Penny Lane's Top Albums of 2016

I think it's fair to say that most of us are more than ready to say good-bye to 2016. Society, on a whole, seemed to take a right good beating this year with a rash of celebrity deaths to the conflict in Aleppo to the Unites States electing reality TV star and all-around misogynist Donald Trump to the highest office in the country. Personally, 2016 was a difficult year for me. December gave me a right good beating and I went into 2016 with the hope that things would improve. Instead, the year made me it's bitch in more than one way, over and over again. To put it rather simply, 2016 sucked. 

But I suppose it's true that every grey cloud does have a silver lining. I'm trying this new thing, it's called 'being optimistic.' So far it's shit, but I'm working on it. So this new optimistic me needs to find the silver lining in 2016. There are a few. I forged some great new friendships, I discarded some dead weight that was dragging me down, I started writing again. I also went on a journey of musical discovery - the likes of which I have not done since I first started Punks in Parkas 11 odd years ago. I decided early into the year to dig deep into my own collection and expand my horizons beyond what one would expect to be blasting through my earbuds during the day. I dig deep, in various different ways and discovered something interesting about myself and my tastes in music. I've discovered that I have an appreciation of all music, as long as it's well crafted and not mass produced like a commodity. 

This time of year, most people are doing lists of their favorite releases of 2016. Instead, I'm going to do a list of my favorite albums I discovered/rediscovered in 2016. Some are new releases, some are old, but all have added to my personal soundtrack of 2016.

So long 2016 - don't let 2017 kick you in the ass on the way out.

1. Yer Favorites by The Tragically Hip (2005) - It's easy to call Summer 2016 the Summer of the Tragically Hip in Canada. In May lead singer and songwriter Gord Downie revealed that he was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer. It shocked the whole nation, and rightly so. The Tragically Hip are as Canadian as Maple Syrup, as Hockey and Tim Horton's. The band announced they would go on one last tour, with the last show on August 20th in their hometown of Kingston, Ontario televised for all to see on the CBC . It is reported that 11.7 MILLION Canadians tuned into that last concert - a testament to just how many people this Canadian rock back have touched. I was on a road trip with my son to Regina and sat with him in the car, listening to Gord scream 'COURAGE' to the crowd. Both my parents and my sister, whose favorite artist is, believe it or not, Bon Jovi, also tuned into the concert. It was such a national event that my Co-Host Warren Peace even sent me a text that evening to ask 'Penny, what's going on in Canada tonight?' My answer as simple; a whole country stopped what it was doing - stopped watching the Olympics on TV, stopped playing on the phones, just stopped and watched The Hip lay their hearts on that stage. It's rare we get to say goodbye to our idols. 2016 showed us this in spades as celebrity after celebrity passed this year. But Gord and The Hip gave us a chance to say thank you. The Hip was the soundtrack of my first awkward crushes, of those late nights drinking beers by the river with friends. They told tales of my life; of driving down corduroy roads, of living in the north, of hockey and small towns. They made it cool to be Canadian. Yer Favorites it a best of album, but with a twist. The band asked it's fans to vote on their favorite Tragically Hip songs, and those were then taken and put on this double CD. It's a great introduction to this iconic Canadian for those who have never heard The Hip before and it's also a collection of iconic Canadian tracks for those of us who grew up with The Hip. This album quickly became a staple during summer and fall car trips this year for me, with tracks like Bobcaygeon, 'It's a Good Life if You Don't Weaken,' Boots and Hearts and Long Time Running finding spots this year deep in my heart. Thank you Gord Downie, Rob Backer, Gord Sinclair, Paul Langlois and Johnny Fay....

2. Phrenology by The Roots (2002) - When I started Punks in Parkas on UMFM in 2005, my then music director (now our Station Manager) Jared McKetiak told me that in a few years I would be listening to and enjoying rap and hip-hop. I laughed at him. 'Mark my words Penny Lane, it will happen, you wait and see.' Well, it took longer than a few years, but damn him, he was right. 2016 was a year of discovery for me and I do have to give a lot of credit to the great Netflix series The Get Down for pushing me forward into somewhat uncharted musical territory. The Netflix series is a fictional account of the start of the Hip-Hop/DJ and MC scene in New York, something that has always fascinated me anyway. I discovered this album all because of the track The Seed (2.0). That song hooked me hard and I spent a good chunk of the start of 2016 listening to The Roots over and over again. 

 3. Choose Your Weapon by Hiatus Kaiyote (2015) - I think Spotify has been a blessing for me this year. Since embracing the streaming music service, I have not only learned to loving having all that music at my fingertips, but have also learned to get a tad frustrated with it as well. What happens when you give someone seemingly endless possibilities? They tend to stick to what they know and get stuck in a loop of listening to the same things day after day. It was that frustration in the Fall of 2016 that lead me to ask my Facebook followers for musical suggestions. As expected, I received the usual droll suggestions of The Jam, The Small Faces and The Who. But also tucked in there was this little gem by Hiatus Kaiyote. Based on cover art alone, I would have never given this record the time of day, but as it was the only different suggestion in a sea of familiarity, I went for it and found myself so drawn into the album, listening to it on repeat that entire day. It's a mix of so many amazing things that reminded me of the fantastic Janelle Monae mixed with cleaver beats and interesting musical arrangements and risky sound choices that really paid off. 

4. True Blue by Tina Brooks (1960) - This year was spent digging deeper into Jazz, exploring different artist, titles and albums. This classic by Tina Brooks (featuring Freddie Hubbard, Duke Jordan, Same Jones and Art Taylor) quickly found a spot in regular rotation at my house. After a rocky summer, a time when I was finding peace with myself and with the way the year was unfolding before me, this record took me into the fall season. I spent many evenings writing in my journal, with this record playing me into longer and colder days. It reeks of early 1960s - of smokey underground clubs, of Italian suits cleanly tailored, of happy hour drinks in Manhattan and coffee at Bar Italia in Soho. It's a classic that I wish I had discovered sooner.

5. New Occupation by Duotang (2016) - Many people who stumble across Punks in Parkas find it hard to believe that in the frozen wasteland of Winnipeg, Canada that there could be a Mod scene. Truth be told, Winnipeg always seemed to have had a handful of Mods about - from the early 1960's to now, and with Winnipeg being the musical mecca of the northern prairies, this city has also produced its fair share of great bands, including a few of the Mod persuasion. Enter Duotang - a group made up of Sean Allum on drums and Rod Slaughter on bass who found themselves playing to Mods on this and the other side of the pond in the late 1990's. I had missed Duotangs rise to Mod fame before they split in early 2000s. All I had to go by was their handful of releases on the great Mint label. Over the years, I was lucky enough to develop friendships with both Sean and Rod based on our mutual love of music and mod culture. About 10 years back, the boys got together for a one-off Christmas reunion show and blew the roof of the place. That lead to a gig here, another show there, a few more reunion shows and then, before any of us knew what had happened, there was talk of a tour and a new album. The release, New Occupation has that same old Duotang sound that fans know and love, but also show a maturity and growth in their song writing and craft in general. It's Canadian Mod power pop at it's finest.

6. Kind of Blue by Miles Davis (1959) - It seems in difficult times, there are two albums I turn to, Abbey Road by the Beatles and Kind of Blue by Miles Davis. With the rocky start I had to 2016, it's no surprise that much of the early months of the year were spent with Kind of Blue. There's something about this album that is a tad uplifting, a bit sarcastic, a bit tongue-in-cheek. It never fails to put a slight smile on my face with the first few moments of So What. I'm not sure exactly what it is about this album that just does it for me, it's not something I can easily pin down but every time I feel alone or like the shit hand I've been delt is never going to get better, Kind of Blue comes in and takes me away for a moment to a place where I can sit back and smile, laugh at the way things have unfolded and forget about everything negative as the album takes over. 

7. Morning Phase by Beck (2014) - Remember in 2015 when Beck won the Grammy for Album of the Year for Morning Phase and everyone's favorite shit disturber Kanye West went on about how the Grammy's need to respect 'real artists' and that "Beck needs to respect artist and he should've given his aard to Beyonce." Remember that? Man, it made me laugh pretty hard. When I first started listening to Beck back in the 1990's, I was even then able to recognize artistry in what he did. Odelay was a fantastic album and one that to this day, I still go back too. Maybe Mr. West just has no respect for artistry apart from that which is created in his own 'clique' or maybe he didn't give Morning Phase a listen at all. I believe if he had, he would have seen it for what it is - a well crafted, beautiful album that deserved the honor of being called Album of the Year. It's soo good that I'm almost willing to forget the whole Scientology thing... 

8. Heavy Soul! by Billy Hawks (1968) - There is no better bliss for me, nothing better for my soul sometimes than to dig through records. It's such a personal thing that I sometimes have trouble taking people when me with I decided to go record shopping. I think it's because it's a raw version of me, and I'm afraid most people won't understand it or have the patience for it. To be honest, I could spend a long, long time pouring over records. I suppose it would take another music nerd like me to really understand it. Sure, I'll take friends and people who are interested in getting some vinyl to record stores and sales with me, but the moments I cherist the most are the ones I spend alone in a record store, breaking my nails as I flip slowly through the albums, sneezing from the dust and loving that musty smell. I found a reissue of this album by Billy Hawks at local record store Into The Music for $5, brand new. I wasn't familiar with it and wasn't sure if it was something I would love. Because, and let's be honest here, that cover artwork is kind of shit. My eight year old son Hunter could do a better job. But for $5, I was willing to take the risk. What I got was an album that is a perfect combination of Soul, Blues and Jazz and it instantly became a personal favorite.

9. Nancy Wilson/Cannonball Adderley by Nancy Wilson and the Cannonball Adderley Quintet with Miles Davis (1962) - Whenever I travel, I try to make a point to check out a few record stores wherever I end up. This summer, I took my then seven year old son Hunter on an eight hour road trip to Regina, Saskatchewan. Being his first road trip and first stay in a real hotel, he was beyond excited. I was excited to see if there was any record stores worth my time there. A few people directed me to a place called Vintage Vinyl and Hemp Emporium. This place, which was half a head shop and half a record store, smelled 'funny' according to my son, but had a rather decent selection of records. I picked up a handful, including this great release by Nancy Wilson and the amazing Cannonball Adderley. Nancy's voice is sweet and beautiful and is a perfect match to Cannonball's saxaphone. It wasn't until recently that I discovered that my favorite Miles Davis is also present on this great record.

10. One and Two by Mal Waldron (1976) -  I won't give the nitty-gritty details of how this record came into my collection. Part of me almost wants to because the story behind it is almost as good as the album itself and Warren Peace is always telling me that the personal stories I share on Maximum Rhythm and Booze are really the best.. Alright then, here it goes... After breaking up with my boyfriend before Christmas in 2015, I spent the first half of 2016 by myself. I needed some time to come to terms with the shit show that was the end of last year and work on loving myself a bit more before I even considered getting involved in any sort of way. By the summer, I was feeling more myself and at the encouraging of a friend, created an OKCupid profile. I didn't take it too seriously, so when I received a message from a Jazz loving, poetry obsessed English professor in Fargo, North Dakota... well, I didn't think too much of it. After exchanging a few lengthy emails, I learned that he was only in Fargo for a limited amount of time to do research for a book he was working on about a local poet. It seemed spontaneous and almost crazy, but we both felt that we should take advantage of this situation and meet for a drink, for dinner, for whatever before he headed back home to LA. So plans were made. He was heading to Minneapolis for a few days and on his way back to Fargo, we would meet for dinner at a local pub. I worked, and then straight from my office, hopped in my car and drove three hours to Fargo. This poetry loving, Jazz obsessed professor and I met first for a drink where he instantly handed me a brown paper bag. I opened it to find this record inside. He told me that he was out digging at some of his favorite record stores in Minneapolis just yesterday and saw this record and thought I would enjoy it greatly if I didn't have it already. We spent hours laughing over dinner and drinks, finding we had way more in common that originally thought. We talked for hours about music, about life, about art. The next morning when I drove home, I did so wondering what was to come of this, if anything? We are worlds apart, separated by space and very busy lives. We shared a few more emails but as the school year started up again in the Fall, contact became less and less. But every so often I like to put on this record and I smile, knowing that I still have the ability to be spontaneous and surprise myself. It may not have the most happiest of endings, but I did get a pretty sweet record out of the whole thing, so I guess I can't complain, can I?

So there it is, a collection of some of my favorite albums of 2016!

Much love,

Penny xx

Why I Love Vinyl...

It's inevitable. As soon as I meet someone new and start slowly sharing my world with them, sooner or later they always ask the question....

'Why vinyl?"

Some understand it instantly better than most, but those people are usually the ones who also have IKEA shelves full of records themselves. Others who I don't meet via the usual music related channels marvel at the novelty and eventually, while sitting with me at my place, watching me get up for the tenth time to flip a record over end up asking "so, why vinyl?"

I was thinking about this today while I was flipping through bin after bin of musty, old records at the Central Canada Record Sale - a small group of vendors selling their wares for a few hours on a cold, wet and snowy Sunday in Winnipeg. What is it about vinyl?

It's easy to tell you why NOT vinyl. It's inconvenient. Have you ever had to carry a milk crate full of records to and from a gig, a sale, a party or even just to a different room in your house? Records are fucking heavy. There are many a time I have come home at two or three in the morning from a gig, grunting and cursing under my breath as I lug a nights worth of vinyl back to my apartment. I have, hand over heart, stayed longer in a shitty apartment because the thought of moving all those records to a new place seemed like the most daunting task ever.

It's not cheap, either. The further you go down the vinyl rabbit hole, the more money you are willing to and find yourself spending on things. When your collection starts to expand and you can no longer find the records you are looking for in the one, two, or three dollar bins, the shit gets real. Soon you justify spending five dollars on a record. Next, ten dollar seems completely reasonable for that one record you've been itching to get. Before you know it, shelling out over $100 for an original Blue Note actually starts to sound like a logical thing to do (note: I to date have not done this yet, but I am starting to come around to that way of thinking, and it scares me).

Vinyl can be annoying. How frustrating is it to be sitting on your sofa with someone, sharing a glass of wine and have a great conversation, only to have to put that conversation on pause to get up and turn over the record when side A is over? Or worse yet, you have that person you have been lusting over a bit in your house, all night moving closer and closer to each other on the sofa when suddenly you are touching, smiling and you finally build up to courage to kiss them....and the record ends and all you can hear is the SCRATCH SCRATCH SCRATCH of the needle caught in the never ending out-groove loop? 

Maintenance? I'm sorry, but my ideal way to spend a Sunday afternoon is listening to records, not carefully cleaning and drying them. I hate the upkeep. You have to be careful how your store your records, and don't get me started on equipment. Buying turntables and cartridges can quickly snowball to the point where you are scraping and saving to get that new Techniques turntable and the best possible needles for it.

So, really, what is it about vinyl? 

I think I find this such a hard question as I really can't put it into words. Right now I'm sitting at my desk with warm tea, and I've got Let's Stay Together by Al Green on the turntable and it's just bloody brilliant. The sound isn't perfect - there is a grit and a depth to the grooves on this record that is so drenched in history. This isn't a new record. Someone bought this album back in 1972, took it home and put it on their turntable and listened to it from beginning to end. They played it multiple times after that. Then it got passed on to someone else, sold to another person, stolen by another, gifted to someone else, until I found it for $15 dollars in that bin, mixed between records by Aretha Franklin and Toto. Then I, like all those before me, took it home, put it on my turntable and got lost in the music.

I love how every time I put on this record, every time I play it, that it will sound different. The pops and hisses will morph. In that regard, vinyl can be this living and breathing thing that grows and ages as we do. This record by Al Green, while still at its core is the same record that was first played in 1972 sounds so different today then it back then. 

I don't care how hip it now is to collect vinyl. I don't give two shits that Urban Outfitters have made buying turntables and records the cool thing. What you can't commercialize is this moment I'm having right now with Al Green. I hear years of love in those grooves. I don't want perfect, crystal clear sound. I am in love with the history, the tangibility of it all. I do Punks in Parkas because I love to share the music - I want people to be exposed to all these wonderful sounds. I collect vinyl because I, quite simply, love it. I love how I buy a record for one song and suddenly, I discover three other tracks that I never knew existed that have quickly become my favorites. I love the community and the fact that there is a group of people who share this passion for music - of all kinds. I love the shared knowledge, the discovery and the fact that, as silly as it may sound, the guys in this community have never ever once made me feel less than them because I a female and, by nature, a minority in this crazy, underground world. 

Somethings we just are drawn to and love for reasons we can't completely explain to those who don't share the same passion. We can try as hard as we can to put it into words, but just fall short. I'll laugh through the pain of carting records around, of spending afternoons over my kitchen sink cleaning dust out of grooves and I'll smile inwardly as I get up again to flip the record over, because now I have another 20 or so minutes to build up the courage to kiss that person on my sofa again...

Viva la Vinyl...

Love,

Penny xx

The Millennial Whoop Makes Me Want to Weep

Millennials - they kind of rule the word these days, don't they? It's not easy to see why. The fact is they make up a very large part of our population right now. It is said that by 2025, Millennials will account for about 75% of the work force. That's staggering when you think about it. There has never been a generation since the baby boomers that due to mass volume alone have the power to influence the world around them and dictate popular culture as much as the Millennials do...

It's just too bad they have such shit taste in music.

Alright, I digress a bit. Not all Millennials have shit taste in music. And honestly, people in positions of power have realized the mass amount of money Millennials have to spend in our economy and have been trying to tap into that income - including those in the music business.

Okay, I can see you giving me the stink eye. 'Penny,' your thinking, 'what does the economy and marketing towards Millennials have to do with music?'

May I present exhibit A - the Millennial Whoop:

Writer Adam Epstein posted a great article on the website Quartz about the Millennial Whoop, a simple musical phrase that is all over popular music today. In the article by Epstein, musician Patrick Metzger described the mechanics behind the phenomena:

"It's a sequence of notes that alternates between the fifth and third notes of a major scale, typically starting on the fifth. The rhythm is usually straight 8th notes, but it may start on the downbeat or on the upbeat in different song. A singer usually belts these notes with an 'Oh' phoneme, often in a 'wa-oh-wa-oh' pattern."

So, for those of you who can read music, this is what the Millennial Whoop looks like on paper. Take that simple three, 8th note pattern, mix and repeat.

I know, I'm starting to get a bit technical but bear with me. Music is a medium based on patterns and the combination of notes in specific patters make music. Simple, right? Think of Hot Cross Buns - that simple song every grade school kid learned how to play on a recorder in music class. The song is a simple pattern of three different notes, repeated over in different intervals. This creates a piece of music with, albeit simple, but reoccurring patterns that are, when not being blasted through a recorder by an eight year old, pleasant to the ears of the listener.

I've said it over and over again - music is no longer an Industry, but more of a Business and the goal of any business is to make money. 

There is an episode of Mad Men, which one exactly it is escaping me now, where Don Draper's agency is trying to market a product to teenagers and in trying to do so, creates a very whimsical jingle for the client. The client makes mention to Don that the song seems to have elements of nostalgia, which he doesn't believe would work as young people are unable to feel nostalgia. To this, Don laughs and says 'teenagers can be nostalgic - have you listened to their music?'

As much as the 'me first' generation is always on the lookout for the latest and greatest, deep down inside we all tap into the known, the familiar. We look for something that strikes a chord with us, that triggers familiar paths in our brains. Now, the Millennial Whoop is nothing new - this is a musical phrase that has been used for as long as people have been making music. The difference now is that pop music 'Mad Men' have tapped into this sound, this phrasing and are using it as a way to trigger feelings of familiarity and comfort in something new in order to make a profit. It is, in a way, creating a fake sense of nostalgia that those with money to spend on music are lapping up like crazy right now. 

It's simple, really. In business, when you find something that your target demographic is going ape shit over and throwing money hand over fist at, you would be a complete idiot to not make your business successful and tap into that. That is what's happening with new music - creativity is being replaced with a manufacture Whoop that is funneling money into the business again. Music is being created with a sort of manufactured nostalgia that is giving the me-first generation something to grasp a hold of and give them a feeling of depth, of understanding, of shit man, I've LIVED.

In the long run, it is easy to pay someone to write a piece of music that contains the Millennial Whoop than it is to invest time and money into artist development and produce a piece of music that is in reality, a timeless work of art.

I know, I'm being hard on Millennials. Probably much the same way that Generation X's were hard on my peer group growing up. I was at a concert this week put on by the Manitoba Chamber Orchestra, in which the closing piece was a number by Vivaldi. There was no Millennial Whoop here, there was nothing manufactured about this piece of music. Yes, it contains elements that make it recognizable and comparable to music created at the same time, but it also contained something more... It had heart and soul. 

I wonder, in 1000 years, if songs like California Gurls by Katy Perry or Live While We're Young by One Direction or Sing it by Rebecca Black will stand the test of time, or be seen for what they are - products manufactured to a specific demographic and produced to make a lot of people a lot of money...

Pass me The Beatles, please...

Love,

Penny 

xoxo

Maximum Rhythm and Booze...Quadrophenia special with Mark Wingett!

MR&B is back with actor Mark Wignett (aka 'Dave' from Quardrophenia/The Bill), giving us the inside scoop on his days filming the seminal youth cult classic film and his thoughts on the soon-to-be sequel, 'To Be Someone!'

Plus, we get the exclusive first listen to tracks from pop modernist sensations French Boutik's debut album, 'Front Pop,' heard for the first time anywhere!

As if that isn't enough, we bring you the usual barely sober banter and tunes you can expect from MR&B!!

SHOW SETLIST:

1. The Skids - Into the Vally

2. Richard Anthony and the Blue Notes - The Boston Monkey

3. French Boutik - Je Regard les Tigers

4. The Sound of Pop Art - Freedom

5. French Boutik - The Rent

6. The English Beat - Tears of a Clown

7. The Soul Brothers - Train to Skaville

8. Wheedle's Groove & Broham - Everything Good is Bad

9. Le Casse - French Boutik

The Beatles: Eight Days A Week Reviewed

Let me start by saying the following is not a debate. I rarely say this but I’m not interested in your views on The Beatles. I don’t care if you prefer the Stones. If you’re not a fan…I get it. It’s subjective. Just please, this time, "scroll and troll" elsewhere :)
To me The Beatles have shaped who I am. Religion doesn’t cover it. They are in my DNA. I just saw the new Ron Howard documentary ‘The Beatles: Eight Days a Week.’
As a music fan I can tell you it’s up there with the best of the best. As a Beatles fan, I was floored. Not to sound conceited but when it comes to the Fabs, I kind of know it all (the DNA thing, remember). No huge revelations in this film but here were my 5 take-aways to share with other like-minded Beatle people out there in Facebook land:
1. The world was going crazy. We were simply using Beatlemania as our vessel to act out and release whatever pent up angst, frustration, latent repressed sexual energy had built up inside of us as a society, world-wide.
2. The reason they survived that said insanity was because, unlike Elvis in his singularity, they had each other. A band of brothers, sitting alone in the back of a dimly lit Brinks-Mat van post-concert. Sweating in their cold steel cage as it whisked them back to their hotel and wondering WTF was unfolding around them. Nothing like it existed as a reference point before, nothing like it has happened since.
3. I knew their concerts were madness, but the film reminded me of the absolute hurricane of insanity that surrounded every move they made. For four small, pale, working class lads to have moved people with their music, image and entire being the way The Beatles did, I am convinced it was pre-ordained by a higher power and divinely motivated/inspired/guided. Call it God, call it ‘the Force’—The Universe was indeed at play.
4. In their hotel room in 1964 pre-Ed Sullivan appearance, John Lennon is toying with a riff on a Melodica which three years later, became ‘Strawberry Fields.’ I had heard this on an old bootleg clip and spotted it years ago. Very faint. It was brilliant to finally see the video footage.
5. The film reminded me how truly close and soul-connected these four men are. The post-break up bullshit aside, I remember McCartney telling a story of his final visit to George’s hospital bed where, during their conversation, he looked down to see he was holding and gently stroking his friend’s hand the whole time they had been talking. This was real love. The film reminded me of that indelible bond that ran deeper than blood or family. To the spirit.

Music fans, go see it. Beatle fans… a night of bliss awaits you. The enhanced 4K High-Def footage of Shea Stadium with re-mixed audio by Giles Martin is simply beyond words. So too is the fact their harmonies are spot on despite the fact they couldn't hear a thing.The amount of young people at the cinema was as inspirational as it was incredible. A new generation is listening. After the bomb drops, cockroaches and The Beatles— mark my words 

Peace out... xxx

;)

More Silly Style Rules Shat Upon, Part 476

To button or not to button, that is the question.
There are rule makers and rule breakers and I, for the most part, have sided with the latter. Duh.

There seems to be an unwritten rule— although it probably is actually written in one of these silly mod ‘elite’ rule books— that says the top bottom of your Fred Perry should always be buttoned.
Here’s my rule of thumb: Looks great that way on a teen/20 something. If you have a double chin, are larger built, ‘girth’ of the neck, body build or are broad shouldered…in fact, anything other than the lithe frame of an 18-year-old, don’t button. It looks like you’re squeezing into the shirt and is, frankly, ridiculous.
Look in the mirror guys. If your chin or neck cover your top button and the jersey looks like it’s been spray painted onto a body that has no business being spray painted, ABORT!
Now before you throw tomatoes understand this… SOME of you can pull it off. Weller for example. He looks after himself and could go buttoned or unbuttoned, no problem. Wiggo, ditto. You get the idea.

My personal preference is unbuttoned for Fred Perry or Lacoste. Buttoned up for knits. Always has been, even back when I looked like a well-dressed scarecrow wearing a laurel wreath tennis top back when The Style Council were playing ‘Live Aid.’

Final thought- PLEASE. Before you even THINK about getting into this whole ‘vintage Fila’ tennis top thing remember, Bjorn Borg was a god. An athlete in his prime. Save your money. You’ll come off less like ‘Man who looks like Borg’ and more like ‘Man who eats at Borger King’.
If you catch my drift.

xxx WP

Maximum Rhythm and Booze...with The Beat's Dave Wakeling!

With hits like 'Tears of a Clown,' Hands Off She's Mind' and 'Can't Get Used to Losing You,' The Beat (or The English Beat if you're on the other side of the Atlantic) were at the forefront of the 1980's 2-Tone explosion. On the new MR&B, we talk love, life, music and everything else including the kitchen sink AND bathroom mirror with the mastermind behind it all - Dave Wakeling!

Plus the usual barely sober banter and tunes courtesy of Faz Waltz, Len Price 3, The Most, The Tiaras, Lyn Collins, The Skados, The Beat and more!

SHOW SETLIST:

1. Len Price 3 - Nobody Knows

2. The Beat - Click Click

3. The Most - Do You Wanna Know

4. The Tiaras - Gone With the Wind is My Love

5. Faz Waltz - Looking For a Ghost

6. The Beat - Mirror int he Bathroom

7. General Public - Tenderness

8. The English Beat - Save it For Later

9. Lyn Collins - Think About It

10. Skadows - Apache

D'You Know Quad I Mean? (and other shite puns)

Freedom of choice and expression is good so I’ll 'exercise' mine…(pun intended) Unless you’ve fallen off a treadmill I probably won’t read a Facebook status update that has anything to do with you and your workout… how far you’ve run, how much you’ve lifted, etc. Congrats to you, but you won't get the positive affirmation you seek from me and by the way while we're on the subject 1) you still have a long way to go and 2)I'll look forward to your post later in the day of you shoveling one of these fuckers in your pie hole: 

SO… this has nothing to do with my exercise routine other than the fact it took place in a gym. See, here's the thing with ol' mr. Peace. I’m only effective in getting off my ass and moving if I have music to listen to while I do it. It’s the difference between me running 3K or 8K (see what I did there? Crafty!) Anyway, I’m at a gym here in Texas called LA FITNESS (that's LA as in Los Angeles not as in 'If I eat enough fromage et baguettes, I will have to workout a lot to achieve la fitness. Follow me? Bien). Everyone has headphones on or earbuds in, doing their thing. Lots of sweat, testosterone and too-tight Lycra (them not me). I'm a bit old school... Adidas old logo only kit and Sambas. Sod the 'Nautilus Quadricep Pumper', it's strictly ropes, a few dumbbells and then I'm hitting the heavy bag. I'm just finishing beating Joe Frasier with a KO in the 3rd in my mind when ‘Columbia’ by Oasis kicks in on my iPod. It’s loud and I realise I’m actually walking around the place with a bit of a ‘Manc swagger’- you know, the subtle ape swing of the arms. The wider stride. Something exactly like this:

 

 It’s funny what music does to you…what memories it brings back and emotions it stirs. I took a look around and thought to myself, ‘Yea, I’m UK cool. I’m a part of this special ‘club’ for those in the know.You bunch of Texan tossers are probably pumping iron listening to Kanye or Drake but me, I was there. Mad fer it. Still am. I fookin own this place, see. I can feel the tension building....It's about to kick off....and then...

 ‘Dancing Queen’ by ABBA came on. 

 So much for ‘Shuffle’ 

 It did remind me though how much I love and miss Oasis. The music that becomes part of not just our playlist but our culture. The off-stage ‘piss and vinegar’ sorely lacking today. Only a few bands, The Pistols, The Libertines have given us that unpredictability in addition to their tremendous music. The tunes and the tension. A feeling that it’s about to 'kick off' at any minute. It almost did in Dallas Texas yesterday in that gym. In my head. 

 And they’d have pulverized me ;)

Peace Out x

Revolver at 50...The teaser trailer for the decades second act

So, Revolver the iconic Beatles album turns 50.

So much has been written about it this past week, another blog churning over the same accolades seems redundant. No, we can't put a 'new and interesting spin' on what you've doubtlessly already read. Nor can we offer any new insight. The best we can give you, the reader and listener, is a paragraph from each of your 'Maximum Rhythm & Booze' hosts on an album that collectively changed our lives. Really.

Age before beauty. Warren Peace:

Okay, so in 2016 the cover may look like an adult coloring book, but that's more a reflection of the times we live in than the failings of designer Klaus Voormann. The teens and twenty- somethings of 1966 were fighting under hellacious conditions in Vietnam. Ours are on the sofa playing 'Call of Duty 4' under the hellacious conditions of 'Mum...we've run out of Doritos.' In general, we're softer now than we were a half-century ago when Revolver came into this world, both mentally and in the midriff.

It's always fascinated me wondering what it must have been like back then; slicing open the shrink-wrap, feeling the static cling of the vinyl as it slid out of the inner sleeve and onto the turntable. The needle running through the grooves for the very first time as what was arguably the greatest  34.75 musical minutes of the nineteen-sixties pumps through your speakers.  Excluding Revolver's sister album, 'Rubber Soul' (The 'Hail to the Thief 'to 'In Rainbows' for all you millennials), to that point in their careers, The Beatles had fed their fan-base a steady vanilla diet of 'Love ME do,' PS, I love YOU,' 'With Love from ME to YOU.' There are a couple of notable experimental exceptions, of course. In the US,  'Yesterday & Today's' infamous butcher cover is one, but that was quickly covered up (literally) before breaking a slew of delicate teen hearts and sending them off packing to join the Herman's Hermits fan-club.  The use of feedback at the intro of 'I Feel Fine'  is another, but it's not exactly Hendrix, is it? There's a buzzzzzz and 10 seconds later, John's "so glad" that  you're "his little girl." Again.


So let's travel back in time and meet Jane and Sarah in Dayton, Ohio. They've set their alarm, rushed out to the local record store just as it opens and there, in the 'file under Beatles' section, they see the black, the white, the beautiful... Revolver!

 "Gee Sarah... the Beeddles named their new album after a gun."

"I know Jane. Isn't it the MOST! Hey,  look at the cover. (She says, wistfully glancing at McCartney smiling back at her from the cover of  'Beatles VI' in the next rack). Aren't their eyes kinda....I dunno... creepy?"

They run home screaming with excitement and before  Jane can get her coat off, Sarah has the needle on the vinyl. Minutes later they're bopping to 'Taxman' smiling to 'Good Day Sunshine,' crying to 'Here There & Everywhere,' and singing along to 'Yellow Submarine.' And then, it happens... Side 2 track 5 starts to play. Sarah scratches her head and searches for her 45 of 'I Saw Her Standing There.' Jane however...

 'Tomorrow Never Knows.' The sonic eulogy to four smiling mop-tops. The drum and bass vinyl assassination of the velvet collar jacket. The teaser trailer for the decades second act.

The times were changing. Attitudes were changing. People (John George, Paul and Ringo...and Jane) were changing. The Beatles were defining that change with albums as timeless as Revolver.  Now if you'll  excuse me, I'm going to turn off my mind, relax and...you know the rest.



Penny Lane:

50 years ago... Can you picture it, sitting down after a long day at work, drink in hand, side B of the latest Beatles record is just about done, and while it's got that familiar Beatles "sound," there's something fresh and new about it..

Then the last track starts, a swirl of confusing notes that, like jazz, feels a second away from falling into chaos but somehow remains in sync, fills your ears. 

The world was dangling its feet off the cliffs of change at that point... Revolver pushed it off into a new stratosphere...

"When did music become so important?"

"It's always been important..."

Many people argue with me at length how the Beatles are not a 'Mod' band. I've said it often: there is no Mod music, just music Mod's listen to. Revolver is a work of art that has stood the test of time and is as relevant now as it was a half-century ago when it was unleashed on the world. It's sounds created a divide - either you embraced the changing face of music and you felt the shift or you watched from the sidelines as the world ran away from you one song at a time. The Beatles were maturing; as was their sound, their audience and their message. The Beatles weren't the only ones growing up. Paint it Black by the Rolling Stones, For What It's Worth by Buffalo Springfield and the album Pet Sounds by the Beach Boys all were released around the same time. 

Many would argue that by 1966, the original Mods were starting trade in their scooters and forget the scene. By 1967 Mod was mostly a memory. Who knows, maybe the changes heard in Revolver pushed the scene towards its slow end. But I would also argue that true modernists would have embraced the tracks in Revolver and have understood and found its message relevant. There is no Mod music, and amazing music should be enjoyed by all.

Happy birthday Revolver. I hope I'm this incredibly beautiful when I'm 50 too.



Jonny Owen: 

Jonny has always been very vocal about his love for The Beatles and how the album Revolver, in particular, was defining for him. Here, along with actor Martin Freeman and Gary Crowley, he shares his personal take on the impact of Revolver on his own life.

xxx Maximum Rhythm & Booze
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