Re: Tracks of My Years - BBC

[SuperTrouper]

I will have to make sure I don't miss it!

Go Gloria! I love her. Her new album is real good, by the way. She's come a long way since the Conga.

- Lissette

[Lucy13]

LadyD, I think this is just about the coolest "Cat" news I've heard in three years (as I said over at CS.com).

Know what I mean? I mean... he's being so ... COOL.

[Vivian]

DARN! I sure hope I am off when Yusuf is on!

Peace,Vivian

[DJ]

I'll try and make sure I record the 'Tracks of my years' next week, so if anyone misses it I'll have a tape of it, and I'll be putting it together with the other two Radio 2 interviews.

[Vivian]

Well, thanks DJ! You're always a lifesaver!

Peace,Vivian

[SuperTrouper]

Come on and shake your body baby do the conga, no you can't control yourself any longa'

LOL I remember dancing that at every wedding when I was little.

Yikes 6:30 am! I'm lucky if I'm up before 11 these days (October is my "summer vacation").

- Lissette

LadyD said:

hey, I liked the Conga!!

Surtees over on cs.com posted that he listened and they said that Yusuf will be next week, so that means Monday morning at 6:30am for you, Lissette. That's 4:30am for me!! You UK people have it easy

get those recording devices ready!!!!

[DJ]

It was great to hear Yusuf on the radio again this morning with the first two of his daily choices for the 'Tracks of my years' slot.

Here's the full list for the week:

'Rock Island line' - Leadbelly
'Bo Diddley' - Buddy Holly

'Island of dreams' - The Springfields
'Twist & shout' - The Beatles

'Don't let me be misunderstood' - Nina Simone
'Didi' - Khaled

'Alone again or' - Love
'If you don't know me by now' - Harold Melvin & The Bluenotes

'Somewhere' - Jim Bryant & Marni Nixon (from West Side story)
'Mr.Tambourine man' - Bob Dylan

[faithfullight]

Well DJ, what did he say? What did he say! Some of us didn't hear him at 4:30 in the morning. What did he talk about?

Thanks in advance.

Faithfullight

[Vivian]

All I get is static and buffering! I can't get a clear reception! DARN!

Peace,Vivian

[faithfullight]

Vivian,
I turned to the station just a bit late at 2:00. But I caught some of it. The station went in and out and I missed a couple sentences in the lapses! ugghh!

Anyways, I did catch that the DVD is supposed to have 24 tracks and live footage of Moon Shadow, Wild World, Father and Son, Hard Headed Woman, Where Do the Children Play, and (station went out!) The last one was an animation with a voice like Spike Milligan.

Then Simon Mayo asked, "You picking up a guitar?"

Yusuf answered, "Nnnnnnnnno. (laugh) The guitar is a little too controversial in some quarters of the islamic...sort of...you know."

Then he said that he's using old melodies and writing new songs...a backing vocal group and percussion. He said that he loves "that raw ethnic sound."

Then Simon Mayo asked again, "So you think maybe you might pick up a guitar one day and that would be acceptable?"

Yusuf answered, "I can't answer that question, God knows! (laughs)"

~~~~~~~~~

Well, there may be hope that he might just use that guitar in the future...maybe? Wouldn't that be great!

Peace,
Faithfullight

I forgot to say, then they played the entire song, Moon Shadow.

[DJ]

Faithfullight said:

Well DJ, what did he say? What did he say! Some of us didn't hear him at 4:30 in the morning. What did he talk about?

Thanks in advance.

Faithfullight

The tracks of my years is only a very small section in the show, so the snippets of interview are always very brief after the chosen tracks.

After they played 'Rock Island line' by Leadbelly & The Golden Gate Quartet, Yusuf said a little about the birth of modern pop music coming from songs like this. In England this song became a big hit for a white Londoner called Lonnie Donnigan, who was responsible for the 'Skiffle' music scene in the UK,( which influenced a lot of youngsters to learn the guitar.)

Yusuf mentioned trying to learn Leadbelly riffs on his first guitar while sat on the steps of the Art College he was supposed to be attending.
he mentioned how incredible he thought Leadbelly's 12 string guitar sounded.

His second choice he had been undecided on, whether it should have been a Bo Diddley track or Buddy Holly, and finally settled on Buddy doing one of Bo's songs. Again it was that early rawness that had appealed to him, songs that had got there roots from African songs.

That was about it. I'll let you have an update tomorrow on the next tracks.

[faithfullight]

Thanks DJ! I'm looking forward to your next update about tomorrow's tracks.

Peace,
Faithfullight

[DJ]

Faithfullight said:

Thanks DJ! I'm looking forward to your next update about tomorrow's tracks.

Peace,
Faithfullight

Here's todays 'Tracks of my Years' interview in full...

Tues Oct 14th

Island of Dreams by The Springfields

YUSUF: "It was that song which, I think, lifted me out of the doldrums of the city I was born, into a new world of hope & prosperity somewhere in the future, out there somewhere.

The words, in a way, to me... everybody has a part of them which yearns for 'the otherness' of life, you know, and that place, perhaps, where you don't have noisy neighbours, or you don't have dogs next door barking all the time, and you don't have tax bills coming through your door.

Something that would lift you out of this mundane existence, and it was The Springfields, and, it so happens, you know, Mike Hurst, who was one of The Springfields ended up being my first producer, and so launched me, in a way, into my, you know, world of dreams.

And so there we have, you know, kind of..I think... 'The Island of Dreams', which depicts my yearning for getting out of where I was, into a new place, a new space, and a new time."

KEN BRUCE: " And Mike Hurst, as you say, in both areas, he actually made that come true.

The Beatles with 'Twist & shout', as well.... "

YUSUF: " Well, you know, nobody can miss the impact that they had on this Earth at that particular time, but it was that primal scream of John Lennon, you know, that really, I think, launched this new revolution of music which was about to sweep the whole world, or most of it anyway.

That really shook...you know, I think... me and my generation. It was that scream, we never heard anything like that, you know.

And it was that that, I think, drove me, you know, more than anything, to say, 'These guys can do it, and they still speak in Liverpudlian, you know, and they've got their character, their culture with them, and..HEY..I could do the same!'

And that's, I suppose, what gave me the ignition to start singing, and let's say, become more serious about getting into the music business."

[faithfullight]

Thanks DJ! I really do appreciate that you post the interviews. ;D

I'm sure glad that Yusuf found his inspiration to sing and write those songs. They really mean a lot to me. I truly like the sound of those songs from his "Cat" days. I'm not into the rap or "African" feel. I don't have anything against that style, but it's just not for me. Although I love the new Peace Train and how he incorporated the African feel into it, but I wouldn't want all of his songs being alike like that. I really like how he changes the feel and moods. He surely was/is talented.

Faithfullight

[Lucy13]

Faithfullight said:

Then Simon Mayo asked, "You picking up a guitar?"

Yusuf answered, "Nnnnnnnnno. (laugh) The guitar is a little too controversial in some quarters of the islamic...sort of...you know."

........

Then Simon Mayo asked again, "So you think maybe you might pick up a guitar one day and that would be acceptable?"

Sounds like Simon Mayo was *pushing it* there (with the guitar question). Close TO it. LOL!!

Oh.... but I bet Yusuf woulda LOVED that recent PBS 7-day Blues series. Man, was that good or what??!!!!

[Lucy13]

YI must be so tired of answering that guitar question.

Oh, and thanks DJ for the kind and very much appreciated update!

[cristalina]

Damn, missed Yusuf talking on the radio today. I raced back to my car , switched on to hear " and that was Yusuf Islams choices today."

I loved the 'Island of Dreams' the other day.

[Vivian]

DARN! Joanne's download didn't work! Neither could I listen to it again! It just won't open up! I think I will need your help, DJ!

Peace,Vivian

[DJ]

Vivian said:

DARN! Joanne's download didn't work! Neither could I listen to it again! It just won't open up! I think I will need your help, DJ!

Peace,Vivian

PM me ,Vivian, with your current address and I'll send you a cassette of all the interviews some time next week.


Weds. 15th Oct

'Don't let me be misunderstood' by Nina Simone.

YUSUF: Ooohhh, that was a beautiful track, which, I think, of all my influences, vocally I suppose, Nina Simone has had to be the biggest influence.

I remember first hearing her, and I thought, well, I thought it was a guy, you know, because she had such a deep voice.

That particular song, I remember, I used to use it in my repetoire in the early days, and it's the message of the song that is so appealing to me. Which, if anyone is going to ask me what is... not my epitaph... but, something like that.... I would say, you know, 'please, don't let me be misunderstood'.

So many times it's one of the problems, you know, there's an internal perception, there's an external perception, particularly as a public figure, and , unfortunately, I've been, you know, more often than not, misunderstood, and therefore I call this my theme tune.

KEN BRUCE: The next choice is 'DIDI' by Khaled.

YUSUF: Yeah, well, this kind of brings us up to date, in a way.
I left, of course, the music business a long time ago, and didn't have much to do with it. I was very busy establishing schools, running charities, and going all over the world doing different things, giving talks, etc, etc... but music didn't really come back into my life until, I suppose, oh....1995, when I started listening again to some of the world music, and that was being created in Muslim countries.

Now, Khaled represents a very interesting fusion of, kind of, Algerian, you know, traditional Arabic, if you like, music, plus the, kind of, fusion of jazz within it, and I was very excited when I heard that.

I think a lot of people are excited when they hear Khaled, and it's opened up a whole new genre, you know, for many people who never really went beyond, you know, the western boundaries of music, have now entered into that new world, and , I think, there's a lot more to be discovered, but he, kind of, was one of the heralders of that kind of genre.

[Aisha]

Hat's off to DJ!!!!

Love,
Katie

[Turan]

Indeed, Katie. Some one hug the man for me in London... please?

Now DJ please don't stop.

[faithfullight]

Oh thank you DJ. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Oh how nice of you to post the interview for us.

Bless you, DJ! ;D
Faithfullight

[HardheadedSofthrtd]

Cheers, DJ. Very kind of you to post all these comments.

-Joanne

[boneheadedwoman]

Thanks so much, DJ.
I'm really getting a kick out of this!
;D

[DJ]

LadyD said:

While waiting for DJ and the interview transcript, I have to comment, boy you guys have very detailed traffic reports over there!! "The main road is slow but there is construction on side road A and side road B so they are at a standstill too and we feel it's probably better just to stick it out on the main road...."

We're lucky to get a "traffic's light" or "traffic's heavy" where I live!!! Of course, I'm sure we don't have 1/10th the traffic either.

Yeah, they're pretty comprehensive reports, all phoned in by members of the public who are regularly travelers up and down the motorway system, ringing in to the BBC to help out other travellers from getting stuck at trouble spots. We do have a really bad problem with traffic jams, it doesn't take very much of an incident to bring things to a grinding halt sometimes.

Well, here's todays choices from Yusuf. You may have noticed Yusuf uses an awful lot of, 'you knows', so for the sake of clarity I shall paraphrase from now on and not include them.

I was pleased to see one of today's choices to be a great favourite of mine, and, by coincidence, yesterday I had just been watching a recent DVD release of 'Love' playing the complete 'Forever changes' album that Yusuf mentions, the DVD is well worth getting if you are a fan of this sixties band.

Thursday 16th October

'Alone again or' by Love

YUSUF: Well, it was that wonderful time of bangles, and incense, and love, and flower-power, that to me... just look at the 'Love' album and listen to this song, you'll feel that whole experience again.
I suppose, in that song he mentions everyone's a star. I believe that, I still believe that, and I just think even these days, more people are wishing to bring that message of peace back again to this war torn world, ....'and their name is love!'

KEN BRUCE: Yeah, beautiful!
Harold Melvin & the Bluenotes....

YUSUF: 'If you don't know me by now', I think, represented, again, my love of that kind of Afro-American developed sound which became the 'Philly sound', but the words themselves, I think, spoke loudest to me.
One day, I remember singing this, just out of the blue, and I suddenly realised what a deeper meaning this song could have.
It suddenly became clear to me that, perhaps, this could be God speaking, and saying, 'Well, I've given you the Earth, I've given you everything you have, and for so many years you've ignored me. So if you don't know me by now...?'
I think I suddenly woke up reading another message into that song, it became doubly powerful.

[faithfullight]

Thank you DJ! ;D



Faithfullight

[DJ]

Here's the final choices...

Friday 17th October

'Somewhere' by Jim Bryant & Marni Nixon

YUSUF: 'West side story', of course, broke all the rules. It was another of those historic moments where the youth were beginning to speak and the definition of what became popular television, film and music became defined.
And this was like, there's also the message of America. You've got two messages here. The message was, we love everything that we see coming out of America, but actually, hey, there's another side to it. That is the immigrants reality of what America was really like, and, of course, no one really experiences that from being outside of America, only when you're inside do you actaully get a taster.
But it was the liveliness of that, with the fusion of the American sound, the musical, and, what I used to love anyway as a genre of music.

KEN: Hmmm, and the last one is Bob Dylan's 'Mr.Tambourine man'.

YUSUF: Well, 'Tambourine man' was just, again, it was a discovery of Bob Dylan's, and that helped us to discover a new form of poetry for our time. And it was one of those songs that I felt so akin to I could actually sing it. I suppose one of the reasons I ended up writing most of my own music is I couldn't be really honestly singing other peoples songs all the time, I didn't feel them, but that one I felt very much.
And it was the new dawn of wisdom which we believed was telling us which way to go.

KEN: Now, Yusuf, we have 'The Very Best of Cat Stevens' album out. When you look back at this music how do you percieve it? Is it very much you, but a different you?

YUSUF: A lot of it is me, of course, but it's me in a learning mode, and not only that but in a mode of recieving inspiration, not necessarily knowing where it's coming from or where I'm going to. So a lot of it was, probably, inspired by the time, inspired by my experiences. A lot of them are tapestries of my own experience and my life style.
Today I can look back at them more frankly, and look at them as a record of my past. Not something which I hold in contempt, but certainly I enjoy those songs now more than, perhaps, I did for a long time, because I used to have to sing them every night, you know what I mean?
But now I can enjoy them a bit more in retrospect, and I've even re-recorded some of them with a new arrangement. Kind of more Afro, thundering, kind of, ethnic feel.
I see them still as a glimmer of hope in these days where a lot of the music doesn't really say much.

KEN: Yusuf, thank you very much.

YUSUF: Thank you.

[faithfullight]

Wonderful interview. It is sad that we came to the final day, but I am thankful that Yusuf shared these five days with us.

Thanks!

Faithfullight

[boneheadedwoman]

He's not of my generation, exactly, so I don't know a lot of these songs. But Mr. Tambourine Man is one of my favorites, too! But I don't remember hearing Bob Dylan sing it. I've heard it done by The Byrds.

Thanks, again DJ!!!