Some excellent proto-punk from the New York Dolls.
It’s the Osmonds. Don’t worry; I don’t actually like the music. It’s the leg movement that does it.
Nine Inch Nails may have stopped touring but they haven’t stopped being amazing.
Some excellent British ska here with the band Madness. I especially like this line:
It’s just gone noon, half past monsoon
Here’s Pete Doherty of Babyshambles, playing what would later become an over-produced song. This version is far better.
Here are the Levellers covering the Clash’s English Civil War and, in my humble opinion, improving it. If you like it check out Dropkick Murphy’s Johnny I Hardly Knew Ya which has a similar tune, having been derived from the same old folk song.
Not great music, but what an odd band. Check out the bass player’s shoulder pads.
I like this Motorhead video mostly because it’s funny how much faster this version is than the original. I’d guess around four times faster.
I have a thing for rock music sung in non-English languages. This song, which isn’t the best in the world, is by Rawbau, a band that features the current manager of the Croatian national football team, Slaven Bilic.
Here’s an angry and fast 90s song by Supergrass.
Something a bit different with excellent beatboxer, Beardyman, coming up with “oompa-loompa” blues music.
The Yardbirds were the band that started the careers of Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck AND Jimmy Page. Here’s a Beck-era song, played by a seemingly headless man – Jimmy Page.
Dick Dale with Misirlou.
Australian band Wolfmother covering Led Zeppelin classic, Communication Breakdown.
I’ve never understood this kind of punk music. Still, some people go crazy for it. It’s the Exploited with Dogs of War.
Something more modern than many tracks on this blog: a 21st century song. It’s the Zutons, a great band from Liverpool, with You Will, You Won’t.
Some really smooth Southern groove with Little Feat.
Hocus Pocus by the band Focus is possibly one of the best songs of all time. Even if it was straight rock (so forget the organ and the vocals), it would be amazing, but with all the crazy singing, and the general insanity of the band themselves, this is a proper classic song.
Please don’t be put off by Geri Halliwell at the start as this is in fact They Might Be Giants performing Boss of Me, their song popularised by its use as the theme tune on the excellent Malcolm in the Middle television series.
I do enjoy music in foreign languages. I sometimes wonder why French and German-language acts never really made a big impact upon our charts. Here’s Plastic Bertrand with “Ça plane pour moi”.
I am a massive ska fan, and a massive Specials fan. This, therefore, is a real treat: the Specials performing a Maytals song.
Bread and Butter, by the Newbeats. This is probably one of the oddest songs I’ve ever heard. Just take a look at the lyrics:
He likes bread and butter,
he likes toast and jam,
That’s what his baby feeds him,
he’s her loving man.She don’t cook mashed potatoes,
she don’t cook T-bone steaks,
Don’t feed me peanut butter,
she knows that I can’t take.He likes bread and butter,
he likes toast and jam,
That’s what his baby feeds him,
he’s her loving man.
Bizarre. Now listen – it’s get weirder.
I have listened to this song more times than is healthy. Please enjoy this Dead Milkmen song in moderation.
This is a classic Rory Gallagher song, Hands Off, with a real stomping beat and some excellent guitar. Enjoy.
Guns N’ Roses were a very good band at their peak, but some of their songs different in style to that era were even better. This is a favourite.
One of the better songs by the Pogues; better in the sense that it grabs you, it’s fast and it flows easily.
It’s a damn shame about the nauseating camera-work in this video, because The Nice’s song, “America” is an excellent early-ish prog song. Check out the organ being stabbed several times.
Some more blues rock, this time from Dr Feelgood, an English band who never got the credit they deserved, but who, as I hope you’ll see from this video, played some excellent, fast and rough music.
Let’s start off the blog with some old time blues rock:
