Saturday, October 8, 2011

Happy birthday, Kevin Godley and Neil Hannon

Yesterday in New Zealand but today in England where they live, Kevin Godley (born 7 October 1945) is 66 and Neil Hannon (born 7 October 1970) is 41.  

Godley is truly a godly pop god. It was his idea to make 10cc’s “I’m Not in Love” sung by a heavenly choir. He is the singer on too many 10cc songs to mention but we all remember Godley and Creme’s “Cry” video. I reckon he is the most soulful white singer ever but it’s hard to prove it via YouTube. “Art School Canteen”, if you can find it, is the real deal. “Wedding Bells” is a wonderful Motown pastiche though that clip has bad sound but features Lol Creme, a stellar singer too, as the best man. This is just stills to illustrate the studio version but has much better sound and you get Godley’s “Ooh yeah” opening line that is pure Smokey Robinson. Honestly, if you trawl through the YouTube clips of Godley & Creme you’ll find singing treasure.

If I lived in London, I would so be here on 13 October.

As for Neil Hannon – he is the Divine Comedy whom I discovered via the Duckworth-Lewis Method And then I discovered his solo/band albums released on the Pirate Bay label. They are all excellent and every time I see a hard copy I buy one: I recommend Slow Boat Records in Wellington.

Smart pop music is a good thing. This song always makes me smile.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'm afraid, Neil Hannon is younger than you think, as he was born on 7th November 1970...

Stephen Stratford said...

You are quite right. I got my months muddled. He is still excellent, though.