XFM listeners recently took part in a poll to name the greatest front man of all time. So many great blokes to choose from and they went for Liam Gallagher. Now don’t get me wrong Liam has been very good in the past, particularly in the early days of Oasis, but the greatest front man of all time? I don’t think so. The full top 20 was;
I agree with many of these, but I am surprised Robert Plant and John Lydon didn’t make the cut. Who do you think should have been included? Click here to read the report on nme.com.
I have yet more sad news to report, Jimmy Ellis the iconic voice of Disco and Soul outfit the Trammps has died at a nursing home in South Carolina aged 74. His family has said that he had suffered from Alzheimer’s disease. He still sang live with the band as recently as 2010.
Ellis was the band’s stalwart against a backdrop of quite a few personnel changes. The last time the original members sang together was when they performed the classic “Disco Inferno” during their induction into the Dance Music Hall of Fame in 2005. Many of you probably know them for that song alone, which benefited from its appearance on the soundtrack of the ‘Saturday Night Fever‘ movie. But they had many more great hits; including some classics that you can enjoy at the end of this post.
Incidentally their Dance Music Hall of fame took place on September 19th 2005 which would have been my Dad’s 74th birthday, but sadly he died in 2001.I often used to joke with my Dad before he died that we would play “Disco Inferno” at his cremation. In the end that didn’t happen, but we did laugh about it a lot. “Disco Inferno” was the band’s biggest US hit reaching number 11 on the Billboard chart and number 9 on the US R & B charts. Their biggest UK hit was “Hold Back The Night” which reached number 5 in 1976.
The extra ‘m’ in the band’s name allegedly came from the days when they used to sing on street corners. The police called them tramps and Jimmy Ellis said that he would prefer that they were high-class tramps and so added that extra ‘m’. Jimmy whose real name was James Thomas Ellis II began his singing career in a church gospel choir like many of his contemporaries. He went on to sing in a few bands including the Volcanoes and the Exceptions.
This is yet another sad loss for music and my thoughts go to Jimmy’s family, friends and fans. RIP Jimmy Ellis.
All of you loyal UK subjects who pledge allegiance to Queen Elizabeth are obviously now very busy preparing your street parties and other events aren’t you? Well did you know that she shares her Diamond Jubilee with another British institution that is celebrating a 60 year anniversary? Today, 7th March 2012, is the 60th birthday of the New Musical Express, better known these days as the NME.
Now the last remaining weekly news magazine in the UK the NME has moved on considerably since 1952 when it replaced the ‘Accordion Times and Musical Express’. The nme.com website was launched way back in 1996 and is now the biggest stand-alone music site in the world with more than seven million users every month.
So whilst the old mag might not be as influential as she was, she is still very popular. I am now a subscriber who has bought it from when it was a newspaper style ‘inkie’ back in 1971. I have seen some great writers come and go; Nick Kent, Charles Shaar Murray, Danny Baker, Tony Parsons, Julie Burchill and Barbara Ellen to name but a few.
So happy 60th birthday to the NME and all of those who write for it and read it. Many years ago I had a name check in the NME when I sent a copy of an advert for the Sylvanian Family toys. One of the characters was called Roger Waters, which made me think it was both appropriate and amusing. Now celebrate with a couple of NME related songs. One that mentions the NME and two from the excellent C81 cassette issued by the NME in 1981.
This is a record-breaking but sad kind of story. One of the largest foxes ever found in the UK was shot on a farm in Aberdeen. It wasn’t killed because it was large, but simply because it was allegedly attacking lambs on a farm. At least it was killed by a working farmer and not some bunch of red jacketed toff twats supported by a cast of hundreds and packs of vicious dogs. Click here to read the story on the BBC site.
Anyway what is this story doing on my music blog? Well it gives me a chance to share some of my favourite fox related songs 🙂 Feel free to submit your own fox songs.
Sorry bunnies, my aim is better now, next time the farmer gets it
Fox On The Run – Manfred Mann – A UK number 5 hit from 1968. The lyrics were from English writer Tony Hazzard who wrote quite a few hits, including another smash from the Manfreds in “Ha Ha Said The Clown”
Fox On The Run – The Sweet – The same title as the Manfred Mann song, but definitely not the same song. This reached number 2 in the UK chart in 1974. It also hit number 5 in the US and was an Australian number one. The song is about groupies as in the women were foxy ladies.
Foxy Lady – Jimi Hendrix – Talking of foxy ladies, this is taken from the Jimi Hendrix Experience album ‘Are You Experienced’ which was released in 1967. The US and Canadian version of the album had the titled incorrectly spelled as “Foxey Lady”
Foxy Foxy – Mott The Hoople – This is one of my favourite songs from this fabulous British band. It reached number 33 in the UK charts in 1974 and never featured on a Mott The Hoople album, other than compilations. It ended a run of 5 top 20 hits in the UK for the band. The group took their name from a Willard Manus novel about someone who worked in a circus freak show.
Reynard The Fox – Julian Cope – This was the opening track from Julian’s 1984 album ‘Fried’. It is apparently a mix of an English folk tale and an incident where Cope had slashed his stomach on stage back in 1983.
Girls Aloud will be reforming for a tour in 2013, to celebrate their 10th anniversary. Reforming? I wasn’t aware that they had broken up. I can’t say I am particularly excited by the prospect of the girls treading the boards again, are you? Well at least it is moderately better than those talentless morons Westlife. Clearly none of the girls off of Girls Aloud have set the world alight with their solo careers, so I think we can assume the ‘reunion’ is for money.
Nadine Coyle broke the news a couple of days ago. I suppose it will enable the nation’s sweetheart Cheryl to restart her career after the atrocious output from her solo albums and the X Factor US judging debacle. Hopefully Sarah Harding will be out of rehab too. Personally I reckon Nicola Roberts should stay away. Her first solo album was excellent, surely she doesn’t need the rest of them. So what do you think of the Girls Aloud reunion?
The girls as they might appear on their 40th anniversary tour.
Is it me or does Mr Humperdinck look a little 'plastic'?
The UK is taking a rather novel approach to this years Eurovision Song Contest. They have selected septuagenarian crooner Arnold George Dorsey aka Gerry Dorsey but better known as Engelbert Humperdinck. After years of poor results in the contest with the nadir arriving in 2003 with a first UK nul points score from the hapless Jemini. Last year boy band Blue were our entry with the song “I Can”. They could only muster and 11th place finish which suggests that the song would have been more appropriate if it were called ‘I Can’t’
Engelbert will be 76 when the contest takes place in Azerbaijan on 26th May this year. he was born in Madras, India in 1936 to a British father and an Indian mother. The song is apparently not written yet but will be composed, at least in part, by Sacha Skarbek, a Novello award winner who cowrote James Blunt‘s bloody awful dirge “You’re Beautiful”. Not a great omen then! Hump had his first major success in 1967 when his UK number one managed to prevent the Beatles from achieving another chart topper with the double ‘A’ side “Strawberry Fields Forever” and “Penny Lane“. His song “Release me” was also the best-selling UK single in 1967. All that at the height of the hippy movement and in the summer of love.
Vote for me and I'll make your economy this big (The Hump addresses the Greeks)
Some Eurovision experts (yes there are plenty) have suggested that with so many countries in the competition the ‘youth vote’ is split. However experts believe that the choice of the Hump to warble for Britain will pick up the pan European pensioners votes. He also took his name from the German composer who wrote an opera called ‘Hansel and Gretel’, so that’s the German vote in the bag as well. He has had four number one songs in Ireland and release me was number one in the Netherlands so that’s two countries that’ll vote for him as well, so it’s certainly shaping up not to be another nul points year.
Personally I think he may pick up a few votes from the hip community, as opposed to the hip replacement community, this would result from his appearance on the ‘Beavis And Butthead Do America‘ movie soundtrack. The song was not a big hit, but it was for many, including me, a classic. That song was “Lesbian Seagull”. On the subject of Beavis and Butthead, Jedward have been selected to represent Ireland in the contest for the second year in a row. I have a degree of admiration for their management for extend their 15 minutes of fame so far beyond their sell-by date. They did do better than Blue last year though! Anyway let me finish by showcasing a few Humperdinck classics.
I have watched the ticker of the NME Radar Awards on the NME website this evening and I’m really looking forward to seeing it on the TV this weekend. But just to bring you the news of the winners this is a quick post with all those who got themselves some solid recognition from the NME.
Best British Band – Kasabian
Best International Band – Foo Fighters
Best New Band – The Vaccines
Best Solo Artist – Florence and the Machine
Best Live Band – Arctic Monkeys
Best Album – ‘Skying’ – Horrors
Best Track – Florence And The Machine – “Shake It Out”
Best Video – “Sunday” – Hurts
Best Festival – Glastonbury
Dancefloor Anthem – “Broken Record” – Katy B
Best TV Show – Fresh Meat
Best Film – Submarine
Hero Of The Year – Matt Bellamy
Villain Of The Year – Justin Bieber
Worst Album – ‘ Under The Mistletoe’ – Justin Bieber
Worst Band – One Direction
Hottest Male – Jared Leto off of 30 Seconds To Mars
Hottest Female – Hayley Williams off of Paramore
Best Album Artwork – ‘Pala’ – Friendly Fires
Best Band Blog or Twitter – Lady Gaga, @ladygaga
Best Book – Noel Fielding, The Scribblings of a Madcap Shambleton
Best Small Festival – Rockness
Most Dedicated Fans – Muse
Best Music Film – Foo Fighters, Back and Forth
Greatest Music Moment – Stone Roses re-unite
Best Re-issue – The Smiths, Complete re-issues
Philip Hall Radar Award – Azealia Banks
So for the statisticians among you the biggest winners, each with two awards were; Foo Fighters, Muse, Florence And The Machine and Justin Bieber. What the fuck is Bieber doing there I can here you ask; well don’t panic, he won ‘Worst Album’ and ‘Villain Of The Year’. Both thoroughly deserved in my opinion! I was very pleased to see that One Direction picked up the ‘Worst Band award’ too.
Quite surprising too for being the first award ceremony for ages that Adele didn’t win anything!
It would seem that the talented Miss Adkins aka Adele continues to break records. This time it’s a sales record, her album ’21’ has now sold more in the UK than Michael Jackson’s ‘Bad’ making her album the 8th best-selling UK album ever in the UK, according to the Official UK Chart Company. At the current rate ’21’ is being shipped I reckon she’ll soon overtake Dire Straits‘ ‘Brothers In Arms’ and Pink Floyd’s classic ‘Dark Side Of The Moon’. I wonder if anyone will try to claim that ’21’ is in fact an alternative soundtrack to ‘The Wizard Of Oz’? Somehow I doubt it. Anyway big congratulations go to Adele for yet another chart feat! Check out the top ten best selling UK albums below.
01 GREATEST HITS – QUEEN (5,863,000 sales)
02 SGT PEPPER’S LONELY HEARTS CLUB BAND – THE BEATLES (5,044,000)
03 GOLD: GREATEST HITS – ABBA (4,989,000)
04 WHAT’S THE STORY MORNING GLORY – OASIS (4,517,000)
05 THRILLER – MICHAEL JACKSON (4,248,000)
06 BROTHERS IN ARMS – DIRE STRAITS (4,152,000)
07 THE DARK SIDE OF THE MOON – PINK FLOYD (4,114,000)
08 21 – ADELE (4,020,000)
09 BAD – MICHAEL JACKSON (3,959,000)
10 GREATEST HITS II – QUEEN (3,887,000)
Davy Jones of the Monkees died in Florida earlier today of a heart attack. He was aged just 66. Before he became a Monkee in 1965 he had appeared on stage in successful shows like Lionel Bart‘s ‘Oliver’. He even had an appearance on long running British soap operaCoronation Street under his belt, where he played the grandson of Ena Sharples. At one point he even trained as a jockey. This was something he came back to later and won his first race in 1996.
His vocals and backing vocals graced many of the Monkees songs, including the Neil Diamond penned “I’m A Believer“. He was also British (he was born in Manchester) and the only non-American member of the band. Jones and two other former Monkees; Micky Dolenz and Peter Tork reunited last year to play a few gigs.
I am a big fan of David Bowie and if it hadn’t been for Davy Jones then Mr Bowie as we know him may not have existed, well at least he would have probably not been called Bowie anyway. The former David Robert Jones (sometimes known as Davey Jones) changed his name to David Bowie in the mid 60s to avoid confusion with Davy Jones of the Monkees.
Davy Jones is survived by his wife and four daughters. My thoughts go to all of his family, friends and fans. RIP Davy Jones.
Last Saturday I had the pleasure of a great night out at the Alhambra Theatre in Bradford with my beautiful wife Catwoman and our good friends Caron and John. We went to see a show that has now been around for more than 20 years. It is a musical with no dialogue or lyrics. It is ‘Stomp‘ and it is an amazing show. We probably benefited from the fact that it was the fifth and final show in Bradford. If you have never seen it you really should go.
It is a performance that is all about percussion, but it’s not played with drums or any other traditional percussive instruments. The entire show is played on household and everyday items; dustbins, dustbin lids, brooms, newspapers, chairs, dustpans, metal signs, buckets, lighters and plenty of clapping. That is most definitely not an exhaustive list either. the scene with the lighters may not be the loudest part of the show, but the coordination is incredible, they effectively recreate a multi function string of Christmas/ fairy lights with various sequence options. When you are watching it is hard to believe that it is being done with just lighters!
If you’re thinking when reading this that it shouldn’t work then maybe you’re right. I agree that it shouldn’t work, but believe me it really does. I am also very pleased to say that it is a British creation too. It began life in Brighton in the UK in 1991 created by Steve McNicholas and Luke Creswell. They met while working with the theatre group Cliff Hanger and the street band Pookiesnackenburger back in the 80s. One of Cresswell’s early successes was an advert for Heineken beer in the mid 80s. This piece is often called the Bins Commercial. You can see it for yourself below along with some clips from earlier productions.
I wondered whether the cast are predominantly percussionists first and dancers second or whether they are a combination. Either way this show will blow you away if you get the opportunity to see it and I recommend that you stomp along to a theatre that is hosting it very soon!
