There is a handful of films where the soundtracks are made up of clever use of already released or maybe rediscovered songs, where the songs just work really well with the visuals but they also are great listening as albums in their own right.
George Lucas started it with American Graffitti and Scorcese always had great soundtracks. I even found myself completely out of character out of enjoying Layla at the end of Goodfellas…. (That's the magic of cinema, folks. I normally only enjoy the very end of Layla, when I know it's finished and isn't coming back).
The soundtracks for Quentin Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction and Jackie Brown are my favourite in this respect. They're put together with a real and obvious love and the songs are a great mixture of the popular, the forgotten and the obscure…As the joke goes…A man is tied to a chair in a disused warehouse, he's been tortured, doused in petrol and had his ear cut off. …And that is the only way that the A & R man would listen to Louise's version of Stuck In The Middle With You.
The makers of Trainspotting had definitely been paying attention and the soundtrack is a stormer, matching the film scenes cleverly but standing up as a great listen in it's own right. The opening track Iggy Pop's Lust for life has since become film makers first choice to accompany any form of running…and it's an absolute lesson in how to keep things simple musically. Hunt and Tony Sales on bass and drums play with the absolute confidence that lets you know they could do absolutely anything they wanted with the riff…but aren't going to because it doesn't need it and they have nothing to prove.
A useful game to try at home or work, to pass the time or to make life-changing decisions is when confronted with a choice just think "What would Iggy Pop do?" And then you can put you trousers back on and turn off the drug hoover.
Iggy Pop is a bit of a recurring theme throughout Trainspotting the novel. Quite right too. My favourite Iggy Pop line in a song is "Jesus, this is Iggy". My favourite Iggy Pop line in an interview though is his response to the question of how he relaxed. "I like to garden"
I saw him in Birmingham at the Hummingbird in about 1990. He ran on stage just wearing jeans and a leopard skin waistcoat. The waistcoat stayed on for one song. That's meticulous stagecraft and the kind of costume changes Madonna is still working towards.
By the end of the gig there may have been technical problems with his microphone…. at least I assumed that was why he took out the spare microphone he'd kept in his jeans…at least I think it was a microphone.
Connoisseurs of Channel 4's post pub kebab of a show The Word may also remember the collective look of alarm as the front row of the audience realised that Iggy Pop was careering towards them wearing a pair of transparent plastic trousers…spare microphone and all.
The other Iggy Pop song on the album is Nightclubbing. Obviously it sounds fantastic but what jumped out at me this time round is that it is a blue print for the early Human League sound, a fact not missed by the Human League who covered it
The revelation for me on the album though is Blur's Sing. It's a perfectly judged song for the film, woozy, disorientating and down right scary. The guitars are reverbed beyond recognition and the bass and drums are hammering on the walls. Amazingly it's from their first album when they were supposed to be little baggy popsters.
Damon Albarn has a solo track included, Closet Romantic. It's veers between a novelty hat seaside romp and deranged fairground organ and brass band. You just know he was trying to get some feeling of menace and thinking about Brighton Rock.
I can't remember if there is a scene in the film with New Orders Temptation…but no excuses are needed to include it. I always take New Order for granted a bit but Temptation is immediately and unmistakably them. It's got the little sequencer riffs, mechanised drumming and you can almost hear Hooky's motorcycle boots. The song's begins like an ending, as it fades in with Barneys' jiggly guitar and Wo hoo vocals. When it first came out there was an unfeasibly long 12inch version that is still playing on a forgotten turntable somewhere.
Indie Pop Pinups (and I would) Elastica and Sleeper both have tracks on the album. Elastica's 2:1 sounds great but sadly Sleeper's song is a very close but very dire version of Atomic…Hamster cheeked Louise Wener vocal style was always based on using breathiness to cover for up for lack of range…. but the ways she sings the actual line "Atomic" is somewhere between hammy Hammer Horror and the little girl who has raided the dressing up box trying to be scary. Not only is it very bad, it's also very long. A nightmare combination.
Underworld's Born Slippy sounds huge. It's lager lager chorus may have got sung too raucously and too often at too many clubs that are best avoided, but as a listener you still get sucked into the song. Is there something going on there or is he just shouting at traffic?
Always good to hear Lou Reed's Perfect Day but the way it's used in the overdose scene just makes it even more bizarre that anyone connected with the Children in need celebrity cover version thought it would be a good thing to do. Wasn't it always obviously one of Lou Reeds drug songs? Why not just do a medley of Heroin and Waiting For The Man possibly with Julian Cope's Out Of My Mind On Dope And Speed thrown in.
Will Elton John be covering the complete works of Spiritualized?
Mile End by Pulp another song about slumming, a Lo-Fi alternative Common People. This time without the choice. Musically jaunty but lyrically it's all piss and car theft. Perfect
I've been playing the soundtrack quite a lot, especially on a recent holiday in Wales where my packing had been touched by the spirit of Iggy. I'd managed to pack music, but no trousers. I remembered my bucket and spade though.
Saturday, August 19, 2006
Tuesday, August 15, 2006
Motley Crue - The Dirt
Sometimes you really never can go back….
When a friend told me he was just starting to read the Motley Crue biography The Dirt I was down right envious, because I knew that I would never be able to read it for the first time again.
There are better books about music but The Dirt is the best music book. It's a rock book that rocks and it's a monstrous read.
It's an accurate Motley Crue biography because it is utterly, utterly stupid. It's also really funny and like all the best books it provokes deep searching questions….Like "Why?" and "Is that really a good idea?"
A good music book makes you curious about the music and usually ends up in a shopping trip. Yet I've read it twice and still don't feel the urge to listen Motley Crue's music, but I do now know far too much about the dimmest band in rock.
There's plenty of gross-out shared hovel stories and uncontrollable rumpy pumpy.
In the Motley Crue world safe sex means meeting up in Tommy's van after a night of sneaky shagging and clubbing together to buy an egg burrito so that the band members could wipe their band members on the burrito meat in the belief that this would throw their girlfriends off the scent.
Over and over again the bands complete inability to stay …out of trouble, off smack, in the studio, off each others toes, in touch with some form of reality, on stage and stay in the same room as each others' horrible personalities makes it even more incredible that they achieved what they did.
Of course that's partly because we all like car crash bands and car crash celebrities.
Singer Vince O'Neil's car crash killed Razzle from Hanoi Rocks and although there's plenty of regret, Vince's most touching tribute to his friend is the loving description of what Razzle was wearing " High tops, leather pants and a frilly shirt – a twenty four seven rock 'n' roll god, he wouldn't ever be caught in the jeans and Hawaiian shirt that I was wearing."………..A real rock n roller.
The layout of the book is great, from its Jack Daniels cover, silent movie style chapter introductions and the way that each character tells the story from their own view….A Robert Altman version of a chronic metal band’s story.
Refreshingly (and by the end of the book they had had lots of refreshment) even though deep down they all know they blew it (lots of that too) all of the band would do exactly they same again…because they're too stupid not too.
Vince O'Neil had a swimming pool heated to a bankrupting 90 degrees all year round. Ahem...it was also "Pussy Shaped"
The later chapters highlights include Mick Mars's (probably not his real name….that would be Methuselah) Aliens theory.
Tommy Lee's prison poetry, written to woo Pamela Anderson back, is staggering
I remember we used to meet
By a swing seat over the piano
And you chirped each pretty word
With the air of a bird
For real life poetry though it's hard to beat the conversation between Honey (possibly her real name) and Tommy.
"Guess what? She asked
"What?"
"I found a minister, I bought some rings, I got everything set"
"For what?"
"I wanna get married"
"To me? But you just sold our pictures to a porn mag and didn't even tell me"
"It was going to be a birthday present for you. And I needed the rings for our wedding. So I couldn't tell you"
Since the book came out the Motley Crue story has got even stranger with Red Hot and Crue, a greatest hits tour from a band that still can't stand each other, a hip replacement for Mick Mars and a reality TV show based on Vince Neil having cosmetic surgery.
There are some constants though. Tommy Lee still has MAYHEM" tattooed on his stomach and I've got "Lets all tidy up" biroed on mine.
When a friend told me he was just starting to read the Motley Crue biography The Dirt I was down right envious, because I knew that I would never be able to read it for the first time again.
There are better books about music but The Dirt is the best music book. It's a rock book that rocks and it's a monstrous read.
It's an accurate Motley Crue biography because it is utterly, utterly stupid. It's also really funny and like all the best books it provokes deep searching questions….Like "Why?" and "Is that really a good idea?"
A good music book makes you curious about the music and usually ends up in a shopping trip. Yet I've read it twice and still don't feel the urge to listen Motley Crue's music, but I do now know far too much about the dimmest band in rock.
There's plenty of gross-out shared hovel stories and uncontrollable rumpy pumpy.
In the Motley Crue world safe sex means meeting up in Tommy's van after a night of sneaky shagging and clubbing together to buy an egg burrito so that the band members could wipe their band members on the burrito meat in the belief that this would throw their girlfriends off the scent.
Over and over again the bands complete inability to stay …out of trouble, off smack, in the studio, off each others toes, in touch with some form of reality, on stage and stay in the same room as each others' horrible personalities makes it even more incredible that they achieved what they did.
Of course that's partly because we all like car crash bands and car crash celebrities.
Singer Vince O'Neil's car crash killed Razzle from Hanoi Rocks and although there's plenty of regret, Vince's most touching tribute to his friend is the loving description of what Razzle was wearing " High tops, leather pants and a frilly shirt – a twenty four seven rock 'n' roll god, he wouldn't ever be caught in the jeans and Hawaiian shirt that I was wearing."………..A real rock n roller.
The layout of the book is great, from its Jack Daniels cover, silent movie style chapter introductions and the way that each character tells the story from their own view….A Robert Altman version of a chronic metal band’s story.
Refreshingly (and by the end of the book they had had lots of refreshment) even though deep down they all know they blew it (lots of that too) all of the band would do exactly they same again…because they're too stupid not too.
Vince O'Neil had a swimming pool heated to a bankrupting 90 degrees all year round. Ahem...it was also "Pussy Shaped"
The later chapters highlights include Mick Mars's (probably not his real name….that would be Methuselah) Aliens theory.
Tommy Lee's prison poetry, written to woo Pamela Anderson back, is staggering
I remember we used to meet
By a swing seat over the piano
And you chirped each pretty word
With the air of a bird
For real life poetry though it's hard to beat the conversation between Honey (possibly her real name) and Tommy.
"Guess what? She asked
"What?"
"I found a minister, I bought some rings, I got everything set"
"For what?"
"I wanna get married"
"To me? But you just sold our pictures to a porn mag and didn't even tell me"
"It was going to be a birthday present for you. And I needed the rings for our wedding. So I couldn't tell you"
Since the book came out the Motley Crue story has got even stranger with Red Hot and Crue, a greatest hits tour from a band that still can't stand each other, a hip replacement for Mick Mars and a reality TV show based on Vince Neil having cosmetic surgery.
There are some constants though. Tommy Lee still has MAYHEM" tattooed on his stomach and I've got "Lets all tidy up" biroed on mine.
Thursday, August 10, 2006
Generation X
For years I was secure in the knowledge that Generation X were a silly group. Times change though and occasionally so do my opinions. I've been playing the first album a lot recently and I think it's time to welcome it back as a Pop Punk classic. Time has definitely been kinder to it than I have been in the past.
Even though as individuals the band had been prime punky movers from the outset (Tony James had been in the London SS with Mick Jones and Billy Idol had been a regular gig goer with Siouxsie Sioux and the Bromley Contingent) to my ears, at the time, they just sounded so desperate to catch up. With their lyrics and song titles they pursued the idea of youth and the possibilities of being young like a Punk rock version of the Tweenies. How about these two for starters. Youth Youth Youth and Wild Youth (and it’s gobsmackingly duff dub version Wild Dub…Billy even has to shout an explanation of what they were trying to do at the end of it “Heavy heavy dub, Punk ”… apparently.
Of course years later the ludicrous lyrics just add to my pleasure. “The Greyhounds rockin’ out tonight, to maximum rockabilly……The snooker hall is empty, cos they’re all out playing pool” (Kiss Me Deadly….a tale of scrapping and teenage sex).
The original album cover had the band in a stripy top huddle, (remember Kids…all the best bands have to feel like a gang even if they’re not really) and the songs just sound really exuberant with the drums scampering away like an over excited puppy and the guitars alternating between chunky DER DER DER DER and wailing Mick Jones style breaks. Ready Steady Go sounds fantastic and honestly Mr Idol I never doubted for a minute that you really were in love with Rock ‘n’ roll.
They played My Generation on Marc Bolan’s TV show (cue catch phrase “Keep Marc in your heart”) and the Bopping Elf introduced them with the words “The next band have a singer who some people are saying is even prettier than me…see what you think.” Of course my 14 year old self thought that if girls were going to like the band and they also fancied the singer then that lessened the band in some way. Hmm…That’s not a theory that I stood by for too long. I also remember my friend Flannel (not the name that appears on his birth certificate) using courtroom skills in a passionate defence of Billy Idols sartorial genius stroke of wearing a t-shirt with the sides cut off. I now realise that Billy Idol invented the tabard and Flannel went on to sell double-glazing
Promises Promises is a 5 minute monster (that’s failed the punk rock time timekeeping test) about where Punk was heading. It’s got the great Billy line “Soon we’ll get our gear from Marks and Sparks, Punks will take over Top Of The Pops” It fits in between The Clashes songs about the Punk movement like Garageland and All The Young Punks and The Adverts Safety In Numbers.
The decidedly lumpy second album Valley Of The Dolls has the singles King Rocker (“Crazy man Crazy”) and Valley Of The Dolls with it’s rebel rebel guitar and “song after song I can’t stop rocking… My ears are bleeding and all around young girls are fainting”. No I never them saw live but I think they thought they put on quite a show.
The other great lost single they made was Dancing With Myself. Careful research shows that it is not actually about dancing in much the same way that Turning Japanese by The Vapors is not about changing nationality and The Winkers Song by Ivor Biggun and the Red Nosed Burglars is not about winking.
I won’t be reassessing Billy’s cyber punk years and the solo hits as it’s just too horrible to think about but I did enjoy his acting in Oliver Stones film The Doors. He plays one of Jim Morrison’ entourage. At one point he jumps on the stage and gurns (fortunately without doing White Wedding…but you know he’s doing his Woargh and twisty lip thing) but his sole speaking part is the line “Yeah …fuck off Ray.” Excellent
Billy Idol played at Guilfest the other week and a beer tent correspondent reports that he did an acapella version of Crazy by Gnarls Barkley. Be afraid
Even though as individuals the band had been prime punky movers from the outset (Tony James had been in the London SS with Mick Jones and Billy Idol had been a regular gig goer with Siouxsie Sioux and the Bromley Contingent) to my ears, at the time, they just sounded so desperate to catch up. With their lyrics and song titles they pursued the idea of youth and the possibilities of being young like a Punk rock version of the Tweenies. How about these two for starters. Youth Youth Youth and Wild Youth (and it’s gobsmackingly duff dub version Wild Dub…Billy even has to shout an explanation of what they were trying to do at the end of it “Heavy heavy dub, Punk ”… apparently.
Of course years later the ludicrous lyrics just add to my pleasure. “The Greyhounds rockin’ out tonight, to maximum rockabilly……The snooker hall is empty, cos they’re all out playing pool” (Kiss Me Deadly….a tale of scrapping and teenage sex).
The original album cover had the band in a stripy top huddle, (remember Kids…all the best bands have to feel like a gang even if they’re not really) and the songs just sound really exuberant with the drums scampering away like an over excited puppy and the guitars alternating between chunky DER DER DER DER and wailing Mick Jones style breaks. Ready Steady Go sounds fantastic and honestly Mr Idol I never doubted for a minute that you really were in love with Rock ‘n’ roll.
They played My Generation on Marc Bolan’s TV show (cue catch phrase “Keep Marc in your heart”) and the Bopping Elf introduced them with the words “The next band have a singer who some people are saying is even prettier than me…see what you think.” Of course my 14 year old self thought that if girls were going to like the band and they also fancied the singer then that lessened the band in some way. Hmm…That’s not a theory that I stood by for too long. I also remember my friend Flannel (not the name that appears on his birth certificate) using courtroom skills in a passionate defence of Billy Idols sartorial genius stroke of wearing a t-shirt with the sides cut off. I now realise that Billy Idol invented the tabard and Flannel went on to sell double-glazing
Promises Promises is a 5 minute monster (that’s failed the punk rock time timekeeping test) about where Punk was heading. It’s got the great Billy line “Soon we’ll get our gear from Marks and Sparks, Punks will take over Top Of The Pops” It fits in between The Clashes songs about the Punk movement like Garageland and All The Young Punks and The Adverts Safety In Numbers.
The decidedly lumpy second album Valley Of The Dolls has the singles King Rocker (“Crazy man Crazy”) and Valley Of The Dolls with it’s rebel rebel guitar and “song after song I can’t stop rocking… My ears are bleeding and all around young girls are fainting”. No I never them saw live but I think they thought they put on quite a show.
The other great lost single they made was Dancing With Myself. Careful research shows that it is not actually about dancing in much the same way that Turning Japanese by The Vapors is not about changing nationality and The Winkers Song by Ivor Biggun and the Red Nosed Burglars is not about winking.
I won’t be reassessing Billy’s cyber punk years and the solo hits as it’s just too horrible to think about but I did enjoy his acting in Oliver Stones film The Doors. He plays one of Jim Morrison’ entourage. At one point he jumps on the stage and gurns (fortunately without doing White Wedding…but you know he’s doing his Woargh and twisty lip thing) but his sole speaking part is the line “Yeah …fuck off Ray.” Excellent
Billy Idol played at Guilfest the other week and a beer tent correspondent reports that he did an acapella version of Crazy by Gnarls Barkley. Be afraid
Tuesday, July 25, 2006
The Show
She Moves In Her Own Way by The Kooks could well be one of just a handful of great songs that mention the whole business of song writing or The Show. "Saw her at my show on Monday…She came to my show just to hear about my day…At my show on Tuesday…." (That King Kook is a virtual Craig David when it comes down to days of the week)
It 's a terrific record though, with a great natural sounding beginning, as first the acoustic, electric and then bass and drums just slide into the song. The vocals are a bit mannered (I'm a bit sceptical about whether he really is a "better mon, moving on to better things") but the whole thing just sounds so joyful that I'm happy to spend the rest of the summer with it. Also for some reason it also reminds me of those bouffanted berks the Alessi Brothers and their Oh Lori.
Alas, thinking about songs that include references to The Show or Songwriting can take the discerning listener to some nasty places. When Spandau Ballet sang "Why do I find it so hard to write the next line" in True, my skin crawls (in a bad way) and by the time they get to the line "With a thrill in my heart and a pill on my tongue", well it's a Rennie that's on my tongue. Nauseous and noxious. Talking of which…Rainbow's All night Long has the stinker
"I know you've not come just to see the show…..I see you standing by the stage your black stockings and your see through dress"…. Fortunately Rodger Glover's sole concession to dressing up is wearing a hat.
It's not all bad though. Red Hot Chilli Peppers By The Way has "Standing in line to see the show tonight" as a line but also has an unfeasibly good chorus.
Both Robbie Williams and Queen have released songs called Let Me Entertain You. They're both Show related, but even without that clue, you just know that what mattered the most to both Rob and Fred, was that the world knew them as ultimate entertainers and performers. I was always baffled though as to how Robbie's Strong could have a verse that started so well and yet ended so badly
"Early morning when I wake upI look like Kiss but without the make up
And that's a good line to take it to The bridge"
Is it just down to the genre though? Apart from the Adverts One Chord Wonders, Punk bands never sung about The Show, whereas for the times when metal bands aren't singing about trolls then they're singing about Rockin'…. probably at The Show.
I can only think of one 60's soul record that does it, Warren Lee's Star Revue, however Rap acts do seem happier singing about The Show. From Schoolly D Getting Paid ("Don't give me that shit about after the show") to Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince's Boom! Shake The Room (I think he may also have wanted to " Ooh-ahh-ahh-ahh-ahh--ooooh!)
Public Enemy had Yo! Bum Rush The Show, but the final word has to go to Doug E Fresh's The Show. Simply for the reason that it's called The Show…sadly I can't remember anything else about it.
It 's a terrific record though, with a great natural sounding beginning, as first the acoustic, electric and then bass and drums just slide into the song. The vocals are a bit mannered (I'm a bit sceptical about whether he really is a "better mon, moving on to better things") but the whole thing just sounds so joyful that I'm happy to spend the rest of the summer with it. Also for some reason it also reminds me of those bouffanted berks the Alessi Brothers and their Oh Lori.
Alas, thinking about songs that include references to The Show or Songwriting can take the discerning listener to some nasty places. When Spandau Ballet sang "Why do I find it so hard to write the next line" in True, my skin crawls (in a bad way) and by the time they get to the line "With a thrill in my heart and a pill on my tongue", well it's a Rennie that's on my tongue. Nauseous and noxious. Talking of which…Rainbow's All night Long has the stinker
"I know you've not come just to see the show…..I see you standing by the stage your black stockings and your see through dress"…. Fortunately Rodger Glover's sole concession to dressing up is wearing a hat.
It's not all bad though. Red Hot Chilli Peppers By The Way has "Standing in line to see the show tonight" as a line but also has an unfeasibly good chorus.
Both Robbie Williams and Queen have released songs called Let Me Entertain You. They're both Show related, but even without that clue, you just know that what mattered the most to both Rob and Fred, was that the world knew them as ultimate entertainers and performers. I was always baffled though as to how Robbie's Strong could have a verse that started so well and yet ended so badly
"Early morning when I wake upI look like Kiss but without the make up
And that's a good line to take it to The bridge"
Is it just down to the genre though? Apart from the Adverts One Chord Wonders, Punk bands never sung about The Show, whereas for the times when metal bands aren't singing about trolls then they're singing about Rockin'…. probably at The Show.
I can only think of one 60's soul record that does it, Warren Lee's Star Revue, however Rap acts do seem happier singing about The Show. From Schoolly D Getting Paid ("Don't give me that shit about after the show") to Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince's Boom! Shake The Room (I think he may also have wanted to " Ooh-ahh-ahh-ahh-ahh--ooooh!)
Public Enemy had Yo! Bum Rush The Show, but the final word has to go to Doug E Fresh's The Show. Simply for the reason that it's called The Show…sadly I can't remember anything else about it.
Wednesday, July 05, 2006
Stranglers
Good point about their cover of Walk on by. It would be in my list of all time great cover versions even allowing for bolting Light My Fire by theDoors into the twiddly mid section meanderings. Loved Hugh Cornwall's vocals on the original line up's version
They really were a band who really were both loved and loathed. I was a big fan at 13 and so didn't actually notice the sexism. I did like horrible sounding aggressive music though. As a band they always just seemed unbelievably popular in small towns. It's that suburban shock value with great tunes. Girls liked them too. I know plenty of people who started playing bass (me included) because of JJ Burnell's bass sound.
I still play the first Lp and I'm still impressed by just how nasty the band sounded. A horrible scratchy guitar sound and ferocious bass. Sarky, unpleasant and with the smell of a possible beating. They sounded like a night in a hostel. In hindsight they sounded as unlovable as their personalities probably were.
I remember taping a John Peel session with tracks that would turn up on Rattus Norvegicus and having Hanging Around swirling round my head next day at school dinners. Also how about this for a 1977 combination? An In Concert feature on Radio 1 featuring half an hour of The Stranglers coupled with a half hour set by Dave Edmunds Rockpile.
The quality nose-dived after their third album Black and White, but you have got to salute them though for making the very silly (it's also very dire) Meninblack album before alien conspiracy theories really took off. Bet they didn't play anything off it though? Bet the audience were gladthey didn't too. Interesting thing about their vocalist turnover. Their last singer PaulRoberts was with them for longer than Hugh Cornwall. I once heard an interview when JJ Burnell complained that when Hugh left the band he did it over the phone rather than telling him face to face. I think it was for the same reason that no one ever told JJ to turn his bass down. JJ... HE WAS SCARED OF YOU
They really were a band who really were both loved and loathed. I was a big fan at 13 and so didn't actually notice the sexism. I did like horrible sounding aggressive music though. As a band they always just seemed unbelievably popular in small towns. It's that suburban shock value with great tunes. Girls liked them too. I know plenty of people who started playing bass (me included) because of JJ Burnell's bass sound.
I still play the first Lp and I'm still impressed by just how nasty the band sounded. A horrible scratchy guitar sound and ferocious bass. Sarky, unpleasant and with the smell of a possible beating. They sounded like a night in a hostel. In hindsight they sounded as unlovable as their personalities probably were.
I remember taping a John Peel session with tracks that would turn up on Rattus Norvegicus and having Hanging Around swirling round my head next day at school dinners. Also how about this for a 1977 combination? An In Concert feature on Radio 1 featuring half an hour of The Stranglers coupled with a half hour set by Dave Edmunds Rockpile.
The quality nose-dived after their third album Black and White, but you have got to salute them though for making the very silly (it's also very dire) Meninblack album before alien conspiracy theories really took off. Bet they didn't play anything off it though? Bet the audience were gladthey didn't too. Interesting thing about their vocalist turnover. Their last singer PaulRoberts was with them for longer than Hugh Cornwall. I once heard an interview when JJ Burnell complained that when Hugh left the band he did it over the phone rather than telling him face to face. I think it was for the same reason that no one ever told JJ to turn his bass down. JJ... HE WAS SCARED OF YOU
Tuesday, May 23, 2006
Dinosaur Jr Academy Birmingham 22 May 2006
I saw Dinosaur Jr at Birmingham Carling Academy last night. That's the original line up with, hatchets buried and the band coming back to collect long overdue dues, library fines and critical acclaim.
I'd seen them in 1992 at the same venue. Smaller room this time round, although same great big sound. It's J Mascis guitar playing that really does it for me. It's got a sound of wah wah fruitiness that just splurges over the songs. His guitar sounds like it's having immense fun...Of course you can't tell whether he is having fun as he's hiding behind luxurient hair curtains and his only movements are like a walrus langidly rolling off the sofa towards the last tortilla chip and trying not to squash the TV remote control.
The band sounded great: loud, and a bit rough. A tricky thing to get right and to make it sound soooo right. I spent much of the night grinning at the audacity of the guitar sound and the tunes within tunes that the band were able to produce thanks to the miracle of volume, clever chords and plentyof notes. You can't argue with a classic Power trio. Hendrix, Sugar, Dinosaur Jr. It forces people to play differently as they need to cope with the moment when the guitar switches from rhythm to lead and the whole sound can collapse.
Mascis and Lou Barlow took turns at vocals, maybe that was to do with band politics and whose songs got played. They had pretty much defined this kind of sound and yet I spent much of the set thinking "It sounds great....but I don't remember this one." Most of the songs were from the first 2 albums I think...and my Dinosaur Jr knowledge is sadly Bug onwards. If I'd have been in their shoes I would have wanted to bash out indie hit after indie hit just to prove to the audience how much they should have missed me. They probably did, but I just didn't know it.
Freak Scene and Just like Heaven were saved for the encore and there was no Start Chopping. Barlows amp had to be swapped over half way through and the band seemed to lose a bit of momentum. There's a great moment in Just Like Heaven where the song seems to stop, just as it gets to the chorus, almost as if a tape is running and the power is cut, so it takes a micro second to stop rather than a clean sliced stop. It's a great trick and they use it to end the song on as well.
Birmingham was probably a bit of an off night for them really, but on a good night on this tour they'll be unstoppable.
I'd seen them in 1992 at the same venue. Smaller room this time round, although same great big sound. It's J Mascis guitar playing that really does it for me. It's got a sound of wah wah fruitiness that just splurges over the songs. His guitar sounds like it's having immense fun...Of course you can't tell whether he is having fun as he's hiding behind luxurient hair curtains and his only movements are like a walrus langidly rolling off the sofa towards the last tortilla chip and trying not to squash the TV remote control.
The band sounded great: loud, and a bit rough. A tricky thing to get right and to make it sound soooo right. I spent much of the night grinning at the audacity of the guitar sound and the tunes within tunes that the band were able to produce thanks to the miracle of volume, clever chords and plentyof notes. You can't argue with a classic Power trio. Hendrix, Sugar, Dinosaur Jr. It forces people to play differently as they need to cope with the moment when the guitar switches from rhythm to lead and the whole sound can collapse.
Mascis and Lou Barlow took turns at vocals, maybe that was to do with band politics and whose songs got played. They had pretty much defined this kind of sound and yet I spent much of the set thinking "It sounds great....but I don't remember this one." Most of the songs were from the first 2 albums I think...and my Dinosaur Jr knowledge is sadly Bug onwards. If I'd have been in their shoes I would have wanted to bash out indie hit after indie hit just to prove to the audience how much they should have missed me. They probably did, but I just didn't know it.
Freak Scene and Just like Heaven were saved for the encore and there was no Start Chopping. Barlows amp had to be swapped over half way through and the band seemed to lose a bit of momentum. There's a great moment in Just Like Heaven where the song seems to stop, just as it gets to the chorus, almost as if a tape is running and the power is cut, so it takes a micro second to stop rather than a clean sliced stop. It's a great trick and they use it to end the song on as well.
Birmingham was probably a bit of an off night for them really, but on a good night on this tour they'll be unstoppable.
Tuesday, December 06, 2005
Tuesday, November 29, 2005
Swervedriver to The Clash
Son Of Mustang Ford - Swervedriver
You Got It (Keep It Outta My Face) - Mudhoney
Search And Destroy - Iggy And The Stooges
Radio - Teenage Fanclub
The Wagon - Dinosaur Jr
Cherub Rock - Smashing Pumpkins
Prove It - Television
At Home He's A Tourist - Gang Of Four
Armalite Rifle - Gang Of Four
Where Were You - Mekons
Walk All Over You - AC/DC
In A Rut - Ruts
Holiday In Cambodia - Dead Kennedys
Seether - Veruca Salt
Suck - Wedding Present
Blue Eyes - Wedding Present
This Charming Man - Smiths
Reel Around The Fountain - Smiths
Cracked Actor - David Bowie
Safe European Home - Clash
Loose - Stooges
Rave Down - Swervedriver
Helter Skelter - Beatles
Summertime Blues - Who
I'm Not Down - Clash
There is an opinion that Walk All Over you is typical metal sexist shite, performed by trolls and bought by acrid armpitted adolescents who are “resting between girlfriends”. My opinion would be that it is a work of genius. It’s got a runaway train of a bass line and a slashing guitar sequence of 6 chords…..but relax, it’s only 2 chords in total. The best bit is the way Bon Scott’s voice goes up half through the “Wo….oagh “ bit of the “Wo….oagh baby I aint got much, resistance to your touch” (In itself a great metal lyric)
When Bon sings “Take off your high heels, Let down your hair, Paradise ain’t far from there” I’m a bit worried about his sense of direction. Is he heading north from the shoes or south from the hair? There’s a good Dave Lee Roth quote about his advice to contestants in a beauty contest, “lose the dress keep the shoes”. (I never really got the shoe thing. High heels don’t do much for me, they’re murder on my feet and anyway, I always preferred a woman to wear running shoes… to make certain that she’d catch me).
The guitar riff of In A Rut and Loose are both closely related (in an Deliverance/Appalachian way) but they’re both beautiful babies anyway. Lots of space between the guitar and rhythm. I love the sound of Cherub Rock as the guitar sound feels at once both monumentally loud, and unstoppable but also compressed. It’s one of those songs where I have never wondered what it means as any meaning cannot be greater than the power of the riff. Having said that though, for me personally, the song is most associated with ironing clothes on a night shift in a care home, which is when I first heard it. All songs cannot after all be linked with wide open spaces, primeval rage or skilful percy filth.
Indisputable fact number 1. The John Peel session version of This Charming Man (best found on either A Hatful Of Hollow or a muffled cassette) is better than the single version. It’s better because it’s bouncier. Reel Around The Fountain (again the session version is better, stripped down and rougher). At the time I loved it for it’s Taste Of Honey quotes and that great line “People said you were so easily lead, and they wee half right”. Soon after hearing it on Peel in the summer of 83 (with that session still in my head,) I went to see them at Blackburn, at a tiny upstairs club. Manchester to Blackburn on a Honda 70, in a yellow (maybe more of a honey colour) jumper and donkey jacket. They did play both This Charming Man and Reel Around The Fountain. The alternative people of Blackburn had turned out in with quiffs and loud shirts, but it was a restrained start to a career before the hysteria and devotion that later attached itself to the band and Morrissey. I saw them a few months later at the Hacienda at the height of the gladioli swinging season. They’d been on Top Of The Pops earlier, the gig was sold out, the audience keen. It felt like the confirmation of just how special this band were … and the rest of the world were just about to catch up. It was an accepted fact . Anyone you liked, liked the Smiths….and they’d only put out 2 singles. For a big swathe of NME reading, gig going Peel listeners they’d become instantly ubiquitous. I went to see loads of bands at the time and seemingly everyone I’d ever seen at any gig anywhere, was there. I remember the gig falling victim to the shocking acoustics of the majority of gigs at the Hacienda, Morrissey’s only words were “Hello you handsome devils”. The gig in the following year at the Free Trade Hall felt like a football match with the crowd chanting “Manchester”. Ironic really, because part of what Morrissey had sulked in his room about had now turned out to see him. What I remember most about that gig was the perversity because I’m sure they played Heaven Knows I’m Miserable Now as the second song. At the time it was a new song…and it’s certainly no rabble rouser. I saw them twice in 85 at Stoke (How soon Is Now sounded particularly good) where Morrissey left the stage after someone threw a sausage at him and Birmingham Hippodrome at the end of last song Barbarism Begins At Home Marr threw his guitar across the stage and stormed off.
Summertime Blues is utterly preposterous. And utterly brilliant just for the way that the bass and guitars overhang each other on the Der Der Der der der der Der. By that I mean they’re overhanging each other like a particularly treacherous piece of rock. Just don’t stand under it and don’t try and climb it. Just give it a suitable name and walk on to the next ridge. And it’s a brontosaurus of a bass line.
You Got It (Keep It Outta My Face) - Mudhoney
Search And Destroy - Iggy And The Stooges
Radio - Teenage Fanclub
The Wagon - Dinosaur Jr
Cherub Rock - Smashing Pumpkins
Prove It - Television
At Home He's A Tourist - Gang Of Four
Armalite Rifle - Gang Of Four
Where Were You - Mekons
Walk All Over You - AC/DC
In A Rut - Ruts
Holiday In Cambodia - Dead Kennedys
Seether - Veruca Salt
Suck - Wedding Present
Blue Eyes - Wedding Present
This Charming Man - Smiths
Reel Around The Fountain - Smiths
Cracked Actor - David Bowie
Safe European Home - Clash
Loose - Stooges
Rave Down - Swervedriver
Helter Skelter - Beatles
Summertime Blues - Who
I'm Not Down - Clash
There is an opinion that Walk All Over you is typical metal sexist shite, performed by trolls and bought by acrid armpitted adolescents who are “resting between girlfriends”. My opinion would be that it is a work of genius. It’s got a runaway train of a bass line and a slashing guitar sequence of 6 chords…..but relax, it’s only 2 chords in total. The best bit is the way Bon Scott’s voice goes up half through the “Wo….oagh “ bit of the “Wo….oagh baby I aint got much, resistance to your touch” (In itself a great metal lyric)
When Bon sings “Take off your high heels, Let down your hair, Paradise ain’t far from there” I’m a bit worried about his sense of direction. Is he heading north from the shoes or south from the hair? There’s a good Dave Lee Roth quote about his advice to contestants in a beauty contest, “lose the dress keep the shoes”. (I never really got the shoe thing. High heels don’t do much for me, they’re murder on my feet and anyway, I always preferred a woman to wear running shoes… to make certain that she’d catch me).
The guitar riff of In A Rut and Loose are both closely related (in an Deliverance/Appalachian way) but they’re both beautiful babies anyway. Lots of space between the guitar and rhythm. I love the sound of Cherub Rock as the guitar sound feels at once both monumentally loud, and unstoppable but also compressed. It’s one of those songs where I have never wondered what it means as any meaning cannot be greater than the power of the riff. Having said that though, for me personally, the song is most associated with ironing clothes on a night shift in a care home, which is when I first heard it. All songs cannot after all be linked with wide open spaces, primeval rage or skilful percy filth.
Indisputable fact number 1. The John Peel session version of This Charming Man (best found on either A Hatful Of Hollow or a muffled cassette) is better than the single version. It’s better because it’s bouncier. Reel Around The Fountain (again the session version is better, stripped down and rougher). At the time I loved it for it’s Taste Of Honey quotes and that great line “People said you were so easily lead, and they wee half right”. Soon after hearing it on Peel in the summer of 83 (with that session still in my head,) I went to see them at Blackburn, at a tiny upstairs club. Manchester to Blackburn on a Honda 70, in a yellow (maybe more of a honey colour) jumper and donkey jacket. They did play both This Charming Man and Reel Around The Fountain. The alternative people of Blackburn had turned out in with quiffs and loud shirts, but it was a restrained start to a career before the hysteria and devotion that later attached itself to the band and Morrissey. I saw them a few months later at the Hacienda at the height of the gladioli swinging season. They’d been on Top Of The Pops earlier, the gig was sold out, the audience keen. It felt like the confirmation of just how special this band were … and the rest of the world were just about to catch up. It was an accepted fact . Anyone you liked, liked the Smiths….and they’d only put out 2 singles. For a big swathe of NME reading, gig going Peel listeners they’d become instantly ubiquitous. I went to see loads of bands at the time and seemingly everyone I’d ever seen at any gig anywhere, was there. I remember the gig falling victim to the shocking acoustics of the majority of gigs at the Hacienda, Morrissey’s only words were “Hello you handsome devils”. The gig in the following year at the Free Trade Hall felt like a football match with the crowd chanting “Manchester”. Ironic really, because part of what Morrissey had sulked in his room about had now turned out to see him. What I remember most about that gig was the perversity because I’m sure they played Heaven Knows I’m Miserable Now as the second song. At the time it was a new song…and it’s certainly no rabble rouser. I saw them twice in 85 at Stoke (How soon Is Now sounded particularly good) where Morrissey left the stage after someone threw a sausage at him and Birmingham Hippodrome at the end of last song Barbarism Begins At Home Marr threw his guitar across the stage and stormed off.
Summertime Blues is utterly preposterous. And utterly brilliant just for the way that the bass and guitars overhang each other on the Der Der Der der der der Der. By that I mean they’re overhanging each other like a particularly treacherous piece of rock. Just don’t stand under it and don’t try and climb it. Just give it a suitable name and walk on to the next ridge. And it’s a brontosaurus of a bass line.
Friday, November 18, 2005
Southern Soul
I Feel Like Breaking Up Somebody's Home - Ann Peebles
99 Lbs - Ann Peebles
Talk To Me - Al Green
He Made A Woman Out Of Me - Betty Lavette
It Hurts To Want It So Bad - Arthur Alexander
Anna (Go To Him) - Arthur Alexander
Piece Of My Heart - Betty Lavette
Mr. And Mrs. Untrue - Candi Staton
Evidence - Candi Staton
Divorce Decree - Doris Duke
Love Man - Otis Redding
Do Your Duty - Betty Lavette
Stealing Love - Eddie Floyd
She Don't Have To See You - Tommie Young
Pouring Water On A Drowning Man - James Carr
She'll Never Be Your Wife - Irma Thomas
To Love Somebody - James Carr
Sure As Sin - Laura Lee
Making The Best Of A Bad Situation - Millie Jackson
You Don't Miss Your Water - Otis Redding
It Tears Me Up - Percy Sledge
Look At The Girl - Otis Redding
Behind Closed Doors - Percy Sledge
You Brought It All On Yourself - Tommie Young
Down The Back Roads - Arthur Alexander
I always liked the cheatin’ lyin’ and slippin’ around style of Southern soul. You’ve got the great mixture of quality singers, natural sounding arrangements with those warm brass and keyboard sounds and then that country tradition wherethe song title is either a literary gem or a rancid pun. Either way it almost tells the story of the song all by itself. Look no further than Pouring Water On A Drowning Man, or She Don't Have To See You (to see through you).
The Ann Peebles songs not only show what she’s got planned in the home wrecking department but also how she’s going to do it. Would that be “99 pounds of “Pure Cane Sugar” then Madam? And does that work with 168 pounds of Guinness and crisps? In terms of the number of songs about it, Otis Redding was probably the undisputed King Of Love By Weight. He had not only Lovin’ By The Pound, A Ton Of Joy but also on Love Man he sang “Six foot 1, weigh 210, fine hair, pretty fair skin, long legged and outta sight, hey girl I’m gonna take you out”.
Solomon Burke’s quote takes the (packet of) biscuits. “There’s 375 pounds of me. You can have any 5 pounds you need, baby”
I saw Ann Peebles in about 1990 at Manchester International and Birmingham Hummingbird, the band were really good and kept an authentic soul sound. Her voice still sounded great and it was just impressive to hear someone who could really sing, without seeming to find it too hard. How can something that sounds so good look so easy?
The Candi Staton tracks have, Mr and Mrs Untrue booking into a motel and Evidence has her going through his pockets to find “There’s some other woman taking my place”
The Bee Gees still fill me with alarm, but they did write but To Love Somebody, which is just a supremely well-written song that hits that “nobody understands” spot perfectly. “There’s a light, a certain kind of light, that never shines on me”. It’s virtually a Morrissey lyric. My 2 favourite versions are the James Carr and The Flying Burrito Brothers. James Carr edges it though. His voice is just so full of resignation and utter misery and after the final line of each chorus “You don’t know what it’s like, You just don’t know what it’s like to love somebody, to love somebody, the way I love you”, there’s a 2 note keyboard whistle and the drums lead back in. And you know his pain is going to go on.
Look At That Girl is a bit of a throwaway Hang On Sloopy type song which sounds like nobody spent too long working on it, but there’s a great joyous feel to Otis’s vocal. And it’s good to look.
After all the heartache, adultery and lechery it’s a bit of a relief to get to Arthur Alexander’ s Down The Back Roads. It’s a beautiful Steve Cropper song, with a great guitar motif and warm electric piano. The song is a wistful getting away from it song, heading down the back roads, “Where the simple life is found, where I’ll lay my troubles down.” His vocals can sometimes sound a bit mannered and the arrangements and sound of his R and B hits (as covered by The Beatles and Stones) aren’t really to my taste, but he’s got one of my favourite male voices. His voice often carries the sound of real heartbreak. He had been early acid adopter, had mental health problems, and after being thoroughly skewered by the Music Industry he left it in disgust, only to die in 1993s (heart failure…how else should a Soul Man go?) on the brink of a comeback after the well received album Lonely Just Like Me.
99 Lbs - Ann Peebles
Talk To Me - Al Green
He Made A Woman Out Of Me - Betty Lavette
It Hurts To Want It So Bad - Arthur Alexander
Anna (Go To Him) - Arthur Alexander
Piece Of My Heart - Betty Lavette
Mr. And Mrs. Untrue - Candi Staton
Evidence - Candi Staton
Divorce Decree - Doris Duke
Love Man - Otis Redding
Do Your Duty - Betty Lavette
Stealing Love - Eddie Floyd
She Don't Have To See You - Tommie Young
Pouring Water On A Drowning Man - James Carr
She'll Never Be Your Wife - Irma Thomas
To Love Somebody - James Carr
Sure As Sin - Laura Lee
Making The Best Of A Bad Situation - Millie Jackson
You Don't Miss Your Water - Otis Redding
It Tears Me Up - Percy Sledge
Look At The Girl - Otis Redding
Behind Closed Doors - Percy Sledge
You Brought It All On Yourself - Tommie Young
Down The Back Roads - Arthur Alexander
I always liked the cheatin’ lyin’ and slippin’ around style of Southern soul. You’ve got the great mixture of quality singers, natural sounding arrangements with those warm brass and keyboard sounds and then that country tradition wherethe song title is either a literary gem or a rancid pun. Either way it almost tells the story of the song all by itself. Look no further than Pouring Water On A Drowning Man, or She Don't Have To See You (to see through you).
The Ann Peebles songs not only show what she’s got planned in the home wrecking department but also how she’s going to do it. Would that be “99 pounds of “Pure Cane Sugar” then Madam? And does that work with 168 pounds of Guinness and crisps? In terms of the number of songs about it, Otis Redding was probably the undisputed King Of Love By Weight. He had not only Lovin’ By The Pound, A Ton Of Joy but also on Love Man he sang “Six foot 1, weigh 210, fine hair, pretty fair skin, long legged and outta sight, hey girl I’m gonna take you out”.
Solomon Burke’s quote takes the (packet of) biscuits. “There’s 375 pounds of me. You can have any 5 pounds you need, baby”
I saw Ann Peebles in about 1990 at Manchester International and Birmingham Hummingbird, the band were really good and kept an authentic soul sound. Her voice still sounded great and it was just impressive to hear someone who could really sing, without seeming to find it too hard. How can something that sounds so good look so easy?
The Candi Staton tracks have, Mr and Mrs Untrue booking into a motel and Evidence has her going through his pockets to find “There’s some other woman taking my place”
The Bee Gees still fill me with alarm, but they did write but To Love Somebody, which is just a supremely well-written song that hits that “nobody understands” spot perfectly. “There’s a light, a certain kind of light, that never shines on me”. It’s virtually a Morrissey lyric. My 2 favourite versions are the James Carr and The Flying Burrito Brothers. James Carr edges it though. His voice is just so full of resignation and utter misery and after the final line of each chorus “You don’t know what it’s like, You just don’t know what it’s like to love somebody, to love somebody, the way I love you”, there’s a 2 note keyboard whistle and the drums lead back in. And you know his pain is going to go on.
Look At That Girl is a bit of a throwaway Hang On Sloopy type song which sounds like nobody spent too long working on it, but there’s a great joyous feel to Otis’s vocal. And it’s good to look.
After all the heartache, adultery and lechery it’s a bit of a relief to get to Arthur Alexander’ s Down The Back Roads. It’s a beautiful Steve Cropper song, with a great guitar motif and warm electric piano. The song is a wistful getting away from it song, heading down the back roads, “Where the simple life is found, where I’ll lay my troubles down.” His vocals can sometimes sound a bit mannered and the arrangements and sound of his R and B hits (as covered by The Beatles and Stones) aren’t really to my taste, but he’s got one of my favourite male voices. His voice often carries the sound of real heartbreak. He had been early acid adopter, had mental health problems, and after being thoroughly skewered by the Music Industry he left it in disgust, only to die in 1993s (heart failure…how else should a Soul Man go?) on the brink of a comeback after the well received album Lonely Just Like Me.
Tuesday, October 11, 2005
Lou Reed to Mink Deville - Handcrafted 'Podlist
Romeo Had Juliet - Lou Reed
Bodies - Pistols
Personality Crisis - New York Dolls
Koka Kola - Clash
Commandment Of Drugs - Prince Far I
To Be A Lover - George Faith
From A Whisper To A Scream - Esther Phillips
I Just Don’t Know What To Do With Myself - Tommy Hunt
One Woman - Al Green
Shout Bamalama - Detroit Cobras
Fire - Jimi Hendrix
Manic Depression - Jimi Hendrix
Finders Keepers - Chairman Of The Board
Pay To The Piper - Chairman Of The Board
Ball Of Confusion - Temptations
You Keep Tightening Up On Me - Box Tops
If I Could Only Be Sure - Nolan Porter
London - Smiths
You Can’t Have Me - Big Star
Jigsaw Puzzle - Rolling Stones
Pat Trip Dispenser - Fall
It's All Over Now Baby Blue - Thirteenth Floor Elevators
Fire Engine - Television
American Girl - Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers
Bodies - Pistols
Personality Crisis - New York Dolls
Koka Kola - Clash
Commandment Of Drugs - Prince Far I
To Be A Lover - George Faith
From A Whisper To A Scream - Esther Phillips
I Just Don’t Know What To Do With Myself - Tommy Hunt
One Woman - Al Green
Shout Bamalama - Detroit Cobras
Fire - Jimi Hendrix
Manic Depression - Jimi Hendrix
Finders Keepers - Chairman Of The Board
Pay To The Piper - Chairman Of The Board
Ball Of Confusion - Temptations
You Keep Tightening Up On Me - Box Tops
If I Could Only Be Sure - Nolan Porter
London - Smiths
You Can’t Have Me - Big Star
Jigsaw Puzzle - Rolling Stones
Pat Trip Dispenser - Fall
It's All Over Now Baby Blue - Thirteenth Floor Elevators
Fire Engine - Television
American Girl - Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers
Thursday, September 22, 2005
Hand Crafted 'Podlist
Raw Power - Iggy & The Stooges
New Rose - The Damned
Son Of Mustang Ford - Swervedriver
Bad Boy Boogie - AC/DC
She Bangs The Drum - The Stone Roses
Man On The Moon - Sugar
Goodbye Toulouse - Stranglers
Been Caught Stealing - Janes’s Addiction
Seven Days Too Long - Dexy’s Midnight Runners
It Looks Like You - Evan Dando
Older Guys - The Flying Burrito Brothers
No Feelings - Sex Pistols
In Between Tears - Irma Thomas
He made A Woman Out Of Me - Betty Lavette
If You Can Beat Me Rockin’ (you Can Have My Chair) - Laura Lee
Love Man - Otis Redding
Remedy - The Black Crowes
Every Picture Tells a Story - Rod Stewart
Suffragette City - David Bowie
Drive-In Saturday - David Bowie
Seen The Light - Supergrass
Golden Skin - Silversun
Big Boy - Minuteman
Winter - Teenage Fanclub
I've Got Dreams To Remember - Otis Redding
It’s an Iggy to Otis ‘Pod list. It was carefully hand crafted using my own skill and judgement rather than the Shuffle and the songs were chosen on the basis of their intros as well as their tip top quality. The Pistols and Irma Thomas intros both use a similar ascending chord sequence and that’s a good enough reason for me to squeeze them both into the same playlist. If I was ever kidnapped by fundamentalist list compilers, and forced to compile my top 10 favourite intros, then they would both be top 5.
Other things to love from the list….the one note piano on Raw Power (it worked on I Wanna Be Your Dog, so we’ll use it again ), the guitar break on She Bangs The Drum, where it just moves completely away from what went before it. Man In The Moon just sounds immense. Did the band leave the studio looking like cartoon characters flattened by steamrollers? Were they pinned to the studio wall by a rolling wall of sound? It’s a miracle they survived.
Goodbye Toulouse just sounds nasty. The bass is filthy, aggressive and then the guitar is scratchy and unpleasant. It’s a night in a hostel. It’s also one of my favourite tracks from one of my favourite lps by one the world’s least lovable bands. The SilverSun and Minuteman tracks use similar “great riff and Beach Boy vocal” tactics…as do TFC. There is something about the chords of Winter and the strained “Der der der der” backing vocals that just make’s me weep. The song aches of wistful nostalgia. A walking hand in hand lyric alone is not enough though (probably why my playlist is a bit light on the works of Manillow and Sedaka) but the song really does get to me and I’m not really sure why. I’d have it as a funeral song. Though there is a part of me that’s tempted by Banging The Door by Public Image…and that would be the part of me that can’t resist the bad gag.
New Rose - The Damned
Son Of Mustang Ford - Swervedriver
Bad Boy Boogie - AC/DC
She Bangs The Drum - The Stone Roses
Man On The Moon - Sugar
Goodbye Toulouse - Stranglers
Been Caught Stealing - Janes’s Addiction
Seven Days Too Long - Dexy’s Midnight Runners
It Looks Like You - Evan Dando
Older Guys - The Flying Burrito Brothers
No Feelings - Sex Pistols
In Between Tears - Irma Thomas
He made A Woman Out Of Me - Betty Lavette
If You Can Beat Me Rockin’ (you Can Have My Chair) - Laura Lee
Love Man - Otis Redding
Remedy - The Black Crowes
Every Picture Tells a Story - Rod Stewart
Suffragette City - David Bowie
Drive-In Saturday - David Bowie
Seen The Light - Supergrass
Golden Skin - Silversun
Big Boy - Minuteman
Winter - Teenage Fanclub
I've Got Dreams To Remember - Otis Redding
It’s an Iggy to Otis ‘Pod list. It was carefully hand crafted using my own skill and judgement rather than the Shuffle and the songs were chosen on the basis of their intros as well as their tip top quality. The Pistols and Irma Thomas intros both use a similar ascending chord sequence and that’s a good enough reason for me to squeeze them both into the same playlist. If I was ever kidnapped by fundamentalist list compilers, and forced to compile my top 10 favourite intros, then they would both be top 5.
Other things to love from the list….the one note piano on Raw Power (it worked on I Wanna Be Your Dog, so we’ll use it again ), the guitar break on She Bangs The Drum, where it just moves completely away from what went before it. Man In The Moon just sounds immense. Did the band leave the studio looking like cartoon characters flattened by steamrollers? Were they pinned to the studio wall by a rolling wall of sound? It’s a miracle they survived.
Goodbye Toulouse just sounds nasty. The bass is filthy, aggressive and then the guitar is scratchy and unpleasant. It’s a night in a hostel. It’s also one of my favourite tracks from one of my favourite lps by one the world’s least lovable bands. The SilverSun and Minuteman tracks use similar “great riff and Beach Boy vocal” tactics…as do TFC. There is something about the chords of Winter and the strained “Der der der der” backing vocals that just make’s me weep. The song aches of wistful nostalgia. A walking hand in hand lyric alone is not enough though (probably why my playlist is a bit light on the works of Manillow and Sedaka) but the song really does get to me and I’m not really sure why. I’d have it as a funeral song. Though there is a part of me that’s tempted by Banging The Door by Public Image…and that would be the part of me that can’t resist the bad gag.
Thursday, July 07, 2005
Ash (and the ancient and noble art of the Yeah)
Watched Ash on Jools Holland (not literally on JH. It was footage of a great performance from last year rather than a pile on), which made me think how much fun it would be to be in that band. Tim can look out at an audience and think "All the girls love me and I write these great chunky pop songs and I 've got a Flying V. Charlotte can think "All the boys love me and I've got an SG." It must also be a comfot to her to know that I would. And indeed I would. Mark the bassist has got a Thunderbird and the Rick the Drummer no longer has a mohican. These are all good things.
Orpheus is a really good song with fine use of "Yeah Yeah Yeah". It is hard to go wrong with those 3 little words. The Yeah has been the English language's gift to pop with prime examples from the Beatles Group to Prince and Alphabet St. Obviously Mony Mony squeezes in more Yeahs and in fact I can't think of a more Yeahtastic song. (Theres about 12 of them between the lines "I said Yeah" and "You make me feel so". )
Ash though are skilled exponants of the Yeah and used it wisely in Oh Yeah (Oh yeah she was taking me over, Oh yeah it was the start of the summer) although if I build too much of a case for the line "Still in her school skirt and summer blouse" then I'm going to sound like a massive pervert....so I'll stick to the yeahs.
Orpheus is a really good song with fine use of "Yeah Yeah Yeah". It is hard to go wrong with those 3 little words. The Yeah has been the English language's gift to pop with prime examples from the Beatles Group to Prince and Alphabet St. Obviously Mony Mony squeezes in more Yeahs and in fact I can't think of a more Yeahtastic song. (Theres about 12 of them between the lines "I said Yeah" and "You make me feel so". )
Ash though are skilled exponants of the Yeah and used it wisely in Oh Yeah (Oh yeah she was taking me over, Oh yeah it was the start of the summer) although if I build too much of a case for the line "Still in her school skirt and summer blouse" then I'm going to sound like a massive pervert....so I'll stick to the yeahs.
Friday, July 01, 2005
We hold these truths to be self evident
My 5 year old was in the bath examining the contents of his scrotum. After a thorough investigation he looked up and asked "Are these my brains?". Well the answer is really both yes and no isn't it. The 50 % of the population who are baggage carriers are often accused of thinking with our dicks. I disagree. Don't think with it, but always get it's opinion and listen carefully to it's advice. Mind you George Melly said he was quite thankful when he lost his libido because he felt like he had spent his whole adult life chained to an idiot.
When my 9 year old was about 3, he once sat in front of the tv reciting over and over again "Cartoon animals talk, real animals don't talk"
I one heard a quote from Al Jorgenson along the lines of "A man with a great car does not need to be justified". I wouldn't quite go that far (but thanks to a car capable brother I do have a great car now) but I watched School Of Rock the other night, (didn't enjoy it quite as much as I expected to) and the line that really spoke to me was when he consoled one self doubting child with the lines ".....but you're in a rockin' band." Now the self belief and sheer righteousness of knowing that you're in a great band is a fine feeling. And I had it twice.
Last quote of the day is from Bootsy Collins when he was talking about Stevie Wonder. The reason why I like it is that it's simple and because you immediately understand the Bootsy world view. There can obviously (of course it's obvious) only be 2 kinds of people, funky and not funky. There is a however a sliding scale of funkiness. "Stevie Wonder?....Most funky."
When my 9 year old was about 3, he once sat in front of the tv reciting over and over again "Cartoon animals talk, real animals don't talk"
I one heard a quote from Al Jorgenson along the lines of "A man with a great car does not need to be justified". I wouldn't quite go that far (but thanks to a car capable brother I do have a great car now) but I watched School Of Rock the other night, (didn't enjoy it quite as much as I expected to) and the line that really spoke to me was when he consoled one self doubting child with the lines ".....but you're in a rockin' band." Now the self belief and sheer righteousness of knowing that you're in a great band is a fine feeling. And I had it twice.
Last quote of the day is from Bootsy Collins when he was talking about Stevie Wonder. The reason why I like it is that it's simple and because you immediately understand the Bootsy world view. There can obviously (of course it's obvious) only be 2 kinds of people, funky and not funky. There is a however a sliding scale of funkiness. "Stevie Wonder?....Most funky."
Friday, June 10, 2005
Slates - The Fall
My turntable didn’t survive the ravages of time and on off house moves. So once I’d finally accepted that I wasn’t going to fix it cheaply myself (and that took some time) I bought a Debut Project 3 in a funky shade of blue. After a lot of fiddling the previous evening, all right fine tuning for optimum sonic performance, it was ready to go.
I spent the next day at work mulling over which of all my too long since last heard vinyl would be the one to make the debut on the Debut. It was a beautiful afternoon, so I left work early, enjoying the ride back, the weather and the knowledge that I’d have the house to myself for an hour. Quality buffet time. It had to be Slates by The Fall. 10inch mini Lp with the guide price "£2 only u skinny rats" and the usual Fall mixture of murky photos and scrawled notes. In fact the sleeve looks like the record sounds. Leave The Capitol is warm and fuzzy sounding with the vocals mixed low and the guitars and bass weaving round each other. "Then you know in your brain, you must,leave the capitol, exit this Roman shell."
There a couple of lyrics on Fit and Working Again which I always listen out for. "I’m cranked up like a Wimpey crane" and "I feel like Alan Minter". Sometimes you just think you know what Mark E Smith means. Buffet Time ended before I could get through any more of my must play playlist. Still vinyl’s back on the menu…and it sounds bright blue.
I spent the next day at work mulling over which of all my too long since last heard vinyl would be the one to make the debut on the Debut. It was a beautiful afternoon, so I left work early, enjoying the ride back, the weather and the knowledge that I’d have the house to myself for an hour. Quality buffet time. It had to be Slates by The Fall. 10inch mini Lp with the guide price "£2 only u skinny rats" and the usual Fall mixture of murky photos and scrawled notes. In fact the sleeve looks like the record sounds. Leave The Capitol is warm and fuzzy sounding with the vocals mixed low and the guitars and bass weaving round each other. "Then you know in your brain, you must,leave the capitol, exit this Roman shell."
There a couple of lyrics on Fit and Working Again which I always listen out for. "I’m cranked up like a Wimpey crane" and "I feel like Alan Minter". Sometimes you just think you know what Mark E Smith means. Buffet Time ended before I could get through any more of my must play playlist. Still vinyl’s back on the menu…and it sounds bright blue.
Friday, February 25, 2005
'Pod list
Jennifer's Veil - The Birthday Party
Hold Me Back - AC/DC
Another Pearl - Badly Drawn Boy
AM 180 - Grandaddy
Simple Things - Belle & Sebastian
Teach Your Children - Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young
Almost Cut My Hair - Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young
Dance, Dance, Dance (Alternate Take) - The Beach Boys
Julia - The Beatles
Good Day Sunshine - The Beatles
Hamlet (Pow, Pow, Pow) - The Birthday Party
You Can Only Do Wrong So Long - Tommie Young
Good To My Baby - The Beach Boys
No Hard Shoulder To Cry On - Julian Cope
More Alone With You - Alloy
I Know There's An Answer - The Beach Boys
Mod Lang - Big Star
Looking For A Friend - David Bowie
Blackbird - The Beatles
Live Wire - AC/DC
Blowing Up My Mind - The Exciters
Start Digging My Grave, Sugar - 1000 Violins
Nobody To Love - 13th Floor Elevators
409 - The Beach Boys
Frightened - The Fall
Ok so it's all random, (which is the only way the shocking Teach Your Children would ever show up on one of my playlists). Blowing Up My Mind is the killer track here. It's a northern soul classic wuith a sing song toytown keyboard sound, busy bass, and a great female vocalist who alternately rushes and then relaxes around the vocal line. Even though she's probably having to do it in an effort to squeeze all the words in, it's still a great performance and a great trick.
Frightened is one of my favourite Fall songs (from Live At The Witch Trials), it sounds claustrophobic but teenage defiant with lines like "I've got a fear of midnight when the films close" and "I've got shears pointing straight at my chest, I'm better than them and I think I'm the best".
Hold Me Back - AC/DC
Another Pearl - Badly Drawn Boy
AM 180 - Grandaddy
Simple Things - Belle & Sebastian
Teach Your Children - Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young
Almost Cut My Hair - Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young
Dance, Dance, Dance (Alternate Take) - The Beach Boys
Julia - The Beatles
Good Day Sunshine - The Beatles
Hamlet (Pow, Pow, Pow) - The Birthday Party
You Can Only Do Wrong So Long - Tommie Young
Good To My Baby - The Beach Boys
No Hard Shoulder To Cry On - Julian Cope
More Alone With You - Alloy
I Know There's An Answer - The Beach Boys
Mod Lang - Big Star
Looking For A Friend - David Bowie
Blackbird - The Beatles
Live Wire - AC/DC
Blowing Up My Mind - The Exciters
Start Digging My Grave, Sugar - 1000 Violins
Nobody To Love - 13th Floor Elevators
409 - The Beach Boys
Frightened - The Fall
Ok so it's all random, (which is the only way the shocking Teach Your Children would ever show up on one of my playlists). Blowing Up My Mind is the killer track here. It's a northern soul classic wuith a sing song toytown keyboard sound, busy bass, and a great female vocalist who alternately rushes and then relaxes around the vocal line. Even though she's probably having to do it in an effort to squeeze all the words in, it's still a great performance and a great trick.
Frightened is one of my favourite Fall songs (from Live At The Witch Trials), it sounds claustrophobic but teenage defiant with lines like "I've got a fear of midnight when the films close" and "I've got shears pointing straight at my chest, I'm better than them and I think I'm the best".
Monday, January 31, 2005
Julian Cope Wulfrun Hall
I saw Julian Cope at Wolverhampton Wulfrun hall on 22nd Jan, with the unexpected bonus of it being a freebie with 2 hours notice. Anticipation is good but free and a lift is better. Even with only 2 hours anticipation I was really looking forward to it. I last saw him doing his Modern Antiquarian speaking tour at Birmingham Glee Club (1998?) and very entertaining he was too. I’d also seen him with the Teardrops on the Wilder tour at Manchester Apollo and solo tours at The Hacienda (with the Woodentops), Manchester Carousel (leathers and mike-stand era) and Moseley Dance Centre (Peggy Suicide). Fair to say then I’m a bit of a fan, read the books and seen him in various stages of Shamanic and shambolic.
He was introduced as Julian Cope and his Ear Splitting Psychedelic Band. Great start. JC hurtled round the stage like an Iggy Pop possessed in a leather Stetson, shades and a Madonna radio mike to Hanging Out And Hung Up On The Line from Peggy Suicide. Sounds good so far...except there were no vocals and neither he nor the crowd ever recovered. The technical problems lasted for a couple of songs, but, even when resolved he was still struggling to hit notes. I really don’t want to kick The Cope. I’d heard him on Mark Radcliffe late last year, playing Sitting In The Room Where They Found Saddam In” and I’d heard him on Radio 6, more recently. Both times he was witty, engaging and the songs mostly worked. At Wolves though the crowd seemed baffled and hostile to his between song chat. (“We need strong women.... so the wild men can be strong”). As he prepared to sing Promised Land from Peggy Suicide a voice from the crowd rang out “You’ll fuck it up.” He did. There was needless clapping along too, which prompted, “You know out of time clapping really fucks me off”. By now I think he knew he’d lost the night. There were attempts at crowd pleasing with World Shut Your Mouth (vocals suffered there), Bandy’s First Jump, Head hung low and an amazingly misjudged version of Spacehopper. As the last song of the night it was not only slower than the original but the drummer did the half time heavy metal drum trick making it sound even slower.
For all guitar fetishists and closet cock rockers (hands up) Copey played a Flying V, and I spotted a Les Paul bass. There was some great wiggy guitar playing throughout. Other highlights included the black lipstick wearing from the guitarist who swapped bass and guitar duties with Donald Ross Skinner. Subtle Energies Commission sounded good and looked even better as DRS was playing a double-necked guitar. The best new song was Give Me Head. I was at the bar then and missed out.
Copey had announced that “I’m entering my second psychedelic phase” and that his post gig plans involved some Mexican mushrooms. On the drive back I heard Boards Of Canada’s first lp and was staggered. I would normally run a mile from scary electronica but the analogue synth washes and jabbering filthy scratchy sounds that made up the rhythm just fitted in so well with the lights on the motorway. In fact it was more psychedelic than the gig.
He was introduced as Julian Cope and his Ear Splitting Psychedelic Band. Great start. JC hurtled round the stage like an Iggy Pop possessed in a leather Stetson, shades and a Madonna radio mike to Hanging Out And Hung Up On The Line from Peggy Suicide. Sounds good so far...except there were no vocals and neither he nor the crowd ever recovered. The technical problems lasted for a couple of songs, but, even when resolved he was still struggling to hit notes. I really don’t want to kick The Cope. I’d heard him on Mark Radcliffe late last year, playing Sitting In The Room Where They Found Saddam In” and I’d heard him on Radio 6, more recently. Both times he was witty, engaging and the songs mostly worked. At Wolves though the crowd seemed baffled and hostile to his between song chat. (“We need strong women.... so the wild men can be strong”). As he prepared to sing Promised Land from Peggy Suicide a voice from the crowd rang out “You’ll fuck it up.” He did. There was needless clapping along too, which prompted, “You know out of time clapping really fucks me off”. By now I think he knew he’d lost the night. There were attempts at crowd pleasing with World Shut Your Mouth (vocals suffered there), Bandy’s First Jump, Head hung low and an amazingly misjudged version of Spacehopper. As the last song of the night it was not only slower than the original but the drummer did the half time heavy metal drum trick making it sound even slower.
For all guitar fetishists and closet cock rockers (hands up) Copey played a Flying V, and I spotted a Les Paul bass. There was some great wiggy guitar playing throughout. Other highlights included the black lipstick wearing from the guitarist who swapped bass and guitar duties with Donald Ross Skinner. Subtle Energies Commission sounded good and looked even better as DRS was playing a double-necked guitar. The best new song was Give Me Head. I was at the bar then and missed out.
Copey had announced that “I’m entering my second psychedelic phase” and that his post gig plans involved some Mexican mushrooms. On the drive back I heard Boards Of Canada’s first lp and was staggered. I would normally run a mile from scary electronica but the analogue synth washes and jabbering filthy scratchy sounds that made up the rhythm just fitted in so well with the lights on the motorway. In fact it was more psychedelic than the gig.
Thursday, January 20, 2005
Radiohead
Recent random 'Pod plays
Go Ahead --Wire
Bones --Radiohead
Luxury- Rolling Stones
My Back Pages (Alternate version) - Byrds
Melon Farmer -Ash
Let’s get back Together -The Honeybees
Brothers On The Slide -Cymande
Congoman ( 12” mix) - The Congos
I’m Missing You - Loretta Williams
The Slide - Flamin’ Groovies
This Is Not My Crime - Gene
The Charm - Cosmic Rough Riders
Miles End - Gomez
My Life In England (Part 1) - Dexy’s Midnight Runners
Christine’s Tune - Flying Burrito Brothers
Don’t Let Me Down - Kim Weston
Who Loves The Sun - Velvet Underground
Prologue - Scott Walker
The key track for me on this random mix was Radiohead’s Bones from The Bends. They crept up on me as a band…as I didn’t like Creep, but I do like an alienated vocal yelp under layers of guitar. It also has a shimmering echoed guitar intro and it has the same Status Quo der DER der DER der DER DER riff that Teenage Fanclub could never resist on Bandwagonesque.
Mick Jagger’s “Poor boy working for the man” schtick wouldn’t stand up to close scrutiny but the lazy chunky guitar riff does….so case dismissed.
On the Dexys’ track (one of the new songs from Let’s Make This Precious) there’s a great line about the boy Kev arriving in England and when children at school called him “Mate” he thought they said “Meat”. The song is bolted on top of a Grandmaster Flash White Lines bassline which doesn’t work that well. I’m not going to say that too loudly though, as I’m just glad Kevin Rowland’s still around.
Go Ahead --Wire
Bones --Radiohead
Luxury- Rolling Stones
My Back Pages (Alternate version) - Byrds
Melon Farmer -Ash
Let’s get back Together -The Honeybees
Brothers On The Slide -Cymande
Congoman ( 12” mix) - The Congos
I’m Missing You - Loretta Williams
The Slide - Flamin’ Groovies
This Is Not My Crime - Gene
The Charm - Cosmic Rough Riders
Miles End - Gomez
My Life In England (Part 1) - Dexy’s Midnight Runners
Christine’s Tune - Flying Burrito Brothers
Don’t Let Me Down - Kim Weston
Who Loves The Sun - Velvet Underground
Prologue - Scott Walker
The key track for me on this random mix was Radiohead’s Bones from The Bends. They crept up on me as a band…as I didn’t like Creep, but I do like an alienated vocal yelp under layers of guitar. It also has a shimmering echoed guitar intro and it has the same Status Quo der DER der DER der DER DER riff that Teenage Fanclub could never resist on Bandwagonesque.
Mick Jagger’s “Poor boy working for the man” schtick wouldn’t stand up to close scrutiny but the lazy chunky guitar riff does….so case dismissed.
On the Dexys’ track (one of the new songs from Let’s Make This Precious) there’s a great line about the boy Kev arriving in England and when children at school called him “Mate” he thought they said “Meat”. The song is bolted on top of a Grandmaster Flash White Lines bassline which doesn’t work that well. I’m not going to say that too loudly though, as I’m just glad Kevin Rowland’s still around.
Monday, January 17, 2005
Swervedriver/Kevin Rowland
Recently played on the ‘Pod …by accident , shuffle and design
The Letter Box Tops
Empty At The End Electric Soft parade
I Don’t Mind Buzzcocks
Amusement Parks USA Beach Boys
Halloween Ash
Within You Without You Beatles
Firesuite Doves
Rag Doll Kevin Rowland
Son Of Mustang Ford Swervedriver
Volcano Trash Swervedriver
Sandblasted Swervedriver
Ravedown Swervedriver
The first Swervedriver releases came out on Creation in 1990 as 3 four track cd singles in card sleeves, all with the same stencilled band logo and although there were a couple of duds, the 12 tracks just hung really well together. In fact it works better than their first album, Raise They were a really underrated band with lazy drawled vocals and a fantastic way of layering guitar sounds with (that old rockin’ standby) the Jews harp. They were produced by Angil Dutt. (who later produced Boo Radleys Giant Steps…another masterpiece of layering and invention)
They sported crusty, white dreads and found it easier to base their songs of restless travel around American badlands rather than their native Berkshire. “Been driving for days….but the radio still plays”. I found myself standing next to the singer once at the Camden Falcon (curiously at one of our own gigs, but I don’t think we were playing at the time….unless I was using a long lead and had mastered the art of walking, talking and playing at the same time. No chance of that then. It must have been a soundcheck.) and badgered him for details of what would be their first lp. He was less than forthcoming. I still thought they were great
I saw them twice, (Barrell organ Birmingham probably 1990 and Dudley JB’s ’93) and was a bit disappointed both times…but the sounds and possibilities of those first 3 releases are still hard to beat.
The Kevin Rowland track is from the cruelly and incorrectly derided album My Beauty. The album is his post therapy record and although some vocals are a bit karaoke, there are some fantastic moments. I love the vocal asides on this track. At one point the backing vocals are aah aaahing away and Kev says “You hear that beautiful choir…They’re singing for you….They’re singing the truth….It’s yours…Go on, take it”
The Letter Box Tops
Empty At The End Electric Soft parade
I Don’t Mind Buzzcocks
Amusement Parks USA Beach Boys
Halloween Ash
Within You Without You Beatles
Firesuite Doves
Rag Doll Kevin Rowland
Son Of Mustang Ford Swervedriver
Volcano Trash Swervedriver
Sandblasted Swervedriver
Ravedown Swervedriver
The first Swervedriver releases came out on Creation in 1990 as 3 four track cd singles in card sleeves, all with the same stencilled band logo and although there were a couple of duds, the 12 tracks just hung really well together. In fact it works better than their first album, Raise They were a really underrated band with lazy drawled vocals and a fantastic way of layering guitar sounds with (that old rockin’ standby) the Jews harp. They were produced by Angil Dutt. (who later produced Boo Radleys Giant Steps…another masterpiece of layering and invention)
They sported crusty, white dreads and found it easier to base their songs of restless travel around American badlands rather than their native Berkshire. “Been driving for days….but the radio still plays”. I found myself standing next to the singer once at the Camden Falcon (curiously at one of our own gigs, but I don’t think we were playing at the time….unless I was using a long lead and had mastered the art of walking, talking and playing at the same time. No chance of that then. It must have been a soundcheck.) and badgered him for details of what would be their first lp. He was less than forthcoming. I still thought they were great
I saw them twice, (Barrell organ Birmingham probably 1990 and Dudley JB’s ’93) and was a bit disappointed both times…but the sounds and possibilities of those first 3 releases are still hard to beat.
The Kevin Rowland track is from the cruelly and incorrectly derided album My Beauty. The album is his post therapy record and although some vocals are a bit karaoke, there are some fantastic moments. I love the vocal asides on this track. At one point the backing vocals are aah aaahing away and Kev says “You hear that beautiful choir…They’re singing for you….They’re singing the truth….It’s yours…Go on, take it”
Wednesday, January 12, 2005
'Podlist - Most Recently Played
The twenty most recently played songs from the Shuffle Menu of my part filled and partial I Pod.
The miracle of the shuffle meant I didn’t know what I’d hear next. The miracle of filing and loading my albums alphabetically means that it’s probably from artists A-E.
Everybody Needs Somebody James Carr
Winter Teenage Fanclub
Growin’Up David Bowie
Here There And Everywhere The Beatles
Never Learn Not To Love Beach Boys
Kung Fu Ash
Jocko Homo Devo
Girl From Mars Ash
Shes’s Alive Barracudas
Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds Beatles
Womens Realm Belle And Sebastian
Shake Your Money Black Grape
Detroit 442 (Live) Blondie
Soul Deep Box Tops
One Hundred Years Byrds
Sugar ‘n’ Spike Captain Beefheart
Andy Warhol David Bowie
To The Other Woman (I’m The Other Woman) Doris Duke
Self Service Eddie And Ernie
You Little Fool Elvis Costello
Growin’Up is Bowie’s previously unreleased cover of the Bruce Springsteen song from the 30th anniversary reissue of Diamond Dogs. It’s a winner, but doesn’t really count as surprise treat because I only bought it a couple of months ago and have been playing it regularly since.
One Hundred Years has most of the boxes ticked for being great. It scores highly for Gram Parson’s involvement alone.
The real pleasure of the shuffle though is the song that you haven’t heard or thought of for ages….and then it’s there for you. This time round that song was James Carr’s Everybody Needs Somebody. A song that starts with a simple guitar and horn riff that builds to majesty and ends in heartbreak. Southern Soul genius.
The miracle of the shuffle meant I didn’t know what I’d hear next. The miracle of filing and loading my albums alphabetically means that it’s probably from artists A-E.
Everybody Needs Somebody James Carr
Winter Teenage Fanclub
Growin’Up David Bowie
Here There And Everywhere The Beatles
Never Learn Not To Love Beach Boys
Kung Fu Ash
Jocko Homo Devo
Girl From Mars Ash
Shes’s Alive Barracudas
Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds Beatles
Womens Realm Belle And Sebastian
Shake Your Money Black Grape
Detroit 442 (Live) Blondie
Soul Deep Box Tops
One Hundred Years Byrds
Sugar ‘n’ Spike Captain Beefheart
Andy Warhol David Bowie
To The Other Woman (I’m The Other Woman) Doris Duke
Self Service Eddie And Ernie
You Little Fool Elvis Costello
Growin’Up is Bowie’s previously unreleased cover of the Bruce Springsteen song from the 30th anniversary reissue of Diamond Dogs. It’s a winner, but doesn’t really count as surprise treat because I only bought it a couple of months ago and have been playing it regularly since.
One Hundred Years has most of the boxes ticked for being great. It scores highly for Gram Parson’s involvement alone.
The real pleasure of the shuffle though is the song that you haven’t heard or thought of for ages….and then it’s there for you. This time round that song was James Carr’s Everybody Needs Somebody. A song that starts with a simple guitar and horn riff that builds to majesty and ends in heartbreak. Southern Soul genius.
Tuesday, January 11, 2005
I Pod
There are few things that I’ve ever wanted (and most of them aren’t metal and plastic) quite as much as an I Pod. I’ve spent the last 2 years gradually removing the obstacles (cash and a pc in need of an upgrade) but it was my birthday that actually produced the goods. For the last 6 weeks I’ve been frantically loading tracks onto it. I’m up to 6500 now.
It’s also brought a Proud Dad moment. One night I was happily loading Lp’s and listening to the first track of each album. I’d said to my boys that they could each have their own playlist with any tracks that they had heard and liked.
“I like this one” said 5 year old Alex. And so this beautiful child with, his big trusting eyes and cheery nature took his first wobbly steps into the world of pop. And the track he chose for the start of this momentous journey? Obviously that would be Debaser by the Pixies.
It’s also brought a Proud Dad moment. One night I was happily loading Lp’s and listening to the first track of each album. I’d said to my boys that they could each have their own playlist with any tracks that they had heard and liked.
“I like this one” said 5 year old Alex. And so this beautiful child with, his big trusting eyes and cheery nature took his first wobbly steps into the world of pop. And the track he chose for the start of this momentous journey? Obviously that would be Debaser by the Pixies.
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