Mr and Mrs McMuffin

me and my ipod

I am so excited. I woke up early today. I am going to the Mac Expo in London with my friend, Ms Victoria Sponge. That, of course, would be reason enough for excitement, a day off work and lots of Mac stuff. But, no, the real reason is that Mrs McMuffin has agreed that I should buy myself an iPod. She actually acted a bit like a pod person herself. Mrs McMuffin usually poo poos my techi-gadget desires, but this time, for some unfathomable reason, she readily agreed, and to confuse me even more, she suggested that I should get the 40GB version as it probably represented better value for money in the longer term! I did have to promise to love it and to feed it and to clean up after it and to take it for walks, but that shouldn't be too hard for me to do. What is going on? You think you know someone and then they do something you don't expect. Maybe it's some kind of test. Maybe I am supposed to decide not to buy one because I really don't need it. Maybe at some point in the future I will be able to point back to this day and say that is when our relationship ended, the day Mrs McMuffin agreed to me buying an iPod.

Who knows. All I know is that I am off for a hard day of all things Mac.

By the way, I also mentioned to Mrs McMuffin that Apple had released a 20" flat panel iMac, but she didn't seem to be very impressed.

mr mcmuffin

i am done...

I forgot to mention that I have now put all of my music onto my iPod. It took me over a month. I have 7300 songs which is quite a nice little collection. I am now doing the sad computer boy thing of working out how to publish my collection on the internet. I never thought I would ever stoop so low. I could never see the point of putting lists of songs on the internet, but now that I have all my music in digital form and have put away my CDs, I find that I need some way of easily keeping track of the music that I have. It might as well be online as anywhere else, I guess. I have found this fantastic little app called iTunes Catalogue which does the job in a stylish way.

Once I was able to see all of my music together, I was shocked to find that it is all white rock. I have always prided myself on having a fairly catholic taste in music, but I was clearly deluding myself. Oh, sure, I have the odd hip hop album, some classic soul and a bit of classical, but none of this can hide the fact that I am a victim of my upbringing. I really am white rock boy. Nothing wrong with that, of course, but it was a bit of a surprise...

top 10 albums...ever

I have just finished reading Nick Hornby's new book 31 Songs. This is a lovely book made up of one of those lists that he usually suggests that laddish men like to make. Well, it worked, because it got me thinking about what my top 10 albums of all time were. I set myself some ground rules before I began. I decided that I would not include any compilation albums or greatest hits collections, although there have been a few of these over the years that I have played to death, and still play. There is one greatest hits collection that I return to time and time again. Does anyone remember a British group called Smokie, who had a whole series of hits in the seventies and early eighties with Nicky Chinn and Mike Chapman penned songs. Smokie were never cool, but I loved their hits album, which if memory serves was really a best of culled from their first three albums. I did buy a couple of their albums over the years, but they could never sustain the momentum of their singles. I think part of the reason Smokie hold a special place in my heart, even though I can't include them on my list, is because I was introduced to them by the son of some friends of my parents. Billie came to stay with us for a while in 1975. We had just moved from Glasgow to live on some isolated islands in the north of Scotland. Billie had had a rough life. Both of his parents were alcoholics, and he used to talk about sleeping in an upturned wardrobe which he pushed up against the bedroom door to make sure noone could get into his room at night. Sadly he wasn't able to settle into island life and returned to his family in Glasgow after only a couple of months. I often wonder what happened to him. I don't imagine that it ever was anything good. By the way, Smokie are still going. I did a Google search and found that they are touring in South Africa this year.

This is my list of top 10 albums...ever. I haven't put them in any particular order. That would have been a hellish task. It was hard enough getting the list down to just 10 albums. I was going to write about my top 10 albums in one post, but I think that this would be too long, so I will write separate posts for each album.

top 10 albums hole: live through this [1995]

By the end of the eighties I had decided that modern rock music was crap and I just stopped listening to it. My musical heroes were proper musicians and even though they didn't really make albums anymore I still had their back catalogues. It wasn't until I got together with Mrs McMuffin in 1994 and she introduced me to Nirvana that I began to suspect that maybe modern music did have some merit after all. It is hard to talk about Courtney Love and her band, Hole, without making some reference to her famous husband, Curt Cobain, and his band, Nirvana. There are many similarities between the two bands. Certainly they came out of the same developing music scene and share a common approach to making musical noise. Both are furious and rageful at the hurt that has been done to them in their lives and they are able to express this eloquently in their music. It occurs to me as I write this that maybe the two bands, and their leaders, need to be compared. In many ways, it seems to me that Nirvana represents a male approach to dealing with emotional pain, all outward turning rage and fury. While, Hole, on the other hand, seem to offer a more stereotypical female approach, where their rage and fury are turned inwards. Courtney Love brings a depth of emotional range which seems to be beyond her male counterparts in rock music at that time, with the possible exception of Billy Corgan and his band, The Smashing Pumpkins, although he has never been able to sustain this across a full album. I wonder if in part this helps to explain the way in which Courtney Love is reviled by the media. She doesn't seem to behave any worse or better than other, male, rock stars but she is often held up for ridicule in ways that they are not and her essential femaleness is often attacked: she is a slut or she is a bad mother. It is easier perhaps to ignore the way in which Curt Cobain expressed his pain, after all he killed himself, and after the initial shock, it is relatively easy to forget about him. Courtney Love is far more troublesome, she hasn't killed herself, and she continues to challenge people by confronting them with her pain and she has the talent and skill to articulate this through her music. Hole's last album, Celebrity Skin, was not particularly successful because, in their efforts to court public acceptance, they moved away from what they do best and they seemed to forget that their strength lies in Courtney Love's capacity to communicate what is important to her. It is this that separates Hole from the other mass produced bands that are around. I think Live Through This is the perfect example of Courtney Love's craft: it is rock music with soul. But, perhaps more than anything else, it is important to remember that this album needs to be played loud!

top 10 albums dolly parton, linda ronstadt & emmylou harris: trio [1990]

There is not much to say about this album other than it is beautiful. It is a tribute to their talents as singers that these three long-established solo artists were able to get together to produce perfect three part harmonies devoid of grandstanding. There is nothing in the music which suggests that this is anything other than a group. The three voices gracefully entwine one another to produce a breathtakingly soulful sound. This is the work of people who like and respect each other and their joy at being able to make music together shines through every song. This is country music which transcends the genre, any genre for that matter.

top 10 albums david bowie: ziggy stardust [1972]

I discovered David Bowie when I was about 16 or 17 years old. Sure, I had heard a few singles, it is kind of hard not to hear Bowie at some point. But it wasn't until I saw a rerun of the BBC Omnibus documentary 'Cracked Actor' that he suddenly came into focus for me. I know that it is a cliche to describe Bowie as 'other worldly' but that is exactly how he appeared to me at the time. He wasn't like anyone I had seen before. I don't think it was just his physical appearance, long and thin with different coloured eyes, it was probably more to do with his confidence in his own artistic vision. As I have grown older, and perhaps a bit wiser, I can now see some of the pompous pretension in what Bowie does, and his sometimes pathetic attempts to cover his own apparent feelings of inferiority by talking in solemn riddles. This doesn't stop me from still buying all of his albums. I think I am still trying to recreate the sense of wonder and belief in rock and roll that my first hearing of Ziggy Stardust raised in me. From the opening beats of Five Years to the pained wails of Rock 'N' Roll Suicide, all dressed up in glam rock clothes, music would never be the same again for me. I really didn't have any idea that music could be used to express feelings, other than the sickly sentimentality of some of the country music my parents listened to at the time. It really is a pointless excercise trying to analyse Bowie's lyrics, after all these were produced using cut and paste, rather our time is better spent 'wallowing in the mire' of emotions expressed through these songs. This is ART...I think Bowie has struggled ever since to articulate what he does.

Today he has been mostly listening to...

Talk about passive aggressive. Mr McMuffin has been torturing me with Nine Inch Nails and Metallica today. I have spent many years telling him about the emotional musical abuse I suffered in a previous relationship, and he's forcing me to relive it track by track. Still, I did a good job of putting him off them for the past however many years.

Mind you, it's bringing back fond memories of shaking my stuff to 'Enter Sandman' and 'Hole in the Head', in the days when I thought the height of chic was a stripy T shirt, cut off Levis in the style of Viggo, and big boots. All those Friday nights at 'The Venue' and the night bus back home, full of junkies, drunks and perverts trying to look down the tops of my inebriated friends (Mrs Carrot Cake). Oh, Rock and Roll! South London style.

Anyway, Mr McMuffin and I are going to bring you a spectacular film/music inspired event. As we now have two keyboards we are going to 'Duelling Banjo' them and simultaneously post. It might even be a weblog first.

Wow, am posting fool these days. Why does it take me two minutes to do this, and hours to do the equivalent at work?

what is this craziness?

I don't think that I have mentioned my recently acquired obsession with downloading music off the internet. When I got my iPod I spent a month or so putting all of our music onto my beloved Mac. We had a fairly respectable music collection of around 750 albums [I really am showing my age, I mean CDs]. My iPod held this quite comfortably, with space to spare. If you remember, the iPod is a beautiful 40GB model. Around the time that I got my iPod I also discovered Bit Torrents, and I found lots of sites that offer, for free, lots of different kinds of music. So, and this is a little oriental nod to TEFL Smiler, I started to download music, and download music, and download music. I have now acquired a fantasy music collection of around 1200 albums. It has got so bad that I have had to buy an external hard drive to store the music on, and I have just been saying to Mrs McMuffin that I really need to buy another external drive so that I can back up the music because it would kill me to lose it all. I think I wrote about this before, I was shocked to find out that I really was 'white rock boy' when put my first 750 albums onto my machine, but now I can hold my head up high with the most catholic of music aficionados...My friend Miss Victoria Sponge introduced my to the wonderful Django Reinhardt during one evening that we had dinner at her house, and, as if by magic, I now have everything that he ever recorded! If the truth be told, this is the only problem with stealing music, and yes, I have not lost all sense of perspective, I know that this is theft [but I just can't help myself], everyone wants to give you complete 'discographies'. At one point I thought 'wouldn't be nice to have a little bit of Johnny Cash'. A few hours later, I was the proud owner of 216 tracks of Johnny Cash music. Now, don't get me wrong, that is not a bad thing, but, does anyone really need that much music by Johnny Cash? Having said that, you will be doing yourself a real disfavour if you do not search out his American recordings. His interpretations of other people's songs are fantastic. His voice has acquired the same depth of soul that Bob Dylan has acquired over the years, and can be heard to it's best on 'Oh Mercy'. By the way, before I forget [as an aside, for some strange reason Slink has forgotten how to push open doors. Over the last few days he has taken to sitting in the hall crying, or rather wailing, until someone opens the door so that he can join us! Ah, the joys of not owning a cat!] Django Reinhardt is truly wonderful and I beseech all of you to seek him out, if you haven't already. It is too difficult to explain what is good about his music, but it speaks to my soul, or at least that is what I would say if I believed I had a soul. I am going to end this rambling post with these words...I LOVE MUSIC.

random music

We have been inspired by Steve over at Eat Your Carrots. The challenge is to put your entire music collection on random and list the first 20 songs that come up. You cannot edit the list to get rid of the less cool music.

This is our list:

54 : Mint Royale
Say you will : Foreigner
Springsville : Miles Davis & Quincy Jones
Jeepster : Marc Bolan & T-Rex
Teardrop : Massive Attack
I'll keep it with mine : Bob Dylan
Astronomic : The Young Gods
I can't win : Ry Cooder
My favourite mistake : Sheryl Crowe
Get back : Beatles
Round here : Counting Crows
Hewlett's daughter : Grandaddy
Laughing gas : Nilon bombers
Heartbreak hotel : Elvis Presley
Strange : Alabama 3
No way out : Peter Gabriel
Buck Rogers : Feeder
The bright young things : Marilyn Manson
Punch up at a wedding : Radiohead
Wailing wall : Todd Rundgren

I had no idea that we were so cool. Apart from Foreigner and The Young Gods. I must tell you that Mrs McMuffin bought The Young Gods CD many years ago after suffering from drug induced psychosis at a popular music festival. When she got home and listened to her newly acquired record, she vowed never to do drugs again, and she hasn't. As a little coda to this sorry tale, The Young Gods most recent album received good reviews in the UK press! It is clear from this that Mrs McMuffin was able to spot the potential of this band at a very early stage in their development. Nevertheless, the album we have is truly dreadful!

the difference between UK and US rawk

I have always wondered how best to describe the difference between UK and US rock music. Well now I don't have to. The lovely group, Whitesnake have provided me with the perfect illustration of the differences. I remember buying an album by Whitesnake called Saints and Sinners in 1984. The album wasn't much good, but it had a great single on it called Here I Go Again. I loved the gentle organ filled intro and the beefy rawk chorus. I lost the album somehow and this version seemed to disappear. Then in 1987 the band where reborn in the USA and they released an eponymous album which had a couple of big hit singles on it, one of which was Here I Go Again. I was a little bit non-plussed by this and questioned my memory. This didn't sound like the song I remembered at all. I have since learnt that the band re-recorded the song for their American debut. Anyway, this is a long winded way of telling you that I have now got hold of the original version of the song and you may be interested in hearing the two of them side by side. You can download the first minutes or so from each song. I know which version I prefer, but I'd be very interested to hear what you think.

UK version file ... US version

we like tha moon...again

I think of this as a public service. If, like me, you can't get enough of We Like Tha Moon, I have taken the song from the website so you can play it any time you fancy. I know it is a one joke thing but, for some reason, it makes me laugh every time I hear it. I don't know when I will tire of it, much to Mrs McMuffin's chagrin.

You can download the song here.

do you remember...

Showaddywaddy? I have just downloaded their greatest hits from one of those wonderful free sites, and it has sent me back to when I was 16 or 17 years old. I used to love Showaddywaddy, and I could never imagine a time when I wouldn't love them or have all their albums. Alas, that time did come and I haven't thought about them for years. Listening to them now, I am thinking about starting up a campaign to bring back Showaddywaddy, if for no other reason than they have a great name. I love saying Showaddywaddy. It just tastes of rock and roll! If you want to have a good time then search out Showaddywaddy now.

On a more analytical note, I suppose that I was just like the children today who don't realise that their idols are covering old songs. However, I must add that Showaddywaddy also wrote some of their own songs!

ola baccara...

Do you remember Baccara? I used to think they were lovely, but I was very young...They seemed very sexy to my adolescent eyes. In 1977 Yes Sir, I Can Boogie [1Mb] was number one on the UK singles chart. Everyone laughed at their accents, but that didn't stop them from buying the song. This was followed by Sorry I'm A Lady [864Kb]. Mrs McMuffin has a dim memory of Baccara but she has been haunted by the tunes ever since. Recently we were talking about them and I had to track down the two big singles. They still sound...er...fabulous, and we have been singing along to them ever since. Today I found a collection of their songs, and this is quite possibly the worst best song of the lot, The Devil Sent You To Lorado[960Kb]. Apparently Baccara have a chequered history with lots of back biting, splits, rival groups called Baccara and that sort of thing. You can read all about them on this very confused fan's site.

this is soul...

Mrs McMuffin and I have often debated about whether one musical star or another has soul. It is kind of hard to define, but you know it when you hear it. Mariah Carey, for example, has a great voice, but she has no soul. Whitney Houston is another one. Sam Cooke had a great voice and he had soul. I found this on the end of a Sam Cooke greatest hits album I downloaded. I've never heard it before. This is Sam Cooke's definition of soul.

the streaming itunes experiment...

I set up NiceCast [do a Google on it. I don't want to draw to much attention to myself!] to randomly broadcast the music in my iTunes library continuously for 12 hours while I was at work yesterday. During that time, we had 39 listeners, each of who stayed for an average of 14 minutes. I imagine some people came back more than once. The software clearly works, but the big issue for me is, why would I want to mindlessly broadcast my music to the world? Of course, I haven't mentioned that doing this effectively gives me access to my music from anywhere in the world, and that is quite cool. I guess the long and the short of this is...the experiment is over. Radio Free McMuffin is no more...

the streets...

I have just been listening to The Streets' new album 'A Grand Don't Come For Free', and it is fantastic. I am surprised by how much I like it. It has an authentic British feel to it, and all done without the cod accents that people like Damon Albarn feel necessary to adopt. Anyway, you can download one of the songs from the album from here. Rush out and get this album now.

this is a public service post...

Ruslana won last night's Eurovision Song Contest. If, like me, you think Eurovision is absolute poo, and didn't bother watching it, then this is for you. I thought it was important that we all knew as much as possible about this star whose "potential is remarkable." Although, I am still unclear about whether she is the porn star who comes up when you Google her name. Ruslana has her own site, but it is down at the moment because the people who run it for her had to go to Istanbul with her for the competition. I am sure it will be back up just as soon as they return. I took most of this, unedited, from an official Ukranian website:

Who is Ruslana?

Ruslana is a Ukranian singer...She is a cult figure among the most popular Ukrainian singers, composers and producers. Ruslana has done two graduate degrees in music. Her potential is remarkable; Ruslana possesses powerful vocal abilities, exclusive manner of performance, originality of style, colourful ethnic appeal, powerful energy, diligence, drive and expression capable of thrilling and carrying away a stadium crowd.

Ruslana was born on May, 24 at the city of  Lvov. She was engaged in music and a vocal since four years. In childhood Ruslana sang in group “ Orion ”, later - in children's ensemble “ Smile ”. After the she has finished study at musical school, the future female singer has began study in the Lvov conservatory on conductor’s faculty. She not only singer, she is also the professional pianist. By the way, when she passed conductor’s examinations one examiner has graded mark “ bad ” to her, but another has graded  “ best ”.

What kind of music does she make?

A style which can be informally called “drive-ethno-dance” (a synthesis of many elements makes it difficult to give a precise definition), full of unique distinctive flavor that Europe has never seen before.

The musical stylistics of the Wild Dances include:

-      The ‘drive’ of rock music;

-      Energy of modern dance-music;

-      Variety of ‘mountain’ rhythms and motives.

Elements of the Carpathian flavor are as follows: catchy Hutsul music, ‘drive’, mystical character and energy at the same time (dances, rituals, use of ‘mountain’ costumes etc). Based on this flavor, Ruslana has created her own unique style in music (rhythm and melodic sounds), dances (moderns moves based on ancient Carpathian dances), and clothes.
 
What is her image?

The image of Ruslana is unique, original and exotic. It consists of a unique vocal manner (ethnical mountain melisms, authentic sounds and exclamations) and of a driving and energetic model of stage behavior that reflects the ‘mountain’ temper that is characteristic of the Singer.

How will she perform at Eurovision?

Ruslana’s performance at Eurovision will also be accompanied by an igniting dancing show performed Zhyttia Ballet (‘Life’ Ballet). By style the dancing will be a synthesis of modern dancing art and national Ukrainian rhythmoplastics. The authors of the dancing concept will try to eliminate the border between the Ancient and the Modern, develop a unique dance style, which can potentially become a hit at discothèques.

Ruslana’s performance at Eurovision will be a combination of music, dancing, costumes, haircut and makeup solutions.

The dancing performance will also be based on the brightest parts of Ruslana’s two-hour show created in the framework of her all-Ukrainian tour to support The Wild Dances album. It will also contain some very ancient and newly-discovered Carpathian traditions, which are being implemented into the main concept of the Song at this moment.

While Ruslana is planning a few more expeditions to the Carpathians, the rest of her time before Eurovision she plans to dedicate to studio work, rehearsals and promotional activities.
 
What will she wear at Eurovision?

The costumes of Ruslana and her dancing team will be made using the brightest elements of the costumes from the show of The Wild Dances (main elements being leather, incrustation and metal parts). All parts of them will be exclusively created for the show. Decorations for the costumes are currently being created by the designers and jewelers. A few of them are ordered from the ethnical craftsmen of the Carpathian mountains, who have used their craft secrets to produce them. The image of Ruslana and her dancers will also be supplemented by tattoos and body art elements.

The song

Here is the lyrics for the song. My Ukranian is not too good, but I think it's got something to do with dancing wildly. If this is not enough for you, the full song can be downloaded from here.

Wild Dances

Just maybe I’m crazy
The world spins round and round and round
Shee-ree-kee-die, shee-ree-kee-dam-day
Shee-ree-kee-die, shee-kee-ree-a-dam-da

I want you to want me
As I dance round and round and round
Shee-ree-kee-die, shee-ree-kee-dam-day
Shee-ree-kee-die, shee-kee-ree-a-dam-da

Forever and ever
Go, go, go, wild dancers

    Die-na, die-na, wanna be loved
    Die-na, gonna take my wild chances
    Die-na, die-na, freedom above
    Die-na, die-na-day, I’m wild dancin’

Hey

Napevno, daremno
Bula ya nadto chemna
Hey, shee-kee-die, shee-ree-kee-dam-day
Shee-ree-kee-die, shee-kee-ree-a-dam-da

Dlya tebe, dlya sebe
Zastelyu tsile nebo
Hey, dam-day
Shee-ree-kee-die, shee-kee-ree-a-dam-da

Bez zhalyu zapalyu
Go, go, go, wild dancers

    Die-na, die-na, wanna be loved
    Die-na, gonna take my wild chances
    Die-na, die-na, freedom above
    Die-na, die-na-day, I’m wild dancin’

Hey-ey-ey...

Dance forever, come and be mine
Dance together, till the end of time
Dance together
Go, go, go, wild dancers

    Die-na, die-na, wanna be loved
    Die-na, gonna take my wild chances
    Die-na, die-na, freedom above
    Die-na, die-na-day, I’m wild dancin’

Hey, hey

Performer: Ruslana Lyzhychko
Music: Ruslana Lyzhychko
Poetry: Ruslana Lyzhychko / Oleksandr Ksenofontov

UPDATE: I have just heard the song for the first time, and I take back everything...It is actually pretty good. I am feeling a little bit guilty at the cheap laughs...I am feeling very evil.

first ever rock concert...

I was 19 years old, and had just come down to London from the Orkney Isles a couple months before to start to my training as a Silversmith. Someone had a spare ticket, and I was so desperate to go that I ended up going with a group of
people that I had never met before. We only had one thing in common, and that was our love of Queen. They were my favourite band in the whole world at the time. I had only discovered them the year before after I had borrowed Sheer Heart Attack from a friend at work. We had a tape swapping group going, as listening to music and talking about music was the way in which we passed time in our monotonous jobs. I saw Queen at Wembley Arena on Wednesday 10 December 1980, it was the last night of a three night stint at Wembley on The Game tour.

Freddy was fantastic. I sang until I was hoarse, and my hands hurt from so much clapping. The image that always sticks in my mind is when they played the opening intro to Flash. The stage was in darkness and all we could hear was the dundundundun intro. When it got to the "Flash, aaahaaa" bit, the lights all around Roger Taylor's the drum platform came on streaming beams of the most amazing white light across the audience. Completely dazzling me into the bargain. The white spots stayed in my eyes for ages afterwards.

It was a great night, and still remains with me as one of the best concerts I have ever been to. I even bought a programme, something I don't do anymore. I kept my programme and tickets for years afterwards, but lost them in one of my many moves over the years. I wonder what happened to it.

I love the internet. I remembered going to see Queen in 1980, did a bit of digging around and found a wonderful site with details of all of Queen's concerts. The main picture is from the 1980 tour, and might even have been taken at Wembley, who knows...The site even included a track listing for the gig that I saw.

sunhouse...

I have been listening to one of my favourite albums. It's Crazy On The Weekend by Sunhouse. A great album full of melancholic songs which recall lost opportunities and wasted lives. I love the album, but listening to it always makes me feel sad. The lead singer has been compared to Bob Dylan and Jeff Buckley. The band imploded shortly after the release of their first album in 1997. I came across a fan website which had this email written in 1999 from Gavin Clarke, the lead singer, explaining why the band split up. "Money, alcohol, mental instability from singer Gavin. Its been over a year now since the band had any contact. Gavin is working on a new record to be completed in early 2000, Paul is now living in France with a girl he met on tour, Rob works at Marks and Spencer, and Dom the part time drummer is a plumber. 'My heart beats out of time with the high society I climb on a jumpstarted mind'."These are two of my favourite tracks from the album, although there really isn't a duff track on it. The first is Crazy On The Weekend, and the second is Hard Sun, which has Sinead O'Connor on backing vocals. I guess, this was another lost opportunity.

dub side of the moon...

I have discovered some great music. It's a reggae version of Pink Floyd's album Dark Side Of The Moon, called, wait for it...Dub Side Of The Moon and it's by the Easy Star All Stars. Easy Star Records are a New York reggae label. These sorts of projects are rarely successful, but this one just works beautifully, and brings something fresh and new to the music. It's like listening to that great album for the first time all over again. Wonderful. Here is their version of Time.

the transformed man

I have just downloaded a copy of William Shatner's 1968 album The Transformed Man. It is one of those albums that you hear a lot about, but rarely get to hear. Well, I have now listened to about as much of it as I can stand, and while I don't think that it is that great, Shatner probably deserves some credit for trying to do something a little bit different. There is some serious, if misdirected, thought behind the album. Here are a couple of tracks for you to listen to. I am not going to play it for laughs, instead I will offer the couplet as they appear on the original album. There are 11 songs on the album and 10 of them are paired, offering some kind of comment on the polarities of man, I think. The first song for your delictation is Hamlet and the second is It was a very good year. Enjoy.

lisa loeb without sound

I am listening to the new Lisa Loeb album, and it is very dull. Even duller than this. She has a pleasant enough cutesy girly voice. I won't bore you with any music, but if you look at this, I am sure you can imagine how she sounds. Her singing just lacks any sparkle of soul. For those of you who don't know, this is what soul looks like. Just thought I'd mention that.

the food of love and all that

Some time ago Mr McMuffin wrote about his experiences of seeing bands live (accompanied by a dwarf) and I said that at some point I would write about the music that moves me, and means something to me. There is so much to say and I would love to do something like Jo's sheep radio, which is fantastic.

I spent last Saturday with Gypsy Tart and another old friend who does not yet have a cake name, let's call her Banoffee Pie for the moment. Gypsy Tart and Banoffee Pie have been friends for almost twenty years and have seen each other through some rough times. They have even house shared and survived to tell the tale and they tell tales of their shared history very well. I laughed so hard at some of their anecdotes I told them they had to get a blog for themselves. We fell to talking about a certain SE London club we used to frequent in the late 80's and early 90's and the music that reminded us of this place. I'm going to get them to spend some time here and we'll make up an album's worth of quintessential tracks from The ***** (there will be a prize for anyone who can guess the name of the club, when I post the music).

I also remember some of the gigs and festivals I went to and think I'll feature some of these memories and music. I'm going to start with the most recent which was over a year ago. Isn't that sad?

Sometimes I like to listen to XFM and occasionally get completely obsessed by a track I hear. This happened with The Polyphonic Spree's Soldier Girl [click to download the song]. I just adored it and eagerly awaited the release date of the album. I was down at the shop on the release date paying over the odds just to get my copy. Now the album isn't great, but it wasn't a disappointment. As soon as I heard they were touring Gypsy Tart and I booked our tickets for Brixton Academy. Mr McMuffin and Rock Cake said they wanted to come along, but we didn't let this stand in our way.

We all met up after work and fed ourselves at a noodle bar before eagerly anticipating the night's entertainment. We had booked seats in the balcony as we didn't want to get crushed with the hoi polloi. I really regret this. Rock Cake smiled bravely through a painful ear infection and Mr McMuffin, with his poor attention span got bored and wandered off. Gypsy Tart and I made a vow that we would see them again, sans the men in our lives, down in the sweat pit and we would have a bloody good time.

They played Soldier Girl and I was the sad thirty something screaming in appreciation. I found this site with a review of the gig. Sarahphotogirl has posted lots of photos of the band. Some of the photos were taken at the Brixton gig.

Mr McMuffin has embellished this post with more links than you can shake a stick at. Thank goodness we didn't go out with chums to see Master and Commander (please no links) again in Greenwich Park. This would have been fabulous, but the rain isn't. It's just the weather for staying in, watching 24 and writing long, boring posts.

bad food...

There will be no links in this post. With reference to Mrs McMuffin's latest novel, below. The Polyphonic Spree's album promised so much, but their ability to reproduce the sounds of their album perfectly made for a dull evening. They are unique in that this is the only gig that I have walked out of before the end. I sat on the floor outside the bar drinking a pint and reading a trashy magazine that I had found. Wishing that they would turn down the volume...just a little.

freedom at point zero

There just isn't enough rock music on this site. I was just looking through iTunes and found Jefferson Starship's 1979 album Freedom at Point Zero. I can't believe that it's 25 years old. It seems like yesterday that I first heard the big single from the album, Jane, on The Old Grey Whistle Test. For most people I imagine that what they know about the band is that they used to be Jefferson Airplane in the 60s and were part of the hippie scene. They then became Starship in the 80s and had a series of radio friendly rock-lite hits. But, during the 70s they were Jefferson Starship. The band imploded towards the end of the decade, and Grace Slick, who was the lead singer, went a bit doolally and left. The band, if you can call it that, was left with only one of the original members, Paul Kantner. He went on to form the 6th line up of the band and together they recorded Freedom at Point Zero, probably the best album they ever made in whatever incarnation. In fact, I think it is probably one of the best rock albums ever made. There, I've said it. Throughout the last 25 years, I have listened to this album continuously. Hardly a week passes when I don't play at least a couple of tracks. I can't really describe it. It's hard rocking but with a pop sensibility, and a unique sound created by some fine guitar work and unusual vocal harmonies. I love the whole album, so it is difficult to pick out favourites, but if I had to I would choose Lightning Rose and Things to Come. By the way, the band produced a fine follow up album in a similar vein, Modern Times in 1980, but it just doesn't have that magic. It also was the beginning of the end for this version of the band because Grace Slick offers guest vocals on a couple of the songs.

girls who rawk

Spanglemonkey has posted a rawking playlist that she made. Great minds think alike, because I did the same thing last weekend, and I was thinking about putting it on the site. Well, following her example, here it is. I have been listening to it on and off all week, and it really does RAWK. (I have rediscovered my 12 years old self and he loves the pretty ladies) This really does take me back to when I was a kid and I would spend hours putting together tapes of my music for no other reason than I could. I've done it a couple of times as an adult, I once did a CD of the greatest RAWK riffs ever for Mrs McMuffin. It was a sight to behold, watching Mrs McMuffin headbanging to the sounds of Hey, Johnny Park! by the Foo Fighters. The last time I did this was when we got married a couple of years ago. I put together a collection of ours and our guests favourite songs (sadly Shania Twain did not make the cut) which were played during the day, and I gave everyone a copy to take home as a little favour. Maybe I will post that too at some point.

01. X-Offender / Blondie 3:12
02. Glad All Over / The Rezillos 2:07
03. Stop Your Sobbing / The Pretenders 2:38
04. Sunglasses / Tracy Ullman 2:58
05. Great Things / Echobelly 3:31
06. Kids in America / Kim Wilde 3:27
07. Dreams / The Cranberries 4:15
08. If Looks Could Kill / Heart 3:41
09. Vaseline / Elastica 1:22
10. Celebrity Skin / Hole 2:42
11. Heartbreaker / Pat Benatar 3:26
12. I Need a Man / Eurythmics 4:23
13. I Hate Myself for Loving You / Joan Jett & The Blackhearts 4:06
14. Walking on Sunshine / Katrina & The Waves 3:57
15. I Think I Love You / Voice of the Beehive 3:13
16. Running Up That Hill [12" Mix] / Kate Bush 5:45
17. I Just Wanna Get Along / The Breeders 1:44
18. I Want Your Love / Transvision Vamp 3:32
19. Venus / Bananarama 3:35
20. Broken English / Marianne Faithfull 4:38
21. Goodnight Moon / Shivaree 4:04
22. Not so Manic Now / Dub Star 4:31
23. Stay / Shakespears Sister 3:50

the management's views...

...are not necessarily represented by the views of Mr McMuffin, particularly when it comes to music. While Mr McMuffin is working on his music lists, I have been working on a list of 'Celebrity faces I would never tire of slapping'. I would like to credit Andrea Corr with inspiring this piece of work. It is a time consuming task and I hope to report back around Christmas time.

listing like mad...

Roxanne over at Rox Populi suggested putting the iPod on random and listing the first ten songs that come up. I have done the first nine songs that came up because it made for a prettier picture. Mrs McMuffin says that is so me. I'm not sure what she means by that. Here they are:

01."Yeah" Is What We Had / Grandaddy 3:44
02.Down / Ben Kweller 4:08
03.Unknown Legend / Neil Young 4:48
04.Authority Song / John Cougar Mellencamp 3:49
05.I Know Im Not Wrong / Fleetwood Mac 2:18
06.Showdown / Thin Lizzy 4:30
07.Not so Manic Now / Dub Star 4:31
08.Coming Home To See You / Supertramp 4:47
09.Strange Eyes / The Magnetic Fields 2:01

By the way, Roxanne has also posted one of the most gobsmacking photos I've seen in a long time. Mrs McMuffin wants to comment, but all she does is wander about the house shaking her head and muttering under her breath.

lovin' lizzy and my struggle to regain my street cred after claiming that jefferson starship had made one of the best rock albums in the world ever (TM)

I have never liked live albums very much. There is usually something missing from the performance. However, as usual, there are one or two exceptions to this. The Allman Brothers Band At Fillmore East is one such exception. The other, is Thin Lizzy's Live and Dangerous, which surely must rate as one of the best live albums ever. Produced by Tony Visconti in 1978, the album was recorded during the band's tour of the US the previous year. This is Lizzy at the very height of their powers, playing straight ahead melodic rock. I can't even say that I am a big Lizzy fan, but the energy on this album is palpable and it's easy to get caught up in the excitement of the performance. Here are a couple of tracks for you to enjoy. The first is a cover of an old Bob Seger song which segues into another tune:Rosalie/Cowgirl's Song. The second is Cowboy Song. Every time I listen to this album these days, I end up thinking of Phil Lynott, who was the lead singer, dying of a heroin overdose in 1986, three years after the band split up. I guess life had to be short for a man who wore his trousers so tight.

if i had you

I am sitting at home, trying to work, but not getting much done, and feeling old. I found a couple of songs on the internet by a band called The Korgis. They had a couple of big hits in the UK at the beginning of the 80s and then faded away. One of the songs reminded me of an old girlfriend that I used to have when I was about 18. I still lived on that hellhole island at the time. Lena was my first proper girlfriend, and we went out together for about six months. I dumped her because she annoyed me one night by asking me continually "what's the matter?" There was nothing wrong with me, I was just being a little quiet. Eventually, she asked me if I was quiet because of her. She just couldn't shut up. She went on to ask me if I wanted to break up with her. I agreed with her, and told her that I wanted to break up. The only reason that I did it was because she was annoying me with her wittering on. That was that. The end of our relationship. I couldn't tell her that I had made a mistake, and so we flirted around each other for another couple of years, neither willing to make a move that could be rejected by the other. We both eventually left the island, she went to Edinburgh to become a chef and I came down to England to become a silversmith. I lost touch with her, and have hardly thought about her at all for years, until I found these songs yesterday. If I Had You was our song.

tom's wait

I don't think that I have ever mentioned how much I like Tom Waits. Not much to say about him, other than I like him. I like his early stuff when he seemed to be aiming to be another Jackson Browne or maybe Billy Joel. Then something happened to him, and his music changed course becoming increasingly experimental and, dare I say it, jazzy. He has managed to produce some great music, despite the fact that his once lovely voice disappeared many years ago. A couple of years ago he released two albums at the same time, Blood Money and Alice. Both are great albums well worth a listen to. This is All The World Is Green from Blood Money, and this is No One Knows I'm Gone from Alice.

For some reason, some people really don't like him. This made me laugh.

friday night ipod shuffle

It's that time of the week again. Time for the Friday night iPod shuffle. This time I am including all ten songs in my list, after all it really doesn't matter that there are only nine covers in my picture. No, really, it doesn't matter. Just so long as Roxanne is happy. That's all that really matters to me. My peace of mind means nothing compared to her happiness. There is an awful lot of Neil Young on this list. As much as I love Neil, he is not all I listen to.

01 (She's A) Runaround / The Undertones 1:50
02 If I Had You / Django Reinhardt 2:52
03 Go and Say Goodbye / Buffalo Springfield 2:24
04 Don't Let It Bring You Down / Neil Young 2:57
05 Twenty Four Hours / Joy Division 4:26
06 First Blood / AC/DC 3:46
07 A Little Bit Me, a Little Bit You / The Monkees 2:49
08 Closer to the Source / Bheki Mseleku 6:00
09 I Believe in the Man in the Sky / Elvis Presley 2:12
10 The Needle and the Damage Done / Neil Young 2:03

friday night ipod shuffle 3

Good grief, nearly forgot to do my Friday night iPod shuffle. Well, here they are. Unfortunately, I don't have covers for many of these songs, so the picture is a little bit sparse. 'Whatever happened to Corey Haim?' is off the new Thrills album. It really begs the question, whatever happened to Corey Haim? I could do some research on the internet I suppose, but it'll much more fun hearing all your theories. Whatever you do, please don't tell me the truth. I'm sure that would break my heart.

01. One Man In My Heart / The Human League 4:03
02. I've Lost You / Jackie Wilson 2:40
03. Love, Love, Love Me Honey / Patsy Cline 2:06
04. Tender Is The Night / Jackson Browne 4:53
05. Hey Hey, My My (Into The Black) / Neil Young 4:37
06. Instant Whip / Scuba Z 4:21
07. Feeling Yourself Disintegrate / The Flaming Lips 5:17
08. Out On The Floor / Dobie Gray 2:54
09. Cry Not for Me / Patsy Cline 2:31
10. Whatever Happened to Corey Haim? / The Thrills 3:34

music to shake your booty to

Did I shave my legs for this? has taken the iPod shuffle to a whole new level. She has actually posted the songs. There is some great music in this list, a lot of it I had never even heard before. Do yourself a favour and go and have a listen. But, please, try not to shake your booty off.

friday night ipod shuffle 4

It's that time of the week again. Interesting mixture of music. Sometimes I have no idea how some songs end up on my iPod. I can only assume that they are part of a compilation or something that I put on to the machine. Yet again, I don't have all the covers for the songs, so the picture is a little sparse.

01. That's What They Say / The Jeff Healey Band...4:28
02. I Can't Find My Way Home / Teenage Fanclub...4:38
03. (Crazy For You But) Not That Crazy / The Magnetic Fields...2:18
04. Open Your Heart / The Human League 6:48
05. Would You... ? / Touch & Go 3:13
06. Take Your Time / Buddy Holly & The Crickets...1:59
07. Come on Home / Cyndi Lauper 4:37
08. Hey Now! / Oasis 5:41
09. The Stars Look Down / Rush 4:28
10. Look Back Over Your Shoulder / Archie Bell & The Drells...3:36

can you...

Guess this lyric? As I was driving home from work today I was listening to this song, and it suddenly occured to me that this would make an interesting occasional post. I wonder how many people actually listen to the lyrics of songs? Anyway, do you know which song this lyric comes from? There is a prize for the person who gets it right. Mrs McMuffin and I will think positive thoughts about the winner for 33 minutes on a date and time of their choosing (unless it is at a ridiculous time, of course).

And my skin is raw but my soul is ripe / No one's gonna stop me now

It is cheating if you Google it, and I will know.

friday night ipod shuffle 5 +

I can't believe how quickly the weeks pass. The days just seemed longer when I was a kid. I am sure they were at least 32 hours long and in the summer they were 33 hours long. I guess the length of the day has been subjected to cut backs in much the same way as everything else. I imagine that it won't be long until they are only 23 or 22 hours long. What do you think they do with the time they save? They probably have warehouses filled with time, where you have all day to do something, and that day lasts years. I just feel so mortal. On days like this, there really can be no doubt about it. We are all going to be dead soon. On that cheery note, here's my Friday night iPod shuffle:

01. Danger Bird / Neil Young 6:54
02. Heartbeat / Buddy Holly & The Crickets 2:11
03. Rock 'N' Roll Love Letter / Bay City Rollers 3:51
04. High On Emotion / Chris De Burgh 4:25
05. Power / Rainbow 4:29
06. Someday, Someway / The Jeff Healey Band 3:29
07. Hurts So Bad / Linda Rondstadt 3:10
08. Maria / Nuns Chorus 3:19
09. It Started with a Kiss / Hot Chocolate 4:03
10. Bok To Bach / Father's Angels 2:51

As a special bonus, and since everyone, apart from Jo, got my last one really easily, here is another lyric for you to work out:

I bet you didn't sleep good last night / couldn't wait to bring all of that bad news to my door

The prize for the first person to get it right is an indeterminate period of time inside one of those warehouses, where you can do anything you like.

after the gold rush...

I have been listening to some Neil Young this morning as I have been working on yet another bloody report. This one is more than two weeks overdue, so I really need to get it finished this weekend. I have managed to find a new and interesting way to avoid working. As I was listening to Neil it occured to me to see how many cover versions I could find of his song After The Gold Rush, which has always been one of my favourites. I managed to find twelve different versions, including a speeded up rocky version by a band called American Ambulance, although the iTunes Music Store wouldn't let me download it because I am not American, which seem a little unfair to me. In the end I was able to download ten different songs from a variety of sources, of which only nine seemed worth sharing, and here they are. My favourite version, apart from Neil's of course, is the one by k.d. lang. I think it is because I can sing along to it more easily. I just don't seem to be able to hit those high notes anymore.

I have uploaded them all as MP3 @ 128kbps. They take up quite a bit of space, so I will delete them all next weekend.

01. After The Gold Rush / Prelude 2:07
02. After The Gold Rush / Natalie Merchant 3:46
03. After The Gold Rush / Trio 3:31
04. After The Gold Rush / Flaming Lips 4:13
05. After The Gold Rush / k.d. lang 4:01
06. After The Gold Rush / Radiohead 3:42
07. After The Gold Rush / Linda Ronstadt 3:35
08. After The Gold Rush / Michael Hedges 4:08
09. After The Gold Rush / Neil Young 3:46

Perhaps I will share my collection of Ziggy Stardust cover versions, although, if truth be told, most of them are a bit crap.

top of the pops

I don't know about you, but the future almost slipped me by. There is now an official download chart. It's made up of legal downloads from a whole load of sites. This stuff used to be important to me. I remember watching Top Of The Pops every week so that I could keep track of the songs that were in the charts. I don't suppose I'll post about it again, but for now, here is the second official UK download chart for 15.09.04. An interesting mixture of stuff I think, some singles and some album tracks. This is probably going to throw all those pop guru types into a real spin.

01 These Words / Natasha Bedingfield
02 She Will Be Loved / Maroon 5
03 Golden Touch / Razorlight
04 American Idiot / Green Day
05 Lola's Theme / Shapeshifters
06 This Love / Maroon 5
07 Dumb / 411
08 Dry Your Eyes / The Streets
09 The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine Anymore / Keane
10 Leaving New York / R.E.M.
11 Bedshaped / Keane
12 Sick and Tired / Anastacia
13 Everybody's Changing / Keane
14 Laura / Scissor Sisters
15 Seven Nation Army / White Stripes Beggars
16 Let's Get It Started / Black Eyed Peas
17 You Had Me / Joss Stone
18 Sunshine / Twista
19 (Reach Up For The) Sunrise / Duran Duran
20 Flying Without Wings / Westlife

another lyric...

Any takers?

Only mine's broke down / And now I've no-one to love

the voice...

I have been listening to Mark Lanegan's new album Bubblegum and it is wonderful. Lanegan used to be the lead singer with The Screaming Trees a few years back, and he is one of the vocalist with The Queens of The Stone. His solo stuff is well worth checking out, sort of bluesy rock. He has developed one of the most amazing voices. He sounds a little like Tom Waits, only he can really sing. You have to hear it to believe it. Here is a track from the new album called Wedding Dress

friday night ipod shuffle 6

Just where do all my super cool and trendy young bands go. I swear I put them onto my iPod and they just seem to have disappeared by the time Fridays come around. What is that all about? I am sitting here listening to Pat Boone, who is in a metal mood. It really is a very strange album. For those of you who don't know, Pat covers a whole load of well known heavy rock songs from the likes of AC/DC and Led Zeppilin in his own inimitable style. I am surprised to find that some of the songs work really well. It's a bit like I've slipped into the twilight zone. Anyway, here's what I am listening to this week:

01 Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds / William Shatner 2:57
02 Her Strut / Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Bullet Band 3:50
03 You're All I Need to Get By / Marvin Gaye 2:52
04 Rock Star / Hole 2:42
05 After The Gold Rush / Neil Young 3:48
06 Before The Deluge / Jackson Browne 6:21
07 My Only Friend / The Magnetic Fields 2:01
08 Best of My Love / Eagles 4:36
09 View from a bridge / Kim Wilde 4:25
10 Boris the Spider / The Who 2:28

marilyn manson

Have I ever mentioned how much I like Marilyn Manson? I kind of avoided him for many years because I thought he was a bit of joke, which he still is in some ways, even though I must admit that I was nearly tempted over to the dark side by the right-wing fervour of the anti-Marilyn lot in the US. I was finally persuaded to buy one of his albums after his cover of Tainted Love was a big hit in the UK, and I imagine in lots of other places too. I just loved the over-the-topness of it all. I bought The Golden Age of Grotesque and it has very quickly become one of my most played albums. I think the main reason I didn't really fancy him in the beginning was that I thought his nilism was serious. For some strange reason, every description of him always misses out just clever and knowing his music is, and I guess, at different levels, quite funny. If you put his image to one side for a moment, he just makes great rock music. I think this track kind of sums up for me what I like about him: it's called Slutgarden.

I also love the fact that in the real world he is called Brian and he is getting married soon. Quite sweet really. It reminds me a bit of the fella from Slipnot who in an interview in NME said that if he hadn't been a rock star then he would have liked to have been a history teacher.

UPDATE: Apologies for the size of the file, I didn't check it before posting.

it is done...

I have just deleted all the music files that we have posted over the last 10 months or so. I didn't wanna, hadda. They were just taking up too much space. The posts remain the same, but unfortunately I can't say the same for the song.

friday night ipod shuffle 7

It's that time of the week again. Time again for the Friday night iPod shuffle, and once again I am predictable in my Neilness. The truth is that I don't really listen to him all the time, it's more that I have him on the iPod just in case I need him. By the way, those lovely people at Apple have increased the storage available on my iDisk, I am pretty sure that it was just my iDisk they increased, to 1GB! That's a 500% increase. Apple are lovely, lovely people. I would have Steve's baby, if it wasn't so unnatural and a sin against God and Man, oh, and biologically impossible. Mrs McMuffin is very disturbed by that last bit.

I have just listened to the whole list of ten songs, and I am really impressed by how well they play together. I thought I would allow you to download Nick Lowe, because it is important that we all remember just how good Nick is. Cruel to be Kind is a perfect pop song. If you have somehow missed it over the years, you are in for a treat.

01. Bad Dream Mama / Eagles of Death Metal 3:02
02. The Big Beat / Fats Domino 1:58
03. Cruel To Be Kind / Nick Lowe 3:28
04. No Blue Sky / The Thorns 4:38
05. Punk Love / The Magnetic Fields 0:58
06. Would You... ? / Touch & Go 3:13
07. Lullabye / Ben Folds Five 3:53
08. Sister Disco / The Who 4:21
09. Stringman / Neil Young 4:02
10. Step Off / Missy Elliott 3:58

wheatus

Who remembers Wheatus' song Teenage Dirtbag? It was a huge hit a few years ago. A great song, but what you probably don't realise is Brendan B. Brown, the fella behind that song also produced one of the best power pop albums of recent years. The album is called Hand Over Your Loved Ones. This isn't an album of disposable pop songs for young kids, it's filled with real songs with lyrics about heartache and disappointment and all tinged with a bitter black humour. The seriousness of the songs are honey coated in sweet harmonies and singalong choruses, but don't let that fool you. Here are a couple of tracks for you to sample. The first is Fair Weather Friend and the second is Lemonade. If I could play a musical instrument and knew how to write songs, then I'd want to have written Lemonade.

say it ain't so

I was just checking Steve's blog to see whether he had found any other interesting British predators and was shocked to find out that John Peel has died. If you don't know John Peel, then it's hard to explain how much he'll be missed.

new terror

Who would have thought that danger was lurking on the outside of every fridge? As the list of harmful things approaches infinity, I have found something new to fear, take note of this warning.

On a more reassuring note, this chocolate is gorgeous. Didn't think I'd like it, but I did. Worth every penny and a lot of pennies it was too.

Strange as it sounds, I haven't quite recovered from hearing about John Peel. I've been thinking about him all day and how important a part of my teenage years he was. The first time I heard Hand In Glove was on his show. I was surprised that Ms Ginger Cake was sad too, but it makes perfect sense-who else was playing reggae on a national radio way back when? More recently, I enjoyed listening to Home Truths and I know he would have understood my obsession with cheesy bugs. The saddest thing for me is that my neice will be fourteen in a few weeks, the same age I was when I used to listen to him all the time and she'll never have the excitement of 'discovering' his show for herself.

important health information

If you are suffering from your own evil bug, then I think a daily regime of multivitamins may help. It certainly helped me over the last few weeks until I stopped taking them. Yes, that's right, if something works then why not stop doing it? It was a stupid thing to do and I'm paying for it by feeling too poo to leave the house. There are distinct advantages though, I have finished reading the Anne Tyler book I started Friday and have watched two films.

I also watched some crap tv about Heavy Metal. It wasn't totally crap as I found out that Saxon (Saxon? Fipping Heck) were the inspiration for Spinal Tap and I have been marvelling at the refusal of Lemmy to age or ever look completely ridiculous. That man certainly has something, I don't think I want it, but he's got it.

a little quiz

Who do you think sang the following song (original tune and lyrics) about half an hour ago?

Slinky, I love you...yes I do...I do...I do...(repeat for seven lines and fade)

Which addled singer is reported to have said the following profound words on the subject of famine?

Whenever I watch tv and see those poor starving kids all over the world, I can't help but cry. I mean, I'd love to be skinny like that, but not with all those flies and death and stuff.