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The Dirtbombs - Ode To A Blackman
Ultraglide in Black
2001
Mick Collins former band The Gories were a vital influence on the garage rock revival scene of the early 00’s, returning valve amps and fuzz guitars to the modern studio. With his next group, the Dirtbombs, he released the Ultraglide in Black LP, an album consisting mostly of covers of classic 60’s and 70’s soul rock. Personally, as a man of colour myself trying to make it in the rock world I can occasionally feel disconnected, or like an underdog even. Afro – American Collins took rock n’ roll back to its black roots with Ultraglide, and ‘Ode To A Black Man’ is its most poignant track. It’s a cover of a Thin Lizzy B-side which rages down the desert freeway, swampy harmonica in tow, and feasts with Robert Johnson and the devil on them bad drugs stashed in the trunk. Phil Lynott’s tribute to Johnson, Stevie Wonder, Hendrix and the right to be a rock negro reverberates down the ages and serves as a solid middle finger to the slack jawed and dull minded.
26
The Coral - Dreaming Of You
The Coral
2002
But if there's one thing that The Beatles taught us it's that black pop is just as joyous in the hands of a bunch of cheeky scallies from Merseyside. 'Dreaming Of You' gives motown a sprinkling of ska and a sweet coating of MerseyBeat. Some timeless 'oooh aaah oooh's ring out as James Skelly wails "Up in my lonely room where I'm dreaming of you. What can I do?", sung with enough soul and sincerity to keep it from sounding melodramatic. The Coral would never come close to matching this again.
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