BRENDA HOLLOWAY ON AMERICAN BANDSTAND (1967)

Here’s a treat, recently discovered footage of the lovely – and modish- Brenda Holloway appearing on American Bandstand, 6 May 1967. Not only does she mime to “Just Look What You’ve Done” but there’s a short interview afterwards to enjoy. “Where did you get those wild shoes?”

And in case you missed it, a plug for the Monkey Picks interview with Brenda from last year (here). Also, on the right hand side of the blog you should now see a “Popular Labels” list which includes categories such as interviews and playlists to make it easier to look back through the archive. Don’t think his’ll show up on phones though. 

PAUL ORWELL DISCUSSES HIS DEBUT LP “BLOWING YOUR MIND AWAY” (2015)

As we reach the halfway mark, Paul Orwell has stumped a ruddy great stake in the ground to waltz off with many people’s Album Of The Year choice following the release this month of Blowing Your Mind Away.

Such has been the buzz generated by this young songsmith, after two singles (“Little Reason” and “You’re Nothing Special”) were snapped up by frenzied record hounds, the LP sold out before it even hit its release date on pre-orders alone. It didn’t even see the inside of a shop record rack. Five hundred copies gone in an instant; without anyone hearing it. Those savvy enough to have been paying attention and who got in quick have been duly rewarded with a stunning collection to proudly sit alongside the classic 60s records which so inform Blowing Your Mind Away. There’s no one dominant influence as Orwell fills his pick and mix bag with goodies from all over the shop: some wild freakbeat guitar breaks; bit of the Eyes riffing here; Blues Magoos organ there; a hint of Between The Buttons; some Hollies; the Animals; Syd Barrett; is that a Jacques Dutronc fuzz guitar line? A touch of first album Horrors?

Monkey Picks had a word with Paul and tried to pin him down on his biggest influences. “The Beatles, Stones, Phil Spector, Joe Meek,” he says, “the usuals really”. The mention of Phil Spector and Joe Meek are most telling and give the biggest indication of where Paul’s coming from, especially the DIY/record at home ethic of Joe Meek. All the tracks on the album were written, produced and played by Paul (with the exception of the drums) and recorded in his bedroom. Not that it sounds like it and not that finding a release was initially uppermost in Paul’s mind.

“I wrote and produced a series of tracks, never really intended to see the light of day. My best friend Michael [Parrett], who is the band now, heard it and said I should release it. So I continued to try and make something where each track could be an A side single release. I'm not too sure how many tracks I wrote, but I kept cutting and changing until the best fourteen where finished.”

Those eventual fourteen – all short and without an inch of wasted fat – don’t contain a single duff track among them – the benchmark of a great album rather than a very good one. Even on first play it sounds like a Greatest Hits collection. It’s that immediate. “Very kind of you, this is what I really hoped to achieve. So for you to say that really means a lot.”

With the record already a sought-after collector’s item I wonder if Paul’s sold himself short by only releasing a limited edition vinyl LP. “As a vinyl collector it made sense to have a real release. I couldn't really see the point of releasing MP3 or CDs without a big promotional campaign behind it.” Any plans for a repress or to make it more widely available? “If a big label or good indie label had the funds to do it justice then I could go with the flow. A repress would be good, especially to get it around the world more and into shops.”

With a sold out album, promotional gigs hardly seem necessary but Paul’s keen to get back out playing. “I’m auditioning members at the moment. All I wanna do is play again. It’d be great to play “Fangz”, “Bad Blood” and “Here and Now” live and raw.  It's frustrating to have to rely on other people to do shows and things. I sometimes wish I’d started an acoustic album so I could just be the loner I am.”  

There’s another issue to sort. “I really want a publishing deal; I am song writer more than anything else. I would like to get into writing more and more. I have hundreds of songs I’ve started in different genres; I’ve hoarded stuff for far too long. So hopefully I’ll get it all out before I’m gone.”

I’m sensing a very determined individual. “I am," Paul confirms, "and anyone who stands in my way or holds me back can just do one.”

Blowing Your Mind Away by Paul Orwell is released on Heavy Soul Records. Tape it off a friend. 

DETROIT '67: THE YEAR THAT CHANGED SOUL by STUART COSGROVE (2015)

It’s difficult to think of a subject I’d sooner read about than events in the city of Detroit during 1967 and having now read Stuart Cosgrove’s new book, Detroit 67, I also can’t think of anyone I’d sooner have it written by. From January to December, Cosgrove provides a month-by-month, blow-by-blow account of a turbulent year, weaving three predominant strands: soul music from Berry Gordy’s Motown empire; civil unrest, racial disharmony and rioting; white radicals and rock revolutionaries spearheaded by John Sinclair and soundtracked by the MC5.

The so-called Summer of Love underway on the West Coast, things couldn’t have been more different in the north. Detroit was under siege. Riots had taken hold. Building burnt and businesses went up in smoke. Tanks patrolled the streets during the curfew hours. Trigger-happy policemen killed innocent citizens, most tragically in the case of four-year-old Tanya Blanding whose uncle’s lit cigarette was mistaken as sniper fire to which the National Guards responded with a hail of bullets ripping through the family’s apartment. Tanya’s death is but one tragedy in a book populated with disastrous events and fatalities but credit to Stuart Cosgrove for handling each with an unscrupulously even hand.

The messy extraction of Florence Ballard from the Supremes is a central story told in great detail yet Cosgrove doesn’t follow the familiar line of a ruthless Berry Gordy simply sacking her. In Cosgrove’s telling it was the last resort and even then it’s not entirely clear how it happened. Gordy is painted as man who chose to avoid confrontation and didn’t act decisively. He also comes across as a man more interested in the music than the general perception of him as primarily a hardnosed businessman. How Gordy did business came under extreme scrutiny amid a raft of litigation from disgruntled Motown employees unhappy with their lot, and feelings they were being ripped-off, but the Gordy family were far more knowledgeable than kids coming up through the tough streets of Detroit who couldn’t even understand why they had to pay taxes, let alone how Motown was putting money aside for them to do that very thing. How Ballard went from one-third of the most successful girl group the world has ever known to dying in poverty ten years later is a terrible story but those looking to apportion “blame” need to be aware of the business decisions – disastrous ones – Flo made herself and were made for her by ill-judged and poor advice outside of Motown.

Tammi Terrell’s death, aged just 24, is heart-breaking. Collapsing on stage whilst performing with Marvin Gaye in October ’67 Tammi was diagnosed with a brain tumour and died three years later. Her relationship with the Temptations' David Ruffin – which followed a horrific one with James Brown, there’s one particular event which beggars belief – has been the subject of much conjecture. Ruffin’s violence towards Tammi has been said to have caused her death but whatever faults Ruffin had – and there were plenty – the type of tumour Tammi had could not have been caused by being knocked down the stairs, hit with a hammer or a motorcycle helmet. Again, Cosgrove is fair in his reporting of Ruffin and tries to explain how and why he might have been the way he was (in a word, cocaine) not simply that he was an awful individual.  

I could go on listing more. The events at the Algiers Hotel when police beat and murdered black folk, including members and friends of upcoming soul group the Dramatics; Motown staff member and writer of “You’re My Everything”, “I Could Never Love Another (After Loving You)” and “I Wish It Would Rain” Roger Penzabene shooting himself through the head; Martha Reeves’s breakdown; Holland-Dozier-Holland’s downing of tools. The list goes on and Cosgrove devotes time not only to those in the music industry but also those from the wider Detroit community and how events shaped the city and led to the mass evacuation of the area ever since.

I realise I’ve probably made Detroit ’67 sound like a harrowing read. There’s no getting away from the fact that frequently it is. It’s also 600 pages long. But there are plenty of nice little nuggets to be found for the soul fan too; the background to records like Joe L’s “(I’m Not Gonna Be) Worried” and Saxie Russells’ “Psychedelic Soul” among them (a more comprehensive index would've been handy). More importantly it’s also thought-provoking (especially when it comes to divisions of race), balanced and provides lots of detail about a city which, as well as the horrors, has provided some of the greatest music the world has ever heard. Essential reading.

Detroit ’67 by Stuart Cosgrove is published by Carlton, priced £18. 

CATCH UP: MONKEY'S WANDERING WIRELESS SHOW - JUNE 2015

For those who had better things to do than tune in last night to Monkey’s Wandering Wireless Show on Fusion, you can now listen – should you so wish – at your leisure. An hour of great tunes interrupted at intervals by some bloke who apparently sounds a little like Martin Freeman.

Huge thanks to Fusion On Air for letting me loose on the airwaves and doing a fantastic job of knocking the show into shape.

Click here. 

THE SIDEWINDER SETLIST - THURSDAY 4th JUNE 2015

It was great to be invited by hosts Dave Edwards and Gilo to play records at Sidewinder on Thursday. Feels like a while, probably about a year, since I DJed a proper modernist/R&B club so used the opportunity to dig out some old favourites and throw a few recent purchases into the mix. The second set was towards the end of the night so trod a safer route than the first to keep the dancers on the floor. 

The most curious part of the evening came when I was asked “How come you’re dressed as a Mod but are playing R&B?” A question I didn’t know where to start unpacking then and am still at a loss now. 

Eskew Reeder – Undivided Love (Instant)

Big Maybelle – Do Lord (Brunswick)

L. Roy Baimes – Hey L. Roy (BJR)

James Kirk – Tell Me Please (Guyden)

BB King – Paying The Cost To Be The Boss (Bluesway)

Lowell Fulson – Love Grows Cold (Checker)

The Rollers – Troubles (Bel-Star)

Little Robbie – I’ve Got Troubles Of My Own (RSVP)

Big Daddy Green – Who Done It (Anla)

Ronnie Milsap – Thousand Miles From Nowhere (Scepter)

Robert Moore – Harlem Shuffle (Hollywood)

Lonnie Hewitt – You Gotta Git (Fantasy)

Hindal Butts – In The Pocket (MS)

Mary Ann Fisher – It’s A Man’s World (Imperial)

Roosevelt Grier – Since You’ve Been Gone (Rik)

Grover Pruitt – Little Girl (Salem)

Curtis Lee – Is She In Your Town (Mira)

Aretha Franklin- Tighten Up Your Tie (Columbia)

Virgie Till - I Didn’t Steal Your Dog (Glover)

Sugar Boy Williams – Little Girl (Herald)

Jesse Pearson – I Got A Feelin’ I’m Fallin’ (RCA Victor)

Dorie Williams – Tell Me Everything You Know (635)

Dean Jones – Women (Ska-Da-La-De-Da) (Valiant)

Esko Wallace – Triple Zero (Graham)

Ernie Washington – Lonesome Shack (Chattahoochee)

Billy Duke – Millionaire (Capitol)

Banny Price – You Love Me Pretty Baby (Jewel)

Freddy King – Now I’ve Got A Woman (Federal)

Lonnie Lester – You Can’t Go (Nu-Tone)

The Sidewinder takes place on the first Thursday of each month in the back room of the Wenlock & Essex, Essex Road, Islington, N1. 7.30-11.30pm, admission free. 

MONKEY'S WANDERING WIRELESS SHOW - SUNDAY 7th JUNE, 8.30PM

You’ve had the John Peel show, Peter Young’s Soul Cellar, Brian Matthew’s Sounds of the Sixties and Theme Time Radio Hour with your host Bob Dylan. Now, put all thoughts of those seminal radio programmes behind you and get ready to turn that dial to Fusion-On-Air for Monkey’s Wandering Wireless Show. Yes folks, calling out around the world, I’ll be dipping a cautious hairy toe in the broadcasting game this Sunday.

Fusion is small but perfectly formed internet station which comes to life at regular intervals, notably on Sunday nights when listeners send in playlists which Mick Collins enthusiastically builds into a show, or people present their own thing like the excellent Dr Gonzo’s Medicine Bag. All of which are very Monkey Picks-friendly in content. Thanks a lot to Fusion for asking me to get involved. 

I rather hastily agreed to present the show myself so apologies in advance for what’ll no doubt be a shaky and nervous debut but if you can overlook that you’ll hopefully be rewarded with a hour or so of brilliant tunes. It’ll be an aural equivalent of Monkey Picks with all the effort of tracing tracks down yourself taken out. Old favourites, forgotten gems and maybe the odd tune you’ll hear for the first time and dig. Crack open a beer, tune in, and sit back.

Show begins at 8.30pm. Go to mixlr.com/fusion-on-air/ just beforehand and it should spring into life at broadcast time. It might look like you need to log-in to Mixlr to listen but you don't. 

LEGAY - "HIGH FLYING AROUND" EP

Legay, from Leicester, were one of countless bands who evolved from a dandy mod soul combo to punchy psychedelic voyagers in the second half of the 1960s. They came up through the ranks, got a brief crack at the big time, before regrouping to find greater success as Gypsy.

Formed in 1965 they were named after original drummer, Legay Rogers, who had the foresight/ego to pre-emptively emblazon his name across his bass drum. Musically talented – containing two songwriters, lead singer Rod Read and guitarist Robin Pizer - and stylishly attired they were a big attraction, especially locally, and were as pleasing on the eye as the ear. One witness enviously commenting on YouTube that “they had some real hot chicks”. Their peak came in 1968 with the release of their sole 45 for Fontana, the incessant freakbeat brain pounder “No One”.  

Never ones to turn down an excavation project, the intrepid researchers at Circle Records have dug up four additional recordings the band made between 1967 and 1969 and have issued them with their customary care and attention as a new 7 inch EP.

The main track “High Flying Around” might be familiar to the hardcore psych crowd as it’s received a few club plays via acetate but here it gets a first official release, restored and remastered to give improved sound quality. From 1968 it was probably earmarked as a follow-up to “No One” and retains elements of that track – most notably the use of John Knapp’s Selmer Pianotron electric piano - but benefits from the pace being taken down a notch allowing the vocals and harmonies to breath more easily. That it fleetingly (on the “til tomorrow” part of the main hook) brings The Action’s Rolled Gold to mind is nothing but a good thing indeed.

The additional three tracks are “Minstrel Boy”, a demo from March 1969; Robin Pizer’s “You’re On My Mind” and Rod Read’s “Impartial Judge”, both demos from 1967. Although none as impressive as the main track and the sound quality is far from perfect, “You’re On My Mind” in particular, (not the song done by the Birds) gives an indication of the excitement the band must’ve generated.

The release comes as a limited edition 60 gram vinyl 45 designed like a demo/acetate and is housed in a brown paper sleeve embossed with Circle Records detail plus a colour postcard including the band’s history. Those buying direct from Circle receive a Legay badge. 

High Flying Around EP by Legay is released tomorrow on Circle Records. Available here.