With Just A Hint Of Mayhem

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

“Hey sugar, you almost got us punched in a fight” March 3, 2009

Filed under: Trivia — justwilliam1959 @ 7:03 am
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Hello once again on this 3rd day of March. I would like to point out that todays post is a little shorter than other recent posts as I have been suffering from a bad case of man flu. Ladies you just don’t understand this, but it’s terrible! Anyway I do have a great way to kick off todays post. There has been a considerable furore over cuts to arts budgets in British Columbia in Canada and in a novel way of raising the profile of the issue a theatre director and an arts group treasurer have organised an excellent spoof recording of a Bonnie Tyler song. The link to the song is on the news page which you will find if you click on the song title, which is “Total Eclipse Of The Arts” I would like to thank Tracy, who runs a number of great Yahoo Groups, notably FAMOUS_WOMEN_IN ROCK, for this story.

So onto the birthdays first starting with Mike Pender of the Searchers who is 67 today. The Searchers took their name from John Ford’s classic western movie. They were a Liverpool band who like their contemporaries the Beatles also played at the famous Cavern Club and indeed the Star Club in Hamburg. They have another link with the Fab Four too, their original drummer Norman McGarry took over the drum stool with Rory Storm and the Hurricanes after Ringo Starr left to join the Beatles. The band had three UK number ones; “Sweets For My Sweet” in 1963, “Needles And Pins” and “Don’t Throw Your Love Away” both in 1964. All of these songs were covers, the originals were by the Drifters, Jackie DeShannon and the Shirelles respectively. In December 1966 the group changed drummers again, the new guy was in fact my namesake Billy Adamson, as far as I know we’re not related! Do any other readers have any namesakes like this? Major or minor any will do, just let me know. Anyway to close this piece on the Searchers here they are with “Needles And Pins” which incidentally fact fans was co written by Sonny Bono.

Before their initial success the boys had to share one guitar

Before their initial success the boys had to share one guitar

Today is also Ronan Keating’s 32nd birthday. Ronan is so far the only member of Boyzone to have carved out a solo career for himself. In my opinion he has slightly more talent than Robbie W, which those regular readers among you know is not a lot. If any Robbie or Ronan fans have stumbled upon this blog by chance, then please note this is my opinion! It is with great sadness that I have to add that Ronan entered the Guinness Book Of Records last year by becoming the only performer ever to achieve a run of 30 consecutive top 10 singles in the UK Charts. He also briefly managed Westlife. So are there any redeeming features? well actually for me there are two.Firstly Ronan is currently climbing Mount Kilimanjaro with a group of celebrities to raise money for Comic Relief. Secondly it is for one of my guilty pleasures, Ronan’s single “Life Is A Rollercoaster” It was a UK number one in 2000 and was co written and produced by the supremely talented Gregg Alexander the man behind the wonderful but short lived New Radicals.

Ronan had done everything he could to make himself lighter for his RyanAir flight, but now he didn't have a coin for the toilet!

Ronan had done everything he could to make himself lighter for his RyanAir flight, but now he didn't have a coin for the toilet!

On this day in 1973 Slade went straight in at number one in the UK singles chart with “Cum On Feel The Noize”. This was the first time this had been done since the days of the Beatles. The bands manager was Chas Chandler who was also Jimi Hendrix’ manager and was also credited with discovering him. When Chas first saw them in 1969 they were called Ambrose Slade. At Chas’ suggestion the band capitalised on the current skinhead craze and wore boots, braces and cropped their hair. Later that year they shortened their name to Slade. They signed to Polydor in 1970 and went on to have the first of their six UK number one the following year with “Coz I Luv You” Their trademark spelling appears to have predated text speak by many years! Allegedly the band turned down the opportunity to represent the UK in the 1975 Eurovision Song Contest, now that would have been interesting! So without further ado here are Slade with the excellent “Cum On Feel The Noize” Clearly by this time the skinhead look was long gone and just check out Dave Hill’s headgear, what’s that all about then? Please feel free to enter the Slade caption competition below 🙂

OK here's the deal, you provide a caption for what Dave and Jim are saying behind Noddy'd back and I'll include it in a future post!

OK here's the deal, you provide a caption for what Dave and Jim are saying behind Noddy's back and I'll include it in a future post!

It was on this day in 1985 that Michael Jackson visited Madame Tussauds in London to unveil his waxwork lookalike. Here is Michael on that visit and the picture below shows a very different version of his waxwork, so clearly it has been someone’s job to keep him up to date. That must be the busiest job at Tussauds!

Even a personal appearance in the ticket office didn't improve ticket sales

Even a personal appearance in the ticket office didn't improve ticket sales

 

“I bought you drinks, I bought you flowers, I read you books and talked for hours” March 2, 2009

Filed under: Trivia — justwilliam1959 @ 9:42 am
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Good day everyone I hope you had a jolly good weekend and are prepared for another fun working week. Just to get you underway here are a couple of Finance Industry pieces. have any of you seen the Swiftcover Insurance advert on UK TV which is fronted by Iggy Pop? Well it seems that musicians are classed as entertainers and as such are unable to insure through the company, wow their marketing people must have really worked hard on that one. Click on NME to read the story, the page also has a link to YouTube so you can see the advert for yourself if you haven’t already.

Here’s a fun banking game too, that’s right I said banking, not wa…. oh never mind. This was in the Observer today it’s an on line game called ‘Wheel Of Misfortune‘ There is a banker attached to a wheel and you have to throw knives at the wallets and briefcases and balloons to score. However should you hit the banker well, he does show a bit of pain. Click on the name to play (unfortunately you do have to register to play)

OK so now let’s get on with the business at hand for today, 2nd March 2009, starting with some birthdays. First up is Lou Reed who is 66 today. Lou was named Louis Allen Firbank by his parents. At the age of 17 he was sent to a psychiatrist to receive eight weeks of shock therapy aimed at curing him of severe mood swings. After his time with the Velvet Underground ended in 1970 he went back to live with his parents home in Freeport, Long Island. During this time he took a job as a typist for his father’s accountancy firm, earning just $40 a week. Imagine, if he had stuck at that career he could be swimming in money now as a ‘disgraced’ (copyright tabloid papers) financier/ banker. I for one am glad he didn’t though. Here is Lou with his classic “Satellite Of Love” The observant among you will notice that I could have made a big DB reference in this piece, but as there were two yesterday I declined. But the production on this song was by DB and Mick Ronson.

lou and Laurie had just been turned away from the RyanAir check-in desk for carrying too much luggage

lou and Laurie had just been turned away from the RyanAir check-in desk for carrying too much luggage

The second of our three birthdays is that of the late great (the return of those l’s & g’s) Karen Carpenter. She would have been 59 today. She was just 32 when she died in 1983. Karen had a voice like no other and whilst by many the Carpenters were seen as very easy listening, middle-of-the-road fare, the musicianship, production and vocals on their songs were exceptional. My parents loved the Carpenters, which is why I never really got into them until late on. Well in those days it certainly wasn’t cool to like the music your parents liked. I feel that has changed somewhat in recent years though. On a trip to London in December 1976 the group were presented with 21 Gold Discs for UK record sales. They had to leave them behind at Heathrow Airport because they were too heavy to take on as excess baggage. Maybe they should have flown Ryanair, then again perhaps not! Here are the Carpenters with the excellent “Goodbye To Love” This contains some excellent guitar solos too.

It had taken a while but Karen finally mastered the art of playing the invisible drums

It had taken a while but Karen finally mastered the art of playing the invisible drums

The final birthday today is Mr Paltrow from Coldplay, otherwise known as Chris Martin. He is 32 today. The band have recently started recording sessions for their next album. Brian Eno is once again involved and for the first two weeks of recording he asked Chris Martin to stay away from the studio to enable the band to work on the music with no restraint. It’ll be interesting to see how that turns out. Actually by todays standards (well especially Guns N Roses) a new album from Chris and the boys next year must be seen as somewhat prolific. Their first album ‘Parachutes’ came out in 2000 and if they finish it in time their 5th will be out in 2010 (5 albums in 11 years!). Coldplay met at University College London and an initial band including Chris Martin and Jonny Buckland was called ‘Pectoralz’ not a great name in my opinion. At one point Chris met Tim Rice-Oxley a classics student and asked him to join the band. Tim declined and went on to form his own band, Keane. Enough of them and back to Coldplay, here they are with “Fix You” live in Toronto, with a somewhat gushing intro by Chris.

Now the other Coldplay boys had photographic evidence that the sun really did shine out of Chris' rear end

Now the other Coldplay boys had photographic evidence that the sun really did shine out of Chris' rear end

On this day in 1967 Arnold George Dorsey, better known as Englebert Humperdinck was number one in the UK with “Release Me”. Englebert was always a hot property on the music scene, having been born in Madras, India. Arnold named himself after a German Opera composer. It seems quite amazing now that a song like “Release Me” could be a hit at the height of psychedelia. Indeed it even prevented the Beatles double A side “Strawberry Fields/ Penny lane” from reaching the UK top spot

Englebert wondered how much longer he could keep the sun balanced on his head and when he would have to give it back to Chris

Englebert wondered how much longer he could keep the sun balanced on his head and when he would have to give it back to Chris

This day in 1999 saw the death from lung cancer of the late great (l & g back with a vengeance) Dusty Springfield. She was only 59. Dusty was born in 1939 as Mary Isabelle Catherine Bernadette O’Brien and was convent educated. She took the name Dusty Springfield when she formed the folk and country based Springfields in 1961 with her brother Dion (who became Tom Springfield) and a friend Tom Field. I’m not sure who he became. she was a massive success in the 60s but was in the wilderness for many years before she hooked up with the Pet Shop Boys in 1987 to record “What Have I Done To Deserve This?”

Dusty had been invited to test a prototype of the new iPod

Dusty had been invited to test a prototype of the new iPod

And almost finally on this day in 1960 Elvis Presley spent a short time on UK soil for the only time in his life. He was travelling back to the US from Germany after completing his National Service and his plane stopped to refuel at Prestwick Airport near Glasgow in Scotland. It is said that Colonel Tom Parker, Presley’s Manager prevented Elvis from touring overseas because he (Parker not Presley) was an illegal immigrant to the US. I wonder whether things would have turned out differently had Elvis been allowed to tour outside the US? Anyway as this piece relates to his National Service here is Elvis with “G.I. Blues”

Elvis was ready to kick start his RyanAir flight from Prestwick

Elvis was ready to kick start his RyanAir flight from Prestwick

And finally on this day, while searching for an Elvis in the army picture I found this, I had to show it as it is just so naff! What do you think?

Words fail me, this is just awful!

Words fail me, this is just awful!

 

“We don’t care about no government warning” February 28, 2009

Filed under: Trivia — justwilliam1959 @ 8:03 am
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hello everybody, well I have some interesting news on our recent ‘Lily Allen Naked’ experiment. As you may recall we were trying to see whether anyone would arrive at the blog using ‘Lily Allen Naked’ as a search term. It seems that there are millions of sites allegedly offering pictures of Lily in the buff. So the experiment didn’t work, but strangely enough, there was a search term used Thursday which led someone to my blog. Don’t worry guys it doesn’t tell me who it was but I’ll guess it was Tom or Jes. The search term was ‘Chris Allen naked’ Does anyone know who Chris Allen is? I certainly don’t, there are plenty of Chris Allens that show up when you Google the name but I don’t know which one someone wanted to see naked. So any insights from you dear readers will be much appreciated.

Anyway if you have arrived at this blog with a desperate desire to view the talented Miss Allen naked, just so you’re not too disappointed here is Lily…….errr…… in the pink!

we'll drink a drink a drink to Lily in pink in pink in pink!

we'll drink a drink a drink to Lily in pink in pink in pink!

And as a special bonus here is Lily with “The Fear“. Check out her new album too, it is rather good!

Another piece of hot news (well perhaps just lukewarm by the time that you read it) Damon Albarn has confirmed that Blur will be headlining one night at Glastonbury this year. I’ve seen them live twice and they were great both times although so much better with Graham Coxon. It’s great to see Mr C back in the fold.

Graham really hoped the photoshoot would be over soon, he was busting for a pee.

Graham really hoped the photoshoot would be over soon, he was busting for a pee.

Anyway lets’ get back to todays trivia megamix starting with the birthdays. First of those is Cindy Wilson from the B-52’s who was born on 28th February 1957 and is 52 today. Cindy was born in Athens, Georgia in the US, this fact fans is also where REM came from. Cindy’s older brother Ricky is also in the band. I guess most people assume that the band named themselves after the B-52 bomber (like U2 naming themselves after the U2 spy plane). However this is not the case, B-52 was also the nickname in the southern states for the ‘Beehive‘ hairdo and Cindy and Kate Pierson of the band sported that style of hair. But I suppose as the hairstyle is named after the nose of the plane they were indirectly named after the plane after all! Incidentally the bands hairstylist La-Verne was even among the credits on their first eponymously titled first album in 1979. Cindy left the band in 1992 (although she rejoined in 1998) and for their US tour that year was replaced by Julee Cruise (whose biggest hit was the theme to the stupendous ‘Twin Peaks’ TV series from David Lynch). Although somewhat strangely for a one off fundraiser for the Democrat presidential candidate Jerry Brown Cindy’s place was taken by Kim Basinger. As a reminder of just how good they were (indeed still are) here are the B-52’s with “Rock Lobster”

Cindy and Kate thought they'd been stung by their hairdresser, $50 and nowhere near as high as Marge Simpsons hair

Cindy and Kate thought they'd been stung by their hairdresser, $50 and nowhere near as high as Marge Simpsons hair

The last of the birthdays is that of King Monkey Ian Brown, former front man of the Stone Roses and now a very talented solo star. Ian is 46 today. He is just a few months younger than Roses guitarist John Squire and they were brought up just a couple of doors apart and went to Altrincham Grammar School together. They had been called ‘English Rose’ after a track on the Jam’s ‘Setting Sons’ album. They were booked for some Swedish gigs after Brown befriended a Swedish promoter while hitching around Europe and wanted a new name. Apparently they considered the name ‘Angry Young Teddy Bears’ before settling on the ‘Stone Roses’ a combination of their previous name and part of the name of one of their favourite bands the Rolling Stones. Somehow I don’t think their acclaimed status would have been the same had they adopted the ‘Angry Young Teddy Bears’ moniker. What do you think? While you’re pondering that one here are the boys with “I Wanna Be Adored”

The Angry Young Teddy Bears all received Painting By Numbers sets that Christmas. What a load of Pollocks!

The Angry Young Teddy Bears all received Painting By Numbers sets that Christmas. What a load of Pollocks!

On this day in 1968 Frankie Lymon was found dead at his mothers house of a suspected drugs overdose. He was just 25. As the lead singer with ‘Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers’ he became the youngest UK chart topper in 1957 aged just 13, when they reached the summit “Why Do Fools Fall In Love” He then became the youngest headliner at the London Palladium in 1958 aged just 14 while promoting their UK hit (which I believe failed to chart in the US) “I’m Not A Juvenile Delinquent“. Frankie retained the youngest UK chart topper record until 1972 when ‘Little’ Jimmy Osmond went to number one with the dreadful “Long Haired Lover From Liverpool” aged 9.

Frankie and the boys were looking forward to their appearance on Sesame Street to teach everyone about the letter 'T'

Frankie and the boys were looking forward to their appearance on Sesame Street to teach everyone about the letter 'T'

On this day in 1970 Led Zeppelin played a gig as the Nobs in Copenhagen after Eva Von Zeppelin, a relative of the Airship designer Ferdinand Von Zeppelin threatened to sue if the family name was used in Denmark. Later that same year Led Zep were voted Best Group in the New Musical Express (NME) readers poll, which broke a run of eight successive wins for the Beatles.

the hotel hairdryer was never strong enough for those Led boys

the hotel hairdryer was never strong enough for those Led boys

This day in 1998 saw ‘Cornershop’ sitting at the top of the UK singles chart with the excellent ‘Fatboy Slim’ remix of their superb song “Brimful Of Asha“. the Fatboy loved the song so much that he did the remix for free. The Asha in the song’s title is Asha Bhosle a Bollywood Playback singer. Indian films have relied heavily on song-and-dance numbers attributable to Broadway musicals. Almost always, the singing was performed by background singers while the actors and actresses mimed. Bhosle has sung more than 12.000 of these songs. Two other Playback singers, Lata Mangeshkar (Asha Bhosle’s sister) and Mohammed Rafi are also name-checked in the lyrics.

Once again Tjinder had fallen asleep at the mic

Once again Tjinder had fallen asleep at the mic

The next two aren’t strictly ‘onthisdays’ for February 28th, but it’s not a leap year so here are a couple from 29th February. Firstly on 29th February 1980 the glasses that Buddy Holly had been wearing when he died were discovered in a police file in Iowa where they had been for 21 years. The Beatles name is in part an homage to Buddy Holly and the Crickets and in one of lifes full circles Paul McCartney now owns the publishing rights to Buddy’s song catalogue.

The Invisible Man felt stupid for getting himself stuck in the Hall of Mirrors at the Fun Fair

The Invisible Man felt stupid for getting himself stuck in the Hall of Mirrors at the Fun Fair

Also on 29th February 2000 Eric Clapton received a 6 month driving ban in the UK for driving at 45mph in a 30 mph zone. So not such much of a slowhand after all are you Mr C? What’s your favourite Clapton song? This is mine, it’s “Layla” from his days as Derek and the Dominoes, although I really don’t like the unplugged version of it. Contrary to popular belief the signature guitar riff on that song came from Duane Allman and not Mr Clapton.

Eric was pleased that he had a friend like JJ to help him get to his gigs while he was banned from driving

Eric was pleased that he had a friend like JJ to help him get to his gigs while he was banned from driving

So dear reader if you have read this far, you have reached the end of todays post and I salute you! 🙂

 

“My Daddy was a Bank Robber….too” February 27, 2009

Filed under: Trivia — justwilliam1959 @ 9:38 am
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Thank you for all you banking song suggestions following my original banking rant yesterday. In fact there were five new songs suggested by Marcy, Mickelodeon and Catwoman. I might have guessed that Catwoman’s would be from a musical. Anyway I will keep this one very short and I will end it with a poll including the five from yesterdays post and your suggestions. Get voting good people, obviously the bad people and anyone in the banking industry is also allowed to vote too. Personally I’m torn between the Clash and the O’Jays

 

“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!

 

“Everything you think do or say, is in the pill you took today” February 15, 2009

Filed under: Trivia — justwilliam1959 @ 8:16 am
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Good morning/ afternoon/ evening/ night everyone. Incidentally it’s morning for me, I so wanted to sleep but I couldn’t so I’m up before 7am on a Sunday morning. Is that an age thing perhaps? Do I need less sleep now I’m older? OK so before I start I recently borrowed the DVD of ‘Wall-E’ and finally watched it last night, now that is a superb movie. If you haven’t seen it yet shame on you! Here is the Peter Gabriel song “Down To Earth” from the film.

-)

I love this little dude 🙂

OK so now let’s get back to business as nearly normal, starting with a few birthdays. Brian Holland of the classic Motown songwriting team Holland-Dozier-Holland is 68 today, 15th February. He is one of the Hollands in the team (obviously…doh!) along with his brother Eddie and Lamont Dozier. The guys wrote at least 25 US number one singles in a phenomenal career. Check out the Four Tops with “Reach Out I’ll Be There” probably my favourite HDH song. When they left Motown, somewhat acrimoniously in the 60s they went on to set up Invictus Records and wrote another string of hits. It has been alleged that the songs they wrote for the ‘Chairmen Of The Board’, one of Invictus’ most successful groups, would have been recorded by the Four Tops had HDH stayed with Motown. Listen to “Give Me Just A Little More Time” and tell me if you think it would have worked as a Four Tops song. I’m sure it would! And here for the hell of it is the Kylie Minogue version…. and why not?

2 x Hollands + 1 Dozier = Classic Motown

2 x Hollands + 1 Dozier = Classic Motown

The second and final of the birthdays today is that of Denny Zager (off of Zager and Evans) who is 65 today (according to my books, but Wiki says 18th February), will he live until the year 2525 we wonder though! Yep the Zager and Evans duo could almost define the “One Hit Wonder” phrase (it’s such a shame that Robbie W didn’t stop at one hit!) with their classic 1969 hit “In The Year 2525” The song was at number one in the US charts when Apollo 11 reached the moon in July 1969.

Zager and Evans - "In The Year 2525"

Zager and Evans - "In The Year 2525"

On this day in 1968 the Lennons and Harrisons arrived in India to study meditation with the Maharishi. Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr arrived 4 days later. Ringo left shortly afterwards claiming that it was like a stay in a Butlins Holiday Camp. John Lennon went on to write about their experiences with the Maharishi in the song “Sexy Sadie” from the White Album. He apparently changed the title from it’s original “Maharishi” to “Sexy Sadie” at the request of George Harrison. It was also the last song that Lennon wrote on that trip to India

The Fabs in Rishikesh, India with the Maharishi (aka Sexy Sadie)

The Fabs in Rishikesh, India with the Maharishi (aka Sexy Sadie)

On this day in 1961 the Marcels recorded the classic (yes I know yet another classic!) “Blue Moon” Click on the song title to hear the song and watch a most bizarre film accompanying it, it even features Spongebob Squarepants! But back to the Marcels, the group were named after a popular early 60s hair style the Marcell Wave and the lead singer was the wonderfully named Cornelius Harp. That has to be one of the best names in the history of rock!

The Marcels

The Marcels

And finally for today a couple of bands for you to check out and I would love to know what you think of them. Firstly a band I went to see on Tuesday night this week at Fibbers in York. It’s the second time I’ve seen them and they are rather excellent, they are called “Lights In The Sky” check them out on MySpace www.myspace.com/litsband

Also check out Steal The Smile too, they are my son Luke’s band, they’ve written some excellent songs and are looking for gigs, so if any promoters are reading this get in touch with them! Check them out on MySpace www.myspace.com/stealthesmile