Archives for April 2008

Like many old guys of my vintage, I'm rather thrilled to hear that The Specials are working together again. I saw them at the Speakeasy at Queens in 1979 and they were purely rampant.

They were great on anti-racism, they had a phenomental groove and the bleating vocals of Terri Hall were most singular. There was an Ulster Hall show later that was marred by sectarian boneheads in the crowd, but even then they were masterful

I'm looking forward to getting more intimate with the Bon Iver album, while I've only just got hold of the Ethiopiques compilation that has delighted Elvis Costello, Robert Plant and more. It's the sound of Addis Ababa, getting loose and adventurous from 1968-76 or thereabouts. Skanky as anything

I'm taking a breather from my blogging practice for a time, as I need to attend to other affairs. But hang in there good friends, as I'll resume shortly. The radio show continues each Friday.

BBC Radio Ulster, 92-95 FM, 1341 MW

Online: www.bbc.co.uk/radioulster

Fridays, ten – midnight

The Specials – Enjoy Yourself (EMI)

Arthur Kay And The Original – Play My Record (Record Cherry Red)

Delays - Hooray (Fiction)

Eric Bibb – Spirit I Am (Telarc)

Chris Bathgate – Serpentine (Tangled Up)

Willie Williams – The New Buryin’ Ground (Rounder)

Bombadil – Julian Of Norwich (Ramseur)

Mulatu Astatqe – Yekermo Sew (Union Square)

Nick Cave – Jesus Of The Moon (Mute)

John & Jehn – 20L07 (Faculty)

Nick Lowe – Not Too Long Ago (Proper)

Bon Iver – Skinny Love (4ad)

Delaney And Bonnie – Poor Elijah (Atlantic)

Thao – Swimming Pools (Kill Rock Stars)

John Matthias – Blind (Counter)

Bob Dylan – I Wanna Be Your Lover (CBS)

Brian Ferry – Positively Fourth Street (Virgin)

Bombadil – Smile When You Kiss (Ramseur)

The Loose Salute – Turn The Radio Up (Heavenly)

Carter Family – My Home’s Across The Blue Ridge Mountains (Proper)

Jordan Zevon – Home (New West)

Jens Lekman – Sipping on the Sweet Nectar (Secretly Canadian)

Three Tales- Variations (Furious Tradesmen)

Millie Jackson – It Hurts So Good (Ace)

Tewelde Redda – Milenu (Union Square)

The Charlatans – The Misbegotten (CV)

Dawn Landes – Tired Of This Life (Fargo)

John Hiatt – Old Days (New West)

Stu Bailie presents The Late show on Radio Ulster, every Friday from 10pm until midnight. See his playlist here.

It’s high noon at the Equality Commission in Belfast and a new project goes live. It’s an internet radio project called Homely Planet and the idea is to put a positive front on the blossoming multi-cultural potential of Northern Ireland. And it that sounds like too many fancy words in one sentence, then have a listen to the music that’s being created before your eyes. Players from Zimbabwe, Poland and Ardglass, and thumping away in a sweet accord.

Some of the faces in this room are familiar. There’s Paul McMordie, an excellent guitarist and a feature in projects such as the Motion Project and Beyond Skin. He’s joined by his cohort, Darren Ferguson and together they are explaining the new ethos.

They’re working with untrained radio heads, putting an emphasis on enthusiasm and application and not sweating the technical stuff. They’re not podcasting and neither can you listen again. It’s pure live, seat-of-the-pants and you suppose that playlists will not bother the schedules. All totally bonkers, of course, but out of such adventures may come an entirely new tone.

Stu Bailie presents The Late show on Radio Ulster, every Friday from 10pm until midnight. See his playlist here.

When Marvin Gaye went walking down the road, you could guarantee a car crash. The guy was so handsome, he had such poise and his music generated such fever in people that they would gawp at the man behind their steering wheel and then cheerfully smash into the bumper of the next motor.

Marvin is so long gone now that he’s entered into the twilight reserved for legends and people with barely believable lives. So when you get the chance to meet an old associate of the singer, you’re immediately enthused, eager to hear some fresh reverie. Enter Leon Ware, another Detroit player, who wrote and produced ‘I Want You’ for Gaye in 1976. He literally saw those car crashes.

Leon is 68 now, a hipster, a trove of stories and a self-confessed sensualist. Sometimes he wonders what his grand-daughter might make of the latter category. He hopes she won’t think he’s a pervert, or something. But then again, Leon muses, even perverts may have their place in the world.

He was in Belfast to talk through some of the major artistic moments of his career. This after all, is a cohort of George Clinton and the Isleys, who has written for Michael Jackson and has held his own with Quincy Jones. He’s also the author of an amazing track recorded by Minnie Ripperton called ‘Inside My Love’ which is filthy and sublime at the same moment and which Leon regards with pride.

He’s also here to promote the Red Bull Music Academy, a school for DJs that’s landing in Barcelona later this year. Local DJs and composers are urged to try for the chance of a place in the international school, where other heavyweights like Leon will be telling their stories.

That’s me with the fella in Belfast, posing by the company Dodge, a vehicle that actually saw action on D Day and is currently loaded with DJ kit and gunning for youth culture.

Stu Bailie presents The Late show on Radio Ulster, every Friday from 10pm until midnight. See his playlist here.

The original version of the Foy Vance song 'Be With Me' was a bit urgent, passionate even. But the track has been completely re-invented by David Holmes. Now it is compulsive, overwhelming and surprisingly lustful.

The two artists cut themselves a decent deal. Foy would sing backing vocals on the upcoming David Holmes album, and in return he'd get 'Be With Me', on steroids. And essentially it's been very good value for both parties. Given that David is a longstanding fan of Serge Gainsbourg, it was a given that the track would also feature some female vocals and so Joanne Vance was encouraged to make a few sound effects. Her husband was quite surprised afterwards. "She doesn't make those noises for me," he mused...

PLAYLIST 04.04.08

STUART BAILIE

BBC Radio Ulster, 92-95 FM, 1341 MW

Online: www.bbc.co.uk/radioulster

Fridays, ten – midnight

David Bowie – Golden Years (EMI)

The Charlatans – Oh Vanity (Cooking Vinyl)

Phil Campbell – Maps (Safehouse)

James – Whiteboy (Mercury)

Bobby Womack – If You Think You’re Lonely Now (Sequel)

Jason Ringenberg – Bible And a Gun (Liberty)

Foy Vance – Be With Me (Free Association Mix) (Wurdamouth)

Marvin Gaye – I Want You (Motown)

Lowgold – Burning Embers (Cooking Vinyl)

REM – Until The Day Is Done (Warner)

Gnarls Barkley – Run (Warner)

Mott The Hoople – Roll Away The Stone (CBS)

Billy Bragg – The Beach Is Free (Cooking Vinyl)

Gary Usher – God Only Knows (Poptones)

Rolling Stones – She Was Hot (Rolling Stones)

Kathleen Edwards – The Cheapest Key (Rounder)

Noonday Underground - I’ll Walk Right On (Setanta)

Champions Of The World – The Truest Kind (Loose)

Graham Parker – I Want You Back (Vertigo)

Mercury Rev – Chamber Music 23 (Fire)

A Hawk And A Hacksaw – Serbian Cocek (Leaf)

REM – Living Well Is The Best Revenge (Warner)

Johnny Dowd – Johnny’s Got The Mic (Munich)

The Charlatans – Bad Days (Cooking Vinyl)

The Waifs – How Many Miles (Jarrah)

Mexican Institute Of Sound – Escribeme Pronto (CV)

Marcia Griffiths – Feel Like Jumping Dub (Soul Jazz)

Stu Bailie presents The Late show on Radio Ulster, every Friday from 10pm until midnight. See his playlist here.

It is 1973 and I’m getting too old for Slade and T. Rex. Hey, I’m nearly a teenager, and I need something a bit more substantial. I’m dabbling in Bowie and flirting with The Faces, but ultimately it’s Mott The Hoople that does it for me. They aren’t too well known, which pleases the latent musical snob in me. But they still have enough of the glam value and the unfeasibly tall shoes. And that singer fella with the bug-eyed glasses and the wayward hair, he’s something, alright.

Only the year before, their faltering career had been saved by a David Bowie song, ‘All The Young Dudes’. Now they are in their brief pop phase, with the roaring guitars, the sax solos and Ian Hunter’s shameless Dylanisms. There are several contenders for the best Mott single, but I’m still sentimentally attached to ‘Roll Away The Stone’ because it was the first one I bought.

I’ve just watched a Top Of The Pops recording here, and it’s stands up pretty well. I think the backing singers were called Thunderthighs and I recall being fascinated by the mention of a “rockabilly party” in the lyric. What manner of lurid promise was this?

A little later, I read Ian Hunter’s ‘Diary Of a Rock ‘n’ Roll Star’ and loved it. He had a Ford Anglia, sprayed gold, because he was that kind of a guy. And he spent his American tour hanging with Bowie, Keith Moon, Frank Zappa and Roxy Music.

Mott expired soon after, but influenced The Clash, Oasis and many other posing loons. They recently turned up on the Juno soundtrack, so hopefully that will infect another generation with their flawless belief in the rock and roll fable.

Stu Bailie presents The Late show on Radio Ulster, every Friday from 10pm until midnight. See his playlist here.

It looks like a still from The Sopranos, and in a way, it is. It’s a snapshot of the Ulster punk mafia, mooching around Gordon Street, Belfast after the press launch for the upcoming Undertones/Good Vibrations gig.

They are: Terri Hooley and his gracious partner Claire plus Mickey, Billy and John from The Undertones, Panama Kings Niall and Stuart, Gary Lightbody, author Glenn Patterson, film-maker John T Davis, Stu Bailie, Outcast Greg Cowan and gig promoter Arthur Magee.

The Mandela Hall, April 25. It’s an offer you can’t refuse.

Stu Bailie presents The Late show on Radio Ulster, every Friday from 10pm until midnight. See his playlist here.