At the weekend was talking about my favourite New Order songs and my top two I thought were "Temptation" and "Love Vigilantes". Fiona pointed me towards the Guardian's Top 30 New Order songs and I checked out "Your Silent Face" from "Power Corruption and Lies" which is absolutely beautiful, so that has joined my other two favourites , it's apparently a homage to Kraftwerk's "Europe Endless" which I will now have to check out.
When I was listening I thought the synth strings were familiar and think they were lifted for "Sunchyme" by Dario G , which also samples "Memory of a Free Festival" the closer from "Space Oddity" by David Bowie.
I am tempted to track down a 12" vinyl copy of "Your Silent Face" but it was not initially a single so that may be a no go (like "Love Vigilantes").
So a very very short post but I will share both songs with you so you can check them out.
Just at the moment that is my preferred place. Outside is dark and cold and wet. The recent snow was actually pleasant to go out in and make you want to get up but the current weather just makes you want to curl up in bed and stay toasty warm.
Tonight snow is forecast and when i was out tonight an almost powdery rain was coming down. I was wearing a hat but didn't notice it til I got in and realised how wet my outer clothing was.
2021 is proving difficult for me to post on this blog , I don't know whether that's cos of lockdown or the fact I am not seeing people apart from family.
I am listening to a lot of music while working from home, today has been mainly reggae with some Queen and Sisters of Mercy thrown in. I pick things out of my Discogs pile and am glad I kept my CD player as it's a little more hands on than streaming or even playing stuff on my network.
Reading wise I am reading "Left Out" about the self destructive nature of the Labour Party under Jeremy Corbyn.by Gabriel Pogrund and Patrick MaGuire, the sad thing is they could have taken the country forward but were more bothered about fighting among themselves and left the country to the destructive incompetence of the current government.
So what piece of music to share. Yes are known for their over complicated progressive music , and lots of it is very good but one of my favourites is a relatively simple but still clocking in at ten minutes pice from "Close To The Edge" , "And You And I" , the lyrics are often ridiculous , but it gives me goosebump every time I hear it and was once released in full as one side of a single! Listen and see what you think.
It was dreich and depressing , then we had snow which was cold but pretty, and now the snow has gone and it's dreich and depressing the day before going back to work.
Still is always good to try and find something positive and I have been listening to some great music and seen a surprisingly good film "Cold Skin" which sort of reminded me of William Hope Hodgson's "The Night Land" which I have not read for some years , replacing the pyramid with a lighthouse in the Antarctic.
Also have been trying to think of music that is in the same universe as The Moody Blues , and on album that came to mind was "Trespass" by Genesis. While "The Knife" is definitely too aggressive for The Moody Blues but all the preceding songs could almost be a darker Moody Blues.
So I will share "Dusk" with you from "Trespass" , appropriate for this time of year, and still a great song.
We're in the first full week of 2021 , and I posted on New Year's Day, but haven't felt like writing since then. Part of this is the dreich weather we have been having which is not conducive to inspiration. It was Tuesday when I started this and really haven't felt like writing anything.
The thing is I am wrapped up but seriously just want to wear a T Shirt, it's a long time sing I seemed to have the choice.
Oddly I have managed to do a lot of walking although we've finally had snow and that has slowed my walking but increased the steps.
It's a first week back at work and now I am a home worker I think my main problem is not taking a break,
I didn't really want to continue this post and thought about deleting it but then thought I would just continue it.
I have been listening to a lot more music this week , but really need to start making it but am embarrassed to actually play anything too loud. At least with writing you don't make too much noise.
I have started the latest series of "Vikings" with one of the most impressive battles and death scenes I have see, that is sort of difficult to follow.
So what music do we leave you with at eleven o'clock on a frosty Friday night., "America:What Time Is Love" by KLF , seriously what else could I leave you with.
Wasn't sure if I was going to post on the first day of 2021 but the song "Fog on the Tyne" by Lindisfarne has been playing through my head and as I remembered the words I was thing what tripe they actually were from a logical position.
But that's not what it's about , they may have made sense to Alan Hull as he quaffed his next bottle of Newcastle Brown Ale but what he came up with was a genius tone poem , the words sound perfect together , and are great to sing, just don't think about what they are actually saying. I have often used the same argument about Abba and Rush , just listen to the music , fall into the song and enjoy it for what it is.
The song is very simple to play and great to sing along to, a fantastic live staple. Lindisfarne also did some complex and difficult to play songs (say the ghostly "Lady Eleanor") .
Today I wanted to have a walk out, the weather is still grey and boring but I managed to hit my step target trying to track down non existent Buck's Fizz (the drink not the Eurovision Song Contest winners).
So I will share the lyrics for you to peruse and of course you can listen to it above.
Enjoy
Fog on the Tyne
"Sittin' in a sleazy snack-bar suckin'
Sickly sausage rolls
Slippin' down slowly
Slippin' down sideways
Think I'll sign off the dole
'Cause the fog on the Tyne is all mine, all mine
The fog on the Tyne is all mine
The fog on the Tyne is all mine, all mine
The fog on the Tyne is all mine
Could a copper catch a crooked coffin maker
Could a copper comprehend
That a crooked coffin maker is just an undertaker who
It's the last day of 2020 and 2021 is already going to be worse for 99% of the UK but that's what they voted for. The USA is trying to dislodge it's incompetent leader while the UK and it's media eulogise their idiot.
Weatherwise it's just very cold, at one point hitting -4⁰C , one flurry of snow.
It is hard to keep positive although I saw my granddaughter this week and her parents and that was really nice.
Postal borders reopened so my backlog of Discogs sales are on their way.
I have been working from home , so listening to a lot of great music as usual.
You can always find positives in any situation and I am going to share one of my favourite ever songs which I was sort of shocked by when it came out. The melody and sound is just so off kilter but it is great and it surprised me because "Cold Blue Excursion" was by Ray Dorset , mutton chopped leader of Mungo Jerry. I found a decent Youtube video for you to enjoy , not to everyone's taste but I like it
So now it's time for work , and this is my final post this year , which has averaged about four posts a week. We shall see what happens in 2021
A recent "reply" from Ian Prowse on Twitter has made me think about this. I've always considered Pete Wylie's anthemic "Heart as Big as Liverpool" because the fact that it's anthemic . It is a truly great song regardless of it's connections to Liverpool in it's subject and composer. It should be in everyone's music collection and I think has become ingrained in my Liverpool associations (I worked there on and off for for years). I also love the video and wish there was some way of having a video rotation at the top of this post.
"Does This Train Stop On Merseyside" does take it up a notch. First of all it is a great song, and very simple to play, with a great chorus, but it is also a wonderful four minute history of Liverpool , with references to slavery , locations , the Maryland Pyramid , Hillsborough and much more. It triggers questions in your mind about the city in an excellent way , so much that Ian Prowse and his band Amsterdam actually did a documentary about it.
My favourite rendition is Ian's solo performance in Liverpool cathedral though it was originally released by his band Amsterdam (who , when I first saw them I went and bought their two available albums they were that good) . I am going to share those lyrics here , as well as the documentary and links to buy the music. I think overall Ian Prowse wins this one but you are talking a 9.9 versus a ten, both superb songs.
In my last post I was saying that my most played record this week had been "Remember" by Shambeko! Say Wah! and yesterday in my Youtube wandering I found and explanation for the many band names of Pete Wylie. Although this is nowhere near complete here are some that I have found by perusing the track listing of "The Handy Wah! Whole" and other sources:
Pete Wylie
Wah! Heat
Wah!
Shambeko! Say Wah!
J.F. Wah!
The Mighty Wah!
Pete Wylie and The Oedipus Wrecks
Pete Wylie and The Mongrel
.. and many more
This morning I woke up and "Remember" was playing in my head , it is that great a record. If you watch the live take above you will see Pete giving his explanation with examples including Pink Floyd , Fleetwood Mac , Ultravox! (who also have an exclamation mark appended to their name like Wah!) and The Labour Party.
Pete is responsible for the greatest song about Liverpool ever which is "Heart as Big As Liverpool" and that is closely followed by "Does This Train Stop On Merseyside" by Ian Prowse (it's worth checking the documentary on this) but I found a great front room live version with Damien Dempsey of this which you can watch below.
So this is my start to Boxing Day , hpe yours is good to
Today has been a very relaxing Christmas Day, and I went out for a couple of walks , and was disappointe dto see the local Spar open , but it is a shop that I would only use as a last resort during the year. I wouldn't use it today as there are few Asian owned stores that are open.
On my walking I wished people "Merry Christmas" and got smiles and "Merry Christmas" in return , which was pleasant and uplifting.
A Whatsapp call with my youngest daughter meant I could see my granddaughter Alexis Leia as well as my son in law and their dog Molly.
Christmas films have been "A Muppets Christmas Carol" and "The Man Who Invented Christmas" both closely knit with Dicken's "A Christmas Carol".
I also spent a lot of time watching videos of Pete Wylie and Ian Prowse on Youtube , composers of the two greatest songs about Liverpool ever , "Heart As Big As Liverpool" and "Does This Train Stop On Merseyside". Either follow the blog tags below or search them out on Youtube.
This week my most played song has been "Remember by Shambeko Wah! (Pete Wylie) and the most played album "This Time It's Personal" by Dr John Cooper Clarke and Hugh Cornwell, that has been this weeks biggest hit on my Instagram Channel here.
So I will go with a live take of "Spanish Harlem" by John Cooper Clarke and Hugh Cornwell , not exactly seasonal but a great frun record to end the day on.
Today is the shortest day of the year, that is there is more darkness than light, so after today the days start to get longer.
This always reminds me of the final book in F Paul Wilson's "Adversary" series, where the days just keep getting shorter.
I have been out for a short walk to post a Christmas card to a good griend and outside it is dark and very cold. As I walking I noticed th elights on the West Road which looked almost magical , I would have loved to capture that in a photograph but the were to far away and my Google Pixel camera , good as it is, couldn't capture it. I always think back to twenty years back when we had film cameras and if you took a picture you then had to wait til you finished the film, then send it off to be developed before you knew when the photograph was OK.
Here is a write up about the Winter Solstice which is far better than what I could tell you, although any excuse for a celebration is good for me.
This is also an excuse to share the excellent "Solstice" by the incredibly talented Matt Berry who I also recently found out was one of the voices in "Disenchantment", as well as being part of teh wonderful "What We Do In The Shadows".
Enjoy this year's Winter Solstice , knowing that tomorrow there will be more light.
This is post number 200 this year , not my most prolific year, but a sort of milestone post and it's about a definite milestone album.
In 1977 Culture released a remarkable reggae album "Two Sevens Clash" . The title obviously referred to the year in which in was released, and while it sort of is an album that anyone with any taste should have in their collection this post is about the odd anniversary reissues of the albumes.
The first one is , as you would expect , a single album opening with "Calling Rasta Far I" and continuing through the album to become as essential as any Bob Marley or Burning Spear albums , that's not dissing those artists but showing how special this one is.
The Thirtieth Anniversary version drops the opener for some reason , then adds dub versions of album tracks, resulting in a still brilliant album , but surely they could have kept the opener. I am listening to this version as I type this, and I am thinking of maybe asking for a vinyl copy as a Christmas present.
Most recently I purchased a download of the fortieth anniversary version, which is less than a fiver for an absolute classic and consists of two discs, the original album with "Calling Rasta Far I" restored as the opener and second disc of dub versions , reworkings and extra songs. You can listen yo snippets of the albums on the Amazon links below , and it is a wonderful album to listen to.
There is further information on the Wikipedia entry and something I didn't on the origin of the title:
"Singer Joseph Hill said "Two Sevens Clash," Culture's most influential record, was based on a prediction by Marcus Garvey, who said there would be chaos on July 7, 1977, when the "sevens" met. With its apocalyptic message, the song created a stir in his Caribbean homeland and many Jamaican businesses and schools shuttered their doors for the day."
So another reason why you should listen to it , and why it should be in your collection, I am gonna line up the 40th Anniversary version for my #MusicWhileYouWork on Instagram tomorrow.
The weather over the last week has been so depressing , grey and featureless, nothing to photograph and it's too cold and wet to go out. At night there is the odd good photograph to be had , but it is extremely demotivating. Add to this pressure at work (although that is become much easier as I manage to resolve the problems besetting me) , it's already dark and I have finished "The Frankenstein Chronicles" nut still on "The Other Log of Phileas Fogg" and "Imajica" , though TV wise I look at all the series that I could start and at the moment I am shying away from it , though I recently watch a German take of "The Colour Out Of Space" and the unexpectedly excellent remake of "Whiskey Galore".
I usually don't take to remakes although there have been good remakes of bad originals and bad remakes of great originals ("Psycho" and "The Haunting") come to mind.
So I'll just go with Elvis Costello's take on the Leon Payne / Eddie Noack song "Psycho" .
I know this is very short , but it's grey and dark and "Pointless" is coming on and I can't be bothered to do an evening walk.
I find it amazing how time flies by if you are doing something that needs to be done , or you are enjoying it, but drags like hell when you are waiting for something , doing absolutely nothing , or doing something that bores you.
I love doing things that interest me and detest boredom but when time is dragging or flying I always call to mind "The eighty Minute Hour" by Brian Aldiss, where the controllers slow down timepieces when you are at work and speed them up when you are not. If that were the situation , how would we know.
This morning I started out extra early , got things done then , had to do more thanks to a milk leak in my rucksack meaning that had to go in the wash , and suddenlty you don't feel any further forward that you thought you would be but you actually are.
It's a bit like my current paperback "The Other Log of Phileas Fogg" , it's only 166 pages but the font is so tiny it is going much slower than I expected. Having said that, though I know the overall concept and have seen a couple of films I have never read Jules Verne's "Around The World In Eighty Days" , although my girls as children used to love the cartoon character Willy Fogg, but this book is giving me a good grounding in the original book while setting my mind off on lots of "What is happening here" questions. I am enjoying it and , unusually , this is taking longer than expected , and "Imajica" on the Kindle Fire is going very slowly , but , in all honesty , that is a book I never want to end despite having read it several times.
The weather this week has been totally dreich and showing no signs of changing , but weather is weather. The thing I don't like about it is the featureless skies.
There are lots of songs that refer to time , but I'm going with Todd Rundgren's "Time Heals" from the album "Healing", the video was a staple of MTV in the early eighties.
My current TV series is "The Frankenstein Chronicles" , a hybrid of Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein" novel and "Ripper Street". I was a bit apprehensive about this but it has turned out to be a great watch , very high production values and barring what I have told you I don't want to give anything away. Even the abhorrent Laurence Fox turns in an excellent performance , and Ed Stoppard in this series is ideally avoided.
It's definitely nineteenth century with Sean Bean being Sean Bean with the transition of the Bow Street Runners to the Peelers. It is a Netflix series and well worth the temporal investment. I've just realised that Sean Bean's name visually rhymes but does not do so audibly.
My current paperback book is "The Other Log of Phileas Fogg" by Philip Jose Farmer, an alternate take on Jules Verne's "Around The World in Eighty Days" continually asking questions on why certain things happen in the original book that are unexplained and coming out for the real reasons for the events. There are elements of Sherlock Holmes in there and I think a lot of these books are available for free if you have a Kindle or equivalent. So my paperback reading is also nineteenth century.
On my Kindle I am still reading Clive Barker's "Imajica" so that is more vaguely twentieth century although it reaches back into history and across five universal dimensions.
So that's me being nineteenth century in the twenty first century so to soundtrack this we will share Todd Rundgren's take on Gilbert & Sullivan's "Lord Chancellor's Nightmare Song" from that appeared on his album "Todd"
Love unrequited, robs me of me rest,
Love, hopeless love, my ardent soul encumbers,
Love, nightmare like, lies heavy of me chest,
And weaves itself into my midnight slumbers.
When you're lying awake with a dismal headache and
Repose is taboo'd by anxiety,
I conceive you may use any language you choose to
Indulge in, without impropriety;
For your brain is on fire, the bed-clothes conspire of
Usual slumber to plunder you:
First your counter-pane goes, and uncovers your toes,
And your sheet slips demurely from under you;
Then the blanketing tickles, you feel like mixed
Pickles, so terribly sharp is the pricking,
And you're hot and you're cross, and you tumble and
Yeah m this is a sort of Dylan like Tarantula stream of consciousness thoughts about wearing contact lenses. Is it a poem. You decide that because it has little structure , doesn't rhyme or conform to anything apart for using words you will find in a dictionary, much like me, but I felt I had to write it down.
I reckon really it's a non-poem , it looks like a poem, but it isn't. I have actually used that term before. If you follow the Non-Poem link I've actually written about ten of these pieces and that surprised me, it's almost like I consider myself a writer.
Maybe "Blind Vision" by Blancmange will be a suitable accompaniment.
