We had a lovely break on Islay last week, and as part of the holiday preparation I assembled as many as I could find of the annual “Year In Review” playlists, which let me listen again to various tunes which in their own ways marked the year in question.
One of the songs which stood out was by Joe Henry – Richard Pryor Addresses A Tearful Nation, which features Ornette Coleman. Ornette famously rejects sideman gigs, but took this one on.
There were a number of others, which I will chip on over time.
Do you have any long-lost gems you would like to share ?
Where do you base yourself when you visit Islay, Hombre? You go fairly regularly, don’t you?
We have been over more years than not. We used to stay in Portnahaven, which has the best sunsets, but it is isolated even for Islay.
Port Charlotte is beautiful, too but we haven’t been able to find a cottage there that suited us and was available when we wanted to go.
Over the last 10 years or so we have mostly been staying in Bowmore, which has the benefit of a Co-op which keeps mainland hours, so if we notice at 6pm that there is only one bottle of red or only one lemon left for the G&T, I can just walk down to the Co-op to replenish the stocks. It gets pretty good sunsets.
Very nice – my aunt lives in Port Ellen, but it’s years since I visited. One of my grandfathers was born on Islay (near Lagavulin, I think) and I still have a scattering of distant relatives around the isle.
Time I went back…
Cairngorms-born Mrs F and I are doing the NC500 next August. We’ve not been much further north than Inverness, nor gone much further west of Glenfinnan. I know it is going to scratch an itch to explore the Isles.
We are also planning to do NC500 and thinking of doing in Youth Hostels with maybe one or two days of luxury.
We’re hiring a campervan. Self-catering kitchen facilities and ensuite loo are both essentials for those of us living with Crohn’s.
We were considering this too but circumstances overtook us alas. Interested where you hired your van from etc
Mrs F went to a pre-Covid Aberdeen University reunion and one of her housemates has bought a couple of modern VW campervans to rent out as an early retirement income. The only minor issue is Aberdeen is 100 miles from Inverness, so it’ll be a NC700 for me.
Sing aaltogether, in the manner of Roddy McMillan as Para Handy…
“Oh, I don’t like Bowmore
With its dirty black shore
But it’s Islay, dear Islay, for me!”
I wish I had my ither boots on, Dougie – these wans is too light for singing with…
Nice one, Malo! This sounds like it could be a long and enjoyable thread.
A few from me to get things started.
From Naples- Pino Daniele – Annaré (1982)
From the Lofoten Islands, off the coast of Norway (1980)
Ola & Kari Bremnes – Folk i Husan
From The Netherlands (1991)
The Nits – Radio Shoes
I’ll be back!
Syd interprets James Joyce.
Now here’s one of his own choons.
The longest ever UK hit single?
Possibly.
The Weirdest?
A contender.
The Orb’s Blue Room single was over 35 minutes long – even split over a 12”, side one was over 18 minutes – and it was a proper hit, getting in to the top 10..
39:58 on the CD single, to get under the 39:59 Album Chart listing.
And here the cheeky scamps are playing live, um… chess, on ToTP.
Chess on TOTP! Genius!
I bet Ingmar Bergman approved.
I had a train set a long long time ago but it wasn’t anywhere near as good as this one.
No Lego in those days. All we had was Meccano.
Forgotten gems, eh?
Similar 70s vintage, pop just doesn’t get much more joyful and beautiful for me
A long lost gem from a (largely) forgotten band
Shalamar.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uA85JbQInVU
Great choice, Mike! What a fine group they were”
Nina Simone, but not the usual toons…
Terry Reid.
I was rather keen on this mob back in the day…
As you probably know @Mikethep they were a Leicester group – their drummer, David “Moth” Smith later joined Diesel Park West. Now there’s a band with a few forgotten gems . . . .
Didn’t Family come from Leicester too? The Leicester Sound!
Manfred Mann’s jazzier incarnation after the years of pop success.
My prog reputation is being blown out of the water with these long-lost pop gems…
CVB were great, how can we forget?
Or Mr Lowery’s other venture Cracker.
More unearthed gems…these would fit on any playlist, for any purpose – surely?
A sumptuous piece of late night music from Buika: Mi Niña Lola.
Time for a few gems from the 90s…
Galliano, from their excellent album, In Search of the 13th Note: Nothing has changed.
Jhelisa – Friendly Pressure
Terry Callier – Keep your heart right
This is my go-to Terry Callier track.
A parable with a twist.
Two more French gems.
Serge Gainsboro and Brigitte Bardot – Boniie and Clyde
MC Solaar used it as the basis for this song – Le Nouveau Western
Or how about an OTT French power ballad?
Indila – Dernière Danse
I bet that’s a real floorfiller, Mike.
King Sunny Adé & His African Beats
From 2001.Rosie Thomas – Wedding Day
From 1972. Dan Hicks and His Hot Licks – I scare myself
Louis Jordan revisits
From 2001.Rosie Thomas – Wedding Day
From 1972. Dan Hicks and His Hot Licks – I scare myself
1974. Louis Jordan revisits an old hit: Ain’t nobody here but us chickens.
From the same DJ box where I keep The Trashmen
I also keep Bent Bolt & the Nuts
Another one – Golden Smog – V
This, too – O’Connell and Love, with Rumer – Hangover Me
O’Connell and Love were a completely new name for me who sound well worth investigating. Thanks!
My memory keeps getting jogged.
The Walkabouts – The Light will stay on. From their superb album Devil’s Road.
Spearhead – Chocolate Super Highway
Danny Wilson – Second Summer of Love
This Scottish trio’s songbook was just full of gems.
A Camp – I can buy you. This song by Nina Persson’s band was as good as anything she did with with Cardigans. She’s currently on tour with James Yorkston, in case you hadn’t noticed. And very good they are too.
Talking of which, here’s a lovely song from James’s back catalogue.
O’Connell and Love! Now that’s a bolt from the black: I bought the album (and the T shirt!) as an offshoot of my splurge into the Alabama 3, Love being Larry of that band. A second album came out recently, not that I have yet investigated.
The Walkabouts – there’s a strangely neglected band…
This one flew out of the speaker on random play today. Felt the need to share here:
Smog – Cold Blooded Old Times
Elvis did so many great, great things. I think Little Sister is a gem that is easily forgotten.
Yes, indeed: but feel the swing on this thing…
I post this song every now and then, so much does it both move me, but also amazes me that it caught no traction, sinking, along with the parent album, like a stone, into Cardigan Bay.
The Grief Brothers: A Lost Week in Bingo Land
I suspect this excellent Franco-German duo is not so well-known…
How about this train journey with Le Grand Corps Malade?
Or a tango with Hindi Zahra?
Little Sister made me think of Ry Cooder, a man with many forgotten gems in his songbook.
Girls from Texas
The same is true of Was (Not Was). With them…Anything can happen!
Ry Cooder! And Johnny Cash!!
Sometimes a song is forgotten because an artist has so many excellent songs
And sometimes because that artists only ever had one hit.
Here’s one we made earlier…..
That playlist came from suggestions from AWers!
Some wonderful stuff, And some monstrosities.
But I don’t think we included Mr Blobby. Even I have standards!
Another forgotten gem from another forgotten band…
Marvelous @fitterstoke! It’s very enjoyable how we are all remembering artists that we liked back in the day but which have largely sunk without trace.
I’d never heard of Random Hold, but Spotify suggested some similar artists.
One of them was the remarkable Pere Ubu from Cleveland, Ohio. I remember seeing them at the Roundhouse at the beginning of their career.
Here they are on Letterman! They had to pay their own fares to get there!
Utterly bonkers!
David Thomas now lives in Hove and does occasionally still do gigs.
Random Hold – I was one of the handful who bought The View from Here. I still meet the other four for coffee and a Paris bun, once every decade…or so…
Pere Ubu – excellent band, seriously underrated
Not sure if this is forgotten or unknown.
Nice one Hubert! I was surprised to read where they are from!
“Boiled In Lead is the longest-running Celtic punk band in America, and an important part of the foundation of what became Minnesota punk rock. ”
Let’s have a few more slightly obscure bands from the USA.
Lake
The Essex Green
And their sister band, The Ladybug Transistor
Family of the Year
They were so embarrassed about that video!
The Good Life
East River Pipe
You know Vic Chestnutt, You know Lambchop.
But do you know this?
Boiled in Lead are great. I especially love this:
Punk indeedy, the only time I saw them one of the members was sporting a black eye, but I did win a Pearson’s Nut Goodie bar from them.
Superb!
A gem, yes – but forgotten?
Another forgotten or unknown?
The Spencer Davis Group
Or F in Blues?
I’m thoroughly enjoying making so many new discoveries.
It struck me today that there are so many fine Scottish artists that one could do a thread on Forgotten Caledonian Gems.
Bands like Camera Obscura.
Lloyd, I’m ready to be heartbroken.
The late great Neal Casal – Since I Fell On Hard Times
Love a bit of Neal, especially this maudlin masterpiece:
I’d never heard of Neil Casal so I googled. What a very varied career he had!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neal_Casal
and one more – Ry Cooder, with an unarguable message
Nice work Hombre Malo. We’ve now over 70 songs on our playlist.
A few more from me,
Modern blues from Little Axe.
Tuneful pop from Clare and the Reasons
That is the wittiest album cover I’ve seen for yonks, Mike.
Here’s Al Bowlly with a forgotten gem from just a few years back..
Now, a Loewe and Lerner classic from My Fair Lady (1956) given a very effective makeover in 2017 by Mr Hudson and the Library.
Before Slowdive made a comeback, Neil Halstead recorded a couple of excellent solo albums, full of tuneful, lo-fi pop: Sleeping on Roads and Oh! Mighty Engine.
A 2004 gem from the early days of Iron and Wine.
BIngo LIttle was impressed by this band at Coachella a couple of years ago. I can see why!
Excellent tune.