Millions of fans are weeping across the globe at what could lead to the break up of one of the finest bands ever to grace the planet. Yes my friends I am sad to report that Zayn Malik is leaving One Direction!
But am I really sad about this Wand Erection news? Fuck off of course I’m not. Clearly Zayn felt that his place in the band was threatened now that Jeremy Clarkson has no job. Could One Direction be the next step for Jezza Clarkson?
I reckon there are plenty of links between the Beatles and Pink Floyd. But here are a couple that I heard lately. The till (or cash register to my chums across the big pond) that you can hear on the Fab Four’s “Yellow Submarine” was the same one that the Floyd used on “Money” from ‘Dark Side Of The Moon‘.
But my favourite relates to the drawing by a very young Julian Lennon that inspired the Beatles’ “Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds” is now owned by Pink Floyd’s guitar genius, Dave Gilmour!
Back in the olden days a.k.a when I was somewhat younger than I am now the UK chart rundown show was on a Sunday. This is where it has remained for years. However now that there will be a unified release date for all music (presumably from all the major labels at least) the UK Chart Show on BBC Radio 1 will shortly be moving to the Friday drive time slot; 4pm to 6pm.
That’s progress I suppose and that also raises the chance that I might listen to it again. I have fond memories of chart shows in the distant past. Sitting next to the radio taping your favourite songs and hoping that the first generation Smashie and Nicey characters didn’t talk over the intro or the fadeout. But one of my favourite things was the official announcement of the new chart on Radio 1 when it was on a Tuesday lunchtime. I always made sure that I had my transistor radio with me so that me and my mates at Bishopshalt School in Hillingdon could find out whether David Cassidy and the Osmonds were still clogging up the UK charts (they were), whether Slade had gone straight in at the top (they had) or whether Bowie would get his first number one single (yes but not until 1975 with a reissue of “Space Oddity“). Johnnie Walker was the bloke who usually read out the new chart on Tuesdays and he has always been one of my favourite broadcasters. He spoke over a chart music bed of the excellent “Time Is Tight” from Booker T and the MGs. Enjoy that tune now along with my favourite song about the charts; Pete Wingfield‘s superb “Eighteen With A Bullet” and a favourite of mine by the magnificent Mael Brothers a.k.a Sparks.
Last year I enjoyed a great day at a small local festival here in York. The Apollo Festival, you can read my review of last years event by clicking here. This year sees this wonderful family friendly music festival enter its third year. It was started in 2013 by Stuart Kelly and he has grown the show really well. Last year more than 3,000 people turned up which was close to doubling the amount of music fans that were there for the inaugural festival in 2013. If things go to plan you could be among 4,000 happy Apollo punters this year. I certainly will be as I have already purchased tickets for myself and the delightful Catwoman.
If you live in or near to York, or even further afield, then you have no excuse for missing this event in June. Prices are very affordable at just over £15 each ticket. Significantly less than what you’d pay for a day ticket to one of the major festivals. But even keeping prices low hasn’t affected the quality of the acts playing. Last year was great and I also experienced a few bands that I had previously never seen or heard of. One of the highlights from last year for me was And The Hangnails. We also saw the Entertainment Company and we liked them so much that we have booked them for Catwoman’s ‘significant’ birthday party next year.
The line-up for this year has two excellent bands that for one reason or another I have never seen before despite being a fan. Those bands are the fabulous Space and the headliners are the superb Inspiral Carpets. The ticket price is worth it for those two alone. One of the stages for 2015 will be curated by Rick Witter of Shed Seven, so I reckon that might be quite interesting. Other acts appearing are CryBabyCry, Happy Daggers, Hello Operator, Kimberly Kennedy, The Mothers, Rime Suspex, Rupert Stroud and Kid Conventional. I saw Hello Operator recently at the Basement in York City Screen and they are were excellent; a very loud, very powerful and explosive British rock band. I will be there along with my wonderful wife Catherine (a.k.a Catwoman) and hopefully a few of the friends that I have been promoting the festival to; John, Caron, Amelia, Shaun, Tracey you know who you are! Simon P, I know you’ll be there too and it looks like once again your music recommendations to me will be spot on! Finally I would like to say a big thank you to Stuart Kelly for starting this festival and building it to an even bigger level. Look out for my festival review at the end of June. Now get off your arse and get yourself a ticket! I will see you at the 2015 Apollo Festival at the York Sports Club, Shipton Road, York on Saturday 27th June. If you fail to turn up after all I have said then I will have to send the boys round!
You are probably all familiar with Nike’s famous advertising slogan, ‘Just Do It‘. Did you know that the inspiration came from the last words of murderer Gary Gilmore before he was executed in the 70s? Apparently advertising executive Dan Wieden coined Nike’s famous catchphrase after thinking of Gilmore’s last words as he faced the firing squad in 1977. Gilmore said simply, ‘Let’s Do It!’
This also gives me an excuse to play the Adverts timeless punk classic “Gary Gilmore’s Eyes“. Some of you may be aware that I write more than one blog and just to introduce you to at least one other in my blog family this post will be simultaneously made in two of them; With Just A Hint Of Mayhem and With Just A Hint Of Learning, albeit with a different title in each. Fell free to visit the one that you haven’t visited before!
Paul Weller is without doubt a legend and one of the coolest people in the music business. Even more so now that he has a slightly more normal haircut. Last night at the Barbican was the second time I had seen him perform as a solo artist. I had also seen him as a part of the Jam and as a part of the Style Council back in the olden days. Last night I was there with my good friend John Williams. We both really enjoyed the support band, the Sundowners from the Wirral. I would describe them as something like Fleetwood Mac in a psychedelic mood whilst on some really strong acid. Their lead guitarist is phenomenal. But they are well worth checking out in my opinion.
As for Mr Weller, well what can I say that hasn’t been said many times before? Not a lot really but I think he is clearly one of the finest musicians of his generation. He and his band maintained a high level of energy throughout the show which was around two hours in total and included two encores. Interestingly he played no Style Council or Jam songs. But then he has such a wealth of solo songs it hardly matters at all. He played some new and relatively new songs; “Saturn’s Pattern” from his forthcoming new album and “Brand New Toy” which was an exclusive Record Store Day release from last year. The highlights for me were storming versions of “Peacock Suit”, “Uh Huh, Oh Yeh” and “From The Floorboards Up” and a really soulful playing of “You Do Something To Me” and “Broken Stones”. However the pinnacle for me came in the second encore when Weller and the band brought the house down with a superbly executed “Changing Man”. I am pleased to say that the sound at the Barbican has improved immensely since my last visit. Paul Weller has picked some great musicians to for this band. Especially Steve Cradock who is an incredibly talented guitarist.
During the first couple of songs a fight broke out, that is something that I haven’t seen at a gig for a while. Weller remarked that this was ‘just like the old days!’ If I have one complaint it is the hundreds of phones and iPad style tablets that became a constant presence as punters filmed as much as they could. For all of those of you guilty of that I say put your electronic equipment down and watch the gig you morons! If you have never seen Paul Weller the I want to know why? I will definitely be seeing him again sometime!
And finally another one of those pesky public service announcements. None of the pictures or videos in this blog post were taken or filmed by me!
Kanye West has been announced as a Glastonbury head-liner and an on-line petition is started to prevent this. What’s the point? That is all bollocks. He is more suited to Glasto than Mumford and Sons are as headliners at Reading and Leeds this year in my opinion.
However I do have issues with Kanye being feted as a genius. I think his early albums; ‘The College Dropout‘ in particular were very good. But for me, since then he has spiralled downhill to the point where in my opinion ‘Yeezus‘, which was highly acclaimed in the media, came across as a kind of Emperor’s New Clothes thing for me.
So my question to you about Kanye West is; Twat or Genius? Let’s vote people!
This gig was yet another excellent recommendation from my good friend Simon Pattinson. He’s never let me down yet and nor did he last night with a diverse and fantastic line-up. No pressure for the next one then Simon! I missed the first few minutes of Skinner‘s set but I am so glad that I was their for the bulk of it. How would I describe the music? Now that is difficult. But they band were well rehearsed and the sound was largely in an electro dance/ pop vein. But those vocals, oh boy can this girl sing. The songs were damned good too. I especially loved “Burn” and “I Don’t Care”. They are from Leeds and frankly if Skinner are on the bill at a gig near you then you will really be losing out if you don’t make every effort to go and see them. I am now very much a Skinner fan.
Next up was Boss Caine who a number of people had recommended to me. It was an acoustic set with some added cello and guitar. The songs were incredibly deep and well written. The vibe evoked a 60s/ 70s US west coast vibe and that worked really well for me. The songs not only contained great melodies but also excellent story narratives too. It’s sometimes hard to believe that this dude is not American, but then he speaks between songs and sings about York. Americana redrawn and bettered; why is Boss Caine not playing even bigger stages? I will definitely be seeing Boss Caine again and so should you dear reader.
Tonight’s headliner was Hello Operator from York and for all of you who have said or believed that hard rock is softening or dying go and see this band. They are living proof that rock is most definitely not dead. Very heavy and very loud they are, but they are so much more than that. Their sound draws on many influences in my view; Black Sabbath, Muse, Queens of the Stone Age and perhaps more. The vocals are the template for what good rock vocals should be. The lead guitarist has the potential to be a real virtuoso. The engine room of drum and bass underpins the bands sound and flow perfectly. Four top-notch musicians who come together to brew up some fantastic and melodic hard rock. Just when you thought that it couldn’t get any better they played a cover version, something they apparently don’t do very often. But was it a note for note cover of a hard rock anthem? No, it was a cover of the Black Eyed Peas “Boom Boom Pow“. On paper it should never have worked, but who gives a shit about paper? The easily surpassed Will.i.am and the other Peas. The band was also joined on stage by Skinner for one song. This was a stupendous show from a bloody brilliant band. If this band do not go on to achieve greatness then something is wrong. In a world of worthless talent shows like X-Factor, the Voice and other such shite this is real music and real talent. Sell your soul, your body (but responsibly), your Gran, your shoes or your X-Box. Just do whatever it takes to see them!
Now for the public service announcement. The pictures in this post were taken by me but the videos were gathered on-line from YouTube
So it’s now legally official that Robin Thicke and Pharrel’s “Blurred Lines” is the same or incredibly similar to Marvin Gaye‘s classic “Got To Give It Up“. Whilst I think that “Blurred Lines” is pretty shit and a long way from Pharrell William’s usual standards this whole ‘your song sounds like my song so pay me’ stuff is getting ridiculous.
Sam Smith giving Tom Petty a writing credit for “Stay With Me” because it ripped off Tom’s “I Won’t Back Down“; really? Oasis made a career out of it didn’t they? Maybe Status Quo should sue themselves for copying the same song over and over. Frankly the same could be said of much of UB40’s efforts after their first album. In case you’re wondering I am a fan of many artists including Oasis, Marvin Gaye, Tom Petty and Sam Smith, Pharrell Williams and a handful of Quo and UB40 songs. Personally though I think that Robin Thicke is a misogynistic twat! What do you think?
We’ve all heard of “Bat Out Of Hell”, Bat For Lashes and Ozzy Osbourne’s taste for bat’s heads but now a real live bat (as opposed to the Ozzy one) has become a rock legend. Maybe not a big legend, but a legend nonetheless in my opinion.
During a recent US gig Napalm Death had to stop the show because a bat was flying persistently above the stage. The band might be hard-core rockers but they did see the funny side of it and broke into an impromptu Black Sabbath song!
