Last video for my music themed week – celebrating being together with my Dutch friend for a lovely holiday in the Netherlands. The Mavericks and their music introduced us, but we like lots of other stuff to. A band I really like is the Glade, and here is an unplugged number from 2010; they are performing a song by Jacques Brel, the Belgian singer song writer who died in 1978 at the tragically young age of forty-nine. He was a most gifted and talented man… however I think liking or not liking him is quite a personal thing, and really, although I appreciate what a great man he was and how many tremendous songs he wrote, I really have to confess I wouldn’t listen to him through choice.
The Glade perform here one of his famous songs The Port of Amsterdam’, published in 1964, and I think they do a fantastic, stirring performance of it, however judging by the comments on youtube, not everyone agrees! For some the band has ‘ruined’ it – and I can understand if you have a favourite song performed by the original artist and you hear some very different version, you might indeed think it is ‘ruined’. I love it though – it just makes me wish I could see The Glade live!
Lois Elsden 