It’s just a week to go to the big day folks, we’ve arrived at the 18th December and therefore day 18 on my ABC of Motown Advent Calendar. Seeing as yesterday was the letter Q by my calculations that must meant that today is the letter R. I have chosen a rather fun song for today. It’s “Rockin’ Robin which was a solo hit for a young Michael Jackson back in 1972.
The song was written by Leon Rene using the pseudonym of Jimmie Thomas and was originally a hit for Bobby Day in 1958. It was his only hit and it reached number two on the US Billboard charts. Jackson’s version was taken from his first solo album ‘Got To Be There‘ and also reached number two on the Billboard charts. The song went to number three in the UK.
The song has been occasionally included on a Christmas compilation album, which is a little strange to me as it was a hit in February 1972. I suppose it must be the Robin reference that makes it a Christmas related song to some people. The B Side of the single contained a cracking version of one of my favourite Supremes songs and another Holland Dozier Holland classic; “Love Is Here And Now You’re Gone“.
After the epic news earlier this week that the Stone Roses have reformed some even more epic news broke yesterday. Westlife are finally splitting up, which I must say that I find really sad. When I say sad I mean I’m really sad that it’s taken so bloody long for it to happen. It hardly registers on the same cultural scale as the Beatles break up does it? But incredibly Westlife have had 14 UK number one singles (that’s not far off the Beatles and Elvis Presley’s tally of 17 and 21 respectively) and have worldwide record sales of 44 million. Unlike the Beatles though these guys aren’t just breaking up, they’re embarking on a farewell tour next year in support of a greatest hits package to be released next month. For me they were all about the easy buck and the dumbing down of the music industry. So no surprise that the most worthless, talentless person to ever appear on TV or find employment in the entertainment industry, Louis Walsh, was behind them!
Personally I'm glad that someone took the stage away!
But of course every Yin has a Yang, every Kit has a Kat, every A-Side has a B-Side, every day has a night, every messiah has a Judas, every rose has a thorn, every Bon has a Jovi and every dog has a Shit. It sadly comes in the wake of a Steps reunion. So just as we lose an insipid, karaoke style hit machine in the guise of a boy band we regain one of pop music’s most annoying manufactured happy clappy combos. As a quick aside check out the BBC’s rather amusing comparison of the reunion of Steps vs. the reunion of the Stone Roses by clicking here. As regular readers will know I will not even be going in sniffing distance for shows by either Westlife or Steps.
Westlife never really mastered Madonna's Vogue dance
But I would like to say something in favour of the genuine fans of all the acts I have mentioned in this post; Stone Roses, Westlife and Steps. This is a message to all you ticket scalpers out there – “Give it up you money grabbing bastards and let the real fans get the tickets!” How come that within minutes of tickets going on sale they suddenly appear on E Bay at vastly inflated prices? Greed that’s how come! As for ticket exchange sites like Viagogo I personally wouldn’t touch them with a barge pole, they’re just like licensed touts. Apologies for that, I needed a bit of a rant, I really don’t like touts and scalpers, especially those who do it in a corporate guise!
With Just A Hint Of Mayhem 