Never Mind The Baubles: Xmas '77 With The Sex Pistols

Did you see 'Never Mind The Baubles' on Boxing Day on BBC2? It's a one hour documentary about the Sex Pistols' last UK gig on Christmas Day in 1977 in aid of striking firemen in Huddersfield. An afternoon gig for the children of the town and the evening was for the adults filmed by Julien Temple. You'd never guess from this film that the band imploded a matter of weeks later in San Francisco.

It's as much a film about Christmas's past and the '70s as it is about the Pistols. The mainly black and white footage looking back onto what I always recall as a black and white world, the politics and the strikes and the furore around four lads in their early 20s who were now the scourge of the country. I recall the television news articles at the time showing churches and local politicians demanding that the Pistols weren't allowed to play in their town. This is, of course, well documented in Julien Temple's film, 'The Filth and The Fury'. It seems astonishing these days that a bunch of scruffy lads with guitars could be public enemy Number 1 but that's what happened.

So what on earth were they doing on Christmas Day hosting a party and playing a gig for a bunch of Yorkshire kids?

From the more recent interviews with John, Steve and Paul about the gig, it seems they were just grateful that someone, somewhere was letting them play. It's great to see the kids jumping round in Pistols shirts and John cutting the Christmas cake and handing it round to the kids. He seemed to be thoroughly enjoying himself. And then getting on stage and playing those classic songs and, as Steve says at one point in astonishment, not swearing during 'Bodies' (there are a lot of 'fucks' in that song). And John commenting that he'd had a word with Sid to tone down his rock star attitude.

From the sound of it they played blistering set, a rock band at the top of their game pulling out all the stops. Who could have guessed it would all fall part so soon afterwards.

I wonder what young people thought of the film as it transported us all into that far off country called the 1970s? It wasn't that long ago and everything seemed to be so different then. Or was it? Strikes, poverty, people living on the breadline? Some things don't change, sadly. To some people that film is probably history but to me it's my past.

It's a thoughtful and a delightful film that should be repeated every Christmas. Well done Julien and well done to BBC2 for showing it at Christmas. And thank you to the Sex Pistols of course!

Matthew Bourne's Swan Lake at Sadler's Wells

My final pre-Christmas treat was, as has become traditional in recent years, a trip to Sadler's Wells to see the annual Christmas production of a Matthew Bourne show. This year it was the turn of 'Swan Lake' again which is one of my favourites. I'd originally booked tickets for Saturday night but had to change them to the Sunday matinee when Kim Wilde announced her Shepherd's Bush Christmas party (well, I had to didn't I?).

I've seen the production four times before and was lucky enough to have seen the lead performers in those productions. Jonathan Ollivier as The Swan/Stranger, Simon Williams as The Prince, Kerry Biggin as The Girlfriend and Michela Meazza as the cold Queen. Despite having seen it before I still forgot some of the scenes and it was nice to be reminded of them, such as the ballet scene with the butterflies and the hunter (and the Girlfriend dropping her handbag!).

The storytelling is excellent and the dancing even better. One of my favourite scenes is when the Prince and the Swan first meet at the Lake and, from discord, gradually start dancing together over a long scene in which we see the swans enjoy themselves with their own group dances. At the end of that scene the Prince and the Swan are in total harmony, a great uplifting and joyful moment to see them together.

If you haven't seen it yet then you really should - it's a great work of art that needs to be seen to be believed.

Flap flap flap!

Kim Wilde's Christmas Party at Shepherd's Bush Empire

The Saturday before Christmas was Kim Wilde night - it was, at last, time for her Christmas Party at Shepherd's Bush and I delighted at the illuminated sign outside announcing the event. This was the first time that Kim had played a full show in London in something like 20 years so I was definitely going to be there. She's played on the '80s revival tours but I don't want to see Kim doing 4-5 hits before being ushered off stage, I want a full gig and that's what she gave us, with nearly two hours on stage and lots of fun!

This was obviously not just much anticipated by me but anticipated by everyone - I got onto the first balcony around 7:30pm and all the seats were already taken.  I've been to Shepherd's Bush loads of times and have never seen that before. That's pulling power! So I decided to find a good spot at the back of the balcony with a good view and stay there.

Kim occupies a powerful spot in pop history - after Debbie Harry and before Madonna. She toured with Michael Jackson on one of his world tours so is no slouch when it comes to working an audience and the pop star life but she gave it all up in the '90s to raise her family and become an award-winning garden designer. Lucky for us she was lured back into pop stardom and she's released some great albums since then, including her latest, 'Wilde Winter Songbook'.

I found a good place to stand at the back with an excellent view of the stage and waited for the show to start. Up first was Nik Kershaw, someone I never really paid much attention to back in the '80s but he gave good show and played some songs I knew, including 'The One and Only' that I didn't know he'd written. He strutted round the front of the stage giving us good rock star and enjoying himself. He fronted Kim's band and played a crowd-pleasing set that got everyone into the right mood.

Only fifteen minutes after Nik left the stage the lights lowered and we were treated to a series of photos on the video screens at the back of the stage of Kim through the years, from being a baby onwards. Then her band came on and then there she was, Kim Wilde at last in her first full gig in London in forever. It was great seeing her centre-stage, leading her band and in full control. The band were very tight and played off each other nicely and included Kim's brother, Ricky on guitar, and niece, Scarlett singing backing vocals (and in the smallest mini-mini skirt). She had a great light show supported by five video screens at the back that kept the visuals alive throughout the show.

Kim launched into a great set of her '80s classics and, as she reminded us, she loved the '80s! We had the big hits of 'View From A Bridge', 'Chequered Love' and 'Water On Glass' before she went disco-tastic on us with 'If I Can't Have you'. Then 'Love In A Natural Way' and a moody 'Cambodia' before we had a short acoustic set with just Kim, Ricky and Scarlett. Something went wrong with Ricky's guitar so he borrowed Nik Kershaw's guitar and we had 'Four Lettered Word', 'Love Blonde' and 'Wonderful Life'. On came the guitarist to play along to the delightful ' Hey Mr Snowman' and then the full band joined again for 'New Life' and 'Hope', all from the new album.

Then Kim introduced her dad, Marty Wilde, to join them on stage to sing the lovely 'White Winter Hymnal'. That meant we had three generations of Wilde's on stage at the same time and all singing. Kim was clearly proud of her dad and introduced him as one of the original pop stars.

Kim introduced the next song by saying that 'they' also had a new Christmas album out before launching into a great version of Erasure's 'A Little Respect' (that she covered on her own 'Snapshots' album). She dedicated the next song to us, the audience, for making ' an old girl very happy' and gave us 'You Came' followed by a stomping 'You Keep Me Hangin' On'. At the end of that she strode off stage while the band kept playing and Scarlett kept singing only to re-appear wearing bunny ears and with hands full of antlers to hand out to the audience. Then she introduced Rick Astley to join her singing 'Winter Wonderland' from the new album.

We then had the biggest surprise of the evening when Kim introduced two songs by saying they weren't hers but that we've all grown up listening to them - 'Merry Christmas Everybody' by SLADE and 'I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday' by Wizzard. They were amazing versions and Kim clearly was having the time of her life singing them. By that time Nik Kershaw was back on stage playing guitar and dancing Santas appeared on the video screens at the back of the stage. During 'I Wish' the snow started flying from the roof over the audience and, with the spotlights swirling, they made it look like it was storming around the place. The show closed with her new version of 'Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree' with Nik Kershaw.

But that wasn't all. After a minute of darkness the stage lit again and the band came back with the introduction to 'Kids In America', with Kim in tight leather jacket giving us an extended and heavy version of her first hit single written by Marty and Ricky and wow, what a version! By now everyone was standing so I didn't get a great view of the stage but the sound was fantastic. Wow! After 'merry christmas's and 'thank yous' Kim hinted that she might see us next year. I certainly hope so!

And that was it for Kim's party. Kim was on stage for nearly two hours, running round, striding across the stage, exhorting us to sing along (and we did) and giving us everything we could want and more. It was quite possibly the best and most satisfying gig of the year - I loved it!

Come back soon Kim Wilde, my Pop Star of choice!

Advent #24 - Three Advent Gifts

On the last day of advent I must give you three songs to match those delivered by the Three Wise Men.

SLADE's 'Merry Xmas Everybody' is a classic example of the Christmas single and is still regularly played everywhere 40 years after it first went to Number 1. It regularly charts each Christmas due to downloads and is current Number 51 (I think) in the UK chart. Of course, I first bought it in 1973.

This has Dave in his SuperYob outfit and guitar and Don wearing Noddy's mirrored top hat (like on the front of his book), and Nod and Jim giving it some welly. It wouldn't be Christmas without Sir Noddy yelling out, "IT'S CHRISTMAAAAAASSSS".



For a slight change of pace here's Viv Albertine's 'Home Sweet Home (At Christmas)' she released a few years back as a seasonal version of 'Confessions Of A MILF'. I (naturally) downloaded it (obv). She's also released 'It's A Christmas, Single' but no new Christmas record this year.



And another change of pace for The Futureheads' 'Christmas Was better In The 80s' (it wasn't but we did have better jumpers)



And just for good measure, here's a freeby in the form of Billy Idol's 'Yellin' At the Christmas Tree' in which the Tree wins!



Go on, enjoy! And Merry Christmas!

Advent #23 - 'Black Christmas'

Poly Styrene's second appearance in this video advent calendar, firstly singing 'City Of Christmas Ghosts' with Goldblade, and now her own single, 'Black Christmas'.

I'm dreaming of a black, black Christmas

Black smoke blows against a midnight sky

'Black Christmas' was released out of nowhere in 2010 with the news that an album would be released the following year. No drip-feed of news, just BLAM! and we have a new record from Poly. It was initially available as a free download from Poly's site which I downloaded immediately. That's Poly's daughter, Celeste, singing along in the video. I had the privilege of meeting Celeste at PolyFest earlier this year.

Advent #22 - 'Ring Out Solstice Bells'

Appropriate for the time of year, Jethro Tull's ' Ring Out Solstice Bells'.

Advent #21 - 'Il Est Ne, Le Divin Enfant'

And here we have Siouxsie & The Banshees going all Christmassy with 'Il Est Ne' - whoever would've thought it...? I like it!

Advent #20 - 'Joy'

'Joy' is the opening song to Tracey Thorn's 'Tinsel & Light' Christmas album. Its not an obvious Christmas song - where are the jingle bells and choirs? - but it sums up the season so well.

'Candide' at the Menier Chocolate Factory

As part of my pre-Christmas entertainments I got tickets to see 'Candide' at the Choccy Factory. I was sort of aware of Voltaire's book but not of Bernstein's musical version so it sounded like fun. And it was.

'Candide' is a tale of optimism gone sour. Our hero, Candide, has many trials and tribulations to overcome on the path to true love - whipped to within an inch of his life, killing two priests, going to the New World to make his fortune and finding out that his love is a lady of dubious morals. Throughout it all he looks on the bright side until the very end when his world comes crashing down. And then he realises you've got to get on with life and play the hand you've got. So he does. Brave Candide!

The Bernstein musical seems to have been played with by various hands over the years to make it work and add different bits here and there. Our hero travels from Westphalia to Paris to Buenos Aires before ending up in Venice, so he gets around a bit and that introduces different musical themes. In each continent he finds people he thought were dead to be alive but there's no time to tell the story of how they ended up not dead. Quelle coincidence! It's set in its time so we have lots of brocade and lace in the costumes, all slightly dowdy and lived in to make them real.

It's set 'in the round' so the audience is on all sides with the actors coming in from the corners. Now and then, some scenes/songs start off at the back of the auditorium that means we can't all see what's going on which is a bit annoying  - or maybe it's designed to get us all to come back but sit somewhere else to get a different take on the action? Who knows? Now that I've seen the audience participation bits I know where not to sit (and where to not get splashed with water when the boat gets shipwrecked).

It was great fun, with some great singing and dancing and I gawped at the speed of the thing with one scene blurring into the next and never knowing what was to follow. Scarlett Strallen was excellent as Cunegonde, our heroine, who happens to fall from one sugar daddy to the next with no great effort but some lovely songs, particularly 'Glitter and Be Gay' from which she wrung every laugh possible. I also liked Fra Fee's voice as Candide but he needs to work on some charisma. Another star was Jackie Clune as the 'Old Lady' with one buttock (you need to hear the story). Jackie brought a maturity and a level of daftness to the affair that was most welcome. Most of the cast took on several roles and that worked really well.

So many Choccy Factory productions have transferred to the West End - and a few to Broadway - so it'll be interesting to see what happens with this one.

Advent #19 - 'Snow'

OK, so it's not really a Christmas song as such but it is about snow so that counts. This is 'Snow' from 'White Christmas' by Bing Crosby, Rosemary Clooney, Danny Kaye and Trudy Stevens (singing for Vera-Ellen). Go on and have a listen!



Wouldn't It be nice if the record and film companies could agree to release a proper soundtrack to the film, with Rosemary singing with everyone else? Peggy Lee sings all Rosemary Clooney's parts on the soundtrack because Rosemary was signed to a different company. Rosemary, of course, recorded most of the songs herself. But it's not the same.