Doctor Feelgood: heroes of pre-punk, or the Canvey Quo?

Man, Wilko's Ice on the Motorway album from 1980 is pretty satisfying. Basically a slightly punkier Feelgood vibe.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_V5WlQ8u3jA

they are playing berlin tonight. not sure if i should go.

Aww, Wilko finally passed. RIP.

aw no! i had been wondering about him a lot recently. what a hero.

One of the nicest and funniest people I ever interviewed, and his autobiography was an utter delight. RIP Wilko.

Oh no! RIP Wilko :((((((((

lovely interview Mike. i also recall reading your Guardian piece at the time. excellent work.

a sad day.

Absolutely brilliant guitarist who forged such an immediately identifiable, personal style and stage presence. RIP.

RIP to a legend

All the Youtube videos in this thread seem to have disappeared, I should do somehting about that...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GzF0AETdRF8

john b "sparko" sparks's tache is a thing of beauty, and brilleaux's pale begrime suit even more so

"they looked as if they’d met each other in some unsavoury part of the army," as mick farren put it long ago

Three of them were called John so I assume the nicknames came in handy - and then Wilko was replaced by another John so they had to come up with another nickname!

Three of them were called John

not the only band to have had that issue tbh!

Some other observations:

1. I saw one of those expert Youtube guitarists trying to reproduce Wilko's guitar part on "Goin' Back Home", playing exactly like Wilko, and it is ridiculously difficult, especially if you're constantly striding backwards and forwards with your eyes popping out your head (he didn't do that part).

2. Not an instrument I'm especially interested in but Lee Brilleaux was a very good blues harp player (harpist?).

3. Had no idea The Big Figure did most of the backing vocals.

this guy does a good guitar tutorial...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LifmFE63kHQ

... that's the one! He had to admit "Goin' Back Home" was somewhat outside his comfort zone.

yeah comfort is not a word that springs to mind while watching any of that!

Doctor Feelgood: heroes of pre-punk, or the Canvey Quo?

but Quo are heroes of pre-punk (in mah book)

Heroes of pre-punk, AND the Canvey Quo

(xp) Except not many actual punks in 1976-77 would have given Quo as an influence, which I thought was the point of the title. Dr. Feelgood seem a lot more 60s R&B than Quo, there are similarities but Dr. Feelgood rarely strayed about 4 minutes and guitar solos were kept short and sweet.

That's why mah book is different than the punks of 1976-77. They would have missed Is There a Better Way, and before that Just Take Me, and ignored Down Down's economical motorik totality.

Down Down is just unstoppable. I was extremely annoyed though when I bought the 7" single in Belgium a few years ago only to find out that it's the fuckin album version that I like.

Yeah I can't listen to the 7". As well as removing some of the middle it fades out right before one a whole succession of inventive parts, just when you think the music has disclosed everything. When the music unexpectedly goes 'up' and the bass drops out only to re-emerge as strange little wriggles, accompanied by arbitrary offbeat hats, before everyone locks furiously into step for the real, very splashy fadeout.

I LOVE that song.

I danced to Rockin All Over The World tonight, I have no shame.

looking a little into the life and times of MICK GREEN of the johnny kidd and the pirates, who wilko cites as precursor whose plectrum he is not fit to lick ect ect, i
(a) was reminded of the live at the hope and anchor LP, which attempted (tho i think failed) to establish 60s UK r&b, pub rock, power pop and punk as a unified broad new wave front (it sold fairly well but was beloved of no one much critically), and
(b) discovered that said mick green co-wrote some quo songs w/alan lancaster (quo bassist and co-founder), and
(c) noted w/pleasure that the post-kidd pirates put out an LP in 1978 called SKULL WARS and a ten-inch in 1981 called A FISTFUL OF DUBLOONS

as you can see my hints, quo are krautrock (this is canon)

(s/b as you can see me from westbury white horse hints etc)

Quo are basically Guru Guru with better songs, but maybe a discussion for a different thread.

Adrian's attempts to play like Wilko prove that you can learn all the technique you want, but if you're not an angry dysfunctional weirdo it'll never sound right.

Re: Mick Green, the guitar playing on this is absolutely brutal.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IS8uC7ea9oE

ditto the singer's hairstyle tbf

the angriest garfunkel

nevertheless, hfs at that clip.

HFS x 2!