Charisma's Crackers

Introduction

I bought the retrospective CD above in 2009 and it will be a template for some of the pieces in this playlist, although it is missing a lot of my favourites and includes some I am a bit unsure about.

Looking back on the music it seems extremely English to me, which, for me, is not a bad thing, but for my friends worldwide that may be a problem, but every song I am sharing here are favourites of mine for various reasons.

There are only half a dozen selections here but some are very lengthy

This is a website with information about the label and this is the Wikipedia entry:

So here we go with the Charisma's Crackers, in no particular order of merit:

String Driven Thing - "It's A Game"

This is a brilliant relentless pop song, driven by that fiddle. There are other songs by them on "Refugees" but this is a great song to kick off this playlist.

It was also one of the Bay City Rollers' excellent cover versions.

Van Der Graaf Generator - "Man Erg" from "Pawn Hearts"

There are a couple of tracks from the band on "Refugees" but nothing from "Pawn Hearts" which I recently was given as a Father's Day present from my daughters. The cover and band name always fascinated me and I have the album on CD, but the album is a tour de force. A rock band with no guitars for this one. The album has only three songs and "Man Erg" opens side two of the vinyl copy and although it is ten minutes long, it gives you an idea of what the band are about ranging from absolute beauty to total monstrosity.

Rare Bird - "Sympathy"

I'm not sure that this is the original recording and I never bought any of their albums, but this song always stuck with me. It starts off very sparse and is probably a little depressing but it does stay with you once you have heard it.

This one is on the "Refugees" compilation.

Genesis - "Stagnation" from "Trespass"

This is from the debut Charisma album from the band and the feel is extremely pastoral, with only the finale "The Knife" carrying any kind of threat. The drummer was John Mayhew (I'm not sure what happened to him) and the guitarist was Anthony Phillips who, I believe is still creating.

"Stagnation" starts very gently and is almost nine minutes long, but the finale contains a wonderful descending guitar sequence and is worth your time to listen. I love to whole album, but this is one of the gems contained therein.

Clifford T Ward - "Wherewithal"

I believe Clifford T Ward was a teacher and he has created some beautiful acoustic pieces. "Gaye" is the song included on "Refugees" and is a beauty, but I have chosen this song that is lovely but you may feel it is a bit twee, but I would never skip this one.

Lindisfarne - "Fog On The Tyne"

Lindisfarne are very local to me and led by the sadly missed genius Alan Hull. The song on "Refugees" is "Lady Eleanor" inspired by Edgar Allen Poe and possibly their most important song, but that could be said of many of their songs.

This was my take on that song

"Fog On The Tyne" is probably the Novocastrian anthem and as a resident of Newcastle for thirty-five years, this is my choice, firstly because it is a great song and secondly because I can play it, but please avoid the Paul Gascoigne version.

Conclusion

Thank you for reading this and I hope I have managed to share some new music with you and you have enjoyed at least some of it.