Musings on the byways of popular culture
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After a lifetime thinking this guy was MOR schlock, I have found he is more good AOR schlock, and there isn’t anything worong with that. Loads more hits and that you’d imagine, tunes, a good range of styles, and a variety of melodies that to me place him up there with early 10cc and Supertramp – clever pop. It’s been quite a revelation to me, but I like my prejudices being falsified. Views of the Massive?
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Corbyn has shown himself utterly out of touch with public sensibilities in his dated handwaving and wrong headedness about terrorism. As well as blaming the victim (didn’t know leftists were allowed to do that), the Coptic Christians murdered in Egypt today were not knowingly involved in a war against Islam. Apocalyptic death cults don’t need parody socialists encouraging them. My family (some of whom were from that way a few generations ago) tell me that the Middle East used to be able to rub along with each other reasonably well for centuries until then rise of militant Islam. It is not my impression that the British working man is prejudiced. In fact the opposite: they work with anyone who mucks in and grafts. But they definitely lack sympathy for terrorism of the kind done by Islamists and the IRA. They also have an enviable short tolerance for middle-class lefty do-gooders preaching at them. they get enough of that at school, work, and on the news. I suspect he has jumped the shark just as he might have been moving on up. OOAA.
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Expensive week for me; the boy and my youngest are both big fans, so we’ll be going to the Birmingham show together.
makes me think there needs to be a secret AW sign to spot contributors from here at gigs, etc. Greatcoat, gatefold Groundhogs album and fishing hat? Better not; most gigs i go to look pretty much like that.
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Tix on sale thursday
The idiots cant clarify if this is 28 or 29th October and there are only two date: one date is in Dublin, one in London, but the basic info is thus:
28/ 29 OCT 2017 BluesFest presents Steely Dan & The Doobie Brothers
The O2, London
Given they haven’t been here for 8 years, this is probably obligatory – though i hope appeal is sufficiently selective it can be moved to the more intimate Wembley Arena.
Gotta hope Micheal McDonald is back with the Doobies for this one.
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This is a pretty spectacular package, IMHO. If it is sold at a sensible price (I ordered the new “Songs From the Wood” 5 disc package for about £20 from the dodgers), I’ll be grabbing it.
http://www.music-news.com/news/UK/105156/Prince-vaults-to-deliver-major-Purple-Rain-overhaul
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Junior’s new band. Not bad at all. Lots of Canterbury, National Health, Egg, and even Hatfield and the North influences.
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What does it sound like?:
I saw this lot Supporting Be Bop DeLuxe back in 1976. They looked like the future, and sometimes sounded like it, but listening 40 years on, their influences are very apparent; Dylan, iggy, Velvets, Cockney Rebel and artier glam (in some ways the DoM WERE artier glam, just 3 years too late), Van Der Graaf Generator), frenzied hoedowns, and a hefty bolus of 20th century theatre. At points, some good healthy rows and frenzies, at others, the earnest Dylan thing and the drearier dirges indicate why they may not have done as well as they could have amongst those seeking something new.
What does it all *mean*?
Lots of people sought something new by the mid-70s, and this was typically based on the darker and nosier bits of what had happened in the past 10 years. In the Doctors of Madness you can hear where The Damned and The Adverts got some of their riffs (“Bulletin” is a kick in the arse off “Too Young to be 21”, and “For Me and You” shares genes with a subsequent “New Rose”). They are touring again, and it might be fun to revisit if the knees » Continue Reading.
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The ‘best’ entry level thread is interesting. What about the reverse: those tracks that scare people off who might otherwise like the artist in question? I could have introduced them by “Can We Still be Friends?” or “I Saw the Light, but my Todd Rundgren enthusiasm led me to scare off potential converts by introducing them via “Dogfight Giggle” (2 minutes of annoying pissing abut that was probably fun when they were stoned in the studio), and the attached “A Treatise on Cosmic Fire” (as above, but 35 minutes). I don’t suppose “Singring and the Glass Guitar” impressed many outside of here, either.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MZJi1nGFZiA
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Over the years, I have received thoroughly unfair criticism from various girlfriends for the exquisite good taste and occasional ironic retro moment that is my musical collection. And what were they playing?
Gilli Smythe. Elkie brook’s dullest years (most of ’em). Enya. “Star wars” soundtracks. Julian Lennon. 1980s Jefferson Starship albums. Tracey Chapman. UB40 after 1981. Vanessa Paradise. Norah Jones … and the non-shitter “Berlin” above – a mock-Goth confection that makes Hazel o’Connor look like Alien Sex Fiend. No wonder I would rather have a wife who likes classical music. That way we have different magisteria, so no comparison is really acceptable (given the humiliation with “Close to the Edge” on the other page).
Your ungallant exposure of the hateful musical taste of ex’s here. This is a gender and sexual-orientation neutral scorning here, so offence given to men, women, same sex-partners (etc.) is all welcome.
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I’ve been listening to a lot of downloaded old John Peel shows recently (thank you, “The Perfumed Garden”). Amidst the decent stuff is FAR too much pissing around with shouting and doomy chords, “mock” totalitarian rhythms, self-consciously discordant composition, etc. I am now far too old for this (like “modern” art, it is often rather old hat). I’d rather have tunes, melodies, nice sentiments and leave the sixth-form/ Art school foundation year behind. OOAA, but they are wrong.
I know it’s not one or the other, but give me Laura Nyro over “This Heat” any day.
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I’m all for the intelligent use of technology to make the world a better place. Gimmicky crap (wi-fi hairbrushes?) not so much. Given what a pain in the jacksy computers can be when they are hacked/ virused/ are updated/ etc., having them overseeing your toilet, taps, and front door (and you paying for these to work) seems a bad move to me, unless it it is necessary due to disability issues. Smells of “selling shit to fickle rubes” to me.
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This is an interesting article. I think he is a great but unappreciated talent (at least in the last 40 years). The Wizzard b-sides were as good as the a-sides, though the albums never quite got it for me. Anyone know why he couldn’t, er, “follow through”?
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I was listening to a 4-CD Stevie Wonder history today. All going fine – even the odd track from “The Secret Lives of Plants” – when the frigging “I just called to say i love you” popped up. This lousy track eclipses (as it were) the foregoing due to it’s ubiquity and crapness. Other utterly shit tracks that are turds in the musical swimming pol are Yes’s “Wondrous Stories”, and Genesis’s “Afterglow”. Other tracks that ruin quality runs?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QwOU3bnuU0k
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The suicide bomber at Ansbach was refused entry to the open air concert as he didn’t have a ticket. It’s a common form of discrimination, this pay-for-ticket rule. He had a bomb with nails and shrapnel in it, which is somewhat different to the usual festival kit of spare bog roll, cagoul, pork pies, and a bifter in one’s sock. The shocking news is that the mighty ‘Tull were playing. Western culture is now truly under threat.
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I can’t find that brilliant picture of spike milligan and a member of his cast dressed as super heros smiling at the camera, one of them being a spitting image of Tom watson. What WAS the name of that actor?
Watching a Q compilation on YouTube yesterday, I couldn’t decide if it was the most unfunny thing ever, or a fascinating insight into Spike Milligan’s broken mind. But his cast in it were brilliant, which makes me think we should see it as Pinter/ Beckett rather than “are you being served”.
So what smartarse will refer to the rocktastic 80s/90s read which was once not so bad?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3KyE8UMSxI8
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“Hello birds, hello clouds, hello Topographic Oceans …”. Basil Fotherington-Anderson plus seriously heavy friends (Rick Wakeman, Trevor Rabin) will be pacing the boards for a reasonable UK tour next March. Could be good, could be bobbins.
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While I very much for the robust questioning of politicians, I must admit that this bit of vox-pop to “man of the people” Eddie Izzard did make me feel warm n’fuzzy. He is the kiss of death for many a cause, and I am not convinced his posturing is likely to impress poor people struggling in Redcar (who I care about far more than rich celebs wanting to continue being fabulous). The referendum seems to me to have been quite good at shaking up politics and political attitudes such that tribal voting is being undermined on all sides: not before time, IMHO. I wonder if these shifts will maintain post 24th June? I wouldn’t mind if they did.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tcRAN4bgZjs
https://www.dissentmagazine.org/online_articles/left-case-brexit
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I see my alma mater, 30 years on, has found the audio cassettes I left in my research room and built a conference around them.
https://sites.eca.ed.ac.uk/theprogectconference/files/2016/01/Programme-The-progect-2016-2.pdf
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These guys look so perfect as “hard” mid-70s ‘townies, I almost thought it was, with the power-pop, a recently manufactured rock “Take That”. Litle did I know they were around from ’74 to ’78.
Anyone else aware of them?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cYhqQCA9-eM
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The Guardian yesterday printed a cryptic crossword with Supertramp-themed clues. Not seen them doing this sort of thing before. Do they have form?
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I am sure this has been discussed before, but what creative edits and mergings will improve an album no end?
I found that by editing “Moby Dick” so it becomes a meaty riff, a drum beat, then the outro meaty riff radically improved Led Zeppelin II.
You also have massive dividends by putting sides 1 of Todd Rundgren’s Utopia – “Intiation” and “Faithful” on one disc, losing “A treatise on Cosmic Fire” (not the same without psychedelics) and his “Faithful” covers.
I prefer “Wish You were Here” with all parts of “Shine On..” as one long track.
OOAA. Are there other creative edits out there to improve one’s listening pleasure.
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Disappointing news. Not that people behave well in the dying moments of a relationship.
http://www.music-news.com/news/UK/94546/Steely-Dan-s-Donald-Fagen-arrested-for-assaulting-wife
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Metal became a bit tired in the late 70s. What it needed was a bit of a speedy lift, and by golly they got it with the emergence of Motorhead. Prissy critics of ‘rockism’ could thereafter GTF. It needed the right sort of drummer – one who would be fast, loud, and hit the buggers. Being a bit of a rock n’roll character helped, too.
http://www.gettyimages.co.uk/detail/news-photo/photo-of-motorhead-phil-philthy-animal-taylor-backstage-at-news-photo/86121890/gallery http://www.blabbermouth.net/news/former-motorhead-drummer-phil-philthy-animal-taylor-dies-at-61/
Brian Auger is gigging the UK in early November. Fans of the, er, sound of the swelling organ and post-mod positivity up for it? I’m intending to see them in that London at the Jazz Cafe.
And yes, I didn’t know of John Prescott’s prowess on the organ, either. You’re not looking so young, yourself.
Brian Auger is gigging the UK in early November? Fans of the, er, sound of the swelling organ and post-mod positivity up for it? I’m intending to see them in that London at the Jazz Cafe.
