The full length version of this song originally appeared on the excellent 1997 compilation, Foundations: Coming Up From The Streets, in support of The Big Issue Foundation.
Monday, 17 May 2021
Sunday, 16 May 2021
I Thought The Bells Would Be Ringing When I Walked Home
I cannot get enough of Jane Weaver's latest album, Flock. Heartlow was the second single, released in March, with an excellent video by Douglas Hart and available in monochrome and technicolour versions.
Heartlow: Jane Weaver (Official Video) (Monochrome) (3:38)
Heartlow: Jane Weaver (Official Video) (Technicolour) (3:38)
Saturday, 15 May 2021
I Dub From Another Planet, Baby
It's Saturday, it's raining, here are some dub drenched sounds to brighten your day.
1) Bag A Wire Dub: The Aggrovators + King Tubby & Friends (1976)
2) Fever Dub: Horace Andy (1977)
3) Epic One Drop (Album Version By Adrian Sherwood): Playgroup (1982)
4) Share It Out Dub: Bob Andy & Mad Professor (1989)
5) Good Times Dub: The Roots Radics ft. Gladstone Anderson (1982)
6) Some A Dub: The Congos (1976)
7) Substyle: Dub Syndicate (1983)
8) Dub To My Woman: Sly & Robbie (1997)
9) We Need Love (Wrongtom Inna West London Style): Hard-Fi (2007)
10) Weeping Willow: Black Uhuru / Prince Jammy With Sly & Robbie (1982)
11) Di Black Petty Booshwah (Dub) (Version By Dennis Bovell): Linton Kwesi Johnson (1980)
12) Cool This Dub: Tapper Zukie (1977)
13) Guiding Dub: Impact All Stars (1973)
14) Dub I Just A Man (Version By Dennis Bovell): Steve Mason (2011)
15) There's Dub: Glen Brown & King Tubby (1979)
16) Slow Country (Strictly Rubbadub): Spacemonkeyz Versus Gorillaz (2002)
I Dub From Another Planet, Baby (58:13)
Listen to I Dub From Another Planet, Baby on Mixcloud
Listen to I Dub From Another Planet, Baby on Mixcloud
Friday, 14 May 2021
Adventures In Success
I first discovered this song via the "Dub Copy" remix on the 12" single. In the UK, Will Powers was a one-hit wonder act, Kissing With Confidence reaching a peak of no. 17 in September 1983.
Will Powers was an alias for celebrity photographer Lynn Goldsmith and both of these singles formed part of an album, Dancing For Mental Health, which parodied the growing market for self-help books, audio & videos.
The dub version reminded me of Talking Heads, circa Speaking in Tongues, and the list of collaborators on the album includes Nile Rodgers, Steve Winwood and Todd Rundgren. Adventures In Success was co-written with Robert Palmer and Sting, of all people.
Fast forward to December 2020 and I happened across Mass Thomas from Belarus, whose has amassed (excuse the pun) hundreds of re-edits and re-rubs on Bandcamp, a mind-bogglingly vast selection of artists and growing at an exponential rate.
I love this re-edit, which takes the original 12" version and stretches it even further to nearly 13 minutes, without ever feeling like it's overstaying its welcome. Last week (May 8), Mass uploaded a "Re-Rub" which effectively edits the original "Dub Copy" to a bite-sized <5 minute chunk of funk. Bizarrely, the super epic re-edit is the cheaper of the two, but both are worth a listen.
Meanwhile, here are the original video, dub version & lyrics:
It's you, only you
It's you, only you
It's you, only you
You are an important person, a rare individual
A unique creature
There has never been anyone just like you
And never will be
You have talents and abilities no one else has
In some ways, you're superior to any other living person
The power to do anything you can imagine is within you
When you discover your real self
By practicing a few simple laws of success
First law of success
Take inventory of your assets
Don't be modest or critical
Be open and objective
Get a pencil and paper
Write down every good thing about yourself you can think of
It's you
Make it habit, make it happen
Only you
Make it habit, make it happen
It's you
Make it habit, make it happen
Only you
Make it habit, make it happen
It's you
Make it habit, make it happen
Only you
Make it habit, make it happen
It's you, only you
It's you, only you
You are an important person, a rare individual
A unique creature
There has never been anyone just like you
And never will be
You have talents and abilities no one else has
In some ways, you're superior to any other living person
The power to do anything you can imagine is within you
When you discover your real self
By practicing a few simple laws of success
First law of success
Take inventory of your assets
Don't be modest or critical
Be open and objective
Get a pencil and paper
Write down every good thing about yourself you can think of
It's you
Make it habit, make it happen
Only you
Make it habit, make it happen
It's you
Make it habit, make it happen
Only you
Make it habit, make it happen
It's you
Make it habit, make it happen
Only you
Make it habit, make it happen
Second law of success
Write a description of the person you'd like to be
Describe your personal dress, your home, your automobile
Your desired occupation and income, be honest
Now, go even deeper
Describe the inner person you'd like to be
Let your mind run wild
Assume you can be anything that you desire
The fact is, you will become the person you honestly describe
You can't avoid it
It's you
Make it habit, make it happen
Only you
Make it habit, make it happen
It's you
Make it habit, make it happen
Only you
Make it habit, make it happen
It's you
Make it habit, make it happen
Only you
Make it habit, make it happen
Third law of success
Concentrate on a mental image of the person you'd like to be
Paint a picture in your imagination of who you want to become
Constantly hold this visual in your mind's eye
See yourself performing and responding like a champion
Feel the confidence and courage that radiate from this type of person
It's you, only you
It's you, only you
It's you, only you
These three laws are powerful and effective in changing lives
They'll work for you without fail if you're persistent in applying them
Make it habit, make it happen
Make it habit, make it happen
Make it habit, make it happen
Make it habit, make it happen
It's you
Make it habit, make it happen
Only you
Make it habit, make it happen
It's you
Make it habit, make it happen
Only you
Thursday, 13 May 2021
Fever Needs A Cure
Side 2 of a 1996 mixtape, rescued from the loft.
1) Only Baby (Album Version): No-Man (1993)
2) Luxury (Remix): Frank Tovey (1986)
3) Rope (Extended Mix): It's Immaterial (1986)
4) 1963 (Single Version): New Order (1987)
5) Tarantula (Second Version) (12"): Colourbox (1983)
6) 11 Years (Sabres Main Mix 2 By Sabres Of Paradise aka Andrew Weatherall, Jagz Kooner & Gary Burns): The Wolfgang Press (1995)
7) It's A Fine Day (12" Mix): Opus III (1991)
8) Mission From God (Single Version): Curve (1992)
Wednesday, 12 May 2021
Truth Crushed To Earth Shall Rise Again
Mantra quoted from a speech by Dr. Martin Luther King at Grosse Pointe High School, Detroit, Michigan on 14 March 1968.
Re-Directed Male featured on Interpreter, the 13th solo studio album by Julian Cope, released in October 1996.
Sunday, 9 May 2021
Muzik For Hairspray
From my mixtape archives, circa 2000, "a collection of 80s 12" classics"... apart from Pop Muzik, which got to No. 2 in the UK in 1979.
Side One
1) Pop Muzik (Full Length Disco Mix): M (1979)
2) Hot In The City (Exterminator Mix): Billy Idol (1982)
3) Fetish (Extended Version): Vicious Pink (1984)
4) Alphabet Rap (Full Length Album Version): Divine (1982)
5) I Feel Love / Johnnie Remember Me / Love To Love You Baby (Cake Mix): Bronski Beat ft. Marc Almond (1984)
6) She Blinded Me With Science (Extended Version): Thomas Dolby ft. Dr. Magnus Pike (1982)
7) What! (Non-Stop Ecstatic Dancing Remix): Soft Cell (1982)
8) Imagination (Dance Mix By Steve Thompson & Michael Barbiero): Belouis Some (1985)
Side Two
1) Absolute (Version): Scritti Politti (1984)
2) Summer Of Love (Summer Party Mix): The B-52’s (1986)
3) Homosapien (Elongated Dancepartydubmix): Pete Shelley (1981)
4) Crushed By The Wheels Of Industry (Extended Dance Version): Heaven 17 (1983)
5) Heartbeat (Mendlesohn Mix (Long Version): The Psychedelic Furs (1984)
6) New Life (Remix): Depeche Mode (1981)
7) Life's What You Make It (Extended Version): Talk Talk (1986)
Thursday, 6 May 2021
This Is Your Last Chance To Break A Glass Heart
I was surprised and delighted to see that Laura Marling and Mike Lindsay have returned as LUMP, following up their eponymous album in 2018 with Animal, set for release on 30th July.
Laura Marling released an excellent album, Song For Our Daughter, last year and her "At Home" sessions for Tiny Desk and KEXP were musical highlights during lockdown.
Mike Lindsay's also been busy, having released an album, Outsider, with Phillipe Cohen Solal in March of this year.
I loved the first LUMP album and, on the strength of the title track released yesterday, Animal also promises to be in my best of 2021 list.
Wednesday, 5 May 2021
The Foolishness That We Create Through Love Is The Closest We Come To Greatness
My music playlist often throws in a random selection that I haven't listened to in a long while. In this case, I apparently last listened to this song on 24th September 2015. Not that it's an unloved song, just a casualty of owning so many (too many?) vinyl records, CDs and digital songs.
This is one of two singles by Airport Girl that preceded the 2001 album Honey, I'm An Artist. Airport Girl's Jonathan Troy and I both worked in the careers advice service but my introduction to the band came when fellow colleague Jude got a bunch of us to see one of their gigs in Stokes Croft, Bristol the same year. On the back of that, I bought the album and the other 7" single (Power Yr Trip). I thought that it was a great gig and, whilst the album doesn't quite capture that energy, it's a varied and fun listen.
I had no idea that there was a video for this single but thanks to the power of You Tube, here it is in it's unedited, six-and-a-half minute glory.
A quick Google search reveals that Jonathan Troy went on to form The Hi-Life Companion in 2008 (featuring another former careers service colleague, Abi, on violin). Their website doesn't appear to have been updated since 2014, but their Soundcloud page is still live with a selection of winning tunes.
Secondhand copies of Honey, I'm An Artist on vinyl and CD also seem to be readily available at a decent price via Discogs
Monday, 3 May 2021
Let Me Make A Sound Into The Wild
Ride Or Die: Boys Noize & Kelsey Lu ft. Chilly Gonzales
I belatedly discovered the music and performances of Kelsey Lu during the first lockdown in 2020, and I’ve been completely captivated ever since. I love that you never quite know what you’re going to get next, from classical to R&B to ambient soundscapes to techno, sometimes within the same piece of music. Their story is also a fascinating background that explains in part the rich diversity and unique character of their songs. There is a great interview with Kelsey Lu in The Guardian from Sep 2020.
Following the release of Let All The Poisons That Lurk In The Mud Seep Out, their collaboration with Yves Tumor on Christmas Day 2020, Kelsey has collaborated with Boys Noize & Chilly Gonzales on Ride Or Die. The Boys Noize You Tube page states that the song “reflects upon the tumultuous emotional tenor of our uncertain future before exploding into delirious, peak-time techno”. As if this isn’t enough to draw you in, the video is rather spectacular too.
I featured Kelsey Lu’s 20-minute immersive ‘nature soundscape’ Hydroharmonia (Episode 1) in my best of 2020 post a while ago, but I would strongly recommend checking out any and all of their back catalogue. With more new music - and hopefully performances - imminent in 2021, now’s the time to ride or die.
Buy Ride Or Die on Juno Download
Outside
Inside
That side you'll know
That side you know
Outside you'll know
That side you know
Outside you know
Outside you'll know
That side you know
Outside you
Knew it from the start
Didn't I? Didn't I? Didn't I?
Like a kiss on the run
Salty cheeks from the sun
Be my ride or die
Like a kiss on the run
Salty cheeks from the sun
Be my ride or die
In the desert sky
A message right before my eye
In the desert sky
Flashed before my eyes, beforе my eyes, beforе my eyes
Yah, your cheeky bones said to the sky
Let me make a sound into the wild
Be my ride or die
Be my ride or die
Be my ride or die
Like a kiss on the run
Like a kiss on the run
Like a kiss on the run
Like a kiss on the run
Like a kiss on the run
Like a kiss on the run
Be my ride or die
Be my ride or die
Be my ride or die
Be my ride or die
Be my ride or die
Be my ride or die
Be my ride or die
Like a kiss on the run
Like a kiss on the run
I saw the signs
I saw the signs
Are you still lovin' on the sidelines
Got used to livin' on the sidelines
No use still living undecided
Be my ride or die
Outside you know
Outside you'll know
That side you know
Outside you know
That side you know
Outside you
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