The Devil Has All The Best Tunes

I am actually writing , well typing and not dictating, this draft article on my Google Pixel 2XL phone. Dictating gives me too much editing and fixing, but this is the first article I have done completely on the phone and am surprised that it is basically rather good. Not as convenient as a computer keyboard , but more than adequate and very fit for purpose.

While the title obviously refers to Christianity , this concept is prevalent 8n most religions, anything that brings us pleasure is wrong, and the right way is whatever the controlling body says is the way , hence subservience. We see it today when raising money for good causes ,where the very rich and powerful give nothing themselves but tell the "lower castes" to give and donate to help the less fortunate. Helping others is a worthy pursuit but when you think Jeff Bezis and Elon Musk could probably eradicate world poverty and not leave themselves short you see the issue I have. On a lesser scale Gary Barlow has evaded tax yet still partakes in money raising events (it gives him exposure) , but Mr Barlow is not "The Devil's Music" , far from it.

This article is very unresearched and is just coming from what's 8nmy head and my past experiences, so apologies for any glaring errors. It also contains a lot of my opinions and, despite what lots of people get on their high horses about, opinions and ideas mean nothing unless they are logically argued and backed up by facts. 

However a lot of what is going down here is not provable , I may say I think song A is the devil's music and song B isn't , that is my opinion and thoughts on the subject and you may disagree and since The Devil is not here to question I  have to assume and opine.

One of the earliest associations between modern popular music and the devil is that the blues singer Robert Johnson wet to the crossroads and sold his soul to the devil in exchange for being able to play guitar. Enough to damn him in the eyes of the church. 

Lots of popular music from the late 1800s which then became fused and influenced by and with African and swing rhythms would often implicitly and explicitly refer to ess ee ecks , an the "great and good" , were very disapproving of that.

This music often came from "the other side of the tracks" that was usually the black quarter , again you start to see the racist elements in the disapproval and terming of "the devil's music". 

During the wars soldiers were given time off for rest and recreation which is the same acronym as rock and roll , an African American label for that old ess ee ecks , and around 1951 DJ Alan Freed appropriated it for a musical style supposedly kicked off by Jackie Brenton's "Rocket 88" which , I believe also featured Ike Turner on guitar .

Crooners like Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra were also frowned upon in certain circles , though it was ironic that "Rock Around The Clock" by Bill Haley and His Comets and used as theme to the film "Blackboard Jungle"  sparked riots and wrecking of cinemas ,  but Haley was a middle aged man with a receding hairline leading a white western swing band , hardly the blueprint for the devil's music.

With media such as radio , television and cinema helping spread the word, or the sound , Elvis Presley , The Beatles and The Rolling Stones outraged many just by their existence , but they covered and were influenced by black music which gave a reason for certain organisations to attack them. When John Lennon said that the Beatles were bigger than Jesus that stoked record burnings and protests in the USA , though to burn them they had to buy them. 

The Stones "Sympathy For The Devil" was an obvious candidate for the devil's music.

Heavy Metal and it's various exponents took on Satanic overtones exemplified by bands like Black Sabbath , and then genres such as Black Metal and Death Metal.

Religious organisations also decided that playing records backwards revealed Satanic instructions and messages and this was cited when a young man committed suiced and Ozzy Osbourne's "Suicide Solution" was cited as the culprit, but you don't need to play that backwards and obviously the young man had other problems.

Also in this case Rob Halford of Judas Priest quite rightly said "If we could influence people using hidden messages , it would be BUY MORE OF OUR RECORDS , not  Kill Yourself."

There is so much good music and it is always progressing, it takes in all influences. 

If you listen to "Tubular Bells" it is an impressive and beautiful piece of music but was used (without Mike Oldfield's permission)  in the film "The Exorcist" so does that make it Satanic? I think not but anyone can put any interpretation on what they hear.

The thing is WE have the best music , because WE take inspiration and create music that can be described as how it affects us and others.

Guinness and Penguins

This week for some reason , I came across a Guinness advert that I had either never seen before or I had forgotten about. It started off as a serious nature documentary and was excellently filmed and ended up as an unmistakable Guinness advert. I was sort of aware of it because it was listed on my Song of the Salesman site with a soundtrack of “Accentuate The Positive” by The Andrews Sisters and Bing Crosby.

My youngest daughter is obsessed with Penguins so that may be part of why I came across the video. I must admit that I am thankful for YouTube allowing us to share videos and songs with each other , and also technology has advanced so that we can watch and listen anywhere on any device should we so wish.

There are  lots of interesting and fun animal related videos available on the various video sharing platforms and Guinness have used lots in their adverts ,as well as people.

There is the “Rhythm of Life” evolution one featuring Sammy Davis Junior on the soundtrack from the earth’s beginning to the startled mudskipper ending up beached at the end. The Sammy Davis Jnr version with Shirley MacLaine is very difficult to track down to there is a link to the Christina Applegate version if you want to download it.

Then there are the surfer and wave horses , which could be considered one of the best adverts ever, sound tracked by “Phat Planet” by Leftfield , and the visuals really do stun you .

This is all just scratching the surface, with penguins , horses and mudskippers.

One of the things about writing for Vocal , and reposing on my SevendaysIn blog is I now actually have a word target of 600 words to meet for every post , so that gives the reader a decent amount to get into. When I first started blogging some of the posts were barely a sentence, but then I crept up and generally started averaging 200-300 words a post, but that won’t get me on Vocal.

Anyway back to the animals , the videos I’ve shared are worth your time watching , they are quite short but will leave you with a smile on your face and no doubt make you aware of the product. 

Guinness and generally stout is the the only beer type drink that I’ve ever really enjoyed drinking. Some ciders are OK but Guinness is smooth , creamy and , in my humble opinion , tastes good. Do the adverts make you want to buy and drink Guinness? Well they definitely raise your awareness of the drink and surely will make you interested because most of their advertising grabs your attention so well that you must surely want to investigate the actual product.

When you watch the adverts you almost want a part in them to actually be at that bar or place to enjoy that drink.

YouTube has pages and pages of Guinness adverts to trawl through but the three I have included here are just to whet your appetite both for the adverts and for the Guinness itself.  

This leads me on the CGI in video , ever since it took off you can do anything you want with film and all these adverts are examples of that  being applied to these films and adverts. We have become almost blasé about it but the amount of work involved is extremely impressive..

So if you are at your computer hit YouTube and do a search, if you want a drink I suggest a local shop and get yourself either some Guinness or another Stout and as you drink you can imagine that you are that penguin, or you are that surfer or you are evolving to end up surprised on some unspecified beach somewhere.

If you have got to this part , thank you for reading and any comments from you would be appreciated.

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Bowie's Blackstar

Yesterday David Bowie released Blackstar. I am not going to critique the album , but the fact that an artist can still command such awe and respect and continually turn the three chord trick on it's head often outdoing his perceived influences at their own game  is still jaw dropping.

When The Next Day came out completely unexpectedly the mainstream media wrote it off , because it was music that they actually had to take notice of . "Where Are We Now"  still amazes me , but when it was the lead single it was written of by mainstream media.

And now again Blackstar will have the same effect , it will polarise opinion , but isn't that what Bowie does? The thing is if you have any modicum intelligence you will appreciate his work or build a coherent argument against it.

Bowie Bowie Bowie

I was speaking to a guy in Bar Loco who said he's just got into Bowie , but he couldn't get past
Earthling , because it was the best thing  he had ever heard. Not your normal starting point in the Bowie canon , but this shows the amazing kaleidoscopic effect of the Bowie enigma , you could start anywhere and work in either direction remembering to be wary before Space Oddity  , though everything since has had much merit.

Even the maligned Tin Machine , "Under The God" is still a metal masterpiece , and "Little Drummer Boy" with Bing Crosby , well he's David Bowie , he can do that , and yo will enjoy it.

So go and buy Blackstar . My own favourite is still Station to Station , but put any Bowie album on the the turntable and I will listen until the needle lifts.

Have an amazing Saturday everyone.

Temptation

This morning I learned something new. I was convinced that Bryan Ferry had covered The Everly Brothers Temptation , an amazing song, but it was The Price of Love another amazing song. But it turns out that Temptation is in fact a cover of a 1933 hit for Bing Crosby, which I actually knew but the Everlys deconstruction makes it almost a different song. See what you think.

Use It

Oscar Wilde said "I can resist anything but temptation" and he is one of my heroes , a great writer , with and disgustingly treated by the law of the time , which was much the same as it is today.

Still on the Temptation as a song title we also have Heaven 17's Temptation , but my absolute favourite has got to be New Order's which gives me goosebumps and makes me just want to sink into it and surrender to the Temptation.



It doesn't get much better , so I hope that I have provided you with enough temptation , and I hope you can't resist either.

I hope your New Year is as good as my mine my totally gorgeous friends.

It's Monday, You're At Work and I'm Not

As you may have gathered I am being self indulgent for a change, although maybe posting to a blog is being very self indulgent because I am feeling so self important that people will deign to take the time to read and digest what I have to write.

Metal Knight

I am still smarting a little over the Christopher Lee incident where my slideshow was removed from Youtube after gaining almost five thousand view in the first day. Charlemagne Productions said they were really sorry but it was Youtube's copyright mechanism that removed (saying they'd recieved a complaint for Charlemagne Productions).



The reason was that I'd used Christopher Lee's version of "My Way" for the soundtracked and was shocked at how good it was and felt it had to be shared. Usually Youtube just leave the video but don't allow it to be public. Then in the future it may be allowed back, this was a straight delete.

Anyway I have an idea of how to get it back on but will see how that progresses. Anyway I'm back to doing nothing and relaxing. So hence the Bing Crosby song.