With Just A Hint Of Mayhem

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

“Are you ready, are you ready for this, are you hanging on the edge of your seat?” July 18, 2009

Filed under: Trivia — justwilliam1959 @ 8:45 pm
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Hello once again dear readers today is the 19th July and it is the 62nd birthday of one Brian Harold May off of Queen. Brian still uses his ‘Red Special’ guitar which he began building in the early sixties with his Dad Harold. It is principally made from an old 18th Century fireplace mantel. Also there are actually two wormholes in the neck of the guitar, at least according to Wikipedia. Presumably not the type of wormholes that Brian would know more about, being an astrophysicist! To learn more about those type of wormholes click here. If your interests are a little more down to earth and you’d like a guitar just like (well ok similar) to Brian’s, then click here.

Brian poses with the famouse fireplace :-)

Brian poses with the famouse fireplace 🙂

Brian auditions Anita Dobson as a lookalike for security purposes

Brian auditions Anita Dobson as a lookalike for security purposes

On this day in 1980 the very band that Brian found fame in, Queen racked up their third UK number one album with ‘The Game’. This album featured the single “Another One Bites The Dust” A great song in my opinion and this was apparently also the opinion of Michael Jackson who was a friend of Freddie Mercury. When Fred played the song to him Jacko insisted that the band release it as a single and the rest as they say is history! And just for fun here is the Weird Al Yankovic parody of the song “Another One Rides The Bus”

Sadly both Michael and Freddie have now bitten the dust... RIP

Sadly both Michael and Freddie have now bitten the dust… RIP

Also on this day in 1958, whilst I was still in the womb, George Treadwell the then manager of the Drifters sacked the entire group. However he simply replaced them with another group, unkown at the time, Ben E King and the Five Crowns! If only someone would do that with the likes of Boyzone and Westlife. Oh I expect they probably have and no one has noticed! Here are Ben and the boys with “This Magic Moment” Incidentally fact fans did you know that the Shadows off of Cliff Richard and the Shadows were once called the Drifters? Well if you didn’t you do now!

By 1959 Ben E King clearly couldn't be bothered to tour. As for Dock Green is he anything to do with Dixon?

By 1959 Ben E King clearly couldn’t be bothered to tour. As for Dock Green is he anything to do with Dixon?

And the final ‘onthisday’ for 19th July is from 1989. Apparently when large amounts of money were found in the late great (those l & g’s are back!) James Brown’s prison cell he was moved from a minimum security prison to a medium security prison. What the hell is the difference between minimum and medium and then presumably maximum security prisons. “Get Up Offa That Thing” indeed! If that had happened these days it would have been the hidden stash of some jailed banker, but wait a minute none of them went to jail did they? They all recieved performance bonuses, how the hell does that work then? Here is James with the late great (back with a vengeance those ‘l & g’s’) Robert Palmer singing “I Feel Good”

James moves from minimum to medium security with his personal banker!

James moves from minimum to medium security with his personal banker!

 

“Can hear me, can you hear me, through the dark night far away” July 11, 2009

Filed under: Trivia — justwilliam1959 @ 9:32 pm
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Hello once again good people I thought I’d try and sneak in a few posts in the vein I started this blog, so here for you regular readers are a bunch of ‘onthisdays’ To those non regular or new readers these are snippets of music trivia that took place on this very day. The day in question today is July 12th

On this day in 1954 a very young Elvis Presley, just 19 years old in fact resigned from his job as a truck driver with the Crown Electric Company. The day was made much more important by the fact that Mr Presley also signed a contract with Sun Records

Even after he hit the big time Elvis refused to give up truck driving, although he did insist on using a customised rig ;-)

Even after he hit the big time Elvis refused to give up truck driving, although he did insist on using a customised rig 😉

On this day in 1962 Ray Charles was sitting at the top of the UK singles chart with the excellent “I Can’t Stop Loving You” I heard this a lot as a child as it was a great favourite of my parents. It was also one of the songs my Mum selected to have played at my Dad’s funeral in 2001. Another song played that day, was a massive favourite of my Dad, it was Rod Stewart’s excellent version of Gavin Sutherland off of the Sutherland Brothers’ “Sailing” Even now that song brings a tear to my eye, probably because it never fails to evoke memories of my Dad, a wonderful man who will always be missed. So dear readers tell me what songs make you cry and what your story is. In the meantime click here to see Rod singing “Sailing”. This one’s for you Dad!

Ray was somewhat annoyed with the road crew who had rather hastily removed his piano before he'd even had the chance to tell them to 'Hit The Road Jack'

Ray was somewhat annoyed with the road crew who had rather hastily removed his piano before he’d even had the chance to tell them to ‘Hit The Road Jack’

Also that same day in 1962 saw the live debut of a group you probably all know, it was at the Marquee Club in London and the group was the Rolling Stones. It was a bit of a different line up though, featuring Dick Taylor on Bass and Mick Avory on Drums. The band were actually billed as Mick Jagger and the Rolling Stones, I bet Keef and Brian weren’t happy with that (assuming they were a part of the group at that stage). They were paid the princely sum of £20 for the gig. A figure that might just about buy you a programme from a more recent Stones show

Mick thought he looked the business in his new jacket, the rest of the band thought less business and more.......twat!

Mick thought he looked the business in his new jacket, the rest of the band thought less business and more…….twat!

I suppose todays final ‘onthisday’ is still somewhat topical. On this day in 1988 Michael Jackson arrived in the UK for his first ever solo appearances in this country. He had appeared many times before with his brothers but never alone. He played eight nights to nearly 800,000 people and apparently grossed around £13 million. So even before Thriller he was able to earn big bucks! Here he is performing “Wanna Be Starting Something” on the Bad Tour from 1987

Clearly Michael intended to travel very light for his first solo UK tour. Well if you wanna be starting something you might as well wanna be starting it well ;-)

Clearly Michael intended to travel very light for his first solo UK tour. Well if you wanna be starting something you might as well wanna be starting it well 😉

To finish todays post I want to share this excellent Evian advert with you. I believe it’s called ‘Roller Babies’ and it is soundtracked by the fabulous “Rappers Delight” by the Sugarhill Gang. Click here to view it

 

“So tonight gotta leave that nine to five upon the shelf and just enjoy yourself” June 26, 2009

Filed under: Obituary — justwilliam1959 @ 3:18 pm
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

OK so I haven’t posted much lately but I couldn’t let a momentous event like the death of Michael Jackson go by without posting could I? As many of you know the first gig I ever saw was the Jackson 5 at the Wembley Empire Pool (now known as the WembleyArena). I went with a school friend, Brian Taylor who later found fame as an incredibly talented drummer for the Tom Robinson Band and the Stiff Little Fingers amongothers. (Brian if by some weird twist of fate you’re actually reading this feel free to get in touch). The importance of the group to Motown was apparent in the choice of support acts; Junior Walker and the All Stars and a pre-fame Commodores.

Sadly I actually had a jacket similar to that, but it was the 70s!

Sadly I actually had a jacket similar to that, but it was the 70s!

If my memory serves me well the Jackson 5 had recently released the fabulous “Looking Through The Windows” single, which I still love to this day. In fact I still play a few Jackson 5 songs in my DJ sets. Most recently I ran “I Want You Back” next to “ABC“. Indeed the former has been the ring tone on my mobile phone for months now. Those early J5 songs were fantastically produced, supremely well written and perhaps most importantly performed so brilliantly. I think that at the time, perhaps because I was pretty much the same age as Michael Jackson (he was born in August 1958 and I was born in January 1959) the J5 were by far my favourite group. I’m not ashamed to admit either that I used to mime to those early singles in front of the mirror using my hairbrush (for in those days not only did I possess one I actually needed to use it) as a microphone. Go on there must be more of you who did that kind of thing, like maybe miming to Hendrix using your tennis racket as a guitar? Post a comment about it, let’s have a series of ‘Confessions Of A Teenage Mime Artist’

Mike on the mic

Mike on the mic

Anyway back to the late great Michael Jackson as the J5 was the first live act I ever saw (I’m not counting the dreadful covers bands that played in hotels when my folks took me to Spain as a youngster – “Guantanamera” in-bloody-deed!) I was always going to interested in them to some degree. I followed their recording career quite closely throughout the 70s. Stuff like “Dancing Machine” is excellent. Then they left Motown to join Epic and produced some great stuff there too, for me the best being “Enjoy Yourself” and “Show You The Way To Go“. I felt that from around 1972 until “Off The Wall” Michael’s solo releases were at best patchy. But when “Off The Wall” hit the record racks that has to be the moment he began to ascend the stairs to super-stardom. He probably reached a level of fame that no one else ever has. In terms of fame he was probably far bigger than the Beatles or Elvis ever were. That level of celebrity must bring such pressure to bear on the way you need to live your life and maybe that’s perhaps where things began to go a little awry. Now is not the time to discuss the allegations of child abuse and whether I believe he was guilty or not is irrelevant. But I will say that it might have been better if he wasn’t surrounded by ‘yes men’ who did nothing to control his excesses. Did those people really care about him or about their own wealth? I’ll let you make your own minds up on that one! What is undeniable though is that he was one of the most talented individuals ever to have graced the world of music. His contemporaries from an age perspective at least were Madonna and Prince. Both of them are also supremely talented, but on the same level as MJ? I don’t think so. I reckon that Michael would probably appear in the top tens of more music fans than any other artist. What do you think dear readers?

A still from the Billie Jean video

A still from the Billie Jean video

The ‘Off The Wall’ album was the first in what proved in my opinion at least to be a trilogy of his greatest recordings. This was followed by the juggernaut that was ‘Thriller’ and then by the underrated (in my opinion) ‘Bad’. After that I never felt he reached those artistic highs again and I’m not sure that he ever would, but now we’ll never know will we?

‘Thriller’ sold in excess of 50 million copies worldwide, I wonder how many more copies will be sold now he has died? Remember that people tend to buy lots of product of immediately deceased stars. Just recall all the hits that Elvis and John Lennon had after they died, in some cases many years after they died

A still from the Zombie dance in the Thriller video

A still from the Zombie dance in the Thriller video

I would like to think that history looks reasonably kindly on Michael Jackson. He was a truly talented individual and yes he had flaws, some allegedly quite serious. But then how many of us can say we are completely flawless?

So let’s celebrate MJ’s life with another view of his superb performance at the Motown 25th Anniversary show in 1983. Click here to see it. Additionally Mojo Magazine has an excellent collection of Jacko videos on their website, click here to see them.

Also did any of you ever see his collaboration with my favourite author, Stephen King? It was a short but superb movie called “Ghosts”

I happened to visit HMV at lunchtime today and oh boy have they moved quickly. Nothing but Jacko on the sound system and stacks of his CDs now occupying prime positions in the store whereas last week they were all in the sale items (2 for £10). I know that sales people are often seen as cynical but to do that so soon after the guy is dead really takes the biscuit!

The tributes from other celebrities are quite interesting too, here are some words from Celine Dion; “He was not only a talented person, but he was unique – a genius. It’s such a loss. It feels like when Kennedy died.” Now it’s kinda strange that she seems to remember how that felt when Kennedy was killed in 1963 and Ms Dion wasn’t born until 1968.

Thanks to Popbitch for the following  joke I know that the usual crop of sick jokes are doing the rounds as well, but I actually found this one quite amusing, here goes, but don’t read it if you think you might feel just a little bit offended ok. You have been warned;

There will be a post-mortem today to determine which was the cause of death:

A) Sunshine B) Moonlight C) Good Times D) Boogie

And a bit of fun to try and cheer up Jacko’s fans, here is an excellent Bollywood version of Thriller (thanks again to Popbitch for pointing this one out too)

Overall the BBC coverage of Michael’s death has been excellent, check it out here.

As a bit of an epilogue to this story I actually received my 15 minutes of fame this morning (well more like 15 seconds actually) when I made a brief appearance on BBC Radio York (thank you to Liam for arranging that!) this morning to comment on MJ and how it was the first gig I’d ever seen.

 

“She wears them micro mini dresses, hair hanging down her back” March 21, 2009

Filed under: Trivia — justwilliam1959 @ 11:47 am
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

It’s Saturday 21st March and I’m back with even more delightful crap for you today. But before that here is some of the recent music news. Leon Jackson winner of X Factor 2007 has been dropped by his record label after just one album. Now I wonder if it’s down to the ‘Credit Crunch’ or simply because he’s crap. I bet you can’t guess which one I think it is! So I suppose he’ll be working in McDonalds with Gareth Gates before long. The Arctic Monkeys have put some new material on YouTube, including a cover of Lady GaGa’s “Poker Face” Click here for an update from their current rehearsals. And in a final piece of news Justin Timberlake is launching his own brand Tequila called 901. Not a very imaginative name is it? How about “I’m bringing Tequila Back”? or “Cry Me A Bottle” Anyway I suppose that it is a true AlcoPOP drink!

Leon Jackson

Let’s kick off with a few birthdays. Firstly Ray Dorset off of Mungo Jerry is 63 today. The band took their name from a poem in T.S Eliot’s ‘Old Possum’s Book Of Practical Cats’. The poem is called ‘mungojerrie and rumpelteazer’ The band are still around today with Mr Dorset being the ever present original member. To most people these days the band are probably sen as one hit wonders following the success of “In The Summertime” which went to number one in more than 20 countries in 1970. They reached the UK top 20 six times in the early 70’s and in addition to “In The Summertime” they also hit the top with “Baby Jump“. A Ray Dorset song reached number 1 in the UK in 1980, it was “Feels Like I’m In Love” by Kellie Marie. Dorset originally wrote the song for Elvis Presley although he never recorded it.

ray' dastardly plan to take over the world with his sideburns was in its early stages

ray' dastardly plan to take over the world with his sideburns was in its early stages

Meanwhile Russel Thompkins Jr off of the Stylistics is 58 today. Russell was the falsetto voiced lead singer until he left the group in 2000. Their biggest UK hit was “I Can’t Give You Anything (But My Love)” which was produced by the late great (here they come again those ‘ole l’s & g’s) Van McCoy. Most of their earlier hits were produced by the equally talented Thom Bell and often co written with Linda Creed. Although they never appeared on the famous Philadelpia International record label the group hailed from the city and were one of the most talented proponents of the soft sound of Philly Soul. Some might say that nowadays their biggest hits come across as somewhat cheesy, does that make them Philadelphia Cheese?

Meet Austin Powers' style advisory team

Meet Austin Powers' style advisory team

The new lead singer of the Stylistics was very happy with the groups new, more cheesy direction! Well if Isaac Hayes can do Hot Buttered Soul then why not?

The new lead singer of the Stylistics was very happy with the groups new, more cheesy direction! Well if Isaac Hayes can do Hot Buttered Soul then why not?

And finally for the birthdays Deryck “Bizzy D” Whibley off of Sum 41 is todays young whippersnapper at just 29. Sum 41 come from a rather clean sounding town in Ontario, Canada. It’s name is Ajax! Although Whibley was actually born in Scarborough, Ontario. On July 16 2006 he married Canadian Punk Popstrel Avril Lavigne. Deryck has been guest guitarist on releases from Tommy Lee off of Motley Crue and also the legendary Iggy Pop. Sum 41’s download only single ‘March Of The Dogs” stirred up enough controversy among supporters of Dubya that Whibley was allegedly facing deportation from the US back to Canada. This came about because the opening couplet in the song was “Ladies and gentlemen of the underclass/The president of the United States of America is dead” Whatever happened to freedom of speech? Watch out for a new Sum 41 album later this year. In the meantime here are Sum 41 with “Fat Lip”

Avril preferred hobbits

Avril preferred hobbits

On this day in 2001 Eminem was ordered $476,000 as part of his divorce agreement with his wife Kimberly ‘Kim’ Anne Scott. Also as part of the agreement Eminem would keep the US Mansion and the couple would share custody of their daughter Hailie Jade. The couple married for a second time in 2006 but were divorced again around three months later. Here is Em with his current single “Crack A Bottle” which also features 50 Cent and G Unit.

Mr Mathers gives us a comment on his divorce settlement

Mr Mathers gives us a comment on his divorce settlement

And finally on this day in 2001 Michael Jackson’s Interior Designer was interviewed by the Times newspaper and claimed that Jacko kept 17 life size dolls, of both adult and child sizes in his bedroom for…….. errrrrrrr……….company!!!!!! What’s that all about then?

It was strange how all the dolls appeared to look like Jacko too and how much easier would it be to perform plastic surgery on something made from plastic!

It was strange how all the dolls appeared to look like Jacko too and how much easier would it be to perform plastic surgery on something made from plastic!

 

“When I am faraway, I feel the rainfall of another planet” March 6, 2009

Filed under: Trivia — justwilliam1959 @ 7:29 am
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Hi people, this may be the last post for a few days, but then again it might not! If it is I’ll see you all again Monday or Tuesday, either way have a great weekend.

OK I know it’s not music related but one of this blogs regular readers has informed me that earlier this week she cupped the medals of an Olympian in her very own hands! Don’t be rude now I meant that she was able to hold Matthew Pinsent’s Olympic Rowing medals when he visited her place of work on Tuesday. The lucky lady is Karen McP. If anyone else has any celebrity stories they would like to tell me about then please do!

One of my favourite e mails of the week arrives on a Thursday and it comes from those wonderful people at Popbitch. If you like gossip, jokes, a good laugh and you’re not easily offended why not sign up for it? Here is a very inoffensive piece from this weeks mail. “Did you know Yazz’s The Only Way Is Up was a cover? Mississippi born soul and gospel star Otis Clay first released it in 1982. (just click on the song you want to hear to play) http://www.popbitch.com/home/popbits ” I copied this verbatim from the mail but the link also let’s you hear Jackie DeShannon’s original of Kim Carne’s hit “Bette Davis Eyes” Well worth checking out

This next link also came via Popbitch “Pirates In Somalia” click on the name to get to it. If you’re familiar with Weebl’s Stuff you’ll recognise the theme, but there is an element of political comment on this one too, let me know what you think

Hot off the press, well to be honest it’s a bit lukewarm really, but anyway if you haven’t seen the news yet, Michael Jackson is doing at least 10 shows at the O2 Arena in London this summer. I reckon that they will be;

  1. Spectacularly good
  2. Painfully embarrassing
  3. Or that Jacko won’t show

What do you think? Click here for the BBC report on the announcement

So onto those all important birthdays, it’s March 6th 2009 and today is th 64th birthday of Hugh Grundy. He was the drummer with the rather spiffing 60’s band the Zombies. Hugh was part of the original band which was formed at St Albans Grammar School in the UK in 1963. The other members included Colin Blunstone who went on to success as a solo artist and Rod Argent who went on to form Argent. Before adopting the excellent name of the Zombies the boys had considered the Sundowners (nope I don’t like that) and the Mustangs (not bad!). They used to get to their gigs in an old red and white ice cream van. I wonder if they switched on the bell to let the fans know they were coming or whether they perhaps sold ice creams in the interval? Their first major gig was at the Watford Town Hall in Hertfordshire in 1963. In 1964 at the same venue they won ‘Herts Beat’ which nowadays would probably be called a battle of the bands. The prize was an audition with Decca Records, which they passed! Their debut single later in 1964 was the classic “She’s Not There” covered some years later by Santana. The Zombies version reached number two in the US but could only muster number 12 in the UK. Hugh went on to work in A & R at CBS after his time with the band. Here are the band with the classic “Time Of The Season”

let's be honest these aren't the scariest zombies you've ever seen are they?

let's be honest these aren't the scariest zombies you've ever seen are they?

The second and last of the birthdays today is that of the delightful Ms Kiki Dee, Happy 62nd Birthday Kiki. To her Mum and Dad she wasn’t known as Kiki though, she was called Pauline Matthews and she was born near Bradford in Yorkshire in the UK. When asked what they know about Kiki most people will say “that duet of Don’t Go Breaking My Heart she did with Elton John” I just asked Catwoman that very question and got pretty much that answer! Incidentally that was Elton’s first ever UK number one single when it hit the top in 1976. But back to Kiki as there is much more to her, did you know for example that she was the first white British Artist to be signed to Motown Records? Well she was and she released her first Motown single in 1970 although it wasn’t a hit. She later sign to Elton’s Rocket Records. Here is Kiki with my favourite song of hers “Amoreuse” from 1973. It was written by French singer songwriter Veronique Sanson.

Kiki tried to soldier on but it was quite clear to the audience that she had lost her microphone

Kiki tried to soldier on but it was quite clear to the audience that she had lost her microphone

On this very day in 1961 George Formby Jr died aged just 57. His father was a very famous musical hall comedian also known as George Formby. George Jr’s real name was George Hoy Booth and he was born in Wigan in Lancashire. Formby was a master of the double entendre which is a mainstay of much British humour. In the 1930’s his song “With Me little Stick Of Blackpool Rock” was banned by the BBC for being too rude! How very tame it all sounds now! here is the man himself with “When I’m Cleaning Windows”

The girls had come from far and wide to catch a glimpse of George's "little stick of Blackpool rock"

The girls had come from far and wide to catch a glimpse of George's "little stick of Blackpool rock"

On this day in 1970 Charles Manson (yes the evil murderous one) released his album “Lies” on Awareness Records. However he was unable to promote the disc as he was serving a life sentence for his part in what have become known as the Sharon Tate murders. Manson spent some time in the 60s living with and recording with Dennis Wilson of the Beach Boys. He recorded quite a few songs and some have been covered by contemporary artists like Guns n Roses and Marilyn Manson who as you may have guessed took the second part of his name from the infamous killer. Charles Manson claimed to hear a lot of messages in the Beatles White Album, particularly songs like “Piggies” and “Helter Skelter”. When U2 covered “Helter Skelter” on the Rattle And Hum tour Bono introduced it by saying he was reclaiming the song on behalf of the Beatles. I have decided to add no music or picture to the Charles Manson piece, I hope that you all understand

On this day in 2004 Lionel Richie’s now ex-wife went to court asking for
$300,000 per month in maintenance payments. This included;

  • $20k per year on plastic surgery
  • $15k per month on clothing, shoes and accessories
  • $5k per month on jewellery
  • $0.6k per month on massages

She obviously has a very hard life! With that kind of money I bet she was ready to go “Running With The Night” “Dancing On The Ceiling” “All Night Long”, she was certainly no “Penny Lover” and I reckon that money is much much more than “Three Times A Lady’s” normal pay. “Hello” did that make any sense.

Anyway here is Lionel with the Commodores singing my fave Commodores song and one which is another of the 50 songs in my top 10, ladies and gentlemen of the Blogworld I give you “Just To Be Close To You”

One of these men is a waxwork dummy, can you tell which one? ;-)

One of these men is a waxwork dummy, can you tell which one? 😉

 

“She could kill you with a wink of her eye” February 23, 2009

Filed under: Trivia — justwilliam1959 @ 9:06 am
Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

Well here we are again on a Monday morning, what the hell happened to the damned weekend? Why is it only two days? Three or four would be better wouldn’t it?

Anyway in yet another forlorn attempt to keep this post short, I think I know I’ll fail in that aim, let’s kick off with some birthdays. Firstly 23rd February 2009 is the 65th birthday of talented guitarist Johnny Winter. He was one of the numerous acts to play the Woodstock Festival in 1969, playing a nine song set which included his brother Edgar on two songs. Here is a clip of him from that very set at Woodstock. The rather splendid US band the Smashing Pumpkins recorded an instrumental homage to Johnny called “Tribute to Johnny”, in which they tried to emulate Winter’s unique guitar sound. The song was originally intended for their excellent 1995 album ‘Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness’ but was rejected and eventually turned as b-side on their “Zero” single. Ill health means that Johnny is only able to play whilst seated. Both he and his brother Edgar are albino, to find out a little more about this go check out Wikipedia here.

As this picture proves Johnny had a very laid back playing style

As this picture proves Johnny had a very laid back playing style

Today is also the day to wish Steve Priest, the Sweet’s guitarist a happy 59th birthday. He was born in Hayes, Middlesex in the UK just a few miles away from where I was born and grew up. I now live 200 miles away in York while Steve lives a little further away in California. Who do you think got the better deal weatherwise? An early incarnation of the Sweet was called the Sweetshop, whilst they released a few singles they all failed to hit the chart. The classic line up of the band (Steve Priest, Brian Connolly, Mick Tucker and Andy Scott) came together in 1970. “Funny Funny” written by Nicky Chinn and Mike Chapman became the bands first hit in 1971. Despite the fact that the band were all competent musicians and thanks to Messrs Chinn and Chapman they were not allowed to play on any of their RCA singles until “Wig Wam Bam”. They were seen by many as just another bubblegum pop band, although many of their B Sides and live gigs belied this and showed their love of and skill at playing harder rock. Steve Priest and Andy Scott are now the only surviving members of that classic line up and both still tour with their own versions of the band. Imaginatively called Steve Priest’s Sweet and Andy Scott’s Sweet! Here are the boys with “Ballroom Blitz” from 1973, Steve is the guy who does the rather camp speaking part in the song!

The Sweet like brickies in drag! Mr Priest is the one on the bottom left

The Sweet like brickies in drag! Mr Priest is the one on the bottom left

The last birthday today is Rob Collins keyboard player with the Charlatans. He would have been 46 today but sadly he was killed in a car crash on 23rd July 1996 in Rockfield, Wales during the recording sessions for the band’s 5th album. The Charlatans first gig was at Vic’s Club in Northwich, Cheshire in the UK. Following that gig their manager was able to secure them five support slots with the then new cult heroes the Stone Roses played between November 1988 and April 1989. It was Rob Collins distinctive Hammond Organ sound that underpinned many of the bands songs. Apparently he bought the organ from a local church. Here are the boys with the rather splendid “Weirdo” which Catwoman swears is about me!

Rob Collins RIP

Rob Collins RIP

On this day in 1974 Suzi Quatro was number one in the UK charts with “Devil Gate Drive” her second number one. From quite a young age Suzi (born Susan Kay Quatro) had aspired to a career in music. She left school in 1964 and immediately formed a band called the ‘Pleasure Seekers’ with her three sisters Arlene, Patti and Nancy. As with the Sweet earlier in this post and Mud from a previous post, many of her early hits were written by Nicky Chinn and Mike Chapman. Fans of the US sitcom ‘Happy Days’ may also remember Suzi’s appearances on that show as Leather Tuscadero in 1977

Suzi had failed to notice the small ladder in her tights as shen went on stage

Suzi had failed to notice the small ladder in her tights as she went on stage

It was on this day in 1979 that Dire Straits played their first ever US show when they appeared at the Paradise Club in Boston. The single of the title track from 1985’s “Brothers In Arms” album was the first commercially available CD single. 400 copies were pressed for release in November 1985. The album went to number one in both the UK and the US. Here is my favourite Dire Straits song which was also their first UK hit, “Sultans Of Swing”

Though they were excellent guitarists those Dire Straits boys never really mastered the Hank Marvin/ Shadows dance steps

Though they were excellent guitarists those Dire Straits boys never really mastered the Hank Marvin/ Shadows dance steps

And finally on this day in 2003 the UK tabloid ‘The News Of The World’ reported that Michael Jackson had undergone scores of painful operations to strip his body of black skin until he appeared white. They also reported that surgeons at a Santa Monica clinic eventually refused him any further treatment. An ‘insider’ told the paper that Jacson had been anesthetized on a weekly basis to have his skin peeled and bleached. Is this a true story? Maybe, but bear in mind the track record of the UK tabloid press in making up stories before making up your mind. Here is Michael with “Black Or White”

looking at the man in the mirror Michael finally realised that he may have overdone the plastic surgery

looking at the man in the mirror Michael finally realised that he may have overdone the plastic surgery

Well that’s another day nearly over folks, enjoy the rest of it and I’ll be back tomorrow

 

“Billy liked to peel the labels from his bottle of Bud” February 11, 2009

Filed under: Trivia — justwilliam1959 @ 7:18 am
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,

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!

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"

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

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.

guypaellartstones1

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

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!

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

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 🙂