With Just A Hint Of Mayhem

Music reviews, gig reviews, fun trivia and extra added random stuff!

Soft Toy Emergency – York City Screen 23/2/2009 February 24, 2009

Filed under: Review — justwilliam1959 @ 5:23 pm
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OK people here is the second in a series of reviews of gigs that I happen to have turned up at. Last night I was at the City Screen Basement Bar in the city centre. The headliners were the excellent ‘Soft Toy Emergency’, but more of them later. Let me start with the three support acts, all very different in their own way.

First up was ‘Going Backwards Forwards‘ and they were very good with some great songs, particularly “Casino Royale”. The singer has a great voice too

Next was ‘Kasima‘ for me these guys were like the bastard offspring of an unholy union between Razorlight, the Kings Of Leon and Bruce Springsteen. I mean that in the best possible way too, they were excellent!

‘A Man Is Slapped‘ was second on the bill. Now on paper I really would not have believed that this would have worked, but it did……..and how! This guy using synthesized vocal loops recorded live to build up his own electro wall of sound was truly excellent. Even his MySpace/ Facebook plug was clever

And so onto the headliners, ‘Soft Toy Emergency‘. In 1974 Rolling Stone journalist and critic Jon Landau saw Springsteen and was moved to write “I saw rock and rolls future and it’s name is Bruce Springsteen” Last night I didn’t see rock and rolls future in the wonderful ‘Soft Toy Emergency’ but I certainly saw it’s present, it’s now! This band certainly have a great future. Somewhat unfairly compared to the Ting Tings by some they are quite a different animal. Electro + Pop + Rock + Punk + Party + Disco + Style + Fun = Soft Toy Emergency a band that know how to excite an audience and do so with massive energy and an aura of cool. If they appear near you in the future do whatever you can to get tickets; sell your mother, your pets, your car, your house or your pants! Just make sure that you see them!

Soft Toy Emergency

 

“I’m ready to go anywhere, I’m ready for to fade”

Filed under: Trivia — justwilliam1959 @ 12:04 pm
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OK I’m going to open with a little experiment, the other day when I included a link to a fart joke on this blog I had three times the amount of the usual daily views I had been getting, many of which came from people searching ‘fart’ on t’interweb. I’m not going to get into why you would do that, it’s to each their own right? Anyway the experiment is that todays blog text will include a phrase which I suspect many people may search on, so here goes! Lily Allen Naked!!! Well let’s see how many views come to the blog based on that shall we? I would like to thank Tom W for coming up with that idea, top thinking mate! Incidentally if you arrived at this blog to see Lily Allen naked I’m sorry to disappoint you, but here is a picture of her anyway!

Lily wondered where she had hidden the torch again

Lily wondered where she had hidden the torch again

In case you didn’t see any news yesterday, Mr Springsteen has been confirmed as the Saturday headliner for this years Glastonbury Festival. That was the slot which was somewhat controversially filled by Jay Zed (copyright Karen McP) last year. well I say controversial, I mean Noel Gallagher was somewhat aggrieved by it! The strong rumours for the Friday and Sunday nights are Blur and Neil Young. Here is the Bruce news on the
Beeb

It’s also big congrats to ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ which swept up at the Oscars yesterday, winning eight in total including best film score and also best individual song for “Jai Ho“. Incidentally one of the other best individual song nominees was featured on this very blog just a few days ago, that was “Down To Earth” by Peter Gabriel from the wonderful ‘Wall-E’. How many of you have seen ‘Slumdog Millionaire’? I thought it was a superb movie. Funny, moving, serious, feelgood, great music, all in all a great combination of the best of everything. What did you think of it?

So without further delay let’s kick off with a birthday. Today is the 24th February and it is the 62nd birthday of Rupert, not the bear, but Mr Rupert Holmes. His biggest hit was “Escape (The Pina Colada Song)” which was a massive hit in the US where it went to number one. Obviously at that particular moment we had a bit more taste in the UK as it only managed number 23 here! Rupert was born in Northwich, Cheshire in the UK although he grew up and has lived most of his life in the US. His Mum was English and his Dad American. It may seem unreal now but at the height of his Pina Colada driven success Rupert toured the world and the Marcos government in the Philippines even had to provide with a military escort when he was there. There is a very special distinction for “Escape” that as far as I am aware in US chart history didn’t happen before and hasn’t happened since. “Escape” reached number 1 in December 1979 then fell to number 2 in the first week of January 1980 (replaced by “Please Don’t Go” by KC and the Sunshine Band, before jumping back to the top spot the week after. It thus became the only song to end a decade at number one and climb back the following decade a real 70s/ 80s hit. Now that would be an interesting argument for the DJs that work 70s and 80s clubs (we have one of each in York). Maybe it wouldn’t though, because in my experience most DJs in those type of clubs are a long way from good! But of course I would say that as I am a very good Mobile DJ! I’m still taking bookings for this year if any of you are interested. Highlights in the coming months are weddings, 40th Birthdays, 30th birthdays and indeed a 70th birthday! I am happy to do gigs all over the planet, but please be aware that if the travelling distance from York in the UK is significant then so will the price be 🙂

Rupert didn't quite appreciate the difference between cufflinks and handcuffs

Rupert didn't quite appreciate the difference between cufflinks and handcuffs

Of course having discussed Pina Coladas I couldn’t leave you without the recipe, so just
click here! Mr Holmes has also said at various times “whatever else I do in my life my tombstone will be a giant pineapple!”

On this day in 1973 the final live appearance of the Byrds took place at the Capitol Theatre in Passaic, New Jersey. The Byrds are one of the acts, along with Jimi Hendrix, who recorded classic interpretations of Bob Dylan songs. The most famous of those Byrd songs is probably “Mr Tambourine Man” which you all know was written by Bob Dylan, but did you know that their version was produced by a chap called Terry Melcher, who is Doris Day’s son? Some radio stations apparently refused to play the Byrds “Eight Miles High” claiming that is was completely drug related. Roger McGuinn, David Crosby and Gene Clark who wrote the song said that in fact it was about their experience of flying in a plane at 40,000 feet. How wrong can one be? 😉 My favourite song by the Byrds is probably “So You Want To Be A Rock N Roll Star” which was written by Roger McGuinn and Chris Hillman, supposedly about the manufactured and overnight success of the Monkees. The song was also groundbreaking in that it featured an African musician, Mr Hugh Masekala on trumpet. The observant among you will have noticed that there are two Byrd song links on this piece…… enjoy!

Upon arrival at the Police Station the boys realised that they had been framed

Upon arrival at the Police Station the boys realised that they had been framed

This day in 2004 saw the death of Estelle Axton who had helped to create Stax Records. She set up the Satellite Record label with her brother Jim Stewart. They were contacted by lawyers in 1960 and told that the name was already in use. They changed the name to ‘STAX’ which comes from the first two letters of each of their surnames. I guess ‘AXST’ just didn’t work out! Estelle was heavily involved with the selection and development of many artists on the label including Booker T & The MGs, Isaac Hayes, Rufus Thomas and the wonderful Mr Otis Redding. Stax was to Memphis what Motown was to Detroit. It is also interesting to note that whilst Stax specialised in soul, r &b and predominantly black music it’s two founders were white. This must have been seen as quite a brave move considering segregation was still widespread in the US in the late 50s/ early 60s. Here is the late great (see they’re still around) Otis Redding with the rather excellent “Try A Little Tenderness” from the Monterey Festival in 1967

Estelle Axton with her brother Jim Stewart

Estelle Axton with her brother Jim Stewart

The rather splendid Stax Records logo

The rather splendid Stax Records logo

And finally on this day in 1958 the classic song “Get A Job” by the Silhouettes was number one in the USA. It was recorded in October 1957 and is seen by many as the definitive doo wop song. It went on to sell a million copies and has been used in some great movies too. Notably ‘American Graffiti’ which starred a young Richard Dreyfuss and one of my favourite movies the excellent adaptation of Stephen King’s novella ‘The Body’ which was filmed as ‘Stand By Me’. The song is quite appropriate for many of us now too, given the current economic climate which those clever marketing people have re branded and made into the commodity we now know as ‘The Credit Crunch’ which in layman’s terms remains a recession surely?

The boys were frequently caught bragging about their many fishing trips

The boys were frequently caught bragging about their many fishing trips

 

“She could kill you with a wink of her eye” February 23, 2009

Filed under: Trivia — justwilliam1959 @ 9:06 am
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Well here we are again on a Monday morning, what the hell happened to the damned weekend? Why is it only two days? Three or four would be better wouldn’t it?

Anyway in yet another forlorn attempt to keep this post short, I think I know I’ll fail in that aim, let’s kick off with some birthdays. Firstly 23rd February 2009 is the 65th birthday of talented guitarist Johnny Winter. He was one of the numerous acts to play the Woodstock Festival in 1969, playing a nine song set which included his brother Edgar on two songs. Here is a clip of him from that very set at Woodstock. The rather splendid US band the Smashing Pumpkins recorded an instrumental homage to Johnny called “Tribute to Johnny”, in which they tried to emulate Winter’s unique guitar sound. The song was originally intended for their excellent 1995 album ‘Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness’ but was rejected and eventually turned as b-side on their “Zero” single. Ill health means that Johnny is only able to play whilst seated. Both he and his brother Edgar are albino, to find out a little more about this go check out Wikipedia here.

As this picture proves Johnny had a very laid back playing style

As this picture proves Johnny had a very laid back playing style

Today is also the day to wish Steve Priest, the Sweet’s guitarist a happy 59th birthday. He was born in Hayes, Middlesex in the UK just a few miles away from where I was born and grew up. I now live 200 miles away in York while Steve lives a little further away in California. Who do you think got the better deal weatherwise? An early incarnation of the Sweet was called the Sweetshop, whilst they released a few singles they all failed to hit the chart. The classic line up of the band (Steve Priest, Brian Connolly, Mick Tucker and Andy Scott) came together in 1970. “Funny Funny” written by Nicky Chinn and Mike Chapman became the bands first hit in 1971. Despite the fact that the band were all competent musicians and thanks to Messrs Chinn and Chapman they were not allowed to play on any of their RCA singles until “Wig Wam Bam”. They were seen by many as just another bubblegum pop band, although many of their B Sides and live gigs belied this and showed their love of and skill at playing harder rock. Steve Priest and Andy Scott are now the only surviving members of that classic line up and both still tour with their own versions of the band. Imaginatively called Steve Priest’s Sweet and Andy Scott’s Sweet! Here are the boys with “Ballroom Blitz” from 1973, Steve is the guy who does the rather camp speaking part in the song!

The Sweet like brickies in drag! Mr Priest is the one on the bottom left

The Sweet like brickies in drag! Mr Priest is the one on the bottom left

The last birthday today is Rob Collins keyboard player with the Charlatans. He would have been 46 today but sadly he was killed in a car crash on 23rd July 1996 in Rockfield, Wales during the recording sessions for the band’s 5th album. The Charlatans first gig was at Vic’s Club in Northwich, Cheshire in the UK. Following that gig their manager was able to secure them five support slots with the then new cult heroes the Stone Roses played between November 1988 and April 1989. It was Rob Collins distinctive Hammond Organ sound that underpinned many of the bands songs. Apparently he bought the organ from a local church. Here are the boys with the rather splendid “Weirdo” which Catwoman swears is about me!

Rob Collins RIP

Rob Collins RIP

On this day in 1974 Suzi Quatro was number one in the UK charts with “Devil Gate Drive” her second number one. From quite a young age Suzi (born Susan Kay Quatro) had aspired to a career in music. She left school in 1964 and immediately formed a band called the ‘Pleasure Seekers’ with her three sisters Arlene, Patti and Nancy. As with the Sweet earlier in this post and Mud from a previous post, many of her early hits were written by Nicky Chinn and Mike Chapman. Fans of the US sitcom ‘Happy Days’ may also remember Suzi’s appearances on that show as Leather Tuscadero in 1977

Suzi had failed to notice the small ladder in her tights as shen went on stage

Suzi had failed to notice the small ladder in her tights as she went on stage

It was on this day in 1979 that Dire Straits played their first ever US show when they appeared at the Paradise Club in Boston. The single of the title track from 1985’s “Brothers In Arms” album was the first commercially available CD single. 400 copies were pressed for release in November 1985. The album went to number one in both the UK and the US. Here is my favourite Dire Straits song which was also their first UK hit, “Sultans Of Swing”

Though they were excellent guitarists those Dire Straits boys never really mastered the Hank Marvin/ Shadows dance steps

Though they were excellent guitarists those Dire Straits boys never really mastered the Hank Marvin/ Shadows dance steps

And finally on this day in 2003 the UK tabloid ‘The News Of The World’ reported that Michael Jackson had undergone scores of painful operations to strip his body of black skin until he appeared white. They also reported that surgeons at a Santa Monica clinic eventually refused him any further treatment. An ‘insider’ told the paper that Jacson had been anesthetized on a weekly basis to have his skin peeled and bleached. Is this a true story? Maybe, but bear in mind the track record of the UK tabloid press in making up stories before making up your mind. Here is Michael with “Black Or White”

looking at the man in the mirror Michael finally realised that he may have overdone the plastic surgery

looking at the man in the mirror Michael finally realised that he may have overdone the plastic surgery

Well that’s another day nearly over folks, enjoy the rest of it and I’ll be back tomorrow

 

“Cold fire, you’ve got everything but cold fire” February 22, 2009

Filed under: Trivia — justwilliam1959 @ 10:32 am
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Welcome to Sunday everyone, I hope you’re having a good weekend. I am, in fact I am slightly hungover today, but hey that’ll pass soon enough….. well I hope so anyway!

So on with the show then, today, 22nd February 2009 is the 36th birthday of Scott Phillips, drummer with Creed who had a US number one single with “With Arms Wide Open” in 2001. It also reached number 13 in the UK charts. It won a Grammy for best rock song too. He also played keyboards on Creed’s album “Weathered”. He is currently a member of Alter Bridge along with two other former members of Creed, Mark Tremonti and Brian Marshall. Creed were often dismissed by critics as a Christian rock band, however they were never signed to a Christian label, nor indeed did they play Christian venues. A number of their songs certainly suggest a strong interest in religion, but for me whatever their beliefs they were a damned good band. The rumour mill suggests that Creed may be getting back together this year. What are your thoughts on band reunions? I think some are great and some are dire, for example in my opinion the reunion of both the Specials and Blink 182 this year is excellent, however the reunion of Limp Bizkit………….. WHY?????

Creed had now moved wholesale into the decorating business

Creed had now moved wholesale into the decorating business

The last of todays birthdays is that of James Blunt, who is 35 today (although some sources suggest 32. Someone once remarked that it was no coincidence that his name rhymed with another but much more derogatory word than blunt. I’m not sure I’ve figured out what that word is so for now let’s just say he’s a bit of a runt. Although strangely enough his real name is in fact Blount, James Hillier Blount to be precise. I’m sure that you all know him much too well. For me the first time I heard “You’re Beautiful” I thought this is an ok kind of song, but then it was absolutely played to death by radio and in pretty much every clothes store in the land too. Personally I prefer the Weird Al Yankovic version entitled “You’re Pitiful” (click the title to hear it) and just to show that I am completely unbiased, after all this is James ‘The Runt” Blunt and not Robbie Williams, here is James with his song “1973” You may be aware that James served in the British army for six years, notably as part of the peacekeeping force in Kosovo in the late 90s. But did you know that he was also one of the Guards for the lying in state of the Queen Mother after her death in 2002, he was also a part of her funeral procession. I know that last point will interest my Mum, but I’m really not a fan of the Royal Family at all!

In spite of his apparent wealth James still couldn't afford a full set of clothes for his lady

In spite of his apparent wealth James still couldn't afford a full set of clothes for his lady

On this day in 1960 the Percy Faith Orchestra began a nine week stint at number one in the US chart with “Theme From A Summer Place” which also reached number two in the UK chart. This piece of music is very much a guilty pleasure of mine, I remember hearing it on the radio quite a few times when I was young and it is indeed on iTunes on my laptop, it hasn’t quite been promoted to my iPod just yet and it’s not in the 50 songs that make up my all time top 10 either. The music was written as the theme for a 1959 movie called, can you guess, “A Summer Place” The film starred Sandra Dee and Troy Donahue, Sandra went on to be immortalised in the song “Look At Me I’m Sandra Dee” in the Grease movie. Percy was a renowned band leader and often branded as a leading light among producers of ‘easy listening’ music. He was Canadian and died aged 67 in 1976

After months of practice Percy still couldn't get the "YMCA" dance right

After months of practice Percy still couldn't get the "YMCA" dance right

On this day in 1969 Tyrannosaurus Rex (soon to become T Rex) featuring the late great (those l and g’s have been quite busy this week haven’t they?) Marc Bolan were headlining at the Manchester Free Trade Hall in the UK. The support act was one Mister David Bowie who performed a one man mime act. But perhaps the less said about Mr Bowie’s acting the better! Anyway Bolan and Bowie were good friends for quite a few years before either of them found fame. In fact at one point in the sixties they shared the job of painting Ken Pitt’s apartment, he was their manager. Bolan had success before Bowie and helped out his old friend by playing guitar on Bowies single “The Prettiest Star“. This single is still a sought after collectors piece. It’s a good song too, in fact Bowie rerecorded it for the Aladdin Sane album in 1973

Bolan and Bowie together for what became Marc's last ever TV appearance before his untimely death in September 1977. Look closely and you'll notice that is was also before any work on Bowie's teeth too

Bolan and Bowie together for what became Marc's last ever TV appearance before his untimely death in September 1977. Look closely and you'll notice that is was also before any work on Bowie's teeth too

On this day in 1975 Steve Harley and Cockney Rebel achieved their only UK number one single with the excellent “Make Me Smile (Come Up And See Me)“. I just had another idea for a special edition blog, how about songs with parentheses (that’ll be brackets to the less well read amongst you, to anyone else they’re the little curly things at each end of this sentence). “Make Me Smile” has been used for two UK national TV advertising campaigns; Carlsberg Lager in 1995 and more recently for Marks and Spencer in 2005. It remains one of the most played songs on UK radio. I finally got to see Mr Harley in concert in 2005 at the Royal Opera House in York, he was very good, I would certainly see him again given the chance.

Steve wondered why all the other boys dressed in blue

Steve wondered why all the other boys dressed in blue

And finally on this day in 2002 the drummer Ronnie Verrell died aged 77. He worked with many different people including Tom Jones, the Strawbs and Phil Everly. But most people have probably heard him without even knowing it, for Ronnie is the man who provided all the drum licks for the Muppet Shows in-house drummer, Animal! Here is Animal himself drumming for Rita Moreno on “Fever“, an excellent clip from the Muppet Show

Animal drummer for the Muppet Show House Band

Animal drummer for the Muppet Show House Band

The late great Ronnie Verrell stunt double drummer for Animal from the Muppets

The late great Ronnie Verrell stunt double drummer for Animal from the Muppets

Has anyone ever said that you resembled one of the Muppets or perhaps a cartoon character? Well a number of people have said that I look something like Sam the Bald Eagle from the Muppet Show. I don’t have blue skin, so is it cos I is bald? This link goes back to my youth and more recently even Catwoman made the same remark. Anyway here is Sam the most handsome and intelligent Muppet!

Sam The Bald Eagle or perhaps it really is William? Answers on a postcard, or maybe in the blog comments

Sam The Bald Eagle or perhaps it really is William? Answers on a postcard, or maybe in the blog comments

I hope you enjoyed yet another day of full on trivia bombardment and until we meet again tomorrow I bid you farewell good trivia fans 🙂

 

“But Abigail Blast you sure are changing fast!” February 21, 2009

Filed under: Trivia — justwilliam1959 @ 8:18 am
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Welcome to Saturday people, unless of course you’re reading this later or something, in which case just “Hello, Good Evening and Welcome! (Copyright – David Frost!). In order to try and keep the promise I made yesterday of keeping this post short (although to be fair I failed abysmally on that yesterday) I’ll at least keep the intro short.

So without further ado, let’s get straight into todays birthdays. Firstly February 21st 2009 would have been the 76th birthday of the late great (two days in a row, those l’s & g’s are in danger of overuse) Nina Simone. She died aged 70 in 2003. She was born Eunice Kathleen Waymon in North Carolina in the US. Like many of her generation she began her musical career in church where she made a classical piano recital aged just 10. At one point during her piece her parents were told to move from the front row to allow some white people to sit down. Nina has said that she refused to play until her folks were allowed to retain their front row seats. She has also said that this may have been where the seeds of her civil rights activism were sown. She took the stage name Nina Simone so that her mother, who was a very strict Methodist Minister wouldn’t know where she was playing what she saw as the “Devil’s music” Nina is Spanish for ‘little girl’ and was a nickname a previous boyfriend had given her. Simone came from the French actress Simone Signoret. Here is Nina with a jolly good version of the Beatles “Revolution” with some rather spiffing lyric changes

It was at this point that Nina realised the surprise jumping out of the cake simply wasn't going to work

It was at this point that Nina realised the surprise jumping out of the cake simply wasn't going to work

The second of todays birthdays is that of Vince Welnick who would have been 58 today, but sadly he committed suicide in 2006. Who he? Well he was the keyboard player with the Tubes so that gives me the chance to indulge myself by providing the link to a clip (or two) of that excellent band! He also played with the Grateful Dead after leaving the Tubes in the late 80s. In 1973 they were the opening act on the bill for the New York Dolls, Iggy Pop and also Led Zeppelin. In 1983 they were also the support band on a number of David Bowie’s Serious Moonlight tour gigs, although sadly not at the Milton Keynes show where I saw him on that tour in 1983. Most of the band, although not Mr Welnick, adpoted some great stage names including Fee Waybill, Quay Lewd and Prairie Prince. Strangely enough the first two names were adopted by the lead singer whose real name was in fact John Waldo Waybill, which to me sounds like a made up name anyway! OK so as promised a couple of links of the Tubes in their prime! Firstly with their stab at disco with “Prime Time” followed by the absolutely stone cold classic “White Punks On Dope” from a late 70s edition of the BBC’s ‘Old Grey Whistle Test’. Fraser if you’re reading this, this ones for you mate!

Mr Waybill figured that if he could work out how to lower the mic stand he could wear his comfy flat shoes

Mr Waybill figured that if he could work out how to lower the mic stand he could wear his comfy flat shoes

The third and final birthday for today is that of James Dean Bradfield singer and guitarist with the Manic Street Preachers. In case you were wondering, the James Dean part of his name arose because his Mum was an avid movie fan, he has apparently said on some occasions that it might have been worse had she named him something like Clint Eastwood Bradfield. Presumably Marilyn Monroe Bradfield might have been difficult during his youth as well! The late great (definitely back those ‘ole l’s & g’s)Richey Edwards was a key member of the band up until his disappearance in 1995, providing many of the bands lyrics. His family formally declared him dead late last year. In another twist he also left behind a notebook of lyrics for each of the Manics remaining members and many of these will be used on the bands new album which is due for release later this year. In the meantime enjoy the Richey era Manics with the rather brilliant “Motown Junk” from 1991.

The Manics after the white jeans sale at Primark

The Manics after the white jeans sale at Primark

On this day in 1976 the late great (now they’re just showing off!) Florence Ballard of the Supremes died of cardiac arrest aged just 32. She had left the group in 1967 and lost an $8 million lawsuit with Motown Records. She was living on welfare when she died. In my opinion both Flo Ballard and Mary Wilson were much better singers than Diana Ross. I also doubt that Flo or Mary would have recorded the absolutely abysmal (in my humble opinion of course) “Chain Reaction”! Here are the original Supremes, including Florence Ballard with “Where Did Our Love Go“, definitely not Motown Junk!

The Supremes (left to right) Florence Ballard, Mary Wilson, Diana Ross

The Supremes (left to right) Florence Ballard, Mary Wilson, Diana Ross

On this day in 2001 Robbie Williams was attacked and thrown from the stage during a gig in Stuttgart, Germany after a man managed to climb on stage and push him into the security pit. He was later arrested and taken to a secure psychiatric unit, obviously I mean the pusher and not Robbie, although one does live in hope! Well come on I haven’t said anything bad about Robbie for a few days have I? Just to show I care here’s a video of Mr Williams…………. er falling over on stage in Leeds in 2006!

Robbie was really hoping that swallows didn't eat nuts

Robbie was really hoping that swallows didn't eat nuts

Finally on this day in 2004 Les Gray, the lead singer of Mud, died of throat cancer aged just 57. Mud’s first TV appearance was on BBC TVs ‘Basil Brush Show’ I hope they played “Dyna-mite”……. BOOM BOOM! After they signed to the RAK label in the early 70s and also teamed up with songwriters Nicky Chinn and Mike Chapman (who wrote many hits for other acts too, including the Sweet and Suzi Quatro) they had a string of UK hits including three number ones “Tiger Feet”, “Lonely This Christmas” and a acapella cover of Buddy Holly’s “Oh Boy” Click here to listen to a megamix of four of Mud’s 70s hits (Dynamite, Rocket, Tiger Feet and Oh Boy)

"If our biggest hit was Tiger Feet why do we have leopard skin trim on these suits?" asked the Mud boys

"If our biggest hit was Tiger Feet why do we have leopard skin trim on these suits?" asked the Mud boys

OK that’s all for today folks, thanks for reading this far, or indeed reading this stuff at all. See you next time!

 

“you have sent the maid home early like a thousand times before…” February 20, 2009

Filed under: Trivia — justwilliam1959 @ 8:43 am
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I have in mind that today’s post will be much shorter than recent days, but let’s see how that pans out at the end shall we? before we get into the usual crop of birthdays and onthisdays I’d like to talk about what I listened to on my iPod today on a brisk walk into the city this afternoon. Don’t panic I’m only going to mention one song. That song being the magnificent “One Nation Under A Groove” by the mighty Funkadelic. This song is in my all time top 10 (which Catwoman tells me seems to contain at least 50 songs!) and for me should be used in the peace process for conflicts across the globe. Let’s all Funk for World Peace, a bit like Make Love Not War, only this is funkin’ instead of ………….. lovin’ (how rude are you? You thought I was going to say something else didn’t you? But funk has an ‘N’ not a ‘C’) Anyway I absotively posolutely love this song. How can you not want to dance to it? when it came out in 1978 I actually saw their show, which was a joint effort with one of George Clinton’s other wonderful creations, Parliament at the Hammersmith Odeon in London. It still ranks as one of the best gigs I’ve ever seen and there have been many since my first in November 1973. Sadly the song only just scraped into the UK top 10, peaking at 9. But it should have put the funk into the number one slot for weeks! George Clinton is the Funkmeister behind both Parliament and Funkadelic using both as vehicles for his prolific output, particularly during the 70s. If you don’t already own this song download it now! If you want to just listen to it click on the title here “One Nation Under A Groove” It would also be remiss of me to include no trivia about them so here is a George Clinton snippet or two (he’s no relation of Bill Clinton by the way!) In 1955 he was still attending the Clinton Place High School (now that’s some coincidence) when he started work as a foreman at New Jersey’s Wham-O Hula-Hoop factory. Now that would have been a cool first job. Mine was in the bus schedules mileage section at London Transport (we measured bus routes!) in 1975.

George and the gang had been caught raiding Mum's dressing up box and make up bag again!

George and the gang had been caught raiding Mum's dressing up box and make up bag again!

So now let’s get back to normal starting with the birthdays. February 20th is the 63rd birthday of J Geils who gave his name to, can you guess? yes the J. Geils Band! I can confirm that his real name wasn’t in fact just J, to his Mum he’s just little Jerome! Whilst Jerome may have used his name to name the band he wasn’t the singer (a bit like Van Halen then) the singer in their heyday was one Peter Wolf. Apparently at some point in their career the band also included the wonderfully named Magic Dick on harmonica. I’d love to know if that’s the name on his passport! The bands biggest UK hit was “Centrefold” which reached number three, the song was also a US number 1. OK click the song title and then after three….. all together now na na na na na na (repeat ad infinitum!)

He promised himself that next time he would check that the pole was firmly fixed before commencing his pole dance to Centrefold

He promised himself that next time he would check that the pole was firmly fixed before commencing his pole dance to Centrefold

The second of todays birthdays is that of Mr Walter Becker who is 59 today. Becker is 50% of Steely Dan along with Donald Fagen. The band have absolutely nothing to do with Steeleye Span (other than their names sound similar). Steely Dan took their name from the steam powered dildo in William Burroughs book “The Naked Lunch”. They were generally known as more of an albums band, although many of you may be familiar with the singles “Reelin’ In The Years”, “Do It Again” and “Haitian Divorce”. My favourite Steely Dan song though, is the supreme “Dirty Work” from their album “Can’t Buy A Thrill”

Donald never had a chance in the longest hair and most facial hair contest

Donald never had a chance in the longest hair and most facial hair contest

The third and final birthday for today is that of the late great (you knew those l and g’s would be back didn’t you?) Kurt Cobain. He would have been 42 today had he not taken his own life aged just 27 in 1994. Apparently 27 is a bad age for rock stars, not only Cobain, but also Jimi Hendrix (more of him later), Jim Morrison and Janis Joplin all died at 27. Kurt’s suicide note quoted some lyrics from Neil Young’s “My My, Hey Hey (Out Of The Blue)” Those words were “it’s better to burn out than fade away” Nirvana played their final gig on March 1st in Munich, Germany. Cobain’s body was found on April 8th. Have a look and listen to Nirvana’s excellent “Come As You Are” The “I don’t have a gun” refrain in the song is somewhat eerie given how Kurt killed himself.

Kurt in his prime.... and his Mum's cardigan!

Kurt in his prime.... and his Mum's cardigan!

And there is just one onthisday today. On this day in 1960 Jimi Hendrix made his stage debut at a High School show in Seattle. Although some sources suggest that this took place in 1959. when Jimi was born in 1942 he was registered as Johnny Allen Hendrix by his mother Lucille (who was a full blooded Cherokee indian). He was renamed James Marshall Hendrix four years later by his father. In 1964 Hendrix was the guitarist in the Isley Brothers touring band, it is said by many that this is really where Ernie Isley developed his Hendrix style guitar playing. Here is Jimi with Bob Dylan’s “All Along The Watchtower” at the Isle of Wight festival in 1970 just a few months before his death

Bryan Adams may have played until his fingers bled, but Jimi played until his guitar caught fire

Bryan Adams may have played until his fingers bled, but Jimi played until his guitar caught fire

That’s all for today folks apart from this picture of one of our cats, Benny. He is named after Benny the Ball from Top Cat and he will be 1 year old at the end of March

Benny has unusual musical tastes, he is a big fan of 80s band Living In A Box

Benny has unusual musical tastes, he is a big fan of 80s band Living In A Box

I have an apology for all of you who have read this far, it wasn’t a particularly short post today!

 

“just like Pagliacci did, I try to keep my sadness hid” February 19, 2009

Filed under: Trivia — justwilliam1959 @ 7:16 am
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Well I guess yesterday says and awful lot about those regular readers and many of the new ones. I include one fart clip and the views reach their highest in the history of this blog, well I know that history only stretches 9 days, but even so. Some of you who know me may have heard this before, but I have a theory that one day we just wake up and we’ve become mature. How do we know? What are the signs? Well for me I reckon my wardrobe will be full of nylon shirts, polyester trousers, sensible slip on shoes, a flat cap and a proper anorak. But that won’t be the real sign, the real indication will be that fart jokes are no longer funny. I can happily point out though that even though I’m now 50 years young fart jokes are still bloody hilarious. oh and my wardrobe still has plenty of jeans, t-shirts and my Converse All Stars

So what did you all think of the Brits then? I’ve posted my thoughts separately so I won’t bore you with them here. You’ll find them just below this post.

So onto the usual mundane mishmash of Birthdays and Onthisdays and maybe some other stuff too. Firstly 19th February 2009 is the 69th birthday of the supremely talented Mr William ‘Smokey’ Robinson. Smokey is not only a gifted singer, songwriter and producer but he was also appointed Vice President of Motown Records by Berry Gordy in 1972, which was the year the company moved from Detroit to LA. Robert Zimmerman (that’s Bob Dylan to the uninitiated) once called Smokey “the world’s greatest living poet” just listen to some of Smokey’s excellent lyrics and you’ll see why. “Tears Of A Clown” is a lyrical masterpiece in my opinion especially the way he manages to mention Pagliacci, give it a listen. You know the drill, click on the songs title. But my favourite Smokey composition is “The Love I Saw In You (Was Just A Mirage)” , here it is by the Jackson 5.

Smokey and the boys at their Butlins, Bognor residency!

Smokey and the boys at their Butlins, Bognor residency!

Today is also the 63rd birthday of Pierre Van Den Linden off of Focus a very successful Dutch rock band who were very big in the early 70s. They had two top 20 singles in the UK in 1973, “Sylvia” and “Hocus Pocus” He left the band in 1974 but joined up with Thijs Van Leer from the original band in 2004 and they continue to tour. Here are the band performing both songs on the UKs classic show the ‘Old Grey Whistle Test’ in 1972. Oh I should point out that Focus were largely an instrumental group apart from the odd bits of wordless vocalising and yodelling!

There is definitely some cymbalism in this picture!

There is definitely some cymbalism in this picture!

The final birthday for today is that of Seal perhaps most famous for “Kiss From A Rose” He had his first his as ‘featuring seal’ when he did the vocals for Adamski’s UK number 1, “Killer” in April 1990. Seal rerecorded his own version and took it to number 8 in the UK in November 1991. Seal was given up at birth by his mother Adebisi to a white foster family in Essex although she took him back when he was four. His full name is Sealhenry Samuel. The scars on his face are from contracting the disease Lupus in his early 20s. Here is the video for the Adamski and Seal version of “Killer“. Don’t you just love the jaunty angle at which Adamski wears his baseball cap and doesn’t Seal look young? Mind you that is nearly 20 years ago now!

No one ever seemed to want go clubbing with Seal!

No one ever seemed to want go clubbing with Seal!

On this day in 1977 Manfred Mann’s Earthband were number one in the USA with a Bruce Springsteen composition “Blinded By The Light“. Click the song title to see and hear the band play it live on a 70s TV show. It was also, I believe, the first UK hit with a Bruce Springsteen song. The Earthband had a unique selling point for one of their early albums. They gave away a small piece of Wales with each copy of “The Good Earth” sold.

Manfred Manns Earth Band

Manfred Manns Earth Band

Now this next one is a strange ‘On This Day’ for the story covers this day in 1972 AND 1994 and relates to the same song. That song is the classic “Without You”. On this day in 1972 it was a UK number one for Harry Nilsson and on this day in 1994 it was a UK number one again, this time for Mariah Carey. The original version of the song was recorded as an album track by Badfinger and was written by Pete Ham and Tom Evans of the band. Things ended very tragically for Pete and Tim, both committed suicide by hanging themselves in 1975 and 1983 respectively. On a brighter note it’s strange that whilst Harry Nilsson wrote some excellent songs his two biggest hits, “Without You” and “Everybody’s Talking” were both written by others. “Without You” has become something of a standard for balladeers on talent shows such as X Factor and American Idol to the extent that in 2008, Valentina Hasan, a contestant of Music Idol Bulgaria, sang her own version of “Without You” in extremely broken English. It came to be known as “Ken Lee,” the video of Hasan’s performance was a big hit on You Tube. So that you can make up your own mind here are four versions;

Harry Nilsson

Mariah Carey

Badfinger

Valentina Hasan

And almost finally for today, not quite a fart clip, but in the same region so to speak. On this day in 2004 Johnny Cash’s family blocked an attempt to use his classic song “Ring Of Fire” to promote haemorrhoid products. I can understand how they must have felt and I suppose they didn’t really need ‘piles’ of money either 🙂

Johnny shows the best way to treat haemorrhoids, don't forget to wash afterwards though!

Johnny shows the best way to treat haemorrhoids, don't forget to wash afterwards though!

And finally today here is another fart clip, a music related one in fact. But don’t worry this will not be a regular feature, maybe an occasional one though, especially if you have any music related flatulence clips. Anyway this is a track that came out in the late 70’s it was by Ivor Biggun and the Red Nosed Burglars and the song was “I’ve Parted (Misprint)” can you guess what the misprint was? The song never charted although it’s predecessor did, that was called “The Winkers Song (Misprint)” obviously back in those days we didn’t have spell check! Incidentally fact fans Ivor Biggun was in fact a made up name, his real name was Robert ‘Doc’ Cox and he is a British musician and former television journalist. He is perhaps best remembered for his appearances on the BBC programme “That’s Life” during the 80s.

Bye for now good people and the bad ones too, obviously!

 

Brits Special – “The future needs a big kiss” February 18, 2009

Filed under: Review — justwilliam1959 @ 11:42 pm
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Here’s a one off Brits special for you live from Earls Court in London, well ok you’ve found me out, live in front of the telly in York! Compared to the usual posts this one will be mercifully brief…….. I promise!

The whole proceedings were opened by the magnificent U2 with their new single “Get On Your Boots” which took some while to grow on me, but now it has. The gorgeous Kylie was the hostess along with the two dudes from ‘Gavin and Stacey’

Duffy won 3 awards and the Kings Of Leon won two. Both sang live too, Kings of Leon were superb. Duffy was good but I reckon the lighting man was trashed, her face was in shadow for most of her song. Let’s not forget the debt that Duffy owes to the former Suede guitar maestro Bernard Butler, who produced her album.

Then of course there was Katy Perry, she won best international female and by gosh someone must have painted those leggings on!

Girls Aloud won the most viewers votes to claim the best British single prize, which they also performed earlier in the evening with dancers in white and loads of pink feathers. A bit like burlesque for the under 18s.

Coldplay didn’t win anything but did perform live, Mr Paltrow was on excellent form. But was that Brian Blessed on drums? We should be told!

Paul Weller won the best British male gong, I would have been gutted if he didn’t. He wasn’t there but his acceptance video with Adele was quite amusing.

David Hasselhoff presented the Best British group to Elbow and to be fair they certainly didn’t hassle the Hoff and to be even more fair he didn’t sing!

Take That put on an excellent performance, but Catwoman thinks they might have been miming. Their shirts were simply, well, wrong! As for the NHS glasses they all wore, were they sponsored by Specsavers? They looked like four Clark Kent clones when they were lowered onto the stage in their open topped UFO. Was the UFO a dig at Robbie perhaps? See it’s not only me that does that to him!

Florence and the Machine had already been announced as the winner of the Critics Choice award but what we’d like to know is why the audio was muted when she arrived on stage and also why was it just Florence, I wanted to see the machine!

Kanye West accepted his Best International Male award by video and seemed to be dressed like a black Richie Cunningham. He also seized the opportunity to ‘big up’ what a catch he would be to all the laydeez!

Estelle duetted with the Ting Tings in what was a pretty poor mash up of “Shut Up And Let Me Go” and “American Boy”. But were Estelle’s leggings done by the same painter that did Katy Perry’s?

Tom Jones looked incredibly orange when he presented Duffy with her third award of the night for best British Album.

The Pet Shop Boys as we already knew were awarded the Outstanding Contribution to Music award this year. The award was humbly presented by Brandon Flowers of the Killers. The boys also played the show out with an excellent 15 minute medley of their hits. Neil Tennant wearing a puffed up shiny overcoat, bowler hat and shades and Chris Lowe wearing jeans, puffer jacket, shades and a brilliant Andy Warhol style pink wig (That’s my style for my next mobile disco gig sorted then!)

They were ably supported by both Lady GaGa and Brandon Flowers for a few songs as well as a massive troupe of dancers. All in all for me the Pet Shop Boys were the best performance of the night. What was the worst? For me it was the hapless interviewers Nicola Appleton and Melanie Blatt off of All Saints, crap doesn’t do it justice

I also had great fun Twittering with Coldplays crew and Scott Mills team during the show.

What did you folks think of it all?

Check out the winners and news here – Brits Winners and also here in the Telegraph or the Sun

 

“There’s no payola in his alphabetical file”

Filed under: Trivia — justwilliam1959 @ 8:19 am
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Here we are on the day of the Brit awards. Who will win? Who will “do a Winslett” in their acceptance speech? Who will throw a hissy fit at not winning anything? Who will wiggle their arse at Jacko (and how old will they be, I mean Jarvis is about as old as me nearly)? Who cares? All these questions, ok most of these questions will be answered this evening. Watch it live on ITV at 8pm, unless of course you really don’t care, in which case slip into to something comfortable (comment about J*ck* here has been left out at the request of my legal team) and drink your cocoa before retiring to bed before it gets dark. (Cocoa and early to bed is just what Catwoman will be doing tomorrow I’m sure). Either way you can check out all the potential winners and losers here http://www.brits.co.uk/

Of the nominees the only one that I would like to see win an award is Paul Weller, in fact I’ll be gutted if he doesn’t.

A Brit :-)

A Brit 🙂

Before we move on with the usual stuff I have a very hot tip coming up for you and it’s absolutely nothing to do with the Brits. They are a band that is local to me (in York UK). I haven’t seen them live yet, but I did meet Emi and James last week. Both of them are intelligent, funny and great people. Their band is called Exit Project and you can listen to them on Myspace and you can also order their new single “Healing Slow” now, I ordered my copy this morning. The video was shot, I believe, by Emi’s brother and it’s pretty damned good too. Go have a listen to their music you won’t be disappointed and if you do like it BUY THE CD NOW! (OK that wasn’t very subliminal was it? Never mind, just buy it ok)

So let’s move onto the main business of the day, some birthdays. Firstly it is the 56th birthday of Robbie Bachman the drummer and Bachman off of Bachman Turner Overdrive. I always imagined they were a trio, largely because it would be really cool if your surname was Overdrive wouldn’t it? Sadly there is no one called overdrive in the band. Their biggest hit was “You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet” which I really used to love when it was a hit in 1974 (US number 1 UK number 2). But after it was appropriated by Smashie and Nicey (aka Harry Enfield and Paul Whitehouse ) I went off it a bit. But I am trying to rehabilitate it, in fact I even played it at my last mobile disco gig, a 30th birthday party last month! The band inspired an achievement/trophy in the video game Rock Band 2 which is named “The Bachman-Turner Award” in their honour. It is awarded for staying in overdrive for 90 seconds. Another tasty piece of BTO trivia, well certainly for me anyway, is that Stephen King chose his pen name Richard Bachman from the bands name (In case you didn’t know, I am a big Stephen King fan)

Bachman, Turner and one of the others must be Overdrive

Bachman, Turner and one of the others must be Overdrive

Today is also the 55th birthday of John Travolta I know he is predominantly an actor, but love it or loathe it “Grease” is somewhat difficult to ignore. Come on how many of you can resist singing along, or at least tapping your feet to most of the songs from the soundtrack? Speaking of tapping your feet, as a child John attended dance classes. His teacher was none other than Fred Kelly, the brother of famous dancer Gene Kelly

Travolta an excellent dancer who spawned countless poor imitations every time "Night Fever" gets played

Travolta an excellent dancer who spawned countless poor imitations every time "Night Fever" gets played

The third and final birthday for today is that of Andre Romelle Young who is much better known as Dr Dre a former member of the excellent NWA and Eminems Producer. Dre is 44 today. Dre’s “Nuthin’ But a ‘G’ Thang” featured on the soundtrack of the popular video game, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas from the rap radio station, Radio Los Santos.

Curtis, Marshall and Andre (left to right)

Curtis, Marshall and Andre (left to right)

On this day in 1998 Noel Gallagher’s Epiphone Supernova guitar raised £4,600 in aid of the Children In Need charity when auctioned at Bonhams auction house in London. This was the Union Jack guitar that Noel used a lot during the promotional tour for the second Oasis album. His was a custom made guitar but Epiphone also produced copies for general sale with either the Union Jack Design or in light blue, which is the colour of Noel and Liam’s favourite football club, Manchester City FC.

Noel with THAT guitar

Noel with THAT guitar

On this day in 1969 Marie McDonald McLaughlin Lawrie, better known as Lulu married Maurice Gibb of the Bee Gees. That same year she tied for first place with three other countries (Spain, France and the Netherlands) in the Eurovision Song Contest with the awful “Boom Bang A Bang” At least she did record lots of really good stuff too, especially her cover of David Bowie’s “The Man Who Sold The World” But then I would say that wouldn’t I? Anything to get a Bowie reference into the blog. Lulu also recorded Dan Hartman’s “Relight My Fire” with Take That who at the time featured one Robert Peter Williams (maybe relight my fire was in fact a clarion call to put a match to RW?) (More Bowie references and Robbie digs another day!) Another little known fact, until now, is that when Lulu appeared as a ‘victim’ of the ‘This Is Your Life’ show in the UK in May 1972 the finale included a Scottish pipe band and in that band was my Dad’s cousin Betty!

The Dame with Lulu

The Dame with Lulu

Lulu - Now and then. I hope I look that good when I get to her age

Lulu - Now and then. I hope I look that good when I get to her age

Janie jones in THAT dress

Janie jones in THAT dress

And finally for today, as promised yesterday, here’s some words about Janie Jones, the subject of a great song from the Clash. She was born Marion Mitchell in Seaham, County Durham in the UK. Her first brush with fame came when she attended a film premiere (London In The Raw) appropriately given the title, in a topless dress. A topless dress, wait a minute, that would be a skirt wouldn’t it? She had been a relatively unsuccessful pop singer in the 60s. The best known of her songs was “Witches Brew” which reached number 46 in

Ju Ju Queen on the lash?

Ju Ju Queen on the lash?

the UK charts. She was jailed in 1973 for her involvement in ‘controlling prostitutes’ otherwise know as a madam. In 2006 the Clash song was covered by Babyshambles with and Janie Jones appeared in the video being chauffered around London with Mick Jones (off of the Clash). In 1983, Janie, backed by members of the Clash and the Blockheads and credited as Janie Jones & the Lash, released the single “House of the Ju-Ju Queen” The track was produced by Joe Strummer

Janie ponders a whip round for her court costs

Janie ponders a whip round for her court costs

So that’s it for another day folks apart from a little film I’d like to share with you, it’s called “Funny Fart” and I love it!

 

“We are starlight, we are golden” February 17, 2009

Filed under: Trivia — justwilliam1959 @ 8:30 am
Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

Here we go again a veritable trivia roller coaster for your personal delight (I feel much better after that awful bout of verbal diarrhea!) So today being the 17th February the year of our lord 2009. Actually as an atheist how should I refer to the year? Incidentally I used to consider myself an agnostic, but a former boss of mine said “an agnostic is just an atheist with no balls” so I decided I rather be an atheist than a eunuch agnostic!

There are a couple of birthdays to celebrate today, firstly the late great (here they come again those confounded l & g’s) Tommy Edwards. Tommy was born in 1922 and so would have been 87 today. Unfortunately he died aged 47 in 1968. He is probably best remembered for his rather excellent version of the classic love song “It’s All In The Game” which has also been covered by everyone from Sir Cliff Richard (he certainly didn’t have the same agnostic vs atheist dilemma that I did I’m sure!) to the Four Tops. My favourite version is definitely by the Tops followed closely by Mr Edwards. Tommy Edwards version was a UK and US number 1 in 1958, pre me even! The Four Tops reached number 5 in the UK and 23 in the US with the song in 1970.Click on their name to see them singing it live in what appears to be a hospital. The song was co-written by a US Vice President, Charles Daws who wrote a piece of music in 1911 called “Melody In A Major”, Carl Sigman added the lyrics to the piece in 1951. Mr Daws went on to become VP under Calvin Coolidge. It is so far the only number one song to have been written or co-written by a US Vice President. I can’t imagine Cheney or Biden ever doing the same somehow.

The late great Tommy Edwards

The late great Tommy Edwards

The mostly late but always great Four Tops

The mostly late but always great Four Tops

The second and final birthday today is that of Billie Joe Armstrong from Green Day, who is 37 today. I saw Green Day live at the Milton Keynes Bowl in 2005 they were bloody good! As his hair is often died some of you may not know that he is in fact a redhead, just like my son Luke, who coincidentally also plays guitar and sings in a band! They’re called Steal The Smile. OK this bit is yet another blatant plug, but check them out on myspace and tell me what you think of them. www.myspace.com/stealthesmile This is Steal The Smile at the Face Bar in Reading last year with a cover of Pendulum’s “Blood Sugar” And lest we forget whose birthday it is, Billie Joe, remember? Here are Green Day with the superb “Basket Case”

Billie Joe on stage in 2005

Billie Joe on stage in 2005

On this day in 1970 Joni Mitchell announced her ‘retirement’ from live performance during a show at the Royal Albert Hall in London (what a great venue that is!) She was on stage again by the end of the year. She’s not the first or last to ‘retire’ either; Frank Sinatra did it a few times, Bowie retired in 1973 (well technically he retired the Ziggy character. Robbie seems to have retired, well I live in hope at least. (There we go a Bowie reference and a Robbie dig in the same sentence) Joni’s real name is Roberta Joan Anderson and in 2003 Rolling Stone magazine (my favourite US publication!) named her the 72nd greatest guitarist of all time; she was the highest-ranked woman on the list. Which women guitarists should have been higher? What do you think? One of Joni’s biggest hits was the wonderful “Big Yellow Taxi” She also wrote one of my favourite songs, “Woodstock” which was about Woodstock, I bet you never saw that coming did you? That song was a big hit for Ian Matthews with his band Matthews Southern Comfort. I should point out that Joni is not a Canadian relative of Peggy, Phil and Grant Mitchell

Joni waiting for a taxi, a big yellow one!

Joni waiting for a taxi, a big yellow one!

On this day in 1972 Pink Floyd started a 3 night run at the Rainbow Theatre in London, tickets wee just £1 each, but that was a lot of money then, but probably not to bankers! An early incarnation of the Floyd was known as the Tea Set and when they found themselves on the same bill as another band with the same name, Syd Barrett came up with the alternative name The Pink Floyd Sound, after two blues musicians, Pink Anderson (no relation to Joni Mitchell) and Floyd Council whose names he’d seen on the notes of a Blind Boy Fuller album

"What a bummer" thought William when he checked his Pink Floyd collection

"What a bummer" thought William when he checked his Pink Floyd collection

Ok that’s it for today apart from two things. Firstly I intend to start an occasional series soon where I’ll work alphabetically through some of my favourite artists and include at least one of their songs and some interesting (but you’ll be the judges of that of course) trivia. I’ll be starting with the letter ‘A’ soon, any guesses who it might be? And lastly following on from an earlier post about the Clash, who had a song called “Janie Jones” I have had a request for some information about Ms Jones and that will follow later this week, but I can confirm that she wasn’t just a character in a Clash song, she was indeed a real person!

Bye for now peeps 🙂