With Just A Hint Of Mayhem

Here we are again, my my doesn’t time fly? Probably not if it wants to take a suitcase on a Ryanair flight though!

Just to let you know I posted a brief update about the NME Shockwaves Awards last night. Want to know who won what? Well just read the post below this one 🙂

In other music news President Obama presented Stevie Wonder with the Library Of Congress Gershwin prize for services to music. This is presumably for all the fantastic work he has produced in his lifetime, well with the exception of “I Just Called To say I Love You” perhaps. Well done Stevie!

Anyway normal service will now be resumed with todays birthdays. February 26th 2009 is the 81st birthday of Fats Domino. Wouldn’t his name make a great meal name for a pizza for Dominos Pizza – The Fats Domino deep crust with lard, butter, chips, deep fried Mars Bars, pork scratchings and blueberries. Do you like the sound of that one? Incidentally can you guess where Mr Domino actually got his name from? Yep you’re right, his size. He wasn’t obese by any means and certainly not by todays standards. He weighed 224lbs (that’s 16 stone in English!) in 1950, but he was only 5′ 5″. His first hit was a song called “the Fat Man” which was effectively a song called “Junkers Blues” with new lyrics by Fats himself. He is perhaps remembered by most people for the classic “Blueberry Hill”, how many times have I sung that in the shower! I also loved the way Richie Cunningham (Ron Howard’s character in ‘Happy Days’ used to sing the refrain whenever he thought he was onto a good thing with a member of the fairer sex. Fats was at one time believed to have been one of the many who perished as a result of the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans in 2005. To the extent that graffiti reading RIP FATS was painted onto his home. He was later found to be alive and well. So to celebrate his birthday here is Fats with “Blueberry Hill”

Fats really wanted some help to push the piano off the stage at the end of his set

The second of todays birthdays is that of the late great (those l’s and g’s are just ever present!) Johnny Cash he would have been 77 today had he not died in September 2003. After graduating from High School he worked for a short time in a car plant before enlisting with the US Airforce. He was stationed in Germany which is where he learnt to play guitar and write songs. He even formed a group with some fellow servicemen called the Landsberg Barbarians. His first published song “Hey Porter” was published in the US forces journal the ‘Stars and Stripes’ in the early 50’s. Early in his career he claimed that his ancestry was from the Cherokee nation, it turned out that this was not strictly true and his roots can apparently be traced back to 17th century Scotland. I’m half Scottish, perhaps we’re related, but I doubt it because I never have any cash! I acquired a taste for the music quite late on really, largely because my Mum and Dad loved him, so it wasn’t cool for me to like him as a teenager. But I absolutely love the stuff he did with Rick Rubin in the years before his death. So from that period here he is with the excellent cover of the Trent Reznor song “Hurt” This song makes me cry almost every time, OK so I’m a wuss, I can live with that!

Johnny was desperate to figure out how to lengthen his guitar strap

The final birthday for today is that of Sandie Shaw, she is 62 today. I wonder if anyone will buy her some shoes for her birthday? Her real name is Sandra Goodrich and she used to work as an IBM machine operator in Dagenham, Essex in the UK before she found fame. She spent most of her early singing career singing in bare feet, she didn’t necessarily choose this option, but her manager Eve Taylor (who also used to manage Adam Faith) felt it would be an excellent gimmick that the press would pick up on, and that they certainly did! She was the first UK winner of the Eurovision Song Contest in 1967 with “Puppet On A String”. The following year she celebrated her 21st birthday with a party in the Madame Tussauds Chamber Of Horrors in London. I’m not sure if that is where she found him, but in March of that year she married fashion designer Jeff Banks. She spent quite a long while away from the limelight before a barnstorming return with an excellent cover of the Smiths “Hand In Glove” in 1984. Morrissey was a lifelong fan and had always wanted to work with her. So for Mozzer it was truly mission accomplished!

Sandie wanted everyone to leaf her alone

On this day in 1969 Peter Sarstedt was at number one with his classic song “Where Do You Go To My Lovely” The song was a joint winner of the Ivor Novello award in 1969 along with David Bowie’s “Space Oddity” (at long last another Bowie reference!). His two brothers also had hit songs. His older brother Richard had a big hit with “Well I Ask You” as Eden Kane in 1961 and his younger brother Robin had a hit in 1976 with “My Resistance Is Low” Here is Peter with his classic “Where Do You Go To My Lovely” watch out for the intro too, I think that is Simon Dee. Does anyone know what happened to him?

Peter wondered whether anyone else could see the caterpillar that had found it's way onto his top lip

And finally on this day in 1997 songwriter Ben Raleigh died after setting fire to his bathrobe while cooking. He should have just ordered a Fats Domino Deep Pan from Dominos! He wrote many songs including “Tell Laura I Love Her” and one that I’m sure most of you know whatever age you are, “The Scooby Doo Theme” come on grab yourself a scooby snack and sing along!

All together now...... Scooby Dooby Doo Wher e Are You.....