Don't Mind No Hurricane, I'll Find You

Serenity is a new song by Aime Simone and Peter Doherty.

Typically, my Friday posts are a precursor to the weekend, big beats, 80s mixtapes, that kind of thing. Today is the complete opposite of that, a delicate, beautiful acoustic number with artists of two generations on one page. How could I resist?

I've been aware of Aime Simone for several years, and I receive regular mailshots about their music releases but I'd never really paid much attention. I will admit that visually, the black-dyed mullet and the word 'reckless' tattooed under their left eye, weren't immediately appealing either, but just goes to show that I need to call bullshit on my inner voice sometimes.

I came across another clip where Aime and Peter describe their first meeting, way back in 2012. It's one of those "you couldn't make it up" tales that mix despair and delight and it's heartwarming that this ad-hoc encounter evolved and endured, leading to Serenity.

Not the first time that Aime and Peter have recorded a song though, as I discovered Werewolf which, cannily, was released for Hallowe'en last year.

I've also discovered another Aime Simone collaboration, this time with fellow French artist Waxx aka Benjamin Hekimian, covering a Neil Young classic.

Serenity is available to buy on Bandcamp and I will be digging deeper into Aime's catalogue. Better late than never...

6/6 Beat

The Beat shuffled onto my playlist during my commute to work, a welcome reminder of what a strikingly great band they were when I was a kid. 

Duly inspired, I've picked half a dozen songs, four live, two in the (TV) studio, to underline this point.

Who remembers O.T.T., the late night, 'adult' version of anarchic kids' TV show TISWAS? I do, though I suspect I saw very little of it at the time it was broadcast, being pre-teen, a school night and without a TV in my room. it's hard to imagine to scarcity of screens in an average household in the early 80s, compared to now...!

1) Big Shot (Live @ WDR Studio-B, Cologne, Germany, 23rd July 1980)

2) Doors Of Your Heart (Live @ US Festival, Glen Helen Regional Park, San Bernardino, California, 3rd September 1982)

3) Jeanette (Live @ US Festival, Glen Helen Regional Park, San Bernardino, California, 28th May 1983)

4) Mirror In The Bathroom (Top Of The Pops, BBC1, 1st May 1980)

5) Ranking Full Stop (Live @ US Festival, Glen Helen Regional Park, San Bernardino, California, 28th May 1983)

6) Stand Down Margaret (OTT, ITV, 1st November 1982)

 

 

 

 

 

 

View It From Here

On Thursday 28th January 1982, Associates released Party Fears Two.

Wait...what? Forty four years ago?!

Party Fears Two was the tenth Associates single and none of the previous nine had troubled the mainstream UK charts in any way, although they'd enjoyed some success in the indie singles chart.

Party Fears Two was the game changer for the band, a four minute poperetta showcasing Billy MacKennzie and Alan Rankine at the peak of their powers.

I wasn't alone in being completely captivated by Associates' debut performance on Top Of The Pops and Party Fears Two eventually peaked at #9 in the UK Top 40 the week of 21st to 27th March 1982.

Party Fears Two proved to be Associates' sole Top 10 hit; likewise parent album Sulk, which followed in May 1982, and it remains as powerful now as it did then, despite my having heard it thousands of times by now.

Party Fears Two is a song that only the brave or foolhardy have attempted to cover since. Fewer still - The Divine Comedy and Heaven 17 to name two - have had the balls to commit to taking their version into the studio.

I've included live performances by both, and a few more that I've discovered. None can surpass the original, but I think they've all managed to give a personal and affecting spin.

1) Party Fears Two: The Divine Comedy (Live @ The Barbican, London, 3rd September 2022) *

2) Party Fears Two: Heaven 17 (Live @ O2 Academy, Bristol, 1st December 2010)

3) Party Fears Two: Jess Brett (Live @ The Flapper, Birmingham, 12th March 2022) (buy on Bandcamp)

4) Party Fears Two: James Grant (Live @ Tannahill Centre, Paisley, 3rd June 2022)

5) Party Fears Two: Øivind Hånes (Live @ Portåsen, Mjøndalen, Norway, 12th November 2020)

6) Party Fears Two: King Creosote & Session A9 (Live @ Celtic Connections, Royal Concert Hall, Glasgow, 16th January 2010)

 

 

 

 

 

* There's another clip on YouTube which better captures the majestic 11-piece band accompanying Neil on stage, though be warned, it ends abruptly mid-song!

Got To Hear Percussion

I was gutted to read late on Monday that Sly Dunbar has passed. 

I've been unable to pull together a Dubhed selection in time for today's post - it will come this weekend - so for now here's a link to my tribute to partner Robbie Shakespeare in December 2021.

Not only one of the greatest musicians in his chosen discipline but, as Sly & Robbie, one of the most inspirational, genre defining and genre defying musical partnerships there has ever been, and ever will be.

No Room To Move, No Room For Doubt

Feed The Enemy is the opening song of Magazine's second album, Secondhand Daylight. 

The song plays to the band's innate sense of theatre, introducing elements of the band one at a time; it's 1:27 before Barry Adamson's bass kicks in with John Doyle's percussion and two minutes in until Howard Devoto utters his first word.

The sense of anticipation is paid off with the opening couplet,

It's always raining over the border

There's been a plane crash out there

Following the second verse break and a blistering turn from Dave Formula and John McGeoch, the song builds in intensity as Howard comes back in to deliver the final lines, the band moving as one yet ramping up the tension, until it comes to it's inevitable end. 

Feed The Enemy wasn't released as a single, that was track two, the punchier Rhythm Of Cruelty, but a video was made for the song, at 5:29 only twenty seconds or so shorter than the album version.

For Magazine's live shows, a shorter, sped up version in the spirit of their more uptempo numbers was introduced. It may lose the brooding menace of the studio original, but it travels well at this revved up speed.

When Magazine reformed, they also got to perform at the penultimate BBC Electric Proms. Their set on Thursday 22nd October 2009 included the faster version of Feed The Enemy.

I saw Magazine a couple of years later in Birmingham, for what proved to be their final tour in this (re)incarnation. Whilst Feed The Enemy had been dropped by then, the combination of classics and new songs from then-current album No Thyself did not disappoint.

It's always raining over the border

There's been a plane crash out there

In the wheatfields they're picking up the pieces

We could go and look and stare

How many friends have we over there?

The border guards fight unconvincingly

Whatever we do it seems things are arranged

We always have to feed the enemy

You could dance for me

And punch me through

You could dance for me

And punch me through

You could dance for me

And punch me through

You could dance for me

And punch me through

We watched them trash the last camera

Glued to all our TV's

The actors on the replay

Trying again to touch you and me

But they always seem to know

Exactly what they're talking about

They must've got you in a corner

You've got no room to move

You've got no room for doubt

That's exactly what they're talking about

They must've got you in a corner

No room to move

No room for doubt

Maybe Today, Maybe Tomorrow

I've posted a song this morning by Keith Hudson on BlueSky as part of the #70sTop30 music challenge running this month.

I've been diving deeper into Keith's catalogue recently, as he is an artist that I like, but know relatively little about from landmark albums Pick A Dub and (deep breath) The Black Breast Has Produced Her Best, Flesh Of My Skin Blood Of My Blood, both from 1974.

There is a pick from both, the latter today's #70sTop30 pick, as well as another dozen from 1972 to 1994. Sadly, that's where the story ends, as Keith died on 14th November 1994, aged just 38.

Whilst he doesn't possess the vocal range some of the reggae greats, his songwriting and production skills knew no such limits. I've largely bypassed Keith's formidable dub diversions in favour of his lyrical excursions. The songs mostly travel in familiar reggae territory but include a pleasing though commercially disastrous detour with 1976 album Too Expensive, sounding more like The Fatback Band then King Tubby. 

There's plenty more reggae and dub from Mr. Hudson to furnish future Dubhed selections...

1) Nah Skin Up (12" Mix) (1978)

2) I Know My Rights (Version 2) (1994)

3) Fight Your Revolution (1974)

4) Like I'm Dying (1974)

5) Closer Walk (1972)

6) Healing Up The Line (1982)

7) Misery (1974)

8) Civlization (Album Version) (1976)

9) I'm All Right (1974)

10) Starlight (1994)

11) Satan Side (1972)

12) National Item (1977)

13) Curiosity (1982)

14) (Bad Things) You Teach Me (1979)

1972: Imbidimts Furnace: 5

1972: Satan Side EP: 11

1974: Entering The Dragon: 7

1974: Pick A Dub: 9

1974: The Black Breast Has Produced Her Best, Flesh Of My Skin Blood Of My Blood: 3

1974: Torch Of Freedom: 4

1976: Too Expensive: 8

1977: Brand: 12

1978: Nah Skin Up EP: 1

1979: From One Extreme To Another: 14

1982: Steaming Jungle: 6, 13

2015: Tuff Gong Encounter: 2, 10

Maybe Today, Maybe Tomorrow (45:27) (GD) (M)

I Love My Saturday Nights

On a beautiful Saturday night in July 1996, my girlfriend and I watched Renegade Soundwave live on stage at the Ashton Court Festival in Bristol.

A relatively short but sweet set, but one of the best live experiences ever. And I didn't even know they were playing until I got there!

My girlfriend was largely of a jangly music persuasion but somehow I convinced her that it was worth checking out Renegade Soundwave performing on one of the side stages rather than seeing who was playing the main stage at the same time. Somehow, it worked and once we were there, we were locked in.

To be honest, I remember the vibe rather than the exact setlist, but what resonates is the ineffable cool emanating from the stage. What front person Gary Asquith lacked in vocal range (although he never really sang anyway), he more than made up for with glower and insouciance.

I remember the audience going mad for Biting My Nails and their self-titled single, possibly the only ones that the majority may have recognised, but I also loved the nods to their bass-heavy albums RSW in Dub and The Next Chapter Of Dub. 

The set finished with a blistering version of the Bryan Ferry-sampling Positive i.D., with an extended outro that I wished would go on forever, though inevitably came to a close, leaving us all wanting more. The sun was beginning to set and there was more music to follow, yet for me nothing to top what I'd just witnessed for the last 30 or 40 minutes.

It turns out that this is one of the last gigs that Renegade Soundwave played. Setlist points to the Leysin Alps Festival in Switzerland in August and the Surfers Against Sewage festival in St. Agnes, Cornwall in early September, but no more.

There's no record of what Renegade Soundwave played in Bristol that night, so I've combined the setlist from the Leysin Alps Festival with a not-dissimilar gig in Roskilde, Denmark in July 1995 to create a hybrid selection for your listening pleasure.

I've done a cheeky wee edit of Renegade Soundwave (the song), splicing the intro from one of the single remixes onto the album version.

To recreate the majesty of set closer Positive I.D., I've edited the first half of the album version with the second half of the Positive Mindscape remix from the single. I think I just about get away with it!

A final nod to the ticket above, which of course is a complete fabrication. The Bristol Community Festival was still ticketless and free entry in 1996, although you could pay three quid for a programme and/or chuck some money in a bucket wielded by one of the roving BCF charity collectors. Those were the days!

This facsimile is courtesy of the wonderful Souvenir Ticket Generator app, another genius idea put out there by Tim Burgess of The Charlatans. It's lots of fun and, even better, it's free!

1) Blast 'Em Out (Album Version) (1994)

2) Biting My Nails (Vocal) (1988)

3) Cocaine Sex (Turbo Lust Mix) (1987)

4) Renegade Soundwave (Whistling Guitar Intro / Album Version) (Khayem Re-Edit) (1994/2026)

5) Kurdistan (Album Version) (1995)

6) Black Eye Boy (Album Version) (1990)

7) Thunder (Seven Inch Edit) (1990)

8) Deadly (Album Version) (1990)

9) The Phantom, It's In There (Single Version) (1989)

10) Positive I.D. (Radio Mindscape Re-Edit By Khayem) (1995/2026)

1987: Cocaine Sex EP: 3

1988: Biting My Nails EP: 2

1989: Space Gladiator / The Phantom EP: 9

1990: RSW In Dub: 6, 8

1990: Thunder II EP: 7

1994: Howyoudoin?: 1, 4, 10

1994: Renegade Soundwave EP: 4

1995: Positive Dub Mixes EP: 10

1995: The Next Chapter Of Dub: 5

I Love My Saturday Nights (48:02) (GD) (M)

You can find my previous selections for Renegade Soundwave here and here.

Chérie Des Rythmes

After Banana (Splits) on Wednesday and Apples yesterday, I'm finishing off this accidental fruit-themed mini-series with quite literally the cherry on top. Neneh Cherry, that is.

Eight remixes circa 1989 to 1994, forty-five minutes of sweet rhymes and rhythms from one of the greatest artists of all time. 

1) The Next Generation (Rap One) (Remix By DJ Mushroom) (1989)

2) Manchild (The Old School Mix By Bryan 'Chuck' New & The Dynamik Duo aka Cameron McVey & Phil Legg) (1989)

3) Buddy X (Falcon & Fabian Remix By Christian Falk & Fabian Torsson ft. Notorious B.I.G.) (1993)

4) Buffalo Stance (Nearly Neuebeat) (Remix By Arthur Baker) (1989)

5) I've Got You Under My Skin (Brixton Bass Mix By Blacksmith) (1990)

6) Money Love (Extended Mix By Cameron McVey, Jonny Dollar & Neneh Cherry) (1992)

7) Kisses On The Wind (Lovers Hip-Hop Extended Version By Bryan 'Chuck' New & The Dynamik Duo) (1989)

8) 7 Seconds (Hip Hop Mix By Cameron McVey & Jonny Dollar) (1994)

Chérie Des Rythmes (45:21) (GD) (M)

If this has merely whet your appetite, then head back to my 2024 post celebrating Neneh's 60th, with over two hours of Cherry classics.

"What Are You On? What Are You On?" And I Said, "Apples!"

DJ Mag's The Making Of A Dance Anthem series has been running on YouTube since 2020, with over 60 episodes. I watched my very first one on Wednesday!

What a one to start with, though. The fabulous Kirsty Hawkshaw taking about her journey with Opus III and their cover of It's A Fine Day, born out of the rave scene and which became a global smash in 1992.

Kirsty's storytelling is superb, describing her journey from 4AD-leaning indie kid to ball-spinning, shaven-headed frontperson, guesting on Jonathan Ross' chat show, to her unflinchingly polite challenge to big artists for not clearing use of her vocals. It's only 12 minutes but honestly I could listen to more of Kirsty's stories all day long.

I've included all of the versions, off shoots and variants mentioned in the interview below. Whilst some of the songs have featured here previously, I think I've picked unique versions for today's post. I've also added the original version, sung a cappella by Jane Lancaster and written by the legendary Edward Barton.

1) It's A Fine Day: Opus III (Kirsty's debut performance on Top Of The Pops, 20th Feb 1992)

2) Halcyon: Orbital (the official 1992 video recut to the original 11-minute single version and released in April 2025)

3) Fine Day Anthem: Skrillex & Boys Noize (2023)

4) Fine Day XXIV: Opus III (production by Shadow Child and Adam F (Kirsty's husband); new vocals and video by Kirsty) (2024)

5) It's A Fine Day: Jane (1983)

 

 

 

 

 

I'm Gonna Find A Cave

It's saying something when the words coming out from The Banana Splits, "four costumed animal characters in red helmets with yellow crests", from a psychedelic Sixties US kids' TV show sound more rational than the so-called leader of the free world.

I have a digitial copy of We're The Banana Splits, the one-off album from 1968 spun-off from the show and it's surprisingly good. Then again, given that the album allegedly features uncredited performances from Joey Levine, Al Kooper, Gene Pitney and Barry White, it should be. 

I'm Gonna Find a Cave was co-written by Jimmy Radcliffe and Buddy Scott. Depending on whether you go with Iffypedia or Secondhand Songs, it was first released in 1966 by either Charlie Starr or Miki Dallon. The Banana Splits' version is voiced by Ricky Lancelotti.

 

There have been a handful of cover versions over the years. A version by Girl Trouble popped up on the Sub Pop 200 compilation in 1988 (1989 in the UK).

There are a few more recent takes, by Naked In English Class (2018) and Dog-Sized Rat (a mere three weeks ago, at the time of this post). However, the frankly rubbish band names put me off investigating further.

Right, I've packed my bags, I'm off to Clearwell in the Forest of Dean. 

Oh crap, they're closed for another few weeks....