SO MANY RECORDS, SO LITTLE TIME

July 11th, 2010

Them

Listen: Richard Corey / Them
Richard

I religiously collected local radio station charts placed in all the record shops and record departments at the variety stores. Every town had them. They’re really fun to scour nowadays for the national non-hits as well as being a great snapshot of the music you could hear at that given moment. If you search ‘music survey’ at eBay, there are always a bunch listed for auction.

I recall WT Grants on Salina Street in Syracuse had a huge record department, and stocked everything you could want, especially as WOLF, one of the town’s two Top 40 stations was pretty adventurous, playing a lot of obscure English rock and US RnB. This was a God send for me from ’65 – ’67, until they buckled and went all Billboard on us. That said record department had a soda counter attached to it, up a few steps with typical glittery colored American Graffiti style booths looking down on the hustle/bustle of kids pawing through and buying records (today you see the same activity at an Apple store or Game Stop), and they had a great jukebox. It was jammed with all the latest up and comers. I remember investing a dime to hear ‘Bend It’, well not only hear it but watch the single spin round on the store’s lavender/purple Rock-ola, at the same time admiring a factory printed Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich jukebox tab to accompany it. I wonder where that tab ended up. Hate to think.

My only problem with WT Grants or Walt’s being there were so many choices, and not enough money to buy them all on my $1 a week allowance and some cash from mowing lawns. I still get cold sweats hearing a lawn mover. I would literally walk up and back neighbor’s yards behind their mowers deciding what record this torturous act would earn me and I distinctly remember suffering through several yards earning enough to buy The Cream FRESH CREAM. I went cheap, and sprung for the mono pressing as they were $1 less. Who knew then that monos would end up way more valuable than their stereo counterparts. Man, am I happy I bought them: The Pink Floyd PIPER AT THE GATES OF DAWN, The Jimi Hendrix Experience AXIS: BOLD AS LOVE and Big Brother & The Holding Company CHEAP THRILLS to mention a few that reaped incredible returns. Well if I ever decide to sell them that is. I soon figured out other ways to get all these records and more for free. That saga is covered in my Jack Dupree post for the more curious of you.

Meanwhile, the one record that got played by WOLF (and I bet only by WOLF in the whole of the US as I’ve never seen it on any other local chart, ever) but not stocked, was ‘Richard Corey’ by Them. It’s actually a Paul Simon cover and Van Morrison reportedly hated it.

If you couldn’t find something at Grant’s there was also Walt’s Records, just down a block and right next to a peanut shop, freshly roasting their wares.

Walt’s was a great shrine to obscure stuff, and very RnB heavy. The place smelled fantastic, a constant mixture of vinyl and those roasted nuts. Like Grant’s, I was told they “couldn’t get” this single by Them either. “Couldn’t get”, what the hell does that mean? Turns out the lyric “He went home last night and put a bullet through his head” was a big deal….I’m guessing neither outlet dared stock it just in case. Guns were not cool once. It’s a shame that’s changed. And it took me years to find this as I’m sure not many were pressed. How WOLF got away with playing ‘Richard Corey’ heavily for several weeks without a problem is surprising, but they did.

Posted in Big Brother & The Holding Company, Billboard, Dave Dee Dozy Beaky Mick & Tich, Decca, Jack Dupree, Jukebox, Music Surveys, Paul Simon, Radio Charts, Rock-Ola, The Cream, The Jimi Hendrix Experience, The Pink Floyd, Them, Van Morrison, Walt's Records, WOLF, WT Grants |

July 10th, 2010

THE RAN-DELLS

Listen: Martian Hop / The Ran-dells 01 Martian Hop.mp3

This is a very early memory for me – it was really a kids record yet in ’63 sat nicely with the early surf hits, like ‘Surfin’ USA’, ‘Surf City’ and even ‘Wipe Out’ depsite The Ran-dells hailing from New Jersey. A #16 Billboard Pop single, not so surprising – but also peaking at #27 on the magazine’s Black Music charts more of a shocker.

All my pals loved it. Listening these days, I can’t help notice that electronica moment at 1:27, as well as in the opening bit. Extra-terrestrial sounds were finding their way onto vinyl around this time actually. Joe Meek had just gone #1 globally with The Tornadoes’ ‘Telstar’ as well as releasing the UK EP, I HEAR A NEW WORLD.

The Ramones should have covered this one.

Posted in Billboard, Chairman, Joe Meek, London Records, The Ramones, The Ran-dells, The Tornadoes |

July 9th, 2010

Aswad

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.

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 |

July 8th, 2010

The Mose Allison Trio

Listen: Baby, Please Don’t Go / The Mose Allison Trio
Baby, Please Don't Go / The Mose Allison Trio

Not for years after I should have paid attention, did I finally discover Mose Allison. He played local clubs when I was in college, but I foolishly missed him. Somewhere along the line, I’d noticed Georgie Fame dropping his name one too many times, so had a look. Probably picked up a dollar album or the like. Don’t remember noticing his singles much. Their voices were almost identical, and the way Georgie Fame revered him was obvious.

This would have been the early 90′s, when I started to collecting jazz singles. They were everywhere, and dirt cheap. All of them sounded particularly good in the jukebox. I used to brag about hating jazz, and how it should be a controlled substance but now admit my arrogance was out of line. Still don’t like the brassy side, but small combo piano/guitar/vibes stuff, love those. The Mose Allison Trio fit right in, definitely paved my way to a whole new genre of 7″ collecting.

Posted in Georgie Fame & The Blue Flames, Mose Allison, Prestige, The Mose Allison Trio |

July 7th, 2010

Little Richard

Listen: Get Down With It / Little Richard
Get

It has been written, by Charles White, that this is the greatest rock and roll record ever recorded in England. Who is Charles White? Good question.

The answer: he’s aka Dr Rock, is the official biographer to Little Richard and author of the books ‘The Life And Times Of Little Richard’ and ‘Killer – The Jerry Lee Lewis Biography’. All of the preceding info I lifted from the liner notes of the cd reissue GET DOWN WITH IT – THE OKEH SESSIONS. But beware.

I was well excited when I saw this one on the Sony release schedule back in 2004. The packaging turned out great. The detail being particularly good. Unfortunately, it’s all the stereo versions which have been restored, remastered, cleaned, polished, shined with every bit of dirt, grime, filth and slime removed. Little Richard without the dirt, grime, filth and slime is just not…very appealing. Try finding the vinyl singles, especially ‘Poor Dog’ and ‘I Don’t Wanna Discuss It’, and the LP, THE EXPLOSIVE LITTLE RICHARD, all on the Okeh label instead. If you do buy this cd, keep the booklet but toss the disc.

Even if you accomplish all the above, you won’t be done, because during Little Richard’s tenure with Okeh, he recorded that aforementioned ‘greatest rock and roll record’ in London during December ’66. It was called ‘Get Down With It’. The cd was quite rightly titled after it and that particular single was only ever released in the UK on Columbia, Okeh’s British distributor. God knows why. So basically, to really complete your journey, you’ll need to own this UK 7″. Good luck. I do wish you it, but don’t wait up. It’s a pretty hard one to locate.

Unexpectedly, ‘Get Down With It’ was produced by EMI’s Norman Smith, who also took on said chore for both The Pink Floyd’s PIPER AT THE GATES OF DAWN and The Pretty Things’ SF SORROW albums. This track perfectly documents that intoxicating and lost in history delta, chitlin’ circuit, sweat and liquor drenched roadhouse sound. To think, this studio version never saw the light of day in the US until the cd came out in ’04. I wonder why they didn’t issue this at the time, and why the mono version of ‘Get Down With It’ wasn’t included as a cd bonus track at least?

As for Charles White’s statement that this is the greatest rock and roll record ever recorded in England, he just might be right.

Posted in Columbia UK, Little Richard, Norman Smith, Okeh, The Pink Floyd, The Pretty Things |

July 6th, 2010

Jerry Lee Lewis

Listen: High School Confidential / Jerry Lee Lewis JerryLeeLewisHigh.mp3

“Sounding as good as the day it was recorded”. Bob Dylan thinks so. Me too.

Have you ever listened to Bob Dylan’s THEME TIME RADIO program on Sirius? It is the best radio I have ever heard. Honestly, right up there with a lot of the BBC’s output through the years. Mind you, he has an army of researchers helping out, and credit is due there as well. For true, THEME TIME RADIO is simply worth the price of a Sirius subscription.

So yeah, he played this one the other day – well I heard it the other day – it could’ve been a repeat. I always hoped The Cramps would cover ‘High School Confidential’. They would have shredded it.

This is from a precious, four song, promo only 7′, sent round to radio and press when Smash signed him, and licensed some of his original Sun sides for a GOLDEN HITS package. It’s a beauty, right?

But can you imagine seeing Jerry Lee Lewis in his prime? I saw him play New York about fifteen years ago, he’d signed to Sire at the time. I always say either you’re the real deal or you’re not, therefore age doesn’t really matter. Think, Little Richard vs Candlebox. And Jerry Lee Lewis is clearly the real deal. Obviously the stage show was not as physically chaotic as in the aforementioned heyday, but still he radiated a kind of ‘higher form of life’ glare.

Next day he turned up in the office to see Seymour Stein, who was just down the hall. The glare is even more intense up close, strange odor (not bad, but strange) and his skin was a grey-ish, lavender color. It was all just fantastic.

Posted in BBC Radio 1, BBC Radio 2, Bob Dylan, Candlebox, Jerry Lee Lewis, Little Richard, Seymour Stein, Sire, Sirius, Smash, Sun Records, The Cramps |

July 5th, 2010

Solomon Burke

Listen: You Can Make It If You Try / Solomon Burke01 You Can Make It If You Try.mp3

A Philadelphia native, and trained in gospel, Solomon Burke had his biggest success during the ’60′s in the south, where they coined his sound ‘river deep country fried buttercream soul’. Who on earth would not want to hear this guy after a description like that?

I found out about Solomon Burke like every other white kid in the day, through the English groups covering all the classic blues and RnB hits. Yes, the originals were right here in my own back yard. Occasionally one of these would slip into the pop stations’ playlists, but not near enough. At the time, I would have probably dismissed the original anyways, preferring all the hepped up excitement of the British Invasion version and how that movement was changing my culture, my haircut and my clothes.

But on further investigation in the early 70′s, it was fantastic to find a whole world of great records yet to own and cherish. The Rolling Stones were clearly Solomon Burke fans, covering a bunch of the songs he had RnB success with. Those covers were spread out over the first 5 US albums including this one ‘You Can Make It If You Try’ (on their debut, ENGLAND’S NEWEST HIT MAKERS). So really, it’s through The Rolling Stones that I discovered him. The flip side of this single is equally great: ‘If You Need Me’, also recorded by them and included on 12 X 5 (as is his ‘Everybody Needs Somebody To Love’). OUT OF OUR HEADS included ‘Cry To Me’, although The Pretty Things’ version is true to Solomon’s exactly.

Listen: The Price / Solomon Burke 01 The Price.mp3

The covers of Solomon Burke’s catalog are many, from Dr. Feelgood’s ‘Stupidity’ to The Herd’s ‘Goodbye Baby (Baby Goodbye)’. So fierce was his vocal bite, that certain songs were just not even tried by others. One such favorite of mine, ‘The Price’, arranged by Northern Soul great Teacho Wilshire and produced by Bert Berns, could certainly have been served well at that time by Janis Joplin or maybe Chris Farlowe, but no other white voices that I know of. Great news: Solomon Burke is still alive. Go see him sing and get ready to lose it.

Posted in Atlantic, Bert Berns, Chris Farlowe, Dr. Feelgood, Janis Joplin, Northern Soul, Solomon Burke, Teacho Wilshire, The Herd, The Pretty Things, The Rolling Stones |

July 4th, 2010

X

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.

Posted in Bob Krasnow, Bruce Springsteen, Dave Alvin, Dave Urso, Elektra, Exene Cervenka, Howard Thompson, John Doe, Jukebox Tab, X |

July 3rd, 2010

The Kinks

Listen: Lola / The Kinks KinksLola.mp3

If you live in America, well definitely New York, hearing ‘Lola’, (nowadays restricted to the oldies or dreaded classic rock formats) is as close as I imagine one can get to an oasis during a tsunami.

I was desperate a few weeks back, having left my iTouch at home during the morning school drop-off drive, all of ten minutes. Still it was one of those rare, aching to hear something decent moments, when suddenly ‘Lola’ appears as a result of my manic dashboard button pushing.

Let me tell you, I couldn’t believe once was a time I’d heard it on the radio so much, I thought I never needed to hear ‘Lola’ again. Do you remember those days? Well they are long gone. It never sounded better. And I finally got round to loading it onto my device tonight, an act I regret not having done before last weekend’s drive to and from Boston.

Hearing ‘Lola’ took me also to YouTube, where I was reminded it indeed was the song that, unbeknownst at the time, began signaling an end to that first classic era of The Kinks. Yes, there were several to follow, but as the seminal four piece lineup expanded to five, suddenly including John Gosling on keyboards, The Kinks immaculate 60′s visual perfection began to blemish.

Mind you, despite his un-English rough look, which was initially passable, the transformation was smooth. One could safely call it a soft landing as their sound remained pretty much unchanged, having always incorporated piano into their recordings, unually played by Nicky Hopkins or Ray himself.

Listen: Apeman / The Kinks KinksApeman.mp3

Other than lyrically, ‘Apeman’ could have easily fit onto ARTHUR or even THE VILLAGE GREEN PRESERVATION SOCIETY for that matter. The mix always bothered me. Had it been as powerful as ‘Lola’, my bet is ‘Apeman’ would have been a bigger hit. The struggle to hear Ray’s vocal annoys to this day, particularly during the intro. Having said that, it’s impossible to ruin such a great song.

Listen: God’s Children / The Kinks KinksGodChildren.mp3

Sticking close to the original Kinks sound was also the case with ‘God’s Children’, the last official UK Pye / US Reprise 7″. Technically, in England, as opposed to being an A side, it was the lead track off a 4 song EP pulled from the PERCY film soundtrack, the full album being rejected by Reprise and apparently destroying the band/label relationship.

Whereas, in the US, ‘God’s Children’ became an official and final Reprise single. A later US Reprise 7″ ‘King Kong’ / ‘Waterloo Sunset’ notwithstanding, as it came after the band had moved to RCA, and was released solely to promote THE KINK KRONIKLES double album compilation.

Back to YouTube, ‘Lola’ from TOP OF THE POPS lead me to watch ‘Apeman’, then ‘Autumn Almanac’, ‘Wonderboy’ and ultimately ‘Days’:

For those of you like myself, who waited agonizingly for The Kinks to be allowed back into the US after some musician’s union ban during ’66, our wishes became reality when in ’69, the band returned to promote ARTHUR. Apparently, many of the scheduled shows between the tour’s New York start and it’s conclusion in Los Angeles were cancelled. Lucky was I to see them at the very beginning, New York.

Not only does the above clip capture the absolutely perfect Kinks during the period, it too gives the viewer ultimate Ray Davies moments at exactly :24 – :29, again at 1:02 and then 1:20. Expressions and smirks that addicted many a weak soul to the heroin known as The Kinks in the 60′s.

The clip, in fact, must have been shot within weeks of that infamous US return, as both Dave and Ray are wearing the exact same clothes they had on here at The Fillmore East (October 17 & 18, ’69) and then also in Potsdam NY, at the State college gymnasium on Sunday October 19. I will never, ever, ever forget Ray’s shirt. We were at stage edge, literally speaking out requests to the band.

See said shirt for yourself in the clip above. When uncovered with a jacket, like at the live shows, who could forget it?

Posted in Fillmore East, Nicky Hopkins, Pye, Ray Davies, RCA, Reprise, The Kinks, Top Of The Pops |

July 2nd, 2010

The Cryin’ Shames

Listen: Please Stay / The Cryin’ Shames
Please Stay / The Cryin' Shames

The Cryin’ Shames ‘Please Stay’ was also from the haul that brought the Marsha Gee record into my collection. Unlike hers, this song I knew about and had a UK copy of. But finding a US pressing was quite an event.

The Drifters had a hit with ‘Please Stay’ in ’61, and their version of this Burt Bacharach classic is indeed great. This one however, has the added ambience of Joe Meek’s production.

Much has been deservedly written about Joe Meek, one of England’s first independent producers. In those days, late 50′s / early 60′s, all the producers were on the label staff. They did their job, and got their pay check. But it all began to change around ’63 and Joe Meek was a catalyst. This of course meant that, because he had built his own studio, he would not only produce the records but own the masters too. The labels didn’t like not owning their catalog, as Joe Meek and the other independent producers would license titles to the majors for a certain time period only. So he was always given terrible treatment.

Get one of the books about him. He was fascinating. And he had a real thing about other worlds. His huge international hit, ‘Telstar’ by The Tornadoes had his signature, haunting extra-terrestrial, almost frightening sound to it. Pretty much all his other recordings did too. You can certainly hear it on ‘Please Stay’, his last ever UK chart entry. Lead vocalist, Charlie Crane, had an amazing voice. One quite perfect for his Meeksville sound as well as this track.

For some time the Dick Clark footage had been embeddable via youtube. Now disabled, but still there. Go direct.

Listen: Nobody Waved Goodbye / The Cryin’ Shames
Nobody Waved Goodbye / The Cryin' Shames

Joe Meek claimed to be possessed by the ghost of Buddy Holly, and on the anniversary of his death, February 3, 1967, he took his own life, along with his landlady’s. Horribly demonized by a lawsuit that left him penniless, his Tornadoes royalties tied up in litigation, one of the last records he made was by this same band: The Cryin’ Shames, titled ‘Nobody Waved Goodbye’. Yikes.

Posted in Buddy Holly, Burt Bacharach, Charlie Crane, Decca, Dick Clark, Joe Meek, London Records, Marsha Gee, The Cryin' Shames, The Tornadoes |

July 1st, 2010

Elvis Presley

Listen: Suspicious Minds / Elvis Presley ElvisSuspiciousMinds.mp3

I have friends who live in total disbelief that Elvis didn’t affect my entire musical life the way he did theirs, that I’m completely mad and missing so much for having not appreciated him as the originator. Okay. Well I never really got it.

I once saw quite a good documentary that covered his pre-Army or ‘whatever service he was drafted into’ life – and for an evening kinda caught the bug. But to be honest, it didn’t spill into pulling some singles out of the shelf the next day. And I do see now that I have quite a chunk. Any late 50′s – early 60′s picture sleeves, and he had many, were hard to pass up at lawn sales through the years.

Like the next guy, I do find here and there, the occasional Elvis track actually became a favorite, but only in hindsight. ‘Suspicious Minds’ is one.

A few times this very calender year I found the music piped into our local Duane Reade had me leaving the store remembering some great record that even oldies radio doesn’t play much these days, well I don’t think they do that is – I hardly listen. Happened when I heard Sly & The Family Stone’s ‘If You Want Me To Stay’ and now this one.

Even more fun were the out of place handful of charcters singing along. Several in fact, and they didn’t look like locals. Seriously, these were definitely not New Yorkers, but being summer I’m guessing they migrated in for a vacation. A flock of older guys in string ties, pilled black rather worn looking western shirts and noticably pointed cowboy boots buying six packs of canned Miller beers are not common in my neighborhood. These are honestly not meant to be dismissive, cheeky comments. Maybe it was a band, I like to think not as I do love anyone to whom Elvis was King. Their loyalty is to be awed – and courage to not change their look even more brave. It was a most exotic five minutes.

‘Suspicious Minds’ sounded so good tonight that I couldn’t get home fast enough hoping I had a copy. I’m pleased to say I do, and that it’s in glorious mono.

Posted in Duane Reade, Elvis Presley, RCA |

June 29th, 2010

Pinkerton’s Assorted Colours

Listen: Don’t Stop Loving Me, Baby / Pinkerton’s Assorted Colours PinkertonsDontStop.mp3

True story. I know you will think this is a lie, but I swear on a stack of Ramones albums that it is not.

UK manager Dennis Muirhead paid me his yearly visit at Columbia Records in the late 90′s. We’d met back in ’85 when I’d first joined Elektra and he always stopped by when he came through town. One of his clients at the time was Stuart Colman. Stuart lived then in Nashville and had produced many successful country acts, but had prior UK hits with Shakin’ Stevens. Dennis gave me a package including all his producers latest discographies which I browsed while catching up. I noticed Stuart had started his career in the 60′s with The Shadows. So I said to Dennis, hey this guy goes back a bit, is he English? Affirmative. I proceeded to say I wish these fellows would list all those really early engineering jobs they would have started out doing prior to that first producer opportunity. “I mean, Dennis, he could have worked on something obscure like…..Pinkerton’s Assorted Colours or something”. I just grabbed that fun, eccentric example out of my head.

Dennis looks me square in the eye and says “He was IN Pinkerton’s Assorted Colours”. Silence. Neither of us could believe what had just transpired. “You’re not kidding are you, well call him now”. He suggested one better, that I ring his place asking for him as a member of the band, which I did. I let Stuart know fairly fast that Dennis was there with me, and we had a very nice chat. I mailed him this jukebox tab, he autographed it and sent it straight back.

Above: Jukebox Tab signed by Stuart Colman

As for the group, I was interested because of the name. When I saw their first single ‘Mirror Mirror’ entering the UK charts, I had to hear them asap. But it wasn’t to be for ages. Even though released Stateside, it was nowhere to be heard or found. WMCR, the little station that gave me all those unwanted promo singles at the time, weren’t serviced by London, parent company of Parrot Records – home to Pinkerton’s Assorted Colours. Damn. I was jonesing by the time their second single hit. ‘Don’t Stop Loving Me, Baby’ limped into the UK Top 50 at #50 for one week. I love a good followup flop usually more than the previous hit, so this was reaching fever pitch.

Finally I was successful, finding it in a 25¢ bin at The House Of Oldies on Bleeker Street in NYC when my Aunt Nancy invited me along to visit some relative for a few days. I got a ton of London titles there – The Cryin’ Shames, Lulu & The Luvvers, The Gonks, Hedgehoppers Anonymous and Jonathan King among them – all nice orange swirl promos. This is a great double sider. Not overly special but a solid British staple. Actually, just tonight I realized some similarities to Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich thereby explaining a lot of it’s appeal for me.

Listen: Will Ya / Pinkerton’s Assorted Colours PinkertonsWillYa.mp3

The B side ‘Will Ya’ is my favorite of the two, but just. That timid but still wildish fuzz solo is the tie breaker. Mike Goldsmith picked me up the stock copy pictured, only a few months ago, at Academy Records in Brooklyn. I had never seen nor heard of one being pressed as it seemed likely this would never have made it beyond the promo stage – but here it is.

Posted in Columbia, Dave Dee Dozy Beaky Mick & Tich, Dennis Muirhead, Elektra, Hedgehoppers Anonymous, House Of Oldies, Jukebox Tab, London Records, Mike Goldsmith, Parrot, Pinkerton's Assorted Colours, Stuart Colman, The Cryin' Shames, WMCR |

June 25th, 2010

Suicide

Listen: Dream Baby Dream / Suicide 13 Dream Baby Dream.mp3

Wedensday was Alan Vega’s birthday. He’d kill me if he knew I was letting on, but Vega never goes online, so no worries. Having said that, he and his partner in Suicide, Marty Rev, always were, and still are, sonically light years ahead of the rest of the planet. Have you ever seen Suicide live? They are more powerful than ever. Do not waste the rest of your life. See them ASAP. Search youtube and check them out performing ‘Dream Baby Dream’ on The Midnight Special, making awesome TV back in ’79. Thanks Bruce Springsteen for rightfully honoring Suicide and performing this at concerts. Apparently his respect for Alan and Marty goes way back. Good one.

Above: Jukebox Tab signed by Alan Vega

Posted in Alan Vega, Bruce Springsteen, Island, Jukebox Tab, Marty Rev, Suicide, The Midnight Special, Ze |

June 24th, 2010

The Sweet Inspirations

Listen: Sweet Inspiration / The Sweet Inspirations
Sweet Inspiration / The Sweet Inspirations

Listen: That’s How Strong My Love Is / The Sweet Inspirations
That's How Strong My Love Is / The Sweet Inspirations

Cissy Houston, Lee Warrick with daughters Dee Dee and Dionne Warwick, Judy Clay, Doris Try – they were all members of The Sweet Inspirations at one time or another. Even if you haven’t heard these classics by them – you have heard these voices many times, contributing to endless sessions by Solomon Burke, Wilson Pickett, Aretha Franklin, Esther Phillips, Van Morrison’s ‘Brown Eyed Girl’, The Jimi Hendrix Experience’s ‘Burning Of The Midnight Lamp’, even Elvis. Ahmet Ertegan finally decided in 1967 to record them as their own entity. Not only cutting an initial album, but in a one year window, they recorded three. Their versions of current hits became hits again – this time for themselves: ‘Why (Am I Treated So Bad)’, ‘To Love Somebody’, ‘Unchained Melody’. They really hit pay dirt with The Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section in Alabama during the early months of 1969 – from which these singles come. Their theme song is a classic. And the gospel purity of ‘That’s How Strong My Love Is’ makes for difficult upstaging.

Posted in Ahmet Ertegan, Atlantic, Cissy Houston, Dee Dee Warwick, Dionne Warwick, Doris Troy, Esther Phillips, Jimi Hendrix, Judy Clay, Muscle Shoals, Solomon Burke, The Sweet Inspirations |

June 22nd, 2010

The Gun Club

Listen: Death Party / The Gun Club GunClubDeathParty.mp3

Did you ever get to see The Gun Club live? I hope so. I was simply taken with Jeffrey Lee Pierce, his guitar playing and especially his voice. Funny thing was, I didn’t notice for at least ten years that he never really sang in key. But his style was so powerful, it worked.

I have many favorite songs by them, and I was bumping into myself trying to decide which one to post. So I’ve settled on ‘Death Party’. It’s probably a more obscure one, and I’ve certainly never seen copies of this 7″, other than the two I own. It also represents their live sound, that raw, jagged, perfectly sloppy groove from beneath hell, as JLP once said. And it’s around the time of my favorite Gun Club lineup, with Kid Congo, Terry Graham and Patricia Morrison. Even though they’re not on this, they delivered a live sound and a recorded one (THE LAS VEGAS STORY) precisely like this record’s.

I recall the time, after they played a local club show in August of ’84, which I made an audio recording of, the only live show I ever recorded in fact, that they all came back to my place to watch a video they had made of that night’s performance on a clumsy video machine the size of an air conditioner, as they were known to be then. In very un-RnR style, we sat and devoured a chocolate cream pie and drank tea. A great memory. Please check out the whole song. It is relentless.

Posted in Jeffrey Lee Pierce, Kid Congo Powers, Patricia Morrison, The Gun Club |

June 20th, 2010

Screaming Lord Sutch & The Savages

Listen: She’s Fallen In Love With The Monster Man / Screaming Lord Sutch & The Savages ScreamingLordMonster.mp3

I finally got around to reading the Screaming Lord Sutch feature in the June issue of MOJO. Try to do the same, maybe it’s even online. A few priceless pictures and so many stunning details, I really don’t know where to start. He was everything I already knew and way more as well. Some of the live show descriptions and antics, well we now know where Alice Cooper got more than one idea. Don’t blame him for lifting a few, they’re just too good to waste. Okay, here’s a tiny bit: “cherry food dye, cold scrambled eggs with a few masticated inches of seaside rock and it’ll look like you’re spitting out teeth”.

No question about it, his recordings were made very inexpensively, several produced by Joe Meek, complete with dreadful sound effects – and I mean that in a good way. As the ’70′s arrived, more than one act paid respects. The Crazy World Of Arthur Brown, The Damned and The Revillos even covered and released as their A side as well, ‘She’s Fallen In Love With The Monster Man’. You’d think the song was written just for them listening to the original above.

Listen: Dracula’s Daughter / Screaming Lord Sutch ScreamingLordDracula'sDaughter.mp3

So many soon to be name musicians passed through the ranks of being Savages in the ’61 – ’63 period, prior to their own later successes. The list, also in the article, is long and fairly jaw dropping. Jimmy Page plays lead on ‘She’s Fallen In Love With The Monster Man’, and Jeff Beck on ‘Dracula’s Daughter’. Even then, in ’64, his style was recognizable and it’s easy to see how much he moulded The Yardbirds’ sound from one listen.

The usually precise MOJO does flub one detail. ‘Dracula’s Daughter’ was not his last for Decca, it was his first for Oriole after being dropped by Decca. While I’m at it, the above Cameo Parkway 7″ is the only US release from his period with The Savages.

Posted in Alice Cooper, Cameo Parkway, Jeff Beck, Jimmy Page, Joe Meek, Mojo, Oriole, Screaming Lord Sutch & The Savages, The Crazy World Of Arthur Brown, The Damned, The Revillos, The Yardbirds |

June 17th, 2010

The Glories

Listen: (I Love You Babe But) Give Me My Freedom / The Glories GloriesFreedom.mp3

Like a lot of people, I have a soft spot for anything on Date, and Direction for that matter. They were sister US/UK companies and had great A&R. I wish I knew more about The Glories, but really don’t. Most of their stuff is in the Northern groove, so I’m in.

Listen: Try A Little Tenderness / The Glories GloriesTenderness.mp3

Obviously not a Northern ‘stomper’ as they like to say, but I love any version of ‘Try A Little Tenderness’. Luckily, everyone I know that recorded it had pipes, although Nico or The Flying Lizards would have made interesting listens.

Listen: Sing Me A Love Song / The Glories GloriesSing.mp3

There’s a beautiful trade ad from a ’67 issue of Billboard for this one. Full page. Awesome shot of the girls. Wish my scanner could have handled it’s size. Spun ‘Sing Me A Love Song’ at the Otis Clay show recently – sounded killer through the big speakers

Posted in Billboard, Date, Direction, Nico, Northern Soul, Otis Clay, The Flying Lizards, The Glories |

June 13th, 2010

The Contours

Listen: Just a Little Misunderstanding / The Contours 06 Just A Little Misunderstanding.mp3

Most times the really successful acts are great, but after they’re pounded into your brain relentlessly, you can go off them a bit. The Beach Boys come to mind and their biggest hits at that. I love ‘California Girls’ but never need to hear it again. Likewise ‘Hey Jude’ or ‘You Can’t Hurry Love’.

So yeah, we all loved The Supremes and The Four Tops too, but those lesser known Motown acts were just as great. Some had the occasional smash, Like Mary Wells or The Marvelettes, yet some just never got near their fair share. Like The Contours.

It’s in hindsight I’ve come to appreciated them. Northern Soul has given a lot of great singles an unexpected success story, if not in big sales at least in big appreciation. ‘Just A Little Misunderstanding’ is one. I heard this on a few of those truly great Northern comps like THE IN CROWD – THE STORY OF NORTHERN SOUL and it’s accompanying must-read book.

Posted in Berry Gordy, Mary Wells, Motown, Northern Soul, Tamla, The Beach Boys, The Contours, The Four Tops, The Marvelettes, The Supremes |

June 12th, 2010

Country Joe & The Fish

Listen: Not So Sweet Martha Lorraine / Country Joe & The Fish CountryJoeLorraine.mp3

During the summer of ’67 when ‘the late night DJ was your fireside chat friend’, I would lie in bed with the transistor radio under my pillow, exactly as The Ramones described it in ‘Do You Remember Rock & Roll Radio’, dialing in these far beaming AM stations, usually from Boston. They’d play a nice array of all the hippie underground bands who looked so extreme and oozed the sound of San Francisico’s Haight-Ashbury seemingly dersirable lifestyle. Country Joe & The Fish were certainly tied with Big Brother & The Holding Company for best name, and after slowly climbing up the Bubbling Under The Hot 100 Billboard list for six weeks, ‘Not So Sweet Martha Lorraine’ finally peaked at #95. Not such a great result, but was I ever happy to lay my hands on this single.

Having heard it once during a quiet summer night, it sounded as alien at the time as it actually does now. Then, it was mysterious, now probably just not aging well. But my soft spot for it is still there.

You learn something everyday supposedly. I found out just tonght Corinne saw them at The Fillmore. After all these years, somehow this fact never came up. Bizarre.

Posted in Billboard, Country Joe & The Fish, Fontana, The Ramones, Vanguard |

June 11th, 2010

Radio Stars

Listen: No Russians In Russia / Radio Stars RadioStarsRussia.mp3

To a few of us, Radio Stars were a supergroup. Martin Gordon played bass with Sparks on their world seminal KIMONO MY HOUSE album and Andy Ellison, well he was in John’s Children. Top that.

I remember ’77 for many reason, one being a nice big handful of great singles were literally being released every week. ‘No Russians In Russia’ was one. Well, to be exact, it was part of STOP IT, a four song EP on Chiswick, who were sharp enough to press up promo-only 7″ copies of the track to focus dj’s, etc. Possibly the most perfect play on words chorus I know of, this sucker still goes through my head decades later. A hook is a hook.

Posted in Andy Ellison, Chiswick, John's Children, Martin Gordon, Radio Stars, Sparks |