According to my search function it is 13 years since Elyse Weinberg last appeared on these pages. As many of you weren't even born then it is time for a long overdue comeback. Her debut - and for many years only - album "Elyse" has long been a favourite of mine.
Elyse was a Canadian singer-songwriter who hung out with the likes of Neil and Joni in Toronto in the mid-1960s. In 1968 she followed them down to L.A. where she was signed up by the Tetragrammaton label, best known (if at all) as being the label that released all the early Deep Purple albums in the US.
"Elyse" came out to moderate acclaim the following year. Produced by Don Gallucci, the former keyboard player with The Kingsmen (thats him playing the opening riff on "Louie Louie") and later the producer of The Stooge's "Fun House", backing was provided by a band called Touch and allegedly an uncredited Neil on some tracks.
Neil was definitely involved in the planned follow up LP "Greasepaint Smile", produced by David Briggs and also involving the likes of Nils Lofgren and J.D. Souther. Unfortunately the label went bust before it could be released. It finally saw the light of day in 2015, after Elyse had been rediscovered by hipsters and lured back into music from her steady job selling insurance in Oregan.
Sadly Elyse died of lung cancer in 2020 aged 74. She never really got the recognition I think she deserved in her lifetime but she left us with one great record, which is more than can be said for most of us.
I have not been able to find any clips of Elyse or even of Cher doing her version of "Band Of Thieves" (renamed "Chastity's Song" for the purposes of a terrible film). But here are Courtney Barnett and Waxahatchee a few years back covering "Houses" from the second album. There is also a very poor quality clip on YouTube of Jeff Tweedy having a go at the same song last year.
Normally I open each episode of our tour of the Americas by telling you a bit about the country we are visiting. But I am going to assume that you all know enough about Mexico to make that unnecessary this time.
I am also going to assume that if you were asked to name a well-known Mexican tune many of you would choose "La Cucaracha". If instead you chose "Speedy Gonzalez" you are disqualified - that was written by David Hess, a songwriter from New York City who was also a bit part player in horror films.
"La Cucaracha" on the other hand is the real thing, so we are going to open with an interpretation by Lila Downs from her Grammy-winning 2004 album "Una Sangre = One Blood". Ms Downs comes from a family of high achievers. Her sister Ida is very big in the bedding industry.
We will follow up that traditional Mexican tune with some traditional Mexican disco. Actress and TV host Veronica Castro also dabbled a bit as a disco diva. This track comes from her 1978 album "Sensaciones". You may recognise it as a version of "What's Your Name, What's Your Number", a minor hit for Andrea True Connection written by Roger Cook (or Roger Cocinero as he's known in Mexico).
On the subject of cover versions, our next act are probably best known outside Mexico for teaming up with Neville Staples on a version of "The Lunatics Have Taken Over The Asylum". Los De Abajo - for it is they - also made a couple of albums on David Byrne's Luaka Bop label around the turn of the century. This track comes from "Cybertropic Chilango Power" (2001).
Los De Abajo formed in 1992 and it is quite possible that they were partly inspired to do so by Maldita Vecindad (full name La Maldita Vecindad y los Hijos del Quinto Patio) and their blend of rock, ska and local music. La Maldita were at the height of their powers then, with their "El Circo" album topping the charts in 1991. Today's selection is from that album.
A few years ago Rolling Stone rated "El Circo" at #8 in a list of the 50 best Latin American rock albums of all time. Further down the list at #48 was the eponymous debut album by La Revolución De Emiliano Zapata. Released in 1971, Rolling Stone says that it "reproduced the acid-rock haze of Cream, Creedence and Quicksilver Messenger Service with touching devotion... [and that] there is a homemade charm to the rough production". See what you think.
From 1971 we step lightly into 1972 where we find Manny Perez y Los Cachiros bashing out some norteñomusic which sounds like it may have been recorded in the same garage used by the local garage rock bands. This one definitely has a homemade charm to the rough production and Manny's even rougher voice.
We will stick with norteño for our penultimate selection. I found this track by Norteno Solido on a 2016 compilation called "Club Corridos Presenta: La Mentira de Tu Amor". I have not been able to find out anything about Norteno Solido other than they are not to be confused with the allegedly better known Solido. Please don't make that mistake.
As always we finish with some MAR. On this occasion it comes courtesy of a band whose name will resonate with all sports fans - Antidoping. They were formed in Mexico City in 1992 by brothers Pedro and Manuel Apodaca, which I suppose makes them the Mexican equivalent of UB40. This track is from their 2004 album "Esfuerzo Universal" and translates as "United Brothers". It is presumably the Apodacas' theme tune (but not the Campbells).
We haven't had any reggae here recently other than of the Mandatory American variety, so we have recruited the late great Michael Prophet to put that right.
If you have 50 minutes to spare you could do a lot worse than watching the video of a Mr Prophet live show with Scientist on the mixing desk as a bonus. It took place in October 2017, two months before his death and when he was already battling health issues - not that you'd have guessed that as his voice sounded as good as ever.
I am delighted to be able to bring you news of an old friend of the blog, Annie Dressner.
When Annie first featured on these pages way back in 2013 I described her sound as "Brooklyn hipsters storming the Brill Building". As you can see, I was prone to pretentiousness back then. I really just meant that she made - and continues to make - smart pop music.
According to my search function Annie last appeared here way back in 2018, which means I have done a great disservice to all of you and more importantly to her as she has had a few records out since then. Sincere apologies all round.
In a belated attempt to put things right I am here to tell you that Annie has a brand new album in the works. No name or release date yet but the lead single "Dumb Boy" came out last week. Charity Chic may be interested to note that the album is being produced by Peter Bruntnell who also plays on the record along with one Peter Noone. I've checked and its not the one from Herman's Hermits.
Annie will also be touring the UK during April supporting Kris Drever, including gigs in Inverness and Norwich which may be of interest to certain bloggers of my acquaintance - further details are on Annie's website, where you can also find a link to her Bandcamp page. If you do go along tell her Ernie sent you. I have already bagged a ticket for her headline show in London in October.
It is probably unlikely that the dumb boy in the new single is one of the Hardy Boys about whom Annie sang on her 2011 album "Strangers Who Knew Each Other's Names", but for scheduling purposes I am going to pretend they are. In addition we have a track from "48 Hours With...", Annie's 2022 collaboration with a real boy, David Ford.
Last Wednesday night I paid what has become my traditional annual visit to the Witloof Bar in Brussels. It is tucked away in the basement of the Botanique cultural centre - accessed via the coatracks - and it is one of my favourite small venues.
The official headliner was Nyron Higor, but in practice we what were treated to was a show by the North Eastern Brazil hipster community's equivalent of CSNY. Nyron was joined by Brune Berle and Batata Boy, both from his hometown of Maceió, and Phylipe Nunes Araújo from up the road in Santa Cruz do Capibaribe, who performed double duties as the opening act.
All four of them are recording artists in their own right (click on their names for their respective Bandcamp pages) and have appeared on each others records. Nyron and Phylipe are also now labelmates, both having released an album through Far Out Recordings last year. If you are not familiar with Far Out, they specialise in Brazilian music and their back catalogue is well worth checking out.
It was a three part set. The starting line-up was Nyron on drums, Batata Boy on keyboards, Bruno on bass and Phylipe on guitar. Nyron led them through a few of his tunes and they were pretty good. He moved on to bass then guitar, shedding band members as he went, and treated us to a solo set. That was even better.
And then the boys came back for a party jam, with Bruno and Phylipe leading on some of their own crowd pleasers as well as Nyron who by this point was back on drums. That was the best bit of the night. They seemed to be having even more fun than the audience.
If any of the gang turn up round your way in the future it would be well worth popping along. If they turn up mob-handed you should definitely go.
If all of that has whet your appetite here is an hour of the three lads from Maceió playing in a French record store last year, followed by a few minutes of Phylipe with Batata Boy in tow.
It was International Women's Day on Sunday. I don't work weekends and I had urgent pun-based business to deal with yesterday so this is the first opportunity to mark the occasion
The words of Ivor Cutler's "Women Of The World" are as relevant today as they have ever been. We have the original with Linda Hirst from 1983 and a version featuring Tracyanne Campbell from Camera Obscura from an all-Scottish Ivor tribute album released in 2020.
They are joined by the great Dick Gaughan (also from Scotland) and Wee Baaba McMaal (Senegal via Saltcoats).
This goes out to all you top international women out there, not just the Scottish and Senegalese ones.
This will be my last post for the week as I am off to Brussels first thing tomorrow for a few days work. Combining tomorrow's destination with today's theme, here are some videos of Belgian women, starting with the woman born Sabrina Tack belting out the old Bellamy Brothers hit.
Ladies and gentlemen, we have another winner! Topping the Body Parts chart is...
George with "Penis In Furs"
Previous votes have been pretty close but this time we had a runaway winner. Congratulations go to George for correctly calculating that the more depraved members (no pun intended) of the voting panel would be unable to resist a knob gag. But I am frankly disappointed in the rest of you. So much so that I may have to rethink my plans to follow this up with a related round on bodily fluids and emissions.
Incidentally, in George's adopted homeland of Portugal the song's title would be "Pénis em Peles", which makes it sound quite lyrical.
While on the subject of other languages, a shout out to our good friend Walter in Germany. I am impressed by his ability to come up with decent puns in his second language. It is not something I would even attempt to do.
Walter's AC/DC pun was just a few points short of a Top 5 position this time out. But who did make it? These folks, that's who:
1.Penis In Furs –
The Velvet Underground (George)
2.Livers Of Babylon
- Boney M (C)
3.Wood Beez (Pray
Like Urethra Franklin) – Scritti Politti (Alyson)
4.Just The Humerus
- Grover Washington Jr (Ernie)
5.God Save The
Spleen - Sex Pistols (John M)
Thanks to all of you who submitted a pun and/or voted, your enthusiasm is much appreciated. The current plan is to announce the theme for Pun Fun 5 on Monday 6 April. Until then, we will hand it over to Os Veludo Subterrâneo to see us out with the song that smashed the charts.
Apologies for the terrible pun in the title. While on the subject, a quick reminder to anyone who wishes to vote on Pun Fun 4 but hasn't yet done so that the deadline is this Sunday.
Now on with the post.
Recently I've been exploring the back catalogue of the estimable Ored Recordings label. Its primary mission is to promote the traditional music of the various ethnic groups from the northern Caucasus region. Once upon a time this was the country of Circassia but it is now mostly part of modern day Russia. The region includes the likes of Abkhazia, Chechnya and North Ossetia - fun holiday destinations all.
The two main attractions of the back catalogue are the quality of the recordings and the fact that everything is available on a 'name your own price' basis on Bandcamp. You would be foolish not to have a rummage around. Perhaps start with the 2023 sampler album "Noqua" to help get your bearings.
I have picked a track from "Qorror", one of several albums by Jrpjej - please don't ask me how to pronounce their name - and one from "Apere Oredxer" by Myst. Jrpjej are based in Nalchik, which as I'm sure you all know is the capital of the Kabardino-Balkaria republic and is also where the label began, while Myst hail from the mystical land of Krasnodar.
The first is "Tried To Do's", the new album by Trippers & Askers. That is the nom de plume of Jay Hammond, a college professor and cultural anthropologist who has been making music under this name on and off since 2009.
Prof. Trippers records for the Sleepy Cat label based in Durham, North Carolina and there are some similarities to other acts from the local scene down there - the likes of Iron & Wine and Hiss Golden Messenger.
According to the blurb "The songs deal with the quotidian themes of love, family and loss through the prism of both Buddhist and Christian ways of mourning. Through stories of loss in relation to Hammond's upbringing in the bible belt U.S. South, it sets up a productive tension between Buddhist and Christian rituals and beliefs about mourning".
To be honest I didn't really pick up on any of that productive tension but that didn't prevent me enjoying "Tried To Do's" a great deal. It does not get released until May but you can pre-order it from the Trippers & Askers Bandcamp page (and make sure to check out his back catalogue while you're there). For now you'll have to make do with the lead single which came out yesterday.
On to the second record. If you have ever wondered what indie-poppers would sound like when they got old enough to qualify for subsidised public transport, Railcard and their recently released self-titled debut album are here to provide the answer.
With former members of Dolly Mixture and Heavenly in the line-up there is quite a lot of jangle and jauntiness as you would expect, but with an added pinch of wistfulness as on the song I've selected and the excellent title track.
Voting is now open for Pun Fun 4. Readers were challenged to insert a pun related to a part of the hum an body into a popular song title.
They have risen to the challenge like Frankenstein's monster rising from its slab - fittingly, as that was very probably the last time such a ragbag of random body parts was assembled in one place.
Thanks to everyone who submitted an entry and a very warm welcome to Steve and Mr SDS who are joining us for the first time. With them on board we have the highest number of entries to date.
Voting is open to all readers not just those who entered. Let me know your top five in order of preference. I'll award 7 points for every first choice, 5 for second and then 3, 2 and 1 for the rest.
You can either submit your votes in the comments section below or by email to leggies27@hotmail.co.uk if you would rather preserve the sanctity of the secret ballot.
The deadline is next Sunday (8 March). We will announce the results a week today.
Here are the contenders, listed alphabetically by artist.
1.Dirty Feet Done Dirt Cheap - AC/DC
2.God's Only Nose - The Beach Boys
3.Livers Of Babylon - Boney M
4.Fortunate Thumb - Creedence Clearwater Revival
5.Just The Humerus - Grover Washington Jr
6.Ulna - The Kinks
7.There's A Guy Works Down The Chip Shop Swears He's Pelvis - Kirsty MacColl
8.I'm Just A Finger In A Rock 'n Roll Hand – The Moody Blues
9.Touch Me I’m Coccyx – Mudhoney
10.Uterus And Them – Pink Floyd
11.Wood Beez (Pray Like Urethra Franklin) – Scritti Politti
12.God Save The Spleen - Sex Pistols
13.Holidays In The Bum - Sex Pistols
14.Dis Arm - The Smashing Plump-Limbs
15.Pulling Muscles From A Shell - Squeeze
16.Simply The Breast - Tina Turner
17.Penis In Furs – The Velvet Underground
If you are thinking about assembling your own monster this instructional video may be of some assistance.
I wasn't planning on posting today but have just woken up to the sad news that Neil Sedaka has died. I've always had a bit of a soft spot for Mr Sedaka. Even we surfers of the zeitgeist appreciate a proper tune and he wrote more than his fair share of them.
In headline terms the history of Honduras is pretty similar to many of the neighbouring countries we have already visited in this series: some advanced indigenous civilizations; Spanish conquest; independence; US interference; civil wars; coups; and now more US interference.
But Honduras also shares more positive features with its neighbours, not least the amazing biodiversity, top nosh and a vibrant music scene. And the last of those is what we will be focusing on today.
One of the other things Honduras shares with some neighbours are the Garifuna people. We covered them and their music in the earlier posts on Belize and Guatemala but Honduras has by far the largest number of Garifuna so it would be remiss not to do so again.
Which is why we are starting the show with the late Aurelio Martínez, who sadly died in a plane crash last year aged just 55. Aurelio picked up the mantle of the leading Garifuna musician from Belize's Andy Palacio after the latter's own premature death in 2009 and did a huge amount to promote their culture. This track comes from "200 + 10 + 2".
One of the landmark recordings in Garifuna music was the 2008 album "Umalali: The Garifuna Women's Project". One of the many fine female singers featured on the album was Chella Torres, who finally released her debut solo album "Aye" in 2024. That's where this track is from.
We will finish our mini Garifuna Fest with the earliest recording of the three. It comes from Lugua & The Larubeya Drummers, whose album "Bumari" was released in 1997. They play turtle and conch shells as well as drums and are modern day heirs to the percussive tradition linked to Garifuna festivities such as Wanaragua.
Now on to the rest of Honduras. Los Robbins were top of the pops in Tegucigalpa back in the 1960s with their blend of surf, rocksteady and Spanish influences. The mighty Munster Records of Madrid released a compilation of their work called "La Maravilla Musical de Honduras" but this particular track is from a Vampisoul single.
I have been able to find out a grand total of nothing about our next act, Sacrificio. The track appears on the compilation "Sonidos Perdidos de Centroamérica", which has featured a few times already this series. My guess is it was recorded in the first half of the 1970s but who knows. Possibly one of our many Honduran readers, in which case please add details in the comment section.
We are taking a big leap forward to 2022 for our next two selections. We start with Talos and their concept album about a bronze android gifted to the king of ancient Crete to help protect the island from undesirables ("not that old chestnut" I hear you say). The band describe their style as "progressive rock with fusion elements reminiscent of Canterbury". One for George, perhaps. Or perhaps not.
Our penultimate selection was only released for the first time in 2022 but was recorded some time before that. Guillermo Anderson was a singer-songwriter from the port city of La Ceiba who was active from the mid 1980s until his death from cancer in 2016. I can't tell you any more about where "Respirante" might slot into his extensive catalogue but I dig the mellow vibe.
Our MAR selection is almost as mellow as Guillermo. Whether that is down to Frecuencia Roots or their guests Natty Dread and Mahantta I'm not sure. What I am sure of is that the Roots Boys hail from San Pedro Sula and have been on the scene for ten years now. This track can be found on Volume 9 of the Cultura Reggae series of compilation albums which are entirely devoted to Latin American reggae and as such have been an invaluable source for this series.
We are going to back to the Garifuna people for the first of the videos. Tavo Man created a minor sensation last year when he became the first Garifuna musician to be nominated for a Latin Grammy. This is the song that did it for him but if I wanted to spice up my wanaragua party I'd probably opt for something by Isabella Lovestory instead (at the risk of giving the Garifuna grannies the vapours).
Sunday evening found me and Mr F in the basement of the Spice of Life public house just off London's unfashionable Charing Cross Road, hanging out with the mighty Richard Strange and his pals.
The last time I saw Richard Strange perform live was 12 years ago at the Royal Festival Hall when the original Doctors of Madness reformed for one last gig as part of an event he had curated to mark the centenary of the birth of William Burroughs. My in-depth review described everything apart from the good Doctors as "utter twaddle" which in hindsight was a bit harsh. But only a bit.
There is quite a contrast between the Festival Hall and the basement bar of the Spice of Life - the former has a capacity of 2700, the latter 50 at the most - but it worked in our favour. It was a real treat to see the great man up close in a virtually twaddle-free environment.
Mr Strange was in fine form. It was a largely acoustic set that featured material from both the Doctors and his solo career - including the song about shooting smack with Cilla Black that got him banned from the BBC - and some highly entertaining anecdotes. He was accompanied on some songs by his daughter Lilybud, who opened the evening with a set of her own and has a powerful set of pipes on her.
Richard's recording career began fifty years ago this year. We will start today's selection with a track he played on Sunday that first appeared on "Figments of Emancipation", the second album released by Doctors of Madness in 1976. The other three tracks date from 1981, 2005 and 2022 respectively.
After a break to allow you all to refresh your punning pituitaries and to rest your wordplaying wrists we're back with another round of Pun Fun, in which you are invited to rework the title of a well-known song to fit a theme. And the theme this time round is:
PARTS OF THE BODY
Bones, organs, joints, glands or valves, anything that goes to make up the human body is in scope - from the biggest belly to the smallest villi (stop sniggering - honestly, some of you are so juvenile).
As for previous topics you can enter one title only. Entries should be sent to leggies27@hotmail.co.uk by Sunday 1 March. Voting will open next Monday.
I'm looking forward to receiving your collective body of work. If you are struggling for bright ideas just follow Leee John's lead and unleash your imagination.
An old friend of the blog - and former guest host - has a brand new record out. I am referring to the Artist Formerly Known as Asthmatic Harp, now trading under the name Hannah Lou Larsen.
Hannah's new "Peach Pine Ocean" EP is her first release since the single "Buddha On A Shelf" in 2023. In the interim she has been keeping busy doing things like growing her family and relocating from Glasgow down to Oxford but has now resumed recording and performing live.
As regular readers know I am not very good at explaining why I like the records I like, so I don't tend to make inadequate attempts to describe them when you can just listen to them yourselves and hopefully agree with me. If you are looking for insights in this specific case you would be much better off reading Hannah's recent interview with the good folks at Postcards From The Underground.
Suffice to say there is something about Hannah's sound and sensibilities that has always connected with me, and it is no different with "Peach Pine Ocean". The whole EP is excellent but at a pinch my favourite track may be "Memorials".
You can find the EP and "Buddha On A Shelf" at Hannah's Bandcamp page. While you are there why not check out her old Asthmatic Harp stuff as well.
While I was strolling around the Salt River district of Cape Town last week I chanced upon a local thrift shop. It had a small selection of CDs among which I found a volume of the Numero Group's 'Eccentric Soul' series of compilations. With 40 tracks over two CDs and an asking price of five rand (roughly 25p) I thought this was too good a deal to resist.
And so it has proved. This particular volume is devoted to the Way Out label from Cleveland which operated from 1963 to 1973. Here is a small selection of the many fine tunes you can find on the album, starting with a band whose name is crying out to be featured in Rol's Namesakes series if it hasn't already. According to Discogs there are at least 14 of them - this lot are #3.
Apologies for my absence here in recent weeks but until yesterday I had been in South Africa since the beginning of February, having managed to tag a holiday onto a short work trip so that I could catch up with all the local Gogginses in Johannesburg, Cape Town and Stellenbosch.
I also took myself into Cape Town one day - the poor family had earned a break from me - and checked out the street art in Salt River and the second-hand record and book shops in Observatory. Some examples of the former below, some of the spoils of the latter will follow when I get myself sorted out.
I caught a couple of shows while I was over in SA including the premiere of a revival of the play "Marabi" at the Market Theatre in Johannesburg which featured some very strong performers. But the highlight was a big family outing to see the Ndlovu Youth Choir in Cape Town.
The Choir started as a community project in the small town of Marapong about 15 years ago - and all the members are still recruited from there - but has grown to have an international reputation, in no small part as a result of making the final of "America's Got Other People's Talent" a few years back.
The Choir put on a great show with some excellent vocal arrangements and lively dance routines. The photo below shows the smallest choir member attempting unsuccessfully to teach some moves to a confused elderly audience member as a form of community outreach.
The set was a mixture of reworkings of hits by the likes of Queen, Adele and Toto and various local musical styles. The latter were more to my personal taste, and one of the highlights was their version of a song by the late great Busi Mhlongo. So here are a couple of tracks from Busi's 1999 album "Urbanzulu" and a couple of clips of the choir to see us out.
This is the last you will be seeing of me for a little while. I'm hopping on a plane to Johannesburg tonight for a few days' work before catching up with local branches of the Goggins clan.
I'll be back here some time in the third week of February, and Pun Fun 4 is provisionally scheduled for the 23rd. Until then, stay groovy.
Last Friday's post about the music of Guyana kicked off with a track from "Fighting For Survival", the 1981 album by the Yoruba Singers. I mentioned in passing that their 1974 debut album "Ojnga's Own" was also available on Bandcamp.
While "Ojinga's Own" is not quite as splendid as "Fighting For Survival" - the band's sound had not yet incorporated some of the influences that made the latter so special - it is still a very enjoyable record with an agreeably funky rumble throughout. Here are a couple of prime cuts.
Normally when I announce the Pun Fun winner I do so with great fanfare - their name in lights, celebratory music, that sort of thing. But I don't think it is appropriate this time for reasons that will become apparent when you see the Top 5.
Trumpet Up - Elvis Costello & The Attractions (Ernie)
How Can You Mend A Broken Harp - Al Green (Alyson)
Timpani, I'm Not Your Daddy - Kid Creole & The Coconuts (Rol)
Hanging On The Xylophone – Blondie (The Swede)
Cello I Love You - The Doors (George)
You will probably be yelling "fix!" and demanding that some independent election observers are brought in to verify the results, and I don't blame you. I thought I might be in with a chance of a Top 5 finish but there is no way I should be beating, for example, Alyson's brilliant harp pun or The Swede, whose pun was so good that three different people tried to submit it. What we have is further proof - not that it was needed - that democracy is a flawed process.
My magnanimous congratulations to the rest of the Top 5 and a special mention to Mark whose REM pun narrowly missed out and might have been there if it hadn't been for a split in the bassoon vote. Many thanks to everyone else who took part and better luck next time.
We will be back with Pun Fun 4 in about four weeks. Until then here are a couple of the songs that made it all possible.
And so we trundle on. This time out we are in Guyana, which perches proudly at the top of South America and invites you to admire its rain forests and biodiversity, its healthy oil fuelled economy and its many fine cricketers. Anything but Jonestown.
Like several recent posts in the series it was already going to be tricky to track down enough music for Guyana. Matters were made worse when notorious expansionist Charity Chic parked his tanks on my lawn in much the same way as Mr Plump did in Guyana's western neighbour (although to be fair to CC he didn't break into my house and kidnap me).
There is some overlap between the artists featured in the two posts, which is either a sign of shared impeccable taste or limited supply (or both). But unlike CC I have decided to exclude artists born in Guyana who left as children and whose whole careers were in the UK or US. So its goodbye to the likes of Eddy Grant, R.B. Greaves, Ram John Holder and Mad Professor.
I nearly accidently broke my own rule by including Colle Kharis in the Mandatory American Reggae spot and it was only when I was researching the post that I discovered his family moved to the US in 1990. It is a bit tough on Mr Kharis so I may feature him in his own right in the future. In the meantime check out his "Caribbean Bloodline".
On to the official entries. We will start proceedings with an excellent album that has featured here before - "Fighting For Survival" by Yoruba Singers. The band were formed in Georgetown in 1971 and despite their name had no direct links from Nigeria, home of the Yoruba people, but identified with the area from which so many of the African diaspora in Guyana were originally descended.
Their sound was a mix of local folk music, Afrobeat, reggae and lots more besides. "Fighting For Survival" which came out in 1981 is their career highlight - I could have picked pretty much any track from that album - but their 1974 debur "Ojinga's Own" is worth checking out as well.
If that description of the Yoruba Singers' sound prompted you to wonder what the folk music of Guyana sounds like, wonder no more. The Young Ones of Guyana are here to demonstrate with this traditional number which can be found on their 1970 album "On Tour".
While a significant number of Guyanese are of African descent, they are not the largest ethnic group in the country. Descendants of indentured labourers from India account for about 45% of the population compared to 35% Afro-Guyanese (the others are indigenous or of mixed heritage).
There have been clashes between the two main ethnic groups over the years, inevitably stirred up by politicians. One such incident back in the 1960s was reported on by Nesbit Chhangur, who for reasons best known to himself chose it set it to the tune of "Devil Woman" by Marty Robbins.
Staying in the 1960s for a moment, Guyana's greatest calypsonian King Fighter was at the peak of his powers having relocated to Trinidad in the late 1950s to do battle with the best in the business. This particular track comes from a compilation on Soul Jazz records called "Calypso: Musical Poetry In The Caribbean 1955-69", but there is much more from Fighter on the misleadingly titled "Trinidad Calypso Devil".
The modern equivalent of calypso is of course soca and there is plenty of that in Guyana as Adrian Dutchin demonstrates. Those of you who follow Selector Andre on Instagram will know that Mr Dutchin is riding high at the top of the charts right now with "Born And Grow" but we've picked an oldie but goodie for you. It dates from 2011 and can be found on a compilation called "Dis Soca Baddy".
Understandably the Indo-Guyanese didn't want to be left in the kitchen at the soca party so they got together with the large Indian diaspora in Trinidad to develop a style called "chutney". Charity Chic went big on chutney when he was in Guyana but I don't have his robust constitution so I'm restricting myself to this track by Terry Gajraj. It is pleases your palate you can find more on "Chutney Rhythms Vol. 1".
Speaking of Charity Chic, the last two acts both featured in his tribute to the music of Guyana. Eddie Hooper was a stalwart of the scene in the 1970s and 1980s who blended disco, calypso and reggae into a style that he called "loopie" (although I'm not sure anyone else did to be honest). This track dates from 1987 and can be found on "This Is Eddie Hooper", a compilation of some of his best work. Lyrically it has echoes of King Fighter.
Finally in the MAR spot we have Natural Black. Having been blessed with the birth name Mortimer Softley he foolishly abandoned it for his rather generic pseudonym. There is nothing generic about his music however, he has been producing high grade reggae for over twenty years now. We present the title track of his 2018 album "Eyes A Look" for your delectation and delight today.
If all of that has left you thinking Guyana might be worth visiting, let Karissia Couchman and friends provide you with more information about what you can expect if you do go.
Rol over at My Top Ten is responsible for two of my favourite recurring blog series - 'Saturday Snapshots', where you pit your wits against his fiendish clues to work out the connection, and 'Namesakes' on Tuesdays.
As the title suggests, in 'Namesakes' Rol tracks down clips of different acts with the same name. Its such a simple idea it makes you wonder why you didn't think of it yourself (ahem).
By way of a tribute this post features namesakes called Lambchop, but unlike Rol I don't have the patience to track down loads of them so you are just getting two.
Voting is now open for Pun Fun 3. Readers were challenged to insert a musical instrument related pun into a popular song title.
And what a musical melange they have come up with between them. The list of instruments reads like the sleeve notes for a dreadful 1970s jazz fusion album or a one-off collaboration between the Mahavishnu, Penguin Cafe and Electric Light Orchestras.
Thanks to everyone who submitted an entry and a very warm welcome to Mark who has been a member of the voting panel previously but has joined the ranks of competitors for the first time.
I mentioned last time out that if the number of entries increased I might ask you all to select your top five rather than just your top three as has been the case to date so you can spread the love a bit wider. Let's give that a go. If it leaves you paralysed by indecision we can go back to the top three next time.
Voting is open to all readers not just those of you who entered. Let me know your top five in order of preference. I'll award 7 points for your first choice, 5 for second and then 3, 2 and 1 for the rest.
You can either submit your votes in the comments section below or by email to leggies27@hotmail.co.uk if you would rather preserve the sanctity of the secret ballot.
The deadline is next Sunday (25 January) and we will announce the results a week today.
Here are the contenders, listed alphabetically by artist.
While My Sitar Gently Weeps - The Beatles
Get Outta My Dreams, Get Into Keytar - Billy Ocean
Hanging On The Xylophone - Blondie
Cello I Love You - The Doors
Trumpet Up - Elvis Costello & The Attractions
Return to Fender - Elvis Presley
Rowche Drum Bell - The Fall
How Can You Mend A Broken Harp - Al Green
That Drummer Feeling - Jonathan Richman & The Modern Lovers
Whistle Will Tear Us Apart - Joy Division
Timpani, I'm Not Your Daddy - Kid Creole & The Coconuts
Mindless Violins - Newtown Neurotics
Man on Bassoon - REM
Get Hofner My Cloud - The Rolling Stones
Not Too Bassoon - Throwing Muses
Maybe when this is all over we can keep the band together and take the show on the road.
Before we get into today's post, a quick reminder for anyone planning to submit an entry for Pun Fun 3 who has not yet done so. The deadline is this Sunday (18 January). All the details are in last Monday's post.
We now return to our scheduled programme.
This blog turns 17 tomorrow. I didn't want to wait until then to mention it as it would just disappear beneath Rol's Saturday Snapshots, Charity Chic's Saturday Shuffle, Swiss Adam's Oblique Saturdays etc. I need a bit of attention on my blog birthday and this is the only hope of getting any.
Here are some more 17ers with a song whose message is sadly at least as relevant today as when it was first recorded 45 years ago (and one that hopefully would have warned Liesl off Rolf had it been around back in 1938).
Confession time. While Ernie Goggins is of course my real name I have invented a nom de plume which I use on things like passports and legal documents in order to avoid being harassed by obsessive fans while I go about my day to day life.
Inevitably there are other people with same name. One released a few unsuccessful singles in the 1970s, one is currently a breakout star in American college football and another one sells used trucks in south-east England.
It is the latter who inspired this post. That and finding a compilation CD of the great Cuban stalwarts Los Van Van in a local charity shop at the weekend. The CD is called "La Colección Cubana" and dates from 1998. These tracks were originally released in 1984 and 1986 respectively.
After a break for the festive season we are back with a third edition of Pun Fun, the exciting feature where I give you a theme and you adapt the title of a well-known song to reflect that theme.
Having enjoyed a bumper crop of fruit and vegetable puns last time out I have selected a theme with a more obvious link to the blog (and those of a fair number of participants):
MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS
The rules are the same as last time. You each have one entry only, to be sent to leggies27@hotmail.co.uk by Sunday 18 January. Voting will start next Monday.
I don't suppose you need help identifying musical instruments but just in case you do the Institute of Musical Instrument Technology lists loads on its website, where you can also listen to clips of many of them.
You might be inspired to finds puns for the zaqq (Maltese bagpipe), the torupill (Estonian bagpipe) or even the mittlealtersackpfeife (German medieval bagpipe). Or you may prefer just to stick with the old joanna.
In Wednesday's post on the music of Guatemala I observed that some of the countries on our ongoing tour of the Americas may no longer exist by the time we get to them if Mr Trump has his way.
In response to this Walter commented that "we should post music from Greenland while it still belongs to Denmark". He followed this up with a series of direct messages to me in which he stated that if I did not do so voluntarily all options are on the table including military intervention to take direct control of the blog.
Some might say that having Walter in charge of the content here might be an improvement and I would not necessarily disagree. But I value my independence and world peace so here is some music from Greenland. It may be the start of a slippery slope but that is a risk I'm willing to take.
In chronological order: the grand old man of Greenland music Rasmus Lyberth with a track from his 2019 album "Inuunerup Oqarfigaanga"; some hip-hop from 1996 courtesy of Nuuk Posse and their classic album "Kaataq"; Nive & The Deer Children and their 2016 album "Feet First" on which Howe Gelb and John Parish have production credits; and bringing us bang up to date Varna GL whose latest album "Sila" was released just three weeks ago.
For the avoidance of doubt I should make it clear that all that stuff about Walter's expansionist tendencies was obviously nonsense. In real life he's one of the nicest men you could hope to meet and not in the least bit orange.
On an unrelated matter I got my first gig of the year under my belt on Wednesday - four acts on the bill at the Shacklewell Arms raising funds for WarChild. Its not a night that will live long in the memory but they were all perfectly pleasant.
For me the pick of the bunch was probably Alice Costelloe whose debut album "Move On With The Year" comes out on 6 February. Here she is with her brand new video. Mister F preferred Suki Emmanuelle so I've added the only video of hers I could find in the interests of balance.
After a short break we are back behind the wheel and making our way around continental America. I thought about bringing the Venezuelan leg forward in case it doesn't exist by the time we get to the letter V but in the end decided to stick with alphabetical order.
So this time out we are in Guatemala, which like many other countries in the region has suffered from US foreign policy and corporate greed. American interference throughout most of the 20th century contributed to a regular series of civil wars. Fortunately things have been relatively stable since a peace deal in 1996, with just old-fashioned corruption to worry about these days.
Guatemala is one of a number of countries for which I have struggled to find music online. While the Wikipedia entry for the music of Guatemala lists many names, a lot of them do not seem to be available though the usual channels. So I make no claims that what follows is representative, its just stuff I found and liked.
We will start with a couple of traditional(ish) acts. Jursino Cayetano is a Garifuna musician, a people of mixed African and Amerindian ancestry who have a minority presence in several countries in Central America. This track comes from the same compilation that we featured when we were back in Belize on the second leg of our journey.
The San Lucas Band were a shoo-in for the post when I read the blurb for their album "La Voz de las Cumbres": "The first reissue of cult 1974 recordings of a Mayan brass band playing funeral dirges and popular songs in its distinctive extended harmonic and rhythmic style". I have nothing to add.
Next we have a couple of bands featured on a series of six track EPs titled "Sonidos Perdidos de Guatemala 1969 - 1989". There are four volumes - the link is to the first one - and they are a sort of companion piece to the "Sonidos Perdidos de Centroamérica" compilation that we featured when we were in El Salvador (and will no doubt do so again). Like that album, they were released by Tujaal Sounds and are available on a name your own price basis.
Apple Pie were formed in 1967 by the classic line-up of Gentry Ordoñez, Rico Molina, Wicho Zelaya, and Tito Henkle. The track below was first released as a single in 1970. Of Mino I can find out nothing at all.
Probably the best known internationally of the artists being featured today is Gaby Moreno, who won a Grammy for the best Latin Pop album in 2024 and was named as one of the BBC's 100 Women of the Year the same year. This track from her 2012 album "Postales" is a cover of an old Cuban standard that has also been covered by the likes of Bing Crosby, Cliff Richard, Mari Wilson, Cake and Dennis Brown. I feel a Single Song Sunday coming on.
Sticking with the distaff side of the Guatemalan scene we next bring you Di WAV (Daniela Carpio to her Mum and Dad) and her distinctive brand of indie pop. The EP from which this track comes, "Masoquista", was the 18th most streamed Guatemalan record on Spotify in 2019, so you really have no excuse not to have heard of it before now.
Our penultimate act hail from the city of San Marcos in the west of the country. The Crystal Stones describe their music as a fusion of Rock-Pop, Noise Rock, Post Rock and Rock-Funk, or maybe just Rock for short. Today's track comes from their 2021 album "The Love Club".
We finish as always with the MAR slot, filled admirably on this occasion by La Dubvolution with a track from their 2011 album "3 Es Sonsuelto En Souldub". Its one of the better MAR entries of the series to date and is well worth a listen.
Last Friday's post included a video by Alela Diane on which quite of few of you commented favourably and expressed your intention to explore her back catalogue. I'm here to help with the exploration. We start with a track apiece from "To Be Still" (2009) and "Cusp" (2018) before going a bit off piste with the third selection.
In 2013 the venerable Oi! merchants Hard Skin released an album called "On The Balls" and a companion album "Why Do Birds Suddenly Appear" which had the same songs but with the lead vocals handled by assorted female guests. Some were not unexpected - Beki Bondage for example - others like Alela and Joanna Newsom definitely were. Anyway, its a jolly tune but perhaps not for those of you with delicate ears.
Links stay up for a month or so. If you are an artist or copyright holder and want me to remove the link, or if you want to get in touch for any other reason, e-mail me on leggies27@hotmail.co.uk.
