Tidy Tune 2019 #26/28 I Can't Resist - The Reaction (Mark Hollis R.I.P.)

I Can't Resist/I'm A Case - The Reaction 

Island Records 

Produced by Ed Hollis 

Released 1978

Listen To Both A and B-Sides Here:

Living In Another World (12" Extended Mix) - Talk Talk
EMI
Released March 1986
UK Chart #48

 Mark Hollis
4th January 1955 - 25th February 2019
Rest In Peace

Most people's introduction to Mark Hollis would have been via his band Talk Talk during the the 1980s but for some of us it came a few years earlier when his band The Reaction first appeared on vinyl performing 'Talk Talk Talk Talk'  on the Beggars Banquet compilation 'Streets' in 1977 along with a bunch of other punk/new wave rogues like The Art Attacks, The Drones, Slaughter and the Dogs, John Cooper Clarke, The Members, The Doll and The Lurkers.

His older brother, Ed Hollis was already involved in music particularly working alongside Eddie and the Hot Rods. The Reaction were very 60's influenced and it's no wonder a few Mods who sprung up in the Mod Revival frequently name their one and only single (which Ed produced)  'I Can't Resist' as a worthy catch.

After releasing the single the band went their separate ways and via his brother Ed, Mark met Simon Brenner, Lee Harris and Paul Webb, with whom he would form Talk Talk in 1981.

I must admit that I was not a huge Talk Talk fan (though I'm sure today you will find many articles or people on Social Media touting them as if they were the best thing since sliced bread, but in these matters it's always best to be honest. It was probably because they got lumped in with the New Romantics that I didn't take to them) but there were quite a few singles I enjoyed and listening back to them since I heard the news last night of his death I was amazed at how a few of them still hold some clout today ('It's My Life', 'Life's What You Make It' for example).

Our condolences to his family at this sad time.

In Memory of Pete Shelley (Buzzcocks) - 17th April 1955 - 6th December 2018

(Jackie Butler/Getty Images)

Lead Vocalist, Songwriter and Guitarist for the legendary Buzzcocks, Pete Shelley aged 63, passed away earlier today due to a suspected heart attack in Estonia where he has lived for the past number of years.

There's not an awful lot more information available at this time but I would like to extend my condolences to Pete's family, fellow Buzzcocks and along with them many friends who will be rocked by this sad news.

So as a tribute to Pete Shelley I thought I would post a few musical highlights from his days in Buzzcocks. I actually can't speak too much with regard to his Solo material as I only really knew a couple of songs so I'm sure you will forgive me for not touching on that particular area of his musical life. Click on the links below to listen to the most of the albums (and I'm sure you could find the self-titled one on Spotify or whatever your musical streaming preference is).

There were only nine studio albums by the band, three were released between 1978-1979 (Another Music in a Different Kitchen and Love Bites in '78 and A Different Kind of Tension in '79); the remaining six coming after their reformation in 1992 (Trade Test Transmissions in '93, All Set in '96, Modern in '99, Buzzcocks in 2003, Flat-Pack Philosophy in 2006 and then after a long wait of eight years their last studio album was The Way in 2014).

The S4L Top Ten

Buzzcocks songs written by Pete Shelley

I'm sure your Top Ten would probably be different but here's the ones that I love.

 

1. Moving Away From The Pulsebeat

2. What Do I Get?

3. Nostalgia

4. Ever Fallen In Love (With Someone You Shouldn't've)

5. I Believe

6. Keep On Believing

7. I Don't Mind

8. Fiction Romance

9. Love You More

10. Noise Annoys

B.B. King RIP

His old guitar Lucille sits silent on a guitar rest today as the sad news that Riley B. King has passed away aged 89 is echoed around the globe.

The King has fallen! Long Live the King!

Click on the links

 

 BBC Documentary The Life of Riley.

Alphabet Beats focus on B.B. King.

The Guardian Obituary.

 

Rewind: 1961 - Ben E King Releases his Debut Solo Album 'Spanish Harlem'

Released 1st May 1961

Atco Records

US Chart #57

UK Chart #30

Ben E. King passed away yesterday at the age of 76. What better tribute to pay the man to reflect upon the release of his Debut Solo album that was dispatched on this very day in 1961. The album was a Latin Soul project, a very interesting choice to go for with your Debut but it made the chart and laid the foundation for what was to follow. Later in 1961 he would have his biggest hit with Stand By Me, a song that generally most people associate with him even if they can't tell you any other song he recorded!

 Read The Guardian's Obituary Here.

    "Amor" (Gabriel Ruíz, Sunny Skylar, Ricardo López Méndez) - [3:02]
    "Sway" (Norman Gimbel, Gabriel Ruíz) - [2:18]
    "Come Closer to Me" (John Stewart, Osvaldo Farrés) - [2:35]
    "Perfidia" (Alberto Dominguez, Milton Leeds) - [2:04]
    "Granada" (Agustín Lara, Dorothy Dodd) - [2:27]
    "Sweet and Gentle" (George Thorn, Otilio del Portal, Martin Ledyard) - [2:24]
    "Perhaps, Perhaps, Perhaps" (Joe Davis, Osvaldo Farrés) - [2:12]
    "Frenesi" (Alberto Dominguez, Leonard Whitcup) - [3:09]
    "Souvenir of Mexico" (Mort Shuman, Doc Pomus) - [2:24]
    "Besame Mucho" (Sunny Skylar, Consuelo Velázquez) - [2:57]
    "Love Me, Love Me" (Ben E. King) - [2:37]
    "Spanish Harlem" (Jerry Leiber, Phil Spector) - [2:53]

Jack Ely - The Kingsmen RIP

Sad to hear the news of the passing of Jack Ely, frontman for The Kingsmen, famous of course for their rendition of 'Louie Louie' from 1963. Ely was 71 years old and died after a long illness.

The Story of the Recording of "Louie Louie"

On April 6, 1963, a rock and roll group from Portland, Oregon, called The Kingsmen, chose "Louie Louie" as their second recording, their first having been "Peter Gunn Rock". The Kingsmen recorded the song at Northwestern, Inc., Motion Pictures and Recording in Portland. The session cost $50, and the band split the cost. (On September 5, 2013, the city of Portland dedicated a plaque at the site, 411 SW 13th Avenue, to commemorate the event. An earlier version placed by the Oregon Historical Society had been stolen shortly after its dedication in 1993.)

The session was produced by Ken Chase. Chase was a local radio personality on the AM rock station 91 KISN and also owned the teen nightclub that hosted the Kingsmen as their house band. The engineer for the session was the studio owner, Robert Lindahl. The Kingsmen's lead singer Jack Ely based his version on the recording by Rockin' Robin Roberts with the Fabulous Wailers, unintentionally introducing a change in the rhythm as he did. "I showed the others how to play it with a 1–2–3, 1–2, 1–2–3 beat instead of the 1–2–3–4, 1–2, 1–2–3–4 beat that is on the (Wailers) record," recalled Ely. The night before their recording session, the band played a 90-minute version of the song during a gig at a local teen club.

The Kingsmen's studio version was recorded in one take. They also recorded the "B" side of the release, an original instrumental by the group called "Haunted Castle".

A significant error on the Kingsmen version occurs just after the lead guitar break. As the group was going by the Wailers version, which has a brief restatement of the riff two times over before the lead vocalist comes back in, it would be expected that Ely would do the same. Ely, however, overshot his mark, coming in too soon, before the restatement of the riff. He realized his mistake and stopped the verse short, but the band did not realize that he had done so. As a quick fix, drummer Lynn Easton covered the pause with a drum fill, but before the verse ended, the rest of the band went into the chorus at the point where they expected it to be. This error is now so embedded in the consciousness of some groups that they deliberately duplicate it when performing the song.

The Kingsmen transformed Berry's easy-going ballad into a raucous romp, complete with a twangy guitar, occasional background chatter, and nearly unintelligible lyrics by Ely. A chaotic guitar break is triggered by the shout, "Okay, let's give it to 'em right now!", which first appeared in the Wailers version, as did the entire guitar break (although, in the Wailers version, a few notes differ, and the entire band played the break). Critic Dave Marsh suggests it is this moment that gives the recording greatness: "[Ely] went for it so avidly you'd have thought he'd spotted the jugular of a lifelong enemy, so crudely that, at that instant, Ely sounds like Donald Duck on helium. And it's that faintly ridiculous air that makes the Kingsmen's record the classic that it is, especially since it's followed by a guitar solo that's just as wacky."

First released in May 1963, the single was initially issued by the small Jerden label, before being picked up by the larger Wand Records and released by them in October 1963. It entered the top ten on the Billboard Hot 100 chart for December 7, and peaked at number two the following week, a spot which it held for six weeks; it would remain in the top 10 through December and January before dropping off in early February. In total, the Kingsmen's version spent 16 weeks on the Hot 100. (Singles by the Singing Nun, then Bobby Vinton, monopolized the top slot for eight weeks.) "Louie Louie" did reach number one on the Cashbox pop chart for two weeks, as well as number one on the Cashbox R&B chart. It was the last #1 on Cashbox before Beatlemania hit the United States with "I Want to Hold Your Hand". The version quickly became a standard at teen parties in the U.S. during the 1960s, even reappearing on the charts in 1966.

The original version of "Louie Louie" appeared as a B-Side to "You Are My Sunshine", a 1957 single by Richard Berry and The Pharaohs.

Ever since the version by The Kingsmen has been released there have been masses of cover versions of the song. Here's just a few of them:

Here's a Few of Them!

Toots and the Maytals.

Iggy Pop.

Motörhead.

The Clash.

Bruce Springsteen and E Street Band.

Smashing Pumpkins.

The Kinks.

Led Zepplin.

The Sonics.

The Strypes.

Sandpipers.

Stanley Clarke and George Duke.

Black Flag. 

Joan Jett and the Blackhearts.

Flamin' Groovies.

Blondie.

Paul Revere and the Raiders.

MC5.
Swamp Rats.
Detroit7.
The Fall.
Patti Smith.
Jon the Postman.
Fat Boys.
The Cramps.
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers.
Johnny Thunders.
 Barry White!
Angry Samoans.
Otis Redding.

Percy Sledge: 25th November 1941 - 14th April 2015 The Forgotten One

When you talk about soul singers the usual suspects are listed as being among the greats: Otis Redding, James Carr, Wilson Picket, Solomon Burke, Clarence Carter, Ben E. King, Arthur Conely, Eddie Floyd, and not to forget Sam and Dave. Way down on the list would a man who sadly has been defined by one song, 'When A Man Loves A Woman', that man of course is Percy Sledge. Of course Sledge recorded more than the one song and here I am going to spotlight some of his music that others might not be aware of. Click on the links to enjoy the soulful sound of a departed legend.

News broke this afternoon that Percy Sledge, aged 73 had died as a result of Liver Cancer. He had surgery with regard to it in January 2014 and was back touring again soon after. He was playing up to a hundred shows a year in the USA, Africa and Europe.

He was born in Leighton, Alabama and grew up taking agricultural jobs in the fields of his hometown before getting a job as a hospital orderly in Sheffield, Alabama. During the mid-sixties he was touring as part of The Esquires Combo at the weekends and it was via a former patient and friend that he met record producer Quin Ivy who owned a Record Store and a Recording Studio and was a songwriter for the FAME Recording Studios alongside producer Rick Hall. Passing an audition for Ivy Sledge was offered a recording contract. 'When A Man Loves A Woman' was his first recording under the new contract and what an inspired choice for your first single that also became Atlantic Records' first Gold Disc and also it was also the first ever number one out of the whole Muscle Shoals Scene.

Several more hits followed but none of them as big as his first but they should not be discounted as less superior: 'Warm and Tender Love' (1966), 'It Tears Me Up' (1966), 'Baby, Help Me' (1967), 'Out of Left Field' (1967), 'Love Me Tender' (1967), 'Just Out Of Reach (of My Two Empty Arms)' (1967), 'Cover Me' (1967), 'Take Time To Know Her' (1968), 'Sudden Stop' (1968), 'I'll Be Your Everything' (1974), and loads of singles that didn't make the chart at all between 1969-73.

He also recorded more than a dozen albums and of course there are endless compilations available of his work. Here's a few links to spotlight some of his album work that are worth investigating further.

When A Man Loves A Woman. (1966 Atlantic Records)

Warm and Tender Soul (1966 Atlantic Records).

The Percy Sledge Way (1967 Atlantic Records).

Take Time To Know Her (1968 Atlantic Records).

My Special Prayer (1969 Atlantic Records).

Percy Sledge in South Africa (1970 Atlantic Records).

Sings Country (2008 Gusto Records)

Darren Murphy RIP - Wasted Youth

Was saddened to read the news of the passing of Darren Murphy, bassist of Wasted Youth. Classic Rock Magazine had a short paragraph about it stating that he had died on the 15th February 2012. Darren was 50 years old and died from Cancer.

Wasted Youth were on the scene between 1979-82

Debut Single 'Jealousy'

I'll Remember You

Rebecca's Room