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Thursday, July 10, 2014

Protesting aint what it used to be...

July 10th – What happened to the rock ‘n’ roll rebellion? In the upper echelons of the genre what used to define a rock star was a trail of destroyed hotel rooms stretching from here to the planet Gozo, swimming pools full of Rolls Royce’s and wide-screen TV’s, a booze tab equivalent to the GDP of a medium-sized developing nation, a drug horde sufficient to challenge Pfizer’s distribution depot, levels of male or female company that stretched from here to maternity the activity of which meant the use of copious amounts of Dexedrin was obligatory; that and an intake of fluids (other than booze) that would put a seriously thirsty elephant to shame. Now what?
Now it’s all about stars in pavements, on walls, in books, it’s about honours dished out by the very people rock music was meant to be railing against, it’s about awards, gongs, recognition…money…fame…money and money… And what about the lower echelons?
Where is it that the line is crossed? I mean, I can remember doing a whole month of free gigs for a Brighten Up Balsall Heath festival…a whole month…for free – street parties, playing off the back of a flat-bed truck and having to search a dozen homes before we’d found someone who’d managed to pay their electric bill and so still had the power turned on, which is all they had, power, the only furniture in the house was a coffee table and six orange crates – we did concerts in Balsall Heath Park, at the back of  pubs…anywhere we could fit in and find power. It was run by a group of students (unpaid) and I can remember thinking that this was how it should be in society; people helping people for no other reason than the helping of people. Anyway, that’s all gone now, post Thatcher and Blair. You see, the free festival’s rebellion came from completing the events in spite of the council’s objections, gerrymandering, obstruction and hostility, and also by squatting in a house owned by folk who owned twenty or thirty such places and kept them empty so they could demolish and rebuild with money from the government (their friends) and then either sell or let at exorbitant prices (in Balsall Heath?) you know, folk who were old enough to know better but young enough not to give a fuck about anyone but themselves. From the house (free HQ) the festival was run in conjunction with the local people. We painted houses, did running repairs, cleaned houses, streets, derelict areas, gardened, entertained and in some cases fed the locals whilst giving the establishment figures the run-around.
That sort of thing now shows itself in the Children In Need type of event where the stars come out and give their time from their incredibly busy schedule (gaining huge PR benefits and ads in the interim) supposedly all for nothing…for free… Not knocking the event and its outcomes, just whish we could drop the;
‘Look at me and what I’m doing for these poor people’
attitude of many of those taking part. You wanna really make a difference? OK, do the event for free really. No expenses paid, not for travel, food, clothes…anything (it can come out of the voluminous pocket holding the salary you get paid…won’t even make a dent).
The knighthoods, MBE’s and gongs that are dished out; do they return them? Do they buggery. They become establishment creatures from the moment the envelope from Her Maj drops on the coconut matting. You want a sample?
OK.
1) On this day in 1989 the Monkees get a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame…nothing self-congratulatory about that except that this accolade brought the band’s four members together for the first time since they split up – wouldn’t do a reunion for their fans (fuck them) but, for a spotlight moment? You betcha!
2) On this day in 2008, The Who…remember them, Won’t Get Fooled Again, Acid Queen, Teenage Wasteland…? The Who gathered together (those that were left that is…which was two of them) to bask in the VH1’s Rock Honour.
3) On this day in 2009, Robert Planet (sorry, Plant) was given a CBE by Prince Charles…that’s Robert-TV’s out of windows-Percy’-rock ‘n’ roll excess; that Mister Plant…a CBE…which he accepted…from HRH FFS!
4) On this day in 2012 Slash (G&R Slash) accepted his star on the Hollywood Walk of fame; didn’t lift up the slab and smash it over some guy’s head in a drug-gorged frenzy, nope, he accepted it from…Charlie-fuckin’-Sheen! Both, apparently, were drug and alcohol free at the ceremony…now what sort of a ceremony would that have been then?
See, nothing, nada, zilch, sweet F-A that even resembles rock star behaviour…ah, but, wait a moment; what’s this galloping over the horizon?
ON THIS DAY IN: -
1968: The Nice are banned from the Albert Hall for burning the Stars and Stripes on stage as an antiwar protest.
1969: The funeral for Brian-pill-popping-egocentric-Jones was held; he was found face down in swimming pool.
1981: Jerry lee Lewis underwent the first of two emergency operations for a bleeding ulcer caused by prolonged use of booze.
1986: Jerry Garcia slipped into a diabetic coma but recovered five days later and was back on the road.
1978: Bill Wyman stumbles off the stage and is knocked unconscious at a gig in Minnesota.
1979: Chuck Berry was sentenced to jail for the second time for tax-evasion.
Now that’s more like it! I think we can surmise, when looking at the date range of the two section above that rock ‘n’ roll aint dead it’s just that, for the past ten years, apart from the odd fit, it’s been slumbering in the arms of establishment recognition.

Answers to Yesterday’s Quiz:-
1) Other than Rory Gallagher, name the other two members of the band Taste? – Richard McCracken and John Wilson (I do believe they went on to form the band, ‘Stud’.) My thanks to Milo at 'Shadowplay' for fuller and far more pertinent information: Messers Eric Kitteringham and Norman Damery were the original members. I get a slap on the wrist for being wrong; Milo gets points deducted for being a know all!
2) What was their name before they became Black Sabbath? – Earth
3) A music video set in a bar paired two unlikely people (one a motorbike maniac the other a witch) in a search for love; who are the two people and what’s the name of the track? – Cher and Meatloaf – Dead Ringer for Love
4) Gimme and ‘F’ – Gimme and ‘I’ – Gimme an ‘S’ – Gimme an ‘H’….. Track and band, please? – Country Joe and the Fish – Feel Like I’m Fixin’ to Die Rag
5) Name the two related artists who recorded a song about the Encino ladies? – Frank Zappa and Moon Unit
6) Gary Moore recorded a version of Shapes of Things. Who did the original and in what year? – The Yardbirds – 1966
7) Arthur Conan Doyle knew where 221b was and he wasn’t the only one; who and where? – Jerry Rafferty – Baker Street
8) The dog that barked in the beginning… Track and band, please? – Been Caught Stealin’ – Jane’s Addiction
9) A difficult balancing act and a difficult instrument to play in any century, even for a farmer; Band and track, please? – Jethro Tull – Livin’ In the Past

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