#6. You can call him Francis

As Winston Churchill (or was it Lisa Simpson?) once said: Francis Farewell Starlite is a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma. Upon first viewing the iconic video for his 2008 single "The Top" during a trip to San Francisco this past March, I felt many things: curiosity, wonder, profound confusion, and maybe even fear.  I had to know more. Once I saw this take-no-prisoners rehearsal video from his grimy basement apartment, I was utterly hooked, and even started wearing Jerry's laptop as a hat to better hear every revelatory note .

Hearing Francis for the first time

Hard as this may be to believe, Francis Farewell Starlite was not his birth name, though it is his legal name now. Formerly known as Abraham, Francis studied musical composition and piano performance at Wesleyan. His tightly composed and cleanly executed tracks reflect that classical training as well as another oft-cited influence: "The Elements of Style" by Strunk & White. This penchant for conciseness and simplicity, coupled with his melodic sensibility, manifests itself in a lot of short, pleasant, nice-to-listen-to songs - something of a rarity these days. 


In choosing a song from Francis's 2010 album "It'll Be Better" for the Countdown, I was spoiled for choice. The album was probably my favorite release of the year; the songs drip with honesty and emotion, and the compositional creativity in every track is a testament to the wide range of influences Francis is drawing on (he eschews comparisons, but artists and critics have nonetheless invoked Prince, Phil Collins, James Dean, James Brown, Joe Cocker, and Peter Gabriel in trying to describe his sound and stage presence). For me, however, the album's high point is undoubtedly "Darling, It's Alright."

#6. Francis and the Lights - Darling, It's Alright


This song is quintessential Francis. Strunk & White implore the writer to "omit needless words," and Francis has done just that in this tight 2:23 track. "Prefer the standard to the offbeat," they suggest - and indeed the song starts conventionally, with Francis singing Huey Lewis-esque over the piano and a simple drum backing before building steadily. "Work from a suitable design," Strunk & White say, and here Francis has his master stroke: two verses, a quick refrain after each, and then a breakdown taking it all the way home.

Ah, the breakdown - the Situation to this song's Jersey Shore, lending it a whole new level of profundity and intensity. The bass line reaches up into the cosmos whence Francis arrived in an escape pod from Krypton so many years ago, while the drums align with his impassioned singing for maximum effect. Songs like this one are best seen live - and at the show I caught back in April, Francis had the small crowd hanging on his every Godfather of Soul-inspired gyration. A musical icon perhaps arriving on the scene 20 years too late, Francis and the Lights have the #6 song of 2010.

Left to right: Me, Francis, Mike T. and Paul at the Middle East in Cambridge