Classic

THE STRANGLERS – Debut Single (GET A) GRIP (ON YOURSELF) Released 40 Years Ago…

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Timeless in sound and vision.…

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THE STRANGLERS, regarded as the ‘old men‘ of punk back then and criticised by the Pistols and Clash focused music press but with more talent and more creativeness than many of the young brats surrounding them at the time, released their steamy, keyboards driven, debut single (GET A) GRIP (ON YOURSELF) on 28 January 1977 – 40 years ago. The track, written by frontman Hugh Cornwell (and featuring a Welsh coal miner on saxophone) was included on their debut album RATTUS NORVEGICUS and reached number 44 of the UK singles chart…

Didn’t have the money ’round to buy a Morry Thou
Been around and seen a lot to shake me anyhow
Begged and borrowed, sometimes I admit I even stole
The worse crime that I ever did was play some rock ‘n’ roll

But the money’s no good
Just get a grip on yourself
But the money’s no good
Just get a grip on yourself

Suffering convictions on a two-way stretch inside
The air in here is pretty thin, I think I’ll go outside
Committed for insanity and crimes against the soul
The worst crime that I ever did was play some rock ‘n’ roll

But the money’s no good
Just get a grip on yourself
But the money’s no good
Just get a grip on yourself

And you should know

Now I find from week to week the sentence sticking fast
Turn the corner, rub my eyes and hope the world will last
Stranger from another planet welcome to our hole
Just strap on your guitar and we’ll play some rock ‘n’ roll

But the money’s no good
Just get a grip on yourself
But the money’s no good
Just get a grip on yourself

And you should know

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THE STRANGLERS: Biography – Discography

DAVID BOWIE – Highly Experimental and Two-Faced Electronic ‘LOW’ LP Is 40…

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When it’s timeless in sound & and vision, it’s a…

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‘Low’ by DAVID BOWIE
Released 14 January 1977

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The short, opening line I use for this ‘Classic‘ series – ‘When it’s timeless in sound & and vision, it’s a…‘ – refers, of course, to that remarkably synths driven electronic diamond SOUND AND VISION (originally recorded as an instrumental) on DAVID BOWIE‘s 11th LP LOW…

… an adventurous, experimental, schizophrenic, uncommercial (certainly the second, almost claustrophobic & darkly instrumental side of the record, with ‘Warszawa‘ being actually one of my favorite tracks) and unintended tour de force. “I had no statement to make on Low” said The Thin White Duke afterwards in an interview. He was actually in a really bad shape at the time. Lots of drugs (“I blew my nose one day and half my brains
came out” he later described, quite hilariously, his dangerous way of life) and other expensive excesses, while living in Los Angeles, led to mental, physical and financial problems and drove the late legend to a state of paranoia. We all know that many
artists produced their best work when their minds were about to explode and that’s
what probably happened here too I guess. Low was designed and written after Bowie‘s escape to West Berlin. It marked the first of three collaborations (followed by Heroes & Lodger, becoming the Berlin Trilogy, although Low was recorded in France) with sound virtuoso Brian Eno and producer Tony Visconti. Here’s a great review by Pitchfork.
And press the button, if you want to experience, once again, the full sonic odyssey – originally released 40 years ago, on 14 January 1977 – here…

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DAVID BOWIE: Legacy website – Facebook – Discography

LOU REED – Grieving And Gripping ‘MAGIC AND LOSS’ Album Released Twenty-Five Years Ago…

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When it’s timeless in sound & and vision, it’s a…

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MAGIC AND LOSS – Released 14 January 1992

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LOU REED (50 years old back then), started to work on his 16th solo album MAGIC AND LOSS with themes of magic in his head, after hearing stories about magicians in Mexico. But when tragedy occurred during the writing, the late New York City legend incorporated cutting thoughts and songs on mortality, loss and death as well. The illnesses and eventual deaths of two of his close friends caused by cancer – Doc Pomus, Reed‘s mentor when he started his career and a ‘Rita‘, assumed to be Rotten Rita, who also was a familiar figure
at Andy Warhol‘s studio ‘The Factory‘ in the early days – was obviously extremely hard to bear. In the end the album was more about loss than magic and not an easy one to listen to when you have experienced the same kind of feelings, which I did last year when I saw my father being tortured mercilessly by that awful disease. Listening to the record again now wasn’t actually a truly joyful happening, on the other hand it made me associate my father with Lou Reed for the first time ever and that felt weirdly good. Also, I remember very well when the LP came out 25 years ago, that British music weekly NME rewarded
it with a very rare 10/10 and that me and my mate praised Reed‘s guts to make such a difficult album while we were having a long night out – solving all world problems for the umpteenth time – in our beloved café. Mixed emotions, indeed. A sort of ‘the beauty and the beast’ feel. That’s what life is all about, I guess…

American journalist David Fricke wrote a compelling album review
for Rolling Stone Magazine back then. You can read it here .

The masterpiece in full (the only way to listen to it)…

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LOU REED: Website – Facebook – Discography

BUZZCOCKS – Reissue Of Memorable 7″ EP… ‘SPIRAL SCRATCH’

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When it’s timeless in sound & and vision, it’s a…

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Legendary Manchester band Buzzcocks, who injected punk with a roaring dose of infectious guitar pop back in the seventies, will reissue their 1977 DIY debut EP titled Spiral Scratch (with the wonderful Howard Devoto on vocals and who formed Magazine immediately afterwards, one of the first – and magnificent – new wave groups) , containing the four original tracks: Breakdown/Time’s Up/Boredom and Friends of Mine on 27th January and
also, on 10th March, a 12″ titled Time’s Up, an official studio bootleg documenting, with
11 tracks, their first-ever recording session (1976). All details here. You can stream the original audio version of the 4-track Spiral Scratch EP here on YouTube…

And the band, with two essential, original members – Steve Diggle and Pete Shelley – is
still alive and kicking. They released new album The Way in 2014 and are still gigging frequently. I got to go now and look for my personal, original copy of Spiral Scratch. But where, oh, where?…

DAVID BOWIE Changed 45 Years Ago…

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When it’s timeless in sound & and vision, it’s a…

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‘Changes’ by DAVID BOWIE

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Forty-five years ago today – on 7 January 1972 – DAVID BOWIE released CHANGES as a
single in the UK, with acoustic song ‘Andy Warhol‘ as B-side. Both tracks were on his 4th album Hunky Dory. Despite only reaching No 49 on the charts, this is one of The Thin White Duke‘s best known and highly praised songs. The late legend said at the time:
“it started out as a parody of a nightclub song, a kind of throwaway”. A compositional diamond about artistic development it became! With Mick Ronson on strings, Rick
Wakeman (once a Yes man) on keyboards, some sultry saxophone in the end by the
man himself and an overall passionate vocal performance. Intriguing and hypnotizing.
A true classic…

DAVID BOWIE: Legacy website – Facebook