A Beginners Guide To...70s Divorce Music

Why Bother? "Because this isn't working and I'm sick of living a lie. And also I've been secretly seeing that fitness instructor Clive we met at the swingers party we went to last year, thats right, he's been teaching me all about this new thing called 'jogging'. As well as, y'know - sleeping with me. This marriage died years ago. It's time one of us said so."

Between the early 60s and 1981 the divorce rate in the UK tripled. The 70s were a Babycham 'n' fondu-frenzied divorce-o-rama. This huge escalation of divorces was seen not amongst older couples, but amongst baby-boomers, whose attitudes towards marriage had been eroded somewhat by the ideological revolution of the 60s. More people were splitting up their LP collections than ever before, and there were a whole glut of sensitive, melancholy singer-songwriter types (many with marital issues of their own), soft-rock bands and sophisticated soul groups fully prepped to soundtrack Abigail's Party-style breakdown. I have decided to call this sub-genre 70s Divorce Music, defined in the Electric Roulette Dictionary as 'Adult Orientated, High-Quality,Quiet Pop Music Recorded In The 70s And Enjoyed By Suburban Middle Class Couples Who Are Slowly Dying Inside.'

Essential Purchase:  Carpenters - Close To You (1970) Nobody conjures up images of teak furniture and polyester flares like the mighty, mighty Carpenters. This AOR classic begins with We've Only Just Begun, a song about being married and looking forward with boundless optimism to your wonderful life together...perfect for sitting in a wicker arm chair bawling your eyes out to, looking at photos of your wedding day and wondering where it all went wrong. Drop the needle and let that gorgeous opening woodwind trill take you back...Brilliantly, this song - a great, great song - was originally used in a commercial for Crocker International Bank in the States. A male / female duo who lived their lives in soft-focus and battled with a buncha personal problems, the Carpenters are the perfect 70s Divorce Band: 'nice', middle-class, suburban, with a dollop of quiet-desperation....Elsewhere, theres a cover of The Beatles' Help, the instrumental coda of which is like David Axelrod on prozac, the actually-quite-good flute jazz of Another Song - Second Part, and of course the title track, which The Simpson's creators once used in a 70s flashback to perfectly soundtrack Homer falling in love with Marge. And if it's good enough for The Simpsons....

Hidden Gems: The Delfonics - The Delfonics (1970) Proper 70s Divorce music is always to some extent pop music, likely to be enjoyed by both partners, and should have some wallpaperish, have -it-on-in-the-background-while-you-potter-around-the-house-music quality. IN A GOOD WAY. 'The Delfonics - The Delfonics' is such an album. I don't think The Delfonics were ever particularly a cool band, (I mean, they were way cooler than the Carpenters, but, then so's everbody), but that's sorta the point: couples often share their guilty pop pleasures, 'Our Song' sorta stuff. Not that this isn't quality pop music, far from it. Thom Bell's productions for the late 60s / early 70s Delfonics stuff is just gorgeous, this bittersweet, coffee ice-cream sound, sophisticated but never less than super-soulful, and it won't disturb you while you curl up on the sofa with the Sunday papers. The standout track is inevitably Didn't I Blow Your Mind This Time, not just a wonderful song sung wonderfully, but packin' a top-drawer D.I.V.O.R.C.E lyric too:

"But this time I'm really leavin' you, girl
Hope you know it baby... hope you know it baby...
Ten times or more, yes, I've walked out that door
Get this into your head, there'll be no more."

One To Avoid: Bob Dylan - Blood On The Tracks (1975) Too Bloody obvious.

If you're thinking about divorcing in the 70s, you might also want to try...Joni Mitchell - Blue, Fleetwood Mac - Rumours, Abba - The Visitors and Marvin Gaye: Here, My Dear.  Paul Fuzz

Comments

[mof gimmers]

Honourable mention should go to Tim Rose's 'I Know These Two People' from his 'A Kind Of Hate Story'. Man, that's one depressing track... it's just before the divorce... it's the realisation... OUCH!