There were a few options for number 22 notably "22" by Taylor Swift and "22" by the brilliant Lily Allen as well as 22 Dreams by Paul Weller , but I have stuck with "22 Proverbs" by John Greaves and Peter Blegvad , members of Slapp Happy and Henry Cow respectively , who produced so excellent challenging music in the seventies. I remember laughing at the cover of "Legend" and buying "Concerts" for the amazing line drawn cover.
I had read that Henry Cow had produced some of the most complex music committed to record but it certainly wasn't what I was expecting, although they were on Virgin Records this was not Mike Oldfield territory, you can see Henry Cow's influence in the music of The Fall. Slapp Happy were more influenced by 30's Berlin and the two bands collaborated on "Desperate Straights" and "In Praise of Learning". It was not a surprise that Greaves and Blegvad collaborated on "Kew Rhone" and drafted in Dagmar Krause on vocals for "22 Proverbs" and we have a live rendition here.
I don't think you will be up dancing for this and it may be a way of getting rid of unwanted guests, but I love this sort of stuff. It demands your attention, and let's face it, anyone who thinks music comes from iTunes or Spotify will last about five seconds.
One of the problems with the early numbers in this sequence is realizing the good stuff I've missed. For 20 I could have had "20th Century Boy" by T. Rex, but "20 Flight Rock" by Eddie Cochran is still a great so that's fine. I have the songs mapped out to 41 at the moment with a few scattered between there and 59, and the original premise for 21 was "21" by The Eagles from the album "Desperado".
Coming home however the perfect, for me, 21 song came to mind, six and a half minutes of monstrous jazz rock that the Rolling Stones had to follow in Hyde Park in 1969, not other than "21st Century Schizoid Man" by King Crimson featuring the psychotic and psychedelic lyrics of Pete Sinfield, Greg Lake on vocals and Bob Fripp on guitar. This is still an incredible piece and it always amazes me. I bought the album "Court Of The Crimson King" on DVD to listen in full surround sound , and though it's close on fifty years old it sounds stunning. I managed to find the Hyde Park broadcast but the album should be in your collection.
Time for bed now, though this is not music to fall asleep to.
This record was released in year I was born from the classic film "The Girl Can't Help It", I think this excerpt actually cuts something out of the middle as this clocks in at 1' 26" and the recording I have are 1' 45" . "Twenty Flight Rock" is an Eddie Cochran classic with a comedic element based on a broken lift. Incidentally the first song in my sequence last year (Odyssey58) was the title track from the film by Little Richard which you can see here.
I remember working for Yorkshire Water Board in the 1980's and in one of my times there I was on the eleventh floor, only one lift worked and the clocking machine was on the top floor. I still waited for the lift, though one day there was a fire alarm and we had to walk back up, I had to take a rest around the seventh floor. The thing is they called out the fire brigade but due to the location of the building the fire engines could get near but couldn't actually deploy their ladders!.
Another thing was that if you looked at other buildings when the weather was windy you could see the building moving , a very weird feeling.
Another event was that the building was next to a big car park which was the ruined site of some demolished buildings, this was around 1985 and this has all been redeveloped, Every fortnight after signing on there were a couple who shall we say engaged in congress in a secluded corner of the car park , overlooked by Yorkshire Water Board's twelve story building. The thing is a lot of people on my floor rushed over to the window every time until a manager must have complained. On the last time I was called over to watch five pairs of police men and women converging on the unsuspecting couple. This was a police force who "didn't have the manpower" to investigate my car being broken into. That was the end of their liaisons.
Anyway back to the music, I am sure there are lots of "20" songs , but I can only choose one. When I hit "25" there are two that I want to use, but I can only have one, c'est la vie.
Anyway I think I am in a fit state to resume work, so will be going in tomorrow and the recuperating further over the weekend. Have a wonderful evening my friends.
Between now an 30 I have all my posts sorted. Number 31 is looking awkward as yet I can't find a song with the number 31 on the title or song but I will do , I have eleven posts to do this.
One of the things with these posts is that I want them to be songs worth listening to, and up to now I have a achieved that, but am aware I may get situations like with 31 where the only song is by Joe Dolce or Black Lace , in that case what would I do , but I will try and ensure that doesn't happen. I'm was thinking about putting this into an ebook but then again the blog is a sort of ebook anyway, and i am wondering how I would incorporate video into an ebook, I'm sure it must be possible.
Anyway we hit Number 19 , and for this I'm going for The Rolling Stones"19th Nervous Breakdown", a classic single that again should be in everyone's collection. It's archetypal Stones , instantly recognisable and while it's close on 50 years old it has more than stood the test of time and still sound contemporary and current.
My own situation is that I think I am improving, but last night I felt much better, but then went back, but I am hoping to return to work tomorrow.
Today I took my first sick day in my present job. The lurgi I'm fighting hit me with a vengeance last night with coughing , headaches, runny nose , aching bones although I have been worse. I slept for 8 or 9 hours then I had a bath, took some lemsip, ate , felt as though I was improving, now I am running a temperature and going through lots of tissues. While I do know I will feel better soon, I don't feel good now, so to business then bed.
Number 18 has to be Alice Cooper's"I'm Eighteen" possibly their most important song, the USA equivalent of The Who's"My Generation". When I say it's their most important that doesn't mean their best, but this song has amazing power, and addresses the transition from youth to so called majority. All of a sudden the rebellious youth has become what they are rebelling against. You should have all the early Alice Cooper albums in your collection anyway (here is a good way of doing that).
There may have been other "18" songs such as Pete Wingfields excellent "Eighteen With A Bullet" but Alice Cooper is so far ahead of the pack for this one it was no contest.
Anyway I am hot headachey and I am going to try and get better.
I didn't want to use Janis Ian's "At 17" , it's a fine song bit thought I would peruse my collection and
discovered an old Jethro Tull "B" Side "17" now available on the"Stand Up" CD and it is a very fine song. I just love it. This is one of the things about having a large records collection (it doesn't matter what media they are on, they are records).
I have a vinyl copy of "Stand Up" and that doesn't have it on, so you need to get it digitally or need to get a 7" copy of "Sweet Dream"
Anyway the 'flu' is being kept at bay by either my smoothies, paracetamol or both , but they (Boots) won't let me have a 'flu' jab till I'm over it. Well they recommended I didn't have a 'flu' jab as is could make me much worse , so hopefully I will get sorted later in the week.
Right, time for work , have a brilliant Tuesday everybody.
Although I'm not feeling anywhere near 100% (they wouldn't give me a 'flu' jab) before bed I am gonna hit you with Number Sixteen. There are a hell of a lot of "Sixteen" songs from "!6 Candles" by The Crests and "16 Tons" by Tennessee Ernie Ford, (who I have featured before) to Sam Cooke, Ringo Starr and The Buzzcocks as well as Tom Waits (who is penciled in for number 30. There's also Chuck Berry and Iggy Pop and Michael Moorcock's Deep Fix.
So what do I go for , well what about "Sixteen Saltines" by Jack White. I know it's a bit off the wall but what the hell, it's a great song and worthy of a place in my 59.
Anyway , I am not feeling brilliant but I hope you enjoy this as much as I do.
This morning I was expecting to feel not very good, but if I went to bed at 40% Feelgood Factor, this morning it's 70-80% . Although I am generally positive I wasn't expecting to feel that great. There's two things that I did yesterday, in the evening I had chocolate and paracetamol , but earlier for the first time in a few weeks I made my self a bespoke smoothie. Both of these may have actually helped make me feel better although I can't say for definite it was one or the other or both or something completely different. I still have a bit of a runny nose but I do feel much better than I did yesterday, and ready for my 'flu' jab later on.
Anyway song number 15 is "Fifteen Years" by The Levellers which means I'm a quarter through #ALifeInNumbers . I love the Levellers though apparently my spell checker tells me it should be Levelers (One "L" not two "L"s in the middle). 15 Years is a great song and again there were other options such as Eater's "Fifteen" or Snow Patrol's "Fifteen Minutes Old" , but really it's no contest.
Also there are another 44 slots to go although I am not sure I am committed to including Snow Patrol or Eater, but I am glad that the first part has been relatively easy.
Anyway I've made and drunk a smoothie this morning (orange, apple, pineapple, ginger, banana, blueberry and carrot) will keep on with the drugs at work today and let you know how it's gone tonight.
I normally like to be positive and say good things, but at the moment I am suffering from 'flu' like symptoms, dripping nose , headache, sore throat , and tomorrow I go for my 'flu' jab. My only worry is that this might kick off ITP which has not hit me since the millennium. I'm also running a temperature. I feel like I have been kicked all over my body and all I have done today (apart from a lot of blog posts) is walk to Aldi and back (about 3 miles round trip) to get fruit and porridge for work.
So I am taking paracetamol and chocolate and I will beat this. Tomorrow is a 6 am start and I will be in work. I don't let these things beat me. Admittedly last time I had 'flu' I lost some weight and managed to work from home. The fact is barring time off for hospital operations I've forgotten how to call in sick, that's real, I don't think I have had a sick day since I left SSS in 2002 and then it was 'flu' followed by ITP followed by full blown diabetes which wasn't diagnosed for about a year resulting in me having a lot of time off.
Anyway it's reasonably under control now and I suppose I just don't like feeling physically run down. I am sure I will be fine in a few days
So what song should we have, at first I was going to choose something appropriate but I've decided to go with John Cale's "Bamboo Floor" which I love it and it makes me feel good. And when you don't feel good you need to do something to make you feel good and I am going to listen to that and then go to bed.
14 is the first time I couldn't off hand think of a song so checked out my collection and there aren't all that many songs hiding in there. I decided to go with "Sixteen,Fifteen,Fourteen" by PJ Harvey and John Parrish from the album "A Woman A Man Walked By" which incidentally I was playing earlier today.
There were a few others , "The 14th of February" by Billy Bragg, "14 Black Paintings" by Peter Gabriel and 14 Days by Nick Lowe as well as various numbered Classical pieces, but the PJ Harvey one was the standout for me.
Polly Jean Harvey is one of my all time favourite artists and she was a great friend of Captain Beefheart who she would speak to about her albums and projects to get his opinions and advice.
My cold is still annoying me but hopefully it will improve in time for work tomorrow. I have had chocolate and that has soothed my throat no end.
Anyway that is my fourth post today, I don't know if that's a record for me, but this will be my last today.
Enjoy your Sunday evening and I hope you have a great start to a wonderful week.
I know I'm rattling of a few of these at the moment, 13 had a few more possibilities than 12 including "13" by Big Star and Johnny Cash , "Broken Heart (Thirteen Valleys)" by Big Country but I have gone for "V13" by Big Audio Dynamite (Mick Jones' post Clash combo) from the album "10 Upping Street" (not the greatest title Mick), but an album full of great songs including the excellent "V13". I love the use of soundbites in the Big Audio Dynamite songs, some of my other favourites being "Medicine Show" and "Bottom Line" from the first album, "This Is", and "Dial A Hitman" from "10 Upping Street" which is very funny but I don't know if they took that from a film or just recorded it themselves. It also contains the great couplet:
"We're The Band That Couldn't Shoot Straight
But We Aim To Please"
The other thing about "V13" is that wen it hits the coda it let's in the "Eastenders" Theme which is a fun touch.
I'm currently going down with a cold, nose dripping and throat feels like I've swallowed a pack of rusty razor blades making it difficult to talk or swallow, so Doctor Mikey's treatment id chocolate, ice cream and paracetamol, and we shall see how that goes.
For this one I was thinking of a cut from Spirit's classic "The Twelve Dreams Of Dr Sardonicus" , the title always intrigued me but but Spirit were never an "in" band in my teens for some reason. Eventually when I realised that I could listen to whatever I wanted I bought it and realised that I had been missing some amazing stuff , and in fact my all time favourite album "Future Games" is by them.
But I recalled a Bo Diddley instrumental called "Clock Strikes Twelve" for it's great reverb drum sound , "I'm A Man" riff vibe and distinctly original guitar sound. Well no wonder that guitar sound is original because that guitar is, in fact, a violin. Did you know Bo Diddley played violin? Until reading up on the song I didn't , hardly an instrument you associate with blues or rock except as part of an orchestral backing.
I've always loved Bo Diddley's songs and playing and was amazed to find a band who you an see playing small venues , the wonderful Lord Rochester who play a lot of Bo Diddley songs , effect the rectangular guitar and are one of the best live bands you will see. They describe themselves as Scotland’s Top Rock n’ Roll combo? I wouldn't disagree. I've included a video I took of them at The Schooner a couple of years back playing "Layla".
I am enjoying writing this series because it does enable me to talk about my favourite music, although I know the coming weeks will be a lot harder, I do have a few mapped out ready to slot it , often classic by major artists, although I didn't think I could fit Thousand Yard Stare in then I saw the number 45 in one of their song titles so they will be on the list though that's 33 songs and posts away.
Anyway enjoy the rest of this summery sunny Sunday my friends, and enjoy "Clock Strikes 12", it's another song I love.
There was only ever going to be one Number Eleven and that is Eleven Moustachioed Daughters by The Bonzo Dog Band , a song I'm sure that everyone knows, or everyone that reads this will now know. I've chosen this excellent live rendition by Viv Stanshall's post Bonzo's band BiG Grunt (that's not a typo although it may have been originally.
The Bonzo's started out as a bit trad jazz ut all the members had ideas about the direction they wanted to go, very involved in the TV Comedy "Do Not Adjust Your Set" with many of the pre Python Monty Python team,
While I had heard them on "Do Not Adjust Your Set" and they had a hit single with "Urban Spaceman" I was amazed by the breadth and depth of their music when I put on "The Doughnut In Granny's Greenhouse" and the first track "We Are Normal" blew me away , normal this band definitely was not.
By the time you hit the last track on side two "11 Moustachioed Daughters" you realise that you havecovered a hell of a lot of ground with these guys, after the rock, pop , jazz, comedy and everything else the hit you with this rhythmic pagan chant which is both frightening and funny and you do want to hear it again and again.
I once heard that The Bonzo's were the UK's Mothers of Invention (originally Zappa wanted them to be called The Mothers but the record company forced the to add "Of Invention" for decency, don't you love marketing sensibilities) , and Frank Zappa and Captain Beefheart were hug fans of The Bonzos.
Today has seemed incredibly quiet, like the sound of traffic and everyday life has been muffled. And no I am not going deaf, it's just the heavy grey skies and falling leaves are the definite harbingers of autumn, and precursors to winter.
Anyway there were again a few contenders for Number Ten , such as Bruce Springsteen's "Tenth Avenue Freeze Out" and Kingmaker's"Ten Years Asleep" , and I got to thinking about songs I had missed that have now gone past such as Tom Robinson's "2-4-6-8 Motorway" and Van Der Graaf Generator. Mentioning Springsteen reminded me he's a shoe in for number 57 and I would like to include some Thousand Yard Stare if I can, but can only think of "0-0 AET" as one of their number songs.
Anyway I have chosen the awesome Royal Blood's "Ten Tonne Skeleton", one of those amazing series of two piece bands along with Black Keys, White Stripes and Gallery Circus, and I am sure there are many more, but not in my head at the moment.
Anyway it's time for bed unless you are staying up to watch the Grand Prix or you are in another part of the world, but I will say my goodnight my wonderful friends.
Again there were a lot of possibilities for this one, but before I go on about the music , I noticed that the nights and mornings are getting rather dark rather quickly, leaves are falling and it's getting colder. I went out for fish and chips tonight and had to wear a warm jacket, either I'm getting old or the weather is getting cold, or both. On the bright side it's Friday night and it's the weekend so plenty of opportunity for rest and relaxation but this is really about another form of R&R as you well know.
Anyway, as I was saying, there were a lot of thoughts going through my head for this one, for instance anything by Nine Black Alps or Nine Inch Nails, then there is Riot In Cell Block #9 by The Coasters or Dr Feelgood , Nine Feet Underground by Caravan as well as quite a few other songs. But when you have the chance to include The Jimi Hendrix Experience you have to take the plunge don't you especially with a song like "If 6 was 9" from Axis:Bold As Love as featured in the film "Easy Rider" starring Peter Fonda, Jack Nicholson and Dennis Hopper , with a cracking soundtrack which oddly replaced The Band's version of The Weight with a cover version by Smith.
Anyway enjoy this wonderful song and see if you can guess my choice for number ten. Sleep well my wonderful friends.
I always liked Genesis by Grimes, which led me to the song "Eight" which is perfect for this part of the sequence. An obvious one would have been The Beatles "Eight Days A Week" or David Bowie's "Eight Line Poem" (though Bowie has already appeared at number five) but I fancied the Baghdaddies "6/8 Song" but couldn't find a Youtube video of it, although it is somewhere in this concert here.
The Baghdaddies can often be seen busking or playing major festivals, I really haven't seen a band like them, sort of Klezmer but infectiously excellent.
Anyway "Eight" is a wispy ethereality set on to of a threatening mechanical backing, the original is quite short but I fount this extended version that lasts all of three minutes. Grimes are definitely worth investigating and I'm glad to bring them into this.
Anyway this is a short post as I am quite tired after an intense day at work, then coming home and watching the finale of Wolf Creek and the "V For Vendetta" , that government is virtually here and I am finding it very worrying just dividing up the country between their corporate cronies.
Anyway less of that and more positivity, I love my friends and am looking forward to a relaxing weekend, and hope you are two. Sleep well my wonderful friends.
I am now getting away for the source so to speak and like every journey, each new step presents new challenges, also in this case at some point the next step may actually be impossible. I suppose in that case I could write something , or plunder Mozart who wrote at least 40 symphonies (we started with a classical piece).
Also thanks to my friends for suggestions although Manfred Mann's5-4-3-2-1 is not going to happen unless I use it for 54 or 43. The song I thought I was going to use for 54 will actually be used for 41 , I wonder if anyone will work that one out. I am listening to that song now.
Anyway it;s time for bed now, enjoy yourselves my brilliant friends.
I'm still trusting to my head and memory to supply me with songs for this chain, and while the numbers so far have given me a choice but the number 6 has only really thrown up one song, The Sweet's Six Teens. There are lot's of songs that mention the number Six Six Six such as Iron Maiden's Number of the Beast or Suppers Ready by Genesis, and Aphrodite's Child had an album called 666. No doubt lots of bands will have an album called six and as a kid all my friends smoked Number Six cigarettes. I bought a packet of Number Tens tried one, got half way through and gave my mate the packet, so I was lucky enough to never get into smoking, which unbelievably when I moved up to Newcastle led to some serious criticism from acquaintances.
The Six Teens is a perfect example of Glam Metal Pop with a killer chorus as great metal guitar. It's quite amazing still , the number of people who don't rate the Sweet when they produced amazing songs like this, Ballroom Blitz , Blockbuster and their finest single Action. Sweet FA is six minutes that if you play the instrumental parts to people, they'll say it's Deep Purple, and then will either listen more or go off in a huff.
Anyway give this a listen and if you don't know The Sweet get a "Best Of" and give them a real listen, especially if you are a die hard Heavy Metal fan.
It was bound to happen, sooner rather than later, that David Bowie would make an appearance. Number Five is "Five Years" by David Bowie, a song about the coming apocalypse , the end of the world, which is coincidentally part of the theme of my last post in this series, I hope I can make things at least a little more cheerful with the next post.
One thing I hadn't notice until posting this, is that "Five Years" was on the "The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust and The Spiders From Mars" (how long is that title?) which was issued in 1972. That was five years before punk and Thatcherism hit the country both of which signified the end for a lot of people, and we are still paying the price of the latter and enjoying the benefits of the former.
Five Years is one of those songs that you think you don't know until the understated drum beat sinks you into the news of the impending end of the world. It still does it for me.
That's my number five, and now it's time for work. Have a wonderful day everybody.
I thought I would do this before bed, but I had this in mind for number four. The slideshow is one I put together featuring the work of the North East's greatest artist John Martin. His works are often huge featuring apocalyptic images and I thought a perfect soundtrack would be the relentless "Four Horsemen" from the album "666" by Aphrodite's Child a Greek band which featured Vangelis and Demis Roussos.
The song has a relatively peaceful , but threatening intro before launching into five minutes of relentless attack. Some of their music was almost embarrassingly trite (check out "Break") , but "Four Horseman" cuts the mustard all the way. It's one of those songs that you would buy an album for. The rest of the album has some good bits , some awful bits but really should be in your collection.
I know this is a sort of early installment but I do have another 55 songs to actually choose and write about, and I know it's going to get harder with every step forward. At the moment I am just let my brain and memory throw out the suggestions and I will let you know when I have to start looking.
I will of course be looking and noting potential future songs as I go along, so hopefully I wont hit a proverbial brick wall, but you never know. Then I will probably find a way to bulldoze straight through it.
Anyway that is number four and now it's time for bed for me.
I thought I had this nailed. I was going to go for "3 Is A Magic Number" by Bob Dorough, then thought maybe that's a bit obvious so thought I'd pitch for "Three Cool Cats" by The Coasters, a totally great song , but then thought what about "Harry Lime Theme" the theme from The Third Man by Anton Karas which is something you have heard and know totally but maybe wouldn't have expected me to come out with it.
It's unusual that it's played on the zither, and instrument I don't think I've ever seen let alone tried to play. This is one song I've not used before although Orson Welles who starred in The Third Man directed by Carol Reed has appeared before.So that's todays choice.
This morning I drove back from Whitby, dropped off the car before dropping into work. I also got some more lovely birthday presents and tonight intend to relax and have an easy night.
I don't think every number is going to present me with these choices, what will I do for 37 or 43 for instance. I will find a way , sometimes it's just a was of looking at things and applying a little lateral thinking.
Anyway that's enough words for me, if i average 250 words a post (which I often do) then that's going to be close on fifteen thousand words on this trail of songs. I don't know if that's overkill , but of course it will be interspersed with the joys and mundanities of everyday life and well as observations on other things that catch my interest and may interest you too.
Anyway enjoy your Monday evening, I am going to try and relax
Right off I've taken a bit of a liberty with this one but the number TWO is important in the song. I am lyning in bed drinking Buck's Fizz courtesy of the lovey people at La Rosa as I write this. This is unusual because I don't normally drink alcohol but it's still my birthday weekend and and I'm in La Rosa.
Syd Barrett's lyric was picked up by the Oxford Book of Fine verse as a particularly fine example of alliteration or some grammatical construct. Amazingly I'd already written about this three years back and it came up in a Google Search here , which shows the benefits of blogging , that I am now referencing my own research on things. I will also use the same video of course as this is number two in a series of fifty nine songs which I will select by hook or by crook.
Anyway that is that, also I have come up with a way of predicting horse racing results using freely available tools and here are four horse for today so you can see if it's working or not.
Yesterday I predicted five out of seven and the other two placed. So if you fancy a flutter here they are:
Last year on my birthday I did a series of posts selecting a record from every year from my birth up to the present day under the tag of Odyssey58, this year I going to choose one record containing the numbers starting at 1 to 59. I don't know if that is possible . I have chosen number one, Puccini'sOne Fine Day from Madame Butterfly, and already know 54,55,56 and 59 but it is going to be a challenge, which is something that I like. I expect it to get difficult after about 23, so your suggestions may help.
Yesterday I was totally shattered and was in bed before 7:30 before waking up and looking across at Whitby Abbey from Lewis (after Lewis Carrol) in La Rosa.
Yesterday I was going to write about how quickly September had gone but was far too tired and couldn't be bothered to set up the lap top, anyway today will be spent wandering round Whitby and being happy, I hope your day is going to be similar,
This is a slight deviation from the formula but also the first time that an album taught me a lot about market manipulation and controlling the minds of the masses who buy products. The album was, I think legally challenged by Pepsi and possibly Coca Cola and there is a Wikipedia entry here which mentions the legal shenanigans.
It contains lots of samples including many famous people , digs at artists selling themselves to corporations and includes some clever and witty songs , woven together into a coherent blast at market manipulation.
It's one the albums that I still listen to end to end, and suggest that you do the same. It came back into mind after watching a TED talk that said that 90% of the media production was now owned by six companies who an make us think about whatever they want.
That is very frightening and Dispepsi predicted what they are doing now over 25 years ago. The album is very difficult to lay your hands on though Amazon have a few very expensive copies here.
Listen to the Youtube link here, if you want a copy, contact me, I will direct you. Below is the TED talk by Christopher Bell that reminded me of this amazing , educational and subversive record, with its demonstration that Disney are anti anti-powerful female heroes. Listen then watch my friends.
A thought just came to me, well it's come to me many times , and to others. I'm one of the people who uses public transport rather than having my own car. However when you are on public transport everyone is just scanning their phones, even when they are with friends. Sometimes this is a good thing, it ,means you can get information about what's happening in the world, you can even phone a friend, but you will often see friends together ignoring each other because of their phones.
The mobile phone is effectively a personal computer and connects us to each other and to news streams, but sometimes they do stop us from engaging with our friends and definitely from engaging with strangers. You wouldn't interrupt someone you didn't know if they were engaged with their device.
I've used the excellent "Come Talk To Me" by Peter Gabriel from "Secret World" before, but we should all engage and talk to each other much more, it makes life so much more fulfilling and enjoyable.
I do like meeting new people, even if it's just for the duration of a bus or train journey, sometimes you make great connections that lasts beyond the initial meeting , sometimes it just makes the journey fly by , usually both. This TED talk here demonstrates the joys to be found from taking that step:
Thursday or Friday was the Autumn Equinox, this means the nights will be longer than the days. Yesterday looked as though it was going to rain, but didn't but it was very grey. Last night there was a huge downpour although it's fine now. The good thing about rain at night is that your don't have to water your garden (which I mowed yesterday).
The less good thing is that grey skies tend to make grey moods in me, sunshine does lift my spirits. I have LED lights in my house which apparently cat more natural light, but I prefer normal daylight.
The thing is that I am lucky in that I live in a wonderful place, with lots of wonderful friends , with lots of opportunity to do things should I so choose. Yesterday I spent most of the day in the house, reading , watching catch up TV, listening to music, playing guitar and messing about with Garageband and taking delivery of a vinyl version of Status Quo's Piledriver which I had purchased for it's Vertigo Swirl label (see here) I love the 3D optical illusion you get watching it , which is why I bought it. I wrote a blog post about it here
Today's music will be Garageland by The Clash for the simple reason that mentioning Garageband reminded me of it.
Anyway I think today is a good day for doing something to lift your spirits and make yourself feel happy. It may be having a bar of chocolate , a glass of wine or enjoying time with people you like and giving big hugs. Stay positive
Well I must. Even if it's just ten words. It keeps my blog going and it keeps me going. I would love to be able to write for a living, like my friend Paul Campbell although then I probably wouldn't want to write with limitations (ie someone commissioning me to do something), though I love the way Paul manages to stamp himself on his TV scripts making them watchable and fun, I still love is "Waiting For Godot", Zombies , Film Noir and Mobile phone stamps on a daytime soap , absolute genius. Actually there's a full length version of Godot on Youtube here.
Anyway this week has been totally mad for some reason. I am shattered, so thankfully the weekend has arrived. That means I may have a chance for a lie in and some rest.
I suppose on of the things about living in Newcastle there is always something going on , and the temptation to join in is sometimes too much, however.....
Tonight Preston play Wigan and I am going to have Fish and Chips for tea. I am not going to wear myself out or anything , just hopefully enjoy my evening as a relaxing precursor to the weekend.
Then the master stroke is the orchestral drone that creeps in and underpins the record, similar to the dragging bass on Siouxsie And The Banshees Peek-A-Boo (see here) , this morphs into a grating orchestral theme worthy of any monster movie such as Godzilla or King Kong.
This song impressed me the first time I heard it nearly seven years back and it has lost none of it's potency, which is very impressive coming from someone who may be seen by some as mainstream pop.
If you haven't heard it listen to it , listen to it loud and prepare to be steamrollered.
I am tired, well my body is, but my mind won't let me sleep. I'm up to page 360 in "Who Am I" and one of my favourite who songs is "Circles" which appeared on The Who's "Ready Steady Who" EP (On the blue Reaction label if I remember rightly), I once had that I bought for about 30p from Palace Records in Preston and sold for £20 at Probe Records in Liverpool. I didn't plan to do that, but that's the way it happened. Though if you click through on Circles you will see that The Deluxe My Generation CD which cost me about a fiver , is going for over a hundred pounds. I won't be selling mine though.
The Palace was a record shop cum coffee house near the old Public Hall and I used to spend a lot ofsixth form time in there when I should have been studying, but listening to music, chatting with friends and drinking coffee was much more preferable that study. Then picking up decent second hand stuff like the original Glastonbury Soundtrack , triple album in it's pyramid sleeve, with the odd dud , like a band called Lucifer the album sleeve was black and the music was a fuzzy bass playing six notes that even I could play.
We used to frequent that place in preference to pubs, and to be quite honest, I'm probably the same now, preferring Bohemian places like Bar Loco to you chains and pubs.
Anyway maybe I will go to bed now, so enjoy your night, and have a nice lie in.
Yesterday and today I have played a lot of vinyl on my GPO turntable, you can see a few posts on my Instagram Channel here . Music playing has sort of evolved , my own take on it is here , but while I sometimes use Youtube and did use Grooveshark , I am not a fan of streaming services. Radio stations are good because there is human intervention. Digital storage is convenient when you are on the move , but it can become background music.
Vinyl requires your attention, I have just listened to Wah Heat!'s "Seven Minutes To Midnight" and Holly Johnson's "Americanos" and now I have "The Moog Strikes Bach" by HansWurman playing . All of these records required more than the touch of a button to play , and it's a joy to see the vinyl spinning. You don't get that with CD or digital (although I am playing it through a digital soundbar and I do rip vinyl through the GPO deck to digital, but that is just for stuff that is not available digitally. It does amaze me the number of glaring omissions still not available digitally.
But this is the limit I mentioned in the title, after three minutes I may have to change the record, put it back in it's sleeve , get another one out and put it on the turntable. This is while I am typing this out. You have to give the vinyl your attention.
So I have to get on today, and as Prince Buster left us I am leaving you with his rendition of Judge Dread on vinyl on Blue Beat.
Time to go and do my stuff now, but playing vinyl is therapeutic and enjoyable.
I was well impressed by Johnny Cash'sAmerican series, and "I Hung My Head" always struck me as a perfect archetypal Johnny Cash song, that would fit in with "Don't Take Your Guns To Town" or "The Wall", then my friend Paul said
That was a huge surprise to me, though when Sting writes good songs they are good. So I thought I'd include the Sting version, then I found a Springsteen version as well, so in this post you you are getting three versions of a great song, two American Icons and one Geordie.
And when you hear Springsteen sing it, you could be excused thinking it's a Springsteen original.
Then last night we had thunderstorms and rain, and I really didn't want to leave my bed. Anyway it's time for work now and I will leave you with the Sting version, all these are excellent, but I like the Johnny Cash one best , but they are all good.
I may have written about this before, but I've forgotten about it, but it is an excuse to play Robert Wyatt's beautiful "Memories" again.
My memory , ability to remember things , has never been that good. I can't remember quotes, I couldn't remember case names when I did Law (although I could the remember Case outcomes and the reasons for it), so often people will ask me how to do this and I won't know how to do it, but I will know how to find out how to do it generally, not always but generally.
The other thing is that I can usually do maths, so I can work things out and instantly understand formulas and am OK with algebra but get lost with calculus, and I am ok with the geometry. If I can't remember things how come I can sometimes so things without thinking.
I can ride a bike, drive a car, cook , make meals up and I'm ok with electrics. My home network works though at times that is a bit mystical to me, more "Oooh that did work" that knowing something will work.
These days we have computers , the internet and hand held computers that double as phones. There are very few phone numbers I remember these days. You have an app to solve anything you want, hand held dictionaries and scientific calculators as well as satellite navigation (which I have not yet succumbed to, I would rather trust my own knowledge and intuition).
Anyway that's just something that came into my head today, I can remember somethings but I do use technology quite a bit to supplement that.
Have a wonderful evening , enjoy this baking weather and have a great time.
I've been getting into work later , essentially with buses disappearing between 8 and 8:30 or just being very slow. I'm sure that that I used to know off blog posts in ten minutes, after all they are just diary entries aren't they?
Recently some of my posts have taken up to an hour to complete, yes they may need links and pictures, and sometimes it's difficult to find just exactly what you want but I really wanted to find out if I could write this and leave the house by 7:30 , I started it at 7:19 , it's now 7:27 , so I am not going to do it , maybe another five minutes,
The music I've chosen is "Where Were You?" by The Mekons which was originally on Fast Records (see what I did there?) and I've bookended it with the live and studio versions.
Oh and it's the 13th , and the number 13 can be lucky , it's just the way you look at things , I'm thinking Bakers Dozen.
Anyway you still have two hundred words of mine to pick over , and yes it's taken me about quarter of an hour to write this, enjoy the music and have a brilliant day.
I started the blog And Annoyingly to vent my spleen and The Red Tops and their readers and supporters and the idiotic right wing and racists, but to be quite honest I find such things a waste of energy hence the fact I have only put up three posts (so far). While I am exasperated by the electorate and public, unless I do something to change it, it is pointless wasting energy getting bothered about it.
So I won't, it is a Sunday and the weather is wonderful, lots of my friends are running in the great North Run and lots of people will achieve a dream today. It's things like that that spark me, make me feel positive, knowing that people are doing something THEY want to do , often for the benefit of others. It's like Jessica Salmon's "Storytelling Of The Ancients" exhibition (which you can watch here) , Jessica put time , effort and ideas into a presentation that was free for the public, and she provided wine and cake. Absolutely wonderful.
Some people spend their life whining about whatever slightly irks them , instead of doing something positive, but then some people are only happy when they or others are miserable. Bad things do happen but you need to try and find something good to hold onto , however difficult that might be.
Ken Loach is making all his films free to view on Youtube , he doesn't need to , but he is allowing people to see his work effectively for nothing. What he will get out of it is a lot of exposure, and deservedly so.
I thought I'd choose The Rolling Stones I'm Free , because most of the time we do have a choice, and if you get the chance take it, don't pass it up.
Anyway go out and be positive and have a great Sunday everybody.
I've just got to page 256 in Pete Townshend's autobiography "Who I Am" and again with my recent semi obsession with numbers he's just on about the story and completion on Quadrophenia , the lead single from that being 5:15 . 256 stick out because it's just the number two to the power eight , that is multiplied by itself eight times. If you do the same with one it's still one. One never changes, multiply it by itself or divide it by itself and it's still one. If you go up to 3 then the powers create much bigger numbers 2^8 = 256 but 3^8 is 6,561 , I doubt I will ever read a book with that many pages.
Yesterday the new Nick Cave album Skeleton Tree was released, and it's great that people are still producing things I want to hear, I love the new single and am sure I will love the album when it turns up.
I love seeing new things and meeting new people. My friend Ruth hand invited me to an exhibition, Storytelling of The Ancients, which I didn't realise was being put on by her daughter at the Assembly House on Westgate Road. I started well by going to The Assembly Rooms and then got directed across the road to the correct venue.
The day was warm and the door was open and I walked in , impressed by what I thought were some very nicely executed murals. I then noticed a room with a fireplace, some books of Greek Mythology and a small image of Cerberus on the green wall , Cerberus being the guard dog of the Underworld, but maybe he is there to keep undesirables away.
I then saw that the murals were not murals , but diaphanous constructs that swayed in the breeze and cast shadows on the white wile under a ceiling decorated with greenery which I think was ivy but could have Bacchanalian grape vines.
Jessica then introduced herself and told me about the exhibition and her love of the subject. Apparently Greeks always greet guests with food and wine, and although the wine was finished there was gorgeous vegan raspberry cake , biscuits and soft drinks.
Her friend , possibly Fiona, was also taking photographs and I took some myself as well as a short video, so that I could create a slideshow.
The images included Pandora, Persephone, Oedipus and many others including a wonderful centaur. I've included the slideshow soundtracked by Tangerine Dream's "Sequence C" from Phaedra , so another Greek Mythological connection as Phaedra was the daughter of Minos (see here) which I've used as the video here although you can hear my waffle on the instagram video here.
So a great strat to the weekend, but if you get the chance , do go and see it, and if you are lucky you will get cake.
I am just amazed by the heat, and a pity most of the day has been at work. This is the sort of day you need to be at a beach or in a park and not in work. I just feel I need a cold shower, but five minutes later you need another one. This is the time you need a swimming pool in the back garden. It's definitely not a clothes day and the worst thing it's work again tomorrow.
There are black clouds and blue skies and the atmosphere is oppressive, but I am sure I can find some comfort, at least I am not in work now.
The weather and situation is not exactly causing inspiration so as I am reading Pete Townshend's "Who I Am" I ll leave you with The Who's take on Martha and The Vandellas'Heatwave.
This post consists of a mere 200 or so words, so here I go on again about numbers, but I've said all that is in my head for the time being and if anything else comes upyou know that I will let you know. Well I usually do., don't I.
The weekend is finished and it's time for work, or will be in a few hours. It's been an odd one for me, not really done much but I have rested, watched catch up TV and read quite a lot and written a few blog posts.
I had a rearrangement of my music and discovered a couple of effective duplicate CDs , Best Ofs The Faces and ELP , plus Janis Joplin's Pearl and Big Brother and The Holding Company's Cheap Thrills , all class albums but you only need one copy and the purchases of some excellent box sets have made them redundant.
I think I got the Joplin stuff from Music Zone in The Metro Centre , a now defunct music emporium, but we are lucky to have a decent number of music shops in Newcastle.
Anyway I will be dropping by a charity shop this week unless any of my friends want to improve their music collection and it's given me a chance to include The FacesThat's All You Need , one of my favourite slide driven songs ever.
Siouxsie And The Banshees were never your average sounding Rock, Goth or Punk band and their canon is littered with some amazing out there sounds. The only standard instrument used in Peek-A-Boo barring Siouxsie's voice is the dragging bass and that is not played like any that I have heard before or since, then the almost military drum beat and accordion / melodian driven complex riff sonding like something gestated from Bertolt Brecht's Threepenny Opera (Die Dreigroschenoper).
Another you can't dance to, well not any normal dance, but there are no guitars or pop sensibilities here, in an almost nightmare sequence that implies horrors lurking at the edge of our sensibilities although you feel safe because you know Siouxsie of old. It is similar to Sparks' This Town in the "can't dance" stakes although this does explore a much stranger furrow.
The video is wonderful and this still sounds as fresh today as when it was first unleashed upon an unsuspecting world.
Enjoy the video and if it's not in your collection , why not?
