THE ROLLING STONES THE LONG RYDERS

|Back in the union

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BILLY BEST OF
2018

CHILHigDhIASrtHand Low Life with

w ild r e n ais sa n ce m a n
garage-rock’s VIEW!
EXCLUSIVE INTER VIE
ISSUE 87 • £5.50
THE GODZ | KEN SCOTT | THE BETTERDAYS
HOTLEGS | MARGO GURYAN | THE PACERS
contents ISSUE 87, JANUARY 2019

Features Regulars
Frank Habicht
Iconic ’60s photos from the gifted lensman 26 Shindiggin’
What’s hot on the Shindig! turntable 6
The Betterdays
Wyld West Country mid-60s beat-punks 30 Thoughts & Words
Your letters and emails 10
The Best Of 2018
Our editorial team’s and writer’s pick of the finest 38 It’s A Happening Thing
The Pacers, Moonrite, The Skiffle Players, Unloved, The Move,
SkinShape, The Sonic Dawn, 2019 Readers’ Survey
8
The Rolling Stones
The darkness of late 1968 and early ’69 42 Happening Right Now
The hottest new bands 22
The Long Ryders
An appreciation of the returning Paisley Underground country-rockers 50 Song Book
Hotlegs’ surprising 1970 smash hit ‘Neanderthal Man’ 24
The Godz
Strange, dissonant ’60s rock noise from New York 56 Deep Cuts
International psychedelic 45s recorded in 1969 28
Billy Childish 20 Questions
32
60
Beatles and Bowie engineer/producer Ken Scott
Chatham, Kent’s no-frills
renaissance man Reviews
The best in reissues, new releases, books, DVDs and live shows 71
“I’m more arrogant and egotistical
Vinyl Art
Margo Guryan’s Take A Picture 96
than needing to be successful”
Prize Crossword
Win a copy of The Action’s 4-CD boxset Shadows & Reflections 97
COVER PHOTO BY ALISON WONDERLAND ALISONWONDERLAND.CO.UK
 Happy New Year Shindiggers,
Last year was a corker.The mag has gone from strength to strength. Back
catalogue reissues and super-duper bells ’n’ whistles box sets both stunned and
broke the bank, new artists continued to consistently deliver and live shows
impressed from grandiose spectacle to pub back-room glory.Take a look at our
2018 Best Of to see what we made of the year’s all-time highs. Of course, it’s
impossible to entirely nail and agree upon such things 100%, but our choices Editor-in-Chief:
Jon ‘Mojo’ Mills
certainly support the overall opinion of the magazine.Why not send in your jon@shindig-magazine.com
answers too? The most interesting will be published. 64 North View Road, London N8 7LL
With 12 months ahead of us we enter 2019 with one of Shindig!’s Managing Editor/Reviews Editor:
“contemporary” covers. Billy Childish, however, has been currency since the late Andy Morten
’70s, so to call him new would be a misnomer. andy@shindig-magazine.com
I discovered Billy in the early-mid ’80s as a young teenage mod obsessed by Assistant Editor:
The Prisoners. Both bands were from the same area, both loved the mid-60s. Paul Osborne
paul@shindig-magazine.com
However, that’s where the similarities end.The Milkshakes didn’t dress mod,
they weren’t rockabilly or psychobilly either.Their fanbase appealed to all three Contributing Editor:
Thomas Patterson
cults. Even then, Billy didn’t want to play for one side.Thee Headcoats were the thomas@shindig-magazine.com
first of his bands I saw and had the pleasure to play alongside numerous times Editorial Assistant:
in such pre-gentrification venues as The Camden Falcon (where he suggested Phil Suggitt
The Nuthins headlined to make things easier) and The Wild Western Rooms. I phil@shindig-magazine.com
witnessed The Mighty Caesars play The Frat Shack and Thee Headcoats many Contributors:
more times at The Dirty Water Club.The countless records are fun, always trashy, Camilla Aisa, Richard Allen, Joe Banks, David Bash,
Grahame Bent, Christopher Budd, Jeremy Cargill, Cam
and quite often similar-sounding; but live was where Childish really shone – his Cobb, Louis Comfort-Wiggett, Del Day, Hugh Dellar,
attitude and ease, part punk-rocker, spiv, Kentish docker: self-deprecating, yet Charles Donovan, Stuart Draper, Duncan Fletcher,
proud. As he says in Thomas Patterson’s candid and revealing interview:“You’ve Mike Fornatale, Ben Graham, Lenny Helsing, Kate
heard me play guitar. I’m not really a musical type.The big difficulty is it’s one Hodges, Henry Hutton, Johnnie Johnstone, Richard
Knight, Stewart Lee, Fiona McQuarrie, Jon ‘Mojo’
thing learning to play the guitar, it’s another thing standing up and playing it.” Mills, Greg Morse, Andy Morten, Gitte Morten, Kris
Seeing Billy on stage is always memorable, and quite rightly he has inspired all Needs, Paul Osborne, Thomas Patterson, Jeff Penczak,
manner of bands that went on to mass success by making what he classified to Mark Raison, Paul Ritchie, Martin Ruddock, Spenser
Tomson, Andrew Ure, Gary von Tersch, Chris Wheatley
me in the ’90s as “Simple music for simple people.”
Billy Childish is already a legend. A one of a kind unbothered by scenes or Publisher:
Tom Saunders, Silverback Publishing
trends.Top bloke. Zero pretence. tom@silverbackpublishing.rocks
Elsewhere we look at what The Rolling Stones were up to as 1969 dawned, 14 Victoria Road, Sutton, Surrey SM1 4RT
run renowned (Beatles and Bowie) engineer and producer Ken Scott through Tel: 020 3752 2263
our 20 Questions, Stewart Lee offers a fantastic interview with the returning Director: Andy Crispin
Long Ryders and Johnnie Johnstone explains why The Godz make The Velvet Commercial Manager: Alan Thomas
Underground sound like Bucks Fizz.Throw in The Betterdays,The Skiffle alan@shindig-magazine.com
Players,The Pacers, Moonrite, Hotlegs, Joe Bourdet and international psych Tel: 07830 168076

singles into the mix and, once again, we offer an unbridled eclectic magazine
that “real” music fans will take to like dogs to a bone.
If you’re beginning the year as a new reader or
subscriber we welcome you with open arms – why
not complete the Reader Survey this issue to be in
with a chance of winning a rather amazing prize. It’s
helpful to know what you think.
I predict that 2019 is going to be a good one. Lay
back and enjoy,
Jon ‘Mojo’ Mills
Editor-In-Chief
Subscriptions:
subscriptions@warnersgroup.co.uk
Tel: 01778 392495
Design: Andy Morten, Martin Cook
Printed by: Warners Group
If you have trouble finding Shindig! magazine in the UK please contact
Susan Stone, Seymour Distribution Ltd, 2 East Poultry Avenue, London
EC1 A 9PT on +44 (0) 207 429 4073, email: susan.stone@seymour.co.uk
While every effort is made in compiling Shindig! magazine the publishers
cannot be held responsible for errors or omissions. Readers are advised
to pay by credit card when ordering goods off the page as they are
regulated under Consumer Act 1974, unlike debit or charge cards, which
are not. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced
or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical,
including photocopying, recording or any storage or retrieval system,
without the consent of the publisher. Registered at Stationers Hall
Copyright. Direct Input by Silverback Publishing Ltd.

Shindig! listen to all music through the Teufel Kombo 62 and use Technics, Tidal
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4
 The brand new releases, compilation standouts, old album tracks and dusty
45s rockin’ our world this month
TONY JOE WHITE
They Caught The Devil And Put Him In Jail
In Eudora, Arkansas
The maestro of swamp-rock sadly and unexpectedly passed
away last October, and Shindig! has been on a Tony Joe
White tip ever since; and the track we’ve been playing most
is the magnificently titled opening cut from his eponymous
fourth album. With its filthy licks, killer arrangement courtesy
of The Memphis Horns and TJW’s signature storytelling
lyrics, it’s the perfect slice of Tony Joe genius.
Available on: Tony Joe White (Music On Vinyl LP)
THE GROOP
A Famous Myth
Famously featured on the Midnight Cowboy soundtrack
album, the first single by the short-lived male/female
vocal quartet dubbed The Groop remains a pinnacle of
sophisticated late ’60s soft-pop. Arranged by soundtrack
maestro Dave Grusin and produced by session drummer
extraordinaire Toxey French, the song drifts along in a
rich haze of dramatic vocal harmonies and exquisite
orchestration without ever reaching an identifiable hook or
chorus. The Groop’s self-titled album is all but impossible to find nowadays; even the 2007 CD
reissue goes for half a ton. Like the song says, it flew right out the window.
Available on: Bell 45
ROY WOOD
Any Old Time Will Do
This overlooked gem from Wood’s 1975 solo LP is
up there with the best, equal in quality to anything
released by the likes of Paul McCartney, Brian Wilson
or any other celebrated genius you care to think of. It
has it all – soft-hearted sentiments, brilliant playing and
arrangement, unexpected melodic twists and unique
layered harmonies. Even more impressive when you
consider he played all the instruments himself. With Roy
it really is Christmas every day.
Available on: Mustard (Jet LP)
THE SHADOWS
Honourable Puff-Puff
By the time the Shads reformed in the early ’70s, drummer
Brian Bennett was already a don of the library music genre,
and this supremely funky groove from 1975 shows off his
chops to great effect. And although we wouldn’t want to imply
that the title is a reference to what they would doubtless term
“waccy baccy”, the phased, stereo-panning drum breaks
and cyclical guitar riffs of ‘Honourable Puff-Puff’ do lend
themselves marvellously to “enhanced” listening.
Available on: The Complete Singles As & Bs (EMI 4-CD)
VELVET CRUSH
Kill Me Now
Opening with a crunch, the type of grunting guitar-
sound more British 60s freakbeat in stature, but then to
appropriate a chorus line from a hit by The Fortunes - well
the mood is most certainly set. Solid, well-worn powerpop
with intersecting vocals, a belting chorus and a vintage
synth break, ‘Kill Me Now’ is a mood-affirming opener.
Core members of the Crush – vocalist/bassist Paul
Chastain and drummer Ric Menck – created a note-perfect
pop album at the home of long-time compadre Matthew Sweet, Sweet’s gutsy mono production
forever radiating that ageless feeling.
Available on: Free Expression (You Are The Cosmos LP)
Visit shindig-magazine.com to check out Shindiggin’ playlists, podcasts and much more
6
PERNICE BROTHERS
She Heightened Everything
Now that Gerry Love has hung up his boots, tearful grown
men (mostly men, it has to be said) are speculating who
might fill the right flank of Teenage Fanclub’s frontline. Enter
Joe Pernice – he’s got form, the lad. Pernice always had a
way with a happy/sad melody and possesses the same air of
detachment, bordering on the right side of nonchalance that
was oh-so very Gerry. Look no further than this tear-jerker
from Pernice’s 2001 second album. Bookies’ favourite.
Available on: The World Won’t End (Southpaw CD)
THE FRENCH FRIES
Danse A La Musique
Why “Sing a Simple Song” when you can make it even
simpler? One of the oddest cash-ins ever, this re-recorded
novelty French language cover of ‘Dance To The Music’
was actually the work of Sly & The Family Stone. A March
1968 Epic 45, it saw the Family sending themselves up
something rotten in Gallic mode, augmented by Sly’s
girlfriend Nita on giggly vocals. Pushing the brass to the
background in favour of silly sped-up chipmunk vocals,
cheesy stylophone flourishes and Freddie Stone’s unhinged slabs of fuzz guitar – ‘Danse A La
Musique’ is as danceable as it’s daft.
Available on: Jon Savage’s 1968: The Year The World Burned (Ace 2-CD)
JOHN ZORN
The Big Gundown
Audaciously re-modelling a programme of Maestro
Morricone’s signature compositions is a challenge fraught
with potential hazards however career avant-gardist John
Zorn proved to be a tailormade if unlikely. From the radical
cinemascopic reconstruction of the opening title track to
the restructuring of themes from Peur Sur La Ville, Once
Upon A Time In America, The Burglars, Battle Of Algiers,
Giu La Testa and the closing dust up from Once Upon A
Time In The West the project is testament to Zorn’s intuitive ability to reimagine Il Maestro.
Available on: Nonesuch CD/LP
NICO
Evening Of Light
The Marble Index has just hit 50 and is sounding younger
– and more terrifying – by the year. With Chelsea Girl, Nico
had been a muse for other songwriters, and she railed
furiously against its ornate baroque-folk pleasantries with
her own definitive artistic statement, one which pushed
her and producer John Cale to the brink of madness. And
nowhere is that teetering on the brink of collapse felt more
acutely than on its spiralling apocalyptic finale.
Available on: The Marble Index (Warner Bros CD)
THE LONG RYDERS
If I Were A Bramble And You Were A Rose
In 1985 Sid Griffin and The Long Ryders issued their
major label debut album State Of Our Union. Its lead
single ‘Looking For Lewis & Clark’ was a pounding
garage classic destined for the charts. It reached #42,
something rather uncommon for “garage”. However,
nestled away on the 10” EP edition and double-single
version was Griffin’s delicate “purist” folk song ‘If I Were
A Bramble And You Were A Rose’. It’s the tune The
Byrds never made, and could have so easily sat on any of their 1968-70 classic albums. Its
organic production is timeless, and entirely untouched by the hand of the mid-80s.
Available on: State Of Our Union (Cherry Red 3-CD)

REFRACTIONS
Dear Jon,
We’re a bit behind the game down here at the
bottom of the world in OZ, with the Bobbie Gentry
edition just arriving on the news-stands. The Gentry
article is a great comprehensive read about one of
the eventual great rock mysteries. The Chris Bell
stuff was also terrific, and I have to say that I never
expected to see an article, let alone an interview
with Bergen White about the great obscure For
Women Only album.
The recent article about the early first five Steve
Miller Band albums was awesome. Those albums
are very underrated and warrant more attention
than they receive. Miller is an interesting character
who melded R&B with psychedelia, but never
considered himself a hippie.
Speaking of hippies, the recent trend to
discuss Trump and politics in articles and letters
is becoming concerning. If I want to read left-wing
politics, then I’d purchase The Washington Post or
some washed-up mag like Rolling Stone.
Keep up the good work, I used to think Shindig!
was up there with Crawdaddy and some the great
mags, but you guys are surpassing that standard.
Some of the artists and articles are out of the
stratosphere.
Kind Regards,
Darryl Rapley
Appreciated, it’s been a privilege to be able to spill
ink on such talents as Bobbie Gentry, Steve Miller
and Bergen White. We love them all.
Politics is a tricky one, but I can’t believe many
STAR LETTER
A Harlequin branch
in the mid-70s
8
out there in the Shindigverse condone Trump. It’s
inevitable that within the context of music (last
issue’s Julie Felix interview) his name will crop up.
THE DADDY
Hey Jon,
Just wanted to drop a line and let you know how
much I love your magazine and what you cover. I’ve
been reading since I first spotted it in a shop and
saw Julie Driscoll’s face staring out at me.
Where a lot of magazines get old and tired as
they become somewhat stable, you guys just keep
getting better and better as you go. The last few
years have really seen the mag come into its own
with healthier, fleshed-out articles where even an
old diehard like myself will learn something new
(like how good the album Psychomodo by Cockney
Rebel is or the very interesting career of Bobbie
Gentry!).
I just wanted to share with you how I celebrate
music in much the same way you guys do with
my YouTube channel. I’ve created a video show
called Slipped Through The Cracks where I pick
old albums that were never popular and tell people
how good they are and play samples. I’ve done
lots of ones that would appeal to Shindiggers, like
JK & Company, Attila, or Spooky Tooth. There’s
also tribute ones to people who passed like Nokie
Edwards, Fast Eddie Clarke, and Tony Joe White.
Anyway, I thought you might want to check
it out. The latest one is the overview of Tony Joe
White.
Once again, congrats on a great mag. I feel as a
loyal reader I have to make suggestions for pieces,
OPEN UNTIL 7PM
Jon,
Hope I’m not intruding... was curious
about the Tull picture you ran which was
captioned as them being in the Island
(Oxford St) offices in 1969.
At the risk of being slightly
nit-picky (!)... I’d lay decent
odds on the location being the
office/stock room of a branch
of Harlequin Records, ’cos,
that looks awfully like Lawrie
Krieger to me. I reckon the
original pic would have been
taken for Record Retailer
(which pre-dated Music
Week). The other thing
is... why would there be
copies of a Reprise 45 in
shindig-magazine.com
jon@shindig-magazine.com
facebook.com/Shindig.Magazine
@shindigmagazine
shindig_magazine
RIP Tony Joe White
so would love to see
something on Tony Joe White or The Groundhogs.
Dan Lovranski
Lovely comments Dan, they mean a lot. We really
were saddened by the passing of Tony Joe White. As
well as losing a mega-figure in music we also lost an
intended interviewee. I’m sure we can still cover him,
just without contemporary input. And yes, we should
cover The Groundhogs too.
BUST YOUR BUNS
Dear Jon,
I love your magazine but I can’t remember having
seen anything about surf music. I am from Hermosa
Beach, California and grew up with surf music (even
though the scene was before my time) by a few
years.
Island’s offices? And, even upside down, the
LP with the lady’s face on it isn’t an Island
LP... first thought I had was an Anne Murray
LP but, not sure of that. The two staffers I
don’t recognise although the chap on the left
is familiar... might come to me later.
Please NB: no
criticism intended.
Hope all well with you.
Best wishes,
Neil Storey
Hidden Masters.net
Intriguing stuff Neil. The Tull have
received the most responses from
any recently covered acts. As a
thank you for your detective skills
we are sending you the new This
Was 50th anniversary edition box.
 Dropping in to check
on their condition. The
DUSTY SPRINGFIELD
First Edition (Kenny The road to Memphis…
Rogers, far right)
and back home again
If you ever want to write an article about surf psychedelic. However, when he was lead singer THE SEARCHERS
music, you should contact Randy Nauert, bassist for with The First Edition he had a US hit with ‘Just Liverpool’s second group
The Challengers.  Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition
From his posts on Facebook, it seems like he Was In)’. 
reach the end of the road
kept everything from his days with The Challengers.
He also had a long career in music after.
This was Roger’s first Billboard chart success
and was penned by songwriter Mickey Newbury, EPIC SOUNDTRACKS
I bet you could get dozens of articles out of apparently as a warning against the use of LSD. It The life of the much-
talking with him. is also one of the many songs that Glenn Campbell missed pop polymath
Thanks, played on when he was a session guitarist. There
Robert Shaw are some great clips of the song on YouTube if any
of your readers fancy having their minds blown. PAUL ROLAND
Indeed Robert. Although we have covered an awful Kind regards, The return of British psych-pop’s
lot, we haven’t done much on surf. Let’s remedy that. Bernie Flood enduring renaissance man
IT’S BREAKING ME UP It’s quite something. Whilst nothing else really PLUS…
Dear Jon,
I spotted your magazine in our local shop. At last
compares to that, the first two albums still have
some corking moments. Do check out ‘Charlie The
THE FREEDOM,
I’ve found out where they got the Toe from (Jethro Fer De Lance’, co-penned by Donald ‘Duck’ Dunn, THE STAIRS,
Toe). I have the ‘Sunshine Days’ single and always on the second. I don’t think we’ve ever covered DURAND JONES,
wondered if the name was a mistake. The article was them either. We should. GRAHAM DAY
informative and I thank you for that, but the photos
show Martin Lancelot Barré, not Mick Abrahams, on SWAP SHOP NEW ALBUMS FROM
pages 44 (main photo) and 59. Hi Jon, THE LONG RYDERS,
You have two photos of Abrahams on page 47, A few issues ago there was a letter from a fellow who COBALT CHAPEL,
top right and centre left. You should have spotted was seeking The Association book Cherish. I happen AL LOVER,
them and noticed the difference from the others. to have that book and would be willing to part with THE SMOKING TREES,
How could you make the mistake? Does no one it. Would it be possible please if you could put us in NICK WATERHOUSE
check these things? touch with one another? 
REISSUES FROM
Tullingly uptight, Thanks and best wishes,
A Williamson Riley Forsythe
THE KPM LIBRARY,
FAMILY, FIFTY FOOT HOSE,
Ah, yes. Our second letter on this. Apologies all. PS: how about a feature story on the prolific genius THE SEARCHERS,
Rob Crow? (Pinback, Optiganally Yours, Goblin Cock, RAINBOW FFOLLY,
HEED THE CALL Heavy Vegetable, Thingy and many more) MATTHEW SWEET,
Dear Jon, MANDRAKE PADDLE STEAMER
I had always associated Kenny Rogers solely with We have shifted some old back issues, so we can
country & western, so was surprised to find he move this. If you want the book please contact me AND MUCH, MUCH MORE
had recorded any music that could be classed as and I will hook you up with Riley. PUBLISHED 7TH FEBRUARY 2019
 The Pacers, playing one
of their many gigs

Hard To Forget
THE PACERS debut album, Forget Everything You Know is wonderful cobweb-destroying
slice of garage-rock and psych-pop, played with a youthful passion and a non-
reverential nod to the past that’s seem them win fans from the ages of 15 to 50. Here
vocalist/guitarist Alex Friedl and guitarist Harry Stam guide Shindig! through a
selection of albums and tracks that have informed their musical worldview

THE STOOGES
The Stooges
(Elektra, 1969)
HS: Of all The Stooges
albums, this one is the
stand out for me. I’m a big
fan of Ron Asheton, no
one uses a wah-wah pedal
like him and it’s the little
things I really like, like the hand claps on
‘1969’ or the one piano note being
pounded on ‘I Wanna be Your Dog’.
AF: It’s hard to choose a favourite
Stooges’ album, but this would be my pick
as well – it’s super sleazy and got a bit more
groove to it than something like Raw
Power.
THE 13TH FLOOR ELEVATORS with, there is a certain wobble to this song
Reverberation as well which just adds to the atmosphere.
(From The Psychedelic Sounds Of
The 13th Floor Elevators, International GODDESS OF FORTUNE
Artists, 1966) Goddess Of Fortune
AF: This is our favourite (Spiritual Sky, 1973)
track off The Psychedelic HS: This is a beautiful
Sounds Of The 13th Floor album produced by
Elevators. The album itself George Harrison.The two
is great, but this song songs I really love are
really stands out to me. I ‘Govinda’ and the ‘Hare
love Roky Erikson’s piercing voice, the Krishna’ mantra. I didn’t
lyrical themes and of course the electric expect too much when I picked this album
jug. up, but it’s definitely a favourite of mine
HS: This album, but particularly this now.
song is a huge influence, it’s got one of AF: Harry played this to me about a
those riffs I always wished I had come up year ago. One of the benefits of being

10
“I remember that
running into this
album felt like
hitting such a
jackpot. It introduced
me to so many great
bands, and it’s just a
perfect gateway into the
’60s garage/psych era “
good pals with the biggest Beatles-nut
in London is that he’ll show you lots of
hidden gems you probably wouldn’t have
heard otherwise.This to me is the perfect
album to play on a Saturday morning
while you’re still in bed.
THE SEEDS
The Seeds
(GNP Crescendo, 1966)
AF: This one of the
greatest garage-rock
album’s of the ’60s, and it’s
had a big influence on our
sound. In the early days of
our band, I would always
sing in a really deep Nick Cave kind of
voice.We realised this sounded awful when
we recorded our first demo, and in the
middle of the recording process I decided
to do the complete opposite. I just made
my voice as shrill and whiny as possible,
basically taking aim at Sky Saxon’s vocal
performance on this here album.That
sounded much better, and I’ve kept singing
that way ever since.
THE EASYBEATS
Sorry
(Single, Parlophone, 1966)
HS: Being from Australia,
I grew up with this band,
but still can’t figure out
why they weren’t bigger
than they were. Everyone
seems to know ‘Friday On
My Mind’, but ‘Sorry’ is one of those songs
that makes me want to pick up the guitar
and start playing when I hear it. Love the
guitar scratches and that outro is so good.
To be honest, I could have picked one of
many songs from these guys.Vanda/Young
are a big influence on my song writing.
THE BEATLES
Revolver
(Parlophone, 1966)
HS: I could name all
Beatles albums in this list,
but this one is the stand
out for me.The song
writing is 10 out of 10 and
so is the production. It’s
The Pacers: The writing’s
on the wal, 2018
just before they went all-out psychedelic
with Pepper and Magical Mystery Tour.The
guitar sound on ‘She Said She Said’, solo to
‘Taxman’ and the singles from the same
sessions,‘Paperback Writer’ and ‘Rain’ are a
big inspiration and it ends with ‘Tomorrow
Never Knows’, what more could you want
from an album?
METALLICA
Kill ‘Em All
(Megaforce, 1983)
HS: Bit of an odd one
out on this list, but we
both love this album. For
me, the songs are great
and it’s before all their
songs became nine
minutes long. Great riffs and all within
the four-five minute mark. ‘Seek And
Destroy’ is the stand out.
AF: What I love about this album is
just the raw energy – you can really feel
how young and hungry they were back
then. Also, it’s probably the one metal
album I can listen to without having to
feel like it’s a bit of a guilty pleasure.
SPACEMEN 3
Sound Of Confusion
(Glass, 1983)
AF: I had a three or
four-month period
where I was almost
exclusively listening to
this album, and it was
around this time that
Harry and I met and formed the band. I
love the simplicity of the songs, the heavy
guitars and the drones that go through
pretty much all the songs. It’s repetitive
but never boring. They might not be a
major influence on our band sound-wise,
but to me this album is always a reminder
on how keeping things simple can often
make songs better.
HS: I Like this album for the production,
or lack of it.
VARIOUS ARTISTS
Nuggets: Original Artifacts Of The First
Psychedelic Era
(Elektra, 1972)
AF: This might be a
compilation album, but it’s
hard not to include it in
this list.When I first
started getting into ’60s
music, I was still living in a
small town in Sweden with no music scene
whatsoever. I remember that running into
this album felt like hitting such a jackpot. It
introduced me to so many great bands, and
it’s just a perfect gateway into the ’60s
garage/psych era.
HS: A friend of mine had this on
vinyl when I was a teenager, a lot of the
’60s garage stuff I love now, I heard first
through this album.
THE STONE ROSES
The Stone Roses
(Silvertone Records, 1989)
HS: John Squire has to be
one of my favourite
modern guitarists. Every
note he plays on this
album has its place and
you can hum along to
every line.This album is one of those
where you don’t skip any songs, even
‘Don’t Stop’.The ‘I Wanna Be Adored’ riff
is one of my favourites.
AF: Funny you should mention ‘Don’t
Stop’ like that – it’s my favourite track on
the album! Weirdly, that was the first Stone
Roses song I ever heard, and the song that
got me onto this album.
Forget Everything You Know is
available now from Psych-A-Rella
Records at www.psycharella.com
11
 Witch Way You Goin’
ANDY MORTEN traces French occult-psych duo MOONRITE to their home town of Grenoble
as they prepare long-player number two

I
t’s been two years since Moonrite’s
self-titled debut elicited whoops of joy
from those who prefer their vintage
psychedelia on the dark and foreboding
side with a heavy dose of profundo
rosso adding cinematic depth to their
garage-y late ’60s sound. So what has the
brotherhood that is Yann Cracker (vocals/
organ/bass) and Julien Poitou (drums) been
up to in the interim?
“We played in a lot of fantastic venues
and festivals across Europe,” begins Yann,
“released a single (January 2018’s ‘The
Witch Is Back’, which sold out in three
weeks) and wrote the album we’re now
recording.”
Utilising a local studio and the
engineering skills of a close friend has
ensured they’re able to take their time
– re-working the tracks without fear of
“the red light syndrome”.“We record in
“For the second album there’s a logical
evolution. We’re getting into soundtrack-style
material. We’re using more synth also, the way
it was used in the Giallo and witchcraft movies
of the ’70s”
a place called Control Studio. It’s based in
Grenoble and what I like is the fact that
we can record two or three times.This
allows us to make the basic tracks, work
on arrangements at home, then record
them again on our next visit. At the end,
we have the feeling that the recording is
accomplished. Jean-Pierre Maillard, the
sound guy, is a long-time friend who
already worked on the first Moonrite
LP and also on a project I had before,
Towerbrown. He has a lot of very cool
vintage gear, but the best thing is that we
know each other very well and know how
to work together to make the best product
at the end.”
Is recording a fast, painless experience
for you or does it involve blood, sweat and
tears? “Ha ha! Actually, we try to prepare
the recording the best we can in rehearsals
and at home, in order to be the most
effective in the studio, so blood, sweat and
tears come before the recording! In that
way the studio is a great and rewarding
experience.”
Whereas Moonrite drew from such
bastions of hippie-era, organ-dominated
jazzy psych-rock as The Crazy World Of
Arthur Brown (Moonrite’s dramatic reading
of ‘The Devil’s Grip’ remains a live show-
stopper), Hardin & York, Soft Machine
and Atomic Rooster, its as-yet untitled
follow-up will see the brothers spreading
their cloaks a little further.“We’re mainly
influenced by the dark side of the ’60s and
’70s – cults, the occult, Satanic exploitation
– so our music is a mix of heavy-psych
and horror movie soundtracks.The first
album had to define Moonrite and had to
be coherent with our live performances.
For the second album there’s a logical
evolution.There will still be classic garage
and heavy-psych but we’re also getting into
soundtrack-style material.We’re using more
synth also, the way it was used in the Giallo
and witchcraft movies of the ’70s.The goal
is that the album still sounds like us, but
with this evolution and some surprises.”
We look forward to being shocked.
Moonrite’s as-yet untitled new
album is due in spring 2019

Xxxxxxxx

Moonrite, expanding
their sound Xxxxx

12
 The Skiffle
Players enjoy
the Californian
sunshine
PHOTO SPIRITUAL PAJAMAS
Skifflemen
DEL DAY gets covered in the sun-drenched melodies and
good vibes of California’s premier super group
THE SKIFFLE PLAYERS
C
alifornia has long been the
home of sun-drenched
cosmic country music,
so it’s no surprise that
The Skiffle Players, a
“supergroup” featuring
the likes of Cass McCombs, Neal Casal
and Farmer Dave (of Beachwood
Sparks fame) have immersed themselves
into that beautiful vibe on their new
album, Skiff. A gem of a record, there’s
so much to love about the way these
boys go about their business on what
is essentially a “no leader” enterprise, a
joyous busman’s holiday from their hectic
schedules, The Skiffle Players offer an
ego-free approach to songwriting. “It
really is,” Casal is quick to agree. “There
never seems to be a problem making
decisions about songs or direction. We all
“We’ve all been doing
this long enough to
know how to get out of
the way of the sound
and just let the music
play us.”
just fall in together and let the songs lead
the way. We’ve all been doing this long
enough to know how to get out of the
way of the sound and just let the music
play us.” Fellow member Dan Horne
agrees. “It’s pretty utopian! We couldn’t
do it without everyone being involved.
But it’s definitely a challenge to wrangle
all these personalities. It’s a good problem
to have, and what makes it skiffle!”
Formed in 2013 essentially to play a
festival in Big Sur, the band have followed
up their acclaimed debut of traditional
songs with a record on which everyone
now shares the songwriting duties. As
Horne notes, the process was an easy
one. “For this record and the first, we
would all show up to the studio and start
playing. Then Cass would be like ‘Hey
try this tune out.’ And we would just get
right into the song. Then the first time
we get through the song with it sounding
good, that’s the take! Some of the songs
we had worked out in advance, but for
the most part that’s how it goes down.”
It clearly works. There is a purity to
these songs that really
shines throughout Skiff.
In the same way as The
Jayhawks write songs that
seemingly celebrate the
pure simplicity of harmony
and melody, Skiff echoes
that feel entirely.
“We just get together
and play and try to enjoy the
moments and let everything
fall where it may,” notes
Casal. “The manic modern world is way
too manic indeed, so The Skiffle Players is
a place of refuge for us to remember the
beauty of just letting it fly and being loose
in the best way possible.” Horne is even
straighter to the point. “We try to capture
the moment we’re in. Let the players play
and the song will sing itself.”
Looking ahead, what’s 2019 hold
in store for the Players? “We’re gonna
do some shows in 2019,” confirms
Casal, “and we’re already talking about
making another record. As a matter of
fact, we were talking about it before we
even finished the second one. We just
have to find the time to get together and
do it.”
Skiff is out now on Spiritual Pajamas
13
 To Be (Un) loved
SPENSER TOMSON investigates a band who might be the
UNLOVED, but their next album should be nothing but adored
U
nloved comprise vocalist
and songwriter Jade Vincent,
the composer and producer
Keefus Ciancia and DJ David
Holmes. For all his skills behind
the decks and in the studio Holmes
might be the best known of the trio,
but it’s Vincent who gives this project its
character and depth. Her delicious honey
tones front up in the face of despair, like
the corner of a lip turned upwards at
the most melancholic of moments. Her
voice strides above classic and complex
arrangements of noir-ish pop, the result
being a devastating combination that
explores the strange hinterland between
Richard Hawley-esque resignation and
the velvety, “something’s not quite right”
quality that lurks just beneath the surface
of Angelo Badalamenti’s Twin Peaks
soundtrack. “There’s a maturity to Jade’s
voice,” says Holmes, “and a maturity to
the songs that sounds like this is someone
who’s lived, and properly had her heart
broken, and is full of love.”
In fact, their music recently features
on the BBC series Killing Eve – the show
having made its US debut earlier in the year
– and their dark, grown-up orchestrations
proved to be the ideal accompaniments to
Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s hit thriller.
The band’s creative relationship began in
2015 when, having invited Holmes to DJ at
Hollywood’s Rotary Room club, all three
“I just threw myself into it and
felt uninhibited. It was freeing. It
was like painting: I was layering
PHOTO STEVE GULLICK
to add to the immense, vastly
wild landscape of music given
me from Keefus and David”
14
bonded over shared musical tastes. By 2016,
they were ready to release debut album
Guilty Of Love and 2019 will see them
follow it up with Heartbreak.
If the former was the fuzzy memory of a
’60’s saloon bar seconds before a shoot-out,
the latter is that same place – but instead of
emerging from a Broadcast-like haze, the
shooter has a girl group saunter and sway,
reaching for her pistol as she might reach for
a cigarette. In fact, this whole album is far
less dark, less translucent around its smoky
edges and that shared passion for girl bands
and musicians such as Lee Hazlewood is
much more evident.“I let myself completely
go lyrically – and vocally as well,” explains
Vincent.“I would sometimes laugh at
myself, about where I would go.
I just threw myself into it and felt
uninhibited. It was freeing. It was like
painting: I was layering to add to the
immense, vastly wild landscape of music
given me from Keefus and David.”
These 13 tracks groove and slide rather
than materialise themselves out of the dimly
lit private booths, but Vincent’s smoldering
vocals still provide a heat that is just as
irresistible. If the idea of Nancy Sinatra
covering Scott Walker sounds like it might
be your bag, then get on to Unloved in
February.
Heartbreak is out now via Heavenly
Recordings
From The Black Country to the
heart of Swinging London’s
psychedelic revolution, a
rare snippet of live footage of
Brummie gods THE MOVE at UFO
has emerged. MARTIN RUDDOCK
is suitably moved
A
s any fan of The Move will tell you, there’s a
number of (usually mimed) TV appearances
by the band to be found online if you know
where to look – but clips of actual concert footage are
as rare as hen’s teeth. Footage from the legendary
happening UFO at Chalk Farm’s Roundhouse is similarly
scarce, so when a clip surfaces on YouTube that covers
both bases, you know you’re on to something unique.
Captured by a German TV crew for arts show Das
Universum des Lichts sometime in early 1967, the
recently-uploaded clip has the band’s pre-fame roots
as a dynamic Motown cover band on show as they
stomp through a tight rendition of Gladys Knight &
The Pips’ ’65 single ‘Stop And Get A Hold Of Myself’.
The clip shows the odd contrast between the sensory
overload of UFO’s dazzling light show and The Move’s
road-drilled showmanship. Bassist Ace Kefford gyrates
with gusto but despite this gig being at quite literally
an underground freak-out, the band endearingly keep
with their signature choreographed footwork – moving
forward and back to the mics in unison like a northern
showband.
Unfortunately, the narrator’s voice-over obliterates
a fair portion of the 3:19 clip, but there’s still much to
enjoy here – with the band’s performance intercut with
some great cinema verite shots of UFO’s infamous
mind-melting oil wheel projections and the (probably
very stoned) punters passing around sparklers. It’s also
a great vignette of the sweeping changes of ’67. As The
Move enthusiastically blast out Motown tunes to the
UFO crowd you almost see mod’s final blossoming into
hippiedom happening in real time.
Search YouTube for “The Move Live UFO 1967”
Top: The Move live on German TV.
This pic: A UFO punter freaks out

Shape Of Things
PAUL OSBORNE explores the world of cinematic pop and
soul with SKINSHAPE, AKA musician Will Dorey
“I
suppose I could reference Ennio
Morricone,Thomas Newman,
Gustavo Santaolalla, but also
some British music that had
nice orchestral elements like The
Beatles and The Verve.There’s also
Donald Byrd’s jazzy arrangements on tracks
like ‘I’ve Longed And Searched For My
Mother’ and ‘Cristo Redentor’.”
Skinshape, AKA British musician/
producer Will Dorey is discussing the
influences behind his fourth album Filoxiny,
a hazy selection of cinematic-soul that
takes the sound of his previous records and
adds a mellower vibe befitting his desire to
create a spaced-out, imaginary soundtrack.
It was also a chance to put to use some
of the recording techniques learned over
the course of his previous excursions, as
Dorey explains;“With this album I wanted
to experiment more with sounds and
recording techniques. For example, the
drums on ‘After Midnight’ were recorded
in the local town hall to get a natural
big room reverb sound. I also recorded
some miscellaneous noises that make an
appearance in the song ‘Metanoia,’ footsteps
and sped up sitar and other things slowed
“So many of us wriggle and
writhe like a worm through
life, and what we don’t know
is that with a little bit more
perspective one can see life
in a different way and can be
free of so many human vices”
16
Will Dorey raises
a glass
down and covered in reverb.You might not
notice them, but they are there.”
It’s the subtlety in the sound that makes
two of the album’s standout tracks ‘Life As
One’ and ‘We Lose’ such an intoxicating
listen, dreamy pieces of pop/soul that float
along on subtle drum grooves, shimmering
guitars and languid horns.They’re also two
of the few tracks that feature Dorey’s vocals.
“Those two tracks are the few with lyrics
on the album, along with ‘I Didn’t Know,’
but that’s quite a different track,” says Dorey,
“‘We Lose’ is about human life, the good
and the bad, the evil people who think they
are winning, and the good people that feel
like they are losing the game in life, but in
the end we all lose. And that’s a beautiful
thing, the ultimate karma is death. It’s also
about how so many of us wriggle and
writhe like a worm through life, and what
we don’t know is that with a little bit more
perspective one can see life in a different
way and can be free of so many human
vices.”
With Filoxiny now released, Shindig!
asks what we can expect next from this
prolific artist? “The next album is going to
be a return to the funky and the upbeat,
but primarily exploring my love of African
music from the ’60s and ’70s. I won’t say
too much at this point but that’s where it’s
going! After that I have other plans, like
to record a simple folk album (like Nick
Drake, Jackson C. Frank etc.), and some
more cinematic stuff.There’s quite a lot in
the works!”
Filoxiny by Skinshape is out now on
Lewis Recordings
If you run, you’ve just got time to catch LIBERTY
ART FABRICS & FASHION, showing now at
The Dovecot Studios in Edinburgh until 12TH
January. This exhibition celebrates the fashion
design and fabric maker Liberty, following their
story through Art Nouveau, Bauhaus and Pop-Art,
with a particular look at how they introduced these
major art movements into everyday textiles. Expect
sensational shirts and marvellous mini-dresses.
dovecotstudios.com
You are also just in time for SESSIONS IN SOUND,
showcasing the work of photographer Norman
Seeff at The Proud Galleries in London. Seeff
photographed a shedload of 20th century musical
icons, from Johnny Cash and Patti Smith to Joni
Mitchell and The Rolling Stones. The exhibition
explores the sensitive collaboration between
photographer and musician; famed for emotionally
engaging with his subjects, Seeff’s photographs are
intimate, lively and authentic. On until 15th January
in their Central gallery. proudonline.co.uk
Staying in London, The V&A is running an exhibition
entitled CENSORED! STAGE, SCREEN, SOCIETY
AT 50. This exhibition marks 50 years since The
Theatres Act came into force, abolishing state
censorship of the British stage, and includes exhibits
from Loot, the Oz trial, Hair and A Clockwork
Orange. It also explores censorship more generally,
and its impact on society as well as the performing
arts. This exhibition runs until 27th January.
vam.ac.uk
Opening on
what would
have been
Jimi’s 76th
birthday, BOLD
AS LOVE: JIMI
HENDRIX AT
HOME is the
new flagship exhibition at The Northwest African
American Museum in Seattle. On until 5th May, it
offers a rare and detailed look at his Seattle origins
through the lens of those closest to him and his own
artistic eyes. Featuring archival and family photos,
his own artwork, personal artefacts, music and
multimedia, visitors can discover how Jimi’s Seattle
upbringing shaped his life and career. “We wanted
people to come away feeling like they know Jimi on
a different level. He was a complex and beautiful
human being. His music was just a part of who he
was,” explains Janie Hendrix, President & CEO of
Experience Hendrix, LLC and Authentic Hendrix,
LLC. “This exhibit reveals Jimi the man, not only as
a performer.” naamnw.org
 Rays Of Future Passed
Now in its ninth year,
LEWES PSYCH FEST
takes place on Friday 8th
and Saturday 9th of
February 2019, making
THE SONIC DAWN’s new album is a graceful psych-rock this much-loved Sussex
town a destination for
odyssey. Drummer Jonas Waaben talks songs, sound and lovers of far out sounds.
vision with DUNCAN FLETCHER The Friday promises “an
intimate folk-classical-

“A
lot of the album is about
the end of the world, the
idea that everything is
coming to an end, we’re
fucked with the climate
crisis, there won’t be
enough food around in a few generations,
all those doomsday ideas which have a
rational foundation,” says Jonas Waaben
(drums) of ‘Forever 1969’, the lead single
from The Sonic Dawn’s new album Eclipse.
“But change on a major level is possible
if people come together. In 1969 you had
Woodstock, also the largest peace marches
against The Vietnam War, all that stuff. It’s
possible to turn the shit around, that’s the
message of the song.”
Jonas, along with childhood friends
Emil Bureau (vocals/guitar) and Niels
‘Bird’ Fuglede (bass) formed the band in
Copenhagen in 2013. Eclipse is their third
album, and one which focuses on the art
of the song.“We tried to really sharpen
the concept for each song, make it sharp
and shorter. On the previous albums we
definitely had longer escapades whereas
here we tried to go where we wanted to
go immediately. Eclipse is in a way back to
the roots of our own inspiration, a lot of
that is ’60s music.We admire that strange
combination of a short, three-minute pop
format song that can be trippy as fuck!”
The influences of The 13th Floor
Elevators, Red Krayola, Country Joe &
The Fish and more can all be heard on
the album. Another defining feature is its
subtlety and grace, achieved in part due to
the tastes shared with producer Thomas
Vang.“We tried to accomplish something
far removed from a stadium rock sound
or a modern, hard-hitting, bass-driven
rock sound. It’s much easier to work with
someone like Thomas; he’s a trained jazz
musician and has produced a lot of jazz
records out of his studio. He has a much
better natural feel for how the group sounds
in the room and how to capture that.Then
we’ll try to push it further production-
wise - ‘Hey man we need way more echo
here,’ or ‘It needs to get crazier.’ But a good
natural sound for the drums, he has an ear
for that.”
The band are hitting the road hard in
2019 but a word of warning to anyone
who hitches a lift with the trio - “If we see
a hitch-hiker we will pick them up and
continue playing stuff like Trout Mask Replica
or Red Krayola or Beat Of The Earth. Just
insane music and nobody will say anything.
The hitchhiker will just sit there frozen -
‘Who are these maniacs!?’ haha! It’s a very
delicate form of torture, one that I take great
pleasure in I must admit!”
Eclipse is out on 1st February on
Heavy Psych Sounds
psych night” at the
historic Lewes Arms with performances from clarinet
and piano duo Group Listening and singer/songwriter
Kristin McClement. Saturday’s festivities take place in
two rooms at All Saints Centre, with an afternoon
session featuring Hamilton Yarns and Linda Pomeroy,
before the larger room at the venue opens to feature
the likes of AK/DK, Swedish Death Candy and
Shindig!’s favourite contemporary pop voyagers The
Soundcarriers, fresh from their comeback at our last
Shindig! Revue. As if that wasn’t enough to whet your
whistle, the wonderful local record emporium Union
Music Store will be hosting in store performances from
The Hanging Stars and Emma Tricca on the Saturday
afternoon, along with a DJ set from Shindig!’s very own
Jon ‘Mojo’ Mills and Paul Osborne. Tickets are selling
fast so check availability for what looks set to be
another wonderful celebration of contemporary psych.
meltingvinyl.co.uk
Following a limited vinyl
release for last years
record store day, LIGHT
IN THE ATTIC have
announced the first
appearance on CD for
the much sort after
soundtrack to Dennis
Hopper’s cult movie THE AMERICAN DREAMER.
The documentary, directed by Lawrence Schiller
followed the chaos surrounding Hopper as he tried to
edit the follow up to Easy Rider, The Last Movie, and
documented the mélange of drugs, guns and orgies
that took place as Hopper tried to complete his movie.
Featuring exclusive songs by Gene Clark, John Buck
Wilkin, John Manning, Hello People and a Fred Neil
cover version. The booklet also comes with an
extensive essay by Hopper archivist Jessica Hundley
and rare, unseen pictures from the director’s photo
archives. lightintheattic.net

Italian “cult and

fuzz-rock” label Heavy
Psych Sounds have
announced details of their
HEAVY PSYCH
SOUNDS FEST taking
place in three locations
“We admire across three different
that strange countries between
combination of 22nd-24th February –
London (22nd), Brussels
a short, three- (23rd) and Deventer (24th). The rotating line up for the
minute pop London event includes Dead Witches, Black Rainbows,
format song Globia and Deadsmoke with the addition of bands The
that can be Sonic Dawn (Brussels, Deventer), Komatsu
(Deventer), Kamchatka (Deventer) and Drive By Wire
trippy as fuck!” (Deventer) for the European dates. Heavy indeed!
heavypsychsounds.com

18
 I
t’s been over two years since we did one of these. Perhaps you’re More cult film Less new music More new music
I think the mix is perfect and always interesting
new to us. To continue to improve Shindig! and make it the magazine Other (please specify)
that you want to read, we want – no, need – to hear your views. So
readers new and old, please let us know what you think. Answer the 23. Would you be interested in having
more specialist content and full-interview
below questions and email or post to us by May 1st. (Details at the transcripts online?
bottom of page). One lucky reader will be drawn and win the Super Yes No
Deluxe The Beatles (“The White Album”), awarded Best Box Set in our 24. Do you think Shindig! is better now that
Best Of 2018. (See sidebar.) It’s quite a prize! it encompasses more types of music?
Yes No
Please add comments
1. Where do you live? 12. On average, how many books do you
UK Mainland Europe USA Canada buy a month?
Australia / New Zealand Scandinavia Less than five Five to 10 More
Other (please specify) 25. Any other comments
13. How often do you attend gigs/concerts?
2. What is your gender? At least once a week Two or three times a month
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3. How old are you?
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buy a month?
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5. What is your preferred format? Since the very early fanzine days
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which of the below services to you use? Two or three other people Four or more other people
Spotify Apple Music Tidal Other Other (please specify)
The comprehensive, individually
8. What are you favourite genres of music? numbered 7-disc and digital audio
(Select as many as you want) 17. Do you follow Shindig! on Beatles box set that you can win
1960s pop and beat Folk-rock (’60s-70s) (tick all that apply) features:
1960s garage-punk Funk Our website Facebook Twitter
1960s US psych Krautrock Mixcloud Instagram YouTube CDs 1 & 2: 
(encompassing later Experimental and n T he Beatles (“The White Album”) 2018 stereo
garage-psych, electronic Soundtracks 18. Do you subscribe or buy copies album mix.
West Coast etc) 1970s punk individually?
1960s UK psych Powerpop/new wave Subscribe Individually
1960s soul and R&B Post-punk /goth
CD3: Esher Demos
1970s pop 1980s indie pop 19. Have you ever bought a copy digitally n Esher Demo tracks one through 19 sequenced
Hard-rock/heavy metal 1980s-90s garage-punk via iTunes or other? in order of the finished song’s placement on The
(late ’60s-80s) Contemporary garage Yes No Beatles. Tracks 20-27 were not included on the
Progressive (late ’60s-80s) New psychedelia album.
Americana 20. Do you buy other music magazines?
Other (please specify) Yes No CDs 4, 5 & 6: Sessions
n Fifty additional recordings, most previously
21. If you answered yes to question 17, unreleased, from The Beatles studio sessions;
please tell us which of the following
all newly mixed from the four-track and eight-
magazines you buy. (Tick all that apply.)
9. What proportion of the music you buy is Mojo Uncut Record Collector Vive Le Rock track session tapes, sequenced in order of their
made by contemporary artists? Long Live Vinyl Classic Pop Vintage Rock recording start dates.
75% or more 50% 25% Less Classic Rock Louder Than War Wire R2
Rolling Stone Q Ugly Things Blu-ray: 
10. What proportion of the music that you Other (please specify) n 2018 album mix in high resolution PCM stereo
buy is second-hand/original vinyl or back n 2018 DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 album mix
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75% or more 50% 25% Less (Select as many as you like and offer suggestions) n 2018 direct transfer of the album’s original
More ’60s acts More ’70s acts More ’80s-90s acts
mono mix
11. Do you buy music through Discogs? More about counter-culture and youth movements,
Yes No encompassing fashion and art

Please email a scan or mobile snap of this page to 2019survey@shindig-magazine.com or snail-mail to Shindig! Survey 2019, 64 North View Road,
London N8 7LL. Closing date: May 1st 2019. The winner will be notified by email. Have fun!

20
 Joe Bourdet
Joe Bourdet chats to THOMAS PATTERSON about his beautiful debut single
E
very so often a record comes along
that quietly floors Shindig! The
beguiling new 45 ‘Seamist’, with
its attendant B-side ‘El Capitan’ is
such a record, but what makes it
even more extraordinary is that it’s singer/
songwriter Joe Bourdet’s solo debut.
“I’m from the Nevada City area in
California, it’s pretty much country
living there,” the luxuriously-moustached
Bourdet says, as we delve into his musical
background. “We didn’t have much TV
reception but I rented VHS cassettes
frequently as a kid. One day I rented A
“I like singer-songwriters like Gordon Lightfoot,
Tom Rush and Steve Young. I like the way their
bands and records were arranged thoughtfully
around voice and acoustic guitar”
22
Hard Day’s Night and flipped out. I was an
instant Beatles devotee and it still informs
my musical choices today. I studied film in
college at UC Santa Cruz, and I’ve been
kicking around Los Angeles and playing in
bands since I moved here in late 2003.”
Bourdet’s musical career has included
stints in the band Whispering Pines and
playing guitar with Jonathan Wilson,
whilst also composing for TV, but he’s
finally stepped into the limelight with
‘Seamist’. Recorded at LA’s Palomino
Sound and in his own home studio,
Mountain Sound Recorders in Alhambra,
‘Seamist’ is a fabulously wistful and
romantic tune perfect for those who like
their rock soft and their grooves country-
fried, reminiscent of Bread and Michael
Nesmith when he’s flying down to Rio.
“The idea came about whilst I was
feeling lonely and left out one evening,”
Bourdet says. “There’s a thriving surf scene
down here and some great people I know
are heavily involved... alas, I’m useless on a
board. Mix that with a certain existential
feeling one can have whilst contemplating
the sea, a feeling I often had whilst living
near the beach in Santa Cruz, and there’s
the ‘Seamist’ lyric.”
“All the instruments recorded are real,
analog, and in most cases quite old,” he
adds, discussing the single’s authentically
’70s sound. “The arrangement turned
into a good showcase for harmonised slide
guitars, something that guitarist Jason Soda
and I have been doing in live shows and on
some of my upcoming records.”
‘Seamist’ also features gently cooing
female backing vocals, Fender Rhodes
courtesy of French musician Vic
Martin, and a fabulous half-time beat by
drummer George Sluppick that ties the
track together. “Bassist Brian Filosa and
myself just fell in around him once he
started playing it. George told me after that
I was making the ‘stink face’ as we played,
so he knew it must be working!”
B-side ‘El Capitan’, meanwhile has a
laidback vibe reminiscent of Neil Young,
The Eagles and a slew of classic ’70s
performers. “I like singer-songwriters
like Gordon Lightfoot, Tom Rush and
Steve Young. I like the way their bands
and records were arranged thoughtfully
around voice and acoustic guitar. It sounds
powerful and organic to me. Electric
rhythm guitars can be fatiguing and
sometimes feel dated and tired, but a
beautiful acoustic guitar is an evergreen.”
Bourdet is currently working on his
debut album and preparing for the single’s
launch party at Pappy & Harriet’s, the
legendary music venue out near Joshua
Tree. It’s an exciting time for the musician,
but one thing is certain – we’re looking
forward to whatever Bourdet’s future
brings.
‘Seamist’ / ‘El Capitan’ is out now, visit
www.joebourdet.com for more
details
 happening right now

Julius Vanderbilt
Indeed, it’s unlikely you’ll
see Vanderbilt’s face, as he’s
actually the pseudonymous
creation of PK Chown,
one half of popsters The
THOMAS PATTERSON gets the inside scoop on the mysterious Julius Dandelion Set. “Julius
Vanderbilt’s homage to library music Vanderbilt was a character I
conjured up in The Dandelion
Set,” he says. “And Glyn

W
ith books, and there’s a new addition to Vanderbilt says. “This became
movies and the canon in Action Catalyst, a more of a reality when Tim
comps all fantastic but quite imaginary ‘Love’ Lee was forming a
celebrating library album courtesy of library music arm to the
library music, Julius Vanderbilt. Tummy Touch label and asked
the past 12 months have been “It’s something I’ve always if I would like to contribute.
a renaissance for the genre; wanted to do basically,” I was immediately fired up,
started to jot some odd ideas
down and found it really
inspiring to think about car
chases, spaceships or horror
scenes. Tim’s library project
was delayed in starting up and
by the time it did, I’d fallen in
love with so many of the short
program cues I just wanted
to put it out there, so Action
Catalyst became an album in
its own right. I also love the
anonymity of library music.
Seldom do you see the faces
of the people responsible and
almost never are the musicians
mentioned.”
Bush was Sinjin Makepeace.
We were like two eccentric
nutty professors from an Iris
Murdoch novel.”
The Vanderbilt cover has
allowed Chown to let his
imagination run riot and
Action Catalyst is a blast,
from liner notes that ape
the descriptions found on
original KPM releases to the
revved-up sounds within. “A
descriptive track can spring
out of anything, the smallest
idea, and sprout quite by
itself,” he explains. “Some of
my best tunes actually arose
out of ideas I was about to
trash. Like compost, it’s very
fertile.”
Action Catalyst is
available at
juliusvanderbilt.bandcamp.com

Brower
JEREMY CARGILL digs the latest excursion from musical
journeyman NAT BROWER

F
or the last decade musical polymath previous experience and aiming
Nat Brower has been eking out his straight at glam and power pop, like a
own simple sonic universe, co- ’70s-obsessed Gustav Ejstes (Dungen)
piloted by GarageBand, with direct who earlier utilized ProTools to
to Bandcamp EPs and album releases reimagine the ’60s.“I’d say every
under his solo surname and via varied project gets better and better sound-
collaborative efforts (some later issued on wise because I keep getting better at
cassette and limited-run vinyl by micro the process—using certain gear the
indie labels). right way, singing the right way. It’s
With backward-looking taste buds that always an experiment, every track. I spend project,“My thought
have covered a catalog of cool to date, his a lot of time mixing (and remixing),” was,’How would a bubblegum ‘60s band
current trip in the musical time machine, explains Brower. do those songs?’ I don’t exactly know why
Buzzsaws, is both Buzzsaws, the grand result of those I had that thought, I guess I like to get
his first proper experiments, displays a Bolan’esque flair into character,” he says with a laugh.
album release for hard, sugary, indelible and instant With ideas overflowing, there’s much
(via Ar-Kaics earworms.With part hushed coo (think more goodness yet to come. Whether
bassist Tim Brett Smiley) and part rock’n’roll drawl, it’s in this same mode is anyone’s guess, as
Abbondelo’s Brower pays tribute to pub rock, beat- Brower states;“I’m a man of many masks. I
DIG! Records) based power pop, junkshop glam (with got a fiery group o’ guys to play with right
and his most the gutter-minded title track replete with now and, as far as rock and roll goes, that’s
nuanced and Sweet-styled synths) and quirky’n‘catchy my life. But, hey, I also have an electronic
realized set whimsy with ‘My Father’s Name Was Cat’. album in the works.”
yet, pulling Perhaps most interesting is his re-visitation
together of two Amanaz tracks from an earlier Buzzsaws is out now on DIG!

23
 song book
Let There Be Drums
How did a minimalist tribal chant become one of the biggest hits of 1970 and galvanise
the birth one of Britain’s greatest pop bands? FIONA MCQUARRIE investigates the curious
tale of ‘Neanderthal Man’
L
ike cockroaches, and maybe Keith
Richards, novelty songs are eternal.
Every era in musical history has
at some point been lionised by
pundits for achieving new heights
of artistic and aesthetic brilliance
– but, inevitably, lurking on the charts
is that era’s equivalent of ‘I’m Going To
Bring A Watermelon To My Gal Tonight’
or ‘Purple People Eater’. However, some
novelty songs that were intended as little
more than throwaways turned out to be
more meaningful, in the sense of leading
to greater things. ‘Neanderthal Man’ by
Hotlegs falls into that category, because
the song was a formative experience for
its creators and thus helped to launch the
marvellously inventive 10cc.
‘Neanderthal Man’ has a distinctive
sound: a stomping drum beat topped by an
oddly detached vocal crooning a decidedly
simple set of lyrics, interrupted by a
somewhat trippy middleeight. It sounds
like something made up on the spot, and
that’s exactly what happened at Strawberry
24
Studios in Stockport.The studio was
co-founded in 1967 by Peter Tattersall,
who had worked with Beatles manager
Brian Epstein, and Eric Stewart, who
had been part of Wayne Fontana & The
Mindbenders.Those two initial investors
were then joined by another Mancunian,
Graham Gouldman, who had achieved
success as a songwriter for The Yardbirds
and The Hollies. Gouldman brought along
his friends Kevin Godley and Lol Creme,
who had just graduated from art school
and had been involved with Gouldman on
various musical projects.
Gouldman’s reputation as a songwriter
came to the attention of Jerry Kasenatz and
Jeff Katz, two New York-based producers
who, as Super K Productions, specialized
in bubblegum pop – something critic
Dave Marsh described as “ludicrous, if
occasionally transcendent, trash”. K&K, as
they were known, persuaded Gouldman
to become one of their staff writers, which
resulted in Gouldman not only splitting
his time between Manchester and the US,
but also roping in Creme, Godley and
Stewart to participate in recording sessions
for K&K at Strawberry.These resulted in
records released under the names of, among
others,The Ohio Express, Crazy Elephant,
Silver Fleet and Fighter Squadron.
The amount of recording activity at
Strawberry helped to attract many other
clients, which meant that new equipment
was regularly coming into the studio, and it
all needed to be set up and tested. One day,
while Gouldman was in New York trying
to extricate himself from his contractual
obligations with K&K, Stewart was trying
out a new four-track recording deck while
Godley was drumming and Creme was
singing into the bass drum. Godley said
in a recent interview that he has a vague
memory of Creme, Stewart and himself
previously being in a London cab and
singing something about Neanderthal
men and Neanderthal girls; he thinks that
improvisation was what Creme drew on
when he needed something to sing that
day. Creme recounted, “Eric was trying
to build up a bass drum sound, [and] after
three or four tracks of drums, we almost
had the whole thing together.”
But the track remained unfinished
until Dick Leahy, a staffer at Philips
Records, visited Strawberry, and Stewart
demonstrated the studio’s sound by playing
him the track. Leahy told them, “That’s
a smash”, and offered to release it if the
song was completed. Stewart wrote a
middle part, the trio christened themselves
Hotlegs after a nickname they had given
to Strawberry’s lovely receptionist, and
‘Neanderthal Man’ suddenly became a
hit – reaching #2 in the UK and #22 in
the US, and charting in several European
countries. A promotional video showed
Creme, Stewart and Godley performing
the song in the studio, interspersed with
shots of fur-bikinied dancing ladies doing
some sort of odd prehistoric version of the
hitch-hike.
‘Neanderthal Man’ was promptly
pounced upon by the musical sub-industry
that churned out cut-price albums and EPs
featuring anonymous renditions of current
hit songs. Creating these records provided
steady employment for a host of studio
musicians and vocalists, and ‘Neanderthal
Man’ must have been particularly attractive
as a potential cover because of its relatively
simple structure.
There appear to be two cut-price covers
of ‘Neanderthal Man’. One was on Volume
12 of Top Of The Pops, a series of LPs on
Pickwick Records that took advantage
of the fact that the BBC had neglected
to trademark the name of its weekly
music-chart show. A YouTube post of the
Pickwick track credits the vocals to Martin
Jay, half of early ’70s studio congregation
Airbus and later part of disco act 5000 Volts.
The other version, on Deacon Records,
featured a young Elton John, who built
his own career while simultaneously
developing a considerable body of work
as an anonymous cover artist. According
to biographer Philip Norman, “during
late 1969 and early 1970, his talent for
mimicry earned him at least as much as his
true persona”.The version of ‘Neanderthal
Man’ featuring John’s lead vocal appeared
on Volume #2 of Deacon’s LP series
Pick Of The Pops and on Volume #4 of
its Top Of The Pops EP series. Ironically,
and hilariously, Pickwick Records was
unamused by Deacon using the same
series title that Pickwick had pinched from
the BBC, and Pickwick sued Deacon
for copyright infringement.The lawsuit
eventually led to the demise of both of
Deacon’s cut-price record series.
It’s tempting to imagine John gritting
his teeth in the studio, plowing through
yet another cover version to pay the rent
while dreaming of future un-anonymous
success. However, it has been pointed
out that in late ’70, when these records
would have been made, John had already
“The track remained
unfinished until
Dick Leahy, a staffer
at Philips Records,
visited Strawberry, and
Stewart demonstrated
the studio’s sound
by playing him the
track. Leahy told
them, ‘That’s a smash’,
and offered to release
it if the song was
completed”
released two albums
and several singles
under his own name.
So while money may
have played a part in his
decision to continue his
anonymous work, it’s
also entirely possible that
he did it simply because
he enjoyed the process of recording and
the challenge of creating a credible cover.
(Anyone interested in hearing more from
this phase of his career is encouraged to
find the ’94 compilation Reg Dwight’s Piano
Goes Pop.)
But meanwhile, what of the song’s
originators? In retrospect, Godley admitted,
“We were a bit big-headed”. Hotlegs’
members celebrated the success of
‘Neanderthal Man’ by going on holiday
to Barbados for several months. In late
’70, with Gouldman on bass, the band
embarked on a UK tour opening for The
Moody Blues, but the tour was cut short
after only a few shows when Moodies
bass player John Lodge fell ill. By the
time the band got around to recording a
complete album, nearly a year had passed
since ‘Neanderthal Man’ had graced the
charts. Hotlegs Thinks School Stinks was
well-received by critics, but the gap in
time between the hit single and the album
meant that the album did not sell as well
as expected. A second single, ‘Lady Sadie’,
was so radically different in style from
‘Neanderthal Man’ that the success of the
earlier single was not enough to push it
into the charts.
‘Neanderthal Man’ was covered in ’70
by the post-Jeff Lynne Idle Race: one of
two covers by this later incarnation of the
band, the other being Mungo Jerry’s ‘In the
Summertime’. Sadly, ‘Neanderthal Man’
turned out to be The Idle Race’s second
to last single, as the group disbanded in ’72.
More memorable covers – “memorable”
in both good and bad ways
– were by the German
duo Adam & Eve, also in
’70, and The James Last
Orchestra in ’71. Both of
these used alternating male and female
vocalists to turn the song into a Paleolithic
love duet.
The lack of sustained commercial
success for Hotlegs sent its members back
to Strawberry to continue their sonic
experiments. In between working on
projects for clients such as Neil Sedaka,
Creme, Godley, Stewart, and Gouldman
continued creating music for themselves.
Producer Jonathan King – no stranger to
novelty records himself – heard the quartet’s
song ‘Donna’, renamed the group as 10cc,
signed them to his label, and… bazinga!.
Philips, which had already re-released
Hotlegs’ sole album under the title Song,
tried to piggyback on 10cc’s success by
adding a few extra tracks to the album
and launching it again in ’76 as You Didn’t
Like It Because You Didn’t Think Of It.The
re-release was greeted with the same
indifference as the earlier versions, and
thus ‘Neanderthal Man’ remains the main
legacy from Hotlegs’ brief existence. But
while it may have been a fluke of recording
tomfoolery and continues to irritate some
listeners even to this day, ‘Neanderthal Man’
deserves some respect because of its part
in leading to some truly astounding music
later on.
Song Book is published by New Haven
25
Lost Dreams
Few photographers captured Swinging London and its countercultural aftershocks
quite like FRANK HABICHT. His shots have gone on to adorn countless books, posters
and exhibitions, effortlessly evoking the decade’s multi-hued street-life through its
unaffected depictions of youth and the generation gap.
Here he talks Shindig! through a selection of iconic photos from a new anthology of
his work

'Frank Habicht'
“Kings Road, London, 1965. I was
about to capture a bunch of street
kids trying to rescue a kitten
trapped in between a water
drainage gutter when my model
and dear friend Carol snapped me
with my other camera. I always
carried two cameras with me, a
Leika and a Rolleiflex.”

'Gone By Times Renee'

“As it happened! Spectators always ended
up becoming my models and this is a nice
example. The photograph was taken spur
of the moment, and Renee (pictured on
the motorbike) never imagined that
decades later she would become the
cover girl of novels and books from our
images!”
'Lost In A Dream'
“Jane and Serge still linger on in my mind. I had an
unforgettable encounter in Oxford in 1969 when I
photographed the two with Jane’s daughter Kate Barry. Kate
was a gifted and renowned fashion photographer, working for
Vogue and The Sunday Times Magazine. Her father was the
songwriter John Barry. The day I photographed the three was
again guided by the spur of the moment, seemingly
tailormade. I immortalised their charm and seductiveness.
Sadly, Kate took her own life in Paris on December 11th 2013.”
'No Loss Of Face'
“A gathering of friends on my legendary rooftop dotted with
hundreds of chimney tops. I photographed a bedsit girl from
New Zealand in my bathroom below the chimney pots. (Little
did I know that I would one day end up living in New Zealand.)
It was a spontaneous fantasy shot with no purpose in mind.
Many years later, this photograph was used by Martin Parr and
The Barbican to advertise their exhibition Strange And Familiar,
featuring on the media invite.”

'Alice’
“On that never to be repeated day in Hyde Park in July 1969 during that
Rolling Stones concert, I captured my most liked photograph ever. It was of
a young woman who stood out from the rest of the revellers. She was
imaginatively dressed, wearing a huge straw hat, beads, and striking eye
make-up. She immediately acknowledged my presence from the moment I
directed my camera towards her, and she gave me that look with an inner
smile. Later, during the concert, I had searched the crowd in the hope of
catching another glimpse of her, but it wasn’t meant to be. I lost her in an
ocean full of faces. I lost the girl in the park. But I did not lose my memory
of her. There was a mysterious flair about her, and it’s like I was able to
capture and contain part of her spirit in this photograph.
In the decades to come, the photograph attracted rising attention,
becoming an iconic zeitgeist image of the late ’60s. It’s a collector’s item,
held in galleries, circulating on the internet and celebrated as a modern-
day Mona Lisa. In my heart I set ‘Alice’ a monument. The only photograph I
took of her adorns the cover of this book.”

With thanks to Jennifer Berndt and Frank and Florian Habicht

As It Was: Frank Habicht’s Sixties is published by Hatje Cantz

27
 deep cuts

Tropical tastes from Carlos

Bisso & Conexion No 5

I Like The World

We commence our celebrations of the action-packed final year of the ’60s with this
bespoke selection of less-heralded psych 45s from the four corners of the globe. But not
the UK or US – we’ll come back to them.
ANDREW URE is your guide

THE BLUE EFFECT LOS PASOS JOANNA

I Like The World (Sun Is So Bright)
(Panton, Czechoslovakia)
When Czech garage
legends The
Matadors split in
1968, guitarist
Radim Hladík
wasted no time in
forming The Blue
Effect. English-sung,
‘I Like The World’ appeared on their debut
EP and from the opening vibrato-ed power
chords you know you’re in for a
psychedelic treat. Expertly performed with
a riff that manages to be springy yet taut
and a perfectly wigged-out solo, it’s a superb
production that could sit comfortably on
any volume of the genre-defining Rubble
comps. No mean feat for a band recording
behind The Iron Curtain.
Habibi
(Hispavox, Spain)
Active from 1966 to
’72, Madrid’s Los
Pasos (translation:
The Steps) peaked
slap bang in the
middle of their
career with this
sublime Middle
Eastern-influenced B-side.The swirling
mélange of strings, hand drums and
banjo-like instrument will get your toes
tapping while you reach for your hookah.
Coalescing around a gorgeous flute solo,
‘Habibi’ (Arabic for “my love”) is a perfect
example of the East-meets-West sonic
experiments so in vogue at the time,
although the bleating goat sounds in the
intro may be taking things a tad too far.
Hold-Up Inusité
(Palette, Belgium)
Little is known
about Joanna
Lecomte, but she is
most likely Belgian
since that’s where
this 45 was released.
Staring you down
from the picture
sleeve, while dressed in a shirt and tie, the
singer certainly cut a strange figure. And as
the music within proves, she could also cut
an amazing psych side.‘Hold-Up Inusité’
(translation:‘Hold-Up Unusual’) is just
under two minutes of organ-drenched
grooviness.The very basic structure of the
song is more than compensated for by its
sonic fullness, and the result sounds like the
theme from a long-lost mod spy flick.

28
THE DREAM
Can I Ask You One More Question
(Rebellion)
(Havoc, Holland)
After two singles and
an LP as Mother’s
Love, these chaps
from the town of
Tiel changed their
name to The Dream.
Their first 45 under
the new moniker
was 1968’s ‘The Doting King’, a much-
admired psychedelic side chock full of
snazzy production moves.Their second 45,
often just referred to as the parenthetical
‘Rebellion’, took a simpler approach.
Channelling the spirit of ’66 US garage
bands and dominated by the staccato organ The mysterious Joanna
it’s the perfect mod-psych dancer for all Lecomte spied whilst
shopping
you ravers out there.

THE YOUNGSTERS fuzz guitar and the tone is set. If loud, brash, Larry, but it’s up there with anything they
I Wanna Be Your Man in-your-face garage-rock floats your boat did together.
(Polydor, Brazil) then climb aboard. And we didn’t even
In the final year of mention that apostrophe. BRUNO LEYS
the ’60s The Dans La Galaxie
Youngsters CARLOS BISSO & CONEXION N° 5 (La Compagnie, Canada)
somewhat bizarrely Baby I Love You So Once upon a time in
decided to tackle a (RCA Vik, Argentina) Paris, conservatory
track penned by The Carlos Bisso and his student Emmanuel
Beatles and nailed by connections made Pairault asked
The Rolling Stones good business taking medical student
waaay back in 1963.They didn’t so much covers of Bruno Leys to
cover ‘IWBYM’ as kidnap with it, taking it international hits provide lyrics for
to a place no one would ever think of into the Argentine music he’d composed
going. Punch drunk from the blistering charts. Gracing the using an early electronic instrument known
fuzz guitar and funky groove, you don’t B-side of one such as ondes Martenot. Producer Norbert Saada
even care about the artistic license exercised single, this rip-roaring band original blows liked the demo and studio time was
on the chorus.The Brazilians own this all their other recordings to smithereens. arranged to record an EP.The EP never
song, the more familiar versions fading into Known for his epic sideburns and black appeared, but Saada issued a Canadian
distant memory as you listen. leather gloves, Mr Bisso belts out a powerful promo to try and drum up a licensing deal.
vocal while the band serve up a garage- ‘Galaxie’ was the B-side and it is
LOS ROCKIN DEVIL’S funk-psych blend of groovy bass/ staggeringly good. Phasing, heavy reverb,
Murmullo Hammond and airtight drumming.The killer groove, fluid drums and the ondes…
(Orfeon, Mexico) scuzzy overdriven guitar that winds its way if this track doesn’t do it for you, you’re
Tijuana’s Los Rockin through the intro and re-appears for the reading the wrong magazine.
Devil’s specialised in solo is a thing of joy.
Spanish language THE UNTOUCHABLES
versions of UK and THE REBELS Explosion C3H5(ONO2)3
US chart hits like Passing You By (Bellaphon, Germany)
‘I’m Henry The VIII, (Impact, New Zealand) Here’s a song that
I Am’ and ‘Lil’ Red Larry’s Rebels defies belief. In fact,
Riding Hood’, with released a string of “song” might be the
just the occasional ‘Gloria’ or ‘Satisfaction’ excellent 45s in the wrong word, because
to get the blood pumping. In 1969, on the mid-60s, showing what the vocalist is
flip of a forgettable ‘Ob-la-di Ob-la-da’, impeccable taste by doing can’t really be
came this acidic cover of Joe South’s ‘Hush’. covering such called “singing”.
A werewolf’s howl gives way to a caustic luminaries as The Imagine a Teutonic
Creation,The James Brown, out of his gourd, grunting
Artwoods and The Easybeats. In early 1969 away over a deranged psych-funk backing
“Imagine a Teutonic lead singer Larry Morris decided to go track. Chuck in some ice-rink organ
solo but undeterred the band simply interludes and then have the band members
James Brown, out of his recruited a new vocalist and became The just go their own separate ways for the last
gourd, grunting away Rebels. ‘Passing You By’ is the self-penned 30 seconds.Totally nutso, in a good way.
B-side of their first single, a psychedelic Those letters and numbers in the title are
over a deranged psych- delight propelled along by a mighty organ/ the chemical formula for nitroglycerin, but
funk backing track” guitar riff, relentless drumming and alas this explosive single failed to set the
high-energy harmonies. No disrespect to charts alight.

29
 Betterdays are gonna come!
The group in 1966. L-R:
Mike Haynes, Mike Weston,
Bob Pitcher, Frank Tyler,
Richard Broczek
Don’t Do That
LENNY HELSING celebrates the legacy of West Country ’60s
R&B rebels THE BETTERDAYS
M
any long-haired beat
groups could be found
tearing up stages
across the UK during
the mid-60s – The
Primitives, The Fairies,
The Pretty Things all readily spring to
mind. Photographic evidence of England’s
south coast heroes The Betterdays depicts
them as – for the time – mad, bad and
possibly dangerous to know. That they
30
howled, wailed, shook and snarled their
way through hard-core freakbeat cruncher
‘Don’t Want That’ – their only single
issued by Polydor in September 1965 –
did nothing to dampen any public notion
of them as outright uncouth savages; it
only served to heighten it even more.
Mike “Shane” Hayne, vocals, Richard
Broczek, lead guitar, Frank Tyler, drums,
Mike Weston, bass, and Bob Pitcher,
electric piano, organ, guitar and blues-
harp had all, mostly, been playing rock
’n’ roll type music since the ’60s dawned,
firstly with The Saints, a Shadows-style
outfit who, soon after Mike Weston
joined, were known as Saints Beat
Combo, before becoming The Betterdays
in June ’64.
They were Plymouth’s R&B brethren,
if you will, who, through nightly
constitutionals of sweat and toil, attracted
a fanatical following all across Devon
and the West Country, into Wales and up
into the north of England. Now 74 years
old, mild-mannered and well-spoken,
Betterdays bass guitarist and main driving
force Mike Weston still has fire in his spirit
as he passionately recalls the head-spinning
days of ’64-65. “I thought we were a
terrific group,” he enthuses. “So what
– we never made it. But we were a real
raw, stomping R&B group, the real thing.
Bob Pitcher (composer of ‘Don’t Want
That’) was our charismatic,
energetic person out
front, who wasn’t the lead
singer, he played organ and
harmonica but also liked to
jump around and dance, and
he could whip the audience into a real
frenzy and we wanted more of that.”
Like their more famous contemporaries
the Stones, Animals, Kinks and Yardbirds,
The Betterdays were also fixated on
Bo Diddley, Jimmy Reed, Sonny Boy
Williamson, John Lee Hooker and others
whom they idolised, and they didn’t
think twice about modifying the sound,
quickly updating it to accommodate the
new trend of electrified blues licks played
loud over brash vocals, sizzling maracas,
thrashing bass and drums, topped-off
with an attitude of disdain and barely
suppressed intensity. “We had about 18
songs to begin with,” says Weston, “and if
the Stones or whoever were already doing
a particular song then it was out of our
repertoire. I was an avid R&B collector Bob Pitcher practices
so it was easy to pick another, perhaps an being cool; bassist Mike
even more obscure track, and stick that in Weston and drummer
Frank Tyler on stage
instead.” circa 1965
Although disbanding in ’66,
The Betterdays’ name was kept alive
throughout the ensuing decades, due
largely to the efforts of Weston who, after “If the Stones or
a chance meeting with drummer Frank whoever were already
Tyler, was persuaded to get the group
back together to see if they could instigate doing a particular
that same special magic they once had. song then it was out
Weston arranged for the group’s early
demos to be issued on two seven-inch of our repertoire.
EPs, Howl Of The Streets and Down On I was an avid R&B
The Waterfront, released on his own N.T.B. on with us – that this was largely our
label. A spate of commendable live gigs collector so it was easy crowd, then our road manager said to us,
took place, plus one or two exhaustive to pick another, perhaps ‘When will you guys ever learn, the crowd
studio sessions – valiant attempts to are here to see you.’
recapture some of the group’s original an even more obscure “We appeared on Westward Television
spirit – that appeared in ’93 as the No track” one time, on a programme called Westward
Concessions album. Here ’Tis followed on Diary,”Weston continues, “and after
Dig The Fuzz (featuring demos and a our performance the station received
rare mid-60s live track taped at legendary Red’s ‘Two Fifty-Three’, Jimmy Reed’s sackfuls of mail, 90% of which were from
hometown lair The Quavy Club) and ‘Upside Your Head’ and ‘It’s A Sin’ people who were fuming about these
another, Howlin’, through the After-Math plus, surprisingly, Weston’s own gritty ‘young degenerates’ up there playing on
label. composition ‘Working Man’. television.”
Fast forward to more recent years and, ‘Don’t Lie To Me’ and Bo’s ‘I Can Banned by Top Rank halls, and some
still dissatisfied with the overall sound of Tell’ are also featured as part of a separate promoters in Plymouth due to riotous
the group’s previous output – and with Backlash 10” EP. Aside from occasional gigs – especially if they played John Lee
more outtakes to choose from – Weston backing harmonies provided by someone Hooker’s ‘Walking The Boogie’. As shown
dug out the analogue tapes which, “were known only as “Mysterious Lorraine”, all on the inside sleeve of Backlash CD the
all but falling apart,” he says, trying to of Backlash‘s performances are played out group set out on a tour throughout
squeeze the best from each track to give by The Betterdays’ original ’64-65 line-up. the summer of ’65, playing for their
these, now old, recordings one last push. Had the group been offered a contract thousands of adoring fans all over the
The fruits of Weston’s untold hours with Pye or Fontana or similar during the north of England and Wales, with the first
of remixing and remastering can now be height of their local fame during ’64 and and last stops being standing room only
heard on N.T.B.’s newly-pressed Backlash, early ’65, perhaps The Betterdays might’ve appearances at their home turf haunt The
a deluxe double vinyl LP – including cut loose across the hit parade. “We played Quay Club.
reproduction inserts of early days Plymouth Guildhall in ’65,” recalls Weston,
paraphernalia – and on CD. Amidst the “and as we turned up at Royal Parade the Backlash is available now on double
abundant R&B staples dotted throughout queue was five deep. Frank [drummer] vinyl LP and CD on N.T.B. Records
this mostly-authentic evocation of the was angry, and said to me, ‘I thought you
group’s ’64 live set we are treated to said we were top of the bill’ – not realising Grateful thanks to Mike Weston and Simon
Bo Diddley’s ‘Crackin’ Up’, Louisiana – as there were two or three other groups Redley for help in putting this together

31
20 questions
A young Ken Scott
attends to business during
a Beatles recording
session at EMI Studios,
Abbey Road, 1968

Savoy Truffles &

Moonage Daydreams
KEN SCOTT, who was lucky enough to enter the music industry as
a button-pusher at Abbey Road just as the ’60s began to swing,
may have worked with The Beatles and David Bowie, which is no
small claim, but he has also worked with a huge array of artists
that takes in everyone from America and Supertramp to Devo.
JON ‘MOJO’ MILLS hears all about his lengthy musical
journey as an engineer and producer
Shindig!: You manned the console in
Abbey Road with The Beatles at their
most psychedelic in 1967. As well as the
songwriting changing, production and
engineering was equally as integral.What
are your fondest memories of this period
and why?
Ken Scott: Paul playing ‘Let It Be’ just
for me. I would think the why would
be obvious. Getting to know George H
more. Because of the relationship it led to.
Working with the one band in the world
that had very few time constraints and who
never wanted anything to sound the same
way twice. I learned my craft.
SD!: You recorded Pink Floyd’s ‘Apples And
Oranges’ / ‘Paintbox’ single.What are your
memories of Syd Barrett?
KS: I have no specific memories of
him within the Floyd sessions. My main
memory of Syd comes from a solo session.
The session was booked for a Saturday and
although things were changing around at
EMI the sessions were still booked in the
old-time structure of 2:30pm to 5:30pm,
7:00pm to 10:00pm. My assistant engineer
and I arrived at about 2:00pm to set up,
but the paperwork gave no information as
to what we would be working on or what
musicians to expect, so we sat and waited
for Syd and/or any other musicians to
arrive.When no-one had arrived by 5:30
we decided to go to the pub for a bite to
eat, planning to get back by the obligatory
7:00pm. Upon arrival back, the security
guard told me that a few minutes after we
had left a man named Syd had come around
looking for me and said he’d be back a little
later.
The wait continued until 10:00pm and
when once again no-one showed up both
myself and my assistant left for home.
When I arrived for work on Monday
I was informed by that same security
guard that Syd had eventually returned at
around midnight on Saturday once again
asking for me. That is the only session I
specifically recall but have been told that
paperwork shows I did go on and do
some actual “real” sessions with him.
SD!: Taking over from The Beatles’
regular engineer Geoff Emerick after the
latter refused to continue working for
them partway through the sessions for
The White Album (‘Back In The USSR’
featured Paul on drums after Ringo had
walked out), you’ve said tensions were not
as bad as written about. But Ringo must
have seemed downtrodden.What was the
atmosphere like and how did you deal with
it?
KS: Actually ‘Back In The USSR’ featured
Paul and John and George on drums. Paul
laid down the first track and then the other
two put additional drums parts on and we
made a compilation of all three. I most
certainly said tensions were not as bad as
written about because they weren’t. For
my book, Abbey Road To Ziggy Stardust, I
checked with two others who were there a
lot, George Martin’s assistant Chris Thomas
and my assistant engineer John Smith, and
both agreed with me.The best thing for
me about Giles Martin digging through all
of the out-takes is that he now also agrees.
Apparently, he had heard of all of the dissent
from his father but upon listening to hours
of The Beatles in the studio he’s come away
surprised by all the friendly banter and
how well they were all getting along.Yes,
there were moments of disagreement and
sometimes anger, but that’s all part of the
artistic temperament and it always subsided
in a short time.
SD!: A point is often made that each Beatle
worked on songs separately, but there’re so
many moments of what sounds like them
being a great rock ’n’ roll band that this line
of enquiry of them working apart would
seem to be a bit of a misconception.The
band rock as a whole and some tracks are
very loud and nasty compared to what
came before i.e.‘Helter Skelter’.You later
worked with the Stones at Trident, but were
The White Album Beatles the heavier and
looser rock ’n’ roll band?
KS: Firstly, to set the record straight, all I
“The amount of British talent
that erupted onto the popular
music scene at that time will
never be repeated. The bands,
the musicians, the writers, the
producers and the engineers.
And I was there to witness and
be a part of so much of it”
did with the Stones was one mix session
and the orchestral overdubs, arranged by
Paul Buckmaster, on ‘Moonlight Mile’
and ‘Sway’. Secondly, there were very few
songs worked on completely separately.The
reason for someone going off to work in
one of the other studios was because, for
the first time,The Beatles were working to
a deadline.Their first release on their own,
much publicised, label.
Now to the main point of the question.
The Beatles had the ability, talent, time
and money to basically be whatever they
wanted.When they wanted to “rock out”
they could and most certainly did and when
they wanted a Disney-like track they could
and did.That to me was one of the most
amazing things about working with them,
musically you never knew what to expect,
there was never the feeling that they were
making the same record again. Unlike many
other artists.
SD!: If there was one track on The White
Album that you could remix or put your
hand up now as a producer and say “I’d do
that differently”, what would that be?
KS: I read somewhere that The White
Album was the biggest selling record of the
’60s and the biggest selling Beatles album.
Who am I to second guess The Beatles,
Ken (second left) with The Beatles,
George Martin and Mal Evans
during the recording of ‘Across
The Universe’, 8th February 1968;
Floyd and Fabs psych milestones
touched by the hand of Scott
33
George Martin and, most importantly, he’d been in to record a single one Saturday
the record buying public? To quote Mr with Gus Dudgeon producing and Barry
McCartney,“It’s great, it sold, it’s the bloody Sheffield engineering.That was ‘Space
Beatles’ White Album. Shut up!” Oddity’ and I loved it from the first time I
heard it. It was successful and so his label,
SD!: What are your memories of working Mercury, wanted an album. Another Trident
on the ‘I’d Like To Buy The World A Coke’ engineer, Malcolm Toft, and I recorded the
jingle, and did you realise it would become album with Tony Visconti producing.The
so iconic? album, Man Of Words Man Of Music or Space
KS: A lot of engineers cut their Oddity or David Bowie, was okay, but with
engineering teeth by recording ads, great Tony at the helm it was very different to
training but mostly a real pain in the butt. the single that had been so successful and it
The ad agency executive that always showed flopped.
up wants things to sound more green or I thought David was an extremely
turquoise, absolutely no concept of sound nice guy, obviously with a little talent, but
or how to get across what they’re looking never a superstar. Mercury decided they
for. As consistently happened in my life wanted a second album [in fact a third as
someone or something was taking care of debut David Bowie was released on Deram
me during this, my one and only ad.The ad in 1967] so Tony Visconti and David went
exec for this particular session was one Billy into Advision and cut basic tracks for The
Davis, ex-member of The Fifth Dimension, Man Who Sold The World and then came
who knew exactly how to talk music and back to Trident to do overdubs and mix,
sound. Roger Cook, the writer of the song, with me. Just like before, an extremely
who as it happened I’d known for some nice guy, obviously with a little talent, but
time, was also on hand as was David McKay, never a superstar. Another flop.
an Australian producer I had worked with The next time I saw David was when
at EMI Studios (Abbey Road). It was a joy he came into Trident to produce a single
to work on. Iconic? I obviously knew it had with a friend of his, Freddie Burretti, and
done what it was supposed to when I heard it happened to coincide with my decision
that sales of Coke had gone up by 25% and to move into production. During one of
then when it won me a Clio. But iconic? the tea breaks I happened to mention this
Not until seeing the finale of Mad Men to David and he told me he’d just signed
did I realise quite how big it was. a new management deal and they wanted
him to record an album that they could
SD!: Can you say a little bit about when then take and shop around. He said he was
you first heard David Bowie and your going to produce it himself but wasn’t sure
thoughts on him at that time? if he could do that and then asked if I’d
KS: My introduction to him was shortly co-produce it with him. I jumped at the
after I moved to Trident Studios and after chance of honing my chops with an artist
that probably would never be
“iconic” ad vert heard and then, just a couple of
The
weeks later when going through
demos with him, it hit me hard
that there was much more to Mr
Jones than I’d ever seen before.
He could easily be a superstar
and fear struck as I realised my
first ever production might be
heard by many, I’d better not
screw up. I guess I didn’t screw
up too badly.
SD!: Could you say something
about how you came to make
the leap from engineer to
producer and what drove that
decision?
KS: It’s interesting because
there were three engineers at
Trident Studios at that time,
Roy Thomas Baker, Robin
Cable and myself and we all
decided around the same
time to make that move. For
me it came down to basically
two things. Firstly, I wasn’t
really learning any more
from just engineering. I’d
done all the experimenting
with different microphones and their
placement, I knew the frequencies I most
liked to tweak, it had become a little boring.
The second thing was something that many
engineers go through.You’re sitting at the
mixing console next to the producer and
you have an “artistic” idea.You explain it to
the producer who then decides to try the
idea. If it works he takes the credit, if it
doesn’t “It was just Ken’s idea, I didn’t think
it would work but I didn’t want him to feel
bad.” I wanted to officially have more artistic
say and stand or fall by that.Then Mr Jones
came back into my life.
SD!: Working with George Harrison on All
Things Must Pass must have been enjoyable.
Do you think George should have had
more power in The Beatles?
KS: Working with George was always
enjoyable for me. Should he have had
more power? I hate to second guess.Things
worked out just fine for George. Maybe if
The Beatles had recorded a couple of those
songs All Things Must Pass wouldn’t have
been as strong as it was and wouldn’t have
become the best-selling of all The Beatles’
solo records.
SD!: How was Phil Spector? Quite a force?
KS: I didn’t have too much interaction
with Phil, possibly luckily, during All Things
Must Pass. He worked with George whilst
cutting the basic tracks at EMI with Phil
McDonald, then returned to America whilst
George and I did all the overdubs.When it
came time to mix George and I would get
the mix close to where we wanted it, then
Spector would come by and pass comments
on where we’d got to and leave. George
and I would then finish the mix, sometimes
taking into consideration the comments,
sometimes not. I did do another session
with George and Phil later. It was to record
vocals and mix a track written by George,
‘Try Some Buy Some’, being sung by Mrs
Spector, Ronnie. At the time it just seemed
like a strange relationship, but in hindsight
it became obvious that she was terrified of
him.
SD!: You worked with Elton John on
Honky Chateau and then Don’t Shoot Me...
in what must have been rather convivial
surroundings compared to The White Album
sessions. Does that band/musician dynamic
affect the way you approach your work
when mixing a record, or do you try to
keep a level head?
KS: Oh boy, I am so fed up with the belief
that The White Album sessions were so awful.
After all that’s been written I know people
find this hard to believe, but those
sessions were a lot of fun, just like the
sessions with Elton.
The joking around, at
times, was very similar as both groups were
fans of The Goons and there would be
much silliness in that vein.
SD!: You made five
albums with David Bowie
as first engineer then
producer from Hunky
Dory onwards.Which was
your favourite to work on?
KS: Actually, six albums.Two
engineer and four engineer
and co-producer.There was no
particular favourite. My favourite
period was Hunky, Ziggy and
Aladdin Sane.To me Ziggy holds
together as the best album, but I
feel there are some better tracks
on the other two.
Pin Ups was a strange
one to work on. It was just after
David had fired the band and it was
obvious he wanted to move on to
something different.
SD!: It’s been suggested that the tighter
the deadline, the more productive
David Bowie became.Was that the
case on the run of
albums that you
worked on with
him?
KS: I was never
aware of any
deadlines for any
of the four albums
I co-produced
with David.The
closest thing to
a deadline had
to do with him
getting bored in the studio.
We all knew to get it quick or David would
want to move on. But then I guess that
when he can do 95% of his vocals in one
take, no auto-tune, no copying and pasting,
just good old-fashioned performing – he
had every right to get bored with others
taking too long.
SD!:You co-produced Supertramp’s Crime
Of The Century album, which was and is
still recognised for its distinctive sound and
structure. It also took much longer to record
than most albums did at that time. How
were you able to get that much freedom to
work with a relatively unknown band? Did
the advent of higher end studio technology
fill you with joy?
KS: I don’t know what it was but I knew
the album had to be exceptional and
believed the band was capable of being
great. I just started off with that in mind
and worked toward that end right from
the get-go. One and a half days to get the
drums sounding the way I wanted them.
Ridiculous.We should have had a bunch
of basic tracks done in that time, but we
plodded on taking whatever time was
needed.
About a week and a half into the
sessions, when we should have been
“We all knew to get it quick or David
would want to move on. But then I guess
that when he can do 95% of his vocals
in one take he had every right to get
bored with others taking too long”
zeroing in on
completion, we got
a call from A&M, the
label, telling us that
Jerry Moss, the M of
A&M, was in
town and was
coming in to hear
what we’d done.
“No, he can’t,
we’re nowhere
near a point for
him to come
and listen.” We
had basic tracks
with a very few
overdubs done
by this time.
But come he did. He sat, listened
to what we had, got up said
goodbye and that was it.
We thought it was all over,
we’d hear the next day that this
was ridiculous and the recording
would come to an immediate end.
As it turned out, he came, he heard,
we conquered. Jerry loved what we
played him, completely understood
and agreed with what we were aiming
for and gave us carte blanche. We took
him at his word and it paid off all round.
Phew!
To the best of my recollection this was
before technology really came into play.
Yes we’d moved to 24-track recording but
that was the only modern convenience.
The desks were still the same, the mics,
the outboard gear, all the same.
So basically, any joy came from getting
the best one could from the gear at hand,
no quick fix capabilities like today.
SD!:You and your wife moved back to the
UK a few years ago, after living in the US
since the mid-70s.What differences, positive
or negative, do you see in the UK between
when you left and when you came back?
KS: I had been in the eye of the hurricane
from 1964 to ’74, from The Beatles to
Bowie. England seemed to be the centre
of the universe for everything from music
to art to fashion. I had started to do more
work in New York and Chicago, each time
leaving my family, a situation I wasn’t fond
of.When Supertramp decided to start our
next record in LA I brought the family
with me and it was so good we decided
to move there, which we did in ’76.To me
England was in a decline at this point. After
the previous 10 years it seemed dull, lifeless,
gloomy, completely the opposite of LA.
Sun, sun, sun and fun, fun, fun! Every
dog has his day and eventually LA started
to go downhill, even all that sun can get
boring.Then I started to work more in
England again and it felt revitalised, people
seemed happy again. I was spending more
and more time over here and REALLY
enjoying it, my new American wife loving it
even more than me, so when the dark side
of America slapped us hard and then I was
offered a teaching position at Leeds Beckett
University we jumped at the chance to
move. From a musical perspective, there is so
much talent over here, but unfortunately, it’s
not always easy to find that talent. Alas John
Peel is no longer around.
SD!:It’s been documented that you had
issues with many of the stories in Geoff
Emerick’s book and especially what
many saw as his bias towards certain band
members. Did you set out to readdress the
balance with your memoirs?
KS: With my book I set out to tell my
story in a way that I hoped people would
enjoy reading. I believe that history should
be as close to the truth as is possible. I know
it can never be 100% correct but I and my
co-writer Bobby Owsinski did our best
to get my story straight by speaking with
as many people connected with that story
as possible.When their version was quite
different we used that and/or tried to find
corroboration from another source.Writing
was a very different situation for me. As a
producer or engineer I find it easy to make
decisions and move on, but when writing I
was second guessing myself the whole time.
It was tough.
You bring up my issues about Geoff’s
book and I can’t just leave that part of the
question hanging. I purchased a galley of
the book via eBay some time before its
publication and was most disappointed
in what I had hoped would be the final
word on the subject by someone who was
actually there. Unfortunately, there were
many factual errors, all of which I double
and triple checked before ever saying a
word and there was obviously a bias against
so many. But the final straw for me was
when I read a story I had mentioned to
Geoff’s writer about Keith Moon leaving
the EMI Studios car park late at night
only to find it had been changed to John
Lennon leaving with Geoff witnessing the
event. I, as well as others I knew, contacted
35
 Ken Scott... Grand
Control
“Oh boy, I am so fed up with the belief that The
White Album sessions were so awful. After all
that’s been written I know people find this hard to
believe, but those sessions were a lot of fun”
the publishers to notify them of all the
problems and none of us ever heard back
from them. Geoff was an amazing engineer,
I have always said that, but his memory
left a lot to be desired, as shown in several
interviews he did in the ’70s.Things like
the intro to ‘Lucy In The Sky’ being a guitar
and comments about Sgt Pepper being too
long ago for him to remember.
SD!:If a publisher gave you a million dollars
to write an expanded edition of your book
next year, what’s the first story you’d add?
KS: Certainly NOT the one about how
I’d managed to con a publisher into giving
me a million dollars. No, it would be a very
personal story, nothing to do with music .
SD!:What do your students ask you about
the most? And what do you wish they
would ask you more about?
KS: Most asked – “What was it like
working with…, …, …, …?” (Fill in the
blanks). I can’t think of anything I wish
they asked me more about.Those that get
it, it being my passion for the way we used
to work, ask the right questions.Those
that don’t probably wouldn’t understand
what I’m trying to put across anyway.
My preferred way of teaching is by doing
masterclasses, that way the students get to
see everything I do, even those instinctive
things that I don’t even realise I do, and
36
can ask me immediately,“Why?” and my
answer makes more sense in the moment.
SD!:Then or now? What’s the most
thrilling… being a young man new to
Abbey Road pushing buttons or being
an older man and seeing all that has gone
before in the music industry?
KS: Without a shadow of a doubt, young
man. I was blessed to be born in a unique
time and place in the history of music.
The amount of British talent that erupted
onto the popular music scene at that time
will never be repeated.The bands, the
musicians, the writers, the producers and
the engineers. Absolutely unbelievable and
I was there to witness and be a part of so
much of it. I do have to also say that we
were all lucky enough back then to have
music people in charge of the labels, not
accountants.They may well have been older
but they knew talent and they knew that
talent needed to be nurtured. So what if it
didn’t happen first time out? They believed
in the people they signed and stood by
them.
Being an older man, still in the same
business after 54 years, I find it amazing
that I still enjoy it.There is no drug to
match the high from sitting back and
having the most amazing music wafting
over you from a group of talented people
playing together.The studio is still my
second home, BUT… These days it’s so
much harder for me to find artists that turn
me on, I’ve heard so much of it before.
And I have to admit I’m scared. I choose
to believe that talent will win out in the
end, but I wonder if that talent will ever be
able to make enough money to exist due
to the pittance being paid by streaming
companies. Or will the vast amount of
money being invested by major music
companies in AI lead to the extinction of
creativity, the companies would love paying
even fewer people. Or am I just an old
fart who, like many before, is just afraid of
modern technology?
SD!:What are your opinions on Giles
Martin’s recent remixes of Sgt Pepper and
The White Album?
KS: I only received the updated versions
the other day and so have not yet had a
chance to listen to them, therefore I have no
opinion on what Giles did. Conceptually,
I have no problem with new mixes being
done as long as the originals are still always
available. My fear is that as more and more
listening is done via streaming no-one
will know which version they are actually
listening to, creating a total mish mash of
quality and artistic decisions.
Thanks to: Cam Cobb, Martyn Coppack, Gary
Crowley, Charles Donovan, Greg Healey, Fiona
McQuarrie, Julian Marszalek, Simon Matthews,
Jon ‘Mojo’ Mills, Andy Morten, Paul Osborne,
Thomas Patterson, Paul Ritchie, Martin
Ruddock, Chris Twomey
The Beatles is out now on Apple/
EMI. Ken’s autobiography Abbey
Road To Ziggy Stardust is published by
Alfred Music
 the best of 2018
found us celebrating the anniversaries of a stupefying number of defining

2018 long-players as The Class Of 1968 turned 50. From The Beatles to The Pretty
Things, few of that year’s sonic signposts were left unmolested. Our thoughts
have already turned to ’69’s big hitters and what we can expect in 2019.
Meanwhile, new music continued its ascent into our hearts and minds, with dozens of killer
albums, singles and live shows to keep us on our toes and in a positive mood. Library music enjoyed
something of a revival, with archival releases, compilations and books accompanying an historic live
show and new documentary film.
We mourned the passing of a number of musical and artistic heroes this year. Once again we
bid fond farewells to Rick Hall, Tony Calder, Ray Thomas, ‘Fast’ Eddie Clark, Jim Rodford, Hugh
Masakela, Mark E Smith, Buzz Clifford, Dennis Edwards, John Barlow, Mike Harrison, Yvonne
Staples, John Starks, Danny Kirwan, Jon Hiseman, DJ Fontana, Alan Longmuir, Vince Martin,
Aretha Franklin, Eddie Willis, Ed King, Chas Hodges, Marty Balin, Otis Rush, Charles Aznavour,
Tony Joe White, Wah Wah Watson, Geoff Emerick and Pete Shelley.
So let’s celebrate their memories as well as the sights and sounds that continue to enrich our
lives and fill the pages of Shindig! as the magazine enters its 27th year, with our writers’ favourite
moments of 2018.
To the toppermost of the poppermost!

BEST NEW ALBUM

1. MICHAEL RAULT
A New Day Tonight
Wick

We said: “Full of clever, catchy songs,

decorated with baroque guitars and
layered harmonies that steer clear of
cliché and constantly surprise, It’s A
New Day Tonight possesses the kind of
mellowed-out powerpop not heard
since Supertramp and Wings ruled the
FM airwaves”
Michael Rault says: “It’s a huge honour to have
my album chosen as the Shindig! album of the
year. I became aware of the publication 15 years
ago when they were kind enough to run very
encouraging reviews of the self-released CDRs that
I was making and selling at hall shows in my
hometown. Having a cool magazine from the UK –
the land that brought forth the biggest formative
influences of my youth – get behind me when I was
landlocked in a Northern Canadian city gave me a
huge sense of optimism as a young person. Now,
at a time when I’ll soon be turning 30 and am
entering into an important period of assessment
and self-reflection, to have my album chosen as #1
really does mean a great deal. I spent the last three
years of my life creating and nurturing this thing,
and to be receiving such high praise from a
magazine with such impeccable taste,
knowledgeable readership and compatible
interests to my own is a great reward for all of the
work that went into it. It’s a great way to send off Michael Rault celebrates a new day
2018.”
38
 Honeybus Back to the story
2. Paul Weller - True Meanings Parlophone
3. The Fernweh - The Fernweh Skeleton Key
4. Gruff Rhys - Babelsberg Rough Trade
5. Gloria - Oidophon Echorama
Ample Play/Howlin' Banana
6. Gwenno - Le Kov Heavenly
7. The Lemon Twigs - Go To School 4AD
8. Kacy & Clayton - The Siren's Song New West
9. Melody's Echo Chamber - Bon Voyage
Domino
10. Trembling Bells - Dungeness Tin Angel
11. Jacco Gardner - Somnium Full Time Hobby
12. Ryley Walker - Deafman Glance Dead Oceans
13. Papernut Cambridge - Mellotron Phase
Volume 2 Gare du Nord
14. Calibro 35 - Decade Record Kicks
15. Daniel Romano - Finally Free New West
16. The Hanging Stars - Songs For
Somewhere Else Crimson Crow
17. White Denim - Performance Full Time Hobby
18. GospelbeacH - Another Winter Alive Alive
19. Emma Tricca - St Peter Dll’Orso
20. Oh Sees - Smote Reverser Castle Face
Bubbling under: Cavern Of Anti-Matter, Cordovas,
Creation Factory, Father John Misty, Halo Maud,
Hampshire & Foat, Jon Spencer, Jonathan Wilson,
Joshua Hedley, Judy Dyble, Khruangbin, Last Of The
Easy Riders, Matthew 'Doc' Dunn, Warm Drag
BEST REISSUE
1. HONEYBUS
Story
Hanky Panky/Mapache
We said: “It’s a perfect dozen,
penned largely by bassist/
vocalist Ray Cane, that
manages to pay lip service to
country-rock, superpop,
psychedelia and big ballads
without once sacrificing its
own distinct personality”
Hanky Panky’s Iñaki Orbezua says:
“Having had the opportunity to work
with some of our favourite artists on
releasing some of our favourite music
has been a trip. Then having our
favourite magazine give you this award
is just unbelievable. Thank you guys!"
2. Roger Nichols & The Small Circle Of Friends -
Roger Nichols & The Small Circle Of Friends Tapete
3. The Seeds - A Web Of Sound Ace
4. Teenage Fanclub - Grand Prix Sony
5. Serge Gainsbourg & Michel Colombier -
La Pacha OST WeWantSounds
6. Pearls Before Swine - Balaklava Drag City
7. The Rising Storm - The Calm Before Sundazed
8. Calcium - Calcium Monster Melodies
9. Catherine Ribeiro + Alpes - Ame Debout/No2/
Paix Anthology
10. Hunger - Strictly From Hunger Now-Again
11. David Axelrod - Song Of Innocence Now-Again
12. Dave Evans - The Words In Between Earth
13. Janko Nilovic - Rythmes Contemporains Broc
14. Ted Dicks - Virgin Witch OST Trunk
15. The Free Design - Kites Are Fun Light In The Attic
16. Popera Cosmic - Les Enclaves Finders Keepers
17. Fickle Pickle - Sinful Skinful Secret
18. Paddy Kingsland - The Changes OST Silva Screen
19. Colorama - Cookie Zoo Banana & Louie
20. Simply Saucer - Cyborgs Revisited In The Red
Bubbling under: Badfinger, Curved Air, David Shire,
Golden Smog, Kannibal Komix, Paul Williams
39

BEST BOX SET
1. THE BEATLES
The Beatles
Apple/EMI
Apple Corps’ Guy Hayden says: “On behalf of
The Beatles, we are so proud to win this year’s
award and our thanks go out to Shindig! The
whole team really enjoyed creating this package
but it means so much that you LOVE it too!”
2. Bobbie Gentry - The Girl From Chickasaw
County UMC
3. The Kinks - The Kinks Are The Village Green
Preservation Society Sanctuary
4. Various Artists - A Kaleidoscope Of Sound:
Psychedelic & Freakbeat Masterpieces UMC
5. Love - Forever Changes: 50th Anniversary
Edition Rhino
6. The Action - Shadows & Reflections Grapefruit
7. Various Artists - Am I Dreaming?: 80 Brit Girl
Sounds Of The 60s RPM
8. Tim Buckley - The Troubadour Concerts, 1969
Demon
9. The Pretty Things - SF Sorrow: 50th
Anniversary Edition Madfish
10. Thee Hypnotics - Righteously Recharged
Beggars Banquet
11. Various Artists - Gathered From Coincidence:
The British Folk-Pop Sound 1965-66 Grapefruit
12. The Small Faces - Ogdens Nut Gone Flake:
50th Anniversary Edition Sanctuary
13. Buffalo Springfield - What's That Sound:
Complete Albums Collection Rhino
14. Various Artists - Stax ’68 Craft
15. Various Artists - Try A Little Sunshine: The
British Psychedelic Sounds Of 1969 Grapefruit
16. The Steve Miller Band - Complete Albums
Volume 1 UMC
17. Various Artists - Come Join My Orchestra:
The British Baroque-Pop Sound 1967-73 Grapefruit
18. Fickle Pickle - A Complete Pickle Secret
19. The Crazy World Of Arthur Brown -
The Crazy World Of Arthur Brown: 50th
Anniversary Deluxe Edition Cherry Red
20. Various Artists - Stax Singles Volume 4 Craft
Bubbling under: The Jimi Hendrix Experience, The
Rolling Stones, Spirit, Wilco, Wynder K Frog
40
BEST COMPILATION BEST COMPILATION
(SINGLE ARTIST) (VARIOUS ARTISTS)
1. ZUIDER ZEE
Zeenith
Light In The Attic
Zuider Zee’s Richard Orange and Gary
Simon Bertrand say: “On behalf of Zuider
Zee, Richard and I would like to thank
Shindig! magazine and its readers for their
appreciation and support. We are humbled
and honoured.”
2. Bob Seger & The Last Heard - Heavy
Music ABKCO
3. Marianne Faithfull - Come And Stay With
Me: The UK 45s 1964-1969 Ace
4. The Action - Rolled Gold Guerssen
5. Nirvana - Rainbow Chaser: The Island
Years Island
6. Gene Clark - Sings For You Omnivore
7. Honeybus - For Where Have You Been:
The Lost Tracks Hanky Panky/Mapache
8. Craig Smith/Maitreta Kali - Love Is Our
Existence Maitreya Apache
9. George Jackson - Leavin' Your
Homework Undone Kent
10. Jackie DeShannon - Stone Cold Soul:
The Complete Capitol Recordings Real Gone
Bubbling under: Bert Jansch, Hank Marvin,
Procol Harum, Shirley Ellis, The Humblebums
1. BOB STANLEY &
PETE WIGGS PRESENT
PARIS IN THE SPRING
Ace
Bob Stanley and Pete Wiggs say: “When
you have an idea for an album that’s more
of a personal concept, like a tape you’d
make for a mate, than a ‘Singles As & Bs’
then you’re never sure that anybody else will
get it. So we’re absolutely chuffed to be
compilation of the year. Thanks! Pete and
Bob.”
2. When The Day Is Done: The
Orchestrations Of Robert Kirby Ace
3. A Sea For Yourself OST Modern Harmonic
4. Running The Voodoo Down Volume 2
TAD
5. Bob Stanley & Pete Wiggs Present State
Of The Union Ace
6. Unusual Sounds Anthology
7. Circles End Volume 1 Misty Lane
8. Cover Me: The Eddie Hinton Songbook
Ace
9. Mod Jazz Rides Again Kent
10. Paradise: The Sound Of Ivor Raymonde
Bella Union
Bubbling under: Jon Savage's 1965, New Breed
R&B, The Corn Mother, The Wrecking Crew,
Themes About The House, Westbound Super
Breaks, Planet Mod, Fab Gear
 8. Paul Weller Royal Festival Hall, London 2. Ace
BEST SINGLE 9. The Mummies Le Beat Bespoke, 229, London 3. Grapefruit
10. King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard Green 4. Skeleton Key
1. THE SOUNDCARRIERS Man Festival, Brecon Beacons 5. Mexican Summer
/ GLORIA 6. Light In The Attic
7. Castle Face
Waves / Dancehall No 3 BEST BOOK 8. Fruits de Mer
Shindig!
9. A Year In The Country
1. NOT IN FRONT OF 10. Anthology
The Soundcarriers’ Adam Cann says:
“Wow! We are still dazed and reeling from the THE CHILDREN
amazing crowd response at the Shindig! Greg Healey BEST FILM/DVD
night. A fantastic and unexpected way to end New Haven
the year and a massive thank you to your
writers and readers for your support. It's great Greg Healey says: “To be voted book of 2018
1. THE LIBRARY MUSIC
to share this with Gloria, both tracks really – what a great honour. It was Shindig! FILM
complement each other. Many, many thanks magazine’s open and imaginative approach,
and a Happy New Year to all!” in publishing my musings on kids’ TV, that first Film-maker Shawn Lee says: “My mind is
gave life to the idea behind the book. Really totally blown! That is so cool. Thank you so
2. Circulus - Tintagic Mythical Cake very chuffed indeed fellow Shindiggers. Thank much for voting it best film. It was a real
3. Mapache - Lonesome LA Cowboy Bandcamp you.” labour of love and it means a lot for it to
4. Beautify Junkyards - Aquarius Ghost Box receive this honour. Cheers!”
5. Calibro 35 - Travelers, Explorers Record Kicks 2. David Hollander - Unusual Sounds
6. Temples - Toe Rag Session EP Heavenly Anthology Editions 2. Woodfall: A Revolution In British Cinema
7. The Loons - Blue Ether Dirty Water 3. Stuart Cosgrove - Harlem 69: The Future 3. Arcadia
8. Graham Day & The Forefathers - Of Soul Polygon 4. Childrens Film Foundation Bumper Box
Emmaretta Damaged Goods 4. John Howard - Incidents Crowded With 5. All You Need Is Fuzz: 30 Years In A Garage
9. The Pacers - How Will I Know? Psych-a-rella Life Fisher King Band
10. Luca Nieri - Windmills Of Your Mind 5. Françoise Hardy - The Despair Monkeys
Wonderfulsound And Other Trifles Feral House
6. Wayne Kramer - The Hard Stuff Faber & Faber BEST RECORD SHOP
7. James Birch & Barry Miles - The British
BEST LIVE SHOW Underground Press Of The Sixties Rocket 88
8. Ryan H Walsh - Astral Weeks (A Secret 1. SPILLERS Cardiff
1. THE KPM ALL STARS History Of 1968) Penguin
The British Library, London 9. Derek Taylor - As Time Goes By Faber & Faber 2. Platform One, Bexhill On Sea
10. Daniel Spicer - The Turkish Psychedelic 3. Rough Trade East, London
Alan Hawkshaw says: “I appreciate Shindig! Music Explosion Repeater 4. Wah Wah, Barcelona
magazine’s recognition of the show of the 5. Amoeba, Los Angeles
year at The British Library performed by The 6. Flashback, London
KPM All Stars. Playing live is, in my opinion, BEST LABEL 7. Mono, Glasgow
the ultimate test for any piece of music. If it 8. Resident, Brighton
stands up to that it stands up to anything. 9. Casbah, Nottingham
Again, my sincere thanks and keep up the
1. MODERN HARMONIC 10. Sister Ray, London
great work at Shindig! Hawk.”

2. Thee Hypnotics Mirth, Marvel & Maud, London

3. Soundcarriers / Gloria The Victoria, London
4. Kacy & Clayton Bush Hall, London
5. Wolf People & Reine Fiske 229, London
6. GospelbeacH Bush Hall, London
7. Teenage Fanclub
Green Man Festival, Brecon Beacons
Modern Harmonic’s Jay Millar says: “We’re
extremely proud and flattered. We love what
we do and take lots of pride in our platters,
and it’s great when others we respect so
much appreciate them too!”

41
 JUST
A
SHOT
AWAY
THE ROLLING STONES
are seeing in the New Year
riding on the crest of an artistic
resurgence. As the final year of
the ’60s dawns they’re recognised
as Renaissance men, dabbling
in acting and film soundtracks,
throwing elaborate launch parties
and staging electric circuses.
However, all is not well.
Unable to tour, and at war with their
record label, their management
and each other, the iconic band’s
bonhomie and united vision
are unravelling.
MARTIN RUDDOCK unravels the
MIRRORPIX / ALAMY

events surrounding the Stones’

Winter Of Discontent
 Mid-68 promo shoot for
‘Jumpin’ Jack Flash’

"People like putting you into a bag and once they

put you in it, they like to keep you there.”
Mick Jagger, 1969

I
t’s February 1969, and Mick Jagger is sitting down for a major three-part interview with
NME’s Keith Altham at The Rolling Stones’ London office. Jagger’s a model interviewee,
playing the game and giving good copy whilst refusing to give much away. Although
Altham’s a trusted scribe he’s not immune to Jagger’s imperial rudeness – noting that “He
actually turned his back on me as I entered the office and discussed the relative merits of the
grass growing in Regents Park with Keith Richard for 15 minutes.”

Once Mick finally grants Altham an
audience, the performance begins.
Discussing either side of radical politics
and the future of his almost seven-year-
old band, Jagger plays his cards close to his
chest and keeps cutting back to catty,
surreal observations about Lulu and The
Bee Gees. He makes very little mention of
his bandmates, except for admitting he
knows Bill Wyman the least well “Because
he lives so far away.” There’s nuggets of
insight and hilarity but most of all, Mick’s
guarded. Wary. And for good reason.
For the last few months, it seemed that
everything Mick Jagger touched had gone
wrong. It had been a period of great
professional frustration. Personally he
wasn’t in a great place either. Mick and
girlfriend Marianne Faithfull were still
reeling from the recent miscarriage of
their unborn child. She coped by sinking
into growing drug abuse while he became
workaholic and distant.
Most troublingly for the shrewd, driven
Jagger his band was in disarray. The
Stones had been unable to tour during ’68
due to visa issues resulting from various
band drug convictions. Jagger thought
outside the box and brought the audience
to the Stones instead. In grandiose mood,
Mick masterminded the December shoot
of TV film The Rolling Stones Rock And
Roll Circus at London’s Intertel studios to
promote new album Beggar’s Banquet.
Headlining a bizarro ’60s take on a
traditional circus with carnival
performers, animals and a hand-picked
line-up of Stones-approved bands the film
promised to be an experience to
remember. However the tired Stones’
early morning set at the close of the 48-
hour shoot was deemed lacking, eclipsed

44
MIRRORPIX / ALAMY
The Stones and guests (John Lennon, Yoko
Ono, Eric Clapton pictured) line up for The
Rock And Roll Circus, November 1968; at the
NME Poll Winners concert, May 12th; Beggars
Banquet’s overthrown original sleeve design;
Circus director Michael Lindsay-Hogg; an
invitation to the filming
“Business Manager Allen Klein dealt The Rock And Roll Circus
a mortal blow at a screening in Soho. He said ‘I don’t like it.
Why? Because The Who blew you off your own stage!”
by explosive performances from guests
The Who and The Dirty Mac – a
“supergroup” led by John Lennon and
Eric Clapton. If Jagger had some doubts
about the project, Business Manager Allen
Klein dealt it a mortal blow at a screening
in Soho. “He said ‘I don’t like it. Why?
Because The Who blew you off your own
stage!’ It was all he had to say,” recalled
Stones aide Peter Swales to author
Stephen Davies. In panic mode the Stones
planned to reshoot their set, but they
didn’t have the necessary 10 grand to hand
and Klein was reluctant to fork out.
This had just added to the air of
frustration around Beggar’s Banquet. The
new album wasn’t so new, early sessions
for the next album were already
underway. Beggar’s Banquet was a critical
triumph but had been almost derailed in
June by a studio fire. The album’s original
late summer release date was then stalled
for four months by an impasse with
increasingly estranged record label Decca
over the original planned cover art of a
graffitied toilet wall. Ironically
considering the rejected cover, the writing
for the label and the Stones was very
much on the wall.
The band weren’t in a great place either.
Guitarists Keith Richards and Brian Jones
had barely been on speaking terms since
Jones’ then-girlfriend, the German-Italian
model-actress Anita Pallenberg left him
for Richards in Spring ’67. Now Jagger
and Richards were on shaky ground
themselves, again over Pallenberg. That
Autumn, Jagger had made his big screen
debut playing opposite Anita in the dark,
disorientating drama Performance. The love
scenes between Keith’s best friend and
girlfriend apparently blossomed into a
genuine on-set tryst.
The project plunged Mick and Keith
into the first of their great cold wars.
When the Stones convened to record his
new song ‘Memo From Turner’ for the
Performance soundtrack. Keith took
revenge by first refusing to get involved,
then having a fling with Marianne behind
Mick’s back. The film was temporarily
shelved by directors Donald Cammell and
Nicolas Roeg after an early cut shocked
Warner Brothers studio execs, but the
aftershocks of Performance lasted for years.
Friends of the Stones would later remark
that nobody involved was quite the same
after it. Mick pretended nothing
happened and pressed on. A jealous
Marianne self-medicated. Keith holed up
at home with his guitars and poured his
misgivings into song. An early draft of
‘Gimme Shelter’ was written during this
period. Its moody, glacial intro was
sketched out by the disconsolate guitarist
under the influence of a new friend,
heroin.
Whilst relations between Jagger and
Richards lightly simmered, the troubled
Jones was receding further from the band
he’d founded. Brian was drinking heavily,
and his increasingly regular visits from the
45
 “Keith holed up at home with his guitars and poured his
misgivings into song. An early draft of ‘Gimme Shelter’ was written
during this period under the influence of a new friend, heroin”
drug squad over the last year had an
exasperated Jagger constantly fretting over
visas. The remaining Stones treated Brian
with icy resentment but gave him a long
rope. He’d make occasional contributions
like the ringing bottleneck guitar on ‘No
Expectations’, but by the end of 1968 he
was barely turning up and often in no fit
state to contribute when he did. Brian
only seemed to come to life that year
during visits to Morocco to record the
dreamlike music of The Master Musicians
Of JouJouka – a pet album project he was
much more interested in than recording
with the Stones. At the November 17th
session for new song ‘You Can’t Always
Get What You Want’, Brian opted “to lie
on his stomach most of the night, reading
an article on botany.” according to Bill
Wyman. By December Jones’s role in the
Stones was reduced to target practice.
Record Mirror’s Lon Goddard was on the
scene for the posh launch party for
Beggar’s Banquet at The Kensington Gore
Hotel on December 4th: “Thank you all
for coming.” announced Jagger. “I hope
you’ve had a nice time,” before firing the
first shot in a huge food fight at Decca’s
expense by slamming a custard pie straight
into Jones’s face. At the Rock And Roll
Circus shoot the following week Jones was
a static figure, his guitar only mixed up
for his star turn on ‘No Expectations’.
Brian Jones was becoming the man who
wasn’t there.
With relations between Mick and Keith,
and Marianne and Anita still edgy – it was
decided to draw a line under recent events
and get a little winter sun. They set off on
a couple’s holiday to South America in
mid-December. Keith wound up the
Sunday Express by telling them, “We are
hoping to see a magician who practices
both black and white magic.”
Heading to Rio by boat the Stones
delegation put their feet up as they
ventured through Latin America. They
intruded on an eerie voodoo ritual on the
beach in Brazil on New Year’s Eve and
almost paid the price (“I remember when
you and Mick got stoned,” Faithfull’s son
Nicholas told her years later. “I mean – I
remember when those people started
throwing stones at you.”). They chewed
coca leaves in Peru and secured bed and
board by busking. And of course, they
wrote songs. Some great music came from
the trip. Keith penned an early ‘Country
Honk’ on a ranch at The Mato Grosso –
reminiscing in his 2010 memoir Life “I
remember the place because every time
you flushed the john these black blind
frogs came jumping out.”
Tanned and a little baked, Jagger and
Richards returned to the UK in January.
Jagger threw himself straight into
46
planning the new album. With only one
part-done track in the can Mick even had
an idea for the cover art, and wrote to
famed surrealist painter MC Escher:
“Dear Maurits, For quite a time now I
have had in my possession your book and
it never ceases to amaze me… In March
or April this year we have scheduled our
next LP record for release, and I am most
eager to reproduce one of your works on
the cover-sleeve.”
Esher stonily replied in the negative,
signing off with: “Please tell Mr Jagger I
am not Maurits to him, but very sincerely,
MC Escher.”
Meanwhile Jones had spent New Year
in Ceylon, returning later in January. In
his absence he’d lost an appeal against a
May ’68 drug bust, which meant he
would once again be denied a visa for
touring. It looked like the Stones would
have to sit out touring a second year
running unless decisive action was taken.
Jagger wanted to get back on the road,
and he wanted to go big, telling Altham,
“I don’t want to do 10 weeks touring the
States and staying in grotty hotels but I
would like to do seven or eight major
cities around the world.”
There was also the Rock And Roll Circus
reshoot to arrange. With Mick
determined to go for spectacle, Allen
Klein’s nephew Ronnie Schneider pulled
off a coup by provisionally booking The
Colosseum in Rome to remount the
band’s set in June. Everyone seemed gung-
ho about the new choice of venue except
director Michael Lindsay-Hogg, who was
daunted by the prospect of setting up a
film shoot at the ancient ruin.
Schneider had become the Stones point
man partly because they could barely get
Klein’s attention at this point. Klein’s
sights were trained on a new target – The
Beatles, who were struggling with their
rapidly-sinking Apple empire. A January
’69 telegram from the Stones camp to
Klein’s office tersely asked after various
private projects like the album Charlie
Watts had recently produced for US
collective The People Band – “Charlie
would be very pleased to get just the cost
of it back” – and Brian’s JouJouka album,
“What is happening?” In addition, Wyman
was fuming over Klein’s continued stalling
of the album he’d produced for British
psych outfit The End. There’d always
been a pecking order within the Stones,
but for now they were all equally in the
cold. Even Keith had to prise a house
deposit out of Klein that Spring.
Klein remained aloof. He had been
courting John Lennon with a full charm
offensive since their meeting on the set of
Rock And Roll Circus. Jagger had a laugh at
Klein’s expense by dressing as him in a
brief skit to introduce The Dirty Mac but
warned his friend off in private. It fell on
deaf ears as Lennon took the bait. Within
weeks Klein would be representing three
quarters of the Fab Four.
The Stones reconvened at Olympic in
early February to work on new material.
There were only a handful of finished
songs, but Jagger was optimistic about
rushing a new Stones album out in the
Spring, just four months after Beggar’s
Banquet.
The reasons behind this decision weren’t
purely artistic. With the Stones’ ’63
contract with Decca nearing its end, each
album delivered was a step closer to
freedom. Relations with Decca had soured
since bog-gate. They took a further
nosedive in February when Marianne’s
‘Sister Morphine’ single was released, then
abruptly withdrawn days later. The song,
a bleak vignette of heroin addiction co-
written by Marianne and Mick was an
artistic triumph but its subject matter was
too much for Decca. Marianne was
devastated, later admitting “That was the
most depressed I ever felt” in her memoir
Faithfull. Mick visited Decca’s offices to
try and intervene on her behalf, but failed.
As the sessions ploughed on, the storm
clouds around the Stones rained into their
new music. The songs were all about
drugs, murder, rape and darkness. ‘You
Got The Silver’ was a psychedelic country
lament with Keith singing lead and Brian
tinkering inaudibly on autoharp. The
loping bar-room confessional ‘Let It
Bleed’ cruelly took aim at a “fading junkie
nurse” that may have been Marianne.
‘Midnight Rambler’ was brutal, episodic
rock theatre that could have almost been
The Doors. An embryonic ‘Gimme
Shelter’ took shape through a web of
luminous guitar parts layered by a fed-up
Keith, who found his new role as sole
guitarist a drag. Mick rather ungallantly
reclaimed ‘Sister Morphine’ and began
work on the band version. A dejected
Marianne took solace in heroin. The
Stones take of ‘Sister Morphine’ featured
haunting bottleneck guitar, played by one
Ry Cooder.
The 22-year-old LA session guitar
wunderkind had entered the Stones’ orbit
when long term Stones associate Jack
Nitzsche enlisted him to play on
Marianne’s original ‘Sister Morphine’.
Cooder had since worked on the
soundtrack album for Performance, adding
his gnarly slide licks to the solo version of
‘Memo From Turner’. When Nitzsche
came to London in March to help the
Stones finish up ‘You Can’t Always Get
What You Want’, Cooder tagged along.
Brought in as a sideman and foil for Keith,
it looked to the young American like his
One is the loneliest number. The Stones captured by
film-maker Jean-Luc Godard during the recording of
‘Sympathy For The Devil’, June 1968 (main pic); top
L-R: MC Escher, Allen Klein, Marianne Faithfull and
Anita Pallenberg; bottom L-R: Ry Cooder, Performance
theatrical poster, Jones and Godard in the studio
 “Sometimes when we’d begin playing, Brian would grab
a harp and start blowing into a mike. But most of the time
he just sat in a corner, sleeping or crying”
MIRRORPIX / ALAMY
new British friends were feeling him out
as a potential replacement for Jones.
Cooder played on a few tracks but was
largely left to jam whilst tape rolled,
which made him uneasy. So did the
increasingly ghostly presence of Jones.
“Sometimes when we’d begin playing,
Brian would grab a harp and start blowing
into a mike,” he told Rolling Stone in ’70.
“But most of the time he just sat in a
corner, sleeping or crying.”
To make things weirder, whenever
Cooder started playing Keith left the
room. Cooder was left to jam with the
remaining Stones and pianist Nicky
Hopkins. The tapes kept rolling but Keith
didn’t return. These absences were
becoming more frequent as the guitarist’s
flirtation with heroin deepened. The
Stones quickly learned to work on “Keith
Time”.
Despite his odd decision to largely leave
his potential new guitar partner to it (“I
thought he didn’t like me!” Cooder told
Rolling Stone), Keith learned a lot from
Ry. Having got into open guitar tunings
around Beggar’s Banquet, Keith flipped
when Cooder showed him the open G
tuning that would dominate his playing
for decades to come. The decidedly less
enamoured Cooder bailed from the
48
New boy Mick Taylor (second left)
joins the band, June 1969; Taylor
the previous year with John
Mayall’s Bluesbreakers; Jones at
Cotchford Farm, 1969; the ‘Honky
Tonk Women’ single
sessions in May. Jagger called Cooder and
limply tried to talk him round. “C’mon
man, don’t leave us now. Let’s have fun.”
Cooder wasn’t budging. “They took a
number of my best licks, but more
important, they took the basic groove I
was playing.” Cooder complained to
Rolling Stone. “He (Keith) had been
listening to those tapes. They’re
bloodsuckers, man.” The contentious tapes
would emerge three years later, entitled
Jamming With Edward. Ry Cooder never
played with the Stones again.
By the end of May, Jagger was reaching
the end of his rope. He and Marianne had
just been busted for pot at home. The new
album wasn’t going to be ready any time
soon. It had already been put back once to
June and September was now looking
more likely. Keith was doing smack and
becoming distant, Cooder hadn’t worked
out – and Jones was no longer even
making his token appearances in the
studio. The planned late June Rock And
Roll Circus re-shoot at The Colosseum was
also looming (it would be quietly
cancelled within weeks). With plans for a
winter US tour on the horizon, it was
crunch time for Jagger. The Stones had to
put something out. There was no obvious
new single from the album session, but
with the pressure on the Stones delivered.
‘Honky Tonk Women’ was a loose,
funky rewrite of Keith’s South American
Bleeding Over The Edges
cowboy song. Lusty and joyous, it was
propelled by Watts’ clanking cowbell and What the Stones and friends got up to during the
an open G riff that infuriated Cooder
when he heard it. There were also some
tortured genesis of Let It Bleed
brilliant, howling guitar fills – courtesy of
one Mick Taylor. (From Brian Jones Presents The Pipes Of
The quiet 21-year-old Taylor had Pan At JouJouka, Rolling Stones
recently finished a two-year stint with Records, 1971)
John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers. He was at Brian Jones spent
home weighing up his options and much of ’68-69
considering a holiday when the phone tinkering with the tapes
rang. “I was invited to do a session with of his field recording of
the Stones,” Taylor told NME’s Richard his beloved Master
Green. “I had never met Mick Jagger in Musicians of JouJouka.
my life and here he was phoning me. I Already trippy through
went down and played on some tracks and the eerie cyclical
thought little more about it. Then they chants, almost free-jazz
asked me if I wanted to be a Stone. I was pan pipes and tribal drumming, Jones added some
amazed. Brian Jones was leaving, I was Satanic majesty by treating the tapes with ‘Itchycoo
told. I said I’d love to be a Stone and that Park’ phasing and bonkers blasts of delay. He didn’t
was that.” live to see their eventual release in ’71, but this
Taylor’s quiet, easy-going nature and hallucinatory track may well be how Jones heard the
virtuosity as a lead guitarist gave the MARIANNE FAITHFULL rites of Pan in his head.
Stones new energy in the studio. It also SISTER MORPHINE
helped seal Brian’s fate. Taylor’s (Decca 45, 1969) THE ROLLING STONES w/ RY
contribution to new tune ‘Live With Me’ Marianne’s devastating saga of addiction and COODER & NICKY HOPKINS
and a coruscating guitar overdub on overdose, briefly released by Decca in early 1969 is a THE BOUDOIR STOMP
‘Honky Tonk Women’ sealed the deal. five-minute nightmare that foreshadowed its (From Jamming With Edward, Rolling
The new boy was put on salary at £150 a (uncredited) author’s own descent into addiction. Stones Records, 1972)
week and rehearsals began. ‘Honky Tonk Stolen back by the Stones, their own harrowing The controversial tapes
Women’ was scheduled for release on July version appeared on ’71’s Sticky Fingers two years of the Stones, sans
4th. later. Keith jamming fairly
Jagger, Richards, and Watts visited aimlessly with Ry
Jones at his Cotswolds home Cotchford BILLY PRESTON Cooder and Nicky
Farm to deliver the news -– which Jones THAT’S THE WAY GOD Hopkins finally saw the
took stoically. They kept it civil (“I love PLANNED IT light of day three years
those fellows,” Brian unconvincingly told (Apple 45, 1969) after Cooder walked out
the papers) and a handsome pay-off was Super-session of the Let It Bleed
promised. A few days later, the Stones keyboardist Preston’s sessions. Cooder complained that he heard his riffs
unveiled Taylor to the media as Brian’s debut single for Apple recycled in Stones tracks. Listening to the crunchy,
replacement. “We’d known for a few called in some major episodic grooves of ‘The Boudoir Stomp’ and parts of
months that Brian wasn’t keen.” Jagger favours for this stirring ‘Midnight Rambler’, you could argue that he had a
told the NME. “He wasn’t enjoying slice of gospel-rock. point.
himself and it got to the stage where we Producer George
had to sit down and talk about it. So we Harrison roped in Eric
did and we decided the best thing was for Clapton on guitar,
Brian to leave.” Ginger Baker on drums and, in a rare Stones guest
It was a liberated, energised Jagger that spot, Keith Richards on bass. Four years later Preston
worked the press circuit to introduce the would join the Stones as a touring member.
new Stones that June. After a lousy year
of false starts and frustrations they finally MICK JAGGER
seemed to be catching up. Suddenly there MEMO FROM TURNER
was talk of not one but two new albums; (Decca 45, 1970)
“There’ll be one out in September and Mick goes solo for the
another before Christmas. We’ve got 17 Performance
songs up to now and we’ll have to sort out soundtrack, not entirely
which ones go on which album.” There by choice. The cryptic,
was also a big free gig planned in Hyde greasy funk of ‘Memo
Park. Barring a brief cameo at the From Turner’ is provided
previous year’s NME Poll Winners by session musicians
Concert it would be the first time the rather than the Stones
Stones had gigged in two years. but it positively drips
Summer was coming. The new Stones with malign energy. An inferior band version later
were ready to roll with a great new single. turned up on ’75 out-takes collection Metamorphosis,
Surely nothing else could go wrong? but the original is king.

Beggars Banquet is out now THE MASTER MUSICIANS OF

on ABKCO. JOUJOUKA
The Rolling Stones’ Rock And Roll TAKE ME WITH YOU MY
Circus is out soon on ABKCO Films DARLING, TAKE ME WITH YOU

49
Sons of the desert. The Long
Ryders in their mid-80s
prime. L-R: Sid Griffin, Steven
McCarthy, Tom Stevens, Greg
Sowders

THE LONG RYDERS were one of the ’80s’ best-kept secrets. Expanding
upon the LA garage-revival out of which they grew and the country music
they adored, for one brief moment, it looked like the future was theirs.
STEWART LEE meets the band and charts their punk roots, spectacular
rise and fall, and unexpected return to recording
 North London, 2018
n a reassuringly cold November night in North London

O Sid Griffin seems uncommonly relaxed. Appearing on a

bill with Dan Stuart, of the country-rock behemoth
Green On Red, Griffin jokes with the audience, plays beloved back
catalogue obscurities, and serenades us unplugged on mandolin
with a Ramones tribute he wrote for his “alt bluegrass” group The
Coal Porters, which he disbanded after two decades this year.
But why is this man smiling? Could it be
because we spent the day discussing the
return of his best-known band, the ’80s
LA alternative country pioneers The Long
Ryders, spiritual godfathers of Wilco, The
Jayhawks, and The Black Crowes; and
who, while they couldn’t have been bigger
than The Beatles, might loom as large in
Shindig! readers’ record collections as Big
Star, Uncle Tupelo or The Flamin’
Groovies.
The band’s story begins, like so many
others, with a gang of young men
impersonating their heroes, and ends, like
that of many who made that midnight
crossroads pact with the music business, in
a string of career-canning cock-ups. While
his fellow Ryders seem at peace, Griffin
remains a character in search of an ending.
F Scott Fitzgerald famously wrote, “There
are no second acts in American lives.” Due
to a faintly karmic chain of events, it looks
like the sometime Funkadelic bassist Larry
Chatman may have given The Long
Ryders if not a second act, then at least a
possibility of closure.
But wait, we’re getting ahead of
ourselves here.
The Early Years 1981-1983
Today, Barry Shank is Professor Of
Comparative Studies at Ohio State, and
the author of Dissonant Identities – The Rock
’n’ Roll Scene In Austin Texas. But in 1978,
having played bass for a multitude of ’70s
Kansas City powerpop combos on the
Titan label, he moved to LA, where Bomp
Records’ Greg Shaw told him the garage
revivalists The Unclaimed, featuring the
guitarist Sid Griffin, were hiring.
“Keith Morris, of Black Griffin, a Kentucky law student with a
folk-rock fixation, was already haunting
Flag and Circle Jerks, LA punk’s genesis myths as a celluloid
and a lot of his scene ghost. He describes a shot of The Masque
club in Lech Kowalski’s documentary on
came to our shows. Back The Sex Pistols’ ’78 US tour, DOA: A
then LA prided itself on Right Of Passage. “They pan slowly over
Peter Case and Paul Collins of The
diversity. Remember the Nerves, of ‘Hanging On The Telephone’
Ryders were equal fame, and there’s me and Shelley Ganz
from The Unclaimed, just for a
parts Merle, Byrds, nanosecond.”
“We had some momentum, and a
Ramones, Clash, Sonics, following that included Eric Burdon,”
and Hank Senior. Gram Shank recalls, “but after a couple of years
wearing only black turtle-necks and
Parsons would’ve loved pretending that the world hadn’t changed
punk-rock” in 15 years, Sid and I started The Long
Ryders.” Early versions of the group
included future Dream Syndicate front-
man Steve Wynn, whose vacated guitar
slot was filled by an itinerant country
player from Virginia, Stephen McCarthy.”
“I responded to an ad in the Recycler that
read ‘Band needs guitarist/singer,
influences from The Clash to Buffalo
Springfield’”, explains McCarthy. “I liked
both of those groups and learned Buffalo
Springfield tunes growing up. I was
playing bass at the time so I borrowed an
old Broadcaster and went to meet the
guys. I guess I faked my way in.”
Griffin and McCarthy concede theirs
was a unique partnership. For Sid,
“Stephen has, as David Fricke of Rolling
Stone wrote, ‘an internal clock so laid back
it runs in reverse’. But when you get him
in position on the pitch, like George Best,
he’s unstoppable. Whereas I am what
Americans call a self-starter. So it worked
out really well.”
McCarthy’s appraisal is more equivocal;
“I think that some creative tension is
important in a band if it can be managed.
We would normally get our aggression
out on stage but sometimes that would
carry on after the show. Sid and I are both
Southerners so we dug up those country
roots to mix with a few different genres
and come up with something new.”
It’s telling that in the 31 years since The
Long Ryders split, the driven Griffin has
released 15 albums and published four
tomes of music criticism; whereas the
modest McCarthy, who Griffin matched
in quality and quantity of writing in The
Long Ryders, declined to release his late
’80s album as Walker Stories, and appears
to have written, or co-written, only seven
songs, all as guitarist with Steve Wynn’s
Gutterball project, since leaving The Long
Ryders. Perhaps knowing that Griffin’s big
personality was going to carry the show
allowed McCarthy’s songs to gestate in
peace.
Drummer Greg Sowders was soon
headhunted from The Boxboys, which he
describes as “LA’s first ska band”. Shank
contends, “When Stephen McCarthy and
Greg Sowders joined, the sound was more
Buffalo Springfield and Beau Brummels.
We maintained a psychedelic edge, and
encouraged Stephen to explore the drone
capabilities of his lap steel. The mature
Long Ryders country sound really only
developed after I left, in the Summer of
1982.”

Griffin remembers country influences
coming to the fore earlier. “We did three
gigs with Barry Shank where we played
this Everly Brothers shuffle, ‘Brand New
Heartache’. The first time there was
nothing from the audience at the end. The
Blasters got away with it but they were
R&B in cowboy boots, as Dave Alvin used
to say.”
McCarthy also describes a degree of
hostility from the punk scene. “We played
a number of gigs to young, aggressive
audiences that would stare you down and
demand something to chew on. If we
played on a bill with X all bets were off.
We had people throw bottles, spit on us,
rush the stage. Just like your normal nine
to five job. I didn’t mind this as it seemed
like a good opportunity to show what we
were made of. In my teens I had opened
up for The Ramones a few times so this
was nothing new to me. Get hot or go
home, right?”
In contrast, Sowders, with a positivity
that I swiftly realise is entirely typical of
him, remembers LA punk’s luminaries as
being “incredibly accepting. Keith Morris,
of Black Flag and Circle Jerks, and a lot of
his scene came to our shows. Back then LA
prided itself on diversity. X, Lobos, The
Plimsouls, The Bangs, Dwight Yoakam
and Lucinda Williams were all part of our
local stew. Remember the Ryders were
equal parts Merle, Byrds, Ramones, Clash,
Sonics, and Hank Senior. Gram Parsons
would’ve loved punk-rock.”
Barry Shank left The Long Ryders, and
52
LA, for a love that became a lifelong
marriage, before the recording of their
first EP, the six-track psychedelic-
country-soul statement of intent, 10-5-60.
But his compositions lived on. “I was
thrilled when they included ‘10-5-60’ on
the first EP and ‘Ivory Tower’ on Native
Sons. But my personality fit academia
better than music. And, truthfully, they
were a much better band with Tom
Stevens singing and writing songs for
them than they ever were with me.”
It was The Long Ryders’ second bassist,
British ex-pat Des Brewer, that played on
the band’s first EP. Brewer had served in
’70s British glam-rockers Giggles and was
already disillusioned with the business of
music. “EMI signed us from the pub-rock
circuit, then they tried to slot us into the
current trend. Once the EMI contract
expired in ’78, I was done. But I
desperately wanted to play country, so I
moved stateside.
“I had a gig in a country trio in LA, but
I saw an ad which mentioned The Byrds,
Gram Parsons and Buffalo Springfield and
that sounded like a no-brainer. I left after
recording the first EP, most regretfully I
might add,” he explains, “because I had a
mortgage and a child on the way. But I
was rooting for The Long Ryders as I
watched their progress.”
To lose one bass player may be regarded
a misfortune. But to lose two looks like
carelessness, and it was Tom Stevens, the
shortest-haired former member of the
early ’70s Indiana hard-rock quintet Magi,
Looking for a breakthrough.
The Ryders tear it up on stage
in 1985; early singles and
those first three albums
that took his place.
“I grew up on ’60s rock ’n’ roll, and
remain obsessed by it” explains Stevens,
“and at 18 I was a classically trained string
bass player, but I preferred playing in a
band. In my area, if you didn’t go to
college, you usually worked in a factory.
So Magi played our asses off in clubs in
Michigan and Indiana, before moving to
LA in ’79.”
Stevens was the only Magi member to
survive the punk tsunami that had swept
the city. “Seeing bands like X and The
Plimsouls showed me how primitive rock
’n’ roll could be updated,” he recalls. “The
other Magi members didn’t get The
Ramones and fled back to day jobs in
Indiana.” Tom’s ’83 EP Points Of View
reflected his rediscovery of punchy guitar
pop, and in September, a fellow Tower
records employee told Stevens The Long
Ryders, whom he had never heard of,
were looking for a bass player.
“I don’t even remember any audition,
just a meeting where I was quizzed about
my musical tastes. I’m sure it didn’t hurt
that I owned every volume of the Pebbles
compilations, could name several Chess
artists, and knew who Doug Sahm was.”
The final member of The Long Ryders’
classic quartet was in place.
Spectacular Rise And
Spectacular Fall,
1983-1987
The Long Ryders’ 1984 debut, Native
Two Fisted Fighters,
pictured around the
time of 1987’s Two
Fisted Tales
Sons, aped the cover of an abandoned
Buffalo Springfield album, Stampede, and
included a high-octane version of Waylon
Jennings’ ‘Sweet Mental Revenge’, heavily
indebted to a ’69 bootleg of The Flying
Burrito Brothers’ radical re-tooling of the
same then unfashionable source. “Putting
that Springfield cover on Native Sons, and
releasing ‘Sweet Mental Revenge’, I knew
it would identify the people I wanted to
gravitate to us,” confesses Griffin, “The
people that were supposed to be there
were there.”
And what those people found was a
superb debut, the band concocting a
seamless blend of melancholy psychedelia
(‘Too Close To The Light’, ‘Ivory Tower’),
ragged honky-tonk (‘Tell It To The Judge
On Sunday’, ‘Never Got To Meet The
Mum’) and surging numbers that
referenced ’60s folk-rock and guitar-
driven punk simultaneously (‘I Still Get
By’, ‘I Had A Dream’). The Long Ryders
looked, and sounded, like a gang of like-
minded individuals, able to intuit each
others’ next moves instinctively. To me it,
it remains their best album. It wasn’t long
before a larger label than Frontier moved
in.
Nick Stewart, the abrasive English
public schoolboy scout who discovered
U2, signed The Long Ryders to the
ambitious indie Island, who bankrolled
’85’s State Of Our Union, produced by The
Records’ Will Birch at Chipping Norton
Studios, Oxfordshire. The sandblasted
sleeve intrigued, and the three CD version
“Putting that
Springfield cover on
Native Sons, and
releasing ‘Sweet
Mental Revenge’, I
knew it would identify
the people I wanted to
gravitate to us.The
people that were
supposed to be there”
Cherry Red released last year belatedly
raises the guitars in a mix the band always
considered timid. For Griffin, and a
philosophical Stewart, Island’s
mishandling of the lead single, the
harmonica swamped garage stomp of
‘Looking For Lewis And Clark’, was The
Long Ryders’ irreversible sliding doors
moment.
“For me The Long Ryders are the one
that got away,” confesses Stewart.
“‘Looking For Lewis And Clark’ was
shaping up nicely, and we were promised
Top Of The Pops, which would have been
massive, if it got in the Top 40. All signs
said it would be Top 30, so we got excited
and news came out it was #42. Ray
Cooper, then head of sales, phoned up and
said, ‘I didn’t press enough stock. I didn’t
believe in the record. Sorry.’”
“It was coming on to Christmas and
we’d had three weeks with no single in the
shops. So it was dead,” continues Griffin,
still incredulous with suppressed anger.
“And that one business decision literally
changed the course of my life, as much as
meeting my wife. Nick Stewart said
‘We’ve done it!’ But there were no more
singles so it got to #58 and died. You
couldn’t buy one.”
“It was one of those things,” says
Stewart, apologetically, “Ray Cooper was
much admired and loved. And we all make
mistakes.” Cooper went on to give the
world The Spice Girls, but whether that
makes up for denying it The Long Ryders
is a question best left unanswered.
In ’86 the band returned home, to
relative obscurity, and a changed musical
landscape. “Suddenly The Sunset Strip
was about heavy metal,” Sowders recalls.
“It was haircuts and make-up on men,”
adds the sensitive Griffin, “and it was
shocking.” Then, that summer, the
financially challenged band’s decision to
appear in a Budweiser commercial, back in
an era when artists who endorsed products
were derided as sell-outs, rather than
lauded as influencers, eroded its
credibility.
Griffin sets the record straight; “We had
a #1 college radio album with State Of
Our Union, and Native Sons was #4, but we
couldn’t get arrested on commercial radio.
Somehow we were asked to do these
Budweiser Commercials, along with X
and Los Lobos and The Blasters. The rest
of the band said, ‘No way!’, but I thought
we could circumvent commercial radio.
‘You don’t understand. We’ll capture the
enemy’s capital and we won’t fire a shot!
53
 Fame at last! Well, almost.
1986 magazine cover and “I realise now the
Steven McCarthy on stage
band was a success all
We’ll come sequence a very different, and arguably along. All we didn’t do
from the rear superior, album. “The band voted most of
like Hannibal my songs off of Two Fisted Tales,” was make money. But we
over The Alps remembers Stevens. “Why I’ll never did the rest of it. We
attacking know. It was one of many ways that
Rome! They circumstances became strange toward the saw the world, made a
will never end.” ton of friends, and
suspect it!’” “I thought Two Fisted Tales would take
But Griffin us to the stratosphere,” Griffin rues. “I made a ton of enemies.
misread the thought in February ’86 we’d crack it by And we have great
mood. Christmas and I was going to be a sort of
“Journalists Michael Stipe/Joe Strummer noted dude after-dinner stories”
said we sold that people came to for erudite quotes
out, because about the music scene. And I couldn’t have record to the NME; don’t send the single
we sang been more wrong. It all backfired.” out to Melody Maker or Sounds or the BBC,
political lyrics With Stewart newly departed from just skip it.’ On their subsequent tour, the
but took Island, The Long Ryders found themselves band found themselves buying copies of
money from a without a guardian angel, leading to their own album just to have something to
corporation. Griffin confronting Stewart’s give to the press.
But we weren’t unenthusiastic replacement in London’s Tom Stevens was the first Long Ryder
making any Island offices. “They thought we were a to leave. “During the final European tour,
money and damp squib. I picked up the typewriter to the money ran out, and the band was no
Tom had a throw through the guy’s window and then longer a viable entity. Being a family man,
young family. I noticed there was wire on the glass so it I had to make a living. I bailed. I wish I
In America we would have bounced back, and he hid hadn’t been forced into making that
were crucified. behind the desk, the big baby.” decision. We still played well. Had the
And to this day After a dispiriting June ’87 meeting band taken time off, hired effective
it hangs over with Island’s publicist, who had no management, gotten away from our
PHOTO BY SUZANNA REGOS

us. On the last tour in 2016 there were
articles saying ‘Maybe it’s time to forgive
The Long Ryders.’ It’s been 30 years!”
The recently issued three CD version of
the band’s final album, 1987’s Two Fisted
Tales contains enough inexplicably
sidelined material, such as Stevens’ ‘17
Ways’ and ‘How Do We Feel What’s Real’,
and McCarthy’s ‘Pushin’ Uphill’ and ‘He
Can Hear His Brother Calling’, to
strategy for the poorly packaged Two
Fisted Tales, Griffin found himself
approached by a young female secretary in
the corridor; “She said, ‘Sid can I have a
quiet word? Can we go outside?’ And I
thought, ‘One of my guys has done
something horrible here.’ But I knew their
parents and they were good guys. She said,
‘The head of PR said ‘Don’t bother to
promote The Long Ryders. Don’t send the
saboteurs at Island, I would have stayed.
But it wasn’t to be.”
Sowders, Griffin and McCarthy
completed a final American tour, having
promoted their roadie, a former
Funkadelic bassist called Larry Chatman,
now uneasily between professional
positions, into the ranks. “Larry was a
genius funk bass player, but he was a
heavy-set African American who had

54
never played country & western in his
life,” Griffin remembers with obvious
affection, “and his friends would come and
see him playing New Orleans and
Philadelphia and laugh and say ‘Oh, Larry,
what have you done? I feel bad for you.’”
McCarthy was the next to leave, but
Island still wanted a third album.
“Looking back,” Griffin says, “one of the
big dummy moves of my career is Greg
and I should have been sat down in a chair
and slapped a couple of times and got a
new band together and done that album.”
Sowders disagrees; “Thank God we didn’t
carry on without Tom and Stephen. That
was one, if only one, dumb mistake that
we didn’t make.”  co-ordinator, so he is rolling in the dough.
An Unexpected Return
To Recording
The best part of two decades passed.
Griffin relocated to London and invented
alt bluegrass with The Coal Porters, and
country & eastern with Western Electric’s
roots-rock and trip-hop hybrid;
McCarthy was a hired gun for Steve
Wynn, Dan Stuart and The Jayhawks, a
band The Long Ryders inspired; Tom
Stevens released three fascinatingly
different solo albums; and Greg Sowders
became Vice President of Warner Chapell
Song Publishing in LA. But in 2004,
Griffin fielded one of the many offers he
was given to put together a touring
version of The Long Ryders to the
original band themselves, who said yes.
“The band hadn’t played together in a
long time,” says McCarthy, “but it felt
State Of The Reunion.
McCarthy, Stevens, Griffin
and Sowders in 2018
right after being dormant for a number of
years. We did a few more reunion shows
over the years but in the fall of 2016, I said
to the band that I wouldn’t want to tour
anymore unless we had some new material
out. Luckily we were able to make that
happen with the help of our dear friend
Larry Chatman in LA.”  material sounding fresh.”
Griffin clearly loves the fact that Larry
Chatman finally came through. “We
helped Larry out in a time of need and for
30 years he’s been saying, ‘I will never
forget you Sid and I will help you one
day’. He called me in May 2016, and said ‘I
know how I’m going to help you, Sid.’
Larry is now Dr Dre’s personal production
I thought he was going to offer me a
thousand bucks or buy me a guitar and I
said, ‘Don’t worry about it, Larry.’
“But it turns out Dre has bought Val
Garay’s studio, where Kim Carnes
recorded ‘Bette Davis Eyes’, and Dre only
uses the small room ’cos he doesn’t need
live drums. Larry says ‘You guys demo
some songs, learn them up good, then
come out to LA and I can get you the
main room at Dre’s for free.’ I got eight
days there free, and called up our old
producer Ed Stasium, and we recorded
Psychedelic Country Soul.”
The Long Ryders’ fourth album,
Psychedelic Country Soul, is out in
February. It’s better than anyone could
have possibly hoped, and is one of those
slow burn records that digs deeper with
every listen, Stephen McCarthy’s pedal
steel shining through the mix like a long-
lost friend. For Stevens, “It was a great
experience. Like a giant bubble. Ed
Stasium set us up facing each other so we
were all comfortable with our
surroundings and able to do our best
work immediately. We’d rehearsed all the
songs only twice before the sessions, so
we were still loose and it kept the
“I’m thrilled with it,” says Griffin, but
he’s already pulling at the threads. “I hope
we can make another one because we are
back into a Long Ryders ethos. And I
realise now the band was a success all
along. All we didn’t do was make money.
But we did the rest of it. We saw the
world, made a ton of friends, and made a
ton of enemies. And we have great after
dinner stories.”
Long Ryders co-founder Barry Shank
saw the reformed band live. “They were as
driven as ever, and they got me up to sing
‘Ivory Tower’. Their voices blend. Their
songwriting styles complement each
other. Their guitars ring up the room and
the rhythm section knows how to drive at
just slightly more than the proper speed.
They are truly a band in the classic whole-
is-greater-than-the-sum-of-the-parts
sense. And somehow the passing years add
a patina that gives their songs a deeper
glow. It’s not nostalgia. It just means
more.”
Expanded reissues of State Of
Our Union and Two Fisted
Tales are out now on Cherry Red.
New album Psychedelic Country Soul
follows on February 15th on Cherry
Red (UK), Omnivore (USA)
PERMANENT

Deified. The Godz in 1967. L-R:

Paul Thornton, Jim McCarthy,
Jay Dillon and Larry Kessler

Crawling out from beneath the dustbin lids of The

Lower East Side in mid-60s New York City,
THE GODZ created excruciatingly deranged anti-
music that made their contemporaries The Velvet
Underground sound like a genuinely viable
commercial proposition.
JOHNNIE JOHNSTONE catches up with founder
member Larry Kessler to reminisce about the band’s
madcap adventures beyond the counterculture
GREEN LIGHT
he Godz’ first album Contact High With The Godz was

T included in a marvellous 1982 volume entitled The

Perfect Collection, edited by legendary rock scribe
Tom Hibbert. Hibbert claimed that, “If you listen to
[Contact High] on headphones, you go irreversibly mad.” In
those pre-internet days it was was extremely difficult to
check such an assertion, as the band’s output was very hard
to find. Today, even if the music continues to polarise
listeners, it is thankfully more widely available on the web,
even though it is as unlikely now, as then, that many folk
will be willing pay good money for it.

In 1965, there was not a particularly
vibrant music scene in New York’s Lower
East Side. The Velvet Underground were
yet to pit their wits against the prevailing
hippie culture, while The Fugs were busy
concocting their own uniquely
discomfiting brand of anti-establishment
jug music. Although there were a lot of
folk and jazz clubs on the street corners,
there was little in the way of anything
resembling a “rock music scene”. “I
remember a lot of freaks,” recalls Larry.
“Allen Ginsberg even played, but not a lot
of bands. Even the Velvets were more of a
midtown band, although Lou Reed
moved down to The Lower East Side.
There was a lot of art – fine artwork
mixed with psychedelic art. It was a
melting pot within a melting pot;
Russians, Albanians, Jews, blacks and a
whole lot of freaks and poets made it an
interesting mix of people. Even before
The Godz, I lived down there because it
was cheap. Nobody else wanted to live
down there.”
The Godz’ story begins in the record
store staff room. “I met Jim McCarthy
and Paul Thornton at the Sam Goody
record store on 49th Street in NYC,”
recalls Kessler. “That was the only Sam
Goody’s in existence at that time, and
they did 10% of the world’s record
business as they were a major distributor
of music internationally. We all worked
there. I was in sales and they were in
stock. We were all in the rock ’n’ roll
section which was the smallest section at
the time. That was soon to change.”
Kessler, McCarthy and Thornton,
together with autoharpist Jay Dillon,
united by their love of rock ’n’ roll and
marijuana and by their mutual disgust of
American foreign policy, decided to get
together to make “music” of their own.
Their approach was unorthodox to say the
least. “We played different instruments
from those we were used to,” explains
Kessler. “Thornton was a guitar player so
we made him a drummer. Jimmy was
primarily a singer and bass player, so we
put him on guitar. I was a violin player
and was made the bass player. That was
our basic concept: adventure through
unfamiliarity.” Elsewhere, McCarthy has
recalled the first embryonic moments of
the band: “[We were] gathered in Larry’s
living room to smoke a joint. There were
all these percussive instruments lying
around and out of total frustration, I got
up and started shaking a tambourine or
something like that, and that’s how it all
started. We all started to get up and make
noise like a bunch of maniacs, expressing
our frustration.”
If they admired The Fugs’ creative
freedom, The Godz nevertheless had an
acute sense of being outsiders, even
amongst other outsiders. “The difference
between us and The Fugs was that they
hired musicians to play behind them
because they were poets, not musicians.
The Godz were neither musicians nor
poets. We felt The Fugs sold out, because
they used hired musicians to make their
music more palatable, and always seemed
to want to be rock stars. We did
everything to not be rock stars. They
eventually got their wish and got signed
to Warner Bros, whereas nobody liked us
and we were regarded as an acid freak-out
kind of group. We were not polite, nor
intellectuals.”
How then could this motley crew of
misanthropes – seemingly incompetent,
resolute anti-scenesters, commercially
dead in the water even before they set foot
in the studio, manage to secure a record
deal? If The Fugs did provide a kernel of
punk/DIY inspiration, they also happened
to be signed to the legendary New York
label ESP-DISK. Crucially, Kessler also
worked for ESP and was able to arrange
studio time. “I knew what they were
looking for. I was able to make the deal
happen. We had a deal to do a single at A-
1 Studios in NYC. That studio was owned
by Herb Abramson, one of the founding
members of Atlantic Records.” The terms
dictated that the band made best use of
the limited time available. “We had just
three hours to do the single. However, we
did the entire first album in that three-
hour block! It was just a freak-out in the
studio. We saw the opportunity and took
it; everything was done on the first take
on that album.”
The result, Contact High With The Godz,
released in late ’66, has been described as
“a jug band attempting to play three
different songs simultaneously while
falling down a flight of stairs”. Its release
predated The Velvet Underground’s first
album by around six months and it
remains one of the very weirdest artefacts
of the psychedelic era. Did the paths of
the two bands ever cross? “Not much,”
explains Larry. “We were too involved in
our music and they were more
commercial than we were. If you were
trying to sound like The Beatles or
Stones, we weren’t interested. That whole
“The Godz were
neither musicians
nor poets. We did
everything to not
be rock stars.
Nobody liked us
and we were
regarded as an
acid freak-out
kind of group. We
were not polite,
nor intellectuals”
 Paul, Larry and
Jim on stage;
scarce press
cuttings; the
group in
1967; albums
#2 and 3 and
an impossibly
rare ’66 single
uptown crowd were too worried about
being stars. They were too worried about
trying to be something, rather than
actually being something. We were street
people from the Lower East Side. “In our
eyes, they were what one would call
hipsters today.
The first time one hears Contact High,
the reaction is fairly predictable:
“These guys are kidding right? Either that or
they’re clearly making fun of everyone and
everything, including me.”
[This is very possibly true.]
“They sound completely stewed.”
[Again, this would almost certainly have
been true.]
“This lot can’t even be bothered to learn how to
play their instruments!”
[If only people knew that they could
actually play – a little at least – but had
deliberately opted to play the wrong
instruments!]
The great Lester Bangs had a similar
experience, referring to The Godz as
“The most inept band I’ve ever heard”
and Contact High as “The worst record I’ve
ever heard”. He was later recalcitrant,
lauding the band’s music in a ’71 Creem
essay on ESP-DISK, entitled ‘Do The
Godz Speak Esperanto?’, a piece later
58
included in his celebrated anthology
Psychotic Reactions & Carburetor Dung.
Kessler remembers the article as welcome
vindication of The Godz’ musical vision.
“At last we were understood by someone.
He understood what we did and validated
us. I loved that article: that was the only
positive press ever written about us up to
that point. And for it to come from rock
’n’ roll’s preeminent critic at the time was
satisfying as hell. He got it!”
It had of course taken Bangs about four
years to come around, by which time The
Godz had been virtually forgotten by
everyone else, although there had never
been much brouhaha in the media in the
first place, for they simply alienated most
listeners. Indeed, the likelihood is, about
30 seconds in to the first album, the
average listener – like Bangs himself – will
become immediately disheartened and
begin to think of ways to forget all about
The Godz in much the same way one
might, say, try to forget a painfully
bulbous cluster of haemorrhoids. Still, for
a rare few, dastardly creations such as
‘White Cat Heat’ (which could be a
primal scream therapy session for
particularly unbalanced felines) or the
droning raga-esque ‘Na Naa Naa’ are as
difficult to dislodge from one’s mind as a
hefty skidmark in a brand-new pair of Y-
fronts. Most of the rest of the album is
riddled with insanely unmelodic drones
and chants. it was abundantly clear these
guys didn’t give a damn, but in a world of
artifice and consumerism, that was
precisely the reason they mattered so
much, why they were so vital. The tragic
irony remains that even the
counterculture wasn’t ready for them.
The Godz were clearly not prepared to
play the game; their profile remained low
throughout ’66. “I cannot say there was
anything that would be a usual day for
The Godz,” explains Kessler. “We all had
day jobs, so it wasn’t like we were always
hanging about together all the time. I
personally was working for ESP-DISK,
Jay Dillon was the art director, Jimmy had
a regular job and Paul too. But I can say,
there was more consistency whenever we
recorded or played live. We were always
high and drunk and had in our minds
what we were going to do. No visitors –
just us and the engineer. The engineer
always ended up playing with us. Andrew
Berliner at A-1 Studios played with us,
but we didn’t spend much time in the
studio because it was always quick, then

1967 ESP-Disk promo poster;
Larry and Paul, still making
noise 50 years later
we’d go party. At shows we’d get drunk
beforehand and try to antagonise the
audience. We’d spend a half hour tuning
up on stage only to launch into ‘White
Cat Heat’ and watch the audience start
looking for the exit. It usually ended with
us being pulled off stage!”
There is some wonderfully bonkers
footage of The Godz, a portion of which
is available on YouTube, which was filmed
by Jud Yulkut in ’66. Soundless, it
captures the perfect chaos of a typical
soirée in the band’s apartment and features
a cast of characters who appear to have
walked straight off the set of a Fellini film
or from a photo shoot at The Factory.
Despite very little media coverage, the
fearless ESP prescribed a second
course. Godz 2 was undoubtedly more
conventional than its predecessor but
remains another stomach-churning listen.
By then “We had started practising”,
explains Larry. “We used to practise at
Michel Soldan and Judy Parker’s loft.
They used to work for EYE magazine
and Life magazine. They had a
tremendous loft on 23rd and Park.” Godz
2 boasted ‘Radar Eyes’, now almost
universally recognised as a proto-punk
classic. The sound was changing and so
were the drugs! “[That was inspired by]
LSD mostly. I can’t think of any other
inspiration for that song. it wasn’t about a
girl or anything like that. I can actually
remember little segments of writing that
song, everyone was adding to it. Jimmy,
Jay and I wrote it mostly.” Whatever the
truth about its authorship, the song’s
ultra-savage intensity predates The
Stooges and MC5 by a few years, and
indeed one could be forgiven for thinking
it a product of ’77 rather than ’67. Other
tracks continued that more direct
approach. “‘Soon The Moon’ and
‘Permanent Green Light’ are actually
derivatives of ‘Radar Eyes’,” adds Kessler.
“In fact, when we do the songs live now,
it is as a medley of all three songs
together.”
Once again, sales of the album were
disastrously low. Not that anyone cared. By
the time The Third Testament appeared in
’68, making records had become “a mind
game we played with ourselves and anyone
else who would listen.” The Godz’ third
instalment, made without Jay Dillon,
would be less abrasive than either of the
first two albums, but Kessler believes it
represents the band’s crowning
achievement. “On the freeform stuff like
‘The First Multitude’, we gave the
musicians instruments that they had never
played. “Womban’ and ‘Neet Street’ were
good art pieces, primitive, guttural. We felt
that we were doing more conventional
music with ‘Like A Sparrow’ and garage-
rock with ‘Down By The River’.” Kessler
makes it sound an easy listen. It’s far from it.
After its release, the band split up
temporarily. “I broke my neck while
swimming in the shallows at Chesapeake
Bay and was out of commission for a little
while,” explains Larry. When he returned
to work with ESP-DISK, the label
encouraged the band to reform in order to
release a fourth album Godzuntheit, which
finally emerged in ’73. Godzuntheit is
markedly different from the other Godz
albums; it has melodies, the instruments
(mostly) work together, and the
harmonies actually enhance the
musicianship! Much of it is even
pleasurable to listen to. It even features a
pretty faithful version of the Stones’
‘Jumpin’ Jack Flash’! So, what went
wrong? “We all had individual bands by
that point,” says Kessler. “So we went in
and each used our individual bands to
record our individual songs and it was
done as the fourth Godz album! There
was no collaboration on any of the songs,
except for ‘The Whiffenspoof Song’,
which was an older song that we had not
had a chance to record.” It’s not quite the
artless racket fans had become accustomed
to. It didn’t really sound like The Godz
anymore. It was time to move on.
It would be the last time the band were
together until well into the new
millennium. “After that album we didn’t
see each other for another 20 years.
Jimmy became a successful photographer,
Paul became an actor. Jay left to do art in
Jersey, while I stayed in the record
business for the next 20 years.” Jay Dillon
sadly passed away in 2005, the same year
as the others got back together. The
remaining trio have worked together – on
and off – ever since, but recently only
Paul and Larry have kept the flame
burning, with Jim McCarthy stepping
back into the shadows. Despite the years
“At shows we’d get
drunk beforehand
and antagonise
the audience.
We’d spend a half
hour tuning up
only to launch into
‘White Cat Heat’
and watch the
audience start
looking for the exit.
It usually ended
with us being
pulled off stage!”
however, the enthusiasm remains intact.
“We have a great reception from
audiences. We play a lot of shows with
neo-psychedelic acts, so we have an age
range of people from 18 upwards. We
have played colleges, frat house parties and
have been featured on college radio
numerous times with both old and new
material. Of course, we have our best
shows and get our best reaction when we
play in NYC, especially on The Bowery.
We especially get a kick out of getting the
response we still get to this day from fans
all over the world. They send us cover
versions of the songs, stories, ideas and
many other things. Someone sent us a
video of a group in France doing
‘Permanent Green Light’ at a music
festival and someone else sent us a father
and daughter playing: ‘Like A Sparrow’
with an open mic. It amazes me to this
day and I am very grateful for people’s
support over the years.”
The band today comprises Larry and
Paul with Rick Sambuco (guitar), Mike
Diamond (bass), Charles Walker (piano)
and Mike Cerri (horns). They released a
single, ‘America’, on Manta Ray Records
in 2016, and a new album is in the
pipeline. “We’ve been working on some
new material in the studio including a
song Paul and I started in ’68 and never
finished called ‘Sunshine Superland’, so
we are doing it now. I’ve also been
working on a psychedelic 17-minute opus
musical collage of Godz music. As an
artist you can never stop creating. I’ve
been doing this for over 50 years and at 76
years old I hope to be doing it for as long
as I can.” The Godz: still freaky and
casting spells in 2018.
The Godz’ new single ‘Piece’
is out on 15th February on
Manta Ray
59
Billy Childish and tailormade
Cadillac guitar on stage with
CTMF at The Lexington, London,
May 21st 2018; the 21-year-old
Billy during his time in Thee
Milkshakes, 1981 (opposite)
 You ’ v e G o t
To Do
Some th i n g !
H /mu s ic ian, is an
BILLY CHILDISderides fashion scenes and claims that
, th e ar tis t/ po et
unlikely star. He a l t y pe” . Aft er 40 y ear s and
he’s “not really the mus ic
hundreds of albums he’s
still at it, channeling a
singular anti-commercial
vision.
THOMAS PAvTinTgERSON
watches the li
legend paint and
LEARNs a lesson
in self-belief.
Portrait by jeff pitcher
in , w e kn ow w e’ re th e be st. We don’t
“Every group I’ve been en d are, w e ju st alw ay s knew it.”
think we are, we don’t pretber 2018
Wild Billy Chyldish, Novem
PHOTO BY EUGENE DOYEN

B
illy Childish is already at his canvas when I arrive at Chatham Dockyard. Billy was 17 when he
trained as an apprentice stonemason here, and now, over 40 years later, he comes back every
Monday to paint in a studio in the dockyard’s historic ropery. Teetotal since his 30s, and a
devotee of healthy living, he looks hale and hearty, and I pull up a chair to watch him paint.

The piece he’s working on is a 3 x 4
landscape, a smaller version of two larger
pieces he completed the week before. He
currently has a show on in Berlin, and
when the mainstream press write about
him, it’s invariably to cover his
increasingly coveted artwork, to talk
about his often-fractious relationship with
former lover and mentee Tracey Emin,
rehash his expulsion from Saint Martin’s
School Of Art, and discuss The Stuckists,
the artistic provocateurs he co-founded
then subsequently disavowed.
Or they’ll focus on his written work,
Billy an accomplished poet since his days
as a teenage member of Kentish poetry
group The Medway Poets, and author of
critically acclaimed autobiographies like
My Fault and Notebooks Of A Naked Youth,
which buzz with the vitality of
inspirations like Charles Bukowski and
John Fante, and which detail with
excruciating honesty things like the
author’s bedroom proclivities, the sexual
abuse he suffered as a boy and his
relationship with his “sociopathic
narcissist” father.
But of course, that’s not why Shindig! is
here. We’re here for the music. Since
1977, the man born Steven John Hamper
has proven himself one of England’s most
prolific and single-minded musical
visionaries, responsible for hundreds of
LPs and singles fronting such magnificent
groups as Thee Headcoats, The Buff
Medways, Thee Mighty Caesars, The
Milkshakes, CTMF, Spartan Dreggs and
The Pop Rivets, alongside a myriad of
side-projects and one-offs, using an
endless array of band names and
pseudonyms like Rollin’ Slim, Jack Ketch
and Corporal Kunt. Billy dragged British
beat music of the ’60s into the now,
tackled three-chord punk and raucous
rhythm ’n’ blues, and, whether he likes it
or not, helped usher in both the grunge
explosion and the garage-rock revival.
“People think we only do one song,”
he’ll tell me, “but I’ve got the most varied
music. We’ve done every single thing.
We’ve got spoken word, blues,
experimental, real nursery rhymes.
Everything.”
He’ll work on his latest piece as we talk,

62
 Thee Milkshakes at Chatham
Docks, 1981. L-R: Bruce
Brand, Banana Bertie, Micky
Hampshire, Billy Childish; Billy
whilst studying at Saint
Martin’s School Of Art (below)
daubing oils on
here, scraping
them off there, his
anecdotes full of
references to
famous figures like
Jack White, Beck
and even Kylie
Minogue, who
have all sought his
patronage, and not-
so famous
characters with
Dickensian nicknames like Gav The Chav,
who accidentally dropped The Pop
Rivets’ drummer’s girlfriend on her head,
or Button Nose Steve, who gifted our
hero with the name Billy Childish,
because “apparently I used to pretend to
be mentally retarded in public a lot when
we’d go to shows, because people were
quite aggressive to you if you were a
punk-rocker, but if you pretended to be
mentally retarded they’d steer clear of
you.”
“I’m not really a musical type. The big
difficulty is it’s one thing learning to
play the guitar, it’s another thing
standing up and playing the guitar!”
His talk is candid, unguarded, unfiltered
and painfully honest. He’s funny and
forthcoming, and by turns braggadocios
and self-effacing. You sense he doesn’t
suffer fools gladly and would rather tell
people the truth as he sees it rather than
lie to them, a trait that has seen him
involved in a fair few feuds ( Jack White
had a hissy fit when Billy told GQ
magazine that he didn’t like The White
Stripes). Yet it’s an honesty he turns on
himself too.
“You’ve heard me play guitar,” he
laughs at one point. “I’m not really a
musical type. The big difficulty is it’s one
thing learning to play the guitar, it’s
another thing standing up and playing the
guitar!”
And all the time, he paints.
“I don’t give a monkey’s what anyone else
wants us to do or how to do it. I don’t mind
being admired and being successful but
that’s secondary to doing exactly what I
want, the way I want it done. Because I’m
more arrogant and egotistical than needing
to be successful.” – Wild Billy Chyldish
Punk-rock was
the musical making
of the young Billy
Childish (or Gus
Claudius as he
initially styled
himself before
Button Nose Steve’s
renaming). Born in
’59, as a youngster
he’d fallen in love
with early Stones,
Beatles and Who,
whilst The Jimi
Hendrix
Experience’s
poppier material
was a particular
favourite. Likewise,
early rock ’n’ roll
was a key
touchstone, but as
the ’70s progressed,
glam and hard-rock left him cold. Luckily
a new sound was on the way in.
“I heard The Sex Pistols up at The
London University on the jukebox and I
got interested in that. And I saw The Jam
play in ’77 and I thought ‘That’s quite
good,’ and I just started going to see The
Clash and all those groups.”
Billy set about expressing his newfound
love of punk by writing fanzines with
titles like The Kray Twins Summer Special
and Fab 69, self-published on Phyroid
Press, an imprint he ran with pal and local
poet Sexton Ming (“They were really
useless,” he claims). By now he had left
the dockyard and was studying at
Medway Art College, and it was while a
student that he hooked up with the only
other punk-rockers in his hometown to
form his very first band.
“I only got asked to play in the group
because I was one of the only punks in
Chatham, I had no other qualifications, so
we formed a group in September ’77 and
did a few shows and then me and the
guitarist decided to try and write songs.”
That guitarist was Bruce Brand (then
using the pseudonym Will Power), and
he’d go on to play with Billy in numerous
future bands. Rounded out with bassist
‘Big Russ’ Wilkins (another frequent
Childish collaborator) and drummer
‘Little Russ’ Lax, The Pop Rivets were
born, Billy their unlikely frontman.
“I couldn’t tell the difference between a
drum sound, a bass line, I couldn’t sing in
tune, I couldn’t do any of it, knew
nothing about music,” he explains. “So I
was a real backseat kid, you know, and I
was a bit bullied by Russ, the bass player.”
“So why were you made the singer?” I
ask.
“Maybe I was the monkey and he was
the organ grinder, I don’t know. I was
made the singer because I suppose they
realised that I am charismatic. Or they
suspected. I presume I’m charismatic. Well
God knows – I don’t know if I’m talented
so there must be something going on!”
The Pop Rivets played their first gig at
Detling Village Hall in ’77, and were
courted by labels like Sire and EMI, but
ultimately didn’t sign with either. Instead
they self-financed their own debut,
borrowing money from a Scottish hard
nut called AKA, and recording it with a
local producer called Graham Quinton-
Jones.
“Graham was like a ’70s flares and
medallion guy,” Billy remembers. “But he
understood we had something somehow.
And often we’d have to stop recording,
because we were in his parents’ front room
and they wanted to watch News At 10.”
The Pop Rivets released two albums of
wayward, snotty punk-rock in ’79, the
archly-titled Greatest Hits and its follow-
up Empty Sounds From Anarchy Ranch! on
their own Hipocrite label, an early
indicator of the resolute independence
that has marked Billy’s career. He self-
records his music as much as possible,
often releasing his records (and that of
like-minded bands) on personal imprints
like Hangman and Milkshakes Music.
63
 “We were never into American garage music and we never
considered ourselves a garage group.
We were interested in English groups.
We like The Beatles’ Live! At The Star-Club and The Kinks”
PHOTOS BY EUGENE DOYEN

Thee Milkshakes return to the

docks in 1984 with bassist
John Agnew (second left)

Thanks to a connection from Little
Russ’s Swiss girlfriend, The Pop Rivets
also toured Germany, whilst Bruce and
Big Russ taught Billy how to play the
guitar. Ultimately they fell apart in ’80
due to in fighting, but Billy already had
his eyes on his next band, hooking up
with pal Banana Bertie (aka Mark Gilbert)
and The Pop Rivets’ driver Mick
Hampshire,
who had their own band called
Mickey & The Milkshakes,
which would soon mutate into
a similarly named gang.
“Me and Mick got together
and started writing songs and
formed The Milkshakes. We
had Bertie on bass and initially
we had an ex-Hell’s Angel
called Tramp as the drummer
and he lasted one or two shows.
And we wanted Bruce to play
drums. He was a very
accomplished guitarist, and we
said, ‘You can’t play guitar ’cos
it’s too good, too flash, so
you’re going to have to learn
how to play drums,’ and we
made him play drums.”
The Milkshakes released their unhinged
debut Talking ’Bout… Milkshakes! in ’81,
their repertoire a mix of rough and ready
numbers courtesy of Billy and more
melodic cuts from Mick. It may have been
the ’80s, but this corner of Kent rang like
the ’60s, The Milkshakes’ sound informed
by early beat bands, R&B and rock ’n’
roll, plus Link Wray and The Sonics.
Thee Headcoats at The Wild Western
Rooms, London, 1993. L-R: Johnny
Johnson, Bruce Brand, Billy; Thee Mighty
Caesars in ’85. L-R: John Agnew, Graham
Day, Billy (below left); Childish protégées
Thee Headcoatees in ’97. L-R: Kyra
LaRubia, Bongo Debbie, Holly Golightly,
Ludella Black (below right)
“The first time we heard
The Sonics would have been
maybe ’82, and we thought,
‘Christ, there’s another group
that’s good as well as us,’ and
then we were pleased to find out
that they didn’t exist anymore,”
Billy laughs. “But we were never into
American garage music and we never
considered ourselves a garage group. We
were interested in English groups. We like
The Beatles’ Live! At The Star-Club and
The Kinks. We always thought of
ourselves as a rock ’n’ roll group or a beat
group. And we used to take the piss out of
the garage thing. I’m not interested in that
moniker or idea at all.”
The Milkshakes would start playing in
London at clubs like The Hope & Anchor,
The 100 Club, and Mike Spenser of The
Cannibals’ club at The Clarendon House
basement bar in Hammersmith (part of
the growing “Trash” subculture).
Meanwhile, back in Chatham, they’d play
at the now-legendary MIC Club with
local bands like The Prisoners and The
Dentists, both part of a growing Medway
scene – although Billy denies the scene
ever really existed.
“It’s something that people made up.
What do they call it, The Medway Delta
thing? All it was is that everyone played
on each other’s records, and then that
turned into the idea of The Medway
Delta, which was a tongue in cheek joke,
which people took and ran with. When
we were doing it, no one wanted to be
from here. And we’ve never done music
65
 The Buff Medways in 2003. L-R: John
Barker, Billy, Wolf Howard (left); Vermin
Poets in 2010. L-R: Nurse Julie, Neil
Palmer, Wolf Howard, Billy (below left);
The Musicians Of The British Empire in
2007. L-R: Wolf, Billy, Nurse Julie
PHOTOS BY EUGENE DOYEN

“In The Milkshakes, we were really into comedy. And

that’s why I don’t understand the modern world at all,
because the thing I like about the English is their sense
of humour and they don’t seem to have one anymore”
for here, we’ve always done music for the ‘How about if we do four on one day?’ ‘Don’t worry, we’ll do another group.’
world.” because we thought it would be amusing. And I just did Thee Mighty Ceasers. And
The Milkshakes ploughed on. For the And Mick’s got a similar attitude. You I asked Graham who was in The
first and only time in Billy’s career, he know, everything is like how to do Prisoners, a local lad. I thought, ‘Oh yeah,
picked up a (semi-official) manager called something classy that would be amusing if he’s a guitarist, he’ll be a good drummer.
Nick Garrard, who also repped you heard someone else did it. These are He’s very flash so we’ll make him learn to
psychobilly group The Meteors, and the entertainments whilst we’re alive.” play drums!’”
external label Big Beat began to release By ’85, The Milkshakes had started to And thus a new toga-wearing trio was
The Milkshakes’ music. In ’84 they lose their froth. Banana Bertie had quit born, derived from Billy’s love of the ’70s
appeared on TV show The Tube alongside the band in the early days to be replaced TV show I, Claudius and made up of
The Prisoners (and London bands The by Russ Wilkins, but Big Russ would also Billy, John Agnew and by turns, Bruce
Sting-Rays and The Tall Boys). They leave, replaced by a new bassist called John Brand and Graham Day. They weren’t,
grew ever more prolific, releasing nine Agnew. Soon, Mick wanted out too. however, an immediate hit.
albums in total over just five years. “It just fell apart. Mick decided he “As soon as we do the Caesars, nobody’s
“Big Beat and Nick Garrard said to us, didn’t want to do it. And I was fine with interested again,” he says, adding another
‘You’re committing commercial suicide by that, and I said to the bass player, who was touch of paint to his piece. “The
releasing so many records,’ and we said, crying because he’d left his job to join, Milkshakes were just breaking, the last

66
TEN LESSER SPOTTED BILLY CHILDISH RECORDS
From The Pop Rivets to Thee Milkshakes, Thee Headcoats to The Buff Medways and beyond, we all
know the major bands in Billy’s life.
So let’s delve into a handful of the less well-known platters in his voluminous back catalogue…

BILLY CHILDISH & SEXTON MING BILLY CHILDISH & HOLLY GOLIGHTLY
Plump Prizes And Little Gems In Blood
(Hangman, 1987) (Wabana One Limted, 1999)
Artist and poet Sexton Ming Billy re-teamed with
has been a pal of Billy’s Headcoatee Holly Golightly
since the ’70s, when they for In Blood, originally
were both part of The released in the US on
Medway Poets and ran their Wabana Records, and
own Phyroid Press, but he subtitled ‘ONE CHORD! ONE
didn’t end up on vinyl until SONG! ONE SOUND!’, a
the mid-80s, when Hangman coaxed him into the primal collection of dirty one-chord blues-punk
studio, Plump Prizes And Little Gems especially numbers backed by The Medway Delta Review (aka
notable as it featured two letters from Ivor Cutler on Thee Headcoats and John Gibbs of The Kaisers and
the back sleeve. Thereafter Sexton would be garage super-group The Wildebeests). One chord has
unstoppable, releasing dozens of albums solo, with never sounded so good!
Billy, and with a variety of bands including The Offset,
The Mindreaders and the delightfully-named Diamond THE STUCKISTS
Gussets. WILD BILLY CHILDISH & THE BLACKHANDS Art Or Arse? (You Be The Judge)
The Original Chatham Jack (superHUMANism, 2000)
THE MEDWAY POETS (Sub Pop, 1992) A re-recording of the 1998
The Medway Poets God knows what Sub Pop made when they received Headcoats track by Billy’s
(Hangman, 1988) this album, one of several by BC & The Blackhands, one-off side project with
The poetry group Billy joined because it’s about as far from three-chord garage- Medway poet Charles
as a young shaver finally punk as you can get, Thee Headcoats channelling Thomson, released in
gets a spot on vinyl, courtesy their inner-calypso/ska/zydeco spirits, aided by Billy’s response to The Young
of Hangman. Poets Sexton old Milkshakes mucker Banana Bertie. Apparently British Artists movement.
Ming, Bill Lewis, Charles their version of ‘Who Do You Think You’re Kidding Mr The group’s name was apparently inspired by Tracey
Thomson, Rob Earl, Vic Hitler?’ from Dad’s Army later ended up on an Asda Emin telling Billy he was “stuck, stuck, stuck”. Billy
Templar, The Natural Born advert. soon disavowed the movement, but even so, Emin
Lovers and even one Tracey Karima Emin bring the didn’t talk to him for the next 10 years.
spoken word goods. THEE HEADCOATS SECT
Deerstalking Men THE CHATHAM SINGERS
JACK KETCH &THE CROWMEN (Hangman’s Daughter, 1996) Juju Claudius
Brimfull Of Hate Thee Headcoats teamed up (Damaged Goods, 2009)
(Shakin’ Street, 1988) with Don Craine, chief- One of the many variations
According to the Damaged hollerer behind Bruce of the MBE/CTMF line-up,
Goods website, this is one of Brand’s beloved Downliners alongside The Guy Hamper
the most sought-after Sect, for a pair of albums in Trio and The Dear Watsons,
albums in Billy’s catalogue, a the mid- to late ’90s, the first The Chatham Singers’
collaboration between Billy, of which, Deerstalking Men, second album, following
Bruce and Bertie from Thee took a bunch of Childish originals and choice covers debut Heavens Journey, is a
Milkshakes in which they get from the likes of The Sonics, and turned the dial so far lovely slice of country-ish blues, featuring turns by
down, dark and dirty, as Billy assumes the pseudonym into the red it fell off the colour spectrum. Graham Coxon on guitar, James Taylor on keys and a
Jack Ketch, nabbed from one of Britain’s most chap called ‘Bludy’ Jim on harp (actually Jim
notorious hangmen. Riley, owner and chief engineer of
Rochester’s Ranscombe Studios, and sonic
THEE STASH assistant on many of Billy’s best recordings).
Should I Suck Or Should I Blow?
(Hangman, 1991) THE SHALL-I-SAY-QUOIS
Billy indulges his love Shall I Say Quoi Featuring CTMF
of Strummer and co (Damaged Goods, 2013)
whilst simultaneously On which former
taking the piss out of Headcoatees
them for letting Levi’s Ludella Black and
use one of their tunes Kyra Rubella team
in an ad, by covering up with Nurse Julie,
‘Should I Stay Or Should I Go?’ with saucily Billy and Wolf for a
altered lyrics, backed with another cheeky blistering six-track
semi-cover called ‘Selling Jeans for The USA’. EP featuring a delightful cover of Jacques
A year later they’d repeat the trick, covering Dutronc’s ‘Et Moi, Et Moi, Et Moi’, proving
‘What’s My Name’ on a 45 entitled Suave As that girl groups will always be king in Billy’s
Old Arseholes. world.
The Medway Poets, 2003.
L-R: Bill Lewis, Sexton Ming,
Billy, Charles Thomson

67
 “I’m very underestimated as a lyric writer, because I’ve
got lyrics that are absolutely very, very good, but
because I also use trash in the lyrics.
It’s the knowledgeable use of cliché and bad rhyming”
PHOTO BY JEFF PITCHER

Billy on stage with CTMF

at The Lexington, London,
May 21st 2018
album sold 7,000 or something and
everyone was annoyed because we were
meant to drag through the other groups,
the bloody Sting-Rays and Mike Spenser’s
lot. You know, we were the ones who
were going to go, but it didn’t bother me
in the slightest not doing it.”
It didn’t take long for Thee Mighty
Caesars to rise. Almost as prolific as The
Milkshakes, the band released six albums
and numerous comps and singles with
puntastic titles like Acropolis Now, and
were feted by the US magazine
Maximumrockndroll, who claimed they
were the only reason not to bomb
England. And curiously, their sleeve notes
credited famous comedians like Frankie
Howerd and Max Wall as their producers.
“We’ve missed out on my biggest
influence, which is listening to Peter
Cook and Dudley Moore,” Billy later
says, which not only explains such
erroneous credits, but also goes a long
way to defining Billy’s impish sense of
humour. “In The Milkshakes, we were
really into comedy. And that’s why I don’t
understand the modern world at all,
because the thing I like about the English
is their sense of humour and they don’t
seem to have one anymore.”
In ’89, Thee Mighty Caesars went on
an extended – and very occasionally since
broken – hiatus. Billy wouldn’t rest on his
laurels however (pun intended) and he and
Bruce would form what would turn out
to be Billy’s longest lasting and perhaps
most influential band, Thee Headcoats.
Taking their name from a mishearing of a
Downliners Sect lyric, Thee Headcoats
ran through a few members before settling
into a line-up of Billy, Bruce and bassist
Johnnie Johnson.
“Bruce is one of these musiciany type
people, and Johnny was as well,” Billy
explains of Thee Headcoats sound. “He’s
a really good guitarist, much better than
me. Johnny said that him and Bruce were
the wall of talent behind me, and I’d say
no, they were the picket fence of
inadequacy.”
Not long after forming, Billy and co
picked up a monthly residency at a venue
called The Wild Western Rooms in
Archway, run by an enigmatic character
called Slim Chance.
“You know Slim?” Billy asks. “He was
on the bins and a fighter, with his hammer
under the counter. He was great, Slim –
he really liked us and that’s why we
played. And gradually people started
coming to see us. No one was interested
initially.”
Eventually Thee Headcoats’ reputation
grew. They recorded dozens of albums for
labels such as Sympathy For The Record
Industry and Crypt, and they toured
America, heading out with no instruments
or luggage, borrowing gear as they went.
Championed by grunge acts like
Mudhoney and Nirvana, they released LPs
on Sub Pop, and returned to the UK
conquering heroes. Slim Chance eventually
moved his operation to The Boston in
Tufnell Park, naming it The Dirty Water
Club, and Thee Headcoats followed,
becoming increasingly inspirational to
London’s burgeoning garage-rock scene,
despite Billy’s professed detestation of the
form. Indeed, if something rankles, it’s the
suggestion that he deliberately seeks out a
“lo-fi” garage sound.
“It isn’t as casual as people think, there
isn’t any of this lo-fi nonsense they talk
about. If a solo’s good and got a mistake
in it but the energy’s good, I’m sensible
enough not to re-do it because I hope
people are sensible enough to know we
could. And I’m not looking for it to be a
perfect solo, I’m looking for it to be the
energy of the song. And we sometimes
spend a lot of time making something
sound effortless.”
Similarly, Billy takes umbrage at people
who overlook his lyrics.
“I’m very under-estimated as a lyric
writer, because I’ve got lyrics that are
absolutely very, very good, but because I
also use trash in the lyrics, because I like
rock ’n’ roll and I do trashy meaningless
dumb lyrics which are put together –
because again we’re in a world of
snobbery – they’re put together because
of the intonation and the sound and
language that works in that way. It’s the
knowledgeable use of cliché and bad
rhyming.”
At a rough estimation, Thee Headcoats
recorded around 25 albums with names
like Beach Bums Must Die and In Tweed We
Trust, all chock full of Billy’s dynamic
rock ’n’ roll; and he still found time to
form assorted side groups, the most
important Thee Headcoatees, an all-girl
group composed of Billy’s then girlfriend
Kyra LaRubia, Holly Golightly, Bongo
Debbie and Ludella Black (who had
previously been in The Delmonas,
another Billy girl group side project active
during the Milkshakes and Caesars days).
“Let’s just do it,” Billy exclaims of his
seemingly limitless enterprises. “We want
to do it, and we’re going to do it, and
we’ll make an album. It’s just another
project. You’ve got to do something.
You’ve got to do something!”
Thee Headcoats lasted for just over a
decade, the longest lived of all of Billy’s
bands, but by 2000, “I’d had enough of
Bruce and Bruce had had enough of me.”
There was no time to hang around,
however, and Billy formed a new band
Wild Billy Childish & The Friends Of
The Buff Medway Fanciers Association,
aka The Buff Medways, with Wolf
Howard and Johnny Barker formerly of
Medway band The Daggermen.
Releasing their LPs on über-fan Graham
Coxon’s Transcopic label, The Buff
Medways dressed up in World War One
garb, Billy growing the fabulous
moustache he still sports to this day. The
band recorded a quartet of albums before
they ultimately mutated into The
Musicians Of The British Empire, Johnny
Barker replaced by Graham Day, before
being ultimately replaced by Billy’s
American wife Julie Hamper, aka Nurse
Julie, formerly of The Stuck-Ups.
It’s this line-up of Billy, Julie and Wolf
that endures to this day, working under
names such as CTMF, The Chatham
Singers, The Vermin Poets and The
Spartan Dreggs (in which the trio are
augmented by Neil Palmer from The Fire
Dept, and which Billy describes as “for
want of a better word, prog garage”.)
Billy continues to be spectacularly
prolific, his recordings too numerous to
properly count (“I’ve had people come to
shows with 50 or 60 things to sign, which
I think is a bit of a liberty,” he says).
Nowadays he lets the label Damaged
Goods release his records, but he
continues to work with other artists,
including his son Huddie’s band The
Shadracks.
“I’ve never really indoctrinated him,”
he says. “But he’s turned out to like
similar things. He’s a bit more broad-
minded than I am. But then again, who
isn’t?”
He adds another brush-stroke to his
painting.
“The only way for rock ’n’ roll to survive is
to do what we do, under a rock for nobody
because then it’s not exposed to daylight and
can’t be destroyed. And because I love the
music, that’s why we’re always doing it like
the first album we did when we were 15 and
that’s why we’re cool and better than
everyone else. It’s not difficult to understand
is it? It’s simple maths.”
– Wild Billy Chyldish
Billy comes to the end of his work.
We’ve been here for three hours, him
talking and painting, me asking the odd
question but mostly listening. And then
Billy says: “I’m trying to work out what
I’m like. I ask my wife sometimes. I had a
nervous breakdown about six months ago.
Quite a serious one. The world fell apart
and the meaning drained out and I was
cast into a black pit of meaningless. And I
remember, I asked my wife, ‘What am I
like?’”
The statement, said casually and
without weight, floors me, and I don’t
know what to say other than, “And how
are you now?”
“Oh, I’m fine,” he says, and I never do
find out Billy’s wife’s reply. And even
after three hours, I know that I’ve only
had a fraction of the time needed to begin
figuring out what Billy’s like. All I know
is, I’ve never actually met anyone quite
like him.
He steps back to look over his
handiwork. It’s a forest landscape,
turquoise in hue and quite quite beautiful.
He turns to me. “What do you reckon?
It’ll do the job.”
Punk Rock Ist Nicht Tot, a new
compilation celebrating 40
years of Billy’s music, is out on
Damaged Goods in March.
A New CTMF album is due in April
69
 Reissues, anthologies and compilations
Young Man Blues
CHARLES DONOVAN (who else?) makes observations of a particularly
mellow selection of long-players from a true innovator
DONOVAN
Sunshine Superman
★★★★
Mellow Yellow
★★★★
The Hurdy Gurdy Man
★★★★★
Barabajagal
★★★
ALL STATE 51 CONSPIRACY LPS
Donovan’s serotonin-boosting run of classic albums is,
minus 1967’s A Gift From A Flower To A Garden double,
presented here on Abbey Road-mastered vinyl. So
celebrated are these titles, it’s easy to forget that some
weren’t part of Donovan’s official UK catalogue. At the
time of its original release only Barabajagal (’69) managed
to get a proper British issue, with Hurdy (’68) completely
ignored in Donovan’s domestic market and Sunshine (’66)
and Mellow (’67) limping out a year late in hybrid form.
While he was becoming a superstar abroad, Donovan’s
fortunes at home were undermined by inter-label
squabbles. Not only was his songwriting at its zenith in the
’66-69 period, his working relationship with Mickie Most
was at its most inspired, and the team around him was
exceptional; the contributions of arranger John Cameron
and uncredited musicians Shawn Phillips, John Paul
Jones, Jimmy Page, Madeline Bell and Lesley Duncan
should not be underestimated.
Sunshine Superman established the template that
Donovan would follow, with tweaks here and there, for
the remainder of the decade, mixing folk with an oblique
but singularly charismatic mysticism and shades of blues,
soul, pop and world music exotica. He made deft use
of melodic and harmonic ideas of varying provenance,
sometimes with a notable Indian drone-based twist.
Light percussion, sitars, alliterative mantra-like lyrics and
instantly memorable melodic phrases make these albums
easy listening in the best sense, with songs that abound
70
70
with wonder and magic. Sometimes, as on ‘Guinevere’,
Donovan achieves a pristine timelessness, undermined
only by occasional clumsy setting of words to music (e.g.
“the foreboding sky”).
In addition to its hit title track, Mellow Yellow’s array of
pleasures include the beatnik poetry of ‘The Observation’,
where woodwind instruments engage in a call-and-
response exchange with Donovan’s singing. ‘Bleak City
Woman’ introduces Donovan’s oleaginous lothario persona
(“Softly I enter her garden”) – not to everyone’s taste. Far Only on Barabajagal is some of the sparkle
more perceptive and interesting is ‘Young Girl Blues’ with beginning to fade, replaced by workmanlike sing-a-
its description of a disillusioned Londoner finding the scene longs (‘I Love My Shirt’, ‘Atlantis’) and unconvincing
lonely and hollow. ‘Sunny South Kensington’, written to the "Mr Loverman’"posturing (‘Trudi’); grating if you’re not
same form as ‘Sunshine Superman’, manages to make a in the right mood. The album is front-loaded with its
string of London place names, including the usually rather best moments, including the brisk, infectious title track
stuffy Cromwell Road, sound impossibly hip. (Donovan’s final US/UK Top 40 hit) and ‘Superlungs
The Hurdy Gurdy Man stirs in an appealing dash My Supergirl’. Although it suffers by comparison to its
of dark menace, most apparent in its title track on predecessors, on its own it’s breezily enjoyable.
which a heady combination of tambura drone and rock Collectors should note that the first two titles are
instrumentation make for a once-heard-never-forgotten mono, with the second two in stereo. Each disc has a
impression. This diverse, 13-track opus encompasses poly-lined inner, and original artwork is, notwithstanding
straight-up folk (‘The Entertaining Of A Shy Girl’), gauzy barcodes and branding, recreated faithfully. The original
pop (‘Jennifer Juniper’), Vaudevillian ditty (‘As I Recall It’) albums were light on musician credits but heavy on
and children’s music (‘The Sun Is A Very Magic Fellow’). beautiful design, now restored to its rightful size. There are
‘Tangier’ and ‘Peregrine’ occupy the unusual zone where whispers of The State 51 Conspiracy tackling A Gift From
Indian and Scottish musical traditions overlap. Add to that A Flower To A Garden next year. Their respectful, elegant
the haunting ‘River Song’, and you can make a case for it treatment of the Donovan catalogue thus far makes that a
being Donovan’s crowning achievement. tantalising proposition.
“‘Sunny South Kensington’, written to the same
form as ‘Sunshine Superman’, manages to make
a string of London place names, including the
usually rather stuffy Cromwell Road, sound
impossibly hip”
THE BOBBY FULLER FOUR
Magic Touch: The Complete
Mustang Singles Collection
★★★
NOW SOUNDS CD
There is surprisingly
little television footage
of The Bobby Fuller
Four. One clip that does
pop up from time to
time is of the band
miming to ‘Let Her Dance’ on a 1965 edition
of Shivaree, although one’s eyes do tend to
wander off to marvel at the shapes thrown by
the go-go dancers providing the backdrop. It’s
probably fair to say that by the time of that
recording, most of The BFF’s earlier hits would
have sounded a little staid, but a sufficient
passage of time has elapsed to allow for a
nostalgic appreciation for the innocent charm
and optimism of their music.
This collection gathers all the A & B sides
of their 45s on Mustang, made between
1964 and ’66. Some are credited to earlier
incarnations of the band, while the last few
tracks mop up the recordings made by various
band members following Fuller’s untimely and
still unresolved death in ’66. In between the
Crickets covers and imitations (‘I Fought The
Law’, ‘Love’s Made A Fool Of You’), there’s a
host of largely formulaic surf and beat material,
beneath which lie a couple of oft-overlooked
gems, notably a fizzing rendition of Ted
Daryll’s ‘The Magic Touch’, later a northern
soul floor-filler for Melba Moore, and the
earlier instrumental (credited to The Shindigs
no less!) ‘Wolfman’, penned as a tribute
to legendary jock Wolfman Jack, by Fuller
himself, and punctuated by the kind of growls
that could have graced Safe As Milk.
Johnnie Johnstone
THE BIRD CURTIS QUINTET
Needs B
★★★★★
JAZZAGGRESSION LP
Last year’s reissue of
their debut album, for
the first time since its
original 100-copy
pressing in 1968,
seemed to be the
ultimate in British jazz archaeology.
However, no one bargained for pianist Ray
Shea revealing that a never-released
follow-up had been recorded and was
possibly residing in his loft.
Double bassist Daryl Runswick notes
that by ’69 mainstream jazz had become
deeply unfashionable, yet now it’s evident
the era was an absolute golden age. He is
not being immodest when claiming that
this quintet stands with the best; alongside
Dankworth, Westbrook, Tippett, Skidmore,
Wheeler, Ross and Tubby. By any reckoning
this is a five-star line-up playing five-star
material (all bar ‘Greensleeves’ are originals)
and such an important addition to the British
jazz canon.
I trust that the fifth star awarded to the
debut, which nipped off for a pint en route to
the printers never to return, sees fit to stick
around this time.
Vic Templar
CURT BOETTCHER
Misty Mirage
★★★★★
YOU ARE THE COSMOS LP
As most Shindiggers
know, Curt Boettcher
is considered a, if not
the “soft-pop God”,
having produced many
late ’60s artists in that
genre, as well as forming Sagittarius and
The Millennium, both of whom released
heavily lauded albums in 1968.
Available for the first time on vinyl,
Misty Mirage is a compilation of out-takes
and demos Boettcher recorded in that time
frame, and will serve as a great companion
piece to bandmate Sandy Salisbury’s Sandy
LP. Tracks like ‘Baby It’s Real’, and the
beautiful psych-pop ballads ‘Misty Mirage’,
‘Sometimes’ and ‘Astral Cowboy’ stand with
Boettcher’s best work, and the demos of
Sagittarius/Millennium tunes ‘Another Time’,
‘I Just Want To Be Your Friend’ (if you didn’t
know the lyrics from the released version,
you will now!) and ‘You Know I’ve Found
A Way’ are absolutely lovely. The cover
art, by Dawn Aquarius, is simultaneously
psychedelic and pastoral. A brilliant work by
a brilliant man.
David Bash
BUZZCOCKS
Another Music In A
Different Kitchen
★★★★★
Love Bites
★★★★
BOTH DOMINO LPS
Some of us may have
uncomfortable
relationships with much
of the music of the
punk era, but although
inspired by The Sex
Pistols, Buzzcocks did not inherit their
nihilistic worldview, preferring to refashion the
three-minute pop song in contemporary
attire.
Folllwing Howard Devoto’s departure,
Pete Shelley would become the greatest
writer of love songs of his generation,
songs that rarely bothered the Top 40 but
should have peppered the charts like fairy
lights on a Christmas tree. Beyond the
'Boredom' rewrite 'Fast Cars' on their debut,
the brittle production can’t disguise the
exuberance of the delivery, nor the quality
of the songs. Alongside Shelley’s supremely
infectious pop (‘Get On Our Own’, ‘I Don’t
Mind’) the metronomic rhythm section was
given license to indulge its penchant for
the Krautrock pulse, adding a dimension
to the band’s sound which put them well
beyond the reach of their contemporaries.
If Love Bites lacks the urgency and wit of its
predecessor, it nevertheless sees the band
extend themselves instrumentally (even
incorporating Diggle’s acoustic ‘Love Is Lies’)
while boasting their biggest hit, ‘Ever Fallen
In Love’.
No extras here, just two great albums as
they were. RIP Pete Shelley.
Johnnie Johnstone
Baby You Got It!
THE ACTION
Shadows & Reflections:
The Complete Recordings
1964-1968
★★★★
GRAPEFRUIT 4-CD BOX SET
Weaned on US soul, apprenticed in
Germany, produced by George Martin.
From suits and boots to kaftans and
’taches. Sound familiar? The Action are
the band that could have been. Here
to restore some justice to an unfair
universe is a comprehensive box set
that represents surely the last word on
Reg King and the gang that any good
mod will ever need.
The first disc collects the original
Parlophone singles and a number of
BBC sessions that originally appeared
on 2004’s Uptight And Outtasight.
Sound quality is fab, really capturing
the energy of the band in their rawest
form, tempered by Sir George’s studio
know-how. If your first experience of
The Action was, like mine, via mildewy
Reflections of greatness.
The Action in 1966
seven-inches, you owe it to yourself
to hear them this way. The Motown
tambourine of ‘Land Of 1000 Dances’
and low pounding piano of ‘Baby You
Got It’ sound enormous, and ‘The
Harlem Shuffle’ can truly stand up
against the original (true connoisseurs
would sample this intro). A veritable
time machine, and one that’ll have you
doing the monkey around your living
room.
Disc Two features stereo mixes and
out-takes from the same sessions, and
from which the recently released LP
The New Action! was programmed. In
these it’s made abundantly clear that
band were capable of transcending
their soul origins, with hints of a more
expansive, psychedelic West Coast-
inspired sound on the group-penned
‘Never Ever’ and ‘Come On, Come
With Me’; and of a Zombies-esque
storytelling vibe on nearly-comeback
track ‘Shadows And Reflections’. The
Rolled Gold demos on Disc Three,
with which you’ll doubtless already
be familiar, throw this window wide
open, giving a glimpse of greatness
denied. The band’s songwriting
and musicianship are mature and
unpretentious, and the finished
album would undoubtedly have sat
comfortably alongside Ogdens or
Oracle any day.
A final disc collects everything
else – literally, everything else, and
astonishingly comprehensive liner
notes – more like a little book actually
– round this package out. They tell the
tale of the most talented group to never
quite make it in the ’60s. And that’s as
much our loss as theirs, because they
were the real deal.
Christopher Budd
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 JUDY COLLINS
Bread And Roses / Hard Times
For Lovers / Running For My Life
★★★
BGO 2-CD
Bread And Roses was
a 1976 album by clear,
bell-like vocalist Judy
Collins, who got her
start on the ’60s
Greenwich Village folk
scene, that strived to align her political
convictions with the commercial success of
the previous year's Judith.
Political declarations such as Victor
Jara's 'Plegaria a un Labrador (Prayer For A
Laborer)' and the title song (concerning a
1912 garment workers strike) are balanced
Arthur's pre-Crazy World
THE CRAZY WORLD OF
ARTHUR BROWN
The Crazy World Of Arthur
Brown: 50th Anniversary
Super Deluxe Edition
★★★★★
CHERRY RED 3-CD+LP
Don’t you know it was 50 years ago in
June since Track Records unleashed
The Crazy World Of Arthur Brown’s self-
titled debut album on an unsuspecting
British public. Produced by Kit Lambert
with some assistance along the way
from Pete Townshend, with Arthur’s
extraordinary, nay, otherworldly vocal
range, Vincent Crane’s vertiginous
swirling waves of Hammond, a Blakean
song cycle based around the elemental
potency of fire and more than the
odd hint of consciousness altering
alchemy this was an album that simply
demanded to be listened to. Oh and
72
72
by pop covers from the likes of Elton John
and Andrew Gold. Likewise ’79's Hard
Times For Lovers' cover choices veer from
the pop/folk/rock styled likes of The Eagles'
'Desperado', Randy Newman's reflective
'Marie' and Hugh Prestwood's title track
to movie score songs and show tunes.
The under-appreciated follow-up, ’80's
Running For My Life, is more of the same
with particularly stunning renditions of a
pair of Stephen Sondheim songs ( 'Green
Finch And Linnet Bird' and 'Pretty Women')
from his recent musical Sweeney Todd and
a couple of self-penned efforts.
She's currently in the midst of a final
concert tour.
Gary von Tersch
then there was the small matter of the
single ‘Fire’ which scored a #1 hit single
in the UK, a #2 Billboard hit in the US,
a #3 hit in Germany, a #4 hit in France
and so on.
Alongside Floyd’s Piper At The
Gates Of Dawn, The Crazy World Of
Arthur Brown has to rank as arguably
the most distinctive indigenous British
underground psych release of 1967/68.
And now, as is the way with albums
of note from this hallowed vintage
we have this superbly assembled and
thoroughly merited 50th Anniversary
Edition that comes stashed with
an abundance of extras and lavish
supplementary artwork.
First off, there’s a facsimile edition
of the original Track vinyl LP, three CDs
containing the stereo and rare original
mono versions of the album, numerous
bonus tracks, three previously unissued
NICHOLAS GREENWOOD
Cold Cuts
★★★★
SWORDFISH LP
The missing link
between The Crazy
World of Arthur Brown
and Steve Hillage’s
Khan, Cold Cuts came
about when bassist/
vocalist Nicholas Greenwood was in LA
having quit the increasingly chaotic Crazy
World to focus on his own music.
Greenwood, together with keyboardist Dick
Henninghem and drummer Eric Peachey,
comprised three quarters of the pre-LP Khan
line-up.
This, their only album, was recorded in
BBC radio sessions and pre-Crazy
World Arthur Brown solo recordings,
plus a large format booklet with an
essay by Mark Paytress and a repro
poster.
You’re also able to hear numerous
alternate mixes presented in the
sequence intended by Arthur had he
got his way and been allowed to record
the completely full-blooded concept
project he’d originally envisaged
without having had to compromise
with the inclusion of the Screamin’ Jay
Hawkins and James Brown covers on
Side Two as demanded by Kit Lambert,
who had a more accessible and broad
sound in mind for the album. Still, the
opportunity to completely lose yourself
in the generously dimensioned contents
of the 50th Anniversary Box Set is the
best of all possible consolations.
Grahame Bent
1970 also included guest appearances by
Bunk Gardner from The Mothers Of Invention
and Bryn Haworth who had been in Les Fleur
De Lys. The results sit squarely between the
Crazy World and Khan, one foot in the ’60s
and one in the ’70s, keyboard-dominated
with some brass and strings, dark soulful
vocals and excellent biting guitar. Released
only in France and Holland at the end of
’72 this mega-rarity has been beautifully
reproduced by Swordfish, complete with
insert and original ‘meat sculpture’ artwork.
Richard Allen
VINCE GUARALDI
It’s The Great Pumpkin,
Charlie Brown
★★★★
CRAFT CD
Calling all Peanuts
freaks – it’s time for
another shot of way
cool sounds from Uncle
Vince Guaraldi.
Recorded and originally
broadcast in October 1966 as the third Charlie
Brown TV special, this first-ever release of
the soundtrack of this Halloween-themed
edition features the unmistakably classy
lounge jazz sound of Vince Guaraldi tinkling
the ivories as only he can, accompanied by
his regular trio supplemented by guest
musicians on trumpet, guitar and woodwinds
and a host of sound effects.
With liner notes from Peanuts historian
and author of Vince Guaraldi At The Piano
Derrick Bang, It’s The Great Pumpkin, Charlie
Brown is a perfectly realised masterclass in
the nuances of classic cartoon soundtrack
scoring from the man who played a pivotal
role in bringing Charlie Brown and the gang
so memorably to life on the TV screen. You
only need to hear the profound lyrical beauty
of ‘The Great Pumpkin Waltz’ once and your
heart will melt.
Grahame Bent
THE HEADLESS HORSEMEN
Yesterday’s Numbers
★★★★
DANGERHOUSE SKYLAB LP
The first – okay, fine,
the only – NYC garage
revival supergroup.
Formed in the mid-80s
from the disgruntled
ashes of The
Fuzztones and The Tryfles, The Headless
Horsemen are one of the best-ever examples
of “you shoulda been there.” Legendary live
performances at equally-legendary and
equally short-lived club The Dive, with other
now-famed bands like The Fleshtones,
Vipers, Optic Nerve and Mad Violets, and
way-too-few recordings – that second part
finally remedied here.
“Demos and rarities,” says the jacket,
and that’s what you get. Fourteen of them,
and not a dud in the bunch. Several early
versions of tunes from their 1988 LP, a
handful of excellent covers (The Who’s
‘Armenia City In The Sky’ is a stand-out) and
Continues over
waxin' celluloid
GRAHAME BENT gorges on a feast of soundtrack luxuries
As Maestro ENNIO
MORRICONE has just celebrated
the momentous occasion of his
90th birthday it’s only appropriate
that we kick off the column with two
titles from his colossal body of work
which have been issued in new vinyl editions. Based on
the real-life story of armed jewel thief Luciano Lufring
Carlo Lizzani’s 1966 feature Svegliati E Uccidi (aka
Wake Up And Kill, aka I Kill For Kicks) is an all-action
dramatisation of the story of the self-styled ‘Il solista del
mitra’ (the machine gun soloist) with Morricone’s
brilliantly evocative score effectively redefining the
sound of the Italian crime film. Recorded the same year
he signed off the closing part of the Dollars trilogy with
The Good The Bad And The Ugly, Sveglati E Uccidi
★★★★★, DAGORED LP) dramatically kicks open the door
on another world entirely and this reissue is the first time
the complete score including nine bonus tracks has
made onto vinyl. Armed with a Molotov cocktail of big
reverb guitar, insistent staccato piano, dissonant brass
and effects which mimic the sound of machine gun fire
Morricone graphically conveys in pure audio the
fast-moving events of each jewellery store heist. And for
every frantically paced action cue there’s a more
reflective, even introspective side, typified by the vocal
and instrumental versions of ‘Una Stanza Vuota’ (sung
by actress Lisa Gastoni) which is revisited throughout
the score alongside the unforgettable main title theme.
From crime thriller to giallo erotico
– two years on from Svegliati E
Uccidi Morricone goes choral as he
explores very different territory on
the soundtrack of Grazie Zia, an
everyday Italian tale of incest and
kinky sexual intrigue also starring the aformentioned
Lisa Gastoni, now presented on vinyl for the first time by
Transversales Disques (★★★★). Notable for the
prominent use of the sound of a boys’ choir – Le Voci
Bianche Di Renata Cortiglioni – Grazie Zia, with its
predominant mood of dark fable meets ecclesiastical
pop, is a reminder of Morricone’s ability to work his
magic with the unlikeliest of ingredients so compelling
has his appetite for risk-taking been throughout his long
and hugely distinguished career. Blending the sound of a
boys' choir with what feels like a military march might
sound like a unlikely mix, but in the hands of Il Maestro
the results are surprisingly catchy and even poppy, as on
the principal theme ‘Guerra E Pace, Pollo E Braci’
(reworked throughout the score). Stylistically this is the
kind of pseudo-ecclesiastical exotica that could only
have come out of Italy during latter part of the ’60s and,
as such, Grazie Zia is very much pure Morricone.
PIERO PICCIONI’S Le
Streghe (The Witches) (★★★★,
DIGITMOVIES CD/LP) isn’t the complete
soundtrack to the film but is in fact
the scores from the first two of the
three episodes scored by Piccioni in
this Italian portmanteau movie from ’67 which also
featured soundtrack material by Ennio Morricone. With
the film’s five episodes all featuring Silvana Mangano in
a variety of guises directed by big names including
Luchino Visconti, Pier Paulo Pasolini and Vittorio De
Sica, Piccioni’s scores for La Strega Bruciata Viva and
Una Sera Come Tutte Le Altre take the form of a series of
variations on alternately vampy, mellow, schmaltzy and
jazzy lounge sounds all imbued with Piccioni’s innate
sense of style and the unmistakably heady scent of the
’60s. Apart from a now highly collectable Italian 45
issued by United Artists in ’67 featuring tracks by both
Piccioni and Morricone this edition of Le Streghe
represents the first time any other soundtrack material
from the film has been officially released.
While Sergio Pastore’s ’72 giallo
Sette Scialli Di Seta Gialla
(Crimes Of The Black Cat) is said to
have been influenced by Dario
Argento’s ’69 debut The Bird With
The Crystal Plummage, MANUEL
DE SICA’S effervescent score is very much its own
beast. A dazzling concoction which feels like it’s stepped
out of the late ’60s as opposed to ’72, this super stylish
creation feels like it manages to combine an incredible
stylistic range within the space of its 16 tracks. Now
released on limited edition yellow vinyl courtesy of
Dagored (★★★★) everything from slick scat singing,
trippy vocal effects, groovy melodies, touches of bossa,
hints of jazz, suspenseful orchestrations and urgent
bursts of psych funk are all heard at various points
throughout what is both a remarkably busy and bafflingly
under-appreciated score.
Presented in suitably eye-catching
picture sleeves, two seriously
limited edition 45s from Four Flies
featuring PIERO PICCIONI’s
title themes from two early ’70s
Italian-Spanish thrillers Dopo Di
Che… Uccide Il Maschio E Lo Divora and La
Volpe Dalla Coda Di Velluto (★★★★) and the
two only known surviving tracks from PIERO
UMILIANI’S score for Corrado Faria’s ’73 feature
Baba Yaga / Devil Witch (★★★★) as inspired by
the comic books of Guido Crepax are both well worth
tracking down before they’re gone forever.
Memorably described by none other
than Lord Summerisle himself
Christopher Lee as “probably the
best music I have heard in a film”,
many myths have grown up around
Paul Giovanni’s score for The
Wicker Man. Chiefly that it was lost, had been destroyed
and that it had even been buried beneath a motorway.
Thankfully all of these proved to be the stuff of rumour
and now, back by popular demand after having been
unavailable on CD for four years, The Wicker Man:
45th Anniversary Edition (★★★★, SILVA SCREEN CD)
sees this perennial cult favourite return in both expanded
and remastered form. A non-formulaic British horror film
demanded a non-formulaic soundtrack and, with this in
mind, the producers turned to songwriter Paul Giovanni
who only had six weeks to come up the score that
survives as a key component of a wholly maverick film in
the annals of British horror. As left of centre as The Third
Ear Band’s ’72 score for Roman Polanski’s Macbeth, the
first eight tracks on the CD comprise the stereo mixes
originally intended for use on a soundtrack album that
was never issued at the time of the film’s original release
due to its troubled production history. Of the additional
material three further mono tracks were recorded for the
film however these were only used for playback on set
with the balance of contents which includes incidental
music and sound effects having been compiled from a
variety of sources making this about as definitive as it gets.
The second of two soundtracks
composed for the great cineaste
Jean-Pierre Melville, following up
on his work on the latter’s wartime
Resistance drama L’Armee Des
Ombres (’68), ERIC
DEMARSAN’S Le Cercle Rouge (’70) is every bit
as perfect a fit for Melville’s fatalistic slow-burning crime
drama as Francois De Roubaix’s score previously was for
Melville’s existential noir study par excellence Le
Samourai (’67), which featured Alain Delon in his
signature role. Now once again available on vinyl but this
time mastered at half speed for optimum sound quality
by Swiss label We Release Jazz (★★★★★), the
sombre, downbeat and reflective moods on the
soundtrack perfectly match the slowly unravelling tempo
of the film, the shadowy world inhabited by the principal
characters (played by Alain Delon, Gian Maria Volonte
and Yves Montand) and the subdued bluish grey palette
of the Henri Decae’s cinematography. Stylistically the
influence of both The Modern Jazz Quartet and Gil Evans
can be heard throughout the score in terms of the
compositional style, the textural quality of the
arrangements and the choice of instrumentation which
includes piano, vibes, horns, strings and some
outstanding drum tracks from Daniel Humair. Incredibly
given the supreme quality of Demarsan’s score it’s worth
remembering that he was only actually invited to work on
the film after Melville had rejected Michel Legrand’s
original compositions as being unsuitable, either way,
just as Melville is acknowledged as the master of the
film-noir en couleur so it’s impossible to imagine
anything other than the distinctive hues of Eric
Demarsan’s icily cool masterpiece gracing the film.
Thanks to the efforts of
Transversales Disques,
FRANCOIS DE ROUBAIX’S
(Le Samourai, Adieu L’Ami,
Daughters Of Darkness) rarely
heard score for Yves Boisset’s ’71
Franco-Italian policier Le Saut De L’Ange is now
available on vinyl for the first time (★★★★). The
recurring slowly unwinding principal theme is variously
articulated on sitar and accordeon (reflecting the film’s
principal locations in Bangkok and Marseille) and
impressively demonstrates De Roubaix’s uncanny gifts
in crafting a finely wrought tonal canvas from a
multiplicity of instruments including full orchestral
arrangements and Asian percussion while working
within the scoring conventions of the political thriller.
Presented alongside the elegantly realised Le Saut De
L’Ange is a sharply contrasting selection from the
soundtrack of R.A.S. – Yves Boisset’s ’73 politically
sensitive film about the Algeria war which typifies the
more overtly experimental side of De Roubaix’s
soundtrack work with its combination of synthesiser
generated sounds and marching drum beats.
73
73

Garcia and Weir. Dazzlers
Looks Like Sunshine
GRATEFUL DEAD
Dick's Picks 34:
Rochester, NY, 11/5/77
★★★★
REAL GONE 6-LP BOX SET
Real Gone Music, responsible for
Grateful Dead's Dick's Picks and
Road Trips "live" series of multi-CD
sets, crosses the vinyl frontier with
this limited, hand-numbered, 180-
Gram, six-disc project (originally the
best-selling Dick's Picks #34) that
presents a couple of the band's widely
venerated performances from the final
week of their 1977 autumnal comeback
Stateside tour. The November 5th
concert at Rochester, New York’s
Community War Memorial House
is presented in its entirety along
with selections from a days-earlier
performance at The Seneca Field
House in Toronto, Ontario, Canada,
which itself is highlighted by the
dynamite, dervish-dancing medley
of ‘Estimated Prophet/St Stephen/
Truckin’’ and Chuck Berry's rocking
‘Around And Around’.
Firing on all eight cylinders,
the Rochester show leads off with
rambunctiously rowdy, high-strung
74
a couple of other original songs that were THE JOHN BARRY SEVEN
never used. John Barry: The Mono
And if you were of the opinion that you Years 1957-1962
do not need another white-boy rock ’n’ roll ★★★★
band’s version of ‘What’d I Say’, well, know ÉL 3-CD BOX SET
what? You were wrong. A colossal 92-track
Mike Fornatale collection of all of John
Barry’s Parlophone
and Columbia singles
JOHN HOWARD plus the Stringbeat
Can You Hear Me OK? album and his Beat Girl
★★★★ soundtrack. Compiled by Geoff Leonard and
YOU ARE THE COSMOS LP Pete Walker to accompany their JB& history
After his 1975 debut Hit And Miss the box includes an illustrated
(singer/songwriter booklet and full track-by-track run down.
moves, plus a dash of Trumpeter and jazz fan Barry had
glam) didn’t ignite the spotted the new routes that popular music
charts, it was back to was taking and set up a band to showcase
the drawing board for his penmanship and to seize the commercial
pianist/singer/writer Howard who, at the opportunities with an already formed
urging of CBS, wrote an album of romantic ambition to break into film composing.
songs. Luckily the wince-inducing vocal material
This was no betraying of his muse; is soon dropped in favour of instrumentals
Can You Hear Me OK? still found room and the rest is, more-or-less, cinematic
for his dark side (‘Really Frightened Now’) history. It’s as good an aural cocktail of late
but Biddu’s production and Pip Williams’ ’50s Britain as you’ll get; light jazzy ditties,
billowing orchestrations meant the result
was shimmering and commercial, with at
least one obvious hit in the summery ‘I Got
My Lady’. When ‘Lady’ didn’t catch on, CBS
took the album off the schedule. Years later,
LISTEN TO THE
Howard would discover that he’d been the
versions of a couple of vintage victim of targeted sabotage. The album,
numbers – 'New Minglewood which had a CD outing in the 2000s, now
Blues' and a 12-minute take-off on
the Jerry Garcia/Robert Hunter
makes its vinyl debut. It’s full of feather-soft
yearning and heartache, with one sardonic
BROADCAST
composition 'Mississippi Half-Step
Uptown Toodeloo' – that feature some
comment on stardom in ‘Finally Adored’.
Charles Donovan
ON MIXCLOUD
particularly galvanizing bass work
by Phil Lesh as he shifts the band
throughout to an entirely different The brass-powered
level with some rhythmically more- John Barry
assertive-than-usual, interloping
fretwork in tandem with Garcia's
wildly effervescent lead guitar playing
– followed shortly by back-to-back,
inspired covers of a couple of country
classics from Merle Haggard ('Mama
Tried') and Johnny Cash ('Big River')
after a pause for a calamitously lucid
'Looks Like Rain' (cotaining some
resounding harmonising from Bob
Weir and Donna Godchaux) and a
vivaciously animated 'Dire Wolf'.
Further dazzlers encompass
passionate recalls of both 'Candy
Man' and 'Jack Straw', a jazz-tinged,
steadily ascending 'Eyes Of The World',
a wonderful gospel-filigreed 'Samson
And Delilah' and the laidback 'It Must
Have Been The Roses' along with a
lengthy quartet of nearly back-to-back,
breath-taking jams that progress
in a charismatic, side-slippingly
fluid fashion – from the enchantedly
symphonic 'He's Gone' and a
luminously sublime 'The Other One'
to the augurally spooky 'Black Peter'
and the obsessive elation of 'Sweet
Magnolia'. Also noted are the two
versions of 'Estimated Prophet' from
each evening that are, likewise, thrilling
each in its own roaring psychedelic
fashion. Excelsior!
Gary von Tersch
glorious brass-powered rip-roaring themes,

Outlaw Blues
moody cinematic soundscapes, stringed
orchestrations, latin rhythms and the
wonderful twang of Vic Flick.
Sure, it’s a rum mix, but their best still
sounds superb 60 years on.
Vic Templar
ALEXIS KORNER
Every Day I Have The Blues:
The Sixties Anthology
★★★★
GRAPEFRUIT 3-CD BOX SET
You’d have to be the
lucky owner of a
substantial collection
to have already heard
everything in this box,
making it a great
opportunity – complete with terrific liner
notes – to trace the career of arguably the
most important face of British blues in the
’60s, with his collaborators from Power to
Baldry to Plant.
Disc One takes us in glorious
three-minute bursts through the skiffley
harmonica-soaked early days of delta covers,
incorporating a healthy chunk of The Blues
Incorporated Ace Of Clubs LP. Then with a
shot of more raucous energy the second disc
gets electrified as it moves through the At
The Cavern years. Korner understood his role
in helping to bring to prominence not one but
two British blues booms – and by 1968’s A
New Generation Of Blues, heavily compiled
on Disc Three, he was able to reflect on his
protégées’ successes, while still digging his
own, somewhat jazzier furrow.
Christopher Budd
grew to hate) The Long Ryders flew the
flag of alt-country years before such
a description had even been coined.
Influenced by Gram Parsons and The
Byrds they wore their love of country
music on their sleeves but gave it a
tougher edge whilst still holding true to
the roots of the genre.
Kicking off with the classic howl
and jangle of ‘Looking For Lewis And
Clark’ and encompassing odes to
trains, trucks and radio stations, State
Of Our Union encompasses traditional
THE LONG RYDERS country themes whilst addressing
State Of Our Union politics and philosophy along the way.
★★★★ Creedence choogle sound-alike ‘WDIA’
Two Fisted Tales doesn’t quite fit but ‘Capturing The Flag’
★★★★ and ‘Years Long Ago’ resonate with
CHERRY RED 3-CD BOX SETS authenticity and commitment.
Originally sucked into the stew of bands Two Fisted Tales ramps up the rock
collected under the moniker of The quotient somewhat and is musically a
Paisley Underground (a description far harder-edged album, which at times
that almost all of the associated groups swerves away from the unit’s original
The Long Ryders
celebrate Christmas
in New Zealand
mission statement. The hopped-up
Bluegrass of ‘The Light Gets In The
Way’, however, shows hints of the style
that Sid Griffin would adopt in his later
work with The Coal Porters and ‘For
The Rest Of My Days’ takes Nashville by
the throat and gives it a good shaking.
That said, there is still room amongst
the raunch for solo swirls, Byrdsian
chime and the pastoral psyche of
‘Baby’s In Toyland’.
The re-mastering on these releases
is superb and both of the albums sound
crisp and clear, each of the releases
comes with dozens of extra tracks (the
crunching studio out-take of Davie
Allan & The Arrows’ ‘Blues Theme’ a
particular treat) comprising B-sides,
each album’s original demos and live
shows from the era, of which the set
from The Oasis Water Park in Palm
Springs is a beast.
Henry Hutton

LIQUID VISIONS
Hypnotized
★★★
SULATRON LP
It's the vinyl debut of
this 2002 album by
Germany's psych-rock
standard bearers, led
by Sulatron main man
Dave Schmidt (on
bass, Fender Rhodes and Mellotron). The
band went through several line-ups over their
12-year existence, but Hypnotized was
recorded by a tight five-piece, fronted by the
twin guitars and vocals of HP Ringholz and
Kiryk Drewinski.
The LP partly recalls the innocent
enthusiasm of the ’80s psych revival,
mixing fuzzed-up power chords with Paisley THE ORIGINAL ANIMALS Mind you, if this set had been concocted PEARLS BEFORE SWINE
Underground jangle on 'State Of Mind.' Before We Were So a few years earlier those original Animals Balaklava: 50th
They don't stint on the brain-melting guitar Rudely Interrupted may have caught the wave of the UK’s pub- Anniversary Edition
solos but play with punkish joie de vivre ★★ rock scene, in which old blues was peddled ★★★
rather than stoned nonchalance, making SECRET CD with aplomb. Unfortunately, by the latter half DRAG CITY LP
'Butterflight' nimbler and more enjoyable 1977 was indeed a of the ’70s and with punk’s rapid approach No bonus tracks or
than most Hawkwind pastiches. 'Be Lie've' wasteland, a tipping this album is sadly quite uncomfortable remixes here, just a
choogles merrily like Man at their best, while point and not exactly listening. slightly-shinier
the 10-minute, slow-burn cover of Third the safest seat for the That aside, The Rolling Stones’ mobile re-mastering (to no
Twyn's 'Morning Rain' segues seamlessly North East’s fairest recording unit will always inject a prevailing detriment) of a truly
into grungey epic 'Paralyzed' (15 minutes and beat group to be taking warmth and grittiness to any recording, vital chunk of mid-60s
counting). a nostalgic backwards glance. whilst the inclusion of a looser, starker take New York artwork.
Like a fine wine, Liquid Visions have Following Eric Burden’s sojourns with on the fail-safe ‘It’s All Over Now Baby Blue’ This is one of those bands everyone
aged remarkably well. an acid-addled San Francisco line-up of The is guaranteed to win hearts. knows about but few actually listen to. Which
Ben Graham Animals and later with War, the last thing on Louis Comfort-Wiggett
the cards must have been a reunion? Continues over

75
75

Caledonian Soul
LULU
Decade 1967-1976
★★★★
EDSEL 5-CD BOX SET
Lulu was just 20 years old when, in
September 1969, she entered the
legendary Muscle Shoals studio in
Alabama to cut her first album for Atco
with Tom Dowd, Jerry Wexler and Arif
Lulu rows her boat
on TV in 1967
is a shame. Tom Rapp’s songwriting is right
up there with the best of the same folk music
underground that spawned your Dylans
and Cohens and Ochses and Hardins and
Neils. Unfortunately, the band’s (and Rapp’s
subsequent) music is most often smothered
under the misapplied banner of “folk-rock”.
It’s nothing of the sort, really, unless “rock”
does not mean what we think it means. This
is dark, intricate, semi-acoustic music, much
like the early work of the aforementioned Mr
Cohen at his very best. (The inclusion of one
of the earliest covers of his ‘Suzanne’ is no
coincidence.)
You probably don’t want to listen to this at
76
Mardin. Despite her tender years she
was already five years into a career that
had seen her become one of the UK’s
most successful and well-loved singers
and personalities, churning out pop
hits for Decca and HMV that often left
a bitter taste in her mouth. Now, finally,
she was free to pursue the R&B and
soul music that had fired up the 14-year-
old Marie Lawrie as she tore a hole in
The Isley Brothers’ ‘Shout’.
Coming in off the back of seven
Mickie Most-helmed UK hits – not to
mention the US chart-topping ‘To Sir
With Love’, incredibly overlooked for UK
release – we hear Lulu taking control of
her destiny – no more ‘Boom Bang-A-
Bang’ (five international versions here,
folks), no more Tin Pan Alley ballads,
no more fighting with Most over his
choice of material as she struggled to
get credible material like ‘Morning Dew’
and ‘Love Loves To Love Love’ onto
her records. Not that the Most-era stuff
is without value. Cheesy as some of it
is, there are plenty of impeccable pop
gems on offer: the stark ‘Dreary Days
And Nights’, a chamber-pop reading
the gym. But in front of the fireplace it’s quite
lovely indeed.
Mike Fornatale
PROCOL HARUM
Procol’s Ninth
★★★
ESOTERIC 3-CD
On many occasions
copies of Procol’s
Ninth have been seen
selling for extortionate
prices seemingly
because of its
of Nilsson’s ‘Without Him’ and the
superpop winners that are ‘The Boat
That I Row’ and ‘Me, The Peaceful
Heart’ still thrill.
Once in the USA, and empowered
by the recent rebirth witnessed on Dusty
In Memphis, she cut New Routes and
Melody Fair in quick succession. They’re
both strong sets, with Lulu walking the
line between impassioned soul belter
and fragile ingénue seemingly with ease;
the crack producers and players egging
her along with every beat. No greater
compliment was there than to have
Aretha Franklin not only guest on Lulu’s
UK TV show in August ’70 but then cut
her own version of New Routes’ ‘Oh Me
Oh My (I’m A Fool For You Baby)’.
Despite the Bond theme and her
Bowie-assisted ’76 “comeback”,
diminishing returns and illness in the
early ’70s slowed Lulu’s career to a
crawl that she wouldn’t recover from
until the early ’90s. Hopefully this
luxurious, rarities-laden box set – the
first of its kind – will help redress the
balance.
Andy Morten
Xxxxxxx
autographed cover and whilst farcical, this
merely highlights the naivety of a handful
faced with the somewhat deceptive qualities
of ’70s facsimile.
Benefitting from a stripped-back
production courtesy of American legends
Leiber & Stoller and echoing the feel
of earlier albums such as Home; a
starkness sadly lost by the days of Grand
Hotel, Ninth features a hit (‘Pandora’s
Box’ is formulaic Procols and could easily
have been lifted from A Salty Dog) and a
slew of Band-a-likes (‘Fool’s Gold’) and
Traffic-a-likes (‘The Unquiet Zone’), all
demonstrating Gary Brooker and Keith
Reed’s seemingly unmatchable skills with
lyric and melody. This expanded set is
augmented with bonus tracks, a stack of
liner notes, plus two CDs of live recordings
from UK and US shows that culminate in a
seven-minute audience-rousing version of
‘A Whiter Shade Of Pale’.
Louis Comfort-Wiggett
ROGER NICHOLS & THE
SMALL CIRCLE OF FRIENDS
Roger Nichols & The Small
Circle Of Friends
★★★★★
TAPETE LP+45
Released to little
fanfare in 1968, this
album was a key
stepping stone in
Nichols’ career as the
glorious misses
(Collage, Sandpipers, Sunshine Company
et al) became glorious hits when he teamed
up with fellow songwriter Paul Williams.
Recorded at the behest of A&M’s Herb
Alpert and ably enabled by a dream team
including Bruce Botnick, Van Dyke Parks,
Tony Asher and Randy Newman, it’s gone
on – through years of scarcity and feverish
word of mouth recommendations – to
become perhaps the Holy Grail of ’60s soft-
pop. And for good reason. The vocal magic
of Nichols, Murray Macleod and Melinda
Macleod, combined with A&M’s ultra-cool
production savvy and those Pet Sounds
associations, are never less than dazzling;
the choice of outside material (Lennon &
McCartney, Goffin & King, Bacharach &
David, John Sebastian) rendered utterly
transcendent.
Possibly reissue of the year and nothing
less than essential.
Andy Morten
SOFT HEARTED SCIENTISTS
Wandermoon
★★★★
YOU ARE THE COSMOS LP
Soft Hearted
Scientists, like Bees,
Bevis Frond or The
High Llamas, are one
of those bands whose
occasional
appreciation in the music press rarely
translates into record sales of any
significance. Like those artists the Welsh
combo has been endowed with great
talent for songwriting and a singularity of
vision that contrives without exception to
produce music of genuine quality.
Their second long-player from
2011, here given a vinyl reissue, is a
loopy pastoral delight where banjos,
glockenspiel, slide guitar, horns and
nocturnal woodland sounds combine
to create charming pocket symphonies
of kitchen sink psychedelia. Imagine
Syd Barrett, Ray Davies and Andy
Partridge found themselves locked in a
recording studio together with a bunch of
instruments left over from an Incredible
String Band rehearsal. That should give
you some idea. Highlights include the
stunning, partially narrated ‘Tornadoes
In Birmingham’ with a mood motif which
could have themed some BBC kids
TV show from 1975. and the sprawling
compartmentalised epic ‘Westward
Leading’, from which the album takes its
evocative title.
Johnnie Johnstone
SONNY & CHER
Look At Me / The Wondrous
World Of Sonny & Cher / In Case
You're In Love / Bonus Tracks
★★★★★
BGO 3-CD
Pop-rockers Sonny
Bono and his wife
Cherilyn Sarkasian
LaPier got their
jump-start in the
mid-60s as R&B
backing singers for producer Phil Spector,
quickly achieving chart success with their
1965 hit singles ‘I Got You Babe’ (a #1 hit
on both sides of The Atlantic), ‘The Letter’
and ‘The Beat Goes On’. However, it was
their image, replete with long hair,
flagrantly quixotic clothes and the
disc of non-album singles that includes
'Plastic Man’, the horns-spiced ‘You're A Perennial outsider
Friend Of Mine’ and the hit ‘Baby Don't Jerry Solomon
Go’. Sonny also picked his scattered-
throughout covers well – Hedy West's ‘500
Miles’, Spector's ‘Then He Kissed Me’,
Don & Dewey's ‘I'm Leaving It All Up To
You’, Tim Hardin's ‘Misty Roses’ and Bob
Lind's ‘Cheryl's Going Home’ all impress,
even years on. This may be the definitive
S&C collection.
Gary von Tersch
THE THIRD RAIL
Id Music
★★★
RETROWORLD CD
Third Rail’s singular
1967 album captures
the pop/rock spirit of
the times. Its clever
lyrics offer sharp
social commentary,
whilst it’s baroque-pop and soft
psychedelia are attractive and winning.
Founder Artie Resnick, veteran of The Brill
Building, already had credits for ‘Under
The Boardwalk’ and The Rascals’ ‘Good

He Just Don't Fit

derivative, West Coast protest vibrancy of
their lyrics that buoyed their careers until
they abruptly traded the Haight-Ashbury
for Las Vegas in ’67.
This definitive project compiles the
duo's three Atco albums along with a third
Sonny & Cher.
Breaking through
Lovin’’. Teaming up with Kris, his wife, and
teen sensation Joey Levine on vocals,
they crafted this studio opus before all
going on to become major players in
Continues over
JERRY SOLOMON
Virginity For All
★★★★
Past The 20th Century
★★★★
BOTH MODERN HARMONIC LPS
In 2000, music critic Irwin Chusid
released the first of his two influential
Songs In The Key Of Z compilations.
Subtitled ‘The Curious Universe of
Outsider Music’, the compilations
gave a name to a curious sub-genre
of obscure, odd, experimental
and wilfully weird music, mostly
recorded by unskilled yet enthusiastic
amateurs, many of them folk who lived
on the margins of society and who, if
they weren’t psychologically unwell,
certainly sounded like they were.
The compilation included acts like
The Shaggs, Shooby Taylor, Jandek
and Wesley Willis, most of whom are
beloved by listeners who like their
music existentially different to the
mainstream. Yet one act who didn’t
make it in, and who perhaps could be
considered one of the legends of the
"outsider" oeuvre, is Jerry Solomon.
Solomon grew up in LA, and
between 1966 and ’69, recorded
and self-released more than a dozen
singles, starting off with lo-fi garage
cuts before edging into an atonal,
tuneless and curiously moving world
of music that must have seemed
bloody strange even at the height of
the LA counterculture.
Taking a break for a couple of
years, Solomon then issued his debut
full-length in ’71 (the first of three in
total). Entitled Past The 20th Century,
it opens with an off-key ditty called ‘I
Just Don’t Fit This Modern Age’. Never
has such a title proven so apt, 20th
Century an incredibly strange album
of droning tunes – if you can call them
that – with indecipherable vocals and
clanging percussion. I’d suggest it’s
the sound of a man having a nervous
breakdown were it not for the fact
that numerous photo booth pictures
of Solomon from the time show an
affable-looking fellow with a huge
grin, and that he made numerous jolly
appearances on the TV talent contest
The Gong Show.
Modern Harmonic have now
reissued his singles on a two-
disc set called Virginity For All,
alongside a vinyl reissue of 20th
Century. It’s difficult rating the work
within – it’s either worth one star or
five depending on how bracingly
experimental you like your music –
but whichever way you lean, these
are physically beautiful releases,
crammed full of photographs and
exemplary liner notes, loving reissues
for a defiantly different artist brought
in from the edge.
Thomas Patterson

77
 Buddah’s bubblegum empire.
Xxxxx
The Regime join the Inventiveness abounds, sometimes
party, 48 years later unevenly. Garage snarls and sarcasm meet
sweet harmonies and polished production
values. It’s outsider attitude and insider
expertise. There are 10 tracks plus eight
single versions, including ‘Run, Run,
Run’, better known as a standout track
on Nuggets, though it’s a long way from
garage. This is far-out and fun, intelligent,
with a sense of lost innocence and strong
hints of The American Dream getting
darker.
Richard Knight
MOE TUCKER
I'm Sticking With You: An
Introduction To Moe Tucker
★★★★
MODERN HARMONIC LP
Maureen 'Moe' Tucker
was the essence of The
Velvet Underground.
For those of us that
found them via the filter
of bands like The
Modern Lovers, The Jesus & Mary Chain and
in love with decades after t
he VU's demise.
In the ’80s, with Lou Reed and John
Cale forging major label careers, Tucker
re-emerged working with a new generation
of underground musicians like Jad Fair, Kim
Gordon and Daniel Johnston. This beautifully
presented, white vinyl LP (with peel-off
sticker on the cover!) collects a selection of
those tracks; leaning heavily on her exquisite
reinterpretations of Velvets classics, but also
including her own tributes to Andy Warhol
and Sterling Morrison, on the heart-breaking
'Last Night'. If you love the VU but have never
bought solo Moe, you need this in your life.
Ben Graham
UNICORN
Laughing Up Your Sleeve
★★★★
OMNIVORE LP/CD
Following Esoteric’s
extensive reissue
campaign of
“Woking’s GREATEST
country-rock/
soft-rock band”

Baroque Stars
Galaxie 500, the Velvets' drummer embodied Unicorn comes this impressive 20 track CD
the stripped-back pop sensibility, DIY
directness and tough vulnerability that we fell Continues over

and groovy drumming throughout ‘The Queen of the tubs

VARIOUS ARTISTS
Come Join My Orchestra:
The British Baroque
Pop Sound 1967-73
★★★★
GRAPEFRUIT 3-CD BOX SET
The work of The Beatles in the couple
of albums before, and those that
appeared post-Sgt Pepper, have a
lot to answer for in regards to the
whole pop scene suddenly desiring
to go all stringy and brassy. Many of
the efforts contained herein – both
from names familiar to some and
rather more obscure to others
– are enamoured with (particularly)
McCartney’s songwriting and
arranging skills. Start with Chris
Neal's sickly sweet 'Cherrybelle' and
The Zombies’ ‘A Rose For Emily’
from the still breath-taking Odessey
& Oracle – a delicious, yet ultimately
sad piece. Nirvana's winsome 'Illinois'
and the likes of Clifford T Ward’s oh-
so cheesy ‘Coathanger’ are also
indebted.
One or two selections have
already been aired through the astute
efforts of the excellent Fading
Yellow series; witness strident violins
Better Side’ by The Freedom, Moe Tucker
and The Orange Bicycle’s vocally
gymnastic ‘Competition’. The
original of ‘Woe Is Love, My Dear’
by Bert Jansch also makes an
appearance, although the trumpets
– and no guitar – make it somewhat
overwrought – The Koobas’ take
as heard on FY is far superior.
Outstanding demonstrations of
extracurricular strings and orchestral
and semi-orchestral passages
are in evidence across the three
discs, enhancing with extra colour
and dimension, however, once or
twice this spills over into bombastic
intrusion, pomp and fanfare. Amongst
the best we hear ‘Rick Rack’ by The
Humblebums, The Ian Campbell
Group’s unintentionally hilarious
‘Private Harold Harris’, Michael
Blount’s scant yet cool ‘Acorn Street’
and Kes Wyndham's wonderfully
whimsical ‘Broken Bicycle’. Such
welcome perennials as The Majority’s
‘Charlotte Rose’ and Andy Ellison’s
‘It's Been A Long Time’ are also here.
Lastly, but by no means least, we
must single out ‘Dear Amanda’, a
hitherto unissued 1970 gem as
recorded by The Regime. This
stark, beautifully melancholic offering
with plaintive air, echoing, hollow
cavern drums and beseechingly
romantic aura was penned by the
group’s Graham Hamer – as were
many still-unreleased Regime titles
– and, like ‘Dear Amanda’ and much
of the other expertly researched
music on offer here, are already long
overdue for appraisal.
FOLLOW US ON TWITTER @SHINDIGMAGAZINE
Lenny Helsing

78
latin Accents
GRAHAME BENT warms himself in front of a fine haul of South American sounds
Way before he was the toast of
Creed Taylor’s CTI label, was busy
scoring hit singles with his heavily
jazz-infused reworking of ‘Also
Sprach Zarathustra’ and writing
arrangements for the likes of
Antonio Carlos Jobim, Aretha and Frank Sinatra,
Deodato was already busy making a name for himself
in his native Brazil as a composer, arranger and
performer and recording with his samba jazz and
bossa ensemble OS CATEDRÁTICOS. Now very
much a serious collectors item in its original vinyl
format, the first of these albums Ataque with its
distinctive op-art sleeve appeared in 1965 on
Uruguayan label Equipe and now gets its first and
thoroughly deserved reissue thanks to Far Out
Recordings (★★★★, CD/LP). Right from the initial bars
of the self-penned opening title track, Ataque
energetically blends the odd Deodato original with
hot-wired reworkings of compositions from an a ‘A’ list
of Brazilian artists including Marcos & Paulo Sergio
Valle, Baden Powell and Luiz Bonfa. Seasoned by fluid,
luminescent bursts of organ, the textured layers of a
large horn section are held together by a rhythm
section including the great Wilson Das Neves on drums
and Robeto Bassini on percussion. The ridiculously
vibey Ataque is a textbook in the very essence of the
term ‘jazz samba’.
The unmistakable sound of a
master at work is clearly audible
throughout Nova Bossa Nova
(★★★★, FAR OUT CD/LP), the 20th
anniversary reissue of MARCOS
VALLE’S debut release on
London’s Far Out label that was Valle’s comeback
album after more than a decade’s absence from the
recording studio. Back in ’98 the great survivor of Rio’s
bossa scene of the ’60s who, among others, gave the
world such classics as ‘Samba De Verao’ and ‘Os
Grilos’, made it clear he was back in business with an
album that funkily updated his classic sound of the
’60s and ’70s and in the process effectively reinvented
himself for the late ’90s and beyond. Although the
album includes a dancefloor makeover his ’70s hit
‘Freio Aerodinamico’ it’s actually cuts like ‘Bahia Blue’,
‘Mushi Mushi’,’Nordeste’,’Bar Ingles’ and the album’s
title track which
re
Tom Ze. Out the
best capture the spirit of the newly energised Marcos
Valle who continues to work his particular magic into
the sixth decade of his incredible career.
Originally released on Continental
in ’76 TOM ZE’S Estudando O
Samba (★★★★,MR BONGO CD/LP)
captures the Tropicalia trailblazer
very much out there on the
experimental edge with this
typically sideways take on the samba which even
includes a languidly angular take on Antonio Carlos
Jobim’s ‘A Felicidade’. Right from the almost
incantatory feel of the opening ‘Ma’, Ze’s avant-garde
credentials shine brightly throughout this thoroughly
distinctive album and nowhere more so than on ‘Toc’
with its collage of repetitive guitar patterns, brass riffs
and miscellaneous vocal cut ups which captures Ze at
his most radical while, at the other extreme, ‘Ui! (Voce
Inventa)’ finds him sounding remarkably like Joao
Gilberto. The fascinating back story to this particular
album is that David Byrne chanced upon it in the late
’90s and subsequently included a number of tracks
from it on his Tom Ze sampler on Luaka Bop. At the
time Ze was only playing low key shows in his native
Sao Paulo and contemplating moving. He was working
at a gas station owned by one of his cousins and it was
Byrne’s timely reissuing of his recordings that is
credited with having kick started his career.
Reissued in association with
Brazilian label Som Livre
TOQUINHO’S self-titled ’70
album (★★★★, MR BONGO CD/LP) is
a subtly understated exercise in
classic uncluttered (acoustic)
guitar bossa-pop that predates his later fertile
partnership with poet and lyricist Vinicius De Moraes.
Chief among the albums most celebrated tracks are
Toquinho’s versions of the Jorge Ben classics ‘Que
Maravilha’ and ‘Carolina, Carol Bela’ (both featuring
guest appearances from the man himself) the
infectiously uplifting sound of the opening ‘A Agua
Negra Da Lagoa’, ‘Zana’, the beautifully orchestrated
‘Dobrando A Esquina’ and a string of lyrical
instrumentals including ‘A Barca’, ‘Chuva Na Praia De
Juqui’ and ‘Evocacao De Jacob’.
Initially coming to prominence as
Jorge Ben’s backing band on his
first three albums – his self-titled
debut from ’69, Forca Bruta (’70)
and Negro E Lindo (’71) TRIO
MACOTO were a key outfit in
the evolution and development of "samba-rock" – a
fusion of samba, soul and rock which reflected the
impact of imported contemporary influences from the
US. This the self-titled follow up to their earlier
self-titled album from ’73 (previously reissued on
Vinilisssimo) showed up in ’77 and announced its
arrival with an almighty bang in the shape of the
fantastic opening cut ’Nao Adianta’ – a big song with
big arrangements, strong choruses and top
performances which showcases samba rock at its very
best. Now reissued on Mr Bongo (★★★★, CD/LP) and
squarely inhabiting the ’70s fusion zone where samba
rock meets MPB, there’s a strong Carnaval-esque vein
running throughout the album which is especially
evident on tracks including ‘O Meu Violao’, ‘Rosa’ and
their reworkings of Jorge Ben’s ‘Dile’ and ‘Que Nega E
Essa’.
Once again in association with
Som Livre the sixth self-titled
album from the highly prolific
Brazilian soul and funk dynamo
TIM MAIA gets a reissue from
Mr Bongo (★★★★, CD/LP). A key
figure in the introduction of the sounds and styles of
contemporary US soul and funk into the everyday
vocabulary of MPB and likewise a major mover a
shaker in the influential Black Rio movement of the
early to mid-70s, this ’77 album finds Rio’s soul/funk
figurehead of the ’70s and ’80s and later cosmic cult
convert reeling off a tight, compact and economically
delivered batch of tracks with what feels like the
greatest of ease backed to great effect by an
impressively tight, supremely vibed-up and horn
friendly studio band. Save for the ballad ‘Sem Voce’,
the soul bossa cut ‘Nao Esquente A Cabeca’ the
majority of the album’s 12 tracks clock in at under the
three-minute mark with Rio’s home grown funk kingpin
never one for hanging around preferring instead to get
straight on the groove and right to the heart of the
matter in an engagingly direct way. You’re spoilt for
choice when it comes to demonstrating the merits of
this approach whether on ‘Pense Menos’, ‘Verao
Carioca’, ‘Feito Para Dancar’,’Musica Para Betinha’, the
almost Bar-Kays styled instrumental ‘Flores Belas’ and
the startling funk bomb ‘E Necessario’ which in itself is
almost a study in applied groovology.
For our finale it’s a swift hop over
to Cuba for the first-time vinyl
release of the late great
ORLANDO ‘CACHAITO’
LOPEZ’S (renowned bass player
with The Buena Vista Social Club)
solo album Cachaito (★★★★, WORLD CIRCUIT LP).
Originally released in 2001 and now available on a
deluxe heavyweight vinyl pressing accompanied by a
12-page booklet, like Ruben Gonzalez’ Introducing
Ruben Gonzalez Cachaito is widely considered to be
one of the most memorable while additionally being
one of the most atypical, experimental and musically
adventurous of all the Buena Vista family of albums
released on World Circuit. Recorded in Havana’s
historic Egrem studios with Cachaito’s bass the anchor
and central axis around which all else revolves
Cachaito, surrounded by an impressive pool of
musicians including Manuel Galban, Manuel ‘Anga’
Diaz, Amadito Valdes and Carlos Gonzalez with guest
appearances from former JBs tenor man Pee Wee
Ellis, Hugh Masekela, Jamaican Hammond player
Bigga Morrison and Ibrahim Ferrer bring to life an
album of eminently stylish grooves and exploratory
descargas. Interestingly Cachaito has been compared
to the soundtrack of an imaginary film by virtue of its
free-flowing blends of horns, electric guitar, Hammond,
strings and an almighty rhythm section. Way beyond
cool Cachaito is an enduring memento of a master
musician in his element.
79
 (and 11 track album plus download) of
tracks that the band recorded with Pink
Floyd’s Dave Gimour after he fell in love
with them. Things were on the up for
Gilmour after the March 1973 success of
The Dark Side Of The Moon. As he had
some time on his hands, and an
appreciation of country-rock, only very
occasionally embraced by his own band, he
took Unicorn into his small home studio
centred around a Brenell 1” 8-track deck
and put his new charges to work. Of the 20
tracks they cut over the course of a year, the
majority would end up on the studio albums
Takin' Out The Trash
VARIOUS ARTISTS
Just A Bad Dream: Sixty
British Garage And Trash
Nuggets 1981-89
★★★★
CHERRY RED 3-CD BOX SET
Was Trash a movement, a scene, a
style, an unexpected coming together
of retro-revivalist bands with roughly
shared interests? Even John Reed,
co-compiler of this great three-disc
set, admits in the liner notes he isn’t
entirely sure, but in the most general
of terms, Trash can be considered the
umbrella under which huddled a loose
collection of brash, genre-spanning
British groups in the ’80s, ready to
rock with a snarl on their lips and
eyes looking towards ’60s America.
Garage, beat, psychobilly and even a
few post-punk indie groups – all could
be considered Trash, their cues taken
from American acts ranging from The
80
Gilmour would go on to produce. The
otherwise unreleased powerpop/rock/
country-rock hybrid ‘I Saw You’, the Byrdsy
‘All Night Long’ and pastoral ‘Kevin Barry’
are all perfectly formed.
Although the tapes, found in bassist
Pat Martin’s attic, were badly degraded
Kevin Przybylowski and Jamie Howarth
have done an incredible job in restoring
them. This then is the perfect post-script to
Unicorn’s brilliant, but sadly unsuccessful,
career.
Jon ‘Mojo’ Mills
Sonics to The Cramps, their similarities
laying in their otherworldliness in
Thatcher’s Britain, occasional love of
horror iconography, and their “don’t
give a damn” attitudes.
The compilation opens with Thee
Mighty Caesars’ ‘Little By Little’, a
barnstorming start courtesy of this
month’s cover start Billy Childish.
Childish is amply represented across
the compilation, affiliated acts from
Thee Headcoats to The Delmonas
and Sexton Ming all getting a look in;
meanwhile, fellow Medway travellers
The Daggermen and The Prisoners put
in appearances, the latters’ moody Brit-
beat stomper ‘What I Want’ a delight.
Contributors to and/or friends
of Shindig! also turn up to the trash
pile: Lenny Helsing’s The Thanes and
The Green Telescope, Alec Palao’s
The Sting-Rays and Bananamen
and Hugh Dellar’s The Beatpack all
VARIOUS ARTISTS
The Pop Genius Of
Mickie Most
★★★★
ACE CD
As the drab ’50s
spawned the
brightly-hued ’60s,
Hampshire-born Most
set aside his own
musical ambitions
and became the song-Svengali and
hitmaker whose production nous and ear
for pop would land him on the charts for
spitting out tough nuggets that must
have sounded like they were beamed
down from Venus compared to a
mainstream music scene dominated
by anodyne pop and anaemic indie.
Helsing also contributes exemplary
liner notes, alongside Vic Templar and
scene spearhead Mike Spenser, whose
group The Cannibals contributes the
rollicking ‘Submarine Song’.
Elsewhere, The Meteors, King Kurt
and The Krewmen bring the ’billy, both
psycho and rocka, The Damned show
up as their alter-egos Naz Nomad &
The Nightmares, and less-celebrated
acts like The Playn Jayn, Change Lings
and Marionette all get to strut their bad
selves. With 60 tracks in total, Just A
Bad Dream not only brings us a hell
of a lot of trash, it’s also an exemplary
attempt to make sense of a murky
scene, long gone but never forgotten.
Thomas Patterson
three decades. Rob Finnis, whose Most
biography is due in 2019, provides the
riveting, anecdote-rich booklet essay (for
all his preternatural ability for spotting
chart-bound talent, in the early ’60s Most
tipped The Rolling Stones for failure on the
basis that Mick Jagger was “ugly”).
The 24 tracks, sequenced non-
chronologically, trace Most’s journey
through an impressive array of trends,
from rock ’n’ roll and blues revival to
psychedelic folk (two appearances
from Donovan), glam (Suzi Quatro’s ‘48
Crash’) and the poppier fringes of the
New Wave (Kim Wilde). Some liken him
to Simon Cowell, but Most’s tastes were
infinitely more varied, his productions less
predictable, and his attitude less cynical.
Charles Donovan
ZALMAN YANOVSKY
Alive And Well In Argentina
★★★★
RETROWORLD CD
Solo albums can be
notoriously touch and
go affairs but not so in
the case of Zally
Yanovsky’s
unforgettably off the
wall sole post-Lovin’ Spoonful offering
from 1968 – a solo project like few others
to ever make it past the demo stage.
Somewhat bizarrely produced by Jerry
Yester (the man who got Zally’s gig in the
Spoonful following his sacking), a mood of
anarchic mischief-making runs throughout
the album which manages to take in
whimsical country (‘Brown To Blue’), the
odd John Sebastian original (‘Priscilla
Millionaira’), tales of pyschological
instability (‘I Almost Lost My Mind’) and
classic pop (‘Little Bitty Pretty One’)
before things get seriously psychedelic
nay surreal amid the Zappa-esque studio
hi-jinks of both the title track and closing
freak-out ‘Lt Schtinckhausen’. And just to
complete the madness of it all the B-side
of the non-album single ‘As Long As
You’re Here’ is basically the A-side played
backwards. Crazy times.
Grahame Bent
 A multitude of new music
Anemone focus
on the distance
ANEMONE
Beat My Distance
★★★
LUMINELLE CD/LP
Hailing from Montreal
and lead by Chloe
Soldevila, Anemone’s
debut album deftly
blends the sounds of
alt-pop, classic French
beat music and electronica to great effect.
It’s a consommé that references many
others but ultimately sits comfortably
amongst the current cream of Franco-
pop artists such as Juniore and Halo
Maud. Take opener ‘On Your Own’, which
welds the approach of Stereolab with a
contemporary dream-pop aesthetic to
create a floating piece of wonky pop; or
‘Segue’, which references Air circa Moon
Safari with its sophisticated European
approach to classic electro-pop and comes
complete with an elongated play out in
which you can get lost.
It’s a slow-burner of a record, and whilst
listeners might feel it’s a formula they’ve
heard before, the skillful songwriting,
charming delivery and mildly-delic sheen
are enough to make the likes of the closing
‘Only You’ well worthy of your time.
Paul Osborne
82
82
ASTRAL SON
Wonderful Beyond
★★★★
SULATRON CD / HEADSPIN LP
Leonardo
Soundweaver – aka
Astral Son – returns
with a fourth serving
of neo-psych
splendour, Wonderful
Beyond being a follow-up to
his Gurumaya / Silver Moon / Mind’s
Eye trilogy. In gestation for a year, the Dutch
artist/musician has blended eleven new
tracks into a true psychedelic stream of
consciousness.
And we start how we mean to go on
with ‘She’, a swirly Syd-esque paen to a
darkness-banishing muse, but with pleasingly
heavier guitar. VERY pleasing, intertwining
riffery adorns ‘Matrix Of Creation’, which
hypnotises as it delights, and features some
exquisite wah-wah textures at its median.
The ghost of Syd Barrett comes more fully to
the fore on ‘Moving Slowly’, the effect being
heightened by some Piper-era organ work. If
you press a button rather than drop a stylus,
you can also dig the CD’s bonus track, ‘Quiet
Love’, which will make you ‘dream within a
dream’. Bit like the rest of the record, really.
Greg Morse
THE BANGLES, THREE
O’CLOCK, DREAM
SYNDICATE, RAIN PARADE
3x4
★★★★
YEP ROC CD
Four bands choose
three songs from each
other’s back catalogues
and clearly enjoy the
process of interpreting
the original version,
imbuing it with a new character. 3 x 4 has a
more intimate quality than most tribute
projects because these bands were and are
friends. The Paisley Underground was always
more of a scene than a genre, made up of
college kids and musos, hip to the coolest
sounds of the ’60s, refracting them through a
post-punk ’80s prism in pre-hair-metal LA.
Brainchild of The Dream Syndicate’s
Steve Wynn, The Bangles’ Vicki Peterson
and the Three O’Clock’s Danny Benair, this
is a labour of love and self-reflection. “We
joke about it now,” Peterson writes in the liner
notes, “but it really is like we went to school
together. Paisley High, class of ’83.” Besides,
who wouldn’t want to hear The Three O’Clock
covering Rain Parade’s ‘What She’s Done To
Your Mind’?
Richard Knight
THE BOOKENDS
Far Away But Around
★★★
OTTORAW LP
Not the Simon &
Garfunkel tribute act,
but instead cousins
Karen Lynn and
Sharon Lee, two
’60s-inspired pop
pickers clad in kinky boots and Beatles
caps who, on the evidence of their debut
Far Away But Around, know how to write a
mean riff and record an insistently catchy
tune.
Songs on Far Away veer between
sweet, jangling pop and a more fuzzed-out
freakbeat style, The Bookends’ sound
evoking the spirits of venerable girls-with-
guitars groups of yore like The Delmonas,
Shonen Knife and early Bangles, their
lyrical pre-occupations revolving around
boys and broken hearts. Stand-out tracks
include the propulsive ‘Laugh Or Cry’, which
could have come from a K Records’ riot
grrrl band, and the garage beat of ‘What I
Wouldn’t Do’.
This is a short and effervescent album,
the aural equivalent of a bottle of fizzy day-
glo pop, and just as sweet. Fab gear.
Thomas Patterson
CIRCULUS
Birth
★★★★
MYTHICAL CAKE CD
It’s been nine years
since last album
Thought Becomes
Reality, but
Glastonbury’s premier
neo-medieval-
psychedelic-prog explorers are back with a
new selection of beautiful and bonkers music,
chief Circulite Michael Tyack having lost
neither his wayward eccentricity nor his gift
with a melody in the interim.
According to Michael, much of Birth was
co-written with a poet he met on the astral
plane, a genesis that’s as delightfully far-out
as the songs within, tracks like ‘The Ecstasy
of Digging In Churchyards’ and ‘Tintagic’ (a
paean to the magic of Tintagel) straddling
the worlds of ancient madrigals, ’60s folk,
’70s prog and early ’80s children’s TV theme
tunes, making Birth another unique and
unforgettable entry into Circulus’ canon.
With another new album of motorik-like
instrumentals entitled Gate 47 also available
on their Bandcamp page, there’s never been
a better time to dive into Circulus’s singular
world. It’s wonderful to have them back.
Thomas Patterson
THE CONTRAST
Madhouse Of Inventions
★★★
SECRET SHARK CD
Eight albums and 20
albums on from their
debut Mystery #1, on
which the UK
three-piece feasted on
the off-kilter guitar-pop
of Guided By Voices and then label-mates
Cotton Mather, The Contrast now come with
added social bite (see self-evident opener
‘Bureaucrats’ and the social media-deriding
‘Updates’) and a new keyboard player clearly
schooled on The Doors and ’60s sci-fi flicks.
Songwriter David Reid’s vocals are gruff
and often slurred, lending these tales from the
dark side just the right amount of controlled
anger, while the musical framework reflects
those time-worn vintage influences through
’80s post-punk and pop-noir. At 16 tracks it’s
arguable that Madhouse Of Inventions might
have benefitted from some pruning but fans
will lap up the likes of ‘Sinister London’ (“the
fog’s hanging heavy over Belsize Park”) and
the rollicking title track.
Andy Morten
ALISON COTTON
All Is Quiet At The
Ancient Theatre
★★★★
CARDINAL FUZZ LP
Alison Cotton's viola
playing should be
familiar to anyone
following the
contemporary weird
folk/drone scene; she
also emerged this year as one half of The Left
Outsides, whose All That Remains received
well-earned praise across the board.
On the 10-minute title track of her first
solo album, getting a limited vinyl release
after the cassette original on Bloxham Tapes
sold out, Cotton's viola paints precise lines of
light against the eternal grind of harmonium,
creating a bare, wintry atmosphere as dawn
breaks over empty, snow-covered fields.
Elsewhere there's a sense of cavernous
space, voice and viola echoing against the
stone walls of a vast burial mound. 'The
Bells Of St Agnes' is part sea shanty, part
Gregorian chant, with baroque flourishes of
viola and hand percussion. These five sombre
meditations feel still and timeless; austerely
melancholy, and haunted by ghosts that will
linger long after the final note has faded.
Ben Graham
decker.
Born To Wake Up
★★★★★
ROYAL POTATO FAMILY CD/LP
The opening seconds of
singer/songwriter
Brandon Decker's new
record features a sparse
and lonely sound
collage – footsteps, a
drum pulse, chanted drone and the distant
howling of wolves. It comes as little surprise to
learn he takes much inspiration from his
Arizona desert surroundings, coming across at
times like a modern-day Morricone in search
of a film. This ghostly wind-through-the-cacti
ambience is best invoked on 'The Garden' with
its lyrical echoes of Joni Mitchell's
'Woodstock', and 'The Saint', a bruised but
ultimately optimistic emotional ballad.
At the core of Decker's songwriting lies a
belief in redemption and the need for spiritual
nourishment, but peppered among the
intimate loner-folk are tracks with a polished
indie-rock sound. His inner-Springsteen
finding an outlet on 'Burnin' Grass' and 'The
Matador', both tracks containing stadium-
worthy vibes and melodies. Conviction, inner
belief and landscape-informed outlook makes
this an impressive soul-baring.
Duncan Fletcher
THE DEE RANGERS
All You Need Tonight
★★★★
Low Impact LP
There's something
exciting and, at times,
positively thrilling about
a fresh outpouring from
this veteran Swedish
garage-beat act. And
this time around – half a dozen or so footlong’s
in by now – they don’t put a foot wrong. A
seemingly effortless flow of hard-hitting,
rockin’ garage blasters like opener ‘No One To
Love You’, ‘I'm Going Home’ and ‘I'm Your Fool’
are arsenalled with fiery fuzz, pummelling
drums, throbbing bass and appealing and,
often, highly-melodic vocal lines; now
including one or two attempts at early Ian
Gillan-style reaches that – alongside some
occasional shards of organ swirl – give the
group more Purple appeal than usual.
All this should attract hardliners, and
novices alike. They give out with another of
their heavy-style ‘Powerslam’ instros (number
VI here if you’re counting) and utilise their
obvious love for undiluted, and heroic pop
power, plus one or two chunkily effective,
pub-rock/R&B infusions.
Lenny Helsing
ELECTRIC RETRO SPECTRUM
Sub-Urban
★★★★★
STOLEN BODY CD/LP
Described as the
“sound between two
giant fuzz pedals and a
rain of reverb”, Electric
Retro Spectrum come
blasting out of Paris
with the full force of a raging (un)natural
disaster. This type of apocalyptic garage-rock
might have been done before, but it’s rarely
been done better. Full of blitzed-out, rasping
female vocals, lumbering rhythms and a
torrential downpour of guitar, imagine ‘Death
Valley ’69’-era Sonic Youth combined with the
grungiest ’70s stoner-rock.
‘Frontline’ starts as dead-eyed psych-pop
with a riff like the worse drug comedown
ever – it lurches groovily then accelerates off
into the night. ‘To Make You Mine’ bristles with
intent and bursts with feral explosions of noise,
the guitar tone like Satan belching. They catch
their breath a little on the Daydream Nation-
esque ‘New World Order’ before another hit of
super-charged riffage.
This is how thrilling rock can still be when
it’s done right.
Joe Banks
THE EMBROOKS
We Who Are
★★★★★
STATE
For the benefit of the
few, ’90s group The
Embrooks split over a
decade ago but are
back in business. A trio
heavily infected with
authentic-sounding ’60s garage afflictions,
their final first-time around recordings took on
heavier freakbeat and psychedelic traits.
Self-administering for the better good, with
ever more combustible, slashing mod-rock
variables being added to their already potent
armoury, it’s no wonder these latest results are
nothing short of spectacular. Having their own
studio helps.
‘Going But Not Gone’, ‘Don’t Look At
Me’ and their ilk imagine a meeting of minds
between vintage groups the calibre of The
Attack and The Barrier; captivating, mind-
blowing sound projections that come through
loud and clear, twisting and crashing, peaking
with lyrical pertinence.
Almost everything is shot through with
electrifying performance and command
of their subject. That they manoeuvre into
something like ‘Riot On Kingsland Road’ (with
flute and pot-jazz inferences) whilst keeping
credibility and zest intact is testament to Al,
Lois and Mole’s collective brilliance.
Lenny Helsing
ETHAN JOHNS WITH THE
BLACK EYED DOGS
Anamnesis
★★★★
THREE CROWS CD/LP
Ethan Johns looks and
sounds like a mountain
man. His music is
steeped in the same
American historical and
cultural signifiers that
made the late ’60s to mid-70s work of Dylan,
The Band and the Dead so narratively rich.
That Johns lives and records in the wilds of
England’s sleepy rural Wiltshire may come as
a surprise, but then when you consider how
this London born industry figure’s father is
legendary producer Glyn Johns, how Ethan
spent half his life in California and produced
iconic albums by Ryan Adams, Ray
LaMontagne and The Jayhawks, the
American nature of his own music then
becomes understandable.
For his second album with The Black Eyed
Dogs, Johns goes all out in to the stratosphere
with a tightly woven double-album centred
around a spiritual journey taking in John
Ruskin and Aureloius Augustine along the
way for a trip through space and time via the
folk roots of New World music. It’s a natural
meeting point between Dylan, Townes van
Zandt, and George Harrison. The songs are
incredible, the melodies adorable. A true gem.
Jon ‘Mojo’ Mills
FELBM
Tape 1/Tape 2
★★★★
SOUNDWAY LP
Felbm is the library
music-inspired
home-recording project
of Dutch electronic
musician Eelco Topper.
Made with a Tascam
4-track, this debut album shows that
self-imposed restrictions can yield music that
stays true to its initial impulse, unburdened by
unnecessary complexity. Yet despite some
audible, possibly deliberate, wow and flutter,
Topper, who studied jazz piano at Utrecht
Conservatory, has produced 15 compact
instrumental sketches that impressively rise
above their lo-fi origins.
The over-riding vibe is signalled from the
off with the lovely ‘Birkelunden’, its mellow
Rhodes and sighing glide guitar like the theme
to some Euro arthouse movie from the ‘70s.
‘Funicular’ has a small hours bass groove,
while the piano arpeggios and xylophone
of ‘Tandem’ suggest a Michael Nyman/Eno
team-up. ‘Anderstein’ has the playful urgency
of Chicagoan post-rock, another useful
reference. More than just tasteful Ceefax
music, Tape 1/Tape 2 offers 40 minutes of
gentle transcendence to those who want it.
Joe Banks
LISTEN TO
ON SOHO RADIO
83
83

Too cool for school.
International
Teachers Of Pop
FENOMENI ATMOSFERICI
Cosmo
★★★
PSYCH OUT LP
This Italian collective
has been around since
2010 influenced by the
likes of Italian mid-late
’60s groups such as
The Golden Shadows,
Black Angels, Gli Uh!, Phantom's, New Trolls
and The Pooh. Gradually they have developed
their own sound in much the same way that
Italian bands progressed from pop to
progressive in the late ’60s into early ’70s.
On this, their third album, the early
Italian psychedelic sound can be detected
in the multi-layered harmonies, acoustic
instruments percussion and sitar creating a
spacey feel that really comes together well
on the melodic ‘Cosadove’ reminiscent of
label mates and neo-psychedelic legends No
Strange. At the same time, it references the
kind of collective tribal music that came out
of Germany in the ’70s. It’s a very trippy affair,
sung entirely in Italian and liberally enhanced
with electronic effects, enhanced by a
beautiful thick card sleeve and insert.
Richard Allen
PETER HOLSAPPLE
Game Day
★★★★
OMNIVORE CD
Well, I’ve Got My Own
Album to Do is a title
that was already taken.
Quite a thing here. Mr
Holsapple,
on-and-off-and-
hopefully-on-again-at-some-point twin tower
from The dB’s, has crafted a new batch of solo
tunes which are every bit as stunning as any of
his work with his old band. Most of the songs
would have been right at home on the Like
This LP in fact, if he’d written them three
decades sooner.
Peter’s playing almost all the instruments
here – and, unlike with most efforts of that
nature, you don’t notice it. (Well, okay, there
is one snare-drum hit at the beginning of ‘Tuff
Day’ that I would probably have nudged a tad
84
84
to the left – but the boy does a fine job here,
make no mistake.) If you’ve forgotten what
powerpop actually is, move toward the light,
okay? This is a great album and you need to
own one.
Mike Fornatale
INTERNATIONAL TEACHERS
OF POP
International Teachers Of Pop
★★★★
DESOLATE SPOOLS CD/LP
If this is pop school
then these are the cool
supply teachers more
concerned with firing
your enthusiasms than
getting you through the
exams. The breathy vocals of Soundcarriers
singer Leonore Wheatley are placed in
club-friendly context by Moonlandingz,
Eccentronic Research Council and All-Seeing
I boys Adrian Flanagan and Dean Honer, but
these shiny, beat-driven tunes are also ideal
for armchair voyaging.
From the sparkling Moroder robo-disco
of 'After Dark' to the arch electro-glam swoon
of 'The Ballad Of Remedy Nillson' and the
squelch-boogie of 'Age Of The Train', an
ironic hymn to a future that never arrived due
to leaves on the line, the blend of propulsive
electronica and unsettling psychedelia recalls
John Foxx one moment and Kylie meeting
Kraftwerk the next, while Wheatley's phrasing
hints at Debbie Harry. Created almost entirely
on vintage analogue synths and drum
machines, these are themes for an imaginary
disco. Listen and learn.
Ben Graham
THE LIMIÑANAS
I’ve Got Trouble In Mind Vol 2
★★★★
BECAUSE MUSIC CD/LP
Following 2014’s
collection I’ve Got
Trouble In Mind, as well
as last year’s
acclaimed Shadow
People album, Marie
and Lionel Limiñana are back with a new
selection of rarities.
On this second volume, they cover
The Kinks and Lords Of The New Church,
then pay homage to the timelessness of
their native coolness (‘La Cavalerie’) and
even to immortal spaghetti western magic
(‘Maria’s Theme’). Trusted accomplice Anton
Newcombe – who sings on ‘Two Sisters’
– also gets to remix 2018 gem ‘The Gift’
(featuring Peter Hook’s unmistakable bass).
Further on, the spacey sci-fi of ’The Inventor’
and the live recording of ‘The Train Creep
A-Loopin’ make for some charming tripping.
The result is so effortless and gripping it does
entice both long-time fans and newcomers
– something that can rarely be said for
compilations of this kind. Truth is, The
Limiñanas universe is so enchanting you’ll
find yourself hypnotised even by Christmas
songs (‘Curse Of Santa Claus’, ‘Silent Night’).
C’est formidable!
Camilla Aisa
STEVE MASON
About The Light
★★★
DOMINO CD/LP
Former Beta Band
main man Steve
Mason’s latest solo
album sees him
shaking off the lo-fi/
experimental trappings
of his old band in favour of poppier horizons.
Built around its distinctive live band sound, all
jangling guitars, female backing vocals and
brass About The Light is distinctly different
from anything Mason’s done so far. Although
it’s more traditional-sounding than any of his
previous work, it’s just as musically eclectic in
its way – pitching somewhere between
Postcard indie, Dexys and even glam-rock.
The band acquit themselves well with a bit of
gloom too, providing lush Sea Change -era
Beck vibes on the bereft ‘Don’t Know Where’.
Despite solid songwriting and the bright
sonic polish provided by Stephen Street, a
little of Mason’s uniquely skewed voice is lost
in translation, but sarky opener ‘America Is
Your Boyfriend’ and the moody ‘Fox On A Hill’
are up there with the best of his work.
Martin Ruddock
MERCURY REV
Bobbie Gentry’s The Delta
Sweete Revisited
★★★★
BELLA UNION CD/LP
Despite decades of
total silence, Bobbie
Gentry continues to
inspire. Now Mercury
Rev and a stellar
line-up of guest
vocalists have created a full-length
re-imagining of Bobbie’s 1968 swamp-
fantasia masterpiece The Delta Sweete.
It’s an inspired move – giving Bobbie’s
songs a dense, spookily atmospheric
makeover. ‘Okolona River Bottom Band’
becomes an eerie jazz funeral dirge in Norah
Jones’s hands while Carice Van Houten’s
‘Parchman Farm’ is all taut menace. Laetitia
Sadler gives a sultry reading of ‘Mornin’ Glory’,
while Vashti Bunyan contributes a featherlight
‘Penduli Pendulum’. Cheesy chestnut
‘Louisiana Man’ has been left out here, but
a star has to be docked for the lacklustre
"bonus" version of ‘Ode To Billie Joe’, which
is trampled to death by Lucinda Williams’
overwrought bluesy vocal. It’s a shame the
album doesn’t finish naturally with Beth
Orton’s emotional take on ‘Courtyard’, but
where there’s Bobbie Gentry there’s always
unfinished business.
Martin Ruddock
MOTHER UPDUFF
Tales Of Tangle
★★★★
NASONI 2-LP
When Vancouver-
based psych trio Mother
Upduff were
approached by Nasoni
Records to produce a
compilation, the band’s
first reaction was “to drag all the files in the
Mother Upduff masters folder and send away”.
But they didn’t. Instead, what we have in Tales
Of Tangle is a double LP of remixed,
remastered singles, EP tracks and unreleased
recordings from the good offices of Mat
Wainright (drums), Erik Mulder (bass,
Moog, guitars), and Jeff Collins (vocals,
guitars, Mellotron and percussion).
Here then, is the guitar-built strength of
‘Grave Robbers’, the banjo/slide drenched,
downhome ‘Phillistine Blues’, the vocal power
of ‘Tempest’, the jazzy shuffle of ‘Pest’ and the
excellent backwards guitar of ‘Mud’. Limited
to 300 copies on 180-gram orange and blue
vinyl, there’s much to enjoy here – including
‘The Priestess’, the last track the band
recorded before their brief sabbatical.
Greg Morse
GEMMA RAY
Psychogeology
★★★★
BRONZERAT CD/LP
When on the road,
Gemma Ray tends to
look around. And while
most songwriters like to
focus on exactly that:
the road, Ray lets her
eyes wander. Her latest record,
Psychogeology, is a collection of introspective
postcards inspired by these very sights – the
artist’s preoccupations with the idea
of land (and landscape) set to music.
Album opener (and – together with ‘In
Colour’ – standout) ‘Blossom Crawls’ breaks
free from a confined space (the back of a
taxi, and a panic attack) and aims for huge
horizons. Gemma Ray was raised in Essex
and now resides in Berlin, but the sound
of Psychogeology is typical of the most
atmospheric Americana, sensual and dark
at heart. On the Fleetwood-Mac-in-the-
wilderness of ‘Death Tapes’, for example,
guitars take (and give) pleasure in mirroring
the slow pace of desert ghosts. Brooding
harmonies follow; the road’s offerings are
virtually endless, they suggest.
Camilla Aisa
 this is (power) pop!
DAVID BASH dines on the cream of the current crop

Awesome story alert:
ATHANOR (an ancient oven
used to turn base metals into gold)
was a band who recorded several
tunes in the late ’70s but didn’t hit
paydirt until early in this decade,
when Guerssen Records released two albums worth of
material. A few years later the guys, including a former
writer for Crawdaddy and a present English professor,
wrote and recorded tracks for the first time in 40 years!
The resulting album, Hills Of The Universe
(★★★★, KOOL KAT MUSIK CD), is a reverb-soaked pop
Athanor. Studio-bound
treat that will satisfy the palate of Beatles and
Badfinger fans. Standouts include ‘All The Love In The
World’, ‘The Love In Your Eyes’, ‘Destiny’ and ‘Magic In
Me’ among others. They’ve recently played some
shows around their native Chicago – let’s hope they
continue to record as well.
The first album in five years by this
New York-based combo was
definitely worth the wait, as
VALLEY LODGE does what
they do best on Fog Machine
(★★★★, TEE PEE CD), which is ’70s
UK-inspired glam and powerpop. Main man Dave Hill
(who’s also a stand-up comedian) employs just the
right amount of cheekiness in his vocal delivery and
lyrics on almost every track, and there are some
absolute gems here, like the glam stompers ‘Stars
Won’t Fall’ and ‘It’s Alright’, the Spectorian ‘Keeping
This World Alive’, ‘Stand’, which is dance-pop in a good
way, and ‘I Don’t Mind’, which throws a bit of a curve
with its jangly backing. So, if this sounds like your kind
of thing, put on your silk shirts, bell bottoms and
platform shoes, and get ready to dance the rock ’n’ roll.
BILL LLOYD has long been a pillar of the Nashville
music scene and has released lots of quality albums,
but Working The Long Game (★★★★, SPYDERPOP
CD/LP) is arguably his best since the 1987 classic Feeling
The Elephant. Tracks like ‘Satellite’, ‘Till The Day I
Break Down’, ‘What Time Won’t Heal’ and ‘Yesterday’
have that patented Lloyd jangle, and who’da thought
a song with the title ‘Merch Table’ could be so damn
catchy? Another cool thing about Working The Long
Game is that most of the songs are co-written by
pop luminaries such as Freedy Johnston, Graham
Gouldman (which is probably why ‘What Time Won’t
Heal’ possesses such a gorgeous minor key milieu),
Tom Petersson and Pat Buchanan, among others.
You might not think that Croydon,
UK would be a hotbed of
powerpop, but as long as NICK
FRATER lives there, the town has
definitely left a stamp in the genre.
On his third album, Goodbye
Kayfabe (★★★★, KOOL KAT CD), Frater brings what he
does best, which is sprightly powerpop with excellent
melodies and chord changes. Hard to resist outings like
‘Built To Last’, ‘Paperchase’ and ‘More Than This’
inform the album, and the “bonus track”, ‘The
Sombrero Fallout Suite’ is as elegant as they come.
Goodbye Kayfabe would definitely have received five
stars if it had more harmony/background vocals on it,
but it’s certainly fine as is. Kudos to Kool Kat for
releasing this, and Frater’s two previous records.

ROWAN: MORRISON underpins this album. It’s an epic meditation Begun’, and the yearning, Broadcast-ish ‘The
In The Sunshine We on ideas that the pagan folk genre often hints Meadow’s Call’.
Rode The Horses at, but has rarely articulated as fulsomely as Joe Banks
★★★★ this, a rising up of nature against the modern
MILLER SOUNDS CD age of property development and fracking.
Rowan: Morrison is the As you’d expect, a key influence SEID
combined talents of throughout is the folk revival sounds of the Weltschmerz, Baby!
Stephen Stannard (The early ’70s, with plentiful dulcimer, flute and ★★★★
Rowan Amber Mill) and acoustic guitar. Orchestral interludes in the SULATRON CD/LP
Angeline Morrison (We English pastoral tradition also add colour, Hailing from Trondheim
Are Muffy). It’s also the and Morrison plays the maiden-child role in Norway, and now in
name of the missing girl from The Wicker Man, perfectly. Highlights include the beautiful their 25th year of
and while this isn’t explicitly referred to, that melancholy of ‘On Ridgeway Fields’, the existence, Seid could
film’s theme of the revenge of “The old ways” spooky, synth-augmented ‘An Ending Just be positioned as the
forefathers of that city’s
Gemm Ray and her burgeoning jazz/rock/fusion scene, but their
wanderin' eyes sound is defiantly eclectic. There’s a feverish,
occult vibe to this album – perhaps the best
comparison is with Finnish mavericks Circle,
who trade in a similar mix of heavy riffs,
psychedelic electronics and strange
atmospheres.
‘Haukøye’ is a propulsive opener with a
wailing, melodic guitar line, but the chanted,
mechanistic vocals give it the feel of a
Teutonic war song, an impression reinforced
by the beefy downer rock of ‘Satan I Blodet’,
its massed voices like an army on the march.
But it’s one of those albums that wrong foots
expectations – the fast, bass-driven title
track is followed by the excellent psych/jazz
exploration of ‘Coyoteman’, while ‘Moloch vs
Gud’ channels Anatolian raga-rock.
Both primordial and progressive, this is
an involving listen.
Joe Banks
THE SKIFFLE PLAYERS
Skiff
★★★★
SPIRITUAL PAJAMAS CD
Following on from
2016’s Skifflin’ comes
Skiff. What Cass
McCombs, Neal Casal
(Chris Robinson
Brotherhood, Ryan
Adams), Dan Horne (Jonathan Wilson,
Grateful Shred) and The Beachwood
Sparks’ Farmer Dave Scher and Aaron
Sperske lack in album titles they make up
for with the diversity, musical
accomplishment and goodtime vibes of
their heartfelt music.
Their “skiffle” refers to the primarily
acoustic form of American “street music”
that appeared in ‘20s Memphis, but bar
the traditional rootsiness of ‘Wham!’ and
‘Sweet Georgia Brown’ this album has
a “throw it all in the air and see where it
lands” mentality.
These talented friends air brilliance,
sardonic wit and bittersweet story telling
rather than third rate knock-offs of ‘Rock
County Line’. Imagine, Chas & Dave
goofed-out on Californian grass rather
than Watney’s Brown Ale. Yes really. Each
member writes and sings, and the album
veers from the spooky Mexican tinged
‘Cara’ to the West Coast goes Dylan vibes
of ‘Los Angeles Alleyway’ and the ‘Mind
Gardens’-like acid-folk of ‘Santa Fe’.
Jon ‘Mojo’ Mills

85

Returning Legends
MICHAEL CHAPMAN
True North
★★★★
PARADISE OF BACHELORS CD
Some people insist
they have "no
regrets". It’s an
unconvincing and
predictable pose,
which makes it all
the more refreshing that Chapman has
fashioned an album confronting regret
(and other emotions people don’t like to
admit to) head-on and with admirable,
Dory Previn-esque honesty.
True North’s songs, especially ‘It’s
Too Late’ and ‘Full Bottle, Empty Heart’,
are unflinching post-mortems of loves
and lives gone wrong. Chapman’s
grazed, post-Bacchanalian singing voice
goes exceptionally well with that of
guest star Bridget St John, while Sarah
Smout’s mournful cello adds pathos.
These searing folksongs ask interesting
questions (“Measured words or
thoughtless silence / Which can hurt the
most?”) and venture deep into pain and
loss without ever troubling their close
cousin, mawkishness. Chapman has
followed up 2017’s well-received 50 with
nine strong songs and two atmospheric
instrumentals. This is good going at any
age, never mind 78.
Charles Donovan
THE CHOCOLATE
WATCHBAND
This Is My Voice
★★★
DIRTY WATER CD/LP
The Chocolate
Watchband is back.
Yes, that was the big
news a few years
ago, when original
members Gary
Andrijasevich, David Aguilar and Tim
Abbott got together with former fans Alec
Palao and Derek See for some live shows
and studio time. Now – time for even
bigger news – The Chocolate Watchband
are back with a new record, This Is My
Voice, an album that’s filled with urgency.
‘Secret Rendezvous’ is a vigorous
album opener, as well as the record’s
most thrilling offering. ‘Judgement Day’
– driven by David Aguilar’s propulsive
voice and pensive harmonica – is
another standout, an engaging political
rumination. The rest is less exciting,
although it always feels compelling to
hear some of your ’60s psych heroes
reflect on current troubles (on ‘Till The
Daylight Comes’ they even mix in one of
Trump’s rants). “We’re not going away”,
Aguilar sings as the title track fades. And
that will always be great news.
Camilla Aisa
86
86
JONATHAN RICHMAN
SA
★★★★
BLUE ARROW CD
When punk
exploded and
Jonathan started
singing all those
songs about little
insects and ice
cream men, few people took him
seriously, but they hadn’t reckoned for
an honesty and innocence almost
shocking in its transparency.
40 years – and two dozen albums
– later, Jonathan’s blend of the playful
with the poignant is likely to be similarly
disorienting for many. Take, for instance,
‘Yes Take Me Home’, where he wilfully
adopts the persona of a stray canine. “I’ll
be a good dog I promise... I’m the one
for you”, he pleads. He sounds close to
tears. I believe him.
He has also developed a great
fondness over the past few albums for
oriental instrumentation, and much of
the music on SA (the root note of Indian
ragas) betrays that healing influence,
most sublimely on ‘And Do No Other
Thing’. Original Modern Lovers fans are
treated to the return of Jerry Harrison
whose Mellotron gilds ‘A Penchant For
The Stagnant’ – like a cushioned ‘Sister
Ray’ – and there’s even a gorgeously
decelerated take on an old ML classic
‘Old World’.
Johnnie Johnstone
Don Stevenson: Down
in the tube station
DON STEVENSON
Buskin’ In The Subway
★★★★
SELF-RELEASED CD
Let’s put this out
there quickly –
there have been
many a fine
collection of tunes
flung out,
post-Moby Grape, by that band’s
members: boozy white blues from
Jerry Miller, stunningly shimmering
folk-rock from Peter Lewis, solid rock
’n’ roll and country-rock from Bob
Mosley, and of course Skip Spence’s
beyond-category Oar.
This is not a competition, quality-
wise – nor should it be, because
there’d be a five-way tie for first
place – but this needs saying, and
right now. Of all the solo works by the
Exgraperiates, this is the one which
will remind you most thoroughly of that
band. In both its original incarnation
and the subsequent ones.
The songs are all right there in The
Grape Zone, and the presence of the
aforementioned Mr Miller on a few
tracks certainly doesn’t hurt either.
Don’s voice is in wonderful shape.
In several places it’s like no time has
passed at all.
Mike Fornatale
SONIC JESUS
Memories
★★★★
SONIC JESUS LP
Memories is the third
album from Italy's Sonic
Jesus, but it's actually a
prequel to their 2015
debut Neither Virtue
Nor Anger. These are
band leader Tiziano Veronese's original demos
and audio sketches for that record, ranging
from the brooding storm clouds of 'Spectrum
Visionary' to the Gun Club rattle of 'Dance Of
The Sun', the agonised folk lament of 'I'm
Here' and the outsider soul of 'The Klas', a
smoggy bacchanal featuring Veronese's
parents and sister on trumpets. The garage
stomp of 'Monks' sounds like, well, The
Monks (via Clinic).
Not a band album as such, Memories is a
diverse, unguarded glimpse into the creative
process of an intense musical artist, as likely
to appeal to fans of Swans or Current 93 as
devotees of The Black Angels or A Place To
Bury Strangers. Such intimate vulnerability
in today's rock music is rare, but in this case,
most welcome.
Ben Graham
TIM PRESLEY’S WHITE FENCE
I Have To Feed Larry’s Hawk
★★★★
DRAG CITY CD/LP
Tim Presley’s latest is a
sparse and
introspective song
suite. The ghost of Syd
Barrett is omnipresent
especially over the
atmospheric opening title track. ‘The Madcap
Laughs’ with electronic squiggles, giving
woozy psychedelia of yore a modern twist.
Recorded in San Francisco but conceived
in the reflective rural landscapes of England’s
Lake District where, in a dream, Johnny
Thunders told Tim to be honest and simple
with this album. Despite its overall meandering
and sometimes disorientatingly druggy
manner, a deceptively tuneful and mellow
vibe prevails. The starkly pretty ‘I Can Dream
You’ is a tender counter point to the staccato
strangeness of ‘Until You Walk’ or the garage
clunk of ‘Neighbourhood Light’. The warped
Todd Rundgren-style piano lines of ‘Phone’
and the celestial ‘Lorelei’ reveal further subtle
melodic twists. A disturbing ambient two-part
drone comprising R2D2 styled bleeps
and hypnotic electronica ends a typically
idiosyncratic and self-assured album.
Paul Ritchie
TOY
Happy In The Hollow
★★
TOUGH LOVE CD/LP
Need to be convinced
about the value of a
record producer? Strap
on your headphones
and dive into this. Toy’s
dark pop has
shimmered quietly for three albums, aching
gently, ebbing and flowing. For their fourth,
the five-piece group have taken control of the
knob-twiddling duties, recording and mixing
themselves.
Their signature sound is still in place:
krautrock drums, wiggly synths, hazy guitars,
all overlaid by chive-thin vocals. They’ve
created some pretty moments; the beautiful,
undulating harmonies on ‘Mechanism’, ‘Last
Warmth of the Day’ – basically ‘Girl You’ll
Be A Woman Soon’ on Mogadon, and the
pastoral ‘Charlie’s House’. Across the album,
there are some glimpses of glittery, alchemic
experimentation, but these joyous flashes are
hidden by the overgrown, brambly nature of
the song structures, which are desperately in
need of a sharp pair of secateurs.
Kate Hodges
THE TREASURES OF MEXICO
Everything Sparks Joy
★★★★
SHELFLIFE CD
Don’t be misled by the
name, the closest The
Treasures Of Mexico
have been to Acapulco
is stumbling out of the
Chatham branch of
Taco Bell. Mark Matthews and Bob Collins,
founder members of redundant Medway
janglists The Dentists, and Russ Baxter,
current sticksman for Secret Affair, unearth
gems closer to home as they fill their chest
with songs of the timeless British pop variety,
built on memorable melodies and playing
more powerful than the Vespa Sprint 183
adorning the sleeve.
‘She’ll Never Get Over Me’ has the
fuzzy oomph of early Teenage Fanclub and
scores an extra point for using the phrase
“hurly burly”; ‘Here’s A List of Everyone I
Know’ contains traces of late Orange Juice;
‘Super Cute’ charms and chimes in equal
measure; and the marvellous ‘Winner Stays
On’ could be the product of Lloyd Cole’s
less-pretentious half-brother.
Start digging.
Mark Raison
WILLIAM TYLER
Goes West
★★★★★
MERGE CD/LP
Listeners to Tyler's
occasional It's All
True podcast series will
be familiar with his
insightful take on
music's relationship
with human emotions. Equally articulate
whether discussing the importance of
silence, white noise or obscure indigenous
folk music, it's this deep thinking that
underpins his guitar playing.
Goes West is the first record he's made
since relocating from his home town of
Nashville to the Californian coast. A 10-track
instrumental album of ambient Americana,
it finds Tyler in a hopeful, even optimistic
mood. Despite being an in-demand electric
guitarist, he's restricted his own playing here
to acoustic but is ably backed by a hand-
picked band of sympathetic players. With
an ego-less virtuosity and precise technique
similar to that of Brit-picker Martin Simpson,
Tyler makes melodic journeys that have roots
in British and Appalachian folk, bluegrass
and southern country, but mood and magic
take precedence over any genre-specific
stylings. Majestic.
Duncan Fletcher
UNLOVED
Heartbreak
★★★★★
HEAVENLY CD/LP
David Holmes,
composer
extraordinaire, is the
name that attracts
attention but here it’s
clear that he’s teamed
with two, similarly individual, whip-smart
talents. Unloved, born out of the Hollywood
club night of your dreams, incorporate all the
style, chic and noir ambiences that
soundtracking Killing Eve deserves.
‘Heartbreak’ reflects its tasteful
references – ’60s French pop and
psychedelia, Nino Rota, ‘Shadow’ Morton,
Kraftwerk, Jack Nitzsche – yet, whilst
it’s strong on intertextuality, it’s so much
more than the sum of its parts. Vincent’s
vocals have the smoky, sensual bite of
few modern voices. Amy Winehouse is
my nearest reference, Ciancia moulds
sounds and samples in exquisite detail
and Holmes drives the ship, together they
confect a shimmering beat-pop, an analogue
masterwork with sweetness, roughness,
noirness and light.
I felt like I might have heard these songs
before, then like I’d always known them, and
then like I wanted much more.
Richard Knight
VARIOUS ARTISTS
International Pop
Overthrow Volume 21
★★★
OMNIVORE 3-CD
International Pop
Overthrow is a
long-established
kitemark for unbridled
pure pop goodness.
This latest volume is
packed with a host of under the radar talent,
deserving of a wider audience.
Featuring 69 acts from 13 different
countries, these three CDs are stuffed with
perfectly formed songs that range from
incendiary garage and chunky powerpop to
richly melodic, catchy as hell, chiming pop
classicism. The hidden charms of The Parson
Red Heads, The Devonns, The Laissez Fairs
and Green Seagull will be familiar to regular
readers and there’s loads more worthy
of discovery. Justin Levinson’s heavenly
‘Together Forever’, is an early front runner for
my man of the match. Sex Clark Five, The
Genuine Fakes and The Legal Matters are the
kind of band names you’d be proud to see
emblazoned across a T-shirt.
Discerning pop fans will agree, IPO is a
gift that keeps on giving.
Paul Ritchie
CONNY PLANK: THE
POTENTIAL OF NOISE
★★★★
CLEOPATRA/WIENERWORLD
As DVD titles go The
Potential Of Noise is
tailor made for Conny
Plank and right at the
start of the film he is
heard effectively
coining the phrase
while walking around
Tokyo with his
Walkman while there on tour with The
Eurythmics in 1987. Within the year he would
succumb to cancer at the age of 47.
With Conny’s son, co-director Stephan,
acting as our guide and providing the film’s
narrative impetus The Potential Of Noise
navigates the story of Conny’s life and career
and with it his track record and reputation
as a maverick producer of the "Anything is
possible" school as Stephan learns more
about the father he lost at the age of 13
from the musicians he worked with. It’s a
journey that takes Stephan across Germany
including a visit to the former site of Conny’s
Studio – a custom built facility which doubled
as Stephan’s childhood home housed in a
converted farmhouse outside Cologne – the
UK and the US.
Remembered among other things as the
producer who put the embryonic Kraftwerk
in a recording studio, Plank went on to
produce The Scorpions, Neu!, Harmonia
and Cluster before going international with
DAF, Devo, Whodini, Killing Joke, Ultravox,
The Eurythmics, Les Rita Mitsouko and
others. Combining interviews with home
movies and footage of Conny at work in
the studio, it’s primarily the part of the film
covering the Krautrock era that will be of
interest to Shindig! readers. Nevertheless
this is a deserving tribute to West Germany’s
visionary rule-breaking producer of the ’70s
and ’80s.
Grahame
Xxxxxx
Bent
Xxxxxx
A Glastonbury Fayre
reveller. Wonder
where he is now?
GLASTONBURY FAYRE
★★★★
MVD VISUAL
Directed by Nic Roeg
in the wake of
Performance and
Walkabout, the long
unseen Glastonbury
Fayre offers a vibrant
document of the
various goings on
during the second
staging of The Glastonbury Festival during the
midsummer weekend of 1971. Featuring
appearances from Terry Reid and Linda Lewis,
Fairport Convention, Family, Melanie, Arthur
Brown & Kingdom Come, Quintessence,
Daevid Allen & Gong and Traffic on what was
the first appearance of the now ubiquitous
Pyramid stage, the film captures the heady
blend of idealism, the many and varied
manifestations of the then rampant
counterculture and the mildly chaotic nature of
what was by today’s standards a relatively
intimate gathering.
Which is to say besides footage of
the acts on stage much of the film is given
over to the motley legions of stoned freaks,
blissed-out hippies, assorted sun worshippers
and solstice chasers seen tripping-out and
cavorting in the fields in various states of
altered consciousness. Given a very limited
cinema release in the spring of ’72, this rarely
seen film subsequently sunk without trace.
Now fully restored and accompanied by an
entertaining 35-minute making of featurette
(during which it is revealed that David
Bowie’s early morning solo performance
went unfilmed as there were simply no
cameramen around at the time) and an audio
commentary from Nic Roeg. Sadly, with Nic’s
passing in late November, the newly restored
Glastonbury Fayre arrives as an unintended
tribute to a unique film-making talent that in
many ways can also be seen as a fascinating
companion piece to Performance.
Grahame Bent
87

See Shanties
ELFIN BOW & GARY LLOYD
Who Knows Where The
Time Goes / The Wisdom
★★★★
NICK NICELY
All Along The Watchtower
/ The Doors Of Perception
★★★★★
THE CHEMISTRY SET
Firefly / Sail Away
★★★★
ALL FRUITS DE MER
These three single releases mark the
end of Fruits de Mer Records’ 10th
anniversary year. There is something
wonderful about this label, which
keeps the multi-coloured flame of
psychedelia alive via new releases
and covers of classic and obscure
’60s tracks, reinterpreted by modern-
day artists that love and respect the
originals.
First up is Elfin Bow, aka
Elizabeth Kearney, with 'Who Knows
Where The Time Goes’. Tackling
any Sandy Denny tune is a brave
move, but Kearney pulls it off with
aplomb. Backed by The Scottish
Session Orchestra, this is a delicate,
88
88
nick nicely. A
revelation
heartfelt rendition with a beautiful
and subtle use of strings. Shiveringly
moving. The B-side is a re-imagining
of Kearney’s own The Wisdom’.
Kearney’s voice is embracing and
affecting throughout.
Next we have nick nicely with
perhaps an even more ambitious
project, a reading of Dylan’s 'All
Along The Watchtower’. nicely is
a musician’s musician, cited as
an influence by Bevis Frond and
Amorphous Androgynous among
others. Craft over commercialism is
what you get and so much the better –
'Watchtower’ is a revelation. Walls of
sound, backward reverbs, unexpected
drop-outs, cutting guitar and
unconventional sonic structures make
for a compelling listen, which more
than holds its own. B-side 'The Doors
Of Perception’ is no less astonishing.
A swirling mix of ’80s dance/house
vibes and fuzzy psych. Nothing here
feels derivative – indeed it sounds like
the origin of all these things.
Last to hit the deck we have The
Chemistry Set, children of the late
’80s neo-psychedelic movement and
FdM veterans. 'Firefly’ is swaggering
rock inked upon rainbow paper
lanterns and set alight to drift up to
the stars. The band display the same
impeccable taste and knack for
melding genres as the best of Robert
Plant’s solo work. Indeed 'Sail Away’,
with its Eastern percussion and
sitar-like guitar, could comfortably fit
on any of the latter-mentioned artist’s
albums. It’s astonishing that this band
are not more widely known.
Chris Wheatley
BARMUDAS
Rock The Barmudas / Zaira
★★★
AREA PIRATA
With the likes of Faz
Waltz and Guida
storming out of Europe
there’s a great deal
more interest in the
much-maligned era of
glam-rock these days. Here we have
Florence’s own Barmudas with their first
single referencing the likes of Slade, T Rex
and The Sweet and doing a mighty fine job
recreating the sound of their glittering
predecessors. Hailing from the dark side of
the city Barmudas eschew the tourist trap
ethos that surrounds their base and
incorporate the sleazier feel of the area from
which they derive their name.
Side One blitzes and barnstorms through
a growling, pounding Chuck Berry riff fest
whilst the flip holds more of a groovy boogie
chug, crawling along splendidly amongst the
accompanying whoops and hiccups. This
is unapologetic good time music and none
the worse for it. One minor quibble is that the
sound is mastered slightly on the low side for
the style and would benefit from more kick
and crunch in the mix.
Henry Hutton
JOE BOURDET
Seamist / El Capitan
★★★★
SELF-RELEASED
The debut solo release
from LA singer-
songwriter Joe Bourdet
has got to qualify as
one of the most chilled
things not actually
served over ice.
Released as two digital singles and
one physical double A-side, ‘Seamist’ and
‘El Capitan’ are both gems. With Bourdet’s
honeyed croon (think somewhere between
James Taylor and David Gates) sailing in on
a stream of glistening acoustics and keening
pedal steel, they’re a pair of lovingly-crafted
mid-tempo soft-rock tunes that could come
straight out of Lauren Canyon circa 1971. It’s
hard to pick a favourite when you get music
as beautifully realised as this, but the wistful
‘Seamist’ might just edge it over the mellow
Harvest chug of ‘El Capitan’.
It’s a hoary old cliché to describe music as
having a “laid-back Californian vibe” but this is
the real deal. So if the patched jeans fit…
Martin Ruddock
THE CHESTERFIELD KINGS
I Think I’m Down / I Can
Only Give You Everything
★★★
MEAN DISPOSITION
From 1978 and ’79
these two early demos
from the MK1
Chesterfield Kings
show just how early this
legendary band were
mining garage band music.
The two pictures depict them in boot
cut denim and stack heels. Rick Cona even
has curly hair and a beard. A year or two later
they’d be dressing identically to The Chocolate
Watchband and The Blues Magoos. Musically
though, if not a bit rudimentary, they have
the sound pretty much nailed at this stage.
To consider that at the time of recording The
Harbinger Complex’s ‘I Think I’m Down’ was
only 12 years old puts it all in perspective. A
tighter version of Them’s ‘I Can Only Give
You Everything’ featured on ’82 debut Here
Are The Chesterfield Kings, as did another
Harbinger Complex song, ‘Time To Kill’.
These two rough ’n’ ready recordings,
however, show where it all started.
Jon ‘Mojo’ Mills
FREIDRICH SUNLIGHT
Kommen und Gehen /
Nachtbus nach Wien
★★★
TAPETE
Fronted by San
Franciscan singer Kenji,
but hailing from
Augsburg, Germany,
Freidrich Sunlight have
been plowing a neat
furrow of German language sunshine-pop
over the last few years that’s seen them win
over fans wherever they go.
This single, the first taster for their
forthcoming album due in the spring,
continues their mix of catchy melodies and
Californian sunshine vibes with aplomb,
with A-side ‘Kommen und Gehan’ sounding
like a prime cut of early ’70s LA studio pop
transported to the Bavarian countryside, and
whilst many might not understand the lyrics
the sense of joy contained herein is infectious.
B-side ‘Nachtbus nach Wien’ mixes baroque
moves with a Beach Boys-esque melody
which is sure to warm our collective souls
during these long winter months.
A lovely forecast of sunshine for the
spring months to come.
Paul Osborne
THE JACK CADES
Run Paulie Run / And Pretend
★★★★
DANGERHOUSE SKYLAB
The Jack Cades are a
supergroup of sorts,
featuring the talents of
Mike Whittaker (Thee
Vicars, Baron Four) and
his partner in crime
Elsa Whittaker (Missing Souls) alongside
Alexandra Cools (Speedball Jr) and Mole (far
too many bands to list here).
Seasoned as they may be, this male/
female foursome seem to have captured a
magic formula, bringing oodles of freshness
and pop suss to their authentic garage sound.
Not many bands of this ilk look and sound
this good, really. ‘Run Paulie Run’ is a typically
high-octane supercharged blast of moody
garage and pop-psych. Mike and Elsa’s
echo-laden vocal entwining to conjure up an
imagined Nico meets Rudy Martínez marital
duet. A searing eight miles high guitar solo
amps up the thrills. The flip ‘And Pretend’ is
suitably sulky shot of trashy R&B angst. Retro
or not, we need bands like this – long may
they run!
Paul Ritchie
THE KRYNG
So Many Girls EP
★★★★
ACTION WEEKEND/BICKERTON
Opener ‘So Many Girls’
is such a great clanging
beat-era track with a
particularly intrinsic,
moody and restrained
feel and features guitars
which have a beautiful cut-glass, diamond-
sharp clarity that can so often be missing on
many modern, though ’60s-infatuated discs.
‘Gwendoline’ is rougher, demonstrating more
of the Dutch three-piece’s more garage-punk
edge. ‘Anna-Lou’ sees them hit more of a
basic mod-beat swing with echoes of 1965
Who but pricks the ears with an odd flourish of
xylophone they’ve thought to add in for
immediate effect, while on closing opus
‘Linda’ they channel some nifty home-made
Nederbeat sounding garage – and some
almost freakbeat-style moves at times – even
turning on and psyching out on some cool
backwards guitar a la Tomorrow.
As with all their releases thus far, The
Kryng come off as easily one of the best
groups on today’s scene.
Lenny Helsing
PERE UBU
Final Solution / Cloud 149
★★★★
FIRE
“The girls won’t touch
me ‘cause I’ve got a
misdirection / Living at
night ain’t helping my
complexion….” So
whines David Thomas
on Ubu’s hymn to urban alienation originally
released in 1976 as the second of the four 45s
issued on the band’s Hearthan label, all of which
preceded the arrival of their breakthrough long
player The Modern Dance in ’78.
Reissued in a facsimile of the original
picture sleeve ‘Final Solution’ is the
marginalised, alienated, unreformed and
untamed spirit of The MC5 and The Stooges
transplanted to the industrial wastes of
Cleveland, Ohio. By turns terminally bleak,
self-deprecating and wildly exhilarating, sheer
malevolence has seldom been so completely
captured on one 45. Back to Mr Thomas.
“Buy me a ticket to a sonic reduction / Guitars
gonna sound like a nuclear destruction /
Don’t need a cure, need a final solution.” This
lumbering missive might burn on a slow fuse
but it still packs an almighty punch.
Grahame Bent
SEATMAN & POWELL
Broken Folk EP
★★★
KS AUDIO
Featuring Devon-based folk singer and
Portsmouth’s hauntology/electronica mainstay
Keith Seatman, with a Belbury Box remix of
the title track, this five-song 10” EP combines
What’s The Damage?
THE CHATHAM FORTS
Not Fade Away /
I Wanna Be Your Man
★★★
DAMAGED GOODS
The Chatham Forts
tackle both sides of
The Rolling Stones’
second US single to
celebrate 30 years
of Damaged Goods
Records. A team of mathematicians are
still calculating what number entry it is
in Billy Childish’s discography.
Whatever the answer, the resulting 45
holds little in the way of surprises.
Minus the all-important handclaps,
‘Not Fade Away’ is less springy than
their Kentish forefathers’ version and
Billy warbles through whatever mic
set-up he uses to make his voice sound
like it’s vibrating through a rusty can.
Lennon & McCartney’s present to the
Stones, ‘I Wanna Be Your Man’, who
transformed it into a blistering primitive
punk prototype, is a gift to Childish
here, coming close to capturing the raw
wanton abandonment of the original.
Familiar songs faithfully covered by
a familiar artist. Fun, certainly, but if ever
there’s a record you don’t need to hear to
know what it sounds like, this is it.
Mark Raison
the plaintive English
voice of Powell placed
amongst Germanic
analogue organ,
synths and sequencers
creating the type of
dark, Cold War-era soundscape favoured by
everyone from The Radiophonic Workshop
to The Human League, Tears For Fears, nick
nicely and The Flaming Lips circa The Terror.
‘Mr Metronome’ is undoubtedly the
strongest of the songs; its slow pace and
swells sounding not unlike Floydian incidental
music for a late ’70s post-nuclear meltdown
drama; Seatman’s vocal verges on the
Bowie-esque. The rest of the EP isn’t quite as
strong with the Belbury Poly remix sounding a
little too Pet Shop Boys, but if bleak, dystopian
early ’80s music is your thing this sombre
selection will certainly bring The Young Ones’
Rik out in you.
Jon ‘Mojo’ Mills
THE SPOOKIES
Please Come Back /
Out Of The Inside
★★★★
BICKERTON
Touted as being some
kind of garage-punk
supergroup, The
Spookies came
together via an
appreciation each
player had for the work they put in while in
CYANIDE PILLS
Just For You /
I’m Celebrating
★★★★
DAMAGED GOODS
Here’s an unusual
challenge
– Damaged Goods
has asked a few of
the bands on its
label to not only
cover a favourite song but also its
original B-side. Picking up the baton
we have Leeds punk outfit Cyanide
Pills with their interesting choice of
The Glitter Band's ‘Just For You’.
It’s a cracking piece of triple
tribute mayhem as the band introduce
a footie terrace-punk edge to this
glam classic, stamp it with a faux Bell
label and then wrap it in a parody of
the original French picture sleeve.
The flip is a slower chunk of
thudding boogie glued to a classic
’50s chord sequence with plenty of
shouted “heys” for authenticity.
Unfairly tarnished due to the
proclivities of their former front man
it’s easy to forget that The Glitter
Band managed six Top 10 hits in their
own right – it’s nice to see them being
feted here.
Henry Hutton
different groups, and all from different
countries; Italy’s Mojomatics, Denmark and
France’s David Peter & The Wilde Sect, The
Youth and Les Darlings, plus USA’s now
vintage Miracle Workers and Untold Fables.
The group certainly doesn’t disappoint
on the evidence of this pair of scorchers
offered up by Spain’s Bickerton label. Both
‘Please Come Back’ and ‘Out Of The Inside’
are original compositions which maintain
some great fuzz, stomp and snarl, and all
the while never losing sense nor sight of the
basic melody in each song – one is, at times,
reminded of the power wielded by Australian
’80s combo The Stems back in their early
days.
Lenny Helsing
SUNFLOWER BEAN
King Of The Dudes EP
★★★★★
LUCKY NUMBER
Sometimes releasing
one of the strongest
(and most acclaimed)
albums of the year just
isn’t enough. And so,
less than a year after
their second LP Twentytwo in Blue,
Sunflower Bean are back with a record that
manages to top its predecessor. We can stop
considering the Brooklyn trio just a promising
name in the immense universe of indie-pop
– Sunflower Bean keep getting better with
each release.
GRAHAM DAY &
THE FOREFATHERS
Emmaretta / Love Help Me
★★★★
DAMAGED GOODS
“Emmaretta.” “Oh,
did she? I’m sorry
to hear that.”
Having long
championed the
virtues of early
Purple (The Prisoners were covering
‘Hush’ almost from the off) it’s no
surprise that, when tasked with
covering both sides of a single for
Damaged Goods’ 30th anniversary
shenanigans, Graham, Allan and Wolf
managed to find a rare Swedish
edition that coupled two of their
most-treasured Purple sides. No
‘Wring That Neck’ for us, boys!
You probably don’t need to be
told what to expect here: the funky,
rhythmic ‘Emmaretta’ (itself cast in
the image of ‘Hush’, which it followed
up in 1969) gets the full-on wah-wah
treatment with tambourine set to stun,
while ‘Love Help Me’ – originally from
the Purps’ first album and bearing all
the hallmarks of the ’60s beat group
scene from which Richie Blackmore
and co emerged – is rendered at
breakneck pace and is all the better
for it, ending up sounding like a slab of
mid-70s proto-punk. Limited copies
available so don’t hang around.
Andy Morten
King Of The Dudes is simply irresistible:
the sweet, sweet sound of a young band at
its best, very modern and decidedly full of
brash ’70s power at the same time. Both
the title track and ‘Come For Me’ are killer
singles, and ‘The Big One’ finds them in
potent garage mood (in their own distinctive,
glammy way, of course). But listen to the
entire EP over and over and you’ll realise that
each song could have been a hit in whichever
era of pop-rock you like the most.
Camilla Aisa
TOUCH
We Feel Fine EP
★★★
FRUITS DE MER
Don Galluci’s estimable
resumé boasts stints
with The Kingsmen
and Don & The
Goodtimes and he
would go on to
produce The Stooges’ Fun House amongst
many others. But in 1968 he was indulging in
a number of short-lived studio-based
projects such as this one. Clearly influenced
by the psychedelic and progressive sounds
blowing over from the UK (check the
Floydian breakdown 70 seconds into ‘We
Feel Fine’), Touch’s lone album tanked at the
time, its blend of jazzy psychedelia and
sophisticated musical bluster at odds with
Continues over
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89
 prevailing trends and the indie Coliseum label
unable to promote it adequately.
This three-tracker contains two tracks
from that album and a canned ’68 A-side.
FdM head honcho Keith Jones writes
effusively about buying the album in ’70
and this release being “a bit of a dream
come true” but somehow it’s hard to see his
enthusiasm being echoed by new listeners.
Andy Morten
MIKAH WILSON
Sunshine Grooves EP
★★★★
YOU ARE THE COSMOS
LA-based multi-
instrumentalist and
producer Mikah Wilson
throws every ounce of
his weight behind a
three-track single that’s
stacked high with angelic sunshine-pop and
packing a sumptuous saccharine-encrusted
punch.
The title track, with its cascading vocal
layers studded with McCartney-esque bass
and deep pop groove, makes it difficult not to
invite comparisons with that other LA multi-
instrumentalist Emitt Rhodes. Wilson digs
deep into an era of introspective powerpop,
post-Beatles, sunshine Americana with not
one but two flipsides, ‘Sweet Jules’ and
‘Look At The Way’, a pair that follow the
same path of summer-drenched sounds with
clever arrangements, hooks a-plenty and
more than just a nod to Klaatu in ‘Sub-Rosa
Subway’ mode (Wilson’s enchanting voice
echoes divinely that of Klaatu frontman John
Woloschuk). All in all, a pretty rounded 45
with stacks of sparkle. Let’s hope there’s a
long-player in the offering soon.
Louis Comfort-Wiggett
WHYTE HORSES
Next Year Will Be Mine / The
Coldest Night Of The Year
★★★★
CRC
The festive season will
have passed by the
time you read this, but
it’s worth tracking
down this 45 from
Dom Thomas’s
Mancunian psych mavericks in readiness for
December 2019, because it’s a corker of a
Christmas single.
A-side ‘Next Year Will Be Mine’ weds
Phil Spector’s girl-group, wall-of-sound
production to an earworm of a tune that could
have come straight from the pen of Wizzard-
era Roy Wood. Lyrically it’s an optimistic
song that looks forward to the shedding of
past hurts as we head into a bright new year,
and heard once, it’ll be echoing around your
head for weeks. The flipside is a cover of the
Nino & April/Twice As Much & Vashti Bunyan
classic ‘The Coldest Night Of The Year’. It’s a
fairly faithful version, although the gentle coo
of the original is replaced with echoing drums,
giving it a not unwelcome heft.
Sparkly baubles, perfect for the next Yule.
Thomas Patterson
90
ODD TALES AND WONDERS
1964-1974: A DECADE
OF PERFORMANCE
Travis Edward Pike
★★★★
OTHERWORLD COTTAGE INDUSTRIES
If unfamiliar with the
adventures of Travis
Pike, now is your
chance to read up on
who, what and why.
The main reason
Shindig!, Ugly Things
and like-minded
platforms celebrate
this extraordinary character is down to the
uninhibited sounds captured on a few songs
he was instrumental in creating ('Demo
Derby' and 'If I Didn't Love You Girl' amongst
them) and which, over the decades, have
caught the attention of those appreciative of
good, honest teen scene rock ’n’ roll.
Pike's legend is solidified by some
unbelievable YouTube footage where he and
The Brattle Street East are playing their hearts
out on a beach front platform construction in
front of hordes of hip young groovers in 1966
Boston, performing the insanely cool 'Watch
Out Woman'. This molten blast of teen-punk
genius finally saw the light of day last year – as
it should've done in ’66 – on a tremendous
vinyl single issued by Folkestone's fabulous
State Records.
In this newly-expanded printing Pike
elucidates, often in exhaustive detail, with
passion and good humour, just how things
were back in the day and where he, the
groups he fronted and the scenes they were
part of, fitted in. Pike's post-60s and ’70s
career, in which he found varying degrees
of success as writer, player, author and
storyteller, are also examined. Hundreds
of photos and other promotional images
accompanying the text, plus lyrics and a
superb Harvey Kubernik interview which
illuminates further Pike's ongoing journey.
A fascinating read.
Lenny Helsing
THE ROLLING STONES IN
CONCERT, 1962-1982
Ian M Rusten
★★★★
MCFARLAND & CO
There are so many
Stones tomes, with
more undoubtedly to
come, any such book
can't be expected to
offer anything new or
different, starting with
the hoary theory that
Altamont kissed off
the ’60s love bubble when it had already been
vapourised by current events. As recounted,
Ian Stewart had a point when, even in 1969
he grumbled about the Stones' ever-
expanding entourage and hiring entire hotel
floors, hankering for when they'd hit 40 cities
in a van as a self-contained unit. Those
mayhem-packed shows constitute half the
book's 300 pages, many accounts of fan
mania, such as the one about Guildford's
Ricky-Tick club, describing them being
mobbed as early as March ’64.
Crucially, Rusten conducted much of
his research at libraries rather than easy
internet, digging out local newspaper
reports of Stones show mayhem and using
long-forgotten mags like Datebook and Hit
Parader along with trusty Melody Maker to
describe many of the shows listed between
July ’62's low-key Marquee debut and the
overblown cartoon overkill (still with crap
sound) of UK football ground jaunts 20 years
later. He also brings in facts from existing
documentation and has obviously done his
bootleg research too.
As the Stones announce another tour
for 2019, this book inadvertently points
out how, after the teen-mania years, the
only thing that's changed since these initial
golden years is that the tours got bigger and
more corporate, whereas many songs on
the current set list remain the same. Add
some fascinating memorabilia and this book
serves as an engrossing reminder of the very
different times in which the Stones came up.
Kris Needs
SHAKE SOME ACTION 2.0:
AN UPDATED GUIDE TO THE
200 GREATEST POWERPOP
ALBUMS 1970-2017
John M Borack
★★★★★
NOT LAME MEDIA
Perhaps more than
any other sub-genre
of rock ’n’ roll,
powerpop fans love
making lists and
debating about them,
so Shake Some
Action 2.0 is a very
welcome fan to the
flames.
Borack is definitely a great choice to
write it because a) he knows a helluva lot
about powerpop and has been writing
about the subject as long as anyone, b) he’s
insightful, and c) he’s very entertaining. The
book not only provides a list of Borack’s Top
200 powerpop albums but each entry comes
with his review of said album, plus in almost
all cases, a quote from the artist. Beyond that
Borack provides other lists, including yearly
Best Ofs, as well as his published reviews of
albums which didn’t make the list. The only
gripe is that Borack’s Top 200 provides only
one album per artist – hey, if The Powerpop
Gods deigned Shoes or Raspberries to have
four albums each in the Top 200, then so
be it, but on the other hand his approach
does allow for 200 different artists to be
represented, and perhaps this is the most
important aim of the book: to educate (if
you’ve never heard of Sex Clark Five, The
Mice or Yorktown Lads, you will after reading
this book!).
In summary, Shake Some Action
is a fun read that will elucidate, validate
and precipitate some hearty debate, and
hopefully indoctrinate many Shindiggers into
the wonderful world of powerpop. (Bonus:
the book comes with a CD by Borack’s own
band Popdudes, which is a fine mixture of
originals and classic pop covers.)
David Bash
The Raspberries
contemplate
their Shake Some
Action ratings
THE STORY OF THE BAND
Harvey Kubernik &
Kenneth Kubernik
★★★
STERLING
This coffee table book
doesn't claim to be
the definitive telling of
The Band's story but
it does cover their
active years in a
winningly enthusiastic
way. Aside from its
scrapbook style
layout, equally balanced between words and
pictures, its USP is its drawing from various
interviews dating back over several decades,
most conducted by the Kubernik brothers
themselves. As respected LA-based music
writers the pair have encountered and
interviewed members of The Band several
times over the years, along with producers,
engineers, peer musicians and members of
The Band's road crew. In addition, the book
contains eye-witness fan accounts,
contemporary record and concert reviews,
and reminisces from key journalists, DJs,
promoters and other industry shakers and
movers. All key moments in The Band's
career are brought into sharp focus by this
multiple voice and viewpoint approach.
The book's subtitle (From Big Pink To
The Last Waltz) is somewhat misleading as
the pre-Band era is also covered including
their time as The Hawks backing Ronnie
Hawkins in the clubs of Toronto. The history-
making days as Bob Dylan's electric backing
band on his 1966 battle-fray tour also get
good coverage.
Don't expect any startling revelations,
dirt-dishing or gossip but do expect a
celebration and exploration of just what it
was that made The Band and their music so
special. As one of the era's most photogenic
acts the photographs are a treat too, several
of which are previously unpublished. They're
accompanied by illustrations of ticket stubs,
posters, handbills, set lists and hand-written
studio and stage notes.
Duncan Fletcher

THE MELVINS & JON SPENCER
PHOTO JELMER DE HAAS
Koko, London
WEDNESDAY 31ST OCTOBER 2018
Over the last few years The Melvins have
transformed from sludge-metal mainstays to
alternative-rock’s most reliable party band,
lead singer King Buzzo a man transformed,
putting so much energy into entertaining
his black-clad flock that he’s beginning to
resemble a goth Mrs Doubtfire. Last time the
band were in town, they brought powerpop
punks Red Kross with them. Kross’s Steve
McDonald is now a permanent member,
along with Jeff Pinkus of The Butthole
Surfers.
In support is Jon Spencer, promoting
his new solo album sans Blues Explosion
but joined instead by former Sonic Youth
drummer Bob Bert, tonight playing the
kitchen sink and a couple of dustbins. Tracks
from new outing Sings The Hits translate
well live (especially ‘Ghost’), but the only time
he really sounds like a rock star is singing
someone else’s hit: a muscular cover of
Jonathan Richman’s ‘Roadrunner’.
Covers are important to The Melvins
too. They’ve acknowledged influences from
Alice Cooper to Roxy Music and the best
track on 2018’s Pinkus Abortion Technican
is a disturbing version of The Beatles’ ‘I Want
to Hold Your Hand’. Tonight they tackle the
Stones’ ‘Sway’. Osborne has said that Sticky
Fingers is where rock ’n’ roll begins for him,
but what’s surprising is how well the song fits
into their act.
Thirty-six years into their existence, The
Melvins are no longer simply keeping their
own act alive but rock itself, absorbing and
retooling the best parts of other bands until
they render themselves indestructible.
Matt Thorne
92
HAWKWIND
The Palladium, London
MONDAY 5TH NOVEMBER
When it was announced that veterans of
chaos Hawkwind were to play a series
of shows with an orchestra conducted
by Mike ‘Wombling Free’ Batt, there was
some scratching of heads as to how such
a collaboration might work. And Road To
Utopia, released earlier in the year as a taster
for this tour, has proved divisive to say the
least. Yet there are many moments tonight
that confirm what an inspired idea it was,
with classic tracks vividly re-energised,
strings and horns adding both heft and
colour to the Hawkship’s engine room. The
presentation might be more cosmic cabaret
than space ritual, particularly when guest
vocalist Arthur Brown hits the stage, but as
ever, you certainly can’t accuse Hawkwind of
merely going through the motions.
‘Assault & Battery’ and ‘The Golden
Void’ make for a magnificent opening, the
arrangement around the latter’s bolero
section being especially impressive. The
band are tighter and more well-drilled than
usual, with the orchestra bringing a power
and precision to tracks like ‘Paradox’ and
‘Down Through The Night’. But any fears that
this performance might lack Hawkwind’s
usual anarchic spark are allayed by the
appearance of Brown, resplendent in top
hat, frock coat and corpse paint. He sings
“The audience cheers hypsterically as Devendra
Banhart dances and hands out imaginary magic
bubbles; we stay for an ‘At The Hop’ improvised
with Donovan-esque feel”
Devendra Barnhart: All
hail the magic bubbles
‘The Watcher’ with manic conviction and
delivers an amusingly loose interpretation of
‘Sonic Attack’ – “Do it now, motherfuckers!”
certainly wasn’t in the original.
Orchestra dispatched, they encore
with a singalong ‘Spirit Of The Age’ and an
obligatory ‘Silver Machine’, introduced by a
glove puppet. Mission accomplished.
Joe Banks
JANE WEAVER
Hackney Arts Centre, London
TUESDAY 6TH NOVEMBER
I’m guessing that the last time Jane Weaver
did a solo tour, it wasn’t anything like this…
Having spectacularly re-invented herself
over the past few years as the first lady of
space-rock/pop, she’s previously toured
much of the material aired tonight as the
frontwoman of a live band. But as the sole
creator of the music she makes in the studio,
she’s set herself the challenge this time
round of re-creating it on her own, using
“custom-built vinyl discs, tape loops and
zoetropic imagery”.
The results are for the most part
successful. Weaver’s onstage persona is
shyly reserved, but she works with quiet
confidence to produce a wash of new age
psychedelic kosmische out of synth drones,
acoustic guitar, the aforementioned vinyl and
her voice. It’s a dreamy trip, the Carpenters-
Ryley Walker &
Kikagaku Moyo refute
the "less is more" idiom
on-smack melancholy of ‘Cells’ being an
early highlight, though there’s also thumping
rhythms on the more upbeat songs, even if
the hypnotic sci-fi groove of ‘Mission Desire’
is a little swamped by the effects. But it’s
not as though she’s setting out to make an
entirely polite noise, the heartbeat percussion
and celestial chords of ‘Slow Motion’
augmented by some punishing sub-bass.
If there’s a problem with this approach
for the length of an entire gig, it’s a lack of
tonal variation – though that’s certainly not
an issue when the songs are as melodically
strong as ‘I Wish’ and ‘The Lightning Back’.
Regardless of such quibbles, she gets a
rousing reception throughout from what’s
clearly an increasingly committed fanbase.
Joe Banks
LE GUESS WHO? FESTIVAL
Utrecht, The Netherlands
THURSDAY 8TH-SUNDAY 11TH NOVEMBER
Day One
The 2018 edition of Le Guess Who? has
opted for an ambitious motto: “A celebration
of sound”. A proper celebration demands
voracious broadness, absence of boundaries,
all-embracing appetite. From day 1, it is clear
that Utrecht, The Netherlands is the best
place for all this to happen. I pass the canals
and enter the Tivoli-Vredenburg, an out-of-
a-dream mother venue that encapsulates
more venues – each one with a distinctive
character, all with a huge sound.
We start off with Drinks, the
atmospheric joint effort of Cate Le Bon
and White Fence’s Tim Presley that mixes
electronics and a lead guitar that seems
taken by eastern winds. Later, Vera Sola
celebrates her debut LP (coming out the very
next day) and her American(a) dream filled
with retro imagery and enchanting drama.
After Yonatan Gat & The Eastern
Medicine Singers the night belongs to
Michael Rault and his powerpop spells
(especially ‘When The Sun Shines’ turned
irresistible jam). Best surprise of the night?
Lydia Lunch’s unexpected rendition of
The Seeds’ immortal ‘Pushin’ Too Hard’.
Day Two
Day Two is when we discover that there is
one flaw in the colourful Le Guess Who?
radiance – a thorny space-time clash. A
few venues require some serious walking,
schedule is too short for the festival’s
succulent line-up and so the most arduous
choices are required. Within the ancient walls
of the Janskerk, the Romanesque basilica
that stands in the centre of Utrecht, Jessica
Pratt and, after her, folk legend Vashti
Bunyan play their intimate epiphanies as
time finally freezes, with the audience sitting
beautifully and silently at their feet, raptured.
Talking about impossible choices, just as
Vashti Bunyan gently walks around in
festivalgoers’ minds, out of the city centre
Jacco Gardner presents his latest record,
Somnium. Back at The Tivoli-Vredenburg, the
night makes a point of how dark and heavy
Japan rock likes its trips, first with hypnotic
Shintaro Sakamoto and then with
the wild explorations of London-based Bo
Ningen.
Day Three
It’s clear, by now, that Le Guess Who? might
very well be the most interesting festival in
Europe. The presence of special original
collaborations corroborates this thesis – just
as the Ryley Walker and Kikagaku
Moyo one (named ‘Deep Fried Grandeur’)
ushers in Day Three. Need another reason?
People walking around, moving from venue
to venue, freely checking out unknown
artists, continuously expanding their horizons.
They come for a few beloved names and
they stay for new faces – whole worlds to be
discovered. On Friday we move from Cass
McCombs’ Californian rock to Jozef
Van Wissem’s lute soundtracks. At the
Grote Zaal venue, genre boundaries are
overcome thanks to the ever-inspired hands
of Anoushka Shankar, Manu Delago
and the string section of The Metropole
Orchestra. They’re followed by one of this
year’s curators, Devendra Banhart. The
audience cheers hypsterically as he dances
and hands out imaginary magic bubbles;
we stay for an ‘At The Hop’ improvised with
Donovan-esque feel.
Day Four
The ideal Sunday brunch? Some serious
trippy riffing. And so we end up spending
the late morning in an area of Utrecht that
looks just like what the outskirts of late ’80s
Boston did (in our mind). We’re listening to
a group of New Yorkers though: Endless
Boogie and their stoner fantasy. Then,
a bus to the city centre and Eleanor
Friedberger’s exquisite pop. Another
festival exclusive follows: Haley Fohr’s
Circuit Des Yeux exploring her latest
record, experimental folk gem ‘Reaching
for Indigo’, together with members of
The Netherlands Philarmonic Orchestra.
Afterwards, it’s time to dance as The Scorpios
take the stage: Sudanese roots and Gong-
esque charm – simply irresistible. The night
is as variegated as only a Le Guess Who?
night could be: a moving performance by
Beverly Glenn-Copeland, then The
Heliocentrics and their hypnotic groove,
The Comet Is Coming with an explosive
self-described space-funk, and finally a pink-
suited Swamp Dogg. The celebration of
sound that takes place in Utrecht is a rousing
feast. Leaving The Tivoli-Vredenburg, you can
read the same phrase in everybody’s eyes:
see you next year.
Camilla Asia
WAYNE KRAMER’S MC50
02 Academy, Glasgow
SATURDAY 10TH NOVEMBER
There really can be no greater introduction
in the history of rock than the sound of
Brother JC Crawford hysterically hyping the
audience at the opening of Kick Out The
Jams and those self-same sounds are heard
reverberating through the PA as the living
embodiment of the MC5 Brother Wayne
Kramer rocking his signature Stars & Stripes
Strat and his fellow combatants in the ranks
of MC50 – Kim Thayill (Soundgarden),
Marcus Durant (Zen Guerrilla), Billy Gould
(Faith No More) and Brendan Canty (Fugazi)
ready themselves for the assault that beckons
with this 50th anniversary performance of
Kick Out The Jams.
Now entering his seventh decade,
Brother Wayne remains one of the most
quintessentially bad ass guitarists on the
planet as he reminds us cranking out iconic
killer riff after riff, soul stepping his way
around the stage and generally having a
ball. Inevitably ‘Kick Out The Jams’, ’Come
Together’ and ‘Rocket Reducer No 62 (Rama
PHOTO JURI HIENSCH
Lama Fa Fa Fa)’ hit home like the perennially
supercharged releases of energy they are
while ’Motor City Is Burning’’ and ‘I Want You
Right Now’ keep the fires stoked before the
arrival of ‘Starship’ and its segue into Sun
Ra’s ‘We Travel The Spaceways’ sees Brother
Wayne & Co plotting their course for the stars.
With KOTJ in the bag revisitations of ‘Poison’,
‘Sister Ann’ and the closing ‘Looking At You’
ensure the VU meters stay locked in the red.
Part celebration, part commemoration, this
never to be forgotten trip back to the beating
heart of The Motor City more than surpassed
all expectations. Fly on Brother Wayne.
Grahame Bent
TEENAGE FANCLUB
Electric Ballroom, London
TUESDAY 13TH NOVEMBER
Euphoria mixes with sadness at the first
night of Teenage Fanclub’s final run of shows
celebrating their golden period of recordings
for Creation Records. Euphoria at hearing
so many classic songs for the first time in
many a year, and sadness that key member
and songwriter, bassist Gerard Love, will be
leaving for pastures new.
Luckily, euphoria wins, with
Bandwagonesque’s Dinosaur Jnr meets Big
Star-isms sending smiles up and down the
room like some demented Mexican wave.
With original drummer Brendan O Hare
behind the kit, the likes of ‘Star Sign’ and
‘Alcoholiday’ induce mass sing-a-longs during
the first half. The second half of the show
proves that Thirteen wasn’t the dip in quality
that many would argue, with ‘Radio’ sizzling
with powerpop, er, power and ‘Norman 3’’s
Continues over
93
 Soundcarriers Leonore
(hidden), Dorian, Pish
and Adam emitting
waves of joy
melodic and hypnotic chorus threatening to
PHOTO JALESSANDRO GIANFERRARA
burst through the roof and into the night sky.
A rare and glorious outing for closer ‘Gene
Clark’ sends all home high on anticipation for
Night Two.
Paul Osborne
02 Institute, Birmingham
SATURDAY 10TH NOVEMBER
For many, Grand Prix and Songs From
Northern Britain – the mid-90s sibling sets
that briefly propelled Teenage Fanclub into
the UK Top 10 and onto Top Of The Pops –
remain the group’s crowning achievements.
More of their content has remained in
the Fannies’ live set even than that of
Bandwagonesque, so there’s a sense of
warm familiarity as a jocular and possibly tipsy
expanded Fanclub line-up treats the audience
of the surprisingly intimate 02 Institute to 25
of their shiniest jewels.
‘About You’, ‘Sparky’s Dream’, ‘Don’t
Look Back’, ‘Start Again’, ‘Ain’t That Enough’,
‘I Don’t Want Control Of You’ and ‘Your Love Is
The Place Where I Come From’ have become
trusty old pals, while lesser-sighted gems like
‘Discolite’, ‘I’ll Make It Clear’, ‘Take The Long
Way Round’, ‘Planets’ and ‘Winter’ cause
grown men (and women) to weep openly.
Harmonies shine, guitars fizz and smiles
abound.
It’s only when Blake, Love, McGinley,
Quinn, Macdonald, O’Hare and McGowan
have delivered a glorious ‘Speed Of Light’
and ambled off stage to rapturous, prolonged
applause that some of us realise it’s the last
time that’s going to happen. For a while.
Andy Morten
Electric Ballroom, London
THURSDAY 15TH NOVEMBER
On the night Teenage Fanclub play Howdy!,
94
they bid farewell to Gerry Love, one third
of the most richly blessed triumvirate of
songwriters in pop. Howdy! always felt a
politer record than its predecessors but
tonight its understated beauty gently asserts
itself and blossoms. Then ending a tour
with 45 minutes of B-sides could be an
underwhelming prospect yet it outshines
most band’s classic albums. The abundance
of uncovered treasures, such as ‘Every Step Is
A Way Through’, begging for a rarities release.
When the crowd sing ‘Broken’ long
past the song’s end, with eyes on Gerry, it’s
an emotional moment only interrupted by
Norman Blake sending Brendan O’Hare, an
intermittent source of tomfoolery, behind the
drumkit for debut single ‘Everything Flows’
and a ramshackle return to the knockabout
nights of the early Fannies.
With no mention of his departure, least
of all fanfare or fuss, Gerry carefully puts
down his bass, picks up his setlist and leaves
Teenage Fanclub with one less member.
Dignity personified.
Mark Raison
MICHAEL RAULT
The Fleece, Bristol
MONDAY 19TH NOVEMBER
An early-on-stage, 30-minute Monday night
support slot in an inauspicious city centre
venue seems unbecoming of an act whose
2018 album It’s A New Day Tonight is likely
to prove one of the year’s best for many, not
least your team here at Shindig!
It’s with a barely-detectable hint of
grouchiness that Michael Rault and his
four-man band take to the stage at The
Fleece. To be fair, they’re over two weeks into
a European jaunt in the company of nu-soul
singer Mattiel, with a handful of festivals and
in-stores thrown in along the way. What’s one
more rainy weeknight?
The show opens, as does the album,
with ‘I’ll Be There’ and ‘New Day Tonight’,
a double sucker-punch that demonstrates
Rault’s woozy confidence and classic
songcraft off to a tee, causing us to wonder
where the rest of the set will go. The band
takes a while to warm up but accelerates from
cool to white-hot across further selections
from the album – the twin-guitar harmonics
and vocal harmonies of the two guitarists
stage-left are a thing to behold, adding colour
and depth to shrugging, early ’70s-flavoured
confections like ‘Sleep With Me’ (for which
Rault seats himself at the electric piano) and
the Revolver-y ‘Out Of The Light’. They could
have played two songs in the time it took
to get through the closing ‘When The Sun
Shines’ but that hardly seems to matter as
the louche good vibes coalesce into a guitar-
drenched climax.
Andy Morten
THE SOUNDCARRIERS,
GLORIA & STRANGE MAJIK
Psych-a-rella Presents
The Shindig! Revue 4,
The Victoria, Dalston
FRIDAY 23RD NOVEMBER
Anyone who follows Shindig! and Psych-a-
Rella’s social media feeds would have been
aware how excited we were about this show,
but in spite of our enthusiastic hyperbole
about this being the gig of the year, there’s a
genuine sense of anticipation amongst the
capacity crowd, driven by the return to the
stage of The Soundcarriers after five years.
To kick-start the evening Strange
Majik does a fine job of pre-heating the
crowd, showing off his blues-funk guitar
chops whilst showcasing tracks from his
recent Channel T album, despite the rather
ad-hoc nature of his band.
Gloria prove why they’re one of the
best new acts in the world, with two years of
gigging showcasing a sextet finely in tune
with each other, the captivating presence
and note-perfect harmonies of vocalists Amy,
Wendy and Baby B blending effortlessly with
Alexis Morel’s deft guitar work on the likes of
‘Dancehall No 3’ and the Motown-via-Lyon
stomp of ‘Heavy’. By the time the band finish
on the dream-pop meets psych-out of closer
‘Show Me Your Trail’ they have the audience
eating out of the palms of their hands.
Any ordinary band would struggle to
follow such a performance, but then The
Soundcarriers are no ordinary band.
Hitting the stage with a faster, funkier ‘Low
Light’ that induces smiles of euphoria
amongst those assembled, the stage-shy
quartet feeds off the positive vibes of the
crowd – the blossoming of confidence this
brings is a wonderful thing to behold, with
Leonore and Dorian’s vocals and guitar and
keyboard work on ‘Boiling Point’ and ‘Last
Broadcast’ proving the perfect counterpoint
to Paul Isherwood and Adam Cann’s stunning
rhythmic abilities. Think Can meets the KPM
music library. We’re also treated to two new
tunes including the Euro-library infused pop
of the evening’s specially-recorded single
‘Waves’. By the time they’ve finish their
encore they’ve enchanted an audience that
would be more than happy to listen to them
all night. With a new album in the works and
more live shows planned (Lewes Psych Fest
in February) 2019 could see the band staging
the comeback of the year after what, for
many, was gig of the year 2018.
Paul Osborne
 vinyl art
#73 Margo Guryan
Take A Picture Bell, US, October 1968
Cover design by The Graffiteria, photography by Joel Brodsky
CHARLES DONOVAN gazes longingly through the glass at a
jazzy sunshine-pop milestone
N
o one gazing at the cover of
Margo Guryan’s first and only
album would necessarily know
that it was just a small fraction,
an 11th to be precise, of the
intended sleeve.At the time it
was assembled, Joel Brodsky, like Guryan a
New Yorker, was on a roll, having shot two
Doors albums,Van Morrison’s Astral Weeks
and the debut of singer-songwriter, David
Ackles.Working with Bell president Larry
Uttal he devised a concept; each song
on Guryan’s album would have its own
photograph, staged to reflect its title or a
snippet of lyric.The photographs would
then be presented as if scattered across a
surface. But when the album came out, all
that remained was the image for track eight,
‘Think Of Rain’ – a moody, inviting portrait
of the artist through a rain-battered window,
slightly blurred but otherwise looking the
very picture of late ’60s understated chic.
“Joel took pictures representing each
song,” Guryan confirms.“The original
cover was a montage but the placement was
96
taking too long for Bell and they asked me
to pick one photo.The rainy window pane
seemed the most evocative.”The ‘Think
Of Rain’ image was used on both sides –
colour on the front, black & white on the
reverse.“I would have liked them to stick
to the original plan, but they seemed to be
in a hurry to release the record. David, my
husband and publisher, and I were both new
to the world of records and simply acceded
to suggestions by Bell.”
Although Guryan had written the album,
her involvement in the cover was confined
to being a photographer’s subject.“Larry
Uttal chose the photographer. I knew
nothing of Joel Brodsky, but he’d taken
the well-known photo of a shirtless Jim
Morrison. I liked him. He seemed to know
his stuff and was a pleasant man.” Several
locations were agreed upon for the original
concept; Guryan’s apartment, Central Park
and Brodsky’s studio. Rather than being
styled and clothed by the label, an effortlessly
fashionable Guryan was presented as herself.
“The red sweater was mine. I wore my own
“The result showed
hair blowing across my
face but it looked like a
scar. When we sought
to replace that picture,
Uttal decided it was
taking too long and
opted for one picture,
front and back”
clothing for the photo shoots. I don’t recall
anyone being interested in what I wore. No
racks of clothing, no hair stylists or makeup
artists… just whatever I decided to wear on
a particular day.”
For ‘Sunday Morning’, Guryan was
captured in an embrace (“Come hold me
in your arms”).‘Thoughts’ was illustrated by
a close-up of interlocked hands (“Meeting
you/holding hands”). It was ‘Sun’ (Side One,
track two) that ended up causing problems.
Brodsky set up a shot with a fan billowing
Guryan’s hair.“The result showed hair
blowing across my face but it looked like a
scar.When we sought to replace that picture,
Uttal decided it was taking too long and
opted for one picture, front and back.”
Although she was easygoing about
artwork (“I don’t recall any discussion of
how the album would be presented visually.
I simply went along with whatever Bell
Records wanted”), the label was in for a
surprise if it imagined Guryan would be just
as biddable regarding promotion and gigs.
“I thought they understood that I wasn’t
a performer,” she insists.“I was surprised
when they asked me to travel and to appear
on television.”When Guryan informed
them that she wasn’t available, Bell cut its
losses and ceased promoting Take A Picture.
“It tanked,” says Guryan, whose songs,
including several from Take A Picture, would
enjoy better fortunes in the hands of other
artists, including Spanky & Our Gang and
Bobbie Gentry & Glen Campbell (‘Sunday
Morning’) and Jackie DeShannon (‘Think
Of Rain’).
One piece of luck was that, by
coincidence, the typeface used to spell out
Guryan’s name almost resembled her real-
life signature.“When asked to sign albums, I
invariably alter my signature slightly so that
it’s a closer match.”
Decades on, Take A Picture was
rediscovered by lounge, jazz and sunshine-
pop cultists, leading to a variety of reissues
in different territories. Following Brodsky’s
death in 2007, Guryan was able to acquire
the photographs and, in Korea, a CD with
vinyl-replica packaging was issued by the
Beatball label in 2009, featuring the album, a
collection of demos and, at last, the original
artwork.
Prize Crossword
by Stuart Draper
Everybody loves THE ACTION, right? Of course
they do. And we have one copy of Grapefruit’s
recent definitive 4-CD box set Shadows &
Reflections: The Complete Recordings 1964-1968 –
bulging with all the remastered classics plus rarities
and previously unheard material – to give away to
one lucky winner.
To enter, simply send your completed crossword to
Shindig! #87 Crossword, 40 Windsor Crescent,
Frome, Somerset BA11 2EA or email a legible scan
of it to win@shindig-magazine.com with the words
“SD87 crossword competition” in the subject line,
no later than 7th February. And don’t forget to
include your name and address!
1 2 3 4 5 6 7

8 9

10 11

12 13 14

15 16 17 18 19

20 21 22 23

24 25 26

27 28

Across Down
8 Jackie Edwards' instruction, later 1 Minnie Riperton's connection (6)
followed by Wayne Fontana (4,2,4) 2 Where Badfinger and Judith Chalmers
9 Man, I need a TV when I've got this band wished you were in ’74 (4)
(4) 3 What happened in Hampstead to
10 Jim Morrison composition rejected for Donovan (8)
the Zabriskie Point soundtrack (8) 4 Interplanetary delivery from Terry
11 The Dukes of Stratosphear were looking Brooks & Strange (2,5,4,4)
for him/her (6) 5 Garage-rock classic recorded by The
12 Entwistle-penned reverse of ‘Baba Leaves, The Byrds, and The Surfaris, but
O'Riley’ (2,4) now usually connected to Hendrix (3,3)
14 Although not always the definite article, 6 Offered friendliness in 1972 (10)
this Birmingham band reckon I must be 7 Nazz's Mr Leeward (8)
mad (3,5) 13 The Wildweeds know it's not real (2,8)
15 Stu Mitchell could turn the litmus paper 16 "The _____ unhealthy, flies and rats thrive
red (4) / And sooner or later the end will arrive" If you're reading Issue 86 crossword solution
17 US label for The Piper At The Gates of 'Reuters', Wire (8) this then
Dawn (5) 18 Be Bop Deluxe follow-up (3,5) advertising 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
works in O T I S G R A N T T R A C Y
19 Frank Herbert's original epic that 21 PP, the first lady of Immediate (6)
Jodorowsky failed to film (4) 23 Long Island group who released one Shindig! U A R L H O A
20 Producer and arranger of Hapshash & Scream-covered eponymous album (6) To find out how 9
G R A F F I T I
10
E S C A P E
The Coloured Coat's second (4,4) 26 How Buckwheat like their buckwheat, we can help you
22 What The Dream want you to get, honey (4) K E N E A K T
reach 11 12
predictably enough (6) V I B R A S O N I C C O U P
24 Dantalian’s Chariot’s was running thousands of
through the fields (6) Shindig! readers S C A R
13 14 15 16
25 Chris Collingwood's current combo (4,4) please call S H A M T H E F E R N W E H
27 Mr Mustard's disposition (4) ALAN A H Y N D
28 According to The Doors, location where 17 18 19 20
she lives and lingers long (4,6) THOMAS S E T T L E M E N T Y O L K

on L E C A
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________________________________________________________________________________________________ 21 22 23 24 25
07830 P E A R Y O U R F R I E N D
Address
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or email A T T A C K T H E T I M E S
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