On the 8th Day of Mavericks ...

... my reader gave to me.

Sebastian Murphy

as nominated by ‘Challenge 69’ reader Tim W

(With a brief Terry Hall tribute added at the end. I know Tim won’t mind.)

Tim, helpfully, provided a very thorough justification for his nomination:

“The challenge for me here is to identify the most pertinent maverick because throughout my musical years, it has always been 'mavericity' that has attracted me.  This means that my record collection and my iTunes list is brimmed full of them. 

Obvious mavericks are Bob Dylan, Graham Fellows, Siouxsie, Mozart, Neil Young, John Cooper-Clarke, David Byrne, Jake Thackeray, Jason Williamson, Bjork, Andy Gill, Lene Lovich, John Lennon, Leonard Cohen, and Iggy Pop - maybe even Ozzy Osbourne. 

However, I am going to see if I can wheedle somebody new in here and vote for somebody I have recently developed an unhealthy interest in.  Sebastian Murphy, the not very Swedish singer/wordsmith of the fabulous Viagra Boys from Stockholm. 

Sebastian is a man whose lyrics patrol a border between humour and world weary cynicism, whilst the band behind him make just the right (and, to my ears, accomplished) noises to meld it all together into banging songs.  Check out 'Cave World', 'Ain’t no Thief', or 'Punk Rock Loser'. 

He has got the right unorthodox approach of a maverick and this appears to stem from a pretty unsteady stagger into adulthood.  Like a lot of mavericks, I love how his personality plays out in the music but would have very little interest in having a conversation with him. 

Note: as I write this, new names keep popping up, which I’ve been randomly adding to the list above, so better stop writing now.”

First off, I like Tim’s use of the term ‘mavericity’. I tried something similar with ‘mavericiousness’ in the book and while I’m fairly sure neither of them would pass the ‘scrabble word’ test, either would make an admirable addition to the English language!

That’s a pretty impressive ‘long list’ of potential mavericks as well (Mozart could have been fun), but I was pleased, in the end, to find that Tim had settled on something new. Something appropriately challenging.

I hadn’t come across Sebastian, or his Viagra boys, previously, so a swift visit to Spotify was my first port of call. First impressions were that Murphy’s music sat comfortably (nonconformistly!) amongst Tim’s wider list, making it an interesting nomination; but let’s head over to our ‘maverick jury’ chairman to see if Stuart agrees?

“These ‘Challenge 69’ readers are definitely keeping me on my toes. This Swedish guy (although he doesn’t sound very Scandinavian) was yet another proposal I had to research before I could make an informed judgement.

Apparently the Viagra Boys were formed out of the Stockholm tattooing scene (no surprise there, given the photo!), and in their earliest incarnations seem to have been compared a lot to “an angrier version of The Birthday Party,” which if true is, by any measure, very angry indeed!

Reviews of their most recent album ‘Cave World’ seem to suggest the band have now calmed a little, still dealing with a ‘disdain for how society works’ but doing so with more humour, or, as Murphy phrases it ‘piss-taking’. His own review of the album’s lead single ‘Punk Rock Loser’ doesn’t however sound overly ‘chilled’, “I hate that song. I think it sucks. I think it’s so stupid, but there are parts of me that also likes it for its stupidity.”

I’m still left feeling a little unqualified to hand down a final judgement on Mr Murphy, but there are two key factors playing out in his favour;

• He’s been recommended by someone whose judgement on mavericity I fully trust, and

• Much like Zappa, this guy scares me (a lot), and, worse still, this time he’s still alive.

So, “welcome to the club Sebastian, love the tattoos!”

With a decision handed down (even if it seems to have been one taken from a position of cowardice!) it just remains for me to add a song to the ‘12 Days of Mavericks’ and, given T&S have both referenced it, then ‘Punk Rock Loser’ looks to be the winner.

Remember to look out for our ninth ‘new maverick’ nomination at the same time tomorrow.

###

Postscript: Simply couldn’t let today’s post pass without acknowledging yesterday’s sad news about Terry Hall. (Who, coincidentally, gets a mention in my next chapter.)

A genius songwriter/lyricist, with one of those rare ‘instantly recognisable’ voices, which I heard described on the radio earlier (and I can’t better it) as, “laconic, yet somehow musical.”

But, more importantly than any of that, Terry was somebody who railed against injustice and prejudice, wherever he came across it, throughout his whole life. Not sure there’s a better definition of ‘maverick’ than that.

So unreservedly, without any need for a nomination, I’ve added one of his songs to the growing playlist. So many classics to choose from, but I’ve chosen to go with my favourite Colourfield song, with its ‘oh so appropriate’ opening line.

“I guess I kind of sort of know, I ought to be thinking of you.”