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