Ladies' Night 1979

My friend Chuck was in his time the bass player with the near legendary Barry Normal & The Camels. His bass playing was often compared with Jah Wobble (though less often favourably). Anyway I got an e-mail from him today in which he mentioned prag VEC, and this prompted me to dig out their 12" EP from 1979. Today's first selection comes from that EP: "Expert"

http://www.box.net/shared/gy6op1negs

From there it seemed a natural step to dig out "Danger Signs" by Penetration from the same year.

http://www.box.net/shared/toyyze97bz

Of course prag VEC and Penetration weren't the only bands with female vocalists that were blazing new trails through the musical firmament in 1979:

Borderline Barry is Back!

Barry Marshall-Everitt may not be a name much known outside of the insiders, but for many years he was one of the unsung heroes of the London music scene. When he was the booker at the Borderline off Charing Cross Road there was a constant stream of excellent live acts, and it became a regular haunt. Since he left a couple of years ago I have barely been back - there just isn’t the quality there was.

The good news is that Barry is back. The Fridge in Brixton is going to start promoting live music again for the first time in many years, and they have taken Barry on as head booker. The first gigs are expected in June or July, all being well.

To celebrate this good news I thought I would post something that reminded me of a memorable Borderline gig. The problem has been narrowing it down. There was Tom Russell (many times), Robbie Fulks, The Seeds, North Mississippi All Stars, The Creekdippers featuring Victoria Williams playing a banjo with a wah-wah pedal, Southern Culture on the Skids getting women on stage to throw fried chicken at the audience, and the time David Olney played for an audience that consisted of me, Mr F and the support act. And many more.

In the end I settled on The Holmes Brothers - probably the best bar band in the world - and their fantastic rendition of “Love Train”. The studio version doesn’t quite do it justice but is still pretty great.

http://www.box.net/shared/ea9xo5xmoo

And here is a clip of them doing Hank's "I Saw The Light":

Mpharanyana on Monday (10)

This is the tenth and, for the moment at least, last instalment in my ongoing attempt to bring the work of Mpharanyana - South Africa's premier soul singer of the 1970s - to a wider audience (all 317 of you*). So let's go out with a song promoting peace and unity: "Let's Live Together".

http://www.box.net/shared/s6k1ovp11r

If you have missed any of the previous instalments and want to catch up I have put all ten tracks in a folder for you to save you having to rummage around:

http://www.box.net/shared/63t579006s

Mpharanyana on Monday will be back later in the year.

* it is probably nearer to 275 if you take out the "visits" that are me checking in at work, but I count them on the grounds that, in a very real sense, we are all different people in our work and home environments (also it makes the total number of visits seem slightly less puny).

Fela And Hugh

Yesterday we featured a couple of the people who influenced Fela Kuti. Today we have Hugh Masekela's tribute to him, called simply "Fela".

http://www.box.net/shared/yvqi6lfp5o

And here is one of Hugh's videos:

From Norfolk to Nigeria

As a bridge between yesterday's post and Monday's burst of Mpharanyana - which incidentally will be the last for a while (although he'll be back later in the year after a well-deserved rest) - today we visit 1960s Nigeria where people were getting up to all sorts of funkiness.

First up is Orlando Julius with "James Brown Ride On". This is from the album "Super Afro Soul".

http://www.box.net/shared/bgat43b1c0

Next is Geraldo Pino & The Heartbeats with "Let's Have A Party" from the album "Heavy Heavy Heavy". He was originally from Sierra Leone but moved to Port Harcourt in Nigeria in the 1960s and remained there until his death last year.

http://www.box.net/shared/a1nyy6hc8e

Both these albums are available to download on EMusic, and the Geraldo Pino one is also on iTunes.

Both Orlando Julius and Geraldo Pino were apparently early influences on Fela Kuti. Here is the man himself in concert. The clip is not the greatest quality but it is about the only one I could find.

Funky Norfolk

To get us into the mood for the weekend here are some funky sounds from Norfolk, Virginia. They are from a compilation called “Ol’ Virginia Soul: Encore” that I bought at the Virginia State Library in Richmond on a visit there a couple of years ago – much more impressive than my local library. It is one of a series of three compilations of obscure 1960s and 1970s soul from Virginia. They are all available from http://www.dcdrecords.com/ along with a lot of other Virginia themed goodies like a four volume collection of garage and psych called “Aliens, Psychos And Wild Things”, featuring the likes of The Perpetuated Spirits Of Turpentine, which I really must save up for.

Anyway, first up is The 35th Street Gang with “I Was Born To Be A Drummer”:

http://www.box.net/shared/hlztlup3i4

And second up is the magnificently named Little Wink & Eddie’s 25th Century Gang with “Peacock”:

http://www.box.net/shared/7r6s0ph5cm

After strutting like a peacock, what could be more natural than waddling like a duck. Because that’s what you do when you do the Hucklebuck.

Capitalism Gone Mad

To mark the G20 meeting and accompanying protests here in London today, this is the Mighty Sparrow with "Capitalism Gone Mad".

http://www.box.net/shared/9kbvyvl7cp