A few days ago I was in the mood to listen to glam rock again after a longer time. When I take a journey back into this era I always visit one of the best bands of this genre. Wolverhampton's Slade were the prototype of a working class based rock band and became leading bands of glam. Their sound is just a blues-rock influenced rock but Noddy Holder's voice made all their songs different and unique. In the early 70's the appeared several times on German television in shows by Beat Club and Musikladen and I can remember that they impressed me much watching them in my very early days.
It was in the early 70's when two brothers from Los Angeles appeared on the scene. Ron and Russel Mael came to play their very own kind of glam rock and I have to admit that I didn't heard something like this before or after. Inspired by British bands like The Kinks, The Move and early Pink Floyd when Syd Barrett was their mastermind they made their masterpiece with their art-pop sound album Kimono My House from 1975. With their songs they were pre-punk, new wave and early synth-pop and had a massive influence to many bands and singers of the new wave era. This footage is an almost 15 minutes live appearance in the monthly show Musikladen. Love to see them after a long time and remembering a great and almost forgotten band.
Another footage from German TV show Musikladen. In 1974 Stevie Wonder played a short concert in the studios in Bremen. I suppose that I don't have to introduce him. Everything what made him great you can see in this 30 minute concert. And it was in his very young years when he was just 24 - a truthful giant.
Bill Withers died last Sunday at the age of 81 but it was reported just yesterday. He had an incredible talent in writing great songs. It is evidenced in the mass of cover versions of his songs. Also other artists like Isaac Hayes played his songs in live concerts. He was a bit of a poet in his songs and many are familiar with his songs. Another great one is gone. This is a footage that shows his abilities of playing live in the early 70's in German TV-show Musikladen.
Rest easy Bill and may you be reunited with your Grandma.
Back in 1973 Roxy Music played a short live set in German television. It was in my very young days when I saw them live and I couldn't understand their music and their outfit. They were different to all the rock stars of the generation before me. No more long hairs and dirty jeans and one step ahead of glam rock they were pioneers of modern rock. I saw them and I investigated more of their music. Roxy Music, Brian Eno and Bryan Ferry faced me to another kind of music. Since I listened to them nothing was before the way I felt for music. This was the greatest gift that they gave to me. By the way one of the greatest album covers of all time.
Last week I posted Moon of Alabama in a live version by David Bowie. It is dated from 1978 when he performed it in Musikladen, in this time the most relevant music show in German television. After posting this song I watched the full show again and I think it is worth to give it to all of you because David was featured at lot last week. It shows him at one of his peaks in his career. Backed with a great band he unites many styles in his music.
David Bowie is one year after his death more present than long times before. You all can see it on the blogs we use to visit day by day. And also on German television. Yesterday they featured him the whole evening and I was tired but couldn't go to sleep until it was finished. A couple of hours showing the genius and his work during 40 years of his career. I am still impressed of looking back to all styles he did during his career. What I almost forgot was his affinity to Kurt Weil and Berthold Brecht. I saw a clip from their opera The Rise And Fall Of The Town Mahogany. The main song there was Alabama Song for sure and made popular by The Doors long time ago. This song is played live by Mr. Bowie in the late 70's in German television and shows him in a very good condition and it seems like he had really fun playing this song.
The Motels were a new wave band from Los Angeles with their most successful time in the late 70s/early 80s. I don't know the reason why just this band was so hip in these days in the town I lived in these times. Maybe because of the voice of Martha Davis, that they put them together with the now sound or just because they wrote a lot of classic songs. For me it was Martha Davis voice that impress me still. Seeing them live on TV feels good after all these years.
Searching for old music in the internet I found this appearance by Stevie Wonder on German TV. I can remember when I saw it the first time more than 40 years ago and I was impressed about the presence of this blind man. When I heard his voice the first time it touched my soul for ever. it was a new experience to me and from this time I started to investigate in soul music and was never disappointed in this music. Stevie's in 1974 appearance is still fantastic.
Musikladen was a monthly rock and pop show in German TV as the replacement of the legendary Beat Club. The concept was a unique mixture of new sounds and chart music. I still remember one episode when they introduced in 1980 the newest sound from London. I've never heard the sound of Ska before and was suddenly infected. Not only the sound was new to me also the outfit of the band was strange and new. While most of us wore worn out jeans and t-shirts young lads appeared in sharp suits, ties and hats. The music of The Specials and Madness was pioneering and opened our ears to many other music.
Back in the late 70s / early 80s it was a change in musical preferences. Lot's of people were based in traditional common music - the others had open ears for the new sounds British punk rock bands offered to us. In this time there were less bands you could agree to both parties. One of them were Little Feat. They made a very unique sound, influenced by traditional R'n'B, Funk and Soul. I was a huge fan of their music in these times. First was the voice of Lowell George with his nasal sound. Second was the arrangements in their songs. They combined the slide guitar on a funky, laid back groove. I remember one day when the first real discotheque closed their doors back in 1980. This location was the first real location we had in my hometown where they played very different music that we used to listen to. Frequented mostly by GI's from nearby. And so we got lead to the music of James Brown, Temptations, The Doors and the whole psychedelic stuff. And of curse it was a place where were was dealt with drugs. For me and my lads it was a place where you are close to the 'real tough guys'. This location was closed down because the owners couldn't stand the pressure of of the public guidelines any more. On the last day they made an auction of their records. One of the records I got there was Little Feat's record from 1974 Feats Don't Fail Me Now. This album was very mint but it is still a memory to a place I used to hit often.
Back in 1973 Roxy Music appeared on German TV for a small live appearance. It was the time when they released their second album. Looking back to this show I was astonished about their appearance. I was very young and their sound was new and different and I didn't know how to handle this kind of music. I was astonished how rock musicians could wear dresses like them. In normal ways musicians shown up with long hairs and worn out jeans. But now Bryan Ferry appeared with a white suite and it was extraordinary in these times. Not only the songs were great at this time - Brian Eno made s sound that would be the basis for the upcoming electronic sounds.
For me this live concert was the initial for the upcoming music.
Enjoy this little gem.
Another remarkable appearance was back in 1981 when Motörhead played some songs in this TV-series. I have never seen any other band with this energy on TV. Listen to their classic 'Ace of Spades' is still awesome.
And not enough - here are another legendary songs by them
Back in 1977 Blondie was the hippiest new wave band around. A lot of friends I knew that time could agree to them, anyway what musical preferences they had. It might be Debbie Harry in front of the band with her female attraction torn between to be cute and rough. The other reason might be that they wrote simple and catchy power-pop songs. Seeing them the first time live I could understand why Jeffrey Lee Pierce was the head of her fan club. I found this little gem the other days while surfing for some old stuff in the internet. This little concert shows every part of their live attraction even it was hard not to watch Debbie the whole time.
Enjoy this little trip back into the 70s and have a great weekend.
In the early 60s a small TV-station in Bremen, northern Germany, started a monthly show presenting the newest beat music from Great Britain. The bands appeared to a playback-sound but most of the people watching the show didn't mind. Older friends of mine told me that they were happy to see these acts at all. It was similar to Top Of The Pops but filmed in black and white. The show called 'Beat Club' is a classic and we grew up with this series. It was obligation to watch this on Saturday afternoon. In the late 60s they changed the size. Now they invited the bands to play live in the studio. After the Beat Club closed the Musikladen opened the gates. There was no more eclectic choice in the artists that appeared. They opened their ears for new music and sometimes they let some bands play almost a whole set in front of a small audience. You can find some gems from these times in the internet (some more are filmed live concerts in the Rockpalast series). I think from time to time I'll present some of them on this place. So take some time and enjoy the show of the Ramones from back in 1978.
On my way to work New York Doll's 'Pills' shuffled up on my mobile phone. I really forgot how good this song was. I am not sure if I should call them proto-punks, travesty queens or kings of glam-rock or just the best of all. Anyway, David Johansen and Johnny Thunders was a main influence to the upcoming punk-rock scene. I really love their short and simple songs with them magic riffs. I found this life appearance in German television shortly after the release of their first record.
