The Man, The Medd, The Legend

Today's Dubhed selection is dedicated to John Medd. If you've been following his blog Are We There Yet? (and if not, start today!), you'll know why.

 

I've gone back through all the comments that John has left on this blog in 2024 and curated a 19-song selection from the songs or artists that he's liked, plus some that he suggested I check out and consider for a future post. Well, today's the day and this is that selection.

 

I think (I hope) I've tracked down Frank Sinatra's original take on a Gershwin classic from 1954, he revisited and recorded the song many times in his career, from what I can gather. That's by far the oldest song here, with many fresh out in 2024, including a live version of The Zuton's infectious single Creeping On The Dancefloor.

 

One artist that John hasn't mentioned here this year (so far) is Robyn Hitchcock, But I have John and fellow legend The Swede to thank for their own enthusiasm leading to my belated appreciation of the Robyn's work, so he sneaks in with the penultimate song on this selection.

 

The working titles for this selection were 'Medd in Nottingham' and 'Dear John', but a chance comment on the monthly photo challenge over at John's blog on Sunday sealed the deal. 

All in, just over an hour and a half of eclectic and great music, which I hope will provide some entertainment over the coming days and weeks.

Will be thinking of you tomorrow, John, and sending good vibes and love your way.

 

xx

 

  
1) Only The Best Will Do (Album Version): ABC (1997)

2) Aim High (Aim Higher) (The Amorphous Androgynous Remix): Paul Weller (2010)

3) Teenage Lament '74 (Single Version): Alice Cooper (1974)

4) They Can’t Take That Away From Me (Album Version) (Cover of Fred Astaire): Frank Sinatra (1954)

5) Silently (Album Version): Blonde Redhead (2007)

6) They Don't Know How To Fall In Place (Album Version): The Lemon Twigs (2024)

7) Take You Down: Daniel Pemberton (2017)

8) Creeping On The Dancefloor (Live @ Hertford Corn Exchange): The Zutons (2024)

9) A.L.O.E: Bicep (2024)

10) Unfinished Symphony (Ion Rayne Remix): GusGus (2023)

11) Paper (Single Version): Saint Etienne (1992)

12) Love Plus One (BBC Radio 2 Piano Room): Haircut 100 ft. BBC Concert Orchestra (2023)

13) Transition 2: Joy O & Ben Vince (2018)

14) Aqua Grey (2019 Short Edit): Meditation Y.S. (Yoshihiro Sawasaki) (1994)

15) "Bed Heads": Jezebell (2022)

16) Hallelujah (Ewan Pearson Remix): Happy Mondays (2020)

17) ONE (Extract XI): Noema (2023)

18) Belltown Ramble: Robyn Hitchcock & The Venus 3 (2006)

19) The Good Old Human Race: World Party (2012)

 

1954: Songs for Young Lovers: 4

1974: Alice Coopers Greatest Hits: 3 

1992: Avenue EP: 11

1997: Skyscraping: 1

2006: Olé! Tarantula: 18

2007: 23: 5

2010: Wake Up The Nation/Change Up The Nation (Deluxe Edition): 2 

2012: Arkeology: 19

2017: The Man From U.N.C.L.E. OST: 7 

2018: Transition 2 / Systems Align EP: 13

2019: Perfumed Garden Edits EP: 14 

2020: Hallelujah EP: 16

2022: Shelter Me: 15

2023: BBC Radio 2 Piano Room, 16 February 2024 (bootleg): 12 

2023: ONE: 17

2023: Unfinished Symphony EP: 10

2024: A Dream Is All We Know: 6

2024: CHROMA 001-005 EP: 9

2024: Live @ Hertford Corn Exchange, 22 February 2024 (bootleg): 8

The Man, The Medd, The Legend (1:31:39) (KF) (Mega)

Having A Hell Of A Time, My Dear

Celebrating Vincent Damon Furnier aka Alice Cooper, born 4th February 1948.

 

School's Out (the song) was firmly imprinted as a toddler thanks to it's inclusion as the closing song on K-Tel's 1974 magnum opus Dynamite ("20 Original Hits 20 Original Stars"). One of the standouts in my parents' limited vinyl collection, I would listen to the album repeatedly and be fascinated by the characters on the record sleeve. Alice Cooper (the band, well three of them) were featured on the back cover.

At the start of the 1980s, when I became briefly obsessed by Adam & The Ants, I read (probably in Look-In) that School's Out was one of Adam's favourite songs, which meant that I got my brother to add it to one of the first mixtapes he did for me.

In the latter part of the decade, the first Alice Cooper album I ever bought was nearly Flush The Fashion, his post-punk, pop rock response from 1980. I was fascinated by the back cover photo in particular, Alice looking nothing like the familiar image of old. 

 

At this point, Alice had enjoyed a revival of sorts with He's Back (The Man Behind The Mask), although I'm shocked to find that it only got to #61 in the UK singles chart in 1986. I think my record shop visit was also before Alice's 'comeback' was cemented by the single Poison and album Trash, both of which hit #2 in Jul/Aug 1989. As it happens, I ended up buying Under The Flag by Fad Gadget instead, whose image on the back cover was notably similar to Alice's. Although I went back to Flush The Fashion many years later and like it, I made the right decision that day.

So, my first Alice Cooper purchase ended up being in early 1991, in Perth, Western Australia as I was stocking up on music tapes to take with me on an anti-clockwise trip round the country via Greyhound bus. Inevitably, I went back to School's Out but even better, it was a "specially priced" double-play cassette with 1973 album Billion Dollar Babies.

I wasn't familiar at all with either album, which changed over the next six months as I played and played and played them, relaxing on the beach, on overnight bus journeys when I couldn't sleep, walking around exploring the latest place that I'd rocked up in. 

Unsurprising therefore that half of my 12-song selection today draws from these two albums. To be honest, I could have focused on these two alone but I have cast my net a little wider from 1970 to 1976, from Alice Cooper (the band)'s second album Easy Action to Alice Cooper (the artist)'s second solo album, Alice Cooper Goes To Hell.

 

The latter provides today's post title and also includes a personal favourite, I Never Cry, a confessional about Alice's drinking problem and a trigger to enter rehab within the year. Return Of The Spiders from 1970's Easy Action is a nod to an earlier incarnation of the classic Alice Cooper line-up.

A couple of weeks ago, when I posted a selection of the UK Top 20 from 20th January 1974, John Medd put a shout out for Teenage Lament '74. Unfortunately, I couldn't include it then, partly as it was at #26 on that date in history and - more significantly - I didn't actually have the song in my collection. I've subsequently, ahem, sourced it via a copy of Alice Coopers Greatest Hits compilation from 1974. 

 

John commented previously that "a roundup of [1974] cannot call itself thus without Alice Cooper's Teenage Lament '74" and I think that goes double for any self-respecting Alice Cooper selection, let alone one covering the 1970s. It's a truly magnificent song.

 

The choices from School's Out and Billion Dollar Babies may also be predictable. I make no apologies for that, they're all greatly loved here.

Have a suitably wonderful birthday, Vincent, whether it's in the depths of hell or a golf course in Phoenix, Arizona.

 

1) Hello Hurray (1973)

2) Public Animal #9 (1972)

3) I Never Cry (1976)

4) School's Out (1972)

5) Wish You Were Here (1976)

6) You Drive Me Nervous (1971)

7) Teenage Lament '74 (1974) 

8) Luney Tune (1972)

9) Return Of The Spiders (1970)

10) I Love The Dead (1973)

11) Is It My Body? (1970)

12) Elected (1973)

 

1970: Easy Action: 9 

1970: Love It To Death: 11

1971: Killer: 6

1972: School's Out: 2, 4, 8

1973: Billion Dollar Babies: 1, 10, 12

1974: Alice Coopers Greatest Hits: 7

1976: Alice Cooper Goes To Hell: 3, 5

Having A Hell Of A Time, My Dear (45:57) (KF) (Mega)

I hadn't seen the promo video for Teenage Lament '74 before now and it's lots of fun, foregoing any attempt at recreating the lyrical theme and opting for a Keystone Cops riffing romp. There's a wonderful panning shot of the band on-stage around the 2 minute mark, Alice holding a can of beer, DIY fringe and prison fatigues, turning and sweeping his free hand to his forehead in exaggerated cinematic style. It's brilliant.

Today's post and selection is inevitably dedicated to John Medd. Enjoy!

That Weren't No DJ, That Was Hazy Cosmic Jive

On another nostalgia trip today, back half a century to the UK singles Top 20 on 27th July 1972. Largely ignoring the first five, that's a pretty great run of singles

1) Puppy Love: Donny Osmond

2) Sylvia’s Mother: Dr. Hook & The Medicine Show

3) Rock And Roll Parts 1 & 2: Gary Glitter

4) Breaking Up Is Hard To Do: The Partridge Family

5) Sea Side Shuffle: Terry Dactyl & The Dinosaurs

6) School’s Out: Alice Cooper

7) I Can See Clearly Now: Johnny Nash

8) Circles: The New Seekers

9) Mad About You: Bruce Ruffin

10) Starman: David Bowie

11) Little Willy: The Sweet

12) Silver Machine: Hawkwind

13) Join Together: The Who

14) Walkin’ In The Rain With The One I Love: Love Unlimited

15) Betcha By Golly Wow: The Stylistics

16) Take Me Back ‘One: Slade

17) Automatically Sunshine: The Supremes

18) An American Trilogy: Elvis Presley

19) Popcorn: Hot Butter 

20) My Guy: Mary Wells 

 

I'll only give Sea Side Shuffle by Terry Dactyl & The Dinosaurs the briefest of mentions for two reasons, fact fans: 

 

1) The lead singer, songwriter and accordion player would subsequently always be found in the kitchen at parties, trying to come up with a ubiquitous Christmas hit (which wasn't about Christmas and, incredibly, didn't actually make it to #1 in the UK);

 

2) One might assume that Roy Dorset and his legal team were listening with interest, given the resemblance to his summer-themed hit with Mungo Jerry a couple of years previously. Surely he sued? Or did we live in a less litigious society back then?

 

YouTube, as ever, is a treasure trove of clips, especially from Top Of The Pops, so here's a select few. Lady K's just finished for the summer - oh, how I wish I had six weeks off work to do what I like! Sadly, Alice Cooper wasn't blasting from the school PA as the masses ran from the building, whooping and hollering. Surprising, as I thought that this was a legal requirement from 1977 onwards...?

Here's Alice on TOTP in 1972. Health & Safety would never let him wave and throw a sabre around these days.

Johnny Nash next, rocking those studded leathers with what remains my favourite version of this song. The original and never bettered.

You would not believe how hard it is to find a decent clip of Starman that isn't the June 1972 TOTP performance that is used on every David Bowie, 1970s, Glam, classic rock, you-name-it TV show going. I tried, honestly, but I had to admit defeat after a while. So here it is. Bloody great, though.

The next video is dedicated to middle aged man, who reminded me what a truly great band The Sweet are, with an excellent Imaginary Compilation Album over at The Vinyl Villain a couple of months ago. If you haven't heard it, run don't walk over there now, you really need it in your life.

Love Unlimited next. Much is made of Barry White's role but it was nothing without the wonderful vocal performances by the Taylor sisters -Diane, Linda and Glodean. This is music in glorious Technicolour.

How else to finish but with The King? An American Trilogy was a cover version, originally written and recorded by Mickey Newbury in 1971, stitching together Dixie (a folk song), The Battle Hymn Of The Republic (a Civil War marching song used by the Union army) and All My Trials (a popular lullaby from The Bahamas). Elvis Presley recorded it at the start of 1972 and, interestingly, his version was bigger success in the UK (peaking at #8) than the USA (#66). This version is from his Aloho From Hawaii show in January 1973.

As a post-script, at one place below Elvis is Popcorn by Hot Butter, a song that always reminds me of a much-loved TV show which had a similar sounding theme tune. Ah, the days of TV shows presented by wonderfully bonkers professors, nylon and polyester attire, minuscule budgets and little or no special effects, not to mention protracted moments of silence...like this.