h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

That's JFA and Jodie Foster's Army, the band as I say from Phoenix Arizona, one minute and fifteen seconds of that, which by comparison with the next one is like Shine On You Crazy Diamond. This is Do the Hannigan.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=twYZ4z9hejs

That's The JFA and Do the Hannigan, and even that is epic by comparison with this.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jK8gPl8tbaI

China Crisis, from Merseyside, and that's called Seven Sports for All. On the subject of sport, I've got to stop having all these ludicrous competitions. I mean it's only a device obviously to swell the mail and make the programme look more popular so people at the BBC look at it and say "Hey, people actually listen to all of that". And our most recent one, and I actually forget why we decided to have the competition, was to write a song, er with the line or with the title 'Well Brian, it Was a Fifty-Fifty Ball', and the entries for this have started to pour in including one from Paul Clark who writes from Kenton Bar Estate, Newcastle on Tyne. It's awful, as you suggest, Paul, in fact, it reads like the sort of lyric that you'd have heard in something like a Procol Harum song. "Night-time ticket collectors devoured Bermondsey", what does that mean? "Boasting history lessons in death treacle". Well thanks very much for your effort anyway. Brave but er, close but no cigar I think. This is from Wahib, I suppose that's how you pronounce it - W, A, H, I, B, and er, Wahib I think comes from er, it may be a person or it may be a group, I honestly don't know, on Hits From Heaven Records, I think from the Oxford area, this is called Brings on the Tears. I'm full of information tonight! Finger on the pulse.

No video of this exists, as far as I can find, but it is a real thing http://www.discogs.com/Wahib-My-Eyes/release/1895812

On Hits From Heaven Records that's er, Bring on the Tears, and it's by er, Wahib. W, A, H, I, B. And whilst we're amongst the Wahs, why not?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HlAKKam2wUs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Oq_fELKNsg

That's Otis Redding of course, and I Can't Turn You Loose, before that Shambeko! Say Wah! and the B side of the single, A Crack is a Crack. And the Otis Redding track, er, Otis Redding buffs will know that they may not have heard that before, and it's from a new LP, well, I mean obviously it's new, er, called Recorded Live: Previously Unreleased Performances, which is an American import on Atlantic, recorded at the Whiskey a Go Go in Los Angeles in April 1966. And with the road band rather than with a studio band so as you could hear, it's a lot more basic I think, and on the first side of the record, that was on side two the track I just played you, and on the first side, er, there's a sequence of three tracks which are so wonderful that I shall play them all later on in the programme, I mean later on in the week without interruption. Good To Me, Chained and Bound and Old Man Trouble which I think is my all time favourite Otis Redding song.

And er, from Kan Kan, this is Apartment 100.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F4S_q_poC2w#t=8m08s

(8m 08s - 12m 02s)

After Haircut 100, Apartment 100, and that's from Kan Kan, our guests on tonight's programme, and earlier this evening I was speaking on the phone to a representative of an organisation called The Death and Beauty Foundation, and they wanted me to tell the world that they're appearing, if that's the right word, on Thursday at the Royal College of Art starting at seven minutes to seven. There's some particular significance in the fact that they start at seven minutes to seven, I forget what it is, but significant it certainly is. And er, it's also actually today Duane Eddy's birthday. This was pointed out to me amongst others, by Owen Davis of Bath and I must confess I'd forgotten this and I haven't got any Duane Eddy records to play in the programme so you'll just have to take Duane Eddy's birthday as read. Not an easy thing to do but there you are. I apologise for not playing any of his records tonight. And then, this is much more significant because as I say I've also been going through more ghastly entries for the 'Brian it's a Fifty-Fifty Ball' competition, and like the last Bruce Grobelaar they're all quite dreadful but perhaps one will leap out and I shall be able to sing it to you. Dicko, I think it is, wrote to me from Willenhall in the West Midlands and says "Dear John, a few years ago now my grandfather, the rocking octogenarian that he was, brought on an obscw... an obsc... abs..." can I start this again? "Bought an obscure album from some market or other, it's called The Awful Disclosures of Maria Monk by Woody Kern which came out in 1969, apparently you wrote the sleeve notes and I wondered if you could tell me anything about the album because I've never seen it anywhere else." The reason for this is, Dicko, is that I bought up all of the copies that were available and obviously that's one that slipped through the net, because my sleeve notes, I've written sleeve notes for several LPS over the years, and you tend to over-write them, I'm not sure why. They've always been really embarrassing, and the ones for that particular LP, just horrendous. I mean, I forecast like, enormous fame and notoriety for Woody Kern, like, take over the world, and they were going to be the biggest band that ever happened. Very very embarrassing. Anyway. Er, move on now to Artificial Peace, and this is another track from that LP about flexing your head. Outside Looking In.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kLFPpGOna2s

From Washington DC on Discord Records and from the LP Flex Your Head, that's Artificial Peace and Outside Looking In, and because we like to keep a balance on these programmes this is Inside Looking Out.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qzzTwQ4GLUY

Those are The Animals, from oh, years and years and years ago, and that was called Inside Looking Out. That's what they pay me for, this clever kind of programming, Outside Looking In, Inside Looking Out. This is from Cabaret Voltaire, from a new LP which is, er, in fact not so much an LP as two 12" EPs which play at 45, at least I hope they do. This track is called Yashar.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KEXCEz6ROqo

Oh they'll find them don't you worry. That's Cabaret Voltaire from the impending... ummm, double 45 12" EP if you like, and that one's called Yashar, that particular track, and you'll hear more from that in the rest of the week I don't doubt. And on tomorrow night's programme two sessions, one from UB40 and the other one marking the Radio 1 debut of Juju, which is another band from Norwich. Seem to getting a lot of bands from Norwich cos I read in the paper somewhere that Norwich was where it's at for this particular week so we've been there plundering Norwich bands, as has Kid Jensen if it comes to that. And I was in Norwich over the weekend. It's a wonderful town, Norwich. I mean, don't go there because they don't want it filling up with people, but I mean it is a really nice place. I enjoy Norwich enormously. And I was in a shop, a sort of gold coin and stamp shop, and a bloke in there called Dave asked me to play something by The Gang of Four, and I was hoping to play the new Gang of Four single but we haven't got a copy of yet. I expect Kid's had one for weeks. From China Crisis, Some People I Know to Lead Fantastic Lives.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qcmLET_anBo#t=8m20s

(8m 20s - end)

China Crisis, and that's called Some People I Know to Lead Fantastic Lives. And judging by the evidence of the... well, the quite a number of the entries for the competition in the "Well Brian It Was a Fifty-Fifty"... well, the 'Well Brian It Was a Fifty-Fifty Ball' competition, your chance to win five LPs to be nominated by myself *John chuckles*, five LPs which I can't get rid of anywhere else, that's what you're gonna get, and er, as I say, judging by the standard of them what you really need is, like, social workers, not five LPs. This is from Mikey Dread, Rocky Road.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1fFDsDA_2s0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lMZoIcsnJNA

That's Kan Kan and er, Shot In The Dark is the title of it. It sounded to me as though they singing 'Love Is a Shining Duck', which is rather an attractive concept I must say. I mean, curious but one of those things worth thinking about if you're having a boring night, after midnight, just sitting there and thinking about love being a shining duck. You don't have to of course, absolutely no compulsion about it whatsoever.

And this one of the records that Peter Powell played earlier on this evening as part of his, what does he call things... Five 45s, whatever it is, and it's by End Games and it's called Future's Looking Fine. That's one of the titles anyway, it seems to have alternative titles, the other one is, er... We Feel Good.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W4hZNvr-SdM

What a little sparkler to be sure. That's End Games and a new single called Future's Looking Fine, one of Peter's Five 45s at Five Forty Five. How I always wish I'd thought of that every time I hear it and I think, if only I'd had the chance. I've got a curious feeling you know, that Astrud Gilberto is going to be the next big thing, or at least Astrud Gilberto soundalikes. Well not exactly soundalikes but that kind of breathy vocal and acoustic guitars, that sort of thing, with a Bossa Nova-ish feel. We've got, well Weekend already, er, her out of Young Marble Giants, and Carmel of course, and now Tracy the Marine Girl, with Ben Watt at the guitar and their version of Night and Day, under the name Everything But The Girl, rather a combersome, cumbersome name, or combersome if you'd rather.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r4QiRP9p7vs

*Aside*

I don't normally intervene in this thread unless it's to answer a post from someone else, preferring to leave it to Peely to provide the words, but I think it's worth marking the first time that John played anything by Everything But The Girl, remarking that Tracey had previously been in The Marine Girls in the process, but with no idea at all of the huge band EBTG would become in the 80s, 90s and 2000s.

A little moment of musical history

Oh, I forgot to mention that Carmel was one of my favourite artistes of the time, or rather, later 80s/early 90s. Seriously underrated singer.

I'm no good at these multiple choice questions. That's Day and Night, Night and Day rather, by whatever it is that they're called. Something like Everything But The Girl, in fact exactly Everything But The Girl. This is the last tonight from China Crisis, Be Suspicious.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qcmLET_anBo#t=5m04s

(5m 04s - 8m 20s)

China Crisis, the last from them and their debut session for the programme as well, and that's called Be Suspicious. Now there's nothing I like more than hearing a nice old song done to death, and here's a fine example of that, some people, Italians I take it, it's on the Italian label anyway, by The Hi Fi Brothers, this is Magic Moments.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X97eyREKOkA

They also do a rather tender version of Stranger* in the Night, I must play you that some time as well. Those are The Hi Fi Brothers, Fabio, Marco and Gianni, and that's called Magic Moments of course. And to end tonight's programme Eddie Angel and Lynxtail

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=507ZtB7gFik

*Not a typo

Well that's rather inappropriate. I suppose there must be a tribute to Link Wray and on Duane Eddie's birthday of all things. That's Eddie Angel, from New York City on Rebel Riot Records, ending tonight's programme. Tomorrow night's sessions from Juju and UB40, tonight it's been Kan Kan and China Crisis.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DpAoX6IxoFo#t=0m26s

Time for me to step forward and say Radio 1 transmitters are now closing down until 5 o'clock tomorrow morning when we'll be joining Radio 2 until 7 o'clock, then Mike Read'll be along with the breakfast show. Thanks for listening and goodnight.