Brothers, Sisters .... 16

 

We are on the home straight now with the finishing post in sight just along the way.

I had Sister Sledge on my original list until I realised that they had already appeared on the first post in this series where the trounced the Allman Brothers. Therefore Shakespears Sister were summoned off the subs bench thus making it a closer contest that it otherwise would have been.

Shakespears Sister were Siobhan Fahey (of Bananarama fame) and Marcella Detroit who I thought had been a presenter on The Tube but apparently not. They appeared together between 1989 and 1993 prior to falling out. It seems that the fall out was not sufficiently bad to stop the obligatory reunions on the Retro scene. They released 4 albums and also somewhat impressively four compilation albums.

Today they are up against the folk rock/Americana act the Avett Brothers a band which includes the brothers Seth and Scott Avett.

Both acts have appeared here once before the Avetts in February 2022  as a Charity Shop purchase and the Shakespears in August 2023 as part of the short lived Same Title, Different Song series.

The Brothers probably have the edge given that I actually have one of their albums namely True Sadness and also because their style of music is much  more up my street.

Shakespears Sister - Stay

Shakespears Sister - Catwoman

Avett Brothers -Satan Pulls the Strings

Avett Brothers -Divorce Separation Blues 

Keep On Truckin'

 

New transport series alert. Not buses (sorry Ernie ) but trucks!

Plenty of Country numbers as I'm sure you can imagine. Let's start with Gotta Keep Truckin'  from the album No Particular Way by the Ponderosa Aces featuring our good friend Jonny the Friendly Lawyer on bass.

The Aces are followed by Kissinger with a song which will be resurrected should I ever get round to doing a bike series.

I think that it will be in order to include Truckstops as part of this series so today's post will conclude with the title track from Lindi Ortega's album Cigarettes and Truckstops.

After a leisurely rest at the truckstop we will be hitting the road again same time next week.

Keep on Truckin!

The Ponderosa Aces - Gotta Keep Truckin'

Kissinger - Bike vs Truck

Lindi - Ortega - Cigarettes & Truckstops

Quietly Now!

 

2024 Charity Shop Purchases # 7 - Frightened Rabbit -Quietly Now!

I've finally got round to listening to Quietly Now! the third and final Frightened Rabbit album picked up in a Bridge of Allan charity shop earlier this month.

Released on 21st October 2008 in the US and on 30th March 2009 in the UK and the rest of Europe it is a live album of a primarily acoustic performance of The Midnight Organ Fight recorded live at the Captain's Rest on Glasgow's Great Western Road on 30th July 2008. I was fairly oblivious to the band then but I imagine that the likes of JC and Drew could well have been in the audience. Someone who was definitely there was James Graham from The Twilight Sad who joined the band for Keep Yourself Warm.

Regarding the album Scott Hutchison  stated that he "[doesn't] care if people buy it or don't buy it, download it or steal a track from their friends. It's for the fans, the people who were there and for me as a souvenir of the show

It is one that probably is primarily of interest to true Frabbit fans. I'm not sure I fit into that category but I found it an interesting listen and fairly faithful to the original album.

Given that it was performed in a dingy basement it is a pretty good recording. I never saw any bands play in the Captain's Rest I have seen a good few when it was resurrected as the Hug and Pint.

May contain sweary words.

Frightened Rabbit - The Modern Leper

Frightened Rabbit -Keep Yourself Warm

Shazam Sunday 8

 

Just after New Year we managed to sneak in a wee sneaky overnight at Dunblane Hydro.

In the morning there was some absolute American drivel playing in the background on the TV called One Tree Hill.  I was unaware of the title at the time but subsequently managed to track it down. The only thing that drew my attention  to it was the music.

An act and song that were completely new to me was The Eames Era with a song called Washed Out. It seems that they were an indie pop quintet from Baton Rouge who were active from 2003 to 2008. This song is from their 2005 debut album Double Dutch on C Student Records. Another one of their songs appeared on Grey's Anatomy.

Franz Ferdinand appear for the second time in this series with The Fallen the opening song from their second album 2005's You Could Have It So Better also popping up on this programme. As with Michael which appeared on SS 4 this had me dusting down and listening to the CD for the first time in ages and thoroughly enjoying it.

They are clearly a go to band for TV background music.

The Eames Era -Washed Out

Franz Ferdinand - The Fallen

Saturday Shuffle 39

 

We are starting with an absolute banger this week. One which is guaranteed to blow away the cobwebs and get the heartbeat pumping. From their 1976 debut album Can't Stand the Rezillos the third single by the Edinburgh band Top of the Pops reached number 17 in the UK singles charts and they subsequently performed the song on the TV programme that the slagged off.

Altogether now  - Take the money, leave the box - Everybody's on Top of the Pops.

Fay Fife is now pursuing a solo career under the moniker Countess of Fife

How do you follow the Rezillos? With the Commodores of course. From one extreme to another we are off to do the Night Shift.

Finally something that is much closer to the Rezillos than the Commodores. Ladies and Gentlemen from the album Americano Groove I give you Down in the Barrio by  Los Texmaniacs which features the mighty Alejandro Escovedo.

More shuffling next Saturday 

The Rezillos - Top of the Pops

The Commodores -Night Shift

Los Texmaniacs (ft Alejandro Escovedo) - Down in the Barrio

Sunshine Lies

 

2024 Charity Shop Purchases #6 - Matthew Sweet  - Sunshine Lies

Lets face it I was never about to turn down the opportunity to pick up a Matthew Sweet CD from a charity shop.

From August 2008 on the Shout! Factory label Sunshine Lies is his 10th studio. It becomes the 5th of his on the shelves but is the only one that was not released in the 90s.

I was a bit unsure after the first listen but subsequent plays have reassured me. Reviews were mixed with AllMusic giving it 3.5/5 but concluding that it  is easily Sweet's liveliest record since the '90s, giving his sweet, sighing harmonies a candied warmth and his rockers some real bite.

Guests include Robert Lloyd and also Susannah Hoffs with whom he had just begun the series of  Under the Covers albums 

If you like guitar driven  power pop (and you should) you will not be disappointed.

Matthew Sweet - Sunshine Lies

Matthew Sweet - Daisychain

Songs By Bands I Don't Like - A Guest Series

 

He's Back!

George writes:

A song was played at the final scene of a programme my partner and I were watching recently, and I realised that despite the band, it was a damned fine tune. A band, and especially a singer, much denigrated and mocked on these pages, and other blogs, and not just by me. And there’s other, many, many other bands that I profess to dislike but find that there’s usually a decent song they have done. So I suggested to Mr CC that I write about them. But this is not to rant on hysterically about their awfulness but to proclaim to the world that they are not universally bad (except Gentle Giant), but rather to appreciate one song of theirs. And some times it is only one song in a vast catalogue. Here goes

1.Willie Nelson

I have zero albums by Willie Nelson. None. But I suspect there are dozens of versions of songs he has written on the shelves. He can write some great tunes, but man alive his delivery is not to my liking. Maybe it’s his voice, or his timing, I don’t know. He wrote one of my Top Go-To songs when it is performed by Faron Young, and to be fair to Mr Nelson, his version is good (but not in the same league as that of Mr Young):

Willie Nelson - Hello Walls

It’s a great song, and I could easily listen to Mr Nelson crooning it.

2. Ray Charles

Actually, I have ten Ray Charles songs on a History of Rock album (volume 8, with Aretha Franklin, Otis Redding and Wilson Pickett), but acquired as I collected that series (up to vol. 25) so I have Ray Charles songs by default. This song is classic rhythm and blues, with pounding piano, great vocal, wild saxophone, what is not to like? 

Ray Charles - Mess Around

Well, apart from that belter, I find there’s not much to like. 

I think the above two artistes occupy several places on the music shelves of Mr CC.

CC writes:

Thanks George

I'm sure this series will spark some debate.

I'm not a huge fan of either but have a few CDs by them both.

Mrs CC likes Willie Nelson.

I like this one

Willie Nelson - Funny How Time Slips Away

and even better:

Green On Red- (Gee Ain't it Funny) How Time Slips Away

Brothers, Sisters. … 15

 Three quarters of the way through this series this week which sees gospel up against Country.

It has proven to be trickier to come up with 20 sisters acts as opposed to 20 brother acts.

However, I was not about to be deterred and this week I have resorted to Sister singular. there were a few to choose from but I couldn’t from the  see past the greatest of them all namely Sister Rosetta Tharpe.

She was huge in the 30s and 40s with a unique mixture of spiritual lyrics and electric guitar. She was certainly a huge influence to many female soul singers who came along later, most notably Aretha Franklin who came from a similar religious and gospel background.

I suspect that in their youth Vern and Rex Gosdin were no strangers to the music of Sister Rosetta given that their mother played organ in a Baptist church. In 1968 they released the brilliant Sounds of Goodbye as The Gosdin Brothers  prior to teaming up with Gene Clark from the Byrds.

It’s a tough call this week and one I don’t particularly want to make but this video from Chorley station in 1964 swings it in favour of Sister Rosetta

The Gosdin Brothers - Sounds of Goodbye

The Gosdin Brothers - There Must be Someone (I Can Turn To)

Sister Rosetta Tharpe - This Train

Sister Rosetta Tharpe - Up Above My Head (I Hear Music in the Air)

Trains and Boats and Planes ... 10

 

It's the one that you have all been waiting for - the 10th and final instalment in the Trains and Boats and Planes series.

We start as ever with Trains which as you know are loved by all Country singers. This includes Alternative Country/Americana so here is Train from the band and album who/which probably started the movement - Uncle Tupelo and No Depression.

XTC popped up as part of the Punk scene but they wrote clever and intelligent songs which far outlasted the movement. One such example was Wait Till Your Boat Goes Down a stand alone single from 1980.

The British rapper and singer MIA first shot to fame with the 2007 song Paper Planes which in addition to appearing on her album Kala was part of the soundtrack to the hugely successful Slumdog Millionaire film.

That's your lot. Thanks to everyone who submitted guest posts, songs, suggestions or merely left comments. You all helped me to see it through to the end.

Next week will see the start of another transport related series but sorry Ernie I'm afraid it will not be buses.

I think it only fair be concluding with the man who gave this series its name. Thank you Burt.

Uncle Tupelo - Train

XTC - Wait Till Your Boat Goes Down

MIA - Paper Planes

Burt Bacharach -Trains and Boats and Planes

Across a Crowded Room

2024 Charity Shop Purchases #5 - Richard Thompson - Across a Crowded Room

I haven't got around to listening to the 3rd Frightened Rabbit CD yet so another vinyl Charity Shop album has jumped the queue.

I was a bit late to the party when it came to Richard Thompson solo albums . I had a couple of Richard and Linda ones before I got round to his solo stuff. I've picked up two or three over the last year or so but Across a Crowded Room is the first I have on vinyl.

From 1985 on the Polydor label it is his 4th solo album and was his final collaboration with producer Joe Boyd. The Encyclopedia of Popular Music gave it a score of 3/5 with Rolling Stone giving it 4/5. I'll go with the former as I feel his solo stuff got better from the 90s onwards.

Fortunately both the sleeve and the record are in pretty good nick and have been well looked after by the original owner who has written his name on the inner sleeve.

The tracks are the first I have recorded via my upgraded MP3 turntable.

Richard Thompson - Fire in the Engine Room

Richard Thompson - Little Blue Number

 

Shazam Sunday 7

 

A Shazam Sunday with a difference today.

Instead of music off the telly it is music which was being played in a Charity Shop in this case Kinder Handl on Glasgow's Battlefield Road.

They have hundreds of CDs at a pound a pop - the problem is that none are any good! There is usually music playing when you are browsing and these two songs caught my ear.

I recognised the song Living By Numbers but it took Shazam to inform me that it was recorded by New Musik. I'm not sure that I would have got that one without help. 

I did better with the second one recognising that it was by Scritti Politti (cover your ears Mrs Brian!) I would have struggled to give you the full title mainly Wood Beez (Pray Like Aretha Franklin) an excellent namechecking song.

New Musik - Living By Numbers

Scritti Politti - Wood Beez (Pray Like Aretha Franklin)

Saturday Shuffle 38

 

It's Saturday again so you know what that means. Yes Saturday Snapshots!

If you are not fast you're last and will have to settle for much more inferior stuff such as this.

How's about starting with The Delgados covering the Dead Kennedeys? If that doesn't blow away the cobwebs I don't know what will.

Something more laid back then? You don't get much more laid back than Saint Etienne. Here they are with He's On The Phone from their 1995 album Too Young to Die.

A couple of weeks ago we were driving through the village of Doune near Stirling when Dancing in Limbo by the late great Kirsty MacCall popped up on  a playlist. From 1989's Kite it is perhaps not one of her better known songs but it is fast becoming a firm favourite of mine. It was good to see it resurfacing again so quickly.

More dancing in Limbo next Saturday

The Delgados - California Uber Alles

Saint Etienne - He's On The Phone

Kirsty MacCall - Dancing in Limbo

Double Dutch - a Guest Post

 

George writes:

I can’t get Glass Of Champagne out of my head. Walking Lucy the other night I was singing snippets. Out loud. The people of our town who were out and about at that time can thank Ernie Goggins for that. And I thought that maybe my good friend here, Mr CC, would want a short piece that featured other great pop songs from the Netherlands. So, first, and also from the 1970s, there’s this slightly cheesy but nonetheless memorable pop tune by all-female band Pussycat:

(there’s a couple of completely over the top Portuguese commenters below that video, talking about the perfection, how great the vocal is, that someone’s granny loved the song but is now sadly dead….)

Enough pop, time for some serious Dutch rock. I am the proud owner of not one but TWO albums by Focus, purchased on ebay when you could get an album for a pound or two. This   is track 5 side 1, and listen out for some tremendous, but all too brief, freak-out flautistry at about 1 min 20 seconds:

Focus - House of the King

What is it with Dutch bands and fluting? Here’s Golden Earring (No, not the song you are thinking of):

And thanks to a well-known film I discovered that this lot were from the Netherlands:

George Baker Selection - Little Green Bag

Finally, this very well known song. Alas no fluting or whistling

Shocking Blue - Venus

There are other bands, well one, that I could think of, that could have been included ( Clan of Xymox )  but I don’t have anything by them on my Peel tapes so I probably don’t like their music. But I will shoehorn in this fine devotional Dutch song:

The Fall -Kurious Oranj

After doing my little compilation, I was reading the comments at 27Leggies, one of which mentioned that the main man from Sailor was Norwegian!!!! And here’s me, firm in the belief that Sailor were from The Netherlands. And it’s too late, I’d penned this article in my head, as it were, I’m not changing it now. And apart from A-ha and a quarter of Abba I know of no artistes from Norway.

CC writes

George also wrote that I have included a couple of videos without mp3 file, deliberately (because I liked the videos) .Each to their own.

Anyone with a knowledge of Norwegian music. You know what to do!

Lord of the Highway

 

2024 Charity Shop Purchases #4 - Joe Ely - Lord of the Highway

A couple of years ago at the Edinburgh Bloggers summit The Swede very kindly gave me a vinyl copy of Joe Ely's Honky Tonk Masquerade LP.

I am happy to say that it has now been joined in Kallax vinyl shelves by 1987's Lord of the Highway on Demon (in the UK) which I picked up at a reasonable price (for Oxfam) in Troon. The cover is a bit bashed but the vinyl is in pretty good nick.

Critics rate it from between 5 to 7.9 out of 10. There is nothing startling on it but would agree with the Chicago Tribune that Ely's "tales of hard living and even harder loving work both as true life tales and striking, image-rich fragments of a new American mythology."

I'm not sure that I would go as far as as the Los Angeles Times who state that Ely's cooked up a tasty rock 'n' roll chili with country flavoring based on much the same recipe as Let it Bleed/Sticky Fingers Stones

I much prefer Record Collectors take  that Ely's setting is a cut above standard bar room chugs thanks mainly to the wit of the lyrics

I have been having problems with my updated MP3 turntable which was sending everything to Apple Music (which I don't have) rather thank my Music folder so you are getting  the sanatised versions from You Tube. Thankfully I have now resolved this issue so from now on it will be warts and all.

Joe Ely - Silver City

Joe Ely - Me and Billy the Kid

Brothers, Sisters ..... 14

 

   

 

When doing my "research" for this week's post I found that back in September 2017 I had started an identical series which petered out after just three posts. I had clearly either forgotten about it or expunged it entirely from my memory

5 out of the 6 acts who appeared then are scheduled to appear in this series with one of them being The Secret Sisters. The odd one out is the Webb Brothers who inexplicably do not appear on the first 20 names I jotted down. Tempted as I am to shoe horn them in them's the rules.

Here's what I wrote about the Secret Sisters back then Laura and Lydia Rogers record and perform as Americana duo The Secret Sisters. They are from Muscle Shoals, Alabama a town with a great musical history and they first honed their skills by singing a cappella in their local church

Nothing much to add really. At one stage there was a fair degree of hype and it looked as though they were going to hit the big time but it never quite happened

There was never really any danger of Detroit band Deadstring Brothers making the big time. They were active from 2003 -2014 on the Bloodshot Records label. I have a couple of their albums and saw them put on a great show at the original Stereo pub in Glasgow's Kelvinhaugh Street.

As I have previously written A band who obviously spend their formative years in bedrooms listening to Exile on Main Street - no bad thing

It's the less polished Brothers for me this week

Secret Sisters - Rattle My Bones

Secret Sisters - The Pocket Knife

Deadstring Brothers -I'm Not a Stealer

Deadstring Brothers - Lay Me Down

Trains and Boats and Planes 9

 

The penultimate post in this modes of transport series - thank God I can hear you cry!

As per usual the order of the songs will reflect the order of of the modes on the Burt Bacharach song.

Trains it is then to start with and it's Gang of Four with an ode to modern Britain - Outside the Trains Don't Run on Time. Say what you like about Mussolini ....

I wouldn't have thought that given its geographical location that Chesterfield was necessarily boat territory but it seems that the Chesterfields beg to differ as they reminisce about a Girl on a Boat. They may well have a pond.

Spitfire Susie is a song from Small Wonders the latest album by Starry Skies. It is a biographical song about an elderly neighbour who main man Warren McIntyre befriended.

Yet again I am indebted to Rol for pointing me in the direction of The Dells with their version of our title track.

Final instalment next Tuesday!

Gang of Four - Outside The Trains Don't Run on Time

The Chesterfields - Girl on a Boat

Starry Skies - Spitfire Susie

The Dells - Trains and Boats and Planes

Pedestrian Verse

 

2024 Charity Shop Purchases #3 - Frightened Rabbit - Pedestrian Verse

This week's Frightened Rabbit contribution again courtesy of CHS Bridge of Allan is Pedestrian Verse their 4th album from 2013 and their first on the Atlantic label.

It is the Deluxe version with three additional tracks plus a DVD with two films documenting the bands Scottish and US Tour. It goes for a tidy sum on Discogs

 It features increased songwriting contributions from each member of the band with the songs being written and practised while on tour. It was the first time that Scott Hutchison had shared songwriting duties leading him to conclude that it was the best record that the band had produced.

It was critically well received receiving a total of 79/100 on Metacritic based on 26 reviews. The Skinny  gives a track by track review of the album from Scott which saves me a lot of bother and which is obviously far more interesting.

I've gone for The Woodpile which was the second single from the album and the funky little fucker Oil Slick. I'm also throwing in one of the bonus tracks If You Were Me for good measure.

Stay tuned for the third and final instalment sometime next week

Frightened Rabbit - The Woodpile

Frightened Rabbit - The Oil Slick

Frightened Rabbit - If You Were Me

Shazam Sunday 6

 

Catching up on episodes of Gone Fishing has been a great source for Shazam Sunday material.

In one that we watched fairly recently Bob Mortimer visits a record shop and buys a Roxy Music album. The track 2HB briefly pipes up in the background suggesting that the album in question is non other than their eponymous 1972 debut album  pictured above.

The music of Richard Hawley is perfect for this series and he pops up quite a lot. Nothing Like a Friend from his 2015 album Hollow Meadows is the perfect choice highlighting the enduring friendship between Bob and Paul.

The episode, which I think was the Christmas Special where Bob hands out this year's awards, concludes with Andy Fairweather Low's Wide Eyed and Legless.

I think that this particular seam has now been completely mined.

Roxy Music - 2HB

Richard Hawley - Nothing Like a Friend

Andy Fairweather Low - Wide Eyed and Legless

Saturday Shuffle 37

 

I briefly made it back to the gym during the week before my cold resurfaced. None of the three songs below popped up during my visit.

Biggie Tembo was the lead singer of the Bhundu Boys when they shot to fame (of sorts) with the brilliant Shabhini album in 1984 and which was championed by John Peel and Andy Kershaw. Sadly he completed suicide in 1995. This obituary in the Independent  gives more details of his life and times. Out of Africa is taken from a Cooking Vinyl 2000 compilation called Rhythms of Africa which I have just stuck on.

The Mekons version of Folsom Prison Blues is taken from  'Til Things Are Brighter - A Tribute to Johnny Cash on Red Rhino in 1988 here

Curated by Jon Langford who also painted the cover above it raised money for the Terrence Higgins Trust

Lastly, but certainly not leastly, I give you the brilliant Thirteen by Big Star. It is highly unlikely that you will hear a better song today.

Biggie Tembo - Out of Africa

Mekons - Folsom Prison Blues

Big Star - Thirteen

Risin' Outlaw

 

2024 Charity Shop Purchases #2 - Hank Williams III - Risin' Outlaw

My first non Frightened Rabbit Charity Shop purchase of 2024 was Risin' Outlaw the 1999 debut album by Hank Williams III (or just Hank III for short) on the Curb label

It is the kind of Americana honky tonk which immediately put me in mind of Wayne Hancock. Hardly surprising given that three of the songs on the album (including the first one below) are pretty faithful covers of songs written and recorded by Wayne.

It turns out that Hank, or III as I'll call him, is not a fan of this album and considers Lovesick, Broke and Driftin' as his "real debut" .In his words I'm not happy with it. I hate it; can't even listen to but maybe two songs on it. I said (to the label) that every damn interview that I do I ain't gonna talk good about it. Curb thinks this album is so different and so alternative. It's a headache

I quite like it which is hardly surprising given I am a big Wayne the Train fan.

He joins his more famous grandfather and his half-sister Holly on the shelves. Hell will freeze over before his father Hank Williams Jr joins them.

The original owner of the CD paid £15.99 for the privilege at Tower Records! For one second I thought that the lady who couldn't get the till open and then gave me change of a fiver rather than a tenner was going to charge me that rather than the pound it cost me.

Hank Williams III - 87 Southbound

Hank Williams III - You're the Reason

How The West Was Won

 

If Peter Perrett had done nothing more than written and recorded Another Girl, Another Planet with The Only Ones his legendary status would still be assured.

Sadly due to the death of drummer Mike Kellie and Perrett's on-going addiction problems they only recorded three albums between 1978 and 1980. There has since been the obligatory re-appearances on the retro scene.

In June 2017 Peter Perrett popped up (I can feel a tongue twister coming on!) with his only solo record to date How the West Was Won on the Domino label

Townsend Music writes: before this comeback, Peter Perrett, whose incisive songcraft and sardonic drawl with The Only Ones made him one of the most distinctive voices of the seventies, hadn’t released any music for 20 years. Each song on How The West Was Won sounds natural and effortless, as though he were continuing a briefly interrupted conversation rather than picking up the threads of a solo career that faltered two decades previously.

Given his addiction to crack cocaine and the damage it caused to his lungs no-one could have anticipated him getting clean and releasing  such a critically acclaimed record.

Sadly there has been nothing since to my knowledge.* (see comment below)

Peter Perrett - How The West Was Won

Peter Perrett - An Epic Story

Brothers ,Sisters .... 13

 

    

The 13th post in this series - it will be unlucky for some but will it be the sisters or the brothers?

Let's start with the ladies this week. Kehinda Lijadu and Taiwo Lijadu  were identical twin sisters from Nigeria who performed as the Lijadu Sisters from the mid 60's to the 80's. I suspect the fact that they appear in my music folder is down to Ernie.

Sadly Kehinda died in November 2019 aged 71 leading to this article in The Guardian  describing them as the twins who fought the elite with funk.

The Statler Brothers (minus Waldorf) were a Country and Gospel vocal group who sang as the opening act and back up singers to Johnny Cash from 1964 to 1972. No member of the group actually had the surname Statler although the band did include two brothers in Don and Harold Reed. They started out in 1955 and disbanded following a farewell tour in 2002.

It's a pretty tough call this week but I can't see past anyone who is prepared to fight the elite with funk. If only we had some folk like that here.

Lijadu Sisters - Amebo

Lijadu Sisters -Come on Home

Statler Brothers - Hello Mary Lou

Statler Brothers - Honky Tonk Stardust Cowboy

Trains and Boats and Planes 8

 

 

The good news or the bad news, depending on how you want to look at it, is that  thanks to Rol we now have enough material to ensure that this series reaches double figures.

People of the world join hands start a love train. Quite why it has taken until the 8th entry in the series to include the O'Jays I'm not entirely sure. All of you brothers over in Africa will be glad we've finally done it though.

As any of you nautically minded folk will be aware a Cruiser can either be a large battleship used in war or a boat with an engine and a cabin in which people sail for pleasure, In this context it is an excuse to shoehorn in the Mighty Fall.

Planes are proving to be the hardest category to fill so it is helpful that Benny is willing to share his Jets with us this week.

Rol's contribution to the title track for this series this week comes from the Everly Brothers.

Two more to go!

The 0'Jays - Love Train

The Fall - Cruiser's Creek

Elton John - Benny and the Jets

The Everly Brothers - Trains and Boats and Planes

Winter Mixed Drinks

 

2024 Charity Shop Purchases #1  - Frightened Rabbit - Winter Mixed Drinks

Following a bit of a barren patch as far as Charity Shop purchases are concerned we are now back in the saddle with the first purchases of 2024.

The main reason for the drought has been the paucity of decent CDs available. I think that streaming is partly responsible as less folk are buying CDs and those who still do tend to holding on to them. A recent foray to the charity shops of Bridge of Allan, Dunblane and Callander was pretty disappointing with one notable exception.

Fortunately  struck lucky in Chest Heart and Stroke in Bridge of Allan where I came away with three Frightened Rabbit albums for three pounds. I left The Midnight Organ Fight on the shelves as I already had it. There was a similar amount of Biffy Clyro albums but I wasn't tempted!

Rather than feature them all at once I think I will drip feed them gradually with hopefully some other in between. Today I am featuring Winter Mixed Dreams their third album from 2010 on FatCat Records. You may recall that I featured Karine Polwart's version of Swim Until You Can't See Land on the Saturday Shuffle a few days ago. Today it is the turn of the sadly prophetic original.

Frightened Rabbit - Swim Until You Can't See Land

Frightened Rabbit - The Wrestle