Blank Stares and Cricket Claps

We Did It 'Til We Were Unconcho

2010-09-26T12:05:00.001-07:00

Well, I was born to have adventure
So I just followed up the steps
Right past her fuming incense stencher
To where she hung her castanets
She said she was a magic mama
And she could throw a mean tarot
And carried on without a comma
That she was someone I should know

'Camarillo Brillo'-Frank Zappa(DiscReet, 1973)

Michael Head: Daydream Keeper

2010-09-05T01:22:00.000-07:00

Where is Michael Head's head at? Heard he's been cancelling a lot of shows of late, hope he isn't meandering back down that misty lane. Getting a bit old for that sort of fooling around. Might just be a bit under the weather, but the narco wanderlust is in the blood, the lineage of scouse mystics with a love to get lost in a haze and live in oblivian. Cut crystal melodies like Somethin' Like You from 'The Magical World Of The Strands' just fall out of his bonce like daydreams.

'Somethin' Like You'-Michael Head & The Strands(Megaphone, 1998)

Border Lord

2010-09-01T08:27:00.000-07:00

When one of the last record shops around here closed a couple of months ago, well, it was a shame in a way, but i dealt with the loss of Pied Piper as bravely as i could and bought a sizeable shed load of vinyl for well under their value, an act that always fills me full of something i think they call joy.
At 50p a pop, whats to lose?, and one track on one of the LP's i got, 'Border Lord', by Kris Kristofferson, has been a constant rotater since. The LP as a whole isn't that hot, seems sorta knocked up, which was apparently the case, recorded quick, maybe way too quick, on the road as Kristofferson was going stellar.
Something about the burnt edges of Border Lord and its frazzled chug rings with a pleasent beardy truth about where the guy is at that moment, all kinda numb & footloose. Hell, enough o' my yackin', take it Kristoff....

'Border Lord'-Kris Kristofferson(Monument, 1972)

Last night ride for Elvis

2010-08-15T14:04:00.000-07:00

Being Elvis was a heavy load eh? The windows of his Graceland room were blacked out in the early 60's. Elvis lived at night. The pink shirt of Beale Street had faded, all the dreams were sold. The darkness inside flooded out further year by year. Sweaty speed freak vampire dropping in on Nixon to ask to be his culture spy, the drug war Captain Marvel, shovelling medication like M&M's, flying the Lisa Marie to Denver for a sandwich. Downers on downers, falling asleep in his soup. They keep him alive, they breath through him, live out of his pockets, drink his green blood like wine. All the good girls had gone. Momma was long gone. What had it all been for? Why him? Where does love go? Sat at the piano in the early hours, placing the hands on those old gospel chords. It sounds almost the same, but it sure don't feel. Its a hard life for heroes.

Above: Last photo 12.28am August 16 1977, entering Graceland.

August 18th, 1977: A silver Cadillac followed by the white Cadillac hearse with Elvis' body and seventeen white Cadillac limousines, on its way from Graceland past bystanders the two and a half miles to Forest Hill Cemetery Midtown.

Through tear-filled eyes I watch as you ride by,

A chauffeur, a chauffeur at the wheel dressed up so fine

Well I'll never, I'll never love another

Oh my heart, all my dreams, yeah they're with you

In that long black limousine

'Long Black Limousine'-Elvis Presley (RCA, 1969)

Pump me a few Mrs. Henry please

2010-08-08T12:15:00.000-07:00

Through the bottom of a bottle i can see you coming, if the sun's last fingers are waving bye, you coming back around to let me taste the smell of your flower. So i'll crack another screw top, lift the lid and place the needle down sloooow.

Well, I've already had two beers
I'm ready for the broom
Please, Missus Henry, won't you
Take me to my room ?
I'm a good old boy
But I've been sniffin' too many eggs
Talkin' to too many people
Drinkin' too many kegs

Please, Missus Henry, Missus Henry,
Please
Please, Missus Henry, please
I'm down on my knees
And I ain't got a dime.

Well, I'm groanin' in a hallway
Pretty soon I'll be mad
Please, Missus Henry, won't you
Take me to your dad ?
I can drink like a fish
I can crawl like a snake
I can bite like a turkey
I can slam like a drake
Please, Missus Henry, Missus Henry,
Please
Please, Missus Henry, please
I'm down on my knees
And I ain't got a dime.

Now, don't crowd me, lady
Or I'll fill up your shoe
I'm a sweet bourbon daddy
And tonight I am blue
I'm a thousand years old
And I'm a generous bomb
I'm T-boned and punctured
But I'm known to be calm

Please, Missus Henry, Missus Henry,
Please
Please, Missus Henry, please
I'm down on my knees
And I ain't got a dime.

Now, I'm startin' to drain
My stool's gonna squeak
If I walk too much farther
My crane's gonna leak
Look, Missus Henry
There's only so much I can do
Why don't you look my way
And pump me a few ?
Please, Missus Henry, Missus Henry,
Please
Please, Missus Henry, please
I'm down on my knees
And I ain't got a dime

Please Mrs. Henry'- Bob Dylan & The Band (Columbia, 1975)

Summer Without Sun

2010-05-02T04:39:00.000-07:00

The bank holiday funfair has planted itself 20 yards from my window. The smell of candyfloss and grilling beef is cranking up as i type. The bottles of strongbow will be drained, the durex will be split, but the sun won't shine. For shame. Is there anything that sums up the spirit of British holiday entertainment more than the celebrity portraits on the side of terrifyingly unsafe looking fairground....rides?!? I'm not sure what is in there...

So i have chosen the smashing compliation "Joe Meek's Freakbeat: 30 Freakbeat, Mod and R&B Nuggets" off the shelf and plumbed straight for The Charles Kingsley Creation's oddball whirligig pop treat about being miserable in summer. According to the sleevenotes, brothers Charles & Kingsley Ward recorded this with Joe Meek three floors up on Holloway Road at the end of 1965 after leaving Dave Edmunds' Love Sculpture. It bombed on the charts, but the boys were inspired enough by Sir Meek to return to their native Monmouthshire to open Rockfield Studios, but i didn't need to know that, its just a great pop song. There is also a little press review clipping of the disc, which is both extensive & inciteful:

"Rather pleasant. Tinkling sort of beat ballad, with unusual instrumental sounds. Nice song".

Earned their paycheck back in the 60's those scribes.

'Summer Without Sun'- The Charles Kingsley Creation (Columbia, 1965)

Heart Bleeder #2: Curtis

2010-04-17T03:55:00.001-07:00

Curtis Mayfield is an absolute titan of song. If we lived in more future thinking times he'd have been sainted by now. I can't think of anyone who consistantly made so many outstanding records. For the lost & swoonsome he had a bucketful, and i'm going for this one off one of his best LP's with The Impressions 'The Young Mods Forgotten Story'.

"Nothing left for me but bitterness, frustration, lost relation, for my deceiving heart...."

And the harmonies tumble down like September leaves. Lordy me, what a sad song.

'My Deceiving Heart'- The Impressions (Capitol 5610, 1966)

Ale & Spoils: Compliments of the town jeweller

2010-04-02T05:02:00.001-07:00

Bank holiday drone. Nowhere to go. I may pop out for a little record shopping & a light ale.
A bag full of newly discovered discs, maybe a fanzine, a paper, and a long cool one. Magical, makes me feel like a cat in a sunbeam. I wish i was in a bar on Tibb St. in Manchester right now, or Mort Subite in Brussels....

...where one time i had the joy of reading the back of this record by Madvillain whilst supping the bars speciality jar titled 'Instant Death'. Not that instant, a had three. Steely Dan was coming from a speaker above the street & skirts floated by.
Come home summer, i'm waiting for you, and its my round.

'Curls'- Madvillain, from 'Madvillainy' (Stones Throw, 2004)

Heartbleeder #1: Brian

2010-03-28T07:20:00.000-07:00

I'll tell you something. You can hurt people really easy without even trying. In fact, the less you try, the harder you can hurt them.

Sad songs say so much. Fuck of Elton John.

The sadness of Brian Wilson of bottomless, he's got one heavy soul. This song is personal, created in a cloud of hash above a pool of tears. He put it out on his own to meagre success whilst the band was touring europe singing his old surfing songs. Then it closed Pet Sounds. He played it to his wife Marilyn and they both cried. She could see him on the train waving goodbye.

'Caroline, No'- Brian Wilson(Capitol 5610, 1966)

Cold turkey & a stick of tea...

2010-03-22T12:15:00.000-07:00

'Cold Turkey'- Big Boy Pete(Camp 602005, 1966)

Pete Miller hailed from Norwich, a backwater city also famous for Alan Partridge & Justin Fashanu, and being still unaccessable by motorway in 2010. He had been making records with the likes of Joe Meek & touring with early 60's package tour stalwarts Peter Jay & The Jaywalkers for nearly ten years before he made this brainbusting bubble of psychedelic pop groovery and vanished to San Francisco forevermore.

Above: Jaywalkers fans sit unimpressed in Northampton's ABC Theatre, trying to get their tickets worth after Peter Jay & crew had finished & the other band, 'The Beatles', came on and ruined the night.

Alex Chilton

2010-03-20T06:41:00.001-07:00

Like he'd give a shit what anyone thought, no matter if most would say he was as good as anyone. Must say though, truly fucking awesome work Mr. Chilton, thanks.

'Hey! Little Child'-Alex Chilton(Aura AUS 117, 1980)

Oh Lon Chaney

2010-03-17T15:00:00.000-07:00

Sadness caught in a jar.

'Lon Chaney'-Garland Jeffreys(Atlantic, 1973)

The (New) Call Of The Freaks

2010-03-13T17:20:00.000-08:00

Nick Cave once ranted, mid-interview, on MTV, about how such TV channels were killing the magic that made him fall in love with the whole road in the first place. All he had was a record, maybe some names on the back of a 12" sleeve, at best an odd photo of the band. At the time i thought what a grumpy old goat, but he had a bloody good point.

The mystique is all gone. You can get hint of it with someone like Jandek, but its rare as gold hen's teeth. Even the cool new underground stuff you hear on obscure blogs usually have a myspace link. Its necessary now of course, but all too real. Robert Johnson didn't come from the crossroads with a good internet service provider.

Its a fine thing to banish any elitism, but imagination is a lost magik. The full horror of who pre-packed pop-stars like Ke$ha really are is laid bare and repeated like water torture on cable TV interviews every 20 minutes.

When Elvis Presley was first aired in Great Britain, with just an odd name & a backing band of two, it may as well have been a martian invasian. With all the international press they could possibly get, i wouldn't recognise one of Vampire Weekend if they came to fix my server, so diluted & uninteresting things have become.

So for just that reason, and with these needs in mind, i do enjoy listening to older & older stuff.

I mean, what the hell is going on in this platter by Luis Russell & His Orchestra?
If you want, you can get some photos of Luis online, or a basic biography, but you will never know enough to kill the magic here.

This is an incantation. A whole exotic new world in its three minute existence, a graveyard dance, bosomy gingham silhouette on a full Chicago moon, spats grazed on the sidewalks on a hangover monday, green sick in a trash can, and then its gone, and thats it, no questionable opinions in a Rolling Stone interview to get in the way. Its anything i want it to be & mean.

Its Halloween every day in the mind of Luis. Who knows what depraved orgies were incited when his band played this in strange velveteen ballrooms.

'The (New) Call Of The Freaks'-Luis Russell & His Orchestra(Okeh, 1929)

The Real Thing-Russell Morris (1969)

2010-03-10T05:48:00.000-08:00

Originally a bit-too-close facsmile of Status Quo's 'Pictures Of Matchstick Men' written by Johnny Young, it was transformed Midas-like by eccentric producer Ian "Molly" Meldrum, the kind of chap who went into a studio and asked the guitarist to "play cold stars on a black night sky" and could get a record company to hand over $2000, the amount it cost to make a whole LP back then, to get the results.
Meldrum stretched the play-time to an unfeasable 6.20 minutes with a delightfully self-indulgent 3-minute Walrus of an ending with some Lennon-ish Goon voice declaring somesuch about 'usability of the product' (in fact Organist Brian Cadd reading the back of the box of the master tape reel) mixed with a recording of the Hitler Youth singing "Die Jugend Marschiert" (Youth on the March) across splats of phased drums & electric string swirls.

On completion, 'The Real Thing' was the most expensive record production ever made in Australia. When the record execs flew into Melbourne to hear a studio playback of the completed golden egg, a ragingly drunk Meldrum panicked, stole the master tape and ran into a neighbouring golf course in the night with a bottle of bourbon to consider his next move. He knew there was no way they would get it. He was right. They thought it the biggest load of wasteful crap they had ever heard, and only distributed enough copies locally in the hopes of breaking even.

The times being what they were, the company couldn't bury it so easily. Morris himself drove copies up to Sydney, visited DJ's, and handed the platter over, asking them to play it. You could do crazy things like play what you liked on the radio in that time, so they did, and it became number one for 4 weeks in Australia in 1969, and became a decent international hit. Boss man knows best.

'TheReal Thing'-Russell Morris(Decca, 1969)

Above: The hateful record execs hand over the platimun disc to Russel Morris at the tail end of 1969.

Lynn Taitt-Sooooooooul Fooood

2010-03-08T05:56:00.001-08:00

Just enough winter sunshine through the streaky windows to warrant a stinging tear from my sick eye & the first spin for 2010 of this rocksteady evergreen good-timer from recently gone on legend Lynn Taitt.

"...mix em up....like it?....Sooooouul Food!"

'Soul Food'-Lynn Taitt & The Jets(Pama Records, 1968)

Drinking my wine & digging my earth

2010-02-26T01:17:00.001-08:00

The BBC have commisioned 8 pitiful series of Two Pints Of Lager & A Packet of Crisps in the last ten years.

Today it looks like a cert that 6Music & the Asian Network are hitting the bricks to "shrink overall services and focus more on quality over quantity." This sort of logic really makes me feel like drinking alone in the rain with visions of rusty blades.

My initial reaction was "Come on villagers, light your torches, we have to trudge down so foggy London Town and raise the devil out of BBC director general Mark Thompson with big sticks.". But i fear the villagers would amount to a dozen part time librarians in cagoules.

I'll sign the petition anyway, you never know, someone might even look at it.

Here's a song i learn't from someone on 6music, Maconie's Freakzone? Marc Riley? Don Letts? Not sure, could have been any of em...

'How Much Are They?'-Holger Czukay Jah Wobble & Jaki Liebezeit

Oh, hang on, Snog Marry Avoid is on in a bit...

"You can't learn nothin' whilst you're sleeping Joe..."

2010-02-22T02:16:00.000-08:00

I bought a reissue of Dale Hawkins 'L.A., Memphis, & Tyler, Texas' on 19th January 2009 at 14.38 from The Rough Trade shop on Talbot Road, Portobello, London.

It was memorable. Not memorable enough to remember the date & time of purchase, thats on the receipt still in the case, but its one of those rare records that i got on first listen all the way through and kept coming back to to listen to as a full LP again & again.

Didn't know much beyond Susie Q until i read some attractive reviews for the reissue, and still don't to be honest, don't need to, this was enough.

Dale past last week, and i've been listening again. Every song on that LP can stand as his own epitaph, but i've gone for his advice to any old Joe Schmo down on himself. Maybe originally written as i soother to himself, but now seems like a decent farewell.

Class act.

Joe'-Dale Hawkins(from LA, Memphis & Tyler,1969)

Back From Seeing The Wizard

2010-02-20T02:00:00.000-08:00

A slight sojourn there. A little falling out with BT can go a long way. Then i got a call from Alan Moore who asked me to write a 6-page 50 year history of Rock N Roll in Northampton for his new underground reader 'Dodgem Logic'. This task was not without some elbow grease, enough to nearly ended me. Not quite. No, actually very enjoyable. The second issue is out now, and is full o' sweet treats.

Yowzah yowzah yowzah! BUY BUY BUY!

DODGEM LOGIC ONLINE

Then there was a party to launch the thing which looked like this:

At which the boss actually unveiled some tunes he's been knocking up with "close personal friends of mine" The Retro Spankees & Downtown Joe Brown, here's a clip off youtube of the Greenbaum booming 'Johnny Fortunate':

Then i ate some turkey and got drunk for a month.

Then i sobered up whilst dj-ing for 5 strippers (they call it burlesque, but that seems to be just a case of frills) at this:

Then i wrote this blog & played this song for you:

We're Off To See The Wizard-People(from There Are People And There Are People,1970Paramount Records PAS 5013)

So there we go. Hope you're swell.

Dress Sexy At My Funeral

2009-09-16T02:44:00.000-07:00

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

2009-09-15T03:45:00.000-07:00

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...

2009-09-05T06:11:00.001-07:00

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

2009-08-30T07:46:00.000-07:00

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

2009-08-09T12:33:00.000-07:00

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

2009-07-23T04:41:00.000-07:00

'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

2009-07-21T12:21:00.000-07:00

"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

2009-07-21T10:25:00.001-07:00

"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

2009-07-12T02:44:00.001-07:00

No time for words

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

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

2009-07-03T08:24:00.000-07:00

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

2009-06-28T14:07:00.000-07:00

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

2009-06-15T13:32:00.001-07:00

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

2009-05-23T03:10:00.000-07:00

"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

2009-05-03T12:25:00.001-07:00

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

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

The Interrupted Concert

2009-04-15T14:57:00.001-07:00

'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

2009-04-05T05:30:00.000-07:00

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

2009-04-03T02:26:00.000-07:00

'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

2009-04-01T05:27:00.001-07:00

'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

2009-03-29T11:14:00.000-07:00

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

2009-03-25T12:06:00.001-07:00

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

'Travelin Blues' by Slim Gaillard from

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

2009-03-22T03:35:00.000-07:00

'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

2009-03-21T10:44:00.000-07:00

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

2009-03-17T08:49:00.001-07:00

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.

Cowboy In Sweden

2009-03-15T06:11:00.000-07:00

Lee Hazlewood -'Hey Cowboy' from Cowboy in Sweden(1970)

Lee Hazlewood-'The Night Before'

Big Fat Spider

2009-03-08T10:56:00.001-07:00

Heinz & The Wild Boys-"Big Fat Spider"(1965)

Unrequited

2009-03-06T16:29:00.001-08:00

Driving up the M1 last Sunday evening, in a van borrowed from my boss, on a 'you bend it-you mend it' policy,with a hangover, after finding some maze-like Milton Keynes address in the dark to obtain a bass guitar I was only vaguely hoping i'd kick-start myself into maybe playing some music with again , this song came into my head, and why not. How very fucking apt.

"I don't know why, i love you like i do, when you're breaking my heart, and you know its true, but..."

'Fool For You'-The Impressions from This Is My Country(1968)

Papa Was A Rascal

2009-02-11T04:26:00.001-08:00

"ahh..you're pretty naive. He's a man, he's attracted to you & he wants to have sex with you. You don't think he does? Well you don't know anything about men."-Larry David. From the Curb Your Enthusiasm episode 'Club Soda And Salt', when Larry comes home to find his wife Cheryl having a beer in the lounge with her tennis partner Brad.

George Jackson-Find em, Fool em, Forget em

Silver Jews-I'm Gonna Love The Hell Out Of You

"A preacher was talking there's a sermon he gave, He said every man's conscience is vile and depraved"-Bob Dylan, 'The Man In The Long Black Coat'.

Afghan Whigs-Let Me Lie To You

Roy Head-Treat Her Right

The Sonics-The Hustler

The Gods Have Been So Kind....

2009-02-09T10:08:00.000-08:00

I'm posting this gossamer light little number about '300 days of July' after reading a post over at the ghost of electricity about that former ginger prince of indie Alan McGee, whose kindgom once stretched from Southampton Joiners to Glasgow's King Tuts. And who now unfortunately waffles daily on myspace about how amazing Glasvegas & some plodding pubrockers The Grants are. Some people should never EVER give up drugs.

"The Poptones regulars are back with a Phil Spector-ish symphonic workout, stuffed to the gills with fey indie warblings, glistening guitars drenched in echo and a complete absence of funk. Think Spacemen 3 without the smacked-out chaos. But it's still a more-than-pleasant riff, in a floating downstream sort of way. And if you've spent the night marching to the beat of the 21st-century techno drum, Arnold's prescription for chemical comedown blues could be just what the doctor ordered." -Kieran Wyatt, NME, Aug 14th, 2001.

Oh My-Arnold (from the 7" single on Poptones, 2oo1)

Russian Spy & I

2009-02-09T02:43:00.000-08:00

Stuck in the frozen wastes of Northampton, listening to The Hunters chugging through the splendide 'Russian Spy & I', I can't help wondering how Jan Akkerman can play guitar like that with a normal human hand, and also, what with Russia having something like this weather all the time, how do all those sexy spies manage to do all that subtle sexy spying with any dignity. I can't get to the Co-op without turning into some massive cartoon clown.

'Russian Spy & I'-The Hunters (1966)

Rattlesnake Shake

2009-02-01T03:41:00.000-08:00

"I think the enviromental conditions here in the rec. room would be absolutely perfect for The Fleetwood Mac"

There is nothing about this little bit of film i don't like.

A Psychedelic Union

2009-01-25T07:24:00.000-08:00

"Strange memories on this nervous night in Las Vegas. Has it been five years? Six? It seems like a lifetime, the kind of peak that never comes again. San Francisco in the middle sixties was a very special time and place to be a part of. But no explanation, no mix of words or music or memories can touch that sense of knowing that you were there and alive in that corner of time and the world. Whatever it meant.

There was madness in any direction, at any hour. You could strike sparks anywhere. There was a fantastic universal sense that whatever we were doing was right, that we were winning.
And that, I think, was the handle - -that sense of inevitable victory over the forces of Old and Evil. Not in any mean or military sense; we didn't need that. Our energy would simply prevail. We had all the momentum; we were riding the crest of a high and beautiful wave. So now, less than five years later, you can go up on a steep hill in Las Vegas and look West, and with the right kind of eyes you can almost see the high-water mark - that place where the wave finally broke and rolled back."
-Hunter S. Thompson, Fear & Loathing In Las Vegas, 1971

Can days such as these ever make a return? A youth movement interested in being alive more than anything else. Whats left of it all outside of the same odd fearful fiction of those pulp books above? Did it ever really exist at all? Anymore than this ubiquitous +++GLOBAL ECOMONIC DOWNTURN+++? How much does it really cost to have a good time? What price happiness?
I'm going to write a letter to Emperor Obama to see if we can't get those good times they've got locked up in the Pentagon basement loose.

Psychedelic Woman-Honny & The Bees Band

Psychedelic Man-De Frank & His Professionals

Opium Flower

2009-01-08T12:35:00.000-08:00

In late 2002 John Peel played 'Opium Flower' by Cass McCombs A LOT. I remember a couple of repeat plays near midnight as i lay in bed in the dark recording it on cassette.

The name of who was doing the song i didn't get, it sounded good, Kassma Cooms? Cazz Mac Ooms? I imagined it was a band of Velvets obsessed waistrels, maybe in a garage in Glasgow...or a basement in New York...that was what i loved about listening to radio late at night then, he'd play something totally unheard and all you got was a name & the song, who these people might be and all the rest of it was up to you to imagine.

Then i bought the E.P. 'Not The Way' by, as it turned out, Cass McCombs. And it was fine. I wrote a fanzine back then and wanted to interview him. After being in regular contact with a chap called Brian Pork-Leg at Monitor Records it didn't happen because Cass was working in a New York Deli 12 hours a day and was real hard to get in touch with. Cooooooooooool.

I used to play my cassette recording off Peel as I drove 6 hours a day up & down the M1 delivering photographs & picking up films from odd middle aged men in knitted jumpers, singing this most of the day. This & 'I Could Drive Forever' by Smog. I never made in-roads to contacting Smog though, i couldn't think what to ask.

'Opium Flower'-Cass McCombs (From the 'NOT THE WAY' e.p. ,Monitor Records, 2002)

'I Could Drive Forever'-Smog (From 'Knock, Knock', Domino, 1999)

A Group Called Smith

2009-01-08T03:47:00.000-08:00

Smith were:

Gayle McCormick - Lead Vocals
Larry Moss - Hammond B-3 & Kazoo
Jerry Carter - Bass
Robert Evans - Drums
Rich Cliburn - Lead Guitar

Strange how this lot never made great waves. They seemed to have it all, not least in the soaring blue-eyed soul vocals of Gayle McCormick, who was also, i'm sure it won't escape your attention, red hot.

Information is pretty scarce on detailed history, and it probably wouldn't be that fascinating if it was available to cut & paste here. This much i know-they recorded two cracking LP's- 'A Group Called Smith' in 1969 & 'Minus-Plus' in 1970.
The US Top 5 hit they had with 'Baby Its You' & the version of 'The Weight' on the soundtrack of Easy Rider should have been the springboards to massive success but...ah well...they still knocked out some stormers, heres the closing tracks off boths LP's.....

Minus-Plus-Smith (From 'Minus-Plus' 1970)

Mojaleskey Ridge-Smith (From 'A Group Called Smith'1969)

Live TV appearance in 1969:

Sick & Saccharine

2009-01-04T10:09:00.000-08:00

I need taking to the vets. Sick as a pike for over a week now. Slept into a new year. My lungs feel like they're full of ashes. I'm on my second pack of Peach & Raspberry Soothers today, they're pretty good. With those and the mixture of pills and sweet medicine i'm in a very odd place, waking at around 04.18 every morning with the roaring heaves before bringing on the sugar rush treatments.

And here are todays sugar rush treatments.

Simple Man-Graham Nash

Lets Pretend-The Raspberries

I Don't Believe In Miracles-Colin Blunstone

Chestnut Mare-The Byrds

Eric & The Happy Thoughts

2008-12-26T04:51:00.000-08:00

With my guts feeling lead-lined in the aftermath of Greedy fat gits day, i felt the need for a shot of happy energy, and be praised, my new best friend Eric from Indiana sent me an mp3 of his band 'Eric & The Happy Thoughts', who i just love.

According to Eric, its a lot more fun with Indiana girls, and i believe it:

Eric writes AMAZING pop songs and is incapable of making these pop songs any longer than 2 minutes, which is as long as any pop song needs to be.

Eric & The Happy Thoughts-Think Happy Thoughts

Eric&TheHappyThoughts

Pigs In Blankets

2008-12-15T15:35:00.000-08:00

The last couple of years at our night, ahem, The Broken Shackle Tabernacle, we handed out christmas compilations called Pigs In Blankets, named after our favourite part of Christmas dinner, apart from the roast potatoes. And the wine.

But this year I couldn't be arsed, so i'm putting the tracks on here in celebration of me having a week off work.

The Walkmen-The Christmas Party

Jimmy Smith-Jingle Bells

The Wailers-She's Coming Home

Rotary Connection-Silent Night Chant

The Band-Christmas Must Be Tonight

Al Hirt-Santa Clause Is Coming To Town

Otis Redding-Merry Christmas Baby

The Sonics-Don't Believe In Christmas

Ron Sexsmith-Maybe This Christmas

Jose Feliciano-Feliz Navidad

The Raveonettes-The Christmas Song

Bob Segar-Sock It To Me Santa

Billy Childish-Poundland Christmas

The Beach Boys-Christmas Day

Smokey & The Miracles-Christmas Everyday

Oscar The Grouch-I Hate Christmas

Casiotone For The Painfully Alone-New Years Kiss

The Black On White Affair-Auld Lang Syne

The House Of Bamboo

2008-12-14T02:55:00.001-08:00

One rainy day this year, i visited the dwelling of Folk Beat troubadour Joe Woolley on the promise of fortifying rum & a mound of vinyl he wanted to flog. The rum didn't happen but i did have a sumptious ginger tea, and left with a copy of 'Shake N' Smooch' by Goon Show jazzer Ray Ellington, Off o' which comes this parping gem:

House Of Bamboo-Ray Ellington & His Band

He's alright is Joe. Catch him live, he's a finger-picking demon.
http://www.myspace.com/joewoolley

New artiste of the year

2008-12-13T08:22:00.000-08:00

Dennis Wilson has been everywhere i've looked this year. Good for him, he's great, just a shame he's dead. Yes he was the only Beach Boy who could actually surf, yes he was a handsome brute, yes he hung out with Charles Manson, yes he shagged a lot of beautiful women, yes he was a drunked bum who drowned in the Pacific under a boat, YAWN!!! Lets just let the music do the yappin'. With Pacific Ocean Blue getting a much deserved audience over the last few months, i thought i'd post some of my favourite other Denny tracks.
Such as:

Little Bird-From 'Friends'(1968)

Never Learn Not To Love-(co-written, or maybe more likely stolen from Charles Manson)From 20/20 (1968)

Its About Time-From 'Sunflower'(1970)

Sunflower is a grand album, possibly my favourite by The Beach Boys, at the minute at least, here's a youtube clip from that period of them playing Dennis' almighty 'Forever' live.

Lady- a B-Side!! from 1970

This one is just a monster, i have to thank Russell The Disaster from the staggering pop trio The Research for letting me know about this one, cor!:

Cuddle Up-From Carl & The Passions-So Tough (1972)

Well for one, this is seasonal, and for two, its AMAZING:

Holy Evening-Dennis Wilson

And, in closing, i'm chucking this one in the mix, a Brian song, but so good, and Dennis' voice suits the cracked up sentiment. Lovely job.

I'll Bet He's Nice-From 'The Beach Boys Love You' (1977)

Moondog

2008-12-04T12:16:00.000-08:00

Yeah, Moondog is the one on the left in the above.

I can't get enough Moondog. A huge blind street musician with a viking helmet, spear, and home-made shoes & clothes, his eccentricity & novelty was upfront, but its the music that has the cosmic pull here. Totally magnetic, so simple & gorgeous. I've listened to his last LP 'Sax Pax For A Sax' more than anything else this year. The drums on it are phenomenal, just a bass drum getting stomped, and the instruments slide in a weavy web around the caveman beat like little golden birdies.

Moondog-Golden Fleece

I can't get enough Moondog 'coz theres not enough Moondog to get. Why has nobody made a film about this guy? And why don't the music magazines have him on their covers? Surely, there are no new stories about The Beatles or Bob Dylan? Give me Moondog you luddite monkey boils!

Moondog-Tout Suite No1 In F Major:Mov 3

Sunday Scene

2008-11-30T04:53:00.000-08:00

Sunday Morning.

Paul Hillery sent me this song.

.

Yaphet Kotto-Have You Dug His Scene? (1968)

Black Diamond Express Train To Hell

2008-11-25T13:59:00.001-08:00

I used to have these terrible dreams about long black trains like the one in this film from 1897. I don't know what it means, probably reading too much Woody Guthrie & Kerouac at the time.

"Black Diamond Express To Harmonica"-Rev. A.W. Nix/Ennio Morricone

Albert Hoffmans Bicycle

2008-11-09T09:56:00.001-08:00

On April 16th 1943, Swiss scientist Albert Hoffman rode his bicycle home from his work at the Sandoz laborities where he had been researching lysergic acid derivatives. Having absorbed some of the synthesised liquid through his fingertips, by quitting time Hoffman was tripping balls, the bike was barely moving him along in his perception, as bystanders jumped out of his path as he powered by wild haired at 30mph. He had cooked up LSD, or as he called it 'Medicine For The Soul'. And thus began the long strange, easily cliched trip, and the AMAZING music it influenced.

What did Hoffman do when he got home that night? Check the results.....?

Ashley Reaks-Football Results

http://www.myspace.com/ashleyreakscomedy

Of course changing your perception of the world and your own consiousness isn't always going to make you a useful member of Capitalist society, so well founded & researched anti-drug propaganda films are handy in making 'the kids' scared of things they don't understand. Like this clean-cut chick who naively considered having a good time and ended up talking to a hot-dog:

Ah but how nice to be out in the summer breeze spring footing it naked to the sounds of H.P. Lovecraft, your fingers stretching off into the horizon & laughter floating out in bubbles. Kiss me, you fool....

Mobius Trip- H.P. Lovecraft

...Bloody hippies. Oh god....whats god? Everythings god, i'm on this pebble floating in space forever, death has never seemed so real or unimportant....I think i'm getting the sweating tremons... don't get the fear, too late, its all going wrong, so here's 'Breaking The Bread' by Enon, played at the wrong speed because i think it sounds better that way....

Breaking The Bread-Enon

Drugs are underated. There should be more drugs. Make more drugs and give them to the right people. Not all drugs, Special Brew is rotten at its core, and nothing good could ever come from crack cocaine, although it could be argued that its part in the downfall of Whitney Houston's career was its gift to mankind.

The drug sequence in cinema has been cliched into the ground. They need a comeback, this is a favourite from 1969's Easy Rider....whilst you watch this editmongers of a clip, listen to the closing beat number 'Ozium' from the long-player 'Spine Of God' by those fresh faced boys Monster Magnet

Ozium-Monster Magnet

Right, now we've had our fun, but its monday tomorrow so come on, pull your socks up and fuck off.

Misty Holy Mountain Of St.Julian

2008-11-03T06:42:00.000-08:00

"No, I will never succeed…….but somebody has to start"

Q+A WITH MISTYS BIG ADVENTURE'S GRANDMASTER GARETH....

Q: It gets hard to keep up the mental strength to go on sometimes in this media & celebrity fixated world. What is it that gets you out of bed in the morning and
continue the Grandmaster's good fight?

A: By ignoring most of it and living in a bubble. I think the important thing to remember is that none of it is really important. Are you happy with what you are doing? Do the people you respect like what you do?
If yes, then all is good. I should add that it's rare I get out of bed in the morning!

Q: I'm quite a calm person, but the (on a world scale) smallest things fill me with worrying rage. Simon Cowell's face, Conor NME Editors face, Edith Bowmans increasingly banal comments on Radio One which usually amount to the words 'Random' & 'Amazing', Zane Lowe's face, McFly, that Welsh bastard on T4 & that new music programme, Paolo Nutini's face....theres more
important things to be enraged about, whats wrong with me, what can i do?

A: Is this an interview or counseling!? Don't people charge money for this sort of thing?
I understand. And there's nothing wrong with you. But it's always been the same really. You just need to step back a bit. It's all about ego's. Mostly the only people who get to the top are the pushy, confident types who would sell their soul to Rupert Murdoch in exchange for money and fame. And if it wasn't the people you have listed doing those jobs, there would just be another load of annoying people filling those roles. As an example, it'd be wonderful if George Bush died of an illness that could have been prevented had he not used his veto on stem cell research, but then they'll only get another parasite to take his job and make ill advised decisions. So this is how I deal with it. Firstly, eat custard. It gives you a warm feeling inside and reminds you of childhood. Secondly, poke fun as much as possible. Thirdly, start a mantra, in the words of Harvey Pekar, "It's your World, I'm just living in it."

The Story Of Love-Mistys Big Adventure :

Q: When i first heard Misty's Big Adventure, i'd turned on 6music half way through 'Story Of Love'. I had to sit down and listen. The dishes be damned. I remember my first thought was 'Julian Cope is really back on form'. Then the presenter said your name. Thats a compliment though isn't it? I love Julian Cope. Your voice is very similar, do you think?

A: Ha! Rumbled! I got into Julian Cope in my early teens and I became obsessed with his songs. He's one of the greatest songwriters EVER! When I first started writing songs, I hardly listened to anyone else. And that's probably why I sing in a similar way. It's not like I've deliberately set out to sound the same, I've just been very influenced by him.
A quick aside......I wrote a fan letter to him when I was 14, and not only did he write back, he sent me a box full of records and made me a tape of some Krautrock! Now that's how to treat your fans!

No Hard Shoulder To Cry On-Julian Cope:

Q: Joe Meek shot his landlady & then himself , its not like we haven't all been tempted from time to time. He gets a dedication on the Black Hole sleeve, what was it about him that you like/inspires you?

A: Joe Meek is THE greatest producer EVER! He was one of the first people to fully understand what could be done with sound recording. He was making loops in the fifties! Virtually everything that we take for granted when recording a song in the 21st Century he did in the Sixties. Pretty much before everyone else. And when it was a hell of a lot harder. Unfortunately he was very misunderstood, very paranoid and prone to violent mood swings.
And he lost the plot. The real shame is that’s he’s mostly remembered for the shooting and not so much for the recording. Though he seems to be getting mentioned a lot more these days. I dedicated the album to him because I aspire to producing records as mind blowing as the records he produced. But there’s a long way to go!

Q: Do Extra-Terrestrials exist? If so, why don't they save us? Do you think the existence of Johnny Borrel has put them off at all?

A: I hope so. If you were an alien, would you bother to save us? I don’t know who Johnny Borrel is. So in my Universe, he doesn’t exist.

Q: We here at Blank Stares and Cricketclaps finally had the pleasure of seeing Mistys live show at Brighton's Great Escape, and you were fantastic, everyone had a great time. You were running a little late that night. If hell exists on earth, is it called the M25?

A: It’s around that area certainly! We enjoyed that gig though. There’s something very rock and roll turning up at the venue when you’re meant to be on stage! I liked the fact the audience watched as we hurriedly dumped the equipment on stage, made sure everything worked and then played. No showmanship whatsoever! The gig should have ended with us being paid on stage. The only thing that stopped it being rock and roll was we were late due to a traffic jam.

Q: The quote at end of the gig about the man digging his way to freedom with a spoon made me feel as ready to take on the world as when i saw Rocky at the age of 7. I can't remember it word for word, could you remind me of it? Not Rocky, what you siad at the end of the gig.....

A:
“There is a village which is hidden in the shadow of a mountain.
Everyone is suffering from a lack of light.
One day, the eldest of the village leaves for the mountain with a tea spoon in his hand.
The others ask him what he intends to do.
He tells them he is going to move the mountain.
But you will never succeed they cry out.
No, I will never succeed…….but somebody has to start.”

I can’t take the credit for that story. It’s by Alexandro Jodorowsky. He’s the greatest film maker EVER! Watch The Holy Mountain and have your mind blown away! It’s not as well known as Rocky, but it’s way more psychedelic.

Q: If we invited you 'round ours for a BBQ, and asked you to bring a few records to play with you, what do you think you might bring, in the mood your in today?

A: I’d bring round The Faust Tapes, some Raymond Scott, a home made Joe Meek compilation and a couple of Shooby Taylor, the human horn songs.

For more information, tour dates, releases, links etc. for this fine fellow look here:
http://www.myspace.com/mistysbigadventure

SAY: tRANSELEMENt

2008-11-02T10:37:00.000-08:00

Whilst wading through piles of debris in the culture corner of my flat this claret filled sleepy sunday, I rediscovered this forgotten tasty little number on a compilation that landed on my doormat over 3 years ago from the good people at Manchester record label Melodic

The sunshine harmonies and odd lysergic digital thrust of the tRANSELEMENt track was quite appealing at the time, and still is, so i had a quick gander to see what they might be up too these days.

Turns out they're long gone, they split around the same time I first heard them in 2005, all myspace links and info on the band have gone a little stale, though learning they concocted this wizadry a couple of miles from where i was raised and dragged up made me even more interested. The Pendle images in my head of dry stone walls, rolling green & grey landscapes, claustrophobic country lanes and gangs of teenagers off their rockers on mushrooms really blends with what these chaps seemed to be about.

This paragraph on their abandoned Myspace seems to be the sum of their toils:

"tRANSELEMENt (formerly EleMenT) was a musical ensemble located betwixt Pendle's hills and undulations making alternative and interesting sounds/noise/musique from 1994-2004."

And thats about all the info i can muster, though they did do a couple of Peel sessions, being discribed by the Margrave as 'a bit weird' which is some compliment i think.

tRANSELEMENt- Harmonious Ascent

Lead bod Jay Stansfield went on to form a new band called SAY that seems to be dealing in a similar Pendle magic & well worth keeping an ear on.

Burning Of The Witch

2008-10-30T16:26:00.000-07:00

Watch your ass, the Puritants are coming.

England has a history of moral panic & incomprehensible knee-jerk scape goating. Someone must be to blame for all this sexless grind.

Happy Halloween!!!Its a national holiday now right? No, it isn't! The only one that people seem to have any real interest in without getting free stuff, and we have to get up and earn a living through it....

I grew up in the valley below Pendle Hill, which thrives on its Witchy history:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pendle_witch_trials

Really, the Blair Witch Project seemed as old hat when it came out as it does now to anyone who lived through teenage Pendle Hill rituals.

Have we really come on any as a race since the Witch Trials in the 17th century? Not much. Still mostly all stuffy bluster, holier than thou finger pointing, just pointing at the part of ourselves we can't deal with.

Burning Of The Witch-Troyka

And Andrew Sachs, or to use your more commonly known name until this week, Manuel, i know you'll be reading this, the one on the left in the picture above fucked your grandaughter, you know, the porn actress grandaughter who is in the pole-dancing troupe Satanic Sluts, & takes cheques off tabloids to tell sex tales, take off her undercrackers and preach about morals?

Deal with it, get a sense of humour, and stop Piers Morgan suckling on the nourishing Daily Mail green horned devil nipple.

Is it just me? Whole countries and continents are on the brink of blowing themselves up daily, there's a U.S. election next week, and all this country can talk about is somebody swearing on a pre-record on night time radio. Strange spooky times.

Watchin Soul Train On A Friday Night.....

2008-10-26T14:55:00.000-07:00

"...all the young ladies lookin' outtasight.Close my eyes and I started to dream, About another world that I haven't seen..."

I'm Through With White Girls-The Dirtbombs

Look at Al Green here. Albert Greene. Just about cresting the arc of superstar here on Soul Train in 1974. 30 years old, his whole life is on fire. Look at his face, listen to that voice, he hasn't slept the night before, handing out roses to sweet things at the front.
Look at the drummer smacking those half boiled-egg drums behind there: Al Jackson, he'd be dead within a year. His tombstone read "For i have promises to keep, and miles to go before i sleep."

A couple of months after this show one of Al's girlfriends brought him the wrath of the Lord, throwing boiling hot grits over him, then shooting herself with his pistol.

Rev. Al Green has been preaching at the Full Gospel Tabernacle Church on Hale Road in Memphis every Sunday since.
“God had called me to a higher place, turned me away from earthly to heavenly love, and while it hurt to say it, I had to leave the sensual for the spiritual.”

Well fair enough, but he looks as high as can be here....and check out Soul Train host Don Cornelius at the end, dude...

Thou Shalt Not Steal

2008-10-15T06:07:00.000-07:00

Oh but we shall. Done it before & we'll do it again.

Moral conundrums are as bereft in the magical kingdom of rock n roll riffage as they are in the looting free-for-all of MP3 blogging.

The Blues got royally pillaged for its strutting golden goose eggs. From the delta porch, to Beale Street, to the Cavern, to McLemore Ave., to Sunset Strip, to CBGB's, to the Roxy, to Defjam, all the way through to the 6th Floor office of some hellhound of a TV advertising agency, there's been some snotty cockeroo stood around hearing the same few notes thats made their underpants & wallets twitch & thought-"I'll have that".

And so what? Its just a glory bound hand-me-down.

But D.R. Hooker? D. R Hooker's taking the piss.

'The Bible'-D.R.Hooker (1972)

Buy 'The Truth'HERE

His one private press released LP-'The Truth', is a swirling psychedelic gem, and so obsolete as to fetch $1000 from the pockets of certain rich fools. How do such well conceived, greatly produced works of art disappear like that? Not always easy to say, but in this case, I'd say its pretty obvious-LOOK! That's him on the cover! Off his top bollocks! He's got a massive Jesus complex & was spouting 'Set yourself free my children...' quasi-cult jive to a culture quaking with post-Manson Family horrors. Where did it all go wrong D.R? Might have been the robes eh?
Hmm maybe...but NO!!!! I'll tell you when! When you swiped a riff off Neil Young to propel a song about how amazing Jesus' fashion sense & the Bible's message is, and thusly helping the black dawning of 'Chr*stian R*ck'.

Youuuu contradictory pillock D.R.

Nice sounds though.

'I've Been Waiting For You'- Neil Young (1968)

Neil Young is EVERYWHERE

TV Zappa

2008-10-13T10:16:00.000-07:00

Trouble Every Day-Mothers Of Invention(1966)

"Well I'm about to get sick from watchin' my TV
Been checkin' out the news until my eyeballs fail to see
I mean to say that every day is just another rotten mess
And when it's gonna change, my friend is anybody's guess

So I'm watchin' and I'm waitin' hopin' for the best
Even think I'll go to prayin' every time I hear 'em sayin'
That there's no way to delay that trouble comin' every day

Wednesday I watched the riot . . .seen the cops out on the street
Watched 'em throwin' rocks and stuff And chokin' in the heat
Listened to reports about the whisky passin' 'round
Seen the smoke and fire and the market burnin' down
Watched while everybody on his street would take a turn
To stomp and smash and bash and crash and slash and bust and burn

So I'm watchin' and I'm waitin' hopin' for the best
Even think I'll go to prayin' every time I hear 'em sayin'
That there's no way to delay that trouble comin' every day

Well, you can cool it,you can heat it . . .
'cause, baby, I don't need it . . .
Take your TV tube and eat it
'n all that phony stuff on sports 'n all the unconfirmed reports
You know I watched that rotten box until my head begin to hurt
From checkin' out the way the newsman say they get the dirt
Before the guys on channel so-and-so

And further they assert that any show they'll interrupt
To bring you news if it comes up
They say that if the place blows up-they will be the first to tell,
Because the boys they got downtown are workin' hard and doin' swell,
And if anybody gets the news before it hits the street,
They say that no one blabs it faster-their coverage can't be beat

And if another woman driver gets machine-gunned from her seat
They'll send some joker with a brownie and
you'll see it all complete

So I'm watchin' and I'm waitin' hopin' for the best
Even think I'll go to prayin' every time I hear 'em sayin'
That there's no way to delay that trouble comin' every day

Hey, you know something people?
I'm not black
But there's a whole lots a times
I wish I could say I'm not white

Well, I seen the fires burnin' and the local people turnin'
On the merchants and the shops who
used to sell their brooms and mops
And every other household item,
watched the mob just turn and bite 'em
And they say it served 'em right because a few of them are white,
And it's the same across the nation-black and white discrimination
Yellin' "You can't understand me!"
'n all that other jazz they hand me
In the papers and TV and all that mass stupidity
That seems to grow more every day
each time you hear some nitwit say
He wants to go and do you in
because the color of your skin
just don't appeal to him
(No matter if it's black or white)
Because he's out for blood tonight!!

You know we got to sit around at home and watch this thing begin
But I bet there won't be many live to see it really end
'Cause the fire in the street ain't like the fire in the heart
And in the eyes of all these people
Don't you know that this could start on any street in any town
In any state if any clown decides that now's the time to fight
For some ideal he thinks is right and if a million more agree
There ain't no Great Society as it applies to you and me
Our country isn't free and the law refuses to see
If all that you can ever be is just a lousy janitor
Unless your uncle owns a store you know that five in every four
Just won't amount to nothin' more...

Gonna watch the rats go across the floor
And make up songs about being poor

Blow your harmonica, son!"

Blue Monday People

2008-10-12T12:22:00.000-07:00

Oh me oh my ohh. So...away we go. You've got to pay for those crimes of the night. And here comes a monday. Back to zero. Clock-in time. Monday i'll have friday on my mind. Welcome to the workin' week. Oh I know it don't thrill ya, I hope it don't kill ya.
You gotta do it 'til you're through it-so you better get to it. An all that gobbledegook. Don't matter. 'Coz everyones the same, and if you're listening to who i'd claim should be made latter day saints-Curtis Mayfield & Lee Hazlewood, wallowing away like Monday's sun will never go down, well, it almost feels good to be this miserable.

Blue Monday People-St. Curtis Mayfield

If Its Monday Morning-St. Lee Hazlewood

Time Machine-"Turn Back Time"/"Bird On The Wind" (1971)

2008-10-12T06:33:00.000-07:00

In the 3-dimensional space we comprehend, we have three directions of free movement:

1.) Left/Right
2.) Back/Forth
3.) Up/Down

What i'm dealing with as i place this beautiful, beautiful 7" piece of vinyl on the turntable is another option-

4.)Inside/Outside

Special music dealing with the fourth dimension here. Strange sentiments & AMAZING music from Time Machine, a one-shot french group led by Frederic Leibovitz (who also led Aphrodite's Child and Jupiter Sunset), which recorded this single in 70/71.
If he could turn back time, well no-one can turn back time, but if he could...he'd visit H.G.Wells and ask him how to turn back time. Odd thought.

"There is, though I do not know how there is or why there is, a sense of infinite peace and protection in the glittering hosts of heaven. There it must be, I think, in the vast and eternal laws of matter, and not in the daily cares and sins and troubles of men, that whatever is more than animal within us must find its solace and its hope." -H.G.Wells

The inspiration for this dusty 7 would appear to be a little late 1970 night chong session accompanied by a TV showing of a film adaptation of Wells 1895 novella 'Time Machine'.
The A-Side is marvelous, have pan-pipes ever been of so much use anywhere else? But the reversed-tape psych-out B-Side 'Bird On The Wind' steals the show. Mesmerising drama.

Time Machine-Turn Back Time

Time Machine-Bird On The Wind

You won't find a copy of this in Zavvi, but the A-side appeared on Vol.2 of the sensational Rubble series HERE

Broken Shackle Tabernacle

2008-10-12T06:06:00.000-07:00

Our monthly shindig Broken Shackle Tabernacle approacheth like a lumbering funky frankenstein:

Featuring live recitals from the majestic Gossamer Albatross & NY troubadour of some repute Major Matt Mason USA

Yours truly's DJ skill reputations will be once more put to the test in the gaps. Funky feet- We shall not fail you.

Saturday 25th October
Northampton Labour Club
On the corner of Earl & Charles
8.30 til Late & FREE