Of course it's sad to hear of the passing of Oliver Postgate, the creative force behind English children's show Clangers. The unbearably adorable program from the late 60's followed the adventures of tiny sewn mice sort of fellows who live on a faraway planet and whose voices are played by a slide-whistle. Ah, my kingdom for a kinder gentler time in children's television programming.
This is just an oddity I found on You Tube. John Lydon being sued by tour drummer Robert Williams over a broken tour agreement on Judge Judy. Williams is best known as the drummer for Captain Beefheart, but possibly not known for his sad bowl-cut in this video clip. More details on the decade old suit are here. As to the question of who sues over being fired off a tour when you don't get on with anybody else on the tour, and who would do this on Judge Judy is yet another matter entirely.
One of my favorite references to Odetta is, from the film Hairspray by John Waters.
Hair hopper Ricki Lake and her beau seek refuge in the house of two beatniks played by Pia Zadora and The Cars' Ric Ocasek. Being the first beatniks they've ever met, the conversation goes like this...
Ricki: How do you get your hair so straight and so flat? Pia: With an iron, man!l play my bongos, listen to Odetta, and then l iron my hair, dig?...When l'm high, l am Odetta!
"I would like to live in Sweden When my work is done Where the snow lies crisp and even 'Neath the midnight sun Safe and clean and green and modern Bright and breezy—free and easy Sweden—Sweden—Sweden—In Sweden I am gonna live in Sweden Please don't ask me why For if I were to give a reason It would be a lie Tall and strong and blonde and blue-eyed Pure and healthy, very wealthy Sweden—Sweden—Sweden—In Sweden I'll grow wings and fly to Sweden When my time is come Then at last my eyes shall see them Heroes every one Ingmar Bergman Henrik Ibsen Karin Larrson Nina Persson Sweden—Sweden—Sweden!"
An atmospheric piece about Prince has hit the current New Yorker which is entirely worth reading if not just to read the description of him as "a small fifty-year-old man in yoga pants wearing platform flip-flops" and talking about how as a Jehovah's Witness he goes door to door spreading the good word. Years ago I remember seeing an MTV 'where are they now' special where Vanity of Vanity 6 talked about how she prayed for Prince's soul every day, well I guess that worked!
By the way, what with those religious stances, you can likely count Prince among the folks who voted against gay marriage in California. Way to kill a fanbase.
Oh Yma! How sad am I to know that after 86 years on this planet you decided to take off to the afterlife and I never got to see you live and in person even once! Boo hoo!
For those of you who have no idea who Yma Sumac is, I could probably not tell you in greater detail than our friends at the NY Times Obit department, so I'll leave it to them. What I will say is to hear the incredibly strange 4-octave voice of this avant-garde Peruvian chanteuse is to believe it. With a sound like Ricky Ricardo's freaky sister, her albums of mambos and cha chas were the perfect soundtrack to throwing a dozen mai tais with friends, you know, just before going on a date with a witch doctor or throwing yourself into an erupting volcano.
Still interested? Well why not download her songs yourself for free from this incredibly obscure Russian website? Ah yes, I knew you'd like that. While you're there be sure to check out the extensive selection of songs by A-ha (how many singles did they have?) and "AC and DC". Hurrah for lack of copywright.
I awoke this morning to a new kind of America, onewhere there is new hope at last for all of our collective futures.
I awoke this morning to a new kind of President. One whose marketing has been so slick, he's the only presidential candidate I can ever recall not only having a logo for his name (what is he, Prince?), but also who has released a celebratory compilation album upon election. "Yes We Can: Voices of a Grassroots Movement" features songs like "Signed Sealed Delivered" by Stevie Wonder, "American Prayer" by Dave Stewart and Keb' Mo' taking a stab at "America the Beautiful". This Triple A-fest of soft rocking songs designed to inspire venti latte drinkers at your local Starbucks certainly not the kind of thing I would ever want to buy, but how can one not be intrigued by the sheer marketing genius of it all? I mean, when was the last time you recall a presidential election ending in a compliation album?
So even though "Yes We Can" is full of the kind of hokey, goody-two shoes 'inspiring' music that makes me throw up just enough that it gets stuck at the top of your throat and then goes back down and you have heartburn for an hour afterwards, on the upside, this is still way better than whatever the album would have been if John McCain had won.
Often past their prime rockers release 'comeback' records, and we think "So what? What's in it for me?"
Usually, there is no answer except either a moment of nostalgia for days gone by or alternately a moment to make fun of the artists in question. But on November 23rd, when Guns n' Roses offer up their newest, there will be a big incentive in the form of FREE DR. PEPPER.
I was going to make a Dr. Feelgood joke here until I realized that was Motley Crue.
How nice to see this bit of trivia from the good people at the Smoking Gun.
When looking at the catering requirements of Metallica's tour rider it's hard to miss that the phrase "BACON VERY IMPORTANT THAT BACON BE AVAILABLE AT EVERY MEAL AND DURING THE DAY" is right at the top of the band's directives. Sure they may ask for lots of fresh fruit and premium teas (aw, boys after my own heart), but from here on in, I hope that when someone asks any of you "What can you tell me about Metallica?" that the first thing that comes to your mind is "Man, that band sure loves their bacon".
Thank you to JoEllen for heads up about this video, ladies and gentlemen, the Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain playing Nirvana's Smells Like Teen Spirit.
Bonus:
The Wellington International Ukulele Orchestra (featuring Bret from Flight of the Conchords) singing a credible "Hey Ya"
It's not often enough that I'm given an opportunity to spend a weeknight on the high seas with legendary garage rockers, but that's just how two Wednesdays ago ended up, as I found myself on a free harbor cruise sponsored by the good folks at Pabst Blue Ribbon. The beer was free, the bands were free, the three hour tour was free, what's not to like?
Arriving at the dock (?!) at around 7 to ensure our spot for the 7:30 departure, the slip (again - when do I ever use these words on this blog?) was filled with other aging rockers as well as some twentysomethings, signed up for the free event by Yelp.com. The aging ones (some of who had planned to spend this night with a re-formed Vanilla Fudge at the Kowloon, only to have the show canceled at the last minute) were having second thoughts about being stuck on a boat for 3 hours. And shortly after boarding, I found myself asking where certain people disappeared to. Apparently afraid of us encountering the same fate as the Gilligan's Island castaways, they decided at the last minute not to board. To be fair though, their concerns were only half-right because the boat itself was quite modern and pleasant. It had 3 decks, two enclosed and one open to the fall night. So you could either sit in the indoor bar (deck 1), the indoor venue (middle deck), or go out on the roof to have a smoke or chat by moonlight. This meant that you were not stuck in a loud venue if you didn't want to be, and if you are my beau Ethan, you can smoke all the cigars you want on the roofdeck.
Shortly after departing the landlubbing world, Muck and the Mires were slamming it out to sailing set, and even played my request (see video below) for my favorite song: "All I Really Wanna Do Is Cry". You'd think there would be a bunch of problems playing on a boat - seasickness, giant squid attacks, etc. - but the evening went off without much of a hitch, save the boat crew's idea to set up the bands behind the stairways from Deck 1, so it was hard to actually stand close to the bands without standing on their toes.
Also, this was the first time I got to see garage rock legends The Lyres. The set led with "How Do You Know" and continued on with a parade of songs I forgot I knew like "Help You Ann" (see video below) and "Don't Give It Up Now". Apparently 25 years of practice can make perfect - energy was high and nary a note was missed.
Oh wait, when I said "What's not to like?"... did I mention the part about it being 3 hours?
It's about 10:00 when I'm on Deck 1, chatting to Mr. Muck, and I point out the time. He releases a horrified gasp "Oh no, it can't be! It has to be later than that!" But sadly I was right, we all still had an hour left on the boat, an hour which had little music left to fill it, and a whole lotta of being ready to go home. I ascended the stairs to the roofdeck to find my beau pointing out the boat was coming into harbor now, only to have his comments thwarted as the boat turned to chug Northward to Charlestown "TURN AROUND! STOP!" many of my amis full of free PBR bellowed, but the boat crew were intent on giving us our money's worth and the tour continued right up till 11PM. Yawn.
I had a dream last night I was going to invite the Undertones to my birthday party. I knew them because they were neighbors of a friend of mine, but not having their email I was going to just print out a note and stuff it under their door. I'd also like to note in the dream The Undertones were all still about 19, and all lived in an apartment in Boston together. Yep.
In other dreamy yet real news, the other week I found myself in an elevator with Clint Conley from Mission of Burma. But, rather than just saying "Hey, aren't you Clint Conley?", I instead just made nervous jokes about the bookstore we were in. Just goes to show even silver foxes are still foxes.
Says Lydon of the ad, in an interview at The Guardian ""I've never done anything like this before and never thought I would, but this Country Life ad was made for me and I couldn't resist the opportunity." Is this the ultimate rock and roll swindle? All I know is I sure could go for a piece of toast about now...
Of course it's sad to hear of the passing of Oliver Postgate, the creative force behind English children's show Clangers. The unbearably adorable program from the late 60's followed the adventures of tiny sewn mice sort of fellows who live on a faraway planet and whose voices are played by a slide-whistle. Ah, my kingdom for a kinder gentler time in children's television programming.
