One Jemtunes 24 #2

OneJemTunes 24 continues a monthly foray into my world of music. There’s everything here including downloads, music purchased (all media types – but predominantly vinyl these days), gigs I’ve been to, birthdays and passings and much more; all music related.

OneJemTunes 24 #2 is mostly about January 2024 (although there’s a bit of looking into and forward to this month as well).

Comings and goings – a regular feature throughout the year. On the one hand sadly recording those we’ve lost, but on the other – looking forward to birthdays of those we still have.

January passings: sadly too many to mention here. But most notable for me were Tony Clarkin (November 24 1946 – January 7), songwriter, producer and guitarist with Birmingham based Magnum for over 50 years; and David Soul (August 28 1943 – January 4), singer/songwriter and ‘Hutch’ from the 1970s cop show ‘Starsky & Hutch’.

February birthdays: Harry Styles (One Direction) [1st/30]; Shakira (singer/songwriter) [2nd/47]; Spike (The Quireboys) [4th/58]; Holly Johnson (Frankie Goes to Hollywood) [9th/64]; Steve Hackett (Genesis) [12th/74]; Ali Campbell (UB40) [15th/64]; John Travolta [18th/69]; Seal [19th/60]; Paul Jones (Manfred Mann) [24th/81]

January downloads and other additions added to my JemTunes music collection:

• Larkin Poe – An Acoustic Companion (2023); standout track ‘Strike Gold’
• Dolly Parton – Rockstar (2023) – Vinyl (quadruple album); standout track ‘What’s Up’ (track 1, side 4)
• Skinny Knowledge – Twenty Twos (2023); standout track ‘A song about lunch’
• The Blue Lena – Darkwood (2023); standout track ‘Sanctify’
• Flight of the Conchords (2008) – Vinyl; standout track ‘Bowie’
• Joni Mitchell – Hits (1972); standout track ‘Big Yellow Taxi’

Dougless 24 is the title I’ve given to my occasional playlist compilations. Each will feature 24 tracks from my latest downloaded albums and tracks throughout 2024. ‘Dougless’ derives from the name I’ve given to my cancer (“Doug”) cos clearly – the aim to is be be dougless! Here’s the track listing for Dougless 24 #1:

1. Skinny Knowledge – Disobey
2. Extreme – Rise
3. Lions in the Street – You’re gonna lose
4. Stray – Living the dream
5. Collective Soul – She gathers rain
6. Kenny Wayne Shepherd – Bad Intentions
7. Alabama 3 – California got you stoned
8. Smoke Fairies – Carried in sound
9. Larkin Poe – Strike Gold
10. Ruth Copeland – Gimme Shelter
11. Tesla – Rock Bottom
12. The Blue Lena – Sanctify
13. Collective Soul – Where the river flows
14. Extreme – #Rebel
15. Brothers Osborne – Might as well be me
16. Mothers Boy – Set a fire
17. Skinny Knowledge – A song about lunch
18. Metallica – Sleepwalk my life away
19. Sleeplever – Shot in the dark
20. The Blue Lena – Wrong side of midnight
21. Grant Hava – Time of dying
22. Tom Hambridge – Wear you out
23. Vintage Trouble – You already know
24. Fleetwood Mac – Rhiannon (live)

Cover photo pic credit – Sally Croucher. My reflection captured as I pop a disc on my new turntable.

One JemTunes 23 #2

2 of 12 in a monthly music diatribe from a 64-year-old hippy

OneJemTunes is a monthly foray into my world of music. Published monthly throughout 2023, there’s everything here including:

• Downloads
• Gigs
• JemJams
• Birthdays and passings

…and much more. And as 2023 is the year I can finally sing the line ‘…when I’m 64…’ and be there, the music world is my proverbial oyster.

OneJemTunes 23 #2 is mostly about January 2023 (although there’s a bit of looking forward to February as well).

Read on…

JemJams is about posting a new jam every 6 days. Something I’ve done pretty well without a break now for 10 years or so. Here are JemJams 403 to 407:

1. 403 – Troy Redferrn – Come on (posted on 2/1)
2. 404 – Born Healer – River 22 (posted on 8/1)
3. 405 – Larkin Poe – Bolt Cutter and the family name (posted on 14/1)
4. 406 – Jerry Jablonski & the Electric Band – Fork Fed Dog (posted on 20/1), and
5. 407 – Steve Hill – She gives lessons in blues (posted on 26/1)

January downloads & other additions

• ZZ Top – Goin’ 50 (2019)
• The Commoners – Find a better way (2022)
• Jared James Nichols (2023)
• Laura Cox – Head Above Water (2023)
• Various Artists – Oh Happy Day (2009), and
• Sad Cafe (1980) on vinyl

Comings and goings – a regular feature throughout the year. On the one hand sadly recording those we’ve lost, but on the other – looking forward to birthdays of those we still have.

Although many others sadly passed in January, I’m focussing on just two here.

Jeff Beck (feature photo – from March 23 edition of Classic Rock (issue 311)) [24th June 1944 to 10 January 2023] – ex-Yardbirds, The Jeff Beck Group and Beck, Bogert & Appice; standout tracks ‘Hi-ho Silver Lining (1968 from the ‘Truth’ album) and ‘What Mama Said’ (1992 from the ‘Who Else’ album).

David Crosby [14th August 1941 to 18th January 2023] – ex-The Byrds and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young; standout tracks ‘Suite: Judy Blue Eyes’ (1969 from the eponymous first album ‘Crosby Stills and Nash’) and ‘Wooden Ship’ (1969 from the Jefferson Airplane album ‘Volunteers’) performed by Crosby, Stills & Nash at their first ever gig – Woodstock (also in 1969).

Birthdays in February 2023: Sonny Landreth (guitarist) (1st and 72nd), Harry Styles (One Direction) (1st and 29th), Graham Nash (Crosby Stills and Nash) (2nd and 81st), Shakira (singer) (2nd and 46th), Dave Davies (The Kinks) (3rd and 76th), Melanie (singer) (3rd and 76th), Alice Cooper (4th and 75th), Natalie Imbruglia (singer) (4th and 48th), Al Kooper (Blood Sweat & Tears) (5th and 79th), Nigel Tufnel (Spinal Tap) (5th and 75th), Duff McKagen (bassist with Guns n Roses and Velvet Recorder) (5th and 59th), Axl Rose (vocalist with Guns n Roses) (6th and 60th), Rick Ashley (singer) (6th and 56th), Carole King (singer) (9th and 80th), and Holly Johnson (Frankie Goes to Hollywood) (9th and 62nd)

Compilation (aka ‘Mixture’; aka ‘Mix’) tapes – remember them? I was a mixtape maestro back in the day as this JemTunes blog post from March 2014 attests – Mixture Tape Heaven.

I’ve not ripped/burnt a CD in yonks now, but still create regular playlists which I both add to my Apple Music profile and avidly listed to on streaming devices including my iPhone and smart speakers.

Nowadays (and for at least the last few years), my playlists follow annual themes and feature selection from my downloaded albums the previous month. Themes for the last few years have been ’16Play 1-12′, ’17Play 1-12′, ’18Play 1-12′, ’19Play 1-12′, and ‘Decadence I – XXXII’ (2020 to 2022).

For this year though – the series title is ‘23 Tunes‘. Each playlist features 23 tracks from albums and tracks downloaded since the last playlist. I’ve just uploaded ’23 Tunes #1’ with 23 tracks from albums and track downloaded since ‘Decadence XXXII’ in November last year.

Here’s the ’23 Tunes #1′ lowdown:

1. Never the Bride – Sympathy for the Devil (from ‘Jealousy’ – 2015)
2. Kenny Wayne Shepherd – Somehow Somewhere (from ‘Trouble is…25’ – 2022)
3. Jared James Nichols – Easy come easy go (from the eponymous 2023 album)
4. Laura Cox – Bad Luck Blues (from ‘Burning Bright’ – 2019)
5. Nickelback – Saint Quentin (from ‘Get Rollin’ – 2022)
6. Useless Wooden Toys – Woman (from ‘Spanky Pants’ – 2009)
7. ZZ Top – Fearless Boogie (from ‘Goin’ 50′ – 2019)
8. Austin Gold – Never End (from ‘Those City Nights’ – 2022)
9. Useless Wooden Toys – What I want (from ‘Spanky Pants’ – 2009)
10. Laura Cox – One big mess (from ‘Head above water’ – 2023)
11. The Commoners – Too Much (from ‘Find a better way’ – 2022)
12. Nickelback – High Time (from ‘Get Rollin’ – 2022)
13. The Rapture – House of Jealous Lovers (2003 – track download)
14. Tom Morello & Pussy Riot – Weather Strike (2021 – track download)
15. Joanne Shaw Taylor – Then there’s you (from ‘Nobody’s Fool’ – 2022)
16. Kenny Wayne Shepherd – Kings Highway (from ‘Trouble is…25’ – 2022)
17. Macy Gray – Bang Bang (2014 – track download)
18. Prophets of Rage – Made with hate (2019 – track download)
19. Laura Cox – Swing it out (from ‘Head above water’ – 2023)
20. Jared James Nicols – Hard Wired (from the eponymous 2023 album)
21. Laura Cox – As I am (from ‘Burning Bright’ – 2019)
22. Leftfield – This is what we do (from ‘This is what we do’ – 2022)
23. Joss Stone – This little heart of mine (from ‘Oh Happy Day’ – 2009)

One JemTunes 23 #3 is due out around 6th March

JemJams 22 #042

#42 [12 October to 11 November 2019]

Throughout 2022, Jemtunes is revisiting JemJams – a social media post featuring a new ‘jam’ once every 6 days, something I’ve been doing since September 2015 when ‘Thisismyjam.com’ (from whom the inspiration derived) was mothballed.

Since then, JemJams on FaceBook has posted a new jam faithfully every six days, and continues to do so now. As of today, it’s between jams #386 (posted on 21st September) and #387 (due on the 28th).

JemJams 22 charts every posted jam from the beginning and, every 6 days throughout the year, is posting details of six tracks from #001 through #342. Today it’s JJ#247 through JJ#252.

1. Tax the Heat – Change your position (first posted on 12 October 2019)
2. Black Strobe – I’m a man (first posted on 18 October 2019)
3. The Stone Roses – Fools Gold (first posted on 24 October 2019)
4. Fontaines DC – Boys in the better land (first posted on 30 October 2019)
5. Cozy Powell – Na Na Na (first posted on 5 November 2019), and
6. Hell Fire Sinners – Sweet Money (first posted on 11 November 2019)

JemJams #43 is due out on 8 October

JemJams 22 #39

#39 [26 June to 26 July 2019]

 

Throughout 2022, Jemtunes is revisiting JemJams – a social media post featuring a new ‘jam’ once every 6 days, something I’ve been doing since September 2015 when ‘Thisismyjam.com’ (from whom the inspiration derived) was mothballed.

Since then, JemJams on FaceBook has posted a new jam faithfully every six days, and continues to do so now. As of today, it’s between jams #383 (posted on the 3rd) and #384 (due on 9th September).

JemJams 22 charts every posted jam from the beginning and, every 6 days throughout the year, is posting details of six tracks from #001 through #342. Today it’s JJ#229 through JJ#234.

1. Pulp – Common People (originally posted on 26 June 2019)
2. Jimi Hendrix – Purple Haze (originally posted on 2 July 2019)
3. Jimi Hendrix – The wind cries Mary (originally posted on 8 July 2019)
4. Pontus Snibb – You had a friend (originally posted on 14 July 2019
5. Stevie Wonder – As (originally posted on 20 July 2019) and
6. Son of Dave – You keep on buying it (originally posted on 26 July 2019

JemJams 22 #40 is due out on 13th September

JemJams 22 #26

#26 [15 March to 14 April 2018]

Throughout 2022, Jemtunes is revisiting JemJams – a social media post featuring a new ‘jam’ once every 6 days, something I’ve been doing since September 2015 when ‘Thisismyjam.com’ (from whom the inspiration derived) was mothballed.

Since then, JemJams on FaceBook has posted a new jam faithfully every six days, and continues to do so now. As of today, it’s between jams #369 (posted on 11th June) and #370 (due on the 17th).

JemJams 22 charts every posted jam from the beginning and, every 6 days throughout the year, is posting details of six tracks from #001 through #342. Today it’s JJ#151 through JJ#156.

1. The Bug – Fall (first posted on 15 March 2018)
2. Matty T Wall – Voodoo Chile (first posted on 21 March 2018)
3. Dogbreath – Fit in (first posted on 27 March 2018)
4. Life of Agony – Last Cigarette (first posted on 2 April 2018)
5. Rod Stewart – Stone Cold Sober (first posted on 8 April 2018) [Cover pic refers; Stone Cold Sober was the B-side of the ‘Sailing’ single from 1975)
6. Henry’s Funeral Shoe – Overflow (first posted on 14 April 2018)

JemJams 22 #27 is due out on 20th June

Classic 21 #237 – Pub Rock

Classic 21: August (Poppa/Quebec) P #25

The Jemtunes 2021 series ‘Classic 21’ is taking you on a Classic Rock musical A-Z mystery tour throughout the year. August features artists, bands and themes covering the letters P and Q – Poppa/Quebec – and ends the letter ‘P’ today with a shout out to ‘Pub Rock’

Pub rock developed in the early to mid-1970s in the United Kingdom. A back-to-basics movement which incorporated roots rock, pub rock was a reaction against expensively-recorded and produced progressive rock and flashy glam rock.

Although short-lived, pub rock was live rock played in small traditional venues like pubs and clubs.Since major labels showed no interest in pub rock groups, pub rockers sought out independent record labels such as Stiff Records. Indie labels used relatively inexpensive recording processes, so they had a much lower break-even point for a record than a major label.

With pub rock’s emphasis on small venues, simple, fairly inexpensive recordings and indie record labels, it was the catalyst for the development of the British punk rock scene. Despite these shared elements, though, there was a difference between the genres: while pub rock harked back to early rock and roll and R&B, punk was iconoclastic, and sought to break with the past musical traditions.

Classic 21 #211 – John Otway

Classic 21: July (November/Oscar) O #15

John Otway from Aylesbury in Buckinghamshire is an English singer-songwriter who has built a cult audience through extensive touring

Although his first single, “Gypsy”/”Misty Mountain” was released in 1972, Otway initially received some coverage on the back of punk rock and a performance on The Old Grey Whistle Test. His sixth single, the half-spoken love song “Really Free” reached number 27 in the UK Singles Chart in 1977. It would be his greatest success for some time. The song earned him a five-album deal with Polydor Records, who viewed him as a punk rather than merely an eccentric.

 His first album, recorded with Wild Willy Barrett, was produced by Pete Townshend but sold only fitfully. The follow-up singles fared no better despite some imaginative promotion, which included an offer for Otway to come to a buyer’s house and perform the 1979 single, “Frightened And Scared”, if their copy was one of only three copies from which the vocal had been omitted. Otway’s and Barrett’s only other UK chart success came in July 1980 with “DK 50/80”, a modest No. 45 hit.

When he turned solo, his audience remained loyal despite poor record sales. In the mid 1980s, he often appeared on Vivian and Ki Longfellow-Stanshall’s showboat, the Old Profanity Showboat, in Bristol’s Floating Harbour. He also appeared as the musical guest in the final episode of the British sitcom The Young Ones, “Summer Holiday”.

His 1990 autobiography, Cor Baby, That’s Really Me (subtitled Rock and Roll’s Greatest Failure) was a study in self-deprecation, and his touring continued to sustain him. In the 1990s, he toured as “Headbutts and Halibuts”, with Attila the Stockbroker with whom he wrote a surreal rock opera called Cheryl. In 1992 Otway appeared at GuilFest. In 1993 he was able to draw 2,500 fans to a gig in London and, in 1998, 4,000 celebrated his birthday with him at the Royal Albert Hall, coinciding with the release of Premature Adulation, his first album of new material for over ten years.

By then, Otway had realised he could use his fanbase, who were in on the joke, to engage in minor publicity stunts. A grassroots campaign saw his “Beware of the Flowers Cause I’m Sure They’re Going to Get You Yeah” voted the seventh greatest lyric of all time in a BBC poll. In 2002, when asked what he wanted for his 50th birthday, he requested “a second hit”.

A concerted drive, including a poll (scrutinised by the Electoral Reform Society) to select the track, saw “Bunsen Burner” — with music sampled from the Trammps song “Disco Inferno” and lyrics devised to help his daughter with her chemistry homework – reach number nine in the UK Singles Chart on 6 October, and earned him an appearance on Top of the Pops. To encourage fans to buy more than one copy each of the single, he released three different versions. The flip-side of “Bunsen Burner – The Hit Mix” was a cover of “The House of the Rising Sun” recorded at Abbey Road Studios and featuring 900 of his fans on backing vocals, each of whom was credited by name on the single’s sleeve. Thanks to this second hit he has now been able to release his Greatest Hits album. Commenting on the fact that the title of this album is now in the plural, Otway said that he was very proud of it, having “finally got it (the ‘s’) on the right side of Hit“.

Buoyed by the success of the hit campaign, Otway planned an ambitious world tour in October 2006. He proposed hiring his own jet to take his band, and 300 of his fans, to some of the most prestigious venues in the world, including Carnegie Hall and Sydney Opera House. Despite over 150 fans signing up, the tour was cancelled as the costs of the plane spiralled.

Otway is still touring in various formats. In 2009, he was re-united with Wild Willy Barrett for a UK tour, the duo now perform together regularly and even recorded a new album in 2011 called 40-Odd Years of Otway and Barrett consisting of re-workings of old songs and a new, previously unrecorded song “The Snowflake Effect”. Otway also tours as a solo act, as a duo with Richard Holgarth and often with his Big Band which includes Murray Torkildsen, Seymour, Adam Batterbee and guest keyboard player Barry Upton.

In October 2012, to celebrate his 60th birthday, Otway booked the Odeon Leicester Square to show the documentary of his life. Titled Rock and Roll’s Greatest Failure: Otway the Movie, the screening saw cinematic history made with the final scenes of the movie being filmed from the red carpet on the morning of the film. The film was funded by fans becoming producers who, as with the Hit campaign, were all individually credited in the movie credits. Following the success of the producers’ premiere, 2013 saw him take the completed movie to the Cannes Film Festival. Ever resourceful and still with an eye for a publicity stunt, Otway and 100 of his fans (who donned Otway masks and dressed up in Otway’s traditional black jeans and white shirt) travelled down the Promenade de la Croisette to the red carpet. The film also had its theatrical release at Glastonbury Festival in June 2013, before going on a national cinema tour in the summer.

He delivers occasional (humorous) lectures on the theme, “Making Success Out of Failure”, and the sequel to his autobiography, I Did It Otway (subtitled Rock and Roll’s Greatest Failure) was published in May 2010. The book was designed by John Haxby who has also designed Otway’s album sleeves over the past 15 years.

At Christmas 2014, Otway attempted to crack the Christmas market with the EP A John Otway Christma5, the lead track “OK Father Christmas” basing a new lyric on top of the earlier single “DK 50/80”.

During 2016, he set up an online Kickstarter campaign for ‘A New Album of Otway Songs’. The campaign was successful, raising £38,916 from a total of 838 individual backers. The resulting album and DVD, Montserrat, was recorded at Olveston House, Montserrat, in September 2016 and released in March 2017, to those who had supported the Kickstarter campaign, followed by general release on 1 May 2017.

When Covid-19 forced lockdowns across the world he started a series of Facebook live concerts on 28 March 2020, getting up to 10 thousand views per stream. He performed nine such between March and May 2020. 

Classic 21 #086 – Kim Fowley

Classic 21: March (Echo/Foxtrot) F #15

The Jemtunes 2021 series ‘Classic 21’ is taking you on a Classic Rock musical A-Z mystery tour throughout the year. March features artists, bands and themes covering the letters E and F – Echo/Foxtrot – and continues today with ‘F” – a shout out to ‘Kim Fowley’.

Kim Vincent Fowley (July 21, 1939 – January 15, 2015) was an American record producer, singer, songwriter and musician. He is best known for his role behind a string of novelty and cult pop rock singles in the 1960s, and for managing the Runaways in the 1970s. He has been described as “one of the most colorful characters in the annals of rock & roll”, as well as “a shadowy cult figure well outside the margins of the mainstream

Classic 21 #046 – The Damned

Classic 21: February (Charlie/Delta) D #1

The Jemtunes 2021 series ‘Classic 21’ is taking you on a Classic Rock musical A-Z mystery tour throughout the year. February features artists, bands and themes covering the second two letters – Charlies/Delta – and starts today with the first ‘D’ – a delve into ‘The Damned’.

Formed in :London in 1976, The Damned were originally lead vocalist Dave Vanian, guitarist Brian James, bassist (and later guitarist) Captain Sensible, and drummer Rat Scabies. They were the first punk rock band from the UK to release a single, “New Rose” (1976), release an album, ‘Damned Damned Damned’ (1977), and tour the United States. They have nine singles to their name that charted on the UK Singles Chart Top 40.

The band briefly broke up after ‘Music for Pleasure’ (1977), the follow-up to their debut album, was critically dismissed. They quickly reformed without Brian James, and released ‘Machine Gun Etiquette’ (1979). In the 1980s they released four studio albums, ‘The Black Album’ (1980), ‘Strawberries’ (1982), ‘Phantasmagoria’ (1985), and ‘Anything’ (1986), which saw the band moving towards a gothic rock style. The latter two albums did not feature Captain Sensible, who had left the band in 1984. In 1988, James and Sensible rejoined though to play a series of reunion gigs. One of which was released the next year as the live album ‘Final Damnation’.

They folded again at the back end of the eighties but re-formed in 1991 for a much requested tour. Then, in 1995, they released a new album, ‘Not of This Earth’, which was Scabies’s last with the band. This was followed by ‘Grave Disorder’ (2001), ‘So, Who’s Paranoid?’ (2008), and their most recent album, and the first to crack the United Kingdom’s Official Charts’ top 10 list, landing at No.7, ‘Evil Spirits’ in 2018. Despite going through numerous lineup changes, the formation of Vanian, Sensible, keyboardist Monty Oxymoron, drummer Pinch and bassist Stu West had been together from 2004 until 2017, when West left the band and former bassist Paul Gray rejoined.

As one of the first gothic rock bands, The Damned were a major influence on the goth subculture with lead singer Vanian’s vampire-themed costume, baritone singing voice and dark lyrics being major influences.

Classic 21 #045 – The Clash

Classic 21: February (Charlie/Delta) C #14

The Jemtunes 2021 series ‘Classic 21’ is taking you on a Classic Rock musical A-Z mystery tour throughout the year. February features artists, bands and themes covering the second two letters – Charlies/Delta – and continues today with the last ‘C’ – a delve into ‘The Clash’. ‘D’ starts tomorrow.

The Clash formed in London in 1976 as a key player in the original wave of British punk rock. They also contributed to the post-punk and new wave movements that emerged in the wake of punk and employed elements of a variety of genres including reggae, dub, funk, ska, and rockabilly.

For most of their recording career, the Clash were lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist Joe Strummer, lead guitarist and vocalist Mick Jones, bassist Paul Simonon, and drummer Nicky “Topper” Headon. Headon left the group in 1982 and internal friction led to Jones’ departure the following year. The group continued with new members, but finally disbanded in early 1986.

They achieved commercial success in the United Kingdom with the release of their self-titled debut album in 1977. But their third album, ‘London Calling’, released in the UK in December 1979, earned them popularity in the United States as well when it was released there the following month. It was declared the best album of the 1980s a decade later by Rolling Stone.

In 1982, they reached new heights of success with the release of ‘Combat Rock’, which spawned the US top 10 hit “Rock the Casbah”, helping the album to achieve a 2× Platinum certification there. A final album, ‘Cut the Crap’, was released in 1985.

In January 2003, shortly after the death of Joe Strummer, the band—including original drummer Terry Chimes—were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. In 2004, Rolling Stone ranked the Clash number 28 on its list of the “100 Greatest Artists of All Time.