Some shows this weekend...

Firstly, Shock and Awe in Edinburgh tonight.

"the world famous shock and awe are playing at henrys tonight - at the moment its a bit uncertain whether we're playing with our stand in drummer Barry Ands or our stand in drum machine Debbie Suicide, or you if you fancy it ! either way its going to be different from the gig we played the other week Either way we are on at 9pm sharp, so plenty time for a pint and a chat after - henrys cellar bar, morrison street at the lothian road end, I'll probably be playing my silver sparkly guitar because I broke my other one while kicking it round the stage the other week also performing tonight in a ear pleasing punk rock new wave frenzy are THE AXIDENTS + PLASTIC ADULTS + CHATEAU GREYSKULL + UGLY BABY so 5 bands for 5 quid and a free cd from me if you want onesee ye there ? Cheers, Murray"








Girls on Top in London and a reminder that The Phobics are in action dahn there also...

Tom, you want to take it from here?

"Call yourself my mates? - Further to my earlier begging missive, I STILL have tickets for our gig at the Dirty South in Lee High Road this coming Saturday 18th April and they are slower moving than the veg in a kebab. Come on guys and gals, 4 bands plus us for six quid - a recap - You will be entertained by: CATFIGHT / WONK UNIT / THE PHOBICS and THE BERMONDSEY JOYRIDERS featuring Garry Lammin from Cock Sparrer and Keith Boyce from The Heavy Metal Kids and - playing a rare London gig - PETER AND THE TEST TUBE BABIES. (Haud me back! - ha ha) Doors open at 7:30pm is and the bar is open til 2am so come early, stay late and spend Sunday saying hello to God on the big white telephone - you know it makes sense - It'll cost more on the door so act now save money and help the desperate old punk rockers - it's the gift that keeps on giving!! Thank you for your kind indulgence. TIGHTWADS!"

If you need to get in touch with Tom to take up his kind offer then do so via The Phobics myspace.

Record Store Day Happenings here and there…

Reverse the trend of driving the record stores into extinction. Stay the fuck away from your iPod or whatever on Saturday April 18th. Embrace the concept of leaving your billet and visit a record store. Here’s an example of what’s happening but if you go to the RSD website then you can zoom in on what’s happening near you.

I’ve already heard griping about it being an opportunity for record companies to cash in by releasing special items. Wake up you diddies! – there’s a full blown crisis going on. In these times, when the populace is more likely to vote for a crap singer or some drongo that puts their pants on their head during a so called reality TV show (because it's in the script) – instead of who runs the country then y’know, that concerns me a little.

Listen to what Joni said. “You never know what you’ve got ‘til it’s gone”. I think that was a prediction of what might happen if the record stores vamoose.

So in Glasgow for starters…

Monorail Music just had a big Norton Records trove arrive…

Sir Sandy McLean in The Herald today on the subject with details of wha’appen in Dundas Street.

Avalanche Glasgow schedule for the day (could be subject to chopping and changing over the course)...

FRAN SCHOPPLER : 1PM
ROSS CLARK: 1:30
DANANANAKROYD DJ SET: 2 PM
THE VIRGINS: 3 PM
WE WERE PROMISED JETPACKS: 3;45
VERTICAL BUTLER SCHEME: 4:30
THE BRAKES: 5 PM
ALISTAIR ROBERTS 5:30

In Stockholm – A Rawk slant at Sound Pollution!

In Rochester, NY – New Math Now are doing an instore at Record Archive!

I bet that Plato in Utrecht are doing something and don’t forget the big bash that’s going down at the Record Fair there on behalf of NederGlam!!

If anything particularly tasty rolls in then I’ll post that later. If you want to blab anything special that’s going down on your watch, then send an e-holler. Operators are standing by...

With all the reportage of the vinyl single reaching a ripe old age recently and the fact that sales of these things are up, let's just keep these "special editions" out of the hands of the tossers that are out to fleece you on ebay. Let's flush those blighters out of the system. Re-live the days when you used to spend that well-earned pocket money on a shiny black thing that would provide hours of repeated pleasure.

Something you had to interact with that wasn't a mobile phone. It may take some convalescence but you can do it!

This just in from Mr McLean... (click on image to enlarge).

Thanks to Duglas T Stewart via facebook...

Ahoy there Frat-friends!

There's 60s Shenanigans all weekend (17th - 19th April) down on the Good Ship Corrine/Ferry Station Cafe (opposite Watershed) in Bristol. On Saturday - there's The Deltics, Magic Tractor and musical fun galore up on deck during the day. The evening moves indoors where you can enjoy 60s Garage band The BRUTES, all the way from Glasgow for one show.

Plus a fine selection of Bristol DJs spinning 60s Soul, Psych, R&B, Rock'n'Roll, Go-Go and more!........... 8pm till late.

Oh and it will all be broadcast live on Radio Corrine!!

Hope you can make it along for this cosy nautical shindig!

EMPRESS OF FUR and The LA STOOGES at the Lava Lounge on 18th April! A night of drinkin' yellin' and shakin' in tribute to Lux Interior and Ron Asheton...

EMPRESS OF FUR - Playing a special one-off Cramps-heavy set!

THE L.A. STOOGES - The best Leicester area all Stooges band!

Pay your respects between 9pm-3am.

Only £1.99 entry! Firebug Bar, Millstone Lane, Leicester, United Kingdom

RIP - Peter Rogers (Carry On Films producer)

This is amazing. Thanks to Sébastien Favre and of course to Spike for posting it in the first place!

Wednesday night at The Cathouse in Glasgow, believe me - it’s not a lot like its LA namesake.

But needs must and MC Lars is in town and, despite having at least 10 years on the character he raps about in “Signing Emo”, that’s where the scene required to be made. When I got there the first band was on. Apparently called Track 9 they looked about my nephew Jamie’s age. They weren’t bad and if they muzzle their bass player and nail him down they might even go on to better things. The synth sound definitely set them apart from their ilk and I’m definitely not in their target demographic.

Next were Failsafe which is a terrible name on the face of it. However there’s a notion of prog to their sound that makes it almost acceptable. If the energy they expend could be harnessed then a small power station could easily be run from that. If Rage Agin Thon Machine had Bruce Dickinson on vocals, they might sound like this. This is the sound of the generation gap. The kids seemed to like it and I wanted to scream “Turn It Down”. In fact I was – in my head. Eventually they relented and they stopped…

…for a break, because they were Lars backing band… Which worked better for me it has to be said. Does this hip hop thing work live then? Yes it does. Even in the face of some technical problems. Lars came on dressed in an Aquabats costume and tore through a set of what should be big hit singles. If there were still such a thing. I have to deduct points for the non-appearance of “Hipster Girl” but by the time he got to “This Gigantic Robot Kills”, the show was in the bag.

I’m not sure if its just a little too savvy to go global but the audience here tonight were verging on ballistic. A small moshpit erupted next to the auld bloke during “Hot Topic (is Not Punk Rock)”. If we had that store here then maybe it would make more sense to the potential listener. We do have similar things here, the biggest being Camden market in “the London” of course.

And last but least longest, The Aquabats bounded on and for 25 minutes they could have been the best band on earth. Their Ed Wood meets Hanna Barbera schtick coupled with the Dickies via Devo with hints of ska was incredibly good natured and well, just plain fun. Why then did they need to burst that bubble with some toe curling “comedy”?

Talk about killing the buzz. We left and went for chips. The end.

Rather than cut and paste the extensive new NORTON NEWS parrot fashion, click this link, select that item from the menu and blast off into that whole 'nother world. It's all laid out pretty with sleeve art. etc.

The Lucinda Williams/Willie Nile workout video...



Thanks to Francesco Calazzo via Rock Backpages Blogs

At a loose end in Stockholm tonight...

So what is with monks mania! Mojo, NME, The Guardian – all going under the thunder to a lesser or greater degree. This is great and an undeniable thread from the days when combos like Das Furlines were preaching the gospel when nobody else was. Those girls even have a UK cousin in The Nuns right now. Anyway, for whatever reason, “Black Monk Time” is enjoying something of a Disney-like resurgence and that has to be a good thing. The apocalyptic “Oh, How To Do Now” would be a perfect closing theme for the endtimes.

I don’t know if the Light In The Attic release is the same as the recently reissued Universal version, the latter sounds great, way crisper than the one on Repertoire. This is all due to, in no small part, the documentary “monks - the transatlantic feedback”. Dietmar Post and Lucia Palacios created a monster when they made it possible to see this phenomenon as well as hear it.

To wit… there are three chances to dance coming up in the building site known as Edinburgh. The Cameo is screening the monkumentary thusly so hop to one of ‘em accordingly:

Fri 17/Sat 18 April - Screen One – 11.45pm
Thu 23 April - Screen Three – 6.15pm

(Thanks to Ian and Paul for the info)

After that you can go to Play Loud! and score the dvd direct from the filmmakers to help keep their coffers afloat. Extras include the full TV clips and also a very good interview with the late, great Dave Day.

Lucia and Dietmar with Dave - Photo by Theresa Kereakes - Los Angeles 2006

Two louder than the cadbury's gorilla! (Thanks Chris)

If you are ANYWHERE in the Philly area then this is a must attend. No excuses.

(Thanks Rich)

After humming and hawing about catching a couple of movies this past wee while, I seized the day after a pisser of a start. I remember sitting here and thinking that I have 12 minutes to catch a bus. Guess that would be what high flyers call an executive decision. Anyway, I didn’t want to drive to the station then to take a train. There’s something reassuring about cruising in the bus lane past the traffic that’s creeping slowly toward its destination. If I can bodyswerve driving then I will. Always.

12.45pm screening of “Let The Right One In” (Låt den rätte komma in)? Don’t mind if I do. The film has been getting big licks in the press. A Swedish vampire yarn with a twist, I’m not sure what's hit a nerve with the critics but for once they’re at least offering a good tip. It is good and the thing I dug most about it was the locations and the tranquillity of the sequences with the snow. Set in the Stockholm suburb of Vällingby, it reminded me of the long walk I took with Qina last summer.

I need to find out what the 45 that Oskar played for Eli was. Think that there was something in the credits about Per Gessle, but I couldn’t figure it out. At that point, I was the only person in the cinema. What is it with people that don’t stay until the bitter end? Should you see this? Well, yeah. It’s not for everybody and although it did drag a teensy bit, I think that the ending is good. Apparently it’s a faithful take on the original novel. You’d really have to get the definitive word on that from somebody who has read the Swedish version. I can’t read so there’s no use in asking me. Not sure about the trailer, but you can see it at the film website.

So that got me back out on the street and from there I headed for the 3.30pm show of “Religulous”, a documentary about religion as “neurological disorder” with Bill Maher as your reporter, directed by Larry Charles. Don’t about you but I’m de-sensitised to this type of film now, to the point that I can't tell if it's actually a spoof or for real. If reality TV isn't real then there's always the poss that a documentary might not be either. You can trace that back to my "guilty until proven innocent" credo. Probably. There’s always the possibility of Chris Guest or Michael McKean walking on screen. Particularly in the “Holy Land” theme park segment. The Bob Tilton footage got a big laugh and my thoughts were very much with Brother Randall and Sister Donna at that point. I imagined us all sitting watching the "crucifixion" amongst the flotsam that would attend such a thing. some of them clapped when the centurion beat on Hey-soos.

I like Maher, he’s a funny guy. Not as much a household name here as Jon Stewart, he seems to take more chances. For “Curb” fans, there are a lot of those extended pauses at the end of a “scene”. This is presumably an LC device to keep things sweet for himself. It’s a Larry David world we exist in after all...

I seldom think that it would be better to watch something at home but “Religulous” is an exception. There were a couple of points where I could happily have gotten up and put the kettle on. To me, the subjects were just a little too easy to take the piss out of. Couple of other aspects rankled too but in toto, some of it is pretty sharp. Like ouch.

Late news (courtesy of Mr U), the “mystery” tune in “LTROI” could be Gyllene Tider (Golden Times), Per Gessle’s old band. A wee root around identifies this as “Kvar i min bil”. So now I need to hear more. Could be a Gessle jag on the horizon.

The poster images came from here.

RIP - Marilyn Chambers

(More info that goes beyond the porn aspect...)

Does anyone remember Gruppo Sportivo? John Peel played their first LP, they appeared on TOGWT and Sire picked 'em up for US release...

Phil Spector - The verdict...

Never made it to the pictures (again). So this is like being on "twitter", only substituting an "a" for the "i". Aye. So let's see, a news update before I go watch a dvd. The extrication of the weeds in the drive is coming along fine. Oh, wait - you don't care about that, how about this then? (That sounds justa tad too Jimmy Saville but let's just run with it.)

Mr Duff has highlighted that Roky Erickson will play The Green Man Festival in August. Enterprising promoters might want to check out the ins and outs of bringing the man north? With The Explosives or preferably with The Nomads but either way, it's time that justice was done. He could surely sell out the big ABC?

Russell hepped me from NYC that the Joey Ramone Birthday Bash details for May are now available on the revamped Joe website as well as details of how to score tickets. There's a rumour that Eddie Vedder will appear but far more exciting is the news that Kitty Kowalski will join Bebe Buell onstage that evening.

Jos sent the following news on the imminent release of this. Looks like it would be just up our particular alley...

"Coming out next week, not on A Fistful of Records, but on other Utrecht, NL label - Excelsior. A cd comp of early 70s Nederglam !

Fistful Jos and Brit accomplice Robin Wills worked on this thing for some years now, having done all research, compilation and sleevenotes. The set is entitled "Clap Your Hands And Stamp Your Feet" after Dutch glam's biggest hit at the time by Bonnie St Claire & Unit Gloria. Other songs include some totally unknown Glam Rock stompers & crunchers by acts like Booby Trap, The Heavy Dwarfs, Dump, Zingara, Pantherman and Plastic Feet. Among somewhat better known acts like Lemming, Catapult, Left Side and Long Tall Ernie And The Shakers you will discover a multitude of Glam era obscurities that will blow your socks off and open your mind to some great sounds and beats ! With The Netherlands being the main country in continental Europe to boast a Glam scene, a collection of this stuff is way overdue. 24 songs by 23 acts with a 52 page full colour booklet crammed with cool pics, plus the incredible stories behind all bands and songs. Also included are reprints of all original sleeves, whether Dutch or foreign.

The cd launch will take place at the Utrecht cd and record fair, next saturday April 18th, from about 1 till 3 o’clock. There’ll be dj’s, original Nederglam videos, an exhibition of Nederglam memorablia and record sleeves and a Smyle reunion gig! Many ex-glamstars will be present, like the Catapult guys, the one and only Pantherman, of course Smyle, Lemming singer Wally, some Left Side guys, producer Peter Koelewijn, mr. Pink Elephant Willem van Kooten, the Booby Trap singer and all members of Bonnie st Claire & Unit Gloria, most probably including queen Bonnie herself !!!!!!!!!!!!!

“Clap Your Hands And Stamp Your Feet” will be available in all good Benelux record shops. It can also be ordered direct from Excelsior .

Here’s the full tracklisting:

Booby Trap - Kelly, Grace & Sally / Catapult -Let Your Hair Hang Down /
Lemming -Father John / Heart -Lovemaker / Dump -Annabelle /
Long Tall Ernie And The Shakers -Motor Man / Amsterdam - Mary Lou /
Bonnie St. Claire & Unit Gloria - Clap Your Hands And Stamp Your Feet /
The Heavy Dwarfs - Moeder Natuur / Left Side -(like a) Locomotion / Black Fire - Do It
Smyle - She Means A Lot To Me / The Rockets - Rock And Roll Drummer (Part 1) /
Plastic Feet - Big Blond Baby / Cardinal Point - The Grand / Melody - Stepping Stone /
BZN -Sweet Silver Anny / Cherrie Vangelder-Smith - Goodbye (Guitarman)
Hank The Knife And The Jets- Guitar King / Zingara - Girl, Girl, Girl /
Serpentine - Powerful Jim / Hans van Hemert - Because of the Cats /
Pantherman - Pantherman / Bonnie St. Claire & Unit Gloria - The Rock Goes On

And finally, I found two copies of NBT 26 replete with Monomen 45 and would be happy to send a copy to whoever would like to provide a good home.

If you're in and around Boston, that's the city in Mass. not the Tufnel park hostelry, then maybe you need the services of my ol' pal, Ms Stevie Gomez. Primo photographer and long time keeper of the faith. Click on the image for more info.

Looks like another good day out so that trip to the cinema in Auld Reekie is probably on. Of course, there's still plenty of time to talk myself out of it but its looking like "game on" at the minute. The mode of transport is in dispute but that is likely to be settled in due course.

"Scotland is staring into the abyss of social collapse" it just said on the wireless. Plus they're punting the notion that everything going down the pan is herding the masses toward religion. Too late folks, your cards are marked. Might as well go down with a crate of buckie and a 3 cd set of happy hardcore. Or maybe not. Myself? I'll stick with "Let The Right One In" at The Cameo - 12.45 for starters.