âHad Diamanda GalĂĄs been born 400 years ago, she would have been declared a witch. Â These days, she merely sings like sheâs being burnt at the stake. The grimly beautiful Greek American chanteuse belongs to that elite company of divas of despair that includes Nico, Lydia Lunch and latter-day Marianne Faithfull. Unlikely as it sounds, GalĂĄs has hooked up with Led Zeppelin's John Paul Jones for this album, which matches his menacing slabs of eight-string bass to her avant-garde sensibilities and operatic ululations. The results seethe with tension and drama. âSkĂłtosemeâ (Greek for âkill meâ) sees GalĂĄsâ mourning wails swept along by an Arabian drone. On the sarcastic âDo You Take This Man?â, she lashes out like a blues mama whoâs been pushed too far, while the title track details a group of vengeful prostitutes gleefully plotting to murder a john. The Sporting Life is marinated in equal parts malice and black humour.â
/ From my review of The Sporting Life for the British music magazine Vox, 1994 /
âJohn Paul Jones and Diamanda GalĂĄs crumble the little gingerbread house of rock illusions with their collaborative album, The Sporting Life, detonating all the overplayed crap weâve become accustomed to - the bland bass/drum rhythms, the singer hooting oooh baby baby, the guitar and its obligatory solo wheeze. The album opens the genre to an expanse where divisions between what is electronic and what is ânaturalâ smear, where the instrument is only as good as its ability to scalp you âŠâ
/ From Bomb magazine, October 1994 /
Released thirty year ago today (6 September 1994): the album The Sporting Life, a collaboration between Diamanda GalĂĄs and John Paul Jones, a true marriage made in heaven / hell. I saw the duo perform together in London on this tour. In addition to the songs cited above, Iâd recommend the ballad âTonyâ (on which GalĂĄs vows âI'll walk the street at night / screamin' your name âŠâ and sounds like a bummed-out Janis Joplin) and her wild interpretation of the 60s soul classic âThe Dark End of the Street.â
