Picasso and Modern British Art at the Tate Britain

Posted on May 29, 2012 by John S

Been meaning to write about this for a while, having been a couple of times to the exhibition.  It’s a mix of things: partly a collection of Picasso works that have found their way into British hands and partly a collection of works by British artists who have been inspired – or in one case, provoked – by Picasso. The first time I found it a bit of a mish-mash. Second time it began to cohere… and inspire. There is some wonderful art.

I’m just going to write about of some of the pieces I found particularly striking. It’s not going to be an A Level essay on Picasso! The pictures, which are all taken from Google Images, are a bit fuzzy in places, hopefully give a flavour; but if you can get to the Tate, I really recommend you do so. The exhibition is on until 15 July.

This is a journey through the rooms as they were set out at the exhibition. And my focus is on how the Picasso paintings interact with those of the British artists. So there’s quite a bit of straight Picasso that I don’t cover. So if you like what is here, I can tell you that the totality is even better!

The first thing that struck me was the inspiration Duncan Grant’s “Design for a Firescreen” (1912) drew from Picasso’s  “Jars and Lemons” (1907).

Picasso

Grant

I love the colours and angularity of both these paintings.

In the same room as Grant’s pictures we have some of Wyndham Lewis’s works.  He apparently defined himself in opposition to Picasso.  But you can see the similarities. This is a period, around 1910, when Cubism was emerging.  Faces, figures were distorting, before being completely rearranged.  There’s something quite sinister about Lewis’ figures. They are intriguing but rather disconcerting. The painting I most liked in the Tate collection though, was “Workshop” (1914-15).

There’s something very “modern”, industrial, about it.  Vivid but impersonal.  Bizarrely, I was reminded of a kids’ cartoon I watched years ago when my own children were into Cartoon Network. It may have been the “Powerpuff Girls”, but they, or whoever the protagonists were, were locked in battle with some evil person in a strange stately home.  The villain had a British accent – of course. Not sure why, but I found the episode fascinating. I thought that the makers must have been having some kind of hallucigenic experience as they created the storyboard. And now five year old children were enjoying it. I wonder if the makers had ever seen “Workshop”…

Another interior I really liked was “Interior at Gordon Square” by Duncan Grant, said to be influenced by the geometry of Picasso’s early Cubism. I just like the colours and shapes!

The next association was between Picasso and Ben Nicholson. Nicholson was influenced by Picasso’s Cubist art and some of the “disfigurations” of the human (mostly female) form which flowed from that. Both Picasso and Nicholson were clearly influenced by “primitive” art from Africa and the Pacific.  A grand tradition, stretching back at least to the Impressionists, with Gauguin to the fore.

Picasso’s “Head of A Woman” (1926) is intriguing. To me there are two heads at play.  One face on, another, to the right, in profile. In both, I’m reminded of ancient Egyptian art.

“Guitar, Compote Dish and Grapes’ (1924) continues the Cubist theme of breaking objects into multi-dimensions, but with a more vivid portrayal of the objects. You really can just enjoy the picture for its abstract shapes and striking colours. No theory required!

Nicholson’s paintings in the exhibition draw on a variety of Picasso’s themes. “1932 (Au Chat Botte) could be from the classic Cubist period.

Guitars feature too.”1933 (Musical Instruments)”

And there are some dark profiles that draw on the classical theme – in Nicholson’s case they look Greek rather than Egyptian. I can’t find a picture of the one I really like, “1933 (St Remy, Provence)”.  The model was his lover, fellow artist, Barbara Hepworth. But there are etched hints of the same in this picture, “1933 (Coin and musical instruments)”. Note the profile in the top left quarter.

Picasso had a varied and turbulent love life by all accounts, and throughout his life that is reflected in his paintings.  There are other factors at play, be it the allusion to poetry, the links to surrealism, the disturbing politics of the twenties and thirties.  All contribute to the disaggregation, distortion and haphazard reassembly of everyday images, especially of the women in his life. There are a series of paintings of women on the beach, reduced to a variety of strange triangles and body parts. Here’s one, “Nude On The beach” (1932)

More recognisable, are two classic paintings, tributes to two of his lovers. “Nude Woman In A Red Armchair” (1932) is said to be a portrait of Marie-Therese Walter. It is on the cover of the catalogue of the exhibition – vivid, enticing, but also recognisable, unlike a lot of the others, as a human form!

Another extraordinary portrait is the picture of the “Weeping Woman” (1937).  This was one of a number of paintings done at the same time as Picasso created his masterpiece, “Guernica”. The anguish – and beauty – in this potrait is extraordinary. And hark the detail – look at how the teardrops transform into fingernails, for example. The model here was Dora Maar.

There’s a room full of Henry Moore sculptures, linked to some of Picasso’s rather large, statuesque paintings of the female form. I didn’t dwell on them, but moved on to Francis Bacon, who turned to painting as a result of seeing some of Picasso’s work in the twenties. There is something quite hideous about the mutated figures that feature in Bacon’s paintings in this exhibition; but there was another interior, in the mould of Grant’s, that I really liked. Again, it was the colours and a sense of a forest, a watery glaze, a mountain stream. In an interior! It’s just my imagination, running away with me… (thanks to Smokey Robinson!)

Graham Sutherland’s paintings from the forties feel like they may have been inspired by the same horror as Picasso experienced over Guernica. His painting of Jesus on the cross – “Crucifixion” (1946) – is powerfully disconcerting.

On a simpler level, I really do like his picture of “Gorse on Sea Wall” (1939). I’d have this one on my wall!

And that leaves David Hockney. He wears his Picasso allegiance on his sleeve.  And does it with humour. I love his two drawings in the exhibition where he pays homage to Picasso, by portraying himself with the great man.

“The Student: Homage To Picasso” (1973)

“Artist and Model” (1973-4)

And I like this piece of photo-cubism. Of course featuring a guitar. “Still Life Blue guitar” (1982).

And to end it all, as you are leaving the exhibition, you are met with one of Picasso’s iconic paintings.  “The Three Dancers” (1925). Primitive, bizarre, erotic, discombobulated, musical, colourful, multi-dimensional, poetic, celebratory.  Picasso in a nutshell.

A wonderful exhibition, that teaches you so much, and sets the imagination free…

Posted in Art, books, theatre, cinema | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

The Buzzocks, Brixton O2 Academy 26 May 2012

Posted on May 29, 2012 by John S

The Buzzcocks. One of the great punk bands. Up there with the Pistols, Clash and Jam. Northern songs of lost love, exclusion, misery.  But with the best pop melodies of any punk band. Their album “Another Music In A Different Kitchen” remains one of my true favourites.

So what better than to go down to the Brixton Academy (now an O2) to enjoy a top quality blast of nostalgia? The show was called “Back To Front”.  It started with a session from the reformed Buzzcocks – singer/guitarists Pete Shelley and Steve Diggle. Don’t remember Diggle doing much singing back in 1978, but he does now. Then we had the centrepiece: the old band bashing out the classics. And then… the legendary Howard Devoto, who left the band early on to form Magazine, singing the songs that formed the band’s first EP, “Spiral Scratch”.

This was punk history in the flesh, it really was.

But, but…

Ehhh, the first session the new stuff went on for an hour, and the sound was awful. I’m 53, maybe prefer my folk and jazz live these days, but I was up for it.  But there was so much distortion at the top end of the guitar that it was as if the Jesus and Mary Chain were playing their feedback-drenched songs throughout. The new songs seemed quite good – what I could make out of them.  Steve Diggle had turned into a rock artist, punching the air and looking a bit like Paul Weller. Pete Shelley wandered about in a baggy black dart player’s shirt, playing his Ramones riffs.

A better sound and half the length and I’d probably have been on iTunes when I got home, seeking out the new sounds.  Instead, I was just just relieved when it ended.

Then the classic section.  Band members from the time, John Maher and Steve Garvey, joining Pete and Steve. Starting with “Fast Cars”, one of my total favourites. Jeremy Clarkson would hate it. Took me a while to work out that was what it was.  It’s partly because I can only hear in one ear, but that distortion was there again.  Anyway, it was fun: lots of the old favourites from “Another Music” and various singles.  Because of the sound, the ones that came out best were the jerky numbers like “Fiction Romance”, rather than the wall of sound riffers.  I enjoyed “Moving Away From The Pulsebeat” with the first ever punk drum solo, and I think we had “Autonomy”, “I Don’t Mind”, “No Reply” and “Get On Our Own”. And definitely, towards the end “What Do I Get”, “Everybody’s Happy Nowadays”. And then, for an encore, “Ever Fallen In Love…” and “Orgasm Addict”. Can’t complain – all the classics.

But I just couldn’t cope with the sound – and being with friends who like to be quite near the front, I wasn’t so enamoured with the sight of fifty-something geezers with shaven heads reliving their youth, throwing their considerable bulks around the crowd, in an approximation of the pogo-ing they no doubt did back in the seventies.  On the other hand, it was good to see some youngsters getting down to the punk sounds too. There were even one or two dads with their teenage kids, which I thought was great. And, just guessing, a lot of Germans. Buzzcocks package tour? How un-punk is that?

So I came away feeling equivocal. My problem.  Mainly because I just couldn’t hear the songs. Songs I absolutely love. I felt slightly cheated, but it wasn’t the band’s fault.  It was the sound system. Or me. Maybe I was just coming down from the euphoria of Quins’ Premiership win that afternoon. (See my Sportsthoughts 26).

I went to the back for the Howard Devoto bit, as I needed to make a quick getaway, grabbed a quick half of lager and left before it had finished.  I couldn’t believe I was doing that.  I’d said to my son that I’d meet him in central London after a party he was at.  But would I have left if I was loving it?  No.

It won’t affect my love for “Another Music”, but I might hold off going to other punk reunions.  Just stick with the seventies memory and enjoy the more tuneful live experiences from now on. Next up, Coldplay on 1 June at Arsenal’s stadium.

Aaah, that will be cool! And nice. Oh well… still a rock’n’roller in my head.

And here are two of the great Buzzcocks tracks – the start and finish to “Another Music In A Different Kitchen”. If you haven’t heard this album I exhort you to do so!

Fast Cars

Moving Away From The Pulsebeat

You can switch this one off at 5.20. there’s one of those hidden track things that don’t really work after that.

And just to finish, maybe the two best Buzzcocks pop tunes.

What Do I Get_

Ever Fallen In Love (With Someone You Shouldn’t’ve)

Posted in Music - concerts, lists, reflections | Tagged , , , , , | 6 Comments

Sportsthoughts (26) – You Ain’t Seen Nothing Like The Mighty Quins!

Posted on May 28, 2012 by John S

We did it!.  We won the Premiership Final!

Quins 30 Leicester 23!

Blimey, it was tense at the end. Full time about to end, but Leicester still in possession, virtually on Quins’ line, put in at the scrum. Play continues until they lose possession. I was starting to think, OK they might score, but hopefully they’ll go blindside and give George Ford a really difficult conversion kick.  We might win 30-28. Otherwise, extra time.  What will THAT be like?

But Quins held out and eventually some arcane infringement by Leicester in the murk of the scrum, or ruck or something, led to a penalty to Quins.  Happily booted out.  Game won!

I must watch the highlights to work out exactly what happened. We were too busy celebrating to worry about the technical detail.

This photo is of the moment the game was won.

Of course it was a close game.  Leicester are a truly great side.  This was their eighth consecutive Premiership final. If any team knows how to win these things it is them.  That was a worry: this was Quins’ first final. Another worry: just a few weeks ago, Leicester beat Quins 43-33 at the Stoop, with a crushing second half display.

But this time, in the May sunshine, Quins went at them and kept it going throughout. A real running, offloading game.  It was a challenge: let’s see who wilts first. The answer was neither, but the pressure Quins exerted meant that we got more penalties than usual from the whistle of ref Wayne Barnes, who has become a bit of a Quins hate figure. (I’m not quite sure why to be honest, but you know what fans are like about refs). Nev – Nick Evans – duly kicked most of them over.  He missed two chances, and both of them hit the post. The first led to Quins regaining possession, playing the phases and going wide brilliantly for winger Tom Williams to score. So it was an excellent tactical miss!

We were so pleased about that one.  Tom was the fall guy in the Bloodgate scandal three years ago. He’s remained a solid member of the squad, notwithstanding.  In and out, sometimes with the younger speed merchants usurping him.  But he’s fought his way back and played superbly this season. Mr Reliable.  No surprise that Conor O’Shea, head coach, turned to him once again, when nerve and experience and commitment was going to count. Hard on young Sam Smith, who has been brilliant this season;  but he has time on his side.  He will be an England player, no doubt. And hopefully a Quins stalwart for the next ten years.

The lead ebbed and flowed. Leicester at one point went 13-11 up in the first half, when a disastrous Quins line out led to an interception and Steve Mafi striding up the pitch unopposed for a Leicester try. Then, just before half time, a Leicester player, Thom Waldrom, was yellow carded.  While he was off, Quins scored nine points (including the penalty he had conceded). That took it to 20-13 Quins.  Looking good. Then it was looking great as more good pressure led to Captain Marvel, Chris Robshaw, powering through for another try.  30-13  Surely that was it?

But no. It was almost as if, as the game approached the last ten minutes, that Quins thought, this is Leicester, they win games from nowhere.  From a Quins scrum the ball somehow fell into the hands of Ben Youngs, Leicester scrum half.  He raced through, passed to Anthony Allen who scored.  Ford converted and then got another penalty soon after. It was going horribly wrong at the last! 30-23…

But, no, it didn’t go horribly wrong after all. Quins regrouped and held Leicester off this time.  The ultimate triumph against the ultimate playoff team.

Time for celebration!

One last thought.  After Bloodgate, Conor O’Shea took over as head coach.  First season had moments, but despite some bright attacking play the team wasn’t quite there.  Last season, things got better, and triumph in the Amlin Cup, which included an amazing away semi final victory against Munster, started to instill real belief in the team.  And this season, despite chucking away the Heineken Cup opportunity in the pool stages, having beaten Toulouse away, the team stayed strong, overcame a couple of mid season defeats, held off Leicester and Saracens, and won the League. And then the playoffs. Conor O’Shea deserves massive credit for this.  He has encouraged a truly attacking philosophy, which makes Quins great to watch, and has clearly engendered a team spirit that is second to none. The front row, which maybe had been a relative weakness, has been, especially over the latter part of the season, quite awesome. This doesn’t happen out of nowhere.  It is hard work and hard coaching as well as natural development by the players.  I think it is all helped too by an academy system which is bringing so many home-grown players into the first team squad. They all believe in the Harlequins ethos – playing rugby with style and passion, and true team spirit.

Wow, it makes me proud just writing this!

So good on yer, Connor! (And the rest of the coaching team).

 

Note: the photos here are all copied from Google Images.  They are all Getty Images except for the one with champagne glistening, which is PA.

Posted in Sportsthoughts | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

Our Top Ten – Coldplay

Posted on May 25, 2012 by John S

John: This is a special Top Ten, because it’s a joint effort between  my son, Kieran, and me. Kieran is 16, going on 17,  and is into a wide range of music.  Rap is his main thing, but like so many of his generation, he really likes Coldplay . To me this is very interesting, because Coldplay have been around for quite a long time, and you’d expect a previous generation to be the big fans rather than today’s.  But they continue to gain popularity.  Why? Well, it’s obvious really: they make great songs and are brilliant live. So many of their songs become anthems. The chord structures are simple and classic; the delivery is crucial.  They are masters of the pop song.

The way Kieran and I did this was to agree on a ten (which wasn’t difficult) and then rank them in order, 1 to 10.  Then we just took the two marks and divided by two.  Lowest score won.

This gave us the following list.  The great thing about Coldplay, being a modern band, is that they have a video for each of the songs on our list.  So it’s a bit of a viewing, as well as listening, feast.

We’ve both made our comments where we feel like it. There might be a few more added in time.

But here we go.  I love this list.  I couldn’t have come up with it myself. Partnership!

10. Every Teardrop is a Waterfall, from Mylo Xyloto (2011)  

Kieran: From the first moment I heard this latest of Coldplay’s anthems conclude their incredible Glastonbury set of Summer 2011, I knew it was destined to be a chart-topper and the song since established itself as one of my favourite upbeat Chris Martin renditions, with engaging riffs and drum beat throughout.

9. Violet Hill, from Viva La Vida (2008)

John: This is another of Kieran’s favourites and he might add something here.  A powerful tune.

8. Trouble, from Parachutes (2000)

John:  Kieran and I agree that this is just a beautiful, wistful tune.  Classic Coldplay.

7. Don’t Panic, from Parachutes (2000)

We live in a beautiful world!

John: The opening track from Coldplay’s first album.  It sets the scene. The guitars shimmer and soar.

6. Paradise, from Mylo Xyloto (2011)

Kieran: The most well-known song from the recent work, it may be as far from obscurity as can be with Coldplay; regardless,  it is one of those songs you just can’t stop listening to! Shows that Coldplay can always come up with new, contemporary ideas and always will do. No doubt this will be looked back on as a classic.

John: I like this song more every time I listen to it.  It is a real anthem, and as a massive U2 fan, I feel like it’s Coldplay reaching the same heights. Or exceeding them.

5. The Scientist, from A Rush Of Blood To The Head (2002)

John: For many people, this is the ultimate Coldplay song.  The slow piano build, the anthemic chorus. It’s hard to disagree.  We both love it, even though, astonishingly, there are some songs we love even more!

4. What If, from X&Y (2005)

Kieran: I will leave my Dad to talk about this one. Another great.

John: This is my number one.  It’s partly the song, and partly context. The song is a heartfelt tribute to a loved one, a love so strong that there is the fear of what if it went wrong. Such a simple but true sentiment.  It has a lovely chord structure, which I find moving when I play it on my acoustic guitar. And then… the reason above all reasons.  On that tragic day 7/7 2005, when London was bombed, a day after we won the Olympics, I was in a state of shock, like everybody else. That night I felt impelled to write something about how I felt, how I loved London, how these terrorists would never defeat us. By coincidence, I put “X&Y” on and “What If” – and “Fix You” – with their truly affecting melodies, captured the moment.  There were tears in my eyes, tears of love and defiance, as I scribbled. ‘What If” forever defines that moment for me.

3. Fix You, from X&Y (2005)

Kieran: Another Coldplay ballad everyone can sing-a-long with. other-worldly synthetic sounds and Chris martins falsetto voice make a great opening to this song. It then, in typical Coldplay style, continues to build to an epic guitar solo and final rendition of the chorus. ‘Fix You’ never fails to get me feeling inspired.

John:  Well, “Fix You” is part of what I described under ‘What If”. Beauty and defiance.

2. In My Place, from A Rush Of Blood To The Head (2002)

Kieran: This is a song that means an awful lot to me and I have a certain emotional connection with it. A simple song, but the the chiming sounds of the lead guitar gets me thinking and will stay with me for a long time.

John: It starts on a high and stays there. It must be the ultimate festival song.  A complete anthem and celebration. Lighters/ iPhones out!

1. Yellow, from Parachutes (2000)

Kieran: The heartfelt lyrics of ‘Yellow’ and acoustic feel accompanied by an amazing range of vocals from Chris Martin, make this my favourite Coldplay song. For anyone who hasn’t listened, take this opportunity…

John: We totally agreed on this being number one. For me it’s the birth of Coldplay, and their epic, anthemic, but also heartfelt and even gentle sound.  Songs that combine the deeply personal and the celebratory. The guitar on this one raises the song to a higher level from the very start and stays there. I’m strumming my air guitar as I write!

And if you’d like to listen to the playlist in full, you can do so on Spotify at TFW510 – Coldplay

Posted in Music - Top Tens | Tagged , | 15 Comments

Have You Heard? – ( 15) “Girl From The North Country” by Bob Dylan…and Johnny Cash

Posted on May 22, 2012 by John S

“The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan” is my favourite Dylan album. And that is saying something.

I’m always staggered to think it was only his second album, coming out in 1963. It has tunes like “Blowing in the Wind”, ‘A Hard Rain’s A’ Gonna Fall” and “Don’t Think Twice,  It’s Alright”.  But what makes it great is that every other song is brilliant too.  And none more so than “Girl in the North Country”.

It’s a simple folk tune.  A lament for a lost love.  But so beautifully enmeshed in memories of the North country – Minnesota, I think, Bob Dylan’s homeland – the cold winds, the ice, the summer’s end. There’s a wonderfully poignant feel to to the lyrics.  I particularly love these lines:

See for me she wears a coat so warm,                                                                                        To keep her from the howling winds…

A simple detail, an everyday concern that speaks of a burning, lingering love.

The melody for the song is influenced by an old English folk song called “Scarborough Fair”, and of course, that song was revived by Simon and Garfunkel. An absolutely beautiful rendition of the song, which I’m happy to include here.

Scarborough Fair _ Canticle

Bob revived “Girl From The North Country” too, in 1969, when he made “Nashville Skyline”.  This was one of his country albums, made in the aftermath of his motorcycle crash and his withdrawal from the limelight.  He sang “Girl From The North Country” with Johnny Cash. It’s sung at a higher pitch than the original, and both singers are struggling to hit the notes.  That gives it, for me, a real vulnerability, that works so well for this wistful, poignant song.

01 Girl from the North Country

 I love both versions. I play it on my guitar, and struggle to hit the notes, too, if I start in G, as instructed. It’s that kind of song.  Simple, but fragile. Like the love that Dylan lost once upon a time….

Posted in Music - Have You Heard? | Tagged , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

My new domain name – tfw5.com !

Posted on May 22, 2012 by John S

People who know about these things keep on telling me I should purchase my own domain name – so I have! Not really sure what difference it makes, but anyway, I’m now, as far as any readers of this blog are concerned, tfw5.com rather than sillzja.wordpress.com

It’s all still wordpress behind the scenes so I don’t think it makes any difference to anyone following my blog, but I’ll find out when I publish this!

John

Posted in Random stuff | 6 Comments

My Top Ten – Prince

Posted on May 21, 2012 by John S

Prince’s time was the eighties and early nineties, and he, more than anybody – even Michael Jackson – symbolised the coming together of musical genres. Dance, rock, sweet soul, pop, metal, funk, rap. Black and white – no boundaries. Prince had it all, nothing contrived, just pure talent and invention. Live he was a true showman, in the tradition of Little Richard, James Brown, Sly Stone, Hendrix, Stevie Wonder, Michael J. Not a copyist, but a true original.  I’ve seen him a couple of times live.  The first time, at Wembley Arena in the round, in 1986, with a Red Corvette emerging from below the stage with Prince astride it, amongst other delights, goes down as my second favourite concert of all time (Bruce Springsteen, same venue 1981, gets top slot).

He’s still going, still playing brilliant shows.  He has a back catalogue to die for. And yet… he doesn’t seem to have been as influential as you might have expected. Maybe because apart from a period of true originality in the mid-eighties, he was essentially a virtuoso.  He could do anything, but too often the funk workout, the salacious lyrics, or the saccharine soul number seemed enough. He could do rap, but rappers did it better. He could rock, but rockers rocked harder, more often.  He could do edgy, but he never went far enough in that direction. He could funk with the best, but it veered into showbiz. He was almost too talented. And then there were all those disputes with the record company, the symbols, the love-hate relationship with the internet. I, for one, lost interest.

But I’ll never forget those halcyon years, when there was really no-one better. And maybe his true legacy is yet to emerge.

My Ten then, is firmly rooted in the eighties.  As ever, the ones I’ve left out could make another great list. But the discipline of ten really forces you to show your colours.  These are mine…

10. The Cross, from Sign O’ The Times (1987)

Prince’s second best guitar anthem – the best comes much later!  Slow build up, some religious imagery, but above all some guitar riffs that are pretty close to metal. Black Sabbath even comes to mind.  Black Sabbath with soul, if that is possible.

9. Alphabet Street, from Lovesexy (1988)

A great pop tune and a easy funk beat give this a real feelgood aura.  And then there’s the wild rap outburst by The Cat, one of Prince’s hot sidekicks. Enough said!

(Can’t find a decent clip on YouTube, but check the Spotify playlist)

8. Gett Off, from Diamonds and Pearls (1991)

There are loads of versions of this song.  They are all brilliant dance mixes. It’s a combination of dance, rap, jazz and funk.  It has a deep groove. The lyrics are classic Prince “sexy” but more humorous than usual. Total dance. The mix below is actually the one I like best, and have on 12 inch vinyl. So thanks to the person who has just put it on YouTube! Quite long but worth the listen.

7. Let’s Go Crazy, from Purple Rain (1984)  

Starts with the “Dearly beloved…” weird ceremony and then rocks and dances from start to finish, with some wonderful guitar wig outs, especially at the end. Prince’s most joyous record. The clip is from the “Purple Rain” movie. You lose a bit of the opening weirdness. Check the playlist.

6. Kiss, from Parade (1986)

One of Prince’s most memorable hits, and covered, amongst others, by Tom Jones. A sharp, funky tune with Prince exhibiting his best falsetto. Very danceable indeed.

5. When Doves Cry, from Purple Rain (1984)

A great melody, poignant lyrics, powered along by an insistent electro beat and some funky keyboards.  Sparse but powerful and some of Prince’s best singing. It’s hard to define, but this is one of those songs that no-one else could have made.  One of the songs that really made us notice Prince.

4. Little Red Corvette, from 1999 (1982, but songs re-released in ’83)

A yearning rock’n’roll tune with an incredibly catchy chorus. This is where soul and rock met in perfect harmony.

3. 1999, from 1999 (1982)

Apocalyptic funk.  Tonight we’re gonna party like it’s 1999…  

2. Sign O’ the Times, from Sign O’ the Times (1987)

The sparsest, harshest of beats underpins the most socially conscious lyric that Prince ever sang.  Heavy duty drug warnings. Dark, affecting, and brilliantly funky.  It makes you wonder what Prince might have been capable of if he had really put his mind to it. In the meantime, let’s just be grateful for this magnificent piece of music.

1. Purple Rain, from Purple Rain (1984)

I agonised over whether this or Sign O’ the Times should be No1, but in the end the utter majesty of the guitar on this song gave it the nod.  It’s Prince as Hendrix, with a bit more of a pop melody. When he played this at Wembley in 1986, with a transparent, swan-shaped guitar, I found myself in one of those rock moments when you feel like you’re in a bubble where the music is as good as it can ever be. Perfection. So, No 1 it must be.

Here’s the Spotify playlist of my top ten:  TFW510 – Prince

Near misses

As ever, so many. I think “Parade” is one of his finest albums and could have heralded an adventurous shift in sound.  Songs like “Life Could be Nice”, “I Wonder U” and “Girls and Boys” stand out.  “Sign O’ The Times” has “If I was Your Girlfriend” and “U Got The Look”. “Purple Rain” is brilliant from start to finish, and it hurt to leave out songs like “Take Me With U” and “I Would Die For U”. “1999” has “DMSR”, another great funk song. Then there is “Around The World In A Day”, the follow up to “Purple Rain”, with “Raspberry Beret” and “Pop Life” amongst others. And there are songs like “Cream” and “Lemon Crush” from “Batman”, “Sexy MF” and “The Morning Papers” from the Symbol album and “Jam Of The Year” from “Emancipation”.  The latter is a 3CD album.  I never gave it enough time when it came out, but when tracks crop up on shuffle, or when just listening to Prince for this exercise, I think there is more to these later albums than I gave credit for at the time.  Some real treasures lurk. And we have to recognise Prince’s only No1 single in the UK, “The Most Beautiful Girl In The World”.

Prolific!

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Sportsthoughts (25) – We are Premier League, I said we are Premier League!

Posted on May 20, 2012 by John S

So West Ham blew it in the regular season, coming third in the Championship – drawing too many home matches at the business end of the season and being caught out by the remarkable winning surge of Reading in the New Year. Towards the end of the season though, the form was good: a 6-0 thrashing of Brighton the highlight. I watched them cruise to a 4-0 victory at Barnsley on Good Friday (bizarrely it was live on BBC 1) and it felt like the team were just too good for this division.

The playoffs are horrible though.  A whole season’s effort expended coming third and you can be knocked out by the team coming sixth. 11 points behind, as Cardiff were. The nerves were jangling as that first leg in Cardiff kicked off. But the late season form held true. An easy 2-0 victory in Cardiff, followed up by a 3-0 walk in the park at the Boleyn. Meanwhile Blackpool ousted Birmingham in the other semi, which was a relief, as we struggle against the Brummies for some reason.

So it was Blackpool at Wembley!

I was hoping to go with my son, as I knew someone with Club Wembley tickets. But it turned out that they weren’t valid for the playoffs, so we settled down for an eight hour Sky Sports marathon: the Hammers v Tangerines, followed by the Heineken Cup rugby final – Leinster v Ulster – and then Bayern Munich v Chelsea in the Champions League final. All great games, with Chelsea’s penalty shoot out the headline grabber today. But the only one that was truly dear to my heart was the one involving the happy Hammers.

It was a scruffy, tense game. So much at stake. They call it the £45m, or £90m or £50m game, depending on whom you read. It’s the amount of money missed out on if you don’t get promoted. A season of not being in the Premier League. That might be what the accountants care about: what the fans care about is playing Arsenal and Man Utd, rather than Barnsley and Cardiff – with no offence to those clubs, it’s just for illustration. And while it is fun winning loads of games rather than worrying about relegation, there’s no substitute for being part of the elite.

Blackpool started brightly and had a couple of chances before West Ham started to exert control. It was no great surprise when West Ham took the lead late on in the first half – lovely through ball by Matt Taylor and superb control and power from Carlton Cole. His touch seems to be getting better and better. Vaz Te had chances to make it 2-0, but 1-0 felt OK at half time.

But what did Big Sam put in the tea at half time? They were all over the place and Blackpool had figured that balls put in behind the centre backs could cause havoc. It was all Blackpool. They deservedly equalised and continued to play the better football. I was beginning to reconcile myself to another season in the Championship – it wouldn’t be that bad, surely we’d stroll away with it this time…. as long as we kept our best players.  Ah. Robert Green, the keeper, would surely move on. James Tomkins, dashing centre back, would be tempted by at least a QPR or Villa, if not Arsenal or Spurs. Mark Noble, all action midfielder, would decide it was time to get into the Premier League before any chance of making the England squad faded. Carlton Cole would finally go to Stoke, to join their collection of battering ram centre forwards. And Big Sam? Well there has never been a love affair, so the fans would be clamouring for his dismissal.

Oh God, it would be a disaster! What would happen to the Olympic Stadium plans? How dodgy would the club’s finances be when the parachute payments dried up?

1-1 it stayed. Extra time loomed. Kevin Nolan hit the bar with a lovely volley. Blackpool spurned a couple of sitters.  Extra time, and then, and then… penalties! Oh no! An unbearable prospect…

Three minutes to go. Kevin Nolan went wide, put in a low cross. Carlton Cole controlled it, wriggled past a couple of Blackpool defenders.  The ball fell to Ricardo Vaz Te, who’d been having a bit of an off day – by his high standards. He slammed the ball high – it was going over… no it was going in! The roof of the net. 2-1!

The clock ticked down. It had been the cleanest of games, no injuries, barely a booking.  Surely there could only be a minute or maybe two added on. But no, Fergie time prevailed – another four minutes! Why?

Time moved slowly, but Blackpool looked a bit drained. The boys were in control, the ball mostly at the right end of the pitch. Finally, after almost FIVE minutes, Howard Webb blew his whistle. Maybe he’d confused Blackpool with Man U. But it didn’t matter any more. We’d done it. Back in the Premier League!

Yeah, well, of course I knew we’d always do it…. Didn’t I ?

Give it up to Big Sam!

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Sportsthoughts (24) – Scenes from Quins vs Northampton playoff semi final

Posted on May 17, 2012 by John S

Last Saturday was the semi final play off for Quins against Northampton. Destination Twickenham, 26 May, Premiership playoff final. A season of games ultimately counting for nothing.  Quins came top of the league, but if they don’t win the playoffs, no-one (except us Quins fans) will remember.

The semi was a nervous affair.  Lots of kicking and running into hard defences.  Not so much chucking the ball wide. For most of the game it was an exchange of penalties, although Quins had the most possession. Then, with 15 minutes to go, Northampton broke free and scored a try. Converted.  They went ahead, 23-15. It started to feel like the season was over. But we got a penalty back, 23-18, and there was hope. The crowd really got going: it was the most intense atmosphere all season.  With about four minutes to go Quins massed on the Northampton line and scored a push over try.  Joe Marler the man. It went to the video ref and the tension mounted. The TV milked it.  Agony. Then it came up on the screen: TRY! Everyone went ape! Nev converted. 25-23. The Quins forwards stuck the ball up their jumpers and played out the last three minutes. We were through.

Through to the final!

It will be against Leicester, who beat Saracens in the other semi. It will be a tough, tough, game, but Quins can do it.

Anyway, a few rather ropey photos, from the iPhone, on the day.

The Quins boys striding out.

Joe Marler, man-monster, at the ready.

Nev kicking an early penalty.

 

Grappling for the high ball.

Scrum down!

Celebration!

Harley Bear, always there.

George Robson and Nick Easter – forward heroes.

Chris Robshaw, captain and all round hero; Nick Evans, fly half, controller, best in the league.

George Lowe, Matt Hopper, Sam Smith – all future England players.  In the orange vest Mark Lambert, front rower and resident Quins intellectual on Twitter.

Fingers crossed for the 26th!

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Have You Heard? – (14) “Marquee Moon” by Television

Posted on May 17, 2012 by John S

“Marquee Moon” is one of the great New York New Wave albums of the late seventies.  No, it’s more than that. It is, for me, one of the great albums of all time. It may even be in my top ten.  Certainly my 20.

I was reminded of it recently when I made a comment on a blog I follow called Culture vs Nutella, by Lulu Rou, who is French and writes in both French and English. She wrote something about the Strokes, another great band.  I said something about them being influenced by Television, and someone else contradicted this, saying the Strokes had denied that they’d ever listened to Television before they made their debut album, “Is This It”. That’s true enough, I now realise – somehow I’d missed this at the time, but it’s there on Wikipedia. So, you have to believe them, but…

All I can say is listen to the two albums.  Both exceptional.  Different tempos , but to my ears, rooted in the same philosophy of sound and feel.  Both so distinctively New York albums, though 24 years apart. Can I explain what I mean by that?  Not really. They just are. And of course the Velvet Underground are at the root of both.

I’m writing a book about my musical journey, and below I’ve extracted the piece I wrote on Television. Part of a chapter on New Wave music, US and UK.  Hope you like it. With a couple of Youtube videos slotted in.

There was some of the Velvet’s epic quality in a band that jumped out of the New York new wave in 1977 with an album that was truly different, truly original.  It was one of those albums that sounded like nothing that came before and hasn’t been matched, even by the band themselves, since.  Plenty of bands have been influenced by it – notably the Strokes in the US and early Razorlight here in the UK – but no-one has ever come up with quite the same sound as “Marquee Moon” by Television. The band were part of the New York punk scene, supported the Ramones at CBGBs, featured Richard Hell for a while, etc, etc.  So where did this music come from?  It wasn’t punk: no two minute three chord bashes here.  It was a set of fragile, intense songs, anchored by the title track, a ten minute epic of swirling, filigree guitars and anguished vocals, driven along by a metronomic, jerky bass line.  The metaphors that come to mind are all about delicacy but also sharpness: shards of glass, diamond edges… cold and pristine… but on the edge of breakdown.

The singer, writer and lead guitarist was Tom Verlaine. Good name – that French touch seemed right for the music. I don’t know how he was feeling when he made this album, but it could have been intensely happy or intensely sad.  Or both.  But intense, sensitive, raw – it wasn’t just the day job.  That guitar sound had to come deeply from within.  The only sound which I think is comparable, and might have been an inspiration, is the epic soloing of Neil Young on songs like “Cortez the Killer” and “Like a Hurricane”. They have a richer, deeper guitar, but have the same visceral quality, and the same layering of sound, like a  meandering river in search of its destination.

Each song on “Marquee Moon” felt like a lament, or an argument, or just bewilderment.  Fragments of icy guitar intertwined with anxious vocals, leading nowhere in particular. Songs without resolution, hanging on a nervous ledge.  Songs on the edge.  “Torn Curtain”, “Venus”, and my favourite, after the title track, “Elevation”:

“I sleep light on these shores tonight, I sleep light on these shores.                              Elevation, don’t go to my head….”

“Marquee Moon” was ecstatically received in the NME.  The great Nick Kent wrote the canonising review.  Television were the new heroes… until the next album.  “Adventure” was given the classic build-‘em-up-knock-em-down treatment.  Julie Burchill was brought in to bring it down, to destroy the myth.  Television were no longer the untouchable heroes.  And the truth is, that second album wasn’t great and the band didn’t do much after that.  Tom Verlaine released some decent solo albums where the guitar runs occasionally reached the heights of “Marquee Moon”;  but it looks like genius touched Tom Verlaine for just a short while.  Enough to make one of the great albums, an album like no other, a diamond amongst pearls.  But just the one.

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