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Podcast Episode Notes: Broken Record with Rick Rubin et al. - Labi Siffre
Episode Overview
- Title: Labi Siffre
- Guests: Labi Siffre, Justin Richmond
- Description: Labi Siffre discusses his music career spanning from the late '60s to present. He emphasizes themes of love, identity, and justice in his work and reflects on his artistic journey, influences, and the impact of his music on pop culture.
Key Themes and Discussion Points
- Artistic Integrity and Honesty
- Siffre prioritizes authenticity in his songwriting over commercial success.
- His decision to remain true to his feelings and experiences has led to a distinct musical style.
- Musical Influences and Evolution
- Siffre's influences include a range of genres and artists, such as:
- Jazz musicians (e.g., Billie Holiday, Louis Armstrong)
- R&B and soul artists like Jimmy Reed and Howlin' Wolf.
- Songwriters like Randy Newman and Laura Nyro guided his stylistic development.
- Siffre expressed feeling lonely in the UK music scene, finding solace in the works of the aforementioned artists.
- Reflections on Fame and the Music Industry
- Siffre discusses the challenges of navigating the music business, especially regarding how the industry often overlooks artists who don't conform to mainstream expectations.
- The notion of recognition was delayed for him, with many discovering his work years after its release, especially through sampling in hip-hop.
- Notable Songs and Their Impact
- "Crying Laughing Loving Lying": Became an international hit.
- "Something Inside So Strong": Written in response to apartheid; highlights his commitment to social justice.
- "I Got The...": One of the most sampled tracks in hip-hop, notably by Dr. Dre and Eminem.
- Siffre's works often address themes society may shy away from, reinforcing his intention to write "useful songs."
- Personal Experiences and Backstory
- Discussed growing up in 1950s London, exposure to various music genres, and how personal experiences influenced his songwriting.
- Schooled in a monastery setting, which shaped his worldview and artistry.
- Reflects on his challenges and triumphs within a largely commercialized music landscape.
- Relationships and Personal Life
- Siffre shares insights about his long-term relationships and the dynamics of love and companionship.
- Emphasizes a nurturing approach to personal connections and the importance of community.
- Philosophy on Songwriting
- He sees songwriting as a way to express feelings that others may struggle to articulate.
- Discusses the journey of creating music, noting that some songs come quickly while others take years to develop.
- Highlights that writing socially relevant and impactful music is central to his craft.
Key Takeaways
- Musical Legacy: Labi Siffre's music is characterized by its blend of genres and thematic depth, making him a significant, albeit underrated, figure in British music.
- Cultural Commentary: His songs often serve as vehicles for social commentary, allowing listeners to connect with broader societal issues.
- Influence on Future Generations: Despite being less mainstream, Siffre's work continues to resonate and influence new artists, particularly in genres like hip-hop.
Conclusion In this episode, Labi Siffre's narrative is one of resilience, integrity, and artistic exploration. His commitment to honesty in music and the socio-political themes he addresses remain relevant, ensuring his place in music history as a powerful voice against the backdrop of changing cultural landscapes.
Additional Resources
- Playlist: [Labi Siffre Songs](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6iUS866q1oEv8wlIKoWqCl?si=4ee9801974624e83&nd=1) (Spotify)
- Follow on Social Media:
- Instagram: [@brokenrecordpod](https://www.instagram.com/brokenrecordpod)
- Twitter: [@brokenrecord](https://twitter.com/brokenrecord)
Written by AI. May contain mistakes. Listen to the episode to check what was said.
Transcript
Automatic transcript. May contain errors.0:06Pushkin
0:10Since getting his start in the late 60s, Labby Sifri has had an unflinching commitment to writing exactly what he feels. The result was a debut album that announced a singular talent, a British singer-songwriter who could move seamlessly from jazz-inflected soul to tender love songs, all while addressing themes of love, identity, and justice that most pop artists wouldn't touch. Over the next decade, Sifri built a catalog that defied category. Still, his 1972 song Crying, Laughing, Loving, Lying became an international success, and his song, Something Inside So Strong, written years later in response to Apartheid, also became a big hit, revealing the true scope of his artistry.
0:51And then there's I Got The, from his 1975 album, Remember My Song, that would quietly become one of the most sampled songs in hip-hop history, most famously by Dr. Dre on Eminem's My Name Is. Yet despite his influence, which instead of waning has actually grown over generations, Sifri has remained something of a hidden treasure, an artist whose integrity and independence kept him just outside of the mainstream. On today's episode, I talked to Labby Siffri about growing up in 50s London and the music he discovered that set him on his particular artistic path. Labby also talks about how he wants music to enliven him and how much it annoys him when people tell him to chill.
1:29And he explains why after decades in the music industry, he's never regretted choosing honesty over commercial compromise. This is Broken Record. Real musicians, real conversations.
1:46This is an iHeart Podcast. Guaranteed human. If you've ever hired for your small business, you know how important it is to find the right person. That's why LinkedIn Jobs is stepping things up with their new AI assistant. So you can feel confident you're finding top talent that you can't find anywhere else. The best part is those great candidates are already on LinkedIn. In fact, employees hired through LinkedIn are 30 % more likely to stick around for at least a year compared to those hired through the leading competitor. That's a big deal when every hire counts. Hiring doesn't have to be complicated.
2:17With LinkedIn Jobs AI Assistant, you can skip the confusing steps in recruiting jargon. It filters through applicants based on criteria you've set for your role and surfaces only the best matches so you're not stuck sorting through a mountain of resumes. When you have a business to run, you don't have hours to spend on hiring. You don't want to just wait around hoping the right person stumbles upon your job. That's why LinkedIn Jobs AI Assistant suggests 25 great candidates daily so you can invite them to apply and keep things moving. Hire right the first time. Post your job for free at linkedin.com slash broken, then promote it to use LinkedIn Jobs' new AI Assistant, making it easier and faster to find top candidates.
2:52That's linkedin.com slash broken to post your job for free. Terms and conditions apply. Every December, we start singing. At church, around the fire, in our cars, with the radio turned up. But have we ever stopped to ask, where did our favorite Christmas carols come from? And what makes them so magical? Join me in unwrapping the meaning and the magic behind these caroling classics. Listen to Hark, the stories behind our favorite Christmas carols. Available now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and at americamagazine.org. When it comes to the holidays, I believe you fall into one of two camps. Someone who loves holiday music, or someone who won't admit they love holiday music.
3:35There's something about a voice you love singing a familiar opening phrase, maybe it's Donny Hathaway, maybe it's Mariah Carey, that just flips a switch, and you instantly back into that warm and cozy headspace only the holidays can bring. For me, that feeling pairs perfectly with a cup of Starbucks Caramel Brulee Latte. That's their signature espresso with steamed milk, and a rich Caramel Brulee flavor topped with whipped cream and a crunchy Caramel Brulee topping. It's like the sound of the season, but in drink form. And that's really what this season's about. Because this season and every season together is the best place to be.
4:09Come together over your favorite holiday favorites at Starbucks. You want your master's degree, you know you can earn it. But life gets busy. The packed schedule, the late nights, and then there's the unexpected. American Public University was built for all of it. With monthly starts and no set login times, APUs, 40 plus flexible online master's programs are designed to move at the speed of life. Start your master's journey today at apu.apus.edu. You want it? Come get it at APU. Here's my conversation with Labby Siffri. Man, so I came to your music through hip-hop. I was a big hip-hop fan growing up and going looking for samples.
4:53I discovered your music a handful of times across a few different, using a few different songs. And over the years, some of those songs that I discovered you through have kind of faded away in my consciousness. And what's sort of been left is your actual real catalog of songs that just every year grow in terms of how much I love them and how much I listen to them. And so it was a really bizarre way to discover a songwriter as delicate as your songwriting could be in a songwriting, sometimes as fierce in terms of social criticism as your songwriting can be. But I'm really glad that I discovered you about 20 years ago and so glad that we're able to speak because, like I said, your music means a lot.
5:51Thank you. I gotta say though, the British music scene confuses me. It seems like, what confuses me is, it seems like there were a bunch of different scenes, but I'm not sure that there was like a, I just, I'm not so familiar with it, I guess being from the States. And so I was curious, when you were growing up playing music, just before you got your contract to do your first album, your self-titled album, where were you and what was going on musically uh well um christmas 1969 uh i was in amsterdam uh trying to see if i could uh well just to try and see what would happen if i went to a different country and I was...
6:49One of the gigs I did was at the Paradiso.
6:56I make friends with a Czech classical guitarist and his lady. He and I, we did the Paradiso, which was a kind of a psychedelic club. And he was on stage and he played an excellent classical guitarist And there was, you know, kind of smashing of applause. Then I did my set, and it was a huge cheers and a huge amount of things. And I came off the stage, and I said to him, what was that all about? He said, well, they were screening porno behind you.
7:33That it weren't a fault for me at all. and uh and and about uh well like i say that was in that was in december 69 and that the and towards the end of that i got a call saying um somebody wants to offer you a publishing deal and a record deal i'd had a band uh called safari um up till that moment uh and i was on electric guitar, my old harmony. And for some reason, I decided the amp was getting between me and the guitar. And I wanted the two of us to be one, just me and the guitar. So I sold my electric guitar and got an acoustic. I went off to Amsterdam. And I remember the first gig very unlike me, because I was not the most confident person in the world at that time, still probably not, and I asked if I could sit in, which I thought was very brave of me at the time, and I found myself on stage.
8:37It was a listening audience. It was the first folk club that I'd ever been in. That's one of the things that always amuses me, because in my categories, of which there are legion, one of them is folk. I don't know anything about folk music, and as far as I'm concerned, folk music is Robert johnson yeah you know that i know blues that i know but uh european folk music um i mean i but that's fine but um you know but i'm not part of my learning but it's i think it's probably because i apart from that i do play occasionally electric guitar i mainly am seen with an acoustic right and you have to remember that reviewers and the business generally i mean the only way of describing music is to hear it so people who write about it tend to write in comparisons they say it sounds a bit like that person and a bit like that person crossed with that person and the whole system of of saying what the music is just doesn't work like i say the way of describing music is to hear it so uh which is why i get uh soul funk jazz
9:56as, what's the other one? Not independent, whatever it is. Indy, Indy. Indy, I get about five. I was reading a spin article about you, or it was an interview with you from 1988, I want to say. And they said, you know, he started as an R &B artist in England in 19... That's true. Oh, is that true? I started as a Jimmy Reed clone. When I bought my first guitar, £4.10 from Chapels in Ealing Broadway, if anybody knows that, I got home and I bought two books. In the UK at that time, everybody bought Burt Whedon's Play in a Day. But I also got Chet Atkins' Advocate guitar. And I remember sitting on my bed in my bedroom and I couldn't make head or tail of either of them.
10:52I just couldn't work anything out. But I already felt, because from the moment I heard Let's Together by Jimmy Reed, I mean, he's known mainly for Big Boss Man, but the moment I heard Let's Get Together, it was kind of like, I don't know, the first time, I don't know, like, and still for me, the best work he ever did, Hey Joe, the Hendrix thing. And all the first time when we were working at Annie's Room, the jazz club in Drury Lane, the first time I heard James Brown. I mean, these change you forever. On record? It was on the jukebox there. Yeah. We were in the bar. after hours when the audience had everybody gone away, and somebody put James Brown on.
11:47And it was kind of, my immediate thought was, he's got it backwards. He's playing it backwards. Because as a jazz person, I was used to... Not on the one. Not on the one. Yeah. It's a strange emphasis. You know, so I was immediately confused. And I knew I really liked it. But, I mean, that was my first impression. He's playing it backwards. What's going on? So, yeah. But like I say, I'm sitting in my bedroom. But I already felt Jimmy Reed. And so I learned that, you know. That shuffle. And it went from there. And then I was 16. And then I put a band together with my, I had four brothers. The brother just above me was five years older than me.
12:51He's actually responsible for a hell of a lot because he had a really extensive record collection, but he only had the best. Wow. In every genre. Yeah. When I look back, he had the people who really made every genre work. Is that your brother who's on the cover of Children of Children? Yeah, he's holding me. I'm the baby. That's your brother on that. Yeah, that's calling. And so, I mean, I could say, for example, that I'm an autodidact. Oh, yeah, I taught myself. Bullshit. he had a huge record collection uh whom i like to say from robert johnson through to cecil taylor how does how did how did one amass a collection of of of really choice music from america at that time like was it easy to get american records oh yes i mean i mean all of us were i was brought up with the Great American Songbook and I was brought up with American jazz.
14:02Right the way, you know, passing through Art Tatum to Cecil Taylor, as a piano, Monk, Miles Mingus. I mean, I started out as a Jimmy Reed clone. And I had a disturbing piece of information. You know, his son, clearly the kind of kid who walking down the school corridor, you trip up, because his bass player was his son, who was either 9 or 11 on that track. And it was kind of, how dare you? Wait, Jimmy Reed's son. And it was kind of, how dare you be so talented and be able to do that groove? And on that track, I don't know whether it's true, but I was told that his son at the time of that recording was either 9 or 11.
14:489, 10 or 11 on Let's Get Together, which was made famous later by, I think, Canned Heat did like a version that was a hit in the States. Oh, right. I mean, that track is a part of it. Wow. Yeah. It's a strange, it's a shuffle, as you said, but it's a really like kind of laconic kind of. Well, I mean, Jimmy Reed, I also say this about William Walton, the composer, although it's a little unfair on Walton, but it's pretty much Walton that they both have only one thing that they do. But both of them are fantastic. I mean, to get that shuffle right, I don't think I've heard anybody else be able to do it right.
15:35I know Keith Richards famously is a fan of that as well. He tries. He has his version of it, but it's not the same. No. Which is one of the funny things about we were talking about genres. I mean, R &B now is kind of what we used to call lovers rock. Ah. I mean, R &B then had muscle. Oh. Now, I mean, I must say one of the things that I do find a little bit dull is that I keep being told to chill. What do you mean? Explain. Music, you know, you go from music to music to music, and it's always recommended because it's music to chill to. I don't want to chill. I want to be enlivened. You know, I don't want to chill.
16:31I agree. I agree. And, you know, people think about, I love jazz as well, and people always think about jazz as music you put to cool out, to chill. And it's like, the best jazz is really, it energizes you. You never heard of bebop for a start. You get anxious. Yeah, exactly. Exactly. Exactly. You could get wired. Yeah, I get wired listening to jazz. You know, I get the most energy I could get from anything. And clearly also they've never heard of David Sandborn. Yeah, yeah. And they've clearly never heard Paul Gonzalez's 20-minute solo. Yeah, yeah. Chill? Sorry, man. Mingus. I'm chilling to Mingus.
17:08I think Monk is still my favorite pianist, jazz pianist. And so, yeah, I mean, like I say, it's, and of course, of course, when he gets up to dance with Charlie Rouse, most underrated. I love that band. That's a great band. Yeah. And like I say, for me, I was talking about, you know, I could say I taught myself, but in fact, I was taught, because Colley had such, like I said, he had the cream of every genre that he bought. And so I was taught by every musician I'd ever heard on that record collection. You don't do this kind of thing on your own. You know, I remember hearing there was a rock god being interviewed and he was asked what his influences were and he said, oh, I don't have any influences, it's just me.
18:08And I thought, well, you're either a liar or a genius. and I know you're not a genius. Do you remember who that was? No, I don't remember. Well, it was the kind of person to very quickly forget. Okay. So, yeah, I mean, I probably had thousands of teachers. Can you locate that Jimmy Reed blues shuffle thing and you're playing it all? Because it's funny. I don't know if I hear it. Yeah, I mean, I used to play it exactly as he played it. now I play it differently. Before I got my first record deal and publishing deal on the same day, I had a band called Safari, and we did some blue stuff, and I arranged several Bacharach, Al David's songs.
19:02Cool. But because I come basically from the jazz tradition, I've never seen the point of doing a cover where the only thing that changes is the singer's voice. The whole idea is that you're supposed to try at least to take the material and put you into it, if you've got something to put into it, is to take you and make it your own, even if it's not very good, your own. But you're supposed to do what you do. Yeah. My good friend Woody, who was the drum, well, we all met, Woody, Bob, and I, we met our first real work was with a guy called Hamilton, King's Blues Messengers, in which I replaced, you know the Kings?
19:53Yeah. I replaced Ray Davis as the guitarist in that band. and Woody was on drums, Bob was on his Hammond B3. Did you know Ray Davies at that time? No, no, I've never met him. And actually, it's only in the past 10 years that I just came across Hamilton's band and in which the article said that Ray Davies was his guitarist. Not Dave Davies, who was the lead guitarist in the King. Yeah, Ray, the songwriter. Yes. So I replaced him with Hamilton, Kings, Blues, Messengers. I think Mick Fleetwood was in that as well, the drummer of Fleetwood Mac at a certain point. It might well have done. I mean, Hamilton influenced quite a few people.
20:42I still see him now, another giant. Yeah, the thing about me is that I don't have one genre that I write in. But when I got my contract, my first contract, when they discovered that I could actually hold the stage on my own, I mean, I supported people like Chicago at the Olympia in Paris, me and my guitar. And you walk on stage, nobody knows who the hell you are. I had learnt because a lot of the gigs that I did once I had my contract were in what we call working men's clubs. And they were also in clubs where, you know, I remember one in Hull, a huge club. These were places where people went to eat, drink, and have a laugh.
21:42Yeah. And I did that for quite a few years, and I had to learn how to walk on stage, sit down and make them be quiet and make them listen and i this is one of the reasons why i worry about about people kids starting out now i don't know whether it's the same in the states but uh you know there's not many places they can what i would call learn their trade which i think is a disservice to them uh the first thing that gets seems to go when money's short is the arts which is very annoying and stupid culturally, frankly. But when they realized that I could actually hold the stage on my own, I had years and years, about 30-odd years or 40 years, of performing like that.
22:35Although my albums are mainly with a band, with guys and girls playing, I should think probably 90 % of my performances over 50 odd years have been me solo on stage with kind of four guitars and a keyboard. And well, the other thing is once we started recording because I think the first thing we had on the first album and the first song that we would call a turntable hit, it was a radio hit. And everybody said, this is going to chant. It was a song called Make My Day. I kind of got channeled into something that I was quite happy with because I could do it. It was obviously me. But jazz and funk and blues were not part of that deal.
23:29So they may occasionally slip in over those years. But, and I mean, that's not a fault. you know it's not that that wasn't anything about the music business saying oh you could only do this right but that was just the general trend of how it went but you know you think about your first three albums your first one your self-titled it's it's you with the guitar looking very singer songwritery or you know so maybe i could see how they could think folk and then the singer and then the singer and the song is your second album and then you know the third album is again it's you with the guitar on the cover so i i i mean i guess i see why the image might people might see the image and think oh well you know this is folk and you know you got your cat stevens around and you're who you know whoever else and so it fit a niche well that was also the time when you um you were asked could could you please smile and how did you take that well i kind of i mean i kind of thought it's not my job to get in their way they know what they're doing so uh it took me a while i mean there was some difficulty insofar as i could only talk music and the music business is not filled with people who know anything about music there are people but it's not filled with people there are people but it's not filled with them and i happen to be in a situation where I could only talk music, so it was a matter of me explaining.
25:01And I also got into a, which took me a while to get out of, of believing that people who were successful in the music business knew about music. Well, I mean, let's just say, you signed with Pi Records, who, I mean, we were just talking about Ray Davies. I mean, the Kinks were signed to Pi, and, you know, they did not get, Ray Davies did not get along with the label, sort of felt that they had more of a pop sensibility and weren't interested in his experimenting, you know, in terms of sound and song. I have to say, I did not get on with it. Right. You allowed it to sort of... Well, I take responsibility.
25:44I mean, I take responsibility for my career. Okay. I mean, I can bitch if I wanted to, but it would be misplaced. Okay. In retrospect, I've been given a great deal of freedom insofar as at the time, and I knew this very early on, at the time I was not mainstream. It seems like you could have been, though. I mean, like, even just crying, laughing, loving, lying, not getting a U.S. release, you know, it's like, you know, when you think, like, on Warner Reprise, you know, like, Randy Newman's getting released and, you know, who else, you know, some of the Beach Boys more experiment, Van Dyke Parks, right?
26:27You know, like, and you're like, there would have been, there could have been a market for it in the U.S., you know? I've got to say, Van Dyke Parks would have been a bit difficult for the youth world. I mean, Van Dyke Parks would have been a bit difficult. It's difficult for everyone over here, too. Wonderful. And I'm so pleased that Van Dyke Parks met Brian Wilson. So pleased. Because I loathed the surfing stuff. I just thought... Off from the Beach Boys. I just thought, well, here's another gang of white guys. stealing Chuck Berry's music and not doing it very well with Craig Miller. And then, of course, if it hadn't been for Dunday Parks, my very favourite, I mean, I didn't like the Beach Boys until I discovered the Sunflower album.
27:19And then there were some tracks on that and I thought, ah, this is what he really does. and then still my favorite of all the things he's done is the song Surf's Up. That whole album is... There's a line in that which ends with the words a children's song, at which point on occasion I find I'm crying. it's it's one of my all time favorite tracks you know along with Five Million Others favorite tracks but of the Beach Boys, of his work and then of course they did, he and Van Dyke Parks did when he kind of vaguely left for Beach Boys after recovering, he and Van Dyke Parks did a really good album together but I'm so pleased that they met We'll be back with more from I'm Labby Siffrey after the break.
28:23I firmly believe when it comes to the holidays, you fall into one of two camps. Someone who loves holiday music or someone who won't admit they love holiday music. There's something about a voice you love singing that familiar opening phrase. Maybe it's Donny Hathaway. Maybe it's Mariah Carey that just flips a switch and you're instantly back into that warm and cozy headspace. Only the holidays can bring. For me, that feeling pairs perfectly with a cup of Starbucks caramel brulee latte. That's their signature espresso with steamed milk and a rich caramel brulee flavor topped with whipped cream and a crunchy caramel brulee topping.
28:56It's like the sound of the season, but in drink form. And that's really what this season's about. Little moments of pairing, little moments of connection. Sharing a song, sharing a story, sharing a caramel brulee latte. Because this season and every season, together, is the best place to be. Come together over your holiday favorites at Starbucks. This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. You know, the holidays have this way of bringing up all these feelings about tradition. For me, some of the best traditions aren't elaborate. They're just moments. Like when my kids and I are experimenting with different hot chocolate recipes or when I'm making gumbo with them for Thanksgiving.
29:31But then there are also these quieter moments where I need to step back and actually think about what all of this means to me. And that's really where therapy has made a difference. A practice that keeps me centered when the calendar gets overwhelming or when emotions run high or when I look up and realize half the year has somehow disappeared. Just having one hour a week that's completely yours can cut through all the noise and bring real clarity. If therapy is something you've been considering, December is actually not a bad time to take that step. BetterHelp connects you with licensed therapists in the U.S.
29:59who all operate under a strict code of conduct. They handle the matching process, you fill out a brief questionnaire, and they find someone who seems like a good fit for what you need. And if it doesn't click, you can switch therapists whenever you want. They've got over 30 ,000 therapists on the platform and have served more than 5 million people with an average live session rating of 4.9 out of 5 across more than 1.7 million reviews. This December, start a new tradition by taking care of you. Our listeners get 10 % off at betterhelp.com slash broken. That's betterhelp.com slash broken. If you've ever hired for your small business, you know how important it is to find the right person.
30:35That's why LinkedIn Jobs is stepping things up with their new AI assistant so you can feel confident you're finding top talent that you can't find anywhere else. The best part is those great candidates are already on LinkedIn. In fact, employees hired through LinkedIn are 30 % more likely to stick around for at least a year compared to those hired through the leading competitor. That's a big deal when every hire counts. Hiring doesn't have to be complicated. With LinkedIn Jobs AI Assistant, you can skip the confusing steps in recruiting jargon. It filters through applicants based on criteria you've set for your role and surfaces only the best matches so you're not stuck sorting through a mountain of resumes.
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31:13When you have a business to run, you don't have hours to spend on hiring and you don't want to just wait around hoping the right person stumbles upon your job. That's why LinkedIn Jobs AI Assistant suggests 25 great fit candidates daily so you can invite them to apply and keep things moving. Hire right the first time. Post your job for free at linkedin.com slash broken, then promote it to use LinkedIn Jobs' new AI Assistant, making it easier and faster to find top candidates. That's linkedin.com slash broken to post your job for free. Terms and conditions apply.
31:49Every December, we start singing at church, around the fire, in our cars, with the radio turned up. But have we ever stopped to ask, where did our favorite Christmas carols come from? And what makes them so magical? I think it's probably one of the most perfect tunes to play and to sing. The voices are converging. They're adding this more complex and chromatic harmony. And it gives us that climactic arrival point. Hark is a podcast about the meaning and the making of Christmas carols. Get into the spirit of the season and listen to Hark, the stories behind our favorite Christmas carols. Available now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and at americamagazine.org.
32:40what else were you listening to at that time because i mean your music really is one of one it doesn't sound much like anything else what were you taking in at the time of early and you're like in the early 70s at the time of 70 71 72 as you're making those first few records uh what was i listening to ah well um one of the things was i felt very lonely
33:09throughout my career because I couldn't find people in the UK who were writing anything that seemed related to what I was writing, very much as far as subject matter is concerned, but also stylistically. And it was not until I found, this is early 70s, until I found the kind of, I suppose, the triumvirate of Randy Newman, Harry Nilsson, and Laura Nairo. Wow. It's those three. I mean, New York Tenderberry, really, really it should be one of the things that if you haven't heard this, I'm going to lock you in a room and handcuff you and you're going to listen to this. And it was only when I discovered those three that I felt I'd found a home.
34:07Wow. That I'd found people who were kind of doing what I was trying to do. So, I mean, that was a great comfort to me because I did feel in the UK very alone stylistically. what was it you felt you were trying to do that they were doing as well it's funny this is one of the reasons why I you know the business about me having a hard time in the music business I was very fortunate because my first manager who's really a real one was a guy called Peter Gormley who in fact was also the head of Festival International, which was who I signed with. And I actually think they looked after me in retrospect because I was never a really huge seller.
35:12Commercially, I was not hugely commercially successful. And at one stage, they thought that maybe if they put me with certain particular writers who were making more commercially viable stuff, that it might rub off on me. Which, of course, was a foolish thing to think. but it made me examine what I was trying to do. I started asking myself, what am I trying to do? And I remember rather, I won't mention, but this is a guy, you know, multiple hits and written for loads and loads of people. And I asked myself the question, well, what am I trying to do? And I came to the conclusion, my first conclusion was, Well, they're trying to write a hit, and I'm trying to write a good song.
36:13Immediately after which, I thought, what the hell do you mean by a good song? If five million people, or if a million people, are emotionally moved by a track that you think is rubbish, hang on, that's a good song. What do you mean by a good song? So, which was my conversation with myself, you know, that's just lazy, Siffrey. forget about good song. And I finally came to the conclusion that the problem was, not a problem as far as I was concerned, was that I wanted to write useful songs, societally useful, socially useful songs. That was the conclusion I came. And other people might come to a completely different conclusion.
37:01But that's what I realized I was trying to do, which was one of the reasons I think they were kind of patient because I was bringing in huge amounts of money. And, of course, I was one of those people then who, and just about every company has that, they have one or two people who bring in all the money and then they can take other artists who they think can do well but not that well, but they don't need to do that well because they've got Beyonce or someone of that. And so I was one of those artists who occasionally had a hit and occasionally had a couple of covers, but not a big seller. And who was subsidizing?
37:49It was like Olivia Newton-John who was part of your sort of management? Actually, the main moneymaker in Gourney Management was Cliff Richard. Ah. Shadows. Shadows. right yeah and then olivia um and then dahlia larvae and for a while glenn cardia glenn cardia um who i produced i produced uh a track um which i'm still very very proud of he wrote a song um oh god he's online and now my memory's gone again um oh it'll come back to me um really good track when the fire dies. And I produced that. It's happened a couple of times when I've heard somebody and thought, that's mine. I've got to do an arrangement and produce this guy.
38:44Wow. And that went very well. I don't listen to my stuff very much, but I occasionally come across things and that track still gets me. So, yeah, so in fact, record business-wise, I think I've been very fortunate. And I can certainly think of other people who originally I could have signed with who if I had signed with, today I'd be broke. Fair enough. i signed i was fortunate that i actually signed with a group of people who were honest and i still 50 odd years later work with three of them wow um uh one in particular uh brown good um um i do the art he does the commerce were there other labels or or management groups you were speaking with well no i mean i i went well when the call came you know first i was publishing in the recording for the contracts yeah up and down that time i wasn't thinking about anything i mean i uh no i i the business it would just never have occurred to me got it people never believe this, they say, oh, it's bullshit.
40:07I never, fame and fortune was not part of my plan, not because I had a plan. It's just that they never occurred to me. Yeah. I mean, I decided at 13 that, well, my first decision was I was going to be a jazz singer. I mean, I remember Collie took me to 100 Oxford Street, which was a jazz club. And a vibe slayer called Bill LaSage and his band were playing, and it was one of those raised stages. And I remember Holly was standing there, and I was 13, and I was quite short. I didn't start growing, really, until later. So I was still quite small. And I'm looking up, and Bill LaSage had a girl singer with him.
40:55Excuse the arrogance that's going to follow here. I was 13 years of age, and I was looking up at her, and I had two thoughts separated by about two seconds. My first thought was, I can do that, immediately followed by, I can do better than that. I'm 13 years of age, and I just wanted to make music, and the other part of it, the business and the money and all of the fame, well, fame's another thing, But it just, it wasn't that I, you know, that I had a plan or I decided to do this. I didn't make any of those decisions. I just wanted to be able to earn enough money so I didn't have to do a day job and I could just be a musician.
41:46Yeah. But anyway, yes, that was my first thing is I wanted to be a singer. I mean, one of my greatest influences, I suppose, as a vocalist, probably Billie Holiday would be at the top. The Divine Sarah, of course. Sarah Vaughan. B. Joe Williams, Mel Tomei, Jimmy Reed, Howlin' Wolf.
42:16Howlin' Wolf. I don't think I'll ever get away from Howlin' Wolf. And, of course, before that, Fat Stomino, who his timing is incredible. The end of every line is perfect. and of course Louis Armstrong the first jazz singer whose timing and phrasing is an embarrassment to us all
42:45you know still it's kind of yeah I give in it's like that Bach moment which actually I took quite seriously the Bach moment I remember buying the partitas for solo violin, and I put it on, and it was, I actually had this conversation with myself, which was, what's the bloody point? How dare you call yourself a writer of music? What's the bloody point? Bach has done everything. There's nothing left to do. Yeah. In the same way that Miles said of Louis Armstrong, Louis plays everything, including the modern stuff. Now, Louis wasn't Miles, but I knew exactly what Miles meant. Yeah. You know what's fascinating about Louis too?
43:38I mean, he did fall out of, I was going to say he never went out of style. He did fall out of style a bit because I guess during, you know, like during the bebop era, you know, Dizzy made fun of him a bit. But he always had an audience. Like Louis always had from beginning to end, he always had an audience, which is fascinating to me, you know? Also for me, as a singer, his timing and phrasing are remarkable. Yeah, what he lacks in maybe, you know, some people don't prefer the timbre, you know. Well, the timbre also, well, I mean, along comes Barry White. There hasn't been a bass baritone in the charts apart from Barry White.
44:20And what, another underrated person as far as I'm concerned. Yeah. What an amazing singer. What great arrangements. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Amazing arrangements. You know, so Louis, I mean, I never had a problem with the voice. I mean, you know, one of the, frankly, I think unfair things was the fact that, you know, he was always laughing and grinning and playing around, which didn't go down too well as far as the civil rights and onward movement. But he was not an Uncle Tom. no no no bullshit yeah yeah yeah you know uh yeah not not at all if you see some of his interviews he's nobody's fool no and and i know like like like i was saying dizzy gillespie like you know would make fun of him openly for for a long time and eventually apologize but this is to make fun of louis armstrong he's a bit rich fair point i'm like come on that's a bit rich i'll let you say that But if we're going to go along the line of Cab Calloway on from onwards, I mean, come on.
45:29That's true. That's true. It's a good point. It's a good point. Yeah. Come on, D.D., own up. Yeah. One last break and we'll be back with Labby Sifri. I firmly believe when it comes to the holidays, you fall into one of two camps. someone who loves holiday music or someone who won't admit they love holiday music. There's something about a voice you love singing that familiar opening phrase, maybe it's Donny Hathaway, maybe it's Mariah Carey, that just flips a switch and you're instantly back into that warm and cozy headspace only the holidays can bring. For me, that feeling pairs perfectly with a cup of Starbucks caramel brulee latte.
46:09That's their signature espresso with steamed milk and a rich caramel brulee flavor topped with whipped cream and a crunchy caramel brulee topping. It's like the sound of the season, but in drink form. And that's really what this season's about. Little moments of pairing, little moments of connection. Sharing a song, sharing a story, sharing a caramel brulee latte. Because this season and every season, together is the best place to be. Come together over your holiday favorites at Starbucks. If you've ever hired for your small business, you know how important it is to find the right person. That's why LinkedIn Jobs is stepping things up with their new AI assistant so you can feel confident you're finding top talent that you can't find anywhere else.
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47:54Every December, we start singing. At church, around the fire, in our cars, with the radio turned up. But have we ever stopped to ask, where did our favorite Christmas carols come from? And what makes them so magical? I think it's probably one of the most perfect tunes to play and to sing. The voices are converging. They're adding this more complex and chromatic harmony. And it gives us that climactic arrival point. Hark is a podcast about the meaning and the making of Christmas carols. Get into the spirit of the season and listen to Hark, the stories behind our favorite Christmas carols. Available now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and at americamagazine.org.
48:44You want your master's degree? You know you can earn it. But life gets busy. The packed schedule, the late nights, and then there's the unexpected. American Public University was built for all of it. With monthly starts and no set login times, APUs, 40 plus flexible online master's programs are designed to move at the speed of life. Start your master's journey today at apu.apus.edu. You want it? Come get it at APU. Throughout your career, I mean, have you always been listening to new music? Has it always been? Well, you mentioned the Beatles. And that was different. We, in my little group, I remember Woody and I, I mean, Woody, the drummer, the drummer played in several bands with me.
49:28He toured with Sonny Stitt. Wow Amazing I remember he and I we would wait for the next Beatle album because every album about five of the albums every album changed the world as far as musicians were concerned I remember he and I we were in Piccadilly Circus and there was a very narrow small shop it was a record shop and they had speakers on the outside and they played And I remember we were standing and we were facing Picardoo Circus. And She's Leaving Home came on. I started crying. We're standing there. We're grown guys. We're toughies. And I started crying. And I purposely didn't look towards Woody because I was afraid that he would be crying too.
50:26And then you'd be embarrassed. But every album, the world has changed. And when I heard 1999, which I still haven't, I'll never get over it, my world changed again. Wow. I mean, it was like the first time I heard Cecil Thaler, my world changed. The first time I heard Ormond Coleman, my world changed. The first time I heard Miles, the first time I heard Bird. By the way, the album with Bird and an orchestra and sometimes gets frowned upon, he doesn't give an inch on that album. I mean, he just does what he does. I think it's a great album. Yeah, I do too. I've heard it being, you know, oh, he's sold out.
51:09I mean, same kind of bullshit as when Bob Dylan, the same as Bob Dylan put down his acoustic and picked up an electric guitar. Apparently he was a traitor and he betrayed the folk movement. Yeah, shit, catch up. but then again the artist is one of the jobs and responsibilities of the artist the artist should always be ahead of the audience i mean if you'd have asked the listeners of the world in the 1950s how would you like uh popular music to go in the 60s and 70s you wouldn't have had well All guys with funny haircuts and cheeky chappies, not from New York or from London. How about a northern, a Liverpool?
51:57How about Liverpool? And they're influenced by Motown and Little Richard and rock and roll. And they kind of get later on into really knowing something about classical music. and for some odd reason they're also kind of linked to what we used to call a British musical. Yeah. No one would have thought of that. The audience doesn't know what it wants, of any artist they think, but the audience don't know what they want until they get it. The artists, really good ones, kind of always have a pace ahead of the audience. Yeah. And that's what was supposed to happen. Yeah. Prince, too. Where were you when you heard 1999?
52:47Because you weren't making music at that point, or at least releasing albums. I was still making a lot of music, but I wasn't really... It wasn't exactly that me and the music business fell out. It's just that I realized at one stage that I shouldn't be in the music business. I mean, I just... I don't fit. And so I kind of kept kind of retiring. And also after I was probably, possibly It Must Be Love. No, it was before It Must Be Love. It was sometime in the second album when people started to recognize me when I went out. And after about three months, I knew I was never, ever going to like it.
53:34Really? Or whatever. I just realized. I was never going to enjoy that. I mean, I learned how to do it. But I, like I say, that was never part of my plan. And it never occurred to me that that was going to happen. I just thought I'd make music. Actually, I don't even think I even thought about being successful. I mean, it didn't occur to me that I, the business of being a successful musician, I just wanted to play music. Was there never a feeling of I want to be successful just to show my parents that, you know, well, look what I've done. No, never. Never. No, never. Did your parents approve of your musical career?
54:22I'm 19, and we're in the hall of our house, and there's me with one suitcase in my guitar case with a guitar in, and I'm doing the, I'm going to be a musician, and my father, my mother in the hall, my father is shouting, you're throwing your life away. I quote verbatim, my father is shouting, you're throwing your life away, and my mother is crying. And I march out of the house in a, I am going to do this, and I walk down to the bottom of the road and suddenly realized, I don't know where I'm going. so my advice to people who are going to make a dramatic exit from the family is at least make sure you've got bus fare
55:11I mean when you say had you got a plan that was how good my plan was and if it hadn't been for Brian my favourite brother who's now a lad I walked down the hill I got to the bottom of the street the main street and and i didn't have anywhere to go and i didn't have any money i called brian and he had a run room uh and a kitchen and he said well you better stay with me so i stayed with him um until because he was he was just about to get married and he was going to move from london uh up to stepford i think uh so i stayed with him uh and yeah he helped me get a job uh i mean I mean, I didn't know anything about, you know, what should I do?
55:57I've got to get a job, I suppose. And he helped me get a job. My first job in Solways, in Beth McGrath, I just lugged boxes around, boxes of goods around, which is actually where a lot of the stuff that they had, they did toys, but they also were the distributor for Supraform, which I think was a Czechoslovakian record company. They're still around. But it was really good quality stuff, you know, proper orchestras and everything, but they were slightly cheaper recordings in the UK and other places, so they were more affordable. There was a Geordie in there who was, you know, older than me and I was this kid, and he said to me, have you taken anything yet?
56:48I said, what do you mean? He said, well, we don't get paid very much. In fact, I was earning£11 a week, and I was living on milk, bread rolls, and apples. Yeah, that's what I was living on. And he said, oh, we've got all these records. Take some. I said, it was kind of stealing. I can't believe it. He said, yes, yes, come on. And part of the stuff was I got Januszczyk's Glagolithic Mass, which once again changed my world. unfamiliar I got the Master Sounds where's Montgomery's Brothers that's where I got it from Master Sounds and a couple of things I think I only took three or four because it was kind of stealing but it was a very good thing that I had because that's where I discovered that's I mean that was my in to 20th century orchestral stuff.
57:50And that was my in to Liz Montgomery. Those are two strands that I can hear through the music. I can't hear Jimmy Reid as well, but I can hear those things. Yeah, well, I mean, it's funny because before the first album, I met a writer of fiction called David Leslie. David Stewart Leslie. And I read one of his books. It was really good. And he was kind of going to be our manager. He asked me, let's write a musical. This was a long time before I got my deal. So he and I wrote a musical for children called The Magic Bed. He wrote the book and I wrote the song. Now, this is before, this is long before I'd started work on anything like on the first album, which was several years later that I started on those tracks.
58:48So in fact, by the time I got the deal, I'd already written probably half of the first album. Wow. But anyway, The Magic Bed, almost from the get-go, apart from the songs that I wrote in my bedroom before I'd marched out of the house, grandly telling them I'm going to be a musician, it was after that that I actually kind of got into writing. And from that first batch, some of which are now bonus tracks on some of the remastered stuff, they're really good songs. Wow. And they're very me. When I listen to them, I think, yeah, that's very me. And they're really good. Wow, I have to find this. And that actually surprises me because I can't really, it's sometimes difficult for me to remember that person.
59:39For example, Woody, who I mentioned before, a drummer, as I say, told me Sonny Stitt in the bands that we had. Woody remembers things from our past that I don't, that I don't, which is probably a bloody thing. Well, I was going to say, you've kept relationships for a long time, so it's surprising to me that you kind of can't. And you were in a partnership for, I mean, what, 19 to a little over a decade ago? Peter and I were together for 48 years. Root and I were together for 19 years, and Peter Root and I were in a menage a trois for 16 years. Ah. I mean... So I'm very lucky. All in all, I've had 52 years of love, which is a wonderful thing.
1:00:32They're both dead now. I'm always, you know, curious. 48 years
1:00:41does it ever feel like enough? Love is never enough. Because you hear these things you hear 48 years sometimes you hear 50 years and when I was younger I used to think oh wow it's like a lifetime you know should be so lucky and then you start to get I'm a little bit older I sort of think 48 that's there's no time you know My God, you know? Well, if they were both alive, we'd all still be together. I mean, one of the things that people get asked is what makes a good marriage. I mean, we were a family of three husbands, you know, when Ruth joined us. That question is about what makes a good marriage.
1:01:30I know that one thing that happens in a good marriage is that you become a team. And Peter and I, we were a really good team. And then when Root joined us, we were a better team because anything that two of us couldn't do, the third could. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And that's how it functioned. That's how we functioned. And it was very clear what each of us was good at. Yeah. That's what a good marriage does. you become a team or not necessarily you have to be married but a good you know the partners i mean uh human beings you know about apart from apart from some notable um departures uh human beings are i'm very pleased about evolution i wish it would hurry up and do something about the human race um but you and i don't mind the fact that we are genetically programmed uh at all but human beings in the main i can certainly think of quite a lot of exceptions have a need to nurture and be nurtured
1:02:49unfortunately more than half of the world doesn't accept that yeah um but that is what human beings are they are programmed and and hopefully as they grow up that is um made even stronger by association finding the right person or something yeah and i mean i i've i've often thought that the answer to the human problem is that, you know, everything does start with the family. I mean, I'd spent my whole life trying to make one, and eventually, when there were the three of us, I suddenly realized one day what I'd been trying to do for all those years before, that I'd actually done it. You know, you talk about the 48 years.
1:03:38You know, fortunately, I mean, yeah, I mean, there's that commitment. But it's the business of, okay, so you start with the couple, and that's that family of two. You can have a family of two. And then it widens, you know, usually with children, and then that's the family. And then as it goes on, you include your first cousin. Yeah. Or your nephew. And then you include, and it goes like that until you get to a few friends. One of the things that I just couldn't understand that made me really annoyed when Facebook turned up. What do you mean you're all friends? This isn't your friend. You don't understand, do you?
1:04:30No, this is not your friend. I think you won that argument. and so it occurs to me that if we can only if we can only widen the amount of people who we consider to be family which means that you you have a responsibility to them and they have a responsibility to you and the more that gets widened that would be a solution to are ever annoying as a species, hubris. You know, we're all number one. All our nations are great nations. Even some of our towns and cities are great towns and cities. You know, there's a difference between great and powerful. and if you've got homelessness and child poverty you are not a great nation no matter how wealthy you are you have child poverty you are not a great nation and you can sit on your sofas and in comfort declare yourself to be a patriot wave your little flag take life seriously unfortunately that is rarity.
1:05:57Yeah. Yeah. Which is probably why I write some of the things I write. Do you consider your songs part of your family? No, they're my songs. I try and protect them as much as I can because, well, I mean, there's that business once again of trying to be useful. And also, I mean, there's the spin-offs which aren't aren't intentional but they just happen if you write a certain kind of song I mean one of the things about writing love songs for example is that that you could say that it's part of the job it's actually part of it's something that does happen if you do it well and that is you find yourself saying things that loads and loads of people want to say but they can't yeah so So by the things that you write, you provide them with something so they can say something.
1:06:58I mean, it's like an audio version of buying flowers for the people you love. You know, it's because you can't. And most people, well, lots of people can't say these things, and you can say it in song, so it's a kind of gift. And the other thing, of course, is that there are lots of things. I mean, it's always fascinated me that as a child, and I think it's still the same now, the advice given is don't talk about politics or religion. And from very young, I mean, I spent 11 years in a monastery school. From very young, it seems to me, well, who benefits if we don't talk about politics or religion?
1:07:40Religion, by the way, is politics. Who benefits if we don't talk about the two things, which are in fact the two things that govern most things on this planet, apart from money. I know I've written things that very, very few people would even dare to write. You're not going to find very many people who have written a song like School Dates, for example, or A Kiss in the Mirror. Yeah. And so, but as far as I'm concerned, those things are important. And it also, it annoys me because novelists can do it. Novelists can address serious issues. But, I mean, I always loathe that business, and there's still, you know, critics, certainly in the 60s and 70s, who actually said, no, pop music's not supposed to last.
1:08:35What the fuck do you mean? So you want us to write crap and you'll applaud it. Yeah. it's supposed to be just confection just kind of for the moment and it's yeah yeah well you certainly did the opposite it's it's incredible how you how your music seems to only pick up steam as it as time goes on i mean um yeah you know even just i really enjoyed the movie the holdovers i was watching i watched it on a plane um maybe a year ago there's there's there's your song you know title track from crying loving loving line and then you know bless the telephone now as its whole life of its own amongst young people and certainly these songs are standing the test of time yeah well my first agent and i remember saying i don't know why i came up in conversation and he said to me i think it was probably i don't think he said a good song never dies yeah i mean i'm sorry now that sounds arrogant as well but i mean the interesting thing is i've always very much believed in my work uh and i mean And, you know, sometimes, you know, not recently, but in the distant past, I have thought to myself, this is a good one.
1:09:49People will catch up. But it didn't happen. I mean, that was the mantra in the early days of the Stones and the Beatles. Yeah. As far as their management was concerned, you have to break in America. Yeah. So it was only when Dre. Dr. Dre and Eminem. took the baseline I'd written for I got there. In fact, they took quite a lot of the track. A little more than the baseline. Yeah, it was more than the baseline. The baseline was on. But that was the beginning of a kind of America, part of America, small part of America, discovering my work. Yeah. And then Candier and everybody else. so it did happen yeah we should have been a bit more savvy I hope that young musicians are rather more I don't know it sounds odd, kind of more knowledgeable about the business than I was I mean I was fortunate that I was in that regard, that's when I said my first deals were with honest people who kind of, you know, no no It gets this, it does this, and by the way, here's the accounting, this is what we're doing.
1:11:11And I hope young people starting out are more savvy than I was. Oh, man. Before we go, can I ask you what the story behind Blessed Telephone is? I've done a gig, I think, I can't remember if it was Manchester, Birmingham or Liverpool, I can't remember. And it had gone well, and I was in my hotel room. and a certain person rang to ask how did it go. And then at the end of the conversation, which lasted on half an hour or more, I found myself sitting on the bed in my hotel room and picking up the guitar and writing the telephone. Wow. I mean, people often ask, how long does the song take? I've written, I mean, it must be love.
1:12:04I remember we were living above a car showroom. and Peter had gone off to work and the door closed and I picked up the guitar and went to the sofa to work and I started writing and I read the first verse and the chorus of It Must Be Love and it's the only time I've ever done this I thought you have to finish this one this is it that one took well it took a day to complete the song but it then took a couple of weeks to actually sort out what goes where but i i mean there are songs of mine that have taken several years to write you know a lot of people and and there's people online who you know who give this advice because um loads and loads and loads of people they get to a stage they half finish song and they can't go any further with it yeah do you still play do you still play i'm well i mean um you're you're you're seeing me in my studio.
1:13:02Oh, yeah? Oh, yeah, I'm still... I mean, I say it as a joke, but I'm not sure it is a joke. I'll be riding on my deathbed, I expect. Wow, wow. Well, it was really great to meet you. You know, real honor, real pleasure. Thanks for taking the time. It's fine. My pleasure, indeed.
1:13:22In the episode description, you'll find a link to our favorite Live Yousifree tracks, as well as some of the hip-hop songs that have sampled his work. Be sure to check out YouTube.com slash broken record podcast to see all of our video interviews. And be sure to follow us on Instagram at the broken record pod. You can follow us on Twitter at broken record. Broken Record is produced and edited by Leah Rose with marketing help from Eric Sandler and Jordan McMillan. Our engineer is Ben Talladeh. Broken Record is a production of Pushkin Industries. If you love this show and others from Pushkin, consider subscribing to Pushkin Plus.
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From the publisher
Since getting his start in the late ‘60s, Labi Siffre has had an unflinching commitment to writing exactly what he feels. The result was a debut album that announced a singular talent: a British singer-songwriter who could move seamlessly from jazz-inflected soul to tender love songs, all while addressing themes of love, identity, and justice that most pop artists wouldn't touch.
Over the next decade, Siffre built a catalog that defied category. Still, his 1972 song "Crying Laughing Loving Lying" became an international success, and his song "Something Inside So Strong"—written years later in response to apartheid—also became a big hit, revealing the true scope of his artistry.
And then there's "I Got The..." from his 1975 album Remember My Song that would quietly become one of the most sampled songs in hip-hop history, most famously by Dr. Dre on Eminem's "My Name Is."
On today's episode, Justin Richmond talks to Labi Siffre about growing up in 1950s London and the music he discovered that set him on his particular artistic path. Labi also talks about how he wants music to enliven him and how much it annoys him when people tell him to chill. And he explains why, after decades in the music industry, he's never regretted choosing honesty over commercial compromise.
You can hear a playlist of some of our favorite songs from Labi Siffre HERE.
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