A stopgap of sorts, as the disc I had intended to bring you today has yet to arrive on the mail. Here’s 60’s pop icon Paul Jones, the former vocalist with Manfred Mann, performing a pair of punk hits, courtesy of producer Tim Rice in what he called a ‘sophisticated, beautifully orchestrated’ style. The pair had collaborated before: in 1976 Jones performed the role of Juan Peron on the original concept album of Rice and Lloyd Webber’s musical Evita.Based, Rice candidly admits, on ‘a weird idea of mine to rearrange a Sex Pistols song to sound like an easy listening ballad,’ this horrific disc was issued by RSO in April 1978, and you’d have to assume that all involved must have thought it a jolly good wheeze. Well it isn’t. It’s dreadful, and it should never have been allowed. Thankfully it did not chart.
So, a short post this week but a worthy one nevertheless. Here’s Paul Jones singing Pretty Vacant and its b-side, a cover of the Ramones classic Sheena Is A Punk Rocker.
Enjoy!
Download Vacant HERE
Download Sheena HERE