“7&3 is the Strikers Name” by Paul Weller
“7&3 is the Strikers Name” by Paul Weller
from the Album, Wake Up the Nation (2010)
Welcome back to Weller Wednesday, where we celebrate, listen to, and learn about All Things Paul Weller. This week we are tuning in to a Track off of Weller’s 10th Solo Studio Album, Wake Up the Nation, with the Song “7&3 is the Strikers Name”.
The Album Wake Up the Nation was released in April of 2010. It was nominated for the 2010 Mercury Music Prize. The Album was dedicated to “absent friends” – John Weller (Paul’s Dad), Pat Foxton (Bruce Foxton, of The Jam, late wife) and Robert Kirby (string arranger famous for his work with Nick Drake, Elvis Costello, and Weller).
It was the first of Weller’s Albums since 1982 to feature contributions from Bruce Foxton (from The Jam). (from Wikipedia)
Paul Weller: Sounds from the Studio by Ian Snowball states that “7&3 is the Strikers Name” evolve from Wake Up the Nation’s previous Track (“Whatever Next”). They go on to say:
“It’s a vibrant and quirky track and worked when it was issued as a single-sided record. Kevin Shields [of My Bloody Valentine] is back to play more guitar and so are Hannah [Weller] and Laura Rees for backing vocals. The track presses on like a hungry army, relentless, chaotic, attacking – ‘Curse those fuckers in the castle, they’re all bastards too’. ‘7&3 is the Strikers Name’ is a force to be reckoned with.”
One could say that about Weller himself. A force to be reckoned with after years and years in the Music Business, never failing to surprise listeners, always taking chances and changing directions, and sometimes really angry at the “fuckers in the castle” (or maybe the Government, or the Music Business?)
In the Guardian’s Review of the Album, Wake Up the Nation, they commented on the Song “7&3 is the Strikers Name”:
“Here, he [Paul Weller] explores how republicanism would advance the egalitarian cause of a meritocratic democracy thus: “Them fuckers in the castles, they’re all bastards, too.” This clearly isn’t going to win the Johan Skytte Prize in political science, but there’s something about the gusto of it – not to mention the fathomless layers of feedback beneath it – that’s hugely exciting.”
The Village Voice’s Neil Ferguson selected his choice of Top 10 Songs that show Weller at his finest (as of July 24, 2013):
“7&3 is the Strikers Name”:
“If there were anything designed to alienate the more conservative of Weller’s audience (i.e. aging, overweight Fred Perry-clad white blokes demanding endless reruns of Weller’s meat and potatoes blue-eyed soul…), then it’s this slice of sonic chicanery. A queasy, swirling helping of lysergic-soaked oddness. A class war call to arms, replete with MBV’s Kevin Shields giving it full on, guitar army white noise craziness. Those demanding “proper tunes” hate it. But you know what? Fuck them. Fuck them all.”
“7&3 is the Strikers Name” (live) by Paul Weller
What do you think of “7&3 is the Strikers Name”? Do you have a Favorite Track off of “Wake Up the Nation”?
Hope you enjoy this Week’s Weller Wednesday feature and that you come back next week to see what’s up next from Paul Weller. Feel free to share your thoughts, and Weller requests in the comments below.
Top 5 Music Obsessions featuring Ryan Adams
Wednesday is finally here. Mid-week Wednesday, halfway there Wednesday, my Favorite weekday Wednesday. How are you feeling this Wednesday? I feel clearer today, better rested, coffee in hand and Music playing. Today’s Top 5 Music Obsessions all lean in the Folk and Alt-Country side of things. I woke up with Ryan Adams in my head and it all fell together from there. What Music are you Obsessing over today?
The first Song is from Ryan Adams. “New York, New York” was the Track I woke up with, Singing in my head. It reminds me of how much I want to visit New York. Every year I think THIS will be the year. So far it hasn’t been the year. Yet. Maybe THIS year is.
Joni Mitchell is such a huge part of my childhood. “Carey”, off of her 1971 Album Blue, is a Song I’d forgotten about until today. When it came on my Spotify Discover Weekly Playlist I was immediately transformed into a wee girl barefoot in our first living room, spinning around my Mom’s giant speakers to this Song.
Karen Dalton is a new discovery of mine. She was making Folk Music around the same time as Joni. A matter of fact this Song, “Something On Your Mind” was released the same year as Joni’s Song “Carey”. I was introduced to Karen’s Music via the Lyric site I’ve mentioned a few times lately – Always On the Run. I’m so glad I found it again.
The next two Songs were both featured in my Favorite TV Series of all-time, “Gilmore Girls”. Yo La Tengo’s “My Little Corner of the World” and Sam Phillips’ “How to Dream”. When I’m having a lot of anxiety, like this week, its “Gilmore Girls” I turn to. It is a guaranteed feel-good watch for me.
If you’d like to Follow along on this Week’s Top 5 Songs check out Playlists at Spotify and YouTube.
Top 5 Music Obsessions of the Day – April 11, 2018
1. “New York, New York” by Ryan Adams
2. “Carey” by Joni Mitchell
3. “Something On Your Mind” by Karen Dalton
4. “My Little Corner of the World” by Yo La Tengo
5. “How to Dream” by Sam Phillips
I hope you are having the best Wednesday you can and that your day is filled with Music you are Obsessing over. I hope you enjoyed my 5 Music Obsessions of the Day from Ryan Adams, Joni Mitchell, Karen Dalton, Yo La Tengo, and Sam Phillips.
Got something you’d like to see featured in a Top 5? Share the Song Title and Artist/Band in the Comments, or email lyriquediscordesubmissions@gmail.com.
Top 5 Music Obsessions for the Week of April 9, 2018
“Black Metallic” by Catherine Wheel
“Black Metallic” is Track 3 off of Catherine Wheel’s 1992 Album Ferment. What a year 1992 was in Music, and in my life. Everything changed for me that year. Everything. And the Music from that year that I connected to, and that soundtracked my life, was everything. All that Music still is everything, too. My heart still swirls around the Music I loved in 1992. This Song included.
“Black Metallic” was written by Catherine Wheel and produced by Timothy Friese-Greene. The Band, Catherine Wheel, was formed in 1990, comprising of singer-guitarist Rob Dickinson (cousin of Bruce Dickinson of Iron Maiden), guitarist Brian Futter, bassist Dave Hawes, and drummer Neil Simms. The name Catherine Wheel was taken from the firework of that name, which in turn had taken its name from the medieval torture device called a catherine wheel. (from Wikipedia)
Catherine Wheel are often considered part of the Shoegaze genre. In some ways, I feel they were a “gateway” into Shoegaze for me.
“Black Metallic” by Catherine Wheel
from the Album, Ferment (1992)
The first time I heard this song I was laying on the floor of an ex-boyfriend’s bedroom. We were staring up at the glow-in-the-dark stars that we’d stuck up there together the year before. Back when things were clearer between us.
He lay there beside me, staring up in that same lost sort of way that had attracted me to him in the first place. He looked as lost as I felt. Right then, as the starting chords to “Black Metallic” started up he reached over and grabbed hold of my hand.
We didn’t say much. We just held on tight and closed our eyes, letting the Music wash over us. Letting it take us back to better days. I can still remember a tear sliding down my cheek, how it got caught between the fabric of my sweatshirt and the curve of my neck.
There was no way we could reconcile. I think we both knew it. But through the 7:19 minutes of the Song we were still “us”. We hit in it, in that “us”, until the Song was over.
When I think on that time, my eyes closed, Song playing, I swear I can still smell that slight hint of tobacco and cologne on his clothes. A scent that stayed held within his jacket for months and months after he was gone. The jacket I never gave back. I remember the way one of my shoes dangled half-off my right foot, and how his thumb had a slight callous on it from this nervous habit of chewing on it when he thought no one was looking.
He was the first boy I ever loved with every part of my being, enough so that I felt gutted when we finally parted ways. Enough so that that love will always be part of the way I think on all of it, and how I will always feel about “Black Metallic”.
