Beggar & Co. – (Somebody) Help Me Out/Rising Sun 12”
Light Of The World – Swingin’/The World Is Out 12”
Light Of The World – The Boys In Blue / This Is This 12”

Vale Chris Hill.

He was a generation ahead of me, so when I was a kid, he had already attained legendary status.

A genuine eccentric, he had been the DJ at the Lacy Lady in Gants Hill, where he played imported soul music at a time when almost every other disco was playing chart music. The venue drew a super-fashionable crowd of working class kids who really dressed up for the occasion. It’s seldom acknowledged that this was where‘77 punk borrowed its sartorial style from.

He later worked for Ensign Records and was instrumental in getting Brit-Funk bands signed, so I thought I’d have a morning of playing just Brit-Funk.

I saw him DJ a few times in the early eighties, and that highly performative DJ style had been nicked and done to death by others, who had sometimes made more money from it (Steve Walsh, for instance) . I can still remember him squeaking a pet toy or something along with Brass Construction’s Movin’ though.

As is often the way, the originators of the Brit-Funk sound only achieved a modicum of commercial success whilst those pop acts who co-opted their sound (looking at you Spandau Ballet, ABC, Haircut 100) got the glory. It’s a tale as old as time. Makes you wonder what it was about those acts that made them more palatable to the British pop market.

#NowPlaying
#Vinyl
#BritFunk
#EnsignRecords
#ChrisHill
#BeggarAndCo
#LightOfTheWorld
#Music

John McLaughlin With The One Truth Band - Electric Dreams

My copy of this is a US pressing, which has been ‘manually rebranded’ for CBS in international markets. I’ve read about this but never seen it in the wild before. The back cover has been redacted with a texta and the labels have black rings stuck over them, obscuring the Columbia logo. This would’ve been someone’s job, man.

Talking of shit jobs, L. Shankar, the violinist on this album, went on to play on Phil Collins’s Face Value album the following year.

This album came out the year after my favourite J.Mc album, and it’s a clear move further into the rock sphere, which for my ears, makes it a tad dull.

I’d never properly looked at the sleeve before today. The front photo is a sepia toned photo of old mate John sitting at a white Formica fold out kitchen table in his jim-jams and satin dressing gown. Before him is a coffee cup full of pitch black fluid, with a spoon standing up in it. Now this could be seen as uncouth, although please remember Johnny-boy comes from Donny, where this is probably OK. Also, the black fluid could be Yorkshire tea.

Behind him, his appliances seem to have gone boonta, have adopted ghostly manifestations, and are levitating. This is particularly worrying because what can only be described as a kettle/clock combo are plugged in quite high up the wall on a short cord. If it stopped levitating it would be just dangling there.

To make matters worse, ALL FOUR rings on his electric stove top are blaring. Turn them off, man!

As if all this isn’t bad enough, there’s a ghostly girl stood outside the window holding a suitcase. No-one wants that.

Nightmare.

Here’s an interesting snippet for you: the son of Fernando Saunders, who played bass on this album, represented Hungary in the Eurovision Song Contest in 2014.

#NowPlaying
#Vinyl
#JohnMcLaughlin
#OneTruthBand
#ElectricDreams
#JazzFusion
#Music

John Spithead

2025-03-05 02:52:58

We got one there. We got one there.

John McLaughlin - Electric Guitarist

I believe that this was the first proper jazz-fusion LP I bought. I remember picking it up in JiFS Records, Chadwell Heath in about 1984. (Man, I'd fucking love to go back and have a dig in that shop again!) I was an avid reader of guitarist magazines at the time and kept reading about McLaughlin and his Gatling gun playing-style, and just had to hear it. There was no way of hearing it before buying in those days, so it was a bit of a gamble, although to be fair, I knew I was going to love it.

All the big guns are wheeled out in support of McLaughlin on this album and they all get a fair shake of the sauce bottle.

The second track, Friendship, is a frequent spinner on my earworm jukebox, and has been for some 40 years now.

url=https://friendica.world/photos/johnspithead/image/120244070867c7bc835c083569008833][/url]

#NowPlaying
#Vinyl
#Jazz-Fusion
#JohnMcLaughlin

Various Artists - Blow the Man Down: A Collection Of Sea Songs & Shanties

If you want my opinion, there’s far too much flag-shagging going on at the moment, especially in my country of birth, where it seems to be all the (Fa)rage to paint the St George’s cross on every surface, Shankhill Rd style.

When I grew up in England, flag-waving was looked down on as something that was only practised in inferior nations who didn’t know they were the best. There is no greater indication that England is floundering than painting flags on mini-roundabouts. Also, surely no-one who loved their flag would paint it on the ground, amongst the dog shit, phlegm and fag-butts, would they?

The problem for English nationalism is that English culture is an eclectic culture. Its primary cultural achievement is taking on other people’s culture and re-purposing it. I’ll give you some examples: London – invented by the Romans and built by the Irish; The Beatles and The Rolling Stones – co-opted American music; fish & chips – brought in by Jewish refugees; baltis – adapted from Pakistani food; Farage – copying 1930s Germany. The important thing to say is that’s OK. The English can be proud of this.

The reason I’m stating the bleeding obvious here is that I’m playing this CD of sea shanties (work songs) and forebitters (chilling-out songs) from England’s great seafaring past. Nothing more English than that. Except there’s Irish, American, and Portuguese influence galore. And that’s the way it works.

Incidentally, there’s some fucking beautiful songs on here. For instance, Lovely Nancy, from the 18th Century, sung by Ian Campbell acc. Dave Swarbrick – a song that reprises an ancient theme of a woman who dresses as a man to go to sea. The fucking tofu-eating wokerati right there.

#NowPlaying
#CD
#BlowTheManDown
#VariousArtists
#Folk
#Shanties
#CD
#FlagShaggers
#englishnationalism
#Music

Go-Go's - Beauty And The Beat

The other day we watched Lolita (the 1962 Stanley Kubrick one). What a stunning film. Really discomforting. Brilliant performances by Shelley Winters, Sue Lyon (who really should be a household name) and James Mason. The reason I’m telling you this is because James Mason is Belinda Carlisle’s father-in-law.

A week or so later we were watching Trixie Motel and who should pop up as a guest, but Belinda Carlisle. Thought it was time to give this a spin.

This really is such a well-known album that there’s little left to say about it. However, on sitting down and giving it a proper listen, it struck me that it’s a much more vocal-rich recording than I’d previously heard: BVs galore.

Also, I like the fact that they returned the towels used in the cover picture to the shop afterwards.

I picked this copy up from the $5 bin at Mr V's in Semaphore years ago. It was previously owned by Lesley Hilgendorf, who had written her name across the top of the back of the cover. Somewhere in the Barossa Valley, I expect.

About ten years ago, we did a themed radio show, which featured people’s mondegreens (misheard lyrics). One of the finest examples was ‘alex the seal’ ('‘our lips are sealed’). This has stuck like the proverbial shit to a blanket. Thanks Dee.

#NowPlaying
#Vinyl
#Go-Go’s
#BeautyAndTheBeat
#StanleyKubrick
#JamesMason
#Lolita
#SueLyon
#Music

Khruangbin - Con Todo El Mundo

This is the second Fathers’ Day LP. I’ve never heard nor heard of them before.

They are a Texan trio who are big fans of Thai and Persian tunes and they’ve got that guitar sound nailed down, with minimalist funky drumming and the occasional bit of vocal or something else.

Firstly, I can see no reason why I would need my Persian funk filtered through an American lense.

Secondly, you know how music that’s meant to be chilled leaves you feeling more stressed? Yeah that. I could literally feel my arsehole clenching in irritation by the middle of side two. It’s fucking Muzak.

Oddly enough, it left me thinking of Fleetwood Mac’s Albatross – a piece of music I have always loathed.

The only time I could imagine playing this would be in the background whilst having a dinner party (if I had dinner parties) or something. Which is probably the worst thing I can say about a piece of music.

Astonishingly, it gets glowing reviews everywhere.

Now I have to work out how to not sound like a completely ungrateful cunt or hurt people's feelings when I get asked what I thought of the album. Whilst I do that I'm going to have to play some Discharge or something just to restore equilibrium.

#NowPlaying
#Vinyl
#Khruangbin
#ConTodoElMundo
#Music

Miles Davis - Live-Evil

It was Fathers' Day yesterday in Australia. I try my best to be a conscientious objector (I mean, the kids didn't ask for me to impregnate their mother, thus forcing them into existence, and so really have no need to thank me for doing my basic duty to them in the intervening years), but my bastard children won't have it. In an attempt to limit the proceedings, I suggested that - if they must - they just fill a Live-Evil shaped gap in my record collection and be done with it. It was a partial success, in that I do now own a Record Store Day reissue of the album on teal-splatter (What a time to be alive, eh?) vinyl.

I haven't heard Live-Evil before and it's quite a substantial work, so these are just my initial thoughts:

- Like I say, there's a lot of it. It's going to take time to digest.
- This is firmly in the On The Corner ballpark, although generally dialled up a notch or two. Davis is wah-wahing away like a man possessed.
- John McLaughlin's guitar sound, let alone his playing, took my breath away.

Anyway, I might add further comments in future as I get into this more.

#NowPlaying
#Vinyl
#MilesDavis
#LiveEvil
#JazzFusion
#JohnMcLaughlin
#Music

Dennis Brown - Money In My Pocket/Joe Gibbs And The Professionals - Running Irie 12"

In 1979 there was a Saturday morning kids’ television show called The Saturday Morning Show. It was presented by an affable-seeming chap called Steve Jones, about whom it’s hard to do any deep internet research due to his Sex Pistols namesake. My favourite part of this show was ‘hit or miss’-type evaluation of some of the week’s new single releases, called ‘Keep or Heap’. This was where I first heard Money In My Pocket. I bought it on 12” that afternoon.

Unfortunately, I later swapped it for a plastic carrier bag full of porno mags with a kid from school, later replacing it via discogs.

This is Brown/Gibbs’ reworking of their 1972 tune, engineered by Errol Thompson and with added toasting by Prince Mohammed, neither of whom even get a credit. Brown’s vocals are as smooth as a real estate agent run through a Nutri-Bullet. The A side is a proper extended version, and the B side, Runnings Irie, finds Joe Gibbs and the Professionals smashing through the instrumental with gay abandon.

In hindsight, lovers rock was charging over the hill like a big sexy bull. But none of us knew it yet.

#NowPlaying
#Vinyl
#DennisBrown
#MoneyInMyPocket
#Reggae
#SteveJones
#TheSaturdayMorningShow
#KeepOrHeap
#JoeGibbs
#PrinceMohammed
#ErrolThompson
#Music

Edwin Starr - Contact/Don't Waste Your Time 12"

Edwin Starr was American by birth and Polesworth by choice. I used to go to college with one of his backing singers.

I’d bought the 12” of this in 1978, then sold it to a girl at school. I later picked up this copy in a second hand shop down the south coast somewhere. It has ‘Toffs’ written in texta on the label.

The only Toffs disco I can find online is in Sligo, Ireland, but this is an Aussie pressing, so it’s unlikely to be from there. I can’t help thinking there would have been loads of discos with that name when this record came out. Fucking terrible name.

Contact is a cracking slab of disco: Starr’s roaring vocals, sweeping strings, bongos, hi-hats, open percussion breaks – wicked.

Lyrically, it tells the story of our protagonist seeing someone he fancies across the other side of the disco, where she is sitting quietly by herself. She meets his glance and Edwin locks eyes with her. He seems to have read an awful lot into her catching his glance, if you ask me, but that was the seventies, I suppose. He then describes his state of excitement as he crosses the dancefloor to bother this woman. Rather disturbingly, he says ‘I never took my eyes away from yours, not even for a moment’, which could be perceived as a bit odd, menacing perhaps, not to mention increasing the risk of bumping into people.

The B-side, Don’t Waste Your Time, is a dreary ballad, and is, rather ironically, a waste of time.

#NowPlaying
#Vinyl
#EdwinStarr
#Contact
#Disco
#Polesworth
#Music

Yussef Dayes - Black Classical Music

Because this album sits next to 'Davis' alphabetically on the shelf, it gets looked at more often than most and I think, “must play that again one day” more frequently than most other records.

Brownswood really splashed out on this album: double album, decent pressing, embossed sleeve (ooh-la-la!), cast of thousands. It feels like the concept was to do a British Kamasi album and the result is a highly competent funky, jazz album which shows off all Dayes’s influences. I remember when I gave it its first listen, thinking, “I know all the records you’ve been listening to, mate.”

I find it all just a bit underwhelming. Where are we going here? What are we hoping to achieve? How are we driving the art form forward? Because without this, it’s such a waste of talent.

Also, I’m of an age where the sound of a fretless bass through an octaver still sets my teeth on edge, thanks to the over-use of Pino Palladino as a bass player in the 80s (No Parlez, anyone?) Pino’s son, Rocco, plays on this album and has a remarkably similar sound which is slathered on all over the shop. Fucking horrible – it’s still too soon.

#NowPlaying
#Vinyl
#YussefDayes
#BlackClassicalMusic
#Jazz
#Music

The Comet Is Coming - Hyper-Dimensional Expansion Beam

I was lucky enough to see The Comet Is Coming live in Sydney, promoting this album, I reckon. The audience was roughly 50% super-cool young folk and 50% old white dudes who looked like they owned record shops. It really went off.

Whilst I acknowledge the hard work and talent of the other two members, Shabaka Hutchings is so fucking cool. Such a restrained yet imposing presence. His Caribbean-tinged, front-foot, Gatling gun blowing, marks him out as something really special.

The band called it a day after this album.

The band drew lazy comparisons to Sun Ra, which was largely based on them having a space/cosmic shtick, rather than it being a musical comparison. You’d be better served comparing them to Van der Graaf Generator musically.

I own three of their albums, but rarely fancy playing them, to be honest. I thought it might be because that speck of the zeitgeist on which they sailed had passed. However, playing this today, I’ve really enjoyed it.

#NowPlaying
#Vinyl
#TheCometIsComing
#HyperDimensionalExpansionBeam
#Jazz
#Electronic
#ShabakaHutchings
#Music

Lisa Lisa & Cult Jam with Full Force - I Wonder If I Take You Home (Extended Version)

I found a whole section of my record collection which contains loads of 1980s 12" singles. Hooray!

I’ve talked about Full Force’s production skills before, but there is really no better example of them at their prime than this - it all sounds so...expansive and punchy. The perfect setting for Lisa Velez’s stab at becoming the Puerto Rican Madonna.

#NowPlaying
#Vinyl
#LisaLisaandCultJamwithFullForce
#IWonderIfITakeYouHome
#Electro
#Freestyle
#Music

John Spithead

2025-03-08 04:39:47

Give me some static!

James Brown with Full Force - I'm Real

It's 1988 and James Brown is mightily pissed off about everyone sampling his work (and, more to the point, him not making any money from it). He's had a bit of a comeback with Living In America and decides to hitch his horse to the Full Force wagon, which is careering down the hill of hits at breakneck speed.

It's really a Full Force album, featuring JB (and Maceo Parker), with Brown pissing and moaning about not getting what he deserves, and going on about how great he is, like the man in the pub you've tried not to make eye contact with for the past 45 minutes. It rather clever-onically uses loads of JB samples.

I clearly recall how fucking MASSIVE Static, I'm Real and - to a lesser extent -Keep Keepin' sounded in clubs at the time, until the wheels were stolen from Full Force's wagon by...everyone (including Stock, Aitken & Waterman), leaving it on four little piles of bricks by the side of the funky highway.

This is the UK edition (on Scotti Bros.), which has a small photo of Full Force (with JB front and centre) on the back, which measures an inch by an inch-and-a-half.

Lew Lewis Reformer - Save The Wail

In the early 90s, used to live about ten doors away from a book and record shop, although I don’t think I ever bought any tunes from inside the shop, as it was quite expensive and I was on the dole. However, I did pick up a couple of crisp biscuits from the 50p box out the front, including this.

This has a little label telling me that there is 2 tracks slight wear. This kind of detailed evaluation of condition used to be pretty much standard practice for record shops, rather than just sticking $50 on it and hoping no-one notices the warp, scuffs, scratches, inner-groove distortion, food particles, jizz stains, or whatever.

Lew Lewis came from Canvey Island, in the ‘Thames Delta’. He taught Lee Brilleaux to play harmonica and was in Eddie & the Hot Rods, before going off to do his own thing. This album came out in 1979 on Stiff Records, and its got a very Stiff sound to it.

It’s one of my favourite albums of that time and place.

#NowPlaying
#Vinyl
#LewLewisReformer
#SaveTheWail
#RythmnandBlues
#CanveyIsland
#StiffRecords
#Music

The Crusaders - Pass The Plate

In 1971, The Crusaders released this funky little nugget, after dropping ‘Jazz’ from their name.

It’s an album full of early jazz-funk grooves, with the occasional bit of proper jazz thrown in for good measure. I swear down that Stix Hooper hits the rim of his snare by accident at the end of the drum solo on Young Rabbits – ‘71-’72, and I think they fade it out to try and hide it. That’s my #low-stakesjazzfunkconspiracy.

Whenever I hear The Crusaders, I am reminded of a house party I attended somewhere in east London in about 1984. I was wearing a white t-shirt with the band’s logo in red across the chest. This had led me to get into a bit of a conversation with a group of black women. There was a bloke at the party who I don’t remember much about, other than he had a Southern Death Cult tattoo on his forearm, and, as he got increasingly pissed, he started being more and more of a cunt towards me. This came to crossed words, and the relative merits of The Crusaders and Southern Death Cult were mentioned, I think. I don’t think he liked any jazz-funk, to be honest, or me talking to a group of black women. At that age, I wasn’t one to walk away from a fight, and, rather inevitably, the conflict turned physical. I wonder if that chap ever hears The Crusaders and remembers his teeth.

#NowPlaying
#Vinyl
#TheCrusaders
#PassThePlate
#Tamla-Motown
#Jazz
#Music

The Jimmy Castor Bunch - It's Just Begun

I grabbed a handful of Jimmy Castor Bunch LPs from a second hand record shop in the 80s, this one included, just because, by looking at the sleeves alone, you couldn’t go wrong. This, Castor’s second album from 1972, was the best of the bunch (geddit?)

I remember being delighted when, back in the old rare groove days of yore, probably my favourite DJ of all time, Nicky Holloway, used to open his set with It’s Just Begun. A MASSIVE tune.

The album later had its bones picked clean during the sampling years.

Listening to it today, as an entire piece of work, I’ve realised that it’s far more of a latin-tinged funk joint than I’d previously realised. It’s good, man.

An interesting quirk about this album is it is pressed on Dynaflex vinyl. This was RCA’s way of utilising less oil-thirsty vinyl during the oil crisis, by making a wafer-thin record. The record itself handles like Rolf Harris’s wobble board. The jury has been out for the past 53 years over the quality of these pressings, but to be fair, this copy is doing just fine.

#NowPlaying
#Vinyl
#TheJimmyCastorBunch
#ItsJustBegun
#Funk
#Music
#Dynaflex
#RCA

Subhumans - Worlds Apart

The bloke who has reviewed a couple of Subhumans albums, this included, on AllMusic is an annoying cunt. He clearly doesn't know or understand punk well enough to give a decent review. I was going to go into more detailed critique of his criticism, but, to be honest, thought I might just give it as much effort as he has. This made me smile, though – it shows the standard:

‘A grungy-looking quartet of punkers’

Ignoring him, though, this is a top-notch Subhumans album, their third. It’s a bit less proggy than the one before and has quite a few of their big anarcho-singalong-bangers on it.

#NowPlaying
#Vinyl
#Subhumans
#WorldsApart
#Punk
#Music
#AdamBregman

John Spithead

2025-04-28 22:51:55

But when the children call you "Bastard" it will make you think again

Subhumans - From The Cradle To The Grave

Turns out I have this on both CD and vinyl.

When I read the recent book on Subhumans, I was delighted to find out they had been massive Rush fans. Once you know that, you can't not hear the influence. Musically, rather than lyrically - no Ayn Rand tributes here, thankfully.

This is a great album. The title track is one of my favourite 17 minute-long pieces of music.

#NowPlaying
#CD
#Subhumans
#FromTheCradleToTheGrave
#Punk
#Rush

Various Artists - Kunta Kinte 2017

Brooklyn sound system/label https://dub-stuy.bandcamp.com/album/kunta-kinte-riddim-2017Dub-Stuy give us four shining, and very varied, examples on this 12” from 2017.

I've mentioned before what a sucker I am for a Kunta Kinte riddim, so I won't repeat myself.

#NowPlaying
#Vinyl
#KuntaKinte
#Dancehall
#Reggae
#BurroBanton
#RiderShafique
#ShantiD
#DJMadd
#Dub-Stuy
#Music

John Spithead

2025-02-28 04:19:17

Flash Kunta

The Revolutionaries - Kunta Kinte (Kentaro Remixes)

Tokyo's DJ Kentaro is one hell of a turntablist and, on this 12" from 2009, he throws the Kunta Kinte riddim around like a fucking blindfolded juggler on a unicycle...on a tightrope...over a tank of piranhas. It's all very fancy.

There's nothing at all wrong with that, in my book, but then I'm a complete sucker for the Kunta Kinte riddim however it arrives to me, although this does seem like a lot of hard work at times.

I'm also partial to a lock groove. Saves you having to get up to turn the record over.

#NowPlaying
#Vinyl
#DJKentaro
#KuntaKinte

Steel Pulse - Handsworth Revolution

I fucking loved Steel Pulse as a kid. This is one of those LPs from around that time that, even though I didn’t own it, I was familiar with every track. My sister had the 12” of Ku Klux Klan, which got rinsed in our house, and I'd acquired the 7” of Prodigal Son from one of those newsagents cheapo random 7” rotating tower racks they would have at the time. The rest of it I guess I picked up by listening to John Peel, or by osmosis. I picked the actual LP up at a boot sale in Romford in the mid 80s. It has one of those Record & Tape Exchange stickers on the front which show it being reduced in price over time.

When I moved to Brum in my late 20s, I can remember how thrilled I was to be walking across Handsworth Park (going for a free veggie feed at the Sikh festival, which is in itself pretty thrilling) - my equivalent of when people go and walk across that zebra crossing at Abbey Road, I suppose. It didn’t look much like the record sleeve.

This holds up as a fine example of political British reggae, infused with the spirit of Jah and under the expert roots reggae knob-twiddler and exactly the right man for the job, Karl Pitterson. David Hines’s vocal style was ripped off wholesale by Sting, which is so obvious once you know.

The thanks list on the back of the sleeve has amongst its thankees, stalwart of Brummy pub-blues-rock, Steve Gibbons, and The Stranglers, both of which seem like odd mates.

#NowPlaying
#Vinyl
#SteelPulse
#HandsworthRevolution
#Reggae
#Birmingham
#Music

Miles Davis - On The Corner

I listened again to Questlove’s 2017 podcast interview with Mtume this week. They obviously spend a bit of time discussing his time with Miles Davis.

And one another lesson I learned from Miles: when you cross the bridge, 
burn it so you can't even go back.

In 1972, Davis had got the funk. He had been influenced by James Brown and Sly Stone and decided that what Young Black America wanted was a blend of this with Stockhausen, Paul Buckmaster and free jazz, with trumpet played through a wah-wah pedal like Jimi Hendrix’s guitar. He crossed that bridge and lit that match.

Turns out Young Black America didn’t want it, the critics declared it a steaming turd, and it caused Davis to go off on a six year hiatus/sulk/cocaine binge.

What a fucking incredible album though.

#NowPlaying
#Vinyl
#MilesDavis
#OnTheCorner
#Jazz
#Fusion
#Music

Hüsker Dü – Candy Apple Grey

The wife has been on a Hüsker Dü tip of late, and I’ve been making a conscious effort to listen to bands I’ve never really heard and giving them some eartime (it was Uriah Heep yesterday), ‘cos you never know. Anyway, this arrived in the post today, so I thought I’d give it a whirl.

Hüsker Dü were included in Half Man Half Biscuit’s Irk The Purists for good reason - people who love them go on and on about them. And, if anybody ever read these posts, purist or otherwise, I’d probably irk them by picking their fist major label release.

I normally avoid anything tagged Alternative Rock. Hence, Hüsker Dü remain a bit of a mystery to me.

There’s some big tunes in here. Whether they warrant all the fervour, I don’t know. It all goes a bit REM in places.

Also, Bob Mould would’ve been one of the best made-up punk names, if it wasn't his real name.

Two words to say about the pressing (the only Record Store Day release I own, on lilac vinyl): cät shït.

#NowPlaying
#Vinyl
#HüskerDü
#CandyAppleGrey
#AlternativeRock
#Music

Johnnie Taylor - Just Ain't Good Enough

Johnnie Taylor recorded only this one album for Beverly Glen Music before, quelle surprise, the relationship ended in bitterness and acrimony. (BGM had form in this area.) But what an album!

This is another Beverly Glen record that takes that deep southern soul feeling and chucks everything, including the big, fancy, marble, double sized, Hollywood kitchen sink at it – plumbed in by Patrick Molten and Otis Smith.

In What About My Love and Just Ain’t Good Enough, this album contains two of my favourite tunes ever.

The sleeve contains the most uneffusive statement from (presumably) JT: “I would like to thank a lot of great people who put forth their efforts. I enjoyed doing this album, and I hope everyone enjoys it as well.”

It also has the most aggressive promo stamp: “LOANED FOR PROMOTION Not for Sale/May Be Reclaimed.” Reclaimed? Yikes!

#NowPlaying
#Vinyl
#JohnnieTaylor
#JustAintGoodEnough
#BeverlyGlenMusic
#Music

John Spithead

2025-08-11 03:22:29

White Lines

Anita Baker - The Songstress

Anita Baker was working as a secretary and singing in the group Chapter 8, when Beverly Glen, an independent soul label put out this, her solo debut in 1983.

To say it had high production values was an understatement. She had a supporting cast of top-notch producers, players and singers. She even got a gate-fold sleeve. No expense was spared.

How could an indie label do this? Crack, that’s how. The album was financed by “Freeway” Rick Ross, multi-million dollar dealer of cocaine and apparent fan of velvety jazz-soul vocals.

Otis Smith, who owned the label, was a bit of a spiv. He had promised Bobby Womack he could get a deal for him with Motown, but instead signed him to Beverley Glen, giving world wide distribution to Motown, but keeping the US rights to himself. The Poet & Poet 2 sold millions. Bobby never saw a dime - but it cost him a fortune to get out of his contract.

Anita Baker never got paid for this album and spent thousands (and a couple of years) trying to get out of her contract, so she could sign for Elektra.

By, 1985 even his law firm had sued him to get paid for their services.

I bet “Freeway” Rick Ross never had to send a solicitor's letter.

Once signed to Elektra, Baker became the epoch-defining singer of smooth Mum-soul.

I bought it in the Virgin Megastore in Piccadilly Circus on import.

#NowPlaying
#Vinyl
#AnitaBaker
#TheSongstress
#Music
#Soul
#FreewayRickRoss
#BeverlyGlen

Old And New Dreams - Playing

Old and New Dreams was a quartet made up of former Ornette Coleman sidemen: Don Cherry, Dewey Redman, Charlie Haden and Ed Blackwell. They played a mix of Coleman’s tunes and their own work, in an attempt to keep the free jazz flag flying.

This album finds them recorded live in Austria in 1980. As with a lot of live recordings, I’m left a little cold, despite the obviously brilliant chops on show. Being there would obviously have been wonderful.

Interestingly, the front cover has a photo of a football goal. In small letters at the bottom right of the sleeve are the words, “The kicker suddenly started his run.” Turn the sleeve over and, along the bottom is written, “The goalkeeper, who was wearing a bright yellow jersey, stood absolutely still, and the penalty kicker shot the ball into his hands.” Turns out this is a quote from Austrian writer Peter Handke, describing the goalkeeper’s dilemma (which way to dive, or whether to dive at all) at a penalty kick, in his short novel from 1970, Die Angst des Tormanns beim Elfmeter, or The Goalie’s Anxiety at the Penalty Kick. I’d never noticed this before.

I picked this superb ECM German pressing up as part of the best ever opshop streak a few years ago. It’s got a $2.50 sticker on, but might’ve even been half price or less.

#NowPlaying
#Vinyl
#OldAndNewDreams
#Playing
#DonCherry
#OrnetteColeman
#DeweyRedman
#CarlieHaden
#EdBlackwell
#PeterHandke
#Music
#FreeJazz