Funky Friday - Funkenstein

It's a bank holiday special today with a guest blogger onboard - blogger my neighbour, you could say - as choosing the tunes is Agent Cooper,who, lives just a few doors away from Cloudbase Mondo. When he's not DJing,making his own artwork or collecting somethingorother, Coop's busies himself with his latest creation the Patchwork Of Flesh blog - artwork submissions inspired by Frankenstein - why not pop on over and have peep

Let's start things off with a prime slice of western bop from one of rock 'n' roll's most influencial guitar swingers Link Wray.

"The Swag" was the flip side to Link's classic "Rumble" released in 1958 and in my humble opinion a much better tune than the a-side.
I first came across "The Swag" as the opening theme to John Waters trash masterpiece "Pink Flamingos" on a ropey old VHS from my local video shop in Romford.

Link Wray - The Swag




"Zig Zag News" is a storming mid-'60s workout from L.A's The Sound Sandwich originally released on Viva Records. It starts out pretty mellow before freaking out and speeding up at about the minute mark into something completely different. You can find it on Sundazed's brilliant "Ain't It Hard" comp.

The Sound Sandwich - Zig Zag News




A slab of 1980's garage rifferama next from The Fuzztones, "She's Wicked" has a brilliant intro and one of the greatest dumb-ass riffs ever put on wax with a hint of early B52s in the keyboard sound at times. I bought this on 12" in 1986 and it sounds as good today as it did the first time I played it. A stone cold classic, this is the John Peel session version and not the original release.

The Fuzztones - She's Wicked




Some artists stay fairly underground and never get the success they deserve, perhaps they are happier that way - it didn't do Kurt Cobain any favours.
Greg Cartwright has been in three absolutely fantastic bands: Compulsive Gamblers, Oblivians and Reigning Sound and has written songs that would have made him a household name in the sixties when songwriting and passion got you a long way. It's a pretty big statement to make but I reckon he is making the best music on the planet right now, a soulful blend of garage, R&B and country. It's not easy to chose one song so what you've got is one of Reigning Sound's very best in two versions.
"If You Can't Give Me Anything" was first released on the "Too Much Guitar" LP on In The Red in 2004 as a ragged, stomping garage number with pleading yelped vocals and a wailing mouth organ.

Reigning Sound - If You Can't Give Me Everything (Too Much Guitar version)




A much more Gram Parsons sounding country rock/ soul verion was released a year later on "Home For Orphans" on Sympathy For The Record Industry.
Two very different interpretations of the same song show just how good Greg's songs are.

Reigning Sound - If You Can't Give Me Everything (Home For Orphans version)



Thanks to the Mondo man for the letting me share a few tunes with you. If you are of an artistic bent or like monster movies, pop over to my Frankenstein art project blog A Patchwork of Flesh - check out the gallery and then follow the lead of Mr Mondo and create a piece of monstrous art yourself.