Wavelength will always have a special place for me in my collection of Van albums because it reminds me of the very first time I saw Van in concert in 1979. Although I had been a fan for six years I didn't get to see Van live until one fine spring afternoon my friend Fred and I got on his motorbike and set off for the Colston Hall in Bristol. We didn't have tickets but that didn't stop the likes of us. We were first in the queue waiting for the doors to open and passed the time chatting to a lad who had traveled all the way from Belfast. He had been a fan since Van's early days playing in the Maritime Hotel. As soon as the doors opened we made a bee-line for the box office and managed to get seats with restricted view at the right side of the circle, right above the stage but we wouldn't be able to see the keyboard player Pete Bardens. The support act was called Earl Okin. Then it was time for Van.
After the indifferent reception that A Period Of Transition received from fans and critics, Van was astute enough to realise he had to come up with a more popular album next time out and he delivered just that with Wavelength which was his most commercial album in years. The opening song Kingdom Hall is very upbeat. Van's mother Violet was a Jehovah's Witness for a while and that is where this song came from. With all the sectarian divide in Belfast between Catholics and Protestants the Morrison's were Jehovah's Witnesses. Trust Van to be different.
Checkin' It Out is brilliant. I like the words, There are guides and spirits on the way who will befriend us'. Natalia is one of the more lightweight songs on the album in my opinion with the guitar and female backing singers playing quite a part. Venice USA follows and is not a favourite of mine either.
The next song Lifetimes more than makes up for it. I used to read a lot of books by Hermann Hesse and the lyrics really remind me of his novel Siddartha with suggestions of reincarnation, boatmen, and sitting in silence and listen to the river. This song is a precursor to the spiritual quest that Van was to carry through the 1980's. The title track Wavelength follows and it is excellent. Pete Bardens synthesizer is used to good effect here and I love the hand claps. The song is a celebration of young Van's love affair with the radio when all the magical sounds floated through the ether to his room in Hyndford Street. He even mentions his lover in the grass, which recalls Brown Eyed Girl..
Santa Fe is a co-written song with Jackie De Shannon and is more than a song to sing and merges into Beautiful Obsession which suggests meditation and contemplation. Themes that Van would develop later when such tracks as When Heart Is Open became less like songs and more like meditations.
Hungry For Your Love is a more carnal affair with such lyrics as I love you in buckskin, let the cowboy ride. Take It Where You Find It brings the album to a close on a high note.
I can't remember a lot about which songs he sang that night in Bristol. I know he sang Wavelength and Natalia. Another friend who was there tells me he did Moondance, Tupelo Honey and Cyprus Avenue. I definitely remember Gloria and Brown Eyed Girl. I also recall Katie Kissoon singing a great version of Crazy Love while Van took a break. Band members I can remember besides Katie were Toni Marcus, violin, Pete Bardens Keyboards , Bobby Tench guitar. I can't remember who else played. I bought my first Van T Shirt that night. It was to be three long years before myself and Van were to cross paths again.
Little did I realise at the time, but the following album Into The Music would be one of the best of his career..
