The Meteors Live

Legendary psychobilly album,well at least in these parts, released in 1985 of The Meteors recorded live in Glasgow for a local radio show although I'm not sure if all of it or a heavily edited version was broadcast as P Paul Fenech is at his sarky and arrogant best ,who's between song banter is worth the price of admission alone . An absolutely storming live album nearly all performed at breakneck speed with a couple of slowies to get your breath back .Highlights for me are "Lonesome Train","Ain't Gonna Bring Me Down","I Don't Worry About It" and "These Boots Are Made For Walking" but it's all really worth a listen in one go for the full effect.Will post more psychobilly posts again soon.For now ,as Mr. Fenech says "Swing it Ginger".

Abattoir Dogs Rock N Roll Weirdness

Now and again the compilation freebies given away with the music mags can throw up some real goodies and for me this was one is bang on. This compilation was give away with the now defunct Vox magazine in 1995 . A sort of imaginary soundtrack in tribute to Quentin Tarintino , I think Pulp Fiction had just come out at the time ,and there isn't a duff track on it . All tracks were licensed by Ace records so there is a strong slant to some brilliant rockabilly along with cajun , surf,Link Wray,The Cramps,garage, and a little country.There is a bit of Tarantino/gangster like narrative between some tracks which probably seemed like a good idea at the time but these can be safely skipped or deleted . Try here .

Link Wray - Deuces Wild
Johnny Allen - The Promised Land
Richard Berry - Big Break
John Lee Hooker - Hoogie Boogie
The Run-A-Ways - Night Creature
The Phantom Chords - Screaming Kid
Sparkle Moore - Flower Of M Hart
The Embers - I Waked All Nght
Link Wray - The Wild One
The Cramps - Everything Goes
The Gladiolas - Little Darlin'
Elmore James - Can't Sop Lovin' You
Margaret Lewis - Reconsider Me
The Fatback Band - (Are You Ready) Do The Bus Stop
Tommy McLain - Sweet dreams

The Godfathers

The Godfathers were formed by Peter and Chris Coyne after the short lived Sid Presley Experience split up in 1985 . The band attracted a loyal following due to a fearsome live reputation in the UK , Europe and the USA where they made the Billboard top 40 with "Birth,School,Work,Death". The debut album "Hit By Hit" released in 1986 was a collection of their independent single releases contains top tunes " I Want Everything","This Damnation" and a monumental cover of Rolf Harris's "Sun Arise" which is almost as good as Rolf's original version . There is not a weak track on the whole album . The major label debut "Birth,School,Work,Death" is equally as good.Another contender for "shoulda been massive" ,real raw punk rock 'n' roll and out of sync of what was classed as rock in the 80s' , a good few years before the rise of Britpop and Oasis. Reformed and recording new material . Try "Hit By Hit" .

Crazyhead

Had a spot of ebay therapy recently and picked up a few late 80s' indie slices of vinyl one of which was Crazhead's debut " Desert Orchid".Crazhead were another midlands band lumped in with the so called "Grebo" scene of the late 80s' . As with fellow grebos' ,Gaye Bykers On Acid , Crazhead's debut album "Desert Orchid" was also seen as a bit of a dissapointment upon it's release in 1988 due to the slightly polished production .I was only familiar with the singles of the time , "Have Love Will Travel" and "What Gives You The Idea That You're So Amazing Baby?". Although the singles are the standout tracks on the album the rest of the album is much better than I had expected , the photo above should indicate how they sound , rock n roll maaaan , with a touch of the The Stooges , which is no bad thing . Was suprised to find out that they only split up as recently as 2000 and there is talk of some form of reunion . Named after the much loved national hunt horse, "Desert Orchid" is here .

Link Wray

Part Shawnee Indian one lunged former Korean war veteran Link Wray was as much as an innovative guitarist as Hendrix but hardly known outside the muso community . He was using distortion, feedback and overdriven guitar nearly ten years before Hendrix and Townshend .The US and British hit "Rumble" had the mighty distinction of being banned on many radio stations at the time for "glorifying juvenile delinquency" despite being an instrumental .Neil Young and Bob Dylan both witnessed Link play live early on and have both cited him as an influence as has Jimmy Page,Jeff Beck,Townshend,Hendrix,Marc Bolan,Billy Childish and Mark E Smith amongst many others.There are seven track on this compilation recorded in the eighties that really don't stand up (way too much drum machine) but the other sixteen tracks including Rumble,Ace Of Spades and the storming Jack The Ripper more than make up.Wiki here.Link Wray Original Rumble here.