It is estimated there are 7 Billion people alive on earth, I would like to think there is only one of me. Alas if only that were true. I think we are not unique and whilst we are products of our DNA, it does not make me the only one of me. For all my belief that I have something new and unique to say by blogging, I am not unique and my words are not new......they are just the random words mixed up in my head and then re-arranged into sentences posted on to this blog to make it sound like me.
Now the song all by it self can’t do that, but in much the same way as a rudderless ship will drift aimlessly with the risk of running aground and breaking up ….. fitting the rudder can change the course of the ship …. to a safe haven and tranquil waters ……
Thus 15 years after first hearing one particular song …. which thence became my rudder …… it was last night that the singer Glen Hansard captivated and seduced us all at the Union Chapel ...... as we were falling slowly …..
And 15 years later ….. from when I was first gifted that song ….. the ripples are still rippling, the memories still memorised …… and the heart still dances …..
.... one of the highlights of my trip to Australia was getting the clapping butter out ...
I was watching the local news and they did a report on the sunset applause at Scarborough Beach ...... how daft is that ......my mother declared ....... it was the sanest thing I had ever heard of .....
We worship made up gods .... blimey we even celebrate a vir .... ach ...vir .... ugh .... vir .....ach .... virgin sodding birth ..... Christ knows how that one works ..... but the thing that gives us light, heat, and the very life we breathe ........ and without which, we would be completely in the dark .... why not give it a round of applause ....
So at the end of my stay I jumped on the bike and cycled down to Scarborough Beach .... I took my seat on the beach amphitheatre and by sun down it was standing room only ..... there was a chap with a guitar belting out some great tunes ..... and as the sun fell from the sky ......
......... as it passed the horizon we gave it a hearty round of applause ......
We talk of the setting sun as being the end .... seems fitting for today's SoD ......
Last Christmas day I had my ipod on shuffle and today's SoD came on ..... gosh I thought ..... it's a while since I had listened to the song and what an amazing song it is .... took me a couple of listens to understand it .... but when you do ...... it goes to show the genius that is Vic Chesnutt ....
The thing is, it was all down to the algorithms designed by the Apple IT bods that caused it to be played on my ipod on christmas day last .... and simply nothing else ..... but hearing the song caused me to look up Vic's life again ...... who knows maybe it was more than simple algorithms that caused it to be played .....
This christmas there are no algorithms at play ......
.... this surely can't be Brighton Beach in late November ......
but it is you know .....
there can only be one SoD for it ....
however, it is not strictly true that there is only one SoD
in the past 7 years I have been to Australia a fair few times ...
but my arrival each time is met with a huge sadness ...
the fact he is not here to greet me ...
despite it being 24th November 2011 that I said my last good bye
oh what I would do to be sat here with him now.....
for just one more day ...
... It has been the best part of 40 years since I last visited main land China, and such is the change I saw on my arrival...... I could have been in any modern western metropolis ...... unlike the industrial town of Dalian in 1980.
Back then, there were very few private cars on the road, , most people were bedecked in Chairman Mao suits and riding push bikes. There was a road side butchers stall with the meat hanging in the open with string from the wooden stall, with the finest pigs head on show.
At the main dept store, we weren't even given real money to spend, just visitors notes ..... and as you walked in ... the most obvious ..... spittoons at each entrance to the store .....
Fast forward 40 years [or so] and the roads are filled with cars ..... even a Porsche Boxster .... KFC's ...... designer stores ....... people fixated at their palms, seduced by their smart phones ...... Micky D's and even a 'fake' Rover 75 ......
A taxi driver was using a smart phone for sat nav and a second phone to have a videochat .... all whilst driving .......
Although the funny thing was no spittoons ...... that having been said traveling in the airport shuttle bus .... the driver snorted up what sounded like a gold watch ..... and must have been hankering after the good old days ...... but instead he wound down the bus window and with a resounding thrup ..... it hit the tarmac ..... loverly I thought .....
I did discover though ...... that I and a chinese taxi driver had something in common. It was only by pure happenstance we should have met as well ..... for my journey to Heathrow, I thought I would buy a new thermos flask. I went to my local Tesco and looking through ... there was a very trendy style fliptop one .... not a flask, not a mug .... but somewhere in between ..... never seen them before, but that'll be perfect .....
Well bugger my old sea boots, as I was traveling in the taxi to the Mausoleum of the Western Han Dynasty of the Nanyue King ...... in between his video chats .... the taxi driver leant over to the other seat ..... and picked up ..... a fliptop thermos flask ... identical to one the I had recently bought ..... who'd have thought it .... a Chinese taxi driver shopping at my local Tesco store ......
Today's SoD was written by David Bowie and Iggy Pop around the time I was last in China .... it is said .... although I was not there to verify it .... that the song was written about a girl Iggy was infatuated with ... and possibly not even Chinese .... I have to admit I prefer the Bowie version ... as much as I love Iggy ... his version is a bit too raw .....
But it got me thinking .... if it was written 40 years ago about a young woman .... then by now, just like me .... a young man grown old .... then so must she ....
... you can't even wash your feet in
the pisser ..... A couple of weekends back I was at
the Birmingham MAC to see a film, and sure enough I had the call of nature ....
but my eye was caught with the following sign .....
The only thing I could think was
.... who in their right mind would want to wash their feet in the toilets ? ....
but more than one person must have ... to have prompted them to put up a sign ....
But if that wasn't b[m]ad enough
.... I then saw this headline earlier in the week ......
"Clean-up bill for Ipswich man who used fruit machine as urinal"
For fook's sake ...... I must have missed
that lesson in Domestic Science at school when it came to toileting ...... But then last night my faith in the
human race was restored ...... of course through the power of music ..... I was watching Live with Jools, and
it wasn't much of a line up but then he introduced Terry Reid .... and there
was some middle aged bloke with a guitar ..... Terry who ? .... yes
exactly ... that's what I thought ..... But ..... but ..... Terry Reid is
probably one of the greatest singer song writers this country has never heard
of ..... just like America has Sixto Rodriguez .... Then we have Terry Reid
...... Terry Reid was destined to be the lead singer of Led Zeppelin .... but
due to contractual reasons he could not take up the offer and the rest ....
they say .... is history ..... But listening to him, even in the
twighlight of his career you know he is something special .... so off I trotted
to YouTube and searched for Terry Reid .... the first song to catch my eye was
May Fly .... simply for the reason that Paul Weller has a wonderful song on his
latest album ..... called .... yep May Fly .... check it out ... classic Paul
Weller ..... Anyway I though I would give Terry's
Mayfly a go ..... well fooking hell and for good measure fook my old sea boots
once more ....... I have decided that I could listen to this song on repeat to
the end of time, and still it wouldn't be long enough to appreciate just how
good this song is ..... how have I lived this life, and now only just discovered this song ?!? It was written in 1969 ..... people gush how magnificent Nick
Drakes, Pink Moon song is .... I gush how magnificent Nick Drakes Pink Moon
song is, but that was written in 1972 and you can only wonder if Nick was a fan
of May Fly ..... people gush how magnificent David Bowie's, Life on Mars song
is .... I gush how magnificent David Bowie's, Life on Mars song is, but that
was written in 1971 and listening to the piano work you can only wonder if
Davie was a fan of May Fly.......
Who
know's maybe Paul Weller is a fan too ......
But
I have to warn you ....
when
you listen to today's SoD
you
too will become a fan of Terry Reid ...
A
song that defies definition other than it
is worthy
of any SoD collection ....
Take me back there again Let me feel the same way As I always used to say
... a couple of weeks back Valerie Singleton was bemoaning the fact that Joan Armatrading would not dispel the rumours that they had a rampant lesbian romp .....
Whoooooa ..... wait a minute .... Val Singleton was my generation of Blue Peter, and I've been tuned into Joan Armatrading since she was me myself I ...... but I had never heard this rumour before ..... so had Val not bemoaned about this, I for sure would never had known about it .... and I suspect nor would 1000's of others .... so instead of quashing the rumour all Val has done is spread it to a wider audience.....Val was complaining it had blighted her life, all because she had once interviewed Joan Armatrading ....
The funny thing is I bumped into Joan last night in Bury St Edmunds .... here was my chance to ask her direct .....
Now when I say bumped into her ... it wasn't so much as bumped into her ...... as sat near the stage bumped into her ......
She was here .... but we were banned from taking pictures of her ... so you will have to imagine her here ......
Anyway, I thought best not to shout out my question and instead let her sing her version of events ..... and strangely enough not once did she mention any rampant lesbian romps with Valerie Singleton .....
But she did knock out some great tunes ..... here are some fab songs from her playlist last night ....
And as she left the stage it looked as if some woman had thrown her knickers on the stage at Joan.... I swear to god she looked like Val ....
For all my exuberance at finding Sugarman .... there is a slight sadness postscript ......
To all intents and purpose the film .... Searching For Sugarman ...... was made by Malik Bendjelloul, a Swedish film maker ...... of course he didn't 'make' every bit of the film but he was the alto ego of the movie making process ......
Yesterday was a beautiful sunny day, so I took the day off work and rode the Ducati into central London ... after a great lunch with clients, I rode the bike out to the Royal Albert Hall and parked close by [all free of charge] ... and no sooner had I stepped off the bike and I was then in my seat waiting for Sixto Rodriguez to appear.
Had Malik Bendjelloul not been seduced by the story of Sugarman and then made his film, then chances are I would probably never have heard of Sixto Rodriguez, thus not being enthralled with his music, then not seen him live at the Albert Hall, and in turn not had a great day off work yesterday .... a day to remember well .....
In 2012 the movie won critical acclaim and Malik Bendjelloul was on the cusp of wider acknowledgement of his talent too ....... but one day in May 2014 he jumped in front of a train ......
In my adult life, I have known 4 people close to me who have suffered the loss of a loved one close to them, through suicide ....... it's a subject there are few words for and perhaps best described by a feeling ...... a feeling of utter sadness .........
Last night as I sat clapping, and whoop whooping at the wonder of Sixto Rodriguez, I was reminded of Malik Bendjelloul without whom, I would not have been entertained so well last night .....
In the words of Mitch Albom ........ There are no random acts.... you can no more separate one life from another, than you can separate the breeze from the wind.....
.... Sugarman .... at the Royal Albert Hall of all places ....
Back in 2012 a movie came out called ..... Searching for Sugarman ..... I read the blurb .... and thought oh that sounds interesting, I'll go and see that .... but for a whole variety of reasons, primarily procrastination I never did watch it .....
So at the beginning of this year, I was going through my 2012 todo list, and I came across the entry .... "watch Sugarman" ..... so I went on line, ordered the movie .... and no sooner had it arrived and I whizzed it into the DVD player ....
Well fook my old sea boots .... what a fantastic uplifting movie, that charts first the optimism, then the decline and finally the global recognition of the man that has become known as Sugarman ....
So as the final credits rolled, I ordered the music and then checked to see if he did any tours .... well fook my old sea boots once more ..... he had just announced a gig at the Royal Albert Hall .....
So there I was last night, sat in my seat and out he came ...... not out out .... I mean out on stage out ....
Here he is .....
no cardboard cut out, no X factor wanna be and no hologram
Ladies and gentlemen I give you ......
The legend that is Sixto Rodriguez ......
Take it away Sugarman ....
The floor is all yours .....
but hey don't spend all your time watching youtube .....
get down to your nearest Blockbuster store and rent a copy of the movie ...
On the way back grab, some popcorn.... fill the fridge with beer
and who knows ....
........... there I was at the weekend spinning the pedals on the Wiggle Suffolk Spinner, a 62 mile bike ride around the eastern regions of Suffolk ........... when it came to my attention that last weekend was also the Dunwich Dynamo, a 110 mile bike ride from Hackney to Dunwich ......
Crikey that was 2 years ago when I rode that and yet it seemed like yesterday ..... where the fook has the last 2 years gone ..... I reckon my pedals must be connected to the hands on my watch .... the faster I pedal ...... the faster the hands turn ......the quicker tempus fugit ......
But of all the things that have happened in the last 2 years at least the Dunwich Dynamo is one of those things I can think back on with fond memories .... one of the best bike rides I have ever done .... riding through the night and completing the 110 miles in a very respectable 7.5 hrs ..... not bad for a bloke in his 50's .... it works out at around 15mph .....which got me thinking some more ,....
On average Tour De France riders [by way of an example] ride a stage at about 30mph average speed .... but many of them are about half my age ..... so if you divide my age by 2 you need to increase my speed by 2 so that damn near makes me a TdF contender .... surely ?
I must admit though, after 110 miles through the night even my bike had to
have a lie down on the beach .....
[ in preparation for the additional 30 mile ride back to my home ]
The weather for my Dynamo was fab ....
[ unlike this weekend when I got pissed wet through on the WSS ..... ]
and when I arrived on the beach at Dunwich
the sun had just come up over the yard arm and ...
the view over the North Sea looked almost biblical ........
Which must be a cue for a SoD ......
a song from the Bible ....
nooooooo not ....... Onward Christian Soldiers ....
this Bible .....
I still have the original 7" vinyl of this song ....
a great 80's tune ...
[funny thing is .... can't remember the last time
I heard onward christian soldiers played in public ]
... but whatever it is ... I must say that Apple do choose some great music for their adverts .....
Recently we had the wonderful Fantastic Man by William Onyeabor.
William left this life 18 months ago, and despite being a revered artist he never played live. But inspite of this, his music is so life affirming ...... and Apple's advert matched the beauty of the song .....
And now .... Apple's latest advert brings the brilliant Daniel Johnston and his story of an artist .... I featured this as my song of the day over 4 years ago .... I remember when I first heard my first Daniel Johnston song [Love will find you in the end] and at first I thought ...... ugh ...... what the fook is this .... but in a nano second ..... I then suddenly thought wow ....what the fook is this .... this is just genius ....
Now we have Apple bringing Daniel to the masses ...... Daniel Johnston is a troubled soul ... but his music, his lyrics are nothing short of genius ....... the Apple advert only provides a snippet of the song .... when you listen to the whole song it finishes with the lines ......
They sit in front of their TVs Saying, "Hey! This is fun!" And they laugh at the artist Saying, "He doesn't know how to have fun."
The best things in life are truly free Singing birds and laughing bees "You've got me wrong", says he "The sun don't shine in your TV"
Which I think makes it somewhat ironic that Apple are trying to flog you their computers with a Daniel Johnston song pointing out the real beauty of life ...... who knows perhaps Apple know this and are merely being self deprecating .......
There are 3 great versions of the song out there ... so I will offer up all three ....starting with Daniel, then me old mate Glen and finally what I think to be a worthy rendition by Jerry Fish .... I'll let you decide which you prefer ..... I hope you pick Daniel Johnston .... as an aside you will hear Glen Hansard reference Daniel's song ... Some things last a long time .... check it out .... it's another beautiful track ......
