You Must Be From Away

>Our windows get washed twice a year.

Whether they need it or not.

Always on All Saints Day (November 1) and Good Friday (which can be whenever, but sort-of six months later).

Easy to remember

In a less tolerant society, I imagine we’d have a fatwa or its equivalent whacked on us, but no-one obeys most of the myriad laws and regulations around here anyway.

But we were in New Zealand in November and in France over Easter, so one thing led to another and we had the lights burning virtually all day to avoid bumping into things.

So here’s

The ‘oo, who can see for miles
Van the Man who we should have hired to clean ours
O.V. Wright, who doesn’t do windows
Kora, who – like us yesterday – barely can see
Johnny Nash AND Jimmy Cliff, both of whom can see clearly now

Which reminds me of a bet I had with Jane Hamlyn. (who is one of the Grande Dames of English studio pottery and a wonderful person and who everyone should be aware of. And her son Tom Hamyln‘s site rewards a look-in.

And her husband Ted is a fine artist in his own right, too.

She reckoned that “I can see clearly now” was made famous by Desmond Dekker, I said No-it-was-someone-else-but-I’m-not-sure-who (it was Johnny Nash) and hey presto, I’d won 6 bottles of Black Sheep ale. Also worth a visit.

Fats Waller, who does more than just windows
JABE, who – in their infinite wisdom – tell us that you can’t see the stars from inside a bar.

Screw the stars, I say.

Mine’s a Hefeweizen.

And Jeff – yeah, you over at Jefitoblog.

Have one yourself, mate

It’ll cheer you up. (And he needs a little TLC at the moment….)

Illegitimi non carborundum

>

Bought the book yet?

Shame on you if you haven’t

Although John Peel didn’t much care for 31 Songs.

But I’ll forgive him. (Did you know that Rod Stewart was John Peel’s best man? No? Then don’t play me at Trivial Pursuit. I’ll thrash you.)

I mean, I’m not muchly impressed by Ani DiFranco either, but, hey, it’s Nick’s list.

The 2nd batch

6 – Samba Pa Ti Santana 31 Songs

I’ve got the vinyl for this one – bought it in Amsterdam about 30 years ago. Along with “Asleep at the wheel”, in fact.

7 – Mama You Been On My Mind Rod Stewart Never A Dull Moment

Probably from the last decent record that Rod ever made. (Mum’s girlfriend, Isabel Holdsworth (89). wouldn’t agree, but she’s wrong. Even if she does know that Andy Gibb died of a drug overdose..) Bet you’ve never heard him sing “Man of constant sorrow”

8 – Can you please crawl out your window? Bob Dylan A rare batch of little white wonder

This is another vinyl-to-mp3 from an obscure Italian bootleg from goodness-knows-where. I bought the track from the iTunes Store to complete the collection and then rediscovered this. Much better.

9 – Rain The Beatles Original single.

This was the B-side to Paperback Road which I bought at the HMV Record shop in 246 Queen St in Auckland on a Friday night from my pocket money within days of its release in 1966. Digitally remastered from the 45.. Took hours. And hours. And still sounds crappy.

10 – You Had Time Ani DiFranco 31 Songs

Well, no, not really…

But it is Nick’s list, after all

I kind of like Paul Carrack.

I rated Ace for the honest pub-rockers that they were. (I loved any pub-rockers back then – it was like having people play in your living room..)

I tolerated Mike and the Mechanics, mostly because Phil Collins wasn’t in it. (Even if the music was a bit naff.)

And he’s got a great voice, whether he’s speaking or singing.

So the last time he was in Mainz, I really enjoyed it.

Now, he’s made the unfortunate discovery that you just need to give German audiences of a certain age-group and middle-brow persuasion a slight nudge and they’re off like  metro(g)nomes, clapping happily along in 4/4 time with goonish grins on their faces.

Not even a backbeat.

4/4

Then he gets them to sing along.

Do they know the words?
Well, of COURSE they know the words.
It was like being stuck in the choir stalls for Handel’s “Messiah”.

With everyone waving cigarette lighters.

And I was sat behind the Incredible Hulk.

I’m not exactly vertically challenged, but this guy blocked out the sun.
Especially when he clicked into Ray Charles mode, rocking from side to side.

In 4/4 time.

I tried dodging left when he dodged right and vice versa, but the folks behind me got somewhat narked at that and started turning green.

They must have been related.

So I stopped that and got a very interesting stroboscopic effect of Paul for my $35.

I’d post a couple of tracks, but the Torrent stream is looking at another 17 hours.

So why don’t you just sing along in the meantime.

And clap in 4/4 time.

>“High Fidelity” was the starting point.

I watched it twice on the way back from Singapore and would have managed a third time if the IFE hadn’t stuffed up.

I watched it again. And again. And again.

No-one else I know likes it. Even if they’d seen it.

Well, Ed Marks would.

He’s my mate Gary’s stepson who turned up to stay pretty much unannounced in 1977 with a Eurail pass, a sleeping bag and an encyclopedic knowledge of trivia.

He’d dis- And re-) appear every couple of days and proudly unpack the stuff he’s picked up in Malmö or Glasgow or wherever.
The only solo LP by someone who was drummer in one of Mick Ronson’s bands. For example.
And he’d say stuff like “I should really have bought that LP by Spooky Tooth’s bass guitarist’s brother” and zip back to Helsinki to pick it up.

So he’d like “High Fidelity”

And he’d like “31 Songs”, too.

26 essays, 31 songs that are intensely personal as either pivotal experiences or good music that almost got away.

I had some of them already, got some more on the “31 Songs” CD (which only has 18 of them..) and tracked down some of the more obscure ones on eBay.
Some I liked. A lot. Some were OK. Some were fucking frightening. But it’s all good experience-widening stuff.

So here, you go – the first 5.

And buy the book

1. Teenage Fanclub – “Your Love is the Place Where I Come From“
2. Bruce Springsteen – “Thunder Road“
3. Nelly Furtado – “I’m Like a Bird“
4. Led Zeppelin – “Heartbreaker“
5. Rufus Wainwright – “One Man Guy“

More next week.