The Karinthy Connection with Bern
13 December 2011 , 7:08 PM by Bernadette Young
In 1929, Hungarian writer and poet Frigyes Karinthy wrote a short story called "Chains".
Few people know of the book or the author but you would know the phrase he coined, "six degrees of separation". This is The Karinthy Connection.
Every Tuesday after 5.30pm, a music lover is invited onto Drive with Bernadette Young to continue the musical chain. It's taken all year but finally Bern can be a guest on her own segment! With Trevor Jackson playing the role of host.
Last week's Karinthy guest, Russell Thomas left us with The Motels, Total Control.
When the Motels started out in 71 they were originally called The Warfield Foxes .. they disbanded in 77 citing the classic "musical differences" .. the following year Martha Davis got together with Jeff Jourard who was formerly with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers before they became famous .. I have to concede I haven't found too many articles to confirm exactly how long he played with them .. I have a suspicion it was a small role .. but it's enough to allow me to play Stop Dragging My Heart Around by Stevie Nicks and Tom Petty.
I first discovered Stevie Nicks and that song from an end of year compilation 1981 Over The Top. Every Christmas it was a tradition that we'd get a record as a family present. If ABBA didn't have a new release that year, then it would be a compilation of some kind. Weirdly there's a Dave Stewart track on that album too but it's a completely different Dave Stewart to the one I'm connecting to. Dave A Stewart seems to be the flavour of the month at the moment and certainly Stevie Nicks says her latest album simply wouldn't exist if it wasn't for Dave, who co-wrote several songs, produced and sang on her new album In Your Dreams. His most famous pairing is with Annie Lennox in The Eurythmics but before that he and Annie and Peet Coombes were The Tourists - I Only Want To Be With You (1979)
Back in 1971 when Dave was 19 he managed to get his then band, Longdancer, signed to Rocket Records, Elton John's record label. They didn't achieve any great success but it did open Dave's eyes to the world of rock n roll excess. I'm told by a reliable source that Elton said to Dave one day "What's your thing? What do you like?" and Dave told him he liked old American comics. So next thing you know a box of comic books is delivered to his hotel room and he finds himself on a bed with Elton ... reading comics. Elton John - Too Low For Zero
There's an extra connection here back to The Motels because Australian film maker Russell Mulcahy did the film clip for Only the Lonely as well as Elton's I'm Still Standing from the Too Low For Zero album. But my connection is tapes!! I remember the Too Low For Zero tour in 1984 because it was one of the first, if not the first, to be simulcast on what was then Brisbane's first FM rock station 104.5. We bought the best tapes money could buy to ensure the best sound as we taped it off the radio. It's hilarious to me that we thought more expensive tapes would go the distance! But I was still taping music off the radio into the 90's and still believing that expensive tapes would last. I distinctly remember running out the door one Saturday desperate to buy some blank tapes to record a triple j concert (I think it was for a safe sex campaign from memory) and Crowded House were playing. Better Be Home Soon (Live 1996)
http://blogs.abc.net.au/queensland/2...with-bern.html