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Tuesday 6 April 2010

Paul Haig Day 2


I'm joining in with Paul Haig Day, started last year on April the 6th by The Vinyl Villain, whose wonderful blog was one of the main reasons I started doing this. You can read about this in more detail over at his place, and at 25 other music blogs who have signed up also, but briefly... TVV posted some Paul Haig tracks in 2009 and shortly afterwards the DMCA removed the links, the posts, the pictures, everything, without even contacting him to ask or say they were going to do it. TVV was outraged, more so after Paul Haig's management contacted TVV to give their approval of the posts, being as they were good publicity for Paul Haig, and encouraging people to go out and actually buy other stuff by him, including a then up-coming solo album. TVV thus started Paul Haig Day as a chance for the bloggers to strike back at the draconian menace of a (U.S. based) law and organisation removing peoples' posts and blogs in such a heavy handed way.

Paul Haig was the singer and guitarist in Edinburgh post-punk band Josef K, whose Sorry For Laughing is a period classic. He's had an on-and-off solo career, including being produced by Bernard Sumner, touring with members of Orange Juice, producing some slick dance-pop, working with Cabaret Voltaire and the Associates Billy Mackenzie, and an lp last year called Relive which featured the wonderful dancey Trip Out The Rider. Go and find it. I'm posting this song, from 1985, Paul Haig's cover version of the mighty Suicide's alternative US national anthem Ghost Rider, done rockabilly style. Andrew Weatherall (birthday today, more later Audrey fans) played this on one of his 6 Mix shows last year. In another nice little coincidence a found a 7" of Paul Haig's Running Away in Oxfam in Altrincham last weekend. You see how these things come together?

Ghost Rider (2).mp3

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