Music

Thoroughly enjoyed 2 hours of ‘The Story of The Who’ last night on BBC4. What a story it was. The ultimate rock’n’roll band. A Rolls Royce driven into a swimming pool, copious amounts of drugs, lots of girls and the premature death of two band members. During one gig, Moon was carried off stage - completely comatose. 30 years on, Pete Townshend looked visibly choked when talking about the (not wholly unexpected) death of Keith Moon and Roger Daltrey remarked ‘Keith seemed to think he was invincible. He thought I am “Keith Moon of The Who”.’ ...

The Fall - Hazel Grove Youth Club (1979) - ‘We are The Fall. Rule One: no-one gets on stage. Rule Two: no spitting. Rule Three: no requests.’ The Chameleons - Salford University (1984) - The Manchester gigs just seemed so much more manic. The Fall - Stockport College (1979) - Not so much a stage as a large step. Standing three feet away from a snarling Mark E. Smith and his carrier bag. The Chameleons - Gallery (1982) - Notable for a gigantic leap by skinhead from the gallery onto the dance floor. When we left, we found him lying semi-conscious on the pavement outside. The Fall - Manchester Poly (1980) - Compered by the late John Peel. Smith waded into the crowd to sort out a brave individual who doused him in lager. The Smiths - Brixton Academy (1986) - Little did we know it but turned out to be the final Smiths show. Morrissey walking on wielding ‘The Queen is dead’ placard. Pure theatre. The Smiths, The Fall and New Order - G-Mex (1986) - If The Chameleons had been present, my life would have been complete. The Fall - Walthamstow (1986) - ‘Bend Sinister’ tour with Brix and two drummers. So fantastic we went to Woolwich the next night. U2 - Warwick University Arts Centre (1981) - U2 blown away by an unknown support band; ‘Hi - We’re The Chameleons and we’re from Manchester.’ The Chameleons - Shepherd’s Bush Empire (2001) - Reunion gig - After 14 long years, as if they had never been away. The Fall - Lyceum Ballroom (1984) - sad to say, I went on my own and taped this show with a cheap Saisho walkman from Dixons.

REM - Country Feedback ‘Crazy, all the lovers have been tagged.’

I went to see ‘Control’ last night which is a film directed by Anton Corbijn about the life of Ian Curtis, lead singer with Joy Division. The film is based on the book ‘Touching From A Distance’ by Curtis’ wife, Debbie and is as much about the disintegration of Curtis’ marriage when he embarks on an affair with a music journalist, Annik Honore, as the story of Joy Division. The film was brilliant and, in particular, Sam Riley’s performance as Ian Curtis was exceptional. The visual likeness was uncanny, the butterfly dancing, the eyes, the clothes, even the way he clutches the microphone. Everything about Riley’s performance was perfect. ...

Enjoyed this BBC4 program on the history of Factory with lots of interviews with Tony Wilson, Peter Saville, Vini Reilly, Shaun and Paul Ryder, Stephen Morris, Peter Hook and Bernard Sumner. So many amusing anecdotes and quotes: New Order insisted on playing live on TOTP and, unusually, ‘Blue Monday’ promptly fell down the charts thanks to their abysmal performance (Sumner’s appalling vocals). Martin Hannett’s unconventional approach to production: ‘He used to piss the drummer off so he would hit the drums harder.’ ...

Thanks for bringing us Joy Division, New Order, The Hacienda and your faith and passion for Manchester. From The Times: ‘His name change to Anthony H. Wilson was, he once said, to’ “wind up all the people in Manchester who think I’m a flash t***.” 57 years young. Much too soon. RIP.

The 80’s pop star - Prince - simultaneously delighted both his fans and horrified the music industry with his shock inclusion of a disposable CD with a leading (shurely shome mishtake) UK Sunday newspaper. Norman Brightside, an avid Daily Mail reader, was absolutely delighted with the complimentary inclusion of ‘Planet Earth’ with his £1.40 Mail on Sunday. ‘I simply love ‘The Artiste Formerly Known As Prince’. Whenever I get invited to a fancy dress or themed party, guess who I always go as ? With this latest gift from The King (geddit?), we really are ‘going to party like it is 1999’. I had heard a rumour that his latest CD would cost £8.99 and include a free copy of the Daily Mail but this surpasses all my expectations. Let’s go crazy !’ ‘I am hosting a dinner party on December 18. Normally, I like to get things underway with some David Gray, bread-sticks and dips followed by Dire Straits and amusingly shaped carrots that resemble human genitalia. However, this free copy of ‘Planet Earth’ will make an ideal ice-breaker and help initiate stimulating conversation for at least 3 minutes.’ ...

That set list in full Theme from ‘CSI’ Track ripped off from ‘Quadrophenia’ Theme from ‘CSI: Miami’ Another track shamelessly ripped off from ‘Quadrophenia’ Theme from ‘CSI: New York (Series 5)’ Song ripped off from ‘Tommy’ Theme from ‘CSI: Special Victims Unit’ Encore: Terrible cover version of ‘My Generation’ by The Zimmers

A great weekend for the middle-aged, barstool musical correspondent. Music and chat from Iggy and The Stooges on Jonathan Ross. I never realised ‘Elves’ by The Fall was such a complete rip-off of ‘I wanna be your dog’. Seven Ages of Rock Black Flag, R.E.M, Pixies and Nirvana. ‘Some people can not do that and will not do that.’ (simple bass riff) - Kim Deal on ‘Where is my mind’ ‘It had to end right there. Right with that scream. Right with that song. Right with that howl’ - Scott Litt on Kurt Cobain’s final words on ‘Where Did You Sleep Last Night’ ...

Generally, the quality of cover versions on YouTube can vary to say the least. However, covers that purely mime to the original soundtrack are excellent as you can simply minimise the video and listen to decent music, you were forced to remove to make way for another yet another virtual machine. This cover version of ‘Aneurysm’ by Nirvana has a certain visual appeal though - the drums and cymbal, the bendy guitar and the socks. ...