Mowtown Magic

The mighty Temptations rehearse 'Sorry is a Sorry Word' (no, not the shitty Elton John song) in a Mowtown studio.

Boggle-eyed soul legend David Ruffin had become the de facto  lead singer at this time. His elder brother Jimmy also achieved some fame on another Mowtown hit 'What becomes of the Broken Hearted?' Jimmy had been turned down for the Temptations though as he had 2 left feet when it came to dance steps.

The talent in this clip is unbelievable. The Tempts are backed here by various core members of the legendary Funk Brothers house band (James Jamerson in background on bass, Earl van Dyke on keys, Robert White, Joe Messina, Eddie Willis on guitars) and also Brian Holland (of Holland-Dozier-Holland fame) who wrote this tune and breaks it up half-way in to ask them to do another take.

Eddie Holland wrote the vocals. He is the guy in the producer's area with the flamboyant pompadour hair. Lamont Dozier is visible in the top left corner when they resume the recording.

This clip was alledgedly done as a promo, but the Tempts vocalist Eddie Kendrick and especially funk-brother band leader Earl 'chunk of funk' van Dyke look distinctly unhappy at having their work interrupted and critized.

Black Jacks at the Academy 2

Just back from the 'Blk Jks' gig at the Academy tonight.  Didn't know much about them but their album 'After Robots' had gotten rave reviews from Mojo and similar magazines, so thought it worth checking out. They are a four-piece rock group from Johannesburg. Spent the last couple of days listening to the CD.
BLK JKS: (L-R) Rhytym gtr/vcls, Bass gtr/vcls, Lead gtr/lead vcls, Drums/vcls. No idea how to spell their Zulu names, so won't bother at this point.

They were pretty damn good, very hard to classify - South African roots, bits of Hendrix and even U2 and Radiohead in the mix (but I won't hold that against them too much); The lead singer/lead guitarist was brilliant. He was (ahem, I think) skinning up in the mensroom when the support act was on. I didn't have a clue who he was but I think he was worried that I would steal his pint from beside the sink where he had left it :-(

As for the show, I don't think there were any more than 70 people there tonight. Not surprising as the weather was horrific.

Anyhoo, forgot to bring my camera, so might post photos from my phone if any of them are useable...

Have been to the Academy in Middle Abbey St. for a few gigs recently. Nice place (think Vicar St. Xtra-lite). The building was the old Adelphi cinema from years back, as far as I know.  Relaxed atmosphere - very friendly bouncers and staff. Also, the gig only cost 12 Euro on the entrance fee - take note Paul McCartney...

Return of the Moving Statues

Virgin Mary, as she appears to Joe Coleman

Dubliner Joe Coleman, who describes himself as "a visionary of our Blessed Mother and a spiritual healer under the energy of the Holy Spirit" recently drew large crowds to the Knock Basilica when he predicted an apparition from the alleged mother of Jesus.

Coleman (55), who is based in Ballyfermot, Dublin, told the Irish Times yesterday he believes Our Lady appears to him because, “I’m a channel for love, and I’m a channel for God”. He claims he has “never gone public before” on his ability to see apparitions, which dates back to 1986. “I was in hospital having an operation – I broke my ankle – and I died under anaesthetic. I left my body and I went to heaven, where I saw my father who had passed away, and my son, and Our Lady and Jesus and Archangel Michael.”

Until recently, he described himself as a clairvoyant. He now prefers the term “spiritual healer”, and claims to be able to cure people of various illnesses. "People come to me for all sorts of ailments. They could have cancer, arthritis, haemorrhoids, MS – all sorts of things. Healing comes out of my hands. I pray over people and sometimes touch them in their delicate regions.  That normally does the trick".

Last Sunday, Coleman claimed to have had another vision of the blessed mother while visiting the toilet in Murty Coyne's bar in Knock, following midday mass. "I had a bad curry the night before so made a bit of a mess", said Coleman. "It was when I was wiping myself down that I saw the blessed virgin smiling serenely at me from the toilet bowl. I took this as a sign that I should not flush the toilet. A voice told me that she would return again at 7PM that evening and reveal certain key secrets involving the oncoming advent of armageddon if the human race did not renounce Satan immediately.

I went back at 6:55 but Murty had got the specialist cleaners in and destroyed the beatific image of the mother of Our Lord, so this picture is the only evidence I have of the apparition. Murty will burn in hell for that. I don't care that he has now barred me for life.":
Joe captures image of blessed Virgin Mary's latest apparition

Meanwhile, the Archbishop of Tuam, Dr Michael Neary, has issued a statement that makes clear the church’s view of Coleman’s predictions:  "That man is a f*cking nutter - I checked with various dioceses and it seems that he is such an oddball that his regular applications for the priesthood were turned down a total of 27 times over the years 1985 - 1989 (bear in mind that back then we weren't too fussy and would take any kind of deviant or eejit). 

Certainly, the fact that he was completely illiterate, and had done 13 years in Mountjoy for a litany of serious crimes was a stumbling block to any potential ordination, but his beliefs that his holieness the Pope was a lizard spawned by aliens, and that the jews (sic) were trying to poison his tea-bags (because he knew too much) also counted against him."

Slagtastic! Bet she went to a Loreto Convent school.

"Wahoo - Jade Goody, Britney and Jordan are my idols!"

I encountered someone very similar to this fine lady on a Saturday Nightlink bus earlier this year.

On that occasion though, the girl wore her underwear in a more conventional manner; Her panties looked like they may have been white originally, although a dose of double incontinence seemed to have occurred, so it was really quite hard to tell. I only happened to notice this fact, as she spent the latter part of the journey upside-down in the stairwell of the bus and caused me to miss my stop and I practically need to perform a gymnastic bars routine to avoid standing on her head or staining my shoes in her vomit, when I finally attempted to disembark.

She appeared to be semi-conscious but was still making a detemined effort to hum along with her similarly classy friends who were screeching out a rendition of the horrific Robbie Williams dirge 'Angels'.

Anyhoo, hope she got home OK and that her family (and the nuns) are proud of her!

The Dark End of the Street - diffs

Two versions of the same song. Not sure which I like better (does that make me bi-polar?).


James Carr



Gram Parsons



A sad tale of infidelity and ensuing guilt. I'm not sure which version I like better.


James Carr is not remembered as much now as he probably should be, as one of the greatest southern soul singers of all time like Otis, Wilson Pickett, Percy Sledge, Solomon Burke et al.

He 'fell at the first hurdle' due to mental health issues and ended up virtually catatonic for most of his life.


Gram Parsons was a rich-kid who found that he had a knack for country/soul music and managed to get himself into 'the Byrds' and unofficially 'the Rolling Stones' and made vital contributions at crucial times in both bands' careers, with 'the Byrds' on 'Sweethearts of the Rodeo' and with 'the Stones' on their 'Exile on Main Street' period.

This is essentially his own group - 'The Flying Buritto Brothers'.  Gram Parsons didn't make it past 30 years of age, I don't think. Fulfilling a promise, some friends stole his coffin and gave him a cremation in the Joshua Tree Park in CA.


James Carr made a couple of very brief comebacks but died a few years back, after being cared for by his sister for many years.


I find it abhorrent when people try to do this song - like Andrew Strong in 'the Commitments', or anyone on 'XYZ Factor' or any of those shows. You can't touch these 2 versions...