LOCK DOWN THEATER NIGHT 20

Don't know how many of you have seen this but it's just about the best documentary on punk rock as I've seen. Punk: Attitude, a film by Don Letts who quite definitely has the credentials to back it up. He was a DJ at the Roxy, an early punk club at ground zero, London, England, 1977. There were so few punk records at the time that he filled in with reggae, which is a big reason why so many early punk rockers picked up on reggae. He later started filming gigs, later still was in Big Audio Dynamite with Mick Jones of the Clash. He's been around, and he knows what's what. I've posted about him, or mentioned him several times here, most recently just a week or so ago on the Marvin Gaye post (the video talk about "What's Goin' On"). Dude is as important as anyone out of the London punk scene, more influential than most, eloquent and with a knack for pointing out the important elements. An anthropologist of sorts.

Punk Attitude is his two hour documentary on the music, the attitude, the life and the history of punk rock, with all sorts of heavyweights. Good as this documentary is, you really need to get the DVD set because the extras include several short mini-docs (women in punk, L.A. punk, etc.) that are just as good.

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Listen:
Don Letts' Culture Clash, Joe Strummer tribute show at Radio Clash

WAIT. ORGAN?

The jazz station DJs have been furloughed so the station has been playing canned jazz. Good for listening during the day because most of the pre-recorded sets are classic jazz. Pre-pandemic the regular daytime DJs got a little too current for my tastes. Admittedly I don't know much about jazz, but I know what I like. I like classic, but also the crazy shit. That's why I'm missing the shows they used to have on Sunday nights. Free jazz. The real crazy shit. Tonight I remembered that I'd posted link to Destination: Out's Beginner’s Guide to Free Jazz. I revisited that, a dozen from all sorts of free jazz sub-genres. I forgot about Miles Davis's seven minute organ freakout, "Rated X". Him playing organ instead of trumpet sounds baked in and of itself, but the song takes it to another level. This one is just totally bat shit crazy.

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Listen:

Miles Davis - Rated X mp3 at Destination: Out

Beginner’s Guide to Free Jazz at Destination: Out 12 more cuts

BURN YOUR PARENTS' RECORDS

What the hell. No comments at all for the past two months. That doesn't exactly make one want to put out. So I won't. But, listen here pea-greens, if I never post another word here, know this. Rock 'n' roll is doomed without some sort of scuzz. Don't listen to your parents classic rock just because it exists on vinyl. By and large it sucks anyway. You are a different generation. Listen to something that will shake their sensibilities, preferably scuzzy. You are younger, you have your whole life to get spit shined, should you choose to. But you do not want to miss the opportunity to have your parents dislike your music. The Flat Duo Jets had the requisite skuzz. We could use another band like that. Shit's too show biz these days. This video is a shot in the arm.

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Listen:
Flat Duo Jets - Harlem Nocturne mp3 at Beware of the Blog
Flat Duo Jets - Frog Went A Courtin' (streaming) at YouTube
Flat Duo Jets - Golden Strings mp3 at Leave You Wanting Less

LOCK DOWN THEATER NIGHT 19

This time of year, at some point in the day, I take a walk and go jump in they ocean. For whatever reason, as I'm wading in, on my way to the depth that I can start swimming, I hum whatever song pops into my head. Sometime it can be disastrous. Tonight it was not, it was Howlin' Wolf's "Spoonful". I don't know where it came from, I haven't heard in ages. Lucky you, you get a mess of Howlin' Wolf because a song was in my head for less than a minute. If you don't know who he is, there's a documentary in eight parts, each about ten minutes. Trust me, Howlin' Wolf is essential stuff.

The Howlin' Wolf Story, Part 1. (Links to Parts 2-8 below)

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Listen:
Howlin' Wolf - Spoonful mp3 at Thiago Freitas
Howlin' Wolf - Killing Floor mp3 at PS Celebrities
Howlin' Wolf - Drive This Highway mp3 at Probe Is Turning-On the People
Howlin' Wolf - Evil mp3 at Tad Richards
Howlin' Wolf - Smokestack Lightning mp3 at BP Comp
Howlin' Wolf - Going Down Slow mp3 at Tumblr
Howlin' Wolf - Little Red Roster mp3 at Feel Good Playlists
Howlin' Wolf - Moanin' at Moonlight mp3 at Tumblr
Howlin' Wolf - Howlin For My Baby mp3 at Tumblr
Howlin' Wolf - Back Door Man mp3 at Tad Richards
Howlin' Wolf - Three Hundred Pounds of Joy mp3 at Tumblr
Video:
The Howlin' Wolf Story Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8 at YouTube

ADRIANO CELENTANO. ME NEITHER.

I'm going to tell you right out of the gate. Your next click could determine how you hear this particular song for years to come. If you listen to the first link below at Bandcamp (audio only), you'll hear a slinky Eurofunk-lite thing. Repetitive as hell, but when you just let it go you fall into it. It's one of those oddball songs that's just a little off, but it does have a groove to it. Don't click the video link yet. If you already have, you'll know why I was trying to warn you.

If you watch the video you'll never hear the song in the same way again. "What the fuck do we have here?" was my first reaction. It's just fucking weird. The video came to my attention on a friend's Facebook feed. He's a trucker with a mess of ink, a big guy you wouldn't want to fuck with. Why he posted it, I don't know or care. It's a cool jam with a weird as fuck video. Sold.

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Listen:
Adriano Celentano - L'Unica Chance (streaming) at BandCamp
Video:
Adriano Celentano - L'Unica Chance at YouTube

ALL TIME STONE COLD CLASSIC

When is it an apt time for Marvin Gaye's "What's Goin' On"? Now. Always. For the past five decades it's never lost it's relevance and never sounded dated. The LP really is a masterpiece. Sound wise is is a huge step up from the feel good Motown pop factory, and it was socially concious. Motown owner Berry Gordy didn't like it a bit. Released almost behind his back, when it became a hit Gordy asked for an LP within 30 days. Gaye did in ten.

There are a lot of ingredients in the song, how it was written, why it was right for Gaye, the initial rejection by Gordy, the accidents kept and adopted, the weed and liquor that made the sessions more leisurely. James Jamerson, the bassist, showed up so liquored he was unable to sit on a stool, so he played laying on the floor. That said, the weed vibe is dominant. This is one of those songs, and LPs, that it really is worth learning more about. The talk by DJ/filmmaker Don Letts goes into detail and there's more on the Wiki page.

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Listen:
Marvin Gaye - What's Going On mp3 at Muzik World
Marvin Gaye - Mercy, Mercy Me (The Ecology) mp3 at Michael Axx
Marvin Gaye - What's Going On (vocal isolated) (streaming) at YouTube
Video:
Klipsch x CAS: Don Letts presents "What's Going On" at YouTube
Visit:
What's Goin' On - Album entry at Wikipedia

LOCK DOWN THEATER NIGHT 18

Here's a mess of Specials related stuff. The Specials were at the forefront of the second wave of ska, a primarily English movement, most of it on Two Tone records. What passed as ska was really more like kinda sorta ska. Nevertheless, they resusitated the music that hadn't been heard in the States or the UK for a decade or so and, well, and now you have the third wave, fourth wave and so on, all increasingly more removed from the original Jamaican ska. But what the heck, if they were able to introduce Dandy Livingstone, the Maytals and others to fringe punk rockers and new wavers, good for them. I remember hearing them and Madness for the first time and totally digging them from the git-go. Alas, Madness went the MTV route and the Specials morphed into Special AKA and though the later released some really good records, they left ska behind.

Tonight's fixation on the Specials came about after seeing a short documentary on the wide lasting influence of Two Tone. When I was watching it I was thinking that, while I love the idea behind the label and the movement, the Specials were just about the only band on the roster that I really cared for. The Selecter? I don't mind them. But don't come near me with any of that Beat stuff. I can't stand the English Beat. The Body Snatchers were good. "The Boiler" by Rhoda Dakar backed by the Special AKA is intense. Shit gets serious. Parties end.

There's a few songs below, and a video of complete show from their 30th anniversary tour in 2009. Though missing a few key players, it's good for a few.

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Listen:

The Specials - Gangsters mp3 at Tumblr
The Specials - Rat Race mp3 at Tumblr
The Specials - Too Hot mp3 at Tumblr
The Specials - Too Much Too Young mp3 at Tumblr
The Specials - Little Bitch mp3 at Tumblr
The Specials - Take Five mp3 at Tumblr
The Specials - Do the Dog mp3 at Tumblr
Video:
The Specials 30th Anniversary Tour at YouTube Full set, 24 songs
Visit:
2-Tone.Info - Extensive fan site

RIGHTEOUS

Both songs below are essential. Not just today or this week, or this month. Because their intent, their meaning, their music and their place in the history of black America and popular music are still relevant.

The image above has a story behind it. Check it here.

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Listen:

James Brown - Say It Loud I'm Black and I'm Proud mp3 at Autistici/Inventati

Nina Simone - To Be Young, Gifted and Black mp3 at Autistici/Inventati

BIRTH OF THE ISLAND COOL

This was a completely forgotten link, probably from years ago. I don't think that the blog it came from exists anymore, yet the link still works. It's Tommy McCook's "Tenor on the Call". McCook was a saxophonist, one of the handful of horn players that absolutely ruled the ska and early reggae years. He was there at the beginning, in some ways he is the beginning. Along with Roland Alphonso (sax), Don Drummond (trombone), and Bobby Ellis (trumpet), they were everywhere, notably Duke Reid's and Studio One. You be hard pressed to find any ska or reggae cut from 1963-1970 with horns on it that didn't have at least one of them on it; more often than not a couple or more. And there's a lot of stuff where one of them would stand out, front and center. This was one of McCook's moments, a hazy nine minute jam on Studio One. It's a few years later in his career, from 1977, hence the percolating riddim and non-stop relentless stuck in second gear percussion. Nice combo though.

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Listen:

Tommy McCook and the Discophonics - Tenor on the Call mp3 at Big Rock Candy Mountain J-Bird (?)

Tommy McCook - Ten Song mix (streaming) at YouTube All "Best of"s are subjective.

Jazz Jamaica - Jazz Jamaica (streaming) at YouTube Early, pre-ska Studio One featuring McCook.

BEYOND THE VALLEY OF THE FORGOTTEN LINKS

Do you ever stop what you're doing to listen to whatever music is playing? And then get into it enough that you never go back to what you should have been doing? Yeah, that's tonight. Check Soul Unlimited, that's where I've been the last couple of hours. A ton of good mixes, the two I was digging on tonight are linked below, one African, one soul, both excellent.

 

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Listen:

Soul Unlimited Radio Show 444 African Music Special
Soul Unlimited Radio Show 383 Soul, funk, jazz, popcorn, rhythm and blues
Soul Unlimited Home page 

PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT

COOL DOWN? THAT'S IT?

Oh yeah, "Cool Down Mr. Cop". That ties right into current events. Not really. It's a song about getting hassled for licking the cup, getting stoned. And cool down is not nearly strong enough language. This is about where things become more about Gregory Isaacs. The song itself, well shit, Gregory Isaacs is Gregory Isaacs. Or was. He didn't do harsh. And harsh is what's needed these days.

But there's room for Isaacs, who had social commentary in his songs, along with the lady killers. If you are already familiar with him, check the interview/profile linked below. It's good, in depth and long. Learn some new shit.

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Listen:
Gregory Isaacs - Mr Cop (steaming) at YouTube
Gregory Isaacs - Mr Cop Dub (steaming) at YouTube Lee Perry
Gregory Isaacs - Slum Dub mp3 at Earmilk Prince Jammy
Gregory Isaacs with Carlene Davis mp3 at Tumblr
Gregory Isaacs - Night Nurse mp3 at Feems (?)
Gregory Isaacs - Night Nurse Dub mp3 at Feems (?)
Gregory Isaacs - Substitute mp3 at Lavachequilit (?) 
Live stuff:
Gregory Isaacs - Live at the Roxy at Fresh Bread 1982, Los Angeles. Twelve individual mp3s
Visit:
The Tarnished Genius of Gregory Isaacs at Reggae Vibes By Roger Steffens

A BELATED BOW TO A LIFER

Man, I guess this is what I get for not paying attention. I just heard that Phil May died last month. I would have thought that someone would have mentioned it, but no, nothing. Considering the fact that he was a contemporary of the Stones with similar influences and in a band that played the same venues early on, one can't help but compare the lack of shits given stateside compared to the howling that would have come with Mick Jagger's death.

May was the lead singer and a founding member of the Pretty Things. a band he started with Dick Taylor who had been in the earliest incarnation of the Rolling Stones. (Prior to that, Taylor had been in Little Boy Blue and the Blue Boys with Keith Richards and Jagger). There were other similarities, bands named after blues songs, gigging the same places, etc. but you know what? If you take a photo of 1966 May and put it next to a photo of 1966 Jagger it's like comparing photos of Johnny Thunders and Elvis Costello. In a cool contest May wins hands down. I'm sure there's a reason why they never made it big in the states, but it wasn't the quality of the music or May himself. That's another thing. Every person I know that's a Pretty Things freak is someone who really knows music, much more than your garden variety Stones freak. So somehow this turned into a fuck the Stones post. Anyway, here's some Pretty Things stuff.

Dig this video, the way the thing devolves into a rhythmic dirge and bounces back again. After watching it, it hits me. I now know what Redd Kross listened to, some of the vocals sound a lot like the McDonald brothers and the overall sound isn't far off either.

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Listen:
The Pretty Things - Don't Bring Me Down mp3 at Tumblr
The Pretty Things - Big Boss Man mp3 at Tumblr
The Pretty Things - S.F. Sorrow is Born mp3 at Tumblr
The Pretty Things - Trust mp3 at Tumblr
The Pretty Things - I See You mp3 at Tumblr

EASILY AMUSED WEDNESDAY

This is cool. A new Stooges live LP with the original line up doing the complete Fun House LP. From 1970, the last show ever with that line-up.

There's also a link to the more thorough blurb, along with a great interview with Iggy Pop, at NME. Once there, scroll down for the interview.

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Visit:
Original Stooges lineup’s final concert to be released on live LP at NME

GREAT MOMENTS IN UNEXPECTED FUZZ

I hadn't heard "Have You Seen Her" in ages. It's super smooth seventies-era soul. I've heard it on the radio a zillion times, not so much in recent years, so what the hell I thought. I soon found out that what I've heard over the years has been a severely edited radio version. The entire song is five minutes something. Trimmed out were the dramatic monologues at the beginning and at the end. Also trimmed was the wicked fuzz intro, I think. I don't remember ever hearing it, and I'd think I would. Regardless, the fuzz is wicked and the longer version gives the song enough time to build, and the ride is sweet. This song is fucking smooth.

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Listen:
The Chi-Lites - Have You Seen Here mp3 at Gale Mullins

CHILLS, FEVER AND BACK SLOP. YIKES.

The posting of this song has absolutely nothing to do with the Covid-19 virus. It's just a damn good song. The original by Ronnie Love has everything you could ask from a rhythm and blues song, and the horns in the intro send you there quick. I took a liking to Allen Wayne's cover, which is a little more of a soul shouter thing. Okay, all is well. Let's go find an image of this Allen Wayne. I couldn't find one anywhere, and every dead end involved diversions left and right. That's where I ran into the blog Seven45rpm. Holy shit, I went AWOL. After one listen of Baby Earl & The Trini-dads' "Back Slop" the wheels came off . I'm calling it a night.

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Listen:
Ronnie Love - Chills and Fever mp3 at Soul Garage
Allen Wayne - Chills and Fever mp3 at Soul Garage
Baby Earl and the Trini-dads - Back Slop (streaming) at Seven45rpm
Visit:
Seven45rpm

WEED THEM OUT

I've posted this song before, but it bears repeating. Yet again. Special AKA's "Racist Friend". The gist of the lyrics is advising the listener to cut off relationships with anyone they know who is a racist. It seems simple. That's because I don't have any racist friends. Not anymore. They've been let go over the years as soon as their their beliefs became apparent. It's crazy now that I think about it. This song was released in 1984, and I remember at the time hearing the lyrics "If you have a racist friend, now is the time for your friendship to end" and thinking at the time "Now is the time? How about years ago?!" 

You may think it extreme, to dismiss a friendship or relation because of their views. It is not. De-friending a racist is necessary. As my sister pointed out on Facebook recently, not being a racist is not enough. If you really are against racism. you must fight racism. You must be anti-racist. You must remove the toxic crap from your relationships and in doing so, from the world. That easy. Racists are dead to me.

LOCK DOWN THEATER NIGHT 17

Man, oh man, I've seen the Who's Live at Isle of Wight Festival 1970 DVD a bunch of times and it always amazes me how tight they were. And how entertaining and exhausting it is to watch Keith Moon for an extended period. And how full they made their sound with just guitar, bass and drums. Townshend is the best at switching from chords to leads to riffs and back. As much as I like the Who's earlier mod era shit, right around 1970 they became a well oiled machine.

For years the only taste of their live performance from that era was from their Live at Leeds LP that was also recorded in 1970. Then a few years ago, the Isle of Wight thing came out with many of the same songs. As good as the Leeds LP is to listen to, seeing them perform the same set is a whole other ball game. Really, it's exhausting to watch, particularly Moon, and excluding Entwistle who could not be more staid, albeit with chops.

The video below isn't the whole DVD, but it's an hour of it. Check out how they make mincemeat out of the originals by Johnny Kidd and the Pirates, Mose Allison and Eddie Cochran, and as bombastic as their original version of "My Generation" is, the later version on this is like a cover by a completely different band. Just as powerful with added volume. There's short cuts to those songs in the video and the originals in..., you know.

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Listen/Watch:
The Who - Young Man Blues (Isle of Wight) at YouTube
The Who - Young Man Blues (Leeds) mp3 at Tumblr 
Mose Allison - Young Man Blues mp3 at Blogoblat
The Who - Shakin' All Over (Isle of Wight) at YouTube
Johnny Kidd and the Pirates - Shakin' All Over mp3 at Tumblr
The Who - Summertime Blues (Isle of Wight) at YouTube
Eddie Cochran - Summertime Blues mp3 at Rocky 52
The Who - My Generation (Isle of Wight) at YouTube
The Who - My Generation mp3 at Prisken

OKAY, NOW LET'S LOOSEN THOSE NECKS

This isn't one of the Avengers' better known songs and I haven't really listened to it in years. Hearing "Second to None" again, I now hear Suzi Quatro, the Sex Pistols, Gen X, and Joan Jett doing a Slade song. That's not the actual truth, but Steve Jones did write the music and I think he played on it and produced it as well. I think that's the story. You've got more time on your hands than I do, you look it up.

The other song, "The American In Me", was their first 7". Just down there for filler.

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Listen:
The Avengers - Second To None mp3 at Mod Punk Archives
The Avengers - The American In Me mp3 at Mod Punk Archives

I GOT NOTHING

Oh, man, I was about to pack it in and not post anything but then I ran into this 1968 appearance of The Crazy World of Arthur Brown doing "Fire" on Top of the Pops. It's so bad it's beyond "so bad it's good". I never really gave a shit one way or another about this song, but after viewing the video I can't hear it again. These guys are just complete idiots. Even the way Brown holds the mic bugs me. So of course I have make you endure it. It's like smelling leaded gas out of the exhaust of some smog exempt sled. Novel to take in but get me the fuck away.

BAND PHOTO

There's a select subset of old farts like me that could not pick a member of Flipper from a police line up if their life depended on it, despite having heard their music for decades. They're not that kind of band. But I guarantee you that all of them, the select subset of old farts, have a visceral reaction when they see that logo above. Instantly recognizable and easy to duplicate or borrow from, as demonstrated by the below customization of my younger brother's Falcon. The lettering on the rear fender says "Body by Flipper".

So, tonight after tripping over a post with Flipper's "Ever", I went looking for an image of their logo. I ran into the photo below. Nope, never seen 'em. Despite the fact that I've seen the band live, none look familiar now, years later. Oh yeah, but that logo. I could probably draw that in my sleep.

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Listen:
Flipper - Ever mp3 at 30 Milkshakes