Welcome to the ramblings of a man who really should have grown out of listening to "that sort of music" a long, long time ago...A place to share thoughts and photographs on music and related paraphernalia.
Here's a selection of photos and videos from a great Alice In Wonderland Psychedelic Summer Shindig at The Water Rats in London's Kings Cross featuring three superb bands The Crystal Teardrop, The Jack Cades and The Embrooks that are right up Retro Man Blog's street. It seems that recently Christian, from the legendary 80's Psychedelic club has started putting on shows again, I remember it used to be held at Gossip's in Soho (the same club that also housed The Batcave) and Clive the singer from Dr. & The Medics was a regular DJ. We'll definitely be keeping an eye out for future gigs and events, especially if they can attract such a great line-up of bands, all three headliners in their own right. The Embrooks' Psych-pop classics are always a joy to hear, it was just a shame I couldn't take any videos of their set. This was my first time to see the current Jack Cades since the departure of Mole and Alex, and as much as I loved that line-up, the new look JC's were on fire. They treated us to some fantastic sounding new songs from their forthcoming album that channelled their appreciation of The Brian Jonestown Massacre and The Velvet Underground into memorable riffs and driving rhythms. This was my first ever time to see The Crystal Teardrop and I could quickly see why there is such a buzz about the band at the moment. They look great on stage, a blur of energy and in Alexandra Rose they have a charismatic and engaging frontwoman. The songs were impressive, I particularly liked their use of the electric sitar and I picked up a copy of their new album "The Crystal Teardrop Is Forming" which is a great listen. You can see more videos from the show over at our Retromanblog65 YouTube channel.
Cover Star: Elsa of The Jack Cades. Photo by Jeff Pitcher
Welcome to Episode 52 of Retrosonic Podcast, a Brexit-busting selection of 22 superb new International releases from as far afield as America, Denmark, Scotland, Sweden, Canada, England, France and Japan - strictly minimum chat and maximum Rock 'n' Roll! Please support the bands, musicians and artists by clicking on the highlighted links in the tracklisting below for further information and details on how to buy the music featured in this show. So pour yourself a drink, crank up the volume, sit back and be prepared to be blown away! Subscribe for free at Spotify, iTunes, Amazon Music, Apple Podcasts or listen/download direct from our SoundCloud site below.
Thanks to all featured bands and record labels. This episode's cover star is Elsa from The Jack Cades, photo by Jeff Pitcher, please check out more of Jeff's excellent photos here. Please subscribe to Retrosonic Podcast at SoundCloud, iTunes/Apple Podcasts or Spotify - all for free - so you don't miss an episode.
Welcome to this milestone episode of Retrosonic Podcast - yes we've made it to 50 shows so thank you all for your support over the last ten years or so, it is very much appreciated. Of course thanks also to the great bands, artists and record labels who have been producing so such excellent new music that keeps us so busy! So, here's a little Xmas gift for you to celebrate 2022 with - 18 new releases which prove that despite all the hardships of the past year - nothing has stopped the creative force of these fantastic musicians. As always, if you like what you hear, please do check out the feature at Retro Man Blog .com for the full tracklisting and links to discover more about the featured bands - so check out their info, go and see them play live and most importantly - buy their merchandise and records. Listen in here...
18. The Highmarts "Sorry" from their "Dodgy Demo Tape"
Subscribe to Retrosonic Podcast for free at SoundCloud, Spotify, iTunes and Apple Podcasts. Retrosonic theme tune by Adam Donovan, this episode's cover star Amy K-B. With thanks to Lee Grimshaw at Spinout Nuggets, this year's Retrosonic Podcast special guests Damian O'Neill, Suzi Moon, Pete & Michele at Eel Pie Island Museum, The Gruesomes and my occasional co-presenters Buddy Ascott & Paul Slattery.
In this episode of our Retrosonic Podcast Lockdown Lowdown series we welcome Mike and Elsa from one of our favourite new groups, The Jack Cades, following the release of their superb second album "Perfect View". Mike and Elsa take us on a musical trip through some of their favourite albums, singles, gigs, happenings and people that had an influence on their own impressive work with Thee Vicars, The Baron Four, The Missing Souls and of course with The Jack Cades. Generously soundtracked by some of their favourite songs including Nirvana, The Milkshakes, The Masonics, Rodriguez, The Stone Roses, Buzzcocks, The Beatles, The (International) Noise Conspiracy, Spacemen 3, The Squires and The Brian Jonestown Massacre. There's also a pick of their very own music from Thee Vicars, The Missing Souls, The Baron Four and of course The Jack Cades.
Please click on the highlighted links above for more information on the featured bands and how to buy their music. The Jack Cades Facebook page is here for news about on-line performances and releases. Please kindly do what you can to support Bands, Artists, Record Companies and Venues in these difficult times. Subscribe to Retrosonic Podcast for FREE at iTunes or at our Soundcloud site/archive here. This episode can also be downloaded or streamed directly below.
In Episode 38 of Retrosonic Podcast, Steve from Retro Man Blog plays some great brand new and recent releases from the worlds of Garage Rock, Punk, Indie, Psych and Power Pop to help ease the Lockdown Blues. In this episode there's a look back at some of the gigs we did manage to attend so far this year and there are songs from Jah Wobble (featuring Keith Levene & Richard Dudanski from Public Image Ltd, Mark Stewart from The Pop Group and Youth from Killing Joke), Shack as Michael Head & The Red Elastic Band played this rare Shack song at Earth in Hackney, The Parkinsons, The Past Tense and Elephant Stone. Then there's more brand new releases from The Jack Cades, Alvin Gibbs & The Disobedient Servants, The Sanitizers, Martin Savage & The Jiggerz, The Veras, Palooka 5, The In-Fuzzed, Groovy Uncle and Goodbye Victory Road. There's a look back at our last proper night out at the Poor Cow bar in Tokyo before the Lockdown and a track from the owner's old band, Japanese Punk legends Teengenerate. Then, inspired by the superb "Teenage Superstars" documentary there's a couple of classics from BMX Bandits and The Shop Assistants. Finally, as it should have been our favourite event of the year, Hipsville-A-Go-Go down in Margate, there's one of the best bands we've seen at the Weekender over the years, Brazil's Autoramas. Anyway, here's the full track-listing, please click on the highlighted links
below for more information on the relevant band, artist, record company,
promoter etc.
Please kindly support the bands! This Episode's cover star Eric Baconstrip. Photo (and mask) by Maki. Retrosonic Podcast has a valid PRS licence. Thanks to Amy K-B, Lee Grimshaw at Spinout Nuggets, Mark Chadderton at Time & Matter, Michel Moimême at Wattsville, Daniel Taylor, Pat McVicar and Eric Baconstrip. You can subscribe to Retrosonic on iTunes or listen/download directly from our Soundcloud archive, all episodes still available.
Wanda & Dottie in front of Dave Taylor's lighting - Photo by Retro Man Blog
Hipsville, our favourite musical (and social) event of the year never disappoints and although I probably say this every time, I think this really was one of the best so far. Despite various setbacks with location and venue changes over the years, I believe that the tireless and enthusiastic organisers Andrew, Ade, Alexandra and their team hit on a winning formula that managed to combine all the very best Hipsville elements that we have grown to love. Hipsville is the perfect antidote to all the current greyness, bad news and depression enveloping Brexit Britain – it is a bright and colourful splash of Hawaiian shirts, fez’s and fancy dress. Bands and fans from all over the world congregate to enjoy the music, make new friends and basically, party! After two years at Margate’s vintage Dreamland funfair, Hipsville has relocated to the town’s Cliftonville area to the Lido and the nearby historic Winter Gardens, which once hosted Laurel & Hardy and The Beatles.
The Jack Cades at Hipsville - Photo copyright Retro Man Blog
I thought both venues worked perfectly – the suitably scuzzy Lido was ideal for this year’s Soho-A-Go-Go theme with its red upholstery, dark nooks and crannies and sticky carpets – just like an old-school Soho boozer or afterhours drinking den. Dave Taylor from Enjoy Yourself provided stunning lighting and visuals and his impressive oil projections transformed the Lido into a seething multi-coloured Psychedelic dreamworld. This all made for a perfect backdrop for the gorgeous Hipsville Go-Go dancers to strut their stuff - Wanda de Lullabies, Miss Diabolik, Alexandra Beat Girl, Celia Formica, Tina Tuna, Nocturna, and although sadly there was no Miss Ge Veve this year, we did have the welcome return of Dottie Gooseberry. This year saw the official introduction of two Go-Go boys too, Steve and Khalid from The Action Men, who both seemed to thoroughly enjoy the whole experience. The Jack Cades opened up proceedings in the Lido on the Friday evening and despite only just releasing their excellent debut album “Music For Children” on Dirty Water Records last year, they included a few really promising sounding new songs in the set. I sincerely hope this means that there will be more good stuff released by the band very soon indeed.
The Jack cades at Hipsville - Photo copyright Retro Man Blog
The Deadly Spirits from Sweden were great fun and their raw Rock ‘n’ Soul went down really well with the crowd. The band are from Karlstad so it was nice to bump into a couple of them and chat about mutual friends and bands such as Tonbruket, Cat & the Underdogs, Nymphet Noodlers and Mattias Hellberg. The final band, The Anomalys, powered through a set of fast and raucous Punk Rock and then it was over to our favourite Hipsville DJ's who over the weekend included Neil ‘Sick’ Smith, Adam Diddy Wah, Carl Combover and Fritz Buzzsaw who all ensured the party never stopped.
The Deady Spirits at Hipsville - Photo copyright Retro Man Blog
Mighty Tsar at Hipsville - Photo copyright Retro Man Blog
On Saturday afternoon, the Glass Jar hosted the Tiki cocktail Bar and we enjoyed a drink while being serenaded by The Mighty Tsar and theur swampy Skiffle Calypso and some suitably mellow tunes courtesy of DJ Ian Greensmith. We then wanted to see Das Clamps for the first time and just managed to squeeze our way into the superb, but tiny, Fez Bar that was so packed it resembled a Tokyo subway train at rush hour. The duo comprise Miss Tangerine Tassels on guitar and vocals and then there is her sidekick on drums and vocals, Tina Marina who for some reason reminds me of Tina from Oh! Gunquit...anyway, they played foot stomping stripped back Cramps inspired songs from their forthcoming album “Shit Music For Shit People” which is out soon on the excellent Trash Wax Records. Unfortunately, French band The Scaners had to pull out at the last minute due to one of the members breaking their leg, which was really bad news as I was looking forward to seeing them very much. However, the good news was that The Baron Four stepped in at short notice and proved more than capable substitutes with their own brand of upbeat Garage R'n'B.
Das Clamps at Hipsville - Photo copyright Retro Man Blog
Das Clamps at Hipsville - Photo copyright Retro Man Blog
Autoramas at Hipsville - Photo copyright Retro Man Blog
Then it was over to the grand Winter Gardens and there were more excellent visuals from Dave Taylor – movies of Swinging 60’s London and Soho Street signs and the stage had red telephone boxes on either side for the Go-Go girls, boys, and gorillas to dance in. The DJ booth was imaginatively transformed into a seedy sex shop. Tonight’s opening act were the fabulous Autoramas and as regular Blog followers will know, the Brazilian space age retro rockers have fast become one of our favourite bands ever since we first saw them play courtesy of Hipsville back in 2015. Their unique blend of Bubble-gum Garage Rock and B-52’s/Devo style New Wave with crunching bass sound and Gabriel’s trademark vibrato effects pedal was simply mind-blowing. The always glamorous Erika adds keyboards, Theremin and guitar and dances non-stop, even getting down to dance with the audience too. They are a fantastic band, one of those that you really have to try to see play live and such lovely people too.
Autoramas at Hipsville - Photo copyright Retro Man Blog
The Night Times with Celia & Wanda at Hipsville - Photo Retro Man Blog
Next up it’s the U.K. debut for the hotly tipped Californian band The Night Times who wowed the crowd with their traditional nuggets era Psych. They have a superb drummer who was a blur of hair as she thrashed away behind her kit and the lead vocalist/bassist was throwing himself about so much that his bass kept going out of tune. They were such a great live act and there was a tangible buzz about them throughout the whole weekend. Next on stage it was the turn of MFC Chicken who played a thoroughly entertaining set of Fabulous Wailers songs that had everyone dancing along. Classics like “Mashi” and “Out of Our Tree” went down a storm and they even made the perennial classic “Louie Louie” sound fresh. There was also a surprise appearance by Elsa from The Jack Cades who joined the band to wow everyone with a soulful vocal performance.
The Night Times at Hipsville - Photo copyright Retro Man Blog
MFC Chicken at Hipsville - Photo copyright Retro Man Blog
The Action Men entertained us with an amusing dance routine, which featured a cameo from Mr A, and then the winners of the fancy dress competition were announced. In the sad absence of Davros and his Deep Space Deviants, this year saw The Stags put in a hilarious performance with a Mary Whitehouse lookalike on vocals and a band comprising Policemen in a uniform of helmets, tunics and suspenders. What a perfect ending to a fabulous day. On Sunday, it was back to the Fez Bar to be serenaded by Professor Baba and His Invisible Band who bewitched us with some entertaining Voodoo Blues and general mumbo jumbo. I thought it was strange how the Professor reminded me of Simon from Oh! Gunquit – that band must have many lookalikes running around Margate. We made it into the Lido just as Spanish band Los Wilds were finishing their set and the wild-eyed frontman was down to his underpants and cowboy boots. A normal Sunday afternoon at Hipsville then.
Professor Baba at Hipsville - Photo copyright Retro Man Blog
The Night Times at Hipsville - Photo copyright Retro Man Blog
Next came The Day Tymes, the not-so-subtle alter ego of The Night Times who blew the Lido apart with their ‘secret’ show. During a wild version of “Gloria” the singer put his bass down and jumped into the crowd for the duration of the song prompting David Arnold of The Stags to take over on bass duties, he should have quickly tuned it up while he was about it. The good news is that the band are hanging around in the UK for a couple more weeks and as I write they are in North Down Sound Studios with Lois and Mole from State Records recording songs for a new single. They will also be playing Brighton on May 17th and Weirdsville in London on Saturday May 18th so if you missed Hipsville be sure to catch them play if you can, you will not be disappointed. The Hipsville team could finally relax and let their hair down at the Sunday night after show party at the Cinque Ports pub – they had invited legendary DJ Mike Gunn (himself no stranger to a bit of sleaze) over from L.A. to close the weekend in his inimitable style. We all kept our eyes on our wallets and our whisky and ensured that no Go-Go dancer was left unchaperoned in the presence of the lascivious titan of the turntable! What a great weekend, I just cannot wait to do it all again next year.
DJ Neil 'Sick' Smith & Hipsville Organiser Mr A
Hipsville organiser Ade, or is it Mike Gunn...with Dave Taylor
Please take the time to click on the highlighted links throughout the feature to check out more information on the relevant bands. You can find more photos of the Hipsvile Soho-A-Go-Go weekend at our Facebook page here and more videos over here at our Retro Man Blog YouTube channel. Check the Blog archive for lots of features on previous Hipsville weekenders and Weirdsville club nights. We have also played tracks by many Hipsville/Weirdsville related bands in our Retrosonic Podcast and all episodes are available to listen to or download from our Soundcloud site here.
The Night Times at Hipsville - photo copyright Retro Man Blog
The Hipsville Go-Go Dancers
For news and announcements on future Weirdsville and Hipsville shows please keep an eye on the You Got Good Taste web site. Dave Taylor runs the Enjoy Yourself club nights in Swanage and more information on this and his lighting can be found here. Finally, once again huge thanks to Andrew, Ade and Alexandra and their team of helpers for once again putting on such a fantastic event.
Hipsville, always Retro Man Blog's event of the year, is back in Margate over the May 3rd-5th Bank Holiday weekend and this time they are taking the mean streets of Soho to the seaside town. Check out the Hipsville web-site here for full details on the line-up of bands, DJ's, Go-Go dancers and happenings over the weekend along with info on tickets and venues. Let's hand you over to organisers Alex, Mr A and Ade for the lowdown on what you can expect. "Shady ladies! Spivs! After-hours nightclubs! Neon! All-night coffee drinking! Underground drinking dens! Dirty magazines! Held in the magical, old-school seaside town of Margate, the UK’s biggest trash party is set to celebrate seven years of mayhem by channeling the spirit of London’s seediest neighbourhood – this year’s theme is SOHO! Join us in the dark, neon-lit streets for a bold, brazen, bizarre and wild weekend amid the gangsters and good time girls that frequent the area’s late night clubs and coffee shops. ‘Ello darlin’! Garage, titty twisting' rock’n’roll, tiki, punk and hot slop! fans descend annually on the south east of the UK for a wild, riotous weekend of bands, Go-Go girls, gorillas and DJs for 3 days of crazed partying through the night and into the morning. Each year Hipsville has a theme; previous years have seen partygoers dress up for jungle, space, horror and carny parties, and this year’s Soho theme is set to be sleazier than ever – our guests really do put the world’s most jaw-dropping costumes together! This year’s travelling revue will take in Margate’s most incredible venues and showcase some of the world’s finest rock and roll bands, just look what we've got planned for you!"
This year one of our favourite bands Autoramas will be returning to Hipsville and they will be joined by a top selection of international Garage Psych Trash Tiki Punk bands such as Das Clamps, The Jack Cades, The Night Times, The Scaners, The Stags, MFC Chicken, Mighty Tsar, The Deadly Spirits and The Anomalys and more - check out the Hipsville event page here for links and info. Check the Blog archive for Hipsville and you can uncover features on previous Hipsville weekends over the years including loads of reviews and photos. The Retro Man Blog YouTube channel has loads of original 'down the front' action packed videos and various episodes of our Retrosonic Podcast include a host of Hipsville and Weirdsville related bands and too. Here's an episode from 2018.
It's going to be tough to beat last year's mind-blowing Hipsville (read our feature here) but every year I say that and they always do manage it! Here's the superb Schizophoncs from last year's show.
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