8. Follows Ray Parker into the All Terrain Armoured Transport. Sirius, Polaris, Antares.
Ray Parker is followed by Jr. The All Terrain Armoured Transport was also known as a Walker, as Star Wars fans will know. Sirius, Polaris and Antares are all stars.
And like a real life pantomime baddy, he swept onto the stage spewing bile and division in a series of specially targeted hate bombs... or "executive actions", as he likes to call them. That whole speech just reminded me of Macbeth...
It is a tale
Told by an idiot,
Full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing.
It all just makes me very tired and very sad... especially when I log onto the book of faces to see a former colleague praising that inauguration speech and somebody else commenting "Why can't we have a leader like [him*]?"
*I can't even bring myself to type his name anymore.
The following morning, I was driving in to work and this track came up on the memory stick. It seemed apt.
I didn't know anything about Razzy Bailey before I heard this tune on a Country Soul compilation, so I was surprised to discover what a long and successful career he had, including three double sided number 1's in succession on the US Country Music chart, "a feat never accomplished by any other artist".
This is one of Razzy's earliest tunes, from his 1974 debut album of the same name... and it was a big hit on the Northern Soul scene too, for obvious reasons.
And so begins the contractually obliged countdown of my favourite albums of the year. The usual caveats apply:
the order is spurious, based on the capricious whims of the day I compiled this list, and subject to change just as easily as the wind. Only the Top 3 holds any kind of accuracy.
records released earlier in the year, which I've had longer to live with and enjoy, will doubtlessly place higher than ones I'm still getting into. I keep telling the recording industry this - if they want to score a definite Top Ten placing in my year end countdown, don't wait till bloody November to put their records out. But do they listen to me?
in the next few months, I am guaranteed to buy and/or discover a bunch of new records which would surely have deserved a place in this list... but it's hard to keep on top of it all. I still haven't heard the new Father John Misty record, for example, though I have added it to my Christmas list.
Anyway, here are some records which I enjoyed...
24. Eels - Eels Time
Mark Everett is pretty much assured a place in this countdown just by opening his front door and serenading an enormous pine cone (as seen above). It's a testament then to the strength of this year's runner and riders that he places right at the "bottom" of the list... Eels albums usually make the Top 15, at least. Eels Time!, the fifteenth Eels long player, probably isn't going to win him any new converts, but it's a warm, reassuring cuddle for those of us who've been with him from the start.
Time, there was nothing but time then Click-clack, riding down the tracks Never worried about coming back Anyplace looked good to me Why not stop and see What's there?
Time, there isn't much time now What's the fear? Well, I like it here With the ones I love so near Maybe there's just some way Dear God I can stay
23. Pixies - The Night The Zombies Came
What I said above for Mark could just as easily apply to Frank.
There are some artists you grow tired of once you've heard everything they have to say... and there are others you're happy to keep listening to even though the song remains the same. Pixies most definitely fall into the latter category - more power to Charles Michael Kittridge Thompson IV and his pals.
Who's gonna live? Who's gonna die? Is there any true love? Oh, I don't know why
22. Chuck Prophet - Wake The Dead
We close today with another Charles, one who's been through quite a bit over the past couple of years, following a diagnosis of stage four lymphoma. Thankfully a) he's in remission now; and b) it's not affected his work-rate one bit. While undergoing treatment, Chuck spent a lot of time listening to Cumbia music, which the google AI tells me is "a Latin American musical genre that originated in Colombia and is characterized by a blend of African, indigenous, and European influences". I'm sure Ernie can give a better description than that. Anyway, as a result of this new obsession, Chuck has teamed up with Cumbia band ¿Qiensave? for his latest record, though this doesn't mean it's a drastic departure from his regular output... perhaps just a bit more rhythmic. Still sounds good to me anyway.
We might have ourselves a picnic We might end up on the moon They might even name a planet after me If they ask you any questions go ahead and tell the truth If we have to, we can plead insanity If it’s good enough for you, it works for me
I've never been anti-American. I grew up on American culture - Spider-Man and Springsteen, Motown and Moonlighting. For much of my youth, I felt more American than I did British. And considering the sorry state of the UK at the moment, I don't believe we're in any state to judge.
This isn't an anti-American post then. It's just an anti-American idiots post. Because the lunatics appear to be taking over the asylum once more, and given recent events, nothing's going to bar their way. "God" help us all.
While America prepares to re-elect the riot-inciting, bleach-advocating man baby (not that we can talk, considering they brought Cameron back), here are fifteen songs that mention a former POTUS in the title. But before we get to that... here's Poet Laureate Simon Armitage giving his verdict on the Trump regime...
We're back with another one of George's suggestions, but I knew I'd have little problem coming up with songs about Lucille Fay LeSueur. Four years ago (can it really be that long?), way before the Celebrity Jukebox was even built, I composed a Top Ten Bette Davis Songs. At the time, George asked me to follow with a Top Ten Joan Crawford Songs and I even started compiling a list... then life got in the way. Anyway, better late than never.
We have to start with this one, because I know it's on of George's personal favourites...
I should stop there, because clearly we're not going to beat a song with the chorus
Joan Crawford has rise from the grave!
But just in case there's anyone out there who doesn't share George's deep devotion to the Cult of the Blue Oyster... try these instead:
And some Homeboys lookin' for trouble down here from the Bronx
Arguably the best Lou Reed album features quite a few celebrity guests. I'm sure we'll hear from that record again soon.
How about something a bit more recent? How about a band who describe themselves as "Angry and miserable post-punk music from Italy"? Surely you want some of that?
But as we're clearly never going to find a song that beats George's favourites, maybe the best we can do to close this post is choose a song about one of Joan's most famous roles?
Your suggestions welcome. Otherwise I'll just keep going through George's list...
When I started this countdown a couple of weeks back, I did point out that the rankings were pretty arbitrary up to the Top 3, and that most of the records prior to this might go up and down in my affections depending on the day, my mood, and the weather.
But this... this was very nearly my record of the year, because it's an absolute belter. Chuck Prophet has made some great albums in his time, but nothing as consistently WOW as The Land That Time Forgot.
I won't feature the Trump song again, because it's had multiple exposures on this blog in the last 6 months, as have some of the other tracks below. But selecting only one just doesn't do this album justice...
This epic cliff-hanger season climax seemed inevitable for The Greatest Show on Earth... especially in 2020... and whatever happens with the vote, you know it's not over by a long shot.
I make no apologies for playing this again. Maybe I'll play it every day until he's gone. Even if that takes another 4 years...
It seems impossible, after everything that has happened in the past 4 years, that Trump will be re-elected next Tuesday. But it seemed impossible that he'd be elected in the first place. And it seems impossible that he hasn't been impeached and thrown in jail a long time ago. It seems impossible than anyone would still vote for him.
He's a demagogue Check out his rise He's a demagogue He's fatally famous He's a demagogue He plays with my fears A demagogue My shadow side dreaming The demagogue It feels so good to be dumb
From the wall straight to la cuenta Those pussy grabbing fingers Won't let go of me now Demagogue The demagogue
He's coming down the escalator With a girl from east of here He wants to make the country greater We've got nothing left to fear
Because the man in the tin foil hat Is sitting on the throne tonight It kinda feels like a coup d'etat But it's gonna be great, tremendous, amazing and all that
'Cause the man in the tin foil hat Is tweeting like a teenage girl He puts the Pluto in plutocrat But it's gonna be a huge huge huge new world He hasn't got the time for losers Unless they do as he commands He's writing checks to his accusers With those tiny little hands
'Cause the man in the tin foil hat Is gonna drain the swamp tonight And fill it up with alternative facts And it's gonna be great, tremendous, amazing and all that
Oh and I don't believe in the devil But you might make me go and change my mind You can see this whole damn world get leveled and not even lose track of time Inside your gilded walls that shine
Well another group of kids in high schools dead But you're still at your golf course teeing off at nine People marching in the streets trying to find a little peace You sit around spouting awful shit online
Well you've always been the same You ain't ever gonna change But I know it's gonna all catch up with you in time And there's a pot of gold from all the dreams you stole Inside your gilded walls that shine
On May 11th 1930, Mary Anne Macleod, from Tong on The Isle of Lewis, boarded the RMS Transylvania from Glasgow to New York City, in search of a better life. There, she fell in love with Frederick, whose father had come to America from Germany as a 16 year old barber.
The couple raised five children.
Mary Anne’s middle son would return years later to Scotland, home of his MacLeod ancestors, whose clan motto is: I burn but I am not consumed. And here - in the name of progress and profit - and executive golf - he would pit himself against time and tide. In his wake, the shifting sands at Balmedie in Aberdeenshire would never be the same.
That son of Mary Anne MacLeod is powerful.
So too is The North Sea.
The marbled, metamorphic rock of Lewis is two-thirds the age of Earth - amongst the very oldest found on our planet. It knows about power. It’s seen a lot. And so I wondered: what might that rock of Lewis have to say about the Inauguration - tomorrow in Washington DC - of the 45th President of the United States of America - Mary Anne’s middle son? This is what the rock told me.
