“Only a fool learns from his own mistakes. The wise man learns from the mistakes of others.“ Otto Von Bismarck. “He will win who knows when to fight and when not to fight.“ Sun Tzu. “The minimax: choose a strategy that minimises the possible maximum loss.” John Von Neumann on Game Theory. “Never interrupt…
Crabs & Dogs. First They Came For The Socialists… Or, How Labour Lost The Election. Brexit, Corbynism and Political (In)Correctness.
“First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out— Because I was not a socialist. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out— Because I was not a trade unionist. Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out— …
The Phenomenon of Donovan: Part 2 – Psychedelic Flower Child. Or, Gentle As Anything.
“I opened the door to the psychedelic revolution.” Donovan. In 1965, Donovan had exploded onto the music scene, and not just in Britain either. Catch The Wind, his debut single reached number 4 in Britain and number 23 on the Billboard charts in America. He was 18 years old. His first two albums and the…
The Phenomenon of Donovan: Part 1 – Introduction and Acoustic Troubadour.
“Bob Dylan is the poor man’s Donovan.” John Peel. “I’ll never forget hearing Donovan say “wanker” backstage at the Albert Hall about somebody. I mean, I was absolutely…I almost dropped to my knees…it was like being punched in the face. A terrible, upsetting shock.” John Peel. “If I can wend my way through the flowers…
Les Années Psychédélique – Part 2: La Responsable – Jacques Dutronc. Or, Vive Le Morrissey’s French, Spiritual Forefather. The Bastard.
First things first: I am enormously, feather-spittingly, cripplingly jealous of Jacques Dutronc. Second, my suspicion is that, despite Morrissey’s stated admiration for the work of Hattie Jacques, it’s this Jacques who he really had something in common with, at least in terms of this – absolutely cracking single. To draw a rough analogy in terms…
Les Années Psychédélique – Part 1: La Drogue – Messieurs Richard De Bordeaux & Daniel Beretta.
Those Frenchies, eh? When they’re not surrendering to invading forces and eating cheese, they’re sitting in cafes on the left bank of the Seine mumbling about existential torment. And when they’re not doing those things, they’re waggling their frilly knickered bottoms about here and there or being all cultured about the highbrow arts whilst sticking…
Reasons To Be Cheerless Parts 1, 2 & 3. Or, It’s The Hope That Kills You: Why Britpop Dated So Badly.
“The man who is a pessimist before 48 knows too much; if he is an optimist after it he knows too little.”—Mark Twain. “Ever get the feeling you’ve been cheated?” Johnny Rotten, announcing the break up of The Sex Pistols. My name’s Middlerabbit, I’m 48 and I’m a pessimist. Not because Mark Twain told me…
Ill-Advised Rocking Out #4: Land Of 1,000 Dances – The Walker Brothers.
When Scott Walker died earlier this year I wrote a post about his first four solo albums because, even though I don’t like everything on them, what I do like, I like an awful lot. In that post, I also talked about a couple of Walker Brothers singles: The Sun Ain’t Gonna Shine Anymore…
Ill-Advised Rocking Out #3: Does Your Mother Know? ABBA.
Sometimes it seems like the world can’t make up its mind about what to do with ABBA. At least, there’s no consensus. From kitsch, Scandinavian eurotrash to teutonic laser guided Stormtroopers of melancholy, the opinions differ widely. I appreciate that even with things like The Beatles, you get some attention seekers who pretend that they’re…
Ill-Advised Rocking Out #2: We’ve Got A Groovey Thing Goin’ – Simon & Garfunkel.
I have written about a Simon & Garfunkel record previously (The Only Living Boy In New York) and, unusually for the waffle I vomit out onto the internet’s already overflowing sick bucket, it was read quite widely. I wouldn’t go so far as to describe it as popular though because even though a lot…
