V03-T11 Little Cat

.....I used to be frustrated by the fact that I couldn't find more information about the child star who recorded this number, although the last time I aggressively researched him was probably 1994 when I compiled this tape. Now, with the advent of some of the most powerful databases on the internet, I've learned that IMDB, Allmusic and Wikipedia are also completely clueless as to this boy's identity. The best I can guess is that he may have grown up to be the lead singer of the Dutch pop group Jonz. Or maybe not. I'm still frustrated, of course, but feeling far less inadequate about it.

Volume 3: A KINDER, GENTLER ZERO TOLERANCE, track 11

• 02:18 "LITTLE CAT (YOU'VE NEVER HAD IT SO GOOD)"(Nick Lowe)(additional arrangements by David Bedford)
• performed by Jonas
• original source: VA2LP ABSOLUTE BEGINNERS: THE [OMPS] Virgin VD2514 (UK) 4/86
• and my source: VACD ABSOLUTE BEGINNERS: THE [OMPS] Virgin CDV2386(UK) 1987?

.....Taken from Colin MacInnes' novel, "Absolute Beginners" was a period film documenting Britain's belated recognition of teenagers as a demographic and subculture. It may seem strange today, but a century ago the concept of the teenager was just being introduced. Prior to that it was presumed that children turned into adults with no intermediary stages. It's been mentioned elsewhere, and is repeated early in the film, that Americans invented the teenager. That's certainly true in the case of mass media fictional characters, where youths saddled with adult responsibilities (Little Orphan Annie, Tintin, et al) gave way to hormone-crazed and judgement-impaired balls of energy like Andy Hardy and Archie Andrews. The population bubble that followed the end of World War II would later turn teens from a curious sociological phenomenon into a serious purchasing power in any industrialized economy.

.....Composer Nick Lowe is no stranger to teen idol pop. About a decade earlier than this recording he was invited to join the newly launched Stiff label but was in a contract that prevented him from doing so. To avoid the penalties which would stem from breaking the contract, he tried to prompt the label that he was signed to into firing him. To this end he submitted songs like "BAY CITY ROLLERS, WE LOVE YOU", knowing that their star was on the wane in England. What he did not know was that they were just becoming huge in Japan, where the song became a hit. Of course, he eventually became a notable performer and producer at Stiff, albeit with a renewed respect for the power of pop. He's also apparently a student of the period. The movie takes place in 1958, and the song's subtitle is taken from a 1957 speech by conservative Prime Minister Harold Macmillan, often paraphrased as it is above, quoted here: "...most of our people have never had it so good." The speech sought to bolster his fellow conservatives with positive signs of post-war recovery, which was also a significant topic of the film.

.....Rereading my original liner notes, they seem mostly still relevant:

"Another soundtrack selection, this one a little more off the beaten path. Also, you may find the soundtrack to the movie Absolute Beginners in bargain bins (and it really would be a bargain) but this track would not be on it. The US album has the songs that are featured as production numbers in the movie. The UK version contains the US version plus a second, shorter LP with Gil Evans' instrumental score and the full unedited studio versions of songs heard only in snippets or in the background of the movie. This song, for instance, is heard playing on radios. The joke is that the main character (and the audience) know that the singer was a snotty, unkempt schoolboy just months before this song became a hit and in fact watched the boy's manager 'discover' him (at an audition) and dress him in flashy clothes as an acceptable counter to "that American Negro music". Even though the movie takes place in England (1958?) it perfectly describes the state of pop music in the US, circa 1959-1962: the real rockers were dying in plane crashes (Buddy Holly, Richie Valens, et al), serving in the army (Everly Brothers, Elvis Presley), in jail (Chuck Berry for tax evasion), blackballed due to scandal (Jerry Lee Lewis for marrying his teenage cousin) etc, etc. A teenaged music marketplace was created in the mid-fifties out of babies born after World War II. Rock music caught the record industry by surprise, since 'race music' and other folk forms were deemed commercially unviable and pigeonholed in a manner that would have kept them so except for the size of the demographic base demanding it. The response was (and has been ever since) to mass produce lightweight, uninspired substitutes for soul and imagination (and in this case, sex). Thus, Paul Anka, Neil Sedaka, Connie Francis, Pat Boone and others reassured parents everywhere that a clean-cut young man was in the White House setting a fine example and that rock and roll was just a bad dream. The 'little cat' was that music, the music that came between Alan Freed and the Beatles and which was the rule rather than the exception in England.

"What sold me on this song was the chorus (listen closely):

'Boom, baby; Boom, baby; Boom, baby, boom;

'Baby, boom; Baby, boom; Baby, boom...' "

.....Well, here in 2010 I don't have much to add to that except that the 25th anniversary of the movie is looming and I'm hoping that we see a decent 2-DVD with the extras not seen on the shamefully skimpy and improperly transfered 2003 DVD. (Seriously, if the selling point of a movie is music and visual spectacle, why bother releasing a home video version at all if you're not going to pay any attention to the quality of the sound or color?) In addition to a mountain of detailed period production designs that must exist (the Criterion edition of Brazil would be the standard to live up to) both DVD and Blu-ray formats could accommodate the digital format premieres of some of the music from double album and spun-off singles that didn't make it to even the extended UK CD. There were two Gil Evans instrumental takes on "ABSOLUTE BEGINNERS" and "NAPOLI" which I'm sure jazz completists would appreciate. More importantly there was Laurel Aitken's "LANDLORDS AND TENANTS" and Ekow Abban's "SANTA LUCIA" from scenes key to the plot. That doesn't even count material that didn't make it to vinyl, such as a wedding song played on steel drums. The anniversary is in April and I'm not getting my hopes up, since the 50th anniversary of the book seemed to slip by quietly unnoticed last year.

.....More trouble for London tomorrow.