In June 2020, Charlie Dore released a remarkable album titled Like Animals. In his review of the album, Mike Davies concludes that it is “Arguably her finest work to date, there are creature comforts to be had here and a certainty that, in fashion or note, the name Charlie Dore shows no sign of fading.”
Co-written with regular collaborator Julian Littman (Steeleye Span), the album also featured contributions from Jackie Oates, Gareth Hugh Davies on double bass and cello, UK trumpeter Quentin Collins and violinist Jessie May Smart. Michele Stodart, a founding member of The Magic Numbers, also duetted with Charlie on ‘A Hundred Miles of Nothing’ and for the album finale Ordinary Names, along with While and Matthews, Kevin Sargent, Tom Climpson, and Janet and Isobel Grace, is among the guests who read out the forgotten names that have fallen out of fashion.
Whilst the video may be late in arriving, it seems somehow fitting as we begin a new year and Charlie turns to memories and celebrates those heydays of the past. Featuring old photos and film footage, the accompanying video is both moving and thought-provoking, a meditation on the passing of time and a reminder that we were all young once.
Charlie shared the following:
It seems some names are destined to remain unfashionable…Often the names I used to associate with elderly aunts and uncles were restrained, reliable, understated, even. Often people were named after a parent or grandparent, just as a tradition. Many of my contemporaries had an Auntie Joan or an Uncle Arthur. But of course, the owners of these names were young once and when I started thinking of them in this light, of how the mere mention of a name could make another heart beat a little faster, of secret crushes, romance, liaisons, I wanted to celebrate their heydays. This song is for them.
You can order Like Animals and Charlie’s other albums here: https://charliedoreontour.bigcartel.com/