Sunny Side Up Once More

"Let's hope the sun it doesn't burn..." Presenting a fourth and last radiant six pack of fab tunes for your summery listening pleasure, complete with blistering art by the one and only Tinca. I'm off to catch some rays myself; see you all in a bit.

Ed Lewis & Group - I Be So Glad When The Sun Goes Down
Dantalion's Chariot - Sun Came Bursting Through My Cloud
Kevin Coyne & Dagmar Krause - Shaking Hands With The Sun
Dwight Twilley Band - Just Like The Sun
Friends Of Dean Martinez - A Place In The Sun
Neil Casal - Day In The Sun

Holy Grace

Lovely story in last week's Guardian about a veteran ice-cream man from Eastbourne and the changing of the times. Made me think of this gruff beauty.

Kevin Coyne - Eastbourne Ladies

Oh What Fun

"If you want another drink, there's plenty more under the sink..." A soul shakedown party is in order, as For The Sake Of The Song turns 10 today. Hurray and all that, my amigos da musica. Lovely jubilee artwork by the mighty Tinca. Fools, and fool's hats.

Bob Marley & The Wailers - Soul Shakedown Party
Wanda Jackson - Let's Have A Party
Porter Wagoner - The Life Of The Party
Kevin Coyne - Having A Party
The Heptones - Party Time
Allen Toussaint - When The Party's Over

Ladies First

This one goes out to all you lovely ladies out there.
Always wanted to say that.

Kevin Coyne - Eastbourne Ladies

Rock City - Lovely Lady

Kevin Ayers - The Lady Rachel
Gene Clark - Lady Of The North
Judee Sill - Lady-O
Townes Van Zandt - Many A Fine Lady

Leon Russell - Delta Lady
Billie Holiday - Lady Sings The Blues

Stan Kenton - My Lady

Throbbing Gristle - Hamburger Lady

Ta Luego Amics

Will be flying out to visit the fairest city en todo el mundo tomorrow. Hosanna indeed. Back in a week or so. In the meantime, chew on this, amics... Six ditties about some other big cities.

Kevin Coyne - Amsterdam
Wreckless Eric - Paris In June
The Nomads- Bangkok
ZZ Top - Jesus Just Left Chicago
The Last Poets - New York, New York
Fairuz - Beirut Hal Zarafat

Wild Weekend Vol. 45

Welcome to take 45 of Wild Weekend, the last edition of 2010. In store this week amongst others: true American Music courtesy of the Blasters, sweet rockabilly with Johnny & Dorsey Burnette, hot flamenco, and a track from an album Bonnie Prince Billy is extremely fond of: Kevin Coyne & Dagmar Krause´s Babble. Next week will see the glorious For The Sake Of The Song albums of the year extravaganza, so be prepared. In the meantime, just have a wild one.

And we´re rolling with Dave Alvin and his Blasters, bringing you an enthusiastic ode to America´s musical heritage. "We got the Louisiana boogie and the Delta blues, we got country swing and rockabilly, too... we got jazz, country, western, and Chicago blues: it´s the greatest music that you ever knew." Amen to that. Hint: buy their Testament - The Complete Slash Recordings. You won´t regret it. Next up is a prime example of one of the styles mentioned in Alvin´s song: rockabilly. After the demise of their famous Rock and Roll Trio, Johnny and Dorsey Burnette recorded this hiccupping beauty as The Burnette Brothers in the year of ´58. "Night breezes chill me, your warm love it thrills me..." Indeed it does.

The Blasters - American Music MP3

Burnette Brothers - Warm Love MP3

Black Merda from Detroit - where else? - is said to be the first all-black rock band ever, and the soulful monster that was their eponymous 1970 debut should have sold at least a million copies. But hey, maybe that´s just me. Suffice to say it didn´t happen. There´s no justice in this world I guess. Set the record straight and buy the cd reissue, brothers and sisters. We continue with another prime example of flamenco puro, a genre that proves surprisingly popular here. Make way for the deep voiced Juana La Del Pipa, the oldest singer in the Mujerez conglomerate. Simply amazing. ¡Toma la! Stop press: just bought me two tickets for the April Mujerez gig in Amsterdam. Can´t wait.

Black Merda - Prophet MP3

Juana La Del Pipa - Pero Más Flamenca No MP3

My man Bonnie Prince Billy is playing around with a band called the Babblers at the moment, covering the underrated Kevin Coyne & Dagmar Krause collaboration Babble in its entirety. Why, you ask? Listen to the fine Sun Shines Down On Me and you just might get it. It´s time for a Kevin Coyne revival, folks! And now for some sad news just in: Don Van Vliet, the incomparable Captain Beefheart, has died. He was a true original and an inspiration to many. Miss him.

Kevin Coyne & Dagmar Krause - Sun Shines Down On Me MP3

Captain Beefheart - I Love You, You Big Dummy MP3

You Gotta Move

For The Sake Of The Song will be out of the loop for a short while, as we´re busy moving house. Our new headquarters are only 5 minutes away as the crow flies, but it still means that everything - including my music collection and my trusted iMac - will have to be boxed up for a short while. So bear with me, dear reader. I´ll do my best to be back online asap.

In the meantime, here are some songs with a Spanish flavour for you, as I´m glad I can continue to call this amazing country home. I´ve been living in Barcelona for nearly four years now, and I can´t think of any place I´d rather be.

Bob Dylan tells us that Spanish is the loving tongue, in a passionate live version recorded on 11 May ´76 in San Antonio, Texas, during the second leg of the Rolling Thunder Revue. Adios, mi corazon... El Vez, the Mexican Elvis, admits he´s never been to Spain (his loss), while the way underrated Kevin Coyne paints a hilarious picture of tourists in search of some southern sunshine. ´That waiter looks suspicious...´ Great stuff.

Finally, for some genuine Spanish sentiment, there´s El Camarón De La Isla, the greatest flamenco singer ever in my book. Soy Grande Por Ser Gitano features the great Paco De Lucia on guitar, while Arte Y Majestad is dedicated to Curro Romero, the legendary bullfighter from Seville. Olé! Agua!

Got to go now, as some guy named Pepe is ready to start disconnecting cables. Back soon, I promise!

Bob Dylan - Spanish Is The Loving Tongue (live ´76) MP3

El Vez - Never Been To Spain MP3

Kevin Coyne - This Is Spain MP3

El Camarón De La Isla - Soy Grande Por Ser Gitano MP3

El Camarón De La Isla - Arte Y Majestad MP3