Things I Have Learned This Week

1. Having long despised Margaret Thatcher, I must admit she went up in my estimation a teensy bit thanks to this.

2. Michael Eavis admits "Joke band" booked to play Glastonbury...

Explanation

3. There are "celebrity" Twitter accounts which are quite clearly not the real celeb, yet tens of thousands of

gormless idiots still follow them. It's as though the name and a photo are enough to feel a connection with their fame. If only I could harness that level of stupidity to make some easy money. I am Banksy, after all.

4. Some interesting news for Star Wars fans, but keep it under your hat.

5. Despite being able to afford any gas-guzzling sports car, Ryan Giggs and other Man Utd players showed their green credentials by using local "Ring and Ride" scheme.

Tweet

Vintage Video - New Feature

#001 Stevie Wonder - Live on Beat Club 1974

From time to time I'm going to post vintage videos of classic artists performing live, either in concert or on TV Shows.

This is Stevie Wonder during his absolute peak period (most of the seventies were one glorious peak in fact) on the German TV show Beat Club. The quality isn't great, but definitely worth seeing.

Incidentally, if you just type "Beat Club" into YouTube it brings up a wealth of great clips.

Tweet

The Battle of Good Versus Evil - ROUND 2

This is the second in a short series of posts examining Simons in the public eye, pitting Good Simons against those I'm labelling Evil Simons (even though technically they might not actually be evil per se, just a bit rubbish). For the full reasons of why on earth one might want to do such a thing read the original post. 

Good Simon No.2

Simon Pegg

Star of British TV comedy for over a decade, with shows like Big Train and Spaced, and now a Bona Fide movie star thanks to Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, Run Fat Boy Run and even an appearance as Scotty in the 2009 Star Trek remake. The secret of his success, aside from being a very good comic actor, probably lies in his self-deprecating charm, both on and off-screen.

Evil Simon No.2

Simon May

Simon who? I hear you ask. Do you mean Simon Mayo? No, of course not - he's pretty okay.
This deceptively harmless looking fellow with the lovely hair is responsible for some of the worst musical moments of the last 40 years.
Mostly known for godawful themes and incidental music for UK soap operas such as East Enders, El Dorado and Crossroads (Born With a Smile on My Face by Stephanie de Sykes! Aargh!), his career peaked in 1976/77 with two solo singles featuring his er...unique voice. 
Reaching No.49 in the UK in May 1977 was his interpretation of Ivor Novello's We'll Gather Lilacs, probably his definitive vocal performance. The chart positioning must have been a disappointment however, as only 6 months earlier May had a No.7 hit with his own composition Summer of My Life, shown here in a Maximo Queso Top of The Pops performance. It occurs that this could be the single biggest reason that Punk happened....

Tweet

Things I Have Learned This Week

By Paul Christopher (Own work) [CC-BY-SA-3.0
www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0) 

1. The picture above shows the funniest man in Britain, possibly the world. Of course you may not agree - you may really dislike him. He'd love that. That's why he's so good.

2. The Guardian has a story that Roman Abramovich has upset the people of Venice due to his bigfuckoff boat blocking the beautiful views of St Mark's basin. I share their disgust as I love Venice and know the exact spot where he is moored.

What is gratifying about this story, however, is the final proof that money (even ridiculously huge amounts of money) can't buy good taste, as evidenced by the sentence:

"The boat, though unloved by locals who find themselves living temporarily in its shadow, has proved a celebrity magnet this summer, hosting singers Gwen Stefani and Gavin Rossdale..."

I rest my case.

3.

4. Don't diss a nation's cucumbers until you know your facts. Might need to watch your back. 

5. How to piss off a 90s pop star promoting a new album:

BBC 5 live interviewer:     You were the drummer weren't you?

Guy out of Hanson:           Yeah. I STILL AM.

Tweet

The Ultimate Summer 2011 Playlist

In the Ash song, it's prominent in the main line of the chorus, and as for Steely Dan: well, I wouldn't say that summer makes me think of Steely Dan, but when I hear Steely Dan I definitely think of summer - albeit one in the Californian sun, driving a convertible (for now, driving a 9 year old Renault Scenic through the industrial West Midlands will have to do).

I suppose I should 'fess up that the Ben Folds Five song is a bit of a cheat, as the Summer B in the title is a girl, but it sounds summery so what the hey. 

One or two of these songs have a personal meaning for me, but mostly they just make me feel good. I'll admit that Summer Skin by Death Cab for Cutie is a bit more downbeat than most of the others - the tale of a summer romance coming to and end with the change of seasons, but no less enjoyable.

Here is the full list. Hope you like at least some of the tunes.

Simon

1	BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN	Girls in Their Summer Clothes	On the album: Magic
2	ELVIS COSTELLO	The Other Side of Summer	On the album: Mighty Like A Rose
3	ASH	Walking Barefoot	On the album: Free All Angels
4	BOBBY GOLDSBORO	Summer (The First Time)	On the album: Honey: The Best Of
5	BEN FOLDS FIVE	Where’s Summer B?	On the album: Ben Folds Five
6	THE SUNDAYS	Summertime	On the album: Static & Silence
7	STEVIE WONDER	Summer Soft	On the album: Songs In The Key Of Life
8	SQUEEZE	This Summer	On the album: Ridiculous
9	STEELY DAN	FM	On the album: Best Of - Then & Now
10	FOUNTAINS OF WAYNE	It Must Be Summer	On the album: Utopia Parkway
11	DEATH CAB FOR CUTIE	Summer Skin	On the album: Plans
12	THE ISLEY BROTHERS	Summer Breeze	On the album: Forever Gold

Tweet

KILLER COVERS #003: Automatic Baby - (U2's) One

There are a lot of alternative versions of One out there, including a truly terrible rendition U2 themselves did with Mary J Blige (and I like The Bligester, as I believe she likes to be called).

This take actually features two members of U2, Larry Mullen Jr and Adam Clayton, along with Mike Mills and Michael Stipe of REM. According to Wikipedia it was recorded live at an MTV concert for President Bill Clinton (I think in 1993). I didn't realise until today that a video existed for the performance - I only knew it from owning the 1996 Childline charity CD on which it featured. The name Automatic Baby is obviously an amalgam of their respective bands' biggest albums. You worked that one out yourself - didn't you?

The key here is the vocal performance of Stipe. Despite jumbling up the lyrics once or twice, the song sounds as though it could have been written for him. After hearing this version a few times I found it hard to imagine Bono's original in my head.

Give it a whirl, people. Hope you like it.

Tweet

BBC Radio 2 Album Of The Week

Getting lots of airplay, particularly by Ken Bruce:

Marginally Bigger

Tweet

Worst Night Out Ever?

JUST OUT OF SHOT - RICHARD BLACKWOOD IN A SQUIRREL SUIT (REALLY)

Tweet