A collaboration between Suggs and Paul Weller, you say? Long overdue, you say? This is from the promotional blurb:
OOH DO U FINK U R is a gloriously sunny, optimistic and defiant Motown and '60's R&B influenced stomper drawing on Suggs and Weller's upbringing in Britain's 1970's comprehensive school system in London and Woking respectively.
Having known each other on-and-off over the last four decades, the seeds of this collaboration emerged in 2019 when Weller joined Suggs on his Radio Four series Love Letters To London to talk about an ever changing Soho. As the world subsequently went into lockdown in 2020, the pair started chatting more and more frequently about music, clothes and football, eventually exchanging half finished songs, demos and sketches of lyrics. With its working class aesthetic, Motown influenced stomp, and uplifting brass, it's an intuitive collaboration that sits neatly as a welcome addition to both men's great songbooks.
Enough blurb. This came to my attention courtesy of a marketing email, offering me this track on a slab of 7" vinyl, with an instrumental version on the B-side, for £10.99 + P&P. That seems a lot, if you ask me - you can get albums for less. So is it worth it?
There is a time when the Weller collector in me would have rushed to place my order. But whilst I quite like this (even if it feels slightly less than it could have been), my 11 English pounds are staying in my wallet - I'll wait until it crops up on a compilation album instead. What about you?
[EDIT 5-MAY-22: the limited, numbered vinyl (only 5,000 copies) has sold out on pre-order alone, from what I can see.]
I share your trepidation - 11 notes for a single, I think I'll hang back and wait.
ReplyDeleteTis a fine song though
Exactly. It's good ... but 11 quid?!
DeleteLike it-very Kinks esque which is fitting I guess. Agree about 11 quid,it's not quite that good!
ReplyDeleteYes, you can certainly draw a line through Ray Davies to these two, so fitting as you say.
DeleteNot surprised about the price, vinyl singles are a very expensive proposition these days. The fact the b-side is just an instrumental version does make it feel like a bit of a rip-off though. Keep yer money, I reckon.
ReplyDeleteWell exactly. Weller used to be someone who would deliver utter jewels on his B-sides (esp in Jam and TSC days) so to only offer up an instrumental... bit of a shame.
DeleteWhen I first heard about it, I had to check the date as I thought it was an April Fool's Day prank. It's not the collaboration I've been waiting all my life for, but it's an alright song. Not worth £10.99 + P&P for the vinyl though, particularly with the dispensable instrumental B-side. Give it a few months and it'll likely pop up on a Mojo or Uncut magazine freebie CD.
ReplyDeleteBy contrast, I've just ordered the three CD version of Charmed Life, the new Divine Comedy retrospective - 34 songs for £13.99. Seems better value....
DeleteIt's nice enough and probably a grower- but £11 quid for a 7" single is robbery. As is £20 for a 12". But we are where we are as they say. I think given the cost of living crisis and its impact on disposable cash the music industry and their vinyl revival may be about to kill the goose.
ReplyDeleteCompletely agree. It is a grower though.
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