bob gruen and his rock and roll history

Bob Gruen is a photographer from New York who has taken many, many iconic rock photographs, some you may well be familiar with already, such as the John Lennon 'I love New York' shot.
He was friends with The Lennons, and was access to many pivotal moments in rock history, documenting them with his camera and his skill as an artist himself. Oh to have been his assistant at that time........
Gruen also has some short programmes about the photographs and their history repeated on a regular basis on Sky Arts.
His website is here, plus l owe a great debt to Anthony Luke and his site, from where l nabbed these photographs, rather than searching the web myself (I'm a busy man). There are many examples to be found there.
Here's some of which l speak. If you don't know ho the people are in the photographs, you need to educate yourself.

And here's the (Now world famous) John Lennon shoot.

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terence trent d'arby and sananda maitreya

It's a year old now (l like to try and keep up with what's happening), but there's an interesting interview with Terence Trent D'Arby by Kate Mossman in The New Statesman (to be found here), talking about his fame, and how it affected him. Plus a few thoughts on Lenny Kravitz.
In 1987, D'Arby was a superb looking black rock/pop superstar, with infectious hit singles and a magnificent crossover album (Introducing the Hardline According to Terence Trent D'Arby).
Then it was downhill sales wise, and hello to Sananda Francesco Maitreya.
Still, he may well be a lot happier now, and if l had the money, l'd certainly do whatever l wanted, and sod everyone else.
Here's when he was red hot and sexy.

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strange yale university library book

There's a strange old book in the library at Yale University from the mid 1880's that was donated by Hans P Kraus. It has many drawings of fauna, but lots of weird text and other illustrations that cannot be fathomed out. 

Obviously the work of a dedicated madman (or genius).

I wish l had half of his (or her) drive to create. I've certainly got the rambling thoughts in my head, although, maybe with some of my thoughts, it's best they were kept where they are. 

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the waterboys - fishermans blues and savage earth heart, plus the retreat - come alive

After the last post, here's some clips by The Retreat and The Waterboys








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mr freedom

Back in the 1960's, when London used to be the epicenter of coolness, it's kind of hard to believe that these two men (Tommy Roberts and John Paul) ran one of the coolest shops in town. Mr Freedom.
It's even harder to believe, looking at what they are wearing, that the shop sold trendy clothes to the rich and famous.
There is still a Mr Freedom outlet going today (look here), but the coolness has long gone, despite the expensive prices.

However, back in the day, as well as the clothes, they did have a (now really dated) advert that featured some great electronic music. Jean Jaques Perrey - 'Moog Indigo'.



And here's Mick Jagger of The Rolling Stones wearing one of their t shirts (Which can now be purchased here).

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bug powder dust - bomb the bass

A top tune from what doesn't seem that long ago,  but is in fact, over 20 years old.
'Bug Powder Dust' by Bomb The Bass, from their 'Clear' album..
To say l love it is an understatement.



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the putin and trump sexy love in and jo jo gunne - run run run

It's a bad state of affairs when Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin could become the most powerful leaders in the world. An alternate future could also mean we are slowly heading towards a third world war.
Either way, the future's not looking too bright.
Photograph from here.

So to cheer everyone up, here's a catchy song from a few years ago.
Jo Jo Gunne with Run Run Run. I defy anyone to not like it.



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the sex pistols - anarchy in the uk - yawn!

Myself and a friend of mine (Stevie Boy / Tarren / Kitten), used to say 'Yawn' on an extremely regular basis whenever something was a bit boring, which to us, was on numerous occasions.
Yes - we could be annoying, but both loveable little rascals at the time, or at least we have convinced ourselves we were.
It is still used now and again, but l didn't realise we may have inadvertantly got it from here, because we can't remember how we started using it.
A review in National Rockstar on 4th December 1976 of The Sex Pistols first single - Anarchy in the UK.

And here is that ground breaking single, the first of a few excellent releases from them.
I'll have to try and dig my Sex Pistols singles out, but l've got a hunch that my brother buggered off to Leeds with them.



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lost rolling stones record cover from 1969

I got this from Andrew 'Loog' Oldham's twitter account. He was the (very cool yet annoying to the establishment) manager of  The Rolling Stones back in the 1960's, and this, according to him, is the cover from an unfinished lost album project in 1969.

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empire of the sun - two vines and pink floyd - wot's uh the deal

Freaky psychedelic electronic rock alert! Here's Empire of the Sun's newie, 'Two Vines', from their album of the same name. Marvellous.
Pass the drugs (but don't touch the brown acid).



And on a related note, here's an 'Obscured by Clouds' Pink Floyd track, the largely ignored (but great song) Wot's...Uh the Deal. I would say it would be a great song to cover on solo acoustic guitar, but plenty of people have already had that idea on youtube.



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charlie watts is a happy man!

This makes a change as far as Rolling Stones photographs go. The band are looking sullen, while the notoriously dry witted and gloomy facaded Charlie Watts is actually smiling.
I wonder how long it took the photographer (unknown to me) to persuade them to do this shot.

And here's the classic response from Charlie about what it's like working with The Stones



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billy bremner's son has taste

Billy Bremner of Dirty Leeds United must have been really proud of his sons bedroom decoration. An extremely large poster of Manchester United's George Best.
Good lad.

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bastille - good grief and wet wet wet - wishing l was lucky

I love the Bastille song 'Good Grief' (see, l don't just listen to old stuff), but every time l hear it l want to sing Wet Wet Wet's 'Wishing l was Lucky' to parts of it. Is it only me that can hear some similarities?
It must be the stress of listening to recent records, and trying to keep up with the kids.
I need a lie down and a cup of Horlicks (and lots of medication).





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johnny burton - pole vault man

The song that Oasis should have covered, as it sounds just like them, only years ahead of it's time.
Johnny Burton - Pole Vault Man from 1972



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the schrodinger's immigrant

While l am prepared to admit that some of the 'youngsters' admitted into the UK yesterday looked older than 18, l think the underlying fear is this. The Schrodinger's Immigrant.

If you don't know what the above is based upon, (Schrodinger wise) check out this.

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a rabbit spreads some joy

C'mon kids!!! Everybody loves rabbits!!!

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a waterlogged pitch at dundee, and cheap prices at football games

This is good old fashioned football, despite the weather!
Dundee's Den's Park in 1936.

On a related note, here's some kids queuing to get into games (without tickets in advance) for 20p and 35p, not so very long ago. The 35p turnstile is at Liverpool.
There's not a chance in hell they could do that now, as the kids and working classes are being priced out (if they already haven't been).

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george and dhani harrison's symmetrical faces, and what is life

George Harrison and his son Danni's symmetrical faces.
At first glance they look identical, but you then notice the many differences, and not just with the youthful skin of Dhani's.

And here's a song by George - 'What is Life'.

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spanking machines

I've got a friend who may be interested in buying one of these. Designs (or ideas) for Spanking Machines, from the 1930's and 1940's.

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