DD was on holiday from work this week, and one of the things she did was head through to Aberdeen to watch Maisie Peters perform in a small intimate venue. I’ve noticed her Maisie album on the shelves but can’t say I knew anything about her, until now. Turns out Maisie is a 25-year-old British singer-songwriter who has been around since 2017, and in 2021 she signed to Ed Sheeran’s Gingerbread Man Records. Her two albums have done really well but so far her singles have only reached the lower reaches of the charts which is why I probably didn’t know about her. On the way home from the concert DD sent us a clip showing Maisie on stage singing her song, My Regards, which I did recognise because of this line: “He took me off the market and I took him to the moon”. I’ve definitely heard that line on the radio as I thought it was quite funny.
Maisie felt she had not ventured into her tongue-in-cheek style of writing prior to this song and was inspired by country music classics about standing by your partner. The music video for the song, starring Maisie and Benito Skinner as love interests, modernised the narrative, and rather than portraying herself as a “simpering love interest” she showed it from the perspective of a fierce woman protecting her romantic partner. She even references the 1992 Kevin Costner/Whitney Houston film The Bodyguard within the lyrics. It seems the song was released as a single in February this year but only reached the No. 98 spot for one week. Don’t understand that at all but I wish her well for the future.
For those of you following my updates on what is currently at the top of the UK Singles Chart, I am going to sound like a broken record. Yes, for the 10th non-consecutive week, the Sam Fender/Olivia Dean song Rein Me In is at the top spot. Back in the day lengthy stays at the top of the charts just didn’t happen often, but because of the way we now consume music it is becoming more common.
Anyway, the reason Sam’s song dropped to the No. 2 spot twice in the last 12 weeks was first because of a Harry Styles release, and secondly because Olivia Rodrigo’s new song Drop Dead got to No. 1. Unlike with Maisie, I am fully aware of Olivia Rodrigo and fell in love with her song drivers licence (all lower case) after she performed it at the Brit Awards a few years ago. It is a pop power-ballad containing poignant lyrics detailing heartache. It has also been described as coming from the bedroom pop camp, which is a new one on me but a term I totally get. The narrator is young, probably still school age, and as we all know first loves at that stage in life can be terribly intense. You hold nothing back as you really do think it will last forever, only to find yourself broken-hearted down the line (not that I know of anyone who has had that happen to them of course). It was one of 2021’s most successful songs, and launched Olivia’s career. I would urge you to listen to the lyrics – pretty heart-breaking, whatever your age.
Drivers license broke a string of records, including the record for the most first-week streams for a song on Spotify and Amazon Music. It also topped the US Billboard Hot 100 and made Olivia the youngest artist ever to debut atop the chart. It spent eight consecutive weeks at number one.
The last lady I want to feature today is Irish singer Máire Brennan (latterly Moya Brennan), best known as the lead singer of Grammy and Bafta-winning group Clannad. She sadly passed away recently at the relatively young age (from my perspective anyway) of 73.
The Celtic folk singer, songwriter and harpist from the Irish-speaking Donegal area of the Republic, recorded 25 albums and sold millions of records worldwide, coming to prominence as part of her family’s band which formed in 1970, and later included Máire’s younger sister, Enya. The group became one of the world’s most popular traditional Irish acts after finding mainstream success with the theme tunes for the TV series, Harry’s Game, as well as Robin of Sherwood. I recently wrote about our own Scottish Celtic band Runrig, who were the first to perform on Top Of The Pops in Gaelic. Clannad became the first band to sing in Irish when they performed the Theme from Harry’s Game in 1982.
The late 1980s and the 1990s were a fertile period for Celtic music with many Scottish and Irish bands finding success. It was also the period when Ireland always seem to win the Eurovision Song Contest, and we were all hopping across The Irish Sea to Dublin for city breaks. Then there was the phenomenon that was Riverdance which started out as a seven-minute bit of interval entertainment at Eurovision, but wowed the audience more than the actual songs. Wonder if all that had anything to do with Clannad?
Until next time, RIP Máire/Moya Brennan
drivers license Lyrics
(Song by Olivia Rodrigo/Dan Nigro)
I got my driver’s license last week
Just like we always talked about
‘Cause you were so excited for me
To finally drive up to your house
But today I drove through the suburbs
Crying ’cause you weren’t around
And you’re probably with that blonde girl
Who always made me doubt
She’s so much older than me
She’s everything I’m insecure about
Yeah, today I drove through the suburbs
‘Cause how could I ever love someone else?
And I know we weren’t perfect but I’ve never felt this way for no one
And I just can’t imagine how you could be so okay now that I’m gone
Guess you didn’t mean what you wrote in that song about me
‘Cause you said forever now I drive alone past your street
And all my friends are tired
Of hearing how much I miss you but
I kinda feel sorry for them
‘Cause they’ll never know you the way that I do
Yeah, today I drove through the suburbs
And pictured I was driving home to you
And I know we weren’t perfect but I’ve never felt this way for no one
Oh, and I just can’t imagine how you could be so okay now that I’m gone
I guess you didn’t mean what you wrote in that song about me
‘Cause you said forever now I drive alone past your street
Red lights
Stop signs
I still see your face
In the white cars
Front yards
Can’t drive past the places
We used to
Go to
‘Cause I still fucking love you, babe
Sidewalks
We crossed
I still hear your voice
In the traffic
We’re laughing
Over all the noise
God, I’m so blue
Know we’re through
But I still fucking love you, babe
I know we weren’t perfect but I’ve never felt this way for no one
And I just can’t imagine how you could be so okay now that I’m gone
Guess you didn’t mean what you wrote in that song about me
‘Cause you said forever now I drive alone past your street
Yeah, you said forever now I drive alone past your street
What's It All About? 
Mrs CC lived near the Clannad lady as a youngster in Donegal.
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Gosh that was one famous neighbour. Bet she heard them play at local events around that time. Donegal is about as far north as you can get on the island of Ireland yet it’s part of The South.
I’d forgotten that Mrs CC is Irish.
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She’s been in Glasgow since she was about five!
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Ok, so she probably doesn’t remember going to see her perform!
Mrs CC is now an adopted Glaswegian then just as Mr WIAA is an Invernessian despite having two English parents and having been born in County Durham.
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RIP Maire – far too young, very sad.
I find it Interesting to hear the way popular voices have changed on just having a listen to these three next to each other. I think perhaps Olivia’s is the most timeless, just a good, strong, traditional voice, whereas Maisie’s is very “now”, rather affected sounding to my ears – and Maire’s is so ethereal that it’s hard to imagine a contemporary vocal that might sound like hers – so choral. As I type this, oh, I’ve just remembered London Grammar – perhaps the closest we’ve had in recent years https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nMEHJPuggHQ&list=RDnMEHJPuggHQ&start_radio=1
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Suddenly anyone passing away in their early 70s seems far too young. I was only 55 when I started the blog and I might have thought differently then – but not now!
You are right, Maisie’s voice does seem to be from the “little girl” style of singing that seems popular just now. A few of them seem to be the same – they’re not Streisand. That video is not representative of the concert DD went to which was in a converted church and Maisie was on stage in her jeans and glasses, just singing along to her guitar. DD seems to have accumulated a fair few vinyl albums since she got her turntable (she must have more spare cash than I had at her age) but the one I am least impressed with is the Sabrina Carpenter one. We have arguments about her image and I don’t think we’re ever going to agree.
Olivia does have a good set of pipes but Maire’s is the most distinctive and she’s been singing forever. I loved those themes of theirs that got into the charts in the 80s for their ethereal quality and of course her sister Enya did really well down the line.
Talking of popular voices, I was never a fan of Britney Spears either. She could sing really well but developed that vocal fry style of singing in her chart heyday.
London Grammar I have heard of but didn’t realise their style was similar to the ethereal Clannad. Thanks for the link. I used to be able to include the video in the comments but that doesn’t seem to work any more. For another post maybe.
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