March 12, 2018

20,000 vinyl LPs 132: Jubilee & Thomas Arne

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Today is the birthday of Thomas Arne, a leading British theatre composer of the 18th century, writing music for productions at Drury Lane and Covent Garden. His most famous works were a version of God Save the King, which became the British national anthem, the song A-Hunting We Will Go and the patriotic song Rule Britannia.     

engraving by Robert Dunkarton

     
My favorite version of Rule Britannia was performed by the character Amyl Nitrite in the 1978 film directed by Derek Jarman, Jubilee.


vinyl lp front cover 
album photos by Jean-Marc Prouveur & Johnny Rozsa
photo of album cover by Styrous®


Originally performed with regal and VERY serious pomp, this is a very raucous and risqué version of the song. The actress who played Amyl was Pamela Rooke, aka, Jordan.    

Pamela Rooke, aka, Jordan, as Amyl Nitrite 


The vocal was actually sung by an opera singer named Suzi Pinns with Rooke (Jordan, as Amyl Nitrite) lip-syncing to it. Jordan/Pinns also sings the beautiful song, Jerusalem, based on a poem by William Blake from the preface to his epic Milton: A Poem in Two Books.       


Jordan/Suzi Pinns ~ Rule Britannia
movie trailer


Jubilee was one of my many "Roxie" discoveries (link below). I clearly remember going to the theater at the end of the 70's, not knowing what I was going to see but knowing I would see something new and incredibly exciting. Once again, I would not be disappointed; I was actually in for a whole world of new discoveries with this single film. The title of the film refers to the Silver Jubilee of Elizabeth II in 1977 (link below).    


vinyl lp back cover 
album photos by Jean-Marc Prouveur & Johnny Rozsa
photo of album back cover by Styrous®


















Synopsis

When Queen Elizabeth I asks her court alchemist to show her England in the future, she’s transported 400 years to a post-apocalyptic wasteland of roving girl gangs, an all-powerful media mogul, fascistic police, scattered filth, and twisted sex: Britain in the era of punk (link to plot below).


vinyl lp back cover details
album photos by Jean-Marc Prouveur & Johnny Rozsa
detail photos of album back cover by Styrous®





I had never heard of Brian Eno but as the film played I noticed his "ambient" pieces, Slow Water and Dover Beach and was blown away; I will never forget hearing them for the first time. I HAD to find out who it was by and what it was all about! Which I did, of course.       


Brian Eno -1974 

Ambient music was something new to me; a whole new form of music I had never even dreamed of. Still not knowing who or what the mudic was, I found the soundtrack for Jubilee and discovered a whole new world of music.   

Slow Water (YouTube link) turned out to be from an album Eno had released earlier in the year, Music for Films, so, it was hot off the press, so to speak. That album was a mind opener to be sure (YouTube links below).    

Slow Water scene 
GIF from film 


I discovered two other performers on the soundtrack I came to like: Adam Ant and the proto-punk band Wayne County & The Electric Chairs. Wayne County is now Jayne County.      

I was delighted to find there were favorites of mine I had already come to like that appeared in the film, Toyah Willcox, the Slits and Siouxsie and the Banshees. Richard O'Brien and Nell Campbell (Little Nell) of The Rocky Horror Picture Show had spots in it as well.   


vinyl lp back cover detail
detail photo of album back cover by Styrous®


The film is heavily influenced by the 1970s punk aesthetic in its style and presentation. Shot in grainy colour, it is largely plotless and episodic. It was shot in London neighbourhoods that were economically depressed and/or still contained large amounts of rubble from the London Blitz. The film had critics in British punk circles. Fashion designer Vivienne Westwood manufactured a T-shirt on which was printed an "open letter" to Jarman denouncing the film and his misrepresentations of punk. Jarman described the project as "a film about punk" during pre-production, but later explained that it had a much broader thematic scope. The film is now considered a cult film classic.

There is a video of the complete film, Jubilee, with Spanish sub-titles, on YouTube, however, it does tend to stop and get jerky at times (link below).


vinyl lp back cover detail
album photos by Jean-Marc Prouveur & Johnny Rozsa
detail photo of album back cover by Styrous®



 movie posters from England & Germany





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Oh, yes, about Thomas Arne. Between 1733 and 1776, He wrote music for about 90 stage works, including plays, masques, pantomimes, and opera. Many of his dramatic scores are now lost, probably in the disastrous fire at Covent Garden in 1808. During this period Arne's operas and masques became increasingly popular, and he received the patronage of Frederick, Prince of Wales, at whose country home, Cliveden, the Masque of Alfred, featuring Rule Britannia, was debuted in 1740.              
Arne's father and grandfather were both upholsterers and both held office in the Worshipful Company of Upholders of the City of London. His grandfather fell on hard times and died in the debtors' prison of Marshalsea. His father earned enough money not only to rent 31 King Street, a large house in Covent Garden, but also to have Arne educated at Eton College. But in later life, he too lost most of his money and had to supplement his income by acting as a numberer of the boxes (ticket counter) at the Drury Lane Theatre.

Arne was so keen on music that he smuggled a spinet into his room and, damping the sounds with his handkerchief, would secretly practise during the night while the rest of the family slept. He also dressed up as a liveryman in order to gain access to the gallery of the Italian Opera.     
Arne was a Freemason and because he was a Catholic he never composed music for the Church of England, unlike other leading English composers of his time. In 1769 Arne composed the song Soft Flowing Avon, with lyrics by Garrick, for the Shakespeare Jubilee held by Garrick in Stratford-upon-Avon to commemorate the life of William Shakespeare.   

Arne died in 1777 and is buried at St Paul's, Covent Garden, London. A blue plaque, unveiled in 1988, commemorates him at 31 King Street in Covent Garden, London.    


Thomas Arne commemorative plaque 
           
         









       
Tracklist:

Side 1:

A1 – Adam and the Ants - Deutscher Girls, Producer – Guy Ford - 2:40
A2 – Wayne County & The Electric Chairs* - Paranoia Paradise, Producer – Miles Copeland (2), Peter Crowley - 2:00
A3 – Chelsea (2) - Right To Work, Producer – Mark Perry, Miles Copeland (2) - 3:00
A4 – Maneaters     Nine To Five - 2:41
A5 – Adam and the Ants - Plastic Surgery, Producer – Danny Beckerman, Wil Malone - 4:35

Side 2:

B1 – Suzi Pinns - Rule Britannia, Producer – Danny Beckerman, Wil Malone - 2:50
B2 – Suzi Pinns - Jerusalem, Producer – Danny Beckerman, Wil Malone - 2:50
B3 – Amilcar - Wargasm In Pornotopia, Producer – Guy Ford - 4:00
B4 – Brian Eno - Slow Water, Producer – Brian Eno - 3:16
B5 – Brian Eno - Dover Beach, Producer – Brian Eno - 4:36

Companies, etc.

    Produced For – E.G. Records (2)
    Copyright (c) – E.G. Music Ltd.
    Phonographic Copyright (p) – E.G. Music Ltd.
    Published By – E.G. Music Ltd.
    Published By – Javeberry Music
    Published By – Step Forward Music
    Lacquer Cut At – Master Room
    Pressed By – Phonodisc Ltd.

Credits:

    Film Director – Derek Jarman
    Photography By – Jean-Marc Prouveur, Johnny Rozsa
    Producer – Megalovision

Notes:

Cover reads:
The Outrageous Soundtrack From The Motion Picture "Jubilee" Cert. X

A Megalovision film.

Custom picture labels:
Produced by Megalovision for E.G. Records.
Barcode and Other Identifiers

    Matrix / Runout (Runout side A, stamped): 2302079 A // 1 M
    Matrix / Runout (Runout side B, stamped): 2302079 B // 1 M

Various ‎– Jubilee
Label: Polydor ‎– 2302 079, E.G. Records (2) ‎– 2302 079
Format: Vinyl, LP, Compilation
Country: UK
Released: 1978
Genre: Electronic, Rock
Style: Soundtrack, New Wave, Punk, Minimal
       
         
       
Viewfinder links:        
      
Adam & the Ants articles/mentions     
Brian Eno articles/mentions    
Pamela Rooke        
Roxie Theater ~ San Francisco      
Queen Elizabeth II                     
Tilda Swinton           
  
Net links:        
      
Jubilee ~ Plot       
                Cast   
Black Acrylic ~ Derek Jarman - Jubilee
Dangerous Minds ~ Photo-spread for Derek Jarman’s Jubilee   
Dazed ~ The radical Derek Jarman films you need to watch
Jim's Reviews ~ The Films of Derek Jarman: Jubilee 
        
YouTube links:        
      
Thomas Arne - Rule Britannia!             
'Amyl Nitrate' ~ Rule Britannia
                       ~ Jerusalem           
Brian Eno - Slow Water
                ~ Dover Beach     
Adam & the Ants ~ Deutscher Girls         
                                     ~ Plastic Surgery
Wayne County & The Electric Chairs ~ Paranoia Paradise        Amilcar - Wargasm In Pornotopia  
Jubilee ~ complete w/Spanish sub-titles (1 hr., 40 min., 15 sec.)   
     
     
       
     
"What two ideas are more inseparable than Beer and Britannia?" 
                         ~ Rev Sydney Smith
 
     
        
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