Today is the birthday of Michael Mann the movie director, so here is a piece on him that I have wanted to write for a long time. I hope you enjoy it.

I first heard of Michael Mann when I watched Miami Vice in the Eighties. I was taken by Mann’s heady cocktail of rock music, beautiful exotic locations and violent action. But it was more the ensemble, less Mann’s vision, that was exciting.

Then I saw Manhunter. Manhunter was a great movie, dark, captivating, I could not pull my eyes aeay from the screen. Manhunter was different, no formula cops, no crooks with bizarre plans for robberies that were clearly going to fail. In Manhunter you never have a clue to where the story is going. It was and is, a magnificent achievement. Over the years since it was released it has become a landmark film, critically praised and has a big following amongst movie buffs.

Then in 1995 Heat came out in London. Then, like now, London was in the grip of an ice-storm. I went to see Heat at a midday show the day after it’s UK premiere. I must have been one of 10 people in one of the biggest cinema in London. I sat in the front row. The climactic gun-battle left my ears ringing and the characters were etched on my memory

So I have always been a fan of Michael Mann’s movies. He has a lot to say about men and masculinity. Here is my take on his movies, and be warned, there arew some spoilers in here.

Mann’s men
Michael Mann’s men have a terrible secret. They know how the world works. They see the world as an unashamedly savage place, where peace and security are an illusion. This gives them power and it gives them identity. They know who they are and are certain about their power and place in the world. They show themselves to the world as confident men. Ion a way this is incorrect, because they are beyond confident. At some point in their past (which we are not privileged to see) they became confident and absorbed that into themselves. They are Alpha Males, they operate in their area of competence, they know they are right, they are heroes and leaders and killers.

From the earliest movies we see how this works. In Thief, James Caan’s master safecracker knows the secret is to never give in to the feelings of fear and he has trained himself to live that way. His joy is in his competence as a thief, he is self-admiring. His gratitude is to the older criminal (Okla, played by Willie Nelson) who taught him the secret of life.

We see it again in Manhunter, where William Petersen’s serial killer tracker FBI agent is quietly authoritative and wise.

William Petersen as Will Graham in Manhunter

The other policemen are variously loud, harassed, coarse. Petersen’s Will Graham character is physically smaller, quieter than the others, yet he has a strength and a knowing that makes him more powerful than his colleagues.

In The Last of the Mohicans, Nathaniel is a white man brought up by the Native American Mohican tribe. He is the ultimate Alpha Male, he has the strength and earth-wisdom of the savage and the cerebral understanding of the white man. He exudes power and like many of Mann’s heroes, he enjoys it. He lives for the hunt, be it man or animal.

Dancing with the Devil
Mann’s men cannot be ordinary, they cannot be men who are plucked from obscurity and who show bravery out of their ordinary selves. They are powerful men and so they can only go for the big prize, to define society or to defy it. Harvey Mansfield in his book Manliness talks about manly men and amongst the capabilities he attributes to them are a willingness to stand for justice and a desire to seek danger and risk. Mann’s men risk everything, because that is the only thing that makes them feel alive. It is all about the competition and rarely about the prize. Mann’s movies are epic, stories of giants amongst men, small movies could not contain them.

So Mann’s men are there for combat, danger and victory. Will Graham in Manhunter knows he is the arbiter of justice, the protector of the innocent and puts his life and family at risk to destroy a terrible serial killer. In Collateral, Tom Cruise’s hitman is the centre of the world, as he sees it. He is on a one-man crusade to live his life by his rules and that means killing people. He knows he has the power and has only contempt for those who do not know how the world works. The difference between Will Graham and Cruise’s Vincent is empathy. Will Graham feels for others, Vincent cannot, and cannot understand goodness and the “straight” world

In the Keep, Mann’s Nazi horror movie, he makes dancing with the devil the literal truth. A crack Nazi platoon are sent to a Romanian castle where “partisans” are killing german soldiers. A Jewish scholar is brought to the castle under duress, to decrypt an occult inscription at the secen of the murders. He knows that he will be killed as soon as he succeeds in his task. He discovers that a demon haunts the castle and is killing the soldiers. As the demon grows in power, he offers the scholar a choice, side with him, help him kill the Nazis and make him stronger still. The scholar has to choose between his own death and releasing something truly evil into the world. As he enters into a perilous alliance with the monster, he is truly dancing with the devil.

In Heat, we get to see both sides of the coin. Al Pacino’s lieutenant Vincent Hanna is the prefect Mann protagonist. As head of the LA Robbery-Homicide team he takes on the most dangerous, violent robbery gangs. He lives for his job, for the chase. He has a family but they are almost incidental. What “keeps him sharp” as he tells us is talking down crime gangs, the bigger the better.

In De Niro’s boss robber Neil Macauley, he meets his match. In fact it is not too far from the truth to say that Hanna is thrilled when he realises that Macauley is a worthy adversary. Hanna tracks Macauley relentlessly and almost catches him in an early robbery. Macauley in turn sets Hanna up and outsmarts him. Heat is clever and quick and as a viewer you cannot afford to turn away from the screen for a second, the contest between the two men is captivating. It may be the greatest clash of equals ever seen on the movie screen.

In a reckless moment Hanna decides to up the ante and make himself known to Macauley. They meet in a coffee shop and in some terse dialogue define themselves as Alpha Males and agree what we the audience already know, it will be a duel to the death.

The face-off in Heat

Here is the scene:

Vincent: So you never wanted a regular type life?
Neil: What the fuck is that? Barbeques and ballgames?
Vincent: Yeah.
Neil: Regular type life, like your life?
Vincent: My life? No.. no, my life’s a disaster zone. I got a stepdaughter so fucked up because her real father’s this large-type asshole. I got a wife, we’re passing each other on the down-slope of a marriage — my third — because I spend all my time chasing guys like you around the block. That’s my life.
Neil: A guy told me one time, “Don’t let yourself get attached to anything you are not willing to walk out on in 30 seconds flat if you feel the heat around the corner.” Now, if you’re on me and you gotta move when I move, how do you expect to keep a… a marriage?
Vincent: That’s an interesting point. What are you a Monk?
Neil: I have a woman.
Vincent: Yeah, what do you tell her?
Neil: I tell her that I’m a salesman.
Vincent: So, if you spot me comin’ around that corner…You just gonna walk out on that woman?
Neil: That’s the discipline.

Vincent: You know, we are sitting here, you and I, like a couple of regular fellas. You do what you do, and I do what I gotta do. And now that we’ve been face to face, if I’m there and I gotta put you away, I won’t like it. But I tell you, if it’s between you and some poor bastard whose wife you’re gonna turn into a widow, brother, you are going down.
Neil: There is a flip side to that coin. What if you do got me boxed in and I gotta put you down? Cause no matter what, you will not get in my way. We’ve been face to face, yeah. But I will not hesitate. Not for a second.
Vincent: Maybe that’s the way it’ll be…Or, who knows?
Neil: Or maybe we’ll never see each other again.

But they know they will see each other again.

The climactic bank robbery in heat is one of the greatest shootouts ever filmed. No-one does a shoot-out as well as Michael Mann. In his movies both good and bad guys pack some serious weaponry.

The bank takedown - Heat

Tough lives and good friends
Michael Mann’s heroes are not alone. This is not the maverick cop who lives out of a bottle of scotch. This is mean to be the real world, so each of them has their group. In Miami Vice, Crockett and Tubbs have their battered veteran of a boss, and the sexy but deadly Elizabeth Rodriguez as their latino gunslinger backup. Even Rico Tubbs wife is part of their crew, another cop.

In Manhunter, Will Graham’s profiler/detective is managed by the solid and fearless Jack Crawford (Dennis Farina) and he is backed up by the crime teams at the FBI academy at Quantico. In Last of the Mohicans, Nathaniel’s bond is with his adopted Mohican brother Uncas, and his father Chingachgook.

In Heat, once again we get two for one. Al Pacino’s police lieutenant has a tough, fearless group of policemen working for him, while De Niro has his professional thieves, loyal and ruthless.

This is one of the things that makes Michael Mann great, even his secondary characters are very real. He builds a believable world for his heroes and invites us into it. What man would not want to take command of such brave loyal men and set out to victory. Their camaraderie stirs us up, bolsters our confidence and makes us want to go out to battle.

Women and the great escape
For everything there is a price. There comes a point for every man when they can no longer dance with the devil. They get lose something in themselves, they get too old or they lose their appetite for the battle. Mann’s men have never experienced this but they know the day will come and their only hope is to go out on a winning streak.

Women are the hope of Mann’s heroes. Women are drawn to Alpha Males and in these movies the heroes meet or are with some spectacular women. But the lives of these men make their relationships tumultuous and fragile. In Heat, Lieutenant Hanna’s marriage is crumbling due to his obsession with “the real world” of crime and gangs. In Thief, James Cann’s master safecracker desperately wants a wife and a family, so he goes about building one in the only way he knows, with singleminded determination. However he does not know how to keep that family safe from the violent world he lives in. In Last of the Mohicans, Nathaniel falls in love with Cora Munro (Madeline Stowe), a strong woman who understands frontier America. Yet the worlds they come from are light-years apart and the future of their relationship is doubtful. The only true victor in Mann’s films is Will Graham’s FBI profiler Will Graham, who has a loving and brave wife, but he is trapped in the battle with one of the most evil men America has ever spawned, and his marriage and family are directly in the firing line.

Kim Greist as Molly Graham - Manhunter

Heroes
What draws men to Michael Mann’s films is the recognition and admiration of his men. We admire his masculine, courageous men and are drawn to their stories. Every Michael Mann film is a chase, where man have to show every part of themselves, expend every bit of courage and strength to achieve their goals. The movies are tragedies, in the true Shakespearean meaning of the word.

I love that these movies are epic, manly and exciting. They tell stories men want to be in. In Michael Mann’s movies, every man gets their chance but when he does so he finds the world is unremittingly hostile. So he has to beat it.

And the glory of these movies is that he does.

Ok, so it is freezing (officially) here in England, the economy is in the doldrums and everyone is concerned with how their year is going to work out. Apprehensive and watchful would be the best description.

So here is one of What Makes A Man’s solutions. Bossa Nova. I cannot get to South America right now but I sure can evoke Rio with some classic Bossa Nova.

Bossa Nova from Brazil, just saying it evokes so many feelings and images for me.

As a musical form it evolved out of Samba, the dance music of African-Brazilians. Bossa Nova kept the warm rhythms of Samba but took out the heavy percussion that characterised traditional Samba and gave guitar and vocals the leading roles.

The original Bossa Nova sound was centred around the classical guitar and in most Bossa Nova, the guitar always plays the rhythm, the foundation of the tune. Bossa Nova kept the Samba’s sexy beat 3-2 beat but lightened it and by adding piano, created a more sophisticated musical form that was custom-built for cool, elegant vocals. In one sense Bossa Nova stripped out much of the Samba rhythm, then overlaid what was left with a smooth instrumental sound that could carry a more sophisticated song. The Bossa Nova sound was (and is) lush, romantic, sexy and cool.

The Bossa Nova Movement

The Bossa Nova “movement” was born in 1958 and only lasted six years, but the musical form has expanded, mutated and grown since that time. The “new” Bossa Nova of recent years has elements of pop and dance in it, which I really like. It can do this because the rhythmic foundation lends itself to integration with other popular music forms.  Really, Bossa Nova is cool, in the same way that Jazz is cool. It is a complex musical form with fluid, interwoven instrumentals. It gives the artist room to interpret the song in original ways. Part of its longetivity is that it always sounds fresh. EuroTechno and Chill-out sounds have drawn heavily on Bossa Nova, often layering their orchestration straight onto a Bossa Nova beat.

I like Bossa Nova. I like that it is happy music (for the most part). I like the romantic sound of the strings and the funky enveloping sound. I can dance to it. For me Bossa Nova evokes Latin America, sunlight, dancing and sexy women.

I like the fact that the men who sing it sound like they have lived some. Like me, they have some miles on them and, when they sing of lost love, I believe them. Their voices are knowing, romantic and masculine, cosmopolitan and worldly.

For Brazilians to have “Bossa” when doing something, is to do it with masculine grace and style. And as a man, we can ask for no more. Bossa Nova suits the man of style and this is why you are reading this, no?

Music and Style

For a man of style Bossa Nova is useful. Here are some ways in which you can use it:

Summer Parties
You know that moment, it is early evening, the party is just getting going. People are drinking, the garden/patio/clubhouse is filling up, but no-one is quite ready to dance. Now is the time for Bossa Nova, it gets everyone in the mood.

Single Seductions
Rock is too noisy, Jazz too damn complicated, Soul too meaningful. You want music while you kiss your favourite girl, champagne in hand. Bossa Nova is romantic, girls love it, it puts them in the mood, makes them feel that the two of you could live out a romantic fantasy…..

Dancing
Bossa nova has such a reliable rhythm, anyone can dance to it. Once you catch the beat you are ok and any man can look half-way decent, dancing to Bossa Nova.

Chill-out
Summer evening, sun going down, drink in hand? Bossa Nova, especially the classics.

 Background Music
I am listening to Antonio Carlos Jobim while I write this. I love this job.

So here are 12 of my favourite Bossa Nova albums, from the classics through to an album released last year. This is a snapshot of the music that is complementing my life at the moment. It is not a definitive Bossa Nova listing (way too long for a post), it does not even include all of my favourite artists. It is just those albums that lift my ears and my heart right now.

Antonio Carlos Jobim: Stone Flower
Antonio “Tom” Jobim was one of the originators of Bossa Nova and by all accounts a man who lived for music, though he had big appetites for both drink and women. Anything by Antonio Jobim is good but Stone Flower is magnificent. Made in 1970, his voice and style had matured, but he was still a young man, at the peak of his powers. Standouts on this album are his version of “Brazil” where the deep, melodic vocals simply outclass anyone else who has sung this song. However the best thing on the album is the title track. Clever guitar harmonies and a colourful string arrangement meet a hard bass line and becomes a moving and complex love song.

 Get it in England here and in the US here

Sabrina Malheiros: New Morning

This is “New” Bossa, stripped down and re-sung for the modern era.  The sound is a little less lush, the percussion is sharper, but the guitar still leads and the piano still lends a romantic tone.  This album has pin-sharp production and Sabrina’s jazz-inflected vocals sing out in total control over the orchestration.  This album has a host of pop and rock influences and the songs will bring a smile to your face and a sway to your hips.  This is hi-energy Bossa and so good.  There is also a Bossa Nova cover of Carole King’s “Its too late” and it is very fine. 

 Get it in England here and in the US here        

Caetano Veloso:  The definitive collection

In the seventies Caetano Veloso took the core of Bossa Nova and really worked it, changing the form to see what it would do.  Along the way that has meant marrying Bossa rhythms to rock and pop, to peeling Bossa back to it’s Samba origins and several other adventures.  He is often less the romantic Bossa singer than the funky Samba singer.  However you can still hear Bossa there, because first and last Veloso’s instrument has always been the classical acoustic guitar.  And you know, some of these songs are pure Bossa, love songs, brass sections, strings, girl choruses and a true lightness of heart.  These are songs to make your day feel good. 

  Get it in England here 

The “Definitive Collection” album is not available in the US.  For our US readers can I suggest “The best of Caetano Veloso” here 

Charlie Byrd/Stan Getz: Jazz Samba
Charlie Byrd, like other Jazz guitarists, saw the affinities between Jazz and Bossa Nova. He and Stan Getz recorded Jazz Samba in 1962 and it became the definitive Bossa Nova album for the United States and Europe. Byrd and Getz treated Bossa Nova with the respect it deserved and result is tight, lyrical and captivating. It still sounds fresh today with its cultured interpretations of Desafinado and One-Note Samba.

 Get it in England here and in the US here    

Luciana De Souza: Duos, New Bossa Nova
This woman has the richest deepest sexiest voice. She is the daughter of Walter Santos, himself a Bossa Nova composer, has a classically trained voice and leans to the jazz side of Bossa Nova. On Duos she covers songs by Antonio Carlos Jobim and Caetano Veloso, so it is a classic voice singing classic songs. Her voice is by turns passionate, sad, exhilarating and tender. These are songs of love and loss, for late nights and cold days.

The New Bossa Nova has covers and duets of and with American artists like Joni Mitchell, James Taylor, Leonard Cohen. Re-interpeted as Bossa Nova tunes, her wonderful strong voice breathes electric life into older songs like the Beach Boys “God Only Knows” and Michael MacDonald’s “I can let go now”. Her ability to hold a note is marvellous and she makes rich, glorious music.

 Get them in England here  and here

 Get them in the US here and here

Marcos Valle: Carioca Soul
A teenager during Bossa’s early years, Marcos Valle became one of the music’s most enduring stars, especially during the eighties and ninties, mixing pop and soul influences into the classic 3-2 beat. Still around after a long and varied career, Valle has tried all sorts of variations on the Jazz Samba. For me he is the most Brazilian, a master of the Samba beat, but also the most showbiz, with lush strings and an almost rock piano. Putting together a Marcos Valle collection is a labour of love but at the moment I am hooked on Carioca Soul because it includes “Nova Bossa Nova” with its urgent rhythm and soulful vocals. It is cool and modern simultaneously and just makes you want to dance.

 Get it in England here  or in the US here

Pure Bossa Nova:  The classic songs

This one is in here because, well I really like it, it includes some of great songs. It includes songs by people we have not even mentioned like Joao Donato, Sergio Mendes and Gal Costa.  It spans a really fruitful period in the music’s history with songs from the early seventies through the eighties and is full of zippy funky songs.  These are tune stuffed with light and breezy brass orchestrations and clever piano.  Real dance floor music.  It is also here because though it is not a particularly well-known album, it is the one I would recommend to anyone looking for a starter Bossa Nova album.  Infectiously happy, full of classic crowd-pleasers, it is an easy set of songs to get into.    

  Get it in England here and in the US here

Marisa Monte:  Memories, chronicles and declarations of love.

Marisa Monte is a popular singer in Brazil, where she is classified as a MPB (Musica Popular Brasileira) singer.  MPB is one of Bossa Nova’s successors, and describes a musical tradition that draws on Samba and Bossa Nova, adding elements of jazz, pop and South American folk.  “Memories, Chronicles” , is the “new” Bossa Nova of recent years, none more so than the stunning opener “Amor I love you” which is classical Bossa guitar with some of the most heartfelt vocals I have ever heard.  The album spans Choro (pre-Samba bahia folk music) Samba, Bossa Nova.  Her electric Samba “Nao Va Embora” is urgent and sexy and goes straight to your dancing feet. 

This is not music for purists but it is really joyful and soulful.  Also I really need to declare an interest here.  This woman is truly beautiful to look at.   She is not pretty but has a dark beauty that somehow manages to be both elegant and sexy.  Her eyes are liquid pools of deep, dark brown, she has a wide sensual mouth and thick black hair.  Think of the archetypal Brazilian woman, dark, beautiful, sexy and full of life.  This is her. 

 Get it in England here or in the US here

Stan Getz: Bossa Nova
Another classic. Bossa Nova was made for Getz and for a while he personified the sound in America. Getz’ sax is variously languorous, spiky and plaintive as it weaves in and out of the complex arrangements of these Bossa classics.

This album features a wonderfully romantic and classy Corcovado (you will know it for its opening line “Quiet nights for quiet stars”). The vocalist is Astrid Gilberto and this one of her best. Whenever you play it, it takes you to a starlit night, love and romance.

There are so many classics on this album, a sparky but sexy version of So Danco Samba, a Desafinado which is late-night seduction. Play this when you are having a romantic evening at home, wine and candles, lights down low.

 Get in England here or in the US here

CeU: CeU
Ceu is new. She is the best-selling Brazilian pop music phenomenon of 2007. Huge in South America, she is busy taking over Europe as we speak.  Coming from a Samba, Choro, Bossa Nova tradition, her music has elements of everything from rock, jazz, soul and early Brazilian folksong. Her composition is inspired, tight, modern and intricate. She has a strong, sexy expressive voice that dominates her upbeat songs. Samba rhythms and a fat bass sound dominate much of this album.

There is some great songs here, in the tracks Bobagem, Samba Na Sola and others. The album does what the New Bossa Nova promises, update Bossa Nova for today.

 Get it in England here or in the US here

Vinicius De Moraes: Favourites
Well, along with Antonio Carlos Jobim, he created Bossa Nova and at the moment he is the perfect antidote for winter blues.  Here are the lush orchestrations, trumpets and tombones, girl choruses, the 3-2 beat, everything that we expect. Songs such as “Deve Ser Amor” have it all, and more. However Moraes also wrote many of the classic guitar Bossas, romantic, cool, poetic. They are here too on this comprehensive compilation. This is definitive Bossa Nova.

 Get it in England here or in the US here

Milton Nascimento and the Jobim trio: Novas Bossas

I have always liked Milton Nascimento for his ability to interpret lyrics and the sheer energy he puts into a song.  His amazing tonal range is shown at its best on this album, where he interprets classics from Jobim and De Moraes.  The sad songs were never more poignant than here, the happy songs never more full of life.  This album was recorded last year with Jobim’s trio. It has beautiful production values and it really shows.  There are some classic interpretations here, especially De Moraes “Medo de Amar” and Jobim’s “Caminhos Cruzados”.

If I was going to buy just one Bossa Nova album I would buy this one.  It is passionate, modern and yet incredibly respectful of the songs. 

 Get it in England here and in the US here

Here ends the tour

Looking at this post, I can see that some of the music here detours a little into Samba, Jazz and Pop.  But that is the nature of Bossa Nova, its a very flexible and accomodating sound.  For me it is the sound of having fun and of course I can….Blame it on the Bossa Nova.

I am sure that many readers have their own Bossa favourities.  Send me a comment and I will be happy to post your lists.  I am always interested new recommendations for all types of Latin American music.

Thanks and an appreciation 

Like everyone I find my music through all sorts of sources.  But I found Luciana Souza and Marisa Monte through the John Rain thrillers by Barry Eisler.  John Rain, Eisler’s American-Japanese assassin is not only a martial artist who loves Jazz and Malt Whisky, but is also a man having a love affair with all things Brazilian.  Luciana Souza and Marisa Monte are both recommended, directly and indirectly, in the John Rain novels.  So my thanks to Barry Eisler for introducing me to two wonderful singers.  If you have not read Barry Eisler’s novels I recommend you do so.  He writes beautiful and is a captivating storyteller.  He has a very elegant website and the link to it is here. 

My eye was caught by this small but lovingly produced site, run by John W DeFeo. John restores photographs and slides of 1950s nudes. These nudes are modest by today’s standards, but still sexy and quite charming. What is equally as interesting is John’s obvious commitment to the restoration process, as he explains how he restores the images. A small but beautiful site, there is almost a Japanese craft sensibility about it.

The link is here but remember that, charming as this site is, it is still not safe for work.

The Langham Gallery in London are holding an exhibition of the work of photographer Nick Delaney. Nick is a fashion and style photographer who is beginning to make a name for himself in art photography. As you can see from these images (both of which are in the exhibition Nick has almost painterly eye for colour and composition. The image below, of street art in Barcelona, is a great example of this.

Barcelona Wall by Nick Delany

This exhibition of work is from his personal collection of Urban Landscapes taking in cities such as New York, Budapest and Madrid. These are beautiful and arresting images, with a real sense of place. One more image to whet your appetite, below.

54th and Broadway by Nick Delany

The exhibition is at the Langham Gallery in Lamb’s Conduit street, recently featured in Monocle magazine as one of the best living community streets in the world. Nick’s work is clearly going to appreciate in value over the coming years, so here is your opportunity to invest while you can. Go, view and enjoy.

Details:

The exhibition runs from Monday 17th November till Saturday 13th December.

Opening hours 10-6 Monday to Friday, 10-4 Saturday.

The Langham Gallery is at 34 Lamb’s Conduit Street, London WC1 3LE

Tel: +44 (0)20 7242 0010

Email: info@langhamgallery.com

Website: www.langhamgallery.com

Here is a link to an interesting, well written article by the Daily Telegraph’s David Gritten.  He talks of the necessity of rebooting the Bond franchise and some of the changes wrought in the Daniel Craig movies. 

I disagree with him with him on two things.  Firstly that Ian Fleming would have approved of the Daniel Craig Bond.  I do not think he would have, and I suspect that David Gritten knows this.  For Fleming, style was everything, and worldliness was better than athleticism in his book (literally).  Daniel Craig is a great Bond, but he is a downmarket Bond.  Just as Fleming thought that Sean Connery was too lower-class to play Bond, I suspect that he would have thought the same about Daniel Craig.

Secondly, when Casino Royale came out, there were a lot of journalists eager to rubbish Pierce Brosnan’s Bond and David Gritten does not consider Brosnan a good Bond.  However from a fan’s perspective Pierce Brosnan was a great Bond.  We were grateful that he rescued our hero from the unfortunate movies with Timothy Dalton as James Bond.  Brosnan had real class and looked as though he were duplicitious enough to work in an evil world.  There was also a cruelty about Brosnan that was pure Fleming, such as the moment when he shoots his lover and adversary Elektra King (Sophie Marceau, The World is Not Enough) without a moment’s hesitation.  Pure cynicism but real panache.

The article is very good and is here:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtml?xml=/arts/2008/10/20/bfbond120.xml

I cried today.  Levi Stubbs is gone. 

I still have his voice, on every Four Tops album I ever owned.  But the man is gone and I hope gone somewhere where he will be celebrated for his wonderful talent.   

Like almost all of Motown’s great stars, Levi Stubbs was born in Detroit.  He met Abdul “Duke” Fakir in high school and met the other two Tops at a house party.  They sang together under various names until Berry Gordy convinced them to join Tamla Motown and they became the Four Tops. 

The Four Tops were the sound of my early twenties, friends, clubs and dances, good clothes and Motown.  The minute the DJ played any Four Tops song, we were on the floor.  We had a friend called Bill, big guy, last on the floor, but up and dancing as soon as “I cant help myself (sugar pie honey bunch)” came on.    

We loved the Tops, their clothes (we all wanted those mohair suits, but were not so sure about the long high-point collar shirts), the snappy footwork and their infectious high-energy songs.  They were black guys and we were white but we had a common bond, we liked to dance and loved women passionately, if not wisely.  At least, that was how we saw it.  

We loved the songs, and looking back I loved them because of Levi’s vocals, the hard urgency of his voice.  Levi sang like a man who had something to lose, who knew he really loved that girl.  He sang with conviction and if his vocals were a bit rough-edged by Motown standards, they made up for that with real feeling.  If Marvin Gaye sounded sad, Levi Stubbs sounded bereft.

Grahame Parker, the English R and B/Rock singer famous in the Eighties once talked about dancing in soul clubs in London.  He went on to say that one of favourite songs was the Four Tops “Bernadette” which in his opinion “had a bit of spit and some grit in it, like a good soul record should”. 

When Soul went out of fashion, the Four Tops kept going.  In the seventies they had hits with unlikely (for Motown) material like “If I were a carpenter” and “MacArthur Park”.  I urge you to listen to “If I were a carpenter” it is one of the most soulful records ever made and Levi Stubbs vocals made it that way. 

I saw the Four Tops in 1981, in London, and after twenty years of touring they still had a soul and energy that lifted everyone up.  The audience ended the night on their feet and dancing.      

Even in the Eighties, when Soul and Disco were distant memories, the Tops had hits, including “When she was my girl” and “Loco in Acapulco”.  The first time I heard “When she was my girl” it all came flooding back, the huge vocal, the tightly-timed chorus, the slinky percussion.  All I needed was a dance-floor.  If you are a Four Tops fan, you know the feeling you get when you hear them, you feel eighteen years young and ready to dance all night. 

Only Abdul Fakir of the Four Tops is still alive.  Lawrence Payton and Obie Benson are dead.  But in their day they had more joy and energy than almost anybody else.  If you listen to their music I am sure you will agree.       

Thanks for the wonderful songs Levi.  May your journey be good.

 Soul Music

I am annoyed because I keep seeing a type of article popping up in magazines.  The article is called “the top ten soul records” or ten top soul songs.  I read one in a Scandinavian magazine a couple of days ago and it was absolute nonsense. 

Yesterday I read a similar article by a man named Wayne Hemingway, in a magazine called Shortlist, which included artists such as Gil Scott-Heron and the Tom-Tom club who are definitely not soul, could not be Soul even if God called down from heaven and declared them to be such.  Nonsense. 

I was going to ignore it, but yesterday Levi Stubbs (lead vocalist of the Four Tops) died.  I wrote about it here and it made me think I ought to make my contribution to the discussion.  Soul is an important part of my life, made me smile, lifted me up during the tough times, got me some of my best dates.

So, as an original London Soul Boy, here are my top ten soul tracks.

It takes two:  Marvin Gaye and Kim Weston

Definitive dance music, from the frenzied violins at the start to the perfect old time soul call-and-response of Marvin and Kim.  If you had a good partner who could keep time this was the one to dance to.  Infectiously happy, it pulls you onto the dancefloor.

 You can buy it in the Uk here or the US here

This old heart of mine: The Isley Brothers

Right from the strange recorded-in-a-baked -bean-tin intro through to the drums being thrashed like a kicked dustbin, this is great dancefloor material.  The lyrics race to get you into the blistering chorus, getting you ready to unleash your best moves.  Fast and furious, sweaty and passionate, a soul dancer favourite.

  You can buy it in the UK here and the US here   

Who’s making love:  Johnny Taylor

To give the full title “Who’s making love to your old lady while you are out making love.”  A thumping, bubbly bass line on top of a simple four-beat drumsound.  On top of this goes Johnny Taylor’s sharp, streetwise lyrics.  It just makes you want to dance and with a beat this simple, you can.

 You can buy it in the UK here and the US here     

I’m a road-runner baby: Junior Walker and the all-stars

Great getting-going song.  That wailing saxophone, drum sound like an aluminium wall being beaten by the Incredible Hulk and the tinny ping of the guitars all building up to the chorus.   The loose rambunctious sound of Junior Walker came straight out of the back-country soul clubs of Alabama and Indiana.  Junior Wallker somehow ended up on Motown, but he was really a wild man from the backroads. 

You can loosen up on the floor with this song, with its fat, syncopated rhythm section knocking out a hard beat, with the added genius of that brittle tambourine sound that Motown threw into so many choruses.   

 You can buy it in the UK here and the US here    

Get up (Sex Machine)

Everyone knows this one but leaving it out is talking about religion without mentioning God.  The beat is everything.  Real men danced to this, with a soul strut and lots of hip rolls.   To sweat to.

 You can buy it in the UK here and the US here    

I can’t stand the rain: Ann Peebles.

There has to be slow one, and this slow one was filled with lust and melancholy. Ann Peebles voice moves from her natural deep vibrato to a high-pitched wail on the chorus, while the relentless backbeat helps you to keep a slow sexy rhythm.  Filled with loss and rich, bitter, sexy regret.  When Ann Peebles sings “do you remember?  How sweet it used to be?” you know she was not talking about having coffee together.  It smoulders, just don’t dance to it with your ex.

 You can buy it in the UK here and the US here       

Hold on, I’m coming: Sam and Dave

Well, there was Motown and there was Stax, Sam and Dave were on the Stax label.  We considered Stax to be the real deal, authentic black dance music untouched by commercialism.  But we were fooling ourselves, we were dance whores, we would dance to anything that was soul. 

The power and heartfelt emotion of Gospel singing mixed with down and dirty lyrics made this a great dance track.  From the magisterial horn sound to the thudding beat anyone can dance to this and look like they are in time.

 You can buy it in the UK here and the US here      

I‘ll take you there: The Staples Singers

This was the Staples urgent, gritty and slightly ambiguous shouter.  The 4/4 backbeat was perfect for a soulful strut, with all the hip rolls you could get in.  This was the one you showed off to, the one you tried to impress your partner with.  When Mavis Staples sang “I’ll take you there” I think she meant Jesus but when we mouthed it to our dance partners it was definitely a promise of sex.     

 You can buy it in the UK here and the US here   

It’s better to have (and don’t need): Don Covay

This is hi-energy dance music, with its politically incorrect lyrics and a fast, raw sound.  Don Covay sings of sex, over a cascade of high-hat cymbals and some of the best R+B piano that ever got on record, a powerful bass holding it all together.  This was made in 1974 when Soul was almost dead, but Don Covay reached back pre-motown and put a raw soul sound on this fast n furious song.  For those of us who love to dance. And Don Covay is an unrecognised genius.   

 You can buy it in the UK here and the US here     

Let’s get it on: Marvin Gaye

Always end on a slow song.  A true love song, from the opening wah-wah guitar to Marvin’s passionate sexy lyrics.  The sound, lyrical saxophones, tumbling drum breaks and the anguished croon still sound fresh today.  It works because Marvin had such timing and discipline that his vocals never obscure the insistent beat.  This is the one song where you find your best girl and dance out the promise of what you are going to do for her later……

 You can buy it in the UK here and the US here      

What it is about

My brother was a DJ and he was playing a track one time.  As it ended a guy came up to him and said angrily “Why did you not play the New Orleans mix, with the extended fadeout?”.  My brother turned to me, shrugged, smiled and said “Everyone loves a trainspotter”.  This is my problem with articles that talk about finding obscure, hand-pressed discs from collector’s stores in Vancouver.  Soul music is dancing, not stamp collecting.   

It’s an information world out there and the temptation is to make everything information.  That is not what Soul music is.  Find a club.  Dance. Be a Man.  Be Sexy.  Sweat.  Enjoy.

Still to come:

When Soul became Disco

Style and the boys: White Soul 

Book Review: Modern Menswear

Hywel Davies

In Modern Menswear, Hywel Davies attempts to unify current menswear design around a single theme.  Davies’s believes modern menswear is primarily concerned with communicating individuality.  That contemporary menswear gives men a huge range of clothes to express themselves in, both in terms of design and the types of manhood they might want to express.

Davis refines his definition of modern menswear with the belief that the old rules no longer apply and that definitions of formal and casual are unimportant.  Now on one level I found this useful, because there are very few books that discuss non-formal men’s clothes with any degree of knowledge.  However Davis then goes on to say youth and youthfulness has come to define modern menswear.  I do not agree with this, especially in the light of the huge investment that brands like Corneliani, Zegna and Ralph Lauren have made in non-formal menswear.  These are not brands that consider themselves to be aimed at a youth market.  However they are not included here and Hywel Davies illustrates his argument well, with designers such as Aitour Throup and Raf Simons, who do appeal to younger men.          

Hothouses of menswear design 

For Davis, the exciting work in modern menswear is being done in London and Antwerp, which he sees as hothouses of new menswear design.  However the book ranges across all of Europe, finding designers to support his thesis in Germany and Italy, amongst others.

Davis surveys thirty-five modern European designers, talking about their clothes and their history.  Designers range from the successful (Paul Smith, Burberry Prorsum) to the very trendy (Viktor and Rolf, Blaak) to the cult (Martin Margiela, D Squared2).  Each designer gets a handful of pages, in which we get a short tour of their design philosophy, and more importantly, a view of their clothes.  Where the pictures (the illustrations are beautiful) the designer and the author all click together the book is fascinating and leaves you wanting more of that particular fashion house.  Many of these pieces could be fruitfully worked up into much bigger articles.   

This is a useful book and Davies does a good job of describing the vision of these designers, especially considering that, with the honourable exceptions of Paul Smith and Yohji Yamamoto, they are not a very articulate bunch.  Frankly one or two of the designers included here are too concerned with building an art concept, and while fashionable, lack any sense of style and connection to men’s lives.  This makes commercially-oriented designers like Marc Jacobs and Stephan Schneider (both included in the book) look even more defined and concrete.  I found that, with a few exceptions, Modern menswear reinforced my preferences about which designers I liked and which I did not.

Menswear Guidance 

Modern Menswear works best as a guide or reference book.  The book is beautifully designed and handsomely produced.  It would make a fine gift for any man interested in style.  Visually stunning, knowledgeable and concise, this is a practical book for men who are building or updating their wardrobe.  I remember my own evolution from teen style to young adult and this book would have been really valuable back then.  It is also useful for those going in the other direction, mature men who need to lighten their style for less formal occasions.  Here is the one-stop reference to finding those less formal clothes.  It contains a reference list of the designers, which includes their websites.     

This is a well-conceived and valuable book, in an area of menswear where not much is being written.  I enjoyed it and expect to return to re-read it in the future. 

Modern Menswear

Author: Hywel Davis 

Laurance King Publishing Limited, 2008.

ISBN 13:  978-1-85669-540-4  

 Happy Birthday Nicholas Van Rijn                   

Well, no-one knows the real birthday of Poul Anderson’s glorious swashbuckler, but today is St Dismas day and as Nick Van Rijn’s patron saint was St Dismas, it is appropriate to honour him on this day. 

Nick Van Rijn is the larger-than-life hero of Poul Anderson’s stories and novels of the merchant trading league of space, the Polesotechnic league.  He is big, brash, bold and clever.  As Anderson describes him, Van Rijn is of mixed Indonesian and Dutch descent, has black ringletted hair and a stylish goatee.  He is big, with a full round belly that covers a lot of solid muscle.  He dresses expensively but carelessly, more concerned with life than appearance.  

Van Rijn’s love of life is legendary, he always has a drink and is never drunk.  He admires beautiful women and more importantly, he can see the beauty in all women.  He is Rabelaisian and has a pedigree that goes back to Shakespeare’s Falstaff.  He knows that good food and good company help us suffer the difficult times that we all must pass through.       

Poul Anderson has given us a paean of praise to the big man.  Men, remember that the big man can have style.  A big man with style and personality can fill a room with his presence.  Women are drawn to him for his warmth and the security of his company.  Never underestimate the style of big men.  Think Orson Welles, Peter Ustinov, Phillip Seymour Hoffman.   

Van Rijn is smart, wealthy and brave.  He is the magician in every man, able to turn the world to his benefit.  He is also the warrior, because regardless of how smart he is, he knows that what changes the world is action.  Thinking and talking set the scene, but only action will make a difference in the world.  Van Rijn is the smart man as action hero.  A man can learn from Nick Van Rijn.

Poul Anderson wrote several books of Nick Van Rijn’s adventures. Here is a link to the Poul Anderson entry on Wikipedia, which lists them.

The Bank Job

Based on a true story, The Bank Job starts in the crystal blue waters of the Caribbean, where a “British royal princess” is frolicking in the shallows.  She takes her frolic into a nearby beach villa where it quickly turns into a hot threesome with an athletic man and another young woman.  Unknown to her she is being photographed through an open window.

Suddenly we are back in grey wet London.  It’s the early seventies and Terry Leather (Jason Statham) is trying to sell second-hand cars out of his lockup garage in South London.  Terry is up to his ears in debt to a loan shark whose heavy crew are demanding payment or punishment.  

The royal photographs are worrying the upper class spooks in charge of MI5.  The photos have fallen into the hands of Michael X, an afro-Caribbean radical whose politics are a cover for racketeering and prostitution.  His possession of the photographs prevents the police from moving against him. 

Roger Donaldson (director of the superb The World’s Fastest Indian) paints his picture of 70s London with verve and economy.  Business is depressed, activist politics are on the increase, and a corrupt London police force is taking payoffs from the vice lords.  In scene after short scene, Donaldson shows London’s sleazy underbelly, with drugs and prostitution fuelling organized crime.

MI5 discover that the photographs are in a safe deposit box in Baker Street,.they need a way of getting them without arousing suspicion.  Luck comes their way, in the form of Saffron Burrows, a model with a past.  In return for a deal she recruits Terry to rob the bank.

Jason Statham gives a really finely graduated performance as Terry.  Tough and manly, he is too smart for South London but too desperate to say no to the easy money he can get from the robbery.  He and Burrows’ Melanie circle around each other, Melanie playing to Terry’s unspoken desire for her.  The interplay between Statham and Burrows is subtly portrayed and they act out these scenes with a worried intensity which is both believable and captivating.

Comedy
The tension of the movie is alleviated by the comic strand that runs all through the Bank Job.  Terry’s mates are a pair of likely lads, Dave, a part-time porn actor and Kev, a wedding photographer who lives in a fantasy of being David Bailey.  Terry beefs up the team with a tough Greek welder/mechanic and an upper-class con man for a front man.  But it is Dave and Kev who give The Bank Job the sort of droll down-to-earth comedy that made The Italian job so much fun to watch.
   

Men and Machines
The Bank Job intercuts between the cynical old Etonians running MI5 and Terry’s slightly shambolic gang.  The movie steps up the pressure when Terry starts the robbery.  Here director Donaldson is on his favourite territory, men and machinery, and the Bank Job really starts to accelerate.  Terry and his crew dig a tunnel from the basement of an empty shop to the vault of the bank.  Donaldson goes the whole hog, with pneumatic hammers, thermic lances and pickaxes.  This is a bank raid in force, a visual and aural feast as the gang literally dig for gold. 

Donaldson directs the Bank Job at a cracking pace and sheer excitement drags the viewer along.  He gets amazing performances from every one of his cast and their characters all become very real in a short space of time.  He does this by dint of a tight articulate script that exposes the real feelings that his players have.    

Once the caper has gone down the gang realize they are in something much bigger and much more dangerous than they ever expected.  The Bank Job  becomes darker and more desperate and the caper starts to unravel, as weaker characters begin to get into trouble. 

This is a hell of a movie.  Donaldson directs with a real passion, the Bank job is fiercely suspenseful and once the vault is robbed, every scene is fraught with danger.  There is not a dud moment in the movie.  Jason Statham gives a magnificent performance, as an ordinary man called upon to show extraordinary courage.  His performance is by turns smart, loving, tough and desperate and there is not a scene that he does not carry with style.  Once again we are on Donaldson’s home turf, showing the strength of will that some men can conjure up, the determination to beat all odds.

Donaldson also makes the women in the Bank Job very real and Saffron Burrows as Melanie gets almost as much screen time as Statham and even when she is out of her depth her character never loses her guts.  There is also a visceral passionate scene between Terry and his wife (Keeley Hawes) that simply makes you hold your breath.  These are not  bit-players but living, breathing women in a world of danger.  

There are too many great performances to count.  Peter Bowles as a ruthless scheming MI5 boss almost steals the movie, as does David Suchet as the murdering vice lord in league with Michael X.  

It is such a pleasure to see a British film that is this good.  The Bank Job has character, plot and action and is a really satisfying film on so many levels.  The way it plays out the corrupt connections between the police, vice and the establishment has never been done so well.  

Go and see this movie.  It is sheer enjoyment from beginning to end and virtuoso moviemaking. The Bank Job  has all the hallmarks of a great British movie.     
 

The Bank Job goes on general release in the UK from the 28th February and in the US from the 1st of March.

Trailers for the Bank Job are here:

Windows Media      

High Definition Trailer

Medium Definition Trailer

Low Definition Trailer

Real Player

High Definition Trailer

Medium Definition Trailer

Low Definition Trailer