Louie Louie

 

Cover version of the month #106
The Kingsmen cover Louie Louie by Richard Berry and The Pharaohs

I recently watched the magnificent 24-Hour Party People film for the first time in ages. Steve Coogan is outstanding as Tony Wilson (with a little dash of Partridge) while the formation of Factory Records, development of Joy Division, Ian Curtis' suicide, opening and mismanagement of the Hacienda, reliance/total piss-take on New Order's money and chaos of the Happy Mondays are portrayed with the right levels of honesty, empathy, bemusement and humour.

In the film, local punk fan Jon the Postman regularly gets up at the end of gigs to sing the evergreen garage band anthem Louie Louie, determined to keep the party going and sing his favourite song. Jon would go on to form a band and often guest with others. This led to him appearing with The Fall on Live 1977 album singing a ramshackle version. 

Louie Louie is a song I most definitely heard for the first time in McChuills. It was, and still is, regularly played by Old Nick in the bar. Probably by most DJ's at some point as well!

Covered by well over 1,000 bands/artists, including The Sonics, Iggy Pop, Motorhead and The Clash, I was convinced that the original was by The Kingsmen, as that was the version referenced by the bands and in the numerous articles I had read over the decades. However, it turns out that a guy called Richard Berry wrote and recorded the song with his band The Pharaohs back in 1955.

I'd never heard the original until I started researching the song for this blog. On first listen, I have to admit to finding it pretty uninspiring. I guess I'm used to the rawness of The Kingsmen and The Sonics, while The Pharaohs version is slower and smoother.

But the laid-back groove did grab me on second listen. It is undeniably catchy, allegedly inspired by Latin rhythms, particularly René Touzet’s El Loco Cha Cha. Berry crafted a story about a sailor longing for his love while stranded on a foreign shore. 

The story of the song, author, rights, publishing and ownership are quite something! There is a book in there for someone! A few google searches will direct you to some cracking articles.

By the mid-80's Berry was living on welfare and then the drinks company California Cooler used the song in a commercial. Despite the fact Berry had sold the rights to the song almost immediately after writing it, he still owned the radio and TV performance rights. He became a millionaire!

Richard Berry & The Pharaohs version

Lets travel back to 1963 though, when a young band from Portland, Oregon, called The Kingsmen took a raw, raucous approach to Louie Louie, generating immediate ripples and recording something so important that it has left a permanent mark on guitar music, stamping their name into rock history. 

This could well be the most important cover version of all-time.

Apparently The Kingsmen played a 90-minute version at a teen club the night before recording. Can you imagine if that was unearthed?! What I find remarkable is how they create such a dirty sound when they look so clean cut! 

Louie Louie by The Kingsmen is gloriously messy—recorded in one take with a distorted, almost unintelligible vocal from singer Jack Ely, who had to stand awkwardly to sing into a microphone hanging from the ceiling (they were essentially recording in a radio studio), resulting in a primal energy that would define garage guitar music for generations. It's so pure and real that it is completely timeless.

Beginning with an organ riff, everything else falls in behind and the energy grabs you immediately as Ely goes straight to the chorus, his words tumbling and stumbling into each other as he flies through the you take me to where you gotta go in double quick time.

Louie, Louie, oh no, you take me to where you gotta go

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah baby

Louie, Louie, take me to where you gotta go

Ely is like the original Julian Casablancas of The Strokes. Sounding like he is making it up as he goes along, a detached cool don't give a f**k attitude. You can just about make out what he is saying, although the lyrics would be the subject of much debate among teenagers in America who would speculate and write their own on pieces of paper and pass them round. Amazingly, and brilliantly, this led to the FBI were investigating the song! Lets just say that the lyrics that kids were passing around were not exactly clean! Rock n roll!

A fine little girl, she waits for me

Me catch a ship across the sea

Me sailed that ship all alone

Me never think I'll make it home

After a second chorus there is an audible shout of fuck from someone somewhere (believed to be the drummer)  on the recording and Ely continues to tell his tale of sailing across the seas to his girl.

Following the second verse and another chorus, Ely screams OK, lets give it to 'em right now leading to an outstanding 30-second guitar solo over the simple and sublime organ riff. It is electrifying! The Kingsmen are in the zone, lost in the moment and no matter how many times you listen, they draw you in with them.

There is a false start before the next verse, beautifully covered with a beautiful roll by drummer Lynn Easton (my wife's name!) and then they go into it for real. This just adds to the cool, raw, unpolished, urgent vibe. The energy. You can't teach this. You can't produce this or arrange it. If you're lucky, you might capture it.

Louie Louie by The Kingsmen got off to a slow start, just 1,000 copies were initially pressed by Jerden Records, then it got picked up by a larger label, Wand Records. Remarkably, things picked up after a DJ played it as his worst record of the week! 

Sometimes, the best songs are the simplest ones, built on passion rather than perfection. The infectious energy created from Louie Louie is still being felt today. It's a classic three-chord wonder that has been covered by everyone from The Sonics to Iggy Pop, The Beach Boys to Otis Redding, The Kinks to The Clash. 

The Richard Berry original and the landmark cover version by The Kingsmen of Louie Louie are added to my Everything Flows Cool Cover Versions playlist on Spotify which also features all of the songs listed below. Search for the title or CLICK HERE

Richard Berry original

The Kingsmen version

Previous covers of the month blogs

1. You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin' 

2. Going Back To My Roots

3. Nirvana play The Vaselines

4. Slip Inside This House

5. Top 10 covers by Teenage Fanclub

6. Only Love Can Break Your Heart

7. Time For Livin' 

8. Sound and Vision 

9. All Along The Watchtower

10. I Am The Walrus 

11. Guiding Star

12. You’ll Never Walk Alone

13. Hurt

14. This Guy's In Love With You

15. I Wish I Never Saw The Sunshine

16. California Soul

18. Wonder wall 

19. Dancing In The Dark

20. Always On My Mind

21. Ceremony

22. Heroes

23. Different Drum

24. Wild Horses

25. Respect

26. Mr Tambourine Man

27. I Heard It Through The Grapevine

28. Superstar

29. Twist and Shout

30. Purple Rain

31. Baker Street

32. Not Fade Away

33. Stop Your Sobbing

34. I Don't Want To Grow Up

35. Serious Drugs

36. Dancing With Myself

37. How Does It Feel To Feel?

38. Love Buzz

39. ABBA-esque
40. Jumpin' Jack Flash

41. Discoland

42. Varshons 2 by The Lemonheads

43. The Langley Schools Music Project
44. Witchi Tai To
45. Our Lips Are Sealed
46. Sunshine Of Your Love
47. Here Comes The Sun
48. I Think We're Alone Now
49. Don't Let Me Down 
50. It's Oh So Quiet
51. Alcoholiday 
52. Summer Holiday
53. Who Do You Think You Are?
54. Head On
55. Nothing Compares 2 U

56. Hey Jude

57. Seven Days Too Long

58. L.O.V.E Love

59. Into Your Arms

60. Heart Of Glass

61. Take Me To The River

62. We Can Work It Out 

63. Talking In My Sleep

64. Lola

65. Lost In Music

66. My Little Red Book

67. Isn't It A Pity

68. Walk On By

69. Walk Away Renee

70. Tainted Love

71. Girls Just Wanna Have Fun

72. Listen The Snow Is Falling

73. Mrs Robinson

74. He's Gonna Step On You Again

75. In My Life

76. Caravan Of Love

77. The Only Way Is Up

78. Dancin' Round & Round

79. With A Little Help From My Friends

80. Killing Me Softly

81. Ain't No Mountain High Enough

82. Drop

83. Sittin' On The Dock Of The Bay

84. Sympathy For The Devil

85. I Bet That You Look Good On The Dancefloor

86. Love Will Tear Us Apart

87. Indian Rope Man + bonus Strawberry Fields Forever + This Wheels On Fire

88. Can't Take My Eyes Off Of You

89. Love The One You're With

90. Cum On Feel The Noize

91. Addicted To Love

92. Valerie

93. Ride On Time

94. Let's Dance

95. It Must Be Love

96. I Fought The Law

97. For What It's Worth

98. Do Your Thing

99. I Just Don't Know What To Do With Myself

100. Don't Leave Me This Way

101. Shout!

102. God Only Knows

103. The Last Time

104. Bridge Over Troubled Water

105. How Can You Mend A Broken Heart

Lola

Cover version of the month #64

The Raincoats cover The Kinks

Lola by The Kinks is a magnificent example of Ray Davies songwriting skills. There is a story full of humour, delivered with a dash of mischief. You can imagine Davies smiling with a gleam in his eye as he wrote the song.

The playfulness in the lyrics is there from the off, warm chords turn to a finger picked riff and Ray introduces us to the setting of where he met Lola, cheekily and a little outrageously spelling out cola in the first verse. It's so cool, so simple yet so clever, and so effective - you're hooked immediately.

I met her in a club down in old Soho

Where you drink champagne and it tastes just like cherry cola

C-O-L-A, cola

Davies doesn't let up, the song flows easily with his humour spilling into every verse, almost every line. There is some exaggeration as he tells the story of meeting Lola who has a deep voice who nearly breaks his spine when she squeezes him.

The fourth verse is just hilarious, leading to an even funnier break where Davies introduces the imagery of Lola picking him up and sitting him on 'her' knee.

I'm not dumb but I can't understand

Why she walked like a woman but talked like a man

Ray Davies is in sensational form, in his element as he continues his tale. My favourite section is probably the flowing break where he sings;

Girls will be boys and boys will be girls

It's a mixed up, muddled up, shook up world, except for Lola

Davies continues his tale to conclusion;

Well I'm not the worlds most masculine man

But I know what I am and I'm glad I'm a man

And so is Lola

La-la-la-la Lola

Lola was released in 1970, a full 2-years before Lou Reed's Walk On The Wild Side opened with Holly plucking her eyebrows and shaving her legs and then he was a she. I would have put money on Lou's song being released first.

This is just genius songwriting, an artist completely in the zone. The inspiration for Lola has generated a few stories down the years, but regardless of whether it was a band member or Davies himself, the result is undeniable - a story beautifully, hilariously and vividly told via the form of pop music, full of a vibrant energy, Davies sounds excited by his tale, excited by the song.

How on earth do you cover it?

What an amazing picture! Couldn't find a credit but how cool

do The Raincoats look? Like a real gang!

Well, in 1979 the punk band The Raincoats decided to cover it on their eponymous debut album. The brilliant picture above is how I imagine the song being played, the band close together, bashing it out and having fun. The Raincoats formed around Art School and the London squat scene in 1977, with Ana da Silva and Gina Birch as the central members.

The difference is quite staggering, a band feeling their way through the song. The zip and confidence that shines through The Kinks original is replaced by a young band sounding extremely raw, yet still managing to put their own twist on it.

Ana knew a couple of chords and I could sing along with a few hymns and rock n roll tunes - Gina Birch, The Raincoats

I definitely prefer the original version, but there is something I admire and love about The Raincoats version. The beats sound almost primitive at the beginning, the vocals start very deadpan before lifting in the second verse, then lifting further in the third verse when harmonies kick in. 

At times the band sound like they aren't sure what the chords are, then at times the band flow as they all sing and inject urgency into their version. I believe one of the main reasons that so many punk records have stood the test of time is precisely because a lot of the bands were far from technically great, but the rawness in terms of musical ability and production, matched with passion, creativity and energy created magic.

Well I left home just a week before

And I'd never, ever kissed a woman before

Lola smiled and took me by the hand

And said little boy I'm going to make you a man

I would have seen The Raincoats in 1994 supporting Nirvana at the SECC in Glasgow. Kurt Cobain was a huge fan. Sadly the show never happened. Kurt's love of The Raincoats, The Vaselines, The Meat Puppets and even the likes of Daniel Johnston helped propel these artists to worldwide audiences. Cover versions, t-shirts in pictures and regular mentions in interviews.

Cobain visited Da Silva in the antique shop she worked in while he was in London in 1992, asking her if she could replace his worn out version of their debut album. 

When I listen to The Raincoats I feel as if I'm a stowaway in an attic, violating and in the dark. Rather than listening to them, I feel like I'm listening in on them. We're together in the same old house and I have to be completely still or they will hear me spying from above and, if I get caught - everything will be ruined because it's their thing. They're playing music for themselves.

Kurt Cobain, extract from the liner notes to the reissue of The Raincoats debut album

The Kinks original version + live version

The Raincoats version

Click here (or search for) Everything Flows cool cover versions on Spotify for a playlist of the covers I have blogged about and read on for a full list and links to previous cover of the month blogs. 

Previous covers of the month

1. You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin' 

2. Going Back To My Roots

3. Nirvana play The Vaselines

4. Slip Inside This House

5. Top 10 covers by Teenage Fanclub

6. Only Love Can Break Your Heart

7. Time For Livin' 

8. Sound and Vision 

9. All Along The Watchtower

10. I Am The Walrus 

11. Guiding Star

12. You’ll Never Walk Alone

13. Hurt

14. This Guy's In Love With You

15. I Wish I Never Saw The Sunshine

16. California Soul

18. Wonder wall 

19. Dancing In The Dark

20. Always On My Mind

21. Ceremony

22. Heroes

23. Different Drum

24. Wild Horses

25. Respect

26. Mr Tambourine Man

27. I Heard It Through The Grapevine

28. Superstar

29. Twist and Shout

30. Purple Rain

31. Baker Street

32. Not Fade Away

33. Stop Your Sobbing

34. I Don't Want To Grow Up

35. Serious Drugs

36. Dancing With Myself

37. How Does It Feel To Feel?

38. Love Buzz

39. ABBA-esque
40. Jumpin' Jack Flash

41. Discoland

42. Varshons 2 by The Lemonheads

43. The Langley Schools Music Project
44. Witchi Tai To
45. Our Lips Are Sealed
46. Sunshine Of Your Love
47. Here Comes The Sun
48. I Think We're Alone Now
49. Don't Let Me Down 
50. It's Oh So Quiet
51. Alcoholiday 
52. Summer Holiday
53. Who Do You Think You Are?
54. Head On
55. Nothing Compares 2 U

56. Hey Jude

57. Seven Days Too Long

58. L.O.V.E Love

59. Into Your Arms

60. Heart Of Glass

61. Take Me To The River

62. We Can Work It Out 

63. Talking In My Sleep

How Does It Feel To Feel

Ride formed in 1988 when four teenagers met through two different art colleges in Oxford. Andy Bell, Mark Gardner, Loz Colbert and Steve Queralt kind of knew each other but came together to form Ride and they quickly made their mark by self-recording and producing a demo tape with the songs Chelsea Girl and Drive Blind.

Ride looked, sounded and acted like a real band. Bell was a huge fan of independent guitar music and their demos quickly got into the hands of people like Jim Reid from the Marychain and word got out that they wanted to sign to Creation Records. The full story behind this and their subsequent rise to indie fame is brilliantly documented in the Creation book My Magpie Eyes Are Hungry For The Prize.

Their early EP's thrilled music fans across the country, Ride then delivered a brilliant debut LP in the shape of Nowhere in 1990, following it swiftly with Going Blank Again in 1992. Both contained seminal tracks like Vapour Trail and Leave Them All Behind. Their sound was psychedelic with vocals lost in the mix of guitars at times, their performances led to NME and Melody Maker labelling them (and other bands) shoegazing.

Ride's Carnival Of Light album then came out in 1994. I loved it and remember watching their Glastonbury set live on the BBC and marveling at the way they looked and sounded. They sounded fresh, the guitars had been stripped back a little, the vocals were clearer and they seemed to be developing as songwriters. Little did I know that there was quite a bit of internal conflict between the band with Mark Gardner having all his songs on side 1 and Andy Bell taking side 2.

Side 2 also contained a cover - How Does It Feel To Feel? by the band The Creation (who the label was named after). The opening of guitars feeding back over a beat captivated me as an 18-year old and I still feel the sense of energy and urgency now.

It is a glorious noisy and psychedelic mess for 3-minutes and 45 seconds. Gardner and Bell's voices combine brilliantly to ask a series of questions through the verses before most important question becomes a the chorus.

How does it feel when you slide down a sunbeam

How does it feel bursting clouds on your way

How does it feel that the night is over

How does it feel never to sleep again

How does it feel to feel

How does it feel to feel

Ride's version is very true to the original. The feedback that 60's beat bands were discovering and exploring (notaby through the commercial success of The Who and The Kinks) is key to the energy of the song. It is garage psychedelic pop brilliance and Ride cover it beautifully.

Stop Your Sobbing

Cover version of the month #33

The Pretenders cover The Kinks

Last month Gerry Love from Teenage Fanclub posted a link to The Kinks song Stop Your Sobbing. I checked it out immediately as I always thought it was an original song by The Pretenders.

So this is yet another cover version of the month blog about a song I have learned something about - not only that it was indeed originally written and recorded by The Kinks, but that Chrissie Hynde from The Pretenders ended up dating Ray Davies and having a kid with him. Has any other cover version led to that?!

In actual fact the song originally appeared away back on The Kinks debut album Kinks in 1964. Quite why this gem never appeared on any of The Kinks compilations I bought when I was younger is a mystery - then again, they are not short of songs to choose from!

And it really is a gem. In a little over 2-minutes The Kinks tell a story, pack in hooks, sing in beautiful harmony and sound sublimely cool. 

It is time for you to laugh instead of crying

Yes it's time for you to laugh so keep on trying

Ray Davies voice has a sense of empathy and concern, removed from the rocking singles that basted them to the top of the charts, yet just as soulful.

Fifteen years after the original The Pretenders burst on to the post punk scene in 1979 with their cover. They inject an extra sense of urgency and as with some of the other covers I have blogged about, the switch from male to female lead vocal (or vice versa) brings a new dimension.

The Pretenders extend the song by introducing an instrumental section. Hynde's vocals are exquisite, the production is pure, the chiming guitars sound like heaven. I do prefer The Pretenders version, they do find something extra in the song.

Previous covers of the month

1. You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin' 

2. Going Back To My Roots

3. Nirvana play The Vaselines

4. Slip Inside This House

5. Top 10 covers by Teenage Fanclub

6. Only Love Can Break Your Heart

7. Time For Livin' 

8. Sound and Vision 

9. All Along The Watchtower

10. I Am The Walrus 

11. Guiding Star

12. You’ll Never Walk Alone

13. Hurt
14. This Guy's In Love With You

15. I Wish I Never Saw The Sunshine
16. California Soul
18. Wonder wall 
19. Dancing In The Dark
20. Always On My Mind
21. Ceremony
22. Heroes
23. Different Drum
24. Wild Horses

25. Respect
26. Mr Tambourine Man
27. I Heard It Through The Grapevine
28. Superstar
29. Twist and Shout
30. Purple Rain
31. Baker Street
32. Not Fade Away

Never Ending Mixtape - Part 19

Welcome to the latest additions to my Never Ending Mixtape (one of my Spotify playlists). The playlist is now over 450 songs, so please dig in and discover an old favourite or maybe something you haven't heard before.

Bowie kicks off the latest additions to the playlist. Memory Of A Free Festival gets better as it goes on and the closing mantra is brilliant. Changes remains a real favourite, while Kooks is just so playful and delightful. I've almost finished reading Dylan Jones' superb book on Bowie, well worth checking out, the stories are unbelievable!

Elsewhere we have some soul courtesy of Martha Reeves and the Vandellas, the funky Clean Up Woman and the glorious Last Night Changed It All that I discovered via a Bob Stanley/St Etienne compilation - just listen to that vocal!

Modern day Blondie are represented with the storming Long Time, age does not matter a jot in music and the fire in Debbie Harry and co still burns brightly on this evidence, sitting easily alongside the classic Hanging On The Telephone. William Onyeabor has a couple of cool tracks I discovered via my friend Craig, there is old school Underworld and Moby, while young guitar band The Orielles feature ahead of the debut album coming out on Heavenly in February.

Hot Chip have 3 songs from their stunning The Warning LP, we have a lysergic lullaby style remix of The Charlatans who also feature with Happen To Die and The Kinks, The Who, The Animals and the Small Faces close with a blitz of glorious mod guitar pop. Oh and no apologies for 3 tunes from Teenage Fanclub from their Man Made album that I listened to for the first time in ages recently.

We close with the psych garage brilliance of The Misunderstood - a band I became interested in in my late teens/early 20's after reading that they once nipped out of a radio session to have a smoke and left their guitars feeding back and then came back in and just resumed the song! Then the epic Slip Inside This House by the 13th Floor Elevators takes us on a trip, Primal Scream would later cover this on their Screamadelica album.

You'll need to scroll down to the bottom of the playlist to play these tunes, or dig in anywhere, put it on shuffle - enjoy. Click this LINK or head to Spotify and search for Everything Flows Never Ending Mixtape.

Memory Of A Free Festival - David Bowie
Changes - David Bowie
Kooks - David Bowie
Show Me The Way - Martha Reeves and the Vandellas
Happen To Die - The Charlatans
Slow Fade - Teenage Fanclub
Cells  - Teenage Fanclub
Born Under A Good Sign  - Teenage Fanclub
Clean Up Woman - Betty Wright
Last Night Changed It All - Esther Williams
Long Time - Blondie
Hanging On The Telephone - Blondie

Atomic Bomb - William Onyeabor
8-Ball - Underworld
Porcelain - Moby
Let Your Dogtooth Grow - The Orielles
Lets Fall In Love - William Onyeabor
Out Of Time - Blur
So Oh (Brian Jonestown Massacre remix) - The Charlatans
Boy From School - Hot Chip
Colours - Hot Chip
No Fit State - Hot Chip
One More Time - The Lemonheads
Stop Your Sobbing - The Kinks
Lola (Coca Cola version) - The Kinks
Strangers - The Kinks
We Gotta Get Out Of This Place - The Animals
I Can See For Miles - The Who
The Kids Are Alright - The Who
Sha La La La Lee - Small Faces
My Minds Eye - Small Faces
Never Had A Girl - The Misunderstood
I Cried My Eyes Out - The Misunderstood
Slip Inside This House - The 13th Floor Elevators

Never Ending Mixtape Part 15

My Never Ending Mixtape - my Spotify playlist that I add to regularly and blog about once or twice a month - has now broken 300 songs. As the number of tunes increases I actually find that I am enjoying and playing the playlist a lot more - playing it on shuffle while walking around Glasgow, or in the car or on a train.

The latest edition sees songs from 2 recently released albums by Glaswegian artists Gerry Cinnamon and Sister John sit with possibly my 2 favourite Neil Young songs, a psychedelic gem from Marmalade, a belter from Dinosaur Jr, the first (I think) songs from The Stones on the mixtape, we have a beautiful gem from The Pastels, 80's Bowie, a pop belter from Blondie, a new single from St Vincent, 2 chiming guitar pop perfection tunes from the Stone Roses, 2 of my favourite songs from James with over 20-years between them, one from the Magnetic Fields 69 Love Songs opus, The Cure, The Beatles, Jenny Lewis, Ben Kweller and it finishes with a Bee Gees classic.....well check the full list of latest additions below.

You can find the full playlist by searching for Everything Flows Never Ending Mixtape on Spotify or click HERE Play from the start, scroll down to the current additions or simply press shuffle.

Keysies - Gerry Cinnamon
Thinner Air - Sister John
Don't Cry, No Tears - Neil Young
Like A Hurricane - Neil Young
Going Down - Dinosaur Jr
I See The Rain - Marmalade
Rain - The Beatles
Waterloo Sunset - The Kinks
Gimme Shelter - The Rolling Stones
Sympathy For The Devil - The Rolling Stones
Out Of Time - The Rolling Stones

Melancholy Man - The Wake
Boys Don't Cry - The Cure
Inbetween Days - The Cure
Mersey Paradise - Stone Roses
Sally Cinnamon - Stone Roses
Sometimes - James
When My Boy Walks Down The Street - Magnetic Fields
Getting Away With It - James
Vivid Youth - The Pastels
Hang On In There Girl (instrumental) - Jesse

Davis Band
Atomic - Blondie

You're All In Need To Get By - Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell

Modern Love - David Bowie
Bruises - Chairlift
Just One Of The Guys - Jenny Lewis
Sundress - Ben Kweller
More Than A Woman - Bee Gees

Seven for Sunday

That crazy, busy, mad time of the year has started and I missed my Five for Friday post this week, so here are 7 for Sunday.


We kick start with the lofi but glorious indie guitar pop of The Pastels. This is my favourite song of their's.

We then go a bit mod psych with the original Nirvana and 'Rainbow Chaser'.

The Zombies with 'She's Not There'. Did the 90's Nirvana watch this and use the poses and suits for their 'In Bloom' video?

Sticking to 60's cuts, this is The Move with the brilliant 'I Can Hear The Grass Grow'. Then we have cuts from the Small Faces, The Kinks and The Beatles.

Five for Friday Part II

Well I did warn that my 'Five for Friday' posts could become regular. 


This week I've been listening to a wide variety of music, so this is a rather eclectic and eccentric mix.


Last night i was driving home from playing football and there was a BBC Radio 2 show on with Paul Gambaccini waxing on about several songs, including this, from 1987 when I was 13. I've probably not heard it since then, but the mark of a great pop song is that it stays with you.


Hey, I did warn you that this was going to be eclectic and eccentric. This is pure pop, George Michael w/ Aretha Franklin 'I Knew You Were Waiting For Me'.

Changing pace ever so slightly, over the last couple of days I've been reacquainting myself with Underworld's stunning compilation 1992-2002. I could easily write a blog on that album alone, however for now, check out this sublime piece of electronica; '2 months off'. 

Underworld are not getting any younger, yet they are still creating amazing music, check back through my blogs from November 2010 for a review of them on fire at the Barrowlands.


Last Sunday I dj'd for the first time in a long time at an event my friend Craig was putting on. I can't confess to knowing all of Gil Scott-Heron's output, however I do own a few of his albums and in honour of his passing I kicked off my set with this stone cold classic. 'The Bottle'.

I always get a little kick when I DJ if someone comes up and asks me 'what was that?' and that happened with that song. No wonder, it flows along so well, the lyrics are deep and meaningful, it is soul, jazz, poetry....sublime.


Another album I have been listening to is 'The Kinks Are The Village Green Preservation Society'. Released at a time where music was 'far-out' and experimental, The Kinks went about things a little differently with this concept album about all things English. 

'We are the Village Green Preservation Society' is full of lyrical delights like;

We are the Village Green Preservation Society

God save Donald Duck, Vaudeville and Variety

We are the Desperate Dan Appreciation Society

God save strawberry jam and all the different varieties

Ooh what to end with. Well I'll go for another track i played during my DJ set and another one that caused people to ask 'what was that?'

I actually played the Ritchie Havens version of this song, but here is the original by Lamont Dozier in all its glory - sheer class. This is 'Going Back To My Roots', one of my all time favourite songs.  Enjoy.