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Music-buying ban

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That’s it. After ordering a Charlie Rich CD last night (Complete Smash Sessions, mmm, tasty) that I don’t even have time to listen to, what with birthday presents, upcoming pre-orders, boot sale records, etc. etc., I hereby BAN myself from buying ANY more music for at least the rest of the year (excepting the last few car boots of the season, of course). The remainder of that Dylan Complete Albums box set won’t listen to itself.

That’s it, THAT’S IT!

*bites fist*

Psychedelic Britannia

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Friday 23rd October, 10pm on BBC4:

“Documentary exploring the rise and fall of the most visionary period in British music history. Five kaleidoscopic years between 1965 and 1970 when a handful of dreamers re-imagined pop music.

When a generation of British R&B bands discovered LSD, conventions were questioned. From out of the bohemian underground and into the pop mainstream, the psychedelic era produced some of the most ground-breaking music ever made, pioneered by young improvising bands like Soft Machine and Pink Floyd, then quickly taken to the charts by the likes of the Beatles, Procol Harum, the Small Faces and the Moody Blues even while being reimagined in the country by bucolic, folk-based artists like the Incredible String Band and Vashti Bunyan.

The film is narrated by Nigel Planer with contributions and freshly-shot performances from artists who lived and breathed the psych revolution – Paul McCartney, Ginger Baker, Robert Wyatt, Roy Wood, the Zombies, Mike Heron, Vashti Bunyan, Joe Boyd, Gary Brooker, Arthur Brown, Kenney Jones, Barry Miles, the Pretty Things and the Moody Blues.”

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b06jp24b

Johnny Concheroo’s Amazing Album-Spotting Thread

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Johnny Concheroo’s gift for identifying albums by just their spines is pretty impressive, and he’s not the only nerd, I mean talented album-spotter here I’m sure (I’m looking at you, JQW). So, with no cheating by enlarging on one of those fancy iPad things, here’s a shelf for Johnny and whoever else wants to have a stab at some spine-squinting. Go nuts!

ATM: Atlantic soul promo album

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Does anyone know anything about this record that I picked up at a car boot sale today for £1? I thought it was just a common Atlantic soul compilation, but the songs are all introduced – and interrupted – by the American DJ Emperor Rosko, and what I thought was a promo sticker is in fact printed on the sleeve. There’s no cat. no., and the latest song on there is 1971. The sleeve says it was printed in the UK and there’s a credit to Kinney Record Group. Google and Discogs have zero on this, which is unusual. Anybody?

The Freewheelin’ Mitch Benn

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Fans of Bob Dylan and music in general might like this show from earlier today on Radio 4, where musician/satirist Mitch Benn spends half an hour discussing Bob’s effect on songwriting, singing and being a Rock Star. It’s very funny, entertaining, and edumakational – what more do you want? Next week he does a similar thing for Bowie called Mitch Benn and the Fat Pink Duke.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b066w57q

Self-imposed musical overload

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At yesterday’s boot sale I bought around ten LPs, a similar number to last week’s one, and I dare say the one the week before. Also at the weekend the AW’s lovely Carolina furnished me with 3 wonderful CDRs of new music (Kacy Musgraves, The Innocent Mission, C Duncan – thanks C!). I’ve been playing the brand new Frank Turner LP to death today and the deluxe Autorip of it since Friday. And there’s probably a ton of other stuff from the last couple of weeks that I can’t think of right now. All this, and I’m really supposed to be listening to Dylan’s Real Live album for the next bit of a blog thing. It’s not like I’m short of tunes. So, I ask myself, why the heck did I just 2 hours ago order the 2CD remastered Sticky Fingers? Are you all similarly afflicted?* If no more, how old were you before this madness tailed off?

*not you Locust, we know about you 🙂

Fab songs from artists that went to sh*t in the 80s.

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Bamber’s thread on artists losing it made me think of all the greats of the 1960s and 70s who turned to shit in the 80s, mainly due to running out of songs and/or try and failing to adapt to new technologies and fashions. From Elton to Clapton, Rodders to poor old Bob, the list is huge, but there must be a few gems in their output from this decade. But what are they?

My pick is from Diana Ross’ patchy 1985 album Eaten Alive, wot I got at a car boot yesterday. It’s actually not that bad thanks to Bee Gees Inc., but far and away the best is the UK chart-topping Chain Reaction, which surprisingly tanked in the US, and unsurprisingly went to no. 1 in the Gibb brothers’ homeland.

What’s yours?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UaYHRx9-v2M

HP Saucecraft’s “I Love Pussy – Songs About Cats” Thread

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In a private email, HP Saucy confessed to me that although he has a great fondness for dogs (particularly as an accompaniment to noodles), what he’d really like to see is a thread of songs with a tenuous connection to felines. Bless. He’s a bit shy about expressing his deep love of pussy (and indeed his love of deep…sniiiip….(that’s enough! Ed.), and asked me to kick things off instead. Please do join in, everyone, and make the old boy happy.

Here’s David.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YWX_MFNOL_Y

New 2048 tile game: the Bob Dylan Album Covers Edition

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I got too good at the Beatles tile game (hastened by the sinking of the old site) so I’ve made a new version using Dylan album covers. I had to choose just 11 images, so it goes up to 1970. I know it’s something several of us here like to play in a spare few minutes (paging @tiggerlion ), so I hope you enjoy it. First one to get to the end can brag here.

http://community.usvsth3m.com/2048/bob-dylan-album-covers-edition/