Steve Marriott was a little raver with the soul of a poet and lover. Sadly he died young (in his 40s). He might have reached his potential - he certainly, in his last years had declined into alcoholism and drug use and many of his music ventures failed - but, going by his earlier songwriting and performances he had a lot to offer and might have gone on to write and perform many more classics.
His early Small Faces songs were meaningful to me as a love-struck teenager in 1968 and still as meaningful as an in-love septuagenarian in 2026. Songs like The Autumn Stone, Tin soldier and Afterglow hit the spot then and still do.
I've written about this before, I know, but last night when trawling through YouTube The Universal popped up and I still love it's infectious madness.
There's such a lot of good ways to be bad And so many bad ways to be good .... And if I'm so bad Why don't they take me away?
On the weekend The Old Girl and I celebrated 37 years of living together. In 'sin' if you were ever to listen to Robert.
We shared a good bottle of Taittinger - a "ridiculously overpriced Champagne" if you were still listening to Robert and reminisced on the great experiences we've had together (more than half of our lifetimes), the places we've been to and lived in and people we've met, known and, sadly lost. I can happily say that the good times have vastly outweighed any trials and tribulations.
This morning while pottering about inside, being careful to keep the place tidy as per the instructions of 'She who must be obeyed' (The Old Girl's alternate title) while she's away for a fortnight, I had YouTube playing music on the TV and was pleasantly surprised to hear Sandy Denny singing her song "Who knows where the time goes?" with Fairport Convention.
I know that the lyrics and sentiment in the song are different, almost the opposite of our situation and my recollections but it's a beautiful song. Denny recorded it a few times on her own and with others (once also earlier with Fairport Convention). Here's I think, the version I was listening to:
This was to check my pituitary gland at the back of my head to ascertain whether enlargement is responsible for pressing on my optic nerves and thus causing blurred vision. If yes then I guess some sort of operative procedure will be necessary. If not then the eye lenses replacement operation scheduled in a few weeks will go ahead. This is to correct cataracts and some scarring to my lenses. This is the preferred outcome.
I've had MRIs before - once when I had the stroke and a couple of years ago when I damaged my hip tendons. This one I had today took longer and was somewhat different.
What was different about it The music Curmudgeon?
Well, I said that it took longer and was noisier.
Noisier?
Well, when I say noisier, that's more an expression that The Old Girl would use when referring to my musical preferences. To me it was quite musical.
Musical?
Well, not Mozartish or Straussish or even Neil Diamondish - it was more like something that Stockhausen, Penderecki, Benjamin Britten or Scott Walker would write and perform
Oh. Scott Walker? The one that ...
Yes, Scott Walker, the one that The Old Girl particularly hates. It sounded a bit like this (without the singing).
It also sounded a bit like Pink Floyd's 'Welcome To The Machine (also without the singing).
Oh!
Yes Oh ... which reminds me of that great Peter Green song ...
Here is an extract from the opera like wot I wrote today.
The opera Testore - Riccardo o Roberto is in seven acts but I'm told that this might be a tad too much for the in-cognoscenti who make up the readers of this blog so I have taken a piece from Act One.
The principals are Riccardo a music teacher of some renown known as Ei-Tu! and one Roberto, one of his pupils and a religious zealot and wannabe priest known as Fermare Il Ladro!
Act One - scene one - a music studio made out of some unused stables at the back of Riccardo's house:
(singing)
Riccardo: Ah Roberto, Roberto cazzo!
Roberto: Roberto cazzo?
Riccardo: Roberto, Roberto cazzo!
Roberto: Roberto cazzo?
Riccardo: Si, Roberto cazzo. You have taken - my name -Testore.
Roberto" I have taken your name - Testore?
Riccardo: You have taken my name -Testore.
Roberto: Testore?
Riccardo: Testore!
Roberto: Testore?
Riccardo: Testore!
Roberto: Ah I see.
Riccardo: Si?
Roberto: Si!
Riccardo: A member of the damned.
Roberto: The damned?
Riccardo: The damned.
Roberto: The damned?
Riccardo: A calumnious member of the damned!
Roberto: Infamy!
Riccardo: Infamy?
Roberto: Infamy!
Riccardo: Infamy?
Roberto: You've all got it in for me!
Riccardo: That's an old joke Roberto but carry on.
Roberto: Carry On?
Riccardo: Yes, Carry On Cleo.
Roberto: Riccardo, take my hand.
Riccardo: Take your hand?
Roberto: My hand
Riccardo: I'll take you hand Roberto ...
Roberto: You'll take my hand Riccardo
Riccardo: I'll take you hand Roberto ... with the help of my sword.
I wasn't an early adopter of the ubiquitous leather jacket.
At first, when I was young, I could never afford one and also, not riding a motorbike never really needed one.
Later, when earning well and when I could afford one, I chose not to buy one because I still didn't ride a motorbike even though I have a Cook Islands motorbike licence, and I thought that it was a bit naff when an older person wears leather.
"You lookin' at me?"
It wasn't until we were living in Canada that I bought my first and only leather jacket at Winners.
Here's a post I wrote back in 2013 about it. Unfortunately the images and video links were deleted for some reason as happened with all of my Canadian posts - copyright I guess.
The jacket was extremely comfortable, stylish and basically a chick magnet. Here's a later image of me wearing it when in London.
"Are you still lookin' at me?"
Sadly, the New Zealand soft leather, imported and manufactured by an Italian 'fashion house' eventually failed, flaking away in patches. I would have worn it for many more years having no care nor fashion sense as evidenced by my wearing of favourite underpants ...
... but, The Old Girl prevailed and, like those favourite green underpants, the leather jacket was put in the rubbish.
So*, where is this post going to?
Legendary The Chills musician Martin Phillips died on the weekend;
His 'I love My Leather Jacket' song - the one that Google deleted from that Canadian post of mine has been a favourite song of mine for many years along with other The Chills songs.
Farewell Martin Phillips - your contribution to music has been phenomenal and I've had great pleasure listening to your songs. If I still had my leather jacket I'd put it on while writing this.
* I berated an old ex-schoolteacher recently for beginning a sentence with 'so' but - who cares eh?
Readers may have noticed that I'm an old bastard and, while I like music in many different styles and genres I haven't kept up to date with most new 'pop' music. This isn't to say that I'm so crusty that I refuse to believe that there's been any decent thing produced since Buddy Holly took a nose dive as I have listened to, bought and even posted about some stunning new New Zealand artists (look for yourself through the earlier posts).
I am however crusty enough to know that a very (very) high percentage of 'pop' music made and released this millennia is shit.
Naturally I found this in an internet search but could have selected hundreds of other 'essays' to link to.
Here's just a snapshot from one page of hundreds that popped up:
Kooper Reece in Medium who wrote the 'Why Pop Music is Bad' article said these things:
"Taylor Swift, Katy Perry, Maroon 5, and Ariana Grande, all modern pop music superstars that all share one thing in common, a guy named Max Martin. The Swedish songwriter is the backbone to today’s modern pop music scene. With over 200 songs to his name, he is responsible for a majority of produced music. Being an avid listener of any music besides country, pop, and rap, my personal belief of pop music being the worst type of music is not only backed up by common sense but also proven statistics and research done at the Artificial Intelligence Research Institute of the Spanish National Research Council in Barcelona . The simple fact of albums sold, recently observed test results, and complexity of instrument use and lyrical concept only further proves the point of pop music being the worst genre of music".
**************
"Through the years of 1955–2010 researchers and scientists analyzed 500,000 songs and confirmed the opinions of many of our parents, simply put music is getting worse. The research group took these songs and ran them through algorithms that measured the following: harmonic complexity, timbral diversity, and loudness. First off, the tests confirmed that over the past few decades timbre has decreased. Timbre is defined as the richness, texture, color, and quality of the sound within the sound of the music. Basically is can be simplified as richness or depth of sound from the instruments and vocals. Through research, science has proven two things: over the past decades timbre has declining steadily over the decades, and timbre reached its peak in the 1960’s. This means songs have less diversity within their instruments and recording techniques. All summed up to point out that music has become simpler".
***************
Now, if any of that interested you then READ THE BLOODY ARTICLE!
***************
Today the Curmudgeon hired a housecleaner to do a 'spruce up' before The Old Girl arrives home next week (he's scared). The cleaner, a nice young woman who has just started her own business did a 5 hour clean and did an excellent job. Before she started, noticing the radio in the kitchen, she asked if she could listen to music while she worked. Figuring that she'd be unlikely to want to listen to the National Programme most of the day, TC found her a music station that suited her. It was appalling! There was very little difference from one song to another and the overuse of electronic voice changing devices was annoying (there may be a technical term for this but - what would I know?). I struggled to find melody, individuality, interesting lyrics, quality musicianship - instead it was just homogenised crap that appeared to have been AI created. Now, good luck to younger and up and coming musicians - long may they up and come but I'd rather say goodbye to those who have been captured by 'the machine' and churn out endless pap that keeps teenies, tweenies and even younger consumers enthralled. Taylor Swift is too bloody old to be pretending to be a teenager 'angsting' about crushes and love affairs - and, her music is shit.
Richard (of RBB) mentioned in his most recent post that he would be playing violin at a wedding this weekend.
"I'm off to a wedding tomorrow. In Martinborough. I'm playing background music on my violin. The guy getting married is the same guy who replaced me with Neil Diamond (recorded music) when I was playing backgrounds a little while back. I guess it could be a short gig."
The background to that comment is found in a post he wrote back in February but to save you the trouble of going to find that and the misfortune of having to read the entire post I've put a screenshot of the relevant part here:
Of course The Curmudgeon made a joke about this and put the following comment on his post:
Anyway, moving on, I kind of like Neil Diamond or at least his songwriting. The earliest I heard were his songs penned for The Monkees like 'I'm a believer' which were very good.
I bought 'Brother Love's Travelling Salvation Show' album when I was in the 6th form at school. It was OK but then, in those days the other LPs I bought were by Cat Stevens, Moody Blues, Pink Floyd, Rolling Stones and Family so old Neil's album wasn't totally overshadowed except maybe by Harry Nilsson and The Beatles Abbey Road.
I listened to the odd Neil Diamond song on the radio over the next couple of years and some were pretty good but not good enough to inspire me to purchase the albums but, maybe I should have bought 'Stones' which, while having a couple of songs penned by him also had some excellent songs by other songwriters like Joni Mitchell, Tom Paxton, Leonard Cohen and Randy Newman.
It wasn't until I bought 'Hot August Night' in my second year of university in 1972 that I 'rediscovered' Diamond.
On the double, live album many of his earlier songs were redone in an over-the-top gospel way, I guess using the 'Brother Love's Travelling Salvation Show' as a theme. I liked this though which probably reflects my liking of religious spectacle even though I'd renounced my catholicism and any belief in deities years earlier.
Now it wasn't great - I even admitted that to myself at the time, but it was memorable. It also was a bit of an insight into Diamond's inner demons that he was battling with. Sure, drug experimentation, introspection and depression was the norm back in the 'counter-culture' days of the late 60s and early 70s as seen in the music, poetry, literature and films of .... well any of them who were producing those at the time. Diamond wasn't slow in coming forward in that and put some of it into his music - 'Song Sung Blue' for example or 'Solitary Man'. I didn't follow Diamond's music after that and as such am just not familiar with his music from the early 70s on and didn't go to any of his concerts when he performed in New Zealand.
I do remember this little story though, told to me in the 1990s. A friend of mine was once the general manager of a major hotel that often hosted celebrity music, fashion and political 'stars'. She told me that one night, in the early hours of the morning she was awakened, in her penthouse apartment by a staff member and told of an on-going incident she needed to check out. The 'incident' was old Neil stumbling and bumbling about in the alley beside the hotel creating mess and mayhem. She went down, spoke to him and gently ushered him away and back to his room. It turned out that he was in one of his episodes and I'm just glad that it was my caring and very professional friend who quietly dealt to the situation and not some (in later times I guess) self-serving, social media influenced cell-phone-camera carrying idiot.
While Neil Diamond's music no longer inspires or interests me I say "all power to you son - you are still going strong and have left those demons behind".
I don't like all kinds of music but do appreciate the skill and commitment that goes into a lot that I don't follow.
"I've been mad for fucking years. Absolutely years. Over the edge..."
I'm pleased to announce that in a poll conducted on whether we should do a post series on the records I own, 50% of readers expressed interest and in fact indicated that they would actively read and listen to selected tracks:
Just to explain to the casual reader, the "I'll have a listen ... as I mop" statement was made as Robert the catholic goes by the new title 'Doctor of mopping' because he is a commercial cleaner by trade. There was no intended double entendre there.
In deference to the other 50% of active readership - the old guy in Wainuiomata who has no interest in social history, we've decided not to write a post on every one of the 500 LPs and a couple of hundred 45s and 78s as this would mean a daily post for two years. We will instead select some random discs and tell the story of those from time to time.
************
Coincidentally or serendipitously I picked up Pink Floyd's album The Dark Side of the Moon when I went to the snooker room and have selected the track 'Time' for you.
Most people who have ever bought rock/pop records will have purchased this album or at least have heard of it. Saying that though it probably is new to Robert as there are no overt references to god other than the fact that the general theme is madness.
I bought this album sometime around Christmas in 1973. Most of the tracks had been heavily broadcast on radio during the year after the album release in March but it wasn't until I spent Christmas and New Year in Brisbane where my younger cousin had recently purchased it and played almost nothing else as we lazed around their swimming pool. I was enchanted and bought the album as soon as I got home.
I don't often play this album (I have since bought it on CD), preferring The Wall when I do listen to Pink Floyd but from time to time (see what I did there?) a listen takes me back decades to my university life.
After cleaning with isopropyl alcohol the disc is perfectly playable and I'm enjoying it once more.
This post is brought to you by ISOCOL antiseptic isopropyl alcohol
When I was in the 6th form at school I had the lucky opportunity of 'going flatting'.
My dad took up a contract with the Catholic Church Wellington Archdiocese to manage the building that they owned in Taranaki Street which housed their administration. It was a 3 storey building (mostly still standing) that had a 4 bedroom apartment as a penthouse that my parents and two younger sisters moved into. My brother and I stayed in the family house in Vogeltown but still met up each afternoon/evening at the apartment after school (me) and work (him) for dinner and contact. As you can imagine this gave us two a lot of freedom to do things that adolescents want to do.
My brother bought a stereo system - probably a Philips but I can't remember. I do remember that it was more powerful than the radiogram that the parents had.
He bought all his crap and I, on a more limited budget bought my 'good stuff'. One of the 'good stuff' albums I bought was a 1960s compilation album that had a lot of the hippy, beat and rock anthems of the time including 'Time' by the Chamber Brothers.
This song and the effect it had on me was .....
THIS HAS BEEN A SAMPLER TO ASCERTAIN INTEREST IN A 'THE CURMUDGEON RECORD MEMORABILIA' SERIES. DEPENDING ON POSITIVE COMMENTS THIS MAY (OR MAY NOT) BE CONTINUED WITH.
I've been waiting for The Old Girl to go away on her trip so that I could get the cartons of LPs out of the shed and clean them up and sort them.
Here are some of them and you can see that I've already started to make a mess hence waiting for Lynn to be away.
There are quite a few cartons of these - I'm not sure how many records but I used to have about 500. I've given away a lot and suspect that some cartons have been lost in the many house shifts we've done over the years.
I said that I'd clean them up and sort them but, on looking at the task I think I'll reverse that and sort them first before cleaning and straightening.
LP between glass, after cleaning, that can go in the oven
I'll sort them into piles:
Investigate value and look to sell if a collector item
Keep good ones and favourites
Repack second choice ones and store away again
Take straight and relatively clean ones to the op- shops to give away
Dump any left-over rubbish.
This means that I'll only put cleaning and straightening effort into the first two categories which I expect to be about a hundred of them.
The cleaning process, using isopropyl alcohol and microfibre cloths might take about 5 minutes for each disc.
Flattening them between glass and gently heating in the oven will take at least a half hour for each so, you can see that it will take a while.
I bought a new stylus and have been playing some favourites already (Ben Webster's Blue Light, Jeanne Lewis's Looking Backwards To Tomorrow and Verdi's Rigoletto (which we will be going to see in Auckland in a few months time). They played nicely with a quick clean and the new stylus so I'm looking forward to rediscovering some great music. The amp and speakers are still working well.
While I'm missing The Old Girl I'll be in 'hog's heaven' for the next few weeks.
I trust that you enjoyed this 'concept'. who knows it could be extended into months of the year, seasons of the year (Vivaldi and Stravinsky wrote some tunes about these), planets (Holst will be at the forefront there but The Moody Blues could give him a run for his money not to mention Alabama 5 with 'Woke Up This Morning').
So, let's get started.
JANUARY
Surprisingly there are a lot of songs about or named January but for me Van Morrison (with Steve Winwood)'s 'Fire In The Belly' is the best. Have a listen to this with its musicianship and phrasing.
"Gotta get through January
Gotta get through February
Gotta get through January
Gotta get through February"
This could also be the choice for FEBRUARY.
FEBRUARY
OK, you probably think that February songs should reference Valentines Day and for sure there are a lot of them but have you heard Lou Reed's 'Christmas In February'?
Like Bruce Springsteen's 'Born In The USA' this is a song about the pain and disillusionment of Vietnam war veterans who returned to the same old shit and worse. No Happy Valentines here.
MARCH
Yes, we could go the Souza way and there a hell of a lot of marching songs but let's stick with the calendar theme here.
Alice in Wonderland March Hare references are good and I do like Jefferson Airplane's 'White Rabbit' song.
Many of the March-themed songs are dark and with Heavy Metal overtones.
Here's one that's reminiscent of early Pink Floyd and Emmerson Lake and Palmer albums.
Like that?
Oh well, never mind, let's go to April.
APRIL
There's lots of material to work with in April given it's Spring in the northern hemisphere so Spring, Paris, flowers, showers and towers (Eiffel) feature a lot.
There are a lot of 'stronger' songs as well by Patti Smith, Rufus Wainwright, Three Dog Night, Jesus and Mary Chain etc. that I like .... Richard, look away now .... I have never liked Dragon's 'April Sun In Cuba' song.
For the quintessentially best - I personally love this and believe you'd have to look far and wide to find better - Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong performing 'April In Paris'.
MAY
Old head bangers like Robert will probably think of Led Zeppelin and Robert Plant's 'The May Queen'.
Richard no doubt will recall Paderewski's 'Variations and Fugue on the Former nice month known as May now known as Mayhem.'
As for me the first song about May I recall is The Bee Gees 'First Of May'.
When I was at school I bought a Bee Gees Greatest Hits album (prior to their disco days). This was in the time of Cat Stevens, Scott McKenzie, Simon and Garfunkel and all the gentle and lyrical pop songs but some of the Bee Gees stuff is still nice to listen to. I really like this one:
JUNE
Moon/June and lots of romantic nonsense populates a lot of June songs (northern summer) but the song I like most is The Kink's 'Rainy Day In June'. Ray Davis is the master of lyrics and would have been a poet if he hadn't been a musician.
Classy stuff,
JULY
The bloody Americans with their Fourth of July nonsense dominate in July songs but there are a few gems that slip through.
Who better to cut through all that shit than Nina Simone with 'July Tree'?
This delicate song bolstered by her powerful and sultry voice is a favourite.
AUGUST
All of the bloggers in this community share August as their birth month.
Richard no doubt will get out his 'Hot August Night' album by Neil Diamond - he likes Neil Diamond and gets lots of requests for his music at his gigs.
Robert will wait until he's alone and uncover his Taylor Swift single - 'August' and bop around in his bedroom.
As for me, my choice is Van Morrison's 'Cold Wind In August'.
SEPTEMBER
There aren't many September songs known to me although, looking on the 'net there are lots and lots of them, most just titled 'September' or 'September Song'.
Richard no doubt will cite Neil Diamond's 'September Morn' and Robert Tauren Wells's song 'September' but for me, I'll stick with James Taylor and his gentle 'September Grass'.
I'll end September though with Kurt Weill's lovely 'September Song'
OCTOBER
October is a funny month with many songs and compositions but not that many that stand out for me even from singers I like - Amy Winehouse and James Taylor so, instead, here's Dylan Thomas reading his poem 'Poem In October'.
I trust that you enjoyed that. If not I'm sure that Taylor Swift has an October song somewhere.
NOVEMBER
Northern hemisphere November obviously is in winter and cold so many of the songs are about this.
Why not then go to the master of doom and gloom and select Tom Waits's 'November'. After all it's about death and is about as bleak as it gets:
DECEMBER
Hey! Christmas songs. Yay!
Well, maybe not since just about all of the worst songs ever written and performed are Christmas songs 99.9% of which I detest. The few that I do like are 'Little Drummer Boy,' 'Fairy Tale of New York', 'White Christmas', 'Baby It's Cold Outside' and very few others.
The stand out for me for December - and remember that I'm a curmudgeon - is Merle Haggard's 'If We Make It Through December'.
I like the juxtaposition of the jaunty tune and smily voice with the depressing story.
Enjoy!
I hope you liked my calendar choices. Mind you I could have saved you a lot of reading and listening by just providing this excellent Flanders and Swann song:
* Not The World of Wearable Arts but equally as striking.
I've always been a fan of performance art which is why I love opera I guess. When I was young there wasn't a lot of opportunity to see any great performances but I do remember going to Die Fledermaus, a Johann Strauss II operetta in Wellington in 1966. I was 13.
The music I liked at that time and over the next few years was accessible on records but occasionally some good show musicals appeared on television albeit in black and white. Truly engaging performance art was a rarity though.
In my early university years, apart from seeing Sky Hooks in Melbourne in about 1973, the best performance art group I saw that knocked my socks off was Split Enz. I first saw them perform in Victoria University's Union Hall at about the same time. Phil Judd's 'Under The Wheel' and 'Titus' brought drama and music together in a way I hadn't seen before.
Over the years pop and rock bands and stars who appealed to me had an extra edge to them that, thinking about it, was performance art. Peter Gabriel took Genesis to great heights with quirky and zany performances as did Arthur Brown, David Bowie and many others.
The master, to me has been David Byrne with his performance shows, dance collaborations and films. I was fortunate to see Talking Heads a couple of times in the 1970s and 80s and David Byrne in Auckland in 2018.
I particularly love The Catherine Wheel which is Byrne's collaboration with the Twyla Tharp Dance Group back in 1981. I wish that I'd gone then to NYC to see a performance.
OK ... are you still with me?
What led me to this post was watching again Laurie Anderson's video performance of O Superman.
This is performance art done really well and, at the time - early 1980s I was prepared to go to the Montreux Jazz Festival to see her perform it but did not go because of family issues. As it turned out I don't think that she did turn up but I might have seen Miles Davis, Wynton Marsalis, John Lee Hooker and other greats in concert.
Stunning and memorable.
Anderson took the 'O Superman' title from Jules Massenet's 1885 opera 'Le Cid.' The first lines being: "O Superman / O Judge / O Mom and Dad".
I prefer Laurie Anderson's 'version'.
I found it interesting listening again to 'O Superman' and 'Under The Wheel' side by side and noticed that Anderson's piece has some musical references to the Split Enz song. Coincidence? Here's another in the lyrics:
"They said you were bright
Had stars in your eyes They said you were bright Had all the ideas in your head Under the wheel For all those years Under the wheel For all those tears But now they all stand back and shout Go on you creep, go on get out Oh my god what are they on about And I think I'll get on back home to my mother Yes I think I'll get on back home to my mother x2 It doesn't seem real The way things turned out It doesn't seem real Now your heads full of doubt But now they all jump back in fear As if I really care They just stand and stare It's not fair... It's not fair. It's not fair!!... Cold and silent you lie in the dark waters of the stream Shame and suffering have passed But death, glorious death is just another bed to sleep Yes death, glorious death Is just another appointment to keep".
It's a rainy day up north so I'm mucking around inside, pretending to be busy every time The Old Girl comes out of the study (her office). I doubt that I'll go to tennis today.
I've been watching some YouTube videos and this one is outstanding. I'm familiar with Led Zeppelin's song but hadn't seen this clip before.
I wish I could dance like Stu (although I get some of the bits right - like lying down on the floor).
I have my favourites like Louis Armstrong (I met him when I was a kid), Miles Davis, Wynton Marsalis, Richard Prowse (we had a memorable personal performance from him years ago), Terence Blanchard, Dizzie Gillespie plus others including Mark Isham.
Who? You might ask when I mention Mark Isham but most likely, of all the small selection of greats I referenced above it's likely that Mark Isham's playing is what you've heard and enjoyed the most without knowing:
Who was playing?
What instrument was played?
What 'band' it was?
And, afterwards, what was the context?
I'm not being unfair here but Mark Isham has, for such a huge talent, kept in the shadows.
I 'discovered' him through Wyndham Hill Music in the 1990s and recognised his playing style from films I'd seen.
The guy is prolific with an easy-on-the-ear style that just slips through like a nice Central Otago pinot noir .... sorry about that but it's what I'm drinking and has inspired this post.
What of course really inspired the post was when trawling through YouTube on the TV this evening (The Old Girl is away) I found this:
Yes, summertime with warmer weather and, generally, a relaxed mood emanating from everyone before the realities, stresses and strains of the coming year take over in a couple of months.
The holiday period - and by that I'm not endorsing that stupid Americanism of a few years ago 'Happy Holidays' as a weasel way of not committing to any particular religion's belief or custom - God (Robert's god), Americans are a pain in the arse. The holiday period I refer to encompasses Christmas and New Year and is the nicest in the year and I like to enjoy it most with summer drinks, summer activities and summer music.
Music, like food and wine can be seasonal. Roast dinners, red wines and vintage port match well with colder weather and being indoors with a cozy fire. Summer allows us to live alfresco, enjoying summer fruits and salads, sparkling wines and rose wine and - cruisy music.
Who doesn't like The Rascals singing Groovin' ?
Over the years - look away music experts now - I've bought 'cruisy' compilation albums that are suitable to 'Sunday afternoon and Summer al fresco living. I do have a reasonably comprehensive music collection which I listen to often but, on cruisy Sunday or holiday afternoons it's good not to break 'the rhythm' to change albums or CDs or, when guests are involved, not to subject them all to my own choices on a random selection (the CD player accommodates 6 CDs). A couple of the compilation albums set to play sequentially suffices.
I haven't bought any of these recently - please indulge an old fella here - and these ones below I just grabbed from the CD 'bookcase' ...
... are years old from the 90s I think.
They are:
Verve Remixed
Verve Remixed 2
Sunshine - The Cool Sound of a Hot Summer
Divaria and,
Nature's Best (NZ's top 30 songs of all time.
Divaria (as the name might suggest) mixes up some great opera diva arias with electronic dance music. Sounds naff? Maybe to purists but, believe me, as a sound backdrop to afternoon conviviality it works.
Verve Remixed also takes 'classical recordings, usually Jazz and blends them with electronic dance music. The result is 'cruisy' - way better than the electronic dance music stuff which I've never really had time for except perhaps for some Herbie Hancock albums. "Naff" you might say but, hey! Mixes like these have the advantage of introducing listeners to the classics and, maybe sometimes, something sticks. Here's a Verve Remixed version of Nina Simone's 'Feelin' Good':
Good eh? Well, that's because Nina Simone was just so bloody good but, if a 'disco' recording can bring her to a new audience what's wrong with that?
I have mentioned - but no doubt you've forgotten, that I am a fan of opera. The Old Girl and I take opportunities to see productions whenever we can and have done so at home and around the world. I 'discovered' opera from watching a French film Diva in the 1980s see: DIVA
The Cool Sounds of a Hot Summer features great tracks from Ramsay Lewis, George Benson, Georgie Fame and, let's face it, many of the greats but it introduced me to some new performers like Diana Krall who went on to record some stunning albums. Here's the introductory song I heard from her, 'Peel Me A Grape'.
I still drag these albums out and play them, particularly at this time of the year.
Here's another compilation album I dug out : Nature's Best (NZ's top 30 songs of all time.
There are no prizes for guessing which track from this, and the music that for me, defines my 'Sound Of Summer'.
Did you play that at high volume? Good as it needs to be loud to get the best of the pounding beat. The punk style reminds me of The Sex Pistols from a generation earlier. Its manic and apocalyptic video set in a dingy and claustrophobic bedroom adds to the brain-numbing intensity of drums and screaming lyrics. All good stuff.
'Breathe' by The Prodigy was first released in 1996. That's almost thirty years ago! When it first came out it seemed as if society was doomed and that it was the end with the singer screaming out:
"Breathe with me Breathe the pressure Come play my game, I'll test ya Psychosomatic, addict, insane Breathe the pressure."
Well, it wasn't. Believe me there's much worse to come.
Your Music Curmudgeon has been keeping his ear close to the ground and has discovered that a once famous in Wellington folk circles band The Prowse Brothers has got together to practise, which might indicate some future public performances.
The Prowse Brothers
This is exciting news for generally entertainment strapped New Zealanders post COVID with still restricted travel and performance limitations for some bands ...... hold up! I've just been informed that the picture our research department provided above is actually of brothers David Prowse and Bob Prowse who are actors. Sorry about that. Here's a picture of the musician Prowse Brothers.
The Prowse Brothers
The second one helpfully has "The Prowse Brothers" written on it so the bloody research department couldn't cock things up again. Sheesh!
The boys might need to get another studio shot done though as they've all aged quite a bit since this vanity photograph was taken.
Maybe this Uriah Heep album cover can give them some ideas.
Anyway, I for one am looking forward to some new concerts with maybe some new songs.
Here are some suggestions for song titles:
When I Was Sixty-Four
I Remember it (I think)
The Little Old Lady (from Pasadena) is now my wife
Arthritis Blues
Can't Find My Way Home
The Thrill's Long Gone
I'd Rather Not Go Blind
Now That You've Gone
Three Times A Night (I'm talkin' about peeing)
Sore Bones Blues
No Sugar Blues
Trouble In Mind
Pants on Backwards Blues
You Can Say That Again (really, say it again I can't hear you)
Robert the apathetic sanctimonious sinner, toilet cleaner, threatener of eternal damnation, music snob and whatever (the title was too long to copy and paste from his blog) posted about Madonna With The Big Boobies ...... sorry, that was from 'Allo 'Allo! I think ..... I meant Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal (which also sounds a bit salacious) in his latest post. The 'statement' from his Lady rang some bells with me as it sounded like song lyrics I've heard.
I did a Google search and yes, I had heard a song with similar lyrics. It's Wannabe by the odious Spice Girls. You can make your mind up here in the video playing the song and displaying the lyrics and showing the Spice Girls to be vacuous and irresponsible bimbos (see how they treat the beggar on the street and the family in the car).
Here's an outtake of their lyrics:
If you want my future, forget my past If you wanna get with me, better make it fast Now don't go wasting my precious time ......
If you wanna be my lover, you have got to give Taking is too easy, but that's the way it is Oh, what do you think about that? Now you know how I feel Say you can handle my love, are you for real?
Now, with Robert's, or Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal's lyrics - they could be stretched out into a song to the music of 'Wannabe'.
If you want me to be your mother And if you want to become my son
Ask to see a Catholic priest
And then my job is done
Ha ha ha ha ha Yo, I'll tell you what I want, what I really, really want (So tell me what you want, what you really, really want) I'll tell you what I want, what I really, really want (So tell me what you want, what you really, really want) I wanna, (ha) I wanna, (ha) I wanna, (ha) I wanna, (ha) I wanna really, really, really wanna convert you ah
I appreciate that Richard the blogger of fewer titles than Robert will consider this post a 'filler'. All I will say to that is:
I've mentioned before how we are all guilty of mishearing song titles or lyrics and blithely going on singing the error to ourselves or others. Some examples for me are:
"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.
On Saturday night we had a family gathering at my sister's holiday place a few bays away. It was the birthday celebration of one of my nieces and all three were there with their parents, their spouses and friends so a good evening was had.
Thanks to modern technology Spotify was used to access music from the internet and various favourites were called for. One niece professed a liking for Led Zeppelin and Robert Plant's songs. We obviously discussed the two excellent albums that he and Alison Krauss collaborated on. Hey! I just happen to have a link to a post I wrote on this: TINY DESK
Anyway I then asked her if she was familiar with the excellent Robert Plant song Big Log. This brought guffaws from everyone referring to the scatological connection of that. I wound them up by saying that American freeways are very long with few stops so having "a big log by the freeway" isn't an unusual thing.
I sung to them:
I love a big log by the freeway You have to while the cars fly by And the tail lights dissolve in the coming of night Because there are no rest-stops for your plight.
The real lyrics, as you musical cognoscenti know are:
My love is in league with the freeway Its passion will rise as the cities fly by And the tail lights dissolve in the coming of night And the questions and thousands take flight
We didn't access the song to play so I couldn't prove either my adaptation or the real lyrics. My brother in law was adamant that the title of the song was Big Leg which the others all thought was more likely and I was relegated to the position of 'silly old uncle' which I guess comes with the territory of old age.
I did get some satisfaction on Sunday morning though - early as I was up watching the Rugby World Cup match - of finding Big Log, copying the link and texting it to all and sundry. Result! Big Log, not 'Big Leg'!
I saw this in Wellington when it was released probably in early 1962. I was 9 years old going on 10. It was the first 'teenage' film I ever saw and was quite different from the other fare I was used to - westerns, war films, comedies and adventure series.
I saw it at the Rivoli - in Riddiford Street on the other side of the road and a bit north of Wellington Hospital. The other picture theatre in Newtown was The Ascot on the corner of Riddiford Street and Constable Street. The Rivoli was closer for me as I used to walk down the Hall Street zigzag to get there.
.jpeg)
.jpeg)
.jpeg)
.jpeg)
