Music

Motown Soul, New York Girls

It's time to go back to the Motown vaults. Obviously, I've followed my usual pattern of trying to select a few tracks that were not global hits. It's pretty obvious why the Honest Men's “Baby” didn't make it. It's utter shit. I'm amazed that they even got session time for it. I can only imagine that Berry Gordy thought its sub-Beach Boys sound would appeal to white teens. Nah! Not even the most crew-cut, saccharine-up, bible-bashing christian would go for this turkey. In fact there's a few turkey's in the Motown list. C'est la vie. Change is as good as a rest. Shorty Long's 2 minutes 45 seconds is worth a spin, and there's always 1971.

Motown Soul

Baby Honest Men
The Day You Take One (You Have To Take The Other) Marvelettes
Since I Fell For You Choker Campbell
Some Things You Never Get Used To Diana Ross & The Supremes
I'm The Exception To The Rule Velvelettes
It's A Crying Shame (The Way You Treat A Good Man Like Me) Shorty Long
Shop Around [national version] Smokey Robinson & The Miracles
Nothing But Heartaches (Second Version) Supremes
The Onion Song Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell
I Guess I'll Always Love You Isley Brothers

1971

A Nickel And A Nail O.V. Wright
Funky Rubber Band (vocal) Popcorn Wylie
My Woman's Love Out Of Sights
Smiling Faces Sometimes Undisputed Truth
Can You Feel It Aggregation
I'll Never Fall In Love Again Isaac Hayes
Just My Imagination (Running Away With Me) Temptations
Communication Bobby Womack
It's All Up To You Dells
Hope for Love Darrow Fletcher

New York Girls

Les filles de New York City Les Marins d'Iroise
Les filles de New York City (Live) Les Gabiers d'Artimon
New York Girls Alex Campbell
New York Girls Bellowhead
New York Girls Blackthorn
New York Girls Finbar Furey
New York Girls John Roberts & Tony Barrand
New York Girls Oysterband
New York Girls Robin Hall & Jimmie MacGregor
Oh! You New York Girls Lionel Long

English

Kansas City Pinetop Perkins
Roland Ride Along Skatalites
Spaceman Babylon Zoo
Ooh La La I'm Falling Babe
Party People Parliament
King Size Papa Julia Lee & Her Boyfriends
(I Got) So Much Trouble In My Mind Sir Joe Quarterman & Free Soul
Bell Bottom Boogie Merrill Moore
Standing On The Corner King Brothers
Tedious Junior Murvin

Buenos Aires, Liverpool, Madrid

We board ship from the urban jungle of Buenos Aires, with Cumbia villera. On arrival at the port of Liverpool we switch to folk and songs of the sea. It's then a short-haul hop to Madrid, for a reminder of the three years it spent under siege by the four fascist generals. Finally we cross the Iberian 'frontera' for Portuguese Saturday.

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Isabel Parra, April in Paris

Isabel Parra is the daughter of Violetta Parra, one of the founders and, probably, the foremost exponent of La Nueva Canción Chilena. Isabel initially performed with her brother Ángel Parra as "Isabel y Ángel Parra", before going solo. And continues to perform with him from time to time. But, as you can see from Wikipedia's Familia Parra, that's not the limit of her musical family connections. A bit like the McCarthy-Waterson family in the UK, but more so, the family and their collaborators leave few parts of the Chilean folk scene untouched.

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Dee Dee Sharp, Mas que nada

I'm already getting bored by cantautori, Amsterdam and general 'dutchiness'. So it's time to get to the stuff that excites, rather than merely entertains or passes the time. Dee Dee Sharp was one of the first standout soul singers that I'd only ever heard through 2 or 3 Northern Soul tracks. Further digging revealed that she was only really 'obscure' to soul-starved British kids in the 1970s. Like so many others I've been able to find in these 'music everywhere' times. I suspect that there will be more of her here, before too long.

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Francesco de Gregori, Amsterdam

OK, I'm getting a bit 'samey' / repetitive now. Yesterday I Francesco Guccini. Today I have another of Italy's cantautore biggies. And I'm back, yet again, in Amsterdam. Can I help it that Amsterdam, Berlin and Paris are so popular with songwriters? Obviously, I could have included New York and London in that list. But I didn't. Because I really don't care about them. I'm about as interested in them, as I am in Stuttgart or Derby.

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Francesco Guccini, El vagabundo

Francesco Guccini is yet another of the 'Bolognesi', by adoption, with a disproportionate influence on Italy's music scene in the 60s and 70s. “Canzone delle osterie di fuori porta” is first on his list, because the osterie are my favourite thing about Bologna. Although logistics tend to dictate that I typically, visit osterie 'dentro porta'. I know next to nothing about “El vagabundo”. It's in the list, because I heard a couple of versions, loved them and wanted to know more. Mainly, because I guessed it must be a traditional tune. Some versions of the lyrics suggest that might be true, but most suggest not. Judge for yourself. French Tuesday throws-up a few of the greatest 'chanteuses' — Gréco, Colombo, Piaf, Fréhel, and Jeanne Moreau.

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Gigliola Cinquetti, Dirty Old Town

I had been in love with Gigliola Cinquetti's voice for years, before I saw my first picture of her. So I can honestly say that it wasn't her pretty face that first attracted me. I suspect that “Non ho l'età” was my first encounter. And what a track to start a career with. A debut win at Sen Remo, at the age of 16. I didn't know, until today, that it spent 17 weeks in the UK charts. That's an incredibly rare thing for any Italian language track. And utterly unheard of for decades. It's not in today's list simply because it's scheduled to appear in other playlists, fairly soon. Today's selection is a largely random sample of her mid-to-late 60s Italpop.

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