W.O.C.K On Vinyl - Rice Krispies T.V Jingle (The Rolling Stones 1963)

Before things get too serious here at Rock On Vinyl, I thought it might be fun to post a song at the end of each month, that could be categorized as being either Weird, Obscure, Crazy or just plain Korny.
.
Rice Krispies (known as Rice Bubbles in Australia and New Zealand) is a breakfast cereal that was created by Eugene McKay for the Kellogg company, and later marketed by Kellogg's in 1927 and released to the public in 1928. This cereal is widely known and popular with a long advertising history, with the cartoon characters Snap, Crackle, and Pop touting the brand. In 1963, The Rolling Stones recorded a short song for a Rice Krispies television advertisement and is a very Obscure recording.  This is a real find folks!

The Stones sound like the "Greatest Rock and Roll Band in the World" on this one. Actually, Brian Jones co-wrote this jingle with the J. Walter Thompson ad agency (who had Rice Krispies as a client) for the princely sum of 400 pounds. It was only shown in the United Kingdom in '64 which is why no one from the States can remember seeing this when it was shown.
Features Brian Jones really wailing on harmonica on this one and Keith Richards playing some really funky guitar.
.
Included is a rip of the Krispies Jingle at 320kps along with an avi YouTube clip of the B&W T.V advertisement (including all of the snap, crackles and pops that you would expect from such old footage!)
.
Krispies Jingle (3Mb)

Can - Tago Mago (1971)

(German 1968–1979, 1986, 1991)
.
Can was an experimental rock band formed in Cologne, West Germany in 1968, with Malcolm Mooney on vocals and David Johnson, an American flautist and electronic composer, who quickly departed the scene. They recorded and privately distributed Monster Movie before Mooney was taken ill and replaced by Kenji 'Damo' Suzuki, who had been discovered by Bassist Holger Czukay busking outside a cafe in Munich. He introduced himself as a member of an experimental rock band and invited Suzuki to join them. That evening, Suzuki performed with the band at the Blow Up club and subsequently became a member of Can.
Later labeled as one of the first "krautrock" groups, they transcended mainstream influences and incorporated strong minimalist and world music elements into their often psychedelic music. Can constructed their music largely through free improvisation and editing, which bassist Holger Czukay referred to as "instant compositions". Their sparse style, based on repeated rhythmic figures and simple harmonies, was employed as basis of long hypnotic improvisations, several of which can be found on this featured album, Tago Mago.

.Tago Mago was recorded in 1971 by Czukay in a castle near Cologne called Schloss Nörvenich. The band were allowed to stay there for a year without paying any rent by the owner, an art collector named Mr. Vohwinkel.
The album was inspired by sorcerer Aleister Crowley which is reflected through the dark sound of the album as well as being named after Isla de Tagomago, an island which features in the Crowley legend. Czukay reflects that the album was "an attempt in achieving a mystery musical world from light to darkness and return". The group has referred to the album as their "magic record" and I personally agree - it is my favourite avante-garde LP.
This was the first of Can's albums to be made from not only regularly recorded music, but combined "in-between-recordings", where Czukay secretly recorded the musicians jamming while waiting for various technical problems to be resolved. Czukay would edit these long, disorganized jams into structured songs. Recording was completed in three months.
Julian Cope wrote in Krautrocksampler that Tago Mago "sounds only like itself, like no-one before or after", and described the lyrics as delving "below into the Unconscious".

Tago Mago finds Can changing to a jazzier and more experimental sound than previous recordings, with longer instrumental interludes and less vocals; this shift was caused by the dramatic difference between Suzuki and the band's more dominant ex-singer Mooney. Can took sonic inspiration from sources as diverse as jazz musicians such as Miles Davis and from electronic avant-garde music.

Tago Mago almost becomes an exception to the "double-album-that-could've-been-a-single" rule. There's a little bit too much experimentation on the second disc to make it, but it's usually interesting and the first disc is an absolute masterpiece.
.

The album opens with what is basically a three song suite of "Paperhouse," "Mushroom," and "Oh Yeah." While the band is uniformly strong, pretty much the entire first LP is a showcase for drummer Jaki Leibezeit. By this point he takes his place as one of the very best drummers in rock. The CD reissue liner notes speak of "Paperhouse" taking off and levitating, and for once this is not hyperbole. Leibezeit along with Karoli's percolating rhythm and some interstellar stabs from Schmidt's keys make the song really take off, glide above the ground, pick up speed, and slam into "Mushroom." The groove here is so infectious that the Flaming Lips would pretty much rip off the song wholesale twenty years later on their track "Take Meta Mars." Suzuki mumbles right through these songs glorious, stumbling gleefully through languages and gibberish and ranting about peeing off a bridge in Japanese (at least that how my wife translates it). By "Oh, Yeah," Damo gets the chance to emote backwards and does a damn successful job of it. It doesn't hurt that Holger Czukay and Leibzeit accompany him at their metronomic best as Karoli and Schmmidt provide aural window dressing.

"Halleluwah" (the stand out track in my opinion) takes up the entire second side at almost 19 minutes but never gets boring despite its epic length. Leibezeit manages about the most complicated beat that I imagine you could play in 4/4 time and the song still manages to be the funkiest track that anyone from Germany has ever produced. Our majestic moment her occurs when the beat briefly drops out, with the band shortly plunging back in at full lurch. "Halleluwah" might be a tiny notch below "Mother Sky" from Soundtracks, but being second to that track is still nothing to sneeze at.

"Oh Yeah" and "Halleluhwah" contain the elements that have been referred to as Can's "trademark" sound: "Damo Suzuki's vocals, which shift from soft mumbles to aggressive outbursts without warning; Jaki Liebezeit's mantric drumming; Holger Czukay's production manipulations (e.g. the backwards vocals and opening sound effects on 'Oh Yeah')." Both "Oh Yeah" and "Halleluhwah" emphasize repetitive grooves.

The second LP features Can's more avant-garde efforts, with Roni Sarig, author of The Secret History of Rock calling it "as close as it ever got to avant-garde noise music." There are lots of interesting ideas present but the band's modern compositional tendencies come to the fore and as good as these guys are, they're not Gyorgy Legiti or Steve Reich. "Aumgn" creates some soundscapes that would make for some great music to go along with Captain Kirk and Spock on the exploration of a new styrofoam planet, with lots of oscillated tones and Suzuki's delayed and reverbed mutterings before Leibzeit comes back in on the last few minutes to give another great demonstration of his drumming prowess.

"Peking O" unfortunately drops Leibezeit's drumming, but Suzuki sounds creepier than hell and I love the moment where it sounds like he literally snaps and starts spewing forth high-speed gibberish. In fact the only thing here that resembles a song is the closing "Bring Me Coffee Or Tea," which is sort of like an after dinner mint.
Can's magnum opus may be a little impenetrable at times, but it's worth the effort. If you're new to the band, I'd spend some time with the more immediate first half before delving into the mysterious din of "Amugn" or "Peking O."

.
The rip was taken from remastered CD in MP3 format (320kps) and includes both the UK/Australian artwork (as depicted in post) and the more common orange cover artwork released in the states. Select photos of the band are also included (sourced from the official Can website spoonrecords with thanks)

.
Track Listing

01 - Paperhouse
02 - Mushroom
03 - Oh Yeah
04 - Halleluhwah
05 - Aumgn
06 - Peking O
07 - Bring Me Coffee Or Tea
.
Band Members:
Damo Suzuki (vocals)
Holger Czukay (bass guitar, sound engineer, electronics)
Michael Karoli (guitar, vocals, violin)
Jaki Liebezeit (drums, percussion)
Irmin Schmidt (keyboards, vocals)
.
Can Link (165Mb)  New Link 8/11/2022
.

Supernaut - Selftitled (1976) + Bonus Tracks

(Australian 1976-1980)
.
Against all odds, Perth band Supernaut became one of Oz's most popular bands in a matter of six months. The four original members (Randall Murphy on bass was replaced by Phil Foxman) came to Melbourne with their manager from Perth, in April 1976 and sunk every cent they had into recording their first single "I Like It Both Ways" at the Armstrong Recording Studios.
Appearances on Countdown plus controversy and various bans over the song's lyrical content combined to make the song a national hit, reaching #1 in the Australian Charts.
Supernaut consisted of singer Gary Twinn, guitarist Chris Burnham, drummer Joey Burnham and Phil Foxman. Their coast-to-coast assault of Australian audiences along with Hush ensured that their debut album went gold and in fact sold an unbelievable 8,000 copies on the day of it's release.
In addition to this success they coasted in with the award for the Most Promising New Name in the 1976 RAM magazine Rock Poll. RAM writer Mark Alchin was in attendance at a press reception for the band in November and reported the following:
.
Phil contacted the band after it was advertised in these hallowed pages (read - RAM mag) that they needed a new bass player and bang, he was in. It was the old 'I'm doing my Higher School Certificate but I'd rather be playing in a R&R band' frustration, but this time it was fulfilled.
At that time Phil was a member of the highly rated, but now defunct Sydney band White Heat.
In talking about the band's current amazing successes and the obvious effects this has on the guys' lives, Phil admits to being a bit pissed off with the trimmings, such as this press reception at which he is now a featured attraction.

"I just want to be a musician and not a pop star. I like playing but I don't like all this sort of thing" (he indicates the room full of people we're standing in).
Actually Phil's attitude and dress indicate the general rebelliousness evident in most of yer average street punk heroes. He says that the other three feel basically the same way, but they deal more in compromise than does he. "I love the guys in the band, they're like brothers now" was his parting statement.
Indeed the guys live together when they're not touring and they have a sort of brotherly relationship. When one of them looks at another across the room they have an instinctive signal code that keeps them in contact without them having to say anything.
The guys are remarkably 'together' for a band that was thrust from being unknown to a two-hit-single-and-top-concert-band atmosphere in a matter of months. They tend to communicate fully only between themselves and their manager Robbie Williams and outsiders are given a nice but shallow treatment from them.
Official announcement. The joke about their name being Super-Naught (as in zero) can now be forgotten. [article by Mark Alchin, RAM #48, p7 'Supernaut: Too hot to be touched']
.
Album Review
This is an amazing mature album for a band so young, in age as well as in years in the business.
The cover unfortunately enhances their reputation as a teen band which, in fact, they are not. At least musically, if not in general appeal.
Both the singles, "I like It Both Ways" and "Too Hot To Touch" are included and there are a number of stage favourites like "Space Angel" and "Leftover Ladies".
Overall the pleasing feature of the album is the imagination poured into much of the production (which is largely by the group themselves). They haven't fallen into the trap of throwing so much into the tracks that they are unable to recreate the sound on stage. In fact, I saw them at a concert recently and they reproduced most of the sounds here almost exactly.
Generally the performance is professional and polished. 18 year old Joe Burnham's drums are a standout while brother Chris carries rhythm and lead guitar with sureness of someone twice his age. New member Phil Foxman's bass playing fits exactly into the mould that the band have made for themselves. Gary Twinn's vocals are at once youthful and seasoned and his squeak mannerism which is prevalent throughout is all interesting characteristic.


"Living A Lie" has an impressive synthesiser part but isn't really catchy enough to stick in the mind. "Too Hot To Handle" of course is the current single. 
It features imaginative lyrics and is well structured. "Space Angel" is basically unmemorable, it's an old song of theirs which may explain that. "Mountain Song" is the most immediately impressive track (apart from the two singles) it features a stable shift from electric to acoustic, some impressive vocals from Twinn and a break in the middle where it becomes a sort of Mountain Song Part 2 - the beginning of which is highly reminiscent of parts of Tubular Bells.

"Contacts" and "I Like It Both Ways" continue the run of plus tracks with good beats and memorable melodies. Another minus track ends the run, "Mover" does everything but move. It just lies there.
Status Quo would do well to incorporate "Left Over Ladies" into their repertoire as much of the song has that familiar Quo four-beat-in-the-bar-rock-em-up sound and some interesting vocal exchanges on the title line. "Goodbye" closes the album and is, for me, the LP's finest track. The chord changes, vocal harmonies and overall sound are immediately appealing and it makes a good going out track.
Thank God that the band has not fallen into the 1001 traps that most young bands fall into when recording debut albums. Here's looking forward to Supernaut No.2 [Reviewed by Mark Alchin, RAM #48 Dec 31, 1976]
.
In 1978 Supernaut relocated to Sydney and shortened their name, their hair and changed their attitude. They opted for punk/new wave garage style and became "The Nauts". They released an album (produced by Robie Porter) called 'The Nauts' in 1978. The album was widely acclaimed by critics but sales were not forthcoming and they disbanded in 1980.
.
Rip taken from CD in full FLAC format with full album artwork and photos. Also included is a scanned copy of the album review as published in RAM No.48.
.
Track Listing

01 - Living A Lie
02 - Too Hot To Touch
03 - Space Angel
04 - Mountain Song
05 - Contacts
06 - I Like It Both Ways
07 - Mover
08 - Left Over ladies
09 - Goodbye
[Bonus Tracks]
10 - The Kids Are Out Tonight
11 - Young & Innocent
12 - Lets Spend The Night Together *

13 - Lick My Lolly *
.
Band Members:
Gary Twinn - Vocals
Chris Burnham - Guitar
Phil Foxman - Bass
JoeyBurnham - Drums
.
Supernaut FLAC Link (320Mb) New Link 25/04/2019
.

Budgie - Peel Sessions (1972), Walsall Townhall (1980) and Loughborough (1986) 2CD Bootleg

(U.K 1967-1988, 1995-1996, 1999-2010)
.
This post is a compilation of three Budgie performances which span the first 14 years of their classic years together, featuring some rare radio dialogue by the famous Radio One DJ - John Peel. His thirty-eight year career as a radio DJ for Radio One and wildly popular Radio 4 show 'Home Truths' is the stuff of legend and the bands that he championed through the years are too numerous to mention - David Bowie, Roxy Music, T-Rex, Joy Division, the Smiths and of course Budgie.
The John Peel sessions were done when Budgie first hit the airwaves in England with their 2nd LP 'Squawk' and it is interesting to hear John struggle with the pronunciation of Tony Bourge's surname. Actually this seems to fit his profile perfectly, from what I have recently read in his autobiography 'Margrave of the Marshes'. John struggled throughout his whole school life and was not academically inclined. Needless to say, his achievements in life did not come easy, and it was his passion for music that drove him to the top.
I suspect the 4 tracks which John played were taken directly from Budgie's LP's and not pre-recorded in the studio as some bands would do in later years.
Note: These 4 tracks were previously released on the long-deleted 'Heavier Than Air - Rarest Eggs' in 1998, which was a compilation of tracks culled from BBC and US radio sessions between 1972 and 1978.
.
The second section of this post is taken from a gig that Budgie did in the Walsall Town Hall on June 6th 1980, exactly 30 years ago to the day! It is interesting to note that the track "Can't Get Up In The Morning" was not released officially until the 2004 on the 'The Last Stage' album.
Most of the tracks played at this gig came from their then current EP 'If Swollowed Do Not Induce Vomiting' and soon to be released LP 'Power Supply'. It is also worth noting that the lyrics for several of their new songs ended up being different on the LP, namely "Time To Remember" and "Reaper Of The Glory" which was deferred for their 1981 release 'Nightflight'
It is also worth noting that Budgie's latest arrival, 'John Thomas' on guitar, is featured heavily in this recording, giving their older material a new lease of life, in particularly "Breadfan" and "Napoleon Bona-Parts One And Two".
.
Finally, the third section of this post was recorded at a time when the band was at a low and disbanded some time shortly after. The gig starts with Steve Williams thumping out a repetitive beat which almost becomes annoying before leading into "Crime Against The World" and the quality of playing there on is a little 'average'. One can almost sense the tension in the air during the concert and comes to a climax when Shelley screams at the crowd "Come on ya #@ucker's, let me see ya" towards the end of Breadfan.
Nevertheless, the concert covers a good selection of material with most tracks coming from their last three albums, and another new track "Rock Your Blood" is showcased which would only be released officially on their 'Last Stage' album in 2004.
So there you have it, a double CD of rare and live material from a band that really can knock you down with a feather ! Play it loud.
.
The rip was compiled from several sources on the web (thanks to the original uploaders) and the album artwork was sourced from prockrarecollectionfetish.blogspot.com along with photos by Steve Jones. The mp3's vary in bitrate from 160kps to 320kps but the quality of recordings are still very good (probably soundboards).
.
Track Listing
CD1
[John Peel Sessions, 1972]
01 - Hot As A Docker's Armpit
02 - The Author
03 - Whiskey River
04 - Nude Parachutist Woman
.
[Walsall Town Hall, 1980]
05 - Panzer Division Destroyed
06 - High School Girls
07 - Can't Get Up In The Morning
08 - Forearm Smash
09 - Time To Remember
10 - Napoleon Bona-Parts One And Two
11 - Reaper Of The Glory
12 - Melt The Ice Away
13 - Lies Of Jim (The E-Type Lover)
14 - Wild Fire

CD2
[Walsall Town Hall, 1980]
01 - Breadfan
[Loughborough, 1986]
02 - Crime Against The World
03 - Don't Cry
04 - Gunslinger
05 - Rock Your Blood
06 - Panzer Division Destroyed
07 - Truth Drug
08 - She Used Me Up
09 - I Turned To Stone
10 - Superstar
11 - Wild Fire
12 - Breadfan
13 - Outro (We'll Meet Again)
.
Budgie Link Part 1 (143Mb) New Links 29/10/2015

Budgie Link Part 2 (93Mb) 
.

Budgie - Napoleon Bona Parts 1 & 2 (Live in Sweden, 1999)

Burke Shelley - Vocals, Bass (with short hair !)
John Thomas - Guitar
Steve Williams - Drums

Taste - Knights Of Love (1977)

(Australian 1975-1977, Present)
.
Every band has its influences but Taste 's current passion for hand-me-down silks from Queen, circa the Ogre's Battle and days of Queen I and Queen II albums, is astonishing.
Queen themselves were caught out throwing Led Zep and Yes into the milk blender on their first album, but Taste zip right between the cosmic thrill of Jon Anderson and the dinosaur bellow of Robert Plant to end up in the most twee reaches of Freddie Land. And really, it just doesn't suit them at all. As headed by Ken Murdoch they can be one hell of a snotnosed, hard edged, street rock band - capable of delivering a sneering rush of energy, better than most young bands around Oz.

So why they've gone all passionate for such pretentious moments as "Teenage Anthem" [riff sounds alot like Zep's Black Dog] and "Just As The Water Flows" and "Witches Brew" (the later replace with Uriah Heepish chorus trills) without ever once letting on the whole thing is just a joke is puzzling. I mean, it's gotta be a joke! These guys are a fighting little combo, who exist on youthful guitar pyrotechnics and one night knee-tremblers. Sure they try to dress up such moments in winsome melodies (eg. "Rebecca", "A Little Romance") but these guys are punks at heart, have been for years.

And it's truly awful to hear them waste good backing tracks on ornate, flim flam like "Long May Love Reign Over Me" and "Over The Glen (& Far Away)".
The best plan by far is to somehow blot out the lyrics and concentrate on the music, which is all second-generation Britrock riff-erama. But they play it very well.
On the credit side, "A Little Romance" does feature a most appealing, wistful melody, plus a top arrangement. It deserved better than the lowly chart placing it reached as a single. So what if it's a schmuck - it's still better schmuck than most of what's on the hit parade these days.
Same goes for "Boys Will Be Boys" and "Rebecca"
And guitarist Joey Amenta does throw off his satin cloak for just a moment to deliver a blast of chunky, frantic blues guitar in "Mainstreet". [Review by Anthony Grady, RAM magazine #66, Sept 9, 1977]
Taste have reformed recently and have completed a new album of 10 new originals. "Rock Is Dead" is now released and available on their website.
.
Rip taken from Vinyl at 192kps and includes limited artwork. RIP Source Unknown (Thanks to WoodyNet for Artwork).
.
Track Listing
01 - Teenage Anthem
02 - Rebecca
03 - Mainstreet

3XY April 8th 1977

04 - Long May Love Reign
05 - A Little Romance
06 - Boys Will Be Boys
07 - Just As the Water Flows
08 - Witches Brew
09 - Over the Glen
.
Band Members:
Ken Murdoch ( Lead Vocals / Guitar)
Joey Amenta (Guitar / Vocals)
Michael Tortoni (Bass Guitar)
Virgil Donati (Drums)
.
Taste Link (51Mb)  New Link 16/10/2023
.