I'm pretty sure l've posted this before, but what the hell, it's always worth putting up.
Tom Baker's 'A Day In The Life Of' from a 1978 edition of 'The Sunday Times' newspaper, when he was still 'Dr Who' to all and sundry. Mr Baker and his crowd certainly liked the odd tipple or two, and it's amazing any work was done at all, although he does state that this is a day when he is not filming, and reminds the reader that he did walk away from being a Monk for the women and drink. By Jeffrey Bernard, on one of the occasions he was not 'Unwell'.
And on a related Dr Who theme, here's the cover of Radio Times from over 50 years ago (January 1971). It's promoting the Dr Who series with what looks to my corrupted eyes like a dodgy sexualised cover, as a hypnotised Jo Grant states she will 'Obey The Master'.
I haven't posted any comic related nonsense for a while, so here's a beauty, which I'm old enough to remember reading at the time, whilst lying in my bedroom in Bootle, listening to the trains go by. Dennis the Menace meets Gnasher for the first time. From The Beano, issue number 1363, August 31st 1968. Drawn by David Law.
So, Little Richard, the King and Queen of Rock and Roll has shuffled off to meet his maker after suffering the last few years with various health problems. I'm amazed he lasted so long with the lifestyle that he partook in for so long, but he was always a survivor, albeit the most over the top flamboyant one of all. I heard while l was at work over the weekend, and funnily enough l had just finished watching the Elton John biopic 'Rocket Man' on my overnight shift when l heard the news, and was thinking at the time about Little Richard, because without him, there may not have been an Elton, and although Elton's outfits were more flamboyant, and they superficially had very similar lifestyles, Little Richard was waaaay over the top and living his in Black America, before rock and roll coolness had become 'a thing', when it was (and to a lesser degree, still is) a very dangerous thing to do. I know about his influences, and that he wasn't 'the first', but he was the best. I wrote about how great Little Richard was and how fantastic and honest his biography (by Charles White) was here (Which was a long seven years ago), so find out for yourselves. I haven't really much to add, apart from the fact one of the few things l regret is not having been able to watch (or meet) him when he was a young pup (and bitch) back in his old Rock and Roll days. He was a massive gift to us all who lost his Rock and Roll way by heading to the pulpit, and who wasted his talent on lots of different record labels and bad choices of songs, but man, could that cool cat entertain and sing. For those that haven't heard them, his gospel and soul recordings are also sublime. - he could do anything. Even when he was drugged up and not at his magnificent best, the charisma. intelligence, honesty and playfulness shone through, and he'll be missed a lot in this household. I spent a lot of time yesterday watching old youtube clips with a drink in my hand and a tear in my eye, and l advise you all to do the same. The records will be dug out later today, and l pity my neighbours if they are trying to sleep. I may even try putting on some makeup and being bisexual again in his honour - he deserves it.
Here's an early crowd watching Elvis (when he was cool) - look at the joy, despite how shocking he was to some
Here's an early crowd watching Little Richard - look at the disbelief and amazement
The screen test for 'The Girl Can't Help It'. He's a bit subdued at the start, but watch him go after 1.15m. Every time l see him dancing on this l laugh out loud
I certainly love songs with a lot of noise and a bit of an edge, which is one of the many reasons l love The Velvet Underground. I do however, also love their more tender tunes from the pen of the now sadly departed Lou Reed (of which there are many).
One of these l had not played for a while came on unexpectedly (for me at least) as the credits rolled at the end of the 2017 film 'Daphne', which l had just finished watching. I very nearly missed it as l was just about to delete the film, but l'm glad l didn't, as it reintroduced me to the rather wonderful 'I Found a Reason', which can be found on the Velvet's fourth lp 'Loaded'.
Here it is in all it's magnificence.
Enjoy!
Another reason l need to win the lottery and move to a larger house. Status Quo guitarist / singer Francis Rossi has put his green Fender Telecaster up for auction with Bonhams, Knightsbridge on 17th December 2019. Rossi bought the guitar for £75 in 1968 and painted it himself, using green Ronseal, and it was the guitar most used by him during the subsequent years. Rather sadly for me, it is estimated to go for between £100,000 and £150,000, which is a bit out of my price range, especially with Christmas coming up.
For those that have the money - see here
Following on about the Rod Stewart Vertigo albums in the post below, l would not like to cast aspersions about where the vertigo design came from, but l have a sneaking suspicion that whoever designed it may have seen the 'Uneasy Centre' Op Art by Bridget Riley (1963), which is below.
Compare and contrast to the Vertigo version.
The art team of Linda Glover and Mike Stanford, (based on an idea by Olav Wyper) were meant to be inspired by Marcel Duchamp's Rotoreliefs (below), but who knows?
Despite how great l think the label design is, I can think of only one punishment that should have been administered for the possible 'inspiration'.
I didn't realise bananas actually split until l left this one too long.
Now l guess that's why the TV series and drink were so called.
You live and learn.
I re-watched Anthony Newley's 'The Strange World of Gurney Slade' last night, as l am a fan of Newley's, but l am still amazed how weird it must have seemed when it was first broadcast in 1960. It breaks just about every rule of a comedy show, and it is understandable that it wasn't a big hit at the time (or since then) despite it (and Newley himself) being a huge influence on David Bowie. The TV audience must have been bewildered.
It's very slow paced, has no real jokes in it, and is pretty surreal, so it's just the sort of thing that appeals to me, although l am not at all surprised there was only one series. Even l was too young to watch it at the time, but it would have messed with my young head if l had.
It's all available on youtube, and in my opinion, is well worth sticking with till the last episode (6).
Inspired by an advert on Sky where someone has Liverpool stuff framed on the wall behind him, l thought about framing my programmes from Manchester United versus Liverpool in the late 1960's / early 1970's, plus a couple from Oxford United against Manchester United, as l was living by Oxford at the time, and saw Manchester United lose there when they were in the Second Division (and went to lots of Oxford United's home games).
However, l haven't sussed out a way to frame them yet. The enclosed photo is the best l have come up with so far, but l'm still not happy with it so far.
If l don't sort it soon, it probably never will be.
As it's the anniversary of the Moon landing this week, here's some more space related stuff (see earlier blog).
The first picture is Alexey Leonov leaving his spacecraft and taking the first steps into space. The second picture is Bruce McCandless, out and about in space by himself. The courage they had to do such things is remarkable, and the same goes for the first Moon landing guys.
And now we have Donald Trump and Boris Johnson - two men l would happily send into space (with a one way ticket).
Plus one of my favourite Deep Purple songs - Space Truckin' from their Made In Japan album
As l've said many times - l love the 1967 Jungle Book film, despite it being a bit too long. Anyway, to celebrate the genius of Milton 'Milt' Kahl, here's some of his sketches and drawings for the characters and film. Also, Buzzie and Flaps are shown, but to save you looking it up, the other two birds are called Ziggy and Dizzie.
After the Scott Walker post below, here's something cheerful - Bernard Cribbins with 'Right Said Fred'. It always bugs me when l sing along to this that there is no part where the lyrics go 'Right said Fred - knock it on the head' as it would fit perfectly. So l just fit that bit in myself.
Also, to continue with the David Bowie part of the Scott Walker post, l reckon he appropriated the vocal mannerisms at the end of this for the speaking parts of The Laughing Gnome era songs (with some Anthony Newly thrown in for good measure). Probably plenty of more songs as well, especially Tommy Steele's 'l Puts The Lightie On'.
See what you think.
Here's some of my favourite Spider-Man comic front covers, the first three especially have magnificent, heartbreaking stories inside, and are well worth checking out, even for freakish people that are not into comics. The first two cover the death of Gwen Stacey, and the third one has the death of (spoiler alert!!) Peter Parker / Spider-Man's aunt Mary. The last two feature the artwork of Todd McFarlane, who revolutionised the franchise when it was getting stale in the 1980's.
As a side note, the comics are so good, it pisses me off when the films don't stick to them, as it's such a no brainer to follow the stories that have already proven to be so successful. Bastards!
Get reprints though, or read them online, as they are getting pretty expensive these days.
This is my attitude to life . Despite all the crap that is going on, has already happened, or may happen sometime soon, it's not worth worrying about, so enjoy it!
I used to love reading the Charlie Brown / Peanuts books when l was a kid (obviously l still have my old books), so maybe this is where l got my attitude from.
YEEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
What a result for Manchester United! Plus a pretty accurate prediction from Charles M Schulz and the Peanuts crew. Linus would have loved to be in my shoes after that game.
3-1 away from home against Paris Saint Germain!! Through to the Quarter finals!!!!
A dodgy penalty at the end, but l'll take the win any day. To say l'm outrageously happy at the moment would be an understatement. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer for manager and president, and Mauricio Pochettino can bugger off to rescue PSG.
Thank fuckity fuck Jose Mourinho got told to fuck off and take his black cloud of misery with him.
Eric Cantona can have the last word - filmed after the game.
An excellent photograph of Liverpool docks / Bootle, taken in 1946 (Before even l was born).
It's changed a bit from then, although gentrification and Liverpool's upscaling still has to reach or impact much of this area. It's still pretty poor, but it was what l called (and still consider to be) home, despite now having another home in Sunny Catterick.
Here's a map of Bootle in 1935 to augment it. My childhood home is there for all to see (If you know where to look)
It's Mick Jagger's 75th Birthday today. A thought that should make any rock fan feel old.
Rather sadly, when l saw them in 1982 l thought they were a bunch of old gits living on past glories.
He was 38 at the time, and looked like this....possibly on their last tour.
How wrong l was.
