you
sit there wasted and you
drink all day, you cruise
the kennels and go all the
way...
his lips are gentle but
his hands are firm - hold
tight now, you got a lot
to learn
doesn't give a damn about
the life you led,
doesn't give a damn whoever
shared your bed
lying in bed when I'm out
of my head I can feel what
I need deep inside
flying with CDs and Es at
the flat, on a weekend my
best friend and I... are
smoking and drinking and
both of us thinking the
things we all think when
we're high
if we became closer
well no-one would know,
so roll over and switch
out the light
I wanna get naked and scream
like a girl - that's the
most natural thing in the
world
I got smooth white skin
so I do much better than
some:
some girls mother me, some
men wanna have fun...
the 21st Century will be
here soon - fucked in a
gutter, howling at the moon
a certain little something
in the way you smiled...
telegraphed a message that
was weird and wild: you
were beefy and delicious
and I knew you were the
one for me
Hot Dog - so brown and smooth;
Hot Dog - so tender too...
well it seemed as if everyone
else had the right, to bite
any pieces of me that they
liked
I understand angry day after
day, but "sorry"
is beyond me I'm sorry to
say
the fortress that surrounded
you - awards on all the
walls,
the demons in your darkness
- and the friends you never
called
squeezing through the beefcake
steaming in the dark...
knowing and flowing with
amazing grace; shirt hanging
down, flapping over your
waist
can't help laughing, got
a hard attack - cos you're
grinning and singing and
you're looking right back
all my life I've been waiting,
aching... too many nights
of searching, hurting
roaring nights a-plenty
in the salty fellowship
of boys and men
met a salty girl with a
sailor's gait... and she
knew the ropes
like the back of her sunburned
hand
if gay liberation means
freedom for all, a label
is no liberation at all
- I'm here and I'm queer
and I do what I do - and
I'm not gonna wear... a
straitjacket for you
Hot
Press
To
understand "Having It
Both Ways" you have
to know your musical history.
Way back in 1978, Tom Robinson
released an album called
"Power In The Darkness".
An authentic expression
of the zeitgeist of the
late Seventies, it articulated
the nature of the erosion
of civil liberties, the
proliferation of racism,
the rise in unemployment
and social unrest which
came to the fore under the
oppressive aegis of a deeply
unsympathetic Margaret Thatcher-led
Tory government. Famously,
too, Tom Robinson was homosexual
and a vociferous champion
of gay rights. Power
In The Darkness, an
awesome document of its
times, was rightly considered
a classic.
To some extent, the rest
of Robinson's career was
eclipsed by that explosive
debut. As Thatcherism started
to win all the battles and
oppositional forces disappeared
from view, Robinson briefly
hit the spotlights again
when the immaculate War
Baby went to number
six in the singles charts
in Britain, but the FM sound
of the album it came from
alienated many of his fans.
Robinson, it seemed, was
doomed to occupy that marginal
ground between jazzy stubbornness
and sensible AOR.
Unbelievably, however, almost
two decades on, Tom Robinson
has come up with the goods
again. For, make no mistake,
Having It Both Ways
is the true successor to
Power In The Darkness,
as relevant to now as that
debut album was to then.
To begin with, the old anger
is back and it has a sharp
renewed focus and drive.
There's not a weak track
in sight: all are as good
as anything Tom Robinson
has ever composed before.
There's the personal politics
of the reggae-like "Disrespect",
that gets to the core of
the loss of self-belief
in all communities that
have been ravished of hope
and opportunity. Or the
achingly sad "The One",
that could be about any
lonely person you've ever
set eyes on whose life has
passed them by.
"Cold Cold Ground"
crashes and bangs around
like a thunderstorm with
a hangover, as Robinson
hits hard at our lack of
social conscience and fuels
his vitriol with lines like:
The 21st century will be here soon
Fucked in a gutter, howling at the moon
And begging on the cold cold ground.
Having
It Both Ways shimmers
with intelligence and commitment.
It is a superior work by
an exceptional songwriter,
one of those rare records
that astonishes from the
very first listen. If Bob
Dylan, Neil Young
or Bruce Springsteen
released an album like this,
you'd have been informed
it was a solid gold masterpiece.
But Tom Robinson has always
had either no image at all,
or one that was too ambiguous
to ever court world-conquering
appeal. But I guarantee
you'll have to go a long
way to hear a more vital
record this or any other
year.
PATRICK BRENNAN
©1996 Hot Press,
Dublin
Album
credits
Music
content produced, mixed
and engineered by Al
Scott
at The Levellers' Metway
Studios, Brighton
* Tom
Robinson: piano, ac.
guitar, programming
* T.V.Smith: acoustic
guitar, backing vocals
* Adam Phillips:
guitar, ac. guitar, backing
vocals
* Jo Burt: bass,
acoustic guitar, backing
vocals
* Tom Fenner: drums,
percussion, backing vocals
photography
by Del LaGrace Volcano
sleeve design by Cactus
All titles
composed 1995 by Robinson
/ Phillips / Fenner / Burt
(except Disrespect: Robinson
/ Phillips / Fenner / Burt
/ Scott / Lallaman)
Publishing: Duncannon
Music
extra
musical contributions by
Badsha Lallaman: rap
on disrespect
Mark Ramsden: sax
on disrespect and castaway
Al Scott: bass on
disrespect, odd bits of
guitar
Henry Twinch: organ
and some of the piano on
disrespect
Simon Leveller: mandolin
and backing vocals on rum
thunderbird
Jeremy Leveller:
backing vocals on rum thunderbird
Burt Leveller: backing
vocals on rum thunderbird
Badsha
Lallaman appears courtesy
of Debt Records/Detrimental
T.V. Smith appears
courtesy of Humbug Records
Members of The Levellers
appear courtesy of China
Records
"Disrespect" is dedicated
to Vlod and "Connecticut"
to Dan Hartman.
SAFER SEX information
and counselling available
from:
Terrence
Higgins Trust
52-54 Grays Inn Rd, London,
WC1X 8JU
Helpline: 0207-242-1010
Open 12 noon - 10 pm, 7
days a week
UK
National AIDS Trust
and the
UK National AIDS Helpline:
0800-567-123
AIDS Memorial Ribbons available
free from the
Red Ribbon Project run by
Positive
Nation in the UK
Donations welcome.
Goldmine
review
November 1997
Long before Elton John,
kd lang and Melissa
Etheridge proclaimed
their homosexuality, Tom
Robinson was singing about
how he was glad to be gay
and how he liked it that
way. Before AIDS became
an epidemic, before the
idea of gays in the military
became a political hot potato,
Robinson was issuing a wake-up
call on human rights, using
his music as a rallying
call against complacency.
Robinson had no need to
come out of the closet;
he never hid there to begin
with. During the strident
70s he framed an agenda
within the context of punk's
anger and outrage. Combative
and controversial, he made
his mark with "Glad
To Be Gay" - a
proud anthem that spoke
of honesty and dignity with
a singalong chorus that
helped make the message
accessible and easy to accept.
It helped open the door
for gay liberation and brought
Robinson both fans and notoriety
in the process.
12 albums later, Robinson
has toned down the rhetoric
and turned his attention
to more everyday issues.
To be sure, he's still singing
about dignity and selfrespect,
but on "Having It
Both Ways" his
message is more personal
and more universal as well.
Several of the songs - "Disrespect",
"Rum Thunderbird",
"Cold Cold Ground",
and "Fool To Myself"
in particular - speak directoly
to the listener, offering
encouraging words about
attitude, adjustment, and
the worth of each individual.
In "Disrespect"
the message goes out to
another ("For love
and comfort you can lean
on me, but your life's you're
own responsibility")
while on "Fool To
Myself" the plea
bcomes more personal. Other
tunes slide between a variety
of subjects, from more traditional
tomes about lust ("Hot
Dog") and the eternal
quest for perfect love ("The
One") to narratives
about inner torment ('Connecticut")
and the deadening of conscience
brought on by a bad upbringing
("Sorry").
Though the subjects of these
songs are often weighty,
the music is, as always,
cleverly crafted and equally
engaging. The biggest surprise
comes with the opening track,
"Disrespect,"
which finds Robinson offering
a snappy send-up of rap
and funk In fact, the first
half of the album finds
him switching styles with
practically every track:
fiddling with folk on "Rum
Thunderbird," dashing
off a touch of ragtime on
"Hot Dog"
and taking a theatrical
pose with "Fool
to Myself." The
remainder of the set progresses
at a slower pace, finally
slipping into a melancholy
mood with "Congo
Blue","Castaway"
and "Connecticut"
- arguably the best song
the album has to offer.
Offering a combination of
poignancy and passion, it's
a performance that's at
once both riveting and reflective.
©1997 Lee Zimmerman
GOLDMINE #451
