50p Bloke

Loaded Knife - "Berwick Street" ... the video!

2009-12-31T12:34:00.004Z

This has to be the best hastily-assembled montage of photos of London's vinyl mecca on the internet. And definitely the best soundtrack

Bedazzled - Peter Cook

2009-05-06T13:28:00.003+01:00

Groovy 60s paean to nihilism, contrasting exhortations of backing singers with Peter Cook's deadpan protestations: "You fill me with inertia" etc. Sung by Cook in character ("Drimble Wedge & The Vegetations") on the title track of the film. "Of its time" is a kind way of assessing the movie's merits.

This was genuinely an inspiration to punk. When Cook hosted the brilliant TV show Revolver in the late 1970s, he said (according to blogcaa): "I liked the Pistols above all the other stuff. I remember accusing Johnny Rotten, who he then was, of nicking a lot of his vocal style from Buddy Holly ... John Lydon said one of their songs was based almost entirely on that song from Bedazzled where I’m singing ‘I don’t care’ and ‘I’m so plastic’. I don’t know which one, I was too pissed to remember."

New Order - Turn The Heater On

2009-04-26T15:44:00.001+01:00

A very strange track, that shouldn’t work at all. New Order do reggae! And, unlikely as it may seem, it does sound like reggae, and also like New Order.

Turn The Heater On was recorded for a John Peel session in 1982. The band never recorded another version, or performed the song live.

According to NewOrderOnline.com, Turn The Heater On is a cover of a track from Keith Hudson’s 1975 album Torch of Freedom. It was recorded as a tribute to Ian Curtis, as it was one of his favourite songs - and also a favourite of John Peel's.

The New Order version isn’t available on YouTube. But you can hear it at Warped Reality, and here’s Keith Hudson’s original.

D.A.F. - Der Mussolini

2009-04-14T11:51:00.003+01:00

Scary but witty German track that ticks the following boxes:

1. It's got a brilliant title. Scary, but the presence of the definite article provides comforting distance from fascism.

2. It's got brilliant lyrics: "Get up. shake your hips! / Clap your hands and dance the Mussolini! / Dance the Adolf Hitler! / Move your ass and dance the Jesus Christ!" Meaningless (or is it about the tyranny of the dancefloor?) but, again, pretty scary. But no one could possibly take offence ... could they?

3. You can dance to it - indeed you should dance to it. It predicts the future, 80s techno. But its lyrics make it subversive. Dictators (and Jesus) are equated to dance moves.

4. It's post-punk (recommended by the excellent Simon Reynolds). Retains the shock, disposability and instant gratification of punk, but is experimental in instrumentation and genre. Post-Krautrock might be a better description, in that DAF were from Kraftwerk's hometown Dusseldorf.

5. D.A.F. also had one of the best names ever. Deutsch-Amerikanische Freundschaft means German-American friendship. According to Wikipedia its"a satirical reference to the DSF, the East German Deutsch-Sowjetische Freundschaft (German-Soviet Friendship Organisation)".

Five Stairsteps - O-o-h Child

2009-04-08T16:19:00.005+01:00

"The first family of soul" comprised of five of the six children of Betty and Clarence Burke. In the wake of the Jackson Five's success they were signed to Curtis Mayfield's Buddah label. O-o-h Child, from 1970, was their biggest hit. The B-side, a version of the Beatles' Dear Prudence, is also excellent (and brought them to the attention of the Fabs - George Harrison later signed them to his Dark Horse label).

O-o-h Child is a transcendent three minutes of Chicago soul that has some of the uplifting gospel flavour and optimism of the international hit Oh Happy Day by the Edwin Hawkins Singers, but without mentioning God. In fact Edwin Hawkins Singers covered O-o-h Child on a later single. Other notable versions were recorded by Nina Simone and the Posies. But none can touch the Stairsteps'.

This is unquestionably one of my favourite tracks ever. My pal Daz gave me the 7-inch single about 18 years ago. Then I was burgled, and the bastards stole my (cheap, worthless) turntable ... with the single on it! I searched high and low but for several years I couldn't replace it. I had to wait until eBay was invented. In fact I think it was the first thing I ever bought on eBay.

Guided By Voices - Teenage FBI

2009-04-02T14:32:00.002+01:00

Indie anthems aren't really my bag, but I find this brilliant song hard to resist.

Apart from having one of the all-time great song titles, this track is ever more compelling with each listen.

I love the studio version, which has some interesting sounds on it, but in the live version here, GBV reveal themselves as a terrific outfit.

Thanks to Nick Holland and Michael Hann for playing me this.

Gabor Szabo - Stormy

2009-03-19T15:29:00.003Z

Hungarian guitarist makes smooth, summery version of Classics IV's - er - classic. Perfect for sunny London spring day. The whole album, 1969, is great, by the way.

The Marathons - Peanut Butter

2009-03-19T09:28:00.001Z

Crazy instrumental - and very cheaply made, by the sounds of it.

Blab Happy - Never No More

2009-03-10T16:00:00.003Z

Yet more Blab Happy action on YouTube. Bit of a curate's egg, this song, though it does have some nice harmonies and chiming 12-string in the outro

The Seeds - Pushing Too Hard

2009-02-12T12:37:00.003Z

Sky Saxon and The Seeds get intense on a show called The Mothers In Law. The last word in mid-60s garage rock. One of the commenters says they'd go back to 1966 at the drop of a hat. I know what they mean.

Jacques Dutronc - Les Cactus

2009-02-12T12:33:00.002Z

Another great freak-out (thanks again Phil). Who says the French can't do rock/pop?

The Mops

2009-02-11T16:27:00.002Z

Find out about them via WFMU's Beware of the Blog. They were part of the Japanese answer to western beat groups - "group sounds". I love the lyrics of I'm A Mops: "I don't care about that / Cos I'm just a Mops!"

In this clip from the later 60s they rock out in an agreeable MC5-ish way.

Blab Happy - Inside Out

2008-07-23T17:28:00.001+01:00

Someone unknown to me or drummer Jez has put this on YouTube, and said nice things about us ...

Bo Diddley RIP

2008-06-03T14:32:00.003+01:00

Reflecting on Bo Diddley after reading various obits and appreciations today, it’s clear that his contributions to rock’n’roll were mighty and many.

He pioneered the use of electric guitar effects: “reverb! Tremelo! Distortion!” marvels the Washintgon Post today.

He presaged gansta rap with his boastful and often lewd lyrics – his very first record was called “Bo Diddley” and his own name was a recurring theme. His only US top 40 hit, “Say Man”, was one of many duets with his female vocal foil, Norma-Jean Wofford aka The Duchess – unusually, he had women in his band. Other tracks saw him trading good-humoured insults with his sideman Jerome Green.

Plus: he looked great! That square guitar. And in his heyday, he out-wiggled Elvis, apparently. The cover of Bo Diddley Is A Gunslinger (1964) is one of the all-time great LP sleeves (I recall gazing awestruck at it when Ray's Jazz had it on the wall in their old Shaftesbury Avenue home).

As if that wasn’t enough, in 1957 he played guitar on Wyatt Earp by the Marquees, a Washington vocal group featuring a young Marvin Gaye. He also played tour support for the Rolling Stones in 1964 and the Clash in 1979 – groups who covered his songs included the Yardbirds, the Who and the Pretty Things (who based their whole approach on Bo).

But above all – or more accurately beneath all, there’s the Bo Diddley beat: bomp-pa bomp-pa bomp, bomp-bomp. There can’t be many artists who’ve invented their own rhythm. And what a primal, propulsively sexy beast the Bo Diddley rhythm is. Here are some records (not necessarily endorsed by 50p Bloke) that owe their existence to Bo’s beat:
• Buddy Holly's Not Fade Away
• (Maries the Name) His Latest Flame by Elvis Presley
• Johnny Otis's Willie and the Hand Jive
• I Want Candy by The Strangeloves
• Magic Bus by The Who
• 1969 by the Stooges
• How Soon Is Now by the Smiths
• Faith by George Michael
• U2's Desire
• Bruce Springsteen's She's the One

If anyone can think of any more, please post a comment below.

Tyrone Davis - Can I Change My Mind

2008-04-17T13:22:00.000+01:00

Can I Change My Mind was Tyrone Davis’s finest moment, a life-affirming record. Davis’s heartbreaking vocal reaches the emotional extremes but avoids histrionics – a masterclass in true soul singing. The golden rule: don’t over-emote.

Carl Davis’s warm production was responsible for some terrific Chicago soul in the late 60s, including gems by Young Holt Unlimited, Barbara Acklin but with a loping, jittering guitar line and buoyant brass courtesy of Carl Davis’s house band, Pieces of Peace.

Davis was never cool enough to hit pop paydirt; he was 30 when Can I Change My Mind was released. But he is, to my mind, the finest soul singer bar none.

I first heard Tyrone Davis via an esteemed former colleague at PA, Andy Lemon, who kindly made me a series of treasured compilation tapes (this was the era of cassettes) containing some highlights of his impeccable record collection.

Kraftwerk 1973

2008-04-07T14:00:00.003+01:00

Me and the lovely Mrs 50p Bloke saw Kraftwerk in 2004 at the Brixton Academy. Florian Schneider and Ralf Hütter were the only two from the classic 'Werk line-up. But reading I Was A Robot by Wolfgang Flür, it's clear that it was always Ralf and Florian's band. And Kraftwerk live are still simply phenomenal, and in fact seem to have spent the last 20 years simply honing and fine-tuning their gizmos to deliver the hits as technologically perfectly as possible. In that respect, it's probably a better show now that it was in their 70s-80s pomp.

But even if Kraftwerk are a two-man operation, it's Interesting to see this clip from 1973, which shows them minus Karl Bartos, who was yet to join, and also without the mid-20th century animations and graphics. The newly-joined Flür is there, though, nervously tapping his homemade electronic drum pads. He describes the excitement he felt at this performance in his book - required reading for any Kraftwerk enthusiast, despite the comments posted by YouTube viewers.

Blab Happy blogs

2008-03-19T12:23:00.003Z

Box Set Go enjoys "Prospect Hill" . Is it baggy? Possibly.

Because Midway Still Aren't Coming Back salutes our 1991 Mad Surge EP (and a commenter is amazed at "Tender Hooks").

Supernature - Cerrone

2008-03-09T15:53:00.004Z

There's something chilling and other-worldly about Supernature. It made a big impression on my young ears when I first started listening to pop music, on Capital Radio in August 1977 following the death of Elvis (remind me to tell you more about that some time).

Cerrone, as with Georgio Moroder, Jean-Michel Jarre and Deodato, produced European disco at its coldest and most futuristic. Like much of the rock music of the time, this was music with grandiose pretensions, but was also democratic in its popular appeal. How exhilarating when it delivered.

I never heard Supernature for years after its release, picking up a secondhand copy in the early 90s. It enjoyed a revival in the mid-90s when its genius was recognised by the likes of Daft Punk.

I think the Parisian Jean-Marc Cerrone himself put it best: "I don't produce records to press up my musical ideas to any minorities. Musical desires of that kind should be better practiced at home in the own cellar. For me it is more important to make music that appeals to broad audiences - I intentional want to work commercial. Why this is tabooed by so many people doesn't go into my head." Quite.

Pre-Beatles UK rock'n'roll

2008-02-28T15:39:00.001Z

Just wrote this blog for the Guardian ...

The Rubber Room - Porter Wagoner

2008-02-24T14:49:00.004Z

To paraphrase a joke from The Blues Brothers, I have trouble with both kinds of music: country and western.

I heard this fantastic track, The Rubber Room, on Stuart Maconie's BBC 6Music show The Freak Zone a couple of weeks ago. It had a brilliant dub-like delay effect on the desperate vocal to emphasise the lyric, concerning fear of insanity. Not something I'd ever heard on a country record. It was dark and gothic, like a proto-Nick Cave, or a more psychotic - and psychedelic - Johnny Cash.

I thought: this is fantastic! I must hear more! As I recall, Maconie had tantalisingly said the track was a typically strange offering from Wagoner. So a few clicks of the mouse and I'd bought a compilation of the same name, which promised a whole CD of Wagoner's "haunting and poetic songs".

I feel cheated - The Rubber Room still sounds great, but the rest of the CD is maudlin tosh. Or am I missing something?

(To make matters worse, I discovered that I already owned the track. It's on Jarvis Cocker and Steve Mackey's excellent mix album The Trip.)

The Clash - Bankrobber

2008-02-01T15:01:00.000Z

Just learned that the Clash's video to Bankrobber features clips from their gig at Lewisham Odeon, plus some fooling around in Lewisham High Street.

Bah - how did I miss that gig?

The Clash did reggae better than any other punk band, with Bankrobber Dub a particular favourite.

Staple Singers - Slippery People

2008-01-21T14:02:00.000Z

What makes a good cover? I’m not sure if there’s a golden rule, but the answer here lies an irresistible combination of factors:

• The original version of Slippery People was an excellent song, yet not widely known. This allowed the Staple Singers to make it their own

• The original version was by Talking Heads, at the time, considered one of the best groups on the planet. The Staple Singers gained credibility by referencing a very hip band. A potentially risky strategy but the end result sounded like the record the Talking Heads wanted to make if they’d been as cool as the Staple Singers

• A successful attempt by the Staple Singers to adapt their gospel-soul sound to a contemporary electro-disco. Again, this could have gone badly wrong. It didn’t

• The art of surprise: were the Staple Singers still going? And who would have thought that Staple Singers would even be aware of Talking Heads? Part of the pleasure of this record lies in the unlikelihood of its very existence. But then in their cover of Al Green’s Take Me To The River, Talking Heads had tapped into that same reserve

• Oh, and it’s a brilliant vocal performance by Mavis Staples, the production packs an infectious punch and you can dance to it.

Panda Bear – Person Pitch

2008-01-16T16:12:00.000Z

Swathed in reverb, Panda Bear’s music sounds distant, like it’s coming from some fabulous party down the hall or from a transistor radio tuned to an obscure yet magical frequency.

Panda Bear is the alias of Lisbon-based Noah Lennox, part of the Animal Collective, a loose group of musicians who’ve recorded with Vashti Bunyan and Devendra Banhart among others.

Person Pitch is sunshine pop recalling the life-affirming joy and innocence of the Beach Boys, but also their miraculous spirit of adventure. It’s one of those wonderful records that doesn’t sound like anything else.

Here’s Bros from Person Pitch, Pitchfork’s album of 2007.

Chris Bell – I Am The Cosmos

2008-01-14T14:33:00.000Z

I played this collection the other day having not heard it for some time, and was blown away. For many years the title track has been a staple of compilation CDs I’ve made for people, but I’d forgotten how good many of the other tracks are. In particular, “Look Up” is a beautiful melody, while “You and Your Sister” is, to quote American writer Scott E Miller, simply one of the best pop songs ever.

Listening to the first Big Star album, #1 Record, it’s hard to hear where Alex Chilton started and Chris Bell began. Both have a clear love of the Beatles, jangly guitars, but with a dark melancholy that sounds all the sadder in the light of the personal traumas not unrelated to Big Star’s commercial failure.

It’s also hard to distinguish Bell’s solo songs collected on I Am The Cosmos from his Big Star material, especially since Chilton and drummer Jody Stephens play on some of the songs on I Am The Cosmos. They were recorded between his departure from Big Star - in 1973 after #1 Record flopped - and Bell’s premature death in a car crash in 1978. They were recorded sporadically, his career hampered by abuse of booze and drugs.

These songs never saw a commercial release until Rykodisc issued this CD in 1992. It was the first CD I ever bought. I’d held out against getting a CD player but when this was released (not on vinyl) I knew my luddite days were over.

The Free Design – Songs for Very Important People

2008-01-11T16:01:00.000Z

I heard of this via the Guardian’s 1,000 Albums to Hear Before You Die – a rare example of a list that avoids the obvious choices and is clearly compiled by genuine enthusiasts.

The Free Design were the brainchild of Chris Dedrick. With his brother Bruce and sister Sandy they started playing Peter, Paul and Mary songs but somehow ended up playing beautifully arranged close harmony pop.

There's an undoubted Brian Wilson influence (not least because The Free Design are singing siblings), but it's more controlled, less dark. I don't know much about Dedric (though I mean to find out more) but he doesn't sound troubled or frightened.

With Felix’s arrival I’m seeking out music for children, so please post a comment if you can recommend any good albums.

The genius of Mike Nesmith

2008-01-10T17:03:00.000Z

As a kid, it was pretty obvious to me that Mike Nesmith was the coolest of the Monkees. Peter Tork – dopey; Davy Jones – vain and effete; Mickey Dolenz – the funniest. Wooly-capped Nesmith came across as quiet and thoughtful.

In my teens, I got The Monkees’ Greatest Hits, a Music For Pleasure budget release. There was a Nesmith track on there, Listen To The Band, that sat uneasily among all the Help! homages. Country-tinged, but with brass, and psychedelic effects to boot. What was going on?

Then a couple of years ago I picked up a copy of Magnetic South in a great used record and book shop in Howarth in Yorkshire. What a revelation. Nesmith is a beautiful singer. As a songwriter, he is innovative and witty – with a beautiful melodic ear (witness the glorious “Joanne”). His adventures in country rock sound less ego-driven than contemporaries the Byrds and Gram Parsons, presumably because he was struggling to be taken seriously because of his boy-band past. But he’s every inch their equal. All his pioneering albums with the First National Band are superlative.

Here’s Frank Zappa and Nesmith in a weird clip found on YouTube:

Welcome Felix

2007-08-21T13:27:00.000+01:00

Felix Hywel Dennis, born 8.17pm on Saturday June 30th at King's College Hospital, London. He was 8lb 8oz.

Facts about Felix: he smiles a lot (see photo); he says "lair" when he's hungry; admires his big brother Jude, bangs his fighty hand on his mother when he wants more milk; sleeps at night (hallelujah!); and likes his dad singing daft songs to him.

Alice Coltrane RIP

2007-02-01T16:29:00.000Z

I was excited about Alice Coltrane's return to making music - so sad she's passed away. The antithesis of the "rock wife" of Spinal Tap fame, she made some brilliant albums in her own right. I'm a sucker for a harp, and anything with Pharoah Sanders is worth hearing. Read John L Waters' obit here.

Loaded Knife played by BBC Radio One shock

2006-07-12T14:18:00.000+01:00

Loaded Knife's new single's been getting quite a bit of airplay on national pop radio! Very exciting of course. Here's the story so far:

The Bird / Ask a Bee

March 11 2004: John Peel plays "The Bird"

March 2004: Gilles Petersen plays “Ask a Bee” (no tracklisting available)

Normal Teenager / Berwick Street

June 19 2006 and June 26 2006: Steve Lamacq plays “Normal Teenager”

June 22 2006 and July 9 2006: Rob Da Bank plays "Normal Teenager"

Loaded Knife single reviewed by Rough Trade

2006-06-19T09:09:00.000+01:00

Here's what Rough Trade say about our new single:

ace new 7 from loaded knife. it's chopped up funk hop, like luke vibert hooked up to a malfunctioning 50's american juke box. the b-side features various samples of market traders from soho's, berwick st. interesting stuff indeed!

Blab Happy

2006-06-07T08:16:00.000+01:00

Now on You Tube: my old band (1987-1993) performing Valentine, the track that got us a record deal. Thanks to Nick Clay from the fabulous Pink Noise, Hull's finest.

Here it is embedded ...

Os Mutantes

2006-05-23T19:48:00.000+01:00

I've been lax in updating my blog, but I wanted to share with the world (and show off, basically) that last night I witnessed a historic moment - the first gig by Os Mutantes in 33 years. Arnaldo Baptista and Sergio were clad in doublets and hose. The performance at the Barbican, part of the Tropicalia festival, was witty, complex, proggy, psychededelic, uplifting. A privilege to be there.

Adverts - Gary Gilmore's Eyes

2005-12-24T12:01:00.000Z

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.

Peel's singles box

2005-10-29T19:11:00.000+01:00

Revealed: the contents of John Peel's singles box:

1. Al Casey - Surfin' Hootenanny + Easy Pickin (PIE INTERNATIONAL) 1963

2. Al Ferrier - I'm Not Drinking More + Don't Play Blue Eyes' (MASTER TRAK) 1980

3. Alan Price Set - I Put a Spell on You (DECCA)

4. Andy Capp - Popatop + Reco - The Lion Speaks (TREASURE ISLAND) 1969

5. Anemic Boyfriends - Guys Are Not Proud + Bad Girls in Love (RED SWEATER RECORDS) 1980

6. Ann Peebles - I can't stand the rain + i've been there before (LONDON) 1972

7. Anti-Social - Traffic lights + teacher, teacher (DYNAMITE RECORDS) 1977

8. Arthur K Adams - Wildwood flower + It's a wild, wild, wild, wild wildwood flower (JETSTAR)

9. Big Stick - Drag racing + Hell on earth (RECESS RECORDS) 1985

10. Bill Oddie - Harry krishna + on ilkla moor baht'at (DANDELION) 1970

11. Boards of Canada - Aquarius + Chinook (SKAM)

12. Bobby Lee Trammell - If you ever get it once + Don't you know I love you (ALLEY RECORDS)

13. Cat Power - Headlights + Darling said sir (THE MAKING OF AMERICANS)

14. Charlie Feathers - Deep elm blues + Nobody's darling' (HOLIDAY INN RECORDS)

15. Charlie Feathers - Nobody's women + When you decide (KING) 2x copies

17. Charlie Feathers - Today and tomorrow + Wild wild party' (MEMPHIS RECORDINGS)

18. Charlie Feathers - Tongue-tied Jill + Get with it' (METEOR RECORDS)

19. Charlie Feathers - When you come around + Too much alike' (KING)

20. Cheeze - Dancin With The Dead - Dancin queen + Direwolf 1989 (BOB RECORDS) 1989

21. Clague - The stride + I wonder where (DANDELION) 1969

22. Clefs of Lavender Hill - Stop! - Get a ticket + First tell me why (DATE)

23. Cleveland Crochet - Sugar bee + Drunkards dream (GOLDBAND)

24. Don Covay - It's better to have + Leave him (MERCURY) 1973

25. Don French - Lonely saturday night + Goldilocks (QUALITY) (LANCER) 2x copies

27. Dreamland Express - Groovy + u.f.o (EMI)

28. Easy Teeth - Car noise + Her blade (DENTAL RECORDS) 1980

29. Eddie & Ernie - I believe she will + We try harder (CHESS) 1984

30. Eddie & Ernie - I'm gonna always love you + Outcast (EASTERN)

31. Eddie & Ernie - Time waits for no one + That's the way it is (EASTERN)

32. Electro Hippies - Mega-armageddon death (STRANGE FRUIT) Peel session

33. Elmore James - The sky is crying + Standing at the crossroads (FLASHBACK RECORDS)

34. Firemen - Old smokie + Louie's theme (LE CAM)

35. Freshmen - You never heard anything like it + Bombing run (RELEASE RECORDS) 1979

36. G L Crockett - It's a man down there + Every hour, every day (4 BROTHERS)

37. G L Crockett - Look out Mabel + Did you ever love somebody (CHECKER)

38. Geater Davis - For your precious love + Wrapped up in you (HOUSE OF ORANGE)

39. Gene Dozier & The United Front - Give the women what they want + The best girl I ever had (MERCURY) 1974

40. Golinski Brothers - Bloody + Toy (BADGE RECORDS) 1980 2x copies

42. Green Hornes - Stayed up last night (ITALY RECORDS)

43. Hooten 3 Car - Danny + Numena (RUMBLESTRIP RECORDS)

44. Idle Race - Here we go round the lemon tree + My father's son (LIBERTY) 45. Izzy Royal - Coronation St (WEA) 1983

46. Jane Bond and The Undercover Men - Hot rod Lincoln + Come on up (EAR MOVIES RECORDS) 1982

47. Jerry Byro - Memories of Maria + Invitation (MONUMENT) 1961 2x copies - different labels

48. Jody Reynolds - Endless sleep + Western movies (LIBERTY)

49. Johnnie Taylor - I've been born again + At night time (STAX) 1974

50. Johnny Adams - You're a lady + I wish it would rain (ATLANTIC) 1972

51. Johnny Fortune - Dragster + Soul surfer (SONET) 1964

52. Ken Colyers Jazzmen (TEMPO RECORDS) 1953

53. La Peste - Black + Better off dead (BLACK RECORDS) 1978

54. Larry Bright - Mojo workout + I'll change my ways (TIDE)

55. Laurie Anderson - O Superman + Walk the dog (ONE TEN RECORDS) 1981

56. Lee Perry - Bafflin' smoke signal + Black smoke signal (BLACK ARC) 1978

57. Lightnin Hopkins - Mojo hand + Glory be (FLASHBACK RECORDS)

58. Marc Bolan - Marc Bolan talking to Stevie Dixon, 1973. Jennifer Sharp, Steve Harley & John Peel talking to Stevie Dixon 1977. (CUBE/PYE RECORDS)

59. Mary Monday - I gave my punk jacket to Richie + Popgun (MALICIOUS PRODUCTIONS)

60. Max Romeo - Sipple out deh' Lee Perry + Revelation (UPSETTER)

61. MC5 - Looking at you + Borderline (A-SQUARE RECORDS) 2x copies

63. Medicine Head - Coast to coast + All for tomorrow (DANDELION) 1970

64. Medicine Head - His guiding hand + This love of old (DANDELION) 1969 2x copies

66. Mel and Tim - Starting all over again + It hurts to want it so bad (STAX) 1972

67. Meow - Kat nip + One night stand + Anthem + Kill kill kill + Catastrophe + Boy groupies (TWIST LIKE THIS RECORDS)

68. Mickey Lee Lane - Tuitti Fruitti + With your love (MALA)

69. Mike Spencer and the Cannibals - Good guys + Nothing takes the place of you (BIG COCK RECORDS)

70. Nice - The thoughts of Emerlist Davjack (IMMEDIATE)

71. Nilsson - Everybody's talkin' (RCA)

72. Nilsson - Kojak Columbo (RCA)

73. Nilsson - Without you (RCA)

74. O V Wright - That's how strong my love is + There goes my used to be (GOLDWAX)

75. Paul Blake & The Blood Fire Posse - Every posse get flat + Flat out (STUDIO WORK) 1984

76. Paul Revere & The Raiders - Him or me - what's it gonna be? + Legend of Paul Revere (CBS) 1967

77. Pavement - Demolition Plot J-7 (DRAG CITY) 1990

78. Pocket Fishrmen (sic) - Yr story + The leader is burning (NOISEVILLE) 1989

79. Quads - You've gotta jive + There must be thousands (BIG BEAR RECORDS) 1979

80. Ray Martin - Blue tango + Bell of the ball (COLUMBIA) 81. Revelino - Step on high (MUSIDISC)

82. Rod Bernard - This should go on forever

83. Roshell Anderson - The grapevine will lie sometimes + Such a beautiful thing (CONTEMPO) 1974

84. Roy Head - Treat her right + So long, my love (VOCALION) 1965

85. Sam & Dave - I can't stand up for falling down + Soothe me (STAX)

86. Sasha Caro - Grade 3 section 2 + Little maid's song (DECCA) 1967

87. Scrugg - Will the real Geraldine please stand up and be countered + Only George' (PIE) 1969

88. Sheena Easton - 9 to 5 + Moody (EMI) 1980 2x Copies

90. Sipho Bhengu - Tickey dopies + I saluti (INKONKONI) 1971

91. Soledad Brothers - Sugar & spice + Johnny's death letter, with Jack White (ITALY RECORDS)

92. Some Chicken - New religion + Blood on the wall (RAW RECORDS) 1977 2x copies

94. Spit Out - O from I + Tan + Rot'n'roll' (MA FROG RECORDS) 1996

95. Stanley Winston - No more ghettos in America + It's alright (JEWEL)

96. Status Quo - Down down (VERTIGO) 1974

97. Super Sister - No tree will grow + She was naked (DANDELION) 1971

98. The Beatles - Come together + Octopus's garden + Something (foreign pressing, country unknown)

99. The Big Three - You've gotta keep her under hand + If you ever change your mind (DECCA) 1964

100. The Buzzcocks - Ever fallen in love (UNITED ARTISTS) 1978

101. The Factory - Path through the forest + Gone (MGM) 1968

102. The Galactic Symposium - Y.M.C.A + Money (VAGUE RECORDS) 1978

103. The Legion of Super-Heroes - The great name dropper part 1 + The great name dropper part 2 (AMY RECORDS)

104. The Mark Four - Hurt me if you will + I'm leaving (DECCA) 1965

105. The Mighty Avengers - So much in love + Something they say (DECCA) 1964

106. The Misunderstood - I can take you to the sun + Who do you love (FONTANA) 1966

107. The Move - I can hear the grass grow + Wave the flag and stop the train (DERAM) 1967

108. The Negatives - Love is not real + Stakeout (LOOK) 1979

109. The Nightcaps - Wine wine wine + Nightcap rock (MUSICOR)

110. The Ramrods - Zig zag + Riders in the sky (LONDON AMERICAN) 1960

111. The Smoke - My friend Jack + We can take it (COLUMBIA) 1966

112. The Squirrels - Oz on 45 + Alone again (POPLLAMA PROD) 1988

113. The Undertones - Teenage kicks (GOOD VIBRATIONS RECORDS) 1978 3x copies

116. The Upholsterers - Makers of high grade suites (SYMPATHY FOR THE RECORD INDUSTRY)

117. The Upsetters - Bucky skank + Yucky skank (DOWN TOWN)

118. The Upsetters - Key card + Domino game (DL INTERNATIONAL)

119. The Users - Sick on you + I'm in love with today (RAW RECORDS) 1977 2x copies

121. The Versalites - Cutting rasor + Black belt Jones (DL INTERNATIONAL) 122. The White Stripes - Lafayette blues + Sugar never tasted so good (ITALY Records)

123. The White Stripes - Party of special things to do + China pig + Ashtray heart (SUB POP)

124. The White Stripes - Merry Christmas from.... (XL)

125. The White Stripes - It takes two, baby + Fell in love with a girl (SYMPATHY FOR THE RECORD COMPANY)

126. The White Stripes - Dead leaves and the dirty ground (XL) 2001

127. The White Stripes - Hand springs (EXTRA BALL RECORDS)

128. The White Stripes - Hotel Yorba (XL) 2001

129. The White Stripes - Lord, send me an angel (SYMPATHY FOR THE RECORD INDUSTRY) 2x copies

131. The White Stripes - Hello operator + Jolene (SYMPATHY FOR THE RECORD INDUSTRY) 2000

132. The White Stripes - The big three killed my baby (SYMPATHY FOR THE RECORD INDUSTRY) 2x copies

134. The Henchmen featuring Jack White - Some other guy + Psycho daisies (ITALY RECORDS)

135. 2 Star Tabernacle - Ramblin man' (BLOODSHOT RECORDS) 1998 cover photo by Jack White

136. The Wildbunch - Danger - Jack White backing vocals (FLYING BOMB)

137. Surprise Package vol 2 featuring White Stripes, Rocket 455 and the Blowtops (FLYING BOMB)

138. Surprise Package vol 3 featuring The Real Pills, MHz, The Dirtbombs (FLYING BOMB)

139. Travis Wammack - Fire fly + Scratchy (ARA) 140. XL-Capris - My city of Sydney + Dead bugies (AXLE)

141. Yami Bolo - Richer than Cory (JAMAICA INTERNATIONAL)

142. Yardbirds - Happenings ten years time ago + Psycho diaries (COLUMBIA) 1966

John Peel Day

2005-10-13T11:38:00.000+01:00

John Peel by Jane Bown

I 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."

The roots of power pop

2005-09-06T15:47:00.000+01:00

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.

Papa Oom Mow Mow

2005-08-01T16:46:00.000+01:00

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.

Black Monk Time - The Monks

2005-07-27T18:55:00.000+01:00

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.

Two Yanks in England - The Everly Brothers

2005-07-22T13:36:00.000+01:00

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.

Love's a Real Thing: The Funky Fuzzy Sounds of West Africa - Various Artists

2005-06-28T11:46:00.000+01:00

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.

Bra - Cymande

2005-05-21T13:09:00.000+01:00

cymande
Originally uploaded by 50pbloke.

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:

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
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.

"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.

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

BBC Sessions - Loudon Wainwright III

2005-04-29T17:28:00.000+01:00

BBCSessions
Originally uploaded by 50pbloke.

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.

Loaded Knife gig - future

2005-04-29T13:43:00.000+01:00

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.

Misery Train - Suicide

2005-04-27T18:25:00.000+01:00

suicide
Originally uploaded by 50pbloke.

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.

There Must Be Thousands - The Quads

2005-04-19T14:16:00.000+01:00

The Quads - There Must Be Thousands
Originally uploaded by cheapskate.

When John Peel died last October, like many other people, I immediately wished I'd listened to his show more. As a way of filling a small part of the huge gap Peely left, I've been scouring the newspaper archives for old interviews - his words are so precisely chosen, and so often hilarious, that you can almost hear his familiar gruff voice. My worryingly obsessive research has also been a rich source of obscure records.

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.

Never Say Never - Romeo Void

2005-04-05T13:58:00.000+01:00

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.

Daft Punk Is Playing In My House - LCD Soundsystem

2005-04-04T10:21:00.000+01:00

sfc_lcd_DaftPunkIsPlaying
Originally uploaded by cheapskate.

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).

Spinning Rock Boogie - Hank C Burnette

2005-04-01T10:50:00.000+01:00

hankcburnettePIX
Originally uploaded by cheapskate.

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.