Tuesday 10 August 2010

Electro Classic Jukebox: The Beloved.

The Beloved, based out of London, England, has a very cool story about how they formed in order to make beautiful music together. The founder, Jon Marsh, put out an ad in a music magazine in 1983 saying,


I am Jon Marsh, founder member of the Beloved. Should you too wish to do something gorgeous, meet me in exactly three year's time at exactly 11am in Diana's Diner, or site thereof, Covent Garden, London, WC2.
Exactly three years later, Jon Marsh was met by one Steve Waddington, and The Beloved (though at first they called themselves Journey Through) was born.

Initially a guitar-oriented band, they began to find success in the UK market once they began to embrace drum machines and a more decidedly dance-friendly sound. The Beloved saw band members come and go with some regularity, until only the original duo, Marsh and Waddington remained. Sadly, after their third record, a re-mix compilation entitled Blissed Out (1991), Marsh fired Waddington, who had faithfully showed up for that meeting back in 1986 Covent Garden. Marsh then proceeded to replace Waddington with his wife, Helena.

The Beloved (though with Helena, the "The" was dropped) didn't find true pop stardom until 1993, when they released their fourth studio album, Conscience. Or, better still, they released the super-fantastic single "Sweet Harmony."

Holy crap, is this song gorgeous. Easy-going, melodic, and full of lilting and sustained synths floating in and out of an ethereal backdrop (and a kick-ass saxophone solo), "Sweet Harmony" is one of those tracks that I just can't stop listening to. Everything about it screams lushness, and the fact that breathy female vocals consistently whisper mysteriously throughout doesn't hurt things, either. The video itself which I am helpfully posting here, is breathtaking. However, since it's full of naked women (and a naked Jon Marsh) artfully concealing their lady-bits, I'm not terribly sure how SFW it is. You might want to use some discretion!

Thanks for reading. Talk soon!


the beloved
"sweet harmony"
conscience


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