Battle of the Drummers!

Monday, 07 November 2011 20:08

Yes, we all know the joke: Q"Whose a bloke who hangs out with musicians?" A"The Drummer". Oh how we laughed. Well here are some tub-thumpers, or if you prefer "percussionists", matched up and ready to do 1:1 battle in a Scrap of the Skin-Scrapers. 

Who wins is based on the following criteria: 1. Technical Prowess, 2. Looks- both personal and the size of kit (gongs included) and 3. Attitude- from 1 (timid) to 10 full on stroppy). Watch out for those ratings then:
TP= Technical Prowess
L=Looks
A=Attitude
And this is about as fair and impartial as a bent Hi-Hat!!

Match 1. Gene Krupa (TP 8 L5 A7=20) versus Buddy Rich (TP10  L0 A8=18)

 
It's the jazz greats facing off against one another. Mr Syncopation, Gene Krupa, versus the jazz supremo (and owner of the longest drum solo, allegedly, until Ginger Baker came along).
Unkindly and with much bias, Krupa clearly has the better looks, dress sense and the bigger kit in these photos.  I never said this was going to be fair did I?

Match 2. Keith Moon (TP 2 L7 A10=19) versus  Richard Starky (TP5  L4 A6=15)

That's the Beatles drummer, Ringo Starr of course, being pitched against the wild man of the tubs- Moon the Loon. One had a fairly laid back rhythmic technique, who when he got worked up might tilt his head a little to one side and flop his mop-top. The other used to literally lay into his drums like they were distant family members who had tried to diddle him out of his next drink, and told him he couldn't park his Rolls in their Swimming Pool. Moon of course had little technical prowess but was nevertheless an amazing drummer. The Moon video is of the infamous exploding drum kit on US TV.

Match 3. Carl Palmer (TP 9 L9 A6=24) versus  Cosy Powell (TP7  L8 A10=25)

 
So we have in the Blue corner, Carl Palmer, who first served with the Crazy Arthur Brown, then Atomic Rooster and finally with the band who had an electricity bill greater than the Blackpool Illuminations, ELP Emerson Lake and Palmer. Great drum solo in the middle of Tank on their first eponymous album. Versus in the Red corner, now sadly deceased, Cozy "The Man in Black" Powell, who also did some work with Emerson and Lake (as ELP: Emerson Lake and Powell). Probably best remembered for his drum solos with Rainbow where d drummed along to Tschaikovsky's 1812 overture climax. Both had the Looks in terms of kit and visage.. but Palmer had the edge technically, while (allegedly) Powell once told Rainbow's leader Ritchie Blackmore that he was a pretentious t@sser, and so gains points on the Attitude front!

Match 4. Billy Cobham (TP 9 L9 A4=22) versus  Bill Bruford (TP9  L9 A5=23)



So here we have two Bills and two "fusion" jass-rock drummers- Billy Cobham who show to prominence with the Mahavishnu Orchestra and the still brilliant "Spectrum" album that featured Jan Hammer and Tommy Bolin, versus William Bruford Esq, King Crimson stalwart, and master of odd time signatures.

Match 5. John Bonham (TP 8 L8 A9=25) versus  Jason Bonham (TP7  L9 A9=25)

On my god! It's personal! It's family! It's soooo unfair! Yep it's Led Zep's Hammer of the Gods versus Thor Junior, the young pretender, his son, following in pater's footsteps, by way of all manner of bands and stars , including UFO, Foreigner, Paul Rogers  and even elements of Led Zeppelin on occasion. Result? A draw!

10 Strange Album Titles

Monday, 07 November 2011 16:10

So you've got a bunch of songs to unleash upon your existing fans, and/or on an unsuspecting public. You want to make it stand out a bit on the new release lists and on posters. Why not tease, tantalise or simply confuse potential album-buyers with a weird album title? How hip or crass is that? You judge for yourself…

1. Ummagumma

Pink Floyd's 1969 double album contained live performances on one disc, and the other disc was divided between the four members of the band to "do their own thing". Who can forget the drummer Nick Mason's track "Several species of small furry animals gathered together in a cave and grooving with a Pict"? The album title was at one point supposed to be a slang word for sex, but some band members have recently said it was totally made up. Just after its release, at least one trendy fashion boutique named itself after the album.

2. Weasels Ripped My Flesh

Frank Zappa had a perchance for strange album titles, kicking off with Hot rats, and later parodying the Beatles' Sgt Peppers Album with his "We're only in it for the Money". This one, though, must take the biscuit (or the mammal?) for the most bizarre.

3. (blank)

Led Zeppelin's fourth album was NOT called IV, Zoso, Untitled or the Runes album… it had no title. The band deliberately (and ultimately successfully) argued with the record company against giving it any title. However everyone else struggled with an album with no name and hence scrabbled to find ways to describe it. It was also a great album!

4. Smell the Glove

Spoof English Rock band Spinal Tap, in the mockumentary "This is Spinal Tap", wanted the album cover to go with the album title, and involve a greased naked woman, a dog-chain and a leather glove. Unsurprisingly the record label, Polymer, objected, and the final cover was the iconic  "more black then black" plain black cover. Previous album titles by the band included the sublimely stupid  "Intravenus de Milo".

5. B'Day

The joke here is of course in the speaking of Beyonce Knowles' 2006 album title, rather than the spelling. It sounds like "bidet", the continental porcelain intimate-area washing appliance that sits next to the loo, especially in France.  Allegedly when Beyonce found this out she was furious that no-one in her record company or entourage had the courage or the wit to tell her about it

6. My People Were Fair and Had Sky in Their Hair... But Now They're Content to Wear Stars on Their Brows

Before Marc Bolan became the Elfin Electric Warrior in T Rex he played and sung in Tyrannosaurus Rex, a much more folksy and whimsical duo. The album title is not only hippy-dippy, but also one of the longest…

7. Icky Thump

The sixth album from the Stripes, released in 2007, had this odd title. The name of the track comes from the North of England where the exclamation "Ecky Thump," was a sort of 1950's equivalent of  "OMG!".  The phrase was also popularized in a comedy sketch in an episode of  the British long-running show The Goodies.

8. New Boots and Panties

Ian Dury (later to form the Blockheads) poses for the album cover outside a shop in London with his son. The shop did indeed have a large banner outside promoting its sale of "New Boots and Panties".  Ian Dury and the Blockheads went on to have many single hits. Sadly Ian succumbed to cancer in the year 2000.

9. It's me Mum!

I guess this album title is more cringe-making than weird, but it's the combination of the picture and title that make it so toe-curlingly bad. Wally Whyton was a famous British songwriter musician and TV personality, much loved by people of a certain age who remember his childrens' long-running TV show Tuesday rendezvous.

10. In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida

The Butterfly's 1968 album's strange title has a number of explanations. Most seem to point to the title track of the album being  called "In The Garden Of Eden", but for a variety of possible reasons, including tiredness, substance abuse, or poor quality headphones, the chorus of that name was misinterpreted as In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida.

Blindingly Good!

Monday, 07 November 2011 15:26

The theme for this list is songs, bands, or people where the link is a lack of one of the five senses - sight.

1. Daniel - Elton John

 
A 1973 top ten single from the Gap Tooth Cowboy in both the UK and the States, the lyrics were written by Bernie Taupin, Elton's long time writing partner. When Elton wrote the music for it, he removed Taupin's last verse because the song was too long for a single. The missing verse explained that "Daniel" was a 'nam Vet who returned home to his farm after the war, couldn't settle, and decided to leave America for Spain. Without that last verse it's a rather woolly story of two brothers who part ways. The blindness is clear in the line:

"Do you still feel the pain of the scars that won't heal/
Your eyes have died but you see more than I"

2. Blind Boys of Alabama

The Blind Boys' interpretation of the song "Way Down in the Hole" by Tom Waits opened series one of the smash Baltimore-set HBO series The Wire. This brought them to a wider audience's attention, but they have long been heralded as heroes of gospel.  The Blind Boys of Alabama formed at the Alabama Institute for the Negro Blind in 1939 and toiled for near 40 years almost exclusively on the black gospel circuit, playing in churches, auditoriums, and stadiums across the States, before achieving even more fame with their gospel crossover music. Here they are performing "Hole" live.

3. Stevie Wonder

Singer/songwriter Stevie Wonder has had a long and successful career. His premature birth causing blindness, proved no hindrance to his immense talent. 

4. Blinded by the Light: Bruce Springsteen/Manfred Mann

"Blinded by the Light" was the first song on, and first single from, Bruce Springsteen's 1973 debut album Greetings from Asbury Park N.J. Unlike Manfred's Mann's cover version, Bruce's version was unsuccessful and did not appear in the charts.

5. Blind Lemon Jefferson

Blind from his birth in 1893 in Texas, he was a wandering folk/blues singer and player, achieving some fame in Chicago in the 1920s. Leadbelly was one of his disciples. He died young of a heart attack, in 1929.

6. When a Blind Man Cries: Deep Purple

A slow bluesy (and very miserable!) song recorded at the famous December 1971 Grand Hotel sessions in Switzerland for the Machine Head album by Mark II Deep Purple. It never made the album but came out as a B side (to the album track "Never Before"). It is still performed live by Mark Whatever Purple they are up to now! The version here features some atmospheric guitar work by Steve Morse:

7. Blind Wille Mctell

Born blind and in the same year as Blind Lemon Jefferson (see above) 1898, in Georgia, he used a 12 string guitar and was a slick slide player. He recorded well into the 1950s but had no commercial success. Yet McTell's influence later extended over a wide variety of artists, including The Allman Brothers Band and the Pat Travers Band, who both covered McTell's "Statesboro Blues",  Bob Dylan, who paid tribute to McTell in his 1983 song "Blind Willie McTell", and the White Stripes.

Here's Statesboro Blues-

8.  U2: Love is Blindness

This is a song on the 1991 Achtung Baby album and is often played as the closing song to U2's live sets. It was written by lead singer Bono on the piano and may relate to a relationship break up within the band at that time.

9. Tommy: The Who

Well, blindness is bad enough, but you've got to feel sorry for poor young Tommy, being deaf dumb and blind. Still, he was a mighty Bally King at the pinball tables from Soho down to Brighton. Talking of Bally tables, my favourite Pinball table had a Dr Who theme. When the multi-ball feature was triggered the whole table shook violently, all the lights flashing, and a Dalek voice yelling "We-are-Under-Attack! Emergency! Emergency!"

10. Blind Faith

Decency forbids me to put the original cover of the short-lived 1969 Supergroup's only album here. It featured a naked 12 year old girl playing with a phallic metal hood ornament from a 1956 Chevvy. Unsurprisingly the cover was banned in most countries and an alternative rushed out. The group consisted of Eric Clapton (The Yardbirds, Cream), Ginger Baker (Graham Bond Organisation, Cream), Steve Winwood (Spencer Davis Group, Traffic) and Ric Grech (Family). I saw them at the 1969 free concert in London's  Hyde Park. Yes I am that old!

Cool Shades

Wednesday, 26 October 2011 16:28

Until the 1950s, shades, or sunglasses as they were known then, were not a fashion accessory, but necessary for some jobs where there was a need to keep the sun out of your eyes for safety reasons. In just a few years, they became, and remain, the ultimate cool face furniture for many groovy, hip, iconic, trendy and larger than life musos. Here are ten of them:

 
1. Elvis Presley

The man who started it all (ok, maybe Jimmy Dean was first). Elvis’ silver and gold trademark shades that went with his “white period” costume have become so identified with his image, that some replica sunglasses manufacturers sell them complete with fake stick-on sideburns. Oh Pur-lease!
 

2. John Lennon

While John wore glasses for most of his life, he donned the darker lenses regularly. He used a variety of styles of shades, including some round blue ones that were later immortalised by Ozzy Osbourne. Here he matches his shades with a Northern flat-cap- a nod to his Mersey roots maybe?

3. Bono (U2)

The U2 frontman virtually single-handed re-invented the wrap-around shades and is now forever identified with that style.

4. Ozzy Osbourne (Black Sabbath)

Sabb’s lead singer, star of The Osbournes, and all round rock n roll survivor pioneered the round blue lenses look.  I have a pair and whenever I put them on, I feel obliged to stagger around the room slurring “Sharon! Sharon! The Friggin’ Dog has poo’d on the floor again!”

5. Roy Orbison



Here Roy shows off his darkened glasses, no doubt viewing that Pretty Woman, walking down the street. RRRrrrrrrrr!

6. Andrew Eldritch (Sisters of Mercy)



Rarely ever seen without his easy-rider type shades, or indeed a cigarette, Andrew Eldritch was the epitome of rock-goth cool. He is follicle-free these days, but still sings like he’s in the bottom of a well, and the Sisters are still a big draw on the circuit.

7. Cindy Lauper



Everyone’s favourite wacky sister loved her 1930’s imitation wacky white plastic shades with wings. She just wanna have fun!

8. John Kay (Steppenwolf)



Seen here top left, with his band, the leather-clad Kay was rarely seen without his shades or his ‘tache. He was allegedly the inventor of the phrase “heavy metal” as in “Heavy Metal Thunder” a line from their biggest hit, Born To Be Wild. Myself, I prefer the slower tempo song, The Pusher…

9. Lady Gaga



Everyone’s favourite eccentric, here we see La Gaga wearing her latest designer brand, Fendi Sunglasses, which, the blurb says “perfectly exhibit the best statement of fashion and drama”. Yeah. Right. You judge for yourselves kiddies!

10. Li’l Kim



Often caught with trendy over-the-nose sun-screeners, here’s a recent pic of the rapper wearing her Marc Jacobs aviators. Oh come on, surely you know your MJ Aviators from your Boots the Chemist prescription shades??