CUSTOMER SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT...

It's now something like 12 hours until I arrive in Canada to take up a job opportunity over the summer months. The last couple of days have been very hectic and a bit stressful (how exactly do you pack enough clothes for a 20-week period and yet manage to stay within the baggage allowances imposed by airlines?), and I've also been doing a few rounds of farewells to family and friends.

And now it's the turn of my cypberspace family.

I've had great fun going TVV since last October, and am proud that I've managed to post on average, 6 days out of every 7. But......I have no idea just yet if I'm going to be able to keep thing going over on the western side of the big pond.

I clearly cannot take any of the vinyl with me, and the USB turntable will be left to gather dust in my absence (Mrs V is strictly a CD/i-pod sort of rock-chick). I have however, purchased a portable back-up memory for the PC and transferred the best part of 12,000 mp3 tracks onto it, and am hopeful that it will all be compatible with the laptop that my new employer will be providing for me.

But it may take a few days to all sort itself out, so this may be the last posting for a wee while. So...taking my lead from Comrade Colin, I've posted a bunch of tracks to keep you all going. (Put together they could fit on a CD....but I'm not encouraging that sort of behaviour)

Some have obvious Canadian connections, while others are just songs I've been listening to in recent days. They'll be up until at least my next posting, but I must warn you that it won't be too long before the band-with limit for the month is reached (you've all seemingly enjoyed recent tracks going by the number of downloads there has been).

mp3 : Cornershop - Heavy Soup
mp3 : The Weather Prophets - Well Done Sonny
mp3 : Malcolm Middleton - A Brighter Beat
mp3 : Elizabeth - (Dance) Into The Heart Of Your Enemy
mp3 : Billy Bragg - Ontario, Quebec & Me (live)
mp3 : Prefab Sprout - Goodbye Lucille #1
mp3 : The Breeders - Safari
mp3 : Arcade Fire - Wake Up
mp3 : Leonard Cohen - Suzanne
mp3 : St Etienne - Only Love Can Break Your Heart
mp3 : Martin Stephenson & The Daintees - In The Heal Of The Night
mp3 : British Sea Power - Remember Me
mp3 : The Lilac Time - The Girl Who Waves At Trains
mp3 : St Vincent - Now. Now.
mp3 : I Am Kloot - Over My Shoulder
mp3 : Neil Young - After The Goldrush
mp3 : Edwyn Collins - Don't Shilly Shally
mp3 : The Wedding Present - It's For You
mp3 : The Trash Can Sinatras - Only Tongue Can Tell
mp3 : Martha Wainwright - Bloody Mother Fucking Asshole
mp3 : The Wannadies - Hit
mp3 : Grinderman - Love Bomb


If you like any of the above tracks, please go out and buy the single or albums from whenceforth they come. See you in a bit.


Oh....and in case it is a bit longer than I anticipated, good luck to Ed over at 17 Seconds on his forthcoming marriage, and to Toad at Sing By Toad when he does the best man duties at his brother's wedding in the coming weeks.

THE PLACE I LOVE

That's a photo my home city of Glasgow taken (by somone else whose work I've pinched from flickr.com) from hills that are located on its southern outskirts.

I live in a district called Pollokshields, and it's a part of the world that has now been celebrated in song.

Most of you will know that TVV specialises in nostalgia, with very few new acts getting a look in (I prefer to leave that to many of the fine bloggers whose work can be found simply by clicking on the right-hand column of these pages). But I was in a record emporium a month or so back, browsing away for 20 minutes or so, and enjoying what was being played over the shop sound system.

So I bought an album by The 1990's purely on that listen. The album is called Cookies.

Turned out they were actually a newish local band, and one of the songs on the record was this:-

mp3 : The 1990's - Pollokshields

The easiest way to learn more about this fabulous band and their fabulous debut LP is to visit their official website right here.

I'm just sorry I've only just picked up on this lot. I'd love to have seen some of their gigs in and around the city in recent months. They're about to do a lot of the festivals across Europe in the coming months, so if you happen to be in a big field somewhere in the middle of nowhere have a look out for them.

And here's another song by an old favourite that mentions a district rather than an actual city:-

mp3 : Morrissey - Come Back To Camden

Taken from the splenid LP You Are The Quarry, which can be bought for a bargain £3 from the same record shop I was in when I heard The 1990s. Click here.

LIVING IN A BOX

I've no idea how long the record industry has been peddling the idea of box-sets which offer a wide perspective on the career of a band or performer. I certainly know that when I was younger, I had no intention of ever buying such a thing, partly because they were too expensive, and partly because I would usually have most of the stuff I really wanted in any event.

But 10 years or so ago, I did give in and buy my first ever box set - Clash On Broadway. I did so because I only had Clash stuff on vinyl or tape, and the former has just been put in a cupboard with little prospect of ever being played again (or so I thought).

So I splashed out on this bit of luxury. And I'm real glad that I did.

There are 64 tracks spread out over 3 discs (there are only 63 listed, but there's one additional, uncredited song at the end of disc 3.), spread out over the history of the band from some early demos in 1976 through to the release of Combat Rock in 1982. There is also a book of lyrics for the songs. But best of all, there was a 64-page book inside the box which contained a couple of essays by Lenny Kaye and Lester Bangs, and then a potted history of the period in question as told by Strummer/Jones/Simonen/Headon/Chimes, as well as other members of the band's entourage, through all of the songs on the 3 discs.

I was probably more excited by the books than the discs mind you, because very few of the songs were new or different recordings - a couple of early demos, three unreleased songs and live versions of two singles were about it. But I didn't feel cheated. It was a really good summary of that five year period for The Clash, and of course it could be argued that some great, and possibly essential songs, were missed out at the expense of some weaker tracks, but overall, it remains an essential purchase for any serious fan of the band.

And here's one song from each of the CDs:-

mp3 : The Clash - White Man In Hammersmith Palais
mp3 : The Clash - Stay Free
mp3 : The Clash - Straight To Hell (unedited version)

I've gone for three of the better-known tracks rather than the more obscure or unreleased stuff, simply because these are among my favourites that the band ever did.

Clash on Broadway is still widely available, but my advice is to try and track down the more expensive version that comes in the 10" box rather than just the CD-size box, as it's only the former that comes with the hugely entertaining and illuminating 64-page book.

Try amazon, e-bay or old record shops. Happy hunting.

PS : Someone asked for a re-posting of the Care tracks that I put up a short while back. They're on-line again for a few more days....

NOISE ANNOYS?

Oh, I was cut to the bone the other day when a friend commented that TVV had got awfully luvvy-dovey in recent times. Too many mentions of other people and too much praise being dished out.

Today, because of that (and the fact I'm running late this morning), I'll stick to the tunes. Loud ones at that.

mp3 : Graham Coxon - Freakin' Out
mp3 : Foil - Are You Enemy?
mp3 : The Pixies - Velouria
mp3 : Queens Of The Stone Age - No One Knows

I hope you're happy now.

SONGS FOR YOU

Judging by the comments that he often makes afterwards, one of the regular and long-standing visitors to TVV - Ctelblog - seems to enjoy when I post rare tracks by the best band to come out of Athens, Georgia.

Yesterday, I picked up second-hand copies of a couple of 12" singles from the IRS days. Maybe Ctelblog already has the tracks, but if not, what follows are for mostly for him, but I'm sure he'll be happy for you all to share:-

mp3 : R.E.M. - Finest Worksong (Lengthy Club Mix)

This single was released in April 1988, a full 7 months after the album Document came out, and so it was given a different recording and mix featuring a horns section. A shorter version of this was later put on the compilation LP Eponymous, but to the best of my knowledge the track in all its glory is only available on the 12" single. The band left IRS two days after the UK release of Finest Worksong and signed for Warner Brothers.

mp3 : R.E.M. - Time After Time etc.

This is the b-side to the Worksong single. It's a live medley taken from a recording made by Vara Radio in Holland of the band's concert in Utrecht on 14 September 1987. According to the set-list reproduced in the book Adventures In Hi-Fi : The Complete R.E.M. by Rob Jovanovic and Tim Abbott (Orion Publishing 2001), the three-track medley, which comprises Time After Time, Red Rain (a cover of the Peter Gabriel song) and So. Central Rain was the fourth and final encore of the show. Much of it is Michael Stipe singing acapella, with Peter Buck seemingly the only other band member on stage. It's a very quiet recording, so you may have to crank up your volume for best effect.

mp3 : R.E.M. - This One Goes Out (live)

In other words, an early version of The One I Love, the song that brought the band to the attention of a wider audience. It was actually the first ever airing of the song on 24 May 1987, a full three months before it was issued as a single. It's taken from the 12" release of It's The End Of the World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine).

The record sleeve tells us that the recording is from a show at McCabes Guitar Shop in Santa Monica that was held as a benefit for a Texas Records who had been hit with a lawsuit. The Jovanovic/Abbott book reveals that the show opened with four songs by Steve Wynne of Dream Syndicate, followed by a couple of songs by a 'tipsy' Natalie Merchant of 10,000 Maniacs (the latter of which she was joined on stage by Stipe), before the main R.E.M set.

This One Goes Out was in fact the first full R.E.M. song of the evening. However.....but it's a recording with a difference. When Merchant left the stage, it wasn't Berry, Buck or Mills who joined Stipe but Geoff Gans, a member of staff at IRS Records.

The book says...'Gans started some acoustic strumming and the unlikely pairing served up a stunning version...'.

And it is.

The other track on the b-side of the single is a live version of Maps and Legends from the same how, but this can also be found on the CD of the re-released Fables of the Reconstruction that came out in 1992.

So thanks Ctelblog for coming by so often - and thanks for inspiring these rare and great songs.

A BONUS POSTING ON 20th JUNE....

Ever since I started this blog in September 2006, I've had a great desire to post a particular song.

It was one that came out in 1987, but wasn't widely available due to a copyright ban being slapped on it.

I managed to pick it up a number of years later on a CD, but the problem was that it was one of four tracks that ran together for a time totalling almost 22 minutes. Today, while musing over things at work, I got that EUREKA!!! moment that made me realise I could actually break the long track down into sections. It was a really easy thing to do, and yet I had been staring at it for months trying to figure it out.

And so without any further delay, I give you the song that Abba banned all of 20 years ago. Enjoy the genius of Bill Drummond and Jimmy Cauty who just a few years later would conquer the UK and many parts of Europe as The KLF.

mp3 : The Justified Ancients of Mu Mu - The Queen and I

The song was on the album, 1987 (What the Fuck Is Going On?), and samples large portions of Dancing Queen. The recording came to the attention of Abba's management and, after a legal showdown with Abba, the JAMMs' album was forcibly withdrawn from sale.

Drummond and Cauty travelled to Sweden in hope of meeting Abba and coming to some agreement, taking an NME journalist and photographer with them, along with most of the remaining copies of the LP. They failed to meet Abba, so disposed of the copies by burning most of them in a field and throwing the rest overboard on the North Sea ferry trip home.

The song therefore is quite rare, and It's a really early example of sampling, and I reckon it is a work of genius. In fact, it's as much a work of art as anything that you'll find hanging overpriced in a gallery by the likes of Damien Hirst or Tracey Emin, Douglas Gordon or any other eminent modern artist. Anyone care to disagree???

PS : Two Palm Trees has posted a comment of thanks and also asked for something equally rare.

I know from past experience how great a feeling it is when you do find tracks on blogs that you've been after for years (I tip my hat to old friends like Colin, Coxon, Liz, Simon, Fil and Crash who gave me lots of joy in days of old - and to everyone whose blogs are listed as links for continuing to do so. There's just no way I can ignore such a request....

mp3 : The KLF - Kylie Said To Jason (full length version)

HAPPY LOVING COUPLES

A tenous link for this one.......

Someone reminded me that I share a birthday with Paul McCartney (albeit he is a little older than me). He once wrote a popular tune called When I'm Sixty-Four, and I reckon Aiden and Malcolm of Arab Strap have come up with the 21st Century equivalent.

Not everything must end,
Not every romance must descend
Not every lover's pact decays,
Not every sad mistake replays.

If you can love my growing gut, my rotten teeth and greying hair,
Then I can guarantee I'll do the same as long as you can bear.

If you love my little poofy hands, my skinny arms and reeking feet,
The way I dance, the way I eat.

If you love the morning spots I try and squeeze before you're up to see,
Each torn ankle, each weak knee.

But still my moods must swing, to solitude I must still cling,
And you won't love me every day, and suffer many a display.

But plates may smash and doors may slam, my comments might be less than kind.
But that won't mean I've changed my mind.

I'm a huffy prick the best of times, I love to sulk and shout and squeal
But please don't doubt the way I feel. '

Cause when the sun burns up the earth, our progeny will raise a can,
"Here's to where it all began,"

And every day I hear the world is cracking up, the end is near,
I hear we all should live in fear.

Bullies, burglars, paedophiles, bird flu and passive smoke, THEY'RE COMING!
Volcanoes, earthquakes, tidal waves, heart disease and strokes, THEY'RE COMING!
Terrorists with homemade poison, factions everywhere, THEY'RE COMING!
They're drinking in the streets, they could steal your name, and I don't care.

And all to a cracking happy tune.

mp3 : Arab Strap - There Is No Ending

It's on the CD The Last Romance, which I really insist you must buy here from a great record shop either in person or by mail.

FOR ONCE I'M LOST FOR WORDS

I'm really touched that so many of you passed on birthday greetings....

All I can do is offer up as a way of thank you, three great pop dittys from the 1990s that should have been massive hits, but thanks to the fickle public, have been left to languish in semi-obscurity.

mp3 : Blink - Happy Day
mp3 : Family Gotown - Box
mp3 : The Frank & Walters - Fashion Crisis Hits New York

I posted the Blink track a long while back on TVV, but I thought that as I've got quite a few newer readers who would have missed out first time round, it's worth another posting. It's a single that came out in 1994 and was a big hit for the band in their native Ireland. I have to admit that I thought the band had long broken up, but it seems they are still going strong as can be read right here.

I couldn't find anything about Family Gotown other than this small entry that has been penned by their guitarist Brian Smith. If anyone can add anything more, I'd be delighted to hear from them.

The Frank and Walters are another band from Ireland, but this time from the south-west city of Cork. They were one of my favourite groups to emerge in the early 90s, a really energetic and fun live act as well, and the song I've put up is the main track of their debut EP which came out on Setanta Records in September 1991 and was produced by Dave Couse of A House.

The band were signed to Go Discs in the UK, and were teamed up with the legendary Edwyn Collins to record the debut LP Trains, Boats and Planes that came out in June 1992. A number of the earlier tracks were re-recorded for the LP, including Fashion Crisis..., but I'm sad to say that Edwyn failed to capture the band at their best and the LP is a bit disappointing. Indeed it took the magic of Ian Broudie to remix an LP track - After All - to give the band their one and only UK Top 20 hit.

Still going strong today, the band gave a UK release of their latest LP, A Renewed Interest In Happiness, back in March 2007. The excellent official site can be found here.

You can try e-bay for all of these releases if you're so inclined. Good luck.

ADD IT UP

I turned 44 years of age today.

As a kid, I used to think that when I turned 37 I'd be really really old as it would be a new century. That birthday came and went without me feeling any different, as did my turning 40, as did today.

I have to put this song up, as it will be at least 5 or 6 years before it is relevant again:-

mp3 : Moby - Sunday (The Day Before My Birthday)

I spent Sunday (The Day Before My Birthday) at the cricket test match between England and the West Indies in Chester-le-Street in the north-east of England. It was an absolutely tremendous day, all thanks to Mrs Villain, who bought the tickets and also paid for a weekend in nearby Newcastle as a birthday treat. And as a lover of Caribbean cricket (I learned to appreciate the game courtesy of watching their great teams of the 70s, 80s and early 90s on TV), it was a nigh on perfect couple of days.

I take it you can all do basic arithmetic, so the reason for this should also be pretty obvious:-

mp3 : New Order - 1963

I've had the occasional series featuring great songs wasted on the b-side. 1963 was yet another, stuck on the reverse of True Faith when it was a good enough song to be a 45 rpm release itself.

And finally, a song title that kind of describes me perfectly nowadays, as I'm sure Jacques the Kipper and any other acquaintances of long-standing can verify:-

mp3 : James Kirk - Old Soak

Back to work tomorrow to begin the tidying-up of all sorts of things before I embark on my Canadian adventure for most of the rest of 2007. Still working out how best to keep this thing going....

ALL MODS CONNED

A while back on TVV, I got rather animated when I heard about the formation of From The Jam, which is bassist and sometime vocalist Bruce Foxton and drummer Rick Buckler taking a version of my first real love out on the road again after a 25 year gap. They may claim it’s all about making the music available again after all these years, but let’s be honest - it’s very much a cash-in on nostalgia that will help them financially through their old age.

Some regular readers were every bit as appalled as I was by this cash-in while others felt it was about as good as we could ever hope for given the antipathy of Paul Weller towards his former band-mates.

Now I know that I was lucky enough to see the original band at their prime on many an occasion, an experience not afforded to all that many folk aged under 40. But I’m sorry, this excuse for a band, not withstanding that the recent tour got some good reviews, is not The Jam. Without Weller, it never can be. There is no credibility in what Foxton & Buckler are doing. OK, they may have occasionally contributed to the writing of some of the songs, or provided a bass-line or drum-pattern that helped make the song, but without the talents of Weller, they would have been nothing – not even part of a footnote in pop history.

Now please don’t get the impression that I’m saying all this because I worship at the feet of the so-called Modfather. Yes, I liked what he did with The Style Council, but with the exception of maybe two or three singles, I haven’t been able to abide his solo outpourings. And I’ll never forgive him for foisting Ocean Colour Scene on an unsuspecting public.

A couple of friends tell me that the Weller gigs earlier this year were among the best they have ever been to, partly because there was more material from The Jam, that sounded like The Jam, in the set than ever before. Again, this is something that bugs me.

If Weller wants to play his old stuff in a faithful reproduction, he should do so with his old band. Otherwise, if he’s going to play any of his songs from 1977-1982, he should do so in a way that is quite different. Morrissey can be every bit as guilty when he churns out old tunes by The Smiths (but at least he has a habit of filling his backing band with rockabilly session musicians who aren’t subtle enough to pull off the glorious sounds made by Marr, Joyce & Rourke).

Oh I know I’m an old snob about all of this, but I don’t care what the rest of you think. I listened to quite a bit of The Jam while I was lying on the beach in Aruba – more than I’ve done for maybe 10 years or so – and I realised again just how good a band they were. That’s right – a band, and not a collection of individuals. There were umpteen fantastic singles, a smattering of wasted b-sides, two great albums, three good albums and one album that was a rushed-job that hasn’t worn well. There were loads ofmemorable live gigs and TV appearances, while after their demise some unreleased stuff appeared, much of which did actually cut the mustard.

If all three of them had taken the show out on the road again, I might well have gone along, but maybe not as I would have been afraid of spoiling my memories of all those great gigs of my youth. But I can honestly say, that no matter how much money was offered to me to go along, you will never catch me anywhere near a show by From The Jam. There’s just no way they’re capable of doing justice to these sorts of tunes:-

mp3 : The Jam - Away From The Numbers

mp3 : The Jam - In The Street Today

mp3 : The Jam - Down In The Tube Station At Midnight

mp3 : The Jam - Strange Town

mp3 : The Jam - Thick As Thieves

mp3 : The Jam - Scrape Away

mp3 : The Jam - Tales From The Riverbank (fan club flexidisc version)

mp3 : The Jam - Happy Together

Bah humbug

GONE...BUT NOT FORGOTTEN (3)

Well, I remember them fondly.

Care was a coming together of Ian Broudie and Paul Simpson.

The former is best known as the man behind The Lightning Seeds, but he's been part of the music scene in his native Liverpool since the late 70s, initially as part of the new wave band Big In Japan (which also featured Holly Johnson who found fame with Frankie Goes To Hollywood and Bill Drummond, likewise with The KLF).

He then produced some of the great 80s bands in the north-west of England including Echo and the Bunnymen and The Fall. He also worked with The Wild Swans, one of the great lost bands of the early 80s.

Paul Simpson was the singer with The Wild Swans, having previously been the keyboard player in The Teardrop Explodes, and in 1983 he joined up forces with Broudie to form Care.

I remember hearing their debut single one evening on either the David Jensen or Janice Long show on Radio 1 and being knocked out by what was then a pretty unusual and distinctive mix of acoustic guitars and synthesisers. I tracked the record down the following day.

It was on a major label - Arista Records. The production team was Clive Langer & Alan Winstanley who at the time were probably the biggest name producers in the UK. But despite considerable airplay in the evenings, it didn't make the then crucial A-list at Radio 1 and the single faded into obscurity.

The follow-up single was a Kingbird production, which was one of the names that Broudie used. It also flopped.

Single number three did the same, despite at least one TV promo slot on the Oxford Road Show (I kinow this as I still have the clip on VHS tape).

Care then broke up in the summer of 1984 without bothering to release their debut album which only then saw the light of day in 1997 as a CD entitled Diamonds & Emeralds. The band were referred to as Care featuring Ian Brodie.

The cash-in was of course completely cynical as it came hot on the heels of The Lightning Seeds biggest success with the football anthem Three Lions that was adopted by the supporters of England during their hosting of Euro 96.

But if a small handful of those who were new to Broudie's talents were drawn to this album by association, they would hopefully have found much to enjoy.

And here are the afore-mentioned three singles in the order that they were released:-

mp3 : Care - My Boyish Days (drink to me)
mp3 : Care - Flaming Sword
mp3 : Care - Whatever Possessed You

The first two are the 12" versions.

Flaming Sword was later re-recorded in 1992 by The Lightning Seeds as the b-side to their single Sense. And here it is:-

mp3 : The Lightning Seeds - Flaming Sword

Not much difference you'll find which shows either the 1983 recording was ahead of its time or the 1992 recording was immediately retro. Whatever. I just think its a great pop song that should have been a massive hit.

A BIG BOX OF TREATS

Until last night, it had been a while since I delved into the cupboard and brought out some vinyl for the USB turntable. I found 3 wonderful 12" singles containing reasonably rare or unusual tracks:-

mp3 : Pete Wylie - Sinful (Tribal Mix)
mp3 : The Smiths - This Charming Man (New York Vocal)
mp3 : Prefab Sprout - He'll Have To Go

The Pete Wylie track is over 8 minutes long, and even now, 21 years after I first heard it, I'm not entirely convinced by it. The actual single was about half that length and a great bit of pop music. The extended mix I feel throws in things just for the sake of it. But if you're a Wylie fan, or indeed just someone who likes the song, it's well worth a listen.

I remember everyone in the flat I was living in getting into an argument when this particular version of The Smiths breakthrough song appeared on the scene in 1983. Morrissey had already announced his dislike of dance music, and yet here was a funky remix that was rather obviously aimed at the dance market. For what it's worth, it is my favourite version of the song, as I love how the other three members of the band come to the fore in the extended instrumental section. It was in a sense a precursor to another fantastic bit of Smiths music - Barbarism Begins At Home.

The Prefab Sprout offering can be found on the b-side of the 12" version of When Love Breaks Down that came out in 1985. It's a cover version of a song that I seem to recall was made famous by country & western legend, Jim Reeves.

And one more song to enjoy is there to marvel over today. And it's all down to Vuka who, having read last month's posting and thoughts on the LP Songs To Remember, responded positively to my plea for a copy of the extended version of a Scritti Politti classic:-

mp3 : Scritti Politti - Faithless (Triple-Hep N'Blue)

There's been quite a number of moments that have made all the hours spent on TVV all worthwhile - hearing that particular nine and a bit minutes once again after more than 20 years was just the latest.

So if you're reading this - thank you Vuka.

BACK TO NATURE

After the horses earlier in the day, Mrs Villain insisted that I put up her favourite song about animals:-

mp3 : Primus - Wynona's Big Brown Beaver

And if you like this song, take a peek at the video right here over at The Video Villain.

Oh and no apologies to any passing perverts who chanced by thinking it was something completely different.

HORSIN' AROUND

I'm sure I'm not the first blogger of my age to mention how lucky today's kids are in terms of what they can watch on TV.

In my day, it was three terrestrial channels - BBC1, BBC2 and Scottish Television - and quite frankly, most of the shows aimed at those aged under 12 were crap. Except for Tom & Jerry.

Nowadays, with all sorts of specialised channels on satellite TV, there is a wider choice, and while much of it is probably just as crap, at least they can watch something different all the time.

I just remember every single school holiday being marked on BBC1 with a re-run of two black-and-white TV series. One was called Belle & Sebastian. The other was The White Horses. The former had a really creepy theme tune that was sung in a foreign language, the latter had a theme tune that was ace.

Here's an abridged extract from wikipedia:-

The White Horses is a 1965 television series co-produced by RTS of Yugoslavia and BR-TV of Germany. It follows the adventures of a teenage girl (played by Helga Anders) who visits a farm, run by her Uncle Dimitri (played by Helmuth Schneider), where white Lipizzaner horses are raised. It is called Počitnice v Lipici in Slovenian and Ferien in Lipizza in German. The series was a cult hit with children and comprised 13 episodes, filmed in black and white.
A dubbed version was broadcast in the United Kingdom in 1968 and repeated for many years afterwards (the dubbed soundtrack has since been lost). The theme tune, credited to "Jacky", was sung by Jackie Lee. It became a top 10 hit in the UK charts in April 1968. Jackie Lee also had a hit with the theme tune to Rupert (The Bear) in 1970/71.

And guess what:-

mp3 : Jackie Lee - White Horses

And how about a couple of my favourite bands doing cover versions:-

mp3 : The Trash Can Sinatras - White Horses
mp3 : The Wedding Present - White Horses

The former is on the b-side of the 12" single Circling The Circumference, while the latter can now be found on the recently released Peel Sessions boxset.

FROM UNDER THE COVERS (Parts 16,17 & 18)

Two hours later.....two blogs have been gone through.

I don't think I'm going to manage to finish everything today. Colin over at And Before The First Kiss is to blame at this point. Loads of great writing this past fortnight, and loads of great new tunes that I've been downloading and listening to.

He put up a cover of a Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds song which no-one seems to be too sure about (see here). A CD that I picked up with a music magazine a few years ago featured the same song, but is a cover that I actually quite like:-

mp3 : Giant Sand - Red Right Hand

And while I'm on the subject of covers, here's a couple for Ed (and the soon to be Mrs Ed) over at 17 Seconds. I got these on an 'available at gigs-only' CD when I went to see them in Edinburgh five or six years back:-

mp3 : Lambchop - (Get A) Grip (On Yourself)
mp3 : Lambchop - The Theme From The TV Show 'Dallas'

Back now to the reading...

TAKE YOUR PICK

So the plan was to enjoy my last day off before going back to work, and I intended to spend it reading blogs and listening to some songs that have been posted (as well as the CDs by The National and 1990s that I bought last week but which still lie unopened). But some men have arrived to cut down a very large and old (at least 100 years) tree in our garden which is leaning dangerously towards the building and beginning to cause damage to the foundations. So there will be a bit of noise instead of my peace and quiet. Ho hum.

I'm trying to get back to normal after the holiday and the golf weekend (for anyone interested, I finished 3rd in a field of 16) and thought that I'd offer up a choice of six tunes - three original versions and three remixes. You are free to listen and comment or simply ignore. Tomorrow, I may again start spouting off some bullshit.

mp3 : Beck - Devil's Haircut
mp3 : Beck - Devil's Haircut (Remix by Noel Gallagher)

Originally on the 1996 LP Odelay, the remix was made available on CD2 when the track was released as a single.

mp3 : Lloyd Cole - Butterfly
mp3 : Lloyd Cole - Butterfly (Planet Ann Charlotte Mix)

Originally on the 1991 LP Don't Get Weird On Me Babe, the remix is on a 12" single that I first heard when Jacques the Kipper shoved it on a compilation cassette. I've posted the song before - it was one of the first things I did on TVV - and as I previously said, the mix is named in recognition of backing vocalist Ann Charlotte Vengsgaard who (according to my Google Search) is now a highly-regarded freelance fashion photographer in her native Denmark.

mp3 : R.E.M. - Radio Song
mp3 : R.E.M. - Radio Song (Tower of Luv Bug Mix)

Originally on the 1991 LP Out of Time, it's a different version that was intended to help propel the single up the charts.

Oh, and as the day goes on, there might be one or two cosmetic changes to TVV including a few new links to other blogs, all of which I think are well worth at least a few minutes of your time.

Thanks for visiting.

NEVER STOP

Home in one piece.

Bastards at Gatwick confiscated my duty-free bottles of vodka and spiced rum. Bought them in the duty-free at Aruba. Put them in my hand luggage. Many hours later, and after a huge delay in getting our main suitcases, rush off to make the connection to Glasgow. Completely forget to put said duty free into main suitcases. Get to security and bottles are confiscated as their contents (1 litre each) are just a tad larger than the 100ml limit. Jobsworths would not listen to logic of booze having been bought just a few hours earlier at an airport in another country, that they were still in their bubble-wrap and polythene bags and that I had a receipt.

I insisted that if they were going to confiscate the booze, then it should be destroyed before my very eyes by having it poured down the sink. Needless to say, that option wasn't offered to me.

Bastards.

And now, my journeys continue. At 7am on Friday morning, I'm getting picked up in a mini-bus for a trip to Nairn in the far north of Scotland for three days golfing interspersed with two nights drinking. There's 16 of us involved and its something we've being doing at different locations in Scotland for nearly 20 years. Lord only knows when the jet-lag will really kick-in. Either on the 4th fairway in the afternoon or on the 4th vodka in the evening. Either way, it will be messy.

mp3 : Simple Minds - I Travel

From the days before they were shit. See you again next week (that's to my dear and loyal readers as well as the long-suffering Mrs V....)

HOLIDAY HYMN (15)

So now you've to feel sorry for us.

It's almost 3pm local time (8pm in the UK) and we're about to set off home. And it will take forever. It's the only real downside of coming all the way out here.

Flight is at 7pm local time and it will take 8 and a bit hours to reach London Gatwick. Then, after we pick up luggage and clear customs, we have to switch from one terminal to the other and catch the Easyjet flight to Glasgow at 1pm on Thursday. So....in effect, its going to be 18 hours all in to get home from the hotel to Villain Mansions.

And that's why you've to feel sorry for us.

Thanks to everyone who has read any of the holiday postcards and permitted me these bouts of self-indulgence. I hope you've at least enjoyed some of the tunes.....and all of today's have been featured before:-

mp3 : The Monochrome Set - Jet Set Junta
mp3 : Blancmange - Waves
mp3 : The Wedding Present - Back For Good (Take That cover)

Ciao.

HOLIDAY HYMN (14)

Some folk do it in Aruba..................others plump for the Isle of Man.

This actually happened last year around 4pm of an afternoon in full view of dozens of holidaymakers soaking up the rays.

mp3 : Josh Rouse - Sunshine (Come On Lady)

Mr Rouse is one of those who is perfect for listening to on the beach.

As are some other songs that I've previously posted on TVV and make no apologies for doing so again:-

mp3 : Alexi Murdoch - Orange Sky

mp3 : The Adventure Babies - Camper Van

mp3 : Malcolm Middleton - Stay Close, Sit Tight

mp3 : Tindersticks - Until The Morning Comes

mp3 : REM - Electrolite

Last full day on the island. We're both off now to make the most of it.

Miaow, miaow, miaow...

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As requested, JC. Have a safe journey home! :)
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The Trucks/Tim Young - 'Titties' (Largin' It remix) MP3 (4.17)
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[a competition-winnah!]
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HOLIDAY HYMN (13)

So it's almost over for another year. There's today, tomorrow and Wednesday morning before we get herded on the bus to the airport for the overnight flight to Glasgow via London Gatwick.

Most of the daytime has seen us Villains doing what we usually do on holiday - sitting side-by-side on loungers with headphones on listening to music and thus saving all the conversation for when we got out in the evenings. Most other folk on the beach look at us in a strange way as we lie there in our own small worlds, totally lost in music.

This year, I've tried my best to keep the i-pod on 'shuffle songs' with the result that I've heard some things for the first time in a long while - and I've picked up a couple of ideas for when service gets back to normal. I also put together selections that I've downloaded in recent months from many of you, and have taken time to learn and appreciate some new stuff as well as old songs that were new to me. Thanks especially to Colin, Ed, Fil, Liz & Toad, but in fact all of you who have a blog listed on the right hand side will have been responsible for part of my aural pleasue this past two weeks.

But Mrs V wants me to give a special mention to Tim Young. She prefers her song lists to be in bite-size chunks of one hour, and has a whole list of compilations that she makes her way through. This year, I put together a couple of x-rated things (ripping off the Contrast Podcast idea), of which the song she keeps returning to is Titties (Largin' It Mix), his very own take on a song by The Trucks.

I'm just sorry that I don't have it in my files to post right now......but it has easily been the song of the holiday for Mrs V. I'm sure she was singing it out loud yesterday and scaring away children...

In the meantime, here's one that is a particular favourite of mine:-

mp3 : Jonathan Richman & The Modern Lovers - That Summer Feeling

More inane ramblings tomorrow.

HOLIDAY HYMN (12)

It's the morning after the night where I told the barman to just mix my cocktails as he sees fit, and to hell with what is in them. Mrs V stuck to her favourite tipple (a Cosmopolitan since you ask).

The result?? Mrs V is off on a 60 minute training run in preparation for a half-marathon she's taking part in quite soon - I'm sitting here with a fuzzy set of senses. It's gonna be a long day.

That above is a typical view from our bar come 7pm at night as the sun dips over the horizon. And as if by magic, some 12 hours later, it comes back out right behind us and does the same thing over and over again.

mp3 : Aztec Camera - Sunset

Not one of Roddy's better known tracks, it's from Frestonia, released in 1995, and well worth a small investment as it is going real cheap right here.

HOLIDAY HYMN (11)

Just another Saturday???

Not really. Off to play golf today while Mrs V spends some time being pampered at a spa.

Not that we're bored of the beach or the sunshine. Just fancied doing something a little bit different.

I'd like to point out that the sand here is that shade of white and the sea that shade of blue. I've not added any artificial flavourings or colourings.

mp3 : Super Furry Animals - Hello Sunshine

PS : For those of you getting bored by all of this, it's nearly all over. Just another 4 postcards to come.

Oh and I've found out that I can actually access my music files as well, so here's a couple of covers that I shoved up a few months ago that proved quite popular for those of you who missed them first time round:-

mp3 : Billy Bragg - That's Entertainment
mp3 : Curve - What A Waste

HOLIDAY HYMN (10)

The past three days has seen the temperature rise even higher down here, touching 34 and 35 degrees centigrade which I understand is the low-mid 90s in old fashioned fahrenheit. There's hardly been a cloud in the sky.

People seem to far more aware of the potential health risks of such intense heat/sunshine, and as a result, the beach was practically deserted at high noon - and those who stayed on were all in the shade.

And yet, I do sometimes miss being back home - especially today when a work colleague is leaving and there's a piss-up in a pub that I'll be absent from. But I'll toast his good health with a cocktail at some point....

And so we're now in the month of June. Not long now until I turn 44 years old and have to accept that I must be defined as middle-aged. It's also not long till Simon & Liz tie the knot down on the Isle of Man. There was a wedding reception here on the beach the other day - Copacabana by Barry Manilow had all the guests doing their thing - and I thought of our favourite loveblogs trying the same thing under the Douglas palm trees with Dave Gedge or Bauhaus leading to nearby residents calling in the cops. Made me smile.

Thought I'd also share some news with all of you.

It looks like I'll be leaving Glasgow for a while.

I've been offered (and accepted) the opportunity to take a secondment for 4 months to work in Toronto. And all being well, I'll be off there at the end of June.

There's a few loose ends and paperwork still to be sorted out, but it's something that excites and scares me in equal measures. I'll be away living on my own in a strange city in a strange country for 18 weeks. I'm taking on a challenging set of tasks (its all to do with the general elections in Ontario this coming October) and getting out of my comfort zone.

While I'm away, it's Mrs V's birthday and our 10th wedding anniversary. So I have some guilt as well.

I'll also miss a number of eagerly anticipated gigs, not least the 20th anniversary tour of George Best by The Wedding Present.

But.....it's just too good an opportunity to let it pass me by.

It's coming up for 7.30am here and it will soon be time to head across to the beach as once again there is not a cloud in sight. This bit of twee seems appropriate:-

mp3 : Belle & Sebastian - Another Sunny Day

Have a great weekend everyone - wherever you are, whatever you're doing and whoever you are with.