Monday 10 October 2016

James Young - 'Songs They Never Play On The Radio'

James Young - 'Songs They Never Play On The Radio'


Title - 'Songs They Never Play On The Radio'
Artist - James Young
James Edward Young (born September 17, 1952) is a British musician and writer. Young grew up in Oldham, Lancashire and began learning piano at the age of 7. He studied Art History briefly at the University of East Anglia before moving to Oxford to study at the Polytechnic and in 1982 was accepted as an MPhil student at Oxford University.
This period coincided with his meeting Nico (Velvet Underground) and Young took the decision to work with her instead of continuing with academic life. Young toured and recorded as keyboard player and arranger with the group Faction until Nico's death in 1988. Since then Young has written books, recorded solo albums, created BBC radio features, written on Outsider Art and curated exhibitions.
Re-Releasing on November 4th, 2016 via Gonzo Multimedia, Songs They Never Play On The Radio is based on Young's memoir of his years traveling with Nico, and was published to international critical acclaim in 1993. Indeed, the audio album followed a year later in 1994, mainly because Alan McGee (Creation Records) had read the book and asked Young if he'd be interested in making a record that evoked it.
Ergo, highlights from that album are contained here as well as later songs and instrumental pieces relating to Young's life on the road with Nico.
1. 'Songs They Never Play On The Radio'
2. 'Breathe Into Me'
3. 'Down By The Wannasee'
4. 'The Door'
5. 'Burn Away'
6. 'She's In My Eyes'
7. 'Planète Poussière'
8. 'The Cigarette Ends'
9. 'Listen To The Rain'
10. 'Plastik Exploding Inevitable'
11. 'Curious'
12. 'Dog' (live Berlin)
13. My Funny Valentine' (live Berlin)
In more detail, the story of Young's Songs They Never Play On The Radio surrounds the aforementioned Nico, former model, film actress, singer with the Velvet Underground and darling of Andy Warhol's factory. In 1982 Nico was living in Manchester, alone and interested only in feeding her heroin habit. Local promoter Dr Demetrius saw an opportunity, hired musicians to back her, rented a decrepit van and set off with Nico and the band on a disastrous tour of Italy.
Over the next six years, until her death in 1988, Nico toured the world with assorted thrown-together bands. They made next to no money, appalled many of their audiences and occasionally, on the rare nights when the music worked, pleased a few.
James Young played keyboards for Nico throughout those years and so here on Songs They Never Play On The Radio, his "records" collected from those never-ending antics of a picaresque circus of addicts, outsiders and misfits who traveled the world (ie: East and Western Europe, the United States, Australia and Japan) are now lovingly brought forth. Inclusive of lyrics that retell tales of encountering an equally bizarre and extraordinary mixture of people: poets, artists, gangsters, losers and drifters, this brand new audio recording is something to behold for all fans, or inquisitive bystanders of both Young and especially Nico.


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