Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Richard's Request ...

Hola,

Richard Grant wanted to hear 'Grader Spader' by Bailterspace (mp3) from 1988, so here you are, Richard .... I took it from a very useful Flying Nun compilation called 'In Love With These Times', a long deleted item, I might like to think ...

Cheers,

Dirk

Tuesday, July 22, 2008

My Peel Tapes: Part 17




Hello ladies,

and yessssssssss ...... another edition of MPT ... with some enjoyable tunes for the whole family! Should you visit this site for the first time and wonder what all of this might possibly be all about, well, either scroll down or have a look here.

(132) The Edsel Auctioneer - 'Our New Skin' (mp3). The first single from 1989 from the Leeds outfit on Decoy Records. I still quite care for this tune, there certainly is something special about it, although I can't really identify what it is, nor can I describe it perfectly well. The 7" is of course long deleted, but if you're happy, you might still find a copy of their 'Voice of The Harolds' - Mini - LP (also on Decoy) from 1990, which brings together their first 7" and 12".

[upon request:
Ted Chippington - 'She Loves You'
Birdland - 'Wanted']

(133) Ride - 'Chelsea Girl' (mp3). In one form or another a classic track, I would think. Ride released no less than three EP's within 1990, 'Ride', 'Play' and 'Fall', all on Creation Records. I used to owe them all, but gave 'em away when I was short of money. [Note to myself: kick own ass minimum a dozen times after having finished this post.]. 'Chelsea Girl' was, I think, on the first release and set kind of standards for quite a few bands to come later. I know that those later would be described as 'shoegazing', but as mentioned previously, I hate to put bands into a scheme the music industry has created. They were awesome live, I liked their records at the time and that's about it, really. I don't give a fuck what style they seemed to belong to. Cool website here.

[upon request:
Sundays - 'I Won']


(134) The Would Be's - 'Great Expectations' (mp3). The second-best thing to come from Ireland since The Undertones .... at least this was true in 1990. And yes: I know that The Undertones were from Northern Ireland. Either way: this 7" - again on Decoy Records - made my year, I would think. The A-Side ('I'm Hardly Ever Wrong') was equally good, therefore, if there ever was a "Double A-Side" - single, this is it, that's for sure!

[upon request:
Galaxie 500 - 'Blue Thunder']


(135) The Creamers - 'Sunday Head' (mp3). From the 'Love, Honour And Obey' - LP, quite an early release from Sympathy For The Record Industry Records, SFTRI19 from 1989 in fact. On vocals the mighty Leesa Poole and - judging from the photo on the back of the sleeve, Leesa really looks like a winner! Whatever became of The Creamers though, I have no idea at all alas!

(136) Pale Saints - 'Time Thief' (mp3). A strange thing with this track: It seems not to have been released before 4AD issued the 'Comforts Of Madness' album in 1990. But I'm pretty sure that the tape I have it on dates 1989, which was the year in which I bought the fantastic 'Diamonds & Porcupines' - compilation on Beat All The Tambourines Records, which has 'She Rides The Wave' on it. And I'm sure 'Time Thief' came to my attention before 'She Rides The Wave'. Anyway, all of this was quite a long time ago and I can't remember everything in my age ... sorry for that. A neat track by any means and The Pale Saints (unofficial site of theirs: here) - together with Ride - quite set some standards for bands to come in that area.

(137) The Buzzcocks - 'Promises' (mp3). 'The Peel Sessions Album' was released in 1989 on Strange Fruit Records, the session this fabulous masterpiece is taken from was recorded on 10/4/78 though. A classic track with lyrics to make you think about, people! Nice Buzzcocks homepage: here.

(138) Stiff Little Fingers - 'Nobody's Hero' (mp3). Again an Oldie but Goodie from Clive Selwood's Strange Fruit Records: mind you, setting up this label, getting in touch with the BBC and releasing all these classic Peel sessions was the best idea mankind had at the end of the 80's: thanks, Clive! Recorded on 3/9/79, link to the (still touring after all these years!!) Stiff Little Fingers homepage: here.

(139) The Heart Throbs - 'I Wonder Why' (mp3). A single on One Little Indian Records (also home of The Sugarcubes), released in 1990. Again, I think Peel must have played this as a pre-release a year earlier. Again, a band which faded into nothingless sadly. Their 'Cleopatra Grip' album, also from 1990 is worth checking out though, so should you find it in a bargain bin somewhere, get hold of it for a few quid.

(140) Snuff - 'Can't Explain' (mp3). Okay, I'll just type that once and won't do it again in the course of this series: from an LP called 'Flibbiddydibbiddydob' (phew!) on Workers Playtime Records, 1989. It featured mainly cover songs and TV commercial jingles reworked by the band. The release was the subject of a disgreement with the British Phonographic Industry; Snuff maintained it was an EP - and as such should be eligible for the UK singles chart - but the BPI insisted on classifying it as an album because of the large number of tracks. 'Can't Explain' was originally done by The Who, of course.

[upon request:
Snuff - 'Rods And Mockers']


(141) The Farm - 'Stepping Stone' (mp3). The 'Ghost Dance Mix' thereof, a 12" on Pinnacle Records from 1990. I once spend an entire afternoon (from lunchtime well into the evening, to be precise) together with Peter Hooton, another one out of The Farm and John Peel in a cafe in Regent Street near the BBC Building where we drank quite a lot and had real good fun altogether. Alas Peel had to leave inbetween, because he had his programme to do, and I only wish I'd ever heard that particular one, because I don't think he managed to get himself 100% sober from the time he left to the time of broadcast! That was of course, I should add, before The Farm became rather popular. Also Hooton has the worst Liverpool accent you've ever heard, unbelievable!

[upon request:
Snuff - 'Shaken Black']


(142) Pavement - 'Box Elder' (mp3). A treasure!!!!!!!!! Now, if I ever in my life get around to do a 'The definetely fucking best songs in the history of recorded music' this would be on it for sure! This is a killer of a song, very short into the point, but nevertheless wonderful. Originally released as a 7" called "Slay Tracks (1933–1969)"on Treble Kicker in 1989, 1000 copies only, later, in 1993 in fact, re-released on an LP. More about the 7": here. Download this tune now, folks, it's good throughout!

(143) The Happy Mondays - 'Mad Cyril' (mp3). From the seminal 'Bummed' album on Factory, with which the band first made a cultural impact on a regional and national level. You see, back then, in 1988/1989, common folk didn't know much about acid house, this was something for the 'kids' in the cities. Well, we country boys knew it was there somewhere, but we couldn't really identify where exactly. But 'Bummed' brought it over to us, in a nice combination with psychedelic effects, those we still knew from the early 70's. Also, whenever you got hold of an issue of the NME or Face or whatever here in Germany, you could read an article describing in detail what an arsehole Shaun Ryder was: believe it or not, but this helped the Mondays quite a lot!

(144) Viv Stanshall & The Big Boys - '(There's No Room To) Rhumba In A Sports Car' (mp3). Well, there is so much to say about Viv Stanshall, I wouldn't know where to start. Have a look at Wikipedia here and from there on explore this genius further, if you want to.

The track can be found on 'The Last Temptation Of Elvis' (a 1990 UK NME mail-order only 26-track 2-LP vinyl set) featuring versions of songs from Elvis' movies, including Paul McCartney's version of It's Now Or Never plus three previously unissued takes of King Of The Whole Wide World by Elvis himself, superb colour gatefold picture sleeve by the way. Other contributors were The Pogues, JAMC, Fuzzbox, PWEI, Cramps etc. etc. ......

[upon request:
Would Be's - 'There Is, There Are, That's All'
Edsel Auctioneer - 'Bed, Table, Chair']

(145) The Siddeleys - 'Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes)' (mp3). From another compilation, this time 'Alvin Lives In Leeds', released on Midnight Music in 1990. "The Poll Tax Sucks, Don't Pay It", it reads on the sleeve .. and I suppose you Britons know all about that. I don't, but then again I don't care a great deal (we have our own taxes here in Germany, and they ALL suck!). Some fine bands (amongst others Lush, Cud, Close Lobsters, 14 Iced Bears, Perfect Disaster) do covers of all-time favourites from the 70's. And they all do them pretty well, I would think!

[upon request:
Wedding Present - 'Make Me Smile (Come Up And See Me)'

Enough for today, my friends. Leave requests and let me know if you were satisfied with my choices, any comments are of course highly appreciated.

Cheerio,

Dirk

Another request ...

.... came in from an anonymous reader who had a closer look at the 'upon request' sections of the different postings. And so should you, dear friends, because this is what Anonymous wanted to hear, so this is what Anonymous gets:



John Cooper-Clarke - '36 Hours' (mp3) [from the (JCC-) compilation 'Me And My Big Mouth', Epic Records 1981. The track itself is from 1980]

Death By Milkfloat - 'The Man Whose Senses Failed' (mp3) [a 7" in the Constrictor Singles Club - Series, Constrictor Records, 1988]

The Smiths - 'What Difference Does It Make' (mp3) [from the - legendary - 12" on Rough Trade from 1984]

The Smiths - 'Shakespeare's Sister' (mp3) [a 7" from 1985 on Rough Trade]

The Smiths - 'I Want The One I Can't Have' (mp3) [from the 'Meat Is Murder' - LP on Rough Trade from 1985]

The Smiths - 'Rusholme Ruffians' (mp3) [dto.]

The Ramones - 'Daytime Dilemma (Dangers Of Love)' (mp3) [from the 'Too Tough To Die' - LP on Sire from 1984]

The Ramones - 'I Don't Wanna Walk Around With You' (mp3) [from the self-titled debut LP on Sire from 1976]

Electronic - 'Getting Away With It' (mp3) [a single from 1989, I took it from the fantastic 'Palatine' - 4-LP - compilation on Factory, FACT 400]



Also Anonymous wanted to hear more from Jilted John. The only thing I can play to you is the backside of the 1978 7": 'Going Steady' (mp3). [EMI 1978]



He asked for something by The Cramps as well, my choice for you is 'Tear It Up' (mp3), a live version thereof, probably one you won't hear all that often, which is always a good thing. [recorded at The Santa Monica Civic, CA - August 15, 1980. You'll find it on the 'Urgh!' - DoLP on A &M Records]



Well, Anonymous, I hope you're pleased with the above.



Take care,



Dirk

Saturday, July 19, 2008

More Requests .....

Yes, my lovelies, even more requests came in recently:

Chris R. wanted to hear 'Then & Now' by Dub Sex, the Peel Session Version thereof. I'm sorry, Chris, but I don't have it, although I did some research and found out that the particular track indeed was included in one of the four Peel Sessions Dub Sex did: in fact they used it for the first one, recorded on 20.01.87, transmitted 04.02.87. Have a word with Kris Wah! out of the wonderful 'Perfumed Garden' - blog, I'm willing to have a small bet that he will be able to track it down for you.

In the meantime here are a few Dub Sex tracks I like a lot and I hope you do too, Chris:

- 'Voice Of Reason' (mp3) from their 'Push! - Mini-LP on Ugly Man Records from 1987.

- 'Swerve' (mp3). The Peel Session-Version thereof, available on the 'Manchester, So Much To Answer For' - DoLP. The session was recorded on 26.02.89.

Finally have a look here, Chris. This is a link to a rather recent edition of the fantastic 'Contrast Podcast', where I contributed 'Push!' by Dub Sex. Of course all the other tracks, all the other editions in fact, are worth checking out as well!

Then Craig Keany was keen (sorry, I couldn't resist *smile*) to hear a 7" on Red Records from October 1980. Craig, here you are mate:

The Lines - 'Nerve Pylon' (mp3).

Also Chris & Craig: thanks very much indeed for your nice and warm words upon my little blog: it really made me happy!

So, another two satisfied customers! Time for me now to have a look at the wonderful sites of J.C. aka The Vinyl Villain (here), FiL over at Pogo A Go-Go (here) and Mathew's Song, By Toad (here). And so should you, people!!!

Have fun,

Dirk

Wednesday, July 9, 2008

My Peel Tapes: Part 16

Hi kids,

yet another edition of 'My Peel Tapes' and another fine one, I would like to think (although there's quite a lot of me bragging about included this time ... hope this doesn't turn you off). Here we go:

(120) Galaxie 500 - 'Another Day' (mp3). I may well have told this story before, but back in 1990 - when being in the army and therefore always out of money (back then they forced you to attend for one fucking year, but would pay you no more than ~ 300,- Deutschmarks, not Euros: can you believe that?!) - a mate of mine worked as some manager and/or concert promotor for one or two German Ska combos. I helped him out, doing backstage stuff and stagebuilding and one of the benefits of this relation was that I was often provided with free tickets for other gigs.

And one of those gigs was the WDR Rocknacht, where - amongst others - James played, together with Galaxie 500. It was quite a big venue, but not that crowded, therefore I used to leave the backstage area and stand in the middle of the audience watching a few of the bands playing from there. Suddenly a most beautiful young woman (I could say a goddess as well, male readers: have a look at the link further below and you'll see what I mean!) approached me (mind you: back in those days my belly was tending towards zero and I was as pretty as a picture altogether!!) and placed herself right beneath me and - as it happened very often back in those days (it still happens nowadays, to be absolutely frank to you) - I was too shy to speak to her. So we stood silently together and watched the entire show of whoever was playing then and we thought beautiful thoughts of what we could do together instead. Well, I did, to be precise, she, on the other hand, just watched the band, I think.

You can believe me that I was not little surprised when that women entered the stage right after the band finished and started (she was playing bass) together with her band)) one of the finest performances I've ever seen (although it was surpassed by what James did later in the night). So, Naomi Yang out of Galaxie 500, should you be reading this: I never stopped adoring you!

'Another Day' is on their fantastic 'On Fire' - LP, Rough Trade Records 1989. Not only is the music truly awesome, also the sleeve notes, done by Kramer, are essential:

THEN there was The Great Chicago Fire. I was there. The stories of how the fire began were wildly contradictory, but I was there. Some people say the fire was started by a stampede of cows. Some say it was just one cow. Some tried to blame it on someone they didn't like. One fella tried to blame it on his own brother, just because his brother had stolen away his girlfriend and married her. The wedding took place in Las Vegas. It was a modest affair of about 150 guests, non-denominational(which really pissed off the parents of the bride, but hell, you can't please everybody). During the ceremony some rotten little punks yelled "Fire!" "Fire!" and the whole place cleared out in no time. The maid of honor even broke her ankle in two places after being shoved down the altar by the always overly zealous justice of the peace. Well, the ankle was pretty bad and the maid of honor had to be shot, and exactly one week later the entire block burned to the ground. Even the bricks burned. But at least nobody tried to blame it on a cow. And the wedding went ahead as planned. And some people actually believe that Nero fiddled as Rome burned, and that he really did look like a badly aging Peter Lorre. On Sunday nights we'd all gather round to watch the Disney show, and I would always fall asleep from boredom. But I had a big ol' Siamese cat named Butch who'd always loved to play with my face as soon as my head hit the pillow. So I'd awake startled, sometimes crying, sometimes covered with blood and crying, staring into the idiot box. Sometimes I'd see Walt himself, sometimes Mickey or Goofy. But sometimes I'd see a thousand bright blue caribou racing a dust storm to the finish line, neck and neck all the way, like nature's own Indy 500! Flesh and blood against the elements! And I remember wondering to myself..."Why are they racing?" Then one fine day I understood why the race took place. It was because the hairs on those caribous necks were being tickled by the instinctual knowledge of a fire raging not too far away, and most certainly headed this way. Humans often get the same feeling ... like an oddly warm breeze malevolently fueled by the maddening flames behind it. Come ride the fiery breeze of Galaxy 500!- KRAMER, New York City 1989.

[upon request:
Prudes - 'Something Tells Me']

(121) The Senseless Things - 'Too Much Kissing' (mp3). A perfect little pop song and exactly the type of tune I like most: catchy, simple, neat guitars and a nice chorus. What else could you possibly ask for? And for those of you who have never heard of The Senseless Things, here's a little name-dropping which I stole from Wikipedia:

Keds went onto form Jolt then Trip Fontaine, The Lams and now Like A Bitch. He very briefly played with The Wildhearts. Ben went onto join 3 Colours Red and has since developed a career in public and media relations with diverse organisations including Help the Aged, the Eden Project and the Crown Prosecution Service. Morgan joined Vent with Miles Hunt from The Wonder Stuff then went on to play with The Streets. He is now part of Muse's live set-up. Cass went on to sing for Delakota and then Gorillaz. He also briefly played with Urge Overkill. Senseless Things reformed (minus Morgan, who was unfortunately touring in Japan with Muse) for one short four song performance on 4th March 2007 - over 12 years after the band last performed - as part of a gig to celebrate the life of former Mega City Four frontman Darren 'Wiz' Brown, who died in December 2006.

'Too Much Kissing' is on the band's debut mini album called 'Postcard C.V.', released on Way Cool Records in 1989.

[upon request:
Edsel Auctioneer - 'Strung'
Galaxie 500 - 'When Will You Come Home']

(122) Another Sunny Day - 'You Should All Be Murdered' (mp3). On the wonderful Sarah Record Label from Bristol, home to many great artists back in the early 90's. Their 7" singles were not terribly easy to get hold of at the time, but if you were lucky, you could pick up one of their stunning compilations. This track can be found on a rather early one of them, 'Temple Cloud', released in 1990. The 'You Should All Be Murdered' - 7" dates 1989 though ...

[upon request:
X-Ray Spex - 'Genetic Engineering'
Family Cat - 'Final Mistake'
House Of Love - 'I Don't Know Why I Love You'
Galaxie 500 - 'Snowstorm']

(123) Carcass - 'Ruptured In Purulence' (mp3). Well, still - after all these years - I haven't yet fully come to terms with the sheer explosion of 'those sort of bands' at the end of the decade, nearly 20 years ago. You wouldn't believe how much attention they got, as well Carcass as Extreme Noise Terror, Napalm Death or Morbid Angel: John Peel championed them all in an obsessive way and every programme was bound to be filled with (death) metal/grindcore tracks.

When the whole genre started, the numbers were incredibly short (Napalm Death's 'You Suffer' for example being 0.75 of a second long) and (especially at concerts) it was fun, 'cos when they issued tracks which started to near the one-minute mark, there would be booing and the band would be accused of turning into hippies. Home of them all was Nottingham's Earache Records and the tune above is from Carcass' second album 'Symphonies Of Sickness' from 1989. And yes, my copy is the one with the withdrawn sleeve, so let me know if you're interested in having it. The best thing is this song is, I always thought, the strange sound the singer makes at 0:40 minutes. As though he's some creature from hell ..... bloody spooky stuff!!

[upon request:
Carcass - 'Exhume To Consume']

(124) The Family Cat - 'From The City To The Sea' (mp3). From their debut Mini - LP on Bad Girl Records 'Tell 'Em We're Surfing', released in 1989. A perfect band to watch live, which I actually did (in a cool cellar venue in London, the name of which escaped me) one year later on their 'Place With A Name' - tour. Cool homepage here, with some nice downloads as well ...

[upon request:
Carcass - 'Swarming Vulgar Mass Of Infected Virulencies']

(125) Link Wray - 'Batman' (mp3). The definitive reading of the Neil Hefti classic, I would think. Originally released on Swan in 1966, I took it from a re-release on Norton Records (in their very fine 'Jukebox - Series'), a 7" released in 1995. Peel will surely have played the original Swan 7" at the time of me taping his show in 1989, I think. So start the nuclear power for the Batmobile an let it happen, kids!!

[upon request:
Hüsker Dü - 'Something I Learned Today']

(126) The Leyton Buzzards - 'Saturday Night Beneath The Plastic Palm Trees' (mp3). Their second single and quite contrary to what they did before. Mind you, this 7" was released in 1979, a time - so I might imagine - where quite a lot of die-hard punks were rather furious because of this record, which is, as you can tell, by no means punk-ish. It even entered the charts at No. 53 and a Top Of The Pops appearence followed. Either way, I've bragged about my dislike of labelling-bands-into-genres often enough and this record is a very good example why I'm right with my opinion: it's a pretty neat track, as easy as that. Which you will be able to confirm if you download it. On Chrysalis Records. Here's a little bit more on The Leyton Buzzards .... and also I hope FiL from Pogo A Go-Go will pleased to hear this (again).

[upon request:
James - 'Come Home'
Electronica - 'Getting Away With It']

(127) Grant Hart - 'She Can See The Angels Coming' (mp3). A chilling emotive end to an astonishingly great album. It's a vulnerable, touching, but subtle memorial to the horror of Hüsker Dü's closing months, when band manager Dave Savoy committed suicide just before the band's final fraught tour. Well, I don't know whether Grant Hart was responsible for the more melodic tunes Hüsker Dü did, but listening to this album makes me think that this might well have been the case. So if you liked Hüsker Dü's 'ballads' more than the hardcore stuff, this LP might well be tracking down: on SST Record from 1989.

[upon request:
Family Cat - 'Taken By Surprise'
Fatima Mansions - 'Valley Of The Dead Cars'
A Witness - 'I Love You, Mr Disposable Razors']

(128) The Undertones - 'Rock 'n' Roll' (mp3). From the 'Peel-Session' album (Strange Fruit Records, 1989), which is not terribly easy to track down, I might think, at least not in vinyl form. The perfect reading of the Gary Glitter favourite, done by - definetely (!) - the best band ever to come from Northern Ireland. 'Rock 'n' Roll' is from The Undertones' 3rd session for the John Peel Show, it was recorded on 21.01.1980. This is a mighty tune, folks! Enjoy it .....

[upon request:
Grant Hart - 'Now That You Know Me']

(129) The Sundays - 'Here's Where The Story Ends' (mp3). Now, this track will please Greer out of the very fine 'A Sweet Unrest' - blog. I never tire of listening to this album. I really don't think "Blind" or "Static and Silence" could quite match the quality of "Reading, Writing and Arithmetic". Harriet's voice is well, one of those "that voice" descriptions. She could make polka music interesting. This LP gets it right, chiming guitars, laid back bass, complimentary drums, and did I mention "that voice"? "Here's Where The Story Ends" is absolutely top notch. Probably the best Sundays song, and for that matter one of my favorite songs ever, all these years later. Then again "Can't Be Sure" is equally good ... "Reading, Writing & Arithmetic" was released on Geffen Records in 1990.

[upon request:
Only Ones - 'The Big Sleep']

(130) Fatima Mansions - 'Only Losers Take The Bus' (mp3). Well, whilst trying to find some more info upon this track in the internet, I learnt that apparently there are quite a few versions of this track available. I only know two of them, first the one from the 'Against Nature' - album from 1989, and the one above, which is taken from the 12", released on Kitchenware Records, also in 1989. It's called the 'Hail & Flames' - Mix and it's good throughout! Fatima Mansions were of course led by the brilliant Cathal Coughlan, formerly of Microdisney.

[upon request:
Miracle Legion - 'The Back Yard']

(131) The Orchids - 'Something For The Longing' (mp3). Another one on Sarah Records (Sarah 29 in fact) and another one that grows on you, I would like to think! To be listened to with headphones on, 'cos having those strange helicopter noises spin right in your brain is some kind of a treat indeed .... a very fine 7" from 1989. The Orchids came from Glasgow and apparently they are still releasing records: some 22 years after they first got together .... and I wonder if my mate J.C. aka The Vinyl Villain has ever had the chance to see them playing live in or around his area? Most impressive homepages to be found here (The Orchids) and here (The Vinyl Villain).

[upon request:
Sundays - 'You're Not The One I Know']

I hope you enjoyed bits and pieces of the above and would be more than pleased if anyone could be so kind and leave a comment in order to tell me if this was the case. Annoy me with requests as well, okay?

Cheerio,

Dirk






Thursday, July 3, 2008

My Peel Tapes: Part 15

Dear friends,

please enjoy the next episode of 'My Peel Tapes', again some fine stuff for you, some of which you might not know and won't find all too easy these days, I would think .... if you're pleased with what I chose, I would be happy if you could leave a comment. Requests are of course also more than welcome!
Enough said, enjoy:

(109) Nirvana - 'Love Buzz' (mp3). Well, finally there you are: something by Nirvana. Sounds strange today, but when Peel played this track (and others) from the 'Bleach' - LP back in 1989, it didn't really fill me with great exitement. Nevertheless I thought that there is something in it I had never heard before and therefore went out and bought the album. I remember playing it to a mate of mine and he wasn't totally convinced either. None of us had expected Nirvana to become worldwide megastars and cult figures for a whole generation: we thought that Mudhoney or Soundgarden were way better. So I forgot about the LP basically.

But, as usually, we were wrong and perhaps this is why this LP is - as far as I know - the most valuable one in my collection. So should you be interested in a near mint/mint copy of the green-marbled vinyl, still originally shrink-wrapped and with the sticker (Sub Pop USA SP 34 that is), just let me know. Serious bids only, please.

[upon request:
Wedding Present - 'It's Not Unusual'
King Of The Slums - 'Full Speed Ahead']

(110) Faron's Flamingos - 'Let's Stomp' (mp3). Something completely different now and why not? From a very fine compilation, called 'Let's Stomp' as well, which features Derry Wilkie & The Pressmen, Earl Preston & The TT's, Ian & The Zodiacs, Mark Peters & The Silhouettes, Rory Strom & The Hurricanes, Sonny Webb & The Cascades and - obviously - Faron's Flamingos and it's their contribution I like most. On the Edsel Record Label, released in 1982, although the track was originally recorded back in (or around) 1963.

[upon request:
Trotsky Ice Pick - 'The Light Pours Out Of Me'
Nirvana - 'School']

(111) The Perfect Disaster - 'Hey Now' (mp3). Another fine band that did their own thing when everybody else was into Grunge and I really do wonder what ever became of them. From their 1989 - LP 'Up' on Fire/Rough Trade Records ...

[upon request:
King Of The Slums - 'Up To The Fells'
Pale Saints - 'She Rides The Wave']

(112) The Pixies - 'Wave Of Mutilation' (mp3). From their seminal 'Doolittle' - LP on 4AD Records from 1989. A great tune from a great album done by a great combo! I wish I could have played to you the 'UK Surf' - version of this, which is on the 'Here Come Your Man' - 12", but I just recognised it has a serious scratch on it. Bugger!!

[upon request:
Morbid Angel - 'Chapel Of Ghouls'
Terrorizer - 'Dead Shall Rise'
Napalm Death - 'The Missing Link'
Bolt Thrower - 'Through The Eye Of Terror']

(113) In December '89 Sub Pop Records released a very fine compilation called 'Sub Pop 200' (as a follow-up to their '86 'Sub Pop 100' (5000 copies made ... and I only wish I had one)), which brought together all the 'big' names, which were then ruling the Seattle Grunge scene: Blood Circus, Cat Butt, Fluid, Green River, Mudhoney, Nights & Days, Nirvana, Soundgarden, Swallow, Tad, Thrown Ups. Don't be irritated by the link above: it refers to the CD re-release, which has some more tracks on it than the original vinyl. Mudhoney decided to have a go at Bette Middler's 'The Rose' (mp3) ... and they managed to solve the problem neatly, I would think!

[upon request:
Only Ones - 'City Of Fun']

(114) Bunker Hill & The Raymen - 'The Girl Can't Dance' (mp3). Now this describes this unbelievable record much better than I ever could:

"God's sake, what a fella! If you've ever heard "The Girl Can't Dance" by Bunker Hill, you've got an idea what kind of incredible capacities a human voice can have. The song altogether, with Bunker's mind-blowin' caveman-alike hollering is so way beyond belief, that there ain't just enough superlative words to describe its invincibility. Bring it together with Bunker's other early sixties novelty masterpieces, and you've got there a load of the most powerful black rock'n'roll ever made!"

The above is just the beginning of a most brilliant discography of Bunker's stuff which is continued here. As described in the article: from a 7" on Norton Records, released in the very early 90's, albeit recorded in 1963.

[upon request:
Altered Images - 'Idols'
Carcass - 'Slash Dimensia'
Primal Scream - 'You're Just Too Dark To Care']

(115) The Only Ones - 'Trouble In The World' (mp3). The Only Ones were best known for their awesome 'Another Girl, Another Planet', which, I admit, is another one of my all-time favourites. If you know it and like it as much as I do, you might perhaps be interested in hearing this tune, which was recorded in June 1977 at the Speakeasy in London and later (in 1989) released on a nice LP on Skyclad Records called 'Live In London': quite a couple of great songs on it, that's for sure!

(116) Stack Waddy - 'I'm A Lover, Not A Fighter' (mp3). From their second album, released in 1972, called 'Bugger Off'. The copy I have is a Canadian one on BSF/Toad Stool Records. Here's what John Peel had to say upon Stack Waddy:

"On stage they were loud, aggressive, fairly pissed and remarkably unsubtle - as befitted musicians who where often forced to supplement their meagre gig money by working days on construction sites. Their frustrations and energies were poured into music that it was impossible to ignore. In fact you were better off not to try to ignore it because one of the many Stack Waddy atrocity stories has John Knail jumping off-stage to beat to the floor a man who was paying more attention to his lady than to the band. Even if the story is untrue, it sums up the band's attitude to their music."

And if you liked the track and are indeed interested in more of the aforementioned 'atrocity stories' Peel mentions above, just let me know: I once spent an entire afternoon with Peel listening to him telling me about what a brutal bunch Stack Waddy were back in those days ....

[upon request:
Adverts - 'No Time To Be 21']

(117) Bridewell Taxis - 'Just Good Friends' (mp3). As perfectly described here, The Bridewell Taxis from Leeds, as fantastic as they were in 1989, nearly were swallowed by what was going on in Manchester at the same time. 'Just Good Friends' was their debut single and I took the track from their one and only LP, 'Invisible To You', which was released not before 1991 on Stolen Records. If you see the cover anywhere in a discount bin: get hold of it if you want to do yourself a favour!

[upon request:
Napalm Death - 'Rise Above'
Wedding Present - 'Kennedy']

(118) The Creamers - 'I Think I'm Gonna Be Sick' (mp3). 'Love, Honour And Obey' was the title of the LP this is taken from, a very fine record on the very fine Sympathy For The Records Industry - record label from the USA (check out their site here ... for male visitors to Sexyloser the starter page will do ... simply great!!). Released in 1989 and it has some mighty tracks on it. Originally issued on the backside of their 'Sunday Head' - 7" ....

[upon request:
Verlaines - 'Slow Sad Love Song'
Napalm Death - 'Walls Of Confinement']

(119) Dinosaur Jr. - 'Just Like Heaven' (mp3). Dinosaur Jr. covers the Cure? Yeah, but where the Cure did the original 'Just Like Heaven' as an eighties pop piece more suited to sparkle on John Hughes movie soundtracks, J Mascis and company tear it up and put it back together as a true masterpiece of anger and grunge. The bass growls, the screamed "YOUUUUUU" of the chorus, and the way the song ends abruptly in a crash of guitars and feedback all contribute to a fine reinterpretation of a surprisingly emotional piece. A 12" on Normal Records from 1989.

[upon request:
Even As We Speak - 'Goes So Slow']

I hope you had fun, nice people. See you next time. Hopefully ....

Dirk

My Peel Tapes: Special Request Edition

Hello dear visitors to Sexyloser,

some requests popped in this week, believe it or not! First Greer - rather new on board on the Contrast Podcast - and also in charge of the brilliant 'A Sweet Unrest'-blog - wanted to hear more from the equally brilliant Sundays, so here you are, Greer:

The Sundays - 'I Kicked A Boy' (mp3)
The Sundays - 'Don't Tell Your Mother' (mp3)

Both tracks can be found on the back of the 'Can't Be Sure' - 12" on Rough Trade Records from 1989.

Also Greer was looking for this, which can be found on the wonderful 'Psychocandy' - LP on Blanco Y Negro Records from 1985:

The Jesus & Mary Chain: 'Cut Dead' (mp3)

Then mighty Ed out of the highly inspirational '17 Seconds'-blog wrote in to request 'Swerve' by Dub Sex. Ed, your wish is my command, of course, so here, from a 12", also from 1989, on Cut Deep Records, come:

Dub Sex -'Swerve' (mp3)

I hope you enjoyed the tracks, Greer and Ed ... and of course I hope the rest of you all did as well.

Take good care!

Dirk