Remembering Sam Cooke, the King of Soul

Benjamin Forrest on 9 December 2020

Sam Cooke was undeniably one of the most well-known and influential artists in mid-20th Century America. Rising to fame singing in the gospel group The Soul Stirrers in the early 1950’s before starting an incredibly successful solo career in 1957, Cooke is often hailed as the ‘King of Soul’. Cooke’s success laid the way for soul legends such as Aretha Franklin, Al Green and Marvin Gaye (among countless others) and the influence of Cooke cannot be underestimated within the general history of popular music. His beauteous, effortlessly emotive touched the lives of millions and remains popular to this day, with artists such as Beyoncé covering his work. 

Enjoying much commercial success in the late 50’s, with singles such as ‘You Send Me’, ‘I’ll Come Running Back to You’ and ‘Wonderful World’ gaining a lot of traction in the charts, as Cooke moved into the 1960’s the rise of the Civil Rights Movement inevitably had an influence on Cooke’s work. His greatest work ‘A Change Is Gonna Come’ became an anthem for the Civil Rights movement  and was performed for the first and only time of the Tonight Show in February 1964. The song expresses a melancholic hopefulness regarding African American rights, rather than expressing outright anger as many songs of the time did. 

Whilst this politicisation of his music  lost him the support of many white listeners, the issue of Civil Rights was something Cooke was unable to ignore any longer. The events of Little Rock in 1957, the 1961 Freedom Rides, 1963 March on Washington, among other vital events on the timeline of the Civil Rights movement, had caused many African American musicians to become politicised within their music – perhaps most notably Nina Simone and ‘Mississippi Goddamn’ (released 1964). Music as a form of political protest was not a new idea, especially within the issue of Civil Rights, Billie Holiday released ‘Strange Fruit’ in 1939 which was not only an amazing song but also perhaps the first time protest music had been popular since the marching songs of the Civil War. 

The legacy of ‘A Change Is Gonna Come’ lives on – the song has been covered by a plethora of legendary artists including Otis Redding, Aretha Franklin, Al Green, Lizzo and Beyoncé. The lyrics were even referenced by President Barack Obama after his victory in the 2008 Presidential Election. 

December 11th, 2020 marks 56 years since Cooke’s death, which is still viewed by many as a great injustice. Cooke was shot to death in a sleazy Los Angeles motel by hotel manager and pimp, Bertha Franklin, after an alleged altercation with a 22-year-old woman, Elisa Boyer,  who was later found out to have a record of prostitution. After just a 2-hour inquest into his death, it was ruled justifiable and Franklin was not charged. Whether Cooke had attacked or been violent with either Franklin or Boyer we will never know, but either way you spin it, it is evident that Cooke’s death was not of much note to the LAPD. As boxing icon, and personal friend of Cooke, Muhammed Ali said “If Cooke had been Frank Sinatra, The Beatles or Ricky Nelson the FBI would be investigating…and that woman would be sent to prison”. The facts that Franklin had a record for pimping, and Boyer had been arrested for prostitution were not even known by the LAPD at the time, because they simply did not bother to check – the entire case was open and shut within 2 hours, showing to many that the LAPD simply did not care. Justice was not served. Cooke, in their eyes, was just another dead black man. Furthermore, these attitudes seemingly have not changed within America: Run DMC’s Jam Master Jay, Tupac, and the Notorious B.I.G. were all murdered and none of their murders have ever been solved, largely due to a lack of effort to solve them. These injustices are indicative of the extent of racism within the United States; it does not matter who you are, or how successful you have become, you are just another dead black man to the Police and the courts. 

Nevertheless, Sam Cooke’s spirit lives on through his music, which sounds just as good today as it would have done 60 years ago, the soulfulness of Cooke’s music transcends time and his voice will never grow old. Rightfully hailed as the King of Soul, Cooke still acts as a beacon of hope for anybody and everybody still determined that “a change gonna come”. 

Molchat Doma’s Monument: A gothic snyth-pop dance party

Benjamin Forrest on 19 November 2020

Belarus trio Molchat Doma’s 2018 album ‘Этажи’ was deeply ahead of its time, signified by the fact that it has only recent started gaining traction in the UK (yes thanks, in part, to Tik Tok – but let’s not go there). Nevertheless, the album solidified the band as one of the greatest current post-punk outfits on the planet and, as I see it, ‘Monument’ only goes to further that claim. 

Whilst I adore the band’s previous work, I would have liked to see more evolution in sound between their last album and ‘Monument’, it follows very similar themes and sounds – which is positive given how great their signagture sound is, however I feel as though, if they continue down this path for multiple future albums, the sound is in danger of becoming somewhat stale. For now, though, Molchat Doma still sound incredible, and refreshingly different in comparison to the vast majority of other popular ‘post-punk’ acts at the moment (a lot of whom are beginning to sound identical to each other, leading me to worry that post-punk will become the next ‘indie rock’, but that is a story for another day). 

The album kicks off with Cold War style nightclub banger ‘Utonut’ and doesn’t really lift off after that point, continuing the 80’s style synth, reminiscent of New Order, early Depeche Mode, or Telex, on tracks such as ‘Discoteque’ and ‘Ne Smeshno’. The standout track, for me, would have to be ‘Otveta Net’. The dark, booming voice of vocalist Egor Shkutko compliments the retro drum beat and Roman Komogortsev’s whining guitar tones beautifully to create what, I think, will come to be one of Molchat Doma’s defining tracks when all is said and done. 

Written entirely in quarantine, Monument embraces the darkness and despair, but doesn’t wallow in the sadness like so many others. Instead, the album is a kind of gothic snyth-pop dance party, which fits the mood of lockdown pretty well honestly. It is perhaps one of the few albums that would work equally well at a house party, or a 2:00am bout of deep melancholy. As Shukuto claims in the lyrics to ‘Discoteque’: “I will continue to dance”, that lyric, in my eyes, is a fitting signifier for the entire album: continuing to dance through the darkness and misery of life in 2020. Truthfully, this album could not have come out at a better time, deep into the second period of lockdown everybody is feeling helpless and tired, we all need the moody tones of three Belarusian men to help us forget about our troubles and cry-dance alone in our bedrooms to industrial, cold wave, post-punk synths.

Punk is Black!

Benjamin Forrest on 16 October 2020

Punk music, as a genre, has a long and illustrious history, and most music historians list the first ‘punk’ records as The Stooges’ 1969 album, or the MC5’s ‘Kick Out the Jams’ (also released in 1969) – some go further back to the US garage scene of the mid-1960’s, either way, the frequently told history of punk music is seemingly dominated by white artists, particularly white males. A section of that history which is often ignored, forgotten or even omitted is the vital contributions of some incredible black artists. 

Screamin’ Jay Hawkins, for instance, released the single ‘I Put A Spell On You’ all the way back in 1956 (a full 11 years before the Stooges even formed) and whilst the song itself isn’t outright punk music in terms of lyrical content, it incorporates many of the devices later characterised as ‘punk’, such as Hawkins strained, desperate shouting vocals and outlandish, shocking live performances. 

A Detroit three-piece called Death recorded what is, in my eyes, one of the definitive punk anthems ‘Politicians In My Eyes’ in 1975 thus pre-dating the Ramones’ first album (widely regarded as the first out-and-out punk record). The single only sold 500 copies at the time and the band was largely ignored until 2009 when Drag City Records released the demos Death had recorded back in 1975 to critical acclaim. A detail that is often not recognised in the story of Death is that ‘Politicians In My Eyes’ was self-released on their own record label, thereby making Death one of the first independent bands to exist, years before Buzzcocks self-released their EP ‘Spiral Scratch’, credited with starting independent or ‘indie’ music.

The UK punk scene, the start of which is signified by the release of ‘New Rose’ by the Damned in October 1976, was seemingly dominated by three white male bands: Sex Pistols, The Clash, and The Damned. I would argue, however, that some of the greatest records of that era were created by X-Ray Spex, led by Marianne Joan Elliot-Said (better known as Poly Styrene) whose overt feminism and politically charged anthems marked her out from the more mainstream punk artists of the time as being someone with something significant to say, as opposed to The Damned whose lyrical content was often closer to love than rebellion, or the Sex Pistols who were simply manufactured by Malcolm McLaren to cause outrage and profit. 

So why were these artists so largely ignored during their time? Why are they not widely credited for the invaluable impact they had upon the genre? Is it simply due to their race? In short, yes. The music industry, and particularly white musicians have always, for want of a better phrase, ripped off a plethora of black artists for personal gain. The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Elvis Presley and a countless array of other early rock and roll musicians highjacked songs penned by black blues/soul musicians in order to further their own success, often not giving these artists credit of royalties. So, following the same logic, it makes sense that the artists included in this article were ignored in favour of their white counterparts. The facts remain, however, that without Jay Hawkins there would be no Iggy Pop, without Death there would be no Dead Kennedys, and without Poly Styrene there would be no Riot Grrl. Every great musical movement was pioneered by black artists: from jazz in the 1920’s, to rock ‘n’ roll in the 50’s, ska and reggae in the 60’s – up to the Acid House dance music of the late 80’s and 90’s. Punk music is no exception this rule, and it goes without saying that these artists deserve much more support and recognition than they currently hold. I only spoke about three main artists in this article, but there are countless other amazing black/black-fronted punk bands you should check out: Bad Brains, Negro Terror, Bob Vylan, Big Joanie, Crystal Axis and The OBGMS to name just a few. Stop the whitewashing of music. Support black artists.