Schhh...

Yessir.

Short Term

A bit of an emotional day for us today: the girlies break up for the summer hols and the eldest leaves her (lovely) primary school for good.

*gulp*

It's a cliché but true: it seems like only yesterday we first walked her through the gates, a late August birthday girl just 4 years old, the youngest in the class, the youngest in the school; a photo of her standing in front of the house in her bright new uniform.

Today she'll come home (considerably taller) with a hundred farewell signatures scribbled in biro on her shirt and a trace of a tear in her eye, though trying not to show it.

As Big School looms...

Black Box Recorder - 'The School Song' (2003)

Summer Making Sense

Continuing a sort of series of seasonal songs with a track you hear once and feel you've known all your life - another one that's been buzzing about my head lately like a housefly trapped inside on a hot summer's day.

With thanks to Drew, who first introduced us (*cough* nothing original to see here, move along).

The Airborne Toxic Event - 'The Girls In Their Summer Dresses' (2006)

Friday Reggae # 16

We're off to an end-of-school-year parents' social tonight, which is really not my sort of thing; I would much rather be at home getting myself outside of a bottle of vino with Mrs H whilst the girlies play out front and groovy sounds emanate from my gramophone.

Oh. I've just read on the 'confirmation email' that facilities at the venue exist to plug iPods into speakers, so maybe that'll keep me amused for the evening.

Perhaps it'll be like those 6th Form parties where you were forever taking off some fool's rubbish records to put your Tamla Motown on.

It'll end in tears.

Judy Mowatt - 'Emergency Call' (1974)

(I HEART this track!).

Bored Of The Flies

Is it me or are there an awful lot of flies about this year? Maybe it's because of all that hot weather and then the rain this week, but I can't lift a bloody banana in our house without disturbing hundreds of what Mrs H assures me are Drosophila, and last night walking home from the station in broad daylight, after I had already ducked great swirly clouds of gnats through the woods, some little blighter that looked like a small moth landed on my finger and bit it hard, right then and there as bold as brass. Tonight I hung up some seeds for the birds in our thorn tree and disturbed a major settlement of the buggers.

Anyway.

This has been lurking for a bit too - you'll see from the title nestling in the Wey post it's been on my mind for a while; and I am never one to ignore these clues/cues.

Now where's the witchhazel...

Tim Buckley - 'Buzzin' Fly' (1969)

Celebrated Summer

I kind of like Hüsker Dü without having much of their stuff - Candy Apple Grey, a few downloads and, if they count, a tape of a dark Bob Mould solo album and that splendid Sugar single.

I don't have any Red House Painters either, but this Mark Kozelek cover, which came to me in 2008 from a terrific, zeitgeisty zip from a much-missed Weegie blogger with a fringe*, has been on heavy rotation in my house and in my head this past week.

The Dü's Mould is famously one of those guys who has both a natural gift for melody and a contrasting penchant for thrashy noise - when the two come together well, as they do here, it is quite something; Kozelek meanwhile strips out the second thing so we can luxuriate fully in the glory of the first, and hey, that's appreciated too.

Hüsker Dü - 'Celebrated Summer' (1985)

Mark Kozelek - 'Celebrated Summer' (2008)

* thanks Colin

Yeah Harriet

Indie Siren In London Heatwave Blogpost Shocker!

I Don't Need Sunny Skies

I loved this when I was little and I love it forty years later.

Only truly great pop songs go on giving in this way.

It was a demo too!

Carole King - 'It Might As Well Rain Until September' (1962)

My Own Wey

And in complete contrast...

I walked the River Wey Navigations in deepest Surrey today - well, the stretch between Pyrford and Send and back, at least. A literal quiet stretch of stream to match the figurative one I've hit after a time of whiter water - canal boats and ancient locks, reedbeds, willows, wild meadow, a kestrel hovering overhead; buzzin' flies.

Four hours walking in green - it's good for the soul.

Not even the barking Surrey golfers through the trees could spoil my mood.

I wouldn't want them as my neighbours mind.

(London, That's The Place For Me, etc).

Paul Weller* - 'Country' (1993)

* Local boy made good.

(East) London Calling

I went along to the London Calling Exhibition in Bethnal Green today - a funky riffola around the paintings, design work and cartoons of the late Ray Lowry, especially his work as 'War Artist' and companero to The Clash and even more especially that album cover, on which there were many, variously, funny, affectionate, baffling and inspired takes by contemporary artists, famous fans, band associates and, even, band members (Messrs Jones and Simonon). Paul Simonon's tribute thrillingly included a tiny fragment of the actual bass guitar he is doing such violence to in the iconographic Pennie Smith image. Oo, and indeed, er.

It was all rather splendid, as was my amble afterwards down a sunny Brick Lane, and sorry for the late notice and all but the thing closes on Sunday, so if you can you must boogie on down there pronto.

Quiff it up!

Vince Taylor & The Playboys - 'Brand New Cadillac' (1958)

Gotta Put Me On

Sunshine, sunshine, sunshine : )

Can't get enough of this sort of thing right now.

Hey Anon, there's a lyrical wink to this in the P.M Dawn too.

A Tribe Called Quest - 'Bonita Applebum' (1990)

Subterranean By Design

You'll give me a hundred reasons why I shouldn't like this Joni Mitchell lyric-referencing Spandau Ballet-sampling soft pop hip-hop thing, but I have to tell you - I do.

Especially when the sun's shining, baby.

P.M Dawn - 'Set Adrift On Memory Bliss' (1991)

Yeah Baby

Our occasional series of extended slow-jam classics builds into a magnificent library your whole family will enjoy.

Confession: I knew the Ice Cube* before I knew the original.

In belated memoriam Marvin Isley (bass) who quit this crazy scene on 6th June.

The Isley Brothers - 'Footsteps In The Dark, Pts 1 & 2' (1977)

*re-upped

I Think I'll Call It A Morning

I'm gonna take myself a piece of sunshine
And paint it all over my sky

Be no rain
Be no rain

Gil Scott-Heron - 'I Think I'll Call It A Morning' (1971)

Karma (coma)

Connections, connections, connections and....more connections.

I only went out to pay a cheque in at the bank but something made me drop into the strange-scrappy charity shop by the station and what, what should I find there but that dark masterpiece Maxinquaye - on vinyl, 'near-mint', a quid. I see it's going on the internets for £20. I'm feeling lucky, punk.

Thought my run of Massive Attack-linked things had ended with Wally Badarou, but Lady Serena Dibity had other plans.

Tricky - 'Overcome' (1995)

This Is England

Almost posted some Algerian rai, just for the heck of it...

But have this instead, because it is brill.

Still miss you Joe.

Daydreaming

Connections, connections, connections: another African (though in this case, Paris-born) artist and another track sampled by Massive Attack on Blue Lines (an album I am increasingly convinced was the finest of the 90s) - this one all funky synthy, and dig those (electronic?) bongos.

It's Isaac Hayes meets Jan Hammer, but in a good way.

I've been playing it over and over all week.

Wally Badarou - 'Mambo' (1983)

The Smiling Hour

It's a World Cup in South Africa cocktail special, baby.

And it's bloody lovely.

Hugh Masekela - 'Grazing In The Grass' (1968)

Tropicality

Strange weather here: rain/sun/rain/sun - heat: all a bit tropical, I thought, as I walked back through the woods from the station tonight, hacking dense vegetation from my path with my faithful machete.

So - this'll do nicely: lilting and lovely and impossible not to sway your big hips to.

From a 21 year old Observer offer mail-order cassette: the Lion Of Zimbabwe, banned from Mugabe's State radio and living in exile in the USA.

Thomas Mapfumo - 'Mwoyo Wangu (My Heart)' (1989)

Yeah Baby Serendipity

Working up to a Friday post as the sun beat down outside I ripped Stevie's 'Rocket Love' from Hotter Than July (and it is, baby) and thought to myself, out of nowhere - 'mellow, mellow right on!'

What a lucky (excuse the pun) break! As I bet Massive Attack agree.

For this it most certainly must be.

And it wouldn't surprise me if our occasional series of extended slow-jam classics builds into a stunning collection your whole family will enjoy.

Lowrell - 'Mellow Mellow Right On' (extended version) (1979)

Yeah Baby Tuesday

This week I'm off with the girlies for half term - which means not having to get up too early, which means not having to go to bed too early, which means staying up late listening to the funky sounds on Your Classic And 21st Century Soul Station Solar Radio and playing 'Intermediate, Portuguese' and the like at Windows internet checkers.

Hey, I know how to have a good time.

This starts out all 'Do The Latin Hustle' or Saturday Night Fever's 'Manhattan Skyline' until in come real steel drums and then a properly funky bassline bubbling up behind the disco strings; they say Larry Levan played it at the Paradise Garage and I bet Darcy's got the 12".

It's kinda TGOE Friday on a Tuesday, but I think you can take it.

John Gibbs & The US Steel Orchestra - 'Trinidad' (1977)

Meanwhile...

Friday Reggae # 15

And before you know it, a week's gone.

Ach, I quite enjoyed shutting up for a bit to be honest - popping round other people's places, loving a bit of hot weather early in the week and beyond that just keeping the head down and bringing home the (veggie) bacon, you know how it goes.

I wonder if there's a record fair on somewhere this weekend? I quite fancy a record fair.

This popped up on the iPo en route to one in Chiswick a few weeks back, a sunny Saturday and the little cafes and veg shops bustling along Turnham Green Terrace, everything alright with the world.

It is rather fine and I commend it to the house.

Horace Andy & Ashley Beedle - 'Babylon You Lose' (2008)

Friday Reggae # 14

Because 25C is irie with me.

Sugar Minott - 'Good Thing Going' (1981)

Sunny Pop Song # 4

From the magnificent Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones LP, which I bought an old mono copy of donkey's years back, this song was written by the band's regular producer and ex-Turtle Chip Douglas, with Glaswegian songwriter Bill Martin (who - attention Eurovision trivialists! - also co-wrote 'Puppet On A String' and 'Congratulations').

Who was your favourite Monkee?

Mine was Mike Nesmith, hands down.

He's singing lead here.

The Monkees - 'The Door Into Summer' (1967)

Despatches

Pat - casual

I was pleased to find this priced so reasonably on Amazon Marketplace last week, but it is taking a bloomin' long time to arrive, I must say; possibly this is the fault of the Royal Mail who seem to have an especially casual approach to deliveries in our area - sometimes we don't get our 'morning' post until 3pm, and where's the point in that, eh? Sheesh. I may have to write a stern retired Colonel-type letter about it to the right-wing press.

Anyway, pending the lovely compilation and its lovely selection of a 25 lovely northern soul classics' final arrival and because, frankly, not much else is happening round here at the moment, here is one (cracker!) I was playing earlier.

Listen to the sound of the drummer
Thumpin' to the beat of my heart

The M.V.P.'s - 'Turnin' My Heartbeat Up' (1971)

The Smiling Hour

Funny since we were only talking about it in the pub last night that this should turn up today in the £1 bargain bin at Honest Jon's.

The gods of vinyl did smile down and the sun on Portobello did shine.

I got a large amount of baby plum tomatoes, two peppers, some aubergines and a big bunch of coriander too.

Gin!

Working Week - 'Who's Fooling Who?' (1985)

Soul Monday

I spent a fun hour or so last night watching clips of and about the Wigan Casino on YouTube (there are lots).

One was soundtracked by this, which is a beauty.

On vinyl it's one of those singles so rare it'll set you back a few hundred quid to buy.

So I'm thinking it's unlikely to turn up in my charity shop for 75p anytime soon.

Tan Geers - 'Let My Heart And Soul Be Free' (1968)

The Smiling Hour

Mancini, Nancy, gin.

Called for tonight more than ever.

Nancy Wilson - 'Moon River' (1963)

Exeunt

The sunny weather today reminded me of another, 13 years ago.

We took it off work and sat in the front garden, basking in the light and warmth and promise of a new beginning. The end of nearly twenty years of Tory rule, those bitter years of division and neglect and hectoring and despair. And we knew now things would change: a sweeping majority, a huge mandate; politics reshaped, a minimum wage, the NHS saved and remade, Education, Education, Education, ethics in our foreign policy, no more young British men and women sent to horrible deaths for spurious ends in unnecessary wars, a new society and a shared vision that re-united us as a people: Atlee in 45, Tony in 97 - dancing in the streets. Everyone smiling. Because this victory was ours.

----

So here's where the story ends.

Not with a bang, but a whimper.

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