The Lurkers GLM

Now: Nigel Moore (Bass), Pete Stride (Guitar and Vocals), Peter "Esso" Haynes (Drums)

The Lurkers were nicknamed "The London Ramones" in their heyday and rightly so as like their counterparts on the other side of the pond they were delivering short, sharp and snappy Punk Pop Tunes a long time before the likes of Green Day, Blink 182 and a thousand and one other bands invented the term!

Back in 2012 I stumbled on an album by GLM (God's Lonely Men) called Chemical Landslide (you can hear a few tracks from it below). Much to my amazement I discovered that lively trio was none other than musical machine of one of my absolute favourite bands...yep, you guessed it...The Lurkers!

I'd often wondered what happened to them all. I knew that Pete "Esso" Haynes had been writing (he has a couple of wonderful little books out as well - check 'em out here) but had no idea what had happened to Pete Stride and Nigel Moore (and I think we need to send out a search party to discover exactly what corner of the world Howard Wall is in!).

So it was really great getting to hear them doing some new music that was absolutely nothing like The Lurkers of old, much heavier and darker.

Back in 2013 they spoke with LouderThanWar about the band and the new direction they were taking by writing songs that were more akin to the classic Lurkers sound, and it's funny because one of the particular songs they were talking about turns out to be the title track to their new album. It's actually been sitting around for a few years but finally they have someone to actually release it.

But the new album is actually very Limited Edition - 300 CD's and 333 Vinyl LP's. You can hear four tracks from the album down below.

It's interesting that they have reverted to using The Lurkers name again, especially as a certain bassist, Arturo Bassick has been out playing under the name of The Lurkers for many years now. Pete Stride said in a recent interview "as we are all the original members who created and named The Lurkers in the first place we feel that we are totally justified in using the name". You can read the interview with Pete Stride and Nigel Moore for Uber Rock Here.

For details on how to get the album Check Here.

Here's a Little Four Track Taster from the New Album:

The Future's Calling (2016)

The Lurkers GLM

Here's a few tracks from the Debut Album from GLM

Chemical Landslide (2012)

GLM (God's Lonely Men)

Then: Peter "Esso" Haynes (Drums), Nigel Moore (Bass), Pete Stride (Guitar) and Howard Wall (Vocals)

The S4L Top Ten
The Lurkers
10. Cyanide
09. Mass Media Believer
08. Then I Kicked Her
07. Take Me Back To Babylon
06. Freak Show
05. Little Ol' Wine Drinker Me
04. Total War
03. Shadow
02. Pills
01. Out In The Dark
 

Let The Day Begin...Let The Day Start!: Day 213 Fugazi

For Lily
New Jersey's Finest

 Steady Diet of Nothing - Fugazi

Dischord

Produced by Fugazi

Released July 1991
UK Charts #63

Track listing

(Lead vocals in parentheses)

1. "Exit Only" – 3:11 (Picciotto)
2. "Reclamation" – 3:21 (MacKaye)
3. "Nice New Outfit" – 3:26 (Picciotto)
4. "Stacks" – 3:08 (MacKaye)
5. "Latin Roots" – 3:13 (Picciotto)
6. "Steady Diet" – 3:42
7. "Long Division" – 2:12 (MacKaye)
8. "Runaway Return" – 3:58 (Picciotto)
9. "Polish" – 3:38 (MacKaye)
10. "Dear Justice Letter" – 3:27 (Picciotto)
11. "KYEO" – 2:58 (MacKaye)

Steady Diet of Nothing is the second Studio Album from Washington D.C. Post Hardcore band Fugazi.

It's quite staggering to think that Fugazi had been courted by many of the major labels but chose to stay independent with Dischord Records (a label that Ian MacKaye and Jeff Nelson had founded in order to release The Teen Idles EP Minor Disturbance back in 1980 of which they were members). The second album had Pre-Orders of over 160,000 - a number that would easily these days have given them a #1 Album!

Many fans consider Steady Diet of Nothing to be one of Fugazi's best releases, though the band themselves, who produced themselves for the first time see a number of issues with it. The album is often overlooked by the critics when looking at the career of the band - their loss but our gain!

It's quite a political record and you can understand why they chose to remain with Dischord because a major label would no doubt have tried to quash some of the overly political songs.

And so we end another month. No idea what's coming next but hopefully throughout the remainder of the year we'll get to share together some more amazing music.

Let The Day Begin...Let The Day Start!

Simplicity - The Bouncing Souls (29th July 2016)

Simplicity - The Bouncing Souls
Rise/Chunksaah
Produced by John Seymour
Released 29th July 2016

 (Photo by Danny Clinch)

It's been a four year wait for a new album from The Bouncing Souls and finally it's here...

The Tenth studio from New Jersey boys The Bouncing Souls was released yesterday and it's a bit like a step back in time to some of their earlier works (though at the same time still managing to sound current). They have even brought back Producer John Seymour who had produced their excellent How I Spent My Summer Vacation (2001) and Anchors Aweigh (2003).

It's the first album to feature George Rebello on drums (the former Hot Water Music drummer has been with the band since 2013).

Have only heard it a couple of times so far but it sounds pretty tidy to my old ears.

Let The Day Begin...Let The Day Start!: Day 212 Jimmy Cliff

Rebirth - Jimmy Cliff

Universal

Produced by Tim Armstrong

Released 16th July 2012

US Chart #76

UK Chart #83

Personnel
Vocals, percussion – Jimmy Cliff
Backing vocals – Aimee Allen, Ashli Haynes, Dash Hutton, Jean McClain, Jordis Unga, Nicki Bonner, Tim Hutton
Baritone saxophone, tenor saxophone, flute – James King
Bass guitar – J Bonner
Drums – Scott Abels
Lead guitar, rhythm guitar – Tim Armstrong
Organ – Dan Boer
Piano, guitar – Kevin Bivona
Saxophone – David Moyer, Liam Philpot
Trumpet, trombone – Jordan Katz, Michael Bolger

************************

Rebirth had been the first Jimmy Cliff album for eight years and hooking up with Tim Armstrong of Rancid had been a stroke of genius I reckon. A number of the songs on the album are Cliff originals written prior to entering the studio but once there he co-wrote Cry No More, Children's Bread, Reggae Music and Outsider with Armstrong and then there are cover versions of Guns of Brixton (The Clash), Ruby Soho (Rancid) and World Upside Down (a co-write with Jamaican artist Joe Higgs).

I had a lot of love for this album when it came out, and still do four years on. The album was nominated and won a Grammy for The Best Reggae Album, and rightly so I reckon.

Rolling Stone had it at #12 in their 50 Best Albums of 2012.

It's such a great album and it's no wonder pretty much all of the critics were high in praise for it (yes I know, they do get some things right every once in a while).

Let The Day Begin...Let The Day Start!

Mojo's 50 Greatest Reggae Albums

I was a little disappointed to discover that the 50 Greatest Reggae Albums that was being advertised in the latest issue of Mojo was in fact not new list at all but one dating back to 2002 and posted on the Mojo Website back in 2014.

That disappointment though got me looking afresh at their list and I thought I'd post their Top Ten and then look at some of the albums that clearly should have been higher and also a few of the albums that seem to be missing from their Top 50 (I realise that if you ask ten people what their Top 50 would be you are bound to get ten different answers and so the ones I think are missing and the placement of ones in Mojo's list is really just my own opinion). Click on the links to enjoy the music.

In case you missed it, back on the 7th July I posted my own Top 10 Reggae Albums  and interestingly only two of the albums that Mojo have in their Top Ten made mine!

Mojo's Top Ten

Greatest Reggae Albums

#10. War Ina Babylon - Max Romeo and The Upsetters (1976)

#9. FABulous Greatest Hits - Prince Buster (1967)

#8. African Dub All-Mighty Chapter 3 - Joe Gibbs (1976)

#7. 14 Dub Blackboard Jungle - The Upsetters (1973)

#6. Funky Kingston - Toots and The Maytals (1973)

#5. Heart of The Congos - The Congos (1977)

#4. Ska Boo-Da-Ba - The Skatalites (1966) - Not Complete Album

#3. The Harder They Come - Various Artists (1972)

#2. King Tubbys Meets Rockers Uptown - Augustus Pablo (1977)

#1. Catch A Fire - Bob Marley and the Wailers (1973)

Albums That Should Be Higher
#16. Two Sevens Clash - Culture (1977)
#17. Best Dressed Chicken in Town - Dr Alimantado (1978)
#22. Night Nurse - Gregory Issacs (1982)
#26. CB200 - Dillinger (1976)
#33. East of the River Nile - Augustus Pablo (1978)
#34. Right Time - The Mighty Diamonds (1976)
#39. Handsworth Revolution - Steel Pulse (1978)
#41. 1000 Volts of Holt - John Holt (1974)

What's Missing?
(Here's 21 albums just off the top of my head, I'm sure you could think of others)
M.P.L.A. - Tapper Zukie (1976)
Rastaman Vibration - Bob Marley and the Wailers (1976)
Natty Rebel - U-Roy (1976)
Under Heavy Manners - Prince Far I (1976)
Message From The King - Prince Far I (1978)
This is Desmond Dekker - Desmond Dekker (1969)
Forces of Victory - Linton Kwesi Johnson (1979)
Jacob "Killer" Miller - Jacob Miller (1977)
Police and Thieves - Junior Murvin (1977)
Red - Black Uhuru (1981)
Social Living - Burning Spear (1978)
Reggae Chartbusters Volume 1 - Various Artists (1969) 
Dread At The Controls - Mikey Dread (1979)
No Man Is An Island - Dennis Brown (1970)
Ska with Laurel - Laurel Aitken (1966)
Rebirth - Jimmy Cliff (2012)
Live at The Counter Eurovision 79 - Misty in Roots (1979)
Wise and Foolish - Misty in Roots (1982)
New Chapter of Dub - Aswad (1982)
Baldhead Bridge - Culture (1980) 
Roast Fish, Collie Weed & Cornbread - Lee Perry (1978)

Let The Day Begin...Let The Day Start!: Day 211 Patti Scialfa

Happy Birthday

Patti Scialfa

 Born On This Day

In 1953

I thought I'd dig out for today Patti's Debut Album Rumble Doll for your listening pleasure.

Patti is well known as Mrs Springsteen and a Member (though not regular) of The E Street Band and has been part of that since she was brought on board days before the kick off of the Born in the U.S.A. Tour in 1984.

Her own recording has been quite sporadic as the follow-up, 23rd Street Lullaby (Stumbling To Bethlehem is my favourite track off the album), didn't appear until 21 years after the Debut and her third album, Play It As It Lays (see Patti perform A Town Called Heartbreak - Here) was released in 2007. Maybe about time for a new one methinks.

Rumble Doll - Patti Scialfa

Columbia

Produced by Mike Campbell and Bruce Springsteen

Released 1993

Rumble Doll

All Songs Written By Patti Scialfa Except Where Noted

Tracklist

 01 - Rumble Doll
02 - Come Tomorrow
03 - In My Imagination
04 - Valerie
05 - As Long As I (Can Be With You)
06 - Big Black Heaven
07 - Loves Glory
08 - Lucky Girl (Patti Scialfa and Mike Campbell)
09 - Charm Light
10 - Baby Don´t
11 - Talk To Me Like The Rain
12 - Spanish Dancer

 Personnel
    Drums, Percussion: Zachary Alford, Kenny Aronoff, Bobbye Hall, Rob Jaczko, Jim Keltner, Russ Kunkel, Jeff Porcaro
    Drum Programming: Mike Campbell, Patti Scialfa
    Bass: Mike Campbell
    Keyboard Bass: Cliff Carter
    Keyboards: Roy Bittan, Patti Scialfa, Bruce Springsteen, Benmont Tench
    Guitars: Mike Campbell, Nils Lofgren, Tim Pierce, Bruce Springsteen
    Violin: Soozie Tyrell

Let The Day Begin...Let The Day Start!

Let The Day Begin...Let The Day Start!: Day 210 Nick Lowe (2)

16 All-Time Lowes - Nick Lowe

Demon Records

Released 1984

Don't need a special day to post good music and any day is a good day when it comes to the music of Nick Lowe.

Here's a kind of Best of Compilation from 1984 that contains 16 of his finest tunes! A nice mix of singles, B-sides and album tracks.  Enjoy.

Let The Day Begin...Let The Day Start!

Sandy Pearlman 8th August 1943 - 26th July 2016

Samuel C. "Sandy" Pearlman

8th August 1943 - 26th July 2016

Music Producer, Artist Manager, Poet, Songwriter, Record Excutive, Rock Music Critic and Professor

The second album by The Clash was produced by Sandy Pearlman.

 

Looking at all the things that Sandy Pearlman had been involved in throughout his life it's very easy to see why he was respected by many. The news of his passing will be such a great sadness to many who had the pleasure of crossing paths with him.

In 1967 he hand picked a number of musicians to play the music for some of the poetry that he had written whilst studying at the State University of New York at Stony Brook. The band was called The Soft White Underbelly. With Pearlman as their manager he had the longing that they would become like Black Sabbath. They became Blue Öyster Cult and under Pearlman's watch he produced or co-produced seven of their studio albums, four of their live albums.

Inbetween he had produced The Mahavishnu Orchestra (an interesting Jazz Fusion, Prog Rock meets Heavy Metal outfit) in 1973, and  Pavlov's Dog  in 1975 and 1976 (a Prog Rock band from St Louis).

He also produced one of my favourite albums by New York Proto-Punks The Dictators in 1975. There's so much on this album that clearly inspired bands like Ramones, the Dead Boys and Hanoi Rocks to name but a few.

In the late 1990s, Pearlman served as the founding vice-president of e-music.com, a subscription store for download-to-own online music and audiobooks that is headquartered in New York City and now owned by Dimensional Associates. eMusic was one of the first sites to sell music in the MP3 format, beginning in 1998. As of September 2008, eMusic had over 400,000 subscribers. He also served as vice-president of media development for MoodLogic.com, the first on-line music recommendation engine, from 2000-2003.

In 2009, Sandy Pearlman was appointed as an at-large member of the National Recording Preservation Board (NRPB) of the Library of Congress.

Pearlman was the Schulich Distinguished Chair of Music at McGill University in Montreal, specializing in the programs in music theory, sound recording and music technology; he later served as Centenary Fellow at the McLuhan Center for Culture and Technology at the University of Toronto. Additionally, he was a visiting lecturer at Harvard, Stanford, University of California Berkeley, UC Santa Cruz, and an invited speaker at the Mill Valley Film Festival, Future of Music Coalition, Canadian Music Week and SxSW Festivals. As a Professor and as a public speaker, Pearlman lectured on the architecture of the music industry, strategies for re-monetizing music downloads, and the history and future of music. He owned Alpha & Omega Recording, a 72-track analog recording facility in San Rafael, California.

Sandy Pearlman had been ill for sometime following a cerebral hemorrhage that left him unable to walk, talk or fully comprehend his surroundings. He passed away sometime yesterday morning.

He will be much missed.

Rewind: New York Dolls - New York Dolls (1973)

On this day  in musical history Mercury Records released the Debut Album from the New York Dolls.

Much maligned when it was released it is regarded these days as somewhat of a classic. It's one of those albums that surely inspired a lot of the early Punk bands and is considered to be one of the best Debut Albums ever.

The album was recorded over the space of eight days and the band had no real idea what they were going to do when they began recording and opted for songs that they considered had been received well during their live performances.

Although it was released in the States on this day back in 1973 here in the UK we would have to wait until 19th October 1973 for Mercury to release it here.

In a rave review for NME, Nick Kent said the band's raunchy style of rock and roll was vividly recorded by Rundgren on an album that, besides Iggy and the Stooges' Raw Power (1973), served as the only one "so far to fully define just exactly where 1970s rock should be coming from".



In 101 Albums That Changed Popular Music (2009), Chris Smith wrote that the New York Dolls pioneered punk's aesthetic of amateurish musicianship on the album, which undermined the musical sophistication that had developed over the past decade in popular music and had been perfected months earlier on Pink Floyd's The Dark Side of the Moon (1973). In The Guardian's list of "1000 albums to hear before you die", the newspaper credited the record for serving as "an efficacious antidote to the excesses of prog rock".


All songs except Pills (Bo Diddley) were written by the band and it's an album loaded with cracking tunes right from the off with Personality Crisis to the very end with Jet Boy. Many of the songs have been covered down down through the years I especially like Joan Jett's Personality Crisis and Sonic Youth also did a pretty tidy acoustic version of it as well. The Pastels did Lonely Planet Boy. Morrissey has done Trash in an almost Rockabilly style (he has also done Subway Train - a part of it anyway as an introduction to Everyday is Like Sunday and also Human Being from Too Much Too Soon), also The Panic Buttons released it. Dee Dee Ramone and The Lurkers had both done Pills inspired by the Dolls version. The New Bomb Turks have covered Bad Girl. Electric Frankenstein recorded Frankenstein (Orig) for their We Will Bury You Project.

 New York Dolls - New York Dolls

Mercury

Produced by Todd Rundgren
Released 27th July 1973
US Chart #116

Tracklist

A1 Personality Crisis
A2 Looking For A Kiss
A3 Vietnamese Baby
A4 Lonely Planet Boy
A5 Frankenstein (Orig.)
B1 Trash
B2 Bad Girl
B3 Subway Train
B4 Pills
B5 Private World
B6 Jet Boy

New York Dolls
    David Johansen – gong, harmonica, vocals
    Arthur "Killer" Kane – bass guitar
    Jerry Nolan – drums
    Sylvain Sylvain – piano, rhythm guitar, vocals
    Johnny Thunders – lead guitar, vocals

Additional personnel
Buddy Bowser – saxophone
Todd Rundgren – additional piano, Moog synthesizer
Alex Spyropoulos – piano

Singles on New York Dolls

Trash / Personality Crisis

Mercury

USA
Released: July 1973

Personality Crisis / Trash

Mercury

Sweden

1973

Jet Boy / Vietnamese Baby

Mercury

UK

November 1973

(Picture Cover from Netherlands Release)

Let The Day Begin...Let The Day Start!: Day 209 Sweet

The Ballroom Blitz & More Sweet Hits - Sweet

BMG (Australia)/Arista

Australian Chart #19

01. The Ballroom Blitz
02. Fox On The Run
03. Wig Wam Bam
04. Little Willy
05. Co-Co
06. Alexander Graham Bell
07. Funny Funny
08. The Sixteens
09. Lies In Your Eyes
10. Poppa Joe
11. Blockbuster
12. Hell Raiser
13. Teenage Rampage
14. Action
15. Peppermint Twist
16. Stairway To The Stars
17. Jeanie    
18. Chop Chop
19. Spotlight
20. Love Is Like Oxygen

*************************

Sweet (Left to Right)

Mick Tucker - Drums and Backing Vocals, Brian Connolly - Lead Vocals, Andy Scott - Guitars, Backing Vocals, Keyboards and Synthesisers, and Steve Priest - Bass and Backing Vocals

On this day in musical history The Sweet (as they were known up until the end of 1973) had their American and Canadian Debut released on Bell Records entitled The Sweet. In essence it was just a compilation of some singles and B-sides and a couple of other tracks thrown in for good measure. It peaked at #46 in Canada and #191 in the USA. The minimal chart success they had in both Canada and the US had come from Little Willy (#1 Canada and #3 US) and Blockbuster (#30 Canada, #73 US).

I was going to put together a playlist of the album but decided instead to provide another Compilation of music from Sweet, this time a 1992 album that was released in Australia that reached #19 in their charts. The reason for this particular choice was I was having a listen to it last night (I have no idea where I acquired the album from - maybe a charity shop) and I liked the great mix of songs that were on it.

Many of these songs were my favourites when I was a kid. Next to Slade, Sweet were my second favourite band. What was really amazing about Sweet though was that pretty much all their hit singles were penned by Nicky Chinn and Mike Chapman whilst most of the B-Sides were written by the band and they were very different to the Pop tunes they were having hits with, more rock and even heavy rock at times (especially from 1974 onwards)! They were also known not to play their hit singles in concert, resorting more to B-Sides and Album Tracks! This didn't always go down well with the fans!

These days though with the two versions of Sweet that are going around some of these classic songs can be heard. If you go on their Wikipedia page you can read about all of that!

I posted back in March this year about stumbling across their New York Connection album from 2012 that I did even know existed before. A really impressive album from the Andy Scott line-up of the band.

Let The Day Begin...Let The Day Start!

The Head Cat - Rock 'n' Roll Riot on the Sunset Strip (May 2016)

Rock 'n' Roll Riot on the Sunset Strip - The Head Cat

Released 11th May 2016

Get It Here!

Apologies for any bad language that can be heard in the following video!

Rockin' The Cat Club

Live on the Sunset Strip

The Head Cat

Setlist

01. Good Rockin' Tonight
02. Lawdy Miss Clawdy
03. Talkin' 'Bout You
04. Something Else
05. Reelin' And Rockin'
06. Fool's Paradise
07. Bye Bye Johnny
08. Sick And Tired
09. Bad Boy
10. Matchbox
11. Back In The USA
12. Baby What You Want Me Do?
13. Blue Suede Shoes

I had said in the previous post that I was going to be looking at something that I think shows Lemmy Kilmister in a better light than the new Live Album Clean Your Clock by Motörhead and this is it.

It was filmed and recorded originally back in 2004 but did not get released until 2006. The Audio of the show got issued back in May of this year (though I only recently stumbled upon it) though it had been released as a Limited Edition Vinyl along with the DVD of the show.

It's such a great set loaded with songs by Chuck Berry, Buddy Holly, Fats Domino and Eddie Cochran - probably the soundtrack to a young Lemmy's life.

 
Lemmy, Slim Jim Phantom and Danny B. Harvey are The Head Cat. When their debut album, Fools Paradise, was released back in 2006 very little notice of it seems to have been taken (you can listen to at the link near the bottom of this piece).

The second album contained a couple of original songs as well as some rock and roll classics. It's one of my favourite albums.

Walk The Walk...Talk The Talk - The Head Cat

Released 2011

Fools Paradise - The Head Cat (2006).

Lemmy reckoned that The Head Cat were not actually that much different from Motörhead and said in an interview with Classic Rock that he wanted to go out and tour properly with the band - "There's no reason why we can't aim to do an album a year. It's not as if we are short of songs to cover. There must be a 1,000 of them at least. And because hardly any are more than two minutes long there's no time for people to get bored. That's Rock 'n'Roll."

Let The Day Begin...Let The Day Start!: Day 208 Motörhead

Clean Your Clock - Motörhead

UDR

Produced by Motörhead

Released 10th June 2016

UK Chart #36

German Chart #2

Motörhead Personnel
    Lemmy Kilmister – lead vocals, bass
    Phil Campbell – lead guitar, backing vocals
    Mikkey Dee – drums

Some Footage from the DVD

Clean Your Clock

Clean Your Clock is the thirteenth Live Album release from Motörhead and was recorded on their last tour in November over two nights (21st and 22nd) at The Zenith in Munich.

I have a couple of reservations about this album. Firstly, the day after Motörhead had announced the death of Lemmy drummer Mikkey Dee had issued a statement of his own: "Motörhead is over, of course. Lemmy was Motörhead. We won't be doing any more tours or anything. And there won't be any more records. But the brand survives, and Lemmy lives on in the hearts of everyone." 

Did you notice that "And there won't be any more records" bit? I realise that UDR were in an interesting position and had not only recorded the two nights and filmed them but surely they must have wondered to themselves if the decision to release them was a good thing or not!

The second thing I have a concern about with regard to this album is: I'm not sure that this exactly how I wish to remember Lemmy Kilmister, as it is very apparent right from the start of the show that Lemmy is not on his best form vocally and seeing some of the film footage he was looking a shadow of his former self. Yes, the band sound pretty tight and play an interesting set (oddly enough featuring only one song from the latest album Bad Magic that had been released in August 2015), but Lemmy's vocals are pretty poor by his high standards. Personally speaking I would rather have settled for Bad Magic being the last thing released by the band than have to watch this performance. I have to say I felt very sad watching it, not just because the fact that he is no longer with us but because it is a poor reflection of the man he once was.

The vocals on the CD seem to be lacking the usual volume, maybe they have done this to try and disguise the fact that Lemmy seemed to be struggling.

I don't know what other fans of Motörhead think about this, I'd be interested to know.

The post that follows this one will maybe show a better way to remember Lemmy Kilmister at his best.

Let The Day Begin...Let The Day Start!

Let The Day Begin...Let The Day Start!: Day 207 CCR (2)

I posted about this particular album last year on this very day and make a small apology for doing so again. It's one of those albums that demands a hearing again and again.It was voted in 2003 at #265 on Rolling Stone magazine's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. But it really should have been higher than that I think. Ever since I first began really listening to Creedence Clearwater Revival this one has remained my favourite album of theirs.

As a kid I can always remember hearing CCR songs on the radio but it wasn't until the mid-eighties that I began really tracking down their albums. Cosmos Factory was the first one because Up Around The Bend was on it and I had loved the Hanoi Rocks cover for their Two Steps From The Move album. But the whole album is fantastic I think.

  Cosmo's Factory - Creedence Clearwater Revival
Fantasy (US)
Liberty (UK)
Released 25th July 1970
Produced by John Fogerty
US Chart #1
UK Chart #1
The Album was also #1in Australia, Canada, France and Norway.

 

Side One

 1. "Ramble Tamble"
2. "Before You Accuse Me" (Ellas McDaniel)
3. "Travelin' Band"
4. "Ooby Dooby" (Wade Moore, Dick Penner)
5. "Lookin' Out My Back Door"
6. "Run Through the Jungle"
Side Two        
1. "Up Around the Bend"
2. "My Baby Left Me" (Arthur Crudup)
3. "Who'll Stop the Rain"
4. "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" (Norman Whitfield, Barrett Strong)
5. "Long as I Can See the Light"

 

This was CCR's fourth Top Ten Album and their second Number One (Green River from 1969 had made it to the top in the US). It is by far the best album the band had ever made and it's popularity is such that in 1990 it had received the honour of going Four Times Platinum by selling Four Million copies. 

The title of the album is taken from the warehouse in Berkley where the band were rehearsing called "The Factory" by Drummer Doug Clifford because it was the place everyday John Fogerty made the band practise.

 

Three Double A-Sided Singles were taken from the album (though two of them were released prior to the album in January and April of 1970). They had to be Double A-Sides because when you see the songs there is no way any of them could ever be a B-Side!

Travelin' Band / Who'll Stop the Rain

(January 1970 US Chart #2, UK Chart #8)

Up Around the Bend / Run Through the Jungle

(April 1970 US Chart #4, UK Chart #3)

Lookin' Out My Back Door / Long As I Can See the Light

(July 1970 US Chart #2 UK Chart #2)

Let The Day Begin...Let The Day Start!

The Soundtrack4Life Concert Series: Go-Go's

Why not indluge in a double bill from New Wave Popsters the Go-Go's. Two shows twenty years apart featuring the classic line-up of the band that appeared on the debut album Beauty and the Beat.

First up Totally Go-Go's that was released on video way back in 1981 (does contain some interview segments). Followed by a performance at Central Park, New York in 2001.

Totally Go-Go's

1981

Live in Central Park

2001

The Go-Go's will be heading out for an 18 Date Farewell Tour. The band features four of the Classic Go-Go's Line Up: Jane Wiedlin, Gina Schock, Belinda Carlisle and Charlotte Caffey.

Kathy Valentine is absent from the Go-Go's for the Farewell Tour after departing the band in 2013 (having played her final show in 2012) and launching a lawsuit against her former group (which was settled out of court in 2014).

Dates for the  Go-Go's Farwell Tour Starting in August 2016 Can Be Found

HERE.

Let The Day Begin...Let The Day Start!: Day 206 - Go-Go's

Beauty and the Beat, the debut album from the Go-Go's spent 6 weeks at the #1 spot in the USA in 1982 and sold in excess of two million copies. For a band who had begun life as part of the L.A. Punk Scene this was quite remarkable. Between their formation in 1978 and the release of the album they had drifted away from their early punk leanings to a more New Wave sound, the Poppier end of New Wave.

I have some bootlegs of theirs from the early days and it's interesting to see how they developed. You can have a listen to a few of the early songs on this great Compilation Go-Go's: Best In (Live) Show 1978-2006 - Click Here. They were playing many of the seminal Punk Venues at the time like the Whisky A Go Go and The Masque.

Belinda Carlise and Jane Wiedlen are the two remaining founder members of the original line-up in 1978, with Charlotte Caffey joining later that year on Keyboards and Lead Guitar. Gina Schock would join in 1979 on Drums and Kathy Valentine in 1980 on Bass (an instrument that she had not played before!) and thus came the classic line up of the band.

Band members
    Belinda Carlisle – lead vocals
    Charlotte Caffey – lead guitar, keyboards, backing vocals
    Gina Schock – drums, percussion
    Kathy Valentine – bass, backing vocals
    Jane Wiedlin – rhythm guitar, vocals

They got a break supporting Madness in Los Angeles and then again on various dates in England. Their demo for We Got The Beat was issued as a single on their touring partner's label Stiff Records.

In April 1981 they signed with I.R.S. Records and they exploded with Our Lips Are Sealed becoming a Top 20 hit followed in January 1982 by a re-recorded version of We Got The Beat that eventually peaked at #2 for three solid weeks. It was kept off the top of the charts by a certain young lady called Joan Jett and her Blackhearts with I Love Rock and Roll.

Now, I have to say this, because it gets mentioned a lot in various bios etc that I have read of the Go-Go's, they are often hailed because they were one of the first All-Female bands to have a major hit album, who not only wrote their own material but played all the instruments on their recordings. I feel this does a great diservice to many of the other All-Female bands who were out and about around the same time as if they do not matter as much because they didn't have hit records! Off the top of my head I can think of a few All-Female bands who were just as classy: The Slits, Girlschool, The Bangles (who formed in 1981) and The Raincoats (and not forgetting the likes of The Runaways who were still around when the Go-Go's formed and are to be considered as trailblazers for All-Female Rock and Roll bands).

Beauty and the Beat - Go-Go's

I.R.S.

Produced by Richard Gottehrer and Rob Freeman

Released July 1981

US Chart #1

Singles from Beauty and the Beat

    "We Got the Beat" / "How Much More"

Stiff Records
    Released: May 1980

Our Lips Are Sealed/We Got The Beat

American Bandstand 1982

    "Our Lips Are Sealed" / "Surfing and Spying"
    Released: July 1981

US Chart #20

UK Chart #47

 "We Got the Beat" / "Can't Stop the World" (US Release) / "Skidmarks On My Heart" (UK Release)
    Released: January 1982

US Chart #2

    "Automatic" / "Tonite"
    Released: February 1982

Let The Day Begin...Let The Day Start!