Last night I was stumbling around the computer when I came across a video of The Donnas that was looking at the making of their excellent album 'Spend the Night.
That led me to powering up the iPod and having a blast through their 7 album back catalogue (their 8th album is a Greatest Hits released on their own Purple Feather Records). The Donnas Are:
Brett Anderson – Vocals, Keyboards, Allison Robertson - Guitar, Vocals, Maya Ford - Bass, Vocals, Torry Castellano - Drums, Percussion, Vocals (1993-2010) and new Drummer Amy Cesari - Drums, Vocals.
Formed whilst they were at school and going under the name Ragady Anne they released their EP in 1995 and as The Donnas they issued their debut album 'The Donnas' in 1997 on Super Teem though it was reissued a year later containing 9 bonus tracks that had been singles prior to the album's release.
Let's Go Mano
In 1999 two more albums by The Donnas would surface, in January 'American Teenage Rock 'n' Roll Machine' followed in June by 'Get Skintight'.
Rock 'n' Roll Machine (Live)
Skintight
Livin' After Midnight
After the release of 'Turn 21' in 2001 The Donnas got signed to Atlantic Records where their next masterpiece would be released a year later.
'Spend The Night' certainly raised the game for the band. The single 'Take It Off' propelled them onto TV and festival shows.
Take It Off (Acoustic)
'Gold Medal' came in 2004 and would be their final album for Atlantic as in 2006 they parted ways and set up their own label 'Purple Feather Records'.
Fall Behind Me (Live)
In 2007 the first release on their new label saw The Donnas almost sounding like The Runaways, very metal at times. It's a great album I think.
Don't Wait Up For Me
Drummer Torry left the band in 2010 due to continual shoulder problems and was replaced by Ami Cesari of the band The Demonics. Torry had been unable to play any of the dates of the 2009 tour supporting Blondie/Pat Benatar.
It's amazing how many great singles Blondie released over the years. Basically here's everyone of them, promo vids, live performances and TV shows. They are all there! Enjoy.
"This Band were made to be gazed at" - Zoe Howe
1976
X-Offender
In The Flesh
Rip Her to Shreds (First TV appearance - Poor Quality but excellent)
1978
Denis
(I'm Always Touched By Your) Presence, Dear(Old Grey Whistle Test)
Lead vocalist Alex Taylor had been with The brilliant Shop Assistants before she launched The Motorcyle Boy. Their debut single 'Big Rock Candy Mountain' (Rough Trade RT210) is an absolute gem and reached #2 in the UK Independent charts. They signed a deal with Chrysalis Records and released two singles ('Trying to Be Kind' and 'You And Me Against The World') and their debut album 'Scarlet' was meant to appear in 1989 and as far as I'm aware it never came out. After being splitting with Chrysalis The Motorcycle Boy released a further two singles on Nymphaea Pink Sensation in 1990 ('The Road Goes On Forever' and 'Here She Comes') before calling it a day.
Back in 1985 Rough Trade released this brilliant little Retrospective of one of the original punk bands. They had released a classic single in 1978 called 'Nobody's Scared' backed with 'Don't Split It' on Braik Records.
They followed that with what is considered to be one of the greatest indie singles of all time released on Rough Trade: 'Ambition' with the brilliant 'A Different Story' on the b-side.
The Retrospective takes in the years 1977-1981 and brings together 12 tunes that demonstrate what a superb band they were. Fronted by Vic Goddard, the band had appeared at the Punk Rock Festival at the 100 Club back on 21st September 1976, supported The Clash on the White Riot Tour and for reasons unknown their debut album, overseen by Bernie Rhodes never saw the light of day. Tracklist: Nobody's Scared/Don't Split It/Parallel Lines/Chain Smoking/Rock and Roll Even/Ambition/Double Negative/Head Held High/Stool Pigeon/Watching the Devil/Spring Is Grey/Stop That Girl
Setlist
The Peace Train/Declaration/MarchingOn/For Freedom/Shout To The Devil/The Deceiver/Tell Me/ Third Light/Across the Border/Where Were You Hiding/One Step Closer to Home/Unbreak the Promise/Howling Wind/68 Guns/Blaze of Glory/The Stand/ The Chant Has Just Begun/Unsafe Building
A brilliant show from way back in the day with the original line-up of Mike Peters/Dave Sharp/Eddie MacDonald/Nigel Twist
The Stand (Montreaux)
Where Were You Hiding When the Storm Broke (Top of the Pops)
Adam Ant has been out and about the UK with his band on 'The Good, The Mad And The Lovely Posse Tour. Some good soul has posted the complete show on You Tube. Photo above belongs to Andy Greenly. The show contains some bad language. So The Set List goes a little like this:
Just picked this up today at the local supermarket and what a great package it is. Not only do you get the brand new Blondie album (with two exclusive bonus tracks), but there's 4 postcards of pictures of Debbie Harry taken by Chris Stein, a pack of 6 badges depicting various Blondie singles, a huge double-sided poster for the new album and a 132 page magazine packed with photos, interviews and an assessment of the career of Blondie. All of this for £14.99. Sweet.
2011 Interview with Jools Holland
But what of the music you ask? Well on a first listen I have to say I'm quite impressed. It has a little bit of that typical Blondie pop sound from the late 70's. Here's a track from the album called 'What I Heard'. Debbie Harry sounds good after all these years.(Once the song ends the video seems to continue on a loop with no sound, don't worry because you've already heard the song if you watched the first part of the video).
Found this little note about Joe Elliott's latest outing at Blabbermouth.Net
"Sometimes the most interesting of projects arise from the most unusual of circumstances. So it is that the DOWN 'N OUTZ is a project fronted by DEF LEPPARD's Joe Elliott, backed by THE QUIREBOYS and playing rare tracks connected only by MOTT THE HOOPLE….
Joe Elliott takes up the story: "When MOTT THE HOOPLE announced they were reforming for a week's worth of shows at the Hammersmith Odeon, I was asked that I participate in some capacity. They've always been my favorite band and it's nice to see the rest of the rock world finally catch up and give them their due.
"But, what was I to do? It was suggested to me that THE QUIREBOYS would be up for offering their services. This was perfect! A fan since their first album, I loved the idea of working with a band as enthusiastic to do this as I was.
"I decided that the thing to do was play some songs that like minded people thought they would never hear live again, if ever, songs by spin-offs of MOTT THE HOOPLE — songs by Mott, Ian Hunter and BRITISH LIONS. Songs that are close to my heart, songs that I've played every week for the best part of 35 years on record, cassette, CD, iPod and now live."
The DOWN 'N OUTZ supported MOTT THE HOOPLE at one of their legendary 2009 reformation shows at Hammersmith Odeon. In addition to Joe Elliott (vocals, guitar, keyboards), the band featured THE QUIREBOYS' Paul Guerin (guitar), Guy Griffin (guitar), Keith Weir (keyboards) and Phil Martini (drums) and finally bassist Ronnie Garrity (RAW GLORY). Following a rapturous reception, the one-night project took on a life and energy of its own and an album project was born. DOWN 'N OUTZ then set about recording an album's worth of material. Entitled "My Re Generation", the CD was produced by Joe Elliott, with co-production by Ronan McHugh, and was recorded at Elliott's own studio Joe's Garage and Moor Hall studio in Bedfordshire.
"My Re Generation" track listing (with original recording artist listed in parenthesis):
01. Golden Opportunity (Ian Hunter)
02. Storm (Mott)
03. Overnight Angels (Ian Hunter)
04. Career (No Such Thing As Rock 'n' Roll) (Mott)
05. England Rocks (Ian Hunter)
06. Shouting And Pointing (Mott)
07. By Tonight (Mott)
08. Who Do You Love (Ian Hunter)
09. One More Chance To Run (BRITISH LIONS)
10. Good Times (Mott, originally recorded by THE EASYBEATS)"
The album is released as a 13 track CD and actually came out in July this year. It's pretty good stuff as well. I wasn't quite sure how it was going to sound but I have to say I'm quite impressed.
U.S. soul singer Solomon Burke died at Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam on Sunday morning, aged 70, after flying in from Los Angeles, Dutch media reported.
Known as the King of Rock and Soul, the Grammy winner was a preacher turned singer and had released his latest album "Nothing's Impossible" in April.
He mixed gospel with rhythm and blues and made several soul classics, including the 1964 hit "Somebody to Love." Famed R&B producer Jerry Wexler referred to him as the "best soul singer of all time," according to Burke's Rock and Roll Hall of Fame biography.
Local news agency ANP said Burke was declared dead at the Schiphol morgue and a doctor said he had died of natural causes. His body will be returned to the U.S. next week.
A Schiphol airport spokeswoman in Amsterdam confirmed Burke had died, but could not provide further details.
The burley Burke, who often performed in the Netherlands, had been due to release a new compact disc, "Hold on Tight," with the Dutch band of De Dijk on Tuesday in Amsterdam. His last concert was on September 4 in Seattle.
Born March 21, 1940 in Philadelphia, Burke started singing in church choirs at a young age and later became a minister.
He presented gospel music on a local radio station and made some recordings between 1954 and 1958 before obtaining a contract with Atlantic Records in 1960.
He won a Grammy as recently as 2003, owned a church a funeral enterprise and a limousine rental service.
He was known for his showmanship and on stage would sometimes sit on a stage, resplendent in regal robes. He had 21 children and 90 grandchildren.
(Reporting by Aaron Gray-Block and Marcel Michelson; Editing by Matthew Jones)
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