Fools On The Hill 20: Love is a hurting thing - 19 rare mid 60's Northern soul mid-tempo nuggets

You might think we are stretching the subject a bit, but really we aren't. Northern Soul has its roots firmly in the 60's, as most of the records play at allnighters are obscure Tamla Motown 45s, released in limited numbers in the US. Some of them are the most expensive 45s in the world! A large proportion of northern soul's original audience came from within the mod movement, hence the inclusion on FOTH. In the late 1960s, some mods started to embrace freakbeat and psychedelic rock, but other mods - especially those in northern England - stuck to the original mod soundtrack of soul and blue beat. From the latter category, two strands emerged. Some mods transformed into what eventually became the skinheads, and others formed the basis of the northern soul scene. The northern soul movement is cited by many as being a significant step towards the creation of contemporary club culture and the development of the superstar DJ culture of the 2000s. As in modern club culture, northern soul DJs built up a following based on satisfying the crowd's desires for music that they could not hear anywhere else. The competitiveness between DJs to unearth 'in-demand' sounds led them to cover up the labels on their records, giving rise to the modern white label pressing. We were lucky when Sylvain compiled this, to be in contact with two avid Northern soul fans: DJ Soulful Chris and her husband, who opened to us their extensive 7" collection and were not short on advice. Thanks again to them (where are you now?). We will also eventually upload their Hypnotism tape collection, given permission, although a few volumes are missing.

Get your rare mid-tempos floaters, crossovers and beat ballads here.

Track Listing:

1●H.B Barnum ●The record
2●Bobby Bland ●Shoes
3●Cressa Watson ●Sweet temptation
4●Roosevelt Grier ●In my tenement
5●Maxine Brown ●One step at a time
6●Bettie Swan ●You gave me love
7●Tommy Hunt ●Lover
8●Mitty Callier ●Pain
9●The Charmels ●Sea shells
10 ●J. Montgomert●Don’t turn your back on me
11 ●Tommy Hunt ●Just a little bit of your sweet lovin’
12 ●Roy Hamilton ●Let the music play
13 ●Garnet Himms ●It was easier to hurt her
14 ●Eartha Kitt ●There comes a time
15 ●D. Coleman&H. Rivera Orchestra ●My foolish heart
16 ●Big Maybelle ●If I ha you
17 ●The Shadows ●My love’s gone
18 ●Wade Flemons ●That other place
19 ●Lou Rawls ●Love is a hurting thing

St. Patrick's Day Special - Jackie Daly & Séamus Creagh

This was intended for yesterday, but abuse of Guinness prevented me from showing you that we also have a fine taste in traditional music. While I am listening at the moment to lots of Cajun music, this LP has been in the family since I was a kid. See, my mother is Australian from Irish stock and that part of my family come from the dingle region, slightly inland. Been there many times as a kid, to visit the little tatched farm from where the family spread to Australia, Canada and Europe. This is still owned by relatives. Castleisland was also the place were I first tasted Guinness with my parents… My initial reaction, being all of 8 or 9 years old, was Yeeeach!. Times and tastes change. I'll let the backsleeves notes speak for themselves:
"One of the greatest musical traditions in Ireland is thta which belongs to the 200 square miles in East Kerry and North-East Cork– situated roughly between the four towns of kanturk, Castleisland, Killarney and Millstreet and known as Sliabh Luachra– the home of some of the finest traditional music we are ever likely to hear.
The music of Sliabh Luachra has a number of unique features: its lively rythms and the lovely warm style in which it is played; the dance tunes known as slides and polkas, which are found in no other part of the country and the many good musicians who played them down the years. One of the most famous musician was the late Pádraig O'Keeffe – "The last of the fiddle masters"– A school teacher from Glountane, Cordal near Castleisland, who died February 22, 1963 and whose legendary playing was a very strong influence on his fellow musicians and on the music of the region where he lived."
He is also famous for his way of tuning his fiddle: "Pint, Please, Thank You" spoken while sounding the four open strings of the fiddle (EADG)!
I have not since then heard anything about these two local lads (Jackie and Séamus) and couldn't find anything on the web about them. Feel free to drop a line the comments if you know anything. What foine players they were!

Get your jigs, slides and polkas here.

Don't forget: without Irish music, you wouldn't Apalachian music, without Apalachian you don't get Country and without Country lashed with a good deal of Blues, there is no rock 'n' Roll: hence NO Garage!

Fools On The Hill 19: That's cool, that's trash - 19 obscure garage punk greats from the american mid-60's

Time for the usual weekly update… We're back to Garage with a capital G! As usual, there is a twist with Fools on the Hill. We wanted a volume that would showcase the harder sounding trend, without sacrifying the Pop sound. Most of the Crypt comps were really too trashy for us, so we carefully selected 19 songs with a tough and edgy sound that still manage to add something to the game. To top it off, most of these songs and bands are fairly rare. Think of it: it's the one comp that took our own Sylvain FuzzyMental weeks to prepare. Hell with over 600 period vinyl comps to ruffle through, it could have taken him months! This is not a subgenre definying comp, rather a good mix of harder sounding (with a few surprises) pop-tinged garage songs. They could all have been re-recorded in the 80's by the Revival bands… why did they miss them? Heavy reliance on Nuggets/Boulder series? Lack of good taste? Too influenced by the "Crypt Trash" sound? or all the above? Enjoy them now!

Kool Trash is found here

Track Listing:

1●The Charles ●Motorcycle
2●The Fountain of Youth ●Don’t blame me
3●Floyd Dakil Four ●Bad boy
4●The Plymouth Rockers ●Don’t say why
5●The Plagues ●I’ve been through it before
6●The Sleepers ●I want a love
7●The British North American Act ●Don’t run away
8●The Soulbenders ●I can’t believe in love
9●The Pictorian Skiffuls ●In awhile
10 ●The Fabulous Depression ●I can’t tell you
11 ●Fly by nites ●Found love
12 ●Soul Inc. ●Love me when I’m down
13 ●John English III ●I need you near
14 ●The Spiders ●Baby doll
15 ●The Marauders ●Since I met you
16 ●The Vibrasonics ●Send her to me
17 ●The Barbarians ●Hey little bird
18 ●The Rationals ●I’m feeling lost
19 ●The Effects ●I’ve been told (partial)

Fools On The Hill 3: Shaking Along Mersey River - 19 worldwide Mersey Beat and early Beat gems from the mid-60's

At last! Thanks to Captain Groovy, who kindly sent me the lost files, we can now switch from the East to the West, right to where it all began: Liverpool! Of course, the first thing springs to mind is the Beatles… certainly unique but not alone.Their sense of melody, drive and enthusiasm was a slap in the face for most early teenager bands. A song like "I should have known better", while still rooted in Rock 'n' Roll and in the Beat sound, was moving boldly forward in a then unknown direction. It served them well and triggered a world musical revolution: bands changed their names, revamped their looks (moptops now compulsory) and started paying attention to lyrics, arrangement and melody. It was that or the assurance of not having screaming girls at your gig… an easy choice. This also signalled the end of the surf band and the start of the long lasting rivalry between "Pop" (Beatles) and "Rock" or blues-influenced bands (read Rolling Stones influenced). It is also the start of the first universal fad and did it spread! From Iceland to South Africa, from Canada to Australia, you'll find here 19 choice cuts of the Mersey sound, done by the best "Dedicated Follower Of Fashion"… The Kinks had it in for the Beatles (did someone says jealous?).

Thanks again to the Captain for his help.

Take the ferry 'cross the Mersey here!

Track Listing:

1●The Rave-Ons ●Love pill (USA)
2●The Mascots ●Words enough to tell you (Sweden)
3●The Beatles ●Anytime at all (UK)
4●unknown ●Soldier of love (?)
5●The Searchers ●Someday we gonna love again (UK)
6●The Escorts ●Night time (UK)
7●The Merseybeats ●Last night (UK)
8●The Roulettes ●Bad time (UK)
9●The Beatles ●I should have known better (UK)
10 ●The Allusions ●Fever (burns my brains) (Australia)
11 ●The Bats ●All I got (South Africa)
12 ●The Game ●But I do (UK)
13 ●The Fourmost ●I’m in love (UK)
14 ●Thor’s Hammer ●A memory (Iceland)
15 ●The Swinging Blue Jeans ●Promise you’ll tell her (UK)
16 ●The Mojos ●Forever (UK)
17 ●JB & The Playboys ●My delight (Canada)
18 ●Brian Poole & The Tremoloes ●What do you want with my baby (UK)
19 ●The Merseybeats ●I stand accused (UK)