SLADE ALIVE - EVERYONE'S A WINNER

Published in 1976, '' ROCK ON THE ROAD '' was a collection of essays on some of the major ROCK and POP acts of the day with photos by MICK GOLD. The book contained an excellent contribution from SIMON FRITH who describes how SLADE '' Weaned the hooligans off the football terraces and back into the concert halls '' . FRITH attended their EARLS COURT show in JULY 1973 and GOLD took photos at HAMMERSMITH ODEON in MAY 1974. What follows is an excerpt from the article and all of the photos that originally accompanied it

'' We went down the Kings Road first - a sunny afternoon and elegant accents, the shops were playing David Bowie and everyone looked suitably weary. French coffee and we got the tube at Sloane Square: it was packed with West Ham's North End. On their way rather than coming back, but happy like they'd already won. Scarves waving, shouting, elbowed ribs - no aggro, friendly but private. They knew something we didn't and by the time we reached Earls Court we'd picked up a Terrace Convention. Clenched greetings but they marched from the station at respectful distances. The singing began: rival anthems, graphic rudeness, but still no trouble. It was truce night. In the stadium the terraces came together and the enemy was outside '' 

'' At a football match the energy of the crowd moves in response to what is happening on the field - it is almost possible to follow a game just by listening. Not completely though, because the bond between footballers and their audience is twisted by two factors. First the crowd is not at one: every moment of joy is someone else's moment of frustration, every step forward is someone's mistake. In games of particular excitement or boredom or skill or brutality the contradictory responses of rival fans can create a pitch of tension which quite transcends what is happening on the real pitch - the crowd's energy becomes self-generated. Secondly, although footballers do respond to their crowds, only rarely do they do so exactly. The crowd is willing them to break the limits of their and their comrades' skills, to ignore the reality of the opposition, the pitch, the weather. Mostly they can't and if you do listen to a football match what you hear is brief moments of exhilaration punctured by periods of lull '' 

'' In it's cheerfulness and unselfconscious passion, Slade's concert was much more like a football match than any rock concert I'd ever seen. But it was unlike any football match too - Slade's bond with their audience was total and never broke: there were no twists. It was easy to say why: Slade's crowd was at one, they had all come to see Slade win and there was no opposition, no rival supporters, no reasons for bitterness: and Slade could and did respond to the crowds demands, they had no opponents to trip them, no lumpy turf, and although their musical skills are limited those weren't the skills they needed for this night anyway - skill here was not a matter of technique but of picking up moods and laying them down without missing a beat of the communal stomp '' 

BURUNDI BLACK

 

'' BURUNDI BLACK '' is an early 70's FRENCH 45 that has interesting origins and a far reaching influence. The basis of the track was a ' FIELD RECORDING ' taken in BURUNDI, a small independent state in SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA. The recording was included on the LP '' MUSIQUE DU BURUNDI '' , issued on the FRENCH OCORA LABEL in 1968. It featured the CHANTING and DRUMMING of the people of THE BUKIRASAZI COMMUNE in CENTRAL BURUNDI. The techniques of playing and drum making are passed down from father to son and the music and performance have been used in ceremonies for hundreds of years 

In 1971 a FRENCH RECORD PRODUCER named CLAUDE FRANCOIS augmented the recording with PIANO, CLAVINET and GUITAR parts for a 7'' SINGLE that was issued on BARCLAY RECORDS under the name '' BURUNDI STEIPENSON BLACK ''. The B-SIDE of the record contained an edited version of the original recording

The recording was picked up by CLUB DJ's and became a CULT RECORD in UNDERGOUND DISCOTHEQUES. It also sold well in a number of countries, including the UK where it reached number 31 in the SINGLES CHART. The RHYTHM OF BURUNDI was now ' out of the bag ' and continued to inspire other WESTERN MUSICIANS in the proceeding years. JONI MITCHELL used the same recording of THE BUKIRASAZI DRUMMERS on a song called '' THE JUNGLE LINE ''. The track was included on her 1975 LP '' THE HISSING OF SUMMER LAWNS '' . Sadly, like CLAUDE  FRANCOIS, she proved to be A SNAKE and claimed sole songwriting credit!

'' BURUNDI BLACK '' also proved to be an influence on POST PUNK music in the UK at the start of the next decade. '' C·30 C·60 C·90 GO '' by BOW WOW WOW and '' KINGS OF THE WILD FRONTIER '' by ADAM AND THE ANTS both utilized BURUNDI STYLE TRIBAL DRUMMING. The former was a minor hit towards the end of '81 { reaching number 34 } and the later climbed to number 2 at the start of the following year. The MUSIC PRESS began to use the term  ' BURUNDI BEAT ' and a new arrangement of '' BURUNDI BLACK '' was created by JEAN PHILIPPE ILIESCO with the help of DJ RUSTY EGAN, giving the sound new life on the dancefloor 

The BURUNDI DRUMMERS never received a penny from the SAMPLING of their playing or the CULTERAL APPROPRIATION of their sound and only began to benefit when they were brought to the UK for the first WORLD OF MUSIC, ARTS AND DANCE FESTIVAL in 1982. They displayed their skill and tradition to an enraptured audience and have since conducted TOURS AROUND THE WORLD, recorded THREE ALBUMS and appeared in WERNER HERZOG'S film FITZCARRALDO 

LINK FOR DRUMMERS OF BURUNDI

SPARKS ON THE MIDNIGHT SPECIAL TV SHOW 1974

 

Footage of GROUPS and SINGERS performing on TV SHOWS in the 70's turn up regularly on YouTube. They're always great to see, but more often than not, are unofficial and in fuzzy ' bootleg ' quality. THE MIDNIGHT SPECIAL YOUTUBE CHANNEL began a few months ago and sets a new standard that will hopefully be followed by others. The performances from the LEGENDARY US TV SHOW are all fully remastered and restored from the original tapes and a wealth of great artists from the era are included. A recent addition to this amazing archive is a dazzling four song set from SPARKS that was originally broadcast on November 15, 1974. All four numbers were taken from their third studio album '' KIMONO MY HOUSE ''

The Midnight Special YouTube Channel

STARING AT THE RUDE BOYS WITH COLIN MCGLASHAN

The following is an extract from a SUNDAY TIMES MAGAZINE FEATURE on REGGAE SOUND SYSTEMS in LONDON. It was written by COLIN MCGLASHAN and focuses on the interaction between second generation West Indian teenagers and their white counterparts in East London. The full article was originally published in on 4th FEBURAY 1973

'' East London is different. There is a relationship between black and white. You can taste it in Dalston market and not in Brixton and Shepherds Bush. It is not liberal tolerance, not always even liking. It is respect based on similar values: family, toughness, extrovert warmth. In 1968-9, a new generation of black Cockneys threatened to become the East End's trendsetters. In street football games they picked the sides, scored the goals, settled the arguments. It was a time when what was being peddled as pop music might as well have been Beethoven. ' Underground ' music at two quid something an album, freaky lollipop heroes you couldn't admire...it didn't take down the Mile End Road. In the youth clubs, the black teenagers had what the girls wanted: not super-sexuality, but style, social confidence, and music you could dance to. Out of that equation came the skinheads, London's white Rudies: their music was Reggae

There followed a strange period when black and white girls and boys mixed in the East End's clubs and discos with an ease and casualness you could see nowhere in England, perhaps nowhere at all. It seemed almost impossible to use words like ' integration '. Thanks to the adults, it didn't last

English society has always reacted with paranoia to groups of working-class teenagers in uniform - Teddy-boys, mods and rockers, skinheads. It credits them with starting patterns of delinquency that already exist, with alarmist publicity that ensures imitators to make the myth come true. Paki-bashing wasn't new. It attracted attention only when performed by another visible minority. Once it was unearthed by the media, most East End teenagers couldn't get out of their braces fast enough. While the Midlands and Manchester rushed to buy a cherry-reds and Ben Shermans, down in Bethnal Green you could almost hear the hair grow

What followed was London's great Reggae War. Black teenager's suddenly found youth clubs attractive. Starved for years of anywhere of places that would let them in, they travelled across London to anywhere with good sounds. They arrived twenty, fifty, even a hundred at a time. Some youth leaders with near-empty clubs were delighted: most neighbours weren't. Police virtually picketed some clubs and discos at closing-time: mayhem, predictably followed. White youngsters who had been happy with a one-third black minority, found themselves outnumbered: they fled or called in reinforcements of heavies. The game of musical clubs lasted perhaps nine months. Black teenagers wandered round a shrinking circle of youth clubs that played their music, to the accompaniment of clashes, residents petitions, frantic committee meetings. Most clubs chucked their Reggae records in the dustbin. Segregation returned

But the skinheads had changed something. As late as the spring of 1971, you could see the juniors from the Mile End Mob at Sloopy's Disco or the A-Train, wearing West Indian-inspired gear like long open overcoats { a fad taken up by white youngsters around Brixton and translated into the crombie } and stingy-brim hats. They were dancing hesitantly to reggae and American soul numbers with lyrics like '' going back to Af-ri-ca 'coz I'm black '' . Remembering the generations of West Indians whose teachers obliged them to chant '' Bri-tons never-never-never shall be slaves '', those white youngsters presented a pleasantly ironic spectacle 

No white kid, one of Britain's leading pop gurus told me confidently in 1971, is ever going to dig James Brown, much too strong.... A month later, James Brown's Albert Hall concert drew a sixty per cent white crowd. The black kids listened decorously; it was the ex-skinheads who leapt up and down and danced in the aisles and rushed for chartered buses for his second show in the East End. A devoted minority of white working-class teenagers haunt the Brixton reggae shops. And at Tiffanys, Mecca's archly renamed palais-de-danse at Ilford, there isn't a black face in sight. But peering through the plastic palm-fronds from the balcony, you can spot the thighs that have learned to move to other rhythms, learned, indeed, to dance to a very different drummer. The DJ plays two Otis Reddings and then James Brown. '' And we're really getting it together down there.... A lot of sex machines here tonight. ''

* The photos that accompany this article are screenshots from the documentary film EXTREMES. They show members of an EAST LONDON BLACK STREET GANG called THE BATTERY BOYS, who were being interviewed alongside their WHITE ASSOCIATES. The film was shot in 1970 and released the following year

PUNCH ON THE ROAD - A BBC DOCUMENTARY FROM 1976

'' In May they took a big gamble, they gave up their jobs, got themselves an agent and became full time  professional musicians. That summer was the most exciting time of their lives. There was the possibility of a recording contract and the chance to audition for Opportunity Knocks. they'd all tried to make it before and failed every time, but somehow they thought this time would be different '' 

Bradford's PUNCH were a hard working HARMONY POP band who plied their trade around WORKING MEN'S CLUBS in the NORTH OF ENGLAND. A film crew from THE BBC followed them during the hot summer of '76 as they attempted a step up into the big time

The band are captured playing sets that mainly consist of the popular tunes of the day. At a gig in SUNDERLAND they're rewarded with £43 for playing three 40 minute spots 

'' You brainwash yourself into thinking you're going to make it, otherwise I don't think you would carry on''

The film shows them passing an audition for OPPORTUNITY KNOCKS and their continuous slog the clubs while they search for a record contract. It ends with them playing a cover of the KINCADE hit '' DREAMS ARE TEN A PENNY '' to a receptive audience

'' We all just want to make a better living than we are now. If we didn't get into the top ten and get international recognition, I'm sure if our money went up, we would be happy '' 

WATCH THE FULL DOCUMENTARY ON YOUTUBE:

The promised OPPORTUNITY KNOCKS appearance didn't transpire, but the band secured a RECORD DEAL with the RED BUS label and recorded a song penned by MITCH MURRAY and PETER CALLANDER. The pair had recently scored some big hits for PAPER LACE and '' BALLAD OF THE GOOD LUCK CHARM '' was in a similar vein to those . The single was released in NOVEMBER of that year, but their luck wasn't in and the single failed to chart

 

TWO SUPER RARE JUNKSHOP GLAM TUNES ARE BACK ON '45

JUST ADD WATER RECORDS have recently issued two of the RAREST 70's JUNKSHOP GLAM numbers on 7'' VINYL 

'' IT CAME IN THE NIGHT '' by A RAINCOAT first saw release in the UK on EMI RECORDS in 1976. The ART GLAM outfit were led by ANDY ARTHURS who went on to produce a number of NEW WAVE acts, including 999, THE SOFT BOYS, TONIGHT and LITTLE BO BITCH. The recording sits somewhere between the MIKE BATT penned '' HUMPHREY SONG '' and the TWISTED NURSERY RHYME feel that SYD BARRET utilized in early PINK FLOYD numbers. Underground film maker KENNETH ANGER later used the song in the soundtrack to his movie RABBIT'S MOON. The JAW release features a picture sleeve { originals came in a standard company one } and a new B-SIDE "Vote For Me"

''WE DON'T CARE '' by GUMBO could originally be found on the B-SIDE of  '' THE DEVILS '', a disc that seems to have sunk without trace when it was released in selected EUROPEAN COUNTRIES in '74. Fittingly JAW have switched it to the A-SIDE for this release. It's a high energy GLAM / PROTO PUNK stomper that predates similar sounding numbers by THE RUNAWAYS. The song also turned up on a 4 song EMIDISC ACETATE which was simply marked as ' GIRL GROUP '. Nothing else seems to be know about the band. In case you are wondering: The photo on the sleeve is of an ALL MALE group called THE GOOD SHIP LOLLIPOP. It was used for the original release and presumably a GUMBO group shot is still to surface

* VINYL COLLECTORS TAKE NOTE: BOTH OF THESE RECORDS ARE LIMITED TO 300 COPIES EACH AND CAN BE BOUGHT DIRECTLY FROM JUST ADD WATER RECORDS

Just Add Water UK Shop

Just Add Water Shop { for rest of world }

ELEPHANT STOMP - A COLLECTION OF 70's INSTRUMENTAL ROCKERS

During the past few years, the NAUGHTY RHYTHM label have issued a series of EURO DISCO / FUNK compilations in the form of the COSMIC DISCOTHEQUE series. These VINYL ONLY releases are is a must for lovers of ARCANE 70's OBSCURITIES and the most recent addition '' ELEPHANT STOMP '' focuses on GLAM ROCK related INSTRUMENTALS   

SIDE ONE fittingly kicks off with '' ELEPHANT STOMP '' by GALAHAD. The track was the B-SIDE of their 1972 release '' ROCKET SUMMER ''. The band were a UK studio project created by singer / songwriter GERRY MORRIS and producer TONY ASHDON. Stylistically it follows on from the densely textured PSYCH / GLAM crossover of the A-SIDE, but here the rhythm track is allowed a little space to breathe, presenting a nice contrast. Second up is '' THETA '', the B-SIDE of the 1974 JUNKSHOP classic '' MORNING BIRD '' by THE DAMNED. The track was originally issued with a vocal in the previous year as '' DOCTOR ROCK '' by KID ROCK.. Both versions were issued on the YOUNGBLOOD label. It's a FAST TEMPO, SYNTH LED ROCKER driven by PRESTON EPPS style BONGO WORK 

THE DAMNED - THETA

'' ROCKET MAN '' by ELECTRIC TEAM is a FRENCH SYNTH ROCK number that was issued on the EURODISC label in 1974. The tune was penned by PHILIPPE RENAUX, who added a vocal to the track and issued it with his band ROCKETS the same year. The feel and melody bear some relation to '' ON THE ROAD AGAIN '' by CANNED HEAT, a song that was tellingly covered by ROCKETS a few years on, but it's one of the strongest tracks on the comp and a testament to how well the French were able to utilize SYNTHERSIZERS in the production of catchy POP INSTRUMENTALS { '' PEPPER BOX '' by THE PEPPERS being another example from the same year } 

ELECTRIC TEAM - ROCKET MAN

'' ROCK AND ROLL DRUMMER '' by DUCTCH outfit THE ROCKETS is another obscurity highly cherished by lovers of JUNKSHOP GLAM. Here we have the B-SIDE: '' PART TWO '' . The 45' was issued on the PHILLIPS label in 1974 and it's a ROCKING DRUM FEATURE as the title indicates. The record appeared in the wake of UK Drummer COZY POWELL's  '' DANCE WITH THE DEVIL '' hit.  POWELL had taken inspiration from SANDY NELSON's  '' LET THERE BE DRUMS '' and '' TEEN BEAT '' , which were recorded during the INSTRUMENTAL ROCK trend of the early 60's.  THE ROCKETS used the same basic ingredients and threw in a little spice from the MORTON STEVENS / VENTURES '' THEME FROM HAWAII FIVE-0 ''. A very tasty concoction!

THE ROCKETS - ROCK AND ROLL DRUMMER { PART TWO }

'' B SIDE STOMP '' by BLITZ was the FLIP SIDE of '' MELODY LADY '', a FRENCH release from 1973 on the EURODISC POP label. It's a A WIGGED OUT PSYCH ROCKER that wouldn't sound out of place if it appeared on the SOUNDTRACK to a JESS FRANCO EXPLOITATION MOVIE. '' BIG TROUBLE { PART TWO } '' by T.N.T closes the first side. The band were a studio outfit created by JEREMY PAUL and PAUL LYNTON. The duo oversaw a number of projects in the early 70's and worked with the band HECTOR on their classic GLAM ROCK 45's. '' PART TWO '' elongates the break from the A-SIDE into a barely tethered BONGO BEATING, TRIBAL RAVE-UP. Surprisingly the number peters out at around the minute mark, but the track fades in, so it was possibly the climax of a much longer jam . A 1972 release on the UK  JAM LABEL { which was a short lived venture connected to D.J.M } 

T.N.T - BIG TROUBLE { PART TWO }

SIDE TWO starts with '' SLOW ROCK '' by K. W. Winston. The track isn't slow { breezing along at 140BPM }, but it certainly is rocking and the steady ROLLING SNARE BEAT, RAW GUITAR CHORDS and SAXOPHONE BLASTS revamped the 1950's INSTRUMENTAL ROCK sound of DUENE EDDY and LINK WRAY for the 1970's. The track appeared on the ARIOLA label in 1974 as the FLIP SIDE to '' DON'T ASK ME '' . As with the T.N.T track on SIDE ONE, it was produced by JEREMY PAUL and PAUL LYNTON.  '' FLIGHT 2 '' by ANGELO & EIGHTEEN is altogether more curious. A one off project by two FRENCH CANADIANS that was produced by MICKEY MOST and released on his RAK label in '72. It incorporates elements of the TRIBAL FUSION of MIKE STEIPENSON's '' BURUNDI BLACK '' and the LATIN ROCK of TITANIC's '' SULTANA '' { both of which were EURO HITS in 1971 }. The track saw release as the B-SIDE of the POP ORIANTATED VOCAL ''  MIDNIGHT FLIGHT '' and was based on the PERCUSSIVE BREAK that appeared at the end of that song

ANGELO & EIGHTEEN - FLIGHT 2

'' JUNGLE JUICE '' first appeared on the '' GO MOOG! - SMASH HIT'S SYNTHERISER STYLE '' LP by ELEKTRIK COKERNUT. The LP was conceived as a collection of instrumental covers and the track was the only original composition included.  It's an awesome DANCEFLOOR MOVER that utilizes a '' ROCK AND ROLL PART TWO '' type GLITTER BEAT. The record was released on the budget MUSIC FOR PLEASURE LABEL in 1973

ELEKTIK COCKERNUT - JUNGLE JUICE

'' SAFARI ROCK '' by THE ROCKETTERS has a '' CAN THE CAN '' meets '' GUITAR BOOGIE SHUFFLE '' feel. BONGO BEATS and a few ANIMAL NOISES were mixed in to create a charming slice of GLAM EXOTICA. A FRENCH release on the DISQUES CARRERE label from 1975. '' SLOOP '' by THE SLOOPERS was another SYNTH ROCK / GLAM NOVELTY from writer / producer PHILIPPE RENAUX. A 1974 release on the FRENCH SINUS MUSIC label

THE SLOOPERS - SLOOP

 

THE COMP ends with '' DISCO DRUM { PART 5 } by THE CATS ' N ' JAMMER KIDS. A one off UK DISCO project from 1977 on the EBONY label { which was also home to the early RAH BAND recordings }. This cut was SIDE-B. It's a more stripped down take on the ' PART ONE ' top and has a unique and quirky BALEARIC / GLAM feel. A sparse HAMILTON BOHANNON style BEAT sets down a nice base for some BROODING SYNTH CHORDS and FUNKY SAX WORK as the number builds and drops around a couple of fleeting CONGA BREAKS, before reaching it's zenith by way of an assertive GLITTER BAND styled GUITAR RIFF. A perfectly MEASURED but INTENSE 3 mins and a great way to end this ECLECTIC and ENTERTAINING selection of INSTRUMENTAL ARTIFACTS

THE CATS ' N ' JAMMER KIDS -  DISCO DRUM { PART 5 }