Saturday, October 31, 2020

SKITTLES?!! FUCK SKITTLES!! KIT KATS!!

I'm gonna just unload a bunch of last minute Halloween stuff. It's a mixed bag. Whatever, it's not like there's going to be many Halloween parties this year. But! You can have a party at home with the Creepy Creeps! It's an audience-free covid show recorded last night, hosted and sponsored by the Casbah. Dig the Creeps' outfits under the black lights. The link is down at the very bottom. NOTE: The set doesn't start until 29:32 in the video.
 
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Listen:
Dead Kennedys - Halloween mp3 at Hey Cool Kid
The Cramps - I Was a Teenage Werewolf mp3
at Hey Cool Kid
The Cramps - Confessions of a Psycho Cat mp
3
at Review Stalker
Rocket From the Crypt - I Drink Blood mp3
at Xtrmntr
Rocket From the Crypt - Rise From the Dead mp3
at Xtrmntr
Feature presentation:
The Creepy Creeps Live at the Casbah
at Twitch TV NOTE: The set doesn't start until 29:32 in the video.

Friday, October 30, 2020

NOT LATE. YOU'RE EARLY.

Holy shit, here we are on the Friday before Halloween when all of you cubicle dwellers (you that worry about your beauty sleep during the week) will attempt to get your ya yas out. Here's some apropos spooky shit that you'll need for the shindig, the so called party you're too lily livered to have on the actual night of Halloween. Ahem, ...each mix has a couple dozen songs so they should last you until the buckets come out.

Some have playlists and some don't (deal), but all are downloadable (you can take that party to the back seat). These are from Grey Haas and I don't remember how the hell I found them, but they've been there year after year just waiting me to have a lazy night, so a lame ass copy and paste jubilee night it is.

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Listen:
Trick or Treat, Volume 5 (via MediaFire) at Grey Haas
Trick or Treat, Volume 6
(via MediaFire) at Grey Haas
Trick or Treat, Volume 7
(via MediaFire) at Grey Haas Go there for the song list.
Trick or Treat, Volume 8
(via MediaFire) at Grey Haas Go there for the song list.
Trick or Treat, Volume 9
(via MediaFire) at Grey Haas Go there for the song list.
Trick or Treat, Volume 10
(via MediaFire) at Grey Haas

NOTE: Volumes 1-4 are kaput.
Slight return:
Trick or Treat Volumes 5-10
(streaming) at MixCloud The same mixes with less hassle

Wednesday, October 28, 2020

LOCK DOWN THEATER NIGHT 34

This just in: A new Sun Ra Arkestra LP, the first in twenty years or something. It's about as close as you're going to get to a new Sun Ra LP considering Space Brother #1 blasted off several years ago. I've only heard two so far and they are awesome. I'm all over this one. (More about it at Aquarium Drunkard.)

Then I remembered! Sun Ra's movie, Space Is The Place! [Palm to forehead.] A perfect selection for Lock Down Theater! The way to watch this movie is to poke around, check out a snippet here and there, No matter where you land, it's likely you'll think "What the hell is this all about?", until you'll finally break down and watch the whole thing. And then you'll think, "What the hell is this all about?"

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Feature presentation:

Sunday, October 25, 2020

BRING IT ON HORNS.

Elmore James with horns, late but still great. You wouldn't think it would work but it does. His grit still cuts through. Dig the guitar tone. The second one down there is just a bonus.

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Thursday, October 22, 2020

TUBBY AND THE DUB TOY

I've listened to enough yapping today and I just ran into a collection of dub sides that King Tubby did. Recorded from 1974-1979, with his got-to posse, the Aggrovators. The Aggrovators had Carlton Barret, Sly Dunbar, Carlton "Santa' Davis, Robbie Shakespeare, Aston Barrett and Tony Chin. I would think that any of you with a decent knowledge of reggae would recognize at least a couple of those names. Just Sly and Robbie alone (pre-syn-drums!), they were the hot rhythm section at the time.


This record used to be all over the place. I put off picking it for years because the LP cover was so unimaginative. That's a nice way of saying it sucks. I've seen bad album covers on good reggae records but this one prevented me from even picking it up. And it was on a Canadian label, so I probably thought the mixes were factory seconds, not his best stuff. Once I knew more about reggae, saw the personnel listed on the back and considered the era (pre-digital), it wasn't hard to find a copy. You can usually find a used LP for less than twenty bucks. If you just want to check out an online version (with downloads) there's a link below.

The big news tonight is that, when looking at past Tubby links here, I was reminded of this Dub Selector thing. It's a interactive page with nine or so riddims that you can fuck with yourself, albeit in a primitive nature. But it's fun making noise and, depending on your level of boredom, amount of mood enhancers, and interest in dub, you could be there for a long time. My best advice is to just start clicking away on anything that's blinking or moving. Some have echo effects, some drop out one instrument or more, and some are just a rim shot here, or a reverb kick there. Most have vocals that can be brought up, or dropped out. The small dark purple icons at the bottom take you to different riddims. If you are at all into dub, this site is a something you ought to bookmark.

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Listen:
King Tubby - Rastafari Dub (1974-1979)
at Internet Archive 12 mp3s or streaming, In the right column, under "Download options" click on "VBR MP3 Files"
Play:
Infinite Wheel Presents Dub City Rockers
(Interactive dub simulators. Description in paragraph above.)

Tuesday, October 20, 2020

WHEN 1980 WAS "LATE"

Bob Biggs, the guy behind Slash Records, died a few days ago. He came aboard in the waning days of Slash, the magazine, and funded Slash Records, taking over that avenue when the magazine folded. I hadn't reviewed the Slash discography in a while and was surprised when I took a look. Everybody into punk rock will remember Slash as the label that put out the seminal first LPs by the Germs and X. I had forgotten that the Slash discography also included the first Dream Syndicate LP, the first Gun Club LP, Rank and File, the Blasters and Los Lobos. Each of those bands was significant, in a big way. The label also had the Violent Femmes, L7, and Faith No More. Reading further I realized that I had probably never read through the entire discography. If I had I would have definitely remembered that Slash put out two Burning Spear LPs. That I did not know.

Here's just three songs. There are more by the other bands mentioned above elsewhere on other posts here. Just use the search box (at the top left above the mast head) or the tags to the right. I'm not going to cut and paste links all night.

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Visit:

Monday, October 19, 2020

BURN YOUR SUBLIME RECORDS

Have you ever heard a good white reggae band? Yeah, I know. Most of them, practically all of them, just flat out suck. Their "roots" are either Sublime or if they're a little older, someone like Big Mountain. Horrid stuff. I really haven't heard many that are worth bothering with. Several years ago I had a relative in a reggae band with "roots" in the band name but their music could not have been further from it. This past week, a guy I know told me his brother was in a reggae band, yet another with "roots" in the name. With more then a little apprehension I went looking. Give the guy a chance, I thought. Alas, the streak continues.Again, if Sublime is your roots, then I guess the name would fit. Fine, I guess, for people that don't know any better. White reggae, with few exceptions, lacks heaviness. It's like new wave vs punk rock.

After hearing that second "roots" band mentioned above, I had to get their noncommittal milk toast out of my head, I went digging and ran into a cut by Dillinger. Mr. "Cocaine Running Around My Brain" was by default my ersatz safe harbor. The song itself (below) isn't the best of his, nor the worst, of those I've heard anyway (I have a few of his LPs, a two CD compilation, and a 12 inch of, you guessed it, "Cocaine"). Then I saw that the B side was a version of the Abyssinians' "Satta Massagana". Okay, cool, this was starting to do the trick. For the benefit of those who may not be familiar with the original I was hoping that the link to it I posted a few months ago was still good, and it was. It's such a cool song. It's been called a blueprint for roots reggae. You know what else is cool? All of the links for the whole LP are still good. Cool shit all over the place.
 

Saturday, October 17, 2020

WAS ANYBODY GOING TO TELL ME?

Here we go. Today, another name added to the list. Idris Ackamoor and The Pyramids. Never fucking heard of 'em. The hosting blog of the song below, For the Sake of the Song, mentions Sun Ra, Pharoah Saunders and Charles Mingus in the post. What a hook. I figured this Ackamoor must have something and I was right. The song was great, so more info was needed. I ended up on The Vinyl Factory, where there's an interview with Ackamoor. I haven't even read that yet because there's a Spotify playlist of his stuff that is so good that I'm cutting out to do so further snooping. That doesn't tell you much about his music. See hook above.

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Friday, October 16, 2020

LOCK DOWN THEATER NIGHT 33

I don't think I've ever seen a cooler photo of Son House. From the clothes he's wearing, to the guitar he's playing, to the look on his face. Which reminded me, I've never posted anything by him. Here's one, recorded in 1965 after he'd already been recording for something like thirty years. No guitar though, this one is just vocal and what sounds like knee slapping. Believe me, his voice is enough. To Son House, Muddy Waters might as well have been Blues Hammer. The feature tonight though is the video linked below, from 1969 a "Full live performance". It looks very much like a TV studio, but that's splitting hairs, It really is worth watching because he was one of the last, truly OG, delta blues guys. His playing is good, and there's a taste of him singing with no guitar at all.

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Video:

Thursday, October 15, 2020

FROM THE WTF FILE

Here's an off the wall pairing, Henry Rollins and Cyndi Lauper doing "Rise Above", a song from Rollins's Black Flag days. I don't know the story behind it; not sure I want to, what with the backdrop, a heart made of snowflakes. I'll just pass it on and let you figure it out. 
 
 
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Listen:

Wednesday, October 14, 2020

IT'S MONSTER SURFING REPOST TIME

I'm not going to lie. I look forward to Halloween. For a few days I don't have to think of something to post. Anything half decent with monster, Dracula, Frankenstein, ghoul, ghost or what have you, in the title is fair game. Some of it is goofy, some good, and some would genuinely stand on it's one, theme be damned. The Deadly Ones' It's Monster Surfing Time is actually a mix of all three. I post it every year because it's a no brainer. Monsters and surf type instrumentals and a dash of fuzz? Of fucking course I'm going to post it. So let's just get it out of the way.

Though I've posted it several times and tried to find out more about it every time, I always come up short. I know Joe South wrote some of the songs, and some people speculate that he played guitar on it. I've never been able to find out any more than that. I don't really care, it's good and it's goofy, and it can almost can stand on it's own. That's close enough for a Halloween record.

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Listen: 
The Deadly Ones - It's Monster Surfing Time (streaming) at YouTube Title song. After it's over, let it roll on the YouTube. The poster's playlist has about four dozen other Halloween type songs.
The LP (download): 
The Deadly Ones - It's Monster Surfing Time LP
(via MediaFire) at Rock 'n' Soul Ichiban 12 songs is a zip, really fast download.

NOTE: When you get to MediaFire, click only on the blue  "DOWNLOAD (24.99MB)" button. If there is no green button, just clear your browsing history and cookies and try it again. Likewise if you've been there before and just didn't bother to download it. Just remember, blue button only, clear history. Now go give them hell.

Monday, October 12, 2020

BREAKING: HOT NUTS PLAYBOOK LEAKED

Man, I just heard a Joe Cuba song, "Gimme Some Love" so I revisited some other stuff and it hit me. The Joe Cuba Sextet was like a Latin version of Doug Clark and the Hot Nuts. Hear me out here. Doug Clark and the Hot Nuts were essentially a frat house circuit band. All sorts of sexual innuendos and puns. Their records were like a soul/r&b version of a Rusty Warren record. "Panty Raid", "Baby Let Me Bang Your Box", "Double Stroke of My Twelve Inch Pet", song titles like that. For his part, though not in frat houses, Cuba and his conveniently named Sextet, did "Bang Bang", "Push Push Push" and "Pud-Da-Din", and like Clark and the Nuts, there was often no lead singer, just a bunch of guys hollering in unison. That gets the guys riled up. You know, like a Sham 69 audience. But Cuba did tamer stuff as well, He was like some sort of link between Ray Barretto and the Hot Nuts. Whatever, that's what ran in my head.

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Listen:
Joe Cuba Sextet - Bang, Bang mp3
at LP Cover Lover
Joe Cuba Sextet - Push, Push, Push
(streaming) at YouTube
Joe Cuba Sextet - Pud-Da-Din mp3
at Super Sonido
Jose Cuba Sextet - Gimme Some Love mp3
at Art Decade
Joe Cuba Sextet - Ooh Ah! mp3
at Super Sonido
Joe Cuba Sextet - Una Nenita mp3
at Soul Sides Go there to get it.
Joe Cuba Sextet - You Better Believe It mp3
at Groove Addict
Joe Cuba - Around the World mp3
at Groove Addict

Sunday, October 11, 2020

LOCK DOWN THEATER NIGHT 32

Jubilee wasn't always on my list. It seemed to me like a punksploitaion affair, meh, and all that jazz. So I wasn't looking for it but ran into it anyway on YouTube. I remembered my mind being half-changed in recent years due to positive mentions in books and magazines and the fact that Criterion had re-issued it. The film, directed by Derek Jarman, stars Jordan, who worked at Malcolm McLaren and Vivienne Westwood's Sex clothes store (social hub of the early Sex Pistols crowd). The cast also includes Toyah Willcox, Adam Ant and the Ants, and Wayne County (semi-punk B-listers) with cameos by Siouxie and the Banshees and the Slits. The film score was by Brian Eno. A weird mix. I haven't seen it so I can't vouch for it, but, what the hell, I'm gonna give it a shot.

I can't inbed it, so you'll have to go there to see it. If you want to figure out if you want to risk an hour and a half of your time, there's an essay at The Criterion Collection.

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Saturday, October 10, 2020

YOUNGER THAN WHAT?

I don't remember what I was listening to in 1992, but I know I wasn't listening to newer Bob Dylan stuff. When it comes to artists with long careers, I tend to listen to their classic material and maybe dabble in some of their newer stuff. There was a Dylan LP that came out in 1992 that I know I was cognizant of (I recognize the LP cover) but I never even looked into. It was a live recording of his 30th anniversary concert (30th annniversary of his recording career) held at Madison Square Garden. I'm not usually into all star events, but after seeing a clip on YouTube, when I looked deeper I was blown away by the amount of artists involved.

The clip was just one song, "My Back Pages" and it featured Dylan, Roger McGuinn, Tom Petty, Neil Young, George Harrison and Eric Clapton. I was first taken aback seeing Neil Young and Tom Petty sharing a mic doing background vocals. It hit me that it might have been the first and last time those two ever shared a stage. That in itself made me stop and think about the collective history of the musicians on that song. Between just the featured artists on that one song, their past history (sometimes shared) includes Bob Dylan (solo), Traveling Wilburys, the Byrds, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Neil Young (solo/Crazy Horse), Buffalo Springfield, Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, George Harrison (solo), the Beatles, Eric Clapton (solo), Bluesbreakers, Cream, Blind Faith, and Derek and the Dominos. Then I realized that Steve Cropper was there so the other MGs could have been as well.

 
 
I went to Wikipedia to see if I could find a listing for everybody that played on that night. I figured that there was no way that all of the artists on that particular song were on stage for the entire show. When I saw the listing I realized that I may have to pony up and get the DVD or the album. Among the participants on other songs not listed above were Willie Nelson, Lou Reed, Johnny Winter, the O'Jays, Johnny Cash, the Band, Al Kooper (who played the rolling organ intro on the studio version of "Like a Rolling Stone"), Richie Havens, Chrissie Hynde, Kris Kristofferson, Ron Wood and Stevie Wonder. That's less than a third of the participants. Think about the collective history of that mob. Oh, and the backing band was Booker T and the MGs, responsible for backing a zillion Stax classics along with their own. If that venue had burned down that night, it would be the Shit Week to end all Shit Weeks.

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Videos:
Visit:

Friday, October 9, 2020

FRIDAY FUCKING NIGHT AT MY PAD.

Here's another "posted before, I don't care". When I hear a song I'd forgotten about and it gets me bopping around like a fool, I don't give a damn if I have posted it before. If you're hanging in my pad, you're going to hear some things twice (as any of my friends that endured Pussy Galore's "Sweet Little Hi-Fi" repeatedly will attest to). This blog is just an extension of my apartment. And, hell, it's been five years since I've posted them. Bop like a fool.

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Listen:
Willis Jackson - Swivel Hips mp3
at Groove Addict

Willis Jackson - Later For the Gator
(streaming) at YouTube
Willis Jackson - Boss St. Louis Blues mp3
at Groove Addict

Wednesday, October 7, 2020

REGGAE LOST TWO YESTERDAY

Man, oh man. Two in one day. Johnny Nash and Bunny "Striker" Lee both died yesterday. If you're not into reggae, those two names might not mean anything. Nash was an American singer, best known for his biggest hit "I Can See Clearly Now". He moved to Jamaica in 1965 and started a record label, Jad records, with two partners. After Nash met Bob and Rita Marley in 1966 at a Rastafarian grounation and heard them sing, he and his partners signed them, Peter Tosh and Bunny Wailer. Jad would have the Wailers nucleus until 1972. The contract sold to Island Records. The rest is history.


Nash himself had a rocksteady song, "Hold Me Tight", reach #7 in the U.S., a total anomaly in 1968. The LP that contained it had two Bunny Wailer songs. Then, in 1972, he had a hit with "I Can See Clearly Now" a reggae-lite tune that went to #1. On the LP of the same name were three Marley compositions and one that Nash co-wrote with Marley. Nash was an early highly visible reggae booster, notably before Marley exploded.

Bunny "Striker" Lee was a producer. If Coxsone Dodd and Duke Reed were the top dogs (which they were) Lee was right there behind them, coming in a little later but staying a little longer. The tracks he produced with his studio band, the Aggrovators, supplied King Tubby with all the raw dub meat he needed. Shit, just the list of deejays he worked with is a Who's Who: Dennis Alcapone, U-Roy, I-Roy, Prince Jazzbo, U Brown, Dr Alimantado, Jah Stitch, Trinity, and Tapper Zukie. Beat that Coxsonne.

Tuesday, October 6, 2020

FRANKENSTRAT ORPHANED

Eddie Van Halen died today, throat cancer. Van Halen is not go-to music for me, but musically they, particularly Eddie Van Halen, have my respect. I'm sure one or more were total assholes, but we're talking musically. Reasons why I respect Eddie Van Halen. Reason 1: Frankenstrat. I mean, look at the thing above. It looks like a thrashed skateboard with wires. He played that guitar alot. Reason 2: Van Halen cut their teeth playing keg parties. There's a book about Van Halen (that I've not read) about their early days, and it has a great title. Van Halen Rising: How a Southern California Backyard Party Band Saved Heavy Metal. Check the flyer below. That particular gig got shut down before it started, but you get the idea. Reason 3: Van Halen sounds like Van Halen. No other band sounds like Van Halen. And Eddie Van Halen's playing and guitar tone are what makes Van Halen sound like Van Halen. David Lee Roth can do all the high leg kicks he wants, but he's not the sound.

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Listen:
Van Halen - Runnin' With the Devil mp3 at Tumblr

Monday, October 5, 2020

THIS STILL HAPPENS

I've heard "The Pusher" by Steppenwolf a thousand times. It was on the soundtrack LP of Easy Rider, an LP that used to pop up all the time in thrift stores and garage sales. I still have a beat up copy somewhere. I ran into the original tonight, written and recorded by Hoyt Axton. Sonofabitch. I never knew that I was listening to a cover. Although you'd think that, because Steppenwolf was a little edgier, a little more counter culture, that their version would be the creepiest. But, no, Axton's is way creepier.

There's another interesting link down there , the opening scene in Easy Rider where the song comes in. Peter Fonda's character is selling drugs to a guy in a car, played by Phil Spector (speaking of creepy).

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Listen:
Hoyt Axton - The Pusher mp3
at For the Sake of the Song
Steppenwolf - The Pusher
(streaming) at YouTube
Video:
Easy Rider opening scene
at YouTube With Peter Fonda, Dennis Hopper and Phil Spector

Sunday, October 4, 2020

HIGH FIVE, YOU'RE NEXT

The term "Gimme Some Skin" is doomed, for the foreseeable future at least. Between the Covid pause in physical greetings and the aging-out of cool old slang, there's a good chance of it being left in the dust. Sock it to me baby.

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Friday, October 2, 2020

WEIRD TITLES WORK


I'm not going to make up a reason for posting this one. When I run into a song called "Chicken Heads" I'm going to click on it, I don't care who it is. I'll reward the person who thought of the title, whether it's for their marketing strategy or their backwoods diet, or whatever "Chicken Heads" is a euphemism for, doesn't matter. The title was made up years ago and it still works, it made me want to hear the song. Bravo title writer.

It starts out with a slinky wah-wah infused intro, you think it's going to get funky but it ends up being a relatively slow tune not really blues, funk or ballad. Then I started listening to the lyrics. "When you cook that chicken, save me the head. I should be workin' but I'm home in bed", followed by, in what sounds like a lovey dovey post-coital whisper, "dreamin' 'bout ya". A piece of work, this one.
 
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Thursday, October 1, 2020

SAX MACHINE

It's been almost five years since there was a new post at Soul Detective, yet I still visit there on a semi-regular basis. Why? Because there's a shitload of soul knowledge, a lot of music, a lot of music I've never heard and a lot of music by artists that I've never heard of and many never hear of ever again. What's not to like? I'm not even going to point you to a particular page. Here's just three from completely different detours. Dig around. The sidebar alone could take you weeks. (Warning: The Red Kelly Index is very deep black hole.)

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