Namesakes #195: The Triffids

When a day that you happen to know is Wednesday starts off by sounding like Sunday, there is something seriously wrong somewhere.

I was nine when the BBC's adaptation of Day of the Triffids arrived on TV... the perfect age for watching a scary show about killer plants taking over the world. In later years, I would discover the novel - one of many excellent sci fi / horror novels by the late, great John Wyndham who also wrote The Midwich Cuckoos, The Chrysalids and The Kraken Wakes, among others.

The Triffids were truly terrifying creatures... but will they prove as scary as some of the acts below?

THE TRIFFIDS #1

Made in Great Britain in 1963, and featuring Ernie and Barry Hilton… that’s about all I can tell you about these Triffids. Poppy beat band here, but later they went Folk.

The Triffids – Over Again

THE TRIFFIDS #2

Aussie Triffids, though they were more successful in the UK than in their native land. They germinated in Perth in 1978 and were still kicking around a decade later. Lead singer David McComb would then transfer his green fingers to producing Blackeyed Susans instead.

The Triffids – Wide Open Road

TRIFFID #3

A singular Triffid, although from the image above there were four of them, and just imagine if your daughter brought one of them home. That would be scary. These guys came from Albany, New York in 1984.

Triffid - Invasion

THE TRIFFIDS #4

Around the same time in New Zealand, these Triffids were invading. You'd have thought being neighbours, they might have heard of their Australian counterparts and chosen a different name. But obviously not...

The Triffids - Hide Out

That's your lot for today - there were a couple more listed on discogs, but obviously their music was far too scary for the tube of you.

Which Triffids made your day?

Namesakes #194: Heatwave

Is it me or is it getting hot in here?

THE HEATWAVES #1

We start today with the soulful sounds of the New York City Heatwaves from 1963, and a punishment worthy of Bart Simpson...

The Heatwaves - (Write It On The Blackboard) 99 Times

THE HEATWAVE #2

Next up, a Dutch psychedelic band from the late 60s. They don't sound particularly psychedelic to me.

The Heatwave - Said Before It Couldn't Happen To Me 

HEATWAVE #3

From 1970, this London based Heatwave sound like they're caught halfway between chirpy 60s pop and early glam stomp. Drummer Martin H. Samuel used to do a bit of fire-eating to liven up the set. They soon changed their name to Peter's World and then The Sensations.

Heatwave - Sister Simon (Funny Man)

HEATWAVE #4

The Welsh Heatwave of 1975, surfing in from the small seaside village of Pwll in Carmarthenshire. They were all teenagers when they recorded this emergency call...

Heatwave - 9-9-9

HEATWAVE #5

That's my favourite picture of the Anglo-American disco band Heatwave, because they all have matching knitwear. Nothing say rock 'n' roll more, etc. etc. However, I thought some of you might also get a little thrill from this picture...

Steady on, ladies, etc. etc. Spot the guy who really isn't comfortable being photographed with his shirt off. That would be me. But it's actually drummer Ernest "Bilbo" Berger, from Czechoslovakia. I doubt they got much sun over there.

Heatwave enjoyed a run of Top 20 hits at the height of the disco boom, most of them written by keyboard player Rod Temperton (second from the right) who went on to become even more successful as a songwriter for other people. He's the guy who wrote Off The Wall, Rock With You and Thriller (what do you mean, you thought Jacko wrote those songs? Yeah, me too.) as well as George Benson's Give Me The Night and Love X Love, and the huge Patti Austin / James Ingram hit Baby, Come to Me. After leaving Heatwave, he withdrew from the celebrity lifestyle and became known as "The Invisible Man" in music business circles. Presumably content to sit at home on a huge throne made out of £50 notes.

Heatwave - Boogie Nights

HEATWAVE #6

A Japanese Heatwave, active from 1985 through the turn of the century. This may well have been their debut single...

Heatwave - Hello, I'm Here

HEATWAVE #7

Italian "prog-folk" duo from 1999...

Heatwave - Cry

HEATWAVE #8

Canadian hip hop collective from 2011...

Heatwave - Just A Memory

HEATWAVE #9

Martin Reeves, discogs tells me, owned the Instant Vibes record shop in Worthing and the Happy Vibes record shop in Brighton. You might ask why he needed a discogs page if he just flogged records. Turns out he also made them too as "Heatwave"... 

DJ Quantum & Heatwave - Get Ill 

Stick with the day job, mate.

THE HEATWAVE #10

"Dancehall soundsystem and production outfit" who made regular appearances at the Notting Hill Carnival and the UK festival scene in the decade known, rather boringly, as the Tens. Here they are with special guest vocalist Tippa Irie - remember him?

The Heatwave - Tun Ova (feat. Tippa Irie)

HEATWAVE #11

German electronic dude, aka Markus Spillner, clearly influenced by Vangelis & Jan Hammer's 80s work on Blade Runner and Miami Vice. What goes around comes around. This is from 2016, not 2087.

Heatwave - 2087

HEATWAVES #12

Spanish pop-rock group from 2017 onwards. The Heatwaves get particularly hot in Spain, I imagine.

Heatwaves - My Baby Has Gone

HEATWAVES #13

On the other hand, I'm betting Norwegian Heatwaves are muchcooler. Looks like these guys even had to light a fire to keep warm.

Heatwaves - Kawako

HEATWAVE #14

"Regular, everyday normal guy" from Russia, and he's obviously rather enthralled with the 80s. This is from 2021.

Heatwave - Simple Story

HEATWAVE #15

Finally, a "groovy and melodic" hardcore band from Germany. Your definition of "groovy and melodic" may differ.

Heatwave - Tough Times

Other Heatwaves were available, but I spared you.

Which one gets you hot hot hot... and which just makes you hot under the collar?

Namesakes #193: The Offspring

Imagine you're a new parent, dreaming that your precious little cherubs might one day grow up to form their own band... and maybe even achieve the ultimate musical accolade of being featured on Namesakes. If so, don't let your offspring call their combo The Offspring, because they'll have missed their big chance...

OFFSPRING #1

We start today in southern England in the glorious year of 1972. This Offspring appear to have released only one record... though it did get them an appearance on LWT. Mike Brayn would go on to write disco tunes about UFOs for Sylvia Love. The honour of getting your song on a Bob Stanley compilation would have to wait for another 50 years or so...

Offspring - Windfall

OFFSPRING #2

New Wave snyth-pop group from 1982 featuring Bo Diddley's daughter, Tammi McDaniel, on vocals. Or so discogs would like us to believe. Further investigation appears to reveal that guitarist Scott Deverin Smith was also a Diddley collaborator, and that Tammi's sister, Terri Lynn McDaniel-Bridge, was also in the band. If that's not enough, Bo gets a songwriting credit on the B-side under his real name Ellas McDaniel. I can't find that track online, but it's possible it's a snythy remake of this.

Do you have any questions?

Offspring - Too Many Questions

OFFSPRING #3

British Oi! punks from some time in the 80s...

Offspring - Nightlife

OFFSPRING #4

Soulful sounds from the UK in 1990...

Offspring - Midnight Blues

THE OFFSPRING #5

Definitive Californian pop-punks who made it very big towards the end of the last century by mocking middle class white kids who talk like black inner city rappers. With nine UK Top 40 hits under their belt (including a Number One), they're not to be sneered at. (Not that that will stop George.)

The Offspring - Pretty Fly (For A White Guy)

Which is your cherished cherub today... and which will you be writing out of the will?

Namesakes #192: Dawn

Welcome to a new day. But are any of these Dawns worth getting up for...?

DAWN #1

We start with this "East Coast" (I'm guessing New York, not Scarborough) act from the mid-60s, occasionally partnered with Billy, as seen above, although here she is on her own...

Dawn - Can't Get Him Off My Mind

DAWN #2

Philadelphia radio station WIBG (known affectionately as Wibbage) published its own promo magazines featuring charts and articles about the artists they were playing. Here's a quote from the July 15, 1967 issue...

"Dawn, Hailing from South Philadelphia, is a 16 year-old St. Maria Goretti sophomore who has had several releases that didn't happen but is climbing local and nationals charts with 'I'm Afraid They're All Talking About Me.' Dawn recently ran 5th in the Wibbage favourite artist contest, placing with names like The Monkees, The Supremes, The Beatles and The Four Seasons. Because of the great popularity of 'I'm Afraid They're All Talking About Me.' Laurie Records is planning an album soon."

I'm afraid they stopped talking about her soon after.

Dawn - I'm Afraid They're All Talking About Me

DAWN #3

New York singer Tony Orlando had been releasing records throughout the 60s with limited success, becoming a music exec in the latter part of the decade. It was a this point that he came across the song Candida, which had been rejected by other artists, by Tony thought could be a hit. Due to a conflict of interest, he couldn't record the track under his own name, so he created the alias Frankie Spinelli, drafted in a backing group (including Brill Building songwriter Cynthia Weil and Jay Siegel from The Tokens) and released the track incognito. Following the success of Candida, Dawn went on to record an entire album - including Number One hit Knock Three Times - with the true identities of the performers remaining hidden.

Demand increased for the band to go on tour, at which point Orlando drafter in two former Motown/Stax vocalists, Telma Hopkins and Joyce Vincent Wilson, and finally revealed his true identity to the world. After this, the band became known as Dawn featuring Tony Orlando, and eventually Tony Orlando & Dawn... I think we can all work out what was going on there. When they Tied A Yellow Ribbon Round The Old Oak Tree in 1973, they had the best-selling single in the UK charts for that year.  

Fortunately, my favourite track by these guys is their earlier Number One, from when they were just called Dawn...

Dawn - Knock Three Times

DAWN #4

Lovers' Rock, from 1981. It's possible they once swallowed a fly.

Dawn - I Don't Know Why

DAWNN #5

Funky thangs with an extra N from New York in 1984...

Dawnn - Funky Thang

THE DAWN #6

Starting in 1987, and still kicking around last year, "The Dawn is considered the longest-lived and most prolific rock band in the Philippines" according to somebody on discogs with editing privileges. 

The Dawn - Enveloped Ideas

DAWN #7

Late 80s soul, possibly from Detroit, produced by Doris Dozier who might be related to Lamont, or might just be a Namesake. Still, former Maths teachers might appreciate the sentiment...

Dawn - Teacher, Teacher

DAWN #8

Housey housey stuff from 1993. Better than most of its ilk, because I like the piano.

Other Housey Housey acts called Dawn were available... but I spared you.

Dawn - Freedom

DAWN #9

Swedish Death Metal band from the 90s. Fans still complain of migraines, 30 years later.

Other Death Metal bands called Dawn were available... but I spared you.

Dawn - The Knell And The World

DAWN #10

And if that was too loud for you, try some symphonic prog from Switzerland in 1996.

Dawn - Rain On The Moon

THE DAWN #11

Dawn With A Smile On Their Face. British "heavy-psych band" from the late 90s. Sounding a bit like early The Verve, only with louder guitars.

The Dawn - Five Days Wiser

THE DAWN #12

Danish pop-rock band from 1998, fortunately not covering the Black Lace song.

The Dawn - Superman

DAWN #13

Danish trance-producer "who began listening to electronic music at the age of 3." There ought to be a law. 

Dawn - Luna

DAWN #14

Dawn to be wild. Japanese punk band from 2015.

Dawn - Nothing

DAWN #15

Aussie "Stoner Doom" from 2016. "From the murky depths of the abyss, heavy riffs and slow mesmeric hymns are celebrated." If I were stoned, I'd rather listen to Creedence.

Dawn - Zombies

DAWN #16

K-pop Dawn dude, big with da Tiktok crowd. Tiktok will melt your brain, by the way, and prevent you from being able to engage with anything longer than 30 seconds. I would tell you this, but if you regularly use TikTok, you gave up reading this post a long time ago.

Dawn - Money

DAWN #17

And finally, an LA rapper from last year...

Dawn - A Flex

Would you have been better off staying in bed?

Namesakes #191: The Cardigans

Perhaps it's not the most sexy or exciting item of clothing in your wardrobe, but the humble cardigan deserves our love for making us feel warm and cosy in winter days.

Will any of the Cardigans below have the same effect?

THE CARDIGANS #1

From Chattanooga in the late 50s came the choo-choo Cardigans, four young sloppy-doo-woppy dudes who hit the charts twice with their single Your Graduation Means Goodbye. I chose the b-side, which was a lot more fun.

The Cardigans - Boll Weevil On The Mountain Top

THE CARDIGANS #2

More doo-wop, probably from around the same time, but with extra Dave, because we can all do with extra Dave. A youtube commenter reveals that the Cardigans were his mother and aunt, Marie and Terry Belanger. This track was recorded before the commenter was born - it must be lovely to hear his mum singing in her younger days.

Dave & The Cardigans - My Falling Star

CARDIGAN #3

A singular Cardigan, this one from Denmark in 1986. It has a video with 33,190 views on the tube of you, so it must have done something back in the day...

Cardigan - Without You

THE CARDIGANS #4

The Cardigans most of us are familiar with originated in Sweden in 1992, led by the very best Persson in rock: Nina. They took their name from a line in The Sundays' song Skin And Bones...

Oh, you see me in a cardigan

In a dress, dress, dress that I've been sick on

The Cardigans named their debut album Emmerdale - I'm presuming the show is big in Sweden? Their breakthru record came in 1996 when the infectious single below was featured in the soundtrack of Baz Luhrmann's Romeo + Juliet. 

The Cardigans - Lovefool

Not a great deal of choice in the Cardigans aisle... are any of them a good fit?

Namesakes #190: Top Ten

When I began this blog, I called it My Top Ten because that was the only feature from my old blog that I still wanted to carry on with. I was tired of writing about myself, I just wanted to write about music.

Ironically, the blog has evolved so much after the past few years that I never write Top Ten posts anymore. One day I'll relaunch for a third time (probably on Wordpress) and call the blog Irk The Purists instead. If I can be bothered.

Meanwhile, here are some bands named after this blog... what an influence I've had! 

THE TOP TEN #1

We start today in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. The year was 1967, when Gary Griffin and his band drove to the Stax studios in their stretch-station wagon to record this tune. And it was all captured on an early video camera as you'll see in the clip. Warms the heart, it does, to stare back into the past like that... 

Gary Griffin & The Top Ten - Think Nothing About It

TOP TEN BAND #2

Over to Uganda now, where this Top Ten Band supported a number of prominent singers in the late 60s and early 70s, including Charles Kanaabi, Eddie Kabuye, Kefa, Moses Katazza and more. 

Charles Kanaabi with Top Ten Band - Nasanga

TOP TEN #3

Funky German instru-mentalists from 1975... with added Frank.

Frank & The Top Ten - Bad Girl

TOP 10 #4

From Costa Rica, in 1976. Old and scratchy, but still deserving your love.

Top 10 - O Tu O Nada

TOP TEN #5

Scott "Top Ten" Kempner was the guitarist and songwriter with early US punk band The Dictators. He was also in The Del Lords, The Brandos and The Paradise Brothers, as well as forming a short-lived band in the 80s with Dion DiMucci. Did he ever make the Top Ten? No... but that was his nickname. 

Scott "Top Ten" Kempner - Hot Rod Angel

THE TOP TEN #6

90s indie with added Tina (although her real name is Mimi)... and if you feel like objecting to that, George, can I just point out that they're from Portugal?

Tina & The Top Ten - No More

TOP TEN #7

Polish Euro-Pop-pop-pop from 1993. They're an odd lot, as you'll see below. As far as I can tell, this was only ever released on cassette - which in 1993 would have been a very un-hip format.

Top Ten - Odlot

TOP TEN #8

Italian house gubbins from 1995. Whenever I see that little yellow smiley face on a video, my blood runs cold.

Top Ten - The Good Times

TOP 10 #9

From the Czech Republic in 2004, a supergroup made up of some TV talent show winners... and it's every kind of awful.

Top 10 - Veď Mě Dál

TOP TEN #10

Finally today - and how fitting that there are exactly ten to choose from? - some San Francisco punks from the decade they call "The Noughties".

Top Ten - Easily Unkind

None of them made the actual Top Ten... but which band is Number One in your estimation?

Namesakes #189: The Uglies

Look out, Namesakers - this week, things are going to get really Ugly.

THE UGLIES #1

We start today with a version of the band name designed to make every English teacher’s skin crawl – clearly, these guys missed a lot of SPaG lessons while they were mucking around with their guitars back in 1963. (Note that the apostrophe is missing from the band pic above – I’m guessing the designer knew better… but it’s on all their record sleeves.) These Ugly’s (sic) featured Steve Gibbons, who would go on to form Balls and The Idle Race (Jeff Lynne’s first band) before launching The Steve Gibbons band in 1972.

The Ugly's - Wake Up My Mind

THE UGLIES #2

These Uglies emerged from Detroit in 1963, and managed to keep things ugly through to the early 70s, during which time they worked with Bobby Vee, opened for The Who, and released a song all about the world's greatest superhero (no surprises which tune I chose today then). They got back together in 2005 because such things are inevitable.

No, we won't be disqualifying them because of the adjective - I know, unbelievable, right?

The Unbelievable Uglies - Spider-Man

THE UGLIES #3

From Florida, a few years later, this band started out as The Uglies but when they heard that name was already taken, they graciously changed it to U.S. Male. I love how someone appears to have gone over all their singles with Dymo Tape to update the band name. I couldn’t find the song advertised above – and I had to take extra care when typing the title into my search engine – but I did discover that these Uglies were also the uncredited backing band on the single below, a posthumous tribute to a fellow high school student. 

Clearwater High School Class Of ’68 (featuring The Uglies) - My Friend 

THE UGLIES #4

New England Psychobilly band formed in 1990. They had a single called Peggy Suicide, which I’m guessing had nothing to do with the Julian Cope record. This was a four track 7”, and the only song I can find online is track 4…

The Uglies – Hot Rod Girl

THE UGLIES #5

Chicago Uglies from 2008 who describe themselves on bandcamp as “Your Mom’s favourite band”. If your Mom likes 90's Green Day, I guess.

The Uglies – Animal 

THE UGLIES #6

From Chicago, circa 2011, “Music to count your freckles to” – not entirely unlistenable.

The Uglies – Don’t Go There 

THE UGLIES #7

About a decade ago in Winnipeg, Canada, this pop punk band first exposed their ugly faces to the world. 

The Uglies - Still Crazy After All These Beers 

THE UGLIES #8

Ugly Australians with a logo that might interest AC/DC's lawyers. Active from 2017, possibly still in the go – it appears from the camp of bands that they’ve set up their own ugly record label.

The Uglies – Life Is Boring

 

THE UGLIES #9

And finally today, the “debut single from south London five piece, who formed in 2019 with a shared love of Ennio Morricone and unfavourable looks.” That blurb is taken from discogs, who also filed this offering under “Psychedelic Rock”. I’ll let George be the judge of that…

The Uglies – Big And Ugly

Were they good, bad... or Ugly? You tell me.