Showing posts with label Bonzo Dog Band. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bonzo Dog Band. Show all posts

Sunday 30 April 2023

The Evening Of The Dumb


This is my most prolific month in 2023 on Seven Days In with five posts (most months have been lucky to get one), but that is probably because the book I am reading now is an easier read than the last one.

Dawn of the Dumb by Charlie Brooker, is nearly twenty years old but could refer to so much that is happening today, the idiocy of the majority of people who believe and act on what the media tell them. The attitude that "Science doesn't know everything" but conspiracy theories and stuff you find on Tiktok are totally believable.

I am l still laughing, this was life fifteen years ago and a lot of the world has got much worse. Lots of other things I thought I had forgotten about have resurfaced, but for me, it is an entertaining read.

The song is by the Bonzo Dog Band's observation on the state of democracy.

I recently found out that my American Amazon Author page has a feed from this blog which you can see here. It only shows on the .com site but not others. C'est La Vie.

Mike Singleton - Vocal Stories

I am not sure if you are aware of my writing on Vocal but these are a few of my stories if you would like to sample them:

  1. Brunch 23 - A great Restaurant in Fenham
  2. Another Raven - A Take On Edgar Allen Poe's "The Raven"
  3. The Cleaner - An Autism-Focused Christmas Special
  4. An Owl In A Towel - A Beautiful Book by Lesley and Cheryl
  5. Three Reasons Why I Love Settle - Scaleber Force, The Hoffman Kiln and Castlebergh Crag
  6. The Accidental Book - Helping a Great Vocal Friend Resulted In Me Publishing My First Book
  7. Call Me Les - A Great Friend and An Amazing Writer

Thursday 9 April 2020

Je M'Ennuie


No, I'm not bored ( je m'ennuie is French for I'm Bored in case you were wondering what I am on about)  but I think others might be in this COVID-19 Lockdown. On my Discogs store I sell a CD maybe once every two weeks but this week it's more than one a day. I think people are getting bored and browsing Discogs and buying CDs , a sort of online retail therapy. It's good that people actually buy music as opposed to getting a Spotify subscription, alth I suppose buying from me doesn't really benefit the artist, but it is helping people get through the Lockdown.

In my last post I said how good "Crocodiles" by Melt Yourself Down was , and they had a great conversation with me on twitter although  Melt Yourself Down is a great name for a song and reminds me of "Melt The Guns" by XTC , but Crocodiles is a great name for a band. Anyway I am gonna be pursuing their music much wither but the sax riff on "Crocodiles" is something else, it could almost be classic Van Der Graaf Generator (unusually for a rock band they had no bass and no guitar in their early incarnations but still managed some of the most impressive music you will hear).

So I'm going to share "I'm Bored" by The Bonzo Dog Band , because I am sure that is hitting a lot of people at the moment, but a litle good music can definitely dispel the ennui and we drift into lockdown Easter, and on Amazon I've just seen a Cheese Easter Egg!!


Sunday 8 December 2019

Bay Uke Grainger Christmas


Today I was in the Grainger Market and hears a Christmas Ukulele band finishing off "Let It Snow" , and they sounded quite good but I'd missed that and was expecting them to break into another similarly veined song, but no, they went into one of my favourites "I'm The Urban Spaceman" and did an very jolly version which you can see above (sorry it's phone portrait and not landscape but the sound is good.

They started with Dean Martin and were going to continue with "Rockin' Round The Christmas Tree" and asked me to join in their choir but I had to do a few things but totally enjoyed this pleasant interlude.

Bay Uke are on Facebook here where you can join their group, if you have a Ukulele I am sure that they will welcome you.

Incidentally "I'm The Urban Spaceman" was produced for The Bonzo Dog Band by Paul McCartney under the pseudonym Apollo C. Vermouth.

As I said this is a very short post to record a lovely interlude in my Sunday morning.

Sunday 12 August 2018

Visits and Numbers


Since I restarted this #August50 the average number of vists, reads or hits per post has probably increased by about 50%. I still don't get that many visitors, no one is going to ask me for an endorsement or product placement, and it may be just robots reacting to the increase in activity on the blog, but it's an interesting phenomenon for me.

The skies are still greay so I suppose summer may be taking a break, but I think that weather is just a very complex process. No doubt people will be telling us that we haven't had a summer again, even though we are in the midst of a drought.

Anyway this is an exuse to share "Goldrush" by Death Cab For Cutie from the album "Thank YOur For Today" which reminds me so much of something else but I can't remember what. I love this video which takes the Bob Dylan "SubteraneanHomesick Blues" lyric sheet format. So I thought I'd include that video as well.


Death Cab For Cutie was a song by The Bonzo Dog Band and I just found some out takes from the Beatles "Magical Mystery Tour" film of them performing it. So I've gone off on lots of tangents and provided you with three videos for you to enjoy.

Hope your Sunday is going well.

Saturday 14 April 2018

Sale of The Centipedes


I took the title from a line from "Sir Henry at Rawlinson End" the Vivian Stanshall film and monologue that first appeared as a John Peel sessions, well following the initial outing on The Bonzo Dog Band's "Let's Make Up And Be Friendly". It is full of very evocative images and lines and well worth delving into for fans of eccentric English Comedy and ebullient wordsmithery.

I've recently been having to go to bed as early as eight o'clock because I am feeling absolutely drained, I've no idea why and have als been soffering from intermittent back ache. A lot may be old age, but I do have a doctor's appontment scheduled in a week or so to maybe find out if anything is not completely in order.

Although I could include a litlle Vivian Stanshall there are links below to his work, so you can check him out there.

I've litsened to a couple of Oysterband compilation albums "Little Rock To Leipzig" and "Granite Years" and they are a band that revisit and rework their own songs as well as others, and I've often discovered other people's songs for the first time through The Oysterband. One such example is the achingly beautiful "Love Vigilantes" which is the opening New Order song from Low-Life. Both songs are great but I will just leave you with The Oysterband verson as you may already have heard The New Order one.

The chorus always gives me goosebumps, it's that affecting a song for me.

Sleep well.



Tuesday 19 December 2017

Edinburgh 2017 #2 - Elvis Shakespeare


When I was last in Edinburgh I researched where there were any record shops in Edinburgh other than FOPP (who are owned by HMV I believe) and found a a few that looked more than interesting. HMV had been moved out to Leith in their shopping centre and while I went there last time that area really didn't bear a repeat visit, but on the bus to and from there I did notice Elvis Shakespeare which is one of the best names for a shop ever.

Elvis Shakespeare is full of music and printed words and theguys in the shop were great to talk to and one of them reckoned I was the same age as him (53). There is lots to browse and I walked there on Saturday morning so this was helpful in me hitting 20K steps on Saturday. We chatted and I said the problem now is finding something interesting, ideally on vinyl when I saw a copy of The Beatles' "Magical Mystery Tour" EP , and I loved the film when I saw it as a kid (it had the Bonzo Dog Band and strippers) but remember my uncle's friends bringing it to a party at my parents.

It was released as an album, and I have the DVD of it and now I have it as the 1981 reissue vinyl double EP.

I was talking to the guy and I mentioned that I'd bought the "Star Wars:The Force Awakens" soundtrack on vinyl just for the 3D Tie Fighter and Millenium Falcon hologram etchings which, while they are not hugely impressive to look at, the very fact that someone thought of it , did it, and it works still has my mingd in knots. You can see it here.

As I was leaving I saw a green vinyl copy of "Happy Christmas: War Is Over" by John Lennon and Yoko Ono so I took that as well.

On the Sunday I was in FOPP and heard someone asking about a Star Wars soundtrack with a hologram, the assistant wasn't sure so I told him what it was and it turned out that the guy asking was the guy from Elvis Shakespeare , so that was a coincidence.

So maybe I will go for "Happy Christmas:War Is Over" for you to listen to. Have a great Tuesday everybody.

Tuesday 11 April 2017

I Have A Theremin And I am Going To Use It


For some reason I decided I wanted a theremin, then found this theremin app on Amazon. If you want I'd suggest you get the free version and I use the play store as Amazon decided I didn't own a number of apps I'd downloaded from them. Suggestions were made that I could deinstall go and do something online and then reinstall and then they might work. My time is worth a lot more than the the few pounds I've lost, so I use Google Play Store, as my Samsung Note 4 is Android (although BlueTooth doesn't work now and Google & Samsung like Apple won't acknowledge that the problem exists, so I have to use wired headphones).

Anyway I'm still playing with my Tascam home studio and the theremin will be great fun to add to the recordings. My phone also has a great drum machine on that I paid for from the Play Store (Rock Drum Machine) so along with my guitars, keyboard and voice I have everything I need to do what I want apart from the ability to play or sing properly, but it's amazing that now you can have a full studio effectively in your bedroom.

Apparently the theremin was invented accidentally (it was meant to be an alarm) but Leon Theremin (Термéн) patented it in 1928 (see here)and it's been a staple of many science fiction soundtracks and even Midsomer Murders!

I've included "Noises For The Leg" by The Bonzo Dog Band so you can hear a theremin in action, and a live take so you can see a leg theremin in use in Brighton. Have a great Tuesday everybody.

Saturday 19 November 2016

Today's Rock and Roll Call - #ALifeInNumbers #56



This is another contrived shoe in , but it's a great and funny record. It was released in 1956 (even older than me) and starts off counting to and from ten 1-2-3-4-  56 -7-8-9-10. Like all great comedy the Goons were very hit and miss, but for me "Bloodnok's Rock and Roll Call" is a definite hit.

This morning I was hoping to update Song of the Salesman but it's running slow , the support adon't seem to have a clue. It's funny how so much technology support is outsourced to the cheapest bidder regardless of their ability to do the job. But that's the world we live in today.

Still this week I have got to see The Bonzo Dog Band and Half Man Half Biscuit , found a great venue in the most ridiculously inaccessible town centre location. I do loke walking in parks but not after a late gig finish on a cold rainy night. Wylam Brewery's Grand Hall in The Palace of Arts is impressive though.

Anyway enjoy this wonderfully sunny day and if you fancy some lovely food and drink slip down to Wildflower Cafe on Westgate Road.

The Palace of Arts

Wednesday 16 November 2016

Mortality - #ALifeInNumbers #53



A weird thing happened last night. I was going to see The Bonzo Dog Band at the Sage and decided to walk from the centre of town to the Sage over the Tyne Bridge. As you walk over the bridge there's a big sign with the Samaritans phone number to help people who may be thinking of ending it because things are so bad jumping over the side is the only way they can see of dealing with things. I know how easy it is to jump over the side because I did it in a charity abseil. While I have fleetingly thought of that once or twice in my life I reasoned that was not the way to make things better, also the number of people I would hurt by doing that weighed on my mind, and am I in a good place now.

Watching the Bonzo's it was great to see Rodney Slater (75) saying the crowd were getting better at getting older and a great night was had by all. After the gig it 15 minutes til the next bus and I walked back across the Bridge and had looked over the side and got vertigo, but when you come into Newcastle it's wonderful that you are walking above the rooftops. But again it is worrying that the exit option is so close. If ever you feel like this talk to friends or Samaritans, think of your friends, loved ones and people who rely on. We probably don't tell each other how much we like or love each other.

The other thing is that the older we get the more likely we are to lose friends and loved ones, Leonard Cohen recently declared he was gong to live forever on the front of the Times Culture magazine. I think he had a feeling he was on his way and was displaying his wonderful sense of humour. Enjoy your time with loved ones and friends, that will give you memories that will stay with you forever.

One other thing is that while I was waiting for the bus there's a psychological block that tells you it's a long way because it's across the river. I walked up to St James in around 15 minutes and saw my bus at the traffic lights , so had to then run 250 yards, which luckily I can still do.

Anyway back to #ALifeInNumbers and we hit 53. Sorry if this has been dark, it's actually meant to be positive and helpful.The song is "53rd and 3rd" by The Ramones and we have the album version and a live version with Rancid. This is classic Ramones and a great way to wake up your Wednesday.

Have a great day by friends, the weekend is in sight.



Monday 14 November 2016

A Short One - #ALifeInNumbers #51



This is just a very short post.This morning I seem to have been doing lots of things with no end product.  I 'm going to be positive thought , this week I am going to see The Bonzo Dog Band and Half Man Half Biscuit and over the weekend I managed to to vent my spleen about bad and annoying things, although that may happen this week. Anyway good morning to you all, and it's time to hit the week head on.

We're up to number 51 on #ALifeInNumbers and it's the excellent "51st Anniversary" by The Jimi Hendrix Experience a great way to kick start the week. Unfortunately there's very little Hendrix available on YouTube so I've included a cover by the excellent Hamsters.

So have a great day my friends.

Sunday 9 October 2016

Eleven Moustachioed Daughters? #ALifeInNumbers #11


There was only ever going to be one Number Eleven and that is Eleven Moustachioed Daughters by The Bonzo Dog Band , a song I'm sure that everyone knows, or everyone that reads this will now know. I've chosen this excellent live rendition by Viv Stanshall's post Bonzo's band BiG Grunt (that's not a typo although it may have been originally.

 The Bonzo's started out as a bit trad jazz ut all the members had ideas about the direction they wanted to go, very involved in the TV Comedy "Do Not Adjust Your Set" with many of  the pre Python Monty Python team,

While I had heard them on "Do Not Adjust Your Set" and they had a hit single with "Urban Spaceman" I was amazed by the breadth and depth of their music when I put on "The Doughnut In Granny's Greenhouse" and the first track "We Are Normal" blew me away , normal this band definitely was not.

Eleven
By the time you hit the last track on side two "11 Moustachioed Daughters" you realise that you havecovered a hell of a lot of ground with these guys, after the rock, pop , jazz, comedy and everything else the hit you with this rhythmic pagan chant which is both frightening and funny and you do want to hear it again and again.

I once heard that The Bonzo's were the UK's Mothers of Invention (originally Zappa wanted them to be called The Mothers but the record company forced the to add "Of Invention" for decency, don't you love marketing sensibilities) , and Frank Zappa and Captain Beefheart were hug fans of The Bonzos.









Anyway enjoy this, and your record collection should really contain a copy of "The Doughnut In Granny's Greenhouse".

Right it's six am on Sunday morning, it's dark. and I am going back to bed.

Have a brilliant Sundaty everybody.

Tuesday 9 August 2016

Carnival Dumpster - An Experiment


When I write blog posts I often get sidetracked and end up writing about things that weren't there when I started writing. This is just to see if I can write something reasonably focused.

People have described be as a Corbynista , because I am generally left wing. It's more about caring that people get the best and are not mistreated and stay under the heel of privileged classes. I will expand this in my new blog And Annoyingly but I started out as a Tory voter (my dad still is) , and recently watched an excellent TED talk by a right wing conservative here which rightly points out that in the modern world we need to work together , watch it here it's excellent.

No Do Vote - Please
I'm also reading PJ O'Rourke's "Don't Vote, It Only Encourages The Bastards" which again has a lot of useful and pertinent points in there . His one paragraph evaluation of Donald Trump is brilliant which is basically "if he didn't have paroled Enron accountants he'd be worth less than your cat"


The title of the post is just something that came to me and basically I suppose with what I've been going on about is surreally appropriate.

Anyway there is only one song that this post can have, and that's the Bonzo Dog Band's "No Matter Who You Vote For, The Government Always Gets In".

Have a totally wonderful day everybody.

Sunday 12 July 2015

We All Make Mistakes .. And Often That's Good


Someone asked me if I knew about the Alberts as they'd seen a great documentary on them. I said yes, I have , and have a couple of their records, and whilst they were influential I thought, they're hardly the sort of band who would merit a documentary, especially now. Although I then pondered and thought well, with today's access to recording and media , anyone who's willing to put the work in can actually make a documentary about anything. In an experiment I did a very short one about Staddle Stones here just to see if I could talk about something maybe people had wondered about. It was unprepared, so I just said what I knew, but there's a good example of the story of of mine and John Peel's second favourite song about Liverpool , Amsterdam's "Does This Train Stop On Merseyside" here. Anyway that's by the by...
It's All Jazz

The band I was talking about was the trad jazz band The Alberts, from the early sixties who were a big influence on The Bonzo Dog Band and other less illustrious musical combos. I'm not sure if they even made any albums , as I can only find odd tracks on compilations.






They were talking about Alberts an Australian music dynasty , responsible for bands such as AC/DC and the Easybeats and many, many more and a new documentary called Blood and Thunder that has been released documenting their history. The trailer of it is below. So it's just an example of how you can be talking about the same thing but actually be talking about something different. While searching for this I found a documentary on The Easybeats here. which is well worth a visit.

And the good thing about mistakes like this is that you can discover even more about stuff that you didn't know about, a great example of a good mistake.

Anyway hope you enjoy the music , and I hope this post isn't marked as abusive and offensive by Facebook like the last one was. Have a great Sunday everybody


Sunday 23 March 2014

So Glad and English As Tuppence



That people are enjoying my blue sky pictures, it's always nice when you do things that people like. Today we've had more gorgeous blue skies. I've been out for a couple of walks and yesterday mowed the lawn for the first time this yeatr and the garden is looking fine after the winter.

I'd ordered some Aftercut from Amazon and Yodel delivered in a huge box on Saturday, so we shall see how that performs. I need to change the bird feeders as the plastic perspex ones don't seem to do for the birds here, so I'm going to pick up a couple of wire ones and hopefully the birds will enjoy that.

The Local Church
I'm listening to Radio 6 and an advertisement came on for a program called "English As Tuppence" about Vivian Stanshall singer with the Bonzo Dog Band, presented by their musical leader Neil Innes. You can listen here for the next week, though it is three hours long. Now this would be ideal to listen to on the way to work but as you can get a consistent signal between Newcastle and Darlington and they don't let you download radio broadcasts I'll just listen at home.

Enjoy the rest of the weekend, I certainly will do