299. Shout by Lulu and The Luvvers 1964

LULU & The Luvvers - Shout! (Shindig 1965)

Before I came to Australia in 1965 I had just started noticing pop music on the radio back in Blackpool, England. I only remember a few that I can relate to those times. Most of the stuff I like from the early sixties I got into later. However there are a few that take me back to that time. Lulu and Luvvers "Shout" is one of them. Probably because on seeing old videos of this song it's amazing how dynamic Lulu is compared to the other girl singers that were around at the time. She really does shout out the lyrics to the song. And she's got a terrific rock and roll voice combined with a ton of pure Scottish energy. She couldn't help but be noticed.
I never had a crush on her but she put out some amazing singles in her time. And of course she was in "To Sir With Love"..also another great Lulu track.
I finally managed to pick up this track in the late Seventies when I found it on these Decca compilations that came out full of all these great sixties tracks full of stuff of didn't have and more often than not never heard of. This was a song I played at the Rubber Soul. Purists would say the original by the Isley Brothers was better but I'll go for this version anytime.

298. That's What They All Say by Graham Parker and The Rumour 1976

Graham Parker - That's What They All Say

In 1976 something was definitely stirring in the UK. Dr Feelgood and Graham Parker seemed to be the top exponents of what came to be called Pub rock. By this time the music had kind of lost its way and there seemed to be nothing but crap on the radio and in the charts. The scene was set for punk rock just around the corner. 

My introduction to Graham Parker was definitely through going to see the Sports at places like Martinis in Carlton. They did a mean version of White Honey and I seem to remember them playing the record through their PA though I could be imagining that part. Suffice to say when I first started going to gigs it was bands like the Sports and Bleeding Hearts and this other great band that for the life of me I can't remember their name. And it was imported record shops with cheap albums in thick cardboard from the USA.

I bought his first album for 99cents cos it didn't have a cover. Heat Treatment I got cheap too because outside of Carlton and Fitzroy I don't think anyone was interested.

This song is from their second album and is a bit of Dylanesque put down. I didn't mind that. We were all angry about something in those days. Actually, Graham Parker was quite an angry intense performer. A gifted songwriter is thunder was kind of stolen by Elvis Costello. But even if his time in the spotlight was brief he kept writing great songs long after.

297. Right Here by The Go-Betweens 1987

THE GO BETWEENS "Right Here"

When it comes to a band I love and I haven't written about them yet with which song do I start. Do I pick  a favourite or do I choose one that brings back memories. If it's memories I'd probably go for "Spring Rain" because we used to play it a lot a Barbarellas, not me but Adam Duncan, who was the other DJ there. It was also one of the first videos I remember making into a compilation video tape. But in the end the song doesn't make me want to single it out.
"Right Here" is just a fantastic song with some great lyrics. With Go Betweens records I'd cherry pick the best tracks which more often than not were Grant McLennan songs. Actually back in the eighties I kept getting mistaken for him. The first time it happened was at Inflation when some guy came up to me and asked me what I was doing in Melbourne. After that it happened a quite a few times. I guess late at night after a few drinks in a dark venue there might be some resemblance.
I've had this playing loudly in my car while I drove around Melbourne many times. It's one of those songs that makes me feel good. Despite the somewhat depressing tone of the verses.
It was a tragedy when he died at only 48. There were still moments of genius on the new albums the Go Betweens were making. There would surely have been more.

296 Locomotive Breath by Jethro Tull 1971

A great song from a band I don't really like. In saying that they do have 4 tracks on my iPod. A strange prog rock band from the early seventies who used a flute as a lead instrument this band was massive. And inescapable. Even my English teacher at High School played them in class. Their music went over my head I guess. I was more into pop music and singles.
I first heard this song at school. The older kids were playing it in the Art Room. I was in there helping out with something. The art room was a great escape from the race race that was the schoolyard. I wasn't into sports so I was drawn to the library and the art room. I was lulled into serenity by that long jazzy piano intro and then bang..in comes the heavy guitar riff. And it's one of those guitar riffs one learns in the seventies.
I don't think they had much of a handle on Art at my old high school. When I was doing it for my HSE (year 12) the teacher left halfway through the year. They didn't replace him so me and Pete, who was the other art student, there were only 2! had to finish the year by ourselves with no teacher. Just us and Gombrich's The Story of Art.
At the Art exam when we had to create a piece Pete was behind me. 20 minutes near the end I heard the sound of ripping behind me. With no time to finish his grand concept, he decided to half his painting. Further distractions came in the form of Our Lady of Sion girls taking the exam with us. All those years of no girls at school and they turn up at the exams.
I did alright and became the first to pass HSE Art at Box Hill High School in 4 years. When I went around to see Pete H to ask about his results he was playing Thick as A Brick. Enough said.

295. Wherever I lay My Hat by Marvin Gaye 1963

 Marvin Gaye - Wherever I Lay My Hat (1963) - YouTube
I first thsi song when it was number one hit by Paul Young back in the eighties. Didn't mind the song although the fretless bass did my head in. I thought the actual song was great though. And of course for a very long while I wore a hat. Ever since the Mod days I liked to wear a hat. Always had a trilby or a pork pie hat on. One day I was on the Metro in Paris, I had my hat on and a long coat and my girlfriend leonie had a beret on. I heard a few murmers of Bonnie and Clyde. Hilarious.
DJing I would wear my hat all the time. By that time I was starting to thin out a bit and it was more to do with ego than actual coolness.  Then I shaved my head and it was a great relief off my shoulders ( and my head) I had become too attached to wearing hats. It really is crap losing your hair. But the worst is losing it. When it's gone you have nothing left to worry about.
anyway back to the song. A friend of mine who I used to hang with constantly and whose name now escapes me, lent me a copy of Marvin Gaye's best of album. It was a big set with a bunch of songs I wasn't familiar with. This song was on it which was a surprise cos I didn't know it was a cover. When I heard it I was knocked out. What a brilliant song. Upbeat and almost ska like it became my favourite Marvin Gaye song after only a few listens. Another great Gaye- Barret Strong and Norman Whitfield song. And as it turns out a big Northern soul classic.

294. Right Back Where We Started From by Maxine Nightingale 1975

Maxine Nightingale - Right Back Where We Started From - YouTube
Such a fantastic song even if it was a Disco song at at time when disco was a filthy word. Actually there's quite a few disco songs thta I love. Something like this harks back to the old soul and Motown records. I liked this song so much I convinced the first line up of Little Murders (what we now call the Clint Small era) to cover it thinking it would go over a smash. My enthusiasm wasn't matched by the crowds however and the song didn't stay in the set long.
The first time we played it was at the Daylesford Hotel. We had a regular once a month gig there that had started back in the Fiction days. I remember the pub owner telling us the two most popular bands were us and a band called Men At Work. Same thing at the Market Hotel in Prahran. Never got a chance to see him  but they did go on to be pretty big. So I saw them on the telly.
The Daylesford pub had a band room with a home-made mirror ball nade with mirrors stuck on a small plastic dustbin. In the winter we'd get there book into rooms and then go down and have a brandy in front of the open fire. Once it even snowed.
Actually Daylesford was also when bruce milne stopped being our manager when he couldn't get his own room and ended up sleeping on the floor. That was the end for him.
Also the first time we played there when I was in The fiction the billboard outside said as featured on Countdown when they got us confused with La Femme. Nigel rennard had organise the gig at first and the pub must of misheard. We neber did get to play on Countdown even when She Lets me Know was top of the RRR charts for 6 weeks because as he said " Countdown is not a talent show for unknown bands" Lovely. The next week he had some Box Hill band wearing masks. Fun days indeed.

293. Valerie by Mark Ronson featuring Amy Winehouse 2007

Valerie

Tonight I was doing a DJ job at my old stomping ground the Union Hotel. Basically I was roped into doing a football club do. By football I mean soccer too. So there was quite a few english people there. Me and Dan played a mix of Retro, Hip hop and Top 40. Usual function thing, not that I've done it for quite a while. Anyway I thought I'd slip in an Amy Winehouse song. Watching the crowd dance all night this was the song that got the biggest reaction. You could see people really enjoying the song. Singing at the top of their voices.
So it's a tragedy that she died so young and after only two albums. She had a tremendous voice and amazing style. She was so English in the way she actually created that look of hers. Just amazing. And she opened up the way for all that soul stuff coming through over the last few years.
This song is a not so old Coral song. Their biggest hit too.  I like their stuff but Mark Ronson took it and turned it into a masterpeice of r & b. Good R & B, like in the sixties.
The old Lizard Lounge doesn't feel the same. Actually it didn't feel the same 8 years ago when I left for good. It's all pristine and clean now. The Lizard I knew was an old pub with peeling paint and sticky carpet. Actually the floor tonight did get a bit sticky. Punters still get their drinks knocked out of their hands constantly.