Tuesday 31 December 2013

Goodbye 2013 - Hello 2014



Well it's the last day of December and thought I'd best post this before the day disappears. For some reason the lyrics to George Harrison's "Ding Dong" came to mind, extremely simple and a fitting end to my seasonal song a day for this December. I don't think this song has appeared on any Now! compilation , but really I'm not bothered as I love the sentiments:

"Ring out the old
Ring in the new
Ring out the old
Ring in the new

Ring out the false
Ring in the true
Ring out the old
Ring in the new"


So I hope we have all learned from our 2013, and can look forward to 2014. One of the people I've been most impressed with is Pope Francis. I'm am not religious even though I was baptised, brought up a catholic and taught by Jesuits (most of who were very reasonable and always willing to hear the other persons view).

So going forward , Be Nice, be kind to others , help others less fortunate than you if you can and keep being positive. Hope your 2014 is a major improvement on your 2013 however good that was. Happy New Year!!
Happy New Year!


Monday 30 December 2013

The New Year Draws Near


..and people are totting up their favourite things of the past year, which help provide inspiration going forward. There's always something new to look forward to and always new things to find and old things to discover.

Odeon Now
Inside One of The Odeos Auditoria
Despite having all of Lindisfarne's studio output and most of their live output I'd forgotten about "Winter Song" and this one is performed live at my favourite venue , The Mayfair, bulldozed for an entertainment complex while the old Odeon on Pilgrim Street in Newcastle lies rotting.









The Who Play The Odeon

Now if I had the money I'd buy that place and turn it into a new Mayfair, after all The Who played there in 1971, so if it staged The Who........



Sunday 29 December 2013

Very Tired And It's Work Tomorrow

So a very short post. Then I'm straight to bed.

The (non) Christmas related song has nothing to do with Christmas barring that Santa must draw rings round the world in his sleigh as he delivers his presents, so it has to be....


Super Furry Animals are cool

Saturday 28 December 2013

Tenuous Connections (Only Dogs and Water Horses)



All The World's A Stage
So Kelpies are water horses and Sheepdogs and I'm posting a seasonal song a day, and this is my most tenuous one so far , "By-Tor and The SNOW Dog" by Rush , the version is the one from the brilliant "All The Worlds A Stage" album. It has some wonderful guitar soundscapes by Alex Lifeson. It's today's tune. It's amazing what sort of connections our minds can make.

In the seventies I was listening to John Peel and a song came on called "Finding My Way". At first I thought it was a new Led Zeppelin offering, but no, it was by a Canadian power Trio called Rush, the singer Geddy Lee sounding like a cross between Zep's Robert Plant and Yes's Jon Anderson , a power falsetto.

I checked out the album "Fly By Night" but felt it was a bit wooden , barring "Finding My Way" , however when the live album "All The World's A Stage" was released that all changed and this was a real loud and impressive band.

I've always likened Rush to Abba , both have produced some of the greatest music ever, but often their lyrics let them down. While Abba have the excuse that they were Swedish writing in English, Rush are Canadian , and , unfortunately found inspiration in Ayn Rand. I think they've outgrown that now and are still touring and producing some wonderful music.

Anyway I hope your Christmas is still causing you lots of happiness and hope you have a brilliant weekend.

Friday 27 December 2013

Tiring Week and No Show Snow For Christmas



Kelpie 
I've been told by a good authority that Kelpies , as well  as being mythical Celtic Water Beasties are also a sheep dog, more information here. You learn something new everyday , or you can do if you are willing to listen, and that was something I didn't know, but brightened my day as I love dogs.

I've not seen much snow, just a little dusting the side of the road in the Scottish Borders.



Unfortunately I am titally shattered after this week , so this is a short post. Todays seasonal tune is "Snowman" by XTC and hopefully you can see the the time lapse video I did for it in my back garden. Love the song and love the album.

Enjoy

Thursday 26 December 2013

Motorway Kelpies



Yesterday and today I was amazed to pass two 30 metre high sculptures of what I though were horses heads. They are actually Kelpies and you can read all about them here. The main problem is that you see them as you are driving on the motorway (M8 or M9 can't remember) but they are majorly imp
ressive. I actually stopped on the hard shoulder to take some pictures one of which is below:

Kelpies on the Motorway

Anyway, I need to keep the seasonal songs going and thought maybe Can's treatment of "Silent Night" which I have always loved.

Wednesday 25 December 2013

Christmas Has Come


..and actually there are still a lot of great seasonal and Christmas records to go and this gem by Saint Etienne is very appropriate for today. About six months back I was in the Opencast Software's offices and their CEO showed me the brilliant map below, a worthy addition to any wall and Saint Etienne used for one of their album covers (words and Music).

Also today is a great time to hear from friends and contact friends and bring each other closers. I've had some lovely messages already and expect to have more during the day.

So have a great day! Anything you like do it more, anything you don't like , find a better way or change it , and always be nice and look out for others less fortunate than yourself.

Have a brilliant Christmas.

As used on Words and Music