#still not over the fact that tommy helped deliver charlie into the world | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

stylesnews · 3 years

Link

A year ago, the guitar was in dire straits. With songs like Travis Scott’s “Sicko Mode,” Ariana Grande’s “7 Rings,” Lizzo’s “Truth Hurts” and Panic! At the Disco’s “High Hopes” among the most consumed of 2019, programmed beats and horns were the sonic flavors of popular music. Sure, there were outliers — the Jonas Brothers’ “Sucker,” Maroon 5’s “Memories” and Post Malone’s “Circles” among them — but as the rock and alternative genres embraced artists like Billie Eilish, whose innovative music made the traditional band approach feel outdated, the days of chords and solos seemed numbered if not headed towards irrelevance.

Then came the coronavirus pandemic and things changed. Forced to perform from home or in rooms not intended for live music during lockdown, many artists went back to basics and out came the trusty six-string. For iHeartRadio’s “Living Room Concert for America” in March, Foo Fighters’ Dave Grohl played an acoustic Guild on “My Hero”; Billie Joe Armstrong from Green Day strummed to his band’s “Boulevard of Broken Dreams”; and even Eilish, with her collaborator brother Finneas, sang her hit “Bad Guy” accompanied by only a Fender acoustic. Other benefit livestreams like Global Citizen’s “One World Together At Home” event saw the Rolling Stones, Keith Urban and Shawn Mendes strip down their hit songs for unplugged versions. And in April, Miley Cyrus delivered an emotional cover of Pink Floyd’s “Wish You Were Here” on “Saturday Night Live” with Andrew Watt, himself a COVID survivor, on guitar.

At the same time, there was an electric guitar solo being heard on one of the most-played songs in the United States. Harry Styles’ “Adore You,” which has logged 1.1 million radio spins in 2020, according to Mediabase, and has been streamed more than 400 million times, per Alpha Data, features the playing of Kid Harpoon (real name: Tom Hull), Styles’ friend and producer, who handled the guitar parts for much of the Brit’s excellent “Fine Line” album, released in Dec. 2019. As it turns out, the melody of the solo, which also serves as the bridge to “Adore You,” was first hummed by Styles for Hull to emulate. “I did it with my mouth into a microphone,” Styles told Variety in October. “And then Tom sent me this video trying to get it to sound the same. He spent a couple of hours getting it.”

Why include a guitar solo when most pop songs would never dare? “I feel it’s kind of like ‘La La Land’ saving jazz — only for rock ‘n’ roll,” Styles cracked when posed with the question. But more seriously speaking, Variety‘s Hitmaker of the Year added: “I’m not a spearheader of the movement, like, ‘Let’s bring back guitars.’ There’s plenty of times when [a song] doesn’t sound better with a guitar, and you don’t use it. But a lot of the references I grew up with have guitars; and it’s the first instrument I played, so it makes sense that I would like the sound of them more. I don’t think the guitar is dying. Guitars are great and always have been.”

In fact, guitar sales in 2020 have been robust. Music retailer Sweetwater reports more than 50% year-over-year growth in guitar purchases, with even larger increases during the peak COVID months of April, May and June “when customers most likely hunkered down to practice and create music after watching all of the streaming video they could handle,” according to a rep for the Indiana-based company.

The spike extended to other string instruments as well, which saw growth of more than 70% year-over-year in the price range of $299 or lower. The metric indicates that “new players are joining the fold,” says Sweetwater, which has been in business for over four decades and operates online. (Competitor Guitar Center, with more than 250 physical locations in the U.S., did not fare as well, filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last month.)

Even in the virtual world, learning to play an instrument has taken off during lockdown. The platform Yousician, which provides interactive learning for guitar, bass, ukulele, piano and voice, currently reigns as the No. 1 app for music instruction while its sister product, GuitarTuna, is tops for guitar tuning.

Ask current writers and producers working in pop and hip-hop about their process and you soon learn that an acoustic guitar is often the beginning or the essence of a hit song. Among Variety‘s 2020 Hitmakers, the trio of Taz Taylor, Charlie Handsome and KC Supreme credited a guitar loop as the foundation for Trevor Daniel’s “Falling.” For Maren Morris’ “The Bones,” producer Greg Kurstin noted: “The first thing I noticed was Jimmy Robbins’ guitar hook; I wanted to keep the song rooted in that.”

“So many hit songs from 2020 started with a acoustic or electric guitar, whether it be a melody line or simple progression,” says songwriter and producer Jenna Andrews, whose recent credits include BTS’ “Dynamite” and Benee’s “Supalonely.”

And often, those guitar-based foundations remained through the finished product — for instance, 24KGoldn’s “Mood,” with its impossibly catchy sun-kissed guitar riff, and Powfu’s “death bed (coffee for your head).”

“I know it sounds kinda old school, but I love it when a well-recorded acoustic pops off on the radio,” says Sam Hollander, whose hits include the aforementioned “High Hopes” and Fitz and the Tantrums’ “HandClap.” “The bulk of my songs tend to be born on guitar. Without that foundation, the lyrics and melodies never really emote the heartbeat and emotion that I’m trying to dial in. There’s just a general warmth to it that’s hard to replicate. It’s like the warmest chocolate chip cookie.”

“I think the prevalence of guitar in 2020 has a lot to do with hip-hop producers using more emo and punk-rock influences,” offers Angie Pagano, whose AMP management company represents Tommy Brown (Ariana Grande, Blackpink) and Mr. Franks, among others. “Juice Wrld really helped bring this into the mainstream over the last few years. We’re seeing a great blend of emo and trap these days.”

Indeed, the year’s most-consumed hits leaned hip-hop — Roddy Ricch’s “The Box” landed at No. 1 on the Hitmakers list with Future and Drake, Jack Harlow and Megan Thee Stallion in the Top 10 — but even DaBaby’s “Rockstar,” the No. 3 song of the year, referenced a guitar in its chorus, albeit alongside mention of a Glock pistol. That visual may go against what Hollander calls “the Kumbaya vibe of the guitar,” but the song still features an acoustic strum at its core.

In the case of Styles’ 2020 successes, which also include the ubiquitous “Watermelon Sugar,” his producer further explained that, while aware of what was reacting on the charts at the time they were recording, Styles wasn’t about to chase the trends. Said Tom Hull: “We [thought], we can’t play the commercial game in terms of what’s happening right now. What we can do is make music that really resonates with us. There’s no blueprint. You just have faith. We love records from the ’70s and ’80s; weird prog rock music that might be a seven-minute instrumental; then you’re listening to Shania Twain, like, ‘This is awesome, too.’ The goal was to make something we will always love, and if it completely flops commercially, at least we know we love it. We have that.”

#harry styles #jan21 #variety21

103 notes · View notes

celticnoise · 4 years

Link

JIMMY JOHNSTONE, voted Celtic’s Greatest-Ever Player by the fans, passed away on this day in 2006 at the age of 61.

The born entertainer, who dazzled the Hoops audience and decimated rivals’ defences, was a complete one-off.

Author Alex Gordon pays tribute to the snake-hipped winger who put a smile on the face of football. An impish genius who was known as Little Big Man when he took centre stage.

Here is an extract from Alex’s Lisbon Lions’ 40th Anniversary book which was published in 2007.

WHEN Jimmy Johnstone had his dander up he was just about unstoppable. Those truly astounding, spectacular serpentine-weaving runs had to be seen to be believed. England and Liverpool captain Emlyn Hughes once complained of having ‘twisted blood’ after facing the Wee Man in an international at Hampden Park in 1974.

He was lucky – he wasn’t even Jinky’s direct opponent that day. Mike Pejic, of Stoke City, was the England left-back who had that dubious distinction. That was to be Pejic’s fourth and final appearance for his country after being torn apart by Johnstone as Scotland won 2-0.

Jinky, as his team-mates were only too well aware, was a highly temperamental bloke and you upset him at your peril. Scotland trainer Walter McCrae couldn’t have been too aware of that side of the Wee Man as he prepared the international squad for an important game against England in 1968, the year after the Scots had overcome the world champions 3-2 at Wembley.The Home Championship back then was being utilised as a qualifying section for the European Nations Cup Finals – now the European Championships – to be held later that year in Italy.

Scotland, in typical fashion, had carelessly thrown away their advantage after securing two points against Sir Alf Ramsey’s side. A victory was a must at Hampden for the Scots, but it was going to be achieved without the help of Scotland’s most skilful player, Jimmy Johnstone. Injury had prevented him from playing at Wembley in 1967 and, on this occasion, the international manager, Bobby Brown, had made up his mind to go with Chelsea’s Charlie Cooke in preference to the Celt.

The blissfully unaware McCrae then conjured up his outstanding faux pas as Scotland trained at their HQ at Largs. As luck would have it, Celtic were along the Ayrshire coast at their usual haunt at Seamill at the same time. The SFA asked for permission to play Celtic in a bounce game against the international line-up as a special training session. The Parkhead powers-that-be agreed, but Jimmy was far from happy. “I’m no’ interested,” he said. “I’m no’ playing.” However, the Wee Man dutifully turned up to watch the session and McCrae then, unintentionally, made one of football’s great blunders – he asked Jinky to be a linesman!

Tommy Gemmell, with the Scottish squad, recalled: “I think you could say Jimmy let Walter know he was not interested in running the line, in any shape or form. For a start, two of his best pals at Celtic at the time were Bobby Lennox and Willie O’Neill. They would have been taking part in the game and Jinky would have been running up and down the touchline with his wee flag. You couldn’t make it up. Lemon and Pumper would have made his life unbearable when they got back to Parkhead. Footballers, in the main, are terrible mickey-takers and Jinky must have realised he would be on the receiving end for some considerable time. Jimmy Johnstone? A linesman? Oh, dear!

“Quite apart from anything else, I suspect any world-class player would rebel, as Jimmy certainly did, at the idea of being used as a linesman. Would someone at the English FA have asked Bobby Charlton to run the line? Would anyone at the Irish FA have been daft enough to ask George Best to act as a linesman? Of course, not. Walter McCrae put his foot in it big-style and a week later would later pay a terrible price.

“The international game, which ended in a 1-1 draw and effectively ended Scotland’s interest in Europe, by the way, was played early in late February to make sure all the qualifiers would be known by the time the summer finals would be played. So, on March 2, 1968 Celtic turned up for a league match at Rugby Park to play Kilmarnock, where Walter McCrae doubled up as the club’s trainer. Celtic hammered them 6-0 with, as I recall, Willie Wallace scoring four goals with others from Bobby Lennox and young substitute Jimmy Quinn. But everyone’s Man of the Match was, without question, Wee Jinky.

“He tore their defence to shreds. He played like a man possessed. We all knew the capabilities of our wee genius, of course, but that afternoon he went into overdrive and only an Elephant Gun could have stopped him from running amok. He twisted, teased and tortured the Killie back lot and I knew what was going on in his mind – he was going to make Walter McCrae suffer.

“The Wee Man looked fairly pleased with himself as we came off at the end. I was walking beside him when he spotted McCrae in the home dug-out. “No’ bad for an effin’ linesman, eh, Walter?” beamed Jinky.

Stories of Jimmy Johnstone are the stuff of legend. One of the greatest accolades Jinky earned, however, wasn’t at his beloved Paradise or even on these shores. On June 7, 1967, Celtic, still basking in the reflective glory of their excellent European Cup triumph, took the team to the Bernabeu Stadium to provide the opposition for the legendary Alfredo di Stefano. Just to be inviited to play in such exalted company in a game for one of the world’s greatest-ever footballers was an honour. To go to their fortress and win 1-0 while pulverising the opposition was quite unbelievable. Even the normally-hostile Spanish fans had to applaud Celtic that balmy evening.

“Ole! Ole!” was the cry that rang round the stadium, but it wasn’t a Real Madrid performer being showered with praise. The standing ovations that night were for Jimmy Johnstone. He was unstoppable – a 5ft 4in bundle of mischief and magic that bewildered a Spanish rearguard that wasn’t too used to being taken apart, especially in front of their own support. However, Johnstone never embraced a great respect for reputations and he simply dismantled the line of defenders who were put in front of him that evening. It was a virtuoso performance that would have been more than fit to grace a World Cup Final. If Pele or Maradona or Cruyff or Best or even di Stefano had delivered such flamboyant entertainment it would have been hailed as the most outstanding individual display ever witnessed. “It really was that good,” added Gemmell.

Forget that this was labelled a Testimonial Match. Real Madrid had won the European Cup the previous year, beating Partizan Belgrade 2-1. They wanted to let everyone know they were still the true rulers of all they surveyed. In their minds, they were still the best in Europe and not a bunch of upstarts from Glasgow. Real gave it their best shot, but Johnstone and Co were not to be denied another moment of glory. They, too, were at the Bernabeu to win and they did just that when Bobby Lennox flashed a low drive into the net from 12 yards after a sublime pass from, you’ve guessed, Jimmy Johnstone. Game, set and match to Celtic. The accolades went to a fiery little red head who thrilled fans everywhere he went.

Another soccer great who admired Johnstone’s style was Eusebio, the former Benfica superstar. “I was privileged to call Jimmy Johnstone my friend,” said the Portuguese legend. “He always played football with a smile on his face. When Celtic reached the European Cup Final in my country in 1967 I supported them against Inter Milan. They were a great, attacking force and, of course, they had that special little genius on the right wing. But Jimmy Johnstone was not just a great player in Scotland. He was known throughout the world.”

Rangers’ Willie Henderson, who was Johnstone’s main rival for the outside-right berth in the Scotland team in the Sixties, recalled: “I was on top of my game at the time and I had quite a few caps under my belt before Jimmy actually came on the scene. He was a wee bit later in coming into the Celtic first team. I was definitely dislodged from my Scotland position after that. Billy Bremner, I believe, went to one of the Scotland managers and asked if there was a way he could fit both Jimmy and I into his team. “No chance,” Billy was informed. “We can only play with one ball!”

Bertie Auld is convinced his team-mate should have won more than his meagre haul of 23 caps for his country. Auld offered this angle: “He didn’t make as many international appearances for one simple reason – he was a Celtic player. If he played for any other club he would have won 100 caps for his nation. I am convinced of that. However, to be fair to Jimmy, he never grumbled. You knew he was only interested in playing for one club and that was Celtic. That was all he needed and that kept him happy.”

Auld, in fact, remembers one of the first times he clapped eyes on Johnstone. “This wee lad with the big red curls turned up one day for training,” said Bertie. “I thought he might be a fan. There wasn’t an awful lot of him at the time; a wee, frail figure. He would sit in the dressing room and say nothing. He actually looked to be be somewhat embarrassed to be mixing with some of the players. Well, that was until he got out onto the pitch and then we all knew who Jimmy Johnstone was. What a talent. He was like a rubberball. Defenders would bowl him over and he would just keep bouncing back to his feet. You could see the fear in the eyes of our opponents when they looked at the Wee Man when he started to make a name for himself. They were frightened of what he could do to them. That fear was a real compliment to Jimmy. There was no disguising it, either. Those opponents knew they were in for a torrid time.”

Celtic fans probably won’t recognise the title La Puce Volante, but that was another nickname that came Johnstone’s way on his travels. This time it was conjured up by the appreciative French supporters of Nantes back in 1966 in the second round of the historic European Cup run. Nantes were an excellent team and, among a host of other exciting individuals, boasted the national captain Robert Herbin, who had led France in the World Cup Finals in England the previous summer. It would be fair to say they thought they would take care of Celtic, who were, after all, playing in the premier European competition for the first time in their history. Johnstone, once again, wasn’t interested in being a bit-part player.

He shredded a frantic defence, set up chance after chance after some dazzling touchline trickery and goals from Joe McBride, Bobby Lennox and Stevie Chalmers eased Celtic to a 3-1 victory which they emulated at Parkhead in the second leg to go through to the quarter-finals. La Puce Volante – or The Flying Flea – was born that evening and it was a tag that followed Johnstone around Europe.

One title remains above them all – The Greatest-Ever Celtic Player. The inimitable Jimmy Johnstone is worthy of that immense honour. He paid his own tribute to the fans who encouraged him through his 14 remarkable years at Celtic, enjoying his “great job”, as he often described it. He took the microphone before one game, gave his usual cheery wave to the thousands and uttered 12 little words: “You will always be in my heart. I will never forget you.”

The Celtic support will never forget him, either.

* NEXT: Don’t miss what the Lisbon Lions had to say about their wee team-mate.

https://ift.tt/3aXN5rr

#CelticNoise #Celtic #CelticFC #CelticQuickNews

0 notes

celticnoise · 6 years

Link

CELTIC legend Davie Hay admits he was a little surprised when he read media reports with ex-Hoops star Andy Ritchie claiming he brought players such as Pierre van Hooijdonk, Jorge Cadete and Paolo di Canio to the club.

The former manager and player laughed: “I think Andy’s getting a little confused – I was the chief scout when these players were signed.

“I did the scouting – and I’ve got the air miles to prove it! Andy’s memory is playing tricks on him.

“I have no doubt he did bring some quality players to Celtic after I left, but I worked hard to get these guys to the club. Just ask anyone who was at Celtic at the time.”

CQN have teamed up with the Hoops icon for a four-part series detailing some of the transfers in which Davie dealt to bring superstars to the club during the Tommy Burns and Wim Jansen managerial eras.

In Hay’s autobiography, ‘The Quiet Assassin’, co-author and close friend Alex Gordon dedicated a chapter to the club ambassador’s spell as chief scout.

Here is part one, the second will be tomorrow and the fascinating series will conclude on Sunday. Enjoy!

***

THE Henrik Larsson deal was on the brink of collapse. I realised something would have to be done within the next crucial twenty-four hours if Celtic were to sign the Swedish international from Dutch side Feyenoord.

If we did not act with the utmost speed there would be no transfer. I had travelled to Gouda, in Holland, where I was to meet Henrik’s agent Rob Jansen and try to put the finishing details on the contract. Wim Jansen had just taken over as Celtic manager in the summer of 1997 and we struck an immediate rapport. I had worked the previous three years with Tommy Burns, who had brought me back to Celtic in June 1994.

Wim, who had been in the Feyenoord team that had beaten Celtic in the European Cup Final in Milan in 1970, remembered me from our playing days and we had a chat about the way ahead for the club. I might not have been there at all because I was close to quitting after Tommy and Billy Stark left.

HAPPY BHOY…Henrik Larsson with his trademark goal celebration.

I was in a quandary because Tommy, Billy and I were a team behind the team. However, Celtic wanted me to stay on and, after a lot of soul searching, I agreed. What would the point of us all being out of a job? I decided to remain and discuss things with Wim. I’m glad I did. He was an impressive bloke and his ambition was obvious a couple of minutes into our wee natter. He wasn’t in Scotland to top up his pension. He was here to do a job for what he called ‘one of the most famous football clubs in the world’.

Wim trusted my judgement completely and I appreciated that. He would listen to your views on a player and would give you the thumbs up or down whether or not we should proceed. He listened to advice and always kept an open mind. Naturally enough, he wasn’t quite up to speed with some of the Scottish players around at the time, but he had an extensive knowledge of the continent. And, with his Feyenoord background, he knew all about a bloke called Henrik Larsson.

‘I want him, Davie,’ he said. ‘He will do well for this club. I know it.’ He had made Henrik one of his essential targets that summer and, armed with that knowledge, I flew to Holland to meet the player’s agent. I had done business with Rob Jansen before and I liked him. He dealt in quality players and Henrik Larsson certainly came into that category.

‘When I met up with Rob in his office, Henrik, his wife Magdalena and baby son Jordan were there, too. The fee had been set at a mere £650,000. It was more of a steal than a deal. There was a clause in the player’s contract that would allow him to move on if Feyenoord received such an offer.

It was obvious that Wim knew the ins and outs of Henrik’s contract and the Swede was as eager to come to Celtic as we were to have him. I had seen him play as an out-and-out left-winger for the Swedish international side and had always quite liked the look of him. He had a fair turn of pace and excellent ball control.

I didn’t realise then what a place he would take in Celtic history and the part he would play in revitalising the club. As Henrik, Magdalena and Jordan sat in the corner, Rob suddenly became very serious. He was a businessman, after all, and, while wanting his best for his client, he wanted a good deal for himself. That seemed fair.

Rob asked for something in the region of £140,000 for his part in the transfer. It was hardly an extravagant amount. I telephoned Jock Brown, the General Manager, and relayed the message. Now, unless you have been living on the moon for the last decade or so, it was well known that Fergus McCann, the club’s owner, was never going to become famous for throwing his money around. ‘Not one more slim dime,’ was one of his oft-used phrases and you knew he meant it. He could be stubborn when it came to loosening those purse strings.

I know Jock would have had to go to Fergus to run the sum by him. Nothing was paid for at Celtic without the say-so of Fergus. I could hear him asking, ‘Can we bring the agent’s fee down a bit?’ That was his style. I reassured Jock that Rob’s fee was not excessive, especially as we were getting a special talent in Henrik for £650,000, which was buttons in the market at that time.

I was asked to see if Rob would modify his cash demands. He proved to be every bit as stubborn as Fergus. It was going to be £140,000 or there was every likelihood that the player would be moving elsewhere. Can you get your head round that thought? Now, as I said, I had a good relationship with the agent and we had worked together before when I helped to bring Pierre van Hooijdonk to Celtic in 1995.

Rob, rightly or wrongly, didn’t think he received a proper percentage of that £1.1million move. He was going to get his money’s worth on this occasion. I realised he was not bluffing. I telephoned Jock again and emphasised that we should pay the £140,000 without a quibble. There was no room for manoeuvre. I reasoned that Celtic were getting a world-class player for well under £1million and that figure seemed to be the starting point in transfer bids for distinctly average players around that time. I said, ‘Make it happen.’

Rob agreed to wait for one more day and, thankfully, Jock didn’t hesitate. He was sent over, completed the negotiations and, on July 27, 1997, the club had a rock-solid contract signed, sealed and delivered. Celtic had just landed a legend for £650,000. It must still rate as one of the greatest transfer deals in the history of football.

I think you could say the club got their money’s worth from the Swede! Even Fergus agreed. In fact, not even the most outrageous optimist could have foreseen what Larsson would bring to Celtic over the next seven years. Remember, Rangers had just completed their sequence of nine successive titles and that matched Celtic’s effort that started in 1966 and carried through to 1974.

They were going for ten-in-a-row and that could not be allowed to happen. Henrik Larsson played an awesome role in derailing the Ibrox juggernaut in his first year at Parkhead.

I wonder how he would have fitted in with the Three Amigos – Pierre van Hooijdonk, Paolo di Canio and Jorge Cadette? They had all departed the scene by the time Henrik arrived, but it would have been highly interesting to see how they could have fitted in together.

It was Fergus, of course, who gave that trio their nickname and there always seemed to be something going on in the background with the club’s owner and these three colourful, charismatic and controversial characters.

TOMORROW: PART TWO: Life with the Three Amigos, the Dutch star who almost signed for Celtic but ended up at Rangers and the £15million world-class defender we could have signed for £800,000!

* Don’t miss the big-match report between Celtic and Rosenborg this evening in your champion CQN.

* ‘Billy McNeill: In Praise of Caesar’ is the latest Celtic book from author Alex Gordon. In this magnificent tribute book to the Celtic legend, chief executive Peter Lawwell has written the Foreword, there’s a personal message from Brendan Rodgers and there are interviews with around forty of Billy’s friends in football including Sir Alex Ferguson, Sir Kenny Dalglish, Davie Hay, Gordon, Strachan, Roy Aitken, Paul McStay, Frank McAvennie, Frank McGarvey, Charlie Nicholas, Pat Bonner, Bertie Auld, Jim Craig, John Clark, Bobby Lennox, Willie Wallace and so many more. It’s on sale now at CQN Bookstore and here is the link: https://ift.tt/2QFy5VA

https://ift.tt/2QL3WEj

#CelticNoise #Celtic #CelticFC #CelticQuickNews

0 notes