Summer Sunshine Cover Up

This may be the only karaoke bar where you'll find Little Annie, Frank Sidebottom, Miley Cyrus, Bobby Womack and Marc Bolan in the same room. An hour of summer sunshine - don't forget your SPF 50+.

1) That Summer Feeling: The Vaccines sing Jonathan Richman & The Modern Lovers (2012)

2) Good Day Sunshine: Roy Redmond sings The Beatles (1967)

3) Summer Wine: Evan Dando & Sabrina Brooke sing Nancy Sinatra (2002)

4) This Ain't The Summer Of Love: L7 sing Blue Öyster Cult (1997)

5) Summer Nights: 14 Iced Bears sing John Travolta & Olivia Newton-John (1990)

6) Sunshine Of Your Love: Spanky Wilson sings Cream (1970)

7) Summer In The City (Special Disco Version): Evolution sing The Lovin' Spoonful (1978)

8) Walking On Sunshine (Club Mix): Loopzilla sing Eddy Grant (1990)

9) Paris Summer (Live at The Olympia Theatre, Paris): The Last Shadow Puppets & Alison Mosshart sing Nancy Sinatra & Lee Hazlewood (2008)

10) Indian Summer: Luna sing Beat Happening (2006)

11) In The Summertime: Frank Sidebottom sings Mungo Jerry (1985)

12) Boys (Summertime Love): Something Happens sing Sabrina (1990)

13) Summertime Sadness (Live Lounge Session, BBC Radio 1): Miley Cyrus sings Lana Del Rey (2013)

14) Summertime: Bobby Womack & The Roots sing Abbie Mitchell (1998)

15) The Summer Knows: Little Annie & Paul Wallfisch sing Barbra Streisand & Michel Legrand (2008)

16) Summertime Blues (Electric Warrior Demo): T. Rex sing Eddie Cochran (1971)

17) You Are My Sunshine: Bryan Ferry sings The Pine Ridge Boys (1974)

 

Summer Sunshine Cover Up (1:09:51)

 

Black Swan To Blue Mountain

Bristol on the mix: Easton to Stokes Croft in seven steps.

 

1) Black Steel (In The Draw Mix By Substance) (Cover of Public Enemy): Tricky (1995)

2) Love Will Be On Your Side (Massive Attack Tabla Remix): Indo Animata (1996)

3) Roads (Monk & Canatella Remix): Portishead (2009)

4) Distorted Angel (Remix By Tricky): Elvis Costello & The Attractions (1996)

5) Spooned (Smith & Mighty Dusk Mix): Coldfeet (2001)

6) Burning (RSD aka Rob Smith Remix): Kakhand ft. Sizzla (2013)

7) Nefisa (Portishead Mix): Earthling (1995)

Black Swan To Blue Mountain (37:06)

 

 

Birthday Boy (George)

Boy George celebrates his 60th birthday today and dropped a couple of new songs: Drive, co-written and produced by longtime collaborator Roland Faber (aka Kinky Roland), and Boy Maybe, co-written and produced by Benny D. On a couple of listens, the pulsing beat and slightly melancholy vocals of Drive is a similar vibe to the recently released The Best Thing Since Sliced Bread and is currently my favourite of the two. Boy Maybe is more uptempo and a grower. Great video, too.

Boy George has been on a creative roll recently, releasing new songs and new versions of Culture Club classics, as well as a solo album, Cool Karaoke Vol. 1, with a second album, Summer In The Shade, also due in 2021. I wasn't - and I'm still not - particularly a fan of Culture Club, but I really connected with 1988 solo single No Clause 28 and his singles and album as Jesus Loves You in the early 1990s, a commercially and critically underrated act. Since then, I've dipped in and out of his solo singles and guest spots, but this is up there with his best songs. His voice is also sounding richer and deeper than ever. Happy birthday, George!

 

Drive: Boy George

Boy Maybe: Boy George

The Teardrop Trinity

This was originally posted on Julian Cope's Head Heritage website by the Arch Drude himself on 28 January 2019. Buried deep in the Unsung section of the Head To Head forum and available as a free download "for a full lunar month", it captures The Teardrop Explodes live at Trinity Hall in Bristol on Saturday 06 October 1979. It's a rough and ready recording of an energetic 40 minute show. I can't find much more information about the gig but a search on t'internet reveals that the Trinity's main hall had opened that same year. 

 

As far as I'm aware, the line up is also somewhat special, as it features Ged Quinn, who succeeded founder member Paul Simpson on organ before being ousted by David Balfe. Prior to the release of the Peel Sessions Plus compilation in 2007, Quinn had only appeared on one official Teardrop Explodes recording, a version of Take A Chance which appeared on the seminal Zoo Records compilation, To The Shores Of Lake Placid. 

 

This live recording is also special in that, as well as featuring Chance as the encore and an early version of Treason with alternative lyrics, it includes a hitherto unknown and unrecorded song called Beauty Comes Second. Lyrically, it's typically dark Cope fare, opening with "Somebody's sleeping in my attic room / Somebody's watching all that I do"; musically, it's an organ-driven number, slightly resembling a slowed down version of Second Head. The download is no longer available on Head Heritage, but a new link is available below and it was also posted on You Tube in 2020.

 

In the introduction with BBC Radio 1 DJ Richard Skinner, Cope mentions that "we've got a kid who does our sound who is a dub mixer" and the concert opens to the sounds of Prince Far I's Rain A Fall from the 1976 album, Under Heavy Manners. 

1) Richard Skinner's Introduction

2) Poppies In The Field

3) Went Crazy

4) Bouncing Babies

5) Books

6) Brave Boys Keep Their Promises

7) Beauty Comes Second

8) Ha Ha I'm Drowning

9) Sleeping Gas

10) Second Head

11) Treason

12) Thief Of Baghdad

13) Chance

 

Live At Trinity Hall, Bristol, Saturday October 6th 1979 (40:10)

What's On at The Trinity Centre, Bristol

Buy The Teardrop Explodes: Cope's Notes #1 (booklet & CD) on Head Heritage

Jellyfish Jam

10:40 aka Jesse Black Fahnestock is based in Stockholm, Sweden and came to my attention a couple of months ago via Bagging Area, with a blissfully wonderful dub of How Does it Feel? by Spacemen 3. This was enough to get me over to 10:40's Bandcamp page and buy the debut album, All Of Us, released in April. It's been a regular listen since then and one of the tracks, The Forever Yes, featured in my slipshod, sticky tape & scissors Pan-Ambient Summer Washout Mix the following month.

On Wednesday, Swiss Adam highlighted another 10:40 remix, this time the equally wonderful "Outer Hebrides Dub" of Inner Meet Me by The Beta Band. Jesse commented that he had a new release coming out on 11th June, which I purchased and listened to this morning.

10:40 vs. Eagle Harbor is a split single with 10:40 remixing Eagle Harbor (aka Peter Hanks) on the A-side and vice versa on the flip. I'm completely new to Eagle Harbor and can't compare with the original version of "Badwater Lake" but, suffice to say, 10:40's Jellyfish Jam delivers the goods, a pulsing, mid-tempo jaunt with vocals washing in and out like waves. Eagle Harbor remixes Bone Cutter from All Of Us, upping the BPMs over 5 and a half minutes, without ever losing the identity of the original version.

All tracks are well worth a listen and currently available on Bandcamp (All Of Us album included) as a "name your price" purchase.

"Badwater Lake" (10:40's Jellyfish Jam)
Bone Cutter (Eagle Harbor Werewolf Edit)

10:40 on Bandcamp

Paisley Dark Records on Bandcamp
 

Ed The Ball

Love Corporation : The Times : Edward Ball 

 

To round off this trilogy of tributes to The Times and the wonderful world of Ed Ball, I've sequenced a new mix pulling together rare remixes, extended versions and the more electronic-oriented sounds of Love Corporation. I've avoided some of the more obvious mixes, such as Palatial by Danny Rampling and the main mix of Give Me Some Love by Andrew Weatherall, because I think (hope) they are readily available elsewhere. In typically contrary fashion, I've also bookended the mix with the closing and opening tracks from Love Corporation's final album of new material, Intelligentsia, from 1994 and featuring the voice of the unique and much-missed Denise Johnson.

 

Put your headphones on and enjoy a little over an hour of Ed music...

 

1) Translucence: Love Corporation ft. Denise Johnson (from Intelligentsia, 1994) 

2) Your Mama Don't Dance And Your Daddy Don't Acid House (Ultra Living Mix): Love Corporation (from Dance Stance, 1997) 

3) Baby Girl (Album Version): The Times ft. Tippa Irie (from Alternative Commercial Crossover, 1993)

4) Septieme Ciel (Triple J Astral Projection Mix): The Times (Australian promo 12" single, 1990)*

5) A Beautiful Village Called England (Album Version): The Times ft. Angel Dust aka Cindy Lovecore (from Pure, 1991)

6) Lundi Bleu (Album Version): The Times (from Pure, 1991)

7) Palatial II (Remixed By Doug Martin): Love Corporation (12" single B-side, 1990)**

8) Give Me Some Love (Remix By Love Corporation & Andrew Weatherall): Love Corporation (12" single B-side, 1991)***

9) Translucent: Love Corporation ft. Denise Johnson (from Intelligentsia, 1994)

 

Ed The Ball (Love Corporation : The Times : Edward Ball) (1:02:37)

* This mix also appears on the The Times compilation Pink Ball, Brown Ball, Ed Ball from 1991, retitled I've Got All This And Heaven Too (Astral Projection Mix).

** On the Palatial 12" single sleeve, this version is credited to Doug Martin, on the label both mixes are attributed to Danny Rampling - I think it's the former. Palatial II also appeared on the 1990 Creation Records compilation, Do You Believe In Love?

*** This is the same as Give Me Some Love (Mix II), which appears on the promo 12" single.

Et Deux Créa Les Temps

Inspired by yesterday's response to The Times, I dove deep into the recesses of the attic and rediscovered a box of CD singles containing the 'missing' B-sides I needed to complete the mixtape.

Therefore, much sooner than planned, here is Side Two of a 1998 mixtape, this time dedicated to Brian and Swiss Adam. 

Brian, you may particularly enjoy track 5...

1) Pour Kylie (from Et Dieu Créa La Femme, 1990)

2) "...now what went wrong?" (from Alternative Commercial Crossover, 1993)

3) Soultight (ft. Jan Stevens) (from Finnegans Break EP, 1993)

4) A Girl Called Mersey (Album Version) (from Pure, 1991)

5) Baby Girl (Remix By Marius De Vries & Steve Sidelnyk) (ft. Tippa Irie) (from Baby Girl EP, 1993)

6) Heaven Sent Me An Angel (from Beat Torture, 1988)

7) Mash It Up (from Baby Girl EP, 1993)

8) Snow (Album Version) (from E For Edward, 1989)

9) Confiance (Album Version) (from Et Dieu Créa La Femme, 1990)

10) The Colour Of My Love (ft. Jan Stevens) (from Baby Girl EP, 1993)*

11) Sorry, I've Written A Melody (from Alternative Commercial Crossover, 1993) 

Side Two (44:57)

* This song was later re-recorded and released in 1997 as a single called Love Is Blue, and also featured on Edward Ball's album Catholic Guilt the previous year.

Et Dieu Créa Les Temps

Sometimes I've planned these posts in advance. Sometimes I'm writing on the fly, inspired by music I've listened to in the past 24 hours. Sometimes it's a serendipitous moment, where two parallel events converge in a happy and beneficial way. This falls into the latter category.

 

If you've followed previous posts, you'll have picked up that I've unearthed a box of mixtapes and CDs that I've compiled at various times since the late 1980s, either for myself, friends and family or both. I've recreated random sides as playlists and posted them here on a regular basis. Last Friday, I blew the dust off a few more and added them to my Apple Music playlist. On Saturday, I posted the first of these, Too Punk To Funk. Another on the list was The Times, effectively an ever-changing band with Edward (Ed) Ball at the core, who has recorded under a variety of aliases and across a broad range of genres.

Yesterday, at the excellent Linear Tracking Lives, Brian featured The Times, specifically their initial Whaam!/Artpop! phase in the first half of the 1980s. Brian mentioned that he was unfamiliar with The Times' second phase, specifically Ed Ball's time on the Creation label from the mid-1980s to the late 1990s. And it just so happens that The Times playlist I'd recreated on Saturday focuses exclusively on the Creation period 1988-1993. Suddenly this post had more or less written itself...

So, here is Side One of a 1998 mixtape, rescued from the loft, and dedicated to Brian.

 

1) Manchester (12" Version) (from Manchester EP, 1989) 

2) Septième Ciel ('Fast' Version) (from Pink Ball, Brown Ball, Ed Ball, 1991)*

3) French Film Bleurred (from E For Edward, 1989)

4) All I Want Is You To Care (from Alternative Commercial Crossover, 1993)

5) Chagrin D'Amour (from Et Dieu Créa La Femme, 1990)

6) Lundi Bleu (Radio Edit) (from Lundi Bleu EP, 1992)

7) The Obligatory Grunge Song (from Alternative Commercial Crossover, 1993)

8) No Love On Haight St. (from E For Edward, 1989)

9) How To Start Your Own Country (from Beat Torture, 1988)

10) Acid Angel Of Ecstasy (from E For Edward, 1989)

Side One (46:04)

 

*  I'm not sure if this is a mastering error, but this is very slightly faster than the album version on Et Dieu Créa La Femme.

 

Although partly represented here by a single edit of the cover of New Order's Blue Monday, Ed Ball's 1991 acid opus Pure is otherwise not featured above, but does appear on Side Two of the mixtape. That may take a while longer to pop up on Dubhed as it includes a couple of CD single B-sides which are currently residing in a box somewhere deeper in the loft. However, I have a mixtape for Love Corporation, another Ed Ball-related project, which may appear sooner. It will also give me an excuse to post more Andrew Weatherall, as it's been far too long since he last made an appearance on this blog...

 

There are three further Creation-era albums by The Times, which also aren't featured on the mixtape - The Times At The Astradome Lunaville, Sad But True and Pirate Playlist 66 - for the simple reason that I didn't own them at the time and/or they were released after the mixtape was compiled. 

Any Time You Took My Name I Had To Change It Back Again

I've been listening to The Undertones a lot in the past week, mostly from their eponymous debut and posthumous A- & B-sides collection All Wrapped Up (featuring the infamous Dressed To Grill cover photo, which you can read about here).

Chain Of Love was The Undertones' final single as an active band, released in April 1983. Taken from the album, The Sin Of Pride, released a couple of months earlier, it failed to chart. By July 1983, the band (or at least the original line up with Feargal Sharkey) had played their final gig and gone their separate ways. 

It was a sad end for the band, as The Undertones had evolved and grown over four albums and thirteen singles. Fergal Sharkey reflected in 1986 that "Everybody wanted us to be these 16-year-old kids covered in acne and playing Teenage Kicks" and you can empathise. Appearing on ITV's Razzmatazz in what appears to be Marc Almond's Soft Cell wardrobe was perhaps a leap too far for a public with a locked image of the band in naff jumpers, parkas and Doc Martins. However, it's an energetic (mimed) performance which, according to the comments accompanying the You Tube video below , left an impression on at least one audience member. 

It's a shame that the single failed to set the charts alight, though you have to wonder if Culture Club were recording in the studio next door at the time. Released in September 1983, Karma Chameleon topped the UK charts for 6 weeks, with a strikingly similar harmonica motif.

Chain Of Love (Performed On ITV's Razzmatazz, 13 May 1983): The Undertones

 

And here's the excellent B-side, Window Shopping For New Clothes, following the popular You Tube trend of literally videoing the vinyl being placed and played on a turntable...

 

Window Shopping For New Clothes: The Undertones (1983)

 

Back To The Future

A few mainstream single releases out this week that caught my attention, with the tenuous link being that they feature artists who soundtracked my 1980s. I've included You Tube links to the new singles, as well as a couple of choice cuts apiece from the archives.

 

How Not To Drown: CHVRCHES ft. Robert Smith (2021)


Gun: CHVRCHES (2012)


Let’s Go To Bed: The Cure (1982)


 

The Best Thing Since Sliced Bread: Boy George (2021)


No Clause 28 (Emilio Pasquez Space Face Remix By Pascal Gabriel) (TV performance): Boy George (1988)


Funtime (Iggy Pop Cover Version): Boy George (1995)


 

Born 2 Die: Prince (2021, originally recorded in 2010)


Raspberry Beret: Prince & The Revolution (1985)


Mountains: Prince & The Revolution (1986)