charles c ebbets looking cool shooting lunch atop a skyscraper

Charles Clyde Ebbets was the photographer, on September 20th 1932, who took the iconic photographs of the workmen sitting high up on a girder in New York, building the Rockefeller Centre, especially the much parodied  'Lunch atop a Skyscraper'.  Here's a photograph of him on a girder himself, taking the pictures.  Good to see he got dressed up and decided against sensible shoes. What l would like to know is who took the picture of him, and which poor sod had to carry all the equipment up there.  There wasn't too much Health and Safety about in those days, and those people had nerves of steel.

Here's the most famous shot

And here's some more

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the original popeye

Here's a fact that not many people know.  Popeye the Sailor Man was based on an actual person. He was a sailor called Frank 'Rocky' Fiegel, who used to work as a bouncer at Wiebusch's Tavern, Chester, Ilinois, where he met Popeye's creator, Elzie C Crisler. 

The city of Chester is very proud of this, and more info from them can be found here

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laura nyro at monterey 1967

I was watching the out-takes of the Monterey Festival from 1967 last night (as you do), and thought l'd share this mesmerising footage of Laura Nyro from it.  There's only her performance of Poverty Train, plus the end of Wedding Day Blues, but it is outstanding, even to these noise raddled ears and ravaged old eyes. Amazing to think that she apparently thought at the time that she was not liked at the festival and was not well received.

Unfortunately, there is not a lot of footage of her to be found anywhere, but she was a special talent, and her first three albums are exceptional, although she is better known for other people covering her songs.

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colourised snowball fight in lyon, france 1896, plus les enfants terribles and la machine infernale by jean cocteau

An 1896 colourised Lumiere brothers film of a snowball fight in Lyon, France. As usual, the colourisation process (details of the process used is here) really brings it to life, and,  trying not to sound like too much of a pretentious twat, it reminded me of 'Les Enfants Terribles' by Jean Cocteau (1929), which l have recently re-read, and which starts with a snowball fight in Paris. You can really imagine the people in this film being around and involved in the same kind of mayhem, although it doesn't end well in the book.

To be even more pretentious, the above book was at least the English translation, but l am currently (very slowly) struggling with the French version of  Cocteau's 'La Machine Infernale', and trust me, l only know very basic French, so am painstakingly translating parts l don't understand.  This may take some time, so it's lucky l also have other reading material on the go at the same time. I need more time off work for these kind of endeavours.  No wonder l never get round to cleaning up and finishing the painting jobs.

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andy neill's ready steady go book, and word in your ear

I received my copy of Andy Neill's Ready Steady Go book at the weekend, and to say l'm impressed would be a massive understatement. It's everything an in depth book should be, with plenty of interviews and background information, plus enough stats to bore a normal member of the public to tears. That's without mentioning the marvellous photographs, many of which l have never seen before. Then there's the copious amount of pictures, featuring tickets, letters, magazines, albums etc.  Fantastic! It's also improved my pretty much non existent exercise routine, as it weighs a ton and is the size of an lp boxset. If l was given funds to produce a book like this myself, this exactly how l would wish it to turn out.  Buy it now!!

What a shame pretty much all of the episodes and performances have been wiped.

It's not just me that loves it - here's David Hepworth and Mark Ellen also gushing about it, and talking to the author in one of their 'Word in your Ears'

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new cold war steve

 An update of a famous old photograph by Cold War Steve. Sad that it is still so pertinent

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nashville radio stations top 40 requests from 1976

This is a Nashville radio stations top 40 requests from 1976.

It looks like it would have been the station l would have listened to if l lived in the area at the time, as a lot of these songs are on heavy rotation at my house to this very day

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a tony hancock painting from the rebel has been spotted

An excellent spot by Steve Hardy regarding a lost Tony Hancock 'Masterpiece' from 'The Rebel'. It was thought the paintings were destroyed after the film, but this was spotted in an episode of Department S.

Now that's what l call being eagled eyed, and rather sadly, l'm pretty damn pleased the painting is hopefully still out there somewhere. I've got a copy of another one from the film ('Self Portrait') sitting on one of my dusty shelves.

I really need to get a life!

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me and my uncle - joni mitchell, john phillips, the grateful dead and judy collins

Me and My Uncle was written by John Phillips of The Mamas and Papas during an evening of much merriment, or at least it seems so, as he couldn't remember writing it afterwards. It's been covered a few times, and the Grateful Dead version is probably the most well known.
However, related to this, although l've always liked Joni Mitchell, l could never fathom how so many people (and other musicians) worshiped her so much, and considered her a genius. That was until l saw Joni's 1965 Oscar Brandt 'Let's Sing Out' version, from before she was even signed up to a record label. The guitar playing is intricate and superb, and she sings it in such an emotive and playful way. The other older musicians just look amazed.
Consider me a convert.

Here's John Phillips



Here's one of the many the Grateful Dead versions



Here's Judy Collins



And here's the magnificent 1965 version by Joni Mitchell



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barnacle bill the sailor - film and song

I watched an old Ealing Studios comedy last night that l hadn't seen before called Barnacle Bill (Released as 'All at Sea' in the USA), starring Alec Guinness. Whilst l enjoyed it (Red wine had been taken), it could have done with this little ditty by Hoagy Carmichael as it's theme song, as it's one of my favourites.



Here's the earliest recording from 1928 by Frank Luther and Caron Robison



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the vertigo label and bridget riley - with a bit of marcel duchamp thrown in

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'.

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anthony newley - the strange world of gurney slade

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).





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space - walking in the final frontier and deep purple - space trucking

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



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mick jagger running down the beatles at the abbey road crossing

Brilliant stuff! Mick Jagger running down The Beatles at the Abbey Road crossing. Whoever put this together deserves a medal.

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vanity fair moon landings / nasa at 40 special feature

As it's the anniversary of the moon landings, l thought l would stick these up - a Vanity Fair article around NASA turning 40 that l ripped out and have kept for the last 20 years. I amaze myself sometimes with my hording mentality, but l will now throw them away as l will now be able to read them online here, and probably elsewhere if l could be bothered to look. I particularly like the Buzz Aldrin photo - it just amuses me for some reason.

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oswald mosley injured in liverpool - what joy!

I know it happened elsewhere as well as Liverpool, but l'm always pleased when fascist organisations get their comeuppance.
When Oswald Mosley was leader of the Blackshirted British Union of Fascists party in England, he came to Liverpool on 10th December 1937 and tried to address a crowd to gain support for his party. He was prevented from doing so by hundreds of people throwing rocks, at least one of which resulted in him having an unplanned visit to the nearby Walton hospital for treatment (where l was born).
I usually preach non violence, but you've always got to be on the lookout for people like him, so I'm prepared to make the odd exception.
More information about the episode can be found here (and here)
Makes me proud to be a Scouser.

Here he is being taken to the hospital

After treatment in Walton. 

Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha

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britain's oldest man - henry jenkins

Apparently Britain's oldest man, Henry Jenkins lived and died near where l live, and is buried at St Mary's Church, Bolton on Swale. If you believe the stories, he lived to be 169.
I don't. However, it's worth a visit if you're in the area.

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the 1927 jasper tornado on lp covers

It was only recently that it was pointed out to me on another blog or tweet (I can't remember where), that the photograph of the 1927 Jasper Tornado, taken by Lucille Handberg and on one of my favourite albums, Deep Purple's Stormbringer, was the same one on used on Miles Davis' Bitches Brew, plus Siouxsie and The Banshees Tinderbox. It's blown my mind, as l'd never noticed before, and l have been looking at the Deep Purple and Miles Davis albums for years.
Sometimes l amaze myself at how stupid l can be.
Below is the famous photograph, captured 8th July 1927 in Jasper, Minnesota, plus drawings of the other two photographs she took before and after. There's also an article from The Milwaukee Sentinel about it, plus the album covers mentioned.
More information about the tornado and the photographs can be found here (and also here).
A large blow up of the news story in The Milwaukee Sentinel can be found here

Here's something from the albums







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