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).
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.
