The Strangest Days I've Ever Seen

Today's selection is a small selection of artists, songs and albums that I've discovered or rediscovered during 2022, either by diving into my vinyl or CD collection, digital purchases from Bandcamp or via the many wonderful posts from fellow travellers in the blogosphere, listed in the sidebar if you're viewing the web version. A special thanks to Charity Chic Music for introducing me to Blaze Foley and reminding me of the brilliance of I Want To See The Bright Lights Tonight by Richard & Linda Thompson.

For the second year running, the rather wonderful 5CD New Age Steppers collection, Stepping Into A New Age 1980-2012, gets a look in. There have been some fabulous CD box set reissues in 2022. My favourites have included Satellite Life, collecting Billy Mackenzie's recordings between 1994 and 1996 on 3 CDs. The Times' run of albums from their first incarnation were represented with a ton of bonus tracks on the 6CD set My Picture Gallery: The Artpop! Recordings. It actually came out in 2021, but I didn't buy it until May this year. Ironically, neither artist features in today's selection.

Researching respective posts got me going back to several artists from my teens, notably The Jesus & Mary Chain, Ramones, Orbital and David Sylvian. David Holmes' new album with Unloved this year also prompted me to belatedly buy the soundtrack to Series 1 and 2 of Killing Eve, which includes a fair few 1960s and 1970s nuggets, including out there husband and wife duo Ramases and Selket (Kimberley and Dorothy to their neighbours).

 

There are a couple of artists from my birthplace, Bristol: Babyhead, who I rediscovered when reminiscing about the annual festival at Ashton Court and Emily Breeze, who I heard for the first time this year and have been a huge fan of ever since.

 

To bring things to a close, The Abyssinians with an unreleased 'extended mix' of a 1982 song, courtesy of the 27 Leggies music blog during the summer after yet another postponed gig. Fingers crossed it's sixth time lucky in 2023, Ernie.

 

Today's photo was taken in the Gloucestershire village of Wotton-under-Edge a couple of weeks ago. It's the tried-and-tested hairdresser/barber shop staple of using a bad pun for a business name, but this one made me smile. I've never visited, so please don't take this bit of free advertising as an endorsement. I've also not eaten at the Indian restaurant with the garish orange frontage a few doors down. Parking's a nightmare, though.

 

More 2022 highlights tomorrow.

 

1) Тютюнник (Tiutiunnyk) (John Peel Session): The Wedding Present (1987)

2) Clay Pigeons: Blaze Foley (1977)

3) Move Ya Loin: Roots Manuva ft. Lotek (2005)

4) Pulling Punches (Album Version): David Sylvian (1984)

5) Call In Sick Today (Album Version): Emily Breeze (2019)

6) Good For My Soul: The Jesus & Mary Chain (1992)

7) Drown: Karen O & Danger Mouse (2019)

8) Chime Crime (Remix): Orbital (1992)

9) Distraction (Radioactive Man Remix By Keith Tenniswood): C.A.R. (2020)

10) Good Voodoo (Gaudi Remix By Daniele Gaudi): Ganga Giri (2011)

11) The Bottle (12 Inch): The Tyrrel Corporation (1992)

12) My Whole World: New Age Steppers (1981)

13) Killing Time: Babyhead (2003)

14) I'm Not Jesus: Ramones (1987)

15) Screw You (Single Version): Ramases & Selket (1970)

16) Withered And Died: Richard & Linda Thompson (1974)

17) Praise Him / Praise Him Dub: The Abyssinians (1982)

 

The Strangest Days I've Ever Seen (1:14:48) (Box) (Mega)

Call In Sick Today: Emily Breeze

When I was young I thought I’d bring the world to its knees
Smoking skunk in the daytime, skim reading Socrates
Please....
Jesus said, I should get out of bed and I replied
Fly me first class to heaven in a neon pink cocktail dress
I don't get up for less

Because these are the strangest days I’ve ever seen
So give me C.B.T and sertraline
As I sashay through the decades on a vast indifferent sea

Lets get high in the cemetery,
Call in sick today
Waste a day with me,
I'm gonna start a cult
And you'll build a time machine
Let's go rob a bank
And go on a killing spree

Because these are the strangest days I’ve ever seen
So give me C.B.T and sertraline
Did you catch my million dollar movie?
It went straight to T.V
But I still believe, I still believe
That it's easy to bury reality
But hard to dispose of your dreams
So I still believe, I still believe
When I was young I thought I'd bring the world to its knees
Call in sick today baby waste a day with me
When I was young I thought I’d bring the world to its knees
And I still believe, I still believe
Call in sick today baby, waste a day with me
Cos I still believe, I still believe.

What's The Prediction? I'll Betcha It's Friction!

Listening to the Ramones recently got me digging out more tunes from 1976 to 1978, leading to today's selection, spanning 19 songs and a smidge over 1 hour.

There are perhaps some obvious choices: Ready Steady Go by Generation X, Friction by Television, What Do I Get? by Buzzcocks, The Passenger by Iggy Pop. I've thrown in a few other singles, B-sides and live performances by Elvis Costello & The Attractions, Eater, Protex, Magazine and Joy Division (belated happy 65th birthday for yesterday, Stephen Morris!)

 

I've also included a few choice album tracks by Ramones, The Clash, David Johansen, Talking Heads and Wire. Add to that a handful oddities and 'lost' tunes by Big In Japan, The Scenics and Adam & The Ants (covering Perry Como!) and it's enough to stir this sedentary sequencer of songs.

 

1) Ready Steady Go (Album Version): Generation X (1978)

2) What's Your Game (Album Version): Ramones (1977)

3) Tiny Steps: Elvis Costello & The Attractions (1978)

4) Thinkin' Of The U.S.A.: Eater (1977)

5) Catch A Falling Star (Unreleased Version) (Cover of Perry Como): Adam & The Ants (1977)

6) Last Gang In Town: The Clash (1978)

7) Confusion: Sparks (1976)

8) Cindy And The Barbi Dolls: Big In Japan (1978)

9) Friction (Album Version): Television (1977)

10) Touch And Go (Live @ Lesser Free Trade Hall, Manchester): Magazine (1978)

11) At A Later Date (Live @ Electric Circus, Manchester): Joy Division (1977)

12) In The Sun (Album Version): Blondie (1976)

13) Not That Much: David Johansen (1978)

14) Don't Ring Me Up: Protex (1978)

15) What Do I Get?: Buzzcocks (1978)

16) Stay Hungry (Album Version): Talking Heads (1978)

17) Do The Wait: The Scenics (1977)

18) The Passenger (Album Version): Iggy Pop (1977)

19) Champs: Wire (1977)

1976: Big Beat: 7

1976: Blondie: 12

1977: Leave Home: 2

1977: Lust For Life: 18

1977: Marquee Moon: 9 

1977: Pink Flag: 19

1977: Thinkin' Of The U.S.A. EP: 4

1978: David Johansen: 13 

1978: Don't Ring Me Up EP: 14

1978: From Y To Z And Never Again EP: 8

1978: Generation X: 1

1978: Give 'Em Enough Rope: 6 

1978: More Songs About Buildings And Food: 16

1978: Radio Radio EP: 3

1978: Short Circuit: Live At The Electric Circus: 11 

1978: What Do I Get? EP: 15

2000: Ant Box: 5

2009: Play + (Expanded 2CD Edition): 10

2009: Sunshine World: Studio Recordings 1977-78: 17

What's The Prediction? I'll Betcha It's Friction! (1:01:30)

Peace And Love Is Here To Stay

Sometimes, the subliminal signals are all there: JC at The Vinyl Villain posted about Ramones on Friday; SWC at No Badger Required featured Ratcat on Wednesday. 

 

On Saturday 2nd February 1991, I saw Ratcat supporting Ramones at the Silver Jubilee Pavilion, part of the Claremont Showground in Perth, Western Australia, so this must be a sign that the blogosphere is compelling me to tell all about it, right?

 

Luckily for me, this was one of the few periods in my life that I kept a journal. At this point in time, I was sharing a flat in Perth with a Japanese guy called Kenji aka Ken and in fact most of my social circle were Japanese people on work or student visas...which is exactly the point of travelling several thousand miles to work in and travel Australia, I hear you say. That bit is important later on, though. As is the fact that I wrote my account of the gig the following afternoon.

 

I will at this point offer a warning, in case you're settling down to read this with a nice cup of tea and a Sunday brunch (no, not that one). The following account contains strobe lights and projectile vomiting.

The Perth show was Ramones' ninth and final date of their Australian tour and, having played Melbourne the night before, their only gig on this side of the continent. I liked Ramones a lot and I'd hear their music a fair bit going out and at friends' houses. That said, the only album that I was really familiar with was End Of The Century, produced by Phil Spector and featuring their sole UK Top 10 hit in 1980, the focus of JC's post this week. Ratcat were an Australian band who had scored a Top 10 hit and lost of radio play at home with That Ain't Bad from their EP, Tingles, which I wrote about last year. None of my Japanese friends were remotely interested in seeing either Ramones or Ratcat so I decided to go anyway, shelling out $23.50 for a ticket. The exchange rate back then was hovering around 1 GBP = 2.50 AUD so this worked out at less than a tenner for the gig.

 

Saturday got off to a fairly leisurely start, by all accounts. I walked into Perth city centre, had a browse in Dada Records (still there, yay!) and picked up The Fad Gadget Singles on CD, before a "beef rice bowl" for lunch at Mr. Samurai (which had clearly gone downhill by 2008 and is now no more). After a some more shopping, I went home for a bit before heading back out and onto a train to the Claremont Showground, about 30 minutes' ride. Luck was on my side as the platform ticket machine was kaput and I got a free ride. 

 

Despite the grand sounding name, the Silver Jubilee Pavilion at the Claremont Showground was one of those generic conference-style spaces neighbouring a speedway track. According to t'internet, the pavilion has capacity for three thousand people. There was a healthy crowd when I arrived and whilst I was quite near the front for the whole of the gig, I don't remember there being anything like that many people there on the night.

This is where things start to get even more hazy. The short description of Ratcat in my journal is that they "were quite good", the "sound quality was high" and "they were an effective live band" Really makes you feel like you were there, doesn't it?

Ramones don't fare much better in my written recollection, I'll warn you. What I can tell you - because I looked it up elsewhere - is that the line-up on the night was Joey and Johnny (obviously), Marky (drums from 1978-1983, rejoined in 1987) and C.J. (bass, joined in 1989). The current album at the time was Brain Drain, Ramones' eleventh offering from 1989. Apart from Pet Sematary, recorded for the ropey film adaptation of the Stephen King novel, I wasn't at all familiar with either the album or most of Ramones' mid-late 1980s material.

I note that the band came on to the strains of Ennio Morricone's The Good, The Band And The Ugly, all dry ice and heavy strobe lighting effects, before launching straight into the first song. As you might expect, there were no slow numbers or much in the way of between song banter. Apart from an occasional pause for a drink, pretty much every song was bridged with a hurriedly cried "1-2-3-4!" and off we went again. The band crashed through thirty-odd songs and two encores in around an hour and a half and suddenly that was it, Morricone back on the PA system and the house lights back on.

Despite not owning any Ramones albums circa 1991, I was surprised by how many songs that I recognised, given the sheer volume of songs that they played that night. Perhaps less surprising though when, on reflection, nearly two thirds of the set came from the first five albums from 1976's self-titled debut (8 songs) to 1980's End Of The Century. I was particularly happy that Ramones played a storming version of Do You Remember Rock 'n' Roll Radio?, barely recognisable from the album version and one of many highlights of the show. I was a sweating, exhausted, exhilarated mess by the end of the gig and left on a real high.

Unlike February gigs in England, where a walk from a hot, steamy venue to catch a bus or train would usually skirt the edge of hypothermia, it was a balmy, late summer night in Perth. I got back to the flat well before midnight and this is where I made my fatal error. What I should have done is just gone straight to bed, content with the memory of a great night out. Instead, I saw that the light was on in my friend Kazu's flat and I decided to pop my head round the door to say hello. This was nothing unusual: Kazu's place was invariably the social epicentre of our group and Saturdays especially would guarantee that some gathering was going on, usually involving food and alcohol.

Kazu and Ken, my flatmate, were there together with another couple of friends who lived in the same apartment block, Yumie and Takahashi. Having crossed the threshold, I realised that I'd become extremely dehydrated on my journey home. I managed a glass of lukewarm tap water but at the insistence of my friends this was swiftly replaced with vodka. A variety of Japanese snacks wrapped in rice paper were also offered up, very tasty but which would frankly do little to stop the inevitable catch up with my drunken companions. Worse, the frequent top ups were beginning to alternate between vodka and white wine. 

Now I don't know about you, but my twenty year-old self used to follow this sage advice on mixing drinks from a Goth pal from Bristol, given several years previously:

Beer on wine, feel fine

Wine on beer, feel queer 

 

I can only assume that I had then passed out in a drunken stupor before my Goth guide could impart their wisdom on mixing wine and spirits. So on this night in an apartment with a group of increasing animated friends having a great time, I carried on anyway and my fate was sealed.

All I could recall when writing the account the following afternoon was that I eventually drifted (swayed?) back to my flat on the next floor, crashed into bed and very shortly after started throwing up uncontrollably before I'd even managed to get back out of bed. It was all over by the time I made it to the bathroom so I stripped the bed, had a long, cold shower and went back to sleep on the bare mattress. I noted in my journal (I hope with a self-disgusted grimace) that the mattress still felt wet and I discovered the following morning that I'd been lying in liquid vomit. Presumably my dignity and self-respect had also gone swirling down the plug hole when I took a shower. 

 

I spent the following morning scrubbing the mattress clean, airing the open plan flat and trying to rid the space of the disgusting smell of bile. Fortunately for me, Ken had passed out drunk on the sofa in Kazu's flat downstairs and was therefore spared this sorry scene until things had returned to normal. As I noted in my closing sentence, "it could have been worse".

What a rock 'n' roll lifestyle, eh? By comparison, last week's Blancmange gig was over by 10.30pm and I was home by 11.00pm with little chance of finding myself sleeping in my own vomit. More importantly, I had a brilliant time and I remember every second of it. 

Ramones and Ratcat were both brilliant too, I know it. I just can't remember most of it...!

Thanks to those lovely contributors at Setlist, I've been able to recreate the Perth show as one continuous Dubhed selection. No breaks, no intervals, just an hour and a quarter of Ramones brilliance. Enjoy!

1) Durango 95 (1984)

2) Teenage Lobotomy (1977)

3) Psycho Therapy (1983)

4) Blitzkrieg Bop (Single Version) (1976)

5) Do You Remember Rock 'n' Roll Radio? (Album Version) (1980)

6) I Believe In Miracles (1989)

7) Gimme Gimme Shock Treatment (Album Version) (1977)

8) Rock 'n' Roll High School (Album Version) (1980)

9) I Wanna Be Sedated (1978)

10) I Just Want To Have Something To Do (1978)

11) I Wanna Live (Album Version) (1987)

12) My Brain Is Hanging Upside Down (Bonzo Goes To Bitburg) (Album Version) (1986)

13) Commando (Album Version) (1977)

14) Sheena Is A Punk Rocker (Album Version) (1977)

15) Rockaway Beach (1977)

16) Pet Sematary (Album Version) (1989)

17) 53rd & 3rd (Album Version) (1976)

18) Now I Wanna Sniff Some Glue (Album Version) (1976)

19) Mama's Boy (Album Version) (1984)

20) Animal Boy (1986)

21) Wart Hog (1984)

22) Surfin' Bird (Cover of The Trashmen) (1977)

23) Cretin Hop 

24) I Don't Wanna Walk Around With You (Album Version) (1976)

25) Today Your Love, Tomorrow The World (Album Version) (1976)

26) Pinhead (Album Version) (1977)

 

[encore #1]

27) Chinese Rock (Album Version) (1980)

28) Somebody Put Something In My Drink (1986)

29) We're A Happy Family (1977)

 

[encore #2]

30) Beat On The Brat (Album Version) (1976)

31) Let's Dance (Album Version) (Cover of Chris Montez) (1976)

32) Judy Is A Punk (Album Version) (1976)

 

1976: Ramones: 4, 17, 18, 24, 25, 30, 31, 32

1977: Leave Home: 7, 13, 26

1977: Rocket To Russia: 2, 14, 15, 22, 23, 29

1978: Road To Ruin: 9, 10

1980: End Of The Century: 5, 8, 27

1983: Sunbterranean Jungle: 3

1984: Too Tough To Die: 1, 19, 21

1986: Animal Boy: 12, 20, 28

1987: Halfway To Sanity: 11

1989: Brain Drain: 6, 16 

 

Peace And Love Is Here To Stay (1:16:02) (KF) (Mega)

Can You Hear It?

Between 1976 and 1979, I was between 5 and 8 years old, arguably living my best life. Primary school, hot summers, bags of penny chews and sweets from the newsagents, Look-In ("The Junior TV Times"), Tom Baker as Doctor Who, Star Wars at the cinema, annual holidays near Tenby and day trips to Weston-super-Mare, the open air swimming pool at Chippenham or (if we were lucky) the pebble-or-sand beach at Weymouth. 

I was too busy and too young to pay much attention at the time to punk, post-punk or alternative music. Although the odd snatch on Radio 1 stuck with me, I discovered much of this music a few years later, when I was older, angrier and looking for music that I could turn up loud and annoy my parents with. The rest I sought out even more years later, when I was (considerably) older, wiser (debatable) and still angry (and that's just the government).

I don't have a contemporary emotional connection to these songs though some resonate with particular periods in my teens and twenties and they will always be very special to me. A few come from some of my favourite albums of all time, but I'll leave you to decide which ones they may be.

 

1) So It Goes: Nick Lowe (1976)

2) The Pictures On My Wall (Single Version): Echo & The Bunnymen (1978)

3) I Found That Essence Rare: Gang Of Four (1979)

4) Repetition: The Fall (1978)

5) The Unconventional: Japan (1978)

6) Fade Away And Radiate (Album Version): Blondie (1978)

7) Frederick: Patti Smith (1979)

8) Search & Destroy (Live) (Cover of The Stooges): The Dictators (1977)

9) I Can't Be (Demo): Ramones (1976)

10) Whip In My Valise: Adam & The Ants (1979)

11) Limelight (Album Version): XTC (1979)

12) My Shadow In Vain: Tubeway Army (1978)

13) Mortice Lock: Associates (1979)

14) Cities (Alternate Version): Talking Heads (1979)

15) Sound And Vision (Live @ Earls Court, London): David Bowie (1978)

16) I'm A Lover: David Johansen (1978)

17) The Card Cheat: The Clash (1979)

Can You Hear It? (56:53)

Ronnie Ramone

Celebrating Ronnie Spector, born Veronica Yvette Bennett on 2nd August 1943, departed on 12th January 2022. 

 

A music icon in the true sense of the word, on a personal level Ronnie has been inextricably linked with Joey Ramone, ever since my 9-year old self experienced Ramones' cover of The Ronettes' Baby I Love You in 1980. Ronnie returned the favour the same year by covering their song Here Today, Gone Tomorrow. Ronnie and Joey got together at the end of the 20th century when he produced her EP She Talks To Rainbows, and duetted on another Ramones cover, Bye Bye Baby.

Ronnie's meeting with infamous producer Phil Spector was life-changing and her awful experience as his protege and wife is well documented. Yet her strength of character and that incredible voice overcame and will be always be a gift and inspiration and a constant source of joy. Thank you, Ronnie.

Baby I Love You: The Ronnettes (1963)

Baby I Love You: Ramones (1980)

Here Today, Gone Tomorrow: Ramones (1977)

Here Today, Gone Tomorrow: Ronnie Spector (1980)

Here Today, Gone Tomorrow (Re-Recorded Version): Ronnie Spector (2006)

Bye Bye Baby: Ramones (1987)

Bye Bye Baby: Ronnie Spector (1999)

Bad Santa IV (2021)

Back due to...well, absolutely no demand whatsover, it's Bad Santa, another selection of Christmas songs. Includes a few all-time personal favourites from Half Man Half Biscuit, Ramones and Belle & Sebastian playing James Brown, plus some obscurities and cover of classic Christmas songs. Pye Corner Audio, who I have listened to lots this year (thanks to Adam @ Bagging Area), bring things up to date with their 2020 festive offering. Ho! Ho! Ho!

1) A Daddy's Christmas: Albert Brooks ft. Little Kristi (1974)
2) Thank God It's Not Christmas: Sparks (1974)
3) Everything's Gonna Be Cool This Christmas (Single Version): Eels (1998)
4) The Little Drummer Boy (Album Version) (Cover of Katherine K. Davis, Henry Onorati & Harry Simeone): The Dandy Warhols (1997)
5) All I Want For Christmas Is A Dukla Prague Away Kit: Half Man Half Biscuit (1986)
6) Rock 'n' Roll Santa: Yo La Tengo (2002)
7) Zombie Christmas: Emmy The Great & Tim Wheeler (2011)
8) Santa Claus Go Straight To The Ghetto (Live on the John Peel Show, BBC Radio 1, 18 December 2002) (Cover of James Brown): Belle & Sebastian (2002)
9) Christmas In Waikiki: Morgan (2000)
10) Mele Kalikimaka (Christmas In Hawaii) (Cover of Bing Crosby & The Andrews Sisters): KT Tunstall (2007)
11) Christmas Time Is Here (From 'A Charlie Brown Christmas') (Cover of Vince Guaraldi): Khruangbin (2018)
12) Close Your Mouth (It's Christmas): The Free Design (1968)
13) Chilly Winds (Fink Remix By Fin Greenall): Nina Simone (2008)
14) Christmas Dub (Reprise): Wareika (2013)
15) Omnichord Omnishambles (At Xmas): Pye Corner Audio (2020)
16) Santa's False Teeth: Saint Etienne (2011)
17) Tawel Nos / Silent Night (John Peel Session, 2001) (Cover of traditional song): Melys (2001)
18) Johnny Shrapnel Buys Christmas: Arab Strap (2000)
19) Merry Christmas (I Don't Want To Fight Tonight) (Album Version): Ramones (1989) 

20) Xmas Bubblegum Machine: Sultans Of Ping (1993)

 

Bad Santa IV (56:59) (KF) (Mega)

 

Click on the links for the previous Bad Santa selections from 2016, 2017 & 2020