hums the theme from Space 1999 and other Christmas Classics

hello once more

well, those in the know, as in those who bought the ace books by the Thorne of David, will get the reference in the title there. this post really isn't about that, although yes it is, look you see.

my good, versatile and vastly talented friend who does the music and that has unleashed, as is of course usual, his first ever Christmas Covers Album. yeah, click on the writing there and you are whisked away to where you can listen to it and, as point of fact, obtain it.

this album contains, as you would expect, a stack of songs which simply scream, or if you like sing, Christmas. each and every one of the nicely decimalised ten tunes evokes all that is yuletide in nature, so long as the songs on it are the ones that you happen to like listening to in the season of goodwill.

highlights? try all the songs. but i will indulge you with one or two comments.

Pink Floyd are, in many respects, a band U2 must surely envy. U2 go about their business, are honest and transparent with their finances, and give the fans what they want. they regularly get slammed by the press for it. bizarrely, Pink Floyd sit on huge piles of money, are eager to get as many more coins of money as possible by constantly re-releasing the "best version ever, honest" editions of their albums. this exceptional p!ss-taking recently hit a brand new height which saw them release 20 year old out-takes from an album which was so bad to begin with no one has ever actually managed to play it all the way through. no doubt the band are as pleased with the insanely good and fawning reviews as they are with all the lovely money. the Christmas sentiment at the heart of the Pink Floyd corporate machine, that of how it is better to give than receive but f*** me isn't it brilliant to receive money for a pile of sh!t, is represented here with an amazing cover of Comfortably Numb. this is, of course, a song from a time when Pink Floyd still actually cared about the music they made.

also included, to give you the link once more, on the Christmas Covers Album is a stunning reading of Jesus He Knows Me. granted, for many, references to Jesus, religion and the Nativity do tend to fly in the face of what most celebrate at this time of year, but JG has never been one for niceties or bowing before the altar of convention.

what can one say of this version? well, should Phil Collins ever hear it, he will probably retire in disgrace and shame. there are many that will have read that and instantly started working out how to get a copy of it to him to test this, but i believe Sharpy, who has a good working relationship with his management (he got the address off of google), has already done this. so don't be at all surprised if you don't ever hear any new music off of Phil Collins ever again, the JG recording of the highlight of his career has pretty much brought the curtain down on it all. not so much Mike Rutherford, though, he has a somewhat slightly more well balanced and rational approach to this sort of thing - he knows when he is beat and just gets on with it.

and finally the cover of Enola Gay is brilliant; a reminder of just what an amazing band OMD were and how more people should listen to them more often.

nice work, JG. and for all you readers, just because the Christmas Covers Album is available for any price you like - free, even - doesn't mean you should take it for free.if you pay a pound or some nominal fee for it, you will feel good about supporting an artist and you will also allow JG to carry on his good work in helping orphans and saving mistreated donkeys or whatever it is he does.

stop reading this and go give it a listen!



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