Charles Aznavour

Furrowing that brow...

On the job...

On The job again...

Looking like a football hooligan bout to break your skull open...


My mum used to play Charles Aznavour when i was a kid. His weary, exasperated frenchman persona always tickled me. The song I recall went something like (adopt mental french accent) "I remember when we met, you had on that red dress, it was ripped and dirty, but i was drunk, so i did not care. Happy Anniversary..." Very French. His LP's pop up in Op Shops fairly often, mostly the MOR 70's stuff, but every now and then a you'll find the 60's albums, sometimes in english, sometimes in french. On the back of one he says “I am a Vagabond. Everything about me is common. I am small and I am soulful and my voice is froggy...”. Gotta love that Chuck Az. It also claims he has sold 50 million records...

"You've let yourself Go" perfectly encapsulates his whole furrow browed frenchman steez. I love the turnaround at the end too, just so perfectly executed you can't help but smile and clap and say "bravo" to the record player. "The Boss Is Dead" is deliciously french too, and I think "If I Had A Piano" should go
down a treat on the dancefloor at THROB this weekend...

On The Radio, In The World … 12/8/10

ON THE RADIO
Man, I got this great record by Janet and the Jays called "Without A Reason". Written by Don Bryant! Makes me wince this thing it's so good. So i'll probably play that. Also Hoyt Axton, Lee Hazelwood and Little Willie John are on my platter at the moment. And Extortion! Excited about that gig... Maybe something from Kool keith too, since he playin at the espy...


IN THE WORLD

FRI 13TH
The Once Overs @ Yah Yahs with Duck Duck Chop and Money for Rope + DJ Mohair Slim 12-5
Minibikes w/ Glide @ The EBC
Barbarion @ Tote w/ MEDUSA + BUNNY MONROE + BUTTERED LOAF
Johnnie & The Johnnie Johnnies @ Pony
EXTORTION @ The Arthouse
Kool keith @ The espy
JOHNNIE & THE JOHNNIE JOHNNIES @ Pony
Grouse! Queer Party @ The Bendigo Hotel
Sat 14th
KEGGIN! @ Pony (2am)
Mess Around 60's dance party @ yaya UPSTAIRS

ChantDown Babylon "More Fire" @ Deep 11

Next Fri 20th
THROB. THE 60s BEAT HAPPENING! @ The Johnston w/ DJ’s Pierre Baroni, Electric Mudcat, Emma Peel and Richie1250
Next Sat 21st
Kim Salmon & The Surrealist Single launch @ NSC
Next Sun 22nd
Jimmy tiat Single Launch @ NSC (matinee show, 2pm)
git on out there
lurve
richie1250
to get off this list, reply saying: “Mr Jones, Make this pretty punk freak off with your baby...”.

LAST WEEKS PLAYLIST

TTTRRRRRRY THIS HEART OF MINE + TRIBE SPESH - 6/08/2010
No. Song Name Artist
1 TRY THIS LIL OLE HEART OF MINE TONY HARRIS
2 THE FREEDOM RIDERS HAROLD JACKSON AND THE JACKSON BROTHERS
3 BLUE TEARS LC COOK
4 THE TWISTER PAUL WILLIAMS
5 FREE FOR ALL TINY BRADSHAW
6 COOL ADE PRESTON LOVE
7 DOWN TO THE BOTTOM LARRY DALE W/ THE MICKEY BAKER ORCHESTRA
8 I'M IN LOVE LEE SHOT WILLIAMS
9 ROMEO GINO WASHINGTON
10 MOJO MAN NELSON SANDERS
11 HIT THE ROAD JACK CAT
12 I'M ALL SKINNY PAN RON
13 JAMES BOND THEME SON OF PM
14 GRANDES PANTELANOS PUTA MADRE BROS
15 BEYOND THE REEF THE UKELADIES
16 I'M KILLING TIME THE BOWERS
17 I'M INBRED THE NATION BLUE
18 DIGGING A GRAVE THE ONCE OVERS
20 YOUR ASS IS MY VENUS SEXTON MING AND THE DIAMOND GUSSETS
21 WE'LL BE TURNED ON EDDY CURRENT SUPPRESSION RING
22 PERSECUTION SMITH BOB SEGER SYSTEM
23 BURIED AND DEAD MASTERS APPRENTICES
24 BABE I'M GONNA LEAVE YOU THE PLEBS
25 IT'S NOT UNUSUAL DELLS
26 TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE HARVEY SCALES
27 HOME GROWN BOOKER T AND THE MG'S
28 ELECTRIC RELAXATION A TRIBE CALLED QUEST
29 JAM A TRIBE CALLED QUEST
30 I LEFT MY WALLET IN EL SEGUNDO A TRIBE CALLED QUEST
32 1NCE AGAIN A TRIBE CALLED QUEST
33 BONITA APPLEBAUM A TRIBE CALLED QUEST
34 AWARD TOUR A TRIBE CALLED QUEST
35 GETA HOLD A TRIBE CALLED QUEST
36 STRESSED OUT A TRIBE CALLED QUEST
37 STEAM DRILL CANNONBALL ADDERLY

"Pimp: The Story Of My Life" by Iceberg Slim

Just fell into reading this when I mislaid the book i was in the middle of. It's reeeeaaaaly good. I always expected it to be some half assed 'the art of war' meets Superfly 70's thing, tittilating but mostly cringeworthy. Instead It's
actually set between the 30's and the 50's, it's really well written and it's not so much a memoir as an 'autobigraphical novel'. Iceberg Slim (Robert Beck) was a highly succesful pimp and legendary figuire in the Chicago Underworld of the 40's and 50's, but after his third prison term, he decided to get out of the life, and in the early sixties he moved to LA to become a writer. "Pimp: The Story Of My Life" was his first novel. It's impossible to know which parts are more or less embellished, certainly a few of the scenes seem a little more hokey than others, but for the most it seems frighteningly real, and honest too.

It's incredibly brutal and not recommended for everybody (these excerpts are on the tame side), but if you can hack it it's a compelling read and a fascinating window into the psychology of a relationship that isn't hard to transpose into more familiar
settings, as well as a thrilling glimpse into the underworld of 1940's Black Chicago, and just great hard-boiled crime writing.

BIG MAYBELLE, LIVE!

I luuuuuuuuuurve Big Maybelle Smith, but till today i'd never seen footage of her. Check it out! Watching Maybelle get down makes me smile like crazy.

I rather like the joan baez looking dancer in the white pants and red blouse too...

And while on the tube, I clicked over and heard some Maybelle gospel I never heard before...

How good is she?

On The Radio, In The World … 5/8/10

ON THE RADIO

Some sax honkers, somre ride clangers, and something we found at dixons called "Sexton Ming and the Diamond Gussets". Oh yes, and presidential candidate DJ Big OG For President will coming in at about 6:30 to play a gang of A Tribe Called Quest ahead of their inaugraul melbourne concert next thursday...


IN THE WORLD

Fri Aug 6th
Minibikes supporting The Models @ The Espy
Richie1250 + Ken Eavel DJ’in @ Mr Hyde (Geelong)
The once Overs @ The Retreat w/ The Jackknives
You and Your Music (SL PATRONS) @ Bar Open
Scott and Charlenes Wedding LP launch @ Tote w/ The Twerps and Bitch Perfect
The Bowers @ YahYahs w/ Buried Horses + Ocean Party

Puta Madre Bros @ East Brunswick Club w/ Ukeladies and Toot toot Toots
Sat 7th
Soul a Go Go @ The Johnston

Sun 8th

The Wages Of fear screening @ The Astor

Monday 9th

Days Of Heaven + Badlands screening @ The Astor
NEXT FRI 13TH
The Once Overs @ Yah Yahs with Duck Duck Chop and Money for Rope
Barbarion @ Tote w/ MEDUSA + BUNNY MONROE + BUTTERED LOAF
Johnnie & The Johnnie Johnnies @ Pony
EXTORTION @ The Arthouse
Next Sat 14th
KEGGIN! @ Pony (2am)

Comin up:
THROB. THE 60s BEAT HAPPENING! Aussie, British, American, European... you got it all!... a 60s vinyl freakout. Fri Aug 20 @ The Johnston w/ DJ’s Pierre Baroni, Electric Mudcat, Emma Peel and Richie1250

git on out there
lurve
richie1250
to get off this list, reply saying: “Let me hit it from the back, girl I won't catch a hernia...”.

LAST WEEKS PLAYLIST

JIM DANDY'S DUMPSTER DELIGHTS - 30/07/2010

No. Song Name Artist
1 SOULFUL DRESS SUGAR PIE DESANTO
2 USE WHAT YOU GOT SUGAR PIE DESANTO
3 MY PARTY MITTY COLLIER
4 PLEASE MR POSTMAN THE MARVELLETTES
5 SO LONG BABY THE MARVELLETTES
6 THIS TIME TROY SHONDELL
7 DA DOO RON RON THE CRYSTALS
8 ROUTE 90 CLARENCE GARLOW
9 CHICKEN SHACK AMOS MILBURN
10 PAPA LOU AND GRAN LITTLE VICTOR
11 JEALOUS WOMEN CLASSIE BALLOU
12 IT AINT RIGHT CHICK WILLIS
13 ST JAMES INFIRMARY BOBBY BLAND
14 HARD LUCK BLUES ROY BROWN
15 POLK SALAD ANNIE TONY JOE WHITE
16 LOVE BOUNCE TV SLIM
17 DRUM SONG KEN BOOTHE
18 GYPSY WOMAN THE UNIQUES
20 GYPSY WOMAN THE PERSUASIONS
21 THIN LINE BETWEEN LOVE AND HATE THE PERSUASIONS
22 MAKING ENDS MEET THEE MIDNIGHTERS
23 MR DJ VAN MCOY
24 WITHOUT YOU O.V. WRIGHT
25 RHYMES O.V. WRIGHT
26 I CAN'T STOP CRYING SAM HUTCHINS
27 LOVE IN THE FIRST DEGREE BRO JAMES JONES AND THE GOSPEL PERSUADERS
28 SPASMS LITTLE WILLIE JOHN
29 OCEAN OF TEARS BIG MAYBELLE
30 STORM WARNING MAC REBENACK

THE MYSTERIOUS ARCHER!

Everyone went bonkers over the mysterious old timey blues/hillbilly singer Archer when he appeared on the show the the other week (listen to it here), but he's more obscure than most singers that are actually from the 20's! He doesnt have a computer so no myspace or anything but i googled "Archer" "Daylesford" and found some videos of him!




Here's a thing about him with some audio from the abc too...
http://www.abc.net.au/local/stories/2008/10/20/2395657.htm


Let's get this guy down to melbourne more often!

Criss Cross / Jazz Bands In Film Noir

I’ve been really enjoying watching a whole bunch of Film Noir flicks recently. In a way they’re kind of like the 12 bar blues or Gangsta Rap, they’re all basically the same but it’s the little details that make the great ones stand out. One of the things I’ve been enjoying the most are the nightclub scenes where some hot jazz band of the time are wailing away while the action goes down.
“Criss Cross” is classic stuff, with Burt Lancaster as The Chump and Yvonne De Carlo as The Dame both sexy as hell (not to mention Percy Helton fabulously ugly as the bartender), and every film noir box getting ticked nicely, but my favourite part was the scene with Esy Morales and His Rhumba Band cooking on a thing called “jungle fantasy”…



I also love this one from D.O.A with the band wailing in sunglasses and the tryhard hipster yelling “Blow! Blow up a storm!” At 1:02 you can hear someone in the background say “man, am I hip!”



And this scene with Elisa Cooke Jr (the William H Macy of the 40’s) getting all het up on the drums is just toooooooooooooo creepy. Love the camera angle at 1:06 that perfectly frames the piano man’s hands and Ella Raines’ tits in the one shot…



And I suppose I couldn’t finish this post without a link to Mohair Slim and Jim Dandy’s “favourite” song of the moment, the truly, truly awful “Film Noir”, by that shadowy man of mystery, Tassonpa…



Note Mohair’s comment on the youtube page…