Aw Heck

Strange Loop and I were talking about Pete Townsend the other day. Now I know there are more than one reason that have nothing to do with the incredible music to despise Townsend , but Strange Loop was most frustrated with the way Townsend is so full of self-adulation. I told him that if he was going to only listen to modest artists, his pickings would be quite limited. As with most of our casual conversation, it because the germ of this mix. I was originally going to include him more as an alt-dj, but then I actually made a list twice this long as artists I either consider “humble” or at least self-deprecating. As I told Strange Loop that day, the expression inherent in the title track epitomizes what I am looking for with these artists.

As far as those not included, some names were quite easy to remove: U2 (a “favorite” target here for their high level of self-absorbtion), Zappa (though he is a monk compared to Beefheart), The Glimmer Twins (and their Beatles counterparts), Dylan (every great mind throughout history has been considered an asshole by the general populace... ), David Byrne (whose ego could possibly drown the entire world, Dylan included). Pure arrogant wankers every one.

And while I do listen to those guys (some much more than others), I always take a “never mind the bollocks” attitude with the personalities of artists I enjoy.

So for this list, I mostly eliminated all “rock stars” since there obviously is something about being a rock star that inflates one’s ego tremendously and affects even nominally “nice” folks such as Neil Young and Warren Zevon. I suppose that because of that, the mix is made up of mostly country, blues and jazz artists. Now of course, those genres have their own particular jerks (for example Miles, Sonny Boy, George Jones, respectively), but in general the artists are more low-key than their rocker counterparts. Al Green, like Johnny Cash, found humility in their later years, but I have eliminated them both here for the bridges burnt in their youth.  I remember we debated a bit about Waits, and he seems to be a down-to-earth guy, and the fact that he can work with his wife is a big plus in his corner. His artistic vision implies a rather large ego, but I’m not sure. Well, maybe he will be saved for the sequel.  And I would have liked to have put Bruce Springsteen and latter-period Elvis Costello here, but they just talk so fucking much.  I don’t know if I can watch another Rock n’ Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony with Bruce pontificating till the cows come home. It’s really no wonder that the  Bruce Spectacle was spread out to two episodes.

Speaking of people left off, here's what could be the second theme song to the title track here. But I know that Mr. King could wander into blues braggadocio quite easily. You might say the same thing about B.B. and Freddie, though Albert was always my favorite King. 

Of course I’m sure many, if not all, of the artists I included have had their moments through their history and so I may be basing this on nothing more than my own naïve ignorance, but I did try to put forth my case for each of them being included here.

And one extra detail I noted when 're-mixing' this mix, the fact that so many tracks fit on a CD-length mix speaks volumes to their humility.

01 John Prine - Aw Heck	The ultimate in self-deprecation and proof that good guys can finish first.
02 Norman Blake - Blue Ridge Mountain Blues	A quiet artist who has managed to put together an incredible body of work over his career.
03 Nat King Cole Trio - Dream a little dream of me	Nat may have smoked too much and given the world a junkie progeny to schlock up his greatest hits, but I think he was a pretty cool dude.
04 Doc Watson - Sitting on Top of the World	Similar to Blake above, but an even deeper and longer career.
05 Mississippi John Hurt - Waiting For You	Any of those guys who simply went back to farming when the Depression killed the record industry have to be included here.
06 John Hartford - On The Radio	Another good old folkie, I was so happy to hear him get his dues before he died.
07 Charlie Watts Quintet - Bluebird	I had to include somebody who could put up with those two brilliant pricks all those years.
08 Rosanne Cash - Bury Me Under the Weeping Willow	I wanted to put Johnny, but I nixed him in the final draft. Every time I see well-deserved accolades thrown Rosanne’s way
09 Ramblin' Jack Elliott - Please Remember Me	Anyone who would subvert his personality to another’s has to be humble, though I prefer these songs from one he found his own voice.
10 Buddy Guy - I Love the Life I Live, I Live the Life I Love	Thinking back to seeing quote marks around living legend Buddy Guy and the fact that Buddy didn’t rip their hearts out or at least sue them puts him in the humble camp in my book.
11 Levon Helm - Stuff You Gotta Watch	I know the heroin helped, but putting up with the shit RR http://zenrunningorder.org/index.php?option=com_zeromix&task=ViewMix&Itemid=9&mixID=2745 did for all those years while keeping his cool for the most part earns my respect. Also proof that good guys can finish first.
12 Arlo Guthrie - All This Stuff Takes Time	I saw Arlo on a film in biology class way back in the 12th grade and he said the Huntington’s Chorea didn’t bother him, that we all suffer from the same incurable disease.
13 The Beach Boys - Friends	Obviously a track sung by Carl. Dennis had the cocaine madness, Brian had the direct line to God and Mike Love suffered from the evil that infected RR, meanwhile Carl stayed in the background, perfecting his Berry licks and added that sweet tenor. (Yes, Ken, I could have included our mutual FB friend http://www.aljardine.com/)
14 George Harrison - Let It Down	I love the bit in Let It Be when George tells Paul “I'll play, you know, whatever you want me to play. Or I won't play at all” and John was another one who (thought he) was tapped into the divine. Look at the album this track is from and realize how often George had to suck in his ego in 69/70. Bonus points for being the heart of the Wilburys as well, which even sort of made Zimmerman egoless (to a point).
15 Billy Preston - I Wrote A Simple Song	Double kudos here for being the only musician to do an album with the Beatles and the Stones, but you knew that.
16 Ringo Starr - Early 1970	Although his style added a uniqueness to their sound, I really think his humour is what centered the boys.
17 Rick Nelson - Are You Really Real?	He did have the strength of will to work through his teen idol days (even though he was by far the best of the bunch), he seemed like he was a pretty nice guy.
18 The Dave Brubeck Quartet - Everybody's Jumpin'	Another living legend who you could have over to your house for tea without his head getting stuck in the doorway
19 Merle Haggard - My Baby's Just Like Money	I just saw the American Masters on Merle and while he believes in his art, he doesn’t think he has done the best he can.
20 Fats Domino - My Blue Heaven	He’s not quite dead, despite rumors http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:RIPFatsYouWillBeMissedLow9.jpg to the contrary. Really one of my desert island songs. I think I rented that movie just for an excuse to hear the song one more time.
21 Louis Armstrong - All of Me	Not a living legend, obviously, but he had the perfect demeanor to be, as the album this version is from, Ambassador Satch.
22 Sam Cooke - Another Saturday Night	I don’t know a lot about Sam Cooke, but I know he sang from the heart, with more soul than just about anybody. I love the self-deprecating nature of this song.
23 Buck Owens & His Buckaroos - Pick Me Up on Your Way Down	Blame the booze, but the fact that he would goof it up on Hee Haw all those years speaks for something. I’m sure he treated folks bad over the years, but I’ll always remember his goofy smile and that red, white & blue guitar.
24 Mose Allison - I Love The Life I Live	This is the only name I can remember from the ones Strange Loop rattled off. Just from Mose’s vocal style and song titles, you can tell what kind of guy he was.
25 Todd Snider - I Can't Complain	Ending it with a similar sentiment from Prine’s musical heir proves the circle will remain unbroken.

Vampire Weekend Weekend (ika, doowadette & doowad's big adventure)

To go away on a summer's day, never seemed so clear

The doowad family went to Chicago for Doowadette’s 14^th birthday last March to see Vampire Weekend. As adopted St. Louisans, they have a true love/hate relationship with their bigger brother city to the north. This trip played on both aspects, though it was more about the love and admiration, tinged with a bit of envy for the resources available for Chicagoans, in spite of their baseball team on the north side. This mix had its genesis in the playlist doowad made for the weekend sojourn up I-64. Since that time, it has been quite the trial to get the two ladies to sit down with him and work on this. The weekend was the highlight of their year (even with some conflicts between teenage daughter & her mother, natch). The concert was really just the cherry on the top of the sundae of the experience. The road trip was a great bonding time for the three of them, laughing to the FOTC cuts, singing along with the VW songs, and otherwise enjoying the soundtrack of Chicago blues, Talking Heads, Zevon, Clash, the proto-VW of Mr. Simon, and the proto-Simon of the Everlys. The last two tracks on the mix were not on the original playlist, but have been on constant repeat in doowadette’s iPod the past few months and she insisted on their inclusion here.

Now it’s a different game

They left early so they could arrive just after noon and head to the Museum of Science & Technology which doowad had heard about since he was a boy growing up in small-town Missouri. In any case, the old-school and large-scale exhibits impressed him the most, though some exhibits were similar to what they have here at their little Science Center off Kingshighway. From there, they went to a funky Arab market on the south side. The sage tea went down just right after dinner. The next day was concert day, so they had a low-key itinerary, mainly hitting Laurie’s Planet of Sound for souvenirs and a few CDs (the Vampire Weekend remix disk was a gift from Laurie, actually) then on to Hot Doug’s for a late lunch. They were thankful they hit them on off-peak hours since the line at Hot Doug’s invariably winds out the door and around the building. There would be enough waiting in that bitter Chicago March wind before the concert.

Winter’s Cold Is Too Much To Handle

They made a roundabout trip to give the finger to Wrigley in Wrigleyville, just north of the Riviera where VW was playing. Luckily there was a bookstore just across the street from the theater where the band was playing (doowadette wanted to plug the national chain, but doowad doesn’t believe in corporate sponsorship, I guess that is ironic considering the bombardment of ads featuring the titular band over the past two weeks, ni modo). Doowad kept an eye on the front door of the theater to make sure they didn’t end up too far back in the GA crowd. When he saw two guys make their way, doowad figured it was time to stake their claim. It wasn’t too bad, about or 4 or 5 hour wait , though doowad definitely understood why Chicago was called the Windy city as the air ripped through the street, nearly relieving a few concertgoers of their tickets. He made friends with the other kids in line, though he was easily 20 years their senior. Normally, doowad would feel a bit ridiculous being the old fart at such a gathering, but the reward of seeing the smile on doowadette’s face made it all worth it. The two teenage boys who had been able to nab first in line had actually just driven down from Milwaukee where they had just seen the band a couple nights before (not that there was anything wrong with it). About an hour before the show, doowad called ika & doowadette to come on over. So being third in line allowed them to land a place front row-center, which was just Goldilocks, especially after his chilly wait. The crowd eventually filled in behind and around them. The first act was fine, Abe Vigoda, also a bit of 80s throwback, but more like New Order, Smiths & Depeche Mode (not that there was anything wrong with that either) than Paul Simon, Talking Heads & Clash like the headliners. A seemingly nice couple was making conversation with them, but turned out it was only for the convenience of getting on to the rail as well, actually putting themselves between doowadette and him with ika on the other side of the couple.

A devastating backstroke

They felt a little squeezed in, but that was nothing compared to when Ezra and the boys came out. The whole mass of youth came crashing around them as the first notes of White Sky started. Whenever doowad or doowadette want to remember the concert, they call to the other one “Oh, Ezra!”. Doowad locked his hands onto the rail, basically cocooning doowadette from the crowd behind him. Unfortunately, they looked over for ika and didn’t see her, then all of a sudden they saw security reaching down and pulling her up and over the rail and literally carrying her off to the side. It really seemed as though she had fainted, and the security guy who offered to help her out of the crowd obviously thought so too, though it turns out she was just bending down to grab her purse. After her “rescue”, she didn’t have it too bad, basically in the press quadrant for the rest of the show. It was basically impossible for doowad & doowadette to move from where they were. Doowad actually did have a few taps on his shoulder for people wanting to try to get in near where they were, but doowad told them he had been out in the cold for 5 hours and he wasn’t giving up his spot for anything. Like doowad said, since doowadette was safely in the cage of his arms, and he is a head taller than her, he was really the only one of the in danger from the overly-lathered crowd. Doowadette didn’t even notice how close he came to getting elbows in the face, especially from some particularly enthusiastic young man to his left who rocked out a bit over the top enthusiastically to Holiday & Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa (again, nothing wrong with that). Doowad said later that he felt like he had received the best massage ever, just adjusting his back up and down among the bony little elbows & shoulders pounding him. After the show, they were relieved to find ika safe and sound and that she had actually been able to enjoy the show.

Around the corner, the house that modern art built

So yeah, the concert was great, and this mix is obviously dominated by their family’s mutual appreciation for the group, but the real highlight of the trip was the next day when they visited the Chicago Art Institute. With the lyrics to White Sky still ringing in their ears, they really spent a nice afternoon wandering the halls. From the Renoir to the Van Gogh to the Monet and the Picasso, they could feel the power and genius within each canvass. After a late lunch at the museum cafeteria, they turned their van southward and headed home.

As a postscript, none of them are pleased that the band has reached the full sell-out level, but well, that seems to be inevitable with so many artists. And, as the final two tracks prove, doowadette herself has “moved on” from VW somewhat (at least till the next album comes out), though the as a family, they can separate the cheesiness of the 60-second spots from the permanently-etched memories of those glorious few days in March. 

Disk 1

The Everly Brothers - Illinois (doowad) 

Paul Simon - St. Judy's Comet (ika) 

Vampire Weekend - White Sky (doowadette) 

Warren Zevon - Genius (doowad) 

Talking Heads - Road to Nowhere (doowadette) 

Joaquín Sabina - Máter España (doowad) 

Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here (doowadette) 

Son Volt - Too Early (doowad) 

Paul McCartney - I Lost My Little Girl (doowad) 

The Rolling Stones - Play With Fire (doowadette) 

Magic Sam - Sweet Home Chicago (doowad) 

T. Rex - Jeepster (doowadette) 

Ryan Adams - Firecracker (doowad) 

Warren Zevon - Excitable Boy (doowad) 

Tilly and The Wall - Shake It Out (doowadette) 

Mecano - Hoy no me puedo levanter (ika) 

Everything But the Girl - Lullaby of Clubland (ika) 

Vampire Weekend - Holiday (doowadette) 

Queen - You're My Best Friend (doowadette) 

Flight of the Conchords - Think About It, Think, Think About It (Live) (ika) 

Mr. Loco - Papas (doowad) 

Toy Selectah - Contramelt A (doowadette) 

Disk 2

Neil Young - Walk On (doowad) 

Honeyboy Edwards - Sweet Home Chicago (doowad) 

The Clash - Long Time Jerk (doowadette) 

The Zombies - Just Out of Reach (doowad) 

Vampire Weekend - M79 (doowadette) 

Paul Simon - Gumboots (ika) 

The Beach Boys - Heroes and Villains (doowadette) 

George Harrison - What Is Life (ika) 

Queen - Bicycle Race (doowadette) 

Toy Selectah - Contramelt B (doowadette) 

Joan Jett & the Blackhearts - Love Is All Around (doowadette)

The Tourists - I Only Want to Be with You (ika) 

Vampire Weekend - The Kids Don't Stand A Chance (doowadette)

The Beach Boys - Hang On To Your Ego (doowad) 

Toy Selectah Mex-More Remix - Cousinz  (doowadette) 

David Gray - White Ladder (ika) 

The Who - Pure And Easy (doowadette) 

Ezra Presley & The Boys - One (Blake's Got a New Face) (doowadette)

Warren Zevon - Splendid Isolation (doowad) 

Bill Withers - Lean on Me (ika) 

Paul Simon - Rene And Georgette Magritte With Their Dog After The War (ika) 

Columbia University Choir - Giant (doowadette)

The Beatles - I Need You (doowad) 

OK Go - End Love (doowadette) 

Phoenix - Lisztomania (Unplugged) (doowadette) 

What's Old Is Young

This mix was a fairly long time in the making, and even longer in the posting. I am embarrassed to say that the Australian duo and I started it in the Spring of 2013. And then my gutbucket brethren helped me finish it up last winter. The basic idea was for us to pick artists where we have a distinct preference for their early work or later work. Basically, this was a concept for artwork in search of a mix. I started disk 2 not only because I had more musical ideas, but because this artwork needed another 20 or so faces...


DISK 1
Johnny Dark
01 Ella Fitzgerald - Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea
I found Ella's voice far more appealing when she dropped to a lower register and lost the 'girlish' quality.

Robert Song
02 Leonard Cohen - Sisters of Mercy
Always had a fascination with Leonard Cohen. His young voice seems much sweeter than I remember it being at the time, certainly is when compared to his current style.

doowad
03 Merle Haggard - The Wild Side Of Life
I'd like to follow that with some smooth honky-tonk from Merle's later years. The Wad & I saw him open for Bob a few years back and I could have listened to Merle sing the phone book, I just love his voice.

Johnny Dark
04 Russell Morris - The Big House
My next choice comes from an artist who was something of a teen idol here in the 60's.  His voice seems to have weathered very nicely over the intervening years.

Robert Song
05 Wings - Wild Life
There was a time when Paul McCartney could really go wild vocally and shake off the pretty boy only sings ballad image. Helter Skelter for example but there are numerous other examples early on in his post-Beatles career.

doowad
06 Charly García - Nos Siguen Pegando Abajo (Pecado Mortal)
Anyway, this is a guy I really like, but I got into him with this MTV Unplugged album he did in the 90s. I do love some of the group work he did in the early and late 70s, very Beatlesesque, but in the 80s, he got a little too synthy for my tastes, at least for artists I respect (there is a fine line between crappy good music and good crap music). Even though he was old enough to flub a few of the lines, he put in a hell of a performance. Kind of the Argentine Lennon, though he looks a bit like Frank Zappa with highlights.

Johnny Dark
07 Paul Young & The Q-Tips - SYSLJFM (The Letter Song)
Before his solo success Paul Young fronted a soul revival band called the Q-Tips in the late 70's/early80's. I caught up with him again at an 80's all-star spectacular 7 or 8 years ago, where all traces of what was a passable blue-eyed soul voice had completely disappeared. In fact he was embarassingly bad. Here he is before the fall.

Robert Song
08 Etoile de Dakar - Absa Gueye
Youssou N'Dour was still a teenager when Etoile De Dakar recorded their first album which this pick comes from. Mark Hudson described his voice at this time as " a high pitched, gilded shriek, the voice of a teenager, raw, androgynous, capable of an almost supernatural tonal range". His voice became smoother and more controlled as his career went on but nothing compares to those early years.

doowad
09 Maldita Vecindad y los Hijos del Quinto Patio - El Barzn
I hadn't thought to put this group on this mix, but this song really represents why. These guys are my favorite Mexican rock band, but while their early music was great, they bordered on party music (classic rock lyrics about "instead of melons, God gave you oranges".) Great rhythms, naturally, but rather narrow vision. This was not that far into their history, less than 10 years, but they had progressed like other groups (Beatles and Beastie Boys come to mind) from mindless to profound. This song is a protest speaking in defense of Mexican small farmers, who are sharecroppers at best and indentured servants at best. I have always loved the vocals, long before I could decipher all of them, but most of this album just really comes together as a perfect unit, with very tasteful melodies. I wish I could sing like this, though, Dylanesque in the machine-gun nature of the lyrics. A barzn is yoke, and this talks about the literal yolk breaking on his oxen, but also the metaphorical yolk of indebtedness that all poor dirt farmers have around the world. El Barzn as a proper noun is also the name of the farmer's union in Mexico. But since, as Dylan said, power and greed and corruptible seed seem to be all that there is, this protest song really did nothing and now it is not only the landlord coming down on the farmers, but the multinationals.

Johnny Dark
10 Frank Sinatra - That's Life
Give me Rat-Pack Frank over big band crooner Frank anytime.

Robert Song
11 Dexys - Lost
I loved the first three Dexy's Midnight Runners albums. Kevin Rowlands vocals were passionate but at times could be indecipheral. So after 25 years when they released the album 'One Day I'm Going To Soar' last year under the shorten band name of Dexys, it was a joy to hear him singing with the same passion and being able to understand almost every word.

doowad
12 Miguel Bos - Gulliver
Bos is an interesting character, his mother was a good friend of Pablo Picasso and would leave young Miguelito to play with his friend Paloma. She was a famous actress, his dad was a famous bullfighter (which he deals with a lot on this album). Miguel was always a gentle soul, and to this day hasn't officially come out of this closet, but we understand. In any case, his early years were quite bordering on teeny-bop, and has had to really fight for his true self to come through. This is from his "later" period where his vision and voice really came of age. One thing about him that impresses me besides his voice and cool lyrics is that his albums really challenge the listener. You usually don't enjoy it at first, even his most strident fans. This album was one of them, Sereno from 2001. And his albums are clearly-defined statements, each with their own continuity and vision. For many of those reasons, I thought it was a perfect fit after Dexys.

Johnny Dark
13 The Faces - Cindy Incidentally
My 85 year old mother has become quite fond of Rod Stewart in his recent incarnation as an interpreter of the Great American Songbook. I prefer him from around 1973.

Robert Song
14 Gregory Isaacs - Don't Pity Me
When he was young he was the Cool Ruler, but after the cocaine and the jail time he was never the same

doowad
15 Steve Earle - Sparkle and Shine
Here is one of the few artists who actually came out of his heroin addiction with most of his soul intact. I like all periods of Steve Earle's career, but he really has mellowed well as an elder statesman.

Johnny Dark
16 Chris Smither - Make Room For Me
Another who's voice has weathered nicely over the years. This one from his latest release. 

Robert Song
17 David Byrne - Un Di Felice, Eterea
Who would have thought from his early Talking Heads days that one day David Byrne would record stuff like this.

doowad
18 Chavela Vargas - No Volver
We have tended to focus on the "autumn years" as Monty Python puts it. And here's a singer I love at all stages, but there's something in the innocence of her voice from her first albums, before the tequila and cigars and before being chased out of Mexico for swearing at her audiences from stage. One of the most expressive vocalists you'll hear in any language, mi Chabuelita, Chavela Vargas...

Johnny Dark
19 Paul McCartney & Wings - Maybe I'm Amazed
Recently caught a concert film of McCartney and Wings 1976 US tour, from which my selection is lifted. He sounded as good to me during this concert as anything he recorded with the Fab Four.

Robert Song
20 The Modern Lovers - She Cracked
I guess Jonathon Richman might have just been trying to be Lou Reed and the Velvet Underground early on his career but that was at least way better than where he ended up some fifteen years later

doowad
21 The Ramones - I Don't Wanna Walk Around With You
Okay, well, time for a group that I'm sure is universally preferred in their younger incarnation. Though they had some nice stuff later, there was nowhere to go but down from their debut album

Cloudcasts by Doowad Jones on Mixcloud

DISK 2
doowad
01 David Bowie - Oh! You Pretty Things
I picked this Bowie pick more out of ignorance of most of his later period, and laziness to dig deeper than anything. I have heard good things about his more recent work, though "Dancing in the Streets always seemed like the classic jump the shark moment for picking him in his prime.

Funky Ratchet
02 Them - I Can Only Give You Everything
As far as Van Morrison goes, I'm sure an easy case could be made for the Astral Weeks/Moondance era but I still find the '60's R&B Van with Them much more to my liking. I'll leave my enjoyment of his Bang Records contractual obligation songs (i.e. "Ring Worm") for another time. Van's ego is the result, I assume, of the bit of revisionist history that occurs on the Nuggets II box set, crediting "I Can Only Give You Everything" as a Van solo track rather than a Them track; however, that's easily rectified with a few key strokes.

Strange Loop
03 Gene Harris - Elephant Blossom Blues
He was ok with the Three Sounds in the 60's and went the synth-soul route like other jazz players in the 70's, but he really shined once he came back on the more "traditional" jazz scene with Ray Brown and then went on to do his own amazing thing. By far my favorite jazz pianist!

doowad
04 Joan Manuel Serrat - Lucia
A published poet and songwriter without par in many languages. He should re-record all of his songs just like this, with a light touch piano and with his aged voice. Nothing compares to it, and his early work is so overproduced, it renders it unlistenable at times.

Funky Ratchet
05 Willie Nelson - Devil in a Sleeping Bag
After disappointing record sales and a self-imposed retirement in the early 1970's, Willie returned with the Shotgun Willie album in 1973. Right on the cusp of the Outlaw country movement, before they all began singing self-referential songs about being an outlaw, Willie started his trek toward becoming a punch line, and Waylon became a caricature of himself. I grew up on early '70s Willie and I've always loved the strength of his voice and songs during this period.

Strange Loop
06 Ween - I'm Holding You
This track is the opener from their 1996 country album 12 Golden Country Hits for which the duo hired Nashville players to back their awesome, weirdo shit. For me, this album and the one before it, Chocolate and Cheese were the beginnings of the more grownup and experimental

doowad
07 Wilco -  Sky Blue Sky
Just as Brother Loop went to his well for his pick, so will I. It amazes me how easily Wilco can do this type of pretty little songs. These kinds of songs just fit like a glove.

Funky Ratchet
08 REM - Wendell Gee
It’s hard to imagine any incarnation of R.E.M. beyond about 1986 recording this little folk tune. I wouldn’t say I like one era of this band at the expense of others, but part of me is partial to the early- to mid-1980’s R.E.M., at the height of their folky southern gothic capabilities and just before they began leaning toward a bigger rock sound that would fill larger venues.

Strange Loop
09 The Beach Boys -  I Just Wasn't Made For These Times
Sadly, Brian was just better on drugs & madness.

doowad
10 The Beatles - Girl
John Lennon probably would have done quite interesting things in the 80s, but truly he only had one consistent solo album, with some great singles. As has been rehashed over and over, the greatest thing John & Paul had was each other. Amazingly, I had not used this song on a mix previously, but I learned new appreciation for it after watching one of doowadette's favorite movie Across the Universe. Of course nothing compares to the original, especially when you are talking to one of the greatest voices of the 20th century in his prime. I consider Rubber Soul to really be the last Beatles album. It wasn't Yoko that killed the group, but the solipsism found through Lysergic acid diethylamide.

Funky Ratchet
11 Beck - Lost Cause
My first awareness of Beck was “Loser,” “Devil’s Haircut,” and the like but I’ve really come to prefer his low-key 2002 break-up album Sea Change, which nods to his early countryish output on K Records while keeping a little of the experimental flavor he came into in the ‘90s.

Strange Loop
12 Chet Baker - Everything Happens to Me
My favorite Chet Baker tune of all time, from back when he had only been chasing the dragon for a little while and wasnt a total mess. Although, his version of Almost Blue is another great, great song from MUCH later in his life

doowad
13 Nat King Cole Trio - Calico Sal
Nothing to compare between this and the schmalzy tripe he released later. Not even cheezy enough to be good pap, but this just warms the soul.

Funky Ratchet
14 Howlin' Wolf - Spoonful
To be fair, I pretty much love Howlin' Wolf's entire catalog. But given a choice, I'll take early lean/mean Wolf over the latter stuff, including the tepid bloat of the London Sessions. Now if I can just get my hands on that elusive Complete Chess Masters box set...

Strange Loop
15 Frank Zappa - Zomby Woof
I like the wacky changes and musicianship of the Zappa of this period best.

doowad
16 Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band - Grown So Ugly
Well, yes, a bit obvious after the Frank pick, but what the fuck. I prefer this album as a balance between his early blues stuff and his later experimental weirdness. The title to this track seemed more than appropriate!

Funky Ratchet
17 Bruce Springsteen - State Trooper
I'm probably more of a Springsteen appreciator than a fan but Nebraska is the distinct exception. If I'm being perfectly honest, I'm obsessed with this album. As much as can acknowledge the durability of his career and music, he has always, to me, seemed to split the difference between artist and workhorse. Nebraska, however, is lightning in a bottle.

Strange Loop
18 Primus - My Name Is Mud
Primus sucks.

doowad
19 Tom Waits - Chicago
We are all huge Waits fans, so it was either not pick any Waits period here or pick “all of them” in Sarah Palin style... And by picking “later Waits” after Funky jumped the gun with “Middle Waits”, we are forcing Strange Loop's hand. And since he always kind of looked like early waits to me, that is just the icing on the cake of this epic mix.

Funky Ratchet
20 Tom Waits – Down, Down, Down
There are Tom Waits tunes that I love from all stages of his career so far, but I much prefer dark and weird Waits over his early barroom/lounge singer persona. In fact, I find his affectations during that period grating enough that I can’t even stand to watch interviews from those years. Granted, there has always been, and still is, a Waits “persona;” I just find it more to my liking from the mid-80’s on. I also enjoy many of the more recent songs too but the newer albums have begun to strike me as simply “Tom Waits performing as Tom Waits,” rather than striving to break any new ground.

Strange Loop
21 Tom Waits - Looks Like I'm Up Shit Creek Again
Well, song sums up my position as the default “early Waits” pick. And well, since doowad thinks I look like early Waits, I guess it's only natural...

What's Old Is Young, Part 2 by Doowad Jones on Mixcloud

Promesas sobre el bidet

01 Joaquín Sabina - Calle melancolía  doowad
02 Alaska y los Pegamoides - El hospital  MarkSmith
03 Doberman - Balada de los días grises  MarkSmith
04 Duncan Dhu - Una calle de parís  doowad
05 Mecano - Los amantes  doowad
06 La Unión - Hombre lobo en paris  doowad
07 Los Impecables - Chicas guapas  MarkSmith
08 Soda Stereo - 1990  doowad
09 Caifanes - Mátenme porque me muero  doowad
10 Línea Vienesa - Cangrejos en la cocina  MarkSmith
11 Flash Strato - Madrid en tecnicolor  MarkSmith
12 Las Chinas - Amor en frío  MarkSmith
13 Los Secretos - Déjame  MarkSmith
14 Serú Girán - No llores por mí, Argentina  doowad
15 Beirut la Noche - Ella se hizo monja  MarkSmith
16 Café Tacvba - El catrín  doowad
17 Polanski y el Ardor - Ataque preventivo de la URSS  MarkSmith
18 Mano Negra - Mala vida  doowad
19 Zombies - Groenlandia  MarkSmith
20 Charly García - Promesas sobre el bidet  doowad
21 Aterciopelados - Baracunatana  doowad
22 Molotov - Frijolero  doowad

Promesas sobre el bidet by Doowad Jones on Mixcloud

Doowad

So I made a new “amiguito” a year or so ago, (let's call him "Jim") and completely outside of my fanatical music obsession (though we did bond over movies and Fawlty Towers). He started showing up at some of doowadette’s sporting events, which I thought was really weird when I found he had no daughter on the team. But well, eventually I figured out he wasn’t some perv, but rather a superfan...

In any case, as I said, our conversation eventually drifted around to British comedy and Strange Brew and all kinds of wild and groovy things.  What was bonus was to find out that our kids were already good friends (I had met his son, but didn’t associate the two guys for some time, clueless dad that I am). Then even more bonus, we both got along with the wives, which apparently is a serious problem among married couples. They are now frequent fliers at our backyard parties (our soirées, since according to ika, parties are only parties if you dance. At the last one, when she went in to get some food, we all stood up and started boogieing as only a bunch of 40ish white suburbanites can to prove to her we were having a party). 

So, as inevitably happens, the subject of some of our conversations soon turned to music, mainly out of the random mentions of R.E.M. and other groups that would find their way into my party playlists.

In fact, this mix is really Jim’s fault since he sent me a Cure album on youtube that he was listening to. In typical do-it-all doowad, I shot back three links of my own, Caifanes, Soda Stereo y La Unión. The first two because they basically started out as Cure cover bands, down to the Robert Smith hair on the lead singer and gothish make-up on all the fellers. La Unión I threw in because they got boobies in their video.

But it was kismet that he said he liked the Caifanes the best, since they are actually my favorite Rock en español group. So then I was thinking, well, maybe I can throw a few of these songs, like I have done for other gabacho buddies in the past. But knowing what a huge fan he was of 80s/90s new wave, I decided to “seed” my mix with this classic, 4-volume set from our old amigo, MarkSmith:

Pop, Nueva Ola y Rock (y otras músicas del montón) (Part 1/4) by David Garcia on Mixcloud

So then I was trying to figure out a more imaginative name than just “Jim” as I had on my mediamonkey playlist as a placeholder. This title track was one that was echoing in my brain the past few days and I thought well, I didn’t really make any promises about this CD to Jim, and I don’t have a bidet (unless you count the massage setting on my shower head that has the perfect stream of water that can go right up….uh, nevermind).

But since our humour is usually in the toilet, this seemed ideal. One last “anecdote”, or advice, do not google “bidet gross” or you will get what you are looking for…also be prepared for lots of crotch if you google "athletic supporter".

David García

[No sé que hizo este cabrón, pero] me llamo David Garcia en el mundo mixcloud, MarkSmith en el mundo 2.0 y "eh. tú, bastardo" en el mundo real...

Time Traveling Tours

I had had been seeing that the great Dark Song team had kept rolling with the demise of ZeRO and since I have always enjoyed making collections with both of them, I dropped them a line about this concept: If you could travel back and see any concert or tour of any artist, when in time would it be? Without further adieu, I present you Time Traveling Tours:

Disk 1

Time Travelling Tours CD1 by Darksong on Mixcloud

Doowad

01 Bob Dylan - It Takes A Lot To Laugh, It Takes A Train To Cry (Rolling Thunder Revue, 1975)

Naturally, there are very few tours that I would not want to have seen Bob on, but for me, the Rolling Thunder Revue would have been the toppermost of the poppermost.

Robert Song

02 Cat Stevens - If I Laugh (1972)

With the release of Mona BoneJakon in 1970, and then Tea for the Tillerman, Teaser and The Firecat and Catch Bull at Four in less than 2 years , Cat Stevens was at the height of musical output.
I had the good fortune to see him in 1972. He never really reached those highs again.

Johnny Dark

03 The Yardbirds - You're a Better Man Than I (1967)

Would certainly have liked to have seen The Yardbirds (Beck/Page era) when they toured Australia in 1967. Unfortunately just a little young.

Doowad

04 The Doors - Twentieth Century Fox

They have been running a lot of Doors docs lately and it has rekindled my lost love of them, especially thinking about seeing them in 1966 at the Whiskey-A-Go-Go before the first record.

Robert Song

05 Stevie Wonder Superstition (Wonder Dream Concert Jamaica, 1975)

The Wonder Dream Concert was an historic concert held on October 4, 1975, at the National Stadium in Kingston, Jamaica. The concert was headlined by Stevie Wonder who was joined on the bill by Bob Marley & The Wailers and his former bandmates Peter Tosh and Bunny Wailer. The concert is sometimes known as the Wailers Reunion Show, as it was the first time the original Wailers had performed together since 1973 and the last time they ever would.
The concert was a benefit concert for the Jamaican Institute for the Blind and was opened by Third World. Harold Melvin & The Bluenotes were scheduled to play but did not show [1]
For Stevie Wonder's encore, Stevie called for Bob to join him on stage and they played "I Shot The Sheriff" and "Superstition" together. Another notable moment was the last performance of the original Wailers' first hit "Simmer Down", originally from 1964.
Stevie was on a roll in the early part of the 70s with Talking Book, Innervision and Fulfillingness' First Finale. To have see him and Bob Marley doing Superstition would have been memorable indeed.

Johnny Dark

06 David Bowie Sound and Vision (Low/Heroes tour, 1978)

Another 1978 concert at the same venue where I'd seen Dylan earlier that year. No counterfeit ticket this time for me though. This one was billed as Bowie's Low/Heroes tour.
Recall very little of the concert save for the memory of having my not exactly lightweight girlfriend perched on my shoulders for the duration, which left me aching for days.

Doowad

07 Louis Armstrong & Dave Brubeck They Say I Look Like God (Monterey Jazz Festival in 1962)

Very nice, both. I am going back a little further. This is not from a tour, but from a one-off performance of The Real Ambassadors at the Monterrey Jazz Festival in 1962. No recordings are available of this landmark in American music. The most important thing any of the artists ever did, as long as you don't count Satchmo inventing modern Jazz and all that!
The Real Ambassadors was able to capture the often complicated, and sometimes contradictory politics of the State Departments tours during the Cold War Era. Addressing African and Asian nation building in addition to the U.S. civil rights struggle, it satirically portrayed the international politics of the tour.[4] The musical also addressed the prevailing racial issues of the day, but did so within the context of witty satire. Below is an excerpt of Armstrong's opening lines to the piece "They Say I Look Like God".
They say I look like God.
Could God be black? My God!
If all are made in the image of thee,
Could thou perchance a zebra be?
He's watchin' all the Earth.
He's watched us from our birth.
And if He cared if you black or white,
He'd a mixed one color, one just right.
Black or white... One just right...
Louis Armstrong, The Real Ambassadors, "They Say I Look Like God".
Despite Iola Brubeck's intention for some of her lyrics to be light and humorous in presentation [believing that some of the messages would be better accepted, if presented in a satirical manner], Armstrong saw this performance as an opportunity for him to address many of the racial issues that he had struggled with for his entire career, and he made a request to sing the song straight. In one 2009 interview with Dave Brubeck, he remarked on Armstrong's seriousness: "Now, we wanted the audience to chuckle about the ridiculous segregation, but Louis was cryin'... and every time we wanted Louis to loosen up, he'd sing 'I'm really free. Thank God Almighty, I'm really free'."[5] After years of demeaning roles in his public performances, the collaboration in The Real Ambassadors offered Armstrong material that was closer to his own sensibility and outlook.[4]
The recording with the Iola Brubeck lyrics being presented dead seriously, with the Brubeck jazz-blues melody sung by Armstrong against the gorgeous background vocal parts Dave Brubeck had written for Lambert, Hendricks and Ross to sing, combined with Brubeck's subtle piano 'comping, was done in one take, and reportedly everyone there in the recording studio in 1961 was then crying their eyes out.
Later, at the live performance of "The Real Ambassadors" with Armstrong at the Monterey Jazz Festival in 1962, Lambert, Hendricks and Bavan put on sackcloths and hoods over their heads (they then lifted the hoods up to sing their parts) just before "They Say I Look Like God" started. Dave Brubeck still regrets not having $750 in cash on hand (which the camera crew filming at the 1962 Monterey Jazz Festival stated was the fee required to film the performance), and feels that it was a "terrible goof" that the live performance wasn't filmed.

Robert Song

08 Les Ambassadeurs Du Motel De Bamako - Mbouram Mousso

I had been planning to have the Rail Band of the Buffet Hotel de Bamako as my next pick but given Derek's Real Ambassadors track, I saw it as a sign to use the Les Ambassadeurs Du Motel De Bamako instead.
When Mali became independent in the early 60s, the Government made considerable effort to promote traditional culture including music but also encouraged its evolution and integration with the new world.
The Government sponsored Orchestras and Instrumental Ensembles in all the various Regions of Mali and had regular Biennial Contests to see which were the best performers.
The Ministry of Rail employed musicians to play at railway station hotels and the most famous of these bands was the Rail Band of the Buffet Hotel in Bamako. In 1970 Salif Kieta first started singing with the band. They were given the brief to adapt traditional music to be played on both traditional instruments (balafon,ngoni,kora) and Western instruments (guitar,sax,bass) and they became incredibly popular in Mali and West Africa.
Across town at the Motel de Bamako, the Minister of Police also employed a band Les Ambassadeurs to entertain guests. In 1972 when Salif Keita was persuaded to switch from the Rail Band and join Kante Manfila at the The Motel it cause quite a stir in Government circles.
It was a golden age in Malian music and one which ensured that its musical heritage was refreshed rather than usurped by outside influences. Sadly today music in Mali is under threat by Islamic extremists who for some God forsaken reason believe that music is evil.

Johnny Dark

09 Todd Rundgren - I Saw the Light (Utopia, 1974)

Always had the desire to see at least one of the Beatles and have long been a Todd Rundgren fan. So here comes a chance to kill two birds when Todd features in Ringo's All-Star Band touring here next month. I'd certainly like to have seen Todd during his Prog-Rock Utopia days.

Doowad

10 The Beatles - I Me Mine (Imaginary Farewell Tour, 1970)

Hot track, Graham, and stone-cold classic, Wayne. And with your Beatles mention in your notes, it inspired my pick. However, mine is from an imaginary tour, if Paul would have had a bit more pull than Yoko and gotten the boys out on the road for a final run in 1970 (the Mexican expression that I use to explain how my wife got me is apropos here: Jalan más dos tetas que una carreta. "Two tits pull more than a wagon"). And I picked the song that most explains why they didn't want one more round of Beatlemania. Oh, and i figured the Let it be naked version would be best, since that was also Paul's preference.

Robert Song

11 The Mighty Sparrow - Mae Mae (Trinidad Carnival 1960)

At Carnival in Trinidad in 1960, the Mighty Sparrow won the title of Carnival Road March Title with "Mae Mae". He also won Calypso Monarch with his tunes "Ten To One" and "Mae Mae". 

Johnny Dark

12 The Jam - The Great Depression (Farewell Tour, 1982)

Although Paul Weller has toured here a few times, The Jam regrettably never made it to Australia.
This track was recorded at a Wembley concert on their farewell tour in 1982.

Doowad

13 Los Fabulosos Cadillacs - Revolution Rock (Gira Vasos Vacíos, 1994)

Cool beans, the Jam made me think of the Clash which brought me to these boys, who are still together, but this was their peak (also the time Matador became an international hit). The kings of Latin ska

Robert Song

14 Fela Kuti & Africa 70 – Zombie (1977)

I guess around 1977 Fela Anikulapo Kuti was at his peak. I would have loved to have seen him in Lagos at his nightclub The Shrine which was close to his compound/commune The Kalakutu Republic. He would later declare it's independance from Nigeria as well as trying to run for President.
But his outspoken politics which he spread through his music ( like Zombie) were too much in the end for the Government and they sent 1,000 soldiers to the Kalakuta Republic and destroyed the place and crushed the people there including fatally injuring Fela's mother by throwing her out of a first floor window (and yes Derek that would be second floor in the US).

Johnny Dark

15 Elvis Costello - Penny Lane (In Performance at the White House Celebrating the Music of Paul McCartney: The Library of Congress Gershwin Prize, 2011) 

This track was sourced from a concert celebrating the music of Paul McCartney which took place in the East Room of the White House in 2011.
I'd have been pleased to have had a front row seat next to the president, but it looks like preference was given to an ex-Beatle.

Doowad

16 The Faces - Around The Plynth (The Turning Point UK Tour, 1971)

Always a Rod fan from the good ole days, but getting even more into the Faces lately, this one would be appropriate since it is from the year of my birth, actually while I was still in the womb (in Panama)

Robert Song

17 Benny Goodman - Sing, Sing, Sing (Carnegie Hall 1939)

Finally back around to responding on this. Ex tropical cyclone (hurricane) Oswald has been making thinks difficult of late with wind and rain all down the eastern coast of Queensland and New South Wales but all good now. Power back on, though still no phone.
I love the big band swing era and what better concert to have been at then Benny Goodman at Carnegie Hall 1939.
Carnegie Hall concert
“In bringing jazz to Carnegie, [Benny Goodman was], in effect, smuggling American contraband into the halls of European high culture, and Goodman and his 15 men pull[ed] it off with the audacity and precision of Ocean's Eleven.”
—Will Friedwald[24]
In late 1937, Goodman's publicist Wynn Nathanson attempted a publicity stunt by suggesting Goodman and his band should play Carnegie Hall in New York City. If this concert were to take place, then Benny Goodman would be the first jazz bandleader to perform at Carnegie Hall. "Benny Goodman was initially hesitant about the concert, fearing for the worst; however, when his film Hollywood Hotel opened to rave reviews and giant lines, he threw himself into the work. He gave up several dates and insisted on holding rehearsals inside Carnegie Hall to familiarize the band with the lively acoustics."[25]
The concert was the evening of January 16, 1938. It sold out weeks before, with the capacity 2,760 seats going for the top price of US$2.75 a seat, for the time a very high price.[25] The concert began with three contemporary numbers from the Goodman band—"Don't Be That Way," "Sometimes I'm Happy," and "One O'Clock Jump." They then played a history of jazz, starting with a Dixieland quartet performing "Sensation Rag", originally recorded by the Original Dixieland Jazz Band in 1918. Once again, initial crowd reaction, though polite, was tepid. Then came a jam session on "Honeysuckle Rose" featuring members of the Count Basie and Duke Ellington bands as guests. (The surprise of the session: Goodman handing a solo to Basie's guitarist Freddie Green who was never a featured soloist but earned his reputation as the best rhythm guitarist in the genre—he responded with a striking round of chord improvisations.) As the concert went on, things livened up. The Goodman band and quartet took over the stage and performed the numbers that had already made them famous. Some later trio and quartet numbers were well-received, and a vocal on "Loch Lomond" by Martha Tilton provoked five curtain calls and cries for an encore. The encore forced Goodman to make his only audience announcement for the night, stating that they had no encore prepared but that Martha would return shortly with another number.[26]
By the time the band got to the climactic piece "Sing, Sing, Sing", success was assured. This performance featured playing by tenor saxophonist Babe Russin, trumpeter Harry James, and Benny Goodman, backed by drummer Gene Krupa. When Goodman finished his solo, he unexpectedly gave a solo to pianist Jess Stacy. "At the Carnegie Hall concert, after the usual theatrics, Jess Stacy was allowed to solo and, given the venue, what followed was appropriate," wrote David Rickert. "Used to just playing rhythm on the tune, he was unprepared for a turn in the spotlight, but what came out of his fingers was a graceful, impressionistic marvel with classical flourishes, yet still managed to swing. It was the best thing he ever did, and it's ironic that such a layered, nuanced performance came at the end of such a chaotic, bombastic tune."

Disk 2

Time Travelling Tours CD2 by Darksong on Mixcloud

Johnny Dark

2-01 The Highwaymen - Death and Hell

I regret not catching The Highwaymen when they toured here in the early 90's. Could've killed 4 birds.

Doowad

2-02 Neil Young & Crazy Horse - Roll Another Number (Tonight's The Night Acetate (1973-74))

I would like to think I would have been enough of a Neil fan to have "gotten" his concerts at the time, but who knows
After a month of recording, they had an album’s worth of material, complete with between-song raps, monologues and drunken ramblings from Young. It was time to take the new material on tour. Young excluded almost all older material from the shows, just playing the still-unreleased Tonight’s The Night in its entirety. Just to annoy his audience further, as the night neared the end, he’d say: “Here’s one you’ve heard before”, then proceed to play Tonight’s title track for the second time in the set.
The crowds didn’t take to Young’s new approach: “People were pissed off. It wasn’t funny,” said Young associate Joel Bernstein Young’s producer David Briggs noted: “It was so intense. I’d look at the crowd going out, and I never saw such a drained bunch of people before or since.” The reviews were also hostile: “Banal” said Rolling Stone; ”Tedious. He talked too much about nothing and went on too long”, said Melody Maker. It didn’t help that Neil and the band were invariably intoxicated on stage.
Despite the displeasure of the audience, or maybe because of it, Young enjoyed himself greatly: “Tonight’s the Night was a lot more fun. ‘Cause I was with my friends. I was having a fantastic time. it was dark but it was good. That was a band with a reason. That’s maybe as artistic a performance as I’ve given… But the audience didn’t know if I knew what I was doing. I was drunk out of my mind on that tour… I was f*cking with the audience.” Nils Lofgren agrees about the mood on the tour: “We had a party. We were releasin’ all that dark stuff – on a nightly basis.” 

Robert Song

2-03 Franco et le T.P. OK Jazz - Sandoka

I would really have liked to have seen a lot more Congolese live music in my time.
I saw a Melbourne Band of Congolese refugees in Brisbane about five years ago. The atmosphere was tremendous even though they weren't exactly the greatest musicians. At Womadelaide in 2008 Toumani Diabate's Symmetric Orchetra played a Congolese song at one of their performances that was exquisite. It went on for about 40 minutes. And I caught a fantastic show from Staff Benda Bilili in San Francisco last year.
But how good would it have been to be at one of the Grand Master Franco's gigs. But Franco was never too interested in Western success and never really tried to break into that market. He did do a couple of shows in the US one of which well known music critic Robert Christgau attended.
His live shows, celebrated throughout Africa but staples at the club he owned in Kinshasa's Matonge quarter, really were carnivals. He appeared only twice in New York, first on a frigid November night in 1983. Not really knowing much about him, my wife and I got to the Manhattan Center late. The lobby was dead, the elevator lonely, the list makeshift. Then we opened a door and wham--lights, action, music. I don't want to say it was like being teleported to Zaire, I've never been to Zaire, but that was certainly the illusion. Though the room wasn't jammed full it seemed to be teeming, perhaps because there were some 40 people on the stage, all surrounding a fat man who sat on a chair and played guitar. Beyond a vague vision of the color and motion of the female dancers and a physical memory of rippling sebenes, I can't bring back a single detail. But none of the hundreds of soukous albums to come my way since then has matched the experience. And Ewens says that wasn't even a good show! Anyone who could have made such a thing happen thousands of times inhabited a different reality than you or me. 

Johnny Dark

2-04 Bee Gees - Take Hold Of That Star

Would like to have seen the Bee Gees in their formative years, in Brisbane and Sydney.
This track from their first album, recorded in '65

Doowad

2-05 Dean Martin - June In January

I'll take it back further, to the good ole' Mafia days of Vegas. Now Vegas (and Times Square) and most of America is Disneyfied and homogenized. Just a few dirty pockets of "deep" American culture left. You drive 5 miles west of where I live and you will have no idea what town you are in, could be Phoenix or Bristol, Connecticut. This is the Vegas of Fear & Loathing, dirty and corrupt, but none of this slick shit we have nowadays. 

Robert Song

2-06 Talking Heads - Crosseyed And Painless (1981)

I saw Talking Heads in London in Dec 1979 and they were touing as a four piece and supporting Fear Of Music.
The Stop Making Sense Tour was in 1984 (I think) and thanks to the superb Johnathn Demme movie I don't feel I missed out on that tour.
So the one I would really like to travel back to is the one in between in late 1980 / early 1981 when they first went out with the extended 10 piece band and unleashed the tracks from Remain In Light that were so heavily influenced by Afro-beat and Fela.  

Johnny Dark

2-07 The Groop - Sorry

Can recall, as a young teen, seeing this band on Saturday morning TV, around about the time when music was becoming something more than just the stuff emanating from my little transistor radio.

Doowad

2-08 Little Richard - Oh Why?

It brought to mind Little Richard, who according to Lemmy from Motörhead is the inventor of rock n' roll. Must have put on a hell of a show in his prime.

Robert Song

2-09 James Brown - The Payback

If you wanted to see a show than has there ever been more of a showman than James Brown. It would have been great to see him at The Apollo but I also would have liked to have been there in Kinshasha in 1974 in the lead up to The Rumble In The Jungle.
Interesting Franco and TP OK Jazz were also on the bill and the show was put together by Hugh Masekela who I will be seeing a couple of weeks time at Womadelaide.
Here is the opening track from the concert.

Johnny Dark

2-10 Sam Cooke - Bring It On Home To Me

Along similar lines here's Sam live at the Harlem Square Club ,1963

Doowad

2-11 Ray Charles - Jumpin' in the Morning

Well, this just seemed like a natural conclusion to your two picks, and to go back farther in time...just imagining the energy Ray Ray put out in those 50s concerts most of all.

Robert Song

2-12 Pink Floyd - In the Flesh (London 1980)

In the mid 70s I really loved Pink Floyd. One of my university mates had a decent stereo system which was a bit of a rarity and many a time we spent marveling at how the opening heart beats on Dark Side of The Moon could rattle the windows. And despite punk and new wave lambasting them as rock dinasours, I still enjoyed there albums in the late 70s. So in 1980 in London I was delighted to get tickets to their first performance of The Wall at The Olympia. Sadly I had to suddenly return back to Australia when my mother died, so I missed the concert. And on that tour the band were building walls between each other and it was close to the end for them as a group.

Johnny Dark

2 -13 Nina Simone - Backlash Blues

Would've liked to have seen Nina Simone at any stage of her career. She toured Australia in '73, 92 and '96
Nina Simone biopic casting backlash > http://www.usatoday.com/story/life/people/2013/02/27/zoe-saldana-addresses-nina-simone-biopic-controversy/1952087/

Doowad

2-14 Louis Jordan & His Tympany 5 - Ain't Nobody Here But Us Chickens

I can’t imagine the energy Louis must have put out, hopped up on god knows how many pills to create his proto-rock n’ roll. Not sure how welcome my big White face would have been in some of those juke joints, but it would have been worth the risk!

Robert Song

2-15 Ali Farka Touré - Bakoye

When I was at Womadelaide last weekend and was watching Vieux Farka Toure's set, I remembered back to a few years ago when I first saw him in Brisbane. He was signing Cds after the show and I got to meet and have a brief chat. I said to him it had always been one of my dreams to see his father play but sadly that was not now possible but his performance was as close as could get to fulfilling that dream.
So my next choice is one of the first Ali Farka Toure songs I heard and still one of my all time favorite tracks. I first heard it on a World Circuit sampler CD "Boiling Point: Music From Hot Countries" which I purchased while in the UK for work in 1991.
Vieux seems at the moment to be intent on a loud electric desert blues sound and whilst Ali could do this and do it well, he also could do more acoustic and quieter songs like this one.

Johnny Dark

2-16 Johnny Keefe - Shout (Parts 1 & 2)

Johnny O'Keefe is widely regarded as Australia's first and perhaps greatest Rock 'n' Roller.
Johnny was born a week after his idol Elvis, and died of a heart attack in 1978, aged 43.
No great shakes as a singer, but a dynamic stage performer.

Doowad

2-17 Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band - Frying Pan

Very nice, and here's a guy who was a hell of a singer, but may have been best to see very early in his career, before the weirdness set in. As the good doctor said, when the going gets weird, the weird turn pro.

Robert Song

2-18 The Clash - The Magnificent Seven

I reckon we will have filled it up will this one and it will mean we all have had 6 picks.I would have to loved to have seen The Clash anytime between 1976 and 1982. But early 80s would have been my choice. By that time they not only had that great punk catalogue to draw on but they were the greatest assimilators of Jamaican rhythms into rock music and were proving to be just as adept at creating a new funk/rap/rock hybrid as demonstrated on one of my favourite tracks of theirs. 2-18 The Clash The Magnificent Sevenhttp://www.sendspace.com/file/roqh4h

Johnny Dark

2-19 Billie Holiday - Rocky Mountain Blues

I find more appeal in Billie's later period recordings, when her voice was beginning to reveal the ravages of time and lifestyle. This one from 1951.