Archive for the ‘Slade’ Category

THE SWEET

Sunday, July 25th, 2010

Blockbuster / The Sweet

Listen: Blockbuster / The Sweet
Blockbuster

Their very first single was released as far back as ’68, but not until they were taken on by the songwriting/production team of Chapman/Chinn in the early 70′s, did they succeed. Their infamous Glam rock hit streak began in ’71 and lasted thru ’75. At that point, they sadly curbed the stacked heels and glitter outfits to become a straight ahead AOR rock band.

Somewhere in there, ’73 actually, The Sweet released ‘Blockbuster’. This was at the height of Glam in the UK. Along with Slade, Wizzard, Sparks, T. Rex and David Bowie, they basically slipped into and out of the top chart slots regularly.

I lived in London at the time, and must have played ‘Blockbuster’ a thousand times on my suitcase record player, yet never ever did I tire of it. The single got new life in the 90′s, when the video series GLAM ROCK was released. One of their many Top Of The Pops performances was included. I watched it over and over and over and over and over again.

Last night, I was awoken by a pretty fierce thunderstorm. I was weired out, but got up, got dressed and went out to watch. Having visited Collinwood, Maine earlier in the day, specifically to check out the town where the DARK SHADOWS TV series was based in. Some say vampire Barnabas Collins really existed and I, like many, was addicted to the program in a serious way and so it truly felt the spirits were messing with me. Being alone in our house, other than Corinne out dead cold, I was very creeped out. Truly scared to be honest. Never saw lightning hit the ocean like that in my life. I felt like the DARK SHADOWS spirits were warning me to stay put in my own pathetic world, and not to mess with them.

Dear spirits. I will behave and never return.

Once the storm and the ocean calmed, I was back to normal. Went to YouTube and before long, I was in a Glam rock loop I couldn’t shake until about 5:30 am. I found a TOTP Sweet clip, obviously from a different broadcast than the aforementioned one used for the comp. It’s even better:


Listen: Fox On The Run / The Sweet
Fox

Somehow, thank you God, The Sweet visited upsate New York, opening for, I think Eric Carmen. Some hairdo there Eric, a frosted bouffant, or hair don’t in hindsight.

Typically when any of the coined Glam bands (Sparks, Wizzard, Slade) braved their music and outfits into the smaller towns of the US, there were few, if any, comforting ports in the anti-androgyny storm as far as people went. So when a bunch of us showed up early, it was well easy to befriend the band, thereby ultimately being invited to share in the after show mayhem bigtime. Not that surprising….we had the party favors.

But we did genuinely love The Sweet. Everyone in the band were super warm. Great guys.

Many years later, I picked up the soundtrack to DAZED AND CONFUSED for my label, only because The Sweet (‘Fox On The Run’) were included. I wasn’t particularly fond of the other songs, in fact, I’ve never listened to the cd ever. On a whim, I figured it would be kind of great having The Sweet in the catalog, thereby negotiating a criminally low advance in my favor, given the film company’s planned and verbally agreed original soundtrack release partner, MCA, had bailed. Hence the desperate film division took the offer. The soundtrack has now sold 2 million copies to date and it’s all basically due to my loyalty toward The Sweet.

Shirley & Lee / Slade

Monday, July 19th, 2010

Listen: Let The Good Times Roll / Shirley & Lee ShirleyLeeGoodTimes.mp3

There’s nothing like an original pressing and company sleeve when it sounds like this. There are probably a heap of accurate adjectives that apply here, like juke joint, chitlin circuit or barrelhouse RnR. I hope so, cause that’s how I hear it.

This being Shirley & Lee’s biggest hit (#1 RnB / #20 Pop: 1956), it was a drastic change from their earlier sweetheart, call and response sound and releases. Indeed, they were for a while coined as ‘Sweethearts Of The Blues’.

Years later, Sylvia Robinson, who went on to start Sugarhill Records, signed Shirley Mae Goodman and together they had a massive hit with ‘Shame Shame Shame’ as Shirley & Company on her All Platinum imprint.

Listen: Let The Good Times Roll / Slade SladeGoodTimesRoll.mp3

Covered by many: The Righteous Brothers, Barbra Streisand, The Searchers, Joe Strummer, Harry Nilsson, The Rolling Stones, Roy Orbison, Conway Twitty, Freddy Fender, Buckwheat Zydeco, The Animals, Fishbone and George Clinton, my favorite version clocks in via a working class glam rendition by the almighty Slade.

I sure hope Shirley Mae Goodman and Leonard Lee, who also wrote their biggest hit, got the publishing.

Mott The Hoople

Saturday, January 23rd, 2010

Honaloochie Boogie / Mott The Hoople

Honaloochie Boogie / Mott The Hoople

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.

Kiss

Monday, September 7th, 2009

kiss, Kiss, Casablanca

Listen: Kissin’ Time / Kiss Kiss.mp3

For some reason, this debut single was not initially included on their album. Probably by now it’s been added to many ‘scrape the bottom of the barrel and try to survive’ major label reissues.

I didn’t follow Kiss, so can’t rightfully speak about the majority of their singles, but from the ones I know, this is by far my favorite. In hindsight, it’s admittedly a bit more metal than usually interests me, and despite the name-every-city in America formula (don’t blame the band, it’s a cover), ‘Kissin’ Time’ definitely has a glam element that had me playing it back to back with the likes of The New York Dolls and Slade in it’s day. Great chorus.

Kenny

Monday, July 27th, 2009

kennybumpus, Kenny, Jonathan King, UK Records, Phil Coulter, Bill Martin, RAK, Glam, Glitter From The Litter Bin, The Space Raiders

Listen: The Bump / Kenny KennyBump.mp3

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Listen: Julie Anne / Kenny KennyJulie.mp3

spaceraidersglamraid, space raiders, kenny, skint trcords

Listen: Glam Raid / The Space Raiders SpaceRaidersGlamRaid.mp3

There’s a great compilation titled GLITTER FROM THE LITTER BIN; 20 JUNK SHOP GLAM RARITIES. It’s a fun listen but it’s the message here that counts. Long snubbed as uncool, juvenile, manufactured, throwaway – you name it, I could never quite understand everyone’s problem with glam. The production was fantastic, drum and treble heavy, fun clothes and haircuts to match, and a threatening mix of androgyny (which indeed were assets to David Bowie, T, Rex or Roxy Music when convenient). No problem here. I was a proud fan and collector.

Kenny (band not person) churned out some hits, including these two masterpieces. Written by Bill Martin and Phil Coulter, as with all their material, ‘The Bump’ is a literal blueprint of glam. Fair enough, The Sweet, Slade, Sparks and Wizzard can equally claim such feats, but that doesn’t void out ‘The Bump’. Although released on Mickie Most’s RAK Records in the UK, Kenny flip flopped from pilar to post label-wise in the US. ‘The Bump’ was picked up by Jonathan King in the States, issuing it on his UK Records imprint through London. Sampled years later by The Space Raiders on their fantastic ‘Glam Raid’ (listen above), it verified some needed credibility to the song’s worth.

‘Julie Anne’ probably veered a bit more mainstream teen pop than glam, but the effervescent sound of super K was well intact. A pop classic.

The Cliches

Thursday, January 22nd, 2009

Listen: TV Addict / The Cliches ClichesTV.mp3

Listen: Disposable Music / The Cliches ClichesDisposable.mp3

I’m just staying on my rule breaking roll of posting songs that weren’t issued on 7″. Back in the groove tomorrow though, promise – very crazy week here. Unlike the Slade post below, this ‘should’ve been a single’ wasn’t from an LP, it just never came out at all. An upstate band from the late 70′s, innocently influenced by all the records and groups you’ll spot first listen, they couldn’t get anyone to release this – and didn’t have the money themselves. The singer recently sent me these as mp3′s and I had totally forgotten how good they were. The lyrical naivete particularly is of charm. If considered a flaw, then totally made up for in hooks and that great guitar sound. It’s never too late. Just don’t put a photo on the sleeve.

Slade

Wednesday, January 21st, 2009

Do We Still Do It / Slade

Listen: Do We Still Do It / Slade SladeDoWeStill.mp3

I’m breaking my own rule here. The rule: this blog is only about 7″ singles. The rule breaker: ‘Do We Still Do It’, a track so good, so overlooked, so obvious a single. I can’t think of a better one – it’s always topped that list in my head. What was Warner Brothers thinking? At least ‘Do We Still Do It’ opened one side of STOMP YOUR HANDS, CLAP YOUR FEET, even if it was Side Two. This was Slade’s ‘hoping to break thru in The US’ LP. What a surprise, US radio wouldn’t play a band that dressed so colorfully and rocked so crazy. Really sorry about those pathetic US programers everyone. Still embarrassed by them. It took years, but they’re finally putting themselves out of business it seems. I heard today Clear Channel were firing 1500 radio people. Awe, aren’t you sad? Shouldn’t those 1500 stay employed so they can all play and say the same stuff day after day? How unfair, right?

Good riddance! Now flush the overpaid guys who forced the newly unemployed to play that tired stuff in the first place. No one’s listening – what part don’t you get? They say white men can’t dance. Similarly, when it comes to programming good radio, Americans can’t program – only the British can. Get over it.

I’d seen Slade one rainy night in fall ’73 at SUNY Fredonia. Corinne and I braved the back woods road to get to the gymnasium which I recall being pretty full. We elbowed our way right up front. Hey, we considered ourselves UK band fan royalty. I’d just come back from London, and fresh from my job of picking up empty pint glasses at the Marquee. So there.

Well Slade were way more powerful than ever expected. We loved the singles a lot, and the look – glam in general, but holy shit – this was ridiculous. The whole place went beserk. I mean, this had to have happened everywhere. Why didn’t they take off across the country? Baffling.

We left jaws dragging. Well, we didn’t exactly leave – we went to the only motel in town – and in the bar, there was Slade with their manager Chas Chandler. Now this was an unexpected treat. We had pot, they had stories. The next few hours were spent in Noddy’s room, talking to him and Chas (he had been in The Animals and brought Jimi Hendrix to England). All very recounted now, but not then. There was much I wanted him to tell, and he was only too happy in exchange for the good quality joints she was rolling. After a few hours, they were very stoned guys in a two horse town and the only female in sight was my girlfriend. So I figured – time to leave. Nice fellows though and a night to remember forever and ever and ever.