Musings on the byways of popular culture
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I was pleasantly surprised to read this story about Ed Sheeran vs secondary ticket touts, and am consequently rethinking my hitherto opinion of the man.
I was tickled by one affected fan’s comment – “My dad spoke to Viagogo yesterday and they 100% assured him I would get entry at the gates this evening” – in the words of Mandy Rice Davies ….
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@dougiej’s thread about the Fabs made me think of the late Mr Blast, who couldn’t stand the “Be-Atles” but loved Neil Innes’ most joyous creation. As much as I think the HJHs were indeed a majestic musical force, the Rutles are surprisingly not far behind. This version from the film (with added Sir Michael) is much more energetic than the studio version: (It’s Looking Good)
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A few things over the past few days have got me asking this question –
– the Calcutta Cup game yesterday: as a Scot I was surprised not just by the result but the manner of the win. But then the reactions starting coming in – if you want a dispiriting way to spend a Sunday morning then read the BBC readers comments to the game article – and all too often the reaction of fellow Scots became exactly the kind of crowing which I would detest in English commentators if it had been the other way round. And then the links to Indyref2 …;
– I got interested in rugby in the 1970s when my Mum pointed out when the game was played wonderfully: as it happened this was usually by the Welsh, French or British Lions. Nothing to do with supporting Scotland at all costs. And she was first to complain when Scotland won lots of games in the 1990s in the most boring way possible (Gavin Hasting’s boot);
– the fact that a fair few of the English comments were along the lines of “the Scots had 16 guys on the pitch if you include » Continue Reading.
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My reading of this is that the Competition and Markets Authority (Monopolies Commission in new money) have taken a huge time to find only the most minor misbehaviour by these (lets be frank) utter shits, and even then can’t force the tiniest improvements.
The give away in the article is the line “Secondary ticketing websites are designed to re-sell tickets to concerts, shows and events where the original buyer can no longer attend.” – if the CMA honestly believe that’s their main business model then it’s no wonder they’ve been so useless in driving out this appalling parasitical behaviour.
I’m far from alone in being utterly fed up when a big act’s tickets go on sale, sell out in minutes, and then miraculously vast numbers of tickets appear at ransom-demand prices on these websites within the hour. I can not believe it is beyond the wit of lawmakers to outlaw such blatantly unfair actions, and this latest story makes me despair.
Am I over-reacting? Is this just one of those things we need to suck up? Or are there practical steps which regulators could make to improve this situation for genuine fans?
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… or not? It sounds like there is something to this Storyville narrative, but either way, an appreciation or even an interest in the HJHs is not required.
Personally I think the argument wasn’t really developed convincingly, and more than once they refer to the religious-like devotion to the band, which seems to kind of miss the whole point. Also, there was too much about the fanatics, which just made me think of that Alan Partridge episode when he meets his fan.
But leaving all that aside, there were some interesting aspects which make this worth checking out:
– the fascinating details of how to make bootleg records from discarded x-rays – equally fascinating, how to make a guitar and amp combo by mass vandalism of phone boxes and tannoy speakers – how the supposed Communist regime embraced official bootleg vinyl production to cash in – how many rock docs feature Sergei Ivanov (Russian Deputy Prime Minister)?
Overall the main message for me was how state-enforced sterility is ultimately and gloriously weaker than young people’s devotion and passion for a better life. Normally it turns my stomach to hear this term used for a TV programme, but I » Continue Reading.
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Venue:
Glasgow (SWG3)
Date: 16/07/2017
In over 30 years of gig-going I rarely experience anything new – it’s all variations on a theme, and fair enough – but Sunn 0))) made me experience something new. And not just some choice moments, but the whole performance.
From one perspective this is a two hour health and safety nightmare: from the time you enter the venue there is so much dry ice you can barely see 10 yards in the already-dimly-lit space. We stand at the front, and only belatedly realise that (a) we are standing on metal plates which are basically sound-and-vibration amplifiers, and (b) the several square metres worth of speakers are but a few feet in front of our faces.
The noise: the bone-crushing, ribcage-rattling, nostril-vibrating tsunamis of sound, only barely recognisable as being of guitar-based origin. I literally have to shift my posture a few times to reduce the sonic echoes throbbing through my whole body. It hardly goes without saying that there is an utter lack of information or breaks between songs, and an absence of anything resembling a song or a tune.
But from a different perspective – and I realise this after » Continue Reading.
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One of the good guys, and a genuine icon.
My abiding memory of him is when he came to do a signing session at a Virgin Records store around 1990 in Glasgow on a weekday … and there was a queue all the way up the block, filled with punks, metal heads, kids, … across-the-board appeal.
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Well, we saw the big fella off on Monday there – it was a turnout which I hope made James’s mum proud: family, neighbours, old work colleagues … plus representing The Massive: @el-hombre-malo, myself, Mrs Douglas, @Scottcrae, thee other Scott, Keith and Mrs Keith; and a few of his Sisters of Mercy (Heartland) mates, including one who made a superhuman effort to come over from Belgium for the occasion.
The priest started his sermon mentioning that when some flowers had arrived at the church (from the Heartland posse, it turned out) marked for “James Blast”, he had initially assumed it was a mistake!
@kaisfatdad of this parish did a great job – many thanks! – condensing the dozens of kind comments from this site into a single note which I included in a separate condolences card and gave to Molly. She was touched by the number of people there or passing comments, whom she’d never heard of.
His cremation service had some unintended nice James touches:
– it was at “The Linn Crematorium”, even though no-one in Glasgow uses the “The”; – The building is wonderfully brutalist in » Continue Reading.
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22/08/2016
I spoke to James’ mum last night – she says the funeral is likely to be Monday morning in King’s Park (on the south side of Glasgow). I checked she is fine with me passing this on to others here. If anyone thinks they may wish to come then PM me and I’ll pass on the details when I hear them.
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Dreadful news: James Blast (as we all knew him) died yesterday evening, according to a family friend. He had not been in the best of health for some time, but this was very sudden and unexpected.
I’ve contacted a few people directly, but for anyone else I’m sorry if you’d have preferred a personal message and this is how you’re finding out.
Hamish was a great friend: I’ll be eternally grateful to the Word site for kick-starting Massive mingles, in particular @el-hombre-malo of this parish who got the Glasgow ones going – this is how me & James got to know each other, as well as forging other friendships.
Please post your favourite blast from the Blast here.
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I was reading Johnny’s “Beatles Did It First” thread, in particular the 128* bad-tempered and just plain rude comments by HPS. Leaving aside his frankly crappy behaviour, I was struck by the fact that, not once but twice, he used the rejoinder “who cares?”, when referring to some Fabs-related claim or other.
The fact is that, at least when it comes to musical discussions, if we’re going to accept “who cares?” as a valid response then we might as well shut up shop and all go read Buzzfeed instead. It’s only music, and no-one’s statement about it is going to matter in the grand scheme of things. But that’s not the point: the value of music is the fact that (as Stephen Fry commented about Abba) it’s better than it needs to be.
Goodness knows, there’s plenty of things out there in the civilian world to get genuinely worked up about instead, if that’s really what floats your boat.
*this may not be an exactly accurate figure, and I now know what a stickler for precise factual accuracy HPS is in the crucial arena of AW discussions, but who cares?
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A Twist in the Zappa vs. Zappa Spat:
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Year: 1973 Director: William Friedkin
I barely recognised this film from the lurid scenes we’ve all seen in clip shows: those appearances on “100 Scariest Movies” etc do not do it justice. There are surprisingly subtle touches and an interestingly gradual pace, so the violent scenes take on greater horror as a result.
I was impressed with how it patiently covered varying aspects – medical, psychiatric, police, spiritual, adolescent emotions – albeit one missing aspect (which certainly wouldn’t have been left out these days) is the hint of child abuse?
The cast is pretty good for a 1970s horror film, but even so, when Max von Sydow strolls in, he dominates proceedings and basically gives an acting masterclass. I hadn’t appreciated what a short time he’s in the film, again having been misled by the oft-shown highlight clips.
You’re obviously meant suspend disbelief to enjoy the movie, but my main complaint is that it’s never clear how the Evil One can merrily rotate Regan’s head, levitate her whole bed and move furniture, but never free himself from being tied to the bed? The whole exorcism itself is a mix of powerful drama and cartoonish special effects, and I can’t help » Continue Reading.
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What does it sound like?:
A beautifully packaged 5 disc set of around 90 different bands: somebody clearly believes Shoegaze was a genre which deserves rescue from years of cruel oversight since its hey-day in the late 80s/early 90s.
Is it worth revisiting? If you like your Britpop or your Madchester then there’s a lot in these discs for you. But not for me: I had the notion that Shoegaze was meant to have a different aesthetic – I’m thinking of Cocteaus, JAMC and MBV – but strangely most of this compilation disappoints by simply not being Shoegazey enough to my ears.
However, if you cherry pick, you can get about one disc’s worth of glorious noise, and it really is worth the effort – gorgeous, dreamy, hazy, echoing and half-audible. It’s music which was only meant to be heard by a single listener – you – not a crowd, a radio audience or a consumer market.
I can actually forgive the four discs’ amount of material which I have no interest in, because the remaining disc’s worth is superb, and brand new to my ears: that’s not an experience I’m used to these days.
What does it all » Continue Reading.
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Except there’s no mention on the BBC website, even though they show links to the Independent site story saying he’s died
It’s probably a gross disservice to his acting career, but I’ll always remember him as the Witchsmeller Pursuivant in the first series of Blackadder.
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The Joe Jackson/Adele thread prompted a sigh in me, and I thought that it warranted a separate thread because this issue is bigger and goes so much wider.
In brief: when are we going to let go of the ridiculous category errors made when discussing music? When will we grow up and ditch the adolescent posturing spawned by rock journalism?
In retrospect, the “golden era” of rock journalism was nothing more than over-inflated egos churning out over-inflated opinion pieces on over-inflated musicians. This branch of journalism is thankfully on its knees, at least the professional version, thus weeding out those who genuinely care as opposed to those have opinions for money. And yet it’s infantile spawn still infest most discussions about music, producing depressingly frequent myths like:
(a) Myth: Music is about the lyrics, eg you can judge Adele’s music by its subject matter. Reality: No you can’t. Lyrics are there in the background, and never made a dull piece of music great (La Adele), nor did they ever drag down an excellent piece of music (New Order).
(b) Myth: It is sufficient to consider guitar-based bands, playing 4-5 minute long songs with choruses, guitar solos, and hummable tunes. » Continue Reading.
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Regardless of your opinions on Oasis, you’d have to admit Noel is head and shoulders above most music interviewees. And here he is, pouring scorn on his own band’s videos – some moments here made me laugh out loud, albeit definitely NSFW
http://www.shortlist.com/news/noel-gallagher-creates-funniest-dvd-commentary-ever
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First the football side’s last minute loss against Poland, and just now the same scenario in the Rugby World Cup against Australia.
There’s obviously huge other differences between the two games, but what is it with us bloody Scots and our allergy to international sporting success?
(And I write as someone who’s not even that bothered by sport in the first place)
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I haven’t seen a photo of Father Brian for some time, so I was most surprised to discover that facially he is now a cross between Bob Harris and Stuart from The Thick Of It.
I did like his description of creative art (or culture) as anything we do in our surplus time. Reminded me of Stephen Fry’s description of his love of Abba because “they’re better than they need to be”.
I’m not sure whether anything he said justifies obligatory Government funding of the arts, mind you. Pretty much no artist covered in this site, for instance, will have received a penny of Westminster subsidy.
Author:Maxim Leo
What is it like to live in a country where everyone suffers from cognitive dissonance?
Maxim Leo’s 250 page obituary to East Germany is the story of a nation reflected in his own family’s history. His grandparents who enthusiastically embraced the post-Nazi possibilities and Communist ideals; his parents who started to have misgivings about the supposedly anti-fascist State Party which actually behaved in increasingly fascist ways; and Maxim who is bemused about why anyone thinks the GDR is working when it palpably is not, on pretty much any measure.
When a 10 year old boy spots the rottenness of the system, the game is surely up. And so, as an extended psychological experiment, it was in retrospect doomed to failure within three generations, as Maxim observes.
There are no real monsters in the book, other than distant senior party officials or Nazi war criminals. The adults in Maxim’s world just have to adapt to their growing awareness that reality and political idealism are not the same thing. So they all have to play their own mind-games: a little lie to the children here, a little omission of the truth there, and always always acquiescence for a quiet » Continue Reading.
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The excellent Industrial etc thread by @Poppy-Succeeds reminded me in timely fashion: it was 40 years ago *today* that Throbbing Gristle were formed. (My most useless piece of “pop” trivia).
I’m guessing I won’t be making any converts here, but theirs is a fascinating story well worth reading (“Wreckers of Civilisation” by Simon Ford). The ground-breaking sounds, the brutal philosophy, the controversies, the personalities, the successor acts spawned, the expectation-busting come-back….
On a personal note, they produced the most terrifying track I’ve ever heard (“Hamburger Lady”), the most valuable record I own (original blue vinyl copy of Heathen Earth), and also the greatest gig I’ve ever been at. It was their come-back period, about 2009, and one of the best features was just looking at their faces, how lived in they all were.
So if there are any other fans out there, let’s hear your thoughts and your favourite TG moment. Here’s mine: (Still Walking)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BWzTT4btXTk
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Venue:
Classic Grand, Glasgow
Date: 31/03/2015
The funsters* from Slovenia have been seen as many things over their 35 year history: symbols of Western corruptive influence, symbols of Iron Curtain neo-fascism, comedy cover band, performance artists, and now political commentators. All, any, or none of these things may be true. Don’t bother asking them to explain because they never break character.
One by one the band takes to the stage: droning industrial sweeps of sound throbbing the room. There had been no support act, just some strangely 1970s easy listening soundtracks. Was that ironic? Perhaps not: as the gig progresses, it becomes clear that Laibach have a much broader musical palette than most: industrial, pop, rock, folk, ballad, modern classical, experimental drone – all make an appearance at some point.
Most of the material is from the new album Spectre, and they decide to play two halves with a screen-projection timer counting down 10 minutes in between. The second half is more energetic than the first, but you sense the packed room is bristling for some of the stompy stuff they’re best known for. Not ones to disappoint, they give an encore with eternal favourites Tanz Mit Laibach and » Continue Reading.
