One of the two leaders from the mighty Buzzcocks (the other one was Howard Devoto) released his second solo album back in 1981. Pete Shelley made a fantastic record mixing guitars, synthesizer and electronics to a forward beating sound. The title song of his same titled record was banned from BBC because of 'explicit reference to gay sex'. But anyway - this song became a smash on the dancefloors.
Too much to do these days to continue the blog I want it to do. But anyway here's a song that is close to me all over the years. Not only that it was from Joe Strummer - no the lyrics mean a lot to me and the older I get the more I can understand his words.
I remembered the great Minutemen these days and listen to a lot of their songs. Still appreciate their powerful playing and combining a lot of different styles in their very own way. The Minutemen were on way to a little success when their guitar player D. Boone died at a car accident. The band immediately resolved to found fIREHOSE. The hired as their guitar player Ed fromOHIO (Crawford) a fanatic fan of The Minutemen. Maybe this song is not quite typical for fIREHOSE but I love it all over the years. As I know it is a homage to Elisabeth Cotton, an American blues and folk musician who created a very own style of playing guitar (playing the bass line with her fingers and the melody with her thumb). That's why her way of playing bass is called 'Cotton picking'.
Sometimes I wonder why Scotland has produced so many great bands in the past years. Maybe it's because they life in their very own tradition absorbing a lot of styles and develop their very own one. One of this bands is Boards of Canada a band formed by the brothers Michael and Marcus Eoin Sandison. Played together since they were young they had their first releases in the middle of the 1990s. Their first full record from 1998 was well recommended by critics as well as by John Peel. All over the years the years they released only a few albums and a few EPs but still high quality. Their sound is a very own mixture of electric music played with analog instruments and some samples that make a warm and emotive sound. This song is from their record 'The Campfire Headphase' released on Warp Records in 2005
A few days ago Swiss Adam had a post about Bob Dylan. Reading this post and the comments I thought about when I stopped following Mr. Dylan. I think it was in the mid 1970s after he released 'Desire'. Maybe because the times they are a-changing or he made records that wasn't that interesting for me any more. All over the years I grabbed out some of his records from time to time and played some his songs but was not able to listen to a whole record. I still like 'Blood on the tracks' especially 'Tangled up in blue', his trip to Nashville as well as John Wesley Harding. This song is from 'New Morning' and I don't know why I love this song all over the years.
I don't have lo loose many words about Mr. Rowland except that he was a trained hairdresser. First recognized him as the lead singer of the Killjoys (a band who started with the punk explosion in 1977) who made a brilliant single 'Johnny won't get to heaven'. Disillusioned from punk rock, he immersed himself into vintage soul music, particularly the records of Geno Washington. In 1978 he founded Dexy's Midnight Runners together with Kevin Archer the former lead guitarist of The Killjoys. The hit the scene with a brilliant album. Every song of the record is a killer and it got on a very heavy rotation on my player. I still don't know what impressed me more the music or the lyrics at this time. Playing vintage soul with a punk attitude and telling stories about very true things. I got old with this record and it was always a good friend to me. Saw him once live a couple of years later when he promoted the following album Too-Rye-Ay where he added Celtic Folk to his understanding of Soul music. The record was a big seller and 'Come on Eileen' is still played in every dance party in my place. After releasing the their third album Dexy's Midnight Runners break up. They changed their style and music again but the listeners wouldn't follow him and it was a commercial failure.
He did one solo album throughout the years what I never listened but he returned last year with the reunion of Dexys and a monument of record 'One day I'm going to soar'. There he showed me that he never forgot what made him worth listen to. Perfect songs that grow the more times you listen to and lyrics full of wisdom and truth. Some of his words I agree to 100%. A great artist can celebrate today his 60th birthday.
... after a another day with a lot of things to do and to manage. I hope, that this working day will end soon and next week will be better. So I will start the day with an old tune from the late 1970s and a band that worked at this time for long years. The Flamin' Groovies are known as one of the forerunners of punk rock and they also had a major influence on the British power pop genre. This is one of their most know songs and was produced from Dave Edmunds - another legend who had a big influence to the pub-rock scene.
I don't know much about this band than you could find on their site of myspace. You could read there that they are making darkly psychedelic electro-rock reminiscent of the Ravonettes and the Kills. I found this remix by Justin Robertson. It's a fine low tempo house tune.
It's Friday and Swiss Adam from Bagging Area is 'en vacances' in France and probably in Italy. I love to follow his weekly series of Rockabilly stories and tunes. I thought I take over for one Friday and give you a bit of Rockabilly and Swiss Adam, I hope you don't mind.
This song is from Hasil Adkins (1937 - 2005) played his own style with a combination of country, rock and roll and blues, though he was frequently considered rockabilly. He generally performed as a one-man band, playing guitar and drums at the same time. Adkins is also known as one of the pioneers of psychobilly. Adkins was a great influence for the music of The Cramps. Sometimes when I hear him sing and howl I think he's the low budget version of them.
These days RCA published a box-set with 17 CD's from Harry Nilsson. Nilsson, was famous not only for his music but also for his excesses. Especially in the biography of his friend John Lennon Nilsson left a trail of destruction. As "The Lost Weekend" a total of 18 months-long, launched in 1973 by Nilsson and Lennon and notorious safe-drugs-vandal self-destruct orgy has gone down in pop history, "Harry supplied John always so long with drinks until all was too late, "says John Lennon's life affair May Pang recalled in her memoirs. Nilsson moved excesses probably magically, after all, died in his London flat "Mama" Cass Elliot and later Who drummer Keith Moon, and it surprised few, as Nilsson's overused body twenty years ago also failed the service. Since he was 52 years old.
Nilsson was primarily for hits such as "Everybody's Talkin'" and "Without You" - two famous songs he did not write. What is a sad joke eventually. Because Nilsson is before all things, a brilliant songwriter that never was the proper fame part. The best way to get to Nilsson's music is his 1971 album 'Nilsson Schmilsson' where todays song where published. It's not that baroque pop that he also did (this is more for late night with a glass of scotch to listen to).
Through his worldwide hit 'Without You', there is a sad story because it cost the lives of two musicians. The two composer / lyricist of this song Pete Ham and Tom Evans of BADFINGER had the years of nagging by the royalties of their hit not survive. At a distance of 8 years, the two hanged without ever having seen a penny.
Sometimes you vanish like you lived: quick and fast. It's a story I read a longer time ago: Marianne Faithfull, who was invited to his funeral on 18 January 1994, said in an interview the following: Harry's coffin lay with the undertaker in a hall near Los Angeles. On 17 January there were an earthquake around LA, with high damage and many deaths. The house where Harry lay in his coffin, was torn apart and Harry disappeared along with the coffin in a crevice.
George Duke, an American musician, singer, composer and producer died last Monday on chronic lyphotytic leukemia. He was most known as a jazz musician but he felt also at home playing rock or pop music. So he playe on serveral records keyboards durching the 1970s in Frank Zappas Mothers of Invention. He also collaborated with musicians like Jean-Luc Ponty, Stanley Clarke, Billy Cobham, Cannonball Adderley, George Clinton, Anita Baker and Mike Manierie. He also produced some tracks on Miles Davis album 'Tutu' and the song from his cousin Denise Williams 'Let's hear it for the boys'. Daft Punk sampled his 'I love you more' for their song 'Digital love'. In the late 1970s he made his crossover-funk album 'Brazilian love affair' and opened some pop-used ears for latin sound.
Haircut 100 was a English pop-funk based band from the early 1980s. Formed by Nick Heyward the released a couple of very good records. 'Pelican West' is the album where I took this song from. Haircut 100 made the sound of this summer when their record was published. Some catchy tunes with a big portion of funky guitar and bass and the voice of Nick Heyward made some hot days bearable.
Let's start this week with an old reggae-styled tune from an activist for peoples aims and opportunities in the early 1980s. Linton Kwesi Johnson was the voice of a lot of black people in Great Britain these days and also immigrants from the Caribean sea. Telling us all, what it means to life and work as a man with migration background. Seems like nothing happened since then....
My first year in business was not spectacular. I was oscillate between vocational school and education company. School was easy because I was used to it for long years. The learning contents formed the only difference. Much harder was to serve the customers, because you should be always friendly and cooperatively, say yes Sir or Madam. But month for month I have got used more to serving the customers. And after all it made more fun than I had to suffer.
In 1977 was also that year in which I could take my first big vacation. Together with my younger brother with the train to Denmark, the Netherlands and Belgium for less money with nothing else but a backpack. Leaving Germany behind, exploring new countries and cultures is one of the things I love from then on. I remember the days in Copenhagen staying in the youth hostel, flirting with some Swedish girl and one night we went to a concert. Walking through the city we saw some posters promoting a concert by the Sex Pistols. Never heard much about them than her first single 'Anarchy in the U.K.' in which they attack conformity and deference to the crown. So we got some tickets and went to the club where the concert will take place. One hour before the whole place outside was covered with big Harley Davidsons and bikers with their typical outfit beside their bikes. My younger brother (there at the age of 16) got scared about them and didn't want to go inside. So I placed him in pub near by and told him to wait until I come back. Then I have also used all courage pass the bikers and get inside the club.
The club was without windows of course and the DJ played from a little loft four meters from the floor 'Faith Healer' from The Sensational Alex Harvey Bank in full volume. So I decided that this was a good place and got me a beer at the long counter waiting for the headliners to appear. Nearly 40 minutes later the music stopped and the band appeared with a 'Good evening, arseholes' and started playing their three-chord-thing. It was fascinating seeing Johnny Rotten building up an angry attitude to the audience that answered this with throwing filled plastic mugs to the stage and starting to pogo. This concert manifested my decision to follow the new kind of music and I wasn't disappointed in this decision the forthcoming years.
As said before this year were a totally break in music. On one side the followers of mainstream rock and on the other side the ones who listened with open ears to the new sound who came mostly from Great Britain. We, the listeners to the new sound, were blamed as punks even we didn't look like them a bit. They said this music is so simple and not enough for higher claims. We answered them as the BOF's who still suck in their old fashioned way of thinking. Even though there were a lot of good songs from 1977 that I like to hear nowadays too.
Commodores - Brick House: Great bass line
The Clash - Complete Control: Any word about this is already spoken
Cheap Trick: I want you to want me: Typical BOF, but nice to hear again after years
Talking Heads - Psycho Killer: Very new sounds from over the ocean
Rod Steward - You're in my heart: Listen to the first part of the lyrics you think it's just another love song but the end with 'you're Celtic United and I decided you're the best teams I've ever seen' is fantastic.
Billy Joel - She's always a woman to me: One of the best love songs ever.
Remarkable records published in 1977:
Fleetwood Mac - Rumours: Album of the year that everybody could agree with. Fantastic voices from Mrs. McVie and Nicks.
Television - Marquee Moon: Another band from CBGB's. Not a regular punk band in its textured, more a guitar-based interplay with long improvisations (punk turned into New Wave and art).
The Clash - The Clash: Rise of the giants. Every song's a winner.
Dave Edmunds - Get it: Welsh guitar player appears back on the scene with a record that shows the tradition in Rock 'n' Roll played with nowadays drive. Great songs, great records that was on heavy rotation this year. He also brought us back Nick Lowe who made great things the following years.
The Jam - In the city: Another giant appears. Paul Weller brought us back the mod style and their attitude.
Dr. Feelgood - Sneaking Suspicion: May only for the title track that is typically for Wilco Johnson playing riffs and lead guitar at the same time.
Motörhead - Motörhead: Debut of the giants of heavy metal rock
Meat Loaf - Bat Out Of Hell: Another big selling record that many people could agree with. Many people played 'Paradise by the dashboard light' but less understood what's the meaning of the song.
Talking Heads - Talking Heads 77: New Wave from over the ocean again but with more influence of funk and soul.
Ian Dury - New Boots And Panites!!: Hit me with your rhythm stick; Wake up and make love with me - Great songs that I don't wanna miss.
George Thorogood & The Destroyers - same: If Mark Knopfler is the sultan of swing than Thorogood is the satan of slide. Seldom heard blues with this power. Awesome.
David Bowie - Heroes: His Berlin years with some of his best later songs on it
Iggy Pop - The Idiot and Lust for Life: Both records in one year featuring his collaboration with David Bowie. Lust for life is program.
Elvis Costello - My Aim Is True: Hard to decide that this is not the record that impressed me much this year. From all the new bands that appeared on the scene Mr. Costellos record was my favorite. His ability to write love songs that made my hairs stand up like 'Alison' or songs about the boredom in someones little world like 'Watching the detectives'. Also his political statement in 'Less than zero', which he wrote after he saw Oswald Mosley the former leader of BUF. This record spreads his wings over the many influences we would her from him in the next years.
What happened in the rest of the word:
What's in the movies? Nothing big to remind: Saturday Night Fever (for those who need cocaine to stand the night), The Deep (Richard Dreyfuss, Nick Nolte and the fantastic Jaqueline Bisset - allways worth to watch again and not only for the wet T-Shirt).
From all the great records that was published this year I've chosen Steely Dan with her album 'Aja' as the record that I connect with this year.Why? Because the songs on this album gave me rest and balance in contrast to the music I listen all over the day. It is a record I used to listen later at the evening to.
Wikipedia tells us about this record:
Describing the album in 1999, British musician Ian Dury said: "Well, Aja's got a sound that lifts your heart up.. and it's the most consistent up-full, heart-warming.. even though, it is a classic LA kinda sound. You wouldn't think it was recorded anywhere else in the world. It's got California through its blood, even though they are boys from New York.. It's a record that sends my spirits up, and really when I listen to music, really that's what I want."
Analyzing the band's song-writing style, Dury said: "They've got a skill that can make images that aren't puerile and don't make you think you've heard it before... very "Hollywood Flimic" in a way, the imagery is very imaginable, in a visual sense" and of their musical style: "Parker, Mingus, Blakey, I can hear in there.. Jazz Messengers I can hear in there, Bobby Timmons... the subject matter doesn't matter, it's the sound they're making."
Thank you Ian, no more words necessary from me to say.
My brothers musical distinction is a lot different to mine. But both of us agree on Irish style punk music like The Pogues or Dropkick Murphys. I remember several concerts we both went and had many fun. We've seen The Pogues back in 1982 when they promoted their first album 'Red Roses For Me'. Seldom seen such an intensive concert before. We both wondered also how much Shane MacGowan and Cait O'Riordan could drink along their appearance. How it ended we've seen a couple of years later when he fall down the stage and couldn't get up again so that Joe Strummer had to take over the vocals. This is one of the rare songs from the Pogues when O'Riordan took over the vocals.
The Pastels are a Glasgow based independent band, formed in the early 1980s. They started as a classic post-punk band and had inspired a lot of bands of the so called C-86 era to turn later into softer sounds. I listen recently to their 1998 album 'Illuminati' still fascinated how fresh it sounds even today. This song is from their soundtrack to 'The Last Great Wilderness' and is a collaboration with Pulp's Jarvis Crocker.
