I dream in black and white
To quote the famous Sun headline, "Phew, what a scorcher". Every shop I went into this week had people grumbling that it was "too hot". Next week it will be raining cats and dogs and those self same people will be grumbling that we never get any sunshine in Britain. That's why we love the weather in this country. There's always something to grumble about.
First, the bad news
I'm sorry to say we have had to cancel our August re-opening gig. Finding a suitable venue at short notice is challenging. To be covid-safe, we need plenty of fresh air, and for most venues that typically means opening windows, but that causes noise nuisance for the neighbours. Added to that, the covid rules seem to change by the hour, the statistics this week are creating a lot of worry and uncertainty, and we really don't want to be putting people at risk. So with a heavy heart we have had to cancel the August gig, and we'll reschedule Peerless Pirates for a later event. Meanwhile, here is a clip of the Pirates at the Cellar, playing their cover of "Ghost Riders In The Sky".... but who sang it originally?
Hands up if you said Johnny Cash, way back in 1979. Wrong, I'm afraid. The song was already thirty years old by then. The 1949 original was by Stan Jones and the Death Valley Rangers, and was sung by "The Singing Cowboy", Gene Autry, in the 1949 western, "Riders In The Sky". In addition, in that same year, no less than four covers were recorded and released by Bing Crosby, Peggy Lee, Burl Ives, and Vaughn Monroe.
So long, and thanks for all the rollmops
Friday evening is likely to be too hot to twitch, so here instead are a few clips of local bands from our past Klub Kakofanney events featuring the wonderful Waterfahl in early 2019, a non-stop number from the hyperactive Be Still in late 2018, a breathtakingly-good piece from Third Lung in the winter of 2019, and a sublime special from the barcoded Brown Glove in the summer of 2018.
Many of you will have come to know Hanne and Finn of Waterfahl who have lived in the UK for the past thirteen years, who have been active on the Oxford and Abingdon music scenes, and who played in the fringe tent two years ago at the last Riverside festival. But their time has now come to return to Denmark. Farewell, and thank you for the music.
See chameleon, lying there, in the sun
The heat is getting to my brain. I turned on Jack FM, while driving, just in time to hear a vaguely familiar song, but couldn't for the life of me remember the name of the band. It sounded like celtic rock. Could it be The Pogues, The Oyster Band, The Dropkick Murphys? I had to keep humming the song to myself all day until I could get to a computer and Google the name of it. Here is a lively modern cover version of it by a Canadian folk band called Great Big Sea. Do you recognise the song? One, two, three, four....
If I told you it is originally released in 1983, does that help? No, probably not. The song is called "Run Runaway", not to be confused with "My Little Runaway" by Del Shannon, or "Runaway" by Aurora, or any of the dozen other songs with runaway in their titles. This one was, of course, originally written and performed by the glam pop band from Dudley, none other than Slade. How could I forget? It is a great song, a real crowd pleaser, and a cover of it would sit well in many local bands' set lists.
History shows again and again
The Olympic opening ceremony will be held in a huge stadium with an audience of just 950 people. In a country where the majority of its citizens think the games should have been cancelled, Covid is not the only "plague" that Japan's Olympic committee is having to deal with. Event organisers were puzzled why the marker buoys on the rowing courses in Tokyo Bay kept sinking, and discovered a plague of oysters are attaching themselves to the shiny new floats. So far, repair crews have removed 14 tonnes of the shellfish. That sounds like a nice little snack for Godzilla:
Did you spot the cheesy Godzilla in there at the back of the stage? That was the Blue Oyster Cult for you. Their single, "Godzilla", dates back to 1977, over forty years ago. I particularly like the line: "History shows again and again how nature points up the folly of men".
Keep yourself safe, keep others safe
Please remember that even if you have been double-jabbed, it does not make you bulletproof, and before you say "the odds are so small, it just won't happen to me", remember the odds are much much greater than the odds of you winning the lottery, but you still buy Lotto tickets believing it could happen to you.
It appears the majority of people who have been vaccinated not only think they are now totally immune, (primarily due to misleading information from the mouths of ministers), but also do not bother to test. Double-jabbed or not, you should still periodically perform a lateral flow test, especially right now when numbers are rising so rapidly, so that if you have picked up this highly contagious but symptomless disease, you can avoid infecting others. The tests are free, and you can get them from pharmacies, no problem.
23rd July 2021
The Lockdown Letters
Klub Kakofanney