The Man Who Met Himself

The Curry Club

2011-11-04T02:41:00.000-07:00

The 1923 Curry Club annual dinner and dance. Music by great local Rock 'N Roll band, Livestock Davies.

Trevor Evans - Walking On The Moon

2011-10-14T14:08:00.000-07:00

2011-10-13T12:34:00.001-07:00

Lennon

2011-10-12T13:26:00.001-07:00

New Boots and Panties

2010-02-24T12:48:00.000-08:00

GUGUG - Joe 90 Theme

2008-10-10T03:33:00.000-07:00

I'm late posting here, but this is fantastic, if you have a couple of hours spare then turn off the TV and watch all the great video clips from Angus here. Glasgow looks fab.

Seven Foot Dilly & His Dill Pickles

2007-12-25T02:48:00.000-08:00

The names of old-time string bands that recorded in the '20s and '30s tend to be pretty ridiculous, some of them made up by corny disc jockeys or promoters. This group may have the worst name of the bunch, based on both the surname and height of bandleader guitarist John Dilleshaw, a historical old-time guitar picker whose height was close enough to seven feet to suit the purposes of old-time band naming. The Dill Pickles included hired guns from amongst the area's best fiddlers, including the one-handed Lowe Stokes, as well as novices such as Harry Kiker, who became interested in old-time music when Dilleshaw started courting his sister, Opal, as the shy guitarist would often bring his entire band along to assist with the romantic atmosphere. The leader was known for his driving, bluesy guitar playing, which along with the sound of the bowed bass and tenor banjo, played by the father and son team of Pink Lindsey, gave this group an absolutely distinctive sound. As is typical of the genre, a great deal of humor was interspersed with the music, and in the manner of Western swing bandleader Bob Wills, Dilleshaw (or Dilly) would sometimes talk right over the soloing or ensemble playing of the other musicians. Skits involving various members of the group were no doubt done in imitation of the widely popular Gid Tanner & the Skillet Lickers, which had also employed Stokes. The group recorded in 1929 and 1930, and the tracks have all been reissued on a Document CD. The tracks include "Bad Lee Brown," perhaps an ancestor of Jim Croce's "Bad, Bad Leroy Brown," the rollicking "Bibb County Breakdown," the two-part "Fiddler's Tryout in Georgia" (a combination of music and theater), and the classic "Pickin' Off Peanuts." A few sidemen from the group carried on with musical activity. Lindsey did a few sessions for Bluebird that featured Shorty, and possibly Dilleshaw as well, although nobody present can agree on this. Shorty also played tenor banjo on some recordings by fiddler John Carson. Kiker was the only player from this ensemble who survived into the year 2000, and at that time was still playing, mostly in his own kitchen, with an ex-violinist from the Atlanta Symphony. ~ Eugene Chadbourne, All Music Guide

John Dilleshaw was from north Georgia, an exceedingly fertile area for old time musicians in the 1920's and a contemporary of the then famous Skillet Lickers and Georgia Yellow Hammers. At 6'7" and a lefty, he was no doubt an imposing figure at the time. He recruited some of the best fiddlers in the area such as Ahaz A. Gray, Joe Brown, Lowe Stokes and Harry Kiker. Pink Lindsey and Shorty Lindsey were the other members of the group. The combination of bowed bass, tenor banjo, and powerful guitar runs made this group one of the premier strings bands of the 1920's. As in most of the north Georgia style groups, a great deal of humor is injected into the renditions, with Dilly often talking right over the music. Their skits are no doubt a take off on the wildy popular Skillet Licker skits, but they still preserve the individualilty of these musicians. They recorded several unusual pieces that had not been recorded elsewhere.

JohnDilleshaw-BustDownStomp.mp3

I'm a Hybrid Kid

2007-12-01T09:55:00.000-08:00

One of my favourites for many years is this track and album, Trouser Press say this about it

"Hybrid Kids (UK Cherry Red) 1979
What happens when Jah Wobble meets country clods the Wurzels for a raveup on Kate Bush's greatest hit? You get Jah Wurzel's version of "Wuthering Heights," zonked-out reggae with quizzical vocals in a back-country accent, that's what. Actually, this is Morgan Fisher, ex-Mott the Hoople keyboardist, pretending (with a dab of help from uncredited friends — he himself is billed as "producer/director") to be a baker's dozen different acts having a go at their fave tunes. What purports to be British Standard Unit takes a pretty amusing off-the-wall industrial-synth whack at "D'Ya Think I'm Sexy," but most of the rest of Hybrid Kids tends to be gratuitously high in the ozone, or tediously puerile (or both). Nice version of Sun Ra's "Enlightment" [sic], allegedly by Combo Satori, all the same."

And From Morgan himsself

The first album Morgan recorded in London’s Pipe Studios (actually a TEAC 4-track recorder set up in his Notting Hill bedsit). This bizarre album was originally conceived (with the collusion of Iain McNay, Cherry Red’s boss) as a spoof compilation album featuring a variety of 'bands' from Peabody, an obscure little town in Kansas (at that time American towns like Cleveland and Akron were viewed upon as hot-beds of modern rock music). When this concept was stated on the radio and in the press, quite a number of people believed it! In truth, it was all made by Morgan. The musical approach was to take songs and perform them in a way that was diametrically opposite to the original version. Here are the original artists who performed (or pre-formed) the songs, and the styles adopted for these recordings:

1. Richard Harris in the style of The Specials or two-tone.
2. The Sex Pistols in the style of Pinky and Perky (a BBC TV children’s puppet show).
3. Kate Bush in the style of Jah Wobble and reggae/dub.
4. Perry Como in the style of The Sex Pistols and speed punk.
5. Peggy Lee - actually done in a contorted version of her own style.
6. The Brotherhood of Man in the style of Devo.
7. Rod Stewart in a new wave/techno style.
8. Sun Ra - actually an affectionate and slightly twisted version of his own style.
9. The Beatles collaged with a hint of "My Life In The Bush of Ghosts" (Eno/Byrne).
10. The Stranglers in the style of The Residents.
11. The Righteous Brothers in the style of Suicide.
12. Squeeze UK in the style of, er, The Residents meet Pink Floyd? Then a segue into Mott the Hoople in the style of an old 78rpm record by the Palm Court Orchestra.

JahWurzel-WutheringHeights

Girl why don't you answer?

2007-11-23T03:52:00.000-08:00

Buster, he sold the heat
With a rocksteady beat
An earthquake is erupting
But not in Orange street
A ghost dance is preparing
You got to help us with your feet
If you're not in the mood to dance
Step back, grab yourself a seat
This may not be uptown Jamaica
But we promise you a treat
Buster bowl me over with your bogus dance
Shuffle me off my feet
Even though I'll keep on running
I'll never get to Orange street
So I set it up myself to say
For the man who set the beat
So I'll leave it up to you out there
To get him back on his feet
Buster bowl me over with your bogus dance
Shuffle me off my feet
Even though I'll keep on runnin'
I'll never get to Orange street
Bring back the
Who is the
We want the
Bring back the Prince

Girl Why Don't You Answer-Prince Buster

The Dukes of Stratosphear

2007-10-04T08:43:00.000-07:00

The Acme Jazz Band 2002

2007-08-18T02:57:00.000-07:00

This is an mp3 of a local Welsh Trad Jazz band calld the Acme Jazz Band, they played in the South Wales area and also played at festivals like the one at Bude every year. We came across them on a Monday night at the Tredegar Arms in Basseleg, I took my minidisc along one evening and recorded them with my microphone by my side very carefully, if anyone attached to the band wants a copy then just get in touch and I'll send them one. Unfortunately the pub tidied itself up and stopped the Jazz at some point and they were harder to find afterwards. I read recently that the Trombone player and singer Bob Gribble died a couple of years ago, he had a great growling voice and played from the heart. I like it that this music that was the biggest thing in the UK before the Beatles still continues today. It doesn't mean a lot to my generation but through the Bonzo Dog band I still have a real soft spot for it.

The Acme Jazz Band - Home.mp3

Alan a Dale

2007-08-10T09:17:00.001-07:00

Not that there is anything wrong with Elephants

2007-08-10T09:09:00.000-07:00

She Was Flying

2007-07-29T02:22:00.000-07:00

I cannot find anything out at all about this track from searching the internet. It is a track called She Was Flying by Modo, I think it was a free track on a musicians magazine from about 1999-2000 and sounds like it was possibly inspired by Air the French band, it is a great chill out piece of music and I am sorry I know nothing else about them, it sounds like all the instrumental stuff that the BBC use as background music on garden shows (I know, but I do have to put up with that most weeks), it is a great piece though and I wish they had made it. Maybe they changed their name, anyone know?

Modo She was Flying.mp3

Maker Of Islands

2007-07-28T10:25:00.000-07:00

I just found this, I taped it from John Peel's show on 1st August 2000, it is the Incredible String Band in their later reformation, I saw them that year at St Donat's Arts centre in Llantwit Major with Lawson Dando playing keyboards, I used to know Lawson when he lived in Llanbradach, he is a great musician and always loved the Incredibles, it is a bit like me joining the Bonzo Dog band (won't happen), but have a listen, luckily I hadn't edited all of John Peel out of this.

Maker of Islands-John Peel Show 1 Aug 2000.mp3

I haven't told her

2007-07-12T11:44:00.000-07:00

Here is ex-goon, Peter Sellers with a tune that he strums on his Ukulele in a positive and engaging style. This one is for Ron Bookless of Monocassette fame and Michael of Boot Sale sounds.

I Haven't Told Her, She Hasn't Told Me.mp3

Chantilly Lace

2007-07-09T14:00:00.000-07:00

"I’m the fantasy granddaddy of cheap underground desperation, whack-genius following my forever spontaneous, expressly homemade muse through all styles of music, drawing and film Dada — taking pride in never getting stuck in any ignorance ruts or tedious sameness, which is certainly modern society’s norm. And little me, trying to promote that eclectic philosophy in today’s severe target market tunnel-vision is absolutely fruitless, to say the least.

I’m all about diversity. Freeform radio show. The Beatles White Album. One artist who can and does sound like a V/A compilation album. And there exists nobody out there who successfully accomplishes this. Because the populace lacks imagination, open-mindedness and making effort to accommodate short attention spans. Little bit of everything, all the time. All extremes."

R Stevie Moore is an amazing musician and would be classed as an eccentric in the UK, here is one of his more accessable tracks, a punky version of the old Big Bopper number "Chantilly Lace" complete with telephone intro. Check him out, his web site appears to be down tonight but it is one to lose yourself in for a few hours and once you actually get the buzz of his music you will be hooked for life.

R Stevie Moore-Chantilly Lace.mp3

I've got a Bike

2007-07-06T12:45:00.001-07:00

I read about this track when it was released in about 1991 and I had a mad thought about it recently and decided to track it down, it is by the Fortran 5 and is from an album on mute records called Blues. It is a mixture of two of my heroes called Syd and Sid. It features some great sampling of the late Sid James "singing" the Pink Floyd, Syd Barrett tune "Bike". I'm wondering how hard it must be to sample Bernard Breslaw on a version of Arnold Layne.

Fortran 5 -Bike.mp3

Bank Holiday Monday

2007-07-02T04:40:00.000-07:00

Here is a great pop song from a friend of mine, Dom Barry, here he sings a bitter-sweet refrain about the British Bank Holiday Monday, we get quite a few around this time of year, I don't know why the banks get all the holidays.

Anyway when I was a lad most bank holidays didn't actually see my family setting off to the zoo, we were generally watching dad decorating the lounge in some strange colourful way, and laughing as he put his foot through the glass radio panel of the sideboard with a record player within that was the Radiogram of the house.

I spent hours listening to the handful of records we used to have in the front room in Llanbradach, I may post some here.

Anyway three cheers for Dom and his anhedonic classic.
Bank_Holiday_Monday.mp3

Eccentric Radio Show

2007-06-25T11:09:00.000-07:00

This is an old radio show I did in 2005, this is the first hour or so,
Robyn Hitchcock - Viva Sea Tac
Fountains Of Wayne - Leave the Biker
Hayseed Dixie - Rockin in the Free World
Old Crow Medicine Show - Tell It To Me
Rolf Harris - Football Crazy
Proclaimers - Should Have Been Loved
Loudon Wainwright III - Synchronicity
Spike Milligan - The Q5 Piano Theme
Martin Newell - Miss Van Houton's Coffee Shop
The Damned - Dozen Girls
Todd Rundgren - We Gotta Get You A Woman
Tom Waits - Picture in a Frame
Roger Ruskin Spear - Trouser Freak
The Ramones - Rockaway Beach
The 5,6,7,8s - I'm Blue
The Cramps - Goo Goo Muck

Eccentric Radio Show 270905 Hour 1.mp3

Fezcast-Super 7

2007-06-24T04:21:00.001-07:00

Here is a start, a short 7 song podcast featuring the above artists, this is the direct link, right click to save
Fezcast-super 7.mp3

Welcome

2007-06-24T03:41:00.000-07:00

This will be a new blog where I will post some podcasts and some stuff that doesn't really fit anywhere else. I'm all over the shop on the internet, but this isn't about me, for a change.

Tune in, drop off and hang loose, mother goose, this is just the beginning.

Now we've started.