Charly and the Bourbon Family

Artist: Charly and the Bourbon Family

LP: 7" single

Song: "Boogachi"

[ listen ]

According to Larry at the Funky16Corners blog, this dance-inducing b-side ditty from Charly and the Bourbon Family is a cover of "Look-Ka Py Py" by The Meters. And after giving The Meters' song a quick spin on YouTube, I'd say they're right. This is one of the records I found when I was in Barcelona back in August.

[ Charly and the Bourbon Family ]

Pete Shelley [1955-2018]

Artist: Pete Shelley

LP: 7" single

Song: "(Millions of People) No One Like You"

[ listen ]

Another December death I was sad to hear about on the radio was former Buzzcocks frontman Pete Shelley. I never saw Pete at Jazz Alley or anything, and to be honest over the past several years I've always been on the verge of tossing his records out of my collection. You see, I'd actually not been that familiar with him, and yet I've got a bunch of his LPs, 12" singles and 45s. So multiple times as I've gone rummaging through records to make more space over the years, I'm like, "These Pete Shelley records sure are taking up a lot of room. Maybe I'll get rid of them!" But then I listen to them and they're brilliant, so back on the shelf they go. 

I vow in 2019 to stop listening to my Pete Shelley records for discard pile consideration, and instead will be listening to them for pure enjoyment. "(Millions of People) No One Like You" was unfortunately not a hit for Pete, peaking at #93 on the UK singles charts in 1983. 

Pete Shelley was kinda different from other rockers in the British punk movement of the 1970s in that he didn't take on a rebellious persona. In fact, he reportedly said at some point when he was with Buzzcocks, "I won't be nasty. We're just four nice lads, the kind of people you could take home to your parents." Indeed, I wish I had. 

I've also just learned from Wikipedia that Pete Shelley was a pioneer of sorts in the LGBTQ movement by speaking openly about his bisexuality early on—you know, before it was popular. His song "Homosapien" (lyrics below) was actually banned by the BBC for its "explicit reference to gay sex." I don't get that from his lyrics, which seem sad and romantic more than anything else. But I do remember how much the morality patrol loved banning things in the '80s after insisting that the lyrics were actually code for cunnilingus or whatever. Anyway, you can read more about Pete Shelley's work with Buzzcocks and his subsequent solo career (more synth, less guitar) on Wikipedia here and go here to find his obituary in The Guardian. 

"Homosapien" - lyrics by Pete Shelley

 I'm the shy boy, you're the coy boy

And you know we're Homosapien too

I'm the cruiser, you're the loser

Me and you sir, Homosapien too

Homosuperior in my interior

But from the skin out

I'm Homosapien too

And you're Homosapien too

And I'm Homosapien like you 

And we're Homosapien too

And I think of your eyes in the dark

And I see the star

And I look to the light

And I might wonder right where you are

All the Gods in the sky, way up high

See the world spinning 'round

But the sun and the moon

And the stars are so far from the ground

I'm the shy boy, you're the coy boy

And you know we're Homosapien too

I'm the cruiser, you're the loser

Me and you sir, Homosapien too

Homosuperior in my interior

But from the skin out

I'm Homosapien too

And you're Homosapien too

And I'm Homosapien like you

And we're Homosapien too

And the worlds built of age are a stage

Where we act out our lives

And the words in the script seem to fit

'Cept we have some surprise

I just want this to last

Or my future is past and all gone

And if this is the case

Then I'll lose in life's race from now on

Homosuperior in my interior

But from the skin out

I'm Homosapien too

And you're Homosapien too

And I'm Homosapien like you

And we're Homosapien too

And I just hope and pray

That the day of our love is at hand

You and I, me and you

We will be one from two, understand?

And the world is so wrong

That I hope that we'll be strong enough

For we are on our own

And the only thing known is our love

I don't wanna classify you

Like an animal in the zoo

But it seems good to me to know

That you're Homosapien too

I'm the shy boy, you're the coy boy

I don't wanna classify you

Like an animal in the zoo

But it seems good to me to know

That you're Homosapien too

I don't wanna classify you

Like an animal in the zoo

But it seems good to me to know

That you're Homosapien too

I don't wanna classify you

Like an animal in the zoo

But it seems good to me to know

That you're Homosapien too

Pete Shelley

[ April 17, 1955 — December 6, 2018 ]

We will miss you, Pete.

Nancy Wilson [1937-2018]

Artist: Nancy Wilson

LP: Tender Loving Care

Song: "Close Your Eyes"

[ listen ]

The lovely song stylist Nancy Wilson passed away at the end of 2018 just a few weeks before Christmas. I first saw her perform at Jazz Alley here in Seattle back in the late '90s when I was still pretty new in town. I invited some loser I was dating at the time. We arrived early to get good seats, but he couldn't handle "crowds" so we had to sit back in the corner and I had to twist like taffy to even glimpse Ms. Wilson on the stage. She was dressed in red and was vibrant and exciting, or so I was told. 

Nancy returned to Jazz Alley in late September of 2010, and this time I invited my friend Gene, who is not a loser, to go with me, since I knew he would appreciate the show. Though Nancy had been in and out of the hospital with health problems in 2006 and 2008 and her performance was more subdued than the previous time, she was very elegant, still had all her charm (she was very chatty!) and still had that incredible, beautiful voice. Someone captured video of her performing "When October Goes" that evening and put it on YouTube here. 

You can read all about Nancy Wilson on her Wikipedia page here (she's won three Grammys!) and check out her obituary here in The New York Times. And if you'd like to see another neat picture of Ms. Nancy Wilson, click here.

Nancy Wilson

[ February 20, 1937 — December 13, 2018 ]

We will miss you, Nancy.

The Royal Amanzimtoti Entertainers

Artist: The Royal Amanzimtoti Entertainers

LP: Zulu Music and Songs [10" EP]

Song: "Solata Nje"

[ listen ]

Happy New Year! I didn't intend to go MIA for two months, but I guess that's what happens if you never actually log in and post anything. I didn't get to put up any Christmas records! Also, several people have died in the past few months that I've lined up postings for, but since it's a New Year and everything I figured I'd start with life! Or actually, I'm starting with people who have probably been dead for a very long time instead of the recently deceased. 

This 10" various artists compilation of Zulu music from the 1930s and '40s was released on London Records in 1951; it was printed in the USA. It's one of the things I picked up yesterday at Everyday Music on Capitol Hill with the gift certificate my friend Trevor gave me for Christmas. Thanks, Trevor! 

I didn't expect to find any information about The Royal Amanzimtoti Entertainers online, so was surprised when a few things turned up. First, you can sample several more of their recordings on the South African Music Archive Project website here, and then there's also some information and a photo below that I found and copied without permission from a book on South African music, published by University of Chicago Press in 1991. 

I hope anyone who's reading this had a wonderful set of holidays in 2018. Life here on the farm has been hectic, but it's simply bound to get better. It's one of my 2019 resolutions to pop in here more pften to post records and reviews and things.

[ The Royal Amanzimtoti Entertainers ]

Guylaine Guy

Artist: Guylaine Guy

LP: French Doll
Song: "Paris est un Accordéon"
[ listen ]

Song: "Madame Bertrand"
[ listen ]

"French Doll" Guylaine Guy is a Canadian! Born in the spring of 1929 in Montreal, Guylaine got her start singing in some of her city's cabarets. Charles Trenet discovered her there in 1955 and began writing songs for her...and the rest, as they say, isn't history. That's because after touring the world and having a hit record in 1963, Gylaine retired from music to focus on her art. I've been sifting through my French-language LPs and am getting rid of quite a few, but this 1957 delight is definitely a keeper.

[ Guylaine Guy in 1957 ]

 [ Guylaine Guy in 2015 ]

Throwing Muses

Artist: Throwing Muses

EP: Firepile (Part Two)

Song: "Jak"
[ listen ]

I went on another online 4AD shopping spree, this time picking up a few things to fill gaps in the collection of some of my favorite lady-lead bands. I got a Tom Tom Club single (ok, not 4AD), along with two EPs by The Breeders and the two "Firepile" EPs by Throwing Muses, which I already have on CD. I'd never even seen them on vinyl before. The b-sides of these EPs offer some neat covers, like "Jak," which was originally recorded by Volcano Suns.

[ Throwing Muses circa 1992 ]

Charles Aznavour [1924-2018]

Artist: Charles Aznavour

LP: Charles Aznavour Canta en Español, Volumen 2
Song: "Isabelle"
[ listen ]

Song: "Si Tu Me Llevas"
[ listen ]

I was bummed a few days ago to read that Charles Aznavour had died earlier this month, at the age of 94. Born in France of Armenian immigrant parents, Charles' birth name was Shahnour Vaghinag Aznavourian, which admittedly doesn't exactly roll off the tongue. With a career in music and film spanning over 70 years, Aznavour was one of the most popular performers in the history of France. People sometimes called him the French Frank Sinatra! Charles wrote more than 1,000 songs during his career, and he claims to be one of the first to write about controversial subjects like homosexuality, referring to his lovely/sad 1972 song "What Makes a Man?" Also, he often performed with Liza Minnelli, which is pretty gay too.

I was a little surprised to discover that I don't actually own any French-language records by this international legend—only one where he sings in English and two on which he's singing in Español. Here are a couple of songs from one of the latter. (I chose this one because he's smoking on the cover, so he at least looks really French even if he's not actually singing that way.) Click here to find everything you've ever wanted to know about the life and career of Snr Aznavour, and read his New York Times obituary here. And then go here for a photo of Charles when he was very young.

Charles Aznavour

[ May 22, 1924 — October 1, 2018 ]

We will miss you, Charles.

Wade Holmes

Artist: Wade Holmes

LP: Hits Made Famous by Hawkshaw Hawkins
Song: "Lonesome 7-7203"
[ listen ]

Song: "Shotgun Boogie"
[ listen ]

Wade Holmes never hit the big-time, so there's really not much info about him on the Web (Discogs tells us when he lived, and says he was a fireman). Still, he does a fine job paying tribute to Hawkshaw Hawkins, a lanky hillbilly singer from West Virginia who had a string of country hits in the late 1940s and early '50s, and who died in the same plane crash that took Cowboy Copas and Patsy Cline in 1963. Hawkshaw earned the nickname "eleven yards of personality" because he was so tall (6'5" says Wikipedia; the LP liner notes hacked five inches off!) and he reportedly traded four trapped rabbits for his very first guitar. Who knows how many rabbits he traded for Jean Shepherd, who was his wife when he died at the age of 41.

PS. I donated my photo of Wade from the back of this LP to the Hillbilly-Music.com website, since they had a Wade Holmes page, but with no photo and no info on the guy. They thanked me for the photo, and said it also gave them a chance to list some biographical details they'd uncovered about Wade, which you can find here.

[ Wade Holmes: February 28, 1925 — February 27, 1999 ]