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My Bond Wishlist
Here's my Top 10 of artists I'd like to see do a Bond theme, plus some other people who's time has probably passed or who I think would have done a great job of doing one in the past. 1. Jarvis Cocker I just think that with his singing style and his tongue in cheek humour he'd be a perfect match for a Bond theme, just listen to him sing something like I Spy and imagine something similar as a Bond theme. I think it would sound awesome. 2. Kylie Minogue & Nick Cave They're due a reunion, why not on a Bond theme? 3. Beth Gibbons Ever since Portishead came along in the mid 90s I'm astonished that she's not been asked to do it yet, her voice fits into that mould so perfectly. 4. Morrissey I think his voice fits the bill, let him loose on the lyrics and it could be real interesting. I doubt he'd ever do it but maybe his buddy Nancy Sinatra could convince him otherwise. I can dream. 5. Janelle Monáe If I was a betting man she would be the woman I put money on to sing on the next movie. I think she has to be a frontrunner and if it was announced she was doing it I wouldn't be surprised in the least. 6. Stuart Staples Lead singer of Tindersticks, he could be like a 60s crooner like Matt Monroe but with a little bit of modern day grit. Huge fan of this guy but I doubt he'll ever be a big enough name. 7. Bjork & Brian Eno Simply because you wouldn't have a clue what it would sound like until you heard it, ask her and you could get anything back. I think she has the voice to pull it off. Throw in Brian Eno into the mix as well and you could have audio dynamite. 8. Lætitia Sadier Maybe it's the Stereolab fanboy in me talking but fuck me, that French accent is sexy as hell. Love to hear what she sounds like singing with a full orchestra. 9. Annie Clark I love her voice simply because there's something kind of strange about it that I can't quite put my finger on it that I think would be a perfect fit with the kind of psychedelic strange looking opening titles you get in Bond movies. 10. Lady Gaga If Madonna gets a shot to fuck it up why shouldn't she get a chance? It would either be a total turd of a song or she'd pull it off spectacularly. Actually she wouldn't look out of place actually appearing in the opening titles singing it either. Honourable Mentions Ronnie James Dio I'm totally serious here, imagine Ronnie singing a big 80s power ballad backed by a full John Barry conducted orchestra, it would be beyond awesome. Why get some lame pop band to do that when you can get someone with an unmistakable voice. And if Chris Cornell can be asked to do one........... Shara Nelson & Massive Attack Trip Hop kinda broke into the mainstream around the same time that the franchise was being relaunched with Brosnan. They could have done an awesome Trip hop inspired theme for that relaunch and it wouldn't have sounded out of place. Prince Prince doing a mid 80s Bond theme, come on you know you'd want to hear it and it would be amazing. Scott Walker I guess they could still use him now but I would have loved to have heard him do one in the 60s. Dusty Springfield See next entry Rob Halford No chance at all, but for same reasons I listed for RJD Sandy Denny Maybe a bit too folky, would be nice to hear her do something totally different. I have no doubt she had the voice to pull it off. David Bowie I guess he could still do one but hearing him do one during his Berlin period would have been amazing. Ann & Nancy Wilson Not really a fan of Heart but I have a hunch they could have nailed this. Tammi Terrell Could have done an awesome theme in the late 60s, sad that she died so young. Was a huge talent. |
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When you compare this damp squib of a song to the other material on "Scoundrel days", and hear Morton bellowing on the title track, or even his soft, almost muttered vocal on "October", you just have one question: why? If they were going to do a Bond song --- and it surely would or should have been good exposure for a band who were pretty much at the top of their game at this stage --- why not go for it? I think John Barry had a lot of input into it, didn't he? But why then not just let someone else, some nondescript singer, handle it? Waste of Morton Harkett's considerable talents. |
Great list! I personally think it would be pretty cool to hear a modern metal band or artist try their hand a Bond theme. Not sure who would pull it off today though: maybe Tom Englund from Evergrey or something? Maybe call in Mastodon? Hell, one of the songs from Queensryche's self-titled last year had sort of a Bond-vibe about it (mostly the chord progression and orchestration).
Seeing metal make it into a Bond film probably won't happen in my lifetime though. Quite a shame... |
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Very few Bond themes were written by the artist back then, Wings were the only band to write their totally by themselves although Duran Duran & A-ha had input into theirs. Since the 90s relaunch this isn't the case, Sheryl Crow wrote hers, Madonna wrote hers, Jack White wrote his, none of them have the composer of the film score on the song credits Tina Turner's Goldeneye theme was actually written by U2, I think her and Garbage are the only artists not to write their own themes since then. |
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Wouldn't have a problem with a metal singer doing a more traditional Bond theme though. |
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Kenny Loggins is pretty good, as long as its a Top Gun type soundtrack. Quote:
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And I bet you though I'd forgotten about this...
Urban's Bond Themes Chart Rundown No.15 - 11 http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l9...Bond/YEO81.jpg 15. For Your Eyes Only - Sheena Easton (1981) I thought I was going to rank this song a lot higher because it's probably the most iconic Bond songs of the 80s. But then I listened to it again and couldn't get over how nasal Sheena Eastons vocals are. They should have got Kate Bush to sing this instead. I guess the little purple midget saw enough in her to further her career, who knows if it was because of this. Good song, and I guess I'm being a little harsh on it because it's such an iconic theme but I can't help think could have been sung better. Sheena Easton is also the only singer of a Bond theme to actually appear in the opening credits singing it too. --- http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l9.../Bond/cr67.jpg 14. The Look of Love (From Casino Royale) - Dusty Springfield (1967) Now you may remember on the very first entry I did for this thing I mentioned that I had included an extra song into this to round it up to 25 songs, this is that song. This song was used during the movie but I think it would have worked so much better as the title theme. It's a crime that Dusty Springfield was never asked to do a proper Bond theme based on this effort because it's a glorious song written by Burt Bacharach & Hal David and was even nominated for an Oscar in the 1968 academy awards. Sadly it lost out to 'Talk To The Animals' from the movie Doctor Dolittle. Life just isn't fair sometimes. --- http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l9...Bond/LTK89.jpg 13. Licence To Kill - Gladys Knight (1989) Not much to say about this one other than this is a kind of hidden gem of a theme from one of the more forgettable Bond movies. it's very reminicent of 'Goldfinger', if anything a little too reminicent at times. You can obviously see what the movies producers were going for here. It has that kind of big 80s ballad feel to it but Gladys Knights vocals are the highlight of this and she makes the songs worth much higher than it has any right to be. --- http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l9.../Bond/GE95.jpg 12. GoldenEye - Tina Turner (1995) It's often said I'm a miserable bastard that hates everything and everybody, that may be true but never say that I hold a grudge. This song is performed by Tina Turner, a woman who in this very journal I once said of her that 'If all the master tapes of her 80s solo career were on fire I wouldn't piss on them'. This song was also written by Bono & The Edge of U2, Bono, a man I have called a c*nt more than I would an abusive ex-girlfriend. But here's the odd thing..... This song is fucking great, it's almost as if they found the perfect singer to sing the perfect song for the relaunch of the Bond franchise in the mid 1990s. Seriously I can't fault this song at all. It has everything a classic Bond theme should have and Tina Turner redeems herself for the one and a half decades of lame material she'd been pumping out previously. Does it redeem Bono? Fuck no, that c*nt is a long way gone past that point, I will give him credit however and say now he's written 4 good songs instead of 3. --- http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l9...Bond/RWL63.jpg 11. From Russia With Love - Matt Monro (1963) I love Matt Monroe on film soundtracks, in fact he's responsible for recording one of my favourite movie opening soundtracks when he sung 'In Days Like These' at the beginning of 'The Italian Job'. Although 'From Russia With Love' is not quite as good as that song it still manages to eminate the same kind of style & sophistication with Monroe's delivery being so uber cool and delivery you could almost say that this song is the perfect representation of Connery's Bond in aural form. |
So cast your mind back a year or so ago and remember the time when the admin of the forum removed a whole load of pictures from the site because of complaints from google.
Well having not really looked through this journal properly since then I was totally unaware of what was removed from here. Some were expected (Like Genesis P Orridge's breast implants and some Finnish punk band's goatse style cover) and some were just bizarre (My stills from Judas Priest's Hot Rockin' video) I guess the sight of Ian Hill working out and Glenn Tipton wearing a bathrobe were too hot for Google to handle but the oddest removal was yet to come. First of all I was shocked to discover that this cover was deemed perfectly acceptable.... http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l99/urbanH/o15876.jpg And yet this was was deemed offensive and removed.... http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l99/urbanH/491890.jpg So if you want to piss off Google just post loads of pictures of motorbike riders headbanging in silly helmets. Which brings me to my next point, if anyone wants to post a picture of themselves in a helmet (or any silly headgear) headbanging and playing air guitar in my journal feel free to do so, you can even do it in a field next to a motorcycle if you like but there's no need. Any pictures gratefully received. And if Vanilla or any other hot chicks want to do the other cover that's fine too. Edit: Feel free to hold something up with 'Fuck you Google written on it' too. |
What about Vanilla in a hot biker pose? Excuse me, I think I have to go somewhere urgently... ;)
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Are you sure the link to the pic of the album cover that's down didn't just go down by itself? Sometimes links just die.
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No because it's hosted on my photobucket account and it's still there.
And of course it had this written where it was... Moderator cut: image removed |
Penguins And I
It's time for the bi-yearly...
Posting In The Style Of Other Posters No.2 Music is not my hobby, it is my life, it is what I do, it's what I am. If I stop doing it, I have no reason to live, my life would have simply stopped. My hobby is penguins. I love penguins--all penguins really but Humboldt Penguins in particular. I can name the vast majority of them right off. Some people watch birds, I watch penguins. I don't collect them (although I did have a pet Emperor Penguin once). Penguins need to be free or they can't do much for our ecosystem--which largely depends on them. http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l9..._penguin_1.jpg The penguin is clearly something that crawled out of the ocean and only changed enough to stay on land but if they chose to go back to the ocean, they could. I don't think a more successful creature exists. http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l9...th-2013-12.jpg Starting about 350 minutes ago, this sea creature that left the ocean became a penguin. We have penguins preserved in amber from that long ago. Amazingly, it has changed not a wit in all that time. 100 million year old bee fossils show us that bees were wasps at once time. Roaches have evolved differently for all kinds of environments. But penguins--no matter that the environment (and they live in all of them), they are no different then they were when they made their first appearance on the planet. Their hard shells became a beak, their spiny points became wings, their slime-producing organs began producing a new improved slime called shit. Like all, ocean creatures, they display high intelligence. http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l9...r14-158198.jpg Emperors, Rockhoppers, Humboldt and Gentoo Penguins are called Penguins. These are a more primitive type of Penguins. They have vertical rather than diagonal beaks, are generally feathery, Rockhoppers have 2 eyes rather than 8. Penguins produce chocolate biscuits but don't put the wrappers on. They have two large protruding feet whereas other penguins have 4 to 8 microscopic ones. http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l9...heniscus_h.jpg Penguin (pronounced "Peng-win") is a Greek compound of "pen" or Bic and "Gwyn" or girls name. Pen-Gwyn. It looks nothing like a Bic which resembles a stick with ink inside it. http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l9..._humboldti.jpg They are superb hunters. Unparalleled masters of predation. http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l99/urbanH/blog-1.jpg Jumping penguins are classified as clever bastards of which there are some 500 genera and 5000 species--the most numerous of any penguin family. Unlike most penguins which have poor vision, clever bastards have superb vision. Because they are feathery and do not wrap chocolate biscuits, they share some common ground with other penguins. But are much more recent--about 50 million years. http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l9...45c41970c-.jpg Penguins' eyes are paired and each pair are generally functionally different from the other pairs and are different sizes. Although they look exposed, the eyes have a tough transparent covering. You could touch their eyes with your finger and it won't bother them but they might make a noise and peck you. http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l9...t-penguins.jpg Jumping penguins' eyes are mounted on a kind of cupola or tower and are elevated over the rest of the body. Markedly different from other penguins. Penguins are built amazingly like the jet fighters used in the military. That's really what they are--nature's jet fighters. http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l9...nH/penguin.jpg Jumping penguins don't wear a helmet. http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l9...105-MOTION.gif Cute li'l fellas, ain't they? |
S-hit, those are a lot of penguins.
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I'm pretty sure I have a penguin infestation. I was cleaning behind a dresser a while ago and one came running out from behind it. I had to beat it to death with my shoe.
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If it's not a Humboldt I'm not interested.
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It's the return of the series that nobody asked for, let alone wanted back..... Urban Listens To Every Single 'Now That's What I Call Music' album. It's 26 November 1984 and it's time for http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l99/urbanH/now4.jpg Now That's What I Call Music! Vol. 4 Part 1 Paul McCartney - No More Lonely Nights This is a lot more uptempo and 80s sounding than I remember it being. I could have sworn this was a ballad. Maybe that's how he plays it live, I don't know I'm no McCartney expert. I would have preferred it to be a ballad to be honest because this is awfully lightweight. Giorgio Moroder with Philip Oakey - Together in Electric Dreams Speaking of lightweight this should have been amazing. I love the Human League, Morodor was responsible for all those Donna Summer records my mother played to death during my childhood which I still love (I Feel Love >>>>> Kraftwerk's entire discography) so why is it just so mehh. It's far too twee for it's own good, this should have been a hard hitting banging floor tune, God, that synthesized guitar solo just screams mid 80s, just a shame it doesn't scream anything meaningful. Mind you this was around the time The Human League began to lose it so I shouldn't be too surprised. Wasn't this the theme to a movie or something? I can't be bothered to check. Bronski Beat - Why? Here comes Jimmy Sommerville & Co to show Morodor & Oakey exactly how you do it. Sure it's dated a little but by Christ this is still a great pop tune (Synthesized horns >>>> synthesized guitar solos) Limahl - Never Ending Story Thankfully the same can't be said of his career which ended shortly after this song. Almost as depressing as the horse dying in the swamp. I hate this song so much, it's so bad you could probably bet that even someone like Bucks Fizz turned it down. Nick Heyward - Warning Sign I liked Nick Heyward when he was a member of Haircut 100, to this day I've no idea why they broke up so quickly. Heyward's solo material is nowhere near the greatness of his former band. This song is interesting it's kind of sounds like it can't decide if it wants to be an 80s pop tune with all it's synthesizers and slap bass or one of those generic stadium rock bands with a wailing guitar solo. I'm not sure about this one. John Waite - Missing You This bastard seemed to be in Kerrang! every other week during the late 80s based on the fact he used to be in The Babys in the 70s (nope, me neither) who apparently rocked at one time. Although from what I gather they seemed to be the type of band from the UK who nobody in the U.K. actually cared about and sold bucket loads in the U.S. Kind of like a 70's Bush. Why they chose to feature him in the 80s so prominently I've no idea because all he ever seemed to release was this overly boring AOR shlock that makes Foreigner & Journey sound like fucking punk bands. Michael Jackson - Farewell My Summer Love Oh fuck off. There is actually a reason why this dross is on this compilation and it's got very little to do with this getting to No. 7 in the charts. You see the Now! compilations were a collaboration between EMI & Virgin and whichever other companies they could get licences from. CBS/& Warner Bros started their own copycat series called 'Hits' with their acts..... Including Michael Jackson. As Motown had released this song instead of Epic Records (Owned by CBS) as a cash in Virgin/EMI jumped at the chance to get the licence from Motown and stick this on the compilation and give the middle finger to CBS / WEA for stealing one of, or if not their biggest act. Did I mention I hate this song. Lionel Richie - Hello http://www.musicbanter.com/1054884-post113.html http://www.musicbanter.com/1054886-post114.html Don't really feel I need to add anything here. Culture Club - The War Song War war is stupid and people are stupid war war war war war war war war war war Yes thanks for this gripping political message George You're not exactly Edwin Starr are you. Elton John - Passengers I find as I get older I'm kind of warming to Elton John's output although I draw the line at Candle in the fucking wind. This is catchy, silly and very hummable which is probably why I remember it so well even though I don't think I've heard it since 1985. Julian Lennon - Too Late for Goodbyes This is a pretty good song although I'm more of a fan of Sean Lennon who put out a fantastic album on the Beastie Boys Grand Royale label in the mid 90s of which the name escapes me right now. Both of them sound just like their Dad which must have been more of a curse than a blessing. Nice harmonica solo, you didn't get a lot of them in 80s pop. For some reason I remember him playing the cello but then I remembered that was Julian Lloyd Webber. I wonder if there's a club for people called Julian who have more well known family members. The Style Council - Shout to the Top! The pinnacle of Paul Weller's post Jam career. He never topped this again no matter how many turgid Dad rock albums he put out afterwards. Anyway let's focus on the positives here, this is a top tune with some great strings. Proof that the Style Council weren't really crap after all. Thompson Twins - Doctor! Doctor! Even now I can still picture that chick with the huge perm with the sides shaved. Everybody has heard this and I still like it. Heaven 17 - Sunset Now I LIKE Heaven 17 and I don't even remember this. Not particularly memorable even after hearing it but not really bad either. A little bit too lightweight pop for my tastes. The Kane Gang - Respect Yourself I was hoping this would be a release of that old soul song, but then I remembered it was The Staple Singers who sang that and not this lot. This is that other 'Respect Yourself' song with all those synths and the chorus that goes 'naaaa na na na naaa naaa dee deeee deee deeeee deeee' Disappointing. Tina Turner - Private Dancer How is it that someone who was so great in the 60s & 70s can go on to sing this crap. Bland bland bland with an extra dollop of bland. This woman sounds amazing when she's singing something that requires rawness and power. On this she just sounds like what Sade might sound like after smoking 80 B&H a day for a year. Awful. |
Give me Love, give me Can, give me Meat Loaf Give me Rush, give me Marquee Moon Michael Ball, or The Fall I could listen to them all In the twilight or the afternoon Irk the purists Irk the purists Irk the purists It’s a right good laugh Irk the purists Irk the purists Irk the purists at the back Hall & Oates, random Goth, Miles Davis Patti Smith, Simply Red, Sly Stone Be they false or for real, I don’t care and nor does Neil Just so long as we can hear their song Irk the purists Irk the purists It could well be an Olympic sport Irk the purists Irk the purists If you’ve never, then you ought Husker Du-Du-Du Captain Beefheart, ELO Chris de Burgh Sun Ra Del Amitri John Coltrane Irk the purists Irk the purists Come on now boy, you know it feels so right Irk the purists Irk the purists Irk the purists tonight |
I had to Google Chris de Burgh and Del Amitri.
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And this is to the tune of....?
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EDIT: The album is called Trouble Over Bridgewater. |
I saw them in London ages ago.
A one week trip and I saw them, Flux, and The Pixies, all at different clubs. I also stayed for free at a beautiful woman's flat I just met there. Talk about a great trip. |
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How Trollheart Should Have Reviewed The New Nickelback Album http://cdn1.coresites.mpora.com/whit...-Kroeger1.jpeg Oh come all ye faithful and rejoice, for the backs of Nickel have released a new album for ye to worship. All praise the Chad! Album of the year 2014 AND 2015, without doubt surely? But seriously, what's it like? Is it really that bad? Can I find anything decent on it? Let's see. http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...back_Album.jpg No fixed address --- Nickelback --- 2014 (Republic) Exactly the same shit as last time |
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When will I ever learn? Actually, it's not the same as last time though. It's much, much worse. I actually feel unclean after hearing this album, and sad for the millions of idiots who are rushing out to buy it. |
The Best 200 Albums I've Never Heard According To The NME
While I was searching around for various things to do I came across two lists written by the NME in 2011 & 2012 featuring 100 of the best albums I've never heard. As I genuinely found a lot of stuff on these lists obscure I figured it might be a good idea to check a lot of these albums out. Because some of these albums are proving difficult to get hold of I won't be doing this in any order other than at random. From what I can tell the original lists were not done in any sort of order either. So onto the first album http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l99/urbanH/Clor.jpg Artist: Clor Album: Clor Label: Regal Year: 2005 Genre: Synthpop http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l99/urbanH/uk.png Clor were originally from Brixton and released this, their one and only album back in 2005 before splitting up. I don't ever recall hearing about them at the time. From what I can gather the album had some critical success in some areas but that didn't translate into sales. It also seems to have only been released in the UK too. At first it begins to sound like your typical mid 2000s dance punk album dripping in 80s synthpop revival. The opening of tracks sound like they could be done by The Rapture, The Faint, Radio 4 or any of those bands from the time.But just when you think you know what to expect from this album they swap it all around on you. Love + Pain which I gather was their first single is a fantastic little pop song. Hearts On Fire is another great song that emits memories of early 80s Vince Clarke era Depeche Mode. Things switch again for the next two songs Gifted almost sounds like a Pavement ballad and Stuck In A Tight Spot is pure 90s alternative with it's quiet/loud/quiet/loud dynamic with vocalist Barry Dobbin sounding equal parts Steven Malkmus and Wayne Coyne. Dangerzone is another highlight and this is pure 80s synthpop and the band doesn't even attempt to hide it. My favourite song on the entire album is Magic Touch which is just a blatant rip off of Prince's Dirty Mind era stuff. It sounds corny as hell but it works, hell they even copy his guitar histrionics in the middle of the song. Making You All Mine and Garden of Love bring you towards the end of the album and whatever they lack in originality they more than make up in bouncy enthusiasm and carry you to the final track Goodbye. At first this track begins to sound like some sappy Spandau Ballet ballad but thankfully it never gets that bad and is a nice mellow (Yet strange) way to finish the album off. And I guess given that this was their only album by Clor, rather a fitting end in the circumstances. Verdict: I was a bit dubious of this album when I first came across it. Mainly because this genre was done to death in the mid 00's and the NME seemed to think most of that stuff was the greatest thing ever at the time. But this album had moments that made it stand out from all the others. Rather than being one generic mish-mash of influences they actually take each influence and do something with it meaning you don't get 11 songs that all sound the same. I liked this album a lot and at least 4 or 5 of the songs are keepers. If this is a good representation of what's on these lists then I can't wait to hear more. Songs To Hear: Love + Pain, Hearts On Fire, Magic Touch |
The Best 200 Albums I've Never Heard According To The NME
http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l9...79-02A-BIG.jpg Artist: The Buff Medways Album: Steady The Buffs Label: Transcopic Year: 2002 Genre: Garage Rock http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l99/urbanH/uk.png I'm guessing that this is the only band on this list named after a breed of chicken. Anyway not only have I heard this album, I bought it on it's release, saw the band touring for it resplendent in all their World War I outfits and bought the chicken T shirt after the gig. so suck on that NME. In 2000 Billy Childish played his final gig with his long time band Thee Headcoats. He put together a new band known as 'Wild Billy Childish & The Friends of the Buff Medway Fanciers Association' or 'The Buff Medways' for short and released one album before being signed to Graham Coxon of Blur's label Transcopic. The timing of this signing couldn't have been better as it got Childish attention at a time when the popularity of garage rock was going through a resurgence and it also didn't hurt that Childish put out his most solid album in years. If you've never heard The Buff Medways before their sound can basically be summed up as The Who circa 1965 mixed with punk rock. Songs like A Strange Kind Of Happiness, Sally Sensation, Strood Light all sound like they could have been plucked from that mid 60s time zone. Then on the other hand we have the punk influence on tracks like Dawn Says, Archive From 1959 and You Piss Me Off. The remaining tracks range from the albums opener Troubled Mind which has a kind of My Generation stutter to it, The bluesy Well Well and a storming cover of The Who's Ivor from 'A Quick One' to close the album. Verdict: I loved this record ever since I first heard it and always find myself going back to it. It's just half an hour of great pop hooks played with chainsaw like guitars played by a man who is a true original who deserves to be far more well known that he is putting out one of his best albums. You can't really ask for more than that. Songs To Hear: Archive From 1959, A Strange Kind Of Happiness, Dawn Says, Ivor |
Nice. My dad had a poster of that cover, but it got lost in a move. Fantastic album--reminds me of early Kinks at times.
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Tribute To The Most Badass Musician Of All Time http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l9...nH/CSSSSSS.jpg Camille Saint-Saëns, still out hitting the road at the grand old age of 180. Makes the Rolling Stones and Chuck Berry look like fucking amateurs. Rock on, old French dude !!! |
http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l99/urbanH/LA/LA0.jpg It's almost 30 years since Live Aid happened and to celebrate this I thought I would take a look at the commemorative DVD that was released a while back that my mother bought for me one Christmas a few years back that still remains unopened to this day. My memories of the day itself are a little sketchy but surprisingly accurate when I looked at the playing times of the bands performing that day. I remember watching the beginning with Status Quo and I remember staying around to watch Adam Ant just after 1pm (Being a huge Adam Ant fan at the time). After that I took off and spent the afternoon in the local video game arcade before returning home around 5.30 for my dinner just in time to see U2 finish their set and watch Queen & Bowie play before taking off again to go outside to play football. I remember coming back in sometime around 9pm when it started getting dark & watching Paul McCartney and the finale at Wembley. After that I remember being left alone to stay up late after my parents went to bed so that I could watch Duran Duran play in Philadelphia but I decided I was too tired to sit through a bunch of American bands I'd never heard of beforehand and decided to just go to bed after all. Just as well because they didn't come onstage until 1.45am, almost 4 hours later. I also remember around this time my Dad was trying his hardest to stop me playing video games all day and had got me into stamp collecting to achieve this and I remember in the morning being driven into town to the philatelist shop and picking up a first day cover of the Live Aid commemorative stamps with the postmark of 13th July 1985 stamped over them. I still have it, I wonder how much that's worth now? So those are my recollections of the day, let's see what's on this DVD. DISC 1 : PART 1 Intro "It's 12 noon in London, 7am in Philadelphia and around the world it's time for Live Aid....." http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l99/urbanH/LA/LA1.jpg Fanfares go off as Charles & Di take their seats. Nice to see Geldof made an effort, and oh look there's Brian May and his perm. Chilling to think that just 15 years later the two women in this picture would be dead. A short blast of God Save The Queen (Not the Sex Pistols version sadly) and then we're off and rockin'...... *-* http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l99/urbanH/LA/LA2.jpg Status Quo Rockin' All Over The World Caroline Don't Waste My Time (n/a) It's easy to knock the Quo and I have several thousand times but you really can't fault them when you put them in front of a live audience. Right from the opening bars of 'Rockin' All Over The World' the crowd are totally into it and singing along loudly. They then hurtle straight into another old favourite with 'Caroline' keeping the fast paced momentum going. They played another song 'Don't Waste My Time' but it wasn't included on the DVD. Rather than go through every song not played on the DVD I'll just list them as red under the title. That song isn't really needed though. You pretty much get the message from the first two songs. Quo nailed it on the day and played brilliantly and you struggle to think who could have made such an instant reaction opening with that crowd at such a huge gig. Fair play to Quo for having the balls to do it. This was also original bassist Alan 'Bomber' Lancaster's last gig with the band. He would leave the band shortly after this and emigrate to Australia. They would still have hits and be hugely popular in Europe in the following years but they were never really the same after his departure. *-* http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l99/urbanH/LA/LA3.jpg The Style Council You're the Best Thing (n/a) Big Boss Groove (n/a) Internationalists Walls Come Tumbling Down 'Internationalists' seems like an odd choice to include here seeing as 'You're the Best Thing' was a massive hit for them around this time and is still one of their most remembered songs. It maybe be a timing issue with 'Internationalists' being half the length of 'You're the Best Thing' but as Paul Weller says in the intro to the song it is kind of appropriate given the nature of the gig, and it's still an enjoyable energetic jazz funk work out. Their set is rounded off with an frantic run through of 'Walls Come Tumbling Down' which is one of my favourite pop songs of the era. A good set overall but let's be honest we'd have all rather have seen The Jam instead. If only they could have kept it together another couple of years. *-* http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l99/urbanH/LA/LA4.jpg The Boomtown Rats I Don't Like Mondays Drag Me Down Rat Trap (n/a) Of course Geldof was going to play this gig but a lot of people felt he shouldn't seeing The Boomtown Rats hadn't had a hit in about 5 years at that point, which is kind of hypocritical given his treatment of Adam Ant (More in the next entry). The Boomtown Rats would break up completely the following year. Having said that 'I Don't Like Mondays' goes down a storm with the crowd singing along with every word. Next up is 'Drag Me Down' which seems an odd choice given that they also played 'Rat Trap' that was a huge hit and 'Drag Me Down' only got to No. 50 in the chart when it was released as a single the year before. In fact I don't think I'd even heard 'Drag Me Down' before I watched this. Global Jukebox eh Bob? As the band leave the stage the crowd breaks out into a well deserved spontaneous rendition of 'For He's a Jolly Good Fellow' in honour of Geldof. *-* http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l99/urbanH/LA/LA5.jpg Adam Ant Vive Le Rock The story goes that Adam Ant had kept bothering Geldof for a spot on the bill despite Geldof telling him there wasn't any room. In reality Geldof felt that Adam wasn't a big enough name not having a hit single for 3 years (Kind of ironic Geldof hadn't had one in 5 years). Adam was desperate to play as he had released his first single while taking a 3 year hiatus to attempt to become an actor in Hollywood. Eventually Geldof offered him one song and Adam accepted. He then went on to piss a lot of people off on the day by ignoring the whole Global Jukebox concept and playing his new single 'Vive Le Rock' which virtually none of the crowd had even heard at that point. Watching it you can see half the crowd into it and the other half looking around lost and bewildered. I mean it was his best single in years but that was kind of besides the point. I remember being really disappointed with this as a kid not getting to hear stuff like 'Antmusic' and 'Stand & Deliver' on the big stage, but looking at this now knowing the back story behind it all he did a decent job of putting in an energetic performance for what he did. *-* http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l99/urbanH/LA/LA6.jpg Ultravox Reap The Wild Wind (n/a) Dancing With Tears In My Eyes One Small Day (n/a) Vienna Now It's the turn of Geldof's right hand man Midge Ure to take the stage with Ultravox. Ultravox at this point were probably the biggest they had ever been with a string of successful album going back to 1979 when Ure had first joined them. However this was also pretty much the end of that run, just 3 months later Ure would release his first solo album and eventually leave the band completely 2 years later. There's a really interesting dynamic here, this seems to be the Midge Ure show with him pushed right to the front of the stage with the rest of the band right at the back of the stage barely in shot a lot of the time. The sound during this is really odd too, Ultravox during this time consisted of two synth players and a drummer with Ure on guitar and vocals and the lack of a bass makes the whole thing seem rather tinny and lightweight. Ure's guitar has the sound of some grimy garage band and is a total contrast to the clean synths which really makes an otherwise nice pop song like 'Dancing With Tears In Your Eyes' sound like it rocks pretty hard... I approve of this. Of course 'Vienna' is next, it's not as lush as it's studio counterpart but it's performed well enough, but the lack of any bass really makes it suffer. Other than a couple of complaints this is a good decent set. *-* http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l99/urbanH/LA/LA7.jpg Spandau Ballet Only When You Leave Virgin (n/a) True Another band who were at their peak when this was recorded and dear God look at those costumes, it can only be the mid 80s. There's Tony Hadley (Who I have a lot of time for as a vocalist) in a full length leather coat and pants in the middle of July,would hate to be his girlfriend at the end of the night. Then there's Martin Kemp (Who I have a lot of time for as a actor) in that ridiculous turquoise get up and Gary Kemp (Who I have a lot of time for as a ...... OK i'll get back to you on this) who looks like he turned up in his pyjama bottoms and a hi-vis jacket from someone directing the traffic. As for Spandau Ballet themselves, they're probably one of the most unfashionable bands to like, both back then and now. I have some time for them, I loved their first couple of albums which were more kind of Synth pop/new romantic orientated but lost interest when they essentially became a white soul band singing sappy ballads. Sadly in 1985 were right at the heart of white sappy ballad territory. Having said that 'Only When You Leave' is one of their better later songs and they play this note perfect. The second track 'Virgin' which isn't included here I'd never heard of. I looked it up and it appears to be just an album track of the album they released the following year...naughty. Their set is finished off as you would expect with 'True' I don't know if they were being told to hurry up but they sing this song at rather a speedy pace, which for a slow ballad sounds kind of strange, almost comical in fact. All the girls singalong to it, the band take their bows and everybody leaves happy. Would have been nice to hear maybe one of their earlier singles but this set wasn't as bad as I was expecting. *-* It's 9am in Philadelphia and Joan Baez kicks off the festivities at the J.F.K. Stadium with a rendition of Amazing Grace (Later on the DVD) *-* http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l99/urbanH/LA/LA8.jpg Elvis Costello All You Need Is Love Back in London Elvis Costello takes the stage along with just a guitar and tells the crowd he wants them "To help him sing a old northern English folk song" before going into 'All You Need Is Love' It's simple, yet effective. The crowd sing a long to every word, Costello sings it in his own unique way and it's just an all round enjoyable almost kind of spontaneous performance. One of the highlights of the day this one. *-* http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l99/urbanH/LA/LA9.jpg Nik Kershaw Wide Boy (n/a) Don Quixote (n/a) The Riddle (n/a) Wouldn't It Be Good If you ever want to study the fickleness of popular music you only have to look at Nik Kershaw at Live Aid. Just a year earlier he'd released 2 albums and was having hit single after hit single, putting him on this bill seemed a no brainer. Yet just a month later Kershaw would release 'Don Quixote' the final single from his album of the previous year which would be his last ever top 10 hit. After playing guitar on a couple of Elton John songs his slide back into obscurity would begin. And it seems the BBC felt he was only deserving of one song being broadcast too. Kershaw said later on that he was nervous as hell onstage and it shows in the one song we do get 'Wouldn't It Be Good', probably his most well known song. He seems to be rooted behind the mic stand showing no personality whatsoever in fact I think at the end of the song when he punches the air and runs up to the drum riser is the most personality he shows throughout the whole song. The crowd seem to be kind of into it but to me now this seems to be the first misfire of the day. *-* Wow all that and we're barely up to the halfway point of Disc 1. Part 2 coming very soon. *-* |
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That was the first Billy Childish album I ever bought and it's still my favourite.
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Band Aid. So much nostalgia. Videos and compilations were all over my house, and occasionally played. I might revisit some of these performances for the good and the bad (comical value).
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