The Halo Effect: “If we see a person first in a good light, it is difficult subsequently to darken that light”

In David Hepworth’s book on 1971, he uses the Halo Effect to explain why “What’s Going On” has such a reputation for being a great album (basically, the excellence of the opening and closing tracks casts a halo over the rest of the album).

That got me thinking about where else this effect can be seen. Oddly enough, the first name that came to mind was David Letterman. When he retired a couple of years back, tributes poured in about his 30 years as a talk show host. Yet most of the clips that were recalled were from the 1980s. As someone who only saw his show from the late 90s onwards it was difficult to see what the fuss was about: a fairly cranky middle-aged guy making jokes with his bandleader? I think a lot of the goodwill that was extended to him was a result of the Halo Effect created by his early 80s shows, when he really was a breath of fresh air.

In sports, few teams benefit from the Halo Effect as much as » Continue Reading.

The first I heard of what would come to be Hair Metal was 1981 or so when Tommy Vance played songs from an album called Too Fast For Love by some American band called Motley Crue on his Friday Rock Show. They had been getting mentions for a while in Kerrang! and this must have been one of the first times they were played on the radio in the UK. God almighty, I thought to myself, this’ll never catch on.

The thing is, I should have liked Hair Metal. After all, I was a fan of most of the genre’s major influences. I loved the 70s Alice Cooper and Kiss records (still do). I also liked Van Halen and Aerosmith. So I suppose I should have been a fan really. So why did I end up hating the bloody thing?

I think the main reason was the sound. Hair Metal records sounded really terrible with all that compression. Those dull, thudding snares. Those squawking lead guitars. Perhaps the records were mastered to sound effective on FM radio (or on MTV), but there’s something cold and shrill about them. And they don’t sound any better thirty years on either. I’ve become » Continue Reading.

Taking a wrong turn in Singapore’s sprawling Mustafa Centre a few months back, I ended up in 1978. There, facing me from the shelves was a line-up of fragrances that I hadn’t seen in the same place for years: Denim, Old Spice, Tabac and Brut: the fab four of Seventies fragrances. Sure, the livery had changed on a few of them (though I don’t think the Tabac Brand Artwork team has been that busy in the last 40 years) but they were still easily recognizable. Cheap, too. So what does an Afterworder do when he finds himself in a shop with cheap stuff that other folk haven’t been interested in since the 70s? He buys them of course, and here are my reviews.

Denim: For me, the most disappointing of the four: very, very light scent, as if a bottle of Smirnoff had been left open in a flower shop for a couple of hours. This used to be for the man who didn’t have to try too hard. What happened?

Old Spice: Probably the brand that’s had the highest profile over the last 40 years and it had a bit of swagger (it was actually on another shelf by » Continue Reading.

Multiplying Chills (Brividis Travoltis) A series of shakes and jerks that can make the sufferer appear to be the subject of electrifying power. Can often cause the sufferer to lose control. Commonly accepted remedies include shaping up and meditation.

Cat Scratch Fever (Itchus Scratchus Felinus Nugentus) An ailment that is often caught from cats next door, it is generally regarded as nothing dangerous, with no pain, though in severe cases it can make a grown man cry. Common symptoms include the ability to make a pussy purr with a stroke of your hand.

Gonokakakakas (urinas dolorosas zappas) Ailment which can be contracted from toilet seats. Principal symptoms include painful urination, though some sufferers have reported their genitalia feeling like “a pair of maracas”.

Wooden Heart (cuorus legnus regnus) An illness common among American G.I.s posted in Germany in the late 1950. Sufferers were said to never be the same afterwards, though some recovered briefly in the late 60s. However, this recovery proved to be short-lived and in the early 70s they felt their temperature rising higher and higher with a burning feeling that led to rapid weight gain.

Has anyone else been enjoying the Round the Horne episodes that are available on the BBC site at the moment? If you haven’t been listening, then have a vada at the link below:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00c7q4l/episodes/player

The show of course is very British, or perhaps that should be British as British was in the late 1960s. A lot of the humour is double entendres or allusions to risque (that’s your actual French) behaviour being performed by someone on someone else, somewhere, hopefully at a safe distance from your living room. I think niscum makes a good point over on the “Is this funny?” thread,about comedy not necessarily aging well and perhaps to really enjoy this show you have to meet it half way. Imagine it’s the late 60s and you’re listening to this on the Binatone radio while eating your Vesta curry.

And then there’s Kenneth Williams. One thing the show demonstrates is how powerful radio can be as a medium for comedy if you have performers with great technical ability, and I’m continually impressed by just how good Williams was. Whether he’s rolling out the polari as Sandy or singing about being stung in the nurdles as Rambling Sid Rumpo, » Continue Reading.

A few years back, Jerry Seinfeld was being interviewed by an American newspaper and mentioned that he was disappointed that no sitcom had come along to replace Seinfeld. I found that an easy comment to agree with, but that was because I was a late comer to Modern Family. I’ve spent the last year or so catching up. During this time, I’ve found my opinion changing from “This is the US sitcom since Seinfeld” to “You know, this actually might be better than Seinfeld” and now it’s the reached the point where I think it’s time to ask “Is Modern Family the best US sitcom ever?”

If you’re unfamiliar with the show, it involves the adventures of the extended Pritchett family (three couples) in Los Angeles. The characters include a gay couple, an adopted Vietnamese child, a nerd-bimbo sister pairing and a loud Columbian. And while this makes it sound like Friends after a Diversity Workshop, it’s way more fun than that. It’s pacy, well-plotted and acted, breaks the fourth wall in a novel way, and most important of all is full of laugh-out loud lines. It’s starting to show its age just a little bit, but it still delivers.

» Continue Reading.

I think we may have discussed this before, but I think it was before the whole Drupal thing, so I’ll start a thread here.

I’m looking at buying a new wireless router. I’ve had my current one (Netgear N600 dual band) for about 5 years now, and it’s worked well, but is beginning to strain a bit.

So I started looking into getting a new one, and it’s a bit confusing for this old warhorse. I get that I should be looking at an 802.11ac model, and that the MU-MIMO is going to help multiple devices connect, but also that it’s still a new technology and both the router and the devices need to be compatible.

So are there any recommendations? I’m going to stream things like Netflix as well as music through the house and there will be a few tablets and phones connecting in as well. No online gaming though, (unless the PS3 comes out with a 4K HD dog walking simulator).

I’m a Mac user, so the Airports and the Time Capsules may be an option.

So how was 1986 for you then?

Given that 2016 brings us as far away from that year as Heartbreak Hotel and the Suez crisis were, perhaps it’s time for reflection. It didn’t feel to me like a vintage year for the music at the time, and time hasn’t changed that opinion much, so why is that?

It seems like a year of transition, the decade’s summer holidays. The early 80s pop boom was winding down: Duran Duran, Frankie, Spandau and Culture Club had all seen their best days, but hip hop, house music and hair metal had yet to really make their breakthrough (although they were knocking at the door: Livin’ on a Prayer and Walk this Way both were hits this year).

It also seems to have been a year that a lot of acts that were in their prime at the time sat out. The list of bands who made albums in 1985 and 87 but not 86 is striking: U2, Simply Red, The Cure, The Sisters of Mercy, The Cult, all were touring/resting/drying out. The charts abhor a vacuum of course, and you wonder if bands like The Mission would have been as successful in 1986 » Continue Reading.

“Amazon and eBay are furious about this simple trick that allows you to put back a bottle of merlot without going online and buying that 18 CD Box Set”

“You won’t believe what these ex-girlfriends of 70s rock stars look like now they’ve grown up”

“5 Bruce Springsteen songs that prevent cancer”

“This man quit his job and now earns $200 a day trading old copies of Mojo using this algorithm”

“5 Bob Dylan albums that may be killing you”

I’ve just finished re-reading Needful Things by Stephen King. I first read it when it came out over 20 years ago, and I picked up a second hand copy last month, for $3.80, plus a harmless prank to be played on Lester Platt. Only joking, it was 8 Singapore Dollars.

I reckon I’ve read about 15 or so Stephen King books over the last 30 years or so. Most of those were read as a teenager interested in horror movies and records with devils on the cover, but I’ve never really lost touch completely with him, and I enjoyed the most recent one I read, Joyland (To be honest, I think I’ve enjoyed all the books of his I’ve read with the exception of The Dark Half, which I never really warmed to).

Needful Things was probably, along with Pet Semetary, my favourite of his books back in the day. Partly because the basic idea is a good one (Shop that sells your heart’s desire, at a price) but mainly I think because the book gives King plenty of scope to do what I think he likes the most: write about the people and secrets of small town Maine. You » Continue Reading.

No, this isn’t an Americana thread, I’m talking about music that you listen to when you want to relax, slow down the old pulse rate, and who knows, even have a snooze. Perhaps I’m getting old, perhaps I’m getting stressed, but I’m finding that I’m enjoying listening to stuff like Ambient Electronica and Thunderstorms (that is recordings of actual thunderstorms, not the NWOBHM band; they’re shite) when I need to relax or clear my thoughts.

For example, I really like Marconi Union. You may remember that they were in the news a couple of years back because the world’s top scientists and boffins had determined that their track “Weightless” was scientifically proven to be the optimum music to send you to sleep. I think it was to do with the frequencies and pulsed rhythms. Anyway, it’s great stuff. But i want to find some more. So what are your recommendations? Recordings of Appalachian rainfall? Balinese Gamelan music? The Cocteau Twins?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CySNhHVAokQ

The video is an incredible tour of Los Angeles by camera drone made by filmmaker Ian Wood. Music is pretty good too. Enjoy.

The emergence of low cost camera drones in the last few years has generated some interesting footage. I’m guessing I’m not the only one here whose Facebook feed after Christmas featured videos posted by people playing with their new toys by flying them over their home town. A favourite of mine for when I get homesick is the Highland Aerial Views YouTube channel (link below) has some nice films of the far north of Scotland.

Any others?

Highland Aerial Views: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCAXRGQ107L2ENoihc5054Qw