Sounds For Sunday

I’m on a Mod/Garage/Psych kick today, but just as danceable as the usual soul/reggae tunes.  I’m jumping in the red telephone box time machine and going back to the 60s for some groovy tunes with an international flavour.

First up is Gentle Influence from the UK, with a very groovy organ based Easy To Know, which will appeal to the Acid Jazz/Prisoners fans amongst you.  In fact it could have come from a Graham Day album.

Next is Mini Minnie by The Young Ones, which is so Swinging London it hurts, a little bit Kinks and a little bit Beatles.  But The Young Ones were actually Dutch.  You really wouldn’t know, the tune sounds like it should soundtrack Michael Caine walking through Carnaby Street.

And finally from the US a lovely little garage punk tune by The Morning Dew called Go Away, which chugs away like The Velvets on a bad day.

Groovy indeed!

Gentle Influence – Easy To Know
The Young Ones – Mini Minnie
The Morning Dew – Go Away

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Flowers

I was going to post The Jam and Running On The Spot today, but somebody in the blog roll to my right beat me to it.  So here’s a little something I was dancing to in the kitchen this evening while I was cooking dinner.

A Thai red curry if you’re interested, with chicken, red peppers and dwarf beans.  Lovely. 🙂

Sunny

I just switched channels and saw the wonderful Dusty performing this.  Absolute class!

Glory Boys

A good week off right now, shame about the file share not working.   I’m trying to get it sorted, but I may have to look around for a new one.  In the meantime there’s youtube and tracks like this.

Secret Affair will be familiar to most people of a similar age, being the Mod revival band from the late seventies.  But if you ask most people what song they know, you’ll hear Time For Action.  My World was a later single, which I found for 50p in my local record shop in the mid 80s.  I bought it without knowing it, although once it was on the turntable I realised I’d heard it on the radio when it was out.

It sounds  like early misty mornings going to school, wearing the old school uniform and hating going to PE.  Reading 2000AD and watching Monkey and Battlestar Galactica.

It also sounds a little like a cross between Springsteen and ELO.  Or is that just me?

We are the Mods, we are the Mods, we are, we are, we are the Mods!

The Best Pop Star Ever

Adam Ant, wasn’t he simply the ultimate pop star?  Silly clothes, great attitude, film star good looks and some bloody great records.  And weren’t they odd sounding records?  I miss the days when pop songs were sometimes weird little things:  Human League, OMD, Adam & The Ants, for example produced some really funny little tunes.

And then there were the videos:  some of them look a little silly now, but still stand up as imaginative little things, probably my favourite videos of all time.  Especially this one:

Space

I love this; one of the best singles of the 90s by far…

The Singles That People Sing

Way way back, my first ever post was about the first single I bought.  This post features the second single I ever bought.  Kim Wilde was THE poster girl on my wall back in 1981.  I heard and saw her performing Kids In America and went out and bought the single.  Except I didn’t have a record player.  I didn’t get a record player for another 18 months.

I started a little note book, listing all the songs I wanted and ticking them off as I got them.  Chequered Love I heard for the first time on Mike Read’s Round Table, a Friday night review show on Radio One, where Mike and several guests would review the latest single releases.  I bought it the next day.  It was probably my favourite single that year, and listening to it now it still sounds great, all Blondie whoah whoahs and synth pop bleeps.  And a great ending that sounded great over headphones once I got a record player.

My fileshare account is playing up so here’s the video instead.  It’s probably more fitting to be able to see Kim as well as hear!!