1970s album reviews 2 - Labi Siffre

 I started to listen to Labi Siffre properly in 1971 as a result of his catchy hit single 'it must be love' and my mum bought me the latest album at Xmas which was 'The singer not the song'. So working chronologically, we start with 'Labi Siffre' from 1970, which was a very pleasant album with no single on it (as he didn't put singles on his first two albums), but it did contain the well known track 'make my day' in which he sang about a'pretty little girl in a blue dress...' and the very unusual (as he was a young man singing from the perspective of an old man!) song 'I don't know what's happened to the kids today'. The single that was out to accompany this album was the very catchy 'get to the country' which was a minor hit. My rating for the album 8/10, good overall but some tracks very good indeed. The second album of 1971, and the first I acquired and heard was a revelation to me as it was very sophisticated both musically and lyrically for a guy with an acoustic guitar! Although he did play the piano and one or two other instruments as well. This album was called 'The singer not the song' and was a clear progression from the first, with a bit of jazz and everything else on too, including a 'protest' song called 'Thank your lucky stars'  which was about global poverty and hunger. However, most of the songs were about love and relationships, as Labi was a modern day troubadour to be sure. He was also at this point in the closet so to speak, but more about that later. My rating 9/10. His albums just got better and the next one in autumn 1972, 'Crying, laughing, loving, lying' , included two hit singles, including the album title and 'it must be love'. This album was something else again with tracks like 'Saved', which was about slavery, and 'Blue lady' describing a lady of the night. Lots of very good strong tracks on this album make it 910 for me, his strongest todate. His last album of the early 70s was 1973's 'For the children' , which was his strongest yet, and his most political Album too. Although no hit singles as such on this one, Labi sounded very angry and railed against god and all! Let's pretend was a great song that included a plea for peace in Northern Ireland, which of course would follow on fifteen years later. A very philosophical album which was critical of the media, and well, everything else, but not love. For me 10/10. During this period of 71-73, I was 16-18 and like most young people obsessed by music and exploration of new things. I actually saw Labi live quite a few times during this time, and mostly at the old Shakespeare club off London road, with some of my buddy's. He was a very good performer, but sadly never quite hit the expected heights as I guess he didn't quite fit in to a nice cosy niche. After FTC, which sadly was a commercial flop, he would endure a lean period, before coming back with a bang in 1988...