Showing posts with label 1959. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 1959. Show all posts

Thursday, 9 July 2020

Various Artists - "Plan 9 From Outer Space - The Original Music Underscore" (Retrosonic Records ‎– RR-1001) 1959/1996


Here we have DIY cinema at its very zenith on a lavish budget of precisely  Fuck all. (watch it HERE!)
Edward D. Wood Jr's anti-nuclear masterpiece, and Bela Lugosi's final nail in his coffin...literally.
Now you can recreate all that amazing dialogue with the backing music, which Ed got from some cheapo Hollywood music library. Quite a few bits of this soundtrack turn up elsewhere in the Hollywood dumpster.For example, the Plan 9 main theme pops up in that other schlocksploitation movie "The Wild Women Of Wongo".....another DIY movie of impressive incompetence.
The 'Main Theme' was written by ex-BBC employee, Trevor Duncan.Who left the BBC the year Daphne Oram arrived, to earn more money in Hollywood,but,in the process,become totally forgotten.
As Delia Derbyshire made the immortal "Dr Who Theme" at the BBC, at least Trev wrote the  Theme to 'Plan 9 From Outer Space'?.....apparently this fact was not engraved upon his tombstone,a glaring error on a not too unremarkable CV.


Tracklist:

1 Prelude
Composed By – Trevor Duncan 0:52
2 Main Title
Composed By – Trevor Duncan 2:09
3 The Shadows Of Grief
Composed By – Van Phillips 1:39
4 Gravediggers
Composed By – Bruce Campbell, Steve Race 0:57
5 Lost Roses Of Her Cheeks
Composed By – Bruce Campbell 1:10
6 Tragic!
Composed By – Bruce Campbell 0:39
7 Police Squad
Composed By – Van Phillips 0:30
8 I'm A Big Boy Now, Johnny
Composed By – Franz Mahl (2) 1:18
9 Piano Talk: Jeff & Paula
Composed By – John O'Notes 2:57
10 Clay Stalked And Killed
Composed By – James Stevens (9), Trevor Duncan 1:53
11 Plan 9 Interlude
Composed By – Trevor Duncan 0:58
12 The Bell Has Rung
Composed By – Van Phillips 1:22
13 Saucers Over Hollywood
Composed By – Trevor Duncan 2:20
14 Col. Edward's Big Decision
Composed By – Van Phillips 1:25
15 Saucer Fire
Composed By – Van Phillips 1:02
16 Your Pillow Beside Me
Composed By – Trevor Duncan 1:23
17 The Old Ghoul Walks
Composed By – Franz Mahl 0:42
18 Mac Calls Paula
Composed By – Franz Mahl 0:45
19 Cemetery Chase / Clay Rises
Composed By – Trevor Duncan, Van Phillips 3:56
20 The Old Ghoul Retreats
Composed By – Franz Mahl 1:06
21 Graveyard Marionettes
Composed By – Ward Sills 1:47
22 Kelton Lights A Match
Composed By – Franz Mahl 0:44
23 Drop Your Electrode Gun!
Composed By – Trevor Duncan 0:22
24 There's Something Out There
Composed By – Trevor Duncan 2:18
25 Clay Abducts Paula
Composed By – Steve Race 0:40
26 Eros, Do We Have To Kill Them?
Composed By – Wolfgang Droysen 1:22
27 Someday It'll All Be Gone
Composed By – Wolfgang Droysen* 2:18
28 Kelton & Larry Enter Ship
Composed By – James Stevens 0:46
29 Fight / Fire / Finale
Composed By – Van Phillips 3:10
30 God Help Us In The Future
Composed By – Gilbert Vinter, Trevor Duncan 2:15


DOWNLOAD plans 1-30 from outta cyber-space HERE!

Saturday, 27 June 2020

Tom Dissevelt & Kid Baltan ‎– "The Fascinating World Of Electronic Music" (Philips ‎– P 08168) 1959


Fascinating isn't it?......what do you mean 'what!'???, The world of Electronic Music of course!?
This is the Dutch 'The In Sound From Way Out',but done seven years before Perrey and KIngsley's batchelor pad classic in the USA. This never made it into the Space-age Batchelor pads of America of course,only being released in such weird nowheres-ville places as Argentina, the Netherlands,and Mexico!?
It's not quite as silly as Perrey and Kingsley's work in the mid to late sixties, but I'm sure a copy of this may have found its way into their sweaty palms at some stage in the process....even the cover art bares some similarity to the In-Sound from not so way out,Holland in fact.
Its also Fascinating, how the technology of any age is used mainly for our own titilation and entertainment rather than helping anyone;like the internet, far from being an information superhighway,and bringing everyone together in harmonious peace,its used for masturbation,gossip,propaganda,getting laid by strangers and stealing,...oops...I mean sharing, free records.......Fuck peace man!
I know what you're all asking,"Who is this cool sounding Kid Baltan?".
Rule one is, always reverse the words when deciphering an alias.
So we are left with Dik Natlab, which is none other than Dick Raaijmakers......satisfied now with your endless questions?....No?.....Who's he?.....?
Dick Raaijmakers,is a Dutch early electronic composer,who worked for 'Nat Lab' (Baltan),(Natuurkundig Laboratorium ,laboratory for physics),.....you dig?
The enigmatic 'Kid Baltan......somehow not as I imagined him!?
So, Kid Baltan, got together with fellow Dutchman, Jazzer and experimental composer, Tom Dissevelt (real name), and made these weird musique concrete pieces for 'Phillips' in the 'Natlab' ,which was created by Phillips in order to develop new ways in music on a scientific basis. 
Again, these tunes would be perfect for some East European animation, but instead, like the BBC Radiophonic Workshop, the company didn't give enough credit to Tom and Dick, so Tom left the Natlab to Dick in 1963.
I also noticed that Perrey and Kingsley called their studio the "Stereo Lab"......inspired from the Nat Lab by any chance?...also strange because most of these things were in Mono.....'Mono Lab' anyone?
Originally credited as being by "The Elektrosoniks",this,nestling between The Incredible String Band and The Velvet Underground, was cited as one of David Bowies all-time top 25 albums!?


Tracklist:

1 Syncopation 2:49
2 Intersection 3:12
3 Drifting 7:22
4 Vibration 3:07
5 Song Of The Second Moon 2:35
6 Whirling 3:00
7 Mechanical Motions 5:25
8 Pianoforte 5:05


Thursday, 25 June 2020

Various Artists ‎– "Anthology Of Dutch Electronic Tape Music: Volume 1 (1955-1966)" (Composers' Voice ‎– CV 7803) 1978


On a purely Intellectual note to start off with......TeeHeeHeeeee......His name is Hans Kox...titter titter! Fnar Fnar Kyuk Kyuk!
Well, Hans off yer Kox now,and lets get serious.....Nah!
Like everywhere else,the Dutch think they invented Electronic music,and one has to say,they were pretty close to having a point.
The origin of Electronic music is almost as tiresome an argument as who invented Punk Rock.....but in Punk Rocks' case it was quite clearly England, Not Detroit,Not New York,Not Scotland...England,gottit?
As for coherent electronic composition, it seems,on the whole, to be a French thing, although it turns out that Daphne Oram of the BBC may have trumped Pierre Shaeffer,but it was kept traditionally  Hush Hush in that understated British way.We don't like show-offs over there  y'know?
One thing that the Dutch are world class at however, is Funny Names.
Hans Kox .....gaffaw gaffaw. laff laff!

Tracklist:

Studio Of The Netherlands Radio Union
A1 –Hans Kox - Three Pieces For Electronic Organ 3:48
A2 –Ton De Leeuw - Study 6:47
Studio Of Delft Technical University
A3 –Jan Boerman - Musique Concrète 3:04
A4 –Jaap Spek - Impulses 7:58
A5 –Rudolf Escher - The Long Christmas Dinner 6:15
Philips Studio
B1 –Henk Badings - Cain And Abel 8:57
B2 –Dick Raaijmakers - Piano-Forte 4:56
B3 –Ton De Leeuw - Antiphonie 15:17
Studio Of Utrecht University
C1 –Frits C. Weiland - Studie In Lagen En Impulsen 4:46
C2 –Hans Kox - Cyclophonie III 7:33
C3 –Tom Dissevelt - Fantasy In Orbit 3:05
C4 –Axel Meijer - Werkstuk-1964 2:32
C5 –Robbert Jan De Neeve - A.F. 1:17
C6 –Peter Schat - De Aleph 7:46
Studio Of Ton Bruynèl
D1 –Ton Bruynèl - Reflexen 4:34
CEM Studio, Bilthoven
D2 –Will Eisma - BTH. 3457 4:08
D3 –Klaus Gorter - K 45 5:40
D4 –Luctor Ponse - Etude-I 6:19
D5 –Berend Giltay - Polychromie-I 6:42

Tuesday, 7 April 2020

Ivor Cutler ‎– "Gruts" (Rough Trade ‎– ROUGH 98) 1986


I like Gruts for tea or for any feeding time in fact, be it Elevenzies, Brunch,Dinner Supper or Breakfast. Of course I don't mean Gruts from the High wood, or Leaves, Bark, Grass or Leaves, but Gruts, the album. Gruts, the fictional foodstuff,are probably very nice,especially fried in butter; but the album version is far more palatable......and,as unlikely as it may seem, funnier.
These songs and poems were originally performed on 'Monday Night At Home' on the BBC Home Service 1959-62,long before Radio one existed,and even before John Peel was a DJ.In fact a few of these songs did eventually appear in some of the numerous sessions he recorded for the late lamented DJ.
The BBC,for all of its criticism as of late, is a great institution for nurturing the more abstract and eccentric edges of the arts.A treasure trove of unique,and poorly paid, cultural jewelery that  now benefits the whole world. The incumbent, popularist leaning, British government,are currently posturing to do away with this world heritage organisation.No more future Ivor Cutlers, or Punk Rock are libel to be promoted once it's sold off to Government cronies and oligarchs.Only the safe stuff,the....spit... popular, the unchallenging, will be what we are left with in this increasingly beige society.....the thing that there is no longer no such thing as.... as stated by the UK's hospitalised Prime Minister (yes BoJo is as I type in intensive care with Covid19 complications....ironically in the very Hospitals his party were intent on running down to tender out to the same cronies and oligarchs that would carve up the BBC).
Of course I wish Boris all the best and hope he recovers.....mainly because I've just seen the turd who will take over from him if he dies!.....see,I'm not a monster......well...not much of a monster anyway.
Meanwhile,keep singing "I'm Happy",and eventually you will be,no matter what happens.
All together now:
"I'm Happy I'm Happy,
I'm Happy I'm Happy
I'm Happy I'm Happy
And I'll Punch the Man Who Says I'm Not!"(repeat)

This album was dedicated to The Noise Abatement Society!?

Tracklist:

A1 I'm Happy (Song)
A2 Gruts For Tea
A3 A Red Flower
A4 Shoplifters (Song)
A5 How To Make A Friend
A6 Fish Fright
A7 Darling, Will You Marry Me Twice (Song)
A8 Scratch My Back
A9 Egg Meat
B10 Mud (Song)
B11 Old Cups Of Tea
B12 The Judge's Parcel
B13 I Had A Little Boat (Song)
B14 The Hoorgi House
B15 A Steady Job
B16 In My Room There Sits A Box (Song)
B17 The Dirty Dinner


Saturday, 14 March 2020

George Russell And His Orchestra ‎– "New York, N.Y." ( Decca ‎– DL 79216) 1959


Highly respected Hep-Cat Jazzer George Russell does his bit in the evolution of Hip Hop with an all-star orchestra; including, among many lesser lights, Max Roach on skins, and none other than 'Trane 'on his prefered axe. Ice cool smooth bebop big band jazz for hipsters only,and  Kool Kat Jon Hendricks,rapping beat talk to introduce each piece and yes, he does mention that obligatory word,the 'Bird'.
Hendricks, doesn't just give us some groovy hipster narrative, he makes it rhyme so it starts to chime, get me? A highly influential and supremly Hip platter in the annals ,or anals, of the foundations or roots of Rap.

Tracklist:

1.Manhattan
2.Big City Blues
3.Manhatta-Rico
4.East Side Medley: A) Autumn In New York, B) How About You
5.A Helluva Town


DOWNLOAD and get instantly kool,kool in 1959 anyway pops,just click yer fingers right HERE!

Thursday, 12 March 2020

Babs Gonzales ‎– "Tales Of Manhattan: The Cool Philosophy Of Babs Gonzales" - (Jaro International ‎– JAM 5000) 1959


One suspects that this Cat ain't joking? It sounds like a parody,but just maybe Babs means it?
There's a part of me that hopes he's serious,so for the sake of this narrative I'm treating this as the real deal pops.This is a less eloquent,and cliched black bloke, version of Jack Kerouac on happy pills,with a cooool Be-Bop backing band.
Jazz writer Jack Cooke explained that Gonzales "assumed the role of spokesman for the whole hipster world... [becoming] something more than just a good and original jazz entertainer: but the incarnation of a whole social group."
Sheeeet...this cat was serious!?
He really did see himself as thee cool Philosopher of 'Hip'.Maaaan that's the Mostest!
Sheer Joy.
There is,however one negative amongst all this pleasure:
Mother Earth was pregant for the ninth time....could this be the moment she was impregnated with the Hip-Hop virus?

Tracklist:

A1 The Hat Box Chicks
A2 Broadway - 4 A.M.
A3 You Need Connections
A4 'Dem Resolution Liars
A5 Manhattan Fable
B1 'Dem Jive New Yorkers
B2 The Squares
B3 A Dollar Is Your Only Friend
B4 The Cool Cat's Philosophy
B5 Ole Braggin' Freddie


Jack Kerouac & Steve Allen ‎– "Poetry For The Beat Generation" ( Dot Records ‎– DLP 3154) 1959


Too fucking cool for school again......you cats know I don't dig that wot is 'IN'. That what is 'IN' is certainly 'OUT' in my opinion, and Kerouac sounds like a bit of a prick to me. I wondered how long it would take him to mention 'Bird' (Charlie Parker,for us 'uncool' cats), and he gets it in after a restrained eight minutes of vinyl time.
I'm a Poet daddio,one who talks 'Hip', who can barely contain his own recognition of his massive importance,and,consequently, self-importance.He wrote a book that still adorns coffee tables to this day,and unwittingly created a stencil for many a wanna-hipster-be to colour in.Casual Sex,hanging out,drug abuse, travelling for no particular reason,writing poetry.....you too can be a Beat Poet,in fact you probably ARE a beat poet;alas,the poetry of this age is more Beaten than Beat.In the French language, 'Bite' (Pronounced Beat) is the word for Prick,so in fact this is 'Prick Poetry'....and why not?
The fact that Kerouac has remained well and truly "IN" fifty years after drinking himself to death,very kool(?),is a testament to his works ability to still appeal to a certain part of the eternal adolescents brain.In this age when everyone dresses as if they were perpetual rock stars,yet we're all so rebellious that we're still willing slaves of our own concepts,juxtaposed.....ah haaaa,yes i've got an English Literature A'Level,what you gonna do about it?.....with an insatiable desire to surround ourselves with 'Plastic Stuff',to enhance our own shallow plastic ego's. We need fantasies that pricks like Kerouac provide for us,and fantasies are just what they are. Travelling is eroding the things that we wanna travel to,while at the same time creating a personal carbon footprint large enough to last sveral lifetimes of rising temperatures.Stick to photographs).Promiscuous sex is at the same level as it's always been....no it didn't all start in 1959. Drug abuse is now exclusively the property of the underclass,who can't afford a can of beans but can effortlessly chase the dragon in front of their plasma screen televisions watching Celebrity Love Island.The very same 'Underclass' are also the ones who are writing the sixth form poetry with a beat,now cleverly rebranded as Hip-Hop culture;the Culture part being somewhat of a misnomer.The Beats certainly has one over the Hip-Hop-hippity hop bop sqwiddely pooooow crew,comfortably outscoring the tracksuited rhymers in the realm of the sartorially elegant. This lot are certainly 'The Beaten Generation' for sure......yes even fucking Stormzy! FFS!
In its way, this album from the king of the Beats, is as funny as any of those many Beatsploitation releases in the same year of '59,and I don't mean Kerouac's lame attempts at humour either.It may have been fresh in 1959,but sixty years hence,you just can't comprehend if he was serious or not? I mean did they really think that Dave Brubeck was the swingingest?

Tracklist:

A1 October In The Railroad Earth 7:09
A2 Deadbelly 1:05
A3 Charlie Parker 3:45
A4 The Sounds Of The Universe Coming In My Window 3:17
A5 One Mother 0:49
A6 Goofing At The Table 1:45
A7 Bowery Blues 3:56
B1 Abraham 1:17
B2 Dave Brubeck 0:31
B3 I Had A Slouch Hat Too One Time 6:12
B4 The Wheel Of The Quivering Meat Conception 1:55
B5 McDougal Street Blues 3:23
B6 The Moon Her Majesty 1:36
B7 I'd Rather Be Thin Than Famous 0:37

B8 Readings From 'On The Road' And 'Visions Of Cody' 3:32

Tuesday, 10 March 2020

Edd "Kookie" Byrnes ‎– "Kookie Star Of "77 Sunset Strip" (Warner Bros. Records ‎– WS 1309) 1959


Well, I think this is one of the best albums ever made!? It sounds like a soundtrack to a John Waters movie,but is in fact a cash in release , staring the most popular character,"Kookie", from a detective show on late fifties American TV, "77 Sunset Strip".
Gerald Lloyd "Kookie" Kookson III (Edd Byrnes), was the rock and roll-loving, wisecracking, hair-combing hipster and aspiring PI who initially worked as the valet parking attendant at Dino's, the club next door to the detectives' office.

He was mentioned in the lyrics to Bob McFadden and Dor's "The Mummy" 45,when the Mummy in question came back to life specifically to buy a copy of "Kookie,Kookie (Lend Me Your Comb)",but people were afraid of him...all,except the hipster at the end....."Like....er... Help!"
All you need to learn how to be a Hipster is listen to Kookie, and that album on "How to speak 'Hip'" by Del Close and John Brent.
This is one of the Ginchiest records from the massive Beatsploitation tidal wave of 1959,....like...er... wow!
Stand-out track "Like,I Love You" is just the mostest daddio.A window to a world where life was almost perfect.
I may be stuck in 1980 for what remains of my lifetime (at least until COVID 19 gets me), but I really wish i was stuck in a groundhog day situation in 1959.Although,It just might be possible that I've just defined Hell!?...but it'd be just wild for the first few thousand years at least.
On a heavier note:

Important Die or DIY? Health Advice Annoucement: Don't Wash Your hands,touch your face,and other faces as often as possible,sneeze openly, and hang out in large crowds. Usually I self-isolate as much as possible, but on this occassion i may accept invitations to shake my tail feather at the hop,like normal people do.
I didn't think there'd be anything after Brexit and Trump to further lower my opinion of human society, but this blind panic about a less deadly than influenza virus has done it.I went to the supermarket this evening to get some toilet roll.....none left because the fuckers have been panic buying....no bread either!!!!?
So bad news for the amazon rain forest,as bog roll sales have doubled,those trillion acres of silent, birdless eucalyptus trees planted in place of rain forest in Brazil,will want to expand.Eucalyptus wood is good to making stuff to wipe the shit off fat human arses the world over.Pity it can't wipe the shit from their brains as well?
One bit of good news,though not,as yet confirmed by fact checker, is that China have banned the hunting and killing of wild animals for food or medecine.This includes the gorgeous Pangolin,which i try sporadically to raise awareness of in these columns. This is a desperate bid by the Chinese Govt to avoid making COVID 20 next year....if anyone's still alive to catch it that is!?


Tracklist:
A1 Hot Rod Rock
A2 Kookie's Mad Pad
A3 I Don't Dig You, Kookie
A4 Saturday Night On Sunset Strip
A5 The Kookie Cha Cha Cha
A6 Kookie, Kookie (Lend Me Your Comb)
B1 Like I Love You
B2 Kookie's Clock
B3 You're The Top
B4 Square Dance For Round Cats
B5 "A" You're Adorable
B6 Kookie's Boogie


Monday, 9 March 2020

Del Close & John Brent ‎– "How To Speak Hip" (Mercury ‎– OCM 2205) 1959


Hey, Katz.....ever wondered how I got to be the Kool Daddio I am today?? 
Lemme clue ya to this disc to show you kids how to split out of squaresville and get a gig on the scene, that's where's it's at Dad. So go get this from a record man,hide it under a Charlie Parker album,and that'll be the last square thing you'll ever do.You're hip! Just don't mention this conversation again, you dig?...Kool.

Bare with me,i'm just slipping out of character.....NOW!

Boy,its hard work being a kool kat and a poet,but this Beatsploitation guide to the absurd world of the Beatnik on the cusp of the sixties is essential.....if not for a guide on how to be and speak 'Hip',but for a jolly good laugh.
Yeah baby, it's another one of those exploitation tools as put forth by the Maaaaaan, to turn the rebirth of cool into something tepid and nothing but a harmless joke.


Tracklist:

A1 Introduction 1:13
A2 Basic Hip 1:15
A3 Vocabulary Building 4:15
A4 The Loose Wig 2:45
A5 The Riff 5:50
A6 The Hang Up 3:18
B1 Put On, Put Down, Come On, Come Down, Bring Down 5:50
B2 Cool 3:51
B3 Uncool 1:00
B4 Field Trip No. 1 1:30
B5 Field Trip No. 2 1:12
B6 Field Trip No. 3 1:15
B7 Summary 1:27


Sunday, 8 March 2020

Bob McFadden & Dor ‎– "Songs Our Mummy Taught Us" (Brunswick ‎– BL 754056) 1959


Who's this Bob McFadden you may ask; and who the Fuck is Dor?...Well as 'Dor' is 'Rod' spelled backwards,the answer becomes blatantly obvious..yep, it's Rod McKuen,doing what he did best, parodying current trends for the maaaaaaan.
Backed up again, by Bill Haley and his Comets on the obvious tracks, this album is actually genuinly hilarious.
Everyone gets it, Rock'n'Roll,Beatniks,Exotica,marching bands,Horror movies...er...thats about it,there wasn't much of a wide pallet of choice in 1959.
The Fall,and their beatnik singer, did a rather good version of "The Mummy" I recall, during their wilderness years in the nineties.And this maybe where the Cramps got their debut album title from.Everyone stole from this record it seems,'cus Richard Hell's Blank Generation tune is here too,with different words, however.
Did Rod ever get any royalties from Hell's blatant rip off I wonder?


Tracklist:

A1 The Mummy
A2 The Sheik Of Araby (Shreik Of Agony-Cha Cha Cha)
A3 Sing Along With The Mummy (Shake, Rattle And Roll)
A4 I Dig You Baby
A5 Frankie And Igor At A Rock And Roll Party
A6 Noisy Village
B1 Son Of The Mummy (More Sing Along With The Mummy)
B2 Hound Dog
B3 Bingo
B4 The Children Cross The Bridge - Colonel Bogey March
B5 The Beat Generation
B6 The Beverly Hills Telephone Directory Cha Cha Cha


Saturday, 7 March 2020

Rod McKuen ‎– "Beatsville" (HiFi Records ‎– R 419) 1959



In 1959,like in 1968 for 'Psych' bands and 1978 for 'Punk', the record companies fell over each other,desperately scrambling to get a 'Beat' act on the roster.All the Kool Katz had been snapped up the year before.Miles,Bird,Kerouac,Chet,Mingus,Kookie,Fabian, and a tsunami of synthetic Beatniks bedecked in sweaters with holes in,worn out jeans with paint blotches on,sandals,uncombed hair,talking Jive and carrying a well thumbed copy of Lolita.
"Like...er...hey baby, i don't dig the man comin' on all the time.... get me?", said the Beatnik fresh out of drama school...looking suspiciously like Rod McKuen.A Beatnik by numbers.
He'd obviously just read "On The Road" after his manger bought him a copy with the words..."Read This,then come to my office in the morning kid."
New independant label, Hi-Fi records, supremo, Richard Vaughan was there with a contract and a pen,and "Beatsville" was born.
The suggestions of casual sex, misogyny,drug abuse,violence, was undoubtedly 'Shocking' in 1959,but,incredibly its just as shocking in the modern era,for the opposite reasons.This album is full of racism,sexual exploitation, misogyny,upon a raft of politically incorrect fakery.A Beatsploitation masterpiece.
Rod would do vitually anything to sell records,and believe me he had around 6 or 7 albums out every year for at least a decade and a half....and this wasn't the only Beatsploiting platter in his truly horrible, but vast, canon.The public were frightened,so Rod's main job was primarily turning the Beat scene into a joke,just as 'they' did with Hippies and Punks in the coming decade.Even Rod did a Psychsploitation album ten years hence.He never managed a punk album,praise be to his masters Gods.Although, his single,the B-side to novelty smash 'The Mummy', "Beat Generation",as backed by no less than, Bill Haley and his Comets(!) is a beatsploitation masterpiece,Which is in effect, where Richard Hell got his "Blank Generation" song from....so maybe by default Rod even got in on the Punksploitation market too.That is some kind of genius.It also explains where Hell got the idea of sweaters with holes in,messy hair,and writing shit poetry from?A deadly mixture of Bowie and Beatnik was our silly Richard."Like....er...LOL baby!"
So called 'Beat poet', WS Burroughs, like to write about control systems, but like later 'fads',Beatnik was just another insideous male instigated control system,to cajole women into bed.Which ,apart from war, is the only reason Men do anything.
"...Hey baby!Wanna come and ball at my crazy pad,I dig chicks who swing,y'get me?"..."Wow! Krazy Pops!"...Beat girls were far too 'Kool' to simply say...'oh fuck off you creep!'
"Wow! Krazy Pops!"


Tracklist:

A1 Co-Existence Bagel Shop Blues 1:00
A2 Bearded Ladies 3:16
A3 Haiku Poems 1:53
A4 No Pictures Please 2:21
A5 Back To Sausalito 1:29
A6 Three Songs For 'S' 2:44
A7 Joue 1:20
A8 R.S.V.P. 0:18
A9 Reflections On A Plane Trip Home 1:05
B1 Life Is 0:41
B2 The Elegant Prison Downstairs 2:14
B3 The Bird Boy 2:04
B4 Grant Avenue Square Dance 0:19
B5 A Gallery Of Assorted Beats 4:04
B6 Get The Hell Out Of My World 3:14
B7 Like 0:39
B8 What Is A Fabian? 3:47
Bonus Tracks
18 The Beat Generation 2:05
19 Six Songs For The Sun 5:27

Monday, 3 February 2020

John Cage / David Tudor ‎– "Indeterminacy: New Aspect Of Form In Instrumental And Electronic Music" (Folkways Records ‎– FT 3704) 1959


So we have this pair to thank for Cornelius Cardew's first big reactionary tantrum do we?
The first recorded showcase for the musical theory of "Indeterminacy",as dreamed up, nay made up by avant-garde experimentalist numero uno, John Cage.
Which is a composing approach in which some aspects of a musical work are left open to chance or to the interpreter's free choice. John Cage, a pioneer of indeterminacy, defined it as "the ability of a piece to be performed in substantially different ways". Not quite 'free' music, but a substantial step in that direction.
Basically this is a spoken word piece backed up by the sparse electronics,voice processing and piano of David Tudor doing the random parts. I could listen to stuff like this all day.
I'm certain that such works have little trouble getting the desired reaction from the 'ordinary' average joe upon encountering this music from outer-space, as it would have seemed in 1959.Rather challenging,and would most likely end in bursts of anger,or troubled incomprehension. This is what ,dare I say, Art(?) should achieve,and this stuff would probably gain the same reaction if played to the same Henry and Henrietta Normals of today,as we have now passed the peak of the new enlightenment and a speedy dumbing down of the world populous is continuing apace.
Averaged out, we really haven't advanced intellectually at all in the ensuing 60 years.We're leaving all that thinking stuff to machines,which of course have little intellectual sophistication,and the glaring illogic of any of John Cage's works would send their A.I. into spasms of sparks and fumes as their lithium batteries burst into flames,screaming in a robot voice, "Illogical,Illogical,must self-destruct,must sterilize,does not compute,Error,Error!".....like the hybrid robot which uses the advanced dangling on a string drive to move in that Star Trek episode called 'Nomad'.(Click here to learn how to handle rogue robots)!Nomad also had the same problem understanding the concept of 'music',which he handles by wiping the mind of Uhura....(Click Here to see how Nomad deals with 'Music'....our future lies here!)
Meanwhile, Henry and Henrietta indulge themselves in their version of Technology,watching pornography,online dating and gossiping on social media.....in many cases talking 'dirty' with an online 'Bot'.
We're Fucked!

Tracklist:

1. Part One (23:06)
2. Part Two (23:03)
3. Part Three (22:14)

Sunday, 5 January 2020

John Fahey ‎– "Blind Joe Death" (Takoma ‎– C 1002) 1959


Henry Flynt was not the only minimalist on the block searching for the american primitive within. John Fahey made a consumatly ignored career out of it. Inventing a fictional alter-ego called Blind Joe Death,posing as a forgotten folk/blues musician from the twenties.After recording an album for his own imprint called Takoma Records after his home town,in 1959. He attempted to sell these albums himself. Some he gave away, some he sneaked into thrift stores and blues sections of local record shops, and some he sent to folk music scholars, a few of the dumber ones were even fooled into thinking that there really was a living old blues singer called Blind Joe Death.
In the fifties there was a record collecting trend towards old blues and country 78's from the twenties and thirties,so collectors were desperate to find undiscovered classics before their hip mates did.
John Fahey provided this convincing facimile for this burgeoning market,eventually selling out the first pressing of 100 discs three years later.So there would follow endless editions of Blind Joe albums troughout the sixties.....this is a CD version just in case you're wondering.
Fahey made several more albums under his alter-ego's name,and moved to San Francisco to check out the post-Beat, proto-hippie music scene, loathing in particular the awful Pete Seeger–inspired folk-music revivalists with which he found himself classed alongside. Fahey then moved south to Los Angeles to join UCLA's folklore master's program,incredibly,or, un-credibly, and received an M.A. in folklore in 1966,with a thesis on Charley Patton.Yep, he was qualified in Folk music!?...not sure if that's possible is it?
Before hitting the bottle, Dr.John M.A. made a few mildly avant-garde albums in the later part of the Sixties, including a lost album with the Red Krayola,that got binned by the record company....so that one must have been good?
After losing everything due to alcoholism, he was 'rediscovered' in the ninieties,making a few experimental avant-folk albums,and could often be seen adorning the cover of The Wire magazine.Hence new copies of 'Blind Joe Death' albums started appearing on white collor coffee tables all over the more comfortable parts of NATO subscribed countries and beyond.
Although his zeal and puritanism is admirable, i personally find these instrumentally forged folk/blues albums boring as fuck.
Yeah, great authentic finger pickin' technique, but i alway nod off when trying to get why he's so esteemed in such circles.I prefer Jandek myself.Fahey's qualifications are impeccable,but,i'm not sure Folk should be taught in Universities;its like an early version of that shameful Brits academy in London which churns out terrible production line pop stars,like Adele,who's been bangin' on about her boyfriend troubles for about a decade so far.
I'm thinking about doing a doctorate in Punk Rock too......Not!? Could certainly lecture on the subject if the money was right,but under my auspices, accepting money for such an anti-punk thing would be against the meaning of life the universe and punk rock!So such an idea would inevitably disappear up its own arse should it not?
Same goes for Folk, of which Punk Rock is a close relation.Discuss.

Tracklist:

Selections By Blind Joe Death


A1 On Doing An Evil Deed Blues
Written-By – Death*
A2 St. Louis Blues
Written-By – W. C. Handy
A3 I'm A Poor Boy A Long Ways From Home
Written-By – Barbecue Bob
A4 Uncloudy Day
Written-By – Traditional
A5 John Henry
Written-By [Spiritual] – Traditional
A6 In Christ There Is No East Or West
Written-By [Episcopal Church Hymn] – Traditional 

Selections By John Fahey

B1 The Transcendental Waterfall
Written-By – John Fahey
B2 Desperate Man Blues
Arranged By – John Fahey
B3 Sun Gonna Shine In My Back Door Someday Blues
Written-By – John Fahey
B4 Sligo River Blues
Written-By – John Fahey

Monday, 1 July 2019

The Louvin Brothers ‎– "Satan Is Real" (Capitol Records ‎– T1277) 1959


I used to think that The Exploited was the consummate manifestation of 'Stupid' until I saw and heard this record!This makes wattie and the boys seem like Philosophers.
If that isn't the most Insane album cover ever released on a major label I dunno what is!? Also, I notice that the Louvin Brothers seem to actually be in Hell!?
This kinda stuff frightens the shit out of me.Satan may be 'real'(in fact there's no credible evidence pointing in that direction), but Rednecks are certainly very Real. They exist in a post-cowboy Saudi Arabian style bubble,where you are in serious danger of extreme violence if you're Gay, Black, or a godless Atheist. There's nothing more horrific than Stupidity,and this album is it.
Ira and Charlie Loudermilk were The Louvin Brothers,a bluegrass harmony duo that existed from 1955 until 1963 when they broke up due to Ira's volatile temper.I dread to think what brother Ira, ironically the acronym for a catholic terrorist organistation in Ireland, was capable of if he was confronted by a communist,or any of the usual suspects previously mentioned.Thankfully, Ira met Satan after a car wreck in Jefferson City in 1965,and I doubt he was singing "Are You Afraid To Die" as he smashed through the windshield,just before he found out that Satan and God most certainly are NOT real.

Tracklist:

Satan Is Real 3:00
There's A Higher Power 2:21
The Christian Life 2:16
The River Of Jordan 2:17
The Kneeling Drunkard's Plea 2:51
Are You Afraid To Die 2:33
He Can Be Found 2:14
Dying From Home, And Lost 2:46
The Drunkard's Doom 3:14
Satan's Jeweled Crown 2:56
The Angels Rejoiced Last Night 2:18
I'm Ready To Go Home 3:08


Tuesday, 11 October 2016

Joe Meek ‎– "The Alchemist Of Pop - Home Made Hits & Rarities 1959-1966"


So we've established that Joe Meek began the modern do it yourself recording ethic, yes?
So we'd better hear the Hits?
The best of which have to be self-proclaimed medium, Geoff Goddard's tunes. Primarily 'Johnny Remember Me',sang by John Leyton, and the beyond weird "Skymen".
"Johnny Remember Me" has to be one of the top Ten weirdest Top Twenty hits ever(Number one actually!). Up there with Laurie Anderson's "O Superman", The Associates "Party Fears Two", and Public Image Ltd's "Death Disco".
Geoff actually made more money from all this than anyone,and the regular royalties supplemented his school caretakers job until his death.
Little did I know, whilst watching camp classic seventies Brit-com "Are You Being Served, that the character who played Mr Spooner, who replaced Mr Lucas, was none other than Mike Berry; one of the most successful artists in the Joe Meek stable!
There were lots of surprise guest appearances by many future stars of the rock world, including Bowie,Ritchie Blackmore, Chas Hodges (Chas and Dave), Jimmy Page, Rod Stewart,Tom Jones, and probably many more!?

Check out this great BBC documentary on the great man HERE!

Tracklist:


–Emile Ford & The Checkmates - What Do You Want To Make Those Eyes At Me For 2:04
–Lance Fortune - Be Mine 1:49
–The Fabulous Flee-Rakkers - Green Jeans 2:25
–Ricky Wayne & The Flee-Rakkers - Chick A'Roo 1:50
–Michael Cox - Angela Jones 2:40
–The Flee-Rekkers - Sunday Date 2:53
–Peter Jay - Paradise Garden 2:41
–Danny Rivers - Can't You Hear My Heart 3:03
–The Outlaws - Swingin' Low 2:04
–The Outlaws - Ambush 2:22
–Cliff Bennett & The Rebel Rousers - You Got What I Like 1:35
–John Leyton - Johnny Remember Me 2:39
–Mike Berry & The Outlaws - Tribute To Buddy Holly 2:57
–The Moneymakers - Night Of The Vampire 2:49
–John Leyton - Wild Wind 2:13
–Iain Gregory - Can You Hear The Beat Of A Broken Heart 1:36
–Screaming Lord Sutch & The Savages - 'Til The Following Night 3:45
–John Leyton - Son This Is She 2:24
–Mike Berry & The Admirals - It's Just A Matter Of Time 2:11
–Don Charles - Walk With Me My Angel 3:08
–John Leyton - Lonely City 2:11
–The Tornados - Telstar 3:20
–Michael Cox - Stand Up 2:17
–The Packabeats - Theme From 'The Traitors' 2:32
–Peter Jay & The Jaywalkers - Can Can '62 2:29
–Houston Wells & The Marksmen - North Wind 2:34
–Mike Berry & The Outlaws - Don't You Think It's Time 1:40
–The Tornados - Globetrotter 2:40
–The Tornados - Ridin' The Wind 2:26
–Screaming Lord Sutch & The Savages - Jack The Ripper 2:45
–The Tornados Robot 2:38
–Glenda Collins - I Lost My Heart At The Fairground 2:34
–Houston Wells & The Marksmen - Only The Heartaches 2:52
–Jenny Moss- Hobbies 2:05
–The Saints - Wipeout 2:56
–Heinz Just Like Eddie 2:43
–Geoff Goddard - Sky Men 2:46
–Pamela Blue - My Friend Bobby 2:09
–Heinz - Country Boy 2:00
–The Dowlands - All My Loving 2:19
–Heinz - You Were There 1:55
–The Honeycombs - Have I The Right 2:56
–Heinz - Questions I Can't Answer 2:19
–The Honeycombs - I Can't Stop 2:35
–The Blue Rondo's* Little Baby 2:34
–The Honeycombs - Something Better Beginning 2:13
–David John & The Mood - Diggin' For Gold 2:37
–The Honeycombs - That's The Way 2:57
–The Syndicats - Crawdaddy Simone 3:15
–The Cryin' Shames - Please Stay 3:14
–The Buzz - You're Holding Me Down 3:05
–The Riot Squad - I Take It That We're Through 2:46
–Jason Eddy & The Centremen - Singing The Blues 2:28
–Glenda Collins - It's Hard To Believe It 2:59



Saturday, 8 October 2016

Johnny Kidd & The Pirates ‎– "The Complete Johnny Kidd & The Pirates" (EMI ‎– CDKIDD1)


Original Rock'n'Roll, sometimes called Classic Rock'n'Roll, UK style, was generally absolute shite!....but, there were two or three absolute classic tunes, that rivaled the very best stuff that came out of america before their soul crushing system destroyed it all by 1958. 
Just as it was left to France to save Jazz, it was left to the UK to save Rock'n'Roll, and in fact re-invent it (That should read,'In fact Invent it!') into the modern form that is still with us today.Although in the original template, UK rockers produced very little of the classic repertoire, we know and ,sort of, love today.
Of these classic tunes, we got Cliff's "Move It", Vince Taylor's "Brand New Cadillac", and two from Johnny Kidd, "Please Don't Touch" and "Shakin' All Over".....all fucking fantastic primal toonage from the R'n'R gene, or jean, pool.
Why is this stuff on this blog?Which is primarily about DIY music from the 70's and 80's, you may ask?
Well, Johnny Kidds backing band were the Pirates, who became prime influences and movers in the burgeoning Pub Rock scene in the UK, which, in turn, was a form of Live DIY, and a very influential catalyst for the Punk Rock revolution, which was the primary influence for the DIY explosion....if one could call it an 'explosion'?
They deserve to be here anyway for the sheer brilliance of those two timeless classics!

I did mention a funny story about the recording of "Shakin' All Over" earlier in this thread, so I'd better recount it hadn't I?

In my early days in France, after moving here from the UK, I met a bizarre looking gentleman, who described himself as a "Bass Player". Called Tony Bell.He sported a jelly-fish style array of straggly ginger tendrils of hair, dangling from the edges of a strategically donned Baseball Cap; beneath which I suspected was a landing strip of pasty, hairless scalp.Luring in victims for his insatiable appetite of relaying endless tales of Showbiz hi-jinks.
Also he had a top lip which was burdened with a ginger handlebar moustache atop a set of goofy teeth that resembled some kind of forgotten graveyard!If that wasn't enough, he sported a pair of pale blue eyes that seemed to point in diametrically opposite directions; not unlike Marty Feldman, as Igor in Mel Brooks' "Young Frankenstein".
He was very keen to recount his experiences in the early UK Rock'n'Roll scene, down at the "2i's" coffee bar in Soho, London; The birthplace of British rock, where Cliff and the Shadows hung out,among others.
He reeled off a list of all the famous rockers he played with back in the day and beyond; Like Tommy Steele in Vegas, Screaming Lord Sutch,Joe Meek(the supreme Daddy of DIY),the legendary Big Jim Sullivan, but never mentioned Johnny Kidd, disappointingly.
Suitably impressed, we invited him,his disciple,and Missus (Irene), round our house for dinner.
Thinking they would probably like to hear some music from the early days of Rock, I made a playlist that included Johnny Kidd's "Shakin' All Over".
So, as soon as that played, they looked at each other and giggled; then said....."Ah, this always gets played whenever i'm around someone's gaff(He-He-He)", said Tony.
"Oh yes? And why do you say that" I inquired.
"Well, I played Bass on this. The bass player couldn't handle the part so EMI got me in as a session man....never got a credit though."
Well, the gullible twat that I am, was gushingly impressed enough to want to hear more of his monotonous showbiz monologues.He'd had so much cocaine in Vegas with Tommy Steele's band that a cavity had formed in his skull, and green pus oozed out a hole in the side of his nose, between those Feldman-esque lazy eyes of his.
He did have a high tolerance of drugs, because he brought his own weed, and shared it with my, then Missus, who left me(good by the way!), and is now with some other dodgy 'bass player' from the incredibly clueless and awful Gaye Bykers On Acid!...what is it with Bass players? Y'know.... those geezers who hang around with musicians?.
Anyway, i digress,and i'm definitely NOT 'bitter', (Get out of Jail FREE card springs to mind); but, It was such hyper strong skunk, that, she passed out, started a mini-fit and pissed herself....and I don't mean from laughing....she actually pissed herself as she lay prostate on the couch. She seemed Dead, and i had a hard job finding out if she was actually breathing!....While I did this i reassured my guests by saying, "Carry on eating,I'm just checking to see if she's not actually dead!"
They didn't seem at all phased by this,and more to the point actually carried on eating(?),which seemed to confirm that they had witnessed events like this before in a previous transient Rock'n'Roll lifestyle.
After my former co-habitee,Justine, had recovered, we waved bye bye, and returned to the house.
I'm not actually as gullible as I earlier suggested, and went straight to work on the internet to discover the truth about this extremely sceptical claim.
Quickly I found the e-mail address of the God-like Johnny Spence, bass player with the pirates, who didn't play on "Shakin' All Over", but knew the original Bass Player, Brian Gregg. He informed me that the Brian was more than capable of playing the bass parts, but if my friend(Tony) felt good saying this untruth then he saw no reason why anyone should burst his bubble. I was not disappointed with this response from one of my favourite musicians ever(if only for that angry face!)....what a great non-star attitude eh? Now that's Rock'n'Roll.....(said in a funny Paul Daniels style voice).
I never did confront Tony with this info, whats the point in humiliating such a character,just because he lied to impress people to alleviate his self-esteem problem ...mostly to girls I think. How else was he going to pull looking like some kind of freaky ginger Preying Mantis?
You can read the original Johnny Kidd Bassist's account of the recording session by clicking here if you so desire.
And if you ever visit Abbey Road Studio's, don't say, "Wow!Is this where The Beatles recorded, say "Wow! Is this where Johnny Kidd and the Pirates recorded?"....because they did.

PS....for Mick Green fans(and if you aren't, why the fuck not????), check out part two of the download, to experience the classic Wilko/Greeno rhythm/Lead telecaster guitar style that we know and love on so many Dr. Feelgood and Pirates mark 2(76-82) recordings. These people were the Beatles for me. 

Tracklist:

Part One:

Please Don't Touch 1:50
Growl 2:20
Yes Sir That's My Baby - Version 2 1:39
Steady Date 2:36
Feelin' 1:57
If You Were The Only Girl In The World 2:36
You Got What It Takes 2:01
Longin' Lips 1:45
Shakin' All Over 2:21
Yes Sir, That's My Baby 1:43
Restless 2:10
Magic Of Love 2:05
Linda Lu 2:32
Let's Talk About Us 3:20
Big Blon' Baby 2:03
Weep No More, My Baby 3:11
More Of The Same 1:50
I Just Want To Make Love To You 3:00
Please Don't Bring Me Down - Version 2 1:54
So What 2:24
Please Don't Bring Me Down 2:07
Hurry On Back To Love 2:28
I Want That 2:24
I Can Tell 2:29
A Shot Of Rhythm And Blues 1:58
Some Other Guy 2:27
Then I Got Everything 2:00
I'll Never Get Over You 2:05
Ecstasy 2:29
Hungry For Love 2:13
Castin' My Spell - The Pirates 2:22
My Babe - The Pirates 2:44
Dr. Feelgood 1:50

Part Two:

Always And Ever 2:56
Whole Lotta Woman 3:11
Your Cheatin' Heart 3:17
Let's Talk About Us - Version 2 2:20
A Little Bit Of Soap 2:26
The Fool - Version 2 3:07
Oh Boy 1:38
Send Me Some Lovin' 3:06
Big Blon' Baby - Version 2 1:48
Please Don't Touch - Version 2 2:04
Right String But The Wrong Yoyo 2:32(MP3 sample download)
Shop Around 3:04
I Know 2:23
Jealous Girl 2:37
Where Are You 2:20
Don't Make The Same Mistake As I Did 2:27
The Birds And The Bees 2:02
Can't Turn You Loose 2:16
Shakin' All Over ('65) 2:22
Gotta Travel On 3:00
Bad Case Of Love 2:00
You Can Have Her 2:50
I Hate Getting Up In The Morning - Version 2 2:04
This Golden Ring 2:47
It's Got To Be You 2:25
I Hate Getting Up In The Morning 2:05
Send For That Girl 2:44
The Fool 4:09
Send For That Girl - Version 2 2:42