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.
This song chose itself. RIP Mr Sedaka.
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.
"Miskitu Indian" - Aurelio y Los Bravos Del Caribe
"Gudemein Nuwagu" - Chella Torres
"Bungiu Baba (Father God)" - Lugua & The Larubeya Drummers
"Patricia" - Los Robbins
"Soy Mulato" - Sacrificio
"Creta" - Talos
"Respirante" - Guillermo Anderson
"Tu Sonrisa (with Natty Dread & Mahantta)" - Frecuencia Roots
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.
"Marie And Joe" - Doctors of Madness
"God Is Science" - Richard Strange
"Howl" - Richard Strange
"A Dffrnt Wrld" - TV Smith & Richard Strange
And now over to Twiggy.
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.
"Memorials" - Hannah Lou Larsen
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.
"Its A New Day" - The Sensations
"What About Me" - The Exceptional Three
"She Didn't Know" - Sammy Jones
"Honey Coated Loving" - Betty & Angel
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.
"We Baba Omncane" - Busi Mhlongo
"Ngadlalwa Yindoda" - Busi Mhlongo
