I'm gonna be unavailable to post anything from this point up until New Year's Day. Maybe I'm still gonna be busy after that... Anyway, before the place gets all crowded, I'd just like to greet everybody a Happy New Year!
As is always the case, this time of the year always brings to my mind one of the best songs to ever come out of the 80's - U2's New Year's Day from their album War.
Check out the video.
Sunday, December 30, 2007
Sunday, December 23, 2007
Feed The World!
Well, it's Christmas Eve again. As the season, which has devolved into a pathetic level of crass commercialism, finally climaxes, I think it would be timely for us remember what Christmas is really all about.
Oh sure, everybody'll say "Christmas is all about peace, love,and giving,". They'll all yak like they're God's gift of salvation to the poor and needy. "I come to help, all ye downtrodden souls of this wretched earth" yadda yadda yadda. Or, they'll make like "hey, let's give to the poor - after all it is Christmas" and proceed for the rest of the year living like the world is their personal toilet. Or worse still, some of them may go "let's give something to the poor people of this world this Christmas - it'll be good for the company's image". Fuck. (Oops, that's one non-Christmas word that'll definitely keep me in Santa's Naughty List.)
Am I beginning to sound like Scrooge? Sorry, can't help it - I'm related to the guy.
Anyway... Christmas really is about peace, love, and giving - really. It's just sad that people only remember this within a specific period of time during the year, when the marketing mavericks tell us it's time to go crazy with the credit cards "so that we can enjoy a truly Merry Christmas!" Really now. Is Christmas really meant to surround people who already have enough with more stuff bought with money that could've been used to help others for a longer period of time? I don't believe so.
I mean, if you have the capacity to give, why not give where it'll count more? Sure, you'd like to buy your niece or nephew that nifty new toy she/he has been badgering you about because they've been good all year. Absolutely nothing wrong with that. But I guess it'd be nice too if we remember to give to those who really don't have much at all even in terms of the basics of food, shelter, and clothing - which brings me to the heart of this post.
In 1984, a group of British artists, led by Boomtown Rats' main rat Bob Geldof, set about to record a song the proceeds from the sale of which would be donated to the famine relief efforts in Africa. The song was called "Do They Know It's Christmas" (credited to Band Aid) and a veritable who's who of British rock and pop music took part in this laudable effort: Geldof, Sting, blue-eyed soul star Paul Young, Boy George and the rest of Culture Club, Phil Collins, ex-Wham star George Michael, Simon Le Bon and the rest of Duran Duran (Nick Rhodes really doesn't go out of the house without his trademark thick eyeliners), Tony Hadley and the rest of Spandau Ballet, U2's Bono, Paul Weller (ex of the late lamented punk group The Jam but by this time leader of the jazzy Style Council), Midge Ure (of Ultravox, and Geldof's main partner-in-crime for this project), Brit girl group Bananarama (Sarah Dallin, Keren Woodward, and Siobhan Fahey), model Iman, gender-bender artist Marilyn, and a lot of other big names in British music at the time.
The success of this single sparked a similar action from across the Atlantic. In the U.S., American artists also came out with their own fund-raising single: "We Are The World". Like in the U.K., this American single (credited to USA for Africa or United Support of Artists for Africa) also featured the top recording artists and personalities at the time: Quincy Jones, Lionel Ritchie (yep, Nicole's dad), Michael Jackson (hey, he may be weird but at least back then he knew a good cause when he saw one), New Jersey rocker Bruce Springsteen, country stars Willie Nelson and Kenny Rogers (yup, the fried chicken guy), calypso king Harry Belafonte, Tina Turner, Cyndi Lauper, piano man Billy Joel, Huey Lewis, Journey's Steve Perry, the legendary Ray Charles, spokesman-for-his-generation Bob Dylan, Stevie Wonder, and a host of other big-name personalities.
Eventually, with the success of both "Do They Know It's Christmas" and "We Are The World", Bob Geldof got it in his head that maybe, just maybe, they can do more to help the starving people of Africa. It was here that the concept of Live Aid was born. Live Aid was the biggest gathering of musical legends and exciting newcomers to ever hit the stage. It had two venues: Wembley Stadium in the U.K. and JFK Stadium the U.S. The shows at both stadiums were connected via satellite, ensuring a continuous flow of music for everyone. Concorde donated its services for free, flying Phil Collins, who played drums at the Wembley show, to the US so he could beat skin at the US venue. Live Aid was to the 80's what Woodstock was to the 60's, so you probably get the picture.
Anyway, I scavenged YouTube for the appropriate videos. For those of us who saw it live or on TV, here's your chance to relive everything. For those of you who weren't around yet at the time, check out the videos and ask your parents about it.
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to the entire human race!
DO THEY KNOW IT'S CHRISTMAS - BAND AID
WE ARE THE WORLD - USA FOR AFRICA
EXCERPTS FROM LIVE AID
(Awsome performance by Queen!)
(U2 did a damn great set!)
(The event's main man himself, Bob Geldof, with his band the Boomtown Rats!)
Oh sure, everybody'll say "Christmas is all about peace, love,and giving,". They'll all yak like they're God's gift of salvation to the poor and needy. "I come to help, all ye downtrodden souls of this wretched earth" yadda yadda yadda. Or, they'll make like "hey, let's give to the poor - after all it is Christmas" and proceed for the rest of the year living like the world is their personal toilet. Or worse still, some of them may go "let's give something to the poor people of this world this Christmas - it'll be good for the company's image". Fuck. (Oops, that's one non-Christmas word that'll definitely keep me in Santa's Naughty List.)
Am I beginning to sound like Scrooge? Sorry, can't help it - I'm related to the guy.
Anyway... Christmas really is about peace, love, and giving - really. It's just sad that people only remember this within a specific period of time during the year, when the marketing mavericks tell us it's time to go crazy with the credit cards "so that we can enjoy a truly Merry Christmas!" Really now. Is Christmas really meant to surround people who already have enough with more stuff bought with money that could've been used to help others for a longer period of time? I don't believe so.
I mean, if you have the capacity to give, why not give where it'll count more? Sure, you'd like to buy your niece or nephew that nifty new toy she/he has been badgering you about because they've been good all year. Absolutely nothing wrong with that. But I guess it'd be nice too if we remember to give to those who really don't have much at all even in terms of the basics of food, shelter, and clothing - which brings me to the heart of this post.
In 1984, a group of British artists, led by Boomtown Rats' main rat Bob Geldof, set about to record a song the proceeds from the sale of which would be donated to the famine relief efforts in Africa. The song was called "Do They Know It's Christmas" (credited to Band Aid) and a veritable who's who of British rock and pop music took part in this laudable effort: Geldof, Sting, blue-eyed soul star Paul Young, Boy George and the rest of Culture Club, Phil Collins, ex-Wham star George Michael, Simon Le Bon and the rest of Duran Duran (Nick Rhodes really doesn't go out of the house without his trademark thick eyeliners), Tony Hadley and the rest of Spandau Ballet, U2's Bono, Paul Weller (ex of the late lamented punk group The Jam but by this time leader of the jazzy Style Council), Midge Ure (of Ultravox, and Geldof's main partner-in-crime for this project), Brit girl group Bananarama (Sarah Dallin, Keren Woodward, and Siobhan Fahey), model Iman, gender-bender artist Marilyn, and a lot of other big names in British music at the time.
The success of this single sparked a similar action from across the Atlantic. In the U.S., American artists also came out with their own fund-raising single: "We Are The World". Like in the U.K., this American single (credited to USA for Africa or United Support of Artists for Africa) also featured the top recording artists and personalities at the time: Quincy Jones, Lionel Ritchie (yep, Nicole's dad), Michael Jackson (hey, he may be weird but at least back then he knew a good cause when he saw one), New Jersey rocker Bruce Springsteen, country stars Willie Nelson and Kenny Rogers (yup, the fried chicken guy), calypso king Harry Belafonte, Tina Turner, Cyndi Lauper, piano man Billy Joel, Huey Lewis, Journey's Steve Perry, the legendary Ray Charles, spokesman-for-his-generation Bob Dylan, Stevie Wonder, and a host of other big-name personalities.
Eventually, with the success of both "Do They Know It's Christmas" and "We Are The World", Bob Geldof got it in his head that maybe, just maybe, they can do more to help the starving people of Africa. It was here that the concept of Live Aid was born. Live Aid was the biggest gathering of musical legends and exciting newcomers to ever hit the stage. It had two venues: Wembley Stadium in the U.K. and JFK Stadium the U.S. The shows at both stadiums were connected via satellite, ensuring a continuous flow of music for everyone. Concorde donated its services for free, flying Phil Collins, who played drums at the Wembley show, to the US so he could beat skin at the US venue. Live Aid was to the 80's what Woodstock was to the 60's, so you probably get the picture.
Anyway, I scavenged YouTube for the appropriate videos. For those of us who saw it live or on TV, here's your chance to relive everything. For those of you who weren't around yet at the time, check out the videos and ask your parents about it.
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to the entire human race!
DO THEY KNOW IT'S CHRISTMAS - BAND AID
WE ARE THE WORLD - USA FOR AFRICA
EXCERPTS FROM LIVE AID
(Awsome performance by Queen!)
(U2 did a damn great set!)
(The event's main man himself, Bob Geldof, with his band the Boomtown Rats!)
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
Rock N Roll Grampa
Check out this really cool anime video. I wish I could play guitar like ol' gramps.
Monday, December 10, 2007
Along Came Emo
Every kid I know (yeah, all three of 'em)is into this "emo" thing. They yak about bands with names like Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, Fall Out Boy, and My Chemical Romance. Now, I don't know who these guys are (and who gives a rat's ass anyway?!). I just hear their names a lot from the so-called "emo" kids who look the same, talk the same, act the same, and, fuck, maybe even smell the same. So I got curious. How the hell do these "emo" bands sound?
When I was seventeen, a band that could blast your eardrums clean out of your skull and spit out lyrics that would guarantee your eternal damnation in hell really got my juices going. It got me interested. It got me doing research on the band. In short, it made me fan.
So I gave some of these emo shit bands a little listen just to see what the fuck the kids are being so stupid about. Here's what I thought:
1. Face Down by Red Jumpsuit Apparatus
Uh-huh...
2. Sugar We're Going Down by Fall Out Boy
Uh-huh...
3. Cancer by My Chemical Romance
Uh-huh...
Well, that was an absolute waste of time. I couldn't fucking tell them apart! They all sound the same! Aaargh! What has this world come to?! Maybe this "emo" music thing is an acquired taste? I dunno; I guess I'll have to check it out some more.
But a lot of kids are really sucking up this emo shit. Especially the look: hair dyed black and parted, black eyeliner, black nailpolish, skinny jeans, and an experession that looks like their friggin nuts have been thoroughly crushed by a pair of rusty old pliers. I guess for every one "real" emo kid (whatever the hell that is), there must be - what? - a bazillion other trying hard wannabes that are desperately trying to crossover from being ordinary normal dorks to becoming the newest "It" kid in town.
I came across this really hilarious clip on www.emobands.com. It's a very educational (albeit funny) clip on - get this - "How To Be Emo". I laughed so hard, I farted nerve gas! Go check it out.
When I was seventeen, a band that could blast your eardrums clean out of your skull and spit out lyrics that would guarantee your eternal damnation in hell really got my juices going. It got me interested. It got me doing research on the band. In short, it made me fan.
So I gave some of these emo shit bands a little listen just to see what the fuck the kids are being so stupid about. Here's what I thought:
1. Face Down by Red Jumpsuit Apparatus
Uh-huh...
2. Sugar We're Going Down by Fall Out Boy
Uh-huh...
3. Cancer by My Chemical Romance
Uh-huh...
Well, that was an absolute waste of time. I couldn't fucking tell them apart! They all sound the same! Aaargh! What has this world come to?! Maybe this "emo" music thing is an acquired taste? I dunno; I guess I'll have to check it out some more.
But a lot of kids are really sucking up this emo shit. Especially the look: hair dyed black and parted, black eyeliner, black nailpolish, skinny jeans, and an experession that looks like their friggin nuts have been thoroughly crushed by a pair of rusty old pliers. I guess for every one "real" emo kid (whatever the hell that is), there must be - what? - a bazillion other trying hard wannabes that are desperately trying to crossover from being ordinary normal dorks to becoming the newest "It" kid in town.
I came across this really hilarious clip on www.emobands.com. It's a very educational (albeit funny) clip on - get this - "How To Be Emo". I laughed so hard, I farted nerve gas! Go check it out.
Sunday, December 9, 2007
Watching The Monster Mutate
I've always been an avid observer of how music transforms into different genres and sub-genres. It's like having a seven-headed Hydra for a pet: everytime you cut off one of its heads, a couple of new heads grow from the bloody stump. Yep, I've been a keen watcher of musical mutations - up until the 90's.
With the coming of the new millenium, I seemed to have lost a good deal of interest in checking out the current music scene. I mean, after the thrill of watching grunge rise and fall, there really hasn't been much to watch in music, for me. I guess that comes with age. But wait, no. Age has nothing to do with it. I could be 80 but still be bang in tune with what's going on in music. I guess tt's just that I can't find anything to write about in today's music that really interests me.
Nothing.
A lot of new acts today strike me as absolutely lazy in coming up with really engaging original stuff. They're too lazy to write new stuff so they stick to covering old tried and tested chestnuts. And if ever they do get the tiny inspiration to move their asses to write their own song, I almost always never see or hear anything fresh from it. I mean, it's like eating the same dish everyday at a restaurant, but each time the waiter calls it by a different name.
Also, a lot of new bands today are populated by the so-called third-wave-of-emo types: guys who wear their bleeding hearts on their CD sleeves and whose main purpose in life is to come across as vulnerable and sensitive new age dweebs. Now, I have nothing against people who are really like that. That's who they are. But if somebody wants to use that as a marketing tool, well maybe they should just - I dunno - kill themselves and leave achingly sad suicide notes so the world can see just how vulnerable and sensitive they are. Besides, in some instances, suicide (or just plain death) have proven to be a very effective marketing tool.
And that another thing that I find really boring about today's music scene. EVERYTHING IS SO FUCKING FOCUSED ON IMAGE AND MARKETING AN IMAGE! I know the music scene is a business. And I know that you do have to do certain marketing moves to make sure you don't just survive but also thrive. But come on, man! A lot of times, the scene markets a lot of acts who are certainly lacking in talent, originality, and potential. These days anybody can become a recording star! I know that's democracy at work, and I'm all for democracy; but if things don't perk up really soon, we'll all be like the late fifties after the fall of the true originators of rock n roll when truckloads of non-talent Elvis wannabes took over the scene singing about saccharine subjects like crushes and undying romantic love. (Excuse me while I throw up.) As it is, I'm already getting sick of all the Fabians running around stadiums worldwide.
Who's Fabian, you say?
That's exactly my point.
With the coming of the new millenium, I seemed to have lost a good deal of interest in checking out the current music scene. I mean, after the thrill of watching grunge rise and fall, there really hasn't been much to watch in music, for me. I guess that comes with age. But wait, no. Age has nothing to do with it. I could be 80 but still be bang in tune with what's going on in music. I guess tt's just that I can't find anything to write about in today's music that really interests me.
Nothing.
A lot of new acts today strike me as absolutely lazy in coming up with really engaging original stuff. They're too lazy to write new stuff so they stick to covering old tried and tested chestnuts. And if ever they do get the tiny inspiration to move their asses to write their own song, I almost always never see or hear anything fresh from it. I mean, it's like eating the same dish everyday at a restaurant, but each time the waiter calls it by a different name.
Also, a lot of new bands today are populated by the so-called third-wave-of-emo types: guys who wear their bleeding hearts on their CD sleeves and whose main purpose in life is to come across as vulnerable and sensitive new age dweebs. Now, I have nothing against people who are really like that. That's who they are. But if somebody wants to use that as a marketing tool, well maybe they should just - I dunno - kill themselves and leave achingly sad suicide notes so the world can see just how vulnerable and sensitive they are. Besides, in some instances, suicide (or just plain death) have proven to be a very effective marketing tool.
And that another thing that I find really boring about today's music scene. EVERYTHING IS SO FUCKING FOCUSED ON IMAGE AND MARKETING AN IMAGE! I know the music scene is a business. And I know that you do have to do certain marketing moves to make sure you don't just survive but also thrive. But come on, man! A lot of times, the scene markets a lot of acts who are certainly lacking in talent, originality, and potential. These days anybody can become a recording star! I know that's democracy at work, and I'm all for democracy; but if things don't perk up really soon, we'll all be like the late fifties after the fall of the true originators of rock n roll when truckloads of non-talent Elvis wannabes took over the scene singing about saccharine subjects like crushes and undying romantic love. (Excuse me while I throw up.) As it is, I'm already getting sick of all the Fabians running around stadiums worldwide.
Who's Fabian, you say?
That's exactly my point.
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