Velvets Quine Tapes to get vinyl treatment

And the reissue madness continues...Sundazed Records will be issuing a vinyl version of the Velvet Underground live collection, The Quine Tapes, originally released in a 3 CD set back in 2001. This version will be a 6 LP set. And, if it's anything like the 7" VU set they released last year, it looks like it will be worth it.

These historic Velvet Underground performances are now available on vinyl for the first time ever. To commemorate the occasion, Sundazed Music has designed a lavish six-LP box set, with the discs packaged in three separate gatefold jackets and contained in a deluxe slipcase. The package features incredible new cover art commissioned especially for this vinyl release, plus rare photos, Verve label repro’s, poster/handbill inserts, and detailed liner notes by Rolling Stone’s David Fricke. In keeping with Sundazed’s usual exacting standards, this set has been newly mastered by Bob Irwin from the original source material and is perfectly pressed on high-definition virgin vinyl. Visit Sundazed for more information.

I could have been there

This would make a nice poster, wouldn't it? A friend had an extra ticket, and all I had to do was get my ass over to London. Couldn't swing it.

"I can't discuss what I wrote, why I wrote it, or what I should or shouldn't have written. Frankly, I have no idea." Or, Who Killed Bambi?

A few weeks ago I linked to Roger Ebert's story on his involvement in the early days of Malcolm McLaren's film, The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle. Well, a couple of days ago, Ebert shared his original screenplay in it's entirety, written for the film in the summer of 1977, on his Chicago Sun Times page. The title of this post comes from his original suggestion for the film title, and his introduction below. He also includes a video clip of some of the involved parties discussing the whole thing. Very, very interesting.

This, for the benefit of future rock historians, is the transscript of a screenplay I wrote in the summer of 1977. It was tailored for the historic punk rock band the Sex Pistols, and was to be directed by Russ Meyer and produced by the impresario Malcolm McLaren. It still carried its original title, "Anarchy in the U.K.," although shortly after I phoned up with a suggested title change, which was accepted: "Who Killed Bambi?" I wrote about this adventure in my blog entry McLaren & Meyer & Rotten & Vicious & me. Discussions with Meyer, McLaren and Rene Daalder led to this draft. All I intend to do here is reprint it. Comments are open, but I can't discuss what I wrote, why I wrote it, or what I should or shouldn't have written. Frankly, I have no idea. Continued here.

Ponderosa Stomp in NYC 2010

Speaking of Lincoln Center, the Ponderosa Stomp announced today their New York City show for this summer in partnership with the Lincoln Center Out of Doors series. This year's show centers around talent from Detroit and looks to be quite the day:

Saturday, July 31
27th Annual Roots of American Music - Ponderosa Stomp presents The Detroit Breakdown

2:00 p.m. at the Hearst Plaza/Barclays Capital Grove
*The Gories
*Motor City Soul Revue featuring: Dennis Coffey, Melvin Davis,Spyder Turner, The Velvelettes, with The Party Stompers
*Eddie Kirkland

6:30 p.m. at the Damrosch Park Bandshell
*Mitch Ryder & The Detroit Wheels
*? & the Mysterians
*Death

A big bonus this year is that the event is free. Be sure to check the line up for Sunday, August 1 as well. Appearing that day will be the likes of Los Straitjackets, the World Famous Pontani Sisters, David Johansen, Melvin Van Peebles in Hamlet: The Street Chant by Shel Silverstein, Steve Cuiffo as Lenny Bruce, Rod Harrison as Lord Buckley, and more. Visit the Ponderosa Stomp website, and the Lincoln Center website for more info including full schedules. See you there.

Daily travels - Lincoln Center

A high school marching band from Arcadia, IN. They were playing Crazy Train. I kid you not.

Allen Swift RIP

Allen Swift - RIP. A talented voice actor, Allen Swift was a really nice man, and a good friend of an uncle of mine. He also had one of THE coolest NYC apartments I've ever seen on West 57th Street.

I wonder what he's listening to?

Via

Speed-Speed-Speedfreak

Mick Farren announced the publication of his latest book yesterday over at Doc 40 - Speed-Speed-Speedfreak, a history of amphetamine. Along with that, he linked to a neat-o video for "Sister Ray" by the Velvet Underground - all 17 minutes of it - presented below for your enjoyment, but only if you can hit it sideways.

“Elvis Presley, the Hell’s Angels, Hunter S. Thompson, Truman Capote, the Beatles, Judy Garland, Hank Williams, Jack Kerouac, Johnny Cash, JFK, the Manson Family and Adolf Hitler. All of the above were, at one time or another, to put it bluntly, speedfreaks. Speed-Speed-Speedfreak traces the criminal and cultural use of amphetamine and its growing use through each new and destructive cycle. Speed is both one of the biggest social problems facing the country today, an indispensible component of the doctor’s medicine bag, and a huge and abiding influence on artists, musicians and writers."

Thought for the day - Where are they now?

My friend, John, from Jack's Rhythms in New Paltz, NY, reminded me about Allan Sillitoe being mentioned in "Where Are They Now" by the Kinks from their 1973 album, Preservation Act 1. I thought it appropriate to post the song here as the lyrics to the entire song are things I think about all of the time. Where are they now? Indeed.



I'll sing a song about some people you might know
They made front pages in the news not long ago
But now they're just part of a crowd
And I wonder where they all are now.

Where have all the Swinging Londoners gone?
Ossie Clark and Mary Quant
And what of Christine Keeler,
John Stephen and Alvaro,
Where on earth did they all go?
Mr. Fish and Mr. Chow,
Yeah, I wonder where they all are now.

Where are all the Teddy Boys now?
Where are all the Teddy Boys now?
The Brill Cream boys with D.A.s,
Drainpipes and blue suedes,
Beatniks with long pullovers on,
And coffee bars and Ban the Bomb,
Yeah, where have all the Teddy Boys gone?

I hope that Arthur Seaton is alright.
I hope that Charlie Bubbles had a very pleasant flight,
And Jimmy Porter's learned to laugh and smile,
And Joe Lampton's learned to live a life of style.
Where are all the angry young men now?
Where are all the angry young men now?

Barstow and Osborne, Waterhouse and Sillitoe,
Where on earth did they all go?
And where are all the protest songs?
Yes, where have all the angry young men gone.
I wonder what became of all the Rockers and the Mods.
I hope they are making it and they've all got stead jobs,
Oh but rock and roll still lives on,
Yeah, rock and roll still lives on.

A great night in Harlem in May

Visit the Jazz Foundation of America for more info. Some of this year's performers may include: Roberta Flack, Little Jimmy Scott, Jimmy Heath, Frank Wess, Davell Crawford (The Prince of New Orleans), Manno Charlemagne of Haiti, Sweet Georgia Brown, Madeleine Peyroux, Vince Giordano & the Nighthawks and many others.

Gene Lees RIP

Gene Lees - RIP. A writer & critic, Mr. Lees was a prolific authority on jazz. Check out his page on Amazon right here.

Allan Sillitoe RIP

Alan Sillitoe - RIP

Fred and Gene

How do people figure things like this out? Someone had the brilliant idea of pairing up this Fred Astaire-Gene Kelly number to Nolan Porter's "If I Could Only Sure." Fantastic...what a nice way to end up the weekend. I've never been interested in dance as an art form, but when I see these guys do their thing, it's a different story.

I Need That Record!

Here is yet another film heavy on nostalgia for the record store now available on DVD. I hope it has a happy ending.

Filmmaker Brendan Toller unleashes I NEED THAT RECORD! THE DEATH (OR POSSIBLE SURVIVAL) OF THE INDEPENDENT RECORD STORE, "an elegy for a vanishing subculture...a lively, bittersweet film that examines - with caustic humor, brutal candor, and, ultimately, great affection - why roughly 3,000 indie record stores have closed across the nation over the past decade," (Johnathan Perry, Boston Globe). A tour-de-force tale of greed, media consolidation, homogenized radio, big box stores, downloading, and technological shifts in the music industry told through candid interviews, crestfallen record store owners, startling statistics, and eye-popping animation. Fat cats or our favorite record stores? You decide. Featuring- IAN MACKAYE, NOAM CHOMSKY, MIKE WATT, THURSTON MOORE, LENNY KAYE (Patti Smith), CHRIS FRANTZ (Talking Heads), GLENN BRANCA, PATTERSON HOOD (Drive By Truckers), PAT CARNEY (Black Keys) , LEGS MCNEIL, BOB GRUEN, BP HELIUM, and many indie record stores across the U.S.

Visit the film's official website here. And for a limited time, possibly ending today, view the entire film on Pitchfork TV.

Just Because - Creation Records, singles 51-75

Creation Records discography here.

Creation Singles 51-75 by Creation on Mixcloud

And, as mentioned previously, here's a trailer for the forthcoming documentary:

Just Because - Creation Records, singles 1-50

Creation Records discography here.

Creation Singles 1-50 by Creation on Mixcloud

The Specials at Terminal 5

Just wanted to let all of you know that the Specials, last night, performed as advertised. They played the vast majority of the first 2 albums plus "Ghost Town" as an encore, and a b-side or two. All in around 90 minutes with no support. Terry Hall is definitely an odd bird...going from threatening to kick someone's head at one moment, to sincerely thanking the audience the next. At one point he removed his shoes and put them back on before the next song. In the mean time, Neville Staple had stolen his socks and threw them into the crowd. Terry, stopping the band mid-song, asked for them back to no avail, claiming they were his only pair. The band picked up right where they left off.

My favorite moment of the night was when they performed "Little Bitch." As the song started, watching from the middle balcony, I happened to turn around, and much to my delight everyone was dancing. Because of poor sight lines at Terminal 5, they couldn't see the band anyway. So they danced like crazy. It was like my secret little Busby Berkeley moment. My most chershed moments at any gig are when the crowd & the band really come together through the music like that. It's one big (un)choreographed number.

For photos from both nights, visit Brooklyn Vegan. It took me a bit, but I managed to find some video with decent audio on Vimeo. Here you go:

Gangsters:


It's Up To You:


Rat Race:

More Specials

I'm looking forward to the Specials show tonight especially as Brooklyn Vegan had good things to say about last night's show. The shot above is last night's setlist from Terminal 5 courtesy of Brooklyn Vegan.

I also wanted to point out that, in honor of the shows, Godlis dug out some oldies but goodies from his endless photo archives. The shot below is one them, and they all date back to a daytime press conference the band did at Hurrah in January of 1980. See them here. Do bands do press conferences anymore? What a quaint idea.

Big Takeover Magazine 30th Anniversary events

Big Takeover issue #1, 1980

It's almost difficult to type out, but for the last 30(!) years(!), my friend Jack Rabid has been publishing the Big Takeover magazine twice a year, like clockwork. For a long, long time, the BT has been my number one US source for new records, live shows, and music press in general. I wrote reviews for the mag from the mid 80's into the early 90's, and I'll always be grateful to Jack for his open mindedness, love for the music, and friendship. Long may you roll, Jack...congratulations!

In July, Jack will be hosting a two day festival celebrating the anniversary. There's lots of information to follow, so read carefully. I hope to see you there.

Announcing The Big Takeover 30th Anniversary Festival/Party at The Bell House, Brooklyn, Friday And Saturday July 30-31, 2010

16 BANDS! ONLY $40 FOR A TWO DAY PASS! ($25 for one night)

Celebrating 30 years of American's oldest indie-produced music magazine.

MC for the weekend: founder/editor/publisher Jack Rabid

Tickets on sale now! (Hurry, this may well sell out! Admission is 18+) first day pass, second day pass or two day passes available.

Come join us to mark the occasion and see:

FRIDAY JULY 30
- The Avengers (Reformed S.F. '70s punk legends, with two original members, singer Penelope Houston and guitarist Greg Ingraham)
- Channel 3 (Early 80s L.A. punks!)
- Visqueen (Female-led Seattle post-punk rockers' first East Coast shows in 5 years)
- Springhouse (First show with original lineup in 8 years, playing a normal set)
- Libertines U.S. (Reformed Cincinnati '80s greats first-ever NY show)
- Flower (New York postpunk band’s reunion gig. first show in 16 years! Later split into two bands, Versus and French!)
- EDP (New York’s hard-hitting, Jam-like, mod revival band)

And more acts to be announced! Buy tickets now for this show for $25, or buy a two-day pass for $40


SATURDAY JULY 31
- Mark Burgess (England's Chameleons star. Acoustic and full band!)
- For Against (Lincoln, NE post-punk legends' first East Coast show in 15 years)
- Springhouse (Playing their second LP, Postcards From the Arctic, start to finish for the first time ever; first shows with original lineup in 8 years)
- The Sleepover Disaster (Fresno shoegaze wonders' first-ever East Coast appearance)
- Don McGlashan (ex-leader of New Zealand’s Mutton Birds in his only U.S. appearance)
- Jon Auer (Seattle’s Posies star and 17-year Big Star member)
- Astrid Williamson (English singer-songwriter extraordinaire)
- The Sharp Things (New York's acclaimed orchestral poppers!)
- Paul Collins (Former member of The Nerves, their "Hanging on the Telephone" was famously covered by Blondie, and of Paul Collins’ Beat)
- The Curtain Society (Veteran Boston shoegazers, also backing Burgess for part of his set)

And more acts to be announced! Buy tickets now for this show for $25, or buy a two-day pass for $40


Big Takeover issue #65, 2009

NOTES:

Festival Food: No exits will be final, and there will be food.

Area Accommodations: The event is in the Park Slope / Gowanus Canal section of Brooklyn, five miles from Manhattan, and only 20 minutes by subway from Manhattan. Click here for a list of hotels in the area (note - these are not recommendations).

Help the bands! Since there's no way we can pay each of the 12 non-local bands the entirety of their large travel expenses, in order to help some of them recoup, our friend Wayne Guskind suggested we take donations for them in addition to the ticket price. He even started it off by donating $100. If anyone else wants to do that, can do that via Paypal to jrabid[@]bigtakeover.com (specify "personal payment" if you can, to help avoid the 3% Paypal fee), or send a check made out to The Big Takeover at 356 4th St. Brooklyn, NY 11215. If you'd rather use Visa or MasterCard, email Jack and he can walk you through it, as that's a little trickier.

We will list the donors at the event (including anyone who wants to be listed as "anonymous" or donate in another person's name), but of course, no one has to donate.

Daily travels

On a downtown N train.

London Pirate Frequencies

London Pirate Frequencies tells the story of pirate radio in the UK. It brings the story right, smack dab up-to-date, and doesn't just relive the glory days of Radio Luxembourg and Radio Caroline.

Although I don't personally love all of the music that the pirates play, more importantly I love the way they do it. And why. More power to 'em! Thanks to History Is Made At Night for bringing this to my attention.



"We went to London to tell the story of pirate radio – secret urban studios that transmit music from concrete tower blocks to the city, and met with DJs, and station managers, rappers and MCs. We met with DJ Scratcha from RINSE FM, MC Flirt from old school KOOL FM, J2k, Jammer, and Logan Sama. We uncovered how they stay underground and away from the authorities, while still setting the new music standard across London. We sailed to the source, where it all started – massive concrete and steel forts that sit at the mouth of the Thames River. We met the people who pioneered the spirit of pirate, and played the music that London wanted to hear. They set the standard, and when the authorities shut them down, pirate sounds went into the urban underground."

Friday Ephemera - The Specials

Back when I was but a wee lad, I used to do things like write letters to record labels to see what they'd send me. With the exception of the guy who responded to me from Nemperor/Epic who went above & beyond, and actually sent me copies of the first two Romantics albums (god bless him), most of the responses contained what PR departments used to send out for press - a customized folder, a bio, and an 8x10 publicity photo. In honor of the Specials first shows in NYC since 1981 (next week at Terminal 5), I give you some bounty sent to a grateful adolescent kid in the 'burbs from the way-back-machine:


Publicity photo, Specials second album, More Specials, 1980

Specials first album publicity kit, 1979 - folder cover, photo, and two page bio:

Record Store Day this weekend

If anyone is interested in the book about record stores that I recently mentioned, SonicBoomers.com has just posted a review, and it's a thumbs up.

"There’s a lot here, not the least of which is a thorough, easily understood and entertaining history of how music retailing evolved, with chapters on the impact of epochal format changes (78’s to 45’s to LP’s to CDs) and events (Elvis’ and the Beatles’ arrival), chains and indie shops (with contributions from the likes of Tower Records’ Russ Solomon and Amoeba’s Marc Weinstein), the ’70s bootleg boom, the 21st-century downturn and more." Continued here.

And just to remind the more attention challenged of you, tomorrow is Record Store Day. Visit their website for a complete list of participating retailers, events, special releases, etc. As Tom Waits likes to say, "And then push came to shove, shove came to biff. Girls like that just lay you out stiff. Maybe I'll go to Cleveland or get me a tattoo or somethin'. My brother-in law's there."

Flipside returns

Well, if every band from the 80's is reforming & touring, why can't a magazine give it another go? LA's Flipside returns - get it here for free. Drop 'em a line on Facebook. Hat tip to the Barman.

Contempt and the punk narcotic

"Contempt is something few can carry, primarily because it argues ultimately for either murder or suicide. Godard named it with his film which involved international film production itself, but in popular culture it was probably a New York thing even then, introduced and branded as we now say by Andy Warhol." Joe Carducci riffs on Malcolm McLaren in this week's issue of the New Vulgate.

All three books referenced are well worth reading.

The Specials on Jimmy Fallon

Last night on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon - A Message To You Rudy:



Web exclusive - Little Bitch:

Thought For the Day

I leave the home of a lifetime
Like any son
I have hope and good intentions
And wandering into the daybreak
I learn as I go
To fall laughing into the water

Sticks and the stones are your broken promises
We wait too long to go from rags to riches
I am in love, I am in love with a feeling
A wild wild sky, a wild wild sky

Fences and tumble down bridges surround and divide
I wear a coat of many colours, of many colours
The sticks and the stones, our broken promises
I wait no longer to go from rags to riches

People are leaving the squalor
They're leaving the houses and fires
And starting out
We find the waiting country

Sticks and the stones are your broken promises
I wait no longer, I go from rags to riches

From rags to riches
I go from rags to riches
Go from rags to riches
From rags to riches

Shadowplayers - the Rise & Fall of Factory Records

From our friends at Cerysmatic Factory comes news of the following event taking place in London in May 20th. It celebrates the release of Shadowplayers: The Rise & Fall of Factory Records, a new book by James Nice of LTM Recordings. LTM is known for their good work, and attention to detail, and I'm sure this book will be no different.

Synopsis

In 1978, a 'Factory for Sale' sign gave Alan Erasmus and Tony Wilson a name for their fledgling Manchester club night. This proved to be the launch of one of the most significant musical and cultural legacies of the late twentieth century. The club's electrifying live scene soon translated to vinyl, and Factory Records went on to become the most innovative and celebrated record label of the next thirty years.

Always breaking new musical ground, Factory introduced the listening public to bands such as Joy Division, Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, A Certain Ratio, Section 25, The Durutti Column, Crispy Ambulance and later New Order, James and Happy Mondays - yet its founders' avowed ambition was not chart success but 'a laboratory experiment in popular culture'.

Soundscaped by visionary and troubled producer, Martin 'Zero' Hannett, bolstered by a fierce commitment to its own visual identity, achieved through the iconic sleeve designs and campaigning artwork of Peter Saville, and propelled ever onwards by the inspirational cultural entrepreneur, Tony 'Anthony H.' Wilson, Factory always sought new ways to energise the popular consciousness. Simultaneously a vision and a folly, this restless drive reached its apotheosis in 1982 with the launch of the infamous Haçienda nightclub, a venue which would act as a midwife to the nascent dance culture, but also enjoy a chequered and sometimes violent fifteen-year history.

However, the lofty ideals of Factory's musical and artistic ventures were only sporadically converted into commercial success, and when in 1992 London Records pulled out of a life-saving takeover bid - due to Factory's ideological antipathy to contracts - the fate of Factory Communications Ltd was sealed.

In the years since, the label has become both a legend and a cautionary tale, yet its definitive, authentic story has never been told - until now. Shadowplayers is the most complete, authoritative and thoroughly researched account of how a group of provincial anarchists and entrepreneurs saw off bankers, journalists and gun-toting gangsters to create the most influential, acclaimed and adored music of modern times.

Book launch @ Rough Trade East [open invitation]

Aurum Press invite you to the launch of "Shadowplayers: The Rise and Fall of Factory Records" by James Nice

on Thursday May 20th 6.30 - 8.30pm

at Rough Trade
East Dray Walk, Old Truman Brewery
91 Brick Lane
London E1 6QL
(Nearest overground/tube: Liverpool Street or Aldgate East)

Original Factory band BLURT will be performing live and there will be DJ support from Tom Moderne

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Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings - New Video

For my money, these guys are the best band on the planet right now. This is the first video for the title cut from their brand new album, I Learned the Hard Way. It looks really good popped out to full screen.

Joe Strummer - When Pigs Fly

Perfect Sound Forever: For most of the '90's, you were outside of the public spotlight. What were you up to?

Joe Strummer: Well, there's a nice hammock in my yard, made from Guyanese mountain goat wool. (laughs) I am a lazy sod though - let's put that down front. And I also did a lot of weird things. I was always involved in things that never came out, like a jinx dare I say it. Like for example, I took eight months to do a score for a film called When Pigs Fly. There's talk of releasing the score (now). I did it all, front to back for the whole picture. The film couldn't get any distribution - they showed it at festivals here and there but nothing happened. Probably had one or two showings in its life. But there's talk now that they wanna put the score out. It's a lost body of my work, if I may use such a phrase! That probably took a year to come out of my head and that never came out.

The above quote, from a 1999 interview with Perfect Sound Forever's editor Jason Gross, describes what happened to this missing piece of Strummer history. Recorded in 1993 during Strummer's un-years, these songs were intended for use in the ultimately unreleased movie When Pigs Fly, directed by Sara Driver, longtime partner of Jim Jarmusch. If one is diligent enough, it's possible to locate most of these tracks, however it's not terribly easy. And I'm not counting crappy home made video versions on YouTube.

I obtained these back in the mid-90's when someone gave me a cassette of them. There are eight tracks in all:

01. When Pigs Fly (vocal)
02. Pouring Rain (vocal)
03. Rose of Erin (vocal)
04. Ellis Island Line (instrumental)
05. Phantom County Fair (instrumental)
06. Storm In A D-Cup (instrumental)
07. Free At Last (vocal)
08. When Pigs Fly (instrumental)

Joe Strummer - When Pigs Fly (lossless)