Are you ready for more rock’n’roll? And very possibly lots of other genres of music too? In that case, pilgrim, you’ve come to the right place. You know it – it’s another Singles Night here at Platinum Al’s Virtual Hot Tub!
Now, for any of you brave readers who are muddled and befuddled by what a Singles Night involves, here’s the lowdown. You see, I possess a huge collection of 7 inch vinyl singles, none of which have been listened to (yet). So the concept is to spend an evening playing these records – both sides – and have a grand old time doing so.
During the course of the night, we’ll hear a variety of music, old and new, with plenty of surprises.
That’s not so scary, is it?
Grab yourself a drink and let’s check out the latest playlist:
Cheap Trick – “The Flame” / “Through the Night”
Stiff Little Fingers – “Silver Lining” / “Safe as Houses”
Belinda Carlisle – “Live Your Life Be Free” / “Loneliness Game”
Salt-N-Pepa- “Let’s Talk About Sex (True Confessions Edit)” / “Let’s Talk About Sex (Super Crispy Mix)”
Herb Alpert’s Tijuana Brass – “Up Cherry Street” / “Numero Cinco” / “Mexican Shuffle” / “The Girl From Ipanema”
Magazine – “About the Weather” / “In The Dark”
The Lotus Eaters – “The First Picture of You” / “The Lotus Eaters”
James Brown – “Rapp Payback (Where iz Moses?)” / “Rapp Payback Pt. II (Where iz Moses?)”
Huey Lewis & The News – “World to Me” / “It’s All Right (Live)”
Dannii Minogue – “This is it” / “It’s Time to Move On”
Queen – “Bohemian Rhapsody” / “These Are the Days of Our Lives”
The Kinks – “Tired of Waiting for You” / “Come on Now”
Big Country – “Wonderland” / “Giant”
Timbuk 3 – “The Future’s So Bright I Gotta Wear Shades” / “I’ll Do Alright”
Derek & The Dominos – “Layla” / Eric Clapton – “Wonderful Tonight”
Jesus Jones – “Right Here, Right Now” / “Move Me” / “Damn Good at This”
Big Country- “In a Big Country” / “All Of Us”
Electric Light Orchestra – “Don’t Bring Me Down” / “Dreaming of 4000”
The Belle Stars – “The Clapping Song” / “Blame”
S’Express – “Hey Music Lover” / “Have a Nice Day”
Not a bad evening’s entertainment at all. A thrilling exploration through several genres, from pop to punk, rock to funk, and more. The only song I wasn’t a fan of was that hideous Clapton claptrap, so that’s a pretty decent result.
Lots of highlights, and I’m shouting out SLF, James Brown, Big Country, The Kinks and Jesus Jones as particular favourites.
Hope you enjoyed that list of killer tracks. More soon!
Here we go with another Singles Night! Just like Kool and the Gang said – no wait, that was “Ladies Night”. Totally different event altogether. Well, don’t let that be any concern for you, good reader – let’s spend an evening of musical fun and adventure anyway!
What, you may well ask, is “Singles Night at the Virtual Hot Tub”? If you know, feel free to skip this bit. Otherwise, I’ll explain.
Singles
In essence, I have a huge stack of 7 inch vinyl singles that I haven’t played yet. And they need to be played before I can add them to my super sophisticated filing system. So on Singles Night, I grab a bunch of these records and play ’em, A side then B side, one after the other, whilst having a wee drinkie or three.
It’s great fun. It rocks. Here’s the latest playlist:
The Rezillos – “I Can’t Stand My baby” / “I Wanna Be Your Man”
The Rezillos – “Top of the Pops” / “20,000 Rezillos Under the Sea”
The Ruts – “Something That I Said” / “Give Youth A Chance”
Sweet Dreams – “Honey Honey” / “I Surrender”
The Steve Gibbons Band – “Tupelo Mississippi Flash” / “Till the Fire Burns Out”
Showaddywaddy – “You Got What It Takes” / “Showboat”
Goombay Dance Band – “Sol de Jamaica” / “Isla de Suenos”
KC & The Sunshine Band – “That’s the Way (I Like It)” / “Ain’t Nothin’ Wrong”
Dollar – “Mirror Mirror” / “Radio”
Siouxsie & The Banshees – “Hong Kong Garden” / “Voices”
Suzi Quatro – “I Go Wild” / “I’m a Rocker”
Rose Tattoo – “Rock’n’Roll is King” / “I Had You First”
Deep Purple – “Black Night” / “Speed King”
Elton John – “Blue Eyes” / “Hey Papa Legba”
Berlin – “Take My Breath Away” / Giorgio Moroder – “Radar Radio”
Motley Crue – “Primal Scream” / “Dancing on Glass”
Bobby Brown – “On Our Own” / “On Our Own (with Rap)”
De La Soul – “Ring Ring Ring (Ha Ha Hey)” / “Pile and Piles of Demo Tapes Bi-Da Miles”
And there we go, mes amis. A right old concoction and no mistake. But you know what? The odd dud in the playlist only makes the good stuff sweeter. And when you’re having fun, those duds ain’t so bad anyway.
The odd horror from the fabled car boot box of doom still lingering here, but they’re slowly dying off. Instead, a veritable feast of punk rock wonders, from the Rezillos, Ruts, Siouxsie and The Damned. That Damned track is, of course, a cover of the Jefferson Airplane song, and not one of my favourites – though the two songs on the B side are absolutely wonderful.
Plenty of other delights with Rose Tattoo and a double sided banger from Deep Purple, not to mention a Crue song I actually really like.
I hate the film Top Gun – never managed to see it all the way through – and not a huge fan of the Berlin track, but hey, it was a freebie. Likewise, that Bobby Brown song from Ghostbusters II is a huge drop in quality from the Ray Parker Jr classic. Some pop genius from KC & the Sunshine Band and Booker T keeps us on track nicely, though.
All in all, another successful night’s entertainment. Stay tuned for more soon, folks – I’ve got loads of these discs for ya and they’re itching for a spin!
Yeah, it’s that time again! Time for another Singles Night at my Virtual Hot Tub. These nights are always huge amounts of fun, with some rockin’, some ripe cheese and some surprises. Plus the occasional dud, just to keep me on my toes.
Recap time, for the newbies: Singles Night is all about digging into my collection of 7 inch singles, which have come into my possession from various sources. I play through the pile, one after the other, A side then B side. There’s all sorts of genres and styles in that pile and sometimes the unexpected CAN happen.
So grab the’sen a drink (I recommend the booze) and let’s see what we get in this pile of 45rpm glory…
Royal Blood – “Limbo” / “All We Have is Now”
The Cult – “Spiritwalker” / “A Flower in the Desert”
Zodiac Mindwarp & The Love Reaction – “Planet Girl” / “Dog Face Driver”
Slade – “Mama Weer All Crazee Now” / “Man Who Speaks Evil”
Kevin The Gerbil – “Summer Holiday” / “Hawaiian Holiday”
Boney M – “Belfast” / “Plantation Boy”
Elton John – “Part Time Love” / “Cry at Night”
Chas & Dave w/ Rockney – “Strummin'” / “I’m in Trouble”
Showaddywaddy – “Rock’n’Roll Lady” / “I’m a Traveller”
Suzi Quatro – “She’s in Love with You” / “Space Cadets”
Chuck Berry – “My Ding-A-Ling” / “Let’s Boogie”
Queen – “Hammer to Fall” / “Tear It Up”
Def Leppard – “Animal” / “Tear it Down”
Queen – “I’m Going Slightly Mad” / “The Hitman”
Gary Moore – “Parisienne Walkways” / “Fanatical Fascists”
Music from ‘The Sting’ ft. Marvin Hamlisch on piano – “The Entertainer” / “Solace”
Showaddywaddy – “Heartbeat” / “Lucy Jane”
David Soul – “Silver Lady” / “Rider”
Frank Sinatra – “I Believe I’m Gonna Love You” / “The Only Couple on the Floor”
Hot Chocolate – “You Sexy Thing” / “A Warm Smile”
Who wants to guess the lamest track of the bunch? If you guessed Kevin the Gerbil’s song, you’d be dead wrong! I’m a lifelong Roland Rat Fan and anything from his world is golden to me. In actual fact, there’s noting awfully cheesy on that last – certainly not Chas & Dave or Showaddywaddy, either.
Starting off bang up to date with a great single from Royal Blood, the rock genre delivered the goods with bangers from The Cult, Zodiac Mindwarp, Queen and Def Leppard. I’ve only just noticed that Queen wanted us to “Tear It Up” whilst the Lepps wanted us to “Tear it Down” – crazy!
Talking of crazy, I love Slade and that single was a gift from my pal Greeny at his wedding (it was number 1 when I was born). A happy addition to the collection.
Another fun night, it got a bit hazy with the beverages piling up. I’ll keep you posted with more of these soon.
Let’s talk about Tankzilla. To start, what a rad name! According to the band’s PR, “Satan fucked a Panzer and the offshoot is Tankzilla”. Which pretty much sums everything up nicely. So nicely, in fact, that the rest of this review is a bit pointless.
Tankzilla are actually a duo consisting of Peter Van Elderen (guitar and vocals) and Marcin Hurkmans (drums), who started jamming together after their previous bands split. Before you get clever and assume that these guys are gonna be just like Royal Blood, they’re not. They have a whole lot more Motorhead in their dirty DNA.
‘Lucifer’, the first track, proves this nicely, with an opening riff reminiscent of ‘Deaf Forever’ by Lemmy’s crew. The song quickly erupts into a bludgeoning juggernaut all of its own, crushing everything in its path and setting the course for the rest of this slab of sonic destruction.
Yes, the power of the mighty riff rules in Tankzilla’s blitzkrieg campaign. ‘Crossroad’ drops more loud bombs adding a funky feel, while tracks such as ‘Wolfpack’ and ‘Soulsurfer’ have a hard rocking edge. The assault slows a little with ‘Brother from Another Mother’, but keeps unleashing maximum firepower. Bonus points for the sample from The Mandalorian too in ‘Mutant Freak’. This is the way!
The final song, ‘Hard Way’, has a Melvins vibe to it – something else which makes me very happy indeed. Whether firing on all cylinders or easing off the gas a little here and there, this debut album is devastatingly excellent. Tankzilla are a relentless, riff loaded monster and nothing can resist their onslaught. Definite Top Ten of the year list for me.
No time now, but remind me to tell you about that time with Motorhead in Europe, when we took the band to visit a military museum on a day off. Philthy was hungover, so Lem let him sleep it off in an old Russian tank. We closed the hatch and scarpered, leaving Phil in there all day. He only just made it to the next gig in Copenhagen by the skin of his teeth.
Three years. It’s been nearly three years since the last Bring Your Own Vinyl Night at the Queen’s Head in Mold, north Wales. The pandemic put this event on hold for quite a while, but finally it was time for a triumphant return to the decks.
Let’s recap the concept: each participant gets a 15 minute slot to play whatever vinyl they like. That’s it. Very simple. And good fun. Have a few beers, chat about music, discover something new to listen to.
Here’s my ;playlist from the night:
Sweet Apple – Wish You Could Stay (A Little Longer)
I wanted to start my set up with this gorgeous, uplifting track by Sweet Apple. J Mascis (of Dinosaur Jr) is in the band, and Mark Lanegan guests on co-vocals. A sublime piece of melodic, alt rock pop. First song on their album “The Golden Age of Glitter”.
The Four Horsemen – Nobody Said It Was Easy
And then on to some early 90’s southern rock, courtesy of the Four Horsemen. This band were signed to Def American and produced by Rick Rubin. If you dig AC/DC tinged Skynyrd and ZZ Top, their wax is worth investing in. I have the album, but this was the 7 inch single version of this song.
Clutch – D.C. Sound Attack!
A stand out track from the “Earth Rocker” album by Clutch, a band I am somewhat obsessed with. I love this song, it’s energetic rock’n’roll with a funky riff – the instrumental is so good I could actually groove to it. D.C. Sound Attack!!!
Social Distortion – Dear Lover
What a band. The opening track from Social D’s “White Light White Heat White Trash” album, this is full of Mike Ness’s heartfelt angst in a pounding, mid paced punk rock’n’roller.
The Beatnix – Stairway to Heaven
The Beatnix are a Beatles cover band. Here, they’ve covered Led Zeppelin’s “Stairway to Heaven” in an early 60’s Beatles style. It’s actually really good and sounds authentic. I think this song raised a few eyebrows, starting off resembling an old Fab Four track but including the unmistakable lyrics. On the other side, there’s an Elvis impersonator called Neil Pepper, covering the same song – a great single, you need a copy.
I had a really enjoyable evening for Vinyl Night, in fact I’m sure everyone did! Thanks to Halcyon Dreams and VOD Music in Mold for hosting and organising everything. Hope to see you all again soon!
What could be better, I ask you: playing through a pile of classic 7 inch vinyl singles, whilst having a few alcoholic beverages, basking in the glory of music? Not much. The only catch here, is that some of these records are less “classic” than others…
Never the less, my mission to listen to my stack of unplayed vinyl singles continues regardless. A side then B side, no skipping, playing the lot – whether hard sought after treasure; charity shop find or gift.
Pour yourself a drink and join me on my latest musical odyssey…
Iggy Pop – “Real Wild Child (Wild One)” / “Little Miss Emperor”
Garbage – “Queer” / “The Very Queer Dub-Bin Version”
Garbage – “When I Grow Up” / “Can’t Seem to Make You Mine”
The Gap Band – “Oops Upside Your Head” / “The Boys Are Back in Town”
Glen Campbell – “Rhinestone Cowboy” / “Lovelight”
Kim Wilde – “The Second Time” / “Lovers on a Beach”
Kim Wilde – “Dancing in the Dark” / “Back Street Driver”
Styx – “Boat on the River” / “Come Sail Away”
The Mama’s and the Papa’s – “Monday Monday” / Got a Feelin'”
Dave Davies – “Death of a Clown” / “Love Me Till the Sun Shines”
Duane Eddy – “Rebel Rouser” / Bobby Day – “Rockin’ Robin” / Chubby Checker – “Pony Time”
Trio – Da Da Da (English Version) / Da Da Da (German Version)
Billy Fury – “Halfway to Paradise” / “Cross My Heart”
The Zombies – “She’s Not There” / “You Make Me Feel Good”
Stevie Wonder – “Yester-me, Yester-you, Yesterday” / “I’d Be a Fool Right Now”
Roy Orbison – “It’s Over” / “Indian Wedding”
Gene Vincent – “She She Little Sheila” / “Hot Dollar”
The Motors – “Forget About You” / “Picturama”
Blondie – “Island of Lost Souls” / “Dragonfly”
T-Rex – “20th Century Boy” / “Free Angel”
Another 20 awesome singles! Great stuff there from Iggy, Blondie, T-Rex, Roy Orbison – plus double Garbage and double Kim Wilde. Crossing the genres and spanning the years, it was another fine night of music.
Skateboards don’t last forever. A couple of the decks I have bought over the years I’ve bought to display, but I’m not a collector, as I’ve said before. All of the other decks that I’ve bought are to be skated.
Not that I’m against deck collecting, I just can’t afford it!
So in order to preserve my latest deck for posterity, here it is – a Death Skateboards “Script” deck in red and white. I’ll cherish the photos, ‘cos already I’ve skated it and it’s getting beat up (just as it should be). It’s 8.5″ wide and it skates great.
Yet another Death deck, and bought again from the ever reliable Native Skate Store. I also got some new 53mm Death wheels, some bearings, and Native threw in some stickers. I do love stickers.
There we have it: my current set up. And what a beauty it is.
I promised you lucky readers more Singles Night fun soon – and here you go. Another twenty 7″ vinyl singles, played one after the other, to create this sensational playlist.
Pour yourself a drink and join me, as we delve into the deep recesses of my thus far unplayed record collection for a night of rock’n’roll mayhem. Prepare to have your socks well and truly rocked…
Chris Cornell – “Patience” / “Nothing Compares ” U”
Sweet Apple – “I’ve Got a Feeling (That Won’t Change)” / “Dead Moon (Demo Version)”
ABBA – “The Winner Takes It All” / “Elaine”
The Knack – “My Sharona” / “Let Me Out”
Free – “Wishing Well” / “Let Me Show You”
Thin Lizzy – “The Boys Are Back in Town” / “Emerald”
Cheap Trick – “I Want You to Want Me” / “Clock Strikes Ten”
Python Lee Jackson – “In a Broken Dream” / “Boogie Woogie Joe”
Boom! What a great collection. My favourite Who song, Thin Lizzy’s best (?), BTO and Free. That Knack song is, of course, a classic – as is the Cheap Trick track. All were from a record fair (remember those?) if I recall correctly.
That Faith No More song is their very worst, by an otherwise spectacular band. I’m no Phil Collins fan really, but that track is pretty good, admit it. Throw in Flying Lizards and The Beach Boys and you’ve got a helluva playlist. And if you don’t love “Camouflage” there must be something wrong with you.
The Chris Cornell was a Record Store Day special which I picked up from VOD records in Mold. Great shop who also organised the record fair I mentioned above. Check them out here.
Variety, as they say, is the spice of life. Which is why I like to mix my drinks. And my strippers. Why stick to just one, when you can explore everything life has to offer? This split EP offers two bands and four tracks in total, showcasing a considerable amount of musical diversity and talent.
First up is Puerto Rican band Moths, with their track “Intervention”. Beginning deceptively calm, restrained and quite beautiful, it soon builds and descends from a chunky stoner riff. And then, at pretty much the halfway mark, “Intervention” erupts into a full-on aggressive growl fest, though still portraying an adept progressive spirit.
The meandering intrigue of the opening track is followed by a less surprising cover of the Black Sabbath classic “Hand of Doom”. A great song, but I was hoping for more original material or an unusual cover. No fear though, Moths inject the Sabs tune with plenty of atmosphere, the powerhouse vocals of Damaris Rodriguez helping to make their own mark on the song. Not easy with a genuine metal standard like this, Moths have the class to pull it off.
Then it’s over to The Stone Eye, for their track “Prescence of the Mind”. These guys are from Philadelphia, PA in the USA. A little harder to pin a style on, they journey on a stoner path that adds in psychedelic detours akin to some of the best 90s alternative rock – but never abandoning a gutsy garage rock swagger.
A cover of the old trad ballad “Wayfaring Stranger” is next from The Stone Eye. Delivered in a bluesy style, it contrasts nicely with the other songs. It both delights and begs for another play.
And there you have it: four songs, different in style but each displaying a sound that seems to well define both bands. An excellent endeavour from both Moths and The Stone Eye, you’d be well rewarded in tracking this down.
And while we’re on the subject of moths: Glenn Danzig – remember him? Singer/visionary with the Misfits, Samhain, and of course, Danzig. Body builder, martial arts master and expert on the occult. Scared to death of moths, I shit you not. Always running around with his hands over his face, hiding under tables if there was one around. Eventually, I learned to calm Glenn down by telling him that moths were simply goth butterflies. Amazingly, it worked.
In February last year, I interviewed Chester based punk/grunge band Ryuko at Pentre Fest. Due to numerous unavoidable issues – not least this blasted pandemic – the piece was unfinished till recently. Not long ago, this post finally appeared on Ever Metal, and I thought I’d republish it here too. Enjoy!
“Grandpa, what’s a gig?”
“Well son, a gig was what we used to call a band playing live music, in front of an audience.”
“What, people watching musicians play their instruments? Crazy!”
“I know it seems like a strange idea to you youngsters, but it used to be a fantastic experience. Actually being able to gather with friends and strangers to enjoy hearing music. It was another world.”
That’s what the situation seems like right now: no gigs, no gatherings for entertainment – the old days sometimes feel like a lifetime ago. At least it seemed a whole different world back in February 2020, before the pandemic, when I caught up with Chester based band Ryuko at Pentre Fest.
The three piece – comprising The Bobfather (guitars/vocals), Captain Andy (bass) and MattMan (drums) were something of an anomaly at the metal-centric Pentre Fest. Not that Ryuko don’t rock out, but their brand of punky, alternative rock was a little different from the other bands on show. I found their style of honest, yet far from pretentious rock’n’roll refreshing and it added a vital tone to the proceedings.
Post gig, I caught up with the band to pose some questions and contemplate the meaning of life.
First off, the cliched yet crucial discussion on influences:
Bob: It’s weird, ‘cos we’ve got influences from all over. If you listen to one of our sets, it has stages: it starts off punky, then it goes alternative rock. Then it goes a little metal/grungy, then back to punk at the end.
Matt: Drop D then back to punk! I’m a huge fan of Motorhead and Metallica, the list goes on, so me being the drummer, I was always doing these thrash beats. To go from that to stepping into this, this was more fun to me. I really enjoy myself when I’m behind the kit with these guys.
Bob: When I write the songs, I listen to quite a broad variety of music, so I think that becomes apparent in my songs. I don’t like to write the same song twice. As far as when I started out, I would say when I was a teenager, I first started listening to Nirvana, Carter USM. I also drew influences from a lot of electro – The Prodigy and stuff like that – so sometimes I’d try and work out how to play dance songs on a guitar. And then that would give me the influence to write more interesting songs. I like to try and fuse a bunch of different genres together, make it more interesting.
Andy: I listen to a lot of Neil Young, I think he’s a very diverse artist. He’s done folk, he’s also done electric stuff.
How do you promote yourselves?
Matt: I’m more into social media than these guys are. We’re promoting ourselves on Facebook, we’re gonna make a new YouTube account. That’s kind of going up and down at the moment…
Bob: We don’t know how to work it!
Where does the name Ryuko come from?
Bob: I’m really into anime and all things Japanese, Japanese music… At the time I was watching an anime called Kill la Kill. The main character is called Ryuko Matoi and I just thought it was a really cool name. Some really fun facts: Ryuko is one of the least popular names in Japan. It basically means “rebirth”, start over. So I thought, we’re starting again, it’s a really cool name.
Andy: Well it’s not a cool name in Japan, is it?
Bob: It’s cool to me! I think it’s cool!
Andy: I do wish we’d chosen a name that’s easier to spell and pronounce.
Bob: People can never say it.
Your cover of the Madness classic “Baggy Trousers” tonight was a surprising choice, but great!
Matt: We decided to spruce that up to make it ours. The original is completely different to how I play it, I add extra little bits just to make it more funky.
Do you feel you’ve got the right band dynamic between the three of you?
Bob: We’re pretty good as we are. More people add more complications cos you’ve got to think – are they free; do they drive, are they going to be available…
Matt: I’ve got a son, he’s 9, we discuss upcoming gigs before we agree to it. If I’ve got my son and he comes along with us, if he’s allowed in the venue we play – he’s got his little ear defenders, he just sits in the corner and watches us or plays his game.
Bob: I’ve got three jobs…
Sounds like a positive environment to work in.
It’s got to be positive, if it’s not it just doesn’t work. If no-one’s happy, nothing gets done.
So, what’s next? What are your plans?
Bob: World domination! One step at a time…
Andy: We’ve been working on re-doing our EP, we’ve been recording on and off. Recording, playing as many gigs as we can.
And there you have it: an enjoyable chat with the gentlemen of Ryuko. Make sure you check them out live, as and when we can return to the experience of live music. If grungy, punky alt rock with some metallic crunch is your thing, then Ryuko will be just the antidote you need in these dreary times.
With apologies to Ryuko, who have waited months for this interview to see the light of day.
Check out Ryuko on Bandcamp and Facebook. Plus you can follow this link to listen to the interview on YouTube – yes, you can admire my fantastic interviewing skills for real!
Platinum Al's Virtual Hot Tub 