Delighted to see some old-fashioned technical discussion on here, following the Abba jiggery-pokery and the phasing thread. There may still be a few who remain confused by phasing, so this little clip (which is possibly an out-take from a Word podcast) will easily resolve all your queries about the subject.

Next week, it's crystal radio kits.

Great Duets Of Our Time: Tiny Tim & Eleanor Barooshian from The Cake and "I Got You Babe".
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=y8028uf_Z-M

More Purple: Episode Six. They've been at the dressing up box and the face painting stall.
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=e7QvwdOt-ng

Chairs missing: Apparently Rob needs to sort his seating arrangements out for the next TV appearance. The Hawaii Chair is the answer. Great after a curry.
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=E9_amg-Aos4

More Sherry, Vicar? Now there's a good thing. A Four Seasons musical coming to London. What do you reckon to this remix video?
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=qN3kC_4xURA

Line Dancing: Boris has got some promising ideas about improving the Northern Line.
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=X6EDAZ3crdY

We thought you were dead: The Times had an obit I couldn't believe yesterday, because I thought he went a long time ago. Bobby Lee Trammell. Bobby's stuff was raw and occasionally bonkers. About 25 years ago the owner of a West London Rock 'n' Roll shop thrust this album at me and said, "you'll like this". He wasn't wrong.
Bobby amazingly ended up as a politician. Listen to "Carolyn".

The Real Deal: Marva Whitney singing Tell Mama. From the days when women wore nighties on stage. (Does she look a bit like... )?
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=qRub5MNc8EU

The King's New Clothes:Which was your favourite Elvis? The fat one, the leather one, or the Memphis Flash in a black shirt & pink sports coat? Bill Belew, who designed those jewelled bell-bottom jump suits for Elvis, died last month. One of Bill's heroes was Napoleon, so he used a Napoleonic collar to draw attention to the face. Shame it also became the most popular Elvis look, which you can now find in polyester in every fancy dress hire shop. Or, get your own made up here. I quite fancy the idea, so I'm off to John Collier tomorrow to get one run up in a nice herringbone.

Top pop:Maria Muldaur & Midnight At The Oasis. Don't make 'em like this any more. Why don't more kids start jug bands these days? Gets them off the streets.

Bananafanafofirley: The Name Game. Shirley Ellis could certainly do it. Can you?
Wikipedia suggests that using certain names can lead to profanity. Do please let us know.

Word Jazz: (now there's a thought) Man Alive! It's Fred Astaire and lovely Barrie Chase with Ken Nordine and 'My Baby'. Things can get no better than this.

Cool: You must be getting a bit warm by now. Have an ice cream. Available in the foyer.

Supergroups There was a recent thread about choosing your own supergroup line up. Just imagine... David Hemmings on guitar, Heinz on vocals and Steve Marriott on drums. Never happen, would it?

Awesome: Found Otis' version of Tennessee Waltz on YouTube a while ago and wondered why I hadn't played it for years. It was because my old vinyl copy of Dictionary Of Soul was just too scratched. So I bought it again. Haven't stopped playing it since. Sends shivers down my spine. Or is it the weather?

It was ghastly: Recently heard strange noises in the Pleasuredome. Investigation found the 16-year old chortling loudly over this.
Apparently it's well funny & all his mates watch it lots. This week, driving his elder brother back to the parent-free, Nintendo-stuffed haven of university digs, he separately told me that he gets loads of false links leading him to the same clip. It's called Rickrolling.
Fears Of A Clown: I saw in the news that lots of kids now suffer from fear of clowns. Coulrophobia. Scientists have traced the source of origin back to the early 70's.
It won't be long me see me love: Louie Louie by The Kingsmen never lets you down, as has been pointed out recently on the blog.
Clyde Otis died last week. The old guard of the original record industry are fading away like the business itself, it seems. He wrote & produced many great records, like Timi Yuro's amazing Hurt. (Small Faces fans should check out 'What's The Matter Baby' also).
You're My Wonderloaf: Feeling tired and listless? Here's the answer.
Ilfracombe & Barnstaple section: Kathy Kirby, Rick Astley...now Hitler's all over the blog, too.
Worst Film? Anyone seen The Blast-Off Girls? Doesn't sound too appealing a prospect.
Cheap vinyl?: Sod Zavvi, get down to Woolies. (You'll need a Tardis).

...leave 'em rocking.

Old? It's the new new. Just look at the latest issue. Rob's got an article on 65 year old DJ Derek and there's a list of tours by Pinetop Perkins (94), Humphrey Littleton (88) and Kitty Wells (88), plus two pages of then and now rock mugshots. Don't mention Steve Howe. This forum also reckons an average reader age of 47. I've been 25 for the last 30 years. Debbie Harry's now a Golden Girl. I'm straight on this bandwagon before the next issue has a Vera Lynn CD on the cover and a Now Hear This link to hearing aids. (Some good advertising revenue there).

Your Time Is Gonna Come: Here's some previously unseen backstage footage from a recent major O2 show.

I know you got tea: Even Clarkson's going to slow down one day.

Old Pop, etc: The Turtles' "Elenore" popped up on the blog. Have a look at this 40 year old live TV clip. How's that for a drummer then?

Paperback Write-off: Ever look at the 'Feeds' link on here? Some great stuff to be found. Saw this week that The Beatles Monthly was finally giving up. Didn't know it was still going. Apparently, there's nothing left to say. Rubbish. Steve Turner managed to wind up the the blog beautifully over Christmas with 100-plus comments on his musings as to whether the Beatles were actually any good. Today, 45 years ago, Please Please Me was released.

Shuffled off: You could do worse than go to your grave in the knowledge that you'd made possibly the greatest dance record ever. Bob Relf, of Bob & Earl died in November.
First released in '63 and again in '69, covered by The Stones & sampled by House of Pain. Here he is in later years miming to Blowing My Mind To Pieces. Check out Ian Levine's channel for more vintage soulsters revisiting their glory years. Bob would have been 71 yesterday.

Not Duffo: Been a bit of a kerfuffle about the new wave of british girl singers lately (NWOBGS)? I'm going stand up for Duffy. Take a look at this and tell me what's not to like. If she'd been around in the 60's we'd all be collecting her stuff on reissue now and I'd pay money to see her live anyday. Yes, it's retro but so what. Old is better than new.
Which is where we came in.

...and remember, always leave'em dancing.

Back to work today? Bored already? Feeling down?
Cheer up to the music of Johnny Otis, who wishes you all a Happy New Year.

1: Graham Bond, Jack Bruce, Ginger Baker etc from 'Gonks Go Beat.'
2: Bill Wyman hopes you all got one of these in your stocking. Much more fun than a USB deck.
3: Duets That Should Never Have Happened. The prize went to prancing former pop pierrot Leo Sayer with Linda Ronstadt on Tumbling Dice.
4: I'm sure there's more tolerance of cats in rock at The Word these days, so here's Elbow's take on Independent Woman. By cats of course.
5: You don't see acts like these 1960's London buskers anymore. Someone here identified the pub, too. That's typical.
6: No 6 really is the only spot for the fag-smoking, health & safety ignoring Watersons & Anne Briggs.
7: Cast out those nicotine devils with The Reverend Louis Overstreet.
8: Off your face in a foreign country was how David described the background to this masterpiece. Paul Weller & The Style Council in a mimed moment best forgotten.
9: More fags with The Flinstones.
10: The Great Barbara Lynn's live clips get taken down regularly. Take a look at the only live one currently left standing of this legendary left-handed, guitar playing soul singer.
11: The clip I wished I'd found the most? The all-round good chap Planet Mondo beat me to it. It's The Flirtations & 'Nothing But A Heartache'.
12: You can't beat The Scopitone Girls. Here's Sonny King & 'I Cried For You'. The greatest. Ever. Apart from Disco Apache, perhaps. (Bugger. That's thirteen).

Many thanks to those nice people at The Word for transforming what was formerly a bike ride down to the snug for a chat, to a blast down the information superhighway to, er, Bollocks Island.

Axe Victims: Eric Clapton & Angus Young actually rubbish shock. Seen these shredding clips yet? Probably the funniest thing around on Youtube, made by a genius spoofer.

Costume Drama: No, not Cranford - It's Lulu again, and now she's doing Mrs Robinson. From the 1970 Bee Gees TV special, Cucumber Castle.

Tinsel:Brenda Lee had one of the all-time Christmas hits with Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree. Here she is singing Dum Dum in a fashionable 2-piece and presumably some assistance from Ellnet, on someone's lawn.

I go ape: The Trunk Monkey provides great car theft and road rage protection.

Tom Tom Club: The Colonel's watching those who disparage the paradiddle on this board. After work, you're to attend my office and watch this Louis Bellson solo all the way through.

Ike Turner: How many other men have had a girl group named after them? Personally, I'm thinking of starting up The Pleasurettes in the New Year. Auditions booking now. Anyway, Ike had a tough old life. Standing behind The Ikettes every night must have been dreadful.

Not Driving Home For Christmas: Christmas should be a time for reflection, and consideration for parents left alone. As usual, it takes a country song to express that particular loneliness in a sympathetic way. Like Red Peters does here.

(Download below for your Christmas compilation.)
http://www.divshare.com/download/3103520-859

Safe for work: Strangely agitated men dressed in tight shorts, flowerpots on their heads, bullwhipping the clothes off a woman,with a side portion of whipped cream. Don't worry, it's only Devo.

Anyone seen my Penn? One of my all-time favourite songwriters and singers is Dan Penn. Just don't see, hear or read enough about him - and Youtube is no exception. Here's Dan with The Hacienda Brothers in 2006, but he's off after one verse.

Weightwatchers:Dan wrote Do Right Woman for Aretha, who this week got some stick for being too large. So here's a Small female singer. Millie. See how many Island acts are in this My Boy Lollipop clip. (Robert Palmer's in there, you know).

Gifts:What did people do before the internet? Catalogues, that's what. Here's Arthur Askey to show you how it worked. Arthur's playing a postman. Available now from midday only.

Religion:Why don't we go to church in this country? Because there aren't people like Doyle Sherman and The Doylettes inside them, that's why.

Music downloads:People on this forum seem to be having terrible problems with playlists and stuff. Fraser's ipod has even been haunted by Joni Mitchell. The French Maids show you how it's done.

Good Bonzos article in the new issue, & keep your eyes on the Advent Calendar.

That's What I Want:The Colonel has been watching the Advent thread with interest. Whilst it's a classic song, 'River' isn't going to get anyone in the holiday spirit. The Samaritans will be inundated with downcast bloggers by the 25th. The answer? Try something happier from the days when 'the popular song' wasn't subject to the soul-searching introspections of 60's singer/songwriters.
Pearl Bailey had an honest and simple gift proposition. A Five Pound Box Of Money.

Colonel's Guide To Dating: For those who haven't yet found Ms Right, I offer the following sound advice. Have a large cold drink, go to a club, find a suitable prospect and tell her that she's got legs like a country ham.
It worked fine for Louis Jordan.

Bridal Wear: If the above advice works (and why shouldn't it?) you may need Pentangle's advice on a Wedding Dress. Bert looks bit miserable with that beard.

That'll Do Nicely: Money's too tight to mention at the moment. Some credit card companies are doing anything to attract new customers.

Millinery: Ronnie Lane & How Come.

Women & Drums:Remember last week's Chaka Khan clip? I seem to have missed a whole swathe of female drummers in the wake of that Cadburys Gorilla advert. Gosh.

Motoring News:Electric cars? Congestion Charging? Dinah Shore walks all over it with this great Chevrolet TV ad.

Coke Habit: Every time I find a vintage Coca Cola radio ad, I grab it.

This site
http://www.bigozine2.com/archive/ARrarities/ARcoke.html
has them all on CD, but the download's not available. Some artist roster. Let me know if you find another download.

Rubber Band Man: Think you can move? Not like Roy Head you can't.

I know I'm usually dozing in front of a roaring fire with a large scotch to hand at this point in the week, but thought all London readers may appreciate this gem from Sally Clarke. She's just been fired from her job as the voice of the underground. Their loss.
More here.

Wor kitten:It's The Animals. They're at the seaside. Eric's burying a cat in the sand. Fraser needs to know about this.
Percussion discussion: Can women play the drums? The topic has been known to cause nothing but trouble in the past. Rufus-era Chaka Khan proves the case for pink drumsticks.
Old Peculiar:The recently deceased Hank Thompson knew a bit about drinking songs, so he was a natural for this Falstaff TV ad (mind you, nothing wrong with a Tuborg).
Confectionery:Hooray! Here's another Janice Nicholls Skippy ad.
Gift advice: New socks are always welcome, you know (must be 100% wool,though).
Food & Drink:Last week's blog picture of Tom Jones in his speedos squatting over a plate of food put me off eating for a few days. I suppose if you're going to try Tom's recipes, you may as well let him choose the drinks.
Mwha!! The Shangri-Las managed to get two classic pop moments into Give Him A Great Big Kiss. 1: One of the greatest spoken intros ever. 2:The line; "hmm, he's good bad, but he's not evil". Some girl groups can have a whole career without such a heritage.
Congratulations and Jubilations: I'd imagine there's a few people in a certain magazine office who'll fancy a celebration tonight. Here's some vintage 70's footage with Susan Cadogan's great Hurts So Good to get in the mood. (Tip: Marks & Spencers have a half-price (£9.99) offer on some very passable champagne this week. Preferable to tea anytime).

Evie Wonder: Evie Sands is a Lost Goddess Of Pop. Look at her original 'I Can't Let Go' and marvel. She had the voice, the looks, the moves and the songs. (Angel Of The Morning, Take Me For A Little While ). What's more, she still performs. So, why didn't she make it big? Just read The Curse of Evie Sands for the links to everything you need to know. Her Estate Of Mind & Take Me albums are on Amazon.
Travel: It's been a bit of a week. Fraser's been to Paris via California. I think I've been as far as Hammersmith. Means nothing to Hank Snow, because he's been everywhere.
Forgotten Pop: Rosie Vela & Magic Smile. Can't imagine what made Becker & Fagen get involved.
Musicianship: The ukulele resurgence continues via the Word podcasts. If you have a leaning towards ball-juggling Chinese uke players, Ming & Toy may be just the job.
Old Codger: George Melly, The Stranglers & Lew Lewis. Thought you might like to hear it.
News: Here's a very relaxed James Brown. He looks good, he feels good...and he smells good.

Overcoat out, frost on the cars.

Watersports
Remember Yacht Rock? I've found the real thing for you. Poco & Don't Think Twice, on a boat. (You don't remember Yacht Rock? )

Fashion
Newcastle dressed like this in the 60's apparently. Readers may wish to confirm or deny accordingly. Lovely period clip with added bonus of Mood Mosaic's 'Touch Of Velvet, Sting of Brass'. (Check the suit at 1.19. Killer 12" single vent. I'm off to John Collier right now).

Old Pop
Has anyone ever bettered Reparata & The Delrons as the ultimate girl group name? Watch 'Captain Of Your Ship' and spot something odd happen to their dresses

Technology
Up at six am today to buy your iphone then? Seems a good time to show you this extraordinary TV ad for an American mobile co.

Classic Pop
Barbara Lewis & 'Baby I'm Yours'. She's yours until the poets run out of rhyme. Beat that.

The Things What Held The Candles
There's a million sad sacks with acoustic guitars out there writing about lost love, but there's no-one writing witty novelty songs any more. (See David's column on p121 of the new Word). Myles Rudge, who died last month, wrote a few classics with partner Ted Dicks, including Hole In The Ground & Right Said Fred for Bernard Cribbins. Watch this superb home made Lego movie and listen to a George Martin produced piece of genius pop.

Women's Section
Dusty went to Memphis, Kiki Dee signed to Motown, Lena Zavaroni ended up on Stax.
Somebody thought Sandie Shaw should have a go at reggae.
" ...Reggae is alive, you can ask Leroy & Clive, we are live & well & living down in Clapham" may have nixed any deal with Tuff Gong.

History
Halloween's gone, but here's some stuff for those who can't quite put away the plastic witch hat and the clip-on fingernails. The Plain English Guide To Zombies should be useful at any time of year. Lavern Baker's hard to find Voodoo Voodoo ready for next year's mixes.

Men's Winter Fashions
It's got to start getting colder soon. Here's James Brown in a nice warm Ski Party cardigan. Ask Mum to knit you one.

What's purple and swims in the ocean?
It's those guys with the far out name... The Moby Grapes! Now go and download the re-releases. Did any other bands name themselves after a punchline?

Forgotten Pop
Maisonettes & Heartache Avenue. Read the comments. Will the black polo neck/white jacket combo ever return? Did it ever arrive?

Home Video
Oh shit - I thought you'd hidden the camcorder from Mum.

Awards
Pink loons and a flowery shirt? It's The Dame at the Ivor Novellos 37 years ago.

Stocking Fillers
I'll be giving some Christmas present advice over the coming weeks. Seeing as The Boss likes his cars, perhaps he'd appreciate a Tiddy Bear for that '69 Chevy?

Seeing as my local M&S is refusing to sell eggs or flour to schoolboys this week, I thought you might like to seek alternative fun with The Colonel's Halloween Mix. Ten topical top tunes & terrifying sound effects, all stuck together in one half hour programme - and it disappears after tomorrow. Hopefully, you can annoy someone at work with it, or stick it on your ipods for the journey home. It is 47 miles of barbed wire, after all.

1: Screamin Jay Hawkins - Whistling Past The Graveyard
2: Link Wray - Creepy
3: Sam The Sham - JuJu Hand
4: The 5 Jones Boys - Mr Ghost Goes To Town
5: The Woolies - Who Do You Love
6: Jackie Morningstart - Rockin' in The Graveyard
7: The 5 Blobs- The Blob
8: Tami Lynn - Mo Jo Hanna
9: Cher - Walk On Gilded Splinters
10: Julie Driscoll/Brian Auger Trinity - Season Of The Witch

(sometimes Divshare links take a while to appear)
Download (22mb) link is here
http://www.divshare.com/download/2567859-b33

Residents of Manchester! See if you can spot your parents (or yourselves) in the crowd when the Beatles played the ABC Ardwick in 1963. Note heavy security presence.

More early shiny Joni Andersen/Mitchell footage is now around on YouTube - this one's got a particularly nice tune with it.

Nick Lowe was picked out recently by someone on here as one of the few people to use the word 'cove' in an interview. Here he is at Lulworth Cove several years prior. Funny that.

Sex & the Single Girl. Helen Gurley Brown's was the place to be delivering pizza to on a Saturday night. (Girls - do take note of this excellent slenderising tip).

The Consolers. Spine-tingling 1:41 of gospel.

Clubbing tonight? You may be interested in some tips on the coolest moves as well as an indication of what to wear. Let us know if you pull.

Like half of the UK, it seemed, I went to New York last week. Wandered into the Hard Rock Cafe at Times Square one afternoon and found myself sitting below James Brown's gold satin suit, worn at the Apollo in 1964. It was strangely awesome to be eating a cheeseburger in it's proximity. The place used to be the Capitol Theatre. Recommended to all Word readers as a place to visit.

Here's James Brown showing us how to work off a large cheeseburger.

Slade show all new bands how to rock. They were a hot live act. In those days, it was compulsory that bands lived together. Here, the lads reminisce on how Dave got that fringe.

Here's the politest man in country. Ray Price & Crazy Arms. Could that be a Nudie suit Ray's displaying? Possibly of interest to those taking part in the T-shirt debate hereabouts.

Someone's done a great job here with a Josephine Baker clip & Juana la Cubana. Chap to her left in the white turban looks completely disinterested.

Christmas is coming. Just look in your local shopping centre for proof. I've already got the Watersons sorted.

Wilfred Brambell sings the blues. Not really, it's Roscoe Holcomb.

The Who - classic live Anyway Anyhow Anywhere. The clip belongs to Keith Moon - just watch him go. Filmed 42 years ago, just over a mile away from here.

Extra...

Do mind your language (probably not safe for work).

Legal
In the slammer: The Bobby Fuller Four & I Fought The Law. The provision of in-house go-go dancers provoked a rush of new inmates in the 60s. Not in the slammer: Phil Spector, who doesn't give a toss. He's nodded off.

Films
Now you know the thrill of wrapping your legs around a tornado of pounding pistons. Purple prose introduces Marianne Faithfull trailer to 'The Girl on a Motorcycle.' (Alain Delon's going to ruin his teeth doing that).

History
Billie Davis and period film clip of Whatcha Gonna Do. Last heard of a few years ago living in a North London semi with PJ Proby, as I recall.

Retailing
How to get customers in your record shop. Pt 4. The Black Keys at Grimeys, Nashville. Not as much fun as buying it on the web though, is it?

The Arts
Genuine Youtube rarity. There were a few of these 70's animated pop videos around last year, but they all got pulled. Helen Reddy's 'Angie Baby' was the best. As in slightly disturbing.

Childrens section
Sugarchile Robinson performing Caldonia from 1946. Nick Ross moonlighting as onlooker was believed to have cost him the Crimewatch job. Bloody child prodigies.