Billy Bolero

The intention was not to post as often as last year , and up to now I am outstripping last year, though last year i posted 50 times in April and doubt that will happen this year, this is post 63 so averages two posts every three days which should be adequate, no one is asking for more and there is plenty of more pertinent stuff for you to enjoy.

Today I went out for a walk, I am slightly worried I am going to miss my monthly target, but it was a beautiful day and it was quite amusing with so many people practising social isolation but waving and shout / chatting greetings. Then I was walking along Nunsmoor Road and there was a woman walking her dog on the other footpath and it wasn't on a lead, and when it saw me it ran into the road , cue much shouting. It's a dog!! Dogs get distracted. The only problem with some dogs is idiot owners.

Then there was another lady who was hailed from across the road by her friend , then her friend stepped into the road and nearly got hit by a cyclist. No malice intended , just a bit of not taking notice of what was happening.

Which brings me to the actual point of this post Maurice Ravel's "Bolero" , it always been a piece I've loved and is like two separate piece played at the same time , the almost menacing simple three note backing, then the beautiful wandering surface melody (does this sound like I know what I'm talking about or make me sound like a moron) . A bolero is

• A Spanish dance
• The music it is danced to
• A ladies' short jacket

Not to sure what inspired Ravel, but it has been picked up by several rock bands such as Frank Zappa , I thought Jethro Tull had , but the piece was "Bouree", Jeff Beck gave us the excellent "Beck's Bolero"  and ELP gave us "Abbadon's Bolero" on their album "Trilogy". The reason it came to mind was that as I was stripping the bed it came on Classic FM but I just started playing "Billy Bolero" by Alex Harvey and I just love that song , but it's not on Youtube yet , ao that's a video for me to put together, so you can make do with Frank Zappa's version, it ain't often you see Frank conducting.

Break

One of the benefits of listening to vinyl is that you listen to a whole side with no option for a remote break, and on a normal well planned album those sides seldom pass twenty minutes and definitely not twenty five minutes, so you are given a natural break. Todd Rundgren's "Initiation" clocked in about thirty five minutes a side which always needed to be played with a new diamond needle. That was not a good idea. Also somewhat strange that his classic "Todd" clocked in at just over sixty minutes and was a double album.

When Van Der Graaf Generator's "Godbluff" was released the NME reviewer said that we needed a continuous play medium (actually one side of a C90 cassette or an 8-Track tape would have provided that) but CD and MP3 satisfied that perfectly and some albums are best listened to in a non stop sequence.

But I bought four second hand albums at the weekend for a tenner from Vinyl Guru and on Sunday morning listened to side one of "Tomorrow Belongs To Me" by The Sensational Alex Harvey Band followed by side one of "This Is The Moody Blues" especially for the closing song "Legend of A Mind" one of my favourite songs of theirs.

Digital music has no limitations and vinyl has lots , but vinyl is more of a personal experience and you feel closer to and more in touch with the music. The may sound trite but the sounds produced from an analogue vinyl source are always a pure curve whereas digital is always a series of defined steps however small they may be.

So how do we soundtrack this, of course Youtube is a digital medium and this is a digital medium but we shall go for "Action Strasse" from the first album I played yesterday.

Goodnight and God Bless,

Tees With Stripes

I'm feeling like I'm about to drop and, it's funny how a post from your neighbour can remind you of something. Basically just a post about striped T-Shirts that reminded me of my favourite striped t-shirt wearer, Alex Harvey , Glaswegian Master Showman and rocker, who I saw maybe five times before he died (he was a lot younger than I am now, and the band still tour with a stand in for Alex and Zal Cleminson gets scarier as he ages disgracefully , as one should). So you get their excellent "Boston Tea Party".

I'm just back from Edinburgh and despite it being a joint capital, it is a remarkably pleasant place for just walking round, although it is veritably infested with suitcase pullers, at all times of day and night.

I wanted to visit some of the many record shops, and while I found at least five, And did nip into FOPP , the only one I got into was "Unknown Pleasures" on Canongate (which goes into the Royal Mile). It's chock full of vinyl and T-Shirts and I got myself a bit of vinyl. The guys who work there are great, really helpful and knowledgeable and here's my Instagram visit.

I don't know if I am suffering from the distances I walked in Edinburgh , or I am just decrepit and completely unfit for any kind of physical exertion, but we shall see.

OK Time for bed methinks.

Tomorrow Belongs To Me .... or Does It?

Go Alba!!

Well today Scotland get a say on whether they want to be part of the United Kingdom, and to be honest would you really want to be part of a Union which was being run for the benefit of people like David Cameron and his mates. While I would prefer Scotland to stay, I would also like them to go for independence and give Cameron and his cronies a bloody nose, so I'll be happy for Scotland whatever the result but I've not been happy with the posturings of the Westminster politicians over this.



What song , well a couple from my favourite son of Glasgow. Maybe after tonight we'll have to
rebuild the Wall , and thank God Newcastle is North of it!!