K T Tunstall-Suddenly I See-Eye to the Telescope
I detest all those “guilty pleasures” type compilations that came out a couple of years ago-what on earth is there anything to feel guilty about?
I’ve only got one K T Tunstall record -and maybe it’s the only one I ever really need to hear.
I have no real interest in getting any more of her records. I don’t think that she could ever top this tune anyway. Sometimes you just know that an artist will bring out one amazingly good song, just one great song, and that’s all they ever really need to do. It doesn’t matter whether a song (or an artist) is fashionable or cool or hip or too disposable or too popular. It’s just about the music really.
And that’s just a glib throwaway cliché anyway. Saying it’s all about the music disregards the obvious fact that it’s very difficult to get over the fact that some of these songs that I really do like actually are made by artists who are not, and never will be, or never were, at the cutting edge. As bad as the “guilty pleasures” crap can be, the reverse side of this coin are those people who come out with all that guff about it being just about the music. It can’t be that. It’s impossible to wholly separate yourself from what any particular artist signifies.
We are all too adept at reading, and too well-versed in meaning, to just hear music in total isolation. It can never just be about the music, and for that reason it’s sometimes much more difficult to appreciate a pure pop song. It’s another final hurdle that has to be overcome if you want to honestly love a song like this K T Tunstall record.
And the thing that really gets me is all that knowingness. All that kitsch value approach. You should either like a song or not.
Just say no to all that “well, I know its rubbish and that x or y is a complete arse, but that’s what’s good about it.”
No, it’s not. If it’s a load of old bollocks and the singer is a total dickhead, then call it what it is. But this song isn’t rubbish, and from what little I know of K T Tunstall she seems alright.
I do have a feeling though that this was a bit of a flash in the pan for her and for some reason-maybe because I didn’t want this song to be diminished by hearing much of her other work that could never be as good as this-I’ve never made an effort to hear anything else she’s done.
There are a few other songs that for me fall distinctly into this sort of category. It would be misplaced and incorrect to say these were by one hit wonders. Some of them were very popular or very successful or indeed, very “cool” artists. There may be more than one song by them I like, but what links them is that I only need a couple of songs to know, instinctively, that they are very great and exceptional songs.
Try these-and this is just off the top of my head; “Never Ever” by All Saints, “Tempted”, “Black Coffee in Bed”, “Labelled with Love” by Squeeze, “You’re So Vain” by Carly Simon, “Pinball” by Brian Protheroe, “Teardrops” by Womack and Womack, “Desperado” by the Eagles, “Brass in Pocket” by the Pretenders, “Last Night a DJ Saved My Life” by Indeep.
The list is endless. And that’s the beauty of music.
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