Peel Sessions - The Specials (Side 2 )

I suspect that today's offering is probably a lot more up most reader's street than yesterday's.
There is an argument that many will subscribe to that The Specials were equally important in their own way to shaping British music as The Beatles. You certainly won't get any disagreement from this quarter.

I posted Side 1 of The Peel Sessions EP (Strange Fruit SFP018)  featuring a session recorded on 23rd May 1979 and subsequently transmitted on 29th May in November 2017
At the time I said I would get round to featuring Side 2 shortly. Better late than never I suppose.
I've just realised that if I'd left it a couple of more weeks it could have coincided with 40th anniversary of its recording. 40 years .Where does all the time go?

Here is Concrete Jungle followed by their version of the Toots Hibbert classic Monkey Man.

The Specials - Concrete Jungle (Peel Session)

The Specials -Monkey Man (Peel Session)

The St Andrews Vinyl Extravaganza # 2

The second St Andrews vinyl acquisition may well come as a surprise to many of you.
I've never been a fan of the Beatles and I am reasonably confident that they have not appeared on these pages.
Mrs CC is a fan however and there was no way that I was going to turn down a copy of The Beatles (aka The White Album) in excellent condition, with the lyrics-com-poster and four individual colour prints of the band members, on sale for 99p.
I'm looking at it as an investment. One day when Mrs CC's back is turned I'll be sneaking onto Discogs!
Until then here is something by the Fab Four.

The Beatles - While My Guitar Gently Weeps

The Beatles - Happiness is a Warm Gun

You Can't Put Your Arms Around a Memory

I am thoroughly enjoying the series of ICA's by HSP over at JC's place ( a lot of initials there!)
Anyone remotely familiar with my blog will know that his choices of artists are right up my street.
His latest one by  Giant Sand  the  Tuscon band who where fronted by Howe Gelb, and who also featured the rhythm section of John Convertino and Joey Burns who went on to form Calexico, is no exception.
Prior to listening to it I expressed surprise that their cover of You Can't Put Your Arms Around a Memory from their Ballad of a Thin Line Man album didn't feature. Having listened to the ICA  it is hard to imagine which song would give way.

So here it is although for some reason they miss out the word Yours and plump for You Can't Put Arms Around a Memory.
It is only fair that we feature the original version by the late great Johnny Thunders.
And finally, in the deepest recesses of my hard drive, I stumbled across a version by Canadian electronica duo Lola Dutronic

Giant Sand - You Can't Put Arms Around a Memory

Johnny Thunders - You Can't Put Your Arms Around a Memory

Lola Dutronic -You Can't Put Your Arms Around a Memory

Nearly a Single Song Sunday there a la 27 Leggies No Mandatory Reggae Version though.

Double Initials - QQ

I was totally stumped when it came to QQ  and was beginning to think we would not manage to cover every letter of the alphabet. Fortunately the blogging community stepped up to the plate and I am now reasonably confident that WE (not I)  are going to manage to do it.

Swiss Adam was swiftly in with the band Quando Quango who were on the Factory label in the 80's and who apparently released not two but three ace singles.
Here is one of them Love Tempo



Adam was seconded by C, thirded by The Swede and fourthed by Rol so it is clearly just me who didn't remember them.

George than got in on the act by suggesting Quack Quack with the song Perpetual Spinach adding the caveat that it might be too prog for my tastes. George, you have come up with worse,  much worse.



And finally where would we be without our dear friend Dirk?
He suggested "Russia's finest " Quetzal Quoatl: but I couldn't find anything by them leading me to conclude that he either meant the band Quetzalcoatal or he made it up.


RR is likely to be much easier and very probably less obscure

Gay Dad

Does anyone remember Gay Dad?
Although they were formed in 1994 they shot to prominence and generated a fair amount of  hype with the release of their single To Earth With Love in 1998. Hardly surprising really given that the band were fronted by former Face journalist Cliff Jones and the single was produced by Tony Visconti.. Their name also generated a bit of noise at the time. These days nobody with the exception of the Daily Mail would even raise an eyebrow.
Visconti was swiftly sacked and the band went on to produce two albums Leisure Noise in 1999 and Transmission in 2001 prior to splitting up.

Leisure Noise is the burn under consideration for retention this week. It is a pleasant slab of indie glam and is probably better that a number of the albums I have purchased over the years. However I shall content myself with the digital versions of the two singles and bin it thus saving space  (after re-cycling the case of course).

but that's cool
Aerosmith rule  - I think not.

Gay Dad - Joy!

Gay Dad - To Earth With Love

People Who Are Born in May

Long suffering readers will know that I often acknowledge the advent of the month of May with a track by Imelda May.
However slightly less long suffering readers will be aware that since November I have been marking the beginning of every month with the relevant track from Julie London's Calendar Girl album.
This would have featured yesterday had it not clashed with George's State of the Union series.
Glad we've got all that out the way
I've got very little information on People Who Are Born in May other than the following blurb from the CD booklet :
This is a new tune from Earl Brent and is far-and-away the merriest exercise in the album. The lyric is especially optimistic if you happen to have been born in May.It's nicely accentuated with strings.
There you have it

Julie London - People Who Are Born In May

State of the Union - Kentucky

George writes:
I don’t really like to post the obvious choices, but if the track is one the ten best songs ever recorded, well, you’re getting it. …...after a few words about this week’s state, Kentucky. For starters, remember that TVshow Casey Jones we  all watched when (a lot) younger? The one with the bloke on the steam train? He was from Kentucky. So was Abraham Lincoln.

And so was Jim Ford, from Harlan County, born into poverty, bathed in misery. Looking at various statistics and stories about Harlan County it seems to be a desperate place, one of the poorest of all 3,142 counties in the US, and one with significantly shorter life expectancy than is typical of the country (an eight year difference).  And a place where you can get shot for 15 cents just to buy a loaf of bread…..

Jim Ford - Harlan County

Harlan County is also responsible for the union song Which Side Are You On, about the eight year conflict between the miners’ union and the companies that cut the workers’ wages by 10% (because the companies wanted to make the country as a whole more dependent on coal so sold it below cost).

If you’re ever in Petersburg, Kentucky, why not pop in to The Creation Museum,  which as the name suggests takes the bible literally. Or in Williamstown you could find an exact replica of Noah’s Ark (using the dimensions from the bible). Or you might want to scale Black Mountain, as long as you sign a waiver - it has so many mine tunnels the summit is prone to collapse...

There’s millions of great songs about Kentucky and its towns and cities, difficult to choose just one. But here it is, and it’s about the city of Bowling Green, Kentucky. The Gosdin Brothers do the second best version of this Everly Brothers song. All are simply blown away by Neko Case (despite the negative comments coming from my left as I play said song):

Neko Case - Bowling Green

That’s track 2 on the album by Neko Case and Her Boyfriends, The Virginian.

While you are in Bowling Green, singing the prettiest girls you’ve ever seen, how a guy is Kentucky sure is lucky to love down in Bowling Green, make sure you visit the fabulous Drake Vintage Music and Curios, which is dedicated to all things country, especially vintage recordings from the 1940s, and is home to the official Carter Family Fan Club.

One song that couldn’t be included was 16 Tons, made famous by Tennessee Ernie Ford (or The Redskins, depending on your age and/or musical tastes). There’s a version by (I kid you not) The Red Army Choir, who whilst performing seem to be on  some sort of Bing Crosby-White Christmas set. And if you’ve nothing better to do, check out the version on The Voice Of Mongolia. And I discovered a Portuguese version (maybe it was Brazilian, but the lyrics were portuguese) by Noro Vilela. He is/was Brazilian.

That’s Kentucky. The home of bluegrass music. I once saw a 7CD boxset of old Kentucky Mountain Music, in Revolver Records in Derby. I almost bought it.

And bluegrass is green not blue.

CC writes
Harlan - check
Country - check
Bluegrass - check

Steve Earle & the Del McCoury Band - Harlan Man