Howdy 👋
I’ve recently written a series of pieces based on my ‘101 favorite albums of the 1980s.’ It didn’t quite end in that decade as my musical obsession continues unabated to this day. Soooo … I thought why not mention what else floats my boat, tickles my fancy, or indeed … rocks my (little) world these days.
1️⃣
(mY)dESeRT iSLAND DiScS
The first record I couldn’t live without is also the one where my Neil Young journey began. I purchased his compilation double album called Decade sometime in the late 80s. I, of course, knew of his radio hits – who didn’t? Many musicians I loved spoke highly about how he had influenced them. This piqued my interest in him. Then, when I heard The Mission covering “Like a Hurricane,” I knew I had to explore Mr. Young further. So the day I saw Decade gazing back at me and shouting, “buy me! buy me!” on a shelf inside Record Rendezvous in Alberton City, I immediately snapped it up.
Looking at what is on Decade below, it was a no-brainer really – money very well spent. The songs on there literally blow my mind to this day. There is something so fragile yet dangerous about Neil Young – you can almost feel the drugs in his music at times.
Decade offers such key tracks as Buffalo Springfield’s “Mr. Soul,” “Broken Arrow,” and “I Am a Child”; “Sugar Mountain,” a song that had appeared only as a single before; “Cinnamon Girl,” “Down by the River,” and “Cowgirl in the Sand” from Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere; “Southern Man” and the title track from After the Gold Rush; and “Old Man” and the chart-topping “Heart of Gold” from Harvest
It’s maybe the only Neil Young one really needs, but me being me, it was only just the beginning of an all-consuming passion for all things Neil. At last count, I have 21 Neil Young studio & live albums in my collection. He’s done 55 (!!) so I have got a long way to go to complete the set … 😋
A 35-track selection of the best of Young’s work between 1966 and 1976, it includes songs performed by Buffalo Springfield, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, and the Stills-Young Band, as well as solo work. In addition to five unreleased songs.
This originally came out in 1977 and since there is no one-disc Young compilation covering any significant portion of his career, this lengthy chronicle is the best place to start. Even if it is a bit of a cop-out choosing a compilation, Decade is an easy choice for my first ‘desert island disc.’
Heart of Gold. Four chords. So simple. So beautiful. So Neil Young.
101,346,336, and counting 😳 views since Sep 13, 2006. Live from 1971. Neil digs around in his pockets trying to find the right harp and then plays a brand new song … Heart of Gold
2️⃣
bEdtiMe reAdiNg
🥇
I’m still currently enjoying Danny de Wet’s excellent autobiographical South African rock music tome.
The book has many funny moments. One that stands out, and where I “laughed out loud,” is when Danny and “Hot Friend” discover the delights of LSD together. Or rather, that marijuana cookies AND psychedelic drugs like acid do not mix well, especially in vast quantities.🤣🤣🤣🤣 De Wet describes the ensuing scenes brilliantly and it is … VERY funny.
He, of course, lived to tell the tale.
I’ve recently reached the part in the book where Danny details his time with The Electric Petals in the early 90s. I’ve had their album called Polynation buried deep in my collection for the subsequent 25 years since I first listened to it. His writing inspired me to haul it out for another spin. It still sounds good and is a notable South African album for sure. The production work especially stands above many other locally produced recordings.
In case you’ve forgotten it here’s one of the singles off the LP.
🥈
My son Finn is now six, almost seven. I’ve been reading to him as much as I can for a while now. We recently finished ‘My Big Fat Zombie Goldfish‘ by Mo O’Hara which he loved. So did his Dad! 🤣
What next I thought? Well, of course … some Roald Dahl, obviously! So we started with this classic.
Does it get better than this? Roald Dahl was a genius, what would we have done without him?? Finn of course loves it and it’s so rewarding reading to the little guy. He’ll be reading himself soon – I’m really hoping he’s a bookworm rather than one of the modern-day alternatives. 😭 I think I’m dreaming as he discovered electronic games ages ago. 😪
Finn also found the film with Johnny Depp as Willy Wonka – it’s on Netflix. I think he’s on his fourth time watching it already.
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is a 2005 musical fantasy film directed by Tim Burton and written by John August, based on the 1964 British novel of the same name by Roald Dahl. The film stars Johnny Depp as Willy Wonka and Freddie Highmore as Charlie Bucket, alongside David Kelly, Helena Bonham Carter, Noah Taylor, Missi Pyle, James Fox, Deep Roy, and Christopher Lee. The storyline follows Charlie as he wins a contest along with four other children and is led by Wonka on a tour of his chocolate factory.
The musical connection for me in this book is Veruca Salt, one of the main characters in the story. She’s the spoilt little rich kid whose Daddy buys her way into finding one of those magical ‘Golden Tickets.’ In an inspired bit of band name finding, a group of Chicago indie kids in the early 90s decided on – yes, you guessed it, VERUCA SALT – as their band moniker.
‘Veruca Salt 👆 reshaped the jagged, abrasive punk-pop of the Pixies and Breeders into a more accessible, riff-driven power pop formula that also borrowed from pop/hard rockers like Cheap Trick. It was a successful formula, both musically and commercially, yet it didn’t ensure them indie rock credibility; in fact, they became one of the most harshly criticized bands of the post-Nirvana alternative rock era, despite being one of the first female-fronted outfits to achieve stardom in that genre.‘
3️⃣
EssEntiAl VieWinG
I’m busy working my way through the entire series of Larry David’s excellent Curb Your Enthusiasm. You may know of him? The man is responsible for creating the superb television sitcom Seinfeld with Jerry Seinfield. I’d read great things about Curb for years but never watched it. So, when I saw it was available on Showmax I dived right in.
Curb Your Enthusiasm is an American television sitcom produced and broadcast by HBO since October 15, 2000, and created by Larry David, who stars as a semi-fictionalized version of himself. It follows David’s life as a semi-retired television writer and producer in Los Angeles, and for one season, in New York City.
Even though I only started watching about a year or so ago I am already on season ten. In this day and age of binge-watching that’s probably taking your time! There are eleven in all, so I am almost done – the most recent airing in the States sometime in 2021. I think it’s brilliant, but, I imagine not for everyone. David, playing himself, is a seriously obnoxious prick at times. He rubs people up the wrong way every single episode. Much misanthropic mayhem ensues and I think many non-fans are clearly just not used to such unfettered genius. All the more reason to recommend this festival of acerbic wit.
In one episode, Larry is sitting in a cafe, chatting up a pretty-looking lady in the seat opposite him. They had discovered they shared a similar interest in classical music. After much flirting, he asks her (Denise) on a date and gets her phone number. All is good until she says goodbye and starts leaving the coffee shop. In a wheelchair!! David’s face is priceless, and of course, Denise notices and asks if her handicap is a problem? After squirming a bit, Larry confirms he will still be phoning her for this date. He does too much hilarity for the rest of that particular episode.
Each episode’s plot and subplot are established in an outline written by David, and the dialogue is largely improvised by the actors, a technique which is known as retro-scripting.
For most of the series, the Larry David character is living married, child-free life in Los Angeles with his wife Cheryl (Cheryl Hines). David’s main confidant on the show is his manager and friend Jeff Greene (Jeff Garlin). Susie Essman plays Susie Greene, Jeff’s short-tempered wife, who is frequently at odds with Larry.
Main characters:
Many of the show’s frequent guest stars are celebrities and public figures, who will usually play fictionalized versions of themselves. Among the more frequently recurring guest stars are Larry’s longtime friend Richard Lewis as well as Ted Danson and his wife Mary Steenburgen.
Shelley Berman played Larry’s father, Nat David. Bob Einstein frequently appeared as Marty Funkhouser, another of Larry’s oldest friends. Funkhouser is a funny old guy and one of my faves on the show; he’s part of David’s regular golf four-ball, but almost always completely at odds with Larry.
In seasons 6 and 7, Vivica A. Fox appears as Loretta Black, a member of the Black family, a family of hurricane evacuees who take refuge in Larry’s house upon Cheryl’s invitation. Loretta eventually becomes Larry’s primary love interest for a time once he and Cheryl split up.
One of the funniest dudes on the show is 👇
Some of the excellent supporting cast:
Celebrities – including actors, comedians, authors, musicians, and athletes – often make guest appearances on the show, with a large portion of them playing themselves, or fictional versions thereof.
Some of these guest stars who appear as fictionalized versions of themselves include Mel Brooks, Michael York, Martin Scorsese, Ben Stiller, Christian Slater, David Schwimmer, Rob Reiner, Rosie O’Donnell, Seth Rogen, Michael J. Fox, and the main cast of Seinfeld – Jerry Seinfeld, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Jason Alexander, and Michael Richards.
Notable people who filled in fictional roles include Bryan Cranston, Bob Odenkirk, Wayne Federman, Gina Gershon, Elisabeth Shue, Vince Vaughn, Bobby Lee, Frank Whaley, Kaley Cuoco, Stephen Colbert, and Tracey Ullman. The musical connection here is therefore pretty obvious.
Below is Tracey Ullman’s great cover of the Kirsty MacColl song, which features a cameo from Paul McCartney.
In 2016, Rolling Stone Magazine ranked Curb Your Enthusiasm as the 19th greatest television series ever made.
By the way, the TOP SIX were as follows:
6. The Simpsons 5. Seinfeld 4. Mad Men 3. Breaking Bad 2. The Wire
and at
‘numero uno’
👏
THE SOPRANOS.
Which is also my favorite TV show ever
4️⃣
pEt HaTe
I have so many pet hates at the moment that I could literally fill a very thick book. But, I’ll start with this one.
Lobbying
W.T.F? Do American politicians think we are ALL as stupid as they are? Why don’t they rather call it for was it is. Which is … BRIBERY, simple as that. Throw enough money at something and you can basically have, or do what you want. This is possibly a real reason why most of the world is a complete mess at the moment. I’ll stop there.
Here’s an old friend of ours with a similar rant.
Be my guest
pEt HaTe
“Bullies – from the school playground bully to the bully at work. It’s the misuse of power and the preying on the perceived weak that I hate.”
Jim Kerr (Simple Minds) from Uncut Magazine, Take 90, November 2004
And Jimi’s on the same page too. His beautiful and truthful quote below, tying in nicely with mine and Jim Kerr’s gripes above.
and finally …
5️⃣
noun
plural noun: guilty pleasures
something, such as a film, television program, or piece of music, that one enjoys despite feeling that it is not generally held in high regard. For example:
“Everybody has a guilty pleasure—for me, it has to be mid-70s disco”
I am now far too old to give a shit about what pleasures should or should not make me feel guilty. Damn, that feels so good! I also don’t give a toss, about what I wear or how I look. One of the priveledges of reaching these more advanced years shall we say. 🕺
So with the above in mind (and please note the example above referring to mid-70s disco is not me!) I set about finding my candidate for this edition of “guilty pleasures.”
I’ve been listening to the group I had in mind for the last week or two – their debut album specifically – and loving them. They are an indie-rock outfit who must be festival favorites – combining infectious melodies with stadium-ready hooks. Think bands like Arctic Monkeys, The Killers, and The Kooks, and you maybe get what I mean.
So who are they you ask?
Formed in West London at the birth of the last decade (that’s 2010 folks) with a name that has nothing to the recent fixation with ‘THE JAB‘
yes
it’s
the
Vaccines
For all you music Anoraks out there the band is made up of – Justin Hayward-Young (lead vocals, guitar), Freddie Cowan (lead guitar, vocals), Árni Árnason (bass, vocals), and Pete Robertson (drums, vocals). This is what they look like – see below – the polar opposite of the Stranglers three decades earlier!
😅😁
Evoking names like the Strokes, Jesus and Mary Chain, and The Ramones, they released their debut single, “Post-Break-Up Sex,” on Columbia Records in February 2011, in anticipation of a full-length studio album later in the year.
For me, all eleven tracks on their debut LP are pop-tastic killers. Not one dud amongst them and I have had What Do You Expect From The Vaccines? on constant repeat for quite a while now. Again, I chortle to myself at how relevant that album title is a decade later. Maybe those boys knew something we didn’t?
The Vaccines (the band) remind me of a modern-day Midge Ure-era Ultravox. Not so much musically but rather in their sharp image and keen fashion sense. Ultravox looked stylish and had hordes of fans but were not music critic darlings. The Vaccines seem to fall into the same category.
Therefore the main reason their debut qualifies as a ‘Guilty Pleasure,’ is the lukewarm reception it was given by most of the music press.
Pitchfork gave it an average 6 out of 10. The Guardian, a similar ⭐⭐⭐(out of 5). All Music Guide thought a shoddy ⭐⭐ 1/2 stars (also out of 5) was an appropriate rating. Stephen Erlewine (whose opinion I almost always respect) then goes on to write the following:
‘The Vaccines’ debut, titled What Did You Expect from the Vaccines? with a self-satisfied shrug, does bear the air of studied affectation, the bandmembers lazily splicing their favorite record collection together into a cool droning pulse. It’s plainly lifestyle music for Young Turks who need a soundtrack for their disengagement yet are too worried to play something that alienates for fear that they just may not get laid. What Did You Expect has just enough style to attract suitors of either sex but its attraction is shallow and fleeting, pasted together from other, better familiar elements stretching from the Arctic Monkeys to the Smiths and the Jesus and Mary Chain.’
Oh well, thank you, Mr. Erlewine, I don’t quite agree, but at least I have my ‘Guilty Pleasure‘ now.
There’s no shame in catchy, concise, sharply executed tunes that communicate mildly fresh takes on relationships, either – and this album has more than a few. The Vaccines are at their best when they’re upbeat, dappled with sunlight, and surprisingly hard to get out of your head. I’m therefore not ashamed to say – I love this album. 👇
My rating is ⭐⭐⭐⭐ (out of 5)
Reflecting on the album’s ten-year anniversary, Justin Young told Atwood Magazine he and the band were “petrified of not being able to capture the energy” they were looking for: “I remember at the time being like, ‘This doesn’t sound particularly aggressive‘ or ‘It doesn’t sound lo-fi enough for my tastes.’ Now I listen back and I’m like “Whoa!” I think it probably was, and I’m like “Wow. That’s crazy that these songs got played on the radio.”
The Vaccines have toured extensively, playing with and opening up for acts such as The Rolling Stones, Arcade Fire, Arctic Monkeys, The Stone Roses, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Imagine Dragons, and Muse.
The group has continued to plow their lovely indie-rock furrow releasing another four albums up until 2021s Back in Love City – and still sounding pretty damn good to me. They have sold over two million records worldwide.
Finally
It would be remiss of me not to mention how I came about discovering this group just over a decade ago now. My old friend Gary Schulze gets the plaudits for this one. He had been living somewhere in Yorkshire, England, for quite a while by then, and still does. The big man had picked up on them, possibly through his kids, I’m not sure? Gary asked me at some point, “Mark, have you heard The Vaccines?” When I answered in the negative he promptly responded with “Right, I’ll sort that out.”
[Remember this is a bit before music streaming destroyed everything 🙄]
Gary promptly went out and bought me a copy of their debut album on CD somewhere in England. I think it was barely a week after our chat, and the copy arrived in Johannesburg and into my sticky fingers. I haven’t got a clue (aka I’ve forgotten🤣) how he got it here, but I can tell you it wasn’t via the South African Post Office.
Thanks, Big G, I still love and value your present, as you can see! 😘
[it would not have been nearly as meaningful if you had just told me to search them out on Sloppy-fi]
MUSIC
in a physical form
is
the gift that keeps on giving!!
Thanks for reading my babbling on music, books, and television.
☮
For What It's Worth 
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