My Favourite 45 by Lewis Wharton, Little Barrie

Little Barrie have been knocking about for awhile now churning out their own unique brand of funky, bluesy rock for the modern age. You may have seen singer Barrie – with his cool 70s Keef Richard’s hair do – rockin’ and a rollin’ with the current Primal Scream live set up. The funked up threesome are currently working on their third album with a new single due later this year. Their early Stark Reality 7” singles are to be given a limited re-issue soon, so if you missed ‘em first time round, keep an eye out on mail order sites like Juno Records, to make sure you catch ‘em.

Bass player Lewis Wharton, kindly took time out to contribute to our ever popular ‘My Favourite 45’ series, where we ask our favourite movers and shakers to pluck a 45rpm single from their record collection and wax lyrical about it for a minute or so. If you would like to comment or contribute to this series we would love to hear from ya!

The Cramps - Surfin Bird / The Way I Walk (Vengeance)

"To be honest I can take or leave the A-side (Surfing Bird), I prefer the Trashmen's original version but it's all about the B-side (The Way I Walk), and the artwork. This is The Cramps first single, they put this out themselves on their own 'Vengeance' label, the sleeve is just thin matt paper that has been screen printed on both sides but the effect is really cool. Probably the coolest record cover I've ever seen. I think they only pressed 6,000 copies, a lot of which went to radio stations in the US so I'm lucky to have found one over here, and the best thing that I was able to swap it for a load of records I didn't want anymore so it feels like I got it for nothing".

"'The Way I Walk' isn't really a dancefloor filler but it's one of the coolest sounding records you'll ever hear!"

For more info on Little Barrie check out littlebarrie.com. Meanwhile, check out the video of early track ‘Free Salute’ below.

New issue of Shindig lands on planet earth!

The brand new issue of Shindig! is another belter! Cover feature this time round is the Pretty Things plus there are fab features on Funkadelic, garage rock legends Count Five, obscure girl group The She Trinity as well as Kris Needs' on Tim Rose, the guy who wrote the legendary garage classic, 'Hey Joe'. Packed with cool pictures, essential reviews from the world of psych, garage, soul and beyond, this glossy mag is setting new standards for music junkies who like to dig deeper.

You will not want to put this one down! Get hip and get a subscription today! shindig-magazine.com

Whilst we are on a Count Five tip let's indulge ourselves with some rare classic footage of the band performing the snotty, garage anthem, 'Psychotic Reaction' courtesy of good ol' You Tube!

My Favourite 45 (or 12"!) by Rowly, The Delays

Brought together by a shared love of The Stone Roses, The Verve and The Beatles, Southampton boys, The Delays have released three albums to date. Debuting in 2004 with ‘Faded Seaside Glamour’, ‘You See Colours’ followed in 2006 and their latest ‘Everythings The Rush’ arrived in 2008. Their 2004 Rough Trade single ‘Long Time Coming’ is a regular choice spin at RSG! indie do’s.

RSG recently caught up with drummer Rowly (pictured first left) and asked him to pick one of his favourite platters from his record collection and he came up with this psychedelic monster from the Verve.

Verve - She's a Superstar (Hut)

"Verve (pre 'the') were the first band I ever got really passionate about" claims Rowly, "I was just that bit too young to have heard the Roses when they came out (Black Lace were more my cup of tea at the time!) so by the time my tastes had moved away from Hawaiian shirted pineapple pushers the latest thing was the shoegaze scene”.

“I loved (and still love) a lot of those bands and I think there was some fucking great records made then but when I saw a Verve feature on 'Rapido' (arts show hosted by the Eurotrash guy) I fell for them above all others instantly. They had a sonically beautiful sound, a star frontman with an amazing voice and they could properly groove, a combo I didn’t know was possible!”

"I played the debut single 'All In The Mind' to death so the morning 'She's A Superstar' came out I ran to the record shop first thing, then ran home (faster), all the while staring at the cover which was like a waterfall on another planet (cool.)”

“There’s no way of describing music this good, other than to say to this day I don’t think a record has caused a firework show in my head like when I put the headphones on, cranked the volume and played this for the first time. Certainly not until another Northern band with a similar swagger and self belief released 'Live Forever' a couple of years later, but that’s my favourite 12"”.

Thanks Rowly for taking time out to talk to us. Keep coming back to RSG! for more great 'My Favourite 45' selections from our special guests. If you would like to take part or add your comments on the tracks featured to date, why not drop me a line? soulboy_69@yahoo.com

For more news on the Delays check out

thedelays.co.uk and check out the video to one of our favourite Delays tracks 'Long Time Coming' below.

New RSG! DJ dates coming up

The Ready Steady Go DJ crew will be stepping out again for a couple of gigs...

First up, DJs Soulboy_69 and Strictly Vinyl Phil will be spinning the wheels of steel at Josephs Well, Leeds on Friday February 6th supporting the Daybreakers and then on Friday April 3rd we'll be at the Brudenell, Leeds with our friends, the Ladyboys and Aftermath. Come on down if you are in the Leeds area!

For more information on these gigs and futue Northern nights go to www.myspace.com/n3mnorthernmusic

Cool links...

www.myspace.com/daybreakersband

www.myspace.com/theaftermathband

www.myspace.com/lsladyboys

Meanwhile, check out The Aftermath latest video 'One Is Fun' here....

My Favourite 45 by Andrew Needle, The Ruling Class

The first time I stumbled across The Ruling Class was late 2008, when they supported the Charlatans at Leeds Academy. I was impressed by their music and more importantly, their haircuts. Yes folks, hairdos matter in pop music! Rhythm guitarist Andrew Needle (pictured right) dropped by recently to tell us about one his favourite 45s and came up with this surprising novelty tune. The Ruling Class have recently followed up their sold out debut single, ‘Flowers’ with a new EP + 7" single called, ‘Tour De Force’. Check out their myspace page to hear more.

Two Little Boys by Rolf Harris, 1969

Some songs or albums you just want to know everything about them, and about the people that made them, but with this one I’d rather not know for fear of it losing the magic. I never knew anything about it because I was so young when I started listening to it I suppose. You’re not really bothered about stuff like that when you’re not old enough to read.

I know that this song wasn’t originally written by Rolf Harris but this is the version that I know. My mum used to sing it to me and my brother when I was 4. I think she got sick of us asking her to sing it every night and you couldn’t buy it in the shops anymore, so she rang up the local radio station and asked if anyone had a copy. Some nice lady drove round and just gave it to us.

I suppose you could say it’s a song of nostalgia for me, but I don’t think it is just that as I can only vaguely remember listening to but it but I remember being quite affected by it then. I think maybe when you are a child your mind is open in a way it is not when you are older. You are less aware of the boundaries and so you immerse yourself in a different world more freely and I think this is what happens to me still when I listen to this. I’m not normally into songs with a story but this one is haunting in a way that I can’t readily explain. Its strange how at first it comes across as this really saccharine, almost nursery rhyme, song but yet it transcends into something quite powerful and ethereal. There’s something ghostly about it.

I tried to play it on the guitar not so long ago and I just welled up, my voice went all funny. I was singing it with a load of tears flying off my face. Even now when I think of the lyrics I get a bit emotional. I’m a bit like Rolf when that dog died on Animal Hospital. It’s a bit embarrassing.

Apparently this is Margaret Thatcher’s favourite song as well which is quite worrying. She doesn’t seem like someone who would fully empathise with the sentiment. I can’t imagine her being a very sharing child. I can see her kicking the little boy off the horse so that she had more room to herself, and then possibly trampling over him because he didn’t agree with some of her policies, but there you go.

If you haven't heard this song I suggest you go listen to it. Maybe i had heard it now I wouldn't be so fond of it. I may just see it as some terrible kids’ song. But the lyrics conjure up a really powerful image every time I hear it. It’s the best thing Rolf has ever done (apart from those pictures he used to do, where you can't guess what it is until the end).

Andrew Needle, The Ruling Class

Song facts:

The song was originally recorded by British Music Hall star Harry Lauder in 1903. It tells the story of 2 brothers who share horses as boys and later share them in battle during war. The exact war was not specified, although it could be the Boer War.

Rolf Harris hit the number one spot in 1969 in the week Ready Steady Go! Editor Soulboy_69 was born!

The Ruling Class don’t sound like Rolf Harris, trust me!

For more info on the band www.myspace.com/therulingclassuk