Margaret Thatcher and the Rise of Portishead
A Fresh Album Story, My History with Portishead, & What's in the Pipeline...
I have long been one to dig into the history of albums, bands, and music. So it only seemed fitting that I'd eventually dive head first into sharing stories I’ve discovered along the way.
My most recent Album Story to hit YouTube covers the birth of UK trip hop band Portishead and their rise to fame, and how British politician Margaret Thatcher played a key role.
In fact, without her, Portishead would not have existed. And, because Portishead is THE band that popularized the trip hop sub-genre on a worldwide level, we have Thatcher to thank for it’s continuing legacy.
»Dig into Margaret Thatcher and the Rise of Portishead
It’s a fun one, and I definitely enjoyed pulling it together!
My History with Portishead
I was a teenager living on the Washington state side of the greater Portland, Oregon area in the mid 1990s. At the time, it was kind of country. Lightly rolling hills of farmland and evergreen trees.
Portland had an alternative rock station, 94.7 NRK, and it played mostly popular rock of the day. My friend Justin (RIP) introduced me to it not long after exposing me to Siamese Dream by The Smashing Pumpkins.
The passion for discovering music was pretty instant.
In the early days, I’d fall in love with Radiohead, Stone Temple Pilots, Soundgarden, Nirvana, Pearl Jam, and other alt rock acts of the day.
Portishead was different, though. It harkened to another time; an alternate universe where agony and pain have a cool swagger and modern sounds meet forgotten ones from decades prior.
It was a different kind of obsession — that merging of old and new, sadness and an effortless cool. I was hooked.
“Roads” to this day remains my favorite off Dummy, though I’d have to give “All Mine” off the band’s self-titled 1997 album a nod for remaining my all-time favorite Portishead song, which it’s been since the moment I first heard it in the late 90s.
I snapped up all of their CDs back in high school. Really, they just had the two studio albums, Dummy (1994) and Portishead (1997), but there was also Roseland NYC Live (1998), which featured a slew of other musicians on horns, woodwinds, and stringed instruments.
According to Wikipedia, “Although the New York Philharmonic is credited as appearing in the video, none of the musicians are members of the Philharmonic, nor is the Philharmonic credited in the audio album.”
Live albums have always been a bit hit-or-miss for me. Some are phenomenal, like Roseland NYC Live, and others just fall flat. For a live album to be truly great, it needs to ADD something to the music. It needs to TRANSFORM it in a way that almost makes the recordings BETTER than the studio album or at least significantly different, and Roseland NYC Live definitely does that.
About a decade ago, I stumbled across an original pressing of the album on vinyl. It’s not in the best shape, but it’s not terrible. The sleeve has a bit of edge and corner wear to it and the vinyl remains smudged with some light scratches and dust that just won’t clean off.
Coming Soon:
I have a few more of these album stories coming down the pipeline, including one covering Weezer’s The Blue Album from 1994, and another touching on late 70s and early 80s punk and new wave band Blondie.
If you haven’t yet…
While the latter doesn’t specifically hone in on any particular album, I’ll share a few tidbits about the two Blondie records I have in my collection: Parallel Lines and AutoAmerican.
For you crime junkies out there, stay tuned for for the Blondie story! Hint hint…
I’ll also be digging into some gear with a review of my new Meze Audio 99 Classics over-the-ear headphones. I quite like them, and I’ll be sharing why (along with one thing that kinda drives me nuts about ‘em).
Stay tuned, and keep discovering great music!