Raising the alarm for Willie's summer mixtape...
Nightmare show tonight after the fire alarm went off in the building causing us to have to leave the studio for half an hour.ÌýI was all for staying on for a bitÌý ("But I can't leave - I have a show to do!") but I was persuaded otherwise...thanks Chris and Mandi. Probably not worth risking your life just so you can play Rolf Harris eh? It was all fine in the end -Ìýno real fire. Probably a bit of burnt toast somewhere in the building.
Loved the text that came in from someone suggesting that the fire alarm was probably down to the fact we were playing Sparks at the time!
Second half of the show was much better, due to another good summer mix tapeÌý - courtesy of Willie Bartke.How good was that Millie JacksonÌýtrack?ÌýHere's a list of Willie's suggestions with some great memories of the 60s and 70s. I hope you enjoy and if you missed hearing them on air you can listen again on the new iplayer.
Pic: Get It On listener, Willie Bartke"Right now looking out at the damp miserable "summer" night, warm summer memories are about as fondly remembered as my 60s loon pants!
HEATWAVE-MARTHA AND THE VANDELLAS(Martha Reeves wild vocals were the flipside to Diana Ross's cooing and this one is guaranteed to raise the temperature,Motown at its most vibrant)
BEATLES-GOOD DAY,SUNSHINE(Am I the only one who thinks that Revolver is a better album than the much vaunted Sgt.Pepper?Whatever you think,this is one great Beatles song)
AURA NYRO-STONED SOUL PICNIC(Laura Nyro was the "hippest"chick in town round about 1969 and although blessed with a rare gift for songwriting and one of the great white soul voices never had a hit herself.This, her most covered song conjures up images of blossoms,sunshine,wine and and how exactly does one"Surry on down" ?!
SUMMER(THE FIRST TIME)-MILLIE JACKSON.(Phew,wot a scorcher!Millie Jackson takes Country warbler Bobby Goldsborough's song and gives it a sexual makeover you wont forget in a hurry!Donna Summer,eat you heart out!)
SUNSHINE SUPERMAN-DONOVAN(Glasgow's forgotten troubador gives us a little bit of California psychedelia in this little gem)
WHITE RABBIT -JEFFERSON AIRPLANE/ LIGHT MY FIRE - THE DOORS
There are two Summers that quickly come to mind that stand out for me,1967 and 1970.
1967has got to be one of the great years musically speaking with the Beatles at there peak and this new fangled psychedelic stuff coming from America.
Big favourites for me that summer would be The Doors"Light My Fire" and Jefferson Airplane's "White Rabbit"with Grace Slick going slowly mental to a bolero beat.Scary!
In 1970 I would be 20 and that year I attended two massive rock festivals.The greatest of these was at Isle of Wight where along with 500,000!! other hardy souls we grooved to Hendrix,Doors,Who and my favourite "chick"Joni Mitchell but earlier that year there was a great festival at Shepton Mallet near the Glastonbury site where bands like Jefferson Airplane ,Pink Floyd,Frank Zappa blew our minds and top of the bill was Led Zeppelin with a freshfaced Robert Plant(these days more walnut faced!)
The lineups between these two gigs read like a Who's who of rock! Only Dylan, Beatles and Stones missing! Being a Glasgow hippy I remember our "stash"of Tennants Lager and a half bottle of Whisky and getting the runs from the "macrobiotic brown rice"!
I now have the Isle of Wight gig on dvd and having been in a great position to see the bands, whenever the camera pans to the audience I freeze frame it to see if I can spot myself.(I am the one with the long hair and beard,haha! )Sadly the long hair is long gone now but not the memories!
GROOVIN'-THE YOUNG RASCALS.(Great 60s Blue eyed soulsters ,Felix Cavalier the singer wrote some absolute classics but this 1968 smash hit was as good as it got,Bliss!
JONI MITCHELL-THE HISSING OF SUMMER LAWNS(Joni turns her analytical gaze outwards and coolly dissects LALAlands obsession with all things superficial with breathtaking eloquence. Genius!)
SUMMER WINE-NANCY SINATRA AND LEE HAZELWOOD(weird and quite wonderful 60s duet from Nancy Sinatra who made some brilliant duets with the writer of These Boots whose voice sounded like he gargled with battery acid!.)
LOVIN' SPOONFUL -SUMMER IN THE CITY (Pretty adventurous for what were originally a Jug Band in 1966,love the intro!).
ANY WAY THAT YOU WANT ME-EVIE SANDS. Evie Sands was always the bridesmaid it seemed in the 60s having recorded the original versions of "Take me for a Little While" and "Angel of the Morning"and"I Cant Let Go"only to have them covered and the hits went to someone else until Chip Taylor remodelled his Troggs hit in 1970 for her and its pop genius!"
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