Dare!

Dare!
Originally uploaded by bltphoto

I heard the sad news of Martin Rushent's passing and as is the way of these things listened to "Dare". Which is brilliant in so many ways and then I thought I little people tribute was in order. thanks martin and everyone else for this wonderful music.
and apologies to Philip & Adrian who came up with the original cover design.

Sad News: John Barry RIP (1933-2011)

Just heard that he passed away early today; I think John Barry was my favourite composer before I knew I liked music, the excitement and drama he brought to Bond films and Zulu etc suffused my childhood. A rare talent.

Chris Sievey (Frank Sidebottom ) 1956-2010

Frank Sidebottom (front)
Originally uploaded by bltphoto

Not sure what to say here but perhaps just to say that Chris in the form of Frank Sidebottom brought a great deal innocent daft fun into my life.

His versions of famous songs (often preferable to the original) were wonderfully funny and like all great parodies came from a love of the original allowing him to make telling fun of it. Also like all great comic creations after a while it was the built up in jokes and reality of Frank's Timperley that was the source of the humour the morrissey or Buzz Aldrin were just a hook to hang his story on.

Also for an outsider he was in one mainstreams of British comedy that of the character trapped in his world. In Frank's case trapped in his shed wedded oddly to his own puppet and the never seen presence of his Mum. That a whole world was spun from this seemingly confined space is part of his genius.

Lastly you have to admire Chris Sievey in persevering with his creation even to extent that the strange man-boy is more famous than he ever was.

But anyway it's "the summer time and I've got space and science fiction on me mind"

I thank you

Malcom McLaren 1946-2010

Well, more sad news first my one time dinner companion Christopher Cazenove! and now Malcolm, there's a lot of nonsense spouted on all sides about punk; some proggy types denying it had any effect at all and that we should all still be listening to Caravan and presumably the guy with the mohawk, studded leather jacket and tear drop tattoo stumbling down Deptford broadway the other day would say (slur more likely) that it never died! I'm not quite old enough to remember the first flush of punk. In 1976 I just remember it being hot , finding rats in our outhouse and the smell of hot scaletrix motors. I have vague memory of my dad reading about these punks in the Sunday times magazine but I didn't see an actually punk until a year or so later one Saturday in the middle of Barnsley. The punks in question did look scary but then I was only 8 at the time and they would've been 15!  Over the next years punk mixed in with the ska revival , NWOBHM and good old pop music. People would bring their brother's copy of the great rock and roll swindle into school, I think it's chief attraction was the odd cartoon naked breast and swastika arm band.

Then however came all the pop music Malcolm Mclaren if not made  inspired. I was looking at a picture of Adam Ant the other day and marvelling at hour beautiful and cool he looked in his full regalia. I remember one of his early appearances on TOTP and having the exciting feeling that some how this was wrong that someone so scary and exciting wasn't allowed on tv.  Then there was bow wow and buffalo girls etc. But more so the idea that you could make pop music yourself and fill it with passion and ideas. Sure this sort of thing has been around for years and isn't unique to punk but Malcolm Mclaren  seemed to epitomise a certain kind of sparky, funny, annoying, too clever by half way of doing things which you see in the best of pop and also oddly in diluted debased form in everything from the labels of smoothies to Top gear and YBA's etc.

This week we had the Digital Economy Bill and of course Malcolm (the manager of  pop group) once made a single celebrating home taping!
So what was the effect of Malcolm McLaren it's too early to say...

Promised land waiting

A brace of sad news today with the passing of Charlie Gillet and Alex Chilton.
I always liked Charlie's shows even though if I'm honest he didn't always play stuff I liked but it was always refreshing to hear someone who genuinely loved the music he was playing. I only recently heard Big Star I must admit for years I confused AC with Alex Harvey and only recently via Stuart Maconi had the 2 separated in my mind.
Anyway I really Love Promised Land by Johnny Allen (which for those who don't know CG introduced to us all) it never fails to cheer me up. So over to Johnny with teh travel news!

Sad News : Liam Maher (Flowered UP)

Oh, these things are never easy particularly when people are caught in your memory in their and your youth . But for a steamy mad evening  the cover of NME had come to visit  Leeds and we Bezed away to "it's On" (twice because they ddin't have many songs) with Liam's distorted vowels and the bands lazy lope it was the place to be. Oh and "weekender" played out for the following years distiling the thrill of going out better than most other things. So here's a some joyful nonsense from ITV oh and aren't kids always cooler in pop videos than popstars.

Robert Kirby 1948-2009

Sad news: Composer and arranger on many of the albums we've loved Robert Kirby has died. His work especially with Nick Drakes has always had deep effect on me and I count my life blessed the day I walked into Selectadisc and walked out with the Compilation Way to Blue. The sound of Nick's singing and guitar carried along by Roberts beautiful strings and brass the whole sound  filling my dark room in our weird flat in Streatham are quite lovely. Here's "day is done" but well which one would you choose?

Sad news

Keith Floyd 2009-1943

Not amazed to hear Keith had died although I thought he was older. He obviously a complex character and was probably hellish to be around by all accounts. But many people who do inspiring things aren’t angels and KF inspired me (in part) to start cooking and enjoying food. His early shows were great unlike anything on TV at the time his effect was so great that while it was affordable monk fish was found on our table done as in “gigot” ala Keith.

A lot has been made of his drinking on screen but watch how much they knock back on Saturday Kitchen and Oz Clarke and James May have spent several series stocious in what looks like a slightly farty camper van and they will be getting another series.

Anyway what people like KF bring to life is some joy some excitement some incitement. So I’m off to think about making something good for tea.

Ps. You often see his books in charity shops they are worth purchase as they are a really good read and full of good stuff to eat.

JH the music

Please, please, please, let me get what I want.
A quick update to say the one place you could hear good music at the cinema in 80's especially the likes of The Smiths and New Order was ironically in the American films of John Hughes.

Doubly ironically that Mozza nest egg is made up in part from the sort of teenagers he's always claimed to detest...
Anwyay here's those nice national boys doing Pretty in Pink of the hair jell and cheek bones it's rather good.

Lastly here is Johnny & The Hurricanes with Red River Rocks with some big dumb cheery saxophone nonsense on my crackly vinyl, it must be the best way to drive across the USA with John Candy in a burnt out car .

Pretty in Pink By The National



Red Rivers Rocks by Johnny & The Hurricanes

John Hughes 1950-2009

Even though I am closer to Uncle Buck now than Ferris Beuller (scarily so in many respects) I still love John Hughes films the clip below is wonderfuly done and shows something that is often over looked in John Hughes' films that they looked great. As well as being funny, soppy and a bit sexy.
I never had a life like his teenagers but well that didn't matter then or now.

Bobby Robson 1933-2009

Just a few quick thoughts on Bobby Robson: It’s never easy being an England fan we expect so much (we invented the thing after all etc…) and yet our form is patchy so when we do well it’s incredible.

It seemed so perfect that sunny summer of 1990, we drunkenly sang “world in motion” on the dewy grass as dawn broke and college wound down, and even working in a jigsaw factory didn’t knock the edge of the excitement. Football was still “grim” in those days fans died at matches, the media didn’t “love” football like they do, and politicians weren’t “life long fans” . But just a few humid flood lit evening matches in Italy(some of them close run games), a bit of opera and every one was a fan (even Germaine Greer!).

This was still, remember when Bamber was the most famous Gascoigne in the land. I mean I at least watched the shoot out through my fingers I think our A watched it from behind the garden shed! It wasn’t to be but well maybe that doesn’t matter as much as the drama of it all, football is an entertainment in the end.

So here’s the best football song ever. No doubt Bobby as we speak will be talking with Jackie Milburn about the state of his knees and handing out the bibs and putting the cones out for a knock about.

What a Swell Guy..

Steven Wells 1960-2009

Here’s some sad new Steven Wells of NME fame has died. As a teenage from a quiet corner of a quiet town Swells' writing every Wednesday was like bomb going off . Swells writing was a joy being both politically switched on and slightly foul mouthed, buzzing with ideas and opinions.

I always read his pieces even when it was about bands I didn’t care for; I even liked his work when he slagged off the bands I loved. His writing along with David Quantitck was full of fantastic crazed descriptions prefigures the likes of Charlie Brooker particularly in his easy access to his bile gland. But although his reviews where extreme they were always done with a smile and good joke. There was also a glee and joy in the use of words and the search for more and more arcane ways to describe the particular focus of his scorn.

I think his brand of partisanship is missing in pop music nowadays when everyone seems to like everything. Maybe it’s just us cold war kids who still enjoy some “black and white them and us” opinions. I’m sure the wishy washy likes of Keane and all the “The” bands wouldn’t have lasted two minutes if Swells had turned his torch on them. Oh and what was I thinking I forgot the most important bit he used to make me laugh out loud.

Yuletide logging

and I was in such a good mood.

I got home in the dark last night burdened with bags and closed the curtains retiring under my incredibly warm new duvet.

I could see the sun round the edge of the curtains this morning and opened the to hopefully 2008's last nasty surprise. Since I've been away they've mutilated the trees outside my flat. Thankfully not clear felled them but hacked them around lopped of bits of the crown and basically ruined my garden.

As a lowly renter I'm fully aware no one gives a stuff what I think so I'm not surpirsed not to be told in advance they were going to reduce my quality of life.

One of the pleasures of my little over priced under heated flat was this canopy of trees: in the summer in the bright sunshine being faced with a bobbing weaving sea of green was incredibly beautiful, the autumns leaves brought more colour and the stark winter network of branches more interest. One of the pictures at the top of my blog is of the view.

The limbs (now hacked away) also brought squirrels, pigeons, blue, great and longtail tits, bull and gold finches, crows, robins, sparrows,jays virtually into my living room.
The trees never blocked the light just framed the faux campanille of the school across the way. Like I say they brought beauty into my world.

Of course the trees aren't guilt free (unknown to me before I moved in) our estate had been a source of local dispute when it was built in the early 1990's. The rubbish Lewisham Labour Council had sold off part of the park (given to the people of Deptford as much needed green space) to build private flats. The trees are the last remnants of the park of which only a bit of grass and a kids play area remains. Now I am happy to have somewhere to live but even when I've been desperate for a flat I'd rather have parks and few less jerry built badly designed and finished flats.

So the poor trees have been surrounded by people and cars and some gimp Estate (mis)manager in an office in Bromley (who Ironically is probably very smugly proud of their nice semi in a leafy tree lined suburb) decided that this hard pressed tree might be a danger to cars (there is not a single one parked beneath them today) or maybe a few of my dimwitted fellow tennants complained about the branches being close to their flats, we'll never know because no one has told us.

It's no use complaining now as you can't stick branches back on (builders and land managers are well aware of this and chop first and ask later as a rule), it's private land so the Council don't give a stuff and like I say tenants views rarely get listened to.

It's all a micro example of how messed up and wrong housing is in Britain. The trees which add quality and joy to the local envrionment where percieved as potential insurance or legal threat by some 12 year old in a remote office who for a few quid (of someone elses money funnily enough in the end part of my rent!) just got rid of the problem, they don't have to look out on the ugly consiquences or watch the the ugly rings of suckers spring up round the wounded cuts. If I'd wanted to stare at an ugly grey pollarded tree I'd have bought a print of a dutch landscape painting.

I almost can't bear to look out of the window.

It's a vain hope that 2009 will see a reduction in this sort of thing; the only way forward is to have some true local democracy and involve local people in having a say in were they live that and sending to jail people who order trees chopped down .

One last run out

Oliver Postgate: 1921-2008
Where to start how about the astonishing poetry and Celtic sadness in Ivor the Engine, the scene where Ivor sits crying in a siding because he can't swim in sea with the rest of the choir, unheard of in children's animation the episode ends at this poignant point. Elsewhere the strangeness and fun of the clangers and bagpus all of which seem to have sprung seemingly nowhere. I met his goddaughter at party once and she was full of stories of what good and principled man he was.

Freedom for Tooting

Stars Spotted Exactly Where They Should Be (SSEWTSB):

The actress Hilda Braid has sadly died (although at a good age) known mainly as Nana Moon and of course Wolfie (sorry “foxy”) Smith’s prospective in law in “Citizen Smith”.

I did Spot Hilda Braid Exactly Where She Should Be:
Being from “up north” my view of London (before moving here) was a little stereotypical (much like Londoner’s view of the North). It took a while living in Tooting not to walk out of the Tube station and clench my fist and shout “freedom for Tooting”.

It was at this time that I saw her on the tube. She looked old even then and dithered some what on and got off and on again at the wrong stop (maybe her characters were close to home) but she chatted to the lady next her and seemed perfectly charming.

To my great joy she got off at Tooting Broadway, presumably off to get Wolfy and the rest of TPF some cling peaches for their tea1

An Other SSEWTSB
The time I saw Paul Weller walking down Wardour St: My inner 12 year old was desperate to run straight up to Kings Cross and get on a train home, track down that lying Get Nigel “my dad’s a sharp shooter in army” Bailey grab him by his lapels and tell him “I’ve just seen Paul Weller “from the Jam” for real” and he say’s in early 80’s he didn’t hang out with you on Saturday afternoon in Wimpy when you had to got to your Nan’s, in Sheffield, you big spinning Get.

*Reader I was a very naïve child *

I could then claim to be the ace face of our village once and for all.

I was failed Pop fan vol 1

On a similar note on the way to the match the other day, we saw some heroes from our youth.

Barnsley Mods: With excellent mirrored up scooters to boot.

This is an excellent opportunity to remind people of the best badge (of which no self respecting skaster was seen without) of the 80’s mod revival. Nestling next to your “Barnsley Mods” or “Nutty Boys badge” Was
“We put the ska into Scarborough”
Brilliant!

Sadly my mod badges lasted just few minutes in my possession, having bought them surreptitiously off the market with my mate Franny (I don’t know why I was hiding the fact from my parents but I did) anyway I lost them on the bus home and my not quite Harrington (well anorak) had to go unadorned. We did go back to his house and listen to “All Mod Cons” right loud, because nobody else was in and also because they were dead posh had coke out of cans from the fridge, At Home! (Now there’s living for you)





Next time on “I was failed pop fan” marvel how I fail to spend my Christmas money on an ex-army jacket (so I would look like Echo and the Bunny men) but bought a mac instead and ended up looking like a young farmer……

Comedy Shorts

Sad News:

Heard Arthur Smith talking warmly on the radio this morning about Ned Sherrin’s on the sad announcement of Ned’s death.

Arthur’s parents haven’t been reading the school dress code, if they had they’d know that summer uniform is not to be worn after 1st October and yet when I saw young AS in the flesh less than 40 mins later (on the tube) he was flouting the rules by wearing a fine pair of knee length “combat” shorts. I think letter home is needed!