TV On The Radio #19: Jim'll Fix It

Back when I worked in radio, and before the death and subsequent revelations about Sir James Wilson Vincent Savile OBE KCSG, a colleague of mine who'd worked alongside him told us a number of disturbing stories about the famous TV and radio presenter. The one that sticks in my head was that if you did anything to upset Jimmy, you'd come in to work the following day to discover that someone had defecated in your desk drawer. There were all the other, even more disturbing, rumours too... but at the time, I took them with a grain of salt. Because how could someone in such a public role get away with that stuff without being exposed? That's the question we're still asking today, and though documentaries like A British Horror Story and the new Steve Coogan dramatisation, The Reckoning, attempt to answer that question... I'm not sure it'll ever be answered to our satisfaction. 

I wondered how Jimmy had been represented in popular song prior to the scandal? Did anyone suspect? Well, these comedians had clearly heard the rumours. You might say it's no joking matter, but I'm betting each of them actually wanted his crimes to be exposed and were pushing it as far as they dared on television at the time. And of course, John Lydon was banned from speaking out...

Songwriters probably had to be more careful. Though you can read between the lines on this song by The Toy Dolls...

Jimmy lives his life for charity

Jimmy's got no wife just an O.B.E

Everybody depends on Jimmy

Jimmy's getting a little cheesed off

Jimmy says that they've all enough

If they want Jim - it's tough!

The Toy Dolls - When You're Jimmy Savile

It's clear Mark E. Smith didn't have much time for the man either... but then again, did Mark E. like anyone?

Two hours!

With four left wing kids

I spent time in Nazi Fortress

Much discussion in room C-H-1-O-C-H-11

And Good King Harry was there

Fucking Jimmy Savile

The Fall - Fortress

Meanwhile, were Bentley Rhythm Ace dropping a hint in 2000?

Bentley Rhythm Ace - Jim'll Twist It

Irish band Bell X1 released the following track in 2011, shortly before Jimmy's death and state funeral. I wonder if they still sing it as written?

I'll never have a salad at McDonald's

Or heed the call to monetise the arts

All those letters to Jim'll Fix It lay somewhere in a basket

And the other guy got to play with Adam And The Ants

Bell X1 - 4 Minute Mile

There's not much evidence in the songs recorded before his death, to be honest. Afterwards though, the floodgates were opened... 

Avalanche Party create "feral garage-punk from the wild North Yorkshire Moors, hopped up on adrenalin and amphetamines". And I'm pretty sure the song below is about Jimmy, not just because it mentions his old TV show...

A cool morning

Day breaking

Put a shirt on

This machine

He is fit

He is lithe

He’s the driver

Of your dreams

He’s a man

A man of means

He’s won trophies

He’s won teams

He’s a cancer

You’re just a pill

Completely powerless

Against his will

It used to happen all the time

All the time it used to happen

Only 16

Only 15

Only 14

Only 13

Avalanche Party - Playing Field Blues

Another interesting discovery today: The Cool Greenhouse. who describe themselves as "music to lose scratch-cards to". Clearly Sir Jim haunts their dreams...

And sometimes when you close your eyes

There’s grinning Jimmy Saviles painted on your inner eyelids

Other times it’s Yoko Onos on treadmills

Stretching out into infinity

The Cool Greenhouse - The Sticks

Both of the above acts channel the ghost of Jimmy into dark musical nightmares. The same can't be said for Mick Trouble, who crafts a lovely jangly pop song named after Jimmy's old TV show. Not quite sure why, this only came out last year, so surely he's heard?

Mick Trouble - Jim'll Fix It

And then we get to the Reid brothers, speaking for all of us...

I can't believe that I couldn't see

How  many dodgy men were on the TV

While  I was growing to a man

They took advantage of the fans

Now,  when they re-run Top Of The Pops

Some of the hosts have got the chop

I'm sleeping soundly in my bed

'Cos Jimmy Savile's still dead

The Proclaimers - Then Again

The most damning reaction to the whole Savilegate affair came from The Indelicates though, in my album of the year from 2017, Juniverbrecher. I reviewed it as the time thus: 

The death of Little England through Brexit, parochialism and Saville. This staggering musical banishing spell urges hope.

It all begins in The Plaza Ballroom, Manchester, Christmas Eve, 1956...

These

These are the hours

They're the hours we'll remember

And so we will lie

When they ask what we knew

Of the crimes committed

While we were dancing

And then it erupts and corrupts Top of the Pops...

The full album is available here, and highly recommended. At least one good thing came out of this whole sorry business.

Mid-Life Crisis Songs #103: When I Was A Young Man

If you look closely at the picture above, you might be able to make out a flock of geese flying south for the winter in V formation. My camera wasn't really up to capturing it, but whenever I see a migration such as this, I feel rather humbled. Kind of puts my daily commute into perspective, much as I like to grumble about it.

A number of my fellow bloggers have waxed lyrical about the latest long player by former Go-Between Robert Forster. 

Here's Walter...

And here's The Blogfather himself...

I've a feeling someone else has also sung its praises, but aging memory, etc. etc. Apologies if it was you.

Anyway, it's a great record. Deeply personal, largely dealing with his wife Karin's battle with ovarian cancer and how that affected them both, but the gentlemen above have covered this much better than I could.

The closing track is the one I keep coming back to though, as the perfect Mid-Life Crisis tune. It's about looking back on your life without regret, only contentment. That's what I'm trying for.

Celebrity Jukebox #111: Rudolph & Piper

Ben and I have taken to alerting each other about famous deaths. Partly it's to help me keep up to date on this feature; I'm not sure what Ben gets out of it. Maybe he's just a ghoul. It's got to the stage where we just message the name of the latest departee; further conversation may or may not ensue.

This was our conversation last Friday...

Ben:  Rudolph Isley.

Rol:  Damned shame. This Old Heart Of Mine is one of my all time Top Ten.

Ben: Top 5 here.

Rol: Beyond the number 1, I don't really put them in order. It is however one of the few songs that makes the hairs on the back of my next stand up whenever I hear the drum intro.

Ben:  It's one of the best pop songs that's ever been written and performed.

Rol: Yes.

The Isley Brothers had many more great songs, but This Old Heart Of Mine (Is Weak For You) exists on another level. Take 2 minutes 45 seconds out of your day to appreciation sheer perfection...

I couldn't find any songs that mentioned Rudolph by name, but that didn't bother me. It was enough just to play that one again. And again.

Piper Laurie made her film debut in 1950 and her final screen appearance in 2018. She appeared in The Hustler with Paul Newman and played Sissy Spacek's domineering mother in Carrie, but she'll be best remembered at Top Ten Towers for her role as the conniving businesswoman Catherine Martell. Laurie was also a prominent civil rights activist, taking a 15 year break from acting during the 60s and 70s to protest against the Vietnam war.

I found a couple of songs in the jukebox dedicated to Piper. Firstly this...

Charm School - Piper Laurie

And then this lost gem from The Dangtrippers, which manages to squeeze a bit of biographical detail into a two and a half minute jangly power pop song, including a mention of her real name, Rosetta Jacobs...

In black and white soft focus dreams

She was wiser than now, all the rest

Enigmatic femme fatale,

She quit the screen for a normal life

Namesakes #55: Survivor

Sometimes, the simplest task can take forever. All I wanted was an image that represented a survivor... all I got was page after page focussing on a reality TV show where they dump a bunch of idiots on a desert island and you can guess the rest.

Here are a bunch of bands called Survivor. But after you've listened to them all, which will be... y'know.

SURVIVOR #1

Der! Der der der! Der der der! Der der derrrrrrrrr!

That's all you need to know about this Survivor, right?

Wrong. Because I just discovered that founder member Jim Peterik used to be in The Ides of March, and was the lead singer on the excellent Vehicle. 

But besides that...

Der! Der der der! Der der der! Der der derrrrrrrrr!

SURVIVOR #2

The "der der derrr!" Survivor formed in Chicago in 1978. A couple of years earlier, in Shreveport, Louisiana, these guys started making a racket. They didn't get a record out until '79 though... which might account for why youtube describes them as "The Other Survivor".

SURVIVOR #3

Also in 1979, in Pennsylvania, Judy Thomas was hoping to get her record played on the airwaves. Presumably it didn't happen, as discogs have no record of the "forthcoming album" mentioned on the label.

SURVIVOR #4

Japanese indie band from 1996, with the only track they ever seem to have set down on wax, 撤離 (which translates as 'Withdrawal', apparently).

SURVIVOR #5

Umcha umcha umcha dance tune from the year 2000, featuring Tongy. You know. Good old Tongy.

Rather disappointed that I was able to find this on the tube of you, but couldn't find the British punk band called Survivor with their sole 1978 release Pastiche. Epic fail, as the hipsters no doubt say.

There were also plenty of bands called The Survivors, but I'm not about to go digging into those unless you ask me really nicely. Having listened to the Survivors above, which would you like to be washed up on a desert island with?

Self-Help For Cynics #10: The Storytelling Brain

Feeling brow-beaten 
Day after day,
I think it's over, but I just can't get away

You said, forget it,
Well, don't jump the gun,
You're laughing this time, 
Next time, you might be the one
To tell...
The Story of the Blues!

First they take your pride,
Turn it all inside,
And then you realise you've got nothing left to lose
So you try to stop,
Try to get back up
And then you realise, you're telling 
The Story of the Blues.

At a California university in the 1950s, a rather bizarre experiment took place.  

A man is sitting in a chair with lots of electrical wires coming out of it. Some of these wires are taped to his arms, his legs and his face with electrodes. One by one, a group of student volunteers are led into an adjacent room where they can see the wired-up man through a window. A scientist in a white coat tells them that they are taking part in an experiment, that it’s quite safe, and that it’s for the good of humanity. All they have to do is follow instructions.

On the desk in front of them is a box with a big red button on. The scientist checks his watch, consults his clipboard, and then says, “Push the button.”

The student pushes the button.

The man in the next room suddenly begins to scream and convulse, his body twisting and writhing, his face stretched in agony. This goes on for a few seconds before it stops and the man slumps back into his chair.

“Did I…?” says the volunteer, looking concerned. “Was that because I…?”

“Press the button again,” says the scientist.

“Wait, no, did I…?”

“Press the button again.”

“I don’t want to hurt him. You said it was safe. I don’t think—”

“Press. The button. Again.”

The student pushes the button again.

The Plimsouls - Oldest Story In The World

As recommended by Ben, I’ve started reading Dr. Faith G. Harper’s Unfuck Your Brain. At first, I found her tone a little uncomfortable for a science / self-help book, because she swears. A lot. Not just in the title of the book, but pretty much every other sentence. She also uses a lot of slang and hipster / yoof speak that seems out of place for a medical professional of her age (not that I know exactly how old she is, but she doesn’t look like a fresh-faced Millennial). 

Paul Brady - Nothing But The Same Old Story

However, after a chapter or two, I found myself warming to her style, even appreciating it. She clearly knows her shit (to use her vernacular), and throws a lot of heavy brain-science at you, but does so in a way that’s very down to earth and actually quite endearing after a while. Your own mileage may vary, but I’m starting to learn that we can choose how we react to things, whether we like them or not. We don’t have to follow our initial instincts… which is a good thing, since my initial instinct appears to be hardwired to dislike most things automatically… and then just go along with that, without question. This may well have something to do with a concept Dr. Faith has just introduced me too: my storytelling brain…

Ray Davies - Storyteller

It's not just English teachers, frustrated wannabe novelists and people who spend far too much time writing about obscure musical trivia on the internet who have storytelling brains… we all do. Here’s Paul J. Zak, director of the Centre for Neuroeconomics Studies at Claremont Graduate University in California. 

…as social creatures who regularly affiliate with strangers, stories are an effective way to transmit important information and values from one individual or community to the next. Stories that are personal and emotionally compelling engage more of the brain, and thus are better remembered, than simply stating a set of facts.

Weirdly, this is something I’ve been teaching my students for a while now in my own clumsy way, without really understanding the science behind it. The writing question in GCSE English Language Paper 2 gives students an opinion such as “Homework is a waste of time” or “Prisons are too lenient” and then asks them to write an article, speech or letter in which they argue their opinion on this subject, for or against. I regularly advise students that the worst thing they can do is to start out by telling the reader their opinion and bombarding them with facts – much better to open with a story that illustrates their opinion in a persuasive manner. 

The Nightshift - That's My Story

We all love stories – and good stories make us care about characters and want to know what happens to them. Even unpleasant characters. Stories help us process our own experiences, emotions and relationships. Through stories we gain empathy which helps us connect and stay connected with other people (remember how the amygdala is interested in protecting our place in society as much as saving us from danger?). You meet your mate in the pub? What’s the first thing you say after the initial greetings and small talk are out of the way? “You’ll never guess what happened to me this week…”

Misty's Big Adventure - Story Of Love

Storytelling is also what our brains do when they’ve not got anything more important to deal with. That’s why our brains keep telling stories when we’re asleep – dreaming. That’s why our minds wander when we’re driving home and we start to construct stories about what we’ll have for tea, where we’re going this weekend, the conversation we might have with our significant other. We make plans, which are just stories, and try to head off conflict (which is an essential part of any story, but something we go out of our way to avoid in real life). And Dr. Zak even believes it’s why we slow down to look at car accidents – it’s not out of a ghoulish desire to see mangled bodies and twisted metal, it’s self-preservation. If we can construct a story about why it happened, we can then stop the same thing happening to ourselves. So don’t feel guilty the next time you drive by a multi-car pile-up: the scientists have given you a free pass to gawk.

Stories help us learn. This is something good teachers understand. Even barely average to occasionally piss poor teachers like myself pick it up eventually. Say I’ve got to explain the imperative voice to a class. I can give them the grammatical explanation like so…

“The imperative mood is a verb form used to make a demand, issue a warning, or give advice or instructions. The subject of sentences in the imperative mood is implied to be the second-person pronoun “you,” but the word usually isn't actually included (e.g., “close the door”).”

Social Distortion - Story Of My Life

Or I can tell them the story at the top of this post, to illustrate the power of a command sentence that uses the imperative voice. 

Is it a true story? Well, I’m sure I’ve read about similar experiments that were used to explain why so many Nazi soldiers followed the orders of the Third Reich in WWII… but whether it’s true or not really doesn’t matter. The fact is, that story is far more likely to help your brain remember the definition, purpose and power of the imperative voice than reading a dozen grammar textbooks back to back ever will. 

The Velvet Underground - That's The Story Of My Life

Still with me? Sorry, this is a long one.

I've been through hell

On my way to hell

I only fought with myself

So I'd have a story to tell

Wilco - Story To Tell

Stories help us learn because they create recognisable patterns which relate to our own experiences. Or, to use science talk, they create and strengthen neural pathways. Here’s an explanation from The Great Minds Clinic…

A neural pathway is a series of connected neurons that send signals from one part of the brain to another.

We already have a series of neural pathways, and we are creating new ones all the time. An example of an early neural pathway is that if a baby smiles, he or she is rewarded by a smile in return and possibly a cuddle. The same baby may work out that if he or she touches something sharp, it may hurt. Both are valuable learning experiences.

Tygers of Pan Tang - The Story So Far

Neural pathways tell our brain how to react to whatever is thrown at us on a daily basis. That includes things we’ve dealt with before and things we’ve only ever seen or heard about second hand (which is why we’re so interested in car crashes). It’s like the basic programming language you might have learned in school, starting with IF…

IF b > 10 THEN GOTO 20.

Or, to put it into language Dr. Faith G. Harper would be more likely to approve of…

IF hungry sabretooth tiger approaching THEN getthefuckoutofDodge!

Nancy Sinatra & Lee Hazlewood - Storybook Children

All very useful in terms of keeping us alive, which you’ll recall is our brain’s number one function.

Except…

Except sometimes we create neural pathways that are significantly less useful, using stories that reinforce negative or self-destructive responses and ultimately lead us into a world of pain and misery.

Which is where I’ll pick up next time.

(A reminder, if you're new here... I'm writing these posts for myself, to help me understand my own mental health and hopefully manage it a little better than I have been doing over the past few years. They may be of interest to you too, but I'm not preaching. Or, as Todd Snider puts it, "I did not do this to change your mind about anything, I did this to ease my own mind about everything".)