That's What We Watched On TV Year Ago # 14

I have thought long about whether I can write in this series about German-speaking crime film series. At last I have said myself, why not. Most from you will have never belonged from this series and I am sure also that these series were never emitted beyond the German-speaking space. Since by a translation would get lost a lot from the pun and the typical mood. Kottan ermittelt was an Austrian television series that was aired by Austrian and German television between 1976  and 1984. In the early episodes it started as a drama with the typical melancholic Vienna spirit and turned later into satirical appearance.

Major Adolf Kottan investigates for the Viennese security office. Kottan lives together with his wife Ilse and his mother who reads with pleasure crime films and develops theories on the perfect murder. Kottan is usually decayed and always roughly to his official assistant Schrammel who presents himself with pleasure as a pattern policeman, but Kottans Viennese Reviling does not understand.
Schrammel means to be able to educate further itself by the reading of crime films, and estimates particularly Mike Hammer-Romane of Mickey Spillane. Schrammel cannot always keep up intellectually with his colleagues.
Paul Schremser who has lost a leg by amputation will appeal later to the department leader and thereby Kottan early who stays at this time with inquiries abroad. Kottan uses him in the beginning as assistants, is much friendlier to him, nevertheless, than to Schrammel. His crutch is used by Schremser every now and then as a machine gun or is also used to bring brief to case. If three are unfully occupied professionally, they make music in the films together as a „Kottans Kapelle“ (playing their songs in a full playback).
Chief constable Pilch worries constantly about the respect of the police. His biggest enemies are in the first results a room aviation with whose hunt he falls several times from the window. Later he often fights with a coffee vending machine which was put up by major Kottan. Pilch accepts with the time more and more the trains of a mental patient.

It never was, actually, about the criminal cases, but how one can insert possibly many references and commentings in the respective episode. I remember one episode when the intro was the same as the intro from Rockford files. And Kottan lived in the same trailer Rockford did and working as a private eye. Songs were also often used to comment on scenes. For example, the investigators were called to a corpse. The name of the dead people was Irene - and in the background they played Leadbelly's Goodnight Irene.

In the 80s they got more and more anarchic by testing how far they could go with this series. In the episode emitted for the first time in 1981 on the German television 'Kansas City' the run writing ran in the first third: „Unidentified flying objects near Duisburg landed. Special broadcasting after this contribution …“ about the screen. Besides, it concerned a joke (by analogy with H.G.Wells' war of the worlds). The city of Duisburg was chosen because of the then popular scene commissioner Schimanski who solved there his cases. The ZDF news followed the radiation, however, in those was not reported about a such incident, then there were many reactions of German spectators who called at the police and partially immobilised the telephone networks. A complaint followed in ORF as well as an excuse on the part of the TV-station.

Have a good weekend.

Torn Mentor

Today's the decision on the Referendum to get independent from GB. Nowadays the headlines are filled with comments about pros and cons. I know that I don't have the right to add me in other people matters but I think the decision moves between rational and emotional guidelines. 300 years under the supremacy of the Englishmen might get the right to vote yes. The economic consequences speak against it. I don't know what is right or wrong but I know for sure: peoples voice should be respected in any way the Referendum will be decided. And everyone should deal with the result.

Wrong Club

The greater Manchester area based pop duo The Ting Tings released with their last single a pog song for the end of summer. Starting with a groovy bass line Katie White's voice appears and leads the song into a fantastic funk/disco/pop-groove.

Twanging Tuesday # 43

Today's track is one of the lost songs in rockabilly. Played in different styles by various artists. I couldn't find further information about the artists but anyway it's a song that is typical for what I call rockabilly.

Glenn Bond - When My Baby's Passing By

Too Much Blood

For sentimental reasons I grab out my old Rolling Stones records and give them a listen. After listening to a few songs I got a feeling like I'm listening to a mainstream radio station. Then I used to switch to another kind of music. Last time I was looking around for some alternative takes and remixes of their songs. And you can find galore. I think their songs are too good not to take an edit of them. Here's an example for this. Originally released in 1983 on 'Undercover' where they experimented with new sound 'Too Much Blood' was on of the best songs on this record and this dubby version make him even better.

Enjoy and have a good week.

Rolling Stones - Too Much Blood (Arthur Baker Dub Mix)

From The In-Box

A couple of new artists arrived throughout the last weeks that are worth to named in this series. Let's start on this rainy Sunday with Ryan David Orr. He's an American singer/songwriter based in Lakeside, Arizona. Learned to play fiddle and guitar in his youngest days. After some experiments in grunge music he returned to his folk roots. Rootstime Magazine, Holland describes his music this way: "Ryan David Orr has a warm, beautiful voice with which he intimates feelings of sorrow or joy...similar to that of Chris Martin (Coldplay), Damien Rice, or Ryan Adams." And I agree.

Ryan David Orr - Margaret
Ryan David Orr - Lucky Is Enough

London based LAZYFLUX showed up with their self called Alternative Trip Rock. They name Pink Floyd as their influence and right - on some songs they try to do it in this way. I'm not into long organ parts and that's what they should use it less. But Zanzibar Bazaar is a great song. Starting with a bubbling guitar they move more to the times when bands like Red Guitars were famous.

LAZYFLUX - Zanzibar Bazaar

The House The Old is the project of Imran Siddiqui, a singer/songwriter from Virginia. Nothing more or less a very good arranged rock song that should be played on classic rock stations. 'Missing' takes a stand against violence on women - a campaign he started over his homepage.

The House The Old - Missing

Meditative Jam is the way Jim Dennis describes his music. Located in California you may think it's inspired by the westcoast sound. But it's different. Based on blues pattern he plays longer improvisations on them. In the back there were drums that oscillate between early The Doors and zappaesc drumming. Worth to listen to.

Jim Dennis - Illumine The Reflection
Jim Dennis - Penetrating Light

Let's finish for today with Eddy Bayes. Like many other singer/songwriters he used to play in pubs in London in his earlier days. Since moving stateside he developed his very own style. Torn between the influences of John Martyn, Beck and Tracy Chapman he found his music home. His fine songs were supplemented by the cello played by Abi Loutoo.

Eddy Bayes - Sail On
Eddy Bayes - Roads

That's What We Watched On TV Year Ago # 13

It sounds maybe funnily that I write about a series which one should assign to the genre children's program. I was a teen when I first saw the first episode and was fascinated from the actors and the story. Catweazle is an odd, goat-bearded, anglo-saxon sorcerer who lives in 1066 and tries to fly with the help of a magic drink from henbane, hemlock, thimble and buttercups in vain. Instead, he is catapulted on the run before England attacking norman lascivious for murder in the 1970s when he jumps a charm calling in a river and appears from a marshy pool again. Catweazle is amazed about the electric inventions of the modern civilisation whose innovations he holds for powerful magic. In the first relay he makes friends with the farmer's son Harold Bennet who helps him to get over the malices of the modern world. Catweazle's spell "Salmei, Dalmei, Adomei" with which he arranges a lot of mix-ups was as famous as his loyal companion, toad Touchwood in our time. For me and my friends this series was then simply a cult. Why - this we cannot understand any more. Maybe it is just due to the fact that Catweazle was just different as all other what was offered us at that time. It went even so far that a friend who was a big fan of the principal character Geoffrey Bayldon is called till this day Geoff.

And here's a song from 1974 by an artist that looks and acts alike Catweazle.

The Foreign Correspondent Returns - Stories About German Rock Music # 38

This series wouldn't be complete if I don't feature one of the well respected German bands worldwide. Kraftwerk is a band that has influenced the music scene with lasting effects and changed as well. The complete history you can read here. I have grown up with the music of the heroes from the 60s and the entrance in their music was not easy. In the early 70s some dope smoking friends introduced me to upcoming electronic music made by German musicians. They introduced me to to early Krautrock and the especially the music of Michael Rother who would become a member of Kraftwerk in their early days. For me Kraftwerk started in 1974 with the release of their album Autobahn. I've never heard a sound like this before. One side of a record just with one song based on a simple melody with a lot of variations. The improvisation I used to know by guitar slingers was transported to electronic sounds. It wasn't a music to be played for masses or on regular radio stations. We played this record for our very own personal delight - mostly late at night. The greatest gift they gave me was open ears for new sounds. And I agree to most of the critics that they had a heavy influence to electronic music as we know it.

Kraftwerk - Trans Europa Express
Kraftwerk - The Model

Violent Shiver

Benjamin Booker is a 25 year old musician  based in New Orleans. Influenced by The White Stripes, The Gun Club, traditional American Blues and British glam rock he plays some very own kind of music. Based on the described roots they play an energetic, forward driven punk/new wave style. It's one of the few records that brought back to times when everything was possible. I'm looking forward to their forthcoming output.

PS: How strange it was! Decades ago our friends across the ocean elected a Miss nuclear test.

Figure It Out

FM4 is an Austrian record station. They don't play the usual mainstream and for long years they have open ears for new music and styles. I follow them since a few years and got inspirations for a lot of new music. This record station has a weekly top 25 with new music that mostly didn't got an airplay on other stations. For a couple of weeks the had a new number one - Royal Blood.

Royal Blood is a band formed last year as a two man band by Mike Kerr (bass and vocals) and Ben Thatcher (drums). They had a few appearances by several festivals throughout this season. And it's a monster of a song. Stamped by heavy riffs and a forward driving drums they made a classical record that can stand in a row to the best of British Indie Rock. This might be the next big hype in music but I love it right now. Taste it ...

Twanging Tuesday # 42

Joey Castle was like a lot of the kids who came up in the wake of Elvis Presley trying to sound like him and not making it, but with a difference — Castle left behind a dozen or so records that are well worth hearing.
Among the ranks of Elvis sound-alikes, there are the imitators who came along in the wake of his death in 1977 and then there are those who came to the sound a little more honestly, back in the formative days of rock & roll. Joey Castle, aka Cliff Rivers, real name Jospeh Fohn Castaldo, fits into the latter category — he was even signed to RCA. And he never had the chance to cash in on Elvis' death as a sound-alike artist, succumbing to brain cancer less than 18 months after the demise of his onetime idol.
Joseph Castaldo was born in the Bronx, NY, in 1942, and was 13 years old when rock & roll broke nationally — the family was a musical one, his uncle Lee Castle having become famous as a bandleader in the 1940s, but Joey took to the new music. By the end of 1957, at 15, he was ready to take the plunge, and a year later his demo tapes landed him a contract with RCA. His first and only RCA release, "Come a Little Bit Close Baby" b/w "That Ain't Nothing But Right," failed to chart, and he was dropped from the label at the end of the year. He next turned up on the Headline label with a rockabilly screamer, "Rock 'n' Roll Daddy-O," backed with the brooding "Wild Love," both extraordinarily effective rockabilly tunes to come out of New York City — it didn't sell, but it did become a highly prized collector's item.

Apart from a handful of unreleased tracks that year and the demos that got him signed to RCA in the first place, much of Castle's work consisted of cutting demos for publisher Hill & Range. He made his last single in the late '60s, still true to his rock & roll roots even amid the changing tastes of the era. During the 1970s, he re-emerged in a rock & roll/variety act featuring music and comedy, and put out an album of his own — Castle evidently had enough of a following locally to perform at least part-time and sell the album after his shows. He died of cancer in December of 1978.

Joey Castle - That Ain't Nothing But Right

Rainbow

These days Robert Plant, the voice of Led Zeppelin, released a new record. The release was announced  since a few weeks and since this time I try to get a listen to it. I don't know the reason why I look forward to a release of a 66 year old man that must have his best times behind. Probably for sentimental reasons or because he's a singer that impressed me sometimes. There must be reasons why he played Glastonbury this year - and the videos from his appearance wasn't worse. Anyway, here's his latest single. The guitar was borrowed by Tom Waits and the drums sounds a bit like Einstürzende Neubauten and Robert Plants voice fits to this steady rhythm. A classic if would be released 30 years before.



How he combines traditional Arabian music with a mystic sound you can see here:

Enjoy and have a good week my friends.

Mondo Bongo

It's a sunny Sunday morning and it seems like Indian Summer came to stay for a few days. So it's easy to get out of bed and do something I should have done for weeks. During the weeks I was to lazy to do my correspondence in time. When letters or bills arrived I only check the sender and if I think it's necessary I'll open it. Otherwise I put it on the pile of unfinished correspondence. When the pile is too high I have to finish it. And that's my job for this morning. Made myself a cup of coffee and checked out some music that plays in the background while working on my correspondence. One of the most remixed songs by Joe Strummer is probably Mondo Bongo - and here is a nice and slow version.



Tonight the qualification games starts for UEFA EURO 2016. Germany will play against the Scottish team. I really don't know how strong Strachan's boys are but I'm sure they will fight. Because I want to see Scotland with the EURO, besides I would be undecided contented with.

That's What We Watched On TV Year Ago # 12

I remember the time when serials yet did not drip with blood, the actors still no models had to be and one could colive, nevertheless, or just so with the figures. All Creatures Great and Small is the title of a BBC TV serial of the late 1970s and 1980s years which plays Dales in Yorkshire. The autobiographic books of the British veterinary surgeon James Alfred Wight which he published under the pseudonym James Herriot form the basis of the series.

The story was very simple: In the end of the 1930s the young, freshly qualified veterinarian James Herriot travels in the small, fictive place Darrowby in the northern English county North Yorkshire to work as an assistant at the terrestrial animal doctor Siegfried Farnon there. Siegfried is a responsible and in this subject excellent veterinarian, but an unpredictable choleric person with whose mood James learns to live only with the time.
Other people in Skeldale House are Siegfried's feisty housekeeper Edna Hall and his clearly younger brother Tristan who provides in practice famuliert and with his schoolboy like quirks for some mess. Tristan would also like to become a good veterinarian, however, he lacks the ambition to work for it also, and thus he falls regularly by check what can bring Siegfried who sees himself towards Tristan in the role of the father in rage. In a house visit James gets to know the farm daughter Helen Alderson and love; on the occasion of the wedding by the end of the first relay Siegfried James makes his partner.

The series covers their charm on the one hand from the tensions between the protagonists, on the other hand, from the partly droll peculiarities of the cattle farmers and domestic animal holders in Yorkshire. The Pekinese Tricki-Woo, the pampered little lap dog of the rich and distinguished Mrs. Pumphrey turns out Herriots the most loyal patient. This series had charm, the protagonists heart and the stories were absolutely plausible. I still like to see some of these episodes time by time.

The Foreign Correspondent Returns - Stories About German Rock Music # 37

20 years ago a band was formed in Berlin that must be counted to the most controversial groups of the last years. Rammstein is counted musically to the new German hardness. Their sign is one as "a primitively" described music style which the band members themselves call "dance metal", as well as often controversially discussed lyrics. Mainly inspired by the sound collages of the Yugoslavian avant-garde band Laibach Rammstein made their own industrial sound. In my opinion they combined classical Hard Rock with Alternative Metal and elements of Krautrock and Techno as well. The lyricx of Rammstein and above all their talk by singer Till Lindemann are an essential element of the music and stamp the perception by fans and a broader public clearly., Among the rest, this is due to the fact that often very controversial, put under taboo and pubic-occupied subjects are chosen like BDSM, homosexuality, incest, sexual abuse, sex tourism, pyromania, cannibalism, asylum-seeker, the play with religious pictures and effect of violence during the sexual act or an unusual perception on this. And as the featured in a video parts of Leni Riefenstahl's movies they were put into the neo-fascism corner. And not completely wrongfully - if one hears like be the singer pronounces the rolling 'R' allows to roll recollections of the megalomaniac leader already arise. For god's sake, many of you are not able to understand the lyrics (with which I agree in no manner and from which I dissociate myself). Therefore, simply listen to the music - then it has it in itself. Detached by all allusions which I hold only for a clever marketing strategy, there are in Germany less band which are able to play that aggresiv and heavy sound.

Rammstein - Kokain

What Happened To Power Pop # 3

In my opinion power pop's biggest impediments to mainstream success was that there were so many other genres in the 70s/80s that relied on brisk tempos and great guitar hooks - often delivered by bands that had more of a sonic edge or a distinctive look. In the U.S. the first wave of neo-garage bands were active in reviving 60s rock. One of them were New York's The Fleshtones. A band that got famous while they played at CBGB's and Max's Kansas City in the mid 70s. This song is taken from their fantastic 1982 album Roman Gods and has all a power pop song should have: easy arrangements, a powerful guitar hooks and a melody that will stay in your mind. And The Fleshtones added a harmonica to their songs what made them more special.

The Fleshtones - Stop Fooling Around

Twanging Tuesday # 41

Here we have a nice country 'n' western rocker from Louisiana by Jim Oertling.I didn't found much about him in the Internet. What I found that his family originally hailed from Louisiana but moved to Texas eventually, where young Jim was raised. Although he visited his home state Louisiana every summer, he eventually moved back there and attended Louisiana State University. While studying, he played guitar in a bluegrass band and wrote this song called 'Old Moss Black'. With his band he began to tour the country and played in bars, honky-tonks and roadhouses from Mississippi to Texas. This song is from the fantastic sampler 'The Rarest Rockabilly Album In The World, Ever'

Jim Oertling - Old Moss Back

How We Be

Let's start the first day of the new month with the first track on Mean Love, the latest record by Ahmed Gallap aka Sinkane a London based musician and producer. I like his music much  because he blends a mixture of some tasty ingredients to his music: a little bit of krautrock, some funk rock and reggae and Sudanese pop. After all a mixture you should taste. I can't get enough of this song.

Have a good week