Dixie Peach Parade

I've never really been a big fan of the modern day trend for 'Tribute' albums and personally the only album of this type to really hit the mark for me was the Roky Erickson tribute 'Where The Pyramid Meets The Eye'. Today though I feature a track from another tribute record, 'More Oar A Tribute To The Skip Spence Album' from Birdman Records.

For those of you out there who are completely unaware of Skip Spence and might ask why anyone would want to record a tribute to him, well he was an early member of both the Quicksilver Messenger Service and the Jefferson Airplane. Skip ignited the three-guitar frontline of the great, psychedelic rock band from San Francisco, Moby Grape, whose 1967 self-titled debut is considered by many critics and fans alike to be one of the greatest albums of its era.
While recording the next Moby Grape album in New York (1968's Wow), Spence landed in Bellevue Hospital's prison ward after an incident involving an axe and a bandmate's hotel-room door. Freed six months later and eager to record a collection of songs he'd written in Bellevue, Skip headed for Nashville, where he wrote, played all the instruments on, and produced one last album as a functioning artist -- his so-called masterpiece, Oar. For the next 30 years, he drifted in and out of institutions, a diagnosed schizophrenic who basically disappeared and later died at the age of 52 .

Jay Farrar ex-Uncle Tupelo & Son Volt along with the Bottle Rockets' Brian Henneman with Dade Farrar sawing away on stand-up bass (aka the Sir Omaha Quintet) sound somewhere near perfect on their version of one of Oar's best songs, 'Weighted Down (The Prison Song)'.



Jay Farrar & The Sir Omaha Quintet - Weighted Down (The Prison Song)

This is by far the longest track I have ever posted on the NRE so I just lie back and enjoy it !

ALL RECORDINGS ARE FOR YOUR AUDIO PLEASURE ONLY BUT IF YOUR ARE OFFENDED BY THE PUBLISHING OF THIS MATERIAL OR WANT TO REQUEST THE AUDIO SEGMENT REMOVED THEN PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT ON THE RELEVANT POST AND I WILL REMOVE IT.

Pick Of The Crop

A forgotten English band that failed commercially Stackridge were nevertheless an interesting footnote in British Rock history of the 1970's. Orginally called Stackridge Lemon (the Lemon was soon dropped !) their classic line up released three LP's from 1971 until 1973, Stackridge, Friendliness and The Man In The Bowler Hat which is where today's post can be found. The music was often a mixture of English Music Hall, Folk, Pop and Jazz mixed together with a West Country feel. They are famous for playing at the first ever Glastonbury Festival in 1970 and this writer cannot forget their first appearence on the Old Grey Whistle Test in 1973 when they performed this song.



Stackridge - Do The Stanley

ALL RECORDINGS ARE FOR YOUR AUDIO PLEASURE ONLY BUT IF YOUR ARE OFFENDED BY THE PUBLISHING OF THIS MATERIAL OR WANT TO REQUEST THE AUDIO SEGMENT REMOVED THEN PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT ON THE RELEVANT POST AND I WILL REMOVE IT.

Who Pumped The Wind In My Doughnut

It's so nice to be back and re-open the archives once again, after my extended enforced absence which left the R&RD rather fed up and frustrated with the worldwide web. Anyway let's start anew with a bunch of buskers from Exchange Street, Portland, Maine. They play acoustic Jug Band style music with a smart lyrical twist. I bought their CD sometime last year from http://cdbaby.com/cd/halfmoon and have always liked this track alongside 'Tuna Noodle Baby', they released it sometime in 2001.

The Half Moon Jug Band - Space Man In a Jug Band

ALL RECORDINGS ARE FOR YOUR AUDIO PLEASURE ONLY BUT IF YOUR ARE OFFENDED BY THE PUBLISHING OF THIS MATERIAL OR WANT TO REQUEST THE AUDIO SEGMENT REMOVED THEN PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT ON THE RELEVANT POST AND I WILL REMOVE IT.

Can I Help You, Mate ?

I'm not particularly noted as a film buff and I am always at least a year or maybe even two years behind everybody else in catching up with films on dvd etc. So yesterday I sat down on my own, closed the blinds and watched 90 mins of the best British thriller I have seen since 'Get Carter'. The film I watched was Shane Meadows 2004 film 'Dead Man's Shoes'. Now as this is a music not a film blog it gave me the chance to post the opening track to the movie which I thought was stunning. I was watching the beginning of the film and I was also trying to identify the song and it's singer. I had to wait for the end credits but it did confirm my initial thoughts that it was Bill Callahan (better known as Smog).

This track comes from his 2003 release 'Supper'. I most admit I do like Bill's work but find that there are a maximum of only one or two tracks per album that really ever standout for me and re-listening to 'Supper ' after watching the film I'm convinced that 'Vessel In Vain' is the best track by a mile and makes 'Dead Man's Shoes' that extra bit special.



Smog - Vessel In Vain

ALL RECORDINGS ARE FOR YOUR AUDIO PLEASURE ONLY BUT IF YOUR ARE OFFENDED BY THE PUBLISHING OF THIS MATERIAL OR WANT TO REQUEST THE AUDIO SEGMENT REMOVED THEN PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT ON THE RELEVANT POST AND I WILL REMOVE IT.

I want everybody in the whole stadium to stand up and sing with us

Yes, I am the victim of a Basketball Jones
Ever since I was a little baby, I always be dribblin'
In fac', I was de baddest dribbler in the whole neighborhood
Then one day, my mama bought me a basketball
And I loved that basketball
I took that basketball with me everywhere I went
That basketball was like a basketball to me

Well it's the first day of another year and the second year that the Novelty Rock Emporium has been open for business.The NRE will continue to offer offbeat, unknown and sometimes forgotten eclectic tracks for you to be amazed by, often confounded and maybe also knocked sideways on occasions.
'Basketball Jones' was a song I always remembered and loved after seeing their cartoon video of the song on the BBC's Old Grey Whistle Test in the early 1970's (see the You Tube link below). Cheech Marin and Tommy Chong were a comedy duo who found a wide audience at that time for their comedy stand-up routines, which were based upon the era's hippie and drug culture movements. Cheech played a cholo from Los Angeles, while Chong was a burned-out 'druggie' whose entire life revolved around getting high.
The duo released a number of successful comedy albums and the classic film 'Up In Smoke' in 1978. Perhaps their all-time most famous line is "Dave's not here, man" (from their self-titled debut album).The duo separated in the 1980s due to creative differences.



Cheech And Chong - Basketball Jones

YOU TUBE LINK FOR VIDEO
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KReGXDH20D8

ALL RECORDINGS ARE FOR YOUR AUDIO PLEASURE ONLY BUT IF YOUR ARE OFFENDED BY THE PUBLISHING OF THIS MATERIAL OR WANT TO REQUEST THE AUDIO SEGMENT REMOVED THEN PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT ON THE RELEVANT POST AND I WILL REMOVE IT

The Barflys And Slack Granny Live !

At this time of the year everywhere you look there's a list. It's Christmas so everyone makes a wish list or an 'I want this list' (that's me actually). Just look inside any popular monthly music magazine, you will find categories. Album of the year, Re-Issue of the year, the best box set, number one artist (generally Bob Dylan) etc etc.
Was I the only one slightly disappointed in 'Modern Times' and thought the reviews were a little over the top - ( re-cycled old blues riffs and no credit given to the original sources, well maybe.....ok I definitely was).

Anyway I digress, my single of the year comes from The Young Knives five track EP ' Weekends And Bleak Days (Hot Summer). They are from Ashby De La Zouch and this track has a Syd Barrett feel and it feels good to sing along too.

The Young Knives - Worcestershire Madman

ALL RECORDINGS ARE FOR YOUR AUDIO PLEASURE ONLY BUT IF YOUR ARE OFFENDED BY THE PUBLISHING OF THIS MATERIAL OR WANT TO REQUEST THE AUDIO SEGMENT REMOVED THEN PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT ON THE RELEVANT POST AND I WILL REMOVE IT.

Another Happy Death Theme

Ah, any song that pays 'respect due !' to Hank Williams, Karen Carpenter and The King is always worthy of attention and I think that the Young Fresh Fellows from Seattle, Washington just about got it right on this track. It comes from their 1987 LP 'The Men Who Loved Music' on Frontier Records. The YFF were certainly not grunge more rakish punk with a humourous edge - think England's 'Half Man Half Biscuit' and you are somewhere close. The group's first LP 'The Fabulous Sounds of The Pacific Northwest' is a great place to start.

Young Fresh Fellows - Hank, Karen And Elvis


ALL RECORDINGS ARE FOR YOUR AUDIO PLEASURE ONLY BUT IF YOUR ARE OFFENDED BY THE PUBLISHING OF THIS MATERIAL OR WANT TO REQUEST THE AUDIO SEGMENT REMOVED THEN PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT ON THE RELEVANT POST AND I WILL REMOVE IT.

The Lanes, You Must Visit The Lanes !

Bo And Peep - Rise Of The Brighton Surf

I can't decide whether I like this song or not, you can find it on the compilation 'English Freakbeat Vol 6' on AIP records.The truth is that Bo & Peep were a one-shot offshoot of the Rolling Stone's Manager Andrew Loog Oldham serious efforts at establishing a Phil Spector-type music factory. American legend Kim Fowley was the lead singer with other musicians such as Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones helping out in the studio. This is a savage parody of The Animals "House of the Rising Sun." with a nod to the Mods versus Rockers battles that blighted English seafronts in the 1960's.

ALL RECORDINGS ARE FOR YOUR AUDIO PLEASURE ONLY BUT IF YOUR ARE OFFENDED BY THE PUBLISHING OF THIS MATERIAL OR WANT TO REQUEST THE AUDIO SEGMENT REMOVED THEN PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT ON THE RELEVANT POST AND I WILL REMOVE IT.

Who Listens To The Radio

The Sports hit my musical radar approximately sometime around 1979. I'm sure it was on 'The Old Grey Whistle Test' but my memory is unclear on this point but this track impressed me enough to go out and purchase the LP. The band were from Melbourne, Australia and their 1979 LP with the same title as this track came out on Mushroom Records but was distributed in Europe by Stiff Records. The Sports were reasonably popular for awhile in New Wave circles but they broke up in 1981. Thinking about this era today I was also a big fan of another Aussie band, Cold Chisel at that time but have none of their albums tucked away in the NRE. I am indebted to 'The Twilight Zone' for recently posting The Sports LP and reminding me how much I enjoyed their music in the early 80's. I have also left a You Tube link - go watch and enjoy !


The Sports - Don't Throw Stones

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SueMADFjnF4

ALL RECORDINGS ARE FOR YOUR AUDIO PLEASURE ONLY BUT IF YOUR ARE OFFENDED BY THE PUBLISHING OF THIS MATERIAL OR WANT TO REQUEST THE AUDIO SEGMENT REMOVED THEN PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT ON THE RELEVANT POST AND I WILL REMOVE IT.

Remember The Rubber Bishops

Beautiful ladies in danger, danger all round the world,
I will protect them, because I am Chris de Burgh
Beautiful ladies in emergency situations
Beautiful ladies are lovely, but sometimes they don't take care,
They're too busy with their makeup, or combing their lovely hair
To take basic safety precautions

But I will protect them, I will save the pretty ones,
With their smiles and their sparkling eyes
But let the ugly ones die
I have no place for them, in my new world order
I won't waste my seed on hideous trolls.
Kill, kill, kill, kill, kill the trolls,
Hunt them down there shall be no clemency
Kill, kill, kill, kill, kill the trolls,
Look under the bridges - that's where they hide
(that's where they hide)
And beauty shall be my bride.



Ah ! Chris DeBurgh don't you just love him ? - well no, not really.
I never bought 'Lady In Red' and that's about the limit of my knowledge regarding his long career as a singer-songwriter. Bill Bailey Fact No. 1 - His Name is Mark. Anyway Bill Bailey does it all with much more panache. This track comes from the CD 'Bewilderness' that Bill recorded in Oct 2000 and tried very hard to sell copies at his gigs. For those of you not too familiar with Bill he is a stand-up comedian, actor and a fine musician. He has appeared in the TV series 'Never Mind The Buzzcocks' & 'Black Books' and he premiered his wonderfully funny show 'Part Troll' at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2003.
Bill Bailey Fact No. 2 - He starred in a double act called 'The Rubber Bishops' with Mark Stubbs.
Enjoy !


Bill Bailey - Beautiful Ladies


ALL RECORDINGS ARE FOR YOUR AUDIO PLEASURE ONLY BUT IF YOUR ARE OFFENDED BY THE PUBLISHING OF THIS MATERIAL OR WANT TO REQUEST THE AUDIO SEGMENT REMOVED THEN PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT ON THE RELEVANT POST AND I WILL REMOVE IT.

The Last Chicken In The Shop

I have already previously posted a track from the ROIR cassette compilation Singles: The Great New York City Singles Scene and here is another. Come On are one of the most forgotten bands of the late-1970s New York punk and new wave scene, Come On recorded the self-released single "A Kitchen in the Clouds"/"Don't Walk on the Kitchen Floor,," and then came up with "Disneyland." With the half-hysterical vocals of lead singer Jamie Kaufman, Come On were probably more similar to the Talking Heads than they were to any other major New York band of the time.That similarity with the Talking Heads didn't make them famous, however. Come On weren't nearly as good, and certainly lacked any of the pop hooks that the Talking Heads boasted from the very beginning.

David Byrne was a fan of the band and took David Bowie and Brian Eno to see them at CBGB's. There was a meeting with Eno in which the possibility of collaboration was mooted, although apparently nothing came of that. Jamie Kaufman has said that other admirers of the band included Thurston Moore of Sonic Youth, the singer Klaus Nomi, artist Jeff Koons and actor Willem Dafoe none of whom were nearly as famous in the late 1970s as they would become.Two of Come On's members did go on to work with Nomi.

Come On - Disneyland

ALL RECORDINGS ARE FOR YOUR AUDIO PLEASURE ONLY BUT IF YOUR ARE OFFENDED BY THE PUBLISHING OF THIS MATERIAL OR WANT TO REQUEST THE AUDIO SEGMENT REMOVED THEN PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT ON THE RELEVANT POST AND I WILL REMOVE IT.

Forgive and Forget

In 1992 ROIR Records issued a cassette - (remember them !) titled 'The Great New York Singles Scene . This was eventually re-released on CD and today we showcase one of it's featured bands. So for fans of Patti Smith, Television, Richard Hell, The Dictators, C.B.G.B's and Max's Kansas City - I give you Marbles. They consisted of four members including two brothers David & Howard Bowler and this single was a straight forward power-pop effort soon to be sent into the realms of obscurity but it has now been dusted off, placed on a turntable and digitally recorded for your appreciation.

Marbles - Red Light

ALL RECORDINGS ARE FOR YOUR AUDIO PLEASURE ONLY BUT IF YOUR ARE OFFENDED BY THE PUBLISHING OF THIS MATERIAL OR WANT TO REQUEST THE AUDIO SEGMENT REMOVED THEN PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT ON THE RELEVANT POST AND I WILL REMOVE IT.