Lucy Kay

[Andrew]

Oct 25, 2021 7:34:14 GMT Jeff said:

Well Andrew, perhaps a Scottish ballad would be more to your taste ?

Hi Jeff,

You can’t go wrong with: “My Love is Like a Red Red Rose”…

Thank you for sharing and for cheering me up!

If you are keeping watch and notice how world events all seem to be converging - it is so apparent how much evil there is in the world… More noticeable now than ever! If evil did not exist how come man just can’t make the world a better place- no matter how hard he tries?
Why add more fuel to the fire with “Dark Angel” / evil music… That’s what I say. It’s just empty and depressing.

Thanks for listening…

Andrew

[Jeff]

https://www.instagram.com/tv/CVfy4gZDoY8

[Jeff]

[Jeff]

"There is beauty in darkness" says Lucy in today's interview with Classical Crossover Magazine where she explains the concept behind her new album.

[Andrew]

Nov 7, 2021 17:00:29 GMT Jeff said:

"There is beauty in darkness" says Lucy in today's interview with Classical Crossover Magazine where she explains the concept behind her new album.

Really?

Just see how long that lasts then…

Too many people want to believe lies!

Andrew

[Jeff]

OK Andrew I get it. You don't like Lucy ! I'm glad you're "not one who likes to share negative feedback". I wouldn't like to see what you'd say if you were !

[Jeff]

[Jeff]

[Jeff]

LA PRIMA VOLTA.

How do you define a great song ? One way I would suggest is by the number of cover versions and Ewan MacColl's "The first time ever I saw your face" has been covered over 400 times, everyone from Elvis Presley to George Michael, Roberta Flack to Leona Lewis. I've loved the song since I first heard it at 12 years old but in 2003 I came across an Italian version by Tony Henry and arranged by Bradley and Stewart James which cleverly used Bach's Prelude No.1 in C Major (the Ave Maria tune) or something very close to it.

music.apple.com/gb/artist/tony-henry/41715185

At the time I thought it was the best Classical Crossover album I'd ever heard (remember we were in pre-"Pure" days then). It even featured an outrageous reworking of a Status Quo classic in the style of Gilbert and Sullivan as well as a superb version of Nilsson's "Without you." The album failed commercially maybe because British audiences weren't ready for a black British tenor in which case shame on them. It did make no. 37 in the Belgian charts. Meanwhile in this country the song was popular on talent shows, never more so than when eventual X Factor winner Matt Cardle brought the house down with his performance.



Fast forward to 2015 and a dark and windy cliff-top behind Bournemouth's International Centre where Collabro have just performed with their special guest Lucy Kay. Lucy recognised me and stopped the car, remarkable in itself. We got chatting and I was pleased to learn that TFTEISYF was a song she liked as well. I suggested to her it was about time a soprano recorded it since none had done so in its Italian version. (Charlotte Jaconelli recorded it in a duet with Jonathan Antoine.)

Then came the pandemic and plans were put on hold but 2 years ago I set up a meeting between Lucy and Bradley James. Long story short the song arranger wanted too much money and Lucy's second album "Dark Angel" had a limited budget since it was being funded by fans including myself. Added to which the German producer felt the song wouldn't fit with the album's other repertoire. So "La prima volta" isn't on Lucy's album. She did however record a special performance for me using the Janson brothers arrangement used by Paul Potts on his 2009 album "Passione." Amazing how often song arrangers are brothers or twins !

My thanks to Rod Langabeer for uploading this video to his YouTube channel.

Ewan MacColl of course famously hated all cover versions of his musical theatre song and in particular Elvis Presley's. He died in 1989 (although his estate will receive royalties from all recorded versions of the song until 2059) so we'll never know what he would have made of classical crossover versions of the song he sang down the telephone to his beloved Peggy Seeger who sang it in a play in 1957. Classical Crossover versions tend to transpose the C major song into a minor key giving it a melancholic edge which I like. One thing is for sure. The song has now changed out of all recognition from the way it started out. I never asked Hayley to sing it. If she ever did it would probably sound something like this.

[comet]

Well done Jeff, quite a remarkable chain of minor events can lead to a recording like Lucy's becoming a reality.

[Jeff]

Thanks Comet. Yes it shows what can be achieved when you have a singer who actively wants to engage with her fans. If you want a new bathroom you ask a plumber. If you want a new song you ask a singer (and pay them) and if you want someone to lie to you then you ask a politician. !

[comet]

But a recorded song will last forever

[Jeff]

Indeed.

[Jeff]

Singers seem to like cats. Lucy has two and they seem to be enjoying the snow at her home in the mountains of Norway. Music is "Dance of the sugarplum fairy" from Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker ballet.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/CW5b2-wI6tD

[Jeff]

Lucy's latest interview:

inthebucketplaylist.com/interview-with-lucy-kay-my-absolute-dream-would-be-to-front-a-symphonic-metal-band/