Funkadelic - One Nation Under A Groove

ORIGINATION 12"
LAST LISTENED TO i have no idea
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT not much of one
RATING

Funkmeister and sartorial renegade George Clinton created Funkadelic in 1970 when he and his band got into some contractual bother and where unable to record under their then name Parliament. Essentially, the two bands were the same, although it came to pass that Parliament became their (mostly) funk brand and Funkadelic their wig-out funky rock one. More or less.

This binominal state continued for a good most of the '70s, with a good deal of bleed between the two platforms, forming a style that became known as P-Funk. Thus it was that in 1978 it was Funkadelic that recorded the funk-disco monster that is One Nation Under A Groove which, surely by now, you all know. Anthemic and seven and a half minutes long, it was a positive statement of unity. So good that it hit number one in the US R&B charts and has become their best-known tune. At times you can hear the influence of every big name in the field, from Sly Stone to Stevie Wonder, James Brown and Jimi Hendrix. Stick if on repeat and let the grins break out.

Here come the clowns!

Ya tad taddle addle yum pumpy tum pum, ya tad taddle addle yum pumpy tum pum, yum pumpy tum tum, yum pumpy tum tum, yum te tiddle iddle yum pumpy tum tum. Ya tad taddle addle yum pumpy tum pum, ya tad taddle addle yum pumpy tum pum, yum pumpy tum tum, yum pumpy tum tum, yum te tiddle iddle yum pumpy tum tum. Ya tad taddle addle yum pumpy tum pum, ya tad taddle addle yum pumpy tum pum, yum pumpy tum tum, yum pumpy tum tum, yum te tiddle iddle yum pumpy tum tum. Ya tad taddle addle yum pumpy tum pum, ya tad taddle addle yum pumpy tum pum, yum pumpy tum tum, yum pumpy tum tum, yum te tiddle iddle yum pumpy tum tum. Ya tad taddle addle yum pumpy tum pum, ya tad taddle addle yum pumpy tum pum, yum pumpy tum tum, yum pumpy tum tum, yum te tiddle iddle yum pumpy tum tum. Ya tad taddle addle yum pumpy tum pum, ya tad taddle addle yum pumpy tum pum, yum pumpy tum tum, yum pumpy tum tum, yum te tiddle iddle yum pumpy tum tum. Ya tad taddle addle yum pumpy tum pum, ya tad taddle addle yum pumpy tum pum, yum pumpy tum tum, yum pumpy tum tum, yum te tiddle iddle yum pumpy tum tum. Ya tad taddle addle yum pumpy tum pum, ya tad taddle addle yum pumpy tum pum, yum pumpy tum tum, yum pumpy tum tum, yum te tiddle iddle yum pumpy tum tum. aaaaaaarrrrrrrggggggggghhhh! How on earth Nicola manages with this in her head all day is beyond me.

More monday morning mess

This monday's weird mess was a bit more acceptable than some of the previous ones, but i don't have enough time today to tell you all about it. So, all i can do is tell you that it started with twists of the bloopy intro from The Prodigy's Everybody In The Place, before great steaming chunks of The Temptations classic Ball Of Confusion fell all over it. The bass part of this then evolved into Aretha Frankin's Rock Steady, which to be fair sounds quite similar. That tune occured here in the not too distant past, but sadly it was another of these days where time just runs out. So there's hardly any point clicking that link. You'll just be disappointed. Still, there's always tomorrow, although looking at my diary it seems unlikely i'll do any better then. But you never know. Never say never.

Lulu - Feelin' Alright

ORIGINATION Right On! Break Beats And Grooves From The Atlantic And Warner Vaults 1967 - 1975
LAST LISTENED TO March
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT not much
RATING

Yes, yes, yes, that Lulu. You know, her voice is not bad, it's quite soulful. And the music, recorded in Muscle Shoals with musicians who had been involved in top-rate soul music for several years by this point, is pretty damned good too. But there are better versions of this track around (Traffic created it, before Joe Cocker went on to do the best known version), so reallly there is little reason to bother with this apart from sheer curiosity. Still, i could think of many worse ways to wake up on a grey summer sunday.

Metallica - Fade To Black

ORIGINATION Ride The Lightning
LAST LISTENED TO last night
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT thatcher winning her second bloody general election and the sane world dying one bit more
RATING

Metallica's first go at the quiet/loud dynamic song structure. It'd be pretty good if it wasn't for the angst-ridden lyrics. Urgh. I mean seriously, i'm not a teenager any more, why in the hell did i even listen to this bilge last night? I should've just listened to Kill 'Em All again again. No, instead i think i shall just stick to the Mary Chain once more today. Now there's a band that know how to do the quiet/loud/LOUDER dynamic damned well. Oh yes.

The Jesus And Mary Chain - Man On The Moon

ORIGINATION Munki
LAST LISTENED TO yesterday
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT good 'n' high
RATING

The Mary Chain combined crazed white noise and bubblegum pop to create the best and most influential rock music ever to come out of Scotland. They were formed in East Kilbride in '84 by the brothers Bill and Jim Reid, who shared singing and guitar duties. Their first forays into public saw them scaring people with their revolutionary noise and causing riots. Undeterred they kept going, gradually evolving their sound until '98's Munki.

Man On The Moon has Jim singing in a typical quiet, almost delicate Mary Chain fashion and for the first minute or so, the song runs along with this in an understated fashion. Near the minute and a half mark, the noise kicks in with a combination of distorted and wah-wah'd guitar that makes for one of the most brillant guitar sounds in their whole career. However, it's just a lovely, brief flirt with the sound, before things calm down again. Another verse in the early understated style happens and then The Noise comes back. This time it brings some brass with it. Utterly joyous.

The lyrics just add to the overall goodness. They start out painting a picture of loneliness where it "sure gets lonely living here on the moon". However, by the end there is an acceptance of the solitude because "I guess it's got to be this way". It feels like redemption.

Go and listen to it and then buy every damn thing of theirs you can find. Right now. Go.

Joseph Malik - Melodies

ORIGINATION Diverse
LAST LISTENED TO last night
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT higher than the sun
RATING

Local lad does good! Edinburgh DJ Malik's first album was quite different from what many people expected, being a fairly laid back blend of acoustic guitar, samples and Malik's falsetto voice singing quite personal lyrics. Melodies is the opening track and is one of the quietest tracks on the album. Whilst it is not the strongest track, it nicely sets the tone for what is to follow. There are also some nice harmonies through the choruses.

Iron Maiden - Revelations (Live)

ORIGINATION Live After Death
LAST LISTENED TO october
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT oddly high
RATING

Somehow this wasn't as jarring a morning song as it should have been and for the same reason that there was an oddly high chance of waking to it: i had just dreamt of it. In fact, not just that but i was actually watching Iron Maiden perform it (and from the front row) when the bastard alarm woke me this morning. Not the sort of dream i can even recall having before, but it was top fun.

I've got into Maiden during my early teens and it's no surprise that i loved is so much back then, what with all the guitar action, boys adventures and, well, Bruce's yelling. Proper metal. Funnily enough, it's a liking that has never really left me. Whether this is good or bad is purely a choice you'll have to make for yourself. I know how i feel about it.

Live After Death has always been my favourite album of theirs. It's got all the best bits of their early career (and some might say the best bit of their entire career), but with the added dynamic of a live performance or, more correctly, performances. Recorded during their 300+ night world tour of '84, they were really on form here and a lot of that has got to be down to Bruce Dickinson's masterful showmanship. He really pulls the crowd into the event.

Revelations comes midway through the first of the four sides of Live After Death and is something of an atmospheric breather after the full-on onslaught of the first three tracks. The track begins in a laid back fashion, running at a far slower tempo than the proceeding songs. Before launching into the vaguely mystical lyrics, Bruce starts encouraging the crowd to get involved. Soon, during the stuttered refrains that pepper the song, the crowd are in fine voice, shouting to fill the spaces. The track runs through several more verses that are equally full of great imagery (even if it's not exactly clear what they're about), with the crowd/refrain running in-between. Near the middle, things heat up when Adrian Smith and Dave Murray take a guitar solo each. We get a minute and a half of their combined pyrotechnics before it all drops back down to the refrain, a final verse and a whispered ending.

Live, Revelations shines far more than the studio version and this is all down to the great atmosphere in the venue and the crowd's voice. Going back to the original is always a bit of a let down after this. Without the yelling it just feels like something is missing and i always can hear the shouting in my head. Sadly, i also, i can't help but sing that final audience interjection each time as well.

(PS. If you're reading this when the songs are still on my Radio Blog, it's really worth listening to this and then the next tune, they make a wonderfully wrong combination!)

Mark Duval Big Band - The Race Machine

ORIGINATION Music For Dancefloors: The Cream Of the Chappell Music Library Sessions
LAST LISTENED TO May
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT as vague as ever
RATING

A shot from the library vaults again this morning, which seems oddly appropriate given that i am reading Haruki Murakami's Kafka On The Shore, which features a library prominently. The book kind, in this case. Anyway, Duval & Co start out on The Race Machine with a great bass slide intro, before launching into a fine sound library funky groove. It is mostly sax-led, with a robust horn section underscoring. However, the solos are taken by first a trumpet and then by a hammond. Judging by the length of the organ's solo, it's a good bet that this is Mr. Duval himself. It's a fine solo, moving mostly around mid-tones. It's all over in just over a minute and a half, just like all good library music: short and sweet.

Barry Adamson - Trouble Asunder

ORIGINATION a 12" b-side
LAST LISTENED TO last month, possibly
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT lower than your average bear
RATING

I seem to recall quite liking this when i picked it up some years back. But all i can remember about it today is that it was kinda like Tom Waits. I don't have it with me here, though, so you'll either have to find it for yourself if you're curious or forever hud yer weisht. Ta ta.

The Who - Substitute

ORIGINATION Meaty, Beaty, Big & Bouncy
LAST LISTENED TO some time ago
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT little
RATING

The Who are a band that i've just never got into. I can't explain why, i just haven't. Don't get me wrong, though, there are some songs of theirs that i really like, although i'd guess that it's mostly the obvious ones. This tune, however, i neither particularly like or dislike. It just is. The best thing i can think to write is that the line 'i was born with a plastic spoon in my mouth' has always stuck in my mind.

Reveille

ORIGINATION huh?
LAST LISTENED TO not ever, really, but i think it might have been in From Here To Eternity which i saw in February
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT some days i give up
RATING

So who knew that the subconscious (or whatever) could do irony? Woken with a bugle call in my head. Pah. Well, it got me up at any rate. According to a random website, "upon the last note of this call, the flag was raised, the morning gun fired and the men all had to assemble for morning roll call. It is the same as a French call which dates from the time of the Crusades." So there. If you're really keen, you can hear it here. Now that i have listened to it, i fear it's going to be stuck in my head all day.