Valerie

Cover version of the month #92
Mark Ronson featuring Amy Winehouse covers The Zutons

Amy Winehouse teaming up with Mark Ronson to cover Valerie by The Zutons must be the one of the most successful cover versions of the 21st century.

Released in October 2007, almost exactly a year after Winehouse's phenomenal second album Back To Black, Valerie was very arguably the only music of note that Amy recorded after her breakthrough. 

Peaking at number 2 in the charts, but spending 19 weeks inside the top 20, Ronson and Winehouse sold well over 300,000 copies of the single in just a couple of months. 

The song was everywhere; radio, TV, becoming a favourite of wedding bands, in commercials .... with the royalties ensuring The Zutons Dave McCabe, who originally wrote the song, could buy a house. Indeed, McCabe can still pretty much live off the royalties.

The Zutons released Valerie as a single in June 2006 and it reached a peak of number 9 in the charts. The bands Tired Of Hanging Around album reached number 2. They were doing well and I remember catching them play the Barrowland around this time. They looked like a real gang; McCabe - the curly haired frontman, Abi Harding on saxaphone, Russell Pritchard on bass (now playing with Noel Gallager's High Flying Birds) and friends. The Zutons came out of a Liverpool scene that the NME lazily labelled scallydelica. 

A love of Love and getting stoned seemed to shine out of Liverpool bands. I used to enjoy reading all the interviews with the likes of The Coral. It sounded like they just sat around listening to music or playing music all day long. And that came out in the music being released on Liverpool label Deltasonic - set up by Alan Wills, who used to drum with Shack.

The Basement, The Coral, The Zutons, The Little Flames and others were all bands kicking around the Liverpool scene and the gig circuit across the country. Of course, The Coral and The Zutons broke through.

I have found it really interesting to revisit The Zutons original version of Valerie for this blog as I'm much more familiar with the Winehouse and Ronson version these days. 

On my first time revisiting The Zutons version, I thought it sounded a little slow. But it improved after a couple of listens, after I reacquainted myself with the original; jangling guitars, a raspy soulful vocal, strong backbeat and stabbing horns.

However, I do prefer the Ronson and Winehouse version. The beat feels more urgent, the groove is cooler, Winehouse sings effortlessly and the production (as you would expect with Ronson) is absolutely top class. 

Winehouse plays with the vocals, accentuating words and phrases. Her voice crackles, soars, goes a little deeper and then goes beautifully clear. What a singer, what a sad, sad loss.

Ronson deserves a tonne of credit for his arrangement; the horns, bass groove, percussion - it really is sublime. Ronson produced Amy's iconic Back To Black album and you wonder what delights the two of them could have conjured up if they had worked together again. We'll never know.

The Zutons original and the Mark Ronson featuring Amy Winehouse cover version are added to my Everything Flows Cool Cover Versions playlist on Spotify which also features all of the songs below. Search for the title or CLICK HERE

Valerie - The Zutons official video

Valerie - Mark Ronson featuring Amy Winehouse

Valerie (live) - Amy Winehouse

Previous covers of the month blogs

1. You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin' 

2. Going Back To My Roots

3. Nirvana play The Vaselines

4. Slip Inside This House

5. Top 10 covers by Teenage Fanclub

6. Only Love Can Break Your Heart

7. Time For Livin' 

8. Sound and Vision 

9. All Along The Watchtower

10. I Am The Walrus 

11. Guiding Star

12. You’ll Never Walk Alone

13. Hurt

14. This Guy's In Love With You

15. I Wish I Never Saw The Sunshine

16. California Soul

18. Wonder wall 

19. Dancing In The Dark

20. Always On My Mind

21. Ceremony

22. Heroes

23. Different Drum

24. Wild Horses

25. Respect

26. Mr Tambourine Man

27. I Heard It Through The Grapevine

28. Superstar

29. Twist and Shout

30. Purple Rain

31. Baker Street

32. Not Fade Away

33. Stop Your Sobbing

34. I Don't Want To Grow Up

35. Serious Drugs

36. Dancing With Myself

37. How Does It Feel To Feel?

38. Love Buzz

39. ABBA-esque
40. Jumpin' Jack Flash

41. Discoland

42. Varshons 2 by The Lemonheads

43. The Langley Schools Music Project
44. Witchi Tai To
45. Our Lips Are Sealed
46. Sunshine Of Your Love
47. Here Comes The Sun
48. I Think We're Alone Now
49. Don't Let Me Down 
50. It's Oh So Quiet
51. Alcoholiday 
52. Summer Holiday
53. Who Do You Think You Are?
54. Head On
55. Nothing Compares 2 U

56. Hey Jude

57. Seven Days Too Long

58. L.O.V.E Love

59. Into Your Arms

60. Heart Of Glass

61. Take Me To The River

62. We Can Work It Out 

63. Talking In My Sleep

64. Lola

65. Lost In Music

66. My Little Red Book

67. Isn't It A Pity

68. Walk On By

69. Walk Away Renee

70. Tainted Love

71. Girls Just Wanna Have Fun

72. Listen The Snow Is Falling

73. Mrs Robinson

74. He's Gonna Step On You Again

75. In My Life

76. Caravan Of Love

77. The Only Way Is Up

78. Dancin' Round & Round

79. With A Little Help From My Friends

80. Killing Me Softly

81. Ain't No Mountain High Enough

82. Drop

83. Sittin' On The Dock Of The Bay

84. Sympathy For The Devil

85. I Bet That You Look Good On The Dancefloor

86. Love Will Tear Us Apart

87. Indian Rope Man + bonus Strawberry Fields Forever + This Wheels On Fire

88. Can't Take My Eyes Off Of You

89. Love The One You're With

90. Cum On Feel The Noize

Carla J Easton at Mono

My sister Carla doesn't really do things by halves. It's part of her charm, part of what makes Carla, Carla. She goes all in. Sometimes, it might feel like she has taken on too much, but her work ethic, creative nature and desire to leave a mark tend to mean things work out in her favour.

Carla is mentoring a young teenage band called The Cords. So she wanted an to put on an all-ages show. And she wanted it to be accessible for people with disabilities or impairments. Somewhere people could feel safe to be themselves.

I was proud to see someone standing nearby me with a white mobility cane. And I was delighted to see so many young kids catching live music from Carla and her band, The Cords and Curlew. Who knows what impact that will have on them - will they be encouraged to pick up a keyboard, guitar or pester their parents into buying a drum kit? I hope so!

Mono was the venue of choice and Noel (manager) and his team were incredibly supportive of Carla's idea for an all-ages show. As someone who has put on a number of gigs over the years, I did worry about who would buy a ticket for a Sunday afternoon matinee show!

I needn't have. Mono was packed out. The atmosphere was friendly, supportive and inclusive. Kids bought bracelets from The Cords, overdosed on Haribo and wandered about blowing bubbles. 

Adults bought pin badges, records and CD's, and sampled the many beers (non-alcoholic for those of us driving) that Mono has to offer.

Kids sat at the front while adults stood around them, admiring the old keyboard that Curlew played and the way she looped and layered her voice and melodies. How did she do that? 

The Cords were brilliant. Carla has been telling me so much about them. She mentors them through a course at Rig Arts in Inverclyde. Eva (15 on guitar and vocals) and Grace (17 on drums) are young teenagers who are mining C86, the Glasgow School and Sarah Records for influences. I look forward to seeing them again and hope they can record some songs soon to capture their youthful innocence and energy. Their set generated enough applause to demand an encore of The Vaselines Monster Puss. Ones to watch for sure.

The Cords

On to the main act! Carla and her regular band of dreamers on the run extended to being a 9-piece band at times; veering from pure pop, to gorgeous ballads and string laden gems. 

Title track Sugar Honey opened the show with a sugary rush to match the haribo fuelled kids sitting at the front of the stage. Melodies poured off the stage as Carla and co played Tempt Me and Be OK from the new album with the beats, layers and complex arrangements played beautifully.

Then there was a run of 'non-hits' as Carla said. The New Order fronted by Carly Rae Jepsen pop delight of Get Lost and the super powerful blast of Weirdo.

Man of the Minch joined the band to play violin on Impossible Stuff which was absolutely gorgeous, the little jam at the end was outstanding. Things were slowed down for beautiful ballad The Girl From Before, the melodies flowing out effortlessly. 

View from side stage

Angus Munro then took to the stage with his saxophone for some glorious pop. One Week and Weekend Lover sounded huge. Carla then introduced You Made Us, her love letter to Glasgow, written in Queens Park during a lockdown while gazing across to the huge pink People Make Glasgow sign. 

The tale of neighbours, community, friendship, anonymity and love for Glasgow poured out of Carla's soul. It's quickly become a real favourite of mine.

Gorgeous dreamy Sleepyhead was sublime, before a triple blast of glorious noisy pop as the band became a 9-piece; Attack Of The Glam Soul Cheerleaders was an outrageous stomp. Blooming 4U was defiant, euphoric and triumphant and the closing Wanting What I Can't Have was like the little sister of Primal Scream's Loaded.

A brilliant set. A brilliant day. A brilliant effort by all to bring it all together and make it happen.

You can order Carla's Sugar Honey album from Bandcamp.

Or opt for a special dib dab cherry and orange version from the good folk at Monorail.

The Easton clan 

Never Ending Mixtape part 86

Welcome to part 86 of my Never Ending Mixtape.

I last reported on additions back in September when we reached song number 3,473. There are now 3,644! That's what I get for missing a month!

So there are loads of goodies for you to delve into if you are one of the 336 people following the playlist. If you're new, then I recommend visiting and hitting shuffle. Who knows where the playlist will take you!

What has been added?

Well, almost 200 songs! Ending with a string of songs by Sly & The Family Stone as I'm currently reading Sly's outstanding autobiography.

You get new music from David Holmes - I'm really looking forward to his new album Blind On A Galloping Horse coming out this week on Heavenly Recordings.

You get Cat Power, R.E.M. , Stevie Nicks, Four Tops, Stereolab, Willie Hutch, Blondie, Baby Huey, Dot Allison, Cornershop, Gil Scott Heron, Sonny & Cher, Laura Nyro, The Staple Singers and much, much more.

Search for Everything Flows Never Ending Mixtape on Spotify or CLICK HERE

Teenage Fanclub at the Tramway

Last night I added The Tramway to the list of Glasgow venues that I've seen Teenage Fanclub in. It's always a thrill when the band play somewhere different.

Ahead of the tour, Raymond McGinley said; "Following our most recent album Endless Arcade we did a UK / Europe tour in support of that. While it felt great to be properly back on the road again post-pandemic, we realised that for many of the venues we’d been playing those same places over and over for more than thirty years. We thought that next time we should try to do something a bit different. As part of that tour we played a couple of seated venues and enjoyed the experience. We got the feeling that the audience did too. So, for the tour this year in October and November we decided to put together a run of dates in seated venues, for the dual purpose of both playing shows in a theatre environment and in venues that are mostly places we haven’t played before. For both band and audience this tour should be an enjoyably novel experience.”

Raymond knows his fans!

And it was an extremely enjoyable experience. 

After a narrow escape on the train where I was heading to Pollockshaws East rather than Pollockshields East, I met my friend Lorna outside the venue shortly after doors opened. After grabbing a new mug and a beer, the doors to the theatre swung open and we headed in to nab good seats.

We opted for the end row 3, directly up from where Raymond was due to stand. It was great to see loads of people we knew around us, or on their way to seats. 

The venue had exposed brickwork to the sides and a huge screen behind the stage, which was pretty much floor level with the crowd then elevated above the band. I was immediately reminded of The Beatles playing in Twickenham Studios at the start of the Get Back documentary. That kind of vibe. It was like dropping in on a band rehearsal.

Sweet Baboo (Stephen Black) played a short acoustic set in support. Heartfelt stories were told to introduce several songs with Goodbye (about a neighbours dog he walked during lockdown) being a particular favourite of mine.

Black has stood in for Dave McGowan on bass a few times, so it was great that the band invited him out on tour. Baboo is promoting his latest album The Wreckage, that came out in early 2024. It's safe to say that his humour, melodies and storytelling won him new fans.

At 9pm Norman Blake, Raymond McGinley, Francis Macdonald, Dave McGowan, Euros Childs and Stephen Black strolled on to the stage. For the next 90-minutes, the six piece Fanclub delighted the crowd with songs from new album Nothing Lasts Forever and songs from across their career, culminating in set closer Everything Flows, their glorious debut single.

There were smiles and laughs - especially as one brave heckler shouted ELTON at Blake as he sat behind the piano for Self-Sedation. Blake took it in typical good form, joking he needed more elaborate glasses. And then when one brave soul jogged across the front of the band to go to the toilet it caused hysterics for Norman and Raymond - especially cause the guy was dressed like he was out for a run!

The sound was excellent throughout; guitars gelling, heavenly harmonies and all kinds of heart tugging moments. A double dose of Alcoholiday and Did I Say early on was worth the admission money alone, while Raymond's beautiful Only With You was an unexpected treat.

New songs - Tired Of Being Alone (set opener), Foreign Land, I Left A Light On, Falling Into The Sun, Self-Sedation and See The Light were all played, fitting effortlessly in alongside older cuts. There was an extra zip to them in a live setting, especially the first couple, the guitars sounded a little more raw and urgent.

I was gutted they didn't play album closer I Will Love You. I do hope that makes an appearance in the live set at some point. But then, with 30+ years of songs to choose from, you can't get everything!

I Don't Want Control Of You is always on the setlist and it always succeeds in lifting and moving me. I'm In Love is another song that has extra zip and zest in the live setting, while My Uptight Life was as poignant as ever.

Stephen Black played acoustic guitar, keyboard, percussion and saxaphone through the set. I thought his acoustic guitar in particular added a lot to some songs. Just that extra little layer.

Dave was super solid on bass, while Euros harmonising with Norman is a delight. 

Back In The Day is a recent favourite of mine and it sounded sublime in the encore, the chorus seemed to go on and on, the band looked like they were really enjoying it. 

Closing with Everything Flows, Teenage Fanclub left everyone feeling a warm glow that the band continue to radiate. I'll be back for more on Tuesday in Edinburgh.

I do like to stand with a beer at gigs, but do you know what, I loved this show. The Tramway was set up perfectly, can't have been a bad seat in the house.

Now and Then

Now and Then, the 'last' Beatles song, was released earlier today. 

The song, like Free As A Bird and Real Love from the Anthology Series in 1995, stems from a John Lennon demo. Back in 1995, the technology didn't exist to isolate John's vocal from the piano. 

That was then, this is now. John, Paul, George and Ringo are united once again, to complete the song, continue The Beatles story and help with yet more Beatles remasters and reissues (of the Red and Blue compilation albums).

Personally, I'll never tire of reading about The Beatles, or listening to their brilliant music that wowed (and changed) the world, or hearing their musings and philosophies on life. Give Peace A Chance, All You Need Is Love, We All Shine On .... important then, more so now.

The Beatles story is wonderful and this is another chapter of the most incredible book that takes in; friendship, music, death, love, travel, children, creative souls, mind-blowing success, mind-bending drugs, break-ups, make-ups, reflection ... and four characters that developed through the years, four people we all fell for. It's been quite the journey ... a long and winding road.

Now, with Paul and Ringo in their 80's, this really is likely to be the last time The Beatles create and release a new song. Their legacy will last forever and I'm sure that someone somewhere is working up an ABBA experience style series of shows  ... but lets focus on the new song.

The piano is haunting, and Lennon's voice hits hard, it gripped me immediately. Paul comes in, subtly at first, then your hear his voice coming in stronger, then Ringo's drums seem harder and Paul's bass is there, the strings are sublime and everything builds quite beautifully.

Paul sounds older, his voice still gelling with Lennon in the 70's. George's slide guitar from the 90's is there, the strings swirl and after the second chorus there is a gorgeous dreamy instrumental with classic Beatle aaahhh's and oooohhh's.

I know it's true

It's all because of you

And if I make it through

It's all because

Of you

There was a surge of optimism in mid-90's Britain when The Beatles last released new music. Britpop was at its 1995 peak and Labour were riding towards government. The Tories were on their way out and the nation was ready to party - things could only get better.

We could sure use a surge of optimism and change right now!

Official audio

Peter Jackson's Now and Then film

Young Fathers at the Barrowland Ballroom

Photos by Allan Carroll

Tuesday nights (24th October) exhilarating, exceptional, exciting and energetic performance by Young Fathers in Glasgow's Barrowland Ballroom was pretty mind-blowing. Anyone who checks out their albums can hear how talented and clever Kayus Bankole, Graham 'G' Hastings and Alloysious Massaquoi are, but when you see and hear them in a live setting, it takes your appreciation to another level.

What makes them so special?

Well, the arrangements for one. Multi-layered vocals that bounce off each other and then encourage and allow one of them to veer off on a tangent. I was reminded of Sly & The Family Stone's arrangements on a few occasions. 

And the beats and grooves. Everything stems from a groove. Some are repeated throughout the song, with just the odd little melody on top; whether guitar or xylophone. But the main thing is the groove.

Hastings produced the bands latest album, the wonderful Heavy Heavy (blogged on here) and on the Barrowland stage he would regularly walk over to a bank of equipment to tweak the sounds being created for the live instrumentation to vibe off.

Graham 'G' Hastings

Photo by Allan Carroll

In addition to the core trio of Young Fathers, Callum Easter (who played a stunning raw set in support) was back on stage playing guitar, keys/synths and xylophone, 2 female singers were on vocals and backing vocals and there was a drummer/percussionist.

The lighting was minimalistic, the backdrop was just a big grubby sheet. And it looked great!

What was my question again? Oh yeah, what makes them so special?

They have a raw energy that is somehow equally we don't give a fuck + we really give a fuck. Young Fathers care about their music, but don't give a fuck if you like it or not. They are just going to keep doing what they do. And what they do is different from anyone else out there.

So they stand out. A mile.

Photo by Allan Carroll

Hastings rarely smiles, staring out the crowd, singing from his heart, a conductor without a baton. Massaquoi is a beautiful singer, cracking dancer and can seemingly turn his hand to a number of instruments. Bankole is a fizzing ball of energy, getting up and getting down like a sex machine. Hanging off Hastings at times, bounding about like a kid in a sweet shop the rest.

Towards the end Hastings asked the crowd if we wanted more. Then nodded at a fired up Bankole and said "blame that c**t if you miss your last train home." And they kept going.

With 5 singers, we really were treated to a visual and audio box of delights. Everyone moved, everyone danced. The Barrowland crowd roared their appreciation and the famous Barrowland roar echoed around the halls after a spine tingling version of I Saw. 

Although I couldn't help reflecting back to Barrowland gigs when I was younger, when the entire dancefloor jumped and danced as one, pogo-ing, banging into each other and creating a beautifully sweaty and chaotic mess. Are those days gone? Are we too well behaved? Are too many people bothered about getting their phone out to video it? Or was it just cause it was a Tuesday night?

Hastings did casually mention Tuesday night at the Barrowland a couple of times and had to encourage the crowd to be louder a couple of times.

But the crowd were up for it. Just in a more modern way. And Young Fathers certainly were DEFINITELY up for it.

Highlights?

Get Up and Wow back to back got things going, but a beautiful In My View and Low showed a different side to the band, while I Heard was the first song of Young Fathers I really fell for. Released 10-years ago on Tape Two - I still think it's a distant cousin of Marvin Gaye's What's Going On? Yeah - that good.

OK, it was all one big highlight! But Drum was hugely uplifting and joyous, Only God Knows was super energetic and catchy. Like soul, pop, gospel from the streets.

Rice was the band in full flight, hollering, layering and creating a party vibe. Geronimo is one of my favourites from Heavy Heavy, a beautiful gospel style groove, super cool.

The aforementioned I Saw was deliciously dirty, dangerous and exciting. Beautifully raw and energetic, those dynamic vocals at the start and then the mellow groove.

I saw what I saw

I keep on walking the line

 And then it all kicks in again and goes off on one, the vocals leading, the groove and beats remaining constant. Song of the year? Has to be up there. It is up there! The band extended it, keeping that groove going and the Barrowland erupted afterwards; an extended cheer that rose again just as it was dying, feet stomping, hands clapping, voices raised. 

Young Fathers didn't leave the stage. They are not people who waste time. Closing with Toy, Bankole was last to leave the stage, vibing off the audience.

Go and see Young Fathers if you get a chance.

Last photo by me. All the others by Allan Carroll.

Thanks Allan. 

3 DJ's at Mono

On Saturday 7th October, some friends and I put on a night to celebrate the 30th anniversary of Teenage Fanclub's Thirteen album. The idea was to play the album in full at Mono (where the band recently played for the launch of new album Nothing Lasts Forever) in a kind of 'in person' listening party style.

Over a months worth of rain fell on Saturday, resulting in trains being cancelled and the entire Scotrail network closing at 9pm. It wasn't a great night to be putting on a free event!

Still, Barry, Alan and I drove in and stuck to non-alcoholic beers and played records from 7.45-11.15pm and had a good chat. 

Most of the crowd were in for the amazing vegan food that Mono offers up. None of us were surprised by the messages we were receiving from friends saying they were staying in due to the weather, or indeed, that they couldn't get to Glasgow.

Here is what we played - spot doctor Alan Clarke's handwriting! I've created a playlist of all the songs that are on Spotify. Everything apart from the Chuck Jackson, J Walter Neero and KiDD songs. 

Dig in and enjoy over 3-hours of tunes played. I've left off Teenage Fanclub's Thirteen. That deserves to be played on its own.

LISTEN HERE