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The Riff Prevails

Dec 13, 2020

The Riff Prevails

Off-topic Sunday with US correspondent, Serge Fabergé. One has found much spare time now that cafe society has been restricted - even with the yoga, the sales of the special sourdough, binge-watching and building a motorcycle in the salle (Guided by this excellent 'How To Build A Motorcycle' book available on this very site no less) there has been time for cultural pursuits. Binge-watching Midsomer Murders has been pushed aside for revisiting and re-evaluating Bo Diddley, and

Surf's Up

Nov 29, 2020

Surf's Up

Off-Topic Sunday. The SFO Museum, in San Francisco's International airport (SFO is the airport's code) has a temporary exhibition focussing on surf music through the ages. One exhibit caught my eye, the double-necked guitar and bass drum skin from San Francisco band The Phantom Surfers. They were part of the Estrus, Mummies, Budget Rock universe of the late-80s, early-90s I loved so much. I saw them play London, when travelling from Leeds to London for a gig was still quite a

HD by BB

Oct 25, 2020

HD by BB

I struggle to work in my office without music in the background, but I can't have the radio, the DJ chatter is too distracting, and I'm still a CD or vinyl person, not jumped on the Spotify revolution yet. Being a dimwit I can't speak any other languages except English, so if I'm concentrating on writing, I like to have foreign voices singing, so I'm not distracted by lyrics. I have a few favourites from 1960s France, especially from the Yeh-Yeh category of French female pop

Vicious Cycles - Sandpaper

May 30, 2020

Vicious Cycles - Sandpaper

Thanks to the wonders of, well, I'm not entirely sure what, Vancouver, Canada's favouerite sons, The Vicious Cycles have made a new song about lockdown, in lockdown! A bunch of Vancouver locals feature in the video, riding around looking interesting, making me wish I lived in British Columbia, not my Podunk, no punk town. C'est la vie. Grass is always greener, right? #music #punk #viciouscycles #Canada

Gorillaz on a Honda 200

Apr 14, 2020

Gorillaz on a Honda 200

Gorillaz is the multimedia music project, that formed in 2000, famously headed up by Blur's frontman Damon Albarn. Though they perform live gigs, I saw them headline the O2 Arena, they keep up the pretence of a group of cartoon characters being the band. The characters were created by Tank Girl illustrator Jamie Hewlett. Musically, the band are hard to define. This tune is mellow pop, and features Joy Division and New Order bassist Peter Hook. Others are harder hip-hop, trip-

The Funky Chicken

Apr 12, 2020

The Funky Chicken

Off-Topic Sunday. If you're new to the Sideburn blog and wondering what an off-topic Sunday post is, it's something way outside the regular motorcycling sphere that delights us or one of our semi-regular correspondents and helps fill in the blanks of where Sideburn is from, at and maybe heading. It's often music related, but not always. On with this Sunday's... This is Rufus Thomas performing his novelty hit at the Wattstax festival in Los Angeles, California in 1972. The fes

Moto Vinyl - 7x7in of aural pleasure

Apr 9, 2020

Moto Vinyl - 7x7in of aural pleasure

Blog post from Norm Motorcycho! Here are seven of my 'favourite' moto-themed 7-inchers Eddie Kidd - Heavy Metal Eddie Kidd was the English Evel Knievel. He holds many records for distance jumping over trucks and cars in the day, and even beat Robbie Knievel in a Jump-Off in a 1993 contest. Eddie appeared in a number of movies as a stunt double, perhaps his most notable was doubling for Harrison Ford in the the 1979 movie Hanover Street. He also appeared in a few films as an a

American Tune

Mar 29, 2020

American Tune

Beautifully written off-topic Sunday post from a melancholic Todd Marella in Portland, Oregon. I need a hug. More accurately, I need to hug. If you’ve met me, and we’ve become familiar, there’s a pretty good chance we’ve hugged. As we should be, if we are heeding the wisdom and recommendation of the brightest scientific minds, I am isolating. It’s proving more challenging for me than I initially imagined. This global pandemic is really cutting into my hugging program. Don’t g

Boycycle

Mar 27, 2020

Boycycle

New post from our Hollywood correspondent, Serge Faberge First of all, a disclaimer. I did not find this, it was sent to me by our fearless leader, G. Inman. Mon Capitane felt a video featuring an off-pink, part-sportsbike man searching for love would bring joy, and indeed it does. Not just the catchy tune, it's the universal themes examined here: love, loneliness, acceptance, freedom and of course the happy ending we all seek. Absolutely uplifting and inspirational, much as

Return To Brixton

Mar 24, 2020

Return To Brixton

An update from Pacific Northwest correspondent, Todd Marella Sunday the 22nd of March wasn’t regular… or common… or without tension. It was the end of the first week of the US largely admitting to itself that the smart money says avoiding contact with other humans unless it is absolutely critical, is the only known way to slow the spread of the Corona virus, known as COVID-19. By the end of the week, the world’s number of confirmed infected cases doubled. I needed something t

Cutting A Rug

Mar 15, 2020

Cutting A Rug

Off-topic Sunday This is the Welsh Elvis living the maxim, Dance like no one's watching,.. The syndicated TV show, This is Tom Jones, ran from 1969 to '71. The caption on this performance says 1969, and the 99% female crowd's hairdos point to that, though the dancefloor and Tom's clothing dated it a bit later for me, but I wasn't around, and 1969 is a few years after the peak of my 60s cultural touchstones, so I can't argue. I'm posting this because A, Tom's dancing is someth

Framed

Mar 1, 2020

Framed

Off-topic Sunday Alex Harvey and the Sensational Alex Harvey Band are names I knew, but didn't know a lot about. Then this performance, what a performance, was brought to my attention. The Sensational Alex Harvey Band (SAHB) were described as glam rock, but they are harder to categorise. Harvey is the archetypal rocker greaser, while guitarist Zal Cleminson is a malevolent mime. Harvey begins the festival performance of Framed, a tale of being fitted up by the police, by sort

So It Goes...

Jan 19, 2020

So It Goes...

Off-topic Sunday from Dave Skooter Farm I've seen the clip many, many times...but never seen the complete episode (in transmission quality, no less.) When I see it in context with the rest of the show it really drives home to me that this is the EXACT moment a paradigm shift occurs. The other artists are instantly rendered culturally obsolete (including resident comedian Clive James). The way 'rock' music is perceived is changed forever. This is Sex Pistols' first ever TV app

Night Train

Dec 8, 2019

Night Train

It's seems quite a while since we had an off-topic Sunday, but this one is back with a bang. This is the Godfather of Soul, the Hardest Working Man in Showbusiness, Mr Dynamite, Soul Brother Number One, Mr James Brown, live on stage, doing a 180mph version of Night Train, at a pace so foot to the floor it's barely recognisable. I've posted a video of the original song below to illustrate the difference, between this orgasmic blast of showmanship and the pleasant lolloping, mi

Punk the Capital

Oct 22, 2019

Punk the Capital

This new documentary looks great. I can't say I'm a huge fan of DC hardcore punk, I was listening to '60s garage punk when it was catching fire, but I love what it stood for and created, and you can't argue with Bad Brains. A lot of people say they're punk this and punk that. This is a reminder that they're really not. Find out more at Punk the Capital documentary #Punk #1970s #Music

Vicous Cycles - High Noon Scramble

Sep 27, 2019

Vicous Cycles - High Noon Scramble

Our favourite motopunks, The Vicious Cycles sent us this new video shot at last year's High Noon Scramble in Vancouver, BC. The video features a number of the Flithmode XT500 MC that we featured in Sideburn 24. If you don't have their new LP yet, get it on vinyl or download at Vicious Cycles bandcamp The band are touring the US and Canada in October. 10/03 Calgary, AB - Ship and Anchor Pub 10/17 Eugene, OR - Sam Bond's Garage 10/19 Oakland, CA - Rock The Ship Festival, Eli'

The Stags

Turkish Psych-Folk With Surf Guitar?
Yes Please

Aug 4, 2019

Turkish Psych-Folk With Surf Guitar? Yes Please

Off-topic Sunday It's truly wonderful how music diffused around the world in the pre-internet days. Russian jazz in the 20s, Congolese mambo in the 50s, Hong Kong beat pop in the 60s, Moroccan funk in the 70s - all brilliant. At times just a straight take on the western model which can be fine - Garage rock is damn near perfect so if it comes from India or Argentina all the better, there's just more of it. At times music morphed with local sounds, and psych rock was great for

Hellfire

Jul 28, 2019

Hellfire

Off-topic Sunday I’ve been into Jerry Lee Lewis since, as a 13-year-old ted back in the spring of 1978, I lucked on a garishly packaged double album put out by the bargain basement Pickwick label. The gaudy splurge on the sleeve said 50 Rock & Roll Greats, but didn’t bother to point out that it was actually a collection of early Sun rockabilly recordings that introduced me to Carl Mann, Bill Justice, Billy Lee Riley, Junior Parker and a whole load of other rock ’n’ roll pione

Duke Reid, Suedeheads, Frank Worthington: Dave Taylor's Culture Awakening

Jul 1, 2019

Duke Reid, Suedeheads, Frank Worthington: Dave Taylor's Culture Awakening

Off-topic Sunday by guest blogger - DJ Dave Taylor. The summer of ’76, rural Lincolnshire was not a hotbed of cultural diversity, but certainly bloody hot. I was nine. I vividly remember my dad hauling me out of bed one summer eve and running me down the garden to a small beck (stream) that was absolutely rammed with eels swimming/wriggling along the beck to get to another deeper water source due to the drought. I was packed off to my Aunty Olive/Uncle Lenny in Leicester for

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