Someone from this crew has recently joined the reformed Cockney Rejects. This is their new single. Do any of us have ‘previous’ with the ‘Sparrer?
Imagine… Pet Shop Boys: Then and Now
Really enjoyed this last night. Great insight into a band who don’t usually ‘do this kind of thing’. Neil also features on the Word In Your Ear podcast, over two parts – talking with Mark and David about their Smash Hit days. Again, well worth a listen.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m001yblg/imagine-202324-pet-shop-boys-then-and-now
Split Ends
This short weekly series began yesterday afternoon. I didn’t hear episode one (Dr Feelgood) due to a work meeting… and I forgot.
“With the help of music professionals, singer-songwriter Kitty Perrin looks at the reasons why some bands split while others continue.”
Ep. 1: Dr Feelgood Ep. 2: Liberty X Ep. 3: The Fall
Which makes me wonder: which Fall lineup is she going to cover, or is she going to squeeze quotes from all 987 ex-Fall members into 30 minutes?
Let It Be again
Let It Be (the original fillum, with MAL-enhanced audio) is finally coming to Disney+, five years after it was first promised.
https://superdeluxeedition.com/news/the-beatles-let-it-be-film-confirmed-for-disney/
This
Just this. (See below)
The wrong place at the wrong time
I have just seen some footage of Blur at the Coachella festival in the States. They are performing Boys and Girls and we can see that Damon is looking stroppy and fed up. No one is singing along or dancing. He points the microphone to the crowd at the chorus – silence. He says from the stage “we are never coming here again, so you might as well enjoy it!”. He stares and shakes his head rather than sing, while the band chugs along. It’s a difficult watch.
It brought to my mind an experience in Woking back in the mid-80s. It was a “Search for a Star!” local talent show at the Council hall. It was actually more entertaining than it sounds. It takes guts to perform live and no-one gave the performers a hard time. Until this one act came on. The single most ridiculous performer I think I have ever seen. He was a small, rat-like young man of about 20 with a porcelain-white, hairless torso framed by an unbuttoned ruffled pink shirt. His shiny red satin trousers sported a golden belt buckle that was the size of a child’s head. He came on to “It’s not » Continue Reading.
More Holidays About Buildings and Food
I’ve just returned from a three week holiday in South East Asia. I’ve grown up with a taste for travel, even working in the industry for a while, and it had been a while since I’d visited a country new to me, but this trip really refreshed my taste buds. Of course, that was true both figuratively and literally. When I travel, one of the first things I’m interested in is the local cuisine. I’m an inquisitive traveller; I seek out the points of difference, the individuality and character of a place, and food is an obvious starting point. Another thing that I pick up on immediately, telling me that I’m in new territory, is the birdsong. They speak in tongues them birds, and their chatter is as foreign as the local lingo. My favourite way of visiting a country is on a pushbike, as I did on this trip. You move slow enough to hear the ambient sounds, to be able to stop and check whatever that was that you caught out of the corner of your eye; yet fast enough for the scenery to keep changing. Perhaps surprisingly, I don’t go to countries planning to pick up on » Continue Reading.
NME Review – a Tiny Quiz for the ages
I wasn’t planning to post another of these so soon – but I came across this quote and, frankly, couldn’t resist. Since the previous quote was so short and open-ended, this verbose verbiage (sic) should be a piece of cake – so I’m expecting a winner this time around!
Here’s an extract from a review published in the NME. No clues: no year, no journalist name – and I’ve redacted some giveaway words.
Which album do you think is being reviewed?
“(…) have reduced themselves, or extended themselves, to selling bittersweet fantasies and seductive happy endings, making music where the nostalgic tendencies are impossibly correct, the modern moments ironically obvious and the moods delicately (remotely) controlled.”
Lana Consummated
I finally got to finish my date with Lana Del Rey in the early hours of this morning. After the plug was pulled early on our Glastonbury tryst it seemed the chance was gone. But, in contrast with that rendezvous, her performance at this year’s Coachella festival had her punctual, smiling and giggling with her guests Jon Batiste and Billie Eilish. And, not only are the Coachella performances streamed on YouTube, they are repeated again during, what we people living on the civilised side of the world (I.e. not California), call “the day”. So, as I write a repeat of Lana’s performance is imminent. The same is true of the other stages too, all this weekend, and then, bizarrely, the same acts do the same thing again in the same order next week (unless you’re Frank Ocean). Anyway, I thought some of you might like a “heads up” The link to the main stage is in the comments…
One Key Policy That Would Get The Great British Populace Off Their Fat Arses And Out To The Polling Station To Vote For YOU
Your keynote policy – the platform on which your campaign is to be built. What is it, then?
Here’s mine – a surefire vote-getter:
A vote for Saucecraft means a return to between-the-wars seasonal weather standards. A crisp, frosty winter with deep, clean snow at Christmas. A soft, delicate spring refreshed by sparkling rainfall, and an endless summer with clouds of butterflies, lapsing into a golden autumn scented by bonfires.
Debbie Harry – Face It
Author:Debbie Harry
I was never a huge fan of Blondie, although I liked them. Along with Talking Heads, Elvis Costello and XTC they were for me the best of the late 70s “new wave” bands. I listen to the audio book version of this, which Debbie reads in a very appealing way, kind of detached, a bit like her singing, but also very honest, straightforward and informative. She’s upfront about the fact that her God-given looks have played a part in her success (hence the title) and she paints a vivid picture of 70s NYC – the grunge, drugs, crime but also the punk spirit and the weird and wonderful charcaters she encountered along the way. She also talks a lot about her love/friendship with Chris Stein, looking after him and their separation.
Length of Read:Long
Might appeal to people who enjoyed…
Blondie, 70s NY punk and new wave
One thing you’ve learned
It’s OK to like dressing up
He asked AI to produce a Depeche Mode song…
The YouTube “video” is in the comments.
Sam Cooke: SAR Records Story 1959 – 1965
What does it sound like?:
There is a case to be made that Sam Cooke’s DNA is the basis of Soul Music. He sang with an unequalled style and grace. His rich, velvety tenor, powerful and smooth even in the high notes, was one of nature’s wonders. His tone was so pure and effortless, he had no need to resort to melisma or histrionics. He began singing in a Baptist choir, advanced into a Gospel group, transitioned to secular music, then added some sugar for a wider Pop audience. His songwriting was exemplary. A Change Is Gonna Come, for example, is a candidate for the song of its century.
However, he was much more than a superstar who met a sordid end. Smokey Robinson credits him with legitimising the afro. He was an active campaigner for black rights, close friend to Muhammad Ali and Malcom X. He was also business savvy, negotiating his own recording contracts with close attention to detail. Keen to avoid white “sharecroppers” in the music industry, he formed SAR Records with his friend, J.W. Alexander, and road manager, Roy Crain, to produce, promote and publish black artists.
SAR Records Story, a summation of their » Continue Reading.
NME Review – Return of the son of Tiny Quiz
Here’s an extract from a review published in the NME. No clues: no year, no journalist name – and I’ve redacted the title. I’ve deliberately moved away from corporate snark – when you know the album, you may or may not agree with the conclusion – but you can’t deny the positivity!
Which album do you think is being reviewed?
“(…) is the ONLY contemporary rock album.”
Two lovers who made music together; a soul singer who conquered America and the producer who made it all happen.
Today’s studio-blog is about Power Plant Studios in Willesden.
https://willyoumeetmeonclareisland.wordpress.com/2024/04/12/the-studios-of-london-power-plant/
So little time so much to watch – an all purpose TV thread
Leaving aside This Town which came out a couple of weeks ago and is covered elswwhere) there have been absolutely four top notch programs out in the last week
Ripley (NF) covered elsewhere
Reenagade Nell (Disney)
Baby Reindeer (NF)
Fallout (AP)
RN is Sally Wainwright’s new show and very bingeable it is, too. More Gentleman Jack than Happy Valley, it’s also hugely good fun.
Based on a true story, BR is a bit of a leftfielder – a hybrid of an unsettling drama and black comedy about stalking by a UK stand up I’d never heard of before, Only watched its first (of eight) 30-minute episodes, but it is very, very gripping
After that. it’ll be Fallout which is also picking up great reviews
Best show I watched earlier in the year was 2022’s Aussie drama, Boy Swallows Universe – if you’ve not seen it, give it a go
The Conservative Party are imploding on purpose
When you accept that, everything else makes sense.
The Conservative and Unionist Party was founded in 1834 and is, by some distance, the most successful political party in the history of the United Kingdom. They are the people that run the UK. The party only fails to take power when they stuff things up. If they keep things boring, steady and (small c) conservative, they remain in power.
The Tories have decided that they don’t want power at the next General Election. They want to flush out the troublesome right by democratic process rather than continually removing whips and trying to keep the oiks on message. I think they welcome the emergence of the Reform Party to gather them in, knowing that Farage and Co will only get one seat in Clacton-on-Sea.
They consider this Opposition to be palatable and will allow them to take the reins and keep things toddling along until the Tories can regroup and take over again.
We can tell that Sunak will not be brokenhearted to leave No. 10. I do not expect to hear anything from him that might sound like political vision for the country. After Johnson and Truss, he has been » Continue Reading.
So, Farewell Then
OJ “Juice” Simpson Famous for that Live police chase And The Naked Gun We have forgot The bloodstained glove
Eurovision 74
After it got a mention on WIYE I dug this out and its a pearler.
All the women are wearing dresses that would cause a major fire if they stood near a radiator and David Vines commentary is just awful.
Personal favourites? Spain – Just all of it. The days before radio mics. Switzerland – “You wouldn’t think by looking at that face she used to work in construction”. Yugoslavia – With their entry The Generation of ’42 (“But don’t be put off by the title, they sang it in English and it’s a very humorous song). ABBA – David Vine helpfully explains the bands name comes from their initials. He somehow adds a 5th member and it ends up something like ABFAB.
But top of the pile is Dame Katie of Boyle introducing in French … “Madame et monsieurs, les Wombles” big Dave speculates how to say The Wombles in Korean. WTF?
https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/p007x8b2/eurovision-song-contest-grand-final-1974
Nucleus – Live at the BBC
What does it sound like?:
I’ve a confession to make.
Our esteemed contributor Colin-h asked me to consider reviewing this beast about two years ago, and this is how long it’s taken me to finish off these notes. Sorry about that Colin!
So here we are at last, these are my copious notes, written a little at a time over the last two years, and finally edited now into a hopefully coherent overview of what is after all a gargantuan collection of wonderful material.
This little (13 CDs!) boxed set of BBC recordings features Ian Carr’s celebrated Nucleus ensemble. I’m not going to wade in with a humungous retrospective of the man’s jazz pedigree with various well known serious alumni, I’m going to react only to the contents of these discs.
For many music fans the music they contain might be expected to be what we might term jazz-rock. But don’t let the Vertigo label connections fool you. This is first and foremost jazz. Repertoire, with Colin’s guiding hand, have assembled 13 CDs worth of BBC sessions from the band – in various constellations – across the years from 1970 to 1991; it’s an ocean » Continue Reading.
Drum Sticks
I’m not a drummer, so maybe someone who knows more about the noble art can help me out. I was watching the video of the Beatles performing Hey Jude, and it struck me that Ringo appeared to be using unusually long drum sticks. My questions are:
1. Are the sticks he’s using particularly long, or is it just an optical illusion? 2. Are there a variety of stick lengths to choose from, or is it standard? 3. If so, would a drummer generally tend to favour one length, or vary it depending on what he’s playing? 4. What effect would a different length have on the sound produced?
Thanks in anticipation!
NME Review – the return of a Tiny Quiz!
Here’s an extract from a review published in the NME. No clues: no year, no journalist name – and I’ve redacted three words which might give it away. Please note that the odd-looking “mediocrity” is transcribed exactly as it appeared. MOR – oho!
Which album do you think is being reviewed?
“Much as I’d like to drag (…) up from the depths of MediOcRity and say (…) has found the candy floss and bubblegum appeal of once sadly boring acts like Dollar, I’m afraid to say that (…) has missed the boat…”
ATM USB CD/DVD external ripper/player
Our ancient desktop machine has breathed its last and with it the last ripping cd/dvd drive in the house (except the PS5 – no ripping there). So we are cutting the desktop cord and find ourselves in need of an external drive that will: Rip CDs Play DVDs/blu-ray Not so fussed about ripping DVDs. Not solely usb 3.0, as we have some laptops still with 2.0 Budget up to £50 for something that comes from a recognisable brand (can see Hitachi do these for example) ideally, if not then a recommendation from the zillions of Chinese makes you’ve never heard of on Amazon.
Starry Eyed & Laughing
Venue:
Ramblin’ Roots Revue, High Wycombe
Date: 06/04/2024
A hot Saturday afternoon, 6th July 1974. I was seventeen and all ‘blue and white checked cheesecloth shirt, flared Levi’s, stack-heeled platforms and a bottle of cider,’ sitting on the grass with assorted brothers, band-members and girlfriends, waiting for the next band to come on.
We were at the fourth Free Festival at Surrey Uni, hosted by The Global Trucking Company. Previous years had featured Genesis, local heroes Camel, Keith Christmas, Strider and Byzantium, amongst many others. The headliners in ‘74 were String Driven Thing, Narnia and Gryphon but I was waiting for the afternoon act, Starry Eyed & Laughing. I had heard one track of theirs on the Bob Harris Show on Radio One and had been intrigued by the harmonies and the jangling guitars.
At this point my musical world revolved around the band I was in along with Led Zeppelin, Free, Deep Purple, Yes and King Crimson. We were going to gigs every week without having to leave Guildford; the advantages of living in a University town which also had a Civic Hall, a Technical College and a thriving pub circuit.
The next band shuffled onto the stage » Continue Reading.
Country music is king with the kids
Veteran Aussie music promoter was interviewed recently and he made this observation: …….But the explosion is in country music, which is the biggest genre of music right now. The youngest ticket-buying generation of people now are known as “Zoomers” and a recent survey of the Zoomers in Australia saw 69 per cent of them nominate country music as their favourite.
Do you think this applies across all the major markets?