versions so the least you can say is that it's very very very well known.

Enjoy,

N°12 CHRIS DE BURGH - SPANISH TRAIN

Although he’s Irish, Christopher John Davison was born in 1948 in Venado Tuerta, Santa Fe, Argentina. His whole lifetime he’s been travelling around the world. First with his family since his father was a British diplomat. In his childhood he lived in Argentina, Malta, Nigeria, Zaire, … before ending up at his grandfather’s place; a castle in Bargy Castle. His parents converted the castle into a small hotel where Christopher entertained the guests from time to time.

Chris took his mother’s maiden name De Burgh as his stage name when he signed A&M Records in 1974 after graduating with Master of Arts degree in French, English and History from the world wide known Trinity College in Dublin. Chris always had a story to tell with each album and it was clear he was ready to spread his wings away from the place he grew up in as he named it ‘Far Beyond These Castle Walls’. This album was very much folk inspired and it conquered Europe and South America. So did all of his other 70’s albums which never impressed in the UK and Ireland.

In the early 1980’s he first released an album collecting his best 1970’s songs. This album was called ‘Best Moves’ followed by a new album ‘The Getaway’ which contained his first real UK successes. The best known song from this latest album is ‘Don’t pay the Ferryman’. Later in the 80’s he’d scored his ultimate hit with ‘Lady In Red’. This song from the album ‘Into The Light’ was inspired by the moment he met his wife Diane in a crowded nightclub. He’d later explain the song as: “Often people never quite appreciate that the most important person in their lives is taken for granted, and how after a while you fail to notice the things that brought you together.” Once after a private concert the late Diana, Princess of Wales would come to see him to thank him for writing the song since she thought it was dedicated to her.

Another notable song from the 80’s is ‘Patricia The Stripper’, which he from time to time performed with an actual stripper on stage.He scores huge in Germany where all of his concerts are always sold out. This popularity lead to an invitation by the German chanceler to perform at a concert to celebrate the unification of East- and West Germany in 1990. He was the only non German artist performing that day which is a great honour.

He kept producing albums with A&M and in 1995 he was able to release ‘Beautifull Dreams’; a compilation of new and old work recorded in a classical style with a 32-piece orchestra. His 1999 album ‘Quiet Revolution’ was indeed a revolution because he’d started to perform with a band instead of an orchestra. More albums were released throughout the years 2000 containing other beautifull songs like ‘Lebanese Night’ and in 2004 he cut himself of from A&M releasing ‘The Road To Freedom’ on his own Ferryman Records label. Once more the album title referred to a new turn in his life and career.

Chris is well known as a singer but if you listen very carefully all of his albums and songs contain an actual story about different subject as life, death, mythology, love, war. You hear it very much in his early works as ‘Crusaders’ and the song I chose ‘Spanish Train’ but it is also heared on the 2006 album ‘The Storyman’. Telling stories has always been the base of his success and with this album he’s sticking to that. I have to hear any of his new songs yet (album Moonfleet released in 2010) but I guess it will be another pearl in his wide collection of albums.

Although ‘Lady in Red’ was inspired by his wife Diana and despite the three children they have together (his daughter Rosanna won the Miss World elections for Ireland in 2003 !) he did make one wrong turn in his life. In 1994 Chris De Burgh pleaded guilty to his wife having an affair with the 19 year old Irish nanny while his wife was recuperating in the hospital from a broken neck after a horse riding accident. His family eventually forgave him and he and his wife can be spotted at regular times at Anfield Road since hey’re both huge Liverpool FC fans.

If you listen to the song I chose you’ll notice it’s about the devil and God gambling high stakes for the souls of dead people. Another great story told by one of the best Storymen alive on earth. The gambling part links perfectly into the previous song so I’ll hope you can enjoy this beauty: