Monthly Archives: June 2009

30 Years Ago, in the UK

A handful of #1's from the UK, 1979:

Tubeway Army - Are 'Friends' Electric?

That's Gary Numan pre-"Cars". A bit of a revelation for me, since I didn't know he ever did anything but that one song.

Blondie - Sunday Girl

Another revelation for me. Up until recently, I didn't know this song was any kind of hit at all (let alone a #1). My friends and I were huge (9 year old) Blondie fans, but local radio never played this one. To us, this one was (as the kids on XM say) a "deep cut". Maybe it was only really big in the UK?

Pink Floyd - Another Brick In The Wall

My 4th grade teacher would let us play records on the little crappy turntable before school started. I lived across the street from a juke box / arcade supply company, and would spend all of my allowance on 45s which I brought in to school. This song was a favorite in the classroom.

Speaking of Pink...
Boomtown Rats - I Don't Like Mondays

Ian Dury And The Blockheads - Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick

I've never heard this one before. I only know these guys from the earlier and much better "Sex And Drugs And Rock And Roll":

Michael and Farrah

Michael Jackson and Farrah Faucet both died today.

Err. Wow.

MSNBC:

So many people wanted to verify the early reports of Jackson’s death that the computers running Google’s news section interpreted the fusillade of “Michael Jackson” requests as an automated attack for about half an hour Thursday evening.

I was never a huge fan of MJ's. Dance music in general was never my thing. But I can't deny he was an icon, and hugely talented and influential.

But I gotta say, in a way, it will be a relief if his death turns out to have been a natural thing (though premature, surely), and not a result of his bizarre and fucked-up life. That would at least be a bit of dignity: not to be done-in by all the nonsense, but rather to go out as a normal person.

Marah @ The Pour House

We saw a truncated version of Marah last night: singer and guitarist Dave Bielanko (the only original member), a stand-up bassist and a keyboard player. The rest of the band quit/was fired - except for Bielanko's brother, who is busy being a new father. But that's not a problem; Dave Bielanko can sell a song without them.

Canon SD630

I suppose it'd be better if he could sell some tickets though. There were probably no more than 40 people there last night. My wife and I were the only people to buy tickets in advance, so the guy at the door knew our name as soon as I said the words "will call" - ours was the only name on the list. I started thinking, during the show, that Marah could be this generation's Big Star - they're excellent but almost completely overlooked because their sound's a few years behind the times. Though maybe that was the $3 quarts of Guinness talking. Check back in 15 years, to see if I was right.

Canon SD630 - taken by Mrs Cleek

Bielanko has a really great rockNroll voice, and he's a surprisingly good guitar player, too. Very entertaining. Fantastic show. Catch it if you can - they're on a short tour of the south right now.

Canon SD630

I'm far too tired to write anything more, though. Friggin show didn't end till 1AM.

Canon SD630


(not from last night)