I found 3 x beautiful German flexi-disc soundcard picture discs yesterday. Dating from the early 60’s they all feature German singers and actresses, including this one of Romy Schneider. I’d be interested to see any that others may have.
Musings on the byways of popular culture
I found 3 x beautiful German flexi-disc soundcard picture discs yesterday. Dating from the early 60’s they all feature German singers and actresses, including this one of Romy Schneider. I’d be interested to see any that others may have.
OK, last post on this for now. When I first notified you I was uploading my old embarrassing pop journalism to Medium, there were five articles to view. Well, now I’ve got to the end of phase one (the writing for free or next to nothing years), and we’re up to 44. It’s not quite everything from the period. If anyone’s got my interviews with Pulp. the Charlatans, Teenage Fanclub (again), the Wildhearts, Tori Amos, OP8, Gene, Juliana Hatfield, Utah Saints or Jellyfish, in their lofts I’d love to see them again.
But in the meantime, if you want to know why Tim Booth from James was so reluctant to answer his phone, why Alan ‘Fluff’ Freeman always carried an asthma puffer, and why Brett Anderson walked out of my interview with him after only three minutes, fill your boots.
How come I’ve just receieved the June edition of Uncut magazine? It’s still April! If they carry on at this rate they will have to publish 13 editions in a year. That’s all.
Years back, I operated a small record label that restored and released music from the 78rpm era on CD. I’m not doing anything with the tracks any more, so I figured I should share them with folks. Each set includes a PDF with the cover set up to print out and the individual tracks in MP3 format. I apologize for the font substitution on the covers. I created this on a computer that is long gone. Likewise I apologize for not tagging the MP3s. If someone wants to do that and send them back to me, I’ll swap them in place of the ones there now.
I have about a dozen titles I’d be happy to share if anyone is interested. Here’s a list…
CL 1001 Variations (Schnabel Diabelli and Eroica) CL 1002 Wagner Between The Wars CL 1003 Stravinsky Firebird Rite of Spring (conducted by Stravinsky) CL 1004 Handel Concerti Grossi Op 6 (Busch) CL 1005 Mahler Sym No 9 (Walter / VPO) CL 1006 Sibelius (Kajanus) CL 1007 Mendelssohn Schubert (Reformation Symphony) DB 1001 Sheiks & Vamps (20s Dance Bands) DB 1002 Dancing The Devil Away (20s Dance Bands) OP 1001 Melchior & Flagstad (Tristan) OP 1002 Walkure » Continue Reading.
I really like the BBC coverage.
Watched it since the mid 1980s,
Jack Liwowski to win.
and other quaint non-existent traditions.
Inexplicably, Royal Hoylake wouldn’t deign to extend an invitation to their competition tees, so we are stuck with Altrincham Municipal.
I’ve set this up in time for the early birds in NZ, but note that the first hole that will count will be no.1047.
Obituary
Sad to hear of the passing of CJ Sansom. I had read some months ago that he was unwell. I have thouroughly enjoyed his Shardlake series of books and also his post-WWII alternative history ‘Dominion’. It’s a shame as the TV version of Shardlake will air shortly on Disney+ – I hope they do it justice…
Author:Matthew Taylor, Scott Meze, Geoffrey Feakes
Following the recent passing of leading light Tony Clarkin, Magnum are sadly no more although they did manage one final album. However, for me their best work came early in their career with the excellent On A Storyteller’s Night album, which is the set most people immediately bring to mind, An ill advised and unsuccessful attempt to break through into the lucrative US market with the poor Goodnight LA record failed miserably though, and the switch of focus also meant they lost ground in Europe which they never quite recovered – they were one of those bands who weren’t able to graduate from the city hall circuit to bigger venues. I always found their output a bit inconsistent but there were usually some good songs out there – Just Like An Arrow, Vigilante, How Far Jerusalem and Don’t Wake The Lion come to mind. The author does a good job of going through the 17 studio albums song by song in this well researched book and offers some interesting insights into their composition and recording, as well as discussing the band’s ups and downs career wise. Well worth a look if you’re a fan » Continue Reading.
Over the weekend there were numerous rallies in Australia against gendered violence, following a spate of murders in the first four months of the year (27 is the accepted number, although you will also see numbers in the 30s). I have a slight connection to one of these victims: she was the pre-school teacher of a close friend’s daughter.
I’m always slightly (i.e. highly) skeptical of media statistics on hot-button issues, so I decided to do a quick data analysis based on the information available (which is admittedly scant). I have the words Incident, Investigation and Learning in my job title, so I have some experience at looking for causal patterns across a range of events. I’m also VERY used to leaders/motivated individuals etc over-interpreting statistics and desperately trying to find causal commonality where none exists.
My data source included 27 murders of women so far in 2024. Of those:
– 7 were killed by partners/ex partners
– 9 or 10 were due to mentally-ill perpetrators (including the 5 female Bondi victims and 4 cases where mothers were killed by their children – three sons and one daughter. One was a patient at a hospital randomly killing another patient » Continue Reading.
I have been collecting old 78’s for several years but never come across this pair before, the Titanic one in particular is a nice find as the last one I saw was in a museum! I thought I’d share as I’d be happy to add any others I come across and see any unusual ones folks here may have.
Released in 1912 to raise funds for Titanic survivors.
and a one sided disc issued in the early years of WW1
Anyone ever used one of these? Seems a step up possibly from my slightly rickety Vox Amplug, bass version. Lack of wires is appealing though they don’t appear to make one specifically for a root note plodder.
TIA.
https://www.guitarguitar.co.uk/product/220815390950008–nux-mighty-plug-pro-headphone-amplifier
We’re all getting old, Afterworders quicker than most others. Even young Afterworders are old. If we don’t use it, we lose it. We need to keep our muscles strong, to maintain good bone health, balance, mental and physical wellbeing and circulation. We should be going to the gym and working out with weights.
There are simple things we can do at home: arm rolls holding tins of beans, chair squats (sitting and standing slowly, without using your arms), wall presses (like a press up but leaning against a wall), marching in place (like marching but without going anywhere), toe lifts (no, not picking up your toes from the floor but standing on tippy-toes whilst holding the back of a chair), walking heel to toe (it helps if there is a grandchild who can join in), and, my personal favourite, standing on one leg (actually standing on two legs but each in turn).
I find the best time to stand on one leg is when brushing teeth, which I do twice a day. I use an electric brush angled into the gum to help combat bone loss. I’m supposed to brush for two minutes, one minute per leg.
I work » Continue Reading.
I have just seen some clickbait about JK Rowling’s first line of ‘Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone’ being voted the best ever (“Mr and Mrs Dursley of number four, Privet Drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much”). Whatever. I have, though, often mused over which was the best opening paragraph I have read in any book. So far, it is this one, from Jack London’s ‘White Fang’:
“Dark spruce forest frowned on either side of the frozen waterway. The trees had been stripped by a recent wind of their white covering of frost, and they seemed to lean toward each other, black and ominous in the fading light. A vast silence reigned over the land. The land itself was a desolation, lifeless, without movement, so lone and cold that the spirit of it was not even that of sadness. There was a hint in it of laughter, but of a laughter more terrible than any sadness – a laughter that was mirthless as the smile of the Sphinx, a laughter cold as the frost and partaking of the grimness of infallibility. It was the masterful and incommunicable wisdom of eternity laughing at » Continue Reading.
I’ve been out on the deck, trying not to die of heatstroke, and this wonderful record has looped out of the house on repeat and made everything copacetic. It’s A Period Of Transition, an album that constantly gets relegated to the “meh” stack but hit the mood perfectly. Its easy, loping funk grooves, “in the pocket” ensemble playing, and a gorgeous Norlins production from Dr. John (also ivories), makes for the perfect lazy afternoon shade listen. And there’s a small handful of top tier tuneage: Flamingos Fly, Cold Wind In August, and [YOUR CHOICE HERE].
Not helped by dismal “this will have to do” cover art and title, and coming three years after the masterpiece Veedon Fleece, it was something of a disappointment, although it sold respectably. Listened to today, it sounds just perfect, and I love it.
by dai 16 Comments
He is sick, physically and mentally. Taking some “time out” to address it. Check the link. Hopefully he will make a full recovery and be back in business soon
What does it sound like?:
Maggie Rogers’ third official album, released on 12 April has been in my ears every day since then. I’ve been gradually getting familiar with her 10 new songs, letting them seep in, slowly noticing the differences between them, absorbing the words, noticing musical details. Like with each of the previous releases, there is a change in musical style. I would characterize them, sequentially, as folk, dance, rock and now MOR/country. This would normally put me off as being bland, and it seemed somewhat like that to me at first – a disappointing selection of songs after the catchy bangers that she strutted out. But this is Maggie Rogers, and I have found she really rewards repeat listening. It’s now my favourite of hers – a record where the singing isn’t afraid to take centre stage and not hide behind production. There are ‘tent post’ songs, that are more immediately catchy – Drunk, The Kill, Don’t Forget Me. The 5 songs between those last two to start with, slipped past without grabbing my attention at all, such is the contrasting pop appeal of them. Apparently all songs were written and recorded in 5 days total, » Continue Reading.
The New Order singer vocalist has taken to social media to vent his spleen. He sounds like he’d fit right in round here.
Watch out for New Order’s new single, And I’ll Tell You Another Thing… Have I had Me Tea?
Venue:
The Sphere, Las Vegas
Date: 20/04/2024
I’m finally back home from a crazy five-day-trip to see the magnificent Phish on one of their four nights at the Sphere in Las Vegas. Any regrets I had about that evening a couple of months ago – when I foolishly logged on to the online ticket queue – vanished immediately once I was inside the »dome«. And when the »gig« got underway it became clear that this was the event of a lifetime as far as live music goes: the sound was crystal clear, the visuals truly mind-boggling, and the band was as spacey and groovy as never before. And true to form, they played for nearly four hours (and no, they didn’t repeat a song during their four nights…); lots of extended atmospheric or funky improvisations. I’m aware that this kind of music isn’t exactly Afterword-friendly, but if you’re curious to find out why they’re held in such high regard check out the official excerpts from the shows.
The audience:
As usual – yer typical festival crowd from mid-twenties to 50-plus. No chatting, no beery pestering, and hardly any mobiles: probably a result of Phish’s usual policy of the ticket » Continue Reading.
You will not have my attention. I will be strutting my stuff, or what’s left of it, to this perfect song. Yes, the video shows a couple of herberts, one toothy with a mum hairdo, the other bald, strangely distracted, acting as props to a man of the type they don’t make any more, in a pair of alarming trousers, as they wander around a Barratt starter home estate. Nobody knows why.
The Brothers Gibb wrote this monster song, and sang it in one take around one mic. A copy of the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack should be in every home. We will not hear its like again.
https://www.soundonsound.com/techniques/classic-tracks-bee-gees-stayin-alive
by Beany 7 Comments
Obituary
Pinder died at his northern California home on 24 April 2024, at the age of 82. He had been suffering for some years from dementia.
For all you Blue Nile fans out there – new pressings on vinyl for all 4albums……
Author:Russ Thomas
This is now the fourth novel in this ongoing police procedural series set in and around Sheffield and featuring DS Adam Tyler. As such, it does help if you’ve read the previous books so you’re aware of the characters’ back stories, although it’s not absolutely essential. The disappearance of a young mother 24 years ago was a case that remained unsolved, but when a new lead suddenly appears, Tyler’s investigation as head of the Cold Case Review Team suddenly leaves him fighting for his life. It falls on his number two to take over the case, but retracing her boss’s steps leaves her with some hard choices to make as the evidence she uncovers begins to unexpectedly point frighteningly close to home. I felt the previous novel, Cold Reckoning, wasn’t quite up to the high standard of the first two books in the series, but this one, which takes a slightly different focus, certainly redresses the balance and then some. It’s a taut, fast moving and intelligent thriller, which I really enjoyed – next instalment as soon as possible please!
Length of Read:Medium
Might appeal to people who enjoyed…
The earlier novels in the series, police procedurals, thrillers.
I have this fairly recent integrated Marantz amp PM6005 which wasn’t cheap. It has been in storage for a couple of years and I just set it up again in the new digs.
Incredibly annoyingly, after a couple of minutes the unit shuts down and the red power light flashes. Sitting on the bench unconnected, the power stays on. As soon as I connect a source to it , it goes back on the blink. I have read of others having a similar episode after bringing back out of storage. 2 options suggested are poor connections or overheating. The same set up worked fine on another amp so it aint wiring and the amp isn’t even warm so its not that either.
So I suspect it’s “internal”.
Thanks in advance.
Found this rather underwhelming really….