Saturday Shuffle 147

 

I may well be wrong but I think that on the week that the Shuffle weighs in with a maximum break we have three acts making their Shuffle debut something which I don't think has happened since the early days.

First up is American singer songwriter Tim Hardin and no it's not with Reason To Believe but rather Hang On To a Dream.

Next we have the Danish  but London based band Kid Wave with the title track from their 2015 album Wonderlust on Heavenly Records. A band brought to my attention by Drew from the much missed Across The Kitchen Table blog.

Finally, and I find this hard to believe, we have the first shuffle offering from  Belle and Sebastian. Even better it is If Your Feeling Sinister the title track from their 1996 second and best album.

More shuffling with debutants or seasoned veterans next Saturday

Tim Hardin - Hang On To A Dream

Kid Wave - Wanderlust

Belle & Sebastian - If You're Feeling Sinister

You Can Call Me Al

 

If you would be my bodyguard, I can be your long-lost pal

I can call you Betty.and Betty, when you call me, call me Al

In addition to Pun Landlord Al Murray and Paul Simon's lyrics I have identified a few musical Als

We kick off with Al Garner Selma, Alabama born but Detroit based Soul singer with Just a Touch of  Your Hand.

Al Kent was born in Scotland but ran off to New York. Here he is with The Disco Love Orchestra  on Where Do I Go From Here

You should all be familiar with Al Stewart of Year of the Cat fame. Today's tune is Sand In Your Shoes.

Please be upstanding for the Reverend Al Green and the classic Soul number that is Let's Stay Together.

Our penultimate Al is Al Montgomery with It Wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels.

We cpnclude with Al Simmons and Old Folks Boogie.

That's Al Folks!

Paul Simon - You Can Call Me Al

Al Gardner - Just a Touch of Your Hand

Al Kent -Where Do I Go From Here

Al Stewart - Sand In Your Shoes

Al Montgomery - It Wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels

Al Simmons - Old Folks Boogie

 

Coffee Culture

 

I was having a cup of coffee and it got me thinking.

When we were kids there was no such thing as a coffee culture. Yes, you maybe had a cup of Mellow Birds or Nescafe at home with milk and sugar after your dinner. There was no such thing as coffee shop chains, decaffeinated coffee was unheard of and nobody had a job as a Barista.

Now it is a huge industry. You can't move for coffee chain shops flogging an entire range of coffees from Flat Whites to Mocha Chocas at exorbitant prices. Me, I'm a black coffee man preferably in a normal sized cup as opposed to a bucket.

I blame the Americans.

Here are some songs for you to listen to over your coffee

All Saints -Black Coffee

Squeeze - Black Coffee in Bed

Blur - Coffee & TV

Lightnin' Hopkins - Coffee House Blues

Bridgid Mae Power - One More Cup of Coffee

The June Brides

 

I had originally planned to post The June Brides yesterday on the 1st of June but a hectic weekend got the better of me 

Not to worry though as Martin and Swiss Adam  both pitched in with June related posts

The June Brides are a South East London indie pop group active from 1983 to 1986  and 2012 until present.. The band unusually, but similar to The Muldoons, include a brass section. This is their debut on these pages.

One of the many bands which passed me by at the time until they eventually crossed my radar courtesy of some of my more switched on Blogging colleagues. We are charged with bringing good music to the masses. It may be a forlorn challenge but nevertheless we continue to bang the drum, and indeed blow the trumpet, in our dark and distant corner of the wordwide web. We do it for the love not the money.

The June Brides - No Place Called Home

The June Brides - Josef's Gone

The June Brides - In The Rain

If it Ain't Stiff ... 3

 

Welcome to If It Ain't Stiff chapter three which concentrates of the slightly more obscure tracks 10 to 13.

At number 10 we have The Untouchables an LA band who are credited with being the first American Ska band. They are probably best known for their 1985 single I Spy For the FBI which reached number 59 in the UK Singles Chart. I saw them play at the Strathclyde Union around then. Unbelievably Amazon are trying to sell a copy of the 12 inch for £146.91. Aye, good luck with that!

Rachel Sweet started out as a child prodigy in her native America. Her debut album Fool Around was released by Stiff in 1978. They received some criticism for pushing a Lolita-like image for her. Who Does Lisa Like? is a track from this album.

Larry Wallis stands out by having long hair! He was a member of the Pink Fairies and an early member of Motorhead which goes to show that Stiff were indeed a broad church He became the in-house producer at Stiff and released the single Police Car/On Parole which was produced by Nick Lowe.

Mick Farren was an English rock musician, singer, journalist, and author associated with counterculture and the UK underground, who had a significant influence on the development of British proto punk garage rock music. Another strange bedfellow for Stiff then. Along with his band The Deviants he gives us Outrageous Contagious

Tracks 14- 17 next week for the penultimate post in this short series.

The Untouchables - I Spy For The F.B.I.

Rachel Sweet - Who Doe Lisa Like?

Larry Wallis - Police Car

Mick Farren & the Deviants - Outrageous Contagious

Texas Troubadours

 

Texas Troubadours from 2004 is a 14 track compilation from the Fab 14 label.

It is one of two Fab 14 compilations I have on burns and this is the first time that I can recall seeing the pretty basic cover

It is available from £4 to £12 on Discogs or £49 on Amazon if you are totally stupid and have money to burn. Amazon teases you with 9 of the tracks whereas Discogs gives you all 14.

The majority of the artists are no strangers to this Blog and indeed to this series

Encouragingly 6 of the 14 tracks are by female artists.  3 of the 6 namely Caroline Herring, Terri Hendrix and Angela Strehli have never graced these pages before so it is only fair that they are given an airing.

I shall return next Sunday with my other Fab 14 compilation

Caroline Herring -MGM Grand

Terri Hendrix - Hole In My Pocket

Angela Strehli - Can't Stop These Teardrops

Saturday Shuffle 146

 

All three acts that feature today have graced the Shuffle before but with different songs.

We start with the Icelandic band Sugarcubes featuring a certain Björk Guðmundsdóttir OTF (Order of the Falcon) It's a Hit  they proclaim and indeed it did reach number 1 on Billboards Modern Rock Tracks in the US and number 2 in the UK Indie Chart in early 1992

Jesus, Etc is a song taken from Yankee Hotel Foxtrot which many folk consider to be the best album by Wilco. They are wrong of course as that honour goes to Summerteeth

Last, but certainly not least we have the late, great American Soul Singer Wilson Pickett with In The Midnight Hour from 1965 which is possibly his finest song.

More fine songs next Saturday

Sugarcubes - Hit

Wilco - Jesus, Etc

Wilson Pickett - In The Midnight Hour