Alison Moyet cancels remainder of US tour

This is disappointing.

I was very much looking forward to this show. I am famous for my inability to beat the ticket brokers (i.e., when I try to buy tickets for any show, traditionally the shows sell out in one minute or less).

Alison is about three months older than me, and I've followed her career since Yaz/Yazoo. In the twenty-five-plus years of her career, I've only ever seen her perform once. When "Hoodoo" came out in 1991, she did a tour that included lots of radio interviews as well as in-store acoustic performances. I was not able to see her show at that time, but I did at least get to see her perform five or six numbers at the (now deceased) Tower Records at Bay and Columbus -- just Alison and a guitarist.

I hope it's not another seventeen years before I get another chance to see her perform live. I missed the Yaz reunion tour at the Paramount earlier this year, so this was going to be my "make up" show.

Alison has posted the following apology on her forum:

Ah, a sad day indeed.

I regret to inform you that tonight’s Washington show is to be our last.

I have tried hard to keep this band on the road but we have been hit with bad luck at every corner.

Before leaving the UK, the storms that Houston suffered put such pressure on the promoter, coupled with the economic crisis, that they felt the show was untenable. Predictable lack of promotional funds has resulted in a poor turn out and the other Texas show and Phoenix followed suit.

For a project already heavily in a hole, the loss of that income, coupled with demurring from later show organisers has made it too insecure for us to continue. Having a band on the road, with all the equipment and the hotels, wages and travel, with no shows in the middle means we can no longer sustain and have been advised by our agents to withdraw.

I believe wholeheartedly in this show, in my band and in the support and love we have been shown by those audience members that have gifted us their presence. I am devastated not to be able to finish what I have started and am beyond sad to be letting down those of you that have waited so long for this to happen.

I would like to say ‘another time’ but in all honesty doubt now that that time will come.

It will be little comfort for those of you that have missed out yet again to have me say that the shows we did make were a true pleasure, that all be they small, the crowds that joined us were of the highest order.

I thank you dearly for making it there with me. To the rest of you I can only say... I am sorry.

Love always,

Alison xxxxx

Alison Moyet at the Warfield

Alison Moyet is playing at the Warfield on Sunday, October 26th. (For a full tour schedule, click here.)

Tickets went on sale this morning, and I actually managed to buy some before the scalpers and ticket brokers bought them all. [1]

So we go see Dar Williams on Wednesday the 22nd, then go see Alison Moyet four days later. That'll be a busy, music-laden week.

-----------------

[1] I know, I know. Saying "scalpers and ticket brokers" is both redundant and repetitive...

They Did It Their Way - M

If you're seeing this for the first time and wondering what this "They did it their way" thing is about, read here for the background and full listing of this personal game of mine.

Halfway through the alphabet now, but considerably more than halfway through the whole list.....


M

Bobby McFerrin - Drive My Car
Bobby McFerrin - From Me To You
Bobby McFerrin - Sunshine Of Your Love
Sarah McLachlan - Dear God
Sarah McLachlan - Solsbury Hill
Sarah McLachlan - Rainbow Connection
Sarah McLachlan - Blackbird
Sarah McLachlan - Homeless
Sarah McLachlan - River
Me First & the Gimme Gimmes - I'll Be There
Me First & the Gimme Gimmes - Natural Woman
Natalie Merchant - After the Gold Rush
Natalie Merchant - Space Oddity
Natalie Merchant - To Sir With Love (with Michael Stipe)
Morningwood - Ring My Bell
Alison Moyet - Almost Blue
Alison Moyet - First Time Ever I Saw Your Face
Alison Moyet - Man I Love
Alison Moyet - Ne Me Quitte Pas
Alison Moyet - There Are Worse Things I Could Do (Live)
Alison Moyet - Windmills Of Your Mind


Again, the first two Bobby McFerrin numbers are part of the subset of Beatles covers, so any interpretation that is different from the original Beatles version is valid for inclusion (as long as it doesn't actually desecrate the original).

Sarah McLachlan doesn't do covers that often, but she has a way of picking some of my favorite songs to cover. All of these are from her two "B-Sides and Rarities" collections, though I have some of the singles for which these were the B-Sides. Peter Gabriel's song, Solsbury Hill, might well be my favorite all-time song. Sarah does justice to it, though she flubs the line, "And Liberty, she pirouette." But it's a live recording, so it's easy to forgive her. Her version of XTC's Dear God was included on the XTC tribute album, "A Testimonial Dinner." Her version of Blackbird is from the soundtrack to "I Am Sam." Both Sarah and James Taylor recorded Joni Mitchell's River for their respective Christmas albums. She recorded Paul Simon's Homeless with Ladysmith Black Mombazo, who originally recorded it with Paul Simon -- this is not miles away from the original version, and it's probably my least favorite of her covers. Her version of The Rainbow Connection is okay, nothing to write home about, but nothing to discard outright.

Me First And the Gimme Gimmes is a punk rock cover band. That is, they do punk rock versions of non-punk songs. They don't do anything else. So I just picked my two favorites -- (You Make Me Feel Like a) Natural Woman and the Jackson Five's I'll Be There that sounds like it should turn out to be "Just What I Needed" by the Cars.

Three Natalie Merchant covers: Space Oddity, After the Gold Rush and To Sir With Love. This last is a duet with Michael Stipe. It was recorded live at one of the Inaugural Balls at Clinton's first inauguration, and it was requested enough that it was released as a single. Which explains why the sax hits a sour note -- no second takes, no pitch correction software. It's an honorable sour note.

Morningwood's version of Ring My Bell was a B-side. Whatever happened to Morningwood, anyway? Did they ever do a second album, or did they make enough money off that one song to retire?

Alison Moyet did an album full of standards and covers called, "Voice." It's not my favorite album, but I don't mind listening to a track here and there. Windmills Of Your Mind, Almost Blue and The Man I Love are from "Voice." The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face was a single only, never included on an album. Ne Me Quitte Pas was a B-side from the time of "Essex." If you're a fan of scenery-chewing singing, you'll love her version of Ne Me Quitte Pas. There Are Worse Things I Could Do is from the live CD that came with the import version of her Singles collection.

I found out recently that Alison is only a few months older than I am, so that, of course, raises her in my esteem even farther. ;-)

Yazoo Reconnected

I'm still lamenting the fact that by the time I checked for tickets for the Yaz reunion tour at the Paramount, the only seats that hadn't been bought up by the ticket brokers were the back row of the balcony.

But on the upside, I just found out that Alison Moyet's most recent solo album, "The Turn," is getting a domestic release after all. I suppose it's being done to capitalize on the reunion tour.

"The Turn" is due to be released in the US on July 8.

As previously mentioned, I think this album is a big improvement over "Hometime" and "Voice," and I like it a lot.

Here's a link to Alison Moyet's YouTube channel.

A Guy Like You - Alison Moyet

Have I mentioned how much I like Alison Moyet's latest album, "The Turn"?

Personally, I think it's her best album since "Essex".

I'm just sorry that we couldn't get tickets for the Yaz reunion tour this summer.

By the way, "The Turn" is NOT available from iTunes. I have seen it at Virgin Megastore, downtown San Francisco. Amazon says they have the import in stock for $35, but it's actually cheaper to order it from Amazon.co.uk (£5.97 plus shipping).