Flowers In Our Hair - All About Eve

A gorgeous slice of 80s folk rock pop from the underrated All About Eve. I loved the self titled album as an 18 year old, fast forward almost 4 decades and it sounds just as good as a 56 year old...even if I don't have as much hair to wear flowers in if I was that way inclined. 

Love Is In Control (Finger On The Trigger) Extended Version - Donna Summer

Gave this 80s utter banger a few spins last night. The sharp eyed will spot that it was co-written by Quincy Jones and Rod Temperton who, amongst other tracks, penned a little ditty called Thriller for some bloke called Michael Jackson. Given that Rod had homes in LA, the south of France, Fiji, Switzerland and Kent I suspect he did pretty well out of that one. 

 

Dollar Bill - Jack White

Jack White's back with another scuzzed up blues belter, possibly one of the best of his career so far. It's always puzzled me that the blues (and jazz too, but that's a whole different box of brass) ain't more popular than it is when it can be as glorious as this, but that's people for you eh? 

PS: If Dollar Bill floats your boat why not go all the way back to Robert Johnson, a mere 90 years ago, and work forward from there...there's enough great blues to keep your ears entertained until the end of time. 

Chairlift - Bruises

Heard this track on 6Music this morning for the first time in ages and, despite it's slightly dark undercurrent, it has a bit of a summertime vibe too. I've only just found out that the lead singer's Caroline Polachek who's done some great solo stuff over the past few years, like this...

The Rainbow Connection - Kermit The Frog and Debbie Harry

What better track to celebrate Debbie Harry's 81st birthday than her legendary duet with Kermit The Frog... 

When The Saints Go Marching In - Ottilie Patterson

 

Jazz might be having one of its periodic revivals at the moment but 'trad jazz' (which harked back to the style of jazz played in New Orleans back in the 20s and 30s) seems destined to remain consigned to history. That's a shame, as this joyful cover from 1957 proves. If you want to know what some of the trad jazzers got up to back then have a read of George Melly's autobiographies...it'll make your hair curl. 

Scenic Railway - Ervin Jereb

Someone donated a stack of 'library music' CDs to a local charity shop recently and I've been hoovering 'em up. There are some great tracks on them, like this swinging little number from Ervin Jereb. Groovy baby. 

I Want It All - Eve's Plum

Heard this on 6 Music this morning, a blast of classic 90's indie rock grunge from the rarely played Eve's Plum. Copies of the album that spawned it are rarer in the UK than a Prime Minister who lasts more than a couple of years. Now that's rare...

Banana Republic - Boomtown Rats

Okay, so this song was originally written as a protest against the state of the Republic of Ireland back in 1980 but it's been popping into my head a lot this morning as our sixth Prime Minister in ten years  stepped down. Here's what Google defines a 'banana republic' as 'A country labelled a banana republic has many distinguishing features. It has weak structures of governance, which often results in widespread corruption among government officials. Poverty is common, and the government, or a very small upper class, controls all resources. Measures of social and economic inequality are therefore typically high.'

We might not quite be there just yet but give it time. The problem with changing leaders and parties every few years (or weeks in some cases) is that no one's around long enough to actually do anything. I have a pretty radical view of what's needed...a benign dictatorship. A leader who'll make the difficult and sometimes unpopular choices (but choices that generally have the support of the majority of the population) that are needed to sort out the mess that this country's in and who'll be in power for as long as it takes. It won't happen of course, and dictators, benign or otherwise, have a habit of getting a bit carried away but surely we can't carry on like this for much longer?  

Danceteria - Soft Cell

Forgot to post this last week, that's old age for you. Is this Soft Cell's strongest single in decades? Yep, I think it is. 

Dear Jessie - Madonna

It's perhaps hard to recall now just how big the holy trinity of American pop stars - Michael Jackson, Prince and Madonna - were back in the '80s. Of course sadly only Madge (as she was known in Smash Hits) is still standing today, bless her pointy bra. When this video popped up on one of the few music channels still going last night it reminded me of just how brilliantly odd it is. And who doesn't love a hot fairy eh? 

Cross My Heart - Lime Garden

 Another great single from Lime Garden, top indie pop with a bit of a La Roux/Long Blondes vibe. 

On The Trail - The Prime Movers

Here's one for fans of bombastic 80s pop rock a la U2, Simple Minds and Big Country...The Prime Movers...taken from another great recent CD pickup, Beating Up The Campus, a late 90s compilation of classics from the 80s US college rock scene. Hairspray and eye liner optional. 

Look At The Animals - Jethro Tull

Picked up this two disc oddity from Jethro Tull's back catalogue from a CD stall at the Bearwood Shuffle over the weekend and it's well worth bagging a copy if you see one. It's a collection of unused tracks leftover from various album sessions and, in the case of disc one, an entire album (including this track) recorded in France in 1973 and then abandoned for various reasons. Top notch folk prog for discerning ear 'oles. 

It's a Brum Ting...

 

Enjoyed a flying visit to my old home town of Brum over the weekend and managed to catch some great live music, including Vieira and the Silvers at The Night Owl and purveyors of Brum's national anthem, 'It's  Brum Ting', Friendly Fire Band at the fabulous Bearwood Shuffle. 

Sad to see that The Crown and Electric Cinema are still boarded up, with a little vision that little patch of Brum could be a huge attraction for visitors judging the the number of people flocking to the various Black Sabbath related artwork and the bench on Broad Street. The legendary Swordfish Records (Est. 1979!) may be looking for a new home soon too apparently. Brum's not unique ignoring (or even worse demolishing) its cultural gems (Liverpool famously allowed The Cavern to be bulldozed into a car park...doh!) but come on now, pull yer fingers out. Apparently The Crown is or was owned by a Japanese development company who bought it in 2014 and then promptly shut it. I suspect they own most of that block now and no doubt have plans to wipe it off the face of the earth, soulless motherfuckers. 

On a more positive note, get yourselves down to RPM in Bearwood. Owned and operated by Pop Will Eat Itself and Bentley Rhythm Ace's Richard March it's an aladdin's cave of vintage analogue audio equipment on the ground floor with a record shop and cafe on the first floor and recording studio on the top floor. 

Here's a bit of Richard (who's also a ruddy great bloke) giving his axe some welly in the Poppies...

...and here he is in the vid for the iconic Big Beat classic Bentley's Gonna Sort You Out.

Old Times Good Times - Stephen Stills

Yet another old track that I've only recently discovered, this time it's Stephen Stills...with added guitar from a certain Jimi Hendrix. Suffice to say it rocks. 

Keep On Running - Tom Jones

Watched the remake of The Running Man yesterday (not bad if you've got a couple of hours to spend) and thoroughly enjoyed hearing this cover over the end credits. Could it sound any more 60's if it tried? Austin Powers a go go. 

Can I Play With Madness - Iron Maiden

How can I have made it to 56 without knowing that Monty Python's Graeme Chapman played the teacher in this epically 80s video? 

Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now - Rick Astley & Blossoms

Talk of a lost generation (or more likely generations) of young people in this country (and probably every country) who can't find work made me recall this unexpected but bizarrely brilliant hook up between Rick Astley and Blossoms from 2023's Glasto. 

Like Rick and the boys I've been lucky enough to be gainfully employed for pretty much all of my life but heaven knows what the poor sods in their teens and 20s are going to do for a living in a future stuffed full of AI, driverless vehicles, drone deliveries, robots and a population that's too lazy or scared to ever go out again for fear of getting raped or stabbed in the head (and quite possibly both) by an 11 year old looking for Tik Tok content and who won't even get a slap on the fricking wrist if he's ever caught.  

the van - Bleachers

Been hearing this track a lot on 6 Music recently. It's a new one but it sounds like it's been around for decades, thanks to that Philly soul vibe in the background together with the odd nod to classic era Springsteen.