27th April 2024

Titus writes:

 

I’m taking a change of direction this week from my usual blog. This usually concentrates on an artist(e) or band and I request Lex plays a specific & relevant track at the end of the blog. This week, my fellow–regular listener Chris has recommended a playlist to Lex, and so you needn’t cover your ears when it comes to my track, as there won’t be one!

 

This week I thought I’d blog on uknr.org, and I shamefacedly say that prior to 9 September 2023, I had never heard of UKNova. At the time, Anne and I were on board a luxury day excursion on Statesman Rail, en route from Shropshire to Cornwall. We had arranged to see Lex, a friend of mine since 1954, in Truro, and it was an unusual September day – not warm or cold, but baking hot on a par with high Summer temperatures. We surprisingly ended up at a pub, The Heron Inn, and after discussing “old times” we started talking about what we were doing these days.  

 

Lex knew that I have always had an alternative taste to mainstream music, and have many vinyl, cassette & c.d. recordings in my collection, including, as you probably know Peel Sessions. He explained that he had a weekly slot on UKNR, and that he was keen to promote artist(e)s and bands that most listeners had never heard of, rather than just play ‘mainstream’ tunes.

 

After listening to his excellent show for a few weeks, Lex convinced me to compile a weekly blog, and this I have done ever since. I think it’s fair to say that I have introduced some listeners to people they’d probably never heard of, and whilst The Fall, New Fast Automatic Daffodils, Diblo Dibala, & Ivor Cutler are not everyone’s cup of tea, at least you know that these sounds are out there!  I have been mindful that Clumpton’s excellent ‘Wrinkly Rock’ show covers much of the era that I “grew up” with, such as progressive rock, so I have tried to bring your attention towards people like Diblo, Ivor and John Cooper-Clarke who have perhaps never enjoyed much media exposure as some famous musicians.

 

Lex always gives me regular and honest feedback to my choice of subjects for the blog and for the tracks I put before you, and I’m pleased to say that comments have been positive. If any regular listener would like to comment on anything I’ve said or make suggestions re. the blog, use the 'Your Comments' tab (above) and I’m sure that Lex would take these comments on board. I don’t claim to be aware of all goings on in the alternative scene, and indeed I have never heard of some of the artist(e)s on Lex’s play lists, but I will do my best...

 

Meantime, happy listening and enjoy the music – I enjoy writing about it.

26th April 2024

Click HERE to listen again or to download the podcast (downloading & playing is more reliable). 

Mental As Anything - Live It Up
Maná - Vivir Sin Aire
Green Day - Saviors
Steve Hackett - Ghost Moon and Living Love
Paul Camilleri - Rock Me
Mert Demir - Atese Düstüm
Kylie Minegue & Ladytron - Kylietron (Kylie Minegue Vs Ladytron) (Tune of the week)
Misty in Roots - Man Kind (See blog by Titus below)
Ashes to Beauty - Leave Town
Bellamy Brothers & Gölä - Mermaid Cowgirl
Lagos & Reik - No Se Acaba Hasta Que Acabe
THIRTY-THR33 - Slowly
Sabrina Carpenter - Tornado Warnings
Jane Rose & The Deadend Boys - Bitten

21 April 2024

Titus writes:

 

After exploring Country Music last week, I thought I would give Reggae a long overdue airing this time. It’s a music genre that is hugely popular with many people all over the World, but you will hardly need me to tell you that it has its roots in the Caribbean. In our modern society, several U.K. reggae bands and artists (es) have emerged, and have quite rightly achieved success.

 

The early John Peel Shows were called ‘Top Gear’ (a World away from Clarkson & his mates), and in 1969, he played his first reggae record on that show, which was Andy Capp’s ‘Popatop’. John was somewhat annoyed that when a new book on reggae was published in 2001, he was referred to as ‘an ageing hippy’ with an ‘abrasively left of centre programme’.  John reminded the author of the book in typical Peel fashion by playing ‘Popatop’, saying “There haven’t been many better records than that”.

 

Over the years Peel played an awful lot of reggae, ranging from the ultra famous Bob Marley & the Wailers, to Lee “Scratch” Perry to Steel Pulse to Misty in Roots– and it was this British based band Misty that recorded 9 sessions for the programme. Some reggae purists did not accept Misty in Roots as a true reggae band, as they were from Britain and not Jamaica.  However at Peel’s funeral in October 2004, the Order of Service included a quote from Misty’s first album ‘Live at the Counter Eurovision 79’: “When we trod this land, we walk for one reason.... to try to help another man think for himself. The music of our hearts is roots music – music which recalls history, because without the knowledge of your history, you cannot turn in your destiny: the music about the present, because if you are not conscious about the present, you are like a cabbage in this society”.

 

So, who are Misty in Roots? I say the word ‘are’ because they are still playing today. They are a British reggae band from Southall, London and got together in the mid 1970’s, and as I stated previously, their first LP was called ‘Live at the counter Eurovision 79’. This disc was recorded live in Belgium, and was packed with Rastafarian tunes. John Peel thought that the album was wonderful, as it assisted the bringing of roots reggae to a mixed audience. Unbelievably the group started with no less than FIVE lead singers, but by the time of the second album, this had been rationalised to a mere 3! Including inevitably ‘The John Peel Sessions’ for Strange Fruit, the band released 8 Studio and Live LP’s plus 2 compilations between 1979 and 2002. The nine sessions for the Peel Show were also broadcast over the same period.  They also made “In Concert” appearances for the BBC in 1983 & 1985, and had the honour of a request to play Zimbabwe in 1982, in recognition of their support for the independence of that country.

I’m sure some of you remember Peely’s “Peelenium”.  The formula for this was a nightly playing of just one track relating to the individual years of the twenty first century, obviously leading up the the Millennium year of 2000. The track played by the great man for 1969 – ‘Popatop’ of course, and the 1979 selection was Misty in Roots ‘Mankind’, which you will find here.

19th April 2024

Click HERE to listen again or to download the podcast (downloading & playing is more reliable).

Djs From Mars Bootleg - Beethoven Symphony No. 5 Vs Chemical Brothers Vs Galvanize
Tanja Dankner - Somewhere
Twenty One Pilots - Next Semester
Laura Cantrell - Not the Tremblin' Kind (See blog by Titus below)
Magenda - Don't Fly Too High
The Dead South - In Hell I'll Be In Good Company
LAESSIG - Waiting for July
Bonnie & The Groove Cats - Place I Call My Home
Last Avenue - The Beginning
Taylor Swift, Post Malone - Fortnight
Lucy Rose - This Ain't The Way You Go Out (Tune of the week (Released today!))
Mich Gerber (feat. Bajka) - By Your Side
Yaëlzoë - Weak Blue World
Sleaford Mods - Jobseeker
Sareena Overwater - Happy

14th April 2024

Titus writes:

 

On behalf of Anne & myself, I would like to thank Lex for playing some of our favourite tunes on the show last week, and I hope that the listeners enjoyed our playlist.

 

I’m mindful of the fact that I’ve covered quite a few music & literary styles over the past six months, but the one music genre I haven’t covered until now, is Country Music. Now this is sometimes called Country & Western, was first produced in the 1920’s, and originates from the South & South West of the United States.  Inevitably over the years there have been fusions, which have brought us Country Folk, Country Rock, Hillbilly, Rockabilly, Southern Soul, Swamp Rock, Cajun, Bluegrass to name but eight!  Country Music tends to focus on working class American life, and most lyrics illustrate this, plus other genres such as Mexican, Hawaiian & Irish music have had influence on it.

 

Instruments? Well, in its early days, Country musicians were known to use e.g.  banjos, fiddles & harmonicas, but nowadays a plethora of percussion can appear, plus electric/acoustic guitars, bass  & keyboards. The U.S. Congress has recognised Bristol, in the State of Tennessee as the birth place of Country Music, and an excellent museum dedicated to the cause can be found in that city. The first family of Country Music are widely known as The Carters, who had an offspring called June Carter, famous for her marriage to Johnny Cash in 1968......talking of whom, he became one of the most famous faces of the genre, along with others, such as Dolly Parton, Hank Williams, Loretta Lynn, Willie Nelson, Patsy Cline, Jim Reeves, Tammy Wynette and Bill Monroe. From the mid 1950’s to the early 1960’s, what was called ‘The Nashville Sound’, was at its peak, but then it seemed a gradual decline set in, coinciding with the deaths in separate plane crashes of Cline and Reeves.

 

So was this the death of Country Music? Not on your life. The style inspired many rock musicians, like Elvis, Buddy Holly, Chuck Berry, Carl Perkins & Jerry Lee Lewis. Even today, we see Country bands with a make up of cowboy values, with cowboy hats, cowboy boots and western wear prevalent on the scene.

 

I must admit that I was never a lover of Country Music, until I heard a couple of singers, who can only be described as ‘modern’ artistes on the John Peel Show, namely Neko Case and Laura Cantrell.   Neko is  a very complex character and to save space I’ll not dwell on her career, save to say that ‘Furnace Room Lullaby’ was a truly great album.  It is Laura Cantrell who really impressed me with 5 sessions for John’s programme, and three were recorded live at Peel Acres in Suffolk. Amazingly Laura was born in Nashville in 1967, but moved to New York to study English at Columbia University. She sang with various bands before meeting, and then marrying the founder of Diesel Only Records, Jeremy Tepper, and it was this label that her debut album ‘Not the trembling kind’ was released on in 2000. Peely loved the album, playing most tracks from it, and found that he & Laura had very similar tastes in music. JP said at the time “It is my favourite record of the last ten years, and possibly my life”.   Peel and his wife Sheila stayed with Laura & Jeremy in New York, and before too long, the visit was reciprocated, and indeed, three sessions were recorded at ‘Peel Acres’, which I had the privilege to listen to, live in my living room.  After John’s death in 2004, Cantrell dedicated her 2005 album ‘Humming by the Flowered Vine’ to his memory.

She, in addition to being a country singer, is a DJ who at the time of her association with the Peel Show, had her own show at a New Jersey Radio Station, and still regularly broadcasts a programme called ‘Dark Horse Radio’ on Sirius XM, featuring the music of George Harrison. As far as I know, much of her work can be traced via the internet, and it is the title track from her ‘Not the trembling kind’ LP that I have asked Lex to play, and it can be found here.

12th April 2024

Click HERE to listen again or to download the podcast (downloading & playing is more reliable). Many thanks to Anne & Titus for their selections:

Cream - Crossroads
Cream - Spoonful.mp3
Sex Pistols - Pretty Vacant.mp3
Leftfield - Open up.mp3
Ten Years After - I`m Going Home (live).mp3
The Undertones - Teenage Kicks.mp3
Traffic (feat. Steve Winwood) - (Sometimes I Feel So) Uninspired (1973,  LIVE)
Traffic - Dear Mr. Fantasy
The Fall - Theme From Sparta F.C. #2 (Single Version)
Platinum Mind (feat. Marina Florance) - 1974 (That's How It Was In Those Days)

6th April 2024

Titus writes:

 

For this week’s WTF Show, Lex will be playing some of mine and Anne’s favourites, and so for a change, I have decided to compile my blog not so much focussed on music, but on a highly intelligent, eccentric guy that I’ve always held in the highest regard – Viv Stanshall. I suppose that apart from displaying great wit, Viv was a poet, art lover, satirist, actor, writer and musician. He was principally known for his work with the Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band, for his observations on the English upper classes in ‘Sir Henry at Rawlinson End’ and for being Master of Ceremonies on Mike Oldfield’s epic ‘Tubular Bells’.

 

Viv only became Vivian, via a name change in 1977, because he was actually christened Victor Anthony Stanshall, born on 21 March 1943 in Shillingford, Oxford.   He was the son of Victor, an RAF Corporal, later a Company Secretary, and later still Company Director, and Eileen.  During WW2, the young Victor lived with his mother whilst his father was serving in the RAF, and he looked back on this period as his happiest childhood time. At the end of the war, Victor Snr returned home and the young Victor found him really difficult to live with.  He was made to speak in a ‘posh’ accent which remained with him for the rest of his life, and Victor Snr was stern, and a strict disciplinarian. The parents produced a second son, Mark, in 1949 and in a similar scenario to that of his father , the young Victor never gelled with him.

 

Now resident in Leigh –on-Sea, a 16 year old Stanshall, having been a pupil at Southend High School for Boys, wished to attend Art School. His father would not support this is in any way, and so Vic (as he became known) spent a year in the Merchant Navy. On return, he enrolled at the Central School of Art & Design in London, and later met Rodney Slater, Roger Ruskin-Spear and Neil Innes. They talked of forming a band, and .....long story short.....the foetus of the Bonzo’s was created. The four met in the ‘New Cross Arms’ pub and Neil was impressed by Vic’s unusual mode of dress – Billy Bunter check trousers, a Victorian frock coat, black coat tails, violet tinted specs, and large rubber false ears!  Innes was impressed that he was “an interesting character”.  Much of the band’s early work was based on comedy reworkings of 20’s and 30’s songs, and like a lot of groups, they played in local pubs.  They quickly amassed many musical instruments & props, and in 1967, now with a Manager in tow, appeared in the Beatles’ ‘Magical Mystery Tour’ film, in which they played what was to become a Bonzo classic - ‘Death Cab for Cutie’.

 

As a mark of his eccentricity, Stanshall was told by Manager Gerry Bron, to shut himself away and write songs for an album, but on inspection a few weeks later, Bron found that no songs had been written.....instead Stanshall had used the time to build hutches for his pet rabbits!  After a surprise hit single in 1968 ‘I’m the Urban Spaceman’, a subsequent tour of the States resulted in the band being stopped by a local sheriff who was suspicious that firearms & drugs were being carried.  The sheriff apparently asked “How are you going to defend yourself?” to which V.S. replied “with good manners” !!!

 

After the group split in 1970, Viv, as he was then known, was involved in a variety of bands, but developed an anxiety disorder which would plague him for the rest of his life. To make things worse, he began drinking heavily. However, he continued to write and had an admirer in Radio 1 DJ John Peel. Viv was asked to deputise for Peely for a month in 1971 to cover a holiday period. John’s then producer John Walters was left to supervise Viv, and the programmes, called ‘Vivian Stanshall’s Radio Flashes’ were well received. 

 

Later in the decade and beyond, Viv wrote a series of ‘Sir Henry at Rawlinson End’ – ideal for Peel’s show which was famous for its ‘sessions’– and ‘Sir Henry’ was a satirical and eccentric observation of the upper classes. Whilst mainly the spoken word is heard, these sessions were very entertaining IMO, and some were released on vinyl. Sadly Viv’s health worsened, and after completing the television advert for Ruddles ale in 1994, he set about writing & recording a new ‘Rawlinson End’ album. This was curtailed by his untimely death in 1995, when an electrical fire had broken out at his flat, while he was sleeping.

 

A memorial plaque was unveiled at Golders Green Crematorium in 2015, opposite that of his friend Keith Moon. The plaque was unveiled by his widow Ki and his children Rupert & Silky. Following Viv’s death, ‘The Independent’ journalist Chris Welch wrote “Seen by some as a wild eccentric, he was perhaps too large a personality for the music business to handle”.