Archive for the ‘Island’ Category
Saturday, May 8th, 2010
Listen: Shotgun Wedding / Roy C RoycShotgun.mp3
You’d think this was originally recorded down Jamaica way, given the record’s audio quality seemingly captures not only the sound associated with the lilting rhythms of early ska recordings, in that rock steady and blue beat style, but the very time period as well. Like Roy C himself, the recording is New York based.
A UK #6 in ’66 on Island, yet despite a dated sound even for ’72, it still re-entered and peaked at #8 in England when reissued on Jonathan King’s Decca distributed UK label. A bit of a timeless audio document, it’s addicting in the same way ‘Harlem Shuffle’ by Bob & Earl, another New York recording, still is today. The power of a great record seldom dies.
Tags: Blue Beat, Bob & Earl, Island, Jonathan King, Rock Steady, Roy C, Ska, UK Records
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Thursday, May 6th, 2010
Listen: Close (To The Edit) / Art Of Noise ArtNoiseClose.mp3
As if overnight, suddenly there were a few Art Of Noise singles being released seemingly simultaneous in the UK and US. I did a specialty radio show at the time with Roger McCall on WCMF, and we would dig through all the latest releases every few days preparing for our Tuesday night slot. I will never forgot our jaws dropping in unison when we gave this it’s first spin on the unused production studio’s turntable. It sounded like nothing at all in the solar system – the exact similar awe we experienced upon initial listens to Malcolm McLaron’s ‘Buffalo Gals’ or Scritti Politti’s ‘Wood Beez’.
We opened our very next show with ‘Close To The Edit’.
Listen: Beat Box / Art Of Noise ArtNoiseBeatBox.mp3
As I said, as if overnight, another Art Of Noise 7″ arrived. ‘Beat Box’ just as innovative and exciting as the previous release. Now we were playing two of their tracks each program – and this went on for weeks. Even as other records were being broadcast, Roger and I would flail around the studio blasting these on the second unused turntable until moments before needing to use the bloody thing to cue up the next record. We had a few close calls, then figured out playing Television’s ‘Marquee Moon’ or The Special AKA’s ‘Ghost Town’, both quite lengthy, would allow us more time to carry on to Art Of Noise.
Listen: Moments In Love / Trevor Horn, Paul Morley with Art Of Noise ArtNoiseMoments.mp3
Eventually, but not too long after, ‘Moments In Love’ graced a 7″, culled from the soundtrack to PUMPING IRON II – THE WOMEN. Not having seen the movie, I can’t understand from it’s title how the hell this track fit in – but it must have. Almost ambient, it was addictive. Sampled years later into a UK hit, ‘Moments In Love’ by JT & The Big Family, I’m pleased it earned some cash for the writers of this superb song.
Art Of Noise continued on for several years with Chrysalis. They never matched those initials few singles, well I don’t think so that is.
Tags: Island, JT & The Big Family, Malcolm McLaren, Paul Morley, Roger McCall, Scritti Politti, Television, The Art Of Noise, Trevor Horn, WCMF, ZTT
Posted in Island, JT & The Big Family, Malcolm McLaren, Paul Morley, Roger McCall, Scritti Politti, Television, The Art Of Noise, Trevor Horn, WCMF, ZTT | No Comments »
Tuesday, April 20th, 2010
Listen: Charlotte Anne / Julian Cope JulianCharlotteAnne.mp3
This came out not long after I joined Island in ’88. Ron Fair was part of the A&R team, and produced the single (plus the album from which it came, MY NATION UNDERGROUND).
I hadn’t seen Ron for years, he went on to big success with The Black Eyed Peas and Keyshia Cole – good for him. But we did finally have a chance to reunite at a recent party in New York – and despite my praise of his work with Julian, he was pretty humble.
‘Charlotte Anne’ is such a classic British pop single. I remember sitting in the little parking lot behind Island’s St. Peter’s Square office in London back then, listening to it in Ron’s car. I loved the track that first time and still do.
Listen: Beautiful Love / Julian Cope JulianBeautifulLove.mp3
Luckily I had the privilege of getting to know Julian and his then sidekick/producer Donald Skinner. They were making one of his masterpieces, PEGGY SUICIDE. What a fucking fantastic work from start to finish that baby is. Soon after release, I ventured to Norwich and caught an early show on the UK tour in support of the album. No lie – it was the place to be in the solar system that night.
‘Beautiful Love’ is probably my all time favorite Julie single – reminds me so much of The Herd’s ‘I Don’t Want Our Loving To Die’. So what’s not to like.
Visiting New York for a few days press prior to the album’s US release, he stayed, as always, with his in-laws out on Long Island. It was a blistering hot July day, and into the office comes Julian wearing flip flops, a wide brimmed sun hat, shades and swim trunks just a touch bigger than your average sized thong. That’s it. He plopped onto the sofa in my office and proceeded to have a totally casual conversation with Phranc and Marianne Faithfull, neither of whom seemed to blink twice.
Island was one hell of a fun place to work at times.
Tags: Donald Skinner, Island, Julian Cope, Keyshia Cole, Marianne Faithfull, Phranc, Ron Fair, The Black Eyed Peas, The Herd
Posted in Donald Skinner, Island, Julian Cope, Keyshia Cole, Marianne Faithfull, Phranc, Ron Fair, The Black Eyed Peas, The Herd | No Comments »
Sunday, March 21st, 2010
Listen: The Cisco Kid / War WarCisco.mp3
Today is the first full day of spring, according to my neighbor who knows all these things. Actually it started yesterday at around 1:15, so that didn’t count. Whatever. When it’s about 70°, no humidity with clear blue skies, and I find myself digging through boxes of doubles stockpiled for some 15 years back out in the garage, I know it’s spring. It’s the first thing I do, having itched to get at something or other all winter – and that’s exactly how yesterday was spent. The place is actually a scene from that new TV show about hoarding, the latest condition a doctor will give you tablets for. Corinne went in to get something, and being her first time for a couple of years, and just flipped out on me. So I needed to do some shuffling around anyways.
Brought one of those portable suitcase record players out with me. I bought this one for a steep $20 sometime in the late 80′s when those two parking lots on 6th Ave and 26th St had the weekly junk sales, dealers of everything covering the two spaces. I got into a habit of getting there at dawn, and found records even I can’t believe. One time, I got it into my head I needed a wlp of The Faces debut on Warner Brothers, and found it that very day. Like I willed it to be there. True story.
The player still works, perfectly in fact. It’s one of my favorite pieces, complete with interchangeable 45 adapter spindle. So off I go to the garage to dig and spin. First box, first handful, I find a copy of ‘Cisco Kid’. I’d forgotten Island UK licensed their catalog off Jerry Goldstein around ’75, and proceeded to be his English outlet for War, although quite why United Artists there didn’t hold on to his Far Out Productions was probably a mistake in hindsight.
I freaking love ‘Cisco Kid’. It reminds me of April ’73, when I took my pal and college radio rep for United Artisits in LA, Rich Fazekas, up on his offer to come on out and visit Easter week. The Pretty Things were making their US debut at the Whisky Au Go Go. Did I need more reason? We tooled around non-stop. He turned me on to Mexican food – there was no Mexican food in my college town of Rochester. I’d never had a taco, and given Rich is Mexican, he knew the real deal places to go.
‘Cisco Kid’ was easily the soundtrack to the trip. It was being played everywhere, you remember how hits used to be unavoidable. By early summer when I went to London, it had migrated to their airwaves, and I heard it constantly all over again.
So this time of year brings that all back, and to find a copy in that first handful I grabbed does make me feel frighteningly connected to my records. I love those records.
Tags: Island, The Faces, United Artists, War
Posted in Island, Rich Fazekas, The Faces, The Pretty Things, United Artists, War, Whisky A Go Go | No Comments »
Thursday, February 11th, 2010
Listen: MPB (Missing Persons Bureau) / Womack & Womack WomackMPB.mp3
Womack & Womack were a peculiar bunch. The music: always great – always, but there were many eccentricities.
A quite funny incident occurred when delivering their album CONSCIENCE to Island. Now this would have been summer ’88. Chris Blackwell was in town, and a few of us were hanging around his office late that afternoon eating cashews and drinking cold beer as he played one great track from it after the other. Chris always had loads of drinks in his fridge, plus nuts, fruit and good snacks on the front edge of his desk, where at least a couple of chairs would face him – and anyone from the staff could literally hang there, playing music – new singles, demos, mixes, whatever. It was good fun when he’d share stories about Jamaica or Island history, always casual and no stress. Indeed casual was the absolute description of his preferred work environment. Being a top host, it could be a really fun place.
So Maureen from the art department turns up with a packaging proof for his approval. Womack & Womack had done their deal through Julian Palmer in the UK office, I seem to recall. Didn’t matter, Chris would approve all art and so London wanted his okay. He’s looking it over and asks, “Why does it list me as executive producer?”. Maureen got a touch flustered, worried she’d fucked something up and explains that’s how the label copy was submitted. “But I’ve never even met them” he laughs. We all just fell in hysterics as by then the ganga was circulating. “What the fuck’s up with these people?”.
It totally captured the roller coaster twists and turns the project took, ultimately ending after one album, despite massive success.
The Womacks were very much a family operation, and a large one at that. All the kids, even the grandmother, would be on stage making for a fantastic show (their run at The Bottom Line a particularly great memory), but chaotic in most other respects, like when they’d invade the office.
‘MPB (Missing Person’s Bureau)’ was the fourth and final single from the LP. Despite a low chart reading (#92 UK), it didn’t really reflect the song’s popularity. The full length was platinum by then.
Never have I played this with others around and not get the ‘wow, what’s this’ reaction.
Tags: Chris Blackwell, Island, The Bottom Line, Womack & Womack
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Sunday, January 31st, 2010
Listen: Arnold Layne / The Pink Floyd
Arnold
Tower 333. That was the label and catalog number for The Pink Floyd’s first US single, ‘Arnold Layne’. I heard it played on Dick Clark’s AMERICAN BANDSTAND Rate A Record segment, and taped it on my tiny GE reel to reel, complete with a palm sized hand held microphone and a happening aqua play button. I still have it, in fact I can see it as I type.
Oh fuck, did I want to own this single or what? It was a one listen record. Like involuntary movement, I special ordered it on the phone that very Saturday afternoon from Mrs. Smith at Smith’s Records. And I would anxiously wait week after week but it never did arrive. Took me a few years to get it at all, and then on a UK pressing. That US Tower single was so elusive. In fact, finding a stock copy took 39 long years.
In the meantime, I did drive to New Jersey in a snow storm, a proper blizzard to be exact, with Steve Yegelwel, to buy a DJ copy complete with it’s promo-only picture sleeve for $150 in ’90, a fire sale by today’s standards. I’d seen it listed in GOLDMINE the day the issue arrived, so I immediately call this guy who says he’s just sold it. I double his asking price of $75, offer to drive over the river despite the weather and pay in cash. He accepts. Steve was from Jersey and knew the way. We worked together at Island then.
But it was a few months later that I really struck gold when it comes to ‘Arnold Layne’. The catalog number is without a doubt embossed in my brain. I became obsessed with getting that record at the time and just ordered it from every shop I could. No one ever did get it, but I ended up knowing Tower 333 by heart.
Fast forward to June 23, 1990, which doubles as my wedding anniversary so already in a good mood, I’m walking from the Astor Street subway stop toward the Island office on West 4th Street, which was just one flight up above Tower Records, the retail chain not the label. Conveniently, during both Tower’s and Island’s heydays, a perfect place for a vinyl addict to be located.
Meanwhile across the street from the building entrance, almost to Broadway, I see a massive, and I mean massive, pile of discarded records, both in box lots and loose. All of them 45′s. Must have been an old music publisher’s office that got gutted and curbed, I never did get to the bottom of that one. There’s a few guys sifting through them. Well I went into a whole other gear, my heart revved up, I ran and I dug in. I gouged this pile. I don’t remember for sure but I think the others just backed off as I was acting so irrationally, taking anything remotely interesting, basically being a pig.
I was in a panic and luckily Island was in a doorman building so I motioned to Spike, said doorman, to come watch my heap while I ran upstairs for boxes and help. I’m pretty sure I dragged Yegelwel down, definitely Karen Yee (she still works at Island), Kathy Kenyon, Hugo Burnham and Denny Cordell too. I needed all of them. There was so much to carry. Even Chris wandered downstairs for some amusement when he heard.
Well the tricky part of this adventure was: a big chunk of these were test pressings. Most had, at best, a white label with little to no info hand written in. Then there were acetates, with only catalog and/or stamper numbers in the run-off grooves. Plus there were a couple thousand records so I’m trying to be a touch selective, checking them for any clues, details.
One of these acetates, sparkling purple-ish black in the morning sun has ‘T 333 A’ etched in it’s run off groove. Look closely at the scan of it above. No way. Not possible. Don’t even go there. Still, I added it to my mountain just in case and kept it all moving.
Later, in my office, I’m messing with all these records, some people are stopping by, wondering about the stupid commotion. We’re playing half a song, then hurrying on to the next single, there was so much obscure soul, multiple copies, enough for everyone. I’m losing it. Sorting through, I find that T 333 acetate and put it on the turntable, seriously not expecting anything as most of the others were garbage.
Lo and behold, it’s ‘Arnold Layne’. And in stereo. I just froze.
As Russell and Ron Mael wrote on Sparks’ recent seminal single ‘Good Morning’: “Thank you God/For having thought of me/I know your time is tight/But still you thought of me”. So true.
Tags: American Bandstand, Chris Blackwell, Denny Cordell, Goldmine, Hugo Burnham, Island, Karen Yee, Kathy Kenyon, Ron Mael, Russell Mael, Smith's Records, Sparks, Steve Yegelwel, The Pink Floyd, Tower Records
Posted in American Bandstand, Chris Blackwell, Denny Cordell, Goldmine, Hugo Burnham, Island, Karen Yee, Kathy Kenyon, Ron Mael, Russell Mael, Smith's Records, Sparks, Steve Yegelwel, The Pink Floyd, Tower Records | No Comments »
Monday, January 25th, 2010
Listen: Do The Teasy / Joyce Bond
Do The Teasy / Joyce Bond
I’m actually looking for information about Joyce Bond. My ska collector friend Duane thinks she may have been based in the UK, and recorded a few lightweight rock steady style covers, including ‘Ob La Di, Ob La Da’, actually making yet another Beatles amusement park novelty song sound passable. This track though, is bordering on greatness. Please send along details on her if you have any. And if you have a copy of her ’67 album, SOUL AND SKA, name your price.
Tags: Joyce Bond
Posted in Duane Sherwood, Island, Joyce Bond, Ska, The Beatles | No Comments »
Saturday, January 23rd, 2010
Listen: Honaloochie Boogie / Mott The Hoople MottHonaloochieBoogie.mp3
‘Honaloochie Boogie’ was the first record I heard upon arriving in London, June ’73. My Aunt Tess collected me at Heathrow, we went back to hers, where she prepared me a traditional English fry-up, and then went to meet Uncle Mick at the pub. It was playing when we walked in. I was more excited about racing toward the jukebox than catching up with my relatives. Very wrong.
I knew of the single, it was one of many I planned to hear/acquire while there. Things were off to a great start.
Prior, I had really tried to love Mott The Hoople. Those four albums on Atlantic (Island in the UK) were a bit of a struggle for me – they just felt a little prog rock bloated. My roomates loved BRAIN CAPERS, and so did I. Well liked, not loved, that is. Suddenly the stars lined up for Mott and they were working with David Bowie. New sound and new label (CBS). They segued onto the glam bandwagon pretty seamlessly, no easy feat considering they weren’t young or thin or androgynous. Overend Watts, like Chris Squire from Yes, always looked pathetic in crotch high silver platforms and pastel colors. Plus ‘All The Young Dudes’ was, let’s face it, all about Bowie. Most importantly, they were now making singles.
The initial one from the second album, first post Bowie, was this. And it ignited a run of strong, quite fantastic records to follow: ‘Roll Away The Stone’, ‘The Golden Age Of Rock ‘n Roll’, ‘All The Way To Memphis’ to be exact. I guess ‘Honaloochie Boogie’ is the least heard and appreciated. Maybe it was the moment for me – not sure. I can tell you this, along with Wizzard ‘See My Baby Jive’, Thin Lizzy ‘Whiskey In The Jar’ and at least one Slade single, it was on every jukebox in every pub in London that summer.
I had finally arrived in my natural habitat.
Posted in Atlantic, CBS, Columbia, David Bowie, Island, Mott The Hoople, Slade, Thin Lizzy, Wizzard | No Comments »
Wednesday, December 9th, 2009
Listen: Typical Girls / The Slits SlitsTypical.mp3
Did testing one’s musical tolerance begin in the 60′s via prog rock, or was it an on going process starting with jazz in the 50′s? It certainly hit full swing by the late 70′s. When art met punk, the first requirement seemed to be an inability to play. But the resulting cringe factor was admittedly addicting. There were a bunch of labels that bent over backwards to like the unlikeable, and then it started to spill to the majors.
I ended up being sucked into The Slits despite my intensions otherwise. A strong image, great sense of reggae/dub, spot-on producer choice (Dennis Bovell) and top packaging helped launch their Island period (about a year in length) during ’79. After all, they were the new GTO’s in my book, but to others, it all hid behind No Wave or some such genre.
Most of the plays I give ‘Typical Girls’ still result in a second spin, or lead me on to a couple of other tracks.
Listen: Man Next Door / The Slits SlitsManNextDoor.mp3
How does anyone resist a cover of John Holt’s classic ‘Man Next Door’. I love the original. I love Massive Attack’s and I love this.
Listen: Earthbeat / The Slits SlitsEarthbeat.mp3
Then there’s always ‘Earthbeat’, their fourth single. Have to say, I basically preferred this one. By now they’d absorbed the studio tricks Dennis Bovell had passed along, and working with Nick Launay and Dick O’Dell as producers, seemed to have replicated themselves successfully. It was a time when they were almost mainstream, and could’ve had a hit. After all, John Peel favorites like Killing Joke and The Fall were finding their way into the UK singles charts. Howard Thompson signed this to CBS, if corporate proof is needed of that possibility.
Listen: Earthdub / The Slits SlitsEarthdub.mp3
Definitely search out the 12″, as the B side, dub version, ‘Earthdub’, is worth owning.
Tags: Antilles, CBS, Dennis Bovell, Dick O'Dell, Howard Thompson, Island, John Peel, Killing Joke, Massive Attack, Nick Launay, No Wave, The Fall, The GTO's, The Slits, Y
Posted in Antilles, CBS, Dennis Bovell, Dick O'Dell, Howard Thompson, Island, John Peel, Killing Joke, Massive Attack, Nick Launay, No Wave, The Fall, The GTO's, The Slits, Y | No Comments »
Sunday, November 22nd, 2009
Listen: Africa / Rico RicoAfrica.mp3
Listen: Afro-Dub / Rico RicoAfroDub.mp3
The last two weeks of March ’77 were pretty amazing. Corinne and I went to England together for the first time, bought into one of those airfare/hotel packages that landed us at a very low rent lodging near King’s Cross. Even today, it’s not the most upscale of areas, but then – forget it. NOTHING was open past 11pm. By day, there was a nearby, old style cafe serving traditional English fry ups for breakfast, and a cornershop or two with loads of Cadburys, bottles of industrial strength, just-add-water orange drink, greasy cornish pastries and battenburg cakes. It drizzled the whole two weeks, and was cold. There was no room service and the TV went off around 12:30. All the other Americans in our traveling group hated the place. We, on the other hand, were in paradise.
Howard Thompson and I had become fast friends the previous fall, a mutual bonding over Eddie & The Hot Rods, who he’d signed to Island. Every day and night in London was spent with him. We went to every club, every show that mattered, and got to hang out at Island. Just off the canteen in the back was the Island studio, which on one particular day, Rico and his band were rehearsing in. MAN FROM WARIEKA had just come out. All the punk fans loved reggae as well, we were no different. And Corinne really loved it. We sat mesmerized watching these guys. The room was thick with pot smoke, they were on fire and we were in England.
The first thing Howard handed me on our initial visit to his office at 22 St. Peters Square was this single. Even more than a great record, it’s a time travel back to two weeks of every kind of bliss imaginable.
Tags: Eddie & The Hot Rods, Howard Thompson, Island, Rico
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Sunday, November 15th, 2009
Listen: Anything That’s Rock ‘n’ Roll / Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers TomPettyAnything.mp3
This band got off to a slow start. Maybe it was simply his motorcycle jacket on their album cover, but Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers were thrown into the punk category by US radio programmers. Those radio gate keepers were a very intimidated, non-musical and paranoid bunch. Their heyday was nearing an end.
Proving their ineptitude, to them, Talking Heads, Blondie, Elvis Costello & The Attractions, The Ramones, Television, The Sex Pistols, The Patti Smith Group and Eddie & The Hot Rods all sounded the same: they were punk bands the American public didn’t want to hear. Wrong and wrong.
Sharing bills with both The Ramones and Blondie were probably temporary bad moves, because on to the unplayable scrapheap they went. Funny enough, fans of those bands were the first to appreciate them. Right up to the present day, it’s hard finding many folks, regardless of musical tastes, to hate on Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers.
Howard Thompson was the guy who turned me on to them. He’d convinced Island in the UK to release their debut album. The single, ‘Anything That’s Rock ‘n’ Roll’, charted soon after over there, and he sent me a copy. I preferred it then, and now, to that first album’s eventual hit, ‘American Girl’ – and it unfortunately seems lost in the band’s history, never getting any mentions ever again.
Tags: Blondie, Eddie & The Hot Rods, Elvis Costello & The Attractions, Talking Heads, Television, The Patti Smith Group, The Ramones, The Sex Pistols, Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers
Posted in Blondie, Eddie & The Hot Rods, Elvis Costello & The Attractions, Howard Thompson, Island, Shelter, Talking Heads, Television, The Patti Smith Group, The Sex Pistols, Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers | No Comments »
Wednesday, October 21st, 2009
Listen: Talkin’ Trash / Betty Davis BettyDavisTalkin.mp3
It wasn’t exactly her voice that attracted me – a mixture of Genya Ravan, Lydia Pence from Cold Blood and any one of The Slits. But some of the tracks were amongst the best of the day. Her NASTY GAL album didn’t seem to fit in anywhere, didn’t sell and for years became expensively sought after. The singles were even more obscure and they are must-haves.
Listen: He Was A Big Freak / Betty Davis BettyDavisFreak.mp3
Most surprising of all her work with Island, ‘He Was A Big Freak’, the non-LP 7″ b side, somehow didn’t make the album. Other than ‘Talkin’ Trash’ and the title track ‘Nasty Gal’, it’s probably her best song. Being the wife of Miles Davis conjures up many a potential person as to who this one may have been based on.
Tags: Betty Davis, Cold Blood, Genya Ravan, Island, Lydia Pence, Miles Davis, The Slits
Posted in Betty Davis, Cold Blood, Genya Ravan, Island, Lydia Pence, Miles Davis, The Slits | No Comments »
Thursday, October 1st, 2009
Listen: Night Comes Down / The Mickey Finn MickeyFinnNight.mp3
Often confused with the bongo player from T. Rex, this is actually a band, not that person. The Mickey Finn’s career highpoint, according to most, was a two single association with producer Shel Talmy. And if you want to have your heart freeze for kicks, check out his discography.
Out of that came ‘Night Comes Down’ / ‘This Sporting Life’, their only US release via World Artists. Seems Shel Talmy had some juice there, having produced a few big hits for Chad & Jeremy. Although not listed on the above discography, I do believe he also produced The Moments version of Ray Davies’ ‘You Really Got Me’ for the label. The Moments were Steve Marriott’s first band, predating The Small Faces. That single, as with The Mickey Finn release, are stupid rare, making them very fun items to have and hold.
I got an unsolicited call from Shel Talmy many years back, I think when I was either at Elektra or Island. He had moved to LA, and was looking for work, still in that has-been stretch, not yet having graduated to legend status. I foolishly didn’t follow up, not necessarily with getting him some work, but neither forging a friendship, something I do regret.
Listen: I Do Love You / The Mickey Finn MickeyFinnIDoLove.mp3
Of lesser notoriaty is the band’s ’66 single “I Do Love You’. And I’m not sure why. Even amongst those who live for all things underrated, this is very underrated. It starts out noticeably similar to ‘Heart Trouble’ by The Eyes Of Blue, and then proceeds to a perfect groove a la The Foundations. I’d give anything to know how many copies would have been pressed of a single like this.
Tags: Chad & Jeremy, Elektra, Island, Jimmy Page, Polydor, Ray Davies, Shel Talmy, Steve Marriott, T. Rex, The Eyes Of Blue, The Foundations, The Mickey Finn, The Moments, The Small Faces, World Artists
Posted in Chad & Jeremy, Elektra, Island, Jimmy Page, Polydor, Ray Davies, Shel Talmy, Steve Marriott, T. Rex, The Eyes Of Blue, The Foundations, The Mickey Finn, The Moments, The Small Faces, World Artists | No Comments »
Friday, June 12th, 2009
Listen: Mercy, Mercy / Don Covay & The Goodtimers DonCovayMercy.mp3
I woke up one day realizing albums by The Rolling Stones serve as introductory encyclopedias for figuring out the best American RnB and Blues originals. I felt really behind the curve at that moment, but considering it was still 1969, I caught up ok. The band, or someone in their camp, had impecable taste when picking this stuff. I still read the occassional story of their early visits to the US, whereby they’d all flock to now infamous record shops in Harlem or East LA just to buy all the black releases. Man, those stores must have been amazing. And where are all those records now? There were plenty of those original US pressings amongst the Tony King collection…..
Don Covay entered my world via OUT OF OUR HEADS. The Rolling Stones started side one of the US version with ‘Mercy, Mercy’. OUT OF OUR HEADS was their fourth and final US album to pressed initially (first run only) in the UK, then exported to the US and sleeved here. Just recently have collectors been alerted to this detail, but for years I was buying up those UK copies at garage sales for $1. They are particularly easy to spot. The font is obviously different than US London labels, but they’re also deep groove, and they indicate ‘Made In England’. Quite helpful. A few other London releases during the era (’64 – ’66) were intially pressed in the UK as well: Marianne Faithfull, Tom Jones and Them.
When I worked at Island in the late 80′s, Chris Blackwell signed Don Covay, who came by regularly to see Holly Furgeson and her office was next to mine. She did the A&R admin, and Don Covay handled all his own business. I remember him working diligently on the project only to have it shelved, a bad habit Island always had.
I was well pleased to find not only the original DJ copy of ‘Mercy, Mercy’ amogst Tony’s records, but a very nice UK reissue as well, both pictured above.
Tags: Chris Blackwell, Don Covay, Don Covay & The Goodtimers, Island, London Records, Marianne Faithfull, The Rolling Stones, Them, Tom Jones, Tony King
Posted in Chris Blackwell, Don Covay, Don Covay & The Goodtimers, Holly Furgeson, Island, London Records, Marianne Faithfull, The Rolling Stones, Them, Tom Jones, Tony King | No Comments »
Friday, May 15th, 2009
Listen: When The Tanks Roll Over Poland Again / Automatics Automatics.mp3
Who is the best living rock producer? Steve Lillywhite.
There are many, and I’m probably writing this without really thinking it through. Whatever. Steve has made so many great records for decades. The list is staggering: XTC, The Psychedelic Furs, Joan Armatrading, Eddie & The Hot Rods, Ultravox, fuck it – loads.
U2 – even if the band isn’t, to my tastes, great – the recordings are wonderful. For all the sonic wonder he has added to U2 alone, he still had to start somewhere.
Enter The Automatics. Certainly not his first, but definitely an early production. He’s come a long way. Or did he arrive fully formed?
This certainly captured the sound of London ’78. Those shouty vocals, bratty guitar grinds and the beautiful clunk of a noisy rhythm section all rolled up into a loveable mess. Either its great or it isn’t, and this is. If you add to that recipe an anthemic song, well, you end up with ‘When The Tanks Roll Over Poland’ by The Automatics, for one.
Tags: Automatics, Eddie And The Hot Rods, Island, Joan Armatrading, Steve Lillywhite, The Psychedelic Furs, Ultravox, XTC
Posted in Automatics, Eddie & The Hot Rods, Island, Joan Armatrading, Northern Soul, Steve Lillywhite, The Psychedelic Furs, Ultravox, XTC | No Comments »
Monday, May 4th, 2009
Listen: Stereo MCs / Connected StereoMCsConnected.mp3
Has there been a better funk/rock single since this? Probably not. I’ll never forget hearing it for the first time. It was at an Island A&R retreat in New Orleans during Jazz Fest in ’92. Jon Baker, who ran Gee Street, brought it straight in from the studio. Everyone’s mouth dropped.
Jon had invited me two years prior to see the band practice/showcase at a space in south London, just near Waterloo Bridge. They’d put one single out in the UK, and were about to be dropped. The rehearsal was spectacular. Just the three piece, with their live drummer Owen. It was slamming as they say.
Island did a deal for Jon’s Gee Street label, but it took a minute. After some dicking around, Jon was getting fed up and had planned to sign with Virgin, but came into my office for one last shot. He played me a new single by his other act, PM Dawn. Their ‘Set Adrift On Memory Bliss’ was a no brainer. Later that day, I went round the Gramercy Park Hotel to hook up with Jon, and meet the P. M. Dawn guys. I kept them there until around 2AM, insuring they’d miss their dinner with Virgin which was supposedly happening. I must ask Jon if that dinner date was really true. Whatever, Jon and I schemed to get Island’s committal quickly. I suggested Jon demand a substantial check within twenty four hours, and that if the label didn’t conclude the deal within one week he could keep the money. Island agreed to it the next day, once Chris heard ‘Set Adrift’. Bingo, two acts signed in one swoop, not to mention getting Jon Baker as part of the deal.
So we proceeded to deliver Stereo MC’s their first hit, in The States instead of England no less, with ‘Elevate My Mind’. Howard Thompson played Happy Mondays the single, and got Stereo MC’s the opening slot on their upcoming red hot US tour. A perfect storm.
Even better, ‘Connected’ was to follow.
Tags: 4th & Broadway, Chris Blackwell, Gee Street, Happy Mondays, Howard Thompson, Island, Jon Baker, P. M. Dawn, Stereo MC's
Posted in 4th & Broadway, Chris Blackwell, Gee Street, Happy Mondays, Howard Thompson, Island, Jon Baker, P. M. Dawn, Stereo MC's | No Comments »
Friday, April 24th, 2009
Listen: Candle In The Wind / Sandy Denny SandyDennyCandle.mp3
I hadn’t even thought about meeting Sandy Denny for the longest time, not until writing my Fotheringay post a week or so back. It’s unbelievable how much email I got as a result. People wanting the most specific details of our conversation, what she drank, what she wore, did she seem depressed. Not that I’m surprised she is so revered.
‘Candle In The Wind’ was always a song that got me choked up and not many do. Then when Elton John’s version became the signature Princess Di track, forget it. I literally had to switch it off. It weirded me out. Combine such a powerful song with Sandy Denny’s immaculate voice and, well, it was a hard one to pull out and play.
But I did it just now and it really is so spectacular. I don’t know if many people have heard this as the single is quite rare, at one time booking for 100 GBP in The Record Collector Price Guide. Fact is it never made it beyond the promo run.
Tags: Elton John, Fairport Convention, Fotheringay, Island, Record Collector Price Guide, Sandy Denny
Posted in Elton John, Fairport Convention, Fotheringay, Island, Record Collector Price Guide, Sandy Denny | No Comments »
Wednesday, April 22nd, 2009
Listen: Soul Makossa / Manu Dibango ManuSoulMakossa.mp3
Listen: Reggae Makossa / Manu Dibango ManuReggae.mp3
There was some song, a current hit, I caught this morning when taking the kids to school. They either torture me with Z100 – or I torture them with the Bloomberg channel. Today was my turn to suffer. Said hit was a total lift of ‘Soul Makossa’. I wonder if anyone else noticed.
Ah for a time when this could actually get radio play. Interestingly, there’s hardly a hip hop track nowadays that doesn’t pummel rock music when it comes to pushing the envelope musically. So maybe this could work in the year 2009. It certainly didn’t in 1980 when the so-so reggae version was issued.
Posted in Atlantic, Island, Manu Dibango | No Comments »
Saturday, April 18th, 2009
Listen: My Friend Jack (Unreleased Version) / The Smoke SmokeJackUnreleased.mp3
Listen: My Friend Jack / The Smoke SmokeJack.mp3
Listen: High In A Room / The Smoke SmokeHigh.mp3
Listen: Have Some More Tea / The Smoke SmokeTea.mp3
Listen: Dreams Of Dreams / The Smoke SmokeDream.mp3
Listen: Ride Ride Ride (Dick Turpin)/ The Smoke SmokeRide.mp3
Listen: Sugar Man/ The Smoke SmokeSugarMan.mp3
A good band that sticks to their sound isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Even when the world evolves, sometimes staying in your little place can be good, as long as you actually had something decent to begin with. Obviously, it’s how I feel about The Smoke. Now I hadn’t discovered them when they were current, I guess they didn’t quite get enough press attention, I missed out until a year or two later. And upon hearing ‘My Friend Jack’, I filed it right up there with The Creation. That guitar effect, in fact, sounded very Eddie Phillips to me. Still, it took ages to find all their singles. The 60′s releases were hard enough, being non sellers. And the 70′s singles, selling even less, were a real challenge. Thank God for the many trips I made to the UK on some label’s dime, because I’d have never found them otherwise.
Years later, I stumbled on some hardcore info – the original version of ‘My Friend Jack’ was recorded and made it’s way to acetates, but not issued due to explicitly drug obvious lyrics. The version that did come out being apparently toned down. On a trip to the UK, Howard returned with just that acetate, one of many gems he’d gotten off his uncle, a former Decca Records UK promotion guy. He just handed it over – a serious ass present. There aren’t many like Howard.
Chris Blackwell’s country house in Theale had an amazing dj equipped/record library in the loft overlooking his recreation room – with pool tables and the works down below. I always made my way straight up there at gatherings for the company. He invited Corinne and I to stay a long weekend, and drove us down from London late one Friday night. An always generous host, we had the run of the place. He said graciously, if I found any doubles in the loft, to help myself. This was a dream come true – and despite being tempted to pocket a few on a first visit – it proves honesty is the best policy, or good things come to those that wait…..whatever. He let me take whatever I wanted. Lo and behold, he had an extra of the one and only Island single by The Smoke. This was ’89, by which time I’d still never even seen a copy, not to mention in unplayed condition. Worth the wait. Thank you Chris.
Imagine my shock when finding ‘Dreams Of Dreams’ at the Notting Hill Gate Record & Tape Exchange, in it’s Revolution Records company sleeve, which until that moment, I hadn’t realized even existed. I guess the Revolution Records team expected big success for the imprint, thereby manufacturing stock sleeves. Mind you, the single was in the glass encased upstairs high end section but well worth the lofty price (around 75 GBP). Nice one.
By 1971, The Smoke had stubbornly, and wonderfully, not changed their sound much. As with all bands that began in the mid 60′s, they occasionally let their love of Motown show, as on ‘Ride Ride Ride’. Later still, despite the glam audio techniques poured all over ‘Sugar Man’, their one of a kind, signature sound could not be stifled, thankfully.
Posted in Chris Blackwell, Columbia UK, Decca, Eddie Phillips, Howard Thompson, Island, Pageant Records, Record & Tape Exchange, Regal Zonophone, Revolution Records, The Creation, The Smoke | No Comments »
Sunday, March 29th, 2009
Listen: Dangerous Rhythm / Ultravox UltravoxDangerousRhythm.mp3
It was March ’77, Corinne and I had perfectly timed, as it turns out, our first trip to London. As chronicled in previous posts, Howard jammed what seemed like a year’s worth of record shopping and live shows into a fourteen day window. It was only a month prior that he’d sent the debut 7″ from Ultravox ‘Dangerous Rhythm’ pictured above, release date sticker still intact. We were ready.
They were playing The Nashville, we’re there. Visually a mix of New York, London punk and Berlin. Sonically jagged, metallic, white noise in parts yet cold and stark all at once. That early Ultravox lineup, their first album and a bunch of the singles following are never spoken of enough. In fact the whole John Foxx era is under appreciated. They were a great live band and a catalyst towards my appreciation of Neu, Can and many things German that I had previously overlooked.
Posted in Can, Eno, Howard Thompson, Island, John Foxx, Neu, Steve Lillywhite, Ultravox | No Comments »
