Dress Sexy At My Funeral

Bill Callahan's dying wishes, as disclosed on the 2000 LP Dongs Of Sevotion.

It reminds me of the graphic reports of the little black dresses of the weeping former lovers of Michael Hutchence at his funeral. Kylie, Helena Christensen & Paula Yates' tear splashed stillettos being a more romantic image of the man than his dismal demise asphyxiating in a hotel room whilst thumbing his winky. I always heard this song as his final thoughts before the lights went out.

Its not though obviously, its just Bill in dirty old man mode. And he does it so well.





Dress Sexy At My Funeral-Smog(from Dongs Of Sevotion,2000)

Something Has Hit Me

The ultimate mod band? The greatest white soul singer? George Martin's second best signing?




Something Has Hit Me-The Action (B-Side of Shadows & Reflections, Parlophone 1967)

Come on in for the best in town...

Roll on up -- for my price is down,

Come on in -- for the best in town ,

Take your pick of the finest wine,

Lay your bets on this bird of mine

Name your price I got everything

Come and buy it's all going fast

Borrow cash on the finest terms

Hurry now while stocks still

See my eyes I can hardly

See me stand I can hardly walk

I believe you can make me whole

See my tongue I can hardly talk

See my skin I'm a mass of

See my legs I can hardly stand

I believe you can make me well

See my purse I'm a poor, poor man

Will you touch, will you mend me Christ? Won't you touch, will you heal me Christ? Will you kiss, you can heal me Christ Won't you kiss, won't you pay me Christ?

The Temple-The Afghan Whigs (Sub Pop 1992)

The Three-Eyed Man

How extraordinary a voice. Last weekend i stood 20 feet away from Roky Erickson & took it all in. In some valley in the Powys region of Wales. 40 minutes late for the stage. But there he was. An awesome beast. Nothing said. Hard to tell where he was inside, bored scared or confused. But there he was. The breath visable & billowing out of him in the tacky stage light. He was like some dragon with a guitar. The Krakon. The band was nowhere, 2nd rate pub metal, but there he was, Roky Erickson. Life hadn't beaten him. That screaming voice intact, no flaws, everything said.


'Haunt' by Roky Erickson


Roky Erickson Interview-Ksan Radio, 1978

Apartment 21

Sounds good to me Bobbie, i'll be over in 20, i'll bring some gin & Jim Ford.



'Apartment 21' by Bobbie Gentry single on Capital, 1970)

Something borrowed from something blue

'Ello ello ello, what we got 'ere then Mr. Cocker? This has bothered me ever since it was released as a single in early 2007.

Now i don't want to do the slagging on Jarvis, i like the chap, and though he's not belting out the readymade pop classics like he did in Pulp, its good that he's around, in fact, we could do with about 10 more 25 year old versions of him to pump some blood & brains into the popscene if thats possible, but come off, this is a bit of a blatent rip.
I don't see any shared credit for Goffin/Spector on the sleeve. How does this sort of thing go unnoticed? 'Born To Be With You' isn't stuffing up the racks of most 24 hour Tesco's, but its hardly a total obscurity, i've seen it on a couple of jukebox's in a couple of London bars that were trying a bit too hard to look cool. I mean, its a lovely LP, but its got such a fucked up, sad druggy drag foot vibe, who wants to hear that over a 5th afternoon chaser? Oh....yeah, well they may have been on to something there, but...

I know Phil Spector has been a bit distracted lately, but i'm almost shocked it slipped under his increasingly desperate radars. (Starsailor???££??)





'Don't Let Him Waste Your Time' by Jarvis Cocker from 'Jarvis' (Rough Trade, 2005))





'Only You Know' by Dion from 'Born To Be With You' (Phil Spector International, 1976))

Failure

"Lazarus, La's-arus, La's. He directed light. And the light comes from the water. It keeps you alive, la. And the pool is where we have to be. The Liver-Pool. The Mississippi, the Mersey-sippi. In history all the maddest scientists were the best ones and they all stayed close to the water."

-Lee Mavers, AWOL since 1990, interviewed by Paul Moody in 15 April, 1995's edition of NME

'Failure' by The La's (Go Discs, 1989)

Fire & Brimstone

"He had drunk & taken pills since he was a teenager pumping piano in the Natchez honky-tonks;

but he had allowed neither the liquor nor the pills to reign over him. Since the death of his son however, he had grown more extreme, and whisky & drugs were fast becoming as important a part of his life as God & music.

The booze & the pills stirred the hell within him and made him to utter hideous peals. At times he withdrew into his own shadow, brooding upon all manner of things-abominable, unutterable, and worse. At times he stalked and ranted in proud and foul omnipotence, commanding those around him as Belial his minions.

He was the Killer and he was immortal-damned to be, for as long as there was good and evil to be torn between in agony." -Nick Tosches, Hellfire, 1982


'Fire & Brimstone' by Link Wray (Polydor, 1971)

In this picture: Link Wray & his band at the '3 Track Shack' in Accokeek, Maryland, 1971

Lazy Hazy

No time for words


'Pageant Square' by The Kingsbury Manx (City Slang, 2000)

I Will Always Ask You Where You've Been...

1993 was the year on the header of the Melody Makers i used to read in the local public library when everything changed. I was 15 year's old with nowhere to go but this grotty little unit shop on the steep incline of Hall St. called 'Astonishing Sounds'.

15. The best of times, the worst of times. I remember conversations with friends would be based around nothing but the scripts of Tarantino & Scorsese movies. We never said anything heartfelt or serious, those things were laughable, at least outside of song. Violence & death were the worlds funniest gags. Love was somebody elses mystery.

The mile and a half bus trip into town & back from my high school wasn't easy to make in an hours lunchbreak, but i remember doing it for Verves early singles, 'Cherub Rock' by Smashing Pumpkins, 'Gentleman' by The Afghan Whigs, 'Free Range' by The Fall, and 'I Hang Suspended' by the later much maligned Boo Radleys. The B-Side was the one i played most, 'I Will Always Ask You Where You've Been Even Though I Know The Answer', an LP's worth in 3 minutes.

Where have i been?

Still there.

'I Will Always Ask You Where You've Been...Even Though I Know The Answer' by The Boo Radleys (B-Side of 'I Hang Suspended', Creation Records, 1993)

Poppin 'round Beatle John's sunroom

I don't know why i've spent the last 2 hours totally engrossed in the endless magnifying glass on John Lennon's greenbelt hideaway abode between 1964-68 at Kenwood Lennon Blogspot but i don't regret it yet.

The obsessive nature of what goes on over on this blog is faintly worrying, but the affection for Dr.Winston is heart warming. And if i'm honest, John has always been a big deal for me, so i guess that helped keeping my interest in the archectural layout of Kenwood's swimming pool, a recent film of the stripped bare former attic studio, and what pictures he had up on the walls of the sunroom. I was particularly impressed with the 'Safe As Milk' stickers.

Well i guess its just interesting to see what the most famous pop star in the world was doing walled up in the middle of nowhere whilst outside was swinging to his records.

Lazing about, taking quite a lot of acid, and dream-weaving mostly it seems.




'Strawberry Fields Forever' John Lennon's Home Demo

Get Thy Bearings

Of course PC's are useless. I'd stay in Mactown if the rates weren't so high. Mac's don't bluescreen every ten minutes, that just doesn't happen. They don't spring up skull & crossbones messages telling you all is lost.
Christ, walk into PC World, the first thing you see is the gargantuan eyesore of the 'tech guys' shiny chamber, ready to take your money to deal with the inevitable.

All done now, get thy bearings, start from scratch.

'Get Thy Bearings' by Donovan (Epic, 1968)

Head-on shamanic impressions

"I stood on the tarmac at Dallas Airport in full black leathers and mirrored shades. The temperature was 95 degrees, almost body heat. Taxiing down the runway, I had been determined to present my alien culture to these cowboys. For God's sake, we're in Texas. The place where my favourite group, The 13th Floor Elevators, were escorted to shows by state troopers to stop them taking drugs.

I wore force 11 sunscreen to retain my paleness and we drove around like dudes-supreme. We were picked up by weird woman at our hotel. They drove Camaros, Thunderbirds and Corvettes, and were upfront about wanting to fuck us."

-From Head-on/Repossessed by Julian Cope (published by Thorsons, 1999)



'Ha Ha I'm Drowning' by The Teardrop Explodes (Mercury 45,1981)

Dancing Fast, Dancing Slow

'Dancing Fast, Dancing Slow' by The Intentions (Kent Records, 1982)

Bank Holiday knees up anyone? Here's to ya!

The Interrupted Concert

'Felbeszakadt Koncert' by Omega from Pepita (1969)

Boom! Lovely little number.

I work with a Hungarian, i should really take my copy of Well Hung (Funk-Rock Eruptions From Beneath Communist Hungary Vol.1) into work and ask what all these things mean. Probably never will though, i've got a bad feeling it won't live up to what the music is saying, especially on 'The Interrupted Concert' by an early version of future spandex proggers Omega. Pounding.

Just one sweet sweet collection from a mountain of sweets from the impeccable & forever tastefully hungry Finders Keepers

Hard Lovin' Loser

Looking into Judy Collins' disarming eyes will hardly prepare you for this harpsichord hoedown stomper.
Hard Lovin' Loser is a critique of some poor unfortunates laughable attempts of masculinity. She reduces his use in this life as nothing beyond bed-driving skills. You're only good for one thing boy. Its almost bar-room baudiness. And look on the sleeve photo there, is she going to hold the mirror to her face or yours? She's got a brandy & cigar on the go...

Judy Collins is a ball breaker.

'Hard Lovin' Loser' by Judy Collins from In My Life (Elektra, 1966)


And here she is performing Hard Lovin' Loser with those oddballs The Smothers Brothers:

Chasing A Bee

'Chasing A Bee' by Mercury Rev from Yerself Is Steam(Columbia Records,1991)>


Jimy Chambers – Drumming
Jonathan Donahue – Silver Pickup Guitar
Grasshopper – Unafon Guitar Reels
Suzanne Thorpe – Point Red Flute
Dave Fridmann – Bass Explore, Majestic Bellowphone
David Baker – Vocals & Shouting

My brother took me to a comics/record fair at Blackpool Pleasure Beach in the spring of 1992. The original plan was to pick up some missing links in my Marvel Universe collection, but i left with a cassette copy of Yerself Is Steam by Mercury Rev. It was ok. I got it on the strength of seeing the Chasing A Bee video i'd seen that week on MTV's 120 minutes, which i still think is about as far as the music video medium has gone in being just fucking smashing. I turned a corner that week.

An Irreversible River

'Tempus Trumpus' by Listen With Sarah (Cherryade Records,2007)


"Time is not a reality, but a concept, or a measure." -Antiphon the Sophist, 523BC.

Tell it to the greys Sophist.

'Hold Time' by M.Ward (MergeRecords,2009)>

Listen With Sarah on MYSPACE

Journey To Tyme

Interview with 60's Texan garage rockers KENNY & THE KASUALS.....


Kenny Daniel & his band 'The Kasuals' are a prime example of everything that was great about the garage rock era of the mid-late 60's & the domino effect from American rock n' roll to the British Invasion to the garage rock explosion & a burgeoning Texas psych scene. I interviewed a bunch of bands from Lenny Kaye's Nuggets box-set compilation for a 2-page fanzine article, a lot of it was hardly used, so this is as good a place as any to let it loose.

Others with The Remains, Electric Prunes & The Monks will no doubt get scooped out sometime soon. I love the stories of these bands, often similar, always entertaining-spark of inspiration, local dancehall perspiration, a lucky break/stroke of genius, the AM radio hit, a shot at the ball-park, then a one-way ticket to Palookaville via some screwjob manager, wrong turns, or #gulp# ...the draftboard. But they got their taste, and, thanks to Lenny Kaye, the mythical status of these bands stabs at the big time grows with every passing year.

'Things Are Gettin Better' by Kenny & The Kasuals(Mark Records,1966)



When did the idea of starting a band come from for you? Why did you want to do it?
My dad played big band music in the 1930s. He was a drummer and wanted me to be either a drummer or trombone player. He loved Glenn Miller and met him in England during the war. It was in Bushey Creek Park when he took Glenns picture with his brownie camera and Glenn got on a plane and was never seen again. I still have that picture and it is noted as the last picture ever taken of Glenn Miller.

So following in my Dads footsteps I played drums in the early 50s and was damn good at it. Then one evening a new television show came on the TV called "The Ozzie and Harriet Show" & Ricky Nelson ended the show playing an acoustic guitar and singing one of his songs.

Ricky Nelson performs 'Lonesome Town' on 'The Ozzie & Harriet Show' in 1958:


That was it for me, thats who I wanted to be. From then on I was practicing guitar and singing my own tunes. This was late 50s. I guess I was 13 or 14 years old. I talked my friend Tommy Nichols into taking guitar lessons with me and after we could play a few Chuck Berry songs and wrote a few of our own we started a band called "The Illusions Combo"

What was it about the rock sound that grabbed you away from Jazz?
Elvis, Ricky Nelson, Chuck Berry, Buddy Holly...the beat, the melodies...How could you not start moving around? The Beatles, Stones, Kinks, Zombies, the clothes, the hair...I can't put into words what it mean't & still means. Everything about it.... and I knew this is what I was going to do.

The prevailing feeling of anyone can do it, seemed pretty strong, if not the whole idea of garage rock. There seemed to be a feeling of instancy, and a lack of fear or calculation, no video's or PR campaigns, and a lot of confidence in that being right. The music business has changed a little don't you think? In some ways maybe not...

In the beginning anyone could do it because no-one was doing it anyway. So no matter what you did or sounded like was ok because there was nothing to compare it to. Thats why in the 60's we did lots of covers. Even Jimmy Vaughn ( The Chessman) Stevie Rays brother, did covers, his thing was CREAM...He played just like Eric Clapton. To work alot you had to play the popular songs so kids would come see you. We did more covers than our own music for that reason. When we did play an original song, we never announced that it was one of our songs. That would have put a stigma on the song and fans would think that it wasnt as good as the hits on the radio. You are never a star in your home town. After playing the original song people would go wild and ask who does that song ? We would just keep playing..They knew then....
The music biz was changing real fast. The 50's music was like organized and disciplined, 60's garage rock was like guerrilla warfare, came out of nowhere and caused riots and confusion. You have to remember that drugs were becoming a very big part of this culture. Openly used and considered OK.

Getting a hit must have been the major deal for a band in your position at the time. "Journey To Tyme" was a big hit in Texas for you, what opportunities & experiances did it open up for you?

Didnt think about it much. My girlfriend at the time would freak out when it came on the radio and she would say "aren't you excited about hearing your song on the radio" , and I would say " yes" and thats it...It was exciting however it was strange at the time. It did not open any doors locally and there was no big cash bonus or anything like that..In fact its more exciting now...We wrote that song in 30 minutes...I would think, how could it be any good? We all wrote it however Mark and Jerry got the credit, which was fine with everyone. We never thought it would become a hit...go figure. I thought we had better songs...

'Journey To Tyme' by Kenny & The Kasuals(Mark Records,1966)



Do you have any memories of the first time you heard your band on the radio?

Back then we could take a record to the radio station, give it to them thru the window and they would play it for us. We would sit in the car,in the parking lot and listen to it, not even thinking that thousands of people were also listening to it...We would laugh and talk about who was to loud or not loud enough and about the mix of the tune...

The draft was a major cause of a lot of bands ending around that time, it also seems, with hindsight, a sort of ending of that mid-60's youthful innocence & swagger, was this the case with Kenny & The Kasuals? What do you think would have happened to The Kasuals if the war hadn't happened?

I was drafted in 1968 and that is what broke up the band. When I returned the music scene had changed a lot. The theme was progressive county rock. Willie Nelson, Leon Russell, Loggins and Messina, stuff like that..I formed a band called "Summerfield" and we played everywhere. Opened for all the biggies from 1972 to 1975. We did lots of originals and some rock and roll. We opened for Pure Prairie League, David Crosby and Graham Nash, Little Feet, Nittly Gritty Dirt Band, Leon Russell, Willy Nelson, played all Willy's famous picnics, Waylon Jennings, John Sebastian, you know, the lovin spoonful guy. Poco, Loggins and Messina, and the list went on....
In 1977 we went to California and played with Fleetwood Mac, Doobie Bros., and tried to get into the L.A. scene. Didnt work out, probably because my old manager, Mark Lee, wanted to put the Kasuals back together. And we did. Began a campaign to bring back the magic of the Kasuals. We started touring again throughout the U.S.. Our music then was due to the craze going on. "PUNK" We recorded "Garage Kings" and became punks for a bit, then decided in the early 80's this was not our bag.

We would have been famous all over the world and could have been today if it werent for our selfish manager at the time...but thats another story...

'Come Tomorrow' by Kenny & The Kasuals(Mark Records,1966)

The world is just one big O' Rooni

'Cement Mixer' by Slim Gaillard (Cadet Records, 1945)

Ahhh, no, its allreet...arooni

Everythings alreet when you're with Slim Gaillard, master in swing groove & Gaillardese ('Vout!''Macskooto!'), the highwater mark in hip. The coolest man in the world? Neal Cassady saw god in him, now thats pretty hip-arooni...

' Now Dean approached him, he approached his God; he thought Slim was God; he shuffled and bowed in front of him and asked him to join us. 'Right-orooni,' says Slim; he'll join anybody but won't guarantee to be there with you in spirit. Dean got a table, bought drinks, and sat stiffly in front of Slim. Slim dreamed over his head. Every time Slim said, 'Orooni,' Dean said 'Yes!' I sat there with these two madmen. Nothing happened. To Slim Gaillard the whole world was just one big orooni.'
-extract from On The Road by Jack Kerouac

Slim's nonsense songs were pretty much improvised in the moment in clubs and even recording studios. 'Cement Mixer' emerged as Slim, taking five outside the studio, watched a cement mixer in use across the lot for a moment, then ran back inside & commemorated it in song.

Slim was the linguistic ringmaster of fourties bebop, and became the toast of Hollywood after a residency on Frank Sinatra's CBS radio show led to a part in the movie Hellzapoppin'. His jive jargon enjoyed enormous vogue. Bob Hope asked Marlene Dietrich what she thought of Slim Gaillard on his radio show. 'Vout!' she replied.

"There are only two men that I look up to...
Slim Gaillard and Dizzy Gillespie. Without them
I wouldn't be playing."
-Miles Davis

Travelin Blues by Slim Gaillard:

The F-oldin Money

'F-Oldin' Money' by Tommy Blake(Recco, 1959)



And then....zoom....40 years later.... same problems....

'F-Oldin' Money' by The Fall, from The Marshall Suite (Artful, 1999)



"Well i went to see the Welfare man to try to get a pension,

'coz now i was sorely pressed & i was needing some attention,

He said "You don't qualify-you don't get a dime",

Thats when I broke his Jaw, Thats Why I'm doin' time

And i'd do it all again

Though it may sound funny

Tryin' to get my hands on some F-oldin' money...."

-Tommy Blake (1931-1985)

Sugar Rub

Sexy pop music is a thing of the past. Everyone knows that, thats why vinyl is still so popular. Its the real deal, you can feel it, smell it... "huhg!! Yes thats mint...M+!"

Sure Cheryl Cole & Co. look ok I suppose, but like an iPod, it add's up to not much more than a box of dead-eyed digital whores, its all so much not so fantastic plastic. When it comes to core roots glossy yet organic horniness, thats a thing left in the 70's it seems.

Like Zenda Jacks. This is how pop stars used to get the raw materials across to an audience, look at this live set-up, no miming here:




Would have loved to have seen that show. Didn't help Zenda's career any, the debut 45-Rub My Tummy, sank without charting, and that was more or less that. Damn shame.




'Rub My Tummy' by Zenda Jacks(Magnet Records,1974)


Example No. 2: Lynsey De Paul

'Sugar Me' by Lynsey De Paul(MAM Records,1972)


Example No. 3:

What's all this about? How did it ever become mainstream entertainment? Who the hell cares, i'm all for a comeback...

I Know Exactly Where I Am

I just happily rediscovered the last LP by The Hollies to feature Graham Nash before he cleverly buggared off to sunnier climbs. T'was a typically 1967 titled 'Butterfly'. Some lovelies can be found on here. Light a candle, take a deep breath, and put your head back....

'The Maker' by The Hollies from Butterfly(1967)


A single, King Midas In Reverse, crawled to #18 in the UK charts in September 1967, and squelched to #51 in the US a month later
'King Midas In Reverse' By The Hollies from Butterfly(1967)


And whilst we're under the Midas touch, how about this from psychedelic plunderers Beyond The Wizards Sleeve, who beatify the technicolour past without any additives....

'Midas Reversed' by Beyond The Wizards Sleeve from ARK1(2008)


If that was good to you go visit Beyond The Wizards Sleeve at myspace for furthur adventures.