Playlist: “Planet Pop” on Adam Smith College Radio/K-Town FM – Fri 5 Oct 2012

Here’s the playlist for Friday’s edition of Planet Pop, which went out on Adam Smith College Radio, in association with K-Town FM, between 11 am and 1pm.

For those who don’t know, Planet Pop is a multi-decade, multi-genre show based around a specific theme each week. On each edition of the show we take a track from the previous episode of the show, play it again and build a brand new theme around it. Previous themes have included Planets, Eurovision, Literature, Long Songs, 80s Electronica, Countries, Transport, Hand Claps, Days of the Weeks, the Weather, Occupations, Songs Where The Title Isn’t in the Lyrics and, last time, Full Names.

We had our usual features too, such as the Jocknroll triumverate where, no matter the theme, I play three Scottish songhs in a row relating to the week’s theme and we aslo have our Theme within a Theme, where I’ll play a series of songs, usually three, throughout the show on a tangent to the main theme. There’s also Two of a Kind, featuring two tracks on the day’s theme from the same artist. Here’s is Friday’s playlist for those who missed it. Can you guess what the theme was?

Brad Suggs – 706 Union (Sun/Philips 1959)
10,000 Maniacs – Hey Jack Kerouac (Elektra 1987) (Brought forward from last show)
? and The Mysterians – 96 Tears (Pa-Go-Go/Cameo 1966)
Big Country – 1000 Stars (Mercury 1983)
The Action – Land of 1000 Dances (Parlophone 1965)
Haircut 100 – Favourite Shirts (Boys Meet Girl) (Arista 1981)
Magnetic Fields – 100,000 Fireflies (Harriet 1991)
Man or Astroman – Reverb 10,000 (Estrus 1993)
Blake Babies – A Million Years (Mammoth 1991) MILLIONS 1
Split Enz – Six Months in a Leaky Boat (A&M 1982)
Episode Six – Put Yourself In My Place (Pye 1966)
The Troggs – 66 5 4 3 2 1 (Page One 1966)
Gang of Four – I Found That Essence Rare (EMI 1979)
The Four Tops – Seven Rooms of Gloom (Motown 1967)
The McKinleys – Million Miles Away (Columbia 1964) MILLIONS 2
The Association – Forty Times (Valiant 1965)
The Mamas and The Papas – Twelve Thirty (Young Girls Are Coming To The Canyon) (Dunhill 1967)
Ryan Adams – 29 (Lost Highway 2005)
Roddy Frame – Back To The One (Independiente 1998) JOCKNROLL
Attic Lights – Fve Weeks Behind (Island 2008) JOCKNROLL
The Associates – Party Fears Two (Beggars Banquet 1982) JOCKNROLL
The Beach Boys – 409 (Capitol 1962) TWO OF A KIND
The Beach Boys – Disney Girls (1957) (Brother 1971) TWO OF A KIND
Purple Hearts – Millions Like Us (Fiction 1979) MILLIONS 3
The Alan Bown Set – Emergency 999 (Pye 1966)
The Moving Sidewalks – 99th Floor (Tantara 1967)
One Thousand Violins – Like One Thousand Violins (Dreamworld 1985)
The Bodines – Skankin’ Queens (1000 Times) (Magnet 1987)
The Haunted – 1-2-5 (Quality 1966)
Drop Nineteens – Winona (Hut 1992)
The Byrds – Eight Miles High (Columbia 1966)
The Beatle-ettes – Only Seventeen (Jubilee 1964)
Silver Sun – Fifteen (Polydor 1997)

Well, the theme of Friday’s show was NUMBERS and the THEME WITHIN A THEME tracks were all songs featuring Million or Millions in the title.

So who knows what the next theme will be. Maybe Disney songs to follow on from “Disney Girls (1957)” or perhaps photography after Roddy Frame. Remember, it’ll relate to a track I played on Friday’s show. Until next time…

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Where The Action Is and Isn’t

In February this year the community radio station on which I was broadcasting Where The Action Is decided it was going to re-brand itself. The reason given by the Chairman was that the station “has built up a bad reputation amongst the people & businesses of Edinburgh”. Presenters were all asked to re-apply for their own show on the “new” station.

Two presenters, including yours truly, were told that their services would no longer be required. To this day, despite repeated correspondence, I haven’t been told why. The decision upset me greatly, partly because I put so much work into my show and partly because I didn’t get a chance to say goodbye to my listeners. I’m not ashamed to say I spiralled into a depression and had a go at the station publicly on a radio forum. This would never had happened had I been given an explanation but I was angry and I felt justified in that anger.

I was most perturbed because I had put together a special show as I was originally to be the last show on the station and I had lined up tracks like Sam Cooke’s “A Change Is Gonna Come” to finish with. But the station decided to close early to get the studio ready for their big launch the next day and my preparation had been wasted. (Why they hadn’t got everything ready in the run-up over the previous weeks is beyond me but organisation was never their strong point). Then I was ‘unofficially’ given the news that I needn’t turn up the next week and thereafter. I suspect no reason has been given is because they can’t really justify it. Or maybe its a personal one. Maybe the Chairman felt threatened. Why would a station get rid of one of it’s most popular shows, especially one with a worldwide audience? A number of my listeners wrote to the Chairman too but their questions were ignored, which, sadly, says it all about him. Is that really how to treat listeners and prospective sponsors? They should be trying to attract listeners not losing them through a lack of common courtesy.

My colleague who was also relieved of his show had donated a not inconsiderable sum of money to the station a couple of years ago when the station was in trouble. This is how they thank him. They even expected him to stay on to help out behind the scenes! Throughout this situation I found out who my friends were. There are some good, good people at the station who I miss but there are also some who I wouldn’t cross the road to talk to. Not that talking was their great strength, which is ironic for a radio station. Some of them thought that threatening emails was the way to the best out of presenters. It had the opposite effect and a number of members left over a period of time as a result.

When I finally got a reply from a senior figure at the station I was effectively threatened with being blackballed from other stations for my outbursts against them. Yeah, good luck with that.

Anyway, I’m now over that station and the personal politics and bullshit contained therein – I shall NEVER mention them again – and I’ve started building my audience again on Mixcloud until I find a suitable radio home for the show. Hence the original reason for this post.

Where The Action Is can now be found on Mixcloud at www.mixcloud.com/jocknroll. The Facebook page is still HERE.

The shows are made using a H2 Zoom recorder (for the links) and put together using Abode Audition. So it might sound a bit rough and ready but that’s part of its charm. But it’s not about me, it’s about the music. It’s about hearing music from the most revolutionary period of popular culture; music that is very rarely aired, except perhaps on shows like Radio 2′s Sound of the Sixties. In the recent RAJAR ratings Brian Matthew’s excellent show had listener figures of 3.7 millions and yet radio stations seem reluctant to try to get some of that market. Those stations who do play 60s music seem content with the same old 60s-by-numbers stuff and others, even AM versions of commercial stations, think that “oldies” doesn’t go further back than 1980! One Programme Director, who shall remain nameless, recently said to me that the demographic for 60s music was 70-year olds! While I respect the man’s deep knowledge of the industry he works in, I think his comment is, to be frank, nonsense.

There are any number of 60s clubs on the go at one time and who does he think is putting these clubs on? Is it pensioners? No, it’s young people. Young people with a passion for, arguably, the greatest era of rock ‘n’ roll in this or any other country. I think he needs to step away from his spreadsheets filled with Reach, Share and Audience and see what’s ‘out there’. There is an audience for the 60s, including the more alternative side, but they don’t want to go and get it because they see it as a risk. If they don’t take a risk they’re going to continue to sound like every other radio station, which, for me and many others, is a turn off. Thank god for Radio Six International, the ad-free Amazing Radio, BBC 6Music and all the community/college/hospital stations who are doing something different or risky or niche, like Paul Brown on Radio Cabin in Herne Bay.

I may not be the best presenter in the world but I make up for it with my passion for what I play and in the preparation for my show. I hope this comes through in my show.

There are currently six issues of Where The Action Is now up on Mixcloud at www.mixcloud.com/jocknroll. The Facebook page is HERE and you can leave your comments, requests, marriage proposals etc on either page. The playlists for all the shows are up on Mixcloud too, except the six tracks featured in the Connect 3 games, for obvious reasons. The typos on the playlists are generally Mixcloud’s fault due to some sort of glitch. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.

Don’t forget that while my show used to be live on a Thursday night between 9 and 11pm, you can now listen to the new Mixcloud version whenever you want. The show tends to go up on at some point on a Thursday although circumstances may change from time to time, for holidays, illness etc.

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Playlist: Where The Action Is – Thu 1 Dec 2011 LEITH FM Jocknroll special

To celebrate St. Andrew’s Day in Scotland this week’s Where The Action Is takes on a Jocknroll theme. We’ll have the usual sporran of tunes from Scottish acts of the late 50s through to the early 70s, as well as our regular features. We’ll play a round of the Connect 3 puzzle (can you guess the link between the three Scottish tracks?), the Half-Time Instrumental, a Foreign Language track (which country will we visit this week?), the Under the Influence choice and this week’s Two of a Kind. There will be no Birthday or Death Disco tracks this week.

Hopscotch – Look at the Lights Go Up (United Artists 1968)
Tony Newman – Let The Good Times Roll (Decca 1968) (Show Theme)
James Galt – In My Own Way (Pye 1965)
The McKinleys – When He Comes Along (Columbia 1964)
The Echo-Sounds – Bull Moose (Popular 1966) 
The Beatstalkers – Left Right Left (Decca 1966)
Barry St. John – Bread and Butter (Decca 1964) (Connect 3)
Marmalade – Chains (CBS 1968) (Connect 3)
Lulu – Choc Ice (Decca 1965) (Connect 3)
Chris McClure – Meditation (Polydor 1968)
20th Century Sounds – She’s Nice People (SAUSCA 1965)
The Blues Council – Baby Don’t Look Down (Parlophone 1964)
Iron Virgin – Rebels Rule (Deram 1974)
The Misfits – Hanging Around (Aberdeen Student Charity Appeal 1966)
Bobby Patrick Six – Monkey Time (Decca 1964)
The Athenians – I Got Love If You Want It (Waverley 1964)
Sensational Alex Harvey Band – Faith Healer (Vertigo 1973)
The Beatstalkers – Base Line (Decca 1966) (Half-Time Instrumental)
Studio Six – Don’t Tell Lies (Polydor 1966)
Lulu – Wenn Du Da Bist (Decca 1966) (Foreign Language)
Alex Harvey – Agent 00 Soul (Fontana 1965)
The Hi Fis – I Wanna Hear You Say Yeah (Alp 1966) (Death Disco)
The Boston Dexters – Nothing’s Gonna Change Me (Contemporary 1964)
Miller Anderson – Bright City (Deram 1971)
The Thanes – Hey Girl (Look What You’ve Done) (DDT 1987) (Under The Influence)
Donovan – Wear Your Love Like Heaven (Epic 1967)
Linda Flavell – And The Trouble With You Is Me (Decca 1966)
The Poets – I’ll Come Home (Immediate 1966) (Two of a Kind)
The Poets – I’ll Cry Wth The Moon (Decca 1965) (Two of a Kind)
Dean Ford & The Gaylords – That Lonely Feeling (Columbia 1965)
Dream Police – Living Is Easy (Decca 1970)
New Faces – Walk Tall Like a Man (Pye 1966)
The Societie – Breaking Down (Deram 1967)
Joss Monroe & The Mark Eton Sound – Sha La La (West 1972)
Gallagher & Lyle – Ivy Unrehearsed (Unreleased 1968)
Sol Byron & The Impacts – Pride and Joy (Flamingo 1964)

Thanks to everyone who tuned in. Your contributions and feedback are always welcomed. I’ll be back next week with a show celebrating the work of those who have passed away this year, followed by a fortnight of Christmas shows (15th and 22nd). Tonight’s show included requests for Kevin Rowan-Drewett (Blackpool), Sheila Godfrey (East Kilbride), Fay Gray and Scott Basham (Edinburgh).

You can tune in every Thursday night between 8.30pm and 10pm on 98.8 FM in and around Edinburgh and online via www.leithfm.co.uk or using TuneIn Web Tuner.You can also join in the chat during the show on the “Where The Action Is (Radio Show)” Facebook page. If you’re listening in the USA the show starts at approximately 1230 (PST), 1330 (MST), 1430 (CST) and 1530 (EST).

Requests are welcome for the show, including the features, and I’ll try and accommodate them all, although it may take a couple of weeks to slot them all in.

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

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Playlist: Jocknroll Radio – Sun 4 Sep 2011 LEITH FM

Welcome to a special one-off edition of Jocknroll Radio. I played some of my favourite Scottish artists from the 1960s through to the current day. We also had a number of features, including a round of Connect 3, Something Old Something New, Bus to Bellshill, a Scottish 12″ mix, Nova Scotia, The A to Z of Jocknroll and Twa of a Kind.

Camera Obscura – Honey in the Sun (4AD 2009)
The Beatstalkers – Base Line (Decca 1966) (Show Theme)
Belle and Sebastian – I’m a Cuckoo (Rough Trade 2004)
Roddy Hart – Send a Message (Vertical 2009)
Daniel Wylie – Define Love (Neon Tetra 2007) 
Bis – Action and Drama (Wiiija 1999)
Justin Currie – What Is Love For? (Rykodisc 2007)
Sergeant – Sunshine (Shy Recordings 2009)
The Blue Nile – Because of Toledo (Epstein 2004) (Connect 3)
Green Peppers/Isobel Campbell – Blink of an Eye (Neon Tetra 2007) (Connect 3)
Ivor Cutler – Yellow Fly (Virgin 1975) (Connect 3)
Attic Lights – Never Get Sick of the Sea (Island 2008)
Trashcan Sinatras – Prisons (Lo-Five Records 2009)
The Associates – Party Fears Two (WEA 1982) 12″
The Poets – That’s The Way It’s Got to Be (Decca 1965) (Something Old, Something New)
Ally Kerr – Could Have Been a Contender (Much Obliged 2007) (Something Old, Something New)
BMX Bandits – The Road of Love Is Paved With Banana Skins (Shoeshine 2003) (Bus to…Bellshill)
Teenage Fanclub – Slow Fade (PeMA 2005) (Bus to…Bellshill)
The Bluebells – Wishful Thinking (Will She Always Be Waiting) (London 1984)
Orange Juice – I Can’t Help Myself (Polydor 1982)
Randolph’s Leap – As I Lie In the Mud (Download 2010) (Nova Scotia)
The Reindeer Section – Cartwheels (Bright Star 2002)
Aztec Camera – The Boy Wonders (Rough Trade 1983) (The A to Z of Jocknroll – A)
Aberfeldy – Heliopolis By Night (Rough Trade 2004) (The A to Z of Jocknroll – A)
The Orchids – Thaumaturgy (Sarah 1992) (Twa of a Kind)
The Orchids – The Way That You Move (Pebble 2011) (Twa of a Kind)
Superstar – Superstar (Camp Fabulous 1997)
Big Dish – Miss America (WEA 1990)
The View – Grace (1965 2011)

Thanks, as ever, to everyone who tuned in. I’ll be back on Thursday with my normal show, Where The Action Is. Your contributions are always appreciated and very much welcomed. Tonight’s show included requests for Gaz Sharpe, Philip Stout, Mrs Cat, Rocky and Simon Goddard.

You can tune in every Thursday night between 8.30pm and 10pm on 98.8 FM in and around Edinburgh and online via www.leithfm.co.uk or using TuneIn Web Tuner.You can also join in the chat during the show on the “Where The Action Is (Radio Show)” Facebook page. If you’re listening in the USA the show starts at 1230 (PST), 1330 (MST), 1430 (CST) and 1530 (EST).

Requests are welcome for the show, including the features, and I’ll try and accommodate them all, although it may take a couple of weeks to slot them all in.

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

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Where The Action Is – Playlist Thu 3 Feb LEITH FM

In a deal that slipped under the radar and was made just as the transfer window closed, I can  confirm that Where The Action Is has transferred from Kirkcaldy VRN 1287AM to Leith FM 98.8 for a nominal fee.

As of Thursday 3 February I shall be broadcasting on Leith FM 98.8 and online to the world via www.leithfm.co.uk between 8.30pm and 10pm, sandwiched between Momo’s excellent Imurig (North African Sounds) and the best of UK grime and hip-hop courtesy of Jay, Mica and crew with Music Always Comes First.

Despite the slighter shorter show I’ll still have plenty of  mod, soul, girl groups, Motown, sunshine pop, ye-ye and all manner of alternative tracks from the late 50s through to the early 70s!

There will only be time for one game of Connect 3, where you can guess the link between three tracks (give your answer on the show’s dedicated Facebook page), a birthday track and a Foreign Language track. We’ll still have the Half-Time Instrumental and Two of a Kind but the Trojan Mod Reggae track has made way for Death Disco, which, as you can appreciate, wasn’t a suitable feature for hospital radio.

The Tremeloes – Hello World (CBS 1969)
Tony Newman – Let The Good Times Roll (Decca 1968) (show theme)
Dino, Desi and Billy – Not The Lovin’ Kind (Reprise 1965)
Billie Davis – Billie Sunshine (Decca 1969)
The Marvelettes – I’ll Keep On Holding On (Motown 1965)
The Shondells – Wonderful One (King 1962)
The Liverpool Five – I Can Only Give You Everything (TK 1965) (Connect 3)
Billy Nichols – London Social Degree (Immediate 1968) (Connect 3)
John Carter and Ken Lewis – Birmingham Brass Band (Demo 1968) (Connect 3)
Sanford Clark – Houston (Warner Bros 1965)
A Wild Uncertainty – A Man With Money (Planet 1966)
Patsy Ann Noble – Sour Grapes (Columbia 1963) (Birthday: 3/2/44)
The Dee-Tees – Got Love If You Want It (Philips 1965)
John Carter – She Won’t Show Up Tonight (Demo 1967)
Small Faces – Own Up Time (Decca 1966) (Half-Time Instrumental)
Lesley Gore – My Gu y, My Town and Me (Mercury 1965)
Peggy March – Das Ist Zauberi (Decca 1970) (Foreign Language)
Jackie Wilson – The Who Who Song (Brunswick 1967)
The Times – Tomorrow Night (Columbia 1966)
The Shangri-las – Give Us Your Blessings (Red Bird 1964) (Death Disco)
The Rockin’ Vickers – It’s Alright (CBS 1965)
The Thrills – Santa Cruz (You’re Not That Far) (Virgin 2002) (Under the Influence)
Mary Wells – You Beat Me To The Punch (Motown 1962)
Guy Darrell & Wind of Change – Stupidity (CBS 1965)
Sir Douglas Quintet – She’s a Mover (London 1965)
Billy Fury – Things are Changing (Parlophone 1967) (Two of a Kind)
Billy Fury – Colette (Decca 1959) (Two of a Kind)
The Small Faces – I Feel Much Better (Immediate 1967)

I shall continue to provide an extended version of this show on Kirkcaldy VRN 1287AM for the rest of February but to avoid confusion between the two I’ll only post the Leith FM playlist here. I’m looking to do a different type of show on VRN from March onwards. Watch this space.

So a lot has happened in a short space of time. Once I’ve settled into Leith FM I’ll be looking at listeners making requests, especially for the features.

Don’t forget you can hear me, The Cat, on Leith FM 98.8 or online every Thursday between 8.30pm and 10pm or,  if you’re in the Victoria Hospital in Kirkcaldy, you can hear an extended version of Where The Action Is on Channel 3 on your bedside headphones or on 1287AM on the Medium Wave between 1702 and 1900 every Sunday.

A big thanks for Momo, John and Ally for all their assistance and to all of you who tuned into the first show. There are already requests coming in for show 2. Keep ‘em coming.

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

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Where The Action Is: Playlist Sunday 23 January 2011

Two days before Burns night we celebrate the obscure and not so obscure of Scottish rock and pop with a special Jocknroll edition of Where The Action Is! This selection of tunes should’ve been broadcast in November for St. Andrew’s Day but the weather put paid to that.

As usual we’ll have two games of Connect 3, where you can guess the link between three Jockanese tracks and this week we have a Foreign Language track from Lulu. There’s also the Half-Time Instrumental and Two of a Kind from The Poets.

The Misfits – Hanging Around (Aberdeen Students Charity Appeal 1966)
Tony Newman – Let The Good Times Roll (Decca 1968) (show theme)
Bobby Patrick Big Six – Monkey Time (Decca 1964)
Studio Six – Bless My Soul (I’ve Been and Gone and Done It) (Polydor 1967)
Donovan – Catch The Wind (Pye 1965)
The Blues Council – Baby Don’t Look Down (Parlophone 1964)
Linda Flavell – And The Trouble With Me Is You (Decca 1966)
The Golden Crusaders – Come On, Come On (Columbia 1964)
New Faces – Never Gonna Love Again (Pye 1965) (Connect 3)
The Athenians – I Got  Love If You Want It (Waverley 1964) (Connect 3)
The Poor Souls – Love Me (Alp 1965) (Connect 3)
The McKinleys – That Lonely Feeling (Parlophone 1964)
The Scots of St. James – Timothy (Spot 1967)
Lulu – Stubborn Kinda Fellow (Ace of Clubs 1967)
The Luvvers – House on the Hill (Parlophone 1966)
My Dear Watson – Stop Stop There I’ll Be (Parlophone 1968)
Lulu – So Fing Es An (Decca 1966) (Foreign Language)
Davey Graham – Goin’ Down Slow (Decca 1965)
The Beatstalkers – Base Line (Decca 1966) (Half-Time Instrumental)
James Galt – With My Baby (Pye 1966)
Dean Ford and the Gaylords – He’s a Good Face (But he’s No Down and Out) (Columbia 1965)
Sol Byron and The Impacts – Pride and Joy (Flamingo 1964)
The Anteeks – I Don’t Want You (Philips 1966)
Societie – Bird Has Flown (Deram 1967)
Barry St. John – Hey Boy (Decca 1965)
The Orchids – She’s My Girl (Pebble 2010) (Under the Influence)
Joss Monroe & The Mark Eton Sound – Sha La La (West 1972)
The Black Ring – Take It or Leave It (SAUSCA 1965)
One in a Million – Double Sight (MGM 1968)
The Boston Dexters – Nothing’s Gonna Change Me (Contemporary 1964) (Connect 3)
Tam White – Don’t Make Promises (Deram 1969) (Connect 3)
The Buzz – You’re Holding Me Down (Columbia 1966) (Connect 3)
Dream Police – Living is Easy (Decca 1970)
Mickey Moonshine – Name It You Got It (Decca 1974)
The Poets – I Love Her Still (Decca 1965) (Two of a Kind)
The Poets – Wooden Spoon (Decca 1967) (Two of a Kind)
Hopscotch – Look At The Lights Go Up (United Artists 1968)
Jackie Dennis – La Dee Dah (Decca 1958)
Tony Newman – Let The Good Times Roll (Decca 1968) (show theme)

That’s it for this week. (Please note, for the sake of compliance, that today’s show was actually recorded yesterday as I’m off to Glasgow tonight to see the BMX Bandits’ 25th Anniversary Concert).

Don’t forget, 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 1287AM on the Medium Wave between 1702 and 1900 every Sunday.

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

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Where The Action Is: Sunday 5 December 2010

Firstly apologies to regular listeners  for the lack of a Jocknroll special last week. The weather put paid to it. I shall instead be using it to celebrate Burns Night in January 2011. I did, however, manage to get to the studio to record this week’s show. I’ll be in the Wild West at the third and final day of the Glasgow Popfest at Stereo, featuring the very wonderful The Orchids, so you’ll have to put up with me on tape.

This week on Where the Action Is we celebrate the music of those from the world of rock and pop who have passed away in 2010 with a special edition of the show entitled “Gone But Not Forgotten”.

As usual we’ll have two slightly different games of Connect 3, where the three tracks will each involve someone who died this year. There’s also the Half-Time Instrumental and Two of a Kind from Big Star, who lost two members this year, as did The Action.

The Action – Love is All (Unreleased 1967/1968)
Floyd Cramer – On The Rebound (RCA 1961) (show theme)
Stone Poneys/Linda Ronstadt – Different Drum (Capitol 1967)
The Isley Brothers – Take Me In Your Arms (Rock Me a Little While) (Tamla Motown 1968)
Lesley Duncan – See That Guy (Mercury 1965)
The Kinks – Tired of Waiting for You (Pye 1965)
The Kinks – Dead End Street (Pye 1966)
The Free Design – Bubbles (Project 3 1970)
Johnny Kidd & The Pirates – Hungry for Love (HMV 1963) (Connect 3)
Billy J Kramer and the Dakotas – Chinese Girl (Reaction 1967) (Connect 3)
The Dakotas – The Spider and the Fly (Philips 1968) (Connect 3)
Willie Mitchell – That Driving Beat (London 1965)
Bobby Hebb – Love Love Love (Philips 1966)
Reg King & BB Blunder – Little Boy (United Artists 1971)
The Carpenters – Goodbye to Love (A&M 1972)
The Essex featuring Anita Humes – A Walkin’ Miracle (Roulette 1963)
Redbone – The Witch Queen of New Orleans (Epic 1971)
Neil Christian and the Crusaders – The Road To Love (Columbia 1962) (Foreign Language)
The Kinks – Village Green (Pye 1966/1967) (Half-Time Instrumental)
Eddie Fisher – The Chase (Ramrod 1960)
Crispian St. Peters – You’re On My Mind (Decca 1965)
The Action – Twenty Fourth Hour (Parlophone 1967)
The Action – Never Ever (Parlophone 1967)
The Supremes – Someday We’ll Be Together (Motown 1969)
Marvin Gaye/Tammi Terrell – If I Could Build My Whole World Around You (Tamla 1967)
The Boston Dexters – What Kind of Girl Are You? (Contemporary 1964)
The Buzz – I Gotta Buzz (Columbia 1966)
The Showmen – It Will Stand (London 1962)
Chairmen of the Board – Give Me Just a Little More Time (Invictus 1970)
The Action – Mine Exclusively (BBC 1966) (Connect 3)
The Action – Interview with Reg King (BBC 1966) (Connect 3)
The Action – Baby You Got It (BBC 1966) (Connect 3)
The Action – Shadows and Reflections (Parlophone 1967) (Connect 3)
Big Star – Daisy Glaze (Stax 1973) (Two of a Kind)
Big Star – When My Baby’s Beside Me (Stax 1972) (Two of a Kind)
Solomon Burke – Home in Your Heart (Atlantic 1962)
Floyd Cramer – On The Rebound (RCA 1961) (show theme)

So  it’s goodbye and thanks for the memories to Mike “Ace” Evans (The Action), Reg King (The Action), Kenny Edwards (Stone Poneys), Lesley Duncan, Pete Quaife (The Kinks), Chris Dedrick (Free Design), Mick Green, Willie Mitchell, Bobby Hebb, Tony Peluso, Anita Humes, Lolly Vasquez, Neil Christian, Eddie Fisher, Harvey Fuqua, Tam White, Norman Johnson, Solomon Burke, Alex Chilton and Andy Hummel. God bless you all.

Next week’s show, weather permitting, will be the first of two Christmas specials, full of weird and wonderful festive tunes.

Don’t forget, 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 1287AM on the Medium Wave between 1702 and 1900 every Sunday.

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

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Snow Business Like Show Business/Aye Tunes poll

On Friday night I was at Sergeant’s farewell gig at the Rothes Hall in Glenrothes. The weather was fine when I entered the venue past the throng of smoking teenyboppers but it was a blanket of white fluffy stuff by the time I returned to my car at the end of the gig. The drive home was rather hairy but I made it back in one piece and via one lane all the way. RIP Sergeant. (Also a great set by local band The Rioteers and new Sergeant-led project Saint Kilda)

While I managed to get to the Victoria Radio Network studios very early on Saturday morning to record next Sunday’s “Gone But Not Forgotten” special (celebrating the music of those who have shoved off this mortal coil this year), I wasn’t able to make it on Sunday to do my annual Jocknroll/St. Andrew’s Day show. (I’m supposed to be off to see The Orchids at Glasgow’s Popfest hence the pre-record, but the weather may put paid to that too).

The Saturday journeys, bar a couple of skids, were relatively trouble-free but early on Sunday morning I knew I wouldn’t make it back for this week’s live Jocknroll show. I wouldn’t have minded so much had I not put so much effort into the Jocknroll show. It’s not as if I could do it in December as (a) I’ve already prepared those shows and (b) they’re Christmas ones. Instead I’ll broadcast it just before Burns Night in January. Another tiny issue is that the pre-recorded show for the 12th mentions the Jocknroll special of the previous week!

It remains to be seen whether the two festive shows I have planned for 12 and 19 December will go ahead as planned. Only time and Sean Batty will tell.

And talking of Paisley boys, Jim at AyeTunes is running an informal, just-for-a-bit-of-a-laugh year-end poll. I like filling these things in although I can never remember at lot of the new stuff I’ve been listening on account of spending the last three years stuck in the 60s. Musically speaking, that is.

Anyway, here were my selections and, yes, I did vote for myself in one category!

Aye Tunes Readers’ Poll 2010

Best Band:

1. The Orchids
2. Teenage Fanclub
3. Arcade Fire

Best Solo Artist:

1. Edwyn Collins
2. Tommy Reilly
3. Dan Lyth

Best New Band/Solo Artist: (New is very subjective, if you first heard of them this year, that’ll do)

1. French Wives
2. Jonny
3. Dan Lyth

Best Live Band:

1. Teenage Fanclub
2. The Orchids
3. Jonny

Best Album:

1. Edwyn Collins – Losing Sleep
2. Arcade Fire – The Suburbs
3. The Orchids – The Lost Star

Best Single/EP: (Basically anything that isn’t an album)

1. Tommy Reilly – Take Me Away for the Night
2. Jonny – Free 4-Track Download EP (Gloria/Beach Party/Continental/Michaelangelo)
3. French Wives – Me Vs Me

Best Music Blog/Website: (Aye Tunes isn’t eligible for this. Partly to avoid accusations, partly to stop me seeing how few would have said it anyway)

1. The Pop Cop
2. The Vinyl Villain
3. Song, By Toad

Best Music Radio Show/Podcast:

1. Sounds of the Sixties (Radio 2)
2. Where The Action Is (Kirkcaldy VRN 1287AM)
3. Art School Dancing (Ally Gourlay, Leith FM)

Best Venue:

1. HMV Picturehouse, Edinburgh
2. Barrowlands, Glasgow
3. Abbot House, Dunfermline

Best Gig: (as in, best one you’ve been at this year, just in case you were confused)

1. Teenage Fanclub/Veronica Falls (HMV Picturehouse, Edinburgh – 4 June 2010)
2. Sergeant/The Ray Summers/Saint Kilda/The Rioteers/? (Rothes Hall, Glenrothes – 25 November 2010)
3. Jackie Leven (Abbot House, Dunfermline – 25 February 2010)

I should point out that as at today’s date I’ve only been to three gigs this year and although I only have two more planned before the start of 2011 my participation in one of those is in doubt thanks to the unseasonal November weather; namely the aforementioned Orchids gig. I should still be okay for Ronnie Spector’s Christmas gig in Edinburgh.

If I should make it a measly total of five gigs for the year that’ll be my worse tally since records began. Or at least since I started doing my gigs spreadsheet. The last time I had such a bad year-end total was 2006 when I saw only Roddy Frame and Maria McKee and the latter was a present for the Good Lady Wife so I was sort of obliged, although I did enjoy it. Just for the record my best year was 1993 when I notched up 23 rock ‘n’ roll shows. Those were the days.

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Where The Action Is: Playlist Sunday 26 September 2010

After last week’s trip to Instroville on Kirkcaldy VRN 1287AM, we’re back to our normal mix of mod, soul, Motown, girl groups and alternative pop on Where the Action Is!

As usual we’ll have two games of Connect 3, where you can guess the link between three tracks, a birthday track for Olivia Newton-John and a Foreign Language song from Lulu. There’s also the Half-Time Instrumental, a Trojan Mod Reggae track, Two of a Kind from Beryl Marsden, as well as The Barracudas in the Under the Influence feature.

The Orchids – Oo-Chang-A-Lang (London 1964)
Floyd Cramer – On The Rebound (RCA 1961) (show theme)
The Yardbirds – Evil Hearted You (Columbia 1965)
The Strangers – Look Out (Here Comes Tomorrow) (Pye 1967)
The Searchers – Second Hand Dealer (Pye 1967)
Tony’s Defenders – Yes I Do (Columbia 1966)
Tammi Terrell – I Can’t Believe You Love Me (Motown 1965)
Petula Clark – Groovin’ (edit) (Pye 1967)
Jan and Dean – She’s My Summer Girl (Liberty 1963) (Connect 3)
Autumn – My Little Girl (Pye 1971) (Connect 3)
The Settlers – Till Winter Follows Spring (Pye 1966) (Connect 3)
The Manish Boys – Take My Tip (Parlophone 1965)
Brenda Lee – The Letter (Decca 1968)
Olivia Newton-John – Till You Say You’ll Be Mine (Decca 1966) (Birthday: 26/9/48)
Boyce and Hart – Teardrop City (A&M 1968)
The Factotums – Cloudy (Pye 1967)
Lulu – Wenn Du Da Bist (Decca 1966) (Foreign Language)
The Isley Brothers – I Guess I’ll Always Love You (Motown 1962)
The Shadows – Scotch On The Socks (Columbia 1966) (Half-Time Instrumental)
Truly Smith – The Boy From Chelsea (Decca 1967)
The Freshmen – Just To See You Smile (Pye 1969)
Laurel Aitken & The Soulmen – Last Night (Trojan 1965) (Trojan Mod Reggae)
The Knack – Did You Ever Have To Make Up Your Mind? (Piccadilly 1966)
Simon Dupree & The Big Sound – 60 Minutes (Of Your Love)/A Lot of Love (Parlophone 1967)
Tom Jones – A Taste of Honey (Decca 1966)
The Barracudas – I Can’t Pretend (Zonophone 1981) (Under the Influence)
The Supremes/Four Tops – River Deep, Mountain High (Motown 1968)
The Greenbeats – So Sad (To Watch Good Love Go Bad) (Pye 1965)
Shapes and Sizes – Rain On My Face (Decca 1966)
The Applejacks – Like Dreamers Do (Decca 1964) (Connect 3)
Madeline Bell – You Won’t See Me (Philips 1966) (Connect 3)
Vicki Carr – Nowhere Man (EMI 1966) (Connect 3)
Haycock’s Roadhouse – Mix-A-Fix (Columbia 1967)
R Dean Taylor – Indiana Wants Me (Motown 1968)
Beryl Marsden – When The Lovelight Starts Shining Thru’ His Eyes (Decca 1964) (Two of a Kind)
Beryl Marsden – What She’s Got (Columbia 1966) (Two of a Kind)
Peter Nelson – Don’t Make Promises (You Can’t Keep) (Piccadilly 1966)
Floyd Cramer – On The Rebound (RCA 1961) (show theme)

In the run up to Christmas there will also be a number of other themed shows including Ember Records (Oct 3 and 10), Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil (Oct 17), Hallowe’en (Oct 31) and St. Andrew’s Day/Jocknroll (Nov 28). Feel free to suggest any tracks for these forthcoming shows.

Don’t forget, 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 1287AM on the Medium Wave between 1702 and 1900 every Sunday.

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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