in a metal mood

hej popplockare

yes, another music related post. although this is all rather niche, look you see. none more niche, perhaps, for we enter the hidden, strange and sometimes murky world of the (limited) hardcore faction of fans within a realm of a somewhat acute, selective appeal following. 

of course, indeed, and quite, yes. this all does, as you have no doubt (or undoubtedly) worked out from the above, relate to the solo career of Joey out of Europe. absolutely, that Joey out of that Europe. the band what all got all so excited about when they became the first Swedish band since Abba to make the UK singles chart. sensational stuff. 

if fans who are prepared to confess their admiration for Europe are tricky to find, well, that is nothing at all compared to seeking out the secretive cult of Joey out of Europe. his appeal is so precise and selective that one stands more chance of visiting Ireland, following a rainbow to its (theoretical) end and discovering a leprechaun desperate to hand over their pot of gold than they do of meeting a proclaimed fan of Joey out of Europe. to be sure. 

except, of course, Spiros. for reasons which would be inappropriate to discuss, and i am certainly not going to share here, Spiros has, fairly recently, had reason to become acquainted with the niche market which is the solo career of Joey out of Europe. or that is the solo career of him off of Europe, should that be the right proper wording. 

my apologies for the subtle editing of the picture what show Spiros, and i use this word carefully, enjoying the music of the solo career of Joey out of Europe. there are certain, broadly and diplomatically put, "rituals" what Spiros does when he is enjoying this particular music. in vain and in awe i (at least) try to keep the content here suitable for all, so some censorship was required. yes, no matter how natural an act it is what Spiros says it is, in particular when he makes a short term but mutually beneficial friend in some sort of public restroom facility.

letting your mind comprehend that Joey out of Europe has a solo career takes some doing, man. apparently, and all things be relative, a moderately (or reasonably successful) one too, for he has been permitted, or able, to do more than just one album on his own. consider, if you will, some songs got written by Joey out of Europe what Europe rejected; saying that they were (ahem) not quite good enough for them. or, otherwise, Joey out of Europe wrote some songs, and for some reason felt that the demographic for them would not be the "usual" or "ordinary" Europe fanbase. wow. 

above is the one Joey out of Europe CD what Spiros has recently declared to be his best and favourite CD in his collection. this is a pretty hefty, lofty and prestigious title, right up until the moment you ask Spiros how many, give or take, discs he owns, and then you get the answer of one. but still, that has a fair bit of weight to it, that Spiros would only own a disc off of Joey out of Europe. 

do i have any Europe, or Joey out of Europe, in my collection? only by default, alas. it is simply not possible to procure (acquire) as many 80s sets as i have a preference for and not end up with multiple copies of The Final Countdown. no, i do not play it a lot, if at all. i thought it was sh!t at the time and the years have not been kind to it. although i do recall my brother being all excited about finding an album off of Europe what did not have that song on it, and yet he never ever discussed it again after playing it once.

weirdly, this does not mark the first encounter Spiros has had with Joey out of Europe. kind of. a few years ago, when engaged in a professional capacity in his role as the greatest legal mind of his generation for a London based concern, he assisted the constabulary with a rather unpleasant matter. for some reason the streets of Chiswick were plagued by a criminal sort; one who was disgracing himself publicly by means of committing rather unpleasant acts of a sexual nature. 

so, the police were a bit baffled, having no real leads to go on, except the nature of the acts were, by all account, extremely Swedish. being a model citizen, Spiros was aware of an unsavoury Swedish national service dodging type; one who had taken to measuring men at random for "shirts" which never actually turned up. moving on, and with the assistance of Spiros they were able to apprehend him. the connection here is that the culprit was located near one of the many famous ponds in London, apparently or seemingly trying to interfere with ducks, claiming that he was Joey out of Europe and it was OK what he was doing as it was natural for Swedish farmer rock stars. 

could i offer any guidance or advice to anyone what is considering buying a solo album off of Joey oit of Europe? not really, not really, no. 

var utmärkta mot varandra !!!!!!!!!!!!

take the easy way and give in

hello there

it is a commonly accepted truth, look you see, that the greatest problem facing the modern, forward thinking world is the ludicrous price placed on fags (not what you think, Americans) in the UK. and other countries. that even the French have enough sense (i think) to charge less for them that the price of them on the shelf in the UK is testament to the sorry state we, living here, are in. just as recently as today (well, the day what i wrote this) i saw a few gents scouring a public bin for fag ends (again, not what you're presently thinking, Americans), so desperate are our times. 

much of my problem, or plight, of course is all down to my being unable to find one of these apparently plentiful but steadfastly (in my experience) "fag houses", where entrepreneurs secure a supply of directly, border evasive cigarettes and sell them at a reasonable price. yes, i absolutely would love to engage in a mutually beneficial business arrangement with such. to those who would say "but that's illegal", i would say that's a f*****g shame, don't make the ills of society my issue. 

perhaps, and i have speculated on this matter before, i should just switch to heroin. for some reason them, those in power, have decided heroin is so marvellous that they are quite happy to (funded by the tax on my fags, by the way) just give it away for free to junkies. cigarettes, no, just punish people. well, they give heroin away for free everywhere but, going on the news, Scotland. apparently that very angry lady in charge of the parish council up there is a staunch disciple of how Mbeki dealt with AIDS in South Africa - it's a lot cheaper to just blame something else and let people die. 

stuck, as i am, then, with purchasing cigarettes via the "conventional" (as in legal) means available, i have sought to get the cheapest. these were, i believed, them Players Red ones. remarkably, at least at time of writing, south of £10 a packet, they are OK once you get used to them. but still, everything about them screams they are the preferred smoke of salty sea dogs, them ones with sunburned leather skin, a squint, angry incomprehensible modes of dialogue and undoubtedly guilty of doing all sorts of unspeakable things to impressionable cabin boys under the pretence than certain things are legal, if not admittedly normal, under maritime law conditions. 

as luck, or fortune, would have it, i was able to catch sight of a fag (cigarette, Americans) price list in one shop. this is something that is supposedly freely available, but seldom is, and one rarely wishes to request an inspection of it, for you just get a load of people wanting to buy scratchcards or return various garments tutting at you. 

on this list, which i read as quickly as i could, i noted that there were a couple of brands of fags which had managed to stay at a cost even lower that Players Red. whilst i did not see them all, it looked like the previous classic choice of the working man, Embassy, are still a thing. but, as i vaguely recalled being not so keen on them, i noticed another at a similar lower price, Carlton. so, i got some. 

then i remembered, or recalled, yes, i had tried these before. a while ago, when once more wishing to find cheaper fags. my memories of them were not so good, in truth, but i thought perhaps, maybe, my system was now so f*****d it would not notice. even, still, there was a chance that whoever it is what makes Carlton fags had given some effort to improving the experience of smoking them. 

no, and most decidedly no, were the answered attained (or obtained), pretty much as the above image was taken. it is simply not so that smoking Carlton fags (and i will assume Americans have established the correct use of the word by now) is in any way, shape or form a pleasant experience. they really are quite the thing of the cigarette world of using something French - should only be done in an absolute, no alternate emergency and hope for the best. 

just quit, you say, or cut down considerably, rather than put myself through all of this? no, i shall not be letting them win this one. 

practically, virtually all other vices are not only encouraged here in the UK, but mostly they are funded. gambling, drinking, the previously mentioned heroin, and so forth, all generously advertised, promoted and funded if you get caught short. certain, and several, sexual proclivities too, mostly promoted by the BBC, which isn't even supposed to advertise. but no, not cigarettes. here an idea has been cultivated that if one blames cigarettes (fags) for everything, then anything else you do seems not so bad. what really warped f*****g values we now have on the go. 

will it be so, shall i, or am i likely to pursue further smoking of these Carlton fags? out of necessity, and by default, the answer with regret is yes, probably. unless i can broker a deal, or arrangement, with one of these magnificent sounding fag houses, or (and this is unlikely) some common sense comes into the thinking of those in charge of the prices for the fags on the shelf. getting proper packets for them back is unlikely, but proper pricing would be nice. 

be excellent to each other!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

disco content discontent one winter a while ago

howdy pop pickers

sometimes i would wish that oh how it doesn't have to be this way, look you see. that i would feel not obliged or compelled to "complete" collections, to be down to earth and only buy some vibes when they clearly offered either the right thing or big fun. and yet here we are, the final countdown is on for the end of the promised re-issue of the first ten (10) Now That's What I Call Music sets, with the heartache that is number 9 (nine) coming out recently. rather than use money wisely (to live it up, say), temptation brought be down to earth and i bought it. no, i didn't have to give everything i own to get it, but yet i roam in some sort of land of confusion wondering why i insisted on doing so. 

moving on then, and Now 9 appears (or seems) to cover what one would consider, or call, the (northern hemisphere) winter of 1986, moving as it does into the early aspects of 1987, in terms of the UK singles charts. or rather, what bits Now could licence. the market was awash with compilations cash ins by this time, so with different labels scrambling to sign up exclusive use of tunes, well, it seems them what were responsible for bagging some for this release left it all a little late. 

in fairness, honesty and vanity, though, i would have to say i paid little attention to the charts at this time. no, for these three or four months covered, it was all very much Frankie Goes To Hollywood for me. looking at what was on offer here, i do not believe i bought one single 7" of  these. oh, not true, yes of course i purchased Live It Up off of Mental As Anything. beyond that, though, i would have described myself as quite cross with the singles chart, as they were unkind to Frankie's singles. but that i probably ranted about a little, around Now 8. 

quite an auto-pilot purchase, this, then, on day of release. my feelings, when looking at the track listing after purchase, were a little like when i got the CD issue of Now That's What I Call Music 5. which would be "this looks like sh!t", and a suspicion it would not get played so much. but still, as with 5, there looked to be at least a couple of decent tunes on here. and, as it happens, it is much better than i feared it would be, but still not going to get played much.

this all starts off with that oddity of a Christmas Number One (1) single from 1986 (when that chart position meant something), with Reet Petite off of Jackie Wilson. a great song indeed, and one of two 60s re-releases to feature on the set (the other, Stand By Me off of Ben E King) out of the many that were charting at the time. a couple of covers too, by big name artists. perhaps there was a little bit of a creativity doldrums at the time. 

certainly, to refer to it once more, i was thrilled when Mental As Anything made it big in the UK with the song off of Crocodile Dundee. this was their first hit in the UK, despite an extensive and lengthy career of success in their native Australia. as i had been in Australia where their finest hour was, the Cats & Dogs album, this was just excellent. also, another (at least one more) film based tune features, in the form of Take My Breath Away by Berlin. wrongly sub-titled as Love Theme From Top Gun, for as we all know the actual love song off of the film was Playing With The Boys off of Kenny Loggins. and still, though, i have a soft spot for Berlin, since they were support for Frankie. who i saw live, in January 1987, hence me being not all that arsed about the charts at the time. 

far too much, i would think, is the correct response to "how are Scandinavian (or whatever) nations represented here", if asked. perhaps British music was on a bit of a low, then. sure, it's lovely to get Manhattan Skyline off of a-Ha (even if it is a 2004 remaster rather than the original 80s single), but it has to be said The Final Countdown off of Europe has been played to death ever since release, particularly at times such as New Year and what have you. well, no, New Year. great, now i have yet one more copy of this song on CD. 

a few highs pepper the set. many would consider Sometimes to be the best thing what Erasure did. i would suggest no, A Little Respect or maybe Stop!, but this is a great pop single. the Boy George debut solo single, a cover of Everything I Own which is brilliant, brings back memories. for some reason it was so that The Sun, known to crucify anyone who didn't fit in with their definition of a "proper bloke", and he certainly did not, went all sympathetic with his plight with heroin. rather fitting with the blessed life the erstwhile Culture Club frontman appears to live, really. any other pop star who went to prison for hiring someone on possibly (or ostensibly) sexual reasons but then went on to assault and hold them captive would be exiled, yet Radio 2, in particular, are on a crusade to play him as often as they can. go figure. same, a bit with the Simply Red song on here. it is easy to forget there was a time when Mick Hucknall was generally liked and celebrated, now not so much, with all considering him to be a massive bellend and a bit of a d!ck with his bragging about how many thousands of women he has slept with, etc. yet still Radio 2 have a candle on the go for him, also. 

one big word of warning here is that the song Big Fun which features is not what you think. what you have in mind is the (quite) class dance anthem off of Inner City, not this tripe. i had forgotten that Heartache by Pepsi & Shirlie was not at all bad, but a little dated. also, It Doesn't Have To Be This Way off of Blow Monkeys and Down To Earth off of him with the beret and his band (that felt shorter to type that Curiosity Killed The Cat) are not quite so polished or perfect as i remembered, but still quite good. worst, other than the mentioned Big Fun, is probably the horrendous remixed version of You Sexy Thing by Hot Chocolate here. what a bad idea that mix was, burying Errol's voice below some synths and trying to drown out the famous hook. 

yes, i am quite aware i have aired thoughts on quite a few songs off of a set which i made an initial claim of not being too fussed about. well, i was a little off, then. another treasure here, true, is The Great Pretender off of Freddie, which appears to exist to just showcase his vocal range. and what a range. can't honestly remember either Taffy or their song here, I Love My Radio, but it's a good one, all the same, so nice find. one of the better UB40 tunes too, and not my favourite ever Genesis song, not even just of their 80s stuff, but a bit like Erasure above it's this one, Land Of Confusion, which a lot seem to rate really high. possibly, in this instance, due to the Spitting Image video for it. 

nothing but fond memories came back on hearing Jack Your Body by Steve 'Silk' Hurley, too. banging tune, to be sure, but mostly i remember it off of a lad at school who's older brother had loads of this, and course at the time i mean, "new" Chicago House music, and he'd tape it for us. speaking of memories, i think my main issue with this set is it is missing the things i would have bought at the time, if i remember it all correctly. on Now 9 there is no Frankie, no Male Stripper and no Sigue Sigue Sputnik. but, that said, what is here is (mostly) agreeable. 

if, or should, they stick to their announced plans, only one more reissue to come, then, in the shape or if you like form of Now That's What I Call Music 10. yes, i am aware they recently did a "1983 Yearbook" but i avoided it, as it was just Now 1 with two extra discs not good enough to be on that set. should they do a 1984 yearbook, mind, i suspect i shall not be able to resist. and, after all that, i have every confidence they will find other ways to milk coins off of me. just not with "new" stuff, which is sh!t. 

be excellent to each other!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

massive spoons

heya

up until quite recently it was so that, should i have been asked (and i was not) on the subject, my answer would have been yes, i do believe i have a sufficient level of cutlery. there is simply no need, or requirement, for me to have excessive amounts of such instruments, look you see, whilst appreciating an elba like exile era. but more i now have. 

so, i was enjoying a perfectly good dinner (or "lunch" for those of you who have embraced American terminology; London i look at you) with a dear friend. we were in a very, as in predominantly, Who decorated establishment, and so it was class. as a plus, they had sarsaparilla, a fine beverage i had not enjoyed for a fair while. 

after dinner we strolled and perused shops, for such commercial ventures is very much a shared passion of ours. yes, i bought some items, mostly a rather smart shirt (which i may showcase here at some stage), and that sort of thing. also hairbrushes, if you insist on pressing, but that is for a secret project and nothing to do with me needing to use brushes. 

my dear friend, who(m) we shall call Mandybabes, was drawn to this (pictured above) cutlery set. apparently, and i would trust her on such matters, the asking price for this portland cutlery set, being as it was a neat £10 was "excellent". but that was not the draw for her. no, nor that it was so lovely and shiny, which obviously appealed to me. for some reason she took exceptional delight, and expressed admiration, for the size of the larger spoons in the set. table spoons, i believe is the posh term. 

it was not, and make no mistake in this, that she just mentioned they were large and left it at that. no, far from such. frequently she said they were "massive", and so as to establish this set about picking up other spoons, ones sold separately or in sets not too different from this one (in packaging), and held them up so as to compare. yes, in each instance, the one on offer was not as big, or if you will massive, as the one in the portland cutlery set. well, as point of fact one spoon was bigger, but that was a serving spoon rather than one which one would eat with. 

no a great deal of coercing or coaxing was required to encourage me to purchase. in fairness, or to be fair, for a few months it has irked that i got f****d over by Tesco, for the set they sold me (some decent ones with a black handle) was a fork short. i couldn't be pestered to return it or complain, so i have none to blame but moi, but i did vow to never ever buy cutlery off of Tesco again, since they are right f*** you over merchants in my experience. 

would i consider myself happy, or experience a life much better, now that i have this cutlery set at my disposal? bit of a tricky question that, since my lot in life is not so bad these days. yes, it is lovely to have the exact same number of a set of items of cutlery, this is true. but, alas, having been distracted by the massive spoons, i did not pay attention to the teaspoons with this set. it turns out they are, and i suppose one would say conversely or something, disproportionately smaller. whereas the new massive spoons off of this set are indeed now the biggest i own, so too is it true that the teaspoons which came along by default are now the smallest ones i have. 

there is some sort of symmetry there, i suppose. dramatic enough, at the least, for me to have commenced a whole new paragraph to state so, allowing you to have taken a bit of a theatrical pause so as to comprehend such a thing being. 

yes, sure, if i make any further cutlery (or related) purchases, i shall let you know. 

be excellent to each other!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

four singles

howdy pop pickers

well, here we are again. once more it is so, look you see, that i have found some reason or other to write of Bowie once again. yes, indeed, after doing one (1) album of his per month for many, many months i kind of suggested i probably had not much else to write. it turns out that yes, i do. 

so, i have a penchant (or proclivity) to spend coins of money on things i like. and i rather like Bowie. with the Bowie Estate remaining, at time of writing, unusually reluctant to offer me anything in exchange for such coins, i browsed the virtual car boot sale of the internet. yes, i have a large amount of the releases made by Bowie, but by no means all. i find it worthwhile to search for the ones i do not have every now and then, on the off chance that they crop up at an agreeable price.

if there is one area my collection falls short it would be in the world of CD singles what he deemed to release, specifically in the 90s. perhaps sensing that the sales of physical music would soon drop off, as it was after all him who coined the phrase "streaming", he did go on a little bit of a bender in that decade, releasing a mountain of CD singles. alas, i was unable to take advantage of this. i was still in SA at the time, and there was no real global online shopping then, also few of the singles got an international release. 

collecting, or picking up, these CD singles in the hear and now is neither easy nor cheap. mostly what's out there is in the hands of collectors who would no more part with them than i would. also, and this is entirely fair, the entrepreneurs have sussed the CD singles - as pointless as they are on face value, based on number of tracks and what those tracks are - hold a significant value for those looking for them. it is quite rare for a Bowie CD single to appear on the market for south of £10, so i was rather pleased, delighted and instant purchase mode (full tilt) when the chance came to get the above four (4), including postage, for south of £10 all in. 

quite the bargain, really. even when, as it sort of kind of turned out, i already had one of them, and really had exceptionally little interest in another of them. further, then, also, it became clear that i did, as point of fact, already have all the tracks what feature across the other two. no matter, done now. if one were to say, via the mystery of maths, each of these works out at £2 each, then it is so that i believe no instance of spending £2 has been wasted. 

a look at each of the 4 (four) what i picked up, with thanks to some super pricing off whoever it was selling them? sure. i am not sure how extensive or interesting the notes shall be, but also artwork presented in the greater good and glory of Commodore 64 mode. 

first up then, and one that i suppose i should have been a trifle excited about, what with it being labelled a "limited edition" thing, but really the one i so very easily could have done without. allowing for the fact that anyone and everyone can and will have a view on a subject, for me it really is so that Earthling is, was, by some distance his worst album. not everything about it was sh!t, but it was all quite close to being so. in no way, shape or form is the song Seven Years In Tibet one of the positives of the whole experience, but go ahead and release it as a single he did. 

to go positive, the artwork is indeed lovely. a very stylish cover, and one which has, what, some 25 years or so later, stood up well. oddly not all Bowie covers have been as stylish as we would have like to think; cf Never Let Me Down. on a slightly less positive, track one is an "edit" version of Seven Years In Tibet. by making the time to endure it shorter, yes, that is a plus. 

on to tracks two and three, and oh dear. theoretically track two (2), which is also Seven Years In Tibet, should be the best of the lot, as it is even shorter than the edit version. also, it is a 'Mandarin' version, meaning you no longer even have to pretend you can understand whatever it is David is going on about in this song. but track 3 (three), man. oh no. yet another copy of Pallas Athena. i first heard this, i believe, on a Jump They Say single, and thought it was sh!t. then it turned up on the Black Tie White Noise album, and was only half as sh!t as it was a half the length version. finally a sh!t live version of it turned up on that Earthling In The City disc i acquired "free" with an expensive magazine. now i have another copy of it. lucky, lucky boy. 

moving on to better, then, and what it says on the box is CD3 of a 3 (three) CD single set for Seven, with this one being a "special live" CD single. what one gets on this disc, ostensibly, then, is three songs off of the hours..... album, live. and not just any live. no, these are recordings from the Kit Kat Club. yes, so these are from the git that forms that mythical, impossible to get sixth (6th) volume of Brilliant Live Adventures, the one i am still waiting to see if Iman or whoever runs the Bowie Estate will get around to selling me. 

whereas the three songs from that album - the single-wise titular Seven, the superb Something In The Air and the he's done/did worse The Pretty Things Are Going To Hell - are good, one would not rush to say these are either excellently recorded live performances, or overtly great performances at all. by no means bad, but now i am also even more less arsed about if the Bowie Estate gets around to selling me the comically short full set for a lot of money. a mercy, or blessing, or both. 

but for the ultra, or uber, win on getting this single, i was most pleased to find the four (4) postcards, as they are described, which came with the release were indeed still with the single. 

since, or considering, the "postcards" are CD booklet sized squares, i would not really fancy the chances of them surviving being posted via the Royal Mail system. or any postal system in the world. but, well, they are lovely things to have, as is hopefully reflected in the non-Commodore 64 mode picture (or image) above. 

no reason to think anyone would be interested in this, but yes, i have indeed taken an image of the spines of these CD singles. and since i trimmed it down to be included here, well, here you go. 

of course there would be no consistency in font, size, shape, positioning of text or anything like that. this is David and, for 75% of the above, Virgin Records. they just kind of all went "whatever", i suppose. at least on the spine his name is all proper, and not the numbers variations one finds on the covers of the hours.... originating singles. 

really am now doubting my grasp of sanity with my daily (sometimes more) check-ins on the Bowie site to see if they will let me give them probably somewhere around £20 for the "full" concert from the Kit Kat Club on CD. from what i remember the three tracks on that Seven single are 25% of the gig, and that does not bode well for how the remaining 75% will sound, really. at all. still, yes, the moment they condescend to take my money, undoubtedly i shall foolishly hand it over. 

we go on, then, to the one single of the lot which is "objectively" likely to be seen as the most sensible, or makes sense, purchase, and the one which i now happen to have 2 (two) copies of. by accident, for i had forgotten about the one bid i put in on the virtual car boot, but of course honoured it. oh, yeah, as the above image should make (reasonably) clear, this is one (of two, i believe, maybe 3) of the CD singles released of Thursday's Child, which i believe was the lead single for hours.....

the point of appeal for this one is that rarity for Bowie, actual, dedicated, only found here "b-sides". yes, very much plural, as there are two extra tracks. not what one would call the greatest of great songs, being as they are We All Go Through and No One Calls. but, interesting ones. each of these songs, in particular the first of them, sound very much like "transitional" ones. by that i mean they sound like David feeling around for a sound that slightly echoes the nightmare of Earthling he was (thankfully) leaving behind, yet is not quite fully formed as how hours..... sounds. this is particularly true lyrically. no lost or rare masterpieces here, but still, well worth having. 

shall, or will, i go after the other CD single of Thursday's Child? this is unlikely. yes, some appeal as it has a further two (2) unavailable anywhere else songs, plus the video (which i think is on the Best of Bowie 2 DVD set, mind), but that seems rather pricey. a quick look says it's not available for south of £10 presently, so alas no. 

in conclusion for the four (4) i obtained, then, a "special collector edition" CD single of Survive, with it featuring an all "special live" track list. three songs, no less, the titular one, Survive, plus other single Thursday's Child and other, other single Seven. all of which are really, really excellent. 

and the very interesting, or really interesting, thing is that all three (3) are recorded in Paris, 1999. which means yes, they are very much the ones to be bought (if you were lucky) 21 or 22 years later, claiming to be "previously unreleased", on the 5th Brilliant Live Adventure release. unlike what i have heard thus far of the sixth, impossible to get Kit Kat, this one was actually a brilliant gig, no doubt very much wasted on French people, but still, a recording worth having. some aspects of it now twice over, due to this purchase. 

for those who have read on this far, or have simply scrolled down, go on then, a minor treat, of sorts. this CD single included a 'special live video' on the "enhanced" CD of Survive as performed in Paris. getting a video to play on your PC in 1999 was amazing, for there was no "streaming" as such, and piracy was very much in its infancy, it taking over 30 minutes to download a song alone. 

no doubt bigger and better quality of the above performance have been added to that "You Tube" thing gosh at least a thousand times by now, but here you are, here we are, press play and enjoy, should video come out reasonably well here, i have not checked. 

yes, at some stage i shall, inevitably, cease purchasing David Bowie recordings. but know that this will not be by reason of having them all, for to achieve such seems a mix of impossible and too expensive. at some point, though, either i shall have all that i can get, find others too expensive, get bored of it all, be in such a state that i cannot afford more discs or anything, or be deceased. until one of those pounts is reached, though, i go on, i continue.

quite highly unlikely, of course, that the present wave of "new" releases shall cease. as i have commented on a number of posts, we ebb ever closer to 50th anniversaries of Hunky Dory and one record called Ziggy Stardust. i, along with most other Bowie fans, expect both heart and bank account to get a right good f*****g over by the Bowie Estate for these two. please, please let the anniversaries not be marked by "new special ruined the record mixes by Tony Visconti". if they do that no doubt i will hesitate and then go right ahead and buy. what else must i do? 

no, nothing else to add. which i am pretty sure is fine, for it feels like i have written a fair chunk here for releases that were pretty much intended to be a bit disposable, such is the way of pop. 

be excellent to each other!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

old light through new windows

hello there

time enough, i think, to do the what has become (look you see) annual look at that light bulb what i picked up from Poundland quite some time ago. rather surprisingly, the first account of this bulb (which you can, if you wish, see and read of here), presented just north of four (4) years ago has attracted somewhere north of 1,5000 "clicks" or views or what have you. so my assumption is that someone somewhere is quite interested in this sort of thing.

but, that said, maybe not so much. the second update has so far only attracted slightly north of 120, the third at time of writing south of 100 and the one just before this a little bit over 200. no clue, then, as to what level of interest shall be attracted here. 

it is entirely possible that this update on the bulb - the very same one which cost me all of £1 off of Poundland which people warned me would burst into flames - will hold some nominal interest. this, really, is down to the fact that it is now in a new locale. yes, on my being sent to exile, i did indeed take my lamp with me, with the bulb in it. plugging it in found that it worked the same as ever. 

briefly, of course, i did give some thought to replacing it as and when i moved. a new start, clear the slate, and what have you. obviously no, i did not do so. probably for reasons of value, i suppose, rather than issues of nostalgia. as the bulb works, well, why, or for what reason, would i just discard it and replace with a new one? 

one possible (and very plausible) answer to the above is that, in truth, i really don't care much for the bulb. whereas it looked interesting and attractive, what with it being not of usual appearance and presented as "vintage" or distinguished, it is complete sh!t at the basics of a lightbulb, which is the giving of light. not much in the way of light emanates, or comes off of it, and on an evening reading by what it casts is problematic. indeed i should just replace, but i keep thinking, well, surely this shall pop quite soon, and then i can put an actual, proper bulb in. 

yes, an animated look at the bulb there, of course in the greater good and glory of Commodore 64 mode. for a while i have struggled with how, or why, one would present effective video style moving images of a lightbulb, but at last i would seem to have worked such out. 

my thoughts on the bulb, and potential (or possible) replacement are of course, perfectly naturally, drawn to the lessons of Apocalypse Now. it is reasonable to take as a given that an uncomfortable Colonel Kurtz arrangement is in place. when i think of replacing it, all i can see, all i can here, is an excited, enthusiastic and possibly coked up Dennis Hopper, screaming or shouting "when it dies, man, he dies, and when he dies, it dies, man". who knows what damage i shall draw if i go ahead and ignore that sentiment, particularly when mindful of me now being rather close to a river. 

above is indeed a sort of "in the flesh" look at the bulb, free of the artistic expression of the greater good and glory of Commodore 64 mode. if anything, what this highlights is that the bulb appears in better condition than the lamp which houses it, for some elements of the expulsion to exile took a toll on the lamp. no matter, for as the lamp itself was one of them £5 "this will do for now" purchases, several years ago, it being replaced at some stage has long since been anticipated. 

unfortunately, it is the same as ever - i cannot guarantee, or assure, that a follow up post at some stage of next year (which is scheduled or down to be 2022) will exist. but, that said, it is lovely to think that such a thing will indeed happen. 

be excellent to each other!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

bus stop trolley

hey

many thanks indeed to Codename Magic Money for sending on this picture. he was quite taken by what he saw, look you see, and felt obliged to share it with me. presumably so that i may share it with others who are enthusiastic about such things. 

sadly, or alas, of course as i am in state appointed condemnation (isolation) i have not seen so many trolleys (trollies) as i would have liked of late. there was some degree of delight, then, that a good friend would think to send me an image of such, so that i may know the world carries on with me in exile from it all, if only fleetingly. or momentarily. 

the best guess (or assumption) i have is that someone sought maximum efficiency from this particular, and in rather good condition, trolley, bringing it to the bus stop so as to aid their journey with shopping bags. i have little doubt that the person (or people) who commandeered the trolley this far also had either ambition or interest to take the trolley on the bus with them, but the "more than my job is worth" sort of driver one usually finds in control of such probably said no. to be a bit reasonable, if everyone who wished to take a trolley on a bus was permitted to do so then they would need to go and invest in a good many larger buses. such expense shall not be done by those currently designated the custodians of public transport. 

i have not particularly had any reason to look at any sort of economic report (or forecast) for a while, so sadly cannot present any information on how the market is currently performing with respect to taking trollies (trolleys) to scrapyards. boisterous, perhaps, is how i would wish to think this vital, very important sector is all going, momentarily. 

be excellent to each other!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

a career no more

greetings

there are many, many careers, professions or even vocations, look you see, that are no more. so they are not careers, etc, i suppose. oh. well, anyway. it was, perhaps is and maybe forever will be that some grew up believing they would know exactly what it is they would do with their lives, only to find that the ambition no longer has a reality. 

in the present day it is (of course) the disappearance of the job (or career) of going around and collecting coins from payphones which is the most concerning. distressing, even. a number believe that all this "conspiracy theory" stuff where people who call for 5G masts (also previously 4G and 3G ones) to be destroyed, preferably by fire, is nothing more than the offspring of generations of payphone coin collectors, with their hope being to unilaterally destroy the mobile phone market, thus forcing people to once again use public telephone boxes. exactly how close they are to achieving this ambition is, suspiciously, not reported, but i think the figures for sales of mobile phones provides answers. 

whilst some would argue the elimination of payphone coin collectors is perfect natural selection, or otherwise a welcome trimming of the herd, the disappearance of other careers can be a good deal more divisive. especially, as is the case with what i have in focus here, when the profession to be gone was wiped out, almost overnight, by one single, solitary rogue type. yes, of course, and obviously, the career under question here is that of "houseguest", a job made redundant by the actions (or inaction) of just one person, Kato Kaelin. indeed, that Kato Kaelin. 

for some background, yes, of course it is so that the job (or career) of "houseguest" appeared to be one which was exclusively open to Americans, in America. the first any of us (really) in the rest of the known world came to know of it was probably True Romance, when we saw Brad Pitt play the role of such an employee. except we had no idea that someone got paid to be a "houseguest", for we were far too busy wondering why, exactly, someone would have someone just stay at their house for no apparent or given reason at all. no, it was only when, and credit where it is due in spectacular fashion, Kato Kaelin lost his job as a "houseguest" that eyes were opened up to how this was an actual career. 

my suspicion is that i could well attract a whole lot of needless silly bother, or step into (from a legal perspective) some sticky mud if i spoke too much of exactly how and specifically why Kato (and his unusual job) came to public attention, which particular emphasis on when the career ended. no matter how much those events get discarded as a "trivial irony" in the present day, let me try and write of all of this without going into too many aspects of it all. 

just what, exactly, precisely or in some vague, general terms, does an employed "houseguest" actually do? not as much clarity on this exists as one might wish for. the Americans seem rather reticent to share too much information about it with the rest of the world, which kind of makes sense as they didn't really run around telling off of us about the job. it is, mind, with some certainty that we can speak of what the job does not entail, with "providing accurate accounts" and "alibi" featuring rather prominently in such a list, if one were indeed to make a list of "not essential" roles. 

having a flamboyant hairstyle, if we base requirements of the role on Kato, certainly seems to be a key part of the role. some passing claim to coming close to previous fame is also beneficial, mindful of how he very nearly had an acting career just years prior to his coming to public attention. i think wearing variations of white linen suits was a big part of the job too, combined with lighter pastel shades for other garments, but that's also what you need to be a copper in Miami. mostly i think the job requirement was to just be a "houseguest", trying or striving to do little more than sit around in a sort of quasi-poseur way, doing stuff like reading magazines and making the odd concessional observation. 

does any chance of this career being available again exist? possibly. certainly, if it were to come back into being, it would be with a lot less drama than the role of fetching coins out of phones. yet barriers exist for any return. the biggest, of course, would be that it requires someone to stand up, to raise their hand in a metaphorical and actual way, and speak the words "i want to be like Kato Kaelin". 

let no surprise cloud this announcement, but yes, Spiros did - briefly - explore the idea of hiring a permanent "houseguest". ultimately this fell away, with the failure being in a lack of decent candidates. whilst not wishing to dwell on the episode, those Spiros interviewed and found unsuitable included a Swede obsessed with ducks and measuring men for suits, as well as a shepherd that ended up fleeing to a province in the southern areas south of the equator so as to make numberplates. 

chances of the job, role or career of "houseguest" coming to be a thing again would also, you would think, depend on people applying for the role being prepared to change their name to 'Kato'. this, i firmly believe, is a traditional essential, and is done so in order to pay homage to Burt Kwok out of them smart Pink Panther films. also one can't really see the circumstances where someone would pursue this career yet not wish to embrace the name. 

it shall no doubt be that historians of the future (rather than the past) shall be intrigued by the entirely American phenomenon of hiring a "houseguest". undoubtedly it will be studied in terms of a sign, or better signature, of exactly what America did after winning the 'Cold War'. with capitalist pig dogs triumphant over the comrades, such was the wealth and opulence spread so evenly across the United States that people were able to squander the infinite resource of money on hiring a person to just sit around and do little; certainly not to any discernible help in a legal matter. 

no, i have no interest in either hiring a "houseguest" or changing career to become one. but, if for some reason you have either in consideration, best of luck, and as a back up go small with the gloves.

be excellent to each other!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

provenance (parental) was unknown

howdy pop pickers

so, another new album review, then. and, for a change, an actual, new artist, look you see. quite a few of this band (at least one) was born in a different century to me, with the one they were hurled into the world in being the one we currently live in. no matter how i preferred the one before. right, well, in this instance the vibes under consideration come from a new band called Inhaler, and take the form of their debut album, It Won't Always Be Like This. a title which has all sorts of connotations in the present day, but one which seems to stem from them long forgotten, halcyon days before March 2020. out of 2019, from what i can gather. 

matters of provenance for me hearing this particular record? a somewhat worrying trend is that one of them social media things, facebook to be exact, has clocked that i can be quite an easy mark for their advertising stuff. having experienced several years of them stumbling and showing me adverts that i have no interest in, eventually they have clocked me, and are increasingly offering me ways to part with coins that i happen to find most agreeable indeed. 

when an advert for "Inhaler" cropped up, i paid half attention. to my eyes, the image, of a small-ish size, looked like that of what i presumed to be an American band, doing a reasonably good take on how a early to mid central 90s sub-a list British band may style themselves. except the one, which would be the one i now know is the drummer. he looked most stylish, and reminded me the way of a very dear friend used to look, back in University, before such look was opted by the "indie" bands. 

having little, or no, interest in the immediate history of the band (i was content to assume American), off i went to do what i do not like, which is "stream" a couple of songs, to see if the look which i found interesting was backed up by a decent sound. close enough to it, really. the first thing i stumbled on was the titular track of the album, and i rather liked what i heard. not crazy, wow, liked, enough to warrant a partially educated gamble, what with the official website for the band offering their debut album (which i was unaware was a new release, within the week, at the time) for all of £5 plus postage. 

it was so that my copy arrived in the post (blessed by Royal Mail) one Saturday morning. which happened to be the same Saturday morning i clicked on the BBC website and observed a headline, with their usual emphasis on avoiding bias and that, which read "Bono's son's band reaches number one with debut album". yes, i was vaguely aware of Bono having a son, for he was on the cover of the most recent U2 album, but had no idea (or interest) in what he may have done. then a glance at the picture gave every indication (as the article confirmed) that the band in question was indeed Inhaler. oh. 

no, i don't believe matters of parental provenance influenced my listening, but i would have preferred to have only discovered so after. no matter. for those in a rush, and yet for some reason are still reading this, it turns out the album is quite good. much, much more polished and refined than one would suspect or expect for a debut, but not so bad. all i have heard on this record suggests that if they can survive the imminent, inevitable onslaught of tags concerning how 50% of the parents of 25% of the band happen to be in U2, then they are one of them bands with every chance of getting better and better as their career progresses, rather than one of them which throws all the good stuff at an audience at once, then find the tank is rather empty when a refill is sought. 

the marketing has been really f*****g clever with this one. cheeky, if you will. above is an extract, or moment, from the booklet what comes with the CD. this of course gives every sense or indication that Inhaler are well and truly "old school" rock and roll, they have built an audience, for look at the crowd size that have gone to see them before a record (proper) is out. whereas i don't have an ounce of doubt they had a decent support, i am going to go out on a limb and suggest that, perhaps, maybe, possibly, it is so these images just might have been off of the gigs the did in support of Noel Gallagher. a rather prestigious gig which i am sure they got on merit. and to clarify, note, to use a very broad term, that thing which is nepotism exists in every industry and every business in the world, and the only ones who ever complain of it are the ones not to be direct beneficiaries, so enjoy the ride. 

as this is now several paragraphs in, maybe i should comment on, or consider, the music. presently the record is on the stereo again (third or fourth play), and track six, My King Will Be Kind, is on. here they seem to go a bit mock-blues and hey we have a wah-wah pedal, also some rude and derogatory words in it. it is a song that starts well, but kind of drifts off, much of the rest of the album is far better.

polished is the one word review of this record. suspiciously very well prepped and all polished up, apparently ready for stadium audiences, would be the expanded review. not quite to the extent of losing the soul of the band entire, and certainly not as dull or as boring as the comforts of the unbelievably, overwhelmingly f*****g bland The Killers, but it does lurch dangerously close to such areas from time to time. 

best example of this sound, or if you like folly? well, the second track, i guess, My Honest Face. if one were to be kind you'd say you are hearing a young band really wanting to make something which sounds like a crowd involving anthem, rather than saying what they wanted and seeing if it turned out that way. at worst, and i fear the truth may lurk here, it sounds deliberately fabricated to be a kind of hook for a wider audience. nothing at all wrong with seeking as big an audience as possible - why do all of this, make music, if not - but i am wary of such approach. my passions in music have, more or less, always been for bands that created a sound which drew an audience, not where musicians made it to cater for one. hence the limitations on Coldplay and Ed Sheringham (or whatever) in my collection. 

like for like comparisons are something at once i wish to avoid, but often use as it is the only real way, in words here, to give a sense of what a band sounds like. and, on that note, or to this effect, the more i play the record, the more i am thinking "this is a Stereophonics album". which isn't so bad a thing to get called i suppose. but, i would fancy, they, the band, would quite like to get to a stage where people are saying it "sounds like an Inhaler album". 

it will be so that, for much of August, this album will reside near the stereo, and get played a few times here and there. after the month, and more for time rather than the month itself, my suspicion is that it won't get played all that often. but, agreeable listening for now. 

be excellent to each other!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

who then devised such torment

hello there

and so i find myself very much in a state of feeling isolated, actually am isolated, yet i find myself in a particularly large number of the population. not a majority, look you see, but a significant aspect. so, yes, then, at time of writing (central July, 2021), i am one of those "lucky" ones in legally, often harshly enforced isolation things, for reasons of belief by someone that i have come into contact with someone what has got all that fancy new plague thing. 

quite, or rather, annoying, this is. so do please note this may be tinged with whines and groans, all whilst doing what i can to avoid such. but, also, yes, i have been "double jabbed", with the one that is the one the French (and others but not many) are scared of, and taking regular, frequent home tests which all come back as negative (as in do not have plague). 

presently, then, and again this is at time of writing (by the time this is published such rulings are intended to be a thing of the past), i am one of somewhere north of one million what are on instructions to isolate, to remain in quarantine, in exile. this shall be of relevance as my wording rambles on - i was one of the ones sentenced via phone call and text, rather than "pinged" by an "app". 

we need to stop running away from this plague; we need to fight the future. there is only so much an individual (such as moi) can do in realistic terms for this. one of the only ways i have found to punch through the canvas is pictured, in the greater good and glory of Commodore 64 mode, above in the form of some extra test, which apparently is part of a "study" group. it is highly unlikely that my agreement to do so will see me get parole, or early release. but, with some luck (or common sense), maybe it will help evaluate if all this vaccination (which i know does not translate as immunity) business has been worth it. momentarily, it feels, the view is kind of "no" if we are all expected to lock ourselves away as the invisible war rages still. 

my sentencing is for a crime that i am vaguely aware of, and ultimately responsible for. a calculated risk was taken, but evidently, or apparently, risk won out. there is a matter of some concern and trepidation about it for me, but softly and carefully must i tread, for fear or concern of either triggering various conspiracy theory types, or simply putting myself within the sights of (yet) another attempt at state sponsored assassination. no doubt they shall get me one day, but not thus far. 

the peculiar, or strange, thing is that i was contacted via a mobile number which was registered to moi, but not with the authorities who, with an iron fist which holds the gauntlet that they have used and are now drunk on power, contacted me. i do indeed have a number which i provide for such alerts, one on a device which also has this much vaunted "app" on it, yet that remained silent throughout the show trial i was placed on and of course found guilty. 

exactly why that would be relevant is all due to the differences in reaction one may have to the different ways in which your collar is felt by the ruling elite for doing no more than committing the crime of being human. if, and this is my understanding of it, you get "pinged" on the "app", then legally you can ignore it, tell them to go away, or go and get f****d or f*** off or similar. but, as was the case with me, if you get a call or a text message, then you are well and truly nicked, and if you don't comply with the sentence then you can get arrested, fined, all sorts. some reports suggest that police are turning up in full tilt riot mode to ensure twelve year old girls are isolating on the basis of a call. with some (certain) elements of plausibility existing in this call or text scenario, i elected not to follow the "go and get f****d" way of responding, then, as sorely and surely tempting as it was. be it either French or cowardice, i simply, or eventually, took it as a given that compliance with the sentence was the prudent approach. 

somewhere in the vicinity of this text should be an image of one of these home tests i have been doing for plague. it's called a "rapid" test, and may well even be the one they call a "lateral flow test", because of course they just can't give straightforward names to things no more. the result on it is negative for plague, as it has consistently been. what i get told is "ah but they are not reliable", sometimes if you have plague it says you don't. this prompts the question, then, of just what, exactly, is the entire f*****g point of these uncomfortable tests if the results can be disputed to suit a narrative. every now and then one gets a sense of the conspiracy theorists, or just those that question our response to the plague, may well not be entirely invalid in their stance. far from it, in a number of matters. but no, please do not go burning down telephone masts or other such nonsense. 

it is so that the above is "borrowed" off of the BBC website. as i appear to pay for such things via my licence fee (yes i pay it, as point of fact twice this year but that is another story), my understanding is that i can use it. well, if not, cry away. moving on, the above was taken quite early into the mid July based "ping fest 2021". about a day after this screen grab, that number of "pings" had doubled. 

as, or since, we are on the subject of the BBC, an oh so how very convenient story on their site today, which, assuming government censors do not step in, can be read by clicking here. those who suggest, or openly state, that the government brazenly runs on a "one rule for us" principal appear correct to do so. if for some reason you have no wish to click that, in short our incumbent Health Secretary, who is also coming to be known as lead state executioner, has this plague, but neither glorious leader Boris nor finance king Rishi must isolate, as they are involved in a "special secret test pilot" thing, open to just them and, for some reason, that lot at TfL, who get paid £50,000 a year to press a button yet still find reason to complain of their plight in life. 

my effort to get out of such condemnation and damnation has not, by all accounts, been taken as part of a "special secret" pilot group. yes, i went right off on one and did their "uber" PCR test thing, which effectively features a larger swab (cotton bud thing) than the daily one, as well as a thicker, more secret liquid to place it in. 

oh, one of those "to be fair" update things. it seems that the decision by the powers that be to casually avoid isolation lasted even shorter than a European Super League, as this follow up report says that glorious leader and him what done the money are now isolating, according to this article. 

result is in, and my PCR test shows a negative, which means no, i do not have plague, or whatever it is called. coronavirus, maybe, or covid. yet still i must remain imprisoned by the restrictions, as per the threats outlined in the screenshot somewhere around this text. so, presumably, or at a guess, i have a number of days to sit and read, or what have you. although maybe not, as for some unclear reason TfL employees are also exempt from isolation. i have forwarded a request to Spiros to get me a badge off of a tube driver, by any means neccessary, and if successful i can go out and about, presumably. 

for those of a mind (or otherwise inclined) to indulge conspiracy theories, indeed i would, giving consideration to moi being double jabbed and doing those frequent at home tests, think of this PCR test as being a bit excessive, especially as it gave the same result and, due to me not being weirdly specifically employed in a London-centric job, has not made one jot of a difference to my being locked up, yet no key thrown away. unless it were so that for some reason they wished to have a 'DNA' or whatever sample of me on file. well, now they do, but also if they had asked they could have had. 

doing them, or these, PCR tests (whatever PCR stands for) really is a pile of sh!t. i am under no illusions, i suspect how rank awful they are shall have been widely documented right across all of this exciting "internet" thing. but, should my view on them be a matter worth soliciting, there it is. 

one thing i wasn't really expecting though, as no one reasonably would give consideration to such a concern, was the choice of model in the booklet thing, which shows one how to do the test. 

there are those among us who have reached such fame and stature that they are easily and immediately recognisable. it is a truth universally acknowledge that Barbra Streisand is of such a position in our world, and there she is, in all her glory, demonstrating how to do the nose (or "business end") aspect of one of these tests. it was entirely by accident that i included the words there, but who here among(st) us could coin a better way to describe our experiences of the great Ms Streisand any more better than as being discomfort, but it should not hurt? 

living in informed times, as some of us elect to do, is there anything to the use of a likeness of Ms Streisand in guiding people on how to do these plague PCR test? most probably. it is all plausible this is really nothing more than the kind of extravagant and sophisticated means of promoting her latest musical adventure we are used to from her, really. and, in fairness, her new album does sound quite good, so why not. who cares how many of us need to be needlessly tormented if the ultimate aim is to promote how fabulous Barbra Streisand is? 

yes, it has occurred to me that i may set up my own "special secret test pilot group" to monitor and observe things related to my plight in the face of the plague. obviously this will be set up, purely, to let me roam the streets, but for purposes of appearance - the only thing which really counts these days - it shall be all done under the pretence of "learning" about the virus, or plague. do i qualify as some sort of boffin, or scientific expert? of course i do. i did a bit of science at school, am capable of wearing an ill fitting suit, often get accosted by people in parks who want a selfie with me, and am both confident and comfortable in telling someone to put the next slide up on a screen. 

credit where it is due, mind. the packaging thing to send them back this PCR test (which actually sounds a little Communist) is lovely. no doubt the need to have so many of these has in some small way helped inspire the current cardboard box shortage in the world, for we cannot blame all such things on whatever the most recent temper tantrum by Greta has concerned. 

this desperation, dislocation, separation, condemnation, revelation, temptation, isolation, desolation, let it go, and so fade away, to let it go, And so fade away, i'm wide awake, wide awake, i'm not sleeping

right, well, let me go and serve the rest of my unjust, Shawshank Redemption like sentence, except without The Kurgan, as best i can, hoping not to get shanked (or worse) in the shower. perhaps i shall use the time constructively and / or (with emphasis on "or") read that novel off of the tall, smug, smarmy one out of Pointless. to my knowledge the short, smug, smarmy balding one out of that show has yet to do a novel, but nothing much can be of a surprise any more. 

be excellent to each other!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

queen

howdy pop pickers

rounding off a month of mostly vibes posts, then, is one of the (or the) most celebrated records, albums or what have you. which would be Greatest Hits by Queen. called that because, look you see, no one titled such things as "Volume 1" or similar at the time. 

essentially, the "greatest hits" or "best of" release by a band or solo artist was, perhaps is, one of the ways in which the noble record industry worked out they could effectively sell the same music to people again and again. but not brutally so. there were instances where some fans might not have had all the albums from a group (or singer) and certainly there are many examples of some singles never featuring on an album. best examples of such are found across the careers of The Beatles and, more prominently, The Rolling Stones. 

an unusual, or interesting, thing seemed to happen with this first Queen Greatest Hits record. it appeared to take an already big band and make them even bigger, for this set outsold the impressive sales of their albums, and pretty much outsold every other record ever released. i mean, this was huge. rightly so, too, since this set encompasses some of the greatest music in like, totes forever. 

moving away from statements or a presentation of "facts" that i cannot substantiate, let me rather get to where we are now. this year, being 2021, apparently marks the 40th anniversary of this particular set. so, as is custom or standard, a grand re-issue has taken place. actually, yes, this got mentioned in passing on a bit i did recently about the non-Primal Scream release off of Bobby Gillespie. 

what this means, mostly, to me is that it is now 40 years since i got my first ever walkman, then. such is dated by the fact that the tape i would like to think was the first ever played on it was indeed Greatest Hits by Queen, recorded off the lp for me by Dad. in reality, i would imagine or suspect it was an Adam & The Ants tape first, but still. certainly i can recall the Queen tape getting played again and again, right up until the point where it fell from a balcony in a hotel and got smashed on connecting with the ground. 

there was, in truth, little or no interest in me purchasing (oddly, kind of for the first time) this album, or getting it again, when i saw it. mostly this was due to HMV having the CD at a north of £10 price, the novelty factor of the tape at north of £15 (but south of £20) and the vinyl at £whatever because tucked away i do have the vinyl what Dad taped it off, beautified by our kitten from the time nibbling off part of the corner of the cover. 

not too great, that pic above, but then again which of my pictures are excellent. anyhow, just here to show off the ridiculous high quality of vibes (music) which makes up this set. brilliant. 

so, no, the HMV pricing did not inspire a random purchase. however, an email came off of the label what Queen are on (i am presuming i ticked or didn't tick something when buying something by someone else on the same label), advising me that they had "specials" on the Queen Greatest Hits celebratory 40th anniversary thing. 

i am quite easy to lure in with the perception of a bargain or good value, or just part with cash if the right name is on something (anything). the link on the mail offered me the 2011 remaster of the CD for somewhere south of £6, a similar price (as in identical) for the tape with the classic, original cover, or a flat, straight £5 for a special tape with any member of the band i cared to select on the cover. done deal, that was, then. hence these pictures. 

yes, sure, Queen is, are or were one of those bands where you could argue each member was reasonably iconic and treasured, but let us be honest, Freddie was, is and forever shall be always out there on his own. so, for aspects and elements of nostalgia, i purchased the Freddie cover version (two pics joined together by moi above) for William, both for his growing tape collection and my own memories. indeed he does like Queen, and i recall (fondly forever shall) him being a bit worried when i played him the song Fat Bottomed Girls for the first time, as he believed we may be getting in trouble for playing such a clearly naughty song. 

this is, effectively, the forth instance of me owning a copy of this recording, but yet the first time i have directly handed coins to Queen for it. first was the frequently mentioned tape, second was a lovely set of all three (3) Queen Greatest Hits things from my brother one Christmas, third was a "disc only" copy i found in a shop for 49p. how fitting and apt that, for the 40th anniversary of this release, i was able to procure and secure a 10th anniversary release of the 30th anniversary release of it. or something like that, sorry i rang out of fingers as i tried to count. 

doubtful that this needs saying, but yes, i would think every single household in the UK, if not the world, should either have a copy of Greatest Hits by Queen or reasonable access to it. as staggering as the quality of all this is, what is all the more impressive is how the second volume of such, with some imagination called Greatest Hits II, gets bigger and better. but yet these are the anthem being, the well and truly iconic songs what made the band so treasured. 

be excellent to each other!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!