Various Artists - "Songs The Senders Taught Us" (WAIL TAPE 02)

It's been a while, huh?

OK, I'm a lazy bastard lately I confess. There are many excuses for it, but I'm as bored to story them as you probably reading them, so... That's from my vault of shit. Things I'm doing constantly for my own pleasure. I'm almost done with Philippe Marcade's excellent rock & roll memoir, Punk Avenue and came to my mind that I had somewhere this self made compilation, so why not sharing it? I'm not going (of course) to remind you who The Senders are/were. That's an insult. If my memory serves me well, I created this right after Wild Bill's passing, so here's a properly sloppy and drunken tribute to the Senders' axeman, full of the greasy originals the mighty pub-rock New Yawkers tried through their lifetime, to cover. Hope not forget something, but if I did, feel free to correct me.

'Till next time, take care people and keep the rocks rollin'!!!

"Cheers!" Pure Genius: 20 page Pub Rock spectacular! (Mojo Magazine, Issue 30 - May 1996)

That's a hugely influential 20 page piece (at least for me) on MOJO Magazine dated back in May 1996 (just a month before my school graduate...wow) and it's written by the exceptional drummer of The Kursaal Flyers and The Records and now an even cooler music author (among them of course the No Sleep Till Canvey Island book), Will Birch. Back then of course (again!), no internet blah-blah-blah, so this more or less (more!) became my guide and source for quite many beloved (till now and ever) bands and gangs. From Dr. Feelgood, Nick Lowe and Eddie & the Hot Rods, to the Count Bishops, Graham Parker and Ducks Deluxe, this is probably the best effort ever committed on paper about punk rock's true and unsung forefather and  gatecrasher. It's the story of Pub Rock served up just in time (Saturday night)... Raise a glass to the regulars!

Nevermind The Strypes, Here's The 45s!

These 45s fellas are from Carlisle, England and they wore their influences quite proudly on the jacket and the title of their latest EP, "Teenage Depression"! Right?! Tanked up, high octane R&B - the way legendary outfits like Eddie and The Hot Rods and Dr. Feelgood reminded once to the world with mod suits, mop-top haircuts and incredibly good playing for mid teens (all members reportedly are 16)! Great to see young lads pickin' up on rock & roll, instead of corporate precast shit! I mean, GREAT!
Anyway, don't know if there's a 'competition' with The Strypes or something, I guess the media are always in search of such 'rivalries' but I tell you this, if you dig the Ireland's finest you're gonna lose your mind with the 45s! No wonder why Wilko Johnson got them under his wings... As far as I know, they only have two singles on their backs (both great I've download them and they're on a loop in my iPod since) I'm waiting for the "Depression" EP to come one of these days on ma doorstep (use the link on the right to order yours) but I'm still in search of their first one double A-Side killer, "It Ain't Over / Devil of a Woman". White Trash Soul approved combo, can't wait really for a gig and a proper full release!

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Cock Sparrer - "The Decca Years" (CD, Captain Oi! - 2006)

Oi!  He-he, I’m quite sure some loyal eyebrows have been raised to the view of a Cock Sparrer post here at White Trash Soul but hey, stop the chattering and listen to what I've got to say first. 

No, I didn't changed my mind about Oi! in general, even though there are quite a few lies lying there ‘bout racism and fascism matters… And I know it now cause I've been fooled too! There’s a HUGE gap between bands like the Business or Screwdriver and the Sparrer or Sham 69, OK? And that’s the easy part cause all you have to do to witness the above (the truth actually), is just to give a listen to those bands stuff! I’m not going to write more on this, but it was a good way for opening today’s pick. Cock Sparrer are IT, period! Most people knows the band from the “Shock Troops” territory which for punk rock at least it’s a CLASSIC but for my disturbed point of view, Cock Sparrer’s glory days were the early ones where their boot-boy, loud, raw and hooligan sound had more in common with the Small Faces and original Slade, than Sex Pistols… 

Cock Sparrer themselves separated group’s existence with punk ‘trend’ by citing constantly the inimitable ‘We‘re not punks – we‘re football hooligans!’ phrase. Btw, Decca for some strange reason (company’s entire history somehow have been build upon peculiar decisions…) seems to have seen ‘punk rock’ early on in boot boys like the Sparrer or Slaughter & the Dogs but for some even stranger reasons drop them when they were ready to cash in… The Beatles 'legacy' resurrected? Perhaps... So, the Sparrow (as the ‘Sparrer’ should be pronounced) in those days were nothing but a hard edged pub rock band! Heavily influenced by their country’s previous years’ heritage on R&B only this time played even sloppily (and aggressively)! For many years band’s 'immature' FANTASTIC recordings were left to the hands of the bootleggers. I believe this stand out Captain Oi! release is the first one that gathers all the stuff (and more). It worth’s his price alone for the original (and SUPERB!) version of “I Need a Witness”, a song at least for me previously bonded with the Little Roosters fame and history (what a band!). Rolling Stones’ “We Love You” is being treated the way the younger and snotty-er Jagger/Richards should have did, and “Runnin’ Riot”, “Taken for a Ride” and “Planet Suzy” are showing the way for the sound about to come with Sex Pistols and their followers. Boogie riffs in hyper speed and tradition rejection by the oxymoron of doing it by looking at the roots!

Don't know if it's a myth or something but the story says that the Cock Sparrer were at first Malcolm McLaren's look for his 'big plans' but they denied making a deal with him due to the fact that they didn't wanted to cut their hair as the devilish manager demanded... True or not -  a cool one, right?

Pic taken from Punk77.co.uk

Ian Hunter's Dirty Laundry - "Ian Hunter's Dirty Laundry" (Cherry Red, 1995/2007)

Ha, talking about an album here! What’s frustrating are its origins... Cherry Red's website and CD's booklet says that this at first was a work in progress for Casino Steel (Hollywood Brats/The Boys), The Boys' website officially declares that actually was Honest John Plain's project ('One of the Boys' too, also a Crybaby) but in the end came out under Ian Hunter's name in the sign! It doesn’t really matter cause hell yeah, what we’ve got here’s a party in the studio from a personnel of high throwing canons! Is there anyone out there not having a taste for Mott the Hoople? Don’t think so, otherwise sorry pal, you‘re in the wrong blogspot! Just like Slade, I never fit them in the ‘Glam’ area. All those glitters and Bowie connections I suppose were their last attempt to hit big, which happily happened but as much as I like “All the Young Dudes” the same way rate early Hoople period as THE best. The line up is quite impressing and if you do recognize from where all these bandits came from, you‘ll know as well immediately what’s the direction in here. Except for the two aforementioned Boys, there’s a Sex Pistol (Glen Matlock), a true underground legend (Darrel Bath – Dogs D’Amour, The Crybabys, U.K. Subs) plus a Die Toten Hosen (?!). Not bad right? Good time Stonesy, hook laden rock & roll, with a few Dylan-esque aberrancies and a loose feeling is what I have to offer. Anyone interested? 

The Cannibals - "The Submarine Song/Paralytic Confusion" (HIT together with Bucketful Of Brains Magazine, 1984)

Morning lads! More trash by our favorite Cannibal here at White Trash Soul headquarters! Possibly a rarity (I'm not sure though, cause every time i write something for something 'rare', record collectors hit on me on how much this may cost or how many slices pressed, so i really don't know!). As a big fan of Mike Spenser's 'work' you 're getting me unlearnt this time...! I mean, i knew the existence of the single but i never saw it or heard it before. But i don't feel bad cause there's virtually NOTHING on the net for this, anywhere! Not on the Count Bishops sites, nor on record collectors'... And we are offering this thanks to JP who wormed it out perhaps from a trash pail! It doesn't really matter though cause what we are talking about here is rock & roll, and on these two sides is plenty and raucous! As you read on the title, this 45 rpm came out with some Bucketful of Brains issue back in 1984 but that's too a mystery! Whatever, if anyone of you guys and gals knows more, we're here to put our pince-nez and teach us a lesson.
Later!

Various Artists - "Lend Us A Quid, The Tanked-Up, Dressed Down, Dirty-Ass R&B Side of Pub Rock!" (WAXCD 004)

Hi there! When I was in my teens, one of my dream jobs was to be an archivist on record companies in the likes of the British Ace. Actually I’m still dreaming of this quite a lot... You know, dreams are for free! Anyway, I was fascinated by the thing totally. I mean, you’re getting paid to search the vaults of legendary 
labels like Stax, Modern or Meteor, to write the liners, to interview long forgotten heroes and to gather a compilation for the listening pleasure of a majority that has obviously an upper IQ level and of course great taste! And this was the driving force for starting the whole WAX CDs compilations. The addition of JP makes many matters easier, BUT I tell you guys that this persuasion’s not an easy shit to do. You’re setting yourself higher standards every time and you’re coming to a point that you feel imprisoned on your own ‘fun’ idea. OK, I made it look quite weepy but what I’m trying to say is that when you get positive reactions from other people for your ‘work’, it is obvious and happens almost subconsciously to want to make it even better next time and all of a sudden this photo’s not so good, this track doesn’t fit well, and when you’re come finally to an end, you realize that you have already spent on this two or three months! But it’s still a fun thing to do and I wish this was my every day routine! As you can see, this time we have picked on Pub Rock. Be careful though, we didn’t want to make just ‘another’ gathering of well known songs. And we wanted also this stable to have a ‘concept’. And the concept here is the “Dirty R&B” side of the idiom. That means no Brinsleys, no Ace, and no Bees Make Honey. Nothing against these bands of course, Brinsleys in fact are one of my favorite combos of the era but this shit here’s about raw uncompromised energy! I wanted the punk forefathers, the ones that teach the Pistols and their generation who Music Machine was and where this evil force called rock & roll was born or/and by whom?! 

In my mind the best rock & roll combo came outta UK (in all periods of time!), hands down are Johnny Kidd and the Pirates. Way cool than many before or since! No wonder these guys were a huge influence on our subject. Mick Green patented the sound made Wilko a hero and their song was the reason why the Feelgoods christened themselves this way. I tried to stick to a ‘heavy’ R&B beat for all selections here and I tried as well to link past with the then present and future. Downliners Sect was no new to the game of course, but seeing their kids succeeding in their own game, jumped up the wagon and released at least one killer LP (they did the same with punk as FU2, but that’s another story waiting to be told). Lemmy and co. was no less than a kick ass pub band in their prime, and along with 'their gals' created a mayhem picking on Johnny Kidd’s classic “Please Don’t Touch”. MC5’s front man Rob Tyner left an interesting (at least) single with the Hot Rods backing him up, and the more garage approach of the movement with The Inmates and The Cannibals (driving force was and still is Mike Spenser of the MKI Count Bishops) who introduced the Nuggets to a generation of punks that wanted to re-establish rock & roll but not in the traditional way. I included also the Little Roosters (WHATTA NAME!) and the nuclear blast in the form of a song named “I Need a Witness (produced by Joe Strummer), a song the Cock Sparrer (!) made widely familiar, the Hammersmith Gorillas savage take on the Kinks (Gaaaaaaallll you really got me gowin!), here from the original single and not from the RAW records re-press that had mastering/sounding problems plus the Bob Seger Chuck Berry homage by none other than Terry Gibson of the Sect! The Untouchables Wilko produced single as far as I know is quite a rarity already, and Dr. Feelgood’s live hyper speed take on Jerry Lee just rips! There’s an interesting little story behind every track here and why chose it but we will need more time to put into shape a thing thats already late a bit… So, hope you enjoy it and try find all these bands if you already haven’t. And keep in mind that Pub Rock was the true but unfashionable movement that REALLY saved rock & roll’s ass! RESPECT!
PS: "Lend Us A Quid" was the ironic pin my idol Steve Marriott used to wear during his pub rock days. Many of the fans still believe this was the sad end. I'm not one of those! I wish anytime soon, some better sounding tapes from the ones already exist to surface in public... 

As usual no bootlegging on WAX CDs. Share and dance freely!

Dr. Feelgood - "Malpractice - Italian Pressing" (United Artists, 1976)

One of the coolest (does exist such word?) ever ‘bad habits’ that I witnessed so far, it's the one my faithful partner JP has! He spends almost uncalculated his money on buying... the same record (in both formats) and MANY times! And I suspect this happens with just one purpose on his mind… To find the best sounding pressing or mastering! I admire you mate! Lucky me of course, cause as all record collectors use to do, I do have on my vault some of my fave discs in three or four different mixes but that's it! I prefer to throw my (everyday less and less...) money off my pocket for different things! So, the other day sent me this email:
 “Dr Feelgood Malpractice: you probably heard it a million times before (and I won't blame you for that), both the CD and the UK LP versions sound loud & clear, but the Italian pressing I ripped  yesterday sounds (almost) like a different mix (for some reason), with thundering bass & drums. Surely Feelgood is great for Brilleaux & Wilko, but the rest of the team is kicking some serious ass too, and this is very nicely highlighted on this version. I'm enjoying it even more [damn it, the pounding on "Going Back Home" is so good], so I needed to share it with you!”

 And guess what? For one more time he was 100% right! God bless you man! Next move was to add this bona-fide rip to my i-pod and in the next morning on my way to the job, I touched the play button anxious to hear on my own to what my friend raved so much about the previous night… BOOM-BAM-BOOM! If some of you guys and gals out there is a sound engineer, please explain to me WHY THIS HAPPENS?  I mean, I know this brilliant record upside down from my teens, and this is a CLEARLY better sounding shit! Anyway, I believe I don’t have to tell much (or add…) about the Feelgoods or this record especially that you haven’t read already probably somewhere else, but this is definitely the best garage record of the 70s! Cause for me Dr. Feelgood were actually a garage outfit. Tight as hell, rhythmic like an uzi in a paroxysm mode, more confident in comparison with their debut and with a perfect position between cover toons and the Wilko penned originals! From my house to the place I work it’s about an hour distance, and even if it was early morning, i had a strong will to attend the hearing with some bourbon (the first J. Geils Band record I played right next, made things even worse).  OK, for one more time I'm bubbling up so much saying actually nothing. I'll put a dot here. Listen to this even if you have it. You'll understand why immediately!

The (Count) Bishops - "Live! - Japanese Pressing" (Chiswick, 1978)

I know this brutal live document has some uploads in the blog-sphere already, but this is quite 'different'. The best thing about blogs is enclosed in just one word and that is "communication". I learned MANY things through the years from other people's spaces, had the time to 'correct' and 'sift' things that i had on my mind in a blurry situation and make friends as good as the 'real ones', everyone have in real life. Me and JP are working for quite long on a new WAX CD project. Some things made us hold up the whole 'disquisition' (haha, yeh right!) but in the whole process some sparks got up. Anyway, hopefully in a few days we will be able to present you this new essay. So, partners are made from the same clothe, and in a one way or another sway each-other. And one of my 'influences' on him are my beloved Count Bishops! Jean Philippe started diggin' for records like this one and got up with a Jap version i never had and probably in this cursed country that i live, never find, at least in a reasonable price! The sound on this classic by now LIVE 10" (i know it was out on 12" format also) is raw and at the same time smooth. The way women like their men (right babe?), haha. Along with "Speedball" this is my fave Bishops record. It got me some time to habituate "new" singer, Dave Tice but on this all band members swing and sweat! Gosh, I'm sure these fuckers torched every single bar dared to book them! I wish a video tape resurrect sometime with Bishops doing their thing!
Later lads!

The Pink Parker (Graham Parker & the Rumour) - "Hold Back The Night" (Vertigo, 1977 - EP)

F*ck Elvis Costello! I never liked him. I bought when I was a youngster two albums, which were ok but I can’t stand him! A sniveling nerd and nothing else! I still can’t understand also what’s on a woman’s mind… My eyes had been blown by surprise (to put it mildly...) when I read for the first time in the cool McNeil/McCain book 'Please Kill Me' the part in which Bebe Buell was ‘confessing’ her love for the aforementioned wearing spectacles bloke… I mean OK, love’s blind BUT what in the bloody hell gal, did you find to him? He wasn’t Buddy Holly, even if he wanted to; he could have never come close to his brilliance! And Elvis? Elvis! Oh my god, someone should stop parents giving names without second thoughts! And the sad/crazy/unreal part of this story it’s that this sell-out became a star and Graham Parker not!

I can easily spend my/your time by insulting 'Elvis' and forgot that this piece here is about Graham Parker. Don’t try finding someone better in this league, Parker was the best. Actually, Parker was a league by himself! I despite all this ‘Brit Springsteen’ non sense. I mean OK, just like Bruce, Graham had all the right influences and a shit hot band backing him up (the Rumour was a round up of ace pub rock stars -- Brinsley Schwarz and Bob Andrews from Brinsley Schwarz, Martin Belmont from Ducks Deluxe, Steve Goulding from Bontemps Roulez plus Andrew Bodnar), but unlike Spingsteen GP’s influences were visually audible. Van ‘the man’ Morrison, the Stones and a healthy dose of pure American Soul built his sound, having by side an almost Dylan-ish ability to write clever and auto sarcastic lyrics. His three first Mercury albums (at least...) are totally brilliant works and this page suggesting them without second thoughts as add-ons to your record collection. Anyway, the 'Pink Parker' EP belongs to the pantheon now of the absolutely legendary and kick-ass releases of the late 70s. A 7inch EP consisting by four fantastic songs, two studio non-LP tracks and two live (officially bootlegged, whatever that means anyway...), the title-track a KILLER rendition of the Northern Soul classic, "Hold Back The Night" originally by the Trammps with the Rumour and the Rumour Horns firing in all cylinders!

Eddie & the Hot Rods - "Live At The Marquee EP" (Island Records, 1976)

Hi there! Happy new year to every single one of you guys and gals! We 're back, entering our 3rd year's essence; looking forward for mo' action packed music! So, let's get straight to the point. Eddie & the Hot Rods are among those bands I'm still listening constantly in fact since my early teens. And how not? They are kicking some serious asses as i'm reading on gig reviews still! Of course the period from 1975 to 1981 was their landmark and the peak of their hi - powered rock & roll engine. I yet think of their 45 rpm singles and EPs as the better format for buying and hearing them firing in all cylinders! My fave Hot Rods period was when the absolute brat / reincarnation of the ancient blues outlaws, Lew Lewis, blustered this poor harmonica as a full force member but don't look for him in this dynamite. He just sat there for two singles. But the storm wasn't about to simmer down... What's in here is the very definition of punk rock! A pub rock band, casting in the past and finding the lost for many years rock n' roll roots! And when i'm talking about 'roots' i'm not saying the obvious ones (Chuck, Bo etc) just like the rest of their comrades did. These vagrants got a little further though by checking the 60s garage and R&B bands to draw up from there all their primitive instincts! Question Mark & the Mysterians "96 Tears", Bob Seger's best Chuck Berry song that the Man never wrote "Get Out of Denver", Them's "Gloria" and Stones' "Satisfaction" delivered in hyperspeed  and sweat. At the end of 1976, NME journalists vote for this single as the second best of that year. I really wonder what was the first...

The Cannibals - "Christmas Rock 'N 'Roll" (HIT, 1986) / "Good Guys" (Big Cock Records, 1977) / "Nadine EP" (HIT, 1978)

Hi again. I really struggle to keep things going on in here too. You really have no idea what it's happening in this small place of the world called Greece, onetime cradle of civilization... But i don't want and i won't let those bastards grind us down as my beloved Motorhead used to say! You know, with two little fellas 'round the house it's kinda easier to get in the mood for Christmas and that's what I'm going to do!  I tried with my faithful partner in crime/buddy from a long distance, Jean Philippe to catch up the holidays with a brand new WAX CD but too much work for both of us... Maybe it's better this way, cause with a new year rising on our heads and some new hopes together, hopefully we will be ready to introduce our new essay along with the celebration of this blog's existence for two years now and stalking/heading for a third, in the same vein, with the same guts and the same rock & roll energy! I had prepared something else for the occasion but I'll save it for a little later cause some hours before, came to my mail this Christmas present for all you White Trash Soul-sters out there! Of course the reliable mind behind these rips is Jean Philippe and i like to thank him one more time in public for being a patient fellow traveler and a very good friend behind a computer screen. Yeah, they do exist such friendships! I'd like to thank you one more all you guys and gals for keeping our flame alive with your (daily?) presence, leaving comments, sharing thoughts and sometimes links but most of all your love. Jean Philippe and me want to express our gratitude for making this page a cool meeting place and we're giving a new rendez-vous for the next year. Have fun with your families, your friends and all the persons that making your lives worthy, throw parties, make sex, drink loads of booze and enjoy every minute of the holidays are coming. For the history these are three mighty ass rock & roll singles from the gang of Mike Spenser, the one's on the days spirit. Run Run Rudolph!
See ya next year!

Charlie & The Wide Boys - "EP" (Anchor, 1974)

A hugely underrated good ol' time rock & roll band, by the pioneers of the British pub rock movement and deeply rooted in the dipole of the Stones and the Faces tradition, formed in 1973 and quite quickly sacked from the face of the earth. "Never known to stray beyond three or four chords, like Dr. Feelgood, were hip to the beat group look when it mattered". Skinny ties, tight trousers and a bunch of good songs were a lot though for this little space on the net to point out to you the importance of Charlie & the Wide Boys. That's the only release those boys had during their lifetime (an album appeared in the shops two years after group's demise) and it's a damn fine piece of vinyl. An undiscovered by many gem that absolutely defining the term 'guitar based rock  & roll'!

The Cannibals - "The Rest of The Cannibals" (GMG, 1985)

Oi! What's up? I'm writing you these lines outta home for business, from a low limit access wi-fi connection of a semi-good hotel, here in Thessaloniki. Not much time for babble and not in a good cheer either. So, what we got here's maybe thee best 'album' of Mike Spenser's Cannibals. Or for better, the logical next step for someone looking for an expedient for the first Count Bishops line up. I wish Mike had done more with the Bishops but hey, that's a mighty fine kick ass rock & roll record too! The punkish R&B we all like here, with a more 60s garage approach on this. And that means sloppy fun playing by the band and its countless members, tons of beer cans (of course empty!) and disposal for savageness! Something like the Inmates in a possessed Motorhead state! 'The Rest of the Cannibals' is a compilation, probably never re-released on digital format with all the groups singles circa 1977 - 1979, "Good Guys" included (yep - the Standells classic), which is their first and John Peel's favorite. Cheers!
*A Jean-Philippe rip and offering

Little Bob Story - "Livin' In The Fast Lane + 6 Inédits" (Fnac Music,1991 - Originally by Crypto & Chiswick as "Off The Rails", 1977)

Well this rave up here got virtually everything i like on a rock & roll record! Tanked-up, leather dressed, sneakers carrying, dirty-ass R&B, the way played THAT GOOD in his half a century plus life, by (very) few and in the end was the true forefather of what is now known as 'punk movement' back in the 70s. And this record being made by a "five feet nothing of guts and energy" Frenchman along with some street harbor brats not unlike those you can see outside of bordelos. And it was produced (adding by side his filthy boogie guitar as well) by Sean Tyla of the Ducks Deluxe/Tyla Gang notoriety. Yes, the same Sean Tyla whom Keef tried to drag unsuccesfully for his Rolling Stones label. The same Sean Tyla who refused to produce the Sex Pistols and declined to join in Motorhead (!).
And if you're one of those maniacs (I am...) judging in many cases a record by the label's logo, this one wears proudly the one of Chiswick records, home at the time of same heights hellraisers such as Motorhead and the Count Bishops. BTW, on Chiswick released as "Off the Rails" but in France Crypto put it out as "Living in the Fast Lane" so if you ever come against it, it's the same blazing piece of vinyl. That's the digital reissue of it, using a part of "Off the Rails" front sleeve but the Crypto's title. I found it a few months ago (not many days after Ratb0y sent me the links of Spalax reissue) in a second hand store, so i guess by now this re-edition is an out of print situation too. Whatever, this is probably in my top 5 of the most played records ever and with a good reason. A fine blend (or mess!) of cover tunes and originals, in the punkish R&B vein of Dr. feelgood, only this time better! The Sorrows' "Baby" transformed actually in a Muddy Waters on speed shape, "Little Big Boss" the toon Wilko & Lee Brilleaux would have killed for, "Riot in Toulouse" a slow burner blues guitar mayhem with Little Bob's voice sounding just like late Bon Scott's plus A KILLER version of Them's "I'm Gonna Dress in Black" that puts original in the bucket's tap once and for good! There's really not a weak song in here, at least for the list that constitute the original pressing. Be sure to put this edgy fireball among "Down by the Jetty" and "Speedball +11".

Frankie Miller - "Once In A Blue Moon" (Chrysalis, 1972 - Reissued by Eagle, 2003)

My white trash soul fixation had started a loooong time ago, when i was in my teens when dudes like Rod Stewart and Steve Marriott both came first to picture as Sam Cooke's Caucasian ghosts/reincarnations. Through the pass of the ages and MANY records after (should i say thousands?), the large amount of respect on the two aforementioned lads is still there, but thank God I found some more on this hunt for trying find the'best' of them all. OK, I know it's a stupid thing (at least) all this madness - cause such thing quite simply doesn't exist, but as i said that's an adhesion of my mind and i can't do really much to stop it. An also fellow traveler on the blog-sphere, Mr. Ratb0y, posted some days ago some things by a great Swedish band who liked their wine cheap and their women nasty. But who doesn't right?!  Well, these Diamond Dogs guys are truly fantastic and i had the chance some years ago when along with my buddies we were printing a real magazine 'bout things we like (some might call it fanzine), to interview their singer Sulo. I can't remember if this chat finally made it, cause not long after we blew the whole thing but for sure this fine chap taught me a lesson. Actually wasn't just a lesson but a whole new chapter in the rock & roll history for me, the way i like rock & roll histories to be told or written. And he poked me to go find all the records by a Scottish long forgotten and whiskey soaked voiced pal, who's name is Frankie Miller. And i did it. And i found out that was more (as always) in this passion of mine to discover. And i tell you guys and gals, if you don't already come face to face with his records, well grab this chance I'm giving you now and let the rocks do the roll. This guy holds now (along with Scott Morgan) the scepter on what dazzled you in the first lines of this post.
That's his debut, and the band's backing him from stem to stern is no other that the pub-rockers fabuloso, Brinsley Schwartz! And that's reason enough to make this record yours. Imagine something like a next door Faces, and you're in. Hope this be to you as tasteful was for me, the first time was up against it!

Dave Edmunds, The Rockfield Rebel + The Rockfield Story (By Greg Shaw - Bomp! Magazine Issue 15 - Spring 1976)

“Roots-rockers are seldom as purist as Dave Edmunds. Throughout his career, he stayed true to '50s and '60s rock & roll – for Edmunds, rock & roll history stopped somewhere in 1963, after the Beach Boys’ first singles but before the Beatles’ hits.”

The above piece was taken from the allmusic.com site on the overview of the great artist, sorry rock & roller named Dave Edmunds. Cause rock & roll is no art, it’s more than this! Anyway, of course I have a boundless respect for the Beatles but as a music fan I’m more to Dave Edmunds side of things. And you know it’s cool to like better the Ronettes than the Beatles, right?  Dave is an underappreciated guitarist. If you already witness Love Sculpture records’, you know what he was/is able to do with this weapon in his hands (“Sabre Dance” gives the boot to all the Claptons of this world). When the blues outfit of Sculpture called its quits, Dave on his small recording studio, launched a kind of successful career just by recording and playing all the instruments by himself, pickin’ almost entirely on ‘oldies’ covers.  And what job he did! He was the ONLY ONE that tried and succeeded to re-create the unique sounds of Sun, Chess and Philles, a subject that MANY (if not all…) tried and of course FAILED! Don’t get wrong on him, he was no revivalist. At least in the way we all think of revivalists today. He was/is a PURE fan of the golden age of American rock & roll. I’m not sure what I like more on him, cause he was excellent bandleader just like he was the best maybe producer of the genre after Phil Spector. I never understood why the Stones never tried something with him behind the boards. Their sometime evil twin (the Flamin’ Groovies) got him to produce monsters, and “Shake Some Action” is (at least) a good example. Brian Wilson listening to an Edmunds recording said was “God behind the drums”! Really now, there are tons of things I could say ‘bout the brilliancy of Mr. Edmunds and I really don’t know where to start and where to finish. The Rockpile were probably the best pub rock band of the 70s and is a chapter that also needs further investigation for most of the rock & roll fans. This is a GREAT piece on Dave Edmunds by the mighty pen of Greg Shaw as it published with Bomp! Magazine back in Spring 1976.  That’s essential reading and it’s truly a pity we don’t have today writers or musicians with a passion like theirs!  Hope this excerpt is the start for all those never looked on Dave Edmunds brilliant career for both of his personas, musician & producer. As long as Dave’s still around, there’s hope for roots rock & roll to survive.

Various Artists - "All Night Garage Service" (Waterfront Records, 1986)

I have searched for this comp over the years quite a lot but I sadly failed to succeed. It has a big “Garage Service” stamp on, but don’t wait sir to found in it paisley shirt mop top revivalists.
You know, I moaned a bit on some previous posts ‘bout the lot of the so-called ‘Garage Revivalists’ of the 80s. OK, there was a good percentage of them all that had one at least kick ass record in their arsenal but hey, paisley shirts never was punk. And sometimes (as the old slogan says) “Image is everything!”
Johnny Rotten used to refer onto ‘pub rock’ bands as “rubbish”... Of course I rate Pistols high, but I always thought of Wilko’s chunky Telecaster as punkier than Steve Jones Gibson. And there were much more groups in the UK that period of time that were more ‘garage’ or ‘punk’ than the ‘obvious’ press darlings (even though once again, many of them were totally great). 
And this compilation’s got plenty. You can actually hear Wilko Johnson doing Sam the Sham’s “Wooly Bully”, Eddie & the Hot Rods on a blistering live execution of their classic "Teenage Depression", Steve Hooker's excellent "Thunders meets the Cramps" Shakers, on "How Did You Know" (Mr. Hooker was the mastermind behind this release also) or the Len Bright Combo with members of Wreckless Eric's band and the Milkshakes! "Chunkchakanchunk - chunkchunck, chunk" Bo and Chuck rhythms and riffs for those who knows where the roots of garage punk are. 
This record not long time ago posted on TwilightZone! from the CD reissue with the bonus tracks.
If you wanna hear now how this sound through a needle's dive in the plastic, check once again brilliant  Jean Philippe's rip contribution exclusively for White Trash Soul!
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 All Night Garage Service!

Ducks Deluxe - "Ducks Deluxe" (RCA, 1974)

It's hard to pick up a favorite record among so many others and twice as hard is to pick up a band as your fave among all those out there. True as it is from all the so called 'Pub Rock' scene for me at least,  it's not hard at all to pick on on Dr. Feelgood, the Count Bishops and Ducks Deluxe.
And you can't do no wrong with a band that had Sean Tyla (at the time ex Help Yourself) and a bunch of ex roadies (Martin Belmont road-ed for Brinsleys, Nick Garvey for the Flamin' Groovies!). I strongly believe that Ducks should have been bigger! I'm sure i read somewhere sometime, that Keith liked them so much that offered them a record deal with the Rolling Stones Records but... they were too punk rock even for an opportunity like this! On a good night Ducks were a "straight ahead hard driving punk rock band, drawing on the uptempo drive of the MC5, the true street drawl of Lou Reed, and the precocious teen angst of Eddie Cochran!" (source: Mojo magazine, May 1996). They sure not invented anything. A friend once moaned about them as a Chuck Berry recycling band... OK. I agree. But i can't see a bad thing on this statement! And that's what they were. A great band with a strong loving on American rhythm & blues and boogie! Dave Edmunds produced them (I'm pretty sure you might guess the end results, huh?), the Stones tried to grab them and the fans (what else?) adore them. They put out three classic albums, and when they finally split out, they transformed into great outfits like the Tyla Gang, the Rumor and the Motors! A couple of years ago re-united and still plow every little city across  Europe. An 'odds and sods' album is out there ("Side Tracks & Smokers") if anyone's interested.
That's their same name debut. Still the best, still the strongest of the three. Give a shot a lemme know...
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Ducks Deluxe 

Ian Dury - "New Boots and Panties!!" (Stiff, 1977)

I always had a thing for unusual people. I trust 'em. I like the way they looked weird at least for most of the other people. I like people too that have a "problem" that makes them unique. From a small child still, i was unable to follow the other kids on school and make fun of them and their uniqueness. I didn't pity them. I pity people that's racists, money hunters and liars. I have no bad word for all the others, and especially those with kinetic problems.
Gene Vincent was one of my ultimate heroes. And he had a "bad" leg. That didn't stopped him to be thee Gene Vincent we all like and admire. The first time i confronted Ian Dury was in a club. Not in person. "Wake Up and Make Love to Me" blasted through the place's speakers and i left there stunned! No dance! Go figure, with a track like this i remained something like a statue. And that incident took place about 15 years ago. Still this sucker on his late teens. There was no internet and there was not much money in my pockets. So i had to wait for years to catch this long play.
Ian Dury had a "bad" leg too and he liked Gene Vincent at least as much as me (i still believe I'm No. 1 fan on most of my favorite artists - so i believe i can make a compromise here and let Billy Miller & Ian Dury be on the same table with me on this)! And that's a great coincidence! On a second thought this must not be a coincidence, it's fate. So i bought sometime later "New Boots and Panties!!" and from that moment never really recover. A bizarrely energetic amalgam of Pub Rock, Rock & Roll, Funk and Calypso... Brilliant lyrics and danceable beats to make a thousands assholes under an artist name that starts with a "D.J", sample him and cash on his back.  C'mon, span classics here: "Wake Up and Make Love With Me", "Sweet Gene Vincent", "Sex & Drugs & Rock N' Roll", "Blockheads", "Razzle In My Pocket"... You won't be wrong if you count this as a "Best Of" record.... One of the most underrated artists ever, just like our idol, Gene.
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New Boots and Panties!!