Robyn Hitchcock/Soft Boys: Classic or Dud?

There's a whole book to be written about rh but do I have to do it?

wasn't there some kind of hint about robyn writing his memoirs at some point?

There was??? That'd be amazing

With all due respect to one of my favorite artists, he needs a good editor. A really good one. A bio of him could be amazing or horrible. I don't want to read about crepuscular crabs and longings for margarine. I think he's going to get one shot at a bio, and I kind of pray that someone else is in charge.

first listen is happening now. this is great. doesn't sound quite like any other rh record. he has to tour this electric!

'oh god you were beautiful' on mad shelley's letterbox is one of those simple yet odd expressive hooks only robyn can locate that instantly give you life-chills

and the guitars behind that phrase, my goodness TOTAL BYRDS ORGY

Nice post re Demme:

https://twitter.com/RobynHitchcock/status/857259489510252545

Huh, that's odd. Thought it would have autolinked.

always appreciated that Demme took his Oscar cachet and made Storefront Hitchcock, which obviously was not going to be a huge box office smash. nice to have such an artfully made document of Hitchcock at that point ...

I also like that he cast him in a couple of fictions, though demme cannot address the yawning lack of a Robyn-as-Dr-Who TV movie.

Aw man and me clicking on neds link is me learning demme has passed

"autumn sunglasses" is so nice

yeahhh, the whole record is really strong! i think that opening tune is the only one that doesn't click for me, actually (which is weird, since he's usually pretty great at choosing openers).

it's damn good electric robyn album

any signs of him touring w/band?

Saw this on tv last night. I probably shouldn't be surprised by things like this, but I was:
https://www.ispot.tv/ad/w6Kr/subway-sweet-onion-teriyaki-destroy-song-by-the-soft-boys

I begrudge no artist for making a little cash and exposing their music to more people.

they feed your pride with cold cuts and then lead you on to more

My buddy cried a tear on this a couple weeks ago and I said "Rew gave the ad world 'walking on sunshine, surely a greater offense to decency, though a far lesser song. '" 40 years of preservation is enough for this return imo.

Hahaha well done unnamed aging hipster ad guy

I am not offended by this ad at all

For sure though this AIN'T the song I would have predicted for Robyn's first ad windfall

NB I also really like subways sweet onion teriyaki sandwich

haha, yeah, i have absolutely no problem with robyn getting some cash so that he can keep on keepin' on.
on twitter, he said: "Oddly my first-ever US meal was a Subway in NYC, w/ Soft Boys in 1980. Chicken Teriyaki wasn't invented yet but we did play 'Destroy You'"

Isn't it time for an odds, sods, outtakes, etc collection from Sir Robyn? Would it be any good is the real question...

You mean a career spanning one or one that sweeps up the odd stuff from the last ~ten years?

His odds and sods tend to be among his best stuff. One of the best things if the a&m albums ever get remastered is that those fantastic b-sides would likely be on there

Those Yep Roc box sets from a few years back are pretty comprehensive regarding the non LP Hitchcock stuff. They are still available. Also, the Invisible Hitchcock LP is tremendous. It collects his very early non-LP stuff. He actually pulled out a few gems from this when he did Black Snake Diamond Role shows in NYC last year.

Well, his last oddities collection was 2008's "Shadow Cat", so the last 10 years would be covered. I wonder if there's any Venus 3 outtakes?

Better yet would be a set of the many live-only songs he's done.

yeah, i was wondering if his slower pace of releasing albums in those years means he is also writing slower and producing less outtakes/less chips from the workbench. Could be there just aren't that many odds lately!

i wouldn't mind hearing (if they exist) the demos for Love From London ... I feel like there might be some good songs lurking in there, I just kinda can't stand the overall sound of that record.

otm

there are some good songs there, i can affirm

the sound picture of it is the worst bedroom DAW vaporishness (somewhat reminiscent of the awful sound of very late Prince records)

yeah, just sounds very much "in the box" if that makes sense ... think i've heard a live version or two where I've thought "hey this isn't terrible!"

in other news, i listened to black snake diamond role three times over the weekend. what a great record!

you are making me bitter all over again about having gone to the 'wrong' Robyn/YLT Black Snake show (ie the one where they didn't play Let There be More Darkness)

BTW: were you spinning the LP with the saxes or CD without?

w/ the saxes!

(this is what my 1981-centric saturday morning looked like)
https://instagram.fapa1-2.fna.fbcdn.net/vp/70a74e79381c153ebbfac61c93770f69/5B32FBC0/t51.2885-15/e35/29093386_212974649257650_3805667218432196608_n.jpg

I has that "Lope at the Hive/Only The Stones Remain" two-half-albums. It is nifty.

There are days when I think You & Oblivion is my favorite RH record.

yeah that, Invisible Hitchcock and A Star for Bram are the big reasons why I say his castoffs are so frequently top shelf stuff

xposts i guess the closest RH has come to a "Do Me, Baby" is Wafflehead? Or Agony of Pleasure.

I always forget to think of Invisible Hitchcock as an outtakes album when I listen to it. I bought it in the 80s and to me it was just One of his first solo records, maybe with some iffy quality control on side B.

my favorite RH album cover tbh

i guess the closest RH has come to a "Do Me, Baby" is Wafflehead? Or Agony of Pleasure.

when i was listening i was half-imagining Prince covering RH's "Heaven"

i guess "egyptian cream" is the most prince-like title he's got, haha

Well, he does say "Fuck me baby, I'm a trolley bus" in "The Authority Box". But I can't tell if he's being sexual.

Like, "Woke up this morning, and fuck me I'm a trolleybus 🚎"

?

wow i never thought of applying that phraseology to that lyric

i always just figured he wanted her/him/them to have sex with him because he's a trolleybus.

Now i think your interpretation is right

like holy crap i'm a trolleybus

However, there still remains the weird swallowed "UCK me darling" in La Charite on Nextdoorland

Robyn's written many not-so-veiled songs to now ex-lovers and wives. I wonder what it's like for him to play them, does he just mentally transfer the implications to his new love or is it a painful reminder?

I feel beautiful and beautiful queen are the biggest Michele songs I can think of - does he play those still? I can’t remember.

Man, “The Beauty of Earl’s Court” is really lovely. Interesting decision leaving that off Eye, and including “Agony of Pleasure.”

Looking forward to seeing him at the Betsey Trotwood (London) on Tuesday night - and I have a spare ticket, if anyone's interested...

report???

I was utterly heartbroken to not be able to see him last friday night in nyc playing in front of an electric band because we had to go to massachussetts for an emergency. i hope this mini tour will not be the last time he ever tours electric with backup.

I saw Liz Phair in Nashville a few weeks ago, and in the encore she brought Robyn Hitchcock on stage to sing "I Wanna Destroy You" with her and Sadie Dupuis (Speedy Ortiz were the opening band). It was pretty great.

There's a video of that on Youtube - not a combination I'd ever imagined.

the show on Tuesday was amazing - one of the best I've seen him play (of the 40 odd I've seen at this point). solo acoustic, about 50 people in the audience, just magical - kicked off with Tonight, ended with Airscape, but in between we got a bunch of interesting stuff - the first time I've seen him play Glass (which suddenly clicked for me), what he claimed was the live debut of You've Got, the banter was as good as ever. Also the first time (I think) of hearing I Wanna Destroy You on acoustic - not quite as good as the incredible versions from the electric shows earlier in the year, but still pretty good.

Also I thought he was off in a fantasy when he was talking about writing songs for an Ethan Hawke movie, but I guess it's real (and he also played this):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y1sAd6_WruI

haha, maybe that movie is good, i have no idea — but the cover of that soundtrack is the worst.