The Soundr Hour: Discolicious

DISCOLICIOUS: sixty minutes of funky, kooky, kamp disco makeovers. From Nina Simone to Steely Dan, 10cc to Elvis. And behold as Ian Dury, Mike Oldfield and Gordon Giltrap get re-swished with Saturday Night glitter. 

Whether you're kitchen disco-ing or preppin' for the pub - let the Soundr hour lead off your dance floor larks

Soundr DJ · The Soundr Hour: Discolicous - Funky, kooky, Kampy disco makeovers

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

Guest Blogger: Dial H for Heroine - Hazel O'Connor

Picture from the always excellent Like Punk Never Happened

Continuing with the theme of 80s favourites - Suzy Norman revisits and reviews Hazel O'Connor's career. You can scroll through a roll call of other inspirational women over at Suzy's blog: Heroine Addict.

As a kid, Toyah and Hazel O'Connor were my role models.

In my defence, there are reasons why I sometimes conflated the two in my young brain: Both Toyah and O'Connor were ex-art students and singers with a commercially diluted punk bent and both were influenced by Bowie.

With hindsight we know Toyah's presence on our screens has been longer lasting - having enjoyed better luck than O'Connor; Toyah has enjoyed a successful stage career (the highlight being to star alongside Laurence Olivier).

But O'Connor has the edge as a recording artist.

A big break in the form of a lead part in Breaking Glass (1981) propelled O'Connor to almost instant stardom – but only for a while. In fact, O'Connor was set against Toyah for a role in the film. Toyah wasn't selected, and after some internal rearranging, O'Connor was chosen to be the lead. Toyah -  already established as a result of appearing in Jubilee and Quadrophenia, wasn't the appropriate choice for a rock star on the rise.

It was O'Connor's time to shine.

The film charts a young punk star, Kate's rise to fame and ponders the theme of fortune being a poisoned chalice. Kate - a young woman coming up against a formidable and manipulative record industry – was a plot that was to strangely mirror O'Connor's own career.

As a result of her uncommonly brutal and protracted disputes with her record company Albion, O'Connor didn't fully have the chance to develop artistically. Her legal grievances escalated over the years, and as they did so - in an age-conscious world, she grew older and less marketable.

The tedium of legal dealings, invariably and understandably, ate into her creative fervour. And this is a shame because we'll never know how good she could have become.

In short, O'Connor signed in haste with Albion and repented at leisure.

She was persecuted. Signing her record contract when stressed and upset, she made a wrong move that was to have diminishing consequences. Having first taken legal advice (and she was sternly told the contract wasn't worth the paper it was written on) - nonetheless poverty and a subsequent low moment,  meant she signed along the dotted line.

In the ensuing years, what happened to O'Connor would have been enough to send anyone bitter. Whatever she earned was greedily taken back from her. Her label justified their behaviour by saying money should be clawed back to cover recording and touring expenses. This meant O'Connor worked extremely hard – almost to breaking point, and was left with nothing:

'I haven't got any money still. I'm not going to have any money for years, if ever. There were times when I thought if I wasn't naturally strong I might have done myself in...At one point I had writs arriving every week. Such bastards! How dare they treat me like this.'

O'Connor 1985

Will You is one of the best tracks of 1981 - which is praise indeed, because it was a particularly strong year for music. In a short space of time, and musically at least, she eclipsed Toyah. She was capable of innovation - producing lasting songs that were richer and texturally denser than Toyah's forgettable ditties.

But on the back of most of her singles - industry crimes against her aside - it remains questionable whether she had the raw talent to go the distance. She did though, have have moments of undoubted accomplishment.

On balance, Will You is partly a stand-out song from her short career because it's unlike most of her others. It is very good indeed.

Will You has more than a smudge of Patti Smith to the vocals. As with If Only, this Patti Smith emulation is a credulous style choice, and perhaps she could have further developed this tonal quality. That would have been a worthwhile direction for her to pursue. But just how good she could have been – or not - we shall not know.

Here's Will You and If Only – her two best tracks.

Dear Diary:1980 - March

Huzzah and hurrah! Finally, after two long months, the PVC trousers finally land on the doormat (7th) But what's this, just four days later - 'zip fell off' - Ho hum! They surely can't be the same pair that split on the 28th! That really would be too much...

Poor ol' Geoff 'narked' on the 9th by way of fire extinguisher hijinks was one of two parkies and the softy Mr Barrowclough to strict ol' Bill's Mr Mackay. Incidentally later 'narks' included: heaving the Witch's Hat clean off of it's pole, leaving it stranded on the asphalt. Balancing a bucket of water atop Geoff's office door, which, landed perfectly placed, upside down on his bonce and had us chased all around Hadleigh by police in panda cars.

Parkie Geoff looked exactly like Oscar Goldman, lived with his mum in Benfleet and took an unhealthy interest in my PVC troos ..rolling out regular references and questions about them. Bizarrely, last week, I had a call from an old mate (Jay, appears on the 19th Feb - when I crashed his bike) - who had just spotted Geoff in Benfleet, with dyed hair 'the colour of a dog's coat' and a briefcase and mac to complete the Oscar Goldman look .

Other scraps of note - pig's ear (10th) was some biology lesson offal/off cut found and flung about on the bus (number 24) - which I think, led to the next day's reports of a rash - charming!

A quiet month musically - just the UK Subs Warhead (did they ever release anything on black vinyl) so I'll give A and B sides - the Subs Another Kind of Blues album (17th) , The Damned's Music For Pleasure (14th) and the Sex Pistols File (22nd) round out the budding punk collection..

For those who haven't heard I met Charlie Harper at a gig and got talking to his wife about Ukulele's. Turns out they're both keen uke strummers - of course I had to ask: can they play the Warhead riff on their ukes? A giggled 'Yes' was was the reply.

UK Subs - Warhead



UK Subs - The Harper



Not quite hitting the hi-randomness range of last month's charts - both Top 75s are a polarised playlist of pick 'n' mix bits...

Top 75 singles

Top 75 Albums

Oh and trailers for

Nightwing - premium cheese, but a Mancini theme

John Barry - They Shot, He Scored

The Reaper's certainly set briskly about his grim business this year, carrying out a ruthless recruitment campaign - John Barry being the latest to get his call up papers

I never got round to reading  a John Barry biog although I've been meaning to for years. From the scraps I've gathered through other books - he seems to have led something of  a James Bond-ish lifestyle during the swinging sixties: King's road address, film star girlfriend and international swishing with the champagne and sports cars set

And what a body of work  from Bond to Born Free, Harry Palmer to The Persuaders. I'm no music theorist but -  his innovative instrumentation (using everything from cimbaloms to synthesizers), the scope of his widescreen arrangements and minor modal motifs - could pluck your heartstrings like a harp.

A personal fave is perhaps a lower known TV theme but distillation of the Barry technique and almost a companion piece to The Persuaders, a melancholy toybox style arrangement - opening the Orson Welles Great Mysteries TV show*....

For something that  John Barry himself described as near  biographical I would recommend The Beyondness of Things - you can try a track over at Davy's place

John Barry - Orson Welles Great Mysteries



Of all the 007 themes - this, to me, is the Bondest of them all...



*Previously posted here - but I think we can swing a re-up today

Me and my SHADO

Did you ever have a Dinky Interceptor ?

Now, I'm not typically given to Fortean type mysteries and mumbles - but wouldn't it be just smashing if,  ex-NORAD bod Stanley Fulham's predictions of ....

A. There will be a major UFO display over Moscow between the end of the first part
of January 2011 and the second week of January 2011.

B. Followed by a major display over London approximately seven-days later.

Actually came to hill of moonbeans - with some silvery outer spacers a'hovering Dr Who style over London town...(Perhaps similar to the flying Dorito seen looming over Red Square). Unless of course, it's the style of green-skinned, contact wearing omni-bothering space bandits that gave Ed Straker and his SHADO chums such an almighty run around...

To his credit Stanley is the same chap who predicted 'UFOs' over New York on October 13th.. last year...

Barry Gray - UFO theme (Alt Version)



Two versions of the UFO theme in this clip...



Why not nip over to  London Lee's  for a few more ET tunes...and as a bonus lend your lugs to Tom Middelton's walloping War of the Worlds remix

Jeff Wayne - Eve of the War (Tom Middleton Mix/Mondo Edit)

Gotta love those Anderson designs - almost equal to any of the Star Wars techno gear and gadgetry 

The Code Zodiac Tapes: legendary lost spy-fi soundtrack remastered, restored and debuting here today..

If you're a fan of the Italo spy-fi film genre you may be familiar with the long-shifting whispers about low budget cult-flick The Code Zodiac Tapes. Made in 1969 it received just a handful of European screenings before being shelved due to international wrangles over distribution rights.

Zodiac dropped out of circulation and with no sightings, leaked footage or dodgy copies filtering into the public domain since, it's been widely accepted that the film had become lost, wiped or stolen. However, canisters containing the original broadcast masters were recently discovered in the basement of an abandoned Riviera mansion. Damp, dust and neglect have left the film stock, shooting notes and script damaged beyond recovery or repair..

Thankfully a handful of production details, storyboards and publicity shots survived - along with some concept art for set designs (pleasure units, undersea casinos, moonbased pods and modules ) and some costume credits....

Hair by Laurence of Park Lane
Wardrobe by Mr Hipster
M.O.N.D.O Mobile by George Barris

Concept art by uncredited artist

More significantly the 16 track Ampex analogue master tapes of the Zodiac soundtrack were found to be salvageable. These tapes - and any scraps and snatches of dubbed dialogue - were taken to Shabby Road studios for digital restoration. Today the freshly mastered, previously unreleased Code Zodiac soundtrack receives it's international debut. A teaser trailer is available here along with an OST stream - but the full 19 track album is available as a limited-edition free download over at Budd Schifrin's site..

Code Zodiac Trailer



Code Zodiac OST

Keith Mansfield's composition Soul Confusion was originally used to score a deleted scene (scripted as - Scene 34: How does that grab you?) and has been included here as a bonus track

Keith Mansfield - Soul Confusion

Original storyboard panels

Caining It

Here's something I've been meaning to clonk in the blog for yonks. A Michael Caine selection..so what's it all about Alfie?

Typically I'm not one for autograph hunting - and unlike Pileys legendary and  weighty volumes of celebrity scratchings my collection runs to a can-you-even-call-it-a-collection total of two: a signed summer season programme (Eastbourne '76) with Ray Allen and Cilla's sig's contained therein (BTW she tousled my hair and called me 'chucky egg'. She also wore a fur coat and sunglasses. At Night. In the summer. In Eastbourne). And a George Melly concert ticket - personalised 'yours always'

But, when the unblinking, heavyweight ledge that is Sir Michael of Micklewhite is hosting a biog-signing sesh quite literally around the corner from the office - I'll happily take a place in the queue.

Roy Budd - Get Carter Theme



Quincy Jones - The Self Preservation Society



Nancy Wilson - Alfie



If you're in any way a fan of Get Carter this online tour of the filming locations is well worth a squint

Update: Mike meets Mondo 

Cops, Robbers and The Holy Grail

How do you make a round trip to France - touring through: biker-rockers, Bash Street punks and the search for The Holy Grail. How? Like this..

Larry Wallis was a one-time guitarist for The Pink Fairies, a band appearing at Mont-de-Marsan's First Europan Punk Festival(20th August 1976). On the same bill were The Damned, whose beret wearing bass player Ray Burns, was rechristened 'Captain Sensible' by The Fairies

Larry Wallis - Police Car



Damned Drummer - Rat Scabies penned Burglar the B-side to the 79 single Smash It Up. Keep 'em peeled for references to Midland Banks and John Peel's record collection in this Peel session version..

The Damned - Burglar (BBC Session)

Sleeve:blogger's own

Rat is now something of a Grailologist, making repeat visits to Rennes le Chateau attempting to untangle the mysteries of The Grail. Blogger-chum Rockmother, has captured Rat's doings, diggings and delvings in a fab new film Rat Scabies and The Holy Grail.

Fin!

Freaky Friday - T is for.....

Tales From The Crypt - if you've never seen an Amicus anthology horror 'Tales' is the place to dip in. All the codes and conventions of a classic Amicus production(seventies contemporary styling, a repertory of British screen icons) are in place over the five portmanteau set pieces - Joan Collins and the psycho Santa, Ian Hendry doing the loop of terror and Peter Cushing at his most ghostly. A few years after it's release, late night TV repeats of Tales From The Crypt were discussed in mythical whispers at school, and the fearless few who stayed up watch them were instantly awarded the heavyweight status of Playground Legend..

Tell us you're fave TV Thrillers, fright-night films recommended reads, scariest kids shows, urban myths or other spooky doings - Piley and I are recording the Podrophenia Halloween Special next week so any ghostly gubbins pass it on here - planetmondo@gmail.com

Tick Tock - Les Fleurs De Lys
A pre-Zep Jimmy Page was involved with session work and production duties for LFDL, and seems to have refitted Tick Tock's riff for this Zep ztomper

Tarot - Andrew Bown
A delightfully sunny slice of polite psych pop


T is also for - try a peep at these

Bitter Andrew's always excellent autumn almanac.
The Halloween Countdown

Blogger-my-neighour Coops new venture...recreate your favourite cover art - Sleevie Wonders

Funky Friday - 40 Years of Peace & Music

I know I'm a few days out of date with this, but had my own anniversary to do last week.

Two years ago, I had my brain fried, my mind altered and my doors of perception blown to smoke and splinters in one sitting How? By sitting through my first ever viewing of 'Woodstock'.

Partly - as I thought I'd brought home the DVD of that music fest' where Hendrix sets his Fender aflame. It took a few minutes viewing until realised that music fest was actually Monterey! Whoops.

But mainly - still ingrained with 'Never Trust a Hippy' hard-coded punk standards from my teenage days, viewed Woodstock with a sly eye and had it pegged as fuggy aired, fuzzy haired, hair-baring love-in. And a long weekend of Freak Brother freak-outs and whispy women twittering to polite applause from sky-eyed stoners and other-worldly arm wavers. Which in part it is.

However, what I hadn't expected, and left my head spinning like a shell-shocked owl were...

Sly Stone and his rip-roaring funk review
Santana's explosive Soul Sacrifice
Alvin Lee's giddy guitar work
Janis Joplin's ear-bleeding screeching
CSN's layered harmonies and shifting whisper melodies
The 'orrible Who booming in like boot boys (and Pete's white boiler suit and bovver boots look, surely inspired Kubricks Clockwork Orange droog designs)

Captured pitch perfectly with progressively edgy editing, split screen shots, triple screen shots, offstage observations from gig-goers, police, parents and much, much more, make 'Woodstock' the definitive time capsule of that heady weekend and it's place in social history.

If you haven't seen Woodstock yet, you really are doing yourself a disservice. The 'director's cut' DVD regularly sells for as little £3 in some entertainment retailers, so why not treat yourself on the 40th anniversary of the event - here's a couple of clips and cuts to tempt you..

The two tunes are studio takes not live - don't be alarmed by the names they really are lolloping chunks of funk.

Try (Just A Little Bit Harder) - Janis Joplin




Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young - Woodstock



If you can't swing watching the whole clip, skip to the seven minute mark for the tempo change and the way it bursts back into life with the hookiest of hooky horn riffs.



The drummer looks like he's just finished a paper round, the keyboard player looks like Elvis. There's guitar hero gurning and curly cables too - perfect! Watch out for the naked stranger dancing with a sheep, and the ginger stoner at the close - you have been warned

Funky Friday - "Summer is heaven in `77" *

* 'Celebrate Summer' - Marc Bolan

Axe Victim says 1973 is the summer of summers. But for me, the top pop year will always be 1977. It's an overlooked classic - and the year sound and vision went Concorde shaped and Skylab sounding - Bowie released 'Low', 'Heroes' (and clonked out 'Lust For Life' and 'Idiot' as hobby projects), Giorgio and Donna gave us deep space disco, there's Space - 'Magic Fly', Meco - 'Star Wars' and JMJ 'Oxygene' - see what I mean? And then you've got Close Encounters, 'Calling Occupants', Bond's Lotus Esprit, Saturday Night Fever, Star Wars, Punk wars, the deaths of Marc Bolan and Elvis - you just don't get designs, dynamics and dramatics like that in many other years.

My personal obsessions during the summer of 77 were...

Sharks (I saw Jaws 5 times).
Skateboards (Fibreflex boards and Kryptonic wheels were the kiddies, Skudas were cool and affordable, but Surf Flyers? That's a no-no )
Starsky and Hutch.
Admiral football togs.(the Coventry kit being my fave)
Lord Anthony clobber (but never had a Parka)
Dayvilles Ice Cream Parlours(32 flavours)
Krazy Comic

And as I started to make the move from pick 'n' mix singles to adult size albums the record I wanted, really wanted - and got for Christmas was K-Tel's blistering 'Disco Fever'. You can enjoy the full track list here, and for MOR eye popping madness have peep at the cozy cardie coloured charts from 31 years ago - both of which are almost entirely untroubled by any punky doings.

Top 50 singles week ending 30/07/77

Top 60 albums week ending 30/07/77

So a few songs from the 1977 jukebox then...

RAH Band 'The Crunch' (as featured on 'Disco Fever')


There's a TOTP appearance too

Bond goes disco 'Bond 77' (from 'The Spy Who Loved Me')


Original trailer for 'The Spy Who Loved Me'

Elvis 'Way Down' ( Alt take with added piano at the coda)



If you fancy a few more sounds from the summer of 77 hop on over to...

Track Lister for Giorgio Moroder - 'From Here To Eternity' (single version)
Davey H for Donna Summer - 'I Feel Love' (12" version)

My selection for Book Of The year 1977 - Man Eating Sharks
Always wanted one of these G and S Fibreflex boards (and a trip to Skate City or the South Bank), but never managed to get either.

Electronic Tagging

I haven't been on the Blog lately as I’ve been mad busy with compiling, mixing, and even DJ’ing for the past few weeks, but will be filling in the blanks and dropping some links to these things soon

Me ol mate Marmite

http://marmiteboy.blogspot.com/

has jump started me into action by tagging me, here are the rules:

Let others know who tagged you. (See above)

Players start with 8 random facts about themselves.
Those who are tagged should post these rules and 8 random facts.

Players should tag 8 other people and notify them they have been tagged.

Random Fact 1
My last foreign holiday was Belgium - where there's loads of luscious food. Cakes, waffles, pancakes, ice cream, chocolate, frittes etc..plus the best beer ever – you can’t beat the Belgians for top trough.

RF 2

If I could go anywhere for my next one it would be Bora Bora

RF 3
My First James Bond film was Live and Let Die

RF 4
My first 18 (X) film was Saturday Night Fever, I was 12 at the time and had to wear platforms to get in.

RF5

I've been playing guitar for 26 years - but only learnt a scale 2 years ago, and my telecaster is always tuned to open G

RF 6

I've got a great idea for a film, and a sitcom. But will probably never get round to doing anything with either

RF 7
I wish someone would bring back these foody bits - Glees, Puffa Puffa Rice, Frys 5 centre chocolate, Buttersnap, Midnight Mint Choc Ice, Lord Toffingham Ice Lolly, The toffee n' mallow one in Black Magic, the Cracknel in quality St.

RF 8
My biggest regret is swapping an original Westwood & McLaren top for a frilly shirt. I would love to still own this great bit of gear for all sorts of reasons. It was an orange and red version of the one in the pic at the top. I bought in 1981 it from Worlds End in Kings Road for £30 while still at school (my part time Co –Op job earned me £15 a week), but swapped if for a frilly shirt while at art college. It would be worth a fortune now, and the frilly shirt would be worth less than it was then. How Gutted?