Let The Day Begin...Let The Day Start!: Day 141 - Manic Street Preachers

Everything Must Go is the fourth Studio Album from Welsh band Manic Street Preachers and is the follow-up to their highly acclaimed album The Holy Bible (1994) despite its poor sales it regarded as one of their greatest albums. 

It was their first album after the disappearance of guitarist and songwriter Richey Edwards. Richey had gone missing on 1st February 1995 and had been suffering with depression, alcohol abuse and had also been self-harming. He is presumed to have committed suicide. He was officially presumed dead 23rd November 2008.

It's interesting for me because prior to this album I think I had only really owned the debut album and liked a few songs here and there (Motown Junk, You Love Us, Motorcyle Emptiness, Slash and Burn and From Despair to Where being just a small number I can think of off the top of my head). A month prior to release of the album came the first single from the project A Design For Life. That stopped me in my tracks not just the lyrical content of the song and its themes spotlighting class conflict but the actual music itself. The String Section in the song is so beautiful and majestic, it floors me everytime I hear it. It was apparently the first song recorded for the album

The album came out of course at the height of Britpop and many have often roped Everything Must Go into that fold, for me though I think it stands way outside of that and is more musically and lyrically superior to anything that was coming from the likes of Blur and Oasis.

I am hard pressed to find a track on it that I would willingly skip over. It's one of those albums (and there's not many these days) that from start to finish just feels complete.

Today marks the 20th Anniversary of the albums release and a new Anniversary Box set is being released as well as a tour
to celebrate the album with their biggest headline show since 1999, at Liberty Stadium, Swansea on 28 May 2016. Special guests would include Super Furry Animals. The album will be performed in full. Before the final show in Swansea the band would tour the album with a series of UK dates: Liverpool, Echo Arena (May 13), Birmingham, Genting Arena (May 14), London, Royal Albert Hall (May 16-17), Leeds, First Direct Arena (May 20) and Glasgow, The SSE Hydro (May 21).

Everything Must Go - Manic Street Preachers

Epic

Produced by Mike Hedges

Released 20th May 1996

UK Chart #2

Everything Must Go 

10th Anniversary Edition CD1

Tracklist

CD1-1     Elvis Impersonator: Blackpool Pier     3:28
CD1-2     A Design For Life     4:17
CD1-3     Kevin Carter     3:25
CD1-4     Enola/Alone     4:08
CD1-5     Everything Must Go     3:40
CD1-6     Small Black Flowers That Grow In The Sky     3:03
CD1-7     The Girl Who Wanted To Be God     3:36
CD1-8     Removables     3:31
CD1-9     Australia     4:04
CD1-10     Interiors (Song For Willem De Kooning)     4:18
CD1-11     Further Away     3:39
CD1-12     No Surface All Feeling     4:21
CD1-13     Enola/Alone (Live)     3:30
CD1-14     Kevin Carter (Live)     3:07
CD1-15     Interiors (Song For Willem De Kooning) (Live)     3:39
CD1-16     Elvis Impersonator: Blackpool Pier (Live)     2:48
CD1-17     Everything Must Go (Live)     3:30
CD1-18     A Design For Life (Live)     4:32
CD1-19     A Design For Life (Stealth Sonic Orchestra Remix)     4:52

Everything Must Go 

10th Anniversary Edition CD2

Tracklist

CD2-1     Dixie     0:42
CD2-2     No Surface All Feeling (Demo)     3:38
CD2-3     Further Away (Demo)     3:32
CD2-4     Small Black Flowers That Grow In The Sky (Demo)     3:04
CD2-5     No One Knows What It's Like To Be Me (Demo)     2:58
CD2-6     Australia (Acoustic Demo, Nick's House '96)     4:15
CD2-7     No Surface All Feeling (Acoustic Demo, Nick's House '95)     4:02
CD2-8     Interiors (Song For Willem De Kooning) (Acoustic Demo, Nick's House '95)     2:58
CD2-9     The Girl Who Wanted To Be God (Acoustic Demo, Nick's House '95)     3:59
CD2-10     A Design For Life (First Rehearsal, Cardiff '95)     3:56
CD2-11     Kevin Carter (First Rehearsal, Cardiff '95)     3:22
CD2-12     Mr Carbohydrate     4:15
CD2-13     Dead Trees And Traffic Islands     3:44
CD2-14     Dead Passive     3:19
CD2-15     Black Garden     4:01
CD2-16     Hanging On     3:01
CD2-17     No One Knows What It's Like To Be Me     3:04
CD2-18     Horses Under Starlight     3:08
CD2-19     Sepia     3:54
CD2-20     First Republic     3:48
CD2-21     Australia (Stephen Hague Production)     8:08
CD2-22     The Girl Who Wanted To Be God (Stephen Hague Production)     4:09
CD2-23     Glory, Glory     0:36

Singles From Everything Must Go

    01. "A Design for Life"
    Released: 15 April 1996

 UK Chart #2

    02. "Everything Must Go"
    Released: 22 July 1996

 UK Chart #5

    03. "Kevin Carter"
    Released: 30 September 1996

 UK Chart #9

    04. "Further Away"
    Released: 16 October 1996 (Japan only)

    05. "Australia"
    Released: 2 December 1996

UK Chart #7

Manic Street Preachers
    James Dean Bradfield – lead vocals, lead and rhythm guitar and piano
    Sean Moore – drums, percussion, trumpet and backing vocals
    Nicky Wire – bass guitar and backing vocals
    Richey Edwards – rhythm guitar on "No Surface All Feeling"

Additional musicians
    John Green – Hammond organ and keyboards
    Martin Ditchum – percussion
    Julie Aliss – harp
    Gini Ball – violin
    Sally Herbert – violin
    Anne Stephenson – violin
    Chris Pitsillides – viola
    Clare Orsler – viola
    Martin Greene – string arrangements

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

Let The Day Begin...Let The Day Start!: Day 140 - Kleenex/LiLiPUT

I had intended to do something completly different today but last night I heard the sad news regarding the passing of Marlene Marder aged 61 years old. The cirmcumstances regarding her passing on Sunday 15th May have not been revealed as of yet but her US label Kill Rock Stars apparently broke the news at some point yesterday.

(Marlene Marder)

In case you are scratching your head and wondering who on earth Marlene Marder was, let me throw a little light on that for you.

Marlene was the guitarist for Kleenex (who later changed their name to LiliPUT due to pressure of legal charges against them by the Handkerchief Manufacturers). The band originally formed in Zurich, Switzerland in 1978, though Marlene was not in the original line-up but was in the band when they released their debut EP on the Sunrise label. Ain't You and Hedi's Head were reissued as a stand alone single on Rough Trade Records in November 1978 (the 9th single to be released on the label).

 Band member chronology
    1978: Klaudia Schiff, Lislot Ha, Regula Sing, Rudolph Dietrich, Gogi
    1978-1979: Klaudia Schiff, Marlene Marder, Lislot Ha, Regula Sing
    1979-1980: Klaudia Schiff, Marlene Marder, Lislot Ha, Chrigle Freund, Angie Barrack
    1981: Klaudia Schiff, Marlene Marder, Chrigle Freund
    1981-1982: Klaudia Schiff, Marlene Marder, Astrid Spirit, Beat Schlatter, Christoph Herzog
    1982-1983: Klaudia Schiff, Marlene Marder, Astrid Spirit

They only released one more single under the name Kleenex in 1979 - Ü (Angry Side) / You (Friendly Side). After the threat of legal action against them by Kimberly Clark (makers of Kleenex Tissues) they renamed themselves LiLiPUT.

They would release a couple of albums and three more singles on Rough Trade - Eisiger Wind (though it was originally released on Off Course Records in 1980 but reissued a year later) in 1981, Die Matrosen 1980, and You Did It in 1983 before calling it a day.

A bit like The Raincoats who I posted about last week Kleenex/LiLiPUT got a new lease of life when Kurt Cobain of Nirvana named checked them on his Top 50 Favourite Albums. 

Marlene was actually responsible for putting together the Compilation album below that came out in 1993 and then reissued in 2001.

There's actually a rather lovely interview with Marlene from 1998 where she talks about the band and what followed. It's well worth a read. Check it out HERE.

Kleenex/LiLiPUT (The Complete Recordings)
Off Course Records*
Released 1993

*Reissued in the USA by Kill Rock Stars in 2001

Kleenex/LiLiPUT (The Complete Recordings)

Disc1

Kleenex/LiliPUT (The Complete Recordings) 
Disc 2

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

Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band - Nou Camp, Barcelona 14th May 2016

Opening night to the European Tour. I held off a couple of days before posting as I was trying to find the best videos to put in the playlist. They are not necessarily brilliant quality from start to finish but they give a great feel for the show. Contained in the playlist is pretty much the whole set from the night.

Setlist:
Badlands
No Surrender
My Love Will Not Let You Down
The Ties That Bind
Sherry Darling
Jackson Cage
Two Hearts
I'm Goin' Down
Hungry Heart
Out in the Street
I Wanna Marry You
The River
Point Blank
Atlantic City
Darlington County
Glory Days
I Wanna Be With You
Ramrod
The Price You Pay
Drive All Night
Lonesome Day
Prove It All Night
The Promised Land
Because the Night
She's the One
Brilliant Disguise
The Rising
Thunder Road
* * *
Purple Rain
Born in the U.S.A.
Born to Run
Dancing in the Dark
Tenth Avenue Freeze-out
Shout
Bobby Jean
Twist and Shout 

 Full Show in Audio
 

45RPM: #85 Transmission - Joy Division (1979)

Transmission was the debut single on Factory Records for Joy Division. They had previously released a debut EP in 1978 on their own label Enigma entitled An Ideal For Living. That was released not long after they had changed their name from Warsaw.

They had actually recorded Transmission before back in May 1978 when they were still called Warsaw (this was eventually released on album in 1994 along with a a whole bunch of Warsaw tracks, It had been circulating as a bootleg for many years before being released proper)

Transmission / Novelty

Factory Records (FAC13)

Produced by Martin Hannett

Released 7th October 1979*

UK Indie Chart #4

*a 12" was released in December 1979 that featured different artwork

In May 2007, NME magazine placed Transmission at number 20 in its list of the 50 Greatest Indie Anthems Ever, one place below Love Will Tear Us Apart.

Let The Day Begin...Let The Day Start!: Day 139 - Joy Division

In Memory of Ian Kevin Curtis

15th July 1956 - 18th May 1980

Unknown Pleasures

Factory

Produced by Martin Hannett

Released 15th June 1979

UK Indie Chart #1

UK Album Chart #71

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

Celebrating 40 Years of The Damned!

Hard to get your head around this, The Damned will be celebrating 40 years of mayhem by taking to the stage at The Royal Albert Hall this coming Friday!

To celebrate this auspicious occasion I've thrown together a 40 song playlist covering all the line ups and releases, it features basically all their singles and a few others to round it all off.

Enjoy.

Is she really going out with him...

Let The Day Begin...Let The Day Start!: Day 138 - The Who

Live at Leeds - The Who

Track Records

Produced by Jon Astley, Kit Lambert and The Who

Released 16th May 1973 (US) and 23rd May 1973 (UK)

UK Album Charts #3

US Album Charts #8

2001 Deluxe Edition

First Release of the Complete Concert

Live at Leeds by The Who is probably one of The Most Iconic Live Albums of All Time.

You would never imagine that today an artist performing one of their most heralded albums would only end up releasing a Live Album that actually contained none of that Iconic Album, such was the case with Live at Leeds. The band performed Tommy, their 1969 Rock Opera but not a single song appeared on the release!

Original Tracklist for Live at Leeds

A1     Young Man     4:45
A2     Substitute     2:50
A3     Summertime Blues     3:22
A4     Shakin' All Over     4:15
B1     My Generation     14:27
B2     Magic Bus     7:30

I included the Deluxe Version above that was released in 2001 mainly for the purpose that the whole show is included. The only problem though is with the sequencing.  During the actual concert, "Summertime Blues", "Shakin' All Over", "My Generation", and "Magic Bus" were played after the Tommy set, but for easier listening, the Deluxe Edition devoted the entire second disc to the Tommy set, and moved those songs out of order to the end of the first disc. During 1970, this was the regular Who concert set list, but an album with a 1970 concert in true order wasn't available until 1996 when the official Live at the Isle of Wight Festival 1970 album was released.

The concert was recorded on 14th February 1973 at Leeds University and the night after their performance from Hull City Hall was also recorded but the complete show never saw the light of day until 2012 when the complete show was released as Live in Hull and was pretty much set up similar to the 2001 Deluxe Editon of Live at Leeds with the performance of Tommy appearing on Disc 2.

Live at Leeds has been cited as the best live rock recording of all time by The Daily Telegraph, The Independent, the BBC, Q magazine, and Rolling Stone.

Personnel
    Roger Daltrey - vocals, harmonica, tambourine
    Pete Townshend - guitars, vocals
    John Entwistle - bass guitar, vocals
    Keith Moon - drums and percussion, vocals

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

250,000 Views! Really!

 

A huge thank you to everyone who has visited this blog in the past, present and for those who will do in the future! It means an awful lot to me to know this blog is being read all over the world when I only really started it for my own amusement.

Thanks again.

Doug

Ruts DC - Psychic Attack (New Promo Video May 2016)

 Dave Ruffy, Segs Jennings and Leigh Heggarty

Ruts DC (Photo by Raven)

 

Very excited by this, the brand spanking new Promo Video for the brand spanking new single from Ruts DC

Single is available from 20th May 2016

You Can Order a copy HERE!

 

 

Psychic Attack - Ruts DC

Official Video

Rewind: Blind Man's Zoo - 10,000 Maniacs (1989)

Blind Man's Zoo is the fourth Studio Album from 10,000 Maniacs.

Two years prior to this 10,000 Maniacs had released In My Tribe, my friend Michelle from Denver, Colorado had sent me a cassette that included a couple of songs from that album (Hey Jack Kerouac, City of Angels and though I can't totally remember - it was a long time ago now - I think maybe Verdi Cries was also on it), and thus began my lifelong affection for 10,000 Maniacs and the voice of Natalie Merchant.

Blind Man's Zoo is probably my favourite album from 10,000 Maniacs and that mainly has to do with the fact that it was an album that was helpful to me during a personal crisis. It was the soothing sound of Natalie's voice and the gentleness of some of the songs on this album that gave a lot relief as I was struggling with getting off of alcohol and then moving to Scotland without much except a few changes of clothes and a few albums in a bag and a Walkman. Man, thinking back to that I'm amazed at just how far I have come in the past 27 years!

It was released on this day in 1989 and I was really happy to have got the chance to see them on the tour for the album in Glasgow on a magical Saturday night after avoiding the chaos of Saturday afternoon in the city when England fans were going crazy and fighting Scottish fans in main streets and back streets!

So nice sitting and listening to it again and it brings forth great feelings of gratitude to many who aided me and gave me a helping hand when trying to get a grip on my life in a new setting. The folks are too many to name but they know who they are.

Blind Man's Zoo - 10,000 Maniacs

Elektra

Produced by Peter Asher

Released 16th May 1989

US Chart #13

UK Chart #18

Singles From Blind Man's Zoo

Trouble Me / The Lion's Share

UK Chart #77

Eat For Two / Wildwood Flower / Don't Call Us / From The Time You Say Goodbye

UK Chart #93

You Happy Puppet / Gun Shy (Acoustic Version) / Wildwood Flower / Hello In There

Personnel
10,000 Maniacs
    Jerome Augustyniak – drums
    Robert Buck – electric guitar, acoustic guitar
    Dennis Drew – organ, piano
    Steve Gustafson – bass guitar
    Natalie Merchant – vocals, piano, pipe organ

Additional musicians
    Jevetta Steele – backing vocals
    Jason Osborn – arrangement, orchestral direction
    Krista Bennion Feeney – first violin
    Mitsuru Tsubota – second violin
    Louise Schulman – viola
    Myron Lutzke – cello
    Dennis Godburn – bassoon
    Robert Wolinsky – harpsichord
    Scott Kuney – classical guitar
    Frank Luther – double bass