Stitched Up Days

(The) Afghan Whigs' new single and video, House Of I, is just what I needed after three consecutive days of headaches, both literally and metaphorically.

When I marked Greg Dulli's birthday in May 2023, I reflected that "I wasn't immediately struck by The Afghan Whigs - or Dulli's voice - when I first heard them, but it's fair to say that a combination of great tunes, incisive lyrics and sheer swagger won me over."

I'd go a step further in saying that as a songwriter and performer Greg seems to get better and better with the passage of time, and House Of I is as vital and thrilling as anything in the Whigs' back catalogue. 

Speaking of which, a good excuse to roll out some Dulli delectables from both The Afghan Whigs and his other excursions, which in itself offers me an opportunity to include a couple featuring the legendary Mark Lanegan.

 

 

 

 

I Wanna Feel Good

Happy birthday to Greg Dulli, born 11th May 1965.

 

I wasn't immediately struck by The Afghan Whigs - or Dulli's voice - when I first heard them, but it's fair to say that a combination of great tunes, incisive lyrics and sheer swagger won me over.

 

Here are a couple of personal favourites, Somethin' Hot from 1998 and Debonair from 1993, sandwiching two songs from Dulli's many diversions from the Whigs. 

The Gutter Twins was a sadly finite collaboration with Mark Lanegan that produced one (brilliant) album in 2008. 

The Twilight Singers roughly existed when The Afghan Whigs didn't, between 2000 and 2011. This performance, from the Lowlands Festival in the Netherlands circa 2006, is a rather fine cover of Too Tough To Die by Martina Topley-Bird.

 

 

 

Have a good one, Greg!

x

Tough Act To Follow

I wasn't expecting to have to post another celebration so soon after Olivia Newton-John yesterday but here is a modest tribute to Lamont Dozier, who arrived 16th June 1941 and departed 8th August 2022.

I had very little time to prepare this post so, as you might expect, I've avoided the obvious - and frankly overwhelming - route of focusing on the dozens and dozens of original Motown classics that Lamont Dozier wrote with brothers Brian Holland and Eddie Holland. 

 

Instead, I've pulled together a brisk 10-song, 40-minute selection of cover versions, spanning Colourbox to Marcia Griffiths, The Fall to Odyssey and The Rolling Stones to Snuff. I've also included a couple of Lamont Dozier co-writes from the 1980s: Alison Moyet and Simply Red were on the long list but didn't make the cut; Boy George is perhaps a lesser known cut but everyone of a certain age will remember the Four Tops song, particularly if they found themselves at a late 1980s work do...

 

Today's selection is named after a track from Lamont Dozier's 1979 solo album, Bittersweet, and I couldn't think of anything more apt.

1) You Keep Me Hanging On (7" Version) (Cover of The Supremes): Colourbox (1985)

2) Standing In The Shadows Of Love (Cover of Four Tops): Snuff (1996)

3) There's A Ghost In My House (Cover of R. Dean Taylor): The Fall (1987)

4) Going Back To My Roots (Broots Club Mix By John Morales & Sergio Munzibai) (Cover of Lamont Dozier): Odyssey (1987)

5) Can I Get A Witness (Cover of Marvin Gaye): The Rolling Stones (1964)

6) My World Is Empty Without You (Cover of Diana Ross & The Supremes): The Afghan Whigs (1991)

7) Seven Rooms Of Gloom (Live @ The Apollo Theatre, Glasgow) (Cover of Four Tops): Blondie (1979)

8) Sold (12" Version By Les Adams): Boy George (1987)

9) Band Of Gold (Cover of Freda Payne): Marcia Griffiths (1974)

10) Loco In Acapulco (PH Balance Mix By Phil Harding & Ian Curnow): Four Tops (1988)

Tough Act To Follow (40:41)