I've been a fan of Desert Island Discs for years - not that I listen to it religiously but when I do I almost always find it interesting. For those unfamiliar with the show it is a Radio 4 (formally Home Service) chat show which has run since 1942. The idea behind the programme is that the week's guest is asked to imagine that they are stranded on a desert island with a gramophone player and eight discs of their choice. This allows for a rather insightful chat about the guest's life and why the recordings are special to them. They don't have to be songs and, in the past, things such as birdsong or even industrial sounds have been chosen. At the end the guest has to pick a book and a luxury item to take to the island.
For me, the programme has a great advantage over other chat show formats because the guest is invited when the producers feel they are of interest in themselves and not because they have some product to promote. Also I feel the choice of guest is interesting. They are often not well known media celebrities but people who have had interesting lives or excelled in an academic field. It also appears to have become a right of passage to aspiring politicians but I always feel that those interviews are rather strained and the choice of music is meant to appeal to the masses - hence we get a Coldplay song rather than the recording of the Nuremberg rally which they would far rather be left alone with.
The producers of the show recently ran a survey of listeners to see what the most popular choices would be. It's interesting enough and I'd go along with a couple of the selections but I think it misses the point of the show. It isn't even necessarily the individuals favourite songs that are picked but tracks that are of particular significance to them. It's something I've wondered about and I think it would be easy enough to merely pick the eight top tracks on an MP3 player - but I think that misses the point. What eight recordings would I take along to my island? Well, here's what I've come up with.
It's worth starting from the beginning. There was always music in my house when I was growing up whether this was on the radio, the (not very reliable) record player or even people playing it themselves. The first music that most people hear and become familiar with is from their parents' and their music collection. My father liked folk, classical and Rock and Roll. In particular he was friendly with a bunch of local musicians whom he first met in a Liverpool club whilst on leave. Of course, this story of a serviceman wandering into a Liverpool club in the 1950s will normally involve The Beatles but, in my father's case, it was a local folk group known as The Spinners. They were actually very successful in their time and had their own local TV show. Mick Groves was later to serve as a local councillor and Tony Davis's sister was even my English teacher at one time. I think of the songs they recorded it was the more humorous tunes that appealed to me. The one I was going to pick was Mrs Hooligan's Christmas Cake although I couldn't find a link to that. I did find one link for The Spinners for another song I can remember being sung at a Christmas Party.
When I started digging further into my father's collection I found my way into the classical section. I really took to this more than the popular music - maybe that is a little odd but it was just a case of what I could hook in to. One of my favourites was Holst's Planets. There were a couple of recordings of this. One old 78rpm disc with Mars played over its two sides and a more modern LP recording by Leopold Stokowski. This link is a later performance by Sir George Solti which sounds a bit better (without the crackles and scratches):
Saturday nights were always a big family time. In the late afternoon, someone would be heading back from a football match and the evening TV would kick off with Doctor Who. I absolutely adored this programme - I still do. It had to have one of the most distinctive and haunting themes in TV history and the original electronic mix by Delia Derbyshire still gives me goose pimples.
I don't think I could get by without something by The Beatles. I think Penny Lane brings back many childhood memories. It's a real nostalgic throwback by Paul McCartney and really bore no resemblance to the Penny Lane that I remember - it was usually raining, the buildings were still stained black with soot and most people knew it as the place where the buses terminated. I also knew it as the place where my uncle worked in the bank - he appears to get a mention in the song...
I've long been fascinated by electronic music. It can sound awful (and often does) but when it is done well there is something magical and other-worldly about it and yet it can still sound warm and inviting. One of my favourite electronic tracks is Kraftwerk's Autobahn. I first heard this, like may other people in the UK, on a Thursday night on BBC1. However, this was not on Top Of The Pops but on the programme that preceded it, Tomorrow's World. This featured new technologies which we were promised would change the world in which we live in. Occasionally they did. Kraftwerk were featured, not for their innovative music, but for their innovative (and largely homemade) instruments.
I seem to have had a love-hate relationship with football over the years. I love the game and I love the atmosphere at a match when it's at its best. I've also seen and heard many things at games that I'd rather disassociate myself from. So the next choice is Gerry and the Pacemakers' You'll Never Walk Alone. I could have gone for other football songs but there is nothing malicious or manipulative about YNWA - it's just fanatical support at its most heartfelt. I thought this clip of Gerry Marsden singing at a Celtic vs Liverpool match sums it up for me:
I've often said I have very catholic tastes in music but I do have preferences and I can get completely wrapped up in a genre. Heading into my teenage years the one genre that I found a strange attraction to was heavy rock. I can sympathise with anyone who doesn't like the music - it doesn't go out of its way to find friends but there is something about it appeals to me at a very fundamental level. It's a difficult choice to tie it down to one track but I think Rammstein's Seemann touches most bases for me: melodic yet powerful, loud yet lyrically interesting, basing itself on the classical story of Hades and Persephone. At least, that's what I think it is meant to be - I have no idea what they were trying to achieve in the video!
I've been getting into Jazz in a big way over the last year or so. It's difficult to pin down exactly what I do and don't like - I've been quite disappointed with some recordings but others have been quite a revelation. Probably the best case of that is Charles Mingus: Pithecanthropus Erectus is a great example of what I love about the genre:
I think for the book I'd take the Encyclopaedia Britannica. Is that cheating? It would certainly be getting my money's worth. I can spend hours browsing through something like Wikipedia - largely aimlessly and flicking through at a whim. So what else could I take other than the godfather of all reference books? I think for the luxury item I'd have to do something to placate my longing for creature comforts: hot running water, central heating and a shower in the morning. I suppose I have quite simple tastes when I come down to it. The one thing I would need to do the whole Robinson Crusoe act would be: a shaving kit.
So that's me all set for the desert island. I assume they are going to provide some sort of power for this gramophone?
Sunday 31 July 2011
Monday 25 July 2011
Jazz on the Cheap
I bough a couple more Jazz CDs this week. Well, I say a couple but it was actually a total of 6 albums for a shade under £8. Not bad value. In fact it is remarkably cheap - they would probably have cost more than that in the 1950s when they were first released. The reason for this is that, at the moment, there are no royalties due on recorded works over 50 years old in the EU. This is due to be changed once the legislation is passed by the Council of Ministers to extend it to 70 years. On the one hand I'm a bit put out by this as it will make it more difficult to get cheap music. On the other hand the change will protect artists who are still living and provide them with some sort of pension income in their old age - assuming they are actually still the beneficiaries.
As for the recordings themselves, I was a little worried that they may not be up to the standard of a major label release. The albums I was getting are all from the late 1950s so they original masters should have been fine. As it is, the recordings sound excellent to me although I don't have anything to compare them against and, even though they are described as digitally remastered, I do wonder if they may have sounded better if remixed from the original master tapes in the manner that many of the Rudy Van Gelder produced works have been.
Regardless of the fidelity of the recordings the actual albums are a real steal. I've gone for two artists that I have taken to - John Coltrane and Thelonious Monk. The Coltrane albums consist of Blue Train, Traneing-In and Dakar. Blue Train is regarded as one of his first masterpieces and it is well worth a listen. However the style of playing is still heavily influenced by Charlie Parker and the whole bebop genre, especially compared to later albums like Giant Steps where he really redefined his own style of Jazz. In this respect the accompanying bonus albums, Traneing In and Dakar, are quite interesting in their own right. These albums are not generally regarded as classics but they do show Coltrane's progression towards his own style and are interesting for that if nothing else - in fact, I thought the music was rather good as well. One point of annoyance is that the cover on the Amazon website actually had Soul Train in place of Traneing In but, in fairness, they did list the tracks correctly.
The Thelonious Monk albums are Brilliant Corners, Thelonious Himself and Monks Music. The only other Monk album I have is a compilation of his 1960's work but these albums offer an overview of Monk at his height with such classics as Bemsha Swing, 'Round Midnight and Epistrophy in different versions to those I have heard previously. This was on a double CD and the label chose to put Thelonious Himself across the two CDs rather than keeping all the albums together (as on the Coltrane disks). This does disjoint the albums slightly but it was required to fit on two CDs and (presumably) keep the costs down. I do like to listen to albums in their original form but it's a sacrifice I can live with to get the three albums at such a low price. As it is, Thelonious Himself is largely solo piano and so the join is quite obvious. I bought this on the basis of the reputation of Brilliant Corners (which is very good) but Monks Music is worth the price of the set on it's own - every track is a classic.
Overall, I'm happy with the purchase and I think I'll be looking for these bargains again (at least whilst they last). Interestingly, I also bought a compilation of Welsh Heavy Metal outfit Budgie on this order. I've always said that I have very catholic tastes in music - but that's a story for another day.
As for the recordings themselves, I was a little worried that they may not be up to the standard of a major label release. The albums I was getting are all from the late 1950s so they original masters should have been fine. As it is, the recordings sound excellent to me although I don't have anything to compare them against and, even though they are described as digitally remastered, I do wonder if they may have sounded better if remixed from the original master tapes in the manner that many of the Rudy Van Gelder produced works have been.
Regardless of the fidelity of the recordings the actual albums are a real steal. I've gone for two artists that I have taken to - John Coltrane and Thelonious Monk. The Coltrane albums consist of Blue Train, Traneing-In and Dakar. Blue Train is regarded as one of his first masterpieces and it is well worth a listen. However the style of playing is still heavily influenced by Charlie Parker and the whole bebop genre, especially compared to later albums like Giant Steps where he really redefined his own style of Jazz. In this respect the accompanying bonus albums, Traneing In and Dakar, are quite interesting in their own right. These albums are not generally regarded as classics but they do show Coltrane's progression towards his own style and are interesting for that if nothing else - in fact, I thought the music was rather good as well. One point of annoyance is that the cover on the Amazon website actually had Soul Train in place of Traneing In but, in fairness, they did list the tracks correctly.
The Thelonious Monk albums are Brilliant Corners, Thelonious Himself and Monks Music. The only other Monk album I have is a compilation of his 1960's work but these albums offer an overview of Monk at his height with such classics as Bemsha Swing, 'Round Midnight and Epistrophy in different versions to those I have heard previously. This was on a double CD and the label chose to put Thelonious Himself across the two CDs rather than keeping all the albums together (as on the Coltrane disks). This does disjoint the albums slightly but it was required to fit on two CDs and (presumably) keep the costs down. I do like to listen to albums in their original form but it's a sacrifice I can live with to get the three albums at such a low price. As it is, Thelonious Himself is largely solo piano and so the join is quite obvious. I bought this on the basis of the reputation of Brilliant Corners (which is very good) but Monks Music is worth the price of the set on it's own - every track is a classic.
Overall, I'm happy with the purchase and I think I'll be looking for these bargains again (at least whilst they last). Interestingly, I also bought a compilation of Welsh Heavy Metal outfit Budgie on this order. I've always said that I have very catholic tastes in music - but that's a story for another day.
Monday 18 July 2011
Scousers Never Buy The Sun.
There has been a major outcry recently about the antics of News International and their owners, the Murdochs. This really shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone who knows anything about these odious individuals but even I was taken aback by the revelation that News Of The World investigators had hacked into the phone of missing (and subsequently murdered) schoolgirl Milly Dowler. This interference into an ongoing Police enquiry is beyond redemption. Whether this affected the capture of her murderer, Levi Bellfield, is debatable but it should be noted that he went on to murder other young women after Milly. What is even more sickening is that it appears that serving Police officers were quite happy to accept payments from News International to provide information relating to this and other cases.
I say that this shouldn't be a surprise and, for me, it isn't. Anyone with half a mind could see that the Murdochs have been interfering with British life for years. Whether it is printing lies and half truths about people in the public eye, running propaganda in support of corrupt politicians or demeaning minorities and the vulnerable, News International has been at the forefront. And what have they offered in return? Nothing. They don't even pay tax. I have refused to have anything to do with them or their poisonous publications and broadcasting. Why they have been tolerated is beyond me but it now appears that the British people are finally turning against them. It's not before time but 22 years ago an entire city decided to stick two fingers up at one of the most atrocious examples of gutter journalism.
On 15th April 1989, one of the worst disasters in British sporting history took place when a failure of crowd control for the FA Cup semi-final at Hillsborough Stadium lead to 96 innocent Liverpool football fans being crushed to death at the start of the match. Football fans of all persuasion and people across the country were shocked by this. However, a front page in The Sun just 4 days later claimed that fans had attacked and urinated on police, picked the pockets of the dead and sexually assaulted the body of a girl who had died in the crush. These were all outrageous lies. What was even more amazing is that the newspaper originally defended this despite the fact that the BBC filmed the entire event and there were several thousand witnesses to the contrary. Eventually, the paper sacked the editor responsible but not until the population of Liverpool had vowed never to buy the publication again. Despite remaining one of the largest circulation papers in Britain, it remains to this day a very poor selling publication in the Liverpool area. I was actually in the town at the weekend so I was interested as to what people made of the current outrage.
In fact, it is surprising that some of the younger people don't know that much about it - other than buying The Sun is frowned upon. I suppose it is similar to the fact that the Daily Mail is often viewed as being xenophobic without people knowing of their support for Hitler in the 1930s. The other thing that surprises me is that whilst some will boycott The Sun, they may still subscribe to Sky TV. In fairness, this is only 39% owned by News International but, as I said earlier, I refuse to have anything to do with the Murdochs - although even I have watched films made by 20th Century Fox so I can't claim that I have never added to their coffers at all. The one thing that everyone seemed to agree with is that the meddling in British society by a foreign owned organisation is unacceptable. I'm not opposed to foreign owned media having a presence in this country but it has to be on fair and reasonable grounds.
Television news is much more heavily controlled in the UK and it has to be seen to be politically neutral. This is how it should be. I'm happy enough for a newspaper to take a political stance but I still think that this should be on a reasoned basis. I think The Guardian (from a liberal viewpoint) and The Telegraph (from a conservative one) manage this quite well. One may not agree with the views they are expressing but those views are expressed in rational terms. I also think The Independent has improved under its Russian owner and even The Times could set the standard as an authoritative voice if it were not tainted by association. Britain does have quality journalism but its tabloids belong in the sewer. It's probably why I, and increasingly growing numbers of others, refuse to buy a daily paper. If everyone else would shun the gutter press then they would cease to exist.
However, for the moment, I think Billy Bragg puts it better than I ever could:
I say that this shouldn't be a surprise and, for me, it isn't. Anyone with half a mind could see that the Murdochs have been interfering with British life for years. Whether it is printing lies and half truths about people in the public eye, running propaganda in support of corrupt politicians or demeaning minorities and the vulnerable, News International has been at the forefront. And what have they offered in return? Nothing. They don't even pay tax. I have refused to have anything to do with them or their poisonous publications and broadcasting. Why they have been tolerated is beyond me but it now appears that the British people are finally turning against them. It's not before time but 22 years ago an entire city decided to stick two fingers up at one of the most atrocious examples of gutter journalism.
On 15th April 1989, one of the worst disasters in British sporting history took place when a failure of crowd control for the FA Cup semi-final at Hillsborough Stadium lead to 96 innocent Liverpool football fans being crushed to death at the start of the match. Football fans of all persuasion and people across the country were shocked by this. However, a front page in The Sun just 4 days later claimed that fans had attacked and urinated on police, picked the pockets of the dead and sexually assaulted the body of a girl who had died in the crush. These were all outrageous lies. What was even more amazing is that the newspaper originally defended this despite the fact that the BBC filmed the entire event and there were several thousand witnesses to the contrary. Eventually, the paper sacked the editor responsible but not until the population of Liverpool had vowed never to buy the publication again. Despite remaining one of the largest circulation papers in Britain, it remains to this day a very poor selling publication in the Liverpool area. I was actually in the town at the weekend so I was interested as to what people made of the current outrage.
In fact, it is surprising that some of the younger people don't know that much about it - other than buying The Sun is frowned upon. I suppose it is similar to the fact that the Daily Mail is often viewed as being xenophobic without people knowing of their support for Hitler in the 1930s. The other thing that surprises me is that whilst some will boycott The Sun, they may still subscribe to Sky TV. In fairness, this is only 39% owned by News International but, as I said earlier, I refuse to have anything to do with the Murdochs - although even I have watched films made by 20th Century Fox so I can't claim that I have never added to their coffers at all. The one thing that everyone seemed to agree with is that the meddling in British society by a foreign owned organisation is unacceptable. I'm not opposed to foreign owned media having a presence in this country but it has to be on fair and reasonable grounds.
Television news is much more heavily controlled in the UK and it has to be seen to be politically neutral. This is how it should be. I'm happy enough for a newspaper to take a political stance but I still think that this should be on a reasoned basis. I think The Guardian (from a liberal viewpoint) and The Telegraph (from a conservative one) manage this quite well. One may not agree with the views they are expressing but those views are expressed in rational terms. I also think The Independent has improved under its Russian owner and even The Times could set the standard as an authoritative voice if it were not tainted by association. Britain does have quality journalism but its tabloids belong in the sewer. It's probably why I, and increasingly growing numbers of others, refuse to buy a daily paper. If everyone else would shun the gutter press then they would cease to exist.
However, for the moment, I think Billy Bragg puts it better than I ever could:
Sunday 10 July 2011
D'oh!
It's been nearly three months since we moved back into Larbert and it's definitely starting to feel like home again. The town has changed since we were last here. When we first moved here from Glasgow in 1997 it was still a small heavy-industrial town with several foundries dotted around its conveniently situated railway station. Now it is a fairly sizable residential area with most of the heavy industry gone and the railway station being the main attraction to new developments. Only the toffee factory and bus builder give away any sign that this was an old industrial town. Although I like the place, it's one of those backwaters that I can't imagine anyone of worldwide renown actually coming from or going to. For that reason it seems odd that we received a visit from the Queen this week.
The reason for the Queen's visit was to officially open the new hospital. In fact, the hospital has been open for quite a while - I attended the physiotherapy clinic in February and March this year following my broken arm. However, the hospital has been slowly building up to full functionality. The casualty unit is about to move there so it's nice to have an official opening before that mayhem arrives and to have the head of state make a visit is quite an honour. However, this did get me thinking: How many people of world renown have actually come from Larbert?
There have been quite a few industrialists from the town which does match up to its manufacturing past: Robert Dobbie and James Jones amongst them. Also of note was the explorer James Bruce who discovered the source of the Blue Nile and was one of the first European explorers to map Ethiopia. However, one of the oddest natives of Larbert to become internationally famous is Homer Simpson. Yes, he of The Simpsons fame!
It's actually a bit of a stretch but Homer's famous D'oh! expression was actually inspired by the comic actor Jimmy Finlayson, a native of Larbert, who appeared in many of Laurel and Hardy's films. In fact the expression started out as a more drawn out Dohhhhhhh! which Finlayson had fashioned as a more acceptable version of the expletive Damn! Dan Castellaneta who plays Homer picked this up but Matt Groening encouraged him to speed up the phrase to suit the animation and hence D'oh! was born.
In a way it's a pity that Jimmy Finlayson is now best known for this as he was a very funny character actor. Nevertheless, he still came from Larbert.
The reason for the Queen's visit was to officially open the new hospital. In fact, the hospital has been open for quite a while - I attended the physiotherapy clinic in February and March this year following my broken arm. However, the hospital has been slowly building up to full functionality. The casualty unit is about to move there so it's nice to have an official opening before that mayhem arrives and to have the head of state make a visit is quite an honour. However, this did get me thinking: How many people of world renown have actually come from Larbert?
There have been quite a few industrialists from the town which does match up to its manufacturing past: Robert Dobbie and James Jones amongst them. Also of note was the explorer James Bruce who discovered the source of the Blue Nile and was one of the first European explorers to map Ethiopia. However, one of the oddest natives of Larbert to become internationally famous is Homer Simpson. Yes, he of The Simpsons fame!
It's actually a bit of a stretch but Homer's famous D'oh! expression was actually inspired by the comic actor Jimmy Finlayson, a native of Larbert, who appeared in many of Laurel and Hardy's films. In fact the expression started out as a more drawn out Dohhhhhhh! which Finlayson had fashioned as a more acceptable version of the expletive Damn! Dan Castellaneta who plays Homer picked this up but Matt Groening encouraged him to speed up the phrase to suit the animation and hence D'oh! was born.
In a way it's a pity that Jimmy Finlayson is now best known for this as he was a very funny character actor. Nevertheless, he still came from Larbert.
Sunday 3 July 2011
Olympic Football
Football seems to be rather unloved at the Olympic games. Of all the tickets that went on sale for the 2012 Summer Olympics it is the football ones which have proven hardest to shift - which is odd, because it is the one event I've actually bought tickets for. Partly this was because it is the only event within easy travelling distance for me (I've gone for tickets at Hampden Park in Glasgow) but also it is because I was still smarting at the stupid ticket allocation for Euro '96.
I was living in Newcastle at the time Euro '96 was held although my job was taking me around Scotland more often than not. I fancied getting tickets for the matches at St James Park but was unable to get my hands on any. France were based in Newcastle so that seemed understandable. However, when the matches came on the stadium was half empty. The most annoying thing was that I ended up watching the first match in the Strawberry pub immediately outside the ground which was packed to the rafters. The organisers claimed they had sold all the tickets but that the ticket holders hadn't attended the games. As it turned out, the ticket holders were corporate buyers who had bought tickets for the group games only to get their hands on the meatier seats for the quarters, semis and final. The ordinary fan was left out in the cold (or inside the pub, anyway).
The Olympics do seem to have been organised better but I am still perplexed at the lack of enthusiasm for the football. It's mainly an under-23 competition and qualification tends to be from the under-21 competitions in the preceding year. As the qualifying teams have yet to be decided, let alone the games allocated, I have no idea who I will be seeing. I do know that I will be seeing two games in Glasgow so it could be Spain and Brazil but, equally, it could be someone less glamorous. Nevertheless, we could well be seeing the basis of some of the top teams from the next World Cup (or possibly the one after).
I've gone for two tickets. One for me and one for my eldest son who will be 10 next year. I've been planning on taking him to a big match for a while but the Scotland Games at Hampden sell out quickly and the atmosphere at Scottish Premier games in the past year (particularly those involving the Old Firm) has been rather poisonous. There are plenty of smaller clubs to chose from and both my boys have played on the plastic pitch at Stenhousemuir - a club that does see themselves as a centre for the local community. However, there is a big difference between the atmosphere that can be created by 500 fans in Ochilview Park and the noise that can be created at a packed major stadium. I'm hoping it will be a day to remember: both for seeing football played in a first class stadium and to see a small part of the Olympic Games first hand.
I was living in Newcastle at the time Euro '96 was held although my job was taking me around Scotland more often than not. I fancied getting tickets for the matches at St James Park but was unable to get my hands on any. France were based in Newcastle so that seemed understandable. However, when the matches came on the stadium was half empty. The most annoying thing was that I ended up watching the first match in the Strawberry pub immediately outside the ground which was packed to the rafters. The organisers claimed they had sold all the tickets but that the ticket holders hadn't attended the games. As it turned out, the ticket holders were corporate buyers who had bought tickets for the group games only to get their hands on the meatier seats for the quarters, semis and final. The ordinary fan was left out in the cold (or inside the pub, anyway).
The Olympics do seem to have been organised better but I am still perplexed at the lack of enthusiasm for the football. It's mainly an under-23 competition and qualification tends to be from the under-21 competitions in the preceding year. As the qualifying teams have yet to be decided, let alone the games allocated, I have no idea who I will be seeing. I do know that I will be seeing two games in Glasgow so it could be Spain and Brazil but, equally, it could be someone less glamorous. Nevertheless, we could well be seeing the basis of some of the top teams from the next World Cup (or possibly the one after).
I've gone for two tickets. One for me and one for my eldest son who will be 10 next year. I've been planning on taking him to a big match for a while but the Scotland Games at Hampden sell out quickly and the atmosphere at Scottish Premier games in the past year (particularly those involving the Old Firm) has been rather poisonous. There are plenty of smaller clubs to chose from and both my boys have played on the plastic pitch at Stenhousemuir - a club that does see themselves as a centre for the local community. However, there is a big difference between the atmosphere that can be created by 500 fans in Ochilview Park and the noise that can be created at a packed major stadium. I'm hoping it will be a day to remember: both for seeing football played in a first class stadium and to see a small part of the Olympic Games first hand.
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