Some Say

The Mojo's version of They Say - last spotted on Ebay closing at £21!

One of the earliest vid's logged in the blog was bouncy,bouncy Oddjob-a-like Rodge Martin's 1966 appearance on The Beat with They Say, but some ol' spoiler pulled it within a couple of weeks of my first peep. However, after a two year trawl I've finally tracked Rodge down again, so grab it while you can - a few notes though:

Freddie King on lead
Clarence 'Gatemouth' Brown on Rythm
Billy Cox (Hendrix Band of Gypsys) on bass

Rodge martin - They Say

They Say had previously been giving a going over by The Mojo's in 1963

The Mojos They Say

Can you spot the early doors celeb in this 64/65 period Mojo's photo?

Freaky Friday - Trilogy Of Terror

Happy Halloween all you crypt kickers, freak-beaters and fangomaniacs. Hell comes to your house early this year with a three part posting for this week's Freaky Funky Friday including ...a seventy minute monster mix - Youtube treat - and a right ol' Carry On (plus some chilling tunes on C-Mondo too)

Mondo Mania
This years collection of Halloween themed hits and howlers (in a good way) have been alchamixed into 'Mondo Mania'. Some of the ingredients may not seem immediately obvious witch-way winners but....

'Barabajagal's mutterings and mantras about Hammer Horror herbalism, seems to suit the mood of the moment

And 'Who Do You Love's imagery of "tombstone hands, graveyard mines, "cobra snake neckties" and "chimney, a-made out of human skull" qualifies it for dead-cert selection..

Mondo Mania



After getting blog-busted last week, I was almost tempted to put the this list in the comments - but nevermind that cobblers, here's the tracklisting..

The Playboys - Whatizit
Ruth Copeland - Gimme Shelter
The Preachers - Who Do You Love
The Strangeloves - In The Nighttime
Alder Ray - My Heart Is In Danger
Carl Douglas - Sell My Soul To The Devil
Tom Jones - Chills And Fever
Tony Jackson Group - Fortune Teller
Paul's Disciples - See that My Grave Is Kept Clean
Zoot Money - The Mound Moves
Affinity - Three Sisters
Dusty Springfield - Spooky
Tony Joe White - Stud-Spider
Klaus Doldinger - Back In The Dark
Cream - Strange Brew
Donovan - Barabajagal
The Rattles - The Witch
Tom Jones - Witch Queen Of New Orleans
Georgie Fame - Seventh Son
The Coasters - Love Potion No9
The Exciters - Blowing Up My Mind
John Mayall & The Bluesbreakers - I'm Your Witchdoctor
The N'Betweens - Evil Witchman
Jimi Hendrix - Fire
The Sonics- Psycho

And why not revisit last year's mini-monster-mixes
Tunes From The Crypt and Frighty Night Is Music Night

Or Bitter Andrew's Halloween countdown, Devil Dick's spooky tunes or a trip to The Dude's Ghost Town

Video Nicey
Live from the Prancing Pony-A-Go-Go it's Georgie Fame as Gandalf the groovy and his bopping hobbits, rocking 'em dead in the Shire

Seventh Son


Frying Tonight
Why not pop on over to the Whippit Inn for a Carry On Screaming grab bag of goodies. There's everything from Lobby Cards to Locations.

Who Are You Then?

Who is Sonny King? Sidekick of Jimmy Durante, flatmate of Dean Martin, writer of Rat Pack gags and star of this piece of Mondo Bizarro Video - that's who.

Sonny King "I Cried For You"



An extraordinary amount of my mate's dads still had this Sonny 'sports-casual' look going well into the seventies.

The Cosmic Dancer and Cilla

Marc and Cilla

It seems appropriate to bookend this 30th anniversary weekend with another Marc Bolan moment, and only the seventies could bring you a moment like this.

Light Entertainment meets Glam Rock, as Marc Bolan and Cilla Black duet on Cosmic Dancer from the Cilla Show. Unfortunately the old spoilsport who uploaded this video hasn't allowed embedding so you'll gave to click on the "Marc and Cilla" link above to view it.

And if you've got time why not have a peep at this mini documentary. A six minute summary of Bolan and Glam with contributions from Sandie Shaw, Captain Sensible, Mick Rock, Johnny Marr and Marc Almond




One of the things I've noticed over the 3Oth anniversary of his death is how many blogs and bloggers with impeccable record collections, impossibly rare or tastefully trendy downloads haven't just written about Marc Bolan, but have written enthusically about Marc and his music without irony or Rock Snobbery, as Marc Bolan and T.Rex fans.

Two of the best pieces I've come across are below, and both are based around visits to the Memorial site yesterday.

Piley

The Ghost of Electricity


It seems even 30 Years after his death, Marc Bolan is still as cool as ever.

"Me I funk but I don't care
I ain't no square with my corkscrew hair " - Telegram Sam

It Was 30 Years Ago Today Pt. 2 - The Rex Factor

"Goodbye from all the boys in the band, David (Bowie),everybody,all the cats you know who they are" were his final words on TV.

I won't blab on about Marc Bolan, there'll be stacks of facts flying around this anniversary weekend. Instead I've picked 2 clips that show why, at just over five feet tall he towers above any of todays pop pretenders.

I've also popped a couple of T. Rextra bonus rarities/obscurities at the bottom for download. Slider or Tanx are my recommended Albums if you enjoyed these T.Rex treats and fancy digging deeper.


20th Century Boy - from Beat Club

This is the best version EVER!!!! of 20th Century Boy, where Marc swishes like a star,and struts like champ. Grinding his guitar all the way





Next To You - from The Marc Show

Bowie and Bolan (the Dynamic Duo of Glam) duetting on a some demolition riffery in Marc's final TV appearance. This is one of only 2 songs that Bowie and Bolan wrote togther. Bolan had to be stood on a box to get in shot with Bowie, but he takes a tumble at the end.

Look out for Herbie (who wrote the bass line for Walk on The Wild Side)Flowers on Bass he also played with Bowie and Lou Reed. Tony Newman on drums, who'll be on Funky Friday soon. And spot the Raleigh Stryker T Shirt.




T. Rextras - offline at the moment

Get It On
- rocking version, of a work in progress studio run through as Bolan gives directions to the band

Sunken Rags - an .alt version slightly punchier take of Sunken Rags

Raw Ramp - brilliant overlooked B side

Thunderwing - should've been a single.

Have a Go Heroes Pt. 1 - Borat With Biceps Pumping Heavy Metal

One of the best (and worst) things about the internet is it’s an open mic medium and anyone can shine a spotlight on themselves and become a cyberspace superstar. Occasionally you see something that has more sparkle than a chandelier, but mainly it’s happy amateur howlers

I’m going to start logging some of these "Have a Go Heroes" in the blog - Anything from top notch bit’s and bob’s I’ve stumbled across that have made me think how much longer until I can play like that? to lower league legends whose hearts are in the right place but fingers aren’t. It’s all going in the blog.

First up is The Nuclear Warrior blundering around in a boiler room. Doing two minutes of half hearted heavy metal and semi shredding solo’s that melt your fillings and make your ears bleed. They grind out the sort of trebly, tinny frequencies that put the needles in the red, and next door’s dog into spasms. But it’s not just a noise that annoys, there’s crazy shark fin shaped guitars, a muscle vest (in red) with comfort fit leisure slacks, porn star ‘taches on guitar ‘n drums, and a librarian on bass too.

It’s like Borat rocking out with a couple of reps.

Les Paul - He's a Real Person and He's Still Alive

The phrase "Les Paul" is regularly bounced around like a brand name, but unless you're a guitar player, music anorak or Jazz fan - you may not have realised there is a real life Mr Les Paul.

This 2 minute mini clip is Les in action, and shows all you need to know about modern guitar playing in under 3 minutes - rocking riffs & rythms, cool chords, bouncing bass and shredding lead.



Les Paul is the Leonardo Da Vinci of modern music. He invented multi track recording, but most importantly designed and built the solid body electric guitar as we know it today. Guitars which, as Nik Cohn says in Awopbopaloobop Alopbamboom "Came on like space age musical monsters and, immediately, wiped out all of the politeness that had gone before".

Les is a Jazzer rather than a Rocker, and if he'd have known that Jimmy Page's Gibson Les Paul would be wacked with a violin bow, Pete Townsend's would be smashed to smoke and splinters, or seen what Bowie would do to Mick Ronson's - he may well have burnt the blueprint.


Les Paul is 92 and still plays once a week at Iridium Jazz Club in New York.