This episode is brought to you by ibuprofen, heat packs, Tiger Balm, the spiky physio ball and a reasonable amount of bad language.
I haven't had a sore back for ages. I spend a fair bit of time looking after it but, the fact is that it's a weak point. Maybe you think that my 108 rides up Black Mountain are the culprit but I don't think so. It's always the most innocuous act that sets it off. Earlier this year I messed it up by installing car seat covers. That one took about a month to recover properly from. This time around, my quick initiation to lawn bowls did it. Aaaarrrggghhhh! All I can do now is everything that physios have told me in the past along with simply waiting. It's boring, sore and very frustrating.
Let's start with The Pogues. As I'm sure most of you know, Shane MacGowan passed away recently. He was only 65 in human years but I think that his lifestyle probably meant he was on par with Methuselah. I first heard The Pogues in 1988. I was looking for some music to give to my Dad for his birthday and in some magazine I'd read a review of their most recent album. I remember thinking that my Dad liked folk music so this 'new' band might be of interest. Certainly there was a mandolin and bodhrán on the album cover!
If I Should Fall From Grace With God didn't turn out to be their most raw or anarchic album but I clearly remember Dad wondering what I had got him when we threw it into the cassette player in the car! The band took a while to grow on him but for me, it was one of those pivotal moments. A band was playing traditional music with gritty lyrics and a punk sensibility. I loved it and I still do. The Pogues' previous album,
Rum, Sodomy & The Lash, would become one of my all time favourites. And my brother related to me recently that their 1993 LP,
Waiting For Herb, was one that he thought at the time was the best album ever. Of course, at this time of year we all hear Shane along with Kirsty MacColl singing
Fairytale of New York played ad infinitum. But have you ever stopped to listen closely to the lyrics? To me it's a song of regret, love long gone and the clarity (perhaps) that MacGowan got from drinking. It's certainly not a happy Christmas song although it is beautiful in its own way. It's tame compared to some of the lyrics of other tunes. The point for me, as a teenager and now as not quite a teenager, is that they are honest and real. We all want "she loves you yeah, yeah, yeah" but the truth isn't as perfect.
"And now I'm lying here I've had too much booze
I've been spat on and shat on and raped and abused
I know that I am dying and I wish I could beg
For some money to take me from the old main drag..."
It's the time of year, as mentioned last time, that Spotify lets us know how much and what we've listened to in the last twelve months. It's probably not a shock that I spent a LOT of time listening to quite a wide variety of music. I remain torn about streaming online music like Spotify, YouTube and the like. We all know that the artists are getting a pittance from what a lot of the population sees as their right to free music. As a teen there was no way I could afford all of the albums I wanted. So, like many of you I recorded songs from the radio and albums from friends. Any cash that I did have, including much appreciated gift vouchers at Christmas or my birthday, meant a long visit to the record shop to carefully choose something. Some of the earliest records I bought are amongst my most prized possessions. Which brings me to my point, Spotify, along with all the statistics, told me something that made me smile. I like to listen to albums all the way through. And it's true. Sure, singles and hits are great fun but albums in my view were once made to listen to as a package deal. Some still are but clearly not all. A record can take you on a journey, an experience. We may have learned more from a three minute record than we ever did in school but my life was altered significantly by the entirety of albums such as Billy Bragg's Talking With The Taxman About Poetry, AC/DC's TNT and Steve Earle's Guitar Town.
Now that it is December and, yes, the Christmas tree is up, it's time for some festive tunes. Not so fast Mariah Carey! Here's a playlist that I put together for all of us who are sick of the standard list of carols and songs that the supermarkets, shopping centres and anyone with an outdoor loudspeaker are subjecting us to. These are still Christmas tunes, it should be a fun time of year, but let's mix it up a bit.
Click here. Yup, it's a Spotify playlist. You can listen for free or you can simply look at the song titles and find them elsewhere if you like.
Finally, guitar heroes. Some recent reading alerted me to the fact that there are a lot of people out there (mostly old blokes my vintage) bemoaning the lack of ace guitar slingers. People are looking for the next generation of players to follow in the footsteps of Hendrix, Van Halen, Young, Vai etc. Well I reckon that they need to look at little closer, whilst recognising that the six string histrionics of the past were a point in time. For instance, these two amazing players are keeping the fire burning in my opinion. Move past 1987 folks!
My mate Tom knows good music. So much that he writes for
Little Steven's Underground Garage radio show in the USA. As well as
The Dollyrots, he turned me on to this next band.
Modern Moxie are from Charlotte in North Carolina. Their sound is fresh, indie rock I suppose you'd say. It reminds me of The Clouds, The B-52s and The Preatures. They are an independent band so if you can help them out by actually purchasing their music or merchandise then please do.
That's it for another episode. Thanks for listening and reading.
The Woozle
"In a dance hall by the river, I was singing in a travelling band
Just another small town night, with a silver moon shining
I remember when I saw you, that first moment when it all began
You looked across a crowded room, and stole my heart away...."
