Welcome to the RPM Record Club Seven Day Soundtrack, week ending Friday 6th August 2021. Yet more scintillating sounds and satirical, yet thought provoking debate, no less. Over to......
"First of all, let me agree with Tony in so far as people who support equality, tolerance, and social justice do themselves and their causes no good by seeking to ban "offensive" words, or for example by vandalising statues. They set the causes they espouse back rather than advancing them. Furthermore, issuing apologies to the descendants of people our ancestors exploited 200 years ago seems to me to be a redundant exercise. However, I still stand by what I said two weeks ago.
I certainly have no desire to "obliterate history, " but rather to reveal more of it in a more honest way even if it makes us uncomfortable, allowing the stories of the "losers" to be told as well as those of the "winners" who traditionally write it. It is high time we stopped viewing history through the lens of triumphalist imperialism, even if that's what we were taught at school. After all, the days of sending gunboats to the South China Sea are long gone. Oh, hang on a minute...
I'd better stop there and choose some music!"
Less Than Zero by Elvis Costello - "From his first album, subject if I recall correctly of an enthusiastic review in NME by the estimable Roy Carr."
Summer Days by Bob Dylan - "From the very honestly titled "Love and Theft" album of 2001 when he was a mere stripling of 60. "She says, 'You can't repeat the past.' I say, 'You can't? Of course you can.' " A live performance with as good a band as he has ever worked with."
Lookin' Over My Shoulder by John R. Miller - "I'd never heard of this guy until about 3 weeks ago, but on hearing this song I was sufficiently impressed to buy the album, which is entitled "Depreciated." After playing it I'm still impressed."
"Best wishes and good health to all RPMers as always."
"This week I am choosing different aspects of The Olympics as my theme. Keep well everybody. Get out as much as you can but do it carefully."
Jump (For My Love by The pointer Sisters -
Bicycle Race by Queen -
"Wotcha folks,
First I would like to take this opportunity to thank every one of you for keeping me entertained and for so widely broadening my musical palette. It is very unusual for me not to come across something that I have never listened to before, either due to my own musical chauvinism, simple lack of exposure, (for whatever reason), or because I have previously not had any reason to find out more. With the access that you have provided, I have no excuse! Often your choices have been a breath of fresh air. Gems which I had forgotten. Genres I had no interest in. Weekly a true delight!
Cheers!
Sad to say, that due to having chosen to marry a life partner, who is hopelessly addicted to all forms of sport, recently, even I, have been unable to resist the inescapable draw, of munching my breakfast burrito, whilst simultaneously watching the Olympics. (There goes another clean t-shirt!) But fear not, despite the fact that I was humming Helmut Zacharia’s - ‘Tokyo Melody’, (Fuji Aki?) (The theme tune selected by the BBC for it’s 1964 Olympic coverage), through the whole of the speed climbing footage, I thought I might leave the pleasure of posting it to the RPM pages, to to all the rest of you (I imagine that this Saturday I will be the only one to refrain?) whilst returning to my recent theme..."
America is Waiting by David Byrne & Brian Eno -
Indiscipline by King Crimson -
English Roundabout by XTC -
"This week’s scrabble about, in the very bottom of the Bargain bins of recorded history, has reminded me that I once owned a copy of ‘My Life in the Bush of Ghosts’, an album that I clearly remember receiving as a birthday present, but can I find it? Nah! But the bits and pieces that I have levered out of YouTube stand up well to the test of time! I suppose the other explanation is that my musical tastebuds may have become stuck in the late 1980’s! Or possibly a lot earlier! I am quite fond of a bit of Tallis, Gibbons, Palestrina and even the odd snatch of Praetorius, but maybe another time… 4/2 is the wrong time sig. for week three of my continuing theme! Oh, but… perhaps a very brief bonus track?
If our adjudicator allows, just pull the metaphorical duvet over your heads and get an earful of this short peep beyond the pearly gates, where on the triple podium, temporarily erected on the elysian fields, shining, beribboned medals are being draped about the necks of angels…"
"That GB skate boarder that took a medal was 13 years old!!!! (A whole year older than the silver medalist!)"
Dancing in the Street by Martha and the Vandellas -
"Oh yeah! Here's my three..."
Never Gonna Give Your Teen Spirit Up by Nirvana vs Rick Ashley -
"Hi RPMers, Hope you're all keeping safe and well. Here are three tracks from albums I've been listening to this week."
Happiness Stan by The Small Faces - "From side two of 'Ogden's Nut Gone Flake' complete with Stanley Unwin's introduction."
Streets Of Derry by Trees - "From their second (and final) album, 'On The Shore', released in 1970."
Spirit Of '76 by The Alarm - "The Alarm were good value as a live band. They would guarantee you had a croaky voice the next day after joining in with all their singalong choruses!"
"Dear RPM comrades, thank you for continuing to contribute to this eclectic musical stream. Here are three covers - songs originally written and performed by Roy Bailey, Massive Attack and Kate Bush respectively."
Welcome to the World performed by Linds Bestwicke -
Teardrop performed by Newton Faullkner -
Wuthering Heights performed by Moses Hightower (Live @ Stúdíó 12) -
"Hi RPMers, hope you are well. Here's my 3."
Dogs Got a Bone by The Beta Band -
One performed by Johnny Cash -
"Here's my 3 for this week. Life's getting gooder - the EDP's "What's On" section has come back! Stay safe everyone. "
Diamond Studded Shoes by Yola - "Thanks to Phil for pointing me to Yola's first album. I plan to buy her new release too - this is a track from it. Philip's selections last week from Christone Ingram's album also floats my boat, so I'll probably have to source a copy of that on vinyl too. Stop it Philip - you're costing me a fortune!"
Nothing Else Matters performed by Lucie Silvas - "Miley Cyrus & co's version of this song seems to be getting lots of airplay on Radio 2 at the moment but here's another version by someone who had a fleeting brush with fame and deserved to be a bit more up there than she actually was. This track has been parked on my reserves list for some time now and I think it's time I shared it."
I Should Get Up by Teddy Thompson - "Here's yet another from my reserve list from the very talented son of Richard and Linda. I've seen him a few times live in Norwich - last time when he appeared alongside Lissie at the Waterfront. Shame that a big section of the large crowd that went there were more interested in quaffing lots of beer and insultingly trying to drown out the act they had supposedly come along to see and listen to. That and all the camera phones that now get brandished by youngsters more set on capturing a movie to share on social mejah have really choked me off going to see live bands locally to be honest - but I expect I'll still go...."
Three of those shiny silver thingies from more recent (for me) times this week:
Dizzy (Version 1) by Siouxsie and the Banshees (Unreleased. Ltd edition (5000) one track CD in 32 page booklet sold on 2002 'Seven Year Itch' tour. Wonderland label) -
Mystery Man by Ten Benson (from 'United Colors of Benson' CD single, released 24th November 1998. Deceptive label) -
Give Me Daughters by Jonathan Fire*Eater (from 'Tremble under boom lights' CD EP, released 6th January 1996. Deceptive label) -
"Here's my 3 top tracks of the week...."
Texas Flood by Stevie Ray Vaughan - "Still lodged in the car CD player is my Best of SRV compilation. After Hendrix's Red House, this track is right up there as one of my top slow blues tunes."
Death Comes on Wings of Crepe by Luther Dickinson - "Perusing Juno's list of new releases, I spotted Hambone's Meditations by North Mississippi All Stars and Black Crows guitarist, Luther Dickinson. Upon further investigation, this was new to vinyl but actually came out on CD in 2012!! How did I miss that one!!! And what a lovely collection of acoustic guitar, country blues instrumentals it is. Here's Luther playing one of of my favourite tracks from it, live."
Rain On The Roof / Blue Mountains of New South Wales by Andy Irvine - "These are from Andy's Rain on the Roof CD...prob the album of his I play the most. It's made me dig out my "drone pedal" again to give a layer of support to playing tunes on my mandola, something Andy pioneered. The drone on this set of jigs, however, rather than being a synthesizer, is in fact a digeridoo which comes in nicely at the start of the B part of the second tune."
'Til Next Time...