As for Ranking Roger Charlery, my generation busted all our moves to “Mirror In The Bathroom.”
Thursday, March 28, 2019
Ranking Roger/Scott Walker
Ranking Roger died this week.
So did Scott Walker.
I was familiar with the former but not the latter. As usual the best overviews came from unexpected sources, and in Walker's case that was comics artist William Stout, who is a passionate fan of Walker's music. His excellent survey of Walker's strange life and music is over here. Stout has good ideas for a future Scott Walker playlist — I'm looking forward to giving it a spin.
As for Ranking Roger Charlery, my generation busted all our moves to “Mirror In The Bathroom.”
Man, that was 1980 — I was 15, Ranking Roger was 18. It still blows me away that kids that age can put together a song everybody wants to dance to. If I still had 'em, it'd be tempting to brush down the vintage double-breasted suit and spats and jump around to the ska beat. I jest, of course — I've put on four stone since that suit last fit me. Instead I'll just cue up “Mirror” for the Prajer version of “SoulCycle” — my limpid effort at delaying the Grim Reaper's tap on my own shoulder.
As for Ranking Roger Charlery, my generation busted all our moves to “Mirror In The Bathroom.”
That so-close-so-far-away feeling again. I was 9 in 1980. All this bypassed me. Had an awareness of pop-Christian ‘reggae’ trending ten years later, when I was only beginning to think of ‘the world’s music’ as permissible. Wouldn’t have known what you meant if you’d spoken of ska. What I know of this stuff, picked up from TV documentaries, YT browsing, &c. years later. Funny from so many angles.
ReplyDeleteI’m a little better on comics & illustration, of course, but never heard of Bill Stout before either!
Carry on then …
Well, Stout has done most of his work on the periphery of comics, really. Tons of film-work (set design and what-have-you) from the looks of it. His blog has some interesting stories of his time in Tinseltown. And he's a blues buff, which keeps me coming back for more.
ReplyDelete"Christian Ska" was surprisingly yooj. I'd long fled the sanctified scene when it had its day, but I gather Christian Ska's day was uncommonly long. During one of my mother's visits I sat her down to Why Should The Devil Have All The Good Music. There are a couple of ska groups at Cornerstone that get a bit of footage, in amongst the various hardcore haranguers. When my mother opined that the ska was something she could develop a taste for I realized why it lasted as long as it did. Rambunctious, "joyful," brassy, and very very catchy. Had any of that been a remote possibility when I was finishing high school I might have found myself ensconced in A Real Scene. There but for the grace of God, etc.
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