Country Line

I recently purchased a wonderful, chunky old Technics 630 tape deck from ebay for the very reasonable price of 20 quid plus another £10 for next day courier delivery. It had been bugging me for some time that I no longer had something to play all my old cassettes on, actually ever since I made a half arsed attempt to clear out the cupboard on the half landing where all the junk gets forgotten about. During this futile attempt to de-clutter I came across 3 wine crates full of tapes, most mine but some L's and even though we no longer had the facility to play them I just couldn't bring myself to take them to the cowp.

Since getting the tape deck rigged up I have been delving into these crates, there are loads of Essential Mixes from 1993 to about 1996, plenty of Weatherall mix tapes and a whole load of my old dance mixes which I am too scared to listen to as there is bound to be some horrendous attempts at beat mixing and more than several train crashes.

There are also loads of bootlegs everything from Crass at the ZigZag Club, through the Smiths at the Barrowlands in 84 to really badly recorded Velvet Underground ones. Most of these were purchased at Revolver record stall at the Barras at over inflated prices, as the quality of the tapes that you took home never seemed as good as the ones the shady guy with the ponytail let you hear when you were buying them.

In fact the first tape I put in the deck was a Billy Bragg bootleg from a concert at the Barras in Nov 86 which I was at. Unfortunately the deck took a serious dislike to the TDK D 120 and chewed it up, which did not bode well, however up til now that is the only thing that the machine has chewed up, thankfully.

Getting back to the point of the post, while trailing through one of the crates I found a cover simply titled 77 to 82, a rather wide time frame for a single c90 granted but every track was brilliant. This was a tape that my best mate's elder brother had put together and I had "borrowed" in order to record. This tape was my introduction to Jonathan Richman's That Summer Feeling and the track I'm going to post today. There are probably loads more tracks I first heard on this tape but these are the only that stick out. It would probably have helped if W had listed the tracks on the cover and it would be handy if the tape was actually in the cover and I could play it but it's not and I haven't had the time to search for it.

The track is called Country Mile and it was the b side of the third single More Than A Dream by The Farmer's Boys.

The Farmer's Boys were a band from Norwich who formed in 1982 and split in 1985. They released 9 singles and 2 albums in their time and are probably best known for their cover of the Cliff Richard song In The Country, no don't click away, they were actually pretty good.

The Farmer's Boys - The Country Line

I'm hoping that I come across the c90 that D did for me back in 1987 which consists of From Across the Kitchen Table over both sides of the tape as mentioned in the first post on here, as I know that I haven't thrown that out.

Lone Justice

Lone Justice have featured on this blog before with their cover of Sweet Jane. The couple of tracks posted today come from their self titled first album, which is an absolute gem, very rough with Maria McKee's vocal delivery not dissimilar to Janis Joplin's.

I first saw Lone Justice on the Whistle Test and something about them got me interested. I can't remember just what it was, as country rock or cowpunk as some music journalist labelled them was not the sort of thing that I was listening to at the time ( I think I spent much of 1985 with Psychocandy on repeat). Something made my go to Glasgow in search of the album which did not disappoint on first listen and still sounded good at the weekend when I played it again for the first time in ages. It doesn't sound quite as raw now as I thought it did but McKee's vocal sounds as good as ever, she really can belt it out.

Lone Justice went on to make a second album which was not a patch on the first, it sounded too smooth, too well produced. I blame Bonzo, I blame him for a lot of things but this time with some justification. After the critical success of the first album Lone Justice went on tour with the Irish band and McKee started hanging about with them, then they go into the studio and produce a bland soulless album, coincidence? I think not.

Shortly after the release of the second album, McKee broke up the band and embarked on a solo career. The first 2 albums of which are excellent, however the following 2 I couldn't get into at all and haven't bothered with anything since.

Interesting fact or possibly not, Ricky Ross wrote Real Gone Kid about McKee after Deacon Blue supported Lone Justice.

Lone Justice - After The Flood

Lone Justice - Ways To Be Wicked

Back To Pit Boots and Purridge

I'm back to work today after 2 weeks rest and recuperation. It won't be that bad, I just wonder how many efficiency and cost saving measures have been implemented in my absence, it is a given that there will be at least one.

Spare a thought for L though as today is also her first day back after a little longer than myself, six and a half months to be exact. It is going to to be a bit of a culture shock for both her and our youngest, who will be packed off with his brother to their Gran's.

Here's one of L's favorite tracks and another which may very well sum up her mood tomorrow night.

Ted Hawkins - Bring It On Home To Me

Arctic Monkeys - Mardy Bum

FYI - "back to pit boots and purridge on Monday, Sarah", were the immortal words which my uncle Jimmy would say with a deep sigh every time it was back to work after a holiday, when I was wee I never understood why he would talk about pit boots when he worked in the steelworks.

The Power Of Advertising

I was watching the telly the other night and during the break Hannibal Lecter was banging on about the scene in Blade Runner where Rutger Hauer was on the rooftop and does the tears in the rain speech, in the vain attempt to get me to subscribe to Rupert Murdoch's Shit TV.

I haven't seen Blade Runner for quite a few years, it used to be essential post pub/club viewing with a few spliffs in one of my mates flat, when the debates would start over whether Deckard was a replicant himself or which of the 7 versions was actually the best. Personally I liked the voice over on the original release but I know most folk don't.

One thing that was never argued about was the soundtrack and how good it was. There was the odd gripe about the inferior New American Orchestra recording which was released in 1982 but when Vangelis' score was finally available on CD in 1994 this was no longer an issue. Since then there have been several bootleg soundtracks slipped out and Vangelis released a 3 disc version containing the original score, unreleased tracks and a third disc of music inspired by Blade Runner, none of which I have heard as having the 1994 version this package is very low on the wants list.

Due to Dr Lecter and Murdoch's advert i decided it was about time that I watched Blade Runner again, so headed to Amazon where it can be picked up in the "final" cut for a very reasonable £4.96 quite a bit cheaper than a subscription to satellite tv.

Here are two of my favorite tracks from the soundtrack.

Vangelis - Memories of Green

Vangelis - Tears In Rain

It's Friday . . . Let's Dance.

After a week of rather frenzied Rave and Techno, I think that it is time for some for soulful dance floor fodder. The tracks posted today are probably 2 of the best known northern soul tracks and are number 23 and 24 in the Northern Soul Top 500. They are songs that I flogged to death when I was younger but don't get played very often these days which is a shame as they are excellent dancers and great tunes. Marc Almond must have thought so too as Soft Cell covered both of these.

First up and at number 23 in the a fore mentioned tome is Judy Clay with a track released on the Strider label in 1966 and almost charted in the UK. What is on the poppier side of northern soul but no less a track for it.

Judy Street - What

At number 24 we find Gloria Jones with the tune that started my obsession with this genre of music over 25 years ago when I found out that the Soft Cell version was a cover and invested in couple of compilation albums, Casino Classics Chapters one. The track was released in the US in 1965 on the Champion Records label and as is the norm in northern soul failed to chart. It was picked up by the Wigan Djs in late 1973 and the rest as they say is history.

Gloria Jones - Tainted Love

More Powerful Than You Could Possibly Imagine

Not a lot needs to said about this track. My favorite early Rave anthem it's got everything from the Italian house like piano to the Obi Wan sample this has to be one of the best tracks of 1990. Never got sick of hearing the intro when out clubbing and it still sounds fresh to these ears at least today.

I've posted the original and the Raid At Dawn mix from the remix twelve.

Together - Hardcore Uproar

Together - Hardcore Uproar ( Raid At Dawn)

Kettles, Don't Get The Stripey Stuff, It Nips My Gums

The holy grail of 80's TV comedy drama dropped through my letterbox this morning.

The BBC finally decided to release Tuttu Frutti on DVD. I have been waiting for this event for nearly 20 years, it will be that long since I lost my VHS copy of this brilliant show. It has never been explained as to why this show was only repeated once, later the same year as first released. When interviewed John Byrne only comment was that he intended it to be a one off.


The story revolves around a washed up covers band the Majestics who need to find a new singer after the death of theirs in an road traffic accident involving a kebab. The younger brother of the dead singer is drafted in to fulfill their obligations around a 25th anniversary tour and a documentary.

The series made stars out of Robbie Coltraine, Emma Thompson and Richard Wilson the devious, conniving manager, Eddie Clockerty.

Posted is the original of a track that Coltraine and Thompson duet on to great effect in the series.

Mickey and Sylvia - Love Is Strange

Guess what I will be watching tonight?

Just Because

Davy H over at the Ghost of Electricity has a post about the wonderful Candi Staton and mentions that the tracks come from a split album with Staton on one side and Bettye Swann on the other. On reading this I thought I would post 2 tracks from the only split LP that I own and it is a belter Hendrix and Otis Live at the Monterey Pop Festival.

Jimi Hendrix - Like A Rolling Stone

Otis Redding - Try A Little Tenderness

The Baron Of Techno

Dave Clarke started off as as hip hop / electro dj in the mid 80's and changed to acid house in the late 8os and by the early 90s was an influential Face on the Techno scene.

His dj sets as you would expect from someone who started in hip hop are full of cut ups and scratching, the music being predominately from the darker end of the dance spectrum.

He first came to prominence with the Red series of 3 rather brilliant 12" singles on the Bush and deConstruction label. Clarke also recorded a session and 2 live mixes for John Peel who gave him the moniker of "The Baron of Techno".

Dave Clarke - Protective Custody

Rave - Scots Style

Around about the end of 1991 beginning of 1992, 2 distinct camps were forming amongst my friends into dance music some of us were embracing progressive house and the slower bpms while others were getting into the much harder sounds coming out of the Rave scene and stuff coming from the continent and the Netherlands in particular. I think that a lot of this had to do with the less pure MDMA and the greater use of speed within this group.

As I've said before I was generally not into this type of music. One track however that I did quite like was Energy Rush by Suburban Delay which I bought at the time as it was the first release on Clubscene records an off shoot from a free club listing and review magazine distributed around Central Scotland. This track was first released in 1992 and was later re-released with a terrible vocal track over the top.

Please forgive the crackles on the rip, this was a track which I used to stick on to placate the cheesy quavers in the pub where I worked at the time and ended up having to be played at least once every night.

Suburban Delay - Energy Rush

Shame

I think that a couple of days of not too serious,  early 90's oldskool Rave is in order. After posting Acen yesterday, I decided to dig through my twelves and find some tunes in a similar vein. There aren't that many as at this time I was mostly buying Boy's Own, Cowboy, Guerilla and similar stuff. Of those that I found very few have stood the test of time and a couple are just plain pish, however I have found some that are worth listening to again.

Although seen as a joke by a lot of people due to the face masks and NBC suits Altern-8 produced some really good singles and were leading figures in the Rave scene. Can't really tell you that much about them, although I seem to remember that they got up to quite a few scams, like turning up outside Shelley's nightclub and performing on the back of a flatbed truck, not in the same league as the KLF but entertaining.

I think that this is the best thing that they produced.

Altern-8 vs Evelyn king - Shame

Better Late Than Never

Just back. Had a great week up north and it only rained once, granted it lasted all day but still it was only one day out of seven which must be some kind of record for Scotland during the month of July.

I meant to do a post on the 40th anniversary of the moon landing the other week and schedule it for last Monday but never got round to it. I don't know whether I believe that Armstrong, Aldrin and the other ten astronauts have set foot on the moon, I would like to believe that they did, however the sceptic in me thinks that it is all a little to convenient and also with Tricky Dickie in the White House at the time anything is possible.

Anyway, here is a nice bit of breakbeat to celebrate with.

Acen - Trip To The Moon (the darkness)

BTW I also saw Elvis last week, he is working in a chippy in Inverness

Go North, Middle aged man.

Nothing to see here for the next week.

It is the Glasgow Fair and I have decided that it's about time that I revived the family tradition of all getting in the car and going South for a couple of weeks, although I have decided to put my own slant on it, we are going away for a week and up North rather than down South.

So I will leave you with a track from a criminally under represented form of music on this blog, hip hop, something I will strive to sort out in the coming months.

The Ultramagnetic MC's - Travelling At The Speed Of Thought

It's Friday . . . Let's Dance

Back to the heady days of progressive house during the early nineties when leather trousers and long hair were de rigueur in clubbing circles for today's offering.

Rejuvination were Glen Gibbons and Jim Muotune who along with the Slam boys and Dave Clarke founded probably the best label out of Glasgow since Postcard, Soma Quality Recordings. In fact they shared the billing with Slam on the first ever Soma release Eterna/IBO. This track was their second single from 1993, so probably after the leather trousers had been thrown to the back of the wardrobe by the uber trendies.

This track reminds me of the Arches in Glasgow and I especially love the breakdown about half way through.

Rejuvination - Requiem

A Couple of Songs of Love and Longing

It's been nearly a couple of weeks since we've had any soul posted here, can't quite believe that I could go that long without a bit of motown or something similar.

Here are two classic songs of lost love and longing which Motown do so well.

First up is Martha Reeves with a single from the early 70's which did nothing at the time but has been heard regularly at soul nights over the past decade.

Martha Reeves - No One There.

Next we have the Blue Sharks version of a tune made famous by the Velvelettes one of whom Sandra Tille joined Martha Reeves as a Vandella. I prefer this version by a band that I know nothing about and have never even seen a copy of this single.

The Blue Sharks - These Things Will Keep Me Lovin' You

Graceland

I don't really know that much about The Bible (the band, don't know that much about the book either to be honest), I suppose you could wiki them if you wanted. The track Graceland is quite a typical mid eighties sounding indie tune which I flogged to death at the time of release and doesn't sound too shabby today either.

Wonder why I never bought anything else by them other than this single?

The version posted is the re-recording from 1989 and not the original mix which is far too crackly to inflict upon you.

The Bible - Graceland

I Knew These People

Today's track is a bit of a curiosity. I say track but it is really a scene from one of my favorite films which was included in it's entirety on the soundtrack album.

Paris Texas was a film directed by Wim Wenders from a story written by Sam Shepherd and starring Harry Dean Stanton. At it's basics it is the story of an amnesiac who has reappeared after 4 years and of his attempt to make sense of what happened and try to reconcile his family on his return. The film is beautifully shot and has some wonderful performances notably Harry Dean Stanton and Dean Stockwell. Or as one of my less discerning friends once said, "self indulgent, chin stroking pish".

I've never been a great fan of Ry Cooder's music but I don't think that this film would have half the impact without the harsh, jarring sound of his steel guitar and especially the acoustic Spanish guitar which breaks in half way through the track posted and which turns an already emotional scene into a heartbreaking one.

Enjoy.

Ry Cooder - I Knew These People

Long White Car

From a band with one ex member of Altered Images yesterday to another today.

Hipsway were formed by ex Altered Images guitarist Johnny McElhone in 1984 with Harry Travers and and Graham Skinner both from the band White Savages who had supported Altered Images on tour. During the formative days of the band James Grant who had left Friends Again and had yet to form Love And Money helped out on guitar and this may explain the slight similarity between a couple of Hipsway numbers and the songs of Grant's previous band.

Hipsway's eponymous album was released in 1986 and did fairly well in the UK. Their biggest chart success was the Honeythief which reached #17 in the UK charts. However in Scotland they are probably better know for the track Tinder which was used in the ad campaign for a certain Scottish Lager which doesn't start with a T.

McElhone frustrated by the lack of success and a split which had appeared in the band left in 1986 to form the rock then blue eyed soul band Texas. The band continued and released a 2nd album in 1989 called Scratch The Surface which I have no knowledge of as by this time I had found house music and had little time for anything else.

The track posted, is in my opinion the best thing that Hipsway ever did and was also the final single from the first album and reached the giddy heights of # 55.

Hipsway - Long White Car

Breakdown

Just the thing for a Sunday. Another slice of One Dove, this time the forth track released as a single from the Morning Dove White album. If you don't own this album, why not?. It can be picked up from Amazon Marketplace for the paltry sum of £2.99. You owe it to yourself to have a copy of this album.

I've posted both the album and Weatherall's Squire Black Dove Rides Out mixes.

One Dove - Breakdown

One Dove - Breakdown (Squire Black Dove Rides Out)

It's Friday . . . Let's Dance

Today's number comes courtesy of Amsterdam in the early 1990's.

Get Down Tonight is by Fierce Ruling Diva and is basically a techno track built round a KC and the Sunshine Band sample. The track is tucked away on side c of the double pack 12" Anarchic Adjustments by the duo.

For the life of me I cannot understand what possessed me to buy this 12" as after pulling it out and listening to it last night, this track is the only redeeming feature on an otherwise piss poor, in my opinion, couple of records. The music is not the sort of thing that I was listening to back then, it is the sort of thing that a lot of people I knew were listening to but I couldn't stand. The tunes that the Clubscene label up here in Scotland tried to emulate and which were very popular in the Central Belt and the North East of England.

Fierce Ruling Diva are probably best remembered for the track You Gotta Believe, which I also possess for some reason. I'm not sure that the drugs were ever good enough to make me want these singles.

A few years later, I do remember an add for crap American beer using another track built around the same sample.

Fierce Ruling Diva - Get Down Tonight