K&C were one of those occasional shoulda/coulda music biz sad stories; after a couple of DIY albums that sold a remarkable 20,000 copies in the pre-internet days, they got signed to a major label (Island) and then got dropped almost immediately. Lead singer Carol Noonan, however, went on to release a whole mess of well-received solo efforts of similar quality in a similar stylistic vein and she's also, as I just learned, a big NPR fave and the co-proprietress of the Stone Mountain Arts Center in Maine.
In any case, I bring the whole thing up because I also just learned that Harry Shearer's wife(!) Judith Owen -- who I had never heard of until last Monday morning -- had written and recorded her own "Creatures of Habit" in 2008, and it's pretty damned impressive as well.
I should also add that the bit about not being able to copyright a title is actually true; apparently, if you wanted to publish a novel about a flatulent meteorologist and call it Gone With the Wind you would be completely within your rights. If there are any lawyers out there reading this, feel free to clarify it if I'm wrong.
[h/t Captain Al]
4 comments:
1/steve, thanks for running this blog and bringing to our attention all sorts of stuff - diverting, entertaining, moving and meaningful - i come here because it enriches my life
2/and speaking of titles, although "power pop" is not among the several genres he works in as stated by his wikipedia article, many of your readers have no doubt heard of richard melville hall under his stage name, derived from the title of the most famous american novel about a whale
3/coincidentally, yesterday i watched a movie in which he expresses his opinions - he is not the central figure, but rather one of a number of interviewees - endgame 2050 - which "lays out the existential crises bearing down on the planet and underscores the harsh reality that, unless we take responsibility and act urgently now, we are hastening our own destruction"
to paraphrase his remarks, he argues that if people are really this evil and stupid, maybe it's just as well that our species becomes part of the mass extinction we're causing
4/this really harshes my mellow, to use an antique phrase - but i'm not completely certain he's wrong - it probably won't be as bad as he's saying
4/anyway, there's a while between now and midcentury - in this life you have some trouble, when you worry you make it double
Don't know if you need another "Creatures Of HabitS", but here's one. Andrew Ratshin is a Seattle Folkie who had a bit of a run in the 80s with an acoustic trio named Uncle Bonsai. In the early 90s, he masterminded a larger acoustic group named The Mel Cooleys (a Dick Vann Dyke Show character). They recorded 2 concerts in 1991 or 1992, then had to make many studio fixes. Hence the album title "Live? In Seattle." The CD came out in '93.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jVIheKhXk60&list=OLAK5uy_l46d0gfOynukzeZg-gfKnHUSQ1tyyVifQ&index=4&ab_channel=MelCooleys-Topic
Judith is great! Plus, she has the guys from the Section on her records!
paulinca
Judith Owen sang backing vocals on Richard Thompson’s incredibly good early-21st century albums, specifically Mock Tudor, The Old Kit Bag, and Sweet Warrior (yeah, Mock Tudor was released in late 1999, but I’m still counting it). Those three discs are jaw-droppingly-good, even by RT standards.
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