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!

Maximo Park at Glastonbury

If you happen to find yourself with 28 minutes and 32 seconds spare you might want to watch me Geordie lads playing at Glastonbury.

Click here to see magnificence in action!

[You might have to choose your settings and then go back to click again, but they're worth it.]

And here are some photos too ...

To Beard Or Not To Beard

Ok, that's a bit obvious but it says it all...

I haven't bothered shaving since I went into hospital and I'm starting to look a bit of a scruff-bag. Should I keep it and train it or get rid of it? Itchy-scratch.

I've never grown a beard before and now, with my baldy heed 'n' all, I've got that 'growing a beard to make up for baldy' thing going on in my head. The only thing wrong with baldiness is that you can't really change the style... at least a beard gives me that opportunity.

Y'see, the other thing is ... it's white. I have a white beard. If I let it grow I could pass for Santa at Christmas. I've got a bit of gray round the 'tache area but the rest of it is pure as the driven snow. That sort of holds up a sign in front of me saying 'old geezer'.

Itchy-scratch.

De-stitched & Un-dressed

A bit of an update for any reader that still glances this way…

Back - de-stitched and un-dressed

First off, the latest on my back is that I’ve had the stitches out at last – or more accurately, the stitch (singular). Ever since being released from hospital a couple of weeks ago nearly, I’ve had a big waterproof (and everything-proof) dressing covering the wound. I went to see my practice nurse yesterday morning to finally have the stitch out.

As soon as she started peeling off the dressing I could feel the air getting to the covered area again - it felt soooo good! It was a bit like taking contact lenses out at the end of a long day and letting the eyes breathe again.

Then *snip* and out came the suture and a lot of tension vanished - it's been a bit uncomfortable over the last few days, feeling tight in the small of my back where the operation was. I wasn't sure if it was the operation or the stitch and now I know it was the stitch. Freedom at last!

The nurse put on a much lighter temporary dressing to protect the wound while letting air get to it. The first thing I did this morning was to slowly peel it off so now I’m stitchless and undressed. I can’t actually see because of where it is and no amount of careful twisting and turning gives me a good view of it. Naturally, the batteries for my camera are exhausted so I’m charging them at the moment and will take a photo later so I can see it properly.

Of course, now I need to be careful this doesn't go to my head and I try to be too active or do too much too soon. But it feels so much better now.

Adventure

I also had my first adventure yesterday – I went to Tooting! Ok, so Tooting might not be the most exotic of locations but it’s the furthest I’ve been from my front door since getting out of hospital. It also allowed me to try out my new Oyster card (I’ve always had a travelcard but it’s just run out so I thought I’d try an Oyster).

I was a bit apprehensive of getting a bus and being bounced and jostled round but it wasn’t too bad really. There were a few awkward moments when I gritted my teeth when the bus swerved, went over speed bumps or slammed on the brakes but I survived ok. Getting on and off were ok since the bus pulled right into the curb. I wouldn’t risk it in the rush hour just yet.

Walking slowly round the Tooting pavement and shops was fine as well. When it started to get crowded anywhere I made a quick get away so I didn’t risk anyone touching my back – that’s my one big fear at the moment, that someone might actually touch me!

After about half an hour I started feeling tired and bone weary so I headed back home. That’s the longest time I’ve been outside the flat since being released form hospital. When I got home I collapsed on the bed. I need to work on my stamina but, all in all, I’m pleased with my progress.

New Records

One of the joys of the internet is shopping and having your goods delivered to your door. Since I can’t get to proper shops and I no longer have a record shop in Streatham (which is shocking) then I’ve taken advantage of Amazon and Play.

SLADE

The last of the re-mastered albums were issued on 11 June but I just got them yesterday. The whole SLADE back catalogue has now been re-issued in glorious sound and with lovely booklets telling the SLADE story through the music.

I didn’t get these last four albums when they first came out in the ‘80s and these aren’t the SLADE of their glory days, this is the music of a tight, loud rock band that knows what it’s doing and excellent stuff they are too.

I think my favourite of the albums is ‘Rogues Gallery’. As ever, I seem to be going against the grain since this never gets a good write-up but it sounds good to me. Hard rocking pop music, an album of potential singles that hang together well. The CD includes 9 bonus tracks (timing runs to 79:54 minutes so they’ve squeezed a lot on here) with the wonderful ‘swing’ version of ‘My Oh My’.

It’s just a shame about the cover though – it’s the worst cover on any SLADE record in my view, dark and downbeat, but at least they're on the cover (unlike 'Kamikaze'). The re-issue picks up on the medals theme (if you look carefully you can see that all the lads have medals pinned to their coats) and uses the colour banding on the packing. It’s little details like this that make the packaging well worth it – well done Union Square!

The other record I’d pick out is ‘You Boyz Make Big Noize’, SLADE’s last album. Despite the title, the original album didn’t include the song of that name but this re-issue includes four versions of the song – luckily it’s one of my favourites of latter-day SLADE. I love the ending of the song which concludes with the refrain from my favourite SLADE song, ‘Mama Weer All Crazee Now’.

So there we are. The SLADE cannon is complete. Or is it? Surely there must be more material in the vaults somewhere? Another discovery this week is that the ‘Delighted To See You’ EP by The N’Betweens is now available to download on iTunes so, obviously, I downloaded it in a trice. As all worthy people know, The N’Betweens were baby SLADE (as Chris calls them). I wonder what else there might be lying around somewhere…

Marc Almond – ‘Stardom Road’

I’m not a great fan of Marc Almond (although everyone who was around in the ‘80s will have a favourite Soft Cell song) but I’d heard good things about his new album and heard a few songs on his MySpace site so I indulged. It’s a bit of a grower – first listen was, ‘oh, ok’, second one got me looking at the song titles and third listen got me looking forward to hearing favourite songs. I’ve listened to it a few more times now and it’s a great record.

All the songs are covers except for the penultimate track, ‘Redeem Me’. It’s an interesting selection of songs, such as ‘I Close My Eyes And Count To Ten’ and ‘Strangers In The Night’, and also a lot of songs I haven’t heard before from people like Charles Aznavour and Al Stewart and, of course, ‘London Boys’ by David Bowie (a song I’ve never heard).

My favourite track is ‘Kitsch’, one of the more up-tempo songs that builds and builds and then explodes into a wonderful refrain of ‘la la las’ taken from ‘Hot Love’ by T.Rex. It’s a wonderful arrangement of the song but I’ve got no idea whether that refrain is included in the original.

Take a listen and if you download only one song, make it ‘Kitsch’!

Suzanne Vega – ‘Beauty & Crime’

I’m a long-time fan of Suzanne and have been looking forward to this record since I first heard about it and it’s all you would expect from Miss Vega. Lovely melodies and words place just so – I think her songs are getting simpler and less wordy with each album and I’m sure that makes writing them even harder.

I love her voice. It’s soothing, calming and placid, and I can’t help relaxing when I listen to her. The songs are all based around New York and the album is dedicated to the memory of her brother.

Favourite tracks include the single, ‘Frank & Ava’, ‘Zephyr & I’ (a conversation with one of her brothers best friends about the old days), ‘Unbound’ (freedom and growth, following on from my least favourite track, ‘Bound’) and ‘New York Is A Woman’ (and a sexy one at that).

I’m delighted that I’ll be able to see her play some of these songs live at the Queen Elizabeth Hall in a couple of weeks time.

Donna Summer – ‘Bad Girls’ (Deluxe Edition)

What can I say about this album? Disco heaven! Relentless synth beats pounding away forcing you onto the dance-floor. The double album fits nicely onto one CD while a second is made up of 12” and re-mix versions of her singles from around the time the album came out, from ‘I Feel Love’ to ‘No More Tears (Enough Is Enough)’.

It includes the 17 minute ‘MacArthur Park Suite’ – ‘MacArthur Park’ is one of my favourite Donna Summer tracks that whisks me back in time to the Oranges and Lemons pub in Oxford being played inbetween what are now punk classics.

Discotastic!

Buffy Sainte-Marie

My big disappointment this week has been the absence of Buffy in my life. Not only did I not go to New York to see her show on Monday but I also haven’t been able to lay my hands on the new compilation album, ‘Vanguard Visionaries’. I’ve got no idea what Buffy thinks about this record - all the songs are already available but some that aren’t on the main Vanguard compilation from a couple of years ago so at least they might be re-mastered. I ordered it through Amazon but every few days I get an email saying release has been delayed. I think it’s available in America but only available here on import. At least being included in the series keeps her in the public eye (a bit, anyway) and might win her some new admirers.

I’m still waiting patiently for news of the real new album though, the one recorded over the spring. In a recent article Buffy refers to it as having only just gone to her agent so I’m doubtful it’ll be released this year. I’ll continue waiting patiently.

Beardy Hippy

Am I growing a beard or just not shaving? The end result is the same, what's different is the intent. It's disappointing (but not surprising) to see that most of my beard is white.

The Dresden Dolls - 'Backstabber' Roundhouse DVD Preview

This is a song from the 'Live At The Roundhouse' DVD to be released on 2 July from those teasing ragamuffin Brechtian punks! Can you see me in the audience? (no, I can't either).

The New York Dolls - Dance Like A Monkey

Live at Koko, London, 2006

Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee

Bury my heart at Wounded Knee
Deep in the Earth
Cover me with pretty lies
Bury my heart at Wounded Knee

One of my favourite songs by Buffy Sainte-Marie is 'Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee' from 1992, a powerful latter day protest song, a truth song that harks back to what happened in the American West in the late 1800s and is still happening in modern day America. The disasters wreaked on native Americans for gold are now happening for uranium and other precious metals.

I took advantage of being in hospital to finish reading the book of that name by Dee Brown. It was first published in 1970 and is still being re-published. The book is subtitled, 'An Indian History Of The American West' and is based on official documents and archived material, referenced throughout and quoting eye-witness accounts wherever possible. It's a difficult read. It's shameful and heartbreaking. The people who ruled America over the period of this book (1860-1890) had the arrogance and power to commit much to paper and that is the source of much of Mr Brown's material. The title is taken from a poem called 'American Names' by Stephen Vincent Benet.

It tells of planned genocide, of assassinations, of treaties broken time and again, of people forcibly moved from land wanted by miners, of herds of buffalo killed and left to rot in the plains, of children slaughtered ... It also tells of a proud people who know they will die but still try to protect their peoples and the land, tales of bravery, of Buffalo-Calf-Road-Woman who rode out in a hail of bullets to save her brother from ambush, of Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse.

Crazy Horse died on 5 September 1877. While escaping from a reservation and heading to join Sitting Bull in Canada, Crazy Horse's parents took his bones and heart and buried them near Chankpe Opi Wakpala, the creek called Wounded Knee. Wounded Knee was also the scene of a massacre of a band of Sioux at Christmas 1890.

The final quote in the book is under a photo of Red Cloud in old age, hair silver and long, face lined and mouth turned down. He says, "They made us many promises, more than I can remember, but they never kept but one: they promised to take our land, and they took it."

'Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee' is one of two books Buffy Sainte-Marie recommends people read to understand the history of native Americans. The other is 'Indian Givers' by Jack Weatherford, subtitled, 'How The Indians Of The Americas Transformed The World', another academic and referenced book that attempts to explain how the discovery of the Americas changed the world. It's a fascinating read.

One of the disturbing things about all this is that history keeps repeating itself and those in power have still to learn the lessons of the past. People are still being forcibly moved between reservations in America as land is wanted for mining and treaties and laws broken. I was both pleased and saddened to come across the blog by Brenda Norrell about the uranium mining in the Black Hills (I blogged about this and the 'Broken Rainbow' DVD last year). The blog included a link to a previously censored article about an interview with Buffy Sainte-Marie from 1999 in which she talks about her own censorship and her song 'Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee'. You should read both the article and the blog and I thank Brenda for publishing both.

How can I understand what the issues really are with my cosy life thousands of miles away in London? I can't. But I can be aware of them thanks to Buffy. I should be wandering round New York today, waiting for Monday to see Buffy in concert at the Highline Ballroom, and possibly meet her again after the concert. Instead I'm sitting at the table in my bay window with the sun streaming in and the trees moving in the South London breeze having filled up with painkillers for the morning. And Buffy is singing 'Starwalker', a song of hope for all generations and all peoples.

Noddy at 61

Another SLADE birthday, this time it's Nod's turn and the great Neville John Holder is now 61 years young. I blogged some memories of the great Lord of Noize himself last year so they're available to read at your leisure. How time flies.

Since then, of course, we've had the grand re-issue of all SLADE's albums, lovingly re-mastered and sounding perfect. SLADE have had more press in the last year than for ages and that's only right and proper. Jim's released two solo albums, but where's Nod's? One of the greatest rock voices is missing from music - it's time to reintroduce it in all its glory... I still believe in miracles.

Happy birthday Noddy!

James Whild Lea (14 June 1949)

A very happy birthday to Jim Lea who re-emerged this year under his full name of James Whild Lea with two great albums, 'Therapy', his new studio album and his 'official bootleg' live album. And both are excellent beyond measure.

Jim is the youngest member of SLADE and always portrayed as 'the musical one' since he played violin and was a member of the Midlands Youth Orchestra. He left that behind when he discovered the joy of rock'n'roll and joined The N'Betweens that later became SLADE. He was the musical one in truth since he co-wrote the majority of SLADE's songs with Noddy Holder, Jim mainly writing the music. The string of hits they had in the early-mid '70s, and then again in the early '80s, has never been properly evaluated and they've never been given due credit for the marvelous songs and achievements.

When I think of Jim from the glory years he's always wearing a red lurex suit. He never went that far with the glam stuff so the suit was probably as far as he felt comfortable with. It was the mainstay of his 1973 wardrobe, wearing red lurex suits on Top Of The Pops and playing live - he wore it when I saw SLADE live in Newcastle in July 1973. He left the dressing up to Dave and Nod.

He was never that comfortable with the stardom thing - he seemed to love playing live and in the studio, it was just everything else he didn't like. He took on the title of 'the Midlands misery' but I always think of him grinning as he pounded away on the bass, put his leg up on Don's drums and leaned back, like on the cover of 'SLADE Alive'.

It was with enormous joy that I found out he'd set up a website for his new studio album earlier this year. Available for download or purchase from the site, 'Therapy' is now available through iTunes. It was so good to hear new music from Jim, guitar-based rock music best played loud. Some great songs on there that deserve wider distribution, but it's his decision whatever he wants to do with his work. I wanted more and voila! the live album appeared for download. I still want more, though.

Happy birthday, Jim!