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Archive for the ‘music’ Category

Today marks Bruce Springsteen’s sixtieth birthday.

I’ve been fortunate enough to have seen ‘The Boss’ about seven times over the last thirty five years.

The band lost Danny Federici to cancer last year, and with both Bruce and the band not getting any younger, I’m conscious that each tour might be the last.

We saw Bruce and the band at the Emirates Stadium in the summer of 2008 and Val commented that I looker particularly wistful. I replied that it had occurred to me that it might be the last time I’d hear ‘Jungleland’ live.

I was wrong, I saw Bruce this summer at Hyde Park, and he played ‘Jungleland’ just as the sun was setting, it was a great concert and a magical moment.

As we get older we need to grasp those magical moments, because, as I learned from Jon Cheese – who should also have been celebrating his sixty seventh birthday today - our time here is short.

Anyway, thanks Jon, for being a good mate, and thanks Bruce for being a companion through the years.  

“Show a little faith, there’s magic in the night”

Today is one of those days.

Like the deaths of JFK, Elvis, John Lennon and Princess Diana this is one of those days when a generation date stamps and everybody remembers where they were and what they were doing when they heard the news of the death of a celebrity.

It cant be denied that Michael Jackson was an immense talent, the first global video star and a bridge between black and white music. He was shrewd in that he worked with the best, Quincey Jones produced the Off The Wall /Thriller / Bad trilogy of albums, Eddie Van Halen played that searing guitar riff on Thriller, and Jon Landau directed the Thriller video.

He was also deeply troubled. His troubles, like his triumphs conducted in the glare of the public spotlight.

Having said all that, Ive checked my shelves and I dont have any of Michael Jacksons recordings in any format. As such it would be hypocritical to shed crocodile tears over his passing.

He was a great artist, of his time.

This weekend we were invited round to a friends house for an evening barbecue.

This was the first time wed been invited to their place socially although theyd been to a couple of our bashes over the years. As such it was a nice opportunity to mee a different social circle; we knew maybe half of the twenty or so people there, but not socially; so it was interesting getting to know them.

I guess we were all of a similar age so the discussions centred around the classic subjects; BMW or Mercedes? Was David Coulthard any good as a Formula One driver, or just as a second string? Which was Pink Floyds best album? … and so on.

It was a warm summer evening and so the conversation just meandered on until we found ourselves wandering home at something like 2AM.  

A really pleasant evening, with good company.

In these days of international tension and the credit crunch, thats as good as it gets.

I think I should go back to my erstwhile colleagues in Edinburgh and protest my innocence regarding not having anything younger that 20 years old on my iPod. My post “Old Music” from July 19th relates – here.

While trawling through my iPod this morning I stumbled upon “The Gunman and Other Stories” another forgotten classic by Prefab Sprout – from 2001. Thats comparatively recent, compared to much of the stuff on there.

Prefab Sprout are, in my humble opinion, a vastly underrated band, and their leader Paddy MacAloon one of our finest songwriters. He writes songs that are unashamedly romantic, with wonderful lush arrangements that are a joy to the ear. I guess romance is a bit out of fashion at the moment, but Im resolved to load the Prefab Sprout back catalogue onto my iPod for later in the week.

Already Im looking forward to the pop songs of From Langley Park to Memphis and the schmaltz of Andromeda Heights.

Sadly Paddy has had some ill health of late. Having nearly lost his eyesight in the nineties he released a solo album, “I Trawl The Megahertz” an album which explores late nights listening to the radio.

The title track is a rambling orchestral piece, over 22 minutes long, which was described by one reviewer as Tubular Bells for the new millennium.

There are a few hushed rumours circulating that he might be recording a new Prefab Sprout album.

I hope so.

I miss him.

Another trawl through the dusty recesses of the iPod, truly a wonderful machine. Had someone told me back in the seventies that I could carry a sizeable record collection in my pocket then I would not have been able to comprehend what they were talking about. That it happened within my lifetime I find quite stunning. As Arthur C Clarke once said “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.”

So yesterday found me stumbling across 10cc, forgotten heroes of seventies pop, while ELO occasionally get reprieves and are considered by some to be cool 10cc have never quite managed that. I think its probably a combination of nobody loves a smart arse and the fact that “Im not in Love” was such a huge hit.

As I listened to the power chords of “Wall Street Shuffle” and the wry lyrics of “Life is a Minestrone” I was transported back to the early eighties (no not the seventies… this was a stop off on the way back). Back then I contibuted to Midland Banks internal magazine, always an aspiring writer, and I wrote an article about Strawberry Studios in Stockport. I used to drive past Strawberry on my way over to see Val at weekends, and arranged to call in one day for a look around. Strawberry was home to 10cc and a number of other Manchester bands, I think Sad Cafe recorded there, but I vividly recall sitting at the mixing console where the lush chords of “Im not in Love” was mixed.