Monday 30 September 2024

Kris

I had a different post to run today, but as I came to post it, I saw the news about Kris Kristofferson taking his Last Ride

Time was, I'd have tried to cobble together a decent eulogy, but the words aren't coming too easy these days, so here are some of his finest moments...


Freedom's just another word for nothin' left to lose




And there's nothin' short a' dyin'
That's half as lonesome as the sound
Of the sleepin' city sidewalk
And Sunday mornin' comin' down


I was a sailor
I was born upon the tide
And with the sea I did abide
I sailed a schooner around the Horn to Mexico
I went aloft and furled the mainsail in a blow
And when the yards broke off they said that I got killed
But I am living still



Sunday 29 September 2024

Snapshots #363: A Top Ten Songs Featuring Cities That Have Changed Their Names

It's Prince, of course, because he knew a thing or two about changing his name.

Here then are Ten Songs Featuring Towns Or Cities That Changed Their Names. Yep, another snappily titled Top Ten. Sadly I had to leave out the town of Fugging in Austria, which up until 2021 was known by a slightly different name...

One of the reasons they changed the name was that people kept nicking the sign.


10. Switched off the TV.

He abandoned his Television after only two albums (not counting the 1992 "let's-get-the-band- back-together-for-dollars comeback record").

Tom Verlaine - Stalingrad 

It's now called Volgograd. What did Stalin do wrong?

9. Tangled up cello? Solve its mystery!

"Cello... Solve its" was an anagram.

Elvis Costello - New Amsterdam

So good, they named it once.

8. Ron Moody, Martin Jarvis, Nicholas Lyndhurst, Ben Whishaw.

Four actors who have played the part of Uriah Heep in David Copperfield.

Uriah Heep - Salisbury 

As well as being a city in England, Salisbury was also the original name of Harare, the capital of Zimbabwe.

7. Swears he never had any matches.

He did not start the fire!

Billy Joel - Leningrad 

Now Saint Petersburg. I would also have allowed...

Billy Joel - Goodnight, Saigon

...although a gentleman below also had that answer.

6. Found in red and yellow swill. I am simply not going looking for it!

...red and yellow swill I am simply...

Andy Williams - The Peking Theme (So Little Time)

Peking, of course, is now Beijing. I'm still waiting for them to change the name of our local Chinese restaurant.

5. Changed, to protect the innocent.

A rather apt band, and clue, given today's theme...

The Names - Calcutta

4. A diamond in the rough.

That was the name of his second album. John isn't an easy man to come up with clues for...

John Prine - Saigon

...and it's Ho Chi Minh City these days.

3. Rich studs.

Golden Earring - Bombay

Mumbai, if you please.

2. Awake, but not taking part.

Surely the most un-Cerys picture of Cerys on the internet. The 90s have a lot to answer for.

Catatonia - Londinium

1. Try to unravel Betty's thigh enigma.

"Betty's thigh enigma" was an anagram, you say? No way!

They Might Be Giants - Istanbul (Not Constantinople) 

Only one choice for Number One this week...


Saturday 28 September 2024

Saturday Snapshots #363

Looks like it's going to be rather a Messi Saturday. Perhaps you can help by tidying up the clues below and working out the link between this week's songs...


10. Switched off the TV.

9. Tangled up cello? Solve its mystery!

8. Ron Moody, Martin Jarvis, Nicholas Lyndhurst, Ben Whishaw.

7. Swears he never had any matches.

6. Found in red and yellow swill. I am simply not going looking for it!

5. Changed, to protect the innocent.

4. A diamond in the rough.

3. Rich studs.

2. Awake, but not taking part.

1. Try to unravel Betty's thigh enigma.


Answers revealed tomorrow morning!

Friday 27 September 2024

Listening Post #4: Father


The new John Grant album is everything you could want from a John Grant album, if you're a John Grant fan. I don't think it'll win him any new converts, but I reckon he's at the point in his career where he's happy with the fanbase he's got.

One track in particular stops me in my tracks whenever it comes on... and it had me crying on the motorway this morning. As with much of John's writing, it's extremely personal and suggests that the relationship with his late father was a complex one. But I couldn't help but be affected by this verse...

And that's the staircase where I sat back in the 70s
Listening to the radio, the first big hit from C&T
I'd still be sitting there if anything were up to me
I can hear you telling me that nothing on this Earth is free
And now I see the work bench that you made with your two hands
And I'd give anything to see you standing where you used to stand
To feel your hand upon my shoulder, that meant comfort then
To see you turn around and smile and say, "Hey, Quatro, how you been?"

Extra marks for anyone who can identify C&T. Knowing John Grant like I do, I have a pretty good idea...



Wednesday 25 September 2024

Listening Post #3: Jesse


I was listening to the radio the other night when I heard mention of a Jesse Malin tribute album, featuring this cover by Bruce Springsteen…


Hang on a minute – why is there a Jesse Malin tribute album? I guess I’d missed the news. In May 2023, Malin suffered an extremely rare spinal stroke which left him paralysed from the waist down. Ever since then, he’s dedicated himself to recovery, including a number of operations, long days of  physical therapy and rehabilitation, even trips to South America to try alternate routes to rehabilitation. All this has cost a heck of a lot of money, hence the need set up a Sweet Relief fund-raiser, and this tribute album featuring a load of top names covering Jesse’s songs, among them Lucinda Williams, Elvis Costello, Billie Joe Armstrong, The Hold Steady, Frank Turner, Susanna Hoffs and, of course, Bruce.

The good news is that Jesse is starting to get some strength back in his legs and he’ll be performing his first live shows since the stroke in December, with help from many of the artists featured on the album. Wishing him well for continued recovery.

Here’s the man himself singing one of his best songs…

Tuesday 24 September 2024

Namesakes #104: The Firm


I'm not sure The Firm is a great name for your band. Still, I guess it's better than The Limp. And plenty of bands appear to have chosen it. Here are this week's contenders...


THE FIRM #1

We'll start today in 1980 with an obscure British punk band. This was the second b-side to their single Angry Young Men. I can't find any other tracks from them on the web, so count yourself lucky I found this one.


THE FIRM #2


80s rock "supergroup" made up of Paul Rodgers, Jimmy Page, the drummer from Manfred Mann's Earth Band and fretless bass player Tony Franklin. They made two albums in '85 and '86, then called it a day. Hopefully they made enough money to buy Paul Rodgers some new buttons for his shirt...


THE FIRM #3


Boldly going forward, 'cos they can't find reverse. Grahame Lister, John O'Connor and Tony Thorpe were The Firm between 1982 and 1988, releasing the chart-topping (I bought it, for which I can only apologise) Star Trekkin' in '87. I'll spare you that. Instead, here's their far less ear-grating tribute to George Cole from a few years earlier...


THE FIRM #4

Some utter nonsense from the early 90s... Elvis would be turning in his grave (if he was actually dead).


THE FIRM #5


90s rap "supergroup" led by Dr. Dre (he's not a real doctor), featuring Nas, Foxy Brown, AZ and Cormega. In 1997, they released an album of mafioso-themed rap which wasn't particularly well received, so they all went back to their day jobs.


THE FIRM #6

French hardcore techno from 2005. At least the song title is honest, though they lose marks for spelling.


THE FIRM #7

And finally, a Dutch Oi! band from 2011...



So... which is your Firm Favourite?

(Yes, this whole edition was designed just to allow me to write that line.)

Monday 23 September 2024

Listening Post #2: Getting The Band Back Together Again


I'm trying to remember the good things about our holiday in Wales, not the rainy days and the speeding ticket. (Apparently they're currently in the process of reviewing the 20 mph limit, and may reverse it in places. Too late for me, and I was extra miffed to learn that if I'd be going one mph less than the 26 mph I was clocked at, I wouldn't have had a letter.)  

Wild Spelks aren't from Wales, they're from Newcastle, where everyone can drive as fast as they like. Sometimes even 32 mph. 

Songwriter Jonathon Sabiston named the band after a Geordie word for splinter, like the stabbing sensations you feel when you're panicked or overwhelmed. Apparently he struggles with his mental health, which endears him - and his band - to me even more. This is a very catchy tune if you give it a couple of listens...



Sunday 22 September 2024

Snapshots #362: A Top Ten Songs Named After Different Styles Of Poetry

Shall I compare thee to a summer's day? No? Fair enough.

Shall I give you the answers to yesterday's Snapshots instead? Here are ten types of poetry, immortalised in song...


10. What the last ugly duckling in the alphabet became.

Billy Corgan's other band is...

Zwan - Lyric

9. Stop listening to that George Michael album!

Faith!? No more!

Faith No More - Epic

8. Telling Goldman Sachs to "get stuffed" (but not quite so polite).

FU, GS!

The Fugs - The National Haiku Contest

7. Not to be confused with a monkey.

Or even a Monkee. To avoid confusion, he changed his name from David Jones...

David Bowie - Eight Line Poem

6. Girls magazine: Ight, Ine, En...

Jackie was the magazine. The next number in that sequence would be Leven.

Jackie Leven - Elegy For Johnny Cash

5. Embarrassed monarch. 

King Crimson - Epitaph

4. Found down the back of a Boise Armchair.

"Boise Armchair" was an anagram for Jon Bon Jovi's (former?) best mate...

Richie Sambora - Ballad Of Youth

3. Good for your urinary tract.

Cranberries - Ode To My Family

2. Spock joins the Chicken Company. (Not Joni!)

Leonard Cohen - Villanelle For Our Time

1. Found aboard a river vessel. 

A river vessel. 

The Verve - Sonnet


If you can keep your head when all about you are losing theirs and blaming it on you, then join me again next Saturday for more Snapshots.


Saturday 21 September 2024

Saturday Snapshots #362


Still in your dressing gown, Denzel? Well, it is Saturday morning. Thank you for getting up in time for Snapshots though...

Here are ten popular musicians. How are their songs connected?


10. What the last ugly duckling in the alphabet became.

9. Stop listening to that George Michael album!

8. Telling Goldman Sachs to "get stuffed" (but not quite so polite).

7. Not to be confused with a monkey.

6. Girls magazine: Ight, Ine, En...

5. Embarrassed monarch. 

4. Found down the back of a Boise Armchair.

3. Good for your urinary tract.

2. Spock joins the Chicken Company. (Not Joni!)

1. Found aboard a river vessel. 

Answers tomorrow morning... though I'm sure you'll get them first.


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