ŷ������

Thanks David - never heard of that channel but I expect it will turn up elsewhere in time

David wrote: "Before We Was We: Madness By Madness will be broadcast on the US Studio AMC via BT TV in May. ..."

If it’s being broken up into three episodes, perhaps you guys can work out a three-part rota for having me as a houseguest. Let me know...

I need to track down that channel first and see if I have access to it


EDIT: Just checked. I don't

I think it's only available via one internet/TV provider called BT

We’re deliberately satellite-free here, so I’m certain that BT TV’s not available to me. It’ll turn up somewhere more accessible before long, I’m sure.

Meanwhile, Tony Visconti’s revealed the most-cherished of the tracks he produced, and it’s a Spotify playlist. It came in on a Far Out message over the weekend.

Laaaaavely.

The Julien Temple-directed Crock of Gold: A Few Rounds With Shane McGowan as highlighted by Mark up there ^^ a while ago, is being shown on BBC4 on Tuesday 16 March at 2200.

Thanks so much for sharing that one David


I didn't know

Great news

Really looking forward to it

According to The ‘erald, “Filmmaker Julien Temple dives deep into the life of MacGowan, the tortured lead singer and songwriter of The Pogues, who famously combined traditional Irish music with the visceral energy of punk rock. The film covers MacGowan’s early years in Tipperary, his schooldays in Tunbridge Wells and the Barbican, his formative time in the late 1970s punk circuit, international fame in the 80s and 90s, controversies, and how he defied the odds after years of drug and alcohol abuse. It features unseen archival footage from the band and MacGowan’s family, as well as animation from legendary illustrator Ralph Steadman.��

Plenty to appreciate there David


Shane's years of self abuse make him quite hard to understand these days - here's hoping there's a subtitles option

Will look forward to hearing your thoughts before pulling the trigger at this end for a pay-per-view. Keen, but skeptical -- I came to the conclusion long ago that the subject matter is secondary, and that Temple makes the same film over and over.

I’m also curious about White Riot, the new documentary on Rock Against Racism.

Mark wrote:


"I came to the conclusion long ago that the subject matter is secondary, and that Temple makes the same film over and over"

But what a film!


"I’m also curious about White Riot, the new documentary on Rock Against Racism"

That's been shown on TV here Mark. Very good it is too. I'm sure you'd enjoy it

Thanks for the confirmation -- after reading and enjoying Daniel Rachel’s brilliant Walls Come Tumbling Down: The Music and Politics of Rock Against Racism, 2 Tone and Red Wedge, I suspected that White Riot would prove a worthy companion piece, if the film was done well. Will now proceed without caution, thanks!

White Riot is, as Nigey says, a very good look back at a very concerning time, and how an impressive unity developed to combat evil.

I was unable to travel to the Victoria Park gathering, but I knew a few people who did. One came back with appalling scarring on his legs, the result of having to escape, over and through a broken chain-link fence, from the violent attentions of an SPG officer. The SPG were around on the day and were unequivocally on the side of the NF according to him and others who travelled.

Thanks for this, David -- it’s in the queue for reading later today, and I’m now thinking about watching the film this evening. If you haven’t read Daniel Rachel’s book, do. He sorta lost me in the final third, but only because I have no recollection of Red Wedge, and didn’t find it all that interesting, at least not compared with RAR and 2Tone.

The book’s been on my List for too long. Thanks for the reminder!

I can’t see you having regrets after reading it -- detailed and informative, but also quite engaging.

I have a copy but have yet to start it - hopefully it's a soon read situation

Nigeyb wrote: "I have a copy but have yet to start it - hopefully it's a soon read situation"

You’ll enjoy it, I’m sure. Daniel Rachel is a very engaging writer with a clear passion for whatever he chooses as his subject matter. He worked on Ranking Roger’s posthumous autobiography, which I thought was fantastic.

I've now watched the Shane MacGowan doc...


Crock of Gold: A Few Rounds with Shane MacGowan (2020) directed by Julien Temple

Very enjoyable and impressive

Does Shane justice - warts n all

Also a great reminder of just how many stunning songs he managed to write when The Pogues were at their zenith

So sad to see the way it turned to ash for the group, and Shane cuts a truly tragic figure these days, but I don't suppose he would not have had it any other way

These are pretty much my thoughts too.

In corresponding with the mag’s editor (a singer in a Cumbrian punk band and who discovered the organic punkiness of indigenous roots music like Shane) yesterday, he responded, “I’m glad you liked the MacGowan film. I wasn’t that struck. I thought it concentrated too much on style over substance but there were good parts.��

Shane seems still to not give a fuck, whilst still having a good heart, which I find admirable.

That's fair criticism from the Ed however if it had been an indepth look at, for example, the roots of Irish folk music and how Shane's writing interacted, it would have been a very different kind of viewing experience.

Crock of Gold was a broad sweep and more about MacGowan the man rather than MacGowan the artist. Personally I'm much more interested in the former and, on those terms, it was undeniably a success.

My only minor quibble was with the sycophancy of all the interviewers. Johnny Depp?! Jeez. Had his tongue so far up... etc etc.

The most insightful comments came from Shane's sister who really seemed to have the measure of him and most accurately spoke in favour of his good points and about how the drink and drugs turned him into a different person completely.

Nigeyb wrote: "That's fair criticism from the Ed however if it had been an indepth look at, for example, the roots of Irish folk music and how Shane's interacted it would have been a very different kind of viewin..."

Yes, I concur with all of that.

There's a whole additional chapter to be told about the split between Shane and the Jem/Spider axis.

It was interesting to hear him diss Elvis Costello for his production of Rum, Sodomy and the Lash. Elvis does mention it (as I recall) in Unfaithful Music and Disappearing Ink (the audiobook is solid gold), and of course Fiesta, which Shane said he hated in the film, has a side-swipe at him. A translation from the Spanglish is:

"The twenty-fifth of August
James Fearnley opened his eyes
He drinks fifty gin camparis
And he lay down to close them
And Costello, the King of America
And the Sumptuous Cait O'Riordan
Don't Break My Balls
Shouting Outside the House"

Coincidentally - or not - 25 August is Elvis Costello's birthday. I know this because my elder daughter was born on 25.08.85.

What an enigma.

That's fascinating David - bravo Sir


Yes, old Elvis got very short shrift. Perhaps a bit of jealousy about Cait? Who knows?

The resulting album Rum Sodomy LP was unquestionably their finest hour (along with the Poguetry in Motion EP)

I must read that EC memoir. He's an articulate fellow who must have a plethora of great stories

If you have Dropbox, there could be something to your aural advantage heading your way.

You ain’t seen me, right?

Surely they were Coventry’s finest. Behold Ning, and their 1971 smasheroo, Machine...

All hail Ning


Wonderful

I’m pretty sure that the brand new video from Max Décharné will resonate with certain folk here.

Wow


Utterly brilliant

Right? I thought you’d dig it.

That’s very good, thanks Mark.

RIP pub rock legend Lew Lewis died yesterday


Founder member of Canvey Islands 'Southside Jugband' alongside Lee Brilleaux of Dr Feelgood who taught him to play harmonica

That Jugband spawned Eddie and the Hot Rods, who enticed Lew into their fold for the first two singles, before Lew formed The Reformer in 1977

In 1987 Lew was given a seven year jail sentence for armed robbery, after holding up a post office with a fake pistol, stealing £5,000 and trying to escape on a bicycle

Like many Pub Rockers he was big in France but virtually unknown in dear old Blighty

RIP LL

Sad news, which I hadn’t yet heard. If memory serves, he guested on Sandinista.

David wrote: "That’s very good, thanks Mark."

The pleasure’s mine. I recognise probably 80-85% of the references, so I’ll take the video as a signpost to discovering some of those that I’m not already familiar with.

RIP Les McKeown


65 is no age

Bye Bye Baby

Saw that a few hours ago... sad news indeed, and completely unexpected.

Here’s one that’s guaranteed to either put a spring into your weekend step or -- possibly -- send you reaching for something you find more sonically acceptable.

My old Aussie chums' band, The Scientists, are to release a new album in June -- their first new album in 35 years. If you like loud, dumb fun, you’ll dig this one...

The Scientists -- Outsider


If that one fails to please, then try this one -- brand now debut solo effort from Jamie Perrett. No prize for guessing who his dad is.

Jamie Perrett-- Masquerade of Love

2 Tone archival news in today's Observer...

The big picture

Chalkie Davies’s 1979 shot of musicians signed to the 2 Tone label captures the cultural power of the UK’s emerging ska scene

The New ReviewKillian Fox

It was October 1979 and the first three bands signed to 2 Tone, the Coventry record label that spawned a hugely popular musical genre, had struck out together on a 40-date UK tour. For the opening show in Brighton, the photographer Chalkie Davies was on hand to document a germinal moment in a British cultural movement that still resonates today, not least for its forward-thinking stance on issues of race, politics and national identity.

Davies had been commissioned to shoot the Specials for the very first issue of the Face, but wanted an image that would represent all three bands. “I thought it’d be a great idea to take a picture of people the next morning [after the show], not realising quite how hungover they might be,�� he says, laughing. “If you look at the three of them�� �� Graham “Suggs�� McPherson of Madness, Neville Staple of the Specials and Pauline Black of the Selecter �� “they do look a little bit�� scraggly.��

The exuberance of 2 Tone was on full display in Brighton �� most of the musicians had never been on a tour bus before and were having “lots of fun. The amount of energy that came out of those people was astounding. To this day, Pauline just bounces around. She hasn’t stopped.�� But there was a serious side to the movement too, says Davies. “You read those lyrics, they’re not always as sweet as they sound. There are messages. It really captured the period of Thatcher and the garbage strikes. Those were tough times.��

The image he took that morning at the back of the tour bus, now part of an exhibition celebrating the 2 Tone label, captures the racial and cultural diversity at the heart of 2 Tone, which united the sounds and fashions of ska and punk. Seeing black and white musicians together on stage, or sideby-side in tour photos, “is normal now but wasn’t so normal then,�� says Davies. “It was normal for these kids, but not for the public. And that was very powerful to see.��

2 Tone: Lives & Legacies is at the Herbert Art Gallery and Museum in Coventry from 28 May to 12 September

Worth visiting Cov to go see that


Chalkie Davis had a great eye

There’s one full pic in the Observer mag, the one referred to in the text, and it’s a perfect evocation of those times, that label, and that tour. It would be a good consolation if remote fans could see the exhibits online. Maybe that will be offered at some point.

Some more splendid images and further information here

Wonderful David - thanks


Plenty more here...

This is gold.

“Like a school trip with no teachers��.

Thanks David - a wonderful read

I was alerted to this podcast since Simon Kirke (Free’s drummer, and 360° good chap) is featured on a marvellous episode.

I have since listened to the debut ‘cast, being unable to resist Kenney Jones’s Artful Dodger reminisces, which are always entertaining. I will get around to watching the YouTube version which is a longer and unedited version, and for which the presenter gives a URL.

There’s a Suzi Quatro one too, to which I’ll also lend an ear in the very near future.

I suspect that the ‘Classic Rock�� title may put off potential listeners, but I’d advise sifting through the list of episodes on offer and dipping in to anything that looks interesting.

The Kenney Jones link:

Thanks David - will have a gander

My ultra-knowledgable friend Graham comments

“Simon Armitage in his shed on R4 with Johnny Marr strumming chords on a 12 string acoustic? That's your licence fee right there.��

Looking forward to it - thanks David

More Kenney��

Thanks David

OMG, as Millenials are prone to say (but probably not about this particular carton of delights).

Bostin'