Odds and Sods….

This was my first proper single, and it had a deep influence on me. Note that in these days, Rod Stewart was ‘just’ the vocalist, not the lycra-panted disco diva of later years. And it was OK and a bit cool to like the Faces in the early 70’s.

I never really went for the heavy end of the rock spectrum (hell, we didn’t even know that heavy rock existed then, only later did the name tags and genres come) but I remember liking the sound of the guitar. And I’ve stuck with Ronnie Wood as my favourite guitarist through all these years simply for that slide guitar sound. And in later years, for being a role model for growing old disgracefully. Anyone who can claim to have persuaded Keith Richards to climb a tree that he subsequently fell out of is OK in my book….

The ‘Oo were the soundtrack to my early teens, and Charlton in 1976 was probably responsible for my slight hearing issues today. This song, an outtake from Who’s Next, eventually made it onto the B-side of 5:15, which is how it is a favourite…

In the Street – Big Star

This is probably better known as a cover version by Cheap Trick and used as the theme to “That seventies show”. I never felt I was swimming against the tide with my taste in music, but I could never understand why Big Star weren’t bigger than they were. But then again, I suppose you can say that about so many bands through the years – perhaps they fell behind with the payola payments.

(The version on Slade Alive Volume 1). If anyone ever questions what was so great about Slade, play them this track – loud. If they don’t smile, they aren’t human. Don’t try this with pets, obviously, as they aren’t. And small children, whilst human, will be frightened at Noddy’s vocal equivalent of an air-raid.

So much has been written about Sir Noddy, nothing I can say can add to the man’s vocal genius. I want him knighted.

Sadly, John is no longer with us. This is the finest legacy anyone could leave behind. A true pathfinder – which is a polite way of saying he was way ahead of his time. I quite often think when I listen to guitar work that I could have a go at playing it, but John’s work just issues me with a ‘cease and desist’ order from the first bar; I just enjoy listening to it instead. So should more people. For further listening, try the album ‘Bless the weather’ and maybe ‘Solid Air’.

Another dead star, here at the absolute peak of his prowess. I grew up with my Mum’s copy of this album (which is a bit freaky, thinking about this – either I had a right-on parent, or she didn’t listen closely to the lyrics…) and I never got to dismiss the beauty of the arrangements as cheesy like so many other songs of the genre. It also provided me with two things: the first is a lifelong love of soul music, and the second was the basis for every shag tape I ever made. Hmmmm – a separate blog I feel.

There is a version of this by Sonic Youth, and much as I am a fan of the dissembling noodle-fest of Kim and Thurston (first name terms there for irony, OK?), this song reminds me of my first pair of flares and learning to walk on my first pair of platforms without looking like a complete dork. Tough call, and more praise should be due to those who mastered it. I believe that as a sop to parental concern about the damage to my feet, they were from Clark’s and were a 4 inch heel, a 1 inch sole and had uppers of ox-blood, black and burnt ochre. Hardly peacock colouration, but subtle enough to get away with them for school. The song is a perfect piece of pop orchestration, and is still evocative of the era today, which is a powerful attribute. You couldn’t say that about Peters and Lee or Vicky Leandros, could you now?

I think this was the first time I listened to a song and was impressed with the wordplay in the lyrics. My desk lid at school had this tatooed/inscribed into it in turquoise ink. Took me months and then I had to move classrooms. Gah…

This song has the dirtiest fuzz guitar sound going. I’ve never found it anywhere else. Anyway, another parental record, I think I’m trying to endow them with good taste, but really you should see the rest of the collection. This track then – a bit of vocals between one of the longest guitar solos I have ever heard. A toss up between this and Summer Breeze really, but this is the road less travelled I think. An interesting point is that in 1981 I furnished my old Russian Bouquet bandmate Roy with a tape with this on, and some years later, he gave us a pastiche of the solo in ‘Miss You Blind’…two Ern’s don’t make Hay while the sun shines. Or something like that….

It might be just me, but the early seventies Fleetwood Mac seemed directionless – not blues, or rock, yet not pop. Small wonder then that there was an ‘alternative’ Fleetwood Mac put together and almost sent out to tour by their management. This track, from 1973, shows that it wasn’t just the arrival of Buckingham and Nicks that sent Fleetwood Mac scampering for the FM market, that was the direction they seemed to be experimenting with on this track.

So, before they disappeared in a flurry of cocaine and divorce lawyers, this track (and ‘Come a little bit closer’ from a later album) showed their eventual direction years before they took it.

As a one time resident of a tributary of what is now fondly called the Canvey Delta by idiots who never properly understood, and also mispronounced Sarfenonsea, I was never allowed – yessss, too young – into the pubs that Mickey Jupp and his ilk were playing in – even with the platforms. I remember being ejected from one (The Jellicoe? Or the Grand?) after me and a few chums attempted to watch Dr Feelgood (who were so loud we just stood outside and listened). Roxette was my first introduction to stripped bare R&B. God bless, Lee.