The Return Of Friday Night Is Rockabilly Night 22

Zut alors et sacre bleu, c'est rockabilly. From 1957 it's Jimmy Lloyd. He's got a rocket in his pocket and 'the fuse is lit'.

A Rocket In My Pocket

En Vacances

By the time you read this we should be on the road, off on our summer holiday. Having read Drew's description of his French debacle last summer we thought long and hard and decided... to drive to France. We're staying in a small house in the village of Chateauponsac, north of Limoges. It's about three quarters of the way down France, in the middle. You can't miss it. So, off we go, Dover today, ferry tomorrow morning, various letters in two languages to explain the large quantity of medicines we're carrying from one country to another (for our eldest I.T., who has a variety of medical issues), a shops worth of car sweets (which will probably be gone by Knutsford), hundreds of Earl Grey tea bags (Mrs Swiss likes a cup of tea), many multi-bags of prawn cocktail crisps (I.T. again, limited diet, God knows what he'll eat in France once the Walkers run out), several cds I've made for the long road trip which will contain next to nothing young E.T. will like, and as many clothes as we can fit in what's left of the boot space. We're not ones to pack lightly, but will most likely bring back half of it unworn. I'm really looking forward to it- the last few weeks have been a bit heavy for one reason or another and getting away to a small French village with plenty of sunshine should be great. I mean, what could possibly go wrong?

After tomorrow night's rockabilly post there won't be any action here at Bagging Area until the middle of August. Here's a song to send us on our way- in 2007 Paul Weller and ex-Blur guitarist Graham Coxon released a one-off, limited 7" three track single. The A-side was this song, a rollicking guitar tune with Coxon on vox and making the best of both men's talents.

This Old Town

And I Think To Myself...

A post to tie together a couple of recent posts featuring The Ramones and Louis Armstrong, making it look dangerously like I plan what goes on here rather than just lurch from one song to another. In 2002 Joey Ramone's only solo album came out. Released posthumously it was titled Don't Worry About Me and opened up with a cover version of Louis Armstrong's What A Wonderful World. It sounds just like you think it should, but is none the worse for it.

Edit- post and track removed by Blogger/DMCA. Post restored without mp3 file.

Sitar, Dub And Bass

As a follow on from Paul Weller's Indian Vibes excursion that I posted the other day, I went back and listened to the whole e.p. Death In Vegas mainman Richard Fearless' remix of Mathar is the stand out of the versions- some very cool electronic dub to wash over you.

Mathar (Richard Fearless Remix)

We Need Nothing More

As far as I'm aware, since they delivered Loveless in 1991, My Bloody Valentine have recorded only two songs- one was a cover of a Wire song Map Ref 41n 93w (posted here some time ago) and the other was this cover version of Louis Armstrong's Bond theme We Have All The Time In The World. This is very swirly and dreamy and has Bilinda Butcher's vocals to the fore (by MBV's standards) but it's also a pretty straight cover with Kevin Shields keeping the melody and strings intact. It hasn't got that totally disorientating, weightless, headswimming effect that Loveless or Isn't Anything had. Well worth a listen as a starter, especially if you stick Soon on afterwards for the main course.

We Have All The Time In The World

Twenty Seven Forever

I posted this A Certain Ratio song last October. It feels fitting somehow this weekend. Poor old Amy.

27 Forever (Jon Da Silva remix)

Sitar, Drums And Bass

A track from 1998 which sounds surprisingly good today- Mathar by Indian Vibes, with some very catchy sitar playing, and general 90s clubbiness (y'know, Sunday Social, Chemical Brothers, that kind of thing). Indian Vibes was Paul Weller and chums with producer Brendan Lynch. The 12" came with two remixes, one by Death In Vegas' Richard Fearless who took it dubwards and another by Primal Scream who turned in something very noisy indeed. There's much to enjoy in this extended version.

Mathar Extended 12"

Yesterday Dub

No not Sir Paul. Steve Mason, ex of The Beta Band, released an album last year- Boys Outside- that has been thoroughly reworked and dubbed up by Dennis Bovell (legendary British reggae man who also worked with The Slits and Orange Juice). Mr Weatherall provided two dubs of Boys Outside which were pretty much my favourite tracks of last year. Now Mr Bovell takes Steve Mason's haunting original songs and adds horns, dub bass and lashings of echo, as shown here. Very, very good and highly recommended.

Yesterday Dub

With His Centre Parted Sun Tan

More big, stupid fun with Black Grape. I wasn't that fussed about Black Grape but the first album had it's moments, this being the best- Kelly's Heroes. It's got that mid 90s rhythm, a naggingly good funky guitar riff and some very funny Shaun Ryder lyrics, mainly about Jesus, 'handing out the fish, man, with his centre parted sun tan, then cured the lame'. The chorus is made-up-on-the-spot brilliance- 'Jesus was a black man, no Jesus was Batman, no, no, no, no, no, that was Bruce Wayne.'

Kelly's Heroes

R.A.M.O.N.E.S.

One minute and twenty five seconds of big, stupid fun, written by Lemmy and Motorhead, performed by the last Ramones line up, tacked onto the end of the Japanese edition of Adios Amigos, this is R.A.M.O.N.E.S. If you don't like this....

R.A.M.O.N.E.S.

The Return Of Friday Night Is Rockabilly Night 22

All the way from 1958 this is The Spirals with Baby You Just Wait. This unnamed couple are out there somewhere keeping 1958 alive. Have a good evening.

Baby You Just Wait

Walk On By, Walk On Through

It feels like the first day of the summer holidays. Because it is. Let's kick Friday off with some glorious pop-house from 1993. Before Doves were Doves they were Sub Sub and other than making bleepy Manc house tunes like the very ace Space Face they had an actual number 3 hit single with this song, featuring the guest vocals of Melanie Williams. From it's zoom intro to it's bouncy verses to it's catchy as chicken pox chorus, this is 7" perfection guaranteed to put a spring in your step. The only thing wrong with it is that it's over almost before it's begun.

Ain't No Love, Ain't No Use

Weatherall Mix Roundup 3

I realised the other day that posts by or connected to Andrew Weatherall make up 10% of Bagging Area's output. I'm not sure if this is a good thing or the signs of an obsession that's out of control. But, at the risk of this blog becoming a sort of Audrey dub Pravda (mind, with that beard he looks more Romanov than Soviet) here's some more Weatherall stuff to listen to, no downloads from me though I'm afraid.

First up, a remix due out in August of Watch Me Dance by Toddla T and Roots Manuva. This one is a buyer no mistake, just stunning, listen to that bassline.

http://soundcloud.com/toddla_t/toddla-t-watch-me-dance-with

Next up, a nigh on two hour mix available at Dummymag. You can download this one from them. There's also a brief interview where he mentions forthcoming remixes of The Horrors and Wooden Shjips.

http://www.dummymag.com/mixes/2011/07/15/dummy-mix-80-andrew-weatherall/

Finally, a blast from 1994, recorded live at The Albany for the Heavenly Social. Listen only.

http://www.mixcloud.com/TheSocial/andrew-weatherall-live-at-the-albany-august-1994/

More news when we get it comrades.

Unlikely Remix

I don't how these two crossed paths but in 1999 Jim Reid, fresh from the recently split up Jesus And Mary Chain, remixed Fun-Da-Mental's Ja Sha Taan. Fun-Da-Mental make political, electronic, agit-prop mixing in rap, Asian sounds and Qawwali singers, in this case Nawazish Ali Khan. Jim Reid makes feedback drenched, American influenced, British indie rock. This remix manages to cover both bases.

Ja Sha Taan

Meetings With Footballers 4 & 5

For about 18 months in the early-to-mid 90s I ended living in a flat above a hairdressers in Hale. The flat was large, very reasonably priced rent and just down the road from my then flatmate's girlfriend. Hale is a wealthy suburb of south Manchester, near Altrincham. I lived in almost abject poverty, but as Gang For Four said 'to hell with poverty, we'll get drunk on cheap wine'. We started drinking in the local pub, the romantically named Bleeding Wolf. It's now a block of expensive apartments. As happens when you spend a lot of time in one pub, you get to know the landlord, you get lock-ins, next thing you know you get asked to dj at the staff Christmas party. So we hauled our records down the road, scrounged and cobbled together various pieces of equipment and set up to play in a large landing area above the pub once the last order's bell had been rung. Well into the night, everyone drunk and having a good time, I put on The Clash's (White Man) In Hammersmith Palais. Careering out of the kitchen, at the time injured with a dodgy knee but clearly having a good time, comes Roy Keane. He clatters around the dancefloor, jumps up and down a bit, and then vanishes back into the kitchen, with us praying we're not responsible for worsening the knee. Still, it's not every night you can say you made Roy Keane dance. I've posted White Man recently so there's no point putting that up, I don't have Morrissey's Roy's Keen (and it's rubbish), so instead here's something else I'm pretty sure we played- Motorhead's Ace Of Spades.

Ace Of Spades

Another time, in the same pub, in the lead up to major international football tournament (probably USA '94), a reporter is on the rolling news live from the Republic Of Ireland camp commenting on the mysterious absence from the squad of Paul McGrath (who also had dodgy knees). Everyone in The Bleeding Wolf that afternoon knows exactly where he is. It should be noted, Paul McGrath attended a charity dinner in aid of our son's special needs school last year and was the perfect gentleman.

Meetings With Footballers 3

It is 19th May 1995. It is my 25th birthday. We go into town and have beers and tequila at Ten Bar. We meet the man. We go to Home, in retrospect a very dubious nightclub. We drink more bottled beer. In the bar area above the dancefloor, flanked by two minders in black MA 1 bomber jackets, is Eric Cantona. Eric is serving a long ban for attacking a Crystal Palace supporter as he was leaving the pitch, still one of the most extraordinary things I've seen take place at a football match. We shake Eric's hand. Things are a bit messy now all round. A queue forms. We go up to shake his hand again, reasoning he won't remember our faces. Eric takes all this with good grace, despite us clearly being worse for wear. I drag the soon-to-be Mrs Swiss off the dancefloor, so she can meet Eric. She asks Eric if he minds being hassled by drunken/gurning idiots in nightclubs. 'No' he replies, 'Not really'.

In 1995 The Stone Roses disintegrated. They lost Reni, the finest drummer of his generation. They released Ten Storey Love Song as a single, the only song off the Second Coming that sounded like the work of the same band that made the first album six years earlier. On their singles to support the first album the B-sides were as good as the A-sides- Standing Here, Mersey Paradise, Going Down... By the time they came to finding B-sides for Second Coming singles the quality was dipping. The 12" of Ten Storey Love Song had two B-sides- Ride On, a Brown/Squire number, slow, stoned, dirgy, and Moses, a pile driver of guitar riffs and heavy groove, with a breakdown and the riff tumbling back in. Credited to Squire/Mounfield/Wren you felt it was a warm-up, practice tune that had never gained vocals. Heavy and a long way from waterfalls, sugar spun sisters and her banging the drums.

Moses

Meetings With Footballers 2

One night in either 1988 or 1989 a group of us are outside Liverpool University Students' Union. The House Of Love are playing the smaller venue in the Union, the Stanley Theatre. I saw them on their previous tour. Another band are playing the larger Mountford Hall. My memory tells me it was The Fall but it could've been The Wonderstuff. I know at around the same time we went to see the up-and-coming Charlatans instead of The Fall. Choices, choices. None of these cost more than a couple of quid. We were spoilt I tell you. Well, except for the Wonderstuff. Anyway, we were outside the Union and a man on crutches approaches us, floppy hair and Scottish accent- 'Excuse me lads, can you tell me where The House Of Love are playing?' As one of us begins to direct the man down the road, an Evertonian among us says 'Hey, you're Pat Nevin'. Pat Nevin, formerly of Clyde and Chelsea, at the time Everton's injured winger, scuttles off as fast as his crutches will take him. I don't know what he thought we might do to him, but it was the 1980s. Football was yet to become what it is today.

The House Of Love were riding high when Destroy The Heart was released on Creation, and it's shimmering guitars and pent-up drama are still exciting today. They left for Fontana and never really recovered. Pat Nevin has since dj-ed at Bowlie Weekender, not having the usual footballer's musical tastes.

Destroy The Heart

Meetings With Footballers 1

I'm not sure exactly when this photo was taken, sometime around the 70s turning into the 80s. That's me in the middle and my younger brother Z on the left. The gent on the right is Manchester United legend Bobby Charlton. A building society in Didsbury, M20, launched itself on a Saturday morning with a promotion where if you opened an account with them (minimum deposit, one whole pound) you got your picture taken with Bobby. So, me and Z trooped up the road from Withington to Didsbury, not quite believing the actual Bobby Charlton would be there, and opened our accounts. The photo turned up a few days later, signed by Bobby. Z still has the photo in his possession. It's worth noting that out of the three people in the picture Bobby is the one who looks most now like he did then. I wish I could still get my hair to look like it did then.

Radio 4 is the final track on Public Image Ltd's barnstorming 1979 Metal Box lp, the flood gate opener for post-punk. After four sides of Wobble's dub basslines, Levene's scraping guitar, the skittering rhythms and Lydon's caterwauling, Radio 4 was a moment of beauty and respite- drumless, synthchords, virtual strings, post-punk classical. Probably the only thing on the record Bobby Charlton could listen to.

Radio 4

Way Out

This is a cracking song, from House Of Fix featuring Circa. It sounds like it could've been made anytime from the late 70s onwards by some combination of members of Wire and Can but according to Discogs was made by someone called Jason Leach, and released in 2003 by a record label based in Scarborough.

Repeating krauty bassline, Wire vocals, organ stabs, increasingly intense. You need it this Sunday morning. I got it off a mix cd Ivan Smagghe did called Death Disco.

Way Out

End Of The Road

New Order appear to be at the very end of the road. Peter and Bernard, friends since the 1960s, have had enough of each other. From an interview published yesterday-

Peter Hook 'The truth is Bernard's a twat and he always has been'

Bernard Sumner 'We've spent all our life as an outfit with principles and ideals and what Peter has done goes against everything we've stood for'

Stephen Morris 'There's no future for New Order. It's hard to draw a line under everything, but I think we have to.'

Gillian Gilbert 'One of them vomited on the table tennis table.' (This quote isn't actually about the band but I didn't want to leave Gillian out. She's been left out too often since the late 90s reformation.)

The details seem to centre around Peter Hook buying the rights to the name The Hacienda without telling the others, and performing Joy Division albums in their entirety and releasing cover e.p.s with a variety of other musicians. Bernard once said that New Order split up in the early 90s because he couldn't stand the way that after eating a packet of Wotsits Hooky licked each of his fingers clean. You got the feeling Bernard was totally serious. In a way I wish all this had happened before that awful last album, which included a song with a Scissor Sister. FFS- These are the people who wrote Ceremony and Everything's Gone Green and Age Of Consent and Temptation and Love Vigilantes and True Faith and Regret.

This is Skullcrusher, from the soundtrack to a 1987 film called Salvation, which also gave us Touched By The Hand Of God. Which was typical New Order. Write one of the greatest songs of that year and stick it on the soundtrack of a dodgy film.

Skullcrusher