{"id":149912,"date":"2020-12-21T05:06:10","date_gmt":"2020-12-21T10:06:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/?p=149912"},"modified":"2020-12-21T06:51:02","modified_gmt":"2020-12-21T11:51:02","slug":"149912","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/?p=149912","title":{"rendered":"Music Monday: Bowie, Fatima Mansions & Walker Brothers: 3 Versions of Nite Flights: Original\/2 Copies, 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

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><\/em><\/p>\n

Bowie, Fatima Mansions & Walker Brothers: 3 Versions of Nite Flights: Original\/2 Copies<\/strong><\/big><\/p>\n

Only one way to fall.<\/p>\n

The title track of The Walker Brothers swan song is the incredible “Nite Flights”. While it doesn’t open the album, the fact that Walker doubled it as the name of the album speaks volumes about the importance of this particular song.<\/p>\n

The song on its own merits is stunning. A sleek propulsive bass line propels the rhythm, descending against a rising layer of keyboard shimmer. Cymbals hiss, the snare pops, and the overall effect is somehow like something out of a science fiction film. <\/p>\n

Put in the context of the musical landscape of 1978 and the song takes on even greater significance. England was exploding into punk rock and new wave, both of which are left in the dust by the genre-less edifice this song effortlessly erects.<\/p>\n

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In the hands of a media juggernaut, this album could have been some kind of international blockbuster. It was obviously blazing new sonic ground and combining this with the unlikely history of The Walker Brothers seems like an alley-oop. But the company was folding and the album made a brief appearance, affected a few of the cognoscenti, and that was that for The Walker Brothers.<\/p>\n

I can only make analogies to somehow explain what this might look like were it to happen today. Imagine that Hall & Oates released an album tomorrow that alienated all of their fans from back in the day but that in 30 years would be looked upon as the pinnacle of musical achievement of the era.<\/p>\n

After all, in the film 30 Century Man<\/em>, Brian Eno holds up a copy of Nite Flights<\/em> and says, “We’ve come no further than this. It’s shameful!” <\/p>\n

Listen to the original “Nite Flights” off of 1978’s “Nite Flights” by The Walker Brothers.<\/p>\n

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