Where The Action Is – Playlist: Sunday 30 May 2010

Blink and you missed the summer. Still it was longer than usual. Never mind, The Cat will warm the cockles of your heart with the usual grab bag of goodies.  We’ll have two rounds of the Connect 3 game, we’ll celebrate the birthday of the Dave Clark Five’s Lenny Davidson and this week’s Foreign Language track comes French chanteuse Nicoletta . There’s also the Half-Time Instrumental, the Trojan Mod Reggae track, Two of a Kind from Chad and Jeremy, as well as Tommy Reilly in this week’s Under the Influence feature. Here are today’s goodies…

Ronnie Wood with The Birds - no change there!

The Who – Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere (Brunswick 1965)
Floyd Cramer – On The Rebound (RCA 1961) (show theme)
The Applejacks – Tell Me When (Decca 1964)
The Shots – Keep a Hold of What You’ve Got (Columbia 1965)
The Vernons Girls – Just Another Boy (Unknown 1963)
Bobby Sheen – Sweet, Sweet Love (Capitol 1966)
The Answers – It’s Just a Fear (Columbia 1966)
Love Affair – Baby I Know (CBS 1969)
Jamo Thomas – I Spy (for the FBI) (Thomas 1966) (Connect 3)
The Checkmates – Interpol (Unreleased/Year Unknown) (Connect 3)
Bo Street Runners – Bo Street Runners (Decca 1964) (Connect 3)
The Girlfriends – My One and Only, Jimmy Boy (Colpix 1963)
Jan and Dean – Honolulu Lulu (Liberty 1963)
Dave Clark Five – Concentration Baby (Columbia 1967) (Birthday 30/5/44 Lenny Davidson)
The Hipster Image – Make Her Mine (Decca 1965)
The Castanets – I Love Him (TCF 1965)
Nicoletta – Vis Ta Vie (Soul Time) (Barclay 1967) (Foreign Language)
The Dowlands – Big, Big Fella (Oriole 1962)
The Rustlers – Highly Strung (Pye 1961) (Half-Time Instrumental)
George ‘n’ Sonny Dans – Down by The Ocean (New Voice 1966)
The Knack – She Ain’t No Good (Decca 1965)
Harry J All Stars – Spyrone (Trojan 1969) (Trojan Mod Reggae)
Alice Wonder Land – He’s Mine (I Love Him, I Love Him, I Love Him) (Bardell 1963)
The Everpresent Fullness – You’re So Fine (White Whale 1970)
Ray Singer – A Dreamer of the Past (Ember 1966)
Tommy Reilly – Take Me Away for The Night (Euphonios 2010) (Under the Influence)
Neil Christian – The Big Beat Drum (Columbia 1962)
Barbara Jackson – Big Man (Warner Bros 1965)
The Favourite Sons – That Driving Beat (Mercury 1965)
The Byrds – Lady Friend (Columbia 1967) (Connect 3)
The Birds – No Good Without You Baby (Decca 1965) (Connect 3)
Birds of Prey – I Saw Pity (Unreleased 66/67) (Connect 3)
The Soul Agents – Let’s Make It Pretty Baby (Pye 1964)
The Satisfactions – Yes Sir, Thats My Baby (Moonglow 1965)
Chad and Jeremy – My How Time Goes By (Ember 1965) (Two of a Kind)
Chad and Jeremy – Yesterday’s Gone (Ember 1963) (Two of a Kind)
Jerry Ganey – Just a Fool (Verve 1966)
Nancy Priddy – Mystic Lady (Dot 1968)
Andy Cavell – Hey There Senroita (HMV 1962)
Floyd Cramer – On The Rebound (RCA 1961) (show theme)

In June, I’ll be celebrating the small but perfectly formed British indie label of the 1960s Ember Records, including many rare and previously unreleased tracks, as well as alternate mixes.

If you’re in the Victoria Hospital in Kirkcaldy you can hear Where The Action Is on Channel 3 on your bedside headphones or on the 1287AM on the Medium Wave.

That’s it for this week. Until next time, it’s good day and good health.

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Dropkick

Here’s an update from those nice chaps in Dropkick:

Dropkick - Abelay Hotel (Sound Asleep Records)

“Hi folks,

Hope you all enjoyed Scotland’s 2 day summer last weekend… Here’s a wee list of what’s been happening in the land of Dropkick since the last time I pestered you:

1. We’ve finished recording our next album and it should be released in the autumn. You can listen to 4 of the songs now at:  www.myspace.com/dropkickmusic
2. Our last album Abelay Hotel is now available to buy from Amazon for only £5. Check out www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B002RLCXWS/
3. We’ve also ventured into the modern era so you can now follow Dropkick at http://twitter.com/dropkickmusic or become a fan of the band at www.facebook.com/pages/Dropkick/37373050656?v=wall

We’ve also got a few gigs coming up, including 3 gigs in 1 day this weekend.

Here’s the details:

Wed 26th May 2010 @ The Electric Circus, Market Street, Edinburgh. 7pm. £3. Acoustic gig with Al Shields.
Sat 29th May 2010 @ Montrose Music Festival, Montrose, Angus. 3 gigs in 1 day. All free entry. Details:
12pm till 1pm @ The High Street.
3pm till 5pm @ The Picture House.
7pm till 9pm @ The Black Abbot.
Sat 5th June 2010 @ Brora Rangers Football Club, Brora, Sutherland. Acoustic gig. 8.30pm.

OK, that’s all for now. See you all soon.

Alastair, Dropkick

http://www.dropkickmusic.co.uk
www.myspace.com/dropkickmusic “

See, told you they were nice.

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“Where The Action Is” Eurovison special playlist – Sun 23 Jun 10

Bienvenue! Wilkommen! Guten Tag! Welcome to The Cat’s annual Eurovision special. In previous years I’ve counted down my Top 10 Eurovision songs of all-time in-between a selection of past and present entries. This year I’m going to mix some of my favourites with non-Eurovision tracks by Eurovision entrants and tracks with a flavour of Europe. Every week we have one Foreign Language track; this week there are quite a few for your delectation. Enjoy!

France Gall

France Gall – Poupee de Cire, Poupee de Son (Luxembourg 1965)
Floyd Cramer – On The Rebound (RCA 1961) (show theme)
The New Seekers – Beg, Steal or Borrow (Polydor/UK 1972)
F.L.Y. – Hello from Mars (Latvia 2003)
Francoise Hardy – This Little Heart (Vogue 1965)
Chanee & N’Evergreen – In a Moment Like This (Denmark 2010)
Katja Ebstein – A Hard Day’s Night (Germany 1969)
Kathy Kirby – Dance On (Decca 1963)
Dana Gillespie – London Social Degree (London 1967) (Connect 3)
Herman’s Hermits – London Look (Yardley 1968) (Connect 3)
Mark London – Moanin’ (Pye 1965) (Connect 3)
Natasha St-Pier – Je N-ai Que Mon Ame (France 2001)
Corrine Hermes – Si La Vie Est Cadeau (Luxembourg 1983)
Anne-Marie David – Tu Tu Recoinnoitras (Epic/Luxembourg 1973) (Birthday)
Muriel Day – Nine Times Out of Ten (Page One 1969)
Twinkle – A Lonely Singing Doll (Decca 1965)
Marie Myriam – L’Oiseau et L’Enfant (Polydor/France 1977) (Foreign Language)
Belle and the Devotions – Love Games (CBS/UK 1984)
Charles Blackwell & Orchestra – Midnight in Luxembourg (HMV 1962) (Half-Time Instrumental)
Matt Monro – I Love The Little Things (Parlophone/UK 1964)
Birgitte – Open Your Heart (Iceland 2003)
Lester Sterling – Wiser Than Soloman (Trojan 1968) (Trojan Mod Reggae)
Marta Roure – Jugarem A Estimar-Nos (Andorra 2004)
Severine – Un Banc, Un Arbre, Une Rue (Philips/Monaco 1971)
Secret Garden – Nocturne (Norway 1992)
Morrissey – Throwing My Arms Around Paris (Decca 2009) (Under The Influence)
Sandie Shaw/The Smiths – Hand in Glove (Rough Trade 1984)
Massiel – He Gives Me Love (La La La) (Spain 1968)
Kirsti (Saprboe) – Eins, Zwei, Drei (Norway 1969)
Scott Walker – Copenhagen (Philips 1969) (Connect 3)
Heidi Bruhl – Berlin (Germany 1969) (Connect 3)
Jacques Brel – Amsterdam (Barclay 1964) (Connect 3)
Conny Froboess – Zwei Kleiner Italiener (Norway 1962)
Brainstorm – My Star (Latvia 2000)
Vicky Leandros – Apres Toi (Philips/Luxembourg 1972) (Two of a Kind)
Vicky Leandros – L’Amour Est Bleu (Luxembourg 1967) (Two of a Kind)
Gigliola Conquetti – Non Ho L’Eta (Decca 1964)
The Allisons – Are You Sure (Fontana 1961)
Marc-Antoine Charpentier – Eurovision Theme (Decca 1967)

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A Touch of the Tartan – Scots in Eurovision

Last year an SNP supporter called on the Scottish Parliament to “to make appropriate representations to take forward calls for Scotland to have its own entry in the Eurovision Song Contest.” It hasn’t happened yet and thank god for that. It’s bad enough having one British entry humiliated over the past few years without being subjected to four separate embarrassments.

Having said that, Scotland has been well served in the Contest since its inception in 1956 and here are some of them:

1. Kenneth McKellar – A Man Without Love (UK 1966) 9th
Kenneth sang all five prospective UK entrants, including a song called A Touch of the Tartan. The dreary A Man Without Love won the day but any hope of overall victory was lost. Going last was no advantage as the mid-table obscurity of 9th was the UK’s worst performance since the competition began, despite being only one of two British entries ever to get top marks from Ireland (the other being Katrina and the Waves some 31 years later).

2. Lulu – Boom-Bang-A-Bang (UK 1969) 1st equal
Lulu sang all six UK songs including an Elton John/Bernie Taupin song called Can’t Go On (Living Without You) on her Happening for Lulu show. The public could live without it and it finished last. Voting had been done by postcard in those days. A shambolic scoring system, which almost brought the Contest to an end, saw a four-way tie for victory, a situation no-one legislated for. The resultant farce saw the UK share the prize with hosts spain, the Netherlands and France. The song was recorded and released in a number of languages and remains Lulu’s biggest hit, much to her chagrin.

3. Christian – Shine It On (UK 1978) 3rd= in UK heat behind Co-Co
A well kent face on the Scottish entertainment scene, especially in panto (oh, no he isn’t…), Christian aka Chris McClure was drawn to sing first and was *this close* to representing the UK in Paris. “Around this time I had two songs up for selection in the 1978 Eurovision Song Contest final 10, “Shine It On” and a ballad “Home”. Up until the last three votes, I was leading and then the English votes came in and blew me away.” The records show no sign of Home being in the final 12 and that’s where he stayed in April 1978.

4. James Oliver – What We Say With Our Eyes (UK 1985) 6th in UK heat behind Vikki
Glaswegian James (real name James McLaren) limped in 6th with a sad ballad and also appeared in 1988 and 1989. In 1988 he appeared with Linda Carroll as a duet called Klass performing One More Chance, which finished last of eight 8 behind Scott Fitzgerald. A year later technical problems, not for the first time, put paid to any chance of victory as Can’t Stop Loving You finished a lowly 7th behind Live Report, who went on to finish 2nd in the Contest proper, and Linda Carroll, his partner of the previous year.

5. Fiona Kennedy – So Do I (UK 1985) 7th= in UK heat behind Vikki
Record Breakers presenter Fiona Kennedy, daughter of Calum, teamed up with Yorkshireman Mike Redway who had sung Have No Fear James Bond Is Here in the original Casino Royale movie. Sadly it would take more than 007 to rescue their dreary So Do I ballad.

6. Rikki – Only The Light (UK 1987) 13th
Having won the UK heat ahead of two others Scottish acts (see below), Rikki (aka Richard Peebles) fared poorly in the Contest final as “Mr Eurovision” Johnny Logan enjoyed his second win with Hold Me Now.

7. Gordon Campbell – Just Let Me (UK 1987) 9th in UK heat behind Rikki
Gordon had been UK 800m champion and also wrote for Shakin’ Stevens (did you know that nobody had more Top 20 in the 80s than Shaky? Scary!) Sadly the viewers ran a mile from this limp track as it trailed in a miserable 9th of 10.

8. Heavy Pettin’ – Romeo (UK 1987) 6th in UK heat behind Rikki
Their appearance has been described as “Bon Jovi-lite”. Vests, fingerless gloves, leather trousers and poodle perms just about sums up everything that was wrong about the 1980s. If he’s a Romeo, Juliet would be turning in her grave.

9. Scott Fitzgerald – Go (UK 1988) 2nd behind Celine Dion
Written by Bruce Forsyth’s daughter Julie, Go was pipped by a single point as final voters Yugoslavia gave Celine Dion six points to the UK’s none. Sadly the song – the UK’s first ballad since Kenneth McKellar in 1966 – peaked in the UK charts at 52. Scott (real name William McPhail) still performs today.

10. Les McKeown – Ball and Chain (UK 1990) 4th in UK heat behind Emma
A far cry from Shang-A-Lang and Bye Bye Baby, the limp middle of the road ballad by the former Bay City Rollers frontman finished 5th of 8 behind winner Emma.

11. Karen Matheson – Diwanit Bugale (May The Children be Born) (France 1996) 19th
Capercaillie’s chanteuse Karen Matheson was part of a Celtic ensemble called Dan Ar Braz and L’Heritage de Celtes, whose entry was sung, rather unusually for Eurovision, in Breton. Karen was awarded the OBE in 2006 for services to Scottish music. I wonder when I’ll get mine!

12. City Chix – All About You (UK 2006) 3rd in UK heat behind Daz Sampson
City Chix was the unimaginative name of Laura McMonagle and Jade Lezar, who starred in Scottish soap opera River City. Full marks from the Scottish jury weren’t enough to ensure a trip to Athens as the song finished third behind Daz Sampson and Blue’s Antony Costa and just ahead of Kym Marsh.

Other non-singing Scots who have made a Tartan-tinged contribution to the le monde de Eurovision have included Moira Shearer and Bill Martin.

While Moira Shearer didn’t sing in the contest, she did take centre stage as host of the 1972 event when the show was held at the Usher Hall in Edinburgh. Monaco had won the contest in 1971 but couldn’t find a suitable venue (or afford it, depending on which story you choose to believe) so the contest was moved to the Scottish capital by the BBC.

Songwriter Bill Martin has played a not insubstantial part in the Song Contest. While Johnny Logan may be the most successful Eurovison contributor ever, courtesy of his three wins as a songwriter, Bill Martin, with long-time collaborator Phil Coulter, isn’t far behind. He wrote the victorious Puppet On a String for Sandie Shaw in 1967, the following’ year’s runner-up Congratulations for Cliff Richard, Luxembourg’s 1975 entry Toi for Ohil Coulter’s future wife Geraldine Branagan as well as the aforementioned Shine It On for Christian.

It seems only appropriate that Puppet on a String was number 1 on the day I was born and may go some way to explain my somewhat unnatural love of all things Eurovision. I was lucky enough (or unlucky, depending on your point of view) to witness the spectacle live in Birmingham in 1998 when Dana International won for Israel and Ulrika Jonsson insulted the Dutch jury representative.

For what it’s worth my tip for success this year is Denmark with In A Moment Like This by Chanée and N’Evergreen. The bookies favour Azerbaijan and Germany – she must have learned her English from Kate Nash – with the UK very much outsiders. I should also point out I’ve never picked the winner yet so don’t go blowing all your holiday Euros on the Danes.

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Jocknroll website 4.0

I took advantage of some free time yesterday to give the Jocknroll website a long overdue tidy up. There’s still some work to do on it, especially the Links page and the Artists pages. The old Jocknroll forum has been removed because it had died a slow and painful death.

I’ve also removed the old Jocknroll video from the front page and replaced it with the video for Tommy Reilly’s imminent 45 Take Me Away for The Night.

If you’re in a Scottish band or know of a Scottish band that isn’t listed on the Artists A to Z page then by all means get in touch through the website and we’ll add you/them. I’d taken a break from the website in recent times due to other commitments but now I’m back to keep it ticking over.

Also, feel free to make any suggestions as to any features you might want us to add. I’m open to suggestions.

Peace out…

The Cat
=^..^=

P.S. The Making of Tommy Reilly’s Take Me Away For The Night video is now on You Tube and below:

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“Where The Action Is” playlist – Sun 16 May 2010

More CDs have arrived at Where The Action Is HQ and you’ll be hearing those over the coming weeks and months. Meanwhile, it’s back to our usual mix with two rounds of the Connect 3 game, a celebration of the birthday of Chiffon Barbara Lee and this week’s Foreign Language track comes from “The Girl With The Laugh In Her Voice”, Alma Cogan. There’s also the Half-Time Instrumental, the Trojan Mod Reggae track, Two of a Kind from The Hollies, as well as The Orchids in this week’s Under the Influence feature. Here are today’s runners and riders…

Michael Leslie - Make Up or Break Up (Pye 1965)

Karol Keyes – Can’t You Hear The Music (Fontana 1967)
Floyd Cramer – On The Rebound (RCA 1961) (show theme)
Antoinette – Jenny Let Him Go (Decca 1964)
Harpers Bizarre – Witchi Tai To (Warner Bros 1969)
Al Kent – The Way You’ve Been Acting (Ric-Tic 1967)
Angela Dean – Gotta Hand It To the Boy (Fontana 1964)
Michael Leslie – Make Up or Break Up (Pye 1965)
The Turtles – So Goes Love (White Whale 1967)
Evie Sands – I Can’t Let Her Go (Blue Cat 1965) (Connect 3)
Wes Sands – There’s Lot More Where This Came From (Columbia 1963) (Connect 3)
The Sands of Time – One Day (Pye 1967) (Connect 3)
The Grains of Sand – She Needs Me (Valiant 1966)
Michelle – Sally Fool (Polydor 1966)
The Chiffons – Nobody Knows What’s Goin’ On (In My Mind But Me) (Laurie 1965) (Birthday 16/5/47 Barbara Lee)
The Lownly Crowde – Shadows and Reflections (MGM 1967)
Gary Benson – That Man’s Got No Luck (Pye 1966)
Alma Cogan – Mein Schonster Traum (My Beautiful Dream) (Unknown 1964) (Foreign Language)
The Carrolls – Surrender Your Love (Polydor 1966)
Tony Hatch – Out of This World (Pye 1962) (Half-Time Instrumental)
Judy Harriet – Tall Paul (Surf 1958)
Kiki Dee – Miracles (Fontana 1964)
Bobby Ellis & The Crystalites – Step Softly (Fontana 1964) (Trojan Mod Reggae)
Billie Davis – Don’t You Knock On My Door (Unreleased 1962)
Tracy Rogers – Back With You Baby (Polydor 1967)
Mark Wynter – Can I Get To Know You Better (Pye 1965)
The Orchids – She’s My Girl (Pebble 2010) (Under the Influence)
Connie Stevens – They’re Jealous of Me (Warner Bros 1964)
Bimbi Worrick – Long Time Comin’ (Polydor 1969)
Tony Clarke – Landslide (Chess 1967)
Susan Hampshire – When Live Is True (Decca 1965) (Connect 3)
Diana Dors – So Little Time (Fontana 1964) (Connect 3)
Adrienne Posta – Shang A Doo Lang (Decca 1964) (Connect 3)
The Flamingos – Boogaloo Party (Philips 1966)
Danielle – I’m Gonna Marry That Boy (Philips 1966)
The Hollies – You Know He Did (Parlophone 1965) (Two of a Kind)
The Hollies – Honey and Wine (Parlophone 1965) (Two of a Kind)
Love – You Set The Scene (Elektra 1967)
West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band – Smell of Incense (Warner Bros 1967)
Clare Francis – But I Don’t Care (Polydor 1967)
Floyd Cramer – On The Rebound (RCA 1961) (show theme)

Next weeks’ show will be my annual Eurovision special, with a slight twist, and throughout June I’ll be celebrating the wealth of talent on the Ember record label.

If you’re in the Victoria Hospital in Kirkcaldy you can hear Where The Action Is on Channel 3 on your bedside headphones or on the 1287AM on the Medium Wave.

That’s it for this week. Until next time, it’s good day and good health.

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The Wrong Arm of the Law – Save The Pop Cop

Here’s a story, sad but true, about a blog, that I once knew:

Save The Pop Cop

“Being alive after someone has written your death certificate has its advantages.

At 20:07 on May 14, 2010, the music blog that I have been running for the past three years, The Pop Cop (http://thepopcop.blogspot.com/), was removed by Blogger, the blogging arm of Google, who hosted the site. Before I get on to why this happened, let me tell you a bit about my blog.

I write about the Scottish music scene. I do this in various ways – updating a news feed on the site called The Goss at least five days a week; writing two lengthy posts each week which contain anything from interviews to topical articles, gig reviews, rants, reader polls, quirky features, festival previews; running the Music Alliance Pact, which on the 15th of every month sees a Scottish song shared on my blog and over 30 other blogs throughout the world; holding an annual Scottish gig photography competition.

The last full post I published on The Pop Cop (May 12) before Google pulled the plug was about a Scottish independent record label called Euphonios. I had done a face-to-face interview with its founder, Jen Anderson, and when I was typing up the conversation a couple of days later, I came up with the idea of describing Jen as ‘The Kingmaker’. So I bought a crown from a fancy-dress shop and persuaded her to meet me again so that I could take photos of her with it. Those are the kind of crazy ideas I have but I like to think they added a bit of colour to the Scottish music scene. In three days, the post attracted more reader comments than any other in The Pop Cop’s history, which made me quite proud.

And then Google hit me with this:

from: support@blogger.com
cc: blogger-dmca-notification@google.com

We’d like to inform you that we’ve received another complaint regarding your blog (http://thepopcop.blogspot.com/). Upon review of your account, we’ve noted that your blog has repeatedly violated Blogger’s Terms of Service (http://www.blogger.com/terms.g). Given that we’ve provided you with several warnings of these violations and advised you of our policy towards repeat infringers, we’ve been forced to remove your blog.

Thank you for your understanding.

Sincerely,

The Blogger Team

To give you a bit of background, if a blog publishes a post that contains a downloadable mp3 that allegedly infringes United States copyright laws, the record label will use the DMCA to contact Google. With no questions asked, Google will then reset your post to Draft status (allowing the blogger to remove the ‘offending’ content and republish it) and send you a Blogger DMCA Takedown Notification email which includes the following paragraph:

“If it is brought to our attention that you have republished the post without removing the content/link in question, then we will delete your post and count it as a violation on your account. Repeated violations to our Terms of Service may result in further remedial action taken against your Blogger account including deleting your blog and/or terminating your account.”

Given that the overwhelming majority of mp3s on The Pop Cop were by unsigned Scottish artists who tend to welcome the exposure, such warnings were relatively rare for me (I had 10 in three years/450 posts). But whenever I did receive a notification, I would immediately republish the flagged-up post WITHOUT any mp3 links. Therefore, according to Google’s own terms and conditions, that should not count as a violation on my account and I should therefore have NO violations.

Here’s how screwed up the system is. On March 7, 2008, I published an article about Lee Beattie, who was working in Scottish music PR. She mentioned that she liked the I’m Not There soundtrack so I decided to include two mp3s from it within the post, namely:

Cat Power – Stuck Inside Of Mobile With The Memphis Blues Again
Karen O and The Million Dollar Bashers – Highway 61 Revisited

Since all mp3 links on my posts become inactive within about three weeks, the links to those two songs had not been ‘live’ since 2008. Yet more than TWO YEARS later, on April 19, 2010, Google sent me three (identical) Blogger DMCA Takedown Notification for this post. I could have filed a counter-claim and argued that the links were long since dead, but instead I took the quick option of deleting all mention of the two songs from the post and republished it that same day.

However, on May 3, 2010, another Blogger DMCA Takedown Notification email arrived about the SAME post. So that’s four ‘violations’ I’ve racked up and there’s not even a single mp3 on it.

Google keeps track of all Blogger DMCA Takedown Notifications they send out and when it reaches their magic number, they shut down your blog. And that’s what has happened to The Pop Cop on May 14. Three years worth of work gone. No right of appeal.

Obviously, they’d like me to go away quietly, blaming myself for occasionally posting mp3s without permission, blaming myself for not backing up all of my archives, blaming myself for not hosting The Pop Cop on a non-Google platform. And trust me, I have done all that more than you can imagine.

But since The Pop Cop went down, a member of the band Galleries has offered to help me set up a new blog (he’s also a web designer); photographer Jessica Newell launched a Get ThePopCop back online Facebook page; another band The Morgue Party Candidate started a #savethepopcop hashtag on Twitter, fellow Scottish music blogger Peenko published a Save The Pop Cop post, as did Glasgow PodcART.

I’ve also had countless emails and messages of support and I can’t tell you how much every single one of them means to me. But there’s still something you can do for me.

Please email Google – support@blogger.com – and demand that The Pop Cop blog gets reinstated so I can at least get three years of my life back and move the content elsewhere. If I don’t win this fight, I’m not sure I can bring myself to start from scratch.

It feels like I’ve popped out to the shops to buy a loaf of bread and come home to discover the locks on my front door have been changed. However, my possessions are still inside and I want them back before they get torched.

Like I said, being alive after someone has written your death certificate has its advantages.

I know I can win this battle but I need your help. Please email support@blogger.com and spread the word. I need you.

Thanks.

The Pop Cop
thepopcop@gmail.com

http://twitter.com/thepopcop“

How sad is that. Unfortunately, this is becoming an all too regular occurrence.  Another valuable marketing tool for new and unsigned bands is swept aside by another arm of the music industry, in this case an unregulated do-as-we-please  American judge and jury.

It’s further proof, if ever it was needed, that America thinks it owns the internet. Newsflash, you don’t! And they wonder why people don’t want to pay for music anymore. We don’t hate the artists, we don’t want to deprive them of money, it’s YOU – the Music Industry – that we hate. Snort a few lines, comb your pony tail and fuck off you money-grabbing tosswanks. There, that feels better.

I had two blogs on Blogger and having already removed one (this one), the other won’t be far behind (it’ll probably be amalgamated into this one) and then it’ll be bye-bye Blogger. It’s your life, but I’d do the same if I were you. WordPress is much nicer and doesn’t stink of thuggery.

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Jocknroll on 45

It’s easy to be cynical about the music industry, especially as it uses all it’s power and contacts to try to recoup in every which way but lose the money it snorted up its nose in the 80s when it should have been investing in artistes and looking to the future. The horse, or should that be cash cow, has well and truly bolted and the record industry is busy scrambling around for scraps.

Thankfully for music lovers there are still artists who aren’t put off and strive to shower us music lovers with aural delights and great, great songs. I call them songs because they’re not really records any more, are they? Not real records, not proper records like you and I remember. However, I’m still excited by great new records, sorry, songs – old habits die hard – and the goose pimples they bring.

Indeed a recent visit to Steve Lamacq’s 6Music show, while doing the kitchen chores, found me scrambling for a pen and used envelope as I scribbled down the details of three new tracks that I hadn’t heard before but immediately fell in love with. This all happened within a 20 minute period. It turned out that one of them was a Dodgy Top 30 single from 1995 that had somehow managed to pass me by at the time. For the record – no pun intended – those new wunder-tracks were LCD Soundsystem’s new wave Drunk Girls, Two Door Cinema Club’s infectious Something Good Can Work and the aforementioned Making the Most of…

Three more tracks have stood out for me over the past few days and I feel it my public duty to share them with you.

French Wives

When I first heard French Wives‘ new single I described it as being “like early James but less vegetarian” and repeated listens only confirms that. Don’t get me wrong, I love early James but Me vs Me (Instinctive Raccoon Records) adds a bit of meat to the folk pop recipe. I’d been sent a free mp3 to review but felt I wanted to pay for it in some way, give something back if you’d rather. It would be daft to buy the actual single ao I bought a t-shirt from the band instead. I felt it was the least I could do and what a lovely t-shirt it is too, designed by Manchester singer-artist Gideon Conn.

Since Liz Fraser and, to a lesser extent, Morrissey first appeared on the scene it seems that anything goes as far as vocalizing is concerned. The boundaries have been and truly broken and anything goes. Following Paolo Nutini and Amy MacDonald, the Scottish warbling triumvirate is now made whole by Caledonia’s bright young thing Tommy Reilly. Butch Cassidy to Roddy Hart’s Sundance Kid, Tommy Reilly is a star very much in the ascendancy and new single Take Me Away For The Night lights up the world.

I never tire of bright, jingly-jangly, power pop played from the heart and with a passion some major artists lack. Take Me Away for the Night (A&M Records) thunders along in a non-stop aural assault peppering the ears by snap, crackle and pop, pop, pop. The first time I played it I needed to hear it again. And again. And again.

Excuse my language but I f***in’ love it and the simple but effective video (above) complements it greatly. Go Tommy Go.

While French Wives and Tommy Reilly are relatively new kids on the block The Orchids have been around a while. Despite being saddled with the twee moniker adorning all acts on the legendary Sarah record label, The Orchids’ beautifully crafted soulful laments and pop masterpieces showed them to be a cut above many of their then label mates.

The Orchids - She's My Girl

The band returned after a 13-year hibernation in 2007 with Good To Be A Stranger and awesome new single She’s My Girl (Pebble Records) precedes the second album of their comeback, The Lost Star, due out in the summer.

Buy them all, see them live and thank me later.

French Wives – Me vs Me is out now
The Orchids – She’s My Girl (Pebble) is out Monday 24 May
The Orchids – The Lost Star (Pebble) is out August
Tommy Reilly – Take Me Away For The Night 45 is out on Monday 7 June
Tommy Reilly – Hello! I’m Tommy Reilly LP is out on Monday 14 June

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Edinburgh, Man!

It doesn’t happen very often but yesterday I enjoyed some relative luxury in the shape of a contract cab to and from an appearance on Radio Scotland. Instead of engaging with the two drivers in inane banter about the weather, football or the “bloody trams”, I kept my own council and enjoyed the ride.

It’s been six years since I moved out to the Kingdom’s commuter belt from Scotland’s capital. We didn’t really have much choice. The Good Lady Wife and I had moved into a great flat, only to find it was in an area that we came to know, not affectionately, as “Little Beirut”. For the sake of our familial health we had to move out. We couldn’t afford to move within the city (who could?) so after searching in West Lothian – East Lothian was also out of our range – we settled on Dunfermline. We weren’t the only ones as the ancient capital of Scotland became inundated with “incomers” into what was apparently the biggest housing expansion in Europe. Despite the economic downturn, they’re still building in the home of philanthropist Andrew Carnegie, Moira Shearer and Barbara Dickson.

While I still work in Edinburgh, on the fringes, I don’t get to see as much of the city as I’d like and the two 25-minute taxi journeys allowed me to remember why I fell in love with the city. Gazing from the small window to the Edinburgh world that the Hackney cabs offered, I recalled all that I miss and still love about the capital; the Sunday afternoon double bills at the Cameo Cinema, rummaging amongst the CDs and book at Fopp or Avalanche Records, meandering round one of the quartet of National Galleries buildings, sitting in the relative calm of Princes Street Gardens under the imposing Castle while enjoying an ice cream from Mr Boni’s or a tattie from Cockburn Street’s baked potato shop…I could go on.

I wasn’t born in Edinburgh, or Scotland for that matter, but I would class the city of Edinburgh as my “home town”. It’s easy to take for granted places you have great affection for. You think they’ll always be there until you find yourself in the city one day wondering, “Didn’t that use to be…?” Of course I would visit Embra more often but the shocking parking restrictions make it as friendly as Naomi Campbell with a hangover and no cigarettes. In this respect it could learn from its Caledonian cousin along the M8, which is more inviting for culture vultures like me.

It’s easy to lose touch with old friends, promising to keep in touch although inevitably drifting apart. We must do this again, Edinburgh. We’ll do lunch; I’ll call you.

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This is Jocknroll Radio

Throughout 2008 and 2009, I was a regular contributor to The Scotsman’s Recommends feature, with readers and staff alike contributing their Top 5s Scottish-themed lists; Best Walks in Fife, Best Monros, Best Deep-Fried Chocolate Bar, that kind of thing. While most were tourist related; selling the great and the good that Caledonia has to offer, mine were more pop culturally biased, albeit with a Jockanese slant. Over the next few weeks and months, I intend to revisit my previous choices and amend them accordingly. Seasons come and go, times change and tastes vary with the wind. And besides, I’ve realised I don’t like Bryan Burnett anymore.

In April 2009, I nominated my Best 5 Scottish Radio Shows but in the intervening twelve months my radio listening habits have changed somewhat and I offer you my latest radio recommendations. My original list, as you see from the link above, had three Radio Scotland shows but as one has bitten the dust and I’ve stopped listening to the other two it’s time to revisit my selections. Apart from my own recent appearances on Radio Scotland, I’ve stopped listening to the station completely. I used to be woken by the Radio Scotland breakfast show keeping me abreast of the latest news while I had a shave, shower and a sh…brush my teeth. Due to a change to a more flexible working pattern, I get up earlier so don’t catch the radio alarm.

So Bryan Burnett – I like the listener-driven format but not the presenter – and Janice Forsyth leave the party and in come my new best radio friends.

Stay tuned for more Jocknroll

BEST SCOTTISH RADIO SHOWS

1. Art School Dancing (Ally Gourlay, Leith FM) Mondays 2200-0000 98.8 FM and online (www.leithfm.co.uk)

This is my kind of show. Art School Dancing has been around since the 1980s (Radio West Fife and Kirkcaldy VRN 1287AM) but has now settled into its new Monday night home at Leith FM. Ally pulls all manner of musical magic from his sleeve as listeners are treated to an aural pick ‘n’ mix from the likes of the Cocteau Twins, Idle Race, Culture, Julian Cope, Floxytek and a fabulous intro from Peter Wyngarde. He steers away from the obvious choices while taking us on a journey through psychedelia, new wave and some fresh tracks from 2010. Sure it’s on a school night, but think of it as the only music class you’ll ever need.

2. Soundwave (John Cavanagh, Radio Six) Online via www.radiosix.com

Radio Six International is an Internet radio station based in Glasgow. It broadcasts a wide-ranging mix of sounds from all over the planet and it is radio’s best kept secret. I grew up listening to John Cavanagh on such legendary shows as Original Masters and I could listen to him read the Thomson Local Directory. After Sound of the Sixties on Radio 2, I immediately switch over to hear John’s latest grab bag of the something old, something new, something borrowed, something blues. My loyalties have been tested with Soundwave clashing with Andrew Collins and Richard Herring on 6Music but Soundwave is also available on Friday nights. Phew!

3. The Ken Bruce Show (Ken Bruce, Radio 2) 88-91 FM

The listening figures don’t lie with a weekly reach of 6.6 million listeners tuning into features such as Tracks of my Years and the ever-popular Popmaster quiz, which have successfully appeared on. He may have gone darn saff many years ago but he’s still as Scottish as Irn Bru and shortbread. Recent reports that Bruce was to be axed were neither confirmed nor denied by the BBC but caused considerable outrage. Ken has also been the victim of Wikipedia mischief-makers who suggested that he played maracas on Coast to Coast’s 1981 hit (Do) The Hucklebuck! I’ll even forgive him for supporting the Teddy Bears.

4. Jim Gellatly’s New Music (Jim Gellatly, Radio Magnetic) Radio Magnetic/iTunes

Radio Scotland’s loss is the world’s gain. I don’t know anyone who does more for new Scottish bands than big Jim. His small but perfectly formed weekly podcast is just one string to his ever-expanding bow. As well as his New Music podcast, his addictive Street Sounds of Scotland podcasts and DJing, Jim is branching out into music consultancy, voice-over & podcast production.

5. Where The Action Is (The Cat, Kirkcaldy VRN 1287AM) Channel 3 on hospital bedside or 1287AM in Kirkcaldy

If I don’t blow my own trumpet, no one else will (oo-er missus!). Those who have heard my show have enjoyed it and I know if I were in hospital I’d listen to me too but then I would say that. I play a mix of mod, soul, girl groups/singers, freakbeat and a wide variety of alternative tracks from the late 50s through to the early 70s. There are two rounds of Connect 3, the Foreign Language track, the Half-Time Instrumental, the Trojan Mod Reggae track (replacing the recently completed A to Z of The Beach Boys), Under the Influence, Two of a Kind and every week we celebrate a musical birthday. Mixing up the normal award-nominated show with regular specials (Hallowe’en, Jocknroll for St. Andrews Day, Joe Meek, Eurovision, Christmas), Where The Action Is is very much a labour of love.

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