Punk & Two Tone

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Click on the images to read the reviews  -

The Damned
The Ramones
The Clash
The Jam
Punk Singles
The Sex Pistols
The Stranglers
Siouxsie
The Buzzcocks
New York Dolls
Patti Smith
Stiff Little Fingers
Generation X
Iggy Pop
Television
The Adverts
The Rezillos
Eddie/Hot Rods
999
X-Ray Spex
The Undertones
Sham 69
The Skids
The Ruts
Wire
Penetration
The Vibrators
The Lurkers
Magazine
Modern Lovers
Devo
Pere Ubu
The Police
The Slits
The Dead 60s
Green Day

Two Tone -
The Specials
The Selecter
The Beat
Madness

Bad Manners

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Joni Mitchell: Don Juan's Reckless Daughter - 1977

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Joni Mitchell: For The Roses - 1972

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  Things liven up for Joni Mitchell from the bleakness of Blue   a little (well only slightly) on this more melodic and playful offering (again, only at times) although it is still essentially Joni as singer-songwriter accompanying herself.   A song like  Banquet  is a lovely song - with some wonderfully inventive lyrics about who gets the marrowbone and who gets the gristle - but its piano and vocal sound is nothing we haven't heard before. The same applies to  Lesson In Survival , but again I cannot deny its stark, lyrical, poetic beauty. "I looked again at the ocean, love to see that green water in motion...". Joni never fails to delver, does she? For The Roses  is beautifully, acoustically warm. It is simply lovely songwriting too, I can't hope to convincingly analyse it.  See You Sometime  is in the same category.  "I spring from the boulders like a mama lion"  is my pick of the lyrics here. Musically similar is  Woman Of   Heart And Mind , albeit with
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Trojan Presents Classic Reggae

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There are certainly some fine collections in this series from the legendary Jamaican Trojan label but this is arguably the best, functioning as a sort of compressed, bite-size history of reggae itself. It also has remastered its many classic cuts outstandingly well.  Let's look at what's on offer - Disc One The collection kicks off by including an original ska number in Byron Lee & The Dragonaires' joyful  Jamaica Ska . Ska was where it all began, of course, before the rock steady rude boys came along.... Desmond Dekker & The Aces' 007 (Shanty Town)  is  Rude Boy Heaven. The song became a hit in the UK. Its James Bond/007 message is unclear, he is only mentioned in one line, but the rest of the song would seem to be another anti-Rude Boy condemnation. "Rude Boy him a weep and a-wail" . Continuing the rude boy theme, Dandy recorded the original of A Message To You Rudy , memorably covered by The Specials. Rico Rodriguez, who played on The Specials'
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Bruce Springsteen: Greatest Hits

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Burning Spear: Social Living - 1978

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By 1978, Burning Spear (Winston Rodney) was three years away from what was rapidly becoming his seminal album in  Marcus Garvey  and his previous two albums, 1976's  The Man In The Hills  and 1977's  Dry And Heavy  had witnessed a lighter touch to Spear's music - lighter vocals, more lilting guitar work, bucolic lyrics and a general chilled-out vibe.  So, it was a bit of a surprise to find that this album is his heaviest, densest, rootsiest offering to date. While the  Marcus Garvey  album had, notoriously, been re-mixed by Island Records to render it more palatable to UK listeners (not really necessary because a lot of UK reggae fans loved their hard-core roots), this release underwent no such tinkering. By 1978, it seemed, people realised that the heavier and the dubbier the album was the better it would be received.  What we get here, therefore, are a series of dense, grinding roots grooves that rumble along without a huge amount of hooks and Spear's vocals becoming
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Glam Greats 2: 20 Seventies Sensations

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UB40: Labour Of Love II - 1989

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Released in 1989, I love this album, possibly even more so than the wonderful Labour Of Love 1. It is full of atmospheric covers of reggae classics delivered by Ali Campbell’s unique voice. Despite never having been remastered the sound is still good. I lived in Moseley, Birmingham, at the time and it is so evocative of that part of the city.   Highlights for me are their versions of  Lord Creator ’s  Kingston Town ;  Honey Boy ’s  Sweet Cherrie ,  Smokey Robinson ’s  The Way You Do The Things You Do ; a superbly bassy, toasty take on  John Holt ’s  Wear You To The Ball    and  The Kingstonian ’s  Singer Man .  Tears From My Eyes  and the laid-back but catchy  Groovin'   are both most attractively covered while  Wedding Day  and  Impossible Love  are sweet, soulful hartbrreakers.   Homely Girl  is lovely too.   Here I Am Baby  (originally done by soul legend Al Green) is a great brassy opener and Ken Boothe's  Just Another Girl  is a sad serving of embryonic lovers' rock. 
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