Brushin' Up

Rayleigh, Essex, 1978. At the height of disco fever, the new Crocs Night Club chose to promote the alternative scene. In the early eighties it became the venue for the New Romantics. Depeche Mode, Spandau Ballet and Culture Club among many others used Crocs to showcase their stage routine before going nationwide.

From the early to mid eighties under its new venue name, The Pink Toothbrush, it remained faithful to the alternative music scene, playing host to Goth, Psychobilly, Northern Soul, Hip-hop and Acid house. 1989 saw the rise of a music which embraced dance music and fused it with indie guitars of The Happy Mondays, Stone Roses, etc. The Toothbrush appointed Saturdays the Indie-Dance night and Fridays would cater for Alternative Music on a wider spectrum. In the present day, Friday Night at The Brush has been focusing on the harder edge of Rock & Metal. It is soon to become Club XFM night and I'm hoping that they don't lose the edge.*

For now, this is an interesting selection of tracks inspired by my Friday Nights at The Brush. Enjoy!

*It did, The Brush is now boring!

• AC/DC - Back In Black
• Crazy Horse - Hey, Hey, My, My (Into The Black)
• Nine Inch Nails - Head Like A Hole
• Drowning Pool - Let The Bodies Hit The Floor
• Chimaira - Army Of Me
• Killswitch Engage - My Last Serenade
• Coal Chamber - Sway
• Spineshank - Beginning Of The End
• Linkin' Park - Crawling
• Soil - Halo
• Slipknot - Before I Forget
• Incubus - A Certain Shade Of Green
• Rage Against The Machine - Killing In The Name Of
• System Of A Down - Violent Pornography
• Queens Of The Stoneage - Feel Good Hit Of The Summer
• Metallica - Enter Sandman
• Red Hot Chilli Peppers - Give It Away
• Machine Head - Take My Scars
• Bullet For My Valentine - Just Another Star
• Anthrax feat. Public Enemy - Bring The Noize
• Soulfly - Jump Da Fuck Up

The download link is here: Download
Filename: Brushin' Up.rar Filesize: 131.01 MB

Southern By The Grace Of God...

British By A Twist Of Fate

Here is a selection of damn fine tunes that you might find in a collection of Southern Rock music. For those that have never come across this genre of music, let me elucidate. Those that recognise my lack of knowledge, might wish to cast aspertions on my character. That's what the comments are for, feel free to expand, correct or just berate me (alternatively, you may wish to say "Nice mix Mick!").
In the late Sixties the Rock Music that we think of as 'Classic' filtered through, after a long and arduous journey, to an area of this globe that, musically speaking, we generally consider to be 'Country'. From a non-political viewpoint, some of the folk in this area were bored with the 'Grand Ol' Opry' and were looking for an alternative style. This new electric guitar imbued music seemed like an interesting starting point?
Groups like the One Percent, Hammer, Alice Marr, The Moving Sidewalks and The Hour Glass, had been inspired by the international phenomenon called The Beatles, were exploring the new players such as Cream's Eric Clapton and a new black sensation going by the name of Jimi Hendrix. Frank Zappa actually sacked one of the guitarists in his band, The Mothers Of Invention, for having the audacity to put forth an idea for a song, 'Willin'. His loss was our gain.
In general, the rules regarding Southern Rock suggest that the bands should have roots in the South.  That's about it really, the music stretches from the Blues, through Country and Rock, to Jazz including all stops in between. On those grounds, I'm hoping that my choices here will be appreciated?

Driving South - Maybe You Can Put That Right
Lynyrd Skynyrd - Ain't No Good Life
Atlanta Rhythm Section - Hitchhikers Hero
Stillwater - Rock 'n' Roll Loser
Henry Paul Band - Wood Wind
Marshall Tucker Band - Fire On The Mountain
Henry Paul Band - Grey Ghost
Charlie Daniels Band - Orange Blossom Special
The '78 Superjam - Cocaine
Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers - Breakdown
Sea Level - Nothing Matters But The Fever
ZZ Top - Crunchy
Marshall Tucker Band - Long Hard Ride
Molly Hatchet - Gator Country
Blackfoot - Foxchase
Gregg Allman - Come And Go Blues
Rickie Lee Jones - Easy Money
Lowell George - What Do You Want The Girl To Do
Little Feat - Straight From The Heart

The download link is here: Download
Filename: Southern.rar Filesize: 93.09 MB

Gregg Allman's performance of Come And Go Blues is apparently taken from The Allman Brothers: Brothers of the Road '82 DVD, and seems to be an outake from a TV appearance that I found on YouTube, check the clip coz it's longer and has more improvisation before the song. Any info (date or story, etc?) would be appreciated. I will be investing in the DVD.

The '78 Superjam is available (in the right circles) as a bootleg CDR. It seems to be the remains of the Lynyrd Skynyrd group with a lot of friends having a good time. Recorded in Doraville, Georgia in August 1978 and in attendance are Gary Rossington, Allen Collins, Billy Powell, Artimus Pyle from Lynyrd Skynyrd, Richard 'Dickey' Betts of the Allman Brothers Band, Charlie Daniels & Taz DiGregorio of The Charlie Daniels Band, Mike Duke & Jimmy Hall of Wet Willie, Robert Nix of the Atlanta Rhythm Section, The Outlaws, Bonnie Bramlett & Lenny LeBlanc. I downloaded my copy from Skynfan's Guide To Rock n Roll and if you have any interest in this music, I suggest you do the same while it's available. Thanks Skynfan, quality blog!