About a boy who was lazy

A well worn trope on this blog is, or certainly used to be, that of Noel Gallagher's 'style' of songwriting. And by style I mean that not only is he a magpie, he's also a thieving, robdogging bastard. In a good way, I hasten to add. And I'm not just saying that for fear of Mr. G going all legal on me; he really has written some blinding tunes (most of which, for my money, he penned after Oasis called it a day.)

I know I'm not alone round these parts in declaring my love for Pinball - Brian Protheroe's 1974 single which modestly rose to the dizzy heights of twenty something in the charts before dropping like a stone. Here's the man himself talking about the song that's followed him around all his adult life. 

And unlike his mucker Paul Weller, who went on to record a rather palid cover version, Noel did his usual trick of lifting the hood on the song and then reverse engineering a brand new song using some, if not all, of the original's parts. Listen to Riverman and you'll see which bits he was able to salvage and those he left on the shop floor. 

Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds - Riverman 2015

I think one of the the reasons I think Noel is fundamentally a good guy (I know so many people who don't) is his brutal honesty. He'll tell you straight which Marc Bolan riff or Beatles melody he's half inched over the years. He doesn't care. Arrogant, yes; but also very refreshing.

Interestingly, one of the YouTube footnotes beneath Riverman mentions not Brian Protheroe but another artist who had the odd hit single himself in the 70s: David Cassidy has written (and had written for him) some astonishing songs. Fix of Your Love has been hidden in plain sight  for the longest time on Cassidy's The Higher They Climb album. But take a listen to the guitar intro and tell me where you've heard it before. And since!

David Cassidy - Fix of Your Love (1975)

Hey Jude you were alright

Weller - walking over Soho

Last year, not long before I was hospitalised, I was particularly pleased with a playlist I'd put together simply titled 'London'. So much so I sent it hither and I sent it thither. Most people seemed to like it. One of the standout tracks on it, for my money anyway, was Brian Protheroe's (minor) hit Pinball from 1974. I think it's probably one of the best songs about the capital ever written. Paul Weller has obviously got a soft spot for it too. You'll find his take on it contained within his new long player, 'Find El Dorado'. It's also the B-side of his new single (with a rather fetching green Parlophone sleeve; very retro).

Paul Weller - Pinball (2025) 

 

Pinball

''It's a diary entry covering one weekend in 1973.'' So said Brian Protheroe of his hit single, Pinball, which reached  the dizzy heights of No.22 the following year. Protheroe had just split up with his girlfriend and was crashing at a friend's flat in Covent Garden. Living in London's fashionable West End was obviously not all it was cracked up to be; running out of pale ale, with fleas in the bedroom and flies in the bathroom just adding to his woes. And if all that wasn't bad enough, turns out the cat's just finished off the bread.  

Brian Protheroe - Pinball (1974)