The Rolling Stones: Schoolboy Blues (Cocksucker Blues) 1970

Here is the infamous last single recorded by The Rolling Stones for Decca Records. In 1970 The Rolling Stones’ contract with Decca had come to an end and the band had formed Rolling Stones Records. Deeca informed the band that they owed them one more single. So, to fulfil their contractual obligations The Stones gave Decca this obscenity ridden, unreleaseable blues number. Known as Cocksucker Blues but its actual title was Schoolboy Blues. 

 

Schoolboy Blues

Schoolboy Blues Version 2

As a bonus here’s Andrew’s Blues, an obscenity ridden jam from 1965. The Andrew in the song is of course Andrew Loog Oldham.

Andrew's Blues

The Velvet Underground: Squeeze1973

Here’s something a bit different to restart the site with. It’s the first album to be posted on this blog.  

This is Squeeze, the fifth Velvet Underground album. Which seems to have been all but erased from the band’s official history? No tracks from it appear on any Velvet Underground compilations or box sets. Unavailable on vinyl since the seventies, it has never officially been issued on CD. The Kismet label has released it recently on CD unlicensed. The version here was taken from vinyl.

By the time this was recorded in 1972, Mo Tucker and Doug Yule were the only band members left. Doug Yule produced and played most of the instruments on it. Mo Tucker was stopped from playing on the album by the band’s manager. The drums are performed by Ian Paice, Deep Purple’s drummer. Hence many fans do not see it as a real Velvet Underground album. Doug Yule was not included in the band when they were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996. Despite the fact he played on three of their five albums. 

1. Little Jack
2. Crash
3. Caroline
4. Mean Old Man
5. Dopey Joe
6. Wordless

7. She'll Make You Cry
8. Friends
9. Send No Letter
10. Jack & Jane
11. Louise

Produced By Doug Yule

Doug Yule   Vocal, Guitar, Keyboards, Bass guitar

Ian Paice                                                  Drums

The Velvet Underground - Squeeze.zip  

The Enemy: Five Songs Live1978

The Enemy were one of the most influential New Zealand bands of the Punk era. They broke up before officially releasing anything. These songs were recorded at The Enemy’s final gig at the Windsor Castle pub in Auckland in 1978. We Are The Enemy and Iggy Told Me were crowd favourites. Don’t Catch Fire reappeared on Toy Love’s only album. Tease was later transformed by Toy Love into Squeeze. A point of interest here is Chris Knox’s fake British accent. Three members Alec Bathgate, Mike Dooley and Chris Knox went on to formed Toy Love after The Enemy’s demise.

The five songs in the zip are

1. We Are The Enemy
2. Iggy Told Me
3. Tease

4. Don’t Catch Fire
5. Gone To The Worms

Chris Knox                Vocals
Mick Dawson               Bass
Alec Bathgate            Guitar
Mike Dooley              Drums

We Are The Enemy.mp3
Five Songs From Live At The Windsor Castle 1978

Eggs Over Easy: Three Songs 1972

Austin deLone, Brien Hopkins and Jack O'Hara

Although the two founding members, Jack O'Hara and Austin de Lone were from New York, Eggs Over Easy were formed in California. They moved to London in 1970 to record an album. While there they played the London pub circuit. Many of the local musicians turn out to see a genuine American band playing at their local. Graham Parker, Nick Lowe and Elvis Costello have all claimed to have been influenced by them. They are now widely acknowledged as being a major factor in the birth of the Pub Rock scene. The band had a set list that included over a hundred songs. The songs posted here are from their 1972 debut album. The one recorded in England was never released. The tracks are produced by Link Wray, at his brother, Vernon Wray’s studio in Tucson, Arizona.

Produced By Link Wray

Austin de Lone                    Piano, Guitar, Vocals
Jack O'Hara      Guitar, Bass, Harmonica, Vocals
Brien Hopkins           Piano, Guitar, Bass, Vocals
Bill Franz                                                   Drums

Home To You.mp3

Arkansas.mp3

Party Party.mp3

Charles Bukowski: Three Poems1973

 

Charles Bukowski was born in Andernach, Germany in August 16, 1920. His father was an American serviceman stationed in Germany. In 1945 he published his first poem. After failing to take the literary world by storm he retired from poetry and went on a decade long drunken “lost weekend”. After a spell in hospital for a near-fatal bleeding ulcer in 1955 he started to write again. By 1960 in order to support himself he took a job at the U.S. Post Office working as a letter filing clerk. He stayed there until 1969, all the time writing and publishing poetry. As his poems often deal with subjects like drinking, being hung over, gambling and sex.  Time magazine in 1986 called him the "laureate of American lowlife". He died of leukemia on March 9, 1994, in San Pedro, California, aged 73. These poems come from a concert recorded in City Lights Poets Theater, San Francisco in 1973. He gave up live readings by the late 1970’s.

**Warning recorded from vinyl, surface noise**

The Creation of the Morning Line.mp3 

Style.mp3 
Earthquake.mp3

The People's Choice: I Likes To Do It 1971

 

The People’s Choice were formed in Philadelphia by Keyboardist Frank Brunson in 1971. The instrumental I Likes To Do It was their debut single, released on the Phil L.A of Soul label in the same year. It pecked at number 38 on the Billboard charts and 9 on the RnB chart. After signing to Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff ‘s Philadelphia International Records they had an even bigger hit with Do It Any Way You Wanna. In 1989 I Likes To Do It was sampled by De La Soul for the track Trend Water on their album 3 Foot High And Rising. Big Ladies Man was the B-Side. Both songs were written by Frank Brunson.

Produced By Bill Perry and Rudy Wilson

Frank Brunson        Keyboards/Vocals
David Thomson                        Drums
Darnell Jordan                           Guitar
Johnnie Hightower                    Guitar
Stanley Thomas                          Bass
Marc Reed                                Vocals

I Likes To Do It.mp3

Big Ladies Man.mp3

The Saints: One Two Three Four EP 1977

In 1974 Brisbane band The Saints, started mixing their love of 1960’s Pop with their love of high energy Detroit rock. Their set list included speeded up cover versions of Del Shannon, and Ike and Tina Turner as well as Stooges songs. In late 1977 after the release of their debut album, (I am) Stranded, they released the One, Two, Three, Four EP. Which included cover versions of Ike and Tina Turner’s River Deep Mountain High and Connie Francis’ Lipstick On Your Collar. The two other original songs on the EP (Demolition Girl & One Way Street) were different versions than the ones that appear on the (I am) Stranded album.

 

Produced By  Chris Bailey and Ed Kuepper

Chris Bailey       Vocals

Ed Kuepper        Guitar
Ivor Hay            Drums
Kym Bradshaw    Bass

The Saints - 1234 EP

Montrose: Space Station #5 1973

In 1973, respected session musician Ronnie Montrose formed his own band, Montrose. He  had played on albums by Herbie Hancock (Mwandishil) and Van Morrison (Tupelo Honey & St. Dominique's Preview). The original Montrose line up included Sammy Hagar. But the reason I am posting this is more personal. When I was 17 one of my favorite bands was the Irish Punk band Stiff Little Fingers. Over the years I came to realise that some of their best ideas were not their own and that they were not the most original of bands. But I always thought their debut single Suspect Devise was a great song. One day someone told me to listen to Montrose’s Space Station #5. I finally tracked it down and put it on. After 50 seconds of spacey hippy noises on came the Suspect Devise riff. I was, as we say in my country, gutted. This is the song Stiff Little Fingers stole the riff for Suspect Devise from. The B-Side is a cover of the Roy Brown / Elvis song Good Rockin' Tonight.

Produced by Ted Templeman

Sam Hager               Vocals
Ronnie Montrose      Guitar
Bill Church                  Bass
Danny Carmassi       Drums

Space Station #5

Good Rockin' Tonight

As a bonus here's Stiff Little Fingers' Suspect Device. This is the Rigid Digits  Records single version. Which is different to the one on the album Inflammable Material.

Suspect Devise

Fear: I Love Living In The City 1978

Fear were an early Californian Punk band. They were formed in Los Angeles in 1977.  In 1981 they appeared in Penelope Spheeris’ film The Decline of Western Civilization. This lead to an infamous appearance on the 1981 Halloween episode of Saturday Night Live. Which coursed $20,000 worth of damage to the studio. This is their first single released on Criminal Records in 1978. It was the only recording to feature the original line up.

Lee Ving                 Vocals
Burt Good                Guitar
Derf Scratch              Bass
Johnny Backbeat     Drums

I Love Living In The City

Now You're Dead

20/20: Giving It All 1978

Tulsa, Oklahoma natives Steve Allen and Ron Flynt moved to Hollywood California in 1977. There they teamed up with Mike Gallo to form 20/20. They played Power pop with strong melodies and harmonies. This was their first single. Released in 1978 on Bomp! Records. Fellow Tulsain Phil Seymour played drums on Giving It All. Which was written by guitarist Steve Allen. After this release they signed to Epic / Portrait Records.

Producer     G. Shryock and S. Ripley

Giving It All line up:

Steve Allen    Guitar/Vocals
Ron Flynt       Bass/ Vocals
Mike Gallo               Vocals
Phil Seymour           Drums

Under The Freeway line up:

Steve Allen        Guitar/Vocals
Ron Flynt           Bass/ Vocals 

Mike Gallo   Keyboards/Drums

***Warning recorded from Vinyl. Some Surface Noise***

Giving It All 

Under The Freeway

The Nipple Erectors: King Of The Bop 1978

The Nipple Erectors are today remembered as the first band of  The Pogues’ Shane MacGowan. Formed in 1976 by early converts to Punk, MacGowan and Shanne Bradley. They playing their first gig at the legendry Punk venue the Roxy Club. At a time when Teddy Boys and Punks saw themselves on opposite sides, the Nipples Erectors were punks influence by rockabilly and played songs with the ’12 Bar’ blues structure. They were Punks who wore Zoot Suits. Released in 1978 on Soho Records, King Of The Bop was their recording debut. After its release they changed their name to The Nips and released a further three singles and a live album. Calling it quits in 1981.

Shanne Bradley & Shane O'Hooligan

Roger Towndrow                            Guitar
Arcane Vendetta                            Drums
Shane O'Hooligan  (MacGowan)   Vocals
Shanne Bradley                               Bass

***Warning Ripped from Vinyl. Some Surface Noise.***

King Of The Bop

Nervous Wreck

Lucifer's Friend: Ride In The Sky 1970

Lucifer's Friend hailed from Hamburg Germany (although singer John Lawton was an Englishman). They released their debut single, Ride In The Sky, in 1970 on Vertigo Records. It was released in America in 1973 and that is often wrongly credited as the year of its release. It is also frequently cited as one of the very first Heavy Metal records. Ride In The Sky was written by the guitarist Peter Hesslein and Lawton. The B-Side is an instrumental written by all of the band, bar Lawton. The rest of the band also recorded under the name Pink Mice as a side project.

Producer Herbert Hildebrandt

John Lawton                             Vocals
Peter Hesslein                           Guitar
Peter Hecht     Keyboards/French Horn
Dieter Horns                               Bass
Joachim Reitenbach                  Drums

***Warning recorded from vinyl. Some Surface Noise***
Ride In The Sky
Horla

Radio Birdman: Burn My Eye 1976

 

Radio Birdman were form in Sydney Australia by Deniz Tek and Rob Younger in 1974. Their name comes from a misheard lyric in the song 1970 by The Stooges. Radio Birdman were a Punk band before there was such a thing as Punk. They made a decision not to be commercial, not to cater to venues, record companies or popular taste. No venue in Sydney would touch them. They didn’t play covers or Aussie Rock. So they started their own venue, The Oxford Funhouse (Funhouse is also a name of a Stooges song). No major record company was interested, so they released a low budget EP on an independent label. Trafalgar Records was Trafalgar studios own label with no national distribution.  During the recording, as a form of percussion, the Band crushed beer cans (VB) on their heads. Their debut EP - Burn My Eye - was released in October 1976, one month after The Saints’ I’m Stranded. You could build a good case to say that these two releases are the start of Australian Punk and Alternative Rock.   

Produced by      John Sayers and Charles Fisher

Warwick Gilbert                  Bass
Ron Keeley                      Drums
Chris Masuak       Guitar / Piano
Deniz Tek            Guitar / Vocals
Rob Younger           Lead Vocals

Smith & Wesson Blues
Snake
I-94
Burn My Eye

Or the whole EP as a .zip
Radio Birdman - Burn My Eye EP

Iron Knowledge: Show-Stopper 1974

Not a lot is known about Iron Knowledge. They were from Youngstown Ohio and played Hendrix influenced Funk Rock. The 1974 high energy Show-Stopper was their first release. They put out one more single after this (Give Me A Little Taste Of Your Love). Which like Show Stopper was released on Tammy Records. It sounds like the guitar on Show-Stopper is Drop D tuning. That is, instead of the strings being tuned in the standard way (E A D G B E) they are tuned to D A D G A D. Making the intro sound deep and dirty. The B-Side is the complete opposite, it is a slow burning groove.

***Warning recorded off of vinyl.  Surface Noise***

 Show-Stopper

Oh Love 

The Boyfriends: I Don't Want Nobody 1978

How good were New York’s The Boyfriends? The Ramones covered one of their unreleased songs (I Need Your Love) on their album Subterranean Jungle. This is they debut single released on Bomp! Records in 1978.  Sadly, this is pretty much it for The Boyfriends. Just after this was released they sign on to Malcolm McLaren’s management. After turning down good offers in order to wait for a great offer, he left them with no record contract and no management. Only 100 copies of their second single (Wrapped Up In A Dream) were pressed in 1981. 

Bobby Dee Waxman     Guitar/Vocals
Paddy Lorenzo              Guitar/Vocals
Jay Nap                                      Bass
Lee Crystal                               Drums

***Warning recorded off of vinyl. Surface Noise***

I Don't Want Nobody

You're The One

The Teardrop Explodes: Sleeping Gas 7" 1979

This is the debut release by Liverpool’s The Teardrop Explodes. Released in February 1979 on Zoo Records. Which was co-owned by David Balfe, who joined the band as their keyboardist shortly after this was released. Singer Julian Cope had previously been in a band called Crucial Three with Ian McCulloch of Echo & The Bunnymen and Wah!'s Pete Wylie. This was the first release by an ex-Crucial Three member. Echo & The Bunnymen’s Pictures on My Wall was released (also on Zoo) a month later. Sleeping Gas was re-recorded as part of the Kilimanjaro sessions less than a year later. This is the original 7” version.

Julian Cope        Singer/Bassist
Mick Finkler                     Guitar
Gary Dwyer                    Drums
Paul Simpson           Keyboards

Sleeping Gas

Camera Camera

Kirkby Workers Dream Fades

Destroy All Monsters: Meet The Creeper / Nov 22nd 1963 1979

Destroy All Monsters were formed in Detroit, Michigan in 1973 by art students Niagara, Jim Shaw, Mike Kelley, and Cary Loren. Conceived as an experimental “Anti-Rock” band. By 1976 Kelley and Shaw had left. In 1977 Ron Asheton formerly of Detroit powerhouse, The Stooges joined along with Michael Davis, ex-bassist for Detroit legends MC5.  Now it was Detroit City Rock. Within a few months Niagara had left her long time boyfriend Loren, for rock star Asheton. Loren left the band. This double A-Side was released in 1979. Singer Niagara got her name as a little girl when her older sister use to lock her in a dark closet and she would cry and cry. So her sister cruelly called her Niagara.

Niagara               Vocals
Ron Ashton         Guitar
Michael Davis       Bass
Rob King            Drums

Ben Miller              Sax
Larry Miller        Guitar

***Warning recorded off of Vinyl. Surface Noise and some clicks***
Meet The Creeper 

November 22nd 1963 
 

Three Lost Singles From The 1970’s

Smith
Take A Look Around
1970
.

The name of the band is Smith, not The Smiths. Smith hailed from Los Angeles, California. They had a hit in 1969 with a cover of Baby It's You. This is their last single to chart (#46) Take A Look Around from 1970.

***Warning recorded from vinyl. Surface Noise***
Smith - Take A Look Around

Silk
Forever and Ever
1976
.

Known as Midge Ure’s first band. It was also the first band for Kenny Hyslop who drummed for The Skids and Simple Minds. Forever And Ever was written and produced by Bill Martin and Phil Coulter. Who wrote Puppet On A String for Sandy Shaw and Congratulations for Cliff Richard. They also worked with Bay City Rollers, which shows on this track.

Silk - Forever And Ever

The Records

Teenarama

1979
.

 

Dodgy 1970’s lyrics aside, this is a power pop gem. It was written by drummer Will Birch and singer/guitarist John Wicks and was produced by Robert John "Mutt" Lange. Teenarama was The Records third single. It has often been overshadowed by their biggest hit, Starry Eyes. 

The Records - Teenarama

Stevie Wonder Gig Poster 1973

A poster for a 1973 concert by Stevie Wonder and Earth, Wind and Fire at The University of Maryland. Unlimited free parking and tickets from only $2 to see Stevie Wonder, those where the days.

Crazy Horse: Downtown 1971

 

In 1971 Crazy Horse were at a loose end. After being plucked out of obscurity two years earlier by Neil Young. When he changed their name from The Rockets to Crazy Horse and used them to record his second solo album (Everyone Knows This Is Nowhere). They then tour with him and recorded bits of his third album (After The Gold Rush).  Now they were unemployed again as the ever-restless Neil Young wanted to work with different musicians and had Cosby, Stills, Nash & Young commitments. They decided to capitalize on their newfound fame. Keeping the name Crazy Horse they recorded an album.

Downtown was the only single released - at the time - from the album. In different markets different songs were used as the B-side for example in France it was Crow Jane Lady. On the version I have its Dance, Dance, Dance. Although the mp3s are take from a CD not the vinyl. 

Downtown was written by the guitarist Danny Whitten and Neil Young. A version recorded live at the Fillmore East in 1970 appears on Neil Young’s 1975’s Tonight’s The Night.  The B-side Dance, Dance, Dance is sung by the drummer Ralph Molina. It was written solely by Neil Young. In 1975 he re-wrote the lyrics calling it Love Is A Rose and gave it to Linda Ronstadt to record. Neil Young’s own version appeared on his 1977 compilation album Decade.

Danny Whitten                        Guitar, lead vocals
Ralph Molina                                 Drums, vocals
Billy Talbot                                        Bass, vocals
Nils Lofgren                                    Guitar, vocals
Jack Nitzsche                                  Piano, vocals

Produced by        Jack Nitzsche & Bruce Botnick

Downtown
Dance, Dance, Dance

As a bonus here's the original 'I Don't Want To Talk About It.' Taken from the Crazy Horse album. It was written by guitarist the late Danny Whitten.
I Don't Want To Talk About It
And the Linda Ronstadt's 'Love Is A Rose'. To compare with Dance, Dance, Dance
Lind Ronstadt - Love Is A Rose