Friday, January 29, 2010

W.O.C.K On Vinyl - Rubber Duckie (Little Richard + German Techno Version)

(US 1994 , Germany 2004)
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Before things get too serious at Rock On Vinyl, I thought it might be fun to post a song at the end of each month, that could be considered to be either Weird, Obscure, Crazy or just plain Korny.....
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This posting is intended to be a follow up to a posting of the original 'Seasame Street Rubber Duckie' made by Tom Mix Music at his blog 'Songs That Made It Big In Australia'
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The 'rubber duckie' was launched into stardom during the 1970's when Ernie on Sesame Street introduced his favorite toy (and by some accounts best friend, although he had to share this title with Bert), Rubber Duckie.
The Rubber Duckie song, as sung by Ernie, is one of the best known songs from Sesame Street. I remember hearing it being played constantly on the radio as a teenager, and my mum just loved it ! It actually made it into the Top 40 charts and stayed for 7 weeks, peaking at number 1 in some parts of Australia! Nationally it ranked at #10.
Rubber Duckie reached number 16 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in September of 1970 (it first aired on February 25th, 1970)
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.However, there have been other renditions of this song since and can only be described as being both Crazy and Korny !
Little Richard did a version for the "Sesame Street Celebrates" show, in which he literally plays his piano and sings the Rubber Duckie ditty, while sitting in a duck pond. I have included both the video clip and mp3 from this show for your bemusement and entertainment.
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Little Richard says - Well, here I am in my tubby again. And my tubby's all filled up with water and nice fluffy suds, honey. And I've got my soap .... looky here ... and I got my washcloth ... look at this ... and I got my nifty scrub-brush, honey, just scrub, just scrub. And I got my big, BIG, fluffy towel to dry me off when I'm done. And I got my piano. And there's one other thing that makes tubby-time the very best time of the whole day, honey. And you know what that is? A very special friend of mine, my very favorite little old friend .... (music starts)
As you would expect, this version is as crazy as he is.
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The other version included here in Video and mp3 format, is a 'Techno Version' released in Germany in 2004 , and was one of 5 different dance mixes of Rubber Duckie.
This also gets my stamp of Craziness and Kornyism.
If you want a genuine laugh, then this WOCK on Vinyl posting is right up your 'bubble bath' !
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Contents:
Little Richard - Rubber Duckie Video (avi)
Little Richard - Rubber Duckie Audio (mp3)
German Techno Mix - Rubbie Duckie Video (avi)
German Techno Mix - Rubbie Duckie Audio (mp3)

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Rubber Duckie Link (46Mb) REPOST
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To obtain a copy of the original Sesame Street Single, go to 'Songs That Made It Big In Australia'
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Monday, January 18, 2010

Toni Childs - The Woman's Boat (1994)

(U.S 1988-Present)
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Toni Childs (born October 29, 1957) is an American singer-songwriter from Orange, California. She has released four studio albums and is best known for her songs "Don't Walk Away" (a Hot 100 hit in the United States in 1988), "I've Got To Go Now", a Top 5 hit in Australia in 1991, and the Emmy-winning "Because You're Beautiful (released as a single in 2004, and featured on her 2008 album 'Keep The Faith')
After the less successful critical and commercial fortunes of her second record, House of Hope, Toni Childs jumped labels from A&M to Geffen for her third release, "The Woman's Boat", in 1994. She also enlisted a new producer in David Botrill with whom Childs shares production credits. [extract from Wikipedia].
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Recorded at Peter Gabriel's Real World Studios, The Woman's Boat features an impressive array of musicians including David Rhodes, Robert Fripp and Trey Gunn. The album itself is an ambitious song-cycle exploring the female perspectives from the heartbeats of the opening track "Womb" through the ten-minute confessional epic "Death," which closes the record (and both tracks concluding with the life giving cry of a baby) .
In between, there's the sonic rush of "Welcome to the World," which gracefully juxtaposes a mother's expression of fear and optimism to her unborn child, and the ominous tone of "Predator" expressing the darker side of human nature. The music edges Childs deeper into world music territory with its exotic instrumentation and rhythms.
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The Woman's Boat sounds a lot like Peter Gabriel's recent work (Us, Passion) and Kate Bush's more conceptual stuff (the second half of Hounds), with the difference being Toni's voice. It's very rough; Patti Smith or Marianne Faithfull rough. It gives her performance a pained intensity that makes listening to The Woman's Boat a little like watching childbirth. Maybe that was the whole idea, I don't know. And then there's the African angle that clearly forms a part of Childs collected but always seems to arrive with so much baggage. It's a heavy opus, like the pomegranate pictured on the cover a lot of work for a little bit of fruit. The Woman's Boat is a rich, complex and, occasionally, meandering work that, while failing to return Childs to mainstream success, does reward the listener. The single "Lay Down Your Pain" earned Toni her third Grammy nomination, for Best Female Rock Performance [extract of review by Tom Demalon, All Music Guide]
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I wasn't really a big fan of Toni Childs until I heard this album. It was recommended to me by a friend and I was taken back immediately by the power and emotion that was contained in this record, I never get tired of listening to this 'concept album'.
I highly recommend you give it a go - irrespective of whether you have heard her other music.
The rip provided here was taken from CD at 320kps and includes full album artwork (with a slightly provocative inner gatefold). As this album was released on Cassette I figure it's inclusion on this blog is valid.  Enjoy.
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Track Listing
01 - Womb
02 - Welcome to the World
03 - Predator
04 - I Just Want Affection
05 - I Met a Man
06 - The Woman's Boat
07 - Wild Bride
08 - Sacrifice
09 - Lay Down Your Pain
10 - Long Time Coming
11 - Death

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Band Members:
Toni Childs (Vocals, synthesizer)
Ron Aslan (Programming, additional engineering)
Pape Dieng (Drums, voice)
Pandit Dinesh (Tabla, voice)
Robert Fripp (Guitar, Frippertronics)
Lee Harris (Percussion)
Sabine Kabongo (Voices)
Silvi Nawasadio (Voices)
Sally Nyolo (Voices)
Jimmy Smyth (Guitar, bass, synth, piano)
Peter Gabriel (Voices)
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Toni Childs Link (135Mb) New Link 04/01/2024
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Friday, January 8, 2010

James Dewar - Stumbled Down Romancer (1970)

(Scotland 1963-1980)
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If you have ever listened to the original Stone the Crows or Robin Trower at his peak, then you've heard the voice of James Dewar. The Glasgow-born singer is one of a legion of great Scottish vocalists who brought a soulful passion to their music.
Dewar's career began in the early 60s. While still a teenager he sang and played bass in the Gleneagles alongside Alec Bell (guitar), Ross Nelson (guitar), Jimmy Smith (saxophone) and David Miller (drums). By 1963 they were the resident band at Glasgow's Lindella Ballroom but their fortunes changed dramatically one night when a diminutive girl vocalist got up to sing with them. Marie McDonald McLaughlin Lawrie was barely fifteen, but her confidence was overwhelming. She joined the group, which quickly took another name inspired by the new arrival, Lulu and the Luvvers. Jimmy Dewar left the group in 1965, returning to Glasgow to rethink his career.
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By 1967 he could be found in a new band, Sock 'Em JB, an exciting unit fuelled on material by Otis Redding, Sam and Dave, and Wilson Pickett. The vocalist was ex-Del-Jack Frankie Miller and the pianist John McGinnis, formerly of the Blues Council. Sock 'Em JB were together for only a matter of months, ending when Miller formed a new group, Westfarm Cottage, en route to the Stoics. Dewar and McGinnis remained together and, by the following year, had formed a new tough-sounding band, blending blues and progressive rock. They were preparing to be the resident act at a new club, the Burns Howff, when Leslie Harvey and Maggie Bell walked into a rehearsal. After a jam it was suggested they join forces and Power was born.

With Bell on vocals and Harvey on guitar, the unit gelled perfectly and they quickly became one of Glasgow's most popular attractions. In 1969 Peter Grant, Led Zeppelin's manager, came to Glasgow to see them and within a matter of months they had won a management and recording deal. Renamed Stone the Crows – and with the addition of ex-John Mayall drummer Colin Allen – the group recorded two excellent albums, Stone the Crows and Ode to John Law. Bell's passionate voice and Leslie's fluid, economical style may have defined the band's music, but Dewar's role should not be underestimated. His playing was always sympathetic and his earthy duets with Bell were genuinely moving.
'He's one of the finest singers I've ever heard,' she said in a later interview. However, the axis of the band had moved – the singer and guitarist were also a couple – and both Dewar and McGinnis were unhappy with the diminished role they now played in the group they had formed. Both quit in February 1971.
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'I had to get Jimmy Dewar in a band', Frankie Miller told me in 1992. 'He was doing nothing in London.' The band in question was Jude, formed in July 1971. Miller had quit the Stoics, but Chrysalis, with whom he had a publishing deal, suggested he pair with guitarist Robin Trower, who had recently left Procol Harum. With Dewar on bass and Clive Bunker (ex-Jethro Tull) on drums, Jude seemed like a marriage made in heaven, but it was not to be. 'I wanted to do the two-vocal thing,' Miller explained 'but the vehicle wasn't right. The best thing for Jimmy to do was to sing in a power trio with Robin.'
In September 1972, this is exactly what happened. A new group, dubbed 'Robin Trower', made its début in Vienna with a line-up completed by Dewar and drummer Reg Isadore. Two enthralling albums, Twice Removed From Yesterday and Bridge of Sighs, followed, on which Trower's searing but melodic guitar work was matched by Jimmy's soulful voice, fully free at last to express emotion and empathy. Another former Procol member, Matthew Fisher, produced both sets and the understanding he showed with Robin and the group was clear to hear. By 1974 Robin Trower were established on the US circuit and when ex-Sly Stone drummer Bill Lordan replaced Isadore, a more rhythmic texture came to the fore. For Earth Below (1975), Live and Long Misty Days (both 1976) ensued before another ex-Sly member, Rusty Allen, took over on bass to allow Dewar to concentrate on vocals. In City Dreams (1977) and Caravan to Midnight (1978) were completed before Allen quit and the group reverted to a trio for Victims of the Fury (1980). This was the last Robin Trower album to feature Dewar. The guitarist and drummer formed a new band, BLT, with ex-Cream bassist Jack Bruce, while Jimmy gradually dropped out of professional music altogether.

.During the halcyon Robin Trower era, Dewar recorded this solo album, but was not released until the 90's. Matthew Fisher was again on hand for the bulk of the recordings, producing and adding organ, piano and synthesisers. Other collaborators included Andy McMasters (ex-Motors), who wrote or co-wrote some of the material, John Platania and David Hayes from Van Morrison's Caledonia Soul Orchestra, and Fairport Convention drummer Dave Mattacks. The set includes three cover versions: the Rolling Stones favourite Out of Time (re-cut around the same time by fellow Scot Dan McCafferty), Buddy Holly's Heartbeat and the Drifters' Dance With Me, the last of which is beautifully understated. Indeed the entire selection is nicely restrained, a contrast to the sometimes turbulent sound of the Robin Trower band. The ease with which Jimmy tackles Lay Down the Night, Sands of Time, and the Christmas anthem Hosanna!, confirms his talent, but the undoubted highlights are the Dewar / Fisher composition Nature Child and the same team's title track. The mastery with which the singer approaches this melancholic piece is moving: warmth tinged with regret, and perfectly controlled – a self-portrait which sums up the poignant artistry of the whole collection. [Brian Hogg 1997]
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"Stumbledown Romancer" is, sadly, Jimmy Dewar's last record. Tragically, James Dewar, best known as bassist and vocalist for Robin Trower and Stone The Crows, passed away on May 16, 2002. Dewar had been ill since a medical mishap in 1987. He was born on October 12, 1942.
I personally believe that Dewar was one of the most talented vocalists of the 70's / 80's and I was fortunate enough to see him when he toured Australia with Trower in 1975, playing at Festival Hall in Melbourne. The only other vocalist that comes close to his talent is Gary Brooker from Procal Harum, both having voices that you never get tired of listening to.
The rip included here was taken from a CD released in 1998 at 320kps but only includes limited artwork
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Track Listing
01 - Out Of Time
02 - Goodbye Love
03 - Stumbledown Romancer
04 - Bright Lights
05 - Hosanna
06 - Loves Melody
07 - Sands Of Time
08 - Heartbeat
09 - Lay Down The Night
10 - Dance With Me
11 - Nature Child

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Band Members:
James Dewar (Bass / Vocals / Acoustic guitar / Electric guitar / Tambourine )
Matthew Fisher, John Allair, Andy McMasters (Organ / Piano / Synthesiser)
Peter van Hooke, Bill Lordan, Dave Mattacks, Graham Jarvis (Drums)
David Hayes, John Platania, Martin Jenner (Guitar)
Mo Foster, Alan Johns, Paul Westwood (Bass)
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James Dewar Link (59Mb)
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Friday, January 1, 2010

Nova - Wings Of Love (1977)

(Italian 1975-78)
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Nova is an Italian band influenced by the Mahavishnu Orchestra's acoustic stylings, Wayne Shorter's soprano sax attack, and British art rock vocalizing. The resultant fusion is airy and melodic.
With the formidable Percy Jones and the incredible Michael Walden replaced on bass and drums by total unknowns (Barry Johnson and Ric Parnell), who would expect Wings of Love to parallel the brilliance of "Vimana"? (see my earlier Nova posting)
The core remains the same nevertheless: the Santanesque Corrado Rustici, Elio D'Anna's suave sax and woodwinds and Renato Rosset's liberal use of Fender Rhodes among other keys. This is less like Crossfire or Weather Report, and a lot funkier at times and dreamier at others with breathlessly beautiful vocals. "You are Light" is a superb opener and one of my favourite tracks on the album, which just stays solidly on track providing a series of memorable tunes, with tons of oboe, flute and sax , crossing swords with Rustici's incredible fretwork.
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There is a slight Mahavishnu / Santana vibe here, this record would partner well with Borboletta / Welcome or Visions of Emerald Beyond/ Birds of Fire. The fourth track has a real 'Focus' feel to it with flute and keyboard interplays and is a truly beautiful piece of music. Overall, this album is an extremely original recording, and very dissimilar from the previous "Vimana" or the following and somewhat disappointing "Sun City".
With "Wings of Love", the band seemed to take a new direction, what with the shorter track format and in particular bassist Barry Johnson's funky style, so different from Percy Jones. Packed with tension, rhythmic energy and technical brilliance. A treat for all jazz-fusion enthusiasts.
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This rip was taken from my near mint vinyl in FLAC format and includes full album artwork.  This is my favourite Nova album and I highly recommend it, especially if you are into Jazz Rock.
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Track Listing
01 - You Are Light
02 - Marshall Dillion

03 - Blue Lake

04 - Beauty Dream-Beauty Flame

05 - Golden Sky Boat

06 - Loveliness About You

07 - Inner Star

08 - Last Silence
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Band Members:

Elio D'Anna (saxes, flutes
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Corrado Rustici (guitars, lead vocals, percussion
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Renato Rosset (keyboards
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Barry Johnson (bass, vocals
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Ric Parnell (drums, percussion)

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Nova FLAC Link (316Mb)