25 June 2013
Andy Snipper
After turning a fantasy into reality by performing cabaret at the Savoy Hotel and Annabel’s Nightclub, London’ interior design celebrity Nicky Haslam puts together an iconic cast and legendary track list for a unique recording, as surreal as its very name: Midnight Matinée which will be released on 1st July through Strike Force Entertainment/Cherry Red Records.
Unexpected, unprecedented, hard to even imagine, the project is the creation of Haslam together with producer David Ogilvy; the famed designer recruits a long list of big names from his extensive contact book – that included Andy Warhol - creating unlikely duets and collaborations fusing into a seamless soundtrack of songs and spoken word, where contemporary art meets unforgettable inspirations from the past.
“Amazing as it is that David Ogilvy managed to shape my voice into a recordable sound, aided by his brilliant arrangements, the most exciting part about making ‘Midnight Matinée’ was the participation of the myriad music legends, past and present, who have made the album truly extraordinary” states Nicky Haslam.
The words of James Joyce, Andy Warhol, F.Scott Fitzgerald, W.B. Yeats, Raymond Chandler and Cyril Connolly are read by a variety of voices, including those of Tracey Emin, Bob Geldof, Rupert Everett and A.N. Wilson. In a sequence of duets that are at once breathtakingly contemporary and arrestingly nostalgic: Nicky sings with Bryan Ferry, Cilla Black, Helena Bonham Carter and Sebastian Leon honoring some of the greatest songwriters to memory, such as Freidrich Hollander, Rodgers & Hart, Irving Berlin, Coleman & Leigh. The icing on this exotic cake comes from an exclusive new composition by award-winning Guy Chambers (Robbie Williams, Kylie Minogue, Rufus Wainwright), plus a turn on percussion by the legendary Nick Mason of Pink Floyd. Finally, a sprinkle of classic with samples of the voices of Sophia Loren, Greta Garbo, Noel Coward, Maria Callas and Louis Armstrong highlights some of Haslam’s strongest inspirations.
Full details of the eclectic track list as follows:
Midnight Matinée
Track Listing/ Musicians:
1. Total Control (The Motels) Nicky Haslam and David Ogilvy Vocals – a hit single in the 1980s for the LA based new wave band
2. Illusions(Hollander) Nicky Haslam and Bryan Ferry Vocals – sung by Marlene Dietrich in the 1948 Film ‘A Foreign Affair’
3. Dublin 1919 (Ogilvy) Bob Geldof reads James Joyce
4. You're Just in Love (Irving Berlin) Nicky Haslam and Cilla Black Vocals – from the 1950s musical ‘Call Me Madam’
5. New York 1978 (Ogilvy) Rupert Everett reads Andy Warhol
6. Real Live Girl (Coleman/ Leigh) Nicky Haslam and Sebastian Leon Vocals – from the 1962 musical ‘Little Me’
7. It Never Entered My Mind (Rogers/Hart) Nicky Haslam and Cleo Rocos Vocals – from the 1940s musical ‘Higher and Higher’
Bob Geldof reads W.B. Yeats
8. Hollywood 1937 (Ogilvy) Francis Wyndham reads F. Scott Fitzgerald
9. LA 1944 (Ogilvy) - including extracts of Sophia Loren singing ‘Bing Bang Bong’
Bob Geldof reads Raymond Chandler
10. How Deep Is The Ocean (Irving Berlin, 1932) Nicky Haslam and Sebastian Leon Vocals
Bob Geldof reads Raymond Chandler
11. London 1927 (Ogilvy) Cressida Connolly reads Cyril Connolly
12. Last Man Standing (Guy Chambers) Nicky Haslam and Helena Bonham Carter vocals
13. Soliloquy (Ogilvy) Tracey Emin reads her own prose
14. Primadonna (Ogilvy) including extracts of Maria Callas from Puccini’s Tosca
15. Mi Va Di Cantare (Buonassissi, Bariero, Valleroni) Louis Armstrong and Nicky Haslam Vocals – ‘I Want To Sing’, firstly performed by Armstrong at Sanremo Festival in Italy
16. Amanda (Ogilvy) Amanda Eliasch the photographer, writer and film-maker sings Schubert.
17. Delirium Do Rio (Ogilvy) Dom João of Orleans-Braganza, A.N. Wilson, and Nicky Haslam Vocals – H.R. and I.H. Prince João of Orleans-Braganza is a direct descendant of Emperor Pedro I of Brazil.
