On Demand

Yesterday I didn't even listen to the live radio, because now you can listen to shows on demand. I was using the BBC Sounds app on my Kindle Fire. I noticed there was something featuring Stephen King , who , like Terry Pratchett, I don't really like his books , but I like him as a person and like the TV and film dramatisations of his stories.

First up was the 6Music "Paperback Writers" show and the listing didn't include The Rolling Stones song "Dance Little Sister" which came between Jan & Dean's "New Girl In School" and KC & The Sunshine Band's "That's The Way (I Like It)" . King's attitude to disco is the same as mine, and we both love it.

I was looking forward to following this with his "Desert Island Discs" but it ran into Irvine Welsh's show and as I am an admirer of Irvine Welsh I let it run , and his music choices were stuff that I would have played , listened to and maybe even picked.

Both authors' shows were illuminating and gave a good insight into them and their tastes. The only slight black mark for me was Stephen King closing with "My Sharona" by The Knack , but each to his hown and when the other choices were so good you have to allow some leeway. Irvine Welsh's choices were all more than acceptable to me.

I then went back to "Desert Island Discs"  which was more talking and less music but a decent listen nonetheless.

The thing is you can cherrypick what you want to listen to these days and that means that live radio is up against a formidable library of sound, so my listening to live radio is about to get a little less. I think I will share "It Came Out Of The Sky" by Creedence Clearwater Revival" because it is on Stephen King's list and it has the "It" connection too.

Find Something Good To Enjoy and Smile

I was going to write a post on And Annoyingly but decided to write something positive about enjoyable stuff. I am sick of people defending Donald Trump and attacking Jeremy Corbyn, Corbyn has his faults but is still the best option for a Labour leader. That's all I am going to say.

Vinyl Beauty

Maybe I shouldn't go on Facebook, but I do I have interactions with some wonderful friends on there, and then I feel better, and put on some music such as Stomu Yamash'ta's Floating Music. I remember buying it on Island's mid priced label for £1.49 when it came out around 1972, I had seen Man From The East on TV so I bought it and loved it. Just an example of me liking something that no one else in my social circles had even come close to , and when they heard hit they weren't exactly supportive, but that's their loss. It's always good to try new things but I've never been taken by smooth lounge jazz , but this was a complete different universe.  You can hear a bit of it here and here.




While this may not be the most exciting way to spend the last day of the bank holiday, it makes me feel good and therefore it is good. It is very easy to get sidetracked by negatives but have just booked La Rosa for my birthday as well , and it's my favourite hotel in my favourite holiday place, Whitby. On the phone they know who I am even though it's a year since I stayed there.

I also phoned and spoke with my dad, and over the weekend gave my eldest daughter something towards a Big Daisy Kiss Star Wars hand bag that she wants for her birthday. At least this year I won't forget that. That's inspired me to put up Meco's Disco take on Star Wars and that WILL bring a smile to your face.

Anyway as the sun sets on the Bank Holiday , smile , enjoy yourself and set yourself up for a brilliant week. I have done, so you do the same.

I Was Made For Lovin' You

I switched on the the radio this morning and "I Was Made For Lovin' You" by Kiss was playing on the radio. Is this a good or bad sign? Undoubtedly Kiss's finest moment , no doubt due to the involvement of Giorgio Moroder , but that was kisses dalliance with Disco , and they were perennial bandwagon jumpers , dripping their own blood into the ink of a comic that featured them and the fact they were effectively masked by make up any member could in theory be easily replaced and disposed of. A marketing mans dream.

Gimme

The thing is they were about selling product and in that they  were no different than The Sex Pistols or X-Factor artists , it's ultimately about shifting corporate product. Bands are expected to conform and fit in and the media dictates an awful lot of what people buy. I like to think I am above that , but am I really? Having said that I went to two small gig last week and saw six amazing bands , check out here , it's a while since I have hit a big venue for a band.






Anyway I am OK with Kiss starting my day, and I hope your day starts just as well and continues in a good way. I love you all

Disco Apocalypse

In less than a week we have lost two giants of seventies disco. First Donna Summer , and now Robin Gibb.

As part of the Bee Gees , Robin Gibb took the world by storm soundtracking the film "Saturday Night Fever" with the aid of a few other artists. But it was the Bee Gees who had the lions share of the song credits on the album with "Stayin' Alive" , "Night Fever" and "Jive Talkin'" among others. Their self reinvention was amazing , give that they were a white pop band who then took the disco dancefloor by storm. I have lots of favourite Bee Gees songs notably the afformentioned "Jive Talkin'" , as well as "Tragedy" and "Alone".

Apparently five Donna Summer singles have reentered the top 200 singles , and its a symptom of digital music that this can happen immediately. Watch out for massive sales of Saturday Night Fever and the Bee Gees Number Ones collections and it's re appearance at the cinema.

However the song that inspired this blog post is by Jackson Brown , see below: