still here

.....

Thanks to specify Brian and wonder for the fine submissions,I promise to get to them in the next couple of day, you would not believe my current situation, but BY GOD this blog will remain.......please bear with me, New material, both guest and my own, will be coming soon......New job just gonna take a minute to get settled into.....s
And please continue i.e. to submit guest material. It may take me a minute but I promise I will get there...   as I've told you before, I love you all, dearly

Lots of stuff from the minions

OK, in my drunken way, I stated last night that the new job is going to change things (blog-wise) as I
simply don't have the time to invest (this fall/winter I will be laid off, and I will OVERWHELM ya trust me).....for now, I am basically relying on guest submissions, and HOPING to put up an "original" post this weekend (BigGrant97 is having some of his buds over tomorrow night, thusly me and BigCarla66 are heading off for the casino for a night of gamblin' and lovin', which of course COULD BE the same thing).........Anyway, I have some stuff submitted from the rest of the world that I wish to share, I am going to hold up on Brian's stuff until Saturday because (1) he is my #1 protege, and (2) because he has so much fab stuff that burying it in a post like this might not do it fully justice.....anyway, there is PLENTY of stuff of interest I can share with ya tonight......

OK, first (I am bragging and nothing more), I got another email today from Nikki Corvette, was hoping she wanted to have sex with me, but ALMOST as good, she tole me that if I send her my USA mailing address, she would send me a "Gorvette" CD, a collaboration between Nikki and the Gore Gore Girls, I can hardly wait to hear it, I would just like to thank people like Nikki and Lennon Murphy for being REAL people, people one can REALLY TALK TO AS FRIENDS........it's a wonderful thing that there are such great people in our world (I am NOT one of them)........the day Nikki sends me that disc, it will be shared on this site, believe me.......

OK, so what else I got?.....A reader named Henry Ponds, in response to my ancient Jam post, sends us this fine link (I hope) for which he claims there are NINETY FIVE(!) Jam boots available:

http://yup-yup-mark.blogspot.com/search/label/JamNo.    I dont't really have time, to be honest, to check this, but if it is legit, he claims that most of the links are still active, and if the are , that would be a WONDERFUL thing for the sharing community.......

the main thing we wish to focus on this morning (it is 1:26 AM here) is the fine work of Jonder, whom has become a great semi-regularly contributor....I think I will just copy his email verbatum rather than elaborate, he seems to be the world's greatest fan of The Duke Spirit, which, trust me, is not such a bad thing, this is a great overlooked band.....PLEASE comment, share, listen, whatever, as Jonder says he will continue to share with us, and it seems, at least to me, that he likes some of the "on the fringe" stuff that I myself enjoy........so let's keep him in the mood to contribute, as well as Brian, Apantabapanta, Dave Sez, and of course Cliff (get well soon Cliff, your health is about 1000,000 times more important than this blog, even though your contributions are amazing and very popular)

OK, here is Jonder's review of his latest Duke Spirit contribution, he says he has a couple more, and I
hope he comes through with them.....this blog is for "us", it is NOT for the folks who are looking for that elusive Foreigner boot......not that there's anything WRONG with that, but I have TRIED to operate on the EDGE, on the PEOPLE'S edge, and that is how I plan to continue, regardless as to whether I have to spend so much of my time commuting, working, etc.......THIS BLOG WILL REMAIN, I LIKE doing it, it's just that the "daily" posts are going to have to turn into more like "weekend" posts.......sorry, but I got a kid heading to college next year, and that is a bit more important than YOU hosers, I'm sure you can understand THAT, right? On the other hand, I will (Saturday or Sunday) boost  a bunch of Brian's fab shares, and if I get time I just may get the rest of my Stranglers stuff posted......all good, still LOVE YOU ALL, just a bit of a lifestyle change....I know the REAL followers of the blog will stick with me, and as ALWAYS I welcome/encourage GUEST CONTRIBUTORS, whom, until my own winter layoff, will probably be the life saver of this blog, for beter or for worse........

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You can tell a lot about a band's influences from the songs they choose to cover. The Duke Spirit's tastes are eclectic, and reflect a deep knowledge of popular music from the 60's through the present day. The front of the Duke Spirit's second album, Neptune, shows their drummer holding a copy of The Basement Tapes, while another band member displays a painting of Ronnie Spector. On their debut single, they covered "Good Feeling" by the Violent Femmes, and "Big Bird", a soul tune written by Eddie Floyd and Booker T. Jones.

In 2006, the Duke Spirit issued an EP entitled Covered in Love which featured two songs by Arthur Lee ("A House Is Not A Motel" and "A Message To A Pretty") as well as a gauzy dream pop version of Desmond Dekker's reggae classic "007 (Shantytown)" and North Mississippi blueswoman Jessie Mae Hemphill's "I'm So Glad". All three artists (Lee, Dekker, and Hemphill) died in mid-2006, and the EP represented a tribute to them.

The Duke Spirit participated in a few cross-marketing efforts. Fashion designer Alexander McQueen's clothing line for Target included a Liela Moss t-shirt (her profile photo from Neptune), and a Duke Spirit compilation CD was released for Target shoppers. That compilation included one track unavailable anywhere else, a cover of Alex Chilton's "Baby Doll".

A promotion for shoe manufacturer Dr. Martens featured the Duke Spirit's version of Sham 69's "If The Kids Are United", played as a slow ballad. The band matched the intensity of Motorhead's "Damage Case" for the SEAT Music video series, and did an acoustic version of Robyn's electropop hit "Dancing On My Own" for Billboard's "Mashup Mondays". Last but not least is a recent cover of Echo and the Bunnymen's "Killing Moon" performed by Liela Moss and Toby Butler's duo Roman Remains. Enjoy!

1. Good Feeling/ 2. Big Bird/ 3. A House Is Not a Motel/ 4. A Message To A Pretty/ 5. 007 (Shantytown) 6. I'm So Glad/ 7. Baby Doll/ 8. If The Kids Are United 9. Damage Case/ 10.Dancing On My Own/ 11. The Killing Moon

http://www86.zippyshare.com/v/n6rEBpoo/file.html

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(Scott): Fantastic share Jonder, just incredible.....I will do my best to get the link you requested to you this weekend, the covers of the Love tracks are just too amazing.......thanks for your work, and as I said, I will try to send you a link for the WOXY set in the next couple of days, THANKS!

hey..big weekend ahead.....

Just tellin ya the new job has cha aged things, but we are stil chill. Get it ?

HEY, why not take another Stranglers break for some DIFFERENT material?

Fuck yeah, why not? I have been fucking around with this Stranglers thing for the past month or so, and I WILL finish is, but my GUEST POSTERS are my life blood, they keep this blog alive...... tonight, let us listen to more of the WONDERFUL Duke Spirit material shared by the great Jonder..... this is a load of B-Sides and the like, you are not likely to find this on some other blog, so if ya want it, here it is, if ya don't, such is life.........

Basically, here is an e-mail sent to me by Jonder, (a HUGE Duke Spirit fan, I am one now as well), please read the text he sends, and PLEASE check out the fine music he submits as well.... I hope after he is done with his Duke Spirit submissions he continues to send us music, THIS IS HOW I WANT this blog to work, especially with myself working again.... check these out, they are FABULOUS, tomorrow I will have some more of Brian's great stuff that he wishes me to help to share with all of ya!....... ANYWAY, this is some not only GREAT, but RARE Duke spirit material, please don't miss out on this once-in-a-lifetime chance!

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The voice of Liela Moss caught the ear of a number of musicians who have invited her to join them onstage and on record during the past decade. I have a baker's dozen of these songs to share with you, starting in 2006, when Liela guested on a single by the Archie Bronson Outfit (schoolmates of the Duke Spirit), and performed the June Carter Cash role on a cover of "Jackson" with the band Brakes. She also sang on a CD of Christmas songs with Amusement Parks on Fire.

Liela was chosen by the band UNKLE as a guest vocalist on 2007's War Stories album, and again on the 2011 UNKLE EP When the Night Falls. She has also appeared on several film soundtracks: a song on Dave Sardy's soundtrack for the 2008 film 21; backup vocals on Nick Cave and Warren Ellis' Lawless; and a Ben Harper duet on on thenewno2's Beautiful Creatures soundtrack.

In 2012, Australian goth duo Castratii featured Liela on two of their songs. Chris Karloff, a former member of Kasabian, included Liela among his guest singers for his Black Onassis project (and returned the favor by remixing a Neptune track for the Duke Spirit). Leila also sings lead on recent tracks by Dirtyphonics and Bad for Lazarus. The Oi band Hard Skin invited Liela and other female singers to redo their songs' vocals on Why Do Birds Suddenly Appear. (It took me a minute to get the title pun -- oh, birds!) Hard Skin may have liked the Duke Spirit's Sham 69 cover -- that one and more when I return with Duke Spirit cover versions!

01 BRAKES - Jackson/ 02 ARCHIE BRONSON OUTFIT - In The Shadow Of Love/ 03 AMUSEMENT PARKS ON FIRE - The Day It Snowed/ 04 UNKLE - Mayday/ 05 DAVID SARDY - Giant/ 06 UNKLE - The Dog Is Black/ 07 CASTRATII - Kingdom/ 08 CASTRATII - Limits/ 09 thenewno2 - Run To Me/ 10 BLACK ONASSIS - Trip B/ 11 HARD SKIN - Police Car/ 12 BAD FOR LAZARUS - 7 Minute Itch/ 13 DIRTYPHONICS - Hanging On Me

MUSIC LINK-http://www90.zippyshare.com/v/xKpBs0Oj/file.html )

Mega Stranglers part 6, more LIVE goodies

So, by 1988, the Stranglers had become what they were going to become, and looking to go in various directions..... for example, THIS live LP ("All Live And All of the Night") has a HORN SECTION (yes, really) on it, not my favorite thing, but different at least..... Stranglers fans will like the unique factor, lotta good stuff here, anyway (note: I DO NOT have the extended,  bonus version with extra tracks, if you do, please help out?

Now, MUCH more of interest to me is "The Early Years Live, '74-'76"... tremendously sloppy early versions of thier classics, from various venues/dates, a couple tracks get doubled ("Grip" and "Go Buddy Go"), but still fine to hear these gems, and ALWAYS great to find another version of "Peaches", which will ALWAYS be MY fave!

1993's "Saturday Night Sunday Morning" is significant in that it is the last known recorded show featuring Hugh Cornwell,  not bad, "Goldne Brown", "No More Heroes", "96 Tears"... (where's "Peaches?" where's "Grip"?)..... anyway, worthwhile, any Stranglers fan is gonna want this as well.

I also seem to have a copy of a 1985 recording "Death and Night and Blood", a good run down of most of their classic material, don't,honestly, recall listening to it to be honest, but it's the Stranglers running through some of their best material, when they were right near their peak......


OK, couple of bootlegs as well... earliest being a 1980 Toronto show, gets pretty frantic with fine versions of "Bring on the Nublies", "Boroque Borddello", and a fine "I feel Like a Wog", the entire set magnificently shows off thte Stranglers sleazy charm.

I have a London show from 1984 (unsure of date or venue), they really put out on this one as well, right up to the fabulous encore of "European Female" and (YES!) "Peaches"

Last one I have for now is a 1985 Zurich set, it gets pretty revved up as well, most of their early greats are here (except, oddly, "Grip"), but by now you have the idea......I have a buncha Stranglers stuff, if they were/are your "thing" eat hearty!

Morse Stranglers stuff coming, some comps with maybe a rarity or two, also some solo work from
some of the members... stay tuned, we'll have some good guest material in the next couple days too.

ALL LIVE AND ALL OF THE NIGHT-01 No More Heroes/02 Was It You/03 Down In the Sewer/04 Always the Sun/05 Golden Brown/06 North Winds/07 European Female/08 Strange Little Girl/09 Nice N Sleazy/10 Toiler on the Sea/11 Sea/12 London Lady

THE EARLY YEARS-01 Grip/02 Bitching/03 Go Buddy Go/04 Grip/05 Sometimes/06 Bitching/07 Peasant in the Big Shitty/08 hanging Around/09 Peaches/10 Ugly/11 Down in the Sewer/12 Go Buddy Go/13 Wasted/14 Strange Little Girl/15 My Young Dream/16 Princess of the streets

SATURDAY NIGHT SUNDAY MORNING-01 Toiler on the Sea/02 96 Tears/03 Always the Sun/04 No More Heroes/05 Golden Brown/06  Tank/07 Strange Little Girl/08 Something Better Change/09 Hanging Around/10 All Day and All of the Night/11 Duchess/12 Was It You

DEATH & NIGHT & BLOOD-01 Something Better Change/02 No Mercy/03 Skin Deep/04 let Me Down Easy/05 Death and Night and Blood/06 Peaches/07 Golden Brown/08 London Lady/09 I Feel Like a Wog/10 Uptown/11 Midsummernight Dream/European Female/12 Burning Up Time/13 Strange Little Girl/14 Souls/15 Threatened/16 Nice N Sleazy/17 Straighten Out/18 Punch and Judy/19 European Female/20 Dead Ringer

TORONTO 1980-01 Intro/02 Duchess/03 Hanging Around/04 Boroque Bordello/05 Down in the Sewer/06 Who Wants the World/07 Threatened/08 Bring on the Nubiles/09 tank/10 Nuclear Devices/11 Dead Loss Angeles/12 The Raven/13 I Felt Like a Wog

LONDON 1984-01 Something Better Change/02 No Mercy/03 London Day/04 Uptown/05 Midnight Summer Dream/06 Golden Brown/07 Nice N Sleazy/08 Let Me Down Easy/09 She Was Quite Close To Me/10 Dead Ringer/11 Strange Little Girl/12 Burning Up Time/13 Punch and Judy/14 Straighten Out/15 European Female/Peaches

ZURICH 1985-01 Something Better Change/02 Uptown/03 Dead Ringer/04 No Mercy/05 Souls/06 Nice N Sleazy/07 Skin Deep/08 Let Me Down Easy/09 Midnight Summer Dream/10 European Female/11 Golden Brown/12 Strange Little Girl/13 Peaches/14 Death and Night and Blood/15 She Was Quite Close To Me/16 Punch & Judy/17 I Feel Like a Wog/18 Down in the Sewer

As always, lemme know whatcha think... lotta material here, and a lot more to come from one of my favorite bands in high school/college..... opinions, por favor?

The State of Things, and Mega-Stranglers Part 5

OK, the skinny on my new job is as follows....I work 4-10 hour days AS WELL as having a 3 hour round trip drive each day.... knew that going in, not a big thing....but I DO want to continue the blog, I have so many FANTASTIC guest contributors that you might not likely know I've slacked off until I get laid off next winter..... Jonder's Duke Spirit stuff has been great thus far, and I hope he continues to contribute after he completes that project, Brian, as always, has a TON of unusual stuff he'd like me to bump, Cliff has had some health issues, praying he'll be fine and back soon, and of course, we have Apantabapanta and others.... I also aim to talk to Jose in the next few days about a bad-ass post that was on his blog that I'd like to share.

THIS BLOG IS GOING NOWHERE... it may slow down, it may rely more on outside contributors, it may be 180 degrees different than what it ONCE was, but goddamnit, I LIKE doing it, and I LOVE all my readers, and I am NOT going to stop.......check the stuff I put up over my three day weekend, we should wrap up the Stranglers as well as some more cool stuff......I AM NOT GOING TO BAIL ON YOU, trust me......some of you guys have been VERY loyal/faithful to me, and i am NOT ABOUT to forget about that.........this blog is HERE TO STAY, until some wank-ass shits it down. TRUST ME, check every few hours Fri/Sat/Sun this week, you'll see lots of good stuff, both from ME and from the rest of my fabulous team, to whom I owe and eternal gratitude. DAMNIT, GROWING BORED FOR A LIVING is going to be around for a LONG, LONG while yet........if you don't like that, SORRY ABOUT YOUR FUCKING LUCK frankly.

OK, let us investigate some live Stranglers.. I never got to see them live, certainly wish I had, as they were a "punk" band before it was even fashionable, not to mention their fantastic music, influenced by the Doors and (especially) Music Machine was incredible..... the live music I present here is badass, likely will have to split it into two parts, but there is some wonderful stuff here.

The earliest I have in my stash is "1977 Live at the Hope & Anchor".... primitive set, released LONG before the Stranglers were "the Stranglers", and there is some great music here, early versions of "Tits" and "No More Heroes" set the pace, this is one fans of the band will NOT want to miss.

1979's "Live X Cert" is a dandy as well, with a fine early version of "Grip", a rocking "Go Buddy Go", and plenty of fine early versions of many of their greatest works.... great album here, also.

Next up we have a very good (also odd) one, "The Stranglers and Friends Live In Concert"..... lots of folks help out here, Robert Fripp, Ian Dury, Larry Wallis, Toyah Wilcox and others.....they take on standard Stranglers numbers and breathe new life into them, I'd recommend against missing the fab version of "Peaches" in which they get help from Ian Dury, Wilko Johnson, Davey Payne, John Turnball, & Toyah Wilcox.... just sayin, my fave Stranglers track gets a TOTAL makeover.....

"1981 Apollo Revisited" is a stellar set as well, catching the band just about at their peak.....they run through a set of some of thier best stuff, great versions of "Bring On the Nubiles", "Golden Brown", "Meninblack", and lots more..... run, don't walk.

I'll put up some more live stuff tomorrow, tonight I'll wrap up with 1986's "Browned, Seasoned, and Thickened".... a good enough set, though catching the band a bit past their peak, but still, we can always use another great version of "Golden Brown" or "No More Heroes".... one of the great bands of the 1980's (and 70's), perhaps a bit underappreciated as a live act, hopefully this post and tomorrows will help to straighten out this injustice! Remember, tomorrow (Friday) MORE live Stranglers PLUS some great guest material! Don't miss, my children!

1977 LIVE AT THE HOPE & ANCHOR-01 Tits/02 Choosey Suzie/03 Goodbye Toulouse/04
Bitching/05 Mean To Me/06 School Mam/07 Peasant in the Big Shitty/08 In the Shadows/09 Walk On By/10 Princess of the streets/11 Go Buddy Go/12 No More Heroes/13 Straighten Out

LIVE X CERT-01 Grip/02 Dagenham Dave/03 Burning Up Time/04 Dead Ringer/05 hanging Around/06 I feel Like a Wog/07 Straighten Out/08 Curfew/09 Do You Wanna Death and Night and Blood Yukio/10 5 Minutes/11 Go Buddy Go/12 Peasant In the Big Shitty/13 In the Shadows/14 Sometimes/15 Mean To Me/16 London Lady/17 Goodbye Tolouse/18 hanging Around

THE STRANGLERS AND FRIENDS LIVE IN CONCERT-01 Intro/Jet Black/02 Grip/03 Hanging Around/04 Tank/05 Threatened/06 Toiler on the Sea/07 The Raven/08 Dead Loss Angeles/09 Nice N Sleazy/10 Bring On the Nubiles/11 Peaches/12 Bear Cage/13 Duchess/14 No More Heroes/15 5 Minutes/16 Something Beter Change/17 Down in the Sewer

1981 APOLLO REVISITED-01 Waltzinblack/02 Non Stop/03 Threatened/04 Just Like Nothing On Earth/05 Second Coming/06 The man They Love To Hate/07 Meninblack/08 Who Wants the World/09 Golden Brown/10 Tank/11 Nuclear Device/12 Genetix/13 Bring On the Nubiles/14 Duchesss/15 Let Me Introduce You to the Family/16 Hanging Around/17 The Raven

BROWNED SEASONED AND THICKENED-01 Nuclear Device/02 Toiler on the Sea.03 Ships
That Pass In the Night/04 Small World/05 Just Like Nothing On Earth/06 No More Heroes/07 Who Wants the World/08 Never Say Goodbye/09 Baroque Bordello/10 Golden Brown/11 Princess of the Streets

REMEMBER NOW, for a while, this blog is gonna be a Thursday Night-Sunday kinda thing..... hope that is OK with everyone.... for the next few days, still got PLENTY of Stranglers material to share, and Brian has a BIG bunch of stuff he wants me to give a boost to.... so check back frequently over the weekend.... I WISH I could maintain the everyday pace, but I just can't see it for now.... NOT that I love ya any less, I'm sure you understand!

Another break in Mega-Stranglers, for some more Bitchin guest material.....

And, yes, the Stranglers will be back..... when people send me stuf, though, I am anxious to post it as
I am  a "True' TEAM PLAYER..... first let me point out that the great Cliff (Reggae man) is having some health issues, let's all say a prayer for him that he gets well quickly, he's a FINE contributor to this blog, and I hope he recovers 100%.........hope all you guys agree with me, too...

What we DO have tonight is Part 1 of a spectacular posting from our new great contributor Jonder.... he is planning on sharing ALL of his great Duke Spirit materieal with us (sounds GREAT to me), and he has told me of a few other bands he'd like to feature... THAT is how I want this to work, with EVERYONE contributing, so without further ado, here is Jonder, with part ONE of his MEGA-Duke Spirit post...... who knows when the next part will be, it'll probably alternate between his and the rest of my Mega-Stranglers.......and, what the hell is so wrong with THAT?

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The Duke Spirit began releasing singles in 2002, first under the name Solomon, later adopting The Duke Spirit as a band name from the title of an Augustus Pablo track. The first Duke Spirit album, Cuts Across the Land, appeared in 2005.

An old Rolling Stone review of Siouxsie and the Banshees' debut said that Siouxsie's voice "sounds thrillingly like a young Grace Slick." I think the Duke Spirit's singer Liela Moss can be far more accurately compared to Grace Slick in terms of the two vocalists' power as well as their tone and range.

The music of the Duke Spirit has a strong shoegaze influence, but they are primarily a rock band, and a great one at that. Their choices of cover songs reveals the range of their influences (from garage rock to reggae, punk, blues, and psychedelia). I would like to share those covers in another post, with Big Scott's permission.

CUTS ACROSS THE LAND: 01 Cuts Across The Land/ 02 Love Is An Unfamiliar Name/ 03 Darling You're Mean/ 04 Win Your Love/ 05 Hello To The Floor/ 06 Bottom Of The Sea/ 07 Fades The Sun/ 08 You Were Born Inside My Heart/ 09 Lion Rip/ 10 Lovetones/ 11 Stubborn Stitches/ 12 Red Weather/ 13 Take A Look Around/ 14 So Good To Hear/ 15 Boot Hill. This is the US version of the album, with bonus tracks (13-15).

The band went to Rancho de la Luna to record their second album, Neptune (2008). This trip brought the Duke Spirit into the orbit of QOTSA and the Desert Sessions collective. Liela Moss has since sung on projects by Jesse Hughes and Dave Catchings.

NEPTUNE: 01 I Do Believe/ 02 Send A Little Love Token/ 03 The Step And The Walk/ 04 Dog Roses/ 05 Into The Fold/ 06 This Ship Was Built To Last/ 07 Wooden Heart/ 08 You Really Wake Up The Love In Me / 09 My Sunken Treasure/ 10 Lassoo/ 12 Neptune's Call/ 13 Sovereign

The third Duke Spirit album, Bruiser (2010), was their last. The band continued playing live through 2012. Moss and Duke Spirit guitarist Toby Butler formed a duo called Roman Remains, and signed to Dhani Harrison's label. Toby Butler has done remixes for other artists, and Liela Moss has been in high demand as a guest vocalist for numerous bands and soundtrack albums. I have a lot of Liela's songs to share as well, if there is interest among you readers.

BRUISER: 01 Cherry Tree/ 02 Procession/ 03 Villain/ 04 Don't Wait/ 05 Surrender/ 06 Bodies/ 07 De Lux/ 08 Sweet Bitter Sweet/ 09 Running Fire/ 10 Everybody's Under Your Spell/ 11 Northbound/ 12 Homecoming/ 13 Procession (Gary Numan remix)/ 14 Cherry Tree (remix) 15 Bodies (remix)/ 16 Don't Wait (remix). Tracks 13-16 were added to a 2012 re-release.

In January 2015, the band announced on their Facebook page that they were recording a new album with Simon Raymonde from the Cocteau Twins (who produced part of the Duke Spirit's debut). The band is scheduled to play a UK festival in September, and hopefully their new record will come out around then.

CUTS ACROSS THE LAND: http://www87.zippyshare.com/v/le6ovQ5K/file.html

NEPTUNE: http://www87.zippyshare.com/v/le6ovQ5K/file.html

BRUISER: http://www87.zippyshare.com/v/sgDr5fIX/file.html

Mega-Stranglers, Part 4,the EP's and Singles

OK, hope like hell you've been enjoying the Stranglers greatness, as promis ed there is quite a bit more to come, lets just see how bad ya REALLY want it !!!!!!!!

Let's begin with an unusual 9" disc, evidently given away for free to fans of the band... hey, don't quibble.... three fine tracks ("Tits", "Walk On By", and "Mean to Me") are all great, I wish I would have tripped over one of these in 1993 or so.......

The also released a fine EP, "Don't Bring Harry", has some good stuff, not available elsewhere... there are English and French versions both of the title track, but in between there are semi-Stranglers classics such as  "Crabs" and "In the Shadows"... this is a worthwhile EP, I'd appreciate your givin it a chance.

Next a 2-sided single from 1982, nothing spectacular, except, there's a special 12" mix of :Midnight Summers", as well as multiple versions of "Vladimir and Olga"......

The "Paradise" single has some good stuff on it as well, no undiscovered classics, but three Stranglers tracks which you MAY feel are essential (I don't really), but ya try to put ALL yer cards on the table.

Another 12' Single is 1984's "Let Me Down Easy"..... three intriguing tracks (one an instrumental) as I continue to TRY to get you your radiohead FIX, I know that by now they are considered a litle dated, but WHEN DID I EVER CARE ABOUT THAT? Nope, not my mindset, I am just trying tonight to to HELP these people with the disabilities.... PLEASE support the discs that are posted in honor of some disabled soldier or something, lets continue, through small steps, to try to make the world something of a beter place on which we can ALL live.

The next mega-single (as best as I can determine, is 1984's "Skin Deep", with a tremendous extended version of the title track here.... I'd LOVE to show up and play catch with them at one of their practices, but that's just that..........I

Their classic reworking of "96 Tears" gets a lot of love, no need to worry,,,,this was put together by
my cousin Eric, also a military man .... there are also a couple more tracks here that are worthwhile
it's the STRANGLERS for God Sake.... you know NOW, without hearing if this is for you, but lemme tell ya..... this is yet another version of that oft-covered classic, and the rest of the shit here is great as well.......
Last one I got for ya is "Sweet Smell of Success".....I THINK this gives us all the Stranglers non-lp stuff, I could be wrong...... anyway, look for some LIVE stuff tomorrow (or next time I post)!)

FREE 9" EP-01 01 Walk On By/02 Mean To Me/03 Tits

DON'T BRING HARRY-01 Don't Bring Harry (English)/02 Wired/03 Sveriege/04  Crabs/05 I the Shadows/06 Don't Bring Harry (French)

MIDNIGHT SUMMMERS DREAM-01 Midnight Summers Dream/02 Vladimir and Olga

PARADISE-01 Paradise/02 Prwsher/03 Permission

LET ME DOWN EASY-01 Let Me Down Easy/02 Achilles Heel/03 Place De Victores
(instrumental)

SKIN DEEP-01 Skin Deep (extended)/02 Here and There/03 Vladimir and the Beast (Part 3)

96 TEARS-01 96 Tears/02 Instead of This/03 Poisonality

SWEET SMELL OF SUCCESS-01 Sweet Smell of Success/02 Motobike/03 Something

Kay, these are kinda sorta rare, hope you appreciate em.....as I said, next up is LIVE material hopefully tomorrow.......until then enjoy the remainder of your weekend!

Mega Stranglers Part 3

From 1990, "10" was the final album the band released, prior to the departure of founding member Hugh Cornwell. People share mixed emotions on it, I am not that fond of it (they cover "96 Tears" and "All Day and All of the Night") both really fine efforts, but the band is sounding tired..... not a worthless record by any means, "Sweet Smell of Success" is a good one, and at least this is a loaded, bonus edition CD version with a lot of extra tracks.

New members Paul Roberts and John Ellis take over on "Stranglers in the Night".... I like it, personally, it hearkens back to their rough-edged, Music Machine influenced greatness....often a major participant leaving is a death knell, but in this case, it seemed to offer the band a bit of breathing room. "Heaven and Hell", "Sugar Bullets", and "Brainbox" all work fine for me, a surprisingly good and listenable album.

"About Time" came out in 1995, and, reminded me more of what I thought "Stranglers in the Night" may sound like.... the horns return, electric violins, is it "interesting"? well, no, not terrible, nor does it rock especially.... however, I'm sure it has its fans, here is is for any of you Strangler junkies!

"Written in Red", I think, is kind of a mess as well, it appears in several versions with live numbers and the like, this version doesn't have much to recommend it, save perhaps "In Heaven She Walks", which really IS a good one.

"Coup De Grace", also falls short, JJ Burrell really steps to the forefront with writing and singing a lot more material than in past, sorta sounds like maybe a solo effort for him..... as the band had been entertaining military troops in places such as the Falkland Islands and Bosnia, there are recurring 'war" themes throughout, nonetheless, I am not/was not terrible impressed........

ALL bands (well, NEARLY) Do reach this point at some time.... often, if I have the material, it's good that we can "document" the fall as well as the rise.

In 2004 (2004!) they resurfaced with a new strummer, Baz Warne, and released "Norfolk Coast", it's not NEARLY as awful as I thought it would be.... .the title track is really good, and "Tucker's Grave" is a winner as well..... the traditional Stranglers swirling keyboards are FINALLY back up front where they belong. No classic, but a good one, worth a download anyway.

I found on the bay something called "Suite XVI".... gotta say, never heard anything on it, and don't REALLY want to.... this ship has sailed. It's here for you though......and, apparently, they released another album, subsequently, "Giants", which was not available, I don't have, and I guess we will have to live without.....

No matter you have a full picture pretty much of the once-great Stranglers, this will wrap up the studio albums, but I have a LOT of other stuff coming from their glory days. Maybe some even later tonight.

Do you enjoy the Mega-post format? I do, as long as it doesn't become permanent.... would be too restrictive for me, you know I GOTTA be free form..... I've "done" many of the greats in "mega" format, but if there is someone else, please suggest.

10-01 Sweet Smell Of Success/02 Someone Like You/03 96 Tears/04 In this Place/05 Celebrate/06 Man of the Earth/07 Too Many Teardrops/08 Where I Live/09 Out of My Mind/10 Never Look Back/11 Instead of this (Bonus)/12 Poisonality (Bonus)/13 Motorbike (Bonus)/14 Something (Bonus)/14 Something (Bonus)/15 You (Bonus)/16 Viva Vlad(Bonus)/17 All Day and All of the Night (Bonus)/18 Always the Sun (Sunny Side Up Mix)

STRANGLERS IN THE NIGHT-01 Time To Die/02 Sugar Bullets/03 Heaven and Hell/04 Laughing in the Rain/05 This Town/06 Brainbox/07Southern Mountains/08 Gain Entry to Your Soul/09 Grand Canyon/10 Wet Afternoon/11 Never See/12 Leave it to the Dogs

ABOUT TIME-01 Golden Boy /02 Money/03 Face/04 Sinister/05 Little Blue Lies/06 Still Life/07 Paradise Row/08 She Gave It All/09 Lies and Deception/10 Lucky Fingers/11 And the Boat Sails By

WRITTEN IN RED-01 Valley of the Birds/02 In Heaven She Walks/03 In a While/04 Sliver Into Blue/05 Blue Song/06 Here/07 Joy de Vivre/08 Miss You/09 Daddy's Riding In the Range/10 Summer in the City/11 Wonderful Land

COUP DE GRACE-01 God Is Good/02 You Don't Think That What You've done Is Wrong/03 Tonight/04 Jump Over My Shadow/05 Miss You/06 Coup de Grace (SOS)/07 I the End/08 No Reason/09 Known Only Unto God/10 The Light

NORFOLK COAST-01 Norfolk Coast/02 Big Thing Coming/03 Long Black Veil/04 I've Been Wild/Dutch Moon/06 Lost Control/07 Into the Fire/08 Tucker's Grave/09 I Don't agree/10 Sanfte Kuss/11 Mine All Mine

SUITE XVI-01 Unbroken/02 Spectre of love/03 She's Slipping Away/04 Summat Outanowt/05 Anything Can Happen/06 See Me Coming/07 Bless You (Save You.. Spare You, Damn You)/08 A Soldiers Diary/09 Barbara (Shangri-La)/10 I Hate You/11 Relentless


This bout wraps up the Stranglers stuff, as per their studio efforts... don't despair, they were a fave of mine for quite a while, so I'm not gonna leave you hanging..... LOTS of more stuff any of you Stranglers-junkies will froth over..... BUT I am going to switch gears once again, REALLY quickly, from my buddy from Greece, Apantabapanta, who continually works on the "Encyclopedia of Disbanded Rock Bands".... might take him a while, and he could CERTAINLY use some help (Sorry, I WISH I had the time) , but he'd done a fine job up until now, and his posts are just phenomenal...... informative, and with the right links to get you SOLID background information. What Apanta does here is a little different than what others might do, and I salute him bug time, for being an ORIGINAL, as well as a great and knowledgeable guest-poster to this blog, one who is welcome here, ANY time he wishes, yes, a favorite contributor of mine (OK, you ALL are favorite contributors of mine!)

Mega-Stranglers Part 2

So, how did you like the beginning of the the Stranglers epic? Should be a good one, I am thinking, I have some guest material from Brian and Apantabapanta which I'll get up tomorrow, taking a small break in the Stranglers thing, but variety is, of course, the life of spice.

So for tonight let's pick up where we left off.... our first album tonight is the first of the originals (good ones) that were released AFTER the classics (see yesterday)..... 1981's "The Gospel According to the Meninblack" was a VERY ambitious conceptual effort which doesn't exactly always work, despite, taken as less than a sum of its parts, still has some good Stranglers stuff on it .... It's recommended, and is  a smooth transition into the 80's for the band.

"La Folie" was issued in 1981 as well, they were REALLY cranking out the music at this time......pretty fair album, although if not a Stranglers fan you MAY not care for it, proceed with caution (i DO like it)... in 1982 they released "Feline", which, by their own standards is no classic, BUT we are not highlighting ONLY the classic stuff, but ALL of the Stranglers material I have accumulated......

This is a band that, while trying new things never deviated from their original concept, if you get what I mean.......1984's "Aural Sculpture" was a good, listenable album as well, presented here in a fine, 2001 deluxe edition release with a lot of bonus material.

For my money their era of "greatness" was over, but like so many great bands the albums on the way "down" are certainly worth a spin.... such is the case with this evening's final offering "Dreamtime"... the title track and "Big in America" would work anytime, and so it is for bands like this with long, great careers and VERY dedicated followings.

Back tomorrow with some guest material, and also hopefully a wrap up of the Stranglers studio career..... they released a few more albums and we may as well get to them, before we get into the rarities and the like.... Please tell a brother what you think!

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO THE MENINBLACK-01 Waltzinblack/02 Just Like Nothing On Earth/03 Second Coming/04 Waiting for the Meninblack/05 Turn the Centuries, Turn/06 Two Sunspots/07 Four Horsemen/08 Thrown Away/09 Manna Machine/10 Hallow To Our Men /11 Top Secret/12 Maninwhite/13 Tomorrow Was Hereafter

LA FOLIE-01 Non Stop/02 Everybody Loves You When You're Dead/03 Tramp/04 Let Me Introduce You To the Family/05 Ain't Nothing To It/06 The Man They Love To Hate/07 Pin Up/08 It Only takes Two to tango/09 Golden Brown/10 How to Find Love and happiness in the Present/11 La Folie/12 Cruel Garden/13 Cocktail Nubiles/14 Vietnamerica/15 Love 30/16 You Hold the Key to My Love In Your Hands/17 Strange Little Girls

FELINE-01 Midnight Summer Dream/02 It's a Small World/03 Ships That Pass in the Night/04 European Female (In Celebration Of)/05 Let's Tango In Paris/06 Paradise/07 All Roads Lead to Rome/08 Blue Sister/09 Never Say Goodbye

AURAL SCULPTURE-01 Ice Queen/02 Skin Deep/03 Let Me Down Easy/04 No Mercy/05 North Winds/06 Uptown/07 Punch & Judy/08 Spain/09 Laughing/10 Souls/11 Mad Hatter/12 Here and There/13 In One Door/14 Head on the Line/15 Achilles Heel/16 Hot Club (Riot Mix)/17 Place de Victoires/18 Vladimir and the Beast (part 3)/19 Vladimir Goes to Havana

DREAMTIME-01 Always the Sun/02 Dreamtime/03 Was It You?/04 You'll Always Reap What You Sow/05 Ghost Train/06 Nice In Nice/07 Big In America/08 Shakin Like a Leaf/09 Mayan Skies/10 Too Precious/11 Since You Went Away/12 Norman Normal/13 Dry Day/14 Hitman/15 Was It You? (single version)/16 Burnham Beeches

So the hits just keep on comin.... remember, next post (hopefully tomorrow) will be some guest material (better than my stuff anyway), and then back to the Stranglers, LOTS of live stuff, rarities, EP's, and lots of other stuff you can't live without!

Hey I TOLD YOU I'd be back, Mega-Stranglers, Part 1!

Over this July 4th holiday weekend, i have guest material from both Brian and Apantanbapanta, both
of which you will get in the next couple  of days, but, in the wake of starting the new job and such, I thought it might be semi-important that I compose something of my own, rather than allow this blog to be "taken over' (as great as they are) by the guest posters....

OK... as I said, I'm just starting a new job... as such the blog takes something of a back burner, but not TOO much, I STILL do love you all, and will Not stop doing what I do.....I love to share MY music with the world, and also the music my FRIENDS have, with the world..... I am just slowing down a TOUCH, as I DO need to concentrate my efforts on the new job, just a BIT, I am SURE you understand, but also make sure you know this: BigScott62 is going NOWHERE..... I may post less frequently, my format might change a tiny bit, but I LOVE MY FOLLOWERS and will (I SWEAR) NEVER abandon you.......in the next few weeks you will see, I have a couple "mega-posts" in the works, but  as for tonight, let me throw out to you a couple of random albums that you may not already have in your stash..........I'm here for THAT reason too, ya know, I could be for another ten years and NEVER share ALL of the stuff I have on CD with ya......that ain't the point........I love me some rock n roll, in ALL its forms, and I try my damndest to share a bit of this and of a dab of that with YOU......so, with a long weekend ahead of us (I can do a thing or two with THAT), let me present a couple of teasers for ya, a few albums that ya may not have heard before that I can share with ya.......and if ya by some chance liked that Yo La Tengo mega-post, stick around, I have a few more of those MEGA things in the works, and I'd hate for ya to miss em.....the bottom line is I gotta get that kid o mine through college, thus;y, I gotta go back to work, but I DO love doing this here thing, and if you are with me, great, if not, sorry........

Here's what I have for ya tonight, selected purely at random:


OK, I pondered it and figured it was about I unleashed all of my classic STRANGLERS shit on ya.... a favorite of mine? well in a way, yes, as they  remind my a lot of the Doors and MUCH MORE SPECIFICALLY, Sean Boniwell's Music Machine, who were about 30 years ahead of their time, and, YES, I am saying the Stranglers were as well..... great band, GREAT band, I have a lot material here, might take me the better part of the week to get it all to ya, but TRUST ME  it will be worth it.... this band had it all..... they rocked like a mofo, they were offensive as fuck ( a GOOD thing,  check "Peaches' or "Bring on the Nubiles") and their amazing musical structure that recalled both the aforementioned Doors and Music Machine are NOTHING to be ashamed of, trust me...... I have a LOT of this stuff, if you have anything to contribute, RIGHT NOW is the time, as we all know this is one of the best bands the Lord ever placed on the planet for our pleasure!

The catalog is extensive, let's start out simply, with their original studio albums, I guess that is the easiest way to do it for the novices in the crowd...... (for you newbs, if you only want ONE, please sample "IV Norvegicus Natticus", that would be my personal opinion, leastways.....

NO MORE HEROES (1977)-01 I feel Like a Wog/02 Bitching/03 Dead Ringer/04 Dagenham Dave/05 Bring On the Nubiles/06 Something Better Change/07 No More Heroes/08 Peasant in the Big Shitty/09 Burning Up TIme/10 English Towns/11 School Mam/12 Straighten Out/13 Five Minutes/14 Rok it to the Moon

IV RATTUS NORVEGICUS (1977)-01 Sometimes.02 Goodbye Toulouse/03 London Lady/04 Princess of the Streets/05 Hanging Around/06 Peaches/07 (Get a) Grip (On Yourself)/08 Ugly/09 Down In the sewer/10 Choosey Susie/11 Go Buddy Go/12 Peasant in the Big Shitty (Live)

BLACK AND WHITE (1978)-01  Tank/02 Nice N Sleazy/03 Hey! (Rise of the Robots)/04 Outside Tokyo/05 Sweden (All Quiet on the Eastern Front)/06 Toiler on the Sea/07 Curfew/08 Threatened/09 In the Shadows/10 Do You Wanna/11 Death and Night and Blood (Yukio)/12 Enough Time/13 Mean to Me/14 Walk On By/15 Shut Up/16 Sveridge/17 Old Codger/18 Tits

THE RAVEN (1979)-01 Longships/02 The Raven/03 Dead Loss Angeles/04 Ice/05 Baroque Bordello/06 Nuclear Device/07 Shah Shah a Go Go/08 Don't Bring Harry/09 Duchess/10 Meniniblack/11 Genetix/12 Bear Cage/13 Fools Rush Out/14 R'emmenes Pas Harry/15 Yellowcake UFO

THE CHRONICLES OF VLADIMIR (1980)-01 Vladimir and Olga/02 Vladimir and Sergei/03 Vladmimir and the Beast )Part III)/04 Vladimir Goes to Havana/05 Viva Vlad!/06 Vladimir and the Pearl

OK, that'll do it for tonight....... in the past I would have given ya 20 albums instead of 5, but things are changing....... these are five GREAT albums, (especially "Rattus" and "Heroes"), but this was one underappreciated band, and I aim to spend the rest of the week paying tribute to them and ALL of their great stuff I have..... PLEASE let me know how you feel about this retro-greatness, I love these albums (always did), if you do/did too, at least give a shout out, if they are new to ya, well, you DO have some catching up to do, BUT, in either case, I'll just say this... this was a great band.... not "good" , GREAT..... for a variety of reasons they are not remembered that well today, but TRUST ME they were great, as we will both spending the rest of the week reminiscing over their greatness... but, trust me, THESE albums, newb, are too great for MY commentary.

If you are a Stranglers fan, pay attention the next week or so, I'll post when I can post, but i DO have a ton of their fantastic music.....this goes for you as well if they are new to ya......they were a great band, always willing to take a chance, ominous, creepy, but always rocking........I have a LOT of their stuff, and this post will reach Yo La Tengo-ish proportions.... NOTHING wrong with that IMO, as this was on of the great (and SERIOUSLY underappreciated) bands of the important era......it was an incredibly IMPORTANT era, and the Stranglers would have been mega-stars (well MAYBE) at nearly any other point in history.......anyway, yourself for a BUNCH of their work, coz i happen to have a BUNCH!