Boogie Woogie

Remember the late 70s when everyone from Mike Oldfield to The Beach boys tried their hands at disco? I’m sure this will divide opinion but one of my favourites is Wings’ Goodnight Tonight. Macca tackles the genre with his usual gusto (and a Spanish guitar solo).

This is the 12-inch version which I believe has never been released on CD.

Wings – Goodnight Tonight (1979)

You're my clone...now with added b-side

I always think of this as a companion to the record I posted on Friday. I know I bought them both unheard around the same time and in both cases was hoping for something Numanesque. This one was much more what I had in mind with its cold synths and detached vocal.

Greg Vandike – Clone (1979)

Greg Vandike was from Plymouth and from what I gather after a little Googling was quite well known in the area as a DJ, concert promoter and record dealer. Sadly, he died in 2007.

My Googling also revealed that his mother was June Marlow of The Stargazers who were the first British act to reach number one in the UK Singles Chart. She also sang the Fry’s Turkish Delight jingle so I think this is her (but I don’t guarantee it).

Following a request from MD I have now uploaded the B-side All of the Girls. If you enjoyed Clone I recommend this – it’s at least as good as the A-side, possibly better.

Greg Vandike - All of the Girls (1979)

Sunday Soul – Betty Everett

Got this CD for £1 from my favourite charity shop on Wednesday. It’s a twofer containing her Love Rhymes (1974) and Happy Endings (1975) albums. Betty Everett is of course best known for The Shoop Shoop Song and a quick search of YouTube will display some northern soul stompers that show she could really belt them out. These two albums are much more laid back, especially Happy Endings with its lush Gene Page orchestrations.

The soulful Sweet Dan is the opener no Love Rhymes and I’m Your Friend is the funkiest this CD gets.

As a beach boys fan I had to check out her version of God Only Knows and I wasn’t disappointed. I have a theory it’s impossible to make a bad version of this song unless your name is David Bowie. Perhaps even better is the sumptuous Here’s The Gift.

From Love Rhymes:
Sweet Dan
I’m Your Friend

From Happy Endings:
Here’s The Gift
God Only Knows

P.S. Also got Wizard of Oz DVD for £1.50 and Odyssey Greatest Hits for £1

You can't be serious

I’ve been meaning to post this record by Robert Broberg from Sweden since I started the blog but I could never decide just what to say about it. Is it a novelty record or does he think he’s written an earnest song about dehumanisation or something? If so the very un-machinelike bleeps about a minute in and again near the end were a mistake unless the intention was to raise a smile.

Robert Broberg – I Wanna Be A Machine (1979)

As you can see it was pressed on futuristic clear vinyl.


On second thoughts it’s definitely tongue in cheek. Or is it? Can Mr Kippers, the blogospheres resident Swedish music expert shed any light on this?

Clearing my head with The Quads...

I had beer for the first time in two weeks last night and as a consequence woke up feeling a bit groggy this morning. Ironically blasting this out of the speakers seemed to help with the healing process.

Don’t know much about The Quads except this was the first of five singles released between 1979 and 1982 and the only one to trouble the UK chart, peaking at #66. An energetic live performance, I recommend this if you like late 70's new wave/mod tunes.

In 2001 John Peel listed it as one of his all-time favourite records.

The Quads – There Must Be Thousands (1979)

Play LOUD!

Out of print

I came across this when I was tidying my CDs the other day and thought I’d see if it had been reissued yet. It hasn’t and a 2nd hand copy from Amazon will set you back £54. Not bad for an impulse buy from a little shop in Redcar some 22 years ago. I bought this mainly because I liked the Beatle-esque single Keeping The Dream Alive - Beatle-esque nearly always does it for me. I haven’t played it for ages but I remember the rest of the CD having a sort of Beatles/Aha vibe which was fine with me at the time.

As I understand it the extended version of Keeping The Dream Alive is particularly sought after because it was only included in certain territories.

Freiheit - Keeping The Dream Alive (ExtendedVersion)*

Freiheit - Diana

*Performed with The London Symphony Orchestra and The Jackson Singers.

Bass

If you want to talk great bass players the name Jack Casady (Jefferson Airplane, Hot Tuna) has to me mentioned at some point. There are many great examples of his playing (especially on live recordings where he makes up for other JA members deficiencies) but this is a personal favourite. Very melodic with a lovely fat sound that perfectly compliments the mostly acoustic accompaniment.

Hot Tuna - Watch The North Wind Rise (1976)

And for anyone interested I’ve often claimed this as my favourite song of all time. It’s definitely in the top 5.

The Evils of Society

This was supposed to be a ‘Sunday Soul’ post but I had trouble uploading to Mediafire so here it is a day late with a change of title. For a limited time only have a listen to two wonderful thematically linked Motown songs. Both are new to me and from The Complete Motown Singles Vol.10: 1970 which Mrs M bought me for Christmas.

Martha Reeves – I Should Be Proud
A brilliant heartfelt performance from Martha Reeves.


The Supremes – Bill, When Are You Coming Back
B-side of up the ladder to the roof with a great Jean Terrell performance.

Both these songs are co-written by Pam Sawyer and I don’t know this for sure but I’m guessing she wrote the words, because both have an almost conversational style: “I was under the drier when the telegram came” and even better “we moved by the Coke machine, oh, so we could say goodbye” which makes them somehow more 'real'.