Claire Boucher a.k.a Grimes has been signed to Jay-Z‘s label Roc Nation. The young Canadian artist was clearly excited about the prospect of working with Roc Nation when she exclaimed “It’s like I’ve joined the X-Men“. Presumably her mutant power is that she can convert anything into brilliant pop and dance music. I have seen her live at the Reading Festival and she is also a bloody good performer. Will she wear an X-Men costume next time she appears? I hope so.
Apparently Paolo Di Canio the manager of Sunderland Football Club says he has improved his command of English by using a karaoke machine and listening to Oasis. So is his English better than it was? That is probably a definite maybe. Whilst his club may survive for another season in the Premiership I suspect that it is unlikely that they will live forever unless he really keeps his beady eye on the opposition; d’you know what I mean? The owners of the club have told Paolo to don’t look back in anger and to just roll with it!
There was another piece of premiership news in the UK press this week as well. Chris Martin off of Coldplay was spotted with his friend Jay Z at the Arsenal versus Manchester United match this weekend. I guess they had 99 problems but a pitch ain’t one!
The team at the finish, just how fresh do we look? 😉
Regular readers will know that I took part in the world-famous Great North Run last Sunday. It is a half marathon (13.1 miles) which starts in Newcastle and finishes in South Shields. It was my first half marathon for 17 years so I wasn’t expecting a great time. I was part of a team of five and I am pleased to say that I came third in that little group with an official time of 2.44. But also big congratulations go to the rest of the team as well; Stuart O’Hara, Nick Cooper, Simon Downs and David Carline. In the overall race I was 35,301st, but I did still have a pulse at the end of the race and I have suffered no major aches or injuries. To my knowledge I was beaten by a the fridge man, a gingerbread man, a Scooby Doo (although I did beat another Scooby home) and Jesus. JC carried a heavy wooden cross for the whole run and gave me a rather disdainful look when I asked whether he was in fact Jesus or Brian.
The atmosphere and support were tremendous and perhaps the only negative was the heavy rain at the start. especially as it took me 50 minutes to actually reach the start line from when the gun went off. But there were somewhere in the region of 55, 000 entrants. A lot of our excellent Olympians and Paralympians were also there to offer support. In fact I was even able to high-five with the swimming superstar Ellie Simmonds and the magnificent Mobot himself, Mo Farah.
Up to now we have raised 83% of our target sponsorship for the Save The Children charity. So thank you to all of you who have contributed so far, but it’s not too late. Click here if you would like to donate. I also promise that this will be my last begging post for some time. So now for a special treat how about some appropriate songs?
Firstly thanks to my good friend Mr Horslen for pointing this rather strange story out. Mr Fiddy Pence, aka Half A Dollar, aka Little Sense, aka Curtis James Jackson III and finally aka 50 Cent. It is the latter name that many of you know him as. After his latest escapade I would say that this man could also be known as Complete Knob! He posted some rigged pictures of Jay Z and Beyoncé‘s new baby Ivy Blue Carter. Click here to see them. Are they in bad taste? Probably. Are they particularly funny? Probably not. Has Fiddy had much publicity lately? No. Has he had a lot in recent days? Obviously. Is this just a cynical attempt to get him back in the news? You bet your ass it is!
I’ve always felt that 50 Cent is an ok rapper but perhaps lacks the humour and wit of the best, such as Eminem, and often lacks the intelligence of the truly great rappers, such as Jay Z. Fiddy has also sparked bemusement with some other tweets recently. He said that he wanted to be a bird so that he could fly and shit on people. Then you could say that 50 ‘shat on you’. I think this man is a bird; well he is a bit of a cock isn’t he? He has also tweeted that he doesn’t believe that he has much longer to live, but I wonder whether that is a metaphor for his dying career. read the news about those tweets on the NME site by clicking here.
In some related news Jay Z has vowed to drop the word ‘bitch’ from his lyrics after the birth of his daughter. That will take a lot of effort won’t it? “99 Problems” without ‘bitch’ in it? How’s that going to work? Will he replace with a similar word? Maybe ‘I got 99 problems but a ditch ain’t one’ or ‘I got 99 problems but a twitch ain’t one’. Please use the comments box on this blog to submit your own alternatives to ‘bitch’ and maybe we can send a list to Jay Z or Jay Zed as my good friend Karen McP calls him. Read the Jay Z no bitch story by clicking here.
Rihanna rocks a kind of ASBO Bling look
It would appear that UK chart history was made today by Rihanna. She became the first female artist to have a number one single five years in a row. She has almost matched the feat of Elvis Presley who managed a number one in each year from 1957 to 1963, some six years in total. Starting with “All Shook Up” and ending with “Devil In Disguise“. Inevitably the current record is held by the Beatles who had a number one in each year from 1963 to 1969, a 7 year run. Staring with “From Me To You” and ending with “The Ballad Of John And Yoko” I reckon Rihanna has a good chance of overturning both of those records. read about it on the NME site by clicking here.
Rihanna hoovers up yet more chart records
Rihanna’s UK number one singles since 2007 have been;
2007 “Umbrella”
2008 “Take A Bow”
2009 “Run This Town”
2010 “Only Girl (In The World)”
2011 “What’s My Name” featuring Drake
Rihanna was born nearly 20 years after the last of the Beatles run and she is still only 22. She will be 23 in February. She originates from Barbados and plays a big part in the support of the marketing of her homeland. She is now an honorary cultural ambassador. She is also a great philanthropist, setting up her Believe Foundation in 2006. It is a charity which supports terminally ill children.
Is it Grace Jones? Is it Max Wall? No it's Rihanna!
This is a post for those regular readers that prefer looking at pictures! 🙂
Before she was famous the one time Ms Germanotta appeared in a public service film about sexual harassment. Clearly in those days she had no hype nor outrageous dress sense and indeed no “Paparazzi” either!
And here she is now in the Alejandro video
She is not the only star that has an old film in their closet. Check out this one from David Bowie, where as David Jones he represents the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Long-haired Men in an interview with Cliff Michelmore.
To accompany that here is a little compilation of Bowie’s hairstyles from the 60s through to 1990.
So then these two videos got me thinking that I ought to add a few pictures of music stars as young people or kids. Can you guess who these ones are? What do you think of them?
Pete Doherty before he even knew what drugs were!
Elvis, not naturally black-haired was he?
Jay Z - the graduate
Bjork then and now - some haircut huh?
It’s February 2010 (the 16th to be precise) and ‘With just A Hint Of Mayhem’ is coming to you live from the Brit Awards 2010. Well ok almost live and actually not really there but just in front of the telly! Just like last year really, if you want to relive my post from last years Brits click here
This years awards were hosted by the rather spiffingly talented Mr Peter Kay (Garlic Bread?) Interestingly the ad breaks featured a Master Card advert which was the story of last years Outstanding Achievement award winners the Pet Shop Boys doing a concert at someone’s house! Who would you choose to do a gig at your house? I would opt for David Bowie or Kate Bush!
First up to perform was the delectable Lily Allen. She sang “The Fear” with quite a strange cast of dancers; Pram Pushers, Men in Bowler Hats, Suits with no trousers and Union Jack Boxer Shorts and also some Umbrella Parachutists (is that a word?) dressed in pink camouflage gear. truly spectacular indeed! Lily was wearing a black hot pants type outfit, which I rather liked but Catwoman definitely didn’t! Hmmmmmmm I wonder why?
The first award was presented by Page 3 and ‘I’m A Celebrity’ veteran Sam Fox. She was introduced by Peter Kay as Sam Fleetwood, Mick Fox, Sam Fox in reference to the debacle that was the Brits presented by Sam and Mick Fleetwood off of Fleetwood Mac in the late 1980s. She presented the Brits Memorable Performance of the last 30 years. It seemed we were expecting a list of nominees, but there didn’t appear to be one. The award was given to the Spice Girls and was collected by Scary and Ginger or Mel B and Geri Halliwell as they prefer to be known these days
The next award was for Best British Male Artist and was presented by Andy Serkis who played Gollum in Lord Of The Rings and most recently played Ian Dury. The award went to the hugely entertaining Dizzee Rascal, thank god it wasn’t Robbie Williams! After this we endured JLS performing “Beat Again” they arrived on stage on strings, which confirmed my suspicions that these pop muppets are indeed puppets!
Mel B returned to the stage to present the next award to Jay Z or Jason Zed as Peter Kay called him. He won Best International Male Solo Artist. He spoke of his Glastonbury appearance and mentioned (tongue in cheek methinks) how he was influenced by the Spice Girls.
Noddy Holder off of Slade presented the best album of 30 years of the Brits award to Liam Gallagher for the Oasis album What’s The Story Morning Glory. Obviously Liam swore because the sound disappeared and the ‘audio has been muted’ appeared in the corner of the screen. As he left the stage he threw the microphone into the crowd and allegedly also threw the award into the crowd as well. Peter Kay referred to him, rightly so, as a knobhead when he did leave the stage.
Kasabian then played live and for me they were somewhat lacklustre, what did you think. I thought the flames at the front of the stage were more exciting.
The next award, the Breakthrough Act, was presented by Geri Halliwell (was this a Spice Girls take over?). Geri had to apologise for her earlier failure with Mel B to thank the other Spice Girls! It went to, shamefully in my opinion JLS. Pixie Lott, La Roux and Friendly Fires were all also nominated and missed out to the aforementioned muppets!
Courtney Love presented the Critics Choice Award to the delightful Ellie Goulding, I think I may have to download her album very soon.
Next to perform was the fantastic Lady Ga Ga. In my opinion she is a true star and a real mold breaker. She wore a kind of lace mask, fright wig and a body stocking that seemed to reveal more than it covered. A great performance and someone I would love to see in concert. She also dedicated her first song to the late, great and sadly departed Alexander McQueen.
Idris Elba off of London’s Burning (who he?) presented the Best British Group Award to Kasabian. Personally I felt it should have gone to Muse. Incidentally up to this point I had guessed every winner correctly!
Cat Deeley presented the first of Lady GaGa’s awards for International Breakthrough Artist. This was followed by a fantastic and inspired duet from Dizzee Rascal and Florence off of Florence and the Machine. It was the classic and one of my all time favourite songs; “You Got The Love” which was originally by the Source featuring Candi Staton.
There followed a short film clip of Prince Harry extolling the virtues and wonderful charitable work of the Brits Trust. He came across as quite amusing and very human and showed that one is down wiv da kidz! Which coming from someone like me who is very anti royal is big praise indeed.
über Knobhead Jonathan Ross presented the Best International Female award to (no surprises here) Lady GaGa. her second of the night so far!
Dame Shirley Bassey presented the Solo British Female award, one which she herself actually won in 1977. It went to one of my current favourite singers, Lily Allen. Lily wore a red wig, which she claimed was to make it hard for the cameras to pick her out for that ‘disappointed’ shot had she not won. Incidentally she clearly seemed surprised and very giggly!
Jay Z and Alicia Keys then duetted on a storming “New York State Of Mind”. Mr Z is my second favourite rapper after Eminem and Alicia possess one of the finest soul voices of her generation.
Mika presented the Best International Album Award to Lady GaGa, her third and final Brit of the night. I believe the new Queen Of The Brits deserved every one of them!
Cheryl Cole then performed “Fight For Your Love” amidst a cast of a thousand dancers. For me the dark glasses and dance moves suggested our Cheryl is something af a Janet Jackson wannabe. I didn’t spot Cashley in the crowd though, perhaps he texted her earlier!
Alan Carr had the honour of giving the Best British Single Award to JLS, well that one was voted for by Sun readers so what do you expect?
Tom Ford (is he a fashion designer?) presented the Best British Album Brit to Florence and the Machine for the brilliant album ‘Lungs’. Florence gave a very gracious acceptance speech. ‘Lungs’ is one of my favourite albums of recent years I also loved her set at last years Reading Festival
Finally the winner of the Outstanding Achievement Award who also had the honour of closing the show was Robbie Bloody Williams. He performed a medley of hits, including a song which I really do not like, “Angels” As regular readers might have guessed the appearance of Robbie was definitely not a highlight for me.
So in summary 3 Brits to Lady GaGa and sadly 2 to JLS and in my opinion that is 2 too many!
To finish here are a few Brit News links for you;
Well this is it then, my 100th post and as promised here are the 100 songs currently in my top 10 (ok I know that sounds stupid, but regular readers will understand!) If I were to do this again say for the 200th post there would be quite a few differences. This list is in no particular order, although Bob Marley’s “No Woman, No Cry” probably still remains my most favourite song ever! I would love to see your comments on the list; is there anything you really like or really don’t like on here, is there anything really embarrassing perhaps. What is your top 10 or top 100? Incidentally I can already think of many more that didn’t make the cut!
As usual you will find the usual trivia content or comment along with the songs
No Woman No Cry Bob Marley – Obviously I love this song but it has to be the live version and then preferably the one from the 1975 London Lyceum concerts. That album was called simply ‘Live’ and I wore out my vinyl copy completely
Police And Thieves Junior Murvin – A classic reggae song, well covered by the Clash. Sadly the song is still all too pertinent today
Licking Stick Desmond Dekker – Fun reggae at it’s best from the late great Mr Dacres
Cottage In Negril Tyrone Taylor – Don’t ask me why but this is probably one of my favourite reggae songs ever. It makes me want to go to Negril
Rebel, Rebel David Bowie – The first single from the wonderful Diamond Dogs album. A glorious Rolling Stones pastiche on which, unusually, Mr Bowie plays lead guitar
Heroes David Bowie – Inspirational and also a song that I will have played at my funeral in 50 years. You should check out the versions he recorded in both French and German
Strawberry Letter 23 Brothers Johnson – Regular readers will know just how much I love this song. ‘Nuff said
I Want You Back Jackson 5 – That opening piano run still sends shivers down my spine and frankly how can you not want to dance to this
Superstition Stevie Wonder – Stevie rocks out more than many on this one which was originally written for Jeff Beck. More than enough to forgive Mr Wonder for “I Just Called To Say I Love You”
White Man In The Hammersmith Palais Clash – In my humble opinion the finest song by the finest band ever!
London Calling Clash – If my memory serves me well this is the only Clash song ever to feature in a Bond movie
Complete Control Clash – A venomous attack on CBS, far more venomous than the Sex Pistols “EMI” in my view
Don’t Let Me Down Beatles – My favourite Fab Four song which in fact was only a B Side! Also a song that I sing very badly at full volume when I’m drunk
Revolution Beatles – Another moptops classic that I also sing very badly whilst under the influence of alcohol
Instant Karma John Lennon – Karma is a powerful thing and Instant Karma is a powerful song!
Do Anything You Wanna Do Eddie And The Hot Rods – In my teens this was probably one of the most meaningful and uplifting songs I knew. Even at the old age of 50 it still does it for me
Gary Gilmore’s Eyes Adverts – For subject matter alone this would be in the top 100. Mr Gilmore was executed in the US in the mid 70s and he donated his eyes to an anonymous someone. That someone is the subject of the song!
Theme From A Summer Place Percy Faith Orchestra – You might say that this is one of my guilty pleasures, well maybe, but it is a beautiful piece of music. It was also used to great effect in the TV adaptation of Stephen King’s Rose Red
Wild Is The Wind David Bowie – Not a Bowie original but one written for a 50s movie, perhaps more of a torch song and one of Bowie’s best ever cover versions. It certainly makes up for his bloody awful cover of the Beach Boys “God Only Knows” in the 80s
What’s Going On? Marvin Gaye – Great song from a great album, such a shame that it still rings true after nearly 40 years
September Earth, Wind And Fire – E, W & F at their best, probably my favourite Saturday night song
God Save The Queen Sex Pistols – Fear and conspiracy kept this from the number one spot in the Queens Silver Jubilee week in 1977. For me this is a major contender for the UK’s new national anthem!
Public Image Public Image Limited – So many people thought that Lydon would do nothing after the Pistols, how very wrong they were.
Suspicious Minds Elvis Presley – Elvis gets his mojo back after all those years of shit movie songs
She’s Gone Hall & Oates – Taken from the Abandoned Luncheonette album, one of the saddest songs I know. I always play this when I’m in a melancholy mood. I also believe that Daryl Hall has the finest white soul voice in history. And what the bloody hell is a luncheonette?
Mack The Knife Bobby Darin – I love story songs and this is easily one of the best. You have to tap your feet and click your fingers to this don’t you?
Karma Police Radiohead – Probably the best band in the world today
Bernadette Four Tops – Levi Stubbs RIP, I believe Mr Stubbs was the finest soul singer there ever was and ever will be. is this the only song about a Bernadette too?
Still Water (Love) Four Tops – Relaxing, powerful, beautiful, ethereal, there simply aren’t enough words to describe this gorgeous song
Into My Arms Nick Cave – As love songs go this might be quite strange but it is undoubtedly beautiful too
Talk Show Host Radiohead – My favourite song from the ‘Head by a long way. just a B Side and als on the soundtrack of Baz Luhrmann’s ‘Romeo And Juliet’ movie
Take Me Girl I’m Ready Junior Walker – My favourite ever juke box record. In the late 70s this was number 77A on the jukebox in the Windmill pub in Ruislip
Woman To Woman Shirley Brown – A real torch song, sets the hairs on the back of my neck on end
If Loving You Is Wrong Millie Jackson – and the classic soul torch diva has to be Ms Jackson. I saw her live at the Victoria Apollo in the 70s
Ms Jackson Outkast – Talking of Ms Jackson (although this is actually about Erykah Badu’s Mum) here is my favourite Outkast song. Don’t you think it sounds a little reminiscent of ‘Strawberry Letter 23’?
I Know What I like (In Your Wardrobe) Genesis – Personally I think Genesis went downhill after Peter Gabriel left, what do you think? But this Gabriel era song is just sublime and what a fantastic title too
Metal Guru T Rex – A song I used to mime to with my tennis racquet as a teenage wannabe rock star. So why did I go on to become a bloody accountant?
One Nation Under A Groove Funkadelic – The ultimate dance song. I saw them live with companion band Parliament in 1978 at the Hammersmith Odeon. Still one of the best concerts I have ever seen
I Can See Clearly Now Johnny Nash – This man has the voice of an angel, why are so few of his albums available on CD. Definitely one of my heroes, I reckon I would be lost for words if I met him
There Are More Questions Than Answers Johnny Nash – A Texan singer that sings reggae? it shouldn’t work should it? But it does doesn’t it?
Solsbury Hill Peter Gabriel – If I ever feel a bit down this is the song I play to pull myself back up. Written about his decision to leave Genesis just before they went towards mega stardom
I Was Watching You Rosanne Cash – Regular readers will know that I have mentioned this song before. I do cry most times I listen to it and although it was released after his death it makes me think of my Dad
Hurt Johnny Cash – Mr Cash covers a Trent Reznor off of the Nine Inch Nails song. You must be pretty hard if this doesn’t make you at least a tad emotional
The Man Who Sold The World Lulu – One of the better covers of a Bowie song. If their respective labels had sanctioned it Mr Bowie was ready to record a whole album with Lulu. Sadly that didn’t happen
All The Young Dudes Mott The Hoople – The greatest Bowie cover, in fact one of his greatest songs and he simply gave it to Mott!
Wishing Well Free – Forget all the stuff he’s done with Queen, this was one of Paul Rodgers finest vocal performances
You Get What You Give New Radicals – One of the most short-lived bands of the 90s, but what a legacy. Gregg Alexander also wrote (or co wrote) Ronan Keating’s ‘Life Is A Rollercoaster’ which I kind of like!
A Town Called Malice Jam – Paul Weller. probably the greatest English rock star of his generation. I saw him live at the MEN in Manchester last year and he is even better in concert. Indeed he played this Jam classic too
The Look Of Love ABC – For all my criticism of the 80s this song and the album it comes from (The Lexicon Of Love) is one of my favourites. Produced by the great Trevor Horn
Sheena Is A Punk Rocker Ramones – 1, 2, 3, 4 and off da bruvvers go. Hey Ho Let’s Go is there really anything else to say?
Wuthering Heights Kate Bush – Oh Kate my Lionheart, I love this woman and want to have her babies
The Man With The Child In His Eyes Kate Bush – OK maybe I wouldn’t really do the male pregnancy thing with Kate, but she is definitely my favourite female singer
5.15 Who – My favourite song from the Who from my favourite of their albums, the classic ‘Quadraphenia’
Sugar Sugar Archies – This was the first single I ever bought. I got it from Uxbridge market in 1969
Suedehead Morrissey – For me Stephen can be a bit hit or miss but this is definitely on the hit side
William It Was Really Nothing Smiths – How could I not include the Smiths in this list and yes I am being just a tad egotistical with this choice
New Years Day U2 – The piano refrain is haunting in a rock kind of way. Also more ego coming out here too, my birthday is on new years day!
Justified And Ancient KLF and Tammy Wynette – There will never be anyone like the KLF. Were they a band or just art terrorists? Who knows and frankly who cares when they left songs and collaborations like this behind!
You Got The Love The Source Featuring Candi Staton – Another uplifting song, although personally I tend to ignore the religious aspects! Recently Florence And The Machine have recorded a great cover of this song
Gimme Shelter Rolling Stones – For me this song, especially the riff, evokes the 60s
It’s Only Rock N Roll Rolling Stones – Now this is another I used to mime to as a teenager, well ok I still do! It might not be a pretty sight but I love doing it!
Hurricane Bob Dylan – Dylan at his best, when riled or when he gets political he is untouchable. This song was about the plight of wrongly imprisoned boxer Reuben Carter
You Wear It Well Rod Stewart – Most people I know would opt for Maggie May from his early 70s hits, I always preferred this one. Possibly even worth forgiving him for the awful ‘Baby Jane’ for
Wish You Were Here Pink Floyd – One of the Floyd’s greatest and another song that gets me just a little emotional
You Can Make Me Dance Sing Or Anything Rod Stewart And The Faces – I bet you can’t not dance to this. It’s one of the last songs the Faces recorded before Ron Wood and Rod the Mod left. It shows them going in a direction which I think would have been so good
Itchycoo Park Small Faces – I actually remember hearing this on the radio as a kid. I didn’t have a clue what the lyrics were about then and I don’t think I’m much wiser now! Don’t go near the atrocious cover version by M People
Lowdown Boz Scaggs – Taken from the excellent Silk Degrees album from 1976 and the track I use to soundcheck any new hi-fi equipment even now
I’m Your Puppet James And Bobby Purify – This was actually a rerecording of their original 60s song. Guilty pleasure or great soul song? I’ll let you decide, but either way I love it!
Olympian Gene – probably the best of the ‘Britpop’ bands, well in my opinion anyway. Sadly the band are no longer around, but I did manage to see them three times while they were. Another song that I will have played at my funeral in the very distant future too
Born To Run Bruce Springsteen – I was always going to include something from the Boss and it was always going to be this song
Lose Yourself Eminem – In my opinion Mr Mathers is the greatest rapper, although Jay Z does push him close
Too Late To Turn Back Now Cornelius Brothers And Sister Rose – It took me more than 20 years to track down this song and now when I listen to it I reckon it is definitely a guilty pleasure
Stay Together Suede – The most Bowie influenced of the 90s British bands. The combination of Brett Anderson’s lyrics and vocals along with Bernard Butler’s guitar is truly awesome
Skin Trade Duran Duran – A Duran Duran song in my top 100? Yeah that surprised me too
1999 Prince – I love a lot of Prince’s stuff, but this remains a great party track
Susan’s House Eels – Mark Everett is a superb songwriter and this for me is one of his best. His autobiography is bloody good too
Take A Look Around Temptations – A terrific Norman Whitfield production and that intro still blows me away!
Let’s Get It On Marvin Gaye – This great song has recently been sullied by it’s use to advertise pizzas on UK TV (I think it might have been Dominoes) But it still remains a great song for seduction and lurve 😉
The Love I Saw In You Was Just A Mirage Smokey Robinson And The Miracles – Bob Dylan once described Smokey as the worlds greatest living poet. Listen to this song and you can see why!
Gimme A Little Sign Brenton Wood – A great example of 60s soul and the song I sing most in the shower (along with the Monkees ‘I’m A Believer’)
The Love You Save Jackson 5 – Another classic written for the boys by the Motown house writers billed as the Corporation
Staggerlee Lloyd Price – Another story song and I reckon the best version by far
Once In A Lifetime Talking Heads – The ‘Heads finest moment for me. This song has everything and makes me happy everytime I hear it
Pyjamarama Roxy Music – Roxy before they became bland and frankly shit!
Song 2 Blur – Funny isn’t how the songs with barely any lyrics often sound so good. Whoo Hoo indeed!
Double Barrel Dave And Ansel Collins – Another slice of superb reggae. For years I thought these guys were brothers, they’re not. Actually it’s Ansel Collins and Dave Barker.
Sorted For E’s And Whizz Pulp – Jarvis Cocker is a lyrical genius and this is Pulp’s best example of his way with words
Spinning Around Kylie Minogue – OK so there is a certain appeal to the gold hot pants, but as modern disco goes this is brilliant. Gotta love Kylie!
Love Rollercoaster Ohio Players – One of my favourite funk songs, expertly covered by the Red Hot Chilli Peppers but it wasn’t a patch on the original
Hey Hey My My Neil Young – A great song and one which found a degree of infamy as it was quoted in Kurt Cobain’s suicide note
Grace Jeff Buckley – How big a star would he have been had he lived? Probably one og=f the biggest I think
Satellite Of Love Lou Reed – Taken from the Transformer album which was produced by Bowie and Mick Ronson. Listen carefully and you’ll hear Bowie on backing vocals
Hey Ya Outkast – The ultimate party record of recent times, a great video too
Since I Left You Avalanches – Aussie DJs/ dance act, I can’t believe that this wasn’t a bigger hit
Seven Nation Army White Stripes – Jack White has recently been named man of the decade by some UK publications, perhaps with some justification. The riff alone on this is worth the top 100
White Horses Jacky – OK clearly this theme from a 60s TV show (strangely enough it was called White Horses) is very much a guilty pleasure but I really love it. I think Jacky’s only other hit was ‘Rupert The Bear’
D’Yer Make ‘Er Led Zeppelin – Taken from Houses Of The Holy and in many peoples opinion Zep’s worst song. But I like to be different and this piece of cod reggae is wonderfully irreverent
Wild Wood Paul Weller – England’s finest living rock star perhaps? Well after Mr Bowie anyway
Stay With Me Lorraine Ellison – How much emotion can you squeeze into a song, not much more than Lorraine Ellison does in fact. Ignore the David Essex cover of this song at all costs!
Young Americans David Bowie – What he himself described as plastic soul and one of the songs I can recite the whole lyric of
Keeping with the “On This Day” format for another day (that day being February 11th) let’s start with some birthdays shall we? Alrighty then! Somewhere in todays post there is a kind of musical “Where’s Wally/ Waldo?” competition, in this case it’s “Where’s Ian (Dury)?” can you find him or are you a Blockhead?
Bobby ‘Boris’ Pickett would have been 69 (or 71 according to some sources) today had he not died aged 67 (or indeed 69 according to some sources too!) in 2007. He bought us the wonderful “Monster Mash” which is still the staple of many Halloween parties. He gave some great vocal impressions of Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi in that song. He also rerecorded it as “Climate Mash” in October 2005 in protest at the lack of action against Global warming. That alone makes him a great guy in my books! Anyway here are Pans People dancing to the song in 1973. Are those costumes rubbish or what? Oh and I almost forgot, there is indeed an official Monster Mash site too, check it out!
Now that's just how I normally dance!
Today is also the 46th birthday (although Wikipedia suggests 47) of Sheryl Crow, my fave song of hers is “All I Wanna Do” what’s yours? Sheryl used to be one of Michael Jacksons backing singers on the “Bad” tour and covered the Siedah Garret parts on “I Just Cant’ Stop Loving You” every gig. You can see the duet from a 1987 show in Munich if you click the song title. Sheryl has some serious big 80s hair, but of that I guess I’m just jealous! Check the pic below is this what Springsteen is singing about on his new album in “Queen Of The Supermarket”?
Try this tonguetwister "Sheryl shops for cheap Cheerios"
Finally on the birthdays front today is also the 32nd birthday of Mike Shinoda rhythm guitarist, keyboardist, songwriter, rapper with Linkin Park. He does Graphic Design too, he’s a right clever bastard ain’t he? Here are the band in their collaboration with Jay Z (or as my friend Karen McP refers to him, Jay Zed) on “Numb” Here is Mike as a Plushie. Isn’t there some kind of weird sexual fetish relating to Plushies?
Mike Shinoda Plushie toy
On February 11th 1973 a local charity in Auckland New Zealand raised £500 by auctioning the bedding used by the Rolling Stones when they stayed in the city for a gig. I can’t imagine it was particularly clean, there must have been enough bodily fluids to clone the whole band. Hmmmmmm……… maybe that’s why Keef is still rockin’! Here are the Stones with the excellent (in my opinion) country pastiche “Far Away Eyes” from the “Some Girls” album. Strangely this is one of my fave Stones song. Check out this great painting of the Stones by the sdaly departed Dutch Artist Guy Paellart.
On this day in 1987 the Smiths were sitting pretty at the top of the UK Indie charts with the classic (but then most Smiths songs are) “Shoplifters Of The World Unite” Click on the song title to see them doing the song live on the UK music programme “The Tube” in 1986. I’ve heard Morrissey’s new album and it sounds pretty damned good, I think it’s out next month. Johnny Marr is currently recording with the Cribs too I believe. Here is the classic picture of the band outside the Salford Lads Club in Salford (Obviously!) near Manchester in the UK.
The Smiths outside the Salford Lads Club
On February the 11th 1986 Boy George made his cringeworthy appearance in an episode of the “A Team“. Click on the show’s name to watch a clip from an embarrassing TV moments show where you can also get a feel for just how bad it actually was. Here is a strange picture of the Boy! I hope he doesn’t make up like that in prison, hell have to spend hours in the showers…….. hmmmmmm 😉
He really should change his stylist!
And finally on this day in 2003 the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) announced the biggest single year drop in sales since the advent of CDs. They blamed it on piracy, illegal duplication, and the distribution of CDs by international criminals. So obviously nothing to do with them selling overpriced crap (like Robbie Williams) then!
Captain Pugwash looking for some overpriced CDs to steal
Obviously it would be rude to raise the urban myths about Captain Pugwash and mention Seaman Stains and Roger The Cabin Boy. Although let’s face it the would fit nicely into the pieces about the Rolling Stones and Boy George respectively. Oh well never mind, I won’t raise it and bring todays post to a close. Bye for now dear reader 🙂
With Just A Hint Of Mayhem 