Abbey Road Webcam

I'm not sure how long this has existed, but I only came across it recently. Abbey Road Studios, scene of so many classic Beatles (and other) recordings, has a webcam trained on the famous zebra crossing which featured on the cover of the 'Abbey Road' album.

Watch live (and with sound) as an endless procession of tourists annoy the hell out of drivers, as they have their picture taken aping the band's legendary pose.

Obviously better during UK daylight hours, to view the webcam click here.

Tweet

Can I Get A Refund?

Tweet

The Shins - Simple Song

I don't often plug new stuff but amidst a pretty uninspiring music scene, with major awards being doled out for utter mediocrity (Ed Sheeran, anyone?), the news that The Shins are back is a blessed relief.

There is a new album out on 20th March, entitled 'Port of Morrow'. The first song to emerge is 'Simple Song', and it's four and a bit minutes of perfect melodic pop loveliness.

The full video can be seen here.

.

Tweet

In The Name Of The Father

I feel I should explain myself. Or, more specifically, the absence of any posts recently.

It's quite simple really. My beloved father, who had been diagnosed with cancer in early 2011, became increasingly ill in the last few months and eventually passed away in mid-January. During his life he had been many things: Son, Husband, Brother, Father, Grandfather, Friend, Comrade, War Hero. I, along with many others, miss him terribly.

Initially I stopped writing due to lack of opportunity, as I spent more time visiting and caring for Dad. Soon though, I simply didn't feel like it. From the start of this blog most of my output has been either of a humorous (intended at least) nature, or enthusiastic recommendation of music or other entertainment. Unfortunately, in recent times I have felt neither funny or enthusiastic about anything much.

I am hoping this won't last too much longer, and that if you choose to return here you will be rewarded with some engaging prose. Maybe what I write will be different from before, and that I'll just get down what's on my mind without worrying too much if it fits into any previous 'house style'.

For those who use Twitter I do still pop up on there when the mood takes me: click on the blue button at the top of the page to follow (be warned: there may be bad words).

I thought it might be appropriate to insert here a piece of music as a small tribute to Dad. The trouble is, he would probably (without letting on) hate most of the stuff from my collection that I might choose. Instead, here is perhaps the earliest song I can remember being played  (and sung) in the house when I was a child: the French (or Quebecian depending who you believe) children's song, Alouette. Cheers me up no end.

.

Tweet

Vintage Video

#009 Led Zeppelin - The Rain Song live at Earls Court 1975


Possibly my favourite Zep song.

.

Tweet

When Hugh Laurie Was English And Stephen Fry Was Funny

Although I have always found him immensely likeable and talented, I would have found it very hard to believe 10 or 15 years ago that Hugh Laurie would one day be among the highest paid actors on US TV.

Back in those days he was well-known in the UK for his portrayal as an amiable thicko in the third and fourth series of Blackadder, along with the sketch show A Bit Of Fry & Laurie, in which he starred with his long-time comedy partner Stephen Fry.

In the sketch show Laurie would often employ highly suspect foreign accents. The clip below showcases his 'Australian', but his American characters were usually even less convincing. This mattered not a jot, as it was comedy: often exaggerated and grandiose, nearly always hilarious.

The irony for me is that when I see his performance in House, the accent sounds just as inauthentic to my English ears. You could argue that I am not qualified to comment, that it is good enough for folks in America: end of story. I have no real comeback for that, I just can't help chuckling. Similarly, when seeing him on TV performing songs from his 'Blues' album. I am immediately reminded of when his genuine musical abilities were only displayed on parodies like this. Some time ago I posted my lovely wife's unusually profound reaction to a commercial for the aforementioned album.

Stephen Fry had to plough his own furrow while his old pal became the darling of Hollywood. Nowadays he is best known in the UK for two things: Hosting the smug-fest quiz show QI, and for being one of the first celebrities to embrace Twitter.

QI is unique for me amongst TV shows in that it almost exclusively features guests who I like and whose other work I admire, yet I hate the resulting programme. I am not averse to smart-arse banter, in fact it is a pretty essential ingredient in any comedy panel show. With QI, however, it just is somehow cranked up to an unbearable level, and Fry as host can barely contain himself from displaying his fabulous education and expert knowledge on almost every possible subject.

There seems to be a misconception common in the UK that if you are on Twitter you must follow Fry. This could unfortunately put people off what for me is a vibrant, fascinating, and often uproariously amusing forum. I find his tweets rather dull, but as he (at the time of writing) has 4,440,632 more followers than I have, what do I know?

I do know that he is, or at least was, an amazing comedy talent. He, like Laurie, was a leading light in Blackadder, but this post was inspired by catching the excerpt below on TV late last night. It's Fry & Laurie doing a superb parody of It's A Wonderful Life, where Aussie Media Tycoon Rupert Murdoch is shown how the world would be if he had never been born. A lovely thought anyway, but it's superbly done.

.

Tweet

Aretha Who?

A SINGER OF SOME NOTE

The media - both social and ..er.. antisocial (?) has been full of unkind comments about UK X Factor judge Tulisa Contostavlos, after her admission on Saturday night's show that she had never heard the Aretha Franklin song 'Think', as performed on the programme by pink-haired Amelia Lily.

 

This is a little unjust. She is, as she pointed out whilst defending herself on Twitter, only 23. She knows certain old songs which her parents played in the home she grew up in, but this wasn't one of them. Fair enough I say. Clearly she's a decent sort of girl, otherwise she wouldn't let that inbred farm boy with the funny hat tag along with her band, thus avoiding the need to put him in a home.

People are obviously labouring under the illusion that a knowledge of classic artists and quality music is a pre-requisite for the role of judge on this show, which it plainly isn't. Leave aside the fact that a quick, painful listen to an N-Dubz album would reveal few signs of her ever making even a passing acquaintance with anything as uncool as a melody. She, like her fellow judges present and past, is there for other reasons. 

TULISA

In Tulisa's case there was a vacancy for a pretty young female following the departure of the fragile beauty that is Cheryl Cole: the perceived 'edge' of her group helping to spread the show's appeal to their demographic - kids in tracksuits who generously play music for everyone on the bus via their phones, rather than selfishly use headphones. Each of the other judges fulfill a specific purpose (yes - even Louis Walsh).

The point here is that The X Factor isn't a music show, it's a money show. Every decision made by the Svengali/Davros figure Simon Cowell is based on maximising ratings, and therefore revenue. By the same token, Cowell and most of the others involved are not music people, despite the hit records they could no doubt list ad nauseum.  

There is plenty of evidence to support this. The marvelous Danny Baker recounts the tale of being on a radio show with Walsh (pre - X Factor days). Danny thought it pretty safe ground whilst chatting to a prominent Irish music business figure to mention the great Van Morrison. The Boyzone and Westlife manager was at a loss to place the name until eventually coming up with  "Oh, the 'Brown Eyed Girl' guy?"  

Courtesy of b3ta user benito vaselini (8333)

Cowell himself frequently shows his lack of appreciation of any musical heritage. He has been guilty of unwarranted reverence towards third-rate acts from the 80s/90s such as Backstreet Boys and Boyz II Men (he probably thinks their album of Motown covers contains the definitive versions of The Tracks of My Tears and Mercy Mercy Me, or more likely they are only versions he has heard). Ask him to name more than one Bob Dylan or Stevie Wonder tune and he would likely be found wanting, Alan Partridge style ("Favourite Beatles album? That would be...The Best of The Beatles!"). His true love, and indisputable ability, lies not in music but in marketing products that a large number of people will buy, creating enormous wealth for himself and his companies, but perhaps much, much less for the desperate hopefuls on his show who sign the only contract they will ever be offered, without the representation of a sharp-eyed music industry lawyer. 

GARY BARLOW

In the latest UK series, Cowell's judging seat has been taken by Take That's Eagle-Eyed Action Man, Gary Barlow. He is presented as a real music man, a sort of younger Paul McCartney, and uses baffling insider terms like semitone and tempo. The reality is he comes from a boy band, and only stands out from all of the other boy band boys because he can play piano and write what can loosely be termed a song. Barlow is no nearer to being Macca than Richard Stilgoe, and hardly more qualified to tell some scouse teenager that they made 'Bridge Over Troubled Water' their own (ugh!) than the departed Dannii Minogue was.

So don't go watching X Factor expecting to see loving tribute paid to the musical pantheon of the last sixty years, it's about phone votes and Christmas singles and inane tabloid gossip. It's a business, and besides, the subject of music probably never came up at Tulisa's job interview. So lay of her and show some R-E-S-P-E-C-T (just a little bit). 

Tweet

Kids Eh?

Below is a verbatim exchange of texts between myself and my eldest daughter, a few days ago.

Me:

Lindsay:

.

Tweet

*New Feature* Illustrated Lyrics

#001: TLC

Thought I'd start a new feature, where I illustrate lyrics from well-known songs using beautiful images from nature. Here's the first, a massive hit back in 1995 for TLC: 

*Friends - please let me know of any errors in this or any of my other posts.

.

Tweet

Just Don't Hurt Me - Rich Hall

If you've followed this blog for a while you'll know that I love music and I love comedy. For the two to be mixed, however, it has to be pretty darn good.

No worries here, with Rich Hall's alter-ego Otis Lee Crenshaw relating a refreshingly honest tale of how a knifepoint mugging might affect a relationship.

.

Tweet

An Appeal from Chris Martin

Tweet

Tim for Restraint?

A very good question from, perhaps, a surprising source. This was a tweet from Tim Burgess, lead singer of one of Britain's most underrated bands, The Charlatans.

Tim was expressing earlier today what I expect (and hope) many of us were thinking. Several of the UK papers, and not just tabloids, showed graphic pictures of the dead body of Colonel Gaddafi on their front pages.

This is so wrong and irresponsible. Featuring those photographs inside the paper is one thing (and I am uncomfortable even with that), but at least that would minimise the risk of them being seen by young children, who could obviously be traumatised.

My eight year-old daughter has trouble sleeping already, and my wife and I have recently had to curb our desire to keep up with current affairs - rolling TV news prompting too many questions about disturbing events of a both local and global nature. Less than a month ago Sky News showed (uncensored) the picture of the corpse of Michael Jackson which had been released during the trial of his physician Dr Conrad Murray, at 8am on a weekday when millions of children would be getting ready for school!

Have we now reached a point where anything goes? Where a little restraint is too much to ask? I hope to God not.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

P.S ,This new 'serious' me probably won't last long. Back to the Photoshopping Cameron and taking the piss out of Coldplay very soon.

Tweet

The Resurrection?

So The Stone Roses are to reform. Can't say that I really give a monkey's chuff (apt expression if you are familiar with singer Ian Brown's simian appearance), as I always thought them highly overrated. However, it's further evidence to back up my theory that all bands will eventually reform, even those that no-one cares about. Step forward, JoBoxers!

MANI NOT PICTURED

It's certainly more notable these days if a band who achieved a degree of success first time around hasn't put their musical/personal/you-ripped-me-off-you-bastard differences aside to crank out the hits (and fillers if necessary - see Pulp at Glastonbury earlier this year). I examined the reasons for the surge of recent reunions in my post Dead Singer For Love, with money obviously being a major motivating factor. At least in the case of The Roses all of the original members are still alive, so there won't be a departed bandmate revolving in a Manchester grave whilst the others 'pay tribute' night after night, splitting the takings into one pile fewer.  

Hilariously, but somehow at the same time depressingly, Steps are #1 in the UK Album charts some ten years after their original split. If you're not familiar with their work, well, lucky you. Their string of hits either side of the Millenium included arse-achingly terrible Bee Gees covers and line  dance craze cash-ins. A reunion tour of large venues is also selling well. Being of an extremely manufactured nature (even within that field), I wouldn't normally even acknowledge Steps, but their resurgence is symptomatic of a feeling I get from all directions and all kinds of people, that everything used to be better than it is now, that, to quote Blur, MODERN LIFE IS RUBBISH.

Of course we are in the middle of a global economic downturn, in which many of us are feeling badly affected, so it is understandable if we look back to a time in the not too distant past when things were better and we were happier. That happy picture in our mind often comes with its own soundtrack, and therein lies a lucrative market. Ian Brown himself said at the press conference today: "I think at times like this we can uplift people." That remains to be seen, but we all want to feel young again, and for a couple of hours in a dimly-lit concert hall this can be possible, as long as the band concerned have at least taken the trouble to rehearse properly and the singer's voice isn't totally shot from his recent job removing asbestos from office buildings.

I also think the whole nostalgia bandwagon coincides with a real dearth in quality new music. Personally. in the last few years I have struggled to find new bands and artists that really hold my attention. Every now and again someone comes along with a unique and original sound which at first appeals but within a short space of time just irritates. Fleet Foxes, Antony and the Johnsons, Bon Iver all spring to mind. Maybe all the good sounds have already been thought of and all future music should simply be variations of these.  

There are exceptions in my own personal pop/rock drought: I've enjoyed albums by The Pierces and The Silver Seas in recent months, and think there;s something very wrong with a world in which The Shins aren't a household name. More often though, it's new releases by old favourites which excite, the 3 disc Ben Folds retrospective which just arrived being a perfect example.

Anyhow, if you shell out for tickets for The Stone Roses shows, I hope you get what you want out of the experience. I have to stop writing now and get ready for the Starland Vocal Band gig at Birmingham Town Hall. Apparently they're sounding better than ever.

"Gonna find my baby, gonna hold her tight,

 Gonna grab some afternoon delight"

Yeah! Good Times! 

.

Tweet

Time Capsule

Tweet

Bully's Star Prize?

Just look what you coulda won! I may have inadvertently stumbled upon the the mysterious Bully's Star Prize (from endearingly low-brow darts-based quiz show Bullseye), which no-one could ever be bothered to try to win. I think ITV got fed up of the storage costs and just pushed it out to sea, and now it's washed up on a beach in Ibiza, to become a convenient canvas for local...ahem...'artists'. 

It recently struck me as quite ironic that most graffiti artists would be quickly thrown off any worthwhile graphic design course, due to not having the slightest clue as to what might actually look good. 

"We've had a smashing day Jim, but I think we're going to take the money."

.

Tweet

Vintage Video

#010 Bebop Deluxe - Ships in the Night live on Supersonic

I´m in Ibiza for a few days celebrating Mrs Blinkered´s 40th birthday, so have had limited (coin operated!) internet access, hence the lack of posts in the last few days.

I was inspired though, to post this song after it came up on my mp3 player whilst it was on shuffle. Somehow, whilst sitting on a beautiful beach, staring at a clear blue sky, headphones on and beer in hand, it just seemed perfect.

Tweet

Vintage Video

#009 Neil Young - Heart of Gold Live at Farm Aid 1985 


Everyone loves this song, right? How could you not? This is a great version too:

.

Tweet

Cover Me Bad

A regular-ish feature on this here site is Killer Covers, where I list tracks which I see as standing out from the multitude of cover versions out there. A purely personal choice, of course.

In general, most covers are just a bit meh, but there are others which are notable for all the wrong reasons, through being truly terrible. I have collected a few here, the criteria for inclusion being songs which I love, and therefore I feel an element of personal affrontry. Below each is a link to the original, for anyone in any doubt as to the extent of the musical crime:

1. James Blunt - Fall at Your Feet (cover of Crowded House song)

Now Blunt's pained, Al-Jolson-on-helium voice singing his own whiny, soporific tunes is one thing. Deployed on Neil Finn's dark, beautiful love song it is a whole different ball (bawl) game. Like putting a Michelin-starred meal into a food processor and then serving up patties of sloppy cold effluent.  

Crowded House Original

2. Annie Lennox - Shining Light (cover of Ash Song)

I have to admit I've long had a loathing for Lennox's music, be it her solo stuff or the unfathomably popular Eurythmics. It all just seems so soulless. I'm sure she's a lovely woman and she clearly does a lot of great charity work, but man oh man, this is simply awful. When I first heard it (I think on breakfast TV) it took a while to click that it was the Ash song I knew so well. My overriding feeling when listening is just that it's fucking hilarious.

Ash Original

3. Ellie Goulding - Your Song (cover of Elton John song)

A great, great song, we're all agreed - right? Now imagine if it was sung by a young woman seemingly incapable of conveying any kind of emotional connection with the lyrics, like the disappointing love child of Mr Spock and one of the wives of Stepford: "What is this thing called mu-sic, which humans love so much?" That's what this is like.

Apparently she sang it at Wills and Kate's wedding reception, with Elton looking on. I'm sure he was very gracious and polite, while on the inside pissing himself laughing.

Elton John original

4. Michael Bolton - Yesterday (cover of The Beatles song)

Let's just say right from the off that Michael Bolton has one helluva voice. The trouble is, it only has two settings: - brooding, singing-quite-softly-but-gonna-let-rip-any-minute; and FULL_ON SHOUTY RAUNCHY GRAVELLY WOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHH!!!!! As demonstrated below.

Beatles Original

Daffy Duck Version
5. Blue - Signed, Sealed, Delivered (cover of Stevie Wonder song)

Third rate, even within the depressing genre that is the boy band, Blue somehow managed to persuade Stevie Wonder himself (plus Angie Stone) to appear on this murderous reinterpretation of his classic song. Perhaps he was forced into it by his record company, but it makes me wonder: if supremely talented artists are content to help destroy their own legacy, why should the rest of us care? I still do though.

Stevie Wonder original

6. Duran Duran - Watching the Detectives (cover of Elvis Costello)

Well, this comes from a whole album of covers Duran Duran did in 1995, and it was really tough picking out one track from whatever the opposite of an embarrassment of riches is. The album also includes covers of Led Zeppelin, Bob Dylan, Lou Reed and Public Enemy. Subsequently voted WORST ALBUM EVER by Q Magazine. I can give no greater endorsement than that.

Elvis Costello original


.

Tweet

The Tevez Debate

CARLOS TEVEZ: 

UNGRATEFUL, LAZY COCK?

or

DESPICABLE, MONEY-GRABBING TWAT?

.

Tweet

The Greatest Songs You've Never Heard #006: Guster - Careful

Guster are a Boston band who have been together for around 20 years. Despite having a name that evokes (to me at least) images of the Viz character Johnny Fartpants, they have a great, quirky, yet always melodic style, without even a hint of flatulence.

This lovely song is taken from their 2003 album Keep it Together.

Visit the Official Guster Site

More Greatest Songs You've Never Heard

.

Tweet