ABOUT ME

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Surfing since February 1997

My name is Brian Currin, I live in Cape Town, South Africa and I've loved music all my life. I was born 4 days after "The Day The Music Died" according to Don McLean (You figure it out!).

I have two teenage sons who are my pride and joy; besides them, I have two main passions in my life: Music and Technology. I am in the very fortunate position to be able to earn income from both of these loves. I also enjoy reading sword and sorcery novels, but haven't found a way to get paid for that yet!

Unfortunately I have no talent in playing a musical instrument or singing (I do play a mean air guitar solo, though), so I have been collecting and cataloguing musical information since I was about 7 years old. I call myself a vagabond because I wander around the world of music picking up scraps of information from all over and everywhere... the internet, magazines, music shops, radio, TV, people, etc. I like nearly all types and genres of music. Pop, rock and roll, blues, classical, jazz, reggae... whatever, but my heart really lies with ROCK! Classic, vintage, brilliant, unforgettable R-O-C-K (and especially South African Rock).

My Top Favourite Albums And Songs of 2006

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Uncut magazine released their Top 50 Albums of 2006 very early in November already, so I thought I'd list my favourites, but it is subject to change without notice!

This is a list (in no particular order) of my top 15 favourite albums that have been released in 2006. Please note that it is not a critics choice and that there are no rules, except that I must have them in some format or other.

• LostProphets - Liberation Transmission
• Bruce Springsteen - We Shall Overcome (Pete Seeger covers)
• Gov't Mule - High And Mighty
• Various - Return To The Dark Side Of The Moon (cover of Pink Floyd's classic album)
• The Easy Star All-Stars - Radiodread (cover of Radiohead's OK Computer)
• Various - Classic Rock: A Tribute To Led Zeppelin
• Various - Classic Rock: Tune In, Turn On, Rock Out
• The Raconteurs - Broken Boy Soldiers
• The Mochines - Hire The Losers
• Hawthorne Heights - If Only You Were Lonely
• Primal Scream - Riot City Blues
• Live - Songs From Black Mountain
• Jack Hammer - TuksFM Sessions
• Taxi Violence - Untie Yourself
• The Arctic Monkeys - Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not

And here is a list (in no particular order) of my top 30 favourite songs that were released in 2006. Again, it is not a critics choice and there are no rules, except that I must have them in some format or other.

• Yo La Tengo - Sugarcube
• Bruce Springsteen - Bring Them Home (Pete Seeger cover)
• Rocketface - Dirty
• Danko Jones - First Date
• Eagles Of Death Metal - I Want You So Hard (Boy's Bad News)
• Whimwise - Innocence
• Gov't Mule - Mr High & Mighty
• The Deadstring Brothers - Sacred Heart
• Primal Scream - We're Gonna Boogie
• John Wetton, Scotty Page & Dweezil Zappa - Us & Them (Pink Floyd cover)
• Joe Bonamassa - Tea For One (Led Zeppelin cover)
• The Zutons - Why Won't You Give Me Your Love
• The Answer - Never Too Late
• Draining Patience - Die Binneste
• Five Horse Johnson - Ten Cent Dynamite
• Gnarls Barkley - Crazy
• Gordon's Suitcase feat Piet Botha - Riders On The Storm (The Doors cover)
• Jo Day - Princess
• Jack Hammer - Mozambique (2006 re-recording)
• Kabous Verwoed feat Piet Botha - Reno, Gauteng
• LostProphets - Rooftops
• Mountain Goats - Woke Up New
• Neil Young - Shock And Awe
• Richard Cheese - Creep (Cheesy lounge cover of the Radiohead song, with swearing intact!)
• Scott West & Sex On Sunday - Standing On The Moon
• Snow Patrol - Chasing Cars
• The Surfaris vs D4L (Party Ben) - Wipeout Taffy (mash-up)
• Taxi Violence - Jimi's Revenge
• Tin Bangs - Shake!
• Towers Of London - Air Guitar
• My Chemical Romance - Welcome To The Black Parade

And here are some near misses, because they were released in 2005, but I only heard them for the first time in 2006.

• Deep Purple - Things I Never Said
• Wolfmother - Woman
• Tokyo Dragons - Chasing The Night

Music Researcher

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I played a part in the rediscovery of Rodriguez in 1998 (along with Stephen 'Sugar' Segerman and Craig Bartholomew) and I started the SA Rock Digest e-mag in 1999 and was co-editor (again with 'Sugar' Segerman) for 5 years. I have been involved in compiling various compilation CDs including 'Disco Fever' (Gallo, 1999), McCully Workshop 'Greatest Hits' (2005), Abstract Truth 'Silver Trees & Totum' (FreshMusic, 2005) and 'Astral Daze - South African Psychedelic Rock 1968-1972' (FreshMusic, February 2006).

I have also written sleeve notes and artist biographies for various CDs including releases by Abstract Truth, The Radio Rats, Jack Hammer and McCully Workshop. I have provided research information for the sleeve notes for CD releases from Rodriguez, Falling Mirror, John Kongos, the SA Top 40 Hits Of All-Time Volume 6 and a few others.

I have compiled Musical Family Trees (similar to Pete Frame) for Trevor Rabin, McCully Workshop, Third Eye, The Radio Rats, Steve Louw, Clout, Abstract Truth, Freedom's Children and others, some of which have been published in CD booklets.

Web Marketer

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Web design is not only about having a "pretty" website, no matter how cool it looks. I assist clients with their overall Web Marketing Strategy. Web Design, Web Marketing, Search Engine Optimization and Digital Distribution are all part of a complete package that I can offer. Anybody can have a website, I will help you have a web presence.

Technology Consultant

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I am a Technology Consultant specialising in supplying Sony equipment (Data Projectors, LCDs & Plasmas, VAIO notebooks, Digital Cameras, DVD Video Cameras, Digital Voice Recorders and more) to Corporate Clients and Value Added Resellers in the Cape Town area. I have been involved in technology products since being an Anti-Aircraft Radar Instructor in the army in the late 70's. I have been a technology sales consultant since the early 80's and have been employed by Panasonic, AudioVision, Phonetech (agents for General Electric, Sagem, Eurocom & Bellphones) and Sony SA in various sales, management and key account roles.

In A Mixtape Mood

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I've been making mixtapes since the early 70's, using LP's, singles, cassettes and the radio as my primary sources and initially a mono tape recorder as the recording device. Now here I am, many years later, doing exactly the same thing, except now my sources include downloaded mp3s and CDs, and of course, now I use CDR's in my computer and it's called "burning", not "taping", but the principle is the same: my favourite songs compiled in the way I want. So, amazingly, my passion has remained unchanged in almost 40 years, just the technology has improved ... dramatically!

I would love to buy my mp3s legally online from the iTunes shop, but they don't support consumers with South African credit cards .... hmmmm! I can recommend eMusic.com though. They are an mp3 subscription website, though some of their artists are not available to download "in your country"! And Rhythm Records also sells mp3s of South African artists online.

Interestingly, despite the adverts, home taping never actually killed music! In fact music seems to be stronger than ever. A few of my mixtape ideas, imaginary compilations and mp3 compilations can been seen at Art Of The Mix, Vagabond's World and SAmp3.com.

On occasion I even let iTunes do the choosing for me based on the ratings in my library and other varied and often random criteria depending on my mood ... a Monty Python sketch sandwiched between Frank Zappa's cover of the Allman Brothers 'Whippin' Post' and Eternal's 'From Paris To Berlin' can be quite disconcerting, but never boring! And listening to songs in alphabetical order can produce some magical combinations like 'Magic Man' by Heart, 'Magic Moments' by Perry Como, EllaMental's 'Magic Mother' followed by 'Magic Power' by Triumph. Or about 35 versions of 'Smoke On The Water' (my all-time favourite song), of which 25 are different Deep Purple live versions from around the world and over the years.

My iTunes

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Some of the music that is currently on heavy rotation on my iTunes jukebox.

Song	Artist	Comments
New & Recent Releases
Just Like Noah's Ark	Elton John	Still going strong after all these years. Bouncy Country Rock from 'The Captain And The Kid'.
Innocence	Whimwise	King Arthur-era Rick Wakeman-style new Prog Rock found on a recent Classic Rock magazine cover disc.
I Don't Feel Like Dancing	The Scissor Sisters	If Leo Sayer had joined the Bee Gees in the late 70's it would have sounded like this. Disco music for people who don't like dancing.
The X-Treme	Voivoid	Metal Hammer magazine cover disc, 'Razor', features this track and a lot of other cool Metal stuff.
LDN (remix)	Lily Allen feat Sway	Brit-rapper Sway (sounding like Lenny Henry) raps humorously over Lily Allen's recent hit.
Tied My Hands (unplugged)	Seether	Recent live version of a song from their early incarnation as Saron Gas
For You I Will (Confidence)	Teddy Geiger	Powerful pop rock from teenage artist
Shake!	Tin Bangs	Great rock track at I Rock Cleveland
Til I'm Done	Just Jinjer	Perfect road trip song
Mail-Order Russian Bride	Jim Neversink	Wonderful South African nu-folk song available at 24.com
Tight Pants	Boozed	Forget rock and roll, this is rock and ROCK!
Your World	Tait	SA's answer to Live? Go to 24.com and judge for yourself.
Sacred Heart	The Deadstring Brothers	Owes a lot to early 70's Rolling Stones, which is not a bad thing.
Surfer Girl	Dave Alvin	Mellow doo wop style cover of the Beach Boys classic at eMusic
Fly	Wickhead	Cool modern rock sounds
We're Gonna Boogie	Primal Scream	Liberal doses of Marc Bolan. Gotta love it.
Butterflies	Happy Accident	Vicki D Britraps over a bleepy Blondie 'Rapture' beat.
925	Undone	The spirit of the Honeymoon Suites lives!
LDN	Lily Allen	MySpace Queen observes sunny London from a bicycle ... with a twist.
Young Men Dead	The Black Angels	Psychedelic Drone Rock
Everybody's God	Scarlet Box	Female-fronted rawk 'n roll.
First Date	Danko Jones	Cheeky like Phil Lynott, in-your-face like AC/DC.
Bring Them Home (live 2006)	Bruce Springsteen	Pete Seeger
Lekker Zef	Valiant Swart	Rhythm Records
Blue	Chris Chameleon	Rhythm Records
Woman	Wolfmother	New classic rock with Black Purple riffs and swirling organ.
Live To Ride	LA Cobra	Powerzone
Karmastition	Alicia Keys vs Stevie Wonder (mashed by Mark Vidler )	Great mash-up mix.
Right In Two	Tool	10,000 Days
Orange Crush (R.E.M. cover)	Editors	I Rock Cleveland
Storms	Nathan Asher & The Infantry	I Rock Cleveland
Crazy	Gnarls Barkley	mp3-center.org
Out There	Love Jones	SL mag free CD - May 2006
Brand Suid-Afrika	Fokofpolisiekar	Rhythm Records
Why Won't You Give Me Your Love	The Zutons	Not sure how they dress but the music is pure glam.
Steady As She Goes	The Raconteurs	mp3-center.org
1 Krwl Klosr	Linkin Park (mashed by Crisur)	Crisur mashes 2 Linkin Park songs. 2+2=5 indeed.
Rapture Riders	The Doors vs Blondie (mashed by Mark Vidler)	Go Home Productions
Love Love Love	Mountain Goats	The Sunset Tree
Big Wave	Pearl Jam	Grunge goes surfing.
Mozambique (2006 version)	Jack Hammer	"Where blue water meets white sand...". Download at Rhythm Records
That's Life (remix)	Frank Sinatra feat Nas	DJ Erb mixes Frankie with rapper Nas ... and it works.
Not That New
Bright Young Thing (demo)	Natalia	Summer pop from a young Capetonian singer songwriter.
Who Killed Kurt Cobain	Koos Kombuis	Candidate for the greatest song that the world has never heard.
Papa Was A Rolling Stone (2004)	Rare Earth	eMusic.com
Who Do You Love? (live)	Albert Frost	Bo Diddley cover available at Rhythm Records
Song For The Captain	Southern Gypsey Queen	Sweet Voodoo
Bermuda Triangle	Mr Mann And Pointblank	Rapping and hip-hop beats over Beethoven piano with some female opera vocals thrown in.
Bring Them Home (2003)	Pete Seeger feat Billy Bragg, Ani DiFranco & Steve Earle	Pete Seeger
Another Man's Woman	BlueScream	BlueScream
Old-ish and Really Old
Vice in Bombay	Via Afrika	80's Afropop now on CD at RetroFresh.
Kiss The Blues Goodbye (live 1979)	Grinderswitch	eMusic.com
On The Street Where You Live	Chet Baker	eMusic.com
Oh Lady, Be Good	Ella Fitzgerald	eMusic.com
Yesterday Has Gone	Cupid's Inspiration	eMusic.com
Goin' Home Tomorrow	Little Richard	eMusic.com
In My Room	Nancy Sinatra	eMusic.com
Smokestack Lightning	Soundgarden	Ultramega OK
Night Train	Jimmy Forrest	eMusic.com
Almal Maak Haar Mal (live 1997)	Valiant Swart	Voetstoots
Beside You (Bang Sessions version)	Van Morrison	eMusic.com
Climb Up On My Music	Rodriguez	After The Fact
It's Only Make Believe	The Misfits	eMusic.com
Whippin' Post (live 1984)	Frank Zappa	eMusic.com
Piano Concerto No.1: Toccata concertata	Alberto Ginastera (composer), Dora De Marinis (piano)	Covered by Emerson, Lake & Palmer as 'Toccata' on 'Brain Salad Surgery'. eMusic.com
The Time Of The Preacher	Johnny Cash & Sean Kinney	eMusic.com

Rock History

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A series of essays with accompanying playlists / CDs.

Introduction

This series of essays had it's start with questions prompted by my 2 teenage sons, Michael and Christopher, whilst driving to school in the mornings.

There is always music in the car, and sometimes just a simple question like "this is Elvis, isn't it?" or "what's the difference between old punk and new punk?" was enough to start a discussion (or a "lecture", as my children might suggest) that could go on for days.

Prompted by my boys, I decided to start putting these "lectures" down in writing and also to compile playlists / CDs to go along with them. These are my opinions and selections as a fan who has invested large sums of money and uncountable hours of time in the pursuit of my musical passion. Often my opinions and favourites co-incide with that of most fans and/or critics (i.e. The Beatles) and sometimes they veer off in strange directions (err, Ramases, anyone?).

A true music critic, in my opinion, is someone who has been impressed enough by an artist, song or album to actually spend money on adding them to their collection. So these are not meant to be definitive essays on an artist or a genre, but are based on my personal experiences and budget limitations. So if an artist or song is missing from my ramblings, it's probably because I don't have it in my collection. I remember once in 1977 having to choose between the first Boston album and Rainbow On Stage because I couldn't afford both. Being a huge Deep Purple fan, Ritchie Blackmore's offshoot won that Battle Of The Budget!

Artists names in red indicates that they are of South African origin.

RADIOHEAD

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I've tried to get into Radiohead, I really have, but sorry, I just can't understand what all the fuss is about. 'OK Computer' is the greatest album of all-time? Similar to Pink Floyd? I just don't get it. And all those fans that say Radiohead started with 'The Bends' and ignore their first album, 'Pablo Honey', I can't relate to at all.

So here is CD full of Radiohead songs that I quite enjoy, compiled in chronological order, but I don't think I will play this too often.

IN A RADIOHEAD MOOD

1. Creep
2. Thinking About You
3. Anyone Can Play Guitar
4. High And Dry
5. Fake Plastic Trees
6. (Nice Dream)
7. Just
8. Street Spirit (Fade Out)
9. Paranoid Android
10. Karma Police
11. Lucky
12. Everything In Its Right Place
13. Optimistic
14. Pyramid Song
15. True Love Waits (live)
16. 2+2=5
17. Where I End And You Begin
18. There There

Now the Easy-Star All Stars reggae version of 'Ok Computer' entitled 'Radiodread' is another matter altogether ... I even like 'Fitter Happier' on this version. I downloaded this album from eMusic.com recently, but I had to buy a booster pack as my monthly subscription was already used up downloading all the Creedence Clearwater Revival albums that I didn't have, including 2 songs left off the original 'Live In Europe' album.

PUNK ROCK

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Punk Rock, as I know it, started in 1976 with the Sex Pistols and ended a couple of years later when everyone went New Wave. The so-called "Godfathers of Punk" were the late 60's/early 70's American bands, The Velvet Underground, the MC5, the New York Dolls (more glam, than punk though) and The Stooges with Iggy Pop. They in turn had been infused by the spirit of the 60's 'Garage Rock' movement which said that anybody could make music, no matter how little talent or skill you had.

However Punk Rock was not just a musical phenonemon, but also a socio-economic one, as well as being a fashion statement and very British.

The youth in Britain in the mid-70's were unemployed, on the dole, bored and very angry. Through Punk they found a way to express themselves. Punk was not only a music style, it was a lifestyle, involving outrageous hairstyles and clothing. Wearing safety-pins on your clothes was actually probably necessary to hold them together!

Many state the first song of 70's Punk Rock was 'New Rose' by The Damned, and I don't dispute this, but the first song I heard was 'Anarchy In The UK' by the Sex Pistols.

I had been (and still am) a huge fan of Emerson, Lake & Palmer, Pink Floyd, Yes, et al ... the dinosaurs that Punk was supposed to make extinct, and I guess it worked for a while. I heard the raw, sneering, British-accented voice of Johnny Rotten spitting out 'I am an anti-christ, I am an anarchist' (which sent the South African government of the time into fits of apolexy) and knew that something very different was happening here.

Punk crossed back across the Atlantic (like rock 'n roll had done with The Beatles in 1964) and bands like The Ramones, who had been around for a while already, were now painted with the Punk brush.

In South Africa, the anger from the White Youth was directed more at the government's policies of control. The Black Youth were totally disenfranchised under Apartheid, but that's a completely different story. Remember, however, that the 16th June Soweto Riots happened in 1976, and is commemorated each year as Youth Day.

Punk Rock started out as noisy 3-chord rock and roll with huge amounts of anger and energy. Bands like the Clash and the Police (who were never really punk, anyway) started embracing Ska and Reggae sounds.

Punk Rock soon got watered down to go mainstream and become New Wave. By the early 80's the smartly-dressed New Romantics with their guitar-less Electro-pop were now the vogue.

Side-bar: I was in the army in 1978 and there were basically 2 music factions among my friends of the time, Punk (i.e. Sex Pistols) or Reggae (i.e. Bob Marley). (The Afrikaans guys also liked Country, but I digress). I chose a different route and bought the first Dire Straits album, telling all who would listen that these guys would be big ... and I was right.

OLD PUNK FOR NEW EARS

Due to the limitations of a single CD, I've applied my "one artist, one song" rule which allows me to give exposure to more artists. Otherwise I could just put "Nevermind The Bollocks" up here and leave it at that!

I've included the Godfathers of Punk to give some perspective, but the majority of songs come from that "golden age of punk"; 1977-1978 and then a few early 80's tracks.

Some South African punk bands appear here as well, including The Asylum Kids which featured Robbi Robb, and The News with 'Tudor Convertible' which is an early mash-up of 'Greensleeves' (apparently written by Henry VIII!) and Herman's Hermits 'I'm Henry The VIII, I Am'.

1. Run Run Run - The Velvet Underground & Nico
2. Search And Destroy - Iggy & The Stooges
3. Personality Crisis - The New York Dolls
4. Anarchy In The UK - The Sex Pistols
5. Gary Gilmore's Eyes - The Adverts
6. Rip Her To Shreds - Blondie
7. New Rose - The Damned
8. Chinese Rocks - Johnny Thunders & The Heartbreakers
9. Sheena Is A Punk Rocker - The Ramones
10. Blank Generation - Richard Hell & The Voidoids
11. Peaches - The Stranglers
12. Record Companies - Wild Youth
13. Ever Fallen In Love (With Someone You Shouldn't've) - The Buzzcocks
14. Law & Order - The Radio Rats
15. Top Of The Pops - The Rezillos
16. Hong Kong Garden - Siouxsie & The Banshees
17. Teenage Kicks - The Undertones
18. Identity - X-Ray Spex
19. London Calling - The Clash
20. Babylon's Burning - The Ruts
21. Suburbia – The Safari Suits
22. Hersham Boys - Sham 69
23. Nightmare - Peach
24. Schoolboy - The Asylum Kids
25. International News - National Wake
26. Tudor Convertible - The News

Read more about South African Punk bands of the late 70's and early 80's here »»»

See also "New Punk For Old Ears" at The Art Of The Mix.

More articles to come as time and inclination allows....