CT Rocks

mr wolfellini's corner

to bounce back from the global political disaster, here is a good selection of music!

FIREBALL, DEEP PURPLE

A gem from the hard rock heyday. Deep Purple miming to their 1971 hit, Fireball, for German TV. Drummer Ian Paice lives up to his name by beating out a rhythm that’s virtually speed metal more than a decade too early. The crowd on ZDF’s Disco programme does its best to keep up

Soundtrack To A Coup d’Etat, 2024

Michel Nkuka Mboladinga, alias Lumumba Vea, punctured the surfeit of bad politics surrounding this year’s World Cup by transforming himself into a living statue at DR Congo games. Posing as the nation’s first post-independence leader Patrice Lumumba, Mboladinga brought the world’s attention to one of the Cold War’s most heinous acts, namely Lumumba’s assassination on the instructions of Belgian and US officials. This 2024 documentary recounts the unfolding tragedy with a rich jazz backdrop, including Louis Armstrong, Nina Simone and John Coltrane, which serves both to reflect the times, the improvisationary nature of the film and illustrate how jazz was used to placate the newly liberated nation.

sex pistols Earliest Known Footage, feb`76

Witness the early moments of what would become the Sex Pistols, a band poised to reshape the landscape of rock music. This footage captures the raw energy and fervor surrounding a project destined to leave a lasting mark on the genre. The anticipation is palpable, brewing with the kind of excitement that hints at the seismic shifts to come.

An Epidemic of Father Xmas, Van Der Graaf Generator, 1971

As the festive season approaches, a cloud of anticipation hangs in the air, music echoing from all corners—the unmistakable haze of electric anticipation. Yet, for those yearning for something beyond the traditional jingle bell rotation, this song offers a haunting reflection on the holidays that’s anything but predictable.

The Harder They Come, perry henzell, 1972

Relive the spirit of Jimmy Cliff by diving into this iconic film. It’s not just a movie; it's a journey into resilience and hope. Experience the rhythm, the struggles, and the triumphs that echo through his music. Ivan, a renegade rural musician, journeys to Kingston looking for fame and fortune, but only finds reality. Becoming an outlaw after a music producer refuses to play his record, Ivan achieves such notoriety while on the run from the police that eventually the producer can’t resist airing his music.

donovan, 60th anniversary concert Rome, 14/5/2025

On a balmy evening in Rome, where the whispers of history meet the rhythm of today, legendary singer-songwriter Donovan graced the stage, captivating an audience that was eager to be transported by his timeless melodies. The concert was held in an intimate theatre nestled amid the city's ancient charm, setting the perfect backdrop for an acoustic showcase that promised to be both enchanting and heartfelt. From the moment Donovan stepped into the spotlight, his presence lit up the room. Dressed stylishly, he exuded the warmth that has characterized his artistry for decades. As he strummed his guitar, the audience fell under the spell of his dulcet tones, which felt even more powerful in the stripped-down acoustic format. The familiar notes of classics like “Catch the Wind” and “Mellow Yellow” floated through the air, igniting memories and emotions in listeners who had grown up with his songs. A truly magical evening to celebrate Donovan's 60 years of music.

disco 2, nico, 1971

Often regarded as a media-friendly luxury during her singing stint with The Velvet Underground, Nico came into her own on her second solo album, 1968’s The Marble Index. Her music, composed and played on harmonium, was wrapped in mediaeval melancholy, a sacred and stoic endgame to the let-it-all-hang-out psychedelia of the previous year. Desertshore from 1971, again co-performed and produced by fellow ex-Velvet John Cale, continued in similar fashion, with two songs - Janitor Of Lunacy and The Falconer - captured live in a typically bohemian setting for BBC-2’s short-lived Disco 2 programme

LIBERACE & THE MUPPETS, BOOGIE WOOGIE AND HAS ANYBODY SEEN MY BIRD, 1978

Liberace's performance with these marvellous muppet birds has become iconic, symbolizing the idea of soaring to new heights.

Bing crosby-david bowie, peace on earth/little drummer boy

A Christmas classic with a touch of Bowie-esque discomfort.

soul dracula, hot blood, 1977

Hot Blood are a studio project born on the long wave of dance music that clouded the minds of the planet and that soon after will unexpectedly sink like the Titanic. In this case, to make up for the creativity of creating a competitive product on a market that to call saturated would be an understatement, here comes the brilliant idea of bringing horror and specifically vampire themes to the dance hall. The highlight of this vinyl is certainly Soul Dracula: a sticky melody with a super danceable rhythm that still fascinates today in its wonderfully camp nature. It is 100% cult!

weekend world LWT 80's intro

Probably the best piece of recorded music selected for a television programme. Weekend World, a Sunday current affairs show, broadcast in Britain 70s/80s, featured a brief, explosive extract from Mountain’s Nantucket Sleighride, the title track of the US hard rocker’s 1971 hit album. Guitarist Leslie West resented playing it during the band’s early days because of the song’s complex changes, though in time he accepted it as the centrepiece of the band’s shows. Today, it’s widely regarded as a classic example of loud, ambitious early 70s rock.

four women, nina simone, 1969

Nina Simone at her most spellbinding, performing Four Women at a jazz festival in Antibes, 1969. Written in response to the bombing of a Baptist church in Birmingham, Alabama, in 1963, Four Women marked Simone’s emergence as a key figure in the Civil Rights movement, both for the African-American community and for women within that community.

RINGDINGADING, RONNY VAN DYKE & THE TRASH POP PILOTS, 2013

Passion for blues-rock and irony are the main ingredients of this original mix made in Germany, just waiting to be rediscovered (this video is really something). Positive energy and the ability to make good, solid rock music out of it are rare qualities. Rockers'n' Lovers, his latest work, is a sincere album to be enjoyed. Quoting the Stones, who have always inspired him, time is truly on his side

LET'S MAKE THE WATER TURN BLACK, FRANK ZAPPA, 1968

No one sounded - or looked - like Frank Zappa’s Mothers Of Invention during the mid-to-late 1960s. Famed for their iconoclastic brand of music, which stretched from doo wop to contemporary classical, they released albums full of studio trickery, such as rapid tape edits and varispeed. On stage, they also incorporated theatrics. Here Motorhead Sherwood plays tambourine - the 60s most underrated instrument - and pork luncheon meat - the era’s most ghastly ‘ready meal’.

THE ROLLING STONES - SYMPATHY FOR THE DEVIL - THE DAVID FROST SHOW (1968)

November 30, 1968, The Dave Frost Show. The Stones make everyone disheveled with their iconic song. One of Brian Jones' last appearances. To be reverently enjoyed.

melanie (New York, 3/2/1947 – Nashville, 23/1/2024)

The great Melanie Safka was marketed by her record company as the quintessential ‘hippie chick’ but she was so much more. Starting out trying to copy middle-aged singers like Lotte Lenya, Edith Piaf and the earthy voices of the flamenco senoritas, she instead sounded more spooky or childlike. While the world remembers classic songs such as Brand New Key, Look What They’ve Done To My Song, Ma and her versions of the Stones’ Ruby Tuesday and (here) Dylan’s Mr. Tambourine Man, her early catalogue contains some of the most intense, soul-baring performances you’ll ever hear on record. Try her 1970 Leftover Wine album for starters. A voice like no other. RIP lovely lady.

Radiohead - Last Flowers

This is almost buried Radiohead treasure given that it sneaked out on the bonus disc that came with early copies of the 2007 album, In Rainbows. Originally demoed a decade earlier, around the time of OK Computer, what had begun as a band song was stripped bare for the studio version, with Thom Yorke’s piano and vocal doing all the hard work.m

Last Flowers starts out with one of the great modern opening lines - “Appliances have gone berserk” - sung-sighed over a simple, melancholy piano motif. That, together with acoustic guitar accompaniment, is what anchors Last Flowers; meanwhile, it’s Yorke’s vocal that takes the song forward, sucking the listener ever deeper into emotionally vexed territory. What makes the performance all the more remarkable is that for all Yorke’s wails of despair and sense of bereavement, lyric shafts of light, reinforced by brief passages of major scale uplift, bring hope and redemption to what otherwise might simply be a misery ballad - though a masterful one at that.

The perfect me, deerHOOF, 2007

Deerhoof are playing Rome in February 2024. They’ve been going for more than 20 years and released more than 20 albums. Yet you may not know them, for they are one helluva band that are at once pop-melodic and math rock/experimental.

This is The Perfect Me. It is fast and furious and comes from their 2007 Friend Opportunity album. It will blow your mind with joy.

LEMMY KILMISTER & HAWKWIND-SILVER MACHINE-LIVE-1972

Top-grade space rock from Hawkwind, 1972, featuring Lemmy on vocals with Stacia providing the psychedelic dance steps. A new, vastly expanded box set of Hawkwind’s Space Ritual live double album has just been released. One of the best live albums just got bigger and better!

HELLO DARLIN' - GEORGE JONES - LIVE 1993

Country music’s maverick legend George Jones reduces the Country Music Awards 1993 crowd to tears with his version of Conway Twitty’s "Hello Darlin". Twitty had died just days earlier. A master (and idiosyncratic) vocal stylist, with a penchant for sequins, Jones was probably the closest thing country music had to Bryan Ferry. Unmissable!

CAPTAIN BEEFHEART & THE MAGIC BAND (LIVE ON BEAT CLUB 1972)

On the 12th April 1972, in the middle of the European leg of the tour, Captain Beefheart and the Magic Band stopped off at the Beat Club studios in Bremen to film a session for later transmission. Let's enjoy it!

PIONEERING DONOVAN

Donovan accompanied by Shawn Phillips on sitar, performs Three King Fishers on Pete Seeger’s short-lived television series Rainbow Quest. The song reflected a new and growing interest in Indian music and was soon to appear on Donovan’s Sunshine Superman album.

Completed before The Beatles had even begun work on Revolver, Sunshine Superman was the pop’s world’s first authoritative exploration of the mood and timbres of what was soon to be named ‘psychedelia’.

Soon afterwards, new bands such as Jefferson Airplane (Fat Angel) and Vanilla Fudge (Season Of The Witch) would give its songs the rock band treatment.

Incredibly, the Sunshine Superman title track, which featured future Led Zeppelin instrumentalists Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones, was recorded as early as December 1965.