Alan Blakley –Lost Without You/ Gimme Rock ‘n’ Roll/Windows are Nice

Alan Blakley –Lost Without You/ Gimme Rock ‘n’ Roll –Hans 6022 213 (1976 Belgian issue)


 Alan Blakley a man amongst poodles… as demonstrated on the wonderful Belgian pic sleeve. Following his departure from the Trems in 75 Alan (Blakley/Blakely) pursued some of the Glam moves which had been introduced into the band’s repertoire in 73/74. But on his own, things definitely got weirder. Both sides of the 76 single have a lo-fi plugged directly into the desk scratchy guitar feel. Lost without You is like a chipmunk Get It On, catchy, rockin’ but completely touched with some out there instrumentation. Gimme Rock ‘N’ Roll is in someways even better. The sound is still highly compressed, but the performance is less deranged and more overtly in Crunching Glam mode.

                             German issue on Maritim 

 Hear a full version of Lost Without You



Hear a full version of Gimme Rock ‘N’ Roll

Alan Blakley –Sorry (Lyn’s Song)/Windows Are Nice –DJM DJS 367 (1975 UK)

 From the previous year Windows Are Nice is an act of pure lunacy. Taking Roxy Music as a starting point but without a clue of its destination; we are nearly entering Billy Hamon territory here. What the hell was the man thinking? 

 Hear a full version of Windows Are Nice


 

Tykes –Let’s Dance

Tykes –Let’s Dance/Green Suzy –Philips 336 033 JF (1969 NL) 

This is one single that certainly deserves more than a quick mention during record buying spree. Let’s Dance is a moment of pure insane genius, forget Chris Montez, forget The Ramones, this is crude, raw and totally wild and delivers one of those punches from which it is difficult to recover. In fact both sides are ace; the B side shouldn’t be overlooked as it’s more than a commendable rockin’ performance again with some great guitar. Green Suzy deserved to be an A side in its own right. The Tykes hailed from Groningen (the Venice of the North…) and Let’s Dance was their third and final single. The band later morphed into Time Castle with half the band then formed Chrystal Palace. Never to be forgotten, never to be surpassed. A real treasure…

 Hear a full version of Let’s Dance

 

Hear a full version of Green Suzy

 

Utrecht Record Fair Day 3

Wow another killer single to rival Sound of Imker….The Tykes. The Dutch were completely nuts in 1969…
Anyhow a couple of dogs, but some more nice stuff. The bad news is that I have to wait another 6 months before going back
The Tykes –Let’s Dance –Complete KILLER check out the Youtube link below. Jeroen –thanks for the tip
Mr. Albert Show –King Horse –non LP, but sounded really good
Milk n’ Cookies –Little Lost and Innocent –with great German pic. So I now have the Dutch, French and this one –any other countries with pic sleeves?
Yellow Bord –Attack Attack –Hard Glam cruncher in German pic sleeve
Irish Coffee –If You Could Read My Mind. I assume this is the same band, perhaps the B side is worthwhile? We’ll see…
Steppenwolf –Ride With Me Baby. There was a bunch of at least 20 Steppenwolf singles and John Kay solo singles at € 1 each, I just picked this one, although I think I prefer the Mars Bonfire version on UNI
Syl Sylvain –Teenage News –Dutch pic sleeve
Match –boogie Man –warning this is crap, it spells Boogie as in disco, not beer guzzling fat boogie.
St. Cecelia –Leap Up And Down. Has to pick this up for the pic sleeve alone…
Fools –Sunshine Girl. Dutch Oompah Bubblegum…ooops!
Moonquake –Remember in German pic sleeve
Q65 –World of Birds with its great B side. So all in all I got 5 Q65 singles.

Utrecht Record Fair Day 2

A really good day’s hunting including one BIGGIE (see at end).
Saturday is the first day open to the public and the cafés and bars finally open. Meaning that I could lunch on the great cheese & egg rolls. I especially enjoy the thin layer of mayonnaise and the extra dimension provided by the crisp cucumber.

The haul...

Don Fardon –Don’t Do That. Ex Sorrows covering Geordie in 1974. Sounds like a pretty raucous version
Peter D. Kelly –Hard Road. Not the Vanda & Young tune as I expected
Ramma Damma.- Rammadamma –French pic sleeve. I now have the full set!
Puhdys –Hell Raiser. East German cover of Sweet and Deep Purple numbers
Garnets –Jerusalem –early pre- Indian Uprising single.
West, Bruce & Laing –The Doctor –Why Dontcha? Well I did…
Easybeats –Rock & Roll Boogie –German pic sleeve
Bonnie St. Clarie -Voulez Vous WITH I Surrender on the B side. Danish release.
Rats –Don’t Let Go –German pic sleeve

Frog –Monie Monie
Bang –Questions –French pic sleeve
Mabel –Close Your Eyes –Danish pic sleeve
Michael Stanley –Rock and Roll Man –pic sleeve
Big Boy Blue –Getting Hungry. Cracking Glam track with Barron Knight involvement
Jinx –I Saw Your Face –nice clean copy of this great BelgoGlam 2-sider
Walkers –Striptease
Maternal Joy –Ticket To The North Pole –with the great Heavy Bonehead B side: Fat
Hard Stuff –Inside Your Life. Both tracks are non-lp

Billy Hamon –Butch Things –finally found the Dutch issue of this stupendous single
Stray Dog –Chevrolet
Equals –Softly Softly. Nice condition UK Demo
Claudia Colonna –Rock ‘n Roll Woman. Looks promising and it was a gift –thanks Gipe.
Teenmakers –Mo’reen. Danish ocver of the Paul Revere and The Raiders’ track
Rattles –The Witch. On Swedish Spark. Is this the same version as the Decca version?
…and 3 more Q65 singles.

And now, without further ado…



Here’s the big one. It WASN’T at all cheap, but how could I not take the plunge?

Plus it is in perfect condition, other copies I have seen have been really rough and at the same price. A no-brainer.
For those who don’t know, check it out here
Sound of Imker from 1969.

Utrecht Record Fair Day 1

Due to work commitments, I had to cancel my usual flight from London to Amsterdam and took an overnight coach from Paris to Utrecht

Because of fog and the huge queue of passengers wanting to get on the bus, the 6am arrival in Utrecht ended up in fact being 6:50. But by 7am I had checked into my hotel and got to the fair for 7:15am. Anyhow, I had good first day at the fair. I had been meaning to limit the number of spares I pick up as I just don’t have the time and aptitude to list them all on ebay or arrange swaps, but I made some choice finds anyhow

Pic 1

Troggs –Strange Movies –French Pic sleeve

Tears –Oh La La (great Swedish Glam)

Tag –Off Down The Road. A killer single reviewed here about 5 years ago.

Diodes –Tired of Waiting Tired (an anthem for today…)

Q65 –You’re The Victor –Dutch Freakbeat at its best

Radar –Sweet Baby Sweet –Great NederGlam

Ted Mulry Gang –Jump in My Car

Chaos –Guitar Man –German pic sleeve

Flamin’ Groovies –Married Woman –first issue of French pic sleeve

Pic 2

Parklane –The Party –Dutch Hard Glam

Mock Turtle –Lady of 5^th Avenue/Rockin’ Days –UK issue for Dutch band…don’t know this one

Eddie & The Hot Rods –Writing On The Wall. My favourite Hot Rods track in its French pic sleeve.

Peacock –Rose Marie –No idea but with Jonathan King involvement

Soulful Dynamics –Mademoiselle Ninette –Overlooked Equals-like thumping Bubblegum

Silence –Mother’s Game/Devil Woman –Dutch issue of this killer Hard Rock single

Kaleidoscope –Flight from Ashiya. Classic UK popsike in Dutch pic sleeve

Bilbo Baggins –Back Home –The Bilbos cover Golden Earing wearing a German cover

Tristram Shandy –Saccharine, Sandie, Fingers N’ Thumbs/Mr Blue (I don’t think I have the A side…)

Pic 3

Skyband –Bang Ooh Ya Got Me. In its glorious plumage adorned German sleeve!

Light Fantastic –Take Me Shake Me –See pic sleeve –what can I say?

Kevin Blacklock –Ex White Cats of lush powerpop number

Pumkinhead –Holy Moses. No idea on this one. It’s from 1974 and written by Martin/coulter, so it can’t be all bad…

Honky Tonk –All The Young Dudes. Ed Welch produced cover from 1972…

Dillenger –Give It To Me Babe –overlooked UK Pop/Glam

Harpo –Teenage Queen. Classic pervy Glam from Sweden in parrot German sleeve

Heavy Cruiser –Louie Louie. On of the highlight of Bonehead Crunchers. The French single version contains the full ending which is edited out on the US version.

Roy Allison –White Stockings. Superior Pop/Glam in German pic sleeve

Limelight –I Should Have Known Better/ Tell Me Why. Two Beatle covers recorded at Rockfield in 1972. Any relation to The Knees?

Zips –Bye Bye Love. Ex Sorrows/Eggy/Renegade let loose on good B side

Now sleep and then tomorrow…Once more into the breach!

Utrecht Record Fair

OK...Here we go again. Somehow I find myself in Paris, so I am about to take an overnight coach (Hello Eurolines) for a 7 hour trip arriving at 6am in Utrecht.


Check back for a day-by -day account of finds and adventures


God, I love my life...

Ballyhoo –Rock ‘N’ Roll Party

Ballyhoo –Rock ‘N’ Roll Party/Lady Dreamer –RPM 489 (1977 South Africa)

This was the second single by South Africa’s Ballyhoo following on from their great version of Heart’s (The Dutch band, not the US lot) Lovemaker. For a single released in 1977 it still straddles a crunching Glam approach with a Rock ‘n’ Roll revival vibe. Although the tune may be a bit too sing-along for some, it still packs a pretty good punch with nifty production values. Ballyhoo later scored big in SA with Man On The Moon and appear to be still in existence today

Hear a full version of Rock And Roll Party

Moses –Watcha Gonna Do Now

Moses –Watcha Gonna Do Now/Heebner’s Blues –R.R.P Records (197? US)
Watcha Gonna Do Now is a nice n’ meaty slice of Boogie Grind with a touch of the Velvets on the merits and constraints of being a pot-head at the wheel. Apart from the Missoula location, there is not much info to be found, so the detective skills of any avid reader would be most welcome. If it helps – the distance between Lake Moses and Missoula is 303 miles and a phone number is also listed on the label –Dave...Dave? Dave? Dave’s not here!  etc…

Hear a full version of Watcha Gonna Do Now