Robyn Hitchcock and Emma Swift: Sweet Home Quarantine Week 13: Robyn Mix

Robyn Hitchcock and Emma Swift’s Stageit show for week 13 of “Sweet Home Quarantine” was a mix of Robyn’s songs. Performed on June 17, 2020, the show was made up of audience requests via social media. The show began with Robyn solo, singing “Freeze” and “Serpent at the Gates of Wisdom.” Emma then joined Robyn and sang “N.Y. Doll,” which she said is her favorite song of Robyn’s. It’s a great song from Hitchcock’s excellent 2006 album Ole! Tarantula. Emma sang it beautifully, and when she finished Robyn said, “That’s a nice tune,” as though he was hearing it in a new way when Emma sang it.

Robyn said “We’re going to do one of my radio hits. I had about 3 ½ radio hits.” It was “Balloon Man,” from 1988’s Globe of Frogs album. It’s a catchy bit of pop surrealism that Robyn wrote for the Bangles. In interviews, Robyn has expressed antipathy towards “Balloon Man,” and it was clear from last week’s concert that he prefers one of his other radio hits, “Madonna of the Wasps.” 

“Saturday Groovers” was up next, one of my favorite Hitchcock songs, and as usual, Robyn and Emma sounded great together on it. Robyn then sang “Ordinary Millionaire” and “De Chirico Street” solo. I’ve always liked “De Chirico Street,” as Moss Elixir was one of the first Hitchcock albums I got into. “Ordinary Millionaire” was co-written with Johnny Marr, and after the song Emma laughed and said, “Hitcho, you’re not even close to a millionaire!” Robyn laughed and said, “Well, I was on paper around that time, I had some property…and then I got divorced.” It’s always interesting to hear little tidbits like that. The financial part of the music industry has always fascinated me, and I’ve pondered Robyn Hitchcock’s finances more than you might guess. It’s easy to daydream about the wealth of musicians who are super successful, like Mick Jagger or Paul McCartney or David Bowie or Adele, but I’m really intrigued by someone like Robyn Hitchcock: he’s been around for a long time, but he’s never broken through to a huge audience the way other artists have. How much money does Robyn Hitchcock make from Spotify? Probably not very much.

Emma returned for “The Wreck of the Arthur Lee,” “Madonna of the Wasps,” and “I Pray When I’m Drunk.” Robyn then sang “A Globe of Frogs” solo, and the show ended with a verse or two of “Queen of Eyes.” Emma playfully put out her hand to stop Robyn’s guitar playing, and he looked mildly surprised at this. She explained that she wanted to say a proper goodbye, and not just end in the middle of a chorus. Robyn said, “Let me Hitchsplain that I know how long my songs are.” It’s funny little moments like these that make the “Sweet Home Quarantine” shows so much fun.

Robyn Hitchcock and Emma Swift: Sweet Home Quarantine Week 11: Element of Light

The cover of Robyn Hitchcock and the Egyptians 1986 LP Element of Light.

Last night’s “Sweet Home Quarantine” Stageit show with Robyn Hitchcock and Emma Swift focused on Robyn’s excellent 1986 album Element of Light. The intent was to play the whole album straight through, which almost happened, but of course Stageit cuts all the concerts off at exactly 50 minutes, and so Robyn had about one more verse left of “Lady Waters and the Hooded One” to get through when the show ended. Oh, well. The concert was a reminder of what a strong album Element of Light is, and how many fantastic songs are on it. Robyn’s guitar work was also front and center, and it was a great showcase for his talents as a guitarist. There are numerous songs on Element of Light that you don’t really think of as “guitar songs,” but they sure translated well to the guitar. 

Robyn opened the show with “Ghost Ship,” a song that didn’t actually make the album, but eventually surfaced as a B-side. I don’t think I’d ever heard it before. Then Emma joined Robyn for great versions of “If You Were a Priest,” “Winchester,” and “Somewhere Apart.” Robyn said that “Somewhere Apart” was influenced by John Lennon’s song “Remember.” I’ve always though that “Somewhere Apart” was one of Robyn’s most Lennonesque songs—you could probably fool someone into thinking it was a John Lennon outtake. Emma added gorgeous harmonies to “Winchester,” and after the song ended Robyn asked her, “How do you harmonize with this?” Emma laughed and responded, “I don’t know sweetheart!” It was a cute moment.

Robyn sang “Ted, Woody, and Junior” solo, and then Emma returned for “The President,” a song that Robyn reminded us was about Ronald Reagan back when we all thought that Ronald Reagan was as bad as it could get. “Raymond Chandler Evening” was a highlight, with some great harmonies from Emma, and then we were on the humorous “Bass,” and the lovely “Airscape,” probably one of Robyn’s best songs. Robyn’s guitar playing was outstanding, and Emma’s harmonies added a lovely touch. Robyn was solo on “Never Stop Bleeding,” and the evening ended with the haunting “Lady Waters and the Hooded One,” a song that fits our pandemic quite well.

Robyn Hitchcock and Emma Swift: Sweet Home Quarantine Week 7

The one and only Robyn Hitchcock!

The 7^th week of Robyn Hitchcock and Emma Swift’s at home concert series, titled “Sweet Home Quarantine,” aired through the Stageit website on April 29, 2020. This week didn’t have a theme, it was just the songs of Robyn Hitchcock. The show opened with “Uncorrected Personality Traits,” one of Robyn’s most humorous songs, from his 1984 album I Often Dream of Trains. I’ve been a fan of Robyn Hitchcock’s music since I first discovered him in 2007/2008, and I really love hearing him sing with Emma Swift—she brings something slightly different out of his music. It’s fun to hear Robyn vocally paired with someone else, and it brings more variety to his songs. 

Continuing with the Beatles theme of week 6’s show, Robyn and Emma sang “Help!” which of course really needs two vocalists to work as a song. The next tune was “So You Think You’re in Love,” which I don’t think I’ve ever heard Robyn sing in concert. “So You Think You’re in Love” might not be Robyn’s most famous song, but it’s the closest he’s come to having a hit single, as the song made it to number one on Billboard’s Modern Rock Tracks chart. (It didn’t make the Hot 100, though.) It was fun to hear, and a reminder of how catchy Robyn’s songs can be. After that, Robyn played two of his most well-known songs, “Madonna of the Wasps,” and “Balloon Man.” Robyn commented that “Balloon Man” was a satire of capitalism, and he noted the irony that it’s made more money for him than any other song. “Balloon Man” is a catchy, surreal pop song that was many people’s gateway into the universe of Robyn Hitchcock.

Next up was “Trouble in Your Blood,” a track from 2014’s The Man Upstairs. Robyn joked that it was about his most recent divorce. Well, I’m not sure if he was joking or not. See, that’s the problem with getting into any musical artists after the Beatles. Because we know so much about the Beatles, I can practically tell you, “Oh yes, John Lennon had a roasted turkey sandwich right before he did the lead vocal on ‘A Day in the Life’!” But that spoils you, because then you expect to know EVERYTHING! “But what kind of hair gel was Nick Lowe using when he was producing Elvis Costello’s High Fidelity??? I need to know!” So then things like, “How many times has Robyn Hitchcock been married?” become difficult questions to answer. 

Robyn reached way back for the next song, “Rain,” from 1982’s Groovy Decay. He then played “Heliotrope,” from one of my favorite albums of his, 1996’s Moss Elixir, which was definitely one of my own gateways into Robyn Hitchcock. Next up was “Brenda’s Iron Sledge,” from his very first solo album, Black Snake Diamond Role, released in May 1981, just a month after I was born. Robyn followed that with “I Want to Tell You About What I Want,” from his most recent album, released in 2017. Then we got a minute or so of “You and Oblivion” as the time ran out.