Archives for January 2010

Where might rock and roll be without Catcher In The Rye and JD Salinger? We wouldn't have a band called Rollerskate Skinny for starters. We would have to live without a song called 'William Holden Caulfied' by Too Much Joy. Or indeed 'Catcher In The Rye' by Guns 'N Roses. We wouldnt have a label called Caulfield Records and arguably, John Lennon would still be alive.

JD Salinger wrote tense little stories that young people could relate to. Stuff about the relentless compromises of the adult world. Narratives about peer pressure, pretence and phoney constructs. Which is why alternative music has found the author so becoming. Blur were originally called Seymour after one of his famous characters. The Cure recorded a song called 'Bananafishbones' while Green Day delivered 'Who Wrote Holden Caulfield'. Meantime Richey from the Manic Street Preachers found the idea of artistic withdrawal very appealing and namechecked Salinger a few times. Who knows, the fella may even have made the perfect disappearance.

I've read all the stories and followed the trail though the slightly bonkers Ian Hamilton book, revealing some of the author's secret ways and apparent paranoia. Still, like many people, I was moved by the books as a teenager and I'm mortified to remember that around 1980, I was calling people "My Prince" as a homage. Last summer though, a chance encounter with 'For Esmee With Love And Squalour' was less resonant. I guess he's the kind of writer you grow out of. But fondly, mind.

Congratulations to Sock On The Hill productions, a teenage media enterprise from these parts who have put together a video for the excellent Key Of Atlas. Apparently it took months to put this together and that's no surprise. The resourcefulness and verve of it all must be applauded.

I saw Ronnie Spector at the Olympia in Dublin in 1996. She was beautiful and mythical and a bit sad. Therefore we cheered her on as she delivered those imperial songs about bad boys and unquenchable love. By rights, she should have left a heroic trail of records over the decades, but an ugly marriage to Phil Spector had wiped out so many possibilities, and her most recent years were full of business frustrations.

But Ronnie won our hearts at the Olympia. She gave us all of the passion that she had in her. She didn't cheapen the songs she had made with The Ronettes. On the contrary there was a new kind of gravitas in the lyrics. 'Baby I Love You' was later revived by The Ramones, but to hear Ronnie utter those plain words - adding lustre and truth - was a masterclass to any aspiring diva.

I was at the show with a pal from California. She was working in Dublin but her youth had been spent on the west coast, where she had collected all the Ronnie tunes on the legendary Phillies label. As she moved around Ireland and the UK, she had momentarily left those records at the home of a very famous Irish guitarist. Unfortunately, collecting records wasn't in the family culture and so his mother had donated this priceless cache to the church jumble sale.

And so the Ronnie Spector gig was full of mixed emotions. We were hearing some of the most luminous pop music ever, but the moment was piqued by the thought of some grinning oik at the village fete, buying up gems for pennies.

BBC Radio Ulster, 92-95 FM

Online: www.bbc.co.uk/radioulster

Mondays, ten - midnight

Dexys Midnight Runners - Let's Get This Straight (EMI)

Frightened Rabbit - Just Like You (Fat Cat)

Duke Special - Apple Jack (Reel To Reel)

Kowalski - Get Back (white)

Kowalski - Phil Kansus (white)

Dr Robert - The Coming Of Grace (Permanent)

Beach House - Walk In The Park (Bella Union)

Mumford And Sons - The Cave (Island)

Kate And Anna McGarrigle - Talk To Me Of Mendocino (Ryko)

Groove Armada - Paper Romance (Ministry Of Pies)

Second hour Co-Presented by Tim Wheeler

Beach Boys - This Whole World (Capital)

Nirvana - Drain You (Geffen)

Thin Lizzy- Cowboy Song (Live And Dangerous) (Vertigo)

Thin Lizzy- The Boys Are Back In Town (Live And Dangerous) (Vertigo)

The Beatles - I Want To Hold Your Hand (Parlophone)

The Jackson 5 - I Want You Back (Motown)

The Stooges - I Wanna Be Your Dog (Elektra)

The Ramones - Baby, I Love You (Sire)

Teenage Fanclub - The Concept (Creation)

The Arcade Fire - Rebellion (Lies) (Rough Trade)

Ash - Space Shot (Atomic Heart)

Pixies - Gigantic (4AD)

David Bowie - Star (EMI)

Tonight on the Late Show, a co-present with Tim Wheeler, author of many Ash classics, including a couple of number one albums and 18 top 40 singles. He's always been an affable soul and when he gets to talking about his favourite music, he's particularly vital. Starting at 11pm, Tim will be playing tunes by The Stooges, Bowie, The Arcade Fire, The Beach Boys, Teenage Fan Club, Nirvana and more.

Back in 1995, Tim gave me a lift in his mother's car from Donegal to Belfast and it was a treat to hear how the teenage contender was feeding his ears on punk rock, Sixties girl groups and new-fangled rock and roll. He's never relented from those essential principles, and when he introduces 'Baby I Love You', a song originally recorded by The Ronnettes and later covered by The Ramones and re-produced by Phil Spector, you can tell that his world has been beautifully connected. Not to be missed.

I was watching A Life Less Ordinary the other night and remembering how it was when I first saw it. Around May 1997 I was in Oxford to meet Radiohead and to learn the story of their upcoming album OK Computer. The monthly music mags had already reviewed it and seemed to be competing with each other to load up on the highest compliments. Radiohead, who had lived their career in perpetual anxiety, giggled at the praise.

We has some refreshing drinks, we talked plenty and took an evening meal at the restaurant where Ed used to work as a waiter. Then we adjourned to Colin's house to wind down. The bass player produced a video that he'd received from director Danny Boyle - in the hope that the band might offer up something for the soundtrack. It was a rough edit, but we settled in anyway. Drinks were consumed, smoke was smoked and we realised with some consternation that chunks of the film had been removed, to dissuade potential piracy. Not that these Oxford boys would do anything remotely immoral.

But we did feel rather upset when the video finished abruptly. The ending was missing. Oh well, it wasn't enough to spoil a capital day. A week later I travelled to New York to see the band and their peers play at the Tibetan Freedom concert. Colin walked up and he presented me with a package. It was my cap and a few effects that I'd left in his house after the film night, and he'd brought them across the Atlantic in a perfect gesture of courtesy. Chap.

You need a bit of Brian Eno in your head occasionally. He used to irritate me. I reckoned he was a blethering dilettante, which of course was a bad thing. Now I think a dilettante in the right place can be rather useful. Eno has of course interfered with the music of Bowie, Roxy, U2, James and even Coldplay. As Bono famously recounts: U2 didn't go to art school, they went to Brian.

You should read his book, 'A Year With Swollen Appendices' for some of the method and some very funny asides. Meantime, there was a fascinating exchange between himself and Paul Morley in the Observer at the weekend. The producer was riffing beautifully about the "feedback loop" of pop consumerism, the mythical possibility of East African free jazz and the idea of drawing your targets after the arrows have hit the wall. Best of all though was his pronouncement on the music industry and the seemingly timeless pursuit of selling records for large profits.

"Recorded music equals whale blubber. Eventually, something else will replace it."

I'm not sure I completely agree, but Brian's got me thinking. Anyone know the chords to 'Moby Dick'?

There have been many songs written about shiny new cars ('Rocket 88', 'Pink Cadillac', Your Gonna Get Yours'), but how many lyrics have discussed an affection for clapped-out motors with sentimental value? I can think of 'Old Betsy' by The Beach Boys, or 'Ford Econoline' by Nanci Griffith'. Perhaps 'Cadillac Ranch' by Springsteen, although that's stretching it a bit.

Enter Danny And The Champions, featuring the unique talents of Danny George Wilson. Back in the day, he was the focal person with Grand Drive and he still delivers that hurt, glowering tone, not unlike Rick Danko from The Band. Anyways, their new album is called 'Streets Of Our Time' and it opens with 'Henry The Van'. It will break your heart and yes, it's a dialogue between an itinerant musician and his transport. The old machine is just about to fall apart, and the driver is remembering all the miles and the good times. You want to race out immediately and buy the fella a head gasket and refurbished carburetor.

The band has two upcoming dates with Fionn Regan:

Mar 10th Nerve Centre, Derry

Mar 11th The Empire, Belfast

STUART BAILIE

BBC Radio Ulster, 92-95 FM

Online: www.bbc.co.uk/radioulster

Mondays, ten - midnight

Playlist 18.01.10

Little Richard - Ready Teddy (Ace)

Vampire Weekend - White Sky (XL)

Duke Special - Catfish (Reel To Reel)

Danny And The Champions - Henry The Van (Loose)

Tunng - Hustle (Full Time Hobby)

Neil Young - Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere (Reprise)

Mayer Hawthorne - Make Her Mine (Stones Throw)

The Contours - Baby Hit And Run (Spectrum)

Karen O And The Kids - Heads Up (Polydor)

Vampire Weekend - Cousins (DGC)

Manu Diabango - Soul Makossa (Nascente)

Fionn Regan - Little Nancy (Heavenly)

Pearl Jam - Who You Are (Epic)

Del Shannon - Little Town Flirt (Uiversal)

The Rags - A National Light (Grand Cake)

Sly Stone - If You Want Me To Stay (Edsel)

Kissaway Trail - SDP (Co Op)

Teddy Pendergrass- The Whole Town's Laughing At Me (Philadelphia)

Mayer Hawthorne - Just Ain't Gonna Work Out (Stones Throw)

Laura Veirs - Wide Eyed Legless (Bella Union)

Caitlin Rose- Dead Flowers (names)

Rolling Stones - If You Really Want To Be My Friend (Rolling Stones)

Vampire Weekend - Taxi Cab (XL)

The Low Anthem - To The Ghosts Who Write History Books (Bella Union)

Danny And The Champions - Restless Feet (Loose)

Gill Scott Heron - Me And The Devil (XL)

If you look at the sleeve notes to the debut Them release in 1964, you'll see that the leader of Belfast's most incendiary r&b combo was apparently Billy Harrison. Most people might have supposed that singer Van Morrison was the man, but as ever, music history is more complicated than that. After all, the original kingpin of the Rolling Stones was Brian Jones, who was later edged out by Mick and Keef. Likewise with Pink Floyd, who were steered by Syd Barrett until the overdrive became untenable.

Billy Harrison was leader of the Gamblers, who rehearsed upstairs at Knight's bicycle shop on Great Victoria Street. Van connected with them just as a bunch of local contenders were launching an r&b night at the Maritime Hotel in April 1964. And for a time, Billy shared the vocals with Van. Those gigs at College Square North were by all accounts marked by frenzy, scrumpy and spasmodic cool. Then the record deal was signed, the machinations began and that rare alchemy was broke. Billy left the band in July 1965.

The guitarist remembers these times in the latest issue of Mojo magazine. The bitterness is still apparent, as is the idea that Them might have rivalled The Who and The Stones if they had somehow managed the stress and the creativity a bit better. But those were abusive times and the business cared little for the riff-makers. And of course, no-one guessed that the legacy of popular music would have sustained for so many decades. Therefore decisions were taken in anger and the wreckage has been picked over with the awful clarity of hindsight. "Van was Van, but I was Them," Billy states.

Bands will always implode and moments of potential can always revert to crud. In a sense, successful combos are minor miracles - the endurance of a little community in the middle of conflicting hormones, egos, chemicals and rogue royalty cheques. The usual retort is to sack the rhythm section and stage a coup. But my advice for any band that's feeling the warp factor is to hold on, whenever possible. Many of the disagreements are petty and transient. Paranoia may actually be nothing more than a lurking hangover. Meantime, the collective joy of players at their best, looking out for each other, is something to celebrate. You wanna be together.

I've been spending some of the grey January moments with a fine album by Mayer Hawthorne. You may know that he's a soul practitioner from Ann Arbor near Detroit and his admirers include Mark Ronson, Justin Timberlake, Snoop and er, Terry Wogan. His bag is old school rhythm and blues with a twist of hip hop and as such his record 'A Strange Arrangement' sits neatly beside the likes of Raphael Saadiq and Sharon Jones.

His mates know him as Andrew Cohen and the alter ego is actually his 'adult film' title - middle name plus the street he grew up on. There's another side project in a hip hop vernacular that he records as Haircut, just to keep things interesting.

So it's not blazingly new, but the songs are top and the music is delivered with respect. I think he will have a rewarding time in 2010 and I'm personally glad that he's bringing a warm soundtrack to a dour part of the calendar.

It was released in 1966, it is regarded as a fine example of Northern Soul and the act was called Margo And The Marvettes. The vocal is sweetly doused in the spirit of Dusty and the singer came all the way from... Donaghadee.

Really. Margo Burns is one of the nearly people of pop music. She grazed the charts a few times, and 'When Love Slips Away' deserved better. She repeatedly changed her name at the behest of silly record company executives and tried a few musical styles along the way. As far as I know she has a livelihood in Mallorca, but I'd welcome any further information.

STUART BAILIE

BBC Radio Ulster, 92-95 FM

Online: www.bbc.co.uk/radioulster

Mondays, ten - midnight

Playlist 11.01.10

Al Green - Sha La La (Hi)

Magnetic Fields - We're Having A Hootenanny (Nonesuch)

Aaron Shanley - Today I (live session)

Aaron Shanley - She Talks In Double Negative (live session)

Ian Dury - Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick (Stiff)

Baxter Dury - Oscar Brown (Rough Trade)

Ash - Space Shot (Cosmic Heart)

Karen O - Worried Shoes (DGC)

John Shelley - Long May You Reign (white)

Phoenix - 1901 (V2)

Public Image - This Is Not A Love Song (Virgin)

Johnny Kidd And The Pirates - Shaking All Over (EMI)

Magnetic Fields - Interlude (Nonesuch)

Geoff Gatt - Home (Rockpool)

Aztec Camera - Down The Dip (WEA)

Radial Nerve - New Future (Retone)

Margo And The Marvettes - When Love Slips Away (Pye)

Musee Mechanique - Like Home (ST)

Kate Walsh - 1000 Bees (Blueberry Pie)

Magnetic Fields - Seduced And Abandoned (Nonesuch)

Cara Dillon - If I Prove False (Charcoal)

Radial Nerve - The Restless City (Retone)

Aaron Shanley - Coming Down (White Mountain)

The Flaming Groovies - Shake Some Action (Sire)

Andy Sheppard - Nocturnal Tourist (Provocateur)

On tonight's radio show I'll be talking to the troubadour Aaron Shanley, who is quietly but insistently putting out a deal of lovely music. He's 19, from Lisburn and he has the vision, the cheekbones and the major tunes. There's clearly an affinity with Conor Oberst from Bright Eyes and surely some kind of connection with the young Dylan as he makes those words and sentiments tumble with much authority.

His current release is a song called 'Coming Down', which contrasts the romance of Xmas with the January blues, and is therefore perfect for the moment. The video also features the young man looking artfully woebegone in the backstreets and mains drags of Belfast.

He's off to Nashville in March and bound for glory afterwards. Tell your mates to investigate now before the talent hits the public domain.

The general public isn't likely to get into a lather about a record label. And a film about this kind of thing isn't especially compelling. But if you focus the story around the characters who took part in that plastic crusade, then it stands a decent chance. Because running a small-time record label isn't the recourse of the sane or the pragmatic. It's a launch pad for the crackpots, the control freaks, the no-mates and the emotionally needy.

That's why it must be fun working on Upside Down - which will tell the story of Alan McGee and Creation records. That label was a grand folly, founded on the Jesus And Mary Chain, then succoured on Primal Scream, My Bloody Valentine and Oasis. In the early days, Alan was pure fervour. When you met him at a gig, you could tell by the way he dressed what he'd been listening to that afternoon. And when he got the major label money and shifted his operation to Primrose Hill, it was more of a pharmacological experiment than a music label. But hey, that era gave us Kevin Rowland and 'My Beauty', so we should be glad.

Likewise with 24 Hour Party People and the Factory Records adventure. Tony Wilson was the man, but the legacy was the tunes. And as we've noted before, Belfast will get its version with the film Good Vibrations and the supreme blarney of Terri Hooley.

This attitude also informs the new Ian Dury film, Sex And Drugs And Rock And Roll, which you ought to see. The central character is played by Andy Serkis with infernal zest. The music is possibly more impressive now (who else would find the mystical channel between Max Wall and Ornette Coleman?) and it's delivered with proper respect.

Ian Dury could not have happened without Stiff Records, a label fronted by Dave Robinson. The Irish guy was a central force in the late '70s, releasing the first punk single 'New Rose' by The Damned and then impacting on artists such as Elvis Costello, Nick Lowe, Ian Dury, Madness and The Pogues. If you care to see the signs, Robinson gets his dues in the film.

Back in Belfast and Terri Hooley aims to start a new recording project, financed by the people. The premise is that thousands of well-wishers will each donate a pound, and will receive an online recognition of their help. This will establish a fighting fund to send fresh talent on its way. You might call it micro financing, but in Terri's mind, it's only rock and roll.

Vic Chestnutt took his own life on Christmas Day. There had been several attempts in the past. He left behind a series of recordings that were quiet, angry, pithy and mysterious. There was also a beautiful benefit album, Sweet Relief II which featured tributes from the likes of REM, Madonna, Sparklehorse and The Smashing Pumpkins. A car crash in 1983 had left him severely disabled, but he could sing and play some guitar. I saw him live at the Garage in Highbury and it was intense. I also interviewed him around ten years ago, finding him gracious and funny. He mourned the loss of his 8 track copy of Sandinista during that awful car crash. But more recently, he had been dismayed by health care bills and other personal issues. It was a privilege to play his music again.

STUART BAILIE

BBC Radio Ulster, 92-95 FM

Online: www.bbc.co.uk/radioulster

Mondays, ten midnight

Playlist 04.01.10

Aztec Camera - Walk Out To Winter (Warner)

Scott Walker - We Made It Through (Fontana)

Karen O - All Is Love (Polydor)

Kowalski - Get Back (white)

Japan - All Tomorrows Parties (Virgin)

Mumford And Sons - Roll Away Your Stone (Island)

Vic Chestnutt - Swelters (PLR)

Joe Henry, Madonna - Guilty By Association (Columbia)

Vic Chestnutt, Victoria Williams - God Is Good (Columbia)

Steely Dan - Change Of The Guard (MCA)

Laura Viers - Summer Is The Champion (Bella Union)

The Triffids - Stolen Property (Mushroom)

Elvis - If I Can Dream (RCA)

Pugwash - It's Nice To Be Nice (Ape House)

Erland And The Carnival - Tramps And Hawkers (Full Time Hobby)

Carolina Chocolate Drops - Hit Em Up Style (Nonesuch)

The Carter Family - Keep On The Sunny Side (Proper)

Cold War Kids - Audience Of One (V2)

XTC - Making Plans For Nigel (Virgin)

Two Door Cinema Club - Costume Party (Kitsune)

Jimmy Cliff - Many Rivers To Cross (Island)

Andrew Weatherall - Privately Electrified (Rotters Club)

Elspeth - Moonlight Burns (white)

Sparks - Get In The Swing (Island)

Editors - You Dont Know Love (Kitchenware)

St Etienne - Bedfordshire (Sanctuary)

I saw off the decade with a samba band, some effervescent DJs, a few mates and a load of decent strangers. The mood was uproarious and a guy wearing an owl mask was sustaining the atmosphere, like Bez with a giant beak and plumage. It wasn't the time to be reflective and I'd say that most of the people in the venue were swaying and throwing their arms around for that exact reason. There will be plenty of time for analysis and forensics later.

I was at The Point in Dublin for the end of the Eighties. It was my second U2 gig in a row and Bono was popping the champagne cork and promising a deal of reinvention. The fella lived up to his word. Ten years later and I'd just come back from the Ulster Hospital with our third daughter. Everyone was worrying about the Millennium Bug and so they wanted us out of the ward in case all the systems died. We had two kids in nappies and my dad was mortally ill. The first part of that decade was a rush of confusion and major changes. I remember talking to an old friend from London in 2004 and telling her that I felt like a snake, ready to slough off an old skin. And I think that by the end of the decade, I had achieved that process.

Like most people, I'm not sure what the rules are these days. Twenty years ago, my trade was information and opinions about music. Ten years ago, it was about content, fast delivery and a deal of critique. I wouldn't presume to have a strategy any more. But looking back at my musings a year ago, I think there are some constants. Music is still something you ought to love and be immersed in. Perspective is so important when there's drama going off. And it's not cool to scrimp on the family and the health for too long.

Still, it's a privilege to be working with music in an edgy era, in a rocking city. Ideally, we can confer in 12 months and we'll agree that the adventure still has juice left in it.