Last day in Porto before heading to Hamburg, a change of scenery and the last day of The Strawbs album posts. Hopefully I have managed to get people to listen or re-listen to their albums over the last week since the passing of Dave Cousins. I went down to the record store today to pick up the new Gwenno - Utopia (2025) and José was telling me had 6 albums by the The Strawbs including a later Dave Cousins album that he said was a great album (which one, I don’t know). It’s unfortunate that someone has to die to get attention (kind of defeats the object as a tactic).
It was nice out, the ladies of the day were out in full force on a typical warm Porto summer’s day with that perfect breeze coming from the Atlantic. Although I live in the city and the record store is close, it was a battle getting there with all the tourists - every European city in Europe is like this in high summer. I talked to a couple from Croatia who were buying a Cesária Évora (Cape Verde legend) and a Sade album. They were from Dubrovnik and they said they have just one record store and it’s only just opened.
Whilst José was serving somebody else I scoured the store and found the CousteauX album with Liam McKahey and Crystal Set member Davey Ray Moor, it was just 17 Euros, a bargain for the music they make and cheaper than usual. There were two albums by Héroes del Silencio - Senderos de traición (1990), one was 23 Euros, one was 37 Euros for the same reissue? Exactly the same but reissued at different times, no brainer. I picked up Echo & the Bunnymen’s - What Are You Going To Do With Your Life? (1999) and Lhasa de Sela - The Living Road (2003) Lhasa, tragically died of breast cancer aged 37.
From the record store I went to the DJ shop to talk to Miguel about having a PA tower at The Archive so I could have acoustic performances in the front room. I was asking about a Bose L1 because that’s what Salim has in Dallas but he sold me on the HK Audio Polar Mk2 (about 300 Euros cheaper and with an aluminium speaker housing instead of plastic). So one step closer to intimate acoustic concerts in the Archive - if I buy it next week on return from Germany.
Music today has been The Strawbs - Bursting At The Seams (1973). It was the album with their two most popular singles - Part Of The Union, written by Richard Hudson and John Ford reaching No.2 in the UK charts, and Lay Down, written by Dave Cousins reaching No.12 in the UK charts. One can only imagine this is what led to an acrimonious split with two different songwriting directions, and both of them being hits - power battle no doubt. Hudson-Ford left and went on to have hits of their own, I remember Pick Up The Pieces - and then there was the ‘mock punk’ band The Monks! There are many more Strawbs and Dave Cousins albums to consider, good luck discovering them.