Tuesday 1 October 2013

Mawkish Mule: Marc Jordan: The Tears of Hercules

What's schmaltz and what is genuinely moving?
When does 'MOR' become something MORE?
Ask Jimmy Webb.
Ask Glenn Campbell.
Sometimes it's simply about the mysteries of a song...
And the quality of a performance...


5 comments:

  1. I say "moving" on Hercules. But I'll be damned if it doesn't sound like Marc ripped off the melody of your tune Guggenheim!!! Am I cuckoo?

    As I've mentioned before, I would probably never have given Marc Jordan a chance had it not been for your "Rita" name-check in ICC. His early stuff received some radio airplay here. Marina Del Ray was a hit that sounded like a Jimmy Buffet toss-off, and a couple of other tunes just seemed to be awful west-coast MOR crap. As for his resume of artists covering his tunes... Yikes! So picking up Make Believe Ballroom was a true surprise.

    Jordan does indeed walk a fine line between MOR/schmaltz and classic songwriting. Just my opinion, but I'd say a lot of the time he falls towards the former, but once in a while he creates a classic. Some faves... Lulu (love it!), Rita, Hercules, London In The Rain, Little Lambs, All Show, Same Mistake, Waiting For A Miracle - tell me he wasn't channeling Blue Nile on that one... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f63ymjCpvoM

    I've been dragging my feet picking up Crucifix in Dreamland, which appears to be a move away from the jazzy gig to a country-tinged sound, is it?

    Also, you probably already know Jordan has a new release "On A Perfect Day" out October 15... http://www.marcjordan.com/

    And he's really gotta lose those glasses...

    PS: Another of those weird coincidences... Yesterday was enjoying Jimmy's '10 Easy Pieces' & Glenn's 'Reunion' whilst driving to/from Myrna's check-up in TO. (On pins and needles awaiting results...)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Totally agree with you about Jordan TT. The classics are invariably the ballads; he just can't resist the Vegas schtick too. I was looking at the new release yesterday... need to be more discerning as the CD pile is ever growing. Also noticed that Mr Webb had another due, 'Still Within the Sound of My Voice' sounds a self regarding title but... hell, isn't that what we songwriters do? It's got some obvious duets (Kristofferson/Lovett etc) but I notice that Del Amitri's Justin Currie is there too.
    Maybe, looking through those glasses Jimmy thought he'd booked Dolly Parton; maybe Currie thought he was working with Trevor Horn...
    Also intrigued by the new Campbell 'See You There', although there's a whiff of a 'Johnny Cash In' about it all?

    ReplyDelete
  3. That makes no sense does it? I'm mixing my Jimmy's with my Marc's. Those specs do make him look like a Thunderbird though, don't they?

    ReplyDelete
  4. I adored Glen' s Ghost On A Canvas album, still do. And I also like See You There, especially his new version of Witchita. But i think it's more akin to Rubin' s albums with Neil Diamond rather than Johnny Cash. And due to his illness I don't think we can expect much more. So let's be grateful for as much Glen as we can get :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. Agree Nick. Cash, Campbell, Kris, Willie, even (shit) Bruce. There is music in their veins. I'm sure that their DNA demands (and I respectfully hope) that their last breath would be song...

    ReplyDelete