Portland, Oregon has always been a groovy place and musicians like Ripley Johnson are the reason why.Best known as one half of droning psych funkers Moon Duo and the leader of spacey cult favorites Wooden Shjips, Johnson has called Portland home for years now.Fittingly, his aptly named side project the Rose City Band proudly waves the flag for its namesake city with its heady blend of country, psych and 70s rock and roll.Originally started as a recording project for Johnson that resulted in a self-titled debut, the Rose City Band is now stepping fully into the spotlight with their follow-up“Summerlong”.
Coming in at only eight songs,Summerlongmay be on the shorter side but it hardly feels like an EP.This might be because there are a handful of longer tracks that find the band stretching out and getting comfortable as if improvising live in front of a crowd.From the opening track “Only Lonely” – a breezy, twangy groover with mellow folk rock vocals and carefully picked guitar solos with plenty of breathing space – it’s clear we are in for an exciting trip. “Empty Bottles” slows things down for a bummed out, dreamy sound as Johnson reflects on his own lost loves, bringing to mind the surfy twang of Li’l Cap’n Travis and Yo La Tengo before switching gears and launching into a funky instrumental jam to let you fall into the stoned embraced of the music.
The band cranks things back up for the rambling “Real Long Gone”, balancing the West Coast country sounds of the Grateful Dead alongside vocals that bring to mind Dire Straits while dosing the driving rhythm with intertwining guitar solos. “Floating Out” drips along at the pace of a lazy Sunday afternoon, easing into its introspective lyrics with blissed out vocals and a slowly percolating, sparsely beautiful guitar solo. “Morning Light” is quick and cheery, accented with the high and lonesome twang of a steel guitar, while “Reno Shuffle” drops in heavy with a lurking blues groove and organ to give the song a bouncing 60s psychedelia vibe.Many of the songs fall in a similar vein to throwback cosmic country acts like Natural Child and Mail the Horse, but where the Rose City Band takes thing in a different direction is in tripping out and taking a more jam-friendly, acid-soaked approach.This culminates in the album’s last two tracks, with the synth-laden “Wee Hours” morphing into a free-flowing, danceable instrumental jam before segueing into “Wildflowers,” a song brimming with the kind of flowery guitar playing that would make Jerry Garcia smile.
Interestingly, Johnson has said he started this project with no expectations and even joked with his friends about retiring from touring and just playing in a country rock band at the local bars.But across these eight tracks it becomes clear that Johnson isn’t messing around, with a sound that marries all of the styles he is best known for with his passion for country.Johnson has more than earned his credentials as a psych rocker, and if you listened to the most recent Moon Duo album the sound of the Rose City Band may come as a bit of a surprise, but withSummerlonghe proves he has chops as a country rock artist too while championing the grooviness of the band’s namesake city.
The album is one of the standout releases of the year, and also leaves you wanting to experience the Rose City Band live as soon as we are allowed to do that again.
“Music to me, whatever kind it is, it’s inspiring to me, meaningful to me; it gives my life meaning and writing songs gives my life purpose.”
Willie Nilereleased his first album in early 1980, afterNew York Timesmusic critic Robert Palmer had seen him playing in Greenwich Village and the resulting write-up garnered record company interest and he was signed to Arista Records.Having come down to the City from Buffalo, where he had been studying Philosophy at the university, Nile played solo at open mics at a time when punk was starting to take over from the coffeehouse folkies.Needless to say, Nile’s idea of a solo acoustic show was more rock & roll than quiet introspection.
With the recent release of “New York At Night”, Nile’s thirteenth studio album, he again leads us into the world of his adopted city, where the characters he sees on the subway or passes on the street can inspire a song that captures the beat, the very breath of the inner New York City, away from Times Square or Central Park.Nile illuminates that New York with his musical soundtrack.From the rockabilly-toned “New York Is Rockin’” to the Irish flavor incorporated into “Lost & Lonely World” and the reflective “Doors Of Paradise” and “A Little Bit Of Love,” Nile has produced one of his best albums to date.
When Nile was a young guy, hot on the release of his self-titled debut album, the hype was unavoidable, especially with songs like “Vagabond Moon” and “Old Men Sleeping On The Bowery.”Pete Townshend was a fan and Nile was asked to open for The Who on theirFaces Dancestour.He recorded his second album while John Lennon was in another room at the same studio.
Fred Smith from his favorite band Television started playing bass in his band.The spotlight was firmly shining on him yet he kept his wits about him and his feet on the ground and at age seventy-one, he’s still going strong.
Pacific Rangeis a promising young band whose second album (and first for Curation Records) was produced byDan Horne, multi-instrumentalist of Circles Around The Sun.“High Upon TheMountain”is a mutually empathetic collaboration that illustrates that, while the quartet’s playing transcends its own material, that doesn’t undermine their potential.It’s a perfectly natural state of affairs for many fledgling bands whose instrumental chemistry coalesces before their own writing skill(s).
When Pacific Range begins to jam on ”Nothing Else More,” for instance, the connection with the Grateful Dead becomes readily apparent.Yet such improvs, appearing increasingly frequently as the twelve tracks progress, evince laudable patience and precision.Otherwise, the group might well have been mistaken for one of the plethora of country-rock ensembles, like Firefall, that proliferated during the Seventies.None of those ensembles, however, were so inclined to luxuriate in lengthy instrumentals, but then they were not blessed with an agile rhythm section like this one comprised of bassist Cameron Wehrle and drummer Nate Ward.
Smooth lush harmonies (to which vocalists Jade Castrinos, Bek Stanley and Nikki Segal add their voices at certain points) are one of this band’s stocks-in-trade, an attribute that distracts attention from how derivative is some of their original material such as “Heartbeat of Change.” “Studio Walk” is also a little too reminiscent of famous songs such as “China Cat Sunflower,” but when the band moves away from the structure of the song, the point becomes moot, especially as the glowing tones of Stewart Forgey’s keyboards appear.While Horne was an astute choice as producer—and he chips in with pedal steel on both versions of “Guiding The Mast”—he might well have turned a more discerning ear for such all-too-obvious touchpoints.
Nevertheless, he certainly made sureHigh Upon the Mountainsounded good.When acoustic guitars mix with electrics on “Rainbow Song,” before the entry of some delicate percussion, the audio approaches a 3D quality.That sonic virtue also enhances the crisp definition of terse guitar exchanges between chief composer Seamus Turner and Mapache’s Clay Finch during “Swap Meet.”In contrast, the notable fretboard interlude featuring Duane (son of Dickey) Betts on “Comin’ After You” sounds too much like direct absorption of an Allman Brothers influence, sans much personal imprint from Pacific Range; more acoustic numbers would complement their singing and diversify their sound while stretching out instrumentally more often might also engender multiple ideas for distinctive composition.
Still, while knowledgeable music lovers with eclectic tastes may be overly tempted return to the sources so clearly evoked here (including the Youngbloods and early Marshall Tucker Band), there’s no reason those listeners won’t also savorHigh Upon The Mountain. And once Pacific Range can plumb a wellspring of their own ideas as densely populated as the busily colorful cover artwork of the LP, they will no doubt end up sounding even more interesting than they already do.
We present – “Mixtape One” – a collection of reworkings and covers of some of our favourite songs – available now on Bandcamp for free. If you fancy downloading, we would ask that you make a donation to Refuge (or your favourite charity) directly through their website(s).
Friends; we now present – “Mixtape Two” – our second collection of reworkings and covers. It’s available now on Bandcamp for free. If you fancy downloading, we would again ask that you make a donation to Refuge (or your favourite charity) directly through their website(s).
This mix contains a selection of cover versions performed by USA Nails:
1. Paranoid – Originally performed by Black Sabbath
2. New Life – Originally performed by Depeche Mode
3. Digital – Originally performed by Joy Division
4. Pretty Baby – Originally performed by Sister Sledge
5. I Am The Fly – Originally performed by Wire
6. Goodbye Horses – Originally performed by Q Lazzarus
This mix contains a selection of cover versions performed by USA Nails:
1. Over And Over – Originally performed by Hot Chip
2. Don’t You Forget About Me – Originally performed by Simple Minds
3. Arabian Knights – Originally performed by Siouxsie And The Banshees
4. White Lines – Originally performed by Melle Mel
5. My Sharona – Originally performed by The Knack
6. Essex Dogs – Originally performed by Blur
So so excited and mushy to announce that our debut record “Reverse of Mastery” will be coming on July 24th on Exploding In Sound Records. First single premieres today on Flood Magazine! This record has been a loooong time in the making and was such a group ass effort of aaaall the buds and truly so excited to share!!! Lomita featuring Nick Llobet on the vocal cordios:)) The beautiful painting on the cover is by GLA4.
The concept of “summer music” is a little weird to think about right now, but as the world outside begins to warm up, In addition to the many May releases rescheduled to drop mid-summer, Brooklyn’sDig Nitty is adding to the pile of highly anticipated summer jams, announcing their debut Reverse of Mastery today with the quick-burning surfy “Lomita.”
Blending West Coast garage-rock guitars with the sounds of their native DIY scene, the two-minute introduction to Mastery manages to pack in catchy hooks, a ripping guitar solo, and some pretty relatable lyrics about returning to the outside world. “It’s a song about visiting a hospital—Lomita is the name of the street I would go on to get there,” vocalist Erin McGrath shares of her time spent in California. “It’s a song about wishing you could bring the outside world to someone inside, and how weird it is to be able to just leave a hospital room and go back to the outside world. The second verse compares death to take-off in an airplane or spaceship.”
Contributions from:
Nick Llobet (guitar/vocals)
Sabrina Rush (violin
Davis Boardman (violin)
Adam Brisbin (guitar)
Chappy Hull (guitar)
“Lomita” by Dig Nitty from the upcoming LP, “Reverse of Mastery” out July 24th 2020 on Exploding in Sound Records.
Skids were an art-punk/punk rock and New Wave band from Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland, founded in 1977 by Stuart Adamson (1958–2001, guitars / backing vocals / keyboards / percussion), William Simpson (bass guitar / backing vocals), Thomas Kellichan (drums) and Richard Jobson (vocals / guitar / keyboards). Their biggest success was the single “Into the Valley”, released in 1979.
The complete session recorded by Skids on 16th May 1978 for the John Peel show on BBC Radio 1 and broadcast on the 19th of that month.
The John Peel session and possibly one of the best for me personally as the 3 original tunes were never made available beyond the broadcasted session though there was another version of WOTWS on a `Best Of’ compilation. These tracks really underline how fast the Skids were developing as a band and their keen ear for a tune. As another fan has already said, it’s a shame all the sessions weren’t bunched together and put out as a vinyl LP.
Peel was a big supporter of the band and saw them play live on at least one occasion, probably twice. The track “TV Stars” recorded for the group’s debut session namechecks Peel. According to singer Richard Jobson, it was made up on the spot during the session itself A live version of this was released as the b-side to the group’s fourth single, ‘Into The Valley’.
16th May 1978
Of One Skin
Open Sound
Contusion
Night And Day
TV Stars
Richard Jobson (Vocals) Stuart Adamson (Lead Guitar) William Simpson (Bass) Thomas Kellichan (Drums)
The complete session recorded by Skids on 29th August 1978 for the John Peel show on BBC Radio 1 and broadcast on 1st September 1978.
29th August 1978
Dossier Of Fallibility
Hope And Glory
Six Times
The Saints Are Coming
Richard Jobson (Vocals) Stuart Adamson (Lead Guitar) William Simpson (Bass) Thomas Kellichan (Drums)
The complete session recorded by Skids on 19 February 1979 for the John Peel show on BBC Radio 1 and broadcast on the 26th of that month.
19th February 1979
Summer
Hang On To The Shadows
Zit
Walk On The Wild Side
Richard Jobson (Vocals) Stuart Adamson (Lead Guitar) William Simpson (Bass) Thomas Kellichan (Drums)
The complete session recorded by Skids on 30th April 1979 for the John Peel show on BBC Radio 1 and broadcast on 7th May 1979. “Hymns From A Haunted Ballroom” was released in November 1979 as part of the special 2 x 7″ issue of ‘Working For the Yankee Dollar” single, where keyboards are credited to Midge Ure
30th April 1979
War Poets
Withdrawal Symptoms
Hymns From A Haunted Balloon
Masquerade
Richard Jobson (Vocals) Stuart Adamson (Lead Guitar) William Simpson (Bass) Thomas Kellichan (Drums)
1st September 1980
Filming In Africa
An Incident In Algiers
Circus Games
Snakes And Ladders (Instrumental)
Richard Jobson (Vocals, Guitar-Snakes And Ladders (Instrumental) Russell Webb (Bass, Guitar) Mike Baillie (Drums) John Mcgeoch (Guitar-Filming In Africa, An Incident In Algiers, Circus Games, Vocals-Filming In Africa, Circus Games) Steve Severin (Vocals-Filming In Africa, Circus Games Only)
“The Five sessions”. All available on The Virgin Years boxset (CD6), Virgin (2015). released in 2009 as digital download and on streaming services.
Born in Macon, Georgia, on December 5, 1932, Richard was one of 12 children. His father was a preacher who also ran a nightclub, and his mother was a devout Baptist.
Speaking to BBC Radio 4 in 1998, he said he started singing because he wanted to stand out from his siblings. I was the biggest head of all, and I still have the biggest head,” he said. “I did what I did, because I wanted attention. When I started banging on the piano and screaming and singing, I got attention.”
As an artist, Little Richard’s breakthrough came in 1956 with the single “Tutti Frutti“, before cementing his fame and reputation with the run of hits “Long Tall Sally“, “Lucille” and “Good Golly, Miss Molly“, among others. His 1957 debut album, “Here’s Little Richard”, remains a template for the genre.
Earning the nickname “The Innovator, The Originator, and The Architect of Rock and Roll”, he had an immeasurable influence across the world of music – his flamboyant style and free-spirited attitude inspired the likes of The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, David Bowie, Elton John and countless more.
It’s impossible to list all the major rock stars that the Little Richard influenced. His look, sound, and attitude really wrote the blueprint for what it means to be a rock star, and tons of the most major artists of all time covered his songs (and often became popular for their own versions). The Beatles had no lack of Little Richard covers, and his music was also performed by Elton John, Eric Clapton, The Kinks, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Queen, Motorhead, Scorpions, Bruce Springsteen, The Band, The Animals, Fleetwood Mac, T. Rex’s Marc Bolan, The Zombies, Deep Purple, and that’s really just a small sample size.
Little Richard was among the first artists to be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1986, alongside Elvis Presley, Chuck Berry, Jerry Lee Lewis, James Brown and Buddy Holly. His other honors include a GRAMMY® Lifetime Achievement Award (1993) and inductions into the Songwriters Hall of Fame (2003), the NAACP Image Awards’ Hall of Fame (2002) and the Blues Hall of Fame (2015).
Bob Dylan has paid tribute to Little Richard, who has died at the age of 87.
The musician’s son, Danny Jones Penniman, confirmed the rock’n’roll pioneer’s death to Rolling Stone, adding that the cause of death was cancer. Bob Dylan wrote: “He was my shining star and guiding light back when I was only a little boy. His was the original spirit that moved me to do everything I would do.”
Announcer: “The Beatles, with Paul McCartney paying tribute to ‘the Everlys’ with Lucille.” Really? How can Paul McCartney be paying tribute to the Everly Brothers by playing a song written by, and made famous by Little Richard? , Just another example of how many of these Rock and Roll and Jazz Radio Disc Jockeys can be heard uttering nonsense on many archival broadcasts.
Before the Beatles became stars in their own right, they were opening for Little Richard in Hamburg and Liverpool. They were huge fans of his, and would go on to cover many of his songs over the years, including “Long Tall Sally”, “Ooh! My Soul” and “Lucille.”. Two of the band members covered Richard’s songs in their solo careers, too: John Lennon recorded “Slippin’ and Slidin’” and a medley of “Rip It Up”/“Ready Teddy” on his 1975 covers album, Rock ‘n’ Roll, while Paul McCartney recorded “Lucille” for a live album in 1988.
Little Richard(born Richard Wayne Penniman) combined the passionate spirit of gospel, the bawdiness of the blues and the swing of New Orleans jazz to createsomething altogether fresh: rock & roll. Whenthe young artist was signed bySpecialty Records’ Art Rupe in the mid–‘50s, he gained a new platform to showcase his bold sound and flamboyant persona, captured in all their glory on his legendary1957 debut, “Here’s Little Richard”.
The album, which primarily gathered the artist’s early Specialty singles from 1955-1957, could easily serve as a best-of compilation. In fact, seven of the songs on Here’s Little Richardwere Top 10 hitson theBillboard R&B chart, while two tracks peaked in the Pop Top 10(“Long Tall Sally” and “Jenny Jenny”). The album also included such favourites as“Reddy Teddy,” “Slippin’ and Slidin’,” “Rip It Up” and Little Richard’s most iconic song, “Tutti Frutti.” Originally released inOctober1955, the effervescent singlehelped usher in an exciting new genre of music.
Little Richard Medley: Tutti Frutti / The Girl Can’t Help It / Long Tall Sally / Jenny Jenny (Live at Royal Albert Hall 12/1/1969) · Delaney & Bonnie & Friends On Tour With Eric Clapton
Creedence Clearwater Revival play Little Richard “Good Golly Miss Molly” from the album Bayou Country
“Slippin’ and Slidin’” – This track had an interesting evolution—almost like a game of musical telephone. In 1955, R&B singer-songwriter Al Collins wrote a song called “I Got the Blues for You.” A year later, New Orleans blues pianist Eddie Bo reworked the song and recorded it as “I’m Wise.” Little Richard then created his own rendition of the tune, “Slippin’ and Slidin’,” which would become the definitive version. Richard revisited the song several times throughout his career, recording it a decade later with Vee-Jay and, later, Modern. A host of other artists would cover Little Richard’s version, including John Lennon, Johnny Winter and Otis Redding.
While the artist would go on to release more than a dozen studio albums after Here’s Little Richard, his debut remained his crowning achievement, as well as his highest-charting full-length (peaking at No.13 on the Billboard 200).Richard wouldrevisit those foundational 12 tracks throughout his career.
Over the decades, Here’s Little Richardhas been widely acknowledged for its importance in pop music history. In 2012, Rolling Stoneranked the title at No. 50 in its roundup of the “500 Greatest Albums of All Time”while TIME included Here’s Little Richardin their “All-Time 100 Albums” list.In 2007, Mojo ranked “Tutti Frutti” at No.1 in their “100 Records That Changed the World”list, and in 2010, the Library of Congress inducted the song into its National Recording Registry, proclaiming that the song “announced a new era in music.”
“Ready Teddy” – Though “Ready Teddy” was a Top 10 R&B hit for Richard, the song would be made even more famous by one of his biggest fans, Elvis Presley, who sang the upbeat tune in front of 60 million television viewers on his record-breaking debut appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show. It also graced the silver screen twice—in the 1958 Jayne Mansfield comedy The Girl Can’t Help It(Richard’s recording of the title song was a hit in the US and UK) as well as in Federico Fellini’s 1960 classic,La Dolce Vita, where it was performed by Italian rocker Adriano Celentano
“Rip It Up” – This song was a No.1 R&B hit for Little Richard and a Top 20 single (peaking at No.17 on the Billboard Pop chart in the summer of 1956). However, the significance of these charting hits was often muted for Little Richard and other black musicians at the time, because of a common record industry practice in the ‘50s, which called for “safer” white artists to cover popular R&B singles. This was often the case with Little Richard’s songs and became a point of contention for the artist. In the case of “Rip It Up”, contemporaries Bill Haley and the Comets covered the tune (hitting No.25 on the Pop chart) and later performed the song in the 1956 film Don’t Knock the Rock. Richard did have the opportunity to make a cameo in the musical, though, and his over-the-top showmanship stole the show, as he performed “Long Tall Sally” and “Tutti Frutti.”
The Skids were a Scottish punk rock and new wave band, formed in Dunfermline, Fife, in 1977 by Stuart Adamson (guitar, keyboards, percussion and backing vocals), William Simpson (bass guitar and backing vocals), Thomas Kellichan (drums) and Richard Jobson (vocals, guitar and keyboards). Their biggest success was the 1979 single “Into the Valley” and the 1980 album The Absolute Game.
Skids played their first gig on 19th August 1977 at the Bellville Hotel in Pilmuir Street Dunfermline. Within six months they had released the “Charles” EP on the No Bad Record label, created by Sandy Muir, a Dunfermline Record shop and music shop owner turned Manager. The record brought them to the attention of national BBC Radio 1 Disc jockey John Peel. This led to a local gig supporting The Clash. Virgin Records then signed up Skids in April 1978.
In a two year period in 1979-80, the Skids hit the UK top 40, four times, with singles like “Into The Valley” (a top 10 hit), “Masquerade” and “Circus Games” plus the singles “Sweet Suburbia” and “The Saints Are Coming” both made commercial inroads, Guitarist Stuart Adamson left the band in 1980 to form Big Country, while singer Richard Jobson went on to form The Armoury Show, before becoming a poet, TV presenter, writer and film director, with six features films to his name.
Adamson took his own life in 2001. The Skids first reformed in 2007, with Adamson’s former Big Country band mate Bruce Watson, and Watson’s son Jamie, on guitars.
Scared to Dance
The band released their debut studio album, “Scared to Dance” the same year. It was recorded at The Townhouse Studios in London, England with record producer David Batchelor, Adamson walked out towards the end of the sessions before all the guitar overdubs were completed .Session guitarist Chris Jenkins was chief maintenance engineer at Townhouse studios and completed the album using Adamson’s studio set up, adding additional guitar to four tracks “Into the Valley”, “Integral Plot”, “Calling the Tune” and “Scared to Dance”.
The Skids’ anthem was born from Alfred Tennyson’s The Charge of the Light Brigade – its anti-war sentiments are still relevant today. People seem to remember it more for my daft dancing rather than the themes we were exploring. That’s the price you pay for doing a daft dance on TOTP.”
In the meantime, Adamson had returned to Scotland when the recording was finished. He re-joined the band for the live concert tour promotion of the album. The record included “The Saints Are Coming”, which was later covered in late 2006 as a single by American band Green Day.
Days in Europa
Skids enjoyed a further year of chart success as “Masquerade” and “Working for the Yankee Dollar” reached the UK Top 20 singles chart. Both came from their second album, also released in 1979, “Days in Europa” with the record’s production and keyboards by Bill Nelson (musician) of Be-Bop Deluxe” Nelson was the obvious choice for the record’s production duties as he was not only Adamson’s principal ‘guitar hero’ but also an enormous influence on Adamson’s playing. Nelson also played an important role in polishing Skids’ sound and in encouraging the development of Jobson’s lyrics. Just before recording of the album commenced, Kellichan left the band and was temporarily replaced on drums by Rusty Egan from the band Visage and later The Rich Kids The New Romantic Egan played on the album and later on the live concert tour of the record. Keyboard player Alistair Moore also temporarily joined the band to perform live with them. He had been recruited to play Bill Nelson’s keyboard parts from the record. The opening track of [second album] Days In Europa. It sets the tone for the new Skids. This was our second album. We had gone to Wales to record with Bill Nelson and we wanted to do something new and fresh. Bill encouraged me to write lyrics the way I wanted to write, which is captured perfectly here in this abstract poem on the working man. “Thanatos” “A blistering, ferocious song that always seemed to work better live than on record. It sits well on Days In Europa. We still play the song today as part of our live set and it still works. A song about Death called Death. I think I must have been going through a difficult period with my health at the time which has dogged me all my life. I’m epileptic.”
I was thinking about my father when I wrote it, he was a coal-miner. Adamson’s guitar work is brilliant and Rusty Egan helped develop a new sound through his innovative drum playing.” People missed the irony of Days In Europa and misread the lyrics as having some kind of Fascist fetish thing going on. I hate fascists and everything they stand for. The song was about the undue pressure put on young men to be somebody in the traditional sense of masculinity. This was something we all rejected.”
“A backwards version of Animation with a spoken word poem about the crumbling fabric of Europe after WW2. It was a brave thing to do at the time and critics were always looking to shoot anyone down who dared rise above their station. Fuck the critics.”
In November 1979 Mike Baillie, ex-Insect Bites, was recruited as a permanent band member, taking care of the drums, backing vocals and percussion). He slowly took over from Egan, while the band was still touring “Days in Europa”. Some of Jobson’s lyrics as well as the album cover caused controversy. It showed an Olympic Games” Olympian being crowned with laurels by an Aryan looking woman, and the lettering was also in Gothic script. Some, including DJ “John Peel” felt that this glorified Nazi ideology and it was indeed similar to posters from the “1936 Summer Olympics” held in Germany. After the original version of the album had already been released, The Canadian record producer Bruce Fairbairn was brought into the project. The original cover and the track “Pros and the Cons” were removed. The sleeve was completely re-designed and the song “Masquerade” added. The album was also remixed and the tracks re-sequenced. This second version was released in 1980.
The Absolute Game, Joy
In February 1980 one of the Skids founding members William Simpson left and was replaced by Russell Webb (bass guitar, backing vocals, keyboards, percussion, and guitar). Webb joined as a permanent band member and immediately started work on the recording of the band’s third album “The Absolute Game”, released in 1980 and produced by Mick Glossop. It proved to be the band’s most commercial release, reaching the Top 10 of the UK Albums Chart and contained the minor hit single “Circus Games” Jobson has great memory of recording in the manor studios in Oxfordshire. We were working with Mick Glossop who focussed on Adamson’s guitar work and the band’s love of big choruses. We weren’t sure of how to make this song ignite until we decided to try kids singing the chorus. Its a song about people making mistakes and somebody paying the price, which is normally kids or the next generation.”
A few of the tracks on the album also included a collection of fourteen adult and child backing vocalists, along with a lone didgeridoo player. Initial copies of The Absolute Game came with a free limited edition, second album entitled Strength Through Joy, echoing the band’s previous controversial themes. Jobson claims to have got the title from Dirk Bogarde’s autobiography
Soon after the release and live concert tour of The Absolute Game Baillie left the band and was followed soon after by Adamson (although Adamson did stay around long enough to play on one more song for the next album “Joy”, called “Iona”). Baillie moved back to Scotland to live and Adamson went on to launch his new band, Big Country. This left Jobson and Webb to write and record the band’s fourth and final album Joy, which Russell Webb also produced. The pair played multiple instruments on the album, and also invited a collection of seventeen musical friends to perform on various tracks with them. Skids finally dissolved in 1982, with the compilation “Fanfare” posthumously issued by Virgin. It was a mixture of most of the band’s singles and some B-sides, though it omitted any tracks from the Joy period.
Jobson and Webb then went on to form a new band called The Armoury Show. The group recorded just one album, “Waiting for the Floods” in 1985 before splitting up. Jobson went on to pursue a solo career as a poet, songwriter, television presenter and most recently, as a film director. He released albums on the Belgian record label Les Disques du Crepuscule and the UK’s own Parlophone Records. Webb proposed a solo career and, according to Armoury Show fan page, later joined Public Image Ltd. in 1992 (but played only on their last tour), and is now a video game designer.
Studio albums
Scared to Dance (1979)
Days in Europa (1979; remixed and re-issued with a new sleeve design in 1980)
When you think about the most important rock bands in history, The Who is undoubtedly in the conversation for many different reasons. One of those reasons is their incredible live performances – which they are still doing to this day.
Take a trip in the Iconic by Collectionzz time machine all the way back to 1970. The Who were looking for a way to follow up their 1969 album Tommy. They had recorded several shows for a live album on tours supporting Tommy in the United States, but didn’t like the sound on any of the recordings. The Who decided to book two shows in early 1970 (on Valentines Day weekend) to record the live album. The first show at University of Leeds on February 14th, 1970 was planned to be the warm up show; and the second show at City Hall in Hull on February 15th, 1970 was planned to be the record. The recording equipment was rolling for both shows though, just in case.
According to The Who’s sound engineer, John Entwistle’s bass was not recorded for the first few tracks at Hull, and Pete Townshend didn’t even listen to the whole recording once he realized that. It didn’t matter though, they had made history the night before at the University of Leeds in front of 2,000 ravenous fans. Pete Townshend called it “the greatest audience we’ve ever played to.”
The Who released part of concert at University of Leeds on February 14th, 1970 as their now legendary live album “Live at Leeds.” It was the only live album that was released while the group were still actively recording and performing with their best known line-up of Roger Daltrey, Pete Townshend, John Entwistle and Keith Moon.
If Tommy announced the Who’s ascent to rock-band immortality, Live at Leeds was the headline’s exclamation point. The live album cemented their distinction as one of the world’s most powerful acts, yet it came together almost by accident.
The 1969 Tommy tour saw the Who performing to massive audiences across the globe, including a historic stop at Woodstock. Keenly aware of its popularity, and having seen the success of live albums from many rock contemporaries, the band decided to record its performances during the trek. By the end of 1969, the Who had recorded 30 shows in the U.S. and an additional eight in the U.K.
While the abundance of material seemed like a blessing at first, it was actually too much of a good thing. Poring through all the hours of music was a daunting task, one the band could not feasibly do considering the amount of time it would necessitate. Frustrated, Pete Townshend took a scorched earth approach; the guitarist instructed his audio engineer to burn all of the concert recordings. The Who would instead book two shows from which a live album would be constructed. Without the previous tapes to fall back on, the band was bravely performing without a net.
The group wanted to capture the ferocity of its live shows, something Tommy’s high-art concept had briefly taken them away from. “We were better known for doing Tommy than we were for all the rest of the stuff,” bassist John Entwistle noted in the book The Complete Chronicle of the Who. “I mean, all the guitar smashing and stuff went completely out of the window. We’d turned into snob rock. We were the kind of band that Jackie Onassis would come and see.”
The band planned one concert for February 14th, 1970, at the University of Leeds, with a second the following day in Hull. As fate would have it, the Hull performance was plagued with technical problems. Thankfully, the Who needed only the first show to make history.
The Leeds concert saw the band play more than 30 songs, including the earlier hit “My Generation” and almost all of the songs from Tommy. More than 2,000 students – many of whom had been lining up since 6AM that day – filled the capacity of the University’s refectory. Their energy was palpable.
“The students there were a great audience for us,” Roger Datrey later recalled to the BBC. “It was packed to the rafters and then some more. I heard there was a thousand fans on the roof!”
Keith Moon echoed similar sentiments. “We fed on the audience as much as they fed on us,” the drummer explained to the University’s student newspaper. “They were just too incredible.”
Though the Who initially planned on releasing a double live album from the set, they honed Live at Leeds to a powerful six-song LP. The track listing would go as follows: “Young Man Blues,”“Substitute,” “Summertime Blues,” “Shakin’ All Over,” “My Generation” and “Magic Bus.”
Originally released on May 23rd, 1970,Live at Leeds was quickly hailed as a triumph and has sealed its legacy as one of the Who’s best albums and one of the greatest live records ever made. The complete Leeds and Hull shows were eventually released on various expanded editions of the album.
In celebration of Live at Leeds’ 50th anniversary, Collectionzz is releasing officially licensed concert posters for the University of Leeds concert. The images feature the faces of Daltrey, Townshend, Moon and Entwistle cloaked by the Union Jack. The design also includes the Who’s trippy logo, psychedelic trim and original concert details. Two versions of the poster are available: a glow-in-the-dark edition and a black metallic edition. They go on sale May 15th exclusively through the Collectionzz website.
US outfit return with another bold and pulsing slice of Tarantino-esque blues-rock Bad Flamingo are definitely bad. On their track “Open the Gates” they dispense their, now, signature sound: a sultry serenading cocktail of spaghetti western, pop noir, kitsch and ? Open the Gates in particular, with the feral bongos, strident sort of surf bomb guitar downbeats and slow burn sensuality (with double entendres littering the sun drenched landscape) feels almost Grind House 70’s in tone. I told them to stop it, stop sending me these amazing escapist pop creations but they refuse and now… now, I have developed a serious mask fetish. Thanks Bad Flamingo… thanks a lot! Yes, these two are bad alright (bullwhip snap in the background).
Illusive duo Bad Flamingo return with their new single Dandy Little Day. The masked cowboy singers play noire americana in the style of Black Honey. Never photographed without their masks, their identities remain a secret. These two might as well have emerged from an old Zorro movie or straight out of Westworld.
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