SEPTEMBER PLAYLIST

1.  Sandie Shaw – ‘Stop Feeling Sorry For Yourself’ (1965)

Adam Faith did an everything-but-the-kitchen-sink version of this Chris Andrews song but Sandie’s is stripped back (although still elegantly arranged) allowing her vocal to confidently command centre stage.

2.  The Boots – ‘Alexander’ (1966)

These German loons go go-go crazy on this organ and horn freak out.

3.  Gil Bateman – ‘Wicked Love’ (1966)

Gil’s groovy garage grind. The fourth of his five singles.

4.  Shirley Scott & the Soul Saxes – ‘You’ (1969)

Ms Scott cranked up her organ and was joined by three gentlemen – King Curtis, Hank Crawford and David ‘Fathead’ Newman – blowing their things for an album on Atlantic of soul/pop material. It’s all uptight and outta sight as you might imagine but this Marvin Gaye number is dancefloor dynamite.

5.  Joe Chambers – ‘The Alomoravid’ (1974)

From a super new Ace/BGP compilation Celestial Blues: Cosmic, Political and Spiritual Jazz 1970 to 1974. Chambers made his name at Blue Note during the mid-60s but had to wait until ’74 to cut an album as leader. ‘The Alomoravid’ was the title track with him up front leading, what sounds like, a small army of percussionists including David Friedman on marimba.

6.  Weldon Irvine – ‘Gospel Feeling’ (1976)

Funky, churchy jazz with more than a hint of The Generation Game. Maybe there’s a new genre for enterprising reissue labels to market: Gameshow Jazz. Didn’t they do well?

7.  Roky Erickson – ‘Crazy Crazy Mama’ (1986)

Head down, no nonsense, rockaboogie with Roky in tremendous voice. From the Don’t Slander Me LP.

8.  Teenage Fanclub – ‘The Darkest Part Of The Night’ (2016)

It was a good month to be a non-teenage Teenage Fanclub fan. A love-in at the Islington Assembly Hall and a brand spanking new album, Here. ‘The Darkest Part Of The Night’ one of the many highlights from both.

9.  The Embrooks – ‘Nightmare’/’Helen’ (2016)

Despite a couple of weeks of deliberation and repeated plays I still can’t quite decide which of these two songs I like best. Luckily for us the reconvened Embrooks have put them either side of their new 7-inch waxing. The sawing, chugging freakbeat of ‘Nightmare’ sends sparks flying and buildings tumbling while the springy pop-psych ‘Helen’ do-do-doos in joy like the climax of a Euro-Mod weekender. Were the Embrooks this good the first time around?

10.  The Missing Souls – ‘Sweet, Sweet Sadie’ (2016)

Don’t know anything about these cavemen other than, like the Embrooks, this is also on State Records and they can only give us everything: lead riff fuzzed to eleven; organ swirling in its own stroppy stew; lyrics rhyming Sadie, maybe, crazy, lady; hey-hey-hey backing vocals; chomping break; and all wrapped up in two minutes. Exhilarating and a garage-punk masterclass to boot.

THE SMITHS on CHARLIE'S BUS (1984)

It's April 1984 and The Smiths appear on TV-AM's SPLAT riding something called Charlie's Bus. "Where are we going?" asks one of the many children on the bus. "We're all going mad," replies Morrissey. "I thought we were going to Kew Gardens," says the kid. No flies on that young lady.

Off they trot to Kew Gardens and who should turn up but Sandie Shaw to serenade them with "Jeanne", a song about graves and failure.

Thanks to @binkydawkins for sending in this gem.

JULY PLAYLIST

Ten records that have got the juices flowing this month.

1.  Rev. Sister Mary Nelson – “Judgement” (1927)

Sister Mary’s intense throat shredding growl is offset by the accompaniment of a couple of young whippersnappers keen to warn gamblers, drunkards, liars, adulterers, false pretenders and hypocrites they’d better get ready for judgement day.  

2.  The Bently Boys – “Down On Penny’s Farm” (1929)

I’d always assumed Bob Dylan based his 1961 “Hard Times In New York Town” on Woody Guthrie but the song’s roots can be traced back to at least this recording from 1929, although in his Anthology of American Folk Music Harry Smith wrote “Down On Penny’s Farm” was a regionalized recasting of an even earlier song, “Hard Times”.    

3.  Mello Souls – “We Can Make It” (1966)

Somebody with £12,913 burning a hole in their Oxford bags won this at auction this month. It’s a pretty good record. 

4.  Willie Hutch – “I Can’t Get Enough” (1966)

If anyone asks for an example of a Northern Soul thumper produce this exhibit. All the classic ingredients delivered with a punch.  

5.  Elvin Jones and Richard Davis – “Raunchy Rita” (1967)

This month’s token jazz entry comes from drum and bass Jones and Davis’s Heavy Sounds LP and if I could find more smokin' stuff like this there’d be more; exactly how I like it. The album is also notable for including the only version of “Summertime” worth having.  

6.  Sandie Shaw – “Frank Mills” (1969)

Some of Sandie’s vocals on her early records could shatter crockery so it’s nice to hear her soft delivery on this from the musical Hair.

7.  Tommy James and the Shondells – “Crystal Blue Persuasion” (1969)

Must be honest and say I heard this in Season 5 of Breaking Bad as the main characters cooked their latest batch of crystal meth. Whether the song’s tranquil mood captures that of a crystal meth high I couldn’t possibly say.

8.  Raw Spitt – “I Dig Black Girls”  (1970)

“If you had a choice of colors, which one would you choose, my brothers?” asked Curtis Mayfield. Raw Spitt, aka Charlie Whitehead, knew (or rather Swamp Dogg who wrote it did).

9.  Chas & Dave – “Punchy and the Willer Warbler” (1977)

Not a sideboard, beer, rabbit or snooker table in sight. It’s quite a revelation to hear their earlier records when they sounded akin to a North London version of The Band.

10.  Dolly Mixture – “Everything and More” (1982)

The Scared To Get Happy 5-CD indiepop collection is so packed it’ll take a long time to digest properly so this is a fairly arbitrary pick but a joyous bell-chiming one.

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.