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...
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"
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....
No comments:
Post a Comment