Monday 6 September 2021

The Clash - Police & Thieves / Complete Control / (White Man) In Hammersmith Palais

From their debut album The Clash cover Junior Murvin's Police & Thieves which Lee Perry had produced and co-written.

For a band of punks that 'real' musos said couldn't play their instruments they certainly made that song their own. While Clapton's racism had certainly spurred me on to help out with organising RAR in Glasgow I knew that Clapton had NOT shot the sherrif but we certainly knew ALL about police and thieves

Then the band brought Mr Perry himself on board for production duties on Complete Control and here we are what 45 years later and I really am still not sure what was added by him apart from a splash of delay when Joe intones that he does't trust you. That you shouldn't trust him and that Mick is his guitar hero... The JA/London connection brought cachet though and from that led to them getting namechecked in a Bob Marley song.

Last track, no involvement from Scratch here. Included in the mix because White Man is the greatest Clash song of them all, and was written about the gig that this poster below was advertising

There is no doubt that perhaps the younger members of the nascent spiky haired brigade were getting their first introduction to reggae rhythms and The Clash would no doubt go on to turn a lot of people onto other styles of music especially through London Calling and of course when they toured they were always bringing out superb support acts.

In Britain alone after the White Riot tour that brought The Jam, The Buzzcocks, The Slits and Subway Sect to Edinburgh as 'punk' was banned in Glasgow by the city councillors. Then when the ban was rescinded we had Hell and The Voidoids at The Apollo. Then further tours brought Suicide, Joe Ely, Mickey Dread, Prince Hammer even Futura painting a backdrop on stage while the band played.

In the US they took Bo Diddley, Grandmaster Flash, Lee Dorsey, The Undertones, The Chamber Brothers and The Cramps to name just some of the support acts

See you knew that they were fans of music of all varieties.

I mean do you actually think that Clapton listens to any music these days...oh and er Eric this is the way that song is done

Sunday 5 September 2021

Nico - Live in Tokyo (1986)

There was a time in early eighties London when you could not escape seeing Nico live.

She was probably often still billed as Nico from the Velvet Underground on the posters but truth be told by now she was the legendary Narco from the London Underground. (That's stolen unashamedly from 'Nico: Songs They Never Play on the Radio' by James Edward Young which is one of the funniest books you will ever read.) Nico would be on this bill and that one and there are esimates that she played live in the region of 1200 times between 1980 & 88.

Sometimes you had no idea that she would be taking part that night as when Rip Rig & Panic had a gig at the Wag Club on a very sultry summer night and yeah Nico joined them for a couple of VU tunes (thinking Sunday Morning and Heroin) and that WAS something special.

Anyway I decided to move to Amsterdam in 84 and look there is Nico playing The Paradiso again. And again...

My friend Laurie's abiding memory of a visit to Amsterdam in the early seventies was having his acidtrip totally turned into a freak out by witnessing her performing Janitors of Lunacy live at the...you guessed The Paradiso.

My ex- wife even had a flying visit to her home town here in Melbourne when we were living in London and yep...there was Nico performing at The Prince of Wales in St. Kilda. That was with Dr John Cooper Clarke in tow and the tales of their life in their Brixton flat in Young's book are fugn hilarious. Highly recommended

I also had Dick Witts' biography of her but I just realised that didn't make the move to Exile Towers. With the stolen book list also including Vivien Goldman & David Corio's Black Chord it is really easy for me to know who took them. (Nico fan and a photographer you say and only steals hardback copies. Hmmm)

Not only is she a khunt she is also a very rich khunt too

People eh

Leslie Winer’s Music Was a Mystery in 1990. She Still Likes It That Way

'I’m like a crazy lady at the edge of the village,' Winer said of her willingness to pioneer what became a new sound. 'Never thought of any of it like that. Just the fun of making new tracks'

Video by John Maybury

...and here's a mix of her work I put together the other day

OH MY FUCKING GOD, GET THE FUCKING VACCINE ALREADY, YOU FUCKING FUCKS

'genuine homeopathic products'

Good luck with that

Oh FFS! Seriously?

'I never saw value in reading, and then I realised that I could be an intellectual weapon if I read'

Self Portrait (Triptych)

(Exile Towers - Aug/Sept 2021)

If Texas leaders want to protect life, where are masks, vaccines, resources for kids?

The Bug - Instrumentals Dubs & Versions Mix

Tracklist:

Those Tapes Are Dangerous / Destroy Me (Version) / Rootsman VS The Bug (Version) / Killer Queen Dub / Fire Version / Zim Version / Opi Teng / One Shot Version / Living Dub / No Version / Void Version / Dem Version / Angry Dub / Bad Riddim / Box (Instrumental)

The Bug with Manga St Hilaire - Live Railway Hotel Brunswick Melbourne (15/3/15)

Recorded on hand-held Tascam

Here's the night self reviewed by Kevin:

Tonite in Melbourne was messy, it was raw, dirty, tense & nasty..LOVED IT, despite and maybe because, the lying fuck of a venue owner promised the promoters, his building was 'Fully sound proofed' prior to the event, when the dude was desperate to have the show hire his venue….but then the idiot kept bringin out bigger bouncers over time, throughout the set to try and intimidate me and the promoters to turn down the voliume..….which actually just added fuel to my fire..lol. (Although i gotta say i was sorry for the don dadas/show promoters Ben/Tom from ‘Echo Chamber’ who had to feel the heat and were forced to compromise somewhat…) i made mistakes, tech probs occured, It wasn’t as overwhelmingly loud as our normal sets, it didn’t have the light assault we normally employ, YET it absolutely rocked, cause the good ppl of Melbourne that showed, gave us maximum energy…Big yourselves up indeed……It was a psychotic rollercoaster at the 'Railway Hotel' last night …we dug it, and Manga was almost literally on fire as he rinsed the mic.. Major shout to the 'Echo Chamber' crew for sortin last night's show at 4 days notice, it was an incredible effort, + cheers for fillin the house with a sick crowd & the sweetest reggae/bass/junglegrime sounds…. I guess me and Manga really did fuck up Melbourne...It was pure madness..Crowd were incredible..Max energy. Madman victory ! Hilarious that Manga saw two women literally rip off their bras and throw them in the air, whilst i saw another girl literally clinging on to the bassbins for most of the set..The people they expressed themselves proper....hahaha.. Sorry it couldnt have been as intense an experience as we generally like to detonate, but actually it was still a blast..! And yo, can the fucker that stole my shades, plz return them, as my weakass blue eyes will fry in the sunshine down under.... (Great selfie by Manga)