• About

burningmanagementblog

~ Life imitates management..management imitates life

burningmanagementblog

Tag Archives: Elton John

Me and Mrs Hadid & the Priest

18 Wednesday May 2016

Posted by Burning Manager in Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

accidental vagina, Am I Black Enough for You?, Billy Paul, Catonsville 9, Daniel Berrigan, El Wakrah Stadium, Elton John, Gamble and Huff, George Orwell, Grammy, Grammy Awards, legacy, London Aquatics Centre, Me and Mrs Jones, obituary, Paul McCartney, Philadelphia, Plowshares Movement, Pritzker Architecture Prize, Stirling Award, The Peak Hong Kong, Vietnam War, Vitra Fire Station, Your Song, Zaha Hadid

Daniel-Berrigan-400x300
_89030024_hadid_marymccartney
gettyimages-56683984_wide-5842a58a825a8aee6af7eed2764454afad0a7140-s900-c85

George Orwell wrote ‘A man who gives a good account of himself is probably lying, since any life viewed from the inside is simply a series of defeats.’ That’s why obituaries are important. I’ve been wanting to write an obituary for someone I really admire but thought on its own it might be less than uplifting. However with the recent passing of two other persons I have long admired I thought, hey, why not throw them all together and be done with it? Those who know me well know that two of my passions are architecture and music and as I am steeped in Irish DNA I am drawn to radicals. I think the reason I am drawn to music and architecture is that they blend that perfect contradiction, when at their best, – art and science combining to create the ethereal. Both, as it happens, are capable of being radical; of contradicting and challenging the status quo and getting us to look at things in a whole new light.

card-8519055-front

My first tribute goes to Zaha Hadid, the Iraqi-born British-based legendary architect. She is regarded by me as one of the great architects of modern times. I saw an obituary written about her that described her as the greatest female architect in the world today. Strange that, I thought. Surely we throw gender out the window when frequenting such lofty corridors? That aside, she has left behind a significant catalogue of stunning architecture that allows edifices to transcend from mere buildings into something magnificent. For those of a spiritual mindset transformation and transcendence are never far from one’s mind which leads me to my next ‘hero’.

catonsville-9-615x306

Fr Daniel Berrigan died in the Bronx on April 30. He was an intellectual, like all Jesuits, and true to his order embraced a fiercely independent and challenging disposition. It’s Berrigan’s anti-war stance during the Vietnam War that brought him and his brother Fr Philip Berrigan to prominence when they removed government property and burnt draft cards. This earned the duo (along with seven others known as the Catonsville 9) prison sentences. Berrigan went into hiding and on the run but was ultimately captured by the FBI and went to prison in 1972 coincidentally the same year Billy Paul received his Grammy. An avid writer of poetry and books (over 50), Berrigan was also a reformer and an AIDS activist remaining true to his pacifist beliefs to the end. He first came to my attention in 1980 when, with his brother and six others as part of the Plowshares Eight, he created the Plowshares Movement. As a group they broke into a nuclear facility in Pennsylvania where they damaged nuclear warheads and blood was spilt literally and metaphorically. Here was a life lived in total dedication to a firmly held set of beliefs.

billypaul

Talking of Pennsylvania, Billy Paul, my third ‘hero’ was born in Philadelphia. He was an iconic soul man who had longevity in the music industry and used it for social reform. Reflecting on it activism, music and architecture have a lot in common – they can soothe and challenge in equal measure. I recall hearing ‘Me and Mrs Jones’ on the radio when it first came out. Likewise I have a clear recollection of my parents’ moral outrage to it given it dealt with the scandalous (in 1972) notion of a man having an extra-marital affair. The fact that I had heard it and enjoyed the guilty pleasure made this 12 year old feel somewhat complicit in the whole matter. Unlike Berrigan, the easy lyrics which Paul made sound his own in fact belonged to others most notably Gamble and Huff, McCartney and Elton John. Like few others though, he was able to put such an indelible stamp on these songs they sounded like they were written especially for him. In listening you know their origins but they uniquely also retain few traces of the original version. I commend for fantastic listening Paul’s version of Elton John’s ‘Your Song’ which at a riotous 6.23 minutes is way longer than the original at 4.03. How does he manage to pad out the extra 2.20 minutes? I can only urge you to Google his version and enjoy.

zaha-vaga

Hadid’s architecture, like Paul’s voice or Berrigan’s poetry, is not without its verdancy or its radical undertones. No stranger to the middle-east and the religious and political contradictions contained therein, she embraces curves like few others in both physical and metaphysical form. Her design for the World Cup stadium in Qatar (the El Wakrah stadium) is now described as an ‘accidental vagina’ and it’s easy to see why. Some have seen it as a deliberate middle finger up to the phallic architecture of her male counterparts. To view it now feels like guilty architectural voyeurism. It also challenges the male-oriented Qatari society and the irony of 22 players chasing one little ball (i.e. sperm and egg) being played inside will not be lost on many. Radical..yup!

Hadid leaves a fantastic legacy of buildings including the London Aquatics Centre for the London Olympics, The Peak in Hong Kong, Cardiff Opera House and the Kurfurstendamm in Berlin, all of which I have had the privilege to visit. She’s multi-award winning including twice winning the RIBA Stirling Prize and the Pritzker Architecture Prize being the first woman to do so. She set her stall out, as it were, from the outset with the internationally acclaimed Vitra Fire Station in Germany in 1993: symbolism in that she really did set the world alight with some of the arresting architecture she created.

Daniel Berrigan was an award winner too, despite his modest lifestyle. His poetry secured him the prestigious Lamont award. Billy Paul was a Grammy Award winner and would arguably have received more accolades but for his embracing songs that dealt with post 60s civil rights issues such as ‘Am I Black Enough For You’ and McCartney’s ‘Let Em In’ which he re-tooled from a soppy love song into one about racial tolerance. Awards come and go – legacy remains.

Great people never really die of course. Legacy is something tangible and gives immortality. In the case of Hadid, Berrigan and Paul they have a catalogue that can be accessed time and again allowing us to ‘connect’ with them in a quite visceral way. This has me reflecting on what legacy will I leave? In management terms it can be hard to leave tangible evidence that you were here unless your job is the commissioning of things that last. Our legacy may be in the creativity of others; the vision, space and calm we create that allows others to achieve on our behalf. The very least we should set in terms of a legacy goal is positively touching and shaping those whose careers we have had in our custody. Get this wrong and we become destroyers of creativity and dreams. Get this right and we help grow the economy, create harmony and enable great things to happen. Through this perhaps life is breathed into our own legacy. There’s a quiet radicalism in this that I’m sure Hadid, Berrigan and Paul would embrace.

Listing to Great Music

04 Monday Jan 2016

Posted by Burning Manager in Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

25, Adele, Alison Goldfrapp, Amy, Amy Winehouse, Dusty in Memphis, Dusty Springfield, Elton John, Fairytale of New York, Florence and the Machine, Goldfrapp, Hannah Reid, High Fidelity, Joss Stone, Kirsty MacColl, Lists, Mary Coughlan, Nick Hornby, Sade Adu, Sinead O'Connor, Siouxsie and the Banchees, Siouxsie Sioux, The Pogues

springfield-dusty-5048026c50b063033b73071805177_adele_preview

Christmas time is a time for making lists. Not a time for serious blogs about the world of work – that’s for sure. Whether it be shopping lists for family and friends or a draft set of new year’s resolutions we, especially men, find comfort in writing things down. It’s been common business practice since time immemorial. On my list this year for my wife was 25, the new album by Adele. We listened to it on Boxing Day and I found it sounded quite familiar and not necessarily because we are all so familiar with Adele’s back catalogue of 19 and 21. So in true Nick Hornby style (a la High Fidelity) I found myself creating a bit of a list – Greatest UK female singers. It’s tempting, of course, to not rank too highly those who have just burst onto the scene, because longevity is a very real measure in the music business, but pure raw talent must count for something and with three monumental albums to her name Adele does qualify in the pre-qualification list. So here goes – my attempt to put together ten of the greatest UK & Ireland female singers of the popular music era with a bit of a rationale for why I think they warrant being here.

Dusty Springfield a tragic life story but Dusty (Mary O’Brien) is the greatest British female singer of the modern generation and arguably, for me, only second on the world stage behind Aretha Franklin. Adele’s voice is very similar and it is no coincidence that Adele’s look is very ‘Dusty’. They both have a lovely tone in their voice that conveys layers of emotion. As the song builds though their voices, at the top end, separate with Adele kicking through to full power where Dusty takes it towards the fragile and it is this tension between the fragility and the emotion that makes her without compare. Listen to Dusty in Memphis one of the greatest recordings of all time to judge for yourself.

Kirsty MacColl was tragically killed in an accident in Mexico in 2000. Contracted to Stiff Records she found herself without a label when they went bankrupt in 1986 but used this time to record with the likes of Robert Plant, The Smiths, Alison Moyet, Shriekback, Simple Minds, Talking Heads, Big Country, and The Wonder Stuff,. Her collaboration with The Pogues on Fairytale of New York in 1987 is the stuff of legend and it remains the best Christmas song of all time. Refusing to be pigeon-holed, her wonderful tonal qualities and her flexibility make her stand out from the pack. Check this out.

Mary Coughlan has a jazz based tradition and is a mesmerising performer. Her voice is beyond compare and if we look at the emotions that all the singers in this list put on display, none can match that of Coughlin. Where Winehouse rips her skin to reveal flesh, Coughlin squeezes lemon juice on it. Her tradition is Irish and this shines through with her soulfulness and at times cynicism, as well as her activism. I saw her in concert in 2002 at the Jazz Café in Camden and I recall being spellbound by a performance of such depth and emotion that I knew I was watching a legend. If you watch one clip in this entire list make it this one.

Sade Adu (Sade) was born in Nigeria but grew up in the UK. Her breathy songs with tinges of jazz and soul celebrate a timelessness and Diamond Life, her breakthrough album, sounds as fresh today as it did when first released in 1984. She won’t get the party rocking but as the party-goers drift away and you are left with the core friends this is the album to slap on the turntable.

Amy Winehouse Without Winehouse there arguably would not have been the likes of Adele or the myriad of others that have followed. Our family has had a personal connection with Amy that I won’t go into here (see photo from my recent trip to London), but regardless of that, she is still for mine the one who has led the way in the most recent years. Talented to a fault with the self-destruct button, like so many artists, always clearly on show. Where others, including Adele, sing with emotion and reveal their soul, Winehouse rips her skin off and reveals the flesh beneath. She is raw and urgent and we will never see the likes of her again. Tragically taken too soon.

IMG_6841

Adele has only three albums to her name (compared to say Elton John’s 10 in 7 years) but is such a phenomenon that her recent CD (yes she went ‘old school’ for the release) carries only her face on the cover and the CD itself just carries the number 25 as the means by which it can be recognised. Her authenticity and non-diva approach, with heart on the sleeve lyrics and powerful voice already has her ranking as one of the great female singers – ever.

Joss Stone I can forgive Joss Stone for her flirtation with the often bland potpourri of RnB. When she’s in her element doing soul and blues her voice is right up there. Precocious talent that is a livewire in concert and the fact that so many old hands like jamming with her (Etheridge, Beck etc) it is clear she has street cred. Like a good red will only improve with age. This clip from 2010 shows her talent at its best.

Sinead O’Connor has suffered with bi-polar, or not, depending on who you listen to and it is fair to say that social media seems obsessed with her and, at times, her with it. Putting that aside, to watch her in concert is to see a consummate performer who is at once both shy and a master of her craft. Her song lyrics are raw and emotional and her album How About I Be Me (And You be You) is a fine example of how she blends her life and her music and lyrics together for such a potent brew.

Siouxsie Sioux (Siouxsie and the Banchees) the younger generation might be surprised on reprising clips of Siouxsie that the outfits and stagecraft of Lady Gaga have been done before. Siouxsie Sioux was at the forefront of the new wave movement of the 1970s with some punkish backnotes. As a lead singer in an era populated by strong male leads she led the way for women and her songs have been covered by many artists not the least Jeff Buckley. Great voice, great presence and an enduring legend.

Hannah Reid (London Grammar). There is something very ethereal about Reid’s voice. Primarily the voice is an instrument and Reid emphasises this with her vocal mastery more than most. Her voice completely complements the synth and guitar based sound of the band. On stage she is in total flow and I like this in an artist. There may not have been a London Grammar without a Florence and the Machine but I prefer Reid’s voice by just a smidgeon to relegate Flo to the almost but not quite list. Check out London Grammar’s Montreux Jazz Festival set in 2014.

Many others warrant being on this list e.g. Christine McVie (Fleetwood Mac), Florence Welsh (Florence and the Machine), Alison Goldfrapp (Goldfrapp), Beverley Knight, Annie Lennox (Eurthymics), Alison Moyet, Julia Fordham, Joan Armatrading, Linda Thompson, Beth Orton etc.

The beauty of lists, as Hornby reminds us, is the thought that goes into constructing them. In some ways this is more important than the list itself. There are no right or wrong answers, of course, and the same goes with management. Often there is no absolutely right way to do something. Time spent contemplating the best approach, what’s top of the list, is time well spent regardless of what approach you end up adopting.

Recent Posts

  • Happiness Can’t Buy Healthy!
  • Self-improvement is all the rage!
  • You Snooze…you win!
  • What’s In a Number?
  • Big Pharma – it’s time to cook!

Recent Comments

Your SCHEEME is Rad… on Your SCHEEME is Rad Man
joshymaters on Mystics and Statistics on the…
joshymaters on The Match Before the Matc…
Cool Offices | Const… on Cool Offices

Archives

  • June 2021
  • April 2021
  • November 2020
  • June 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • December 2019
  • October 2019
  • August 2019
  • July 2019
  • March 2019
  • January 2019
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • February 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • September 2017
  • August 2017
  • June 2017
  • May 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • September 2016
  • August 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016
  • April 2016
  • March 2016
  • February 2016
  • January 2016
  • December 2015
  • November 2015
  • October 2015
  • July 2015
  • June 2015
  • December 2014
  • November 2014
  • October 2014
  • September 2014

Categories

  • communications
  • Uncategorized

Meta

  • Register
  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.com

Recent Posts

  • Happiness Can’t Buy Healthy!
  • Self-improvement is all the rage!
  • You Snooze…you win!
  • What’s In a Number?
  • Big Pharma – it’s time to cook!

Recent Comments

Your SCHEEME is Rad… on Your SCHEEME is Rad Man
joshymaters on Mystics and Statistics on the…
joshymaters on The Match Before the Matc…
Cool Offices | Const… on Cool Offices

Archives

  • June 2021
  • April 2021
  • November 2020
  • June 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • December 2019
  • October 2019
  • August 2019
  • July 2019
  • March 2019
  • January 2019
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • February 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • September 2017
  • August 2017
  • June 2017
  • May 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • September 2016
  • August 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016
  • April 2016
  • March 2016
  • February 2016
  • January 2016
  • December 2015
  • November 2015
  • October 2015
  • July 2015
  • June 2015
  • December 2014
  • November 2014
  • October 2014
  • September 2014

Categories

  • communications
  • Uncategorized

Meta

  • Register
  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.com

Recent Posts

  • Happiness Can’t Buy Healthy!
  • Self-improvement is all the rage!
  • You Snooze…you win!
  • What’s In a Number?
  • Big Pharma – it’s time to cook!

Recent Comments

Your SCHEEME is Rad… on Your SCHEEME is Rad Man
joshymaters on Mystics and Statistics on the…
joshymaters on The Match Before the Matc…
Cool Offices | Const… on Cool Offices

Archives

  • June 2021
  • April 2021
  • November 2020
  • June 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • December 2019
  • October 2019
  • August 2019
  • July 2019
  • March 2019
  • January 2019
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • February 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • September 2017
  • August 2017
  • June 2017
  • May 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • September 2016
  • August 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016
  • April 2016
  • March 2016
  • February 2016
  • January 2016
  • December 2015
  • November 2015
  • October 2015
  • July 2015
  • June 2015
  • December 2014
  • November 2014
  • October 2014
  • September 2014

Categories

  • communications
  • Uncategorized

Meta

  • Register
  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.com

Blog at WordPress.com.

  • Follow Following
    • burningmanagementblog
    • Join 27 other followers
    • Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
    • burningmanagementblog
    • Customize
    • Follow Following
    • Sign up
    • Log in
    • Report this content
    • View site in Reader
    • Manage subscriptions
    • Collapse this bar
 

Loading Comments...