Positively Negative

 For the first time in a long time the temperature was negative this morning, according to my Google Pixel -4˚ Centigrade , there was ice on the car windscreens, and it was inviting me to go out for a walk. I did go out tonight and it was 3˚ Centigrade but actually felt quite warm , and it was 7˚ higher than this morning, but we are not in December yet and I'm not sure if Autumn has become Winter yet , although this tells me that the seasons start o, the appropriate Solstice and Equinox days so Winter starts in about three weeks time on the 21st of December.

Normally by this time I am in bed but need to use the alarm on my phone to get me up tomorrow and it was down to 20% so thought thought I would pen a few lines while it charges.I have also watched the second "Borat" movie which is enjoyably subversive and working my way through American Horror Story:Freaks which is excellent but essentially a tragedy about exploitation, when I finish it that will be up to date on all released series of the show.

Some of the music has been rather good although seventies and eighties classics sit oddly with the fifties timeframe of the series, but go well nevertheless.

So musicwise I have been listening to Thin Lizzy , Stats Quo amd Curved Air on vinyl so will go with "The Rocker" by Thin Lizzy which has one of the best blockriffs (that's a riff played with chords rather than notes) you will ever here. Listen and enjoy Thin Lizzy from their Decca years.

Imperfect - #Oktoberfest #27 - Marguerita Time - Status Quo

Sometimes solutions to problems are not always what you want them to be, but they are always what you need them to be, otherwise they wont be a solution.  Two weeks ago I needed a certain bus but it didn't turn up (it did but five minutes early and I watched as it went by my house) so I had to take a different bus which meant I was dropped off a lot further from the train station than I needed to be to catch my train, meaning I had to walk faster and further than I intended and while this was not the solution I had planned this was the only solution possible given the circumstances as I was on a fixed ticket on the train.

Similarly for #Oktoberfest the song "Marguerita Time" came to mind and  I thought it was a probably decent Jimmy Buffet song . It isn't . I'd got it wrong. "Marguerita Time" is a fairly bland Status Quo song which I wouldn't use as part of the sequence but I know if I don't it's nag away at me until the then of October. Status Quo are responsible for a lot of good stuff, and I have a triple vinyl tin which is rather excellent.

The song I'd mixed it up with was "Margaritaville" which, despite a few clever lyrics, is awfully bland. My favourite song by Jimmy Buffet is the really excellent "Volcano" which unless it's a cocktail wont get into the sequence. Anyway you can listen and tell me my evaluation is right or wrong or whatever this Wednesday morning.

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Seventeen Hundred

I thought I would post this just to hit seventeen hundred posts since I started posting, breaking the #August50 target, and sharing another #SongsYouveNeverHeard to make it worth reading and listening to.

There is a hell of a lot of great Antipodean music and my favourite band from down under are The Saints, but I also love Split Enz, Crowded House and Midnight Oil. I completely missed out on AC/DC in my teens / early twenties but they are a perfect example of how to last while staying exactly the same. Similar to the UK's Status Quo who really lost it when they tried to change their twelve bar sound, although my favourite two Qho songs are "Mystery Song" and "Accident Prone" which do deviate slightly from their normal formula.

The #SongsYouveNeverHeard that I am going to share with you is the excellent "S'cool Days" by Stanley Frank which was backed by the equally excellent "On A Line", one of those perfect singles like The Beatles "Paperback Writer" backed with "Rain". All I know about Stanley Frank is that he is Australian (I think ... and yes I know how silly that sounds) and that is about it.

Another for you to enjoy.

586

On the third floor of Commercial Union House on Northumberland Street among a lot of wall art is 586 Records. It's been there four years and I didn't even know it existed. A record shop in Newcasle that I knew nohing about.

586 is the Area code for Macomb County, Michigam and a song from the New Order album "Power, Corruption and Lies". I spoke with Tony the owner who was extremely friendly and pointed out the Dub and Reggae section when I said that was what I was looking for, nothing in particular but Dub does lend itself to vinyl I also looked through the Disco 12" singles but while there were a few that piqued my interest I was looking for Giorgio Moroder or Motorik based music and couldn't see anything obvious.

I then cam across "From The Makers Of" a three LP Status Quo best of in a Blue Metal Box. It turns out it's not particularly rare (yet, although it seems to have been reissued in a box so my metal tin may be a collectors item) but it is a very impressive pack with a decent selection of excellent early Quo songs tracing their progression from psychedelic pop through their excellent three chord rock and roll phase up to "Rockin' All Over The World". I still love "In My Chair", "Down The Dustpipe" and "Gerdundula" so well impressed with picking that up.

The shop is light and airy and you walk past a lot of wall art as you move up to it.

This is yet another record shop in Newcastle, so now I'm aware of these in the town centre:

• RPM
• Reflex
• Beatdown
• Long Play Cafe / Empire Records
• Beyond Vinyl
• Vinyl Guru
• 586

plus spectial mention to Oxfam at Jesmond ( I used to work there briefly and the manager Katie knows her stuff , Pop Recs in Sunderlan and there are record shops in Durham, Hexham and Gosforth,  and if you are pushed HMV is not bad for a high street shop.

Please comment with any I've missed.

So do we go for something by Status Quo or 586 by New Order? Quo win this time.

Remake #TenAlbumsInTenDays #2- #10 - Blue Oyster Cult - Extra Terrestrial Live

A friend of mine, Bill has nominated me for a third #TenAlbumsInTenDays and because I have an eclectic taste in music and a reasonable amout of friends I will be able to complete the third lot.  I had listed Hawkwind's XIn Search of Space which is a great trip album but the cover by Barney Bubbles was and still is a wonderful vinyl package. The Hawkwind Log is the most sought after part of this package and can jack the price up by close on a hundred pounds but you can download it and print your own here. If this infringes copyright and you are the copyright owner please contact me about it.

Today has been hot again but I went for a walk and decided to give Blue Oyster Cult's ETL (Extra Terrestrial Live) a spin. I'd always regarded this as an inferior addition to their live canon of the superlative "On Your Feet or On Your Knees" and "Some Enchanted Evening" and it came after "Fire Of  Unknown Origin" and essentially was a potted history to date and included a cover of The Doors' "Roadhoad Blues" (also covered by Status Quo).

While the album starts out similar to "On Your Feet or On Your Knees" with "Dominance and Submission" , the sound is excellent and viciously dirty. The first huge surprise is "Doctor Music" which in my opinion was the ruinous opener to "Mirrors" but here is an excellent live work out. THe album's take on Godzilla and ETI are so good that by the time the album closes with "Don't Fear The Reaper" it is just another brilliant song.

This is the first time I have listened to this in many years and I have been missing a brilliant if fairly short live album from a truly great heavy metal band. I will share ETI with you as it is one of my favourites with an absolute killer riff and brilliant metal lyrics.

I've just discovered that the Columbia BOC Boxed set which did cost me about fifty quid is now selling for over a grand on Amazon.

Enjoy

Easter and Seventies Rock

Well there goes the Easter break and it was rather good. Mine started early on Thursday with my youngest daughter's amazing wedding which was just a totally brilliant day , lots of smiling faces , happiness and me renewing long lost friendships.

Maiden Beer Mats

Over the weekend I picked up a copy of Classic Rock magazine because it had some Iron Maiden Beermats and a "Top 100 Rock Albums of The 70s". 

There is a hell of a lot I don't rate such as Aerosmith , I still don't get them , a sort of watered down ersatz Rolling Stones , "Walk This Way" was good and "Living On The Edge" but that's about it , sort of a bit better than Grand Funk Railroad who , thank God ,  we don't hear much.







Powerage by AC/DC was their number one seventies rock album , which I can't disagree with . AC/DC amaze me because every album is virtually the same , every song is virtually the same (have they ever done a ballad? ) but they manage to sound brilliant. I see parallels with Status Quo , who then tried to change their sound (Beach Boys collaboration what a car crash that was) , then recently they went back to basics and started to sound good again.

Anyway this is a short post and an excuse to include "Seventies Rock Must Die " by Lard