Various Artists – "Ideal Guest House" (Shelter) 1986 & "The First After Epiphany" (Ron Johnson Records – ZRON 21) 1987

As I received a request for a Ron Johnson compilation,it reminded me of the official comedian attached to this shambling Ron Johnson style stuff, Ted "I was Walking Down the Road" Chippington. I'm not sure if he was into this kind of popular music,but he was enlisted to be the compare of this trendy compilation cassette to support homeless charity "Shelter"; which is rather apt as we are facing the largest homeless crisis in Europe since world war too. Its time to start world war Free (dom) innit? I am of course referring to the current Invasion of Ukraine by that nice Mr Putin man....just in case you are part of the uninformed majority,or living in Russia....in which case i have to inform you that your army has been committing War crimes against your Slavic brothers in the west.....basically you're fucked.

The drole monotone self-elected worst comedian in the world ever Ted,links together a bunch of shambling C86-era,Johnson related groups in his characteristic stoic manner...at times he's even funny!?

Its got Bog-Shed and bIG fLAME on it, what more could you want or need?......just ignore the Chumbawamba track,...oooooh, they didn't like Neil Kinnock.....edgy stuff not, nuff said.

Tracklist:

A1 Big Flame– Man Of Few Syllables
A2 The Wedding Present– You Should Always Keep In Touch With Your Friends (alt Version)
A3 The Soup Dragons– Fair's Fair
A4 The Creepers– Sharper And Wider
A5 The Shop Assistants – Home Again (Live)
A6 The June Brides– This Town (Accoustic)
A7 Rob Grant with Yeah Yeah Noh– Mr. Hammond Has Breakfast In Bed
B1 Stump– Kitchen Table
B2 The Legend!– Everythings Coming Up Roses
B3 Pigbros– Barren Land
B4 Stitched Back Foot Airman– The Deadly Spore
B5 BMX Bandits– Sad?
B6 Bog-shed – Jobless Youngsters
B7 Chumbawamba– Kinnochio

DOWNLOAD and give these tracks a home HERE!

Oh Yeah!...here's that Ron Johnson sampler LP "The First After Epiphany" that i mistakenly thought had no exclusive tracks on it, and you could get them from the other official releases on the blog if you search for Ron Johnson Records. I was wrong, There's at least a Twang! track that one can't get elsewhere,and maybe an errant Splat! number,or anything else with an exclamation mark in it's name:

"The First After Epiphany"
Ron Johnson Records – ZRON 21 (1987)

Tracklist:

A1 Splat!– Mistook
A2 Big Flame– XPQWRTZ
A3 A Witness– Dipping Bird
A4 Stump– Big End
A5 MacKenzies– Man With No Reason
B1 The Shrubs– Blackmailer
B2 The Ex– Knock
B3 Twang – Here's Lukewarm
B4 The Nose Flutes– Bodyhair Up In The Air
B5 The Great Leap Forward– Drowning Speechless
B6 Jackdaw With Crowbar– Crow

DOWNLOAD this epiphanal moment HERE!

Jackdaw With Crowbar ‎– "Hot Air" (Ron Johnson Records ‎– ZRON 33) 1988

Not so good was the debut vinyl LP from JWC. Too many reggae numbers, as in three too many; and some lifeless versions of songs we've already got on their previous EPs. Also included are remixed tracks from their previously released cassette,"Bumpercrop Selection", not even worth re-recording apparently?
There is the saving grace of "Turkey Shoot", which is classic Jackdaw, but not as good as the version from the Peel Sessions.
It was,after all, recorded in the horrific "Second Summer of Love" of 1988 i suppose.So one is wondering whether the evil mind controlling drug 'Ecstasy' had been a distraction? I hope not!
Maybe its just the pressure of living up to their previously High standards of nutjobbery that made this a travesty of Crow?.....Its not that bad by the way, just disappointing.
They did release another album in Italy(!)around 1991-ish, which I was totally unaware of, and have never heard; but by then the magic would definitely have dissipated.
(anyone got a file of this missing Jackdaw?) 

Tracklist:

A1 Travesty Of C(ro)w
A2 Banjoid Festi
A3 Sultan Of Pickle, Son Of Bran
A4 Scrape
A5 New Right Wing
B1 Turkey Shoot
B2 Iceberg
B3 Amarillo
B4 Stomach Pump
B5 Sailor Soul Survivor
B6 F.U.S.A.

DOWNLOAD this blast of hot air HERE!

Jackdaw With Crowbar - "The Peel Sessions:1987" (a Die Or DIY? compilation)

Jackdaw with Crowbar's two Peel Sessions only include one reggae number, which is a good thing.That leaves six tracks (they only manged 7 over two sessions!), of prime period,1987 vintage, Jackdaw.
Plenty of borderline sanity, Beefheart on speed loony tunes for the casual nutjob.
The songs that appeared on their 1988 "Hot Air" album are indeed inferior to the versions from these sessions, as always is the case.
However, on the whole, this is an increasingly rare bird whose glossy black plumage hides some genuinely unique and crazed music; the like of which is seldom seen this side of the late twentieth century.

Track Listing:

1 Iceberg(19-5-87)
2 Ignorant(19-5-87)
3 Turkey Shoot(19-5-87)
4 Amerillo(19-5-87)
5 Tightrope(04-10-87)
6 Stomach Pump(04-10-87)
7 Sailor Soul Survivor(04-10-87)

DOWNLOAD as the band played on while the Titanic of intelligent pop sinks below the waves HERE!

Jackdaw With Crowbar ‎– "Sink! Sank! Sunk!" (Ron Johnson Records ‎– ZRON 31) 1987

Jackdaw's second EP on Ron Johnson, is the lower budget equal of their first,and seems to fit in nicely as the soundtrack to the madness of 2017. Based largely on a Titanic disaster theme,backed up with strong anti-american, anti-nuclear rhetoric, this seems an appropriate post the morning after thee DUMBEST presidential press conferences made by anyone baring that title of office. As the united States of America goes full steam ahead towards the Iceberg that is Trump.
Lets read what he had to say about nuclear war shall we?.....

“And I can tell you one thing about a briefing that we’re allowed to say, because anybody that ever read the most basic book can say it: nuclear holocaust would be like no other......You know what uranium is, right? This thing called nuclear weapons, like lots of things are done with uranium, including some bad things.” 

(Donald J. Trump,leader of the western world, 17/02/2017)

This moron,let's face it, he is a Moron by any standard of stupidity and ignorance; has the potential to make "The Bowling Green Massacre" look like just a made-up figment of some retarded plutocrat's feeble imagination.
Please come back Dubya!!!!

Sleep safely in your beds kids????

Tracklist:

A1 Sunk By An Iceberg
A2 Redstar Loco
B1 Amerillo
B2 Fuck!! America

DOWNLOAD downloading downloaded HERE!

Jackdaw With Crowbar ‎– "Monarchy Mayhem And Fi$hpaste" (Ron Johnson Records ‎– ZRON24) 1987

From the mean streets of Leamington Spa sprung forth this bizarre quartet of lunacy on the great Ron Johnson Records in 1987. The year before the end of rock's Golden era.
I don't remember Jackdaw With Crowbar ever stooping to shaking a Tambourine, wearing a stripy top and dancing like an idiot in order to remain relevant.....oh no....they just disappeared along with every other great band in the Ecstasy haze. Probably a shadow government plot to finally silence dissent and subversion......and it worked.
Just have a listen to "Crow" and imagine what that would have sounded like in the hands of those awful Rave DJ gods post '88's '2nd' summer of love nonsense; the Andy Weatherall mix. That fucking James Brown funky drummer loop shuffling away behind the clucking chicken, with some black female gospel session singer busting a blood vessel in the background, and a velvet underground clone dancing like a prat shaking a pair of maracas.......by faaaaaar the worst era in modern music.When 'The Chav' really took over.They always flock willingly to any Nuremberg rally that will have them. 
Apart from the inappropriate 'Dub' track that ends this EP, this is as far away as you can get from government inspired homogeneity.
My mouth still drops open whenever I hear "Crow". Foghorn Leghorn and Captain Beefheart's bastard son; it is completely Nuts.

Tracklist:
A1 The Night Albania Fell On Alabama
A2 Siren
B1 Crow
B2 Fourth World

DOWNLOAD this clucking classic HERE!

Jackdaw With Crowbar ‎– "Bumper Crop Selection" (Big Turkey ‎– 2) 1986

There have been few groups who have managed to produce my 'What the Fuck was THAT!?' face over the years. Off the top of my head I can think of Napalm Death, The Residents, The Shaggs, Blah Blah Blah's 'In The Army' single....along with a select few others. Among these would have to be Jackdaw With Crowbar.Upon first hearing the track 'Crow' on the John Peel show. They seemed obsessed with different types of Fowl, and making chicken noises through megaphones.These iare the kind of moments we all wait for aren't they?
'Crow' isn't on this self-released cassette unfortunately, but it does contain several early versions of tracks that would appear later on their Ron Johnson releases.
So if you like unhinged Anti-American Turkey, Chicken, and Crow noises, backed up by the Magic Band in Dub, then this is for you.
Personally, i always fast forward the Dub tracks, like I do when I play The Bad Brains; a bit too generic for my tastes.....and fucking boring(unless you're stoned)! The opposite of the genius of 'Crow'; which i will be posting chronologically after this post.
Also I think the noble Crow is my favourite animal,so anything with Crow's on it has to be off to a good start.


Tracklist:

A1 Lies
A2 Ignorant B'$tard$
A3 Albania Alabama
A4 Scrape Dub
A5 Bumper
A6 Curse
B1 New Right Wing
B2 Ice Dub
B3 Great Divide
B4 Slarti
B5 Roll Over Rover
B6 $on Of Bran
B7 Sailor Soul Survivor
B8 Banjoid Festj

DOWNLOAD a bumper selection of compressed mp3 files HERE!