Down On The Farm

 

It's amazing where inspiration for Post themes come from.

Often they are fairly random. For instance, I was in the shower yesterday and I thought I should post some farm related songs. And no, I wasn't covered in slurry.

It makes sense to start with The Farm and Groovy Train. Alternately I could have started with The Farmer's Boys and In the Country.

Not to be outdone here are The Housemartins with Me and the Farmer or perhaps XTC and Love On a Farmer's Wages .

Bob Dylan's Maggie's Farm took on a whole new meaning in the 80's courtesy of the Evil Witch 

There may be a subsequent  farmyard visit in due course.

Feel free to  don your wellies and pitch in with any thoughts.

The Farm -Groovy Train

The Farmer's Boys - In The Country

The Housemartins - Me and The Farmer

Bob Dylan - Maggies Farm

XTC - Love on a Farm Boy's Wages

Birthday Boy

 

My baby brother turns 60 today. Hopefully he has recovered from his surprise party last night.

As some of the readers of  this Blog will be aware his music of choice is Rockabilly and Psychobilly. He's just about hanging onto that quiff but not for much longer I suspect!

Here are a few tunes he will hopefully like to help blow away the cobwebs.

Happy birthday Dave!

Stray Cats - Rumble in Brighton

The Shakin' Pyramids - Take A Trip

The Meteors - Out Of Time

King Kurt - Destination Zululand

Saturday Shuffle 142

 

Welcome to the 142nd Saturday Shuffle and the first for the second quarter of 2026 - How did that happen?

First up are Alabama 3 with U Don't Danse to Tekno Anymore a track from their 1997 debut album Exile on Coldharbour Lane which quite frankly is the only one of their albums worth having.

Next we are going back over 60 years. It's Mannfred Mann making their debut on these pages with If You Gotta Go Go Now taken from Jon Savages 1965 - The Year the Sixties Ignited.

Stay With Me as we conclude in 1972 with today's cover stars and fellow debutants  Blue Mink .

More decade defying Shuffling next Saturday

Alabama 3 - U Don't Danse to Tekno Anymore

Manfred Mann - If You've Gotta Go Go Now

Blue Mink - Stay With Me

May Day

 

It's the 1st of May today - the start of Spring and hopefully of good weather.

If you can take yourself away from the Maypole I have some mainly folky and pastorial songs for you today.

In years past I sometimes featured Imelda May on this day but I thought I would go for something more gentle as you could do yourself a mischief dancing around a maypole to her songs.

Bellowhead -One May Morning Early

Waterson Carthy - May Song

Sharon Shannon - Sally May Melia

Some Steady Eddies

 

In the last line of last week's Unsteady Eddie post I ventured that there might be enough material for a further Eddie related post. And here it is 

We kick of with Erin Moran. An Erin as opposed to an Eddie? Worry not as professionally she goes by the name A Girl Called Eddy .Here she is with Tears All Over Town.

Eddie Kendricks is most famous for being a member of the great Motown band The Temptations. He has also turned his hand to some solo stuff including Shoe Shine Boy 

Eddie Shaver was the son of the great Billy Jo Shaver. He did some work as a duo with his dad but as a solo artist he graduated more towards heavy rock such as If It Don't Kill You. Sadly, he died from a heroin overdose on 31st December 2000 aged just 38.

After singing with The Delfonics and The Stylistics Eddie Holman found solo fame with the song Hey There Lonely Girl.I'm afraid that you are not getting that but rather Eddie's My Name.

Eddie Spaghetti was in the running to feature on Sunday's Bloodshot Records Sampler 2015 but I held over The Value of Nothing for today.

We conclude with Ed Harcourt and Sleepyhead.

I may, or may not , return with another Edward related post in due course.

A Girl Called Eddie - Tears All Over Town

Eddie Kendricks - Shoeshine Boy

Eddie Shaver - If It Don't Kill You

Eddie Holman -Eddie's My Name

Eddie Spaghetti - The Value of Nothing

Ed Hardcourt - Sleepyhead

I-Pod Playlist - Johnny Reggae

 

No!

Comeback!

Jonathan King will NOT be featuring here.. There are 381 songs on the Playlist and he is not on any of them. Deep breath and relax. 

In the order I have written them down we start with Burning Spear fronted by the legendary Winston Rodney who is still going strong at the age of 81. Here they are with Slavery Days.

Next up are another legendary act namely Black Uhuru who have Derrick "Duckie "Simpson as their main man. Their song Youth of Eglington references the Brixton riots. . Not to be confused with Eglington Toll in Glasgow or The Eglington Arms hotel in Eaglesham (great Pakora by the way)

Staying on the subject of riots the Birmingham band Steel Pulse weigh in with Handsworth Revolution commemorating unrest in their local area

The poet Linton Kwesi Johnson was born in Jamaica in 1952 but moved to Brixton in 1963. He is probably best known for his poem Inglan is a Bitch. Ok, so it probably isn't technically reggae  but it's in the playlist.

It would probably be sacrilege not to include Bob Marley so here he is with the Wailers and Punky Reggae Party.

It's the penultimate Playlist next time round with the theme being Lucky Numbers

Burning Spear - Slavery Days

Black Uhuru - Youth of Eglington

Steel Pulse - Handsworth Revolution

Linton Kwesi Johnson - Inglan is a Bitch

Bob Marley & the Wailers - Punky Reggae Party

S.A.H.B.

 

The Space Conundrum continues with space on the shelves scarcer than hen's teeth.

I have two Best Of  compilations by the Sensational Alex Harvey Band, one on CD and the other a burn along with the vinyl of Live at the Hammersmith Odeon.

It therefore made sense to convert the Burn to a Download thus releasing some space.

The band have appeared here on a few occasions and so I thought that I should feature a couple of tracks which have not appeared here before.

Two of their classic tracks for you today namely Framed and Next.

Is your name Alexander?

Sensational Alex Harvey Band - Framed

Sensational Alex Harvey Band - Next