Robyn Hitchcock - Naff Hits of the 1970s - Three Kings, Clerkenwell, London, Britain, 4-20-2003

First off, what does the word "naff" mean? I'd never heard of the word prior to finding this concert. According to the dictionary, it's British slang for "lacking style or good taste, vulgar, or unfashionable." In 2003, the U.S. and Britain invaded Iraq. The war appeared to be over quickly by the time of this concert, though that turned out only to be a lull, and the war would go on for years. Robyn Hitchcock performed this concert for a non-profit to help victims of the war. It must have raised a pretty small amount of money, considering the venue could only less than a 100 people. But Hitchcock liked the idea and repeated the benefit concert at that venue about once a year until 2011.

Each of these concerts would focus on doing cover songs of a certain type. For this one, he explicitly used the word "naff," and targets 1970s hits. However, not all of the songs were naff, although most were. He slipped in some songs by "cool" artists like Wire, David Bowie and Lou Reed.

Hitchcock and his band clearly had a fun time with this concept. He was backed by Kimberley Rew and Morris Windsor, who, fittingly, were in the Soft Boys with him in the 1970s. From the song "Vicious" until the end, they were also joined by Jon Brion and Mark Ellen.

This sounds like an audience bootleg. However, it's very good as audience bootlegs go, almost rising to the sound quality of soundboards. But still, the sound quality isn't perfect.

This album is an hour and 28 minutes long.

Here's a list of the original artists for each song (skipping some numbers because of the talking tracks):

02 Together We Are Beautiful - Fern Kinney
03 I Am the Fly - Wire
05 Funkytown - Lipps Inc.
07 Come Up and See Me [Make Me Smile] - Steve Harley
08 Love Don't Live Here Anymore - Rose Royce
10 Golden Years - David Bowie
12 Dancing Queen - ABBA
14 Ring My Bell - Anita Ward
16 All the Young Dudes - Mott the Hoople
18 Spacer - Sheila and B. Devotion
20 Stuck in the Middle with You - Stealers Wheel
22 Another Girl, Another Planet - Only Ones
24 Rebel Rebel - [I Can't Get No] Satisfaction - David Bowie - Rolling Sontes
25 Vicious - Lou Reed
27 A Walking Miracle - Limmie & the Family Cookin'
29 Sound and Vision - Rock Your Baby - When You're in Love with a Beautiful Woman - David Bowie - George McCrae - Dr. Hook
31 Kung Fu Fighting - Carl Douglas
33 D.I.S.C.O. - Ottawan

And here's the usual song list:

01 talk (Robyn Hitchcock)
02 Together We Are Beautiful (Robyn Hitchcock)
03 I Am the Fly (Robyn Hitchcock)
04 talk (Robyn Hitchcock)
05 Funkytown (Robyn Hitchcock)
06 talk (Robyn Hitchcock)
07 Come Up and See Me [Make Me Smile] (Robyn Hitchcock)
08 Love Don't Live Here Anymore (Robyn Hitchcock)
09 talk (Robyn Hitchcock)
10 Golden Years (Robyn Hitchcock)
11 talk (Robyn Hitchcock)
12 Dancing Queen (Robyn Hitchcock)
13 talk (Robyn Hitchcock)
14 Ring My Bell (Robyn Hitchcock)
15 talk (Robyn Hitchcock)
16 All the Young Dudes (Robyn Hitchcock)
17 talk (Robyn Hitchcock)
18 Spacer (Robyn Hitchcock)
19 talk (Robyn Hitchcock)
20 Stuck in the Middle with You (Robyn Hitchcock)
21 talk (Robyn Hitchcock)
22 Another Girl, Another Planet (Robyn Hitchcock)
23 talk (Robyn Hitchcock)
24 Rebel Rebel - [I Can't Get No] Satisfaction (Robyn Hitchcock)
25 Vicious (Robyn Hitchcock)
26 talk (Robyn Hitchcock)
27 A Walking Miracle (Robyn Hitchcock)
28 talk (Robyn Hitchcock)
29 Sound and Vision - Rock Your Baby - When You're in Love with a Beautiful Woman (Robyn Hitchcock)
30 talk (Robyn Hitchcock)
31 Kung Fu Fighting (Robyn Hitchcock)
32 talk (Robyn Hitchcock)
33 D.I.S.C.O. (Robyn Hitchcock)

https://www.upload.ee/files/15821099/RobynH_2003_Naff70sHitsThreeKingsClerkenwell__4-20-2003_atse.zip.html

I must say, out of the 2,000 or so album covers I've made for this blog, I think this one is my favorite. I found a picture of a "naff" guy wearing a 1970s leisure suit. I then pasted the head of Robyn Hitchcock over that using Photoshop. But I kept the sunglasses and mustache of the original guy. Then I found a "naff" background image of disco dancers and included that. I also chose a very 1970s font, and font colors, for the text.