From Russia With Soul
Stevie Wonder Russian Dolls
A fresh photo of one of my most treasured items, especially for Jimmy Nutmeg. And some tunes to smooth the way into the weekend, courtesy of Trevor Nelson’s favourite Motown artist, as tastefully revealed at the MJ memorial this week. He is right, though.
Uptight / Satisfaction (live) – Stevie Wonder & The Rolling Stones
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Tags: Brenda Holloway, michael jackson, MP3, paul mccartney, Russian dolls, Stevie Wonder, The Rolling Stones, Trevor Nelson
Michael Jackson 1958-2009
Cripes. LA Times and CBS News, and now the BBC have called it. Tear yourself away from the bad stuff and remember the sweet sweet music.
Michael Jackson – Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough
Robin Danar – Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough
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Tags: michael jackson
Who is the funky sex machine?
Ah, Kate Bush. When she’s not pestering Rolf Harris to do vocals, or enlisting Donald Sutherland to play her mad scientist father, there’s always this homage to Ken Livingstone, which given her form I took at face value as another bit of bonkers pie. To be fair to her, it was written for the Comic Strip’s GLC spoof, so not quite so mad after all, but what a chorus with a cracking opinion-opinion-fact whammy:
Who is the man we all need?
(KEN!!)
Who is the funky sex machine?
(KEN!!)
Who is the leader of the GLC?
(KEN!!)
It’s no Babooshka, but what can you do?
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Tags: Donald Sutherland, Kate Bush, Ken Livingstone, MP3, Rolf Harris
Let me be upfront
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Tags: Chevy Chase, Joel McHale, John Oliver, NBC, upfronts
But Swedishly…
Picture the scene. It’s 1982, this is an acceptable magazine cover and Frida “ABBA” Lyngstad and Phil “Philco” Collins get poppy, enlist the Earth Wind & Fire horns and try to hit some Bee Gee height vocals. What’s not to love? I bet he tried to slip her one n’all. Two megastar divorcees getting right into it, gawd bless ‘em.
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Tags: ABBA, Bee Gees, Earth, Frida, Phil Collins, Wind & Fire
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Tags: breakwater, change, heatwave, MP3, stone city band
Midnight Caller
Network late night talk shows in the US are a curious thing. Every single weeknight there’s a veritable smorgasbord of celebrity guests trundling through various studios on both sides of the coast. Soon, on NBC, there are going to be a whopping 4 talk shows back to back from 10pm, all part of a baffling strategy to recover from the nonsensical fumble of nearly putting the shit-yet-popular Jay Leno out to pasture. Leno now has a new slot at 10, Conan O’Brien is taking over the Tonight Show from Leno at 11, and Jimmy Fallon’s taking over Late Night, with the punchworthy 90s throwback Carson Daly staying put with Last Call. Imagine Jonathan Ross followed by Graham Norton, followed by Michael Parkinson, followed by Lily Allen. Every night. Cripes.
Despite being some of the most infuriating, insincere and downright cringeworthy minutes of television to come out of the States, there’s still something endlessly fascinating about it all. Something which we’ve tried to replicate in this country with varying degrees of success, with only really Jonathan Ross and Michael Parkinson being given multiple bites of the cherry, which is a pretty sad state of affairs. For my money the only people who really did this right were Jack Docherty and Bob Mills, and they got sweet FA for their troubles.
The first part of the NBC shuffle happened this week when Conan O’Brien handed over the reins of Late Night to Jimmy Fallon. Fallon, an ex-SNL cast member, loved and hated in fairly equal measure, failed to set the box-office alight with two curious clunker remakes as star vehicles, Taxi and Fever Pitch. Once paired with the now white-hot Tina Fey during a purple patch for Weekend Update, it’ll be interesting to see if Fallon can pull it off and capture the nation’s imagination in the same way. He’s got non-threatening likeability in spades, and no less than The Roots as a houseband. Unlike most US television endeavours, Jimmy’s will have some time to bed in, unless he Chevy Chases it right up and becomes a laughing stock, but judging from this promising bit of “Slow Jam News”, I think he’ll get by.
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Tags: Bob Mills, Carson Daly, Chas n' Dave, Chevy Chase, Conan O'Brien, Jack Docherty, Jay Leno, Jimmy Fallon, Jonathan Ross, MP3, The Roots, Tina Fey
So, I don’t know what happened there, one minute it was weeks away from Christmas, and now it’s March for crying out loud’s sake of Jesus. I need to get myself together, get back in the habit, get this show back on the road. So, ever so gently, let’s try this 09 style.
The black and red retrostylings of Olly Moss, giving some rum old popcorners a Saul Bass touch.
A worthwhile trip through the sounds of early 80s American cable. Some great sound grabs here, including “The best time on TV is HBO!”.
Herbie (not the sarky VW Beetle) & Quincy (not the smooth coroner) get all synthesized right up. Lovely
Demetri Martin’s weeklong journal for Slate.
And before we go, today’s musical treat is a tangential reminder that McAloon and Co are back with a new album this year. I won’t hold my breath, okay maybe just a bit.
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Tags: Blind Terry, Demetri Martin, Die Hard, HBO, Herbie Hancock, Olly Moss, Prefab Sprout, Quincy Jones
Say What?