Curtis Harding "Keep On Shining"

10 minutes ago I'd never heard of Curtis Harding but then I visited the Burger Records website just, you know, to see what they're up to - I'm nosey like that - and spotted that Iggy Pop had given a 'shout-out' to the label.  That shout-out came after he'd played a Curtis Harding track on his BBC6 Music radio show in July and what a startlingly good track it is:



Easily the best Iggy tip since he alerted me to the wondrous Lift To The Scaffold by choosing it as one of the films for his Fantasy Multiplex on Radio 1. I've not felt so aflame with excitement about a new soul act since Did Not Chart first posted about Myron & E.  If that intro doesn't hook you then, well, I despair!  Well done to Burger for not sticking to one sound and going where their ears and heart lead them.  I, for one, never expected to hear them release anything remotely like this; Timmion yes, Daptone yes, Burger no.  I may be a bit skint at the moment but that won't stop me buying Curtis's lp the very second it hits the shelves of Glasgow's record shops.  (Please let it hit the shelves of Glasgow's record shops!)

"I'm Just Trying"

20 years ago I figured that it was high time I bought an Easybeats record.  After I'd played it, however, I puffed out my cheeks. a bit underwhelmed. and decided that they were nothing special.  As time's gone on, though, I've come to realise that I was way too hasty in writing them off.  Today has seen this classy slice of soul-pop from the "Son of Easyfever" e.p. (Raven Records, 1980) get play after play:

I swear I forgot myself and danced embarrassingly as it spun on the turntable in Mixed Up Records.  Whoops!  One for the 'playing out' box, I reckon.