This month’s earworms are just snatches of songs, a few lines here and there that I sing involuntarily. The first is Ne-Yo’s “So Sick”, a song I didn’t hear when it first came out. It was a UK #1 ten years ago this month, when my wife had her last Big Birthday, and when she… Continue reading April’s Earworms: Ne-Yo, Culture and Kitty Kallen
Is music a spandrel? This is a question I have discussed with many people over the years, usually beginning with a definition of the word spandrel. The term comes from architecture and has been borrowed to describe the by-product of an evolutionary adaptation, like flight in birds. Feathers evolved to keep birds warm, but they… Continue reading Word of the week: spandrel
“Buffalo Soldier”: the song came to mind while reading Marlon James’s “A Brief History of Seven Killings” this month. As I progressed through the book, every time I put it down (or switched off my Kindle, or exited the Kindle App on a computer) it was “Buffalo Soldier” that went through my mind. I was… Continue reading March’s Earworm: “Buffalo Soldier”
Some years ago, during a conversation with an old school-friend, the subject turned to languages. He’s been based in Christchurch New Zealand for many years and knows a lot more about Maori culture and language than I will ever know. He told me about the Maori idea of 100 songs to learn a language, and… Continue reading 100 songs to learn a language
In 2014 I watched the movie “High Society” on DVD, the first time I’ve sat and watched it all the way through since the 1970s. As a family we have spent plenty of time and money on musicals and musical theatre in recent years, including theatre trips to “Mamma Mia” (twice), “Matilda” and “Charlie and… Continue reading Musicals for children, or not
Some years ago I stood three feet away from Paul Weller at a gig in a fairly small London venue. It was at the Half Moon in Putney in August 2011. Ian McLagan (former keyboard player with Small Faces and The Faces) was playing, solo, and I went on my own. A friend who was… Continue reading Keeping out of sight
January’s earworm (“Keep yourself Alive”) has been displaced. The song that’s on my mind constantly these days is “(What’s so funny ’bout) Peace, Love and Understanding?” The first version that I heard, well over 30 years ago, was this one by Elvis Costello, where he spits out the words in an appropriate post-punk manner. I… Continue reading February’s earworm: “Peace, love and understanding”
If I had been writing this Blog a year ago I would have written about the closure of the old 12 Bar Club in Denmark Street, in January 2015. I said my farewells the month before that in typical fashion: a drunken Saturday night watching punk-themed bands. The headliners were Banjoey Ramone, Ramones songs played… Continue reading Farewell to the 12 Bar Club, again
Earworm. I first came across the word in this Guardian article, over ten years ago. At the time Kylie’s “Can’t get you out of my head” was listed as the #1 earworm, and it might still be top now. My current earworm is the Queen song “Keep yourself alive” (even more than “Starman”, which I… Continue reading Earworms and “Keep yourself alive”
Over the years many musicians and commentators have noted the significance of David Bowie’s performance of “Starman” on “Top of the Pops” in 1972. I remember Gary Kemp in particular discussing how powerful it was for him. It came up in a BBC documentary about Mick Ronson, and then in the run-up to the Bowie… Continue reading David Bowie in black and white
The Compartments 