Two compilations: "Bob Stanley Presents 76 in the Shade" and "Cafe Exil: New Adventures In European Music 1972-1980"

These are two of those compilations released by Ace Records and put together by Bob Stanley of Saint Etienne (in conjunction with Jason Wood in the case of Cafe Exil). They're both collections of music from the 1970s. In 76 in the Shade we are back in the notoriously hot summer of 1976. Thanks to England's Dreaming (Jon Savage's brilliant account of the Sex Pistols and their milieu) I think of 1976 as the year of punk, for all that 1977 was when it went overground and exploded into the living rooms of olde England. But there's none of that here. Instead the album has a collection of languid tunes that evoke a sense of being too damn hot to do anything.

It is in the nature of the music that individual tracks should not really stand out, but two tracks that really catch my brain are Lynsey De Paul's "Sugar Shuffle" and 10cc's "I'm Mandy Fly Me". With "Sugar Shuffle" I may perhaps be drawing of memories of when Lynsey De Paul used to appear on 1970s TV a lot, most notably when she competed in the Eurovision. She was a total sizzler and little me has a massive crush on her. "Sugar Shuffle" sees her seductively inviting listeners to join her doing said sugar shuffle. Sadly De Paul's style of music was swept away by punk and new pop, and she went on to go Tory, but hey, nobody's perfect and for a brief period in the mid 1970s she made perfect sense.

"I'm Mandy Fly Me" meanwhile takes its title from some innuendo laden advertising campaign where named lovely lady air hostesses would beckon businessmen to fly with their airline. The lyrics are ambiguous and could be about a plane crash or someone completely losing it, but it has an oddly disconcerting quality that brings it away from the mainstream of these heat-drenched tunes.

If the thoughts of 10cc and Lynsey De Paul providing the compilation's best tracks fills you with dread then you might want to stay away from 76 in the Shade.

Cafe Exil meanwhile is conceptually a compilation of interesting European music from the 1970s, together with tunes from some similar UK acts. Looking at the roster it is a bit krautrock (Faust, Amon Düül II, Michael Rother, Popol Vuh and Cluster all appear), but not exclusively so. The odd things is that although the acts here are all of the cool variety, unlike the mid-70s AOR and MOR terrors on the 76 in the Shade record, the overall feel of this is not too dissimilar from the other record, making it an ideal compilation for late night listening.

One Cafe Exil track that really stands out for me is Annette Peacock's "Pony", on which to an electronic accompaniment (at least partially her own) Ms Peacock sings about her fondness for her pony in an oddly strangulated tone. And then there is the Jan Hammer Group's "Don't You Know", a cheesy but laid back groover that sounds like it would be right at home on 76 in the Shade.

So yeah, two fun records. I'm looking forward to seeing what treasures Bob Stanley unearths next.

images:

Bob Stanley presents 76 In The Shade (Ace Records)

Cafe Exil - New Adventures In European Music 1972-1980 (Ace Records)