Oh My God - Mark Ronson ft Lily Allen

Just about to go to the dentist to have a tooth extracted and this track keeps going round and round in m head. If you're familiar with the lyrics you'll know why... 

Happy Bri-day

In honour of Brian Ferry's 80th (!) birthday and the arrival of the weekend let's have a trip of Roxy Tracks, kicking off, appropriately enough with a track from 1980, when Brian was just a mere 35 years old. 

Next a rawer, rockier Roxy live on The Old Grey Whistle Test from 1973. 

And who can forget Brian's short lived eye infection inspired pirate scout leader look....

Danny Thompson RIP

Just found out that legendary double bassist, founding member of Pentangle and John Martyn's long-term collaborator Danny Thompson passed away on September 23rd at the ripe old age of 86.I've only just learned that he was born in Teignmouth too, just a mile or so down the road from my adopted home town of Dawlish. 

Time to dig out my Pentangle CDs...

Hey Man - Misty's Big Adventure

I'm pretty sure I've posted this track at least once before but for anyone new to this blog (welcome, take a seat...tea? Coffee? Cider?) it's by one of my favourite bands of all time, Misty's Big Adventure. If you've not heard of them before I urge...nay...implore you to pop over to You Tube for a few hours to listen to everything they ever recorded. Trust me, your ears will thank you. 

The Happy Dictator - Gorillaz ft Sparks

Another track I've been meaning to post for a while, this time it's Gorillaz's hook up with Sparks and a cheerful ditty entitled The Happy Dictator. 

Taxes - Geese

I meant to post this a few weeks ago but I forgot...probably all that worry about paying my tax bills. They say only two things in life are certain, death and taxes, but I'm not sure which is worse. Only joking...of course I am...it's taxes. Clearly Mr Geese feels the same way.  

The Beat(en) Generation - The The

Some 36 years after it was written this track from The The seems far more appropriate now than it was when I was a teenager. The world's undoubtedly far more divided and there's sooooooooooooo much more misinformation these days than there was then...and I'm talking both on the left and right of the political spectrum...so it's little wonder that this country and many others are in such a bloody mess. Still, it's the weekend and I'm having fish and chips and a bottle of wine for tea so screw it!

Funkier Than A Mosquito's Tweeter - Ike and Tina Turner

Picked up an Ike and Tina Turner best of CD over the weekend and particularly enjoyed this version of the Nina Simone classic. Better than the original? Answers on a mosquito's tweeter...

Stephen Luscombe RIP

Sad to hear of the passing of Blancmange's Stephen Luscombe over the weekend. Adding a distinctive Indian flavour to 80s synth pop Blancmange's were one of that decade's more interesting bands with Living On The Ceiling even making it to the dizzy heights of number 7 in the UK charts back in 1982. 

If you're new to the band their cover of ABBA's deliciously dour The Day Before You Came is well worth a spin too. 

Porcupine - Sparks

The world may be continuing it's rapid descent into the great dustbin of existence but as long as there's new music from Sparks there's still a little hope eh? Almost unbelievably Ron Mael turned 80 last month... 

Just Two Girls - Wolf Alice

Good to see Wolf Alice make the Mercury Music Award nominations again, along with CMAT and Pulp. If I had to pick a winner though how great would it be if Martin Carthy won eh? A mere 68 years into his professional career... 

Rick Davies RIP

Who doesn't love a bit of Supertramp? So it's sad to hear that Rick Davies, one of the band's founder members has passed away, but 81's a pretty fair innings eh? And what a life, 60 million albums flogged by 2007 and a number one album in the US and Canada when such things mattered. 

Plus they wrote the unofficial West Country anthem...It's Raining Again. Ahem. 

Darkness - Van Der Graaf Generator

 

This is what it sounds like when one band puts more thought into a single track than some do into their entire career. Sure, it's gloriously OTT in places but why not eh? And the track's title...it couldn't be more appropriate for the times we're living in. Play it loud and give the neighbours a treat. Possibly.

The Strange World of Gurney Slade theme tune - Max Harris

I'm guessing very few people have heard of let alone seen The Strange World of Gurney Slade, a surreal 1960 comedy series starring Anthony Newley who wanders around London mulling over life to himself. It's been on Rewind TV recently though and it stands up pretty well almost 70 years on with lots of 'breaking the fourth wall' bits, talking dogs and Una Stubbs coming alive from a bill board to dance around with a vacuum cleaner. The jazzy theme tune's pretty cool too, penned by Max Harris it apparently reached number 11 in the charts. 

The Telephone Always Rings - Fun Boy Three

Spent a couple of very happy hours (ahem) helping Mrs Baron set up her new smartphone yesterday and this track kept popping into my head. As someone who doesn't have a mobile phone of any kind smart phones are a bit of a mystery to me. Bring back the 2p red phone box that always smelt of piss, that's what I say.