Sun

Three sunny days in a row up here. Could it be that Spring has sprung?

Aztec Camera - Sun

Bigger Brighter Better

I had a bit of a Roddy Frame fest yesterday but decided to play the albums that I seem to over look for the more obvious choices such as High Land Hard Rain or Surf. So I played the final two Aztec Camera albums Dreamland and Frestonia and also the first much overlooked solo album the North Star. All 3 albums are brilliant both musically and lyrically. Why Roddy Frame is not more highly regarded is a mystery to me, it also makes me quite angry when you see some of the mediocre musicians and song writers that are venerated in the music press and beyond.

Here is as Roddy says on one of the live cds "an autobiographical song" from the afore mentioned North Star. I was going to post Sun from the Frestonia lp as it was rather pleasant up here yesterday but by posting it I would probably put the kibosh on that.

It has been far too long since we have had either any new material or a tour from The Boy Wonder.

Roddy Frame - Bigger Brighter Better

"If You're Gonna Play It Out Of Tune, Play It Out Of Tune Properly" pt 1

Those of you of the same disposition as Ctel, in that you can't fucking stand Mark E Smith and The Fall should mibbe be better giving this blog a body swerve for the next few Saturdays or until I get bored and get an original idea and go with that but until that happens you're stuck with this.

I think that I may have mentioned a couple of times of the high esteem that I hold The Fall in and have posted one or two of their tracks over the two and a bit years that this blog has been going. Over there 34 year history the gruppe have had a penchant for including cover versions on their albums and live. No genre is safe from getting the Fall treatment, everything from rock, Deep Purple's Black Night, through disco and encompassing William Blake poems later sung as hymns and all transformed to be instantly recognisable as Fall songs.

I think we will start with one of Max's favourite songs.

$Foldin - Money was originally recorded by Tommy Blake, a man who could have been a forerunner of Smith's, described as a "headlong troublemaker" by one contemporary and another said of him "Some guys can give it a shot, accept that the public doesn't want to buy what they have to sell, then move on, happy that they at least tried. Not Tommy Blake. That could have been written about Smith. The Song was released as a single in the States in 1959. He had a chequered career, passing through quite a few different labels in the late 50s and 60s. He succumbed to the twin vices of alcohol and drugs and on Christmas Eve 1985 he was shot dead by his third wife.

Tommy Blake - $Foldin'  - Money

The Fall recorded their version in 1999, it was included on that year's Marshall Suite album and was also released as a single.

The Fall - F-'oldin' Money

Brass Monkey Anyone?

I think that you may be relived to hear that this will probably be the last in the series of drink related Friday posts.

So to finish with do we have a sophisticated cocktail or a fine wine?  No in true ATKT stylee we have a pretty scummy, cheap and nasty concoction of malt liquor and orange juice which the Beastie Boys rapped about on their debut album. We folk from Lanarkshire are always ahead of the game when it comes to drink as I had a mate called Mil who used to put Kia-Ora in his Tennents Super long before we had even heard of the Brooklyn trio.

Have a good weekend people.

The Beastie Boys - Brass Monkey

It's Friday . . Let's Dance

When I read in either Mixmag or Update early in 1992 that my favourite DJ and remixer was remixing my favourite track of the previous year I couldn't wait to hear the results. Bit when I eventually got my hands on Weatherall's mix of Fallen by (One) Dove, I wasn't so much disappointed as perplexed as apart from the sax solo which I've been told was lifted from Supertramp there wasn't a great deal of difference from the original Soma release. I'm not sure what I really thought Weatherall could do to improve what in my opinion is a perfect track anyway.

Later when it was disclosed that Weatherall was to become the producer for the band I was more than a little excited at the prospect of the people that had produced Fallen and, well the most consistent remixer in the world at the time collaborating.

This time the pairing did not disappoint, the next single Transient Truth was an absolute belter which was bought on the day of release and flogged to death. There was a rumour that there was a promo of another load of Weatherall mixes out there but I never ever saw a copy let alone got the chance to get my mitts on one.

A few years ago now when I found Discogs, one of the first things I looked up was One Dove and while clicking through the discography found that the fabled Sabres Of Paradise mixes of Transient Truth did exist and that there were a couple of copies for sale the cheapest being £40 which was too steep for me as up to this point I didn't even know if they were any good, I had my suspicions that they would be worth shelling out the money for but still couldn't justify it.

About two years ago at the excellent blog Audio Out, STX posted all 4 of the mixes for download, which I eagerly did and must have played continually for about 2 weeks and was as happy as a pig in shite that I had eventually got these mixes. However it still nagged me that this was the only release by One Dove that I did not have on vinyl and one drunken Friday night not long afterwards the inevitable happened and I bought the copy on Discogs.

One Dove and Weatherall went on to produce one of the best albums of the early 90s and a further three brilliant singles were released with some great mixes by the likes of William Orbit and Underworld before the band sadly went their separate ways. There are rumours that a second album was recorded but as yet this has to be verified.

Here is one of the mixes of Transient Truth that I haven't posted before.

One Dove - Transient Truth (Sabres Of Paradise Death Of A Disco Dancer)

King Of The New York Streets

One of the best things about working in a pub is that you get to discuss the important things in life with all sorts of different types of people,  you know the type of things politics, sport, religion and music.

The last pub that I worked in had a very mixed clientele,  from people who were just having their first ever illegal/legal alcoholic beverage to those you wouldn't bet on it not being the last half they ever had. This meant that a hell of a lot of different views on the important matters of the day were expressed and I usually had an opinion on most of these, however I used to hold my own council when it came to golf as to me it was and still is the most pointless game in existence, where people with the most terrible fashion sense, arcane ideas all met of a Saturday or Sunday to try out do each other in the sport of social climbing.

As the pub had a high contingent of golfers I learned early on that they did not take too kindly to being called chauvinist dinosaurs and that the course that they played on belonged to the people of the town and not their elite band of not so merry men.

I will get to the point of the post now. On a Saturday evening a group of these guys would come in after a hard afternoon hitting a ball on a course that they would never stop telling anybody who cared was actually an Open qualifying course. They would have a few drinks, try to chat up any young ladies in the pub and then saunter home where they would expect their dinner to be on the table when they arrived.

One of the guys in this crowd would be forever telling me of how fabulous Daryl Hall and John Oates were and how "seriously, you need to listen to them they are amazing" to which I would always reply that I would rather have tinnitus than have to endure any more of I Can't Go For That or whatever else they sang. But the guy just didn't give up and one Saturday night he came in with a tape for me full of Hall & Oats, Luther Vandross and more of the like, for which I politely thanked him and put the cassette behind the bar.

The next day I came into the pub for a drink and S asked me if I had listened to the tape, I said no as I had left it behind the night before and again I got hit with the "seriously. you need to listen to it".

That night when I got home I decided out of courtesy and realising that I would get my heid nipped until I did, I  listened to the tape and as I suspected it was dross apart from one tune which I thought was brilliant, I checked the track listing which said the track was by Dion. I thought to myself this can't be the same guy who recorded The Wanderer and Runaround Sue, surely he must be dead by now.

The next Saturday when the golfers came in I had to ask S, who this other Dion was, as this was pre-internet days and therefore I wasn't able to find anything out about the track. S went into the history of the artist and the track at great length, it was indeed Dion DiMucci, of Dion and the Belmonts and the singer behind the Wanderer etc and the track came from the 1989 comeback album Yo Frankie.

That, those of you have bothered to read this far is the convoluted story of how I discovered this great track from a rather good album.

Dion - King Of The New York Streets.

Lisa Says

Here is probably my favourite Velvet Underground track. I'm not sure why, I love the lazy almost plodding tempo of the track it sort of gets under my skin. Lou Reed later re-recorded the track along with a few other Velvets songs for his first solo album but that version loses all the subtlety and  is vastly inferior to this one.

I have a feeling that Michael and  Margo Timmings had listened to this track a few times before they covered Sweet Jane on The Trinity Sessions.

The Velvet Underground - Lisa Says

Change Must Come From The Barrel Of A Gun

I only bought one twelve inch by the Alabama 3,  Ain't Going To Goa which I really liked  but the b-side was the track that really did it for me with it's snippets of dialogue' infectious beats, harmonica and overall upbeat disposition.

Over the years I have acquired other tracks by the collective from various blogs and have liked what I have heard but have never delved any deeper.

I was listening to this the other day and well with all that has gone on in Egypt and other places the Chairman has been seen not necessarily to be correct again.

Alabama 3 - Mao Tse Tung Said (Radio K mix)

Marc Almond Was Our Cloakroom Boy

Let's get Monday off to a right good start with not one but two cover versions for the price of one, bargain.

I like most folk I think wasn't aware that Tainted Love was a cover when I first heard the Soft Cell version being twelve and living in Lanark, soulboys who could have informed me of the truth were a bit thin on the ground. I just thought that it was a great song at the time and a bit different. It was maybe three years before I heard the original in all it's glory; a song that never fails to get even the lamest and rhythmically challenged on to the dance floor.

The reason I've posted this today is that I've been reading " The Record Players, Dj Revolutionaries" a rather informative book which has interviews with all of the most influential Djs from Jimmy Saville to Tiesto, that's right. I didn't say the best DJs but they are also present from Peel to Weatherall. The book can be rather irritating as it could have done with a decent editor and spell checker. The format of a chapter per DJ with an introduction and then interview means that it is a book that you are not going to read cover to cover in one go but is ideal for dipping in and out of.

Anyway, there are a few chapters dealing with the northern soul djs such as Ian Levine and Kev Roberts but no Richard Searling for some reason. One northern disc spinner that I knew very little about was Ian Dewhirst who guested at most of the big venues and had the residency at Cleethorpes Wintergardens. He also djed at the Warehouse where a certain new romantic was the cloakroom boy, and recounts how Soft Cell would later cover Tainted Love and take the relatively unknown song to number 1.


"Marc Almond used to be the cloakroom boy in the Warehouse. We booked the Q Tips to play on the Tuesday and Wednesday night,. I thought Great I'll pull some soul stuff out. I brought the more accessible northern stuff out, so I could play it as people came in. I put Tainted Love on and this guy who I'd conspicuously avoided for nine months - he was always getting in fights with women or something - he came rushing up in the middle of Gloria Jones.


What's that record? I've got to know what that record is!


It's Gloria Jones with Tainted Love.


I've got to have a tape of it!.

He'd done an ep called Mutant Moments which was doodly electronic stuff that I couldn't play. He'd done something on a Some Bizarre compilation and Memorabilia.  Anyway, the upshot of it was he ended up coming round my house . I remember it because he's allergic to dogs. I put Gloria Jones and a load of other stuff on tape for him. Probably even Judy Street, though I can't be certain."

So there you have it, how one of the best singles of 1981 came about.

When people refer to Gloria Jones I wish they would omit the fact that she was the girlfriend of a certain rock star and in the car when he died and just say Gloria Jones, who recorded one of the finest stompers ever recorded.

Soft Cell - Tainted Love/Where Did Our Love Go

Reggae Sunday

Just to compliment Mr H's latest post in his exemplary Friday series.

Here is a track that I got on 7" last week from that fine music emporium that is Fat City. A double a-side repress with 54 - 46 on the flip.

Toots & The Maytals - Pressure Drop

You Beat Me To The Punch

I just can't get away from soul at the moment.

Here is the sublime voice of Mary Wells backed by the fabulous Funk Brothers

Mary Wells - You Beat Me To The Punch

Just Because

For about  two and a half minutes last night I was 16 again and everything was possible.

Thanks Billy.

Billy Bragg - To Have And To Have Not (Live)

The Hymn For The Alcohol

No recommendations this week just a paean to all types of intoxicating drinks from the brilliant Hefner.

I myself will be drinking mostly Irn-Bru this evening on account of having to drive in to Glasgow to witness the Big Nosed Bard From Barking in all his glory. A man whose songs are as relevant now as they were back in the bad old days of the true blue meanies, sadly! Which side are you on?

Have a good weekend people.

Hefner - The Hymn For The Alcohol

It's Friday . . Let's Dance

1994 this week and another sub genre of the every splintering music that I call dance music ie anything from about 1985 onwards, Tribal House.

Love and Happiness was absolutely fucking huge, everywhere you went in 1994 this track could be heard. Uplifting, spiritual house music didn't get much better than this well apart from (Who?) Keeps Changing Your Mind.

Written by India and Louie Vega, produced by Vega and Kenny Dope Gonzalez and originally released on Strictly Rhythmin the States and Cooltempo over here. The version posted comes from the remix 12" and was tinkered with by x-press 2 in a Junior Boys Own stylee.


River Ocean featuring India - Love And Happiness (Yemaya Ochun) Junior Boys Own Super Dub

Love Factory

I think we will stick with the Soul for a bit.

Here is a track that should have been absolutely huge, god alone knows why it wasn't.

Written by Holland-Dozier-Holland, released in 1973 and found in a warehouse by Ian Levine, Love Factory is about as good a mid tempo northern track as you will ever hear.

After reading a lot of  articles and books on northern soul and a couple of interviews with Ian Levine, he is in my opinion what we would call up here " a bit of a baw bag"  and was responsible for more than a couple of Take That hits but credit where credit is due he did unearth and spin a hell of a lot more northern classics than anybody else and for that reason alone should be applauded.

Eloise Laws - Love Factory

Slip Away

Sometimes a Guinness and a bit of soul music is all you need.

Sit down for a couple of minutes and enjoy.

Now wasn't that good.

Clarence Carter - Slip Away

Eastern Conference Champions

I was alerted to the existence of the Eastern Conference Champions a few weeks ago. I was sent a link to a track by a PR company. The majority of the stuff I get sent is not really my cup of tea and I didn't start this blog to pimp for PR companies anyway but when I played the track I really liked it and decided to investigate further.

It seems that the band have been going for a wee while, forming in 2005 in Philadelphia but now resident in California. In the 5 odd years that they have been going they have released a brace of singles, a couple of eps a full length album and a track on the soundtrack album to the third film in the Twilight series but don't hold that against them.

I got a hold of the last two eps, Sante Fe released in 2009 and 2010s, Akustiks both of which have been played quite a lot over the past few days. I suppose you could call them indie rock but these days that tag just about covers all bases. I don't really like comparing bands to others anyway. If you are interested give these tracks a listen, one from both releases mentioned above, I think that you may like them. I know my mate Gav of the Scuffers fame will like this.

Oh, and look out for the new full length album which will be released later this year.

Eastern Conference Champions - Bloody Bells

Eastern Conference Champions - Bristol Road

Just Loving You

Being born and growing up in west central Scotland does not make one the most demonstrative or romantic person in the world.  Coupled with the fact that I think that celebrating St Valentine's Day is on a par with celebrating Adolph Hitler's birthday, which just happens to be the same day as a good friend of mine's, hence why you never get a present T; I was in two minds whether to post something lovey dovey today.

But then again why miss a chance to play the most romantic and beautiful song I possess.

L, this one's for you doll!

Ruby Andrews - Just Loving You

Reggae Sunday

I forgot about Reggae Britannia on Friday night but I'm sure I will be able to catch it on repeat pretty soon.

Anyway here is one of my favourite reggae tracks, a cover of a Millie Jackson tune which features the talents of Boris Gardner on bass, the Zap Pow Horns and was produced by Lee Scratch Perry.

Susan Cadogan - Hurts So Good

Airship

As I mentioned on an earlier post about the Joy Formidable gig, both myself and Stiff were well impressed by the first band on the bill Airship. Don't know anything about them and their website isn't much help.

They mat not be the all that groundbreaking but they possess some cracking songs which they play really well live. I will most definitely catch them the next time they are in either Glasgow or Edinburgh and look forward to hearing the forthcoming album.

Airship = Algebra