BO PLUS THE DUCHESS TIMES INFINITY

The video below slays me. Bo Diddley, with the Duchess..., ooh the Duchess. She, the total proto-Ivy. I was digging a lot of stuff about this one. Hell, first off, it's in shitty quality black and white, which is totally apropos. It gets so repetitive in the middle that it's almost Velvet Underground-ish. Then there's the dancers, and the trippy (for the time) prism effects. I started to fantasize about seeing that video at high volume in front of a wall of a hundred screens, all showing it simultaneously. Party 'til you puke.

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Listen:
Bo Diddley - Diddy Wah Diddy mp3 at Diddy Wah

EL MEJOR JERRY, EL MEJOR

Flaco Jiménez has been around a long ass time. I dig him. Maybe it's because I've spent just about my whole life about twenty minutes from Mexico. I don't know. Is it a border thing? I can't be objective. Flaco's the best. (The best, Jerry, the best.)

Here's a few by him, and a Texas Tornados cut that's really good. The Texas Tornado were some sort of Tex-Mex supergroup weren't they? Doug Sahm, Augie Meyers, Freddy Fender and Flaco Jimenez, in one band. Fuck-'n-A. Beats the Traveling Wilburys, hands down if you ask me. And whoever's on pedal steel on the cut below is pretty badass too.

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Listen:
Flaco Jiménez - El Pata Caliente mp3 at Let's Polka
Flaco Jiménez - Ay Te Dejo En San Antonio mp3 at 4Shared
Flaco Jiménez - Laureles mp3 at Let's Polka
Flaco Jiménez - En El Cielo No Hay Cerveza mp3 at L.A. East Side
The Texas Tornados - Hey Baby, Que Paso? mp3 at Geolibro.org
Visit:
Flaco Jiménez - Interview at PBS
Flaco Jiménez at Wikipedia Please somebody, if you have a discography, add add it to the wiki thing!

PORT OF CALL: ODDBALL

Really, with a cover like the one above and a band called Dorothy and the Vampires, did you really expect me not to click? This ditty from Singapore might seem a bit tepid, but when will you ever run into it again? Found at Radiodiffusion International, a site that features vintage oddballs from Africa, the Middle East and Asia. If that doesn't wet your whistle, you must not be into the exotic bag.

You've heard "Miserlou," "Telstar," and "Walk, Don't Run" to the point of exhaustion, right? Here's a couple instrumentals you won't recognize, by the Silhouettes, lifted from the first stereo record released in East Pakistan (now Bangladesh). Dig it, "Bhavayia" features solos in guitar, organ and sitar.

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Listen:
Dorothy & the Vampires - 爱情感气球 (Love is Like a Balloon) mp3 at Radiodiffusion International
The Silhouettes - Bhavayia mp3 at Radiodiffusion International
The Silhouettes - Hodge Podge mp3 at Radiodiffusion International
Visit:
Many more exotic oddballs at the Radiodiffusion Annex

BURY HIM WITH THE GLOVE

Holy shit, another bummer. I just found out that Sean Bonniwell, lead singer of the Music Machine died on December 20. Before going any further let me just say this: if you don't own "Talk Talk," and don't download it now, you are a dandy boy and have no business hanging around here. If you know the song, and I'd expect that most of you do, you know what I'm talking about. Two minutes of archetypical perfection. The brevity, the lyrics, the fuzz, the organ, the vocals, the groans, the solos, the mix, the title. Shit. Can you think of a single genre specific quality that it doesn't possess? It was the Music Machine's first single. One minute and fifty nine seconds. Bang! They're in the annals.

I've moaned about some of their other less effective stuff on an earlier post, so I won't go into it here, just as I won't go into their other excellent stuff. This is just a head's up. Just listen to "Talk Talk" and relish in it's awesomeness.

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Listen:

The Music Machine - Talk Talk mp3 at Sous les Paves, la Plage
The Music Machine - Trouble mp3 at Sous les Paves, la Plage
The Music Machine - Double Yellow Line mp3 at The Rising Storm
The Music Machine - Come On In mp3 at Iron Leg
The Music Machine - Cherry Cherry mp3 at Sous les Paves, la Plage
Video:
The Music Machine - Cherry Cherry at YouTube (The sight of a flute player with a black leather glove slays me.)
Earlier Music Machine posts:
Rocket From the Machine Rocket From the Crypt play the Music Machine
If It Works, Don't Fix It Rag, rag, rag.
Read:
Sean Bonniwell - Obituary at the L.A. Times
Beyond The Garage - Sean Bonniwell's site
The Music Machine at Wikipedia

BAREFOOT IS GOOD

Are there any artists in your collection that are personal favorites, but no one else you know seems to have heard of them? You know, they become so yours, that you don't even attempt the impulsive "you gotta hear this" push. Cesaria Evora is like that for me. After listening to the one album I had for a couple years, it turned out that one of my friends had heard of her, and because of who that friend was (and still is), and what their taste in music was, it seemed to validate my own fondness for Cesaria's music.

I'm not lying: This gives me goosebumps.

Cesaria Evora passed away about a week and a half ago, and it was a uncharacteristically solemn moment for me when I heard the news, as if a friend had died. Often referred to as "the barefoot diva," she sang for years in the night clubs of her native Cape Verde in relative...no, make that total obscurity, until someone offered her a trip to Paris to record an LP in the eighties. At that point she was 47, and her career finally kicked into high gear, spreading the sound of morna globally (much like Bob Marley's music became entry level reggae). Morna is often referred to a music of longing and sadness, and because of the disparate elements, it's really kind of hard to peg the sound. It's easier to say what it feels like, and to me it feels like an earthy version of Billie Holiday, at her saddest. I'm at a loss to explain why I think it's beautiful, or if it even really belongs here.

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Listen:
Cesaria Evora - Petit Pays mp3 at Digital Citrus
Cesaria Evora - Rotcha 'scribida mp3 at Baza
Cesaria Evora - Besame Mucho mp3 at Llaertsky.com
Cesaria Evora - Sodade mp3 at Star Maker Machine Note: Go there to get it, because they have a good concise bio. Plus they get extra special credit for being one of the very few blogs to note her passing.
Visit:
Cesaria Evora - Official site
Cesaria Evora - Excellent bio at ArthurScount

HIPSTER REPELLANT

It only takes one good song to gain admission over here, and one good song is about all I know of Porter Wagoner. But, what a doozy it is. Some of you may know it from the Flying Burrito Brothers cover of it. Tom Jones, and a few others, covered it as well. To tell you the truth, I'm not sure Wagoner's is the original. Doesn't matter though. If it's all that important to you, feel free to pipe in. By the way, check out "The Rubber Room" and tell me if that doesn't have Cramps written all over it. For all I know the Cramps may have covered it. (See how I cover myself? A simple yet effective anti-nitpicker shield.)

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Listen:
Porter Wagoner - Green Green Grass of Home mp3 at Beware of the Blog
Porter Wagoner - Rubber Room mp3 at Beware of the Blog

JUST DON'T MESS UP ANYTHING

What the hell. I'll give these guys a ride. The less I know the better. They're already on thin ice, because of the stupid band name, and a song title that consists of the word "Like" seven times in a row. But, yeah, what the hell, what with the holidays and all, I'm feeling more tolerant, and too lazy to dismiss a band that managed to wiggle it's way into my space based solely on the guitar, (perfectly) crude mix, and songs that are hard to shake. I just hope they don't take themselves too seriously, because that would ruin everything.

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Listen:

The Intelligence - Thank You God For Fixing the Tape Machine mp3 at Brooklyn Vegan

The Intelligence - Sailor Itch mp3 at KEXP
The Intelligence - Like [x 7] mp3 at Get Bent
Video:
The Intelligence - Bong Life at YouTube
The Intelligence - Like [x 7] (live) at YouTube
Visit:
The Intelligence at In The Red Records

IT'S THE ECONOMY, SANTA

We had a few Christmas records when I was growing up, but none played as much as a Nat King Cole Christmas album. It consisted of a few standards and a few upbeat kid oriented numbers, the most annoying of which was "The Happiest Christmas Tree" ("I'm the happiest Christmas Tree, Ho, ho, ho!, Hee, hee, hee!, Look how pretty they dressed me..."). There was one track that was odd in juxtaposition, the dark side of the happiest Christmas tree coin. It was "The Little Boy That Santa Clause Forgot." It's got to be one of the most depressing holiday oriented songs I've ever heard. But guess what? It's even harder to hear it these days, because it paints a scenario that may be more likely today than it was when it was released.

This one is for my siblings, who know well all of the words.

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Listen:
A Girl Called Eddy - The Little Boy That Santa Claus Forgot mp3 at Crying All The Way To The Chip Shop
Visit:
Occupy Wall Street
Occupy Together

DARLENE LOVE ALERT: TONIGHT!

Wow, that went by in a blink. Exactly a year ago, I posted a thing about Darlene Love's annual appearance on The Late Show With David Letterman. Every year she performs her signature song, "Christmas (Baby, Please Come Home)" on the last Letterman show before Christmas. (You can read my whole gushing thing here.) This post is just a reminder that tonight is the night, the twenty fifth year she's done it, and it's worth watching. When I think about all the different places I've been while been watching her perform this particular song, and the different states of sobriety (it's on after midnight for crying out loud!), it's like experiencing the last couple decades flashing before my eyes. I've watched it in bars, at parties, at friends' houses, at my own parties, while wrapping gifts, while exchanging gifts, and at home by myself. Gawd, I think I may have even watched on a night I was DJing. (Again, if you want to know what the fuss is about, check out last years post.) It's my own personal holiday tradition. Make it yours.

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Listen:
Darlene Love - Christmas (Baby, Please Come Home) mp3 at AM Then FM
Video:
Added 12/24/11: Darlene Love - Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) 2011, Letterman at YouTube
Darlene Love - Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) 2010, Letterman at YouTube
Darlene Love - Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) 2006, Letterman at YouTube
Darlene Love - Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) 2009, Letterman at YouTube
Darlene Love - Saved (1965) video at YouTube
Darlene Love - Christmas Time For The Jews (claymation) video at Hulu.com (from Saturday Night Live)
Visit:
Last years post, with additional video and assorted gushing

STAY ON THE SCENE

I was going to ease up on all this holiday stuff, but that was before the Godfather of Soul entered my ear canals today. I realized that I never gave him his holiday due. It's no surprise that The Hardest Working Man in Show Business, a man who could turn a fart into a soul funk classic, was also prolific in the Christmas music game. There's tons of his holiday stuff out there and, like most of his output, a high percentage is good enough to eat. So, as I again celebrate another lazy post, here's James Brown. The Man.

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Listen:
James Brown - Funky Christmas mp3 at SB Dave
James Brown - Go Time At Christmas Time mp3 at The Sound of Indie
James Brown - Soulful Christmas mp3 at Love My Oldies
James Brown - Santa Claus Go Straight to the Ghetto mp3 at Too Much Happiness
James Brown - Christmas In Heaven mp3 at Pup 'n' Taco
James Brown - Let's Make Christmas Mean Something This Year mp3 at Too Much Happiness
James Brown - Merry Christmas Baby mp3 at Plain or Pan
Visit:
James Brown - Discography at Wikipedia

ANOTHER CHEAP HOLIDAY

Here's another Christmas mix courtesy of Big Rock Candy Mountain. Don't know if you need even more holiday stuff (I reached the saturation point a ways back), but I figured I'd let you make that choice. Like the one I posted from them a few days ago, this one has some country, but there's some other choice ass shakers too: Andre Williams, Ernest Tubb, Loretta Lynn, the Bellrays, Jack Scott, Kay Martin and Her Bodyguards, Hank Thompson, Mae West, The Dirtbombs, the Fall, Kitty Wells, Buck Owens, George Jones, and Eddy Clearwater with Los Straightjackets, and more.

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Listen:
Big Rock Candy Mountain's Junk Shop Christmas Mix at Big Rock Candy Mountain.

COLOMBIAN FELA COVER. REALLY.

This is how things happen around here (again). Yesterday I was ran into a link to a cover of the Meters' "Sissy Strut." If you know the Meters, you know the song. It's been covered a lot. (Must've been the go-to cover back in the 70's.) The particular version I clicked on was done by Sunny & the Sunliners, a band that I was getting a fairly giddy about a few weeks ago. Needless to say, "Cissy Strut" + Sunny and the Sunliners = Get outta my way! Boy, was I lucky that the clicking finger had a light touch; because the host blog, Musica del Alma, is a really good one. I intend to be lurking around over there with regularity. Check it out. My spot check revealed some consistently good stuff. After just a quick look around, I found another neat cover, of Fela's "Let's Start," by a Colombian band called Phirpo y sus Caribes. Too good not to share. If I was you I'd just bookmark that site.

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Listen:
Sunny & the Sunliners - Cissy Strut mp3 at Musica Del Alma
Phirpo y sus Caribes - Comencemos mp3 at Musica del Alma
Visit:
Musica del Alma

COMING RIGHT UP SNOOKUMS

I don't thing I have a thing to say that that look on Carla Thomas doesn't convey a thousand times better. It screams..., wait, no it doesn't. It says, deliberately, "Play my record, baby." So here's a couple of her Christmas songs. There you go. Got the holiday thing taken care of and, thanks to Carla Thomas' stare down, I can cheapo out on the copy.

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Listen:
Carla Thomas - Gee Whiz It's Christmas mp3 at Kick Kick Snare
Carla Thomas - All I Want For Christmas Is You mp3 at Sir Shambling's Deep Soul Heaven
Video:
Carla Thomas -Every Ounce of Strength (TV show, 1965) at YouTube
Visit:
Carla Thomas at the Stax Museum
Portrait of Carla Thomas - A large high resolution version of the photo above at the Stax Museum.

WELL, SO COULD ANYONE

Even if the Pogues had only recorded the one song, "Fairy Tale of New York" is enough. It isn't just a good Christmas song, it is one of those near perfect freak masterpieces (and I don't use that term loosely), greater than the sum of its parts. "Be My Baby" good. "Hey Good Lookin'" good. "Anarchy In the UK" good. "Strange Fruit" good. And the best thing about it is that it's not pretty. It's both ugly and and beautiful at the same time. Maybe it's all the symbiotic elements. Then again, maybe it's because it allows fuck ups to have a Christmas song. And by fuck ups, I mean every last one of us. Because, really, to varying degrees in different circumstances, and sometimes at the most unfortunate time, everybody's been a fuck up.

I've posted the song before, but today I found a bunch of good related stuff (that is if you hold the song as near and dear to your heart as I do). The whole story behind it is great. A lot can happen during the gestation of a song, and this one was roughly two years in the making. The circumstances that left it to ferment, as the band did, are a big part of the story. Worth looking into, as they say.

So here's what's down there. First off is the song as we all know it. Then there's the pre-Kristy MacColl early takes (at Plain or Pan). For the fiend elite, there's a documentary about the song (in six parts, at YouTube). There's also a thorough dissection of the recording of it at Sound On Sound, a site for studio geeks and recording industry types.

2/2/2012 NOTE: Due to a notice from Blogger, all links have been removed on this post. I do not yet know which was the offending link, but I know enough to play it safe until I have more details. Sorry for the inconvenience.

BIG ROCK CANDY DITTO

You've seen the photos floating around. It's of this house with tons of Christmas lights and other such flash, and the house next door has a simple light display that says "Ditto" with an arrow pointed to the house of excess. I'm like that ditto guy. I don't do mixes, I just point at them.

Here's a good one by Big Rock Candy Mountain. Roland Kirk and the Sonics on the same mix? Never thought I'd see the day. There's some others scattered around his recent posts too, a few of which are linked below. If you want to start with weird, start with "Psycho (Santa)" by Western Caravan.

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Listen:
King Salami & the Cumberland 3 - Black Santa mp3 at Big Rock Candy Mountain
The Damned - There Aint No Sanity Claus mp3 at Big Rock Candy Mountain
Western Caravan: Psycho (Santa) mp3 at Big Rock Candy Mountain
Andre Williams - Night Before Xmas mp3 at Big Rock Candy Mountain
Ron Holden & the Thunderbirds - Who Sez There Aint No Santa Claus mp3 at Big Rock Candy Mountain
Vincent Lopez - I'd Like to Find you in my Stocking mp3 at Big Rock Candy Mountain
The Mix:
A Big Rock Candy Cane Xmas at Big Rock Candy Mountain Go there to get the Wailers, the Sonics, Hank Snow, Pee Wee King, Rufus Thomas, the Staple Singers, Lightnin' Hopkins, El Vez, the Everly Brothers, the Blind Boys Of Alabama w/Tom Waits, and 17 others.

MORE HOLIDAY FODDER

Don't get all worked up in a fuss over there. There's nothing by Kiss here. That image up there was just too easy, too stupid, to not do. Anyway, here's a mixed bag of various holiday songs. Do listen to the Lee Perry songs back-to-back, and hear him go from reggae producer to space cadet. I think his "Santa Claus" is fast becoming one of my favorite Christmas songs ever. Yeah, have another Scratch!

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Listen:
Lee Perry & Sandra Robinson - Merry Christmas, Happy New Year mp3 at Music Like Dirt
Lee Perry - Santa Claus mp3 at Music Like Dirt
Clarence Carter - Back Door Santa mp3 at Music Like Dirt
Billy Childish & the MBE - Santa Clause mp3 at Brooklyn Vegan
Louis Prima - Shake Hands With Santa Claus mp3 at Lil' Mike's
Shonen Knife - Space Christmas mp3 at Lost In Your In Box
James Brown - Santa Clause, Santa Claus mp3 at AM Then FM
Carla Thomas - Gee Whiz It's Christmas mp3 at Kick Kick Snare
Tom Waits - Silent Night mp3 at Salad Days Music

PUTTING THE PRETTY IN VACANT

Just a quick one here. I wouldn't ordinarily post a Bananarama song, no matter how hot I thought they were back in the day, but I like this one. Obviously it's a Sex Pistols cover, but what I like about it is how it combines the Burundi beat, used to great effect by Bow Wow Wow, with a glam sort of beat, ala Gary Glitter, Suzi Quatro and a thousand other bands. So, forget their whole cutie pie schtick and dig the beat.

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Listen:
Bananarama - No Feelings mp3 at Sucka Pants

DIDN'T WE JUST DO THIS?

Here they come folks, as dependable as cheese balls, sugar ODs, and heavy drinking, the consolatory holiday mixes. For those with at least a toe in the humbug pool, these mixes have the stuff that will make forget what a crass, phony, consumer driven holiday that Christmas is. Holy crap. This is the way that you celebrate the birthday of your deity? Yeah, okay, pass the bottle.

So, here's Spread The Good Word's Reverend Tom Frost's Bloody Holiday Mixes. Tons of mixed up stuff: James Brown, the Ventures, Hank Snow, Davie Allan,...all sorts of stuff that will have you smiling while you're digging for toothpicks. (Check the song lists.) There's a few songs from other sites too, for those of you who don't feel like diving into mixes.

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Listen:
Cyndi Lauper and the Hives - A Christmas Duel mp3 at Swedes Please
The Bellrays - Gimme Some Funk For Christmas mp3 at Big Rock Candy Mountain
Shonen Knife - We Wish You A Merry Christmas mp3 at Bottom of the Glass
The Sonics - Don't Believe In Christmas mp3 at 4Shared
The Mixes:
Spread The Good Word Bloody Holiday Mix 9
Spread The Good Word Bloody Holiday Mix 8
Spread The Good Word Bloody Holiday Mix 7
Spread The Good Word Bloody Holiday Mix 6
Spread The Good Word Bloody Holiday Mix 5
Spread The Good Word Bloody Holiday Mix 4
Spread The Good Word Bloody Holiday Mix 3
Spread The Good Word Bloody Holiday Mix 2
Spread The Good Word Bloody Holiday Mix 1

PAYBACK FOR THE BIG KID

I ran into this one, and, though it's a novelty, I'd be remiss if I didn't repay my friend Ken with a digitized version of a song that he turned me on to back in junior high. He had a mangled version of the record, borrowed from his older brother's record collection. It made the rounds on early mix tapes, or what Ken used to refer to as "Shish Tapes" (as in tapes you listen to while you shit, shower and shave). A few years later, Ken and his friend Nick were the first friends to move out of the house and into their own bachelor pad, which loomed large in the world of young knuckleheads on the cusp of adulthood. He was also the first of my friends to get married and start a family and, though our lives have taken separate paths over the years, they continue to intersect, and we're still good friends. Friends with many, many in-jokes left to annoy and confuse spouses, girlfriends and, if we're lucky, parents.

I found this at the ever excellent Rock 'n' Soul Ichiban, with an alternate sleeve, credited to Alf Newman. Now, many years later, it's payback time.

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Listen:
Alfred E. Newman - It's A Gas mp3 at Rock 'N' Soul Ichiban
Alfred E. Newman - Let's Do The Fink mp3 at Rock 'n' Soul Ichiban

JERK IS THE WORD

Who's idea was it? I have wanted to know for years, just who's idea it was for the Stones to change the phrase in Chuck Berry's "Come On," that goes "some stupid jerk trying to reach another number" to "some stupid guy trying to reach another number"? Being that it was done on their very first 45, it could be the secret of the whole dynamic of the band. What if Jagger and Richards agreed about everything else up to that point, but Jagger was insistent enough about changing the word "jerk" to "guy," that Richards assumed the "fuck off" attitude of the band, right then and there? Or could it have been the idea of Andrew Loog Oldham? Maybe they had a vote. Who knows? I thought that the answer to this lingering question would be in Richards' tell-all autobiography Life, but no. He doesn't tell all. Not of what I want to know.

The answer's probably out there, in some Stones book, or in the mental database of any real Stones fiend. Regardless, I was reminded of that when I ran into a couple posts at Boogie Woogie Flu. Both posts are about the Stones' early material, particularly the covers they did, and they're a nice mix of the covers original versions, early Stones oddballs and a couple of unreleased tracks. I'm not linking directly to any Stones stuff (just go there to get them). Let's just say that this time it's because they changed the lyrics to a Chuck Berry song on their first record. Yeah, they're lucky this big shot listens to them at all.

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Listen:
Chuck Berry - Come On mp3 at Boogie Woogie Flu
Muddy Waters - I Want To Be Loved mp3 at Boogie Woogie Flu
Benny Spellman - Fortune Teller mp3 at Boogie Woogie Flu
Muddy Waters - I Just Want To Make Love To You mp3 at Boogie Woogie Flu
Jimmy Reed - Honest I Do mp3 at Boogie Woogie Flu
Bo Diddley - Mona mp3 at Boogie Woogie Flu
Slim Harpo - I'm A King Bee mp3 at Boogie Woogie Flu
Visit:
Gather No Moss - Rolling Stones post, part 1 (13 more songs) at Boogie Woogie Flu
England's Newest Hitmakers - Rollings Stones post, part 2 (9 more songs) at Boogie Woogie Flu

THE PRIDE OF ZURN

The Mystery Suggester hit pay dirt again. This time with Reverend Beat Man's band, the Monsters. Seriously, I can't get enough of the Beat Man, his music, his label, and his whole schtick. The video below, starring Beat Man, is what she hipped me to. It totally reminded me of my friend Greaser's imitation of a drunk horny old man trying to dance with a hot chick at a dive bar. It's so close to the video below, that I'd swear he choreographed it. It's a rockin' song to boot.

Work it Beat Man!

Here's a few from the Monsters. There's a ton more mp3s by other bands on the Voodoo Rhythm roster, including Reverend Beat Man solo stuff, at the Voodoo Rhythm Publishing page. (Click on "mp3" link on the menu.) You gotta like the tagline: "Music to destroy all your social skills." That is, presuming you have any left.

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Listen:
The Monsters - I Want You mp3 at Voodoo Rhythm Records
The Monsters - I Wanna Do What I Wanna Do mp3 at Voodoo Rhythm Records
The Monsters -The Love I Never Had mp3 at Voodoo Rhythm
The Monsters - I'm a Record Junkie mp3 at Voodoo Rhythm
The Monsters - Go Away Fuck Yourself mp3 at Voodoo Rhythm
Visit:
Voodoo Rhythm Records

HERE WE GO AGAIN

Depending on where your tastes lie, troplicália could either be a "where the hell is the rock 'n' roll?" thing, or it could be "fuck yeah! different, with just enough weird" thing. I'm among the fuck yeah-ers. Ran into this post at Super Sonido a while back, and find myself returning to it a bunch, just to sort of pace myself. Being that troplicália is poorly represented in my own music stash, this has, over the last week, created another one of those temporary obsessions; the kind that could either last a few days, months, or half a lifetime. One of the cool things about listening to unfamiliar music, that is good unfamiliar music, is that you never know how long the obsession will last, or in what intensity. This being on the cusp, and the anticipation of what may or may not come, is what it's all about.

So, Super Somido ("The Latin America Cultural Reverb"), had this post. It is of Gal Costa stuff from 1968-74. It's good stuff, and varied. Having only dabbled (Os Mutantes), this is where I continue. See you there.

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Listen:
Gal Costa - Vou Recomecar mp3 at Super Sonido
Gal Costa - Relance mp3 at Super Sonido
Gal Costa - Acauã mp3 at Super Sonido Wait for the freakout.
Gal Costa - Pontos de Luz mp3 at Super Sonido
Gal Costa & Gilberto Gil - Sebastiania mp3 at Super Sonido Hmm, freakout endings seem to be a trend.
Gal Costa -10 more cuts, 15 in all and great copy at Super Sonido
Visit:
Troplicália at Wikipedia
The Best Troplicália Albums at Sounds and Colors
Gal Costa Official site

YES, I CAN HEAR YOU KNOCKING

Let me start by saying that the version of "Wild Horses" below, by Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings is one of the best interpretations of a Stones song that I've ever heard, in any genre or era. A bold statement, I know, but listen to the whole thing. Not just a few bars, the whole thing. It builds and builds. It's epic. Really. It smokes.

As many of you probably know, the UK music magazine Mojo comes with a themed CD every month, with varying results I think you'd agree. But this month they did a bang up job of rounding up current soul acts to do covers of songs from the Stones' Sticky Fingers. The concept CD, titled Sticky Soul Fingers, is good enough that it's worth the price of the magazine (about ten bucks in the U.S.). While it's all current acts, with one of two exceptions they're all in the traditional soul vein, and it serves as an excellent overview of todays old school soul torch bearers. Believe me, if I was able to find more selections floating around, every cut on the compilation would be down there. (You can get snippets and a complete list of artists at Mojo's Sound Cloud here.) This sucker is in the running for the best album I've heard all year. That good.

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Listen:
Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings - Wild Horses mp3 at The Mad Makerel
Joe Black Lewis & the Honeybears - Sway mp3 at The Mad Makerel

Sticky Soul Fingers - Snippets of cuts at Mojo's Sound Cloud From Alice Russell, The Bamboos, Naomi Shelton and the Gospel Queens, the Sugarman 3, Aloe Blacc and Joel Van Dijk, Ren Harvieu, Anthony Joseph & the Spasm Band, Lee Fields and, of course, Sharon Jones and Black Joe Lewis.

LUDWIG VON HAS A POSSE

Classical music has never been my thing, it's one of those "maybe I'll get to it later" genres that I've never hated, but has never really wound my watch either. More than a few people have tried to twist a classical piece into some sort of upbeat novelty instrumental, presumably for us low culture types, but I ain't buying it. That said, Diddy Wah just posted B.Bumble and the Stingers take on Beethoven's Fifth, and because he's someone I consider an musical ally, I gave it a listen. Gotta say, as hokey as the concept sounds, if you forget the source material it's not all that bad, just another faceless instrumental. I seem to remember Kim Fowley having something to do with the creation of that studio band, and I've always considered him an asshole blowhard, so I can't be completely objective. Here's that one and a few other rock-gone-classical anomalies.

Oh yeah, before I forget, Diddy Wah now has radio shows posted online that you can download as mixes. You can find them here (click on the small arrow on right of the streaming gizmo to download).

~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~

Listen:
B. Bumble & the Stingers - Mashed #5 mp3 at Diddy Wah
Takeshi Terauchi & the Bunnys - Theme From Beethovens Fifth mp3 at Beware of the Blog
B. Bumble & the Stingers - Rockin-On-'N'-Off mp3 at Diddy Wah
Takeshi Teraushi - Sabre Dance mp3 at Beware of the Blog
Takeshi Terauchi and the Bunnys - Let's Go Classics LP (classical covers, 11 mp3s, right click song titles) at Beware of the Blog
Bonus:
Diddy Wah's Radio Show at NTS Live Note: Click on small arrow on the right of streaming gizmo to download.
Video:
Dave Edmunds - Sabre Dance (Live) at YouTube

I'M WITH THEM

Dobie Gray died yesterday. The singer of the soft rock mainstay "Drift Away," he really hit his stride earlier with "The In Crowd," an ode to hipster cliques that I've always been at particular odds with. Thankfully, Sam the Sham and the Pharoahs crafted an answer that I could live with. Now, I know that Gray didn't write "The In Crowd," and that Sam the Sham and the Pharoahs' "(I'm In With) The Out Crowd" could use a little more oomph (it sounds pretty tame compared to "Wooly Bully"), but with all due respect to family and associates of Dobie Gray, I gotta go with the latter.

Exhibit A, From "The In Crowd": "I'm in with the in crowd, I go where the in crowd goes, I'm in with the in crowd, and I know what the in crowd knows." Sounds like there's a pack mentality going on.

Exhibit B, from "(I'm In With) The Out Crowd": "But I’m in with the out crowd, and they never seem to care, if my clothes are tattered and worn, or the way I wear my hair." Here, here!

~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~

Listen:
Dobie Gray - The In Crowd mp3 at The Soul Girl
Sam the Sham & the Pharoahs - In With the Out Crowd mp3 at Beware of the Blog
Bonus joke I heard minutes ago:
Q: How many hipsters does it take to screw in a light bulb?
A: Nevermind, it's an obscure number that you've probably never heard of.

HAMMER OF THE WHAT? OH BROTHER...

A cover of "Immigrant Song"? Sure, I'll bite. But only if it improves on the original. Oh, it does? Okay, let's go then. Here's Trent Reznor and the effervescent Karen O with a cover of a Led Zep ditty, a wonderful song that I'm sure you're all going to enjoy. And a one, and a two,...

~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~

Listen:

Trent Reznor & Karen O - Immigrant Song mp3 at Shelter From the Norm From the soundtrack of The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo.
Led Zeppelin - Immigrant Song mp3 at Mercury Paradise

Dondero High School - Immigrant Song mp3 at Archive.org From Pop Concert 2004

Led Zeppelin - Immigrant Song (Streetlab Remix) mp3 at Streetlab
Video:
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo trailer at YouTube
Led Zeppelin - Immigrant Song (Live) at YouTube

DEAR SANTA, GIVE THEM THIS SUCKER

The first time I ever heard Don & Dewey was at a party (here it comes...) a long time ago. Even over the murmurs of conversation, it hit hard enough to hunt down the host of the party, and complete a thorough investigation. It was immediately added to the ongoing want list. Amazingly Tower Records, of all places, had a reissue of their stuff, and it was good, from beginning to end good. No stinkers.

Ever since getting hooked by that LP (on Specialty no less), I've tried to figure out why Don & Dewey weren't, and still aren't, better known. They're like some sorta Little Richard meets a rockin' version of Sam and Dave, with some gravel thrown in. And a little bit of rhythm and blues, with electric violin. They recorded the original versions of "Leaving It All Up To You" (a hit for Dale & Grace, in a much milder version), Farmer John (the Premiers, and The Searchers), and the Sonny Bono penned "Koko Joe" (the Olympics, and the Righteous Brothers). And every one of their original versions is superior to their respective covers. They should be huge.

Here's what I could find. The only version of "Farmer John" I could find was an awfully tinny version on YouTube, and it's so bad that I left it out intentionally. That song is one that must boom. Without the ability to blast it, it is not the same song. Buy their record. The one with "Farmer John." If you can't find it anywhere else, there's always the online retailers.

~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~

Listen:
Don & Dewey - Jungle Hop mp3 at The Adios Lounge
Don & Dewey - Justine mp3 at Beware of the Blog
Don & Dewey - A Little Love mp3 at Rock 'n' Soul Ichiban
Don & Dewey - Bim Bam (streaming) at YouTube
Don & Dewey - Kill Me (streaming) at YouTube
Don & Dewey - I'm Leaving It All Up To You (streaming) at YouTube
Visit:
Don & Dewey - Excellent bio at The Hound Blog Unfortunately the mp3 links are dead.
Don & Dewey at Wikipedia