Welcome all to ๐๐ผ๐ป๐ป๐ผ๐น๐น๐โ๐ ๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐ป๐ฒ๐ฟ, a series of weekly reviews by Charles Connolly – an artist in his own right. Here, Charles delves into the greatest brand new singles brought to you by the best unsigned artists on our electrifying and eclectic set of ๐๐๐ฌ ๐ผ๐ง๐ฉ๐๐จ๐ฉ ๐๐ฅ๐ค๐ฉ๐ก๐๐๐๐ฉ playlists.
๐พ๐๐จ๐ ๐๐ค๐ฃ๐๐ฎ ๐๐ค๐ฃ๐๐ฎ – ๐๐ง๐๐ฎ๐จ๐ค๐ฃ ๐๐ค๐จ๐ฉ๐๐ง
Charles counts his pennies and considers his class. Being broke in the music industry…
As hierarchy, status and class dissolve fast, one vulgar thing unites us all. I speak not of โAll You Need Is Loveโ by Ringo and his mates, but actually of โAll You Need Is Cashโ by their spoof tribute, The Rutles. It all used to be about class and social standing, here in Britain, regardless of wealth. I gather that in the Ewe Ess of Ay, these are synonymous with money. They come as a package. Traditionally in Britain it had always been about background and ancestry. If one was born into an aristocratic family, that person would be an aristocrat. If one was born into a working class family in a mining town, that person would probably continue the line. Although there is now much considered wrong with this, there was usually comfort in understanding oneโs way of life. People were usually pretty happy with their status – one knew oneโs place – except for the muddy middle muddle, which has always been lost. I am one of those middlians. Striving for no apparent reason, other than the feeling that it is what I am supposed to do. Modern Britain, along with most of the rest of the world, now makes it simpler. The richer you are, the more successful you are, and therefore the better you are. Money, cash, spondulicks, dollars, pounds, yen and the feebly and unimaginatively named Euro – call it what you will – it runs and rules our lives now. It is everything. And I hate to say this. It should be love, happiness and contentment, but it is pounds, shillings and pence, with emphasis on the larger denomination. We even see it in music. Pop songs used to be about love, but increasingly they are about fame and fortune. Money โCanโt Buy Me Loveโ – true, but it can buy me just about everything else. Even I wrote a song – Tap When Youโre Ready – about contactless payment – God help me – where a spoilt woman wants to know the man is with her at all times, just in order for him to plonk down his card whenever something might pique her fancy (listen on our brand new NAS Rarities, Oddities and B-sides playlist). Money is everywhere. Nay, money is talked about everywhere. It has become less about greed and more about need. The struggle and the compulsion. Long gone are the days of simple subsistence. And donโt get me on to money in the music industry. The Small Faces had it right, with โAll Or Nothingโ.
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