All the good men die young

So Den has been down in the smoke snarfin' Philly cheese steak sandwiches and downing beers in many a good pub and has also snaffled one or two pieces of plastic, but more of them next time. This time round you've got the fantastic Ral, the amazin' 'Let the right one in' and the bonkers Holly Penfield. 

Cursed with the label of being an Elvis wannabe/ soundalike, even down to recording/ retreading 'The girl of my best friend' Ral Donner was tarred with a rather sticky brush throughout his career. He even suffered the indignity of getting some stick in the sleevenotes of 'The Red Bird Story'. Whilst Ral is no Elvis these three tracks are a pretty weird bag which leaves you scratching at the swede as to who they may have been aimed at. The first pairing of 'Don't let him slip away' & 'Wait a minute now were re-released in the 70's on a tasty bottle green Inferno label aimed at northern soul stompers. Whilst 'Don't let him slip away' moves along like a 125 it's one of them tunes that comes with a toxic sign as being linked with the pop/experimental phase of the Wigan Casino is now the kiss of death. Pah! Den snatched this one up in the late '90's and has always had a soft spot for it. The B-side is in a similar vain and is another groovin' rocker. Moving on to 'It will only make you love him more' and were in the weird territory of Ral again, released on the Girl Group classic label 'Red Bird' this sounds more like a tune suited to The Righteous Brothers, although the bizarre instrumental break after the chorus sounds like the guitarist has just had his fingers broken. One of the last tunes issued on that labe (this is the B-side) and one of his last releases (I think). My snap shows Ral looking a moody 14 year old in 1957. Like the King he bought the big one in his early forties...

Ral Donner- Don't let him slip away

Ral Donner- Wait a minute now

Ral Donner- It will only make me love you more

So Den read the skinny on this new flick in his weekly rag. "Swedish teenage vampire flick" he told his squeeze, "Let's do it Den" she replied. So last Thursday afternoon we slurped black coffee and snarfed Cadbury's Cream Eggs whilst watching the film of the year. The rumblin' stomachs weren't going down in the Iniquity party...! It's just dawned on Den that maybe why he loved it so much is that the kid looks a bit like a teenage Den did back in '93, minus the shiv of course. Den's gonna feast his eyes on the book pretty soon as it's such a snip. Anyway, see it! Oh yeah, it's called "Let the right one in"

Let the right one in trailer

Den is fresh from a trip from the smoke as he rambled about it at the start of this ditty. Whilst there he checked out his favourite basement burlesque club in Chancery Lane (trust me do not get off the tube in Holborn like this schlub did- twice!!)- Volupte. He took in the Holly Penfield show who, like a women possessed got Den to bark like a dog, take off his shoe (which she subsequently put on her 'ead) then drink wine from it. Den being the gentlemen he is felt it would have put a dampener on the show if he'd have pointed out the orthopedic arch supports which would add a certain fruity flavour to any drink sipped within their vacinity. Anyway, this one is as mad as a red neck on a hot July afternoon....

Holly Penfield Official Site

Den Iniquity's 11th Time Around

Den's nose is close to the grindstone this week with papers flying around his head. He's snatched five minutes to share some gems with you good folk, though. So Den' has got some blue eyed soul, The Marvelettes & Lindy hoppers for you lucky lot check 'em out...

Den first tuned his cab doors into Mitch Ryder & The Detroit Wheels back in '95; fourteen years of beat mining later and Den digs this one up from deepest Florida. Forget The Byrds, The Who, Captain Beefheart and all the other esteemed alumni of the University of the over-rated this one is the badger's black slacks. I have this on the flip of Devil with a blue dress/ Good golly Miss Molly but this is included on the "Breakout" album, which features the eponymous track Den was grooving to back in '95. And remember peeps, the deeper you dig the tastier the truffle.

Mitch Ryder & The Detroit Wheels- I had it made

Den has always had a soft spot for The Shangs, going back to when he first heard "Leader of the pack" amidst a torrent of Stock-Aitken & Waterman horse-pucky back in '88. This is the uptempo, Motown-esque flip to the their last single "Take the time" and it's one hot,hot circle that Den bagged in The Village at the great Strider Records.

The Shangri-las- Footsteps on the roof

Den has always had a problem with the title of this album, surely they knew what they were saying?! Anyhow, classy blue eyed soul from Dusty on this Side 2 opener...gimme Dusty over Aretha anyday.

Dusty Springfield- If it don't work out

Den hasn't really shared any quality time with the one-eyed lodger of late but given that he had an epiphany the other day that The Marvelettes truly are the berries. Check this clip out of the fantastic "Too many fish in the sea" that the chose over the God-awful sappy "Where did I love go". Is it just me or are they a weird looking band? And that gap in the teeth...you could drive a Routemaster through it! And here are the girls in London...without a Routemaster in sight.

The Marvelettes- Too Many fish in the sea

And finally a breath-taking bunch of hoofing freaks from the US. This lot made Den feel like the time he had to run for the bus the other day...jeez, Louise, Den can move but compared to this lot he looks positively dead from the waist down...check em-

Crazy-ass Lindy Hop Comp

Den is back!

Yes, it's been 3 and a half weeks since Den last ventured onto the web to share his musings but without the tools for the job you can't dig a hole. So, normal service is resumed...what have we got? Buddy, The Moontrekkers, The Teddy Bears, Peggy from Mad Men and Chris Cross! Den has the thirst for bringing you the best of the best of the best and it's unslakeable...!

So Buddy Holly with teeth I hear you ask...I was a sceptical Den when I saw the title of this one "That Tex- Mex Sound!" and I laughed it off as a cash in after he croaked, but this is a hot fiery uptempo rockabilly rocker that served me well down at "Rumble" last Friday.

Buddy Holly- I'm gonna set my foot down

So a Joe Meek production that had been laying in Den's vault for a couple of years from the EP issued by Castle called "Vampires, Cowboys, Spacemen & Spooks". I mean how can you resist with a title like that it's enough to give Pavlov a headache. Anyway, this is probably my fave Meek instrumental, though the German Spaceman track takes some beating...I'll save that for another time, meine liebling!

The Moontrekkers- Night of the vampire

And finally The Teddy Bears, another record from a future wacko-producer in the shape of Phil Spector's band. I snagged this from a dealer friend of mine who's been feeding my addiction via long-distance mail. I've long been slow at flipping the hot circles to check out the B-sides but this one has a surprisingly good guitar intro and is a nice little ditty, even if the lyrics are a little bit wetter than a crocodile's waistcoat pocket.

The Teddy Bears- Don't you worry my little pet

Den has a new sweetheart in Peggy Olson from the fantastic "Mad Men" that he's just digging. Despite the varying quality of her bangs and her "mouse" ears and the mistake of letting Pete slip the Pete in just before his wedding, Den knows she's a good girl at heart. Oh what he'd do for a "basket of kisses"and a time machine into a fictional alternate universe! Oh yeah, in our world she's called Elisabeth Moss and she's a Scientologist and all that good stuff is padding or as they call it in Hollywood a "fat suit".

Compilation of Peggy Olson

Stuff like this makes Den's stomach recall a Death Valley Buritto he ate back in Hell's Kitchen in 2001 but you've got to doff your cap to someone who's that bendy....!

See him do his stuff on "Britain's Got Talent"

Remember to switch off after a minute or so as there is a tedious ad at the end...!