Archive for the ‘Howard Thompson’ Category
Monday, January 24th, 2011
Listen: Sorted For E’s & Wizz /Pulp
Sorted For E's & Wizz /Pulp
Dave Bedford from Fire Records in London became quite a good friend during my days with Island in the early 90′s, as I’d be in town for two or three week stays at a time. We had, and still do have, similar tastes in both the past and present. Logically, he and I share a vinyl addiction but more importantly, a natural chemistry about so many things. Kind of like that occasional person you meet and within hours, feel as though you’ve known your whole life.
Never did Dave make a suggestion about a band that wasn’t eye to eye with my tastes, so when he nudged me rather relentlessly about seeing Pulp in December ’91, somewhere along Portobello Road near the Rough Trade shop on Talbot, in a small pub, I was interested. Apparently, they were looking to get out of Fire and really worth checking out.
Why not? Howard was in town, so I suggested we all meet up there, see the band and have some food together. Howard brought David Field and a few friends as well. Everyone was in.
Before leaving the Island office, I asked a some of the A&R guys to join. Pulp were deemed damaged goods at that point, having gone from indie label pillar to post for several years, treading water and considered to be at a low point of no return career-wise. My invitations were met with disinterest and I’m sure a few rolled eyes once I turned away. No worries, I was planning my exit a few months down the road to start The Medicine Label. Just trying to be nice fellows.
The pub was miserably empty when Pulp went on, maybe thirty people tops. Most dwindled off after a few songs, even our posse, sans Dave Bedford, decided to go down the road for a drink and wait for us to finish having a look.
I was in awe. They seemed fantastic. Dave was right. Jarvis (one of the best radio presenters in the world at the moment btw) doing his routine, fitted out in a wide wale brown hip hugger corduroy suit replete with white belt. Literally straight out of a Scott Walker photo essay, no surprise there.
Next day in the office, I couldn’t shake the previous night’s show. They were clearly too English to try working with for US only, and the London office were sternly not interested. No one was waiting for me to walk away before rolling their eyes now. So I just drifted off rather defeated, accepting I was born in the wrong place, wrong time to do anything professional with Pulp, just needed to be content staying a fan.
Six months later, I was setting up my label through Warner Brothers in Los Angeles, and the new regime at Island UK were signing Pulp.
Good for them. For my money, the band’s first proper Island album was DIFFERENT CLASS, a picture perfect creative culmination of all their new found confidence yet not so distant hardships at being kicked about for years. DIFFERENT CLASS become a stake in music history’s timeline.
“Sorted For E’s And Wizz’, having maybe the best title ever for a song and despite being spotlighted by the mainstream press as obviously drug related, hurled itself to #2 in the UK singles chart. Not initially, which was frustrating, but eventually pressed on 7″ vinyl, the single finally graced the library shelves. Fun and funny as it is, there’s some chilling lyric bits and all too true. A desert island single. Hands down.
Listen: Disco 2000 / Pulp
Disco 2000 / Pulp
Fuck me, did this sound good compressed as hell via Radio 1′s signal and coming out of the car dashboard. Those opening chords had every shotgun seat occupant diving for the volume dial. Involuntary reaction.
Listen: Disco 2000 (7″ Mix) / Pulp
Disco 2000 (7
I seem to remember this single mix being done for the US. God knows why. I mean, the band came over and supported Blur in ’94, thereby building a nice following and deserved airplay, but of course radio…..
The Blur / Pulp tour played at New York’s Academy. Remembered this well, it was Corinne’s birthday, September 29, 1994. Seeing Pulp was a perfect present, she loved them from day one. Only problem being she wanted to do something or other straight afterwards, hence dragged my ass out just as Blur were hitting their third number. Bummer, but it was her birthday.
Listen: Disco 2000 (Motiv 8 Discoid Mix) / Pulp
Disco 2000 (Motiv 8 Discoid Mix) / Pulp
Nice thing about the above ‘Disco 2000 (7″ Mix)’: it gave Island an excuse to press up a jukebox single, basically the trend amongst the labels at that time. These singles were low end design, paperless label, large center hole and very limited, literally for jukeboxes.
It was coupled with ‘Disco 2000 (Motiv 8 Discoid Mix)’, a near eight minute techno club version that made it’s way onto a rather nice promo 12″ some months earlier. The 12 was played a lot, like a real lot, in the house on the Dual stacking turntable I’d bought at the Warner Brothers Records used equipment sale for employees. $10, and still works like a charm to this day.
One of Pulp’s crowning moments was headling an all day event at Finsbury Park on July 25, 1998. It was a Saturday, I desperately wanted to get back home after a week in London, but decided it could be worth pushing my flight back by a day. Turned out being one of my better decisions in life.
Tags: BBC Radio 1, Blur, Dave Bedford, David Fields, Dual Turntable, Fire Records, Howard Thompson, Island, Jarvis Cocker, Movit 8, Pulp, Rough Trade Shop, Scott Walker, The Medicine Label
Posted in BBC Radio 1, Blur, Dave Bedford, David Field, Dual Turntable, Fire Records, Howard Thompson, Island, Jarvis Cocker, Motiv 8, Pulp, Rough Trade Shop, Scott Walker, The Medicine Label | Comments Off
Monday, January 10th, 2011
Listen: Hurry Up Harry / Sham 69
Hurry Up Harry / Sham 69
October ’78 was a great month. Corinne and I went to London for my birthday and Howard was typically the world’s best host. Never a dull moment would be an understatement. Another two weeks of trolling the record shops along Oxford Street, sifting through cheap punk clothes from a damp Shepherd’s Bush Market, eating traditional English breakfasts covered in Daddy’s sauce with endless cups of sugary tea several times daily in cafes, wolfing Battenburg cakes in between and drinking….warm pints. Sounds nasty but in fact, it was heaven on earth.
‘Hurry Up Harry’ had just been released. It was everywhere. On the radio all day, and in the pubs at night. The single became our vacation theme. A better working class drinking anthem comes along seldom, especially with all those personal memory attachments above.
When we landed at JFK, and eventually made it to the luggage carousel, I could see loads of records tumbling down the chute towards the conveyer belt. One of my checked boxes had come undone. No doubt, the panic was a most amusing moment for every last passenger except one. Seriously, I nearly blacked out.
It’s true. All’s well that ends well, as the entire twenty five eventually found their way to me, ‘Hurry Up Harry’ fully intact.
Tags: Howard Thompson, Polydor, Sham 69
Posted in Howard Thompson, Polydor, Sham 69 | Comments Off
Saturday, January 1st, 2011
Listen: Strong Me Strong / Yellowman
Strong Me Strong / Yellowman
By the 80′s, reggae seemed to race forward technologically a little too fast, like Jamaica suddenly discovered electricity or something. The deep analog records from the mid 70′s got very syndrum and synth heavy by the end of the decade. Just about every followup to classic albums by Max Romeo, Justin Hines, Aswad or anything involving Sly & Robbie reeked with a shimmer that now is horribly dated.
‘Strong Me Strong’ was indeed so strong, those occasional sonic trappings couldn’t begin to destroy it’s greatness. A pretty brave record for 1984, given that slamming reggae wasn’t exactly in the pocket, or maybe it’s just what was needed. Good signing Howard.
Yellowman’s one off with CBS/Columbia meant white, alternative kids could take notice and rub shoulders with roots music all over again, like in ’77. Yellowman toured the US, playing the exact same venues as the college radio hot indie bands. Not a jaw was left shut once he finished mopping those stages.
Listen: Dub Me Strong / Yellowman
Dub Me Strong / Yellowman
This dub version B side is lightweight but fun, a difficult one to find anywhere but on the original vinyl (I think). Bill Laswell and Material do many things well, but obviously not dubbing. Worth having as a period snapshot though, and still pretty great loud.
Tags: Bill Laswell, CBS, Columbia, Howard Thompson, Material, Sly & Robbie, Yellowman
Posted in Bill Laswell, CBS, Columbia, Howard Thompson, Sly & Robbie, Yellowman | Comments Off
Tuesday, November 30th, 2010
Listen: I Got A Feeling / Barbara Randolph BarbaraFeeling.mp3
Back in the 70′s, when Howard was still in London, we had a pretty intense record exchange thing going on. This started in the early punk days of ’76. Great records were literally coming out weekly. We’d keep each other up on the latest from the UK and US respectively. Pretty quickly, we were exchanging more than punk though.
This Barbara Randolph record was one such example. Undeservedly, a non hit when originally released by US Motown in ’67, ‘I Got A Feeling’ eventually received exposure in the 70′s via the UK Northern Soul clubs and was reissued a few times as a result. One such time, in ’79, Howard thankfully sent a copy my way. I’d not heard it until then.
On Saturday night night, Vicki Wickham contributed her original A label (above) to my wall shelf. More on her singles to come.
Barbara Randolph was actually a member of The Platters and almost replaced Florence Ballard in The Supremes but word is Diana Ross nixed that. Probably a blessing. Maybe someone from the studio heard her audition and the result was this classic.
Tags: Barbara Randolph, Diana Ross, Howard Thompson, Northern Soul, Tamla, The Platters, The Supremes, Vicki Wickham
Posted in Barbara Randolph, Diana Ross, Howard Thompson, Motown, Northern Soul, Tamla, The Platters, The Supremes, Vicki Wickham | No Comments »
Thursday, November 4th, 2010
Listen: Love Of The Common People / Paul Young & The Family PaulYoungCommon.mp3
Howard posted this off with a batch of new releases back in ’82. He worked at Columbia then, having transferred from CBS London to New York. Old habits die hard: he still looked after the UK roster Stateside. I think this was one of the British acts he picked up via an inter-company option, thereby releasing Paul Young & The Family in the US.
As in their homeland, this first version of ‘Love Of The Common People’ didn’t make much noise, and remained a non-chart single. It was of some interest due to Rico finding a seemingly new home as the group’s trombonist. Anything Rico touches just works perfectly. His first solo album, ’76′s MAN FROM WAREIKA is a must have.
Questionable pictures can be harmful. Despite the contemporary ska image of the band, Paul Young’s shirt on the single sleeve really put me off. He looked like a bad stylist’s mistake. I did like the record, but felt a little unhip admitting so.
Listen: Love Of The Common People / Paul Young PaulYoungCommonRemix.mp3
Bottom line is a great voice and equally great song are hard to keep down, despite all the sonic tricks of the moment being applied. That’s how I’d describe the remix, which revived the original single and thankfully kicked it into the charts. Well deserved.
Sounding a bit too glossy in hindsight, it’s down to The Belle Stars African background vocal style and ever dependable Rico saving the day. And of course, Paul Young’s (now sans The Family in typical major label Columbia Records ruthless style) voice.
Tags: CBS, Columbia, Howard Thompson, Paul Young & The Family, Rico, The Belle Stars
Posted in CBS, Columbia, Howard Thompson, Paul Young & The Family, Rico, The Belle Stars, Uncategorized | No Comments »
Wednesday, October 6th, 2010
Listen: Some Guys Have All The Luck / The Persuaders PersuadersLuck.mp3
Only in hindsight did I hear The Persuaders version of ‘Some Guys Have All The Luck’. God only knows how that happened. I worked at a one-stop in Fall ’73, delivering records to accounts, and to my apartment….bad karma. I thought there wasn’t a 7″ I had left out of those personal allocations, but obviously I was wrong.
Add to that, how did I miss it on the radio? There was nothing else to listen to while doing those said deliveries and this one went pop, peaking at #39 in Billboard that very November.
Eventually, around the Christmas season, I got moved inside, pulling orders and restocking. At this I was a whizz. Could do it in my sleep – and loved it. I was in the LP department – all organized by label, then chronologically by catalog number within each. Can you imagine sections for King, Okeh, Fontana, Sue, Deram, Philips, Parrot, Stax, Smash…….ok enough torture.
The front half of the warehouse was dedicated to the 45′s. Maude did my version of the job up there, and she had a Kevin pile – one of everything. Well, sometimes 5 or 10, depending on varying factors. Once a one hundred count box was full, off to the tape dispenser, then on to the cart, bound for the delivery truck, it went. Oh to go back in time.
Still, I didn’t end up with a copy of this one for years.
Listen: Some Guys Have All The Luck / Junior Tucker JuniorTuckerSomeGuys.mp3
Fast forward. 1980.
Oldest trick in the book: cover classic soul songs in a reggae style. Pretty much works every time. In this case, beyond great.
I fell in love with Junior Tucker’s ‘Some Guys Have All The Luck’ upon release. I dare say it got played hundreds and hundreds of times in my record room that year, and on my radio shows.
Corinne and I were both reggae lovers, having been weened on the hard corp Lee Perry and Jack Ruby releases Howard was sending our way starting in ’76. An all time favorite series, THIS IS REGGAE MUSIC, especially Volume 3, became our crowd’s anthem anthology. And I dare say all my best friends from that period can be transported back to some of the greatest times of our lives when we spin it nowadays.
Had I known then, that about ten years after Volume 3′s release, I would one afternoon walk into Chris Blackwell’s office, and suggest reviving the series with a Volume 4 and 5 (Volume 5 exclusive to reggae style RnB covers – this was included), and that he would say “Yes”, my heart would have frozen.
Tags: Atco, Billboard, Chris Blackwell, Deram, Fontana, Howard Thompson, Island, Jack Ruby, Junior Tucker, King, Lee Perry, Okeh, Parrot, Philips, Smash, Stax, Sue, The Persuaders, This Is Reggae Music
Posted in Atco, Billboard, Chris Blackwell, Deram, Fontana, Howard Thompson, Island, Jack Ruby, Junior Tucker, King, Lee Perry, Okeh, Parrot, Philips, Reggae, Smash, Stax, Sue Records, The Persuaders, This Is Reggae Music | No Comments »
Friday, July 9th, 2010
Listen: Back To Africa / Aswad AswadBack.mp3
Don’t dismiss Aswad because they were an English reggae band. I can understand you confusing them with the generic Steel Pulse based on origin, but Aswad indeed were roots. And the hits they had years later, well, they were great singles. I still love ‘Don’t Turn Around’.
Howard turned me on to them back in ’76. He put them out with Eddie & The Hot Rods. Remember when reggae and punk happily co-existed? Well that tour may indeed be the one that gave Joe Strummer the idea to take The Clash reggae a year or so later – I mean he was copying everything else so why leave this idea on the table?
I initially had no idea Aswad were English, having been part of those 45 packages Howard would send along from Island: Augustus Pablo, Justin Hines & The Dominoes, Max Romeo & The Upsetters, Rico, Burning Spear and Junior Murvin. They sounded so authentic, I couldn’t tell the difference from their initial few singles, of which this was the first.
Tags: Aswad, Augustus Pablo, Burning Spear, Eddie & The Hot Rods, Howard Thompson, Junior Murvin, Justin Hines & The Dominoes, Max Romeo & The Upsetters, Rico, Steel Pulse, The Clash
Posted in Aswad, Augustus Pablo, Burning Spear, Eddie & The Hot Rods, Howard Thompson, Island, Joe Strummer, Junior Murvin, Justin Hinds & The Dominoes, Justin Hines & The Dominoes, Max Romeo & The Upsetters, Rico, Steel Pulse, The Clash | No Comments »
Sunday, July 4th, 2010
Listen: 4th Of July / X X4thOfJuly.mp3
If a ’4th Of July’ post on the 4th of July appears overly clever and obvious, I understand. But the clever idea came from local rock station 101.9 WRXP. I was a few blocks from home, fired up the car radio and on it came:
This fucker sounded so good plus I love X so much and thought, any reason to honor them is just fine by me.
Man, was I lucky. Got hired by Howard at Elektra and X were the first band I got to work with. Dream come true? Never even dreamt that one in my wildest, so yeah, pretty amazing.
You couldn’t find a better bunch of people. Not only the band, but every last person involved with them as well.
Bob Krasnow, our chairman, always supported X, loved their music and rightly saw them as the label’s most important political poets.
Getting them on the radio was a very different story. Although the band got some love from the alternative rock team, when it came time to take them to the next level, more mainstream exposure and opportunity, the brakes were always applied by Dave Urso, your typical old school 80′ sleaze ball promotion head. Yes, he pretty much put a lid on their career, sort of. X still play to bigger crowds than ever and he……..uh…….
Funny thing, it was the first, but not the last time I witnessed the head of promotion actually run the company, despite the chairman thinking he was the guy in charge. You see, the way it worked was as follows: the chairman would need to decide where to put the financial investment to pay off radio for play and would get that ultimate guidance from the top radio guy. So you tell me, who’s driving that plane?
Now, of course, the public has a much stronger voice. A local station doesn’t want to play a song, no problem. Their audience flocks to myspace and hears what they want. Gone are the days when the traditional gatekeeper is in charge. How fun.
It may only be once a year, but at least X get one play. If Bruce Springsteen had written and/or recorded this classic instead of Dave Alvin, it would’ve been a monster.
Never say never I like to think. Who has the publishing on this? Maybe they need to get off their ass, find it a placement, try to keep their job.
Tags: Bob Krasnow, Bruce Springsteen, Dave Alvin, Dave Urso, Elektra, Exene Cervenka, Howard Thompson, John Doe, Jukebox Tab, WRXP, X
Posted in Bob Krasnow, Bruce Springsteen, Dave Alvin, Dave Urso, Elektra, Exene Cervenka, Howard Thompson, John Doe, Jukebox Tab, X | No Comments »
Thursday, May 20th, 2010
Listen: Book Of Rules / The Heptones HeptonesBook.mp3
Been digging out a lot of reggae stuff lately, combing through the shelves separated out exclusively for the genre, well ska and blue beat are in there too of course.
A few posts back, Justin Hines & The Dominoes to be exact, the story of my initial introduction, basically an unexpected crash course box full of seminal records from Howard, had me pull out a cd compilation I did at Island, created specifically to market, via in store play, the reissue series encompassing most of their classic 70′s reggae titles. Both cd and campaign were called 96ยบ IN THE SHADE. It was good fun, and honestly a piece of cake. I just started with Jimmy Cliff’s ‘The Harder They Come’ – and using the Island master printout (which chronologically lists every single and album by catalog number – if anyone would like a pdf of it – email me – it’s fascinating) picked out the gems.
And I’m proud to say, the comp got such good response from the shops, that we renamed it GROOVE YARD, changed the cover, squeezed on a few more good ones, and released it commercially. It sold well. I’m pretty sure it’s still in print – no wait – I just checked Amazon – out of print but there’s 1 new copy for sale: $142.00. I need to dig out that box lot from the garage this Saturday.
Like the rest of the solar system, I don’t use cd’s much anymore – the Airbooks in the house don’t even have disc drives, so most of those compact discs are boxed and in storage, although some I do keep shelved for long drives. I grabbed GROOVE YARD on my way out to Stony Brook University to see Matt & Kim the other weekend, and found myself reliving the greatness of quite a few tunes from the era, as well as some sentimental memories of those times.
‘Book Of Rules’ is certainly one of my 10-ish favorite reggae 7′s. Fantastic song, nice clean vocal and lovely production. Well done Chris Blackwell.
Listen: Book Of Rules (Version) / The Heptones HeptonesBookDub.mp3
Released in ’73, it seems to have just preceded full on dub, hence instrumentals with decorative sound effects thrown in were then called ‘version’ – and often used as B sides. I’ve always wanted ‘Book Of Rules (Version)’ to be a bit more exciting or interesting or something moving – but it basically isn’t. I’ve posted it to quench curiosity. Plus it’s interesting to see how dub was getting started.
Listen: Sufferer’s Time / Heptones with The Upsetters HeptonesSufferersTime.mp3
By ’76, with Lee Perry at the controls, The Black Arc in full swing and The Upsetters doing the tracking, The Heptones were in tune with the times. Another classic, ‘Sufferer’s Time’, is basically perfect in every way. I never spin it just once. Can’t. I’ll even be late for something important to hear it that one extra time.
The real fun bit here it that Island US issued it as a 7″ too. I’m guessing there were pockets of Jamaican communities in some of the major US cities that would warrant, say a 1000 – 2000 piece run. Those sales figures are again guesses, and the manufacturing details were very sloppy at Island, so I never did figure out a real number on this and a few other jaw droppers (in that I couldn’t believe they’d been issued in the US on 7″) while at the company.
This I can tell you – there weren’t many as I’ve never seen another US copy of ‘Sufferer’s Time’. Just happened to stumble on this while going through some deeply buried boxes in the mailroom – a process of completion that took a month or two, but I got through ‘em all and it was well, well, well worth the sleuthing, trust me.
Listen: Sufferer’s Dub / The Upsetters UpsettersSufferDub.mp3
Not only is the A side a killer, but by ’76, proper dub was in serious swing – hence this monster example on the flip, aptly titled ‘Sufferer’s Dub’. Oddly credited only to The Upsetters despite many Heptones vocal drops, it makes for even more excitement in one way – an American single by The Upsetters. Never been another. I get excited by unexpected things admittedly.
Listen: Party Time / The Heptones HeptonesPartyTime.mp3
When this first arrived in the mail, dependably hot off the presses from HT, I was mildly disappointed. That was stupid. It’s awesome. I had the original UK LP pressing too, but now find only the US Mango copy in my wall shelf. Basically, I know Duane stole it – he always denies it – but it’s plain and simple true. No biggie – at least I know where it is.
But if you try to touch the single Duane, be prepared to pull back a bloody stub.
Tags: Chris Blackwell, Duane Sherwood, Howard Thpmpson, Island, Jimmy Cliff, Lee Perry, Mango, Matt & Kim, The Heptones, The Upsetters
Posted in Chris Blackwell, Duane Sherwood, Howard Thompson, Island, Jimmy Cliff, Lee Perry, Mango, Matt & Kim, The Heptones, The Upsetters | No Comments »
Friday, April 30th, 2010
Listen: Dan The Wing / Mellow Candle MellowCandle.mp3
Howard, Chris and I went to see the Ian Dury movie the other day. It was pretty great – the end bit got a touch depressing but the film certainly brought me right back to how absolutely stunning he and The Blockheads were on stage during their moments in the sun. Never realized Chaz Jankel was such a vital part of the band and songwriting until the credits rolled.
We had Indian lunch prior, and as usual, started digging into a whole lotta obscure record trivia. I was always a fan of UK Decca’s various production deals. One such was with Gruggy Woof. The company included both Neil Slaven and David Hitchcock. Slaven’s production’s seemed to lean more towards the bluesy side (Savoy Brown, Miller Anderson, The Keef Hartley Band, Chicken Shack) whereas Hitchcock tipped more progressive (Caravan, Camel, Cured Air, Genesis). By the way, I don’t have a clue where that rather bad name originated from, but I liked most of the records these guys/their production company were involed with.
For the life of me, I couldn’t remember what single I had in my hands literally earlier that very day, with it’s unlikely David Hitchcock production credit. Given that Howard mastered a slew of these during his apprentice years at Trident, we racked our collective brains to no result.
Well tonight I suddenly remembered: Mellow Candle. Their sole album is insanely valuable, and this single is not far behind. Quite why I’m not sure. I always thought ‘Dan The Wing’ was rather watered down Steeleye Span, sonically more in line with what B & C were releasing: folky prog stuff.
Look deeply into the Decca/Deram release history and you will find many an obscure, highly collectable and hence, steeply priced prog rock array of every flavor. I picked this up for pennies in the dj copy heavy outdoor vendor racks at Cheap Cheap on Soho’s Rupert Street during that summer ’73 spent in London. In fact, this copy sat there unsold for literally months until finally having been humiliatingly relegated to the 5p row – I just couldn’t pass up the Deram A label – I mean seriously, 5p?
At first it indeed sounded lightweight and weedy, but I eventually got addicted to it’s weaknesses. They are charmingly innocent, now I play it often.
Tags: B & C, Camel, Caravan, Chaz Jankel, Cheapo Cheapo Records, Chicken Shack, Chris Hall, Curved Air, David Hitchcock, Decca, Deram, Genesis, Gruggy Woof, Howard Thompson, Ian Dury & The Blockheads, Mellow Candle, Miller Anderson, Neil Slaven, Savoy Brown, Steeleye Span, The Keef Hartley Band, Trident
Posted in B & C, Camel, Caravan, Chaz Jankel, Cheapo Cheapo Records, Chicken Shack, Chris Hall, Curved Air, David Hitchcock, Decca, Deram, Genesis, Gruggy Woof, Howard Thompson, Ian Dury & The Blockheads, Mellow Candle, Miller Anderson, Neil Slaven, Savoy Brown, Steeleye Span, The Keef Hartley Band, Trident | No Comments »
Saturday, April 24th, 2010
Listen: Ha! Ha! Said The Clown / Manfred Mann ManfredHa.mp3
Doesn’t take much for me to play a Manfred Mann single, usually can’t stop at one. You know, they may be the first band I can think of who lost a lead singer (theoretically signaling the end), but instead bounced back with a replacement equally as successful, yet sounding nothing the same. And if that wasn’t enough, did it a third time as well.
‘Ha! Ha! Said The Clown’ comes from that middle bit, when Mike D’Abo replaced the bluesy Paul Jones. Everyone loved them just as much – weirdly without blinking. As with Manfred Mann line up #1 (which I’ve covered a while back), line up #2 had a flawless run of singles, every one a must. I can’t pick a favorite, they all represent some great memory or other.
Howard Thompson reminded me earlier today of the most awesome RADIO LONDON site, which, mistakenly I thought was already linked over there in the right hand column – but in fact was not (it’s there now).
On the air less than three years, it’s saga as ‘thee’ pirate station is fascinating. Start on the homepage and check it out sometime. I randomly clicked on the chart from this day in ’67, knowing any one of these lists would include loads of singles doubling as a suitable excuse for alerting everyone to the site’s existence. ‘Ha! Ha! Said The Clown’ sits at #14, a bit of a drastic drop from the previous week, when at #1.
Scroll to the bottom of the page, and click on BACK TO THE FAB 40 INDEX to check out any week you like. Plan ahead – set aside at least an hour.
Tags: Howard Thompson, Manfred Mann, Mike D'Abo, Paul Jones, Radio London
Posted in Howard Thompson, Manfred Mann, Mike D'Abo, Paul Jones, Radio London | No Comments »
Wednesday, February 24th, 2010
Listen: King Of The Bop / The Nipple Erectors NipsBop.mp3
Somewhere I have a photo of Shane MacGowen pogo-ing at The Roxy in London, March ’77. Corinne snapped it, and I’ve asked her seemingly a million times since to pull out the negative. It’s not looking good.
The Jam and The Rejects were sharing the bill. The place was packed and on such a cold, damp night seemed like the only place in London that had any heat. At one point, Shane jumped onstage and sang a cappella. Damn if I can remember what song it was. The best part was his Union Jack shirt, between that and his aura, he literally commanded more attention than Paul Weller.
A year or so later, Howard sent me the debut 7″ by The Nipple Erectors. Hold on, there’s that guy from The Roxy. Yes, it was Shane’s band, and we finally figured out who he was.
‘King Of The Bop’ was a one play single – so simple and swinging, you never wanted it to end. Who’d have thought it would stand the test of time, but it has.
Tags: Howard Thompson, Paul Weller, Roxy, Shane MacGowen, The Jam, The Nipple Erectors, The Pogues, The Rejects
Posted in Howard Thompson, Paul Weller, Roxy, Shane MacGowen, The Jam, The Nipple Erectors, The Pogues, The Rejects | No Comments »
Friday, January 22nd, 2010
Listen: From The Underworld / The Herd 03 From The Underworld.mp3
I just think this is one of the greatest singles ever made. I have loved it since the very first listen. Now considered a psychedelic classic, it wasn’t at the time, or for years. The Herd were accused of being too mainstream then. The media and public sometimes look down on you if you’re successful, usually associating it with being lower quality, simply because it’s mass appeal, I guess. I do that too I suppose. Still, I never could understand why this record wasn’t appreciated then as it is now, but at least it got it’s day.
Even the lyrics entranced me, a seldom occurrence. Stuff like “a black night’s coldness” and “into another world you will pass” gave me the creeps. I liked getting the creeps then, had a bit of a cemetery attraction. That may have been a pot smoking side effect, going there late at night, alone, stoned, to scare myself. And I really did, several times that summer. Quit the cryptic visits and smoking pot shortly thereafter.
Peter Frampton downplayed his time with The Herd for years. You couldn’t mention it to him. Now I think he realizes it was very credible, as he was super nice about doing the jukebox tab for me. I wanted to advise him while signing it, not to be too flattered. It’s just that living in the US, one never sees Andy Bown.
The above US promo-only foldout picture sleeve is nearly extinct. The only one I’ve ever seen actually. Oh and thank you Howard Thompson for the test pressing. It was a really awesome birthday present that year.
Above: Jukebox Tab signed by Peter Frampton
Tags: Andy Bown, Fontana, Howard Thompson, Peter Frampton, The Herd
Posted in Andy Bown, Fontana, Howard Thompson, Jukebox Tab, Peter Frampton, The Herd | No Comments »
Saturday, December 26th, 2009
Listen: It’s My Party / Lesley Gore LesleyParty.mp3
We had a Christmas lunch today, but friends actually started showing up around 10AM. I find the simplest background music solution for these gatherings to be Music Choice, part of the Time Warner cable selections. Our setup spans the kitchen, den, living room, basically the ground floor, so everyone’s covered. For the more hardcore, it’s off to a whole ‘nother part of the house with the turntables, jukebox, record library, memoribilia, the works, but I digress.
Back at the main floor party, the 60′s channel got everyone’s vote. It was a nice if predictable mix, nothing obscure that might put off a WalMart shopper of course. On comes ‘It’s My Party’. The mood turned up a notch. An all time favorite combined with champagne at 11AM did the trick. Seriously, she sounded great, and I’d been forever meaning to spin some of her 7′s lately. Having spent the last few days trying to file a couple thousand singles that have just enveloped my existence, I happened on a nice original UK A label from Tony’s collection of ‘It’s My Party’ – a repeat play was in order.
Listen: She’s A Fool / Lesley Gore LesleyFool.mp3
I keep forgetting that the first 1/3 or so of her Mercury hits were produced by Quincy Jones just after he took over the NY Mercury offices in ’64 (Shelby Singleton and Bob Crewe divided up the last 2/3′s pretty evenly).
Yes, that Quincy Jones. If you want your mouth to drop and eyes to bug, check out his discography. A cat does not have this many lives. There’s hardly a bad one in the bunch.
‘She’s A Fool’ rivaled ‘It’s My Party’ as my favorite for ages. I’d forgotten the autographed sleeve Howard got me one time. Apparently she visited a friend at CBS often back when he was there.
Listen: Money Runner / Quincy Jones QuincyMoneyRunner.mp3
His many accomplishments included writing and producing some 33 film scores and soundtracks. I’d bet that number is even higher, but even if it’s not, wow, can you imagine? Another of Tony’s singles that almost got filed, but instead has been played about 20 times, is ‘Money Runner’ from the ’71 film/soundtrack THE HEIST. Quincy Jones even dipped his toe into Blaxploitation, with a bit of ‘Shaft’ mixed in. It was this year’s Christmas Day favorite.
Will Lord Warddd play it at Brooklyn Bowl on January 1?
Tags: Bob Crewe, Brooklyn Bowl, Howard Thompson, Lesley Gore, Lord Warddd, Mercury, Music Choice, Quincy Jones, Reprise, Shelby Singleton, Tony King
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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 »
Friday, October 30th, 2009
Listen: The Day My Pad Went Mad / John Cooper Clarke JohnCooperClarkePad.mp3
Speaking of John Cooper Clarke (see previous post), the day a package from Howard Thompson in the UK arrived, with ‘The Day My Pad Went Mad’ inside, was the day my favorite picture sleeve list had a new entry at #1. I mean, look at this beauty.
It took me a few singles to really appreciate the genius of JCC. God, he’s so fantastic. Get as many of his records as you can. You’ll never regret it. Find him and send him money too, he deserves it. A national treasure.
Tags: Epic, Howard Thompson, John Cooper Clarke
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Friday, August 7th, 2009
Listen: The Universal / The Small Faces SmallFacesUniversal.mp3
I remember reading ‘The Universal’ was a demo Steve Marriott later overdubbed some electric guitar and saxophone onto. Then somebody, apparently at Immediate Records, decided it was a single. For years, maybe a few decades, I had no idea what a demo was. When Howard hired me at Elektra in ’84, I initially couldn’t understand the concept of booking a studio to record songs, then weeks later go back in, many times to the same studio, to re-record them. Why not just record them correctly the first time? Being a kid who’s Dad was a janitor, and in a band that paid for their own recordings (done super fast because we simply didn’t have any money), this all appeared unnecessarily extravagant. Dumb even.
Well anyways, Dale Winton played ‘The Universal’ on his chart rundown from ’68 on BBC Radio’s PICK OF THE POPS a few weeks back, and it, as always, sounded clean and refreshing (if I may use a few politically correct slogans). Lots of folks rant and rave about many singles by The Small Faces, as they should. But usually, ‘The Universal’ is seldom mentioned. I think it peaked at #16 or so, and doesn’t compare chart wise to most of the others. But hey, it was a demo.
I bought this week of release at Walt’s Records, hence the US stock copy pictured above. Try finding one of those these days.
Posted in Andrew Loog Oldham, Howard Thompson, Immediate, Steve Marriott, The Small Faces, Walt's Records | No Comments »
Monday, July 13th, 2009
Listen: Sexy Boy / Air AirSexy.mp3
Listen: Kelly Watch The Stars / Air AirKelly.mp3
Listen: Radio #1 / Air AirRadio.mp3
Marc Lessner at Soul Trader in London was a most dependable source when it came to the latest, greatest dance and club releases back in the late 90′s. It was Marc who insisted I pay attention to Air, and gave me their first UK EP, LE SOLEIL EST PRESCE MOI. Despite a French aversion resulting from a few bad trips to Paris, I found Air irresistable. ‘Modular’ on Mo Wax followed and then came ‘Sexy Boy’, with an intro riff shockingly similar to New Math’s ‘They Walk Among You’, which was played down the phone to me by Howard quite early. But it was indeed the song’s similarity to Pink Floyd’s ‘Julia Dream’ that really grabbed my interest. All these years later, and I still don’t think I’ve even heard one mention of Pink Floyd when it comes to Air. Oh, and I do cherish my promo only UK single pictured above, one of many gems from the hands of Lessner. He always had my back when it came to promos bless him.
I excitedly went to see an early, maybe first, New York show at Town Hall soon after ‘Sexy Boy’ became an underground hit. It was very, very disappointing. I was shocked at how dull the whole event was. It put me off ever buying a ticket again, but not from loving the recordings.
Conveniently, despite their club royalty status, many of the singles were issued on UK 7″ vinyl. Both ‘Kelly Watch The Stars’ and ‘Radio #1′ were radio and chart hits in the UK, unlike here in the US. Once again, our programmers chose to grind their tired sounding stations to a cultural halt – I heard today that Boston’s WBCN bit the dust – put themselves right out of business with their stubborn musical policies. Good riddance.
Seems to me the excellent Animal Collective have quite good tastes – the influence Air have had on their records is worn very visibly on their sleeves. All good.
Tags: Air, Animal Collective, Howard Thompson, Marc Lessner, Mo' Wax, New Math, Pink Floyd, Soul Trader, Source, WBCN
Posted in Air, Animal Collective, Howard Thompson, Marc Lessner, Mo' Wax, New Math, Soul Trader, Source, The Pink Floyd, WBCN | No Comments »
