MY NORTHERN SKIES

Hello, welcome to the My Northern Skies website, home of my two weekly radio shows, which alternate here each week, The Jazz File every Tuesday (8pm) and Flick the Dust Off every Friday (10am).

Featured Album | 395

Pink Floyd | Obscured by Clouds | Harvest SHSP 4020 | 1972

This could hardly be considered the band’s best effort, though it has its moments. Obscured by Clouds is a curiosity sandwiched between the superior Meddle (1971) and the ultra-superior Dark Side of the Moon (1973), and next to those two giants, remains historically insignificant. Perhaps it’s simply because the album began its life as a soundtrack for a film by Barbet Schroeder, who previously employed the band for the earlier More. To be honest I can’t think of a single movie soundtrack that comes close to the best work of any rock band, and certainly not in the case of the music for La Vallée, though having said that, taken on its own merit, as albums often should be, it’s not a bad little album. One track in particular wouldn’t have been out of place on either Meddle or Dark Side, the tender “Stay”, clearly the album’s finest song, written by Richard Wright. There again, when you’re seventeen and looking for love, and you don’t necessarily want to have the Chi-Lites as a soundtrack, then your highly dependable Floyd boys can offer something suitable with a fine vocal performance courtesy of Wright and a delicious wah-wah guitar solo served up by Gilmour. If this song is lost on such a mediocre album, then would it be too much trouble to ask that we turn the clock back momentarily and stick “Stay” on Meddle as a replacement for either “Seamus” or “San Tropez”?

Playlist:

Rock and Roll – Led Zeppelin (Led Zeppelin IV)

Stay With Me – Faces (A Nod is as Good as a Wink)

Uh..What’s the Deal – Pink Floyd (Obscured by Clouds)

Witchy Woman – Eagles (Eagles )

Momma’s Reward – Edgar Broughton Band (Sing Brother Sing)

D.I.Y – Peter Gabriel (Peter Gabriel II)

All the Young Dudes – Mott the Hoople (All the Young Dudes)

Be Good to Yourself – Frankie Miller (Full House)

The Reason – Thunderclap Newman (Hollywood Dream)

Wooden Ships – Crosby Stills Nash (Crosby Stills Nash)

Pandora’s Box – Procol Harum (Procol’s Ninth)