XTC

Michigan Theatre

Ann Arbor, MI

January 22nd 1980

Reposted from October 2021

XTC were possibly too clever for their own good.

This is an FM sourced recording of their set as openers for The Police.

The arrangements/interplay between the two guitars is stunning.

I've always wondered about the name of this town...so I looked it up:

Ann Arbor gets its name from the first wives of its two founders,

John Allen and Elisha Rumsey, who were both named Ann,

combined with the natural bur oak trees in the area. 

The settlement was officially registered with Wayne County (that mame rings bells)

as 'Annarbour' on May 25th 1824 (my birthday...so to speak) 

regards

Titus

01 Beatown

02 Real by Reel

03 When You're Near Me I Have Difficulty

04 Life Begins at the Hop

05 The Rhythm

06 Meccanik Dancing

07 Roads Girdle the Globe

08 Ten Feet Tall

09 Helicopter

10 This Is Pop?

11 Battery Brides

12 Instant Tunes

13 Crowded Room

14 Complicated Game

15 Making Plans For Nigel

link

Reposted from September 2023

I was rummaging through my 'papers'

looking for some obscure document I'd foolishly signed in 1984

when I came across this old flyer from a 1992 gig in Cambridge.

We had shortened the previous Phineas Foam name.

We were just Foam by this point.

Our 'opening act' was the Sweden/France Euros game shown on a big screen

It ended in a 1-1 draw although I didn't watch much

because I was busy making sure all MY stuff was turned up to eleven.

It was a big place and it was rammed with students.

You can imagine what happened at 8pm: (see flyer)

It was a good gig and we went down well as I recall.

Captive audience, mainly there for the cheap beer, I know.

A couple of people said we were the best band they'd ever seen there.

but they were, admittedly, the usual unkempt misfits.

This was the view from the stage:

I like students

...but I couldn't eat a full one.

regards

Titus

Blue Öyster Cult

Rockin' Rodeo

Bakersfield, CA

January 26th 1998

Remastered audience recording.

Medium quality...needs playing loud.

Going off Eric's comments I assume the gig was not well attended.

I believe the venue developed a bad reputation

and was eventually closed down following a murder or two.

I find it genuinely sad that it isn't the first time I've written

something along those lines after researching small US venues.

What's wrong with a good old-fashioned punch-up?

No chance of a re-match post-murder.

God bless America :)

Buck is God (Don't listen to him...Ed.)

regards

Titus

Disc 1

01 intro

02 Stairway to the Stars

03 Before the Kiss (A Redcap)

04 E.T.I.

05 Burnin' for You

06 Harvest Moon

07 Buck's Boogie

08 The Vigil

09 Live for Me

10 See You in Black

Disc 2

01 Flaming Telepaths

02 (Then Came) The Last Days of May

03 In Thee

04 Cities on Flame with Rock and Roll

05 Godzilla

06 (Don't Fear) The Reaper

07 OD'd on Life Itself

08 Dominance and Submission

09 outro

link

The Castle Museum in York is a marvelous place to visit.

There is a reproduction of an entire Victorian street area 'Kirkgate':

If you hang around there for a while it gradually goes through a day/night cycle.

You can go inside many of the buildings and explore the dingy back alleys.

Among the museum's, wide and varied, exhibits there's a whole section devoted to WWI.

As you leave the Great War area you pass through a room

which has large blackboards covering the walls and a supply of chalk.

Visitors are invited to leave their comments.

Most are praising the presentation or expressing sorrow for the loss of life.

I've been many times over the years but one occasion in that room stands out.

A family walked in and their young son was thrilled to see the blackboards.

He ran over, grabbed a stick of chalk and in large letters wrote...LOL

It could be tempting to go into "I blame the parents" mode.

Or, like me,  you could have an inner cynical devil who thinks:

'Good on yer kid. This blackboard idea is a bit cheesy'

My long term assessment? I'd prefer kids to grow up in a peaceful world.

Let them be free to not know or care.

Plenty of time for them to reflect more seriously when they get older.

Tanks are cool/LOL/Can I have an ice cream?

I think all kids should think that way. I'm sure I did.

regards

Titus

World War II in Colour (2008)

Episode 9 - Overlord

Following careful planning and tremendous secrecy

but, perhaps, more importantly Hitler's lack of attention,

the Allies successfully breach mainland Europe through the Normandy landings.

After thousands of lives are lost to the operation,

the Allies are able to start the liberation of Western Europe.

Whatever circumstances you are born into is 'normal'.

I have heard people who grew up during the London Blitz say how great it was

because you had all those bombed out buildings to explore and play in.

These kids are barely distracted from their skipping rope:

Someone born 18 years after the Falklands War would be about 26 now.

I was born about 18 years after WWII ended.

It was 'History' and was taught in the same way they taught about ancient Rome.

Now it feels very recent and I suspect we "baby boomers" were bred to fight in the next war.

Incentives to have more kids run throughout all these War histories.

They had not predicted the 'Cold War' so we didn't die.

Instead, we bought all the houses, had less children

and built up pensions we were never expected to draw.

The consequences are glaringly obvious.

regards

Titus

link

Max Webster

Gasworks Tavern

Toronto, ON, Canada

December 22nd 1976

Remastered soundboard.

There are a few cuts but overall it's quite good.

I used patching and devilish trickery to make it flow reasonably smoothly.

Some great Zappa-esque guitar from Kim Mitchell.

Highly recommended.

regards

Titus

01 In Context of the Moon

02 Beyond the Moon

03 Lily

04 Words to Words

05 Blue River Liquor Shine

06 Toronto Tontos

07 Only Your Nose Knows

08 Coming Off the Moon

09 On the Road

10 Summer's Up

11 Let Your Man Fly

12 Hangover

13 Here Among the Cats

link

Evil Roy Slade (1972)

"The meanest villain in the West".

A classic spoof wild-Western tale.

Starring John Astin (Gomez from the Adams Family)

Astin is good but I think the role was tailor-made for Lemmy :)

Lookout: "Hey Evil Roy, there's someone coming"

Roy: "Kill him"

Lookout: "It's a woman"

Roy: "Wound her"

I know it's corny but it always makes me smile.

regards

Titus

link

10,000 Maniacs

Greek Theatre

Los Angeles, CA

June 3rd 1993

Remastered FM.

regards

Titus

01 These are Days

02 If You Intend

03 What's the Matter Here?

04 A Campfire Song

05 Like the Weather

06 How You've Grown

07 Jezebel

08 Eat for Two

09 Trouble Me

10 Gun Shy

11 Stockton Gala Days

12 Candy Everybody Wants

13 Hey Jack Kerouac

14 Few and Far Between

15 My Sister Rose

16 Everyday is Like Sunday

17 City of Angels

18 Let the Mystery Be

link

More thoughts on The Beast

Some of you may be aware that there are suggestions

that 666 is not the true number of the Beast.

Early transcripts (but not necessarily the oldest) say the number is 616.

This is a complex field of research

because different languages/numerical systems are involved

which are open to some degree of interpretation.

It has been suggested that both variants existed simultaneously

with 666 eventually becoming favoured.

A simple manual transcribing error could easily be the culprit.

Others think it was just changed to 666 because it sounded cooler.

When I tried dialing 666 Donald Tump answered.

I hung up immediately :)

regards

Titus

Jukes

A Thousand Dreamers (2004)

The debut album.

I've included the non-album track from their E.P. as a bonus.

A reworking of 'Wand'rin' Star' from the musical 'Paint Your Wagon'

which was a hit for Lee Marvin.

Great band who's two albums received scant recognition.

regards

Titus

01 She Walked for Miles

02 I Wasn't Even Looking

03 Fiery Desert

04 Dark Sky

05 Lipstick Kiss

06 Take Me Down

07 Song of Saints

08 Rusty Human

09 Future Lost

10 Good Feeling

11 Boy Like

12 A Thousand Dreamers

bonus:

13 Wandering Star

link

World War II in Colour (2008)

Episode 8 - The Soviet Steamroller

After Hitler's gamble in the East fails and the Germans are unable

to take Stalingrad or Moscow, the Soviet Union, with its vast resources and armies,

starts to push back.

It would be interesting to research just how much fighting over Crimea

has taken place through the centuries.

There must be something really good there that they're not telling us about.

I'm reminded of Peter Blackman's poem 'Stalingrad' which tells of the time

when the whole world waited to hear if Stalingrad was still a Soviet town.

There's a link for that as well for all you poetry fans.

regards

Titus

link

Peter Blackman reads Stalingrad

Dread Zeppelin

Rockford IL

September 5th 1999

Remastered soundboard.

Newly remastered version usurping the previous one I posted in 2020.

Elvis/Zeppelin/reggae with a touch of ganja featuring:

Butt-Boy (better guitarist than Jimmy Page)

Ed Zeppelin (tom-toms/reggae rap)

Bob Knarley (bass)

Spice (drums)

Charlie Haj (water & towels)

and from Memphis to the Misty Mountains...the one and only ...Tortelvis!

regards

Titus

01 intro

02 Immigrant Song

03 Doin' the Claw

04 Whole Lotta Love

05 Ramble On

06 Friend Bob Marley

07 Q & A with Tortelvis/Buttboy song/C.C. Rider

08 Viva Las vegas

09 What Is and What Should Never Be

10 Black Dog

11 The Girl I love She Got Long Black Wavy Hair

12 Don't Call Me Rasta, Fat Boy

13 Baba O'Riley

14 Going to California

15 Stairway to Heaven

16 outro

17 Heartbreaker Hotel

link

Beat Club - Episode 74

December 26th 1971

Another pearl with great bands featured.

The weird Xmas section went over my head for the most part.

Don't try this at home:

Oh no! it's the Sour Grapes Bunch:

This guy is a complete tosser:

He should go back home and leave the good people of Germany alone.

regards

Titus

Rory Gallagher - Used to Be/In Your Town

King Biscuit Boy - Hoy Hoy Hoy

Stone the Crows - Goin' Down

Santana - Black Magic Woman

Alexis Korner - Don't Drop that H-Bomb on Me

link

The story of my life :)

(Cartoon by Gary Larson)

regards

Titus

Hawkwind

The LCR

University of East Anglia

Norwich, England

November 10th 1990

Heavily remastered audience recording.

Patches were applied where necessary.

'Images' was incomplete so I made a fake ending.

Sounds quite convincing but fans will know the song doesn't end like that.

Some "artistic license" was used to reconstruct the 'Space Bandits' jam.

I drifted away from Hawkwind in the early 80s for many years

having decided they were past their prime.

I should have paid more attention, this is excellent.

Best copy on the net or your money back :)

Here's the original photo of Bridget I used for the front cover:

regards

Titus

Disc 1

01 Realms/Angels of Death

02 The Golden Void

03 Check Control/Ejection

04 Wings

05 Out of the Shadows

06 Snake Dance

07 Night of the Hawks/The 7th Star

Disc 2

01 T.V. Suicide

02 Back in the Box/Paranoia

03 Assassins of Allah 

04 Images

05 Reefer Madness

bonus:

06 Space Bandits rehearsal 1990

link

The Ash Tree (1975)

An adaptation of the M. R. James story

first aired on BBC1 on December 23rd 1975

Perhaps not my favourite of the TV adaptations.

It struggles to convey the sense of foreboding in James' original text.

regards

Titus

link

World War II in Colour (2008)

Episode 7 - Turning the Tide

The Allies and the Axis are searching for a final blow to each other to end the war.

It's unbelievable how much destruction took place.

The series highlights the choice between attacks on specific military targets

and the carpet bombing of entire cities.

While the Allies try out strategic fire bombing,

Hitler tries cutting off American supply lines with submarines.

Right now this is a stalemate.

regards

Titus

link

Dr. Phibes and the House of Wax Equations

Beyond the Whirlpool (a live compilation)

Remastered recordings from the archives.

Sound quality varies.

regards

Titus

Mark Radcliffe's 'Hit The North'

live radio session 1992

01 Misdiagnosedive

02 Hazy Lazy Hologram

03 Psycho Killer

04 interview

05 Deadpan Control Freak

06 Real World

Live tracks from the compilation album

'Seconds Out, Round One'

07 Mirrors

08 Mr. Phantasy

Rencontres Trans Musicales

Salle de la Cité

Rennes, France

December 4th 1991

09 Eye Am The Sky/Dreaming/Insomnia

10 Sugarblast

11 Dovetail

link

Congratulations to España...World Champions!!!

World War II in Colour (2008)

Episode 6 - The Mediterranean and North Africa

After success in North Africa and Greece,

the Allies push Benito Mussolini's forces all the way back to Italy.

Erwin Rommel (The Dessert Fox) plotting with colleagues:

Italy is then knocked out of the war, Mussolini is deposed,

and the Allies start to put real pressure on Nazi Germany.

Churchill and Monty:

regards

Titus

link

Goat

Circomedia

Bristol, England

April 4th 2015

Remastered soundboard.

Looks very compressed so may well have been mp3 in a previous life.

Sounds pretty good though.

regards

Titus

Disc 1

01 intro/Talk to God

02 Let It Bleed

03 Gathering of Ancient Tribes

04 The Light Within

05 Stone Goat

06 Disco Fever

07 Goatman

Disc 2

01 Run to Your Mama

02 Hide from the Sun

03 Goatslaves

04 Words

05 Det som aldrig förändras/Diarabi

06 Golden Dawn

07 Goathead

link

After that game I may have to reconsider my disdain for the third place play-offs :)

Best match of the tournament.

regards

Titus

if

Stockholm, Sweden

January 18th 1972

Reposted from September 2023

A  recording with sparse info around.

I've seen another version which has a different running order

and is just credited as 'live in Europe'.

regards

Titus

01 Child of Storm

02 I'm Reaching Out on all Sides

03 Your City is Falling

04 Seldom Seen Sam

05 Fibonacci's Number

06 Forgotton Roads

link

The Time Machine (1960)

The classic adaptation of the 1895 novella by H. G. Wells.

Starring Rod Taylor as, our intrepid time-traveller, H. George Wells,

It was the Australian actor's debut as the lead in a feature film,

No Norwegians were harmed during the making of this movie.

Besides...everyone knows the Morlocks are Swedish.

(Manowar tribute band?)

I've included some extra 'featurettes'

and there are optional subtitles in various languages.

regards

Titus

link