Juke Box Gypsy – Lindisfarne

Two weeks since I last posted anything here, disgraceful… but time and tide wait for no man, and time has just vanished quickly in the last couple of weeks for me. But at this time of year I’m usually out riding the bike in my spare time, and when I’m not riding my bike I’m glued to the TV watching the sat coverage of the Tour de France. So time has flown, but I feel the need to post a bit more music on here so I’ll try this weekend.

Okay, enough of my dull routine and back to the songs for the desert island collection. This next song is a strange one, I don’t think it was ever a hit.. I may be wrong but I don’t think so. And from what I can gather from the internet it’s rare now, I know it took me ages to get hold of it.. don’t ask where from because I have no idea where I eventually found it. But find it I did and I’m pleased about that.

Lindisfarne were never my cup of tea really, not that I didn’t like them, I did, but I never had any of their songs when they were out and in the charts. Fog On The Tyne.. Lady Elenore… Run For Home.. these songs were all hits for them in the ’70’s… I do like Lady Elenore and have it now. But the song I’m posting.. Juke Box Gypsy.. is by far the best song I heard them play. Very catchy. I’ve never heard it on the radio, in fact I’ve never heard it played anywhere apart from where I first came across it.

There’s a bar not far from where I live, it’s called The Junction.. and I used to frequent the place quite a bit back in the late ’70’s. It’s all changed now so I don’t bother, can’t remember the last time I was in there… anyway, it had two small rooms, one a lounge type thing and the other a pool room. In the pool room was a very good old jukebox, a Wurlitzer, and it had the most wonderful selection of songs on it.. and you got quite a few selections for your money, reasonable, so it was always playing. So I’m in there one Friday evening with a group of friends, the bar was a little rough around the edges so it was always a bit “lively”.. if you know what I mean, and therefore I liked it. So I’m in there chatting away and having a few beers when this song comes on the jukebox, I started half listening to it while trying to hold a conversation but noticed that there were people singing along to it, really enjoying themselves. By the time I started paying enough attention the song was finished, it’s only a short song, so I went over to the jukebox and started looking through the songs to see if I could find it, I couldn’t. Anyway, as I’m stood there a guy comes up and puts a coin in and makes a few selections, straight away the song starts playing again.. “who’s this?.. I ask him…”Lindisfarne” he says.. “What?… this?… this is Lindisfarne?”… “yeah, it’s them, good isn’t it?”.. and so the conversation went on. I must say I was surprised because it wasn’t the sort of song I expected to hear them play. But by now everyone’s dancing and carrying on in this pool room… to Lindisfarne? but on listening to it I understood why. The song is a very happy one, good times.. happy days, and it rocks along nicely for almost three minutes. When it stopped it wasn’t long before it was back on again and everyone’s singing away. And so it went that everytime I went in there I’d shove a coin in the jukebox and have it playing in no time. I love it.

After I stopped going in there I forgot about it, totally, until someone mentioned it to me a few years back. I set out to find it, couldn’t.. kept trying and eventually downloaded it from some site or other, as I say, it’s rare. I have honestly never heard it anywhere else, not on any other jukebox, anywhere, never. But I’ll tell you what, it’s in the desert island collection like a shot… it has to be.. I still dance around to it for goodness sake. It goes with me everywhere on my mp3, it cheers me up. So as it’s been a bit quiet up there on my beach for the last week or so we’ll liven it up again, and it’s Saturday night. Vodka time, I think… several tonight, for no other reason than that I feel like it. It would be great to have that old Jukebox in my shack, but we’ll pretend.. I’ll slip a little flat pebble (instead of a coin) under the laptop and select Juke Box Gypsy.. can’t remember the number, we’ll say F 7.. and then on it comes. Anyone care for a dance?

Mr. Completely – Rich Man, Poor Man

I came across Mr. Completely on the IAC website, they’re a rock band from Campbell River in British Columbia, Canada. They’re a four piece independent rock band, and rock they most certainly do. I’ve said before on here that it always amazes me that some of these bands can produce such great music and yet never get into the mainstream. As soon as I heard Rich Man, Poor Man it got my attention… out and out rock at it’s best, and played just how I like to hear it. These guys can play.. they’re very good musicians.

I’d have this music in the desert island collection for sure, I’ve been listening to music long enough to know a great song when I hear one, this is a great song. It’s from their album called “Twice on Sunday”… an album which, in my opinion, doesn’t have a single bad track on it.. there are twelve, and that’s not something you can say about a lot of albums. I’ve paid good money for albums by mainstream bands, many times, and been disappointed with some of the stuff on them.. but I wouldn’t be able to say that about Twice on Sunday.

To enable you to listen to the song for yourself I’ll have to link you to the IAC page where it’s hosted. Once there just click the play button and it’ll launch through the IAC player. Here it is RICH MAN, POOR MAN … do yourself a favour and take the time to listen to it, if you like rock music you’ll love it. In fact I’ll go a step further and give you a link to their Soundclick page and you can listen to the whole album, it’s here, same again, click the play buttons to launch the player.

Music for my desert island hard drive?.. most definately. I’ve never heard of Campbell River before, all I know is that it’s a hell of a long way from where I’m sat at the moment. And I don’t suppose they’ll think that there’s a guy listening to their music somewhere in the UK.. but there is, I listen to it often and I love it. So click the link and join me.. it’s brilliant.

Can’t You Hear Me Knocking – The Stones

Does there always have to be a reason, an explanation, for me to give for posting a song on here?… I think not, although I like to give some sort of background to the reason for most songs being included in this collection. But for this one.. no, nothing. Other than to say that every now and then you simply must just turn up the speakers and attempt to blow the doors off… wherever you may be. It just comes over me so I’m doing it now.

Sticky Fingers was the album…1971 the year, and The Rolling Stones just letting rip… Can’t You Hear Me Knocking is the song. This is how I love The Stones to play, this is their sound, and when they play like this there aren’t many bands to come near them. Keith Richards and Mick Taylor on guitars (the best Stones guitar combination for me)… Bobby Keys on saxophone, and of course the voice of Mick Jagger… this is them at their best. It’s on the soundtrack of a movie called “Blow”… never seen it.. don’t want to… I just like cranking the speakers up and playing this song. No other reason.

Crack open a beer, turn the volume up, click the play button and blow the cobwebs out. No more needs to be said. Short post but I don’t care.. I’ll re-fit the door on the beach shack in the morning.

Boz Scaggs – Some Change

Following on from the last song.. another distinctive, blue eyed soul voice. Boz Scaggs. A friend of mine gave me his album “Silk Degrees” to listen to in 1976 and I was instantly hooked to Boz Scagg’s music. It goes without saying that I’d have all of his music on my island, I just love every song he ever wrote and recorded.

His career has been long and varied, he’s recorded with some of the best out there but it’s his solo stuff that I love. The first time I heard Lido Shuffle I was blown away.. loved it, still do.. and Lowdown, these are Boz Scaggs classics. Lido Shuffle is still played a lot on the radio here today, it’s totally timeless and everyone sings along to it… even though half of them don’t know who the heck’s singing it. He still tours each summer, he’s one of the artists I’d love to see playing live.. doubt I’ll ever get the chance so I’ll just have to make do with listening to his records… and I do that often. I never, ever get tired of listening to Boz Scaggs.

But the song I’m posting here isn’t one of his well known hit songs, it’s called “Some Change” and it was released in 1994. It’s one of the coolest songs I have, laid back.. but it still rocks.. if you understand what I mean.. The whole album is brilliant, but this is the best track on it. The guy just surrounds himself with excellent musicians, goes into a studio and produces great music like this. I just can’t say enough about him, I’ve listened to his music for over thirty years and I enjoy listening to it as much now as I did back in the 1970’s when I first heard Silk Degrees… as sweet as drinking freshly brewed coconut vodka… think I’ll try one or two now while good ol’ Boz does his stuff.

Spooky – Dusty Springfield

I never bought any of Dusty Springfield’s records… not that I didn’t like them, just didn’t get into her music that much that I felt the need to buy it. She had a brilliant voice, recorded many, many hit records and had a career that lasted from 1963 right up until she was diagnosed with cancer in 1995. She died in 1999. But now I listen to her music a lot, it’s strange sometimes.. you start getting into someones music later in life and realise what a great talent they were.

I knew all her hit songs from the radio, she was on the TV often.. always wore a long ballgown and had tons of eye make up on, real sixties look. But every time I saw her performing on TV she did impress me with her voice. She had a very soulful voice, quite unique in a way.. very distinctive.

The next song in the desert island collection is called Spooky… not one of her major hits, in fact it’s hard to find much info on the song at all. I think it’s from 1970, but I’m not sure.. all I know is that it’s one of the best songs to chill out to that I’ve got. It was used on some TV commercial or other.. aren’t they all?… and after hearing it I went and got the song. Not much more to say about it really, it’s the end of a busy week and I feel like chillin’ out.. it’s Friday evening after all.. and one of the those Friday evenings when I wish I really were on a desert island. So I’ll post the song, then sit back with a coffee and let Dusty Springfield’s voice drift around my little office here, close my eyes and conjure up the image of sitting on the porch of my beach shack. Not many songs can free up your mind like this… so into the collection it goes, it’s real quality music., lovely voice.

The Moments

Okay.., I have to confess that I have a slight weakness for listening to some of the disco hits from the 1970’s. At the beginning of this blog I did say, somewhere, that it would be an eclectic mix and everyone who knows me will tell you that I love rock and blues music.., I do, but to do this properly I have to post the songs I’d want with me if I was marooned. This next song has to be in the collection.

I just don’t know what it is about songs like this, I mean, they just get into my brain and I could play them over and over.. and I do, often. I really like disco music, I used to love going to disco’s… not so much for the dancing but to just have a good time with friends and have a few beers. But if the mood took me I’d be on the dance floor giving all I’d got… that was mainly due to the alcohol I’d consumed of course, and it’s not unknown for me to dance until dawn even today.. although it takes me slightly longer to recover the day after these days. But what the hell?.., you only live once, and once the music’s pumping out and the beer’s flowing.. well… I’m off with the fairies, dancing on my own or with anyone else who has the inclination to show themselves up with me… and I love it!

So, to the song. The Moments. They had a few hits during the ’70’s, disco stuff, most of them slow.. Girls (part1) is one I remember.., which I thought was rubbish.. but in either 1975 or ‘76, not sure which, they did a song called Dolly My Love, a much quicker, funkier song and it was quite a big hit in the UK. The song has a very catchy keyboard riff that plays throughout, in fact it’s a really good song. I’ve no idea if it was a hit anywhere else…, I didn’t buy it at the time but it’s one that I tracked down years later after hearing it on the radio… must have had a flashback to my disco days and had to go and get it. It’s on my mp3 player.., I’d never be without it. Because you see.., when it comes down to it I don’t care what sort of music, which genre or anything it is…, I don’t care. All I care about with music is that when I play it it makes me happy, brings back happy memories.. whatever.. but it has to be good. This song, in my opinion, is good. Put this on at a party and you’ll have ‘em dancing in no time… works every time, never fails, and everyone has a smile on their face. That’s what music’s all about.

I’d dance until dawn on my beach up there whenever the mood took me, shuffling my feet around in the sand and whizzing around the campfire looking like an idiot.., but who cares? So, get the disco ball out, sprinkle some talcum powder on the floor boards so your feet will slide easy, beer in one hand.. and off you go. Ahh, the memories… The Moments.. what a great song.