Podrophenia 171: a David Bowie Scrapbook

Being five years since Major Dave left his capsule - Podrophenia celebrates the life of a widescreen genius by way of a scrapbook of Bowieness. Outtakes, alt-takes, oddities, curiousities and some live tunes from Dave 'Woodmansey' Woodcock… 

Strap in for a playlist that spins in: Young Americans extras, TOTP albums covering Bowie, overlooked B sides - and two quizzes….. 

 1)Bowie lyric or Eno Oblique Strategy. 

 2) Guess the song from the shonky Thai translation.. (Ground control to Magic Town etc…) 

Download here or stream below 

Podrophenia Art and Cultcha

The Art Podrophenia is up for download and features two special guests - video director and photographer Carl Hawkins - chatting about his work and spinning some top tuneage.

And artist and guitarist Jack Browning endorsed by Wilko, Russell Brand and Ace Frehley Brush up on samples of their work above and download a freebie DL of Podro which comes loaded with a Bowie cover, a Steve Hooker newbie and pallete-loads more

Download

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I'll name that (out of) tune in three...

Is that Eno - back row, far right?

In the niche genre: songs with ear-cringing out of tune arrangements.. this, with it's 'clang, clang, clang went the trolley' horn riff has to be one of the finest..

 

 Behold: the Les Dawson of the mod scene. It couldn't be Rod could it? He was a Shotgun Expresser

Shotgun Express - Curtains



And oh Bow, who did you drag in for acoustic duties at 2:46

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

Spooky doings in old Leigh on Sea...

Hold fast for horror, spooks and spine-tingling tales from 9 tonight when we're joined by local author and  the High Priestess of Supernatural Fiction - Syd Moore, reading from her debut publication The Drowning Pool.. a ghost story that invokes a Leigh on Sea legend reworking it into a contemporay context. Also in is Paul from Pouch of Douglas who'll be giving us details of an upcoming zombie art expo..

And - if we can track him down, former keyboarder, guitarist and song writer for The Damned - Roman Jugg will be summoning up some live music! Musically expect requests for Eno and Byrne's Jezebel Spirit, Drac's Back..This House is Haunted and a special dedication for the Lee Perry track below..

All live on Radio Podrophenia between 9 and 10:30(ish)

Natterwise we want to know what horror films haven't you seen, local urban myths and irrationally scary items..

Lee Perry - Disco Devil



If you haven't seen it -  tuck into the Possession episode of Thriller, one of the greatest pieces of TV fright-night fiction ever written...


Roman Jugg's video nasty

E is for....

Earphones, EQ and every Tuesday at 9! Musically it's Elvis, Eddie and the Hot Rods, Eno and the unlikely alliance of  Edwin and The Beatles moulded and mashed into Starr Club companions

Why? Because the 5th edition of our Podrophonic alphabet gets unwrapped and revealed on Radio Podrophenia, live from 9 on Chance Radio this very evening. Along with the usual chat, banter and live action natter from the board members and regulars.

Swing by if you're about... or if not you can grab last week's edition here, via iTunes or stream below..

Radio Podrophenia - Kinda Country



As a last minute switcheroo, getting pitched in under the 'earworm' entry is this golden nugget of delicousness discovered over at Drew's corner of the interweb. You can grab a copy by zipping here

Richard Hamilton's forgotten creation - Roxy Music

If there was one person (aside from Bryan Ferry) instrumental in tooling the shape and scope of early era Roxy Music it was Richard Hamilton, Bryan Ferry's tutor and mentor at the University of Newcastle. The artist behind collages, constructs and installations with titles that won't be unfamiliar to Roxy/Ferry fans..

The Bride Stripped Bare by her Bachelors, Even (The Large Glass),
This Is Tomorrow

And 'Just what is it that makes today's homes so different, so appealing?' - the 'deluxe and delightful' 'smart town apartment' source material for In Every Dream Home a Heartache.



As Ian Dury, Adam Ant and the Velvets absorbed their visuals from Peter Blake, Allan Jones and Andy Warhol - Bryan ferry's assembly of art graduates and academics in retro-futrist finery - sculpting, styling and framing them into something as much pop art as much as pop group - is entirely Richard Hamilton's influence refined and re-rendered for the rock format

I was lucky enough to nip along (twice) to the Whitechapel Gallery earlier this year to catch the This is Tomorrow retrospective - showing the blueprints and background to the 1956 Brit-pop Art expo,  breaking down Just What is it.... to it's component parts: muscle mags, moon-shoots, modernist living and comic book romance tales celebrating and selling shiny new futures and glossy modern exotica. All off which, really, are a base-build materials for the early Roxy Music albums

Yoko Eno

If you're not a Twitterer (yet), and even if you are - did you know the sunglasses fancying, pocket-sized, heavyweight-ledge that is Yoko Ono does a weekly Tweet-centric Q and A session?

Buzz your notes and queries here #yokoQandA and Yoko grabs a handful from the virtual bag(ism}.

Well, strike me down me with Pellici's hand-cut chip - I've only gone got a three out of three hit rate to date haven't I? Do you reckon they could be a bundled up and called an interview?

The Quinn Martin/Instant Karma epilogue: I told Pellici's about Yoko's reply. Turns out several interiors for Nowhere Boy were filmed at Pellici's, as vintage caffs like this just don't exist in Liverpool anymore.

Not a million miles from same-era Eno is it really...

The Acme Instant Eno Kit

Planet Mondo and the Acme Corporation are proud to bring you the Instant Brian Eno Kit (72-74 edition)*

This deluxe and delightful easy to assemble three-part package has been lovingly crafted in Woodbridge and comes ready prepared with everything you need to become a self styled rock boffin or for generating your own Enossification and Cybernetics. Contents include...

A VCS3 (Putney) Synthesizer. Downloadable here..

One Starway Guitar (snake guitar in Eno-speak)

A full set of Oblique Strategy Cards. Try before you buy here..

Simply post a blank Frank cheque to St John, le Baptiste, de la Salle, CPL5 93H allowing 28 days for delivery.. and you to can be squeaking, bleeping and remaking/remodelling glamouramic art project-pop like this 

Brian Eno - Blank Frank





*Ostrich feathers and leopard skin items not included

Brian Eno - Music For Winkies

Only Eno could could unplug from Roxy's sequins, sci-fi and avant glam, patch in with a desperately untrendy mob of spit and sawdust pub rockers - The Winkies, and still make music that sparkles.

Following his firing/resignation from Roxy Music, Eno hooked up with The Winkies for live appearances. But, after just five gigs he was hospitalised with a collapsed lung* (he'd been hit by a car, but whispers at the time suggested an over-enthusiastic bedroom session). Before the accident Eno, along with his new backing band, recorded a Peel session for the BBC, reworking (or is it rewinking) some early solo-era songs. Including Totalled a ramped up proto version of I'll come Running with almost Edward Lear style lyrics (it eventually ended up like this)

Eno - Paw Paw Negro Blowtorch



Eno - Totalled



Post Eno The Winkies went on to record an album produced by Guy Stevens (more on him later) with The Paw Paw Negro riff being recycled as, well, ermmm..

The Winkies - Trust In Dick





*It was during Eno's enforced convalescence that he invented ambient music. Eno's Sleeve notes from Discreet Music - his first' ambient' album

In January this year I had an accident. I was not seriously hurt, but I was confined to bed in a stiff and static position. My friend Judy Nylon visited me and brought me a record of 18th century harp music. After she had gone, and with some considerable difficulty, I put on the record. Having laid down, I realized that the amplifier was set at an extremely low level, and that one channel of the stereo had failed completely. Since I hadn't the energy to get up and improve matters, the record played on almost inaudibly. This presented what was for me a new way of hearing music - as part of the ambience of the environment just as the colour of the light and the sound of the rain were parts of that ambience.

It's well worth checking out the full set of Roxy 73 live shots here

Or perhaps trying one of Eno's Oblique Strategies

Covered Up

In me pit all cozy-like, that's where I'd like to be today. Tucked up and having a lazy lay in, perhaps nipping off to our favourite fry up merchants round the corner (fried egg sandwich and chips, is my favoured munch of the moment).

But the good people at C2C made sure the trains kept a-rollin', and the Fenchurch Flyer services were almost unaffected by any snowy closures or problems with 'points', 'signals', 'overhead lines' or any other train-tech talk..*cue quiet nashing of teeth*

So it'll be a virtual duvet day with these kooky covers acting as a wintery warmer

The Lion Sleeps Tonight - Brian Eno



I'm Partial To Your Abracadabra - Paul McCartney



I was very tempted to post Train Kept A-Rollin, but we've had enough rowdy rock 'n' roll racket recently..

Glamour Ghouls

I found a load of old scraps and cuttings like this in the loft recently

There's a gallery of grotesques to choose from when you get to glam related rocky horrors...

Alice Cooper - The New York Dolls 'Frankenstein' - Iggy's 'Death Trip' and 'Your Pretty Face Is Going To Hell' - Suzi Q's 'Devil Gate Drive'- Bolan's 'Mystic Lady', 'Demon Queen' (or his earlier John's Children tune ''Desdemona'' banned because of it's "lift up your skirt and fly" line)- Bowie's 'Width Of A Circle', 'Please Mr Gravedigger', 'Beauty And The Beast' - Roxy's 'Bogus Man' or Eno's 'Spirit's Drifting' and 'Everything Merges With The Night' are just a handful of the Halloween themed hits and howlers available from the spangle age..but I thought these few tunes could do with being reanimated as pre-season of the witch friendly..

David Bowie Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps).

An overlooked, underplayed thumper that gets lost in the shadows of 'Ashes To Ashes' and 'Fashion'



Marc Bolan You Scare Me To Death

Hellraiser - a heavier-hitting side of The Sweet


Blockbuster -


Blockbuster could well have been inspired by the Batman bruiser Blockbuster(DC's answer to The Hulk)

Which brings us back to Bowie who referenced Batman in Uncle Arthur

"Uncle Arthur still reads comics
Uncle Arthur follows Batman"

And that's 'doing the loop'

Fur Den Untergang

Roman Empress and I have been putting our collective noggins together for a 'prog blogging' project. RE has thumbnailed nine key scenes for an imaginary film ‘Fur Den Untergang’ capturing the cultural claustrophobia, ‘Stasiland’ suspicous minds and shifty whispers of early eighties East Germany - while I've compiled a nine song soundtrack which hopefully matches the mood of each scene and the Totalitarianism and tower block greyscapes of the time..

You can read the script here, and download the soundtrack below...
(or stream it over at RE HQ)

'Fur Den Untergang' - O.S.T.

‘R.A.F’ – Brian Eno (& Snatch)
‘Big Dome Pt. 1’ – Phil Manzanera
‘48 Hour Drive’ – Baltic Fleet.
‘Warm Leatherette’ - Grace Jones.
‘`84 Pontiac Dream’ – Boards of Canada
‘Back To Nature’ – Fad Gadget.
‘Tom Baker’ – The Human League
‘Memories Can’t Wait’ – Talking Heads.
‘Small Hours’ – John Martyn.

But there's a couple of extras and outtakes too.

Gina X - 'No G.D.M.'
I had planned to use this for 'scene 4-the party scene', but 'G.D.M' seemed cult rather than club, and didn't have the new wave cocktail cool of Grace Jones


Brian Eno 'Mist/Rythm'
This had been 'final scene' for 90% of the time, but seemed soothing rather than sombre, whereas John Martyn's ghostly notes seemed pitch perfect for the lonely closing coda.

Funky Friday - One Brain

Well it could have gone several ways today...

Funky Drummers or Keyboard Kings - but in the end it had to be Eno a Go Go, as my sparky crackle and buzz for eighties electrickery seems finally, to be earthing itself.


And also the fact that I just haven't been able to shake off these two tunes this week. So the only way to really excorcise them (just like the 'Jezebel Spirit') is to cast them out and log them in the blog.


Ali Click (The Grid Trance Mix-Long)

Of the six remixes backing Eno's early nineties single 'Ali Click', this is the best of breed, with Eno's spitfire-syllable tongue twister lyrics being spliced into a spluttering stutterguts staccato attack then set against a non stop stomper of deep space dark arts dance grooves and mewing moogs - it's like R2 D2 DJing on the Death Star..

Ali Click (Trance Mix-Long)



Strong Flashes Of Light

'Strong Flashes' highlights just how invaluable Eno was as a sonic stylist for the Talking Heads ( as the soundscapes got bigger so did the suits ) only the Professor Pat Pending of pop could take a two chord turnaround then re spray and layer it with waves of phase into a shimmering synth shuffle that's all angular clang, chattering typewriter rhythms, bubbling barking bass and jerky New York new wave funk..

Strong Flashes Of Light


Strangely but not surprisingly (it is Eno after all) both of these tracks only ever achieved B side and outtake status

If you fancy something for stress down Friday, why not flick over to the other side for a gorgeous Eno synthy soother..

"Brian's mood is gradually changing. He orders all his friends into another room, closes the door, he sits alone on the wooden floor, visible only by the dim light shining from the bathroom. He talks to himself." Ali Click - ( Trance Mix - Long )

Eno's Best

Eno is a genuine genius we all knows that – but because of his colossal catalogue of influence and output, Eno’s fizzy inventiveness as a lyricist is often overlooked. Weighty, worthy and well crafted wordplay is all well and good (Andy Partridge and Ian Dury being two personal faves) but it takes a unique skill to join the dots in a rhyming dictionary with lyrical skits that scan, bubble and bounce like a Gilbert and Sullivan set piece.

'Seven Deadly Finns' is a single only release from 1974, with a guitar solo that that sounds like a prototype for Bowie's 'Boys Keep Swinging'
There's a great piece on 'Seven Deadly Finns' here

Seven Deadly Finns.mp3



'RAF' the flip side to 'King's Lead Hat', (an anagram of Talking Heads) was co written and stars Judy Nylon - one of the cover girls on the 'Seven Deadly Finns' picture sleeve.
Yikes it's like a Möbius strip!

King's Lead Hat.mp3



Selected lyrical highlights?

'Seven Deadly Finns'
The “work it out like Norbert Weiner” backing vocal

'Kings Lead Hat'
“The biology of purpose keeps my nose above the surface”

If you're in the mood for some shiny new electrickery - why not lend an ear to the brand new band and synth fiddlers Baltic Fleet , whose '3 Dollar Dress' is a robot rocker