Carmel – Live in Bologna – 1987 – recorded and broadcast by RAI, Italy. –
Carmel in concert tonight. One of the truly amazing collaborations which epitomized the wave of Funk, Soul, Jazz and Sophisti-pop mashups associated with the explosion of talent and genres in the 1980s. Along with groups like Working Week, Loose Ends, Alison Moyet, Sade and the commercially successful Style Council – Carmel represented that across-the-board sampling of genres that fit as easily onto the dance floor as it did in the living room. But whereas Style Council with Paul Weller, whose reputation as part of the Punk/new-wave/Mod-Retro scene, made it easily attractive to listeners, Carmel who had to start from the ground up had a less easy go of things but who were every bit as worthy of attention as the others. Sade’s popularity extended across demographic lines – she was as popular with the older Soft-Jazz audience as she was with the younger devotees of Funk and Soul.
Someone was bound to get lost in the shuffle, so Carmel wound up being wildly popular in Europe (the French dubbed singer/founder Carmel McCourt the new Edith Piaf) and have toured extensively there while spending not much time in the UK and, I don’t believe any time in the U.S. – with all that, and with co-founding member Gerry Darby leaving the group in 2000, they are still performing, recording and collaborating.
To get an idea of what the 80s were like for Carmel and for the people lucky enough to catch them during this time, here is a concert performance from Bologna, Italy in 1987 – recorded by RAI and broadcast shortly after. As with most all European broadcasts (particularly from Italian Radio), announcers tend to get a little carried away with their enthusiasm or being just plain chatty – so if there are abrupt ends of applause or sudden beginnings of songs, it’s editing around the announcer so as not to jar the listening experience very much.
Enjoy the show.
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