The Wonder Stuff - There There My Dear

The Wonder Stuff covering Dexys? What's not to love eh? 

Hard Times by Baby Huey

Funny this, I was only just reading about Baby Huey in a back issue of Mojo magazine (a physical copy too...not online) whilst lounging in the bath last night and lo and behold You Tube suggests a track for me this morning...is You Tube reading minds now? Spoooooooky. Anyway, I took this as a sign to stick up yet another sadly appropriate track for these 'hard times'. Still, at least it's the weekend eh? They can't take that away from us...yet. 

My Shit's Fucked Up by Warren Zevon

 

Blimey, can there be a more perfect record for 2020...and quite possibly 2021...and 2022 too. Yes, our shit's well and truly fucked up right now and old Warren nailed it before sadly falling to the big C in 2003 at just 56. Before dying he was asked what he'd learned from life and replied, "Enjoy every sandwich", substitute sandwich for pint of cider or glass of red and I reckon he was onto something. 

Supermarket Sweep by Billy Nomates

Having worked in the odd supermarket/convenience store (very odd actually...in both cases) I can kind of relate to this track. Oh the happy hours I spent behind the counter of 7-Eleven drinking my own body weight in hot chocolate. 

Suzannah's Still Alive - Cardiacs

 

Another classic Cardiacs track from the archives, why the hell weren't they up there with the likes of Blur and Pulp back in the day?  

O-O-H Child by The Five Stairsteps

 

Heard this track for the first time in years on Lauren Laverne's show and it seems pretty appropriate for these days. I can't imagine what it must be like to be a younger person right now, if it's not coronavirus it's the climate crisis, Brexit or any one of a million other worries to contend with. Okay, so we had the threat of a all out nuclear war and AIDS back in my day which weren't much fun either but at least this was before anti-social media which seems to make everything so, so, sooooo much worse. My best advice? Shut the curtains, turn off Twitter, Tik Tok, Arsebook, Instagram and listen to this track on repeat until everything's better again. 

Kool and the Gang - Open Sesame

In tribute to Kool and the Gang's Ronald Bell who died yesterday (having sired 10 kids...blimey) here's a lesser heard track from the band, mixing a little bit of Jungle Boogie-ness with some Funkadelic nuttiness. Ruddy ace. 

Try A Little Sunshine by The Factory

Obscure psych time and here's a gem from The Factory (not sure what kind of factory...pretty sure it didn't make pork pies though) dating all the way back to 1969 when I was barely a twinkle...

Canadee-I-O by Nic Jones

For a decade or so I'd have been at Moseley Folk festival by now, just tucking into that first pint of scrumpy and looking forward to three days of great music (and possibly another pint or two of scrumpy). Since relocating to the West Country I've not been back to MoFo but hopefully I'll make it back there one day. Of course no bugger's going to be able to make it this year are they eh? Anyway, enjoy a little Nic Jones by way of compensation. The good folk behind MoFolk are also doing the crowdfunding thing to help protects the festival's future, here the link. 

I Can't Give You Anything by The Stylistics

 

On top of being an absolute belter of a disco classic I just lurrrrrve the video for this track. Stick the band on the roof of an office block, turn on the tape player (8 track, naturally) and let 'em lip sync whilst making up their own dance moves. The dude in the hat's having a great time...not so sure about the others.