Where's our Ready Steady Go?

Jackie DeShannon - The Definitive Collection

2009-02-26T11:22:00.000-08:00

I must have listened to the first half of this comp a hundred times. It's full of super-catchy pop-rock with great instrumental and vocal tone. The second half, however, leaves something to be desired, but I included it anyway for posterity's sake. Things fall apart after "What the World Needs Now", but before that it's pretty much perfection. On here you get "Buddy", a rockabillyish homage to Buddy Holly, the ORIGINAL (and superior) versions of "Needles and Pins" and "When You Walk in the Room" (both covered and made more famous by the Searchers), Jackie's version of the Irma Thomas song (that Jackie wrote) "Breakaway", as well as "Dream Boy" (co-written by Jackie and Jimmy Page), which is on that girl groups compilation). I don't have TOO much to say because I'm sick and out of it, but I was fairly obsessed for a moment there. Check it out!

Buddy
Heaven is Being With You
You Won't Forget Me
Needles and Pins
Hellos and Goodbyes
When You Walk in the Room
Till You Say You'll Be Mine
Breakaway
Should I Cry
I Remember the Boy
Dream Boy
Don't Turn Your Back on Me
What the World Needs Now

WARNING: THE REST OF THESE TRACKS SUCK

A Lifetime of Loneliness
Come and Get me
Splendor in the Grass
For Granted
Windows and Doors
I Can Make it With You
500 Miles from Yesterday
Where Does the Sun Go
It Shines on You Too
Reason to Believe
The Weight
Come and Stay with Me
Put a Little Love in Your Heart
Love Will Find a Way
Brighton Hill
Radio Commercial 1
Radio Commercial 2

P.S. I started using sendspace (duh)

Ok I'm back

2009-02-02T20:56:00.000-08:00

I've been locked out of this account for a while, working as a decorative painter and killing my brain cells with drugs, alcohol and harmful painting-related chemicals. I'm going to start posting again very soon, though, both for intellectual exercise and to spread music (but not right now).

re: missing tracks

2008-07-23T21:51:00.000-07:00

If you've tried to download any of the posted albums lately, you may have noticed missing links. Apparently archive.org doesn't like me. Anyways, I will try a new method of online file storage when I have the chance.

Chantal Goya - Les années 60

2008-07-23T17:31:00.000-07:00

Yep, yet another yé-yé singer, but this one was also a "vedette" of the French New Wave, starring in the famous Godard film, "Masculin, féminin", in which she plays a young yé-yé singer (insert corny joke about how easy the part must have been).

On my first few listens to this collection I didn't really care for it; it seemed generic and boring. However, after many listens, the pop hooks dug into my brain and now I find myself humming "La pluie du ciel" and "Comment le revoir" while at work. Neither the singing nor the instrumentation are anything special, but the vocal tone is nice, the inflection is great and the melodies are pretty catchy. This collection is definitely worth a few listens, even if you can only find one or two songs that you really enjoy.

Chantal with David the gnome:

Chantal last year; no thanks:

The music:

Chantal Goya - C'est bien Bernard

Chantal Goya - A ls sortie de ma classe

Chantal Goya - Oh raconte-moi

Chantal Goya - Dis-moi ton nom

Chantal Goya - Une écharpe, une rose

Chantal Goya - Comment le revoir

Chantal Goya - La pluie du ciel

Chantal Goya - Sois gentil

Chantal Goya - Tu gagnes au flipper

Chantal Goya - Tant de joies

Chantal Goya - Il court les filles

Chantal Goya - Tu m'as trop menti

Chantal Goya - Laisse-moi

Chantal Goya - Dans la nuit

Chantal Goya - Ce soir on danse

Chantal Goya - Mon ange gardien

Chantal Goya - Pense pas trop

Chantal Goya - Ma première tendresse

Chantal Goya - J'ai le cœur en joie, j'ai le cœur en peine

Chantal Goya - La flamme et le feu

Just in case you thought he was serious...

2008-07-22T18:20:00.000-07:00

So yea, you've danced to "Ça plane pour moi"...congratulations. You probably also know the Elton Motello/Plastic Bertrand connection. You might even know that PB, aka Roger Jouret, is Belgian, not French. Well, I'm not sure where I'm going with this, but it seems pretty negative...so anyways...here's one of several Plastic Bertrand compilations:

Plastic Bertrand - Le meilleur de plastic

In case the cover didn't give you the hint, this is some wacky/tacky pop garbage, though it's not quite as bad as this super 90's-looking "art" would have you believe.

For the music, It's pretty vacuous 50's-inspired "punk"/new wave/pop bullshit, but it's kinda fun, at least for a few listens. "Ça plane pour moi" is on here, of course, as well as a couple of other songs off of his first LP ("Bambino", an old French song, and "Le petit tortillard", a song about a train...wow). Additionally, there are a bunch of pop throwaways with a few worthwhile hooks here and there, and, one of my favorite's by PB, "Super cool". Also, there's a "cover" of "Walk Like a Man" by Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons. For some reason they decided not to include many of his later synth-drowned abortions and his attempts at rapping in this "best of". Oh well!

In conclusion, I'm in a bad mood, but check out the free music.

I may actually start updating this more often again, but, as I've whined several times in previous posts, I've been really busy.

-DC

Plastic Bertrand - Bambino

Plastic Bertrand - Le petit tortillard

Plastic Berrand - Ça plane pour moi

Plastic Bertrand - Kill watch

Plastic Bertrand - Chewing gum

Plastic Bertrand - Baby doll

Plastic Bertrand - Hula hoop

Plastic Bertrand - Sans amour

Plastic Bertrand - Ping pong

Plastic Bertrand - C'est le rock'n'roll

Plastic Bertrand - Boum dans le cœur

Plastic Bertand - Super cool

Plastic Bertrand - Jacques Cousteau

Plastic Bertrand - Victime de l'amour

Plastic Bertrand - Téléphone à téléphone mon bijou

Here's a video of Dalida, the Italian/Egyptian/French chanteuse, performing her 1956 hit, Bambino, on television.

P.S. I'm not sure what happened with the Les Désaxés songs, but I will re-up them at some point within the relatively near future. I just hope that those assholes don't take them down again for some reason. It's funny, the one thing I had permission to post got taken down. C'est la vie, hein?

P.P.S. Just in case you thought he was straight...

So...

2008-02-20T19:53:00.000-08:00

I know I said I was going to update this blog frequently and put up a bunch of new albums, but, as experience has proven time after time, I just can't be trusted when I'm up against my own reluctance to do anything.

I've officially moved back to Brooklyn, Greenpoint to be exact, still as a couch-dweller, though (and a much smaller couch this time). I've also delved into my last one hundred dollars, meaning no more going out for a while and ramen lunch 7 days a week; yay! Anyways, I will update this whenever I can and try to blah blah blah blah.

And, because I have nothing better to do with my time...

Je sais bien que j'avais dit que je mettrais à jour ce bloq fréquemment et ajouter beaucoup d'albums nouveaux, mais, comme l'expérience a établi encore et toujours, on ne peut pas me faire confiance quand je suis contre ma propre réticence de faire rien.

J'ai officiellement retourné à Brooklyn, le Greenpoint d'être précis, et encore comme quelqu'un qui dort sur un canapé (un canapé beaucoup plus petit cette fois). J'ai atteint aussi les derniers cent dollars que j'ai, qui veut dire qu'il n'y aura plus de nuits en ville pour quelque temps et aussi un déjeuner compris de ramen sept jours par semaine; ouais! Quoi qu'il en soit, je mettrai à jour ce blog quand je peux et essayer de blablabla.

France Gall - Baby Pop

2008-01-29T17:27:00.000-08:00

It's late, so I don't feel like going too in depth about this album:

This one was released by Gainsbourg's songbird in 1966 on Polygram, and it's chock full of yé-yé greatness.

While there are a few misses (the title track, "L'Amérique" and "Deux oiseux", which sound really immature, even for Gall), overall, this album is fucking great. It's got lots of pop, some rock and even a little jazz thrown in...great melodies, occasionally off-pitch teenage girl vocals and enough variation to really keep it interesting, all without diluting its super-catchy essence.

***IF YOU DON'T HAVE THIS ALBUM AND YOU LIKE GOOD MUSIC, DOWNLOAD IT!

My personal favorites:

"Et des baisers" (The lyrics are retarded, but can you understand French? No? Then who the fuck cares?)
"Faut-il que je t'aime" (Once again, a little retarded, mais n'importe quoi.)
"Cet air-là" (Covered by April March on her 1995 album, Chick Habit, which features a bunch of yé-yé covers, and the title track of which is an English version of Gall's "Laisser tomber les filles" that was featured on the Grindhouse soundtrack.)

Actually, scratch that; I really like all of the songs except the abortions mentioned up top, so check 'em out!

France Gall - Baby pop

France Gall - Faut-il que je t'aime

France Gall - Le temps de la rentrée

France Gall - Attends ou va-t'en

France Gall - Mon bateau de nuit

France Gall - L'Amérique

France Gall - Cet air-là

France Gall - C'est pas facile d'être une fille

France Gall - Nous ne sommes pas des anges

France Gall - On se ressemble toi et moi

France Gall - Deux oiseaux

France Gall - Et des baisers

Just in case you were curious, here are the videos for "Laisser tomber les filles" and "Chick Habit", respectively:

Infrequent Posting

2008-01-19T20:59:00.000-08:00

Well, I was recently forced out of my apartment by my roommate's girlfriend, so I am now crashing on my friend's floor in Manhattan for a bit. The good news, however, is that he has a Mac, which means I will now be able to frequently update this blog and post more albums.

...more to come soon...

The Pac-Men

2008-01-02T19:50:00.000-08:00

Continuing with more CT punk, here's a ripped tape of the Pac-Men, one of the hallmarks of my high school show-going days.

The Pac-Men - Passion

The Pac-Men - Before It Kills You Dead

The Pac-Men - Bare It All

The Pac-Men - Elvis is Dead

The Pac-Men - Serious Punk Rock Kids = Joke

The Pac-Men - Pac-Men Theme

The Pac-Men - Why Do You Believe

The Pac-Men - Sweet Pickles

As afore-mentioned, this is taken from a tape, so the quality isn't the best, but hey, fuck you.

The Guilty Faces

2008-01-02T15:17:00.000-08:00

It's been almost two months since I've posted anything here. I have to be honest, though: I haven't really been that busy, just stupid. Anyways, here's the demo of one of Connecticut's best (somewhat) new bands, The Guilty Faces:

The Guilty Faces - No Point At All

The Guilty Faces - Another Distraction

The Guilty Faces - Some Things

The Guilty Faces - Suburban Sanity

The Guilty Faces - Flashes in Blue

The Guilty Faces - I'm Takin' Off

This picture alone should make you want to listen:

The Exploding Hearts - KBOO Radio Show

2007-11-13T08:58:00.000-08:00

BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH

Enough masturbatory verbosity!

Without further ado, here is the live KBOO Radio set by the Exploding Hearts:

The Exploding Hearts - Modern Kicks

The Exploding Hearts - Busy Signals

The Exploding Hearts - I'm a Pretender

The Exploding Hearts - Jailbird

The Exploding Hearts - Still Crazy

The Exploding Hearts - Walking Out on Love (Paul Collins Beat)

The Exploding Hearts - So Bored (Waste of Time)

The Exploding Hearts - Your Shadow

The Exploding Hearts - My Mind's Eye (Small Faces)

The Exploding Hearts - Thorns in Roses

The guy with the gruff voice between (and, unfortunately, during) songs is King Louie.

P.S. I haven't updated in a while because I've been really busy fucking up my life.

Je veux qu'elle vienne!

2007-11-01T18:29:00.000-07:00

Inspired by the Les Désaxés post, I've decided to put up a few other versions of Françoise Hardy's "Je Veux Qu'il Revienne", which is probably my favorite song by the "Yeh-Yeh" (Yé-Yé?) girl from Paris.

Below you will find the original version, as well as the atrocious English language "Only You Can Do It", which comes from Françoise's album All Over the World (featuring songs performed in English, German, Italian and Spanish). Not only are the lyrics vacuous (not that the French version exudes intelligence, but at least it sounds nice), but her accent here leaves much to be desired, sounding very awkward and downright stupid. One good thing about the English version, however, is that it is a different instrumental recording as well, allowing you to hear parts of the song not previously audible (plus a country lick thrown in at the end of the chorus for good measure).

Additionally, below you will also find (when I get home and update the blog again) The Fevers cover of (ugh) "Only You Can Do It" from their album Love Always Wins.

Her orgasmic delivery of "oh oh oh" should win over even the darkest of souls:

Françoise Hardy - Je veux qu'il revienne

Françoise Hardy - Only You Can Do It

The Fevers - Only You Can Do It

Les Désaxés

2007-11-01T16:27:00.000-07:00

A little over a year ago I received a small package in the mail. It was from Pierre Mikaïloff, guitarist for Les Désaxés (often translated into English as the Misfits, though it can also mean "lunatic"), with whom I had spoken several times via the internet. Having heard his band, I had asked him more about them, finding scant information on the internet. He was kind enough to send me, free of charge, a 21-song disc all the way from France to my parents' house in Connecticut. Below you will find the first nine, and, in my opinion, the best, of the tracks. These earlier recordings, although very poppy (and catchy), have a nice rock and roll element to them as well, often due to the lead guitarist's licks. The later tracks, which I haven't included, are much more new wave and not really to my liking (not that I have anything against new wave). If anyone would like the remaining tracks, just let me know and I can e-mail them to you.

The first song, "Juste 15 ans" (just fifteen years old), is, in true rock and roll fashion, about dating a younger girl (see: Jerry Lee Lewis, the Beatles, Johnny Burnette, The Boys and a million other groups). "Teenagers électriques", for which they are probably best known, has two different versions for download (I prefer the latter). There's also a cover of Françoise Hardy's "Je veux qu'il revienne" (changed to 'elle' to reflect their heterosexual, male points of view), which is actually what first introduced me to the beautiful Chanteuse (and, ultimately, her partner, Jacques Dutronc) about 3 years ago.

I won't include a biography here as a biography of the band can be found at the fantastic ModPopPunk Archives site (really a great resource; loads of downloads).

UPDATE: All 21 tracks are now available, per request.

The tracks:

1. Juste 15 ans

2. Teenagers electriques

3. Tout ce que je veux

4. Toutes ces filles

5. Elles sont toutes un peu folles

6. Les soirs d'ete

7. De retour dans la ville

8. Je veux qu'elle revienne

9. Teenagers electriques

10. Bien d'autres choses encore

11. Poly Magoo

12. Je ne suis plus si malheureux

13. Paris au soleil

14. Celle que je préfère

15. Les jours impairs

16. Celle que je préfère

17. Tu penses à autre chose

18. Cette fille n'est pas sérieuse

19. Romance électrique

20. Tu penses à autre chose

21. Terrains vagues

P.S. I received Pierre's permission to post these tracks.

Here are the Sonics???

2007-10-25T06:21:00.000-07:00

The Sonics, those famous Northwestern garage rock legends (and one of the many groups attributed with being the first "punk" band), are back! They are, however, a bit older this time around. This reunion (not the first), will feature three "classic era" Sonics members: Gerry Roslie (vocals), Rob Lind (saxaphone) and Larry Parypa (guitar). Keeping things local (both temporally and geographically speaking), fellow 60's era Pacific Northwest rockers Dave Rowland (the Wailers) and Don Wilhelm (the Daily Flash) will be accompanying on the drums and bass, respectively.

Best known for their two raucous LPs, Here are the Sonics!!! (1965) and Boom (1966), the Sonics also have several other releases (mostly complilations and rarities), including their third and (thankfully) final LP, the god-awful Jerden Records release, Introducing the Sonics (1967).

Now then, back to the reunion:

The Sonics will be playing at Cavestomp! 2007 (November 2-4). The tenth anniversary of the annual festival will be held at Warsaw in Brooklyn. For those of you too lazy to read the lineup below, the Sonics will be headlining Friday, November 2nd and Sunday, November 4th.

The lineup, lifted directly from the above Cavestomp! MySpace page:

"FRI NOV2
7p Doors/DJ Pokemonojeff of LYRES!
8p THE STAGGERS!
8:45p THE OUTTA PLACE!
9:30p THE SATELLITERS!
10:25p THE THANES!
11:30p THE SONICS!

Followed by more DJin' & dancin' and the bar is open until 3am!

SAT NOV3
7p Doors/ DJ Switched On Audrey of luxuriamusic.com
8p THE HIGHER STATE!
8:45p THE URGES!
9:30p THE ALARM CLOCK!
10:25p THE NEW COLONY SIX!
12a STRAWBERRY ALARM CLOCK!-Playing their 1st album in its entirety!

Followed by more DJin' & dancin' and the bar is open until 3am!

SUN NOV4
7p Doors/ DJ Billy Miller & Miriam Linna of Norton Records
8p THE HALL MONITORS!
8:45p THE WILDEBEESTS!
9:30p LYRES!
10:25p THE FLESHTONES!
11:30p THE SONICS!

Followed by more DJin' & dancin' and the bar is open until 3am... AARRRRRGH!"

To get tickets, visit Ticketmaster (oof) or pick them up in person at Earwax Records, Other Music or at Warsaw itself. Tickets are $35.00 in advance, $40.00 the day of the show and $90.00 for a three-day pass.

I have uploaded a couple of Sonics tracks here for you poor souls who have never listened to this great band.

The Sonics - Psycho

The Sonics - Shot Down

The Sonics, one cool band.

Jay Reatard - In the Dark

2007-10-24T13:35:00.000-07:00

If you actually have a copy of In the Dark, an EP released this year by Jay Reatard on Squoodge Records, consider yourself lucky. Jay is known for frequently pressing limited numbers of his 7 inches, but this time the reason for the record's rarity rests with another (I am always attempting alliteration). Although In the Dark only contains one new song (two of the songs being different, much slower versions of songs from Blood Visions, demos perhaps), it's pretty rare, having been involved in a bit of a scandal.

Apparently the EP was oversold, and, when various people wrote to Squoodge to inquire as to why their record had not arrived, they were met with the same uniform and suspect letter alleging that the record must have been stolen out of the mail.

Ironically enough, when you visit Squoodge Records, you are immediately greeted with the cover of a "European Tour Single" by The Rip Offs.

On the Goner Message Board, Jay had this to say:

"Yeah FUCK Squoodge Records !!! This guy ripped me and fans of my records off on this project ... He pressed a run of 49 six inch square records with a different sleeve with out even asking me... Then had a buddy put a few on ebay at over $250.00 bucks a pop.. I'm really sorry to anyone who got ripped".

OUCH.

The track listing is:

In the Dark

Searching for You (Nightmares)

Haunting You (Fading All Away)

In other Jay Reatard related news, Eric Oblivian (of the Oblivians and Goner Records) let slip that the Reatard will be releasing a singles collection, not a bad move considering the number of EPs he has released and plans on releasing (apparently he has signed a deal with Matador Records to put out a single every two months for the next year).

You Left Me Shattered...

2007-10-22T16:28:00.000-07:00

Yes, this is an article about the Exploding Hearts. HOWEVER, it is my intent here to avoid all of the clichés generally encountered when discussing them. I'm not going to refer to their tragic accident (the word "tragic" having been tossed around so much that, for me at least, it has lost almost all meaning). I'm not going to mention that of which the world has been deprived in future releases from this excellent group. And I'm definitely not going to talk about the Nice Boys, Terry Six's current band (whoops). Instead, I'm going to talk about a single track (that appears twice) on their final (ugh) release, Shattered. This collection, released in October of 2006 (on Halloween, if I remember correctly), comprises their last, eponymous EP, as well as slightly different takes of various songs from Guitar Romantic, the "pink demo", and all of their previous EPs.

Astute listeners, and, actually, even those who aren't that astute, have probably noticed the similarities between "Shattered (You Left Me)", from the last Exploding Hearts release, and "Gypsy Switch", from King Louie Bankston's long put off "new" album, Memphis Treet. The reason is thus: King Louie wrote the song.

In fact, if you look at the writing credits for The Exploding Heart's sole album, Guitar Romantic, you will see that of its ten perfect tracks, Louie had a hand in writing seven. According to another blog that I came across while writing this post, the song was originally used in one of Louie's previous bands (of which there are many), 10-4 Backdoor. The liner notes for Shattered credit Adam, Jeremy, Louie, Matt and Terry for the creation of this song, assumedly due to their having changed it around a bit. I can't help but wonder what the original original version sounded like.

Though clearly the same song, the different versions are, well, different. The Exploding Hearts rip through the main riff, a hook-filled hunk of honky-tonk, with the same great poppy energy and tone as their previous recordings, but this time with a cowbell! The Louie version, however, has a much more subdued feel, coming across as sad and sincere, helped, surely, by his down-and-out vocals and the dampened organ in the background (the slightly off-pitch soloing and reference to falling "off really hard" probably don't hurt either). Well, enough rambling from me, check them out for yourselves:

Download it here:
The Exploding Hearts - Shattered (You Left Me)

Download it here:
King Louie and the Loose Diamonds - Gypsy Switch

Shattered!, originally to be just an EP featuring "Shattered (You Left Me)" and "We Don't Have to Worry Anymore", was slated for release in 2004. We ended up having to wait until October of 2006 to actually get our hands on it, and this only in the form of the afore-mentioned collection (although there were mp3s of dubious quality floating around the net for years before this, along with the live KBOO Radio set).

The artwork for the never-released Shattered! EP:

P.S. If you're looking to get either Shattered! or Memphis Treet, you can find them for sale on the internet or at a record store. Do your own damn search. All images taken from websites without permission.

First post

2007-10-21T09:16:00.000-07:00

Ok, this is the first post of what I hope will be many. The format may change, depending on how things work out, but the essential idea here will be to showcase great, current bands, as well as the occasional dalliance into the past.

For a bit, until I get my footing at least, I'll just be posting videos and uploading songs here and there along with a spattering of words. Anyways...

To celebrate the birth of this blog, here is a great video of (the) Buzzcocks playing what is probably their best (if not most played) single, "Ever Fallen in Love (With Someone You Shouldn't Have)", which may or may not have been about a homosexual relationship between Pete Shelley, and, well, some guy. This particular video was shot in 1978 at the Lesser Free Trade Hall in Manchester, England, where, just a short time before, the Sex Pistols blew away the aimless young rock and rollers of the day, moving them away from pub and glam rock and on to their future callings.

Voici:

If you liked that video, check out the original and a cover below:

Buzzcocks - Ever Fallen in Love (With Someone You Shouldn't Have)

Nouvelle Vague - Ever Fallen in Love (With Someone You Shouldn't Have)