met my maker, made him cry

howdy pop pickers

just another look at one of my (most recent) gifts of christmas, look you see, and indeed at, or of, some new vibes. well, "new" as in newly released, for this would be vibes what got recorded some 25 years ago, or if you like a quarter of a century before now, yet only got released now. 

what this concerns, then, is the (relatively) recent release (at time of writing) of Knebworth 1996 off of Oasis. a band what is rather famously, or infamously, no longer with us as a going concern. i am going to go right ahead and suggest, or state, that i am not alone in being a Dad what got one of the variations of this release for christmas off of their kids. which feels insane and crazy, how is it that i am here, we are all here, where Oasis are a thing so far from the past that our children are going "oh that's that band what our parents liked, that will do as a gift". blimey. 

so, for a brief history of time, what (exactly) is Knebworth 1996, and why is it a big deal release? essentially it's the band going, in a time span not too north of two years, going from playing a few clubs and sounding promising to being able to sell out any size venue you like, ten to a hundred times over. making it all the more astonishing (it was at the time, but in particular looking back) was that it was all fan driven. no huge marketing or plugging, no manipulating of things like "streaming" (for such did not exist), just us, music lovers, embracing the incredible songs and pure rock and roll antics. all things must pass, this time has passed, we really shall, with the way all music works now, never ever get this again. which is a shame for old f***s like me, but if the kids dig what they get now that's cool, it's all rock and roll man. 

alarm bells kind of rang when i saw the cover for Oasis Knebworth 1996, mind. presented here in the greater good and glory of Commodore 64 mode, everything about the cover says it was designed in less than thirty (30) seconds and has a "that will do" feel. sure, yes, the cover features an iconic image of Liam doing his thing in a parka. which means it's not actually an image from either of the Knebworth gigs, for he was (in)famously in the midst of his "i am become Lennon" phase, wearing white for each of the nights. oh. 

live albums are something often discussed here, and indeed in other areas of the internet. quite a few bands, and fans, dismiss them, viewing it all as either "a bit" of a con, or a handy way to meet contractual obligations with a record label. true, every now and then there's a really great, classic live album, such as (of course) Live At Leeds off of The Who, and of course Frampton Comes Alive. also, quite by accident (it feels) at least one of the six (!!!) live albums issued off of the Bowie Estate turned out to be a masterpiece. 

for Oasis, a reality was seen one Oasis gig, seen every Oasis gig. predominantly they just stood there, no theatrics or show, performing the songs pretty much exactly as one heard on the records. sure, Liam would change some lyrics to swear words, and indeed randomly swear at people, and Noel would take a few moments to remind everyone in attendance how brilliant Noel is and what a genius Noel is. yet an unmistakable energy exists in them live, an undefined extra element. maybe not so lacking in definition, actually. how fans, if not the world, embraced good to great songs and turned them into iconic anthems with their reaction, elevates it all. 

the real "win" with this set, as good as it is to hear the two (2) CDs which recreate the set list with the best performances off of each night (also two), is the film what comes with it. whereas i had no interest in the blu ray that presents each gig in full (as in three hours of Liam, Noel, Bonehead et al stood there), the film is quite different. whatever irreconcilable differences exist between Liam and Noel do not exist so far as their knowing, understanding, appreciating and loving the fact that it was music fans, the people who heard the songs and bought them in abundance, that elevated them from "good band" to rock legends, a place in history secured alongside all the bands they, just a few years before Knebworth, were humble fans of. 

of this, i am unsure i have ever seen a better music documentary film than the one on the DVD here. it is superb. for the most part it tells the story of the gigs - from ticket announcement to people going home after the last night - via the fans. interviews recorded at the time and reflections from some who were there narrate it all, with a decent amount of snippets of each song, too. sure, now and then Liam, Noel and of course Bonehead will chip in with a comment, but mostly it's the fans telling it all, whether at the gig or too young to be there so taping it off of the radio. it's brilliant. to echo what i just wrote, no matter how brilliant Noel believes he is (and he's not entirely wrong), no matter how arrogant Liam comes across (and if you've gone and done it how arrogant is it being), at no stage, no matter how bloated or inflated egos had become, did they for a second doubt that the only reason they were up there on that stage was the people who had come, far and wide, to put them there.   

nothing lasts forever, of course. whereas two (at the time) new songs featured, mostly this was all stuff from the first two albums. two untouchable, great albums that sold millions and probably now "stream" billions. further huge success followed, but it was "never the same" after the summer of 96. a third, somewhat bloated but nowhere near as bad as some recall album followed in 97, of course. as did a few number one singles, when people had to actually buy the records to get it to chart, and not rely on the record labels mysteriously ensuring enough streams happened for it to get to the top spot. 

i would be reluctant to get too philosophical about Oasis, but oddly Noel accidentally summed up the turning point that Knebworth would become, some time before it did. of that great, exciting singles chart battle, the one of Blur vs Oasis (here), Noel pointed out that in no way, shape or form were Blur the "competition" Oasis were worried about. as far as he was concerned, the bands they were taking on were U2 and REM, easily (and by some distance from all others) the two biggest, active bands on the go in the nineties. and he was right. once Knebworth happened, that was it. no more were they simply the biggest selling band out of the astonishing set of brilliant British bands, they were an indelible part of rock legend. nothing wrong with that, for why even bother doing it if you are not going to try and sell as many records, fill as many concert venues as you can? but still, also, the definite end of an era. 

certainly, truly, this set is recommended. either as the 2 CD set, or the deluxe one what the boys kindly got me, with this brilliant documentary thrown in. should the blu ray of the two gigs feature the documentary as well (i have not looked), not a bad option to consider.

be rock and roll!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

justice deferred

hello

yes, certainly, it was (quite recently) that time of year again. over the last two, or three (possibly just two, look you see) years a "tradition" has started, in which The Viz (link) invites members of the public, or rather them of us like me what read it, to sit on a jury for a case in Fulchester Crown Court. being dedicated to duty of civic or public good requirements, of course i did so. 

and, once again, i was rewarded for helping the course of justice with (due to me sending in an SAE) me getting some (or yet) more styled "cheap pens" off of them in the post. hence the SAE thing. 

what was particularly lovely this time was that the usual "with compliments" (in this instance now with condiments) slip featured a doodle of Sandra and Tracy (Tracey?) off of Fat Sl@gs from their pages. also, and most importantly, a question. 

for a while now i have been wondering what, exactly, the verdict was from the previous trial. the details of that case, and my participation, can be found here. usually in the next edition they give you the verdict, but in this instance they did not. nor did it feature in the next, or the one after that. so, i asked about it when i returned by jury vote for thus one. 

not sure if you can make that out clearly, but apparently there was no verdict as such in the last trial, as it ended in a mistrial. oh, right. knowing The Viz as i do (and i have been reading it north of 30 years), i suspect this means they might simply have forgotten to publish the verdict. but, far be it from me to make a direct accusation of that nature. 

exactly what matter was before Fulchester Crown Court in this instance? it is not appropriate for me to give the specifics, for i do try to keep this reasonably suitable for all ages to read. to give you as much as i feel comfortable with, a gent called Chippercock stood accused of watching a certain kind of video on his phone, and performing a certain act on himself as he watched, in a public place. which public place, you ask? a church, whilst a funeral service was being held. 

of course it is so that i cannot tell you what verdict i sent in, for such would be inappropriate. but, rest assured i gave the matter full consideration before casting my verdict, or vote. perhaps in this instance a verdict shall be reached, and The Viz will let us know what it is, unless there is another "mistrial". 

mostly, though (or for the most part), i am just glad to have a few more of these pens. other than them being branded with The Viz, and this being quite class, as it happens they are actually a really good pen to write with. but, also, yes, the personalised doodle is a lovely thing, and i will most certainly be keeping it. possibly with the "loser" mug they sent me a while back.

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

arise sir draw

g'day

well, here we are. i did not have much of a wish to write, or speak, of the Ashes series at all, but i was kind of asked to. some looked at my initial thoughts, which i gave. if you are interested, here you go, a link to it all, look you see. unexpectedly a second post has been called upon. but why not, with this being published on Australia Day. 

comments were passed on my initial thoughts. a few, perhaps even many, considered me to be unduly harsh, or even going a bit over the top, with the repeated use of the term "treason" when discussing my thoughts, considered feelings and overall view of the present England cricket team. apparently i was hasty in doing so, what with England somehow recording a valiant (according to some) draw in the fourth Test. 

i am not at all sure what it is people wished for me to do with news of the Fourth Test being drawn. the series was already determined, decided indeed, Australia had won (and thus retained) The Ashes. whatever might happen in Test Match Four or Five was, in some senses, redundant. oh, sure, there's all that stuff about "playing for pride" and "seeking to improve", but these were things i had reasonably expected to see in Tests One to Three, thanks. 

at the time of writing thinks look further bleak. i write this just some five or six hours prior to the commencement (start) of day three of the Fifth Test. which is likely to be the final day, with England getting another right proper hiding off of the Aussies. this defeat (barring some untold miracle) is even more depressing that the others, for across the initial time of this Test this far the Australians have not even really been trying, they've just been f*****g about, quietly content in the knowledge that beating England does not require they bring their A game. or B, C, D or E game. 

just what sort of change of opinion was expected of me after the Fourth Test? i cannot think what. am i supposed to think it's marvelous that two of our bowlers were responsible for batting out a narrow, fortunate and downright lucky draw? should i be demanding that all of the team receive knighthoods for this valiant display? i think not. 

up to now (and i really don't expect this to change with what little is left of the series) the only real highlight from an English perspective is how many rain delays we've had. no, these rain delays did not assist or help "save" any matches, but they did allow for Glenn McGrath to speak at length on the radio. on the field he was a ferocious, formidable, brilliant player with few peers in his league; off the pitch he is an eloquent, gifted and interesting speaker. 

mostly, then, i believe my comments in the first (or initial) post stand. yes, sure, true, some might say that the view is harsh, but there is no point dressing it up. why scramble for any positives when none particularly exist? 

to the best of my knowledge, or at least as far as i am aware, it is at the least the case that we are being beaten in Test Matches alone. for now. due to all that plague business, things have changed. just as soon as Australia have quite finished battering us, our squad can fly home. the usual one day and "twenty twenty" series which would come on a tour shall only happen later in the year, i believe November. by such a time who knows, plague might be beaten, and England might have selected some actual cricket players interested in at least trying to win. 

everything wrong with the English cricket team sent to Australia is probably right there in the image above. well, no, not everything. but that does show two England players congratulating each other on surviving one (1) delivery off of an Australian bowler which did not lead to a wicket, or if you will dismissal. that we were reduced to celebrating when Australia failed to knock the stumps out of the ground, or catch the ball, sums it up. 

one good friend suggested, quite recently, that in the interest of my health - be it heart, blood pressure, headaches, stress and so forth - that i might wish to consider giving up on cricket, or at the least supporting someone that at least appears to know how to play. no, for England is my team. may the next generation of players selected be better. 

be fair dinkum to each other!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

labyrinth

hello there

recently i had the pleasure of catching up with a dear friend. this was recently as in time which has passed, look you see, but oddly it might be that such may happen again in a future recent sense. certainly it would be smart to do so. just maybe in a nicer surrounding or environment. where we met was not too bad, i guess, but could be better. 

no matter with regards to such complaints (or grumbles). yes, of course i captured the moment of meeting an old chum from school days. a friend, for reasons of entirely needless secrecy, we shall refer to by the term or title Codename Labyrinth only. 

making this all the more of a mystery is, but of course, my decision to record the moment in the greater good and glory of Commodore 64 mode. whereas i always look most decidedly and distractedly better via this medium, i am not at all sure it does my chum justice. yet, that said, he did mention he was fascinated by how much stuff i do in Commodore 64 mode, so it feels apt. or appropriate, whichever of them words is more better to use. 

anyway, once again i can advise, report of comment that this was a most excellent adventure, and one that would be boss to do once more, at the least, again. soon. 

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

gnome update

heya

a little while ago i did a piece on an ambitious film project what i am working on. for those interested, be it very, partially or slightly, here is a link, look you see. 

production, or pre-pre-production, rather, is going splendidly well. of course i remain reluctant, indeed reticent, to share too many details of the (if we are honest, non-existent) plot and what have you, but surely no harm can come from a few "on set" stills. perhaps a scene, or two. 

there is obviously a tremendous, or great deal (or slight) interest in this project, especially as, well, you never know, as speculated before that Christopher Nolan fellow might approach me to take over this project, believing it to be his sort of thing. unlikely, sure, but it cannot be ruled out just because presently its is not ruled in. if he happens to be reading, i am indeed open to offers. 

so, anyway, with such interest, no doubt them what do the analysis videos and that shall be taking to that you tube thing to present their findings of "secrets" in these new images (and bits of footage), putting red circles around some elements for no apparent reason. no, i don't particularly mind. 

when they do get around to doing that (if they do), it's probable that they might pick up on things such as the gnome outfit being different, the gnome being different, and that the gnome is on a sled or sledge in the new material. they would be correct to do so. in the footage above, and below, and in the images, one can, kind of, see this. presented, of course, in the greater good and glory of Commodore 64 mode. 

obviously i cannot say too much about this change in artistic direction. quite an exciting change, i hope some of you will agree. the influence and inspiration kind of came to me around about the time i saw a rather smaller, dressed differently gnome of a sled (sledge) in Poundland, for £1. 

despite (or even though) there are just a few seconds of actual, yet real time (whatever that actually means) footage here, i'd like to think the impression is that this shall be a fairly exciting film. or has the potential to be. really, truthfully, this project needs to get picked up off of me by Christopher Nolan, or at least one of those people what have done the recent decent things for Star Wars. so not him what did the space cow milk one, then. 

many rumours, lies and stories made up circulate about me. even though some are true. the reality is that i truly am just a simple person, and i am unsure i have the capability to see this project through. but, as and when i get a gnome (or similar) to film, i suppose i can keep working on the project. 

no, the project does not have a final, confirmed name as such as yet. for now gnome shall do as a working title, but that may well prove to be too literal. referring to it as untitled gnome project seems excessive, for to call it that would indeed be to give it a title, surely? 

but yes, sure, certainly, as and when i do any further development on this project, or idea, i will no doubt share it all here. what else am i going to do with it? 

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

once again to the car wash

hey there

regular readers shall be all too aware of what all of this is about. for those visiting for the first time, well, first of welcome, look you see. and yes, to confirm, here we go again with yet another look at an instance of me using one of them car wash facilities. 

anything of consequence or interest to this visit? kind of. not really all that different from any other use of a car wash. except, perhaps (maybe), to note that this is the first such visit made for the year that is this year, being 2022. further, it was also the first time what i had driven is said year (2022), and was my first driving adventure for some three (3) weeks, what with me being off of verk over the festive season, or Christmas if you will. 

certainly i have captured the moment in the greater good and glory of Commodore 64 mode. i would say that this is as always, but i have a vague memory of going on a bit of a bender and doing one of these via the medium of ZX Spectrum mode. doubt i shall do that again. 

some animated gif image video thing of the car wash? certainly. here you go, the usual thing, a shot of them big massive floppy soft brushes doing their thing on the windscreen. 

well, that's about it, i fear. to be honest this is a subject i am now quite (or rather) bored of. as point of fact i was a year or so ago. but, or and yet, for some reason these posts do seem quite popular, and i guess they give me something to write of here. so, here you go. 

yes, quite likely that as and when (as in when) i next go do a car wash visit, i shall most probably do further pics and share them here. maybe, or perhaps, i will experiment with a format that is not the greater good and glory of Commodore 64 mode. we shall see. 

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

random bowie - toy

howdy pop pickers

yes, a "revival", of sorts, of that random bowie thing what i did. having gone done a decidedly amateurish, just a fan overview of his albums (here, look you see) it seems appropriate to continue (and tag) such with this, a "new" album off of David Bowie. except, of course, it is not "new" as such. yes, newly released and now official, as  it were, but that's it. 

for those of you reading who have missed what this might all relate to, it's Toy. this album off of David Bowie got released on 7 January 2022, on the eve of what would have been (or is) his 75th birthday, north of 20 (twenty) years after it was recorded and not released, north of ten (10) years after it rather infamously "leaked" online. with regards to the latter, it got "leaked" in a more complete version that this actual release, but i shall get to that. you will too, i suppose, if you keep reading. 

certainly i did go and get this on the day of release, off of HMV. full well i knew they were charging £3 or so more than the official website for it, but then the website would have piled on postage costs, and it was obvious that the packaging for it wouldn't have gone in a conventional letterbox, so it would have been the faff and fiasco of trying to catch Royal Mail parcel delivery and arranging redelivery. ultimately, buying it off of HMV was supposed to be nostalgic, but turned out to be depressing. no sign of it on display in the shop (hence no pics), with them instead trying to sell me Adele, Abba and Ed Sheridan (or whatever). i had to ask a nice man at the counter, and yes, they had a couple behind the counter. 

the first thing one will note of Toy is, of course, the eye-watering price on it. quite a challenge to Bowie fans, that, especially as January is generally considered a poor month financially, what with the excesses of Christmas and what have you. after that, it's difficult not to note (or notice) is the album cover. indeed, yes, it is hideous. January 7 2022 is the day, or date, then, when Never Let Me Down lost the title of being the worst ever David Bowie album cover. quite a bit of noise from the Bowie Estate has been made, clarifying that the image was "designed and created" by Bowie himself. this was never ever in doubt, for David Bowie imposing a (then) recent image of David Bowie on a baby picture of David Bowie is about the most non-musical David Bowie thing i can think of. but i have my doubts he intended for such to ever be used in furtherance of album art. 

if you were looking for, or seeking, a quick idea of whether or not Toy in an official variation is worth it or any good, well done for pushing in so far to this text to find that and the answer is kind of. leaving aside, for now, the needless way in which this release has been bloated, the record, as in the music itself, is a determined personification of "average". so far all the reviews i have seen, written by people what get paid to review vibes (i do not) have been diplomatic, with the echo of "it's nice to have but not an essential album" ringing through them all. quite an accurate description of it. none of the songs are particularly that bad, yet very few stand out. 

essentially, or effectively, what happened with this record at the time? well, no one knows for certain. claims were that Bowie was "inspired" by his consideration for his Glastonbury set to go and rush record a "surprise" album of spontaneous choices, with Toy being it. alas, the record label disagreed, with the official line being that they didn't believe an album of mostly re-recorded pre-fame Bowie songs would be as successful or as "commercially viable" as an album of new material. cynical types would suggest that Bowie's plan was somewhat less spontaneous, with some of the songs appearing in sets a year or so before release. for the label, owing to how publishing rights, licencing and all that works, the income split for the album would have been 80% David Bowie, 20% record label. so the record label told him to f*** off back to the studio, please. 

above is the cover of the booklet inside the lavish box what Toy has come out in. yes, indeed, i agree that would have made a considerably better cover than what came out. but, here we are. 

mostly, then, what Toy consists of is Bowie re-recording some songs off of his less famous era, mid to late 60s. surprisingly he resisted the obvious temptation to revisit Laughing Gnome or When I'm Five, but for the most part, at least, did go and select some songs from his past that were full worthy of attention beyond cheap to licence cash-in releases by the initial rights holders. undoubtedly, or certainly, this is true of one particular tune which he particularly hammered in the year or so prior to recording Toy, the rather good Can't Help Thinking About Me. 

on my personal list of "all time favourite Bowie songs of all time" there sits the relatively obscure tune that is Conversation Piece. i first heard it on the Space Oddity CD release of, what, 89 or 90, and more or less immediately fell in love with it. some delight, then, in seeing Bowie pick it out to try and ensure it got a bigger audience in the modern world, much like he did (with a shorter turnaround time) with the magnificence of Strangers When We Meet in the 90s. not sure i am overtly keen on this slowed down version, hearing it here again (three times) on Toy. 

quite a few people, myself included, will of course have already heard this re-recorded Conversation Piece in an official way, for it was one of the bonus tracks included in the "deluxe edition" of the album Bowie f****d off to the studio to record when Toy was declined a release. that one was Heathen, a not too bad album but not memorable. 

going back a bit on the basis of that, be it all non-linear or non non-linear, it's a bit interesting (i guess) that the official release of Toy doesn't quite match the tracklisting of the leaked, or if you will bootlegged, version of the record. i did some checking, and sure enough two (2) songs are omitted. they, or them, would be the ones that were relatively (so far as anyone knows) new compositions and recordings, which got reworked and re-recorded for inclusion in Heathen. 

undoubtedly there are reasons - licensing, rights ownership, etc - why the official, expensive version of the album is not quite so complete as the freely available bootleg, but still. for a few years, from what i remember, no less than Brian Eno used to use his Twitter thing to share links to download the bootleg variation of Toy with the world, not sure but possibly every year on what would have been Bowie's birthday. in all honesty, and completely excluding the debate about piracy, the idea of having this record in a form that was taped off of Brian Eno shall always seem totes cooler than any official version. 

best i can do for you, that picture above is, of what is inside the box for Toy, limiting the view of that hideous artwork as best i can. yes, it is on the front of each of the three (3) discs inside, but i figured it would be more better to try and show the tracklisting for them. oh, goodness me, yes, there is a lot of repetition across the discs. for those interested, the sequence of images in the booklet you can vaguely make out in the image are portraits of all the artists what appeared on the record, with the attribution that Bowie himself gone done them portraits. a reasonably rare insight into his art, then. reduced here to images barely the size of a conventional stamp. 

a not unreasonable question would be why now? exactly, why now? this release of Toy shall have been considered and planned long in advance of the recent deal, in which Warner have bought the Bowie catalogue for some very serious money. more on that later (if i remember), but i suppose there was always an intention to put this one out at some stage. putting out an officially (ahem) new album for what would have been (or is) his 75th birthday makes a degree of sense. 

just strange, though, that it all seems to have come at the cost (or instead) of any particularly special or decent celebration of the 50th anniversary of Hunky Dory. considering how hard and large they hammered the 50th anniversaries of Space Oddity and The Man Who Sold The World (the latter was subject to two CD issues), that all we get for (arguably) his first truly great album is one (1) vinyl picture disc of an 8 (eight) year old pressing of it. worth mentioning that Hunky Dory is the album home to Changes, a song which one could suggest defined his career, and Life On Mars?, a song which routinely gets voted as his "greatest ever" when they do polls. 

so it is, then, that Toy marks (probably) the final, last release before Warner take over the issuing of the Bowie catalogue to we, the people. for those who are responsible for the Bowie Estate, if the reported US $250 million is anywhere near what they got, good business, especially as they seem unable to work out what to do with what they have (refer to the Brilliant Live Adventures debacle). for Warner they have paid a huge some of money for effectively priceless art. as to us, the humble fans, everything about their track record says good days are ahead. look to how Warner have gone done reissues of classic Prince albums, and that album which has strong claim as being the greatest ever, Rumours off of Fleetwood Mac. the overwhelming majority of their music releases gives every indication of them subscribing to the idea that if you give the fans what they want, fairly, they are happy to pay. we are. 

oh, yeah, Toy. what this post is supposed to be about, but i figured it would be amiss for me not to mention the recent developments, and a separate post would have been excessive. rather get it all out in a longer, bigger one. so to speak. 

effectively, the spirit of the reviews in general (mentioned earlier) sum it up well. besides the well covered "leak" of it, more than half of the songs here have turned up on CD singles (remember them, i miss them), extras on albums of even "best of" sets. the whole of Toy amounts to Bowie re-recording some of the obscure things from his early days, long before such was popular. him being ahead of the game is not really a new thing, or at least wasn't. 

the main problem, or barrier, prohibiting getting excited about this is how needlessly bloated it is. i cannot stress enough how you end up with rather more than less of it being three discs all of the same thing. certainly some "audio experts" will note differences, but me not so much. disc two, called alternate mixes and extras (i think only an extra two songs), don't feel far removed from the album proper, whereas the third, a quasi acoustic "unplugged and somewhat slightly electric" take on most of the songs, amounts more or less to demo versions. not bad but no, not essential. 

comments on the actual music, beyond what i have done? ok. the standout, or outstanding, one is certainly Can't Help Thinking About Me. no surprise, really, as he had been playing it for close on two years before deciding to do a studio version, and of all the tunes it sounds the closest of them to the original 60s recording. as for the titular Toy (Your Turn To Drive), it's also great. weird, though, as the piano bit sounds like it is "borrowed" off of that Thousand Miles by Vanessa Carlton, yet seems to have been recorded a year or so before that song. various reports and comments suggest that one tune, Shadow Man, has been kicking around in a lyrical form since the Ziggy Stardust sessions, with this incarnation turning up on some variations of Heathen bonus discs. no, it isn't a lost or newly discovered masterpiece, sorry. 

putting this out as a full tilt, loaded one disc affair would, i suspect, have been wiser. sure, on the one side it's kind of interesting to have (quite close to) all recordings of one album sometimes, but i am unconvinced Toy is such an album. still, done now, obtained and, after some shuffling, on the shelf with the remainder of my Bowie collection. where, i suspect, it won't get moved much. 

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

if it wasn't for your misfortunes i'd be a heavenly person today

hello there

i write, or rather publish, this on the eve of the 2022 edition of blue monday. no, not that one, there is not, so far as i am aware, another re-issue of Blue Monday off of New Order on the way. well, there might be, look you see, but if so that is co-incidence. 

tomorrow is the quite rubbish (as in worse than the mid-90s mixes of the previously mentioned song) version or variation of blue monday. it is named so for it is considered the single most depressing day of the year. why? well, for those in gainful employment and with a reliable pay structure mechanism in place, it's about a week or so away from the next payday, with the previous one, often "helpfully" earlier in december, seeming quite some time ago. and usually the extravagances of december - festivus, christmas, new year, the "holiday season" - means money has been drained. 

as, and i suspect this goes without saying, this sucks, i figured some relief was required. for anyone visiting my small area of the internet, then, what better way to shake off misery than with a little bit of none other than Dean Martin doing his thing? 

by doing his thing, no, i don't mean just enjoying a nice drink and a cigarette or two. that said, yes, it is true i could spend several hours watching such, but none of us have the time for that right now. 

you may believe, think or even feel that your impending blue monday shall be miserable. well, it is entirely possible, or likely, it shall be. all the more reason, then, to pause for four (or so) minutes and watch the below video clip (yes, we've got a video). so long as the video works. 

right, lovely that, a good laugh. and so now we move on, hoping that blue monday of 2022 does not quite suck so much, and happier days are ahead. 

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

and when i call you on the phone

hi

of all the phones what i have had, there is really only one that i actually miss. that would, of course, be the blueberry, or blackberry, or whatever they were called, look you see. an actual, proper phone, with buttons and that, which was "smart" and did all that you required without distractions. in quite a remarkable example of many of the faults in this world in this century (thus far), for some reason it went from being the best and most desirable phone going to obsolete and a laughing stock very quickly. 

loathe and reticent to indulge "conspiracy theories" and other such rubbish as i may be, every now and then one of them seems valid. the fate of the blackberry appears to fall into this rare category. authorities, the powers that be or if you will the ruling classes didn't care much for the blackberry, for the security (encryption) and messaging system brought together on the device was impossible to access, monitor or what have you. i seem to recall the constabulary being quite distressed at the use of them, according to them at least, in coordinating the so-called 'london riots' of 2011, or thereabouts.

next thing you know, say in or around 2011, 2012 maybe, backed by a suspiciously widespread media wave, the blackberry was considered "out" and others "in". all of a sudden the thing for one and all to do was get something called an "android" phone, or one of them "itwat" ones. strange, as one has to recall that at that time neither, in particular the awful first variation of the "itwat", could do a fraction of what the blackberry could. except, of course, these phones were relatively easy to track and crack, with both the location of the device and what it was being used for all to easy to access. 

this is all likely a comment, observation or even (if we are honest) rant i have had before. it all came back to me, however, when by chance i saw, on that there internet thing, this wonderful advert for what i shall take as a given as being a pirate, or independently produced, blackberry variation. 

no, alas, i never owned a "blockberry" phone. quite a pity, especially as it for some reason appeared to use the windows operating system, and further seemed to be endorsed by he who is likely to go down as the last ever vaguely, partially fondly remembered president of america. it is easy to forget that barack was quite the fan of the blackberry too. his successor, that donald bloke, was the personification of the poster boy for all things "itwat", which you would also think would give some pause for thought. 

would i have much (if any) interest in getting my hands on one of these "blockberry" things? of course, if it was cheap. should or could be a laugh to see what it is all about. yet the likelihood is limited, for obtaining pirate versions of phones is not all that easy, especially not ones what are around, more or less, a decade old and for versions of devices no longer popular. but, if i saw one, sure. 

a lovely thought to conclude this post on is for you to know that should you be reading this on a mobile device, them what built and run said device are watching you. no huge alarm bells need ring, for the only interest they have is trying to work out what else they can try and sell you in adverts based on your  looking at this. good luck with that. 

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

you better shape up because i need a man

hello there

in a quite unusual and somewhat unexpected turn of events it was so that, recently, several of my favourite things all came together in one inspired moment. giving some sort of list of these is of course what i shall do, look you see, but best i qualify it. so, in no particular order, these favourite things include (and i suspect that i shall have forgotten some) shiny discs, cheap shiny discs, stripping, getting fit, dancing, banging vibes and probably some other stuff. 

best i sort of go back to kind of the start of all this, then, going on the amount of pictures and even video what i have already uploaded. so yes, shiny discs. my preference is for listening to vibes, or if you insist music, on compact disc format. i really, really dislike all this "streaming" business, as it just doesn't sound right. a compact disc lets you hear music proper, and you get all the artwork, linear notes and stuff like that. 

this, of course, puts me at odds with how society is going. for some reason, then, music in a physical format has been devalued. which means that when one walks into a charity shop, stocked solely with donations, one can find a great many classic albums sat there, on disc, going for most agreeable (as in extremely cheap) pricing. 

whereas i could write a fair bit on some of the classics i have found, it's that one pictures above that is, of course, under discussion here. no less than two (2) shiny discs here, for Fit To Strip is one of those CD and DVD combinations. yes, i have purchased more better things, but here we are. 

do i really need to elaborate on what Fit To Strip is? probably not, but also i am mindful of needing to write things around the pretty pictures here. i suppose i could just shove images on here and walk away from it, but this whole blog did start as an outlet for my compulsive need, wish and desire to write. from what i can work out, then, this is all designed to get you in physical shape to do some smart, boss dance moves which happen to include disrobing, or if you like stripping. the CD contains some tunes which one can do all of that to. 

getting into shape is something that i would probably benefit from, for i do readily describe myself as overweight and out of date. add to that the fact that stripping is something i have always been rather, as in very, interested in, this appeared to be quite the winner. well, true, yes, up to now my interest in stripping has been more watching, less doing, but times change. 

how am i getting on with it? not particularly well in the intended sense, i suppose. at the front is a kind of warning suggesting not to do the routines in it if it seems likely doing so will lead to injury or harm, and i am fairly confident that i would do myself a mischief if i tried. at one point just considering thinking about doing some of the deft moves in it caused me to pull a muscle or two, one in particular, but this is not that kind of blog, thank you, we'll have none of that. 

is it likely that i shall press on (persevere) with this, giving it a go, going full tilt billy ho until i am in a bit better shape and can do all fancy striptease, pole dancing stuff? no, not really. well, i might have a look at the disc every now and then, see if it inspires me to try. but also i might not. 

by no means is it so this means the set is a write off, or not going to get some use. let us not forget the CD aspect of this set, which does indeed have some smart tunes on it. a definite, if not definitive as such, plus is getting Boombastic off of Shaggy on a physical digital format. the real win, though, comes along with track one, which is Milkshake off of Kelis. as and when i feel the need to totes get my groove on, well, this is the song that lets, or enables, me to bust some moves and get funky. 

further quality tunes exist on the disc, although not so many as you would think with 23 (twenty three) tracks on it. i suppose it's nice to have Groovejet off of Sophie Ellis-Bextor and whoever, and also there is an Ice Cube tune too. no, or rather yes, i do quite like Ice Cube, even if he does seem quite angry most of the time, but then to go back to the point, no, i would not generally or usually immediately think of him when thinking of deft songs to strip to. takes all sorts, presumably. 

right, that there above is a video with comments by moi (me) to give some sort of film footage proof of evidence that i did try this thing out. well, kind of. ostensibly, or primarily, yes, that video was for a friend to give them an insight into my thinking about the routines and that. but i thought that anyone reading this far into this may wish to look at it, for whatever reason. 

so no, then, it is exceedingly unlikely i shall get fit via the means proffered by this disc. indeed yes this is a bit of a shame, but there you go. perhaps i will become a bit (or trifle) fitter) purely from the magic of positive thought. this, i believe, works for some things. you know, put positive thoughts, energy and what have you out there in the universe, and such shall return. 

yeah, the compact disc will get played, maybe, every once in a while. as outlined above, as and when i feel compelled to get my groove on but lack the right musical accompaniment, well, Kelis can be give a spin (so to speak) and then i should almost certainly have my groove on. 

more musings, or ramblings, of this nature as and when, if i ever, find a similar disc set to this and go and also purchase it. but, for now, my best wishes of good fortune, and of course success, in any sort of strip or keep fit (or both) endeavours you undertake. 

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

 

the hooded claw

hello frankie fans

well, here we are again, look you see. anniversary celebration time, marking that one instance when i had the good fortune to bear witness to Frankie Goes To Hollywood, live and in the flesh, perform a concert for us, the fans. this was in 1987 on this very day, so yes, indeed it was 35 (thirty five) years ago today.

for those who have missed my frequent (annual) posts on this very subject, indeed i, accompanied by my Uncle Colin, was at the Manchester G Mex on January 10 1987 to see Frankie on their ill-fated, unexpected final tour. they were ably supported by Berlin, who it turned out did indeed do songs other than that one off of Top Gun.

another song off of the concert? sure. i am writing this in early 2020. for 2020 i included Relax from the bootleg recording of the gig that someone kindly passed on. during the last days of 2019, i wrote a post for what will now be this time last year (2021) and showcased the joys of the encore from the gig in the form of Two Tribes.

to round this out, as only seems fit and fair, yes, here you go. from the very same gig (the one i was at, no less!), the third (and sadly final) number one single off of Frankie Goes To Hollywood, The Power Of Love.

yes, it feels kind of weird writing something now that will presumably only be seen or read by anyone else two years from now. i do indeed wonder if i shall still be around, or even if i shall still be writing on this blog. hopefully yes for both, but maybe that is just me.

the important thing here, dear reader, is that the music of Frankie Goes To Hollywood lives on. may it outlive us all.




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

early morning swan action

heya

not so long ago i had, early on one morning, perfectly good reason to be outside momentarily (sorry). well, just about (as in) every morning i have such, look you see. the consumption of a cigarette, or smoking, if you will, is something which just doesn't get done indoors no more. so is the world which we created, what did we do it for. 

those of you who have read the title of this post already know, surely, where this is all going, or leading to, but anyway. for the sake of completeness and clarification, yes, it was so that on the particular morning my memories drift towards i saw some swans. quite a few. and certainly it was so i managed to grab, or take, a picture or two. 

is it worth, at this stage, me apologising for the poor quality of the images?presumably yes for anyone new to reading my meandering musings, but then those who have been reading all of this since it started, what, some seventeen or so years ago, are perhaps used to such. anyway, i am pretty sure that you can make out that they are indeed swans, so the image does its job. 

at a glance, then, you might consider me to be some sort of "swan master", with me in some magical way being able to get them to swim (or paddle) up near me. not, so really. i use a reasonably well known cheat for this, which is to have some bread to break up and throw in their direction. not at them, you understand, as hitting a swan sounds mean and silly and would probably get you knacked.

on that note, it was a couple of years ago that a story (and sorry if i have spoken of this) circulated that it was quite naughty to give bread to swans and ducks as doing so made them ill. alas, no. it turned out that this was a mischievous bit of "viral" advertising from somewhat what wished to increase sales of their product, duck food. so yes, go right ahead and feed bread to ducks and swans, but in moderation. 

for ducks do also feature here, as you can kind of make out in the images, and may be able to spot in the above video clip (yes, we've got a video). with some interest i have noted (observed) an increase in the number of ducks around. unsure if this is a seasonal thing, or the start of a swan vs duck turf war. should it be so that a body of water can be the site of a turf war. 

rumours circulate that ducks are considered the "hard men" of the waterways; that they are brutal and violent bullies. going on what i saw, maybe. it is certainly true that swans have a formidable reputation for being able to knack any one or thing what approaches them, but they seemed rather wary of the ducks. sure, there were one to two gestures from a swan (now and then) attempting to shuffle a duck along, but it all seemed, or felt, rather half hearted. 

perhaps i erred, or am in some (small) way at fault, for not bringing quite enough bread to feed all animals what live on the water. well, i could only give what i had, which i did. up to them if they wish to work out a way to share it, or go all 'survival of the fittest' or whatever it was that Dickens or Darwin or them what wrote it actually wrote. 

somewhere around the off-centre middle of that picture you can, i think, see a swan considering telling a duck to f*** off. i believe it is a mallard duck, too, which are notorious (if not infamous) for being the most unforgiving, vicious and brutal of all ducks. should one believe the tales. 

right, well, yes, that's about all i have to say, really. i would imagine, or presume, the pictures and video were of more appeal than my comments. should i make any further such sightings on my travels, yes, i may well document them here. 

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

broadcast

hi there

it may well be so that you were wondering what, exactly, was being broadcast on the wireless (the radio, look you see) by or off of the BBC on this very date and at the time that this was published, back in 1964. no, i am unsure why anyone would wonder so, but here you go.

yes, i would agree it sounds all quite exciting, and slightly interesting. perhaps someone, somewhere, has a recording of it stashed away. alas, i do not, but this doesn't stop me from assuming that it was all pretty good. 

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

 

funk to funky

g'day

it occurred to, or rather struck, me that some of you might wish to know my take on the current and present Ashes Test series. or, at the least, the most recent, look you see, being as it is the one which was undertaken from the end of 2021 and into the start of 2022. yes, i appreciate that a significant majority would not wish to know such, but here we are now. 

at the time of writing the series is still in theory underway. perhaps by the time this gets published it has been abandoned due to all that plague business, or simply given up on due to boredom. i know not as i write, just that as i write, the series is effectively over as a contest, for the Australians have won, they have a lead which cannot be surpassed. 

whereas i commenced, or started, this by saying i would present my "take" on it, i am not entirely sure it would be fair to do so. subjective comments are perhaps not as helpful as they could be, what with us all coming to terms with the dire, dismal display we have witnessed. let me try, then, as far as is reasonable or possible, to give an objective perspective on it all. 

how is the word 'treason' defined?

the Oxford English Dictionary defines it as the crime of betraying one's country, especially by attempting to kill or overthrow the sovereign or government. at least the bit you can see before you get asked to pay to see the rest does. 

any other definitions of 'treason'?

yes, of course. for our friends in America (i think), the Webster dictionary goes further and defines treason as being a betrayal of trust, or treachery. 

far be it from me to make assumptions or jump to conclusions, but then again also yes, i do believe it is not entirely unreasonable to see how one could interpret surrendering the Ashes to Australia without expending a single calorie of effort in defending them as being an act of treason. 

but what is one to do now such has been established?

is treason a crime in England?

yes, yes it is. 

could i provide more specific information on that? 

absolutely. The Treason Act 1351 is what you want to read up on, with the definition of how someone may be guilty of it more or less meeting what has already been said here. in 1998 the Crime And Disorder Act changed the punishment for treason from death to life imprisonment. 

do people still get arrested for treason? 

whilst it remains very much a crime, as we have recently witnessed across a number of Test matches, it seems that the police (or constabulary) are for some reason reluctant to go ahead and make arrests, no matter how guilty some clearly are. 

should people still be getting arrested for treason?

absolutely. this is all the more true (should such be possible) when their guilt is obvious, and when the police have immediate access to a list of the names of the guilty, not to mention precise details of where the crime of treason has been committed, or where they also intend to engage in it. like, for instance, here. 

why have no arrests been made yet? 

quite a good question that, and one which (sadly) i have no good answer for. should it help, i at least know as fact that the crime of treason has indeed been reported to the police, yet no action has been taken. except for some threats against the person who phoned them to alert them to the treason. 

how should the guilty be punished?

let us not be hasty and expect the death penalty to be reintroduced for the crime of treason. and yet some form of punishment has to take place. simply taking away their right to play cricket is obviously not enough; they are no good at it anyway, and besides it does not seem that they enjoy it. perhaps community service, and hard labour, for those who confess their guilt. those who protest innocent can have a fair and free trial, which concludes with them being found guilty and serving a significant custodial sentence. 

any precedent for this course of action?

many instances where and when it should have been considered, but not actual ones, no. yet such would set a precedent, and so discourage others from engaging in the same crime. 

right, well, i believe that's the most fair, balanced and reasonably objective account i can give on the whole sorry state of affairs. perhaps i should have allowed some of my own feelings to come into it, but i felt it best just to rely on facts. 

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

taped together

howdy pop pickers

well, time for a look (or listen, look you see) to some vibes. one of those instances where it's all kind of new stuff from north of forty years ago. so yes, then, the most recent of Stones reissues is on the stereo, which happens to be the two (2) disc "deluxe" edition of Tattoo You off of 1981. well, ostensibly that year. 

the history of this particular album is reasonably well known. and yet it is so that not everyone out there, or all reading what i put here, proclaim to be precisely versed in the history of Stones records. for this one, it was so that they, the band, had committed to an extensive tour, but had no new album to play on the back of said tour. which, for many years, was problematic. believe it or not once there was a time when a tour was considered a success if it broke even, with the overwhelming majority of vibes revenue being off of physical, actual record sales. tours were seen as a means to an end, a way to promote further records sales. now, of course, that's all reversed, with artists generally only being able to secure decent coins off of doing gigs. strange the way the world goes. 

it was felt, believed or assumed that the Stones simply did not have the time, or liking for each other, to conjure up a whole new album in the time between committing to the tour and the tour itself starting. so a trusted sound engineer was tasked with raiding the vaults for material which could be taped together and presented as a new album. from this came one of the band's most successful albums. oh. 

one consistent theme running through the reactions and reviews of Tattoo You was that it absolutely had no business being as good an album as it is. in the early 80s it was so that even then there was a sense or idea that "surely the Stones should stop, they are too old", and foisting a collection of outtakes out gave every suggestion they might by now be a spent force. and yet here we are. 

very much, yes, is the answer to how good an album this one was, and is. at no stage in their illustrious, and in the personification of this word unique, history did the band ever really "go away", but here they were back on familiar straight, solid rock and roll sounds. gone, then, was the disco dance of, say, Emotional Rescue, banished was the idea of them seeming to try and sound like what was popular at the time, here they were, as they are. 

for an album that doesn't dip in quality - and again it's something to remember that what you've got is a collection of songs discarded over a decade - there are three outstanding moments. that opening to this, the eventually released version of Start Me Up, is as iconic a moment as any Stones classic which came before it. which gives way to Hang Fire, underlining they are rock and roll. skip to the end of the album and there's Waiting On A Friend, a brilliant reminder that yeah, they can do them ballad things, too. 

sure, a few minor problems hit because of the nature of how Tattoo You was created. for a start they kind of assumed that they could use all of the songs in the vault as they saw fit, no matter who played on them. not so, said Mick Taylor, who (successfully) sued for royalties from his guitar being very much at the core of some of these songs. despite being giving a writing credit for three (3) of the tunes, there's actually quite little of the still new(ish) member Ronnie Wood on the record. and the name caused all sorts of fuss. originally it was called Tattoo, it is claimed that "no one" knows how You ended up being added, but Richards for some reason blamed Jagger for it. probably because he left all of that sort of stuff to Mick, and he was just busy being Keith. 

highlights on the album beyond the three mentioned? well, it would be amiss, and many may wish to remonstrate, for me not to nod to Little T&A, a Keith Richards sung ode on one night stands and so forth. sure, yes, remarkably misogynistic, maybe even sexist, by any standard of any day, but it's the Stones, man, they can sort of do this kind of thing. and then there's Black Limousine, and then there's the joys of living next to Keith in Neighbours, and then there's....well, the whole record. 

remarkably, disc two (2) of this special edition shows that Tattoo You wasn't simply the best of what was left around on tape. leaving aside how other now known to be known greats weren't given a release on this - say Criss Cross and to a lesser extent Scarlet, both of which surface on a Goat's Head Soup special edition (here) - one is left baffled how the first two songs on the bonus track were left unreleased. despite having a corny, cliche sounding title, Living In The Heart Of Love is actually really, really f****g good, man. it's the kind of classic AM / FM radio rock tune that would dominate play on stations for a hefty chunk of the 80s, and there were the Stones sat on a prime example of that sound. considering that much of the tour that saw Tattoo You get taped together was in the USA, it's amazing that Fiji Jim wasn't included. probably the most "American" sounding song what they ever done, this would have had all them sports franchises over there chomping at the bit to throw money at them to licence. 

letting the Stones themselves decide what's best isn't always wise, as it turns out. here, at the end of disc two (2), is the mythical, long rumoured original "reggae" fused version of Start Me Up. well, it's nowhere near as bad as it sounded on paper, and not immediately all bad, but also it is very, very far away from the released, much loved version of the tune. certainly it's a curiosity to hear, but no, what ended up being on the record - the version Richards wanted destroyed - is substantially better. 

and that's about that, then. in this expanded form, Tattoo You stands as a record, or album, that is even further more better than it ever should have been. quite remarkable that the Stones have been sat on such a vast amount of quality tunes destined, presumably, never to have come out in or on an officially released record. should they have even more tucked away, bring it on. 

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