Gilbert O’Sullivan is one of those songwriters whose music I listen to and I think how blessed he is to have been able to pen such beautiful songs. What a gift! When he arrived on the scene in the 70’s, no one had seen anything like him, a most unlikely looking star, the hair, the clothes, the performing style were all so unorthodox, the opposite of everything a star was supposed to be but that didn’t hold him back, he knew exactly what he was doing…he was HUGE! Unfortunately, in the early 80’s, his career was thrown off track as he found himself embroiled in litigation. He alleged that Gordon Mills’ MAM Records was earning more from his work than was equitable. Eventually, after years in court, Gilbert won the equivalent, in today’s prices/monetary value, of well over £20m. Vindication.
Gilbert O’Sullivan is still out there, releasing albums and appearing at venues as diverse as Glastonbury and The Royal Albert Hall but the work which rightly earned him fame and fortune and, importantly, the reputation as the real deal, is the beautiful music which he first gave us in the 70’s and early 80’s and which millions of people around the world still enjoy today. Great songs never die!
We all know ‘Claire’, ‘Alone Again (Naturally), ‘Get Down’, ‘Matrimony’ and other classics but here is a great song which you might not know – it hits ‘the spot’, beautiful melody, beautiful lyrics, beautifully produced…the intro is really special and sets the scene for a sublime 3 minutes and 6 seconds. Enjoy [scroll down for ‘Alone Again (Naturally)’, ‘Claire’ and another terrific song which you might not know, ‘Ooh Baby’]:
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