Fegmaniax Magazine
1995
Close, But No Oscar
by Pete Dooley
Nobody seems entirely sure what Oscar is -- A&M claim that it's an unreleased album, Sincere Management insist that it's cobbled together from radio sessions, while the consensus on the Fegmaniax computer network seems to be that it was a session to record B-sides for prospective A&M singles that never occurred. Until there's some evidence to the contrary, I'll assume that A&M know what they're talking about, and continue calling it Oscar -- certainly, Robyn did announce that there was to be an album of covers under that name at one point.
Whatever it is, it's certainly unfinished. Robyn can be heard mumbling at the engineer, and there are a number of false starts and multiple takes. What we're left with is an interview, two takes on Hendrix's "Wind Cries Mary", Fairport's "Polly On The Shore", "Every Day Is Like Sunday" by Morrissey, "Take A Chance On Me" by Bryan Ferry (I think), Dylan's "Senor", Lennon's "Yer Blues", two takes on Syd's "Dominoes", Richard Thompson's "Calvary Cross", and a superb take on Robin Williamson's "Chinese White"/"Arms Around The Rainbow". None of it's likely to ever surface eslewhere officially, but it shouldn't be too hard to track down. --Aidan.
At first glance it seems fair enough. Robyn Hitchcock parades a few of his influences. Fine, but can you think of anyone who's produced an entire album of cover versions that's actually worked? I can't. And although this one has no major flaws, my final conclusion has to be, "So what?" (More so, considering the vast backlog of Robyn's own material mouldering in the vaults.) And perhaps that's why Oscar was never released by the be-suited ones at A&M.
In many ways it's difficult to judge its merits, as all we have is a session tape. But here goes:
We start off, pointlessly enough, with an interview. Robyn can be a very amusing interviewee. But this isn't one of those times, as the interviewer seems to be the "serious journalist" who interviewed Robyn for Spectre. Therefore, we can assume that Oscar was recorded at the same time, perhaps as a companion piece to the companion piece to Respect. Who knows? In this opening interview, Robyn reveals nothing you can't figure out in the first place. That's five minutes wasted for a start.
The music? Acoustic, Robyn plus guitar, at (I think) the kitchen table. Solo and acoustic is my preferred Hitchcock medium. So, great: I'm hooked! "The Wind Cries Mary"? Yup, like it. "Polly On The Shore" is more familiar to my folkie missus that to me, and she claims to have heard worse. "Every Day Is Like Sunday" is exceptional. "Take A Chance With Me" complete with false start: okay, nothing spectacular. "Senor". Yup, fine. "Yer Blues": interesting compared with Lennon's own acoustic demo a contender, even if Robyn's no Rock 'n' Roll screamer. "Dominoes" works, obviously, but the Barrett songs I'd like to see Robyn tackle would be "Love Song" or "Let's Split" or (Horror!) "Scream Thy Last Scream". "Calvary Cross" follows. Compare and contrast with the live version on the Green EP and Invisible History. I like this one -- but then I liked "Withered And Died" from Live Death. "Calvary Cross" is hotly pursued by another stab at "Dominoes" that doesn't quite come off. Then follows a corking version of "Chinese White", and the raving harmonica-fest (well, nearly) return of "The Wind Cries Mary" which just has the advantage over the first version.
Taken individually the songs themselves are okay. But as a whole, a sense of melancholy hangs over the proceedings, and Robyn doesn't seem into it. It's not up-up-up. Probably another nail in Oscar's coffin by A&M standards. All we have to go on is the session tape. And Oscar might have turned out to be quite a different fish.
Any way up, it's best viewed as a curiosity item. Something to bide your time with until Surfer Ghost turns up. If you like.
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