Friday, 4 April 2025
Bertie Fridays #8: "The Most Influential Guitarist of all Time"
Thursday, 3 April 2025
Celebrity Jukebox #134: Val Kilmer
He was Jim Morrison* and Elvis Presley**.
He was The Iceman.
He was Batman, a good enough Batman, in a not-that-great Batman movie.
He even played the voice of KITT the car in a Knight Rider remake.
*In Oliver Stone's The Doors, Val did an excellent Jim Morrison impression, in looks, speech and song...
(**In Tony Scott's film of Quentin Tarantino's True Romance.)
Val Kilmer had a huge screen presence when I was growing up. His star has dwindled and he's been fighting throat cancer in recent years (reluctant to engage with medical procedures due to his religious beliefs), but his death, at only 65, still comes as a shock.
On hearing of his passing, I immediately remembered Father John Misty name-dropping him in this story of faded Hollywood glamour from his 2022 LP Chloë and the Next 20th Century.
Val Kilmer had a wall length
Mirror just over there
Well, I'm sure he's someone else now
But he was Batman when he lived here
Wednesday, 2 April 2025
Listening Post #27: Jump In The Line
There's two ways we can look at this one...
1. Ash are desperate for a bit of radio airplay to remind folk that they're still out there, 30+ years on. (Ash formed in 1992, when Tim Wheeler was just 15.)
2. The members of Ash are now turning 50 and have stopped giving two hoots what anyone thinks of them, they just want to have some fun.
It doesn't really matter. This is great.
Tuesday, 1 April 2025
Namesakes #131: Fools
THE FOOLS #1
We start with a Swedish rock n roll band from 1965 who appear to have specialised mostly in covers, like this one, originally done by Bobby Darin.
THE (APRIL) FOOLS #2
Our first offering to upset the sticklers... but I was hardly going to leave them out today. Sunshine pop from 1968, produced by Wayne Carson, who also wrote The Letter for the Box Tops and co-wrote Always On My Mind.
The April Fools - Things Go Better With You
FOOLS #3
THE FOOLS #4
Ipswich-based band who got together in 1976. Ipswich, Massachusetts, that is. Had a long and distinguished (?) career stretching as far as 2017 (and beyond?) with dubiously-titled songs such as She Looks Alright In The Dark and Life Sucks, Then You Die.
George is going to hate me for this, but I laughed out loud when I listened to their biggest "hit". (I hope Talking Heads were adequately compensated.)
(APRIL AND) THE FOOLS #5
Another one to irk the purists...
April (aka singer Barb Dwyer) & The Fools came from Brighton in 1980. This track crops up on quite a few early 80s post-punk compilations, but it's all I can find by them.
THE FOOLS #6
Japanese Fools, formed in 1980, and still kicking around in the last few years.
FOOLS #7
French hair-metal Fools from 1991...
THE FOOLS #8
Grungey Fools from Newcastle... Newcastle, Australia, that is. On the go since the late 90s, but this was released in 2015.
The Fools - Jesus Drives A Sandman
THE FOOLS #9
Lo-fi indie Fools from 2015...
(APRIL) FOOLS #10
More French Fools from 2014, appropriate for today. They're very proud of the fact that they have two bassists, a drummer... and no guitarist.
THE (APRIL) FOOLS #11
Even more rule-breaking Fools from seven years ago...
The April Fools - Calling The Kettle Black
THE FOOLS #12
Bluesy Southern Rock Fools from 2018...
FOOLS #13
Polish Fools, also from 2018. They claim this one shows their "disco funky side".
FOOLS #14
Sweaty Texan Fools from 2019...
FOOLS #15
FOOLS #16