Topper Headon - Waking Up (1986) (vinyl Lp) - €10,00

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Nicholas Bowen "Topper" Headon (born 30 May 1955) is an English drummer and multi-instrumentalist, best known as the drummer of punk rock band the Clash. 

Headon was inducted in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with the rest of the Clash in 2003.

He joined the Clash in 1977 and became famed for his drumming skills. He received his nickname owing to his resemblance to Mickey the Monkey from the Topper comic.

After leaving the Clash, he was considered as drummer in Mick Jones's post-Clash band Big Audio Dynamite and played in a short-lived group called Samurai, with bassist Pete Farndon, guitarist Henry Padovani (from The Police), organist Mick Gallagher (from The Blockheads), and vocalist Steve Allen (formerly of Deaf School). 

Headon subsequently focused on recording a solo album, Waking Up (1986), which featured Mick Gallagher, Bobby Tench and Jimmy Helms.

The album was released by Mercury in 1986 with a cover photograph taken by Tim White. "Leave It to Luck" was released as a single and as part of an EP. 

Musically, the album offers few surprises from the Clash's resident soul-jazz buff, falling comfortably into unhurried jazz, R&B, and soul grooves; just compare his relaxed take on the Stax classic "Time Is Tight" to his former band's more urgent treatment on Super Black Market Clash. 

Highlights include the swirling pop-funk of "Got to Keep on Going," one of several songs addressing Headon's addiction; "Pleasure and Pain," a hard-hitting showcase for Tench; and "Just Another Hit," whose poppy drive belies its clever metaphor for stardom, professional killing, and drug addiction. Unfortunately, Headon's lyrical agility is less spectacular elsewhere, as proven by the trite rhyming that dogs otherwise solid tracks like "When You're Down" or "Leave It to Luck." 

Such material may have been the best that he could offer at the time, but it made no impression even among the old Clash crowd -- an issue later rendered moot by Headon's 1987 imprisonment for drug-related offenses. 

In hindsight, Waking Up is best appreciated as enjoyable, but unspectacular, journeyman fodder.

The album was dedicated to the memory of Pete Farndon.

Side one

1.  Leave It To Luck - 3:08

2.  I’ll Give You Everything - 3:16

3.  Hope For Donna - 4:17

4.  Got To Keep On Going - 4:42

5.  Dancing - 3:29

Side two

1.  Drumming Man - 2:53

2.  Pleasure And Pain - 4:10

3.  Time Is Tight - 3:38

4.  When You’re Down - 3:04

5.  Just Another Hit - 2:58

6.  Monkey On My Back - 3:37

Companies, etc.

• Recorded At – Wessex Sound Studios
• Marketed By – Phonogram
• Published By – East/Memphis Music

Credits

• Bass, Vocals – Jerome Rimson
• Drums, Percussion – Topper Headon
• Flugelhorn, Trumpet – Geoffrey Miller
• Guitar, Vocals – Bobby Tench
• Keyboards – Mick Gallagher
• Photography [Front Cover] – Tim White
• Saxophone – Martin Dobson, Tom Harris
• Sleeve – N.B. Headon And J.B.
• Trombone – Mark Graham
• Vocals – Jimmy Helms
• Words By – Booker T. Jones (tracks: B2)
• Words By, Music By, Arranged By – N.B. Headon (tracks: A1, A2, A3, A4, A5, B1, B3, B4, B5, B6)

Notes

Release:  1986

Format:  LP, Vinyl

Genre : Funk Pop

Label:  Mercury ‎ Records

Catalog# 826 451-1

Vinyl:  Goed (VG)

Cover:  Goed (VG)

Prijs: €10,00