Sopranos, Alabama 3 and wonderful Radio Bland

This year I started watching a TV series called The Sopranos. Most of you are probably way ahead of me as I have come to it very late. In fact the Guardian Guide recently referred to some elements of the last episode in one of their articles, so I am behind the times and just catching up with  the earlier series on DVD. For anyone who hasn't seen it, it deals with an American-Italian organised crime boss called Tony Soprano and his associates and family. He is based in New Jersey and the legitimate front for his business is waste-management. It has impressed me so much because it is intelligent, scarily realistic and deals with character, motivation and human frailty at a much deeper level than any other series I have seen on television. The first time I watched it, though, what really struck me was the fantastic theme music over the opening credits.


"Woke up this morning, got yourself a gun..." - superb vocals with fantastic wailing harmonica and instrumentation that blurs the lines between country, blues and acid house. I thought of it as exciting and different, but quintessentially American - a new (to me) and original kind of music from the US. I found out that the band responsible was Alabama 3 and their CD, Hits and Exit Wounds is now one of my all-time favourites.


The big surprise came when I discovered that this "quintessentially American" band hail from Peckham!  This has only served to increase my admiration for them as has the discovery that they have achieved great success without courting the vampires of the British Music Industry. As much as any band ever did, they invented themselves and managed to make it on talent, originality and integrity.  The songs are often narratives based around the alter-egos of the band members who are, according to the latest information on Wikipedia:

• Rob Spragg AKA Larry Love: vocals
• Jake Black AKA The Very Reverend Dr. D. Wayne Love: vocals
• Simon (The Dude) Edwards AKA Sir Eddie Real: percussion, vocals
• Orlando Harrison AKA The Spirit: keyboards, keyboard bass, vocals
• Mark Sams AKA Rock Freebase: guitar, bass guitar
• Aurora Dawn: vocals
• Piers Marsh AKA Mountain of Love: programming, keyboards, harmonica
• Jonny Delafons AKA L. B. Dope: drums, percussion
• Steve Finnerty AKA LOVEPIPE: production, guitar and vocals
• Nick Reynolds AKA Harpo Strangelove: harmonica, percussion, vocals

To give you a flavour of the originality of the songs here are a couple of my favourites:

"Hello...I'm Johnny Cash" is about a man who sweeps up in a factory but in his inner life is Johnny Cash - the man in black.  It's country music with a twist, irresistibly sad and funny at the same time.

"U Don't Dance to Tekno Any More" again tragedy and humour blended and some very tight playing in this story of a retreat into the world of narcotics and loneliness.

"Sad Eyed Lady of The Low Life" a great piano track and a dark and catchy chorus:

"sad eyed lady of the lowlife

come on burn a while with me

put the high life on the bonfire

let's go steal some gasoline"

Here is a band with originality, talent, humour, versatility and fantastic danceability. I listen to radio in the car - a lot. I can't listen to BBC Radio 6 Music, though, as I don't have a digital radio in my car. But I listen to Radio 1, Radio 2 and Radio 4 and various local radio stations as I buzz up and down the motorways to the South Coast from Scotland. I have never heard Alabama 3 even once on mainstream radio. 

Thank God for the CD player.