Tune Tag #92 with David Ross of A Bin Full of Tissues: Diana Ross, English Beat, Wham!, Associates, Marilyn McCoo & Billy Davis Jr., Nerves, Miracles, Paul Young

Like The Ricardos & Mertzes driving to Hollywood, we're all over the map on this one! A little rock, a little soul; a little pop, a little roll. We just may have to get up to get down!

Tag….oops! You’re IT, Dave!

Tune Tag welcomes

David Ross

of

A Bin Full Of Tissues

!

Last week, we were graced by the presence of

Kristin DeMarr

of

All the Things She Said

:

Tune Tag #91 with Kristin DeMarr of All the Things She Said: Donna Summer, Pet Shop Boys, Isley Brothers, Sons of Champlin, Daughter, Pointer Sisters

Next week, tune into the continuing Tune Tag saga, as we welcome

Gayle Ramage

of

Music, Movies, Stories and Mutterings

!

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Yeah, this is Paul Weller. Wanna make sumpin’ of it?😊As for homestead, Dave says he’s “Equidistant between Windsor and Slough. From the front, I can see Windsor Castle. From the back, Slough sewage works!” Creative Googlery revealed that “Windsor and Slough are, indeed, two nearby towns in the South East of England, with Slough located to the north of Windsor. They are both part of the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead, though Slough is also part of its own unitary authority.” IKR? That is SO Slough!

Dave: I turn 60 this year. I write about music for a hobby. I work in community transport helping those who can’t get out and about using regular transport through disability or just plain old age.

Our tag line is “Delivering Independence and Tackling Isolation”. The scale of the challenge is huge and growing as public funding is cut. It’s why I’m playing tennis for 16 hours on 21st June to raise funds and awareness. My Just Giving page you ask? Of course, it’s just here… Dave’s Tennis-A-Thon.

I don’t usually do photos, but Brad asked nicely, so here’s a picture of The Jam’s Paul Weller looking a bit like me. It’s actually incredible how much the young Paul Weller looks like one of my sons, but maybe that’s for another time.

My latest Substack piece was on Paul Weller, so perhaps it’s serendipity:

Getting Mella' With That Wella' Fella'

Brad contacted me about Tune Tag, and I leapt in without thought as usual, but I’m very glad I did! So here we go….

David’s song #1 sent to Brad: The Associates, “Club Country,” 1982 (Sulk album)

(l-r) Alan Rankine, Billy MacKenzie. Scotland’s Herald called Associates music, “A utopian idea of adventurous pop that took its influences – Bowie, obviously, Roxy, Sparks, yes, but film soundtracks and 1960s pop too – and forged them into something new.”

Dave’s rationale: I sent Brad The Associates - “Club Country” from their Sulk album (1982), quite simply because it’s my favourite song of all time! Not only that, it marked a move from borrowing music from my older brother or friends to discovering something that was mine: 16, clumsy and shy.

Recovering from a broken ankle suffered playing football (soccer), and this song entered my world via Top Of The Pops. I. Was. Hooked:

Billy MacKenzie and Alan Rankine had my heart and soul. How could I have known in 1982 that 43 years later this euphoric, relentless whirlwind of a song would still mean so much, and that Billy in particular would have become the artist of my life?

Scotland’s Associates (l-r): Lead singer, Billy MacKenzie and guitarist, Alan Rankine.

With Billy, at 39, tragically taking his own life in 1997, he became something else, something outside of the music: Someone to miss, to mourn and revere. His music with and without The Associates still surprises and thrills like no other. How much does he mean, Dave?

I think this staggering opportunity I had a couple of years ago to interview his friend and collaborator for the last year of his life, Steve Aungle, will go some way to explaining. We discussed many things including a 3-CD collection, Satellite Life. To be able to properly introduce The Associates to Brad is such a pleasure. Too much to say “privilege”? I cannot wait to hear what he thinks.

Brad’s response: Hadn’t heard of The Associates before. 1982 was just at the end of my decade in radio and retail records, so I was beginning a transition to a major career change at that time. As for ‘80s artists, I had a few favorites that seemed to swim in similar genre waters as The Associates, namely ABC, Spandau Ballet, and, in 1985, discovering Scritti Politti.

Above: In researching the duo, I found it fascinating that their first recording was the unauthorized June 1979 release of David Bowie’s just-released “Boys Keep Swinging” (late April 1979, written by Bowie and Brian Eno) six weeks after Bowie released it on his 1979 Lodger album. Bowie’s David Mallet-directed music video (released two years before MTV emerged) was played (along with his “D.J.” music vid) for customers at Houston’s Cactus Records, where I worked from 1978-1980. Bowie and his original “Boys Keep Swinging”:

Brad’s song #1 sent to David: Diana Ross, “I Thought It Took a Little Time (But Today I Fell in Love),” 1976

Miss Ross, 1976 📸Harry Langdon/Getty Images

Dave’s response: Could Brad have linked to my surname and Auntie Diana (as I like to call her)? It’s such a gorgeous song and so evocative for me. Two sisters (ten and twelve years older than I) meant that I was surrounded by pop music from a very young age….this song puts me in their bedroom, a sensory overload of sights, sounds and smells!

Bins full of tissues from made-up faces, cheap perfume and Motown classics. Diana is such a superstar, it’s easy to overlook the sheer gossamer beauty of her voice. Great choice, Brad.

Or, maybe the title refers to Brad hearing “Club Country” and The Associates, and he’s fallen in love in a flash just as I did in 1982! I’m so jealous of the journey of discovery he has ahead of him. As we originally connected through a mutual love of another ‘80s genius, Green Gartside of Scritti Politti (shown below), I’m certain The Associates will become a huge part of his life.

(l-r) Scritti Politti (Green Gartside, David Gamson, and Fred Maher) look kind of blue as they flank the seated legend, Miles Davis, circa 1988. Now that the four were all on Warner Bros. Records, their collaboration access was heightened, and they took advantage: Davis covered Scritti’s 1985 hit, “Perfect Way” on the trumpeter’s 1986 TuTu album. On the band’s 1988 album, Provision, Miles played guest trumpet on “Oh Patti (Don’t Feel Sorry For Loverboy).”

All this being said, I will avoid the obvious and won’t be making The Associates’ cover of Diana’s Love Hangover my second song. Diana’s remains the definitive version, sexy and sumptuous. Right, on to my next choice and for this, I’ll take myself out of my comfort zone and directly into Motown, then quickly back to what I know, and a Ska cover!

Brad’s rationale: Pam Sawyer, the great London-born songwriter, wrote this 1976 song (along with Michael Masser, who produced, with Gene Page arranging) for Diana Ross. Sometime in 1976, this 21-year-old sent a cassette tape (with this song on it…Diana’s version) to longtime friend and fellow native Houstonian, Lisa Hartman.

She had just recorded her debut album for Kirshner/CBS Records (produced by living legend, Jeff Barry…see FR&B article below), and I thought this would be a perfect song for Lisa to cover for her album #2! I didn’t hear back, and she never recorded it.

Video to Vinyl, 1976: Debut Lisa Hartman LP on Kirshner/CBS, Produced by Jeff Barry

Jeff Barry, in the late-’70s, also wrote songs with FRONT ROW & BACKSTAGE exclusive contributor, Stephen Michael Schwartz. Here’s one of them, in a complete and rare demo with Stephen singing and playing guitar, fully-produced by Barry:

Stephen Michael Schwartz, Off the Clef #3: The Late '70s Collab Sessions, "Light Years Away" w/Jeff Barry SONG DEMO

The Associates included a Pam Sawyer/Marilyn McLeod cover song (“Love Hangover,” recorded by Diana on her 1976 self-titled album) on their Sulk album, but only on the U.S. and EU version…not included on the UK and Canada releases, which may trip up the UK-tied Dave. We’ll see.

Marilyn McCoo & Billy Davis, Jr. recorded the song 2 years after Diana, and performed it on their short-lived TV variety show:

David’s song #2: The English Beat, “Tears of a Clown,” 1979