The Afterword

Musings on the byways of popular culture

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Your favourite moments and writings from the Afterword

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Im not as frequent a visitor to the AW as I used to be but this is still a site that remains important to me. I was thinking the other day, for no good reason, about some of the things that have really grabbed me here and we do have some very talented wordsmiths. The one that that has stuck with me was on the thread I started a few years ago about songs that have a special and personal meaning and @Chiz wrote a hauntingly beautiful piece based around Paul Simon’s ‘America’. Im pasting it below and the point of this thread is to celebrate the best of the AW -whether it be poignant or funny (or both). So come on make your fellow AfterWorders blush with pride or embarrassment and post it again here.

This is the piece that Chiz wrote:

When I was 17 I found myself, through no conscious effort on my part, going out with the prettiest girl in the school. I was in a band and had a car, and she was quite short-sighted; maybe that was it. Our music tastes met in the middle – Japan, Ultravox, Human League, » Continue Reading.

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Springsteen to tour Europe in late April/May?

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Lots of rumours in the Irish press about his regular promoter trying to get dates at Croke Park in late April.

Not sure why as Croke Park is a shit venue for concerts (dreadful sound ruined the gig the last time he was on there in 2016) and late April is hardly the best time of year in Ireland rain wise.

Would have thought two sets of weekend shows at Slane Castle later in the summer would be much better.

Then there’s the fact that, despite the fiasco that happened last time they booked him at CP*, Garth Brooks and his hat want to do a run of gigs there.

Anyone else heard about this?

* The venue only allows four. non-consecutive gigs each year and Brooks promoters went ahead and booked five straight nights which then never happened

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Not that one – lesser-known nominative doppelgänger bangerz

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This is Always on my Mind…no, not that one. This is the other Always on my Mind by Tiki Tane.

I’d like to see if you can think of other examples. Didn’t Saxon have a song called Ghost Town? Didn’t The Rubettes have a jaunty instrumental called Atrocity Exhibition?

Now I quite like the Tiki Tane song… but perhaps we can build a Spotify playlist of mostly disappointing imposters. It’s just what we need to cheer us up.

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Dylan Bootleg Series Volume 16 1980-85. First impressions

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I bought the deluxe version.

Had a listen to all 5 discs. Stunning. Certainly you are not missing much music wise with the first 2 discs but the last 3. Wow. Great sound crystal clear vocals and great versions. Lovely to hear some Mick Taylor solos

As these songs evolve – I found myself singing one song and then switching to another as he has reapplied a section to another song.

I was never a fan of Tight Connection. A bit too quick and poppy but this version and Someone’s Gotta hold. If they were released I reckon he would be paying a fair royalty to Lou Reed for the appropriation of the Sweet Jane riff.

Interesting period. There’s a nice uncluttered version of Senor but not much from Street Legal. Not top of the bootleg series but plenty to enjoy.

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A Short Invitation To Bitter Remonstration

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Apropos of Saucecraft heaping praise upon me for my extraordinarily good taste in music, I thought I’d share with you the things that have been floating my boat this week. Consider this a taster for Rolling Stones Top 500 Songs of All Time, 2038 edition.

First up is Deathloop City Lights. Yes: incidental music from a video game. I’m that far out on the bleeding edge.

Deathloop is a newly released video game which essentially fuses Groundhog Day with Doom and an oddball sense of humour. It appeals to me greatly.

So, I’m merrily playing it, sneaking up on enemies and blowing their brains out, when I pass an abandoned truck with the radio left on. And this song is playing. And it’s beautiful. Properly, properly beautiful. Give it a listen: the dude sounds like him from The Decemberists, and it’s got this lovely skipping rhythm that drops in a third of the way through.

Turns out, it isn’t licensed music; someone actually wrote this beautiful song to just play in the background during a short » Continue Reading.

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Black Sabbath – Technical Ecstasy – Superdeluxe Edition

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What does it sound like?:

The year 1976 saw the coming of the band’s seventh studio album, recorded in the US at a time when the band members were, once more, dealing with various addictions. To me, this is a rather confused album, with the band losing direction and seemingly caught between several stools – did they want to be a heavy metal band, a straight ahead rock band or even, dare I say it, a punk band! With hindsight, perhaps the best course would have been to concentrate simply on what makes Sabbath essentially Sabbath, rather than slathering washes of keyboards over every song to very little positive effect. There isn’t really a stone cold classic riff to be found on this album, here in both remastered and remixed form, the latter being presided over by, need I say, Steven Wilson. Rock n Roll Doctor and Gypsy are the strongest of a pretty mixed bag of material, and it also features drummer Bill Ward’s only lead vocal. There’s a selection of outtakes and alternate mixes, again mixed by Wilson, giving effectively an alternative version of the album, with the exception of Ward’s song, for which presumably the tapes » Continue Reading.

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Dylan does Deagostini

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After some initial trepidation re quality of pressings, I was delighted with the Beatles collection that Deagostini did a few years ago – yes, there was some tat involved (a Beatles turntable mat, anyone?) but the records were decent value overall (especially the triple album pressings of the Anthologies and At The BBC, which were only £24.99). So on seeing a TV advert for a similar Dylan collection* I must admit ‘I’m in’. And the extra £2 an issue for a Pro-ject turntable looks a right good bargain too, so count me in for that also. * I notice no Dylan though. Or Knocked Out Loaded. Or Christmas In The Heart. There may be others too

https://www.dylanvinyl.com/index

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Horslips slip away into myth…

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Three months shy of their 50th anniversary as a recording act Horslips have slipped away.

Here’s the announcement from 20 minutes ago:

‘Horslips regret to announce that due to health issues the upcoming gigs, already rescheduled due to Covid restrictions, have now had to be cancelled. This applies to Derry, Dublin and Waterford. We’re really sorry about this but it’s due to circumstances beyond our control. They won’t be rescheduled. Arrangements are being made for ticket refunds where this hasn’t already happened. We’d like to thank all our fans who’ve waited so patiently and been so loyal to the band. We’ve absolutely loved playing for you and hope you enjoyed it half as much as we did.’

Here’s something from their last TV performance, on Ireland’s TG4 in 2019.

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NOT buying records out of sheer recalcitrance

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I thought Black Celebration’s thread deserved a little twin!

It’s more often that I will refuse to buy a record that had been raved about and had five star reviews. And I suppose a lot of the time I’m just being stubborn and wanting to be my own man (man).

Some that spring to mind for me are: – Bruce Springsteen – Born to Run – Oasis – any album! (and I think I was right with that, from the songs of theirs I know) – Kendrick Lamar – To Pimp A Butterfly – Joni MItchell – Blue (although I should really give that a go, to be fair).

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ATM. Travel to France

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Am off to Brittany via the ferry next week for 2 weeks of good food and wine and a chance to catch up on my cd and book backlog. I need your help as to the situation Covid-wise as everywhere I look seems to say something different. We are both double-jabbed. Any of you been there recently and can confirm what the current requirements are ? Thanks

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What do a Belgian choreographer, a Siberian pianist, a member of ABBA and a Mohicaned organ maestro have in common?

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Some of may have you read Erica Jeal’s excellent article in the Guardian last week about how pianist Pavel Kolesnikov is working together with choreographer Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker on a performance of the Goldberg Variations. In which case you will guess that the answer is: an enthusiasm for Johann Sebastian Bach.

Benny Andersson has spoken on several occasions about how he listens to Bach every day. And flamboyant, punky American organ wunderkind, Cameron Carpenter, hold the genius from Leipzig in great esteem.

The article describes how Kolesnikov developed a new perspective on the Goldbergs when invited to work together by the Belgian choreographer who already has an impressive track record of working with Bach’s music. Unexpected! Bach and dance is not an automatic connection for me.

After reading the piece, I was very keen to watch them a clip of them working together. Fascinating.

Bach continues to be a source of inspiration for many musicians. In the 1960s, jazz pianist Jacques Loussier and his trio became very popular with their Play Bach LPs.

And then there is the equally unexpected Lambarena – Bach to Africa (from 1995). African musicians provide their reaction to JSB’s music.

I’d be keen to » Continue Reading.

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Sex Pistols 76 – 77

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What does it sound like?:

There is a school of thought with the Sex Pistols that says all you really need is Never Mind The Bollocks, maybe The Great Rock n Roll Swindle, and perhaps the Kiss This compilation to round up the rest. And to those I say: “You’re probably right”. For a band with a relatively short lifespan, and a relatively small (but perfectly formed) catalogue of songs, which have all seen the light of day in various releases (some of questionable quality) over the years, does this 4 CD really add anything to the legacy? The earliest commercial release of some of these tracks was the Spunk Bootleg in late 1977 – believed to be McLaren’s attempt to scupper his own band. Later proper releases include Sex Pistols Box Set, This Is Crap, and a host of low budget releases (not exactly Bootlegs, but far from official, and not exactly high on quality control either). And latterly, rarely a Record Store Day passed without a new issue of Never Mind The Bollocks – whether it be coloured vinyl, special boxing, or a series of 7” singles, minidisc, ringtone, 8 track cartridge, a bagpipe-heavy cover remix …

» Continue Reading.

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Musician Jokes

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on the Tom Waits thread, @salwarpe came out with this corker;

Back in the seventies, he was briefly considered as the lead singer for a revitalised Herman’s Hermits. Tom Waits for Noone?

This made me think of another gag I like;

I saw Gilbert O’Sullivan in the bank at lunchtime & when I asked what what he was there for he replied with ‘A loan again, naturally”

Any others ?

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I knew there was a “Steely Dan” chord

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… but I never knew there was a “Genesis” chord.

Reading about Phil Collins’ damaged nerves today (he can’t hold a drumstick in one of his hands) led me down one of those fun internet wormhole link-chases. I re-appeared, blinking in the daylight, at a Rick Beato youtube video of him deconstructing the song “Dance On A Volcano,” beloved of air drummers worldwide since 1976.