Saturday, December 24, 2005
Adverts - Gary Gilmore's Eyes
I used to obsess about this track after hearing it late at night on Nicky Horne's "Your Mother Wouldn't Like It" show on Capital. I love the last line of the song! Listen to it here.
Saturday, October 29, 2005
Peel's singles box
Revealed: the contents of John Peel's singles box:
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Thursday, October 13, 2005
John Peel Day
John Peel by Jane BownI interviewed Andy Kershaw yesterday as part of my research for this rather nerdy piece about John Peel's favourite albums.
Sadly I missed last night's gig on the South Bank, but a work colleague who did go said that Mark Lamar said he and Peel were once the two of commiserating about Mark and Lard moving to the breakfast show, where their talents would be wasted. Lamarr said "Ah well, at least it's better than Chris Evans." Peel said: "Leukemia's better than Chris Evans."
Tuesday, September 06, 2005
The roots of power pop
Further to my post on the Everlys' Two Yanks In England, an album that I confess I'd not heard of until picking it up earlier this year, I've just read an enlightening review by Edd Hurt for Nashville Scene of the new Big Star biography and album. Hurt cites Two Yanks In England as the missing link between the British guitar pop of the Beatles and the Who and the power pop of Big Star:
"To say ... that all power pop derives from The Who is to ignore what may be the Ur-power-pop statement, the Everly Brothers’ 1966 Two Yanks in England, a brilliant, neglected (and recently reissued) record featuring songs by the Hollies, and a work that one-ups the Beatles by putting a peculiarly Southern American spin—lost, melancholy, subtly tortured—on the basic formula.
"Big Star, the Memphis band led by Chris Bell and Alex Chilton, are the group whose early ’70s albums go a step further and define power pop as a synthesis of British pop music and the West Coast post-folk-rock of the Buffalo Springfield, Gene Clark and Moby Grape, with an admixture of the spare, oblique style of Stax Records. And like the Everlys’ Two Yanks in England, Big Star’s albums give the Beatles back to Americans."
I can hear what he means; it's what's wrong with the Everlys' record in the sense that they don't sound as Swinging London as they'd hoped; but it's also what's great about the album in that they bring something to the table that the Beatles, Who and Hollies themselves aspired to: authentic southern soul.
Monday, August 01, 2005
Papa Oom Mow Mow
When he played the first Loaded Knife single, The Bird ("a brave step into the unknown"), John Peel said it was "based on" The Rivingtons' Papa Oom Mow Mow. In fact it was "based on" Surfing Bird, the punked-up composite Rivingtons rave-up (ie mixing The Bird Is The Word and Papa Oom Mow Mow) by The Trashmen, one of the most insane records of the era. Says MP3.com:
Yes, it was a nonsense song, but the members sang it with such spirit and élan, that it wasn't a "guilty pleasure" or an embarrassing novelty record -- it was silly, but it was also viscerally exciting like the very best R&B dance records, and sung that way.Cub Koda on All-Music Guide says they were "one of the great American teen-band combos of all time, their lone hit exemplifying wild, unabashed rock & roll at its most demented, bare-bones-basic, lone-E-chord finest".
There are also fine versions of Surfin' Bird by The Ramones and The Cramps, and I recently bought a lame 70s version of Papa Oom Mow Mow by The Sharonettes, who I don't know anything about, other than they weren't very good.
Anyone know any more versions? I feel a collection coming on.
Wednesday, July 27, 2005
Black Monk Time - The Monks
One of the most basic, loud, moronic rock'n'roll bands of the 60s, whose members were US servicemen based in Germany. Check out their excellent website, which has a wonderful account of how they discovered feedback.As you can see from this photograph, their image was second to none.
Me me me: Thanks to Chris Heard for this one, a 40th birthday present.
Friday, July 22, 2005
Two Yanks in England - The Everly Brothers
It's a blatant cash-in on the British Invasion, but quite entertaining nonetheless, with spririted versions of songs such as Somebody Help Me and Pretty Flamingo. The backing band is the Hollies, who were apparantly reluctant to give Don and Phil their best material.
The best thing about it, though, is the sleevenotes, which I reproduce verbatim in full below. Written by one Stan Cornyn, "the king of liner notes" according to the excellent Space Age Pop site, they purport to be the Everlys’ “own guide to London”, which they claim to know extremely well and in fact be “part of the whole scene”.
It reads as though they’re trying to convince themselves of this as much as anyone else, and becomes quite bewildering when we suddenly find ourselves in a marriage bureau “a bit out of town” in Manchester, “the Beatles’ homeland”. Still, I like the idea of Don and Phil watching art films at the NFT, and having a pint at the Thomas a Becket on Old Kent Road (no definite article for the bruvvers), a pub I used to frequent circa 1980 when a great mod R&B band called Hit and Run used to do gigs there.
THE NEW GUIDE
TO LONDON TOWN
Like the rest of the world, The Everly Brothers have discovered England. But Don and Phil Everly were explorers; they’ve been hitting London annually for a decade. They’re part of the whole scene there. They’re what’s happening in London, just as much as Jean Shrimpton, Terence Stamp, Mary Quant, George Hamilton & Co. London’s their kind of town, so will be yours too (if it isn’t already). To help prepare you, here’s some of the highlights from The Everly Brothers’ own London:
FOR MEN’S WEAR: Lord John Boutique on Carnaby Street, which features what best can be described as the peacock look. Begin with their $12.50 checked trousers. Then add a lavender corduroy topper and a flowered tie. And you have the neo-Edwardian look, which is the right thing to have.
FOR DISCOTEQUES: Sybilla’s is the newest and most promising. It’s at 9 Swallow Street, about ten yards off Piccadilly, and owned by George Harrison and photographer Terry Howard, among others. It’s named after the grand daughter of Marshall Field, another cementing of the Anglo-American alliance.
FOR BIRDS’ WEAR: The Bazaar, at 46 Brompton, SW3, where the Mary Quant look is in fullest flower. At this HQ, you can doll thyself with the latest in mini-skirts and the new must, a pants-suit with bell bottoms. Then walk out into Chelsea and knock the men loopy.
FOR ETHNIC R&R: Rust’s Rare Records, 38 Grimsdyke Road, Hatch End. They’ll be able to come up with the unavailable Bo Diddleys and even a few rare Everly Brothers sides. Worth the time rummaging.
FOR GAMBLING (LEGAL): The Clermont, 44 Berkeley Square, W1. Unlimited stakes at chermin-de-fer (£1 minimum at blackjack). High life and the jet set mix in Georgian splendour here. Easily the poshest craps palace in the world. The croupiers all seem to be named Brian.
FOR ANTIQUES: Sotheby’s Auctions on Bond Street. A Dickensian labyrinth of improbably connecting buildings, basements, staircases, and tunnels, where at one time or another you can buy anything. It’s not all Rembrandts. 75% of their sales are under $300.
FOR EATS: Parkes at 4 Beauchamp Place, SW3, is the highest class (high prices, too). Restaurateur Tom Benson serves highly original food in a small, dark basement. Make your reservation four days in front.
FOR GROCERIES: Bakers, Kensington High Street, W8, is best if you’re cooking at home. Eighty clerks tend 15,000 square feet, selling 50,000 eggs a week. Also boneless goose, tinned snails, Southern yams, and 150 varieties of jam.
FOR PUBBING: Thomas a Becket, the “local” on Old Kent Road. Entertainment by Ted and John, the Lino Bros. Pop art on John’s drums. Mostly men (their women are at home cooking). Noisy and musical, and not at all jetty.
FOR CINEMA: National Film Theatre, Waterloo Bridge, South Bank, SE1. No smoking. All foreign films subtitled or with earphone commentary. Fare from “Le Dejeunner sur l’Herbe” to “The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari.”
FOR ROOM MATES: Wasps & Co., 93/97 Regent Street. Want to share a flat? They offer a personal service for those wanting a roomy in any area of London.
FOR WEDDED BLISS: Ashley Marriage Bureau, 10 Corporation Street, Manchester 4. A bit out of town, but marriage’s a big deal, and you’ll visit The Beatles’ homeland on the trip. Established 1953, and they claim to offer a reliable, confidential service for those seeking happy-happy. “Successes throughout the country,” they say.
FOR ANYTHING ELSE: Anything for Anyone, 29 Paddington Street, W1. Need a nanny or a rare book or a ticket for a bullfight or or or? These blokes solve (or find) anything.
Me me me: I picked this album up in a shop in Aarhus, Denmark, earlier this year. The shop was next door to the jewellers where we got the soon-to-be Mrs 50pbloke's engagement ring. It was she who spotted the album.
Tuesday, June 28, 2005
Love's a Real Thing: The Funky Fuzzy Sounds of West Africa - Various Artists
It does what it says on the tin. If you ever wondered how western underground music such as Jimi Hendrix and James Brown influenced west African musicians (no, me neither, to my shame) then this is for you.It doesn't sound awkward at all. As Ronnie Graham writes on the Luaka Bop website:
"All the essential ingredients existed in abundance in the burgeoning metropolitan capitals of West Africa: centuries of psychotropic experience, the strongest source music on the planet, decades of adapting western pop to local tastes and an affinity with anti-imperialist ideology. Add to this heady brew a cultural philosophy which actively promoted music, a relaxed attitude to sex and the day-glo visual imagery of daily life, almost guaranteed that West Africans would embrace funk, soul and acid rock as something familiar if not entirely home-grown."Me me me: After reading Robin Denselow's review in the Guardian I knew I had to get it. The more I hear about David Byrne's Luaka Bop label, the more I marvel at it.
Saturday, May 21, 2005
Bra - Cymande
Fantastic slice of 70s Brit funk by Cymande. It's that light, intricate funky picking, skittering drumming and percussion, sparse bass, that is so infectious. Hard to hum, but stays in your head. There's so much space in there.
Soul Patrol says:
Crucially for many of us of a certain age, Bra was sampled by De La Soul on 3ft High and Rising. To my ears Bra sounds not unlike Fools' Gold by The Stone Roses. I bet they would sound great mixed together.
But why was it called Bra? I feel we must be told.
Soul Patrol says:
Cymande, pronounced (Sah-mahn-day), released three LPs under the Chess Records Janus subsidiary from 1972 - 1974 ... Cymande is the most underrated overly sampled band in the world. The band Cymande consisted of eight"Nyah-rock" was how they described their music, a blend of soul, reggae and Afro-funk. They were based in Brixton, but never really bothered the charts, despite support from John Peel and, er, Tony Blackburn. They did, however, tour America with Al Green and Bra became a big hit in the New York clubs of the late 70s. According to Fat City, there exisits an eight-minute version of Bra edited by Danny Krivit. Wow, I'd like to hear that.
rastafarian musicians who played a dazzling mixture of funk, soul, reggae and jazz. The members of Cymande migrated to England from the West Indies at a young age. The resulting music they created is invigorating and lyrically positive. The name Cymande means "dove of peace" and most of the band's messages are uplifting and reminiscent of a time when funk wasn't just music, it was also a movement.
Crucially for many of us of a certain age, Bra was sampled by De La Soul on 3ft High and Rising. To my ears Bra sounds not unlike Fools' Gold by The Stone Roses. I bet they would sound great mixed together.
But why was it called Bra? I feel we must be told.
cymande
Friday, April 29, 2005
BBC Sessions - Loudon Wainwright III
Not that I've ever had a baby in the house but listening to Be Careful, There's a Baby in the House I'm certain it has the ring of truth to it. A ring common to all these brilliant songs.
I haven't written a song for several years now - since Slinky split in 1996 - but listening to this collection, I'm inspired to have another bash. I love his choice of subject matter: it's small stuff, tiny vignettes, lots of humour, honesty, self-depreciation and humanity. Sunday Times is about reading a newspaper. What a great idea. His performances are no-flab, unfussy and lean.
LW3 was another discovery via my trawling through John Peel's archives. It's been growing on me since I got it on eBay recently. I'd only ever heard him on Peel, so I thought this album would be a good place to start.
Unfortunately we missed him when he played in London this week. Here's Adam Sweeting's five-star review in the Guardian. Apparantly LW3 dedicated A Father and a Son to Peel.
I haven't written a song for several years now - since Slinky split in 1996 - but listening to this collection, I'm inspired to have another bash. I love his choice of subject matter: it's small stuff, tiny vignettes, lots of humour, honesty, self-depreciation and humanity. Sunday Times is about reading a newspaper. What a great idea. His performances are no-flab, unfussy and lean.
LW3 was another discovery via my trawling through John Peel's archives. It's been growing on me since I got it on eBay recently. I'd only ever heard him on Peel, so I thought this album would be a good place to start.
Unfortunately we missed him when he played in London this week. Here's Adam Sweeting's five-star review in the Guardian. Apparantly LW3 dedicated A Father and a Son to Peel.
Loaded Knife gig - future
We're DJing at The Windmill on Brixton Hill on Thursday 12th May with live bands ROC, whose new single Princess is single of the week on Tom Robinson's show on BBC 6 Music, Fighting Cocks and Slang. Also DJing are Founding Mothers.
Wednesday, April 27, 2005
Misery Train - Suicide
Loaded Knife DJed at the Foundry on Saturday evening and this was favourably received. I like it when people come up and ask what record I'm playing, and this was the subject of one such inquiry (the other was Jungle Rock by Hank Mizell). The inquirer said she'd never heard anything like it.
What I love about this track (and the 2002 album American Supreme it came from) is that it sounds like vintage '77 Suicide, but the use of noughties technology means it sounds modern too. I think this is as good as anything Vega and Rev have done. A dreamy, hypnotic, ice-cold repetitive riff laced with Vega's rockabilly existential grunts.
What I love about this track (and the 2002 album American Supreme it came from) is that it sounds like vintage '77 Suicide, but the use of noughties technology means it sounds modern too. I think this is as good as anything Vega and Rev have done. A dreamy, hypnotic, ice-cold repetitive riff laced with Vega's rockabilly existential grunts.
Tuesday, April 19, 2005
There Must Be Thousands - The Quads
The Quads - There Must Be Thousands
Originally uploaded by cheapskate.
In this 2001 article for the Guardian Peel names There Must Be Thousands as one of his all-time favourites along with Don French's Lonely Saturday Night and No More Ghettos in America by Stanley Wilson (sic - it's Winston. I blame the Guardian subeditors). Big Bear records says it was Peel's favourite single of the 1970s.
The single itself, which I procured on eBay, is a exhuberant chunk of mod-ish punk. I always loved it on Gene Vincent's Be Bop A Lula when you can hear the 16-year-old drummer screaming - apparantly so his mum would be able to hear him on the record. The Quads have that same overexcited glee to be making a big noise in front of an audience. I also love it that it appears to be a live recording. It makes you want to have been there.Tuesday, April 05, 2005
Never Say Never - Romeo Void
1981 hasn't been as fashionable since - well, 1981, so Never Say Never really does sound like it could have been recorded yesterday. Post-punk blocks of Franz Ferdinand-ish guitars, an X-Ray Spex style tinny saxophone solo, and shouty vocals: Romeo Void's singer Deborah Lyall sounds a bit like Justine Frischmann, but in a good way. Produced by Ric Ocasek (no, me neither) from the Cars, according to Wikipedia.
This was quite possibly big in the US at the time - Romeo Void hailed from California - but I'd never heard of it (and believe me, I read every word of NME in 1981) until 50p Bloke's lovely girlfriend heard it on a web radio station.
This was quite possibly big in the US at the time - Romeo Void hailed from California - but I'd never heard of it (and believe me, I read every word of NME in 1981) until 50p Bloke's lovely girlfriend heard it on a web radio station.
Monday, April 04, 2005
Daft Punk Is Playing In My House - LCD Soundsystem
I got the album, and it's my favourite of 2005 so far (though 50p Bloke buys far more ancient records than contemporary ones). But this, their current single, is the standout. I love the idea, I love the execution. From the yelp at the top of the record, I was hooked. Its moronic riff is right up there with the Louie Louies of this world (The Kingsmen's Louie Louie is my favourite record ever, incidentally).
Friday, April 01, 2005
Spinning Rock Boogie - Hank C Burnette
I'd never heard of this, but I got it at Greenwich Market on an scratched-up album called Rockabilly Dynamite. It's a raw rockabilly instrumental, with insane changes in tempo and some very, very strange double-tracked guitar playing. Hank C Burnette turns out to be Swedish. Apparantly it got into the UK top 10 in 1976, but I have no idea if it was recorded in the 70s. It sounds like it could be authentically 50s.
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