Sunday, April 26, 2009

The Cat on "Where The Action Is" Kirkcaldy VRN 1287 AM - Sunday 26 April 2009

Today's show has a theme of "Names". It's also been pre-recorded due to my attendance at the Camera Obscura/Attic Lights gig in Glasgow tonight:

Shirley Ellis - The Name Game (Congress 1965)
The Quik - Bert's Apple Crumble (Decca 1967) (show theme)
The Four Tops - Bernadette (Motown 1967)
Jackie Lee - Rupert (Pye 1971)
Martha Reeves & The Vandellas - Jimmy Mack (Tamla 1967)
Cryan Shames - Greenburg, Glickstein, Charles, David Smith and Jones (Columbia 1968)
Love - Hey Joe (Elektra 1967)
The Turtles - Elenore (White Whale 1968)
The Overlanders - Michelle (Pye 1966) (Connect 3)
The Temptations - Hey Jude (Gordy 1969) (Connect 3)
The Beatles - Dear Prudence (Apple 1968) (Connect 3)
The Kinks - Lola (Pye 1970)
Nancy Sinatra - Tony Rome (Reprise 1967)
The Troggs - Hi Hi Hazel (CBS 1967) (Birthday: 26/4/43 Tony Murray, The Troggs)
Petula Clark - Romeo (Pye 1961)
Davie Jones & The King Bees - Liza Jane (Vocation 1964)
France Gall - Bonsoir John John (Philips 1967) (Foreign Language)
Creation - Tom Tom (Polydor 1968)
The Eagles - Johnny's Tune (Pye 1962) (Half-Time Instrumental)
The Hollies - Lucille (Parlophone 1964)
Twinkle - Micky (Instant 1969)
The Who - Happy Jack (Reaction 1966)
Billy Fury - Colette (Decca 1959)
Keith West - Sam (Parlophone 1967)
The Aerovons - Bessy Goodheart (Resurrection 1969)
Attic Lights - Paul (Island 2008) (Under The Influence)
Annette Funicello - Tall Paul (Disneyland 1959)
Bobby Fuller Four - Pamela (Unreleased)
Everpresent Fullness - Susie Q (Unreleased)
The Langley Schools Music Project - Help Me Rhonda (1976/77) (Connect 3)
The Survivors - Pamela Jean (Capitol 1964) (Connect 3)
The Regents - Barbara Ann (Gee 1961) (Connect 3)
The Beach Boys - Wendy (Capitol 1964)
Antoinette - Jenny Let Him Go (Decca 1964)
The Monkees - Mary, Mary (RCA/Colgems 1967) (Two of a Kind)
The Monkees - Valleri (RCA/Colgems 1967) (Two of a Kind)
The Jewells - Smokie Joe's (Dimension 1965)
Pamela Blue - My Friend Bobby (Decca 1963)
The Quik - Bert's Apple Crumble (Decca 1967) (show theme)

Next week's show will be live and will have a celebration/party/birthday theme as it's my birthday! I might go and see The Ray Summrs at the Greenside Hotel in Leslie after it but I haven't made my mind up yet.

The week after that will be the Eurovision special, which I've already recorded, with a special guest in the shape of Mrs Cat, who sat knitting in the corner through most of it. She did try to guess the Connect 3s though.

Sunday, April 19, 2009

Twatler

I subscribe to Mojo and Web User, which fulfil all my music and geeky needs. My good lady on the other hand prefers Tatler and Vanity Fair.

While "my" magazines invariably end up on the study floor, with salient page corners marked for articles I may or may not get around to looking at, Vanity Fair and Tatler usually live in the upstairs, non en suite bathroom. (I appreciate that to some people the idea of a magazine rack in the smallest room in the house is abhorrent but I feel the same about televisions in bedrooms, so we're all even on that). Invariably during a natural break I'll pick up an issue of Vanity Fair that I didn't manage to finish an article in and make my way through it. However, the pleasure from Vanity is of a more titillating variety. While I enjoy the lengthy articles about people I probably haven't heard of in VF, what entertains me most in Tatler is the stupid names of the people featured.

In a recent issue - it may even be the current one - the list of staff, contributors and all manner of editors tickled my fancy. While both the Parker Bowles had got themselves tidy little jobs as Car and Food editor (let's face only they could afford to eat in the places reviewed or drive the cars fawned over), there's also a Features editor by the name of Ticky Hedley-Dent (sounds like a greyhound running in the 7.40 at Monmore) and Contributing editors by the names of Cressida, Luli and Dorrit, not forgetting one Bryan Adams. Surely not THE..., nah, couldn't be!

My favourite, however, is one of the four, yes count them, four Contributing fashion editors. Ladies and gentleman, I give you, Debonnaire Von Bismarck*. You just couldn't make it up!

The Cat
=^..^=

* Her Facebook page, which I came across after a Google search to see if this was a real person, misses out the "Von". One of her friends is David Furnish.

The Cat on "Where The Action Is" on Kirkcaldy VRN 1287 AM - Sunday 19 April 2009

Today's theme is "Colours":

Booker T and the MGs - Green Onions (Volt 1962)
The Quik - Bert's Apple Crumble (Decca 1967) (show theme)
The Sapphires - Slolw Fizz (ABC 1966)
The Blues Council - Baby Don't Look Down (Parlophone 1965)
Dodie Stevens - Pink Shoelaces (Crystalette 1959)
The Colorados - Lips Were Redder On You (alternate take) (Unreleased 1964)
Lorraine Silver - Lost Summer Love (Pye 1965)
The Move - Here We Go Round The Lemon Tree (Regal Zonophone 1967)
Love - Orange Skies (Elektra 1966) (Connect 3)
The Attack - Lady Orange Peel (Decca 1968) (Connect 3)
The End - Shades of Orange (Decca 1968) (Connect 3)
John Leyton - Six White Horses (HMV 1961)
Roy Orbison - Blue Bayou (Monument 1963)*
The Turtles - Outside Chance (White Whale 1966) (Birthday: 19/4/42 Mark Volman)
Buffy Sainte-Marie - Soulful Shade of Blue (Vanguard 1968)
Sam and Dave - Soul Sister Brown Sugar (Atlantic 1969)*
Christie Laume - Rouge-Rouge (Odeon 1967) (Foreign Language)
The Delicates - Black and White Thunderbird (Unart 1959)
The Fabulous Red Hawks - Highland Twist (Globe 1964) (Half-Time Instrumental)
The Kinks - Lavender Hill (Unreleased 1967)
Terry White & The Terriers - Rock Around The Mailbag (Decca 1959)
The Kinsmen - Glass House Green, Splinter Red (Decca 1968)
The Lemon Pipers - Green Tambourine (Buddah 1967)*
Jimmy Ruffin - He Who Picks A Rose (Unreleased 1969)
The Golden Crusaders - I'm In Love With You (Columbia 1964)
Green Peppers (with Justin Currie) - Honest Injun (Neon Tetra 2007) (Under The Influence)
The Hollies - Long Cool Woman In A Black Dress (Parlophone 1972)*
Turquoise - Tales of Flossie Fillet (Decca 1968)
Rosetta Hightower - Pretty Red Balloons (Toast 1968)
Pinkerton's Colours - Mum and Dad (Pye 1967) (Connect 3)
Deep Feeling - Pretty Colours (Label Unknown 1966) (Connect 3)
Young Idea - Colour of Darkness (EMI Columbia 1967) (Connect 3)
The Human Instinct - Pink Dawn (Deram 1968)
Andee Silver - Too Young To Go Steady (HMV 1964)
Maxine Brown - Baby Cakes (Wand 1967) (Two of a Kind)
Maxine Brown - Oh No Not My Baby (Wand 1964) (Two of a Kind)
Cilla Black - Something Tells Me (Something Is Gonna Happen Tonight) (EMI 1971)
Chris Farlowe - Paint It Black (Immediate 1968)
Ministry of Sound (aka John Carter) - White Collar Worker (Decca 1966)
The Cameos - Pretty Shade of Blue (Toast 1968)
The Quik - Bert's Apple Crumble (Decca 1967) (show theme)

Finally getting used to the new CD players although I'd give myself 6 out of 10 for today's show. Always feel it's a waste doing a show when the sun's out. Who knew that summer this year would be a Sunday!

Due to a cock-up the following four tracks should have been played but were replaced by the ones marked with an asterisk:
Diane Renay - Navy Blue (20th Century 1964)
Hash Brown & The Cupcakes - I Got My Job Through The New York Times (Philips 1962)
Tracey Dey - Blue Turns To Grey (Amy 1964)
Wilson Pickett - Don't Let The Green Grass Fool You (Atlantic 1971)

Next week's show has been pre-recorded and has a theme of Names. I'm off to see Camera Obscura and Attic Lights in Glasgow that night. The week after that will be my birthday so I'm going for a Birthday/Celebration/Party theme. Then it's my annual homage to Eurovision...

Monday, April 13, 2009

The Cat on "Where The Action Is" Kirkcaldy VRN 1287AM - Sunday 12 April 2009

I recorded yesterday's show on Friday morning due to an annual family gathering in which we eat, drink and be merry.

The Knickerbockers - Lies (Challenge 1966)
The Quik - Bert's Apple Crumble (Decca 1967) (show theme)
Karen Verros - You Just Gotta Know My Mind (Dot 1965)
Tammy St. John - Nobody Knows What's Goin' On (In My Mind But Me) (Pye 1966)
Claudine Clark - Party Lights (Unreleased)
The Exciters - Tell Him (United Artists 1962)
Billie Davis - Ev'ry Day (Piccadilly 1966)
The Castaways - Liar Liar (Soma 1965)
The What Four - I'm Gonna Destroy That Boy (Columbia 1964) (Connect 3)
Mark V - Baby What's Wrong (Fontana 1964) (Connect 3)
Two of Each - Colour My World (Pye 1970) (Connect 3)
The Shots - Keep A Hold Of What You Got (Columbia 1965)
The Secrets - The Boy Next Door (Philips 1963)
Steppenwolf - Born To Be Wild (Dunhill 1968) (Birthday: 12/4/29 John Kay)
The Starlets -You Don't Love Me (Tower 1965)
The Hipster Image - Make Her Mine (Decca 1965)
Francoise Hardy - Le Temps De L'Amour (Vogue 1962) (Foreign Language)
The Leaves - Hey Joe (Mira 1966)
Floyd Cramer - On The Rebound (RCA 1961)(Half-Time Instrumental)
Kriss Anderson - He's My Boyfriend (Old Town 1965)
She Trinity - He Fought The Law (Columbia 1966)
Marcie Blane - Bobby's Girl (Seville 1962)
Raylene & The Blue Angels - Shakin' All Over (Cuca 1966)
The Cryan Shames - Sugar and Spice (Destination 1966)
The Favourite Sons - That Driving Beat (Mercury 1965)
The Bangles - The Real World (Faulty 1982) (Under The Influence)
The Raindrops - The Kind of Boy You Can't Forget (Jubilee 1963)
Beverley Williams - Too Bad He's Bad (Unreleased)
Michael & The Messemgers - (Just Like) Romeo and Juliet (USA 1967)
April Stevens - Teach Me Tiger (Imperial 1959) (Connect 3)
Chris Farlowe - April Was The Month (Immediate 1969) (Connect 3)
April Young - Steady Boyfriend (Columbia 1964) (Connect 3)
The Mojo Men - Sit Down, I Think I Love You (Reprise 1967)
The Debutantes - Shake A Tail Feather (Standout 1967)
Helen Shapiro - Silly Boy (I Love You) (Pye 1969) (Two of a Kind)
Helen Shapiro - Easy Come Easy Go (EMI 1963) (Two of a Kind)
Jackie Trent - Such A Small Love (Pye 1969)
The Shirelles - I Met Him On A Sunday (Ronde-Ronde) (Decca 1958)
The Soul Agents - Let's Make It Pretty Baby (Pye 1964)
The Quik - Bert's Apple Crumble (Decca 1967) (show theme)

Recorded on Friday for broadcast on Easter Sunday this show was a disaster. What can go wrong, will go wrong! New CDs players in the studio, in an unfamiliar position, threw me completely and the show was two hours of bumbling ineptitude (although that's what makes me so special!) 4/10.

Next week's show has a theme of Colours and the week after it'll be Names. The Names one will be pre-recorded this week as I'm off to see Camera Obscura and Attic Lights in Glasgow that night. The week after that will be my birthday so I may go for a Birthday/Celebration theme.

Wednesday, April 08, 2009

You just know that a film is crap when the TV and media adverts use testimonials from the Daily Star and News of the World. It also seems that “snort-out-loud funny” is the new “laugh-out-loud funny” in these reviews.

I really hate that you-scratch-my-back kind of reviewing – if it’s shit, say so. There are so many films – usually featuring Jennifer Aniston, Owen Wilson, Seth Rogen and/or Will Ferrell – that I just think, “how the hell did that get made?” There’s a recession and millions of $$$ is wasted on pish.

Having moved to Dunfermline, the one thing I miss about Edinburgh is the Cameo Cinema. The Cameo Film Club membership was excellent value and you had a much more pleasant surrounding and ambience for film watching. The last film I went to see on the big screen was “Madagascar 2 – Return to Africa”, which was as a result of my parental responsibility (and cheap tickets). What struck me when awaiting the start of this sequel was that all the adverts for “Coming Soon” movies were either about cartoons, animals or cartoon animals. Any right-minded four year old would and should be insulted by the limited imagination of the filmmakers.

I couldn’t actually tell you when I was last within a picture house. It’s certainly not that there hasn’t been films I want to see because there has – Milk, Anvil, Salute, Telstar (delayed until 19 June 09) – I just haven’t got myself organised. The pfaff of trying to get through the current Edinburgh tram-induced traffic nightmare and get parked near the Cameo doesn’t help either.

Sadly the hideously over-priced Odeon in Dunfermline shows lowest common denominator films for the sort of people who go to the pictures but don’t know what they want to see. And don’t even get me started on the behaviour of some of these people. It seems that many of these morons can’t go more than two hours without eating, talking and/or texting. Give me being curled up at the end of my sofa and coffee on tap at home any day, especially as you don’t really have to wait that long now for films to be shown on telly or sold on DVD (other formats are available).

It’s being so cheery that keeps me going.

Sunday, April 05, 2009

The Cat on "Where The Action Is" Kirkcaldy VRN 1287 AM - Sunday 5 April 2009

Joe Meek would've been 80 today had he lived on. Tonight's show is a celebration of this wonderfully maverick record producer.

The Tornados - Telstar (Decca 1962)
The Quik - Bert's Apple Crumble (Decca 1967) (show theme)
The Sharades - Boy Trouble (Decca 1964)
Lance Fortune - Be Mine (Pye 1960)
Beat Boys - Third Time Lucky (Decca 1963)
Glenda Collins - I Lost My Heart At The Fairground (HMV 1963)
Wes Sands - There's Lots More Where This Came From (Columbia 1963)
Impac - Too Far Out (CBS 1966)
Pamela Blue - My Friend Bobby (Decca 1963) (Connect 3)
Blue Rondos - Little Baby (Pye 1964) (Connect 3)
Mike Preston - Mr Blue (Decca 1959) (Connect 3)
Iain Gregory - Can You Hear The Beat of a Broken Heart? (Pye 1962)
David John and The Mood - Love To See You Strut (Parlophone 1965)
Joe Meek - Long Tall Jack (demo) (Unreleased) (Birthday: 5/4/29 Joe Meek)
Bobby Cristo & The Rebels - I've Go You Out Of My Mind (Decca 1964)
Michael Cox - Angela Jones (Triumph 1960)
The Honeycombs - Hab'Ich Das Recht (Have I The Right?) (Deutsche Vogue 1964) (Foreign Language)
Kenny Hollywood - Magic Star (Decca 1962)
The Fabulous Flee-Rakkers - Green Jeans (Triumph 1960) (Half-Time Instrumental)
Emile Ford & The Checkmates - What Do You Want To Make Those Eyes At Me For? (Pye 1959)
Millionaires - Wishing Well (Decca 1966)
Neil Christian & The Crusaders - The Road To Love (Columbia 1962)
Mike Berry & The Outlaws - Tribute To Buddy Holly (HMV 1961)
The Cameos - Powercut (Columbia 1963)
Checkmates - Sticks and Stones (Decca 1964)
Man Or Astroman - Taxidermist Surf (Estrus 1993) (Under The Influence)
Four Matadors - A Man's Gotta Stand Tall (Columbia 1966)
Jenny Moss - Hobbies (Columbia 1963)
Gene Vincent - Temptation Baby (Unreleased 1963)
Johnny Duncan & His Bluegrass Boys - Last Train To San Fernando (Columbia 1957) (Connect 3)
Burr Bailey & The Six Shooters - San Francisco Bay (Decca 1963) (Connect 3)
Peter Jay & The Jaywalkers - Kansas City (Columbia 1963) (Connect 3)
John Leyton - Son This Is She (HMV 1961)
Diane & The Javelins - Heart and Soul (Columbia 1966)
The Tornados - Globetrotter (Decca 1963) (Two of a Kind)
The Tornados - Robot (Decca 1963) (Two of a Kind)
The Ambassadors - Surfin' John Brown (Dot 1963)
The Honeycombs - That's The Way (Pye 1965)
Billie Davis - Don't You Knock On My Door (Unreleased 1962)
Heinz - Come On Let's Go (Unreleased)
Cliff Bennett & The Rebel Rousers - I'm In Love With You (Parlophone 1961)
The Quik - Bert's Apple Crumble (Decca 1967) (show theme)

Good news in that the "Telstar" movie finally has a release date. It goes nationwide on 19th June 2009.