Songs from Beneath the Spaghetti Tree Vol. 2

 

  1. Peter Wyngarde - Come In (2:10)

  2. The Flaming Stars - Are You Being Served (2:16)
  3. Jack - Disco-Café-Society (4:11)
  4. Rubble - Grey Baby (5:08)
  5. Amanaz - History of Man (2:58)
  6. Manfred Mann - Cubist Town (3:16)
  7. Kramer - Do Wah Diddy Diddy (3:33)
  8. Melt-Banana - Uncontrollable Urge (2:56)
  9. Roberto Conrado - Ticklish (2:23)
10. Stark Reality - Rocket Ship (4:12)
11. John Fahey & His Orchestra - Old Fashioned Love (3:30)
12. Pinkshinyultrablast - Land's End (4:36)
13. Geisterfahrer - Blumen (2:33)
14. Morita Doji - Ame No Kurooru  (1:56)
15. Exuma - You Don't Know What's Going On (3:27)
16. Shoes - Now and Then (2:54)
17. Big Chief - All Downhill from Here (3:31)
18. Rasputin's Stash - I Want to Say You're Welcome (2:07)
19. Venetian Snares - Shaky Sometimes (3:29)
20. The Spiders - Hey Boy (1:46)
21. Bill Fay - Screams in the Ears (3:20)
22. The Black Mirrors - The World Ends (3:45)
23. The Owl Service - Child Ballad No.219 (The Gardener Child) (5:15)

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Songs from Beneath the Spaghetti Tree Vol. 1

 

  1. Felt - Declaration (1:44)
  2. The Cravats - Still (2:31)
  3. Los Shain's - No Eres Para Mi (2:34)
  4. The Cakekitchen - Fashion Chops (2:15)
  5. Verckys et l´Orchestre Vévé - Talali Talala (4:05)
  6. The Pop Group - Snowgirl (3:19)
  7. Unrest - Shag (3:27)
  8. Colourbox - Just Give ‘em Whiskey (4:17)
  9. Spiteri - Piroro (2:38)
10. The Dave Howard Singers - Stuff Me in Your Blender (4:25)
11. Bruce Haack - Invocation (2:29)
12. Armand Schaubroeck Steals - "God Damn You" (3:44)
13. Violeta de Outono - Rinoceronte na Montanha da Geléia (3:19)
14. Thomas Edisun's Electric Light Bulb Band - No One's Been Here for Weeks (2:28)
15. Jane Weaver - Arrows (2:30)
16. Ngozi Family - Tikondane (3:48)
17. The Loot - Radio City (2:10)
18. The Flamin' Groovies - Yes I Am (2:32)
19. Soft Hearted Scientists - Seaside Sid and the Giant Squid (5:32)
20. Family Fodder - Savoir Faire (3:14)
21. Candidate - Tomorrow's Tomorrow (2:21)
22. The Pretty Things - Trust (2:43)
23. Franz Auffray - Salted Popcorn (3:02)
24. Bird Nest Roys - Bus Stop (3:05)
25. The Groop - I Just Don't Know How to Say Goodbye (2:45)

Many years ago, I used to DJ live, with my pal Manerg, in various pubs/clubs. Our main objective was to play mostly obscure stuff with the odd familiar tune thrown in, and to be as diverse as possible. So for one gig we'd play something really poppy like Soft Cell's What then follow it up with The Chills' Flame-Thrower, just to test our audience and ourselves! More recently I've been DJing online, keeping the same objective, then trying to recreate those shows on mixcloud. No speaking between songs, we never did that when DJing in the past, it just got in the way of the music and disrupted the flow.

Admittedly the first few volumes I posted on mixcloud were a bit more extreme in content, some abrupt changes in tempo/genre, or even too many consecutive songs of similar genre. I like to think that improved somewhat the more shows/volumes I compiled. There was one main theme to all these volumes though, and that was all cover art was supplied by my pal Katie for which I either manipulated the photos somewhat or left as they were. 

So, here's the very first volume. If I were to make it now it'd be a completely different track order, but I've decided to leave them as originally compiled. Hopefully some of you will enjoy the odd song. As ever origin of each song is tagged in the comments of each music file, plus a text file added with the same info.

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Songs from Beneath the Spaghetti Tree Vol. 50

Note: With the forthcoming changes in Mixcloud, I have decided to post all of my Spaghetti Tree mixes here as downloadable. All tracks will be separate, unlike on mixcloud, which should please some of you. Watch this space, Volume 1 to arrive shortly.

It's a Funked Up World - Volume 3

 

  1. Afrique - House of Rising Funk (3:10)
  2. SJOB Movement - Love Affair (6:48)
  3. The Wild Magnolias - Ho Na Nae (4:32)
  4. Roger & The Human Body - Freedom (4:00)
  5. Godchild - Chut Bébé Dort (3:26)
  6. The Temptations - You've Got My Soul on Fire (3:44)
  7. Asiko - T. K / Love (3:39)
  8. Dennis Coffey and The Detroit Guitar Band - Virgo's Song (2:27)
  9. The Beginning of the End - Monkey Tamarind (3:34)
10. 24-Carat Black - Ghetto: Misfortune's Wealth (3:38)
11. Maceo and All the King's Men - Funky Women (5:39)
12. Jean-Claude Pelletier - Hey Doc ! Help... (3:34)
13. Sir Joe Quarterman & Free Soul - (I Got) So Much Trouble in My Mind (6:13)
14. The Mebusas - I Wanna Do It (4:02)
15. Experience Unlimited - Hey You (3:40)
16. Turner Bros. - Cause I Love You (4:10)
17. Etta James - Jump Into Love (3:19)
18. M'Bamina - N'Zoumba (3:51)
19. Magnum - Funky Junky (5:12)

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It's a Funked Up World - Volume 2

 

  1. The Headhunters - God Make Me Funky (3:49)
  2. Barrabás - Woman (5:06)
  3. S.O.U.L. - Love, Peace and Power (3:48)
  4. Funk Factory - Rien ne va Plus (5:16)
  5. Del Jones' Positive Vibes - Big Feet (Philly Raggae) (2:36)
  6. Assagai - Cocoa (4:01)
  7. Ultrafunk - Boogie Joe the Grinder (3:16)

  8. The Meters - Hand Clapping Song (2:54)
  9. Nkengas - Jungle Funk (3:25)
10. The Last Poets with Bernard Purdie - It's a Trip (4:44)
11. The Undisputed Truth - Ma (6:12)
12. Maxayn - Check Out Your Mind (3:19)
13. Janko Nilovic - Crazy Enterprise (1:59)
14. Gerson King Combo - Mandamentos Black (3:59)
15. The Politicians - Church (3:13)
16. The Fame Gang - Twangin' My Thang (alternate version) (3:19)
17. Bo Diddley - Hit or Miss (3:42)
18. The Counts - Rhythm Changes (3:05)
19. Ripple - Ripplin' (5:09)
20. Hot Chocolate - Ain't That a Groove (5:57) *

*Note: This isn't the Hot Chocolate band from the UK who had several worldwide hits in the 70s/80s, but a US band of the same name who only recorded one album.

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It's a Funked Up World - Volume 1

I figured it's about time I made a funk mix for the blog. Like my Oozings compilations, these will feature artists from all over the world, mostly obscure but the odd well known act will appear. "It's a Funked Up World" concentrates on the peak years of funk music, from the late 60s to the mid 70s. I have tagged in the music files the origin of each song, but have also included a text file with this information.

  1. Black Heat - Wanaoh (3:48)
  2. Geraldo Pino & The Heartbeats - Shake Hands (4:50)
  3. Skull Snaps - It's a New Day (3:00)
  4. BLO - Mind Walk (5:34)
  5. Alan Parker - Punch Bowl (2:37)
  6. The Lafayette Afro Rock Band - Hihache (6:59)
  7. Banbarra - Shack Up (3:02)
  8. Nico Gomez and His Afro Percussion Inc. - Lupita (3:40)
  9. Exit 9 - Straight Up (3:16)
10. Cymande - Fug (4:25)
11. Hearts of Soul & Shampoo - We Love the Policeman (4:50)
12. The Pharaohs - Black Enuff (2:53)
13. Peter King - Shango (5:36)
14. Ebony Rhythm Band - The Thought of Losing Your Love (3:00)
15. War - Get Down (4:14)
16. Mustafa Özkent ve Orkestrasi - Burçak Tarlalari (2:54)
17. Black Nasty - Getting Funky Round Here (2:40)
18. Darondo - King's Man (4:16)
19. Oneness of Juju - Poo Too / Liberation Dues (8:15)

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Carnivals and Cotton Candy Volume 4 - Raining Sunshine

 

  1. The Eighth Day - Raining Sunshine (2:35)
  2. The Thomas Group - Is Happy This Way (2:10)
  3. Los Iberos - Summertime Girl (2:10)
  4. The Hard Times - Take a Look Around (2:38)
  5. John Fred & His Playboy Band - Who Could Love You (More Than I) (2:34)
  6. The Pyramid - Summer of Last Year (3:05)
  7. The Forum - It's Sunday (2:17)
  8. October Country - Good to Be Around (2:28)
  9. The Cryan' Shames - First Train to California (2:56)
10. Roger Nichols & The Small Circle of Friends - I'll Be Back (2:32)
11. The Fourmyula - Nature (2:54)
12. Orange Colored Sky - The Sun and I (2:41)
13. Keith - Sweet Dreams (Do Come True) (2:13)
14. The Happenings - New Day Comin' (2:41)
15. The Mamas & The Papas - Nothing’s Too Good For My Little Girl (3:07)
16. Soft Soul Transition - Don't Turn on Me (3:25)
17. Design - Coloured Smile (2:56)
18. Pat Shannon - Candy Apple, Cotton Candy (2:08)
19. Les Irrésistibles - Gotta Find Another Girl (2:31)
20. The Fun and Games - Close to Carmel (2:39)
21. American Spring - Shyin' Away (2:50)
22. The Turtles - Is It Any Wonder? (2:30)
23. Tiza - Juventud (2:54)
24. Bruce & Terry - Don't Run Away (2:46)
25. The Settlers - Major to Minor (2:55)
26. The Collage - Rainy Blue Memory Day (2:16)
27. The Mutual Understanding - Look Around (2:20)
28. The Astral Projection - Whatta We Gotta Lose (2:54)
29. Inner Dialogue - I Go to Life (2:32)
30. The Anita Kerr Singers - Happiness (1:59)

Again a big thanks to Manerg for help in choosing the cover art plus excellent song suggestions!

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Minutemen - History Lesson

 

Once again I have to thank Manerg for my introduction to Minutemen, way back in the 80s. Unfortunately the band no longer existed at the time of my introduction, singer/guitarist D. Boon tragically dying in a van accident in late 1985. There just isn't enough space here to attempt a short bio of the band, to those unfamiliar with them I suggest reading the wiki entry on them here.

Minutemen have had the odd anthology released but never really comprehensive, either a collection of live recordings or their early releases compiled on "My First Bells" which was a cassette only release in 1983. In the late 90s, their record label released "Introducing the Minutemen" which did feature songs from their whole catalogue, but for me it was somewhat lacking in content. It was also less than 1 hour long, and only featured a handful of songs from their finest release, the double album "Double Nickels on the Dime". This album features heavily in my collection, of the 48 tracks compiled 13 of them come from it. I'm sure many of you out there will argue about which tracks from each album/EP should have been included, but this is just my own personal favourites, and it did take some deliberating. For instance there's 2 versions of "Little Man With a Gun in his Hand", the first one from the EP "Buzz or Howl Under the Influence of Heat", or the re-recorded version which only features on the vinyl edition of "Double Nickels on the Dime". While the later version is harder to find, I slightly prefer the original recording so picked that.

As ever I have tagged in the music files the origin of each song, but have also included a text file with this information. Hopefully most of you will enjoy this collection of one of the most outstanding underground bands of the 1980s.

  1. Sickles and Hammers (0:47)
  2. History Lesson (0:37)
  3. More Joy (1:08)
  4. Plight (1:37)
  5. Political Song for Michael Jackson to Sing (1:30)
  6. Cut (2:02)
  7. What Is It? (1:50)
  8. Case Closed (1:28)
  9. Ain't Talkin 'Bout Love (0:39)
10. Search (0:51)
11. Dreams are Free Motherfucker! (1:11)
12. Life as a Rehearsal (1:34)
13. My Heart and the Real World (1:05)
14. Lost (2:30)
15. King of the Hill (3:21)
16. Straight Jacket (0:58)
17. History Lesson - Part II (2:11)
18. Futurism Restated (0:55)
19. Below the Belt (0:56)
20. Sell or Be Sold (1:44)
21. Ack Ack Ack (0:27)
22. Tension (1:19)
23. Clocks (0:39)
24. Take 5, D. (1:38)
25. The World According to Nouns (2:06)
26. Take Our Test (2:44)
27. Fake Contest (1:43)
28. I Felt Like a Gringo (2:04)
29. The Red and the Black (4:08)
30. Two Beads at the End (1:52)
31. Cohesion (1:55)
32. Corona (2:25)
33. Working Men are Pissed (1:18)
34. Black Sheep (1:09)
35. 9:30 May 2 (1:04)
36. Mutiny in Jonestown (1:08)
37. Spoken Word Piece (1:07)
38. Dr. Wu (1:44)
39. The Cheerleaders (3:47)
40. Little Man With a Gun in His Hand (3:11)
41. Storm in My House (1:58)
42. Song for El Salvador (0:31)
43. Party With Me Punker (0:55)
44. No Exchange (1:50)
45. Stories (1:35)
46. Tour-Spiel (2:48)
47. The Glory of Man (2:56)
48. Badges (0:39)

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David Ackles - My Name is David: Best of 1968-1973

Continuing on with artists who've never had a proper anthology released, we come to one of my favourite singer/songwriters, David Ackles. There was a proposed compilation, titled There Is a River: The Elektra Recordings, slated for release way back in 2007 but for various reasons it never saw the light of day. Comprising of the 3 albums he recorded for Elektra and a few unreleased songs, some copies were leaked before it was pulled, but as yet I've had no luck finding any. In his lifetime he only managed to release 4 albums, all of which I'd say are quite magnificent. His most celebrated is probably American Gothic, but my favourite is his debut self titled album. Whilst never getting any commercial success, many of his songs have been recorded by other artists over the years, most famously "The Road to Cairo" by Julie Driscoll, Brian Auger and the Trinity.

My initial interest in Ackles began way back in 1977, when, aged 13 years old, I received for Christmas a hardback book called The Illustrated New Musical Express Encyclopedia of Rock. For many years this was my bible, devouring every page and reading about every artist listed within, a good deal of which I'd never heard of before. The opening section, with artists listed alphabetically, featured a small picture of Ackles and just the one paragraph detailing his recording career. But within that paragraph were the words which quite accurately described his style as "poignant, nostalgic material laced with heavy drama". It wasn't until several years later I finally did hear anything by Ackles, once again my pal Manerg was responsible for my introduction, playing me his first album. After that I was of course hooked and purchased all 4 of his albums. Speaking of Manerg, yet another shoutout for a couple of song suggestions and helping me with the cover art.
 
I have wondered how Ackles' career would had developed if he'd received the success he was denied, I'm sure there would have been plenty more excellent albums to follow. But, disillusioned by his lack of commercial success he never recorded again, and moved on to work in musical theatre and writing screenplays, eventually teaching musical theatre. Sadly he died in 1999 at the age of 62, of lung cancer.
 
 1. Ballad of the Ship of State (4:18)
 2. Down River (3:55)
 3. Cabin on the Mountain (3:29)
 4. I've Been Loved (5:07)
 5. Laissez-Faire (1:35)
 6. Midnight Carousel (3:41)
 7. Everybody Has a Story (2:05)
 8. Candy Man (4:14)
 9. Blue Ribbons (4:34)
10. Oh, California! (2:38)
11. Surf's Down (2:33)
12. Woman River (4:47)
13. What a Happy Day (2:11)
14. Montana Song (10:04)
15. Inmates of the Institution (4:26)
16. House Above the Strand (2:35)
17. His Name is Andrew (6:08)
18. Waiting for the Moving Van (3:35)
19. Jenna Saves (2:31)
20. The Road to Cairo (5:15)


Tracks 2, 5, 9, 13, 17 & 20 from the album "David Ackles", 1968
Tracks 3, 8, 12 & 15 from the album "Subway to the Country", 1970
Tracks 1, 6, 10, 14 & 18 from the album "American Gothic", 1972
Tracks 4, 7, 11, 16 & 19 from the album "Five & Dime", 1973


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Songs from Beneath the Spaghetti Tree Vol. 49