Archive for the ‘Mick Jones’ Category

Rush For A Change of Atmosphere

Wednesday, May 11th, 2011

Hey, I’m back.

So, I totally planned on updating this blog a whole bunch last week. Even picked out the songs and everything. But then I went to Disneyworld and, well, it’s really hard to write witty (or even witless) commentary on 80s/90s pop music after walking across the Magic Kingdom for eight hours or traversing the semi-educational wackiness of Epcot for a day and half.

Anyways, it was a crazy week full of ridiculous family bickering, magical princess, Space Mountain and Captain EO, but I’m glad to be back in Pittsburgh, hunched over my computer in my dark office and listening to obscure 90s music.

Speaking of which…

Aztec Camera (with Mick Jones)
Good Morning Britain (recorded live at Glasgow Barrowlands)
Good Morning Britain (Mendelsohn single mix)
Good Morning Britain (Morning Acid Mix)
Good Morning Britain (Hypno-Mix)
Good Morning Britain (Hypnomental)
Good Morning Britain (Hypno-Edit)
Consolation Prize (performed live by Roddy Frame and Edwyn Collins)
I posted  two remixes of “Good Morning Britain almost a year ago to this very day. Eerie. At the time I called the track “moderately awesome.” Well,I think I’m going to upgrade that rating to “all-the-way awesome.” Since I picked up the CD version of the single that included three additional version of this excellent track, I have completely fallen in love with it. I’m not going to lie though, I love this track solely because Mick Jones sings on it. That dude could sing me the phone book and I’d go gaga.

Anyways, a few notes about these remixes. The “Mendelsohn Single Mix” was remixed by Julian Mendelsohn who, according to Wikipedia, is best known for working with the Pet Shop Boys. The various “hypo” mixes were by a group called Laylow Posse, and I know nothing about them aside from what their Discogs entry mentions. The “Hypno-mix” and “Hypno-edit” were on the 12″ single, but oddly on that release they were called the “Kitsch ‘n’ Synch Mix” and the “Vocal Mix.”

The “Morning Acid Mix” was done by one Norman Cook, AKA the bass player from The Housemartins AKA Fatboy Slim, and it totally sounds like it. When Cook is at his best he can take a catchy as hell track and make it even catchier (see his remix of “Brimful of Asha“) and this is no exception. How this remix never ended up on a Fatboy Slim compilation is beyond me.

Mick Jones is nowhere to be found on “Consolation Prize” and for those who are wondering, Edwyn Collins was the lead singer/guitar player for Orange Juice, a post-punk group that shared members with Aztec Camera. It’s still a good track, well as good as a Mick Jones-less track can be.

Big Audio (Dynamite)
Mirror Man
Medicine Show (Live)
Rush (Live)
Yay! More Mick Jones! Not-so-little-known-fact: Mick Jones is the motherfucking man.

Big Audio Dynamite, in their original form even, recently reunited and are even playing a few shows in the states. And guess what? I’m totally going to one! Shockingly though, it’s not Lollapalooza. I’ve been to every Lollapalooza since it became a destination festival, so the fact that I’m going to miss this years is kind of upsetting. It’s a long story, and it involves bloodshed, so I’m not going to get into it.

All is not lost though! Instead I will be going to the Outside Lands Music Festival in San Francisco! It doesn’t seem to be as good a festival as Lollapalooza (no Foo, added Phish) but hell, it has BAD, throw as many jam bands you want at me, I don’t care. I’m there.

In preparation for this epic occasion, expect many BAD, BADII and Big Audio tracks to be posted here in the coming months. Kicking things off are these three rarities taken from the 2 CD single for “Looking For A Song.” A weird collection for sure, the first CD is actually a greatest hits of radio mixes, while the second is a maxi-single featuring these three tracks and some additional remixes I’ll be posting later.

“Mirror Man” was co-written/performed by Lionel Bart, who wrote Oliver! If someone wants to explain to me how the hell that happened I’d appreciate it. The two live cuts, which were exclusive to this CD single, were taken from the Mick Ronson tribute show in 1994

Posted in Aztec Camera, Big Audio Dynamite, live, Mick Jones, remixes | 4 Comments »

The Best MP3 Blog from 1987

Tuesday, May 4th, 2010

Tonight’s post is epically stupid in all the best ways.

Don Henley
All She Wants To Do Is Dance (Extended Dance Remix)
All She Wants To Do Is Dance (Dubb Remix)
So The Eagles suck, but I have a theory about that. Although I think The Eagles are one of the single worst bands ever to exist in the history of reality, they have some amazingly talented members. The most notable of these is of course Joe Walsh, who crafted three of the greatest rock songs of the the 1970s (“In The City,” “Rocky Mountain Way” and the immortal “Life’s Been Good”). But let’s not forget Glenn Fry, who gave us three amazing pop tracks in the 80s (“The Heat Is On,” “You Belong In The City” and “Smuggler’s Blues”). And then there’s Don Henley, who served up some of the best cheese of the 80s with hits like the above track and “Dirty Laundry.”

So how do three superb song writers somehow manage to become the creative core of a group who was responsible for some of the most offensively bland drivel of the 1970s? Well, either Don Felder and Randy Meisner are aggressively awful songwriters who dominated The Eagles recording sessions, or there was just so much AWESOME in that band that it all canceled out. I just want to know who I have to blame for the existence of “Witchy Woman.” I hate that song more than anything ever in the history of anything. However, I do love me some “All She Wants To Do Is Dance” even though it’s a song so stupid that it should be forced to wear a helmet when it goes outside. These remixes of said stupid song are from a 12” single that I bought from an idiot at a record show in Green Tree, PA.

James Brown
Living In America (R&B Dance Version)
Living In America (Instrumental)
I FEEL GOOD! I also bought these from the same idiot in Green Tree. Why is this guy an idiot you ask? Okay, imagine you’re a record dealer at a semi-popular record show. You want to make money, you want to sell your product. Do you bother to stop by the bank beforehand to pick up some extra singles so you can dish out change? If you answered “yes, why that just makes sense, what do you take me for, a fucking idiot?” well then you’re smarter than this butthead. When he had to give me these records at a dollar off he was mad at ME, like it was my fault that HE was a flippin’ maroon. Also, the extra buck I saved meant that I was only overpaying nine bucks for these records instead of 10. This dipshit wanted 45 bucks for a Duran Duran 12” that was opened and in shit condition. Goober.

Anyways, this song is AWESOME. (There’s a lot of capitalized awesome in tonight’s post.) And is of course from Rocky IV, the greatest example of Cold War bullshit ever produced. I remember seeing that movie in theaters when I was six or seven. I immediately wanted to become a boxer for Ronald Reagan. I also kind of wanted to be Drago, because as a freakishly tall kid with a speech disorder I identified with him.

Hey, speaking of AWESOME, Stallone and Dolph Lundgren, have you all seen the trailer for The Expendables? You should watch it, but be careful, that trailer is so amazing that it might break your computer. I’m so stoked for that shit I’m almost aroused. Yeah, that was gross, but I don’t care. You know why? CUZ I FEEL GOOD!

Okay, maybe it’s time I go to bed.

Aztec Camera With Mick Jones
Good Morning Britain (Kitsch ‘n’ Sync Mix)
Good Morning Britain (Vocal Mix)
But I’m not gonna! These too are from a 12” single that I bought in Green Tree, but I didn’t pick them up from an idiot. I bought it from an exceptionally nice dude who had a shitload of Stone Roses 12” singles that nearly cleared out my wallet. This song is moderately awesome. Recommend it to all your friends.

Posted in Aztec Camera, Don Henley, James Brown, Mick Jones | 4 Comments »