THIS IS AMERICANA

Who has had his music banned by NASA, went to school with Joe Ely, had a song covered by Bowie (who also nicked the "Stardust" for his Ziggy Stardust alter ego), and left two messages on my answering machine? The Legendary Stardust Cowboy, that's who. He's been posted here a few times but I just ran a documentary that will be my viewing tonight. If you don't know the Ledge, I recommend listiening to "Paralyzed" his 1968 debut 45 (below). If that doesn't pique your interest, I give up. I know the first time I heard it, I couldn't believe what I was hearing. Down below are links to earlier posts describing why he was calling me, the Bowie connection and why "Paralyzed" was banned by NASA.

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

Listen:

The Legendary Stardust Cowboy - Paralyzed mp3 at Beware of the Blog

The Legendary Stardust Cowboy - Who's Knocking At My Door mp3 at Beware of the Blog

The Legendary Stardust Cowboy - My Underwear Froze to the Clothesline mp3 at Monkey.org

Visit:
The King of Pop Is Still Alive - That time the Ledge called me
David Bowie on the Legendary Stardust Cowboy connection at YouTube Interview w/Jools Holland

Wide Open Space Cadet at Perfect Sound Forever Excellent bio by Irwin Chusid

The Ledge NASA Connection via Wayback Machine Banned by space agency!

FILET O' COD

Here's a juxtaposition; Amy Winehouse doing a reggae cover of Sam Cooke's "Cupid" and the Jolly Boys, a soca and reggae group, covering her "Rehab". I ran into these minutes apart, so what the hell. Something tells me I've posted them before. Not my problem.

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

Listen:
Amy Winehouse - Cupid mp3 at Internet Archive
Jolly Boys - Rehab mp3 at Internet Archive

AS SMOOTH AS HE LOOKS

Okay, I've heard the song a zillion times over the years and never absorbed who it was by. I'm speaking of "What Does It Take (To Win Your Love)". Without looking it up, I could have sworn that it was by someone like Lou Rawls, you know, someone known primarily as a singer. When I gave up, I looked it up. Junior Walker. I'm embarrassed that I didn't know that. But I'm not going to dwell on it. The whole reason the topic came up is because I was digging on Alton Ellis's cover of it and couldn't believe that I didn't know who did the original despite hearing it no less than a zillion times. Regardless, dig it.

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

Listen:

Alton Ellis - Wha t Does It Take (To Win Your Love) mp3 at Tumblr
Alton Ellis - Rocksteady mp3 at SLPSP

Alton Ellis - La La Means I Love You mp3 at Roots and Culture

CREEPERS SALES SKYROCKETED

Whoa! Look at that bill! Jerry Lee Lewis, Little Richard, Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley and Bill Haley, all on the same bill! What you don't see on the movie poster are the other acts that played that day. Also on the bill were the Platters, the Coasters, the Drifters, Screaming Lord Sutch, Billy Fury, the Move and the MC5 (!). Some of the latter ended up on the cutting room floor, but even if you consider the big five and the fact that they were a little past their prime,...shit, I'd be there in a second even if they were all in their seventies. As it was they ranged in age from Jerry Lee Lewis, thirty seven at the time, to the oldest, Bill Haley, forty seven.

I saw the movie when I was in my teens. It was on a triple bill at a theater downtown. I don't remember what the other movies were but I do remember this one. I didn't know what Teddy Boys were back then so that was the craziest thing. Then a few years later I noticed Malcom McLaren in a crowd shot, manning his Let It Rock booth (at 20:19, in the leopard skin cap). (Let It Rock later changed it's focus to more confrontational styles and the name was changed to Sex, this about the same time McLaren started managing the Sex Pistols.). Blah, blah blah. To cut it short, even if you've seen better older footage of the acts, the crowd shots alone are a hoot.