Double Nugget, Hard-to-find

Slave To The Rhythm Method

Craig McAllister

You’ll need a good scrub in the bath after listening to some of these tracks…

Probably long before Little Richard even though about hollering “Tutti Frutti, Oh Rudi“, pop music has been awash with sexual reference and innuendo. Island Records’ current celebration of their 50th birthday found me thinking about ‘Pull Up To The Bumper’, the Grace Jones hit from 1981.

grace jones bumper

The elastic band bassline (courtesy of Sly and Robbie’s Robbie), pattering percussion and honking horns can’t disguise the fact that this track is downright filthy. Taken at lyrical face value it would appear to be about driving through city streets at night, cruising the scene looking for action. So far, so very 80s. The fact that it’s sung by a woman might change your perception of it a wee bit, but if you know anything about Grace Jones you’ll be well aware of her appetite for life’s little pleasures.

grace jones cage

It should therefore come as no surprise when you read between the lyrics and discover that Pull Up To The Bumper is really an open invitation to come and get it.

Driving down those city streets,
Waiting to get down,
Want to ditch your big machine,
Somewhere in this town?
You’ll find the proper place,
Just follow all the written rules,
You’ll fit into the space.

Now in the park and lock garage,

Pull up to my bumper baby,
In your long black limosine,
Pull up to my bumper baby,
And drive it in between.

Pull up, to it, don’t drive, through it,
Back it, up twice, now that, fit’s nice.

back up I’ll pump your tire baby

We operate around the clock,
So won’t you please come in?
There’s lot’s of space for everyone,
Plus one for you my friend?

The lines are short,
I’ll fix you up so won’t you please come on,
That shiny, sleek machine you wheel,
I’ve got to blow your horn.

Pull up to my bumper baby,
In your long black limosine,
Pull up to my bumper baby,
Drive it in between.

Pull up to it, don’t drive through it,
Back it, up twice, now that fits nice,
Grease it, spray it, let me luricate it,
Pull up to my bumper baby.

See what I mean? There’s a multitude of versions out there. In addition to the original version from the Nightclubbing album (see above), there’s a nice early version from the Compass Point studio sessions (I think). There’s also an extended 12″ (uh-huh) version, which is basically the unedited final version of the album track. Larry Levan, Paradise Garage house DJ supremo took that version and updated it to a sleeker, club-friendly version.  This version reminds me a whole lot of..

Prince bw

…‘Lady Cab Driver’ by Prince. Shuffling percussion? Check! Rinky-dink funk guitar? Check! Honking horns? Check! Suggestive lyrics? Check, although Prince isn’t as suggestive as Grace Jones, he’s more straight ahead and right to the point. Of course, the purple headed perv is no stranger to such things. But you knew that already. But have you heard the alternate mix of ‘Erotic City‘?

clique

The easily offended should cover their ears and look away now. The Clique are a mysterious band. The ying to Grace Jones yang, their track ‘Bareback Donkey Riding’ was recorded in 1995 by Mr Lo-fi himself, Liam ‘Friend of Jack White’ Watson at ToeRag Studios. But if you didn’t know that, you would be let off for thinking this track was recorded by some enthusiastic mid-western garage band in 1964. Heavy on the hammond, distortion and passionate vocals, it’s a Nugget-friendly no hit wonder. But have a listen to some of the lyrics…

Well here we are again

It’s you and me my friend

Let’s go throught he same routine

We’ll get there in the end

 

Last night she went away

Didn’t want to stay

Packed her bags and called a cab

I guess it’s not my day

 

If I could find a girl who’d like to hold the reigns

We could carry on our sordid lovers games

Bareback Donkey Riding! Bareback Donkey Riding!

Let’s go through the same routine? Beg beg beg! What d’you mean “not tonight?” Sounds like his girl left him because he wanted to do something that she didn’t. ‘Bareback‘? No protection? Another word for donkey? I’ll leave you to work out what it all means. I might be wrong…

*BONUS TRACK. Here‘s the Serge Santiago Special Edit of Grace Jones‘  ‘Slave To The Rhythm’.

Cover Versions, Hard-to-find, Sampled

Yeeeaaaeeeh! This Deck(s) is on Fire!

Craig McAllister

I heard Suggs on Radio 2 this morning, waxing lyrical about Unfinished Sympathy by Massive Attack. Without a doubt one of the greatest singles of the last 20 years, it was probably the first record of it’s genre to turn me onto music that wasn’t guitar-based and played by skinny, spotty wee boys from the Home Counties. Hearing it again had me scrambling around my record collection to find all the other mixes of the track that I have. The best ones are available below…

massive attack unfinished

The track originally appeared on Blue Lines, which you knew anyway, and is an album you’ve probably heard/got already. If not, it’s never too late. Go seek it out. The single was released around the time of the Gulf War starting in 1991 and as a result Massive Attack were forced to shorten their name to Massive. A wise move, as Unfinished Sympathy was all over the airwaves. Every time I saw MTV at my girlfriend’s house, the video was on. Pre-dating Richard Ashcroft’s cocky gangling swagger in the video for Bittersweet Symphony (coincidence?) by a good few years, it showed guest vocalist Shara Nelson walking through the steets of LA’s West Pico Boulevard seemingly unaware of the chaos around her. Apparently it was shot in one take. If I could, I’d include the video below, but YouTube being what it is these days doesn’t have the original promo on it anymore. I’ll have to make do with this still instead.

shara1

As you will be aware, the track is a cracker. However, you may not be aware that it starts with a percussion sample from Bob James’ version of Paul Simon’s ‘Take Me To The Mardi Gras’. Bob James’ whole track is a wee bit elevator muzak for my liking, but if you listen carefully you’ll hear that distinctive banging on pots’n’pans and tapping on glasses filled with water percussion break. Massive Attack speeded it up a wee bit and built their track around it. There you go.

The track is mostly revered for its string part. The story goes that the band had used synthetic strings in the studio but knew that the track really need the full orchestral swoop that their keyboards just couldn’t replicate. But that cost money. Lots of money. And the band were skint. So they hatched a plan. Tossing a coin, the loser (don’t know who it was) was forced to sell his BMW in order to pay for the string section. Luckily for all involved, every one of them would soon be able to have any BMW they desired, but who knew that at the time?

massive attack shara

Hear No Evil. See No Evil. Speak No Evil. Make brilliant record.

I have 5 versions of the track. There may be more, I don’t know. To be truthful, the mixes I have all sound quite samey to these ears. But as it’s such a  brilliant track, who’s complaining? The Paul Oakenfold Perfecto mix is a good remix, building on the percussive base of the original and taking it into slightly Stone Roses territory. Or at least, I thought so 18 years ago. Nelle Hooper’s mix is fairly straightforward, adding some choral backing vocals and pushing the bass a wee bit more to the fore (I’ve included the 12″ mix, but not the 7″), but for me, the original is still the best. Contrast and compare below.

Original mix

Nellee Hooper 12″

Perfecto Mix

Instrumental

Naturally, the success of the track spawned a thousand imitations. Bjork’s ‘Play Dead’ being one of them. (But that’s a great record too). Less successful were the cover versions. I know you’re sitting there thinking, “Who’d even attempt to cover Unfinished Sympathy?” Well. Tina Turner. That’s who.  What d’you make of this? Yep.  Takes me right back to my days on the shop floor in Our Price. A right stinker, just as I’d remembered. Overblown, windswept and bloated. With a hilarious spoken outro. Gads! We don’t need another hero, Tina. Stick to singing Mark Knopfler throwaways. She used to be great in the 60s too. What happened?  

Oh, and another thing.  When I eventually get round to learning the piano, the piano part from Unfinished Sympathy is the one thing I’ll aim to master. Those big bassy minor chords and the tinkly melodic bit. Hey, hey hey-a hey!

MassiveAttack decks

Cover Versions, demo, Gone but not forgotten, Hard-to-find

Since you’ve g-o-o-o-ne ah got a mess of the blues

Craig McAllister

The words of Elvis Himselvis. Maybe my favourite Elvis tune ever. It’s certainly one of them, right up there with Guitar Man et al. Anyway. A mess of the blues. Or to be more exact, many versions of Blues Run The Game. Written and originally recorded by Jackson C Frank it’s become a ubiquitous live standard on the folk scene. It’s been sung by a million sensitive finger picking  souls. And it’s been recorded by hundreds of them too. Some versions better than others, none of them particularly messy (sorry if the heading was misleading), all of them worthy of hearing for different reasons.

jackson c frank

Jackson C Frank’s story is tragic. In another world and time he’d be as revered as Tim Buckley or Nick Drake. If you know about him, this’ll ring true. If you’ve never heard about him read on.

In 1954 when he was 11, an explosion in Jackson’s school killed15 of his classmates and left him disfigured and hospitalised for 7 months. During this time he learned to play the guitar. The explosion in the school was national news at the time and a substantial compensation was set aside for victims of the event. Fast forward to Jackson’s 21st birthday and a cheque for $100,000. Not a nice way to receive such a  sum of money, but Jackson grabbed his chance and set off for England, with the money burning a hole in his pocket and the intention of buying ‘cars and guitars’. Stop for a moment and ponder that statement. I recently re-read Ian Hunter’s fantastic ‘Diary of a Rock ‘n’ Roll Star’. After reading it, the one thing I’d bet my house on is the fact that America has all the best cars and guitars. Jackson must’ve had very conservative tastes indeed.

Meeting Paul Simon on the folk circuit led to Simon producing the ‘Blues Run The Game’ album. The track of the same name was the first original song he wrote and was a standout both on record and in concert. No internet in those days, the folkies would sit, ear cocked with note book and pen in hand to quickly scribble the words. They’d then add it to their own set of songs for their next show at The Finger In The Ear or wherever they were on.  I know this as fact. As the son of 2 folkies, I ‘borrowed’ my dad’s copy of ‘Bringing It All Back Home’ and inside it found this scribbled sheet of A4 paper with half the words to Bob Dylan’s 115th Dream scrawled across it in some form of shorthand. Anyway, I digress. Jackson’s story doesn’t turn out particularly happy.

There’s a phrase they use. A musician’s musician. It means someone so supremely gifted that their peers worhsip at their fantastically talented feet. Not necessarily the wider audience at large. The paying customer.  Never was this phrase more true of Jackson C Frank. Dylan. Drake. Denny. All playing on the same folk scene at the time, they all dug him. (Everyone dug everyone in the 60s, yeah?) But as Sandy Denny and especially Dylan (we’ll talk about Nick Drake another time) went onto sell records and everything else, Jackson didn’t. A combination of writer’s block and mental health problems (a knock-on effect from the events in his childhood) saw him fall apart quite spectacularly. At the start of the 70s his son died from cystic fibrosis. Heavily depressed, before he knew it, his mental health was so bad he was institutionalised. Following this, he wandered the streets of New York homeless and helpless. Being in the wrong place at the wrong time led to him being shot and blinded. Through years of neglect, his voice was shot and no matter who tried to help him, it seemed Jackson wanted nothing from anyone. Shame, as his friends could see what was happening and were trying desparately to help him recapture his muse and maybe steady him on an even keel once more. It was not to be. Jackson’s troubled life ended in 1999 when he died of a heart attack, aged 56. Cheery stuff, eh?

jackson c frank 99

Jackson C Frank in 1999. Holy fuck.

Blues Run The Game is the sort of song Elliott Smith would be writing these days if he too were still alive. What is it about fucked-up singer-songwriters? It has been done by many. Here’s a few versions….

Nick Drake (taken from one of the countless bootlegs available online)

Bert Jansch (faithful and tasteful re-working)

Simon & Garfunkel (outtake from their debut album sessions)

Eddi Reader (gives it a restrained, shuffly acoustic Led Zeppelin III treatment. Taken from her Simple Soul album. S’a cracker)

Headless Heroes (Feisty-sounding, anonymous 21st century collective from America. S’another cracker!)

Any other 21st century folkies with an ear cocked and notebook and pen poised might be interested in the following…

Catch a boat to England, baby,
Maybe to Spain,
Wherever I have gone,
Wherever I’ve been and gone,
Wherever I have gone
The blues are all the same.

Send out for whisky, baby,
Send out for gin,
Me and room service, honey,
Me and room service, babe,
Me and room service
Well, we’re living a life of sin

When I’m not drinking, baby,
You are on my mind,
When I’m not sleeping, honey,
When I ain’t sleeping, mama,
When I’m not sleeping
Well you know you’ll find me crying.

Try another city, baby,
Another town,
Wherever I have gone,
Wherever I’ve been and gone,
Wherever I have gone
The blues come following down.

Living is a gamble, baby,
Loving’s much the same,
Wherever I have played,
Wherever I throw them dice,
Wherever I have played
The blues have run the game.

Maybe tomorrow, honey,
Someplace down the line,
I’ll wake up older,
So much older, mama,
Wake up older
And I’ll just stop all my trying.

Catch a boat to England, baby,
Maybe to Spain,
Wherever I have gone,
Wherever I’ve been and gone,
Wherever I have gone
The blues are all the same.

 

jackson15

Happy Jack

 

Hard-to-find

Album of the Year? – Nae Danger!

Craig McAllister

Strange one this. Easily one of the best albums of the year so far, Danger Mouse‘s ‘Dark Night Of The Soul’ will be released in a lavish $50 package, featuring a glossy David Lynch collated booklet, a blank CD and, er, that’s about it.

“All copies will be clearly labeled: ‘For Legal Reasons, enclosed CD-R contains no music. Use it as you will,’ ” a spokesperson for Danger Mouse said.

danger mouse cover

Danger Mouse has fallen out big style with EMI. Or rather, EMI has fallen out big style with Danger Mouse. Ever since his online Grey Album phenomena, when his re-working of the Beatles White Album with Jay Z hit the virtual streets he’s been out of favour with the label.

And it seems EMI won’t release the finished album in it’s current state. A press release was posted all over the internet a day or so ago:

“Due to an ongoing dispute with EMI, Danger Mouse is unable to release the recorded music for Dark Night Of The Soul without fear of being sued by EMI.”

The music is absolutely fantastic. Weird, wired and strangely psychedelic, every track features a cameo from some of alternative music’s highest profile movers and shakers. Iggy Pop, Frank Black, Julian Casablancas, Grandaddy’s Jason Lytle….I could go on.

DARK NIGHT POSTER FINALai

The first track, Revenge, features Flaming Lips’ Wayne Coyne. It sounds like a 21st century take on Pink Floyd’s ‘Us & Them’. And I mean that in a good way. Super Furry Rent-a-mumbler Gruff Rhys contributes vocals to atrack called Just War which, hard as it may seem to believe (given that SFA have just released a top notch album themselves) is better than anything on said album. Nina Persson (sigh) gets 2 shots on the album. Daddy’s Gone could be the poppiest track on it. A countrified acoustic groover with harmonies, a string section and a woozy Beatles guitar riff every now and again. In short, about a zillion miles away from the sort of hip hop you might expect Danger Mouse to be fashioning on his laptop.

It’ll be a crying shame if the abum remains unreleased, although it can be found in all the usual places if you look hard enough. If you like the 3 tracks above, go seek it out.

Cover Versions, Hard-to-find

Reissue! Revalue! Repackage!

Craig McAllister

…in more ways than one. Morrissey, the Wilderness Years began in 1995 and lasted, some would say until 2004’s ‘You Are The Quarry’ album. He floated between labels, juggled his band line-up around and, possibly due to the fact he was whoring himself around Hollywood at the time, failed to capitalise on the jingoistic nature of BritPop and all that jazz. I actually think he’s still in the middle of a wilderness as I write, but who am I to say? I don’t go to his gigs these days; have you heard his band? Have you seen his band? 4 bouncers playing bad rock with about as much soul as a lump of wood. And I don’t buy the new stuff. That new single about someone squeezing his skull is, bluntly, shite. So why on earth he’s decided to re-release the 2 worst selling (if not actually just worst overall) albums in his catalogue at this precise moment in time is a mystery that not even Miss Marple could solve.

fat morrissey

This alarming man

Except he’s not actually re-releasing them, he’s re-presenting them. Southpaw Grammar and Maladjusted have been fiddled about with. They’ve both been given new artwork. Both running orders have changed. Whole songs have disappeared (bye bye Maladjusted‘s lead-off stinker of a single ‘Roy’s Keen’), old b-sides and previously-binned tracks have taken their place (hello ‘Sorrow Will Come In The End’). Yes. Sorrow Will Come In The End. Yes? Yes, because it’s a belter.

morrissey last supper

‘Friend, do what you came for’

It starts like Nick Drake, all downbeat cello and string quartet. It continues with all the pathos of prime beehive-era Shangri-Las or Dusty Springfield. Whips crack. Flutes shrill. It goes into waltz time. Neil Tennant frantically starts scribbling in his Big Book Of Songwriting Tips. Why is it so good? Cos old sourpuss is singing about his court battle with Mike Joyce, where the amiable drummer won and claimed his share of the Euro Millions. It’s a stinging tale of hatred and revenge. But you knew that already. If you didn’t, you could work it out for yourself…

mike joyce

Here’s the words, every last stinging one of ’em…

Legalized theft
Leaves me bereft
I get it straight in the neck
(Somehow expecting no less)
A court of justice
With no use for Truth
Lawyer …liar
Lawyer …liar
You pleaded and squealed
And you think you’ve won
But Sorrow will come
To you in the end
And as sure as my words are pure
I praise the day that brings you pain
Q.C.’s obsessed with sleaze
Frantic for Fame
They’re all on the game
They just use a different name
You lied
And you were believed
By a J.P. senile and vile
You pleaded and squealed
And you think you’ve won
But Sorrow will come
To you in the end
And as sure as my words are pure
I praise the day that brings you pain
So don’t close your eyes
Don’t close your eyes
A man who slits throats
Has time on his hands
And I’m gonna get you
So don’t close your eyes
Don’t ever close your eyes
You think you’ve won
OH NO

Here‘s the music.

One of the first ever things I wrote on Plain Or Pan was about Morrissey‘s version of ‘Moon River’. Often since requested, I’ve decided to do my own bit of Reissue! Revalue! Repackage! by reproducing the original feature below…

morrissey hold on

Anyone with a reasonably good set of ears will know that ‘Vauxhall & I’ is by far Morrissey’s best solo work. Only just ahead of ‘Your Arsenal’, but much, much better than the over-rated ‘You Are The Quarry’ it is a classic of sorts. Released in 1994, the playing, the songwriting and the vocal delivery all come together on a near-perfect wee album. It kicks with the melancholic majesty of ‘Now My Heart Is Full’ and gets better as every new track comes in. The singles released from the album were all (in my head) number 1 smashes.

All (in reality) were not what could be called ‘chart botherers’. The first single ‘The More You Ignore Me’ went in at a respectable number 8. ‘Hold On To Your Friends’ did less well. Straight in at 47 before tumbling to 74 and off the radar forever. Which is where we come in. You see. On the b-side was Morrissey’s version of ‘Moon River’ All 9 minutes and 38 seconds of it. He croons! He swoons! He goes on a wee bit! But it’s magic. For a while, the inclusion of this track meant that ‘Hold On To Your Friends’ was a reasonably valuable Morrissey single to own. However, a quick trawl through eBay shows it is not quite as sought after as it once was. Nonetheless, your life is not complete until you’ve heard it. So here it is, in all it’s majestic glory.

Dylanish, Hard-to-find, Most downloaded tracks

Bin there, done that

Craig McAllister

Bonjour tout le monde. My muse has deserted me recently, leading to a slowing down of me posting new stuff. I cannae even be arsed writing a proper review of last night’s Bob Dylan show in the big red shed at the SECC. But it was a belter. Visions of Johanna and everything. Way better than the last time I saw him (2 years ago) when his band pulled out 4 and a half minute guitar solos every chance they got. My review of that show even caused a minor stir in the Dylan community at the time. How dare you slag off Bob, and all that. It’s here if you have a spare couple of minutes.

I’d like to welcome anyone who’s visiting for the first time after reading the bit I did for the Vinyl Villain. I’d also like to take this opportunity to encourage any regulars on here to pay a visit to the Vinyl Villain. His blog is regularly updated and consistently excellent, which is something I can’t really say for Plain Or Pan these days.

tcs-bw

Special band, Special Needs.

I wrote a piece on the Trashcan Sinatras for the Vinyl Villain. He’s off on holiday and asked for some ‘guest’ contributors for the whole of May. My piece was posted yesterday and the traffic I’ve received due to it is very welcome. As a thank you, here‘s another hard-to-find Trashcan’s obscurity – the download-only studio version of Hammertime. Originally released electronically via the band’s very short-lived Picnic Records website a couple of years ago, it is now unavailable. Unless you shell out £40+ for the All The Dark Horses limited edition 10″. Or unless you click the link above, of course. Given the right setting (an official album of rarities or the b-side of a hit record) Hammertime would shine. However it has been relegated to a footnote in the Trashcan’s wonderful discography. It deserves a second chance. Go on. Give it a listen.  

New visitors to Plain Or Pan may be interested to learn that in November and December last year I was raided by the internet police. All music files dating from Nov 08 right back to Jan 07 were deleted. So the only music you can download from here is essentially anything since the start of 2009. Here’s some stuff you may have missed…

The first Plain Or Pan compilation album, compiling all the best bits of the now- deleted stuff. CD1 and CD2. Comes with artwork.

Over 20 versions of The La’s ‘There She Goes’. It’ll give you a sore head after a while, but, reallly, you need this.

The La’s legendary Kitchen Session. Listen to it here. Read about it elsewhere on Plain Or Pan. Take the time to find it and read about it, will you? Cheers!

The Beatles ‘Sgt Peppers..’ Master tape. Audio gold. A music fan’s wet dream. Call it what you will, but if you’re new to this, then prepare yourself!

The Beatles newly unearthed Revolution Take 20. Fake? Genuine? You decide!

Mojo magazine’s Johnny Marr compiled (by me) CD. With artwork. Here.

A rare mix of Marvin Gaye‘s ‘What’s Going On’.

The Arctic Monkeys do Van McCoy’s ‘Baby I’m Yours’. It’s a belter!

There’s tons of stuff on Plain Or Pan. I take time to ensure only the choicest, juciest most hard-to-come-by tracks are included. I’d be grateful if you could take the time to unearth some of it. A good compilation CD awaits those with patience and a good download speed.

Cover Versions, demo, Hard-to-find, Uncategorized

We’re Lost In Music. Caught In A Trap. I Quit…

Craig McAllister

I don’t quit. I merely quote you the lyrics of Sister Sledge. Bob Dylan holds them in such high regard he plays this track immediately before taking the stage each night on his never-ending tour. (ahem….cough….etc). Aye right.

previously-on-lost1

There’s a fine line between madness and genius and brilliance and shite, and I think I may have just (very belatedly) discovered the musical threshold by which an artist can cross over from one side to the other. I say ‘belatedly‘ because the following tracks have mostly been floating about the ether for a year or so and had I not been listening to Stuart Maconie’s Freak Zone on BBC 6 Music on Sunday night, they’d still be happily floating about the world wide web and I’d be none the wiser.

Just Wink

The Ballad of Sayid Jarrah

Be My Constant

The tracks in question have been recorded by Previously On Lost. As the advert says, it does just what it says on the tin. From Season 3 of ‘Lost‘ onwards, these 2 guys have written, recorded and released via their MySpace site a song a week, based on that week’s episode of Lost. Genius? Aye. The songs? Er….aye. It’s a bit Flight Of The Conchords, which is clearly no bad thing. In fact, that’s a very good thing, but I get the feeling these guys take themselves a wee bit too seriously. Anyway, their tracks vary in quality, length and genre on any given week. They pastiche doo-wop, Prince-style funk and any other genre you care to suggest. All played on the cheapest of Casio keyboards and plastic-sounding guitars and sung in the highest falsetto you could possibly achieve wearing skinny-fit cheapo Top Man jeans. If you’re a fan of Daniel Johnson or Ween they might be right up your street. Me? I love Flight Of The Conchords, but I think I prefer the real thing.

previously-on-lost-studio

Genius at work (?)

Let me know what you think. If you dig, feel free to go to the band’s website and buy Previously On Lost‘s new elpee, “The Tale of Season 4 and the Oceanic Six“. In the meantime, here‘s The Fall‘s version of Sister Sledge’s ‘Lost In Music’.

Le money il sur la table

Il money est sur la table

The palace of excess-uh  leads to the palace of access-uh!

Hiiiideawayyy!

What the fuck does that all mean? I mean, I can speak French and that, but what’s he on about? Make no mistake,  Mark E Smith is a true madness/genius threshold straddler.

Cover Versions, Hard-to-find

Warts ‘n All

Craig McAllister

This one’s for Rockin’ Rik and anyone else who likes a good dose of old fashioned horn skronking juke-joint blues-soul. Eli Paperboy Reed came to my attention via his now legendary (in mine and Rik’s house at least) performance on Later with Jools Holland.

Pity he reminds me of that unfunny excuse for a ‘comedian‘, Jimmy Carr, but we can forgive him that, as Eli’s only gone and recorded a cover of Motorhead’s ‘Ace Of Spades‘. And put it out on vinyl! Go Eli!

eli-ace-7

The Good

Tight-as-you-know-what Stax horns, a vocal delivery that would give Otis Redding nightmares and a drum break that’s ripe for sampling. It’s a limited release, and quite hard to find due to the fact that your average high street has no decent record shops, so I’ve put it up for you here. It’s all the same to me…

eli-paperboy-reed

Listening to Eli doing ‘Ace Of Spades’ reminded me of a single I bought back in 1993. Corduroy were on the hipper-than-hip (though ultimately fashionably flash in the pan) Acid Jazz Records. They were formed from the ashes of long-forgotten late 80s mod hopefuls Boys Wonder. Dressed head to toe in polo necks, winkle pickers and, yes, brown corduroy, Anthony without assistance from any of his Johnsons could no doubt have given them a good kicking without too much sweat breaking.

motorhead

The Bad

For about 5 minutes in 1993 I thought they were the Next Big Thing, mostly due to this, their cover of Motorhead’s ‘Motorhead‘. I remember playing it to some big hairy guy when I worked in Our Price. ‘Fucking shite” was his straightforward appraisal. I think it’s a wee bit better than that, but not much. It’s no Jamiroquai (make of that what you will). Extra points for the polite guitar freak out half way through.

motorhead-girlschool

Which brings me on to the real deal. Yer actual Motorhead. Noisy. Fast. Loud. What’s not to like about that? Or this? Their cover of Johnny Kidd and the Pirate’s  ‘Please Don’t Touch’ (with Girlschool). Now that’s what I call a proper guitar solo. This mp3 is taken straight from an old crackly 7″. If you want super hi-fi stereo you know where to look!

lemmy

The Ugly

entire show, Hard-to-find, Peel Sessions

Peel Slowly And See

Craig McAllister

On constant rotation chez moi this week has been the new long player from the Super Furry Animals. It’s called Dark Days/Light Years and it’s a belter. But you probably knew that. So far ahead of everyone else in terms of originality and imagination, I would say that the Super Furry Animals are currently the Best Band on the Planet.

super-furry-animals

Except they’re clearly not on this planet. To the uninitiated, on the face of it the Super Furries are just another generic indie guitar band. But look closer. Are there any other groups who can go seamlessly from pastoral folk to fuzzed guitar psychedelia to nose bleeding Belgian hardcore-apeing techno to native language singalongs? Effortlessly? Often in the one song? Nope. Of course not. So that’s settled. The Super Furry Animals are the Best Band (almost) on the Planet.

The band clearly stockpile songs and only release them when the stars are aligned and the vibe is right. ‘Inconvenience‘ from the new album sounds like Golden Retriever from their Phantom Power album, only with better lyrics. Gruff Rhys has said it was an old song looking for the right album. Looks like it found it. Even the slow songs on this album are fast, he’s said. And they are. But enough of that. If you’re a fan of SFA you’vre probably got the album by now. If you’re sitting on the fence, get off it now and hop over to any good music retailer, physical or online and take a punt. You won’t regret it. If you’re one of those folk who say you don’t like them (and there can’t be that many people), click on the link below and for free you can download the band’s Peel Session broadcast from John Peel’s house on 12th July 2001. Then get yourself over to any decent music retailer etc etc…

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The session in question that was broadcast from Peel Acres is a cracker. In front of a small audience they go through 3 tracks from the Rings Around The World album that they were promoting at the time. They also play a Welsh language track that featured on that year’s Welsh language album Mwyng. But the highlight for me is the first track. Written on the way down to the session, reveals Gruff, ‘Zoom!‘ would not make it’s official appearance until 2005’s criminally under-rated ‘Love Kraft’ album. Another old song looking for the right album.

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This session is as good an introduction to the Super Furries as anyone needs. Opening track ‘Zoom!‘ is a slow-burning builder of a song; a nice combination of acoustic guitars and Pink Floyd synths. By the time it had made it onto ‘Love Kraft’ it was twice as long and had swimming pool splashes, trumpets and all sorts of sonic embellishments on top, but the version here is pretty much complete from the off. Second track, ‘Fragile Happiness’ is worth hearing purely for the way mumbling Gruff sings “We’ll go to Miami“. It also sounds uncanilly like fellow pastoral folkies Gorkys Zygotic Mynci (seek them out if you’ve never heard them). With my ignorance of the Welsh language I have absolutely no idea what is being sung on ‘Nythod Cacwm’, but it’s that melodic you can sing along without needing to know the words anyway. Sevem minute long lighters-in-the-air power ballad ‘Run! Christian, Run!‘ follows and the whole session finishes with the excellent ‘A Touch Sensitive’. Sadly, not a cover of the Fall track (and given the setting, you could be forgiven for thinking that), it’s a hypnotic instrumental that sounds like the theme to some long lost sci-fi spy film. Big bass line, bubbling analogue synths, an echoey, dubby piano riff and Krautrock drums. Yep. Super Furry Animals. Hands down Best Band (almost) on the Planet.

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Beardy, weirdy and bloody magic

 

demo, Most downloaded tracks, studio outtakes

Well, flip your wig!

Craig McAllister

So Phil Spector is finally found guilty. Six years to reach the only obvious conclusion, although, most music fans could tell you he’d committed murder as soon as he got his tiny little hands on the master tapes to ‘Let It Be’. But it’s official – it’s moiduh and Phil Spector will probably spend the rest of his life in a cushy corner of some state penitentiary or other, bald and friendless.

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Murder 1

Of course, as you know, the music he worked on is mostly sublime. Timeless, not set by generation. You could be 5 or 95. There’s something there for all of us. Some of those tracks are practically folk songs. I’m going to remember him this way. And you should too. Listen to The Ronettes in the studio doing ‘My One And Only Baby’ as it was called before becoming ‘Be My Baby’. Here‘s an amalgamation of takes 21-25, mostly instrumental, with the odd backing vocal and studio chatter flung in for good measure. A Wall of Sound production in production.

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Murder 2

Here‘s an unrecorded take of the same track, complete with  lead and backing vocals and that ricketty-ticketty percussion at the end of every line. The wee tape rewind at the beginning makes me think this is Spector’s first play back of the completed track, but that’s only my thoughts. I guess we’ll never know now.

Finally, here‘s that Ronettes ‘Baby I Love You’ isolated vocal track that everybody still emails me about. *Note. I incorrectly labelled this as Be My Baby Vocals. But before you get yer knickers in a twist I just checked, and it’s definitely the vocal track of Baby I love You. OK!

Last time I posted tracks of this ilk, they were removed tout de suite by the DMCA. Make like Phil with a .45 and act fast!

Later everyone, gotta shoot…….!

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Murder 3