Friday, 22 November 2024
Beware of imitations
Wednesday, 20 November 2024
Don't think twice, the time is right
I remember telling you back in April that I'd written my first new song in bloody ages. Well, eight months in (and a showcase gig to boot in September) and I've now got eight (count 'em) new songs. That's practically an album's worth! Well it would be if I were to record them; yep, that's my 2025 project. Tho' any mention of the word 2025 is all a bit tentative at the moment as I may well be sitting out the first part of the year*.
Anyway, back to the songs. Tomorrow's Third Thursday Songwriters meet up at the Winchester will see me playing my latest ditty. It's called This is Your Life and is my stab at writing something both uplifting and, dare I say, inspirational; September and October's tunes were, if not bleak, then certainly on the dark side! So as this will probably be my last one for the year, I'd like to go out on something of a 'high'. I've arranged it so that the brass (I know a great trombone player) I can hear in my head can be overlaid in the studio to make me sound like I know what I'm doing.
Another more imminent project, however, is something I'm starting this weekend. I'm putting together another photo book - a companion piece to Battersea and Beyond. It'll be a similar format with 30 odd new photographs with maybe a bit more text this time. I've got a long list of around 75 pics and I'll be spending Sunday afternoon knocking it into shape and coming up with a zappy title (as opposed to the non-zappy title that I'm currently calling it in my head). In an ideal world I'd like to have it completed and back from the printers in 2/3 weeks but depending on how the cards fall next month (which will be out of my hands) I may not be able to distribute it till next year. Bear with.
*Apologies if this reads a bit, how can I say, mysterious (I'm not trying to be coy) - I will let everyone know (some of you know already) what's occurring when I know for sure what's happening and when...
Friday, 15 November 2024
マンホールの蓋
I truly can't conceive of a world without 99% Invisible. So much of what passes for knowledge held within the confines of my brain has been uploaded to it from this peerless podcast. Take the episode I heard earlier today: who knew that Japanese manhole covers were works of art in their own right? If you have a spare thirty minutes then let Roman Mars tell you how he first discovered them.
These circular steel covers that keep us separated from the effluent below are all majestic installations that would not be out of place in major galleries the world over. Indeed, if anyone reading this has visited the Land of the Rising Sun and has examples on their photo roll please feel free to share them.
Wednesday, 13 November 2024
Darlington 4
Monday, 11 November 2024
(Get a) Grip (on Yourself)
I was today years old when I realised the opening line to the Stranglers' first single 'Grip' was "Didn't have no money 'round to buy a Morry Thou". From that day to this I had absolutely no knowledge*.
That the Stranglers were too old to be punks barely mattered back then, even less now (all the Mk. 1 punks are old now). In January 1977 I just remember Grip being an absolute barnstormer. Even with the sax all over it. And Dave Greenfield's ill-advised tash. Also, when their debut album came out shortly thereafter it was nowhere near the best track on it. Not even close; such was the sheer brilliance of Rattus Norvegicus - don't @ me.
The fact that it works in a lounge format tells you just how great a song it is.
Nouvelle Vague - Get a Grip (2019)
* Even in 2013 when I last wrote about this very song. (And yes, I'd totally forgotten writing that piece over ten years ago.)Friday, 8 November 2024
Contemporary?
The Sheepdogs - Nobody (from their 2018 album Changing Colours)
Speaking of contemporary, the photograph at the top of the page is currently available as a limited (six only) edition and comes mounted, signed, numbered, and framed. Every home should have one! Drop me an email if you're interested and I'll tell you just how competitively priced it is - john@johnmedd.com
Tuesday, 5 November 2024
Lovely Rita
Rita Hayworth, legendary actress and dancer, was, without doubt, the favourite pin-up girl for American GIs during WW2. Often described a sex goddess, five times married Hayworth led a troubled life. Her second husband Orson Welles once said "All her life was pain." Early onset of Alzheimer's was misinterpreted by friends as alcoholism and her latter days were spent mostly isolated from the outside world.
Hayworth was, I think we can agree, the muse for Bryan Ferry's idea of how the first Roxy Music should look. He's never denied it.
Monday, 4 November 2024
Hey, Kari-Ann
Sunday, 3 November 2024
By proxy
In a long and hugely successful career Linda Thompson has written, sung and recorded scores of seminal tunes - many of which are now considered folk rock standards. These days, however, Linda has lost her most personal of instruments: having being diagnosed with spasmodic dysphonia she is no longer able to enchant audiences with her instantly recognisable voice; the voice that shaped and defined not just her solo albums but those on which she collaborated with her ex, Richard Thompson.
Earlier this year she curated a collection of new songs she'd co-written with her son Teddy Thompson under the title Proxy Music (see what she did there?) With a star studded roster of guest musicians (many family members) including a brace of Wainwrights, the Unthanks, the Proclaimers and Eliza Carthy to name but a few, the resulting album is nothing short of beautiful. One of my personal favourites is a song she bequeathed to John Grant. Linda loves John Grant. I think the feeling is mutual. 'John Grant' is track six (18:10) - the whole album is here...