Wednesday, April 16, 2008

Evolution of a Man Next Door

The song Man Next Door (a/k/a Quiet Place, or I've Got to Get Away) was written in the late 1960's by John Holt of the Paragons.

In the 1970's, Bunny Lee produced a dub version for King Tubby, A Noisy Place. (There is also a rare "Dub Next Door" by Tappa Zukie). Dave Barker screamed like James Brown on his deejay version of I Got to Get Away. Dr. Alimantado warned about Poison Flour over Horace Andy's early version of I've Got to Get Away.

Dennis Brown sang the hell out of Man Next Door in 1979, which probably inspired the Slits to record it in 1980 for a Rough Trade single (produced by Adrian Sherwood). Here's a shambolic but loveable version of Man Next Door by the Slits (from their live album In the Beginning).

In the 1980's, Adrian Sherwood produced a funk version of Man Next Door by the Strange Parcels (featuring Bim Sherman on vocals, backed by Doug Wimbish and Skip McDonald of Tackhead.) Horace Andy sang Man Next Door again in 1998 with Massive Attack, whose version includes a sample of the Cure song "10:15 Saturday Night".

Tuesday, April 01, 2008

Being for the Benefit of Mr. Frye

Claw Hammer: Final Solution
Chrome Cranks: Street Waves
Cobra Verde: Chinese Radiation
Tar: Non-Alignment Pact

Thank you to all the visitors this past month who commented on the Pere Ubu posts. Here are some covers of Pere Ubu songs from The Modern Dance. If you are interested in seeing what the Atlanta performance of The Man with X Ray Eyes looked like, check out the pictures and commentary at Jeremy's Rock Blog. There's a great shot of the neon marquee of the Plaza Theater, and a link to the original trailer for the film.

Coincidentally, the Sailor Jerry blog recently posted Pere Ubu's first single, Final Solution (along with a scan of its picture sleeve, which I have never seen before.)