Monday 31 October 2016

Happy Birthday, Son




Max reaches his teenage years today. He has been as moody and petulant as your typical teenager for a couple of years now. but anyway now it's confirmed. I remember his birth like yesterday and can taste the JPS that I chain smoked for the last few of the twenty two hours that L was in labour. It was apt that he was born on Halloween, as he scared the shit out of us then by refusing to appear and L having to have an emergency section and has been scaring the shite out of us regularly ever since. Happy birthday son. Here is one of the tunes that he likes at the moment.

N.W.A - Express Yourself

and I nearly forgot, the obligatory Halloween tune. My second favourite track entitled Haunted. Oh bugger it here's both.

Shane MacGowan and the Popes - Haunted

Azie Mortimer - Haunted


Friday 28 October 2016

It's Friday . . . Let's Dance



Not got a lot of time or much to say about this record apart from it is a rather brilliant piece of Tech House released on the Hot Flush label back in 2014. The version posted is the SCB mix which is on the flip.

This week I will be mostly trying to finish the glossing in the hall. At the beginning of the 20th Century their must have been a glut of hardwood about if the amount of fucking wood that has been used in our house is anything to go by, L just hit me with the joyous news that "the boys rooms need decorating  . . . badly!" So I think for the next few weeks my weekends are sorted out.

Have a good weekend people.

Scuba - NE1BUTU (SCB Remix)

Thursday 27 October 2016

My Curse



I wanted to post the Peel session by the Afghan Whigs to celebrate Keeping It Peel day on Tuesday but unfortunately could not find it on the net. Since then some kind soul has sent me a link to Jim's blog AyeTunes where the session is present,  correct and available for download. The session consists of two covers and two original compositions from  the Gentlemen album, including the highlight for me  "My Curse" sung by Dulli which is pretty amazing, however the album cut is sung by Marcy Mays who adds a little something to,the song and makes it an even more uncomfortably listen. My Curse is a dark, dark song from an album which is quite harrowing in parts, not an easy listen but an absolutely enthralling one. I flit from considering this the best Afghan Whigs album but in lighter moments I prefer 1965, the first album I bought by the band and by far the most accessible. I'm going to post the album version of My Curse, if you would like the Peel sessions head over here where Jim will sort you out. I know that I say this quite often, but if you don't own Gentlemen I suggest you rectify the situation as soon as possible.

The Afghan Whigs - My Curse

Wednesday 26 October 2016

Searching



Another great piece of fuzzed up Garage Rock for you today. The Omens were from Hammond, Indiana not that far from Chicago. Searching was recorded in the Windy City not in a studio but in the living room of a second floor flat on an Ampex Reel to Reel in mono,  in one take and all the better for it. It was released on the Cody label backed with another original song Girl Get Away. in 1966, a vintage year for this kind of music. The band recorded another single, a cover of  As Tears Go By and like most bands from the Garage rock scene of the mid 60s split leaving a very slight recording legacy but one very rare, in demand blistering single.

The Omens - Searching

Tuesday 25 October 2016

Keeping It Peel



I'm not sure if Keeping It Peel is still a thing. I haven't seen anything about it this year and I was tryin g to find the Afghan Whigs tracks that Dulli and the guys did for Peel back in 1994 but to no avail so I thought I would just post the best Peel session ever in stead. Back in 2010 for this I did a run down of my favourite sessions, if you want to find out what the other nine are just look down the side and click on October 2010,

Well here it is, my favourite session track ever from the John Peel show.  Another one of those "what the fuck" moments and not just from me I think,  as it was also the most requested session for repeat.

I did hear it first on the Peel show and I can honestly say it was like nothing else I had ever heard before, totally unique. For one thing there didn't seem to be any structure to the track, just snippets of dialogue, samples of everything from jets to cockerels, beats floating in and out and it seemed to go on forever. Before this session I had never heard of the Orb and I don't think it was until the second or third repeat that I actually caught the name.

This session didn't just baffle the listeners but also the staff at Maida Vale didn't have a clue what was happening during the recording of the track. Here are Alex Paterson's recollections of the session lifted from Ken Garner's excellent book the Peel Sessions, which if you don't have a copy you really should click here and rectify the situation.

"We turned up early and, finding nobody about, started setting up the turntables and desk in the control room. Suddenly the producer appeared and bawled out: "Get this equipment out of here!" He told us to set up in the studio and come back at 2pm. We said that we were going to generate a load of samples then mix it off the multi-track, which he didn't seem to get. We were so put off that we went round to a friend's house for an hour. But we were determined to defeat this producer so we went back, and pulled all the sofas and lamp stands into the middle of Studio 3 and set up a little living-room set in this huge studio, like something out of Alice In Wonderland and got the main lights switched off, to get a good atmosphere. I just started throwing all these samples at Jimmy: Waves, birdsong, jets, old Sci-Fi play excerpts, those "Aaaahs" of Grace Jones' Slave To The Rhythm, and Minnie Ripperton's Loving You, of course (we'd already started this thing of crediting all our samples, and virtually mixing the drums out of house music). And Jimmy did this great live mix really quick. I think that we were out of the building by 7pm! I think that it was the best mix we ever did of that. The head of Geffen records was over here, and listening to it on Peel while driving and had to pull over, he was so knocked out. He tried too sign us for America, but we already had a deal. The whole thing couldn't have been planned: it was just a very vivid day, because we were finding it so entertaining to defeat this producer bloke."

This session for me is one of the best illustrations of why John Peel is revered by so many people and was so essential to popular music during the thirty seven years that he was broadcasting on the BBC.  Long before the Radio One bosses decided that they needed specialist dance dj's Peel had been championing house and hip-hop. No other DJ anywhere in 1989 would have had the courage or sheer bloodymindedness to play a 20 minute noodling like A Huge Ever Growing Pulsating Brain That Rules From The Centre Of The Ultraworld (Loving You) and for that reason alone he should be saluted.

And lets not forget all of the bands he gave the chance for more than their mates to hear by airing their demos or first singles. Or the obscure reggae, soul and other genres that got no other national airplay. He certainly contributed greatly to me opening my mind to music that probably if I hadn't heard it on his show I would have remained oblivious to.

Another reason I respect the man so much is that he refused the Irish Band a session, bit petty I know but that's me.

John Peel meant many things to many people,  from the sympathetic voice that listened to peoples woes and idiosyncrasies on Radio 4's Home Truths,  the devoted Liverpool supporter who cried on air after the Hillsborogh tragedy, the champion of so many different genres of music not least punk,  to the hippy who was friends with Mark Bolan and presented The Perfumed Garden.

It may be an overused phrase but it makes it no less true that his like will never be seen or heard over the airwaves again.

Teenage dreams so hard to beat



 Orb Session recorded 03rd December 1989 aired 19th December 1989

Tracklisting: A Huge Ever Growing Pulsating Brain That Rules From The Centre Of The Ultraworld (Loving You)

The Orb - A Huge Ever Growing Pulsating Brain That Rules From The Centre Of The Ultraworld  (Loving  You)

John Peel - The Fall

Monday 24 October 2016

Just Sayin'



The Jesus and Mary Chain - Never Understand

Why



Last week while attempting the mammoth task of painting our hall, stairwell and upstairs I fired on some cds that I hadn't listened to in ages including the most excellent "For Millionaires Only " series from the Goldsoul label, volumes 1 through four. As the title suggests these records if bought seperately on 7" vinyl would cost an absolute fortune, all being at least in three figures many in the thousands . While playing  volume four a song came on which was really familiar but which sounded a bit on the fast side, so I consulted the cover to be informed that the song was "Why (I Want To Know) by Nat Hall and then I noticed that the next tune was also a version of Why this time by Willie Mason and All The Kings Men", that must be the version I'm more familiar with I thought and so waited for it to be play but the muffled version with the incongruous wah wah guitar was even less familiar than the previous song. So I played the  Nat Hall original again  but I was still sure that this was not the version that I knew. Over the next couple of days it bugged me and on Saturday I decided thast it was time to go through the northern boxes to find my version. I was sure that I had played it on vinyl and I knew that I didn't have a copy of the Hall version and after consulting the sleeve notes of the cd I was sure that it wasn't the Willie Mason release on Ka-La-Ma records as I had never heard of the label.

After quite a bit of rooting about the northern boxes I found the song on the flip side of a cover of It's Your Voodoo Working by Eugene Morgan on the Full Sail label. This version is slightly slower in tempo, a bit more moody and I think superior not least due to the organ solo to the other two versions.

Eugene Morgan - Why

And to compare and contrast.

Nat Hall - Why (I Wan't To Know)

Willie Mason & All The King's Men - Why


Wednesday 19 October 2016

Honey In The Sun



I love Camera Obscura. When they are miserable they are great and when they are joyous as they are here. well they are hard to top. So when Honey In The Sun came on the ipod yesterday it was kind of bittersweet as it lifted my mood as I am spending another week off painting! But also last Tuesday marked a year since the passing of Carey Lander.

Camera Obscura - Honey In The Sun (Vic Galloway session 11-05-09)

Please watch the video

Tuesday 18 October 2016

(I'm Not Your) Steppin Stone



I am no longer sure which is my favourite version of Stepping Stone, it used to be The Monkees version and then when I eventually heard it, it was the disputed first recorded version by Paul Revere & The Raiders but at present I think it is the version by the English band "The Flies". 1966 was a busy time for recording and releasing this song all three versions above are from that year and also recorded that year was a version by The Liverpool Five and probably a whole load more. I think that if a song is good ten it is quite hard to really fuck it up, the Sex Pistols tried to do that with their version od Stepping Stone but even that one is not without merit as is the version from the Farm released in 1990. Which is a testament to the song writing skills of  Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart. The only version which I have heard which was utter rubbish was by Minor Threat.

The Flies - (I'm Not Your )Stepping Stone

The Liverpool Five - (I'm Not Your) Stepping Stone

Monday 17 October 2016

So Is The Sun



A bit of psychedelic soul, very Sly & the Family Stone(y)and a bit of a stomper for you this Monday morning. If this sounds familiar to Jam fans, Trans Europe Express from the Gift owes more than a small debt to World Column and if not given writing credits alongside Paul Weller, Boller, Kaplan and Johnson bloody well ought to. So In The Sun was released on the Capital label in 1969 and was big in Black pool, Cleethorpes and Wigan in 1976.

The World Column - So Is The Sun

Friday 14 October 2016

It's Friday . . . Let's Dance




I need something a bit uplifting what with all of the shit going on at the moment in the World, Syria , Trumpf (the f being deliberate,  trumpf being vernacular for a fart) , the price of US soul singles rocketing on Discogs due to the dissolving pound , the thought of another Independence Referendum, I could go on but I don't want to depress people even more on a Friday. I have decided to post a brace of songs full of so much positivity that they can't help but raise your mood and get your feet moving. Both from 1987, the heady early days of House and both on the DJ International label.

Airdrie take on Peterhead tomorrow, the game is a 17:15 kick-off and will be beamed to the masses eagely wanting to witness the silky skills on show in the Scottish League One on BBC Alba, so if you find yourself at a loose end tomorrow evening and have access to the Scottish Gaelic channel  tune in.

Have a good weekend people

Joe Smooth feat. Anthony Thomas - Promised Land

Sterling Void & Paris Brightledge - It's Alright

Thursday 13 October 2016

Go For It



When I first heard this thirty five years ago I was less than impressed. I'm not sure if it was from the b side of Silver Lining or from the album, Go For It as I can't remember which came out first, I suspect the album. I can be certain that it was in Stiff and Bat's bedroom.  Later on the tune would be used on Sportscene,  the Scottish Match of the Day, only much better. it is now synonymous with SLF taking to the stage at the Barrowlands in a hail of pints.

Stiff Little Fingers - Go For It

Wednesday 12 October 2016

Sleepwalking




It's been a few years since I last saw the Raveonettes live. They haven't played these parts since December 2012 and it's not looking likely that they will be heading over the Atlantic any time soon, They are in the process of producing a new album which you can pre-order through Pledgemusic which entitles you to get a new track digitally each month. The songs are sounding good but not brilliant. I think that the duo's last consistently very good album was Pretty In Black way back in 2005 the five subsequent albums have had their moments some quite a few but none has had the impact on me that Pretty In Black did.

The Raveonettes - Sleepwalking

Tuesday 11 October 2016

In The Past



This is another garage track original where I wrongly thought that the later cover was the original. For years I thought that In The Past was a tune by the Chocolate Watch Band but it turns out that it was originally recorded in 1966 by We The People as the plug side of their fourth single, however the local radio station preferred the rather "wet" in my opinion, flip St John's Shop making it a hit in the Orlando area, if no where else. I can't quite understand this as In The Past is a cracking tune and is a hell of a lot better than the later cover.

We The People - In The Past

Monday 10 October 2016

No One To Love



In it's original form this record is rare and worth a pretty penny a vg copy sold for 1850 quid a few years back. My copy of course is the re-release on the outta sight label.  On the 1967 release No One To Love was actually the flip, (I Owe You) Something was the a-side but the  b-side is the better track. The song has a very dramatic intro,  a smouldering vocal and some lovely strings all in all a very classy piece of  Detroit soul which incidentally was produced by George Clinton in his pre P-Funk days.

Pat Lewis - No One To Love

Saturday 8 October 2016

RIP Billy Franks



Until I was forty I didn't have a clue who Billy Franks was. Twenty three years previously I had heard a song of his which had left an impression on me but which through the years I had nearly forgotten about but not quite.  Every so often a snippet of the long forgotten song would get lodged in my brain and frustrate me for ages until I eventually forgot about it until the next time. If you are interested you can read the full story of my discovery of  what the song was and who was singing it here.

Last night through a tweet from Simon, of the much missed The Songs That People Sing blog I learned of the passing of Billy Franks a couple of weeks ago, far too soon aged only 60,  which saddened me greatly. I do not profess to being as familiar with the man's music as I should have been but people whose opinion I respect such as Simon, Davy H and Tony (DVD) rated him as a song writer and performer  and expressed such admiration for the man and the album I bought on the back of their recommendations, Eventide lived up to the hype which if you do not own you certainly need to rectify immediately.  I do wish that I had seen the man live, from all accounts it could be a deeply moving experience.

Although not the correct time of year it feels right and proper to post the song that was stuck in the back of my head for so many years.

Rest easy Billy

The Faith Brothrs - Easter Parade

Friday 7 October 2016

It's Friday . . . Let's Dance



A bit of tech house for you today with a great remix, would you expect anything else from Four Tet, of a Bob Holroyd tune. African Drug was originally released in 1994 and if it sounds familiar to you it may be as it was one of the tracks dropped on Coldcut's seminal Journey By DJ's mix. it has. It was updated by both Four Tet and T Williams in 2010 and released on Phonica Records.

No football this weekend as Scotland are making up the numbers in a qualification group for some tournament or other that we will not be attending due to either some new and novel way of failing to qualify or more likely just because we are not terribly good. Still we do have a manager who doesn't appear to be shady but you never know.

Have a good weekend people.

Bob Holryod - African Drug (Four Tet Remix)

Thursday 6 October 2016

Sparkle Mix



John Peel was seldom wrong, apart from where Springsteen was concerned but his comment that "Even if they never made another record, they'll have achieved more than most o us do in our entire lives"  about Geek Love by Bang Bang Machine was spot on. They did produce more music but none of it came close to this tune. This version comes from the remix ep from 1993, a couple of years after the original release. This 12" contained a very laid back mix by Mixmaster Morris and this mix by Ray Shulman.

Bang Bang Machine - Geek Love (Sparkle mix)

As it's nearly Friday you can also have the Mixmaster Morris mix. Don't say I'm not good to you.

Bang Bang Machine - Geek Love (Irresistible Force mix)

Wednesday 5 October 2016

So What



Christopher Gaylord on the evidence of So What was listening to a lot of Rolling Stones  prior to writing and recording this great piece of Garage Rock released in 1965.  I love the wailing harmonica on the track and if the way that Chris Gaylord spits out the lyrics he has more than a little contempt for the girl he is singing about. The Lyrics hailed from San Diego, California and released four singles from 1965 to 1968.

There doesn't seem to be much love out there for the garage rock, however I am going to persevere until I run out of what I consider to be good songs.

The Lyrics - So What

Tuesday 4 October 2016

Ain't No Love Lost



The original version of Ain't No Love Lost was released on the Scepter label in 1972 and when you first hear the track you wouldn't have to be a genius to spot that it was produced by Curtis Mayfield. The version posted is the marvelous Tom Moulton mix who updates the sound for 1975 and the beginnings of the disco scene. For years this version was only available on the Disco Gold album along with another Moulton mix of a Patti Jo tune, Make Me Believe In You until recently when both were released on a 7" single.

Patti Jo - Ain't No Love Lost (Tom Moulton mix)

Monday 3 October 2016

You Don't Mean Me No Good



I have a real fondness for 60s girl groups, probably even more than I do for female fronted indie bands. So it is quite strange that I have never sought out either of the Jelly Beans earlier records on Leiber and Stoller's Red Bird label. Not sure why this is so, as I do love You Don't Mean Me No Good, a stomper of a song full of attitude and the handclaps make you sit up and listen. This was released in 1965 and of course failed to chart the  final ingredient needed to make it one for the northern fraternity to seek out.

The Jelly Beans - You Don't Mean Me No Good