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From the British Revolution facebook page

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utah saints - funky music

After the tedium of last nights highly anticipated Manchester United versus Liverpool game, something to wake me up.
Utah Saints - 'Funky Music Sho Nuff Turns Me On'



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chuck berry is 90

It's amazing that, apart from Elvis Presley and Buddy Holly, all of the original rock and roll legends are still alive, with Chuck Berry, the eldest of them all, celebrating his 90th birthday today.
Little Richard and Chuck are my favourites amongst them, and although l have never seen Little Richard, l have seen, spoken to, been on stage with, and got a signature from, the one and only Chuck Berry. I've also helped him open the boot of his car, and have bored people with the tale ever since.
Chuck has many bad points to his personality, and has had a massive chip on his shoulder for many a year, sometimes with good reason, and sometimes with no justification, but he sure knew how to write a song, and tell a story in under three minutes.
No one is that keen on getting older, but l would rather be an even older git now if it meant seeing all of the stars in their heyday.
Some time, in the not too distant future, there will be none of them left. What a depressing thought.
Here's my Chuck Berry autograph (with smiley face added afterwards by him)

But most importantly, the music.

And for those of you out there that love 'Albatross' by Fleetwood Mac - listen to this (from 1957).

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graffiti on cancelled trains, and cricket deaths and sledging

Two items in the news recently.

First of all, there's been trains cancelled because of offensive graffiti on their sides. These have been cancelled at the last minute, leaving commuters fuming and frustrated. An recent example is here.

ThamesLink have tweeted "We can't drive around all day with 'the F word' emblazoned on a train".

That is fair enough, but l have an idea.
It apparently costs about £5,000 to remove the graffiti, but why not just spray over the offensive slogan or image to make it unintelligible, so the train can carry on it's normal route, to then be taken off and cleaned at a later date. That would only take a couple of minutes, and you'd only be spraying where it needed to be cleaned anyway. If it costs a bit more to clean, it's worth it to keep the passengers happy, and prevents vandals deliberately trying to prevent trains running.

Also, cricket sledging has been under scrutiny, after the inquest into the death of Phillip Hughes. He was bowled by Doug Bollinger, who, it has been alleged (by Mathew Day), stated that "I am going to kill you" beforehand. Bowlers deliberately bowl short to cause 'bouncers', which are aimed at intimidating the batsman, often trying to hit and hurt them.
Before others die, here's a suggestion (from someone who knows bugger all about cricket).
Have a line marked in front of the batsman, where the ball has to bounce in beforehand, to eliminate the high bounces of the ball. If a bowler misses it a set amount of times by bowling short, he is unable to carry on bowling during that match, and may face suspension for later matches. Batsmen may still suffer some injury, but it would be pretty unlikely to be in the head area, therefore being a lot safer.

As for piss taking sledging - my favourite quote (by Eddo Brandes) when asked by the batsman (Glen McGrath) why he was so fat, replied  "Because every time l fuck your wife, she gives me a biscuit". I've changed that slightly, replacing 'fuck' with 'shag', and 'biscuit' with 'cracker', and have used it while out and about on many an occasion.  Long may that kind of sledging continue.

Any more advice needed on how to run things, you know where to find me.

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okkervil river - john allyn smith sails and plus ones demo

Another favourite song from a few years ago. Okkervil River with John Allyn Smith sails. Will Sheff, the main man in the band is hugely undervalued by the general population, but certainly not in my neck of the woods. A band who should be a lot bigger, but rather sadly, l think it's because the album tracks and demos are better than the band live, and Will Sheff does not possess anything like the charisma and stage presence that a modern day rock star should, and he can't override that flaw by being amazingly good looking. He (to me at least), just comes across like a man who is grateful to be on the stage. Why not? You may ask, and there's nothing wrong with that (or him), but it does tend to hold you back if huge success is what you are after.
Anyway, l still love him. and this is a great song by anyones standards (or two songs, as it changes into a standard at 2.30).



And here's a demo of Plus Ones.



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stars - dead hearts

An ipod favourite - Stars' 'Dead Hearts'



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latest footie bet

My fortune awaits!

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england fans drinks bill at the euros

This is kind of old news, as it is a bill for England fans drinks at The Euros. Obviously very expensive, but l am more impressed with the one hardy individual who insisted on having a Carlsberg.

Stick to what you like mate, and sod everyone else.

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england's new shirt

If this isn't England's new strip soon, something has gone terribly wrong.
Like the team.

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darlington football club (darlington 1883) returning to town

I'm rather pleased to say that work has started on resurrecting Darlington football club's iconic tin shed at their new ground at Blackwell Meadows, after many years of Darlington (rechristened Darlington 1883) playing elsewhere (the folly of George Reynolds' new stadium 'Darlington Arena', and Heritage park, by Bishop Auckland).

When l first moved to the Catterick area, l used to go and watch Darlington (the local team) on a regular basis, as l couldn't afford to go to Manchester for the United games all of the time. I've been back for the odd games over the years, and am chuffed they are now going to be relocated back into their community, as they should be.

More news about the move can be found here.

On a related note, here's an old photograph from the 1976-77 season of Darlington against Hartlepool at Feethams.
I'm circled (very poorly).

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bob dylan's nobel prize for literature, plus idiot wind, hurricane and it's alright ma (l'm only bleeding)

Although l do think that novels, poems and songs are different, l also think that Bob Dylan receiving the Nobel prize in literature today is well deserved, not just for the amount of outstanding and influential work he has produced, but for the amount of people around the world he would have turned on to lyrics, books, prose and poetry, as well as activism and political thought (including me). Some of Dylan's output, especially in the early years, was staggeringly good, and he sure knew how to construct strong images and stories with only a few words (and often many, many more). But (and there's always a but), as far as literature in book form goes, although entertaining, Tarantula was not exactly earth shattering, and his Chronicles autobiography has been shown to be pilfered or 'inspired by' old obscure sources in many places, with no credits being given. There's an excellent and informative article about the book and Dylan's apparent plagiarism here, but l'm more than forgiving as far as Dylan is concerned (hence my collection of his later works), so hearty congratulations to him.
Praise him now while he still alive - if anyone warrants it, he does, and l am just thankful that l saw him while he was still producing the goods live.







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the levitating turntable

Usually, the flasher and more expensive turntables and equipment gets, the more wallet punishing they are to repair, and, like cars, it's often the case there are more things that can go wrong, and they're not so simple to fix.
However.....This levitating turntable by Mag-Lev Audio looks fantastic, and could be really groundbreaking (or record breaking if it goes wrong). I think it would take me quite some time to relax while playing records, as l'd be expecting some kind of cock up (of the malfunctioning kind), but it does look sooooooo tempting.
We're living in the space age!



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savages - adore and husbands

Something fairly recent for a change, just to prove l'm not a complete old fart when it comes to my musical tastes.
Here's Savages, with 'Adore', from the ir 2016 album 'Adore Life', and 'Husbands', from their 'Silence Yourself' album.
One of my favourite modern bands, with plenty of attitude and songs to back it up.





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the harry smith anthology of american folk music - david johansen and son house

Two songs from The Harry Smith Anthology of American Folk Music, although the David Johansen one (Old Dog Blue) is from a celebratory tribute concert many years after the albums were released (in 1955). I'm a long time admirer of Mr Johansen's, from when he was with The New York Dolls and his various projects afterwards, but Son House wasn't exactly a  slouch when it came to producing atmospheric and emotional music.
And he sure knows his Bible (including John the Revelator)





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roxy music - editions of you and live at music laden 1973

Sometimes it may change, but his is probably my favourite Roxy Music song - 'Editions of You', from their 'For Your Pleasure' album. Everything in it is great, but l'm pretty taken by the 'whoo's' in the backing and the screaming sax, not to mention Eno doing whatever the hell is doing. Plus Bryan Ferry is on top of his game. What a band.



As a special treat, here they are live, at Music Laden in 1973. Enjoy!



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gomorrha - l turned to see who's voice it was

Something a bit different today, Gomorrha - 'l Turned to See Who's Voice It Was'. Two minutes of hippy religious singing, then a lot of noodling. Marvelous!
You can't beat a bit of Krautrock, and this is also on the magnificent Krautrock box set 'Music For Your Brain'. Highly recommended if you're into that sort of stuff.
Where's my acid?



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scotty is a menber of the wrong army

This photograph makes me laugh every time I see it. It's Scooty, son of Bez, both of whom are well known in the Catterick area. New army recruits at Catterick are having their photograph taken alongside Tescos at Catterick Garrison, and Scotty joins in dressed as a Roman soldier (possibly Greek).
Top man, and a Manchester United fan as well (like his father).
You may also have guessed - Scotty is crackers.

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driving fast - claude lelouch's rendevous

I know that l sometimes drive too fast, as evidenced by the fact that I've just had two speeding notices against me in the last month, so for one of them l will have to attend a speed awareness course in Northallerton in November, and for the other, accept the three points and fine.
However, l have nothing on this.
Claude Lelouch's underground film from 1976, Rendevous (C'etait un Renz-vous), in which he filmed an extremely high speed drive through the streets of early morning Paris.
It's obviously dangerous, but ultimately, pretty mesmerizing, and makes my driving look pedestrian.



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revolution - spacemen 3 and lord jamar, plus 'the night of'

Two songs called 'Revolution' today, and neither of them is the famous Beatles one. Lord Jamar's version is pretty recent, and has just been featured in 'The Night Of.' TV series, while Spacemen 3's version is donkey years old. Jason Pierce from Spacemen 3 later went on to form Spiritualised. 'Taking drugs to make music to take drugs to' indeed, but both of these versions are excellent in their own ways.
Oh, and The Night Of series has also been excellent, highlighting the horrors of the American justice system, and the boredom and coping mechanisms of serving time in prison. As an ex lag myself, I know of what l speak!






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shack - hms fable, natalie's party and pull together

I woke up at 4.35am last night and couldn't get back to sleep, so l stuck on the trusty old ipod and listened to Shack's 'HMS Fable' album to lull me back to the land of nod. Shack were a band that should have been more popular, and here are a couple of songs from that album. 'Pull Together' is my favourite from it, but l could only find live versions of it on youtube. A anthemic, feel good classic track by anyones standards. Mick (Michael) Head from Shack was originally in The Pale Fountains, went on to perform with The Strands, and is gigging and releasing stuff with The Red Plastic Band. Their website is here.





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fracking goes ahead!

Only a day after the Conservatives said they were the party to stand up to the rich and powerful, with lots of talk about equality, they have overturned a decision to not allow fracking by Lancashire county council, which had lots of public support. It will of course, now be going ahead, and any public consultations or county council views and votes will have been ignored.
What a surprise.

We will soon be kissing goodbye to this as well (image from 1948 under Labour).

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the army - stop recruiting kids

Although the website behind the 'Stop recruiting kids to the Army' campaign is American, l have been arguing this for many years in the UK, as most youngsters joining the army in the UK will be from deprived areas, probably poorly educated, and part brainwashed by all of the 'Help the Heroes' / Brave soldiers stuff in the newspapers. Don't get me wrong, if someone wants to join, fair enough, but it should be an informed choice of theirs, with other prosperous or enticing opportunities also available as alternatives.

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coincidences

I can't remember where l copied this newspaper article from, but if it's true, there are plenty of coincidences contained within.
And two unlucky brothers.

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the caring tories, plus thin lizzy and the sex pistols

Theresa May has stated earlier today (yesterday now) that The Conservative government will 'Stand up for the weak...Up to the powerful'. Apparently under the new Tory way, all, no matter what their background, can be 'given the chance to be all they want to be'.
Oh my giddy aunt - l've never heard such rib tickling nonsense in all of my advanced years. The day the Tory party give a fuck about the poor and disenfranchised is the day l turn religious, as some interfering all powerful omnipotent entity could be the only cause of such a momentous about turn in their bullshitting scaremongering policies.
Until then, they are still a bunch of scumbags looking after the powerful and rich, and can piss off.
Where's the revolution when you need one?

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a baby panda

Ever seen a really small baby panda cub with an adult one before? I hadn't, but l sure have now.
Altogether now.......AAHHhhhhhhhhhh

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the punks put on a show

You can say what you like about a lot of the old punk bands and music, but one thing you can't deny, is that some of the shows were a bargain. Here's one l would have loved to attended. And all for £1.65 in advance!

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nevermind by nirvana is 25 years old

The ground breaking masterpiece that was Nirvana's 'Nevermind' album is now 25 years old. The time has flown by, and if the passage of the last 25 years flying by doesn't make you feel old, this photograph will emphasise it even more.
It's Spencer Eldon, the baby featured on the cover, now obviously grown up, and recreating the cover (for about the fifth time).

For the few that don't know - here's the original.

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breaking regulations with a new kettle

We've just had a catastrophe at work, as the kettle that is in use more or less constantly, gave up the ghost and puffed out it's last bit of steam, much to our dry and opened mouthed dismay. Now that is what we call a crisis.
Luckily for us, Tesco is just up the road, and a new one was purchased immediately for the more than cost effective price of £10. A bargain!
It's a good job those evil bastards across the channel haven't managed to have their way yet with their mamby pamby red tape, at least if the Euro hating scare mongering Daily Express is to be believed #
Images from the rather excellent Media blog.

#They're not

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billy fury, ricky nelson, and deep purple

Two tracks by a couple of the early Rock and Rollers. First, the silky voiced scouser that went by the name of Billy Fury with 'Wondrous Place'



Followed by Ricky Nelson's version of 'Summertime'.



Think you've heard the riff to 'Summertime' before? See if this sounds familiar - Deep Purple's 'Black Night'.



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the soup dragons and the rolling stones - l'm free

And on the note of being free in the last post -  Here's The Soup Dragons, with their version of The Rolling Stones'  'I'm Free'. Much as l love The Stones, l have to admit that The Soup Dragons version is miles better - especially on Ecstasy (From what l can recall many years ago).



If you want to compare them - here's The Rolling Stones' version, though l can't supply the drugs for the full experience.




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free records to take away

Well, l've been out and about the last few days, but it's back to normal now, so here's the first blog for a few days (so much for posting at least a video a day!).
Here's where l should have been, if l had known about it sooner. Sunny Newton Heath, where  a stash of about 50,000 records needed to be removed from a water damaged house, and they were free to take away. Obviously most are water damaged or crap, but l still wouldn't have minded carting away as many as possible, to add to my own heap of junk.
More info about it can be found here.

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the new bob dylan live 1966 box set, and neil innes - protest song - plus hancock and oasis!

Well l have a pretty good idea what l will be listening to over this Christmas - the new Bob Dylan box set of the 1966 tour. A mere 36 discs. I've already got the bootleg box set of Dylan's Genuine Live 1966, which is a mere 8 cds, so, rather sadly, l am really looking forward to this.

Here's the bootleg version l already have (not my copy)

And here's the new official version

All of this after the massive Cutting Edge box set last year.
I really need to get a life.

In the meantime- here's a protest song by Neil Innes, live on Rutland Weekend Television. The man who was plagiarised by Oasis. Check out 'How Sweet To Be An Idiot' by Innes, and compare it to Oasis' 'Whatever'.
I rest my case your honour "Did Magna Carta die in vain" etc...



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frank - the movie

I haven't posted about movies or books for a while, but one of the recent films l enjoyed was the 2014 one by Lenny Abrahamson - 'Frank', which was loosely based on Frank Sidebottom and other outsider artists such as Roky Erickson, Syd Barrett etc.
It's never going to be one of my top ten movies of all time, but Michael Fassbender was superb in the title role, despite wearing the Frank head for most of the scenes, and the story itself was strangely riveting, at least to my warped sensibilities.
What l really loved though, was the music, of which, there follows a couple of examples.
Very weird, yet catchy and (in the last case) very moving. You will have to watch the film first to get the full emotional impact.
The first clip is from when the newbie to the group (Domhnall Gleeson), first meets and goes on stage with them (at their managers request).





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stoned nudists

Nudists made from stones. 

What's not to like?

Insert your own jokes about them being 'rock hard' etc.

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yougov poll from 2013

I know this Yougov poll is out of date, as it is from 2013, but let's face it, the public's perception will still be pretty skewered if it was done again tomorrow.

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luna has entered the world, and simon and garfunkel - patterns

 To demonstrate how time is flying by, one of my sisters girls (Kelly) has just given birth to her first baby, who her and her partner Jamie have named Luna.
Bloody hippies.
It only seems like yesterday since Kelly herself was this size.
Coincidentally, Luna (La Lune) was also one of the first words l spoke when l was a baby, as l grew up listening to French (it's the moon) as well as English.
There are patterns everywhere if you look long enough. Just don't get started on Dendritic flow systems, Hexagons, Earthquake aftershocks related to crime etc, or you will never leave the internet, as l have found to my cost.

Thinking of Patterns - Here's Simon and Garfunkel, with their take on them.



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strawbs - the man who called himself jesus

Another oldie, with some vocal mannerisms similar to Kevin Ayers. The Strawbs with 'The Man Who Called Himself Jesus'. Mostly known for their rebel rousing hit 'Part of the Union'.



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kevin ayers - shouting in a bucket blues

Kevin Ayers - Shouting in a Bucket Blues.
A man who's later lifestyle l may try and emulate - living abroad and drinking lots of wine. Sounds good to me.



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hoagy carmichael - song bonanza!

While watching the Keith Richards TV Takeover on BBC4 this weekend, he showed a clip of Hoagy Carmichael, and related the tale of speaking to him on the telephone (much to Keith's delight). As l am also a fan, here's four  of Hoagy's songs, including some lesser known ones.
Enjoy!

Am I Blue



Barnacle Bill The Sailor



My Resistance is low



The Monkey Song



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steve jones defacing in flight magazines

When Steve Jones gets bored on long haul flights, he defaces the in flight magazines.
Good man. I only wish l had thought about doing this myself. It would certainly have passed some time while waiting for another round of Jack Daniels to be served.

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marshall feedback

An inspired and hilarious response in the feedback section for Marshall amps.

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todays sky bet

Fingers crossed!

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self help books by lynda field, and paul mckenna making you happy

More stuff found while cleaning up. All of which belonged to the FPO. Some of the exercises in the self help books have been completed, but l'm not putting that information up here. I've had a quick scan at the self help books, and, probably to no ones surprise, think they are exploitative crap. Then again - l've got issues, but obviously not the only one. Can't comment on the CD, as l've not played it, but if l was a betting man, l would stake a pretty high wager that l never will.

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sonic youth - sugar kane and victoria

Two tracks today from Sonic Youth. I love them both, but prefer the raucous version of The Kinks'  'Victoria', from the 1988 John Peel session. The mistakes just make it better - more energetic and vital, sounding like they're having a great time, which encourages the listener to enjoy it as well. Tight but loose, as the saying goes. They also did 'Rowche Rumble' by The Fall during the session, and l was informed earlier today that my tickets have been booked for The Fall in November, so there's a kind of synchronicity amongst this rambling (somewhere).





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lambchop - up with people

Today's video.
Lambchop - 'Up with people', an old favourite, from their Nixon album. It grows on you the more you hear it.



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the ron mueck exhibition in edinburgh 2006

Also found while cleaning the spare room. Coincidentally, it was 10 years ago to the day that the FPO and myself went to Edinburgh to drink whisky, and catch the hyperrealistic sculptures at the Ron Mueck exhibition. We succeeded in a right royal fashion.

The top three are art cards that were purchased on exhibition day, plus the ticket and programme. Also, there is a framed poster of  'Mask', the stern looking face at the bottom, in my living room. It keeps the parrot in order (or tries to). As you can probably surmise, we pulled over for some food and drink at The Cat Inn on the way there.

Mmmmm....food.......and drink.....

Ten bleeding years!! Where is the time flying away to?

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old badges

While trying to sort out some crap in the spare room today, l came across this little lot, a load of badges from gig going many moons ago. There were more, but these are all l could be bothered photographing. Now in a plastic bag and stashed away again. 

Christ, l'm a hoarder.

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jon isherwood and mike quinn - apple pie

Two versions of the same song today. Jon Isherwood was a folkie / comedy performer from Portsmouth, who very nearly signed to The Beatles Apple label, hence this song, the 'B' side to his 1969 single 'Old Time Movies' .
When the song got nowhere, Mike Quinn, a Carnaby street boutique owner had a bash with it. Still no joy.
An underrated classic.





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