50 years of Veedon Fleece

Damned with faint praise on release, VF has arguably gone on to establish itself as the richest and most satisfying of VTM’s peerless run of eight great albums from the late 60s mid-70s.

As it’s the only vinyl album I have ever managed to wear out not once but twice, I certainly think so.

Sinead O’Connor would seem to agree, hailing it as: “the record I always come back to again and again…It is far superior to Astral Weeks and I love Astral Weeks. This is the definitive Van album with the definitive Van song, “Who Was That Masked Man”…It’s the most obvious album he’s ever done about Ireland…Veedon Fleece is the only thing I listen to just before I go on stage.”[35] When asked in an interview in 2005 to name something she considered “a mind-altering work of art”, she answered: “Van Morrison’s Veedon Fleece.”

Recorded following his divorce from Janet Planet and the end of an exhausting Too Late to Stop Now Tour – VF marked a suitably inspiring end to the first phase of Mr. M’s career. It was also the start of a lengthy fairly fallow period that wouldn’t end » Continue Reading.

Satellite pix look positively apocalyptic. The warnings to those mad enough – or with no option other than – to stay, make it sound a million times worse..

While experienced more than my fair share of typhoons during my 25+ years in HK, can only remember one direct hit. Bad enough but nothing like what is going to happen to Florida in the next few hours.

Given the violent way the world’s weather has fluctuated theses last few years, seems like climate change has gone past the point where it might be reversed.

Glad I won’t be here in 20-odd years time

The band’s allowing Sony to use its image “likenesses” presumably leaves the way open for endless juke box musicals and franchise tours.

Wonder how – or even if – they’ll cover Syd’s role in the band’s history

The joy animals bring into our lives is one of the things that make our Lives worth living

Pls see link in next post

Following on from @Black_Celebration’s splendid Spangles and White Dog Poo thread, how about a discussion of the UK comics of our childhoods?

Nothing against the DC and Marvel titles, but once kids of our generation started reading more adolescent-focused titles like Spiderman, Batman, etc, the Beanos and Dandies tended to go the way of Puff the Magic Dragon when little Jackie Paper first “woke up sticky”.

Like probably everyone else here, I started out with those old DC Thomson warhorses the Beano and the Dandy, eventually working my way through Victor, briefly the Hotspur (too much bloody writing and not enough pictures), and later Valiant and Tiger. If my reading habits taught me one useful skill set it’s a rudimentary knowledge of German (Kamerad! Donner und Blitzen!, etc)

Always used to amuse me how aside from the big two (the Beano and Dandy) all the other titles generally ended up merging.

Presumably competing for the same share of our pocket money, fairly lightweight titles like Topper were simply krill for larger selling titles such as first Beezer and then the Beano.

Come the inevitable Saturday you’d head down to the newsagent only to find Topper’s masthead now only existed as » Continue Reading.

Surprised no one here has reviewed this.

Usual collection of beautifully written, played and sung songs from Mr L with the added attraction of some wonderfully Dick Daleish guitar stylings from long-time live collaborators, Los Straitjackets

Only minor quibble is that it’s such a sunny upbeat record that he really should have released it earlier in the summer

MODS – Pls feel free to delete if someone wishes to post a more detailed review

Well tomorrow actually but what’s a day out of the 18,263 since that long ago Saturday September 14 CSNY, Joni, Tom Scott, The Band and Jesse Colin Young hit the boards at Wembley.

Bob Dylan was rumoured to appear but didn’t and Neil Young drove off to Morocco in a Rolls Royce he bought With his share of the takings.

Anyone else there that day aside from Elvis Costello and myself?

Xena, our 11 year old Springer Spaniel, has been diagnosed with early-stage cataracts.

Under normal circs, would be happy to take her to a specialist to see if they can be operated on.

Problem is, having undergone TIPLO cruciate ligament surgeries in each of her hind legs In the last five years, Xena suffers from quite serious arthritis. While powerful monthly Liberium painkilling shots supplemented with Remedium tablets (when necessary) ease her pain, her movement is seriously impaired and she has piled on an alarming amount of weight. Sadly, this is a vicious circle that it is almost impossible to break.

As B and I aren’t keen on subjecting X to the stress of another operation or, indeed, whether she might survive it, would be grateful to hear from any other AWers with experience of caring for a visually impaired family pet.

With Harris’s campaign losing momentum, most recent polls putting her and Trump level on around 49% and only eight weeks to go to polling day, tonight’s debate could well be the defining moment of this year’s election.

Can H stand up to the sort of media scrutiny she’s far gone out of her way to avoid?

Can T spend 90 minutes focusing on issues without resorting to personal abuse?

It promises to be quite a night.

Rock Star Games’ Grand Theft Auto has made UK£6.4 billion over the years.

It’s makers have apparently just offered Heaven 17’s Martyn Ware the princely sum of UK£5,700 for the rights to Temptation.

Interesting interview in tipoday’s Graun.

Interestingly nary a mention of his blink-and-you’ll-miss-it stint in Fleetwood Mac

https://www.theguardian.com/music/article/2024/aug/29/dave-mason-traffic-book-interview

Genius piece of PR from Villa

https://guitar.com/news/music-news/aston-villa-ozzy-osbourne-geezer-butler/

50 years ago this week, Richard Nixon resigned and French funambulist, Philip Petit, walked 45m between the 400m-high twin towers of New York’s then recently opened WTC

34 years later, film maker James Marsh celebrated PP and his friends’ achievement in an academy award winning 2008 doc called Man on Wire. Made all the more amazing by its almost total lack of footage of Petit’s feat, JM’s film is a wonderful celebration of a far more innocent time. If you’ve not already seen the film, do yourself a favour and give it a look.

This week the now 74-y.o. Petit marked the anniversary of his WTC walk by mounting a 20-foot high wire and walking the 30m nave of the Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine in New York.

While we’re all waiting for the longer film that will doubtless be along shortly, here is a brief news item about the event.

New album – The Cleansing – out on Nov 1 with a London live show a couple of weeks before

Huge fan since the OO’s debut album and the two shows I saw in Manchester in 79/80.

Having fucked himself up so badly on smack, was amazed how he managed to come back after what was apparently a fraught OOs reunion with the splendid How the West Was Won

While not nearly as keen on the follow-up, Humanworld, was happy to fly over to the UK to see his May 2019 London show in support of that album – the first time I’d seen him since his brief comeback during the days of Woke Up Sticky almost a quarter of a century before.

Sure I can’t be the only OOs/Perrett fan whose looking forward to this…

F8 and I were discussing the future of the Beeb over on the Olympics thread and now the issue seems worthy of a thread of its own.

Given how long the Tories had been gunning for them and disgust over the ham-fisted Savile cover up still fresh In everyone’s memories, it’s gob-smacking how the Beeb gave Hew Edwards a raise and continued to pay him for five months after they learned of his arrest.

Be interesting to see how the new government reacts to and deals with this latest own goal by the Beeb.

The Mail and Murdoch papers are going to be baying for blood come tomorrow am if they aren’t already

Last Thursday, I caught Bruce Springsteen and the ESB live at Wembley. Bruce being Bruce, it was a predictably magnificent show once they’d sorted out the muddy sound that ruined the first third of the set. While the Boss captivated something like 70,000 of us with nothing more than his guitar, voice and a couple of classic songs, I couldn’t help but think about any equally deserving songwriter who most of my fellow gig goers had probably never heard of.

I’m talking, of course, about the late, great Jackie Leven.

For those few AWers not familiar with Kircauldy’s favourite son, JL was a singular talent whose adeptness at balancing often caustic lyrics and frequently gorgeous melodies measurably exceeded his critical acclaim and commercial success. While he remained criminally under-rated in the UK, his relentless gigging schedule meant he’d earned – and enjoyed – cult hero status in places like Germany and Norway.

Having only discovered Jackie around the time of 2006’s Oh What A Blow That Phantom Dealt Me, I never got the chance to see him live. All of which makes Proper Records’ release of the 35 song, 4-CD Live or Die at Bremen set a real treat. » Continue Reading.

17 CDs

5 BluRays

Spans the years 1976 to 1987

US$449,99 for the 5,000 set collectors edition

Can’t justify the hefty price tag, but will probably get the cheaper second run

Anyone here in for the big box?

https://neilyoung.warnerrecords.com/en/neil-young-archives-vol.-iii-1976-198717-cd-and-5-blu-ray-%5Bdeluxe-edition%5D/093624839439.html?ref=direct&eml=2024July25%2F6530258%2F6010961&etsubid=187823981

Hope it’s not too late to stop Trump