Bellbottoms Truly Make Me Wanna Dance

 

"Thank you very much, ladies and gentlemen

Right now I got to tell you about

The fabulous, most groovy...."

The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion  

 

I was vaguely aware of Jon Spencer's previous band, Pussy Galore, and initially missed out on the Blues Explosion's early recordings. In fact, the first time I heard Bellbottoms was on a mixtape that my friend Stuart gifted me in the mid-90s. My first purchase was the Experimental Remixes EP, which included an UNKLE remix of Bellbottoms and I drifted in and out of their releases for the next six or seven years.

 

The name pretty much says it all: you know pretty much what you're going to get; remixes from the likes of James Lavelle, Moby, Techno Animal, Barry Adamson, David Holmes and The DFA aside, it follows a tried and tested template. 

 

Yet, there's something primal about the music that unlocks the urge to shake, rattle and roll every time. The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion did an 8-song set for KEXP in 2011 that amply demonstrates this.

As an added bonus, here's Jon Spencer and Russell Simins appearing on What's In My Bag? in 2016, picking out the likes of Karlheinz Stockhausen, Einstürzende Neubauten, 13th Floor Elevators, Delia Derbyshire (and a snippet of the Doctor Who theme), Bo Diddley and Isaac Hayes.

The band played their final live show a month after this appearance. Judah Bauer, absent from the What's In My Bag? broadcast, developed a respiratory condition that effectively put paid to his ability to play live. This and several other factors led to The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion coming to a a natural end, without fanfare.

 

Jon Spencer & The HITmakers have (I think) been going for a year or so, releasing their debut album Spencer Gets It Lit in 2022. If you've still got the Blues Explosion itch, The HITmakers are the proverbial scratch.

Spencer Gets It Lit is available from your friendly neighbourhood record store, Bandcamp or the other usual outlets.