S4L Radio: Show #7 Playlist

A couple of days after the last S4L Radio Playlist back in Mid-July I took a wee break from Social Media and from Blogging (it's a good thing to do from time to time) and so thought it was about time for a new S4L Radio Playlist today.

This Playlist includes a few things I've been listening to the past few weeks whilst I've been absent and is again a real mix of sounds and genres (because it's always good to be open minded rather than so narrow minded that you end up missing out on some quality music).  Stand by for some surprises!

Click on the various links below for more information or more music. Enjoy.

As the old song says, "I'm back to let you know I can really shake it down!" Enjoy.

The Playlist is at the bottom of the page as for some strange reason it didn't want to be saved any other place on this post!

On The Playlist

 

Radio Nowhere - Bruce Springsteen

The lead single from his 2007 album Magic and as is the custom with S4L Radio we begin we a song about the Radio!

Paranoiac Personality - Alice Cooper

Taken from his brand new album Paranormal. This track was issued as a 7" on Limited Edition White Vinyl (Ear Music) in Germany back in July. It features a live version of I'm Eighteen on the B-Side.

Marquee Sign - Sara Evans

Taken from her latest album Words (Born To Fly Records).

I love the opening words of the song:

"I wish you were a pack of cigarettes
Cause you would of come with a warning" - and then it goes off to describe the dangers of getting involved in a bad relationship.

I Gotta Praise - Paul Heaton + Jacqui Abbott

From their third and latest hit album Crooked Calypso. I could listen to Jacqui Barnes all day, such a tremendous voice and it weds well with Paul Heaton's. Another track on the album that I really like as well is She Got The Garden. Heaton has a great ability to turn the worst situtaions into finely crafted pop songs as he has done so in the past with both The Housemartins and The Beautiful South.

 Higher Ground - The Isley Brothers and Santana

Wow! That's what I thought when I first listened to Power of Peace album. It was just something out of this world and unexpectedly a fantastic collaboration. Their rendition of Stevie Wonder's Higher Ground I think sounds just incredible!

"The theme is spiritual divine medicine to counter the fever-pitch fear that’s permeating this planet right now," Santana told Billboard of the project in June. Recorded in Las Vegas in 2016, Power of Peace also features renditions of songs by The Chambers Brothers ("Love, Peace, Happiness") and Burt Bacharach ("What the World Needs Now Is Love Sweet Love"). "Every era has its song ... to help alleviate the condition of brutality and war."

Beautiful Day - Nichole Nordeman

Cover Version of U2's classic tune taken from her Capitol Records debut album (also released via Sparrow Records), her first proper studio album for 12 years! Hard to believe that! She has been writing books and recording various projects throughout the inbetween years as well as releasing The Unmaking EP in 2015. In the past she has also covered Peter Gabriel's In Your Eyes and Bob Dylan's Gotta Serve Somebody.

Oh Lord - In This Moment

From their latest album Ritual (Atlantic/Roadrunner Records). The album also contains their take on In The Air Tonight (Phil Collins) - not the usual type of song that Metal bands would attempt!

Less Than - Nine Inch Nails

First track from the Add Violence EP that was released 19th July 2017.

Apparently this is the second in a Triology of EP's (the first being released back in December 2016 entitled Not The Actual Events). Kory Grow of Rolling Stone gave the EP a positive review, saying, "[it] contains all the aggression, abjection and self-loathing that solidified [Reznor's] position as alt-rock's Original Angster but with the measured restraint of a man his age."

 It's a little different to what I expected, a bit light-weight musically to what Reznor usually puts out but quite captivating nevertheless.

Love - Lana Del Rey

Taken from her lastest #1 album Lust For Life (no, not the Iggy Pop song!) that was released 21st July 2017. Love was the lead song for the album (and was released in February 2017 as a Digital Download).

My mate James (of Devil's Witches fame) has always pestered me about listening to her and I have done so for the past couple of albums. It's not in my normal wheelhouse of things I play but I do have to say that I was quite taken by her voice.

Big Picture - London Grammar

Talking of things not in my usual wheelhouse, London Grammar are another band that I kind of stumbled across and instantly took a shine to Hannah Reid's vocal abilities. Big Picture features on their #1 album Truth Is A Beautiful Thing that was released in June 2017.

Situations - The Nomads

Found this on a recently obtained album Psychedelic States: Texas In The 60s Vol. 1. This was the B-Side of their only single release Three O'Clock Merrian Webster Time from 1968. This band hailed from Houston.

Yeah I Wanna Know - The Pastels

Another from the same album as The Nomads track and another band from Houston. The Pastels (or Charlie Romain and the Pastels as they were locally known) only ever released one single on the Push label, Weird Sounds / I Can Tell  in 1968.

My Only True Friend - Gregg Allman

Taken from his Posthumous album Southern Blood that is due out on 8th September 2017. The album is pretty much all cover versions with the exception of My Only True Friend which was penned by Allman and Scott Sharrard. As the album's opening song, My Only True Friend, carries themes of time running out. Allman repeats the lyric "I hope you're haunted by the music of my soul, when I'm gone" throughout the song. He co-wrote the song with his bandleader, Scott Sharrard, who secretly wrote the song in the voice of Gregg's late brother, Duane Allman, speaking to him.

Gregg passed away 27th May 2017.
 

Heroes - Motörhead

Another of the dearly departed, Lemmy,  also returns posthumously in the form of Under Cöver. The Motörhead album features a very interesting mix of Covers  from as early as 1992.

1. Breaking the Law (Judas Priest) 2008
2. God Save the Queen (The Sex Pistols) 2000
3. Heroes (David Bowie) 2015
4. Starstruck (Rainbow) 2014
5. Cat Scratch Fever (Ted Nugent) 1992
6. Jumpin’ Jack Flash (The Rolling Stones) 2001
7. Sympathy for the Devil (The Rolling Stones) 2015
8. Hellraiser (Ozzy Osbourne) 1992
9. Rockaway Beach (Ramones) 2002
10. Shoot ‘Em Down (Twisted Sister) 2001
11. Whiplash (Metallica) 2005

The album is due for release 1st September (tomorrow).

Goin' Down With The Ship - Michael Monroe

Taken from The Best (Spinefarm Records). I'm amazed that it's taken so long to put together a "Best of" by former Hanoi Rocks frontman Michael Monroe when you consider just how many compilations have been released of his former band! Whilst most of the material is gleaned from his solo career there are four tracks included from his Demolition23. project (which I still think sounds amazing).

Couples Vs Jobless Mid 30s - The Fall

It's hard to believe that New Facts Emerge is the 32nd album by The Fall! Since 1978 their have also been around 40 Compilations, 32 Live Albums, 13 EPS, and 46 Singles. Mark E. Smith continues to baffle at times as it's hard to make out what on earth he is on about but that's The Fall all over. As a band they are sounding as tight as ever (which is amazing when you consider how many members they have gone through in all the years they have been playing!).

Where Do We Go When We Go - Neck Deep

From their August released third album The Peace and The Panic (Hopeless Records) that reached #4 on the UK Charts. The Welsh Pop Punk band clearly demonstrating on this particular album some maturity in songwriting and as a group.

Gethsemene - Richard Thompson

Just so you can see what a wide variety of music I listen to (as if you haven't witnessed that already!) next up is English Folk Singer Richard Thompson. Folk is something that I never really listened to much of before and I certainly would never have found in my collection albums by Fairport Convention (of whom Thompson was a part of in their early days). A few years back one of my friends sent me some Richard Thompson albums as I had become enamoured by his guitar playing but had never really sat down and listened to any albums of his. I was immediately bowled over and to this day am always keen to discover any new music he puts out. The Acoustic Classics II is another dip into his back catalogue and presenting the songs in a more stripped down form (read Folk Radio's Review Here).

Ninety Nine and a Half (Just Won't Do) - Dr. Feelgood

The past couple of weeks I've been listening to a lot of the Feelgoods as I've been reading the Lee Brilleaux book. This particular track was recorded for a John Peel Session in September 1977 and was included on the Compilation BBC Sessions 1973-1978 that was released by Grand Records in 2001.

 The Parting Shot

 Bye Bye Johnny - Chuck Berry

I was going to end with maybe Wilko Johnson's version of the classic Chuck Berry song but didn't see it on anything official (here's a live version from Glasgow in 2015) as that would have been a great link to Dr. Feelgood that went before but you honestly can't beat the original (even Status Quo's version can't beat it!).

The Playlist