July 25, 2026 - Velvett Fogg - Lady Caroline (1969)

This appears on a compilation called Real Life Permanent Dreams: A Cornucopia of British Psychedelia 1965-1970. If I ever intentionally listened to this song I have forgotten. It's a dark dream of a tune, two or three chords. It's a story about a guy who cheats on his Lady Caroline with another woman. Caroline sees the guy enter his "castle" with her, she finds the woman in his bed and she kills her. Then Caroline is thrown in jail and later executed. Meanwhile, this guy is feeling the massive guilt and saying he'll never love another woman. It's tragic but really dude? "No one's fault but mine?" This Lady Caroline was obviously nuts, she didn't have to kill the other woman, she could have tried to kill you too but she didn't. Just move on and quit pretending you're so devastated and haunted.

It's ok musically, trippy piano, nice guitar riff, eerie medieval themed vocals. But totally ridiculous, this faux woe is me I cheated and it's all my fault and I'll never love again "until the end of time" bs. like fuck off "sir" lord duke whatever, with your "castle" and your "maiden" and your guilty heart in 6/8 time. Acting like you'll just mope around in your castle forever haha. You'll easily find a few more servants down in the vale to satisfy your cravings.

Velvett Fogg...wtf. Yeah adding those extra letters is so typical. Let's see if I can find a photo of these guys:

Um...this is the album cover. In the liner notes, John Peel wrote "Remember Velvett Fogg - you will hear the name again." Wrong. Well, now you did because of this post. But after this one time you will not hear of them again. Tony Iommi (Black Sabbath) was in the group but made a wise decision and left after 1968.

July 24, 2026 - Twilight Circus - Cracking Dub (1995)

I'm having my music player, MediaMonkey, just pick tunes at random. I know nothing about Twilight Circus, so I have to look it up.

Twilight Circus is a project of a member of Legendary Pink Dots named Ryan Moore. He's been interested in dub since the early 80s, and has worked with reggae greats like Michael Rose, Sly & Robbie, & Big Youth. 

July 23, 2026 - Venom - One Thousand Days in Sodom (1981)

Few could hear the suffering

And the pain of ripping flesh

But those who did were damned in hell

And breathed their final breath

Venom are a heavy metal band from England. Their second album, titled Black Metal, was so influential it became the name of a genre. 

One Thousand Days in Sodom is from their first album, Welcome to Hell. It starts off all grungy thick slabbed and distorted, very lo-fi production. The part I like best is in the middle, when the bass gets all phased out and just a very cool wah guitar solo comes in. According to my calculator, 1000 days is about 2.74 years. Since the wicked city of Sodom was destroyed a long time ago, we probably don't need to worry about spending any time there. Phew.

July 22, 2026 - Graham Parker & The Rumour - Passion Is No Ordinary Word (1979)

Alongside the smart, snarling, sardonic Brit singers like Elvis Costello and Joe Jackson sits Graham Parker. He should be way more popular than he is; just a tremendous songwriter.

From the incredible album Squeezing Out Sparks, this is a blueprint for making a raw stripped down slow burn nightcrawl rocker. Its main point is the way a word like passion gets tossed around so cavalierly that people don't know what passion actually means or feels like. Parker said, "People are dull, aren't they? People aren't living to their max, or to anywhere near it. They're just drones or clones. Especially in England - they're just walking zombies. They believe what the TV tells them. They're just put in a direction and led there".

July 21, 2026 - Prince Fatty - Cow Foot and Gravy (2007)

Mike "Prince Fatty" Pelanconi is a British record producer. He assembled a group of reggae greats to create the excellent album Survival of the Fattest. It is dub, rocksteady, roots all mixed together.

Huh, there's also a sculpture in China called Survival of the Fattest.

July 20, 2026 - Phil Collins - I Don't Care Anymore (1982)

I still remember buying the album Hello, I Must Be Going! by Phil Collins. It was at Laury's Records in the Deerfield Commons, it was a Saturday morning, and I was out running errands with my Dad. By this time in 1983, I had heard a few other songs from it and decided I liked them as well. That same day, I also picked up Men At Work's Cargo (I liked Overkill and It's A Mistake), and Pink Floyd's The Final Cut (based solely on liking Now Now John).

I Don't Care Anymore is like the little brother of In The Air Tonight. It has that same keyboard backed shadowy atmosphere. Not as good but still a decent song. He was beginning to crank out the hits, well on his way to dominating the 80s. I never cared much for the stuff that came after, like Sussudio and One More Night and so on. But I remember being impressed when he started out playing Live Aid in London then flew the Concorde to Philly later in the day. The guy was everywhere.

July 19, 2026 - Culture - Natty Dread Naw Run (1979)

Even though my enemies are come

Natty Dread nah run

For them are like still gone

These are words to live by and take comfort from. "Let perseverance be your guide!"

To the Rastafarians, their beliefs give them courage in the face of threats from Babylon. Let them come, for it's like they don't really exist. "Hear what I say when I say!"

Sweet harmonies, cool little trombone slides, percussion bouncing all around, brass punctuations, bible stories.

 

July 18, 2026 - Vanessa Kendrick - 90% of Me Is You (1973)

I have been away from the blog office for a few months. I think I'll just post random songs from now on.

Here is a cool tune from 1973. It appears on the compilation entitled Florida Funk: Funk 45s from the Alligator State 1968-1975.

Sexy vocals, funky groove, excellent arrangement. 

  

April 11, 2026 - Ten Years After - I'm Coming On (1970)

It's high time to get back into some good old 70s rock. This is kind of a lesser known track from Ten Years After. It appeared on the album Watt, but I have it on a compilation called Strange Pleasures: Further Sounds of the Decca Underground 1966-1975. It's got a great guitar solo, especially when the effects kick in around 2:03.

I chose to include it because of these other great classic rock songs I hear in it:

Rock & Roll Stew by Traffic

Rock and Roll, Hoochie Koo by Rick Derringer   

Hush by Deep Purple

Funk 49 by James Gang

Stranglehold by Ted Nugent

April 1, 2026 - Dick Mills - Adagio (1975)

Dick Mills began working for the BBC Radiophonic Workshop in 1958. He worked with Delia Derbyshire on the Doctor Who theme. He created many sound effects for the BBC. 

Adagio has a lonely existential outer space quality, various sounds floating around and bumping into each other.