The RGM Inbox: Alternative Valentine's Day Edition

With February 14th upon us, it seemed like the ideal time for RGM to shine a light on Valentine’s Day. The modern Valentine’s Day originated in 1797 but didn’t really catch on as gifts and cards were generally handmade and very expensive to post. Valentine’s Day gained a huge boost in popularity in the UK in 1840 with the advent of the Penny Black stamp allowing cheaper postage and Valentine’s Day as we know it today was truly born. This RGM feature shines a melancholy light on a day that isn’t always all hearts and flowers.

First up we’ve Nashville based singer and songwriter Carly Moffa with a version of the classic ‘Love Hurts’. Now I know what you’re thinking but Carly does a fine job of stripping back the much-recorded song (Everly Brothers, Nazareth, Roy Orbison, Jim Capaldi, Cher) to just piano and an emotive vocal track making it sound more melancholy than ever before if that’s possible. As an introduction to Carly Moffa this works a treat and with more singles in the pipeline, we’ll be hearing more from Carly very soon.

The single is available via this link:

orcd.co/cmlovehurts

For more about Carly Moffa

http://www.carlymoffa.net/

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Next up is Violet Whimsey an alt-indie, pop-rock band out of Bergen, New Jersey in the USA. Their latest single ‘Heartbreaker’ finds the band in a mellow mood as vocalist Ann Kim remind us things don’t always work out “Who knew they were breaking mine too”. Or to quote the tag line of the video “If you're spending Valentine’s alone - this one's for you; just some good ole blues to accentuate your bittersweet melancholy”. Ann credits Bandmix.com and Craigslist when recruiting band members and the results are impressive as ‘Heartbreaker’ is the third excellent single from the band. The band bio claims Tom Petty, David Bowie and Pearl Jam as influences but Violet Whimsey also owes a debt to the likes of Belinda Carlisle and The Bangles for their melodic take on indie pop-rock. Highly recommended.

https://www.homepage.violetwhimsey.com/homepage-a#

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And now for something completely different. Probably best known for their 1979 hit ‘Where’s Captain Kirk?’ Spizzenergi are still going strong in 2021. Their latest release is a cover of ‘Valentine’s Day’ by David Bowie from his ‘The Last Day’ album. For added authenticity, Bowie producer Tony Visconti mixed the track. The song paints a very different version of Valentine’s Day as it relates to a school shooting and brings home that feelings of loneliness and stress that can be exaggerated by the commercialization of February 14th.

https://www.spizzenergi.com/

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