On (unlikely) Influences:
I don’t know how we skipped the usual suspects, but when talking about Blueneck’s influences, Rich throws a name at me that has me caught completely off-guard.
‘Phil Collins.‘
Pardon?
‘Phil Collins! You know Phil Collins?’
Yes, I know Phil Collins. Why are we talking about Phil Collins?
‘You’ve heard ‘In The Air Tonight’?’
Yes, I’ve heard ‘In The Air Tonight’. Why are we talking about Phil Collins?
‘Listen to the start of it again, and then listen to ‘Sirens’.’
I play ‘In The Air Tonight’ in my mind.
Dear god, it’s true.
—
The scourge of the One Song:
Rich calls on me to remember that dreadful ‘Rollercoaster’ track by Ronan Keating from a decade or two ago.
‘Do you remember how it went?’ he asks.
‘Yes, but I’d rather not.’
‘That’s OK. Do you know the New Radicals?’
‘Sure – that group with the one song.’
‘Yeah that’s them. Do you remember how that went?’
‘Sure,’ I’m about to start humming ‘You Get What You Give’ and it hits me.
‘It’s written by the same guy,’ he tells me.
‘They really only have the one song.’
—
The before-they-were-famous moment
‘I met Chris Martin’s parents,’ Rich tells me. I’ve been railing against Coldplay for about five minutes now. For a moment I feel like we’re two schoolteachers discussing a problem student. ‘I was at one of their early shows – there couldn’t have been more than 200 people there. There was this older couple sitting in the corner, and I got to talking with them. They told me their son was in the band. It was Chris Martin.’
—
Settling debates with Google:
‘My childhood dream was to be in a Right Said Fred video,’ I reveal.
‘Aren’t Right Said Fred gay?’
‘What? Surely not!’ I quote their lyrics to make my point.
Deeply dippy about those Spanish eyes,
Sierra smile,
Legs that go on for miles, and m…
‘Ah yes, one of them’s bisexual.’
—
On their name:
I’m so convinced about my own interpretation of Blueneck’s name, Rich doesn’t even get the chance to speak before I’ve launched into my exhaustive explanation the story behind their name. He hears me out patiently and after what must be a quarter of an hour tells me that I’m free to go with that as the story due to its overpowering glam factor. It’s not the real reason though. The Real Reason is so superbly unglamorous that I decide to keep my own illusions, and leave the truth shrouded in mystery.
Sorry, not sorry, but you’ll never know.
—
“King Nine” was the album of the year for me in 2015. I continue to listen to Blueneck frequently. Their songs resonate deeper with each subsequent listen. I am a casual fan of Phil Collins, and like some of his songs more than others, but there are some songs of his that are so passionate, that they continue to this day to resonate with me and others. “In The Air Tonight” is one of those songs. It genuinely moves people in general whenever they hear it. You can tell it does just by observing them when the song is playing. That being the case, I am not terribly surprised to hear that at least one of the songs by Blueneck has been inspired by Phil Collins.
Passionate. Heartfelt. Emotionally raw and real. Honest.
Songs that speak to all of us through those attributes, and Blueneck does that so very well.
I AM a bit surprised to hear that one of the childhood ambitions of the writer of this article was to be in a Right Said Fred video, although that somehow makes me think more of her, and not less. 🙂
What an unexpected cacophony of songs I currently have in my head, though; so different than I would have presumed going into an article about Blueneck.
I’m too sexy for my car,
Too sexy for my car,
Too sexy by far.
I do my little walk on the catwalk,
In the air tonight…