January's Picks

1. THE KELLY BROTHERS-"Crystal Blue Persuasion"
One of my favorite Kelly Brothers tracks is this soulful 1969 interpretation of the Tommy James & The Shondells hit on the Excello label, and probably is one of their toughest to find. Their smooth vocals and the stellar backing get me every time.

https://youtu.be/OJVbUs3YenI

2. DAVID BOWIE-"Big Brother"
Reading the excellent book "David Bowie: A Life" has set me on a path to rediscovering Bowie. The problem with owning so much music is that you tend to overlook stuff that's right in front of you while fawning over some 45 you've just scored. Somewhere in the political chaos that is the United States right now this number, more so than ever, makes perfect sense.

https://youtu.be/555jxltr9Zo

3. THE ROLLING STONES-"Citadel"
The new Stereo/Mono mixes of "Their Satanic Majesties Request" LP have unearthed a wealth previously unnoticed musical bits. On "Citadel" Brian's mandolin setting on the Mellotron come out crisper as does the striking anvil, Wyman's fuzz bass and Brian's saxophone bits at the fade out make them sound like Traffic or even Gong.  Mindblowing, man.

https://youtu.be/GxBuoDKRwgs

4. GIL SCOTT-HERON-"The Revolution Will Not Be Televised"
"You will not be able to stay home brother, you will not be able to turn on, plug in and cop out. You will not be able to lose yourself on skag and skip out for beer during commercials because the revolution will not be televised..."

https://youtu.be/QnJFhuOWgXg

5. THE SWINGERS-Counting The Beat"
With it's catchy beat nicked from The Pretty Things "Come See Me", this 1981 new wavey power pop ditty by New Zealand's Swingers is certain to be a foot tapper.

https://youtu.be/p72Z1D1oKbw

6. THE LPT'S-"Mo' Soul"
This one's a heavy instro driven by some groovy organ and a sharp as a stiletto, hard cracking snare beat. Released on the obscure Mary Jane label in 1966 released on the flip of the equally cool, but not as good "Long Cool Summer".

https://youtu.be/TTd9OsdBz-A

7. THE THREE O'CLOCK-"And So We Run"
"And So We Run" was an anthem of sorts for me as I was about to graduate high school and watched my small minded, small town disappear in my rear view mirror as I fled to New York City every weekend to meet like minded individuals.

https://youtu.be/CXeBZju3SI8

8. COUNT MACHUKI & THE DESTROYERS-"Movements (The Joe Gibbs Way)"
I am a stone cold sucker for any reggae instrumentals that lean heavy on the organ so when I stumbled on this rare one I was immediately floored!

https://youtu.be/cmoTQfW7BpA

9. NILSSON-"Jump Into The Fire"
Driven by Herbie Flowers ace of bass groovy low end notes, Nilsson's coolest number ever will have you looking for helicopters. I always imagined Joe Jackson doing a decent version of it before he lost the plot and wanted to be Cab Calloway which leads us to....

https://youtu.be/CfjNpgZ4C5Q

10. JOE JACKSON-"Mad At You"
Driven by Graham Maby's hard driving basslines maybe Joe Jackson didn't need to cover "Jump Into The Fire" but instead re-wrote it as "Mad At You" with it's insane freaky little echoing keyboard flashes and Jackson's amphetamine shrieking.