Posts Tagged ‘Lindsay Hutton’

Lindsay Hutton / Desmond Dekker & The Aces

Tuesday, November 12th, 2013

Listen: 007 (Previously Unreleased Version) / Desmond Dekker & The Aces
007

Is the problem that the majors will sell anything, or that we’ll buy it?

God bless Lindsay Hutton. Seriously, there is no better human being alive. I love him. The guy will do more than anything for a friend. I know, because I’m one, as Joe once wrote.

Desperate for the Record Store Day reissue of Desmond Dekker & The Ace’s ’007′ single, which sold out before the plastic had hardened, Lindsay went on a mission to find me a copy. Make that two.

Now I had no idea this was an unreleased version. Yes, I was aware Universal’s sloppy team had flubbed the fact that ’007′ was originally released in ’67 on Island’s subsidiary Pyramid, and now had mistakenly reissued the single on the label’s red and white label also from that era. And that Universal proceeded to embarrass themselves further by housing the single in the wrong pink stock sleeve. Never was a red and white label single shipped in a pink company bag guys and girls.

But I wanted it regardless. Sorry, one more thing, the horrific 180 gram vinyl pressing. What that 180 gram nonsense is all about, I’ll never figure out.

So months later, Saint Lindsay uncovers not one, but two copies. Here is one to view and hear. This may be a different mix, but a different version…?

Compare it please to this original Pyramid ’67 pressing below:

Listen: 007 / Desmond Dekker & The Aces
007

The Mose Allison Trio

Saturday, March 3rd, 2012

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

There are times when we don’t even realize what’s right in front of our eyes. Certainly, that’s the case with me. I must admit, more than once, well more than one hundred times, while riding the London subway system, I kind of scour the car and think, I may be standing next to one of fellows from The Action or John’s Children, or, or, or…..Seriously, this often crosses my mind.

Just prior to Christmas 2011, Lindsay Hutton was over from Scotland for a week’s vacation, and on his final night, we went to the Limerick House down the street from my office. The place shouldn’t exist. It’s a working class pub from the 70′s in the thick of the gentrified, self proclaimed wonderfulness known as Chelsea, yet still with reasonably priced beers and untouched, original down at heel decor.

Amy, a longtime friend of his from here in New York and I were talking when Lindsay inquired about her new album. The conversation turned to various details surrounding plans for it’s release, bits of setbacks during recording etc. Speaking primarily to Lindsay about these fine points, she mentions her Dad played on a track or two, how he hadn’t done much recording for a while, and that he was rather cranky about it or some such thing. Out of polite curiosity, I inquire about his history, only to discover her Dad is indeed Mose Allison.

“What! Say that again! Mose Allison? Are you serious?”

It was true, and oddly enough, in the deep dark dungeons of my mind, I was aware Lindsay knew her, Duane too, but never ever remembered to bring it up.

Out of my wallet came the blank jukebox tab, and into Amy’s it went. Shock over, conversation continued.

Guess what turned up yesterday in the mail. The completed artifact pictured below. Thank you Amy Allison.

Above: Jukebox Tab signed by Mose Allison

The Dictators

Friday, December 23rd, 2011

Listen: Sleepin’ With The TV On / The Dictators
DictatorsSleepin.mp3

A bit of a baffling one here. Got to know Andy Shernoff, who wrote this, quite well via Joey Ramone. They were close friends way before I knew either, having played shows together in the early CBGB’s days. Logically, and given the small world we live in, Andy’s close to Monte Melnick, Mickey Leigh and Lindsay Hutton as well. So the fit was natural. But most importantly, he’s a super guy with never a bad word to say about anyone.

And his lifelong bandmate, Dick Manitoba, well same story. A real testament to strength, business sense and flawless musical instinct. Even though we all socialized often for the past twenty years, it wasn’t until tonight did I realize I’d not heard ‘Sleepin’ With The TV On’ for almost as long. How could this be?

Simple, it’s an overlooked, not true to the purists, representation of The Dictators’ harder sound. Instead, I suppose it was power pop, not a genre that brings out my loyalty either.But having caught Manitoba’s Sirius radio show earlier tonight in my new satellite equipped car, it suddenly dawned on me that the first thing I needed to revisit upon arriving home was this single. Which I just did.

True to memory, ‘Sleepin’ With The TV On’, by song’s end and as a result of Andy’s picture perfect chorus, is something else. Now I recall why I loved it so during it’s time of release. Still, the record is an anomaly when it comes to the band’s signature sound, and to quote Little Steven, they were “the connective tissue between the eras of The MC5, Stooges, The New York Dolls, and the punk explosion of the mid to late 1970s”. What’s to disagree about?

They were that and the originators of this classic singalong.

Silver

Wednesday, December 14th, 2011

Listen: Make-Up / Silver
Make-Up

It was on one of the many New York trips Paul Cox from Too Pure had made, whereby he’d stay at Hotel Corinne & Kevin, that I was first introduced to Silver.

You see, Corinne would have it no other way, and like Lindsay Hutton, he’s still one of the few folks who has a virtual life long key to the house, as issued by the boss herself. In true sharing form, Paul, as with Lindsay, always brings loads of very English presents for us both: Battenberg Cakes, Twiglets, pink Smarties, PG Tips in those British boxes, Cadbury’s Dairy Milk bars wrapped in that purple foil. Unbeknownst to him, the Silver demo cassette more than sufficed on that particular visit.

There was a period shortly after when it felt like Silver might actually jump on board the then steaming forward bullet train known as Britpop, a term all those involved with seem to cringe at now.

Around the time of ‘Make-Up’, they were supporting Gene on a UK tour, and it seemed the red suited singer/songwriter Ian DeZilwa was about to become a very English pop star. By all rights, he should have.

Smart as a button, Ian and his band had one wispy Ray Davies-like song after the other, each with some very Herd or Honeybus moment that we true English group stalkers spotted a mile away. I guess we were indeed a dying breed by then, 1994.

Listen: Kings And Queens / Silver
Kings

‘Kings And Queens’ on every third listen, had me convinced it should’ve been the lead track. Nice thing about Ian DeZilwa’s songs were not only the hooks but lyrics. Don’t worry, I’m really not a lyric guy, except on occasion, so no plans to start quoting them. To be clear, his were nicely British.

Phil Vinal produced both sides here. Like Britpop itself, all but three or four bands and their producers alike seemed to weather the backlash storm, all disclaiming the press invented genre as an early career catalyst.

In the case of the remaining others, like Phil Vinal, Britpop involvement became the mark of the devil for their futures. No idea what evolved for him after his fifteen minutes, of which the Silver single was probably minute twelve or thirteen.

Lords Of Acid

Wednesday, October 20th, 2010

Listen: I Sit On Acid / Lords Of Acid LordsOfAcid.mp3

A great host never lets you down. Not in Glasgow more than a few hours, Lindsay Hutton has Corinne and I in a record shop. I was happy, she was not. It was after all, our first time there and she wanted to see some classic old buildings. Some history. For fuck’s sake alright, give me ten minutes.

Slavishly, I had to make it quick. My fingers did the walking through the newly arrived 7″ bins – and fast. Mostly indie rubbish. One particular record stood out. Obviously, the sleeve helped. Even though in ’89, seems everything had acid in the title, ‘I Sit On Acid’ looked tacky and sleazy. I was in.

Can clearly recall every lip back at Lindsay’s place curled with the mere suggestion of playing it. So not until arriving home in New York did the single even get a spin. Verdict: Nice gamble, great payoff, and on a 7″.

In it’s day, ‘I Sit On Acid’ pushed every envelope. Genius intro and a good sick grind. Within a year, Lords Of Acid were getting so much local club play, it was simply impossible to avoid the track regardless of where you went. Not a problem, the longer the version, the better.

Both Praga Khan spinoffs, only later did I figure out they were one in the same with Digital Orgasm, their rave alter ego. Deservedly, a perfectly legal license to print money.