20202021

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

The Finest Song About Liverpool

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.

"Mckenzie's soul lies above the ground

In that pyramid near Maryland

Easyjet is hanging in the air

Taking everyone to everywhere

...Whoa

See slave ships sailing into port

The blood of Africa's on every wall

Now there's a layline runs down Mathew Street

It's giving energy to all it meets

...Whoa

Hey, does this train stop

Does this train stop on Merseyside

Whoa

Hey, does this train stop

Does this train stop on Merseyside

Whoa

Alan Williams in the Marlboro Arms

Giving his story out to everyone

Famine boats are anchored in the bay

Bringing the poor and deperate

...Whoa

Hey, does this train stop

Does this train stop on Merseyside

Whoa

Hey, does this train stop

Does this train stop on Merseyside

Boston babies bouncing on the ground

The riggers beaming out to every town

Whoa... Yeh... Yeh

Why don't you remember

Whoa... Yeh... Yeh

Why don't you remember

Can't concieve what those children done

Guess theres a meaness in the soul of man

Yorkshire policemen chat with folded arms

While people try and save their fellow fans

Hey, does this train stop

Does this train stop on Merseyside

Whoa

Hey, does this train stop

Does this train stop on Merseyside"

 

 

Remember

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

Feeling Like Scrooge

 .. after the ghosts has been.

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.

Winter Solstice - 2020

 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.

Two Sevens Clash

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.

GriefDreich

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.