The Dirty Strangers – ‘Burn The Bubble’ (DS Records)

The Dirty Strangers – ‘Burn The Bubble’ (DS Records)

There’s an Elephant in the room.  Nah not the fact that this second album from The Dirty Strangers has guest slots from some Rolling Stones and also a tune co-written by Keif Richards but the fact that Alan Clayton has always been a top Rock and Roll songwriter and churned out albeit infrequent albums but they’ve always been a bit bloody good, regardless of who’s playing on them.

Oh, and to be fair most of us did arrive at the party due to the association with a couple of six-string slingers who also have a penchant for churning out the odd decent album Keif and Ronnie or something like that.

Imagine you could pick up all the good and the great from the 60s, 70s and 80s Rock n Roll that ever stumbled around Carnaby Street or one of the dive bars in Soho and as you hoovered it all up (and remembered to take note or almost remember) then you put it to music well that’s the sound of the Dirty Strangers that is with some added thunderbird mouthwash for good measure and a sprinkling of super talented mates.

Alan Clayton is joined for the last time by this impressive line up consisting of the super talented Paul Fox, ‘Steady’ Ray King on Bass Guitar, Mark Harrison  Drums & Backing VOX, Scott Mulvey on Keys & Backing VOX, and the impressive Angie Brown on guest vocals.  Now seems like as good a time as any to give this bad boy a re-release and for me to give this album a leg up.

The keyboards swirl and then Clayton’s instantly recognisable drawl enters the fray.’The Biggest Mouth’ is a foot-stomping rock and roller.  Of course, it’s not original and it might even be dated with the production and arrangement but hell, it’s only Rock and Roll and I like it.

 

‘Party 4 2’ is exactly that, it’s a party for two dancing through your speakers.  Then a track was co-written by a certain Mr. Richards that Boogie Woogies into the ether has me wondering how 1993 missed this album first time around.  I blame the lame music press for only being interested in gazing at its collective shoes whilst wigging out on churned up long solos from Soundgarden or self-harming over Nirvana whilst over there Clayton and his muckers were kicking up a shitstorm in the name of a good time and supplying all the toons it would seem.

It wasn’t all twelve-bar parties you know they were rivalling anything the Quireboys might have had in the locker at the time as ‘High Heels And Hangovers’ is swinging from the chandeliers with style and when the time was right Clayton could slow things down like The Faces did like on the majestic ‘Only For You’ with its false starts and laid back finger work from Fox.  It also has some fine vocal arrangments and a killer delivery but the Ian Maclagan like touch on those keys is a game-changer and adds a tonne of class to proceedings.  superb song!

 

No time like after a masterclass in balladeering to smash it up with some good old Rock and Roll as ‘Special Girl’ has a whole bunch of attitude and swagger.  Songs like ‘Got To Know Her’ are easily as good as some of the better songs Ian Hunter was rocking up with his ‘Dirty Laundry’  and his Rant Band. Before we finish there’s always time for some acoustic pickings and ‘The Gamblers Song’ provides the service and had this been a Frankie Miller song or dare I say it Stones song it would have been a smash.  It could have broken out with the big drum fill but it doesn’t – its more restrained than that and that’s the difference in class you’ve either got it or you ain’t and on this occasion, The Dirty Strangers are dripping in class.

With time for a couple more Rockers before this party gets shut down it seems as good a time as any to pay this a visit.  If you are a dreamer always looking for that Rock and Roll fix then you can stop looking because I can point you in the right direction for a good time.  The Dirty Strangers ‘Burn The Bubble’ is a long lost classic with variety and class just waiting for you to come along and bring a bottle.

Buy ‘Burn The Bubble’ Here

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Author: Dom Daley

From The RPM Collection – Albums Released on this day First Up The Rolling Stones & Goo Goo Dolls

From The RPM Collection – Albums Released on this day First Up The Rolling Stones & Goo Goo Dolls

ON this day in history some fairly iconic records got released over the years some pretty significant.  first up in 1978 The Rolling Stones released their marmite record ‘Some Girls’  now, some girls (and Boys) love it and some absolutely detest it thinking it was a step too far for the rock and rollers and they were pandering to the fashions of the day but if you take ‘Some girls’ out of the late ’70s  there are many factors to this being the last truly great album by the band.

Starting the album off with the Disco backbeat of ‘Miss You’ As Jagger does his best Noo Yawker as the whole record has a lower east side vibe happening, sure it might have been where Disco came from with the whole Studio 54 but time has worn well on the face of ‘Some Girls’ from the iconic artwork to the ragged fretwork of Richard and Wood this was the first album that Wood was credited as a full-time member of the band although he’d played on the previous two it was ‘Some Girls’ that he was “in” so to speak.

‘Some Girls’ has sold a staggering 6 million albums to date and is the bands biggest selling album in the USA! it only managed 100,000 in their homeland of the United Kingdom.  It managed to reach number one in North America And Canada whereas in the UK it only managed Number two (it was kept off the top spot by ‘Saturday Night Fever’)  As for singles in ’78  Brotherhood Of Man and The Smurfs both had more number ones than the Stones -think about that for a minute?  the USA managed to save the bands cred when ‘Miss You’ went to number one which was their only chart-topper anywhere.  As for other singles off the album, the controversial  ‘Respectable’ didn’t even manage to break the UK top 20. Speaking of ‘Respectable’ Jagger had this to say,

“It’s important to be somewhat influenced by what’s going on around you and on the Some Girls album, I think we definitely became more aggressive because of the punk thing…”  Besides ‘Respectable’ was and still is a killer tune regardless of where it charted.  If you have a spare ten minutes check out the band performing it live on Saturday Night Live along with ‘Beast Of Burden’ and ‘Shattered’ its golden Rolling Stones TV.  Not just Keith looks strung out Jagger sounds like he hadn’t slept in a few days at least and Wood is oblivious when Jagger licks his lips during the solo. ‘Shattered’ is classic Rock and Roll with an edge they were on form no matter what the critics said.

to be fair to the band ‘Some Girls’ pretty much had it all from the country honk of ‘Far Away Eyes’ and the great pop of their take on The Temptations  ‘Just My Imagination (Running Away With Me)’.  Clearly punk had its impact from the sped up ‘Lies’ and the singles ‘Respectable’ and the new wave of ‘Shattered’ you also had the pure Rock and Roll of Keith’s vocal on ‘Before They Make Me Run’.  I tell you what, go listen to the album from top to bottom and then tell me it isn’t a stone cold classic Stones record ‘Some Girls’ was in my humble opinion the last great Stones album.  sure ‘Undercover’, ‘Dirty Work’ and ‘Tattoo You’ had their moments but they were few and far between whereas this one has it all as well as The Stones never being too far from one controversy or another ‘Some Girls’ go heat from all sides.  Accused of Racism for the lyrics on the title track and uproar for the inclusion or likeness of celebrity faces on the die cut sleeve. Dinosaurs or cutting edge damned if they do for the Stones as they saw out the decade with most of their best work now behind them.

Buy Some Girls Here

 

Formed in New York in 1986 the three-piece known as Goo Goo Dolls released their debut self-titled album ‘Goo Goo Dolls’.  If you were to be introduced to the band only knowing their recent output you would no doubt choke on the word’s ‘debut’ as its almost an unrecognizable band on the likes of  ‘Torn Apart’ that kicked off that debut album back in 87 to anything they’ve released in the last decade at least.  Guitarist/vocalist Johnny Rzeznik, Bassist/vocalist Robby Takac, and drummer George Tutuska got together in Buffalo. the debut album is a far cry musically from what they have become although they certainly changed over the years which was fine as plenty of bands evolve but from 87 to 2019 the transformation is nuts.

The band almost broke the radio with the huge success of ‘Iris’ and the ‘Dizzy Up The Girl’ album and nobody could begrudge the band that reward, but.  The first and most noticeable difference back in the early days was the fact that every song on the debut album was sung by Robby and not Johnny Rzeznik.  Secondly, the debut album cost less than $1,000 to record. Just imagine that for a second.  I know it was 1987 but still; congrats on that guys.

Of the fourteen tracks, they managed to squeeze on a hilarious version of the Cream hit ‘Sunshine Of Your Love’ the covers didn’t end there because side two featured another ‘Classic Rock’ cover in the shape of Blue Oyster Cults ‘Don’t Fear The Reaper’. by the power of streaming or CD you can skip straight past these bad boys not so easy when it first came out on record.  Imagine the band who penned ‘Iris’ also penned ‘Hard Sores’ now I can’t imagine all those high school girls screaming along on this one somehow can you?

As far as debut albums go I’ve got a lot of time for ‘Goo Goo Dolls’ and as the years have gone on I have more admiration for the early years and the recent albums have almost made me want to weep as they’re so far removed from what they once were and that’s a shame. the first five albums in their arsenal I stand by but once they hit commercial success with slushy songs they nose-dived into where they’re at now its no coincidence that the lead vocalist changed and the drummer left after the fifth album was recorded over a royalty dispute read into that what you will but that debut was excellent and still is to this day. I always had the band hand in hand with Soul Asylum another great band who started off well and dropped off with commercial success.  This Goo Goo Dolls album was sandwiched between two of the better Soul Asylum albums ‘while you Were Out’ and ‘Hang Time’ a band I sure we’ll get to in good time.

Buy Goo Goo Dolls Here