Reinstated Sound clips

This weekend, I have replaced over 100 sound files that were previously graciously hosted by Lou of http://pop45.blogspot.com/
They are now, thanks to Lou's help, all on Divshare. I think you should now have access to over 300 sound clips or complete songs, so go back and jump head first into the archives...

Castle Farm –Hot Rod Queen

Castle Farm –Hot Rod Queen/ Jewels of Fire -EMIDISC Acetate (1972 UK)

With a title like Hot Rod Queen, it’s difficult to go wrong and this track is all you would expect it to be with a high octane delivery and exuberant performance at the crossroads of Junkshop Glam and Punk’d out Boogie. Castle Farm were from the Romford area and it appears that they only released one single (Hot Rod Queen/ Mascot) on their own Farm label. Both sides of the released single were recorded at Tangerine studios in London, but this acetate has the rampant dual guitar fuelled Jewels of Fire instead of Mascot as its B side. So the question is…is the version of Hot Rod Queen presented here the same as the A side of the released version? The released version can be found on something called Cosmorama: Blow Your Cool Vol 2. If anyone has that comp, could you please compare the tracks and get back to me with the answer –thanks!

Hear Hot Rod Queen!

Check out Jewels of Fire!

Sweeny Bean –Rock ‘N’ Roll Wedding

Sweeny Bean –Rock ‘N’ Roll Wedding/Overcoat –Sonet SON 2028 (1971 UK)
Rock ‘N’Roll Wedding is a dead simple and fun primitive Boogie workout. It reminds me of The Farm’s Fat Judy, but in a slightly tamer, less PC threatening mode. Fat Judy loses weight and gets hitched? Still the Moonshine had to be on tap all the same. I have absolutely no clue on the background for this one . I am hoping that they named themselves after the infamous Scottish Cannibal clan leader Sawney Bean (http://www.historic-uk.com/HistoryUK/Scotland-History/SawneyBean.htm ) and that some typo gremlins sneaked in somewhere, but it could just be the name of some backwater moonshine brew...

Listen to a full version of Rock ‘N’ Roll Wedding

Ant-No Road Goes Your Way

Ant-Banana Pie/ No Road Goes Your Way –Pye 7N45332 (1974 UK)
Somehow following in his dad’s footsteps, but not quite...Bygraves Junior also showed up on Pye, but musically Anthony was more tuned in to the times and didn’t require hands in quite the same manner.... His 2nd release (as by Anthony Bygraves) -Painted Lady was a fine Glam single which found its way onto Glitter From The Litter Bin, but this release was his first venture on the label. The A side Banana Pie is pure Trad Dixieland Big Band Rock ‘N’ Roll, but the B side really has something special going for it. It’s got some cool and loud Wah Wah interjections, effected camp lead vocals and a very bizarre orchestrated arrangement. The track doesn’t really know what it wants to be, but somehow would have fitted on the soundtrack of Phantom of The Paradise, if Beef had in fact been Roast Beef but slightly on the pink and underdone side...

Listen to a Full Version of No Road Goes Your Way

Clap Your Hands And Stamp Your Feet: The tracklisting

Hi all
It's been two years in the making, but the compilation that Jos De Groot and I have been preparing is about to be released (with a 52 page full colour booklet!!!).

It's coming out on Excelsior on the 20th April, and is being launched at the Utrecht Fair on Saturday 18th. I will be providing more details of the launch event soon, but there will be some way cool stuff happening there...

Anyhow here is the tracklisting, hopefully it will be the first volume in a series...

Booby Trap - Kelly, Grace & Sally

Catapult -Let Your Hair Hang Down

Lemming -Father John

Heart-Lovemaker

Dump-Annabelle

Long Tall Ernie And The Shakers -Motor Man

Amsterdam-Mary Lou

Bonnie St. Claire & Unit Gloria-Clap Your Hands And Stamp Your Feet

The Heavy Dwarfs-Moeder Natuur

Left Side -(like a) Locomotion

Black Fire-Do It

Smyle-She Means A Lot To Me

The Rockets-Rock And Roll Drummer (Part 1)

Plastic Feet-Big Blond Baby

Cardinal Point-The Grand Pretender

Melody-Stepping Stone

BZN-Sweet Silver Annie

Cherry Van Gelder-Smith-Goodbye (Guitarman)

Hank The Knife And The Jets- Guitar King

Zingara-Girl, Girl, Girl

Serpentine-Powerful Jim

Hans van Hemert-Because of the Cats

Pantherman-Pantherman

Bonnie St. Claire & Unit Gloria-The Rock Goes On

Jordan Parker Review –Ginger Bread Man

Jordan Parker Review –Ginger Bread Man/Tell Her –Sire 45-4115 (1969 US)

Ginger Bread Man is an obscure, but totally wonderful tough Bubblegum creation. It has all the obvious trappings of the genre with its instant hook, driving beat and organ break, but the performance has a real edge with snotty Jagger-like moves as well as featuring some neat rough and ready crunchy guitars. Tell Her is a sprightly uptempo number which is nearly as good as the A side so the single is a definite two-sided winner. I can’t find any info on the band, but I have been led to believe that members of the band went on to form The Hopple Street Exit, so my guess is that they were probably from the Cincinnati area...

Listen to a full version of Ginger Bread Man



Here is the background on the band. Thanks for the information!

Jordan Parker Revue was a four piece group originally made up of two sets of brothers from the Dayton , OH , area. Their first single was a UMAC production on Night Owl Records: “Man of the Hour/Mardi Ellen” writers H. Urschel (aka Jordan Parker) & Eric Smith, respectively. The band tracks for this single were recorded in 1967 at UMAC Studio, Miamisburg , OH ; however, if I recall correctly, the vocals were re-done at Chess Studios, Chicago.

Sometime in 1968 one of the brothers decided to leave the group and was replaced on drums by one of the band’s producers. There was a brief association with Calvert/Marzano, who recorded JPR at ODO Recording, NYC, but no record deal resulted. “Ginger Bread Man” (writers Urschel/Albert) on Sire Records was the groups’ second single, released in Oct. 1969, produced by Opus 65. All tracks for this record were done at Jewel Recording, Mt. Healthy, OH (there was also a mix done w/Richard Gottehrer at Bell Sound, NYC, but it is unknown if this or the Mt. Healthy mix made it on to the record).

JPR's “third” single, if you will, was an unaccredited performance on “Monday Morning Man” (Urschel/Albert) by Trudi on 20th Century Fox Records, released in 1970; this was also recorded entirely at Jewel Recording & produced by Opus 65. Actually, by this time Jordan Parker Revue had ceased to exist under that name but had been wholly absorbed into Trudi & Hopple Street Exit, a seven piece band that was formed when JPR merged with a group featuring Trudi & her husband (also one of JPR’s producers). Hopple Street became a popular local act in Dayton , OH , & there was a second Trudi & Hopple Street single (“Together/Hang on to Your Heart”) released on Counterpart Records, but by then there was only one remaining JPR member in the band.

David Alexander –Love, Love, Love

David Alexander –Love, Love, Love/ Missy –Rare Earth RES 112 (1974 UK)
Kicking off with some loud pounding drums swamped in reverb, Love, Love, Love then develops into a semi-Stonesian rocker more often than not recalling Rockmore Williams (Lady Rock). David Alexander has a strong voice with some cool snarly moves and inflections sometimes recalling Roy Loney (check out how the way he sings the word “City” –just like the Groovies’ City Lights). Both songs and production are by studio wizard Phil Cordell (Springwater / Dan The Banjo Man), but not sure which David Alexander this one is, perhaps he was the Welsh dude behind Taste The Wine on Penny Farthing that same year? A cracking song and performance in any case…

Hear a full version of Love, Love, Love

Fat Daddy –Roll Daddy Roll

Fat Daddy –Roll Daddy Roll/Help Me –Bootleg BL 262 (1976 Aus)

Fat Daddy were a Melbourne Band and big favourite on the Sharpie scene. They were known to wear face masks for live performances:

“We used to wear these grotesque masks. We were anti the whole pretty boy/satin/Sherbert thing. We wanted to be the ugliest band in the world..."(Max Wella –Top Fellas).

This is the first of two singles released on Bootleg (the other being Fat Funky Rock And Roll –which I need!!). Roll Daddy Roll is a no-nonsense-straight-ahead Boogie/Glam piece in a similar world to Buster Brown or The Angels.
The band consisted of Max Vella, Mick Stillo, Tony Catz and Carl Stanley. They later merged with Ken Murdoch (Ex Taste; also on the Bootleg label) and became Texas. Texas were pretty big on the live scene from 1976-79 and released 4 singles and an album in a rockin’ bluesy ZZ Top style.

Hear a full version of Roll Daddy Roll

Booby Trap –Kelly, Grace and Sally

Booby Trap –Kelly, Grace and Sally/ The Hooker –Ariola 13 336 (1974 NL)

If it wasn’t for the that fact that Booby Trap appeared for about 30 seconds on Van Oekel’s Discohoek (a zany Dutch TV-show back then), then we wouldn’t even have known of Booby Trap’s existence in the first place! Bass guitarist Albert Schierbeek was a sound engineer and later guitarist with Dutch rock-legends The Bintangs (his brother Harry played drums with them all through the seventies). Fronted by the fine voice and Jagger-like aesthetics of vocalist Jan Rijbroek, Kelly, Grace and Kelly sports a very snappy and catchy Sweet- like tune with ancillary handclaps and ample guitar-riffage. While Jan Rijbroek seems to extol the merits of a ménage a trois on the A side, the B side finds him imploring his girlfriend not to go on the game! The Hooker features a mean slide guitar riff and falls somewhere between The Flamin' Groovies’ Slow Death and Shot In The Head (Haffy’s Whiskey Sour/ Savoy Brown) albeit in a more poppy vein.

Note: Kelly, Grace and Sally is the opening track on the compilation “Clap Your Hands And Stamp Your Feet” to be released on the 20th of April on Excelsior -more details and full track listing soon!!!

Hear an edit of Kelly, Grace and Sally and The Hooker.

Kenny Pickett –Got A Gun

Kenny Pickett –Got A Gun/ Same –Fbeat PRO 2 (1980 UK)

Recorded around the time when ex Creation members Kenny Pickett and Eddie Philips contributed the great Teacher Teacher on Rockpile's Seconds Of Pleasure LP. It seems that this promo only release was the only other opportunity they got on Fbeat. Kenny wrote the lyrics, Eddie wrapped the tune around the words and the results recall Brotherly Love’s Public Enemy No 1 with a bit of the chorus of Sweet’s Alexander Graham Bell thrown in. The sound is part Glam, part Powerpop and part late 70s Squeeze. It’s just a shame that Kenny and Eddie weren’t able to exploit the semi-success of Teacher Teacher with more tunes like this one as Got A Gun proves they had more to offer in a Powerpop Glam crossover mode.

Hear a full version version of Got A Gun here:

Cut Loose: The Stud Leather story

Cut Loose: The Stud Leather story

Cut Loose is undeniably one of the most amazing timeless punked-out singles ever released. The fact that I have up to now posted two reviews on this amazing single, at least shows how much I care about this particular monster, but I know that I am not alone in my obsession and many of you share my enthusiasm for this fab slab of plastic.

Recently Roger Cook (who sang and co-wrote the track) got in touch and now for the first time here is the story behind this Killermost of all killer singles .

The band was formed in 1972 when Roger Cook met Alan Kirkham at IPC Magazines in London. Roger was a writer and Alan was an Art Editor.The band’s formation had a slightly different aim from what Cut Loose could lend us to believe:

Roger: Basically I'd always fancied myself as a songwriter and Kirkham and I started out writing stuff more like “Yes…during their Fragile period", which was a long distance from the way we eventually ended up sounding. We would write 7 minute singles but I thought that these were never going to get played…

The line up was Roger Cook on lead vocals, Alan Kirkham on guitar, Hayden Gridley bass, Johnny Aldrich on drums and Dickie Graves on backing vocals. Dickie seems to have been quite a character:

Roger: Dickie was a talented and eccentric individual who I recruited while he was dancing on a table in a HABITAT!!! We used to drive my Trans Am down his street in St Mary's Cray with him sitting on the bonnet dressed up as a robot. We both needed attention-from an audience-and probably medically as well…

Q: What were you trying to do with Cut Loose?

Roger: I just wanted to do something which was the total opposite of cerebral. I was (and still am) one of the most optimistic people I know. I just wanted to rant, explode with enthusiasm and throw in some Dr. Hook for good measure because I had just seen them in concert and was smitten.

Q: How did the track come about?

Roger: Let's just do a 12 bar in E!" said I and I wrote it in my bathroom. Kirkham figured out the guitar. Graves chipped in with parts of the chorus. The drumming (which actually makes the track work) all came from Johnny who had had some fame with a group called the Wranglers (Got onto Top of the Pops but nothing came of 'em) He also worked at IPC as an artist.

To my ears, Cut Loose not only sounds deranged, but also sounds more than just a tad drug fuelled…

Roger: It was just pure enthusiasm....we didn't think about anything.....The explosion at the end is a hand grenade sound effect supplied by De Lane Lea where the track was recorded in Soho."

Hear Cut Loose here:

Q: How did you end up getting signed?

Roger: I got some encouragement from Micky Most at RAK but he thought we were just loud and proud. Eventually someone recommended Clive Stanhope at DART. He loved Cut Loose straight out of the box and put it out. Tony Blackburn played it, Fluff Freeman supported it.

We were never told where Cut Loose was released. I had no idea it was released in Germany or Japan for example. We learned many years after the event that it had been a success in France with the dance crowd. We never received a penny in any royalties...

Q: What happened after Cut Loose?

Roger: The band broke up immediately after Cut Loose and I released a DART single under my own name Roger Noel Cook called Slick Go-Getter. Slick Go-Getter was really something I wrote to sum up what an ego-tistic fellow I had become...Jonathan King liked Slick Go-Getter and I now know why...it was gay!

To these ears Slick Go-Getter is an enjoyable upbeat number, reminding me of West Coast 60s Dunhill style Folk Rock with “swinging” London lyrics.

Hear Slick Go-Getter here:

I’ll let Roger fill everyone in with what happened next, it is quite the tale…

Roger: The reason the band was doomed from the outset was I had already become financially very successful by age of 21. I already had an E-type (which I mentioned in Slick Go-Getter). I was a successful writer (Tom & Jerry and Dr.Who if you can believe it) I'd sold a pop poster concept to IPC. I had a leather clothing company called FORESKIN LTD and Warner Bros asked me to be the youngest ever CEO of their Publishing Division when I was 24. Basically I was doing better than any of the guys topping the charts and I could see much more moola coming my way. It was music or money. I chose the latter but my music days were to return. Here's how:

I became one of the Producers ( along with Paul Raymond and Adam Cole) of the massively successful ELECTRIC BLUE soft porn series which is in fact the best selling video series of all time. One of my inputs as Producer was I had to write and record all of the dozens of rock songs which appeared on the ELECTRIC BLUE soundtracks. To date there are 200,000,000 ELECTRIC BLUE tapes and CDs in global circulation so effectively I have sold more units of my music than the other (more famous) Roger Cook and (I'm told) more than Michael Jackson by quite a margin.

I formed a recording band called BROADSWORD to cut ELECTRIC BLUE-THE MUSIC...and another band called CROSSFIRE to cut OUT OF THE BLUE...the rock tracks from those compilations are still played on the PLAYBOY channel in the States and have been for the last 28 years...amazing really...Finally ELECTRIC BLUE-THE MOVIE was released in cinemas around 1980-ish and was a big success in the West End and I performed a number in the movie called BROOKLYN BARS...I Can't find a copy of the movie...It was released alongside our regular monthly ELECTRIC BLUE releases on video but I haven't spotted a copy any where...Pornsters tend to keep their stuff!

Er...that's it...born poor....got punked...got porned...ended up rich...Doncha love Life?

Thanks a million to Roger for telling the Cut Loose story and its aftermath!

Here’s a recent photo of Roger Cook in his Villa in Spain.

Whistle –When The Lights Go Out On Broadway

Whistle –When The Lights Go Out On Broadway/Lincoln Lullabies –York YR 209 (1974 UK)

This is the elusive 2nd single by Whistle on the York label. It’s perhaps not quite as endearing as The Party Must Be Over (see review May 12th 2008) but it’s an altogether more ambitious arrangement featuring orchestral stabs and strings over a full fronted guitar driven attack very much in the mould of a Bob Ezrin production from the period. The track shares a similar drawn out intro to their first single and rocks out, but the chorus doesn’t quite have the same sing-along effect as the chord sequence is quite monotonous throughout.

Hear a full version of When The Lights Go Out On Broadway

Renegade –My Revolution

Renegade –A Little Rock ‘N’ Roll/ My Revolution –Dawn DNS 1067 (1974 UK)

A Tremendous Stompin’ Chompin’ Monster –My Revolution just guzzles all and sundry along its hungry path. The actual A side is pretty hot too, taken at a higher velocity, it sports a mean pair of cutting lead guitars. No surprise here as the guitar-men in question are Pip Witcher and Roger Lomas (EX –The Eggy/ Sorrows and future Zips members).

My Revolution was comped on Glitter From The Litter Bin many moons ago…

As an ongoing dubious marketing exercise, this is a spare copy that is about to go up on ebay! Well I hadn’t covered it here so far –had I?

Hear edits of My Revolution and A Little Rock 'N' Roll

Singles Up on Ebay

Hi

Over the next few weeks I am putting up some spare singles on ebay including some real heavies such as Paul St. John, Bubbles, Spunky Spider and tons more...Also this fabulous German Groovies Slow Death Pic sleeve is already up

Keep checking back and click on the link

http://search.ebay.co.uk/_W0QQsassZpurepop1uk

This will help to finance another trip to Utrecht and allow me to buy more singles now that the pound has parity with the Euro, so don't hold back!

Zakatek –I Gotcha Now

of

Zakatek –I Gotcha Now/So Good To You –Bell 1289 (1973 UK)

Zakatek is in fact Lenny Zakatek who later became lead singer with Gonzalez. Here he is as discovered by Linsey De Paul and Dudley Moore!!!! Linsey wrote and produced I Gotcha Now and it features her usual stomping piano motif along with some nice heavy Fuzz, Lenny’s vocals then enter the fray in sand paper mode, before the baroque cellos hit the scene and the track turns into some form of Eurovision version of I Am The Walrus. By the end it sounds like they have a prominent Harmonium part playing bass notes with some surprising oscillating effects on top. Psychedelic Groovy fuzzed-out Glam heaven?..Nearly!

Click on title for a full version of I Gotcha Now

Sylvester’s Juke Box –Juke Box/Guess It’s Because

Sylvester’s Juke Box –Juke Box/Guess It’s Because –CBS 8419 (1973 UK)

Continuing our unofficial series of “records that sound just like The Kinks”, I present to you as evidence the B side of this single. Apart from the Scandinavian slant of the vocals, the illusion of late 60s Kinks is perfect and a great companion piece to Bone’s Everybody’s Gone Into April (December 16th 2008 posting).
Sylvester’s Juke Box is in fact an off-shoot project by the mighty Kim Larsen from the mighty Danish Rock kings GASOLIN! If anything, be sure to check out Rabalderstraede (AKA What A lemon), for a pillaging -no- mercy-shown-Viking take on Hanky Panky!!!. Juke Box is a strange choice for an A side as it’s a melodic semi-instrumental with a nice 12 string acoustic theme. The drums and backing vocals kick in just at the right time and it ends up being pretty hooky affair in its own right.

Click on title for an edit of Guess it’s Because and Juke Box

The Sad –It Ain’t Easy

The Sad –It Ain’t Easy/Box –Phoenix Nix 124 (1972 UK)

Words fail me when it comes this little baby. Hearing is believing; so make sure you check out the lyrics and play it all the way through. It Ain’t Easy got some airplay at the time, but remains a complete mystery to this day. I was wondering if there could have been an Italian connection as it came out on Odeon in Italy and one of the writers must have been Italian (G. Uccillino), however it is a Phoenix production so it looks like a UK job. Enjoy!

Thanks to Bob at http://www.7tt77.co.uk/ for turning me on to this release in the first place and to Jon for finally securing me a copy.

Thanks to Drummer Stuart for this great 1972 pic of the band
The Sad are, (from left to right): Giorgio Uccellini ( lead vocals, sax, keyboards & flute) Terry Brown (bass guitar) Stuart Wilson ( drums, vocals & percussion) Marco Uccellini (lead guitar & vocals)

Click on title for a full version of It Ain’t Easy

Dynasty –Tutankhamun

Dynasty –Tutankhamun/Let’s Boogie –Phoenix NIX 134 (1972 UK)

Phoenix was a strange label; home to Spunky Spider, the label also released singles by beat artists beyond their sell by dates (The Fourmost in 1972, Helen Shapiro…), mainstream folk (Weavers Green) and oddball one-offs, such as this one.
Part novelty cash-in to the 1972 London Tutankhamun Exhibition, part Groover –psych, part Boris Pickett/ Mighty ‘Em with a dash of Rockabilly slap-back delayed vocals – (is that Carl Simmons?); Tutankhamun has quite a long running time and could easily send you into a trance (with or without psychotropics).The single was released in a picture sleeve, but in any case was cursed to failure…

If you thought this Phoenix single was weird, wait until our next instalment of the Phoenix saga where we really put the Q into quirky….

Click on title for a full version of Tutankhamun

Mucky Duck –Psycho’s On The Run

Mucky Duck –Jefferson/ Psycho’s On The Run – Deram DM 314 (1970 UK)

Stashed on the B side of a weak Gallagher & Lyle tune, you can find this nifty little rocker. Although it doesn’t quite live up to its title, it sports a cool guitar hook and rocks along at good speed with fun lyrics. Sometimes it’s hard to categorise some of these singles. This track is neither totally Boogie, Glam, Bubblegum or Freakbeat, but it carries elements of all those genres. I guess “early 70s rock with an edge” will have to suffice. Great band name anyhow…I wonder if they were related to Spunky Spider?

Click on title for a full version of Psycho’s On The Run

Dazzle –Jim’ll Fix It

Dazzle –Jim’ll Fix It/Leave It Up To Jim –DJM DJS.384 (1975 UK)

God, I don’t remember the theme tune to Sir Jimmy Saville’s show rocking quite this hard, but perhaps some of you could confirm if this was the original theme as heard at tea time on Saturdays? This is a pretty raucous and punked out affair anyhow with some storming guitar. At some point this version got replaced by a more anodyne version, which featured a nice line in sub-Pet Sounds Wouldn’t It Be Nice-style vocalisations.

Click on title for a full version of Jim’ll Fix It

Dancer –Hate Generator

Dancer –Hate Generator/Love Seeds –Dawn DNS.1118 (1975 UK)

Come within for a dose of absurd Junkshop Bowie-ness . Hate Generator is pure ersatz Bowie much in the same vein as The Tigers On Vaseline. The vocals are just as weird and a real hoot, but the chorus is great and the analogue keyboards are pretty groovy too. The production and arrangement give the track an extra over-blown feel and the result is a totally bonkers tour-de-force...I couldn’t find any information on Paul Davies Holt who wrote and probably sang both sides or if he recorded anything else.

Click on title for a full version of Hate Generator

Peter Nelson –Good Scotch Whisky

Peter Nelson –Good Scotch Whisky/I Am A Ship –Peacock PEA 502 (1972 UK)

Time to dull your conscience with some Good Scotch Whisky... This is one of two solo singles released on Peacock by this ex Flower Pot Men and White Plains member. Good Scotch Whisky is a moody tale and a real atmospheric number helped no end by the murky production, cavernous toms and underlying fuzz guitar. There is a Peter Nelson who is currently Chairman of the distilling industry training committee, but sadly it’s not the same guy as our Peter Nelson passed away 3 years ago.

Click on title for a full version of Good Scotch Whisky

Oh and a happy New Year to all...Much more coming soon including: Cut Loose -The Stud Leather story, more on the Nederglam comp "Clap Your Hands And Stamp Your Feet" plus tons more reviews and sound clips.

The Garnets –Go Leila

The Garnets –Go Leila/ Go Leila (Choir Version)-Prom 6.11895 (1976 Belgium)

Go Leila is another fine piece of Mutant Euro Pop by these Flemish masters. It’s once again written (but not produced this time) by J. Vincent Edwards. It’s a fine follow up to Indian Uprising and Daddy’s Coming Home, but with added drama and a certain Michel Strogoff feel. This is especially true of its B side that sounds like it’s sung by the full Red Army Choir to quite an amazing effect. God knows what they were thinking of…The single was produced by Sylvain Vanholmen who also produced that great Paul Cass single Mini Marianne. It looks like The Garnets actually recut Go Leila in the mid 80s, but I can’t confirm if it is a Balalaika version or not…

Click on title for full versions of Go Leila AND Go Leila (Choir version) Over 6 minutes playing time!

Loco –At The Local Dance

Loco-At The Local Dance/The Man –BUK 0612457-0 (1975 German Issue)

With the word Local in the title you could forgiven to expect some form of Wurzel-like hay-making clog dancer, but I am pleased to report that At The Local Dance is an uptempo Glam Rocker with a nice chord change and probably the LOUDEST HEYs ever cut to disc. The tracks were written and produced by Steve Fearn who…er...wrote the B side of Wurzel Rap!!!! So there is a country bumpkin link!!!. Loco were probably from Leicester and the single came out on BASF in the UK.

Click on title for a full version of At The Local Dance

Flanelcat –Yer Big Girl’s Blouse

Flanelcat –Yer Big Girl’s Blouse/Rub-A-Tommy –UK Records –UK33 (1973 UK)

Obscure and wonderfully bizarre concoction released on Jonathan King’s UK imprint, but surprisingly, JK had no involvement in its creation as he simply bought it in via a licensing deal. It certainly fits in with some of the weirder JK B sides as it sounds like a real homage with its barrelhouse –where’s-my-wallet-beat nailed down by ample stomping and banging; recalling a Boot Boy Handful of Cheek with added rallying Oi chants.

Click on title for a full version of Yer Big Girl’s Blouse

The Bone –Everybody’s Gone Into April

The Bone –It's An Easy Thing/ Everybody’s Gone Into April -PoisonRing Records PPR 712 (1970 US)

And here’s another great Greg Shaw discovery from 35+ years ago! It’s a driving Powerhouse Pop track sounding very much like some unreleased late 60s Kinks track. It’s a great tune in its own right, but they just had to have been huge Kinks fans as it resonates pure Kinkdom and the vocals are effectively channeling Ray Davies. The A side is not quite as marvelous, still close to the Kinks; it adds a Vaudevillian feel to the proceedings. The Bone were from Massachusetts and this single was released on Connecticut’s Poison Ring Records. It appears that some members then moved on to form The Tweeds.

Click on title for a full version of Everybody’s Gone Into April

The Reactions –Summertime Rock ‘N’ Roll

The Reactions –Summertime Rock ‘N’ Roll/Liberty –Vogue 45.x.12127 (1975 France)
Just as we are freezing our toes off, please accept into your life some Summertime Sub Bolan Bubblegum Boogie …Summertime Rock ‘N’ Roll is basically a severe case of “I got a chorus and I ain’t afraid to use it”. It’s so repetitive, it makes Frost’s Rock ’N’ Roll Music sound like Bohemian Rhapsody! It’s a damn catchy tune featuring a rather curious yet fetching chord progression. Half way through its short run time, the beat also doubles up to great effect. The Reactions were a French affair (Lalanne, Foscolo and Meyer as writers), but it was recorded at Trident Studios in London and mixed at Sigma Sound in Philadelphia. The B side is basically an abridged and dressed down Tubular Bells coming in at under 3 minutes. A definite improvement in my book!

Click on title for a full version of Summertime Rock ‘N’ Roll

Tigers on Vaseline –The John Scene

Tigers on Vaseline –The John Scene/ What My Hairdo –Philips 6012353 (1973 NL)

The John Scene is the 2nd second single the Tigers released on Philips and it’s fine slice of open minded Glam, not of the crunching variety, but really special all the same. If you look beyond the obvious Bowie references, you may be reminded of Willie Nile or even Rodriguez (Sugar Man) albeit with a strong and strange Euro slant. The production by Boudewijn de Groot (who also plays guitar) is bright, full and inspirational helping to make this diamond really shine. The B side What My Hairdo is plainly bizarre and is worth either one line or a whole thesis. Tigers on Vaseline then shortened their name to Tiger and released one further single on Philips - Hot Amsterdam before splitting.

The John Scene is NOT included on the forthcoming NederGlam comp “Clap Your Hands And Stamp Your Feet”, watch this space for official news soon.

Click on title for a full version of The John Scene