Gary Glitter - "Glitter and Gold" Vinyl, 10", Mini-Album, Compilation, U.S., 1980 (Epic)

Gary Glitter is a by-product of the British pop industry.   "Gary Glitter" was invented by record producer  Mike Leander and Paul Francis Gadd, who first entered into the pop market as Paul Raven in 1960.   Leander is that rare combination of a visionary - both as a manager and as a songwriter.  The fact that he made the film soundtrack "Privilege" with Paul Jones, is the first step to his most brilliant creation, Gary Glitter, with incredible input by Gadd, who transformed himself into Glitter. 

A formula was made, that not only made money (all the gold in glitter) but also gave the world a sound - Glitter Rock.   Stripped down sound with a super heavy drum sound, mixed in with what sounds like a distorted electric guitar or maybe even a synthesizer of some sort.   For me, it is one of the great sounding rock n' roll records since Sun recordings.  It's all echo, compressed sound that sounds like Rockabilly, but from outer space.  There is a touch of Joe Meek in the madness (sound wise)  as well. 

The American side of CBS (on Epic Records) released a six-song 10" compilation that is very much the essential Gary Glitter.   I don't think anyone needs any more than the six-songs here on this mini-album, with respect to the Glitter sound and aesthetic.  It's perfection as practiced.  "Rock n' Roll" Part 1 and 2 was until ten years ago, the sound of sports rallies all around the world.  The call and response approach to rock is essentially important.  Pumping the air with your fist, it has a hyper-macho beat that swaggers and straight-forward.   Rudd and Leander made a character that is truly Ziggy Stardust but without the intellect.   Dumb, and beautiful music that's pure sound, with a mighty beat.  For me, it was a series of perfect moments.  Gary Glitter was not meant to last.  Rudd's character got in the way, and Leander went on to other adventures. 

Mickey Spillane/Stan Purdy - "Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer Story" Vinyl, 10", 331/3, 1954 (The Fifth Corp.)

There is nothing artistic about Mickey Spillane's work or even his almost 'performance artist' level of being a writer.   For me, and I'm sure there were others, but I'm just not aware of them, Spillane is the first public image of what a writer should act like.  There is no reason why one should separate the writer from their work.  It was obvious to me that Spillane was not writing fiction, but an autobiography.   That is not the case whatsoever.  He was a fictional writer, and he went beyond that and made himself "Mickey Spillane" as a fictional character.  

At the height of Spillane's fame and glory, he made this 10" album where side one is a short narrative by him, and with the author reading the text.  The background is music by Stan Purdy, a composer that Spillane discovered somewhere in the music world.  As far as I know, this is Purdy's only recorded work.  In other words, he was Spillane's music composer under his wing or company.   As mentioned, I don't think his work as a writer is that artistic, but on the other hand, Spillane was an artist in the sense he made himself bigger than his literature.  The only writer I can think of who did something similar is Yukio Mishima.   I wonder if Spillane knew of Mishima, as a writer, and in the same sense as the noir author, a performance artist? 

Beyond the identity issue, this 10" album is great.  The first side is entertaining because Spillane gives his story a sense of character in his performance.  Side two is all music.  And it's very much the Jazzy Crime TV/Film soundtrack that was very common during the 1950s.  Not as cool or brilliant as Henry Mancini's "Peter Gunn" but still, a cool snapshot of that time and period.  The packaging is brilliant.   The front cover painting is by G.R. Wilson, and at this time and moment, I can't find anything else by this artist.  Like Purdy, it seems he existed all for Mickey Spillane's purpose and vision. 

  

Lionel Bart - "Bart For Bart's Sake" Vinyl 10" Album, 1959 (Decca)

My obsession with London pop culture before The Beatles hit the scene goes overdrive in certain periods in my life.  Reading Andrew Loog Oldham's memoirs as well as others, one name comes up again and again, and that's Lionel Bart (1930-1999).   Bart was the ultimate insider of the British music and theater world.  He also was a painter, so he had a foot in the visual art world as well as in the theater in West End of London and beyond.  And of course, he's famous for his musical "Oliver."

Bart, who never learned to read or write music, wrote "Living Doll" for Cliff Richard, as well as writing "From Russia With Love," the central theme of the Bond film.  One of the interesting aspects of Bart's work is the use of the Cockney language or accent in his lyrics.  Apparently used in his first  'solo' album "Bart For Bart's Sake."  Released in 1959, this is Bart right in the middle of the Rock n' Roll presence in the U.K.  Artists like Tommy Steele and Cliff Richard becoming the British wave, due to Elvis not touring the U.K.  This is not a rock n' roll album, but a set of songs from the Theater, but all from the source that's Lionel Bart. 

"Bart For Bart's Sake" is a superb snapshot of London showbiz, but with the presence of satire, and again, the use of Cockney rhymes and accent. Also noted, is his awareness of the album format, which he gives every song here an introduction of sorts, even commenting to the listener you're on side two of the record.  Most of the songs on this 10" album come from an obscure Bart musical - but clearly, makes commentary on the sexual landscape of that culture.  It borders on the "Carry On..." films of the late 50s and 60s.  It's a total performance piece, with a strong presence of Laurie Johnson's arrangement, who is famous for the (British) Avengers TV series soundtrack.   This is very much the root of the swinging 60s, which Bart fully participated in with great force, but with some destructive side-effects on his mental and physical health.  

Bart knew everyone from Larry Parnes (the ultimate music manager of his time) to David Bowie.  He had his finger on the pulse of London music culture, and now, sort of a cloudy individual of that world - especially in the United States.   I suspect that if someone wrote a full biography on Bart, it would be one of the great showbiz biographies of them all. 

Henk Badings - "Evolutions" Vinyl 10" album (Cacophonic) 1958

Dutch composer Henk Badings score to the ballet "Evolutions" by Yvonne Georgi.  The sound reminds in parts of Portishead and early Kraftwerk.  Th music is moody in a cinematic nature.  A combination of tape and electroacoustic music.   There are traces of musique concrete but also melodies being played as well.   Before buying this recording, I never heard of Badings' music nor his name.    It's great to be turned on to a new composer and finding it by chance  - mostly due to the record cover design.  It's good.

One hears real instruments throughout the six pieces that make "Evolutions."  I can hear accordion, piano, but manipulated by tape editing.  Recorded in 1958, Badings used electronic music not as an experimental practice, but as new ballet music of its time.  As mentioned some melodies play hide and seek with the electronic effects.  A great short ep length album. 

David Bowie - "Sue (Or In a Season of Crime)/'Tis A Pity She Was A Whore 10" 45 rpm Vinyl (Columbia)

A 10" vinyl release with a retro cover.   David Bowie's packaging of this long player single as well as its music was the first gesture that changes will come within the Bowie world.  My first impression is that this is some long lost recording that Bowie did for ECM Records.  Big jazz band music that borders on the Kurt Weill/Bertolt Brecht side of life.  "Sue" is a theatrical tale of a murder that reminds me of Brecht's "Baal" which Bowie acted in a British TV version of this early play by the master.  Songs by Brecht in that theater piece deals with murder with a very detached language that's poetic and equally horrifying.  Bowie uses the same technique as Brecht here on this song.   The music is by Bob Bhamra, Paul Bateman, and Maria Schnieder.   At the time, this sounded like a one-off track, but now we know that this will lead to Bowie's last album "Blackstar." 

The b-side has my favorite Bowie song ever  - which is saying a lot because I love his music so much.  "Tis A Pity She Was A Whore" sounds like a demo recorded by Bowie by himself, but I'm not sure if that's the case.  The noise and electronics are a work of beauty.   Violence with an amount of grace mixed into this great cocktail of a record.  This too showed up on "Blackstar," and like the A-side a new or different recording.   I'm not sure which version I like more - both are very different although it's the same song, and the arrangement is similar.   The 10" single is a must to have, especially if one is a fan of "Blackstar."  Bowie was on a high aesthetic mode toward the end of his life.   May he live on in our hearts and minds.  

Miles Davis - "Asceseur Pour L'Échafaud" Vinyl 10" album, Limited Edition, Mono (Sam Records)

My favorite Miles Davis music.  Recorded in 1958, in Paris, with the great French musicians Pierre Michelot, René Urtreger, Barney Wilen, and the legendary American drummer Kenny Clarke.  This album has been re-released numerous times.  But I think Sam Records version is the best.  For one, they went back to the original analog tape to make this disc as well as the original negatives of the front and back cover.   Sam Records is a one-man operation, and he focuses on jazz that was recorded in France, mostly from the 1950s.  

Limited edition of 1,000 copies, is not the easiest find, but once you do, you'll love it.  For one, the sound is incredible.  The music for me is like if someone turned the lights off by a switch.  A mood changer that works like no other music.   A beautiful smokey aural experience. 

The other item of interest for me is that they have the original liner notes including the one by Boris Vian.   Long-time readers of my blog and my work know that I have an intense passion for Vian's writing and his social world.    It's a great reminder of his presence and importance in the French and American Jazz world. 

Johnny Thunders "Hurt Me" (10" vinyl album) Munster Records

Johnny Thunders all by himself.  Him and his guitar.  Recorded in 1983 and in the city of Paris.  Mostly acoustic guitar, with a touch of electric guitar here and there.  Ibe sure that there is an interesting tale about the making of this album, but alas, I don't know any.  Here he covers some New York Dolls songs "Lonely Planet Boy" and "Too Much Too Soon," as well as The Heartbreakers.  Also, a cover of my fave Stones song "I'd Rather Be With The Boys."  Very low-fi in sound and spirit, it's an interesting document of a superb and very much underrated songwriter.   Thunders is known for his love of narcotics and the look - but I think he is much better than all of that.  For one, his songs have a real heart.  He's the essence of a true rock n' roll mind.  Hearing him doing these songs - and most I do not even know off hand (by him), they're amazingly well-crafted, yet I suspect each one has ties to the pop history of the 20th century.   I can imagine him and David Johansen being Brill Building era writers, but alas, they missed the decade, yet they have honored it throughout their and Thunders (short) career.    An album for those who collect Dolls material, but more than that, it's a beautiful snapshot of Thunders spending that October and November 1983, in a studio, in a world of his own making. 

The Scratch Orchestra - "London, 1969" (Die Stadt) Limited Edition of 500, vinyl 10"

The first time I heard of "The Scratch Orchestra" was in a Brian Eno interview, around the time he was in Roxy Music.  I have always been intrigued by this project, which as legend has reported, was organized by the British composer Cornelius Cardew.   With a name like that, I knew he had to be fantastic.  The other co-founders were Howard Skempton and Michael Parsons.  "London, 1969" is the recording of the first concert they gave in '69 at Hampstead Town Hall.   

First of all, one doesn't know which side is one or two - so that obviously doesn't make a huge difference.  Nor do the two selections have titles.  Which probably fits the Scratch Orchestra motif of everything is equal.   The actual rules of the orchestra are that anyone can join, graphic scores were used instead of musical ones, and oddly enough, concerts are assigned in reverse seniority, so that means the newest member has a stronger say in the programming.  Which comes to this record.   Eighteen year old Christopher Hobbs (then a student of Cardew's) designed or headed this specific concert that took place on November 1, 1969.  

This album, in a particular style, is ground zero for British avant-garde music and its (non) musicians. Five or six years later, most of the composers/music makers became hooked up with Brian Eno's label, Obscure Records.   I have listened to it twice, and basically it resembles John Cage and David Tudor's "Variations IV."  A mixture of radio sounds, and what I presume is tape loopings.  It's a fantastic little record.  Someone should re-issue it again.   Love the pigeons on the front and back cover as well.