Description
The months without rain and airless days and nights might not have been something out of the ordinary in the Algarve or the south of France, but it was without precedent in Britain. The Summer of 1976 has remained a benchmark for long, hot summers there may have been scorchers since, but none have seemed quite as relentless or enervating. The country melted into a collective puddle. 76 In The Shade probably wasnt anyones real life soundtrack of the year that could have included Bowies Station To Station and Abbas Greatest Hits. Instead, Saint Etiennes Bob Stanley has put a compilation together that sonically evokes the summer of 1976 itself, its sweet heat and almost narcotic lethargy.
Getting out of the sun, you might have sat inside with the radio on, and heard the dreamy wooziness of Liverpool Expresss You Are My Love, 10ccs Im Mandy Fly Me, or the Emotions Flowers. Or maybe you flopped out in front of the telly, where you heard an alternative summer soundtrack the music libraries that provided the bulk of the testcards music gave us Simon Parks minimal Stoned Out and John Camerons deeply immersive Liquid Sunshine; the Californian jazzer Spike Janson provided the wordless vocal harmonies of Walking So Free.
76 In The Shade follows in the footsteps of Bob Stanleys hugely successful comps for Ace, including English Weather and The Tears Of Technology. It suggests bright yellow sunshine, hot plastic car seats, cats lolloping on the lawn. A few tracks (Smokey Robinson, Cliff Richard, David Ruffin, Carmen McRae) act as necessary splashes of cooling water; most of them sound like its just too hot to move. Luckily, you dont need to.
Available on a 2LP 180g pressing, with deluxe heavy-duty gatefold sleeve, that features a bonus track!
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