Joe writes: The Flamin Groovies are playing London soon, for the first time in 30 years. Should I go? If I do it will just be to hear this song, which I first heard on Mark Radcliffe's Radio 1 show Out On Blue Six many years ago. It has been a big part of my life ever since. It was produced by Dave Edmunds in 1976 and featured on the Clueless soundtrack in the '90s.
The Indigo Girls have been performing cover songs in concert throughout their career; here are a few of their best.

Born To Be With You was an American top 5 single for The Chordettes in 1956. A largely forgotten piece of bobbysox balladeering, it's a proto doo wop, proto girl group paen to a just-out-of-reach romance, all minor key melodrama and vocal harmonies. It was quite clearly an influence on the young Phil Spector a few years later. A few short calendar years maybe, but it might as well have been several lightyears, given what happened in the intervening years betwixt and between The Chordettes and the golden touch of Phil [...]

Repost: Don't know about where you live, but in these parts it's time to get back to school. Not me, of course (hahahaha) but my kids are getting ready to wake up early, do homework, etc. Well, wake up early anyway. When you're packing lunches you may want to throw in a tune or two. MP3: "High School Confidential" by Jerry Lee Lewis MP3: "School" by Nirvana MP3: "Smokin' In The [...]

Dave Edmunds : Girls Talk [Purchase] Elvis Costello gave Dave Edmunds this song in "a moment of drunken bravado" as he put it in the liner notes of Rhino's reissue of Get Happy!! In 1979 Edmunds scored a UK#4 hit with the hard charging song which he recorded with Nick Lowe ( whom you can hear chanting "girls talk" at the end) and Rockpile. (The same bunch of pub crawlers who recorded Lowe's Jesus Of Cool that year). The result is power [...]

Have guitar, will travel... Dave Edmunds (1979) Elvis Costello (1980) I had the great opportunity of seeing Elvis Costello again last night, this time on his "Revolver" tour, another installment of his Big Wheel of Songs concert format. It was a stellar show: 2-and-1/2 hours of music - with only brief breaks to bring up another audience member to spin the wheel - no opening act, and no intermission. His vocals never faltered- Elvis sounds as good, if not better, than ever, and his [...]

(Editor's Note: I wrote one Halloween post yesterday, then I realized we did this up big last year. So this one is a repost, like many of the other Halloween items you'll see in coming days and weeks.) October is a fun month, because it has Halloween. Adults who are otherwise intelligent and responsible like to dress up in stupid costumes and go to parties, while many others who don't still remember when they used to go trick-or-treating as kids. Churches and other religious types don't much like Halloween, but I always thought that celebrating Halloween [...]
"Playing with the queen of hearts, knowing it ain't really smart..." As I tend to keep my promises, here's part 2 of a royal megamix. Enjoy and buy some albums if you like what you hear ok? Dave Edmunds - Queen Of Hearts MP3 The Birthday Party - King Ink MP3 Sparklehorse - Homecoming Queen MP3 Cannibal & The Headhunters - Zulu King MP3 Palace Songs - Agnes, Queen Of Sorrow MP3 Elvis Costello - King [...]
"I used to be a king and everything around me turned around, but I know all I have to do is sing and I'll lift myself way off the ground..." Presenting part 1 of a royal megamix. Stay tuned for installment #2. Graham Nash - I Used To Be A King MP3 Bob Dylan - Queen Jane Approximately (live Rotterdam '87) MP3 William Bell - A Tribute To A King MP3 Soft Boys - Queen Of Eyes MP3 [...]

Don't know about where you live, but in these parts it's time to get back to school. Not me, of course (hahahaha) but my kids are getting ready to wake up early, do homework, etc. Well, wake up early anyway. When you're packing lunches you may want to throw in a tune or two. MP3: "High School Confidential" by Jerry Lee Lewis MP3: "School" by Nirvana MP3: "Smokin' In The Boys' Room" [...]
The pub-rock supergroup, captured live at the peak of their powers.

If you're a listener to the Word Magazine's podcast you'll have heard an excellent recent episode featuring Nick Lowe . One of the highlights was Nick recalling his former Rockpile bandmate Dave Edmunds' animosity towards Keith Richards when the Stones' axeman joined them on stage in New York in 1978 . This reminded me that I have a solitary track in my collection featuring Dave Edmunds and it's an absolute corker. MP3: Carlene Carter w/ Dave Edmunds - Baby Ride Easy [...]
I grew up in a household where country radio was a staple of our car rides. And I certainly remember Juice Newton's version of "Queen of Hearts" as a song that got quite a bit of airplay. Enough so that, years later, when combing through the vinyl archives of my college radio station, I did [...]
...when you're the only surfer boy around. The Trade Winds hit the charts on Red Bird Records in 1965 with a surf record about that hot bed of surfing, New York City. Or, more specifically, missing their home state of California after moving to New York. "I feel so bad each time I look out there and fi-I-ind My woodie's outside Covered with snow Cold winds will blow now New Yorks a lonely town When you're the only surfer boy [...]

October is a fun month, because it has Halloween. Adults who are otherwise intelligent and responsible like to dress up in stupid costumes and go to parties, while many others who don't still remember when they used to go trick-or-treating as kids. Churches and other religious types don't much like Halloween, but I always thought that celebrating Halloween is sort of like facing your fears eye to eye, and spitting in the face of death. And there are probably as many songs about Halloween - and related subjects - as there are Christmas tunes. So let's jump right [...]

Hight time for Wild Weekend #14. A special number that, as it´s the dorsal Johan Cruijff got famous with. Pele, Best, Beckenbauer, Maradona, Van Basten, Romario, Zidane and Maldini, to name but a few, were all downright amazing players and young Messi is currently in mouthwatering form, but Johan still gets my vote as the best footy player ever. Wasn´t too bad as a coach either. No wonder he just got appointed as honorary president of FC Barcelona. Anyway, on to the music now. Curious to hear what the iPod´s shuffle thingy has lined [...]
Most years Mrs Mackerel and I end up watching Jools Holland's Hootenanny to see in the New Year. Even though we'd since found out it is pre-recorded and not a live count down at all, it was still no exception this year although (much like the last series of Later With Jools Holland) it was a pretty poor line-up. Boy George was 100% awful, frankly embarrassing and Tom Jones and the midget from

Hey welcome to mid month October, the air is colder, the leaves are changing colour, the Maple Leafs still suck .. So whats new.. nothing. No time to post, no time to research. History behind " It Ain't Easy ", I'd always thought it was a old blues song , who knew. Enjoy..... David Bowie - Ziggy Stardust - It Ain't Easy Dave Edmunds - Rockpile - It Ain't Easy Long John Baldry - [...]

Dropped this Stiff Records classic to much abandon at last weekend's Offset Festival. Excellent listening for a sunny afternoon. Nick Lowe - So It Goes

Back in the days of dinosaurs and vinyl LPs, record labels used to put out "samplers," full albums with a track each from their top artists and usually budget priced. In 1976, the pioneering punk/New Wave label Stiff Records came on to the scene and they put out an 11-song sampler LP in early 1977 to promote the first artists they signed. Elvis Costello A Bunch of Stiff Records now sounds prescient, because the Stiff roster included Nick Lowe, Dave Edmunds, Wreckless Eric, Graham Parker, the Tyla [...]