Five Weeks

Five weeks ago today I was in a hospital bed with a saline drip in my left hand, a morphine machine attached to my right hand, a 'drain' coming out of the right side of my back and lying flat on my back a little confused and a little pleased the worst was over. Five weeks. It seems ages ago. Didn't the school summer holiday seem to last forever when you were a kid? and that was only six weeks...

It's been a funny old five weeks, really, most of it having been spent in my living room, sitting in different chairs, getting up to wander round the room , lying on the bed to do my exercises, getting drinks from the kitchen, chatting on the phone and sitting down again. Five weeks off work would be glorious if I could actually do something. At least the weather's been awful so I haven't been gazing longingly out of the window.

I'm at the frustrating stage of getting back to normal. I feel more or less fine at home and I can do things, I can get the bus and tube, I can finally get about a bit, and then I suffer for it. I actually went into work yesterday, just for a couple of hours to see how easy it would be, remind them I exist (I'd just started a new job, after all), get an update on what's been happening with all the changes across Government and see how it affected my work.

I felt fine at first but after an hour or so it became more of a strain, discomfort from moving around so much and waves of tiredness. I'd had enough after a couple of hours, said my farewells and made a fast (-ish) escape. The tiredness is a funny thing, coming in waves, making it difficult to keep my eyes open (almost as if my body is teling my brain it needs rest and the brain just shutting down), feeling light-headed and, most strange of all, forgetting what I'm saying or thinking mid-sentence... I hope that's a result of the tiredness and the drugs!

I was really tired by the time I got home and went into snooze mode. After rest and food I started feeling better, convinced that a good night's sleep would do the rest. It didn't. I woke up this morning a bit listless and not quite with it. I decided I should keep pushing myself otherwise I'll never get better so thought I'd go to Croydon for some retail therapy. By the time I reached the bus stop I'd changed my mind, just walking there had worn me out. By now, late evening, I'm feeling fine again, and that's what I mean by being at the frustrating stage - I feel so much better and can do things that I couldn't do just a couple of weeks ago but I suffer if I push myself too far, and 'too far' isn't really very far at all...

I felt the same after going to see the physiotherapist at St Thomas's Hospital on Monday. I was only there for about an hour and most of that time was spent talking, not actually exercising. I was given some stretching exercises to do for two weeks and then add in some strengthening exercises (all of which are illustrated on print-outs so I don't forget). I go back to see the physio in four weeks time and then start a weekly 'spinal conditioning' class at the end of August (the earliest they could book me in).

What else has happened in the past five weeks? Well, I've got the beard! I hesitate to say I've grown one since that implies a positive act whereas mine's just appeared through laziness really. I've started to shampoo it - is that how one washes a beard? I'll have to hunt out a beard-grooming website - there are sites for everything so I don't see why there shouldn't be one for grooming. And to feed by vanity, here's a photo of me (with beard) in front of Parliament (to prove I went to work).

I've also bought far too many CDs. Sitting at home bored and with access to a computer day after day isn't very sensible even if my credit card company loves me. A sample of my new music includes:

Buffy Sainte-Marie - Vanguard Visionaries
SLADE - You Boyz Make Big Noize
Lulu - To Sir With Love! The Complete Mickie Most Recordings
The Human League - Travelogue
Art Brut - It's A Bit Complicated
Dame Shirley Bassey - Get The Party Started
Bittybox - Smalltime
The Arctic Monkeys - Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not
Iggy Pop - A Million In Prizes - The Anthology
Toxik Ephex - Punk As Two Fucks
Donna Summer - Bad Girls (Deluxe)
Sylvain Sylvain -New York's A Go Go
Donovan - Sunshine Superman
Patti Smith - Gone Again
The Kinks - Something Else By The Kinks
Andy Williams - Music To Watch Girls By - The Very Best Of Andy Williams
Pete Shelley - Homosapien
The O'Jays - Love Train - The Best Of the O'Jays
Joni Mitchell - Hits
Humanwine - Fighting Naked

That's not bad, I suppose, but it's not a complete list either. It's an odd selection - some new stuff but mainly old stuff. I'd much rather browse through a record shop that shop online.

I've also re-discovered the joys of pea-pods! I saw some in Sainsbury's and grabbed a pack to see if they still tasted as fresh as they used to 40 years ago when I nicked them off the vine in my Granda's allotment... Obviously they don't taste as good as my Granda's but it's a great taste. And shelling them adds to the enjoyment!

I haven't read much, I haven't worked on my website (it hasn't been updated in over a year now), I haven't had any alcohol at all, I haven't been out much... what a waste of five weeks. At least I no longer have a slipped disc.

Psychedelia

Yes, I *am* that bored...

Siouxsie Preview

Click here to listen to short samples of some of the tracks from Siouxsie's new album, 'Mantaray', due in September.

I am liking what I hear muchly.

Grey Beard

Mmmmmmmm..... I'm not sure.... But wasn't Grey Beard a pirate?

Yes? No? Maybe? Answers on a postcard to ...

My New Favourite Band

My new favourite band is PottedHeid. They're described as "ethno-techno-folk-rock-fusion" which doesn't really describe them at all. Or maybe it does. Click over to their MySpace site to listen to some samples.

I came across them on a free CD I was sent by Topplers Records - readers might remember my joy at getting a CD of Steve Treatment music from them last year. The CD is a compilation of lots of Topplers affiliated bands and PottedHeid had a song included on it called, 'Saudi', which is an electro mix of bagpipes and Arabian wailing with a stomping beat... erm, or something like that. Anyways, I liked it so went exploring and downloaded tracks from various places - now I just need to wait for their album.

Isn't the Internet a fabby place?

Buffy Sainte-Marie - 'Vanguard Visionaries'

Finally I have Buffy's new record - it arrived from America faster than ordering it here and at less than half the price (including postage). With the remainder of the saving I also got 'Too Much Too Soon' by the New York Dolls.

So, the new record. It's part of a large series of records to promote Vanguard, artists signed to Vanguard at some point and their Vanguard records. Packing is minimal (a folded cardboard cover) as is information about Buffy, just a list of the songs and a list of other albums by Buffy available from Vanguard. Other than the two lists, the text is all about Vanguard. No photos other than the cover, no biography, nothing.

As for the music, just 10 tracks totaling 34 minutes, all songs already available on other CDs and no bonus material. The tracklist is also wrong when it notes the final track as being 'For Free' when it's actually 'Quiet Places'. The list inside notes the writer and publisher of 'For Free' so is it a mistake to include 'Quiet Places' on the CD or a mistake to note 'For Free' on the packaging? Most odd.

Was it worth the wait? Yes, on principle. I'm pleased that Buffy is included in the series and it's right that she has her place in that pantheon. I was also pleasantly surprised to hear the country-waltz version of 'Now That The Buffalo's Gone' from 'I'm Gonna Be A Country Girl Again' (the late Patrice Holloway sang backing vocals on that album, y'know) rather than the more usual acoustic guitar version. For that surprise alone this album gets the thumbs up from me.

Compilations are always tricksy things since we all have different favourites and different views of what might be representative. But if I was ever allowed the great honour and privilege of doing one for Buffy it would certainly have more than 10 tracks on it.

Strange Place

I'm in a strange place at the moment, physically and mentally. I'm largely ok when I'm pottering around at home (so long as I don't have to bend or pick something up from the floor) and that leads me to think I'm ok generally and being a bit of a fraud by being off work. Then I go out and within 50 yards I'm reminded that I've had an operation. It's not just pain or, more often, soreness, it's the bone-weary waves of tiredness. I was out for the first time on Wednesday night seeing Suzanne Vega and I'm still not over that and it's now late on Friday afternoon.

I'm splitting things up in my mind. I need to get over having an operation on my back, with sharp knives carving bits of me out of my body and scraping disc off my bones and organs. I also need to get over the effects of an operation in itself, having my body subdued by anesthetic and invaded by knives. I was under for longer than planned when they saw the mess of my slipped disc and I suppose the longer you're under the longer it takes to get back to normal.

My scar was a little bit inflamed on Wednesday night when I got home and removed my trousers. The scar's about 3" or so in length in the small of back, right where the waistband of any garments lie. I've been wearing elasticated shorts for the last few weeks so they don't press on the wound too much. Trousers are evil things.

I'm also getting terribly bored. It's not even as if I can do much tidying up or re-organising at home since I can't really bend much (although I'm improving). I've got an appointment to see a physiotherapist at hospital on Monday so I'll be asking for exercises I can do to strengthen my back and stomach muscles and what I should do to become more bendy. I ought to move more but I want to move in the right way.

As the great Pete Shelley once sang (and still does) "... b'dum b'dum..."

Suzanne Vega at the Queen Elizabeth Hall

My first evening out since going into hospital (four weeks ago today) was to see Suzanne Vega at the Queen Elizabeth Hall on the South Bank, and what a treat that was! I've liked Suzanne since first hearing 'Marlene On The Wall' all those years ago and have seen her live a few times and she is always a pleasure to behold. She has a lovely warm personality and a nice dry wit, her voice is a soothing balm and she's a true wordsmith with some killer tunes.

This tour is to promote her first new album in six years, 'Beauty and Crime', and she arrived on stage wearing a trench coat and black leggings to reflect the New York-ness of the album (I kept expecting her to take the coat off to reveal a slinky cocktail dress or something, but she didn't). She played seven of the eleven songs on the album and all sounded great live with the full band behind her. The only song I'd hoped for that she didn't play was 'Unbound', a nice bouncy song that would fit in with her voice and bass section in the middle of the set, just her singing along to the bass player, singing 'Blood Makes Noise' and 'Left of Centre', very powerful versions of both songs.

Suzanne opened and closed the show with versions of 'Tom's Diner', opening with the acapella original version and closing with an extended version with the band giving it some welly. She then came back for two encores. She has such a huge songbook behind her she could have gone on for hours and still not played everyone's favourites. But she played a lot of mine, 'Zephyr & I', 'Frank & Ava', 'Ludlow Street' and 'New York Is A Woman' from the new album and 'Small Blue Thing', 'Caramel', 'Luka', 'The Queen And The Soldier', 'Gypsy' and 'In Liverpool' from her songbook.

I'm very pleased to have seen Suzanne again, especially as my first evening out in so long. She's always worth seeing and hearing and, once again, she's come up trumps. Here are some photos, all slightly out of focus since I wasn't using flash but they should give you an idea of what the show was like and will awaken fond memories for me when I look back at them.


Thank you, Suzanne, for a great evening out!

Some More Plastic

First off, the mandatory comment on the weather... where is all this rain coming from? Thunder, lightning and deluge going on as I type. I don't understand it at all. Have I missed summer?

The Not So Silent Night Tour 2007

I know it's a bit early to be talking about Christmas but Slade have just announced their Christmas tour schedule and they're playing Croydon! That's close enough for me so I'll be booking tickets when they're on sale. Of course, I'm also seeing them at the end of July at Wimbledon so that should get me in the mood for more!

A few days earlier in December and I'll be seeing the Sensational Alex Harvey Band (regular readers will recall that I saw them supporting SLADE in 1973) so that's a bit of good karma. I've also recently come across Alex Harvey in Lulu's autobiography where she notes that she started singing 'Shout' after seeing Alex sing it on his return to Glasgow from singing in the bars of Hamburg. It's a small world, isn't it. Such a shame that Alex died many years ago, but his legacy carries on.

Siouxsie Sioux

Siouxsie will be releasing her new solo album on 10 September. It's called 'Mantaray' and a single will be released in August. More news to follow, no doubt.

Poly Styrene - Devotional

Do you remember my trip to the archives of the National Portrait Gallery to see the portrait of Poly Styrene by Pennie Smith? Back then the image of Poly wasn't on the NPG website for copyright reasons. If you look up the portrait you'll see that an image still isn't available.

But if you look at another section of the NPG site you can see the photo as part of the 'Devotional' exhibition. And here it is.

Devotional is an exhibition by Sonia Boyce based on black singers and Poly is included in the roster along with the likes of Shirley Bassey, Janet Kay, Neneh Cherry and Linda Lewis.

The Beard

The beard, you'll be pleased to hear, is still in place. Still white and still scruffy, but longer and thicker. I ought to trim it but, if I trim it, then there's the implication that I'm keeping it - after all, if I wasn't going to keep it why would I bother trimming it? It's not easy having a beard, y'know...

CDBaby

It's pretty dull just sitting here, doing a circuit of the flat for exercise before sitting down again as I get over the operation, so I've filled in some of my time with getting new records. The internet is useful for shopping for new records. One record is winging its way to me from the loving embrace of CDBaby in America. I like CDBaby, it's a warm, cuddlesome place filled with lovely people.

The email confirming dispatch reads:

Your CD has been gently taken from our CD Baby shelves with sterilized contamination-free gloves and placed onto a satin pillow. A team of 50 employees inspected your CD and polished it to make sure it was in the best possible condition before mailing. Our packing specialist from Japan lit a candle and a hush fell over the crowd as he put your CD into the finest gold-lined box that money can buy.

We all had a wonderful celebration afterwards and the whole party marched down the street to the post office where the entire town of Portland waved "Bon Voyage!" to your package, on its way to you, in our private CD Baby jet on this day, Tuesday, July 3rd. I hope you had a wonderful time shopping at CD Baby. We sure did. Your picture is on our wall as "Customer of the Year." We're all exhausted but can't wait for you to come back to CDBABY.COM!! Thank you, thank you, thank you! Sigh...

If you ever feel in need of some loving then all you have to do is buy a CD from these lovely people and they'll cover you in a warm blanket of lurve...

The Dresden Dolls 'Live At The Roundhouse' DVD

Today saw the release of a significant contribution to modern culture, the new DVD from The Dresden Dolls, 'Live At The Roundhouse'. Amanda and Brian as I remember them from their two nights at the Roundhouse in November last year, surrounded by performance artists of various calibres and with Margaret Cho and her false penis acting as MC for the event.

I watched it all the way through, glorying in the memories it evoked and reminders of Amanda's false start on 'Backstabber' and Brian breaking a cymbal, Amanda saying she liked London Pride beer, the duo hammering each other's pregnant bumps during 'Mandy Goes To Med School' and Lene Lovich joining the Dolls to sing 'Delilah' with some excellent vocal warbles just like in the olden days. There's also a 'making of the show' documentary that highlights some of the main performance artists that were dotted around the Roundhouse and on the main stage. Of these, I think my favourites were Zen Zen Zo from Australia and their weird dance moves. What can I say? It's jolly good stuff indeed.

Two sequences stand out for me, although every song has its own element of greatness. The first is the encore of 'Mein Herr', with Amanda in full black underwear mode as Bitch Queen giving Brian wedgies and him on his knees at her feet, lucky boy. The second is the magnificence of 'Sing', one of my favourite Dresdens songs, with the sparklers lighting up and held high by the front section of the audience (including me).

It's a great record of the shows and of the Dresdens as they were at the end of the exciting year of 2006 that saw the release of their second studio album and a world tour. They won't be like that again, they've already moved on with Amanda working on her solo album with Ben Folds and Brian holding drum surgeries and playing with Humanwine and others. And they're currently on tour with Cyndi Lauper, Debbie Harry, Erasure and others on the 'True Colors' tour across America. winning new admirers and fans. But I'll remember them at the Roundhouse and tuck away some fond memories for a rainy day.

I'll also respond to the rallying cry that PUNK CABARET IS FREEDOM!