The Clash on Alright Now 1979

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Heston
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Re: The Clash on Alright Now 1979

Post by Heston »

There you go chaps...

There's a tiny, tiny hopeful part of me that says you guys are running a Kaufmanesque long con on the board

Chairman Ralph
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Re: The Clash on Alright Now 1979

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Cool! Thanks for posting this. I can't imagine they got on TV too often, unless it was an outlet like Musikladen, or something like that (assuming that they made it to those shores). The audience is its usual polite, reserved self, of course.

This clip aptly summarizes Mott's strengths and weaknesses. Sturdy bass playing from Pete Watts, as usual, crisp guitar from Ray Major, but shrill vocalizing via Nigel Benjamin -- one of many elements that was about get a whole lot less cool in that fateful summer of '76. Morgan Fisher does his usual sturdy job on the keys -- I consider him the forgotten man in the MTH saga, since he joined during the tail end of the Hunter era.

Tony Wilson's intro is priceless ("...now that Mick Ralphs is playing in unsavory company, and Ian Hunter's playing with himself, as a tax exile"), as is his screwup of the band's name -- a fitting commentary, I'd say, on the nether status they were about to occupy.

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Re: The Clash on Alright Now 1979

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Chairman Ralph wrote:
05 Aug 2019, 3:28pm
Cool! Thanks for posting this. I can't imagine they got on TV too often, unless it was an outlet like Musikladen, or something like that (assuming that they made it to those shores). The audience is its usual polite, reserved self, of course.

This clip aptly summarizes Mott's strengths and weaknesses. Sturdy bass playing from Pete Watts, as usual, crisp guitar from Ray Major, but shrill vocalizing via Nigel Benjamin -- one of many elements that was about get a whole lot less cool in that fateful summer of '76. Morgan Fisher does his usual sturdy job on the keys -- I consider him the forgotten man in the MTH saga, since he joined during the tail end of the Hunter era.

Tony Wilson's intro is priceless ("...now that Mick Ralphs is playing in unsavory company, and Ian Hunter's playing with himself, as a tax exile"), as is his screwup of the band's name -- a fitting commentary, I'd say, on the nether status they were about to occupy.
I posted it in a Mott site and Morgan Fisher seemed pretty tickled to see it after all these years, he shared it on his FB page. As far as I can gather it is the only live footage of that line up that's out there.

And in a sad twist, Nigel Benjamin passed away last week, Morgan shared it as a tribute to him.
There's a tiny, tiny hopeful part of me that says you guys are running a Kaufmanesque long con on the board

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Re: The Clash on Alright Now 1979

Post by Chairman Ralph »

I posted it in a Mott site and Morgan Fisher seemed pretty tickled to see it after all these years, he shared it on his FB page. As far as I can gather it is the only live footage of that line up that's out there.

And in a sad twist, Nigel Benjamin passed away last week, Morgan shared it as a tribute to him.
That's the only clip, eh? Makes sense, as the band essentially got sandwiched between Hunter's departure, and the coming of punk. Like I said, it gives you a fair glimpse of the potential on offer, plus the CDs I mentioned. (Though, of the two albums, I personally prefer the second one.)

Here are some of the recollections coming in about the late Mr. Benjamin:
https://fullinbloom.com/devastated-to-l ... zzie-grey/

This post also makes some interesting observations:
http://www.fabricationshq.com/mott---wi ... le-la.html

If nothing else, these various bits and pieces of the Hoople universe demonstrate how strong the gravitational pull of the band is on our imaginations, some 45-odd years later.

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Re: The Clash on Alright Now 1979

Post by muppet hi fi »

Heston wrote:
05 Aug 2019, 9:32am
There you go chaps...

Christ, it's Spinal Tap!!!! (feel bad for Buffin & Overend).
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Re: The Clash on Alright Now 1979

Post by dave202 »

Chairman Ralph wrote:
05 Aug 2019, 12:28am
I've just checked and it's when they called themselves "Mott" after Ian Hunter left. A live performance of "Shouting and Pointing" from So It Goes in 1977. I can upload to YouTube if anyone is still interested, not sure how well-liked this version of the band is?
I wouldn't mind seeing it, as an arch-Ian Hunter/Mott fan who's interested in all the branches of the tree, so to speak. So you could do it for me. :mrgreen:

As to your question, the short answer is that it went the way it does with most bands who lose an iconic frontman -- making do with less public interest, and a lower profile, before it all dies a death. To my recollection, Mott got good live reviews, but both their albums were roundly panned in the music press. Shouting & Pointing holds the distinction of being the only Mott/MTH album that didn't trouble the US or UK charts -- ouch!

Still, for the curious, I'd recommend the Angel Air CD, the aptly-titled Live: Over Here & Over There, as the best way to experience Mott, over their two albums, which are hit and a fair proportion of miss. Career (No Such Thing As Rock 'N' Roll) is their best song, or at least the one that comes the closest to matching the glories of old. But I prefer the CD, which gives you harder-rocking chunks of shows from the US and UK (hence, the title).

The guys soldiered on as British Lions, and it's the same story. Their '78 S/T album is somewhat better -- mainly for the covers, Wild In The Streets, and International Heroes, plus a couple good "attitude" songs, like Eat The Rich -- I'd recommend another Angel Air CD, Live & Rare, a live and demo comp that gives you a clearer glimpse of the potential that struggled to find its way on tape. That's my take, anyway.
What do you think of the Doc Thomas Group album?

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Re: The Clash on Alright Now 1979

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Heston wrote:
31 Jul 2019, 5:10pm
As far as I'm aware this is the first appearance of the Israelites footage on YouTube...

Thanks for posting, great to see the original version of these two songs. I remember taping the show when first broadcast using a low-fi Philips cassette recorder, audio only. If memory serves me right, part of the interview had Topper being asked to do a hand-jive, not seen that bit up on YouTube.

Heston
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Re: The Clash on Alright Now 1979

Post by Heston »

Toppers Boppers wrote:
06 Aug 2019, 12:06pm
Heston wrote:
31 Jul 2019, 5:10pm
As far as I'm aware this is the first appearance of the Israelites footage on YouTube...

Thanks for posting, great to see the original version of these two songs. I remember taping the show when first broadcast using a low-fi Philips cassette recorder, audio only. If memory serves me right, part of the interview had Topper being asked to do a hand-jive, not seen that bit up on YouTube.
I have the interview segment but it's already on YouTube in fair quality so I never bothered uploading it. Just search "Clash Alright Now" and it should come up.
There's a tiny, tiny hopeful part of me that says you guys are running a Kaufmanesque long con on the board

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Re: The Clash on Alright Now 1979

Post by Toppers Boppers »

Heston wrote:
06 Aug 2019, 12:12pm
Toppers Boppers wrote:
06 Aug 2019, 12:06pm
Heston wrote:
31 Jul 2019, 5:10pm
As far as I'm aware this is the first appearance of the Israelites footage on YouTube...

Thanks for posting, great to see the original version of these two songs. I remember taping the show when first broadcast using a low-fi Philips cassette recorder, audio only. If memory serves me right, part of the interview had Topper being asked to do a hand-jive, not seen that bit up on YouTube.
I have the interview segment but it's already on YouTube in fair quality so I never bothered uploading it. Just search "Clash Alright Now" and it should come up.
That's right, I've seen the interview on YouTube but the 'hand-jive' Topper bit (and maybe more) is always missing? For example, this YouTube post seems pretty complete but is actually truncated at the end (Joe's cut short)...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nVkcl1jo1Go

Do you have the full interviews from the show?

Heston
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Re: The Clash on Alright Now 1979

Post by Heston »

Toppers Boppers wrote:
06 Aug 2019, 1:10pm
Heston wrote:
06 Aug 2019, 12:12pm
Toppers Boppers wrote:
06 Aug 2019, 12:06pm
Heston wrote:
31 Jul 2019, 5:10pm
As far as I'm aware this is the first appearance of the Israelites footage on YouTube...

Thanks for posting, great to see the original version of these two songs. I remember taping the show when first broadcast using a low-fi Philips cassette recorder, audio only. If memory serves me right, part of the interview had Topper being asked to do a hand-jive, not seen that bit up on YouTube.
I have the interview segment but it's already on YouTube in fair quality so I never bothered uploading it. Just search "Clash Alright Now" and it should come up.
That's right, I've seen the interview on YouTube but the 'hand-jive' Topper bit (and maybe more) is always missing? For example, this YouTube post seems pretty complete but is actually truncated at the end (Joe's cut short)...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nVkcl1jo1Go

Do you have the full interviews from the show?
Yes it has been cut short. I will upload the full interview here but there's only a minute or so more to it.
There's a tiny, tiny hopeful part of me that says you guys are running a Kaufmanesque long con on the board

Chairman Ralph
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Re: The Clash on Alright Now 1979

Post by Chairman Ralph »

dave202 wrote:
06 Aug 2019, 11:51am
Chairman Ralph wrote:
05 Aug 2019, 12:28am
I've just checked and it's when they called themselves "Mott" after Ian Hunter left. A live performance of "Shouting and Pointing" from So It Goes in 1977. I can upload to YouTube if anyone is still interested, not sure how well-liked this version of the band is?
I wouldn't mind seeing it, as an arch-Ian Hunter/Mott fan who's interested in all the branches of the tree, so to speak. So you could do it for me. :mrgreen:

As to your question, the short answer is that it went the way it does with most bands who lose an iconic frontman -- making do with less public interest, and a lower profile, before it all dies a death. To my recollection, Mott got good live reviews, but both their albums were roundly panned in the music press. Shouting & Pointing holds the distinction of being the only Mott/MTH album that didn't trouble the US or UK charts -- ouch!

Still, for the curious, I'd recommend the Angel Air CD, the aptly-titled Live: Over Here & Over There, as the best way to experience Mott, over their two albums, which are hit and a fair proportion of miss. Career (No Such Thing As Rock 'N' Roll) is their best song, or at least the one that comes the closest to matching the glories of old. But I prefer the CD, which gives you harder-rocking chunks of shows from the US and UK (hence, the title).

The guys soldiered on as British Lions, and it's the same story. Their '78 S/T album is somewhat better -- mainly for the covers, Wild In The Streets, and International Heroes, plus a couple good "attitude" songs, like Eat The Rich -- I'd recommend another Angel Air CD, Live & Rare, a live and demo comp that gives you a clearer glimpse of the potential that struggled to find its way on tape. That's my take, anyway.
What do you think of the Doc Thomas Group album?
Haven't heard it, actually. If memory serves, they also regrouped to cut new songs, plus some of their old standbys -- for Angel Air, right? I wouldn't mind hearing that one, either. There's plenty of Mott offshoots worth pursuing, as far as I'm concerned.

Heston
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Re: The Clash on Alright Now 1979

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Topper looking incredibly stoned...

There's a tiny, tiny hopeful part of me that says you guys are running a Kaufmanesque long con on the board

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Re: The Clash on Alright Now 1979

Post by JohnS »

Brilliant stuff Heston - this is the most complete version I've ever seen, and great quality; clearly, right from the horse's mouth (or video vault)
Thanks!
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Re: The Clash on Alright Now 1979

Post by Toppers Boppers »

Heston wrote:
06 Aug 2019, 6:51pm
Topper looking incredibly stoned...

That's brilliant Heston, thanks, the whole interview restored including Topper's hand-jive.

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Re: The Clash on Alright Now 1979

Post by Marky Dread »

I'm looking forward to getting these.
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