Finley Quaye – Sunday Shining.

Summer’s here and the time is right for drizzle and hosepipe bans.

Quite how a Scotsman managed to make the summer record of 1997 is mystery but Finlay Quaye’s Sunday Shining (a reworking of Bob Marley’s Sun is Shining) was all over the radio at the time. The original was one of Marley’s more forgettable songs (still amazing compared to most stuff) but Quaye lifts the tempo and adds brass and a superb guitar riff to great effect.

Finley is definitely brother to Caleb Quaye (guitarist with Elton John) and possibly uncle to Tricky. Quaye and Tricky had initially been friendly and collaborated, along with Iggy Pop, on Please Share My Dappy Umbrella. However, their relationship took a turn for the worse culminating in Tricky laying into Quaye on Can’t Freestyle “Calling yourself Quaye/Leave that for another day/Don't you feel no shame/Taking my mother's name in vain”.

Quaye was also criticised by some journalists for being too mainstream and making cod-reggae; a criticism which he seemed to take to heart. It took him four years to make the follow up to Maverick A Strike, Vanguard, and it turned out to be a rather uninspired album of lumpy rock songs. Last year’s Much More Than Love saw a return to a more pop sensibility and some success in the States after Dice was featured on The OC. However, it’s still his debut that I put on when the sun is shining.

Cannily, Quaye made Maverick a Strike 52 minutes long – the exact length of the average British summer.

Finley Quaye – Sunday Shining


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