A Modest Proposal regarding the payment of musicians.

There has been, as I’m sure anyone reading this will be acutely aware, much in the media over the last few years regarding the renumeration of musicians, whether it be regarding the dwindling record sales, mp3 piracy, rocketing prices of gigs or one of many other things. I’m sure all of us don’t want bands we like to starve or have to quit and get proper jobs, nor do we want them ruined by the excesses that come with too much cash, so to that aim I have two proposals:

1) The Nationalisation of all music.
2) A Maximum wage of £50,000 a year for all musicians.

1) is pretty simple, big record companies are shit and don’t really do anything and would happily just fill everyones ears with aids if it would make them a few quid. 2) might be harder to justify but heres three words that might make you more ameniable to my view : ‘kings’ ‘of’ and ‘leon’, once they smelt the dollar they’ve slowly changed from a fairly interesting if unspectacular band to THE WORST THING EVER CREATED. (witness their latest step in their conversion to u2 in the form of their new video, which I won’t post here on the grounds of taste) at the same time we have the bizzare stories about them at the v festival (which itself probably shouldnt happen and would be hard to justify with a maximum wage for musicians).
Songwriting could form a pension for those who indulge in that and bands could also count on a pension proportionate to their longevity, also shit bands could be encouraged to stop with the promise of an early pension. This might seem a bit unfair but well, who can’t live on 50 grand a year? and has anyone very very rich made anything worth listening to since John Lennon died?

Also its worth considering that U2 probably wouldn’t still be together if it wasn’t for the epic sums of money they get each year for touring, and even if they were Bono would be far less of an intolerable cunt.

Led Zep were just a covers band, like Westlife.

I’m sure everyone knows that they ripped off a lot of blues riffs for their tunes, but did you know the extent of just how much they plagiarised?

We’re not talking Noel Gallagher style re-using bits of songs and sticking them in his own, I mean actually taking other peoples songs in their entirety and claiming them as their own! This set of Youtube vids has a lot more about it



I bet you didnt know it was that bad did you?

Soapbox Recipe Corner

Cheese Plate

This is an old family recipe handed down through the generations. I loved it as a kid and my sister informs me its marvellous for a hangover.

What You’ll need:

Cheese

A Cheese Plane

A Plate

cover the plate with slices of cheese made with the cheese plane,
place the plate under the grill till the cheese melts,
add pepper to taste, serve with fork.

BON APPETIT!

The rbbrslmn archives

I used to tape gigs and I’ve been sorting through my mounds of discs of bootlegs that I recorded over the years trying to uncover some gems, some I didnt share cos I promised not to, some I forgot about, some I never knew I had. I’ll only be picking ones that also sound good.

heres the first, this falls into the “never knew I had” category, and its not one I recorded.

its the coral in the zanzibar from september 2001, at the time they were just about to releas the oldest path ep, I’m not sure of the date but i’m guessing it was a bandwagon night, which would make it the first saturday of that month. its half an hour of them of them in their youthful pomp, playing to their mates at the bandwagon…

You can get it here

rbbrslmn archives #2 is a great bootleg I did of the black keys at liverpool barfly in sept 03, will have a listen through but I think quality wise its amongst the best I ever made, of a very good gig too, here it is (v0):

and heres the black keys gig

Join The Soapbox Fantasy League

We’ve got two running this season, one a league and one a head to head, you can put the same team in both (i shall be), one is standard fantasy league style, the other is fixture based, (so two players in the league play each other, winners get points)

go to fantasy.premierleague.com and sign up with these codes:
33421-11939 is the old style league
33421-11958 is the head to head

as a bit of a bighead and the CHAMPION! of the soapbox world cup fantasy league I thought I’d give a few general hints and tips:

Fixtures: always look at them, they are more important than the players. having 3 arsenal players in your team is a great thing if they are at home to west ham, away to chelsea though, forget it. I’d rather have average players against shite teams at home than world class players away to better teams in my squad.
Transfers: make lots. if you look at your team and fancy making a few transfers before the next games, but it might cost the 4 point penalty, so what? work out what you think you’ll get extra for making the transfer, look at the players next few games vs the one you want to get rid of, it might easily be worth it.
Value: theres a couple of obvious underpriced players in the league right now. Am I shite telling you who they are of course, fans of championship clubs just come up like geordies can have an advantage here, they might know the name of one or two goalscoring defenders who are always the best players to have in your side.

The Stairs – Mexican R ‘n’ B (one of THE great lost albums)

From the early 90s liverpool scene there were lots of bands lumped intogether as “mad scousers”, some were ok (Dr Phibes and the House of Wax Equations) some were shitter than shit (Space – if you think they were shit when they started putting albums out in the late 90s you should have seen them 5 years before. jesus. The ginger cunt from space is probably the only person I hate that I’ve never actually met.) One was criminally neglected, relegated to half page articles in the back of NME and underpromoted albums courtesy of GO Discs! who’d probably had enough of liverpool after the La’s debacle.

Presented in glorious mono, The Stairs were so anti-technology that they even sold singles with a piece of sandpaper (Stairtex – a joke based on the EMITEX advertised on the back of early Beatles records) yet for some reason packed this version of the CD with bonus tracks, making the vinyl version of the album a bit pointless, its an unashamed homage to 60s garage and is set in a universe in which the year after 1966 is 1966 again. forever. It is however wonderful, almost impossible to buy for any sort of sensible price and to the best of my knowledge only exists on the net in 192. so here it is presented in glorious 320, ripped from the CD with EAC secure mode.

They did another LP but never released it till 2008 (its called the lost 2nd album though I’m told its actually the third, and the 2nd is confined to a dustbin) main man Edgar Summertyme change his name to Edgar “Jones” Jones and has made great records with a number of bands, google him I can’t be arsed going into it. Enjoy

The Stairs: Mexican R ‘n’ B

1. “Intro” – 0:13
2. “Mary Joanna” – 2:38
3. “Mr Window Pane” – 3:47
4. “Out in the Country” – 2:15
5. “Laughter in Their Eyes” – 4:25
6. “Sweet Thing” – 2:22
7. “Russian R’n’B (The World Shall Not Be Saved)” – 2:47
8. “Right in the Back of Your Mind” – 7:22
9. “Flying Machine” – 3:25
10. “Mexican R’n’B” – 0:41
11. “Take No Notice of the World Outside” – 1:45
12. “Mundane Mundae” – 2:11
13. “When It All Goes Wrong” – 2:04
14. “Wrap Me Round Your Finger” – 3:04
15. “Weed Bus” – 2:13
16. “Woman Gone and Say Goodbye” – 3:19
17. “Sometimes the World Escapes Me” – 4:41
18. “Fall Down the Rain” – 7:24
19. “Outro” – 0:26

The Soapbox Album Club – Robert Johnson

Robert Johnson – The Complete Collection

I was trying to think of something great thats never really mentioned on the soapbox, and thought of this fella. the only CD I have of him was bought in asda for 2 quid or so years ago, and still give it a spin from time to time, I had ripped that but I thought that since it was on a shitty label (Prism Leisure) and was very hissy throughout I’d look on waffles for something a bit better, what I found was his complete recordings (which is only 29 songs, and some alternate takes) which happily are much cleaner than the cheapo thing I have.
Its nearly 75 years old but still sounds alive and vibrant, so for those reasons alone, aside from the historic importance of the songs you should check em out.

Robert Leroy Johnson (May 8, 1911 – August 16, 1938) was an American blues singer and musician. His landmark recordings from 1936–1937 display a remarkable combination of singing, guitar skills, and songwriting talent that have influenced generations of musicians. Johnson’s shadowy, poorly documented life and death at age 27 have given rise to much legend, including a Faustian myth.

Johnson’s songs, vocal phrasing and guitar style have influenced a broad range of musicians; Eric Clapton has called Johnson “the most important blues singer that ever lived”. Johnson was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as an “Early Influence” in their first induction ceremony in 1986. He was ranked fifth in Rolling Stone’s list of 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time.
According to legend, as a young black man living on a plantation in rural Mississippi, Robert Johnson was branded with a burning desire to become a great blues musician. He was “instructed” to take his guitar to a crossroad near Dockery Plantation at midnight. There he was met by a large black man (the Devil) who took the guitar and tuned it. The “Devil” played a few songs and then returned the guitar to Johnson, giving him mastery of the instrument. This was, in effect, a deal with the Devil mirroring the legend of Faust. In exchange for his soul, Robert Johnson was able to create the blues for which he became famous.

This two-CD box contains all 41 recordings Johnson made, including 12 alternate takes, and each cut remains a classic. This set’s release in 1990 caused quite a stir, selling more than 500,000 copies, and, on the basis of endorsements from Eric Clapton and Keith Richards, introduced a great number of rock fans to Delta blues. Amazingly, Johnson built his enormous legacy on the strength of just two recording sessions: the first session, in November of 1936, produced among others “I Believe I’ll Dust My Broom,” “Sweet Home Chicago,” “Cross Road Blues,” and “Walkin’ Blues,” making it perhaps the most influential single session in blues history.

Label: Sony
Release Date: August 28, 1990

the two CD set is v2 from waffles, low bitrate because of the sparse nature of the recordings, not because of low quality.

a flac torrent version is here if you want it though

Additional Information: Box Set with 2 Discs

Tracklist:
Disc: 1
1. Kindhearted Woman Blues
2. Kindhearted Woman Blues
3. I Believe I’ll Dust My Broom
4. Sweet Home Chicago
5. Rambling on My Mind
6. Rambling on My Mind
7. When You Got a Good Friend
8. When You Got a Good Friend
9. Come on in My Kitchen
10. Come on in My Kitchen
11. Terraplane Blues
12. Phonograph Blues
13. Phonograph Blues
14. 32-20 Blues
15. They’re Red Hot
16. Dead Shrimp Blues
17. Cross Road Blues
18. Cross Road Blues
19. Walking Blues
20. Last Fair Deal Gone Down

Disc: 2
1. Preaching Blues (Up Jumped the Devil)
2. If I Had Posession Over Judgment Day
3. Stones in My Passway
4. I’m a Steady Rollin’ Man
5. From Four till Late
6. Hellhound on My Trail
7. Little Queen of Spades
8. Little Queen of Spades
9. Malted Milk
10. Drunken Hearted Man
11. Drunken Hearted Man
12. Me and the Devil Blues
13. Me and the Devil Blues
14. Stop Breakin’ Down Blues
15. Stop Breakin’ Down Blues
16. Traveling Riverside Blues
17. Honeymoon Blues
18. Love in Vain
19. Love in Vain
20. Milkcow’s Calf Blues
21. Milkcow’s Calf Blues

A Compendium of Coral B Sides “Mad Men In The Desert”

This comprises EVERY coral b-side not available on an album, and one or two other things.
Brought to you by me, Ben and Mahoney. In the majority of circumstances these are ripped as v0 mp3 straight from the disc. Some harder to find tracks may not be this, but after some considerable effort we’re confident that these are the best quality versions of these songs you’ll find anywhere. Enjoy.

Disc 1:

The Oldest Path
God Knows
Dressed Like A Cow
Flys
Shadows Fall (acoustic)
A Sparrows Song
Travelling Circus
Follow The Sun
Short Ballad
Another Turn In The Lock
Good Fortune
Sheriff John Brown
Sweet Sue
Darkness
Answer Me
Calenders And Clocks (acoustic)
Spanish Main (reversed)
Simian Technology

Disc 2:

Run Run
God Knows (New Version)
Heartaches and Pancakes
Not The Girl
Nosferatu
The Box
Witchcraft
Boy At The Window
See Through Bergerac
When Good Times Go Bad
Who’s That Knockin
From a Leaf to a Tree
Tiger Lilly
See My Love
Teenage Machine Age

Disc 3:

The Image Of Richard Burton As Crom
The Case Of Arthur Tannen
Laughing Eyes
The Conjurer
Ghostriders In The Sky
Gina Jones
Who’s Gonna Find Me (acoustic)
Leeslunchboxbyblueleadandthevelcrounderpants
Pictures From The Other Side
The Dance Lingers On
One Winters Day
Far From The Crowd (acoustic)
The Voice
Come Go With Me
Depth Of Her Smile
Willow Song
The King Has Died
1000 Years (acoustic)
Scarecrow
The Visitor