Much like Tom Petty earlier, the Tom Robinson Band, or TRB (they are referred to as both on this albums cover and it’s labels), were sold as being part of the Punk/New Wave thing that was happening in 1977. Hindsight tells me that they weren’t really. They were however a high powered Rock band that, crucially, had something to say.

Part of the joy of going into town in those days and buying a new LP was the journey home by train or bus and the time you could spend reading all the information on the record sleeve. The lyrics, who wrote what,  who the producer was and any thank you’s from the band. “Power In The Darkness” was different, it had a lot of that stuff but it also had little notes about each song, information about Rock Against Racism and a “political” statement by Mr Robinson lifted from an NME interview. There was plenty to keep you occupied until you got the record home.

It also came with a stencil of the bands logo which was based on the Black Power fist  encircled by the bands name (it was also co-opted by the Northern Soul crowd surrounded by the legend “Keep The Faith”). If you ever go see The Wonder Stuff check out the flight cases upon which guitarist Malc Treece’s speaker cabinets are perched, one of them is emblazoned with this TRB stencil. And in fact, Miles still does his vocal soundcheck by singing “Martin” from TRB’s “Rising Free” EP, so yeah, Tom and his band were a big deal to a lot us back then. 

So then, they really weren’t a Punk or New Wave group. Their best known song to most would still be “2-4-6-8 Motorway” (which isn’t on this album) I’d guess, a song which is a truck drivers lament, more Country than Punk in subject. We also have a song about wanting to own a grey Cortina. But if not Punk in sound Tom’s lyrics are definitely Punk in spirit. Having said all that the record begins with the Punk rush of “Up Against The Wall” with it’s “vicious, suspicious sixteen”s coming out from the cold.

After the boy racer romp of “Grey Cortina” (Tom’s ambition was indeed to own one if you read the sleeve notes) we’re then taken on a tour of grim, inner city Britain in the late 70’s, where the lonely are trapped in “bedsitter bedlam” but at the same time are ready to stand up for each other cos they “ain’t gonna take it no more”. You’re exhorted to decide which side you’re on and in the final title track reminded, if it were needed, of the hypocrisy of the ruling class, “Freedom we’re talking about your freedom” but what they really want is “Freedom from the likes of YOU!”, and all of this to a very groovy backing track.

Now, please indulge me while I focus in on one song, the epic “Winter Of ‘79”. It’s right up there with The Jam’s “Down In The Tube Station At Midnight” as a vivid picture of what an, at times, scary and violent place Britain could be at the arse end of the 70’s. The song sits at the start of side 2 and is kicked into life by Danny Kustow’s monumental power chording, the perfect exemplar of the power lying in the combination of a Gibson Les Paul driven through a Marshall stack (yes I know at tims Danny played a Gibson and a Yamaha SG but at this time I’m sure it was a LP). Kustow was a superb guitarist and here he conjures a sound most would kill to achieve. And while Danny blows up a storm Tom sings of a dystopian Britain where blood runs in the streets after football matches, relatives die and friends commit suicide, beer is cheap but Communists are being rounded up, National Service is re-introduced and the SAS are checking names, social security and public transport stops, clubs and cafes are being fire bombed, gays are being jailed, black kids are being targeted, the National Front are on the rise and in the end “A few fought back and a few folks died”. Then from the depths of quiet Danny rips a solo that…well if all solo’s were that good the world would be a much better place.

Was it Punk ? No. But it had more to say than many a Punk band before or since and helped a lot of us see things differently. You can still find Tom Robinson gigging and on Radio 6, still fighting the good fight. He chose which side he was on, as he says in here “if left is right then right is wrong”. TRB were politically as important to us back then as The Clash, The Jam and Steel Pulse and I thank them for shining that light.

Winter Of ‘79 - https://youtu.be/yKOUuw8R1aw?si=5a1YCN_rKnFs0fXu

It was the name of the producer which got me interested in this record, Jason Isbell (if you’ve been with us a while you’ll understand). Then I read the credits and the musicians included Sadler Vaden, Derry deBorja, Jimbo Hart, Amanda Shires, Chad Gamble, this album is effectively Jason Isbell & The 400 Unit with songs written and sung by Josh Ritter. Just like Isbell’s 2017 album “The Nashville Sound” this one too was recorded in Nashville’s famed RCA Studio A.

“Fever Breaks” is Josh Ritter’s 10th studio album. He got his break when, after recording his first album at a studio on campus at Oberlin College, Ohio, he met Glen Hansard (of The Frames and “The Commitments” fame) at an open mic night in Boston and he invited him to open for The Frames in Ireland.

This album does sound very like a 400 Unit record. There is the unmistakable sound of Isbell’s guitar solo’s plus Amanda Shires backing vocals and fiddle (the opening of “Silverblade” puts me very much in mind of Isbell’s “Travelling Alone” mainly due to Shires fiddle). There’s a lot of Dylan in Josh Ritter’s vocals in places, particularly on “Old Black Magic” (a driving, swampy rocker) and “The Torch Committee” where he adds a hint of Leonard Cohen for good measure while the 400 Unit hold it back but build up to a manic crescendo. Last song “Blazing Highway Home” has a very similar melody to another song that I just can’t quite recall, both are great I just wish I could figure out what its twin is.

This is my first encounter with Josh Ritter and I’m liking it, that may be because of the involvement of Isbell and his band. Reading reviews of this album most say his overall sound hasn’t really changed much on this record so maybe not. It’s good to find someone I can dig into deeper.

Old Black Magic - https://youtu.be/37jimrogxMw?si=0S31upv8t9x2fskG

In the 80’s I had this album on cassette. I was never a particularly big Lou Reed fan so I must have got it cheap from somewhere but I got right into it and played it to death. I’m guessing it’s not many people’s but on a small sample size (i.e. I don’t know that many of Lou’s solo records that well) it’s my favourite Lou Reed album.

Released in 1984 it’s a very 80’s sounding record, big drums, mostly clean sounding chorused and reverbed to death guitars but there is something about the songs within that really drew me in and hooked me. Side 1 kicks off with the pop ’n’ roll romp of “I Love You Suzanne” which is followed by the vaguely dancey pairing of “Endlessly Jealous” and “My Red Joystick” (wink wink). All OK but nothing too special.

After that, starting with “Turn To Me”, this album really takes off. “Turn To Me” begins with the withering lyric “If you gave up major vices, You're between a hard place and a wall” but winds up being a beautfulliy supportive thing promising that whatever ill befalls you, you can rely on Lou. Title track “New Sensations” feels quite important to the whole record. Lou sings of wanting to change “I want the principles of a timeless muse, I want to eradicate my negative views” and jumping on his motorbike to head out of the city “I headed for the mountains feeling warm inside”. Now to me Lou Reed’s writing has always been firmly set in the city, more precisely in New York City, so to hear him heading for the hills is quite the departure.

Side 2 begins with the gorgeous “Doin' The Things That We Want To”. Lou talks about going to see a friends play and how that made an impression on him. Then he moves onto Martin Scorsese’s films about New York and how they inspire him. He finishes with the lyric “I wrote this song 'cause I'd like to shake your hand, In a way you guys are the best friends I ever had” and the admission that what he wants is “A true love”. "What Becomes A Legend Most" feels like it may be looking back at one of Warhol’s “superstars”.

“My Friend George” is my absolute favourite, a strange tale of Lou’s friend George who sounds like something of a card who had a “killing stick” (which may or may not have been a sword), boxed and was ready for “the fight”, whatever that may be. It’s a song of friendship and  love it. We end with the gentle “High In The City”, a tale of how dangerous New York can be while at the same time wanting to be there, and all that alongside a Steel Drum solo. And thats where the interest ends for me as final song “Down At The Arcade” is a companion to “My Red Joystick” and suggests Lou may have spent too much time playing video games.

There seem to have been some changes going on in Lou Reed’s life when he was writing “New Sensations” and all of that is played out in song. Its a record that’s been with me a long time and one  still turn to regularly.

My Friend George - https://youtu.be/9Et2mU16CjU?si=ZRR7rBhp3s4RYUVj