Version City #42 - A South Korean Kindergarten Class sings The Ramones

If your day needs a bit of a lift, here's something that will surely help.....

.......and if your faith in the future of the human race is running on empty, this'll work wonders.

Give the Drummer Some - Happy Birthday Topper Headon

He was the engine room of the only band that mattered and his beats have been sampled almost as much as those of James Browns' funky drummer, Clyde Stubblefield. Happy 60th birthday to the great Topper Headon.

Hermits on Hiatus

Were I not a little long in the tooth to use such an expression, I might well have described 'Hermits on Holiday' by Drinks as being my latest jam. Drinks is a collaboration between Tim Presley of White Fence and the great Cate Le Bon, both of whom have featured on these pages in the past. 'Hermits on Holiday' is the title track of their debut LP, due for release at the end of August. This is the stuff.

Happy Birthday Bob Dylan

Bob Dylan put in a mighty fine performance of 'The Night We Called It a Day' on the penultimate David Letterman show last week, despite looking profoundly uncomfortable for every single second that he wasn't singing. When Bob's on the telly you never quite know what you're going to get. I wouldn't have him any other way.

Here are a couple of Bob's previous appearances on the box from a few years back, each of them a triumph. Many happy returns of the day Mr Dylan. See you in October.

Abdullah Ibrahim

The great Abdullah Ibrahim walked unannounced onto the stage, made himself comfortable at the piano and plunged straight into a totally engrossing 25 minute, semi-improvised piece, which touched on several familiar phrases and motifs from his huge canon. He was then joined by two excellent musicians who between them played double bass & cello and  a selection of wind instruments, for a series of more structured tunes, all conducted by Mr Ibrahim's nods, yelps and smiles. The music, ostensibly jazz though veering on occasion towards classical, was often contemplative, sometimes playful and always utterly spellbinding. When the trio took their final bows at the end of the show, I'm sure I wasn't alone at being astonished to find that 90 minutes had passed in the blink of an eye. My seat was literally front and centre. I was so close, that the music I heard was acoustic and came straight from the instruments, not through the theatre's sound system. It's unlikely that Mr Ibrahim will pass this way again and it was a distinct privilege to be in the audience for what was an unforgettable evening.

I bought my first Abdullah Ibrahim albums in the mid-1980's and probably have about a dozen now, though these few barely scratch the surface of this giant of music's vast catalogue. Here are a couple of my early favourites.

The Newtown Neurotics

Steve Lamacq concluded his show on 6Music this evening with the sad news that Colin Dredd (aka Colin Masters), bassist with The Newtown Neurotics from 1978 to 1988, passed away earlier today. There are those who know the band's catalogue, and indeed the people involved, far better than I, though I was lucky enough to see the Neurotics a couple of times in the mid-80's and still own one or two of their records.
 

'Airstrip One' was a personal favourite at the time and is invariably the first tune that comes to mind when I think of the band, and the aptly titled 'This Fragile Life' was added to singer Steve Drewett's moving Facebook tribute to Colin.

Bob and Tom say Goodbye to Dave

Us Dylan types are getting more than a little excited about His Nibs' upcoming performance on Tuesday's penultimate David Letterman show. Will he give us a moving 'Stay With Me' or a perhaps inappropriate 'Long and Wasted Years'? A sublime 'Autumn Leaves' or a predictable 'Forever Young'? All these titles and more have been mentioned in dispatches since Bob's appearance was announced 24 hours ago. Whatever he chooses to play, it will have to go some to top 'Take One Last Look', a stunning new song premiered by Tom Waits on Friday's show.