World Wide Woozle episode #629

Thanks for tuning in. It's raining quite a lot here at HQ World Wide Woozle. Although I'd rather be outside on my bike, the precipitation does indeed provide an atmosphere conducive to reflection and writing so here we go. And more about rain later on.

The National Film and Sound Archive has an online exhibition now celebrating 100 years of radio. I'll probably take a look over the weekend. Radio was a huge part of my life for many years, I loved to scour up and down the dial searching for stations from far flung places. When I was in the Army and still living on base, I was once called to see the Intelligence Officer to explain why Radio Moscow was sending me a programme schedule! I like old radios too. Although I don't have heaps of room here to collect them (probably a good thing) I do have an old National Panasonic receiver that was converted to a Bluetooth speaker by a mob in Geelong. Very cool. If I could fit a couple of cool ghetto blasters in here I certainly would. Radio was where we heard new and old music. The local community station, 3GCR aka Gippsland FM was an integral part of my education. While commercial channels played the hits, community stations played everything. In the space of a few hours I'd hear folk music, music in languages other than English, old time rock and roll, polkas and the weekly heavy metal show. Of course radio is still around but I must admit I generally only listen in the car. Then again, if I invested in a shortwave receiver I could go back to my days of searching for Voice of America or something more exotic. Yeah, it's all on the internet but that's no fun.

The Sports - Who Listens To The Radio - https://youtu.be/wNjFdWrv3Fs

Last weekend I was in Mudgee with my good mates Toddo and Davey for a cycling event. The Mudgee Classic has been held four times and I've ridden them all. Getting away for the weekend, talking nonsense in the car for 5 hours each way, hanging out at the local RSL Club and getting a solid 120km ride done all added up to a top shelf weekend. We missed seeing Ken Sutcliffe, "the male model from Mudgee", starting the event but we did stop in his home town of Oberon to visit the dunnies and the bakery. If you're even a casual cyclist then I couldn't recommend this event highly enough. There's gravel/dirt rides on the Saturday and road cycling on Sunday with distances from 35km up to 170km. It rained, hard, on Saturday which wasn't that much fun for those riders. We got a bit of a shower on Sunday but nothing too much. We did need a loud rain and thunder playlist in the cabin though as SOMEONE who isn't Todd or I snored louder than two chainsaws! Seriously though, I'm very grateful to the lads for being such awesome friends.

Judas Priest - United (live) - https://youtu.be/6DmZUAbeWlM

The Woozle and Toddo in Mudgee.

A long time ago now I played in a band called The Dark Violence of Beauty. Our bass player, G-man, went on to play in a few bands and he's in one called Tundrel. They've just released their latest track, and video clip, and I'd really appreciate it if everyone out there clicked the link to check it out. I know at least two people in the clip and if you're from Canberra then there's every chance you'll recognise a couple of locations. Regardless, check it out and support local music.

Tundrel - Mechanical Sympathy - https://youtu.be/MeyJklUas7g

Roxette are coming back to Australia in 2025. I saw them here in Canberra at the Royal Theatre on 29th January in 1995 and it remains one of the best rock and roll gigs I've ever seen. I'm serious. I'll have to think long and hard about the 2025 show for a while. Per Gessle is a fantastic songwriter who has that knack of writing great hooks. He also loves classic guitars! This is my favourite song from the Crash Boom Bang album that they were touring back in '95. The jangly, swirling guitar in the verses and the overdriven sound in the bit before the verses...this song has it all.

Roxette - Fireworks - https://youtu.be/EvpYdXjE0Rc

When I first got a CD player, I thought CDs were expensive. These days they are on the way to silly prices. $50 for the latest Pearl Jam CD? Oh dear. I remember early on getting a CD called The Superior Sound of Elton John. I guess it was meant to be some of his best tracks remastered so that they sounded better on the new media. Other than playing Saturday Night's Alright For Fighting far too many times the rest of the album didn't really interest me. Then about ten years ago I put it on and really enjoyed it. Funeral For A Friend / Love Lies Bleeding became a particular favourite. It's long, it has many different parts and, in the middle it rocks hard. I've heard Joe Elliott (Def Leppard) doing a great live version of it and Dream Theater do as well. Recently Elton John and Bernie Taupin were awarded the Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Songwriting and there was a series of well known artists including Annie Lennox, Garth Brooks and Joni Mitchell playing in tribute to them. They were good, better than good, but then I saw the link for Metallica playing. Seriously, their obvious love for the original song is clear and whilst making it their own, Hetfield and co. show plenty of respect. Listen carefully for when James sings, "just a fan". Those are Bernie's lyrics but the timing of the delivery is pure Metallica.

Metallica - Funeral for a Friend / Love Lies Bleeding - https://youtu.be/CUI24ZZ4ksA

Canberrans, what is happening? We're being inundated with great heavy metal bands visiting our humble town. Triumph of Death, Unleash The Archers, Temtris and Cirith Ungol are all coming in the near future. Amazing. Listening to these bands along with some others pointed me towards the brand new album from Darkthrone. Now there's a band that care not a dot for what is popular, trendy or will make them money. Their albums range from the seminal Norwegian black metal releases A Blaze In A Northern Sky and Transilvanian Hunger through to the Priest/Maiden influenced The Underground Resistance and now It Beckons Us All which is pretty traditional metal but with folk elements and a song about the bird people of Nordland. The latest album is dark, loud, heavy and simply awesome. 

Darkthrone - Howling Primitive Colonies - https://youtu.be/6mGn2OBHCYk

For those following along on Spotify, my regular listening playlist has had a complete update. You can get it here and you don't need to pay for Spotify to listen to it. I do try to keep it quite varied. Where else will you get Faith Hill, Amon Amarth and Hockey Dad in the same place? Here's one from that playlist that I was reminded of when driving home from Mudgee. 

C.W. McCall - Convoy - https://youtu.be/Uxp6OG8izQg

Keep smiling everyone,

The Woozle

"It's hard to make believe everyday.

Things are not always the way they should be.

Words come easy if you try.

Hiding in the shadow of your eyes."

Mi-Sex, Blue Day, 1983