Samla Mammas Manna - "Måltid" (Silence – SRS 4621) 1973

In a glaring attempt to pick something not Obvious from the groups who performed at the genre defining original Rock In Opposition Featival back in yee olde days of 1978. I give you a Swedish band who ,(A), aren't Abba, (B) contain no future ABBA collaborators or Members, and thirdly, (C), are certainly NOT Swedish Punk,or on a Killed by death compilation. All this blatant non-alignment with Swedish musical cliché,without even mentioning IKEA or Volvo, suggests a record of great promise.

As it turns out ,they are basically Canterbury Prog emulators with some rather annoying vocal bits that suggest a.....sharp intake of breath!.....sense of humour!? Prog Humour is never something to boast about,and is even more frown defining than even Psychedelic Humour. Comedy music is seldom recommended,99% of which ends in disaster and polite embarrassed applause. Especially if you're making serious music,and add a spot of  funny stuff to show that you don't take yourselves seriously,when you most obviously do.

I spotted this cover from afar,and thought it was a unhalfbricking style photograph of a pair of elderly types having a Gravelax sandwich....disappointingly it turns out to be a semi-photorealist painting,that, again may suggest prog humour!?

I'll tell you what definitely is NOT funny about this record,is that god-awful high-pitched, falsetto i think they call it, vocalizing.

You know that feeling you get when you trip over a crack in the paving,or are passed by an over revving Moped in first gear; that you momentarily wanna kill some fucker!?....that's how i feel when these Swedes from Canterbury make their silly hi-pitched noises.

Other than that it's okay.

It would be five years before the inauguration of Rock In Opppostion,so maybe they sacked off the vocals by 1978?

I've never been brave enough to try and find out.

I understand that the Turkish objections to Sweden joining NATO were based around having heard this record. Now NATO are considering using it to counteract all that state approved prog on the old Soviet official record label that Putin has been secretly hoarding alongside the Novichok;.. Melodija(its spelt several different ways smartarses!).

Tracklisting:

1 Dundrets Fröjder 10:43
2 Oförutsedd Förlossning 3:10
3 Den Återupplivade Låten 5:53
4 Folkvisa I Morse 2:07
5 Syster System 2:27
6 Tärningen 3:33
7 Svackorpoängen 3:11
8 Minareten 8:21
9 Værelseds Tilbud 2:26
10 Minareten II 4:40
11 Circus Apparatha 6:02
12 Probably The Probably 3:54

DOWNLOAD some flatpack canterbury prog via sweden HERE!

Kosmose – "Kosmic Music From The Black Country" (Sub Rosa – SRV394) 1973-78/2015

Straight from the "Black Country" in the dark ages of the mid-seventies came Kosmose's kraut-a-like improvisations; but for us English, the Black Country means grim hell-holes such as Stoke-on-Trent,the home of D-Beat punk,like Discharge and GBH. If you were caught listening to some Belgian Kosmiche music anywhere in the black country of the UK, you'd have been beaten up and called a "PUFF!" in no uncertain terms.There was no sanctuary,and everyone usually bore an uncanny resemblance to Quasimodo's uglier brother,and that was just the women(I know i've used that joke before, but it's a good one!).Although that observation was based on a particularly grim section of Stoke City fans I have encountered on many an occasion,so I may be wrong....even though Robbie Williams grew up there,if grow up is the right word in relation to Mr Williams......he was a Port Vale fan,from the weirder side of town,so one never got to visit vale park too often as they rarely appeared in the higher divisions during my Hooligan career.

One therefore assumes that "The Black Country" in this incidence is none other than Belgium.The place that is the butt of the dumbest jokes in France,by the dumbest Frenchmen,where it is understood that Belgians are stupid,and the French are far superior. This misnomer is made even more ridiculous when one realises that it should be the other way around.....especially when it comes to Beer, Chocolate,and...music.Even the famous 'French' singers turn out to be actually Belgians in disguise, like Johnny Hallyday,Jacques Brel and Plastic Bertrand; or collaborating Nazi Whores like Edith Piaf. Quite like Canadians were in the USA,with such luminaries as Leonard Cohen,Joni Mitchell, and Neil Young to name but three...although I have it on the strictest confidence that Joni Mitchell was NOT,and indeed, NEVER WAS a Nazi Whore!

Of course Belgium's golden years were still to come half a decade after 1973.It was left to the French to make the prog,which preceded a steady decline into the laughing stock of western Europe they are now.Magma excluded.

However, these archive tapes of what must have been Belgium's premier Prog band,prove that kraut-style prog was alive and vibrant north of the Maginot line.

In a country as compact and bijou as Belgium,which was twice used as a short cut to get at the British Expeditionary Force, it was the synth and drum machine that propelled the local populous into the 'very good file' of early eighties pop music.Forming a solid buffer zone,for once, between Germany and France.A battle of the Belge that the Belge actually won. Helped vastly by the actions of one Alain Neffe,founder of DIY cassette culture label Insane Music.

Neffe was also indeed a founder member of Kosmose,and deserves some kind of medal (The Golden Cassette) for the excellent resurrection job he made of these dusty old tapes.

The music is a heady mix of kraut style kosmiche,free jazz,with hints of CAN and most other things Krauty.Absorbed through a semi-permeable membrane by the musical process of Kosmosis,which one assumes is what the gist of the band name is?

Tracklist:

The Second Untitled Track / B.93.1 6:40
The Third Untitled Track / B.30.4 9:30
The Fourth Untitled Track / B64 4:20
The Fifth Untitled Track / B.40.9 5:45
The Ninetieth Untitled Track / 10 Reverb 9:00
The Tenth Untitled Track / 30.2 9:10
The Eleventh Untitled Track / 31.1 8:40
The Sixth Untitled Track / B.80.3 13:30
The Seventh Untitled Track / B.101.2 22:40
The Twelfth Untitled Track / 102.3 28:00
The Eighth Untitled Track / KS 18:56

DOWNLOAD by kosmosis HERE!

Midwinter – "The Waters Of Sweet Sorrow" (Porcelain – PCN 001) 1996/1973

By 1973 every urban street had a Progressive Folk Band with a lady singer of questionable ability singing about country life,while the blokes squabbled over who was gonna be the Bert Jansch of the group.

Alas, also by 1973 the kids were turning a blind ear to these urban folkies and went in a very ill advised ELP direction. So it was unlikely you were gonna get your album released by Island or any other previously Folk orientated label. So your tapes were stored on the shelf until the crate diggers of the nineties 'rediscovered' your rejected efforts,and burnt it to CD for the Japanese market.

Midwinter were one of these doomed ,too late for the wave, kind of things, which rose up from deepest darkest Great Yarmouth; a grim seaside town, that had less than nothing happening during the Winter season...except for the Folk Club,where our anti-heroes met up.......during the bleak Midwinter of 1972.

The tapes were indeed found in guitarist Ken's Attic, and now they enjoy the cult status that was denied them when it was most needed.Better late than never I guess?

Impressively this is quite good indeed,despite yet another version of "Scarborough Fair". Jill Child's singing comes from a Jacqui McShee via Shirley Collins direction,but,of course lacking either of their charisma's or talent, .Lets face it you ain't gonna find a Sandy Denny living down your street in Great Yarmouth are you?....Probably in the eighties if she fell on hard times maybe, but we'll never know......so Jill Child it is.However, her simple understatedness suits the music much more authentically than any of those Female Folk legendesses.

Tracklist:

1.Sanctuary Stone
2.To Find A Reason
3.The Skater
4.Scaborough Fair
5.The Oak Tree Grove
6.Dirge
7.Maids And Gentlemen
8.The Waters Of Sweet Sorrow
9.All Things Are Quite Silent
10.The Two Sisters
11. Winter Song

DOWNLOAD the midwinter of discontent HERE!

Paul Giovanni and Magnet – "The Wicker Man OST" (Die or DIY? Version) 1973

I'm still waiting for Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber to do a west end/broadway version of  one of the greatest movies ever made,namely, "The Wicker Man", the Citizen Kane of Folk Horror Musicals.Or was Orson Wells' career defining moment actually The Wicker Man of  post war Hollywood mystery dramas? Both I think?

What Sir Andrew would do to this classic Dark Folk soundtrack makes one fear for the survival of humanity. What makes this music even more remarkable is that it was written by an American, the late Paul Giovanni,who can be seen in the Green Man pub singing "Gently Johnny" in the outtake sequence and in the finale singing "Summers a Coming In".These all sound like authentic ancient Folk tunes,but,no sir, written by a yank!?

The funniest story about this film is that Rod Stewart threw a wobbler about Britt Eklund getting her jugs out and doing a sensual naked dance to tempt the virgin Fool played by Sergeant Edward Woodward into being deflowered by Brit as the Landlords Daughter.

So much did rock'n'roller Rod moan about this that a body double was used for the dancey bits.....but Wow! What a body double...Phwaoooer!

Also funny, is why on earth is christian society so scared of Paganism? Calling this bizarre film a Horror movie reveals humanity as the death-fearing bunch of simpletons we really are.After-all, Christianity is virtually Paganism but with the green man replaced by a bearded old bloke/entity in the sky.....now that's even sillier than Rod Stewart.

Britt Eklund wishing Rod Sewart had a body double with a smaller nose

Even more silly than Rod Stewart has to be the absurd 'remake' starring Nicholas Cage. I managed ten minutes of this drivel before I switched channels. I can only imagine Cage brandishing a firearm at the head of one of those Pagan scum demanding "Ok you Pagan Son of a Bitch!This .44 magnum says you know the whereabouts of Rowan Morrison"?

The fuckers also did the same to UK crime thriller "Get Carter",this time even worse, Sly Stallone as Carter!?....Hollywood leave us alone please...in fact leave everyone alone....pretty please!?

What if Richard Curtis did a remake of "Mean Streets" with Hugh Grant as Johnny Boy, or Mike Leigh's version of "Halloween" starring Dame Judie Dench as Mike Myers eh?....I dunno, I'd actually quite like to see these films!

PS...there are so many versions of this soundtrack, so i done a sort of a best of...for yers.

Tracklist:

Songs From Summersisle Ballads Of Seduction, Fertility And Ritual Slaughter

1 Corn Rigs 2:35
2 The Landlord's Daughter (movie Version) 2:37
3 Gently Johnny 3:32
4 Maypole 2:43
5 Fire Leap 1:26
6 The Tinker Of Rye 1:50
7 Willow's Song 4:40
8 Procession 2:15
9 Chop Chop 1:41
10 Lullaby 4:29

Incidental Music From 'The Wicker Man'

12 Opening Music / Loving Couples / The Ruined Church 4:13
13 The Masks / The Hobby Horse 1:25
14 Searching For Rowan 2:22
15 Appointment With The Wicker Man 1:18
16 Sunset  1:05

17 The Landlords Daughter (Studio Version) 2:40

DOWNLOAD a good harvest of modern folk tunes HERE!

or 

via the mediafire ferry from the mainland HERE!

Sandy Denny – "Studio Outtakes - Home Demos - Unheard Songs" (2010)

These are the "Studio Outtakes ,Home Demos ,and Unheard Songs" section of that massive 19CD box set of everything Sandy recorded ever!?..which would set you back quite a few hundred quid,mostly for stuff you already have...but not these 127 intimate versions of her future studio work,plus songs that were never heard beyond Sandy's various living rooms.Everything from Fairport to Fotheringay,from the Folk Club years to the record company compliant Adult Orientated rock of 'Rendezvous',is here in a superior, stripped down form with Sandy's perfect Voice whispering in your ears.Its like she's in the room singing you to sleep......i'm welling up now!.....just don't tell me mates!

Early Home Demos:
12-1 Sandy Denny– Blues Run The Game (Unreleased Home Demo)
12-2 Sandy Denny– Milk And Honey (Unreleased Home Demo)
12-3 Sandy Denny– Soho (Unreleased Home Demo)
12-4 Sandy Denny– It Ain't Me Babe (Unreleased Home Demo)
12-5 Sandy Denny– East Virginia (Unreleased Home Demo)
12-6 Sandy Denny– Geordie (Home Demo)
12-7 Sandy Denny– In Memory (The Tender Years) (Unreleased Home Demo)
12-8 Sandy Denny– I Love My True Love (Unreleased Home Demo)
12-9 Sandy Denny– Let No Man Steal Your Thyme (Unreleased Home Demo)
12-10 Sandy Denny– Ethusel (Unreleased Home Demo)
12-11 Sandy Denny– Carnival (Unreleased Home Demo)
12-12 Sandy Denny– Setting Of The Sun (Unreleased Home Demo)
12-13 Sandy Denny– Boxful Of Treasures (Home Demo)
12-14 Sandy Denny– They Don't Seem To Know You (Home Demo)
12-15 Sandy Denny– Gerrard Street (Unreleased Home Demo)
12-16 Sandy Denny– Fotheringay (Unreleased Home Demo)
12-17 Sandy Denny– She Moves Through The Fair (Home Demo)
12-18 Sandy Denny– The Time Has Come (Unreleased Home Demo)
12-19 Sandy Denny– Seven Virgins (Unreleased Home Demo)
12-20 Sandy Denny– A Little Bit Of Rain (Unreleased Home Demo)
12-21 Sandy Denny– Go Your Own Way My Love (Home Demo)
12-22 Sandy Denny– Cradle Song (Unreleased Home Demo)
12-23 Sandy Denny– Blue Tattoo (Unreleased Home Demo)
12-24 Sandy Denny– The Quiet Land Of Erin (Unreleased Home Demo)
12-25 Sandy Denny– Who Knows Where The Time Goes (Unreleased Home Demo)

Sandy Denny Solo And Fairport Convention:
13-1 Sandy Denny– Who Knows Where The Time Goes (Unreleased Home Demo)
13-2 Sandy Denny– Motherless Children (Unreleased Home Demo)
13-3 Sandy Denny– Milk And Honey (Unreleased BBC Session)
13-4 Sandy Denny– Been On The Road So Long
13-5 Sandy Denny– Quiet Land Of Erin
13-6 Sandy Denny– Autopsy (Demo)
13-7 Sandy Denny– Now And Then (Demo)
13-8 Sandy Denny– Fotheringay (Unreleased Version)
13-9 Sandy Denny– She Moved Through The Fair (Unreleased Version)
13-10 Fairport Convention– Mr. Lacey (Unreleased BBC Session)
13-11 Fairport Convention– Throwaway Street Puzzle
13-12 Fairport Convention– Ballad Of Easy Rider (Outtake)
13-13 Fairport Convention– Dear Landlord (Outtake)
13-14 Fairport Convention– A Sailors Life (Alternative Version)
13-15 Fairport Convention– Sir Patrick Spens (Outtake)
13-16 Fairport Convention– Quiet Joys Of Brotherhood (Take 1)
13-17 Fairport Convention– Quiet Joys Of Brotherhood (Take 4)

Fotheringay:
14-1 Fotheringay– The Sea (Unreleased Studio Demo)
14-2 Fotheringay– Winter Winds (Unreleased Studio Demo)
14-3 Fotheringay– The Pond And The Stream (Unreleased Studio Demo)
14-4 Fotheringay– The Way I Feel (Unreleased Alternative Take)
14-5 Fotheringay– Banks Of The Nile (Unreleased Alternate Take)
14-6 Fotheringay– Winter Winds (Unreleased Alternate Take)
14-7 Fotheringay– Silver Threads And Golden Needles (Outtake)
14-8 Fotheringay– The Sea (Unreleased)
14-9 Fotheringay– Two Weeks Last Summer
14-10 Fotheringay– Nothing More
14-11 Fotheringay– Banks Of The Nile
14-12 Fotheringay– Memphis Tennessee
14-13 Fotheringay– Trouble In Mind (Unreleased)
14-14 Fotheringay– Bruton Town (Unreleasedl)

Sandy Denny: The North Star Grassman And The Ravens:
15-1 Sandy Denny– The Sea Captain (Unreleased Demo)
15-2 Sandy Denny– Next Time Around (Unreleased Demo)
15-3 Sandy Denny– The Optimist (Unreleased Demo)
15-4 Sandy Denny– Wretched Wilbur (Unreleased Demo)
15-5 Sandy Denny– Crazy Lady Blues (Unreleased Demo)
15-6 Sandy Denny– Lord Bateman (Unreleased Demo)
15-7 Sandy Denny With Richard Thompson– Walking The Floor Over You (Unreleased)
15-8 Sandy Denny– Losing Game (Outtake)
15-9 Sandy Denny– The Northstar Grassman And The Ravens (Unreleased)
15-10 Sandy Denny– Crazy Lady Blues (Unreleased)
15-11 Sandy Denny– Late November
15-12 Sandy Denny With Ian Matthews– If You Saw Thru My Eyes
15-13 Sandy Denny With The London Symphony Orchestra– It's A Boy (From 'Tommy')
15-14 Sandy Denny– The Northstar Grassman And The Ravens
15-15 Sandy Denny– The 12th Of Never (Unreleased Studio Demo)
15-16 Sandy Denny– Sweet Rosemary (Demo)
15-17 Sandy Denny– The Lady (Demo)
15-18 Sandy Denny– After Halloween (Demo)

Sandy Denny: Sandy And Like An Old Fashioned Waltz:
16-1 Sandy Denny– It'll Take A Long Time (Unreleased Demo)
16-2 Sandy Denny– Sweet Rosemary (Demo)
16-3 Sandy Denny– For Nobody To Hear (Unreleased Demo)
16-4 Sandy Denny– Tomorrow Is A Long Time (Unreleased Demo)
16-5 Sandy Denny– Quiet Joys Of Brotherhood (Unreleased Demo)
16-6 Sandy Denny– Listen, Listen (Unreleased Demo)
16-7 Sandy Denny– The Lady (Unreleased Demo)
16-8 Sandy Denny– Bushes And Briars (Unreleased Demo)
16-9 Sandy Denny– It Suits Me Well (Unreleased Demo)
16-10 Sandy Denny– The Music Weaver (Demo)
16-11 Sandy Denny– No End (Unreleased Alternate Take)
16-12 Sandy Denny– Whispering Grass (Unreleased Demo)
16-13 Sandy Denny– Until The Real Thing Comes Along (Unreleased Demo)
16-14 Sandy Denny– Walking The Floor Over You (Alternative Version)
16-15 Sandy Denny– No End (Alternative Version)

Sandy Denny - Rendezvous:
18-1 Sandy Denny– Blackwaterside (Unreleased Granada TV Show 1975)
18-2 Sandy Denny– No More Sad Refrains (Unreleased Granada TV Show 1975)
18-3 Sandy Denny– By The Time It Gets Dark (Unreleased Acoustic Demo)
18-4 Sandy Denny– One Way Donkey Ride (Unreleased Acoustic Version)
18-5 Sandy Denny With Jess Roden– Losing Game
18-6 Sandy Denny– Easy To Slip (Outtake)
18-7 Sandy Denny– By The Time It Gets Dark (Demo)
18-8 Sandy Denny– No More Sad Refrains (Unreleased Alternative Version)
18-9 Sandy Denny– I'm A Dreamer (Unreleased Live In The Studio)
18-10 Sandy Denny– All Our Days (Unreleased Choral Version)
18-11 Sandy Denny– By The Time It Gets Dark (Demo)
18-12 Sandy Denny– Still Waters Run Deep (Unreleased Alternative Version)
18-13 Sandy Denny– Full Moon (Unreleased Alternative Version)
18-14 Sandy Denny– Candle In The Wind (Unreleased Alternative Version)
18-15 Sandy Denny– Moments (Outtake)
18-16 Sandy Denny– I Wish I Was A Fool For You (Unreleased Alternative Version)
18-17 Sandy Denny– Gold Dust (Unreleased Alternative Version)
18-18 Sandy Denny– Still Waters Run Deep (Unreleased Alternative Version)
18-19 Sandy Denny– Moments (Unreleased Alternative Version)

Sandy Denny: Home Demos 1974-1977:
19-1 Sandy Denny– The King And Queen Of England (Demo)
19-2 Sandy Denny– Rising For The Moon (Demo)
19-3 Sandy Denny– One More Chance (Demo)
19-4 Sandy Denny– The King And Queen Of England (Unreleased Demo)
19-5 Sandy Denny– After Halloween (Unreleased Demo)
19-6 Sandy Denny– What Is True? (Demo)
19-7 Sandy Denny– Stranger To Himself (Demo)
19-8 Sandy Denny– Take Away The Load (Demo)
19-9 Sandy Denny– By The Time It Gets Dark (Demo)
19-10 Sandy Denny– I'm A Dreamer (Demo)
19-11 Sandy Denny– Full Moon (Demo)
19-12 Sandy Denny– Take Me Away (Demo)
19-13 Sandy Denny– All Our Days (Demo)
19-14 Sandy Denny– No More Sad Refrains (Demo)
19-15 Sandy Denny– Still Waters Run Deep (Demo)
19-16 Sandy Denny– One Way Donkey Ride (Demo)
19-17 Sandy Denny– I'm A Dreamer (Unreleased Demo)
19-18 Sandy Denny– Full Moon 2(Unreleased Demo)
19-19 Sandy Denny– Makes Me Think Of You (Unreleased Demo)

DOWNLOAD to hear the unheard here Folkies!

Sandy Denny – "Live At The BBC (1966-1973)" (Island Records – 984 992-8)

Staying on the Folk singers at the Beeb kinda thing,here's a personal fav/obsession,the late,great, Sandy Denny.Of course Y'all have all her works i expect,so i'll restrict it to BBC appearances and the odd bootleg....you may be relieved to hear?

To use a maritime expression,something that Sandy often turned to in her lyrics,She sailed too close to the rocks of the Singer/Songwriter category on several occasions; but the lighthouse shone a dark light in her doomed direction, and she went under like most of the crews of the sea-faring vessels she wrote about.

The sheer nerve that Island Records have in releasing Sandy's BBC appearances after dropping her in '76,and after trying to get her to lighten up her material a bit is nothing short of despicable.They deserve all the illegal downloads we can muster.Of course they panicked because of Punk Rock,not only dropping some great acts,but ruining The Slits to boot!

"I'm Not Hearing A Single Here?", was often mentioned by the record executive twats,who were responsible for making her record a limp version of Reg's "Candle In The Wind" to release as a chart flop.Not to mention "Whispering Grass" and several terrible Rockers that spoilt all of her otherwise great albums.She should have kept those Dark and diminished chord structures. She herself thought she was gonna be a big star,and failed to realise that her material was an acquired taste,suitable for cult audiences only.That coupled with a drink problem,falling down stairs for fun, and having a boyfriend/Husband with a wildly roving eye...not that Randy Sandy was innocent of this too?...it all added up to the inevitable tragic ending that bewitched anyone that had anything to do with Joe Boyd,which reads like a list of Pop Star Do's and Don't's(Syd Barratt, Nick Drake, and the lovely Sandy). Failed fame's a killer kids,be content with anonymity and live a full life.

Tracklist:

In Session:
CD1-1 Fhir A' Bhata (BBC - Folk Song Cellar)
CD1-2 Green Grow the Laurels (BBC - Folk Song Cellar 2/12/66)
CD1-3 Hold On To Me Babe (BBC - Cellarful Of Folk 6/3/67)
CD1-4 Blues Run The Game (BBC - Cellarful Of Folk 6/3/67)
CD1-5 Late November (BBC Session - Bob Harris 24/8/71)
CD1-6 The Optimist (BBC Session - Bob Harris 24/8/71)
CD1-7 Crazy Lady Blues (BBC Session - Bob Harris 24/8/71)
CD1-8 The Lowlands Of Holland (BBC Session - Bob Harris 24/8/71)
CD1-9 It Suits Me Well (BBC Session - Bob Harris 25/10/72)
CD1-10 The Music Weaver (BBC Session - Bob Harris 25/10/72)
CD1-11 Bushes And Briars (BBC Session - Bob Harris 25/10/72)
CD1-12 It'll Take A Long Time (BBC Session - Bob Harris 25/10/72)
CD1-13 Solo (BBC Session - John Peel 11/9/73)
CD1-14 Like An Old Fashioned Waltz (BBC Session - John Peel 11/9/73)
CD1-15 Who Knows Where The Time Goes? (BBC Session - John Peel 11/9/73)
CD1-16 Until The Real Thing Comes Along (BBC Session - Bob Harris 14/11/73)
CD1-17 Whispering Grass (BBC Session - Bob Harris 14/11/73)
CD1-18 Dark The Night (BBC Session - Bob Harris 14/11/73)
CD1-19 Solo (BBC Session - Bob Harris 14/11/73)

In Concert:
CD2-1 The North Star Grassman And The Ravens (BBC In Concert - Paris Theatre 16/3/72)
CD2-2 Sweet Rosemary (BBC In Concert - Paris Theatre 16/3/72)
CD2-3 The Lady (BBC In Concert - Paris Theatre 16/3/72)
CD2-4 Bruton Town (BBC In Concert - Paris Theatre 16/3/72)
CD2-5 Next Time Around (BBC In Concert - Paris Theatre 16/3/72)
CD2-6 Blackwaterside (BBC In Concert - Paris Theatre 16/3/72)
CD2-7 John The Gun (BBC In Concert - Paris Theatre 16/3/72)
CD2-8 The Lady (BBC - Sounds On Sunday 14/11/73)
CD2-9 Bushes And Briars (BBC - Sounds On Sunday 14/11/73)
CD2-10 It Suits Me Well (BBC - Sounds On Sunday 14/11/73)
CD2-11 Blackwaterside (BBC - Sounds On Sunday 14/11/73)
CD2-12 The Music Weaver (BBc - Sounds On Sunday 14/11/73)
CD2-13 The Sea Captain (BBC - Sounds On Sunday 14/11/73)
CD2-14 John The Gun (BBC - Sounds On Sunday 14/11/73)
CD2-15 Dialogue - Interview (Tomorrow's People BBC World Service Programme 1972)

DVD.....you can see these on you tube by clicking below:
DVD3-1 The North Star Grassman And The Ravens (BBC - One In Ten 15/09/71 - Stereo)
DVD3-2 Crazy Lady Blues (BBC - One In Ten 15/09/71 - Stereo)
DVD3-3 Late November (BBC - One In Ten 15/09/71 - Stereo)

"Off-Air" Recordings:
CD4-1 This Train (BBC World Service - June 1967)
CD4-2 Make Me A Pallet On Your Floor (BBC World Service - June 1967)
CD4-3 The Last Thing On My Mind (BBC World Service - June 1967)
CD4-4 You Never Wanted Me (BBC World Service - June 1967)
CD4-5 Been On The Road So Long (BBC - My Kind Of Folk 26/6/68)
CD4-6 The Quiet Land Of Erin (BBC - My Kind Of Folk 26/6/68)
CD4-7 Sweet Nightingale (BBC - Spinners TV Show 22/4/71)
CD4-8 Blackwaterside (BBC - Spinners TV Show 22/4/71)
CD4-9 The North Star Grassman And The Ravens (BBC - Sounds Of The 70s)

DOWNLOAD Sandy at the Beeb HERE!

Bridget St. John – "BBC Radio 1968-1976" (Hux Records – HUX114) 2010

Like I said in the "Ask Me No Questions" review,Peel made sure Bridget would get plenty sessions and radio appearances he having a glad eye for the ladies. So here's the small matter of 40 -odd 'odd' tunes as preserved by the venerable British Broadcasting Corporation;and it's not gone beyond my notice that the final track has a reference to Peel and Wife (the Pig).There's also an amusing anecdote spewed forth by the laconic Peel about how they 'slept' together once.

What strikes me most about these tunes, and especially her spoken explanations of her songs, that is uncannily like Sandy Denny.If i didn't know better, her speaking voice is almost exactly that of the late Alexandra Denny,although her earlier excursions have that splash of Nico's lower register about them that would haunt any review in the music press.She was a better guitar player than Denny (That Bert Jansch influence?),and far less depressing than Nico,but her songwriting has that same seldom used diminished 5th chord so favored by Sandy Denny in her more unpopular songs for it's distinctive dark timbre,as well as that vibrato free folkie singing style that was the ex-Fairport chanteuse's trademark;although obviously not copyrighted.

And, yes, Kevin Ayers makes a guest appearance on a few tracks too.Also interesting to note that Ms St.John is the only one of these names to remain alive,and gigging, to this day.

Tracklist:

1-1 I Don't Know If I Can Take It
1-2 Some Kind Of Beautiful
1-3 Jumblequeen
1-4 Fly High
1-5 Sparrowpit
1-6 Want To Be With You
1-7 Curious And Woolly
1-8 Head And Heart
1-9 Long Long Time
1-10 Come Up And See Me Sometime
1-11 Catch A Falling Star
1-12 Love Lie Easy
1-13 The River
1-14 Song To Keep You Company
1-15 Night In The City
1-16 Lazarus
1-17 Curl Your Toes
1-18 Thank You For...
2-1 Sparrowpit
2-2 Nancy Alice
2-3 Plain And Pearl
2-4 Make Me Whole
2-5 She Used To Play Harmonium
2-6 Crazy, Have You Eton
2-7 Peel 'sleeping Anecdote'
2-8 Bumper To Bumper
2-9 Leaves Of Lime
2-10 City Crazy
2-11 The Pebble And The Man
2-12 Back To Stay
2-13 Song For The Laird Of Connaught Hall - Part 2
2-14 Jolie Madame
2-15 The Spider And The Fly
2-16 The Oyster And The Flying Fish
2-17 To B Without A Hitch
2-18 Ask Me No Questions
2-19 Many Happy Returns
2-20 Hello Again (of Course)
2-21 Rochefort
2-22 Lizard Long Tongue Boy
2-23 The Present Song/Pig & Peel

CD1 1-9 Radio 1 In Concert 1st August 1974; CD1 10-12 Top Gear Session 6th January 1976 CD1 13-16 John Peel Presents Top Gear 1969; CD1 17 Peter Sarstedt Session 1969; CD1 18 Bob Harris Session 22nd March 1972; CD2 1-8 Radio 1 In Concert 3rd May 1975; CD2 9-16 Radio 1 In Concert 31st January 1971; CD2 17-22 Night Ride Session 21st August 1968; CD2 23 Top Gear Session 12th August 1974

DOWNLOAD the bastard offspring of Sandy and Nico HERE!

Kaoru Abe (阿部薫) ‎– "(Unreleased Sessions) 未発表音源＋初期音源 4xCD Box (1970-73)" - ( Youth Inc. ‎– YOUTH-165) 2012

Yeah good isn't he? Because he's an artist he can do whatever the fuck he likes. Beating a Pregnant woman...way ta go maaaan. Being a general cunt to everyone....gimmie five maaaan. Or as Keji Haino reckons, a pretentious cunt who didn't listen to anyone he's improvising with....especially when it's improvised violence to women. Listening to this, Haino is correct, it's all about himself innit?...never heard of behaviour like that before in the Art community...only a small percentage of the self-indulgent bastards do shit like that,a minuscule 92% i reckon?But,just because an artist is a bastard,doesn't mean that one cannot enjoy the bastards' work...let me rephrase that....fucking about,artistically and sexually,most definitely NOT work . The main reason anyone goes into 'The Arts' is so they don't have to work for a living...real work I mean. It's the same as why I became self-employed when i left school...because I'm a Lazy bastard...but at least I don't beat women up.?......oh yeah, it happens to be fucking great stuff by the way...but does that make me an apologist for misogyny?...most likely yes,but i have a track record in that.....I still play Gary Glitter records for example,which are probably way weirder than this box set?But, alas, I still wouldn't argue against having the fuckers locked up. 

Tracklist:

1-1 –Masayuki Takayanagi & Kaoru Abe 1970.7.9 Station '70  41:27
2-1 –Masayuki Takayanagi & Kaoru Abe 1970.7.9 Station '70  41:46
3-1 –阿部薫 Solo 1973 (未発表音源) 3:36
3-2 –阿部薫 Solo 1973 (未発表音源) 25:07
3-3 –阿部薫 Solo 1973 (未発表音源) 21:38
4-1 –阿部薫 Duo (初期・未発表音源) 8:57
4-2 –阿部薫 Duo (初期・未発表音源) 31:27
4-3 –阿部薫 Duo (初期・未発表音源) 1:58
4-4 –阿部薫 Duo (初期・未発表音源) 16:22
4-5 –阿部薫 Duo (初期・未発表音源) 8:44

DOWNLOAD from a world where we accept a wife beater because he's good with a saxophone HERE!

Various Artists ‎– Anthology Of Dutch Electronic Tape Music: Volume 2 (1966-1977) (Composers' Voice ‎– CV 7903) 1979

They have funny names, wear clogs, take drugs openly,ride bicycles,have childrens stories about putting fingers into Dykes...and if that wasn't enough to recommend that you move to Holland, then how's about all this early electronic music then?
They're so liberal over there that all of this was probably state-funded. If the government did that in the USA the Rednecks would start lynchin' people of colour again,if they ever stopped?
There's something about all this early electronica that is far more disturbing that it's younger,trendier, sibling Industrial Music,which tried far too hard to be unsettling.This is the same as the difference between those scary movies where you saw nothing except what your own mind imagined,and shit yourself.Industrial Music was more like a Slasher move where nothing was left to the imagination. The human mind is capable of indescribable horrors,and this musique concrete stuff gives the mind the space it needs to create the terror of real life,or rather reveal the terror of real life. 
Fucking Hell, we're all gonna die!?Why wasn't I TOLD!!!?


Tracklist:

1 –Jacob Cats - Cadence-1 6:10
2 –Tera De Marez Oyens - Safed 7:33
3 –Jos Kunst - Extérieur 9:39
4 –Gilius Van Bergeijk - D.E.S 7:46
5 –Frans Van Doorn - Minnuet 9:05
6 –Thomas Arras - A.B.C. 8:33
7 –Simeon Ten Holt - I Am Sylvia 15:30
8 –Victor Wentink - Discours 13:20
9 –Louis Andriessen - In Memoriam 5:06
10 –Peter Smith - Étude-1 8:58
11 –Tony Van Campen - Sintering 9:55

DOWNLOAD with lashings of chocolate sprinkles HERE!

BBC Radiophonic Workshop ‎– "The John Baker Tapes Volume 2 (1963-75) (Trunk Records ‎– JBH029CD) 2008

I suppose the label this was released on should have been called 'drunk' not 'Trunk' records, as Radiophonic Workshop stalwart John Baker was probably drunk while he made the majority of these novel advert jingles and TV soundtracks.
Compared to his colleagues John was firmly on the musicianly side of composition,and also firmly in the Novelty music section of the workshop. Whereas Delia Derbyshire could make her doomy atmospheres, and Brian Hodgson could spent all his time making weird noises,John was lumbered with making funny tunes from varispeeded shampoo bottle pan pipes for a daytime childrens science programme. No wonder he turned to the evil drink.....but then again so did Delia. Although Delia couldn't keep up with Johns voracious appitite for consuming reams of cigarettes and therefore lived a few years longer.
Delia left in 1973 because the electronics were getting too easy and more conventional, but John Baker was sacked for being Drunk most of the time. The last recording he made before his descent into the dark realms of alcoholism was done at home on his piano in 1975(included here)...probably just before he sold it to buy more booze.He never made music again and died, age 60, in 1997.


Tracklist:

1 – Tempo Counter 0:04
2 – Get Happy 3:54
3 – Electro-Twist MQ LP1/1 1:23
4 – Electro-Suspense MQ LP1/2 1:27
5 – Electro-Rhythm MQ LP1/3 1:23
6 – Electro-Slow MQ LP1/4 1:33
7 – Boy On A Bicycle 4:03
8 – Brass Bandied MQ LP14/1 1:17
9 – Brass Widow MQ LP14/2 1:38
10 – Omo And Giro Adverts 1:20
11 – I Wanna Hold Your Hand Medley 2:33
12 – Electro-Auto MQ LP35/1 1:29
13 – Electro 5/4 MQ LP35/2 1:30
14 – Electro Waltz MQ LP35/3 1:28
15 – Johnny Johnson Jingles 1:25
16 – 1980s Feedback Loop 0:04
17 – Requioso - PIL 9011 2:21
18 – JB Dubs 1:13
19 – Out Of Nowhere 5:23
20 – Electro-Beat MQ LP19/1 1:30
21 – Electro-Weird MQ LP19/2 1:24
22 – Electro-Fugue MQ LP19/3 1:14
23 – Electro-Aggression MQ LP38/1 1:57
24 – Electro-Tension MQ LP38/2 2:27
25 – Jazz Advert 1:38
26 – Brylcreem 0:30
27 – John Baker Goon Advert 0:34
28 – Power Source MQ LP39 3:23
29 – 1980s Tape FX 0:42
30 – Pots 'N' Pans MQ LP48/1 3:24
31 – Banshee Boogie MQ LP48/2 1:45
32 – Feedback MQ LP48/3 2:58
33 – Space Workshop MQ LP48/4 3:12
34 – Piano Concrete MQ LP48/5 2:55
35 – JB Test Tone 0:08
36 – Piano Strokes 2:25
37 – JB At Home On The Piano 0:51
38 – Brief Lives - JB Obituary 1:47
39 – JB 78 RPM - All The Things You Are 2:26

DOWNLOAD some sober sounding novelty tunes HERE!

John Baker / BBC Radiophonic Workshop ‎– "The John Baker Tapes Volume 1 - rare and unreleased recordings 1963-1974" (Trunk Records ‎– JBH028CD)

John Baker, was a scumbag who lived at the shitter end of my street when I was vilified for daring to win a place at Grammer skool.Being called intelligent was as good as wearing a sign saying 'please kick my head in' for us unfortunate members of the underclass from the oxygenated end of the gene pool. The 'Bakers' all had scoliosis, the word 'Shithouse' was written in dripping black gloss on their toilet door,the eldest male was nick-named 'Igor',and they had a predeliction towards violence and criminal behaviour in general.
The John Baker responsible for the music on this CD, however, didn't live on my street as a kid growing up, but he was an unnamed member of the household through his prolific production of TV Theme tunes and Radio jingles throughout the sixties, seventies and no further, after he got the sack in 1974.
A contemporary of the legend that is Delia Derbyshire, he brought musicianly technique into the Workshop, as well as forty fags a day...thats cigarettes to you americans. He filled the vacancies for the Jazz Musician of the group, as well as the chain smoker. I'm also sure he joined in on the heavy wine consumption that the workshop was also renowned for,especially as wine bottles with various levels of liquid in them were an essential sound source for the staff to record and manipulate.
Many of those bottles no doubt found their way onto many of these jolly little tunes.
John,like Delia,died early from heavy cigarette and Alcohol comsumption in a confined space for too long a period. 
After becoming an alcoholic, Baker recorded no further music after being sacked by the Radiophonic Workshop and later died in poverty.......a life summed up in one dismissive sentence!?
He deserves more than that,thats why we've have three John Baker retrospectives lined up to revive the forgotten man of the Radiophonic Workshop's tarnished reputation.
This John Baker died while the scummier John Baker with the bad posture probably still lives,just, on my childhood street,and 'Shithouse' is probably still written on the toilet door.The wrong one died young,there's still time for that to be put right,if it hasn't been already?But,Justice is something that is rarely doled out fairly in this cruel world.
PS...Igor still lived,by the way, because i saw him down the pub on the night Leicester City won the League Cup back in '97....he gave me a HUG(?).Ahhhh,Association Football....the great leveller!?

Tracklist:

1 Newstime BBC 1+2 0:23
2 Tros Y Gareg (Main Theme) 2:50
3 Tros Y Gareg (Idents) 0:20
4 20th Century Focus 2:22
5 Vendetta: The Ice Cream Man 1:18
6 Woman's Hour (Reading Your Letters) 1:47
7 Many A Slip 0:57
8 Look And Read 0:35
9 Building The Bomb 6:24
10 Au Printemps 2:27
11 Big Ben News Theme 0:33
12 Codename 1:03
13 Decimal Currency 0:20
14 Barnacle Bill 0:21
15 Dial M For Murder 2:25
16 Farm Management 0:30
17 Radio Sheffield (News Idents) 0:45
18 French Science And Technology 0:39
19 Good Morning Wales (Idents) 0:37
20 Heavy Plant Crossing 0:59
21 COI Technology Pavilion 9:30
22 John Baker Interview (Radio Nottingham) 2:33
23 Radio Nottingham Idents 0:34
24 Look North: Newstime 0:50
25 Man Alive: UFO 1:14
26 PM - Computers In Business 0:39
27 Submarines 1:59
28 Oranges And Lemons (Radio London) 2:36
29 Orbit 0:47
30 Places For People 0:47
31 Sling Your Hook 2:27
32 Suivez La Piste 0:49
33 Scene (Never Never) 1:40
34 Diary Of A Madman 3:54
35 The Two O'Clock Spot 0:58
36 Radio London: News Idents 0:25
37 The Caves Of Steel 3:11
38 The Locusts 0:45
39 Square Two 0:29
40 The Tape Recorder 1:11
41 Tom Tom (Theme) 0:42
42 Tom Tom (Idents) 0:15
43 Trial (Opening Theme) 0:35
44 Trial (Closing Theme) 1:22
45 Vendetta: The Sugar Man 2:01
46 Spin Off 0:21
47 Radiophonic FX C 0:10
48 Radiophonic FX A 0:54
49 Radiophonic FX B 0:35

DOWNLOAD the butcher the baker the candlestick maker of musique concréte HERE!

Various ‎Artists – "Test Card Classics: The Girl The Doll The Music" (Flyback ‎– FBCD 2000) 1996

This is musical Heroin for me.
Like lying back in your mothers arms,unless your mother was a violent alcoholic of course, and having all those shitty adult problems melt away like plastic earmarked for recycling in a council incinerator.
This takes me back to those days off sick,when one was left at the mercy of daytime television,or lack of it back then,or when I bunked off school to avoid a test or the shower after basketball,or just to avoid the horrible sport of Basketball itself; then came home when the parents were at work and there was fuck all to do!...so we watched the Testcard!? Which was the equivalent of watching something like "Celebrity Love Island" today, but more entertaining, and lacking the suicides.
Those of you who came from countries with no public service broadcasting organisations will not understand......and that's ok.I won't hold it against you;but here's your chance to catch up.
Basically,You haven't lived until you've bounced yer booty to "Holiday Highway" by the Stuttgart Studio Orchestra.
And the Nu-Right wanna shut the BBC down????....leaving us at the mercy of Facebook and the Flat Earth Anti-vaxxers!.....i'm sure that's an actual band????

Notes for the average Test Card enthusiast:

Compilation of test card music as used by the BBC between 1966-1984. Previously unreleased original recordings.

Tracks 1, 9, 12, 16, 19, 21 and 24 are in mono.
Track 1: Spoken.
Track 2: BBC1/2 1969-84
Track 3: BBC2 1967-74
Track 4: BBC2 1968-72
Track 5: BBC1 1968-84
Track 6. BBC1 1968-71
Track 7: BBC2 1972-75
Track 8. BBC2/1 1967-84
Track 9: BBC1/2 1968-71
Track 10: BBC2 1968-72
Track 11: BBC1 1971-72
Track 12: BBC1 1968-71
Track 13: BBC2 1967-74
Track 14: BBC1/2 1969-74
Track 15: BBC2/1 1968-84
Track 16: BBC1 1969-71
Track 17: BBC1/2 1968-75
Track 18: BBC2 1967-74
Track 19: BBC1 1966-72
Track 20: BBC1 1968-71
Track 21: BBC1 1968-70
Track 22: BBC2 1967-74
Track 23: BBC2 1968-72
Track 24: Tone used on BBC2

Dates diven above are first and last years of transmission, not necessarily consecutively.

Tracklist:

1–John Ross-Barnard -Introduction 0:07
2–The Stuttgart Studio Orchestra -Royal Daffodil 2:17
3–The Westway Novelty Ensemble -Riga Road 2:10
4–The Oscar Brandenburg Orchestra -Angry 3:16
5–The Stuttgart Studio Orchestra -Capability Brown 3:33
6–Unknown Artist -BBC Chimes 0:10
7–The Cavendish Ten -Waltz In Jazztime 2:44
8–The Benito Gonzalez Latin Sound -Bella Samba 2:14
9–Unknown Artist BBC Chimes 0:10
10–The Stuttgart Studio Orchestra -Holiday Highway 2:40
11–Orchestra Heinz Kiessling -Cordoba 2:56
12–The Oscar Brandenburg Orchestra -My Guy's Come Back 2:40
13–The Langford Orchestra -The Lark In The Clear Air 2:25
14–Unknown Artist -BBC Chimes 0:10
15–The New Dance Orchestra -Pandora 2:43
16–The Fernand Terby Orchestra -Firecracker 2:42
17–Unknown Artist -BBC Chimes 0:09
18–Stuttgart Studio Orchestra -Hebridean Hoedown 2:54
19–The Gerhard Narholz Orchestra -High Life 2:29
20–Orchestra Heinz Kiessling -Samba Fiesta 1:48
21–Stuttgart Studio Orchestra -Stately Occasion 3:02
22–Unknown Artist -BBC Chimes 0:10
23–Mr Popcorn's Band -Chelsea Chick 2:46
24–Roger Roger And His Orchestra -Greenland Sleigh Dogs 3:07
25–Unknown Artist -BBC Chimes 0:10
26–The Cavendish Ten -These Foolish Things 2:12
27–Stuttgart Studio Orchestra -March From "The Colour Suite" 3:12
28–Ensemble Roger Roger -Long Hot Summer 2:11
29–The Oscar Brandenburg Orchestra -Going Places 2:52
30–No Artist -440 Hz Tone 0:20

DOWNLOAD the music without the girl or the doll HERE!

BBC Radiophonic Workshop ‎– "Fourth Dimension" (BBC Records ‎– RED 93 S) 1973

Delia Derbyshire left the workshop in 1973,and a lot of the reason why is contained on this BBC album of local radio theme tunes and Testcard music.
The arrival of a couple of EMS synthesizers made it all too easy to create something musical,with a catchy tune.Just what der management would have wanted.No more weird noises made from tape loops and lamp shades.Horrific was replaced with 'Jolly'.....which is,for me probably even weirder than actual 'weird'.
The music is the stuff that filled up the empty spaces in the 1970's TV schedule.Incredibly,there was nothing on in the afternoon or morning.Briefly the news and childrens TV appeared at lunchtime,and increasingly programmes for schools filled the morning schedule,with creepy classics like "Picture Box",whose Theme Tune was one of the most sinister of the lot.....but that was on ITV,so it don't count!
The Testcard filled most of our days when bunking off school....we used to dance to this stuff,and howl with laughter at the more cheesier tunes. This was UK youths version of Martin Denny and Esquivel.This is why we are weird.
Now, if The Sex Pistols did a testcard style version of Never Mind The Bollocks for their second album,including "Belsen Was A Gas" as arranged by the producer of "Fourth Dimension" (Paddy Kingsland),they would have served us all up thee ultimate 'Punk' record,and hopefully saved us from the hoardes of 'Punx' who haunt us to this very day.
Why won't they fuck off mummy?

Now I've finished with my silly nostalgic opinions and analysis,I'll let the BBC explain it in their special no-nonsense terms from the Sleeve notes....I especially like how they explain away their rare use of Stereo on a BBC records release:

"Music heard on radio and Television (including Test Card Transmissions)....

One aspect of the work of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop is the composition and realisation of signature tunes and incidental music for BBC Radio and Television programmes. Programme producers come to the Workshop with varying requests - it must be 'bright', 'catchy', 'sinister', 'modest', 'supernatural', 'funny', and so on but, most important, it must be unique in terms of sound qualities.
The composer then sets to work to create the tune using natural sounds, which have been manipulated in some way and cut together on tape, or electronic sources, such as the voltage controlled synthesiser.
Several such signature tunes are included on this record, composed by Paddy Kingsland, who joined the creative staff of the Workshop in 1970. Before this, he worked as a tape editor, then studio manager, chiefly for Radio One. He is a firm believer that instrumental sound combined with electronic and treated sound is essential for this type of work. The tracks on this record include compositions for Radio 1, 3, 4, Local Radio and Television programmes.
The synthesisers used on this disc are both British, and both made by E.M.S. of London. They are the VCS3, an amazingly versatile miniature synthesiser, and its big brother, the Synthi '100', known within the Radiophonic Workshop as 'The Delaware', after the address of the Workshop. This machine incorporates a digital memory that can be programmed via a conventional keyboard, and can store 256 events on 3 layers in any one 'run'. In combination with the multi-track tape recorder, it provides all the facilities of an electronic music studio, its range being limited only by the imagination of the person using it.
The specially created stereo is not an attempt at realism, but is used as a sound object in its own right."


Tracklist:

1.Scene & Heard (Radio 1)
2.Just Love (BBC TV)
3.Vespucci
4.Reg (BBC African Service)
5.Tamariu (BBC TV)
6.One-Eighty-One (Radio 4)
7.Fourth Dimension (Radio 4)
8.Colour Radio (BBC Radio Leeds)
9.Take Another Look (Radio 4)
10.Kaleidoscope (Radio 4)
11.The Space Between (Radio 3)
12.Flashback

DOWNLOAD from the fourth dimension of sound...easy listening...HERE!

Delia Derbyshire - "Blue Veils and Golden Sands-The Unsung Heroine Of British Electronic Music" (BBC Transcription Services) 2002

Ten years before 'Autobahn' the British public were exposed to popular electronics by the government funded BBC Radiophonic Workshop,who pioneered the art of making electronics useable and coherent for the average working man.It all started with Delia Deryshires rendering of Ron Grainers 'Doctor Who Theme'.I dunno if that bass-line has ever been bettered? What makes this more intriguing is that in the semi-socialist state that was post-war Britain, this was all done without recognition or plaudits, in complete anonymity in the bowels of BBC Maida Vale studio's where 20th century music history was recorded from The Beatles and Jimi Hendrix, to Joy Division and Frank Sidebottom. The BBC also had its own composers on the payroll although they categorically avoided this,as Ms Derbyshire explains......"The only way into the workshop was to be a trainee studio manager. This is because the workshop was purely a service department for drama. The BBC made it quite clear that they didn't employ composers and we weren't supposed to be doing music." One of these 'composers' was the one and only, Delia Derbyshire,who has posthumously risen inexorably towards 'Legendary' status as not only a pioneer of women in Electronic music,but as a pioneer of all Electronic music.
Using the notoriously non-existent BBC budget, Delia and her collegues, worked tirelessly with basic equipment to create other worldly music that wasn't being produced anywhere else in the early sixties outside of the Avant Garde arena,which was basically just using electronics to make funny noises.God knows what shite Stockhausen would have come up with for the Doctor Who Theme,and Morton Subotnik was still deciding whether to use Silver Apples or Oranges for his Moon.
The thing is, Delia did 'weird' as well.There is much of her work that would stand up effortlessly in the Avant Garde arena if it ever allowed someone from the BBC to be taken seriously.
The radio plays she did with Barry Bermange in 1964/65, "Inventions For Radio", are among some of the most bizarre pieces of Musique Concréte ever made.
They will be coming up; but as there is inexplicably NO(!?) Greatest hits of Delia Derbyshire,or of The Radiophonic Workshop, in existence?This file contains the BBC Play based on Delia's life (featuring Sonic Boom/Pete Kember of Spaceman 3),and 20 of her most popular pieces,including the one that started it all, "The Doctor Who Theme".
Here's a great quote by Delia about the Dr Who Theme,that shows the BBC's faultless socialist principles:"I did the Dr Who theme music mostly on the Jason valve oscillators. Ron Grainer brought me the score. He expected to hire a band to play it, but when he heard what I had done electronically, he'd never imagined it would be so good. He offered me half of the royalties, but the BBC wouldn't allow it. I was just on an assistant studio manager's salary and that was it... and we got a free Radio Times. The boss wouldn't let anybody have any sort of credit."
Personal favourite , "Ziwzih Ziwzih OO-OO-OO", could have been taken from The Residents 'golden era',also ten years hence!Or as inspiration for The Mole Show, almost twenty years later! Delia was also far more anonymous than The Residents could ever be.Hardly any pictures exist of her,the same images cropping up endlessly.
She left the workshop, and music, in 1975 to do ordinary jobs,complaining that Synthesizers were killing electronic music,believing that it should be hand-made.She has a point.Music is made by machines more than ever in the 21st century.
'You will be Replaced' is a line you'd expect from an episode of Doctor Who.....now its becoming a reality.
However, Delia Derbyshire was never replaced.The synthesizers never cut the mustard.

Tracklisting:

The Unsung Heroine Of British Electronic Music(BBC Radio Play 2002) 
01 - Introduction
02 - There Is No Such Thing As Silence
03 - The Meaning Of Sound
04 - A Glass Or Two Of Wine
05 - My Real Living Room
06 - Doctor Who
07 - New Music And Open Minds
08 - The Effect Of The Soul On Sound
09 - Another Day At The BBC Radiophonic Sweatshop
10 - Some Recognition
11 - Remembering Without Trying
12 - Credits
The Music (1962-75):
13 - Doctor Who (Original Theme)
14 - Time On Our Hands
15 - Arabic Science And Industry
16 - Know Your Car
17 - Mattachin
18 - Pot Au Feu
19 - Happy Birthday
20 - Ziwzih Ziwzih OO-OO-OO
21 - Towards Tomorrow
22 - Door To Door
23 - Air
24 - Science And Health
25 - Chromophone Band
26 - A New View Of Politics
27 - Environmental Studies
28 - Chronicle
29 - Great Zoos Of The World
30 - Dance from ''Noah''
31 - Blue Veils And Golden Sands
32 - The Delian Mode
33 - Time To Go
34 - Doctor Who (Closing Theme)

DOWNLOAD a fix of heroine HERE!

Antony Newley and Fiona Richmond - "Frankly Fiona" (Paul Raymond ‎– PR1121973) 1973

I said, better some cheesy listening than some normalsville Industrial boredom from former Czechoslavakia....well you ain't gonna find anything cheesier or sleazier than this erotic classic.
Music by the thinking mans Tommy Steele, Antony Newley, and voice by seventies nudey bird, Fiona Richmond.
(Apparently Newley was involved in a drug fuelled orgy at Roman Polanski's house,Sharon Tate was present,pregnant and active, a few nights before Tex Watson murdered all the inhabitants...sadly Newley had long gone before the Manson lot had arrived)
Cosi Fanni Tutti, of Throbbing Gristle, was a stable mate of Fiona Richmonds at Men Only magazine back in the early seventies. And I would love to hear these naughty monologues atop some of TG's industrial backdrops. Maybe Genesis P chose the wrong soft porn model for the group,or the grope?
The music has that certain John Barry,Ennio Morricone monophonic simplicité,that turns me into putty,even without the dulcet tones of Fiona Richmond  telling me what she wants me to do to her in her clipped, just off Chelsea, accent.
Antony Newley in the seventies, as a solo artist and singer, was something to behold.Open mouthed,as a child, i stared at this shocking exhibition of singing from beyond Mars.A proud exponent of the monobrow, his vibrato was like the buzz of a dying bumble bee in late august.Unbelievable stuff!..still is!
There were few musicians that would make my father leave the room,and second only to The Sweet, was Antony Newley, just pipping Max Bygraves for his dismissive venom. I played no end of Industrial and Punk in my bedroom,but none of that got anywhere near the same reaction as Antony Newley, and/or The magnificent Sweet.
Alas, Tony Newley was a very sucessful composer,and the soundtrack to "Frankly Fiona" was one of his more subtle triumphs. Needless to say he never won a Emmy or a Tony for this work,which makes Most Industrial records sound like the feem toon to a childrens telly programme....well almost. No doubt Tony got paid in kind by Fiona herself,and why not...it was the seventies man.

Weird fact: Tony Newley was one of the victims of the infamous 'Plaster Casters' of chicago,joining such contemporaries as Jimi Hendrix to have their nether regions imortalised in plaster of paris.

Tracklist:

A1 Fiona's Theme (Music And Introduction)
A2 My First Time
A3 Look At Us Now (Song)
A4 Latin Lover
A5 Vibrations
A6 Whenever I'm Alone (Song)
A7 Don't Do It In The Dark
B1 The Boys In The Band (Music And Introduction)
B2 Diner's Dessert
B3 You Are What You Eat (Song)
B4 Turn On
B5 The World Is A Circus (Song)
B6 Fiona's Fantasy
B7 My Baby Does It Good (Song)
B8 Climax

DOWNLOAD into a handy kleenex HERE!

Liza Minnelli ‎– "The Singer" (Columbia ‎– PC 32149) 1973

As i'm obviously having a cabin fever moment,the symptoms including  an inexplicable obsession with Yes,among other No-No's; so I figure its time to select some right-on cheese.
Yes...., it's showbiz royalty,Liza with a 'Zee'. Punch drunk and Judy Garlands' daughter by Vincente Minnelli. She looks like a fuck-up in the album photo with a demented thousand yard stare. She didn't quite reach the heights of self torture that her mother so openly displayed, but there was a moment, in the nineties, after she married David Gest that she became part of a living circus for a few years.
'Cabaret' was her 'Wizard of Oz' moment,which gifted her a loooong slow declining career slide in quality.
However, when I was deeply inside the easy listening counter-culture of the nineties, this album was one of my favourites. In between the cheesy song'n'dance one woman show style numbers, there are a few cool funky tracks, Especially, "Use Me" and "Dancing In The Moonlight" which would get even the most introverted Gaylord tapping his feet.
There's also a cop movie soundtrack version of the horrendously smug Carly Simon number "You're So Vain",which was written about me......I think?
I saw one of those 'greatest album' programmes on BBC4, and it  featured toothy tunesmith Carly Simon, who never stopped telling us what a fucking gorgeous looking genius she was....maybe that song was about herself after all,and not me...or Warren Beaty? She's so Vain,she probably thinks this blurb is about her.....but with a great set of nipples,as she points out on the candid album photo. No such pleasures on the Liza Minnelli cover shot. Singer songwriters are wankers anyway, and Liza,with a Zee, could hardly write her own name never mind a smug self-satisfied anthem like 'You're So Vain'. 
You'll feel dirty after playing this unpretentious funky showbiz ear battering classic.....i'm still scrubbing but the stench won't leave my skin,or my mind.Why won't it leave!? This must be what it was like to be arse-raped with an Oscar by Harvey Wankstain?
I suppose I should be posting some obscure Industrial cassettes from former Czechoslovakia, but this stuff is far more frightening, and far less fucking boring......and certain not to be reissued on Vinyl-On-Fucking-De-Fucking-mand.
I'd love to dig Marvin Hamlisch,the producer of this album, up to have a go at rearranging that 'NON: Rarities Box Set'(Only 150€ plus p&p from HERE!) with brass and string arrangements..maybe adding some lyrics from Hamlisch's classically terrible "A Chorus Line" as the cherry on top......now that's what I call 'Subversive'.Non?

Tracklist:

I Believe In Music 3:37
Use Me 3:39
I'd Love You To Want Me 3:36
Oh, Babe, What Would You Say? 3:31
You're So Vain 3:30
Where Is The Love 2:49
The Singer 2:31
Don't Let Me Be Lonely Tonight 3:51
Dancing In The Moonlight 3:19
You Are The Sunshine Of My Life 2:36
Baby Don't Get Hooked On Me 2:52

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Peter Finch & Bob Cobbing ‎– "The Italian Job" (Klinker Zoundz ‎– KZ8802C) 1988

I bought this tape because I though it had "The Self-Preservation Society" song from the hit movie starring Michael Caine and Noel Coward on it......of course, NOT the crass American remake,the original one......naturally I jest, but you can't rule out the possibility that someone did? Mistaking it for the Quincy Jones penned,classic soundtrack,on cassette.
Now the scene is set, we can sit back and imagine the purchaser slipping this cassette into his Sanyo music centre and making himself comfortable ready to sing-a-long to those embarassing cocknwy-isms crowbared in by the American producers.
What he...its always a'he' isn't it?....what he, gets instead, is Bob Cobbing and Peter Finch whinnying,grunting and croaking through a bank of voice processors for half an hour,and NO singalong to be seen,or heard.Not only could this empty a room, it could empty a full football stadium, in orderly queues,by the start of side two.
This of course is a desirable quality in any music with any meat on the bones.And,to be topical yet again,a very good tool for 'Social Distancing'.Play this over a network of speaker systems and everyone is guaranteed to remain behind locked doors for the duration.
When I say everyone, I mean 'Normal' people, not 'Us'.Ah bless 'em, they haven't been exposed to music, or otherwise, as much as ...er...'Us'? So, they don't understand, bless 'em again.This is where the 'Pop' of the future comes from.The Stormzy's of the 22nd century will be doing stuff like this, and it'll be number one.Mainly because the Virus will have wiped out 90% of humanity by then.Leaving the 10% who didn't run away from a Bob Cobbings tape,but listened intently to remain socially distant.In turn causing those with the virus,and those with simplistic musical taste, to stay away and enhance the 10%'s chance of surviving.They do say a symptom of Covid19 is, coincidently, 'A Loss Of Taste'.
Then ,post-pandemic,all that are left to raid abandoned supermarkets and hunt human flesh will be Bob Cobbing fans.
This is Evolution in action.
All together now....
"We are the Self-Preservation Society,
We are the Self-Preservation Society.
Gotta get a bloomin' move on...tra la la la la la laaaaa la etc"

DOWNLOAD the bob cobbing preservation society HERE!

Charles Amirkhanian ‎– "Lexical Music" (1750 Arch Records ‎– S-1779) 1979

Another regular contributer  to Giorno Poetry Systems was one 
Charles Amirkhanian, a well-versed practionioner in the less than nobkle art of electroacoustic music and text-sound composition.
You know what you're in for. Lots of repeated words,chopped up spoken phrases,echo boxes,and phase drifting. The most minimal form of composition available.You don't even need an instrument except the one that mother nature provided us with,free of charge,that complex,and sadly,much abused device called the Human Voice.
Here, that natural tool is used as a creative tool, rather than singing about how your girlfriend has left you,or how Donald Trump uses his,as a shitting anus.His face being a repulsive orange arse with a shredded wheat sellotaped to the upper end of its cleft.
Even though that Meredith Monk album, "Key", made me want to burn down an Art Gallery,for different reasons however, than a trump supporter would. The monosyllabic faecal matter that spurts from the so-called 'mind' of Trump,via his talking asshole appendage, is the stuff of book burning,and degenerate art exhibitions. However there are a few Donald Trump books I would gladly burn,and the man is himself, thee degenerate's Degenerate.
Lets celebrate stupidity for the sake of some tax cuts,and get this silly old planet tettering on the edge of either nuclear destruction or evironmental disaster.He with the small orange hands is,after all, a truly terrible and incompetent business man.Apart from being a five time bankrupt,the worst possible thing for his precious economy would be Nuclear War or Environmental collapse.Duh!...i smell a more serious,nay deadly, looming shadow of bankruptcy skipping carelessly along the fairway,straying into the rough,and ultimatly hiding in the deepest bunker that stolen money can buy.......(note golfing analogy,so that the orange one and his clones can understand it...the ones that can read that is).
The point,and i'm struggling to see the point in anything(!?),is, that this political environment is the kind of lamely vicious atmosphere that would see works like 'Lexical Music' resigned to the ovens in this dawning dark age of moronic self-service,celebrating the crass and meaningless.The new rennaisance is well and truly OVER!
The hard facts are that if we are all to live to the standard of living that ALL americans live at, we will need 4 , FOUR, extra Earths!!!!...Do I need to repeat that?

So maybe Trump frog marching us to extinction is actually a good thing. VOTE TRUMP 2020...because we deserve him.

NB.. Sorry about that, but i felt, as a practicing Nihilist, that i had to squeeze something 'political' in, after noticing that 'Things Magazine' used that word in their brief description of this blog...and i quote: "Die or D.I.Y?, charting the esoteric, the homemade, the off-beat and the political".....so i return the favour with a link. A bit like the Mutually Assured Destruction policy?
Tracklist:

1.Mugic (1973) 5:27
2.Seatbelt Seatbelt(1973) 14:38
3.Dutiful Ducks(1977) 2:00
4.Muchrooms(1974) 2:00
5.Mahogany Ballpark(1976) 9:40
6.She She And She(1974) 8:40

DOWNLOAD HERE....HERE DOWNLOAD.....DOWN HERE LOAD....HERE LOAD DOWN...HERE!