Does anyone fancy some stuffed Anaconda? Really? Well it’s quite mature, maybe 120 years and will only set you back £10,000. That’s a bargain if I ever saw one. Anyway I’m not talking about some strange delicacy to be eaten, I’m referring to Albert the stuffed Anaconda who lives in the Ansel Library at the Foreign Office in London. Well, when I say lives I really mean that he is hung from the wall. He has been dead for some time. He’s not just resting, he is indeed and ex Anaconda.
Albert was a gift to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office some time in the late 1800s after he had received the full services of a taxidermist. Albert was allegedly presented by a bishop, in what is now Guyana, to the Colonial Secretary sometime in the 19th Century. As such he is in fact a Foreign Office asset and therefore need to be maintained. This news came to light following a request by the Guido Fawkes website via the Freedom of Information Act.
In my opinion this money could easily have been spent somewhere else and Albert could have been scrapped, buried or given a seat in parliament. I find it incredible that in these times of austerity so much money could have been spent on a dead snake! We are living in a time where budgets are constricted with venom and politicians are rattled! Did the cabinet hold a COBRA meeting? What do you think of stuffed Albert? Could we not have made a few pairs of shoes for the homeless from Albert’s skin or bailed out our local Greek kebab shop?
Click here to read the story of Albert on the BBC. Of course this is a music blog so please enjoy a few snake related songs;
I still have heroes, do you? You might have guessed that David Bowie is one of mine and so is Neil Armstrong. Both men were in the news for very different reasons recently. Firstly there was the sad death of Neil Armstrong a true pioneer. Secondly the supposedly retired Mr Bowie has opened his archives to the Victoria & Albert museum in London for a massive exhibition of costumes, set designs, lyrics and many other delights next year. Click here to read the Bowie story.
I know I am a bit late posting about Neil Armstrong but a public memorial service has just been held to honour him in Washington. Click here to read about it on the BBC website. He is a man who I am sure will be remembered in thousands of years as the first human ever to walk on a body that wasn’t earth. Coincidentally he served as a pilot in the US Air Force in Korea in the early 1950s. Which was exactly the same time another of my heroes, my Dad saw active service there in the Royal Navy on board the HMS Belfast. Neil Armstrong RIP.
For this post I thought I’d choose a few space related Bowie songs and one that was produced by him for Lou Reed.
So the London 2012 Olympics is over, at least until the Paralympics anyway. I truly believe that this has been an amazing Olympics and for me usurps England winning the 1966 football world cup as our greatest sporting achievement. What do you think? OK I know the Scots won’t agree with that in the first place, but I would still like to hear your thoughts.
I realise that this post comes some 24 hours after the closing ceremony, but given the musical nature of that ceremony I felt I had to post something. The Olympic stadium was once again amazing; decked out to show a London skyline that included the London Eye, Big Ben and the Gherkin to name but a few. It all kicked off with the delicious voice of Emilie Sande accompanied only by a pianist, who was playing a piano covered in newspaper. After that the tempo really took off with forty members of the cast of Stomp dancing, drumming and percussing (is that a word?) on the recreated mini London Eye in the stadium. On top of all this there was a choir singing Beatles songs.
Next up was cellist and Churchill appearing out of the top of Big Ben and reciting words from Shakespeare’s ‘The Tempest’ which was a great link back to the superb Opening ceremony. Obviously it wasn’t really Churchill, it was Timothy Spall. This was followed by newspaper clad crowds depicting the hubbub of London. The whole thing then slowed a little for the arrival of the VIPs; Jacques Rogge (President of the IOC) who seems to make even the dullest accountant I have ever met seem exciting and prince Harry representing the Royal family. Clearly he was never going to match his grandmother’s arrival at the opening ceremony! Obviously this was followed by our rather uninspiring, in my opinion, national anthem.
The whole show was a celebration of Britain and the next vignette was real class. It was the 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 countdown by Michael Caine from the ‘Italian Job’ and then the iconic three-wheeled van of Trotter’s Independent Trading blew apart and out jumped, yes you guessed it, Del Boy and Rodney in their Batman and Robin costumes. A sublime moment and a nod to one of Britain’s greatest ever comedy shows; Only Fools And Horses.
The mood then turned very much to party as madness were driven around the arena playing “Our House” from the back of a truck. This tempo was kept up by the Massed Guards Bands with a wonderful rendition of Blur’s “Parklife”. Just when you thought it couldn’t get better the stadium was filled with cyclists wearing the most amazing geometric and fluorescent hats. Two of them on tricycles which had Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe as passengers. So we were treated to a fabulous version of “West Ends Girls” on bicycles and tricycles. Could this happen anywhere but the UK? I doubt it!
One Direction were next, like Madness they were on the back of a truck, which sadly wasn’t headed to the tip. OK I have to begrudgingly admit they were at least in tune, but I still don’t like them. Interestingly they were one of just a few acts whose name was flashed onto the screen when they appeared. After that it was back to another great number from the cast of Stomp. That percussion sounded like “Spice Up Your Life” to me. was that deliberate? Who knows? An incredibly talented dance troupe who I think were called Spelbound were next to take the stage. They performed a great routine to the Beatles Sergeant Pepper classic “A Day In The Life”
To keep up the 60s vibe Kinksmeister Ray Davies came on to sing his timeless and classic love song to London; “Waterloo Sunset”. eliciting some great ‘sha la la-ing’ from the audience in the process. Emilie Sande made a return next, minus the newspaper piano and sang over a film montage of some of London 2012’s most tearful moments. The three hundred or so flag bearers entered the arena after that, including super sailor Ben Ainslie fo Britain. Elbow soundtracked this whole piece with a great little set that included the beautiful “Open Arms”. The athletes followed the arrival of the flag bearers and they were corralled into the sections of the union jack which formed the floor of the stadium. Apparently this version of the flag was designed by Damien Hirst. Indian drummers then accompanied the construction of a large structure made up of more than three hundred white boxes. One to represent each Olympic event. The backing track to this was Kate Bush’s “Running Up That Hill”. I had momentary butterflies while wishing and hoping that Kate might actually appear herself. But alas she didn’t.
Apparently one of the traditions of the closing ceremony is that it contains the last medal presentation. It is for the Mens Marathon which took place earlier in the day and was won by Stephen Kiprotich of Uganda. This was followed by a thank you and recognition for all the volunteers, or Games makers as they were known from all the athletes. This was followed by a spectacular light show to the unmistakable sound of Queen’s mighty “Bohemian Rhapsody” followed by a children’s signing choir singing John Lennon’s “Imagine”. This segued into a film clip of Lennon singing the song himself. Apparently Yoko Ono commissioned a special remaster of the song for the ceremony. At the same time a 3D image of John Lennon’s face was built on stage. This was a prelude to the main musical events.
George Michael took to the stage for his first live performance since his life threatening illness he sang “Freedom 90” his new single “White Light” which is in fact all about his brush with death. He seemed fit and well and on really good form. I’m not sure I like the new facial hair style though, perhaps it will grow on me! Ricky off of the Kaiser Chiefs was driven to the stage as a scooter pillion passenger singing “Pinball Wizard”. I have gone off the Kaisers of late, by I must admit they did a storming version of the Who’s classic. The next part had me positively tingling with anticipation; A series of short film and audio clips of David Bowie. Would he actually appear? Surely not? And surely he didn’t. But his 1980 hit “Fashion” was used as a backdrop to a showcase of British fashion which included a weird march around the stadium from a series of models including Naomi Campbell and Kate Moss.
George couldn’t master Mo Farah’s Mobot so he invented the Georgebot
A huge skeleton of what might have been a viking boat was pulled on stage and the hidden figurehead was none other than Annie Lennox. She performed “Little Bird” which was used on the soundtrack of Coppola’s film version of Bram Stoker’s classic story Dracula. The much rumoured Pink Floyd appearance turned out to be nothing more than Ed Sheerhan, Nick Mason and Mike Rutherford doing the Floyd’s “Wish You Were Here” accompanied by a tightrope walker who recreated the Floyd album cover with the flaming man.
Russell Brand arrived on stage in what looked like the Scooby Doo van and he was singing, he’s not a bad singer either. He got out of the van to perform the Beatles’ “I Am The Walrus”. The van begat a giant inflatable octopus from which Fatboy Slim did a brief DJ set featuring his own hits “Right Here Right Now” and “Rockerfeller Skank”. Jessie J then sang “Price Tag” in an open top car she was joined by Tinie Tempah then Taio Cruz with “Dynamite”. All in open top cars. Then all three of them took the stage for a creditable performance of the Bee Gees disco classic “You Should Be Dancing”. As they were performing in front of a drum kit marked up with the name of Beady Eye it was obvious who was going to be on later!
A group of London Black cabs entered stadium and performed a kind of synchronised dance. Then five of them moved to the centre of the arena and were lit up with some spectacular lighting arrays. This wasn’t the best kept secret of the show, but guess who the passengers in these five cabs were? Yes it was Scary, Sporty, Baby, Ginger and Pouty…. oops sorry I mean Posh. It was the return of the Spice Girl. They kicked off with possibly one of the greatest pop singles of the 90s (OK that doesn’t mean you have to like it); “Wannabe”. They followed this with the samba rhythmed “Spice Up Your Life” which they performed while being driven around the stadium atop the cabs that brought them in. As expected after seeing their drum kit earlier Beady Eye were next. Thankfully they didn’t play any of their own stuff, just a cover of “Wonderwall” which seemed to go down really well as a sing along with the crowd. Liam seemed quite nervous to me and is his voice a little rough these days?
ELO’s “Mr Blue Sky” was played as a backdrop for a section pioneering flight. This included flying bikes and a failed human cannonball who just happened to be Monty Python star Eric Idle who led the audience in a marvellous sing-alonga-python version of “Always look On The Bright Side Of Life”. he even made a great comedic attempt to join in with some Bollywood style dancing. This whole piece was perhaps the equivalent of the Mr Bean set in the opening ceremony. It ended with the real and successful firing of a human cannonball.
Matt Bellamy and the boys from Muse were the next to appear and they performed their song “Survival” which was commissioned for the Olympics. It’s good and their performance was excellent as usual but this is a long way from being my favourite Muse song. Interestingly, as some have likened Muse to Queen they were followed by a film clip of Freddie Mercury performing some improv jazz scat and despite being dead for more than twenty years the audience were enraptured and joined in the whole Freddie call and response thing. This proved to be the overture to Brian May’s appearance and it’s fair to say that he’s quite a good guitarist isn’t he? 😉 As the unmistakable riff to “We Will Rock You” began and Brian was joined by Roger Taylor I was briefly worried that Adam Lambert or someone similar might step onto the stage. Thankfully it was Jessie J, and inspired choice in my opinion. She did a great vocal on the song which never tried to emulate the late, great Mr Mercury.
It was then time to return to the formal activities which meant the Greek national anthem followed by a Welsh Male Choir version of the Olympic Anthem. This was sealed with the Brazilian national anthem and a formal handing over of the Olympic flag from London’s Mayor Boris Johnson to the Mayor of Rio De Janeiro via Jacques Rogge. The Brazilians then put on a samba fuelled show to let the world know what to expect in 2016. This culminated in an appearance by one of their greatest sports ambassadors; Pele. Then we had more formal stuff with speeches from Seb Coe and Jacques Rogge. Seb was quite inspiring Jacque was once again the definition of dull in my opinion. The remaining action was the extinguishing of the flame. This began with Take That (thankfully without Robbie) performing the appropriate “Rule The World”. It continued with Darcy Bussell flying in as a Phoenix to join two hundred other ballet dances for an exciting modern ballet.
The petals of the cauldron where the Olympic flame burned were then lowered and were slowly extinguished and at this point I thought that was the end. However there was more to come in the shape of the Who. They were on top form and for a pensioner Roger Daltrey’s vocal power is still damned good. They closed with a rousing version of “My Generation” accompanied by yet another magnificent firework display.
I fell a little deflated after such a brilliant two weeks but so very proud to be British. I truly believe that we really showed the world what we are capable of as a country. Not just in the Olympic events but by how we put on such a brilliant event in itself. In spite of the little hiccups before the start (G4S etc) we really delivered this in style and won a whole treasure box of medals too. So let me take this opportunity to congratulate and thank everyone in Team GB, the organisers, all the other competitors, the BBC, the volunteers/ Games Makers and anyone else who was involved in this remarkable event.
Was this the best Olympics ever? I believe it as. Rio follow that!
Most of the film clips from the ceremony are IOC copyright and therefore difficult to show. So here are two songs that sum things up in a simple way.
So many people will be writing about the Olympics in the coming weeks so I thought I’d get my mention out-of-the-way in advance of the opening ceremony. Personally I have been a little bored with the journey of the Olympic flame, especially after discovering that there are thousands of torches and not just a handful. The constant news stories about the whereabouts of the flame; ‘the flame has now passed through the arse end of nowhere carried by A N other’ have left me completely underwhelmed. How do you feel?
however, the good news is I am really looking forward to the opening ceremony. Has Danny Boyle arranged the weather? Will David Beckham kick a flaming football? Will Olly Mursspontaneously combust to light the flame? I really don’t care, I’m sure it will be one of the most spectacular Olympic openings there have ever been.
Anyway in the spirit of this being a music blog here are a few of appropriate tunes for the Olympics (starting with one of my favourite songs of all time) and while I’m here I want to wish the GB team all the best and I hope they win more medals than they have ever done!
We’re all looking forward to women’s beach volleyball aren’t we?
And finally how about a Billy bonus of another song from the rather excellent and sadly missed Gene!
I posted back in January about the lack of protest songs given the precarious state of the world, you can click here to read that post. It appears that I may have been heard. Firstly there was Bruce Springsteen with the sublime “We Take Care of Our Own”. This is a song that I suspect (as with “Born In The USA”) many American politicians simply won’t understand. I can see it being misused on the campaign trail later this year by one of the bozo Republican candidates.
But perhaps more importantly for me, Plan B’s new song, “Ill Manors” is an incendiary attack on the way youth is being treated in Britain today. I totally admire and respect that he has used his position, following his success with “The Defamation Of Strickland Banks“, to release such an incredibly passionate and hard-hitting song about the plight of the young and the underprivileged people in the UK. It’s a brilliant attack on the government too and if it’s not clear what he thinks of ‘Call Me Dave’ Cameron in the lyrics, it’s very clear in the video.
The song is likely to be featured in Plan B’s new film which is due to be released later this year, it is also called ‘Ill Manors’. This is easily my favourite song of the moment and I believe it is deserving are far more radio plays than it is getting. Check out the video below, along with the Springsteen video and a rather amusing posh boy spoof of Ill Manors entitled “Posh Manor”. I have also added the lyrics to “Ill Manors” to the end of this post. I would love to hear what you think of these songs, particularly Plan B’s (aka Benjamin Paul Ballance-Drew or Ben Drew) .
Let’s all go on an urban safari
we might see some illegal migrants
Oi look there’s a chav,
that means council housed and violent
He’s got a hoodie on give him a hug,
on second thoughts don’t you don’t wanna get mugged
Oh shit too late that was kinda dumb
whose idea was that…stupid…
He’s got some front, ain’t we all,
be the joker, play the fool
What’s politics, ain’t it all
smoke and mirrors, April fools
All year round, all in all
just another brick in the wall
Get away with murder in the schools
use four letter swear words coz we’re cool
We’re all drinkers, drug takers
every single one of us burns the herb
Keep on believing what you read in the papers
council estate kids, scum of the earth
Think you know how life on a council estate is,
from everything you’ve ever read about it or heard,
Well it’s all true, so stay where you’re safest
there’s no need to step foot out the burbs
Truth is here, we’re all disturbed
we cheat and lie its so absurd
Feed the fear that’s what we’ve learned
Fuel the fire,
Let it burn.
Oi! I said Oi!
What you looking at you little rich boy!
We’re poor round here, run home and lock your door
don’t come round here no more, you could get robbed for
Real (yeah) because my manors ill
My manors ill
For real
Yeah you know my manors ill, my manors ill!
You could get lost in this concrete jungle
new builds keep springing up outta nowhere
Take the wrong turn down a one way junction
find yourself in the hood nobody goes there
We got an eco friendly government,
they preserve our natural habitat
Built an entire Olympic village
around where we live without pulling down any flats
Give us free money and we don’t pay any tax
NHS healthcare, yes please many thanks
People get stabbed round here there’s many shanks
nice knowing someone’s got our backs when we get attacked
Don’t bloody give me that
I’ll lose my temper
Who closed down the community centre?
I kill time there used to be a member,
what will I do now until September?
Schools out, rules out, get your bloody tools out
London’s burning, I predict a riot
Fall in fall out
who knows what it’s all about
What did that chief say? Something bout the kaisers
Kids on the street no they never miss a beat, never miss a cheap
thrill when it comes their way
Lets go looting
no not Luton,
the high street’s closer cover your face
And if we see any rich kids on the way we’ll make ’em wish they stayed inside
here’s a charge for congestion, everybody’s gotta pay
do what Boris does… rob them blind
Oi! I said Oi!
What you looking at you little rich boy?
We’re poor round here, run home and lock your door!
Don’t come round here no more, you could get robbed for
real (yeah) because my manors ill
My manors ill
for real
yeah you know my manors ill , my manors ill!
It is with great sadness that I must convey the news of the passing of the Lord Of Loud, Jim Marshall creator of the guitar amp of choice for rock gods and guitar icons. Acton born James Charles Marshall had been a singer and drummer during the war years as his health kept him out of the armed forces. I would go so far as to say that he was one of the most influential Englishmen in the history of rock.
In his drumming and singing days he had built an amplifier that enabled his vocals to be heard above his drums. Later, from around 1960 he opened a music store in Hanwell, West London. The shop initially sold drums and then he expanded his stock to guitars. Ritchie Blackmore and Pete Townshend were among his early customers, both were seeking a much bigger amplifier that would enable them to significantly crank up the volume on their instruments. That is when Marshall had the idea for what became probably the most famous and iconic brand of amplifiers in music. Marshall Amplification was born in 1962.
For me the guitarist most associate with Marshall was Jimi Hendrix, he evene had some of his road crew trained by Marshall at the west London shop. Jim Marshall had many claims to fame, another of these was his time as a drum teacher, his pupils included Mitch Mitchell drummer with the Jimi Hendrix Experience and Mickey Waller who played drums for Little Richard.
My thoughts go to Jim’s family, friends and countless fans and users throughout the world. RIP Jim Marshall.
So in memory of the wonderfully talented man how about some music from Hendrix himself, ably supported by one of Jim Marshall’s drum students!
According to a recent report in the UK tabloid the Daily Mail (so only a small chance it’s true) Ziggy Stardust is about to be honoured with a plaque in London. In the year that marks the 40th anniversary of the release of what many consider Bowie‘s finest moment it seems that the powers that be may be ready to give Ziggy a commemorative plaque.
Note that this would be very special as they are not awarded to living people. But it’s not a Bowie plaque it is most definitely to honour the Ziggy character. It will be placed in Heddon Street where the cover pictures for ‘The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars‘ album were shot.
Can you think of any other fictitious characters from the rock world that should be honoured in the same way? The Kinks ‘Terry and Julie’ on Waterloo Bridge perhaps?
You'd think that Satan might adopt a better disguise wouldn't you?
Someone has accused Lady Gaga of taking part in a Satanic ritual in London last summer. A worker at the Intercontinental was reportedly quoted as saying that Gaga was ‘bathing in blood as part of a Satanic ritual’ Although there appears to be no mention of any other Satanic or ritualistic paraphernalia. The hotel employee allegedly added that Lady G left ‘large amounts of blood in the suite during her stay’
So that proves what exactly?
Mysteriously this was supposedly reported to the Concierge who told the worker to put it out of their mind. Very strange indeed, what explanations could there be;
It was ketchup after a room service spillage
A leak from a sanitary bag
The decorators spilled red paint
Gaga likes her steak blue
Lady Gaga dyed her hair red and didn’t tidy up
Her new album will include Norwegian death/ black metal cover versions
Ms Germanotta was auditioning for a new vampire movie
Or finally perhaps it’s all a load of PR bollocks (This is what I believe anyway)
What do you folks think?
I have found out what one person on-line thinks; they think that Gaga is one of the Illuminati with Masonic connections. Which for me suggests this story is complete bollocks (But I wonder what David Icke thinks of it). Anyway here is the Gaga is an Illuminati video.
This weekend the UK press was reporting that a musical featuring the music of David Bowie would première at the IndigO2 in London next March. It would be called ‘Heroes : The Musical’ and was written by Deep Singh he thought he had obtained permission to use the songs. However it would seem that permission has not been given.
Nope I can't hear you. Permission? No chance dude!
A statement from David Bowie and his management issued this weekend reads; ‘ Neither the David Bowie Organization, nor its co-publishers EMI Music and Chrysalis, has issued a license for this performance at the O2. There are no negotiations pending for a long running musical featuring the music of Mr. Bowie’.
You want permission to use my music? Better give me a call on the diamond dog n bone mate
Personally I’m quite pleased. I really don’t like musicals and the thought of one based on the songs of David Bowie leaves me cold. What do you folks think?
Bowie prepares for his kick ass bling musical version of Diamond Dogs
After nearly 6 years I am finally moving to a job with a relatively normal commute. In my new role, which begins on 30th June, I will be enjoying a 50 minute drive at each end of the day as opposed to a two-hour train journey, 90 minutes on a stinking tube train, various flights and hotels (some good and some bad). However I should say that my accommodation since January whilst working in London has been at my Mum’s place and it knocks every business hotel I’ve stayed in right into the shade. Great food, great service and more importantly some real quality time with my Mum. The latter is something which I don’t believe too many of us get at this age (I’m fiftysomething in case you wondered!) I have thanked my mum personally already, however I thought I’d also like to do the same in blog ink. Mum I can’t thank you enough for putting me up and putting up with me all this time. I suppose I could be talking about a lot longer than just the last few months as well couldn’t I? Anyway staying with my Mum is almost certainly the only thing I will miss about not working in London. I sure as hell won’t miss the Tube which quite frankly is a disgusting method of transport; often unreliable and pretty damned smelly as well. Does it really have to be like that? Personally I don’t think so, but sadly it is. Bob Crowe and his cronies don’t help either with their pathetic and all too frequent strikes. Bob you most be one of the few people in the country that would lose an election against Nick Clegg. You’re a complete arse, wise up and get a conscience you moron and go back to your village, they want their idiot back. You’re giving imbeciles a bad name.
OK rant over now it’s time to get back to some job and transport related music (and one for my Mum), because after all this is a music blog!
With Just A Hint Of Mayhem 