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Product details

Vinyl (1 Feb 2010)
Number of Discs: 1
Format: Import
Label: Because
ASIN: B002UAC73G
Other Editions: Audio CD | MP3 Download

Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (15 customer reviews)

Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 1,053,812 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

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Review

Charlie Winston recently featured on Radio 4’s Today programme: “Pop singer bloke from Suffolk is huge in France, but can’t get arrested here”. As is so often the case with a subject other than politics or economics, they didn’t quite get hold of the story.

This album has spent many weeks in the French top ten and has gone platinum. Its first single, Like a Hobo, made number one over there in April. Understandably, it has a strong Euro flavour, though mercifully falling short of a strong Eurovision flavour.

It is odd, the way an artist can capture the imagination of one country but not his own. Murray Head, back in the 70s, wrote Say It Ain’t So, Joe – a wonderful song, piped in every bistro, but virtually ignored here. So why the French but not us? The two singers both have a lightness and agility of the voice, but that’s where the similarity ends: Head was really an actor who dabbled in song, while Winston is clearly a full-blooded musician.

Hobo’s production is organic and fun, Winston’s vocal refreshingly untreated. There’s a light agility about his songs too, ranging from the straightforward chick songs – I Love Your Smile stirs thoughts of Randy Newman collaborating with a bunch of New Orleans’ finest, and Soundtrack to Falling in Love – to silliness on My Life as a Duck and Kick the Bucket, songs which might prove just a little too twee for domestic consumption. In fact that could be it – maybe that tweeness, combined with the cheeky chappie image (stubble, frayed fedora hat), might be a bit too much for our Anglo-Saxon scepticism.

The outstanding track, and the most UK friendly, is Calling Me. Here, Winston has avoided over-arranging, sticking just with a guitar, some fabulous harmonica playing from Benjamin Edwards and a flutter of keyboards. Where occasionally style has triumphed over substance on this album, here quality shines through.

It would be a loss for us if Winston were to be consigned to the list of artists who only cracked it abroad, though he shouldn’t really complain: euros buy yachts just as easily as pounds. --Nick Barraclough

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CD Description

A platinum selling artist in France, Charlie Winston heads home with his debut UK album - Hobo. Every now and then a British artist finds success abroad before their homeland discovers their talent. In the case of Suffolk musician Charlie Winston it is the French who have first embraced his unique blend of quirky alternative folk-rock-pop sending his debut single ‘Like A Hobo’ to the top of the charts on its release in January. The child of musician parents and brother of folk singer Tom Baxter, Charlie grew up in a hotel in Suffolk through which passed an endless procession of itinerant artists, orchestras, actors and thespians. Charlie developed a deep love for the performing arts and entertainment whilst nurturing his musical talents. After several years of busking his way around Europe, writing music for theatre and dance productions, and playing in bands Charlie decamped to Paris when Peter Gabriel's Real World Records licensed ‘Like a Hobo’ to the French label Atmosphériques - Winston had left an EP at Gabriel's flat while babysitting - and within weeks he was at the top of the charts and being declared a national superstar by a nation that had fallen for his soulful voice and instantly catchy melodies. Tracks: In Your Hands / Like A Hobo / Kick the Bucket / I Love Your Smile / My Life As A Duck / Boxes / Calling Me / Tongue Tied / I’m A Man / Soundtrack To Falling In Love / Generation Spent / Every Step / My Name

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful

The best in my 62 years..... 30 July 2009

By Dw Marshall

Format:Audio CD

Never heard of this guy before this morning when I saw him (shame on me) on GMTV singing In Your Hands. I'm 62 and have never, NEVER seen anything that staggered me so much. The man is brilliant. Been seeking him out on You Tube etc since and can't wait to get Hobo cd. He's v big in France and he'll be the same here when we wake up. Toured with Peter Gabriel and is brother of Tom Baxter. Give him a listen.

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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful

I know everything about you - your father was a duck. 5 Nov 2009

By A. Sweeney TOP 500 REVIEWER VINE™ VOICE

Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase

I was first tempted to buy this album, not when I heard that Charlie Winston was the brother of the supremely talented Tom Baxter, but because of hearing the huge noises from his French admirers, as this album has been available France since January 2009. It was only after I purchased the CD did I learn of his sibling connections and the fact that Peter Gabriel had personally given Charlie a recording contract with his Real World record label. In fact, it was only after I'd listened to the album a couple of times and was so blown away by the music, did I ask the question, "Who IS this guy?" and found out a little more about him. So, basically, what I'm saying is forget the family connection, Charlie has got where he is today because of his immense talent. The music speaks for itself - and, believe me, the music is something special!

There is a nice fusion of different styles throughout the album. A bit of pop, more than a splash of jazz, a touch of soul and a hint of folk/rock. There are times when Winston reminds me of Randy Newman in his youth, but his voice is a little more melodic. Every eclectic track is engaging for different reasons. The dark, rhythmic opener, "In Your Hands" is a superb introduction to the album and builds up to a blistering climax. The Latin rhythms of "Like A Hobo" drive the track forward and also make your feet tap involuntarily. "I Love Your Smile" is my very favourite track, it's just so wonderfully uplifting and very heart-warming. "My Life As A Duck" is simultaneously beautiful, bizarre and hilarious - it has refused to leave my head ever since I first heard it, causing unexpected smiles from time to time.

A delicate piano riff and tasteful strings provide the heavenly backing to Charlie's emotive vocals on the outstanding "Boxes". "Calling Me" and "Every Step" are achingly yearning slices of gentle folk. "Tongue Tied" is a fantastic soul track and I just love the way Charlie's voice comes back in after a short silence towards the end of the song, just brilliant. "Soundtrack To Falling In Love" is every bit as glorious as the title suggests, with a thrilling ending. "My Name", the final track, is just magnificent. In fact, nearly everything on this release is superb. The only track I'm not overly keen on is "Kick The Bucket", a song about the inevitability of death which features beatboxing. It's catchy enough, but is, for me, the weakest song on this thoroughly pleasing album. Charlie Winston is a true talent and this, his second album, has impressed me highly. Don't miss out on one of the most outstanding and remarkable albums of 2009.

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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful

Album of the year/decade 5 Sep 2009

By O. J. Parker

Format:Audio CD

Saw them as Winston years ago. Bought cd from them. Loved it, googled them since, found nothing. Was on holiday in France, shazam'd song on radio, was Charlie Winston. Went to hypermarche and bought the album. Have not fallen for an album so much in many many years. Each song is different, melodies are beautiful and lead you a merry dance- totally unpredictable but utterly beguiling, as are the beautiful and sometimes extrovert, but wonderfully heartfelt lyrics. Production is pristine and understated, until it needs to be full blown, where it sweeps you off your feet and takes you away to a world where classic albums should take you. His voice makes you hang on every word, and a song like Boxes only come along very very rarely.I guess I liked it.Buy it.

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