The Long Good Friday

If you're expecting a Bob Hoskins inspired compilation of crime fuelled carnage, then I'm sorry to disappoint you. 

If you're looking for an eclectic clutch of long songs on the Good Friday public holiday, then you're come to the right place!

What better way to start than the original version of Stairway To Heaven by Led Zeppelin? My introduction to the song didn't come via the radio: way too long for Tony Blackburn to play it on his Radio 1 request show. No, it unexpectedly came in my final year at secondary school, watching my bemulleted Biology teacher strumming and strainig to emulate both Page and Plant in one fell swoop. He had two erstwhile accomplices, both also on guitar as I recall and both PE teachers, who also stepped in to teach a science class when the regular was off sick or on hols. A memorable performance, for all the wrong reasons.

Idiot Wind - and Blood On The Tracks as a whole - is something that I came to relatively recently, after years of subconsciously avoiding a deep dive into Bob Dylan's catalogue. I don't regret the long wait - I plenty of other good (and bad) music to discover in the meantime - but I'm glad I got there in the end. A great song, and a great album.  

From Dylan to disco and I Will Survive by Gloria Gaynor, a song that for a long time was diminished by its ubiquity: a UK #1 for four weeks in 1979, twelve weeks in the Top 30; a staple of wedding parties (which always seemed odd to me!), themed discos and karaoke ever since. I've since come to appreciate it again for the fantastic song and vocal, though I'm a sucker for the version featured here. Not only the full length disco mix, but sung in Spanish! What's not to love?

My musical education and enlightenment has grown exponentially since joining the blogging community, with particular thanks to the roll call of other head music listed to the right (if you're viewing the web version). Shaving Is Boring by Hatfield & The North is one such treasure, which I was introduced to by The Swede on his excellent blog Unthought of, though, somehow on 30th May 2022. You can find the original post (and link) here but if it's your first visit there, stick around and treat yourself to some fabulous words, music and wonderful photos from The Swede's own collection. Hatfield & The North's inclusion here is not just a thank you but a belated happy birthday to The Swede, who is currently celebrating in New York. Here's to you, sir!

A brace of reggae greats next, with Jimmy Lindsay and Horace Andy, the latter making his second appearance here this week. Jimmy is a legend of Black British music, not least with Cymande and as a solo artist with a cover of The Commodores' Easy, but also not without trials and tribulations. Jimmy's website hasn't been updated for many years, but there's an entire page dedicated to "the people who have ripped [him] off". Where Is Your Love is the title track of his debut solo album, released in 1979.

Horace Andy needs no further introduction, and the song featured here is one that wasn't included in Wednesday's selection. Both sides of a Prince Jammy-produced Jamaican 7" from 1977, which were joined together for inclusion on an excellent 1997 compilation of A-sides and dubs called Good Vibes. Not to be confused with the similarly-titled Musical Youth song ("Dennis, come back with my apple pie!") a few years later.

Back to the disco for the final two tracks. This is the second appearance of Do You Wanna Go Party by KC & The Sunshine Band in a Dubhed selection. The first was as the opener of an all-disco compilation called Someone Taught Me How To Dance Last Night that I created and posted in September 2023. I figure a nineteen month gap is reasonable enough, so here it is again. When KC & The Sunshine Band were hot, they were hot!

In a similar vein to the Gloria Gaynor pick, Moskow Diskow by Telex is another ubiquitous song that I've chosen to present here in a foreign language variation, this time French. This 12" version has also featured in a previous Dubhed selection, by sheer coincidence posted in 2023 the day after the one featuring KC & The Sunshine Band. Spooky!

I hope you have an excellent (or should that be eggs-cellent?) Easter weekend, whatever it means to you and whatever you plan to do. More music here tomorrow and every day, as usual.

1) Stairway To Heaven (Album Version): Led Zeppelin (1971)

2) Idiot Wind (Album Version): Bob Dylan (1975)

3) Yo Viviré (I Will Survive) (Spanish 12" Disco Version): Gloria Gaynor (1979)

4) Shaving Is Boring (Album Version): Hatfield & The North (1974)

5) Where Is Your Love (Album Version): Jimmy Lindsay (1979)

6) Youths Of Today / Jah Youths (Dub): Horace Andy (1977)

7) Do You Wanna Go Party (Album Version): KC & The Sunshine Band (1979)

8) Moskow Diskow (French 12" Version): Telex (1979)

1971: untitled aka Led Zeppelin IV: 1

1974: Hatfield And The North: 4

1975: Blood On The Tracks: 2

1979: Do You Wanna Go Party: 7

1979: I Will Survive / Yo Viviré EP (US promo 12"): 3

1979: Moskow Diskow EP: 8

1979: Where Is Your Love: 5

1997: Good Vibes: 6

The Long Good Friday (1:00:25) (KF) (Mega)