Single Song Thursday

Normally we do this on a Sunday, but I'm not going to be here on Sunday so we are doing it today. Here are four fine versions of Don Gibson's great "Sweet Dreams". The MRV (Mandatory Reggae Version) comes courtesy of the Pioneers.

"Sweet Dreams" - Patsy Cline

"Sweet Dreams" - Tommy McLain

"Sweet Dreams" - Mighty Sam

"Sweet Dreams" - The Pioneers

Up next, the legendary Don Gibson.

Shirley on Saturday

It is a terrible omission on my part to have been doing this little blog for so long without ever - as best as I can remember - having featured the mighty Shirley Brown. Back in the 1970s and 1980s, Shirley was second only to Millie Jackson as a purveyor of songs about strong, wronged women, as these two choice cuts show.

"This Used To Be Your House" - Shirley Brown

"If You're Weak Enough" - Shirley Brown

She's still going strong, I'm glad to say, and judging by this clip of her revisiting her big hit a few years ago is still in great voice.
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The Shipping News

Later this week I am meeting up with a friend of mine who has recently returned home having spent a  month or so as a passenger on a cargo ship going from the UK to South America. By chance, I am currently reading an excellent book called "Down to the Sea in Ships" by Horatio Clare, about his time tagging along on container ships.

As a tribute to these hardy seafarers, here is a selection of songs about ships, both literal and metaphorical. You will notice a certain narrative arc. We don't just throw this stuff together, you know.

"Shipbuilding" - Robert Wyatt

"Tall Ships" - Jon Langford

"Captain Of Your Ship" - Reparata & The Delrons

"Ship On A Stormy Sea" - Jimmy Clanton

"Don't Give Up The Ship Now Baby" - James Govan

"Shipwrecked" - Jerry Williams

Just in case you were wondering, what follows is not part of the narrative arc. Although, if it was, it might explain why events suddenly take a turn for the worse between Reparata and Jimmy Clanton.

Ready, Willing and Abel

Let's ease ourselves into the weekend with some mildly funky Ethiopian pop, courtesy of Mr Abel Mulugeta. Don't let the synthetic parping horns fool you into thinking these tracks are from the 1980s. They both come from his album "Tegerme", released in 2014 (or 2007 if you are following the Ethiopian calendar).

"Yaluten Yeblu" - Abel Mulugeta

"Atengrughe" - Abel Mulugeta

Having given Abel a say, it would only be fair to let Kane do the same. There are some synthetic parping horns on this as well, but that is because this really is from the 1980s.

George 'n Buckey

I went to an excellent show on Sunday night, being held to celebrate Little Roy's 50th year in the music business. Roy himself headlined, with top notch backing from the Mafia & Fluxy band and True Identity.

We have featured Little Roy here fairly recently, so instead we are going to pick out a couple of the support acts. I counted eight in total, rising to ten if you include the solo turns by True Identity and Mafia & Fluxy (as you should).

Personally I thought it was a few too many. Everything was rather rushed, with some acts barely able to finish their number before being hustled off stage to make way for the next. For the 60th anniversary, maybe they should have two or three shows and let everyone have a proper go.

Anyway, two of the three highlights from the undercard were George Dekker, long-time stalwart of the Pioneers, who did a sizzling version of their "Pusherman", and Buckey Ranks - a new name to me - with this song he wrote for his Mum after his Dad died of prostate cancer.

"Pusherman" - The Pioneers

"Hang On Mama" - Buckey Ranks

The third highlight was True Identity. I am a bit biased, as I am proud to say they are friends of mine, but even if they weren't I would be a fan. Hopefully this lo-fi video that I took on the night demonstrates why.

The Last Gospel

This is the Last Gospel, well at least for the moment. These two screeching preachers are featured on a compilation called "Screaming Gospel Holy Rollers Volume 2". We will return when I've tracked down Volume 1.

"I Must Live Until Morning" - Charles Taylor & The Charles Taylor Singers

"All Over Me" - Reverend Crum & His Mighty Golden Keys

And here is some slightly less sacred screaming.

Hit The Decks

This is a public service announcement. If any of our readers in the East London area had plans to go to the Eleanor Arms in Bow on Friday or Saturday night to enjoy the ever-tasteful music collection of superstar landlord/DJ 'The Minestrone of Sound', we would strongly advise against it.

Frankie and Lesley are having an extremely well-earned holiday and, in a momentary lapse of reason, have asked me to stand in as the music man. If you do happen to pop in, please come over and say hello. I'll be the middle-aged man next to the door looking baffled by technology.

To get me suitably psyched up for the occasion, tonight we feature songs by and about some of my fellow Toilers at the Turntable.

"Uxikumile" - DJ Brian (featuring Amos Ngomane)

"Mi Kolombia" - Systema Solar (featuring DJ Fresh)

"Listen DJ" - Sandra Cross

"Mr DJ" - Stan Mosley

And, of course, no feature on DJs would be complete without our old friend Sven.

The Titans Of Turk

You know, like the Sultans of Swing, only more Turkish (and therefore probably more sultan-ish as well).

I'm off to Ankara tomorrow for a few days. It's a work trip and I doubt I'll have any chance to go scouting for sounds. Fortunately we have a fair bit in stock already. Here are three of the aforementioned titans.

"Hal Hal" - Baris Manco

"Yaylalar" - Selda Bagcan

"Estarabim" - Erkin Koray

New Trolls For Old

One of the most common criticisms of this blog - apart from "what happened to the Tsonga disco then?" - is that we don't feature enough Italian progressive rock bands. That's true, and there is a very good reason for it, which anyone who has ever listened to Italian progressive rock will understand.

However, when such bands knock out some perfectly good proper music instead it would be wrong to close our ears to their efforts. Which is why tonight we feature the veteran New Trolls (fifty years young next year folks). These two are from 1968 and 1978 respectively.

"Ho Veduto" - New Trolls

"Aldebaran" - New Trolls

 According to Wikipedia, due to differences between the remaining original members of the band, there are currently two versions of New Trolls doing the rounds. How unlike our own dear Sweet.