Page 32 - the NOISE July 2015

robert wyatt: roCK bottoM
Rock Bottom and its back-story got a lot of attention. It sold fairly well in Britain and at least saw an American release. Many journalists, who had previously interviewed the wild young drummer, always with a different sweet thing on his arm, found a different Wyatt in his place. His ideas were radical as always, but he now radiated a zenlike warmth and clarity. He was obviously deeply in love with his wife and creating sounds no one had heard the likes of before. He discussed the fall that left him paralyzed with calm acceptance and no bitterness, for he had poured it all into the LP, the release of which had been cathartic. He referred to his accident as “my maturity.”
During the Rock Bottom sessions, a few of the Virgin Records brass visited the studio and suggested Robert put out a single as well. An edit of Oldfield’s “Tubular Bells” had been released on a 45 and it became a hit. Virgin had tasted top 40 success and they liked it. The label presented itself as the most indie of the independents, but of course it all came down to dollars and cents at the end of the day, just like any other business venture.
A single? Wyatt had just given his label a groundbreaking and deeply personal album and all they wanted was hits. Should he go on Top of the Pops in his bloody wheelchair too? He looked at the issue pragmatically. He could do this. Hell, if he was able to wrench Rock Bottom out of his subconscious, a single should be child’s play. Editing down any of Rock Bottom’s six long tracks was unthinkable, and Wyatt had no more finished originals on hand, so cover tunes it would have to be. For starters, Robert decided to recover a song by one of his oldest friends.
During the Wilde Flowers era, the prolific bassist Hugh Hopper had written “Memories,” a beautiful ballad with odd chord changes and a timeless melody (many artists have performed it, including Whitney Houston). Soft Machine had taped a demo version before Hopper joined, but the band never felt they did it justice. Wyatt and Hopper put together a simple new arrangement and recorded it quickly with a small combo. It came out much better than the demo. OK, then. One side down, one to go.
The musicians brainstormed in a pub. Wyatt had his mind set on covering an uncool song by an uncool artist, just to stick it in Branson’s face. After many pints and much hilarity, they settled on the uncool “I’m A Believer,” by the extremely uncool Monkees. Wyatt listened to the record and was struck by how well the lyrics fit the mood of Rock Bottom:
Love was out to get me
That’s the way it seemed Disappointment haunted all my dreams
What’s the use in trying All you get is pain
When I needed sunshine I got rain ***
The finished product surprised them all. One would think that, following something as heavy and naked as Rock Bottom, “I’m A Believer,” would be a joke, a throwaway. But it definitely is not. The weight of the album anchors the single as well. Wyatt had taken the mundane and made it sacred: “I’m A Believer,” gained a depth it hadn’t possessed before. Only when the single was in the final pressing stages did Wyatt find out, to his dismay, that “I’m A Believer,” was written by Neil Diamond. Wyatt hated Neil Diamond’s music and was immediately sorry he had recorded one of his tunes.
Five weeks after the release of Rock Bottom, Virgin issued “I’m A Believer,” as a single. Thanks in part to a push by John
Peel, it went to #29 in England.
On September 8, 1974, Robert Wyatt, backed by a band
featuring Nick Mason and Mike Oldfield, returned to the stage as a headliner. The show at London’s Drury Lane Theatre sold out. Wyatt and friends performed all of Rock Bottom, as well as other songs from his past, climaxing with
“I’m A Believer.” The concert was eventually released on CD. The success of “I’m A Believer,” prompted a request for Robert Wyatt and band to appear on the BBC’s long running Top of the Pops television show, where current Top 40 idols
would lip-synch their latest tunes while a studio full of well- scrubbed British youths boogalooed. The concept of having a hit single was already so surreal to Wyatt that he figured he may as well ride it out to its logical end. He accepted.
A short time later, the producers of Top of the Pops were paid a visit from several senior executives from the BBC. The executives asked the producers whether they had recently proffered a request for a certain Mr. Robert Wyatt to appear on their show. The producers replied they had.
The executives then asked if the producers were aware that this Mr. Wyatt was an avowed atheist and leftist and person of a somewhat unsavory nature. The producers replied yes, they were aware of this.
The executives then asked if the producers were aware that Mr. Wyatt recently had had a terrible accident occur while inebriated and lost the use of his lower limbs. The producers replied yes, they were aware of this.
The executives then asked if the producers had put two and two together and deduced that Mr. Wyatt would be appearing on their show while seated in a wheelchair. The
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