Music Reissues Weekly: Having a Rave-Up! - The British R&B Sounds of 1964

HAVING A RAVE-UP! THE BRITISH R&B SOUNDS OF 1964 Mad for rhythm and blues

Thrill-packed box set documenting the year British pop went mad for rhythm and blues

“The Rollin' Stones are probably destined to be the biggest group in the R&B scene if it continues to flourish. They aren't the jazzmen who were doing trad 18 months back and who have converted their act to keep up with the times. They are genuine R&B fanatics.”

Music Reissues Weekly: White Noise - An Electric Storm

WHITE NOISE - AN ELECTRIC STORM Delia Derbyshire climbs on board for a tilt at the pop market

BBC Radiophonic legend Delia Derbyshire climbs on board for a tilt at the pop market

An Electric Storm opens with “Love Without Sound.” Once heard, it’s unforgettable. A disembodied voice which could be either female or male sings about making love without sound. There are female-sounding squawks and yelps. Revolving percussion sounds like drain pipes being hit by toffee hammers. The other instrumentation is clearly electronically generated. And, it has a tune.

Music Reissues Weekly: Sex Pistols - Looking For a Kiss in Kristinehamn

SEX PISTOLS - LOOKING FOR A KISS IN KRISTINEHAMN When Dionysian irrationality and divine insanity came to small-town Sweden

When Dionysian irrationality and divine insanity came to small-town Sweden

After Sex Pistols have played “New York,” the fourth song in their set, someone from the audience shouts “Anarchy in the U.K.” "We've already played it, you fucking idiot" responds Sid Vicious. They have. It was the first song they did at Kristinehamn’s Club Zebra.

The request begs the question of whether the person calling out knew what “Anarchy in the U.K.” sounded like. They may have known of “Anarchy in the U.K.” but not actually heard it. Considering where the particular show was, the information gap is possible.

Music Reissues Weekly: Tomorrow's Fashions - Library Electronica 1972-1987

Fascinating collection of futuristic music intended for soundtracks rather than record shops

The conundrum central to library music is that it was not meant to be listened to in any normal way. Yet, in time, this is what happened. What ended up on the albums pressed by companies like Bruton, Chappell, De Wolfe and others was heard by subscribers – the records did not end up for sale in shops or on the record players sitting in the nation’s homes.

Music Reissues Weekly: Barry Ryan - The Albums 1969-1979

BARRY RYAN - THE ALBUMS 1969-1979 Musical drama personified

Musical drama personified

In April 1985, The Damned’s Dave Vanian was speaking with Janice Long on her BBC Radio 1 show. He said “Barry Ryan and Paul Ryan have been sadly forgotten. Everyone waxes lyrical about Scott Walker which is marvellous but this is absolutely superb. There’s a tension in there, it starts off pretty but it grabs you after a while.”

Music Reissues Weekly: Atlanta - Hotbed of 70s Soul

ATLANTA - HOTBED OF 70S SOUL GRC is one of America's great soul labels

Despite being bankrolled by ‘The Scarface of Sex’, GRC is one of America's great soul labels

Michael Thevis made his money from pornography. In the Seventies, his Atlanta warehouses were stuffed with most of America’s porn. Nationally, Thevis was the main distributor. Looking for something less edgy to fund with his profits, he turned to the music business and bankrolled the GRC label and its sister imprints Aware and Hotlanta. In time, they became three of America's most lauded soul labels. In parallel, Thevis sealed his reputation as a notorious criminal.

Music Reissues Weekly: Angelic Upstarts - Teenage Warning

ANGELIC UPSTARTS - TEENAGE WARNING Punk landmark remains as abrasive in 1979

Punk landmark remains as abrasive as it was in 1979

NME’s Paul Morley reviewed Angelic Upstarts’ debut album, the newly reissued Teenage Warning, in August 1979. He pointed out that they were “seen as the successors to Sham 69.”

Music Reissues Weekly: Cluster - Zuckerzeit

CLUSTER - ZUCKERZEIT 50th-anniversary nod to when Krautrock began embracing melody

50th-anniversary nod to when Krautrock began embracing melody

In 1974, two albums by German kosmiche musicians working with electronics became the first from the seedbed of what’d been dubbed Krautrock to explicitly embrace – and merge – melody and rhythmic structure. One was Kraftwerk’s Autobahn. The other was Cluster’s Zuckerzeit. Once on the record player, each LP instantly made its presence felt more directly than anything either had released previously.

Music Reissues Weekly: The Cryin’ Shames - Please Stay, Do The Strum! - Joe Meek's Girl Groups and Pop Chanteuses

The fabled Tea Chest Tapes yield more bounty

Liverpool’s The Cryin’ Shames were responsible for two of mid-Sixties Britain’s most striking single’s tracks. The February 1966 top side “Please Stay” was so eerie, so wraithlike it came across as an attempt to channel the experience of making successful contact with a spirit presence. “Come on Back,” an unpolished September 1966 B-side, could pass for US garage punk at its most paint-peeling.

Music Reissues Weekly: Margo Guryan - Words and Music

MARGO GURYAN The jazz composer who changed tack to embrace Sixties pop

Lavish box set dedicated to the jazz composer who changed tack to embrace Sixties pop

Late summer 1966. Jazz was Margo Guryan’s thing. She was not interested in pop music. This changed when she was played The Beach Boys’s “God Only Knows.” Amazed by what she heard, she tuned in to pop radio for the first time. Her head was further turned by The Beatles and The Mamas & the Papas. A copy of “God Only Knows’s” parent album Pet Sounds was bought.