London's Grooviest Boutique - Mrs Jones Emporium.

Rock Chic is the vibe at Fee Doran's newly re-housed glam-grotto. Originally occupying a fifth floor space Clerkenwell way - Mrs Jones new lodgings, currently parked up along Hackney Road, are Mr Benn goes Bowie at Kensington Market. Housed in a glittering club-house where handmade one-offs are racked and stacked alongside a set-dressing of black sprayed mirror balls, the coolest cult collectables and an assortment of sparkles, spangles and funkily feather-cut numbers. All of which make a visiting the emporium feel like a rummage around Eno's Warm Jets era wardrobe..

Stylistically Fee Doran's designs trace a line from the Wonder Workshop and Biba's widescreen scene via Mr Freedom and Alkasura to Roxy Music meets Worlds End. Dig about the Mrs J website and you'll find a client list that reads like a Burke's Peerage of the glossily trendy gentry - Kylie, Goldfrapp, Scissor Sisters, Madonna. Dig about the multi-coloured pop shop's stock, and bespoke bits or unique 'pop star droppings' are yours for the bagging.

Mrs Jones Emporium can be found 49 Hackney Road, E2....Mrs Jones can be found on the web and Twitter..

A tune that seems to match the mood of Mrs J's is this Roxy rarity.
Rarity rating being: a Peel session (4th Jan 1972) from before the band signed to Island and featuring Davy O’List on guitar and Graham Simpson doing bass duties

Roxy Music - Re-Make Re-Model




Yes true believers all you see below - are Mrs J's creations...

Funky Friday - These Are A Few Of My Favourite (Soul) Things...

As featured in Kill Bill

You may remember a while back we posted Keith Mansfield's 'Lola' sound-a-like Soul Thing on the blog. It's a track that's popped, shuffled and randomised it's way into becoming one of my most played tunes of the year. Which, is why when Adam from Fades In Slowly kindly invited me to find five tunes for his Festive Fifty - Soul Thing was a shoo-in.

Digging deeper into variants of Soul Thing becomes a cat's cradle of endless editions: orchestral, strings, stereo and mono madness. However, I won't slump your shoulders with every available flavour - but, guide you to selection of covers, reworks and highlights..

James Royal's Vocal version! With lyrics n'everything

James Royal - House of Jack



Tony Newman's Hammond fired hip-shaker

Tony Newman - Soul Thing



Keith Mansfield retitled versh. Refitted with funkmungous breaks and brass

Keith Mansfield - Funky Fanfare



And the theme to 'The Queen Street Gang'? No, me neither

Eager Beaver

The Call Of The Beaver Patrol
by V. T. Sherman - is available to buy from Amazon...

I knew that this Soup Dragons tune was a rework of this Stones obscurity, and the bass line on this nineties floor-filler was lifted from this sixties soundtrack.

But until a couple of weeks ago, and thanks to the 'Play Any Track' option on my trusty Creative Zen Xtra, I never knew that ....

PWEI - Beaver Patrol


Was a cover of this....

Wilde Knights - 'Beaver Patrol*'



*mis-spelt as 'Beaver Control' by the ripping software. My favourite example of rock typo's in my MP3 collection is The Sweet's 'Burn On The Flame' re-titled by the Russian download service ALLOFMP3 to 'BUM On The Flame' - ouch!!

Funky Friday - The Ayatolla of Holler*

* see also Lord Of The Lungbusters, The Prince Of Wails, The Sultan of Boomei

I remember seeing someone (can't remember who) that had once duetted with Tom saying how they'd been blown away by the pure blockbusting bellow of his voice and although it projects well on TV ( and it does), not in any way can it capture the raw ear-quaking experience of having 'the Jones' belting out his full pelt decibel yell just a few feet away. Which is possibly why in duets like these with CSNY and with EMF - Tom seems to be sharing a stage with giddy gurners and grinners as he lets rip.

So, ladies and gentleman 'This Is Tom Jones....'

Treat Her Right - with some spectacular frugging and a'flailing


Show Me


See Saw


And some early seventies shakedowns including the tricky to track down 'Sugar Sugar'

'Venus'



'Sugar Sugar'



Proud Mary




There's two more Tom Team Ups here with Aretha Franklin and Janis Joplin if your ears can take it.

Funky Friday - Bloggers Banquet

Most of the Stones uptempo output comes with a fully formed stomp in it's step, created by a combo of Charlie's pumping pulse-beat drums, Keef's louche grooves and Mick's swishery (check out 'Bitch' or 'Monkey Man' for examples of all three in perfect synch'), so it only takes a touch of extra heat under the tunes to clonk them up a groovy gear...

Merrie Clayton - Gimme Shelter
Merrie's belting version of 'Shelter' was my proto-Funky Friday post




Anadar Shankar - Jumpin Jack Flash
Sitar Hero a Go-Go



Little Richard - Brown Sugar
A screeching, squawling, Southern Soulish re-work of 'Brown Sugar'



Mary Wells- Satisfaction
A Tamala flavoured twist on the Stones Standard




And also worth lending an eye too...

Sympathy For The Devil

Recording possibly the most influential "ooh-ooh's" ever (kicks in at 1:18)


Thelma Houston - Jumpin' Jack Flash

A beaut' of a belter


Otis Redding - Satisfaction

Otis's (backed by Booker T and The MGs)entire Monterey set is explosive, but this track is unrelenting - listen out for 'Duck' Dunn's piledriving bass runs.

Funky Friday Pt 2 - Funktacular

Well here's a first, a second FF post (while politely pickled too) - I've spent years scouring for this clip so I'm grabbing it while it's up.

No rabbit, jabber or blab from me could do it justice - just tuck in to this explosive performance from Sammy Davis and two friends - it's impossible to watch just once

For Once In My Life...

Funky Friday - Get Back and Get Down

I've always had a thumbnail theory about the distinction and differences between The Beatles and the Stones songs (based on my own eye witness evidence from family parties during the seventies) - The Beatles make people sing, the Stones make people dance - or put another way The Beatles are about the tunes. The Stones are about the groove.

This isn't set in stone or tried and tested under strictly controlled conditions, it's just a rough rule of thumb, and as these fab four flavours of 'Get Back' show Beatles tunes can just as easily be refried funky side up...

Get Back - Chris Clark

The Merseybeaters get given a Motown makeover




Get Back - Deidre Wilson Tabac

A bubbly,shuffely, loose limbed lollop-a-long re-work.




Get Back - Sarah Vaughan

A brain-frying team up between those beardy buggers brothers from Toto and their squiddly diddly synths, a'topped off with Sarah Vaughan's deep velvet vocals.




Get Back - Shirley Scott & The Soul Saxes

A hat-popping, horn-stomping spectacular so fast and furious it rollocks along like a runaway train.



There's a couple of other tasty Beatles treats well worth grabbing...

BLTP's unearthing of a gorgeous rework of 'Rain' - nothing like the original and none the worse for it - here

And Larry F16's Beatles based million-hit-mix here

By George This Is Good

It's 75% Beatles - written and produced by George Harrison, with Macca on bass and Bongo on drums.

Has guest appearances from Clapton at at his British blues-grinding best and the happy honky-tinking piano of session king Nicky Hopkins.

It conforms to all the codes and conventions of classic pop and packs more crackle than a Catherine wheel into a fizzing four minute bundle.

So why wasn't 'Sour Milk Sea' a hit of any kind for Jackie Lomax (it didn't even chart, after it's release in '68!) - And why has no one covered, or at least sampled it since ?

Jackie Lomax - Sour Milk Sea



Jackie Lomax - Sour Milk Sea



You can the hear work-in-progress version below, as the Fabs jam on 'Sour Milk Sea' round at George's place 'Kinfauns' while offering up a fistful of each other's tunes for possible inclusion on the White album.

George Harrison (demo) - Sour Milk Sea

Charabanc Skank

Oh dear, works getting in the way again - so this weeks FF may be short on text but hopefully tall on tunes - anyway it gives me a great excuse to post one of the finest pieces of youtubery I've ever found.

'A trip to the lights'- a homemade work of genius that's spliced together from the hits and highlights of Beardfreaks1969's dear old grandad's cine films - retromatic footage of coach outings, Piccadilly trips and vintage tear ups have been reworked into a 3 minute masterpiece soundtracked with Jackie Mitoo's 'Juice Box'.

It's worth noting the volume of frown free faces in the film. I really don't think you'd get that today.

'A trip to the lights'


Plus a double barrel from Mr Mittoo

Juice Box



Get Up and Get It



And a little snifter of something in memory of Pink Floyd's Rick Wright..

Easy Star All-Stars - The Great Gig In the Sky

The Sound Of The Suburbs

1977 may have been the big bang/year zero of Punk, but while the world crash, burned and turned dayglo, the UK singles and album charts stayed strictly beige, and a gallery of beards and Bri-Nylon, not bondage and black leather. It may have been anarchy and white riots in the city, but the real sound of the suburbs was glam girls with Farah flicks in disco dresses and bouffant chaps in cheesecloth and satin.

I've read far too many books on the UK Punk scene - three on the bounce so far this year, but none of then have the same snap, sparkle, spit and polish as Barry Cain's 77 Sulphate Strip, which has gone straight in at number 1 in my 'pile high club' of rock reads.

Taking a year (1977) in the life of a Record Mirror's initially reluctant'Punk' reporter, 77 Sulphate Strip scrapbooks the combustion and contrast of Seditionaries Punk and 'Sing Something Simple' style Pop by prologuing each chapter with the best selling singles and albums for that month (there's hardly a spikey top in sight) followed by reviews and interviews from Barry Cain's original Record Mirror features on the Pistols, The Stranglers, The Heartbreakers, The Jam, The Damned and Demis Roussos while threading in offstage stories and anecdotes of scams, schemes, scary Dutch hells angels, dodgy raffles, girl chasing, globe trotting and living at home with mum and dad. I can't recommend it enough. It is simply, one the finest pieces of music writing ever published.

I was too young for Punk in 1977 and could only afford Pop at pocket money prices - so why buy just one real deal single, when you can have a full albums worth of soft focus sound-alikes?

Like these taken from 'The Best Of Top Of The Pops 77'
I Feel Love



Way Down



Hey Ho Let's Go - click on the pic for more info


GLC Councilor Comments On Punk.



Is The Queen A Moron? Sex Pistols on the GSTQ single




Not me in the picture BTW

"And now he is a puppet dancer"

Piley put me on to this Bowie boggler years ago - when I discovered YouTube, this bizzaro Bowie-as-Pelham-Puppet performance of 'Boys Keep Swinging' was the first vid' I searched for, but some ol' spoilsport pulled it a week later - since then I've been trawling the 'Tube at least once a week hoping for the return of the Thin White Duke, only to find it on Yahoo/AOL video (no, I didn't know about it either).

Anyhow - while it's online,watch it, watch it and watch it again. - It is a pinocchio a go-go gem.



As a bonus here's Suzanna Hoff's rework of 'Boys Keep Swinging', which would be greatly improved by losing the squiddly diddly guitar solo (I don't think it's her hammering the frets).
'Boys Keep Swinging'



And, have a pop on over to I Should Be Working for another video version of Bowie and 'Boys Keep Swinging'.

Funky Friday - Latino Lovelies

Hola! Hola! Hola - it's all gone Channel 9 and Mondo Bossa shaped for todays fistful of funky numbers, revolutionary remakes and south american shakedowns - so fill your botas mi amigos.

Ándale! Ándale! Arriba! Arriba!
It's Wah-wah and bongo a go-go from Willie Bobo
Willie Bobo - 'Always There'



Scorchio!
There's a rootin' tootin' tropical tear up by way of...
Mongo Santamaria - 'Lady Marmlade'



Muchos Gracias
To Nanker for putting this loco cover on my musical map -
Pucho and his Latin Soul Brothers - 'Sex machine'



And finally ¡Salud! to Budd for tipping me off about Freakpower's 'Rush' which samples Pucho's 'Got Myself A Good Man'



Back to the usual Rioja and Roll next week hombres

Funky Friday - Hear The Drummer Get Wicked

Well we've given 'guitar' a go-go (although some ol' spoilsport's pulled the vid's since), thumbed around with 'bass cadets' , tinkled with 'keyboards' and covered 'vocals' - so how about those bad boys (or girls - check out Chaka Kahn here) at the back of the band then?

If you've ever fancied a go at air percussion or desktop drums - these two tunes are the perfect soundtrack to some fantasy flailing.

I've no idea who the anonymous bod banging out back beat in Pucho's band is, but, like all truly top drawer drummers he balances his heavy handed crash, bang, wallop with perfectly positioned breathing spaces. Check out the light but tight tension and small scale pauses teased into his demolition drum breaks during this flute tooting tear up.

Pucho And His Latin soul Brothers - 'Got Myself A Good Man'




Tony Newman is a legendary session drummer that's played with Bolan and Bowie (all three are seen in this clip) Jeff Beck and Donovan (all three can be heard on the Donovan's funky number posted last week).

'Let The Good Times Roll' is a full pelt belter with scattergun drums thunderpunching their way through this Northern Soul thoroughbred that gallops out of the traps like a Grand National winner - it can't surely be possible to pack any more action into 2:36 - can it?
Tony's non stop stomper was featured as part of the 'Cool Britannia' mix over at the Fu Fu blog(congrat's on your recent wedding Vince).

Tony Newman - 'Let The Good Times Roll'



And you just can't do a drummer post without an appearance from the 'The King of Sticks' Mr Bernard 'Pretty' Purdie who demonstrates the delicate difference between Salsa and Afro Cuban styles.

Cold Shoulder

I don't dislike Coldplay - there's too much motorhome and not enough motorhead about them to get your teeth into a proper huff 'n' puff (it's not like they're U2 or anything is it)? But I just find them a bit ... well - dull dumplings and stodge rock - I suppose. They come across like a grey gaggle of whey faced anonymous bods that would be middle managing if they weren't making million selling albums like 'Viva Lavida'.

As Simply Red are to Soul.
As UB40 are to Reggae.
As David Gray is to Bob Dylan.
So Coldplay are to 'Indie' anthems

But to paraphrase The Troggs Tapes - sprinkle some fairy dust on the bastards - and they switch Cinderella style from John Major into John Travolta.

Coldplay vs Jacques Lu Cont 'Clock Your Body'




Coldplay vs Kraftwerk 'Computer Talk'

Funky Friday - Hanky Spanky

I'm a terror for a cover, and this selection taken from Spanky Wilson's 1968 album(or '69 - the date seems to switch from site to site) 'Doin It', are all high flying fatback funk-outs.

If you're not familiar with her name, you'll certainly know some of Spanky's musical chums and collaborators - Jazz and Soul heavy hitters like Duke Ellington, Lalo Schifrin, Marvin Gaye, Willie Bobo, Jimmy Smith and Sammy Davis, Jr - and more recently The Quantic Soul Orchestra for her 2006 album 'I'm Thankful'.

I first heard Spanky's re-fitted and re-funked verion of 'Sunshine' by way of Tom Middleton's impeccably eclectic and electrifyingly mixed The Trip (which has the strongest opening run of any comp' ever!)

'Sunshine Of Your Love'



'Light My Fire'




'You'



Three decades later and she's still 'Doin It' - with the same snap, spank and sparkle.

Spanky Wilson and The Quantic Soul Orchestra- 'You'


All the gubbins and good stuff you need to know about Spanky is right here..
Spanky Wilson's MySpace site

Spanky Wilson's Official site

If you're in the mood for more all girl action get your go go boots over to...

A fine and funky number at Cocktails and Records

A serving of sixties girl groups from Clair at the Urban Woo

Or couple of my fave Northern nuggets

Spanky's 'Light My Fire' is also featured as part of this guest mix I made for the The Right Side Of Funky blog..

Mellow Monday - Jackie Mittoo

Mellow - but on the bright side of blue, and just the thing for a blazing hangover

For all we Know



Alone Again Naturally



Telstar



Followed by a 'hair of the dog' down at the Rovers

corrie (not Jackie Mittoo)

There's some uptown uptempo Jackie Mittoo here

And as a late addition here JM's downtempo dub version of.....

Smoke Gets in Your Eyes

Re-make/Re-model Pt. 3 Real Deal Divas

Forget low calorie, size zero personality, wibbly wobbly warblers, shreaking squealers and puffed up preeners who put all the goods on the barrow with nothing left in the loft. Cold hearted Harpies, hard faced halfwits and know-nothings exploding in giddy ninny tizzes over some silly business.

No. No. No. Peggy Lee and Mae West are where its at dad, those slinky superstar supervixens as full, fruity and saucy as knickerbocker glories and peach melbas. Swishing from the hip, shooting for the heart and getting pulses pumping like Thumper with the raise of an eyebrow, the flick of a fringe or the drop of hankie, who have giants and gentlemen reaching for their lighters while blowing smoke rings round all wannabe waifs and WAGS.

Peggy Lee - Sitting On The Dock Of The Bay




Mae West - Great Balls Of Fire


Some hi tech clever clogs has made a vid' for the Mae West track - well worth a peep

And, speaking of wonder women have you checked out the mighty Rock Mothers podcasts 'Romo For Real'? Armed with a box of tunes and a bottle plonk, it's fourty minutes of wall to wall wonder tunes and chirpy chat - get on over and fill your Biba boots here.

PS - One track from this posting will be appearing in a new mix going live this Friday

"will you woo this wildcat?” - Taming Of The Shrew

Re-make/Re-model Pt. 3 Corduroy - Motorhead

Corduroy should've been huge. Their Acid Jazz jamboree bag of athletic jams and frug outs , easy breezy free flowing instrumentals set dressed in sixties cinematics and Cool Britannia cultural references ('How To Steal The World', 'Harry Palmer', 'Mini' ) and confident otherworldy trendiness of retro style, French Crops and neat, nifty trousers pre empted the mid nineties Brit Pop/Easy Listening revival by at least five years in one funky bundle.

Corduroy - 'Motorhead'

In a previous life as Boys Wonder they'd been pedalling pop art cartoon tunes two years ahead of Carter USM, The Wonder Stuff, Betty Boo and Deee-lite with mighty titles like 'Take Me To Your Leader', 'All Because The Lady Loves' and must have T shirts like these...



Ian TB has an 'all you need to know' feature on Boys Wonder and their single 'Now What Earthman' here.

To see Boys Wonder in action vamping their anthem ' Shine On Me' on Saturday Night Live click here..

But, getting back to Corduroy - think of it as a warm up for this weeks Funky Friday

Re-make/Re-model Pt 2 - Norma White - I Want Your Love

I Don't know much about Norma White and The Brentford Disco Set, but I do know that their politely plodding reggae rework of Chic's 'I Want Your Love' is a joy and a gem. It's so good I'm giving you both versions.

Norma White and The Brentford Disco Set - I Want Your Love.mp3



Norma White and The Brentford Disco Set - I Want Your Love (version).mp3



(Version) in reggae speak is usually the instrumental backing track with extra echo and added dubby squeaks and bleeps.

It's not uncommon on 12" versions of reggae releases say ...six minutes long, for the first three minutes to be the vocal version, followed by a slight but audiable click, where the (version) version has been spliced on to take up the final three minutes.

Remake Remodel Pt.1 Lulu - Watch That Man

There's a couple of bits and bobs I've been meaning to log in the blog for an age but have become wrapped up with other bits and bobs until now - so today at last it's all go-go for;

Remake Remodel - obscure, cool or cranky cover versions.

B Side Babies - the ones that got away - B sides, alt takes or outtakes that are too good to be forgotten

Fortunately 'Watch That Man' falls into both categories.
Lulu’s version of ‘The Man Who Sold the World’ seems to pop up on the sort of budget seventies comp’s sold only at newsagents, garages and Woolworths. Glamtastic as the rewired TMWSTW is, the real golden nugget is on the B side, ‘Watch That Man’ which manages to out strut and stomp Aladdin Sane original.

It is an absolute that Bowie was a musical Midas in the seventies and almost everything he touched was left glossed and glittering. (There's a moment of revelation in Ian hunters ‘Diary of a Rock and Roll Star’ where he realises he’ll never be in Bowies league). ‘Watch That Man’ is effectively a Bowie retake with Lulu fronting the band, produced by Bowie and Mick Ronson and featuring rest of the band it captures the distilled essence of the pre ‘Young Americans’ sound with a splash of extra sparkle. The cherry on top being Bowies backing vocals – which swish through the mix adding stardust melodies and space age harmonies.

Lulu - Watch That Man


To set the scene and add some context here's a couple of Youtube treats

This has got to be one of the funkiest ad' songs ever!I posted this on channel mondo last Friday but it's so good I'm posting it here too.

Lulu - Happies Shoes


Lulu - The Man Who Sold the World’