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Sunday 28 February 2021

Val's Vinyl

 


Today we see Val's nasty side or to be more accurate Janet Jackson' Nasty side.

From 1986 and from her third album Control Nasty is one of the 78 singles (I'll type that again 78 singles) released by Ms Jackson.It reached number 19  in the UK singles charts.

I feel that I can say with a degree of confidence that I have never knowingly listened to any of her 78 singles.I may recognise some of them having heard them subliminally although thankfully not this abomination.. To make matters worse it is the extended version. It will not be a keeper.

Val's vinyl also contains a record by her brother namely Off the Wall. While the music undoubtedly will be of a superior quality to this pap it will not be featuring here.

Janet Jackson - Nasty

Janet Jackson - You'll Never Find (A Love Like Mine)

Saturday 27 February 2021

The Sound of the Suburbs

 


Alongside That Summer The Sound of the Suburbs a Columbia CD release from 1997  is perhaps the best compilation of New Wave songs from the late 70s/early 80s.A great time to be young and to experience this musical revolution

A quick check reveals that all but 7 out of the 18 songs on the CD have appeared here at one time or another over the years with only two of the acts yet to grace these pages. The next two Saturdays will put pay to that.

I was completely gobsmacked to discover by Teenage Kicks by The Undertones has never featured before and that the Undertones have only appeared twice. The only excuse I can offer is that when I have featured them I've shied away from thier most popular song. But hey if it's good enough for John Peel then it should be good enought for CCM.

I suspect that the same rationale applies to 2-4-6-8 Motorway by the Tom Robinson Band it being the track which first brought them to my attention and led me to picking up the terrific Power in the Darkness album.

Blondie have appeared here on countless occasions but never with Call Me. Let's face it, they've got a huge range of great songs to chose from.

The first of the two bands making there debut in this two parter are Eddie and the Hot Rods. Maybe more of a pub rock band than a new wave act but Do Anything You Wanna Do is a terrific song and totally worthy of inclusion here.

The other three debutants next Saturday

The Undertones - Teenage Kicks

Tom Robinson Band - 2-4-6-8 Motorway

Blondie - Call Me

Eddie & the Hot Rods - Do Anything You Wanna Do




Friday 26 February 2021

These Times


 I first came across Steve Wynn during his Americana days of the late 90s/early 00's and he fairly quickly became a firm favourite. A couple of his concerts with the Miracle 3 live long in the memory.

This led me to exploring his work with The Dream Syndicate both past and present. I first heard the song Still Here Now on a Mojo compilation called Ragged Glories. This in turn led my picking up the 2019 album These Times which is on the Anti label.

That's how these things work folks

Since their reformation the band have been going down something of a new path dabbling in psychedelia albeit accompanied by the fuzzy guitar of the great Jason Victor with  nods towards the likes of Television and the thrashy Neil Young (Firenote)

I haven't quite gone down the psychedelia rabbit hole but bands like The Dream Syndicate and The Rose City Band have me dappling at the margins and tentatively dipping my toes in the murky waters

An excellent way to kick start your weekend

The Dream Syndicate - Put Some Mile On

The Dream Syndicate - Recovery Mode

Thursday 25 February 2021

Satis Factory

 


You know how it is. You hear about a record and you are sufficiently curious to acquire it. You like it, play it a few times and then it sits on the shelves rarely being pulled out for another airing.

One such record in my collection is Satis Factory  the 2019 second album by Mattiel on the Heavenly label.

Some fellow bloggers whose tastes I trust were pretty complimentary about her self titled debut in 2017 and I recall there being a little bit of excitement around this release. I think that Rol featured the song Keep the Change which was enough for me to take the plunge.

Described by The Gruniad as witty and assured garage rock and by DIY Mag as a more experimental second offering it was well received by the critics

NME (remember that?) advises that the word split in the title  represents a dichotomy for Ms Brown who states we continue onto something else, always searching.

That may go some way to explaining why I haven't listened to it in ages. I'm off to put it on now.

Mattiel - Berlin Weekend

Mattiel - Long Division


Wednesday 24 February 2021

More Songs About Buildings And Food

 



Now, I know what you are all wondering.
If not Bowie what was the second selection in the HMV 2 for £30 sale.
Well wonder no more although given the post title and the picture most of you will have worked it out by now
While I have most of the albums by Talking Heads from the 80's onwards there is a notable gap  as far as the 70's are concerned.
I've got the debut album 77 but what has been missing is what I shall refer to as the Eno 3 namely
More Songs About Buildings and Food, Fear of Music  and Remain in Light which are really all essentials.
I thought I would go for the earliest first. MSABAF is the band's 2nd album from 1978 and as all their records  it is on the Sire label. It is the first of three produced by Brian Eno 

I had three of the tracks on The Name of This Band is Talking Heads but the rest are new to me. A fairly radical shift from the debut album to a more funky and dance feel no doubt thanks to the involvement of Eno and highly enjoyable it is to.
One down, two to go.



Tuesday 23 February 2021

Say Zuzu

 


Yesterday David Bowie , today Say Zuzu.

From international superstardom to relative obscurity.

An Americana band from Newmarket ,New Hampshire they first came to my attention via a compilation on the great German Blue Rose label. 

This led me to picking up two of their 5 studio albums (there were a further two live albums). 1998's Bull on Broken White Records has featured before so today it is the turn of 2001's Every Mile on Milltown Records in the US and Blue Rose in Europe.

Allmusic gives the album a pretty positive review comparing them to Whiskeytown had they held things together  and stating that they only reasons for the lack of a major breakthrough were that they were from New Hampshire  and they were called SayZuzu.

Certainly when I saw them play a set in Cheapo Records in Austin the audience was almost exclusively European..

The second song featured was the one I first heard on the Blue Rose Collection Volume 9. I enjoyed listening to it, and the rest of the album, again.

Say Zuzu - Wish Me Well

Say Zuzu - Indendence Day

Monday 22 February 2021

A Gap Quickly Plugged

 


A couple of weeks ago I posted Station to Station by David Bowie  and highlighted that there were more gaps in my Bowie discography which required to be filled.

The first opportunity was quicker than I anticipated as I took advantage of the HMV 2 for £30 on line sale. There were a few Bowie's on offer but the only one I didn't have, or wasn't sold out, was Young Americans which was duly purchased.

From 1975 and like most of his albums on the RCA label it was a pretty radical change of direction from its 1974 predecessor Diamond Dogs.

All glam remnants are long gone as Bowie begins to dabble in funk and soul. As C said in the comments last time round his constant changes of direction is one of his strenghts

It seems that it was released to a generally lukewarm reception particularly in America but quickly grew in popularity particularly as it contains two of his greatest singles namely the title track and Fame

Produced by Tony Visconti it is the first of his albums with Carlos Alomar. Luther Vandross and some boy called John Lennon also making an appearance.

Another one ticked off the list.

David Bowie - Young Americans

David Bowie - Fascination

Sunday 21 February 2021

Val's Vinyl

 


Val is back to soft country rock this week.

I thought that there was more than one John Denver album there but apparently not. It seems though that perhaps Val was a bit late to the party as Spirit from 1976 was his 11th studio album and according to Wiki this album began a downward chart trend for the singer(although it did get to number 13 in Australia).

Allmusic gives it 2 out of 5 which is perhaps over generous. There are better John Denver albums out there

Strangely the  song Spirit which appears on 3 of his albums including the previous one Windsong does not appear on this one.

John Denver - Eli's Song

John Denver - Baby, You Look Good To Me Tonight


Saturday 20 February 2021

Saturday Night Finale

 



And now then end is near  and so I face the final curtain.

I've managed to stretch a post from nothing to a series lasting eight weeks. Time to bail out before we start scraping the barrel. It's final four time.

Let's start with a relatively new song. Caitlin Harnett & the Pony Boys are a gothic Americana band from Australia who came to my attention via George. The Guardian says of Caitlin her voice is like Mazzy Star's Hope Sandival was jerked out of a long sleep. A track from their recent album Late Night Essentials.

I don't think that the late great Marc Bolan's voice has ever been compared to Hope Sandival or anyone else for that matter. He was truly unique. Taken from the T-Rex album Messing With The Mystics (Unissued Songs 1972 -1977)

It's not four in the morning yet but Faron Young has got Five Dollars and it's Saturday Night. From the days when five dollars would guarantee a good night out.

We finish this series with a Glasgow band The Blue Nile that I am not a fan of. Requested by Brian  and who am I to deny the great man?

I'm off now to think of something for next Saturday

Caitlin Harnett & the Pony Boys - Saturday Night

T-Rex - Saturday Night

Faron Young - I've Got Five Dollars and it's Saturday Night

The Blue Nile - Saturday Night



Friday 19 February 2021

The King of Rock'n' Soul


I got hold of a copy of the 3CD Cherry Red compilation The King of Rock'n'Soul  The Atlantic Sessions (1962 -1968) by the mighty Solomon Burke . A whopping 79 tracks for your listening pleasure

If truth be told it is a bit difficult to get your teeth into and I would not recommend listening to it all in a oner.

I've a couple of cheap and cheerful compilations of post Atlantic stuff  along with his brilliant 2002 covers album Don't Give Up On Me on Fat Possum and his Country Soul album Nashville where his voice is deeper and richer

I was not that familiar with his earliers stuff.The Cherry Red website states that it  celebrates the recordings that Solomon Burke made for the legendary Atlantic Records label between 1960 and 1968. Solomon is generally acknowledged as one of the greatest soul singers to emerge during the genre’s golden days. He signed to Atlantic before ‘soul music’ became a bona fide sub-genre of African-American music and it was Solomon who helped define this new movement and he was, in fact, one of the first artists to use ‘soul’ to describe his music. He would eventually be known the world over as ‘The King of Rock and Soul’.

There are some fillers and some bog standard tunes but a few crackers as well. You could go for quality over quantity and have an excellent single album on your hands.

Solomon Burke - Cry to Me

Solomon Burke - Down in the Valley

Solomon Burke - Looking For My Baby

Thursday 18 February 2021

Karine Polwart's Scottish Songbook

 


I wasn't sure of this at first.

I mean to say folk goddess Karine Polwart covering some Scottish pop songs and tackling some sacred cows as well.

It is a brave person who would put their own slant on The Whole of the Moon AND Dignity. For my money Whole of the Moon works (helped considerably by Inge Thomson's quirky percussion and backing vocals) whereas Dignity doesn't. You can't improve on perfection I suppose.

She is brave enough to take on a reasonably broad range of songs and not just the classics. So Deacon Blue sit hand in glove  with John Martyn and the Waterboys with Ivor Cutler

The Guardian, being the Guardian looks that bit deeper stating whatever the song, Polwart’s vocals, austere rather than exuberant, tease out underlying themes of resilience and resistance to make a compendium of small-p political pop.

One particularly poignant and brave  cover is her version of Frightened Rabbit's Swim Until You Can't See Land. I think that Scott would have approved

Karine Polwart - The Whole of the Moon

Karine Polwart - Swim Until You Can't See Land

Wednesday 17 February 2021

Sometimes I Forget

 


The other day at work I was busy daydreaming when something popped into my head which I thought would make a good theme for the blog.

The trouble is I didn't write it down and now of course I have completely forgotten what it was. This led to a song called Sometime I Forget going round in my head and yes I couldn't remember the singer either

Then I remembered it was a song by Steve Earle from his Train a Comin' album. Except it is actually called Sometimes She Forgets. Not doing very well am I?

I did however find a song that I have called Sometimes I Forget so maybe there is hope for me yet

Steve Earle - Sometimes She Forgets

Louden Wainwright III - Sometimes I Forget

Chuck Jackson - I Keep Forgetting

Tuesday 16 February 2021

Moments From This Theatre


 



I've featured this before but playing it over the weekend reminded me as what a brilliant album this is.

From 1999 on the Proper label  Moments from This Theatre contains live versions recorded during a tour of the UK and Ireland  of some of the many classics written by the Southern Soul legends that are Dan Penn and Spooner Oldham. These are the men who were involved in writing such classics as "Cry Like a Baby," "Sweet Inspiration," "Do Right Woman, Do Right Man," "The Dark End of the Street," and "I'm Your Puppet."

No Depression called the LP "a master class with two great soul men". 'Moments 'gives music lovers the opportunity to hear the hits stripped down to their essentials, with nothing but Penn's deeply soulful vocals and acoustic guitar and Oldham's Wurlitzer and occasional singing.

To look at them you would never guess that they are absolute legends particularly if Dan is wearing his trademark dungarees.

I had the privilege of seeing them play at the Arches in Glasgow a night that will live long in the mind.

If you don't already have this album you can pick it up for around a fiver  and I stringly recommend that you do. You will not regret in and you can thank me later.

Dan Penn & Spooner Oldham - Sweet Inspiration

Dan Penn & Spooner Oldham -It Tears Me Up

Dan Penn & Spooner Oldham - Out of Left Field



Monday 15 February 2021

Faces and Places

 


Comes a Time an EP from Coatbridge singer songwriter Mark W Georgsson is currently winging its way to me from Last Night From Glasgow.

If it is half as good as his 2017 album Faces and Places then I'm in for a treat. An album released before I joined LNFG but one which I managed to pick up in one of their sales.

As the LNFG website says it combines Celtic and Nordic vibes into the realms of Country , Alternative Folk and Americana

Produced by Rod Jones of Idlewild fame it was recorded between Edinburgh ,Mull and Reykjavik.

The Ballad of the Nearly Man single (featuring Katie McArthur) was the first record ever released by LNFG in 2016. On the b-side there is a beautiful Icelandic version by his friends Sigridur Thorlacius and Arnur Gudjonsson (with apologies for my inability to apply accents  and joined up letters)

Mark W. Georgsson - The Ballad of the Nearly Man


Sigridur Thorlacius & Arnar Gudjonsson - Songhur Hins Maedda Manns







Sunday 14 February 2021

Val's Valentine Vinyl


It's Valentine's Day so that calls for something smootchy and Val as you would expect doesn't disappoint.

Some jazz funk from the master of the genre George Benson with his most famous platinum selling 1980 album Give Me The Night. Produced by the mighty Quincy Jones and on his Qwest label  in association with Warner Brothers.

Both the songs featured which reached number 7 and number 10 respectively in the UK singles charts were written by Englishman Rodney Temperton.

George Benson a man so cool that he could get away with wearing a V-neck jumper with nothing underneath it.



Saturday 13 February 2021

Saturday Night Sunday Morning

 


Saturday Night and Sunday Morning is a terrific novel from 1958 from the great Alan Sillitoe. It was subsequently made into an equally great kitchen sink drama of a film in 1960 produced by Tony Richardson and  staring Albert Finney.

Saturday Night Sunday Morning was also the title track of the 1989 album by the band The River Detectives from Craigneuk in Lanarkshire which consisted of the duo Sam Corry and Dan O' Neill,

The Kaiser Chiefs are a band from Leeds as opposed to Craigneuk, named after a South African football team, who are not as good as The River Detectives. Saturday Night is taken from their debut album Employment which I got from a charity shop and which I have probably only listened to once or twice.

Tom Waits is from Pomana, California. The song (Looking for ) The Heart of Saturday Night from the 1974 album of the same name minus the brackets has featured before in this series from Dion. I've also got a version from Madelaine Peyroux but I suspect most of you would rather hear the original.

Finally the greatest of the four acts this week is also from California. The mighty Dave Alvin hails from the town of Downey.I'm not familiar with his album Romeo's Escape so must thank Ernie for providing me with the song I Wish it was Saturday Night.

I think I'll make this the penultimate post in the series if only to save me having to track down songs by the Bay City Rollers and the Eagles

The River Detectives - Saturday Night Sunday Morning

Kaiser Chiefs - Saturday Night

Tom Waits - (Looking For) The Heart of Saturday Night

Dave Alvin -I Wish it Was Saturday Night


Friday 12 February 2021

Up All Night

 


I have one album by Razorlight namely their 2004 debut Up All Night on the Vertigo label. I'm not sure that it has been played at all over the last 15 years.

They have only graced these pages once before in April 2017 when I featured their song In the Morning.

In that post I listed the following facts about the band (which saves me having to write something similar again:

  • Lead singer Johnny Borrell is a twat of almost Bono-esque proportions
  • The only time I ever saw them live at King Tuts they were completely blown away by the support act The Raveonettes
  • I have their debut album Up All Night which you frequently see in charity shops
  • In the Morning is actually a reasonably good song
There were a number of comments pretty much agreeing with my assessment of Mr Borrell  along with this  on the nail comment by JC about Up All Night

Great description of Johnny Borrell. I think there's a few half decent tunes on their debut LP but can understand why so many folk donate it to charity shops on the basis they haven't listened to it for years and they only have space for around 30 CDs which is a problem with Coldplay being so prolific..

JC

I could be wrong but I think that Dalston may well be one of Ernie Goggins' stomping grounds





Thursday 11 February 2021

All Your Favorite Bands

 


The Los Angeles band Dawes are a band that I am only vaguely familiar with but what I've heard I like.
I acquired a copy of their 2009 debut album North Hills a while back which I thought had a bit of a Laurel Canyon feel about it.

Rol of My Top Ten fame appears to be a bit of a fan and has featured them on a number of occasions. He recently posted a couple of songs from their latest album and although I enjoyed them I thought I would go a bit further back in time as part of my exploration.

So I got myself a copy of  their 2015 album All Your Favorite Bands on the HUB label.I wasn't picking up the Laurel Canyon vibe off this one but nevertheless it was a very pleasant listen.
I suspect that my plundering of their back catalogue has only just begun.





Wednesday 10 February 2021

Merle

 


I only have one Merle Haggard album namely 1996. Well maybe I have two as the limited edition CD version I have bought in Polar Bear Records in Kings Heath, Birmingham also includes the album 1994 which was previously unreleased in the UK.

It is pretty much Country by numbers with the best track probably being his cover of Iris DeMent's great No Time to Cry.

Not that you would guess from this but Merle was a bit of a lad in his day getting into all sorts of scrapes and spending a fair amount of time in prison. He attributes witnessing a performance by Johhny Cash while in prison in San Quentin on New Year's Day 1959 as the inspiration to join the prison band and the rest, as they say, is history

His past probably influenced his best song Mama Tried. I've only got this sanitsed version as opposed to the incendiary original with his band The Strangers.

We will park Okie from Muskogee to one side.

Sadly Merle never made it to the top of Beer Can Hill passing away from the complications of pneumonia on his 79th birthday

Merle Haggard - No Time to Cry

Merle Haggard - Beer Can Hill

Merle Haggard - Mama Tried


Tuesday 9 February 2021

Crushing

 


 It's a wee while since any Australian acts have graced the pages of CCM. Nick Cave with Push the Sky Away was probaby the last.

Here then is the great talent that is indie singer songwriter Julia Jacklin.

A couple of songs from her 2016 debut album Don't Let the Kids Win have made cameo appearances on previous posts:the title track in the JJ post in my Double Initials series and Pool Party from a Saturday Lucky Dip selection.

Therefore, this time round I am going to feature the follow up album 2019's Crushing on Poyvinyl/Transgressive/ Liberation records. It is every bit as good, if not better than Don't Let the Kids Win.

Released to great critical acclaim as the following quotes testify

A "subdued yet arresting LP that blends sweet indie-pop with folk introspection and delicate piano balladry, as Jacklin offers up concise self-realizations without fuss or fanfare" Jonathan Bernstein, Rolling Stone

"Grunge-rinsed, feminist-flipped, upcycled Fifties guitar an' all: Crushing is a triumph".Helen Brown, The Independent

All of which will make the notoriously difficult third album just that little bit harder.

Julia Jacklin - Body

Julia Jacklin -When The Family Flies In


Monday 8 February 2021

Filling in the Blanks

 

I think it's about time that I fill in some of the blanks in my Bowie collection.

While I've no intention of tracking down his entire discography there are some notable gaps which require to be filled.

I have the holy trinity of Hunky Dory, Ziggy Stardust and Aladdin Sane was well as Lodger, Scary Monsters and Let's Dance and the live album Stage.Oh, and a CD version of Heathen and a couple of compilations.

The ones I feel that I still need are Diamond Dogs, Young Americans, Station to Station, Low, Heroes,The Next Day and (Blackstar). So just about half way there.

I've started the process by picking up the 45th anniversary version of Station to Station on red vinyl. What's the thing with coloured vinyl? I'm perfectly happy with black.

I don't really like playing new albums on my USB turntable so here are the abridged versions of two of the songs on the album from The Best of David Bowie 1974/1979.

I'll keep you posted should there be any developments

David Bowie - Golden Years

David Bowie - TVC 15


Sunday 7 February 2021

Val's Vinyl

 


 This week on Val's Vinyl  we go from the  Conference League Soul of Maze to the Premiership with Gladys Knight and the Pips.Is the Conference League still a thing?
A temporary blip there from Val.

I came reasonably late to Gladys but there is no denying the quality of her voice.
A slight caveat and apology. This album is on Pickwick and the sound when I was burning it did not sound particularly good.
However it does sound slightly better on my main turntable and the MP3s. A new cartridge for my USB turntable has been duly ordered.
This may result in it being a keeper particularly given that these two songs don't feature on any of my three other Gladys albums
I originally accidentally typed the first song title as Ain't No Sin Since You've Been Gone  which would probably be a different song altogether.








Saturday 6 February 2021

Another Saturday Night

 


The picture above is of a compilation album from 1973 which I don't have and didn't know existed until now.

It is named thus as it contains a cover of the Sam Cooke song with the same name by Clint Hill.I've featured another cover of this by Cat Stevens but I figured that it was about time to give you the original, and best, version

Earth, Wind and Fire get points off for spelling. On that basis I swithered as to whether to include it but I'm well beyond the fussy stage.

The by now almost obligatory country offering comes courtesy of BR5-49 with the final track from their excellent eponymous debut album.

Finally, we lower the mood several notches with Ol' Blue Eyes himself who is joined by Axel Stordahl and his Orchestra for Saturday Night is the Loneliest Night of the Week.

Not at CCM it ain't (think that may be a double negative, which makes it a positive)

Sam Cooke - Another Saturday Night

Earth, Wind and Fire - Saturday Nite

BR5-49 - One Long Saturday Night

Frank Sinatra -Saturday Night is the Loneliest Night of the Week



Friday 5 February 2021

Friday Night with the Reverend

 


I was flicking through the hard drive looking for some inspiration when I stumbled across some songs by Al Green.

The very job I though. A quick search through the back pages showed that he has appeared here before on a couple of occassions but only fleetingly and not with these songs. 

Still with us at the age of 74 he is sometimes referred to as  the last of the great Soul Singers. I'm sure someone will pop up to dispute that claim but there is no arguing that he is Premier League material.

For a man of the cloth he has certainly been involved in some scrapes in the past including a incident in 1974 when his girlfriend at the time threw a pot of grits over him before shooting herself. If there is not a country song out there with a similar story I will be very much surprised.

Al Green - How Can You Mend a Broken Heart

Al Green - Let's Stay Together

Al Green - Jesus is Waiting


Thursday 4 February 2021

You Can't Always Get What You Want

 



 I had an urge the other day to listen to some relatively early Rolling Stones. It's not the sort of  urge that I get that often so I  thought that it was better to roll with it (did you see what I did there?)

Two classics for you today  the first from 1968's Beggars Banquet  and the second from their classic 1969 album Let it Bleed. There are times that I think that Let it Bleed  is their best album but then again there are other times when I award that accolade to Exile on Main St. Whichever is the better this period was undoubtedly their purple patch.

Then again Sometimes I Wish I Never Heard the Rolling Stones





Wednesday 3 February 2021

Third/Sister Lovers

 


The Teenage Superstars documentary referenced Alex Chilton's involvement with the Scottish music scene including his collaboaration with Teenage Fanclub.

On the back of this I looked out my CD of #1 Record/Radio City by Big Star for a very enjoyable listen. Not for the first time I though that I really should get my hands on the third album Third/Sister Lovers. Imagine my surprise, therefore, when I went to put the CD back on the shelves and there it was right beside the gap waiting to be re-filled.

I knew that I kept meaning to buy it but had completely forgotten that I already had. I can't remember doing so but think that it may well be a Discogs job. It came as a pleasant surprise.

Sometimes I think I should listen to my records more or maybe just get my memory tested. Anyone else want to own up to a similar thing happening to them?






Tuesday 2 February 2021

Walking Proof

 


Back to Americana today I'm afraid with Walking Proof the 4th album by Lilly Hiatt released on New West Records.

Lilly is the daughter of  singer songwriter  John Hiatt and his second wife Isabella Wood who sadly completed suicide when Lily was just a baby leading to her being brought up by her father and his third wife.

From what I can gather it seems that, hardly surprisingly, Lily has had her demons. Thankfully it seems that she is now on the straight and narrow.

Walking Proof appears to have been well received with Pitchfork stating that it moves beyond the unadorned Americana of previous albums to arrive at new sounds,moods amd emotions..

As it is still a relatively new album just the one track for you today

Lily Hiatt - Rae

Monday 1 February 2021

Teenage Superstars

 


We finally got round to watching Teenage Superstars yesterday a week after it had been featured on Sky Arts and very enjoyable it was too.Good to know that Rupert Murdoch is useful for something

A 2017 docu film about the Glasgow music scene from the early 80s  featuring The Pastels, The Vaselines, Primal Scream, BMX Bandits, The Soup Dragons ,The Jesus and Mary Chain and Teenage Fanclub. Narrated by Kim Deal from Pixies and heavily featuring Thurston Moore from Sonic Youth.

I must admit that whereas I was living and socialising in Glasgow most of these acts, with the exception of Teenage Fanclub, passed me by as I was pretty much immersed in Americana at that time.

However thanks to the blogging fraternity has helped me to fill in some of the blanks. The film and box set of Big Gold Dreams helped as well That and the extensive knowledge of the Scottish music scence from Brian.

It's great to see Scott back blogging and this seems to have inspired him to write a couple of excellewnt posts.

A film that I will certainly retain for future reference.

BMX Bandits - Kylie's Got a Crush on Us

The Soup Dragons - Hang-Ten!

The Vaselines - Molly's Lips