Get Involved blog

There is, among the many legends of Get Involved, a tradition of putting on a Get Involved night on the Thursday before the long Easter weekend…

Well, I’m delighted to announce that the fabulous DJ Roxanne Roll (with the best DJ name EVER) has asked me to come and bring some Get Involved vibes to her brilliant Cowbella night over at The Westbury in West London. I’m honoured to be asked and excited about bringing a box of records and a bag of maracas and tambourines to the night where it’s perfectly acceptable to request more cowbell!

Apparently there’s a “wall of cowbell” to play too. Amazing! The fun doesn’t stop till about 2am and you’ll then have four days to recover. Has there ever been a better time to get involved? Er, no, there hasn’t. GET INVOLVED!

There’s a Facebook event page set up here. And if you don’t do Facebook, the deets are thus:

Cowbella!
8.30pm-2am
@ The Westbury
34 Kilburn High Road
London NW6 5UA
view map

The cowbell-playing character above was created by Jeremyville – originally for the July 2006 Get Involved poster. If you want a copy of that (or any other Get Involved poster), you can buy them from Concrete Hermit. Click here for more info about prices and stuff

It’s Gerry’s Joint tomorrow night up at The Boogaloo. Whoop! As ever, myself, Leo and Roo will be spinning our (un)usual selection of tunes from the 50s and 60s – mainly raucous rockabilly, riotous rhythm’n'blues and sock-it-to-you soul. We’d love to see you for a drink and a boogie, or just a drunken boogie – so if you’re around, come along! There’s a Facebook event page set up if you’re that way inclined…

I also wanted to let you know that you can now download (it’s free, free I tell you) a 19-track Gerry’s Joint compilation / playlist called Chicken Shack Boogie - which features a selection of songs in the key of chicken released between 1937 and 2005. You can download the comp, complete with Roo Walton illustrated artwork, exclusively from wonderful food blog, The Chicken and The Egg.

Here’s the tracklist:

Chicken Shack Boogie
A Gerry’s Joint Compilation, 2010

1. Chicken Grabber - The Nite Hawks
2. Chicken Necks - Don & Juan
3. Chicken Shack Boogie [No. 1] - Amos Milburn
4. Chicken Out - Wayne Carroll
5. Let’s Do It (The Chicken Scratch) - Jimmy McCracklin
6. Chicken Shack - Fat Daddy Holmes
7. Chicken Walk - Hasil Adkins
8. Chicken Reel Stomp - Tune Wranglers
9. I Chickened Out - Kenny Loran
10. Chicken - Devendra Banhart
11. C-H-I-C-K-E-N - Tom Paxton
12. Do The Funky Chicken - Rufus Thomas
13. Ain’t Nobody Here But Us Chickens - Louis Jordan
14. Momma Stole The Chicken - Billy Bland
15. Chicken, Baby, Chicken - Tony Harris
16. Chicken Payback - The Bees
17. Chicken Back - Bobby Comstock
18. Chicken Shack Boogie [No. 2] - Amos Milburn
19. Chicken Strut - The Meters

Enjoy! And, if you think you know someone else who might enjoy this – feel free to forward this / info. Happy Friday!

Paul Gayten - Hot Cross Buns

This 1959 ditty, Hot Cross Buns by New Orleans R&B legend Paul Gayten, could be thought of as a ‘novelty’ track, with it’s ’silly’ vocals (provided by Chess records’ songwriter and producer Billy Davis - of Billy Stewart and Fontella Bass fame). I, however, consider it a classic of the tittyshaker genre! OK, so it’s not out and out wild – but it’s nice and sleazy, with some awesome bongo, sax and tambourine action…

“Mmm… I sure’d like to butter them b-b-b-buns!”

This week sees not one but two Heavy Pencil (in association with the ICA) events – where some of London’s most in-demand illustrators draw live to a soundtrack provided by DJs and live acts…

First up is Heavy Pencil East – tonight (Wednesday March 10) at Catch, 22 Kingsland Road in Shoreditch – which will feature live drawing by Adrian Johnson, Al Murphy, Hannah Waldron and Charlie Duck, who will all put pen paper to a soundtrack provided by two bands - Three Beards and illustrator Andrew Rae’s musical combo, The Marmosets – not to mention a DJ set by yours truly: G the P!

All the illustrations created during the course of the event will be stuck up on the walls and offered for sale at the end of the night. Details on Facebook and also on the poster designed by Rae (shown above).

Then, on Thursday night (March 11), at the Institute of Contemporary Arts in central London, Heavy Pencil is taking place alongside the Birds Eye View film festival’s closing party. In keeping with that party’s theme of femmes fatales, Heavy Pencil has enlisted the talents of set design and art direction duo, Anna Lomax and Lauren Davies of Jiggery Pokery, who will be doing the live drawing while music is provided by Iain Woods, aka Psychologist. Here’s the flyer:

More info at jiggerypokery.blogspot

I originally posted this on the Creative Review blog

Bob Callaway and The Chicks - Native

Great bongo-fuelled titty-shaker from 1959 with a Western soundtrack vibe – something to do with the brass arrangement. If you want a copy of the 45 though, you might have to part with big bucks. As I type this post there’s a VG copy on eBay - priced at a whopping $1500: http://cgi.ebay.com/BOB-CALLAWAY.

Apparently, the seller is offering free shipping!