CONFESSION

EGGS IN A BRIAR PATCH

David Byrne is one cool dude.

I'm not a musician but really enjoy music in many forms. I'd like to be able to write and perform music especially Byrne-type stuff. He's written so many good songs that are modern day classics.

The sample above is from the outstanding album from the theatre show The Catherine Wheel which was a collaboration between Byrne and Twyla Tharp and premiered in 1981 in NYC. I wish I'd been there.

 There is some seriously good music in this 'album' and, on the videos I've seen some great dance performances.

'Eggs In A Briar Patch' has a disturbing edge to it. Interpret as you wish.

NEVER BEEN TO SPAIN

WELL I'VE NEVER BEEN TO SPAIN - THREE DOG NIGHT

Good old Hoyt Axton. He knew how to write a good tune (The Pusher, Joy To The World). Most of his songs were recorded more successfully by others (Joan Baez, Three Dog Night, Steppenwolf) but he did a lot of his own recordings as well.

I've always liked this Three Dog Night version of Never Been To Spain. I hope you enjoy it too.

OK YOU CAN WRITE A SONG BUT CAN YOU RECORD A SONG?

I've loved 10CC music. It was always clever and very pleasing.
The song I'm Not In Love was groundbreaking and this little doco clip shows how it was put together.

Magic.

10 CC - I'M NOT IN LOVE

GUESS THE SONG

This weekend we had friends staying.
They are interested in music and we've enjoyed sharing and going to concerts over many years.

Beryl used to have her own video business which had lots of music videos and albums and has an encyclopedic knowledge of music from most genres for the last 60 years.

They made a CD of covers of some fairly obsure songs from the last 30 years and we had a kind of quizz game of identifying:

• The original song name
• The original singer

(to be ascertained in the first few seconds of the recording)

• The original composer
• The current cover singer(s)

This was a lot of fun and I'm happy to say that I got a lot of the questions correct.

We like this sort of game as The Old Girl and I often take turns in selecting some favourite pieces of music and asking the other to identify it.

CHAIN REACTION

I've been thinking about Richard and Robert's somewhat snobbish derision of Aldous Harding's music and wonder why they seem to be so entrenched in the status quo.
This is odd as Richard did his degree based on some Eastern European nutter who made music out of the things he found in a scrapyard.

I like Karlheinz Stockhausen, Kurt Weill, Benjamin Britten, Frank Zappa, Scott Walker, Captain Beefheart and other slightly edgy music creators.

Robert, in seeking out alternative musical instruments should give up his quest for a drum set and nip out to the tip and find some old bicycles.

See:

FRANK ZAPPA - PLAYING BICYCLES

I'M SOLD

I'm 65 years old.

Listening to Aldous Harding I wish I were half my age.

This writer/singer/performer hits the spot with me and I wish that she'd been about years before.
Forget your Lordes and other musicians who are dependent on 14 y.o. girls 'likes' this is the real stuff.

Have a listen to this short performance in the Gladden House sessions in 2017:


ALDOUS HARDING


Harding has some classy vids (check out the BLEND video BLEND) and the Jools Holland ones.

Listening to these and watching the performances gives me confidence that New Zealand arts can match it with the rest of the world

JINGLY BELLS OH DEARIE ME

Yep, it's Christmas so its about time all you jokers had to suffer from the obligatory Christmas songs.

Here's one that should keep you awake at night.

JINGLE BELLS