Reggae legends The Cimarons played The Jam Jar in Bristol on Friday (3rd), supported by the equally brilliant hometown heroes Talisman. All for £16.20 a pop.
You'd be a fool to miss it, right?
Unfortunately, I discovered this was happening way too late to do anything about it, so I have to console myself with watching their respective ets from the Uprising Festival in Slovakia (2023) and the Balla Coi Cinghiali Festival in Italy (2017).
Both are superb from start to finish, and I'm sad that I was stuck at work on, rather than immersed in the experience of seeing both bands live on stage.
However, I did get out and about earlier this week to see another legend. Whilst not especially known for their reggae excursions, they have worked many times with the mighty Dennis Bovell. I'll be telling you all about that unforgettable night on Sunday.
In July 1981, Spandau Ballet delivered their fourth single, Chant No. 1 (I Don't Need This Pressure On), with a suitably sweaty club video.
This saw Spandau Ballet step fully from the New Romantic movement into soul and funk and it worked, proving to be their biggest hit to date, spending seven weeks in the UK Top 20 and peaking at #3 in August 1981.
This resulted in the inevitable performance on Top Of The Pops.
To be honest, despite the chiselled features, slicked back hair and trendy threads, even as a 10-year old, I thought Tony Hadley was a bit of an arse, an opinion I'm not sure has shifted seismically in the last four decades.
However, the appeal for me here was the expanded line-up on stage, with three men in black leather trousers, carrying brass and grooving in the background in a way that Tony and the lads could only dream of.
Yep, Beggar & Co. were here to steal the show. It wasn't their first appearance on TOTP, either. They'd had a #15 hit with their debut single (Somebody) Help Me Out, where the BBC and/or their record label had convinced them to dress a little more to (stereo)type with their band name.
Not ones to miss an opportunity to strike whilst the proverbial iron was hot, Beggar & Co.'s second single came in September 1981. Mule carried the subtitle Chant No. 2 in the hopes of drawing in some Spandau Ballet fans along the way.
Two weeks in, the single had reached #41, but was enough to get them back onto Top Of The Pops.
Sadly, a TOTP appearance doesn't guarantee a significant sales boost and, after a peak at #37 the following week, Mule (Chant No. 2) had two more weeks outside the Top 40 before disappearing altogether.
Being the 1980s, as you might expect, both versions of 'Chant' came with an extended version on the 12" single.
Fast forward to the 21st Century and Flash Atkins, the superhero alter ego of DJ and producer Ben Davis, had a stab at Chant No. 1 (I Don't Need This Pressure On) in 2010, with vocals by Danielle Moore (RIP).
Nobody has attempted the same with Mule (Chant No. 2) as far as I am aware, though in 2018 the always dependable Greg Wilson provided a satisfying update of Beggar & Co.'s debut single.
Not one but two EPs from Jo Bartlett came out in September, both of which i'll be buying in October's imminent Bandcamp Friday (3rd).
In reverse order, first up is The River Or The Road, four songs recorded with Neil Haydock (Submarine). A cyberspace collaboration in June this year, files swapped in June, "mixed and tweaked" by Jo then released three months later.
Lead vocals by Jo throughout, and in keeping with the vibe of her 2024 album Ghost Tapes 1 To 9, which I loved (and still do). This time though, the songs with a pastoral, acoustic feel that, with Neil's vocal and musical elements, lends a warmth to the offset the chill of oncoming Autumn.
Opening song Frozen In Time comes with a promo "made up of videos from the Green Man Festival 2007" that Jo found on You Tube, and all four songs are worth the purchase price. EP closer Innocence left a particularly deep impression on me.
Completing the EP is The Story Of The Buzz Club, the soundtrack to a short film that Jo was commissioned to make for a project called the Aldershot Mix Tape, which premiered at the West End Centre in Aldershot on 13th September.
The Buzz Club was organised by Jo and Danny Hagan and held at the West End Centre. The list of bands that made a stop in Aldershot to play at the club in the 1990s makes for eye-widening reading: Blur, Cornershop, Dodgy, Elastica, Happy Mondays, Manic Street Preachers, Primal Scream, Spiritualized, Suede, That Petrol Emotion, The Beautiful South, The Charlatans, The Stone Roses, and many more.
You can watch The Story Of The Buzz Club on You Tube, whilst the soundtrack provides the opener for the September To September EP.
Both EPs recommended, both in my Bandcamp Friday shopping bag.
