George Kooymans, guitarist with Dutch rock band Golden Earring, passed away last week.
Which is all the reason I need to play this...
Sorry, I meant this...
Not that. This!
Oh, go on then...
Thursday, 31 July 2025
Wednesday, 30 July 2025
Mid-Life Crisis Songs #128: Getting Old Sucks
I'm a big fan of the cartoonist Stephen Collins who does a regular strip in the Saturday Guardian and also wrote the excellent graphic novel The Giant Beard That Was Evil. Above is one of his more recent strips, which I figured might draw some nods of existential approval. I'm hoping you can click on the image to see a larger, readable version. But I'm sure you'll let me know if you can't.
And here's another song from Bowling For Soup, in a similar vein...
We used run wild in the streets now we complain
When cars drive to fast and the music is insanely loud
All the movies are cartoons and remakes of shit
That was better when we played our music too loud
Now our memories are fading away
Tuesday, 29 July 2025
Namesakes #148: The Blue Notes
Aware that my summer holidays are here, George offered to take up some of the slack with a few Namesakes Guest Posts. This will help me reach the end of August without spending every day in front of a computer. Thank you, George.
More bletherings and bobbins from me, and this week it’s about bands called The Blue Notes, or Blue Notes. The Bloo Noates are of course excluded.
(Shame, I was a fan of their 1984 white label.)
THE BLUE NOTES #1
The obvious group first, with Harold Melvin as a member. Known as the Blue Notes from 1954 until ca. 1972. Harold has been described as starting the group, but maybe Bernard Williams disagreed with that and stormed out, forming his own group, The Original Blue Notes (see the post-script to this article). This probably dates from the late 1960s (before Harold added his name to the group title).
THE BLUE NOTES #2
Lacking Harold and Teddy, the remaining Blue Notes carried on, but that Continuity Blue Notes is not your next group. Instead, these soulful Blue Notes from the Bahamas...
THE BLUE NOTES #3
Enough soul, let’s have some jazz (said no-one, ever). South Africa now, and unlike other writers, I am not inflicting a 12 minute noodling-nonsense piece on you, just this sax-heavy sub-5 minute piece (I would struggle to call it a tune). I’m not really encouraging you to play this one, am I?
THE BLUE NOTES #4
Staying in South Africa, for a very agreeable song from these Blue Notes...
THE BLUE NOTES #5
THE BLUE NOTES #6
Some terrible soppy crooning Blue Notes now. (Can you listen to this without wanting to vomit at its hideous lyric?)
THE BLUE NOTES #7
(They definitely have today's coolest band photo.)
Fellow cat-owners: I would not advise you to get what seems to be an inflatable seat like the one Helga is sitting on, or indeed any inflatable seat.
THE BLUE NOTES #8
THE BLUE NOTES #9
(If we're talking about rules, George, I should point out the one about playing Christmas songs in July! Particularly ones that start with acapella "bells".)
(Especially when this was available instead...!)
THE BLUENOTES #10
A twangy rock and roll group are next up. And it could be argued I’m stretching the rules to allow this one, but it’s worth it...
(I refer you back to the Christmas rule. This one is fine though.)
THE BLUE NOTES #11
Vancouver (Canada), for the penultimate group, for some low-fi indie...
THE BLUE NOTES #12
Finally, some more jazz to brighten up your day (and this is not a cover that splendid ABC song*). And you can get the entire album legally for nothing!
(*No, it's a cover of the old Burt Bacharach standard.)
Some of the above songs have made it on to vol. 234 of my Downloads series.
So that’s twelve Blue Notes to tune your ears to. And twelve is now the number of our tribe with the arrival of Freckles the chicken.
(I'd love to see a chicken with freckles.)
Shoehorn-in-a-tune time: Original Blue Notes singer Bernie Williams released a belting single with his Original Blue Notes, an absolutely toptastic piece of northern soul...
Many thanks to Rol for posting this, and thanks to anyone who reads it.
And thank you to George for his excellent service as always... although I did find a couple of Blue Notes he missed / chose to ignore because they didn't fit his Maths-teachery obsession with rules...
BLUE NOTES #13
Scratchy old Virginian soul band from 1968...
LOS BLUE NOTES #14
Surprised George missed these Mexican Blue Notes from the 70s, with their snazzy blue suits.
Actually, there were loads more Blue Notes acting as backing groups for lead singers - and if it wasn't the summer holidays, I'd probably wade through them too in search of nuggets... but George has done a good enough job filtering the wheat from the chaff, I think, this week. If you want to investigate further, put "Blue Notes" into the artists section of discogs and fill your boots!
Thanks again, George.
Which blue notes are worthy of note... and which just leave you blue?
Monday, 28 July 2025
Snapshots Spillover: More Songs For Your Arsenal
Here are some more weapons I couldn't fit into this weekend's Snapshots, starting with a man who's often connected with Guns... Mr. Rose.
Personally, I always found clubs to be deadly places...
I'd be better off with an axe, like Jack...
Britney Spears popped up on Saturday, but here's a cool soul nugget with an actual spear in it...
There are many different versions of the track below (starting with Lowell Blanchard), but this is my favourite...
The Blind Boys of Alabama - (Jesus Hits Like The) Atom Bomb
And here's some guys who didn't spend all their time looking at centrefolds...
Parthenon Huxley was a member of ELO II, but he should be remember for more than just that...
Parthenon Huxley - Bazooka Joe
Almost done. Here's a couple of catapults...
But we'll close today with one of my favourite songs about a gun... from a man of religion.
Sunday, 27 July 2025
Snapshots #406: Songs About Weapons
Yesterday, we had Britney SPEARS at the top of the page... today, it's Bruce Lee, whose whole body was a weapon.
And here are 15 more weapons for Your Arsenal...
15. Packed.
The missing faces belong to The Jam.
Or...
The Jam - A Bomb In Wardour Street
14. Go on, go on, voice of Russia.
Sigue means go on. Sputnik was the voice of Russia.
Sigue Sigue Sputnik - Love Missile F1-11
13. Pop art from Indiana (Robert).
This is Robert Indiana's LOVE sculpture...
12. Enjoy heavy metal in the café with a Friendly waiter.
Gunther was the waiter in the Friends café... not the Hard Rock Café.
Hardrock Gunter - Rifle, Belt and Bayonet
11. Barry Judd in negative.
Barry Judd was the character in Hi Fidelity played by Jack Black. In negative, he would be...
10. Did you know that Henry VIII wanted to form an Eastern European football team, but he didn't have quite enough players?
If you have to explain the joke, it stops being funny...
Ten Pole Tudor - Swords Of A Thousand Men
9. Ian thought he was sweet.
Ian Dury sang about Sweet Gene Vincent.
Gene Vincent - Pistol Packin' Mama
8. Italian brothers.
Fratelli is brother in Italian...
The Fratellis - Chelsea Dagger
7. Myanmar Tower of Strength.
Tower of Strength was a song by The Mission. Myanmar is Burma.
Mission of Burma - That's When I Reach for My Revolver
6. Oh, Tony, tax is such a mess, isn't it?
"Oh, Tony, tax" was an anagram.
5. Paddy's Omen.
Paddy fields produce rice. Damien was in The Omen.
4. You can't beat these nuns.
The Rhythm Sisters - Pocket Hand Grenade
3. Marvin gets jumpy.
Lee Marvin, that is.
2. Stretch and massage...
Ways to relieve the cramps...
The Cramps - Bikini Girls With Machine Guns
1. He'll happily adjust any dam bras you give him.
"Any dam bras" was an anagram too.
Bryan Adams - Cuts Like A Knife
A much less threatening edition of Snapshots next Saturday...
Saturday, 26 July 2025
Saturday Snapshots #406
Oops, I did it again.
Fifteen more popular musical artistes to identify... but how are their songs connected?
15. Packed.
14. Go on, go on, voice of Russia.
13. Pop art from Indiana (Robert).
12. Enjoy heavy metal in the café with a Friendly waiter.
11. Barry Judd in negative.
10. Did you know that Henry VIII wanted to form an Eastern European football team, but he didn't have quite enough players?
9. Ian thought he was sweet.
8. Italian brothers.
7. Myanmar Tower of Strength.
6. Oh, Tony, tax is such a mess, isn't it?
5. Paddy's Omen.
4. You can't beat these nuns.
3. Marvin gets jumpy.
2. Stretch and massage...
1. He'll happily adjust any dam bras you give him.
I'll hit you, Baby One More Time, with the answers... tomorrow morning.
Wednesday, 23 July 2025
Celebrity Jukebox #141: Ozzy Osborne
I'm not going to pretend to have been a huge Ozzy fan, but I could easily have been. It's the road not travelled...
After all these years of myth-making, the TV show, the family, the self-mockery and the colossal caricature (not to mention biting the head off that bat), I readily accept that there are two types of people who know much more about Ozzy than I ever will: the dedicated heavy rock fans (I dabble, but I'm not a connoisseur) and those who know very little about music at all... but just enjoyed the Show. (And by that, I don't just mean The Osbornes.)
I'll let you in on a little secret through... whenever I come across an old Ozzy track I've not heard before, like the one above, I dig it. Because I've always had a soft spot for metal that isn't too metal. Really, it's just pop music with louder guitars.
If nothing else, Ozzy was a Show. And beyond that, he was the very best kind of rock star: one who never took himself too seriously... or at all seriously. That's the way he came across to me, anyway.
As is customary in this feature, I went looking for songs that might mention the dearly departed. And only then did I realise just how far Ozzy's influence stretches... and how much bigger he was in the States than in his home country. As you'd expect, some of these songs are quite loud...
We saw Ozzy on our first date
Our special song is Crazy Train
Making out in the middle of the pit
How come Slayer doesn't sing about this
If anything comes between you and me
Then heavy metal heaven, that's where we'll meet
I know metal is dead
But I want to bang my head
And throw my fists up into the air
I know Ozzy Osbourne's old but I don't care
But they're not all rock songs.
I'm a cross between Manson, Esham and Ozzy
I don't know why the fuck I'm here in the first place
Quite a lot of rappers mention Ozzy in favourable terms... perhaps for obvious reasons. But you might not expect him to pop up in a country tune...
Ever since I met you, girl, you been on my brain
I can't think of nothin' else but you all night and day
It's like I got a first-class seat up on Ozzy's train
And it's drivin' me insane
Maybe it's more to be expected in the place where country meets rock...
So I never saw Lynyrd Skynyrd but I sure saw Ozzy Osbourne
With Randy Rhoads in '82 Right before that plane crash
Punk rockers obviously tipped their hats to Ozzy...
Tipper, what's that sticker sticking on my CD?
Is that some kind of warning to protect me?
Freedom of choice needs a stronger, stronger voice
You can stamp out the source, but you can't stop creative thought
Ah, Tipper, come on
Ain't you been getting it on?
Ask Ozzy, Zappa or me
We'll show you what it's like to be free
"We came home and found our son
Lying dead on his bed of a gunshot wound
He had his headphones on
And there was an Ozzy record on the turntable
So, we called our lawyer"
And while I'm pretty sure this reggae hit from the 70s wasn't about The Prince of Darkness... it would be nice to imagine he might have been an influence.
Rasta Ozzy from up de hill
Decide fi check 'pon 'im grocery bill
An' when him add up de t'ings him need
De dunny done wha' him save fi buy likkle weed
Even ultra-cool Canadians love Ozzy...
Pop pop, fizz fizz
Ohhhhh what a sweet leaf it is
Like Ozzy Osbourne I was born to perform
Aww, zeah?
Now before we get to today's winner... here's Beck's tribute...
When it came to choosing my favourite Ozzy tribute song though, there was no contest. Especially as the lead singer of this band once left a comment on my blog. Here's B4S with a song about the passing of time, and all its sickening crimes...
She hates time, make it stop
When did Mötley Crüe become classic rock?
And when did Ozzy become an actor?
Please make this stop, stop, stop...
Tuesday, 22 July 2025
Namesakes #147: The Fantastic Four
After Spider-Man, the Fantastic Four are my favourite comic book characters. Yet they've never been treated particularly well by Hollywood. I'm hoping that will change with their latest film (out on Friday). The cast is top notch, particularly Ebon Moss-Bachrach from The Bear as the Thing.
Marvel movies have been a bit hit and miss lately, so I hope this one is a success. To help it on its way, here are a few musical Fantastic Fours...
(LIL RAY &) THE FANTASTIC FOUR #1
Hard to get a date on this one, but songwriter Guy Hemric was active in the late 50s / early 60s. If I had to guess, this has a soulful mid-60s sound to me... but I could be under the influence of The Psycho Man...
L'il Ray And The Fantastic Four - One Man's Love Is Another Man's Poison
THE FANTASTIC FOUR #2
Detroit soul band from the 60s, briefly on Motown, who also enjoyed a disco-flavoured comeback in the late 70s. Their debut single remained their biggest hit... their career was clearly ambushed by Dr. Doom.
The Fantastic Four - The Whole World Is A Stage
THE FANTASTIC FOUR #3
Italian Euro-House gubbins from the 90s... even Galactus couldn't eat this.
The Fantastic Four - Turn It Up
THE FANTASTIC FOUR #4
A Swedish FF from 2001 - though their sound is much older. They got their break on a TV talent show, Talang 2007, and went on to win the 2012 World Championship of Performing Arts in Hollywood... though some suspect The Puppet Master was behind that.
The Fantastic Four - Wait A Minute
THE FANTASTIC FOUR #5
Intriguing dance track from 2003 which features spooky windy noises and an electronic magpie. Or that's what it sounds like to this philistine. It could just as easily be the sound of Blastarr, The Living Bomb Burst.
Finnish "Jazz Society Big Band" featuring Bianca Morales and three other dudes in 2004. Changed their name to The New FF Band, presumably to avoid getting sucked underground by The Mole Man...
FANTASTIC FOUR #7
Finally, the sound of Hungarian trance in 2011. Annihilus can't come soon enough.
It's not our best selection this week - I can guarantee the movie will be better!
Which ones are Fantastic? And which just makes you go FF...sake!
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