Music

Tribute

/ masher / 4 Comments

Yesterday, Mrs M and Daughter went to see Whitney Houston.

Not the real one, of course, because she’s dead.

No, they went to see a tribute act.

Strange things, tribute acts. I’ve never quite understood why anyone would pay good money to go and see someone who isn’t as good as the real thing. If you are a big fan of something/someone, why would you go to see something that isn’t as good?

I used to be a big fan of the rock group Queen. I have all their albums and I have seen them live in concert a couple of times.

But I don’t think I would ever dream of going to see a band that were performing Queen songs – but who didn’t look or sound as good as Queen.

I’d feel let down.

Mrs M and Daughter arrived home earlier than expected. “You’re home earlier than I expected”, I said.

“We left half way through”, said Mrs M, “she was murdering those songs!”

QED

Whip Crack Away, Whip Crack Away, Whip Crack Awaaayyy!

/ masher / 5 Comments

I was hoping to go and see the new Steven Spielberg version of West Side Story at the cinema, but rather like the ladies of the harem of the court of King Caracticus, it passed by and I never got to see it.

Being a big, hairy biker (actually, I’m not hairy), you wouldn’t expect me to be a big fan of that particular stage and film genre: the musical.

And I’m not.

But then, because of my keenness to see the Spielberg’s version of Tony and Maria, I got to wondering whether, actually, I am.

Because, I have realised that I do like some musicals.

Not all of them, but yes, some of them.

I never particular enjoyed Starlight Express… possibly the first stage musical I ever saw, back in the eighties.

Miss Saigon didn’t do a great deal for me and I probably spent more time trying to figure out how they did the impressive stage lighting, than I did actually watching the show, when we went to see Priscilla Queen Of The Desert.  Blood Brothers was OK, I suppose, but it didn’t really engage me… I only went because my (blind) date was keen to see it.

And I’ve never had any desire to see Les Mis  (AKA The Glums) or The Jersey Boys or Hairspray or any of the musicals currently touring the West End.

But, when I saw Mel Brooks’ The Producers and Monty Python’s Spamalot, I thought they were both brilliant and I would happily watch them again.

Queen’s We Will Rock You was also very enjoyable – the storyline not so much, but the music, yes.  I’ve been a Queen fan since the eighties, so that probably explains that.

And when it comes to the silver screen, there are plenty that I like:  Calamity Jane (for some reason); Mary Poppins, South Pacific  and, of course, West Side Story… because every single song in there is a classic.

So, when I say I’m not a fan, actually, I am.

And I’m not.

Gee, Officer Krupke… go figure.

Well, that’s Musicals.

Next week: Ballet and how Chekov’s The Seagull ruined ruined that particular manifestation of the terpsichorean muse for me.

Britain Has Got Talent

/ masher / 10 Comments

Some years ago, I went to see (hear) The Planet Suite by Holst, being played at the Royal Festival Hall.

It was bloody brilliant.  And I found myself slightly star-struck, when I realised I was sitting just two seats away from Julian Lloyd Webber.

Recently I’ve been longing to go and see (hear) it again… although I doubt Jules will be there this time.

And so tonight finds me searching the internets for tickets.

Tickets to see (hear) The Planet Suite.

All of it.

By Gustav Holst.

I couldn’t find any though and somehow I ended up just listening to Jupiter on YouTube.

Which was great.

But, then the ‘YouTube sidebar of time-wasting’ sucked me in, and I found myself clicking on all sorts of videos, only to emerge two hours later, bleary-eyed and finding that everyone had gone to bed.

But, I thought I’d share a couple of favourites that I found, with you… they’re fairly short.

I would love to have been there for this one, but being a southerner, I missed out. I very much doubt it’s ever going to happen in our shopping mall in town.

And this one just made me jealous: the talent of this fella! It’s scenes like this that make me wish I’d paid more attention to my music teacher at school.

 

One down

/ masher / 2 Comments

Friday was the first Christmas do of the year, for me.

It was the first of three work functions that I’m attending in the run up to Christmas.

But I also have another do next week: the GB3AL User Group Christmas Dinner: half-a-dozen blokes who I have spoken to regularly on the radio over the past year. Never met them, but I’ve been invited to their annual Xmas get-together, so that should be fun. I’m really looking forward to it.

Then we have the second works’ do.

And then on Friday evening: a stag do.

It’s gonna be a boozy week.

But no boozier than the one I went to on Friday.  Because that one had that greatest thing that any Christmas party can have: a free bar. Woohoo!

I was off my tits.

I think.

But, I also had a bit of a boogie on the dance-floor and somehow, that always seems to negate the alcohol. Don’t know if I sweat it out, but for the amount that I drank, I should probably have been on my back (actually, I think I was, a couple of times). Don’t get me wrong, the dancing doesn’t sober me up completely – as was evident by my rubbish fleckerls – but it does seem to help.

So, one party down… four more to go.

Hic.

 

Ring Ring

/ masher / 9 Comments

Talking of mobile phones, it’s always fun to change your ringtone to something different to what came installed on the phone. 

Of late, the original Nokia tune has become a fashionable ringtone again… in an ironic sort of way.

Many people choose a popular tune or a comedic catchphrase, and I myself have added several to my phone.

All are TV theme tunes from the 1970’s and when my phone rings, someone of a similar age to myself will pop their head up and say “Ooh, that sounds familiar…  what is it?”

So, here are the theme tunes for you to have a guess at.

Anyone who gets all five will win a speedboat.*

Number 1

 

Number 2

 

Number 3

 

Number 4

 

Number 5

 

*Not really.

Earwig o again

/ masher / 8 Comments

I’ve got one of those earworm things, y’know, when you get a tune stuck in your head and can’t shift it.

As earworms go, it’s not a bad one though.

It’s actually one of my favourite pieces of music and I stumbled upon it by chance, many years ago, when I was visiting some friends in Norwich (we weren’t going to see the quiz of the week, I might add) and I found myself mooching in HMV, whilst my mate and his wife were shopping next door for cushions or some shit like that.

Scherezade is the piece I’m talking about. By Rimsky and the Korsakovs.

It’s a wonderful piece of music, one of my favourites, but annoyingly, I just keep playing the same thirty-second loop in my head and not the whole 40 minutes.

Anyway, on a related note, I was in town t’other day and noticed that our HMV had closed down.

This upset me slightly, as it was the last ‘record store’ in town.

OK, I can’t even remember the last time I actually bought a record or CD from there (or anywhere else)… but it upset me nonetheless.

You’re The One That I Want

/ masher / 10 Comments

I was listening to one of my comedy podcasts as I drove to work this morning – I’m Sorry I Haven’t a Clue, if you must know.

In this particular episode, Tim Brooke-Taylor was tasked with singing part of Greased Lightning – from the 1978 film Grease – without any musical accompaniment.

In typical TB-T fashion, he adopted a shrill voice and launched himself into it.

And then, he sang these lines:

“With a four-speed on the floor, they’ll be waiting at the door
You know that ain’t no shit, we’ll be getting lots of tit
in Greased Lightning…“

I’m sorry Tim, did you just say ‘shit’ and ‘tit’? 

I assumed at first that he’d said it for comedic value, but that didn’t seem right and so when I got to work, I Googled the lyrics.

OMG! Those are the actual lyrics! This song is nearly forty years old; I’ve heard it a zillion times; I’ve danced to it at many a party and yet I’d never heard those filthy lyrics.

But, it goes on:

“With new boosters, plates and shocks 
I can get off my rocks
You know that I ain’t braggin’, she’s a real pussy wagon
Greased Lightning“

‘Pussy Wagon’?  Really?

But there’s more:

“You are supreme
The chicks’ll cream
For Greased Lightning“

Whoa! John Travolta is now singing about ladies getting so excited, that they are making a mess in their underwear! Jeez!!

Quite how they managed to sneak those lyrics past the American censors – whom I thought were pretty strict back in the seventies – on a film rated at PG-13, I just don’t know.

But, based on that,  I’m off to check the lyrics on some of the other songs that featured in the film.

There’s bound to be a line somewhere in Hopelessly Devoted, where Olivia Newton John sings about taking it up the council gritter.