I was given the opportunity by those lovely people at subba-cultcha to review the upcoming Pete Doherty solo album. I think the album is……… well you’ll have to click here to read my review to find out what I think won’t you?
“Round the squares, huddled in storms, some laughing, some just shapeless forms” – Advent day 8 December 8, 2013
It’s the 8th December already. Is time moving faster at the moment? Is there something amiss within the space-time continuum? On top of that can you believe that it is 23 years to the day that John Lennon was gunned down in New York? Which brings me to the first song choice in todays number themed With Just A Hint Of Mayhem Advent post. I bring you a classic Beatles track, “Eight Days A Week”.
The song was I believe a first for rock music in that it began with a fade-in intro. It was taken from 1964’s Beatles For Sale’ album. Whilst it was never released as a single in the UK it was in the USA where it went to number one in 1965. It also hit the top spot in Canada and the Netherlands. Back in the 60s there was also an Extended Play (EP) chart and the ‘Beatles For Sale’ EP including “Eight Days A Week” went to number one on that chart in the UK in 1965. It wasn’t a popular song among the Beatles themselves. John Lennon apparently once called it lousy. The band never played it live, although Paul McCartney has played it on his ‘Out There’ tour earlier this year. It has been subject to many cover versions including; Procol Harum, Libertines, Joan Jett, the Supremes, the Runaways and Alma Cogan.
The second song for today is another 60s smash hit. “Eight Miles High” by the Byrds. It was taken from their 1966 album ‘Fifth Dimension’ which was their third long player and was written by Gene Clark and Roger McGuinn. It went to number 14 in the USA and number 24 in the UK in 1966. Some American radio stations refused to play the song because they claimed it was laden with drug references. The band strongly denied that at the time but later suggested that there was some truth in the story. A drug that could get you eight miles high? Wow that might be worth a shot! Don McLean’s classic track “American Pie” refers to the Byrds song in its lyrics with the following line; “The Birds flew off with a fall-out shelter/Eight miles high and falling fast”. It has also been covered by a number of acts including; Roxy Music, Husker Du, Ride, Robyn Hitchcock and Golden Earring. The latter recorded a 19 minute version of the song.
Kate Nash (plus the Tuts) – Fibbers, York Wednesday 17th April 2013 April 20, 2013
For only the second time in my life I had the honour of being on the guest list for a gig. This came about after the advent of social networking let me get back in touch with an old school friend from Ryefield Primary School in Hillingdon. That friend is Chris Doveton and we left Ryefield School back in 1970 many years before Kate Nash or the Tuts were even a twinkle in anyones eye. But Chris’s daughter Harriet is one of the Tuts. It was thanks to those three wonderful punky minstrels that make up the Tuts that I was able to test my mettle as a roadie and manning a merchandise stand. I also got to watch Kate Nash and her band and the Tuts run through their sound checks. It was the most fun I have had at a gig in years! All that and Chris and I had our own mini school reunion after more than 30 years.
Anyway enough of me, this is a gig review after all. So first we had a blistering set from Harriet, Nadia and Bev, collectively known as the Tuts. They were only on stage for 30 minutes but boy did they use that time well. Shades of the Clash, the Libertines, the Runaways, the Donnas and the very best of pop punk. But while there were shades of these other influences there is so much originality and energy from these ladies that I would say the rest is 95% pure Tutness. They have some great self penned songs; “Dump Your Boyfriend” and “Tut Tut Tut” are particular favourites of mine and they also do an electrifying cover of the Clash’s “Rudie Can’t Fail“. The acid test for any band is of course would I go and see them again and the answer for the Tuts is of course I bloody would and so should you if you get the chance!
Kate Nash has been in the business for years now and she is still only 25. Her first big UK chart success came with the wonderful “Foundations” in 2007; it reached number 2. I had the opportunity to chat briefly to Kate before her show and at the end when Chris and I were loading the Tuts equipment into the car. Unlike many other people who have been in the business for so long she is bright, smart, friendly, articulate and really caring and decent toward her fans. She signed my copy of her current album ‘Girl Talk’ too. I think it’s incredible that she has developed her music so much in just 6 years and three albums.
Kate is a superb perform and had the largely female audience rocking for most of the night. Old favourites were there in the shape of “Foundations” and a personal favourite of mine, “Mariella”. She also a played a song that is available on the deluxe edition of her current album “I’m A Feminist And You’re Still A Whore” which I thought was a great addition to the set. Apparently a dickhead on Twitter was giving her some grief over that song earlier in the day. Kate responding by tweeting Patti Smith‘s “Rock ‘n’ Roll Nigger” which went down even worse with the poor deluded twat! Kate is a very vocal supporter of women’s rights and played her song “Free My Pussy” in support of the Russian band Pussy Riot who were shamelessly jailed by the Putin Empire. It’s not my favourite song, but it works and the cause is spot on. There are nowhere near enough people speaking up for Pussy Riot in my opinion, so top marks to Kate!
I really don’t get how she was dropped by her label last year this girl is a supreme talent and her new album is testament to that. She is passionate about adjusting the balance of women in rock given that the majority of songs are still written by blokes. She encouraged her audience to pick up an instrument, write, play and make music. I hope that many people take that lead and do it. She was also very, very supportive of the Tuts too. We need more artists like Kate Nash. I was a kind of ‘I quite like Kate Nash’ fan before this gig, but now I am very big fan of Kate Nash. If you are going to see her elsewhere on this tour I guarantee that you will enjoy the show, you’ll love the Tuts as well. If you can’t make it to see her this time around you’d better make sure you get tickets for her next tour. I expect you to do your duty and if you don’t………………. I know where you live!
I was unable to get much video footage of any great quality so here are a trio of songs from Kate’s show at the Sebright Arms earlier in the year.
And finally this is me with Kate at the end of the evening.
Apart from the above picture and the one of the Tuts in action all were sourced on line.
“I was blind, now I can see, you made a believer out of me” February 7, 2011
I was reading an article in last weeks NME in which they listed their view of the 50 druggiest albums ever recorded. Most of the usual suspects are included with Primal Scream‘s ‘Screamadelica’ making it to the top of the pile (or the bottom of this reverse order listing of course). The article also included a number of great little pieces of trivia. The one that really amused me was Fleetwood Mac, included at number 29 with their 1979 album ‘Tusk’. Apparently they were so full of coke they agreed that the album title would be the nickname that drummer and founder Mick Fleetwood called his todger. Whilst most normal people use simple terms like willy or cock, Mr Fleetwood prefers to call his manhood Tusk. Is it made of ivory with a sharp point? You have to hope not for any of his girlfriends or wives. So, and I may well regret this, what do you call yours?
As for the list, I’d like to know why the Eagles aren’t included, notably ‘Hotel California’
50 The Libertines – The Libertines
49 Oasis – Be Here Now
48 MGMT – Oracular Spectacular
47 Sex Pistols – Never Mind The Bollocks
46 Dr Dre – The Chronic
45 Klaxons – Surfing The Void
44 The Doors – The Doors
43 Brian Jonestown Massacre – Methodrone
42 Missy Elliott – Miss E…So Addictive
41 Guns ‘N’ Roses – Appetite For Destruction
40 Royal Trux – Twin Infinitives
39 Tricky – Maxinquaye
38 Jane’s Addiction – Ritual De Lo Habitual
37 The Birthday Party – Junk Yard
36 Pavement – Wowee Zowee
35 13th Floor Elevators – Easter Everywhere
34 Black Sabbath – Master of Reality
33 Neil Young – On the Beach
32 Babyshambles – Down In Albion
31 Bardo Pond – Bufo Alvarius
30 The Chemical Brothers – Exit Planet Dust
29 Fleetwood Mac – Tusk
28 Snoop Doggy Dogg – Doggystyle
27 Lou Reed – Metal Machine Music
26 Butthole Surfers – Locust Abortion Technician
25 Jefferson Airplane – Surrealistic Pillow
24 Ol’ Dirty Bastard – Nigga Please
23 Spacemen 3 – Taking Drugs To Make Music To Take Drugs To
22 Johnny Thunders and the Heartbreakers – L.A.M.F
21 David Bowie – Station To Station
20 Factory Floor – Untitled
19 Happy Mondays – Yes Please!
18 My Bloody Valentine – Loveless
17 Elton John – Madman Across The Water
16 Suede – Dog Man Star
15 The Stooges – Raw Power
14 Spiritualized – Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space
13 The Jesus and Mary Chain – Psychocandy
12 Cypress Hill – Black Sunday
11 Marilyn Manson – Antichrist Superstar
10 Pink Floyd – The Piper At The Gates of Dawn
09 The Jimi Hendrix Experience – Are You Experienced?
08 Lil Wayne – Tha Carter III
07 Miles Davis – Kind of Blue
06 The Beatles – Revolver
05 Nirvana – In Utero
04 Sly and the Family Stone – There’s A Riot Goin’ On
03 The Velvet Underground – White Light/White Heat
02 The Rolling Stones – Exile on Main St
01 Primal Scream – Screamadelica
“I know that we are young and I know you may love me” October 28, 2010
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?
Reading Festival 2010 – Day 2, Saturday 28th August August 30, 2010
Day 2 is here and my feet are blistered from wearing new and very heavy (steel toe capped) wellies, I wore them again today, but the forecast looks good for better shoes on day 3. The first band we saw was Soul Circus on the BBC Introducing stage. They were on when we arrived so we didn’t see their whole set, but they were very good, the vocalist in particular was excellent. We stayed at the Introducing stage for the next band, they were Penguin from Wakefield. I think it’s fair to say that they rock!
After that we paid our first visit of the weekend to the Alternative stage aka the Comedy tent, we were hoping to see Kevin Bridges but his flight back from Edinburgh (he had been there for the festival) was late. He was replaced by an American comedian and I use that word reluctantly, he calls himself Neil Hamburger but his real name is Greg Turkington. He got off on the wrong foot and went further down that same road throughout his act. Firstly he told all the folks that were there expecting Kevin Bridges that they could “fuck off” and then called those of us who remained “pieces of human shit”. The audience was to barrack him for his whole act with chants of “off, off, off” and “you’re shit and you know you are”. There was a fair array of missiles sent stage wards too. The only way he could have redeemed himself would have been if his jokes were funny, they weren’t! The funniest thing he said was “I guess I’ll do my encore now” as the compere opened the backstage curtains. But for us it was entertaining for us anyway!
Over to the Main Stage next for the fabulous Gaslight Anthem from New Jersey and they were an amazing live band. I know they are close to Bruce Springsteen and I reckon they could turn on a lot of the younger generation to Bruce. I would definitely pay to see these boys. A trek back to the Introducing Stage was next on the agenda for the mystery special guest slot. It was Everything Everything with a couple of acoustic songs and an interview for Radio 1’s Live Lounge. They finished with a Shakira cover and given what was going on in the crowd I’m amazed that they didn’t get a fit of the giggles. There was a guy on someone’s shoulders in the crowd and he was wearing a leather fetish mask in the shape of a dog’s head. If that wasn’t funny enough he then produced a large black strap on dildo which he fellated, much to our own and the rest of the audience’s amusement. If you re that person then get in touch, I’d be happy to give you a mention on the blog!
The Festival Republic stage was our next destination for I Blame Coco. It would be fair to say that Coco does pop and does it very well. (Feel free to insert your own Coco Pops joke here). We returned to the Comedy Tent after that in order to redress the Neil Hamburger experience. JJ Whitehead, a Canadian, was the performer and he is a very good comedian. Much of his act is really well thought out observational comedy and he works the audience really well. I loved the story about pretending to be retarded at Disney in Florida. The next band we saw, albeit briefly was Chapel Club. I liked the sound of them and will be checking them out on line, some good tunes. Then it was My Forever at the Introducing stage (we really have been there a lot!) This was jangly indie pop with an edge and done really well.
I don’t how I have managed to miss Frank Turner on all my many visits to this festival, but I didn’t miss him this time. He was abso-fucking-lutely brilliant. He has passion, power, excitement and an audience that love him. I also see him as a Billy Bragg for this generation and I will definitely be buying some of his material when I get home. I hope he’s back next year too. We stayed for the first part of Serge Tankian’s (off of System Of A Down) set. He had and orchestral ensemble and introduced the rest of his band as ‘The Flying ****s Of Chaos’ (word starred out for the more easily offended of you dear readers, well actually I’d prefer that my Mum didn’t see that I had used ‘that C word’, those of you who are not easily offended can click on the stars to see the missing word on Wikipedia). He was good but not as good as when I saw him before a couple of years back. We joined Nick’s son Jake, who was with his girlfriend Suzie in the Festival Republic tent to see Villagers. The lead singer Conor came out on his own for the first song, cue my joke about it being a small village which did amuse one Villagers fan standing next to me. This is a very good band and I would say genre defying too. I reckon that if the original Wicker Man movie had a house band this would be them. I can almost picture Britt Ekland’s body double dancing to them!
So now for the Libertines, their entrance was preceded by Vera Lynn’s “We’ll Meet Again”. This was all very sentimentally Albion, but guys cut the schmaltz, you did this for the money! I have seen them here twice before and as always they were very good, but for me they will never be a truly great band. I may take some stick for that comment, but folks it is just my opinion ok? The crowd loved them though and it seemed that over exuberance in the crowd caused a short break in their set in which Pete and Carl were escorted from the stage. Arcade Fire were today’s headliners and any reservations I had about them filling that were quickly blown away. They were bloody amazing and even managed a little dig at the previous night’s headliner’s Guns N Roses by saying how punctual they were. The vibrancy, energy and power they display is phenomenal. The stage set including the film projection was at times weird and disturbing, but added to an overall brilliant experience. Obviously as they have performed with David Bowie before I was hoping for an appearance by the great man, but despite seeing some helicopter traffic during their set it never happened. I guess I should have crossed my toes as well as the fingers!
So in summary, Day 2 was another excellent Reading day. We’re knackered but still looking forward with excitement to Day 3!
“Got on your Aviator shades, yeah man you’re looking really ace” March 12, 2009
Is it that time again already? Wow here we are on 12th March just a few days away from those nasty old Ides Of March. More of the Ides in a later post….. if I can be bothered, but either way just beware of them ok? Before we get down to business the regular readers among you may recall that the last time this blog included a fart clip the viewing figures went sky high, so here’s another one! This is a fart that disrupts a Council Meeting in the US. Click here to see it and I dare you, no I double dare you not to laugh!
So onto todays delights of which there are six; three birthdays and three ‘onthisdays’
Today would have been the 92nd birthday of Leonard Chess the founder of Chess Records. The label was home to some fantastic artists including John Lee Hooker, Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley and Jimmy Reed. Mr Chess checked out of this mortal coil of a heart attack aged just 52 in 1969. Strangely enough I won a set of eight Chess compilation albums (these were those big 12 inch plastic things we called LPs back in the day) in around 1975. I think the series was called ‘Chess Golden Decades’ or something like that. It was from a competition in the late great (hey the l’s & g’s get an outing for a publication and not a person!) Record Mirror. The winner was the person who came up with the longest list of song titles that featured colours (“Little Red Rooster”, “Tie A Yellow Ribbon” you get the idea. Remember this was way before the internet was even a twinkle in a geeks eye. My winning list comprised of more than 400 titles which was more than double the person in second place. Now that just goes to prove that I have always been a sad anorak doesn’t it? OK not exactly a Chess classic but I couldn’t resist including Chuck Berry’s only UK number one, from 1972 it’s “My Ding A Ling”
Chuck's need to pee wasn't going to stop him finishing the song. He just crossed his legs and held on to his ding a ling!
Anyway back to Mr Chess, he was born in a part of Poland that is now in fact in Belarus. He was originally called Lejzor Czyz and his family changed his name when they arrived in the US in 1928. I guess that’s a good thing really, I mean do you really think Czyz Records would have had the same impact? The label was based in Chicago and many non Chess acts also recorded at their studios, including the Rolling Stones. The Stones immortalised the Chess address with an instrumental track called “2120 South Michigan” in the mid 60’s. Maurice White who was once a session drummer at Chess Studios eventually went on to form the magnificent Earth Wind And Fire. A band I saw live at Wembley in 1979 😉 So to make up for the earlier inclusion of “My Ding A Ling” here is John Lee Hooker with “Boom Boom”
The classic Chess Records label
Today is also the 40th birthday of one of my all time favourite guitarists, Mr Graham Coxon who will be treading the boards as part of a reformed Blur this year. Coxon played on all of Blur’s albums up to and including 1999’s ’13’. He also designed the cover for ’13’. He only featured on one track for the following album ‘Think Tank’ after a big fall out with the rest of the band, although clearly they seem pretty much reconciled now after he appeared at this years Brits to sing a version of “This Is A Low” with Damon Albarn. Graham has also been quite a prolific solo artist having released 6 albums under his own name, three of those while still with Blur. I have seen Blur twice once with Coxon and once without I definitely think they are much better with Graham in the fold. Here is Mr Coxon with the excellent “Freakin’ Out”
Axe Hero or Fashion Victim - you choose!
Finally on the birthdays front today is the 30th birthday of someone once famously described as a ‘rock n roll fuckwit’ by Pete Townshend. Who? Why it’s Mr Pete Doherty of course. He of Libertines, Babyshambles and now solo musical fame and a fair amount of infamy too. As in ‘infamy, infamy, they’ve all got it infamy’ So many tabloid inches have been covered with celebrity prattle about Pete so I won’t dwell on that. But in my opinion he is a great songwriter, I loved the Libertines and also Babyshambles too. I am definitely looking forward to his solo album. To return to something that was covered in a previous post, that something being Janie Jones. Pete featured on a charity cover of the Clash song “Janie Jones” in 2006. Other contributors were Dirty Pretty Things, We Are Scientists, Kooks and the Holloways. The song was recorded to raised funds for ‘Strummerville’ which is a foundation for new music set up shortly after Joe Strummer’s untimely death. here is Pete with Babyshambles doing the excellent “Albion” on the BBCs ‘Later With Jools Holland’
Pete often wondered why Kate had to look so hard faced when he asked her to dress up in her police woman's uniform
On this day in 1981 in another monumental piece of hype from Talcy Malcy himself (that’ll be Malcolm McLaren then) Bow Wow Wow were forced to cancel the first dates of a UK tour. The reason for the cancellation was that singer Annabella Lwin aged just 15 would have been guilty of truancy according to the Greater London Council. Incidentally McLaren was the bands manager. Bow Wow Wow were formed after Malcolm began to manage the original Adam And The Ants. He sacked Mr Ant and then brought in Annabella Lwin as the singer. Adam was quite adamant (and Adam Ant) that it did him no harm in the long run though. Lwin’s birth name was Myint Myint Aye, which apparently means High High Cool in Burmese, personally I would have used that as my stage name! here they are with a live rendition of “C30, C60, C90, Go“. Note the Adams & the Ants style Burundi drum beat.
Annabella wondered what on earth she was going to do now that the bands clothing budget had run out!
On this day in 1988 the phenomenally talented (according to some, but not me) Rick Astley was number one in the US singles chart with “Never Gonna Give You Up” . The song was also a UK number one. Following something of an internet phenomenon last year with what became known as ‘RickRolling’ he found himself voted the ‘Best Act Ever’ at the MTV Europe Music Awards. Well I suppose even that is better than a win for Robbie W (give me a break I haven’t had a dig at for ages have I?) Anyway ‘Rickrolling’ was a means of sending someone the link to a Rick video by stealth. This led to around 30 million views of Rick videos and presumably 30 million people needing therapy have been a victim of ‘Rickrolling’ The song also gave writers and producers Stock, Aitken and Waterman their fourth UK number one when it topped the UK charts in 1987. They had previously hit the top slot with Dead Or Alive, Mel & Kim and Ferry Aid. OK prepare to be Rickrolled and I promise I’ll be gentle, here is Rick with “Never Gonna Give You Up”
oh come on you weren't hoping for a Rick pic were you?
And finally on this day in 2001 Judy Garland’s “Over The Rainbow” was voted the ‘Song Of The Century’ in a poll published in the US. The poll was produced by the R.I.A.A and was compiled from input by musicians, critics and fans. The highest placed UK act was the Rolling Stones with “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction”. The Beatles reached number 28 with “I Want To Hold Your Hand”. The top ten was;
1. “Over the Rainbow,” Judy Garland
2. “White Christmas,” Bing Crosby
3. “This Land Is Your Land,” Woody Guthrie
4. “Respect,” Aretha Franklin
5. “American Pie,” Don McLean
6. “Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy,” Andrews Sisters
7. “West Side Story” (album), original Broadway cast
8. “Take Me out to the Ball Game,” Billy Murray
9. “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’,” Righteous Brothers
10. “The Entertainer,” Scott Joplin
I must say I’m somewhat surprised that the West Side Story soundtrack album made it into the top ten songs of the century, I mean it’s a whole bloody album! If you want to see the whole list just click here.
Judy's secret collaboration with Slipknot
With Just A Hint Of Mayhem 