The Afterword

Musings on the byways of popular culture

Menu

Navigation

Your ideas for a better Bowie memorial than this, if you please

by 14 Comments

It seems that “A crowdfunding campaign to erect a permanent memorial to David Bowie has been launched by a team of south London designers.”

Now I don’t like the idea myself – do they think prople are going to be interested enough in his work after seeing this that they’ll become fans?

My idea is a Black Star (yes!) in some form or other, perhaps on the pavement somewhere significant. Heddon Street for example, the place where the coer for Ziggy was shot. Any better ideas?

http://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/660/cpsprodpb/29A2/production/_94785601_1bba5282-eb10-4e3c-b5be-e56dc0c347d0.jpg http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-39044933

This says it all about this year, for me.

by 18 Comments

Just having a (nother) Bowie blowout now the in-laws have departed.

Yes I know there have been more important world events this year, but this hit me more than Syria, Brexit or Trump. If that makes me shallow then so be it 🙂

We shan’t see his like for a while. Roll on 2017. Hope yours is better than this year.

http://i64.tinypic.com/rva8lt.jpg

So, it’s late 2016 and I’ve just developed a taste for Grime

by 20 Comments

Yep Grime, the latest sound sensation!

I left YouTube running last Saturday after listening to the above Kano track (which is a better song on the same subject matter as “Summertime” by DJ Jazzy “Jeff”, kids). Next thing I know I am totally sucked in and searching the web for decent examples if the genre. Alas I have no idea where to start & don’t want to get any old rubbish.

So please post some examples of classic Grime. Go as far back as you like, I certainly won’t be criticising your hip quotient… TIA

No Mercury Prize thread?

by 31 Comments

I’m lazier than most when it comes to posting thread starters, but really – nothing?

I’m posting this just before the rsult is announced, but I’ll let the picture say it all for me. I don’t want Bowie to win by the way.

http://tinypic.com/r/msp4ec/9

“Way out West, there was this fella I want to tell you about. A fella by the name of…”

by 4 Comments

“… Jesus Quintana.”

Going Places is an upcoming 2017 American crime comedy film directed, written by and starring John Turturro, acting as both a remake of the 1974 controversial French film of the same name by Bertrand Blier, and a spin-off to the 1998 cult film The Big Lebowski by the Coen brothers, from which Turturro reprises his role as Jesus Quintana.

Like the original Going Places, it follows a trio of sexually-depraved misfits, played by Turturro, Bobby Cannavale, and Audrey Tautou.

Please be great, Pleeeease.

(Imagine a picture of John Turturro from The Big Lebowski here)

Smokey Robinson gets Gershwin gong

by 8 Comments

“His velvet falsetto and incomparable mastery of lyrical verse have created a tapestry of hits that have transcended generations and become a mainstay in American pop music,” the Library of Congress said in a statement.

The Gershwin Prize is awarded to a living songwriter who exemplifies “the standard of excellence associated with George and Ira Gershwin, by promoting the genre of song as a vehicle of cultural understanding; entertaining and informing audiences; and inspiring new generations.” The past winners are Willie Nelson, Billy Joel, Carole King, the songwriting duo of Burt Bacharach and Hal David, Paul McCartney, Stevie Wonder and Paul Simon.”

Well deserved in my book. I second that admiration.

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/06/arts/music/smokey-robinson-gershwin-prize-popular-song.html?module=WatchingPortal&region=c-column-middle-span-region&pgType=Homepage&action=click&mediaId=thumb_square&state=standard&contentPlacement=1&version=internal&contentCollection=www.nytimes.com&contentId=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2016%2F07%2F06%2Farts%2Fmusic%2Fsmokey-robinson-gershwin-prize-popular-song.html

The Afterword Karaoke

by 88 Comments

This idea popped, totally unprompted by anything (OK, OK a suggestion on another thread), into my head. What song would best show off the breadth of your taste, the width of your stomach and the height of your talent?

I have been asked by people to do “Wichita Lineman” – in another venue to theirs preferably – and unscientific listening tests in the shower have confirmed its suitability for my vocal range. Bingo Little mentioned quite coyly on that other thread that he has a song all ready to go should he be asked. So, what’s yours?

Title!

by 6 Comments

It seems that pop song titles have become shorter since the 60’s, indeed the number of words in song titles has decreased too. This process has accelerated since the advent of the download.

With everything available all the time the battle to be even noticed, let alone purchased, has become streamlined and more brutal. Why have three words in your title if one will do? Even if that diminishes what you are trying to say or has no bearing whatever on the message of the lyric?

Another technique to get your song remembered is just keep hammering the refrain . Thus the chorusless song (e.g. “Virgina Plain,” “Up The Junction”) is also in decline as songs become effectively one long chorus.

I don’t know what this actually means or portends mind you. Feel free to chip in.

Yes, him again

by 12 Comments

I’ve heard it said by people who dislike David Bowie say he is too much of an Actor and doesn’t really mean it, man, that there’s a detachment to his delivery which gets in the way of feeling. This is clearly nuts.

So I’m making a playlist for a work mate of “late Bowie” and this just had to be on it. If it gets me at a low point it can easily make me cry. Sometimes I think it’s the best thing he has ever done.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KkrA-OTU8OM&fmt=18

ATM: Tin Machine

by 15 Comments

Hipster confession: I was a Bowie obsessive till the Tonight LP at which point we parted company for a decade or so. Okay more like two decades. He was the soundtrack of my life, if you’ll excuse the cliche, until that point. The Next Day sent me back to a journey of rediscovery, helped largely by reading through the excellent “Pushing Ahead Of The Dame” blog (Props Due)

Since then I have listened to everything post Tin Machine. I still skipped those records for some reason. Maybe I thought it wasn’t “proper Bowie.” So, long story short, can I please have a playlist, or even just a list, of the best of Tin Machine? Ta.

The “I’m telling you, man, people rode dinosaurs!” unusual belief thread

by 64 Comments

Rapper BoB (no, me neither) has tweeted that the evidence shows that the Earth is in fact flat.

http://www.theguardian.com/music/2016/jan/25/bob-rapper-flat-earth-twitter

“No matter how high in elevation you are… the horizon is always eye level … sorry cadets… I didn’t wanna believe it either”

There may well be other, ahem, rock stars who hold similarly outlandish views. If there aren’t please feel free to make one up and assign it to a worthy recipient. For instance, did you know Liam Gallagher thinks that tortoises can speak, we just haven’t been listening closely enough? True.

Perhaps you yourself have a genuinely-held belief that has been met with general incredulity? Why not share your outrage with a sympathetic circle of friends? Or just post it on here.

Haka responses

by 12 Comments

Well done to the All Blacks, I thought they deserved to win yesterday although like most neutral spectators – I suspect – I wanted the underdogs to come out on top. I can’t deny that the game at this level is an exciting spectacle and I’m stunned by the level of thought and athleticism it takes to move the ball up the field.

What I always think, though, when I watch NZ play, is how unfair it is that they get to do their dance routine at the start while their opponents are forced to watch. It must hand them an advantage, mustn’t it? Is it enshrined in the laws of the game or what? Is it seen as a cultural insult for the other team to just ignore it? Shouldn’t the other team get to have their own turn? Should they wait for New Zealand to finish or do it at the same time? You can tell I’m no expert!

My approach, after some thought, would be to line up my team twenty yards back at the start, and at every beat of the Haka, take a stride forward, so that at the end the team would finish » Continue Reading.

Proms

by 13 Comments

Fuckin awesome. Licence fee earned etc etc.

This and Eastenders, Casualty, Doctors. Something for all, it seems. Bring it on, Beeb haters!

Top Five Best Shits of the last 30 years

by 21 Comments

I can’t believe we’ve come this far down the blog without a list of your best bowel movements. There must be dozens but let’s limit ourselves to five. Think of the endless variety you must have experienced – here’s a few categories to jog you memory: volume, comedy value, sheer relief or even just neatness!

I’ll post up a chart on Sunday.