With only a few days to go until Christmas I can report that it's a ghost town here in the office, the café downstairs is playing their festive music far too loud, and that the post office is sick of seeing me! I hope your run up to the end of the year is relatively calm.
Cat Stevens - Wild World (live) - https://youtu.be/Jta56wBl7SM
I have a new bike. It's rather exciting because it's a single speed commuter and also slightly irresponsible given the size of my house. I now play Tetris with my bikes! The new ride was made for me by a friend who recycles old bike parts. His surname is Tinney so I have named my bike the "Tinney Recycler". Too many puns are never enough. Getting used to riding without changing gears, as well as being a bit more upright, is quite strange. However, it's a perfect ride into work and back which is all relatively flat.
Tom Petty - Into The Great Wide Open - https://youtu.be/wVOykOqzP18
George and the band played a shoe Coonabarabran on Saturday night. Coona is about a seven hour drive north of Canberra. I played there on our original tour to Tingha as well as a year later. It's a great place to hang around for a few days and there are a couple of spots well worth taking the time to see. My memories of that first trip include it being freezing at night…and me realising too late the treachery of George leaving the window open in our motel room! Still, the songs and the people warmed our hearts and continue to do so.
Midnight Oil - Power and the Passion - https://youtu.be/6pKPNnk-JhE
Sadly, Angus was in a car accident recently and the old Subaru that served him and I so well over the last five or so years has been written off. There were no injuries to people and that's really the important thing. I'm pretty proud of him at the moment as he works a second job whilst building up his massage client list. We don't need to replace the car and the insurance payout has thankfully covered the excess. Here's a hint folks…don't have a car accident when you're under 25!
Sadly, Angus was in a car accident recently and the old Subaru that served him and I so well over the last five or so years has been written off. There were no injuries to people and that's really the important thing. I'm pretty proud of him at the moment as he works a second job whilst building up his massage client list. We don't need to replace the car and the insurance payout has thankfully covered the excess. Here's a hint folks…don't have a car accident when you're under 25!
AC/DC - Goodbye and Good Riddance to Bad Luck - https://youtu.be/iVGEZDLrIYw
For those following along at home…the tradesperson meant to be fixing my bathroom ceiling has disappeared from the face of the planet. He's given up responding to any forms of contact and, to be honest, I've given up on him. Fortunately my mate "Too Tall" is going to be able to help me out. On the weekend I began to do some painting and touch up work ahead of the place going to market; this is me getting a long way out of my comfort zone. However, with the aid of YouTube, I have successfully done some filling, sanding and painting. Not to mention actually managing to use silicon sealant without it going absolutely everywhere. I should be finished in a few days and then it's just the wait on the aforementioned ceiling repair.
Sam Cooke - If I Had A Hammer (live) - https://youtu.be/WFSvzWuwuZ8
Zoë let me know recently that it was 700 days since she went to England. I had hoped to be able to visit her during that time but you all know about international travel by now. In some ways that 700 days has flown by but in others it has seriously dragged on. With an ounce of luck Zoë will be back in Australia for a holiday in about 100 days. I get that your kids grow up and leave home, it's a natural part of life and I did it too. But 700 days is a very, very long time.
Twisted Sister - The Price - https://youtu.be/UpfZcEjopYE
Around this time of the year there is always the temptation to talk about the best, or your favourite releases for the last twelve months. I won't do that. But what I might do, if you'll humour me, is play a couple of tracks from records that have sat firmly in my regular listening for quite a while.
An album that I would have almost worn out (if I actually had it on vinyl) this year is The Gereg by The HU. It's the combination of heavy metal, Mongolian folk music and poetry, lyrics I can't understand in a language that sounds fascinating, and a rhythmic structure that really hits home that all has me completely enthralled with these guys. The album came out in 2019 and I really hope they've got a new one coming before long.
The HU – Yuve Yuve Yu - https://youtu.be/v4xZUr0BEfE
Another band that really hit the spot this year for me is Soul Asylum. They've been around since forever it seems. I remember in the 90s being drawn to their lyrics, raw vocal delivery and Dave Pirner's battered Telecaster. There are a couple of live gigs now on streaming services as well as a number of studio albums. It's a bit like a grungy Springsteen.
Soul Asylum - Misery (live) - https://youtu.be/gCceGWFWVcQ
Someone in Soul Asylum is obviously a soul music fan because they regularly cover some classic tunes. Listening to these pointed me to this song which I'd really only been aware of as a result of the Billy Bragg version. Imagine being able to channel whatever you were feeling into lyrics like these!
Smokey Robinson & The Miracles - The Tracks of My Tears - https://youtu.be/Yf2CB32jDYc
Also on high rotation here at HQ Woozle recently are one of Australia's greatest hard rock bands, Rose Tattoo. I was asked if I could play one of their songs a while ago (I couldn't but I managed to work it out on the fly) and that got me right back into their music. I was fortunate enough to see them a couple of years ago and they still put on a fantastic live show. I really need to tune one of my guitars to open E and get into some slide playing!
Rose Tattoo - The Butcher & Fast Eddie (live 1982) - https://youtu.be/1OlJQeVd7hM
Smokey Robinson and Soul Asylum gave me a gentle shove back into some Motown tracks. I can listen to a lot of the early stuff for hours and hours!
The Temptations - Papa Was A Rolling Stone - https://youtu.be/nXiQtD5gcHU
Mary Wells - My Guy - https://youtu.be/4WT7nBGX5eU
Well folks, that's all for this time. I hope you made it to the end and that at least one or two of the songs were of interest. Have a great festive season regardless of how you choose to celebrate or what you believe.
Rock on,
The Woozle.
"This is our Christmas single
Please make it number oneAnd give us all your money
To make our Christmas fun"
Bad News, Cashing In On Christmas, 1987.
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