Bits & Pieces III "Let's Do It" More Of The 80's Medley

[1980]

Party time people!

Stars On 45 ripped off the Beatles section of this great bootleg 12 inch from 1980 for their chart topping proto-mash-up international hit. This mix put together by Canadians Michel Ali, Michel Gendreau and Paul Richer is the original songs edited into an awesome mega-mix for a fifteen minute funky dance floor knees up.

Get down.

Ritz – I Wanna Get With You

Madness– One Step Beyond
Young & Company– I Like (What You Are Doing To Me)
The Gap Band– Baby Baba Boogie
'Lectric Funk– Shanghaied
Kano– It's A War
Spinners– Cupid
Spinners– Working My Way Back To You
Gino Soccio– Dancer
Sparks– Beat The Clock
Carrie Lucas– Keep Smilin'
Lipps, Inc.– Funkytown
Heatwave– Boogie Nights
GQ– Disco Nights (Rock-Freak)
The S.O.S. Band– Take Your Time (Do It Right)
Sparkle Tuhran* & Friends – Handsome Man
The Buggles– Video KIlled The Radio Star
Shocking Blue– Venus
The Archies– Sugar Sugar
The Beatles– No Reply
The Beatles– I'll Be Back

The Beatles– Drive My Car
The Beatles– Do You Want To Know A Secret
The Beatles– You're Gonna Lose That Girl
The Beatles– Nowhere Man
The Four Seasons– Sherry
Everly Brothers– Cathy's Clown
Neil Sedaka– Breaking Up Is Hard To Do
Roy Orbison– Only The Lonely
Penny McLean– Lady Bump
Wings – Silly Love Songs
Martha Reeves & The Vandellas– Jimmy Mack
The Fortunes– Here Comes That Rainy Day Feeling Again
Brian Hyland– Itsy Bitsy Teeny Weeny Yellow Polka-Dot Bikini
Electric Light Orchestra– Last Train To London
Ringo Starr– The No-No Song
Fred Wesley & The JB's– Doing It To Death
The Edgar Winter Group– Frankenstein

*Youtube usually hits these videos with copyright claims but for some reason this particular upload of Let's Do It doesn't have The Beatles tunes edited out.

Eagle · ABBA

[1977]

A pinnacle of 20th century pop. Say no more.

...but someone on the internet pointed out the obvious. The below tune's synth line was inspired by Eagle. How on earth did I not see this until now...

[1981]

A pinnacle of 20th century pop. Say no more.

...but someone on the internet pointed out the obvious. The above tune's synth line was inspired by Eagle. How on earth did I not see this until now...

Compare the pair.

Kestrel - Take It Away

[1975]

Jaunty progressive pop from mid 70s England doesn't get much better. Are Kestral a cult act. They had organs, synths and mellotrons along with their guitars for their epic and melodic tunes. This one's the least proggy track from their one and only LP Kestrel which is an unknown minor masterpiece. Take It Away's rockin' easy-listening quasi bossa-lite insistent pop that really could have been an influence on Stereolab's entire aesthetic. 

Gimme Dat Ding - The Pipkins

[1970]

One hit wonder Party!

Here's another one that sounds like absolute rubbish on first listen but hey you can't stop playing it then bam the genius hits you. Hideous vaudeville novelty with awesome honky tonk piano. Warning: Absolute toe-tapper will have doing what you believe to be The Charleston within seconds. Also It'll get stuck in your head for the rest of the day and maybe the rest of your life. 

Now gimme dat gimme dat gimme gimme gimme dat ding!

Oh, Babe, What Would You Say? - Hurricane Smith

[1972]

Insanely romantic pop from the legendary normal* fella who engineered Rubber Soul and produced three early Pink Floyd LPs.

Romance, strings and so much Sax-a-muh-phone!

Look out this is pretty insidious, you might just end up liking this light entertainment banger a lot and end up adding it to your i-pod... 

*According to John Lennon.

Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep - Middle Of The Road

[1971] [1972]

Bubblegum beauty and the song's not bad either. 

The outfit: Cheeky. 

The moves: Groovy.

The tune: Infectious singalong 70s pop, wee bit funky, genius words sung with folky lullaby melody and harmonies, crowd chorus and pre-glam take it down now hand clap delirium. 

There's something about Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep that makes you not hate it for some reason and then it eventually it becomes embedded in your brain forever. I mean some have called it a moronic pop crime but they didn't mean it as THE compliment that it is, yet as an aesthetic value a moronic pop crime is highly appealing. As an achievement this is one of the great moronic pop crimes. 

A pop masterpiece.

*And there's more than meets the eye. Emma points out there was something upsetting about this song when she was small. The thought of your momma or poppa mysteriously being "far far away" was horrifying for a child. The fact that these traumatic lyrics of neglect & abandonment were sung in a chirpy... er... sorry, upbeat manner adds to the sinister tone. 

 

Pilot - January

[1975]

The first song I recall liking. I was just over 3 years old but fuck me it was number one here for eight weeks. So I guess I heard it a gazillion times and maybe it was an involuntary decision in music taste at the time but I gotta say as a cranky old fucker this is a top tune, a pop-rock banger baby! Not a bad choice for your first favourite song.

Also gotta love a jumper with your band name on it... just not enough jumpers in pop music anymore. The day jumpers stopped being worn in rock might be the day it all turned to shit.

[1974]

Possibly even better though was their number 12 hit from the previous year, (It's) Magic. 

State of the art pop-rock finery. 

The sound of the 70s.

Toppermost musos! Looking into my crystal ball I can see a future for them in a little up and coming group called The Alan Parsons Project.

All the melody, rockin' 70s gee-tars played with a sixpence man, strings, funky wah wahs and hand claps galore: All luscious!

Chart-pop radio-rock perfection.

Momus: The Criminal (album version)

[2011]

Momus and John Henriksson get lost in a hypnotic hypnagogic existential dilemma in this lovelorn lullaby. 

Haunted & lonesome, I mean it's outsider Doo-wop dream-pop, innit. 

Mouldy Old Dough - Lieutenant Pigeon

[1972]

In the 70s Lieutenant Pigeon hit the scene...

Just not enough mums wearing crap witches hats in bands these days or cheesy honky tonk pub rock tin whistle glam recorded in front rooms. 

The weird thing is though, this is just fantastic.

Historic.

My Escapism - David Woodcock.

[2019]

Came across this the other day. A bittersweet tune. Seven years later and it's only had 2169 views. Somewhere between Dave Graney, Jarvis, Galaxie 500's echo-chamber and all those other lost indie singer/songwriters you've forgotten the names of from the 80s and 90s.  They call him the southend troubadour: The Essex Riviera's hardest working musician.

There's something missing

I'm just existing

I don't feel alive