ALAN
CLAYSON & THE ARGONAUTS - Sunset On A Legend
(Damaged Goods, UK) 2CD ALAN
CLAYSON & THE ARGONAUTS - Sunset On A Legend
(Damaged Goods, UK) 2CD
Alan
Clayson is probably best known these days as a rather prolific author on the
subject of rock and/or roll (and of course a writer for this magazine), but
back in the late ‘70s and early ‘80s he was the front man for an incredibly
strange and at times strangely incredible combo called Clayson & the
Argonauts. Their 1978 single “The Taster” b/w “Landwaster” and other
items from their discography have acquired something of a collectors’ buzz
over the years (“Superman ‘42” was included on. the Messthetics series,
for example), while bizarre tales about their live shows continue to circulate,
fueling their cult status.
The
result is this 2CD anthology on Damaged Goods, which gathers together most of
their recorded legacy, much of it previously unreleased, including a complete
live concert from 1977. With 38 tracks spanning a period of over 20 years (1973-
95), and
sequenced non-chronologically, it is, as Clayson himself might say, something of
a curate’s egg. Clayson’s music has that same streak of quaintly English
eccentricity that ran through the work of such outsider acts as Screaming Lord
Sutch, the Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band arid John Otway. Those who find that kind of
eccentricity appealing—rather than, say, disturbing—will find much to engage
and amuse them here.
Clayson’s
witty, literate—if sometimes wordy— lyrics consistently illicit surprise if
not outright hilarity, whether he’s dredging up subject matter from ancient or
modern history (“Landwaster”; “Superman ‘42/Rue Morgue”), pop
culture (“Rebel Rocker”) or science fiction pulps (“Sol Nova”). The
arrangements are equally inventive, ranging from a quasi big-band format to the
more stripped-down chansons style of some of the singer’s later work.
Unfortunately, some tracks are marred somewhat by dodgy ‘80s production values—you
all know the drum sound I’m talking about.
For sheer
entertainment, the ‘77 concert is perhaps the highlight of the package, with
its over-the-top version of Charles Aznavour’s “The Ham’ and a ludicrous
medley stacking up “Ghost Riders in the Sky,” “Lord Rockingham Meets the
Monster,” ‘Arnold Layne” and Anthony Newley’s 1962 novelty “That
Noise!”
The eight-page CD booklet includes suitably witty liners by Clayson and some vintage photos but seems a little skimpy to do justice to what is otherwise a very comprehensive anthology. (MS)
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ALAN CLAYSON & THE ARGONAUTS SUNSET ON A LEGEND Damaged Goods DG 257
2cd
Alan Clayson is inmiddels in Groot-Brittanië een gevierd schrijver. Maar bij
Damaged Goods herinneren ze zich nog dat Alan de opschepperige zanger was van
Clayson & The Argonauts. Op de eerste cd opnames uit de jaren zeventig en
tachtig. Op de andere cd een niet eerder uitgebrachte live show uit 1977,
Roundhouse Theatre, London.
Review: Konkurrent
Alan Clayson are meanwhile in Groot-Brittanië a celebrated writer. But at Damaged Goods they remind themselves still that Alan were the opschepperige zanger of Clayson & The Argonauts. On the first cd prerecordings from the years seventy and eighty. Not live a show from 1977, Roundhouse Theatre, London earlier brought out on the other cd.
Review: Konkurrent
copyright Alan
Clayson