Name: Bright Young Things
Price: 111.9 RON
Availability: InStock
Author: Mark Goodall
ISBN: 9783955752378

Bright Young Things: the art and philosophy of el records

Mark Goodall

en Limba Engleză Paperback – 14 apr 2025

Das Porträt des wahrscheinlich interessantesten Labels der Geschichte des Pop.

Auch wenn das britische él-Label nur in den Jahren von 1984 bis 1988 existierte, war sein Einfluss auf alles, was danach kam, immens. él eröffnete den Zugang zu einem musikalischen Paralleluniversum, in dem Lederjacken, Tattoos, Macker- und Muckertum verpönt waren, und leistete so beispielsweise einer dringend notwendigen Feminisierung des zeitgenössischen Pop Vorschub. Gegründet von Mike Alway, der in den frühen Achtzigern für das ebenfalls legendäre Cherry-Red-Label Bands wie Everything But The Girl und Felt entdeckte, verschmolz él den Bubblegum-Style der Sixties mit französisch geprägtem Kammerpop, Humor in der Tradition eines Oscar Wildes und der epischen Breite eines Film-Soundtracks zu einem ganz besonderen Juwel in der Schatztruhe musikalischer Extravaganz.

Mark Goodall positioniert in 'Bright Young Things' das Label in seinem historischen Kontext, führt in Koautorenschaft mit Mike Alway Interviews mit der Mehrzahl der beteiligten Künstler*innen und würdigt die wichtigsten Veröffentlichungen von èl.

Eine Veröffentlichung in englischer Sprache.

'Britain's great musical secret of the 1980s.' - Jonathan Coe

'él was a four-year statement of intent.' - Alan McGee

Citește tot Restrânge

Descriere

el records was created in 1984 by Mike Alway. Alway was A&R man for Cherry Red signing artists such as Everything But the Girl, The Monochrome Set and Felt. Alway left Cherry Red to help run Blanco Y Negro (an offshoot of WEA) but soon felt constrained but the conservativism of the commercial music sector and left to set up his own label. el was once described as 'the most innately English record label there has ever been' and yet had a global appeal. Alway must be the only record label boss to have had four songs written about him... Alway's mercurial approach was to take complete control of the repertoire, the philosophy of the label's releases and even the titles of songs in the manner of pop impresarios of the past. Alway became a curator, selecting, shaping and overseeing the records issued on el. He employed songwriters proficient in classical pop techniques such as Nicholas Currie (AKA Momus) and Philippe Auclair (AKA Louis Philippe) who in addition to issuing their own records wrote, arranged and performed for other el artistes and used creative talents such as photographer Nick Wesolowski and designer Jim Phelan to create the el 'look'. el had a unique flavour eschewing the traditions of rock and indie music of the mid 1980s, exhibiting instead a taste for 1960s bubbelgum and chamber pop, the European chanson tradition, Latin rhythms and film scores (one of el's key players was child prodigy Simon Turner who wrote music for the films of Derek Jarman). The ethos of the label was decidedly un-macho and many of el's key artists were female. El's first single 'I, Bloodbrother Be' by Shock Headed Peters was an uncompromising gay anthem. Alway saw el as a celebration of elegance and beauty, in his own words, 'a pop world beyond leather jackets and jeans'. While record sales were disappointing, this unique blend was critically acclaimed in the UK and popular in America and mainland Europe while in Japan el had a profound effect, directly influencing the Shibuya-kei phenomenon that included Pizzicato Five, Cornelius and Kahimi Karie. Bright Young Things is the first book to tell the fascinating story of el, one of the most influential indie labels of all time.

Notă biografică

Mark Goodall has written widely on music and film in both academic and commercial spheres. His books included The Beatles or The White Album (2018), Gathering of the Tribe: Music and Heavy Conscious Creation (2013; new edition due 2022) and Sweet and Savage: The World, Through the Mondo Film Lens (2009; second edition 2018). He co-edited New Media Archaeology (University of Amsterdam Press, 2018) and edited a special edition of Film International (2019). He has written for The Guardian, The Independent, The New European and Shindig! and plays with the group Rudolf Rocker whose song 'Voodoo Lady' was used in the BBC series The League of Gentlemen. Mark Goodall, Jahrgang 1965, lebt und arbeitet im nordenglischen Bradford als Associate Professor für Film und Medien an der dortigen Universität. Goodall hat mehrere Bücher u.a. über das 'Weiße' Album der Beatles, Musik und Okkultismus und das Genre des Mondo-Films verfasst. Journalistisch war er für The Guardian, The Independent und Shinding! tätig. Er spielt in der Post-Punk-Band Rudolf Rocker, deren Song 'Voodoo Lady' durch die britische Sitcom 'The League of Gentlemen' Kultstatus erreichte.