stone roses out-takes from kevin cummins photoshoot, plus the hollow men

Some great unused photographs of The Stone Roses, taken by Kevin Cummins for the NME.
What a combination - a photographer at the top of his game, with the coolest band in years. No-one believes me nowadays, but l saw the Stone Roses at about the time the first album was getting released, at Leeds Warehouse with The Hollow Men (who were from Leeds) supporting. A great night.
You can find plenty of classic shots at Kevin's site. In the meantime, here's something to remember the early Stone Roses by - 'Fools Gold'.



Plus a bonus!  The Hollow Men - 'White Train'



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jorg pretz's binary clock

Jorg Pretz, a physicist from  Aachen University, has devised a binary clock that looks like a racked set of balls on a pool table.

The way that it works, is that when the balls are lit, they all symbolise different amounts of time. The top ball is 6 hours, the ones underneath are 2 hours each, the next three are 30 minutes each, the following five are 6 minutes each, and the ones in the bottom row are 1 minute each.

Therefore the time above would be 11.03. It lights red for am, and green for pm.

Much more awkward to read than a normal clock, but I want one!

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small pop stars - iggy pop

A lot of pop / rock stars are actually a lot smaller than you would think.
Here's the mighty Iggy Pop, dwarfed in comparison with Thurston Moore (From Sonic Youth).

And here's Iggy being charismatic, scary and majestic.



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west ham united ticket prices

West Ham United are not alone in having these kind of prices, it's one of the many curses of modern football.
If you are a working class bloke wanting to take a couple of your kids to a game, you'd better start saving up, or get some overtime booked in.

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aneurin bevan on the nhs

Well said matey boy. We'll certainly miss it when it has been fucked up and disbanded.

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happy bedtime reading

Happy bedtime reading for kids at the Charlie Brooker household.
The children's version of Charles Dickens' 'Oliver Twist'.

From his twitter feed, which is here

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melanie - lay down

I've been listening to the Melanie (Safka) album 'Candles in the Rain' recently, and 'Lay Down' is one of the cracking tracks on it. Written after her appearance at Woodstock, hence the hippie vibe.
For some reason, until recently, l always thought Melanie was from Wales, but she is from Queens, New York.
Ah well, you live and learn (and l'm an idiot).
Here she is with The Edwin Hawkins Singers on Dutch TV, so you can hear the full version.

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hugleikur dagsson cartoons

Some cartoons by Hugleikur Dagsson that appealed to my sense of humour.
More here.

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leeds united v manchester united 1976

Ahhh....this takes me back.....the old days, when football was still a working class game, followed by a lot of young lads like myself (at the time), who could afford it on low wages.
It was still mainly standing, hooliganism was rife, and a ticket to the game (pay on the day) cost about 75 pence (equivalent to about £6 now).
Times have moved on to such an extent, that l have been to The Jackie Charlton suite in (dirty) Leeds' ground for my brothers wedding reception, and now mainly go to Leeds for comic fairs (and the odd gig).
Still miss the old school football and crowds though.
Photos are from here, where there is also a short video.

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trump's inauguration

A rather excellent piece in the Scottish Sunday Herald regarding Donald Trump's inauguration.
All hail that writer!

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Joe's dead

First post of the New Year, and it's more bad news.
Joe, who was originally a friend of my fathers, and a man who had outlived just about everyone he knew (apart from young whippersnappers like me) died on the 29th Dec.
The top picture is Joe pretending to be dead as a photograph was taken in the pub. The bottom one is his empty chair, with one of his hats, where he used to sit and drink copious amounts of whisky and ginger with me.
An ex boxer, wrestler, promoter (plus loads of hands on manual type work), raconteur, bullshitter and one of the brightest, hardest, and kindest people l have ever met. As an example, he used to own properties that he rented out for years. Rather than continuing with the rents, or selling the properties, he let the long time occupiers have them. He also bought shoes etc for poor friends of mine years ago when their father kept getting locked up, and took them camping and walking (and no, nothing dodgy went on).
Sandy (or as Joe called him 'Soft Cock'), his old dog, had loads of character, and so did Joe.
Although he had issues with his leg that kept him indoors for the last years of his life, he will be remembered and missed by many.
He used to say that he got on better with me than anyone else, and felt we were on the same wavelength, and considered us kindred spirits. Pisstaking bright guys who could take any jokes or insults hurled at us, and respond in kind.
I would say that he was a one off, but can confirm that he enjoyed his life more than most.

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RIP Rick Parfitt

Breaking my December absence and capital letters in the title embargo, as the boogie master himself has died.
Drink now in hand - Piledriver on.

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echo and the bunnymen - the killing moon

To go with tonight's moon theme. Echo and the Bunnymen - 'The Killing Moon'.



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tortilla moon

Not impressed with the Super Moon?
No problem. Stick a tortilla on your window instead.
From here.

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kid rock and sheryl crow - picture

Today's top tune and another old favourite.
Kid Rock and Sheryl Crow - 'Picture'



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wildlife travel photographs

I've had these photographs in a file on my computer for a while, but can't remember where l got them from. They are labelled 'Wildlife Travel' on my file, and l guess they must have been winners in a competition, but l don't know which one (and can't be bothered searching).

They are however, very impressive.

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how to lead your life - alejandro jodorowsky

Confused about how to lead your life? Not any more!
Here are the 82 Commandments of Alejandro Jodorowsky. I don't agree with all of them, but he does talk a lot of sense.

                    
                    

                     

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leon russell - delta lady, and the leave alone list

So another one of the old rock and rollers bites the dust. This time it's Leon Russell, a name that's probably not that well known to most people, but instrumental in some of may favourite records, and especially on Joe Cocker's 'Mad Dogs and Englishman' tour (and LP). One of the greatest road movies in the rock cannon.
Here's Leon with his own composition, 'Delta Lady.'



And here's Joe Cocker and Leon from the 'Mad Dogs' film, covering The Rolling Stones' 'Honky Tonk Women'



As for the grim reaper, here's a short list of people he can bugger off and leave alone for the time being

Keith Richards
Mick Jagger
Rick Parfitt
Francis Rossi
Iggy Pop
Bobby Gillespie
The Reid brothers from The Jesus and Mary Chain
David Johansen and Sylvain Sylvain from The New York Dolls
Nick Cave
Brain Wilson
Dr John
Donovan
Little Richard
Chuck Berry
Bruce Springsteen
Todd Snider
Paul Simon
Rod Stewart
Van Morrison
Any of the remaining members of The Sex Pistols, Stranglers, Damned or Clash
Or The Pixies, Deus, Hawkwind, Who, U2 and Waterboys

That lot should keep me going for a while yet if he keeps his spindly little fingers off them

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gregory porter and others - purple rain on later with jools

A moving tribute to Prince on Later with Jools Holland.
Gregory Porter and the other artists on the show sing 'Purple Rain'.
It fair bought a tear to my eye, so it did.
Mind you, so did Iggy Pop's version of The Passenger from the same show (Best of 2016), so it's not just the tender stuff that gets the tear ducts a flowin'.
Sadly, l couldn't find a youtube clip of that, so it will just have to be Mr Porter and the rest for the time being.



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the cure - love cats

This came on the radio while l was in the kitchen earlier on today, cooking up a right old feast. It's a song you really can't help singing and dancing along to, and if you don't do so, you are someone l won't have a lot in common with.
The Cure - 'Love Cats'.
Me and Mr Parrot certainly had a wild old time



Here was me, dancing  earlier.
I dressed Mr Parrot the same way.

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a young keith moon

Yep - even Keith Moon was once a fresh faced sweet looking innocent youngster.
He soon changed that.

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speeding course in northallerton

As my driving can sometimes exceed the speed limits, l've been busted again, and had to attend a speed awareness course at The Golden Lion hotel in Northallerton (yesterday). This meant that l would not got three points on my licence for speeding, and the cost was £85 rather than the alternative option of £100 plus the three points.

It was four hours out of my life that l will never get back, but at least it was a lot more interesting than l imagined it would be, and nowhere near as preachy or sanctimonious as l expected. Also, l got to finish work early so l could attend, so there were other plus points.

I was caught doing 36 miles an hour in a 30 mile an hour zone in Stockport at the start of September, hence the course, but the down side is, l was caught again, also doing 36 in a 30 area about a week later in Catterick, so l am going to have to pay a fine and get three points anyway.

Damn!!!!

You know who l blame (obviously none of this is my own fault).

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the bug - london zoo - angry, plus zig and zag - them girls all love me

The Bug - London Zoo - Angry.
Infectious (and angry), and featuring Tippa Irie.
Great stuff, and an angry song that makes you want to sing and dance in a happy way.
Maybe that's why it reminds me a lot of this.
Zig and Zag - Them Girls Them Girls (They All Love Me)



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tune in - the beatles - all these years

Well, l finally got round to finishing the first of Mark lewisohn's biographies of The Beatles, which l've been reading on and off for a few weeks. 

The attention to detail, is, as expected, staggering, and although l've just ploughed through nearly 1,000 pages, the book only goes up to the end of 1962, so there's plenty more of the same to follow.

Hurrah!

I'm just the sort of sad git that loves projects like this, and relish as much information as possible (as long as it is correct).

Now it's the long wait until the second book is finished (there's going to be three).

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robert vaughn and the man from uncle

I've just learnt from the BBC website that the actor Robert Vaughn has died. As the article states, to us older folk, he will always be remembered from his role as Napoleon Solo in 'The Man From UNCLE', which is one of the first TV shows that l really loved. I remember having a plastic lighter / gun combo that was part of their marketing, which brought me much enjoyment on the mean streets of Singapore (when l wasn't setting fire to my eyebrows or local wasteland), but prefered his partner in espionage foiling, Ilya Kuryakin (played by David McCallum). However, both of the stars were heroes to me at the time. I know he's had a good innings (as had Leonard Cohen), but it's still a sad day, and adds to the gradual erasing of my (not many to start with) happy childhood memories.

I blame God.

Here's two versions of the title sequence





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excellent pub sign

Witty thinking by whoever came up with this pub sign in Clarkenwell.

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paul simon - american tune (with added bach)

I've heard this song a few times since the American election, and had forgotten how good it is (and relevant now).
Paul Simon, with 'American Tune'.
One of the few great artists of the 1960's who can still sound really great today, and his body of work is more than equal to just about anyone, although if you listen to the Bach piece, it may sound a tad familiar.
Just ignore the bad hairstyle and moustache, and listen to the song.





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