By pejepeine
Say it with your body
FromThe Look of Love to This Guy’s In Love With You, Hal David’s lyrics are full of non-verbal communication, and I’m a little surprised we didn’t see more of him and Burt this week. But here we go with the daddy of them all: Walk On By has been covered countless times and already been zedded twice, but not Dionne Warwick’s perfect original version.
I was shocked to discover that Imagination have never been A-listed, but their run of early-80s singles, usually accompanied by the guys prowling and posing in Ancient Roman uniform and harem pants amid billows of dry ice, were fantastic, and their debut Body Talk, with its plangent piano, still hits the spot.
Destiny’s Child know exactly what messages they’re sending out in Bootylicious. It’s hardly subtle, but there’s joy, laughter and taunting playfulness galore.
Rather more demure is Françoise Hardy’s Tous Les Garçons Et Les Filles, a song which sketches the happy confidence of young lovers walking “eyes in eyes, hand in hand” while poor Françoise walks alone.
The Affectionate Punch “draws more blood”. Despite the minimal lyrics, there are layers of doubt and unspoken anxiety in The Associates’ spiky track. Billy McKenzie’s lyrics were famously opaque, but anyone whose been involved in vaguely threatening, masculine relationships will understand.
Billy turns up again in The Cure’s Cut Here, Robert Smith’s recollection of the brief final encounter between the two singers, before McKenzie’s suicide. “And over my shoulder as I walk away, I see you give that look goodbye. I still see that look in your eye.”
There’s a strand of paranoia and suspicion running through late-60s and 70s soul, and nowhere is it more brilliantly expressed than in The Temptations’ Smilin’ Faces Sometimes, a Norman Whitfield symphony led by Eddie Kendricks’ hurt, vulnerable falsetto.
Jens Lekman’s It Was A Strange Time In My Life starts with a brutal put down and finishes with a flirtation in sign language. It’s a gorgeous song, and probably the most perfectly on-topic nomination of the week.
Open hands, reaching and clutching, feature in Tim Buckley’s Strange Street Affair in Blue, whose rhythm and instrumentation hints at Middle-Eastern folk dances. The meaning here is poetically imagined, but there’s definitely some intense interpretation going on.
Elastica’s Connection is a blast of retro punk energy that was always too good to be filed under Britpop. There’s no gestures or body language mentioned, but we all know what she’s talking about.
Absence of signals can be a signal in itself, and “blanking” is one of the most potent messages in a social situation. It’s easy to identify with Terry Hall’s bewilderment in The Specials’ Blank Expression.
Singerman summit as John Holt & Gregory Isaacs get together to celebrate Body Language over the riddim from Delroy Wilson’s Studio 1 classic I’m Not A King.
Johnny Kidd and the Pirates’ Shakin’ All Over is one of the best UK No. 1s ever, with its famous spidery guitar figure. “When you move in right up close to me” – the message is clear, as physical proximity is one of the most powerful aspects of non-verbal communication.
All-Action Physical Expression A-List Playlist:
Dionne Warwick - Walk On By (megadom)
Imagination - Body Talk (megadom)
Destiny’s Child - Bootylicious (Isabelle Forshaw)
Françoise Hardy - Tous Les Garçons Et Les Filles (Suzi)
The Associates – The Affectionate Punch (Tatanka Yotanka)
The Cure – Cut Here – (Happyclapper)
The Temptations – Smiling Faces Sometimes (magicman)
Jens Lekman - It Was A Strange Time In My Life (Loud Atlas)
Tim Buckley – Strange Street Affair (Fred Erickson)
Elastica – Connection (ShivSidecar)
The Specials – Blank Expression (ParaMhor)
John Holt & Gregory Isaacs – Body Language (Nicko)
Johnny Kidd &the Pirates’ – Shakin’ All Over (Olive Butler)
Speaking Body Language B-List Playlist:
Charles Mingus – Nodding Your Head Blues (BanazirGhalbasi)
Sarah Vaughan – The Nearness of You (Suzi)
Miles Davis – Hand Jive (Nilpferd)
Brenton Wood – Give Me Little Sign (BanazirGalbasi)
Solange – Don’t Touch My Hair (magicman)
Barbara Lewis – Snap Your Fingers (magicman)
Paramore – Fake Happy (EnglishOutlaw)
The Staple Singers - Touch A Hand, Make A Friend (George Boyland)
Patti Austin - Body Language (Nicko)
Sault feat. Michael Kiwanuka – Bow (ParaMhor)
Guru’s Wildcard Picks:
Andy Williams – Music to Watch Girls By
Change – Mutual Attraction
These playlists were inspired by readers' song nominations from last week's topic: Sound waves and signals: songs about body language and gestures. The next topic will launch on Thursday at 1pm UK time.
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