One evening in New York in early ‘70s, Paul Simon and his then wife Peggy Harper were hosting a party for some of their musician friends. Also at the party was the legendary French composer Pierre Boulez, who came along as a plus-one for one of the other guests. Later in the evening, as Boulez was leaving, he somehow got very confused and said to Simon “Sorry I have to leave, Al, and give my best to Betty.”  From then on, this became the little inside joke between Paul & Peggy – she would call him Al and he would call her Betty😁…. and all of us got let into the joke on the amazing “You Can Call Me Al”! As Sahdev said the other day on the C22 chat, the video of “You Can Call Me Al” was the first time most of us had actually seen Paul Simon – I still remember seeing the video in the WH common room during the lead-in show for the ’87 Grammys with Sahdev, Sahai, Sethi, CJ and the rest of the WH gang. Chevy Chase lip-syncing the song was fun – that view of Simon looking pissed off at Chevy Chase in the video is absolutely priceless! And after that video, at least one dear friend of mine (who shall remain nameless) thought for a few years that the tall good looking Chevy Chase was actually Paul Simon 😂.

The Graceland album was one of the greatest comebacks in music history – the resurrection of Paul Simon. His last triumph had been in 1976 when he won the Grammy for ‘Album of the Year’ for “Still Crazy After All These Years” (in his Grammy acceptance speech, Paul Simon thanked Stevie Wonder for not releasing an album that year as Stevie had won the Grammys for Album of The Year for 1974 & 1975 😂 ! To prove the point, Stevie won the Grammy next year in 1977 😆). Simon’s next two albums, in ‘80 & ‘83 were commercial flops and he was on the verge of becoming yet another faded star. One day, a friend gave him a bootleg cassette of South African Township music, titled “Accordion Jive Vol. II” . Simon heard it on his car stereo and was blown away. This music became the spark of inspiration he was looking for! He tracked down the musicians (Boyoyo Boys) and on being exposed to more South African music, decided that that music would be the basis for his next album. And just like that, he got on a plane to Jo’burg, and in the townships of Soweto, found incredible musicians. They recorded the most amazing songs that are on this album – Tao Ea Matsekha (“Boy In The Bubble”), General M.D. Shirina & the Gaza Sisters (“ I know What I Know”), Boyoyo Boys (“Gumboots”) and the fantastic Ladysmith Black Mambazo (“Diamonds On The Soles of Her Shoes” & “Homeless”). The album blew away everything that was released that year – no one had ever heard this kind of music collaboration in pop. Of course, there was a lot of controversy as well – Simon was accused of breaking the cultural boycott of Apartheid era South Africa by going there and recording. But the ethereal sounds of all these great black musicians in perfect harmony with the musical and lyrical genius of Paul Simon was just too fabulous, and, the album sold like crazy!

There were a number of Graceland’s singles on the Paul Simon compilation I bought in cold Kuwait and listened to, over and over, for three weeks. Absolutely fell in love with the songs and the very amazing, topical stories they told. What’s interesting is that the lyrics aren’t political – given the apartheid context and where they were recorded, they could have been. Instead, they are about things any usual pop song would have – but the sounds of the township musicians just elevate them to a whole different level.  Interestingly, the lyrics were all written later in NY, once Simon came back with the melodies from his recordings in Jo’burg, writing stories to fit the melodies. “Boy In The Bubble” is about the philosophical dilemma of technology and how it can be both good and bad– from curing diseases to terrorist bombings. “Gumboots” is about vacuous, light hearted discussions with friends in NY. But, it was the two Ladysmith Black Mambazo songs that truly wrapped themselves around my heart. Their a cappella singing is simply otherworldly . “Homeless” with its Zulu lyrics and a story of people dislocated from their homeland in search of livelihood, is bewitching. “Diamonds On The Soles Of Her Shoes” paints a lovely story of a rich girl and her poor boyfriend – “ And she said honey take me dancing / but they ended up sleeping/ In a doorway” – which I find really sweet. Of course, the rollicking “You Can Call Me Al” was inspired by the faux pas at one of Simon’s parties. “The Myth of Fingerprints” is all about how we seem to value the really small differences between us rather than the big things that make us all human, And Graceland is about ..an actual trip to Graceland…

Paul Simon is one of my top five favourite artists – but he did break my heart a few years ago. Having been a fan for decades, I finally got a chance to see Paul Simon live in London – with Sting ! Mouth-watering prospect!! Tickets were procured. Friends invited. Beers drunk……Unfortunately, him and Sting decided to spend the evening singing each other’s songs. Complete disaster 😩😭….Anyways, despite that I’m still a Paul Simon fan. He really is one for the ages – Poet, Singer, Musician, Songwriter. And for all of us SciFi fans , he’s the guy who married Princess Leia from Star Wars (Yes – he dated and was married to Carrie Fisher)!