There's great excitement in the Goggins household at the moment. On Tuesday morning I head off to Mumbai for a few days - a bit of work with a bit of sightseeing tagged on. I've never been before and am looking forward to it very much.
Our musical journey tonight starts in Mumbai and ends in "India", one of the highlights of the Psychedelic Furs's show at the Festival Hall that I was lucky enough to be at last Friday. In between we visit Turkey, Congo, Italy and Brazil, in a more or less random order.
"Mumbai, Waiting For A Miracle" - Raghu Dixit
"Utan Utan" - Selda Bagcan
"Musonsu" - Jupiter & Okwess
"Berta Filava" - Rino Gaetano
"Adelita" - Trio Mocoto
"India" - The Psychedelic Furs
One of the many reasons I'm looking forward to visiting Mumbai is because it is where my grandparents got married back in the 1930s. They originally met and got engaged in Swindon. He got a job as an engineer on the Nizam of Hyderabad's State Railway, and she joined him a year or so later. Today's clip comes from Swindon's other great export, and is dedicated to the late Grandpa and Grandma Goggins.
Sunday, 17 June 2018
Friday, 15 June 2018
A Study In Scarlet
I am sure you will be able to detect the connection between today's songs and video. It is pretty elementary.
"I've Been To The Well Before" - The Holmes Brothers
"Motor Head Baby" - Johnny "Guitar" Watson
"I've Been To The Well Before" - The Holmes Brothers
"Motor Head Baby" - Johnny "Guitar" Watson
Tuesday, 12 June 2018
Formerly Contemporary
A couple of months ago I spent 24 hours in Addis Ababa - it is a long story for a short visit - and did not have time to go scouring the markets for music. I thought I was going to leave empty-handed, but while I was at the airport on the way out I spotted a small, dusty selection of CDs on one of the sales counters. So I snapped one up.
I opted for a compilation called "The Sounds of Contemporary Ethiopian Music", mainly because it had some reasonably well-known artists on there - the likes of Alemayehu Eshete and Martha Ashagari. When I got it home it turned out not to be all that contemporary, having been released in 1999. I'm not sure whether it had been sitting there all that time, although that might explain the dust.
Anyway, it is a pretty good compilation and definitely worth buying in the perhaps unlikely event that you come across a copy. Until you do, here's a couple of tracks to keep you going.
"Yamral Tiletish" - Neway Debebe
"Be-Gudde Ewotana" - Theodros Tedesse
Meanwhile, in the UK in 1999, this was the second biggest selling single of the year. I think we have to give 1999 to Ethiopia.
I opted for a compilation called "The Sounds of Contemporary Ethiopian Music", mainly because it had some reasonably well-known artists on there - the likes of Alemayehu Eshete and Martha Ashagari. When I got it home it turned out not to be all that contemporary, having been released in 1999. I'm not sure whether it had been sitting there all that time, although that might explain the dust.
Anyway, it is a pretty good compilation and definitely worth buying in the perhaps unlikely event that you come across a copy. Until you do, here's a couple of tracks to keep you going.
"Yamral Tiletish" - Neway Debebe
"Be-Gudde Ewotana" - Theodros Tedesse
Meanwhile, in the UK in 1999, this was the second biggest selling single of the year. I think we have to give 1999 to Ethiopia.
Sunday, 10 June 2018
Run From A Past Into The Past
It's a bit of a trip down memory lane to my youth and the 1980s this week. On Friday, all being well, I'll be off to see the Psychedelic Furs, whose self-titled first album remains a particular favourite of mine. And last night it was the mighty Microdisney, one of my favourite bands of all time.
Until last week in Dublin, Microdisney hadn't played together since they split up thirty years ago. The London show was the second and last of the brief comeback, and the first time I've seen them since they played the long-gone Astoria in the Charing Cross Road in 1986 or 1987. Very good they were too. Cathal Coughlan can still belt it out like he used to.
Here are two songs Microdisney played last night, followed by one I strongly suspect the Furs won't play on Friday (though I would love it if they did).
"Past" - Microdisney
"464" - Microdisney
"Flowers" - The Psychedelic Furs
Until last week in Dublin, Microdisney hadn't played together since they split up thirty years ago. The London show was the second and last of the brief comeback, and the first time I've seen them since they played the long-gone Astoria in the Charing Cross Road in 1986 or 1987. Very good they were too. Cathal Coughlan can still belt it out like he used to.
Here are two songs Microdisney played last night, followed by one I strongly suspect the Furs won't play on Friday (though I would love it if they did).
"Past" - Microdisney
"464" - Microdisney
"Flowers" - The Psychedelic Furs
Monday, 4 June 2018
Slavic Soul
I was packing my bag in anticipation of another trip to Zagreb this week, when it occurred to me I hadn't got round to sharing with you the last of the CDs I picked up when I was there a couple of months ago.
So today it is the turn of Grupa Mi, who the man at Free Bird Records described as "the Croatian Blood, Sweat and Tears". Despite that, I still bought the CD. It is called "15 Zivih Komada" and, I would guess from the Croatian language sleeve notes, it is an expanded version of their 1971 album, "12 Zivih Komada".
There are, indeed, a couple of Blood Sweat and Tears cover versions on there, and the lads also have a go at Chicago, James Brown, Sam & Dave and Otis Redding. I imagine they sounded great played live in a sweaty Zagreb club but they don't really match up to the originals on record. So instead here are a couple of their own songs. It is possible the lyrics are more meaningful than they appear to be judging by the titles, but I wouldn't bet on it.
"La La La" - Grupa Mi
"Bam Bam Baba Lu Bam" - Grupa Mi
So today it is the turn of Grupa Mi, who the man at Free Bird Records described as "the Croatian Blood, Sweat and Tears". Despite that, I still bought the CD. It is called "15 Zivih Komada" and, I would guess from the Croatian language sleeve notes, it is an expanded version of their 1971 album, "12 Zivih Komada".
There are, indeed, a couple of Blood Sweat and Tears cover versions on there, and the lads also have a go at Chicago, James Brown, Sam & Dave and Otis Redding. I imagine they sounded great played live in a sweaty Zagreb club but they don't really match up to the originals on record. So instead here are a couple of their own songs. It is possible the lyrics are more meaningful than they appear to be judging by the titles, but I wouldn't bet on it.
"La La La" - Grupa Mi
"Bam Bam Baba Lu Bam" - Grupa Mi
Friday, 1 June 2018
Thrice Welcome All
You're an intelligent bunch, I think you'll work out today's theme without me having to spell it out for you.
"Yeah, Yeah, Yeah" - The Vibrators
"Love, Love, Love" - Donny Hathaway
"Hey, Hey, Hey" - June & The Exit Wounds
"Please, Please, Please" - Christofolly & The Afro Beat Cookers
"Buzz, Buzz, Buzz" - Jonathan Richman & The Modern Lovers
"Mercy, Mercy, Mercy" - Larry Williams & Johnny "Guitar" Watson
"Cry, Cry, Cry" - Johnny Cash
"Gone, Gone, Gone" - Piccadilly Line
"Yeah, Yeah, Yeah" - The Vibrators
"Love, Love, Love" - Donny Hathaway
"Hey, Hey, Hey" - June & The Exit Wounds
"Please, Please, Please" - Christofolly & The Afro Beat Cookers
"Buzz, Buzz, Buzz" - Jonathan Richman & The Modern Lovers
"Mercy, Mercy, Mercy" - Larry Williams & Johnny "Guitar" Watson
"Cry, Cry, Cry" - Johnny Cash
"Gone, Gone, Gone" - Piccadilly Line
Sunday, 27 May 2018
Citizen Of The World
We start tonight with a public service announcement. I logged on to Blogger just now to prepare this post, and found this message waiting for me:
"European Union laws require you to give European Union visitors information about cookies used and data collected on your blog. In many cases, these laws also require you to obtain consent. Out of courtesy, we have added a notice on your blog to explain Google's use of certain Blogger and Google cookies, and other data collected by Google".
So to all our readers in the EU, consider yourself warned, and if you can see the "courtesy notice" - I can't - please read it carefully. The rest of you can do as you please.
One person not caught by the exacting new requirement is Kiran Ahluwalia, born in India, raised in Canada, and the maker of a series of interesting albums mixing Indian music with desert blues and other influences. The pick of the bunch is probably 2011's "Aam Zameen", which featured Tinariwen as her backing band on some tracks. But the two albums since then - "Sanata" and "7 Billion" - are pretty good too. Here's one from each.
"Hayat" - Kiran Ahluwalia
"Khafa (Up In Arms)" - Kiran Ahluwalia
"European Union laws require you to give European Union visitors information about cookies used and data collected on your blog. In many cases, these laws also require you to obtain consent. Out of courtesy, we have added a notice on your blog to explain Google's use of certain Blogger and Google cookies, and other data collected by Google".
So to all our readers in the EU, consider yourself warned, and if you can see the "courtesy notice" - I can't - please read it carefully. The rest of you can do as you please.
One person not caught by the exacting new requirement is Kiran Ahluwalia, born in India, raised in Canada, and the maker of a series of interesting albums mixing Indian music with desert blues and other influences. The pick of the bunch is probably 2011's "Aam Zameen", which featured Tinariwen as her backing band on some tracks. But the two albums since then - "Sanata" and "7 Billion" - are pretty good too. Here's one from each.
"Hayat" - Kiran Ahluwalia
"Khafa (Up In Arms)" - Kiran Ahluwalia
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