The Charlatans - The Early Singles: 1989-1994 (WTS Popkid No.1)

Let's go back to the 90s, when I was entering adolescence and taking my first steps beyond the Beatles and Elvis. That's when you start listening to other things besides what's in your parents' record collection (and mine didn't have much, they were mainly fans of the Greek new wave and obviously of Mikis Theodorakis and Manos Hadjidakis) and you unwittingly start getting into subcultures without knowing it, adopting their dresscode, hairstyles and behaviors.

The radio played mostly Greek music-let's say a good 90% of it, which made the whole endeavor even more difficult. Of the remaining 10%, 9% was mainstream nonsense. Those were difficult times. Until the indie scene boom came to MTV, we were literally living in a desert. The fanzines and clubs of Athens were two hours away from where I grew up, and it took me a few years to go there to study.

So, apart from what I've already written, the first song that blew my mind was 'The Only One I Know' by The Charlatans. I first heard it at a local disco at a dance held by my school. I don't know if the DJ was just playing whatever was a hit or if he knew what he was doing and managed to slip this into the programme, but either way, it did the job. The Hammond organ stuck in my mind. The vocals were unlike anything I had ever heard before: ethereal and carefree. I just started dancing in pure euphoria.

To cut a long story short, I came across that song again and finally found out what it was and who sang it while I was tuning in to one or two radio stations in Athens that played 'different' kind of music one weekend when I was visiting my grandmother. That's where I caught the virus. To this day, I still consider The Charlatans to be one of my favourite bands. Outsiders and survivors of any music trend of the industry. Baggy, Britpop, you name it.

Their early years, of course, still hold a special place in my heart. The way they married dance rhythms played by non electronic organs and 60s sounds are still unbeatable. Don't get me wrong; I love most of the Inspiral Carpets and like-minded bands, and I have them in my record collection, but the Charlatans did it better. Their neo-psychedelic, maddening drumbeat and the crazed Hammond pays tribute to both ? & The Mysterians and Deep Purple Mk1. It's no surprise that they were fans of The Prisoners.

I have collected all of their singles and EPs, along with all of the B-sides, from their early days until they changed direction while retaining their significance. At first, I had thought about including the demos too, but I decided that the musical journey is already long enough for those of you who decide to follow it.

Much love and respect to Rob Collins, Jon Brooks and all the surviving members who are continuing the legacy.

Gang War – These Boots Were Made For Fighting / Rumbling In Ann Arbor Michigan (Missing In Action Records, 1989 - White Trash Soul Real R'n'R No.5)

Johnny called me up, one night, all excited, to tell me that he was starting a new band with Wayne Kramer, which, of course, I thought was fucking great. They wanted to start recording right away and needed a drummer. I was in New York and they were in Michigan but before I could blink they had me on a plane that very night and in a studio in An Arbor moments later. I was thrilled to meet Wayne who turned out to be even cooler that I had imagined. There were no rehearsals or anything. Ron Cooke, a friend of Wayne from Detroit was on bass, great guy too. I just sat at the drums having no idea what we were gonna do. They rolled the tape and Johnny just looked at me and said “Bo Diddley” and so I started ..Bam-ba-bala-bam bam-bam.. and we recorded Who Do Voodoo on the spot. Then we did M.I.A., then it was Just Because I’m White, Fats Domino’s I’m Gonna Be A Wheel and I’d Much Rather Be With The Boys, from The Stones. They didn’t like the studio we were in, so the second night we went to another one. One funny thing that happened was that when we got to that studio, the guy who owned it got a little freaked out when he saw us arrive and asked to see everybody’s I.D! Gang War’s “manager” told him:

“You must be joking! These guys happen to be very famous musicians! This is Wayne Kramer from The MC5, and you got Johnny Thunders from The New York Dolls over here!” The owner didn’t seem convinced at all and spat back “Don’t try to pull a fast one on me, buddy, my son was a big fan of The New York Dolls and he’s right here!”. He then proceeded to call his son “HEY, BILLY, COME DOWN HERE A MINUTE, WOULD YOU ?!” and out comes the fat kid in bermuda shorts, eating a sandwich.. “Is this one from the New York Dolls?” he asked, pointing at Johnny. The kid took a close look, hesitated a bit, then declared, amazed “It’s Johnny Thunders, dad, their guitar player!!”. So they let us in…

Johnny put me up in this real nice house where he was staying with his wife Julie and their two babies. We recorded for three nights in a row. The band being brand new, Wayne and Johnny were obviously thrilled to be playing together and sparks were flying! Back in New York, I wasn’t sure what to do, but I couldn’t just dump my own band, you know, we were totally into it.  Gang War wanted to tour and The Senders were already booked here and there, so it would have been hard to be able to do both. In the end, for some strange reason, I kinda concluded that, with Johnny on board, Gang War may not survive very long, and decided to stick with my own droogs. But my three nights in Michigan as Gang War’s first drummer remains one of the best memories of my life.

Excerpt from...

Special thanks to Steve!

Knave - Detourists (White Trash Soul Real R'n'R No.4)

This band seems to have been forgotten by the gods of rock 'n' roll. Try doing a Google search and you'll find even fewer of the kids on your street who picked up instruments a week ago and are brazenly playing in their old man's garage. Even their label, the legendary Detour Records, which is well known in garage, mod and freakbeat circles, only shares two lines about them in their website and points that they were former members of The Clique. And that's it! Their two singles are available for download only and if you want something more, you should go to Discogs and try your luck there. And yet, Knave was a short-lived band that had nothing to envy from its cult ancestors, The Clique!

If the aforementioned had the mid-60s mod/R&B zeitgeist in mind, as well as the freakbeat that came a little later, Knave seem, to my ears at least, to be a missing link between the hard psychedelic soul of the late Small Faces and the garage punk that was revived by the Prisoners, the one who wasn't ashamed to say that he liked Jimi Hendrix and early Deep Purple as much as The Who, The Creation and The Fleur De Lys. 

As far as I know, the tracks you'll find here are all those that have been released in one way or another, officially. I'm pretty sure though that there are still some more in some old dusty box of tapes, but I'll have to wait until someone bets on a certain economic failure and makes a compilation with the ones you'll hear here and the ones all the rest of us haven't heard. Yet...

The Boys - "Boys Only Demos 1980" (White Trash Soul Real R'n'R No.3)

Boys' fourth album, 'Boys Only', remains a divisive record. People either praise it or slaughter it; there's nothing in the middle. The truth is that their last album of their first period — I mean, before the mid-life reform — was a bit deranged. I have no problem at all: power-pop, guitar-driven brilliance, and quite possibly a template for later bands like The Exploding Hearts or The Cute Lepers. As a long-time fan of theirs, I'm not objective, but I'm trying, as you can see. Anyway, the demos they cut for this LP are unbeatable, and to my ears they sound far better. It's raw, hard-edged pop, just like the early Romantics releases or anything Bomp! issued back then. You should definitely try them.

Dedicated to the memory of Honest John Plain.

Various Artists - Modernist Jukebox: Paul Orwell

 

This next one came up when I was searching for more information about Paul Orwell's influences (although it was obvious just by listening to his records). If you're not familiar with his music, the London-area genius will steamroll you with his retro energy. If you didn't know any better, you'd think it was a solo project from a member of the Pretty Things, Small Faces, or the Creation. In a word: Freakbeat! All the basic ingredients are in here, fuzz guitars, Hammond organ and tambourines. I love this guy because he's like me; he doesn't care if he's a mod or a rock 'n' roller. He likes his Fred Perry shirts as much as his bomber leather jackets. Fuck borders in any case!

So, I came across a Modculture.uk post from 2017 in which Paul picked his favorite tunes and made short comments about them. The problem is that this "Jukebox" playlist is on Spotify, and I can't stand people who listen to music on Spotify. To make matters worse, some of the tracks that this guy chose weren't in the streaming site's database. Enter White Trash Soul again to set things straight. The whole list could have easily been mine. If someone had asked me to compile an introduction to that era, I would have only changed a few songs. For example, I would have chosen the amazing original "Shadows and Reflections" instead of the punked version of "I'll Keep Holding On" by The Action. But nevermind, it's still a kick-ass song collection. Head over to the original post to read Orwell's remarks while listening to what I've made for you this time.