Glen Matlock at the 100 Club with special guest Kathy Valentine of The Go-Go's, February 27th

The 100 Club played host to two of my favourite legendary bass players - Glen Matlock of Sex Pistols and Kathy Valentine of The Go-Go's. Headliner Glen Matlock takes to the familiar stage where he has trodden the boards on numerous occasions - from the Sex Pistols appearance at the Punk Festival in September 1976 to the location of the press conference to announce the Sex Pistols reunion in 1996 and regular solo appearances over the years. Forsaking his bass for guitar and lead vocals, Glen is backed by his excellent band comprising the super cool guitarist Neal X (formerly of Sigue Sigue Sputnik), drummer Chris Musto and bassist Jim Lowe and they ran through a great selection of Glen's solo songs and cover versions alongside The Rich Kids "Ghosts of Princes In Towers" and of course the classic he penned for the Sex Pistols, "Pretty Vacant". It was no-nonsense, good time singalong Rock 'n' Roll that left all of us with huge smiles on our faces. Opening the night was Kathy Valentine, bassist with The Go-Go's, who entertained us with a set comprising some of her favourite songs such as Nick Lowe's "Heart of The City" and Suzi Quatro's "48 Crash" alongside solo material, such as my personal highlight "In My Closet" and of course a few Go-Go's songs such as "Vacation", "Apology" and "We Don't Get Along". She was joined by Glen's band to play a raucous take on The Go-Go's "The Whole World Lost It's Head" and the new collaboration with Neal X, a superbly catchy 7" vinyl single "I Love You More" released under the name KVNX, which was available for sale on the night. Kathy was behind the merch desk to sign copies of the single and her searingly honest autobiography "All I Ever Wanted: A Rock 'n' Roll Memoir" and I also took along my gig ticket from The Go-Go's last U.K. show back in 1995 when they played a fantastic show at the Shepherds Bush Empire. Kathy glady signed the ticket and reminisced about the show. Here are some photos and videos from the night.

 

 

"I Love You More" is available to download at the KVNX Bandcamp site here. You can see some more videos of Kathy's set at our Retro Man Blog YouTube channel here.

Glen Matlock's excellent "Triggers" book is a must read, it's a musical journey through his life told through a selection of various songs that had a big influence on him as a songwriter. His latest solo album "Consequences Coming" is also well worth getting hold of. 

 Glen at the recording of the Word In Your Ear Podcast, promoting his book "Triggers".

The Woggles at The 100 Club London with The Len Price 3 & The Galileo 7, Friday August 16th 2024

The Woggles made a very rare trip to the U.K. for two shows, first of all in Bristol on the Thursday and then Friday night at the legendary 100 Club in London, where I finally got to witness what many people claim are one of the best live acts around. I've been a fan for a long time now and watching videos of them over the years and seeing comments from those lucky enough to have seen them play I was wondering if they could live up to my expectations. Well, I wasn't to be disappointed, in fact they exceeded all of those expectations and then some. Another big fan of The Woggles is Graham Day, frontman of one of our favourite bands, The Prisoners. In fact, he is such a fan that he invited The Woggles to play at his wedding and he also borrowed their rhythm section of drummer Dan Eletxro & bassist Buzz Hagstrom for his Graham Day & The Gaolers line-up on their excellent debut album "Soundtrack To The Daily Grind". I've spoken to Graham about The Woggles on a few occasions in previous interviews and chats and he has now been in the band for over five years, the opportunity arising after the sad and untimely passing of guitarist Jeff "Flesh Hammer" Walls in 2019. Graham has expressed how difficult he sometimes finds the pressures of being a frontman and his struggles with singing and lyric writing - although if you take the Gaolers for example, this seems somewhat hard to believe. He told me once in our Retrosonic Podcast interview that he always fancied being the guitarist in a band seen playing at a dance or 'happening' in one of those American sixties teen movies. Either that or in an instrumental band, an ambition he was to make happen when he formed The Senior Service, his side project that was heavily influenced by those classic Spy, Sci-Fi and Spaghetti Western movie and TV theme tunes by composers such as Barry Gray, John Barry and Ennio Morricone. 

So tonight, the London crowd gets their first chance to see Graham playing guitar with The Woggles and he seems to be having as much fun as we are. Busting out all the moves and shapes with his cool looking Nineteen67 Jones guitar and despite the proliferation of Prisoners T-shirts in the crowd, he is relishing the spotlight being on the livewire frontman The Professor Mighty Manfred Jones. Manfred has to be one of the best rabble-rousing all action vocalists I have ever seen - he does not stop moving for a minute, he demands your attention with his cheerful cheerleading antics. One minute he's lifting the mic stand high above his head, then he's on his knees blasting out on his harmonica, before leaping up and pirouetting around with some nifty dance steps. He also likes to get down among the crowd, encouraging us to participate. I'm exhausted just watching him and I wonder how he gets his energy as he never lets up. His energy levels are matched by Go Go dancer Moana Santana who also doesn't stop for the duration of the show and she adds even more glamour to the visual extravaganza. We saw Moana dancing at the 100 Club for the fantastic Lenny Kaye plays Nuggets gig (which you can read about here) and she really adds to the whole swinging sixties vibe. 

Bassist Buzz Hagstrom and guitarist/saxophonist Shane Pringle also seem to be in their element, they have to compete with some strong personalities to their right and yet they acquit themselves perfectly, they are superb on the night. Only super-cool drummer Dan Eletxro in his trademark cap, remains seated throughout and that's because he has to keep the relentless groove going, I'm sure he was dancing inside. The perfectly plotted set unsurprisingly draws heavily on the excellent new album "Time Has Come", which is out now on green vinyl via Little Steven van Zandt's Wicked Cool Records, and is surely going to feature very high in our best albums of 2024 come the end of the year. I would go so far as to say it's up there as one of the best, if not the best Woggles albums and it positively bursts out of the speakers, coming very close to capturing the live energy we witnessed tonight. It's going to be lauded as a future classic in the Garage Soul genre, I'm sure of it. Graham contributes a couple of songs to the record along with guitar and backing vocals and what with The Prisoners stunning reunion album, "Morning Star", he's on a great creative streak at the moment. My personal highlights included "Telling Me Lies", "Paisley In Paradise", "Mr Last Chance", "Her Majesty's Pleasure" and the blistering "Flesh Hammer" which was written by Pat Beers by another of our favourite bands, The Schizophonics. "Karate Monkey" is also superb, with everyone joining in on the "ooh aah" karate kata moves. I sincerely hope that The Woggles don't leave it so long before returning to our shores - in these sometimes dark and depressing times we all need a regular shot of their peerless good-time Garage Rock 'n' Soul. 

The night was made even more special with the added bonus of The Galileo 7 and The Len Price 3, two more of our long-time favourites. In fact what with Graham Day on stage with The Woggles and so many familiar friendly faces in the crowd, it took me back to the good old days of our Retro Man Blog nights at the Half Moon Putney. The LP3 powered through a raucous set including a couple of promising sounding new songs which seemed inspired by their Medway and North Kent roots. You realise just what a great back catalogue the band have built up and they treated us to a pick from most of their albums, culminating in the classic "London Institute". The Galileo 7, who are of course fronted by Graham's colleague in The Prisoners, Allan Crockford, opened up proceedings quite early but thankfully there was a healthy crowd already in the venue to witness another great performance from the band. Their dynamic and memorable Psych Pop songs, with all four members having a go on vocals, went down really well with the crowd. They also debuted two new songs which are due out early next year and they sounded excellent, I'm really looking forward to hearing them recorded. So, all in all it was a perfect night out, proving the importance of the communal spirit and positive vibes of a room full of fans enjoying no-nonsense, uplifting live music. 

The Galileo 7

The Len Price 3

For more information on The Woggles and details on how to order the new album, please check out their official web-site here. Please click on the highlighted links throughout the feature for more information. I'll put more photos of the night at the Retro Man Blog Facebook page so please head on over here, like and subscribe for access. All photos and videos copyright Retro Man Blog.

The Courettes, Oh! Gunquit & DJ Scratchy at The 100 Club, September 10th 2023 - Photos and Videos

It doesn't seem like five minutes since we last saw The Courettes and Oh! Gunquit put on a blistering show together at the Wedgewood Rooms in Portsmouth - a perfect combination of two of Retro Man Blog's long-standing favourite bands - it was a match made in heaven. But not only are The Courettes now affectionately known as the 'fabulous' Courettes, they are also known as the hardest working band in showbusiness and for good reason, yes they are back in the U.K. once again and they picked Oh! Gunquit to join them at the legendary 100 Club on London's Oxford Street for the very last night of their latest tour. Tonight we are also treated to the added bonus of DJ Barry "Scratchy" Myers spinning some superb tunes to get everyone in the mood so we certainly got great value for our ticket money. Resident DJ at Dingwalls just as Punk Rock hit London, Scratchy did shows with Ramones and Flamin' Groovies before being spirited away by The Clash as their tour DJ from 1978-80. I love the fact that his eclectic choices of International roots music not only gets you dancing but also takes you on a whirlwind tour of the World's many and varied musical landscapes. I can see why he has struck up friendships with Joe Strummer in the past and with contemporary mixed-nationality bands such as Oh! Gunquit and King Salami & The Cumberland 3, as they, like Scratchy himself, sum up the best of multicultural London. 

It was one of the hottest days of the year but luckily the 100 Club now seems to have working air-con which was bloody good news as Oh! Gunquit and The Courettes certainly raised the temperature with their full-on, no holds barred Rock 'n' Roll assault, just what you expect from two of the most energetic and visually arresting live acts around. Gunquit were so good and everyone got so carried away that there was genuine surprise when the 100 Club turned off the lights and power due to them over-running their set. We wanted more, the band wanted more but the 100 Club said no. It's one of the downsides of Sunday night shows or at venues where they have night clubs after the live music - the curfews are so strict that there's not much chance of squeezing in extra songs or encores despite the crowd reaction. I've lost count of the amount times I've seen Oh! Gunquit play and they never disappoint. They have the originality, the songs, the look, the sound and the unpredictability to make each and every show a unique event that will leave you smiling for days after. 

There aren't many bands who would be able to follow Oh! Gunquit, it must be a daunting task - but of course The Courettes are one band who rise to any challenge, and its hard to believe the visual impact this Brazilian/Danish duo can have, especially as one of them is sitting behind a drum-kit for the duration! But Martin Couri is no typical drummer, first of all his kit is positioned at the front of the stage and he's a constant blur of energy, spitting water on his cymbals so that each hit sends a spray out over the audience. Then there's his call and response vocals with Flavia and his badgering of the crowd to join in the singing and chanting and to push themselves to match the band's energy. 

When Flavia is not singing she's zooming about the stage leaping on the speakers one minute and then down into the crowd the next, machine gunning us with blistering, instantly memorable riffs. She also sings "Daydream" in fluent Japanese and we are honoured to get a dedication for our help in the special 7" single released to coincide with their Japanese tour by Damaged Goods Records. Their last album "Back In Mono" and the companion "B-Sides and Outtakes" showed a band perfecting their own version of the Phil Spector layered "Wall of Sound" in the studio but live, stripped back to the raw elements of just drums, guitar and vocals, the quality of the song-writing still shines through loud and clear. Talking of quality song-writing, they played two excellent new numbers "Keep Dancing" and "Shake" which promise even better things are still to come from The Courettes - and knowing the 'hardest working band in show business' as I do, I can bet we won't have to wait too long for those good things to come!   

All photos copyright Retro Man Blog 2023. Here's the video to their latest single "Tough Like That"...

More of our live videos from the show can be found at our Retromanblog65 YouTube channel here, and don't forget our very special Retrosonic Podcast episode "Presenting the fabulous Courettes" is still available at Spotify, iTunes, Apple Podcasts or direct from our SoundCloud site below.

Retrosonic Podcast · Presenting the fabulous Courettes

Luke Haines & Peter Buck at The 100 Club, April 18th 2022

Luke Haines & Peter Buck at The 100 Club - photo by Retro Man Blog

Well, if ever there was an intriguing collaboration it was that of The Auteurs and Black Box Recorder frontman Luke Haines and the Rickenbacker-toting guitar hero Peter Buck of R.E.M. Apparently, this unlikely pairing came about after Peter bought one of Luke's Lou Reed paintings as seen on the cover of his "New York In The 70's" album. So, once contact had been made, Luke took the opportunity to see if there was any chance they could work together. They did and the result was the excellent album "Beat Poetry For Survivalists" which was released in 2020 by Cherry Red Records. I was thinking, it's been a pretty long time since I first saw The Auteurs supporting Suede at the Windsor Old Trout back in 1992. I only managed to catch the band once more at the ULU in London a year later and that was the very last time I was to see Luke Haines on stage. My first experience of seeing R.E.M. was in 1989 at the Wembley Arena and they'd just hit the big-time worldwide with the release of "Green". I did see them again one more time at the cavernous Olympia in Earl's Court in 1999 but my aversion to stadium or arena shows meant that would be the last time I'd see the band play live. So, to be standing so close to one of my favourite guitarists some 23 years later in the tiny 100 Club basement was a real thrill. 

 

Luke Haines & Peter Buck at The 100 Club - photo by Retro Man Blog

Luke Haines & Peter Buck at The 100 Club - photo by Retro Man Blog

Luke reminds us that this gig was originally scheduled to go ahead two years ago but thankfully, I'm pleased to report that it was well worth the long wait and disappointments of the various postponements along the way. I'm chuffed to see Scott McCaughey in the line-up on bass tonight, not only due to his contributions to the later years of R.E.M. but mainly as I'm a big fan of his old outfit, The Young Fresh Fellows and of course, the excellent Minus 5. The mightily impressive Drummer Linda Pitmon is also in the Filthy Friends along with Peter, Scott and Sleater-Kinney's Corin Tucker and then finally, Nick Fowler provides some impressive keyboards and atmospherics. They open with two superb new songs, the Punky rush of "The Commies Are Coming" and the brilliantly titled "British Army on LSD" which Luke tells us were both written well before the current situation in Ukraine. What follows is a mix of new material and all ten songs from the "Beat Poetry For Survivalists" album including the stunning "Jack Parsons" about a Rocket Scientist who accidentally blew himself up. As you would expect from the author of the wonderfully acerbic memoir "Bad Vibes: Britpop and My Part In Its Downfall", Luke's lyrics are shot through with vivid phrases and pop culture references as in "The Last of The Legendary Bigfoot Hunters" that name-checks both Liberace and the Ramones with it's sing-along 'Johnny, Joey, Dee Dee, Tommy' section. Then there's the slow-burning "Apocalypse Beach" which is undercut by Peter's familiar E-Bow drone and the brilliant lyrics somehow manage to include the Clint Eastwood movie "Play Misty For Me", Folk legend Donovan, the Beach Boys and Maria Callas. 

 

Luke Haines & Peter Buck at The 100 Club - photo by Retro Man Blog

Luke Haines & Peter Buck at The 100 Club - photo by Retro Man Blog

"Bobby's Wild Years" is a stunning tour de force and the spooky "Witch Tariff" has some beautiful guitar motifs running through it and the earworm "All the black cats know where it's at" refrain. Of course most of the new songs played tonight were written during Lockdown but only "Won't Even Get Out of Bed" makes a direct reference to the trials and tribulations of the pandemic. Before another promising new number "Diary of a Crap Artist", Luke says with a self-deprecating grin that it's up to us to decide if it's autobiographical or not! "Psychedelic Sitar Casuals" is probably my highlight of the night and it really whets the appetite for the next LP which will hopefully be out sometime in October. In the meantime, there will be an April Record Store Day release entitled "Wild Companion" which is all ten songs of "Beat Poetry For Survivalists" remixed and 'reimagined' in Dub, Bass and Beats by Jacknife Lee. Anyway, back to tonight's show, they end the main set with "Ugly Dude Blues" but not before Luke tells us that although we are a beautiful audience, we all must know at least one ugly dude. Let's hear it for the ugly dude! Of course they get called back for a well-deserved encore which includes the atmospheric "Exit Space" and a powerful run through of my favourite song from the "Beat Poetry..." album, the excellent "Andy Warhol Was Not Kind". So, all-in-all it was a thoroughly entertaining night in the company of two unlikely musical bedfellows and I can't wait for the next album.

Duncan Reid & The Big Heads, Cyanide Pills & The WitchDoktors - Photos & Videos from The 100 Club London Friday May 24th

Duncan Reid & The Big Heads at The 100 Club - photo Retro Man Blog

Here are some photos and videos of a thoroughly enjoyable night of Punk Rock at London's iconic 100 Club featuring a top-notch three band line-up. Headliner Duncan Reid & The Big Heads were unfortunately missing regular guitarist Sophie due to illness so Mauro Venegas from The Speedways stepped in at the last minute to cover admirably. Mauro had an immediate chemistry with Duncan and his bandmates, the excellent drummer Karen Jones and impressive lead guitarist Nick Hughes. As promising as they sounded, Duncan didn't make Mauro's job any easier by including a couple of new songs in the set. And what a set it was...packed full of timeless Punk Pop, or Power Pop or whatever you want to call it - that took in the best of his debut solo album and those with The Big Heads including songs such as "Bombs Away", "Let's Skip To The Good Bit" and "Montevideo". Duncan is a non-stop blur of purple clad energy and he barely gives himself time to finish singing a line before he's off jumping around the stage again. Of course there's a pick of classics by The Boys including "First Time", "Brickfield Nights", "TCP" and "Sick On You" which got everyone singing along. Duncan mentions how lucky he was to be in The Boys with such talented songwriters and cheekily comments that's why his new songs are so good! He's not wrong though, as songs such as "Don't Stop" and "C'mon Josephine" certainly match the melodic genius of his previous employers.

Duncan Reid & The Big Heads at The 100 Club - photo Retro Man Blog

Duncan Reid & The Big Heads at The 100 Club - photo Retro Man Blog

Duncan Reid & The Big Heads at The 100 Club - photo Retro Man Blog

Duncan Reid & The Big Heads at The 100 Club - photo Retro Man Blog

Duncan Reid & The Big Heads at The 100 Club - photo Retro Man Blog

Duncan Reid & The Big Heads at The 100 Club - photo Retro Man Blog

Leeds band Cyanide Pills put on an all-action show with a set crammed full of their fast and naggingly memorable Punk tunes. Although some of the humourous songs such as "Suicide Bomber", "Mail Order Bride" and "Can't Get It Up" might at first put them firmly in The Toy Dolls and The Dickies camp, the quality of their superb songwriting, particularly on excellent tracks like "Government", "Sit Tight" and "Shallow" for example, prove there is much more depth to the band. A personal highlight of the night was the classic "Johnny Thunders Lived In Leeds" which boasts one of the greatest lines ever - 'I'm a Yorkshireman not a New York junkie'. The merchandise table was bulging with their already impressive back catalogue of multicoloured vinyl singles and if you didn't snap up the lot on the night then you can order them from Damaged Goods Records here. 

Cyanide Pills at The 100 Club - photo Retro Man Blog

Cyanide Pills at The 100 Club - photo Retro Man Blog

Cyanide Pills at The 100 Club - photo Retro Man Blog

Cyanide Pills at The 100 Club - photo Retro Man Blog

It's been a while since we last saw The WitchDoktors play and it was refreshing to catch them again after so long and enjoy their whiskey soaked Rock 'n' Roll. The crunching Garage Punk of songs like "I'm Sick" and "No Pain No Gain" are balanced by tuneful favourites such as "Told You To Go", which I always felt was The WitchDoktors very own "Train In Vain". Talking of The Clash, the band don't shy away from their primary influence especially as "Black Bag" segues into a cover of "Guns of Brixton" and there's a sneaky drum attack tribute to "Tommy Gun" along the way too. The band are steeped in the outsider Rock 'n' Roll tradition of bowling shirts and brothel ceepers - Johnny Cash, Ramones, old school Rockabilly and it's all wrapped up in a swampy Voodoo sound perfectly captured in two of the night's highlights, "Neck Tattoo" and "Common Prayer For A Working Man". Great band and great guys. I hope it won't be too long before we see them again.

The WitchDoktors at The 100 Club - photo Retro Man Blog

The WitchDoktors at The 100 Club - photo Retro Man Blog

The WitchDoktors at The 100 Club - photo Retro Man Blog

The WitchDoktors at The 100 Club - photo Retro Man Blog

For more photos of the gig please check out the Retro Man Blog Facebook page here and you can find lots more original videos of all three bands at our YouTube channel here. Please click on the highlighted links to take you to the band's official web-sites for news and more info on upcoming tour dates and how to buy their records. Mauro is also involved with Some Weird Sin promotions who will be putting on the Pump It Up Power Pop weekender at The Lexington on July 27th and 28th which features Duncan Reid & The Big Heads and The Priscillas among others.