Poppy Day

It's that time of year again - the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month commemorates the armistice of the First World War and has come to symbolise all wars and conflicts in the Twentieth Century and beyond. In Britain we have the Cenotaph memorial on the Sunday nearest to the 11th of November at which the Queen, her representatives, senior politicians and military bods, Commonwealth representatives and those of the different branches of the armed forces lay wreaths to commemorate those who have died in past conflicts. It'll be the same this Sunday.

I never used to join in what I used to see - and still do - as a commemoration of our past militarism and Empire, dragging the rest of the world into our little European wars. Amongst all the red poppies sold in support of the British Legion I've never seen the white poppy for conscientious objectors.

I saw this article in The Guardian today by Harry Leslie Smith in which he declares that this is the last year he'll wear a poppy.  Part of me agrees with him. He was there, I wasn't. And then there's another part of me that thinks otherwise.

Even this year, this week, I found it hard to buy a poppy from the sellers at the tube station or from the box of poppies in our work canteen. But I went to the garden of remembrance in the grounds of Westminster Abbey at lunchtime yesterday and strolled among the crowds with cameras all looking for specific names on the little wooden crosses stuck in the sodden ground of the lawns outside the Abbey. I look at the map and then stroll to the little area allocated to the Green Howards and I do that for my Granda.

My Granda's name isn't there - he survived the First World War but his left arm was burned and turned to ashes somewhere in northern France. He lost his arm before he was 20 years old. He lost his brothers and his friends and that's why I go, to represent my old Granda who never said a word about the horrors or the trenches like the rest of his generation. What was so terrible that you can't even speak of it 50 years later? The burdens those old soldiers carried must have been awful.

My Granda lives on through us, his grandchildren and through our children and grandchildren. But memories fade and people are forgotten. They become names rather than people. That's life, I suppose, but that's also a reason why I go to the garden of remembrance. All those young men and women slaughtered before they'd even lived because we'd had an industrial revolution and learned how to kill on an industrial scale. Life was cheap - or at least the lives of the common soldiers on both sides of the conflict.  That was part of the Bolshevik argument in 1917 - why are the working classes fighting each other when the real enemy is the master class? Has anything changed?

I'm wearing a poppy on behalf of my Granda this year but whether I'll wear one next year, who knows?

Virgin at 40

The National Theatre is 50 this year but Virgin is just 40. It's odd to think of something like Virgin having a birthday and celebrating it - these days it's just another multinational company raking in the money. Ah, but back in the day it meant something.

It started out as a hippy record company and it's the music that's being celebrated. Its first release was 'Tubular Bells' by Mike Oldfield (which I've never heard other than the bits in 'The Omen'). A few more hippy and prog rock releases later and after dipping its toes into reggae, Virgin signed the Sex Pistols and everything changed. It saw the light of punk (or possibly just the money making potential) and suddenly punk records were available all over the place. At around the same time it started to open record shops and I remember the small shop behind Newcastle City Hall that I seem to recall always smelled of patchouli (once a hippy ...).

To celebrate its birthday, Virgin has released a series of triple CDs:

Losing Our Virginity: The First Four Year 1973-1977 - featuring artists like Mike Oldfield, Robert Wyatt, Can, Steve Hillage, Kevin Coyne, Gong and Captain Beefheart.

Never Trust A Hippy: Punk & New Wave 1976-1979 - with the Sex Pistols, X-Ray Spex, Penetration, U-Roy, the Mighty Diamonds, Magazine, the Skids and the Members.

New Gold Dreams: Post Punk & New Romantic 1979-1983 - Public Image Ltd, the Human League, The Ruts, Japan, Simple Minds, Culture Club and Heaven 17.

Methods Of Dance: Electronica & Leftfield 1973-1987 - with Sparks, Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, Cabaret Voltaire, Public Image Ltd and China Crisis.

Fascinating Rhythms: Sound Systems & Dancefloor - Neneh Cherry, Soul II Soul, Jesus Loves You, Massive Attack, Chemical Brothers and Everything But The Girl.

There's also a sort of 'hits' compilation called 'Virgin Records: 40 Years of Disruptions' with Mike Oldfield, the Pistols, the Spice Girls, Meatloaf, Chemical Brothers and. bringing the collection right up to date, some of the recent hits from people like KT Tunstall and Bastille.

I like the CD sleeves that resemble a 7" single from back in the day with the logo of the time. I'm especially pleased to see two previously unavailable songs from Jane Aire & The Belvederes on the 'Never Trust A Hippy' record - her picture-disc single 'Call Me Every Night' and 'Breaking Down The Walls Of Heartache', from Jane's only album. I will invest in 'Never Trust A Hippy' and 'New Gold Dreams' (obv) and, maybe sample some of the others.

Rita Moreno at the British Film Institute

Last Sunday I was privileged to see the wonderful Rita Moreno in conversation before a screening of 'Summer and Smoke'.

Rita was interviewed by Matthew Sweet and, right up front, she pointed out that she gave long answers, and so she did. She's looking good at 81 and gave very thoughtful and, sometimes, brutally honest, responses that were more like monologues than interview answers. She laughingly told us that all the studios had a 'Rita Moreno kit' that comprised open toed sandals, hooped ear-rings and make-up type Egyptian Number 1. She spoke about being in the Hollywood studio system when the PR department sent their young starlets out to get publicity and, on occasion, put them at risk. She spoke about the casual racism of the time, casting her again and again as the dusky maiden or Latino of easy virtue and about how even after winning an Oscar for 'West Side Story' she didn't do another film for seven years.

We were shown film clips during the talk and my favourite was the rooftop scene from 'West Side Story' with Rita leading the 'America' sequence. After winning the Oscar (and other awards) for the film she said she was offered three other 'gang' films but that was it.  Not quite what you expect really.

There was time for some audience Q&A after the main interview and there were some good questions (including one from David McAlmont who was in the audience). Rita was a delight to listen to, name checking everyone from Gene Kelly to Marlon Brando (I didn't know they had an eight year affair), raising laughter and silence with her reminiscences. 

After a short break it was time for 'Summer And Smoke' a film from 1961 in which Rita had a part. She said a few words at the start - and it obviously isn't one of her favourites - before taking her seat in the row in front of us. It was a poor print of the film  and, unfortunately, a poor film based on a Tennessee Williams play. It seemed to go on and on, trying to build the stunted suffocating atmosphere that features in so much of his work but failing. The age difference between the two leads was unfortunate and so were the relative acting abilities. Still, Rita looked good.

PS: I also learned how to pronounce her name properly. She's Moreno (ren) not Moreeno (reen).

Yoko Ono - 'Bad Dancer'

The new video from Yoko Ono Plastic Ono Band for 'Bad Dancer' from the new album has dropped and Yoko is on top form. Give your bum a wiggle to this!

And the only way to make art is to wear a top hat (obv).

NT @ 50 = 46

As you probably know, the National Theatre is celebrating being 50 years old at the moment. There are celebratory talks at the National, documentaries on TV and radio, features here and there and even (gosh) a celebratory website.  The physical reality of the National Theatre is a 1970s concrete 'brutalist' building - before then it was based in The Old Vic.

I've attended a few of the celebratory talks with people who've played at the theatre over the years such as Imelda Staunton and husband Jim Carter, Julie Walters, Simon Russell Beale and Brenda Blethyn as well as former director, Richard Eyre. They've taken place in the early evenings in the National theatres before they open for the evenings punters. They've been great fun and a great idea.

The National Theatre is actually three theatres in the same building. It's made up of the Olivier Theatre, the Lyttelton Theatre and the Cottesloe Theatre (currently being renovated and will open in 2014 with a new name). With three theatres on the go it has the opportunity of putting on so many shows each year. My favourite theatre is the Olivier and I can't believe that it will ever change its name.  How could it?

My personal archivist pointed out the other day that I've seen 46 National Theatre productions (some more than once) in the last 10 years (and will be seeing an additional two before the year is out). So here's the last ten years of the National and me...

2003: Henry V, Jumpers, His Girl Friday, Play Without Words

I remember Adrian Lester as Henry V in a modern day Iraq-type scenario for the great war play but I don't recall anything about 'Jumpers' at all. Zoe Wanamaker was great in 'His Girl Friday' and 'Play Without Words' was sublime. We saw 'Play' with Dezur from New York and I saw the same production again last year at Sadlers Wells as part of the Matthew Bourne 25th anniversary celebrations.

2004: Jerry Springer: The Opera, A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum

Two big ensemble pieces with far more swearing in 'Jerry Springer' than is good for anyone and some good old fashioned smut in 'Forum'.

2005: The House Of Bernarda Alba, Once In A Lifetime

I still remember Penelope Wilton leading the cast of women in 'Bernarda Alba', wringing her hands at the front of the stage and putting on a brave face. I find it hard to believe it was that long ago.

2006: Pillars Of The Community, The Voysey Inheritance

Two Victorian plays in one year.

2007: The Rose Tattoo, Rafta Rafta, The Emperor Jones, War Horse

Zoe Wanamaker (again) in 'Rose Tattoo', the great Meera Syal in 'Rafta', the golden stage opening for 'Jones' and, of course, the brave horse that is Joey in 'War Horse' which I saw twice and, on one night, Steven Sondheim was a few rows in front of us, so who knows what might happen. Joey is so far from being a puppet, he is bravery personified.

2008: Much Ado About Nothing, Present Laughter, The Year Of Magical Thinking, August, Osage County

A great production of 'Much Ado' with Zoe Wanamaker and Simon Russell Beale speechifying from a deep pond on the stage, a tour de force from Vanessa Redgrave in 'Magical Thinking' and the sprawling complexity of the family drama of 'Osage'.

2009: Every Good Boy Deserves A Favour, The Pitman Painters, Burnt By The Sun, All's Well That Ends Well, Time And The Conways, Nation

'The Pitman Painters' was a revelation with art growing out of the mines of Northumberland between the wars - not quite class warfare but some powerful message nonetheless. I loved the almost fairytale nature  of 'All's Well' and the clarity of vision and writing of 'The Conways'.

2010: London Assurance, The White Guard, After The Dance, Spring Storm, Hamlet, Fela!

This was a good year, with Simon Russell Beale and Fiona Shaw playing off each other in a most disgraceful and humorous way - how dare they be that outrageously funny! Rory Kinnear's 'Hamlet' is the play that cemented him in my mind as an actor and 'Fela!' was, largely, the same as the Broadway production of the life of Fela Kuti and Afrobeat.

2011: Twelfth Night, Frankenstein, The Cherry Orchard, The Comedy Of Errors

'Twelfth Night' remains one of my least favourite productions for many reasons (read the blog if you want to know more) and 'Comedy' sticks in my mind for the failings of the moving (or, rather, non-moving) bits of the set. Not the most successful year other than the great production of 'Frankenstein' with it's revolving lead players.

2012: Travelling Light, She Stoops To Conquer, Timon Of Athens, The Last Of The Hausmanns, Scenes From An Execution

A pick'n'mix year, with 'Travelling' and 'Timon' both unsatisfactory and 'She Stoops' and 'Hausmanns' as highlights. I loved 'Hausmanns' with Julie Walters as the still-hippy mother to two grown up children with Rory Kinnear playing gay by standing on one leg.

2013: Hymn/Cocktail Sticks, Children Of The Sun, People, Othello, The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time, The Amen Corner, Edward II 

Two plays by Alan Bennett, the powerful and moving 'Amen Corner' and my disappointment with 'Othello' (with Adrian Lester from ten years earlier and Rory Kinnear again) and the terribly disappointing 'Edward II'.

Still, I have tickets to see two more National productions in November and December - 'Emil & The Detectives' and 'The Light Princess', the Tori Amos musical. I'm looking forward to seeing both.

So there you have it, my own tribute to the National Theatre.  I wonder what's on next year ... ?

'Jersey Boys' at the Prince Edward Theatre

At the weekend I saw 'Jersey Boys', the musical about Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons. I've been puzzled about how long it's been playing so far and never thought the Four Seasons were really that big in the UK and then I heard the songs and realised that I knew many of them. I suppose they just flew under the radar?

I knew 'Jersey Boys' was a jukebox musical, but didn't know that it really was a jukebox with song after song after song with little narrative in-between songs. The speed of the thing was a bit frustrating at first as was the absence of any real attempt at characterisation or plot but, on reflection, that's not such a bad thing.

We're presented with an empty stage with a scaffold walkway at the back and stairs down to the stage. Props are wheeled on at great speed and even quicker to be wheeled off. The pace is fast and then we're given a song, another prop rises from the trapdoors or is wheeled on and we get another song, an instant set change with another song. And so on. Bam bam bam. Change props, change costumes and cue another song. I don't know why but it took me most of the first half to stop being shocked by the speed and pace, always running to try to keep up. But, y'know what? I enjoyed it.

The story takes place over 25-30 years as we see the Four Seasons coming together and then having hit after hit, getting into trouble, growing up and then splitting. The actors never age or reflect the years changing in any way - they wear suits throughout and keep the same hair styles. I only became aware of the passing of the years when Frankie rings his 19 year old runaway daughter at one point. He's gone from little more than a child himself to fathering a 19 year old. Where was disco Frankie in his white waistcoat and trousers with curley (permed?) hair that I remember from Top Of The Pops?

The actors all had nice voices that blended well and they worked together nicely, with good rapport. They're clearly well practiced and terribly professional but the repetitive dance routines got a bit wearying - surely they had more than two routines in all their years together? But perhaps I'm being nit-picky.

Ultimately, a show like this will stand or fall on the quality of the songs in the jukebox and it's longevity is a testimony to the Four Seasons songs. Considering they got together before I was born I was surprised to realise that I knew so many of them - 'Sherry', 'Big Girls Don't Cry', 'Walk Like A Man', 'Rag Doll', and, in the 1970s, 'Who Loves You' and 'December 1963 (Oh What A Night)'. Then there were the ones I knew but didn't realise the originals were by the Four Seasons including 'Bye Bye Baby' (the Bay City Rollers), 'Can't Take My Eyes off You' (which I always thought was an Andy Williams original) and 'My Eyes Adored You' (by every male singer).

There was definitely an age thing going on with the over-50s dominating the audience and they clearly wanted to have a good time. Clapping and singing along, at one point I wanted to remind the people behind me that it wasn't really the Four Seasons on stage, that they were actors and this was a theatre and not a concert hall. But that would've been churlish. It's always a good thing when people enjoy their theatre but there are limits people. The age thing was emphasised by the queue for the gents at half-time and at the end.

The tickets are generally at silly prices but if you're at a loss for something to do one evening then you could do worse than pick 'Jersey Boys' for some non-stop entertainment and some memorable songs.

'The Scottsboro Boys' at The Young Vic

Tonight I was treated to a ticket to see 'The Scottsboro Boys' at the Young Vic, the first UK production of the last Kander & Ebb musical. I hadn't heard of it before - or the story it tells - but I'm very pleased to have seen it.

It tells the story of nine black teenagers arrested in Alabama for the rape of two white women in 1931 and all are convicted despite there being no evidence of rape. We see the lads young and hopeful, riding the train to a better life and jobs when it all falls apart and they're thrown into jail. They become a cause celebre for the North against the South which really doesn't help the lads, even when one of the women admits in court that she lied. Eventually the four youngest lads are released and the other five serve their sentences.

That makes it sound terribly serious - and the underlying story is serious - but that's where Kander & Ebb come in to make it a musical worthy of the stage to tell the story and get it before audiences. They use the theme of an old fashioned Southern minstrel show to tell the story and give it structure. I have to admit that I recognised this early on by remembering the 'Minstrel' section from the film 'White Christmas', one of the first big song 'n' dance numbers in the film.

We have the Interlocutor who tells the story and plays the role of the white 'boss' and judge and we have Mr Bones and Mr Tambo who take the story forward as they also play the roles of the sheriff and his deputy as well as the lawyers in the court case.  This is a nice motif since they're black as Bones and Tambo but then play white folks by donning different clothes. Just as the two white women are played by two of the black boys wearing a hat and a cardy round their shoulders.

And shadowing many of the scenes is a silent and mysterious woman, the only woman in the show. Who is she?

It's all a terribly professional show and it was great to see two actors in this after seeing them earlier in the summer - Adebayo Bolaji as one of the lads' leads (from 'The Color Purple') and James T Lane who played Ruby, one of the women (from 'A Chorus Line'). Julian Glover plays the Interlocutor (the 'boss', judge and governor). Colman Domingo and Forrest McClendon played Mr Bones/Sheriff/Lawyer and Mr Tambo/Deputy/Lawyer respectively and they were excellent, creating laughable and macabre grotesques as they went along. I'd also single out Kyle Scatliffe for praise as the lead lad who refuses to tell a lie even when his freedom depends on it. He played Haywood Patterson who eventually dies in prison.

The show ends by taking the minstrel theme to it's ultimate conclusion in which all the black actors come on stage all blacked up and with white lips like minstrels of old. They each tell their story and what happened to them next - and none of it is pretty - before wiping off the make-up and leaving the stage as the Interlocutor commands them to perform. This was received in silence only to be followed by a standing ovation from much of the audience.

I'd recommend seeing this show if you can - there's something here for everyone.

And who is the mysterious shadow woman? You'll just have to see the show to find that out...

Goodnight Lou Reed

The news is spreading that Lou Reed died today. That's sad. As ever, there seems to be a rush to be the first to post an RIP message on twitter or facebook. This is a new phenomenon, a trend courtesy of social media allowing us, mere ordinary people, to say our own farewells. I won't say RIP since I don't know whether he'd want to rest in peace. For all I know he'd want to get the biggest amp and turn it up to 11 and scream out random lyrics over endless power chords. Forever.

I first came across Lou Reed when I heard 'Walk On The Wildside' on the Johnnie Walker Radio 1 show when I was 12. It was an odd song, oddly mature for the times and I had no idea what it was about but the sound, those strange words and the lazy bass made it memorable. And those 'coloured girls', the Thunderthighs singing backing vocals. I didn't buy 'Transformer' then but bought it a few years later in about 1976.

In 1978 I saw 'Street Hassle', the 12" single, and bought it. That's when I first heard The Velvet Underground. Two VU songs ('Waiting For The Man' and 'Venus In Furs') were on the 'B' side. That gave me another avenue to explore.

Lou wasn't at the top of my list to buy new music from but I gradually filled out my collection, slowly but surely. There was always something interesting going on in his songs. I don't think I ever bought a Lou Reed album when it first came out, there was always a delay of years. There are already lots of Lou Reed compilation albums out there and I suspect more will appear.

One of my favourite albums is 'New York', full of songs that sum up the city he lived in and that had been one of his long-standing muses. Another is 'Songs For Drella' with John Cale about Andy Warhol. I play both every now and then, probably more than any of his other albums other than 'Transformer'.

Eno is reported to have once commented that everyone who bought the Velvet's first album when it came out went out and started a band. I've no idea if that's true or not but I hope that when people hear the news about Lou they all play a song or two and remember Lou. I also hope that people who've never heard of him look him up and listen for the first time. Maybe that will inspire a new artist to achieve greatness in one of the arts and trace their beginnings back to Lou. That would be good.

Goodnight Lou.

Do You Remember Your First Record?

Well, do you? Mine was 'Lola' by The Kinks and I got it for Christmas in 1970. Over the summer 1970 me and my brothers went to stay with our aunt and uncle while my mother was in hospital for an operation so that my dad and grandma could focus on my mother. My cousin Jackie was a few years older than us and well into music. That summer there were two big records, 'Rainbow' by Marmalade and 'Lola' by The Kinks. They were played endlessly on the radio and on Top Of The Pops.

Back to school and my mam was out of hospital and doing fine. That Christmas we got a record player and I got my first record, 'Lola'. I never saw The Kinks play live but I've seen Ray Davies perform the song a few times and I love the way the middle aged audience sings along lustily in praise of a transexual. The magical Lola is a hero of the 20th Century and long may she reign.

L-O-L-A Lola!

Southbank Poster

Here is the new artwork to promote the Southbank. I like the Southbank. It has the Royal Festival Hall and Queen Elizabeth Hall for concerts, it has the National Theatre and The Old Vic for theatrical productions, it has the Hayward Gallery for art, it has the British Film Institute and the giant iMax cinema and it has eateries and shops. It has the Big Wheel (aka The London Eye). It also has the River Thames and a stunning walk along the south bank of the river, majestic bridges and the beaches at low tide. It has the best railway station in the world in Blackfriars, built in the middle of Blackfriars Bridge that presents amazing views of Tower Bridge and St Paul's Cathedral when you get off the train. It has buskers and living statues and a magic roundabout and Udderbelly every summer and Jubilee Gardens where I took part in the Rain of Poems.

I served as a London Ambassador on the Southbank during the 2012 Olympics when London was pretty and its denizens all wore smiles. We had the sun and summer heat back then. And every winter it has an ice-rink, a Christmas market and lights in the trees and, when we're lucky, snow.

At the moment the views from the Southbank are rather splendid with the nights drawing in, walking east and seeing the lights of the skyscrapers in the City on the other side of the river. Even better to be in the middle of Waterloo Bridge and to look at the lights on both sides of the river. A magical sight.

As Ray Davies sings, 'Waterloo sunset's fine...'. And rather beautiful too, I would add.