Willy Wonka and the Divine Comedy

Wonka is streaming on Max and it's of course visually dazzling, given that it's directed by the great Paul King. But I had been unaware til now that all its original songs are written by Neil Hannon. So that's cool. I was going to say that Hannon and Stephin Merritt were the TP artists most qualified to be writing musicals, but to my surprise, Hannon doesn't appear to technically be a TP artist, since if The Divine Comedy has an entry on this site, I can't locate it. There's a forum post from 20 years ago pointing out that an entry for The Divine Comedy is needed. Apparently, that's still a TBD.

Anyhow, Hannon's songs for Wonka are sufficiently charming. I doubt that any of them achieve immortality like "Pure Imagination," but they're plenty good for their context.

Meanwhile, in other streaming movie news, the strange but interesting Adam Sandler flick Spaceman currently on Netflix boasts a new Sparks song over the closing credits. I was pretty surprised and delighted when Russell's voice popped up as the movie was ending.

Divine Comedy is one of the acts I find intriguing but I don't know well; I bought the two-disc "best of" but don't listen often. I saw them at the Fleadh Festival in London in 1997; it's been a long time!

It's funny. I loved Stephen Emmer's "International Blue" album in 2015. It's an album trafficking in a variety of baritone singers aiming for a Scott Walker, late 60s arty/MOR vibe. I bought it for the participation of vocalists like Glenn Gregory and Midge Ure. One of the new to me singers on it was Neil Crossley of the band Furlined," whom I'd never heard of. The song" Sleep For England" was amazing.

<fast forward one year>

I was in Nashville to see Bryan Ferry in 2016 and went to Grimey's to shop for music. I’d loved Neil Crossley’s contributions to “International Blue,”so I was hot to hear Neil’s band The Divine Comedy. I had never seen this material in a used bin before and Grimey's had two, so I bought both CDs. I later discovered that my mind had confused Neil Crossley [of Furlined] with Neil Hannon, who was in fact the lead singer of The Divine Comedy, but instead of being disappointed, I found that the “Absent Friends” CD delivered exactly the sort of richly orchestrated, baritone male, literate pop that I had been expecting, much to my surprise and delight! What are the odds?!

Former TP subscriber [81, 82, 83, 84]

[postpunkmonk.com]
For further rumination on the Fresh New Sound of Yesterday®

Monk, thanks for the heads up on Stephen Emmer! Your description of International Blue was intriguing, so I checked it out and enjoyed it very much. Even better, I saw that Emmer's 1982 EP/mini-album Vogue Estate featured Billy McKenzie and Martha Ladly, so I had to check that out and it sounded pretty great to my ears - there are few things I enjoy more than stumbling across a prime chunk of '82 that I was previously completely unfamiliar with.

Emmer spent time in Minny Pops and the Lotus Eaters, two bands that I've liked most of what I've heard by but have never spent a lot of time with. Time to do some homework.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/09/2024 06:02PM by breno.

As a MacKenzie cultist, "Vogue Estate" was a must have! And it's got a track to help make a 5 cut EP of Martha Ladly solo goodness as well with her other two singles.

Former TP subscriber [81, 82, 83, 84]

[postpunkmonk.com]
For further rumination on the Fresh New Sound of Yesterday®

On Spotify, most of what's available from Martha Ladly are children's recordings in collaboration with the composer Robert Howes featuring the likes of Stephen Fry, Rod Argent, Dame Judi Dench, Bill Oddie, etc. Given the caliber of those involved, I reckon it's the Ladly and not someone with an identical name. I wish there were more than five solo songs from her Associates/Muffins/Roxy era. "Hey Diddle Diddle" and "I Went Out To a Farm One Day" are all well and good, but not really my speed.