World Wide Woozle episode #651

Welcome back loyal listeners. Welcome also to newbies, irregulars, curmudgeons, and anyone else brave or silly enough to join in. Are you sitting comfortably? Good, let's begin.

This week DJ Toddo and I headed out to the theatre to see the production, Big Name No Blankets. This was a stage show / rock musical all about the Warumpi Band. Told from the perspective of founding member and lead guitarist Sammy Butcher, it was a real treat. Musically, the band were spot on and Taj Pigram moved and sounded exactly like singer George Burarrwanga. It's a three show run here in Canberra and I'd thoroughly recommend seeing the show if you can. I've listened to Warumpi Band since their iconic song, Blackfella Whitefella, appeared, with This Land by Coloured Stone, on Midnight Oil's The Dead Heart single in 1986. Hearing their songs played live, along with some of the stories and meaning behind them was more than worth the price of admission.

Warumpi Band - Stompin' Ground - https://youtu.be/HHYbwHTGOv4

Wet Leg are a band from the Isle of Wight who are getting a lot of exposure at the moment. They had a slot at Glastonbury and also on NPR's excellent Tiny Desk Concert series. It's a bit quirky, but poppy and infectious nonetheless. Other than the cool vibe, I was instantly hooked by seeing guitarist Hester slinging a Richie Sambora Kramer guitar! So cool.

Wet Leg - CPR - https://youtu.be/3tibZ_DBmVE

Many of you may have watched, or at least been aware of, the final Ozzy / Black Sabbath show that was in Birmingham last weekend. The whole day was a complete festival of heavy music as well as love for Ozzy. I've watched quite a bit of it and I hope there is a decent BluRay release coming soon. There were great moments and there were also plenty of singers and musicians who didn't really hit the mark. Nuno Bettencourt, guitarist for the US band Extreme, proved himself to be the consummate artist. He carried many performances and made it look almost effortless. Singer Yungblud probably made a whole lot of people check out his music after his superb rendition of Changes. Steven Tyler from Aerosmith proved that you can still sing, move and be a total rock package well into your seventies. I can only imagine how much fun it would've been that day. There's a ton of bootleg footage out there on YouTube so fill your boots. Here's a track that highlights Ozzy's voice and the superlative guitar work of the legend, Randy Rhoads.

Ozzy Osbourne and Randy Rhoads - Goodbye To Romance (vocal/guitar mix 2010) - https://youtu.be/-vrT1SQDYhA

Very few artists do justice in their attempts to cover AC/DC tunes. I'm still scarred by footage of Shania Twain murdering one of their biggest hits. I'm not even going to link it here for fear that you might inadvertently hear it. In sharp contrast, Morgan James' version of Thunderstruck is a total soul/r&b triumph, What fun!

Morgan James - Thunderstruck - https://youtu.be/IFe-AU7jwBI

Thanks to everyone who gave me advice and guidance about photography after the last blog post. I won't be spending thousands on gear I can assure you. I might, however, get a small tripod that'll hold my phone from time to time. Otherwise I'm sticking with my quick draw, point and shoot style for now!

Dr Teeth & The Electric Mayhem - Kodachrome - https://youtu.be/6_01zRwJOPw

That'll do for this time. Happy Birthday Fitzwilliam.

Keep smiling y'all,

The Woozle.

"Rover, wanderer, nomad, vagabond

Call me what you will..."

Metallica, Wherever I May Roam, 1991