Up to about fourteen, I didn’t realise that there was a modern alternative to pop music that got in the charts. That’s not all that surprising really, because I also hadn’t realised that you could go into a record shop and buy whatever records you wanted either. Then I saw The Smiths on Top of…
Tag: The Smiths
Not The World’s Strongest Man. Or, How I Mistook Billy Liar For An Instruction Manual. Updated.
Nb: if you’re here because you’re under the impression that you can read about Scott Walker’s song, The World’s Strongest Man, you’re not going to get that here. However, there is a page devoted to that and other songs of his here. “I had a really bad dream. It lasted 20 years, 7 months and…
My Nonny’s Dead. Tolerable Folk Music Part 3: Anne Briggs.
In my house, Anne Briggs is the aural equivalent of Marmite. Which, in itself, is unusual because mostly, even though the three of us currently living here have differing tastes in music with some overlap, mostly we’re not inclined to get too uppity about each others’ tastes that don’t tally with our own. Well, that’s…
Fear And Loathing Is Contagious. Or, I Was A Teenage Beowulf (n.b: I wasn’t).
“Can I see anothers woe, And not be in sorrow too. Can I see anothers grief, And not seek for kind relief.” – On Anothers Sorrow” William Blake, Songs of Innocence and of Experience “Are you, uh, experienced?” Jimi Hendrix, Are You Experienced? “We are facing an existential crisis… and we should also…
Oh Jackie, I Want You Backie. Or, Farewell Scott Walker, The Captain Of The Love Boat.
My earliest memory of celebrity death is Elvis’. I was six and it was the summer holidays. My Dad was usually the one who was at home with me and, while I’d be bodding off and about with the kids who lived near me, I always came home for dinner. His culinary expertise was limited…
How Much Is That Dogma In The Window? Or, Altruism & Why Being Right Might Not Be As Important As You Think.
In one of these post/rants/whatever they are, ramblings, mainly – I wrote about how, when I used to teach Biology, I’d ask kids whether they believed in evolution or creationism and how practically every one of the thousands of kids I’ve been in classrooms with said that they believed in evolution but, when questioned about…
Unsigned, Peeled, Bequivered – A Small Story Of A Local Band – Part 1.
This is the the story of the last real band I was in. I say ‘real’ band because since then I’ve played here and there with bands who play covers at weddings, bar mitzvahs, birthdays and what have you, but I don’t consider those to be real bands. Real bands write their own songs and,…
Finger Pointing Songs: part 4. Indie Sulkers. Or, The Ballad Of The Binned: The Razorcuts, Felt & The Stone Roses.
“I never took much, I never asked for your crutch, Now don’t ask for mine.” Bob Dylan, 4th Time Around lyric. “Know thyself,” Luke 4:23. The Bible, innit? It’s good advice, know thyself. I suppose it’s a bit bleak in a way and I’ve already talked about Goethe’s glib response to it but I suppose…
I’m Sticking With Lou. Or, Velvet Common Ground.
The Velvet Underground can’t have invented everything. Even though sometimes it seems a bit like they did. They can’t have because they only started putting records out in 1967 and, by that time, The Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band had been released and The Beatles had already invented everything. Well, not everything maybe,…
It’s Only Baroque & Roll But I Like It. Or, I Want You, Bach. A Top Ten.
“If ever there’s an obscene noise to be made on an instrument, it’s going to come out of a guitar… That’s why I like it… The disgusting stink of a too-loud electric guitar: now that’s my idea of good time.” Frank Zappa An Introduction to Baroque n Roll. First things first, I hate Frank Zappa…
MiddleRabbiting 