The Godlike Genius of Luke Haines

Who else but Luke Haines would release an album called Rock’n’ Roll Animals?

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Well, Lou Reed did a live album called Rock’n’Roll Animal – but while it featured live versions of songs like ‘Heroin’ and ‘White Light/White Heat’ it wasn’t a concept album like the latest album from Luke Haines. Rock’n’roll Animals is not only a concept album, it’s about three music stars of times past. To whit: ‘Jimmy Pursey [Sham 69] is a frisky fox; Nick Lowe – a solid badger and Gene Vincent – a cat who’s seen a bit more of life than most of us.’ It’s 32 minutes of whimsy and acerbic whit from Mr. Haines in which they take on the Angel Of The North.

Do yourself a favour and buy it.

He is responsible for one of the best autobiographies about (or by) a musician I have ever read- Bad Vibes is essential- and is a consummate windup merchant. . In 1996, whilst The Auteurs were on hiatus, he released an album under the monkier Baader-Meinhof, about…terrorism.

This song, ‘Child Psychology’ from his time as one-third of Black Box Recorder became one of the few songs to get banned from the radio. Apparently the chorus of ‘life is unfair/kill yourself or get over it’ was a bridge too far (no gag intended).

The Auteurs were awesome, and if I had to pick one of their tracks, it would be this one -‘The Rubettes’- which shows his savvy appropriation of pop culture, and why no-one else could be more caustic than him.

Oh, and his album 21st Century Man is one of the best albums released in the 7 year history of this blog. I would give my right arm to interview him, though I think I would probably be reduced to be a stuttering nervous wreck. He is unlikely to assent. Ah well…

UPDATE: contacted by Mr. Haines via twitter and his record company to arrange an interview! Watch this space…

It’s Friday…so it’s covers time

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Utterly exhausted here.

Sorry for lack of posts over the last few days -yesterday evening I burned my hand and was more concerned with trying to make sure I was actually going to be able to get into work today.

There will be more reviews appearing here over the weekend – but for now enjoy these…

Ash -‘Does Your Mother Know? (Abba cover).’ mp3

Black Box Recorder -‘Seasons In the Sun (Terry Jacks cover).’ mp3

Teenage Fanclub -‘Like A Virgin (Madonna cover).’ mp3

Placebo -‘Johnny & Mary (Robert Palmer cover).’ mp3

Manic Street Preachers -‘Suicide Is Painless (Theme From M*A*S*H)( M*A*S*H cover).’ mp3

Siouxsie & the Banshees -‘The Passenger (Iggy Pop cover).’ mp3

Mercury Rev -‘I Don’t Want To Be A Soldier (John Lennon cover).’ mp3

Flying Saucer Attack -‘Outdoor Miner (Wire cover).’ mp3

Primal Scream -‘Know Your Rights (Clash cover).’ mp3

Sonic Youth -‘Hot Wire My Heart (Crime cover).’ mp3

Aaargh…when do the holidays start, again?.

Increasingly FED UP WITH UNDER 18s.

They laugh and find getting a bollocking funny

Josef K -‘Sorry For Laughing.’ mp3

They make out you’re trying to get them…funny, why does it feel like it’s the other way round?

Black Box Recorder -‘The School Song.’ mp3

Then, when you try and educate them about things that might affect them and show them a film about nuclear war they start greetin’*. Maybe I should have used this instead…

Scars -‘Your attention Please.’ mp3

Amazing, they all think they’re so hard, and yet…

I may not have become my parents –yet – but I’ve already become one of my teachers.

AAARGH
* Greetin’ is scots slang for crying

Some Covers For Saturday

Hello again.

Had a few computer problems that are now fixed, so here are some covers for Saturday.

This year, as well as being the thirtieth anniversary of the first Sex Pistols and Clash albums (alright, smarty pants; so the Sex Pistols only released one album proper but you know what I meant), is also the anniversary of David Bowie’s most productive year, when he relased his own Low and Heroes, as well as his important contributions to Iggy Pop’s The Idiot and Lust For Life. However, that will have to be a post for a future, er, post. Here are three covers that should be heard, taken from a freebie CD with Uncut four years ago.
The Langley Schools Music Project take on ‘Space Oddity’ is chilling, in a nice sort of way, the Black Box Recorder version of ‘Rock ‘n’ Roll Suicide’ is definitely made their own, and the associates ‘Boys Keep Swinging’ was famously released – as their debut single – mere months after Bowie’s original came out in 1979.

Associates-‘Boys Keep Swinging (David Bowie cover).’ mp3

Langley Schools Music Project-‘Space Oddity (David Bowie cover).’ mp3

Black Box Recorder -‘Rock ‘n’ Roll Suicide (David Bowie cover).’ mp3

This was recorded live at the Reading Festival when the White Stripes had to pull out at short notice. Black Rebel Motorcycle Club do this fantastically.

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club -‘The Hardest Button To Button (White Stripes cover).’ mp3

This cover was originally recorded, I believe for a compilation intended to promote peace in Northern ireland called Peace Together (and if anyone has mp3s of Therapy? doing ‘Invisible Sun’ and Pop Will Eat Itself doing ‘Games Without Frontiers’ please get in touch).

My Bloody Valentine -‘We Have All The Time In The World (Louis Armstrong cover).’ mp3

Finally, it was a hit, easily obtainable, but what a joy to hear!

Futureheads-‘The Hounds Of Love (Kate Bush cover).’ mp3

Okay, you know the drill. these will be up here for a week only. If you like what you hear, support the artists involved.

The 100th post

(when I started writing the blog, I hadn’t got my cats. this is them, several months ago)

Well, and here we are! This is the 100th post I have done on the blog. Over the course of seven months, my interest in music, along with comments on teaching and hitting thirty have given me something to work on. Whilst I still dream of having as many readers as some of the other blogs, the feedback I have received has been flattering, and if I had as little rubbish to deal with at school as I do here, life would be easier!!

Thanks to my long-suffering girlfriend, and my family for their feedback, and friends and readers (of course, these are not necessarily mutually exclusive) who have helped this come along. I have learned more about computers along the way, and there’s probably fewer rants about it all now…

What I’ve done this time is just to pick ten great tracks, no theme, just stuff I love, and really hope you do too. As ever, if you like’em, do go and buy them.

Here’s to the next one hundred posts. Enjoy the music.