Advent 3: December Will Be Magic Again

It's still snowy and icy out there so it's appropriate for the third window on my advent calendar to open with Kate Bush and 'December Will Be Magic Again'. This early snowfall has certainly made it more festive with the snow covering the ground and bowing down the trees, brining it's own magic.

Advent 2: I Believe In Father Christmas

It's time to open the second window on my personal advent calendar and I've found Greg Lake's 'I Believe In Father Christmas'.

I've loved this song for 35 years, since I bought the single when it first came out in 1975, but I've never been too keen on the video that went with it. The words and music make me yearn for snow and sleigh rides, not the deserts of the Middle East. This isn't a particularly good quality version of the video but it's still worth watching and, most certainly, listening to. And I do believe in Father Christmas.

Advent 1: Postcard From London

To celebrate the festive season and the snow lying outside my front door, I thought I'd post a video each day in the run-up to Christmas to get into the seasonal spirit. This is my own advent calendar.

I'm starting with the lovely and sentimental 'Postcard From London' by Ray Davies - what could be more appropriate? It has scenes of Carnaby Street with it's swinging '60s themed Christmas decorations, grand old Regent Street, a glimpse of Piccadilly Circus and Chrissie Hynde on vocals.

From me in London, to you in the World, I give you 'Postcard From London'...

'End Of The Rainbow' at The Trafalgar Studios

On Friday we went to see 'End Of The Rainbow' which, as you might guess from the title, is about the final days of Judy Garland. I don't know an awful lot about Miss Garland other than a few films and some songs, and this play didn't really fill in the background.

The play opens with Judy's pianist in London tootling away on the piano in her hotel suite when she arrives in London to play her residence at The Talk Of The Town in the late 60s, accompanied by her new fiance and manager who is 20-odd years younger than her. The play then alternates between her hotel suite and the nightclub, with a few songs followed by depressing scenes and then another song at the nightclub. We gradually see Judy's dependence on pills of one sort or another grow and her performances become more chaotic and shambolic.

Tracie Bennett's portrayal of Judy was great stuff but I was less convinced by anyone else in the play. At one point when the play faltered I remember wondering whether I was watching an impersonators show, with someone doing a good Judy, someone doing a poor Brooklyn accent and someone else doing a rather camp piano player. I found the play rather hard work and couldn't quite see where it was taking us and then I realised it wasn't particularly taking us anywhere. It was a series of set pieces - Judy at the Talk of the Town, Judy wanting pills, boyfriend bellowing, camp pianist being camp, etc etc - rather a particularly strong narrative. The most annoying bit of the play was when the gay pianist tells the boyfriend that it was the gays who loved Judy first and would keep her memory alive - did he really say that in 1969 or is that hindsight? Eh?

Much as I enjoyed Tracie Bennett's singing as Judy I was quite frankly stunned by the instant standing ovation at the end. Was I in America, I wondered? The play is manipulative and tugs all the right strings but overdoes the Judy-as-the-drug-fueled-madwoman, boyfriend-as-evil-manipulator and pianist-as-gay-friend bits. It was all terribly one-dimensional and false. Still, people seemed to be enjoying it so maybe I'm just a bit jaded? Or maybe it isn't a good play but has the right level of populist moments with a great lead to make it work.

Christmas Lights

This evening I sneaked out of work early for dinner at the Soho Pizzeria followed by a viewing of the Christmas lights on Carnaby Street.

In recent years Carnaby Street has won the Christmas lights competition hands down. The designer has flair and imagination, taking a risk and seeing what works. My favourites are the giant Christmas tree lights from around 2005 and the giant snowmen from 2008. Last year was a little bit ho-hum (other than the lovely pink reindeer) but it's back to form this year with a solar system theme, with Santa in a space suit floating in the sky and colourful planets, asteroids and meteors strung across the street.

The lights on neighbouring Regents Street with its boring net of lights across the street and film adverts (same as for the last few years) and Oxford Street with its bright Christmas presents wrapped in lights (same as last year but still quite good) add brightness on these gllomy, cold nights, but don't really add any fun or thought. Carnaby Street at least tries to take a different view on traditional Christmas lights and I'm pleased it does. Here are a couple of photos taken with my phone (sorry for the poor quality) to give you an idea...

New Christmas Records

It's always difficult getting the Christmas Laws right. One of my Christmas Laws is that I can't listen to Christmas music until 1 December. That's when I get out all the CDs and load them onto my iPod and can start listening to some old favourites again. I also like to discover new favourites and every year brings a few new Christmas records. This year I've got four new Christmas albums to get to know and enjoy.

The first one is 'Destination ... Christmas' by The Superions. For those of you who've never heard of them before then you need to know that Fred Schneider is the singer and co-writer of the songs and Fred is, of course, the voice of the most wonderful B-52's. Fred's involvement means the songs are quirky, electronic, a bit daft and not quite what they seem. I think my favourite is 'Fruitcake'...

There's a new record from the Indigo Girls called, 'Holly Happy Days'. The packaging is great, with a cardboard ribbon wrapped round it and three card baubles inside - a lot of thought and design has obviously gone into it as well as into the songs.

Another new record is Annie Lennox's 'A Christmas Cornucopia' with Annie singing traditional carols and I'm pleased that, today, 'This Is Christmas' by Petula Clark was delivered. This is another record of traditional songs with a couple of new ones written by Petula. I've listened to just a few tracks from each record (I'm saving them for December) and I already love Petula's version of 'Il Est Ne, Le Divin Enfant' in her impeccable French. Mind you, I also love Annie's more upbeat version with some big drumming and harmonising.

Bearing in mind the Law Of Not Listening To Christmas Music Before December I haven't actually listened to all these albums yet. I've dipped in and played a few songs - just to make sure the CDs work, of course - so I still have a lot of unheard music to enjoy next week.

Of course, the big Christmas news this year is the free single from Poly Styrene (and Celeste Styrene) 'Black Christmas' - needless to say, I love it.

What new Christmas music have you discovered this year?

The Human League - 'Night People'

The wise one's know that The Human League are stirring and have a tour in the diary over the next month and a new album due out early next year - and a single released NOW.

'Night People' is the latest slice of dance synth-pop from the Human League in advance of the new album and it sounds mega tres fab! It has all the makings of a classic League single with it's repetitious lyrics and foot stomping insistant electronic beats. It sort of feels a bit like Petula Clark's 'I Know A Place' in a (very) odd way because the Night People know where to go. Of course they do, and we'll be heading to the Royal Festival Hall on 10 December to see the Human League in all their splendour. I can't wait!

You must download it now from your downloady site of choice - it's 69p on Amazon so grab it now! And take a look at the video - very night people!

'Fela!' at the National Theatre

This week we went to see the new musical in town, 'Fela!', the Broadway production transferred to the Olivier stage in the National Theatre.

I enjoyed the show on Broadway and it will always be associated with the freezing cold of Snowmaggedon on the streets with the heat of the Eugene O'Neill theatre as the setting for Fela's nightclub in Lagos, Nigeria, The Shrine. And I'm pleased to say that they've taken the same approach with the staging of the London show, with the theatre decked out in posters, strings of lights hanging from the ceiling, paintings on the doors, decorating it like The Shrine.

'Fela!' tells the story of Fela Kuti, Nigerian musician and political activist who invented Afrobeat (especially in it's 20 minute extended version!). The show is loosely set around his last performance in The Shrine in the late '70s and tells us how he went to London to go medical school but really how he discovered the music that would eventually emerge as Afrobeat and how he was politicised in America by the Black Power movement of the late 60s. The second half of the show is darker, with an extended dream sequence of him on a trip to the underworld and a chilling sequence about the invasion of his compound and the abuses his extended family suffered at the hands of the army.

That precis doesn't give you any idea what the show is really like. It throbs. It is hot. It sweats. It is sex. It is ebo (marijuana). It is cake. It is loud and proud and in your face with dancers gyrating and thrusting in your face and groin, non-stop, and they're all over the place - on the stage, in the aisles, in the balcony and on the walkway around the top of the stage. There is no escape so don't waste your time even trying. The dancers were magnificent and must be the fittest people in London at the moment to sustain the almost non-stop movement throughout the first half. I was weary within minutes just watching. They really are impressive.

All credit must go to Sahr Ngaujah in the role he originated on Broadway as Fela, and won all the awards last year. He controlled the show and controlled the audience, including numerous ad-libs to shout outs from the audience. He got us all - and I mean all - on our feet to do the clock after only half an hour. Has that ever happened in the National before? The clock is a series of hip and crotch thrusts aimed at the stations of the clock with the most blatant being 6 o'clock and midnight. And we did it, it's great fun (just watch out if you've got a bad back).

I'd also single out Paulette Ivory for a name check who played the American Black Power activist who has some great songs, both solo and with Fela, and who has a great voice and great moves. And, of course, I can't fail to mention Jacqui Dubois who played Miss Brown, the hat seller ("international styles, local prices") in 'The Harder They Come'. She didn't have a very obvious role but it was nice to see her anyway. The band also deserves a mention, being on stage and playing before the show starts and during the half time break.

The alternate Fela is Rolan Bell, who played the lead in 'The Harder They Come', our rebel hero Ivan, so there's a nice link with one of my favourite productions. I'd quite like to see 'Fela' with Rolan in the lead just to see what he does with the part.

If you get the chance, go and see it - it's a great night out, you'll learn something and you'll see some incredible dancing. Do the clock!

I Have A Life Too...

You might think we're heading into the season to be merry, but I think we're in the season of the reality game show. We've had 'Strictly Come Dancing' and 'X-Factor' for a few weeks now, and we've just seen the start of 'I'm A Celebrity, Get Me Out Of Here', three prime-time telly programmes designed to keep us occupied on the long, cold and damp winter nights. Personally, I'm enjoying Sue Perkins and Giles Coren in 'Live The Good Life' which has some genuine originality and humour at its core.

It's really odd the way we seem to invest so much in people simply because they're on telly for a few weeks. I accidentally caught 'X-Factor' and saw the unfortunate Aidan get voted off and was astonished the following morning to see the vengeful anger on Twitter. People seemed to be angry and in tears about this boy who (a) couldn't sing and (b) couldn't talk but (c) could pull faces in answer to questions like 'how do you feel?'. I think it's quite easy to be able to tell whether someone can sing - it's called carrying a tune - and he clearly couldn't, but people still got upset. I don't understand.

I find myself getting really annoyed with the judges and their stupid comments about how someone who can barely hold a tune 'owned the stage', how we're finally seeing 'the real you' and how they've 'got it all and they 'are a star'. I think that's all just plain cruel. How many people from these types of talent shows go on to have a career? Very few. So why do these stupid judges build them up when it's plain as dish water that few of them can actually sing. As Damon Albarn said the other day, it's a karaoke coliseum - there's no originality or real talent, just a bunch of hopefuls singing other peoples' songs and if that's not karaoke I don't know what is. Cut back on the light show and the hoards of dancers and it might be a showcase for talent - but I doubt it. It's a marketing dream and is all about money.

I never used to watch 'celebrity' shows like 'Strictly' and 'I'm A Celeb' but they've developed a sort of morbid fascination for me and I now tend to watch the first episode when we meet all the s'lebs knowing that I'll be saying 'who's he?' and 'what's she famous for?' as they're introduced. There are too many soap and reality TV 'stars' taking their moment of glory before fading back into their character or obscurity (whichever). Still, at least they grab their 15 minutes and try to milk it for all it's worth.

Then there are some real stars and I can't help but wonder why on earth they are on these shows. There's the lovely Felicity Kendall demonstrating her flexibility on 'Strictly'. Now, she may not be the best dancer (OK, let's be honest, she's not) but she has 40 years behind her on TV and stage and even starred in a film about her own family back in the 60s. And she's incredibly bendy. There's also Pamela Stephenson who seems to be known as Billy Connolly's wife these days, but I remember her from 'Not The Nine O'Clock News' way back when. And she is a good dancer.

There are a few real s'lebs on 'I'm a Celebrity', like Nigel Havers and Shaun Rider but most mean nothing to me and, quite frankly, I'm not interested in any of them although it's nice to see those cheeky Geordie lads, Ant & Dec, on telly again. I do like a bit of Ant & Dec now and then. I only started watching 'I'm A Celeb' when a certain John Lydon went on it and got pecked at by ostriches or emus or something, and, of course, George Takei aka the immortal Mr Sulu.

I am weak and will probably watch on and off over the next few weeks - some things are inevitable...

Poly Styrene - 'Black Christmas' Video

I've been hugging myself with glee over the new video for Poly Styrene's new single, 'Black Christmas'. The single is an excellent Christmas present from Ms Styrene and it's lovely to see her again in the video, along with her daughter Celeste (and doesn't Celeste Styrene look like her mam!). I last saw Celeste wigging out massively on the stage of the Roundhouse a couple of years ago when she joined Poly for the encore of 'Oh Bondage, Up Yours!' at the X-Ray Spex gig (buy the CD and DVD by clicking on the X-Ray Spex logo on the right >).

Poly looks in fine form and flashes the biggest smile in the world at the end. Welcome back Poly!


Poly Styrene - Black Christmas