CAN YOU BELIEVE THIS SONG WAS BANNED BY US RADIO STATIONS?

 The Curmudgeon, in a recent post mentioned a couple of one-hit wonders that still resonate:

There are some others that I like - and, thinking of them this morning there's one song that I can't get out of my mind - 'A horse with no name' by America.

Now. I know that America had other songs and maybe hits but this song is the only one I can think they did.

Wikipedia informs me that:

"Originally called "Desert Song", "Horse" was written while the band was staying at the home of studio musician Arthur Brown, near Puddleton, Dorset. The first two demos were recorded there by Jeff Dexter and Dennis Elliott, which were intended to capture the sensation of the hot, dry desert that had been depicted in a Salvador Dali painting, and in a picture by M.C. Escher which featured a horse. Writer Dewey Bunnell also says he remembered his childhood travels through the Arizona and New Mexico desert when his family lived at Vandenberg Air Force Base. Bunnell has explained that "A Horse with No Name" was "a metaphor for a vehicle to get away from life's confusion into a quiet, peaceful place"."

OK, probably a bit too much information but for the music geeks in this blogging community - two thirds of the community at last count here's some incomprehensible music blurb:

"Blah blah blah blah blah Robert blah blah blah blah Richard blah blah bla ....."

Sorry, I was still thinking of that Gary Larson cartoon that The Curmudgeon posted - the one that Robert either didn't read or didn't understand.

Here's the Wikipedia quote I was looking for.

"Composition.

"A Horse with No Name" was recorded in E minor with acoustic guitars, bass guitar, drum kit, and bongo drums. The only other chord is a D, fretted on the low E and G strings, second fret. A 12-string guitar plays an added F♯ (second fret, high E string) on the back beat of the Em. A noted feature of the song is the driving bass line with a hammer-hook in each chorus. A "waterfall"-type solo completes the arrangement. Produced by Ian Samwell on the day of final recording at Morgan Studios, when at first the group thought it was too corny and took some convincing to actually play it. Gerry Beckley has explained in 'Acoustic Guitar' magazine (March 2007) that the correct tuning for the guitar is D E D G B D, low to high. The chord pattern that repeats throughout the entire song is: 202002 (Em), then 020202 and 000202. The tuning is unique to this song; they did not use it on any other America song."

Got that.? Maybe you should just go back and listen to the song again.

Here's a relevant cartoon I like:

 

HEY YOU!

Hey you, out there in the cold

Getting lonely, getting old
Can you feel me?

Well, not us today. We've had a cracker of a day here - probably the hottest for a while. I know that Richard will complain about the brevity of this post but then, who's he to talk? His frequency of posting seems nowadays to be directly opposite to his frequency of urination in the middle of the night. Let's just be thankful that he doesn't blog in bed.

I must admit that this post was inspired by The Twitter Curmudgeon's new post OI YOU!

Have a nice evening.

ACCIDENTALS

 No doubt Richard and Robert, being musicians or at least musically oriented, have many stories about the silly things that they've done while playing their instruments and mistakes and disasters that have befallen them. It's only natural.

I'm not a musician, only a listener to music but I've done some silly things in album purchasing, concert attendance and choice of listening.

Here are some of them.

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Back in about 1984 I went into a record store (remember those?) in Queen street Auckland to buy two albums - Frankie Goes To Hollywood's Welcome to the Pleasuredome and Bronski Beat's The Age of Consent. The songs from these albums were hits on the radio at the time and I liked the Two Tribes song of Frankie's  and Smalltown Boy of Bronski's.

When I took these to the counter and purchased them I was aware of the shop assistant making some smart remark (which I could't hear) to his colleague and his smirking manner. I didn't think much of it at the time but later, when I discovered that both of these albums were Gay 'anthems' the penny dropped. I wish that I'd know at the time because I would have thrown them back at him and asked to cancel the sale. This would have nothing to the gay thing but everything to do with the tosser's attitude. I liked the songs and still do:

Thinking back on it I was a bit naive as to the content of the songs and albums but at the time always listened to the music stations when driving and I guess approached the music in a superficial way.

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In about 2000 The Old Girl and I went to a concert at the Bruce Mason Centre in Auckland to 'see' St Germaine play. Some friends encouraged this and bought the tickets. We'd heard the music at their place once from an album titled Tourist.

We arrived on time but it seemed to take ages for the 'band' to arrive and eventually there was just one guy, a stage hand we assumed, who came on to tinker with the electronic equipment and to do sound checks. This went on for ages as the lights dimmed. We waited and waited for the band to come on stage while this turkey did more checks and made more sounds and were getting quite indignant. After about 15 minutes, when he briefly stopped and the audience applauded did we realise that this was St Germaine. It was a 'house/Jazz' DJ thing. The guy has the stage name St Germaine. His actual name is Ludovic Navarre. After a lot more noise we eventually recognised some of the music but overall weren't impressed. We left early.

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In 2012 we had an apartment in Auckland Central close to the Town Hall. The Old Girl asked me if I wanted to go to the Lucinda Williams concert at the town hall. "Hell yeah" I answered and so she bought some good tickets in the Circle with a good view of the stage.

When we arrived, with some friends, I said to the others that The audience didn't look quite like Lucinda Williams followers. They looked at me funny. It wasn't until we went in that I realised that I didn't know anything about Lucinda Williams at all.

I had been thinking of Tracey Chapman so was very disappointed.

I didn't like Lucinda Williams. My C&W tastes run more to Bonnie Raitt and Emmy-Lou Harris both of whom I've seen in concerts.

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One of my favourite bands in the  early days was Jethro Tull so when I saw that Ian Anderson was to play in concert, again at The Auckland Town Hall I rushed to get a ticket.

Here's what happened.

THICK AS A BRICK

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Well that's a few that come to mind. There are many more, not even counting the silly stuff that I (and I guess we all) listened to when very young like The Moody Blues. If there's enough interest I'll do a follow up post later.

THE WORM TURNS

 

I read an interesting article in the latest Listener - 'The really bad news' by Stephen Davis. (NZ Listener September 24 2022).

In this article Davis discusses a UK media report "The Kids Aren't Alright" from UK Think Tank Onward which proposed that there is evidence that young people are turning away from democracy and looking to autocratic, even fascist ruling in the future.

The summary of the report said that 61% of 18-34 year olds agree that having a strong leader who does not have to bother with Parliament and elections would be a good way to run the country (UK) and 46% agree that having the army rule would be a good way of governing the country (UK). Bloody hell! This is the sort of nonsense that Trump and his misguided inner circle proposed in their support of Putin, Erdogan, Xi Jinping, Kim Jong-un and other world 'strong leaders'. Trump supported these types because he himself liked the idea of being a respected strongman with unlimited powers and an endless rule. The fascist oriented white power supporters to his cause are no different to those in the rise of white supremacy and neo-fascism in Europe that is attracting strong support from younger voters. In the 2022 French elections nearly half of 25-34 year olds voted for the fascist populist Marine Le Pin.

This is very disturbing and doesn't bode well for the second quarter of this century. Us older people, the 'baby boomers' and generation x have, and have had, direct connection with parents, grandparents and others who experienced or saw fascism, autocratic rule and the devastating effects of World War Two. This has kept our eyes open to the dangers of extremism and unfettered powers and maybe, has helped keep the lid on things relatively speaking. The younger generations haven't felt this connection and their influences have more come from the entertainment industry (cinema TV and gaming) and less governed and responsible social media. It's not surprising to see the movement show in that report given that they are looking for an easy fix to crime, global warming, social and economic inequality and cannot see the existing political systems being applicable to them.

I'm rather glad that I'll be dead and gone in the second quarter but feel sorry for those left behind who will likely  be under the heel of dictatorship governments.

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Reading that article made me think of  the 1982 film Pink Floyd: The Wall (Alan Parker and Gerald Scarfe)  where fascist iconography is used to demonstrate the protagonist's (and millions of disaffected youth's) feeling of alienation and a blind willingness to embrace a dodgy philosophy to make up for pains and losses experienced or perceived in the 'real world'.

This clip, to me, is prescient:

WAITING FOR THE WORMS

GRACE

 On Sunday mornings Robert, no doubt, goes to mass somewhere (he doesn't stick to one local church for some reason) and will sit uncomfortably listening to readings from a fictitious diary and whatever the Vatican wants him to hear this week in the propaganda disseminated by the guy wearing a dress in the pulpit.

I prefer to have my own spiritual experience listening to some nice music.

I generally default to choral music whether classical - Canon-type or modern choral - like Carl Orff's Carmina Burana or even Enigma. MEA CULPA - ENIGMA

This morning though I played Magnificat by Arvo Part:

ARVO PART - MAGNIFICAT

The soaring vocals spread through the house (The Old Girl is in Russell so I played this loudly through the Tannoy speakers in the snooker room) while I baked bread and prepared breakfast.

This is my 'religion'.

Robert might disagree though so here's another song, maybe more appropriate to my 'state of grace'.

IT'S A SIN - PET SHOP BOYS

CARMINA BURANA

I've liked Carl Orff's Carmina Burana for many years, since secondary school. 

I've only seen and heard it produced once, in Wellington back in 1979 as a New Zealand Ballet and Impulse Dance Theatre production. The music was taped but the sound system was pretty good. I remember the principal dancer Jon Trimmer performing the Olim lacus colueram (once I swam in lakes): Once I swam in lakes.  He was dressed as a jester and was being roasted on a spit (the swan). This was a very powerful performance and I wish that I had a video clip of it.

I heard, in a National Radio interview yesterday that Carmina Burana is going to be performed in Aucklands Holy Trinity Cathedral by three choirs -  the NZ Secondary Students' Choir, New Zealand Youth Choir, and Voices New Zealand  - forming a massed choir with over 150 singers.  I wish I could be there to hear it. This, to me is the best use of grand churches - not the silly wittering from the altar and the pulpit but the majestic sounds of the organ and choirs.

MAY I SHOW YOU MY ETCHINGS MY DEAR?

 

Maurice Chevalier casts a lecherous eye on Leslie Caron in 1958’s Gigi

This post could well have come under several of the Curmudgeons posts (The Darker Curmudgeon, The Philosophical Curmudgeon or even just The Curmudgeon) but, after a bit of discussion it was decided that I should write it.

THANK HEAVENS FOR LITTLE GIRLS

Yes you could say that songs and sequences like the above came from a simpler and more innocent time.

You could say that but there are a few facts that dispute it.

We've heard a lot in recent years about the dark side of Hollywood with racism, elitism, sexism and a whole lot of other isms were buried beneath a lot of saccharine sweetness and the dirty little secrets are only just surfacing.

Gigi is a good case in point. The film is charming and the music and songs sweet but let's not forget that it's about a girl being groomed for prostitution. That fact sits uncomfortably when you watch Maurice Chevalier’s “Thank Heaven for Little Girls” scene where he dotes on the very young Liza Minelli. His doting isn't avuncular or grandfatherly though because he’s imagining what an awesome whore that little girl will make when she gets older. 

With thanks to Richard of RBB for the inspiration for this post.*

* He likes a mention of gratitude.