WHO THE FUCK WAS PEARLY SPENCER?

Remember this?

THE DAYS OF PEARLY SPENCER

David McWilliams recorded this in 1967. It was quirky and the low tech. gave it a bit of mystery.

I didn't hear McWilliams' version until much later having heard The Avengers cover version in 1968. I remember community dances at Brooklyn when I was in the fifth form and The Avengers was one of the bands that played there. See: DANCING

THE AVENGERS - THE DAYS OF PEARLY SPENCER

I thought that this was an original song of theirs - how naive we all were in the pre-Google days.

The Avengers

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So, who the fuck was Pearly Spencer?

Wikipedia has some information on McWilliams and the song: HERE


Here's an except if you can't be arsed reading the Wikipedia link:

"The song had, according to Stuart Bailie of Radio Ulster, a "flickering, almost documentary style" in which it took listeners to the more run-down parts of Ballymena where people walked through rubble bare-foot looking old beyond their years. Due to the title of the song, many listeners believed that the song pertained to an individual harrowed by a poor lifestyle and poor-quality alcohol; McWilliams said he had written the song about a homeless man encountered in Ballymena. Some of those close to McWilliams, however, claimed he was writing about two ladies from his hometown."

FOUND IT

I'm sure that you occasionally have a piece of music in your head that drives you nuts because you can't remember the lyrics or the name of the song.

I've had one in my head for at least the last year and for the life of me couldn't place the name of the band, the lyrics or the name of the song. All I knew was that it was good, it was a New Zealand song and it originated in the 1990s. I would say it to The Old Girl - "It goes like this - da de da da dum.." and I found her to be very unhelpful. Google searches also were unhelpful as without the name of the song or the band, typing in "da de da da dum.." gets you nowhere.

I had a vague idea of the chorus line but it was like those songs where you've misheard the lyric and you go off on a tangent as I've done in the past:

• "Goodbye groovy Tuesday" instead of Goodbye Ruby Tuesday.
• "Loosely in the sky with Simon" instead of Lucy in the sky with diamonds.
• "These ants are my friends, they’re blowin’ in the wind" instead of The answer my friend is blowin' in the wind.
• " I skipped the light then dangled" instead of We skipped the light fandango.
• "Excuse me while I kiss this guy" instead of"Scuse me while I kiss the sky"

And of course in prayers at school: "Our Lady of the petrol sucker" instead of Our Lady of perpetual succour.

With this song in my head I'd sing the lyric "Copraphilia said.." to the Old Girl and ask if it rang any bells. She would just look at me strangely.

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This morning I read a list of the best New Zealand songs of the 1990s and there, in the middle of the list was GLORAFILIA by ZED. "This has to be it" I said to myself and then, with excitement looked it up on YouTube. It was - beauty!

GLORAFILIA

It's the song that's been bugging me for ages and was well worth the wait. It's a great quintessentially New Zealand pop song that captures being young and footloose in the Summer.

She keeps me waiting in the morning
Tying ribbons in her hair
And come the evening theres no warning
Why I'm not to know why she isn't there
No time to tell her all the reasons
Why I always disappear
And in those desperate situations
I just fade away still she never cares
But Glorafilia says
She says its just another Sunday afternoon oh oh
And Glorafilia says
She says there ain't no point in loving you no oh
She keeps me wrapped around her finger
So I don't know what to do
And using my imagination
She could set me free
I bet she's dying to
And sipping wine around a table
Her expense is plain to see
Entertainging for a living
She's got everything that she doesn't need
But Glorafilia says
She says its just another Sunday afternoon oh oh
And Glorafilia says
She says…

"SEE THOSE DOLLAR BILLS GO WHIRLING ROUND MY BED"

I've written a few posts about Patti Smith over the years. Here's one of them:

STILL GOOD AFTER 37 YEARS

I still listen to her music and would love to see her in concert again.

Patti Smith is coming to Auckland in April 2020 to perform in the excellent and intimate setting of the Auckland Town Hall.

Unfortunately I heard about the concert too late and when looking on-line for tickets to an extended show discovered that all of the upstairs seating was sold out and there was only standing room downstairs. I'm too old and infirm to stand in a 'mosh-pit' at a concert nowadays so that wasn't a consideration. Another thing that wasn't a consideration was the cost. $200 a ticket - to stand while being jostled by a whole lot of dickheads who probably don't know half of Smith's music.
Now that sounds arrogant and it actually is but I first started listening to Patti Smith in 1976 on the release of the first album HORSES and have bought or listened to all of her music since so I sort of feel that I have some investment here.

Further investment of $400 (The Old Girl wanted to come as well) plus the cost of her flying Wellington/Auckland return, the cost of me travelling Whangarei/Auckland return and the cost of accommodation in Auckland (we will have either sold or rented out the apartment by then) makes the whole exercise unaffordable.

Shame that. We need some: FREE MONEY

STEELY RHYTHMS AND RATTLETY-BANG

Wellington composer Chris Winter was on the news today with his soon to be released sound project based on traffic going through the Mt Victoria tunnel. It is named Carcophony.

CARCOPHANY

It is worth noting that a work named Car-cophany was made in 2013 in Sydney by Matthew Timmis

CAR-COPHANY

This got me thinking that Richard (of RBB) should get into this and create a symphony based on the car sounds from his neighbourhood in Nuova Lazio.

A possible name for it could be A RHAPSODY IN WAINUI (borrowed shamelessly from Gershwin's Rhapsody In Blue. RHAPSODY IN BLUE and he could also borrow from Gershwin's An American In Paris with the Paris taxi horns TAXI HORNS.

SECTION 1: 

• Theme 1  Sound of car braking and sliding out of control.
• Theme 2  Car crashes into other parked cars with sound of broken glass and tearing metal.
• Theme 3  Car driving off with flat tyres - screeching sound of  wheel rims on road.
• Theme 4  Upward glissando of police car siren.
• Theme 5  Fluctuating tempo as fleeing car stops - doors open and slam shut - soft sounds of hot engine ticking over.
• Theme 6  Full orchestra playing faster with sound of police cars and Eagle helicopter chasing running car thieves 
• Theme 7  Dramatically slowing tempo as car thieves are captured and pushed down on the ground. Sporadic yells, cries, grunts and oaths.

SECTION 2:

• Theme 1 Staccato and repetitive sound of car running over potholed road
• Theme 2  Fortissimo dissonant chords lead into sounds of car alarms and smashing rear windows. Cymbals crashing.
• Theme 3  Trombones start low and then increase in volume as sound track of approaching car with no muffler nears. Percussion softly and becoming louder plays the beat
• Theme 4  Full orchestra plays upward chromatic scale with intermittent strident trumpet notes as sound track reveals car doing 'do-nuts', 'burn-outs' and 'wheelies'.
• Theme 5  Piano accompanied by sforzando orchestra leads to choir chorus in rising tempo as soundtrack introduces sounds of angry neighbours yelling at car drivers.
• Theme 6  Silence then soft glockenspiel and piano accents tinkling down again to silence.

           End.