Big Youth Special

More Reggae today.. 4 classic 45's by Big Youth here.  I never really went for the deejay stuff in a big way back in the 70's but Big Youth makes it work.  His delivery just rolls with the music.  I could have put up a dozen tracks easily.. he worked with most of the best producers in Jamiaca and cut great tracks right through the 70's.  I've pick my 4 favourites..

First up is Ace 90 Skank, an early hit, produced by Keith Hudson on the Mafia label. 

 Big Youth - Ace 90 Skank


Next up is a two sider.. Foreman vs Frazier, a topical hit for Big Youth after the Foreman vs Frazier "Sunshine Showdown" world heavy weight title fight in Kingston, JA in January '73.  Not sure how many boxing records there are but this has to be the best ever.. "biff baff boom..George batter him down".. you can feel those blows!

Big Youth - Foreman vs Frazier Round 1
Big Youth - Foreman vs Frazier Round 2



Next up is Same Some Thing..a real loose, rootsy track.. the studio must have been kinda cloudy when this was recorded..:>)

Big Youth - Same Some Thing


And one last heavy track.. All Nations Bow..just an awesome track

Big Youth - All Nations Bow

 
Jah Youth is still going strong.....

Meet Me At The Corner - the Diplomats and Dennis Brown

Reggae time here.. An old rock steady tune from 1967 by vocal group The Diplomats on the great Caltone label.  I know nothing about the group apart from that they did at least 3 sides on Caltone around '67-'68.  I love the raw, slightly chaotic playing on it, one of those tunes where it's imperfections make it perfect..

The Diplomats - Meet Me At The Corner


 To follow that I have a great version of the tune by Dennis Brown from 1971 on the Impact label.  It's a slowed down version.. really nice vocals.

Dennis Brown - Meet Me At The Corner 



More tunes to come.. I've had a few days off work so have been delving into my old record boxes plus picked up a few nice old 45's recently so will be posting 2-3 tunes a day to get them all out there.

Heat #4 - The Clash in 1977 and loads more..

Here's Heat #4 as promised.  Another great issue of the classic Irish zine from Oct/Nov '77.  This one has 6 pages of the Clash, interviews with the Adverts, 999 and young Irish band the Kamikaze Kids, articles on John Cale and Richard Hell and a review of the Pistols Spunk bootleg plus the usual excellent random news, reviews and bits.  All hand written and pasted together and thoroughly entertaining.

Download Heat #4 

I also came across an interesting blog called Last Rockers with a nice pdf of Heat #1.  I only have a black and white photocopy of it so won't be posting it myself.. check it out if you're after a copy. 
Link to Heat #1 download

Batwoman at last..

DC finally managed to get the new issue of Batwoman out.. worth the wait.  Hopefully they'll be monthly from now on.. I need my regular comic fix!

I'll have another issue of Heat up soon.. just finished scanning #4..

More Heat!.. Heat #3

Due to popular demand (one comment .. (thanks!) and a lot of 'silent' hits), here's another issue of the great Irish fanzine, Heat.  This is issue 3, from Sept 1977.  Another mad mix of punk news and reviews from Ireland and London with features on the Radiators from Space and Boomtown Rats (aka Rads and Rats), a great review of a very early Undertones gig when their set was mostly Stooges and MC5 covers and it sounds Fergel Sharkey was doing his best Iggy impersonation (a long way from 'My Perfect Cousin'..), a picture of a very happy DeeGenerate and a rather naughty young woman and loads more.. check it out.

Download Heat #3

Iggy time..

 I've been in a bit of Iggy phase lately.. not sure what kicked it off.. I think ITunes was playing in artist order and hit me with a few hours of Iggy a couple of weeks back.. (or possibly it was the car insurance ads he's done that are all over London... they are weird!)  Whatever, it's inspired me to dig out some stuff and get a post in honour of the Iggster.. a hero of mine if I ever had one. Here are a few old bits.. in chronological order..

First off.. a cool press release for the first LP which came with the above photo..  A nice short biog of the group at that stage..

 

 

Download Stooges press release 

I Wanna Be Your Dog (Original John Cale mix)

I found this next bit in Rock magazine.. a New York weekly music tabloid.  This is an interesting Iggy interview from the Nov 22 1971 issue.. The Stooges had been dropped by Elektra and had split up and Iggy had hooked up with James Willaimson but not sure what was next.. One odd thing here is he mentions wanting to go to England and I didn't think he met Bowie till 1972..  maybe there had been contact between them earlier?  (I just scanned the two Iggy pages.. apologies for the messy joins.. I had to do two scans for each page.)

Download Rock - Iggy pages

Of course Iggy got the Stooges together again for one more studio LP.. Raw Power.  here's the original UK mix of Search and Destroy from the 1973 release.  I believe the mix on this track is different from the better known Bowie mix used on the US '73 issue and the '77 UK re-issue..

 Search & Destroy (1973 UK LP mix)

To round things off for this post.. a superb issue of Creem magazine from April 1974.  There was so much good stuff in this issue that I scanned the whole thing.  Apart from Iggy on the cover and an in depth Stooges feature with great pics there's also a couple of New York Dolls pages, Ian Hunter of Mott the Hoople plus other cool stuff (and random other old 70's hippy stuff, always good to put the Stooges in context!)

Download Creem April 1974
That's it for now.. I'll do another Iggy post in the near future once I have time to dig out and scan some more from the archives.  Hope you like this lot..

New Pose #5

I posted an earlier issue of this back in August last year and thought it was about time to get another issue up here.. This zine was published in Leeds by a guy called Martin and Steve Dixon, who did all the photos, and is superb.  Every issue looks great..all hand written but nicely laid out and great photos.  This issue has an illustrated review of an Iggy gig, Jonathan Richman & the Modern Lovers, the Clash at Leeds Uni,the Marc Bolan tv show, Leeds band S.O.S., a cartoon history of the Damned and backpage 'pin-up' of Pauline from Penetration.  I don't have an original copy of this but the scan is from a quality photocopy (thanks to Martin, Mick or Alex..can't remember who I got this one from!).

Download New Pose #5
I also found this video on YouTube about the early 80's Goth / post Punk scene which was done by a Steve Dixon..presumably the same guy from New Pose?  I couldn't find any other info about him

Heat #2 - An Irish view of Punk

Here's a great Irish fanzine from the summer of '77.  Heat was absolutely crammed with stuff, all hand written and not taking things too seriously.  It covers the Irish punk scene plus the English and US bands.. This issue has features on Irish bands the Vipers and the Radiators from Space, Johnny Moped, Generation X, a Ramones meet the Incredible Hulk comic book spoof, a review of the Ramones at the Roundhouse, a very brief interview with the Undertones plus various rants, reviews and other bits.  All good stuff and a fun read.. They kept Heat going till '79 and every issue I've seen is quality.  If you like this one let me know and I'll post some more.

Download Heat Vol 1 No. 2

Cliche #2 ...finally

Had a couple of non-stop weeks with no time for posting anything.. finally have a few minutes so I'm doing a quick posting.  Here for you today is Cliche #2, a nice little zine from autumn 1977.  Written by a guy called Tim Cooper in Clapton, east London, it's just 10 pages but has a 2 page Generation X interview, a feature on band called The Rage, a page each on 999 and X-Ray Spex plus record reviews.. all good stuff.  I've never seen issue 1 of this or a third issue...if any one has either issue 1 or knows if there was an issue 3 please let me know..

Download Cliche # 2

More fanzines coming soon..

I've finally got around to digging out a batch of zines and doing some scanning so I should be posting some nice old '77 gems over the next couple of weeks.  In the meantime here are a  few cool pics I dug up..

Pistols at the 100 Club July '76

Adam and the Ants with Jordan - 1977

Steve Diggle of the Buzzcocks - 1977

Poly Styrene RIP

Really sad to hear yesterday that Poly Styrene ( real name Marian Joan Elliott-Said) died yesterday after a long battle against breast cancer.  She was a lovely woman.. I adored her back in the 70's for just being so herself and she seemed to have kept that attitude through her life, right through to the end despite the cancer by all accounts.  I first saw them at the Rock Against Racism concert at Victoria Park in April '78 and then at my first proper punk gig with X-ray Spex and Adam & the Ants at the Roundhouse in May '78 and finally at the Hammersmith Odeon (with seats..boo!) when they were having some chart success.. just wish I'd been a bit older and able to start seeing them sooner and more often!  I'm cursing myself for missing the recent 'reunion' gig at the Roundhouse..I've just been watching some clips on You Tube and it looked a great one.

The Maytals - Walk With Love

Just a quick one today.. one of my favourite Toots and the Maytals tracks and one that doesn't turn up on most compilations.  I came across the version of this on a Trojan compilation back in the 90's and had to hunt down a Jamaican copy to get the vocal version and it was well worth the effort.  This track is from 1971 on the Beverly's label.. (Interestingly the UK version on Summit which I picked up later is totally different recording and about 20 seconds shorter.. )

As I mentioned it..here's the UK version.

The Fat Man

I've had a bunch of music post ideas knocking around for a while.. gonna start off with some stuff today by Fats Domino.  He tends to be remembered for tunes like 'Blueberry Hill' and did record a lot of more middle of the road popular R'n'B but some of his 50's tunes were solid rockin' New Orleans rock'n'roll. He was also a massive influence on Jamaican music.. particularly in songs like 'The Big Beat' and 'Sick and Tired'. I was well into old Rock and Roll before I got into punk and the two overlapped for me.. I never bought into any of the punks v Teds rubbish of the late 70's (apart from dodging gangs of teds late at night on my way home from gigs in Camden Town!).. The first records I bought were Fats Domino and Elvis LP's and the first gig I went to was Fats at the Hammersmith Odeon in May '78, (a couple of weeks before I went to see X-Ray Spex and Adam & the Ants at the Roundhouse.. from 'Be My Guest' to 'Beat My Guest'!)).

Fats is still hanging in there in New Orleans, (having survived Hurricane Katrina..) He gave up touring a long time ago and just enjoyed living on the royalties he'd racked up over his 40 years of recording...  great stuff.  Here are a few of my favourites.. all solid mono direct from the 45's.

The Big Beat

 
Sick and Tired

Be My Guest

Nico in London, part 2

Finding the old Nico photo recently (Feb 26th post) inspired me to dig out a couple of other old bits,.. I found an old Record Mirror from August 28th, 1965 with an great article on Andrew Loog Oldham's latest discovery.. (click to read it.. it's a full size scan)

And here's the record she made.. pre Velvets with Jimmy Page on guitar..

Nico- I'm Not Saying

Nico - The Last Mile

Sideburns No.1 - This is chord, this is another, this is third.. now form a band!

Bit of a special one here.. from January 1977 this is the zine with the legendary 'here are 3 chords, now form a band'.. and the rest is pretty cool too.  There's a 5 page Stranglers feature with an interview with Jet Black, live reviews of Eddie and the HotRods at the Roundhouse plus bits on the Feelgoods, Lew Lewis and the Darts.. yeah, not what we'd call punk now but this was Jan 1977 and there weren't too many what we'd now call punk bands around.. that all happened..um.. probably a week or two after this came out!  There is a great short editorial bit on page 3 about the beginnings of the London punk scene which gives you a feeling of what it was like back then..  (Got to say a big thanks to Martin for helping me get hold of this one! )

Download Sideburns #1

Suze Rotolo (November 20, 1943 – February 24, 2011)

I just read that Bob Dylan's old girl friend and muse Suze Rotolo died recently, aged 67 after a long illness.  She's best known for being on the cover of his second LP, The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan, but was also key to politicising Dylan in the early 60's and was the inspiration to some of his great early songs , such as "Don't Think Twice, It's Alright" and "Boots of Spanish Leather".   They were together around late 1961 till early '63.  After she and Dylan seperated (he left her for Joan Baez) she continued to be involved in the Greenwich Village scene, visted Cuba in 1964 and was involved in the Civil Rights movement.  She wrote a book,  "A Freewheelin' Time, A Memoir of Greenwich Village in the Sixties" in 2008 (which I haven't read yet but it's in the pile I'm slowly working my way through..)  She was interviewed in the Scorsese Dylan documentary 'No Direction Home' and came across as a very modest, cool woman who just happened to find herself in the middle of an exploding folk scene, involved with it's biggest star and just took it all in her stride and got on with her own life when Dylan moved on...  Suze RIP

Update: I've finished reading Suze's book 'A Freewheelin' Time' and thoroughly recommend it whether you're into Dylan or not..  It's a snapshot of the 60's folk scene and New York Greenwich Village scene and how she had to deal with the changes happening at the time both personally and politically.. It's a great read.

And a bit more Dylan.. my mum gave me a stack of old Sing Out folk magazines she bought back in the early 60's including this one with a very early Dylan cover feature, from 1962.  This was around the time his first LP came out and has words and music for several of his newer songs at the time, including 'Blowin' in the Wind'.  I just scanned the Dylan pages..it's quite a chunky magazine.

Download Sing Out Oct - Nov 1962

Nico in London

Nice photo of Nico in London around the time she recorded with Andrew Loog Oldham in 1965.

Kings Rd - DIY Punk

Today's fanzine is one I picked up recently though I think I had or read a copy way back.. probably didn't keep it as there were no Banshees/Ants/PIL articles!  It covers the DIY punk 'scene' that sprang up in '78 with groups like TV Personalities, O-Level and Swell Maps.  I think it was put together by the TV Personalties.. or at least they had some involvement.. nothing is clear and why should it be!  It's a good read..

Download Kings Road Vol. 1 No . 1

As a tie in to this I've also dug out the O-Level We Love Malcolm EP.. I never listened to it much after I bought it but it's really quite good!  Stairway to Boredom is my fave..

O-Level - We Love Malcolm

Leave Me:

Everybody's On Revolver:

Stairway To Boredom:

Ripped and Torn 11 - A Cheap Night Out with Raped

Got a nice old copy of Ripped and Torn today.  Tony D was really getting into it by issue 11...a bit of colour on the covers and over 25 pages loaded with articles, interviews, reviews and opinion.  This issue has Raped on the cover with a 2 page interview inside, also interviews with the Only Ones, Billy Idol and Levi and the Rockats plus a couple of 2 page photospreads (NY Dolls and Derek Jarman's Jubilee).

Download Ripped & Torn 11

To tie into this issue I'm also posting a classic single by Raped..  A 4 piece from London featuring Ziggy like lead singer Sean Purcell, guitarist Fabian Kwest, bassist Tony Baggett and distinctive Japanese drummer 'Paddy'.  Their first EP, 'Pretty Paedophiles', got them a lot of negative publicity and combined with their camp/gay image (which they actively played up!) at a time when punk was heading towards leather jacketed uniformity meant they didn't have an easy time of things.  Their gigs often had an edge to them as they always got abuse from some of the audience and were prepared to give as good as they got..  At one gig at the Moonlight in West Hampstead Sean and Fabian jumped off the stage and attacked a guy who had chucked a pint over Sean and I remember Sean pulling a knife out on stage at another gig..  Musically they were mostly thrashy '77 style punk, shock value lyrics but with a few good tunes ('Moving Target' and 'Escalator Hater' from the first EP were ok) but suddenly in '78 they came out with 'Cheap Night Out'.  Similar lyrics to their earlier stuff but it added a great glam rock sound.. It deserved to do better but never really took off and they stayed stuck in the small club circuit.  They changed their name to Cuddly Toys in '79 and moved further towards the glam sound, releasing a nice cover of a Bowie song, 'Madman' later that year.  They kept going till 1981 and apparently finally found a bit of success in Japan towards the end..

Raped - Cheap Night Out:

 

Here's the insert that came with the 45..forgot about this when I first did this post..
Download Cheap Night Out insert

I also found this old publicity photo, printed when they were called Raped but with their name trimmed off after they became Cuddly Toys!

The Satellites - Urbane Gorillas of West London

Right.. trying to catch up on all the various ideas I've had for posts over the past few months.. Here's a follow up to the Sounds of the Westway fanzine post I did a while back.  That was produced by Derek Gibbs who went on to form the Satellites in late 1977.  They gigged around west London extensively for the next 5-6 years. I saw them quite a few times around 1978-79, supporting bands like the UK Subs or headlining pub gigs at places like the Windsor Castle near Westbourne Park and out around Acton, Ealing, Alperton, etc.  They were always a great live band and used to get a mixed crowd of West London punks, skins, rockabillies..  (I also got to meet a very lovely redhead called Joanna at their gigs which was extra motivation for catching night busses back home from deepest Alperton!).  Here are both sides of their first 45, Urbane Gorilla, back by High Rise Hill billys.  Other classics were 'I Fell In Love with a Lesbian' and 'Lucy is a Protitute' which came out on a later release..

Urbane Gorilla



High Rise Hillbillys