Don't tell me any country in the world produces better music than us Brits. Here are 5 classics, ok they are golden oldies but if you don't like them get your ears syringed.
The Beatles "The Long and Winding Road"
Procul Harem "Whiter Shade of Pale"
Moody Blues "Nights in White Satin"
Feetwood Mac "Need your Love so Bad"
Small Faces "The Autumn Stone"
Showing posts with label Music Best of British Groups. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Music Best of British Groups. Show all posts
Monday, 28 February 2011
Monday, 17 March 2008
Music Monday - The Kinks
Again this week I'm going to ask you to vote, I'm featuring one of my favorite groups from the 1960's The Kinks.
The Kinks first gained prominence in 1964 with the hit single "You really got Me", written by Ray Davies (it was their third single). The band's name came from their "kinky" dress sense of leather capes and boots worn on stage. The group's original line-up consisted of Ray Davies on Vocals & rythem guitar, Brother Dave Davies on Lead Guitar, Peter Quaife on Bass and Mick Avory on drums.
The Davies brothers were known to be allways at war with each other and the increasingly deteriorating relationship, and a string of unsuccessful records brought a eventual break-up of the band in the mid-90s. Rumours of Kinks reunion are vague and bandmembers have since embarked on solo careers.
Ray Davies who is currently performing successfully as a solo artist, recently commented that he is very willing to reform the band; however, his morbid relationship with his brother is still an obstacle to an eventual reunion.
Whatever the band's fortunes, however, their influence on emerging artists has been a constant. During the New Wave era, groups such as The Jam, The Knack, The Stranglers & The Pretenders covered Kinks songs and Britpop acts such as Blur, Oasis & Supergrass have cited them as a major influence. Many modern bands such as The Killers, The Libertines and Franz Ferdinand also acknowledge The Kinks and Ray Davies' expert songwriting skills. As self-professed Kinks fan Pete Townsend said for The History of Rock 'n' Roll: "The Kinks were much more quintessentially English. I always think that Ray Davies should one day be Poet Laureate. He invented a new kind of poetry and a new kind of language for pop writing that influenced me from the very, very, very beginning."
For the record The Kinks had many chart hits especially during the golden years 1964 to 1972 including 3 chart toppers & no fewer than 10 others making the top 10.
Anyway I'm posting 5 of my favorite Kinks songs (although I could add a lot more)and todays choice which do you prefer :-
(You can vote on my sidebar)
1. Waterloo Sunset
2. Sunny Afternoon
3. Celluloid Heroes
4. Lola
5. All Day and all of the night
The Kinks first gained prominence in 1964 with the hit single "You really got Me", written by Ray Davies (it was their third single). The band's name came from their "kinky" dress sense of leather capes and boots worn on stage. The group's original line-up consisted of Ray Davies on Vocals & rythem guitar, Brother Dave Davies on Lead Guitar, Peter Quaife on Bass and Mick Avory on drums.
The Davies brothers were known to be allways at war with each other and the increasingly deteriorating relationship, and a string of unsuccessful records brought a eventual break-up of the band in the mid-90s. Rumours of Kinks reunion are vague and bandmembers have since embarked on solo careers.
Ray Davies who is currently performing successfully as a solo artist, recently commented that he is very willing to reform the band; however, his morbid relationship with his brother is still an obstacle to an eventual reunion.
Whatever the band's fortunes, however, their influence on emerging artists has been a constant. During the New Wave era, groups such as The Jam, The Knack, The Stranglers & The Pretenders covered Kinks songs and Britpop acts such as Blur, Oasis & Supergrass have cited them as a major influence. Many modern bands such as The Killers, The Libertines and Franz Ferdinand also acknowledge The Kinks and Ray Davies' expert songwriting skills. As self-professed Kinks fan Pete Townsend said for The History of Rock 'n' Roll: "The Kinks were much more quintessentially English. I always think that Ray Davies should one day be Poet Laureate. He invented a new kind of poetry and a new kind of language for pop writing that influenced me from the very, very, very beginning."
For the record The Kinks had many chart hits especially during the golden years 1964 to 1972 including 3 chart toppers & no fewer than 10 others making the top 10.
Anyway I'm posting 5 of my favorite Kinks songs (although I could add a lot more)and todays choice which do you prefer :-
(You can vote on my sidebar)
1. Waterloo Sunset
2. Sunny Afternoon
3. Celluloid Heroes
4. Lola
5. All Day and all of the night
Monday, 25 February 2008
Music Monday - Best of British - One Group Three Guitar Legends
For my "Best of British" feature I'm going to do a group from the 1960's that introduced to the World three of the all time great guitar players. The group I'm talking about only actually had 7 chart hits (between 1964 & 1966), no number ones although five did make the top ten.
So who is this group and who are these top class guitarists ?
Well if you haven't guessed it the group was called "The Yardbirds" and this is their story :-
Formed originally as the "Metropolitan Blues Quartet" in 1962 in the London suburbs they changed their name to the "Yardbirds" in 1963 with a line up of singer/harmonica player Keith Relf, rhythm guitarist Chris Deja, bassist Paul Samwell-Smith and drummer Jim McCarty, and lead guitarist (Anthony) Top Topham.
It was in October that year that the group made their first significant line up change, Topham left the group and was replaced by a young art student called Eric Clapton. It was with this line up that the group enjoyed their first chart successin 1964, their first a song chart was called "Good Morning Little Schoolgirl" which reached the heights of No44 in the UK chart -
This song was followed up by their first top ten hit and one of their most well known songs "For Your Love" which also became their first US chart hit. It also marked a move away from their British Blues style of play :-
Shortly after this hit Clapton left the group apparently as a blues purist at the time he was furious with the move away this style of music, went on to form Cream, and become one of the all time great guitarists.
So how do you replace somebody of this calibre, easy find somebody just as good called Jeff Beck, unbelievably the group found somebody who was also going to become one of the all time great guitar players.
It was with this line up that the group embarked on their first and succesful US tour. It was also this line up that gave the group their biggest hit "Heart Full of Soul" which reached No2 in the chart :-
In early 1966 Bass player Samwell-Smith left the group and was replaced by another young guitarist who would go on to become a superstar called Jimmy Page, realising how good this lad was he was switched to 2nd lead with Deja taking the Bass.
It was this sound of a two lead guitar sound that gave Page his first ideas to form a supergroup of his own and the first traces of Heavy Metal were heard.
Sadly this line up did not stay together long and there is very few rcordings surficed of their studio work, Beck was actually fired following a bust up while the group was in texas and they became a 4 piece band.
Beck although not having the same commercial success as Clapton or Page is regarded as the best guitarist of the three in a interview given by the other two. He went on to form "The Jeff Beck Group" with Rod Stewart part of the band. His most notable solo recording is of course the guitar classic instrumental "Becks Bolero".
It was July 1968 that the Yardbirds played their last concert in Luton although they did a bit of studio work after that day, the group all went their seperateways.
Page always wanted to form a supergroup and he recruited bassist John Paul Jones. Small Faces lead singer was approached as was drummer Keith Moon (The Who), neither joined this new group. It wasn't long before Page met Robert Plant who recommended friend John Bonham as drummer. Origionally this group was to be called "The New Yardbirds" but they soon changed this to the name that they are so well known today "Led Zepplin" and as they say the rest is history.
Sadly the Yardbirds story doesn't end there, lead singer Keith Relf was killed in 1976 by a Electric Shock from a guitar that hadn't been grounded properley.
In 1992 the group was inducted into the Rock & Roll hall of fame a cermony attended by all 6 surviving members including Clapton, Beck & Page.
This was also the year that Deja & McCarty have reformed a group called "The Yardbirds" with a new line up that are touring today. There is a strong rumour that Beck & Page are going to play some concerts with them in late 2008, we will see.
So who is this group and who are these top class guitarists ?
Well if you haven't guessed it the group was called "The Yardbirds" and this is their story :-Formed originally as the "Metropolitan Blues Quartet" in 1962 in the London suburbs they changed their name to the "Yardbirds" in 1963 with a line up of singer/harmonica player Keith Relf, rhythm guitarist Chris Deja, bassist Paul Samwell-Smith and drummer Jim McCarty, and lead guitarist (Anthony) Top Topham.
It was in October that year that the group made their first significant line up change, Topham left the group and was replaced by a young art student called Eric Clapton. It was with this line up that the group enjoyed their first chart successin 1964, their first a song chart was called "Good Morning Little Schoolgirl" which reached the heights of No44 in the UK chart -This song was followed up by their first top ten hit and one of their most well known songs "For Your Love" which also became their first US chart hit. It also marked a move away from their British Blues style of play :-
Shortly after this hit Clapton left the group apparently as a blues purist at the time he was furious with the move away this style of music, went on to form Cream, and become one of the all time great guitarists.
So how do you replace somebody of this calibre, easy find somebody just as good called Jeff Beck, unbelievably the group found somebody who was also going to become one of the all time great guitar players.
It was with this line up that the group embarked on their first and succesful US tour. It was also this line up that gave the group their biggest hit "Heart Full of Soul" which reached No2 in the chart :-In early 1966 Bass player Samwell-Smith left the group and was replaced by another young guitarist who would go on to become a superstar called Jimmy Page, realising how good this lad was he was switched to 2nd lead with Deja taking the Bass.
It was this sound of a two lead guitar sound that gave Page his first ideas to form a supergroup of his own and the first traces of Heavy Metal were heard.Sadly this line up did not stay together long and there is very few rcordings surficed of their studio work, Beck was actually fired following a bust up while the group was in texas and they became a 4 piece band.
Beck although not having the same commercial success as Clapton or Page is regarded as the best guitarist of the three in a interview given by the other two. He went on to form "The Jeff Beck Group" with Rod Stewart part of the band. His most notable solo recording is of course the guitar classic instrumental "Becks Bolero".
It was July 1968 that the Yardbirds played their last concert in Luton although they did a bit of studio work after that day, the group all went their seperateways.
Page always wanted to form a supergroup and he recruited bassist John Paul Jones. Small Faces lead singer was approached as was drummer Keith Moon (The Who), neither joined this new group. It wasn't long before Page met Robert Plant who recommended friend John Bonham as drummer. Origionally this group was to be called "The New Yardbirds" but they soon changed this to the name that they are so well known today "Led Zepplin" and as they say the rest is history.
Sadly the Yardbirds story doesn't end there, lead singer Keith Relf was killed in 1976 by a Electric Shock from a guitar that hadn't been grounded properley.
In 1992 the group was inducted into the Rock & Roll hall of fame a cermony attended by all 6 surviving members including Clapton, Beck & Page.
This was also the year that Deja & McCarty have reformed a group called "The Yardbirds" with a new line up that are touring today. There is a strong rumour that Beck & Page are going to play some concerts with them in late 2008, we will see.
Monday, 18 February 2008
Music Monday - Best of British - 70's Rock & Roll
Four Groups eight classic songs of a forgotten era for you all to enjoy this week.
In the early 1970's (when I was a lad) Glam Rock was all the rage but another brand of music I always felt was put under the Glam umbrella but it was slightly different. Ok the groups dressed up a little but really it was a throw back to the classic Rock & Roll era of the late 50's early 60's. Four groups come to mind that brought a modern brand of 70's Rock & Roll to the publics attention and they all had a fair amount of success.
First to apear on British TV (on the Basil Brush Show) in 1973 was a 4 piece Band called Mud and in the period between 1973 & 1976 they had numerous hit records including 3 number one hits.
One of these chart toppers was the biggest seller in the UK in 1974 and people around my age must have danced to this one, hell it was played at every party I attended. If you haven't guessed it the name of the song was "Tiger Feet" :-
1974 was the year another group hit the scene and although only having one chart topper they actually had more chart hits than Mud, the name of the group is of course Showaddywaddy and that chart topper was "Under the Moon of Love" which was a cover version of a 1961 Curtis Lee US hit song :-
Showaddywaddy were a eight piece band featuring two drummers who got their success with a string of cover versions and I would suggest their most well known song is another cover version this time Eddie Cochrans 1960 classic "Three steps to heaven" :-
Also in 1974 another group of similar style stormed the charts with their first released song reaching top spot, the group was called The Rubettes. Their style was more based around 1950's DooWop than traditional Rock & Roll and that No1 hit was of course "Sugar Baby Love"
Although the group failed to actually top the charts again they did have a string of hits and here is another for you to enjoy "Juke Box Jive" :-
As these groups faded from the Chart radar in the late 70's one more group gave us a short blast of this style of music. It was 1977 when the group Darts first appeared on our screens with the classic "Daddy Cool" :-
Although Darts never actually topped the UK charts they did have a string of songs reach the top ten including three number 2's one of which was this classic "Come back my love" :-
Finally I think I should end with where it all began and let Mud have the last word so here is another great song for you all to enjoy "Lean on Me" (RIP Les Gray) :-
Just looking at the way the audience is dressed in these clips in the fashions of the time brings back many fantastic memories to me.
In the early 1970's (when I was a lad) Glam Rock was all the rage but another brand of music I always felt was put under the Glam umbrella but it was slightly different. Ok the groups dressed up a little but really it was a throw back to the classic Rock & Roll era of the late 50's early 60's. Four groups come to mind that brought a modern brand of 70's Rock & Roll to the publics attention and they all had a fair amount of success.
First to apear on British TV (on the Basil Brush Show) in 1973 was a 4 piece Band called Mud and in the period between 1973 & 1976 they had numerous hit records including 3 number one hits.
One of these chart toppers was the biggest seller in the UK in 1974 and people around my age must have danced to this one, hell it was played at every party I attended. If you haven't guessed it the name of the song was "Tiger Feet" :-
1974 was the year another group hit the scene and although only having one chart topper they actually had more chart hits than Mud, the name of the group is of course Showaddywaddy and that chart topper was "Under the Moon of Love" which was a cover version of a 1961 Curtis Lee US hit song :-
Showaddywaddy were a eight piece band featuring two drummers who got their success with a string of cover versions and I would suggest their most well known song is another cover version this time Eddie Cochrans 1960 classic "Three steps to heaven" :-
Also in 1974 another group of similar style stormed the charts with their first released song reaching top spot, the group was called The Rubettes. Their style was more based around 1950's DooWop than traditional Rock & Roll and that No1 hit was of course "Sugar Baby Love"
Although the group failed to actually top the charts again they did have a string of hits and here is another for you to enjoy "Juke Box Jive" :-
As these groups faded from the Chart radar in the late 70's one more group gave us a short blast of this style of music. It was 1977 when the group Darts first appeared on our screens with the classic "Daddy Cool" :-
Although Darts never actually topped the UK charts they did have a string of songs reach the top ten including three number 2's one of which was this classic "Come back my love" :-
Finally I think I should end with where it all began and let Mud have the last word so here is another great song for you all to enjoy "Lean on Me" (RIP Les Gray) :-
Just looking at the way the audience is dressed in these clips in the fashions of the time brings back many fantastic memories to me.
Monday, 11 February 2008
Music Monday - Best of British - The Animals
For this weeks trip down memory lane to find the best British Groups of all time I'm going back to the sixties. This was a period when so many fantastic groups appeared on the scene, a time of the Brit invasion of the US, a time when British groups became the front runners around the World.
When you think of groups of that time many think of the Mersey Sound such as the "Beatles", "Gerry & the Pacemakers", they may even think of the fantastic groups coming out of London such as "Rolling Stones", "The Who", "The Kinks", "Small Faces", "DC5", etc. they may even think of Birmingham with "The Moody Blues" or "Spencer Davis Group". However the group we are going to look at today came from the Land of the "Geordie" in the North East of England the City of Newcastle and of course that group was The Animals.
When you think of groups of that time many think of the Mersey Sound such as the "Beatles", "Gerry & the Pacemakers", they may even think of the fantastic groups coming out of London such as "Rolling Stones", "The Who", "The Kinks", "Small Faces", "DC5", etc. they may even think of Birmingham with "The Moody Blues" or "Spencer Davis Group". However the group we are going to look at today came from the Land of the "Geordie" in the North East of England the City of Newcastle and of course that group was The Animals.
Of course one song sticks out in everyones mind when you think of "The Animals" it was the song that gave then their only UK No1 and became the first British act other than the Beatles to have a US chart topper. The year 1964 and arguably one of the best songs of all time "House of the Rising Sun (of course I've posted the Karaoke version cos I knew you'll all want to sing along):-
The group were not a one trick pony though and had many chart hits with no fewer than 7 songs reaching the top ten between 1964 & 1967.
So who were "The Animals" that made that fantastic Bluesy/Rock type sound well we will start with that man with the unbelievable vocals and that is Eric Burdon I just believe he has one of them voices that you can listen to all day. 
He is still signing today and check out my friends on MySpace. Here he is with the group back in the sixties with a superb version of "Tobacco Road" :-
Lead Guitar and that is Hilton Valentine who played them classic opening notes on House of the Rising Sun. In 1966 he left the Animals and moved to California forming his own Skiffle group. He did return to England at a later date and played with a Animals reunion group but eventually moved back Stateside where he now resides in Conneticut (take note Jenny). He released a non succesfull solo album in 2004 called "Its Folk 'n' Skiffle Mate".
So on to Keyboards and that is Alan Price who as gone on to have a good solo career with four top ten hits and a number of other compositions reaching the charts. 
His most famous hit was in 1974 with "Jarrow Song", this is a tribute to the Jarrow Marchers of 1936. This was a time when the country was in recession and there was no work in the North of England, the North/South divide was greater than ever. In desperation the men of the Mining town of Jarrow marched the length of the country to protest to the government of the day in London. Don't miss this video (some things never change) :-
I'll do the Bass Guitarist and that is Bryan "Chas" Chandler, now can anyone tell me his claim to music fame other than been with The Animals. Well he went on to be a music Promoter and manager and his the man who discovered and guided non other than "Jimi Hendrix" through his career. On top of that he was significant in the Glam Rock era as manager of one of my favorite groups "Slade".
Finally on to the Drummer and thats John Steel, Originally a trumpeter, he and Burdon formed a Jazz group in 1957 called "The Pagan Jazzmen". They soon switched instruments and embraced the new rock 'n' roll explosion, when they became The Pagans. In 1959 they met Alan Price and joined forces. The band went through many name changes and different personnel before eventually forming the Animals in 1963. Following the Animals Steel became a buisness man but still occasionally works as a part time drummer.
Over the years the Animals have been reformed with different personnel but never achieving the same success as the origional line up.
So here is a couple of Classics to finish with :-
1. Dont let me be Missunderstood :-
2. We Gotta get out of this Place :-
Monday, 4 February 2008
Music Monday - Best of British - The Jam
Well I've decided to have a break from my "Legends Posts" for now and change the subject. For the next few weeks I'm going to feature some of the "Best of British" groups, well in my opinion anyway.
I'm going to start off this feature with a group I liked big style in the late 70's early 80's "The Jam".
The group of Paul Weller, Bruce Foxton & Rick Buckner were schoolboy friends from Woking in Surrey.
Taken from Wikipedia :-
The Jam were an English punk rock/mod revival band active during the late 1970s and early 1980s.
They had 18 straight top 40 singles in the UK, from their debut in 1977 to their breakup in 1982, including four number 1 hits. Two of these 18 singles were only available in the UK as imports, and as of 2007 they remained the best-selling import singles of all time in the UK. The Jam released one live album and six studio albums, the last of which, "The Gift", hit number 1 on the UK album charts.
They drew upon a variety of stylistic influences over the course of their career, including 1960s beat music,soul, rythem & blues and Psychedelic as well as 1970s punk rock and new wave. The trio was known for its melodic pop songs, its distinctly English flavour and its mod image. The band launched the career of Paul Weller who went on to form The Style Council and later had a successful solo career. Weller wrote and sang most of The Jam’s original compositions, and he played lead Rickenbacker guitar. Bruce Foxton provided backing vocals and played unusually prominent basslines, which were the foundation of many of the band’s songs; including the hits "Down at the Tube Station at midnight", "Eton Rifles" and "A Town called Malice".
I'm going to start off this feature with a group I liked big style in the late 70's early 80's "The Jam".
The group of Paul Weller, Bruce Foxton & Rick Buckner were schoolboy friends from Woking in Surrey.
Taken from Wikipedia :-The Jam were an English punk rock/mod revival band active during the late 1970s and early 1980s.
They had 18 straight top 40 singles in the UK, from their debut in 1977 to their breakup in 1982, including four number 1 hits. Two of these 18 singles were only available in the UK as imports, and as of 2007 they remained the best-selling import singles of all time in the UK. The Jam released one live album and six studio albums, the last of which, "The Gift", hit number 1 on the UK album charts.
They drew upon a variety of stylistic influences over the course of their career, including 1960s beat music,soul, rythem & blues and Psychedelic as well as 1970s punk rock and new wave. The trio was known for its melodic pop songs, its distinctly English flavour and its mod image. The band launched the career of Paul Weller who went on to form The Style Council and later had a successful solo career. Weller wrote and sang most of The Jam’s original compositions, and he played lead Rickenbacker guitar. Bruce Foxton provided backing vocals and played unusually prominent basslines, which were the foundation of many of the band’s songs; including the hits "Down at the Tube Station at midnight", "Eton Rifles" and "A Town called Malice".
Gotta have a song about getting beaten up in a Subway Station (they don't write lyrics like this anymore). :-
Personally I was lucky to see The Jam play live at Bridlington Spa in 1981 and they certainly was one of the best live acts around.
As said earlier Paul Weller wrote most of the songs the group did but they did have an early chart success with a cover version. The song "David Watts" was wrote by one of my all time favorite song writers "Ray Davis" of 60's supergroup "The Kinks" so gotta include it.
In their time they created a few interesting achievements, one song "Thats Entertainment" charted at No21 in the UK despite not been released as a single. This was based entirely on imported sales, the song also appears in Rolling Stone magazine best songs of all time.
They became the 2nd group (following the Beatles I believe) to appear live twice on the same episode of Top of the Pops.
On their break up many of their songs were rereleased and the had to distinction of having 14 songs in the UK chart in the same week.
A number of their songs were used in the soundtrack to the film Billy Elliott including "A Town called Malice" :-
Their last ever song "Beat Surrender" made the top spot in the UK chart, nothing like finishing on a high.
My favorite Jam song of all time is probably this one "The Bitterest Pill" :-
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