RUTS DC - HARE & HOUNDS 6/10/2012

 

There is a long list of bands I wish I’d seen but probably at the top of the list were The Ruts. In an all too short career they released one of the finest run of punk singles ever and the epic ‘The Crack’ album and to this day I still wonder how many further great songs they would have been capable of producing. So when the Ruts DC played Rebellion festival in the summer, even though it was the band formed from the surviving members following tragic death of front man Malcolm Owen, it was a must see event. And they didn’t disappoint with their set being highlight of the festival. So when the chance came to see them again so soon we jumped at it. The Hare and Hounds in Kings Heath was the venue in the 250 capacity upstairs room. Even before the support band Cracked Actors came on the room had filled nicely and there was definitely an air of excited expectancy around - we had conversations with a couple of guys who had both seen them around 1979 in Digbeth supporting the Damned. The set was very similar to the Rebellion one. A few new songs (which having now heard them twice sound great) interspersed with older Ruts DC songs and then the Ruts tunes started appearing, Backbiter, It Was Cold, SUS was incorporated into one of the newer songs. Then we were on a roll, Staring at The Rudeboys, Love In Vein, Jah War all sounding amazing although the crowd was a little subdued. So for the finale we took the plunge and stormed the front. West One, Babylon’s Burning and an encore of In A Rut. Well impressed that someone of my years could stay the distance with young Sam and to be honest it could well have been 1979 again! If you were a fan of the Ruts and get the opportunity the Ruts DC are a must see. And as the ending refrain of In A Rut was still ringing in my ears you couldn’t help but wonder what if…..   

West One (Shine On Me)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-s8k0GtLZ4o

That's A Two Pipe Question Sherlock

So it was another night out to see John Cooper Clarke. This time the venue was Birmingham Town Hall on a wet autumn night. The venue was up market compared to some of the dives we have seen him in and the performance reflected this with probably one of the most polished I have ever seen Johnny Clarke give. Too many highlights and I can’t remember most of them anyway. Some old classics, Beasley Street, Evidently Chicken Town and a whole host of soon to be classics including one about jail and the sometimes touching I Fell In Love With My Wife. He still looks every bit the rock star and his rock n roll references are always on the mark. His one liners are smart, limericks hilarious (There Once Was a Man With A Beard), the poems are never less than brilliant and when he goes off at a tangent he takes the audience with him into his wonderful offbeat world located somewhere just outside Cosham (There Once Was A Man From Cosham). To be honest he could read out the phone book and could make it entertaining. It was good to see some t-shirts on sale at one of his gigs and the Evidently Chicken Town one Sam got is probably the coolest T-shirt I have ever seen. What the world needs right now is a new album of Johnny Clarke material! Will we get one? That is a two pipe question Sherlock!

Evidently Chicken Town

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NVmNn9HRFZo&feature=fvst



THE RUTS - STARING AT THE RUDE BOYS

Staring At The Rude Boys on Top of The Pops


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1LMtQ8t6hQ

WHAT DOES RECORD STORE DAY MEAN TO ME?

Although Record Store Day has been running for a few years, this is the first time I have actively participated.  Sam and I headed to ST Records in Dudley around 10.30 on the Saturday morning.  ST records is a great little record shop that mainly specialises in Metal and Rock so wasn't sure what to expect.  As we entered there was a sign on the door that stated they were open at 8.00 this morning specially for RSD2012.  The shop is quite compact and the RSD releases were in a number of boxes on the counter and there were a couple of people flicking through the boxes and waiting to pay so we had a little wait before we could access.  We finally got our turn and quickly flicked through the boxes to see what delights lay in store as there was already a small queue developing behind us.  Next year I have decided to go a little bit informed with more possible purchases in mind as the few I had targeting had long since sold out - Public Image Ltd - One Drop / The Clash - London Calling 2012 remix / The Fall -  Night Of The Humerons.  Sam quickly spotted a handful that he wanted and opted for Sugar - If I Can't Change Your Mind / The Beat - Mirror In The Bathroom / Marilyn Manson - No Reflection.  All 7" singles on assorted vinyl (I do love his eclectic music taste for someone so young!).  As I was handing over the cash (£18 for 3 singles is a bit excessive but it is only once a year) I heard one of the people serving say that apparently people were queueing outside at 5.00am! So maybe we need to come a bit earlier next year? 

After leaving ST we headed for a shop called That's Entertainment which is based in Merry Hill which is part of a chain offering discounted CDs and DVDs.  I was somewhat surprised to hear they were participating in RSD and sure enough they had the posters in the window confirming this but I wasn't overly surprised when we entered and asked the assistant where their RSD releases were to be told they weren't actually sent any - surely a case for false advertising?  We quickly left.

So what is my take on RSD?  Well first of all it was disappointing to see so many releases offered for sale on eBay so quickly and at vastly inflated prices - I saw several copies of The Beat and Marilyn Manson singles with asking prices approaching £30 a pop.  So it's fairly obvious that there is a not insignificant number of people who make these purchases with nothing else in mind but to sell quickly for a profit - probably most of them were outside ST at 5.00am.  In making these releases limited, a demand that outstrips supply is often created and in a sellers market the price naturally increases.  Can you really blame people for trying to cash in on this, and after all isn't this just what the participating shops are doing anyway, albeit to a  much lesser extent?

But I think this cynical approach perhaps takes away from what RSD really stands for.  It's a celebration of the independent record sector (remember where the word "indie" originated from?) and a chance for the likes of myself to rekindle the genuine excitement of actually visiting a record store, physically buying a piece of plastic and the resultant sonic aural rush when you get home.  And if it also means that someone like Sam can get a taste for vinyl at an early age and help satisfy his desire for listening to the unheard, both old and new.  At that can't be a bad thing. 

So I'll be visiting ST Records a little more frequently from now on - and remember go out and support your local independent record store day - they are for life, not just RSD.

GRINDERMAN - PALACES OF MONTEZUMA

PALACES OF MONTEZUMA

Psychedelic invocations
Of Mata Hari at the station
I give to you
A Java princess of Hindu Birth
A woman of flesh a child of earth
I give to you
The hanging gardens of Babylon
Miles Davis the black unicorn
I give to you
The Palaces of Montezuma
And the Gardens of Akbar's tomb
I give to you
The spider Goddess and the Needle Boy
The slave-dwarves they employ
I give to you
A custard-coloured super-dream
Of Ali McGraw and Steve McQueen
I give to you

C'mon baby, let's get out of the cold
And give me, give me, give me your precious love for me to hold

The epic of Gilgamesh
A pretty little black A-line dress
I give to you
The spinal cord of JFK
Wrapped in Marilyn Monroe's negligee
I give to you
I want nothing in return
Just the softest little breathless word
I ask of you
A word contained in a grain of sand
That can barely walk can't even stand
I ask of you

Oh c'mon baby, let's get out of the cold
And gimme gimme gimme your precious love for me to hold
C'mon baby come out of the cold
And gimme gimme gimme your precious love for me to hold

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=30U1-5-k1P4

NEIL YOUNG - ONLY LOVE CAN BREAK YOUR HEART

ONLY LOVE CAN BREAK YOUR HEART

When you were young
and on your own
How did it feel
to be alone?
I was always thinking
of games that I was playing.
Trying to make
the best of my time.

But only love
can break your heart
Try to be sure
right from the start
Yes only love
can break your heart
What if your world
should fall apart?

I have a friend
I've never seen
He hides his head
inside a dream
Someone should call him
and see if he can come out.
Try to lose
the down that he's found.

But only love
can break your heart
Try to be sure
right from the start
Yes only love
can break your heart
What if your world
should fall apart?

I have a friend
I've never seen
He hides his head
inside a dream
Yes, only love
can break your heart
Yes, only love
can break your heart

ONLY LOVE CAN BREAK YOUR HEART

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FOl01vKXv6I

DR FEELGOOD - ROXETTE

ROXETTE

I saw you out the other night
I saw somebody hold you tight
Roxette, I wonder who it could be
It was so dark I couldn't see
But I know it wasn't me
When I tell you it ain't right
I know you've got to agree

I followed you into a show
The band was playing rock'n'roll
Roxette, I didn't need to seek you out
The music played so loud
That I could hear you through the crowd
You was telling everyone
About a new guy you'd found

Roxette I gotta go away
And leave you for a couple of days
Roxette, I don't want no more of your tricks
I'm gonna get some concrete mix
And fill your back door up with bricks
And you better be there waiting
When I get my business fixed

DR FEELGOOD - ROXETTE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VU6AJNgP_mk&feature=related

Sam's Record Store Day 2012 purchases

MIRROR IN THE BATHROON - THE BEAT

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f_-7fqUMuyg

IF I CAN'T CHANGE YOUR MIND - SUGAR

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lLu9Celu898&feature=fvst

NO RELECTION - MARILYN MANSON

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fuhgWXg4rw4

 

 

IGGY POP - SOME WEIRD SIN

SOME WEIRD SIN

Well, I never got my license to live
They won't give it up
So I stand at the world's edge

I'm trying to break in
Oh, I know it's not for me
And the sight of it all
Makes me sad and ill
That's when I want- Some Weird Sin

Things get too straight
I can't bear it
I feel stuck, stuck on a pin

I'm trying to break in
Oh, I know it's not for me
But the sight of it all
Makes me sad and ill
That's when I want- Some Weird Sin
That's when I want- Some Weird Sin
Just to relax with

Yeah, some dumb, weird sin
For a while anyway
With my head on the ledge
That's what you get out on the edge
Some Weird Sin

Things get too straight
I can't bear it
I feel stuck, stuck on a pin

I'm trying to break in
Oh, I know it's not for me
When the sight of it all
Makes me sad and ill
That's when I want- Some Weird Sin
That's when I want- Some Weird Sin
Just to relax with

That's some dumb weird sin
For a while anyway
With my head out on the ledge
That's what you get out on the edge
Some Weird sin

Some weird sin, Some weird sin, etc

SOME WEIRD SIN

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D_uF6ObhDks

THE BAND - THE NIGHT THEY DROVE OLD DIXIE DOWN

It's always a sad day when we lose a musician and we seem to be losing a lot of them at the moment but I shed a tear for the death of Levon Helm, drummer and singer with The Band and here's a song my brother really turned me on to last year and I've been playing ever since.

THE BAND - THE NIGHT THEY DROVE OLD DIXIE DOWN

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ceRg_rxXQ_E

S*M*A*S*H - (I WANT TO) KILL SOMEBODY

(I WANT TO) KILL SOMEBODY

a statistician studies titian
the hand up his arse is a politician
red-headed women and a disraeli disposition
what lack of vision
i want to kill somebody

hold my hate like a knife to their throats
cut through every muscle
and breake every bone
i want to chop their fucking heads off
and stick them on a stake
that's the extent of my hate

its not that i want them dead
it's just this world would be a better place
if they had never existed
i want to kill somebody

a statistician studies titian
red-headed women and a disraeli dispoistion
what lack of vision
whoever's in power
i'll be the oppisition
i want to kill somebody

so i'm a hyprocrite
cos i don't believe in capital punishment
but here's my paradoxical quip
"the people who prescribe to it are
the people who should subscribe to it"
it's not that i want them dead
its just this world be be a better place
if they never existed
i want to kill somebody

margaret thatcher, jefferey archer,
michael heseltine, john major, virginia bottomeley
especially gill shepherd's got an appauling enemployment record
i want to kill somebody

i want to kill somebody
everbody knows somebody
i want to kill somebody
(don't you?)

i want to kill somebody
i want to kill somebody
i want to kill somebody

S*M*A*S*H - (I WANT TO) KILL SOMEBODY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cIshse2x6Cc

JOE STRUMMER & THE MESCALEROS - JOHNNY APPLESEED

Great line up announced for the Strummer of Love festival in August.  Check here for full details: http://www.strummeroflove.com/

JOHHNY APPLESEED

Lord, there goes Johnny Appleseed
He might pass by in the hour of need
There's a lot of souls
Ain't drinking from no well locked in a factory

Hey - look there goes
Hey - look there goes
If you're after getting the honey - hey
Then you don't go killing all the bees

Lord, there goes Martin Luther King
Notice how the door closes when the chimes of freedom ring
I hear what you're saying, I hear what he's saying
*Is what was true now no longer so

Hey - I hear what you're saying
Hey - I hear what he's saying
If you're after getting the honey - hey
Then you don't go killing all the bees

What the people are saying
And we know every road - go, go
What the people are saying
There ain't no berries on the trees

Let the summertime sun
Fall on the apple - fall on the apple

Lord, there goes a Buick forty-nine
Black sheep of the angels riding, riding down the line
We think there is a soul, we don't know
That soul is hard to find

Hey - down along the road
Hey - down along the road
If you're after getting the honey
Then you don't go killing all the bees

Hey - it's what the people are saying
It's what the people are saying
Hey - there ain't no berries on the trees
Hey - that's what the people are saying, no berries on the trees
You're checking out the honey, baby
You had to go killin' all the bees

JOE STRUMMER & THE MESCALEROS - JOHNNY APPLESEED

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mqEOOvoEi_w

CHEAP TRICK - HE'S A WHORE

HE'S A WHORE

Have you seen her face
She's got a face that would stop a clock
And with that face I surely won't stop
To look her in the eyes
But her money's green
She's a tease like a social disease
But she's still so close to my reach
If I call, if I call at all
Any time at all [Repeat x 4]

So the story goes
I think I'll take her for a ride
With this moneybag by my side
A gigolo is the only way to go
And so I show my face
And I can even fake a smile
But I'm laughing inside all the while
This little girl
She's a joke [Repeat x 3]
Any time at all [Repeat x 4]

He's a whore, (I'd do anything for money)
He's a whore, (Look at the things that I write)
He's a whore, (Ooo, the stories I can tell)
He's a whore (In the morning, in the night)
I'm a whore (He'll do anything for money)
I'm a whore (Look at the clothes that he wears)
I'm a whore (He'll do anything for money
I'm a whore

And so the story goes
I think I'll take her for a ride
With this moneybag by my side
A gigolo is the only way to go.

CHEAP TRICK - HE'S A WHORE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N6M5mS1AAu4

JOHN COOPER CLARKE - THE DAY MY PAD WENT MAD

THE DAY MY PAD WENT MAD

I'm ankle deep in human waste
the toilet has been clogged
marrowbone jelly all over the place
I don't even have a dog
the man upstairs he grabs my arm
saying don't I know your dad
all I could hear were the fire alarms
the day my pad went MAD

all I could hear were the fire alarms
the day my pad went MAD

The kitchen has been ransacked
ski trails in the hall
a chicken has been dansacked
and thrown against the wall
in walks this dumb waiter
with a fountain pen and pad
saying how do you want this alligator
the day my pad went MAD

saying how do you want this alligator
the day my pad went MAD

The hamster had been slaugtered
the parrot bound and gagged
the guard dog had been sorted out
and absolutely shagged
the goldfish drowned, the cat was found
kicked around and stabbed
the radio did not make a sound
the day my pad went MAD

the radio did not make a sound
the day my pad went MAD

the pop-up toaster refused to pop
the chandelier was smashed
the starter motor would not stop
the tyres had been slashed
there was no way out of there
I was stuck with what I had
out of order, beyond repair
the day my pad went MAD

out of order, beyond repair
the day my pad went MAD

yesterday I had the place rewired
and slung out all of my junk
a tumble dryer and a two bar fire
and a telephone now defunct
I peeped through the venetian blinds
and the rain fell down so sad
on the broken home I left behind
the day my pad went MAD

on the broken home I left behind
the day my pad went MAD

JOHN COOPER CLARKE - THE DAY MY PAD WENT MAD

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DC0vAsT1mpg

GOD SAVE THE QUEEN - SEX PISTOLS

With the jubilee celebrations just around the corner a storm appears to be brewing and with the slightest sense of déjà vu it concerns the Sex Pistols and their God Save The Queen single. 

Back in 1977 the Sex Pistols were courting controversy left right and center and the release of their now infamous single, timed to coincide with the silver jubilee celebrations, did nothing to discourage the column inches.  The single reached number 2 on the official charts kept off the number 1 slot by Rod Stewart’s ‘I Don’t Want To Talk About It’.  It’s widely thought that the single sold enough copies to be number 1 and this led to accusations that the UK Singles Chart as used by the BBC, who in addition to the Independent Broadcasting Authority denied the single any airplay effectively banning it, had fixed the chart.

There have been suggestions in recent weeks that the single should be re-released to tie in with the diamond jubilee, prompting a call for all the ageing punkers (and no doubt their children, maybe even grandchildren) to get behind this movement and ensure the single gets to number one, thus righting 35 years of injustice.

It now looks as if Universal Records, who now own the rights to the Pistols back catalogue, are going to release God Save The Queen as a single in the last week of May. 

This in itself is causing a mini backlash with shouts of corporate sell out threatening to drown out the cries of No Future.

So what do I think? I think that most of us bow down to corporate pressure most of the time, sometimes because it's the only option, mostly because it's the easy option.  I agree with John Robb on his Louder Than War blog, God Save The Queen is truly one of the greatest rock 'n' roll songs of all time,  ands wouldn't it be wonderful just to stir things up a little bit once again, especially for the likes of Peter Whittle writing in the MailOnline who seems to be getting a little hot under the collar already.  Sorry Peter, just because you didnt like punk doesn't mean it went away.

So at a time when the charts are widely acknowledged as being insignificant I urge everyone to dig deep and spare a few pounds to ensure the jubilee is celebrated with a bang - and it is still a fantastic record.

And I'll tell you what I think - NEVER MIND THE BOLLOCKS - HERE'S THE SEX PISTOLS!

SEX PISTOLS - GOD SAVE THE QUEEN
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dtUH2YSFlVU&feature=related

Check out what John Robb had to say about the Pistols release as well as lots of info on new bands on his Louder Than War blog here:

http://louderthanwar.com/sex-pistols-to-re-release-god-save-the-queen/

THE MONOCHROME SET - THE MONOCHROME SET

THE MONOCHROME SET
I fascinate, infatuate
Emphatically
You’re dreary, you’re base, deary
Your face is weary for me

I’m heaven sent, so eloquent
And curiously
I entertain your tiny brain
So spuriously

The Monochrome Set, Monochrome Set, Monochrome Set]
The Monochrome Set, Monochrome Set, Monochrome Set] (Chorus)

I’m charming, dear, disarming, dear
Alarming to see
You’re lazy, you’re limp, baby
Your mind is crazy for me

My rhetoric, so magnetic
Aesthetically
I’ll nominate you to abominate
Anticipate me

(Chorus)

I captivate, enraptivate
Emphatically
You’re funny, you’re dead, honey
But you’re always money to me

I’m adorable, you’re deplorable
It’s not a lot of fun
It’s gruesome, but we’re a twosome
So, hey, hey, hey, here we come

(Chorus)

THE MONOCHROME SET

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M4TUt-MoOsI&feature=related

SLOW BOAT RECORDS - NEW ZEALAND

In preparation for Record Store Day check out Slow Boat Records, Cuba Street, Wellington.

...and some rather dubious looking characters hanging around outside...



THE JIM CARROLL BAND PEOPLE WHO DIED

Teddy sniffing glue, he was 12 years old

Fell from the roof on East Two-nine

Cathy was 11 when she pulled the plug

On 26 reds and a bottle of wine

Bobby got leukemia, 14 years old

He looked like 65 when he died

He was a friend of mine

Those are people who died, died

They were all my friends, and they died

G-berg and Georgie let their gimmicks go rotten

So they died of hepatitis in upper Manhattan

Sly in Vietnam took a bullet in the head

Bobby OD'd on Drano on the night that he was wed

They were two more friends of mine

Two more friends that died

Those are people who died, died

They were all my friends, and they died

Mary took a dry dive from a hotel room

Bobby hung himself from a cell in the tombs

Judy jumped in front of a subway train

Eddie got slit in the jugular vein

And Eddie, I miss you more than all the others

And I salute you brother

Those are people who died, died

They were all my friends, and they died

Herbie pushed Tony from the Boys' Club roof

Tony thought that his rage was just some goof

But Herbie sure gave Tony some bitchen proof

"Hey," Herbie said, "Tony, can you fly?"

But Tony couldn't fly, Tony died

Those are people who died, died

They were all my friends, and they died

Brian got busted on a narco rap

He beat the rap by rattin' on some bikers

He said, "Hey, I know it's dangerous, but it sure beats Riker's"

But the next day he got offed by the very same bikers

Those are people who died, died

They were all my friends, and they died

Teddy sniffing glue, he was 12 years old

Fell from the roof on East Two-nine

Cathy was 11 when she pulled the plug

On 26 reds and a bottle of wine

Bobby got leukemia, 14 years old

He looked like 65 when he died

He was a friend of mine

Those are people who died, died

They were all my friends, and they died

G-berg and Georgie let their gimmicks go rotten

So they died of hepatitis in upper Manhattan

Sly in Vietnam took a bullet in the head

Bobby OD'd on Drano on the night that he was wed

They were two more friends of mine

Two more friends that died

Those are people who died, died

They were all my friends, and they died

Mary took a dry dive from a hotel room

Bobby hung himself from a cell in the tombs

Judy jumped in front of a subway train

Eddie got slit in the jugular vein

And Eddie, I miss you more than all the others

And I salute you brother

Those are people who died, died

They were all my friends, and they died

JIM CARROLL BAND - PEOPLE WHO DIED

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QPNqojbyIDk&feature=related

THE NAILS - 88 LINES ABOUT 44 WOMEN

88 LINES ABOUT 44 WOMEN

Deborah was a Catholic girl
she held out till the bitter end
Carla was a different type
she's the one who put it in
Mary was a black girl
I was afraid of a girl like that
Suzen painted pictures
sitting down like a Buddha sat

Reno was a nameless girl
a geographic memory
Cathy was a Jesus freak
she liked that kind of misery
Vicki had a special way
of turning sex into a song
Kamala, who couldn't sing,
kept the beat and kept it strong

Zilla was an archetype
the voodoo queen, the queen of wrath
Joan thought men were second best
to masturbating in a bath
Sherry was a feminist
she really had that gift of gab
Kathleen's point of view was this
take whatever you can grab

Seattle was another girl
who left her mark upon the map
Karen liked to tie me up
and left me hanging by a strap
Jeannie had a nightclub walk
that made grown men feel underage
Mariella, who had a son,
said I must go, but finally stayed

Gloria, the last taboo
was shattered by her tongue one night
Mimi brought the taboo back
and held it up before the light
Marilyn, who knew no shame,
was never ever satisfied
Julie came and went so fast
she didn't even say goodbye

Rhonda had a house in Venice
lived on brown rice and cocaine
Patty had a house in Houston
shot cough syrup in her veins
Linda thought her life was empty
filled it up with alcohol
Katherine was much too pretty
she didn't do that shit at all

Pauline thought that love was simple
turn it on and turn it off
Jean-Marie was complicated
like some French filmmaker's plot
Gina was the perfect lady
always had her stockings straight
Jackie was a rich punk rocker
silver spoon and a paper plate

Sarah was a modern dancer
lean pristine transparency
Janet wrote bad poetry
in a crazy kind of urgency
Tanya Turkish liked to fuck
while wearing leather biker boots
Brenda's strange obsession
was for certain vegetables and fruit

Rowena was an artist's daughter
the deeper image shook her up
Dee Dee's mother left her father
took his money and his truck
Debbie Rae had no such problems
perfect Norman Rockwell home
Nina, 16, had a baby
left her parents, lived alone
Bobbi joined a New Wave band
changed her name to Bobbi Sox
Eloise, who played guitar,
sang songs about whales and cops
Terri didn't give a shit
was just a nihilist
Ronnie was much more my style
cause she wrote songs just like this
Jezebel went forty days
drinking nothing but Perrier
Dinah drove her Chevrolet
into the San Francisco Bay
Judy came from Ohio
she's a Scientologist
Amaranta, here's a kiss
I chose you to end this list.

THE NAILS - 88 LINES ABOUT 44 WOMEN

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LwUotTbF2aw&feature=related

NEW YORK DOLLS - REBELLION FESTIVAL 2010

A selection of about 50 pictures of the New York Dolls taken at the 2010 Rebellion festival on

a shitty little Kodak camera by a slightly inebriated and very amateurish photographer (me)!

Friday The 13th - The Damned

What a great little EP from The Damned.

Released between The Black Album and Strawberries as a one off release on Nems, it kicks off with the poptastic Disco Man, why this wasn't a massive hit at the time is beyond me!  The Limit Club is a song written about the death of Malcolm Owen from The Ruts and would not have been out of place on the aforementioned Black Album.  Billy Bad Breaks is a 60's psych out which is calling out to be on the soundtrack of some acid popping time travelling biker movie.  And Citadel is a Rolling Stones cover given the Damned treatment to great effect. 

An absolute all round classic - if only they would have expanded into an album.

The Friday 13th EP is available on the compilation Chiswick Singles - And Another Thing (being the other thing in the title)

THE DAMNED - DISCO MAN:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iDeyF1i5qqM

THE DAMNED - THE LIMIT CLUB:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RIM0HdAUzI0

THE SKIDS - WORKING FOR THE YANKEE DOLLAR

THE SKIDS - WORKING FOR THE YANKEE DOLLAR

During the late 70's and early 80's The Skids released an impressive run of singles.  One of the first 'punk' appearances I can remember seeing on Top of The Pops was Into The Valley and I duly went out and bought the 7" single for my brother's 11th Birthday. 

Between us we snapped up most of those Skids singles and it's the one that my brother bought me for Christmas 1980 that still remains my favourite from those Scottish New Wavers. 

Working For The Yankee Dollar had enough of a pop sentiment to make the song really catchy but had that strange 'Skids' sound that seemed to infect their songs all coated with a new wave sensibility.  And it came packaged as a gatefold double 7" single featuring the post punky 'Hymns From A Haunted Ballroom' from an earleir John Peel session.

THE SKIDS - WORKING FOR THE YANKEE DOLLAR

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gDTHZdG9C7I

THE SKIDS - HYMNS FROM A HAUNTED BALLROOM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l9Zh-pifm_M

The Skids Singles Collection 1978 -1981 is availble from Captain Oi!

Find out more about The Skids at their official website: www.theskids.com

WHAT IF THE KING BLUES NEVER HAPPENED

It was with great sadness last week that I heard the breaking news of the demise of The King Blues. 

These are dark days for music my friends.   

I'd first seen them about four years ago at the Rebellion festival after Attila The Stockbroker had recommended them during his set.  The next day we duly poked our heads around the door in the Empress Ballroom mid-afternoon to catch an absolutely storming performance.  They played a ska -punk tinged set bringing bands like The Specials and The Ruts to mind but for me they seemed to be the embodiment of a Clash for this generation. 

The debut album Under the Fog was originally released in 2006 on Household Name records after being recorded in four days in a bedroom.  An updated version was re-released in 2008 and showcased a band perfectly at home with their brand of politically laced punky reggae ska. A second album, Get The Girl, Save The World was released later in 2008 and was critically well received and featured some killer songs and the epic What If Punk Never Happened.  2011 saw the release of the perfectly titled Punk and Poetry and the future was looking rosey as the band headed over to America at the start of 2012 to record their forthcoming album Long Live The Struggle. 

But it looks as if it's time to move on.  I loved this band from the moment I saw them, my son probably more so.  I've been lucky enough to catch them live a handful of times and have not seen a band move an audience in the way they do for a long time. 

The Clash released 5 albums before splintering and left a legacy that still resonates today and I think The King Blues (my new Clash) will leave a similar legacy that will only be fully realised with time.  As with the Clash, whose band members went on to release albums that I came to love, let's hope that both Itch and Jamie Jazz and the others all carry on with whatever they do next with the same passion and edge that made The King Blues so captivating. 

THE KING BLUES - WHAT IF PUNK NEVER HAPPENED

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KcFZEsn2Lls&feature=related

THE SPIZZLES - 'RISK'

Just a reminder to everyone out there how great Spizz and all of the various band incarnations are. Listened to this the other night and forgotten what a great song it is.  Couldn't find a link to an audio clip for this so included the lyrics instead so you can all sing it to yourselves (I have put a link to an audio clip of my favourite Spizz song at the bottom as compensation)

THE SPIZZLES - RISK

WE SAT AROUND THE TABLE AND WE WERE EAGER TO START
WE MADE OURSELVES COFFEE AND WE DEALT OUT THESE CARDS
LITTLE DID I KNOW THE TIME OR THE DATE
THAT THIS WAS THE EVENING I DECIDED OUR FATE

MY ADVANCING ARMIES WERE SPREAD ALL OVER THE MAP
THINGS WERE RUNNING QUITE SMOOTHLY WHEN I HAD A MISHAP
JUST WHEN I THOUGH MY TROOPS WERE REALLY WELL STACKED
THE NEIGHBOURING NATION DECIDED TO ATTACK - ME!

HE THREW A SIX AND A FIVE AND A FOUR
SMASH! WENT MY ARMIES ON TO THE FLOOR
HE THREW A SIX AND A FIVE AND A THREE
THAT'S WHEN I LOST ANOTHER TERRITORY

SO HE TAKES HIS "FREE MOVE" AND HIS CARD VERY SMUGLY
THAT'S WHEN I KNEW THIS GAME WAS GONNA TURN UGLY
MY REINFORCED TROOPS PREPARED TO ADVANCE
THIS WAS MY MOMENT MY CHANCE TO FIGHT BACK

HE'D SCATTERED HIS UNITS ONLY ONE IN ALASKA
I CAUGHT HIM OUT WHEN I CAME SWOOPING IN FROM KAMCHATKA!
BRILLIANT DECEPTION MY FINEST OF PLANS
'CAUSE WHILE HE WEREN'T LOOKING I WIPED OUT JAPAN!

I THREW A SIX AND A FOUR AND A TWO
WITH ONLY ONE ARMY HE COULD ONLY LOSE
I THREW A SIX AND A SIX AND A FIVE
NONE OF HIS ARMIES WAS LEFT ALIVE

IT STARTED WITH DICE ALL JOKEY AND FUN
BUT WHEN IT TURNED NASTY WE BRKE OUT THE GUNS
WE'D LOST OUR HEADS AND TEMPERS WERE RUNNING WILD
'CAUSE WE'D BEGUN TO USE THOSE AWFUL NUCLEAR MISSILES

WITH HEAVIER LOSSES OUR EMOTIONS DID RISE
IT WAS THEN THAT I NOTICED ONLY DEATH IN HIS EYES!
I UNDERSTOOD AS WE WENT ON RED ALERT
THAT THIS WAS THE DEVIL AND HE WAS DESTROYING THE EARTH! 

I THREW A ONE AND A ONE AND A ONE
SWEATING WITH HORROR WHAT HAD I DONE?
I THREW A NIL AND A NIL AND A NIL
AND NOW WE ARE DELIVERED UNTO THE DEVIL!

SPIZZ ENERGI - SOLDIER SOLDIER

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WzpqMI86je8

Spizz Energi are playing at the Rebellion Festival in Blackpool in August.

Check out more Spizz info at their website:

http://www.spizzenergi.com/

NZ Winter 2011 - Talking 'bout those Wheels Of Steel

Sometime with music context is everything. The use of a good tune in the right scene can elevate a film to cult status, maybe even greatness.  And the same can be said in everyday life.  Sometimes the right song on the mix tape cropping up at the right point on the journey will forever engrave the song in that moment in time. 

Last year I visited my brother, Ian and his family in New Zealand.  It was the middle of their winter and they had had the first snowfall in Wellington for over a generation. 

A few days later my brother had planned a road trip, heading north for around a 7 hour journey.  The trip was to take us over the Desert Road which up until the day before we departed was still closed due to the bad weather, but an improvement in the temperature meant it had opened by the time we set off. 

My brother had put together an impressive mixtape on his ipod (ok not strictly a tape but you know what I mean) and with it set to random off we set. 

There was an eclectic mix of music, some old classics, some never heard before but soon to be classics and some long forgotten gems.  And then this particular song came on, starting with this hard rocking but catchy riff, I looked at Ian quizically as he smiled his knowing but cheeky smile and I racked my brains to think who the band was.  It was the perfect song as we drove over the barren Desert Road. Then the penny dropped as I recalled the song that i'd probably not heard for 30 years and was a perfect example of right song, right location.

Somtimes with music context is everything...

SAXON - WHEELS OF STEEL

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IwKRyizwEKo

Saxon are appearing at the 2012 Download festival.

Dancing With The Rude Boy

Just discovered a great John Peel session from 1980 featuring Laurel Aitken with the Ruts as his backing band.  Aitken had put out dozens of singles and albums during the sixties and early seventies and made the most of the late seventies mod and ska revival by signing to Secret Affair’s I-Spy record label and releasing a couple of singles in 1980.  The peel session was recorded in April 1980 (just a month after the Ruts released Staring At The Rudeboys and 3 months before lead singer Malcolm Owen would tragically be found dead from a heroin overdose.

The tracks recorded were

Big Fat Man,

Rudi Got Married

Jesse James

Rock Me Baby/Caledonia

The full line up was Laurel Aitken (Organ, Vocals), Paul Fox (Guitar, Backing Vocals), Gary Barnacle (Saxophone, Organ), Segs (Bass), Dave Duffy (Drums, Backing Vocals) and Malcolm Owen (Backing Vocals).  Unfortunately Aitken passed away in 2005 but leaves a great ska legacy behind him

LAUREL AITKEN – RUDI GOT MARRIED

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qf5_--wy660

Kylie Joins The Meteors

Recently Kylie was seen sporting a Meteors t-Shirt (I did check the setlist from the gig but unfortunately she didn't do a cover of Wreckin' Crew).  A couple of years ago Angelina was snapped in a Crass t-shirt.  I’m not sure how I feel about this.

For me personally I wouldn’t be seen dead wearing a t-shirt of a band that I did not like.  It’s me saying, yes I’m a fan and I love this band.  You can talk to me about the band and we can have a knowledgeable conversation about them.  Unlike Tim Lovejoy on Soccer AM when Martin Freeman asked about his Ramones t-shirt:-

Martin: “Is that a Ramones T-shirt Tim?”
Lovejoy: “Er, yes.”
Martin “Do you actually know any Ramones songs?”
Lovejoy: (silence)
Martin: “Can you name two albums?”
Lovejoy: “Er, no.”
Martin: “Thought not.”

I would imagine that some of these celebs may actually be fans.  And if not so what?? It provides a bit of exposure that certainly bands like the Meteors probably would not be in a position to afford to pay for.  So as annoying as I find it when some 'b' list celeb appears in the press trying to look cool in MY Clash t-shirt there is a part of me that shrugs my shoulders and thinks just go out and buy the records you knucklehead, and earn our respect.

And just in case you are not sure who Crass are Angelina, enjoy:-

CRASS - BIG A LITTLE A

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YIdcDL64KCE

...So we came to jazz it up...

I bought this single a week or two after its release in August 1980.  We were on a family holiday at Weston Super Mare and I was 15 at the time.  Me and my brother had been heavily into music for around 18 months and really just buying anything that we could afford that was vaguely punk.  We were already big Clash fans by this time and having been exposed to the London Calling album, knew that they were capable of creating a varied sonic landscape and we loved their forays into reggae.  But this was something special.  I bought it from a record store in the indoor market and couldn’t wait to return home from the holiday so I’d got access to a turntable and could play it for the first time.  It seemed to sum up everything great about The Clash, Strummers voice had never sounded better and the band perfectly fused the link between punk and reggae.  In hindsight the song was the ideal stepping stone between London Calling and Sandinista.  My love affair with the Clash has continued for over 30 years and this song pretty much is ever present in any Clash mix tape that I put together.  And I still can’t go to Weston without a little bit of me longing for those days when visiting the record store in the market and being able to spend some of my holiday money on those punky 7”s was always the best part of the holiday.      

THE CLASH - BANKROBBER

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dSl0w5Cqj-Y