439. I'll Keep On Holding On by The Action 1966

It may have come out first in 1966 but I didn't hear this gem until it was released in a picture sleeve during the peak of the Mod revival. First heard it played at Locomotion the little Mod Club at the Prince Alfred on Church Street in Richmond. I've already talked a lot about that place so I won't go into any more details. Though did I mention it was every Wednesday night. Which meant sometimes we'd play a gig like the Exford and our core audience was down the Mod Club. Luckily Little Murders managed to retain a sizable audience that just liked our poppy version of rock and roll.
Unlike the punk movement when it began the Mods had a ton of great music on hand. Sixties, soul, ska and The Jam. Plus a few excellent new singles by current bands. The little clubs that popped up were always brimming with great dance music. The clothes were sharp. And it was fun. We developed our own subculture here in Melbourne. We had fanzines and clubs and organised scooter runs. It was a great time.

438. She's So Fine by the Easybeats 1965

Last week I was off to see Morrissey at Festival Hall in Dudley Street in West Melbourne. What always comes to mind is that this was the place the Beatles played. It was also the first indoor gig I ever went to when I saw Roxy Music there back in the seventies. It is also just around the corner from the Carron tavern which was the home for a very long time of Rubber soul and the Beehive. So when my friend Paul and his partner Tanja told us to meet at the pub around the corner I was surprised that it was the carron and it was totally packed.  3 drinks for 25 dollars was a bit stiff considering it would have cost about $4 back then.
yes the place had changed as places do but you could still see the basic structure with it's pillars that mapped out the dancefloor. The kitchen behind the DJ booth, well pool table, where we count out the money. The side doorway where people would line up. The garage across the road is now just a wasteland.
"Shes So Fine" always went down a storm at Rubber Soul. Manic upbeat rock and roll. The Easybeats had brilliant songs. Never could understand why they weren't massive all over the world. Their greatest hits album is magic. The sound just leaps off the record.

437. Red Light Spells Danger by Billy Ocean 1977

I was busy sorting through my singles the other day when I came across the single "Love Really Hurts Without You", a big hit for Billy ocean in 1976. It was one of those Old Gold releases so I flipped it over to see what was on the other side. And it was his 1977 hit "Red Light". Brilliant. Not that I've known this song for all that long.
I was in the UK a few months back and I was up in Lytham staying with my brother Dave. On the third night there we went around to his daughter Sharon's place for a BBQ.  We've been there before for dinner so the family and I knew we were going to to enjoy ourselves. As we did. Micheal, Sharon's husband insisted that after dinner we needed to dance. We need more people in the world like this! There were only a few of us but we danced. Possibly helped by the consumption of wine and spirits. And it was "Red light Spells Danger". And I'd never heard it before but it seemed so familiar. Maybe some time back I'd heard it but really it was like finding a lost treasure. It had that real Northern soul feel. How could you not dance?
The kids peeped around the door to see us moving and shaking their heads quickly retreated to other rooms. Despite our urging to come and join us.
So now 3 months later I'm in the garage with it on vinyl and it just jumps off the record. Sweet. Now I just need somebody to dance with.

436. You're Gonna Lose Us by The Cribs 2005

Found this song on a NME compilation CD back in the mid noughties. Thanks to every magazine seeming to be giving away free CDs each month I had a ton of new music to listen to. Mainly because I was an avid magazine buyer too. Mojo, Word, Uncut.  Actually I've got boxes and boxes of compilation CDs from magazines stretching back 15 years. Q, Select etc. Still not sure what I'm gonna do with them.
I remember reading about the Cribs before hearing any of their music. Three brothers who seemed to be bringing a mix of classic punk and the libertines together. Their were tales of vomiting on stage and being completely gross. In fact looking at their videos I can quite imagine all that kind of stuff going on. But hearing them reminded me of The Wedding Present. It's going this train like punk sound going but then it's got these great melodies. And great lyrics too. I was soon singing along especially to this song which is the second song I picked up of theirs. The first being Hey Scenesters. Didn't do much for me that one. Well not at the time. Now I've got the Cribs on constant rotation.
Then big surprise Johnny Marr joins the band and they tour Australia. And for some reason which I don't remember I miss the gig. It still kills me.  And he's already left. Then again they do alright on their own anyway.

435. Nothing But a Heartache by The Flirtations 1968

A Northern Soul classic and a great pop tune that I discovered on one of Decca's World of Hits compilations back in the Seventies. 

Despite being around for the sixties and even being a teenager (just) in 1969 pop music passed by in a parade of the latest and greatest hits. Unless I could afford to buy the record this meant a lot of time glued to the transistor radio just waiting for a favorite song to come on. This much devotion meant I also would be sick of the songs by the end of their run of the charts.

However, when I really got started buying records in the Seventies I kind of had to start digging through all those sixties hits to find long forgotten songs. Luckily there were tons of sixties compilation records around. And so I came across songs I'd never heard like this one. But this should have topped the charts all around the world it's just so damn good. 

That searching for tracks also led me into a bit of obsession with buying compilation albums too. I would buy tons of the things for the Lizard Lounge when CDs were in vogue. Later I would burn my own comps for easy access to the tracks I wanted to play.

Now I like to buy vinyl comps with a theme. There is a label called Two Piers from the UK that puts out these really cool comps. Love the way they are presented. And you can always dig up new unheard tracks.

434. Victoria by The Kinks 1969

For all the brilliance of the Beatles and really there is no getting past their hold on popular culture throughout the sixties, I still prefer the journey that The Kinks made from the heavy metal template of You Really Got Me right up to this song in 69. And there was more to come with songs like Apeman and Lola. And I did like the concept albums of the seventies.

Why this song as remained a firm favourite of mine is because quite like Picture Book it rocks with an acoustic guitar blazing the trail. A song made to spin on a turntable. This time from the Arthur album which was not one of my favourites but has grown on me. Maybe it's got something to with the large kangaroo in the gatefold of my copy. And some of the songs were quite odd. But there was this and Shangri La.
I picked up the album at Monash University. Cut out sleeve. Imported from the USA and sold cheap. Cardboard sleeve that weighed a ton.
Never got sick of this song. Even the Fall did a good job of it. Why isn't our state's tourist anthem?

433. How Soon Is Now? by The Smiths 1985

After sorting out my record collection and finding a large chunk of it as disappeared in the last few months I've been steadily refilling the holes left. Still haven't got any idea where the records went but there is a black box I used to carry records to the Lizard lounge to that is no longer with me. Because I basically ignored vinyl for so long these records could have gone anywhere in the last 16 years.
So now I'm back at record fairs and browsing garage sales and the like.
It's kinda peaked my interest in vinyl and now I'm hunting down not only lost records but vinyl I would like to have.
"How soon Is Now?" was a big record at all the clubs I DJed at starting with the Beehive in the mid eighties. The first time I heard it I don't think I was that impressed but Ronny kept playing it and soon I was hypnotized by those strangely psychedelic Bo Diddley rhythms and the slide guitar. And of course the lyrics although brief just seemed so poignant standing on the dance floor. Often surrounded by slow motion groovers awash in this wall of sound. It lacked the pop punch that got people jumping up and down but it had the crowd moving from back bar to front bar.
Quite a magical song that left it's mark on our young impressionable minds.