JUNE PLAYLIST

1.  The Shirelles – ‘Everybody’s Goin’ Mad’ (1963)

“What is this world coming to, with all the crazy things folks do?” What a lovely world it must’ve been when all the Shirelles had to worry about was girls in wigs, boys wearing sunglasses after dark, beatniks rejecting conversation and diplomats doing the Twist.

2.  Kenny Wells – ‘Isn’t It Just A Shame’ (1966)

The use of space and silence within this utterly exquisite soul record is sheer perfection.

3.  Ann-Margret – ‘It’s A Nice World To Visit (But Not To Live In)’ (1969)

Ann-Margret in angry, stamping, fuzzed up punk mode. Lee Hazlewood mans the controls.

4.  Paula – Mi Habitación (1970)

Portuguese songstress Paula Ribas sings in Spanish on this opening cut to fantastico new compilation and summer soundtrack, Desafinado: Spanish Bossa Nova 1963/1975, out now on Adarce Records.

5.  Neil Young – ‘Mellow My Mind’ (1973)

We’ve been blessed with a couple of essential Neil Young releases from the vaults in recent months. First the acoustic The Hitchhiker and now the plugged-in Roxy: Tonight's the Night Live, recorded in September ’73.

6.  Millie Jackson – ‘Tell Her It’s Over’ (1975)

Its predecessor, the love-tanged Caught Up, spawned Millie Jackson a deserved R&B Grammy nomination the previous year for her version of ‘If Loving You Is Wrong I Don't Want To Be Right’ and Still Caught Up follows the same template, an even split of songs sung from the point of view of a wife and mistress. Soap operas are seldom as enthralling as this.

7.  Ann Sexton – ‘I’m His Wife (You’re Just A Friend)’ (1977)

I’ve been on a massive Ann Sexton high after her incredible show in London this month and have hammered The Beginning, Ann’s second and, to date, last album. Criminal she’s not made more records.

8. The Higsons – ‘Conspiracy’ (1982)

So many questions pale into insignificance next to “Who stole my bongos?”

9.  Tracyanne and Danny – ‘Alabama’ (2018)

Tracyanne Campbell’s voice makes me melt at the best of times but here remembering her Camera Obscura bandmate and friend, Carey Lander, who died in 2015, it’s difficult not to well up. “When I’m an old lady I’ll still miss you like crazy”. Heartbreaking.

10.  Starcrawler – ‘I Love LA’ (2018)

These young Americans know how to put on a show. Guitarist Henri Cash throws the shapes of Wayne Kramer and Jack White while singer Arrow de Wilde, a scrawny pile of bones wrapped in muslin and blood, staggers around zombified like Carrie after her prom. At the Garage in Highbury last week they riffed and chugged their way through a bunch of two-minute dumb ass glam rockers before ending the gig playing on the shoulders of the audience. Pure theatre. Hurrah!

MARCH PLAYLIST

1.  Don Patterson with Booker Ervin – ‘Donald Duck’ (1964)

Organists like Don Patterson weren’t universally welcomed in jazz when they started cropping up, in fact there was open hostility, even from reviewers like Walter Catt who, when tasked with writing the sleevenotes for Hip Cake Walk, “put the record on my phonograph to brave what I thought would be an unpleasant experience.” Crazy fool.

2.  The 3 Sounds – ‘Yeh Yeh’ (1966)

From the Blue Note LP, Vibrations, comes this swinging piano/bass/drums version of the ol’ chestnut.

3.  Charlotte Leslie – ‘Les Filles C’est Fait Pour Faire L’Amour’ (1966)

Charlotte takes the Capitols ‘We Got A Thing That’s In The Groove’/‘Cool Jerk’ and dresses it in modish fuzz and French flair.

4.  The Producers – ‘Love Is Amazing’ (1968)

A Gamble-Huff production out of the Philly and typically sleek. Wonderful mix of male and female leads, harmonies by a group of angels, and horns and strings sent from heaven.

5.  Earth, Wind and Fire – ‘Help Somebody’ (1971)

“Reach out your hand and help somebody”. Oh yeah baby, let’s groove tonight. The eponymous debut LP by Earth, Wind and Fire is packed with strutting street funk.

6.  Major Lance – ‘Ain’t No Sweat’ (1972)

Released on Volt, and written by Major’s old buddy Curtis Mayfield, ‘Ain’t No Sweat’ is a mini-under-the-radar masterpiece that’s been overshadowed by ‘Since I Lost My Baby’s Love’ on the flip. Dig that violin!

7.  Katie Love – ‘How Can You Mistreat The One You Love’ (1972)

Even to this day not much is known about Katie Love other than she cut this Hayes-Porter song for Stax down in Muscle Shoals. Curiously has the feel for Stax’s old rivals Holland-Dozier-Holland and the stuff coming out of their Invictus stable.

8.  Neil Young – ‘Hitchhiker’ (1976)

There are many Neil Youngs but the best is Neil Young with an acoustic guitar, bag of Californian grass, bit of coke, sat under a full moon, playing songs. That’s what he did to record The Hitchhiker on 11 August 1976. The collection yielded future classics ‘Pocahontas’, ‘Powderfinger’, ‘Ride My Llama’ and more but the record company weren’t impressed with what they saw as an album of demos so it sat unreleased until 2017. It is, of course, brilliant.

9.  Go-Kart Mozart – ‘We’re Selfish and Lazy and Greedy’ (1999)

The Lexington in London was treated to the rare sight of Go-Kart Mozart last Saturday and what a fabulous gig it was. A brisk 40-minute set mostly featured tracks from new Mozart’s Mini-Mart where songs about depression, poverty, executions on the telly, Brummie prophets, knickers on the line and Crokadile Rokstarz, played in a plinky-plonky manner, took centre stage: modern life seen through Lawrence’s eyes and Lawrence’s eyes don’t miss much. If a group of young uns from wherever-is-hip-this-month were making these records they’d be courted across the land. ‘We’re Selfish…’ was one of the few old tracks Lawrence delved back into his trolley for.

10.  The Traffic – ‘Smack My Pitch Up’ (2016)

On the Australian label, Choi Records, comes two blasting funky reworkings of classics given a fresh makeover. Grandmaster Flash’s ‘White Lines’ on one side, and the Prodigy torn a new one on the other.

MARCH PLAYLIST

1.  Big John Patton – ‘Fat Judy’ (1965)

A classic and one of the templates for Acid Jazz. I hadn’t heard the complete album it came from, Oh Baby, until recently and if, like me, you like Hammond grooves you’ll love it.

2.  Bobby Bland – ‘I Ain’t Myself Anymore’ (1966)

Another sensational Bland (pictured above) track to add to the list with one record dealer describing it far better than I could: “A cocktail of understated horns, his controlled gravel-coated throat, purrs the lyrics out, like a sun-basking lion, in wait for the kill.”

3.  The Lovers – ‘Whatcha Gonna Do Baby’ (1966)

Formed by a group of serving officers at the Deal Air Force base in Northern California as the Emotions, a name change to the Lovers saw one 45 in 1965, ‘Do This To Me’. A beautiful, Impressions-like follow-up featuring ‘Whatcha Gonna Do Baby’ failed to happen and languished in the vaults for 50 years until Kent rescued in this month for their Harmony of the Soul comp.

4.  The Gaylads – ‘Sounds of Silence’ (1967)

Tis brave to attempt a Simon and Garfunkel song but Jamaican vocal group The Gaylads do so with some style, giving it a graceful rocksteady overhaul.

5.  Baby Huey – ‘Listen To Me’ (1970)

Within the space of a month in 1970 Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin and Baby Huey all checked out, with Huey (James Ramey to his folks) not even making it to 27, falling short by a year. His Curtis Mayfield produced album The Baby Huey Story: The Living Legend was released posthumously and opens with this fat funker.

6.  The 8^th Day – ‘You’ve Got To Crawl (Before You Walk)’ (1971)

The full refrain being “You’ve got to crawl before you walk back into these arms of mine”. Storming early 70s soul from Holland, Dozier & Holland’s Invictus label.

7.  William De Vaughn – ‘Be Thankful For What You Got’ (1974)

It was hearing Arthur Lee and Love’s 1975 cover that got me interested in this song and then by complete coincidence, 25 years after it was released, I finally got around to listening to Massive Attack’s Blue Lines and it was on there too. All versions are good but De Vaughn’s cool and unhurried soulful vibe is sheer class.

8.  Neil Young – ‘Barstool Blues’ (1975)

Suitably woozy, boozy and ragged; a strong contender for my favourite Neil Young song.   

9.  Altered Images – ‘A Day’s Wait’ (1981)

‘Happy Birthday’ was a big bouncy pop hit but not typical of what lay on the rest of that album. Produced by Siouxsie & the Banshees’ Steve Severin it’s not too far removed from the Banshees own JuJu, out at the time; obviously not as terrifyingly dark (what is?) but the guitars and drums are very similar in places. 

10.  The Coral – ‘Million Eyes’ (2016)

I’m usually fairly tepid towards the Coral but they put on a great show at the Kentish Town Forum this month with heavy-hitter ‘Million Eyes’ from new LP Distance Inbetween rocking like a late 60s Fillmore gig with an eyeball shredding lightshow to match. 

NOVEMBER PLAYLIST

1. Rudy and the Reno Bops – “Rudy’s Monkey” (1964)

Sounds like an early Stax instrumental but Rudy Tee Gonzalez y sus Reno Bops were out of San Antonio, Texas where they recorded this for the Crazy Cajun, Huey P. Meaux, and his Tear Drop Records.

2. James Rivers – “Bird Brain” (1966)

When Ian Whiteman entered the studio to record the first Mighty Baby album producer Guy Stevens turned to him and asked what he had in his hand. “A flute,” said Ian. “I don’t do flutes,” replied Stevens. Taking a hard-line mod approach you can see where Stevens was coming from yet mods down the Scene would've blocked along merrily to "Bird Brain". Rivers takes the standard “Hi-Heeled Sneakers” pattern, adds some blues harp, and then drops in some out of sight funky flute. 

3. Sandie Shaw – “Heaven Knows I’m Missing Him Now” (1969)

So this is where Morrissey got that title. Must acknowledge Tony Fletcher’s excellent A Light That Never Goes Out Smiths biography for bringing it to my attention, not only for Smiths trivia but because it’s the best song I've heard by Sandie. Also, it was only the other day Mrs Monkey and I both simultaneous twigged the name Sandie Shaw is a play on Sandy Shore. In all my days the thought had never crossed my mind. Der!

4. The Mayberry Movement – “Two Wrongs Don’t Make A Right” (1974)

I don’t know anything about The Mayberry Movement but in my mind’s eye they’re dressed in yellow flared suits with large lapels, chunky Mr Silly shoes, velvet bow ties, have huge afros (apart from a short balding fella on the end), and are doing a clumsy dance routine on Tops of the Pops after being introduced by a kiddie fiddler or sex pest.

5. Tim Maia – “Brother Father Mother Sister” (1976)

Maia was the Brazilian Funk/Soul Godfather who named his first four albums Tim Maia; bought hundreds of hits of acid in London to take back to Brazil to share with friends and unwitting record company employees; converted to a religious sect; only wore white clothes and played white instruments; and waited for a flying saucer to come and rescue him from earth. Find out more about this fruitloop on The Existential Soul of Tim Maia a highly recommended new collection released by Luaka Pop.

6. The Sunchymes – “Revelations In Her Mind” (2009)

Always a good sign when bands use “a garage Y” in their name. This isn’t garagey though; more a bedroom Brian Wilson from their charming long-player Let Your Free Flag Fly. 

7. Chicros – “Can’t Stand Me Now” (2011)

If only some French musicians would do a doo-wop version of the Libertines song…

8. Neil Young & Crazy Horse – “Driftin’ Back” (2012)

People are given “Be nice to me I gave blood” stickers when they’ve given an armful as it can make them feel a little weak; which brings me to Psychedelic Pill. Old Shakey and his nutty horsemen spend an hour and a half meandering through a mere nine tracks; the first alone, “Driftin’ Back”, clocks up nearly 28 minutes before Neil says he’s going to get himself a hip-hop haircut and disappears. Anyone managing to take the whole pill in one thoroughly exhausting sitting deserves a medal, let alone a sticker. I'm off for a lie down. 

9. DC Fontana – “Pentagram Man (Don Fardon Vocal Version)” (2012)

I wasn’t overly impressed when I saw 60’s freakbeaters The Sorrows recently but did wonder what Don Fardon would sound like given something new to sing. Lo and behold, up he pops lending his lungs to a swirly-soul version of the recent DC Fontana track.      

10. The Lovely Eggs – “The Castle” (2012)

They’ve been edging towards something like this for a while and here it is closing their new - and best so far - LP, Wildlife: a dark droning psychedelic maelstrom tastier than all the sausage rolls in Lancaster.