It’s Karen Carpenter’s birthday and here’s some really fine concert footage of the pop goddess performing at the tender age of 22 in Australia in 1972.
The drums are up in the mix and can hear what a fine drummer Karen was and at times in her singing and attitude you can detect an edge that belied the warm and fuzzy mainstream image that was part of the packaging of The Carpenters. She was one of the original riot grrrls.
Toivelauluja star Pirkko Mannola astride Die Antwoord’s Renault. Zef timewarp.
This sparkly little clip from 1961 Finnish movie Toivelauluja is just all kinds of groovy. A blend of teen flick, Hollywood musical and old fashioned melodrama, Toivelauluja (Songs After The Heart’s Desire ) was one of the first Finnish movies to be shot in color…and what delicious color it is! Interesting to note, this was made two years before Bye Bye Birdie.
The song is a cover of Cliff Richard’s “Living Doll.”
Although DM featured this in the past, the video was pulled from YouTube but has now reappeared so I thought I’d share it again. It’s that good.
Kids Are People Too ran on Sunday mornings from 1978 to 1982 on ABC and featured a lot of topnotch rock and rollers including Patti Smith, Cheap Trick, Kiss, and the fabulous Debbie Harry.
In light of the unexpected passing of Monkee Davy Jones, here’s Carole King’s original demo for Head’s “Porpoise Song” (co-written by Gerry Goffin). The Gregorian chant thing she’s got going here (it’s the Mass of the Dead, remember this was the song playing during Micky Dolenz’s “suicidal” jump off the bridge in the beginning of the film) seems like a fitting thing to post in Jones’ honor.
Sound quality is what it is, but no matter, this is still pretty amazing. Listen LOUD!
Thank you Simon Wells!
Manchester is a city with an incredible musical history, but a somewhat divided and schizophrenic musical present. On the one hand there’s the let’s-have-it late 80s/early 90s “Madchester” party gang (think The Stone Roses/Happy Mondays/Inspiral Carpets/etc) and on the other the “more-serious-than-thou” school of late 70s/early 80s Factory records (Joy Division/New Order/A Certain Ratio/etc). Bestriding both these worlds like a colossus of crap are, of course, Oasis, the band who made partying and getting off-yer-face seem like the most boring activity on earth.
Entire blogs have been set up to both eulogise and criticize Manchester’s musical history and it’s current legacy. So, while it was great to see Richard posting about the Mondays here the other day (and to read the reactions from their US fan base) I can’t help but feel mixed emotions. For as much as I love that band (I vividly remember the first time I heard “Step On”, on my school bus at the age of ten) they are also signifiers of what is wrong with the current Manchester music scene. In a nutshell: a relentless clinging on to the past.
I guess it’s the double-edged sword of having a once world-beating music scene right on your doorstep, but certain elements within the Manchester “culture industry” are all too willing to just lean on that reputation (sensing that it’s a quick way to make an easy buck) without putting effort into discovering new talent. Talent like Silverclub.
Led by frontman Duncan Jones (who formerly made techno and electro as DNCN on the Human Shield label), Silverclub combine all the best bits of pop, rock, dance and electronica, drag it down the local disco and tie it up with a shiny, techno bow tie. They are influenced by the past yet remain firmly focussed on the present, while retaining a very English vibe with the kind of spiky, edgy songs that betray a childhood spent listening to Elvis Costello and the Attractions.
To me, this band represent all that is good about music from the North of England, and Manchester in particular. People here have a dizzying array of tastes, have an appreciation for pretty much every single genre available, and yet somehow manage to meld these disparate influences into something that is their own with a distinct, regional voice and outlook. Silverclub fuse a knowledge of dancefloor dynamics and sharp hook-writing skills, and maintain a singular identity thanks to Jones’ Northern drawl and sweet harmonies from synth-player Henrietta Smith. Hmm, I wonder if there’s room in the band for a dancing maracas player? I want that job!
At the very start of this year I featured the Silverclub b-side “The Goldener Reiter” on my Best of 2011 Mixtape, which you can still download, here. The single it’s taken from, “No Application”, is available as a free download (below) while Silverclub’s self-titled debut album will be coming this May on the Canadian label Hidden Pony. There’s more info on the band’s website, and in the meantime, here’s the “No Application” video:
One of the few 45s I still own, The Slit’s wonderful cover of “Man Next Door,” a reggae classic associated with both John Holt (who wrote it) and the “Crown Prince of Reggae,” Dennis Brown (who covered it. So Did Massive Attack). This non-album, 1980 production was mixed by Adrian Sherwood, Adam Kidron and the Slits themselves.
The B-side is a tripped out dub version. Once I was able to get my hands on some “real” (Jamaican) dub, I was disappointed that it seldom lived up to the psychedelic standards set here.
In this live clip, The Slits perform an epic, nearly 9-minute-long romp all over “Man Next Door” augmented by Steve Beresford on sound effects, Bruce Smith (The Pop Group, PiL) on drums and a young Neneh Cherry on backing vocals (and great dance moves!) at the Tempodrom in Berlin on June 19,1981. Turn this up LOUD and wish you had been there…
Gathering up the reactions of remaining Monkees Mike Nesmith, Micky Dolenz and Peter to the passing of Davy Jones
Mike Nesmith:
All the lovely people. Where do they all come from?
So many lovely and heartfelt messages of condolence and sympathy, I don’t know what to say, except my sincere thank you to all. I share and appreciate your feelings.
But let’s not get ahead of ourselves here.
While it is jarring, and sometimes seems unjust, or strange, this transition we call dying and death is a constant in the mortal experience that we know almost nothing about. I am of the mind that it is a transition and I carry with me a certainty of the continuity of existence. While I don’t exactly know what happens in these times, there is an ongoing sense of life that reaches in my mind out far beyond the near horizons of mortality and into the reaches of infinity.
That David has stepped beyond my view causes me the sadness that it does many of you. I will miss him, but I won’t abandon him to mortality. I will think of him as existing within the animating life that insures existence. I will think of him and his family with that gentle regard in spite of all the contrary appearances on the mortal plane.
David’s spirit and soul live well in my heart, among all the lovely people, who remember with me the good times, and the healing times, that were created for so many, including us.
I have fond memories. I wish him safe travels.
Peter Tork posted the following on his Facebook fan page:
”It is with great sadness that I reflect on the sudden passing of my long-time friend and fellow-adventurer, David Jones. His talent will be much missed; his gifts will be with us always. My deepest sympathy to Jessica and the rest of his family. Adios, to the Manchester Cowboy.
Peace and love, Peter T.”
Micky Dolenz released a statement:
“I am in a state of shock; Davy and I grew up together and shared in the unique success of what became The Monkees phenomena. The time we worked together and had together is something I’ll never forget. He was the brother I never had and this leaves a gigantic hole in my heart. The memories have and will last a lifetime. My condolences go out to his family.”
Below a forever young Davy Jones makes a prom date with Marcia Brady.
Bobby Byrd third from the left.
James Brown, Bobby Byrd (of The Famous Flames) and a young Bootsy Collins perform Soul Power and Get Involved live on Italian TV Show “Teatro 10”. April 24th, 1971.
This is deeply funky.
This is guaranteed to be the best thing you will see all day or double—no triple—your money back…
In nearly every Toho film that Mothra has appeared in, two tiny little girl fairies, immortal beings called the Shōbijin, appear as well. They are psychically connected to and try to spread the positive environmental message of Mothra, fierce protector of the Earth.
What usually happens is that the Shōbijin get kidnapped. They sing a song called “Mosura No Uta”—not quite as well known as the Doctor Who theme to sci-fi geeks, but CLOSE—that will summon Mothra to rescue them and fuck up a lot of Tokyo in the process. Later “Fairy Mothra” was created from a little piece of the kaiju Mothra, to be the bodyguard and transportation for the Shobijin. Or something like that…
In the early Mothra films, the Shōbijin were portrayed by The Peanuts, identical twin Japanese pop stars Emi and Yumi Ito. Because their voices were so very, very similar, when they sang together there was a natural sort of “reverb” effect to their harmonies. They recorded an English album with covers of “California Dreamin” and “Proud Mary.” They were also featured on The Ed Sulivan Show.
This clip comes from the 1964 Toho film Ghidrah The Three Headed Monster. The Mothra fairies appear on TV show called “What Are They Doing Now?” performing this wistful little number titled “Why Are You Weeping, Happiness?”
After the jump, The Peanuts singing in English…
“Tromba Fredda” (“Cold Trumpet”) is a 1963 short surrealist film directed by Italian film maker Enzo Nasso.
Chet Baker silently wanders through an Antonioniesque landscape in a Felliniesque state of wonderment as his improvised trumpet solos alternate between earnestly offering the obvious and mocking the artiness of the whole affair.