Music for Mentalists - your reviews wanted for the Gotcha Conga

When an album badges and brands itself as Music for Mentalists - you know you'll be stepping a toe into a moral minefield of musical doings. Piley and I were first given the nudge on this one from Dan (the Bacon Man). It's an album co-compiled by Nick Saloman of  The Bevis Frond  gathering together a black museum of oddities and curios from middling slebs: Reginald Bosanquet, Jim Bowen David Carradine -  unknown but bizzaro bods Linda Jarman, Martin Harvey, Mavin James. And John Collier's Saturday Night Suit.

How did the project happen? Nick Saloman: The comp was mostly the work of my mate Mick Dillingham who is a longtime collector of what he calls 'qual-crap'. 'Gotcha' is one of his discoveries. A rather disturbing song.

Based on John Fowles The Collector, a key piece in the collection is Gotcha by Michael 'Boon' Elphick - where he outranks (in all senses) Pepe le Pew in pursuit of an unseen offstage beauty.  It's an oily uncomfortable spurt of queasy listening, brimming with 80s bleeptronica and breathy threats 'look out for me I'm behind that tree'. But still, something we pitched in to Tuesday's Podrophenia playlist (and it's second appearance too)

Following some sparky banter on the message boards - Podrophonic regular Marmite Boy nipped off to Amazon to review the 7" edition of Gotcha - and was soon followed by a Flash Mob of Podrophenia reviewers - which we've now christened the Gotch Conga

Should you fancy lending an ear to the cold-dread horror of Gotcha - dig in below. Better yet we'd love to see your critical scribblings on it written and recorded here.. at the Amazon Gotcha Conga

Michael Elphick - Gotcha



Nick/Bevis made a previous appearance on the blog last year with a stomping selection here

Pop Quiz - Carry on Loving..

Live from 9 - tonight's Radio Podrophenia is pitched around the themes of ' Love and Hate'. Expect a few smoochy(ish) doings from The Sonic Executive Sessions, The Sonics, a Supremes instrumental rarity , a tune titled after this Carry On film - and a mystery artist. Along with handful of angry songs sung to you by Gil Scott Heron and Southend premier punk legends The Machines.

One track almost popped into my Tuesday night hamper was this full and fruity number from another mystery artist - but who is it geting himself into a cross-eyed tizzy.

Mystery Tune



For the full reveal tune into Chance Radio tonight

If you fancy catching up on last week's our 50th edition (theme:Films) - grab below or via iTunes...

Radio Podrophenia - 50th Edition

Mary Hopkin: A 35th Anniversary Exclusive on Bowie's Electric Blues

2012 will be the year zero for a scrolling, rolling, infinite list of anniversaries, reviews and reissues. By 1977 the fractures of new sounds and styles that had appeared a year earlier, webbing their way across pop's slick surface tension - cracked and shattered as angsty punk, clangular art rock and sci-fi disco smashed through the flares 'n' hair-flicks sound barrier.

Released 35 years ago tomorrow - an early indicator of out with Old Wave and in with the New Wave, was David Bowie's Sound and Vision. A taste test of Low's genetically modified robot rock - compressed into a three minute cube of roaring sax, hissing synths and android drums.

Guesting on backing vocals was producer Tony Visconti's then-wife - Mary Hopkin, who on the 35th anniversary of Low's release very kindly agreed to entertain a few of my questions on the single and album sessions - expressed via the medium of Twitter and its 140 character limit.............

@themaryhopkin: You and Bowie were both folk scenesters - did you cross paths on the circuit, or later, have an acoustic Jam in the studio 
@Mr_Mondo: No jamming - I only saw David while he was working with Tony (Visconti), when Tony and I were still married.

Today (interview was on 14th Jan) is the 35th anniv of Low. It still sounds like the future. What were your first impressions of the single/album's sound
David has always been ahead of his time. 'Low' is a great album and I'm delighted to have been there during the recording of it.

Low was recorded at the 'haunted' Château d'Hérouville - did you or the children experience any spooky doings 
Not a thing. I'm glad I didn't know at the time that it was reputedly haunted. It was a beautiful chateau and we had a great time.

Who wrote the S & V backing/vox parts and were you allowed any input or much movement on the melodies?
Brian (Eno) wrote the line and we sang it in unison. It was a great little riff so I didn't need to offer any alternatives :-)

Your children sang on a couple of tracks - do you remember which & did they have a fave studio uncle: Bowie, Eno, Iggy 
I can recommend an excellent book, 'The Complete David Bowie' by @NicholasPegg. No, too young for 'Low', but my musical 3 yr old son played 3 notes on piano which inspired Eno to write 'Warsawa'




How was Eno - did he get you doing Oblique Strategies? 
No, but he let me read his thesis on Cybernetics. Fascinating.

What would we be surprised to hear about from the Low sessions.
Nothing you haven't already heard, and certainly nothing I'm going to tell :-)

It was Bowie's 65th birthday this year - did you send a card
No, I'm not in touch :-)

Did you get to visit Bowie and Iggy’s Berlin flat, was it bachelor chic or crash pad clutter
Yes. David is extremely stylish and has excellent taste. I saw less of Iggy but liked him very much.




A huge thank you is due to Mary, who can be found on Twitter and at her official website

The 50th Podrophenia - a Widescreen Edition

More cross-pop pollinations from Sean Hartter here 

When Piley and I first started recording our ramblings and rattlings in his kitchen/my kitchen 3 years back - I don't think either of us would have expected to hit the 50 mark! Well certainly not by now anyway.

But, here we are, our half century later - where tonight's theme - a Film Special, sees us joined in the bunker by Dan from the Blog of Eternal Disappointment and dipping into a jamboree bag of cinematic sounds. I'm not sure what's on Piley's or Dan's playlist, but from me expect: a reggae refit of a Bond theme, a cult classic with a soul spin - some Hammond magic and a film only track from group who were pencilled in to take the leads in early/60s Lord of the Rings...and a mystery film theme

It's been one of the toughest trawls reducing all the contenders down to just four tunes, leaving this lot seated on the subs bench: Roy Budd, Electric Banana (below for both),  Quincy Jones, and Jagger as Turner.

Should you fancy grabbing issue 49: Covers (an all suggestions special) download is here or via iTunes

Rockers and Revolutionaries at The Railway Hotel

It's something of repeat motif around this semi detached corner of Cyberspace - but, The Railway Hotel is Southend's most rock 'n' roll local.

Run by two multi-instrumentalist musicians -Fi Jacobs and Dave Dulake, it's a pub with a platinum plated pedigree that - over the recent run of months has hosted: Chas Hodges honky-tonking it up on the pub's grand piano (joined by his son on drums), one of Britain's premier league harpists Wes Weston regularly hooting 'n' tooting along with Martin McNeill's Bottletop Blues Band. A pub quiz hosted by Ed Tudor-Pole and John Cooper Clarke winging in for a gig (with Wilko Johnson in the audience)



And the Feeding of the Five Thousand. An all-you-can-eat endurance challenge, seeing who can chow down and plough through the all-veggie pub menu before the Crass album of the same name completes. On a similar riff a couple of weeks previously, Piley and myself popped in for our usual pre-show pint and noticed a petit, pixie faced lady framed with a floss of backcombed hair, topped off with a red beret. Who, it turned out - was Crass vocalist Eve Libertine.

Eve had dropped in to taste test The Railway's Crass Burger, loved the grub, the pub and parked herself there until closing time. Luckily I managed to grab a handful of natter with her...

Me: Relaying how Reality Asylum is still one of the spookiest tunes ever rendered to record and rattled me somthing rotten as a teen.
Eve: That she's still musically active and working with Mark Webber at the mo' - but has also been pitching with in with Mark Stewart ex of The Pop Group.

And what a fine slice of elctro agit-pop they've produced with Nothing is Sacred...which you can grab for free - at Mark's website hereabouts..

 

 And check out his newie due in Feb (20th) - a Primal Scream team-up

 

Should you be hanging around town Southend way - whizz your way to The Railway. You never know who you'll meet. Or track them on the Twitterverse. The Railway

We've Got You Covered

Refits, reworks and retreads are the themes for tonight's Radio Podrophenia - an all suggestions special of cover versions built around a playlist handpicked by the Podrophenia Panel from.... Simon, Drakey, Marmite, Dave Wright and Dog Faced Boy.

Tonight's opener will be a Simon says suggestion

Sandie Shaw - Love Me Do



Mystery Track Alert: I'll be pitching in possibly the most spectacularly unexpected chunk of funk from a mystery artist midway through the evening. On a similar riff - tuck in to a reamped versh of a Northern Soul classic from Cliff


Should you fancy lending an ear to last week's radio run-out, grab the take away edition below

Radio Podrophenia - Charity Shop Classics

Yacht to Trot

One my best of breed albums for 2011 was Yacht's Shangi-la. A review was readied for the 10th edition of Plectrum-The Cultural Pick, although space restrictions meant it couldn't be included - but, nothing goes to waste...

Following up on their debut album, Portland's finest pop-boffins Yacht return with Shangi-la, a collection of triple distilled listening. The new, New Wave of New Wave you could say - where the duo's inspirations and influences are worn like button badges of honour.

Lene lovich, Atomic-era Blondie and Giorgio Moroder are gathered together in the Yacht music library, with the key components being hand-picked and refined down to a distilled spirit. A drop of which is added to Yacht's hot-wired originals. The final blend is a creation of futurist-disco and android-electro - that booms, bleeps and buzzes its way into your internal hi-fi, repeat playing the album's key pieces. Yacht's house sound is Claire L. Evans kittenish vocals deployed as either dream-scrape drifts or street-corner bawling, twinned with skittery electro-funk - sitting somewhere between The Slits and The Tom Tom Club.

Love in the Dark, is Heart of Glass given a ghoulish re-spray in blood and glitter One Step is Gina X's flirtier sister fluttering her false eyelashes. And Paradise Engineering must be an absolute roof-raiser live.

In fact the word is from those in the know (Tronik Youth), who happened to catch them in action at the Hoxton Square Bar last summer - live, Yacht ramp Shangri-la's already pulsing base-build to super-charged new levels of snap, electri-crackle and pop.

Tune In for Charity Shop Classics

Suggested by David Wright - the theme for this evening's Tuesday night shindig is Charity Shop Classics.  Theme tunes, Studio 2 Stereo albums, Herb Alpert and Hallmark TOTP make-overs are all appearing on the Radio Podrophenia playlist...live from 9. It won't be a complete cheese board, we're also donating Big Beat, Beatles covers and Shirley Bassey belting out the funk.

Along with some natter and banter on best/worst buys, and an eye-spy guide to charity shop stock - books: James Bond, Jaws, Blue Peter annuals. Records: MFP, The World of comps...gadgets: sketch-a-graph'.

If you're an Apple or Android user,  you can now lend a digital ear to Chance Radio via the TuneIn app. And  if you missed it or fancy a re-run of last week's charabanc around the musical song map you can climb aboard below

This is my opener for tonight, following a Bassey related rarity from Piley

Shirley Bassey - Spinning Wheel



  Radio Podrophenia - Avenues and Alleyways

Podrophenia TV

Pull up a seat, ready your remote and focus your peepers as Piley and I unravel the big red ribbon wrapped around our new Youtube channel Podrophenia TV.

Last year Roman Jugg and Darren Jones joined Piley and myself in our Tuesday night bunker for some close mic'd acoustic sessions, which (with thanks to Phil Hubbard) have been recorded, rendered and uploaded to Channel P. So what's on the viewing information..

Roman Jugg gives us an acoustic version of The Damned's obscure single-only release 'Lovely Money' - refitting it as a stripped down Ray Davies unplugged piece- (or is that unjugged). With the Viv Stanshall spoken word section being taken up by Piley and the other one.



And local lad and Oil City dweller Darren Jones - pitches in with 3 self compositions from the first of his two acoustic sets



We'll update and upload as more Podrophonic sessions happen - (and more are planned)

But for now turn on, tune in and tell a pal.
Podrophenia TV.

Avenues and Alleyways

Thanks to a sharp-eyed spot from London Lee last week - tonight's Radio Podrophenia is built around a metropolis of popular song - inspired and playlisted from a selection of tunes and tracks populating the  Song Map from Manchester based design collective - Dorothy

As well as roads and streets - expect to hear some uptown uptempo anthems celebrating farms, woods and parks - from Ella Fitzgerald, Solomon Burke, XTC and Lowell Fulsom. Right here at Chance Radio from 9 tonight...

If you missed last week's edition of the Podrophonic Alphabet - H. Feel free to take one and pass it on right here.. or on iTunes if you prefer
 Radio Podrophenia - H



Or if you you're a Facebooker - why not come on over and join our gang

If only I could find this kinda shirt for tonight


 

Funky Friday - The Salsa Davis Group

Aye Carumba amigos - how about this for a for two-fisted find - not uno, but dos Spencer Davies ditties given a hot tropical going over by way of this collection of samba stompers and shakers.


Feeling Alright - usually known to these ears via Lulu's lung-busting belter.


I'm a Man - of all the frisky refits, Wynder K Frog's take is the one I'll typically reach for first.

But for a pan-continental combo try these for sizzlers..

Feelin Alright - Mongo Santamaria



Spiteri - I'm A Man



And if you missed our Top Tunes of 2011 Radio Podrophenia - fill your boots below

Radio Podrophenia - New Year's Honours List

H is For....

Bowie's barnets - missing the classic T J Newton do though

Happy 65th birthday (belatedly) to ol' blue/brown eyes himself David Bowie - continuing with the riff of H, what a run of great haircuts he's paraded through the ages..

Why H? Because tonight we unwrap chapter 8 of the Podrophonic Alphabet. The hooting-tooting harmonica honking of Wes Weston. Happiness (the Pursuit of) and a funky Monkees cover from Hubert Laws and his Royal Bowieness are amongst a handful of the hits and highlights you can expect to hear live from 9 on tonight's Radio Podrophenia. Where Piley and I are joined in the bunker by King of the Jingles - Phil Hubbard.

 Tune your ears and internet to Chance Radio from 9..

 A few related rarities for your Bowie browsing

The Freddy Buretti version of Hang On to Yourself




One unreleased Springsteen cover from the Young Americans sessions

David Bowie - It's Hard to be a Saint in the City



 And a Ziggy-era cover by Belfast punks Victim - with Rat Scabies pushing the production buttons..

Victim - Hang On To Yourself

Funky Friday - Bongo a go-go

The picture Birds in the Park can be spotted here

Hurrah for Mrs M and her list of infinite invention. I am a fussy bugger to buy for when it comes to Christmas and birthdays - yet on every occasion she comes up with some kind of wonderful. 

The lumpy bundle I guessed may have been a crate of booze, was unwrapped and revealed to be - bongos hurrah! (again). And I've been tip-tapping away, lost in the crazy rhythms on an almost daily basis since. A couple of patterns getting cribbed and copied have been from these found videos...

Vid A

Vid B

Two tunes perfect for practicing along to were found on Christmas/birthday CDs

Vid A: Lee Dorsey's voodoo grooves are a snug fit for 

Lee Dorsey — Who's Gonna Help Brother Get Further

Vid B: Habanera beat works a treat for

Victor Boa - Ruffles

The Radio Podrophenia New Year's Honours List

Cat's Eyes, Little Barrie and The Bottletop Band not pictured (downloads)

Happy New Year bloggy chums. Putting a musical toe into 2012, the first Radio Podrophenia of the year brings you a round up of the best of 2011. Twelve Hand-picked personal faves from the combined collections of Piley and the other one. So what's on the list? A mix of six tunes culled from the above bundle of thumpers and thunderers, new releases which hit the record racks last year (ish)...

We're live from 9 tonight and spinning our New Year's revolutions...

Tune in to Chance and let us know your hits, highlights and must haves of last year, or perhaps any predictions for this one.

A seasonally themed vid' (the full 11 minute versh) from the Beastie Boys Hot Sauce Committee Part 2 (pictured top left)

Dear Diary:1980 - December. The Last Post

It seems fitting that after two years and 24 posts, as Dear Diary reaches it's last entry - so we finish on King of the Blingers, Jimmy Saville who also bowed out with a closing coda this year. Light on entries but heavy on celebrations (three birthdays,  Christmas and New Year's Eve) -  a couple of moments to note include...

My First Concert: Adam and the Ants at Chelmsford Odeon (13th) - as we've mentioned previously an absolute skull-cracker of a gig, during the brief transitional shift when Adam was slowly shedding the hardcore of mohicans and kilted fans that had dragged around behind him as the shadowy Ant People - before the pre-teen/ Televisual crowd massed on the now cavalary jacketed Adam (with newly installed songwriting team-mate Marco Pirroni). The Chelmsford audience for this date was a sweaty swell of ructious skins and punks snarling, scrumming and thumping lumps out of each other at stage front, to a point where Adam had to stop the performance midway through one number - to bark at a hot-spot of rucking punks/skins..

The Shadow of The Damned: from the earliest Dear Diaries well May 79 - the as it happens (not in  the Jimmy Saville sense) output of those first-past-the-post(s) punks have been rendered and recorded with regular entries. December 80 sees The Damned at their most dynamic - a one off Christmas curiosity single - There Ain't No Sanity Clause and the widescreen genius of double LP The Black Album. Not surprisingly my second gig and follow-on to the Ants outing was The Damned at the Lyceum 5th July 1981 for their fifth anniversary gig with a setlist supporting the Black Album (details here)..

Now and then: all singles bagged December 1980

The Quinn Martin style epilogue: If, back then, some anonymous bod, had told me  'in 2011 you'll write the sleevenotes and interviews for Marco Pirroni's latest album (The Wolfmen - Married to the Eiffel Tower), and rattle off 8 pages of overviews  and interviews for a magazine cover feature on The Damned' - it really would have scrambled my teenage brainwaves. In fact it scrambles my middle aged brainwaves now.. I mean, really, who'd a thought?

To borrow a question from Marc Bolan - whatever happened to the teenage dream? Well in this case, it came true!

So that's it chums - we're all done with Dear Diary. If you've been in from the beginning, a huge thank you is due for sticking around - if you've been a dipper-in or occasional grazer of these scribbled bits - a tip of the titfer is due to you too.

What's next - there's a new monthly motif possibly lined up for 2012. A magazine based take on vintage times - but more on that in Jan. So until then, have yourselves a hoot for hogmany, a knees-up of a New Year's Eve - and I'll catch you next year x

The singles list is fairly sprightly, but beware the album chart - a giddy mix of nutty comps, new wavers and A O R-tists

Top 75 singles

Top 75 albums

The Damned - There Ain't No Sanity Clause