There I was this morning, "sitting in a Northernly direction, minding my own business" (as my good butty Ralph McPhlugg would say), when I realised that veteran Scottish punk rock outfit Skids have just released their brand new studio album today and it's a collection of electrifying cover tunes that pays tribute to the band’s hometown venue, the historic Kinema Ballroom in Dunfermline, Scotland. It is released on Cleopatra Records on CD and Limited Edition Coloured Vinyl, as well as Digital Platforms.
Skids take a walk down memory lane, performing songs by the bands who influenced them in those early years. Songs From A Haunted Ballroom includes unique and superbly (most of the time) arranged new versions of tracks by The Clash, The Adverts, Ultravox!, Sex Pistols, and Magazine PLUS new versions of their own early hits “Into The Valley” and “The Saints Are Coming!”
“John Foxx of Ultravox! was cool, handsome and wrote poetry rather than lyrics. He made it ok for the rest of us to be a bit arty. ‘Young Savage’ was a massive hit in the Kinema”. “I’ve loved working on this album,” Richard Jobson continues, “It reminded me of those early cathartic days, and of course where I came from. The place that made me what I am. I would like to dedicate the album to all of the Punks and Ghosts from the day of The Kinema who like me had their life transformed through a love of music.”
It's not an album that will please all the "Punk Purists" out there and I even shuddered a little when I heard their take on 'Heart of the City' (originally done by Nick Lowe). So here's a few tracks to whet your appetite, starting with 'Complete Control' (The Clash):
'The Light Pours Out Of Me' (Magazine):
'Submission' (Sex Pistols):
And the Re-recordings of two of their finest songs:
Detroit, Michigan...When I hear that my brain reacts like Alexa and begins listing some of the great musical talent that has come forth from there to enhance my musical enjoyment...Aretha Franklin, MC5, Iggy Pop, Alice Cooper, Bob Seger, Del Shannon, Edwin Starr, The Four Tops, John Lee Hooker, The Knack, The Stooges, Wilson Pickett and The White Stripes to name but a few. But one name I often forget, mainly because she seems to have spent so much time in the UK, is Susan Kay Quatro (known to you and me as Suzi Quatro. Today is her 71st Birthday and she's still rockin' having released her 18th album, 'The Devil In Me' back at the end of March this year. Since 1964 with The Pleasure Seekers (with her sister Patti Quatro and later her other sisters Arlene and Nancy)through the Glam Rock years of the seventies, periods of Acting and being a Radio Host, and then back on stage again tearing it up with Andy Scott (Sweet) and Don Powell (Slade)in 2017, she's back doing what she was born to do.
"Before I did what I did, we didn't have a place in rock 'n' roll. Not really. You had your Grace Slick and all that, but that's not what I did. I was the first to be taken seriously as a female rock 'n' roll musician and singer. That hadn't been done before. I played the boys at their own game. For everybody that came afterward, it was a little bit easier, which is good. I'm proud of that. If I have a legacy, that's what it is. It's nothing I take lightly. It was gonna happen sooner or later. In 2014, I will have done my job 50 years. It was gonna be done by somebody, and I think it fell to me to do because I don't look at gender. I never have. It doesn't occur to me if a 6-foot-tall guy has pissed me off not to square up to him. That's just the way I am. If I wanted to play a bass solo, it never occurred to me that I couldn't. When I saw Elvis for the first time when I was 5, I decided I wanted to be him, and it didn't occur to me that he was a guy. That's why it had to fall to somebody like me." - Suzi Quatro interview in 2013 for the Detroit Metro Times
Here's a few songs from the latest album beginning with the title track The Devil In MeI Sold My Soul TodayDo Ya Dance
Released on this day (2nd June) in 1978 and reached #5 on the US Chart and #16 on the UK Chart. It was Produced by Bruce Springsteen, Jon Landau and Steven Van Zandt
Frank Stefanko did the photography for the album and the shoot had taken place at his house in New Jersey. Springsteen said, "When I saw the picture I said, 'That's the guy in the songs.' I wanted the part of me that's still that guy to be on the cover. Frank stripped away all your celebrity and left you with your essence. That's what that record was about."
Below are some Live versions of the songs that are on the album from across the years since the album was released, as I believe that they actually sound much better than the studio version. So let's begin with Side 1.
1. Badlands (Live in 1978 from Phoenix)
2. Adam Raised A Cain (Live in 2009 from Stockholm)
3. Something In The Night (Rare 1976 Live Version that's very different to the Album Recording. I must admit that I like this version and wish he had retained it. Live at The Palladium, New York. November 2, 1976.)
4. Candy's Room (Live in Houston 1978)
5. Racing In The Street (Live at Meadowlands Arena, E. Rutherford, NJ - July 1981. Released on the Live 1975-85 Boxset)
And now Side 2
1. The Promised Land (Live in Barcelona 2002 on The Rising Tour)
2. Factory (Live in Philadelphia 25th September 1999)
3. Streets of Fire (Live from Winterland 15th December 1978)
4. Prove It All Night (With the 1978 Intro. Live in Sydney 22nd March 2013)
5. Darkness On The Edge of Town (Live at Madison Square Gardens, NYC on the Reunion Tour)
"My own thoughts about the album at the time (I was 15 years old when it came out!) was that here was a bloke who knew a thing or two about life and was able to communicate something of the desolation of being stuck somewhere you didn't want to be. I always get a bit annoyed by people who assume that because Bruce is American and he's often writing from an American perspective that he has nothing in common with those outside of the USA. But the fact is alienation, struggle, relationship issues, despair and hope etc are actually very universal themes so it's quite easy I think to find yourself in his songs even if you were growing up in London in 1978." - I wrote those words for my previous blog, Soundtrack4Life, quite a few years ago.
Studio Album #21 from Gary Numan, who seems to be enjoying a great period of productivity at the moment, with 'Intruder' being his fourth album in ten years being released on 21st May 2021. In the first week of release it hit the #2 spot on the UK Album Chart (just like his previous album 'Savage (Songs from a Broken World'.
The album is released in three Limited Edition Double Vinyl sets (with two extra tracks), in Gold, Silver and Red. It's also released as a Picture Disc (also with the two extra tracks).
There's a Deluxe CD Edition (with one extra track...not very Deluxe then!), Download and even a Cassette Version (they are really making a comeback!).
What of the music? A taster to the release was the Official Video for 'Intruder'
Response to the album from the Music Critics has generally been quite warm. I had to laugh at Gary Ryan of the NME when he said, "Numan’s late-career glow-up continues apace with ‘Intruder’. Sounding like Greta Thunberg in the local goth-disco", but he did go on to say, "This record’s author has always sounded slightly out of time...with ‘Intruder’, he’s chiming with the times – and sounding thrillingly relevant in the process."
Merry Clayton is a name you've heard of but quite can't figure out why. The "Why?" is her voice, probably best known for being the female vocal on 'Gimme Shelter' by The Rolling Stones.
(Photo above is by Matthieu Bitton)
She was also one of the stars of the 2013 documentary '20 Feet from Stardom' which won an Oscar and a host of other awards.
Merry can also be heard on songs by Neil Young, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Pearl Bailey, Phil Ochs, Burt Bacharach, Tom Jones, Joe Cocker, Linda Ronstad and Carole King to name but a few. She also had a solo career making a number of albums between 1970-1994 and many singles as well dating back to 1963.
On June 16, 2014, three months after 20 Feet From Stardom, the documentary telling the story of the legendary backup singer, won an Oscar, Merry Clayton suffered a near-fatal car accident in her Los Angeles hometown, resulting in months of hospitalization and the amputation of both her legs. Seven Years after her accident, and 27 years since her last album she released 'Beautiful Scars' on the Motown Gospel label in April this year.
Here's a few tracks from the album starting with the Leon Russell penned 'A Song For You':
The title track was penned by Diane Warren, who has written songs for Laura Branigan, The Commodores, DeBarge, Barbra Streisand, Linda Lewis, Joe Cocker, Luther Ingram, Air Supply, Starship, Ronnie Spector, Belinda Carlisle, Ringo Star and oh so many more.:
"I wear it proud, like a badge. I wear it like a tattoo." Well, that's my story. Because my scars are beautiful. They're not ugly. "If you make it through anything in life," my godmother, Della Reese, told me. She said, "You're not gonna get through life without some type of scar. But if you make it through – that's your victory right there."
'Love Is A Mighty River' written by some bloke called Chris Martin (he's sort of famous for being in a band I don't particularly like):
And 'Deliverance':
Merry told Rolling Stone back in March that: Every song is a prayer of sorts. If you sit back and listen to each song, you will come to the same conclusion: “That is nothing but a prayer.” No matter what you’ve been through, you’re not going to get out of this life without having scars. As I said at the end of the song: “Everybody’s got scars.” Everybody. Isn’t that amazing?
Bob Dylan has been covered by so many artists down through the years. Chrissie Hynde has just released an album of Dylan covers called 'Standing In The Doorway'. When it comes to covering Dylan songs I actually think that some of them are better than the originals (yeah, I know, shoot me!) mainly because while Bob is a great songwriter he's not the best singer on the planet! So here's five of My Favourite Bob Dylan Covers (in no particular order of preference).
Chimes of Freedom - Bruce Springsteen and The E Street BandI Believe In You - Sinéad O'ConnorI Shall Be Released - The HeptonesIt's All Over Baby Blue - Echo and The BunnymenMy Back Pages - Ramones
Bob Dylan is 80 Years old today! He's still releasing music and is about to resume his Never Ending Tour.
The above illustration is from The Ringer on a 22nd June 2020 post where Rob Harvilla was talking about Dylan's 'Rough and Rowdy Ways' album. Here's my Top Five Favourite Dylan Songs:
1. It's Alright, Ma (I'm Only Bleeding) originally from the 'Bringing It All Back Home' album released in 1965.
2. Like A Rolling Stone 1965 Single
3. Tangled Up In Blue from the 'Blood On The Tracks' album
4. Forever Young (Slow Version) from the 1974 Planet Waves album
5. Masters of War from the 1963 'The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan' album
