North Fork Sound Top 20 April 26th ‘09

1. Sam Cooke: Little Red Rooster
2. John Lydon: Dog
3. Bob Dylan: It’s All Good
4. Huw Gower: Memory Lane
5. Roy Harper: Sgt. Sunshine
6. Toots & The Maytals: Reggae Got Soul (remake)
7. Jimmy Witherspoon: You Gotta Crawl Before You Walk
8. Tracey Curtis: If The Death Penalty Were An Olympic Sport
9. Robert Medici: She Said Drive
10. Jill Sobule: Nothing To Prove
11. Joey Ramone & General Johnson: Rockaway Beach
12. Hugh Cornwell: Beat Of My Heart
13. Willie Nelson: Sunday Mornin’ Comin’ Down
14. John Adams: Short Ride In A Fast Machine
15. The Mermen: Blue Xoam
16. Sara Leport: Beethoven Pathetique Son. #8 in C Minor 2nd Movement
17. Brett Smiley: Va Va Va Voom
18. Timi Yuro: What’s A Matter Baby (Is It Hurting You)
19. Neil Young: Johnny Magic
20. Alan Vega w/A.R.E. Weapons: See Tha’ Light

NoFoSo Alb o’ The Week:
Charlie Haden Family And Friends: Rambling Boy (Decca)

The Guilty Pleasure:
Raquel Welch: I’m Ready To Groove (Hanna-Barbera Records)

Last Week’s Listener Thumbs-Ups:
Doug Powell: A Prayer For Ray Davies
Wheatus: Punk Ass Bitch
Syd Straw & Marc Ribot: Whole Wide World
3 Aces And A Joker: Booze Party
Lou Reed & John Cale: Nobody But You
Mac Gayden: Morning Glory
Tomorrow: My White Bicycle
Booker T Jones: She Breaks
Dion: Your Own Backyard
The Fun Lovin’ Criminals: The View Belongs To Everyone
The O’Jays: Back Stabbers
Angel Corpus Christi: Surfer Girl
Jook: Crazy Kids
Thomas Dinger: Für Dich
John Cale: Pablo Picasso
Gregory Isaacs: Mr. Cop
The Tornados: Telstar
Shawn Sahm & Augie Myers: Mendocino
Tinsley Ellis & The Heartfixers: Hong Kong Mississippi
John Lydon w/Leftfield: Open Up (full vocal mix)
Patto: The Man
The Liverbirds: He’s About A Mover
Wynder K Frog: Green Door
The Tubes: Don’t Touch Me There
The Phobics: Lipstick
Tim Buckley: Look At The Fool
The Wolfmen: Jackie Says
Tragic Mulatto: Hardcore Bigot Scum Get Stabbed
Timmy Thomas: Why Can’t We Live Together
Delbert McClinton: Texas me
Bruce Anderson: The Inherent Beauty Of Hopelessness
The Yardbirds: Baby What’s Wrong
Dave Alvin: Dynamite Woman
The Star Spangles: Tear It To Pieces Girl
Tracey Ullman: They Don’t Know
Illusion Fields: Feral Pups Of Frenchman Street
Hamell On Trial: Sugarfree
Joe South: Games People Play
The Firecharmers: The Rainbow Song

Mr. Blonde (ManBreak, The Firecharmers)
Bateman St, London, April 5th '09

This week, we celebrate the opening of the North Fork’s much-needed Red Rooster Bistro with Sam Cooke’s ‘Little Red Rooster’. Additionally, taking their place on the play-list are versions by Howlin’ Wolf, the Rolling Stones and The Jesus And Mary Chain while ex-Housemartins and Beautiful South singer, Paul Heaton, gives us an entirely different tune with the same title.

The New Release Bin offers entries by Bob Dylan, Jill Sobule, Neil Young, Willie Nelson, Hugh Cornwell, Alan Vega w/A.R.E. Weapons and Sara Leport while a great remake of ‘Reggae Got Soul’ by Toots & The Maytals and a re-worked ‘Sunday Morning Comin’ Down’ by Willie Nelson (from the original masters) show how a couple of classics can be updated most effectively. The same applies to Rockaway Beach, which gets the ‘beach music’ treatment by Joey Ramone and (The Chairmen Of The Board’s) General Johnson.

Kevin Patrick, Joey Ramone
W. 23rd St, NYC
photo: ht (scanned from a lenticular 3-D print)

Duane Eddy turns 80 today and if it weren’t for him (and Dick Dale) we probably wouldn’t have The Mermen, whose 'Blue Xoam' is pulled out of obscurity for the occasion.

Tracey Curtis names and shames 63 nations who still favour capital punishment in our protest song of the week, ‘If The Death Penalty Were An Olympic Sport’.

John Lydon, ht
photo: Michael Halsband

John Lydon got short shrift when his solo album came out in 1997 but we don’t care and this week, ‘Dog’ is dedicated to Sophia.

Timi Yuro shows up because we can never get enough of ‘What’s A Matter Baby (Is It Hurting You)’. Thanks to Christine Ohlman for sending it in. Can't wait to play her forthcoming album which features Ian Hunter, Dion DiMucci, Levon Helm, Andy York, Marshall Crenshaw and GE Smith, to name a stellar few.

In 1974, Brett Smiley, “the most beautiful boy in the world” (according to Disc Magazine) appeared on the UK’s Russell Harty Show performing his new B-side (!!!), ‘Space Ace’. His whispy performance made David Bowie look like Haystacks Calhoun. I have no idea why I had to rush out and buy his one single on Anchor Records, but I did. The A-side, 'Va Va Va Voom', features guitar by Steve Marriott which manages somewhat to make up for being the fey-est 45 ever made. Produced by NoFoSo favourite, Andrew Loog Oldham.

Brett Smiley 7" picture sleeve

A few notes about this week's charters...

Bruce Anderson's 'The Inherent Beauty of Hopelessness' arrived in the mail while I was away. No record company listed, hardly any credits and impossible to find online. It's not listed on the MX-80 site or available at iTunes or Amazon. It is, however, as good as anything I've heard this decade. I thought of editing it down into sections for airplay, but in the end just couldn't bring myself to cut anything. It's a long piece (40' 28") so when it comes on, do yourself a favour; stop what you're doing and let it take you over. You'll thank me later.

Stephen Bruton's 'Fading Man' is another sublime work reminiscent of The Band at their very best. I've been a fan of Stephen's since his last album showed up, unsolicited, courtesy ace promo-dude and southern gent, Jeff Cook. Since then, all his solo albums and his Austin 'super' group, The Resentments have been playlisted regularly here.

Black Joe Lewis was an impulse buy one afternoon at the awful Borders in Riverhead. I'd never heard of him but it looked good and it was on Lost Highway. Turns out the album's fantastic, and this is the second of many tracks we're going to feature over the coming weeks.

I've no idea who The Third Degree are and don't really care. I saw this in the 7" new releases section at Sister Ray in Soho (London) and, since we were the first internet station - IN THE WORLD - to play Duffy's 'Mercy', I thought maybe we'd be the first internet station based in the US to play their version of the song. It's pretty good.

I remember Charlie Gillett playing TG Sheppard's 'Trying To Beat The Morning Home' back in the mid 70's on his Honky Tonk radio show and it just might have been the first country single I ever bought. When I heard a friend was working with TG now and that his new album contained duets with the likes of George Jones, Jerry Lee Lewis, Delbert McClinton and others, well...it's a no-brainer, really.

Johnny Throttle is good ol' punk-rock done proper, like it was '75/'76. Drums, bass, guitar, voice. Featuring the irrepressible Afonso (late of The Parkinsons) on 'voice', Tom Phobic and I caught them in a crummy dive just off New Bond Street and we had a blast. I was worried I'm getting too old for this. Apparently I'm not.

Also, while in London, I wanted to meet Rupert Orton, one of the guys behind NoFoSo fave The Jim Jones Revue, so I stumbled into the sticky heat-trap that is the 100 Club during a Bob Log III show to find Rupert was promoting the show for Not The Same Old Blues Crap. Between mixing the sound and collecting the money, he told me that after the JJR establish a foothold in Italy and the Benelux territories (having already made solid impressions in France, Spain, Scandinavia and the UK), there will be a short US tour taking in Boston, NYC, Philly, DC and hopefully a few other places. ALL my friends who've seen the band rate 'em highly, so this is something to look forward to. Meanwhile one-man-band, Bob Log III is hysterical. He drank nearly a bottle's worth of tequila shots during his set, played one song with a girl sitting on each leg and played filthy, raw slide blues to a hugely appreciative audience.

Bob Log III
100 Club, London April 8th '09
photo: ht

North Fork Sound Top 20 April 19th ‘09

1. Bruce Anderson: The Inherent Beauty Of Hopelessness
2. Stephen Bruton: Fading Man
3. Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears: Get Yo Shit
4. The Third Degree: Mercy
5. TG Sheppard & Jerry Lee Lewis: The Killer
6. Johnny Throttle: Stukas Über Shoreditch
7. James Hunter: Strange But True
8. Marianne Faithfull: Solitude
9. Seasick Steve: Last Po’ Man
10. Madness: NW5
11. Charlie Haden w/Pat Metheny: Is This America (Katrina 2005)
12. Bob Log III: Goddam Sounds Good
13. Sparks: Lighten Up, Morrissey
14. Backyard Babies: Degenerated
15. Little Boots: New In Town
16. The Yardbirds: Baby What’s Wrong
17. The Foxes: Bill Hicks
18. She Trinity: He Fought The Law
19. Twisted Wheel: Bad Candy
20. The Firecharmers: The Rainbow Song

NoFoSo Alb o’ The Week:
Keep Your Soul – A Tribute To Doug Sahm
(feat: Los Lobos, Little Wille G, Dave Alvin, Delbert McClinton, Jimmie Vaughan, Joe “King” Carrasco & The Texas Tornados, Freda & The Firedogs, Flaco Jimenez & The West Side Horns and Shawn Sahm w/Augie Myers)

The Guilty Pleasure:
Ween: Push Th’ Little Daisies

The (Last) Vinyl B-Side:
Them: Gloria

Last Week’s Listener Favourites:
Aswad: African Children (BBC)
The Skids: Into The Valley
Blur: There’s No other Way
Headstone: Turn Your Head
Geraint Watkins: Soldier Of Love
Roy Orbison: Crying
Social Climbers: Palm Springs
Ace: How Long
Sara Hickman: Learn You Like A Book
The Grateful Dead: Uncle John’s Band
The Specials: Gangsters
Siouxsie & The Banshees: Dear Prudence
Jerry Garcia & David Grisman: Freight Train
George Gilmore & The Giblets: Chicken Necks
George Gilmore & The Giblets: Keep On Lovin’ Me
Thin Lizzy: Things Ain’t Workin’ Out Down At The Farm
Gene Vincent: Be-Bop-A-Lula
Zero: Forever is Nowhere
TG Sheppard w/George Jones: A Man’s Thing
The Sensational Alex Harvey Band: Hole in Her Stocking
PJ Harvey: Down By The Water
The Georgia Satellites: Run Through The Jungle
The Phobics: Lipstick
The Equals: Police On My Back
Dave Edmunds: Information
Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers: Anything That’s Rock ‘n’ Roll
Suicide: Cheree
Little Richard: Keep A Knockin’
Hamell On Trial: Love At First Sight
Winston Wright And The Supersonics: Moonlight Groover
The Velvet Underground: Rock & Roll
The Pretenders: Boots Of Chinese Plastic
Kevin Ayers: Stranger in Blue Suede Shoes
Drive-By Truckers: Aftermath USA
The Deviants: I’m Coming Home
Willie Dixon: 29 Ways
Danny Gatton & Joey DeFransesco: Well, You Needn’t
Graham Parker: Ambiguous
The Cowboy Junkies: ‘cause Cheap is How I Feel
Muddy Waters: Mannish Boy
John Martyn: Our Love
The Damned: New Rose
Gregory Isaacs: Night Nurse
David Essex: Rock on
Conway Twitty: Shake it Up Baby
The Screaming Blue Messiahs: Tracking The Dog (BBC)
The Divinyls: Hey Little Boy
Solomon Burke: Everybody Needs Somebody To Love
East River String Band: Bye Bye Baby Blues
Wild Rumpus (feat: Gary Lucas): Rock The Joint 12”
Nick Lowe: The Gee And The Rick And The Three Card Trick
Chuck Rio: Denise
The Rake’s Progress: Salvation
David Ruffin: Walk Away From Love
Roxy Music: Re-make/Re-model
Syd Straw w/Marc Ribot: Whole Wide World

www.live365.com/stations/thespangler
http://www.facebook.com/people/Howard-Thompson/659208571

Alan Vega: Infinite Mercy - A Major Retrospective

link

PLUS: Throbbing Gristle & The Emeralds @ Brooklyn Masonic Temple, 4/28/09
317 Clermont Ave, Brooklyn, NY - Sold Out
NB!!! VEGA has withdrawn from this show

The Phobics

Tom Phobic
East London, April 4th '09

Nowadays, you really need at least 2 of these...

The Pink Fairies
'The Snake' b/w 'Do It'
Polydor Records, UK, 1971

jukebox tab, written out by Twink

Vega postcard

'Rocket USA'

lyrics by Alan Vega