The Beat is Dead - Nina Diaz (October 2016)

The Beat is Dead - Nina Diaz

Cosmica Records
Produced by Nina Diaz and Manuel Calderon

Released 28th October 2016

Click on the Links to hear more from Nina Diaz

The links are not necessarily the versions that appear on the album but are live performances from various places. Trick Candle and Screaming Without Sound are the album versions.

 Tracklist

1. Trick Candle

2  Queen Beats King    
3  Rebirth    
4  January 9th    
5  Fall In Love    
6  Young Man    
7  It 
8  Screaming Without A Sound  
9  Down    
10 Dig    
11 Star    
12 For You

NPR Tiny Desk Concert.

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

A couple of weeks back I posted about Sum 41 and Deryck Whibley's road to recovery and sobriety and mentioned about how tough it must be dealing with it in the full glare of the public eye. It seems that Nina Diaz, front woman of Girl In A Coma (though she stepped away from the band in 2014 whilst she began writing for her solo record) is doing the same thing.

Nina Diaz began her musical life in San Antonio, Texas Indie band Girl In A Coma just as she reached her Teen Years and there fell into a life of Alcohol and then Drug Abuse. Have a read of Nina's Bio on her own Website as it will tell it better than I could. The band got a real kickstart by signing to Blackheart Records and released four albums between 2007 - 2011.

I like the fact that she says, "This album is the story of my addiction and my sobriety," and I hope that as each new day comes her way that she will find herself living more in the moment of her sobriety and enjoying the new sense of focus of mind and heart and becoming more naturally confident in the abilities that she has as a songwriter and as a performer. Each new day is a step further away from a past that often brought trouble and the best way to continue that is one foot in front of the other and move forward rather than backwards.

As someone who is now 9,977 days on that same journey I am glad to support another fellow traveler as she makes her way into new experiences and new paths that she might never have taken had she remained stuck in her addictions.

Heroes (11th January 2016).

Let The Day Begin...Let The Day Start!: Day 305 - Johnny Marr

Adrenalin Baby Live - Johnny Marr

New Voodoo / Warner Bros.

Produced by Johnny Marr and Doviak

Released 9th October 2015

UK Chart #96

Tracklist

A1 Playland    
A2 The Right Thing Right    
A3 Easy Money    
A4 25 Hours    
B1 New Town Velocity    
B2 The Headmaster Ritual    
B3 The Messenger    
B4 Back In The Box    
C1 Generate! Generate!    
C2 Bigmouth Strikes Again    
C3 Boys Get Straight    
C4 Candidate    
D1 Getting Away With It    
D2 There Is A Light That Never Goes Out    
D3 Dynamo    
D4 I Fought The Law    
D5 How Soon Is Now?

Musicians
    Johnny Marr – vocals, guitars 

   James Doviak – keyboards, guitars, backing vocals

    Iwan Gronow – bass, backing vocals
    Jack Mitchell – drums

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

Happy Birthday

Johnny Marr

Born on this day in 1963

Adrenalin Baby was recorded on the Playland Tour in 2014 and is drawn from shows at the Manchester Apollo, Glasgow Academy and Brixton Academy. It features songs from both his Solo albums - The Messenger (2013) and Playland (2014) - as well as songs four songs from the catalogue of The Smiths, one from Electronic and a cover of I Fought the Law.

Since The Smiths he has often found himself in demand and has contributed to many records by a wide variety of artists including Kirsty MacColl, Billy Bragg, Petshop Boys, Oasis, Bryan Ferry, Black Grape, Talking Heads, Beck, Crowded House, and Noel Gallagher's Flying Birds to name but a few.  He has also had spells with various bands including The The with Matt Johnson, a short spell with The Pretenders, Modest Mouse, The Cribs, Electronic, 7 Worlds Collide as well as fronting his own band Johnny Marr and The Healers. His gift has also been made use of with regard to contributions to the Soundtrack for Inception and The Amazing Spider-Man 2.

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

Give Daddy The Knife Cindy - Naz Nomad & the Nightmares (1984)

 Give Daddy The Knife Cindy - Naz Nomad & the Nightmares

Big Beat

Produced by Herb Fenstein

Released 1984

You can listen to the Originals in the links below.

Side One
  A1  "Nobody But Me" – (The Human Beinz cover)
  A2  "Action Woman" – (The Litter cover)
  A3  "The Wind Blows Your Hair" – (The Seeds cover)
  A4  "Kicks" – (Paul Revere and the Raiders cover)
  A5  "Cold Turkey" – (Big Boy Pete cover)
  A6  "She Lied" – (Rockin' Ramrods cover)

Side Two
  B1  "I Had Too Much To Dream (Last Night)" – (The Electric Prunes cover)
  B2  "The Trip" – (Kim Fowley cover)
  B3  "I Can't Stand This Love, Goodbye" – (The Others cover)
  B4  "I Can Only Give You Everything" – (Them cover)
  B5  "(Do You Know) I Know"
  B6  "Just Call Me Sky"

Who Were Naz Nomad & the Nightmares?

Dave Vanian as Naz Nomad – vocals
Roman Jugg as Sphinx Svenson – guitars; also as Ulla – keyboards
Rat Scabies as Nick Detroit – drums
Bryn Merrick as Buddy Lee Junior – bass
Donagh O'Leary as Pretty Boy Padovani for 1992 live performances

Single on Give Daddy The Knife Cindy

 Big Beat 

Released 23rd March 1984

A-Side

I Had Too Much To Dream Last Night

B-Side

Cold Turkey

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

In 1982 The Damned had released their Strawberries album on Bronze Records (their only album for the label). Captain Sensible had, by hook and by crook no doubt, become a "credible" solo artist making it to #1 for two weeks with his take on Happy Talk backed by Dolly Mixture! He was on the Strawberries album, though he would leave the band to focus on his Solo career after the tour had finished and played his "final show" (at least for a couple of years) at Brockwell Park in Herne Hill, London on 4th August 1984.

He did appear on the Thanks For The Night single before his departure and that was released in May 1984 and also on their performance as part of The Young Ones series for the BBC playing Nasty.

Inbetween Strawberries, Thanks For The Night and Captain's solo commitments, the remaining members of The Damned continued to make music under the banner of Naz Nomad & the Nightmares and they would release a one-off album and single on Big Beat Records that featured Cover Versions of 1960s Garage Rock songs as well as two originals.

One of things I really love about an album like this is that it leads you back to some amazing music that's maybe not as well known as it should be. I can remember years before hearing some of those Pebbles albums and thinking that there was so much cool music around when the likes of The Beatles and the Stones were tearing up the charts that seemed to go totally unnoticed (not everything on those albums was brilliant by the way, some of it is a bit too trippy for my tastes).

Naz Nomad & the Nightmares did a great job of bringing these songs up-to-date and giving them a fresh lease of life. I sure that many of the writers would have been thrilled to see their labour twenty odd years later still being performed.

The way the album looked was to give a bit of a 60s feel as a "soundtrack" to a fictious low budget horror movie with actors names on the front cover, along with Director and Producer.

It was fun sitting down and listening to this one again (it's been a long time!). Ever since it was first released in 1984 I've sought out many Garage Rock Collections for myself and it's always a delight when you find tracks that really blow you away by some "unknown Garage band" that were originally released on small labels in the States and beyond.

The year following this album The Damned (minus Captain Sensible) signed with MCA Records and would enjoy a new bout of success with the Phantasmagoria album and some hit singles from it including Grimly Fiendish, Shadow of Love and Is It A Dream.

Let The Day Begin...Let The Day Start!: Day 304 - Pulp

 Different Class - Pulp

Island Records

Produced by Chris Thomas

Released 30th October 1995

UK Chart #1

Personnel
Pulp:
    Jarvis Cocker – vocals, Vox Marauder guitar, Ovation 12 string guitar, Sigma acoustic guitar, Roland Vocoder Plus VP-330, Roland SH-09, Mellotron, Micromoog, Synare
    Russell Senior – Fender Jazzmaster guitar, violin
    Candida Doyle – Farfisa Compact Professional II organ, Ensoniq ASR 10, Korg Trident II, Minimoog, Fender Rhodes piano, Roland Juno 6, Roland SH-09
    Steve Mackey – Musicman Sabre bass
    Mark Webber – Gibson ES 345 guitar, Gibson Les Paul guitar, Gibson Firebird guitar, Sigma acoustic guitar, Casio Tonebank CT-470, Fender Rhodes piano, Roland Juno 6
    Nick Banks – Yamaha drums, Zildjian cymbals, percussion

Additional musicians:
    Matthew Vaughan – programming
    Olle Romo – programming
    Anthony Genn – additional programming
    Mark Haley – additional programming
    Chris Thomas – additional guitar and keyboards
    Anne Dudley – orchestral arrangement and conducting
    Gavyn Wright – orchestra leader

Singles on Different Class

    Common People (Full Length Version) / Underwear / Common People (7" Edit)
    Released: 22 May 1995
UK Chart #2

  

Mis-Shapes / Sorted for E's & Wizz
    Released: 25 September 1995
UK Chart #2 

Disco 2000 (7" Mix)  / Disco 2000 (Album Mix) / Ansaphone / Live Bed Show (extended)
    Released: 27 November 1995
UK Chart #7  

    Something Changed / Mile End (From the Film Trainspotting) / F.E.E.L.I.N.G.C.A.L.L.E.D.L.O.V.E (The Moloko mix) / F.E.E.L.I.N.G.C.A.L.L.E.D.L.O.V.E (live at the Brixton Academy)
    Released: 25 March 1996
UK Chart #10

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

Different Class was the fifth Studio Album from Pulp. It took a long time for Pulp to get major success having been formed in Sheffield in 1978, doing their first John Peel Session in in 1981, releasing their Debut Single (My Lighthouse / Looking For Life) in 1981 to having their first Charting Single in 1993 (Razzmatazz / Stacks / Inside Susan / 59 Lyndhurst Grove - reached #80) and their first Charting Album  in 1994 (their fourth Studio Album His 'n' Hers - peaked at #9), their first Top Twenty Single (The Sisters EP in 1994 reached #19).

Different Class seemed to elevate them into a different league altogether starting with the two massive hit singles that both just missed out on the #1 spot - Common People* (May 1995) and E's & Wizz** (September 1995) - peaking at #2.

(* This is the John Peel Session Version & ** This is the Live version from Glastonbury in 1995)

They won the 1996 Mercury Music Prize and Different Class has sold enough to be classified as a four times Platinum album! In 2013, NME ranked the album at number 6 in its list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.

PopMatters retrospective review in 2004 opined that "nearly nine years after its release, Different Class has aged very well, possessing that timeless quality that is present in all classic albums, but is still obviously a product of its time, a snapshot of mid-'90s life in the UK. Along with Blur's Parklife, it remains the high point of the Britpop era; music, lyrics, production, artwork, it's as perfect as it gets."


One of my favourite Cover Versions has to be William Shatner's take on Common People from his Has Been album and released as a Single in 2004.
 

 

 

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

Let The Day Begin...Let The Day Start!: Day 303 - Blur

Parklife - Blur

Food Records

Produced by Stephen Street, Stephen Hague, John Smith and Blur

Released 25th April 1994

UK Chart #1 

A1 Girls & Boys    
A2 Tracy Jacks    
A3 End Of A Century    
A4 Parklife (with Phil Daniels)   
A5 Bank Holiday    
A6 Badhead    
A7 The Debt Collector    
A8 Far Out    
B1 To The End    
B2 London Loves    
B3 Trouble In The Message Centre    
B4 Clover Over Dover    
B5 Magic America    
B6 Jubilee    
B7 This Is A Low    
B8 Lot 105

Singles on Parklife

    Girls & Boys / Magpie / People In Europe
    Released: 7 March 1994

UK Chart #5

    To the End / Threadneedle Street / Got Yer!
    Released: 30 May 1994

 UK Chart #16

    Parklife / Beard / To The End (French Version)
    Released: 22 August 1994

 UK Chart #10

    End of a Century / Red Necks / Alex's Song
    Released: 7 November 1994

 UK Chart #19

**************** 

Despite reaching #15 on the UK Album Chart sales of Modern Life Is Rubbish had been considered to be quite poor and so for Blur their third Studio Album was going to be a vital one.

Wrting and demoing began not long after the sessions for Modern Life is Rubbish were complete and once recorded was presented to the label. The band were very happy with the album but label owner Dave Balfe was disappointed with it telling the band's management, "This is a mistake". Some "mistake" eh? A #1 album that has gone Platinum in the UK four times, four Top Twenty hit singles - I think most labels would take that "mistake" as a real victory!

The album actually debuted at #1 and stayed on the charts for 90 weeks!

It is deemed as one of the classic albums of Britpop and is regarded by some as their finest album (I think that myself).

Why am I posting about it today? Well, I woke up to the sound of my alarm today with the song Parklife and thought as I hadn't done a piece of the album before I'd include it today.

 

   

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

Let The Day Begin...Let The Day Start!: Day 302 - Neil Young

Decade - Neil Young

Reprise Records

Produced by Neil Young, Elliot Mazer, Tim Mulligan, and David Briggs

Released 28th October 1977

US Chart #43

UK Chart #46

    

Missing on the Playlist above is Deep Forbidden Lake and Campaigner.

Original Tracklisting
All songs written by Neil Young.

Side one
   01. "Down to the Wire" – 2:28
        Previously unreleased (1977); performed with Buffalo Springfield members Stephen Stills and Richie Furay along with Dr. John; planned for inclusion on the unreleased album Stampede
    02. "Burned" – 2:15
        Performed by Buffalo Springfield; appears on the album Buffalo Springfield (1966)
    03. "Mr. Soul" – 2:48
        Performed by Buffalo Springfield; recorded live in the studio in New York City, New York, with guitar overdubs added subsequently; appears on the album Buffalo Springfield Again (1967)
   04. "Broken Arrow" – 6:11
        Performed by Buffalo Springfield; appears on the album Buffalo Springfield Again
    05. "Expecting to Fly" – 3:45
        Appears on the album Buffalo Springfield Again but no band member other than Neil Young appears on the track
    06. "Sugar Mountain" – 5:43
        Recorded live in concert on November 10, 1968 at the Canterbury House, Ann Arbor, Michigan; released as the B-side to "The Loner", February 21, 1969

Side two
    01. "I Am a Child" – 2:17
        Appears on the Buffalo Springfield album Last Time Around (1968) but features no members of the band other than Neil Young and drummer Dewey Martin
    02. "The Loner" – 3:50
        Appears on the album Neil Young (1968)
    03. "The Old Laughing Lady" – 5:59/5:38**
        Appears on the album Neil Young (** - Edited version on 1990 CD reissue)
    04. "Cinnamon Girl" – 2:59
        Performed by Neil Young & Crazy Horse; appears on the album Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere (1969)
    05. "Down by the River" – 9:16/9:00**
        Performed by Neil Young & Crazy Horse; appears on the album Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere

Side three
    01. "Cowgirl in the Sand" – 10:01
        Performed by Neil Young & Crazy Horse; appears on the album Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere
    02. "I Believe in You" – 3:27
        Performed by Neil Young & Crazy Horse; appears on the album After the Gold Rush (1970)
    03. "After the Gold Rush" – 3:45
        Appears on the album After the Gold Rush
    04. "Southern Man" – 5:31
        Appears on the album After the Gold Rush
    05. "Helpless" – 3:34
        Performed by Crosby, Stills, Nash &Young; appears on the album Déjà Vu (1970)

Side four
    01. "Ohio" – 2:56
        Performed by Crosby, Stills, Nash &Young; released as a single, June 1970 and later appeared on So Far, 1974
    02. "Soldier" – 2:28
        Edited version originally from the album Journey Through the Past (1972)
    03. "Old Man" – 3:21
        Appears on the album Harvest (1972)
    04. "A Man Needs a Maid" – 3:58
        Appears on the album Harvest
   05.  "Harvest" – 3:08
        Appears on the album Harvest
    06. "Heart of Gold" – 3:06
        Appears on the album Harvest
    07. "Star of Bethlehem" – 2:46
        Appears on the album American Stars 'n Bars (1977); originally recorded in November 1974

Side five
    01."The Needle and the Damage Done" – 2:02
        Recorded live in concert on January 30, 1971 at the Royce Hall, University of California, Westwood, Los Angeles, California; appears on the album Harvest
    02. "Tonight's the Night" (Part 1) – 4:41
        Appears on the album Tonight's the Night (1975); originally recorded in 1973
    03. "Tired Eyes" – 4:33
        Appears on the album Tonight's the Night
    04. "Walk On" – 2:40
        Appears on the album On the Beach (1974)
    05. "For the Turnstiles" – 3:01
        Appears on the album On the Beach
    06. "Winterlong" – 3:05
        Previously unreleased; appeared on certain acetate pressings of Tonight's The Night
    07. "Deep Forbidden Lake" – 3:39
        Previously unreleased

Side six
    01. "Like a Hurricane" – 8:16
        Performed by Neil Young & Crazy Horse; previously unreleased (but originally recorded in November 1975); different lead vocal dub than version on American Stars 'n Bars (Regular version on 1990 reissue CD)
    02. "Love Is a Rose" – 2:16
        Previously unreleased
    03. "Cortez the Killer" – 7:29
        Performed by Neil Young & Crazy Horse; appears on the album Zuma (1975)
    04. "Campaigner" – 3:30
        Previously unreleased
    05. "Long May You Run" – 3:48
        Performed by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young; previously unreleased; original mix (without Crosby and Nash) appears on the Stills-Young Band album Long May You Run (1976)

Singles taken from Decade

 A-Side: Sugar Mountain

Recorded Live at The Cantebury House, Ann Arbor, Michigan 1968

B-Side: The Needle and The Damage Done

Canadian/US Single

Did Not Chart

Recorded Live at University of California 1971

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

Decade was the first and is probably the best compilation of Neil Young's material. The album was compiled by Young himself and was drawn from albums released between 1968 - 1977. A planned Decade II was shelved in favour of Young's own planned mammoth Archive  Vol. 1 set that was released in 2009 and spotlighted 1963 - 1972.

Besides his own Solo material there are songs from Buffalo Springfield, Neil Young & Crazy Horse, Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, and the Stills - Young Band represented on the album. Two albums in particular were not not mined for songs for this Decade set - the 1973 live album Time Fades Away and 4 Way Street by Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young. 

This album contains a good number of my favourite Neil Young songs.

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

Let The Day Begin...Let The Day Start!: Day 301 - Motörhead

Bomber - Motörhead

Bronze

Produced by Jimmy Miller

Released 27th October 1979

UK Chart #12

Motörhead
    Lemmy Kilmister – lead vocals, bass
    "Fast" Eddie Clarke - guitar, backing vocals, lead vocals on "Step Down"
    Phil "Philthy Animal" Taylor - drums

Single on Bomber

A-Side Bomber

Released December 1979

UK Chart #34

B-Side: Over The Top.

Was released in Blue Vinyl

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

Bomber

TV Performance 1979

Motörhead are one of those bands that were loved by Rockers and Punks and a lot of that probably had to do with Lemmy's embracing of bands like Ramones and The Damned.

Bomber was their third studio album and their second of 1979 (Overkill had been released in March and reached #24 in the album charts). Lemmy had thought that if the band had the opportunity to road test these songs before recording them the album might have been better, but nevertheless the album became their highest placed of their first three long players reaching #12.

Producer was Jimmy Miller who had worked with the Rolling Stones between 1968-73. He was let go by them due to his heroin habit. So Bomber was a bit of a comeback for him but it wasn't too long before he was back on the smack! It's interesting that the opening song on the album, Dead Man Tell No Tales, is specifically an anti-heroin song!

Critics felt that the songs on the album weren't as strong as those on Overkill but there's a few on it that are considered classics by Motörhead fans (Stone Dead Forever, Dead Men Don't Tell Tales and Bomber in particular).

The title track was recorded by Girlschool in 1981 and released on the  The St. Valentine's Day Massacre EP.

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

Natalie Merchant - Happy Birthday

 

(Photo by Dan Winters)

Happy Birthday to Natalie Merchant who was born on this day in 1963.

Hard Rock Live

6th March 1993

10,000 Maniacs & Natalie Merchant Playlist

Where I Go

Live on The Andrew Marr Show

(BBC TV)

Aquostic II - That's A Fact! - Status Quo (October 2016)

Aquostic II – That’s A Fact!  - Status Quo

Fourth Chord Records Ltd

Released 21st October 2016

Deluxe Version

Deluxe Edition 
CD1

1. That's A Fact
2. Roll Over Lay Down
3. Dear John
4. In The Army Now
5. Hold You Back
6. One For The Road
7. Backwater
8. One Of Everything
9. Belavista Man
10. Lover Of The Human Race
11. Ice In The Sun
12. Mess Of The Blues
13. Jam Side Down
14. Resurrection
15. Lies
16. Little Dreamer
17. Living On An Island
18. Is Someone Rocking Your Heart?
19. Rockers Rollin'

Deluxe Edition CD 2 [Live In Stuttgart]
01. And It's Better Now
02. Pictures Of Matchstick Men
03. Don't Drive My Car
04. Claudie
05. Whatever You Want
06. Rocking All Over The World

The album is also released as a 14 track CD and a 20 Track Double Vinyl Album (Which includes For You which is not on the CD).

Aquostic II – That’s A Fact! - Standard Edition
01. That’s A Fact
02. Roll Over Lay Down
03. Dear John
04. In The Army Now
05. Hold You Back
06. One For The Road [New Song]
07. Backwater
08. One Of Everything [New Song]
09. Belavista Man
10. Lover Of The Human Race
11. Ice In The Sun
12. Mess Of The Blues
13. Jam Side Down
14. Resurrection

Status Quo

Aquostic Live in Hyde Park
for BBC Radio 2

11th September 2016

 Setlist

 1. Pictures Of Matchstick Men
2. Paper Plane
3. Caroline
4. What You're Propsin'
5. Claudie
6. That's A Fact
7. Hold you Back
8. Rollin' Home
9. Down Down
10. Whatever You Want
11. Rockin' All Over The World
12. Burning Bridges

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

The first Aquostic album from Status Quo was a real surprise and actually quite brilliant. It was strange hearing them in this way (not that they hadn't done acoustic driven songs before because they had) for a complete album and live. It showed that there was more to the Quo than the 12 Bar Boogie that was often their lot.

With the news that they are out on the road under the banner of The Last Night Of The Electrics Tour one is left to ponder what future Quo shows will be like. Rick Parfitt, due to health issues is not on the road but is still involved in other capacities. They are off to Australia in 2017 and will be performing their Aquostic material.

The second Aquostics album was released five days ago and once again opinion is divided with some saying it's "just a Francis Rossi solo album" (there's a few reviews on Amazon that are saying that) and others are more welcoming (Read Dave Wilson's review for Get Ready To Rock!).

I understand that some might be upset with the style of songs like Roll Over Lay Down, Dear John, Backwater (which I'm more used to hearing Alan Lancaster singing), but I guess that they are so new to our ears that they take a bit of getting used to.

Whilst not as strong as the first Aquostic - Stripped Bare album Aquostics II - That's A Fact! does have some good moments. Some interesting string arrangements turn up in unexpected places like That's A Fact that first appeared on the Blue For You album and Hold You Back (which was on the Rockin' All Over The World album) which when it starts you think it sounds like a mad folk song!

All in all it's not a bad album but you'll have to get used to this sound because this might just be what the Status Quo of the future sound like!

Let The Day Begin...Let The Day Start!: Day 300 - The Clash

Super Black Market Clash - The Clash

Epic

Produced by Mickey Foote, Bill Price, Mikey Dread and The Clash

Released 26th October 1993 

Super Black Market Clash

3 x 10" Version

Was released as 3 x 10" Vinyl Records

Track Listing

 A1 1977 (B-Side of White Riot)   
A2 Protex Blue*   
A3 Deny*   
A4 Cheat*   
A5 48 Hours*   
A6 Listen (Excerpt appeared on Capital Radio Single given away in 1977. This full version was exclusive to this collection)

     
B1 Jail Guitar Doors (B-Side of Clash City Rockers)  
B2 The City Of The Dead (B-Side of Complete Control)   
B3 The Prisoner  (B-Side of (White Man) In Hammersmith Palais)  
B4 Pressure Drop (B-Side of English Civil War)   
B5 1-2 Crush On You (B-Side of Tommy Gun)

   
C1 Groovy Times**    
C2 Gates Of The West**    
C3 Capital Radio Two**    
C4 Time Is Tight (first appeared on Black Market Clash 1980)

    
D1 Justice Tonight/Kick It Over (B-Side of London Calling)   
D2 Robber Dub (B-Side of Bankrobber)

E1 Stop The World (B-Side of The Call Up)   
E2 The Cool Out (B-Side of The Magnificent Seven)  
E3 First Night Back In London (B-Side of Know Your Rights)   
E4 Long Time Jerk (B-Side of Rock The Casbah)    
E5 Cool Confusion (B-Side of Should I Stay or Should I Go)

   
F1 The Magnificent Dance (B-Side of The Magnificent Seven)    
F2 Radio Clash (B-Side of This Is Radio Clash)
F3 Mustapha Dance (B-Side of Rock The Casbah)

*Taken from the Debut Album. These tracks were not included in the US Release of the The Clash that came out two years after it was released in the UK. They were also not included on the CD or Cassette version of the album.

 ** Featured on the Cost of Living EP   

CD Running Order a little bit different

Tracklisting

1977    
Listen    
Jail Guitar Doors    
City Of The Dead    
The Prisoner    
Pressure Drop    
1-2 Crush On You    
Groovy Times    
Gates Of The West    
Capital Radio Two    
Time Is Tight    
Justice Tonight/Kick It Over    
Robber Dub    
The Cool Out    
Stop The World
The Magnificent Dance    
Radio Clash    
First Night Back In London
Long Time Jerk    
Cool Confusion    
Mustapha Dance

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

Black Market Clash - The Clash

Epic 10" Vinyl

Produced by Mickey Dread, Mickey Foote, The Clash  and Bill Price

Released October 1980

US Chart #74

 New Zealand Chart #15

Not Released in the UK

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

On this day in 1993 the Super Black Market Clash album was released, thirteen years after the original Black Market Clash was issued as a 10" album in the USA & Canada (it wasn't released in the UK but I do recall that you could get it on import).

The Super Black Market Clash album was a very extended version of the 1980 Record, containing 25 tracks if you bought the 3 X 10" Vinyl version and 21 tracks on the CD and Cassette. It's mainly B-Sides but it does shed light on what great flip sides they had (apart from the terrible 1-2 Crush on You!). I wish they had kept Capital Radio One on the album instead of replacing it with the Cost of Living EP version.

I was listening to the album last night and it was a nice reminder of just how good they were back in the day. I have to say though that I much prefer the first thirteen songs more than the last 8 tracks on the CD (not a huge fan of a lot of the "dance" stuff they were doing then).

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

Keeping It Peel 2016 - Reggae Peel Sessions

John Peel played all sorts of music on his shows including pop, reggae, indie pop, indie rock, alternative rock, punk, hardcore punk, breakcore, grindcore, death metal, British hip hop, electronic music, jungle and dance music. It's always good to remember that bands and artists who had only just begun (and some didn't even have a record contract) got a good leg up from recording a Peel Session. Many bands owe a tremendous debt to him for basically making their careers happen!

Reggae Music was always very popular on his shows and he played many tracks that would never have gotten an airing on any other radio show on the BBC at the time. 

When it came to the Peel Sessions he was on the ball bringing in a wide variety UK Reggae bands like Aswad, Black Roots, Matumbi, Misty in Roots, Reggae Regulars, Steel Pulse, UB40 and Zion Train. Occasionally he would have overseas Reggae "Stars" and there is nothing so sweet as hearing the sessions from Prince Far I (his only session and a magnificent one indeed), Culture, Mad Professor, Mikey Dread and The Twinkle Brothers. He even had Bob Marley & The Wailers back in 1973 do two sessions.

I have not included any of the Two Tone Sessions in the Playlist below. That would be deserving of a playlist in its own right.

Keeping It Peel 2016

Reggae Peel Sessions

45RPM: #116 Fairytale In The Supermarket - The Raincoats (1979)

Fairytale In The Supermarket - The Raincoats

Rough Trade (RT 013)

Produced by Mayo Thompson and Geoff Travis

Released April 1979

 A-Side Fairytale In The Supermarket

B-Side

B1 In Love

B2 Adventures Close To Home

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One of my favourite Post-Punk singles from way back in 1979 is by The Raincoats and was released on Rough Trade Records.

By the time this single appeared the band were now an all-female set up featuring: 

 Ana da Silva – vocals, keyboards and guitar
 Gina Birch – vocals and bass guitar
 Palmolive – drums
 Vicky Aspinall – vocals, guitar, bass guitar and violin

Palmolive (Paloma McLardy) had been a member of The Slits (she was actually the second former member of The Slits to be part of the band as Kate Korus had been the original guitarist in 1976 and had been a part of The Raincoats a shortwhile before going off to form the Mo-dettes under her name Kate Korris) and prior to joining The Raincoats had been playing drums for  Pre-Spizzenergi Spizzoil. She had left The Slits after tensions between band members and their manager at the time Malcom McLaren surfaced. Palmolive had written a number of the early songs of The Slits.

Vicky Aspinall had joined the band after answering an advert she saw in a bookshop in Camden Town. The classically trained violinist had previously played in a Woman's Collective called Jam Today who played a hybrid of Jazz and Rock.

Gina and Ana were founding members of the group that first began in 1977. Early members of the band included drummer Nick Turner who left to form The Barracudas (whom he also left to be a founding member of Lords of the New Church), Patrick Keiller (he would later go on to become a film maker) and Richard Dudanski also had a moment on the drumstool (he had previously played with Joe Strummer on The 101ers and would go on to play with Public Image Ltd and Basement 5).

The Raincoats hit the road touring with the all-female Kleenex from Switzerland, their distinctly non-commercial sound did not appeal to everyone; after witnessing an early performance by the band, Danny Baker remarked that: "They are so bad that every time a waiter drops a tray we'd all get up and dance."

I liked them regardless of what Baker thought!