Saturday, 31 December 2011

Hogmanay



Usually at the moment I am fretting over the menu for tonight's meal for ten but due to changes in circumstances of a few of our friends it was not really on the cards this year. Instead we will be going three doors and bringing in the new year there. It also mean that I can slip away after the Bells and get to my bed and not have to wait until the last guests get their taxi, usually around 4 am.

I've never really been a fan of Hogmanay. Not since I was eighteen and spent the night in the cells charged with assault on a person unknown and drunk and disorderly. Both charges dropped in the morning I hasten to add when the police were questioned by my parents on how I got to be drunk within ten minutes of leaving the house where I hadn't had a drink all night and the person whom I allegedly assaulted had made a statement at the time stating that I had done nothing . I was eventually charged and found guilty of breach of the peace for informing a policeman that I knew my rights and that he could not say "shut the fuck up sonny, or I'll put your head through that fucking window".Scottish justice, something to be proud of.

Anyway,  I'm not sure what tonight's soundtrack will be but I will most certainly play these three songs before I climb in to my scratcher.

All the best when it comes and let's hope 2012 is better than 2011.

Jimmy Radcliffe - Long After Tonight Is All Over

Tobi Legend - Time Will Pass You By

Dean Parrish - I'm On My Way

Friday, 30 December 2011

It's Friday . . . Let's Dance



By Christ, that was a quick week. I most certainly have over indulged in food, alcohol not so much, although I did manage to arse a bottle of Foxdenton 48% London Gin and very nice it was too.

This Friday sees us back to 1993 and a bit of Gospel tinged House courtesy of the 50 strong Sounds of Blackness with a little smattering of the genius that was Sasha before he disappeared up his own arse. I apologise for the crackles but this was played quite a bit and I think that 1993 was not a very good year for quality vinyl as a lot of the 12" singles I have from then sound worse than they should do.

Have a good weekend people.

The Sounds of Blackness - I'm Going All The Way (Sasha's Chuff Chuff mix)

Wednesday, 28 December 2011

Stop



Here's a bit of blue eyed soul from 1967.

Bobby Diamond is better know as actor Robert Miano who started his film career in the original Death Wish film, the unfathomable popularity of which resulted in Michael Winner being the prick that he is these days, however I digress. But before that he recorded this stomper for Columbia which became a bit hit with the Casino crowd during the 70s.

Bobby Diamond - Stop

Tuesday, 27 December 2011

Too Much Apple Pie?



Well, I hope you have over indulged as much as I have and I'm not the only one feeling like a right fat pig.

The turkey turned out perfectly moist, everything worked out well. You can keep your Heston's, Jamie's et al for fool proof instructions has to be the domestic goddess, no not that pretender,  the daughter of that fuck wit of an ex Chancellor of the Exchequer. I mean Delia, I have never had any disasters when following her instructions and Sunday was no exception.

It is about the 27th that I start to yearn for some peace and quiet, however due to the fact that Lynn has a rather large family and my folks decided to spend Christmas in Colchester,  I can not go back into anti-social git mode until the 29th when Stiff and I will be attendance when Mr Gedge and Co take to the stage in Glasgow which I'm sure will be on a par with every other Wedding Present gig we've gone to 90 minutes of blistering guitars and songs of love and break up and then goodnight. We will leave satisfied and looking forward to the next time.

The Wedding Present - Kennedy (Live Sheperd's Bush Empire)

Saturday, 24 December 2011

Merry Christmas



Well, the Chocolate Torte is made the veg is all prepared, the turkey has been picked up from the butcher's after a "how fucking much" under my breath. I think it is time for a Bloody Mary and ten minutes to myself. Then if S has all his prep completed out for a couple of pints and I do mean a couple then back to wrap L's presents and then bed.

Thanks and all the best to all of you who have hovered around the kitchen table this past twelve months, whether it be to just grab a couple of tunes or leave comments. I really enjoy doing this nonsense for the most part and if even a couple of people hear something they would not have other wise heard and gone on to buy something by that artist or group then my job has been done

Have a merry Christmas people and service will probably resume on the 27th of December.

The Housemartins - Caravan Of Love

Friday, 23 December 2011

It's The Friday Before Christmas . . . Let's Dance



We'll that's that then. The closure of the Edinburgh office, a bit ironic that on Radio 4 last night there was a programme detailing how Scotland was leading the way with clinical trials in the UK and today the last presence by a Pharma Company in Scotland closes their Research office and not with a bang but with a miserable, barely discernible fart. I am, to say the least at a bit of a low ebb.

But enough of my woes it's the Friday before Christmas and by this time BC I would already be showered, dressed and down the local having the first of many and embarking upon a night which would inevitably end with a few jigs and then a kebab on the way home. Whereas tonight I will be fretting over Christmas lunch and trying to make Delia's "Famous Chocolate Torte". How times have changed.

No serious dub step or progressive house tonight just the sampletastic delights of the KLF and their guest, the daughter of Sissie Houston.

Have a great weekend people

The JAMS - Whitney Houston Joins The Jams

Thursday, 22 December 2011

Osaka Monaurail



Anybody up for a bit of Japanese soul?

It's a belter.

Osaka Monaurail have been going for quite a while, since the turn of the millennium. They have released eight albums and some very good 7" singles. This track is there first single since 2009 and features the vocal talents of Shirley Davis an Australian singer who we deserve to hear a whole lot more of.

Osaka Monaurail - No Trouble On The Mountain

Wednesday, 21 December 2011

He Got Game



Nothing to say really.

This has been going through my head all day today.

Public Enemy - He Got Game

Tuesday, 20 December 2011

Definitely The Last



I love Alex Harvey but strangely this is the first time he has appeard here.

The Sensational Alex Harvey Band - There's No Lights On The Christmas Tree Mama, They're Burning Big 
Louie

Corrrect link now in place 

Monday, 19 December 2011

Picture Me Gone



Here is one of my all time favourite northern tracks and one of the first that I ever bought on 7".

Madeline Bell's version of the track was released in 1967 on the Philips label but it took until the mid 80s and it's popularity amongst Scooterists for this song to get the recognition it rightfully deserved.

Madeline Bell - Picture Me Gone

Sunday, 18 December 2011

Gigs Of The Year



This year saw me attending more gigs than I did last year but there were still loads that I was unable to attend due to financial constraints or travelling with work.

Like last year the accolade of worst gig of the year goes to that spineless bastard Smith, not his band mind you,  who sounded great but the git himself who yet again decided that the crowd in Edinburgh did not deserve any effort on his part. Once more, thanks and I hope your feet continue to cause you problems you git.

There is no contest for gig of the year the accolade must go to the Boy Wonder who along with a very tight band put in a performance that even now thinking back on it has put a grin on my face but please, please, please Roddy don't leave it three years until you tour again!.

A mention must go to the Vaccines, not for the music, they weren't bad,  but just for the delight on Max's face throughout and my shoulders which have just about recovered from him bouncing up and down on for most of the 45 minutes they were on stage.

Roddy Frame - The Boy Wonders (Live at Ronnie Scott's)

The Vaccines - If You Wanna (Live from London)

The picture is of a not too patient son waiting for the Vaccines to take the stage at Latitude.

Saturday, 17 December 2011

DJ L Suggests . . .



. . . You might like to listen to Lunaire. He reckons it's a particularly nice piece of Shoegaze with just the right amount of twee and goes particularly well with the Arctic landscape outside.

Personally,  I think that this lot have been listening to more My Bloody Valentine and Trembling Blue Stars in their Melbourne apartments than is healthy but what do I know.

Lunaire - Pale Beneath A Brilliant Sky

Friday, 16 December 2011

A Reference To Beer On A Friday Can Mean Only One Thing



This is to keep Anon happy he has been rather quiet of late and well it is Christmas after all. It is also an excuse for me to post one of the best titled songs I have come across.

The Joy Formidable - My Beerdrunk Soul Is Sadder Than A Hundred Dead Christmas Trees

It's Friday . . . Let's Dance



I don't know about where you are but it's "bloody baltic" up hear in the frozen north. I'm not sure why we say this as the Baltic isn't a  particularly cold place b ut we do and it most certainly is.

So here is a track from 1992 which from the name of the band/producers alone makes me feel much warmer. It was released on UCR records and reminds me very much of  Liberation/Liberation 2 which were around about the same time as this.

I'm off to see Jetpacks tonight, on mine and Stiff's Christmas night out.

Have a good weekend people.

Mombassa - Cry Freedom - (Malawi mix)

Wednesday, 14 December 2011

Last One I Promise . . . Well Mebbie



This will be the last christmas track, well unlesss I have an urge to post something else.

I eventually got a copy of this on 7" single earlier this year while digging through the boxes on the floor in Head on one of my trips to Belfast. I already had the single sided seven with the vocal version but the choral version had alluded me up until then.

At the weekend I was thinking while making up a cd of Christmas tunes. Why didn't Blondie ever do a Christmas tune, if the Ramones could produce the brilliance that is  Merry Christmas (I Don't Want To Fight Tonight) what could Blondie have done?

Frightened Rabbit - It's Christmas So We'll Stop

Tuesday, 13 December 2011

Winston Smith



Following on from yesterday's post, here is a track in honour of the anti hero of 1984.

Winston Smith is one of the highlights from Dogs seciond album Tall Tales From Under The Table. I still think that they would have been more successful if they didn't have such a pish name.

Dogs - Winston Smith

Monday, 12 December 2011

Albion



Don't know what it is about this song but when I listen to it I automatically think of these lines:-

It was bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen. Winston Smith, his chin nuzzled into his breast in an effort to escape the vile wind, slipped quickly through the glass doors of Victory Mansions, though not quickly enough to prevent a swirl of gritty dust from entering along with him.

I know that this is not the kind of vision of England that Doherty was trying to portray but it is that sort of sepia tinged world that comes to my mind. I'm not slagging off the song I love it and especially this demo version from one of the many bootlegs that were kicking about during the heyday of the Libertines.

It is very easy to forget what a talented lyricist and musician Doherty is.

Pete Doherty - Albion

Sunday, 11 December 2011

Anothor Bloody Christmas Song Drew?



I had a successful day yesterday on the Byres Road and Gt Western Road. Suffice to say all presents are now bought and I also managed to get a few things in my favourite second hand record shop for good measure and one thing which turned out not to be what I originally thought it was but good none the less . So I am feeling a bit Christmassy.

You would have to be a real hard hearted bastard not to get emotional at this track and I will admit that it has produced a tear in my eye on more than one occasion.

Tim Minchin - White Wine In The Sun

Saturday, 10 December 2011

I Suppose It's Time




I have just put the tree up and at this moment L is still enjoying decorating it. Give her time and she will be at the end of her tether as the boys take off what she has put on, finds her favourite bauble, the one she has had since she was a kid broken and the lights not working. Season of joy indeed.

I'm off to the town, to Nancy Smillie's to try and get something for L's Christmas. So I suppose it's time to start posting a few and I do mean a few Christmas related songs.

The Raveonettes - The Christmas Song

Friday, 9 December 2011

It's Friday . . . Let's Dance



A lot later than normal.

Not had a chance to think about this but this was what I was listening to when I thought that my time had come yesterday while flying on the orange airline from Glasgow to Belfast.

Have a good weekend people.

Primal Scream - Come Together (Farley mix)

Wednesday, 7 December 2011

Spector, No Not That One


I'm off to Belfast 'til Friday.

Here is a track from th Tracks Of My Year. There has been a lot of coverage of Spector in the music press, some good, a lot bad. As far as I'm concerned, I've liked everything I've heard so far, they're far from being the most original band in the world but then again who is these days?

I particularly like the break at about 2 mins twenty.

Spector - Never Fade Away

Dobie Gray RIP



Go easy Dobie and thanks for Out On The Floor which always packed the floor at Scooterist do's.

However, this seems more appropriate.

Dobie Gray - Drift Away

Tuesday, 6 December 2011

The Girl Can't Help It



I'm not sure whether I've seen the film that this is the theme tune to or not. I have vague recollections of watching it some Saturday or Sunday afternoon a long time ago, however that may be rubbish. But I haven't been able to get the theme song out of my head since a programme a few weeks ago on Radio 4 recounting when  Jayne Mansfield came to England and toured the Working Men's Clubs in the north of England. The programme was quite bizarre.

Little Richard - The Girl Can't Help It

Monday, 5 December 2011

Bloody Snow!




The above picture was taken from my front door at about 8 am. The bloody white stuff is back, let's hope it is not a repeat of last year.

Comet Gain - Moments In The Snow

Sunday, 4 December 2011

"What do you expect us to do, go and make a jungle record?"



"Nothing justifies the track—it was a pile of shit but it did serve as a reminder why we should never go back in the studio again—'cos we knew we were past it . . . " Is how Bill Drummond described his and Jimmy Cauty's contribution to the Help album, a cd compiled in aid of the charity War Child.

However, I don't share Drummond's view, I love the track and it's one of the two tunes that made the purchase of the album worthwhile, well and the fact that the money raised was going to help children caught up in the conflict in the Balkans.

The One World Orchestra - The Magnificent.

Saturday, 3 December 2011

The Tracks Of My Year



This last twelve months has seen my fixation with dubstep and new dance tunes grow, without ever having set foot in a club, alas I think that my days for clubbing are well and truely in the past. I prefer to sit and listen to these tunes in the comfort of my red chair with a G&T in hand and the stereo at a loud but still acceptable, volume.

I have also bought quite a few old  R&B sevens and some much sought agfter northern singles by the likes of Bobby Kline and Martha Reeves. I have discounted these from the list of tracks, deciding that only singles  released this year would make the list. Also eliminated was the John Talabot remix of Shelter which I finally managed to get a hold of, released in a ludicriously limited pressing only available in Japan. I decided that due to the fact that I had flogged it to death for the last three months of 2010 on download, it really belonged to last year but Jamie xx does make more than one appearance in the list.

Only one track in the list was not released on vinyl and that is the Weatherall mix of Watch Me Dance by Toddla T. This track was all set to be released and I had indeed ordered it but due to some stupid pricks deciding to turn all of independent releases for September  into a steaming pile of black wax the track was never released.

Lastly, track two didn't come out as a single, however I am still hoping that it will do and have contacted those responsible begging for this to happen. Actually, when I look at the list not all the tracks were singles, I think I just wished they had been.

So without further ado, here are the tracks of my year, you may disagree with my choices but of course as ever you will be wrong.

1. Free School - Lemon (original)
2. White Label/Stolen Voices - Jean 1
3. Cults - Do You Know What I Mean
4. Koreless - 4D
5. Massive Attack/Burial - Four Walls
6. Gil Scott Heron/Jamie xx - I'll Take Care Of You
7. Walls - Sun Porch
8. Jamie xx - Far Nearer
9. Airborne Toxic Event - All At Once (Live King's College London)
10.Zomby - Natalia's Song
11.Darren Haymen/Elizabeth Morris - I Know I Fucked Up
12.Big Deal - Talk
13.Massive Attack/Burial - Paradise Circus
14.Creep - Days (Deadboy mix)
15.Dauwd- What's There
16.Fab Samperi - In The River (Ursula 1000 mix)
17.Shackleton - Fireworks
18.Cat's Eyes - Over You
19.Mogwai - George Square Thatcher Death Party
20.Joy Formidable - I Don't Want To See You Like This
21. The Fall - Nate Will Not Return
22.Slow Club - Beginners
23.Frightened Rabbit - Fuck This Place
24.Four Tet - Locked
25.Jeff Miles - Something In The Sky (pt 7)
26.Arctic Monkeys - The Hell Cat Spangled Shala La La
27.Guards - Resolution Of One
28.Radiohead - Good Evening Mrs Magpie (Modeselektor  rmx)
29.Maurice Donovan - Satisfied
30.Dead Beat - 1st Quarter (SCB mix)
31. Vaccines - Post Break Up Sex
32.Gui Borrato - This Is Not The End
33.The Kills - Satellite (Out Of Orbit Dub)
34.Deadboy - Here
35.Chapel Club - Surfacing
36.Adele - Rolling In The Deep (Jamie xx mix)
37.Spector - Never Fade Away
38.Cancel The Astronauts - Seven Vices
39. Toddla T - Watch Me Dance
40.King Post Kitch - Don't You Touch My Fucking Honeytone

Friday, 2 December 2011

It's Friday . . . Let's Dance



Today's piece of vinyl was one of those records you picked up having not heard but everybody else had been raving about or in this case raving to. When I eventually got around to listening to it I was more than a little disappointed.

Forty Miles is built around a looped piano sample from Jimi Polo's Better Days and was originally released on Inner Rhythm in 1991. I have posted the instrumental version as the vocals on the other side add nothing to the track and are in truth awful.

Have a good weekend people.

Congress - 40 Miles

Thursday, 1 December 2011

Hound Dog



I don't know why it is but I seem to be swinging from the latest Techno and Dubstep back to the earliest R&B and Soul at the moment and sort of disregarding everything in between.

Here's another 7 inch re-press I managed to get my hands on recently.

Big Mama Thornton - Hound Dog

Wednesday, 30 November 2011

Not Another Remix Of Limit To Your Love, You Say



Last week Acid Ted posted a couple of remixes of Limit To Your Love by James Blake and I commented that I had ben totally underwhelmed by what I had heard. That was until I heard today's track but I think that my liking for this track has more to do with the freshness of the remix rather than the source material

Dauwd is a young producer/chef from Wales who has recently signed to Pictures Music, alongside Koreless and his debut single released a couple of weeks and effortlessly made it's way into The Tracks Of My Year. I posted one of the tracks on side two on Sunday and will be avidly looking out for further releases.

James Blake - Limit To Your Love (Dauwd remix)

Tuesday, 29 November 2011

Celebrate, What's To Celebrate?



I'm off down to Luton for a few days to "celebrate success" and look to the future. The thing is I'm not really in the mood to celebrate success when I know that by the 23rd of December the office that I worked in for a good few years and many highly competent, professional and knowledgeable people will no longer be there and will no longer be on the end of the phone or just an email away with their expertise and support.

Management just don't get it.  They think that one day we can reflect upon all the successes and the very next say that's the end of that and just get on to the tasks at hand.

I for one am not like that, it will be quite a while before I will be ready to move on. I am not, as they say in management speak, change averse, I just don't like to see good people cast aside while within the leadership  some make themselves indispensable while others have spent the last god knows how long positioning themselves and schmoozing so that they are alright, thank you very much.

On the same day as I will be "celebrating" success, millions of others will be on strike to keep their pension rights.  Credit where credit's due, the government and the right wing press have done a brilliant job in polarising the workforce into public and private sector employees.  What we need to do is stick together against the Coalition and all of those companies using the excuse of the recession to cut their workforce to the bone or transfer the work overseas in order to keep the EPS high and to support each other in the fight for a fair return at the end of our working days, irrespective of whether that was for the public of private sector.

Iggy Pop - Success

Monday, 28 November 2011

Good Rockin'



While looking through some vinyl yesterday I came across Good Rockin' by Rocking Dopsie and the Cajun Twisters. I hadn't played this album in years so put it on and was delighted to find out that it sounded as good yesterday as it did when I first bought it, over twenty years ago on the recommendation of Big Boab.

Rocking Dopsie And The Cajun Twisters - Look Out Mr Heartache

Sunday, 27 November 2011

Saturday, 26 November 2011

Friday, 25 November 2011

Friday Night Pass



It is nearly as rare as meeting a fellow blogger down in the smoke for a few pints and sorting out the whole of pop music but it has happened, me and my mate have finally been able to obtain Friday night passes at the same time.

In honour of the occasion it has been necessary to move Sturdy Girl from the sidelines to her rightful place on a Friday night.

Sorry that the tune has been used before, but I have surprisingly  few beer related songs on my hard drive. I do have a good one I am keeping under wraps for late next month.

N.W.A. - 8 Ball

It's Friday . . . Let's Dance



I've had a week in Scotland for a change, no stupid o'clock flight's, long train journeys or value depreciating car journeys. Would like to say that I'm all the better for it but I feel as if I've been slacking somehow.

Today's track comes from 1993, contains a sample from a Primal Scream song and was released on the Bosting label and that is about all I know about it. You can go look it up on the internet if you're so inclined but my association with Mother begins and ends here.

Have a good weekend people.

Mother - All Funked Up (Mother's Pride mix)

Thursday, 24 November 2011

Say Something Nice To Me



 This popped through my door today. At last I have it on 7".

As with Saturday's post, file under Pure Class.

Bobby Kline - Say Something Nice To Me

Love Is Like An Itching In My Heart



Here is a brilliant bit of what would you say, mainstream soul, I think I will stay clear of the P word.

This Holland-Dozzier-Holland composition was recorded in 1965 and released the following year when it reached number 9 in the Billboard charts joining the select club of Supremes songs penned by that illustious trio which didn't get to number one. For me it is right up there with the best and is probably the single I play most, either that or Come See About Me.

The Supremes - Love Is Like An Itching In My Heart

Wednesday, 23 November 2011

My Sugar Baby



Right, let's get back on track after yesterday's little excursion into the universe of Dr Alex P and back to the soul and a track that I can't believe that I haven't posted before as it is one of my all time favourite northern tracks, guaranteed to get shoes a shuffling and hips a moving.

If you find My Sugar Baby rather similar to the all time number one northern and most expensive single ever, Do I Love You (Indeed I Do), it may not surprise you that it was written and produced by the Legend that is Frank Wilson. There is a version recorded by Wilson himself, available on A Cellarful of Motown, however I prefer the version posted here by Connie Clark and released on the Joker Records label.

Connie went on to record for Motown under her real name Chris Clark and did a version of Do I Love which is also rather fine. She was one of the few white female vocalists signed to the Motown label and started off recording for the subsidiary label VIP for which she released three singles before recording for Motown proper where she recorded a single From Head To Toe and two albums which are good but none of which hit the peaks of My Sugar Baby or Do I Love You. Once her recording career finished Clark stayed with Motown and worked in a managerial capacity for the label.

The above is all bollocks, I was totally misinformed, Chris Clark and Connie Clark are two complete different individuals.

Connie Clark - My Sugar Baby

Tuesday, 22 November 2011

Majestic



On the long journey up the road on Friday while making the resolution of never drinking with Davy H on a school night ever again, I was looking for something mellow to play and decided upon the Orb. Recently whenever I have reached for the Orb it has been Adventures, or Baghdad Batteries. I felt that the former was rather too cliched for this situation and well,  Baghdad Batteries had too many beats for my head to contend with at that time.

I decided to opt for U.F.Orb which I realised I hadn't played for a long time, if you discount the full version of The Blue Room or the Mad Professor's mix of Towers Of Dub,  both of which get dusted down every month or so. I started to ponder why this was as I immersed myself in the soundscape that is O.O.B.E.and in no time at all I began to feel human again, the combination of the sounds of Dr Alex and Thrash and the second gin and tonic doing the trick nicely. By the time Majestic began to pound through my headphones I had resolved to play this criminally overlooked album much more often.

I remember seeing "The Orb is not just for Christmas" written somewhere, never a truer statement.

The Orb - Majestic

Monday, 21 November 2011

Baby Don't You Weep



I have been on a bit of a northern tip this weekend. Maybe I'm trying to cleanse my mind of all of those suggestions of Norman Greenbaum, T Rex, Haircut 100 and the rest over at Davy H's bit. Or maybe I am just in the mood for an all nighter or weekender as I have recently been reminiscing about the Togetherness Weekender's at the Cala Grand Holiday Park in Fleetwood. Those were the days.

Let's start off the week with an always in demand track, Baby Don't You Weep by Edward Hamilton and the Arabians which is an absolute belter, released in the states on the Mary Jane label out of Detroit and over here much later in 1980 on Grapevine. It was recently re released by Outa Sight on a label which is virtually identical to the original.

Listen and see if all remnants of Sugar Sugar are now expunged from your mind.

Edward Hamilton and The Arabians - Baby Don't You Weep

Sunday, 20 November 2011

Baby Please Don't Go



Here is something a bit special, courtesy of those wonderful crate diggers at Jazzmann Records.

Rose Mitchell's version of Baby Please Don't Go was the first release on Jazzman's Juke Box Jam series and I can't think of a better track. This, in my opinion is the best version of this oft covered r n b standard. What an amazing vocal delivery and those handclaps really set the whole thing off.

Unfortunately, I missed out on the 7" release but got a second chance when the label rereleased it on a wonderful 10" single in the stylee of an old 78 and backed by two further renditions of the track by Jo Ann Henderson and Big Maybelle both of which are wonderful but not quite the same league as this one.


Rose Mitchell - Baby Please Don't Go

Saturday, 19 November 2011

The Stunners



With the controversy still raging over at Mr H's, the only thing for certain is that Davy no longer qualifies for membership in the "This Blog Continues To Decline Foundation For Middle Aged Men" so it is with a heavy heart that I hereby revoke said membership.

Oh and while we are on the subject of classification, just file today's track under, class,  sheer class.

The Stunners - Nobody But Me

Friday, 18 November 2011

It's Friday . . . Let's Dance



While you are reading this I will be letting the train take the strain getting the 16:57 from Euston back to civilisation.

I had totally forgotten about today's track until I was scrolling through the posts on Pure Club Classics when I came across a posting for the Brothers in Rhythm remix of Here Comes The Rain Again which I remembered being rather good.

I'm sure that the first time that I heard this was on the radio during a Brothers In Rhythm mix on Pete Tong's Essential mix. I remember trying to hunt the track down only to find out that it was only available as one of the Remix Culture releases from DMC which were exclusively available to DJs and therefore rarer than hobby horse shit.

Anyway, after down loading the track from Pure Club Classics and finding that it has aged quite well I decided to see if I could find a copy on Discogs. After clicking on to what has to be the best and for me probably the costliest website I have as a bookmark I found out that it was actually part of a double pack 12" with other remixes of the likes of Salt n Pepa and Degrees Of Motion. There was a quite reasonably priced copy for sale so I decided to take a punt on it. When it arrived, as I suspected none of the other tracks were as good as Eurythmics remix but I think I still got a pretty good deal as it was worth it for the Brothers in Rhythm mix alone.

Have a good weekend people.

The Eurythmics - Here Comes The Rain Again (The Big Brothers Annual Outing)

Thursday, 17 November 2011

Lazy Week pt 4



Up until a couple of years ago I was under the impression that today's track was a Cramps original. With a title like Goo Goo Muck, I thought that it had to come from the demented minds of Lux and Ivy.

How wrong I was, not only was it not an original but it was first recorded in 1962 by Ronnie Cook and the Gaylads.

Ronnie Cook and The Gaylads - Goo Goo Muck

Wednesday, 16 November 2011

Lazy Week pt3



The Fall have picked some songs to cover which at first glance induce a shudder of absolute incredulity, for example Black Night by Deep Purple, sometimes they work wonderfully as in the sublime cover of Lost In Music at other times the work less well and today's choice of tune should definitely be included in the later category, suffice to say it isn't one of the group's finest moments.

I have no idea what  possessed Smith to cover Houston by Dean Martin, maybe he felt an affinity with the Hollywood star as Martin was also a bit of a jakey but I can find no details anywhere of  Dino being a gutless, robbing bastard, so that's just conjecture on my part.

Houston was released as a single in 1965 as a single and was produced by the great Lee Hazelwood.

Dean Martin - Houston

Tuesday, 15 November 2011

Lazy Week pt 2



Well at least the performance review is over for another 6 months. I have no idea whether I am where I should be or not and anyway it's all arbitrary as there is a curve to follow and we can't have too many people doing well as that wouldn't fit in with whoever's bullshit theory the curve was, I'm sure I could find out if I really gave a toss. That's not to say I don't give a shit about my work, it's just all the bullshit that I can't be doing with.

Anyway,  back to the important stuff, Surfin' Bird is probably the maddest song ever and one that always puts a smile on my face. The song itself, borrows heavily from Papa Oom Mow Mow by The Rivingtons. It was released in 1963 in the US and got to number two. Apparently it was re released over here in 2009 and was also used in a campaign for stopping the last cack factor winner getting to number 1 last year. Both of which I was oblivious about.

The Cramps version was produced by Alex Chilton and was released in 1978. However the first version I ever remember hearing was the Ramones version which was on their third album Rocket To Russia.

The Trashmen - Surfin' Bird

Monday, 14 November 2011

Lazy Week pt 1



Right, I have a really shit week ahead.

End of year review today and three days in the smoke to look forward to. So I have decided to do a week of original songs that were either covered by the Cramps or The Fall, two of the most plagiaristic bands in my collection, indeed a couple of this weeks track will have been covered by both. Both bands however put their own inimitable slant on anything they cover.

First up we have Strychnine by the Sonics and released on their 1965 album Here Are The Sonics, the track was also included on the seminal Nuggets compilation of 60s US Garage bands.

This was also the last track that waste of space and fuck-wit Smith sung from the stage the other Thursday in Edinburgh. The Fall's version can be found on The Complete Peel Sessions and various live things. The Cramps version appears on Songs The Lord Taught Us.

The Sonics - Strychnine

Sunday, 13 November 2011

Crimson & Clover



Prince's version of this came on the mp3 player on Thursday during my long journey up the road from Nottingham when I rashly opted to drive rather than wait the three hours for my flight home.

I think that Joan Jett's versdion is my favourite,  just a baw hair in front of the original by Tommy James and The Shondells.

Joan Jett & The Blackhearts - Crimson & Clover

Saturday, 12 November 2011

Eye Know



Some Daisy Age hip-hop for you. Back in the day when there was no East Coast/West Coast shit going on and guys rapped about more than money, ho's and guns. It seems so long ago.

It was a bloody long time ago, twenty one years ago to be precise.

De La Soul - Eye Know (Daisy Bass mix)

Friday, 11 November 2011

It's Friday . . . Let's Dance



I don't know about you but I'm in the mood for some uplifting house music, courtesy of Strictly Rhthym.

I am not ashamed to admit that I cried the first time I heard this, granted I was full of more than just emotion that night but still.

Have a good weekend people.

South Street Player - (Who?) Keeps Changing Your Mind