Trevor Horn on Seal's 2023 tour

[Phaidrus]

Yes, Mozart is so eighteenth century. The least they could do is remix his stuff to a reggaeton beat for modern consumption.

By the way, I was very surprised when I recently found out Grace Jones has done a cover of Joy Division's She's Lost Control.

 

[bmusic]

Ah, awesome! We have tickets to the Seal show at the Greek in LA in a few weeks, can't wait.

My wife's friend has a spare ticket to the Greek date, but wife wasn't interested. Now that I know Trevor's holding it down, I may have to swoop in.

I'd see just about anybody at that place.

 

[DiabolusInMusic]

Seal is currently on tour, with his long-time producer Trevor Horn acting as musical director and bassist. I caught the show last night and it was a real treat to see Horn in person (having been a fan of his since the '80s). As usual he was playing a Carruthers CB5 bass (mostly with a pick).

This tour is being promoted as a kind of anniversary tour of Seal's first two albums (I imagine the tour would have taken place earlier if it wasn't for covid). So the majority of the set list (all but two songs) comprise material from those albums. A particular point of excitement for me was that Jamie Muhoberac is on the tour. His keyboard playing helped define the sound of those early Seal albums and getting to hear him play his fantastic synth bass part from "Future Love Paradise" live was a highlight of the show.

Trevor and the rest of the band played a short set as The Buggles to open the concert and I would have gladly taken another half hour (or more) of them, if for no other reason than to hear more of Trevor's stories.

Definitely a show worth catching if you're a fan of those first Seal albums.

Oh wow, I would love to see that show. Those first two albums are staples of my personal rotation.

 

[bass12]

Adamski's Doctor Adamski's Musical Pharmacy, with Seal's Killer on it, was a milestone for me; one of the albums that opened the door to EDM.

You might enjoy this:


Adamski also did remixes of "Kiss From A Rose" and "I'm Alive" from the second Seal album.

 

[FretlessOwl]

Nice timing - thanks to exploring Welcome to the Pleasuredome, I've recently done a dive into Trevor Horn. Allow me to say how much I don't hate Drama, the Yes album he replaced Jon Anderson on.

 

[Danny O Danny]

The Song Exploder podcast recently did a great episode with Seal and Trevor Horn. One thing that becomes clear as they deconstruct "Kiss from a Rose" is what an incredibly great singer Seal is.

Episode 250: Seal

 

[murphy]

@murphy Seal is at Massey Hall tonight and tomorrow night.

I did see him on Kelly Clarkson show a few weeks ago...so British!

I do LOVE Kelly...and am rarely disappointed when I catch her singing with her band at the start of each episode....She is actually one of my favorite singers

 

[Spirit of Ox]

I love Trevor Horn. The Buggles and the Drama album by Yes.

 

[Atshen]

Drama was Yes' last good album, IMO.

 

[TN WOODMAN]

Slight YES derailment but check out BAND GEEKS with Jon Anderson . Hoping they add more dates but the show is phenomenal.

 

[bass12]

The Song Exploder podcast recently did a great episode with Seal and Trevor Horn. One thing that becomes clear as they deconstruct "Kiss from a Rose" is what an incredibly great singer Seal is.

Episode 250: Seal

Thanks for the post - fantastic podcast. I never would have chosen "Kiss From A Rose" as a single. I thought it was a pretty song but that was it. When I saw the single in the shop for the first time I thought, "Really? That's a weird choice for a single". I guess not. Funny thinking that after Seal's first album he was adamant about not working with Trevor Horn on the follow-up.

 

[MonetBass]

Nice timing - thanks to exploring Welcome to the Pleasuredome, I've recently done a dive into Trevor Horn. Allow me to say how much I don't hate Drama, the Yes album he replaced Jon Anderson on.

I'm a big Yes fan, and Drama is in my top three Yes albums. So good.

And Seal's fourth album is fantastic if you haven't heard it.

 

[Joebone]

So I live in a cave and have not knowingly heard Harry Styles, but yesterday had to to learn two of his tunes on short notice...appreciation of the production craftsmanship lead to exploration of his producer, Kid Harpoon, which in turn lead to exploration of Trevor Horn, who was an early supporter of Harpoon...and upon seeing that Horn had produced those Seal albums, I had a sudden urge to listen them - I've never heard all of either, and only know the hits. This thread is scratching that itch, and am now noodling whether I can make it to that show at the Greek...Thank you, bass12!

 

[Wood and Wire]

Ok, I'm going to break cover, and admit this publicly :

I frickin' love Trevor Horn's records made with Dollar.

Yeah, I know they're the musical equivalent of diet candy floss, but those records sound amazing - The coda to fade-out at the end of Mirror Mirror is breathtaking. Just where the hell did that come from?

I don't even feel the need to excuse it as a guilty pleasure; sure I was just a little kid When it came out, and totally in love with Thereza Bazar - but at the time I was mostly listening to Iron Maiden, Motorhead, Judas Priest, Def Leppard, Saxon - and those Dollar records opened my ears to the burgeoning Synth-Pop movement, opening the doors for Dare! by Human League, and Speak & Spell by Depeche Mode, which would point me towards Electro, and into Hip-Hop.

Further more, they sent me down a rabbit hole, learning about Trevor, Anne Dudley, JJ Jeczalik - and obsessing over the Fairlight CMI (via Art of Noise, and coming full circle thanks to Thomas Dolby spectacularly expanding Pyromania by Def Leppard into the widescreen, Technicolor, Metal-futurism masterpiece that it is), which would inform my use of samplers on my own records.

It's funny to think that these seemingly throwaway plastic pop records, seem to be the nexus of my musical pallet.

 

[The Owl]

The second Seal album was very special to me, seriously good comfort music the year it came out. During that time I went through a breakup with someone I wish I never met, and my sis was first diagnosed with cancer (she lived 20 years past her diagnosis). Playing that album calmed my nerves like nothing else.

 

[bass12]

An interview from 1991 with Seal playing solo:

Soul In The City - Seal - YouTube

 

[bass12]

Ok, I'm going to break cover, and admit this publicly :

I frickin' love Trevor Horn's records made with Dollar.

Yeah, I know they're the musical equivalent of diet candy floss, but those records sound amazing - The coda to fade-out at the end of Mirror Mirror is breathtaking. Just where the hell did that come from?

I don't even feel the need to excuse it as a guilty pleasure; sure I was just a little kid When it came out, and totally in love with Thereza Bazar - but at the time I was mostly listening to Iron Maiden, Motorhead, Judas Priest, Def Leppard, Saxon - and those Dollar records opened my ears to the burgeoning Synth-Pop movement, opening the doors for Dare! by Human League, and Speak & Spell by Depeche Mode, which would point me towards Electro, and into Hip-Hop.

Further more, they sent me down a rabbit hole, learning about Trevor, Anne Dudley, JJ Jeczalik - and obsessing over the Fairlight CMI (via Art of Noise, and coming full circle thanks to Thomas Dolby spectacularly expanding Pyromania by Def Leppard into the widescreen, Technicolor, Metal-futurism masterpiece that it is), which would inform my use of samplers on my own records.

It's funny to think that these seemingly throwaway plastic pop records, seem to be the nexus of my musical pallet.

I got Dare on cassette when I was seven and I still love that album. No harm in some well-produced pure pop. In the late '80s I discovered Trevor's ZTT label and in the early '90s I was immersing myself in as much ZTT as I could get my hands on. It was a thrilling time, because many of those records were difficult to find in North America (making the search part of the fun).

 

[eriky4003]

The Owl - the first two cd's were a calming moment for me after the death of my girlfriend in a car crash in '95. She liked Seal and introduced me to his music two years earlier (I already liked Crazy). For all the Drama fans, I learned how to play Tempus Fugit a long time ago, drove me to buy a flanger and tried playing that song with a pick today (brutal). The pick really brings out the flanger compared to playing with fingers.

 

[5StringBlues]

So he was in Houston at the end of April? I guess I should start paying attention to what's going on in the world again.....

 

[bass12]

I saw Seal again the other night. This time Trevor Horn used an electric upright (looked like an Ibanez but I couldn't quite make out what it said on the headstock) on the song "Violet". He also added Art Of Noise's "Close (To The Edit)" to his Buggles set. One Fender tube amp and cabinet along with an Ampeg tube amp and second Fender cabinet. He also had what looked like a 1x12 combo.