A Crash Course For The Ravers

"Your flashy clothes are your pride and joy " David Bowie - The London Boys

Ahead of Sunday's Bowie by the Sea bank holiday shakedown (more on that later) - expect to see a Bo' post or two in your feed of a lunchtime this week, Starting at the beginning - with a re-up from November 2008

Bowie, Bolan, Bryan Ferry, Eno (and Rod Stewart) all made the breakthough from cult undergrounders to interstellar superstars as variants on the star-spangled glitterkid theme. They may have had stars in/on their eyes, but those platform boots were firmly grounded in Mod roots. The look-sharp and look-ahead apprenticeship of Mod, with it's made to measure mix of American soul and Italian style, Ivy League look meets British dandyism - an eye for the detail and an ear for a tune, was probably why Bowie (and the other moonage mods mentioned) endured beyond the best-before date and lipstick-brickie chic of their patent leather peers.

The sixties scene was an era Bowie referenced from his earliest recordings (London Boys) and one of the motifs and influences that's remained a constant throughout his peacock career - mentions of Lennon, Beatles and Stones on various singles. Twiggy and Jagger getting name checked on Aladdin Sane (along with a Stones cover), Pin Up's set of swinging London standards and Young Americans (covering classics like 'Knock On Wood' and 'Footstomping' during live shows), and pitching in with 'Pictures of Lily' on The Who tribute album through to the slim-fit suit on 'Reality' being almost a homecoming to the Lord John look pictured above...

David Bowie and The Lower Third - Can't Help Thinking About Me

(There's a clip of Bowie on his mod days, Steve Marriot and a 1999 version of 'CHTAM'here)




David Bowie - In The Heat Of The Morning - (BBC version)

(The Last Shadow Puppets made a healthy go of 'INTHOTM')




Davie Jones and the King Bees - Louie Louie Go Home

(LLGH was the B-side of Bowie's first single "Liza Jane")

Ziggy Stardust - The Mod Who Fell To Earth

A note on the tunes....and a Bowie Bonus

Can't Help Thinking About Me (1965)
The first recording to feature the newly named David 'Bowie', and almost a blueprint of Bowieness the outsider lyrics and ambiguous angst of "my head's bowed in shame" "blackened the family name" to the set piece template of semi-spoken verse and Bowie-bellow on the chorus, it's a tune that wouldn't seem out of place on any album since Scary Monsters.

In The Heat Of The Morning (1970)
For my earth pounds the BBC take of this tune is superior to the official album version, and benefits from being enhanced by the extra bounce of Alan Hawkshaw's fantastically funky keyboard coda.

The Beatstalkers (touted as the Scottish Beatles), were under Ken Pitt's management at the same time as Bowie (and also signed to Decca). They were offered first refusal on any unused Bowie compositions or offcuts, 'Silver Tree Top School For Boys' is one of these, and a Bowie penned 'Penny Lane ' sound-a-like from 1967.

The Beatstalkers (1967)- Silver Tree Top School For Boys



I am on something of a Bowie buzz lately (two Bo' posts in two weeks) brought on by reading the Fantistico Dave Thompson book To Major Tom - a gem and a joy of a read if you're into any type of music or movement from Bowie's catchment era

Mikabombing this Saturday and The Railway coming to Channel 4?

The explosive Mikabomb hit Southend's Railway Hotel this Saturday. Are they J-pop,  is it J-punk?. Either way, come on down and have a J-pogo.

Parked midway between The 5.6.7.8's and The Ramones, - Mikabomb's setlist is loaded with sweet-toothed treats that explode like space dust, and power along like the Tokyo bullet train.

But don't just take my word for it - Steve Lamacq calls them the best band to come from Japan.

It's all free, and I'll be DJing in the bar before and after the band from eight. Sicknotes will be exppected for non-attandence. All the info you need to know is here....




And what's this The Railway coming to Channel 4!!!

 

P-P-Pick up a Podrophenia

Ready to plug and play is the latest Podrophenia - brought to you by the letter P, from the Podrophonic alphabet.

Piley, Planet of the Apes, Paul Hill and Producer Dave Dawson can all be seen in the pic above.

While below - the podcast edition is packed with Public Service Broadcasting, the Pursuit of Happiness, Pirates and Professionals and  live music from from Seasider and now solo artist - Paul Hill....

Download or listen in here....

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Vive Le Wilko

Centred in the twelfth issue of  Vive Le Rock - amongst features on The Adverts, The B52s,Tom Tom Club and The Cramps you'll find ten pages of wall-to-wall Wilkoness.

Editor Eugene Butcher offers an exclusive and emotional interview with the King of Canvey Island. While I've pulled together eight pages of features and contributions from assorted pals.  

Piley brings you a Dr Feelgood biography, Wilko biographer Zoë Howe hand-picks five key tracks from his back catalogue. Barry Cain pitches in with a Lord of Oil City interview from 1977. While Dave Alexander (Eight Rounds Rapid) , Steve Hooker, Dave Dulake and Roman Jugg all give unique insights into what gives Wilko his Wilkoness.  

Me, I chip in telling the tale of the day we did an improv gig together, chat with Wilk's about his hero Chuck Berry, and review his final farewell show at Koko....



And worra result to be DJing last Sunday, when Wilko dropped in to catch his favourite local band Martin McNeill - where  I happened to have VLR handy for him to put his squiggle on.

Picture by Wilko's best pal French Henri

Sunday Sessions: Bank Holiday Hoedown and a free CD

It's that time of the month, when Martin McNeill and The Bottletop Blues Band return for their Sunday residency at Southend's Railway Hotel. Having said that, Martin, JJ (bass), Steve Weston (keys/harmonica) , Roy Webber (drums) - were in for an improv gig last Tuesday - where I even managed to jump on (bass) for a jam 'n' run around on this Gatemouth groover



So ready your dancing legs as it's bound to be a bank holiday blast with a similar swish to this recent session



I'm in from four spinning the tunes - with Big Bo (below) possibly popping up on the playlist. And early birds behold: I'll be bringing in a few copies of an all new comp' Rocking at The Railway packed with floor-shakers and faves from our Sunday Sessions...

Big Bo Thomas and The Arrows - How About it Part 1

Five reasons to grab yourself a copy of the new Level 4.. ...

1) Piley's interview with Eight Rounds Rapid - yes the very same 8RR as played on Mark Radcliffe recently. Channel Swimmer in fact - dig in below..

2) Marmite Boy's music reviews...

3)  My previously unpublished interview with Wilko

4) The photography of Paul Hughes (see Wilko and Eight Rounds pics)

5)  It's completely free and available at these locations

Radio Podrophenia: P is for .......

The April edition of Radio Podrophenia brings you the sixteenth instalment of our Podrophonic Alphabet - the letter P...

Politics, pants, peace, pursuits and pettiness are all on the playlist. As well as talk of print editions

And, we welcome in an all new guest for the Podrophenia Sessions as Seasider Paul Hill steps aboard for live tunes and chat..and an exclusive spin from Thee Faction's minty-new album

 

Join us at Radio Novalujon - live from 9. Or swing by the Facebook page and say hello...

 

Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blues...

Can you find all four Fabs hidden in the pic

From today through to Sunday it's a three way whammy of music, gigging and disc-spinning.....

Friday: the long-awaited wedding of Southend pals Su and Jack, with a reception at The Railway. Stomping, shaking and shindigging will be taking place from 2pm through to who-knows-when? musically there'll be a selection of live music from local talent and (larger than local) legends. I'll be on the decks (and possibly on bass for a bit) pinging in an improv playlist of soul, funk and old nuggets and new treasures...
 

Saturday: National Record Store Day and a medley of local DJs Daryl Easlea, Curly Dan (pictured above), Beardy Al, Prof Andrew Branch of the Middle Age Spreaders and Podrophonic representation from myself are all parking up at Fives in Leigh Broadway, rotating actual vinyl records instore from 8 - 3. With live music from Hannah Marsh and Tom Burgess. A Dansette Disco we're calling it with double decking of these portable players. One on loan from home.  



Sunday: Britain's premium harmonica player - West Weston returns to The Railway for a rare home town gig with his band The Bluesonics. West's last blast brought out the full roll call of Southend's Rock Aristocracy. Assorted Feelgoods, Hot Rods, Tonight and Lew Lewis... I'll behind the bar doing tunes between the bands...

Outside of the Bluesonics. West records with Scandanavian combo Trickbag, the new album *title* is out now has been on a repeat loop play since first play. Dig in and sample West's fruity-tooting blues above

She Was Only a Grocer's Daughter

Do you know what the most energising aspect in the wake of Thatcher's death has been - whether it's overly-vocal protests (guilty on Facebook I know) or discreet and well deployed grumbles - that anyone who was there and lived through the toxic politics and nuclear threat of the Thatcher era, still hasn't forgotten the spiteful, pig-headed, bully boy backstabbing and squalid hypocrisy of her and the shape-shifting collection of corrupt cronies supporting: homophobia and racism/apartheid, the Hillsborough cover up, poll tax, selling off nationalised industries (diverting public money in to private pockets), choking the unions and union representation, US missiles at British bases, Northern Ireland, pit closures, inner city riots, the managed decline of northern towns.

When the Sun , the Mail,  right wing sympathisers and Tories wave the Broken Britain flag - never forget who broke it... 

Or how for all the current Tory soft-soaping, backsliding, historical repositioning and rewriting, glorification and chin-stroking - it was her own party, who after twelve years of an increasingly throttling clench on the country and the Cabinet - were the ones who gathered together to eject her Caesar style in 91. That, is her legacy

There'll be no retrospective tune echoing my thoughts on the most poisonous of British politicians - instead I'll direct you to the Thee Faction's new single Better Than Wages - and some smartly considered reasoning. The full post is here...

A rabid class warrior has died. The struggle continues. We don’t take moral exception to the celebrations. We just note that her death will do little, if anything, to loosen up the grip of bourgeois hegemony. In fact, if the hagiographical tributes the TV news is showing us are anything to go by, it’s a splendid opportunity for the ruling class to reinstall her as the postergirl of British capitalism. Which is very disappointing. So we need to redouble our efforts. 

We celebrate everyone who stood up to her. Those who refused to believe the lies about apartheid, the lies about trades’ unions, the lies about ‘freedom’, the lies about selling off our industry and our housing stock. Those who told her she was wrong in her careful imbalancing of the tax system – whether income or community. We also honour her victims: those who didn’t make it, and those who weren’t strong enough for the new robust liberal individualism she forced on us all. Many of us retreated into traditional ties of solidarity, but any project designed to atomize society is going to leave a lot of people isolated. That’s the point, of course. United we stand, and they knew that. 

Thatcher’s gone. But not forgotten. Let’s focus on what we’re fighting for. Onward.


 

The Sunday Sessions - Wilko approved and with added Digby

 

Martin McNeill and the Bottletop Blues Band will be blazing away from 4 today at Southend's most rock 'n' roll local and epicentre of the swelling scene..  The Railway Hotel

Expect a jazz spin on this Sunday's swing-ding as legendary trumpeteer Digby Fairweather is aboard as the special guest

But don't just take my word for what hot-rocking heat Martin McNeill and pal's generate - they're rubber stamped 'approved' by Wilko Johnson - who, in our just published  interview (more on that later) had this to say...

They're a bloody good band. The whole of the band is really good - they're playing proper blues, which is quite a rare thing. The whole band is good - rhythm section, guitar - and the man himself.

And I couldn't let the death of the blackest of mambas go unmarked - so expect to hear..


 

Solomon Burke - Maggie's Farm

The wunderbar experience of playing bass for Ed Tudor Pole (Friday) - followed by cockle-rocking beats (Saturday)

A four-way whammy of winners were on Friday night's bill for The Railway shakedown. I'd managed to grab a loose-blues jam with opening act BONE down In the bar earlier that evening, but due to a few backstage scoops missed his and J.D Smith's main stage sets.

Instead, I crept in late to catch the incredible and insane world of Thomas Truax. Who, travels minstrel style around and about the hemisphere pitching up for gigs with an orchestra of self-built percussive and musical mechanicals. The Mother Superior,The Hornicator: think Wilf Lunn goes steam punk for a David Lynch soundtrack, with each song and instrument introduced and contextualised in a Rich Hall style Texan drawl.

Like TV Smith's solo sets - Ed Tudor Pole, sand-blasts punk's energy and attitude back to raw, acoustic roots, deploying his set as almost protest-folk in the tradition of Wat Tyler meets Woody Guthrie. Still as animated and erratic as when first stepped onto a stage to audition for the Pistols, Pal Ed is Wide-eyed, excitable and engages with audience, fidgeting 'n' twitching around the stage like a battery hen liberated and let loose into a widescreen horizon

At the close of Ed's set an in-house scratch band - Dave Deville, (guitar) Dave Dulake (drums) me (bass) were summoned onstage for a few Chuck Berry numbers, a gospel cover and of course Swords of a Thousand Men. And what an absolute first class blast was had by all. A blinder, a belter and teenage dream to share a stage with a former Sex Pistol (albeit by his own admission for just two weeks) .

 

Saturday and it's along to Old Leigh way for the Woodcock Festival. A shuffle of pre-booked bands and open mic types. After Dave Woodcock kindly pitching up for Podrophenia so regularly - it was a treat to be able to join him for an outdoor jam, with a pint on the table, the estuary behind us and the Crooked Billet ahead, blasting out the Chuck Berry and Little Richard covers.

There are even whispers we may be reuniting for a repeat performance on the 28th of April at the Sarah Moore - should you be buzzing about the Broadway that evening.

Tonight I shall mostly be playing bass for Ed Tenpole Tudor!

In the summer of 1980 as a trembling teenage punk - and some several years below the age requirement of an X Certificate - I managed to blag my way in to the local Odeon (wearing a homemade Who Killed Bambi T-shirt) to see the Sex Pistols cinematic release - the Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle. A rambling, scrappy and ultimately disappointing ninety minutes that could have offered so much more (are the hours of unseen out takes and extras ever going to be released?)

Although the opening moments had me wide-eyed and gripped, seeing live(ish) Sex Pistols actually moving around - in an era when the only snatched exposures of musical heroes and idols were frozen monochromatic music press photos - intercut with Helen of Troy collecting together the Swindle lettering while the Pistols auditioned for a Johnny Rotten replacement. A role that eventually went to the manic, erratic Ed Tudor-Pole - 



The date of my visit to the flix is documented hereabouts (19th). So a mind-frying Friday night lies ahead tonight as I'll be sharing a stage for a few tunes with ex-Pistol himself - Tenpole Tudor!!   It's a return visit to Southend's most rock 'n' roll local The Railway for Ed TP, on a bill that also includes J.D Smith, BONE and Thomas Truax And finally Dave Deville and myself will be joining Mr Pole for a few covers and of course....



If you're round and about Southend way swing by and come on down for a Friday night bounce...

The Southend Jazz Five

Dave Jazzy Dawson not pictured

This month's Podrophenia is a jazz-off with all shades and shapes of the form's modal tones gathered together - and includes something for everyone from beatniks to boppers, or even newbie jazzers who don't know their Acid from their elbow.

We've also got - replace the word 'love' with 'jazz' in song titles. And as a centrepiece - four live tunes from the American Songbook delivered by Dave Woodcock and Hannah Marsh ..

All contained hereabouts - dig in jazzers

Radio Podrophenia - Jazz

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Radio Podrophenia - Jazz Club...

Broadcasting live from the Podrophonic HQ (or upstairs at The Railway as some say), the March edition of Radio Podrophenia is fitted around the theme of 'Jazz'. Nice!

Expect to hear jazzed up Fabs, Trad, Mod, Bop and Acid Jazzers on the playlist. There may even be an exclusive preview from the James Hunter Six new album, an appearance from Pellicci legend Jukebox Jimmy.

And we've even got live music for you from jazz-age Journo Hannah Marsh accompanied by Southend's premier piano man Dave Woodcock.

All live from 9 on Radio Novalujon - tune in and tell a pal!!

A trio of home-grown jazzers - but who'll make tonight's edition?

Tommy Chase - Killer Joe

Get aboard with the double deckers

There's a dual action double-decking session over the next couple of days rocking away at the Railway Hotel, the epicentre of Southend's simmering music and social 'scene' (©Daryl Easlea)

Saturday from 7, it's likely to be an unscripted playlist of big 'n' beaty bouncers winging in everything from garage to glam, big beat to beatleg remixes to glam stompers and stampers



Sunday from 4, the award winning Martin McNeill is back for is every third Sunday, I'll be parked up at the bar rooting through blues, funks and soul - but trying to work in some never-before-played tunes...like..

Les McCann ltd Bucket o' Grease



Mini Vip - Block



So if you happen to round and about Clifftown Road, swing in for a scoop and a legshake