As I’ll confirm below, I like The Doors. This copy of their 5th album from 1970 that I now own is a UK 1st issue which, in nice condition, would sell for a very handsome sum. This copy isn’t in very nice condition so rather than sell it for a pittance I thought it could come stay with me. The sleeve is very worn all over and the record itself is scratched and marked and noisy, but it plays through without jumping. I hope someone will look out for me when I’m old and banged up like this fella is, so I decided I’d look after this one.

I put him in a nice poly sleeve to keep his sleeve clean and protected from any more damage. I gave the record a good deep clean, with some magic gel I like to use in these extreme cases, and I then put it in an anti-static archival sleeve. Then, every now and again, I bring him out and let him tell his stories about roadhouses and the sun, he talks about frogs and queens, fools and Indian summers, which he enjoys.

That’s gotta be better than being abandoned in the £2 bargain bin to end up who knows where and treated with less respect than he deserves. This old timer deserved better than that.

Roadhouse Blues - https://youtu.be/yV9DJwJKWMw

“Hey Jimmy !”

“Yeah !”

“Now !”

“Yeah !”

“For God’s sake burn it down”

...and over the next (less than) 40 minutes Dexy’s Midnight Runners conjure up one of the greatest debut albums ever recorded. Dexy’s, in their initial Donkey jackets and woolly hats incarnation, were quite some band…or was that a gang ?

There are a number of reasons not to like this album. The horns sound ever so slightly off key all the way through; Kevin Rowland’s falsetto can get a little wearing at times; the “pretentious” count gets waaaay too high in places…BUT…

…”Tell Me When My Light Turns Green” is a thrilling rush of horns and Rowland duetting with himself; the horn driven instrumental ”The Teams That Met In Caffs” is as joyous and uplifting a piece of music as you’ll ever hear; “Thankfully Not Living In Yorkshire It Doesn't Apply” is a title to conjure with and you wonder how Kev fits all those words in to the meter sometimes; I’ll put Dexy’s version of “Seven Days Too Long” up against Chuck Wood’s original any day. Add in 2 top 10 singles (one of them a Number 1) and you’ve got some record in your hands.

I was lucky enough to see this line-up of Dexy’s live and it was a fearsome beast. In your face, totally wrapped up in what they were doing, convinced they were right, delivering Brummie Soul, daring you to disagree. They were a gang as much as they were a band, it felt like if you did disagree with them they’d jump off the stage and give you a good kicking. Shame about the dungarees later on, but this album is a helluva way to announce yerself to the world.

The Teams That Met In Caffs - https://youtu.be/JUp2m6kzn_0

Everyone’s allowed an off day right ? C’mon I even managed to forgive Bowie for Tin Machine !

Here I was in my last post gushing about how important Damo and his music are to me and now I have to admit I don’t think I’ve played this album more than five times since it was released in 2017. Since “Seize The Day” Damo had released a breathtaking run of albums in “Shots”, “To Hell Or Barbados” and “Almighty Love”. Between those there was “Live At The Olympia”, “The Rocky Road” a run through some of his favourite traditional Irish songs and “No Force On Earth” a collection of original songs and traditional arrangements to mark the centenary of the Easter Rising.

“Soulsun” starts well, the title track is quintessential Damo and a great song. It all goes downhill from there. Track 2 is a cover version of a pretty poor song, then there’s a duet with Imelda May on “Big Big Love”, a song which suits Imelda but not Damo, even if he did write it, just give it to her and collect the royalties. There’s yet another (the third) re-recording of “Beside The Sea”, this one a duet with Dido (!), great song but did it really need recording again ? “Sam Jenkins” sounds like a leftover/outtake from “No Force On Earth” and then some other pretty lacklustre new songs. It all feels a bit half hearted.

I’m aware that I am in the minority in this opinion as, on release, some reviews claimed this to be one of Damo's  best records to date (not even close) but we all listen with different ears, right ? Listening to it again now after probably a couple of years I wouldn’t say I’m warming to it but I’m certainly less icy. Damo made a wonderful series of records leading up to this one and keeping up that level of quality would be tough for anyone. The album that followed this was a collection of duets on some of Damo’s older songs (see Dido earlier) and he hasn’t made a record of new material since “Soulsun” which was released 6 years ago now. If we’ve had the best of Damo it was a helluva ride brother, but I hope not.

Soulsun - https://youtu.be/4dUXnf_uumI