O' How She Dances - James Luther Dickinson

All the fun of the fair from the Big Star Producer. It's a Barker's carnival pitch; swamp rock via Tom Waits or the Doctor... that's Doctor John and not a well-respected medical practicioner or even the struck-off groper of tabloid lore.

"Carnivals: the bearded lady. Alligator man with the leather skin. Rat boy. Greasy men with earrings. You only have to go to Asda to see sights like that", he said, sounding like his Dad.

There was a travelling funfair on Chiswick Green, London W4 last weekend...

The hot dog van was between the Free Trade rubber dodgems and the Free Palestine organic candyfloss concession. Somehow the fair, along with the wild boar chorizo on wholegrain herb roll with caramelised red onions and mandarin chutney, wasn't what I was expecting. I wanted the roar of the tattooed throng. I wanted the clinging stench of burger grease. I wanted at least one stabbing.

> Download this (4.4 MB)

7 heures du matin - Jacqueline Taieb

Another indentikit Franco ingenue covers My Generation to the theme from Sesame Street. Kinda. Sorta. In breathy staccato pigeon French. Almost.

I don't know too much about Jacqueline Taieb and have little time for research this week. She's French and had a few hit singles... In France.

She was probably very Nouvelle Vague and hung out with Jean Luc Godard and his friends Les Bonnes Femmes, Les Demoiselles de Rochford, Jules et Jim and Peyo, creator of the Smurfs. I see her selling the International Herald Tribune on le Rue Mouffetard and eating truffles.

French girls had class and style in the fifties and sixties: boyish couture chic, fancy scents from Paris with names you could only whisper. Some of them even put mousse in their hair and stuff...

How different from La Jeune Génération today: joylessly tramping around tourist London with their novelty Elmo from Sesame Street backpacks. Plus ca change. Or something.

> Download this (3.1 MB)

Manifesto & Book News

If it's ever been on K-Tel or Ronco, it's in. If it features hand claps, cow bells, syrupy orchestration, walls of sound, wrecking crews, sha-la-las, toothy teen idols, candy-based metaphors for carnal acts or lyrics about hugging, squeezing and rocking all night long, it's in.

Never mention thimbles again



> Martin Lampen (latest book news, contact details and other stuff)

Collect 'em all: week 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36 | 37 | 38 | 39 | 40 | 41 | 42 | 43 | 44 | 45 | 46 | 47 | 48 | 49 | 50 | 51 | 52 | 53 | 54 | 55 | 56 | 57 | 58 | 59 | 60 | 61 | 62 | 63 | 64 | 65 | 66 | 67 | 68 | 69 | 70 | 71 | 72 | 73 | 74 | 75 | 76 | 77 | 78 | 79 | 80 | 81 | 82 | 83 | 84 | 85 | 86 | 87 | 88 | 89 | 90 | 92 | 93 | 94 | 95 | 96 | 97 | 98 | 99 | 100 | 101 | 102 | 103 | 104 | 105 | 106 | 107 | 108 | 109 | 110 | 111 | 112 | 113 | 114 | 115 | 116 | 117 | 118 | 119 '| 120 | 121 | 122 | 123 | 124 | 125 | 126 | 127 | 128 | 129 | 130 | 131 | 132 | 133 | 134 | 135 | 136 | 137 | 138 | 139 | 140 | 141 | 142 | 143 | 144 | 145 | 146 | 147 | 148