Welcome to the RPM Record Club Seven Day Soundtrack, week ending Friday 15th July 2022. And I've just realised; RPM is 10 years old! We first got together on the 3rd July 2012, so technically our birthday edition should have been the week we were away at Folk in a Field. Never mind....I'm gonna crack a few ales to celebrate whilst I listen to this week's edition.....over to....

Piers -

"At last it is warm. Well quite hot really! With gritting lorries out spreading sand on the melting tar. The air con is running whenever I drive, but it is turned down low so that I can still listen to the CDs. It is RPM time again so I asked myself what albums have been on rotation in the car recently? Well as I said, it is summer...

Although my first choice does stand alone, chopping a single track from this album is definitely not the best way to hear it. I urge you to fall back on the original premise of RPM and listen to the whole album in original sequence complete with the little musical interludes to get the full atmosphere. It is immersive. (Like bathing in a tropical river but without the crocodillos).

The other two tracks are simply sublime! I'll list all the albums as well, so that you can look them out....

Unless you have a long cool drink to hand, you may need to save the last until the sun goes down, as otherwise, jigging about in the heat might not be the best idea! A Mai Tai or a long Margarita perhaps? You know that it is imperative to stay cool folks!"

Jackie -

"Just thinking back to Folk in a Field this week..."

James -

"Here's this week's picks."

John -

"Hi RPMers, hope you're all keeping safe and well. Here are three tracks that I've enjoyed this past week..."

Kevin -

"Hi and I hope that all’s good with you all and that the political turmoils haven’t kept you glued to the news too much. I expect my choices for RPM this week may well be similar to other people, but here goes in no particular order."

Dave -

"Hi RPMers, hope you are all well . Here’s my 3."

Alan -

"Huzzah!!!! So, Boris is gone and, to quote the Who........ "Meet the new Boss, same as the old Boss"!!! I can hardly wait for tomorrow's (Wednesday) PMQ's. Surely even Steer Calmer can't miss targets this big!!!

And speaking of the Who........... I've just finished reading 'Dear Boy: The life of Keith Moon' by Tony Fletcher where Tony attempts to separate the facts from the fiction regarding Moon's life and, at the same time, convince us that Moon was the greatest (rock) drummer to bestride the universe. He spends hundreds of pages describing Moon's over-indulgence with just about every spirit and drug known to man and, basically, puts it down to an insecure nature. Women are used and/or abused, friends and employees are treated with contempt, property is routinely destroyed, irrespective of whether it is his own or other peoples and money is used merely to fund his many whims, often when there was no money in his account. The death of his chauffeur is dealt with, but there still lingers the belief that Moon was perhaps not entirely honest in the circumstances. And then there's the premise about his skill as a drummer. I'm a frustrated drummer by nature (of the Ringo/Charlie style) and have always loved drummers with the skills of, say, Sandy Nelson who was equally as 'showy' as Moon but, despite losing part of his right leg at the height of his career, he still continued to play to the highest levels and produce innovative recordings where the drums are the lead instrument. This could have been an avenue that Moon could have explored, especially when bearing in mind the Who debut album's excellent instrumental 'The Ox'. Instead, hundreds of thousands of pounds were wasted on his solo album 'Two sides of the Moon' where Keiths 'limited' vocal skills were 'masked' by backing vocals courtesy of Mark Volman and Howard Kaylan of The Turtles. When the Who moved away from it's r&b/mod routes and into the rockier 'Who's next' era Moon's total lack of the basic ability to simply keep time became glaringly obvious and there were even feelers put out by Townsend to replace Moon, which fed into his lack of confidence and increased his intake of drugs and liquor and mistreatment of those around him. But............... (and there's always a but!!) his playing on, particularly, the debut album and the singles released up to, say, 1969 is the perfect foil to Townsends guitar frenzies and Entwistle's superb bass anchor. So, here's three from the Who's earlier recordings which I particularly enjoy."

(Love Is Like A) Heat Wave by The Who (original 1965 version from Two's Missing compilation released 11th April 1987. MCA label) - "Two's Missing can be viewed as a hodgepodge of early and/or scarce singles and b-sides, unreleased live recordings plus this breathless take on the Martha and the Vandellas cult hit. Perhaps the album should have been released only in the US as many of the tracks had never gained a release there with the unreleased/rare UK tracks re-compiled with those included on the earlier, sister comp 'Who's missing' for the UK market? Entwhistle is mildly disparaging of the song in his album sleeve notes but I love the sheer visceral energy of this version, one of several Motown songs the band recorded (including a fairly pedestrian version of M&V's 'Motoring' on the same compilation.). Great runs around the kit by Moon on this one but there are signs of his tendency to lose the beat in several places."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1QwN3qgSzf0

In The City by The Who (b-side to 'I'm a Boy' released 26th August 1966. Reaction label) - "Ostensibly a Moon/Entwistle co-comp, although I think John had a sudden attack of 'charity-itis' in adding Moon to the credits in order to steer a little cash in his direction. The song is a pretty standard 'beat' era effort which does incorporate the influence of Moon's beloved surf music into the performance and features some fine drum fills and exceptional cymbal work for which Moon became rightfully famous. Entwistle adds French Horn to the proceedings, an instrument he had played in the pre- High Numbers trad jazz band The Confederates alongside Pete Townsend. He was also a gifted trumpet player but, when he joined the Daltrey's Detours he realised that brass instruments would struggle to be heard over electric instruments and proceeded to build his own bass guitar at home. Eleven years later the Jam would release their debut single (and album) also entitled 'In the city' but, although their debt to the Who is transparent, the song is entirely different. They would also cover '(Love is like a) Heatwave' on their 'Setting Sons' album in equally frenetic style to the earlier Who version."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y9QRJfcKk94

Our Love Was by The Who (from The Who Sell Out' LP released 15th December 1967. Track label) - "Try thinking of '...Sell Out' without the adverts and you probably have a dry run for 'Tommy' without the mystification. I only possess four vinyl albums ** by the Who ( the first three plus a 'sleeveless' 'Live at Leeds') and felt bemused by 'Tommy' and 'Quadrophenia'. After that I'm afraid I lost interest altogether............ much too 'rockist' for me!!! Townsend's mini-vignettes such as 'The kids are alright', 'Out in the street', 'I don't mind', 'So sad about us', 'See my way' and 'Sunrise' certainly meant more to me at that time than any quasi-religious pontifications which formed the basis of 'Tommy' or the overblown, non-mod 'rawk' of 'Quadrophenia'. The film, of course, is a classic, thanks in no small part to its (mainly) non-Who soundtrack and I'm almost willing to forgive the inclusion of one or two out of context songs which snuck into the film! 'Our love was' continues Townsend's vignettes style of writing and features fine acoustic and electric guitar from Townsend and superb cymbals and drums from Moon. This is the stereo mix but, apparently, the mono features an entirely different mix and solo. However, looking at my RRPG, it seems way out of my price bracket!!! The original concept was for an EP featuring (spoof) adverts for everyday products which, although it was initially nixed by Daltrey, became the format for '.... Sells Out'. Although many of the recorded 'adverts' soon hit the cutting room floor they were fully restored for the expanded CD reissue in 2009, but even then no effort was made to place them in context of the original albums running order. The album has continued to grow in popularity with major critics Jann Wenner, Robert Christgau, Ritchie Unterberger and even Lenny Kaye citing it as (one of) Townsends best works, but I'm afraid it will never replace 'My Generation' as the bands finest hour in my opinion."

** I do possess a CD of 'Who's Next' which I purchased mainly for the band's cover of 'Baby, don't you do it', one of my favourite Motown tracks.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XS5spuKkvW4

Jean -

"Hello to everyone – sorry I don’t always participate nowadays. That doesn’t mean I don’t still enjoy my music. Joe’s (Bonamassa) still top of my favourites. Regards to all.

The theme has to be adverse weather this week."

Tony -

"I had a busy weekend, taking my old car to an event at a local social club that also put on some great live music and then a rally of 70 miles or so on the Sunday. A good mix of British and American cars was in attendance.

One of the turns on the Saturday was a guy called Danny Reno who did a lot of songs by rockers but mainly Roy Orbison and Elvis. I'd noticed his name last year when I bought a second-hand guitar with a strap that had been made for him and I wondered why he would get rid of such a personal thing. Anyway I took the strap along and at the end of his set I showed it to him and was unsurprised that he had had it stolen some time ago by a person he knew who had fallen on hard times and needed to make some money. Anyway, he said that he was devastate to have lost it and was really pleased to have it back. I didn't take the guitar as well but he said that he was not interested in having it back (phew). I've picked a couple of songs he did. After his nearly two hour stint he also stepped in to play slap base with the V8 Rockets (jiving on grass is hard work)..

Hope you are all enjoying the sunshine - I'm reluctantly off to Cromer tomorrow to see the Starlight Concert which won't really be my thing - all tributes to e.g. Whitney, Kylie but I can stand a bit of Bon Jovi and we are taking a picnic so can't be bad.

Best wishes."

Daily Echo write-up:

https://www.bournemouthecho.co.uk/news/812331.bob-dylan-and-his-band-bournemouth-international-centre/

Nina -

"Hi folks...Hope you're all well.

I was away on an impromptu road trip last week. Missed Bo Jo's resignation, more panto with leadership election etc.

I unearthed some stonkingly good, swashbuckly type pirate-y tunes when searching for shanties recently, so here be 3..."

" 'Rona's on the rise again.

Take care all, if in doubt drink more grog & rum.

Cheers!"

Philip -

"Some wonderful blues selections last week. Always good to hear a little BB, Basie et al, and of course The Light Crust Doughboys are right up my alley (altogether now... "Across the alley from the Alamo..." Oh, OK then.

As for Duane and Boz, I chose the Atlantic album as an RPM "mystery album" a few years back and included it in my top ten albums recently. Has any other (white) guitar player ever matched Duane's playing on this recording? I know of one rock critic (Greil Marcus) who thinks that my first choice this week comes close.

Best wishes to one and all."

Tim -

"Here's my 3 taken from this week's listening."

'Til Next Time...