Small World

Lookin? at the stats for my web-site; four percent of my traffic this month comes from Thailand.

It kinda makes me think that the blues is universal and even in Thailand they get the blues. So I surfed and guess what? They?ve got the blues! They?ve got Creole Samui playing Thai blues at a New Orleans Style bar (except instead of serving Hurricanes, they serve Typhoons), The Big Buddha Blues Band (they get down?with purpose no doubt), and also the Soi Dog Blues Band?(and you thought dog was a delecacy)?

It?s universal I tell you. Last month the United Kingdom and Hungary took an interest in my site, a few folks from the Netherlands poked around there too. It?s a small world after all. It would be cool to do an MTV type video based on Wallyworld’s ?It?s a small, small world ride, where the boat would be sailing down the river, and it would be BLUES PLAYERS from all over the world singin? their woes in miniature jail cells, unemployment lines, flop houses, and alleyways.

The blues may have started in the Mississippi Delta, but it has spread to all ends of the earth?not the blues proper, but the expression of it. It?s a story that has to be told; Over and Over and Over. The blues, the whole Blues, and nothin? but the Blues.

Gary g-man Wesselhoff is an acoustic blues writer/performer woking the Chicago Metro area. You can contact him at: gman@gmanblues.com

Back in the days of what was the explosive Woodstock music scene of Bristol and the West Country, a vocalist emerged from the new genre, known as indie, in the shape Gerard Langley. Hardly, as you would first think, a name to be reckoned with in the glitzy world of music showbiz, but a fairly stable name even so. Along with his brother, who took up the position of drummer, they soon gathered together a collection of some of the most talented and composed musicians in the city area. In fact, they were, as they called themselves, The Blue Aeroplanes, known to have the biggest musician – participation in, probably, modern music history.

Although their commercial contribution to the world of music looks vaguely more successful that a Pop Idol winner, their gritty and uniquely timed anthems had far from been on the same level. Langley, the headman was known, in the fast growing indie scene for his deep, menacing and half spoken vocals and other than supporting a then, little known U.S band called, R.E.M, although the band had collaborated with Michelle Shocked on one track.

It would appear that there seems to be a silent, yet, growing interest in this distant indie band who, tragically, graced only the bottom half of the Top 75 at any given time. It perhaps should be more the question of why didnt they ever make the grade? Well, that could be answered as simply as bad timing. Due to their haunting renditions of a familiar Smiths sound, they would have been noted as to be almost a decade out of date. I do believe that if they had been around a lot earlier, then their level of success would have vastly improved. That comatose style of backing vocal, at the time of, Jacket Hangs was the tones of Rodney Allen, Alex Lee, John Langley and Andy McCreeth, was more along the lines of The Waterboys, which, is certainly no bad thing, but on listening back to Blue Aeroplanes tunes today, we find ourselves puzzled as to why they werent better recognised. What we dont perhaps remember, is how much the talent odds were stacked against them. With a sound that was unique and so in tune with the outside world, it was also the backdrop of every other band at the time. Not to mention the members list grew to around thirty…

It is also arguable that there were far less talented bands around the time of the mid Eighties to the early Nineties, who, simply didnt deserve to achieve the success that they did. Who really could have forgotten that rhythmic perfect of John Langleys drum backing and that non melodic, jangle effect on guitars from Lee and Allen? They fused together as a band and never failed to let their fan base down. They might have been predictable in their approach to their own expression of indie music, but at least that meant never having to cringe ferociously at surprising and embarrassing diversions.

Their first notably successful album, Bop Art, in April 1984, may have sounded more like a Gene Vincent take on an old Transvision Vamp album, but it was surprisingly fresh enough to create a lasting appeal on certain listeners who, it would seem, became the backbone of the circle of devoted fans today. Although, since their early days, when their influences swayed heavily towards Elvis Costello and The Velvet Underground, they have somehow taken what they had learnt from these artists and actually drawn up, by themselves, a sound that, truly, came from themselves. We wonder how it came to be that they had come and gone from so many record labels. Their career path has certainly trodden a steady route through all the alternative labels of that time. Finally, standing firm behind the legendary label that brought us Icicle Works and Gene Loves Jezebel – Beggars Banquet, they had driven the idea through following bands, that it was the way that stable, tight knitted bands worked to get the maximum coverage.

Albums followed plus a couple of singles that failed to make any lasting notability with the regular record purchaser. Tolerance in 1986 and Spitting Out Miracles in 1986, after which, they enjoyed little in the way of pleasing positions from a string of EPs and one or two singles that followed.

They did, however, change their attitude through this far from joyful period in their early career. Shifting from Art Rock and layered pieces to dirty, simple guitar rhythms and slapping drums, their move towards the indie scene seemed sensible and optimistic. Two singles followed through another label, Chrysalis, Jacket Hangs, and ..And Stones, first in February and second in May 1990. Both failed to cut into the Top 70. Albums trailed accordingly in the shape of Swagger, (1990), Beatsongs, (1991) and Life Model, (1994). The middle of these, Beatsongs, graced the Top 35, but failed to hang around longer than three weeks. They had, already, toured with R.E.M in 1989 by this time, who, were enjoying critical acclaim with their politically observed, Green, the year before.

They had achieved as much as they could in those early times. They appeared in such audience participating venues such as the Town And Country Club in Kentish Town, North London; a venue known for the closeness felt through band and crowd. It was a favourite for indie and up and coming bands. Regulars there had been Hard Rain, Then Jericho, Three And A Half Minutes, not to mention, unknown Scottish smilies, Wet Wet Wet. Some, who got to see the B.As always commented on their live performances, noting them as born gig masters. After all, not all bands could boast their own Polish dancer in the shape of Wojtek Dmochowski.

It has undoubtedly crossed the minds of some of you when we say we must still remark on the history of The Blue Aeroplanes when they seemed to have achieved so little. One is for sure, they have remained true to themselves – never faltering in any shape or form, always pleasing to the eye and enjoyable to listen to. They take you back in time to a place in music history where bands were made up of young people who actually played instruments. Any band of that time, composed, rehearsed and performed over and over again to get it right. They worked hard, sweated and were devoted to their craft. Unlike today when a band is only made up of people who can just about sing and who couldnt compose a tune and lyric if their lives depended on it. This, I think it why, we should still celebrate bands like The Blue Aeroplanes for their determination and continuous contribution to British music. Whether it was experimental with different musicians and arrangements of sounds laced together with synths and percussions or taking the dive into all that was the bitter, edginess of the birth of indie, they have gathered up the growing trends into their arms and come with their own style of sound. They came back with gusto in 2000 with the album, Cavaliers/Roundheads, and now, just this year, 2006, we see the release of a long awaited, two CD set of a remaster of the 1990 album, Swagger, probably their most rewarding and well received album of the Nineties. This re working contains 14 bonus tracks and goes, unmistakeably as, Swagger Deluxe. The B.As are back, still standing strong and still eagerly eclipsing new sounds with traditional B.A rhythms and techniques.

We feel as if we know them know, but exactly where, when, how and why the band formed originally and who gelled with who is not entirely known. Their initial birth seems to be a mystery, and perhaps only known by Bristol residents and those who knew them, so it is with this, that they remain intriguing and their records, desirable. These ordinary student, type guys, who are now in their forties, still capture a moment in time when music was still exciting and new; when records were still bought in Woolies on vinyl and singles were only 45s for 45 pence. As far as The Blue Aeroplanes themselves go, all we know is that in Bristol and also in certain places of the Globe, this band still take a secret pride of place in the musical Hall of Fame.

Michelle Duffy 2006

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When the day of the gig arrives, youll need to pack some essentials. You will want to take a bottle of water with you, and some money, (although I mostly avoid, the array of merchandise) and you will also need some music, for the way there and back. An mp3 player is good, or some CDs if youre going by car. If its a rave, dont forget your glow-sticks. Finally, when you have your tickets in hand, youre ready to go. Set off early, as its a lot better than being late.

On the way there, my friends and I always play the music of the band we are going to see. It gets us pumped up for the gig, and also if its the kind of band, where you can learn some of the lyrics, then its always good to sing-along with the band at the gig.

When we get there, we find the venue first, and if weve got time, we go for something to eat or drink. Inside the venue, I like to get as close to the front as possible and most people also want the same, but I usually manage to get within the first eight rows of people.

Its important to throw yourself into the performance of the main band as much as possible, and you can only have a break from the one footed, swaying, moshing experience, if you literally going to be sick, or faint, within the next five seconds. Until that point, you must carry on, regardless.

Remember what clothes your friends are wearing, and then between songs, you can find your friends again, if you have been separated (and if you want to find them again). Failing that, take a flag with you and wave that about.

When the gig is over, wait around incase there is an encore, and if so, go even crazier than the last song you just heard. If not, be happy with your ringing ears, and aching limbs, and feel sorry for whoever has to drive home like that. Drink your water, if you took some, or find a twenty-four hour supermarket, and stack up on bottles of water and sugary snacks. Another great idea, is to phone all your friends and tell what an awesome gig they missed. They might be asleep, but it doesnt matter, they need to hear about it now.

On the journey back, I do not listen to the band Ive just seen as the music on CD always seems a bit flat, after hearing it live. I avoid that CD for a few days, but instead listen to similar music, or if I have another gig coming up, I listen to that CD on the way home.

To read the full version of this gig guide, you will need to sign up at www.musicismymiddle.com

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Twenty five years ago, the birth of a darker side of music was forming. Straight out of the loins of fast, furious punk, came the sombre approach to life and death in the form of Goth. It was initially the delights of North London in such suburbs as Camden Town that was first blamed. Pointed at by conservative bony fingers for the introduction to such macabre ways of thinking, it was actually Nottingham and the surrounding areas, it has been said, first took the giant steps into a brave new witchcraft -like world. Even though Nottingham didnt achieve great Goth status in the eyes of the rest of the English speaking world, (no claim on Joy Division, Im afraid) they did mange to put in their pennys worth as far as other music was to go.

So, we know that every town can have a stab at a claim to fame on the generating genre list. Its not difficult for the Liverpudlians to shout Cilla Black or Gerry and the Pacemakers in front of a passing tourist. They dont even have to mention the B word too much these days. Even Leeds can boast the more recent Sisters Of Mercy; probably one of the most innovative bands from the Goth movement, but, hold fast, there are more obscure places to go and find the birth of great names. What about Cobham in Surrey who gave us Peter Gabriel and who can forget Stanmore in Middlesex who gave us Billy Idol? So who have we been able to identify as more than just a blotch on the British music industry from this historic city?

Well, delving through the deepest depths of the back of my mind, I came up with two bands who have graced us with their enigmatic presence. The first of these bands are almost certainly going to be figures of the Sixties generation. Back in the midst of the psychedelic decade, long haired, introverted students were busily working away on their own stunning slants of already secure music themes. It wasnt just The Beatles that we got all unnecessary about by any stretch of the imagination. The youth of the day were shifting into a pattern of generating their own angles of music that their parents had been brought up on. The British Blues scene took its turn at peaking around the late Sixties with such sounds from John Mayall, Eric Clapton and Peter Green. Born out of the inspiration of the ever changing social acceptance of free thinking, a certain band flung themselves onto the general public from Nottingham and they eventually called themselves, Ten Years After. Appearing as though they had all failed the audition for Easy Rider, and with Leo Lyons, their bass guitarist looking more like Frank Zappa, these three individuals came together an created some of the greatest British born Blues around.

Although they may not light up any seasonal fire crackers in your minds, they will have made their presences felt throughout the revolutionary British Blues scene. Solidifying true Southern U.S blues with a predominately white guitar feel, they embarked on a historic career that has never really ended. Even though British Blues artists had been smouldering away in the privacy of their own bedrooms since the late Fifties, it was, strangely and literally, ten years after that this sound from the now, heavenly regarded, artists of that time, really came to the fore. It was great musicians like Alvin Lee, of Ten Years After, that gave us the backbone of a lot of the rock music we still listen to today.

Thankfully, they are still going strong and sounding just as exciting and revolutionary as they did forty years before, they just look like our dads now; bearded, friendly and trusting like a well behaved Spinal Tap, they undoubtedly, can still rock. For future gigs and contact, please go to www.ten-years-after.com.

The next influential band to come out of the Robin Hood city was a band that need no formal introduction. Tindersticks plunged head first into our ears initially as the strangely titled, Asphalt Ribbons. Quite where this name originated, I dont know, and even so, it was not under this name that they found any great success. Yet, it was the three musicians plus three more that gave us the name that stayed fast. Although, they never appeared to conger up any real critical acclaim, they did have a fairly memorable album, The Second Tindersticks Album, that landed the position of number 13 in April 1995. Describing them to a complete stranger is rather a difficult task as they did seem to create a genre all of their own. Not quite fitting into a known category, other than chamber pop, they may have been brushed casually with the title of Goth Gods, although this would have been better felt to be at the most extreme end of the scale where Goth may have met Country on a unique and totally accidental night

One thing was for certain, they somehow found the same frequency as a few other darkly spirited romantics floating around at the time. As the colourful craziness of the Eighties came to an abrupt halt and the more monochromed moroseness of the Nineties began, Tindersticks found themselves an audience that was surprisingly and completely at their mercy. Their depressingly precise lyrics and heart aching melodic music was quite the tonic for the faint hearted. Even though they were fundamentally a band who produced meaningful prose and wistful string arrangements, they were not unlike the pensive side of Lou Reeds Velvet Underground. The brooding vocals of Stuart Staples in Tindersticks was enough to melt the most coldest of souls. His emotion altering lyrics shifted darkly and absorbingly through the aching tunes and mournful chords, that the listener felt quite dragged in to his doom and gloom world. Perhaps making what we knew as mainstream Goth more along the lines of Stock, Aitken and Waterman..

Despite their bleak outlook, their beauty came from their traditionally perfected arrangements. Their music, although noose-needing, spelt out a theme that probably applies to us all at some stage in our lives. What Tindersticks gave us was an alleyway; destitute and deathly as it was, but a path when, on such down trodden moments, we might just find a guiding light. These glamorously laced themes dripping with personal failure were beautifully crafted with such musical skill that the songs seem practically timeless. It could well be argued that there never was, nor will there ever be, a band with such a gentle, inoffensive sound quite like Tindersticks. Find out more about this uniquely accomplished band at www.tindersticks.co.uk.

Since the two above mentioned bands slot into the filing cabinet of our minds of bands from Nottingham, they couldnt really be any further apart in the genre sense. Yet they are just as important to mention as any other, more famous name from anywhere esle. Both just as inspirational now to up and coming bands as others were to them in past decades. With this in mind, and with these two enchantingly professional groups, perhaps it is about time that we were graced with another band or artist from this city

michelle duffy 2006

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(1) The BMG Music Service offers the best deal you’ll find — 11 CDs for the price of shipping ($2.79 each) when you buy one CD at full club price, which is typically about $15 plus shipping. That works out to about $4 per CD. Its chief competitor, Columbia House, has an offer that works out to about $8 per CD.

(2) When you join, you will receive a catalog in the mail about every three weeks, along with a postcard that highlights a featured selection in the genre you selected when you joined. You must return this postcard by the due date or the club will send you the selection. You can decline online, however, by logging into your account. This makes the process much easier.

(3) If you forget to return the card and receive a CD you don’t want, the clubs are good about letting you return it. But the beauty of this system for the clubs is that this happens often enough and many people don’t bother sending it back. They just pay the invoice.

(4) If you don’t see the CDs you want in a newspaper or magazine advertisement visit the club’s site to browse. Copy down the item number of the CDs into the form (some titles will not be available as free selections and this will be indicated). Also, the clubs usually do not have the latest and greatest albums until months after their release.

(5) The clubs press their own CDs, which some people feel makes them inferior. But if you can hear the difference, you have better senses than most humans.

(6) The clubs no longer have toll-free numbers, so the best way to contact them is by email. Always include your account number. The current phone number and email address is listed each month in your membership catalog.

William Pilgrim has been a member of both BMG and Columbia House. You can read more about the clubs and their history at http://www.dealdude.com by searching for keyword cd clubs. Copyright 2005 cc Media, Inc.

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