{"id":149883,"date":"2020-09-21T05:53:03","date_gmt":"2020-09-21T09:53:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/?p=149883"},"modified":"2020-09-21T09:38:37","modified_gmt":"2020-09-21T13:38:37","slug":"music-monday-the-strangest-pop-hit-single-in-history-by-brendan-omalley","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/?p=149883","title":{"rendered":"Music Monday: The Strangest Pop Hit Single In History, by Brendan O’Malley"},"content":{"rendered":"

My talented brother Brendan O’Malley is an amazing writer and actor. He’s wonderful in the recent You & Me<\/i>, directed by Alexander Baack. (I interviewed Baack about the film here<\/a>.) His most recent gig was story editor\/writer on the hit series Survivor’s Remorse<\/i>. Brendan hasn’t blogged in years, but the “content” (dreaded word) is so good I asked if I could import some of it to my blog. I just wrapped up posting his 50 Best Albums<\/a>. But I figured I’d keep “Music Monday” going with more of the stuff Bren wrote about music.<\/p>\n

Bren’s writing is part music-critique, part memoir, part cultural snapshot. Many of these pieces were written a decade ago, so I am happy to share it with you!<\/p>\n

This is part of Brendan’s lengthy series of essays on Scott Walker<\/a>, which I’ll be posting for the foreseeable future, one every Monday.<\/em><\/p>\n

The Strangest Pop Hit Single In History<\/strong><\/big><\/p>\n

The Walker Brothers had broken up at the height of their fame. Their run only lasted from ’65 to ’67<\/a> but the breakneck pace of recording and touring made it seem much longer. Tensions in the group were high for all the typical reasons, but a crucial one was the burgeoning songwriting talent of Scott Walker. He’d started writing B-sides to singles as a way to increase revenue for the band. It worked. But it also showed that Walker was the true visionary.<\/p>\n

Still having a Japanese tour to complete as a vestige of their contract, The Walker Brothers broke up. Walker immediately set to work writing and recording his debut, simply titled Scott<\/em>.<\/p>\n

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Walker had, through a German Playboy bunny he’d met at London’s Playboy Club, discovered the music of Belgian superstar Jacques Brel. The first song on Scott<\/em> is an incredible cover of “Mathilde” which Walker sings as if he is belting out the finale of some strange musical where a skinny American kid winds up on the BBC in love with a supermodel who drives him mad.<\/p>\n

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