Good Times Come To Me Now

Here's Haysi Fantayzee to bring the weekend in with a bang. 

 

Confession time: today's post was supposed to be a Julian Cope selection, which I started last night but didn't finish, intending to complete and upload it this morning. My plan didn't allow for slightly oversleeping. Whilst this won't be disasterous for Clan K's usually frantic bustle and out (starting approx. 7.00am GMT), it did mean that I haven't had time to complete my planned post, which will instead appear tomorrow. 

Unlike other, far more organised and professional music blogs, I rarely have posts drafted and ready to go in advance and pretty much never have backup/emergency posts prepared for this very scenario.

So, possibly ranking as #1 in my list of most-hastily cobbled together posts for this blog, I bring you the rather wonderful Kate Garner and Jeremy Healy, who went on to do even greater things creatively speaking but stoked this pre-teen's interest in the early 1980s.

Shiny Shiny was their 'other' Top 20 UK hit, reaching #16 in January 1983. By 31st March, it had dropped to #66 during it's 11th and final week in the chart, but what a ride.

808 State later sampled the intro and Andrew Weatherall was inspired to adopt the name of one of their B-sides, The Sabres Of Paradise.

As well as the official video, I've found a clip of them performing the 12" version on TV. Fun, fun, fun.

Back to the Arch Drude tomorrow.

 

 

Guess The World Is To Blame

After a really bad day at work, sometimes three minutes of Sparks is all it takes to turn things around. Especially when the video features Cate Blanchett doing some spectacular on-the-spot dancing in a yellow suit.

The Girl Is Crying In Her Latte is the title track of their forthcoming album - their 25th, I think - due in May. I'm so looking forward to it.

Fill The Skies

Heading back to the mid-late 1970s today with a clutch of songs that are guaranteed to get me moving or, even worse, singing along. 

Although the music dates from before I started buying records, the songs here by Roxy Music, Ian Dury & The Blockheads, The Boomtown Rats and David Bowie all made an impression on me at an early age. Japan's version of The Velvet Underground came to my attention when it was re-released in the early 1980s and it was probably another couple of years before I even heard the original. James White & The Blacks - and the whole No Wave/Ze Records scene - found their way to me in the late 1980s, although Kid Creole & The Coconuts were popular way before then. I'd explored Lou Reed's early 1970s albums and also the run of albums starting with New York before I went back to his mid-late 1970s work, including Coney Island Baby.

Songs then that don't represent a single period in time for me and instead are scattered through my record buying history, triggering individual and special memories every time I hear them.

1) Angel Eyes (12" Remix): Roxy Music (1979)

2) Reasons To Be Cheerful, Part 3 (7" Version): Ian Dury & The Blockheads (1978)

3) Contort Yourself (Album Version): James White & The Blacks (1979)

4) Rat Trap (Album Version): The Boomtown Rats (1978)

5) All Tomorrow's Parties (Album Version) (Cover of The Velvet Underground): Japan (1979)

6) Leave Me Alone (Unreleased Version): Lou Reed (1976)

7) John, I'm Only Dancing (Again) (12" Version): David Bowie (1975)

1978: A Tonic For The Troops: 4

1979: Angel Eyes EP: 1

1979: John, I'm Only Dancing (Again) EP: 7

1979: Off White: 3 

1979: Quiet Life: 5

1979: Reasons To Be Cheerful, Part 3 EP: 2

1992: Between Thought And Expression: The Lou Reed Anthology: 6

Fill The Skies (40:37) (Box) (Mega)

I Shed A Tear For Sapiens Who Are Already Replaced

Killing Joke released a new single, Full Spectrum Dominance, a couple of weeks ago to coincide with their gig at the Royal Albert Hall in London.

It's a characteristic wall of noise with flexible lyrics that can be easily applied to the current Tory government and it's abhorrent efforts to subjugate and disenfranchise the dissenting masses.

Killing Joke may not be everyone's cup of tea but personally I'm very happy that they're still around and sticking it to "The Man" after five decades.

The other side of my brain is also satisfied by the Pure Trance Youth Dub Remix of Full Spectrum Dominance, the presumably contractually-obliged reworking by bassist Youth aka Martin Glover. Again, nothing groundbreaking but it ticks all the boxes.

 

 

Are You My Only Friend?

Celebrating Billy MacKenzie, born 27th March 1957. Twenty six years gone, never forgotten.

1) The Girl That Took Me: Associates (1985)

2) Green For Grief: Associates (1979)

3) Achieved In The Valley Of The Dolls: Barry Adamson ft. Billy Mackenzie (1996)

4) Strasbourg Square: Associates (1990)

5) Mona Property Girl (Single Version): Associates (1979)

6) International Loner: Associates (1993)

7) 3 Gypsies In A Restaurant: Billy MacKenzie (1996)

8) Kites (Full Length Version) (Cover of The Rooftop Singers): 39 Lyon Street (1981)

9) Feels Like The Richtergroove: Billy MacKenzie (1992)

10) Breakfast (David 'Kid' Jensen Session): Associates (1983)

 

1979: Boys Keep Swinging EP: 5

1980: Mona Property Girl 

1981: Kites EP: 8

1985: Take Me To The Girl EP: 1

1990: Wild And Lonely: 4 

1992: Colours Will Come EP: 9

1994: The Radio 1 Sessions: 10

1996: Oedipus Schmoedipus: 3 

1997: Beyond The Sun: 7

2000: Double Hipness: 2, 6

 

Are You My Only Friend? (44:29) (Box) (Mega)

Return Of The Karaoke Kings

Side 1 of a cassette compilation of cover versions, recorded sometime around late 1996, possibly early 1997.

Side 2 previously ushered in the weekend at your local spit 'n' sawdust bar with a few bottles of cheap Becks, salt & vinegar crisps, ripped seats, sticky carpets and the landlord's obsessive collection of novelty bottle openers glued to the upper skirt of the bar. 

 

Side 1 therefore must be the other end, when you realise karaoke night has become morning, the lock-in is over and the landlord's kicking you all out, with the grim realisation that the clocks went forward an hour whilst you were slaughtering T.Rex, Sister Sledge and Fat Larry's Band and you're one hour closer to the end of the weekend than you expected. 

 

On the bright side, the greasy spoon across the road is opening soon and may have the cure for the karaoke hangover you're nursing.

Take it away, people!

1) Get Back (Album Version): Laibach vs. The Beatles (1988)

2) Da Ya Think I'm Sexy?: Revolting Cocks vs. Rod Stewart (1993)

3) Know Your Rights (Edit): Primal Scream vs. The Clash (1994)

4) Gimme Gimme Gimme (A Man After Midnight) (Bonus Mix): The Leather Nun vs. ABBA (1986)

5) Tuff Titty Rap / Into The Groove(y) (12" Version): Ciccone Youth vs. Madonna (1986)

6) Kiss (Single Mix); Age Of Chance vs. Prince (1986)

7) Funtime (Album Version): Boy George vs. Iggy Pop (1995)

8) Smells Like Teen Spirit: Tori Amos vs. Nirvana (1992)

9) Lundi Bleu (Version Française De Blue Monday) (Radio Edit): The Times vs. New Order (1991)

10) Rock-A-Hula-Baby (Album Version): Pop Will Eat Itself vs. Elvis Presley (1990)

11) I Put A Spell On You: Marilyn Manson vs. Screamin' Jay Hawkins (1996)

1986: Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! EP: 4

1986: Kiss EP: 6

1986: The White(y) Album: 5

1988: Let It Be: 1

1990: The Last Temptation Of Elvis: 10

1992: Lundi Bleu EP: 9

1992: Silent All These Years EP: 8

1993: Da Ya Think I'm Sexy? EP: 2

1995: Cheapness And Beauty: 7 

1996: Lost Highway OST: 11

1997: Kowalski EP: 3

 

Side One (46:12) (Box) (Mega)

Side Two here

Try To Separate Me From My Life

A belated happy birthday to John Cale on 9th March. Last year (and on time), I posted several videos; in November, I then got excited about the prospect of a new JC album (Mercy, which was released at the beginning of 2023. But this is the first John Cale selection I've compiled and posted on this blog.

For reasons which may become clear soon - but not here - I've been revisiting John Cale's music recently. There is so, so much to immerse yourself in that even trying to distill some of that into an hour long selection is a daunting task.

A couple of rules: The Velvet Underground and other collaborations were fair game but had to include John on lead (or at least prominent) vocals. I also stopped at 2012's Shifty Adventures In Nookie Wood, so nothing from M:FANS, Cale's 2016 return to Music For A New Society, or Mercy. 

With seventeen solo studio albums, singles, live performances, collaborations, The Velvet Underground and more, my 12-song selection neither collects all of the 'hits' and even attempts to cover all of the 'important' albums. More by accident than design, I have been able to broadly represent each decade from the 1960s to the 2010s; more importantly, I think these are all just good songs. If you haven't explored John Cale's music in depth before and this inspires you to, then I'll be a very happy person indeed.

1) Save Us (1975)

2) Overture: A Tourist / A Contact / A Prisoner: John Cale & Bob Neuwirth (1994)

3) Secret Corrida (1996)

4) Mercenaries (Ready For War) (Single Version) (1980)

5) Look Horizon (2003)

6) Broken Bird (Album Version) (1982)

7) Forever Changed: Lou Reed / John Cale (1990)

8) Guts (1975)

9) Hemmingway (2012)

10) Whaddya Mean By That? (Single Version) (2011)

11) The Gift (Album Version): The Velvet Underground (1968)

12) The Endless Plain Of Fortune (Album Version) (1973)

 

1968: White Light/White Heat: 11

1973: Paris 1919: 12

1975: Helen Of Troy: 1

1975: Slow Dazzle: 8

1980: Mercenaries (Ready For War) EP: 4 

1982: Music For A New Society: 6

1990: Songs For Drella: 7

1994: Last Day On Earth: 2

1996: Walking On Locusts: 3 

2003: HoboSapiens: 5

2011: Extra Playful EP: 10

2012: Shifty Adventures In Nookie Wood: 9

 

Try To Separate Me From My Life (1:00:30) (KF) (Mega)

I Guess I Must Be Having Fun

Back to the 1980s for some weekend fun...but not as you know it. A clutch of brave DJs and producers - Danny McLewin & Tom Coveney aka Psychemagik, Ben Zaven Crane aka Mojo Filter, Blake Robin aka Luxxury and Nicolas Laugier aka The Reflex - have taken on some iconic songs and re-edited and re-imagined them for the 21st Century.

Opinion may be divided on whether the edits open the music up to new and interesting interpretations or whether, crudely put, it's a bastardisation of classic songs that should have been left alone. The fact that I've compiled and posted this selection probably tells you which way I'm dancing (badly) on this one. 

 

1) This Must Be The Place (Naive Edit By Psychemagik): Talking Heads (2010)

2) Arabian Knights (Mojo Filter Banshee Edit): Siouxsie & The Banshees (2012)

3) Rock The Casbah (Luxxury Edit): The Clash (2013)

4) It's My LIfe (The Reflex Re√ision): Talk Talk (2019)

5) Going Underground (The Reflex Re√ision): The Jam (2017)

6) Blue Monday (Luxxury 'How Does It Feel' Edit): New Order (2016)

7) Rapture (The Reflex Re√ision): Blondie (2017)

 

I Guess I Must Be Having Fun (47:54) (Box) (Mega)

When Will They Kill Us All?

I've not really been keeping track of The Chemical Brothers' comings and goings these past few years, so it was a genuine delight when I stumbled across new single No Reason. It's apparently been a staple of their live shows for the past year and was formally released last Friday. 

 

A tune that manages to be both nostalgic in its use of funky bass and 'woo!' sample yet firmly in the now, with a simple, to-the-point vocal refrain

 

We have no reason to live 

We have no reason at all 

We have no reason to live 

When will they kill us all?

 

No Reason is also complemented by a simple yet effective video. It's supposed to be a marching band but I couldn't help being reminded of these guys from Doctor Who. 

 

No sign of any remixes just yet, but an album is forthcoming, incredibly The Chemical Brothers' tenth. Even more incredibly, their debut Exit Plant Dust was released in 1995. Twenty. Eight. Years. Ago. 

 

Gulp.

This Song Promotes Homosexuality...er...Margarine

The Mekons Rock n' Roll is my favourite Mekons album and Empire Of The Senseless a highlight amongst highlights. 

 

I had the accompanying The Dream And Lie Of... EP on 10" vinyl but I hadn't realised that Empire Of The Senseless was also released as a promo 12" single in the USA. The flipside features a 20-minute interview with Jon Langford and Tom Greenhalgh, conducted by Pete Shelley ("of The Buzzcocks" as stated on the label).

 

A video was made for the song, directed by Mike Mason, which I discovered for the first time this week on YouTube. A further surprise was finding that a key word has been clumsily replaced with a cut and paste from another part of the song, inspiring the title of today's post. Did Mekons self-censor this song? Unlikely. More a case of then-label A&M getting cold feet about (I assume) the only song from the album they otherwise considered a potential single. As it happens, Empire Of The Senseless never made it to a formal release on either side of the Atlantic.

 

If, like me, the song has whet your appetite for more, you can listen to The Mekons Rock n' Roll in it's glorious entirety here. If you don't own the album, you can find it and many other Mekons treasures available to buy on Bandcamp.

Empire Of The Senseless

No one's making any noise now, sshhh
We've been waiting for so long
They took away our films and tapes and notebooks
But it's okay, we've self-censored this song

But these lines are all individuals
And there's no such thing as a song
And even the silent are now guilty in the 

(Empire of the senseless)

What's your line of questioning, sir?

(Empire of the senseless)
I can't intercept a one word sentence
Invent a war in secrecy

Sliding scenery like a vintage toy
Isn't plastic surgery wonderful?
Satellite secret national security
(Empire of the senseless)

Turning journalists into heroes takes some doing
(Empire of the senseless)
Boring Ollie North down in the subway dealing drugs and guns
(Empire of the senseless)
Turning little liars into heroes, it's what they've always done

(Empire of the senseless)
This song promotes homosexuality
It's in a pretended family relationship with the others on this record
And on the charts and on the jukebox

And in the radio
And in the radio

No one's making any noise now, sshhh
Stay quiet
All unacceptable gropings have been removed from the screen
Only eyes full of unspeakable thoughts remain
And even the silent are now guilty in the 

(Empire of the senseless)
 

Baked beans, sugar and margarine
(Empire of the senseless)
Bread, jam, groceries and lard
For the unsentimental
The men who like the lady hard
The men who like the hard lady

And you know that people are really rather afraid
(Empire of the senseless)
Afraid of being swamped
(Empire of the senseless)
Afraid of being swamped by selfishness and greed
(Empire of the senseless)
(Empire of the senseless)
(Empire of the senseless)
(Empire of the senseless)
(Empire of the senseless)

The Pain You Drive Into The Heart Of Me

Three versions of Tainted Love today, starting with Hannah Peel, performing live (with music box) at No Alibis bookshop in Belfast in December 2010. First time I've heard Hannah's version and it's mesmerising.

Like most of my age, I was first introduced to the song via Soft Cell's smash hit version, which spent 2 weeks as UK #1 in September 1981 and an impressive 30 weeks in the Top 100 between August 1981 and August 1982. I didn't see the video for the song until 1989, when Non-Stop Exotic Video Show was re-released on budget priced VHS and I bought a copy from my local Woolworths.

It would be remiss of me not to include Gloria Jones' original version of Tainted Love from 1964. I couldn't find a contemporary TV performance on YouTube, so here's a fan-made video by Vitalijs Neudahins, using footage of Gloria singing another song (Heartbeat) on Hollywood A Go Go. 

 

Incredible to believe now that this version, written and produced by Ed Cobb was originally a B-side and a flop single in the UK. In fact, even when re-recorded (produced by Marc Bolan) and re-released in 1976 due to it's popularity in Northern Soul clubs, it still failed to chart.

 

Broken Meanings

Depeche Mode returned earlier this month with a new single, Ghosts Again, as a precursor to fifteenth album, Memento Mori. It's the first single and album as a duo of Dave Gahan and Martin Gore, following the passing of founder member Andy Fletcher last year. There's much to be read into the single's - and album title's - meaning, although work on the album had begun in 2020/21 and, at the the time of his death, without any material contribution at that point from Fletch.

 

Given their penchant for the morbid (my school friend used to refer to them as Depress Mode), Ghosts Again is a surprisingly upbeat single, despite the melancholy melody and reflective lyrics. Also a surprise is the fact that Martin Gore, who has written the majority of Depeche Mode's songs solo, has collaborated on this and several other songs on Momento Mori with Richard Butler, frontperson with The Psychedelic Furs. As soon as I knew this, Ghosts Again made more sense and I could begin to draw parallels with the lyrical shape and feel of The Furs' excellent 2020 'comeback' album, Made Of Rain.

No physical release or official remixes in the UK as yet, although some bootleg remixes and a German 7" featuring the recently resurrected 1987 single Never Let Me Down Again on the B-side have emerged. An upcoming release will reportedly feature a cover version of Sundown, written by Gordon Lightfoot and popularised by Scott Walker on 1974 album We Had It All. Both versions are excellent and easy to imagine appealing to Martin and Dave. Not to be confused with Sundown by S Club 8, who I didn't even realise existed until trawling YouTube for the Lightfoot and Walker versions (links above). Although the masochist in me would have liked Depeche Mode to have had a crack at this one, too.

 

Here's a TV performance of Ghosts Again, the pair conveying the hard won experience of their six decades on this planet, but with a youthful energy and optimism that is captivating.

 

 

 

 

Wasted feelings
Broken meanings
Time is fleeting
See what it brings 

Hellos, goodbyes, a thousand midnights
Lost in sleepless lullabies

 

Heaven's dreaming
Thoughtless thoughts, my friends
We know we'll be ghosts again

 

Sundays shining
Silver linings
Weightless hours
All my flowers

 

A place to hide the tears that you cried
Everybody says goodbye

 

Faith is sleeping
Lovers in the end
Whisper we'll be ghosts again

 

Heaven's dreaming
Thoughtless thoughts, my friends
We know we'll be ghosts again

 

Faith is sleeping
Lovers in the end
Whisper we'll be ghosts again

 

Keep On Falling

After yesterday's high energy workout, time to chill out and calm down with an ambient-themed selection.

Thirty two years, thirteen songs and one hour with some stripped back versions of some popular pop songs, an unexpected cover version and a few that are hopefully new to you or at least not heard for a long time.

Sit back with your favourite brew, close your eyes and think lovely thoughts for the next sixty minutes.

1) Dominica (Kenneth Bager's Sunset Ambient Mix): RüF Dug (2016)

2) Golden Brown (Fila Brazillia Remix-Ambient) (Cover of The Stranglers): Better Daze (1997)

3) Brilliant Fault And Sky Was Blue (Ambient Version) (Remixed By LFO): Soft Ballet (1992)

4) So Swell (Ambient Version By James & Brian Eno): James (2001)

5) Love Comes Quickly (Blank & Jones Ambient Remix): Pet Shop Boys (2003)

6) Shot In The Back Of The Head (Ambient): Moby (2009)

7) Ruined In A Day (The Ambient Mix By Booga Bear aka Cameron McVey): New Order (1993)

8) Walking Down Madison (6 a.m. Ambient Mix By Howard Gray) (Single Edit): Kirsty MacColl ft. Johnny Marr (1991)

9) Call A Wave (Return To The Deep Ambient Mix By Mark Moore & William Orbit): Malcolm McLaren & The Bootzilla Orchestra (1989)

10) Ambient 2: Turin Brakes (2005)

11) Come Come The Rain (Ambient Version): Max Essa (2021)

12) Pulsing (Citadel Ambient Version): GLOK (2020)

13) Geek Love (Irresistible Ambient Mix By Mixmaster Morris): Bang Bang Machine (1993)

 

1989: Call A Wave EP: 9

1991: Walking Down Madison EP: 8

1992: Alter Ego: 3 

1993: Geek Love EP: 13

1993: Ruined In A Day EP: 7

1997: Remix Project: 2 

2001: Getting Away With It (All Messed Up) EP: 4

2003: PopArtMix: The Hits (limited edition 3x CD): 5

2005: JackInABox (hidden track): 10

2009: Wait For Me (Deluxe Edition): 6

2016: Island Remixes EP: 1

2020: The Citadel EP: 12

2021: Miró In The Bathroom: 11

 

Keep On Falling (1:00:42) (Box) (Mega)

There's Something Going Round Inside My Head

Side 2 of a cassette compilation, recorded 23rd July 1994.

I'd forgotten how much I loved listening to this tape, especially in my car. I owned a Mini Metro with a crappy tape deck that had been bolted to the underside of the glove compartment and wired in a similarly DIY fashion with copious amounts of black electrical tape where there shouldn't be. Windows down, volume up and the morbid thrill of wondering if the crappy tape deck would chew up and spit out the cassette at some point (which happened with alarming frequency).

Thankfully, this one survived both the tape deck and the eventual ditching of the car when I lived sufficiently close to Bristol city centre and with sufficiently awful street parking that I managed without a car for several years. The compilation continued to get regular airings but nothing quite matched those rock and roll lo-fi hi-fi years in the car.

This selection is resolutely and relentlessly upbeat for three quarters of an hour. Even Youth and Thrash's attempts to inject some darkness (sampling the Stones' Gimme Shelter) into Movin' by Marathon cannot suppress it's innate joy de vivre. And World Of Twist's take on another Stones classic remixed by Fluke is about as uplifting as one can get. And that's saying something, coming hot on the heels of another of their remixes, the aptly titled Celebrate.

It all gets off to a euphoric start with The Grid's superb remix of Bow Down Mister by Jesus Loves You, which in my opinion is still a career highlight for Boy George, albeit criminally overlooked and underrated. Messrs Ball and Norris put George in the backseat for this one, letting him back up front with the choir towards the end. For the most part though, it's all about Asha Bosle and it's all the better for it.

 

Another iconic singer gets a look in later on, when the unique presence that is Nina Hagen lends her singular style to Get Your Body! Adamski's bubble of commercial success  and chart hits the previous year had burst by 1992, which is a shame as I think the singles at least were just as good, if not better than what had gone before. I picked up this 12" for pennies in a bargain bin in 1994 and it's a great track that deserved better.

Devo is sadly not a tribute to the American band but the product of progressive house duo Crunch aka Terry Marks and Kevin Brewster-White from the UK. They loved their cheese: the three mixes on the 12" single are named Mozzarella, Red Leicester and Stilton. Nothing cheesy about this song though, which I first discovered on the Welcome To The Future² compilation in 1993.

I was (and still am) a huge fan of Justin Robertson and actively sought out his work as Lionrock and his prolific remixes for other artists. If? were already on my radar due to previous 12" purchases of Open Up Your Head and Everything & More, both featuring stunning remixes by Leftfield. With Saturday's Angels, Justin Robertson is more than up to the challenge, delivering an astonishing eight minutes. Most Excellent was the name of his club night at the time but also fairly sums up his remix and this selection, if I dare say so.

1) Bow Down Mister (Floating In The Ganges - Grid Mix By Dave Ball & Richard Norris): Jesus Loves You ft. Asha Bhosle (1991)

2) Devo (Mozzarella Mix): Crunch (1993)

3) Saturday's Angels (Most Excellent Vocal Remix By Justin Robertson): If? (1992)

4) Movin' (Original) (Translunar Injection Burn Mix By Youth & Thrash): Marathon (1992) 

5) Get Your Body! (12"): Adamski ft. Nina Hagen (1992) 

6) Celebrate (Magimix By Fluke): Horse (1994) 

7) She's A Rainbow (Right Foot Yellow Mix By Fluke): World Of Twist (1991)

 

Side Two (45:01) (KF) (Mega)

The Third Degree Of Six Degrees Of Kevin Bacon

The third and, at least for now, final installment in the Kevin Bacon trilogy for your entertainment / derision (delete as applicable).

I had an idea of who/where I wanted to start, but could I pull it off? Turns out that yes, I could. It's Kevin Bacon we're talking about here!

Here's another half dozen songs taking you from one Monkee to another monkey, with some rather fine tuneage along the way, if I say so myself. Spoiler alert: nothing from The Comsat Angels this week. Complaint letters to the usual address, please.

 

More nonsense tomorrow.

1) Mike Nesmith was an incredibly talented - and hugely underrated - singer/songwriter. Propinquity (I've Just Begun To Care) appeared on Nevada Fighter, his 1971 album with The First National Band. However, he originally wrote and recorded a version back in 1968, which remained unreleased until the 1990s, when it appeared on a rarities album by the band that gave Nesmith his big break, The Monkees.

2) The Monkees formed in 1966 and were originally conceived as a fictional group for a TV sitcom. Initially, the majority of their songs were written by other people, including (I'm Not Your) Steppin' Stone. In 1990, The Farm released a cover version, which was remixed by their manager Suggs and superstar DJ Terry Farley.

3) Terry Farley co-founded the Boy's Own collective, who in turn released a couple of singles as Bocca Juniors, with fellow DJs/producers Pete Heller, Hugo Nicholson and Andrew Weatherall.

4) Andrew Weatherall was a prolific remixer, producer and artist in his own right before his untimely passing in 2020. In 2016, he provided a couple of remixes for French psych pop duo The Limiñanas, featuring a beautiful contribution from guest bassist Peter Hook.

5) Peter Hook is a little bit famous for being in Joy Division then New Order, arguably less so for Revenge and Monaco, but he has also had a good run as a producer. Although the better known version was produced by John Leckie, Hooky was at the controls for the original version of Elephant Stone by The Stone Roses, with unmistakable vocals from Ian Brown.

6) Ian Brown went on to have a successful solo career, starting in 1997 with Unfinished Monkey Business. Can't See Me was released as the third and final single in June 1998, remixed by production duo Bacon & Quarmby, comprising Jonathan Quarmby and - who else? - Kevin Bacon.

 

1) Propinquity (I've Just Begun To Care): The Monkees (1968)

2) Stepping Stone (Ghost Dance Mix By Terry Farley & Mr. Suggs) (Video Version): The Farm (1990)

3) Raise (63 Steps To Heaven) (Dubhead Mix By Adrian Sherwood & Keith LeBlanc): Bocca Juniors ft. Anna Haigh & Protege (1990)

4) Garden Of Love (Lundi Mouillé Mix By Andrew Weatherall & Nina Walsh): The Limiñanas ft. Peter Hook (2016)

5) Elephant Stone (Peter Hook Original Mix): The Stone Roses (1988) 

6) Can't See Me (Bacon & Quarmby Remix): Ian Brown (1998)

 

The Third Degree Of Six Degrees Of Kevin Bacon (23:41) (KF) (Mega)

 

In case you missed the previous installments, here's the original selection and the rather wonderful follow up from guest contributor The Vinyl Villain.

Let Me Tell Ya What I've Got That Nobody's Gonna Take Away

The first time I've seen this live performance of Ain't Got No - I Got Life by Nina Simone, somewhere in London in 1968. In the four minutes of playing it, I was one of 132 viewers and 66,874,610 (and counting) since it was posted on YouTube in 2010. No surprise, I ended up watching it three times in a row.

 

It's markedly different from either the single or album versions that I'm more familiar with, starting off with gentle, downtempo piano and low key backing from the band, subtly and gradually building up, coming in strong with the latter 'I Got Life' section and ending in such uplifting, rousing fashion that you just want to play it again.

 

Originally two songs, written by James Rado, Gerome Ragni and Galt MacDermot for the musical Hair, Nina reworked and repurposed it as a single song in two parts, almost a call and response. 'Ain't Got No' is the naysayers or inner voice of doubt, telling you in great detail that you've got nothing. 'I Got Life' is the counterpoint, the empowered two-fingered response, that sense of self and life within that can get you through. Nina completely owns the song in every single performance, not just this one.

 

No wonder the studio audience appear to be so enraptured by the performance. Just imagine being there, seeing Nina and the band work their magic on the song. The guy sitting directly behind Nina clapping along is so absorbed (and/or stoned) that he appears to have lost all sense of rhythm...or is simply making his own.

 

It's been a difficult week for many reasons but sometimes a song or a performance can randomly resurface and make a difference. Today it was this song and this performance. 

 

Nina Simone would have celebrated her 90th birthday on 21st February. Instead, 21st April will mark 20 years since her passing. Nina Simone should never be forgotten.

 

 

Ain't got no home, ain't got no shoes
Ain't got no money, ain't got no class
Ain't got no friends, ain't got no schooling
Ain't got no wear, ain't got no job
Ain't got no money, no place to stay

 

Ain't got no father, ain't got no mother
Ain't got no children, ain't got no sisters above
Ain't got no earth, ain't got no faith
Ain't got no touch, ain't got no god
Ain't got no love

 

Ain't got no wine, no cigarettes
Ain't got no clothes, no country
No class, no schooling
No friends, no nothing
Ain't got no god
Ain't got one more

 

Ain't got no earth, no ?
No food, no home
I said I ain't got no clothes
No job, no nothing
Ain't got long to live
And I ain't got no love

 

But what have I got?
Let me tell ya what I've got
That nobody's gonna take away

 

I got my hair on my head
I got my brains, I got my ears
I got my eyes, I got my nose
I got my mouth, I got my smile

 

I got my tongue, I got my chin
I got my neck, I got my boobies
I got my heart, I got my soul
I got my back, I got my sex

 

I got my arms, I got my hands
I got my fingers, got my legs
I got my feet, I got my toes
I got my liver, got my blood

 

Got life, I got my life

Forget The Morning

On Tuesday, Everything But The Girl released another single and video from their upcoming album, Fuse. Both are, quite frankly, stunning.

The skittering beats and oscillating bass of opening track Nothing Left To Lose are followed (literally) by the second song on the album, Run A Red Light. It's a complete volte-face, musically speaking, a downtempo tune built upon minimal piano chords and soaring backing vocals and synth lines. Sonically, it provides a neat juxtaposition to what has gone before, a bold move so early into the album.

Lyrically, it's a perfect follow on and a theme begins to emerge. Nothing Left To Lose's narrator reflects that they "need a thicker skin [as] this pain keeps getting in" and resignedly asks "Tell me what to do / Cause nothing works without you". 

 

In Run A Red Light, the character is more assertive, urging the person they're with to

"Forget the losers, forget the morning 

Put a tune on, and put your feet up 

It was my idea, I hope you know that 

We’re gonna have this, I’m the one now"

 

The third song on Fuse, Caution To The Window, is available as a lyric video and completes the thematic trilogy, the voice of the song "Coming home to be with you / Coming home to be near you", imploring "Let me in, let me in, let me in", a note that all is not as it seems.

The beauty of Tracey Thorn's lyrics and her skill as a writer is in creating narratives and characters that are open to multiple, layered interpretations which inevitably means that the songs appeal to and resonate with a much wider audience.

Ben Watt is a perfect foil for this, providing a musical environment that is both sympathetic to the words and vocals but also transports them to an unexpected and interesting place. 

If this is what the first three songs on Fuse are like, then the full album will be very, very special indeed.

 

1) Nothing Left To Lose

2) Run A Red Light

3) Caution To The Wind

4) When You Mess Up

5) Time And Time Again

6) No One Know We're Dancing

7) Lost

8) Forever

9) Interior Space

10) Karaoke

 

Fuse is available to pre-order now, ahead of a full release on 21st April.