Welcome to info.cern.ch
The website of the world's first-ever web server
1990 was a momentous year in world events. In February, Nelson Mandela was freed after 27 years in prison. In April, the space shuttle Discovery carried the Hubble Space Telescope into orbit. And in October, Germany was reunified.
Then at the end of 1990, a revolution took place that changed the way we live today.
Tim Berners-Lee
Tim Berners-Lee followed his dream of a better, easier way to communicate via computers on a global scale, which led him to create the World Wide Web.
CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research, is where it all began in March 1989. A physicist, Tim Berners-Lee, wrote a proposal for information management showing how information could be transferred easily over the Internet by using hypertext, the now familiar point-and-click system of navigating through information. The following year, Robert Cailliau, a systems engineer, joined in and soon became its number one advocate.
The idea was to connect hypertext with the Internet and personal computers, thereby having a single information network to help CERN physicists share all the computer-stored information at the laboratory. Hypertext would enable users to browse easily between texts on web pages using links. The first examples were developed on NeXT computers.
Berners-Lee created a browser-editor with the goal of developing a tool to make the Web a creative space to share and edit information and build a common hypertext. What should they call this new browser: The Mine of Information? The Information Mesh? When they settled on a name in May 1990, it was the WorldWideWeb.
Friday, February 29, 2008
DICK GREGORY ON BILL CLINTON'S "BLACKNESS"
DICK GREGORY IS THE MAN. ALWAYS BEEN THE REAL DEAL, HE NEVER BLUFFS !
Kid's Pimp Suit Costume - Price: $ 39.99 ???
Kid's Pimp Suit Costume (Size:X-small 4-6)
Other products by BOS
Price: $39.99
Availability: In Stock. Ships from and sold by Brands on Sale.
Only 3 left in stock--order soon.
THEY DIDN'T HAVE THESE WHEN I WAS A KID !
YES, IT REAL
New From Playmobil - Security Check Point
YES, THIS IS REALLY ON AMAZON.COM
The customer reviews are hilarious !!!
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
722 of 734 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars Great lesson for the kids!, September 9, 2005
By loosenut (Seattle, WA) - See all my reviews
I was a little disappointed when I first bought this item, because the functionality is limited. My 5 year old son pointed out that the passenger's shoes cannot be removed. Then, we placed a deadly fingernail file underneath the passenger's scarf, and neither the detector doorway nor the security wand picked it up. My son said "that's the worst security ever!". But it turned out to be okay, because when the passenger got on the Playmobil B757 and tried to hijack it, she was mobbed by a couple of other heroic passengers, who only sustained minor injuries in the scuffle, which were treated at the Playmobil Hospital.
The best thing about this product is that it teaches kids about the realities of living in a high-surveillence society. My son said he wants the Playmobil Neighborhood Surveillence System set for Christmas. I've heard that the CC TV cameras on that thing are pretty worthless in terms of quality and motion detection, so I think I'll get him the Playmobil Abu-Gharib Interogation Set instead (it comes with a cute little memo from George Bush).
Comment Comments (2) | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? YesNo (Report this)
191 of 204 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars Missing an important item, February 23, 2008
By Alexander E. Paulsen "AlexP" (Jacksonville, Fl United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)
Durability:4.0 out of 5 stars Fun:3.0 out of 5 stars Educational:2.0 out of 5 stars
This is great learning too for young brownshirts.
I am waiting for a few accessories though, kids size jackboots and a toy Taser. Think how much fun that will be for your young Martin Bormann types. I envision a low voltage say 5KV instead of 50kv to give a realistic but non-hazardous jolt.
Next we can have a nice Nerf Nightstick and little Heinrich can have great start getting ready for his future job with the TSA, local police force or the new STASI ( Secure Transportation And Safety Inititive)
Be the first on your block.
I also look forward to the upcoming Halliburton Play detention center real simulated barbed wire.
Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? YesNo (Report this)
186 of 189 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Educational and Fun!, February 27, 2008
By Zampano (New York City) - See all my reviews
Durability:5.0 out of 5 stars Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars Educational:5.0 out of 5 stars
Thank you Playmobil for allowing me to teach my 5-year old the importance of recognizing what a failing bureaucracy in a ever growing fascist state looks like. Sometimes it's a hard lesson for kids to learn because not all pigs carry billy clubs and wear body armor. I applaud the people who created this toy for finally being hip to our changing times. Little children need to be aware that not all smiling faces and uniforms are friendly. I noticed that my child is now more interested in current events. Just the other day he asked me why we had to forfeit so much of our liberties and personal freedoms and I had to answer "well, it's because the terrorists have already won". Yes, they have won.
I also highly recommend the Playmobil "farm fencing" so you can take your escorted airline passenger away and fence him behind bars as if he were in Guantanamo Bay.
Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? YesNo (Report this)
Thursday, February 28, 2008
Sécrétions Magnifiques perfume - blood, sweat, saliva and a dollop of sperm
Want a scent with a distinct fragrance that no one else has?
Well, blood, sweat, saliva and a dollop of sperm is just the thing for the stinking rich, if a perfume on sale at Harvey Nichols is anything to go by.
Sécrétions Magnifiques perfume
The Sécrétions Magnifiques perfume
The perfume, Sécrétions Magnifiques, contains the smell of all those things and still sells for £76 a pop.
Maker Etat Libre d'Orange markets it as a raunchy alternative to the likes of Poison and Chanel No.5, calling it 'subversive' and 'disturbing'.
The company said: 'It's love or hate at first sight. Like blood, sweat, sperm, saliva, Sécrétions Magnifiques is as real as an olfactory coitus that sends one into raptures, to the pinnacle of sensual pleasure.
'Tongues and sexes find one another, pleasure explodes and all goes wild.'
The perfume mixes accords – a blending of scents – to recreate the smell of blood, sweat, saliva and semen with the more pleasant odours of coconut and sandalwood. Perfume expert Roja Dove said the aroma was a refreshing alternative to bland fragrances.
'The kind of people who will like this range are people who think they are being really, really alternative and going against the establishment and being really rather racy,' he said.
'But it is a bit of a mystery why anyone would want to smell of sweat, blood, saliva and sperm.'
Another perfume in the range is Jasmin et Cigarette, which does exactly what it says on the tin, stinking of jasmine and uh, cigarettes.
A spokesman for Harvey Nichols, the only shop in the country to stock the range, insisted it was popular. 'Niche fragrances tend to do very well in our fragrance offering,' he said.
William Frank Buckley, Jr. November 24, 1925 – February 27, 2008
William Frank Buckley, Jr. (November 24, 1925 – February 27, 2008)[1] was an American author and conservative commentator. He founded the political magazine National Review in 1955, hosted the television show Firing Line from 1966 until 1999, and was a nationally syndicated newspaper columnist. His writing style was famed for its erudition, wit, and use of uncommon words.[2]
Buckley's primary intellectual achievement was to fuse traditional American political conservatism with libertarianism, laying the groundwork for the modern American conservatism of U.S. Presidential candidate Barry Goldwater and U.S. President Ronald Reagan. Further, though later, Buckley reminded Western U.S. Conservatives to activate and be represented to encourage lower taxes, smaller government, balanced-budgets and less spending for foreign, illegal wars.
THIS IS A GREAT CLIP AS GORE VIDAL CALLS BUCKLEY A CRYPTO - NAZI, BUCKLEY CALLS VIDAL A QUEER. HE THEN THREATENS TO BITCH SLAP HIM ...AWESOME !!!
Buckley's primary intellectual achievement was to fuse traditional American political conservatism with libertarianism, laying the groundwork for the modern American conservatism of U.S. Presidential candidate Barry Goldwater and U.S. President Ronald Reagan. Further, though later, Buckley reminded Western U.S. Conservatives to activate and be represented to encourage lower taxes, smaller government, balanced-budgets and less spending for foreign, illegal wars.
THIS IS A GREAT CLIP AS GORE VIDAL CALLS BUCKLEY A CRYPTO - NAZI, BUCKLEY CALLS VIDAL A QUEER. HE THEN THREATENS TO BITCH SLAP HIM ...AWESOME !!!
FINALLY - EYEBALL TATOOS ???
If the sight of someone being needled with a normal tattoo is enough to make your eyes water, then it might be best to look away now.
For body-art enthusiasts have developed a new technique that gives a whole new meaning to beauty being in the eye of the beholder.
What is thought to be the first ever "eyeball tattoo" has been inflicted on a man in Toronto - good news, perhaps, for anyone who ever dreamed of having blue eyes.
The tattooer injected ink into the eyeball of volunteer Pauly Unstoppable using a needle, until his eye was completely blue.
Just in case you weren't yet feeling squeamish enough, bear in mind that it took more than 40 tries before the eye was filled with ink.
The blue substance used was mixed with antibiotic eyewash.
The experiment was carried out for Canadian company ModProm, with those taking part insisting that Pauly would not go blind.
Pauly himself declared: "I really have to emphasize again that the procedure was extensively researched and done by people who were aware of the risks and possible complications and that it should not be casually attempted.
"Now that this experiment has been started, please wait for us to either heal or go blind before trying it."
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
iPods Are for Pod People
Digital revolution replaces listening to music by filing it
I just picked up the new issue of UGLY THINGS, Mike Stax's wonderful bi-annual garage rock music mag, and had an epiphany while reading Tim Earnshaw' "Ugly Thinks" column. Earnshaw was writing about how the iPod Generation's almost unlimited access to songs has made listening to music routine.
"When you have routine access to thousands of songs, listening to music can be routine."
Yes, so true! Gil Scott-Heron was wrong. The revolution will be televised. And podcast. And uploaded to the Internet where it can be bit streamed and downloaded via Bit Torrents. But the end result is that the revolution becomes institution. Ordinary. Hum-drum.
Too Much, Too Soon?
Earnshaw observes that "The digital revolution has replaced listening to music by filing it" and earnestly continues:
Related Links:
Ugly Things website (www.ugly-things.com)
Ugly Things (Wikipedia)
I just picked up the new issue of UGLY THINGS, Mike Stax's wonderful bi-annual garage rock music mag, and had an epiphany while reading Tim Earnshaw' "Ugly Thinks" column. Earnshaw was writing about how the iPod Generation's almost unlimited access to songs has made listening to music routine."When you have routine access to thousands of songs, listening to music can be routine."
Yes, so true! Gil Scott-Heron was wrong. The revolution will be televised. And podcast. And uploaded to the Internet where it can be bit streamed and downloaded via Bit Torrents. But the end result is that the revolution becomes institution. Ordinary. Hum-drum.
Full disclosure: I have an iPod Shuffle. Which I sometimes enjoy, especially when riding mass transit or walking down the street as it allows me to ignore crazy people screaming at me or asking me for money. But, like the Replicants in Bladerunner, I'm physical. That is, I like to have and to hold my music, in my hand, with liner notes and pictures. (Hopelessly Old School, I know.)
Too Much, Too Soon?
Earnshaw observes that "The digital revolution has replaced listening to music by filing it" and earnestly continues:
It's a long way from having the choice of how many times you're going to play this single, to having the choice of listening to pretty much anything you want, and I'm not convinced it's made the core experience, the listening, any more intense.
The iPod generation has its own illusory random access generator. Sure, the shuffle feature may seem to enable fugitive listening, but unless you stole the damn thing you're going to have a pretty good idea of what's on there, and it's only the sequence that surprises. Downloading MP3s from the internet has become a listening-replacement activity in itself. We all know the pulpy guy with bad skin who spends more time hunting for and downloading MP3s (stock his basement for the apocalypse) than he does listening to them, filling additional hard disks with material he has vague plans, perhaps, of getting around to listening to someday. When choice of listening is determined by a mouse click, not even requiring the slothlike physical activity of crawling to the stereo and the knee-crippling crouch by the [record shelf] racks, skipping from the Misunderstood to Burning Spear in mid-song has never been easier, so that's all you tend to do, like zapping the TV...the stoned communion has become partitioned office-work, or white-wired isolation on public transport. iPods are for pod people.
Radio? It's become so niched, with musical surprise being deemed a Bad Thing for a healthy demographic, that I doubt it has the revelatory power it used to. And now, more of the same, to take you up to the news at the top of the hour. You're missed, John Peel.
For me, and perhaps for you, the idea that anything new and exciting is even possible anymore in pop and rock, in the sense that it damn well was back then, is a vague hope at best...
What we need is to hear the music for the first time again, to be swept up out of the world by grace, not choice."
Related Links:
Ugly Things website (www.ugly-things.com)
Ugly Things (Wikipedia)
Forward Into the Past
No Future? Rewind. Playback.
I love music compilation records and I recently picked up the following two '70s and '80s punk/DIY/New Wave CD comps as part of my ever increasing musical Completion Backward Principle. The obvious big name compilations for music of this time period are the Stiff Records Box Set, Hyped2Death's Messthetics DIY comps and Rhino's Postpunk Chronicles/Left of the Dial series, but here are some worthy supplements to the cause, both of them imports from across the pond: D-I-Y: DO IT YOURSELF (Soul Jazz Records) and A PUNK + NEW WAVE EXPLOSION! (Spectrum).
D-I-Y: DO IT YOURSELF (Soul Jazz Records)
This great compilation from the fine-taste arbiters at Soul Jazz Records takes a look at "the rise of independent music industry after punk" in the UK. Its 22 tracks span the years 1977 to 1986, and while a few are obvious or familiar names (Buzzcocks, Scritti Politti , Swell Maps, Throbbing Gristle, Thomas Leer) the rest are complete unknowns to me - but pleasant discoveries. And it really is a mixed bag, from primal low-tech punk doodlings to to experimental synth noodlings, with funk, dub, electronica and synth-pop to boot.
The Buzzcocks' anthemic "Boredom" is the perfect lead-off track, since it served as the First Gen DIY's clarion call when it first appeared on their 1977 Spiral Scratch EP. As Howard Devoto spat out the lyrics about being "in a movie that doesn't move me," Pete Shelley played punk's most famous two-note guitar solo as if to reenforce the "why bother?" attitude of Devoto's disposable ennui. 30 years on have not dulled this song's brilliance, ba-dum ba-dum.
Speaking of minimalist, even better is the follow-up track "Aint You" by Kleenex, Switzerland's first all-girl punk group. Along with England's Slits and Raincoats, these art school babes from Zurich were one of the first three all-gal bands of the punk era when they formed in 1978 and the first Swiss punk export when this song from their 4-track EP made its way to London to be played on John Peel's radio show. They subsequently had to change their name to LiliPUT in 1980 when Kimberly Clark, the company that owned the copyright to the tissue brandname had their lawyers ask the girls "Aint you wanna cut it out?" to which they reluctantly answered in the affirmative. As SF Weekly critic Lawrence Kay succintly described Kleenex's sound, "Music like this doesn't have to be pretty or nice; it just has to make the plaster rattle before the walls cave in." Done and done.
Kleenex: Tissues became issues
After that it's all virgin territory to my ears. Even though I had one single by Swell Maps and had heard material from krautrocker Thomas Leer and Throbbing Gristle, I know not from these songs and most of the bands.
Kleenex is followed by two post-punk Scottish bands, A.P.B (for All Points Bulletin?) doing a funky little instrumental called "All Your Life with Me," followed by Edinburgh's Fire Engines performing the jaggly guitar-driven "Everything's Roses." According to Wikipedia, the Fire Engines released a limited edition split single with fellow Scots Franz Ferdinand in 2004, with each band covering a song by the other.
Naffi's "Slice 1" is a not-unenjoyable 4 minutes and 18 seconds of fret noodling, while Swell Maps' "Let's Build a Car" is, well, swell.
I found Patrik Fitzgerald's "Babysitter" highly amusing ("At least she don't molest your baby"), his Cockney accent and subject matter reminding me of Manchester's punk poet laureate John Cooper Clarke. Apparently he once auditioned alongside Mick Jones and Tony James for the band London SS and toured with The Jam, but his best known work remains the Safety-Pin Stuck in My Heart EP, which he subtitled "a love song for punk music."
Artery's "The Slide" is all go-nowhere tribal percussion backing Cockney chanting about things like "I don't want a wife! I don't want a wife! I don't want a wife!". All fine and well, if not exactly breathtaking. This would play well at Baltimore's High Zero experimental music festival.
Blurt's "The Fish Needs a Bike" sets aggressivley screeching guitars against squawking saxophones in a high-tension affair straight out of the Gang of Four playbook while a Teuton-toned vocalist dementedly repeats "Da feesh need a bike, da feesh need a bike" over and over. Crazy man! According to Wikipedia, Blurt is the brainchild of Gloucester, England's triple threat (poet, saxophonist, puppeteer) Ted Milton. Wikipedia adds, "Blurt's compositions are based around repetitive minimalistic guitar and/or saxophone phrases with relentless, machine-like drum beats, over which Ted Milton orates his lyrics in a variety of 'voices'." It works for me.
The Glaxo Babies' "Shake the Foundations" is pure dance music, bordering on disco, while The Flys' "Love and a Molotov Cocktail" is more grounded to punk rock simplicity, its dogmatically chanted chorus sounding very much like early Clash.
Russ McDonald's "Looking from the Cooking Pot" is downright wiggy, all beeps and blips and odd percolating noises from a sonic stew at full kettle. Who is this guy?
On more familiar ground, the Leeds-based Scritti Politti's debut single "Skank Bloc Bolgna" (1978) is all hair-raisingly tense guitars and socio-politico warblings from lead deconstructionist Green Gartside. In other words, it's ab fab, and on the strength of this DIY effort - and some helpful airplay on John Peel's radio show - the band got signed to Geoff Travis' Rough Trade label in 1979.
Next up is Windows (doesn't Bill Gates own this word in every conext by now?) performing the dubby, effects-laden "Creation Rebel." I know nada about Windows, but the song is nice background music. Likewise I'm clueless about the girls in Icon A.D., but their "Fight for Peace" is a catchy little rocker. According to the only blurb I could find about them on the Interpunk web page (www.interpunk.com), Icon A.D. was "formed in Leeds in 1978 by four school friends aged 16 to 18, all with no musical ability whatsoever but plenty of attitude" who "noticed an advert from Crass who were planning to release an album of ‘unknowns’. They submitted a rehearsal tape and the track ‘Cancer’ was included on the first ‘Bullshit Detector’ on the Crass label." A John Peel session soon followed and, well, stop me if you've heard this one before.
Then things start to get synthed out and icy-cold, beginning with German electronic futurist Thomas Leer on "Tight As a Drum." Genesis P. Orridge's Throbbing Gristle continues the electronic drift with the beautiful "Distant Dreams (Part Two)."
Then it's back to guitars with The Last Gang's single "Spirit of Youth," in which the vocalist sings about love, love, love and hate, hate, hate and wonders "Is there more than this?" (But didn't Byran Ferry already ask if there was "More Than This"?) The avant-garde explorations continue with Biting Tongues' "You Can Choke Like This," in which a steady drumbeat anchors free-form jazz solos from wailing saxes and scratchy guitars.
Tom Lucy does a spot-on Iggy Pop (circa mid-80s) trying to be provocatively outrageous while picking on the "stupid French boys" of "Paris, France." According to Bridge House Records, "Tom Lucy is currently a top stunt arranger for many top films and TV shows and has worked as a stunt double for stars such as Sean Connery. Tom is also first cousin to Darren, the bass player with Wasted Youth and this is the secret behind this release." Apparently, Wasted Youth were blacklisted from radio play (execpt for John Peel, of course!) because of their name. "To see if this theory was true it was decided to put the single out under the name of Tom Lucy because as well as being Darren's cousin he was in the studio every day with the band and contributed to the recording and production of the single. When this single got almost daily radio play it seemed the fears were proved correct. Although pressure was applied on the band by music industry bigwigs to change their name and style but they would not sell out."
And finally Red Lorry Yellow Lorry close the disc with some dour instro funk (think Joy Division transitioning into New Order).
Here's D-I-Y's full track listing.
1 The Buzzcocks - Boredom
2 Kleenex - Ain't You
3 A.P.B. - All Your Life With Me
4 Fire Engines - Everything's Roses
5 The Naffis - Slice 1
6 Swell Maps - Let's Build A Car
7 Patrick Fitzgerald - Babysitter
8 Artery - The Slide
9 Blurt - The Fish Needs A Bike
10 Glaxo Babies - Shake The Foundations
11 The Flys - Love And A Molotov Cocktail
12 Russ McDonald - Looking From The Cooking Pot
13 Scritti Politti - Skank Bloc Bologna
14 Windows - Creation Rebel
15 Icon A.D. - Fight For Peace
16 Thomas Leer - Tight As A Drum
17 The Frantic Elevators - Every Day I Die
18 Throbbing Gristle - Distant Dreams (Part Two)
19 The Last Gang - Spirit Of Youth
20 Biting Tongues - You Can Choke Like That
21 Tom Lucy - Paris, France
22 Red Lorry Yellow Lorry - Paint Your Wagon
A PUNK + NEW WAVE EXPLOSION (Spectrum)
More to my liking is this import compilation that contains simple (mostly) three-minute pop songs - no dubs, no jams, no electronica. I picked up a used copy at Record & Tape Traders mainly for two songs: "Back of My Hand" by The Jags and "Don't Care" by Klark Kent, alias Stewart Copeland of The Police (my all-time favorite drummer, after Baltimore's own Skizz Cyzyk, of course - who is also my favorite fake lefty guitarist). I already had the Jags single and the Klark Kent EP on vinyl, but good luck trying to find these rarities on CD - except on something like this import compilation!
The Jags were a typically mumbly-mouthed Scots band whose powerpoppy "Back of My Hand" was one of the highlights of my "Telephone Songs" mix tape (I used to make lists like these back in the day; other comps included "Girl's Name Songs," "Car Songs," "Train Songs" and so on - I obviously had a LOT of time on my hands! And yes, I totally identified with Nick Hornsby's Hi-Fidelity audiophile). Unfortunately, listening to this song was like watching Trainspotting - I couldn't make out much beyond the chorus of "I got your number written on the back of my hand." I think the singer says something like "I'm not a fuck machine" (if so, I love that line!) but it might just as well be "I know just what you mean" and I think he says something about "dry your eyes" but the broque is so thick it sounds like "dry yer ass" (which gives the song a whole new slant - does the singer have the girl's No. 2 written on the back of his hand?). The track included here is the original single version; apparently a remix version appears on the Best of the Jags CD (God, I hate when they do that - it's like Gerry Todd Remix Overkill Syndrome; you should always put the original versions people first heard when reissuing records - don't get me started on the Richard Hell & The Voidoids Blank Generation CD that subsitutes an alternate version of "Rock and Roll Club" much to my vexation!). Anyway, here's a YouTube clip of the Jags performing "Back of My Hand"; see if you can phonetically decipher it.
Klark Kent's 1978 single "Don't Care" is a great little pop tune with Stewart Copeland's characteristic humorous lyrics ("If you don't like my haircuts, you can SUCK MY SOCKS!"); Sting would cringe at the words, but let's face it, Stu added whatever sense of humor there was to the early Police records (a la "Be My Girl - Sally"). Thank God for good old American pluck! Copeland played all the instruments on the 1980 Klark Kent EP (which was really more like a mini-LP with 8 songs clocking in at almost 25 minutes and was pressed on Kryptonite-green vinyl!), but put together a DEVO-esque masked band for TV appearances, as illustrated in this YouTube clip for "Don't Care."
A very pleasant surprise was hearing Ultravox!'s 1977 single "Young Savage," which would later turn up on their 2nd LP Ha!-Ha!-Ha!. Was anyone a cooler frontman/wordsmith than John Foxx with his rapid-fire delivery and voluminous lyricism that seemed to be equal parts Dylan, Burroughs and J. G. Ballard? From the kick-start opening salvo "The Jekyll-Hyde of you/I can't survive the tide of you" to lines like "Money rents you insulation/Tenderness, asphyxiation," I have no idea what he's talking about, but it sounds so damned good I'm ready to sing his accolades as a post-modern poet of the highest order.
I also liked the way this collection placed two songs about time back to back (synchronicity!), namely the Boomtown Rats' "Like Clockwork" and Joe Jackson's "Got the Time." Listening to the Rats reminded me not only of how effortlessly poppy they were but also of how irritating Sir Bob's voice was (not that my opinion counts for much - after all, he got knighthood/sainthood for his Live Aid work and also got to shag uber-babes like the late Paula Yates). And the superb "Got the Time" reminded me that, before he chucked the killer guitar riffs to become The Piano Man, Joe Jackson and his band - whom I had the pleasure to catch performing at their height in 1980 at Towson State University (perhaps you've heard of it?) - totally rocked. The heavy metal band Anthrax obviously agreed with me, as they covered this song in 1990. Mental note: Pick up the first Joe Jackson album Look Sharp! (1979).
Other highlights include the modish Chords out-Jamming The Jam on "Maybe Tomorrow," Squeeze's first single "Take Me I'm Yours," and Julian Cope's neo-psychedelic The Teardrop Explodes performing "Reward." I remember the Teardrop Explodes being a big deal in the early '80s, with the Liverpudlians even making a pitstop at Baltimore's Marble Bar on March 15, 1981.
The Passions' "I'm In Love with a German Film Star" is a gem, of course, but it already appeared on Rhino's 1998 Postpunk Chronicles: Left of the Dial CD with a better (and louder) mix. I first discovered this song when it was used as the soundtrack of John "Heavy Metal Parking Lot" Heyn's Girls on Film, a short film celebrating the anonymous women who appeared on film countdown reels.
You also get The Slits sounding ultra-cool dabbling with dub and ska on "Typical Girls," Adam & The Ants playing "I see London, I see France" on the amusing "Young Parisians" and Manchester's Slaughter & The Dogs with a typically working-class-punk assault on "Where have All the Bootboys Gone," which could just as easily be a soccer singalong.
There are also two tracks each from The Jam (the excellent "In the City" and "Down in the Tube Station at Midnight"), the progressive-era Damned ("Grimly Fiendish" and "Eloise", from when they added keyboards and high-production values in the mid-'80s; "Eloise" was a cover of Barry Ryan's 1968 #2 hit and when The Damned released their version in 1986, it became their biggest chart success ever, reaching #3 on the UK charts) and, Eddie & The Hot Rods ("Teenage Depression" and "Do Anything You Wanna Do," the latter's chord progressions sounding strikingly like The Records' "Starry Eyes" - no wonder it was their greatest chart success, climbing to #9 on the UK charts in 1977) - though I never understood why these pub rockers were so big; I remember they played the Marble Bar and local bands thought it was a big deal to open for them because they were from the UK and (erroneously) associated with the punk rock scene. Still, "Do Anything You Wanna Do" was a pretty nice tune and probably the best thing they ever did; watch them do the "Do" as "The Rods" on Marc Bolan's Marc Show and see what you think.
Here's the full track listing:
1. In The City - Jam
2. Teenage Depression - Eddie & The Hot Rods
3. Young Savage - Ultravox
4. Like Clockwork - Boomtown Rats
5. Got The Time - Joe Jackson
6. Typical Girls - Slits
7. Young Parisians - Adam & The Ants
8. Grimly Fiendish - Damned
9. Back Of My Hand - Jags
10. Where Have All The Bootboys Gone - Slaughter & The Dogs
11. Don't Care - Klark Kent
12. Maybe Tomorrow - Chords
13. Reward - Teardrop Explodes
14. I'm In Love With A German Film Star - Passions
15. Down In The Tube Station At Midnight - Jam
16. Take Me I'm Yours - Squeeze
17. Do Anything You Wanna Do - Eddie & The Hot Rods
18. Eloise - Damned
I love music compilation records and I recently picked up the following two '70s and '80s punk/DIY/New Wave CD comps as part of my ever increasing musical Completion Backward Principle. The obvious big name compilations for music of this time period are the Stiff Records Box Set, Hyped2Death's Messthetics DIY comps and Rhino's Postpunk Chronicles/Left of the Dial series, but here are some worthy supplements to the cause, both of them imports from across the pond: D-I-Y: DO IT YOURSELF (Soul Jazz Records) and A PUNK + NEW WAVE EXPLOSION! (Spectrum).
D-I-Y: DO IT YOURSELF (Soul Jazz Records)
This great compilation from the fine-taste arbiters at Soul Jazz Records takes a look at "the rise of independent music industry after punk" in the UK. Its 22 tracks span the years 1977 to 1986, and while a few are obvious or familiar names (Buzzcocks, Scritti Politti , Swell Maps, Throbbing Gristle, Thomas Leer) the rest are complete unknowns to me - but pleasant discoveries. And it really is a mixed bag, from primal low-tech punk doodlings to to experimental synth noodlings, with funk, dub, electronica and synth-pop to boot.
The Buzzcocks' anthemic "Boredom" is the perfect lead-off track, since it served as the First Gen DIY's clarion call when it first appeared on their 1977 Spiral Scratch EP. As Howard Devoto spat out the lyrics about being "in a movie that doesn't move me," Pete Shelley played punk's most famous two-note guitar solo as if to reenforce the "why bother?" attitude of Devoto's disposable ennui. 30 years on have not dulled this song's brilliance, ba-dum ba-dum.Speaking of minimalist, even better is the follow-up track "Aint You" by Kleenex, Switzerland's first all-girl punk group. Along with England's Slits and Raincoats, these art school babes from Zurich were one of the first three all-gal bands of the punk era when they formed in 1978 and the first Swiss punk export when this song from their 4-track EP made its way to London to be played on John Peel's radio show. They subsequently had to change their name to LiliPUT in 1980 when Kimberly Clark, the company that owned the copyright to the tissue brandname had their lawyers ask the girls "Aint you wanna cut it out?" to which they reluctantly answered in the affirmative. As SF Weekly critic Lawrence Kay succintly described Kleenex's sound, "Music like this doesn't have to be pretty or nice; it just has to make the plaster rattle before the walls cave in." Done and done.
Kleenex: Tissues became issues
After that it's all virgin territory to my ears. Even though I had one single by Swell Maps and had heard material from krautrocker Thomas Leer and Throbbing Gristle, I know not from these songs and most of the bands.
Kleenex is followed by two post-punk Scottish bands, A.P.B (for All Points Bulletin?) doing a funky little instrumental called "All Your Life with Me," followed by Edinburgh's Fire Engines performing the jaggly guitar-driven "Everything's Roses." According to Wikipedia, the Fire Engines released a limited edition split single with fellow Scots Franz Ferdinand in 2004, with each band covering a song by the other.
Naffi's "Slice 1" is a not-unenjoyable 4 minutes and 18 seconds of fret noodling, while Swell Maps' "Let's Build a Car" is, well, swell.
I found Patrik Fitzgerald's "Babysitter" highly amusing ("At least she don't molest your baby"), his Cockney accent and subject matter reminding me of Manchester's punk poet laureate John Cooper Clarke. Apparently he once auditioned alongside Mick Jones and Tony James for the band London SS and toured with The Jam, but his best known work remains the Safety-Pin Stuck in My Heart EP, which he subtitled "a love song for punk music."Artery's "The Slide" is all go-nowhere tribal percussion backing Cockney chanting about things like "I don't want a wife! I don't want a wife! I don't want a wife!". All fine and well, if not exactly breathtaking. This would play well at Baltimore's High Zero experimental music festival.
Blurt's "The Fish Needs a Bike" sets aggressivley screeching guitars against squawking saxophones in a high-tension affair straight out of the Gang of Four playbook while a Teuton-toned vocalist dementedly repeats "Da feesh need a bike, da feesh need a bike" over and over. Crazy man! According to Wikipedia, Blurt is the brainchild of Gloucester, England's triple threat (poet, saxophonist, puppeteer) Ted Milton. Wikipedia adds, "Blurt's compositions are based around repetitive minimalistic guitar and/or saxophone phrases with relentless, machine-like drum beats, over which Ted Milton orates his lyrics in a variety of 'voices'." It works for me.The Glaxo Babies' "Shake the Foundations" is pure dance music, bordering on disco, while The Flys' "Love and a Molotov Cocktail" is more grounded to punk rock simplicity, its dogmatically chanted chorus sounding very much like early Clash.
Russ McDonald's "Looking from the Cooking Pot" is downright wiggy, all beeps and blips and odd percolating noises from a sonic stew at full kettle. Who is this guy?
On more familiar ground, the Leeds-based Scritti Politti's debut single "Skank Bloc Bolgna" (1978) is all hair-raisingly tense guitars and socio-politico warblings from lead deconstructionist Green Gartside. In other words, it's ab fab, and on the strength of this DIY effort - and some helpful airplay on John Peel's radio show - the band got signed to Geoff Travis' Rough Trade label in 1979.
Next up is Windows (doesn't Bill Gates own this word in every conext by now?) performing the dubby, effects-laden "Creation Rebel." I know nada about Windows, but the song is nice background music. Likewise I'm clueless about the girls in Icon A.D., but their "Fight for Peace" is a catchy little rocker. According to the only blurb I could find about them on the Interpunk web page (www.interpunk.com), Icon A.D. was "formed in Leeds in 1978 by four school friends aged 16 to 18, all with no musical ability whatsoever but plenty of attitude" who "noticed an advert from Crass who were planning to release an album of ‘unknowns’. They submitted a rehearsal tape and the track ‘Cancer’ was included on the first ‘Bullshit Detector’ on the Crass label." A John Peel session soon followed and, well, stop me if you've heard this one before.Then things start to get synthed out and icy-cold, beginning with German electronic futurist Thomas Leer on "Tight As a Drum." Genesis P. Orridge's Throbbing Gristle continues the electronic drift with the beautiful "Distant Dreams (Part Two)."
Then it's back to guitars with The Last Gang's single "Spirit of Youth," in which the vocalist sings about love, love, love and hate, hate, hate and wonders "Is there more than this?" (But didn't Byran Ferry already ask if there was "More Than This"?) The avant-garde explorations continue with Biting Tongues' "You Can Choke Like This," in which a steady drumbeat anchors free-form jazz solos from wailing saxes and scratchy guitars.
Tom Lucy does a spot-on Iggy Pop (circa mid-80s) trying to be provocatively outrageous while picking on the "stupid French boys" of "Paris, France." According to Bridge House Records, "Tom Lucy is currently a top stunt arranger for many top films and TV shows and has worked as a stunt double for stars such as Sean Connery. Tom is also first cousin to Darren, the bass player with Wasted Youth and this is the secret behind this release." Apparently, Wasted Youth were blacklisted from radio play (execpt for John Peel, of course!) because of their name. "To see if this theory was true it was decided to put the single out under the name of Tom Lucy because as well as being Darren's cousin he was in the studio every day with the band and contributed to the recording and production of the single. When this single got almost daily radio play it seemed the fears were proved correct. Although pressure was applied on the band by music industry bigwigs to change their name and style but they would not sell out."And finally Red Lorry Yellow Lorry close the disc with some dour instro funk (think Joy Division transitioning into New Order).
Here's D-I-Y's full track listing.
1 The Buzzcocks - Boredom
2 Kleenex - Ain't You
3 A.P.B. - All Your Life With Me
4 Fire Engines - Everything's Roses
5 The Naffis - Slice 1
6 Swell Maps - Let's Build A Car
7 Patrick Fitzgerald - Babysitter
8 Artery - The Slide
9 Blurt - The Fish Needs A Bike
10 Glaxo Babies - Shake The Foundations
11 The Flys - Love And A Molotov Cocktail
12 Russ McDonald - Looking From The Cooking Pot
13 Scritti Politti - Skank Bloc Bologna
14 Windows - Creation Rebel
15 Icon A.D. - Fight For Peace
16 Thomas Leer - Tight As A Drum
17 The Frantic Elevators - Every Day I Die
18 Throbbing Gristle - Distant Dreams (Part Two)
19 The Last Gang - Spirit Of Youth
20 Biting Tongues - You Can Choke Like That
21 Tom Lucy - Paris, France
22 Red Lorry Yellow Lorry - Paint Your Wagon
A PUNK + NEW WAVE EXPLOSION (Spectrum)
More to my liking is this import compilation that contains simple (mostly) three-minute pop songs - no dubs, no jams, no electronica. I picked up a used copy at Record & Tape Traders mainly for two songs: "Back of My Hand" by The Jags and "Don't Care" by Klark Kent, alias Stewart Copeland of The Police (my all-time favorite drummer, after Baltimore's own Skizz Cyzyk, of course - who is also my favorite fake lefty guitarist). I already had the Jags single and the Klark Kent EP on vinyl, but good luck trying to find these rarities on CD - except on something like this import compilation!
The Jags were a typically mumbly-mouthed Scots band whose powerpoppy "Back of My Hand" was one of the highlights of my "Telephone Songs" mix tape (I used to make lists like these back in the day; other comps included "Girl's Name Songs," "Car Songs," "Train Songs" and so on - I obviously had a LOT of time on my hands! And yes, I totally identified with Nick Hornsby's Hi-Fidelity audiophile). Unfortunately, listening to this song was like watching Trainspotting - I couldn't make out much beyond the chorus of "I got your number written on the back of my hand." I think the singer says something like "I'm not a fuck machine" (if so, I love that line!) but it might just as well be "I know just what you mean" and I think he says something about "dry your eyes" but the broque is so thick it sounds like "dry yer ass" (which gives the song a whole new slant - does the singer have the girl's No. 2 written on the back of his hand?). The track included here is the original single version; apparently a remix version appears on the Best of the Jags CD (God, I hate when they do that - it's like Gerry Todd Remix Overkill Syndrome; you should always put the original versions people first heard when reissuing records - don't get me started on the Richard Hell & The Voidoids Blank Generation CD that subsitutes an alternate version of "Rock and Roll Club" much to my vexation!). Anyway, here's a YouTube clip of the Jags performing "Back of My Hand"; see if you can phonetically decipher it.
Klark Kent's 1978 single "Don't Care" is a great little pop tune with Stewart Copeland's characteristic humorous lyrics ("If you don't like my haircuts, you can SUCK MY SOCKS!"); Sting would cringe at the words, but let's face it, Stu added whatever sense of humor there was to the early Police records (a la "Be My Girl - Sally"). Thank God for good old American pluck! Copeland played all the instruments on the 1980 Klark Kent EP (which was really more like a mini-LP with 8 songs clocking in at almost 25 minutes and was pressed on Kryptonite-green vinyl!), but put together a DEVO-esque masked band for TV appearances, as illustrated in this YouTube clip for "Don't Care."
A very pleasant surprise was hearing Ultravox!'s 1977 single "Young Savage," which would later turn up on their 2nd LP Ha!-Ha!-Ha!. Was anyone a cooler frontman/wordsmith than John Foxx with his rapid-fire delivery and voluminous lyricism that seemed to be equal parts Dylan, Burroughs and J. G. Ballard? From the kick-start opening salvo "The Jekyll-Hyde of you/I can't survive the tide of you" to lines like "Money rents you insulation/Tenderness, asphyxiation," I have no idea what he's talking about, but it sounds so damned good I'm ready to sing his accolades as a post-modern poet of the highest order.I also liked the way this collection placed two songs about time back to back (synchronicity!), namely the Boomtown Rats' "Like Clockwork" and Joe Jackson's "Got the Time." Listening to the Rats reminded me not only of how effortlessly poppy they were but also of how irritating Sir Bob's voice was (not that my opinion counts for much - after all, he got knighthood/sainthood for his Live Aid work and also got to shag uber-babes like the late Paula Yates). And the superb "Got the Time" reminded me that, before he chucked the killer guitar riffs to become The Piano Man, Joe Jackson and his band - whom I had the pleasure to catch performing at their height in 1980 at Towson State University (perhaps you've heard of it?) - totally rocked. The heavy metal band Anthrax obviously agreed with me, as they covered this song in 1990. Mental note: Pick up the first Joe Jackson album Look Sharp! (1979).
Other highlights include the modish Chords out-Jamming The Jam on "Maybe Tomorrow," Squeeze's first single "Take Me I'm Yours," and Julian Cope's neo-psychedelic The Teardrop Explodes performing "Reward." I remember the Teardrop Explodes being a big deal in the early '80s, with the Liverpudlians even making a pitstop at Baltimore's Marble Bar on March 15, 1981.
The Passions' "I'm In Love with a German Film Star" is a gem, of course, but it already appeared on Rhino's 1998 Postpunk Chronicles: Left of the Dial CD with a better (and louder) mix. I first discovered this song when it was used as the soundtrack of John "Heavy Metal Parking Lot" Heyn's Girls on Film, a short film celebrating the anonymous women who appeared on film countdown reels.You also get The Slits sounding ultra-cool dabbling with dub and ska on "Typical Girls," Adam & The Ants playing "I see London, I see France" on the amusing "Young Parisians" and Manchester's Slaughter & The Dogs with a typically working-class-punk assault on "Where have All the Bootboys Gone," which could just as easily be a soccer singalong.
There are also two tracks each from The Jam (the excellent "In the City" and "Down in the Tube Station at Midnight"), the progressive-era Damned ("Grimly Fiendish" and "Eloise", from when they added keyboards and high-production values in the mid-'80s; "Eloise" was a cover of Barry Ryan's 1968 #2 hit and when The Damned released their version in 1986, it became their biggest chart success ever, reaching #3 on the UK charts) and, Eddie & The Hot Rods ("Teenage Depression" and "Do Anything You Wanna Do," the latter's chord progressions sounding strikingly like The Records' "Starry Eyes" - no wonder it was their greatest chart success, climbing to #9 on the UK charts in 1977) - though I never understood why these pub rockers were so big; I remember they played the Marble Bar and local bands thought it was a big deal to open for them because they were from the UK and (erroneously) associated with the punk rock scene. Still, "Do Anything You Wanna Do" was a pretty nice tune and probably the best thing they ever did; watch them do the "Do" as "The Rods" on Marc Bolan's Marc Show and see what you think. 
Here's the full track listing:1. In The City - Jam
2. Teenage Depression - Eddie & The Hot Rods
3. Young Savage - Ultravox
4. Like Clockwork - Boomtown Rats
5. Got The Time - Joe Jackson
6. Typical Girls - Slits
7. Young Parisians - Adam & The Ants
8. Grimly Fiendish - Damned
9. Back Of My Hand - Jags
10. Where Have All The Bootboys Gone - Slaughter & The Dogs
11. Don't Care - Klark Kent
12. Maybe Tomorrow - Chords
13. Reward - Teardrop Explodes
14. I'm In Love With A German Film Star - Passions
15. Down In The Tube Station At Midnight - Jam
16. Take Me I'm Yours - Squeeze
17. Do Anything You Wanna Do - Eddie & The Hot Rods
18. Eloise - Damned
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Reversal of Fortune
OR: WTF???
Getafe 1, Real Madrid 0
February 24, 2008
Thanks to my new favorite soccer blog, The Offside (www.theoffside.com), for this amazing post, "Check With the Linesman Before You Celebrate" about Real Madrid's incredible reversal of fortune from a disallowed goal & oblivious goal celebration to getting humiliated by their opponents' quick counter-attacking goal at the other end that decided the game 27 seconds later, 1-0. How ever will La Liga leaders Real Madrid live this down - especially coming on the heels of Barcelona's 5-1 thrashing of Levante to narrow their league lead to 2 points?
From www.theoffside.com:
By the way, the Barcelona goal celebration referenced above involved Barca striker Samuel Eto'o, after scoring a hat trick in the 5-1 win, borrowing a photographer's camera and taking a snapshot of his teammates. Now that's a photo finish!
Getafe 1, Real Madrid 0
February 24, 2008
Thanks to my new favorite soccer blog, The Offside (www.theoffside.com), for this amazing post, "Check With the Linesman Before You Celebrate" about Real Madrid's incredible reversal of fortune from a disallowed goal & oblivious goal celebration to getting humiliated by their opponents' quick counter-attacking goal at the other end that decided the game 27 seconds later, 1-0. How ever will La Liga leaders Real Madrid live this down - especially coming on the heels of Barcelona's 5-1 thrashing of Levante to narrow their league lead to 2 points?
From www.theoffside.com:
Not a good day for Real Madrid, but at least the club managed to match Barcelona’s claim on most original goal celebration of the weekend. I’ve never seen anything like this before. Here’s what happened:
Raul squares to Arjen Robben, Arjen Robben sidefoots it home. Real Madrid celebrate. But they don’t notice the linesman’s flag signalling Raul was offside. So while Madrid’s players congratulate each other, Getafe take the ball up the other end, outnumber the handful of Madrid players who were actually paying attention, and Ikechukwu Uche scores. 1-0 to Getafe and that’s how it stayed.
The whole thing is perfectly captured by the close up on Arjen Robben’s face. First he’s running around celebrating and his expression says “Joy! I’ve scored,” then a few moments later he’s rooted to the spot and his expression says “Wait…. what???”
If you squint hard enough you can also see that the gameclock reads 17:59 (in the second half) when Robben puts the ball in the net and thinks it’s 1-0 to Madrid. By 18:26, it’s 1-0 to Getafe. From one up to one down in 27 seconds.
By the way, the Barcelona goal celebration referenced above involved Barca striker Samuel Eto'o, after scoring a hat trick in the 5-1 win, borrowing a photographer's camera and taking a snapshot of his teammates. Now that's a photo finish!
Cry-baby
Brian Billick: Bewitched, Bothered & Bewildered
I read the article in the Baltimore Sun today about Brian Billick, who whined that Ravens owner Steve Bisciotti never told him why he was fired. As one Sun reporter put it: "Did he really have to?"
I have your answer right here, Brian:
5-11.
That was your regular season record in 2007. With a franchise record nine consecutive losses. With two losses to the "powerhouse" Browns and Bengals. And that howler in Pittsburgh that's sure to be a big hit on the next edition of "NFL Follies."
'Nuff said?
So man up and stop being a cry-baby - I'm sure you'll get over the hurt of having to sit on the couch this year while collecting 5 million dollars for not coaching the Ravens. Sure, you were 13-3 the year before. But the year before you were 6-10 and ever since you've been here as a purported offensive genius you've had an offense whose point totals looked like soccer scores, surely one of the most boring and unimaginative offenses in the history of the NFL. Elvis (Grbc) has left the building. Like Trent Dilfer. And Kyle Boller. And, soon (hopefully) Steve McNair. None could make the Offensive Wizard's turgid gameplan's go.
So keep yourself busy with pep talks to the troops in Iraq and maybe you could use your experiences with the Baltimore Sun (who had the audacity to print your win-loss record) to give seminars on media relations.
Are we done here, Brian?
I read the article in the Baltimore Sun today about Brian Billick, who whined that Ravens owner Steve Bisciotti never told him why he was fired. As one Sun reporter put it: "Did he really have to?"I have your answer right here, Brian:
5-11.
That was your regular season record in 2007. With a franchise record nine consecutive losses. With two losses to the "powerhouse" Browns and Bengals. And that howler in Pittsburgh that's sure to be a big hit on the next edition of "NFL Follies."
'Nuff said?
So man up and stop being a cry-baby - I'm sure you'll get over the hurt of having to sit on the couch this year while collecting 5 million dollars for not coaching the Ravens. Sure, you were 13-3 the year before. But the year before you were 6-10 and ever since you've been here as a purported offensive genius you've had an offense whose point totals looked like soccer scores, surely one of the most boring and unimaginative offenses in the history of the NFL. Elvis (Grbc) has left the building. Like Trent Dilfer. And Kyle Boller. And, soon (hopefully) Steve McNair. None could make the Offensive Wizard's turgid gameplan's go.
So keep yourself busy with pep talks to the troops in Iraq and maybe you could use your experiences with the Baltimore Sun (who had the audacity to print your win-loss record) to give seminars on media relations.
Are we done here, Brian?
80TH ANNUAL ACADEMY AWARDS
DIDN'T CAMERON DIAZ USED TO BE A HOTTIE ?
WHAT IS UP WITH JOHN TRAVOLTA'S HAIR ?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)