Little Loser's Lottery ... Part 7

Good evening friends,

as one or two of you quite liked what Litttle Loser picked in the last post, I now dragged him to the records and told him to pick three of those. Being as lazy as his father, he fulfilled this duty within three seconds ... just concentrating on the 'S' - section. I have to admit he'd have needed a chair to reach 'A' - 'M' and I always tell him not to climb on chairs, so it's not all laziness, to be honest!

So there you go, he ténds to like some Ska, and nothing wrong with that, I'd think:

The Selecter - 'Carry Go Bring Home' ('80) (from 'Too Much Pressure' on Chrysalis, originally done by Justin Hines)

Soft Cell - 'Chips On My Shoulder' ('81) (from 'Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret' on Vertigo)

Ska-Boom - 'Romeo' (live Abbey Park '89) (from 'Lost In Ska' on Extremely Nice Records (from '90), a band from Leicester, apart from that I know nothing much about them, not even when I probably last listened to this record)

 

Inbetween those he left out Senseless Things, Sex Pistols, Shonen Knife (twice), Silicon Teens, Six By Seven, Slab, Slow Bongo Floyd and Snuff.

Next time: the 7" singles ... which might perhaps be a bit easier for his little hands ... I'm willing to have a small bet he'll just pick records with cars on the cover and won't hesitate to neglect those with half-naked women on it ... but your priorities will change soon, son .. listen to my words!

Enjoy,

Dirk

Little Loser's Lottery ... Part 6

A very good morning to you, friends!

More than a year ago since I we last had this, but yesterday I forced Little Loser (now 5 and a bit) to choose 5 songs from my files in the computer. I've said this before, but (still) he can't read (not that he should be able to) and thus his choices really are perfectly undeliberate ... as they should be, of course!

Here's what he came up with, all in all not too bad, I'd say:

The Donnas - 'Dancing With Myself' ('04)

Elastica and Mark E. Smith - 'How He Wrote Elastica Man' ('99)

George Pringle - 'I'm Very Scared, Buster' ('08)

The Ramones - 'Blitzkrieg Bop' ('76)

           The Strollers - 'Let Me Come In' ('66)

What do you think, ey? I mean, then again it wasn't all too hard for him to choose something beautiful because of my extraordinarily good taste in music which reflects itself in the tunes I have on me harddrive ... seriously though: if you knew how big the pile of crap is that can be found on said harddrive, you'd be astnished how good his job was: I - personally - love him for what he did!

Enjoy your Sunday,

Dirk

"My Old Peel Tapes ... Again!" (Pt. 5)

Good morning friends,

and yes, we move forward in time with these Peel tapes today, to early October 1997 in fact, and again this is but a gem of a tape, I would like to think!

As you all know, Peel was loved most for the variety of styles he offered and this tape proves that perfectly well ... you really get everything from a 1984 - favourite (Danse Society) to some Jamaican Dub (Upsetters) to a really underrated Soul corker (Sam and Bill) to (then) brandnew stuff from 1997, including two tracks from Prolapse from their 'Italian Flag' - album plus another two tracks from what is my favourite album of that year: 'Gravelands' by Jimmy 'The King' Brown and The Questionnaires (on the album/CD they style themselves as 'The King', so let's settle for that).

Now, The King was a postman from Dublin, a guy with a terrific voice, and, albeit there were (and, I suppose, still are) too many Elvis impersonators around, he really deserves the title he gave to himself.  'Gravelands' compiles songs of people who are dead, all done in an Elvis - style more or less. As I said, my favourite album from 1997, there isn't a bad tune on it, honestly. Get it while you can, you won't be disappointed!

I had the chance to see this guy live and it was unbelievable, perhaps even better than on record.

But enough of this, enjoy the other music as well, folks. So here you are, Peel 329 from October 1997:

Peel 329, C. 272/1:
4077	Flat Velocity Curve	Prolapse
4078	Shallow Existence	Extreme Noise Terror
4079	Plastic Supermodel	Anorak Girl
4080	Clint Eastwood	Upsetters
4081	Slash/Oblique	Prolapse
4082	All Or Nothing	The King
4083	Should It Wait	Mocket
4084	Angel	Danse Society
4085	Look Up And Be Amazed	Beatnik Filmstars
4086	IPC Subeditors Dictate Our
	Youth	Clinic
4087	Come As You Are	The King
4088	I Feel Like Cryin'	Sam & Bill

1) as a folder, each song separately: download
2) mixed/one big file: download

Let me know what you think, please, especially I would like to know if I'm all alone with my opinion about The King!

Also, as I said, if you like those Peel tapes and want me to hear more from a certain period of time (1984 - 2001): just call out, alright?

Cheers,

Dirk

"My Old Peel Tapes ... Again!" (Pt. 4)

Evening friends of the family,


yeeeeah, I know: ages since I last found the time to post something here and now that this is being changed ... it's one of those boring old Peel tapes again.

It's a lame excuse, but the problems with me ears haven't really been solved since the last post, so it is quite a struggle these days to sit down in the evening and listen to music, that's if I find the time to do so at all. Recently - in addition to the above - my neck started hurting like hell, which makes it even harder. But I won't complain and yes, I know, if I were a horse I'd most probably be shot ... and quite rightly so.

As for the Peel tape: this time I went for some more contemporary stuff (if you like to call a step from late 1985 to early 1990 contemporary), so in one form or another it is something of an achievement for you younger readers, I like to think!

Generally I try to be very honest to myself and put up only those tapes of which I found every single song somewhere. I mean, it would be easy for me to delete one line or two from the Excel sheet, you wouldn't spot a difference, right? And I tried very hard indeed to come up with a full one, belive me, several attempts had been made within the last weeks, but I always failed when it came to some obscure song by, for example, some even more obscure North Korean fishermen, who managed to have their singalong being released on vinyl on some obscure label from Ruandi Burundi in early 40's. How Peel got his hands on this stuff I will never fully understand, nor will I understand why I decided to tape it when he played it on BFBS! But there you go: if I don't find it in the net, I won't call the tape completed.

The only thing I'm to blame for with this tape is that I didn't find the 7" version of 'Brassneck', I put up the album version instead: I hope you will forgive this though ... blame it on my neck and the fact that is high time to move my cute little ass into my waterbed in the room nearby!

So here you are, Peel 134, from, as I said, February 1990. Great stuff altogether, I'm sure you'll agree:

Hate The Police	Mudhoney
Brassneck (Version)	Wedding Present
Great Expectations	Would Be's
Sunday Head	Creamers
Box Elder	Wedding Present
Blue Thunder	Galaxie 500
Don't Talk, Just Kiss	Wedding Present
Only Losers Take The Bus	Fatima Mansions
I Don't Need You	My Bloody Valentine
Held The Hand	Daniel Johnston
Consume	Heresy
Face Up To It	Heresy
Something For The Longing	Orchids
Chrome	Jesus Lizard

As usual, it's your choice whether you prefer to have the tunes separately (here's the folder) or as another cute Megamix (here).

Either way, enjoy and leave comments telling me to proceed with this nonsense (Jesus, you may even request stuff from a special year and I see what is possible) ... or, if you'd rather, not to.

Cheers,

Dirk

John Peel - Day 2013: "My Old Peel Tapes ... Again!" (Pt. 3)

 

Hello dear friends,

sorry sorry sorry that I just got around to post this at this time of the day/evening, but I was stuck in office all day without any access to my music library.

John Peel - Day it is - or rather was - again today, and as usual I didn't come up with brilliant ideas about what to post on this special occasion, so I thought I'd just continue with another one of those old Peel BFBS - tapes.

And why not, I mean: it's music played by Peel back then and I assume there are one or two folk's faces out there to whom this old stuff might put a smile on ....

So please enjoy one of my favourite ones out of the nearly 400 tapes I recorded, Peel 018, from 1985:

Peel 018, C. 005/2:
179	Daytime Dilemma (Dangers Of
	Love)	Ramones
180	Snipe	Marc Riley with The Creepers
181	All That Ever Mattered	Shop Assistants
182	Just One Kiss	Cure
183	Swimming Ground	Meat Puppets
184	Absolute Body Control	DAF
185	The Blood	Cure
186	King Of The Hill	Minutemen
187	You Should Never Have Opened
	That Door	Ramones
188	Texas Wine	Jon Wayne
189	Spinning Round	Red Lorry Yellow Lorry
190	The Baby Screams	Cure
191	Special Delivery Stomp	Earl Bostic
192	Shadow Figure	Marc Riley with The Creepers
193	Animal Kingdom	Meat Puppets

Now, doesn't this tape really have everything you need in life? I mean, what more can you ask for?

As usual, downloadable as a folder, each tune separately (here) or as another awesome megamix (here).

Also, as usual, find the same thing - but with Peel bragging inbetween the tracks - on the Peel Wiki.

Keep it Peel, friends, will you?

Take good care,

Dirk

"My Old Peel Tapes ... Again!" (Pt. 2)

Good afternoon, my lovelies:

one comment to yesterday's post (so far):

George said...

Quality songs from 1985. Dino Lee's Good year I haven't heard for a long long time. I have it somewhere on CD, absolutely not recorded from the John Peel show. I have the Yeah Yeah Noh single packed away too. More of this please.

George, your will is my command, mate, therefore here's more of this indeed ... please enjoy Peel 9:

Peel 009, C. 012/1:

89	The Girl Who Knew Too Much	Jane Bond & The Undercovermen
90	I Wish I Was A Single Girl
	Again	Blood On The Saddle
91	Fruit Flies	3 Johns
92	Jackpot Jack	Room
93	Warm Leatherette	Normal
94	Party Line	Abbreviated Ceiling
95	World Turned Upside Down	Billy Bragg
96	That's How It'll Be	Lime Spiders

Get it here (folder) or here (in da mix, as they say).

Enjoy your Sunday, people!

Dirk

"My Old Peel Tapes ... Again!"

Good morning friends,

this is just to let you know that I am still alive in one form or another: my hearing loss is still not fully gone and I can't really concentrate on important things. Reason enough for me to spend some time in front of the computer and do silly nonsense ... what I did in fact - in a true Miss Marple style - was trying to search for some tunes that I'm still missing on my old John Peel on BFBS cassettes, taped some 30 years ago and by and large I managed to get hold of the bulk of the specific songs on them on vinyl and/or mp3's within the years. Of course I will never fully achieve this - only a multimillionaire with loads of time could do so, I think - but within the last days I completed at least a few of the old tapes, partly quite illegally I'm afraid.  And, being a generous chap, I thought I'd let you participate and give you but one of them. A random pick this is really, Peel 14 (#14 out of 377 (!) cassette sides, mind you), recorded back in 1985.

So you may call this a mixtape, as simple as that, and why not. But it's a good one, believe me:

Peel 014, C. 017/1:
144	Love Under Will	Blood And Roses
145	Death Of The European	3 Johns
146	That's What Dreams	Green On Red
147	Good Year For The Roses	Dino Lee
148	Risk	Krupps
149	The Day After	Men They Couldn't Hang
150	Crimplene Seed Lifestyle	Yeah Yeah Noh
151	The Devil Goes To Whitley Bay	Janitors
152	Life's A Bitch	Bomb Party
153	Wo Wo Wo	Braille Party
154	Jilted John	Jilted John
155	Draining The Pool For You	Go Betweens

Download it here as a folder (with separated tracks) or here (as a Sexyloser - Megamix, all in one go).

Good stuff, I'm sure you agree. If you are interested in more of these tapes, just let me know.

And sorry for the crap tracklisting above, I just copied/pasted from the original excel - sheet .. couldn't really be arsed to write all that down properly. Also it's the music that counts, isn't it?

Off to the couch now for another hour before I have to head for an induction session at Little Loser's primary school of choice, not really something I would personally have chosen to spend my forenoon with, but there you are .... also my ears ring again and I feel dizzy. Will this ever end?

Enjoy,

Dirk

PS: if you prefer those tapes with Peel bragging along, go search for them on the Peel Wiki: years ago I sent them over to Steve in South Korea and he has got up to # 65 so far ... 

"Bands I've Seen Live When I Was Much Younger And Still Pretty As A Picture": # 4: Clan Of Xymox

Hello my friends,

actually I don't know why I start this here at all today, because this is a gig I have no memories about whatsoever.

It took place in 1987 when I was 19 .... so young, so innocent, I hear you say, and of course you are absolutely right.

Holland's Clan Of Xymox by then had already passed their zenith, as far as I remember by 1987 they were only mentioned in the press when they decided to change their name again from "Xymox" to "Clan Of Xymox" and vice versa, something which happened every other week back then.

But as we ate everything that was put on our plate in those days, we went and watched (Clan Of) Xymox in the Jakobshof, a nice old venue in the middle of Aachen which had always been famous for concerts, cabaret, comedy and so on.

As I said, I really can't remember anything from this gig, but I'm willing to have a small bet that a) Anka Wolbert (as pictured above) must haved looked fantastic (albeit inapproachable) and b) "A Day" must have been the highlight of their set.

mp3: Clan Of Xymox - 'A Day' (the John Fryer Remix from the 1985 s/t debut album)

Re a): sorry, Robster, but this is as far as it gets on girls in this post as well, I'm afraid ... there must have been many good looking girls in the audience, I suppose, but most certainly I will only have had eyes for Anka: the picture above doesn't really do justice to how cute she looked in real life! Then again, back in those days, I think I thought the same about every girl who had her neck shaved ...

Enjoy,

Dirk

"Battle Of The Blogs" ... Round 2

Good evening friends,

round #2 of our "Battle Of The Blogs", alas no contenders so far apart from Walter who hit me hard with a perfect jab (Geisterfahrer and Extrabreit) earlier today. But I will immediately conter this with a classic upercut:

 

Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaft, or DAF, if you'd rather, will be, so I think, the most commonly known German band from that era to you Britons, simply because of 'Der Mussolini' ... which is not their best tune though, by far not.

DAF came from Wuppertal, they started in 1978 with five members, although only Gabi Delgado's (vocals) and Robert Görl's (drums, percussion, all electronic instruments) names will perhaps still ring a bell here and there these days.

DAF certainly were the most commercially successful band from the days of German punk, then again they were the ones who trained much much harder than anybody else as well. They went to England at a very early stage of their career and lived in some rotten cellar there for a year only to work on what was to become their second longplayer, 'Die Kleinen Und Die Bösen', released on the Mute label. The record was widely lauded by the British music press, and earned the group an early cult following in the UK.

This though is from their fourth album from 1981 on Virgin Records, which I consider to be their best, 'Gold Und Liebe'. Great tunes and after having heard them you will be able to confirm what John Peel said about them at the time: 'The Grandfathers Of Techno" ... wise words indeed ... enjoy:

DAF - 'Verschwende Deine Jugend' (mp3)
DAF - 'Goldenes Spielzeug' (mp3)

So there you are: uncompromisingly minimalist pop from Germany. Good, ey?

Cheerio,

Dirk

"Battle Of The Blogs" ... Any Contenders Around?!

Hola Chicos,

Walter over @ "A Few Good Times In My Life" recently started a new series about German Rock Music, here's his first post featuring the mighty Fehlfarben, a groundbreaking outfit from Düsseldorf.

Now, I am VERY curious how this series will continue and which choices Walter will make, this for various reasons:

1) there is and has been an unbelievable amount of really shitty music from Germany and oddly enough only THIS music is being mentioned by non-Germans when the topic comes up.

2) also there has been a great amount of BRILLIANT music from Germany as well, most of it not commonly known: no-one mentions that kind of stuff, never!

Obviously I'm not talking about multi-million megaselling mainstream artists here, but about Punk and New Wave bands from the early Eighties. A great bulk of those were just fantastic and it's a shame you don't know anything about/by them.

But why is this? Just because they are German and you don't understand the lyrics? Track those down, go to Google Translator .. as easy as that. Is it because they never achieved a certain stardom and ended up in the NME or Musical Express? Nah, you listened closely when Peel played British bands who had the same problem and I bet you can still sing along to loads and loads of obscurities which are by now several decades old.

"No", I hear you say? Here's a test for you, friends ... answers on a postcard ... listen to  THIS  (first/don't cheat and read any further now!!) and I'm willing to have small bet that 95% of you - a certain age provided - will be able to sing along with it, at least with the first lines: "Lost in the delta of Venus, lost in a welter of shame / Deep in the forest of evil we embark on the new crusade / Cease your foolish plea we have come to banish the land / I stand as Saint Sebastian with love for a higher command" ... oh come on: you didn't have any real problem with that, did you? Yeees, Wild Swans' 'Revolutionary Spirit' from 1982, never commonly known, almost no airplay, you never owned the record, but you still know it by heart, a long 31 years later!

But bands from Germany? No way, José! And believe me, Peel played them as well at the time, I still have the old cassettes to prove this! But you didn't care, you fools! Walter started your education and I am about to follow with some killer tunes within the next weeks or so, just to show you that we Germans had more to give than BMW, RAF and Boney M. in the 80's.

Funnily enough it wasn't Berlin where the Crème de la Crème of German Punk/New Wave bands came from, in fact they all started up in Düsseldorf. I won't bore you with all too much details, i.e. which drummer then played bass in a different band after the second single came out under another moniker: it's the music that counts, so here are three great Düsseldorf bands for you: killer tunes, as I said ... enjoy!

mp3: Male - 'Kontrollabschnitt' ('79) [from their debut album, 'Zensur & Zensur']. Led by the mighty Jürgen Engler.

mp3: Die Profis - 'Du Bist Was Du Sagst' ('82) [from their debut album 'Neue Sensationen']. Led by the mighty Ralf Schienke.

mp3: S.Y.P.H. - 'Der Letzte Held' ('85) [from their 6th album, 'Wieleicht']. Led by the mighty Harry Reg.

Fantastic stuff, ey? The lyrics, you ask? Don''t worry, it's all about love and romance and they all get married at the end ... no, seriously: if you are really interested, I'll try and translate them for you, that's the kind of nice chap I am! And the point behind all this, is, dear friends:

 I would simply love it if not only Walter, but some of you as well, would participate in my self-declared 'Battle Of The Blogs' and post some German music too: I mean, there must have been something from Germany over the years that still rings a bell with you and isn't total crap at the same?!

C'mon!!

Dirk

"Bands I've Seen Live When I Was Much Younger And Still Pretty As A Picture": # 3: Die Lassie Singers

Good evening my beauties,

I know that German music - apart from Kraftwerk, Neu and perhaps Tangerine Dream - doesn't really count pretty much to you non-Germans, this mainly is, so I suppose, because you can't understand the lyrics.

This is understandable, nevertheless it's a pity at times, because there have been some really good German bands in the past.

But one of them are Berlin's Lassie Singers, active from 1988 to 1998, and within those ten years they achieved something of a "first German girl band" - status. I won't bore you with all too much details here, because I assume that - apart from Walter - no-one will be reading this anyway in its entirety. Some short facts though:

--- Lassie Singers' first two albums are really great and I recommend them to you without reservation.
--- loads of big German names worked with the band over the years: Ejj Jott Krüger, Die Regierung, Jochen Distelmeyer, King Rocko Schamoni, Bernd Begemann
--- after they disbanded, Almut Klotz and Christiane Rösinger founded Flittchen Records and the bands Britta (Rösinger) and Parole Trixi (Klotz)
--- Almut Klotz died last month, aged 51. As someone else recently commented so wisely on a different site: fucking cancer!

I don't have all too many clear memories about the gig, sorry about that. Perhaps this is because the band's then back - catalogue wasn't very well known to me at the time I saw them, this came later. So I certainly wasn't hopping up and down like mad whilst shouting out each and every word to each and every song they played ... I suppose I was just standing in the crowd (or at the bar) and enjoying the set.

I do remember the support act though, because it was the (then) owner of the venue, the mighty Fritz Knizia aka Fritz Blitz on bass together with his two underaged nieces, which could neither play nor sing properly: they went under the moniker of Rock Monkees Of Gibraltar .... and as far as I know after this gig no-one on earth has ever heard of them again.

The Rockfabrik in Übach Palenberg (as pictured above) was - in those days - t.h.e. venue for independent gigs in our area: Fritz Blitz, due to his excellent connections, managed to bring in some really big names over the years and some of those will surely be featured here at one point.

The following is taken from Lassie Singers' second album from 1992, 'Sei Á GoGo', on Dragnet Records. Great stuff, so get it while you can, friends!

Die Lassie Singers - 'P.A.R.A.N.O.I.D.' (mp3)
Die Lassie Singers - 'Leben In Der Bar' (mp3)

Awesome tunes, I'm sure you agree, Walter?

Ta,

Dirk

"Bands I've Seen Live When I Was Much Younger And Still Pretty As A Picture": # 2: The Pukkelpop Festival

Hello dear friends,

today we go to Belgium of all places, yes, because if where I live has one advantage, then it is the fact that within five minutes you are as well in Belgium as in Holland.

Hechtel's Pukkelpop-festival has a very long tradition, it started on the local football ground in 1985 with 2.500 visitors, last year 190.000 people were there ... quite a difference, right?

 

But back in 1990 some 10.000 people came to see an astonishing line-up (as shown above) on an old abandoned aerofield, the Sanicole in Hechtel: it really was a great day, incredibly hot and there was no chance whatsoever to hide somewhere in the shadow. People lay along the huge fence that bordered the venue, struck down by beer and heat.

All bands were fantastic, although I don't remember Faith No More and not all too much of what Nick Cave did, I must admit. I think beforehand I was most looking forward to see Mudhoney, because by then Peel had played their stuff for nearly two years, they really were the "Gods of Grunge" to me ... and no, they didn't disappoint me at all.

It is hard to tell whether Henry Rollins' or The Cramps' set was more energetic: if you have ever seen video footage featuring Rollins, you can tell that this guy gives sheer energy a new definition. Then again you can tell the same about The Cramps' Lux Interior, and in fact both bands were bloody awesome ... an unforgettable experience really!

The Buzzcocks of course are old heroes, old in a sense that I am too young to having had the chance to see any of those legendary '77/'78/'79 punk combos when they were still active. Pukkelpop changed that, at least for The Buzzcocks ... and it felt brilliant to have them hammering out the old favourites from yesteryear!

The highlight of the day though was seeing Billy Bragg for the first time (I went to see him quite often in the years to come): he simply was unbelievable! The whole performance was great, not only the music, but being able to witness how funny this man is was astonishing. I mean, if you ever have seen him playing live in a smaller venue, you will be able to confirm that he spends quite some time on chatting with the audience inbetween the tunes, he'd tell little stories with a certain tendency to digress (nothing wrong with that at all). But it was real fun to see him doing the very same in front of like 10.000 people, he talked without end all the time, between each and every number. I remember he interrupted one song to take the piss out of some poor drunken bloke who decided to take a leak against the aforementioned fence, quite some distance away from the stage. Bragg followed every move the guy made and informed the audience accordingly. Just imagine you really have to piss, can't hold it to the next plastic lavatory and the next thing happening to you are ten thousand people staring at you whilst one guy with a microphone is recommending that you turn around a little bit so that the wind won't wetten your trousers etc. pp ...

All in all it was a fantastic event and I don't think I have later seen many festivals as good as this one. And it was just 38,- Deutschmarks at the door, today this would be some 19,- Euros ...

Girl - factor, in case you should be wondering? Loads of them, but it was way too hot to concentrate on anything else but the music ...

And finally here's some of exactly that for you, my beauties:

Henry Rollins - 'There's A Man Outside' ('87)
Mudhoney - 'Touch Me I'm Sick' ('88)
Billy Bragg - 'A Lover Sings' (live King's College '01)
Buzzcocks - 'You Say You Don't Love Me' ('79)
Cramps - 'Surfin' Dead' ('85)
Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds - 'Slowly Goes The Night' ('88)

Take good care,

Dirk

"Bands I've Seen Live When I Was Much Younger And Still Pretty As A Picture": # 1: Red Lorry Yellow Lorry

A good day to you, friends!

The first post in quite a while, for which I'm sincerely sorry, but, you know, I just couldn't think of anything at least halfway interesting to write about.

But yesterday Mrs Loser sent me to the attic to get something heavy down from there for her and whilst I stood there in the midst of  the considerable chaos (really unbelievable: we built the house in 2004 (with no cellar) and our attic could already play a starring role in some series about Messies on private TV) I found my framed concert ticket stubs from yesteryear ... a much treasured item, so I decided to fix it to the wall beneath my computer screen and I'm looking at it right now whilst typing this.

In my younger days I went to loads and loads of concerts, which never was that easy, because I grew up in the middle of nowhere: the next city - Aachen - was like 40 kilometers away and the next big cities - Cologne and Düsseldorf - some 80 kilometers: hard to reach with an unreliable old moped, as you might imagine. Things obviously became easier when me and me mates got older and had unreliable old cars.

But, to cut a long story short, my aim is to choose one of those stubs, tell you a little bit of nonsense about the gig and the venue and all the bright young girls I feel in love with there (not that they cared pretty much about that, let me add) plus post a song or two to accompany the story. And hopefully this will turn out to become rather a long lasting series. What do you think? Sounds fantastic, ey? So let's start with:

 

 

 

 

The Metropol in Aachen (as pictured above) by and large was the only real discotheque to go to for people like us: always a bit on the punk/indie side of life, musically and fashionably as well. There were other places to go, but they'd require like suits and ties, which was not out business at all. I spent a fortune in the Metropol, I'm afraid, not only for gigs but also for beer for weekend amd mid-week visits for years to come. Aachen, to give you a picture, is a student town with 250.000 inhabitants, but, to my great dismay, only famous for industrial and/or mechanical engineering as well as computer science students ... and those are a) by and large all men and b) the most boring creatures god created at that.

I don't have much memories on the Red Lorry Yellow Lorry gig, apart from the fact that it was really hot and sweaty in the venue and that I struggled very hard not to be beaten down by loads of very cool indie guys who were much stronger and older than me (I was 17 in May '86) ... some punks were there too, but I think the majority of guests belonged to the local indie camp.

Of course I first heard Leeds' Red Lorry Yellow Lorry on Peel's BFBS programmes and I liked them a lot from scratch. I bought the first two LP's plus a 12" and they were good throughout. But despite of this, as it so often is the case, the records couldn't capture the sheer energy this band was able to develop when playing live (well, at least this is true for the gig I saw: all their other live performances might as well have been absolutely shite ...).

I assume you might by now be missing the promised girl-factor in all of my rambling: well, there isn't any 'cos there weren't that much girls in the audience as far as I remember: perhaps the band was too "industrial" to attract attractive girls. Bugger! So let's have some music instead:

Red Lorry Yellow Lorry - 'Hollow Eyes' ('85): the first track I heard of theirs on Peel, from their debut LP.

Red Lorry Yellow Lorry - 'Spinning Round' ('85): the aforementioned 12" on Red Rhino Records.

Hope you enjoyed bits of that, comments highly appreciated, of course!

Cheerio,

Dirk

Dear Feargal Sharkey,

Dear friends,

I originally posted the below in October 2008. You wouldn't believe how sorry I am to say that the situation hasn't changed awfully much, some five years later. One Step Brighter, one of my favourite blogs, has been removed as well yesterday. The same is true, as you know by now, for The Vinyl Villain. JC already found a new platform over here: http://thenewvinylvillain.wordpress.com/ and I can only hope One Step Brighter will continue in one form or another as well.

Either way: I can only assume that below letter got delayed in the post somewhere. So I'll re-send it to you now, Feargal, 'cos that's the kind of polite and scrupulous person I am ... some links might be dead, but don't let that put you off, Feargal. Partly it's your fault anyway ...:

I was suprised to learn from my mate J.C. that you have become rather successful lately. Quite a long way from singing in a grievously underrated band to becoming a Chief Executive for British Music Rights, isn't it? Well, it must have been a long way, Feargal, because apparently you seem to have forgotten some things. Important things, my old friend. I came to this impression because of the statements you made in this article.

Feargal, have you ever thought about why it is that you now have the successful job you currently have? Have you ever thought about who it was that made you so important? No? Well, I'll tell you, Feargal: it was us. Yes, us, the people who spent their hard-earned money for your records. The people who followed you around and paid to see your gigs. Some of them still exist nowadays, believe it or not. Those people are called fans, Feargal. Sometimes I think this is an expression which isn't used very often in your nice little BMR - office these days, right? Fans. Hmmmh. Sounds strange these days, I admit. But, the thing is, Feargal, fans - in the true sense of the word - are not criminals. Nor have they ever been. They are just little people who like what someone else has done or is doing. And they want to share their joy and excitement with other people.

Come on Feargal: you're not that old, are you? Do you really have forgotten what you did back in the mid 70's when you were short of money and your mate had the latest single, by, let's say, The Faces? I bet he taped it for you, didn't he, so that you could listen to it at home over and over again: "Pool Hall Richard, You're Far Too Wicked, We Know ...". Boy, that was fun, wasn't it, Feargal? I bet you sang along with it in your room like nobody's business, didn't you?

Your mate taped it for you for free, Feargal, so I assume. Or did you pay him for it? No, I bet you didn't. Now, would you describe your mate - and yourself, mind you - as having been criminals back then? Did you even give a toss about the fact that you stole Rod Stewart's money? Be frank to me, Feargal: you didn't, no way. Rod is a multi-millionaire by now, even though you and your mate stole his money. Deliberately.

You see, today the tape decks have gone. Out of fashion. Replaced by computers, Feargal. But the attitude has remained. Still some fans want to share stuff they really appreciate with other people. People who might not have the chance to listen to it that easily. And please don't get me wrong, I'm not talking about the real pirates. Those are criminals, I admit. I'm talking about fans. Fans who post a little something and in doing so they encourage other fans to go and buy other stuff from the artist. As easy as that, Feargal. Fans have a blog which is read by some thirty other fans per day, if at all. Pirates steal music on a commercial basis. Don't mix this up, Feargal, please!

If you want to save artists' rights, kindly attack the pirates and their battleships. Don't bomb the fans' rubber boats, my friend. I understand this is the easier thing to do, but that doesn't mean it is the right thing to do. So please leave us fans alone, okay? Ed, Steve and Coxon are not your enemies, Feargal, they're just fans. Not more, not less.

Think about this if you have a minute, Feargal. That's all I would ask for, mate.

All the best, your old fan,

Dirk

PS: and to show the young fans - who probably can't afford to pay some 50 quid for this single (or whatever it's worth on ebay these days) - that you made some fantastic records some years ago (and therefore can't be such a bad chap after all), here's your 1978 debut on Good Vibrations Records:

1) Teenage Kicks (mp3)

2) Smarter Than You (mp3)

3) True Confessions (mp3)

4) Emergency Cases (mp3)

I'll await your kind response to this, Feargal. In one form or another ...

Dirk

The Vinyl Villain

Hello folks,

sad news today, below mail from JC aka The Vinyl Villain will explain it all, I think:

"Hi Dirk

This isn't related to your particular post, but just to let you know that The Vinyl Villain blog has met its demise at the hands of blogger.

I'm starting all over again....
http://thenewvinylvillain.wordpress.com/

Thanks

JC"

So, in order to spread the word (although Sexyloser won't reach more than five people on this planet, I'm afraid), kindly note the new adress above and visit the new Vinyl Villain on a daily basis ...

Here's a little ska for you, just appropiate I would think:

The Toasters - 'Don't Let The Bastards Grind You Down' (mp3)

Cheers,

Dirk

Thank You!!

Okay,

back from Turkey and I'm gorgeous golden brown: if you could see me I'm sure you wanted to dance around me!

There are millions of songs about having been away and this is but one of them. A very fine one though, I think:

 

I, Ludicrous - 'My Baby's Got Jet Lag' ('87) (mp3)

The holidays, should you be wondering, were not at all too bad: loads of sun and that's the main thing after months and months of rain down here. Way too many fucking Russians who behaved like swines in the hotel though, which made me think of this tune all the time recently:

 

Attila The Stockbroker - 'Russians In The DHSS' ('82) (mp3)

Coming back to the "45 45's" - series: I was astonished to see the amount of comments which were left within last week and again I have to point out that this sort of thing is what keeps Sexyloser running. So a big kiss and 'thank you' to:


JC: for his very nice post about me last week: you might be right about 'Temptation' having been @ #44, mate. But perhaps I'll do something with my 12" singles in the near future, so just wait and see, okay? And, by the way, we should indeed meet soon. Problem is that you'll need to learn to speak English first, as Scottish is not understandable for me. Then again a few beers might help to solve this problem within the conversation ...

Swiss Adam: for his nice words and also for the fact that he runs one of the four best blogs I know. A bit too much Weatherall for my liking though, but who cares, right?

Brian and The Robster: I think the two of you left the greatest amount of comments within the series, so thanks a lot for following it all the way through so intensely. And, Robster, thanks for your Welsh congratulations: highly appreciated!

Luca: I already thought of of the the "78 78's" - thingy as well, but a) my record player won't play that fast and b) my collection of 78's currently counts zero items. But, as I said, I'm contemplating to give my 12"'s a spin in one form or another. And: Italy, apart from France and the UK, is my key market at work, and I found out over the years that all Italians are somewhat morons, providing they or their relatives work in the paper industry. They do my head in every fucking day. So I won't go there under no circumstances whatsoever, sorry! At least I don't think I ever will ...

Charity Chic, DvD, & Drew: nice comments all the way through!

Walter: loads of comments as well plus, I think, the only German who tends to read Sexyloser. Your blog is fantastic, by the way!

George: who commented frequently as well: I was happy to see that you were so fond of the Pete Best Beatles and Terry & Gerry!

Lee Thacker: who said that "I'm sure that Peelie would approve": now this just has to be the best compliment that can be made, isn't it?

Anonymous: for tons of nice comments, albeit rather unrelated to the series, about the merits of Ice Machines, Wordpress, Viagra and penis enlargement: I'll think one of those days I'll come back to you and demand more details about the latter, promised!

This is for all of you, friends:

Laurel Aitken and The Pressure Tenants - 'I Love You, Yes I Do' ('90) (mp3)

Take good care,

Dirk

"45 45's until I'm 45" (#45/45)

Gooooood morning friends,


so ... we finally made it, didn't we? June 11th today, which means that:

- I'll currently be embrowning my cute little ass in the Turkish sun and you'll all be jealous!
- I'll be considerably drunk in a few hours because it's my birthday today, so: Happy Birthday to me!
- I'll be able to tell you what - in my eyes - is the best record in the history of the whole world ever!

Your number forty-five, friends. Enjoy:

The Clash - '(White Man) In Hammersmith Palais' (mp3)

CBS - S CBS 6383 (1978)

A predictable choice, ey? I'm sure you knew it all along .... then again this record really has stood the test of time, in fact it's as up to date today as it was back in 1978. Perhaps this is why it's hanging on my office room wall: all four versions, in their pink, yellow, blue and green sleeves, framed. And each and every morning when I get up I look at them with pride .... which probably shows you what a twerp I am. Aaaaanyway ....

I do hope you enjoyed this "45 45's until I'm 45" - series ... I certainly did. But most of all I enjoyed the views you shared in your comments, highly appreciated ... and this is what keeps this blog running in one form or another. So a big kiss to all of you who left a few lines!

See ya soon/take care,

Dirk

PS: next up: "12 12"'s until Little Loser (now 4) is 12" perhaps .... which is a manageable challenge, I would think ...