World Wide Woozle episode #556

Hi everyone,

This episode comes to you from me in home quarantine so get ready to rock and don't be scared to turn the volume up. Your neighbours will love it.

Here's the Spotify playlist for this episode. Click here.

Bryan Adams - House Arrest (live) - https://youtu.be/g7wgPdn6HZQ

Let's start with Lorde. The singer from New Zealand has a new album available called Solar Power. The cover art, which I find a bit unnecessary, could easily be labelled "gas power". And then there's the fact that you can buy the album packaging at your local music shop but the CD version comes without a disc. You just get the booklet and some photos. No thanks. Musically it's a pretty good listen but the whole packaging thing just feels like we've been cheated.

Lorde - Solar Power - https://youtu.be/wvsP_lzh2-8

I went back to listen to the first Fleetwood Mac album last week. It's from 1968. For most of their more modern output I've found the band just a little bit too commercial and/or middle of the road for my taste. If you like Blues though then early Mac is for you. I've been thoroughly enjoying this record.

Fleetwood Mac - Merry Go Round - https://youtu.be/7Khxpvq1-O4

And speaking of the middle of the road...popular songs are hits for a reason and this track is no exception. This one was a huge hit when I was at high school and playing the intro riff on my acoustic guitar made me dream of playing to large audiences. Cool song and check out the mullets in the video!

Lou Gramm - Midnight Blue - https://youtu.be/v4G_0A8Cdkw

Canberra doom rockers Witchskull have contributed a track to an AC/DC tribute record. After a few listens I was wondering why they'd bothered. It just sounded like pretty much any other hard rock band playing an AC/DC track. After a few more listens the track seeped into my brain and I heard more and more Witchskull in there as well as AC/DC. The drums and bass pound hard, the guitar wails in pain and the vocals take their cue from Bon Scott but it's Marcus all the way.

Witchskull - Sin City - https://youtu.be/ttjeB7qyXIg

Windham Hill Records put out a whole lot of music back in the day. I remember getting one of their guitar sampler albums on cassette and being mesmerised by the playing. The cassette is here and I dug it out yesterday for a listen and it's still sublime. Plenty of the artists are online and you can search them out easily if you feel the urge. I've got a CD copy of the cassette coming soon; yay! This is the first track on the cassette and it hooked me instantly.

David Cullen - On The Way - https://youtu.be/KzJu51PloQc

Ozzy Osbourne released No More Tears back in 1991. It just had the 30th anniversary treatment. For me, this is a great album for a few reasons. The songwriting is high quality, Ozzy sounds good and his relatively new (at the time) guitarist, Zakk Wylde, just hits it out of the park. Other than Blizzard of Ozz (1980), this is my favourite Ozzy album. Following on from my comments about Lorde though, I'm a bit disappointed. You can get the remastered version on vinyl or via streaming service but not on CD. There's a pattern appearing here and it worries me personally as a music consumer. Also, there are a whole lot of bonus tracks available only online. Sure, I have a Spotify account and I've already played the new version of the album far too many times, but I'd really like the opportunity to own the physical CD of it or at least to be able to purchase lossless files. Oh well, it still rocks!

Ozzy Osbourne - I Don't Want To Change The World - https://youtu.be/chqF4viMPY8

My very good friend, and former bandmate, George is playing his second online gig tomorrow night (Weds 29 Sep 2021). The first show was a real treat and you shouldn't miss the upcoming thirty minutes of Bing doing his thing. I was very excited to be asked to appear as a guest on one of the songs and getting all of that recorded and ready to go was tons of fun. You can view the gig anytime between 8pm and midnight AEDST. For details on how to watch please go to this link and ask George for the details. https://www.georgehuitker.com.au/contact

One of the good things about quarantine is that I've been checking out a few albums that I haven't listened to for a while. It may be good or bad that I've also identified a few gaps in the collection! As a result I've got a vinyl copy of a rather cool Steeleye Span album from 1973 coming in the post. This band really helped me link my enjoyment of more traditional music from my homeland with rock and roll.

Steeleye Span - Cam Ye O'er Frae France - https://youtu.be/xLBGqJAdY8k

Good grief, I've got a lot more music to play for you but maybe I'll wait until next time. After 556 episodes I don't want to peak too early!

On a quick personal note...I get out of quarantine at midnight on Saturday. I was unlucky enough to be in hospital a week ago for a day (gotta love kidney stones) and someone there must've tested positive for Covid-19. I'm very grateful that my first test came back negative (next test is Thursday). It's only when something like this happens that you realise that even in lockdown, we still have the potential to infect quite a number of people. So, please get vaccinated if you can and even though the health orders might feel onerous, stick with it just a bit longer.

Rock on,

The Woozle.

" 'Cause I'm just a teenage dirtbag, baby

Yeah, I'm just a teenage dirtbag, baby
Listen to Iron Maiden, baby, with me, ooh.." Wheatus, Teenage Dirtbag, 2000. (that's a cool live version, watch it!)