Boxing Day, Fighting Fit, Gloves Off

Boxing Day blues kicking in already?

Fear not, I've created a brand new hour-long Dubhed selection to banish the blues and hopefully not leave you seeing red!

I worried that my 2021 Boxing Day offering was too obvious, being themed around boxes. Four years later, I've clearly not learned my lesson, as today's selection is based on boxing-themed song titles. 

In fact, it turned out that I hit a rich seam of gold in my digging, unearthing enough songs for at least one more selection. 

Left out of the ring on this occasion were The Affectionate Punch by Associates, Pulling Punches by David Sylvian, Punch Drunk by Gene Loves Jezebel, One Armed Boxer by Lee 'Scratch' Perry & The Upsetters, Saved By The Bell by Robin Gibb and of course Born Under Punches (The Heat Goes On) by Talking Heads.

Decayed, my recent series focussing on the 1990s, also featuring boxing obsessed songs like Muhammad Ali by Faithless, Lessons Learned From Rocky I To Rocky III by Cornershop and Heavyweight Champion Of The World by Reverend & The Makers, all left in the changing room on this occasion.

I think, blow-by-blow the fifteen rounds here deliver a knockout selection, an (upper) cut above the rest and proof if needed that I'm in your corner. 

And before I stretch my efforts to insert boxing references too far, it's time to hang up my gloves, know what I mean, 'Arry?

1) The Boxer (Album Version): The Chemical Brothers ft. Tim Burgess (2005)

2) Knockout Position (DJ Muggs Remix): Kaliphz (1995)

3) Another Blow On The Bruise: Gavin Friday & The Man Seezer (1989)

4) Sucker Punch: Fujiya & Miyagi (2006)

5) Fighting Fit (Album Version): Gene (1996)

6) Southpaw (Fluke's Glassjaw Remix): Trisco (2005)

7) Lazyitis (One Armed Boxer): Happy Mondays ft. Karl Denver (1989)

8) Lightweight: Marco Rossi (2024)

9) Down And Out: The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion (2015)

10) The Boxer (Cover of Simon & Garfunkel): Bob Dylan (1970)

11) Still Fighting: The Sabres Of Paradise ft. Denise Johnson (1993)

12) Knuckle Sandwich Nancy: Slade (1981)

13) Reign Of Blows: XTC (1984)

14) Boxerbeat (Album Version): JoBoxers (1983)

15) Boxing Clever: The Selecter (2023)

1970: Self Portrait: 10

1981: Till Deaf Do Us Part: 12

1983: Like Gangbusters: 14

1984: The Big Express: 13

1989: Each Man Kills The Thing He Loves: 3

1989: Lazyitis EP: 7

1993: Sabresonic:: 11

1995: Seven Deadly Sins: 2

1996: Drawn To The Deep End: 5

2005: Push The Button: 1

2005: Southpaw EP: 6

2006: Transparent Things: 4

2015: Freedom Tower No Wave Dance Party 2015: 9

2023: Human Algebra: 15

2024: Since Returning From The Moon: 8

Boxing Day, Fighting Fit, Gloves Off (1:01:50) (GD) (M)

More Than A Woman

A huge happy birthday to Pauline Black aka Belinda Magnus OBE DL, born 23rd October 1953.

Icon is such an overused and misused word these days, but there's no question in my mind that it applies to Pauline. As a 9-year old,  I was struck by this energetic, smiling figure in two tone garb with porkpie hat, bouncing around the stage with The Selecter on TV, performing their hits On My Radio and Three Minute Hero. It left an indelible impression. 

Pauline has never been just a singer or a woman fronting an otherwise all-male band, though. Actor, activist, author, TV and radio presenter... all amazing, though her part in The 2-Tone Story itself is historic. 

Luckily, director Jane Mingay has collaborated with Pauline to bring some of her rich history and four decades (and counting) career to the silver screen with a documentary titled - what else? - Pauline Black: A Two-Tone Story. It's currently running at selected UK cinemas and I've dropped the trailer in at the end of this post.

For your immediate gratification, however, here are just a few of many, many highlights from Pauline's career with The Selecter. And this is no nostalgia trip: last year's album Human Algebra showed both singing, songwriting and performing are as sharp as ever.

Following the tragic loss of Arthur 'Gaps' Hendrickson, The Selecter continues, Pauline rejoined by original drummer Charley 'Aitch' Bembridge. As my post from last June demonstrated, The Selecter live on stage is an unforgettable, joyous experience.

 

I'll hopefully get to find that out for myself, as The Selecter will be supporting Steel Pulse on their 50th Anniversary tour of the UK early next year. I mean, a once in a lifetime experience, right?

 

Have a great day, Pauline, you utterly amazing and inspirational person.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gaps On My Radio

Celebrating Arthur 'Gaps' Hendrickson, 29th April 1951 to 11th June 2024.

 

I was terribly sad to read that Gaps has passed away after a short illness. Barely a week ago, I posted The Selecter delivering a brilliant live show in 2017, on the back of belatedly buying their 2023 album Human Algebra and being reminded how utterly fantastic the band were, and still are.

There are lots of lovely but deeply sad tributes out there and rightly so. I can't begin to come close to that, not least because the span of The Selecter in my collection amounts to the albums Celebrate The Bullet (1981), Human Algebra, a greatest hits collection and a random selection of singles, B-sides and live tracks.

So, it's a strange 10-song selection, veering wildly between 1980/81 and 2023 with nothing in between. Hopefully, like their last album did for me, it's a reminder that heritage bands can not only celebrate the hits but continue to have something to say. And does The Selecter's music deserve to be heard.

An absolute legend, Gaps, you'll be greatly missed. Thanks for everything.

1) Armchair Guevara (2023)

2) Murder (1980)

3) Celebrate The Bullet (1981)

4) On My Radio (1979)

5) Star Fell Out Of The Blue (2023)

6) Missing Words (Live @ The Old Grey Whistle Test, BBC TV) (1980)

7) Too Much Pressure (1980)

8) Three Minute Hero (1980)

9) Boxing Clever (2023)

10) Train To Skaville (Extended Version) (Cover of The Ethiopians) (1980)

Gaps On My Radio (40:00) (KF) (Mega)

It's (Not) Just The Same Old Show

A spectacular show from The Selecter at The Roundhouse in London on 6th October 2017.

 

Pauline Black and Arthur 'Gaps' Hendrickson are up front and in fine form, supported by John Robertson (guitar), Luke Palmer (bass), Lee Horsley (organ), Neil Pyzer and Orlando La Rose (saxophone) and Winston Marche (drums).

Seventy minutes of classics, covers and new material from a band bursting with energy.

1) The Avengers Theme (Cover of Laurie Johnson Orchestra)
2) Three Minute Hero
3) Frontline
4) Breakdown
5) Daylight
6) Missing Words
7) Remember Me
8) Danger
9) The Big Badoof
10) Train To Skaville (Cover of The Ethiopians)
11) James Bond Theme (Cover of Monty Norman)
12) On My Radio
13) Too Much Pressure / Pressure Drop (Cover of Toots & The Maytals)
14) Medley:

Carry, Go, Bring, Come (Cover of Justin Hinds & The Dominoes) / 

Everyday (Time Hard) (Cover of The Pioneers) / 

Murder (Cover of Owen & Leon Silvera) / 

My Collie (Not A Dog) (Adaptation of 'My Boy Lollypop' by Barbie Gaye)

 

If you liked that a lot, head over to The Selecter's online shop and you can buy the album in a variety of flavours, including digital, CD and double white splatter vinyl, the latter two both with a bonus DVD of the full show. 

 

You can also find The Selecter's 2023 album Human Algebra and a host of related goodies for that special someone in your life, even if that happens to be yourself.

Dear Annie

Celebrating Annie Nightingale, 1st April 1940 to 11th January 2024.

When I heard the sad news that Annie had passed at the age of 83 following a short illness, I didn't immediately post about it. To be honest, it was a real shock, I'd admittedly not followed Annie's continuing broadcasts in recent years but she seemed like she was immortal, that husky voice continuing to emanate over the airwaves forever. 

I was floored by Janice Long's death in December 2021 and Annie's has also hit me hard. When reflecting on Janice at the time, I wrote that "I probably listened to [her] more than John Peel on Radio 1 as a teen, mainly because her evening show slot usually coincided with doing homework or otherwise avoiding my family in my bedroom." This was even more applicable to Annie, whose request show followed the Top 40 countdown on Sunday nights.

I continued to listen to Annie as the powers that be moved her time slot further and further back, so that (at least, as far as I recall), her show became essential post-club listening.

I discovered so much music, new and old, via Annie Nightingale and I think my eclectic collection is testament to her own unabated passion for new genres and styles. Annie was also a reason to watch The Old Grey Whistle Test on BBC2. Bands that might otherwise have stuck two fingers up to the show and presenter Whispering Bob Harris were more amenable to appear when she was presenting.

 

As with Janice Long, this is another of those selections that doesn't begin to do justice to the breadth of Annie Nightingale's indefatigable love of music. More so, given that her career spanned six decades. 

I've cheekily lifted some of Annie's OGWT intros to link some of the music on this selection. The opening extract was from the show broadcast on 14th February 1981, featuring The Sound (well, it was them or Camel) and a three-song set including the magnificent Sense Of Purpose, included here.

 

I should say that only one song, by The Selecter, is an actual performance from The Old Grey Whistle Test. The rest are album and single versions, a remix here and there including one by Annie herself and some deep cuts from The Teardrop Explodes, The Crystal Method, Public Image Ltd., T.Power and Primal Scream remixed by Andrew Weatherall.

 

Big In Japan by Alphaville made the cut as it was the first song on a request show from 1985 that TSKC1984 taped off the radio and posted on You Tube. You can listen to the entire show in all it's hissy glory here, with another from Hollowe'en 1984 here.

 

I've also drawn inspiration from the three albums that Annie compiled in 1996, 2007 and 2015: Annie On One, Annie Nightingale Presents Y4K and Masterpiece. My selection ends, as Annie On One does, with Flowered Up's magnum opus and finest moment, Weekender, which I first heard on her show in 1992. 

I'll happily confess that I was in love with Annie: that voice; the effortless cool that set her miles apart from her contemporary (male) DJs on TV; the sheer rock 'n' roll-ness of her being. Actually, scratch 'was' for 'am'. 

 

In the many, many tributes in the past few days, Annie Nightingale has been rightly described as a trailblazer, a pioneer, one-of-a-kind. Annie was all of that to me. She was also a wonderful person and my favourite radio DJ ever.

Thank you, Annie, you were the best.

 

1) Old Grey Whistle Test (BBC2 Continuity Announcement & Introduction): Annie Nightingale (1981) 

2) Sense Of Purpose: The Sound (1981)

3) Liberation (12" Version): T.Power (1995)

4) Old Grey Whistle Test (Introduction: The Teardrop Explodes): Annie Nightingale (1982) 

5) Colours Fly Away (Live @ Club Zoo, Liverpool): The Teardrop Explodes (1981)

6) This Was The Sound (Adam Freeland & Sebi Spanks Remix): K-Swing + Beber (2007)

7) Come Back Clean (Annie Nightingale + Far Too Loud Remix): The Crystal Method ft. Emily Haines (2009)

8) Big In Japan (7" Version): Alphaville (1984)

9) Old Grey Whistle Test (Introduction: Japan): Annie Nightingale (1982) 

10) Ghosts (Single Version): Japan (1982)

11) Old Grey Whistle Test (Introduction: Public Image Ltd.): Annie Nightingale (1980)

12) Poptones (John Peel Session): Public Image Ltd. (1979)

13) Don't Fight It, Feel It (Scat Mix By Andrew Weatherall & Hugo Nicolson): Primal Scream ft. Denise Johnson (1991)

14) Duel (Album Version): Propaganda (1985)

15) Old Grey Whistle Test (Introduction: The Selecter): Annie Nightingale (1980)

16) Murder (Live on Old Grey Whistle Test, BBC2 TV): The Selecter (1980)

17) Cheft El Khof: Orange Blossom (2004)

18) Grey Clouds: The Orb ft. Alan Parker, Urban Warrior (2007)

19) Weekender (Full Length Version): Flowered Up (1992)

Dear Annie (1:15:17) (KF) (Mega)

Three x3 x3 x3

Somehow, I'm not quite sure how, Dubhed is three years old today. Not something I imagined writing when I first started this blog in 2020. 

 

A piffling amount of time if you visit any of the blogs linked to this site and see what dedication and long-term commitment really looks like, but it's without a doubt the most sustained period of activity for any 'creative venture' that I've ever been wholly responsible for. 

Will it change your life? No, of course not. But it has helped mine in some subtle and more obvious ways. Especially since moving to the discipline of a daily post, it's given me a structured mindfulness activity that's been more of a help with my mental health that I can fully appreciate, both as a preventative and a curative exercise.

The best bit though, and the inspiration for doing it in the first place, is the lovely blogging community that I discovered and have since felt a part of, a reminder when you are surrounded by news and stories to the contrary that there are many, many wonderful human beings out there. And we all share a passion for music. Not necessarily the same music all of the time, but an appreciation and respect for the sheer love of it regardless.

It's not just about the music, though, this sense of community. Whenever I can, I try to make some time on a Saturday morning to drop by at My Top Ten to join in with Rol's excellent - and teasingly, pleasingly difficult - Saturday Snapshots quiz. Every month in 2023, John's Are We There Yet? blog has hosted a gallery of themed photos, which I started contributing to (albeit generally always just under the deadline wire - sorry, John!) and enjoy a lot. SWC at No Badger Required has run regular countdowns, based on votes from a musical jury and I'm privileged to have been a member on quite a few of these. And it all started for me with guest contributions to The Vinyl Villain, specifically JC's epic and ongoing An Imaginary Compilation album series, which has pretty much been the template for the Dubhed selections that have regularly featured here. 

 

That's just scratching the surface: there are so many fantastic music blogs out there, all saying something different, all opening up my mind (and ears) to new experiences and not just music, of course. Every single one of the blogs in the "Other Head Music" roll call on your right (in web view, that is) are a continual inspiration.

 

I recently commented that Swiss Adam's Bagging Area "has always been more than a blog for music lovers, it’s a lesson in humanity." It's a humbling experience reading other people's raw and vulnerable thoughts and expressions - painful and inspiring often at the same time - and it's wonderful to see how people rally round, offer support and encouragement and just care.

Thank you all, you know who you are. Whether you have visited once or lots of times, left plenty of comments or none at all, have downloaded a Dubhed selection or had a glance through and moved on, thank you.

 

Anyhoo, before you start to wonder if you've stumbled on a Grammy award acceptance speech by accident, let's have some music.

If I've got my numbers right, today is my 970th post and my 654th Dubhed selection (if you count individual sides of a mixtape, which I am). No wonder my back up drive is looking full...!

I thought I'd struggle to find enough songs in my collection with 'three' in the title. No such trouble, as it happens, to the extent that I've left out some really obvious ones (apologies, De La Soul) and mix it up a little.

So, the name of this mix. Three multiplied by three three times is 81 so this selection is of course 81 minutes long (or as near as dammit). Each song contains 3 or three in the title. There are 20 tracks in total, which as you'll know is...not divisible by three. Well, you can overwork a theme sometimes, can't you?

 

Today's cover art is photo of Lagos - Resistance, Lagos Roads, a 1992 work by Otobong Nkanga, born in Nigeria, based in Belgium and whose exhibition was viewed and enjoyed by Clan K in Spain a few weeks ago. And yes, there's the 'three' theme again.

If you made it to the end of this post, an extra thank you. Rest assured, a return to the usual nonsense tomorrow.

 

1) 3 a.m. Eternal (Rankin' Club Version By Moody Boys & The Mad Professor): The KLF (1991)

2) Yeah x 3 (X-Press 2 Remix): David Holmes ft. Raven Violet (2023)

3) Three Card Trick: The Clash (1985)

4) #3 (In The Corn Belt) (Album Version By Arthur Russell): Dinosaur L (1981)

4.1) The Three Sneezes (Original Story by Roger Duvoisin) (Part 1): Martin Wallace (2006)

5) Three (Album Version By Massive Attack & Nellee Hooper): Massive Attack ft. Nicolette (1994)

6) Three MC's And One DJ (Album Version By Beastie Boys & Mario Caldato Jr.): Beastie Boys (1998)

7) Three Minute Hero: The Selecter (1980)

8) Three And Nine: Roxy Music (1974)

9) The Three Sisters: The Cure (1994)

9.1) The Three Sneezes (Original Story by Roger Duvoisin) (Part 2): Martin Wallace (2006)

10) 3 Gypsies In A Restaurant: Billy MacKenzie (1996)

11) Three Monkey Tango: Marc Almond (2006)

12) Spit Three Times (Album Version By Kieran Hebden): Neneh Cherry (2014)

13) Jltf 3 (Ambient): Moby ft. Melody Zimmer (2009)

14) 3 Of Us (4 Your Club Mix By Steve Thompson & Michael Barbiero): Humpe Humpe (1985)

15) Three Wishes: Let It Come Down (Kramer & Xan Tyler) (2020)

16) The Three Shadows Pt.1: Bauhaus (1982)

16.1) The Three Sneezes (Original Story by Roger Duvoisin) (Part 3): Martin Wallace (2006)

17) We Three Kings Of Orient Aren't: Jamie Wednesday (1986)

18) Three Girl Rhumba (Cover of Wire): Bark Psychosis (1996)

19) 3 a.m. Eternal (Almighty Radio Edit): People Of 'K' ft. Crystal (2014)

20) The Three Sneezes (Original Story by Roger Duvoisin) (Part 4): Martin Wallace (2006)

Three x3 x3 x3 (1:20:59) (KF) (Mega)

The Tape Would Understand

Things started with The Clash, inevitably jumping to Manic Street Preachers and leading to whole bunch of 'radio' songs. But not including Radio Song by R.E.M. Although there is another 'radio' song by R.E.M. My brain hurts.

 

Put another way: 12 songs. 48 minutes. Enjoy. 

1) Hitsville U.K: The Clash ft. Ellen Foley (1980)

2) Radio G String: Bow Wow Wow (1980)

3) Radio Waves (Album Version): O.M.D. (1983)

4) Take Back The Radio (Flying Mojito Bros Refrito): Katy J Pearson (2021)

5) Radio #1 (Señor Coconut's "Rumbamambochacha" Remix By Uwe Schmidt): AIR ft. Sergio Lagos (2001)

6) On My Radio: The Selecter (1979)

7) Sports Radio (RLC Dub Mix): Elite Beat (2020)

8) Factory Radio: Black Box Recorder (1998)

9) Love Songs On The Radio: Mojave 3 (1995)

10) Radio Free Europe (Original Hib-Tone Single Version): R.E.M. (1981)

11) Motown Junk (Single Version): Manic Street Preachers (1991)

12) Put The Radio On: Lana Del Rey (2010)

 

The Tape Would Understand (48:15)