Jason Crest - "Waterloo Road" (1969 Philips)
w Mike Deighan, Michael Wilshaw; Single, Philips – BF 1752
"Waterloo Road" is best known as the basis for its much more famous French adaption, "Les Champs-Élysées", but it has one advantage in that I can understand the lyrics to this version...
Actually it's a nice production too, very English sounding. In fact the music is much more natural than the lyrics, which sound oddly to me like they've been translated from the French instead of vice versa...probably at least in part cause I first heard the French, by way of Zaz (who's been featured here previously, and whose version is the best whatever that thread above that I didn't give due process to says):
Mod that into Bioshock Infinite: Burial at Sea Episode 2 over "La Vie en rose"...but I digress.
Jason Crest were reportedly a (short-lived) Psychedelic Pop/Rock band in the main and didn't like "Waterloo Road", making the record something of a "Smells Like Teen Spirit" by Nirvana or Radiohead's "Creep"…per AllMusic, "...at their heaviest, their final single, 'Black Mass,' had quasi-demonic vocals and lyrics that anticipated metal bands of the '70s that dovetailed with Satanic imagery."
They also did psychedelic and/or hymnal-sounding covers of some popular songs of the '60s, including the Mamas and the Papas' "California Dreamin'", and the Rolling Stones' "Paint It Black" (which sounds a lot like "Touch Me" by the Doors), that are worth a listen.
Speaking of the Stones (natural segue), I'll close with a follow-up to last week's post on Charlie is My Darling by noting that I got a chance to watch the film and enjoyed it quite a bit. There's several insightful interviews and songwriting/jamming scenes including a scene on a train where Mick Jagger leads a cheeky rendition of "Maybe It's Because I'm A Londoner", a Popular-with-a-capital-P British song that reminded me of Waterloo Road. The scene's not on YouTube, but here's the audio at least:
Also Check Out:
By Jason Crest:
"Black Mass" - YouTube | Spotify
