"Hall of Fame is a Piss Stain" ~ Sex Pistols

The lads are at it again, or at least Mr Lydon is, and good on 'im I say.

http://www.johnlydon.com/jlhome.html

http://www.thefilthandthefury.co.uk/


It's a relief to know that some of one's heroes are still true to themselves for whatever reason and I can only admire that.

Just as Buffy still fights 'the man' and promotes native American rights and the rights of all indiginous peoples, the Sex Pistols will always stand for the filth and the fury, irrespective of the filthy lucre, the challenge to the norm and loud scary, music.

Never an antichrist but always an anarchist, and that's what we sometimes need most.

Top Ten iPod

And this week, the top ten is:

Apply Some Pressure ~ Maximo Park
Graffiti ~ Maximo Park
Stray Talk ~ Maximo Park
I Won't Let It 'Appen Agen ~ SLADE
Do You Believe In Miracles ~ SLADE
Rock And Roll (Part 2) ~ Gary Glitter
Don't You Want Me ~ The Human League
Take Me In Your Arms (Rock Me A Little While) ~ Kim Weston
Helpless ~ Kim Weston
You Hit Me Where It Hurt Me ~ Kim Weston

Now that's an interetsing list but I think I need more variety!

International Superstar DJ

Well, not quite, but I've done my first ever DJ set tonight as part of the 'Record Bag' at the Retro Bar. I tried it for the first time tonight and enjoyed it immensely - turn up with your 5 favourite tracks and do a mini DJ set.

It was Dawn Right Nasty's birthday bash tonight so I leapt in, full of nerves at first, but thoroughly enjoyed it. Obviously, my set was the best...

Mine was all 1972 tracks, some of which people came up to me to ask who they were and were they generally available (I like to educate as well as entertain). The list was:

Buick MacKane - T Rex (The Slider)
New York City - John Lennon & Yoko Ono (Sometime in New York City)
Wig Wam Bam - Sweet (Funny How Sweet Coco Can Be)
The Harder They Come - Jimmy Cliff (Jimmy Cliff - Reggae Greats)
Mama Weer All Crazee Now - SLADE (Greatest Hits)

Well, I had to end with the Lords of Noize! I thought it was a nice collection of songs, all offering something different. I was surprisingly nervous (I've delivered speeches to a couple of hundred people before but this was a bit personal, it was my music) but soon got into it. Time fled too quickly and I could happily have played a few more tracks.

Luckily there was a good age mix at the Retro tonight so some people actually recognised some of the songs but the main point is that I did it! Fuelled by Guinness helped of course. I might have to do it again, maybe on a 1977 theme...

Watch this space...

Christopher also did a set - his included what I think are called wrappers. I'm familiar with those - they have them in Macy*s and they wrap up your Christmas tree ornaments very carefully in tissue paper and put them into secure boxes. Wrappers obviously have an important social function.

Simone de Beauvoir or Alice Cooper?

I'm half-way through a biography of Simone de Beauvoir which tries to map her life against her development as a philosopher and writer including, of course, her relationship with Sartre. I read Sartre decades ago but she's been little more than a name really, an early feminist.

I'm up to where they both begin to detail existentialism in their writing, living the philosophy they gave birth to along with their extended family of lovers and friends. Choice, liberty, personal freedom, living, action, the now, existence. There's a lot of thinking to do to get that fixed in my mind. But it's a fascinating read.

On the other hand, I'm listening to my new Alice Cooper CD at the moment - he's much easier to understand! I wonder which one would win a Celebrity Death Match scrap?

Glitz, Blitz and Hits

That last post has literally forced me to put on my 'Very Best of Sweet' DVD (a birthday present from a ha'peth last year) with the sub-title of 'Glitz, Blitz and Hits'. So tasteful as always. So sad that two of 'em are no longer with us and one lives in America, leaving only Andy Scott to fly the flag over here.

Brian Connelly had a great voice, very versatile - from the soulful version of the Supremes 'Reflections' from the first album to the hard rock of the later albums. He could do it all and he looked the part too. I remember seeing him being interviewed on a Channl 4 programme about '70s music a few years ago and he was so damaged by booze n drugs that he could hardly talk. So sad.

They did some great songs and I still think 'Ballroom Blitz' is one of the greatest tracks ever! Signing off now to enjoy the DVD!

The nerves, the nerves

O dear, it's starting... the 'Record Bag' nerves.

I've been sort of planning my 15 minute DJ set for a year and a half with the theme of records from 1972. Not the obvious records - the Bowies and Lou Reeds - but maybe songs by bands people will recognise but not necssarily know that particular song. Educate the masses, kind of thing.

I picked 1972 as my 'theme'. Obviously, the theme could be anything - my 5 favourite powwow or SLADE tracks or 5 tracks featuring the word 'hello' somewhere in the song. I suspect some people will assume 1972 is a codeword for Glam Rock but it's not - a lot of my favourite Glam is from 1973 ('Ballroom Blitz, for example, one of the best songs ever recorded). 1972 offers lots of choices - should I play Blackfoot Sue or are they really too obscure? I don't know.

I need to narrow it down to 5 tracks and then play them to check for quiet starts or ends, false ends, etc and see how they gel together. Life's tough, indeed...

And on a lighter note, I've been bidding on eBay for a SLADE album that's no longer available in the shops and I won it and it arrived today - 'Rogues Gallery'. A great, under-rated album full of music to play loud. Which I have already done! Please ignore the cover ... they were in a hats phase...

Random

He looked a lot like Che Guevara
Drove a Beetle van
Kept his gun in quiet seclusion
Such a humble man
The only survivor
Of the National People's Gang

I screamed and ran
To smash my favourite slot machine

Panic in Detroit
He left me an autograph

I wish someone would phone...

Random lyrics from a most excellent song with fabtastic drumming pounding along on top of the bass with wailing women and twisting guitar. A glorious mess of sound.

Motorhead!

Phew! They're out of my iPod Top Ten!

Apply Some Pressure ~ Maximo Park

Graffiti ~ Maximo Park

Don't You Want Me ~ The Human League

Take Me In Your Arms (Rock Me A Little While) ~ Kim Weston

Helpless ~ Kim Weston

You Hit Me Where It Hurt Me ~ Kim Weston

Do You Believe In Miracles ~ SLADE

You Boyz Make Big Noize ~ SLADE

Darling Don't Cry ~ Buffy Sainte-Marie

I'm Still Loving You ~ Kim Weston

Yes, guess who I've been listening to this week? The delightful Kimmy!

I do actualy have a very wide range of music on my ipey - ABC to XRay Spex via Lynsey de Paul and Jimmy Cliff with the Kaiser Chiefs and Kirsty MacColl adding some melody and the soundtracks to 'Wicked' and 'Grand Hotel' featuring ...

Wor Kimmy ~ It takes one, baby!

Went to see the fabulous Kim Weston at the Jazz Cafe tonight with Chris. Kim was great, thoroughly enjoyed the show, singing along and clapping like nobody's business. Even got to meet her briefly which was a great thrill. I was quite nervous in a way, sitting on the balcony knowing she'd have to walk past us to get to the stage, to come within touching distance of a great Motown legend who never quite made the 'A' list (but should have). And then there she was, walking towards us, down onto the stage and began belting out high octane classic music,

She played a good selection of favourites, miscellaneous oldies and a nice gospel section in the middle of the set, all with powerful vocals and pounding music from her 4-piece band. They all certainly got people moving their feet down on the floor as Northern Soul dancing flowered again!

She sang the 'must do' songs - 'Helpless', 'Take me in your arms (rock me a little while)' and 'It takes two' (her duet with Marvin Gaye, sang with some bloke ostensibly from the audience who'd been lined up). She did a fab version of 'Dancing in the streets' which was written for her and, as she said tonight, 'stolen' from her (obviously some bad feelings are still there). What a voice! A little bit deeper but still powerful enough to cause earthquakes!

Her face looks (to me at least) just the same as it was 40 years ago, unmistakeably her (no doubt with a little make-up to help) but she's not the waif anymore, skipping down some steps in the 'Ready Steady Go' studio as I have her on DVD. Not in her big sparkly black dress bedecked with feathers - her "tight ass dress" as she called it when she tried to sit down to play keyboards at the start of the gospel section. I'd love to see her again - please come back soon, and bring some of your singing chums! You know who I mean ...

Good on yer, lass!

"Did you know...?" Lambeth Homophobia Campaign

Commuters coming out of Streatham Hill BR station this evening were given a leaflet by police about homophobia and encouraging people to report incidents.

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"Did you know...?

• Lambeth has one of the most visible and vibrant Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Trans (LGBT) communities in the UK
• On average someone is affected by LGBT hate crime at least every three days in Lambeth
• LGBT people come from all backgrounds and reflect the diversity of the borough
• Homophobia not only affects individuals but friendships, families, young people and communities."

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It goes on to encourage reporting and provides a list of phone numbers and web addresses. It looks like it's been produced by a consortium of organisations including Lambeth Council and the police (9 organisations have their logo on it).

I've never received a leaflet like this at a train station before, handed out by police (I usually get home later than this so maybe I just miss campaigns targeted at the rush hour). It seems very encouraging - right on Lambeth!

I've got no idea whether all stations in Lambeth have been targeted by the police or whether there are particular problems at that end of Streatham warranting action but it might be part of Lambeth LGBT History Month

It's a long time since I've been 'right on' myself. I used to actively support lots of broadly left-ish causes - Amnesty, anti-racism/anti-nazi, Greenpeace, etc etc. I still regularly support Oxfam and passively support other organisations ... maybe it's time for me to re-engage my political tendencies?