North Fork Sound Top 20 - June 29th ‘08

1. Eddie Cochran: Somethin’ Else
2. Gene Casey & The Lone Sharks: That’s What Cheaters Do
3. Bo Diddley: Say Man
4. Mary Gauthier: Last Of The Hobo Kings
5. The Flashcubes: Blackberry Way (NFS exclusive)
6. Miles Davis: All Blues
7. Robyn Hitchcock: Because You’re Over
8. The Easybeats: Good Times
9. Dandy Livingstone: A Message To Rudy
10. The Flamin’ Groovies: Slow Death
11. Shelby Lynne: Johnny Met June
12. Burning Spear: Tradition
13. Ray Bryant Combo: Sack O’ Woe
14. Ian Dury: Cacka Boom
15. Marvin Gaye: Got To Give It Up (Pt. 1)
16. The Ramones: Do You Remember Rock ‘n’ Roll Radio?
17. Sofia: Mongoloid
18. Little Richard: Miss Ann
19. Brinsley Schwarz: Nervous On The Road (But Can’t Stay At Home)
20. Suicide: Cheree

Featured Album:
Gene Casey & The Lone Sharks: What Happened

The 7” B-side:
Angel Corpus Christi: Down

Last Week's Listener Thumbs Ups:
Melanie Pain: Teenage Kicks
The Georgia Satellites: Six Years Gone
Rod Stewart: Maggie May
Jimmy Cliff: You Can Get It If You Really Want
Raging Slab: Don’t Dog Me
Chuck Berry: All Aboard
Wynder K Frog: Green Door
Isobel Campbell & Mark Lanegan: Who Built The Road
Mary Gauthier: Jackie’s Train
The Clash: I Fought The Law
The Beatles: While My Guitar Gently Weeps (Harrison demo)
The Kink's: I Gotta Move
Brinsley Schwarz: Happy Doing What We’re Doing
Yellowman: Nobody Move Nobody Get Hurt
The Who: Getting In Tune
John Lennon: Only You
Swamp Dogg: Sam Stone
James Carr: Pouring Water Over A Drowning Man
Cliff Richard: Move It
Johnny Otis Show: High Heel Sneakers

‘Moving’ songs played last week:
Elvis Presley: We’re Gonna Move
Arthur Alexander: You Better Move On
B.B. King: Never Make A Move Too Soon
Miles Davis: Move
The Blind Boys Of Alabama: You Got To Move
Chris Isaak: Like The Way She Moves
The Flamin’ Groovies: Move It
Mungo Jerry: Movin’ On
The Move: I Can Hear The Grass Grow
Young MC: Bust A Move
Yellowman: Nobody Move, Nobody Get Hurt
Sir Douglas Quintet: She’s About A Mover
MX-80 Sound: Man On The Move
The Rolling Stones: You Gotta Move
Primal Scream: Movin’ On Up
MC5: Gotta Keep Movin’
Julee Cruise: Movin’ In On You
The Kinks: I Gotta Move
Robert Plant & Alison Krauss: Gone Gone Gone (Done Moved On)
The Flying Lizards: Move On Up
Free: I’m A Mover

Suicide: Live '77-'78

For those that just can't get enough Suicide, Blast First Petite has just released a 6 cd box containing 13 shows recorded the year (or so) following the release of their classic debut. Some of the shows were recorded by me directly onto cassette, some by Eric Maché. Both of us were fans and recorded while standing in the audience. All the shows were mixed by Marty Thau and/or Charles Ball. Venues represented here include Max's Kansas City, the Palladium & CBGB's (NYC), The Music Machine (London), Eric's (Liverpool), Anciennes Belgiques (Brussels), the Olympia (Paris), Audiomax (Hamburg) and Kant Kino (Berlin).
Last Sunday afternoon, a group of people gathered downtown to celebrate Alan Vega's birthday (6/23). Folks flew in from Finland, London, and came from all over to be there. It was a pleasure seeing Alan looking so happy, surrounded by his family, Marty Rev, friends, peers and admirers.

Every now and then you think about your life, what you would like to be, you start at Number 1 and you go down to 100. And down at the bottom, 100, was - Stage. Go figure. That would be the last thing. It terrified me, man. But I had to do it. - AV

Alan Vega
Lower Manhattan, NY
June 22nd '08

Mary Gauthier

Mary Gauthier

Stephen Talkhouse, June 15th '08

Before NoFoSound, there was 'CAKE' and occasionally all the songs played for a week would be devoted to one particular subject. 'Animals' was a good one, for instance, as was 'Drinking'. In researching the latter, I found a song called "I Drink" by Mary Gauthier (pron. "Go-shay") on a 'burn' of a Bob Dylan "Theme Time Radio Hour" that my good friend, the Loobster had made me and its stark, confessional beauty brought to mind Gillian Welch at her very best. After downloading Mary's "Drag Queens in Limousines" and finding on it a whole mess of dark, stunning tunes, I was pleased to see her listed in Amagansett Sunday night while on her way back home to Nashville after promoting her new album "Between Daylight And Dark" at stops in NY, MA and CT. She's been making music and performing for 10 years and, thanks to Jimmy Buffett, who covered her "Wheel Inside The Wheel" on his last album, she can now do it in a much fancier car. Her songs, which she describes as "miserable country", often feature characters who live hard, difficult lives but her gifts for telling a story often make these folk sound heroic, almost enviable. "Last Of The Hobo Kings" from the new one was inspired by a NY Times obituary for "Steam Train" Maury Graham and while she sang it, I realized one reason I like Mary so much is because she reminds me of Mickey Newbury, another plaintive storyteller whose voice and songs rip your insides out. I've never seen an audience at the Stephen Talkhouse be so quiet, so attentive and, as she strummed her last note, the whole place rose to show Mary its gratitude and appreciation. This was a performance that stood out and I'm sure we'll be hearing a lot more from Ms. Gauthier before too long. The folks in charge could have stuck another crappy tribute band on and probably filled the place, but even though the night was far from being 'sold out', the talent bookers there deserve 'props'. They're doing a fine job and Rickie Lee Jones, Shelby Lynne, Beth Orton, Eeek-A-Mouse and Robyn Hitchcock are all stopping by over the next few weeks, so things are definitely looking up...

Gene Casey & The Lone Sharks

Gene Casey
The Old Mill, Mattituck, 6/7/08

Last night, Gene Casey and the Lone Sharks Two, a sawed-off, acoustic version of Long Island's coolest "rhythm & twang" combo (featuring Stan Mitchell beating the traps and Joe Lauro on upright and outasite bass) turned The Old Mill in Mattituck back into the rockin' speakeasy it once was. Usually, this local bar/restaurant plays host to a handful of grizzled fishermen bemoaning the diminishing shoals of stripers, (while some of us bemoan the diminishing shoals of strippers) but not this time. The noisy, packed, but appreciative bar patrons clapped, danced and hollered along to tunes originally written by Carl Perkins, Johnny Burnette, Johnny Cash, Bill Munroe, Doc Pomus and were treated to a particularly fine version of 'You Can't Judge A Book By Its Cover' reminding us all that America lost one of its finest sons last week, Bo Diddley. (Face it, how many people do you know have a beat named after them, eh?) Slipped in between were a few of Gene's originals and they stood up, proud, in such fine company. Particularly 'Who's Sharing The Moon', which could be a hit for Chris Isaak should his writing chops ever dry up. Find it on the brand new cd, 'What Happened' out now and available at Sharks' shows and (soon), their website. If Gene and The Lone Sharks - in ANY format, acoustic or electric - happen to be in your neighborhood and you need a shot of rhythm, blues, country or rockabilly, as the man himself says, 'If I Can Do It, (So Can You)'...

So Many Records, So Little Time

Kevin Patrick, Joey Ramone
23rd St, NYC, '85-ish

Check out Kevin Patrick's 'So Many Records, So Little Time' blog, if you have a vinyl fetish.

Who Do You Love?

Bo Diddley

A Man Amongst Men