The Keys

 

Back in the heady early '90's, I, and a whole heap of other jivers got the bug for Soul Jazz, Rare Groove, or its goofy cousin Acid Jazz. Record Labels were cropping up like mushrooms to deliver every rare gem they could get their hands on: Luv & Haight, Boplicity, Soul Jazz and many other new labels from across the globe as well as old stalwarts of the industry like Charly, Blue Note and ACE, to name a few, who's vaults were now opened to feed this new hungry audience. Music that hadn't seen the light of day for decades except as rare, expensive, collectors items were now up for grabs. I couldn't get enough of it myself, filling my record collection and my DJ bag with the juiciest delights I could find. It became the cornerstone of my DJ sets, along with Soul and Jamaican grooves.

This set celebrates and features some of the finest keyboards players of the '60's to mid '70's Soul Jazz oeuvre, as well as some massive tunes from great groups featuring keyboards. The collection has many fine gems, some, that the enthusiast might find a tad 'obvious', but I'm willing to take that risk in the hope that I'm opening a door for the uninitiated, that will lead them onwards towards more and more exhilarating discoveries. 

I'm using the term 'Soul Jazz' broadly for this mix as I've included other sounds such as Rocksteady, latin and Funk within, but I can assure you that there is a deep essence of Soulful Jazziness throughout.

We begin our trip with the inimitable Jimmy Smith, one of the godfathers of Soul Jazz, with a tune many would have arrived at via those whacky Beastie Boys. This tune was heavily sampled back in the day and is truly a Killer track.

The recently and sadly passed keyboard legend Ramsey Lewis flies with just one of many spectacular grooves. Total Soul.

Ray Bryant, here also on a Chess Cadet side, a swingin' player who joyfully mixed jazz, latin and soul, he takes on Ornette Coleman's 'Ramblin' in beautiful style.

Connecting the dots between the 5 Royales, James Brown and supersonic jazz Lonnie Smith, not to be confused with he with the 'Liston' agnomen brings forth a delicious take on that heart starter 'Think'.

Taking a left turn at Albuquerque we hit land at Jamaica and one of the finest lords of that golden isle, Jackie Mittoo, a former Skatalite, Soul Brother and Soul Bender, Jackie pumped out more killer organ than a body should. Here he's handing you the 'Juice Box'.

Charles Kynyard next is another Soul Jazz legend who pretty much stayed in that field, brilliantly, whereas Junior Mance's career spread across decades and styles from BeBop through to the Hard Bop and as seen here the Soulful Funk groove, featuring Billy Cobham and Chuck Rainey.

The great Herbie Hancock is represented here with 'Cantaloupe Island'. Herbie came to be known through his Soul Jazz anthem 'Watermelon Man', then with his magnificent work with the Miles Davis Quintet and then going on to become one of the leading figures in electronic funk fusion.

We shift gears and head to Memphis to hear one of the greatest instrumental groups of all time Booker T & the MGs. This song features the mighty organ playing of Booker T himself.

Les McCann, Soul Jazz keyboardist and vocalist extraordinaire teams up with fellow Illinois sax player Eddie Harris for this Soul Jazz masterpiece from the album 'Swiss Movement'.

Neal Creque, the Caribbean born organist is next with a tasty piece of oblique groove.

The Meters, next, definite competitors for the top instrumentalist group crown, groove there way into soulful ecstasy with this slice of New Orleans syncopation, featuring Art Neville on the keys.

The Backyard Heavies are as solid as they are obscure.

Bernie Worrell leads this Funkadelic gem, from the album 'America Eats its Young'. Bernie was a major innovator who's offbeat approach to keyboards kept the P-Funk empire beautifully off kilter.

Frank Strazzeri's 'Cloudburst' is one of the later works in this mix, from the album 'After the Rain' from '76, this is a gorgeous slice of L.A. groove.

In 1962 the Harlem Youth Opportunities Unlimited organisation, aka HARYOU was created to help educate and assist Harlem youth. One offshoot of this was the Haryou Percussion Group, which gathered young (16 to 19 y.o.) talented black and Puerto Rican musicians to create a hybrid groove that explodes on their self titled LP. Nick Kirksey provides the killa piano for this great piece.

The set finishes with gorgeous sounds of Ronnie Foster's 'Cheshire Cat' taken from an album of that name. A hot keyboardist whose resume takes in working with the leading lights of the 70's and 80's, with many Blue Note releases un his belt - pure aceeed!

There are many more Great keyboard gods and keyboard featured delicacies I could have delivered and might well do so in the future, but for you here and now, I wish to give you The Keys.

1. Root Down - Jimmy Smith - Verve

2. Bold and Black - Ramsey Lewis - Cadet

3. Ray Bryant - Ramblin' - Cadet

4. Think - Lonnie Smith

5. Jackie Mittoo - Juice Box - Studio 1

6. Boogalooin' - Charles Kynyard - Prestige

7. Well I'll be White Black - Junior Mance - Atlantic

8. Cantaloupe Island - Herbie Hancock - Blue Note

9. Time is Tight - Booker T & the MGs - Stax

10. Compared to What - Les McCann & Eddie Harris - Atlantic

11. Rafiki - Neal Creque - Cobblestone

12. Here Comes the Meter Man - The Meters - Josie

13. Backyard Heavies - Just Keep on Truckin' - Hotline / Action

14. A Joyful Process - Funkadelic - Westbound

15. Cloudburst - Frank Strazzeri - Catalyst Records 

16. Feed me Good - The Haryou Percussion Group -  Oro / Luv 'N Haight / CuBop

17. Cheshire Cat - Ronnie Foster - Blue Note

ORIGINAL SOUND TRACK

 

Here we are again, on the mixtape trail, with one of my favourite genres, the OST, or Original Sound Track (or Soundtrack). One of my favourite things in the world is a good movie. or a bad movie, if it's the good kind of bad.
I LOVE movie sound tracks, or scores. I love the freedom that it gives the composer to go outside of the normal prescribed formats. The fact that mood is the key and in attempting to capture a mood the music creators experiment in wonderful and odd ways to somehow capture the essence of what is happening on film.
One thing I have tried to do here is focus on works that are purely that, mood enhancements, tones and colours, sounds to take your mind to new and fascinating places. I haven't, as one might, included much of what would be considered funky. Don't get me wrong, I love funky and have spent a large portion of my life presenting it, on radio and in clubs and pubs, but to hand you a groovy mix of funked out soundtracks just ain't what I'm trying to put across right now.
So this mix is a more offbeat trip, mostly from the 60's and 70's but also going back to '49 and forward to 1980. This collection focuses mainly on film scores, but I've included scores from cartoon and television mini-series. 
We start the show with a soundtrack I recently purchased that blew my mind! It is the score to the Bikesploitation classic 'Werewolves on Wheels' by Don Gere. This is a 1971 film I had seen at a special screening in San Francisco in early 2007, presented by the collective 'Cosmic Hex'. The event was a heady event, on the screen was the best of underground cult cinema, in the audience the maddest collection of cult cinema freaks, ahootin' an hollerin', calling out the actors names and generally having a freakin' good time. The essence of this movie stayed in my head, I knew it was completely nuts and had a savage sound track, but it wasn't until I went on a biker film OST purchasing frenzy that I came across this beauty on Finders Keepers. I've taken two tracks from this amazing and highly original soundtrack. 

Next off we have that wonderful terror Serge Gainsbourg from the film Cannabis. His work, alongside composer and arranger Jean-Claude Michel Vannier is legendary, totally 'out' gear. I've also included a tune from 'Anna', this time working with another legend, Michel Colombier.

I mentioned the 80's and mini-series, well the next tune is them. One of my favourite soundtracks ever, from one of the strangest shows to ever hit the screen 'The Martian Chronicles', based on the Ray Bradbury novel, Starring Rock Hudson in one of his greatest roles, a million miles from cavorting with Doris Day, though his brilliant work in 'Seconds' is a close runner up. The score by Stanley Myers is brilliant and as odd as fuck, Martian disco meets The Residents.

I think everybody on the planet should see 'Forbidden Planet' once. The roles of Robby the Robot and the Invisible Monster steal the show. As a kid hearing the IM's backwards suction footprints in the space sand, doubled with Louis and Bebe Baron's insane IM synth throb really screwed with my innocent mind.

Who doesn't dig Jack Nitzsche? Huh? He of Phil Spector super sessions, primo Stones madness, Neil Young's honky tonk pianist and creator of some really gone cinema sounds (etc etc). Well I do. This track gets into some pretty pretty disturbing territory, with the Merry Clayton Singers stirring up the menace.

Bruce Langhorne was 'Mr Tambourine Man', he put down some of the best guitar ever recorded on Bob Dylan recordings that never got released, a session guitarist that should have been a star. Peter Fonda got him to do the sound for his 'The Hired Hand' flick, and what strange and awesome sounds they are. When i first heard it, it immediately reminded me of all those minimalist post-rock things that were coming out of Chicago, plus the Palace Brothers and all that crazy shebang. I couldn't believe how familiar this score was to stuff being released 30 years later. It, for it's time it is completely unique and awesome in its sparse glory. 

Meanwhile back in Germany Popol Vuh were busy shifting known realities into alternate dimensions of sonic frippery. Their work with Werner Herzog birthed some of cinema's most glorious marriages of film and music.

One of my favourite Australian bands is Tully. They were one of the finest alternate bands on the circuit. One part Invisible String Band and three parts free rockin' bedlam. They did 'Hair', one Self titled LP and then the sound track to 'Sea of Joy' a gorgeous surf film that probably toured the finest Scout halls and High Schools around the country. The album from the film is a glorious piece of work and a 'must have' for any serious psych folk fan.

Popping over to Italy we have Prog Psyche legends Goblin, from the 1975 Dario Argento film 'Profondo Rosso' (or Deep Red). The slasher genre ain't one of my faves, but I appreciate the art and the weirdness of his films. The track here became a number 1 hit in Italy, weird eh?

Herbie Hancock, who initially snubbed Miles's attempts to play electric keyboards and then went on to being one of the greatest innovators of electronic music in the 70's and onwards. The score to Dino De Laurentis's 1974 revenge classic 'Death Wish' starring Charles Bronson gave Herbie a second chance to expand his musical palette into the world of cinema, the first being his super hip OST for 'Blow Up'.

This next tune is from another film one should see at least once in their lifetimes. La Planete Sauvage, or Fantastic Planet is a dreamscape on film, an animation wonder that can't be described, only witnessed and experienced. A French, Czech production from 1974, with music, of the most extraordinary kind by Alain Goraguer (someone else who worked with Serge Gainsbourg). Track down the album, it's unbelievable.

When I was a kid we used to go to the movies a lot. One train stop away was the 'Padstow Star' which showed all the latest flicks. We saw all the Bond films, Disney fantasies and so much more, with Twisties, Jaffas and Ginger Beer. One of the most exciting things to happen in 1968 was 'Planet of the Apes', with Charlton's fantastic "Damn you God! Goddamn you all to Hell!" ending. Wow, this was the shit, I loved it then and I love it still. Jerry Goldsmith's score is divine, his use of percussion and dynamics tie in so well with this flick.

I've added a piece from 'The Cage' episode of the original Star Trek. I've heard more exciting works from the series, but I don't own them. This LP I bought recently isn't anywhere near the NM the seller on Discogs suggested, which is a drag, so I'm giving this cool tune to you crackles and all.

Going back to 1949 now with a section of the soundtrack from the Friz Freleng directed 'Dough For the Do Do', which is a remake of the 1938 Bob Clampett directed Porky in Whackyland, which was voted no.8 in the 50 greatest cartoons of all time by the Library of Congress. This Warner Brothers Looney Tune feature was one of the most truly surreal (a term that gets thrown around too much) cartoons ever made. With references to Dali and some of the freakiest characters and storylines you've ever seen in a cartoon. The score by Carl Staling is, as usual, completely mad and wonderful.

Next we're back to Germany again for the collective Inner Space, who became Can. The film Agilok and Blubbo has one of the messiest soundtracks ever put to tape up to that time. So bad it's great. A wild free for all. I wouldn't have a clue what the film was like, but revolution and sex gets thrown around a lot in descriptions I've read.

Another haunting film and soundtrack is the Robin Hardy directed film 'The Wicker Man', with its amazing soundtrack by Magnet and Paul Giovanni. Both the film and the soundtrack are worth getting hold of.

You can't do a soundtrack compilation without have Ennio Morricone in the mix, he is one of the Gods of the form. Even though you could fill up 10 mixes with his best tunes I've chosen one here that features the director of the film, Gillo Pontecorvo, who collaborated with Morricone for the soundtrack of one of the greatest films of all time 'The Battle of Algiers'.

This next 1949 film, a British production, set in Vienna and directed by Carol Reed, is one of the finest British film-noir, dialogue driven films of its time. Joseph Cotten, Orson Wells as Harry Lime and Alida Valli brilliantly drive this film, filled with dark cobblestone streets, cigarette smoke and dark intrigue. The score by Anton Karas blends beautifully with the intense black & white imagery.

As mentioned before, I grew up watching every 'Bond' film as it arrived. The music created for the extravagant visual display was thrilling and overwhelming for this young musician. John Barry, who was mostly responsible for this has always held a place in my heart. His work from 'Beat Girl' to 'Stringbeat', 'The Four Corners Theme', his amazing Bond scores, 'Zulu', 'The Knack...' and on and on. Where do you start, where do you stop. I've chosen a piece from the Michael Caine, dark political drama ' The Ipcress File', an amazing film and score.

That leaves Roy Budd's score for 'Fear is the Key' as the last one to chat about. Roy's major legacy is the Main Theme, or 'Carter Takes a Train' from 'Get Carter' one of the ultimate Michael Caine films. Roy was more than prolific in his career, producing a long list of sound scores for film and releasing many albums of his own. A very unique composer and musician.

So there you have it, a tiny snippet of the vast array of musical wonder that is the world of Original Sound tracks, I hope you enjoy this selection.

Here is your Ticket

1. The Devil's Advocates 2 - Don Gere - Werewolves on Wheels - Finders Keepers
 2. Piege - Serge Gainsbourg - Cannabis - Philips
3. Mask Of Conflict - Stanley Myers - The martian Chronicles - Airstrip One
4. Battle With Invisible Monster - Louis and Bebe Barron - Forbidden Planet - Poppy Disc/Rev-Ola
5. Turner's Murder - Jack Nitzsche - Performance - WB
6. Opening - Bruce Langhorne - The Hired Hand - Scissor Tale Records
7. Engel Der Gegenwart - Popol Vuh - Heart of Glass - Egg 
8. Follow Me - Tully - Sea of Joy - EMI
9. Deep Shadows  - Goblin -  Profondo Rosso - DRG
10. Paint Her Mouth - Herbie Hancock - Death Wish - Columbia
11. Deshominisation ll - Alain Goreguer - La Planete Sauvage - Pathe
12. The Search - Jerry Goldsmith  - Planet of the Apes - Project 3
13. The Cage - Alexander Courage - Star Trek - Crescendo / GNP
14. Dough For The Do Do - Carl Stalling - Carl Stalling Project - WB
15. Probleme - The Inner Space - Agilok and Blubbo - Wah Wah
16. Ritual 3 - Don Gere - Werewolves on Wheels - Finders Keepers
17. Masks /Hobby Horse - Magnet / Paul Giovanni - The Wicker Man  - 
18. Windmill - Bruce Langhorne - The Hired Hand - Scissor Tail Records
19. July 1956: Underground Re-Explodes - Ennio Morricone / 

Gillo Pontecorvo - The Battle of Algiers - UA
20. Spender's Anger  / One Of Our Own - Stanley Myers - The Martian Chronicles - Airstrip One
21. Meeting Of Conspirators At The Bridge - Holly And Anna Talk About Harry - Anton Karas - The Third Man - The Soundtrack Factory
22. Main Title Theme - John Barry - The Ipcress File - MCA
23. The Hostage Escapes - Roy Budd - Fear is the Key - Pye / Castle

24. Ballet Des Soupirs - Serge Gansbourg -  Anna - Philips 

Opening dialogue 'Werewolves on Wheels' , closing 'Get Carter'

MIXED LOLLIES

 

Here we are again with another electrified journey into the sonics of humankind. And what have we got this time? well it's a bag of mixed lollies, it's a fanciful exploration into another time and place. The time 1972 to 1980, the place the UK. 

One thing the UK has had since the time of the Picts is a diversification of cultures, no matter what Tommy & Nigel tell you, the races and cultures were mingling since...forever.

It's one of the things that make the UK fascinating, the way that the cultures interacted and expanded into other newer cultures, changing language, inventing new music and art. This was an ever changing and complex environment where various combinations of diverse ideas bled into each other. Where Celt, Saxon, Viking, German, Gypsy, Jew, African and Roman (...and a host of others) could dance together in a mad variance of ways.

I have joined the dots in my usual haphazard way to bring to you musicians  that were, in many ways, exploring new possibilities in sound. Inspired by the cultures that surrounded them, tied together by shared ideals. 

I have brought together elements of iconic Britishness (please forgive any incorrect terminology, it is simply ignorance), and mixed it with the sound of fire and rebellion, with those who lived in the real, rough and tumble, who saw things as they were, not some fancy of a bygone era.

I have included two tunes from one of my favourite Brits, Robert Wyatt, a great artist who was way ahead of the pack when it comes to pointing out capitalist crimes and colonial terror. A completely unique voice in the world of entertainment, who's breadth of inclusion, frivolity and unedited absurdism, along with his unfashionable human rights ideologies, makes him a rare, extremely special and highly entertaining human.

Here is also a delicious assortment of fascinating and delightful beings, who entertained us in the most unexpected ways. Tapping into some kind of existential essence that only they could voice, if only briefly. On the 'more famous' tip we have a tune by The Kinks, one that I was completely unaware of until my mate Aiden pointed it out as his favourite Kinks tune. Its' Notting Hill carnival jive mixed with potent social political themes sits nicely in the mix, as does Brinsley Schwarz, featuring my mate Nick Lowe on vocals, doing a splendid ode to the Ska / Blue Beat sounds, so popular in the 60's and early 70's. 

The soulful essence of Jamaica, Africa and India permeate the air here, make it greater and more unique. There are also sounds untethered, free to be what they want to be, unclassifiable.

I hope you enjoy your Mixed Lollies, here's the Link

1. This Is What We Find - Ian Dury & The Blockheads - Do it Yourself - Stiff

2. Sonia - Robert Wyatt - Ruth Is Stranger Than Richard - Virgin

3. Supersonic Rocket Ship - The Kinks - Everybody's in Show-Biz - Everybody's A Star - RCA

4. Totally Naked (Without Lock or key) - Rip Rig & Panic - God - Virgin

5. Come Across - Fred Frith - Gravity - Ralph

6. HG Wells - League Of Gentlemen - League Of Gentlemen - Editions EG

7. No Side To Fall In - The Raincoats - S/T - Rough Trade / We Three

8. Telephone and Rubber Band - Penguin Cafe Orchestra - S/T - Editions EG

9. Eating Noodlemix - Young Marble Giants - Colossal Youth - Rough Trade

10. I Can't Stand It - The Specials - More Specials - 2 Tone

11. Why Do We Hurt The Ones We Love - Brinsley Schwarz - Please Don't Ever Change - United Artists / Edsel

12. Warrior in Woolworths - XRay Spex - Germfree Adolescents - Virgin / EMI / Real Gone Music

13. Seven Deadly Fins - ENO - 7" - Island

14. Newtown - The Slits - Cut - Island / 4 Men With Beards

15. Too Many Freinds - Penetration - Moving Targets - Virgin

16. Millions - XTC - Drums & Wires - Virgin

17. Little Red Riding Hood Hit The Road - Robert Wyatt - Rock Bottom - Virgin

18. Lemon Flower - Ivor Cutler - Jammy Smears - Virgin

19. The Flowers of Romance - P.I.L. - The Flowers of Romance - WB

20. Mind Your Own Business - Delta 5 - Rough trade / Kill Rock Stars

Tis a Virgin fest indeed!

Additional dialogue by: Enid Blyton, Vivian Stanshall and the League of Gentlemen

Intergalactic Funfair

 

Here we are, with another mix, another angle, another dimension of the vast paintbox of sonic colours we can play around in. 

This time around I'm kinda attempting to summon up the sounds of my early youth, when a day at Luna Park, The Royal Easter Show, or just the local travelling funfair took my young mind into states of fantasy and exhilaration.  There was always the that swirling, twirling, magic, outer space music playing through tinny speakers, with some guy on the mike calling out something illegible.

I'm not saying that these are the songs that were played at those houses of fun, it's just my attempt to summon up that funfair vibe, in tandem with the constant sci-fi vibe that was ever present in those innocent times. 

There's that pre-Beatles thing, especially in the UK, that sometimes bordered on a weird reinterpretation of R&B and Rock & Roll. Joe Meek really captures the sound that catapulted the idea of this mix. It's a kind of spooky, space age, out-a-sight thing. Joe Meek, the original 'Indie' Producer, who created a stable of young hopefuls, all recording in the claustrophobic environs of his Islington flat. Meek was a major innovator in the early days of mutlitracking, inventing new effects and recording techniques. The track Telstar, released under the banner of The Tornados was a huge hit, with incredible sound effects all conjured up in his slightly unhinged mind. I've included four of his works here. There's also two tracks by Jean-Jacques Perrey a French electronic music innovator, for one of those tracks he has teamed up with Gershon Kingsley, the German-American composer and electronic music pioneer. Their music, singularly and together were ground breaking, freaky, funky and downright off the planet. Two other outaspace cats and major music innovators featured here are Sun Ra and Bruce Haack. Haack's tune here is one of the latest releases in the mix, but his journey with experimental tape manipulations and futuristic sound explorations began in the mid fifties.

Outside of these electronic mavericks I've thrown in other works that I feel are connected in some way, possibly a way that only I can fathom. Tunes like 'Dance On' by Kathy Kirby that totally intoxicated me as a child, with its irregular changes and shapes, there's the iconic sounds of John Barry, he of James Bond and The Blob, the Ipcress Files and The Knack. 

I Have sourced both soundtracks and soundtrack remakes, a smattering of Easy Listening and even Lee Scratch Perry in my attempt to bring you my Intergalactic Funfair. Enjoy the ride - Here's your TICKET

1. Passport To The Future - Jacques Perrey - Mood Indigo

2. Globetrotter - The Tornadoes

3. Soulful I - The Upsetters - Return of Django

4. That Happy Feeling - Vincent Bell - Pop Goes The Electric Sitar

5. Dreamin' - The Mark Wirtz orchestra - The Go Go Music Of...

6. Orbit around the moon - Joe meek - I Hear a New World

7. Life’s too short - the Lafayettes - 7"

8. Dance on - Kathy Kirby - 7"

9. Tanganyika - Gene Sikora & The Irrationals - Technicolour Paradise

10. Attack On The Bulldozer - N Nardmi - The Prisoner OST

11. Visa To The Stars - Perrey-Kingsley - In Sound From Way Out

12. Atlantis - The Blue bells - Technicolour Paradise 

13. Starfire - John Barry - Stringbeat

14. Promenade - Lee Allen - 7"

15. Catnip - Johnny And The Hurricanes - Beatnik Fly

16. Electric To Me Turn (Alternate Version) - Bruce Haack - The Electric Lucifer

17. Disco 2100 - Sun Ra and His Arkestra

18. Murder At The Gallop - John Green - Twilight of Honour

19. Deadlier Than The Male - Walker Brothers - The Fabulous Walker brothers

20. I Lost My Heart At the Fairground - Glenda Collins - Let’s go Joe Meek’s Girls!

21. Theme From Star Trek - The Secret Agents - Mission Impossible & Other Action Themes

22. Holiday With Raymond - Les Reed - Girl On A Motorcycle OST

23. Petite Paullete - Enoch Light - 4 Channel Stereo

24. Telstar - The Tornados

The sonic connectors are taken from: 'Stereo Space Odyssey', 'The Flintstones and Jose' Jiminez in the Time Machine' and 'Major Records Presents Sound Effects Volume 23'

Darkness On The Edge of Tie-Dye

 

This mix takes you, the listener, on a journey, to a place (USA) and a time (late 60's - early 70's, except for Spirit who never left there) where imagination and hope came face to face with the cold hard facts of life on this crazy place we call Earth.

I'm an open-minded guy and hardly a cynic. I reckon anything is possible,  good, bad or indifferent. I don't doubt the possibility of Flying Teapots, or fairies at the bottom of the garden (sorry Richard & Bertrand), but the dream of changing the world is something far more tangible, "Only a fool would say that...". Meditation is cool, finding your true self, yay! Anything that sets you on the path of being a better person and helping make the world a better place is groovy. The trouble is...life gets in the way, humans are screwy, I know, cause I'm screwy. So far, every attempt the human race has tried to forge a utopian future has failed, crumbled, turned stupid.

There was never a 'Summer of Love', that was just a bunch of rich brats, who didn't have to hold down a job to eat. Everyone else was getting up early and working in a factory. Sure, there were a lot of weekend hippies, but they didn't have much time for peace and love, it was just a look, a look that usually got them beat up. Hardly anyone went to San Francisco and put flowers in their hair, if they did they mostly ended up homeless and drug fucked.. Pot, acid, speed, heroin. I know, the gateway myth. I didn't get much past pot, but that's me. But read up on the real trip...man, Jerry Garcia wasn't tripping on Owsley fairy dust, he was drooping on China White. Kesey wanted the kids to go to the next level because the tests weren't working any more. Nixon and Reagan were on the rampage. Freakin' riots everywhere. Of course people went all fetal, hugging their inner flower (some are still), things were super freaky, everyone was getting too strung out, leaders were being shot...be careful of the brown acid...Helter Skelter.

So what I'm sayin' is, don't believe the hype, sure some (white) people had a groovy time for a while, when they weren't being kicked out of home, hassled by police, rednecks and the Hell's Angels, avoiding being selected and dragged away to Vietnam to kill people. It was a drag man. Sure, sometimes that's when you have the most fun, when things are the craziest. I don't think it was totally a  bad time and I don't think that nothing was achieved and that the movements didn't cause a ripple effect that we still are benefiting from today. A lot of what those kids and went through and achieved was crucial to the fabric of life as we know it. Also, a lot of what happened is the neon sign the Right points to, so as to show examples of why the Left is stupid and has never worked. 

It's complicated. 

So, here is the music. It's like, how does it feel, to be out on your own, a complete unknown, like a rolling stone? Here we have the misfits and the runaways, it's the bummer in the summer. Some, with a gun in their hand, or a machine gun, steering clear of Babylon, but going nowhere.

Check out the deep LINK

1. Spirit  -  Hey Joe  -  Spirit of '76  -  Phonogram

2. Jimi Hendrix, Band of Gypsys  -  Machine Gun  -  *  -  Polydor/Capitol/Sony etc

3. Love*  -  Singing Cowboy  -  Four Sail  -  Elektra

4. The Sir Douglas Quintet  -  Pretty Flower  -  1+1+1=4  -  Philips

5. Kaleidoscope  -  Lie To Me  -  S/T  -  Epic

6. Dr John  -  Babylon  -  Babylon  -  ATCO

7. Garry Higgins  -  Looking For June  -  Red Hash  -  Drag City

8. Silver Apples  -  Confusion  -  Contact  -  Kapp

9. Bob Dylan  -  Like a Rolling Stone  -  Royal Albert Hall Concert  -  Columbia

10. Frank Zappa & the Mothers of Invention  - Trouble Comin' Every Day  - Freak Out!  -  Verve (mostly)

11. The West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band  -  A Child of a Few Hours is Burning to Death  -  Vol.3 A Child's Guide To Good & Evil  -  Reprise

12. The Lemon Pipers  -  Through With You  -  Green Tambourine  -  Buddah

13. Louie and The Lovers  -  Driver Go Slow  -  Rise  -  Epic

14. Moby Grape  -  Going Nowhere  -  1969  -  Columbia / Sundazed

1* Appears on the 'Band of Gypsys' album, ' Soundtrack Recordings From the Film Jimi Hendrix' and the 'Songs For Groovy Children' box set

2* It was often quipped at the band that should have been called 'Hate'

Full Boar Vol.29

 Full Boar Vol. 29

A full throttle ride into the denizens of teen mayhem.

23 psycho parables of excess and pure untameable FUN!

Full Boar Vol.29 is a collection of death defying ditties that takes in sounds from the early ’60’s to the early ’80’s, spinning Proto Punk and Garage to Power Pop and New Wave epics.

We kick off with the title track from one of Iggy Pop's finest discs, 'New Values' with rip tearing dual guitars and driving rhythm section setting the mood.

Alice Cooper, a teen fave of mine, 'School's Out' being the first album I ever bought, with 'Killer' and 'Love it to Death' following close behind. 'Under My Wheels', from 'Love it to Death' burns up the joint with hot wheels metaphors and searing guitar and vocals.

Davie Allen and the Arrows created some of the most threatening soundtracks to American hod rod and zombies on wheels epics of the 60's. Mom and dad's worst fears coming true in a blaze of fuzz guitar. This tune is taken from Roger Corman's 'The Wild Angels' soundtrack.

Shifting ahead 'round 12 years later, Devo 'Clockout' similar territory, once again mum's wonderin' what's Jimmy listening to now?

I Love XTC, seriously and intensely. I bought this 7" when it came out, late '70's, probably from Anthem. I took it home and made a little cover for it so it would keep safe. Playing it was like Christmas morning every time, I was a happy kid, it still makes me all tingly.

'Rough Kids' is one of Ian Dury's finest moments, capturing the backstreet fever of London youth of the 70's. Kilburn and the Highroads were Ian's former band to his solo and Blockhead gear, a major activator of the UK punk scene, along with other so called pub rock acts like Dr Feelgood and Brinsley Schwarz.

'Woolies' in this case ain't where you go shopping, but where you go to hear one of the most snarling versions of this Bo Diddley stomper. Rearranged and Wooly. This '67 killer was put on wax by these cats from Lansing, Michigan and released on Dunhill. The boot I've got it on is probably about the easiest way you're gonna get your hands on it.

The Music Machine, forged in black leather by Sean Bonniwell, oh the dark lord of proto metal, with his singular black leather glove, conducting the band into wild, passionate, explosions of punk ecstasy.

The MC5, like Iggy and the Woolies, true blue blooded Michigan souls, firey fugitives from society's clutches, screaming "Kick out the Jams Mother F@#kers". They're looking at you, they're checkin' you out, they're saying "are you part of the problem or part of the solution?". They're also rocking like crazy.

Next up, The Kinks..., the freaking groundbreaking, uncompromising, earth shattering Kinks. Truly a rotten R&B band, but they're snotty, angry, hardheadedness turned their attempts at R&B into punk fused glory. There is no other song by any other band that sounds anything like 'Cadillac'.

Them were another angry band, but I imagine that the press just called them that because they were Irish. It's that old cliche' that sweeps away all cultural guilt, "Oh they're just angry, I don't know why". Anyhoot, they were hot, fierce, wild and damn good and for a short time they made some of the best singles on the scene, this is one of them.

Wreckless Eric hit my world when I caught a plane to Italy in '77. For some reason JJ radio had been given they're own channel on the flight sound system. I heard 'Another Girl Another Planet', 'Watching the Detectives' and 'Spanish Stroll' along with others, about 80 times. One of the tunes was 'Whole Wide World' by Wreckless Eric. It was wonderfully terrible, it was snotty and beautiful and punk, in the best way possible. I've alway adored that song, but I never took it any further till recently when I bought his first album. Produced by Ian Dury, Nick Lowe and Larry Wallis, it's somewhat of a enfant terrible artwork that could not be made by anyone less wreckless.

Speaking of Nick Lowe, damn I've been digging deep into that cat. His work with Brinsley Schwarz, Elvis Costello, Dave Edmunds et al and his own magnificent catalogue of solo works are out of this world. The scene around Nick and the whole Stiff / Radar Records scene was tagged pub rock cos they hadn't come up with a better title yet. It really was the core of what would become the punk / new wave scene. Nick could make your heart swoon one minute and give you a heart attack the next. A mammoth talent. This version of 'Heart of the City' is from the UK version of his first solo album 'Jesus of Cool', which had its' tracks switched around and retitled 'Pure Pop for Now People' in the god fearin' US of A. A perfect album either way. Yep Rock have released a double album with the lot.

Jumping back a few years we've got the very unpretty 'The Pretty Things' with their mad speed infused 1965 single 'Midnight to Six Man'. Everything is on 10. A scorcher of mammoth proportions.

Scooting off to New Zealand for a tad, we have 'Ray Columbus and the Invaders', and outrageously cheeky name for a band at any time, especially back then. I guess Ray Cook and the Invaders would have made more sense, but not have sounded as good. I've got my well loved Zodiac 7" here, firing with all of its' teen rave up glory.

Next we go to San Fransisco for the almost cartoon like combo 'The Flamin' Groovies' who were, like Big Star, an anachronism, garage rock, rockabilly, proto punk with elements of old timey and psychedelia thrown in for good measure. They were a hoot in other words. Here they are stirring up a mess of Eddie Cochran and Gene Vincent energy.

Next up we go surfin' USA, with the short lived Californian stompers 'The Lively Ones' with one of their hottest tracks 'Goofy Foot'.

Next stop, we pop back to the Antipodes for a good measure of fuzz drenched garage perfection from 'The Missing Links'. One of the greatest treasures in OZ pop rock history. Their album, originally released on Philips has been lovingly reissued by Half a Cow (with extra tracks), Corduroy, Sundazed and Raven. Obviously I'm not the only fan.

The Cramps were my introduction to the more demented hillbilly, rockabilly and garage sounds that I became engrossed in, in the 80's onwards. They took an element of what I loved about the Velvets and took it on a detour into the swamps. I just loved the whole finger poppin' sunglasses after dark fury of the whole thing.

The DB's have been as a band and individuals a driving force in the music biz for zonks. Mad Big Star fans, fusing mellow and wild perfectly. This 7" tune released independently as Chris Stamey and the DB's in '78 on Car Records, which was included in the Ork Records set.

Whenever Dr Feelgood's name pops up I think of Christian Houllemare, who would tell me of his trips from France to the UK just to see them. His passion for this sound set him on the path to forming The Bad Brains. This ditty sums up the speed and alcohol, rock and roll madness that shaped their sound.

The Mops, a Japanese "Group Sounds" band, heard here stompin' up the place with their tale of being outsiders that just don't care. Very cool, nasty and super stoopid.

We finish this crazee thing with the Tommy Ramone (nee Erdelyl) produced 7" flip 'Let's Move' by New York's The Rattlers and move they do kids. 

Click the Link to grab the mix.

1. Iggy Pop  -  New Values. -  New Values  -  Arista

2. Alice Cooper  -  Under My Wheels  -  Love it to Death  -  Warner Brothers

3. Davie Allen & the Arrows -  Blue's Theme -  OST The Wild Angels - Tower

4. Devo  -  Lockout  -   Duty Now for the Future  -  Warner Brothers

5. XTC  -  Are You Receiving Me  -  7"  -  Virgin

6. Kilburn & the Highroads  -  Rough Kids  -  Handsome  -  Pye

7. Woolies  -  Who Do You Love  -  Michigan Brand Nuggets  -  Belvedere

8. The Music Machine  -  Wrong  -  Turn on  -  OSR Co. Inc.

9. MC5  -  Looking at You  -  Back In The USA  -  Atlantic

10. The Kinks  -  Cadillac  -  The Kinks  -  Pye Records

11. Them  -  Mystic Eyes  -  The "Angry" Young Them  - Decca

12. Wreckless Eric  -  There Isn't Anything Else  -  Stiff

13. Nick Lowe  -  Heart of the City (Live)  -  Jesus of Cool  -  Radar Records

14. The Pretty Things  -  Midnight To Six Man - 7" -  Fontana

15. Ray Columbus & the Invaders  -  She's a Mod  -  7"  -  Zodiac

16. Flamin' Groovies -Somethin' Else/Pistol Packin Mama -Supersnazz -CBS

17. The Lively Ones  -  Goofy Foot  -  The History of Surf Music V.1  -  Rhino

18. The Deviants  -  The Junior Narco Rangers  -  #3  -  Transatlantic/Sire

19. The Missing Links  -  You're Driving Me Insane  -  S/T  -  Philips

20. The Cramps  -  Garbageman  -  Songs the Lord Taught Us  -  I.R.S

21. The DB's  -  If and When  -  7"  -  Car Records / Ork  

22. Dr Feelgood  -  Every Kind of Vice  -  7"  -  United Artists

23. The Mops  -  I'm Just a Mops  -  Nuggets II  -  Rhino

24. The Rattlers  -   Let's Move  -  7"  -  Faulty Products