I am currently reading Bedsit Disco Queen by Tracey Thorn.
It is well written and an interesting read as you would expect from someone with a first in English literature.
She is obviously mostly famous for her work with partner Ben Watt in Everything But The Girl.
They are not a band I have anything on apart from their Covers EP from 1982.
After a few quirky indie albums they seemed to change direction with a cover of Rod Stewart's I Don't Want to Talk About It which became their biggest hit and led to this follow up EP.
She has also done solo stuff and collaborations with the likes of The Style Council (Paris Match on Cafe Bleu), The Go-Betweens (she was best pals with their drummer Lindy Morrison) and Massive Attack.
I am quite intrigued as to references to her earlier work with the all girl band The Marine Girls with two albums Beach Party from 1981 and Lazy Ways from 1983. If anyone has any gen on them I would be glad to here it.
Everything But The Girl - Time After Time
Everything But The Girl - Alison
One of my many favorite things about Everything But The Girl and their individual parts, Tracey Thorn and Ben Watt, is their willingness to transform, experiment and change. From New Jazz Pop to Indie/Alternative, Smooth Jazz and House, their ability to tackle changes has provided this fan with hours of wonderful music. They didn't always please the critics - especially around their Language of Love and Worldwide albums, but those albums contain some of my favorite tracks. Ben's solo material before EBTG is jazzy, bluesy and forshadowed a lot of 80's and 90's alt singer/songwriter sounds. Tracey's solo and Marine Girls work is also wonderfully DIY and heartfelt. Her work after the end of EBTG has been bold and really quite gorgeous. Ben's 2014 solo album is one of the best albums of 2014 to these ears, filled with emotion and confidence.
ReplyDeleteCheers Echorich - your comment would have made a worthy postscript to the book!
ReplyDeleteYou'll find some Marine Girls and Tracy on Cherry Red's compilation album Pillows and Prayers - but don't pay more than 99p for the album! Got a lovely Felt track on it... and that Monochrome Set one too...
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