200 POUND UNDERGROUND

NEW YORK AND LONDON PAIR WITH EUNUCHS...EVERYBODY TALK ABOUT ROBIN SCOTT... Above -- Rettman looks into the window of the future and sees this image; still confused.




If memory serves me right, my seventh birthday party wasn’t the greatest of occasions. Sometime early in the proceedings, I was stung right in the face by a bee and some kid wet his pants just so he could go home early. Not only that, but a family member decided to play ‘deejay’ for the soirée. Plenty of dummy kids and their dummy parents were serenaded and marinated to the strains of such hits of the day as ‘Hey Saint Peter’ by Flash and the Pan and ‘Straight Lines’ by New Musik. And then of course, there was the incessant spinning of ‘Pop Musik’ by M. Whenever I hear that track, my brain soaks itself in bee juice and kiddy urine to remind me of what a shit start I had on this life. So, when I heard a few years ago that the ‘mastermind’ behind ‘Pop Musik’(Robin Scott) cut a record of acidic folk rock for the highly collectable and totally awesome Head label in the late 60’s, I was sorta puzzled. The record was always out of my price range when I would see it in Euro record lists. I’m not too sure of the exchange rate in Ratland, but I was pretty sure I didn’t have the equivalent of 2000 ganips in the bank. This situation really started to irritate me when I found out his backing band on this album was none other than Mighty Baby, a late 60’s U.K. hippy band held in the highest esteem by me and probably about three other beard wearing wanderers. Well, sometimes good things DO come to those who wait…and wait…and wait. The Sunbeam label just re-issued the thing (Entitled ’Woman From The Warm Grass’) on tinfoil and it lives up to all my bad toothed hippy dreams in some aspects. The tunes where Scott is backed by the Babe are spectacular stoned out grooves with MB guitarist Martin Stone practically bleeding his soul out. The English take on the west coast laid-backed-smoke-a-garbage-bag-full-of-weed sound will always prevail in my Anglo fixated mind, folks…sorry. The tracks where it’s just Robin and his acoustic can be affectively brooding, but nothing that’ll make you make up some lost love to weep about. I mean, why dole out the cash for this when you can buy the double ‘Early Years’ set of Al Stewart for a couple bucks at your local basement shoppe? His imitation of Dylan on a few tracks sometimes rivals Mike Hart, but that’s just sometimes. An interesting artifact? Sure. But let’s just say I’m glad I never gave Paul Major my first born for this. Then I would have to convince myself it was great.


Robin Scott - ‘Woman From The Warm Grass’ available through -- http://www.forcedexposure.com/


In the past week, when I’ve been ignoring paying bills or attention to the outside world, these are the things that have been entertaining me --
http://members.tripod.com/20thcpunkarchives/id64.htm
http://www.terminal-boredom.com/samoansfiles11.html
http://teengluesniffer.blogspot.com/ (dudes, you gotta update this bloggo more often! I need more!)
http://members.tripod.com/20thcpunkarchives/id65.htm
http://blow-up-doll.blogspot.com/ (the greatest blog ever? perhaps…)

…And finally, I give you the wit and wisdom of the man I consider both my soul mate and guiding light in life…
http://coack_mcguirk.tripod.com/COACHMCGUIRK/

There we go…just how I like it…short, sweet and to the point. Dig on it or go dig a grave…