I am excited and truly honoured this week to give you a guest post from none other than the Blogfather himself The Vinyl Villian
Take it away JC
JC writes:
I spotted CC’s new series about Revolution Rock and thought that I’d love to be part of that particular uprising.
Things open up here with the 1982 debut single from The Wild Swans. It’s a significant record in that it was the last to be released on the Liverpool-based Zoo Records, which was every bit as important as any indie label of the era, launching the careers of, among others, Echo & The Bunnymen, The Teardrop Explodes, Ian Broudie (Lighting Seeds) and Holly Johnson. Oh, and the budget for the recording was so miniscule, it was done in mono.
It’s followed by a journey back in time to 1970 and the Last Poets, a collective who are seen by many as the true originators of hip-hop emceeing. And yes, it is a very close cousin of the far better-known and almost-similarly themed song released around the same time by the late Gil-Scott Heron.
Finally, we have the always-wonderful and much-missed Kirsty MacColl, with a song from the 1991 album Electric Landlady. If I mention that it was co-written with Johnny Marr you’ll be able to tell before listening that it’s not a cover of the T.Rex smash-hit.
CC writes - thanks very much for this JC. Three which were not on my list. Any other guest contributions will be gratefully received.
The Wild Swans - Revolutionary Spirit
The Last Poets -When The Revolution Comes
Kirsty MacColl - Children of the Revolution
The Revolution will continue next Friday
I realise JC is doing you a great honour by agreeing to grace your pages but I am disappointed you have waived the mandatory reggae element in his case. It is one rule for the famous and one for the rest of us, as so often seems to be the case these days.
ReplyDeleteIn fairness he submitted this when the Mandatory Reggae elemi was still ambivalent
DeleteThe Wild Swans Revolutionary Spirit is ridiculously, almost inexplicably, good.
ReplyDeleteWild Swans' Revolutionary Spirit made #10 in Peel's Festive Fifty in 1982 when some of us were barely born! It's fair to say I may not have heard it since that time. Actually that's a lie as my iTunes library shows I last played it in 2013. TBH Wild Swans passed me by in their hey day and it was only later that I began to place them in that particular time as the Teardrop Explodes grabbed most of the main attention back then
ReplyDeleteThanks for this CC - I'm simply thrilled to be able to contribute.
ReplyDeleteTo Ernie.....I'd hate if I was on the end of some favourable treatment (and I certainly don't believe I'm 'famous'!!!!), but I did pen the piece within a few minutes of reading the first in the series and sent it over and, as CC said, the reggae element wasn't mandatory!!! Hope it didn't spoil your enjoyment of the three tune.
I'd like to think his tongue was firmly in his cheek!
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