What are you listening to?

...........I see that the reclusive and sainted Kate Bush is releasing a "new" album on 16 May 11 - its' not really new actually, rather a re-working of some tracks from her previous albums "The Sensual World" from 1989 and "The Red Shoes" from 1993 - should be good - also mutterings of a "proper" album coming out soon as well............

www.guardian.co.uk/music/2011/mar/11/kate-bush-new-album

...nice......

...currently on 6 Music......

1. Castles Made Of Sand - The Jimi Hendrix Experience

2. What'd I Say - Ray Charles

........"Euphoria, Take My Hand" - Glasvegas - on "Later Live......With Jools Holland" - BBC2 - absolute class.........

......also on same prog..........

.........."He Don't Live Here No More" - Robbie Robertson - most excellent indeed.......

........then a nice bit of nu-country.....

......"Woman, When I've Raised Hell" - Josh T Pearson (hailing from the state of Texas) - this cat looks like Robinson Crusoe but has a fantakkers voice......

......and strutting out and shaking his funky boots to finish with.....

......."Satisfied" - Cee Lo Green.........

..........also includes an interview with Bootsy Collins, sporting the wackiest, wildest silver top hat I think I've seen being worn since Mr_Chelstongull (aka my good friend Phil) last "jive talked" down the 400 Club circa 1979..............

......"blaming it all on the nights on Tweenaway" - Phil Gibb - the lost Bee Gee........

and

.......follow me, watch my feet, here we go - "Do the Haywain Hustle, hear the oggies rustle".........

Alice Cooper - Love It To Death

Second Coming
Ballard of Dwight Fry
Sun Arise*

* Yes, a cover of the Rolf Harris classic. I like Rolf (Two Little Boys, the Painting, Teaching kids to swim etc). However, he does have a lot to answer for (and no, I don't mean he's Australian ) but to record a version of the Led classic Stairway to Heaven and fail so miserably, he should be HD & 1/4'd

Frank Zappa - Joe's Garage (Acts I, II & III)

1. Can't Find My Way Home - Blind Faith................

2. Rain - Uriah Heep...............

3. The Magicians' Birthday - Uriah Heep.............

4. Theme One - Van Der Graaf Generator............

5. Eruption - Van Halen.............

6. Losing A Whole Year - Third Eye Blind..........

7. Border Reiver - Mark Knopfler............

8. Rhondda Grey - Max Boyce - yep, the silly ol' leek waver himself, also a cracking folkie singer - the "Rhondda Grey" he is referring to is the ashen colour the old mining men go eventually after working down the pits for years - a very poignant song indeed.......

9. Look What They've Done To My Song Ma - Melanie Safka.........

10. Joanne - Michael Nesmith..............

11. Edith And The Kingpin - the mighty Joni Mitchell..............

12. From A Distance - the mighty Judy Collins (this is a Nanci Griffith cover).............

13. Hair Of The Dog - Nazareth.............

14. Lady Evil - Black Sabbath............

15. Death Walks Behind You - Atomic Rooster.......

16. Just One More Night - Yellow Dog - I can just picture the Progmeister banging his tambourine and waving his joss-sticks to this one - sing along now Phil - I can remember the cat who was the lead vocalist here sporting a pair of driving-stylee goggles on TOTP when he sang this one - back in Feb 1978 if you were wondering, as any fule kno...........

17. Heart Of The Sunrise - Yes.........

18. Peg - Steely Dan..............

19. Dream River - Steve Howe.............

20. Louisiana Saturday Night - The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band.......

.......encore?...........

21. The JCB Song - Nizlopi - "I'm Luke, I'm five and my dads' Bruce Lee, drives me round in his JCB"..........

...........oh, absolutely Jon - I (being a weekend resident of the Shiphay area) have heard rumours, legends and assorted stories told in hushed tones for many years now of sightings of an aging "Prog Rocker" (clad in velveteen purple exploding loon pants, apricot chiffon scarf, cherry-red calf leather Renaissance doublet, bright blue flowing cape with silver stars and gulls and iron-on patch stating "I Love Mickey Finns' Bongos and Sally James - cue Supersonic", mirror top hat, riding boots, mask and silken yellow and blue hooped hose along with a plaited beard, rainbow-dyed dreadlocks, mystic ear-rings and many bangles on his wrists - a distinct, musty smell of patchouli is always present as well, it is said) who always appears to carry with him an original 3-record, gatefold sleeve, vinyl album set of "Yessongs" by Yes, has the general demeanour of a highwayman and is believed to haunt the TQ2 area......

..........as he is approached, so legend also has it, whilst beckoning on the individual with an Alvin Stardust glove-clad hand, he is said to be permanently humming "Siberian Khatru" off side 1 - he is also rumoured to, at the dead of night in the Sherwell Valley Road and Cadewell Lane areas of the Shire along with the Lidls' car park, ride up and down hill and dale on his ghostly steed, whilst occasionally stopping outside The Haywain or The Dumpling and wistfully playing on a hunting horn at regular intervals the opening bars of "Karn Evil 9: 1st Impression - Part 1" by Emerson, Lake and Palmer (to be found on their rather excellent album "Brain Salad Surgery" as any fule kno), before heading into the town where even now guitar picks are regularly still found laid mysteriously on the ground outside the entrance to Torquay Town Hall along with an empty Nukey Brown bottle, a Flox Records purple carrier bag, a pair of stack-heel platform shoes, signed photos of Rory Gallagher and the drummer from Camel, a Canned Heat t-shirt and copies of SNAFU and Vinegar Joe set-lists from 1972 gigs, in the form of a make-shift shrine of sorts........

........it is also rumoured that he has on occasions stopped lone travellers he would encounter on the highway and (after ensuring that they were over 45 years old, could remember the Queen "Bohemian Rhapsody" video and also assure him they were fans of neither Take That or Boyzone - he would send them on their way with "begone with thou, thoust young scamp and Welsh poltroon" if they could not prove these prequisites to his satisfaction) would proceed to regale them with stories of his memories of watching Mott The Hoople and The Kursaal Flyers play live back in the far distant days of his youth down the Harbourside and at the Princess and Festival Theatres, before eventually breaking down uncontrollably and weeping copiously for the sad demise of the 400 Club, the Berkeley, Monroes, the Hideaway and Mr Matts along with the lack of hostelries stocking Double Diamond, Bass, Ind Coope Ale, Watneys Starlight and Whitbread Trophy Bitter these days, finally dismally muttering obscure, long-forgotten lyrics from Blodwyn Pig and Stackridge whilst trudging sadly back to his trusty mount to carry on his lonely, prog-inspired journeying........

.....also, it is said that all he stops, onto them he will bemoan in a sad and mournful manner the passing of Lord Ritchie from axe-god to pointy clown shoe wearing, bewiggy, lute plucking, comedy jerkin clad, madrigal composing, medieval worshipping loony tune and harken back to the days of "Fireball", Machine Head", "Made In Japan" and "Deep Purple In Rock".........

......those who claim to have seen him say he bears a remarkable likeness to Charlie of "Casualty" and also has the facial expressions of Victor Meldrew.............

...."is this a pistol I seest afore me, or possibly a Watneys Party Seven? - verily, I seeketh safe passage to Belgium, my good fellow, where all manner of medieval fayre and hearty ale awaiteth me and where there surely will also be many hours of Flemish musical jiggery-proggery which doth playeth long into the night with searing 57 minute cittern solos and performing jesters forthwith, forsooth"........

....."verily, let there be much merriment".........

........"bah, they don't know they're born, I don't know what was wrong with guineas, groats and florins - bring back ITMA I say - who remembers Tingha And Tucker and Junior Showtime? - if you can't whistle me the intro to "Hot As A Dockers' Armpit" by Budgie from their second album "Squawk" from 1972, go on, get on home with you, you young skin"........

PS:

........on a serious note, "Supersonic" imho was a fantastic show from back in the mid 70s, light years ahead of its' time and so much better than "Hairy Cornflake" and "Clunk Click Every Trip" inhabited, oh so unedgy TOTP, it was a true fore-runner of TFIF, The Big Breakfast and The Word among others, with the great Mike Mansfield and Sally James at the helm - they dinnae make 'em like that any more.......

...currently playing on 6 Live.....

1. Yellow Sox (live version) - The Kursaal Flyers - yep, really Phil - geddin there - fantastic...........

2. Goo Goo Barabajagal (Love Is Hot) - Donovan & The Jeff Beck Group (cripes, this gets better)........

3. Superstar - Aeroplane...............

....very, very kind of you to say so, Jon - praise indeed from the Head Bard and Sage himself no less - wowser!..........

......may I also be so bold as to recommend to you, as you dug Gryphon, another gentle yet whimsical proggy-folky outfit from that fantakkers 70s era (and many a moon onwards as well btw) called Magna Carta from the UK - I imagine there is much stuff of theirs on Youtube thingy, also a huge raft of CDs are available easily on Amazon - I recommend "Tomorrow Never Comes - The Anthology - 1969-2006" - there are many good tracks on here, its a double CD - outstanding are "Highway To Spain" (occasionally played on good ol' Radio 2, or was anyway by Sir_Tel himself) and "The Airport Song" to name a couple - their harmonies are uncannily like Crosby, Stills, Nash and Youngs' on a close listen btw.......................

......also, did you know about this site, Jon? - truly a gem.........

www.gepr.net/bandlist.html

.........."Health Warning" - anyone who for whom the idea of stout, balding, middle-aged beardie, multi-necked guitar wielding, sandal-wearing, mid-life crisis fashion victims and cape-clad keyboard players indulging in noodlings of astonomical length and crooning on incessantly about misty mountains, goblins, dragons, far-away oceans, lands of Nirvana-esque properties and caves, forests and glens doesn't quite magic up their mushrooms, I recommend strongly that you had better steer well clear of this one as there is so much archaic chanting, random drum solos, 3 hour long synthesizer sessions, quadruple concept album sets (live AND studio) and Lord Of The Rings and similar-inspired psycho-babble available through researching these pages, you may possibly go as mad as a box of frogs, and if this lot on the above site have anything to do with it, have a song written about the aforementioned froggy-based metamorphosis you have experienced............