Yep, it’s time to lie back on the shrink’s couch and ‘tell me about your childhood’.  Well.  Sort of.  Actually, my mum just happens to be in town, so I reckon that on Fresh Air Radio this week I might just play all sorts of mum songs, just for shits and giggles.

This came about because of the following comment by my brother on the thread about music formats this week:

“I need to at some point clarify Mum’s music taste for your readers because the poor woman just constantly gets dismissed as a ‘pop fan’.  

The poor woman has a massive collection of jazz, blues; a truly encyclopaedic Opera and symphonic collection and yet, one Lighthouse Family album and the poor woman’s whole musical taste just goes whooosh out the window while Dad is sanctified while you merrily ignore his David Grey albums.  Albums with an emphasis on the plural!”

Now, as you might well know by now, I am a philistine, so mum’s classical music and whatnot means absolutely bollocks-all to me.  However, I think it needs to be pointed out that I most certainly do not ‘dismiss’ my mum as a pop fan.  I fucking love the pop stuff she used to play around the house when we were growing up, and if anything it was my mum’s stuff which first properly got me into music in the first place.

On air from 3:30pm UK time – listen live here.

So for all I do indeed call her a pop fan, which she most certainly is, I do not at all mean that to be a dismissal.  As you will find out on Fresh Air today, when I will be playing all sorts of shite from my mum’s record collection.  And of course, seeing as I left home in 1993, it will be enormously 80s-tastic!

And now, while we’re at it, for the Friday Fives. Honestly, I doubt I can do much better with these questions than I’ll do with the music I’m going to play this afternoon, but Mrs. Toad and I were talking about doing a Saxcast this weekend, so I thought I might ask for some help.

1. Which instrument would you like to see get the saxophone Total Taboo treatment?
2. Best super cheesy 80s sax tune.
3. Acceptable use of sax.
4. Awesome Great Big Eighties Pop Song!
5. Most eighties of all eighties movies.

Song, by Toad’s Friday Fives radio tracklisting for today:
1. David Bowie – China Girl
2. Meat Loaf – Dead Ringer for Love
3. Bow Wow Wow – Aphrodisiac
4. Sparrow & the Workshop – Devil Song (Live)
5. Erasure – Sometimes
6. Bruce Springsteen – Dancing in the Dark
7. Withered Hand – Cornflake (Fresh Air Session)
8. Mike MacFarlane – Waltz (Fresh Air Session)
9. Simple Minds – Don’t You Forget About Me
10. Kate Bush – Running Up That Hill
11. The Magnets – Ever Fallen in Love (Buzzcocks cover)
12. ABC – Poison Arrow
13. Meursault – Lament for a Teenage Millionaire (Fresh Air Session)

This week began with the terribly sad news of the death of Clarence Clemons of the E-Street Band. Clemons had been a member of Bruce Springsteen’s legendary backing band since 1969, and his exuberant saxophone was a key component in creating the distinctive sound of Springsteen’s early records.

You’ll have read reams about Clemons’ vast contribution to Springsteen’s career in obituaries and articles written since last weekend, so I won’t bore you with a copy-and-paste job here; but I had an interesting conversation with Martin Savings & Loan the other day about where the loss of Clemons leaves the E-Street Band as a viable outfit moving forward.

When original E-Street Band organist Danny Federici died a few years ago; Charles Giordano, Federici’s opposite number from the band Springsteen had been working with on the Seeger Sessions project, shifted sideways and filled Federici’s E-Street position.

With no disrespect to Danny Federici or his legacy, it won’t be so straightforward for Springsteen to bring a sub off the bench to fill Clemons’ sizable shoes.

I don’t think it will simply be a case of finding another horn player competent enough to play Clemons’ parts in the songs. Both Clemons and Springsteen are on record stating that the first time they jammed together in 1969, few words were spoken but they felt they shared a subconscious “connection”; that they were each what the other had been searching for in a muse.

Clemons delivered a dynamism and sense of motion to Springsteen’s epic ballads. Put simply, he brought the soul, providing an echo of classic rock n’ roll history. His energy and enthusiasm seemed to electrify the sound of both the records and the band’s live performances. In concert , while the rest of the band would either prowl hunched and elusive with their electric guitars, or be nailed to the spot by their drums or keyboard rigs; Clemons would stand shoulder to shoulder with Springsteen at the front of the stage, almost a co-frontman.  

He was the perfect foil for Springsteen. Physically opposites; a huge athletic black man, a mountain of rippling muscles clad in colourful, exotic fashions, stood strident alongside this scrawny, scruffy white dude in worn-out denims and ripped lumberjack shirts, they were a compelling spectacle. And musically Clemons’ style – a mixture of jazz, funk, gospel and traditional rock n’ roll – can’t have been seen as the obvious accompaniment to  Springsteen’s introspective, angry ballads composed on an acoustic guitar.

Yet despite – or probably because of - that juxtaposition, the partnership worked and created some of the most popular American music recorded in the last forty years or so. I’m aware that Bruce Springsteen is a favourite amongst many of the readers and contributors to this site, and a love of his music – perhaps reflecting Clemons’ and Springsteen’s odd-couple companionship – unites musicians and fans of disparate tastes and genres that I speak to.

So beyond the immediate devastating loss, where do Bruce Springsteen and The E-Street Band go from here?

This podcast is, as you will already know, very, very late.  Personally I blame a combination of the RNLI, gin, and the fact that Mrs. Toad is away all week, which meant that yesterday wasn’t really available for blog things.

It’s also not very new music-orientated either, so hopefully those of you who come here pretty much just for that won’t be too disappointed.

I think what happened was that I got so into a handful of new releases recently that I neglected all the others, so when I came to sit down and write about tunes last week I suddenly realised I had nothing to write about.  For blogging that makes things a little challenging, but from a podcast point of view I am always happy to just fuck it and play some oldies, which is what I’ll do here.

Direct download: Toadcast #172 – The Oldiecast

01. Mad Melvin (00.17)
02. Chumbawamba – Farewell the Crown (01.43)
03. Billy Bragg – Walk Away Renee (07.37)
04. The Left Banke – Walk Away Renee (09.59)
05. Bruce Springsteen – Growin’ Up (17.07)
06. Psychedelic Horseshit – Rat Poison (24.17)
07. The Chesterfields – Ask Johnny Dee (32.21)
08. The Close Lobsters – Just Too Bloody Stupid (35.23)
09. The Delgados – Everything Goes Around the Water (43.45)
10. The Sleepy Jackson – Acid in My Heart (50.19)
11. Calexico – Si Tu Disais (56.17)

Instead of prattling on about whether or not early Bonnie Raitt was heavily influenced by the Arcade Fire, this week we shall be doing something extremely constructive with our time.  Thomas Western, shortly to be unveiled as half of Edinburgh’s answer to the Silver Columns (I’ve not heard it yet, but all I have to say is woo hoo!), is actually a highly studious gentleman (see pic) in his spare time and has asked if I wouldn’t mind posting five questions to help him with his research.  Quite what he thinks the nonsensical bollocks we talk here on a Friday is going to do for his academic ambitions I don’t know, but I thought we might as well humour him.

He’s actually studying something to with the sociological aspects of live music, which anyone who has ever seen the queue outside a Hadouken gig (yes okay, it was some time ago, but it was still hilarious) will know is a rather interesting topic. I’ve always been kind of fascinated by the social dynamics of gig-going, from the tribal self-identification to the impact of the crowd mood on the show itself, so I’m looking forward to finding out a bit more about this.

Until then, however, here are five questions for you from Thomas.  And once you’ve de-lurked to help push forward the boundaries of academia, feel free to talk utter shite with the rest of us all afternoon.

1. What is the best thing you’ve ever seen live? Including where and when this took place.
2. Why was it so good? Try and keep this answer as open as possible – it can cover factors such as the music being played, the performance, some kind of cultural significance, or just people having an ace time together.
3. Is familiarity with material a prerequisite for a great gig? Or has anyone been to a gig to see the headline act, only to be blown away by an unknown support band?
4. How important is a venue when we go to gigs? Do they have their own aura that can contribute to our enjoyment of a performance?
5. And do people go to gigs because folks like me tell them to? This is about the idea of blogs and online critics as cultural tastemakers – Pitchfork being the most obvious example. In other words, when you read a positive preview of something in my Monday listings, are you more likely to attend, and perhaps more likely to enjoy the gig as a conequence?

Now, some great live recordings, including a song from Nick Cave’s Live Seeds, possibly the greatest live album of all time.

Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds – John Finn’s Wife (Live)

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Eels – I Put a Spell On You (Live)

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Radiohead – No Surprises (Live Acoustic)

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Frightened Rabbit – Poke (Live)

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Bruce Springsteen & the E-Street Band – Thunder Road (Live)

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We have been collecting for the lifeboats today and as usual we have had a massive, lovely meal prepared by my darling Mrs. Toad.  It was fucking awesome, I have to tell you, and anyone who wasn’t here truly did miss out.

We, and the RNLI, owe a massive debt of thanks to Sharon from the Wirral, Euan from The Kays Lavelle (and many other things), Peter from next door, Matthew from Glasgow (as of last week), Ella from the Last Battle, Lucy and Catherine from Mrs. Toad’s Finance Corp., Jamie from Broken Records, and Dylan and Ed who turned up and were nice but didn’t really do much, and of course the internationally renowned musical expert, the esteemed Dr. Millar.

In terms of actually making a difference, it’s worth pointing out that the collection in Stockbridge has hovered around the £200 mark for about the last thirty years, but since us young ‘uns have been involved that number has almost tripled, which is sort of nice.  It actually does make a big difference when you all turn up and show some enthusiasm and commit even just a few hours to helping out.  Charity people can be a bit pushy at times, so it gets a bit of a bad rap, but it really does make an important difference.  So thank you.  And hopefully we’ll see you all again next year.

Toadcast #120 – The Swing-O-Cast

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1. The Bonzo Dog Band – No Matter Who You Vote For, the Government Always Gets In (5.35)
2. Billy Bragg – The Marching Song of the Covert Battalions (13.27)
3. Wham! – Wham Rap! (Enjoy What You Do) (22.23)
4. Pet Shop Boys – Opportunites (28.59)
5. The Dead Kennedys – Kill the Poor (41.00)
6. Bruce Springsteen – Atlantic City (44.04)
7. REM – Ignoreland (52.33)
8. Pearl Jam – Bu$hleaguer (60.39)
9. Gao Yuqian, Liu Changyu, Qian Haoliang – The Party Has Taught Your Son to be a Man of Iron (80.01)
10. Erase Errata – Another Genius Idea from our Government (81.44)

Tomorr… yesterday I flew out to Paris to see Mrs. Toad, who has been stuck in God Bless America for the last two weeks because of Iceland’s seismic indiscipline.  We are going to have dinner and walk together and hold hands and generally act like a couple of idiots.  More or less like we always do.  For a couple of curmudgeonly old fuckers who spend their entire lives swearing at one another, we are a pretty sentimental pair, really.

This podcast is mostly based around my Dad and his music.  For my early years I was well into my Mum’s stuff, but as I got older I got more into my Dad’s kind of stuff – Tom Waits, Dylan, Neil Young and all that.  When I really, really got into music it was never into contemporary, modern or trendy stuff, it was always the old shite my parents were into.

I repay them the favour nowadays, or at least, I try to, but I never really picked up on music from my peers, it was always from my folks.  Hence this podcast.

Toadcast #119 – The Popcast

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01. Bruce Springsteen – Thunder Road (05.16)
02. The Band – The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down (13.27)
03. Willie Nelson – Mommas, Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up to be Cowboys (16.53)
04. Kate & Anna McGarrigle – Walking Song (24.12)
05. Tom Waits & Thelonious Monster – Adios Lounge (32.54)
06. Elton John – Ballad of a Well Known Gun (41.21)
07. Bob Dylan – Days of 49 (46.07)
08. Elvis Perkins in Dearland – I Heard Your Voice in Dresden (53.49)
09. The Builders & the Butchers – Barcelona (57.51)
10. Jackson Browne – Fountain of Sorrow (66.15)

There is a betting shop under the house next door who once offered us something like seven or eight grand, or something like that, to build a fire exit out of their place into our back garden.  Quite apart from whether or not that compensation would actually match the resulting devaluation of the house, which it probably wouldn’t have, the idea of having Ladbrokes employees peering into our garden while we were sitting out there with a cup of tea didn’t really sound appealing.

Also, they claimed that the door would be alarmed, but we didn’t really have a lot of faith in that, and rather feared the employees finding a way around this and spending a lot of time smoking fags in our back garden.  In the words of Han Solo: “No reward is worth this!”

Anyway, betting shops have always kinda fascinated me.  They always look so desperate, like the people inside are clutching to the last tiny strand of courage they have left and vesting it all in some ropey old nag in the 4.30 at Doncaster.  It’s that haunted, defeated kind of look and the 1980s cross-channel ferry decor that just makes them look like the most appalling joy-sinks imaginable.

In any case, gambling is something I have never been drawn to in the slightest, primarily because games of chance are governed by mathematics and in the long run you will lose, and when it comes to placing bets based on close inside knowledge, I always seem to be surprised no matter how much I know about the topic in hand.

I mean, I know football inside out, particularly the English Premiership and I seem to have absolutely no ability whatsoever to predict the results.  I know the Scottish music scene pretty well these days, but would I honestly have faith in my ability to pick the Next Big Thing Out of Scotland?  No, probably not, not to the extent that I’d bet on it anyway.

Now you may say that in starting a record label that this is exactly what I’m doing, but I’m not, I’m making a different kind of bet altogether.  I have noticed over time that for all I like alternative stuff, my taste still conforms to a certain part of the mainstream, and I am betting that if I just stick to releasing stuff I really like, rather than trying to second-guess a band’s potential for making it big, then my natural overlap with the mainstream will mean that we release enough music people like to make the whole venture financially sensible.

That’s the theory anyway.

So, there are some good gigs this week, so please attend them and take the opportunity to take photos of hipsters looking hip and enter them into our competition to win a copy of the wonderful Communion Compilation.  Just email your pictures (old or new) to me at songbytoad -*- hotmail.co.uk, and we’ll pick a winner in a week or so.

Oh, and please do de-lurk, that’s what this thread is for, y’know.  You’ve read the comments before, you know the kind of clowns I’ll be stuck with if you don’t!

1. Ever bet on anything and won?
2. Which kind of gambling might you be tempted by?
3. Kind of gambling you’ll never understand.
4. What are your odds of scoring on Valentine’s Day?
5. Name your favourite underdog of all time (doesn’t matter what field).

The Pogues – Bottle of Smoke

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The Clash – The Card Cheat

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Bob Dylan – Rambling Gambling Willie

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Bruce Springsteen – Meeting Across the River

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Hem – Betting on Trains

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I posted a spot of video yesterday, which I don’t normally do.  Not that I don’t get sent videos by people, more that… well, I don’t know why, really.  I guess I spend enough time trying to figure out what I want to write about albums, I don’t really make time to think about videos much.  Besides, at the level of music I am generally interested in most videos are just a vehicle for the song anyway.  And I can listen to albums whilst doing my proper job, which also hel… you’ve dozed off haven’t you?  Sorry.

Anyhow, this week I have posted a massive THREE videos.  Three!  How ’bout that.  And this weekend there will be another eight going up, from the New Year’s House Gig, including something of an exclusive: a new Broken Records song.  So there you go, we’ve turned into some sort of multimedia news-whore hipster haven in the new year, shocking isn’t it.

So, on yesterday’s posting of the new OK Go video, Bart suggested that I ask about favourite music videos for this week’s Friday Fives.  I thought I answered him politely enough, but the poor fellow’s gone completely off the rails.  I tried to get to the bottom of what he was burbling on about in that inscrutable ginger way of his, but all he said was this:

And erm, tee hee, sorry!  Gingers – the last ethnic minority it’s okay to ritualistically make fun of.  Anyhow, minor mentalist distractions aside, I thought this was an excellent idea, so this week’s five will all be about music videos.  This should be as good an opportunity to de-lurk as any, and of course, that’s what the Friday Fives are for – getting people out of the woodwork and onto the page – so have a go at these five.  the easiest way to answer is probably to just link to the YouTube videos where appropriate, I guess, but please don’t try and embed them in the comments.  I have no idea if it would work, and it will make the whole thread an ungodly mess – just paste in the URL and the link will be added automatically.

1. Favourite music video
2. Favourite laughably dated music video.
3. Favourite massively DIY music video.
4. Strongest memory of MTV.
5. Favourite band-related moment in an actual motion picture.

Clem Snide – Made for TV Movie

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Ben Folds Five – Video

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Nirvana – Dumb (MTV Unplugged)

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Bruce Springsteen – Thunder Road (MTV Unplugged)

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The A-Team Theme (Okay, the movie looks awful, but I couldn’t resist posting this)

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Baaaaaaart, help!  It appears that there is actually not one single musical event happening this week in Edinburgh which I personally would feel motivated to attened.  The only thing I’ve managed to find which I would actually like to go to is the Twilight Sad in-store performance at Avalanche Records tomorrow at one o’clock but erm, with it being one o’clock in the afternoon that might prove to be logistically challenging given I have a day job.

Generally when I write these listings, no matter how thorough I think I’ve been, ginger eagleweasel Bart pops up in the comments to set me straight about something wonderful which I have missed.  Maybe it’s my paranoia, but I always seem to read a slight smirk into his tone of voice too, the smug bastard.  In any case, come on Bart, if ever your truffle-snuffling spidey senses were needed it’s today.

Bruce Sprinsteen – 57 Channels (and Nothing On)

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So, I thought I might tell you what I am doing this weekend.  I wouldn’t bother reading this if you don’t like football, but you might enjoy the heartwarming story anyway.  On Saturday is the Sporting ICAPB Burton-Barry Cup Final, and I will hopefully be dragging my blubbery carcass around a footbally pitch for at least half of that match.  After that there will be (shit) curry and drinking. Read the rest of this entry »

The Times have raised something of a stink recently by announcing that they are going to start charging for the online content of their newspaper.  This isn’t new, exactly, because a lot of newspapers started out that way on the web, but quickly dropped all these clumsy logins and memberships and payment schemes because in the face of free and unlimited services like the Guardian and the BBC they quickly realised that they were losing out massively in the scramble for eyeballs, which is the one criterion everyone on the internet seems to agree is the key to influence, importance and, eventually, monetisation.

This kind of thing was reinforced by the same basic behaviour taking place in the real world, where newspaper prices plummetted and free papers like the Metro became everyone’s commuter read of choice, leveraging their impressive distribution to pull in the kind of advertising that rendered the price an individual might pay for the paper itself trivial.

You can see the same happening in music.  Bands are repeatedly told by the evangelists of the new e-conomy that they should largely turn a blind eye to torrent sites and p2p sharing which basically distribute their content for nothing to a wide audience, with zero income finding its way back to the band; directly at least.  And yes, that applies to Spotify too, particularly if you’re independent or on a small label – there’s just no money in it.

The money, for bands, is supposed to be on the gig circuit, which is quite simply one great big gigantic load of old bollocks.  It’s fucking expensive to drag a band around the country and, until you get pretty big, promoters simply aren’t willing to pay the fees.  It may be true for some bands, but for the vast majority it is not.  People are asked to play in-stores for free, sessions for sites like mine for free, and, not unusually enough, the gigs themselves for free as well.  The rationale is the same: give away the value – the content – for nothing, but in doing so win an audience, which then can be exploited.

But it costs a lot to make music, just as it costs a lot to generate quality news coverage. Read the rest of this entry »