I'd written off this year's Rebellion Festival. It's a slog up to Blackpool and it was a weak looking line-up headlined by Skin 'ead band Cocksparrer . Last time me and Mrs B went up there they were playing and the place was heaving with them. First night we went in a pub with me in a leopard print Teddy Boy coat, every inch the art-school punk of '76. If looks could kill, I'd have died over 100 times a minute... Now, The Stranglers, Skids and The Damned (closing act, last night) have appeared on the line-up (http://www.rebellionfestivals.com/) l. Now, Mrs B wants to go and I'm wavering, especially as mates in Johnny Moped are also playing. As a rare departure from '76-81, here's some later punk, which is really a cross between Motorhead and The Damned and really very good...
Having had The Undertones headline last week - i have been drawn to another Irish band over the weekend
Sun 24 March @ O2 Forum (Town & Country Club) - The day after Mrs B's 50th birthday party but I have a pass....so see you there! I saw them last year.They played a searing version of this...
Earning 3 slots on the Rebellion line-up, TV Smith. If you get the chance to see him, definitely go for the set with The Bored Teenagers....like this from a couple of years ago... Great stuff!
I can't get SLF and 'Wait and See' out of what's left of my brain. I looked for footage of them playing it in London last year but to no avail... However, this is from the same tour. In Newcastle it was first number of the set, which usually means the band are into it and think it will 'set the scene' for a good night. I think it's likely that was the same at the gig I attended, but I'm so old I can't remember! Anyways, it starts at 3.28 on this footage and is exactly what I do remember...
These guys are from Ohio. They released two albums in the early 2000s. They released a digital album on Bandcamp with a mix of songs from those two albums. I reached out and asked if they had any other stuff for release. One of the band sent me 6 CDs and two t-shirts free of charge (and they paid the £24 postage too!) Good guys who keep your faith in humanity alive.
Being a Damned fan has never been straight forward. Regular line-up changes have led to significant stylistic changes too. There's also the issue of them playing under more than half a dozen names, for differing reasons. This is an interesting case in point. It's been posted by someone who presumably knows his stuff. He's labelled it as Naz Nomad and The Nightmares and possibly that's how the gig was advertised. However, whilst the line-up is right for that moniker, the set is mostly one of Dave Vanian and The Phantom Cords with the odd Damned cover and Naz Nomad track thrown in for good measure Naz Nomad and The Nightmares always dressed as a psychedelic 60's band when I saw them. The Damned didn't exist as a working project at the time but The Phantom Chords weren't accredited as a going entity, as far as anyone knew. That coming a year later. Just when you think you know pretty much everything about them....Shame the sound's not a bit better, some good stuff and played in a cross-over style of The Damned play our other monikers' stuff.....can you do a cover of your own cover?
Here is Weller at Live Aid, I think very few people recall The Style Council being on stage at Wembley that day - 2nd on after Quo at about 1230 Weller had refused Geldofs request for The Jam to reform for the concert telling him that his current band were more relevant to the cause than most of the 'pop stars' he was recruiting and certainly more popular than Geldofs own band were in 1995 (Our Favourite Shop was a number 1 Album that year). Sad to note that Walls Come Tumbling Down remains as relevant in 2019 as it was when it was written 34 years ago
Motown is 60 today , My top 5 are 1 Stevie Wonder I was made to love her 2 Supremes Stoned love 3 Temptations Papa was a rolling stone 4 Four tops Loving you is sweeter 5 The Spinners It's a shame This is this week's top 5 ,ever changing
A must watch series on BBC 4 Guitar,Drum and Bass. This week's episode Bass introduced by Talking Heads Tina Weymouth
Choosing some music for Mrs B's 50th last night. She's having a joint party with her oldest friend, who informed me she didn't like Motown...Just not possible - these come instantly to mind. Have seen versions of the first 3 acts live. Cloud Nine - Temptations 'Nowhere to Run' - Martha Reeves and The Vandellas Four Tops - 'Reach out, I'll be there' 'Love Child' - Diana Ross and the Supremes
Unsurprisingly, Jamaican music has been under-represented. The episode on bass most notably. In fact, there wasn't even anything on fretless bass (the mighty Mick Karn etc) .
My 5 for today I Heard It Through The Grapevine - Marvin Gaye Back In My Arms Again - The Supremes Tears Of A Clown - Smokey Robinson There's a Ghost In my House - R Dean Taylor Leaving Here - Eddie Holland
He's definitely accredited with being the first. Crazily, this was on a Motown album, Stoney and Meatloaf......utterly bizarre! Only slightly less strangely, Frankie Valli was also on Motown's books in the early 70's. They released one album, which flopped but produced this stomping great belter which became a Northern Soul anthem a few years later... Motown then refused to release a second album. Valli tried to buy it off them but couldn't afford it. He was no fool and did go back and buy just this for $4,0000... ...of course, it was a massive world-wide hit and his career was on the up again...without Motown.
Its just possible that my choice of Motown songs is just to heavily influenced by love of other peoples versions of the songs and The Jam covered Back In My Arms on B side of The Modern World, There's a ghost in my house was a staple of the 'Mod Discos' I used to go to on my Lambretta in the early 80s
I trust the dullards who were tweeting how they bought all their CDs and DVDs on Amazon because they were even cheaper than HMV have noticed that Amazon has increased the prices of CDs and DVDs in the last couple of weeks...
