Featuring, Jah Wobble & the Invaders of the Heart, Fingers Inc., Patti Smith and more. Cheq out this black and white footage of Van Morrison performing "Into The Mystic" at the Winterland Ballroom inna 1974. The former San Francisco ice skating rink was converted to a music venue in 1971 by big time concert promoter Bill Graham and eventually closed it's doors on new years eve 1978 with a performance by local counter cultural heroes the Grateful Dead. It was also famous for hosting The Sex Pistols final performance before the group imploded. When I first saw the clip, I thought Van picked up a shaker and was providing some extra percussion but it was actually a harmonica. Another thing worth noting is how close the audience are to the stage. If that show were today (or a couple of weeks ago!) there'd be a crash barrier and a pit containing security guards and press photographers.
Black 2 Comm 15th March 2020
Featuring Larry Wallis, Maximum Joy, Max Romeo and more. Cheq out the latest offering from the brilliant Jimothy Lacoste. Last year the Comm fell out of love with the Soundcloud sensation. His tunes "Wearing Loafers" and "Wearing Burberry Socks" marked an all time low. He was also very nearly canceled for dropping the N bomb but he's now officially back with a bang! Just prior to Christmas he dropped the incredibly catchy "Fina Glow" followed by "Getting To Fly In The Sky" and now "Humble", marking a definite return to form. The production seems to have made a quantifiable leap. It no longer sounds like he's producing the tunes in his bedroom but don't worry, he hasn't lost any of his charm, in fact I think he sounds better than ever . . . and he's living the highlife too, yamming Nandos on the daily apparently!
I think he owes me some royalties though, as he's been blatantly biting my style. Keeping it this and keeping it that as well as the connective A to the B to the C are Comm copyrighted catchphrases after all . . . he'll be hearing from my lawyers imminently!
I think he owes me some royalties though, as he's been blatantly biting my style. Keeping it this and keeping it that as well as the connective A to the B to the C are Comm copyrighted catchphrases after all . . . he'll be hearing from my lawyers imminently!
Black 2 Comm 1st March 2020
Featuring Amy Winehouse, Killing Joke, Fantastic Freaks and more. Cheq out this video of the new sensation known as Ashnikko. The twenty four year old singer / rapper's track "Stupid" blew up on the video sharing app TikTok, gaining over 29 million streams. Born Ashton Nicole Casey, she grew up in North Carolina before her family relocated to Estonia then Latvia. The self confessed show off traveled to London town at weekends to perform at open mic nights and eventually moved to the capital at the age of 18. After signing to Warner Music Group last year she heading out on tour with another act called Girli and posted on her facebook page "I'll be masturbating in travelodges all over the UK this month"! She looks like a Japanese anime character, rockin' blue hair, ridiculous eye make up and outsized clothes while listing her five favourite tunes to whack off to . . . she'll go blind at this rate if she's not careful!
Black 2 Comm 23rd February 2020
Featuring David Bowie, Necros, The Crystals and more. I've posted it before and I'll post it again . . cheq out this classic footage of the hardest working man inna show-business, Mr. James Brown tearing it up on the TAMI show at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium. It was filmed in 1964 which was the height of "the British invasion". The Rolling Stones were top of the bill, much to Brown's annoyance. He decided to pull out all the stops and put in an explosive performance, driving the crowd insane. The Stones had the unenviable task of having to perform after Brown's storming set. It's since gone down in history, that The Stones were blown off the stage by the Godfather and if you look at the footage, Mick Jagger's leaping about looks pathetic compared to Brown's incendiary moves . . . the lesson to be learned here is that nobody, but nobody follows James Brown!
Black 2 Comm 16th February 2020
Featuring Johnny Thunders & The Heartbreakers, Alicia Goku, Department S and more. Cheq out this early footage of Led Zeppelin performing "Communication Breakdown" in Denmark inna 1969. The song was one of the bands first compositions and it's main riff would inspire Johnny Ramone's trademark downstroke style. They play in front of an audience of long haired kids who are sitting on the floor. Devil worshiping guitarist Jimmy Page teases an impressive solo (discordant at points) from a customised Telecaster that was given to him by Jeff Beck when he joined The Yardbirds.
Black 2 Comm 9th February 2020
Featuring Nick Lowe, Big Mama Thornton, Pentangle and many others too. Cheq out this spellbinding performance of "...And The Rain" by John Maus, live in the KEXP studios in January 2018. The L.A. based former philosophy teacher's band consists of a cool looking, dancing keyboard player (which is a contradiction in terms!), a dork drummer and his brother Joe playing bass (who sadly checked out at the age of 30 from a heart disorder). The combination of instrumentation, topped of with John's echo soaked vocals has a unique and distinctive sound.
Black 2 Comm 2nd February 2020
Featuring Yellowman, Shonen Knife, Big Star and more. Cheq out this fine footage of The Edgar Winter Group performing "Frankenstein" live in The Old Grey Whistle Test studio inna 1973. It's notoriously hard to look good playing a keyboard but Winter's doing a pretty good job here. The albino multi-instrumentalist also blows a fine alto saxophone and rocks the timbales as well. He may be lacking in pigment but he's certainly not lacking in talent . . . makes you sick doesn't it?!
Black 2 Comm 26th January 2020
Featuring Snoop Dogg, Pale Saints, Theatre of Hate and more. Cheq out this footage of The Chameleons performing "Second Skin" at The Camden Palace inna 1984. The band had a unique atmospheric sound and style with singer / bassist Mark Burgess flanked by guitarists, Dave Fielding and (Ribina thief) Reg Smithies. The later, seen here rockin' a self customised Gibson SG also produced the groups distinctive artwork. Another thing worth noting is drummer, John Lever's unconventional set up. The right handed sticksman has his kick drum to the left, and his hi hat to the right of the snare, playing them with the opposite feet to the vast majority of other drummers.
It's strange to think that U2 would go on to fill stadiums, while this band would languish in relative obscurity until eventually breaking up . . . there's obviously no justice in the world!
It's strange to think that U2 would go on to fill stadiums, while this band would languish in relative obscurity until eventually breaking up . . . there's obviously no justice in the world!
Black 2 Comm 19th January 2020
Featuring Dr John Cooper Clarke, John Lennon, Baby Washington and much more. Cheq out this live footage of The Adverts taken from German director Wolfgang Blud's 1979 film "Brennende Langeweile" (Bored Teenagers) featuring reluctant punk pin up Gaye Advert. The most interesting part of the footage is at the beginning where the bass player is asked by a German reporter if there are any problems with her being a sex object. The not so shy Gaye had already posed for pornographic magazines by this point. The live footage is pretty unforgettable, though all you punk rock trainspotters will be excited to see ex Clash / Pistols roadie "Rodent" loitering in the wings. He played a part in the films plot line and would eventually bag more minor film roles and settle in Germany. The Passions 1981 hit, "I'm In Love With A German Film Star" was rumoured to have been written about him.
Black 2 Comm 12th January 2020
Featuring The Runaways, Huey "Piano" Smith, Dinosaur Jr. and more. Cheq out this footage of Blitz performing their rabble rousing single "New Age" on The Tube inna 1982. First off they play through the song but the clip really starts to get interesting in the second half when the band are taken to task during the interview. The inarticulate Oi stalwarts had recently changed their image and sound to appeal to a wider audience. They believed they were providing an alternative to the synth pop that was prevalent at the time. Half of the group are sporting bleach blonde crops and shirts with tucked in skinny ties, while the other two are still rocking the 'tache / leather jacket combo (but not in a Freddy Mercury way you understand). The interviewer looks equally ridiculous, with his bow tie, outsized glasses and woman's haircut!
Black 2 Comm 15 December 2019
Featuring Goldfrapp, Jimothy, Otis Redding and more. When you mention San Francisco and punk rock, the Dead Kennedys are about the only group that immediately spring to mind but there was a thriving underground scene in the city. Cheq out this clip of one of the city's lesser known groups, Toxic Reasons performing the brilliant "Destroyer". The band formed in Dayton, Ohio in 1979 but upped sticks (after recording their debut LP) and moved to 'Cisco, where their record company was based. The footage was captured by Target Video who did a great job of documenting the scene. The availability of video equipment probably had a lot to do with this and the reason why the UK punk scene of the same time wasn't really captured in the same way.
Black 2 Comm 8th December 2019
Featuring Ian Dury, Wu-Tang Clan, The Shop Assistants and more. Cheq out this video of The Fall's "Big New Prinz". The track was featured in a ballet called "I Am Curious, Orange" in which the band collaborated with the Michael Clark dance company. The video sees the band playing while Clark prances about on crutches in front of them. The ballet, which included artist Leigh Bowrey, was performed at the Edinburgh festival and then at the Saddlers Wells theatre and was very well received. Around the same time, the group performed on The Old Grey Whistle Test. It was one of the few occasions that they made it onto mainstream television so the members of the group (sans Smith) stayed up late to watch it with their parents and were treated to the sight of Michael Clark's bare arse while the band were hardly visible!
Black 2 Comm 1st December 2019
Featuring Jeff Beck, Joya Landis, The Durutti Column and more. Cheq out this black and white footage of GG Allin's Ted Talk which took place in Boston inna 1980 . . . enjoy!
Black 2 Comm 24th November 2019
Featuring Lil Pump, The Pretenders, Leon Rosselson and more. Cheq out this superb early live footage of New York synth punks Suicide performing "Ghost Rider". The song was inspired by the Marvel comic book character of the same name and consists of and incessant 3 note synth pulse accompanied by Alan Vega's rockabilly style whops and yelps. Keyboard player Martin Rev can be seen briefly around the 4 minute mark wearing the coolest pair of shades you've ever seen. Vega was supposedly the first ever Ramones fan. He approached Johnny Ramone after one of the brothers earliest ramshackle gigs and declared "this is what I've been waiting for" . . . Johnny thought that he was insane!
Black 2 Comm 17th November 2019
Featuring Jane's Addiction, Bhad Bhabie, MC 900 Ft Jesus With DJ Zero and many others. Cheq out this clip of Shonen Knife performing "Twist Barbie" and "Riding On The Rocket" at New York's Irving Plaza inna 1993. The former track is about the popular doll manufactured by Mattel inc and includes the lines "Blue eyes, blond hair,
tight body, long legs"! The group formed inna 1981 but there seems to be very little footage available from their early period. This is the original line up though, featuring singer/guitarist Naoko Yamano and her sister Atsuko with bass player Michie Nakatani.
Black 2 Comm 3rd November 2019
Featuring Megadeth, Solomon Burke, The Shaggs and more. Cheq out this footage of the Butthole Surfers performing "Mexican Caravan" at Traxx inna 1985. The Detroit venue, previously a biker bar called JC's Rock Saloon, ran from 1980 to 1987. The clip starts with a completely naked Gibby Haynes from another early concert. He sings the entire song through the cardboard tube in the middle of a toilet roll which produces an unusual, mid range heavy timbre.
Black 2 Comm 27th October 2019
Featuring Ike & Tina Turner, Discharge, Brinzley Schwarz and more. Cheq out this footage of The Kinks performing Waterloo Sunset on German TV program Beat Club inna 1967. The band were introduced by disgraced hairy cornflake, Dave Lee Travis. The Ray Davies penned tune is a certified classic but what I want to draw you attention to here is his brother Dave's impeccable style. He's playing a Gibson Flying V while rockin' a centre parting, out sized shades and an Amish style beard that Michael Eavis would be proud of!
Black 2 Comm 20th October 2019
Featuring Kim Gordon, Wu-Tang Clan, Eddie Cochran and more. Cheq out this footage of hirsute Texans ZZ Top performing "Cheap Sunglasses" on The Old Grey Whistle Test inna 1980. Guitarist, Billy Gibbons' tone is second to none. It sounds like one of his strings is slightly out of tune, but even that seems to add to his sound. He's rockin' some serious style too with his side slung stance and his synchronised side to side moves with bassist Dusty Hill. Irony of all ironies, drummer Frank Beard is the only member of the group not to have one! Apparently, Gillette offered them a million dollars each to shave them off for a TV add but they declined, probably because no one would know who they were without them. They've been rockin' the same look with the same line up for almost 50 years now. Maybe it's a case of the band that sways together, stays together!
Black 2 Comm 13th October 2019
Featuring Ann Peebles, AJ Tracy, Lightning Hopkins and many more. Cheq out this video of Kleenex performing "Hedi's Head" for more conclusive evidence. The footage sees the Swiss all girl combo performing the b-side of their first Rough Trade single in a room with walls covered in egg cartons to insulate the noise. This line up features their second singer, Chrigle Freund, Regula Sing having left the band by this point. The group were later forced into changing their name to LiLiPUT after the threat of legal action from the tissue manufacturer.
Black 2 Comm 6th October 2019
Featuring the Hollywood Brats, Siouxsie & The Banshees, Dub Syndicate and more. Cheq out this top grade footage of Fad Gadget performing their 2nd single, "Ricky's Hand" at the Hacienda inna February 1984. The non LP track was released on co-writer and co-producer Daniel Miller's Mute Records and was about a car accident, a subject that Miller had already mined to great effect on The Normal's J.G. Ballard inspired "Warm Leatherette". Frontman Frank Tovey puts in a great performance, flanked by a cellist, a violinist and a drummer. About halfway through the song he discovers that his mouth is bleeding. This doesn't deter him though as he concludes with an impressive backward stage dive and is returned to the mic just in time for the final line.
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