Wednesday 9 June 2021

Tuesday 8 June 2021

CAN: In Search of A Vocalist

After Damo Suzuki left CAN, there were a number of other vocalists who rehearsed and played live with them in 1975/6 before they added Rosko Gee and Reebop to the core line up of Irmin Schmidt, Michael Karoli, Holger Czukay and Jaki Liebezeit

Tracklist: 
1/ Phew - I'm Your Doll (Phew vocalising over the Live At Edinburgh 1973 gig) That was Damo's last with the band and was recorded by United Artists but so far is unreleased. There are another two tracks from Phew at this session 'Hot Day In Köln​' and 'Finished' 
2/ Michael Cousins (A/K/A Magic Michael) - One More Night (from Live in Hannover 11/4/76) Once described by Nick Kent as 'Ladbroke Grove’s answer to Wildman Fischer'
3/ Tim Hardin - Rehearsal (presumably at Inner Space late 75. I have a live improvisation by them together also which is dated November 1975) Check the encore at this gig 
4/ Thaiaga Raj Raja Ratnam - Live Improvisation 1976 
The last time this was posted an ex girlfriend of Raj's left a couple of comments which filled in a few details and then there was this 
In the end CAN elected to keep the vocals inhouse RE-posted


Can’s Live Shows Will Be Heard at Last, Thanks to a Bootlegger in Big Pants

Sunday 6 June 2021

Fallen Angel

"Gram Parson: Fallen Angel" (2004) retraces Parsons' early days as a musician and his rise as a country-rock icon to his tragic death at the age of 26. The documentary features music and performances from Parsons' and interviews with family, friends and fellow musicians like Emmylou Harris, Keith Richards, Sid Griffin, and Chris Hillman among others

Saturday 5 June 2021

John Martyn - Devil Outside Mix

Earlier this morning I read about someone just having come across the late John Martyn and being totally knocked out by the sounds he wrangled out of his acoustic guitar on the live videos he'd stumbled upon, well yep...astonishing isn't it. 
Above are the songs: 'I'd Rather Be The Devil' solo in 1972, 'Outside In' live in 1975 with John Stevens on drums and Danny Thompson playing bass. As David Cavanagh said in Uncut regarding (the original) Live At Leeds release... (It) began with an 18 minute epic, Outside In, saturated in hypnotic echo, with an organic yet logical structure rising and falling, rising and falling, reminiscent of the Grateful Dead’s Dark Star on Live/Dead and he's not wrong. Finally one of the three versions of 'Black Man At Your Shoulder' that have seen the light of the day now and yet the song didn't make the final cut of One World, an LP that has never left MY top ten album list since its release in 1977 
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I'd Rather Be The Devil/Make No Mistake (OGWT 1973)
One World (with Danny Thompson &? OGWT 1977)
One World (1978) 
 
Outside In (Rocpalast Germany 1978)
 
Solid Air (Rockpalast Germay 1978)
 
Couldn't Love You More [cut]/Big Muff (OGWT 1978)
 
Unable to embed the whole gig but you can watch it HERE 
There is also this compilation of various BBC perormance up to 1981 which can be watched at the Internet Archive HERE 
I should mention that after the studio recording of Grace & Danger (which featured John Giblin on bass) that is my old school friend Alan Thomson on bass playing in the band. John's cousin lived next door to me in Glasgow and when I first met John we got on well as I'm sure a lot of people asked him about Nick Drake as indeed I did but I'm not sure many people got into a serious chat about Dudu Pukwana with him especially when they are snotty 15 year olds. I could tell you a few tales as indeed could my sister and funnily enough so can my ex wife who babysat his kids in London before we met. She physically cannot listen to him as although he wrote some amazing love songs there was a very dark nasty side to him which the alcohol and drugs brought to the fore. I remember being at some after gig party with Alan after a London gig and it was amazing how everyone was on tenterhooks wondering which Mr Iain David McGeachy would arrive. 
I should mention that there's an interesting look at the setup of the FX and guitars that he used to get those sounds over the years HERE 

Sinead O'Connor (Shuhada Sadaqat) announces retirement

Retracted

Some incredible early 80's Don Letts footage of The Slits has just gone up on youtube in the last couple of hours

 
There's more SO MUCH MORE

Friday 4 June 2021

Beauty In Blood

Via 

FUTURALAND HK

All I Need Mix

Tracklist: 
1 So In Love - Curtis Mayfield 
2 I Surrender - David Sylvian 
3 The Sweetest Girl (NME C81 Version) - Scritti Politti 
4 I Never Asked To Be Your Mountain - Beth Orton & The Chemical Brothers 
5 In The Air Tonight (Ben Liebrand Extended Version) - Phil Collins 
6 Breathless - Deborah Conway 
7 Do You Really Want To Hurt Me/Dub - Culture Club 
8 My Woman - Bim Sherman 
9 All I Need - Method Man 
10 Life's What You Make It (Fluke Remix) - Talk Talk 
11 Love So True (Depth Charge Remix) - Bomb The Bass 
12 Victory Horns - Jesse Rae & The Strange Parcels

I'm just waiting for people that know me to spot Phil Collins in this mix. I only heard this version the other day and fuck it is good. It's weird tho this extended version of In The Air is from a release in 88 where the B side is a 88 remix which is fugn horrible but I can't see any releases that have the Extended Version on them from back in 81. All the 12" singles of it from then are still 2 mins shorter and as I said I'd never heard it before. Curious. (Just solved it. It is remixed by Ben Liebrand so has to be from 88 too and seems to have just been released as a European 12"
I was in Liverpool at my Nans when that song originally came out and Tony Wilson (Factory Records) presented the local news (but VERY differently)...anyway he said that if that song was by anyone else we would all hail it as a masterpiece. Ha, I thought, what does he know? But a few years ago I took my youngest son Spacey down to watch fireworks at the Docklands here in Melbourne and when they played it everyone started grooving (me included) 
Also the Scritti Sweetest Girl version is from the NME cassette C81 and has only ever been released on that. An own goal by Green and Rough Trade there. They didn't release the other version from the album in UK  as a single for ages and we were importing and selling bucketloads of copies of the German release. 
As for Culture Club well I still like this song and when I was working at Honky Tonk Records in London's Kentish Town the rastas would turn up when the pre's were delivered and after buying whatever they would then say 'and something for the lady'...Lover's Rock sounds usually and I would sneak in Culture Club and get approval from the girls and see a foot tap from the guy but I'd made sure the sleeve was hidden up to this point and getting it to put the record in the rasta would always say "me no buying batty bwoy record" or some such shit. I also got in for free to their (fairly early) gig at Heaven to launch this song and they were brilliant tho I did feel very out of place without a lampshade on my head! Finally a shout out to Sue Clowse whose design work for them was particularly good.  
She had also designed a T shirt for Honky Tonk I had that featured Maggie Thatcher's head on Lonnie Donegan's body and Nigel who owned HT had some great curtains designed by her too
I had this tee

Sue Clowes Designs for The Foundry and Culture Club

Bustin' Out Mix

Tracklist: 
1 Terence Trent D'Arby - Sign Your Name (Lee Perry Remix)  
2 Tackhead - Don't Let Me Down 
3 The Rolling Stones - Out of Control (Bi-Polar Outer Version) 
4 Sly & Robbie with Mick Hucknall - Night Nurse (Jah Wobble 12" Mix) 
5 Colourbox - Baby I Love You So (12" Version) 
6 The Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy - Television The Drug of A Nation (Ultimatum Remix) 
7 U2 - Lemon (Morales BYC Version Dub) 
8 The Rolling Stones - Out of Control (In Hand With Fluke Instrumental) 
9 Material with Nona Hendryx - Bustin' Out 
10 Living Colour - Sunshine of Your Love (Adrian Sherwood & Skip McDonald Mix) 

NB: It is a Bon(g)o free zone tho as although U2 are on the mix, it's an instrumental! 

Ecco Homo - Motorcycle Baby / New York New York

A strange release for the fact that Bono and The Edge feature on it, but that info was never really advertised back in 1990. The story goes, when Max Q (Michael Hutchence/Ollie Olson) were jamming, The Edge and Bono dropped by the sessions after a Melbourne U2 show back in 1989 and recorded their parts of the song, which were recorded by Michael and Ollie. They only appear on the "New York, New York" track. Mixed by Todd Terry 

Van Der Graaf Generator: The Charisma Years 1970-1978 (20 Disc Boxset Coming August 2021)

A lavish deluxe 20-disc boxed set covering Van der Graaf Generator's entire recorded work for Charisma Records. Between the years 1970-1978 the band released 8 albums (two under the name Van der Graaf) for the legendary Charisma label. Each record was ground breaking and the influence of the band's unique music would be felt in the ensuing decades by artists of many different musical genres. The albums 'H to He Who Am the Only One', 'Pawn Hearts', 'Godbluff' and 'Still Life' have been stunningly remixed from the original multi-track tapes in both stereo and 5.1 surround sound by Stephen W Tayler. These feature on 4 additional CDs and two Blu ray discs. Also featured are two CDs of a recently discovered and previously unreleased entire concert recorded in Paris in December 1976 by French radio and all of the surviving BBC sessions recorded by the band, plus much much more 

HMV jumped the gun by putting up the now deleted details but go to the cached version to see the tracklist

Godbluff Live - Charleroi, Palais Des Expos(27/9/75)  
Tracklist: 
1 The Undercover Man
2 Arrow
3 Scorched Earth
4 Sleepwalkers
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Lighthouse Keepers Live 1971
5 Theme 
6 A Plague Of Lighthouse Keepers/Eyewitness/Pictures Lighthouse/Eyewitness/S.H.M./Presence Of The Night/Kosmos Tours/Custard's Last Stand/The Clot Thickens/Lands End (Sineline)/We Go Now 

Drums, Percussion – Guy Evans 
Organ – Hugh Banton 
Saxophone, Flute – David Jackson 
Vocals, Piano – Peter Hammill