{"id":2640,"date":"2015-06-16T11:49:36","date_gmt":"2015-06-16T10:49:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/eyeplug.net\/magazine\/?p=2640"},"modified":"2011-09-30T11:31:57","modified_gmt":"2011-09-30T11:31:57","slug":"kpm-library-and-the-%e2%80%98london-sound%e2%80%99","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.eyeplug.net\/magazine\/kpm-library-and-the-%e2%80%98london-sound%e2%80%99\/","title":{"rendered":"KPM Library and the \u2018London sound\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

A FISTFUL OF GREENSLEEVES<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong>KPM Library and the \u2018London sound\u2019 –\u00a0<\/strong>By Max Galli<\/strong><\/p>\n

Close your eyes.<\/p>\n

Few notes in the air: a Hammond organ is playing, along with a well assembled brass section. It sounds like the typical R&B riff, but with something more. Something you can\u2019t explain.<\/p>\n

The year is 1968.<\/p>\n

The place is a low ceiling basement, somewhere in London\u2019s West End.<\/p>\n

There are few girls around, you can guess their steps on the wooden dancefloor. Low heels, overknee boots. Tick tock tick tock. If you could judge a girl\u2019s beauty by the sound of her shoes, no doubt you\u2019d think she\u2019s very attractive.<\/p>\n

You turn your head, just for a couple of seconds.<\/p>\n

Yes they are.<\/p>\n

They are really attractive, as they approach the dancefloor with their perfect moves.<\/p>\n

And there\u2019s this music, this sound: the London <\/em>sound.<\/p>\n

\u00a0When KPM, a London based recorded music library, begun to run the \u20181000\u2019 series, it was 1966 and London was the centre of the Universe. Or \u2013 at least \u2013 of the young<\/em> Universe. Some people renamed those records \u2018greensleeves\u2019, as they all had these monochromatic, olive-green covers with a bold \u2018kpm<\/em>\u2019 white logo on the top right corner.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u201cThe Mood Modern\u201d (KPM 1001) was the first record of the new series, and it was followed by many others, a collection of incidental music that was about to influence a good slice of all the pop and rock music of the 60s and 70s.<\/p>\n

This music had a strong rhythmical appeal, as well as a captivating structure made of long established \u2018pop\u2019 sounds with a lot of new, exciting and exotic<\/em> notes, added to the mix by instruments whose strange names were never heard before (well, at least in Europe<\/em>): sitars, tablas and many other ones, and it was about to become very peculiar of most late Sixties London clubs.<\/p>\n

As Psychedelia was sweeping away a lot of R&B based combos (or \u2013 maybe \u2013 leading them straight into the \u2018new\u2019 sound), London ravers found themselves much more involved with a \u2018wide angled\u2019 music, rather than the usual mid-60s Stones-Yardbirds groups based on the \u2018classic\u2019 rock guitar riff, whose talents and glories were now disputed by the likes of Jimi Hendrix. Obviously, KPM session musicians were already there to catch the new direction.<\/p>\n

In 1968, few of those KPM session men united under a project called The Mohawks<\/em>: organist Alan Hawkshaw, bassist Keith Mansfield, guitarist Alan Parker and drummer Brian Bennett launched a cover of mostly known Lowell Fulson\u2019s hit \u201cTramp<\/em>\u201d, with a different, organ led arrangement and opportunely renamed \u201cChamp<\/em>\u201d, that proved to be an instant success in the London club scene and it was followed shortly by an LP with the same name. The album included a few covers and some previously released KPM tracks, but with alternate arrangements and a brass section to add a more \u2018soulful\u2019 appeal. Alan Hawkshaw\u2019s killer Hammond riff on Champ became immediately acknowledged as a new, funky<\/em> way to play the organ and is still one of the most imitated styles to date.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Between 1968 and 1973 KPM explored a lot of popular music genres, from jazz to r&b, from soul to funk, from beat to psychedelia, as well as orchestral, latin jazz and electronics (moog and other synthetizers). This wide spectrum of music can be traced from \u2018Soul Organ Showcase<\/em>\u2019 (Alan Hawkshaw, Keith Mansfield and David Gold – KPM 1027 – 1968) to \u2018Afro Rock<\/em>\u2019 (Alan Parker and John Cameron \u2013 KPM\u00a0 1130 \u2013 1973), going through the dancefloor-friendly \u2018The Big Beat<\/em>\u2019 volume 1 and 2 (KPM 1044 \u2013 1969 and KPM 1067 – 1970), the pop perfection of\u00a0 \u2018Flute For Moderns<\/em>\u2019 (KPM 1080 \u2013 1971), the experimental, electronic space-age sounds of \u2018Electrosonic<\/em>\u2019 (KPM 1104 – 1972) and many other albums, each one with its own personality.<\/p>\n

KPM library, with its incredibly wide range of sounds, influenced many artists since the latter half of the Sixties. Versatile composers like Alan Hawkshaw and Keith Mansfield gave their contributions to pop music masterpieces like Serge Gainsbourg\u2019s \u2018Melody Nelson<\/em>\u2019 (1971) and Love Affair\u2019s \u2018Everlasting Love<\/em>\u2019 (1968), to name but a very few.<\/p>\n

KPM composers worked for television, cinema, advertising and mainstream music, and I believe it\u2019s very difficult today not to come across some string of notes that wasn\u2019t \u2013 in some way \u2013 influenced by KPM, even indirectly, often \u00a0hidden in records, 60s-70s TV series or even hip-hop sampled tunes.<\/p>\n

No other music library was able to provide such a huge quantity and quality of sounds like KPM did, and with such a team of hardworking musicians and composers.<\/p>\n

\u00a0It started all in London, in the mid 60s. What could be once called just \u2018The London Sound<\/em>\u2019 went on to influence a variety of music and media situations \u2013 a proper, authentic heritage<\/em> of British and European pop musical culture and a true, valued contribution to the \u2018Swingin\u2019 London<\/em>\u2019 phenomenon.<\/p>\n

Today, many KPM tunes are regularly played in Mod-60s and funk clubs worldwide, by djs and collectors who know how these records sound incredibly modern, as they have the very same impact they used to have thirty or forty years ago.<\/p>\n

Close your eyes.<\/p>\n

Keep your ears listening and your legs moving on their own to the music.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s this music, this sound\u2026<\/p>\n

It\u2019s the KPM sound.<\/p>\n

*\u00a0\u00a0 *\u00a0\u00a0 *<\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Essential listening 1968-1973:<\/strong><\/p>\n

PAMA PMLP5\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The Champ \u00a01968<\/p>\n

KPM 1001 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The Mood Modern \u2013 (VV.AA.) \u00a0 1966<\/p>\n

KPM 1002\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The Sound Of Syd Dale \u2013 (Syd Dale) \u00a01966<\/p>\n

KPM 1015\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The Sound Of\u00a0 Pop \u2013 (VV.AA.) \u00a0 1967<\/p>\n

KPM 1027\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Soul Organ Showcase \u2013 (A.Hawkshaw, K.Mansfield, D.Gold) \u00a0 \u00a01968<\/p>\n

KPM 1029\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Colours In Rhythm \u2013 (VV.AA.) \u00a01968<\/p>\n

KPM 1043\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Beat Incidental \u2013 (A.Hawkshaw, K.Mansfield) \u00a01969<\/p>\n

KPM 1044\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The Big Beat \u2013 (A.Hawkshaw, K.Mansfield) \u00a01969<\/p>\n

KPM 1049\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Chorus And Orchestra \u2013 (K.Mansfield, S.Dale) \u00a01969<\/p>\n

KPM 1067\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The Big Beat Volume 2 \u2013 (Alan Moorhouse) \u00a01970<\/p>\n

KPM 1076\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Speed And Excitement \u2013 (J.Pearson, A.Hawkshaw, K.Mansfield) \u00a01970<\/p>\n

KPM 1077\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Progressive Pop \u2013 (VV.AA.) \u00a01970<\/p>\n

KPM 1080\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Flute For Moderns \u2013 (A.Parker, A.Hawkshaw, J.Haider) \u00a0 1971<\/p>\n

KPM 1086\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Music For A Young Generation \u2013 (A.Parker, A.Hawkshaw, R.Cameron) \u00a01971<\/p>\n

KPM 1096\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Music Pictorial \u2013 (James Clarke) \u00a01972<\/p>\n

KPM 1104\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Electrosonic \u2013 (D.Derbyshire, B.Hodgson, D.Harper) 1972<\/p>\n

KPM 1111\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Brass Plus Moog \u2013 (Mike Vickers) \u00a0 1972<\/p>\n

KPM 1123\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Friendly Faces \u2013 (A.Hawkshaw, J.Clarke) \u00a01972<\/p>\n

\n

KPM 1130\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Afro Rock \u2013 (A.Parker, J.Cameron) \u00a01973<\/p>\n

Links:<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\u00a0KPM official website: \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 www.kpm.co.uk<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Alan Hawkshaw official website: \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 www.alanhawkshaw.com<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

KPM the \u20181000\u2019 series on Myspace\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 www.myspace.com\/kpm1000series<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Few notes in the air: a Hammond organ is playing, along with a well assembled brass section. It sounds like the typical R&B riff, but with something more. Something you can\u2019t explain.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":2646,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[83,117,98,106],"tags":[121,528,179],"series":[],"class_list":["post-2640","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-exotica","category-icons","category-kitsch","category-picks","tag-eyeplug","tag-kpm-library","tag-max-galli"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eyeplug.net\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2640","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eyeplug.net\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eyeplug.net\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eyeplug.net\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eyeplug.net\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2640"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.eyeplug.net\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2640\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eyeplug.net\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2646"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eyeplug.net\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2640"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eyeplug.net\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2640"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eyeplug.net\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2640"},{"taxonomy":"series","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eyeplug.net\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/series?post=2640"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}