#which leads me to believe they recorded actual airings of the show in 2003

[starpaw0007]

They also advertised a promotion for the ps2 tie in game that ended in 2004…

I accidentally bought a bootleg set of FMA 03 from eBay. I’m only 13 episodes in and this is every name they’ve given to the Philosopher’s Stone so far…

[aion-rsa]

Garbage Pail Kids At 35: The Kids Are Alright

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Presented by:

This story appears in the Den of Geek x eBay special edition trading card magazine.

Garbage Pail Kids gave birth to my anti-authority streak. I was in fifth grade waiting for art class to start and showing off my prized Ashcan Andy to enraptured classmates when my teacher walked in the classroom, sighed, confiscated the card and proceeded to rip it up. “This junk has no place in an art room,” she stoically declared as Andy was transformed into sad confetti before my eyes. Years later, I came to realize that this demonstration was all about jealousy – these cards had instantly engaged students in art in a way that her years of teaching never could.

And let me be clear here: Garbage Pail Kids are most definitely art. Often grotesque and always eye-catching, the unfortunate children showcased on these cards fostered an interest in painting, illustration, and design for generations of kids since Topps first introduced them back in 1985 (their pun-heavy names also were a gateway for subversive humor). After 35 years, Garbage Pail Kids have become a cultural institution—not to mention schoolyard contraband for nearly four decades, an unexpected bonus that would make the creators of these cards—veterans of the counterculture themselves—beam with pride.

To trace the origins of Garbage Pail Kids, a brief history lesson is in order. Although they were best known for their baseball cards, the Topps Company also had huge success with bubblegum cards based on popular films and TV shows. Further expanding their creative pallet, Topps released numerous humor card lines, the most popular of which was Wacky Packages. Like Mad Magazine before them, these stickers showcased parodies of contemporary products with bitingly accurate focus. 

In the early 1980s there was no bigger consumer frenzy than the Cabbage Patch Kids. These dolls from Xavier Roberts and Coleco featured an elaborate backstory and cloyingly adorable looks that became the stuff of toy legend (news reports featuring near riots as parents tried to get their hands on the damn things were commonplace in the early 1980s). 

Naturally, then, Cabbage Patch Kids were an ideal target to get the Wacky Packages treatment. But the decision was wisely made by Topps execs that Garbage Pail Kids could be a card line of their own. Spearheading the project was underground comics legend Art Spiegelman (who would go on to win a Pulitzer Prize in 1992 for his groundbreaking holocaust graphic novel Maus), Raw comics anthology contributor Mark Newgarden, and artist John Pound. 

Pound, a veteran of painting fantasy and science fiction book covers, was brought by Spiegelman to illustrate the original Wacky Packages “Garbage Pail Kid” card (featuring one of the dolls pushed into a trash can and touting orders to send the unfortunate soul to the Department of Sanitation). Though this Wacky Pack was shelved, Pound single-handedly painted all the characters featured in the first Garbage Pail Kids set. “They liked the idea sketches I sent in,” he says, “and asked me to do all 40 paintings in two months, which was faster than I was used to, but I got organized and made the deadline.” 

Working with Spiegelman, Newgarden, and Topps creative favorite Jay Lynch to craft ideas, Pound’s early characters included the now iconic Adam Bomb, and remain some of the most beloved in the line (for the record, Pound names Adam Bomb, Up Chuck, Jolly Roger, and Mona Loser as some of his favorite creations). 

Looking back over three decades later, Pound sees several reasons why Garbage Pail Kids have endured:

“The original concept had strengths: doing a parody of the famous Cabbage Patch Kids, and a name that was both clear and familiar sounding,” he says. “The concept’s rebellious attitude and shock value gave it initial attention. Also, in the ‘80s, Topps products were widely distributed, like in drug stores, variety stores, convenience stores.”

Although he freely admits that “I wasn’t expecting it, but Garbage Pail Kids became a huge hit,” Pound says aesthetic concerns were foremost on his mind when painting these garish figures. “On my end, despite the abundant gross humor and shock value, I simply wanted the art to feel good to look at. And I tried to put love into the paintings.” 

The care with which these outlandish cards were created was appreciated by consumers. Fifteen different series of Garbage Pail Kids were produced between 1985 and 1988. There was spinoff GPK merchandise too, ranging from folders emblazoned with images of popular characters to the on-brand/subversively named Cheap Toys. The Garbage Pail Kids Movie was released in 1987 with The Facts of Life co-star Mackenzie Astin in the lead. On that topic, The Toys That Made Us and A Toy Store Near You creator Brian Volk-Weiss sums up the flick perfectly: “That movie is so bonkers even seeing it is not believing it. It reminds me in a weird way of a low budget Batman and Robin in that it was like a ton of people were involved with the green light and execution and seemingly had no oversight on any matter.” 

But as far as Volk-Weiss is concerned, a new motion picture has plenty of potential. “I would love to see them do a ‘serious’ reboot that would be similar to the first Guardians of the Galaxy film in that they take the characters and the world seriously,” he states, “but the fun and humor and oddness stays intact too.” While there may be a future on screen for New Wave Dave and company, whatever it turns out to be must avoid the mistakes of the infamous 1987 cartoon series – which was produced for CBS but never aired due to the then-ongoing controversy surrounding the franchise (it eventually landed on DVD, and the less said about it the better.)

Despite a lull in any new products that lasted from the late 1980s until 2003, Garbage Pail Kids never really left the public consciousness. If anything, they were inspiring new talent. Enter Buff Monster. The Hawaii native and prolific street artist known for his upbeat, ice cream-inspired work was so inspired by Garbage Pail Kids that he created his own line of sticker art cards, The Melty Misfits. With names like Mind-Blowin’ Owen (featuring a cameo by a very Adam Bomb-esque character) and Bam Bam Sam, these intricately designed stickers—created on the type of antiquated machinery that Garbage Pail Kids were made on—come complete with a retro-styled wax pack and showcase Buff Monster’s own unique aesthetic as they pay homage to the Topps line.

Talking about why he personally connected with Garbage Pail Kids, Buff Monster makes a salient point on why these things were so memorable in the first place. 

“If you look at most trading cards, they are less than what they’re about. Having a baseball card is a ‘less than’ experience than watching the game. If you’re watching a baseball game in person, that’s great, but watching a baseball game on TV is actually better because you’ve got commentary, and you’ve got playback, and all this sort of stuff,” he tells us.

“But Garbage Pail Kids stand out because the art was made for the cards, so the card was the thing. The card wasn’t some sub-version of something else. It was the point of making the art in the first place. And so that has always stuck with me. And that is really kind of what it comes down to for me.”

Buff Monster’s The Melty Misfits stickers are a burgeoning phenomenon for the 2020s, just as Garbage Pail Kids were for the 1980s. It’s understandable that he is partnering with eBay for a special pack of The Melty Misfits, some of which will come packaged with a random “Golden Ticket” card that will entitle the recipient to have Buff Monster create a character of their choice. 

“This pack that we’re going to do is a nice little introduction to me and eBay working together,” he says. “This is a very easy thing for the completist to get. And that’s good.” 

It’s clear when talking to Buff Monster that Garbage Pail Kids continue to inspire. And the cards themselves feel more vibrant than ever, way more relevant today than the doll that inspired them in the first place. Case in point? Recent political and horror-themed Garbage Pail Kids sets (which are really one and the same when you think about it) have brought old fans back into the fold. 

Another example of booming Garbage Pail Kids interest is the 2017 documentary 30 Years of Garbage: The Garbage Pail Kids Story. The film’s writer and (with Jeff Zapata) co-director is Joe Simko, himself an accomplished artist and graphic designer who has worked on the card line and IDW’s spinoff Garbage Pail Kids comic, as well as his own series of The Sweet Rot graphic novels and his Cereal Killer trading cards. Simko vividly remembers when Garbage Pail Kids entered his life.

“I first discovered Garbage Pail Kids when I was 10 years old while riding the school bus. A couple of kids were sharing them,” Simko says. “It was the second series, and I just remember that artwork jumping out at me. Never had I seen such appetizing visuals on a trading card before. I knew instantly they were an attack on the highly successful Cabbage Patch Kids dolls, which dominated the kid’s market landscape at the time. Garbage Pail Kids were such a great middle-school kids protest to that cutesy Cabbage Patch world.”

Simko has been a part of Garbage Pail Kids lore since 2009, and during that time has given the Garbage Pail Kids treatment to everything from Stranger Things to Universal Monsters. “I think my favorite Garbage Pail Kids projects are the licensed product paintings I get to do,” he says. “For instance, the Garbage Pail Kids cereal for FYE was just so great to work on. Doing cereal box signings at the FYE pop-up shop during San Diego Comic-Con was an overwhelming experience. Greeting Garbage Pail Kids fans, when I too am a fan, is amazing.”

When I mention the brand’s longevity to Simko, he is quick to sum up their continued popularity. “Garbage Pail Kids have lasted this long due in part to the dedicated group of collectors who grew up on the series in the ’80s. Yes, there are younger kids buying them today, but the nostalgia it brings to those grown-up kids keeps the spirit and revenue of the Garbage Pail alive.”

Bringing things full circle, he also vindicated myself and everyone else who was ever frowned upon for appreciating the cards’ artistic merits.

“They are a true form of art. To pass judgement on them and reject these cards as ‘art’ because of the subject matter, is to have a narrow perspective of what art is,” Simko says. “Credit goes to the original creators of the Garbage Pail Kids cards during the 1980s, Art Spiegelman and Mark Newgarden. Art and Mark knew the ingredients to make GPK work. And of course the artists, John Pound, Tom Bunk, James Warhola, and Jay Lynch, were the ‘cooks.’ They made it taste and look perfectly gross. Without any of these creative minds, I believe Garbage Pail Kids would not be the success it became at the time.”

Despite being anchored to a fad from the 1980s, Garbage Pail Kids are ultimately timeless. Children of all ages will always take to the goofy grossness that is embedded in the line’s DNA. Nostalgia is a potent thing too, but as recent years have illustrated, Topps is always looking to evolve the IP, be it through virtual Garbage Pail Kids, high-end collectible figures, or just by continuing to bring in great artists to keep the bread and butter of the franchise—the card line—going strong. These Kids may be pushing 40, but in the heart of fans, they’ll never age.

Garbage Pail Kids eBay x Topps Exclusive 

The 10-card set created by Joe Simko is the first exclusive from eBay and Topps. Each card is representative of buying and selling on eBay. The set will be available for $19.99 on eBay for one week starting on August 10. 

The post Garbage Pail Kids At 35: The Kids Are Alright appeared first on Den of Geek.

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[amoralto]

MOJO: Paul McCartney – the MOJO interview. (May, 2003)

(Note: Finally, finally finished typing this up after @sweating-cobwebs requested the full interview what seems like ages ago. Quotes from this and the Yoko interview from the same issue - which I’ll probably type up in full later as well - can be found under the #2003 tag.)

-

In troubled times, Paul McCartney and Yoko Ono remained undaunted and have found peace – with themselves and each other. Johnny Black met Macca in London.

by Johnny Black

When Sir Paul McCartney’s dark blue Mercedes drives into Docklands Arena and pulls up at the side of the stage, the 60-year-old man who climbs out looks sprightly, even jaunty. He throws his elegant grey jacket over one shoulder, as he proffers a broad smile to everyone he greets. There’s a ripple effect as he moves away from the vehicle, a small knot of his employees drifting along with him. Press officer, catering manager, sound man, security personnel… and they each have a little something they need him to do if and when he has a moment.

He appears to be taking it all on board, seems to placate them all, and by the time he pauses about 30 feet in front of the stage, the knot has dissolved and they’re all heading back to their appointed posts.

The figure briefly watches his mainly American band as they jam cheerfully around the distinctive chord progression of Walk Don’t Run by The Ventures, then joins them on the stage, immediately changing the mood as he leads them into Shakin’ All Over, the first truly great pre-Beatles British rock track. Given how much we seem to love speculating about McCartney’s motives, it would be easy to interpret this as a statement of intent – the British boss asserting his personality over his yankee staff – but it’s also undeniably a great track to warm-up on, and he seems to relish playing it. Up there on that stage, bashing away in front of an audience of less than 20 onlookers, he seems just as happy as he would be if he were basking in the approval of 20,000.

It’s March 14, 2003, and for the next few days the 12,000-capacity Arena – a far cry from the Liverpudlian sitting rooms where The Beatles first knocked their live sets together – is serving as McCartney’s rehearsal hall in the run up to a major European tour.

McCartney’s personal fortune was recently estimated at £620 million by People magazine. In the last year alone, he raked in £120m, of which £65m came from US tour receipts and album sales. But money, as he once famously pointed out, can’t buy love. And love, in the words of another Beatles’ classic, is all you need. In the enduringly poignant country music standard A Satisfied Mind, written in 1955 by Red Hayes and Jack Rhodes, such sentiments are explored more fully in the lines, “Money can’t buy back your youth when you’re old, or a friend when you’re lonely, or a heart that’s grown cold.”

Looked at in that light, just how wealthy is Paul McCartney? Here’s a man, adored by millions, disliked by millions, whose young life was shattered on October 31, 1956 when his mother, Mary, died of cancer in the Northern Hospital, Liverpool. The following year, he befriended John Lennon, only to re-live his own grief over again when Lennon’s mother, Julia, died in 1958.

With George Harrison and Ringo Starr, he and Lennon formed the most successful band the world has ever seen, then watched helplessly as it was destroyed by drugs and greed, turning their friendship to dust along the way. After years of acrimony, he and Lennon had just begun healing their wounds and rebuilding their friendship when Lennon was stolen away from him again by the bullets from Mark Chapman’s gun.

The other major relationship that had brought stability into McCartney’s life was his lasting marriage to Linda Eastman, but that was also taken from him too soon when she died from cancer in April 1998, aged just 56. And it was cancer again that claimed the life of George Harrison on November 29, 2001.

To what extent can £620m heal the scars left by those assaults on McCartney’s famously cheery – and oft derided – bonhomie? The answer, as any fule kno, is that it can’t. So what is it that keeps those legendary thumbs aloft? It has to be more than just the buzz of playing Shakin’ All Over with a band half your age.

When, after an hour and a half, the first rehearsal is over, MOJO is pulled into Macca’s wake by press officer Geoff Baker. At the end of a walk through bare and stark backstage corridors, we arrive at the inner sanctum, a dressing room converted into something not unlike a Persian boudoir, complete with velvet cushions, exotic drapes, dishes groaning with fresh fruit and the smell of incense perfuming the air.

Sitting opposite him across a low table, there’s very little feeling of being in the presence of greatness. He wears his celebrity comfortably – like a favourite old shirt. He is perfectly polite, knows how to put a stranger at ease with an amusing aside but, above all, the passage of the years has made him even more gentlemanly. In the flesh, his boyish demeanour compensates for the lines and wrinkles that have come with age. Look into his face at close quarters and what you see are his eyes, still twinkling. Somewhere behind that twinkle, however, there’s a mind like a steel trap. You don’t get to where McCartney has got without one.

What would be a typical day in your life, like when you’re not working?

I tend to be the one who gets up to make breakfast. You’d die for my breakfast. It’s my Zen thing. I cut up all these lovely exotic things, normally in this order: I cut up a melon, a papaya, some kiwis, bananas, peach, and I make a fruit plate and it looks a bit like a mandala when I’ve done it – there’s all sorts of reasons why but it just have developed into this. We’ll also have tea, bagels, humous – quite a big, fancy breakfast. Then it’s a walk in the park with the dog, or if I’m in the country it might be a horse ride.

Later in the day, I like going to the pictures. We’ve got a great local cinema… Normally I’ll go with Heather, but I went to see Lord Of The Rings on my own. Loved it, whacking great film.

You can go to the cinema without being hassled?

Yeah. I do everything without being hassled. It’s actually been one of my pleasures. I actually like getting on the Tube, getting on the bus. I’ll do it if I’m walking and I see a bus going my way, I’ll just jump on. I did it in the 60s. George’s dad was a bus driver and he could never believe I’d do that. People can’t believe it. I had a guy in the street the other day, he was really worried that I was out on my own with no security. I said, “Gerraway.” I’ve always done that. I used to sometimes walk to Beatles concerts, and you’d get a screaming mass of girls and I’d say, “Come on, girls, calm down.” I’d do the big brother thing. I’m very comfortable with that. If not a movie, we’ll watch TV or a DVD in the evening – I usually try to see Who Wants To Be A Millionaire and Blind Date.

Most of us watch Millionaire because we’d like to be one, but that can’t be the appeal for you…

I want them to be millionaires. Actually Heather wants us to go on as a couple. It was funny because we met Chris Tarrant (the show’s presenter) the other night and Heather, in her keenness, said, “We should come on the Celebrity Millionaire show,” … which is for charity, so it’s a good thing… she said, “I know all the answers Paul doesn’t know and he knows all the ones I don’t know.” Chris said, “No, you shouldn’t come on. You’d be terrible.” He just completely took the piss, which was hilarious, because you’d expect him to be really keen.

Somewhere in the evening I’ll have a drink, and get to bed maybe about 11. Is that early? And then I’ll go to sleep and snore. Apparently I snore, but not a lot.

A brace of young women arrive bearing a tray laden with Paul’s lunch – chunky raisin scones, toast and a major pot of tea. Immediately he’s on his feet, exchanging pecks on the cheek, addressing them both by name, inquiring after their well-being. He points at the various delights on the tray to indicate that MOJO is welcome to partake.

Your band on this tour is noticeably young and energetic. How did you find them?

My keyboard player Wix has been with me for years, but I was going to make a record (Driving Rain) in America with David Kahne. He rang me about 10 days before the first session and said, “Do you think you might want to play live in the studio?” So I said, “Yeah, maybe.” So he said, “Should I get a couple of musicians in case you do?” I said, “OK, if you like.” I just left it very sort of casual.

So he thought about some people he admired. He’d never worked with Abe (Laboriel Jr, drummer) but he admired his work. He’d worked with Rusty (Anderson, guitarist). So he told me he’d got these people with great attitudes and who were great players and who could sing.

So I came in on the Monday morning, met the guys, and immediately started making the album, basically live. And that was it. Then, when we did the Superbowl, we needed one more guitarist for that so I asked David, “Do you know anybody?” And he said, “Yeah, this guy Brian Ray.” And he seemed to fit in great.

What do you think people expect from you when they come to a show?

I’m trying to keep a balance, proportionate, between Beatles stuff, Wings stuff and solo stuff. I don’t want it to just be a Beatles show, but I don’t mind giving an audience my most popular stuff. If I go to see David Gray, I’d like to hear him do Babylon because I like that song. And I’d be pretty disappointed if Coldplay didn’t do Yellow, you know?

We still have to rehearse to stay fresh, we’re making some changes to the screens and the lights (at these rehearsals), and I am adding a couple of songs to the set, so it’ll be a slightly longer show.

You were always the one in The Beatles who would turn up at a pub and sing songs. You did it during Magical Mystery Tour and you did it in 1968 on the way back from recording Thingumybob with the Black Dyke Mills Band.

I’d been up in Bradford with (Apple press officer) Derek Taylor, and we were just driving back to London, and we all got bored, someone wanted a pee, so we stopped in a little town called Harrold. And I think when we got to the pub it was shut but we got it to open up and we had a drink and there was a piano there so I sat down and played Let It Be.

Is that as much fun for you as playing in Earl’s Court or wherever?

Yeah. It is. It’s just a different kind of fun. I really do like it. If there’s a piano around it would be very difficult for me to just sit and watch it. It seems to me, in my naivety, that it’s something you approach and tinkle, to see if it’s in tune. It’s not a great desire to perform, I don’t think. I think it’s more that I like music, I like piano… but guitar is best.

Your first instrument was a trumpet. Was that something you wanted, or was it foisted on you by a well-meaning parent?

At the time, I think I must have sort of coveted a trumpet. My dad was a trumpet player and I did like it but when I realised I couldn’t sing and play the trumpet at the same time, I asked him and he said he didn’t mind me trading it in for a guitar. I thought he might be a bit insulted, but he didn’t mind.

The head of another aide pops round the door. It seems the BBC has arrived to show Paul a DVD of a commercial he’s done for the Corporation. Then there’s more rehearsal to be done but maybe we can reconvene later. Not for the first time, McCartney is ushered politely out of reach.

Docklands Arena, soon to be ripped down and replaced with more commercially viable properties, is virtually devoid of character. Fortunately, the stage show devised for this tour offers no end of distraction for the senses. As well as serried ranks of lights of very sort known to man, and some ear-splitting pyrotechnics in Live And Let Die, there are over 30 giant video screens forming a semi-circle around one humongous mother-screen which can be raised up and down as required on worryingly noisy pulleys.

“All our fuckin’ technology and it sounds like a building site,” wails the sound man. He’s consoled by a crew member who’s seen it all before – Gerry Stickells, the legendary Hendrix roadie tempted out of retirement for this tour at McCartney’s personal request.

When he returns to the Arena floor after watching the BBC DVD, he notices that the text on the mother-screen – via which audience members can text each other from their mobiles – is smaller than it used to be. He calls over the lighting director and suggest that “maybe… it might be better if… don’t you think?” Moments later, with the text size already increased, Macca is onstage running the band through the entire show – not that they seem to need it. The set runs almost faultlessly, synchronised with the lights and screens to such an extent that even the ‘Na Na Na’ audience participation section of Hey Jude is rehearsed in real time, with Paul exhorting the imaginary throng – “OK, just the ladies now… fantastic… now just the guys…”

He’s on-stage, performing with more energy than at any time since the heyday of The Beatles, for almost three hours in all, but he comes off at the end barely out breath, and we repair once more to the inner sanctum.

It’s interesting that you use the on-stage screens during Lady Madonna as a gallery of feminist icons…

They actually had Madonna among the visuals, but I thought that was too obvious. So they asked what I’d like to replace Madonna with and I said, “The Queen Mother.” This was two weeks before she died, so when we started touring ti looked like we’d put her in as a tribute.

I didn’t notice Yoko Ono either. Are you two still feuding?

I know that’s the public perception of it, but I do not have a bad relationship with her. We’re not enemies, me and Yoko. We send each other Christmas cards and everything. She’s more like a distant relative.

But you are tussling over the credits to the Lennon-McCartney songs…

There’s no tussle at all, but if, on my songs, like Hey Jude or Yesterday, which John openly acknowledged, particularly in the Playboy interview, that he had nothing whatsoever to do with… John actually made a list for the Playboy thing showing which songs were his and which were mine. I would be quite happy if, on one of the songs, it would be allowed, for my name to just come first. But I’m really not fussed. It’s not anywhere near as big an issue as it looks. It gets played up in the press. It’s a hot little story. And it makes me look stupid. “Why the fuck does he want that?��� It’s actually just a very little request.

More importantly for me, it’s Trades Descriptions. It’s so complex and I hate to go on about it but, for example, I was reading a book, an anthology of poetry, and one of the poems in it was Blackbird, which is my lyric. And it said by John Lennon and Paul McCartney. Now John had nothing to do with those words, especially once they’ve been extracted from the music and put into a poetry book. I think it’s fair enough to put Blackbird in a poetry book by Paul McCartney. Give Peace A Chance… take my name off it. It was a great, great anthem of John’s.

It’s sort of a mild request I made to Yoko and it’s sort of been turned down. If she’d have said yeah, the publishing company could probably have sorted it out.

Do you think it matters more to other people than it does to you?

I don’t think anyone gives a shit.

But Alistair Taylor, who worked for you at NEMS and Apple for many years, told me he was very upset that you would want to change the credits. He says it was agreed at an early meeting that it should be Lennon-McCartney, and you agreed to that…

Well, number one, Alistair was not in the meeting where I agreed it. It’s all very nice these guys having these opinions, but here’s what I say and this is the truth. There was a meeting with me, John and Brian, in Hilly House, above a carpet shop in Albemarle Street. We went in and they said, “We’re going to call it Lennon-McCartney.” I said, “Well, OK, fair enough, but it would be good to have it occasionally McCartney-Lennon, wouldn’t it, just for fairness for me?”

And they said, swear to God, hand on heart, but there was nobody else in the room and they’re both dead, so there’s no way of me proving this, except I believe it, I was there, and nobody else who talks about it was there, and they said, “We can change it as we go along. And we can change it any time we want out of fairness.”

This was why, many years later, when the Anthology came about, I and Linda, who had just been diagnosed with cancer, rang Yoko, and said, “Could we just, on Yesterday, could we just switch that one track?” That was the original request. It was just for that one song. And Linda, God bless her, spent quite a bit of time ringing Yoko and that was the start of it all.

And now, I must just be resigned, because it doesn’t really matter, except from the point of view of this Blackbird credit. There is an unfairness there, I think. But it’s an unfairness I’m willing to live with. I don’t mind, and I do think it has rebounded on me a bit because people want to know, “What the fuck does he think he’s doing?” I’ve had letters from people saying, “Paul, you’re doing yourself no favours. I was a big fan of yours but this terrible thing of trying to ruin John’s reputation…” I’m not trying to ruin John’s reputation.

When Yoko was interviewed by MOJO, she said it wasn’t all black during the making of the White Album. There was some lighter moments. Is that how you recall it?

That’s absolutely true, yeah. We’d never have got an album made if it was as black as it was painted. It’s a good album. I remember we presented John and Yoko with an inscribed teapot, and that was a fun time. Unfortunately, because The Beatles were splitting up, the only thing anybody wanted to know about was the split.

It wasn’t all black, even then. We were all pretty friendly, and the times when we weren’t friendly was quite a small proportion of the overall thing. Unfortunately, that’s what gets remembered because it was the most significant proportion because it ended up in a divorce, as it were. In a divorce court, you don’t say, “Oh, she was really great. She’s actually fabulous, and I’m sorry we’re getting a divorce.” That’s what happened to us. Because of the circumstances we had to talk about all the shit.

I think because the Beatles had been by and large a happy, successful thing… four lads getting out of Liverpool, getting out of the working class money trap and doing well… that had all been an up vibe and then with drugs and stuff towards the end of the ’60s it was all taking a bit of a dip. The drugs weren’t working, nobody was giggling anyore, and the word ‘heavy’ came into the vocabulary.

Because all of that was going on it did get nasty. The thing with me having to sue the other guys. I wanted to sue Allen Klein but I couldn’t, so the only way to get out of everything for me and them was for me to sue them, and that was unconscionable, that was something I would never have thought of doing.

It was unfortunate because, in suing the other guys, not only did I get their backs up for a number of years, but the public perception was of me being the guy who sued The Beatles. I held off doing it for months, but it was pointed out to me that the only other option was to go with Klein. So I did it but, luckily, all things must pass, and it did pass. In the end, the others were glad I’d done it. There wouldn’t be Apple now. But it was a very ugly period, and ugly things I had to do to make it work.

You still seem very interested in politics, supporting the campaign to get ride of landmines. But the Wings single, Give Ireland Back To The Irish, was a very direct political statement.

See, I thought we were Irish. So it was a home problem for me… McCartney… Liverpool being the capital of Ireland… it was like a very personal take on it. What if there were Irish soldiers on the streets of Hendon or Speke? Would you like it? That was my take on it.

As evening falls over Docklands, McCartney is whisked off home to dinner with Heather, leaving a promise that if MOJO returns on Monday, a little more interview time will somehow be squeezed into a hectic day. Over the intervening weekend, his Radio 2 commercial, a radically reworked version of Band On The Run, begins airing, along with a short TV film about its making.

When we reconvene at the Arena on Monday morning, the ambience has changed. A troupe of dancers – including a young woman bent on squeezing herself into a tiny Perspex box – is rehearsing backstage; two insurance brokers have arrived to check out the pyrotechnics; the MOJO photography crew, rpomised first access to Macca, is anxious; and there’s an entirely new set to be rehearsed.

As before, Macca opts to take to the stage first. A guitar tech hands him a jumbo acoustic and they lanunch into For No One, followed by Things We Said Today, C-Moon, Honey Don’t… this is the Coliseum set. The band is still unfamiliar with several of the tracks so Macca strums through I’ve Just Seen A Face yelling out the chords as he proceeds. As Geoff Baker strolls past, MOJO inquires whether McCartney will perform Mull of Kintyre when the tour hits Glasgow. “Absoutely not,” says Baker. “We’re frantically seaching for a pipe band at this very moment for an entirely different reason.”

Up on the stage, McCartney says, “OK lads, let’s try Cor Blimey Luv!” and they thunder into Can’t Buy Me Love. Come lunchtime, he is unexpectedly taken off for a meeting in central London, but promises MOJO a swift return.

Two hours later, precisely as predicted, McCartney reappears.

A couple of the post-Beatles songs like Coming Up and Let Me Roll It seems to me to be much more powerful than the originals. Is this how you really intended them to be in the first place?

No. It’s an evolution caused by playing with this band. The parts are already there. What I like about this band is that I don’t really have to tell them. What I’ve done on this whole tour, this band, this new thing, is I’ve let everyone be, let them do their thing, and then if I don’t like it, I’ve reined it in a bit.

Rather than me dictating how to play it, I figure my dictatorial moments have happened – I wrote those songs and I did the original records, so now I don’t feel the band has to stick note-for-note to the original arrangements. It’s also a bit of a louder band than I’ve had before, a bigger sound, so that adds to it.

I know that Rusty is working on his own CD at the moment, but there’s presumably no chance in this band of the other members being allowed to contribute their own songs on the set?

I’ve had to take on the role of boss ever since Wings. It wasn’t like The Beatles any more. Denny Laine, for example, had the reputation of having done Go Now, so you might want to do that, but really the promoters and the audience tended to want to hear my stuff.

At your level of success, you’re effectively the head of a small company. How do you know whether the people are saying that what you do is great because it is great, or just because you’re the boss?

It’s almost impossible, but I think I’ve been at it long enough now to suss… I actually see people telling me, “That’s a great idea!” but I prefer people to speak their minds. So in this kind of team, they’re not just sycophants. They’re more likely to be people who’ll say, “Yeah, that’s a good idea but what if we did this?” And I’ll go, “Wow! Shit! That’s a great idea.”

Do you take to the role of boss easily?

I used to be frightened of it when I was younger because I thought, “We all hate bosses, don’t we?” But I had to get over it because with Apple, we suddenly had this company losing a lot of money we’d earned so I then had to actually tell people what to do – I’m talking about secretaries and staff, The Beatles was still a democratic thing, but we all became bosses then.

That was a strange moment for you, when you had to take over the business side as well as the creative…

We all had to do it, and that had all its famous problems associated with it. After that I had to decide how I would do it in my solo career, which is when I put MPL together. Very small beginnings, one little room in some film production offices, and at that point I really did become the boss. I had a secretary and everything, and then that thing grew, so yeah, I’ve got more and more comfortable with it. I don’t think I’m a very hard boss, but I kick ass when things go wrong.

Do you think your continued success over 40 years – which seems to include a fair number of younger fans – is a bit odd? It’s as if, in the ’60s, Al Jolson or Rudy Vallée had still been pulling in huge crowds.

I think our thing was stuff that goes for all generations. I’m singing things now that I wrote years ago and thinking, “Shit, that’s still appropriate.” Doing Calico Skies, for example, talking about “crazy soldiers, weapons of war”… and look at what’s going on around us right now.

I certainly don’t think it’s any reflection of the state of contemporary music. I think music right now is really great. I’m not an expert, because I’m not a kid buying it, but I always check out people who are said to be good. I’ll see somebody getting a Grammy and I don’t know them, so I’ll check that out.

For instance, I’d heard Eminem on the radio and I thought, “Clever. Good lyrics, good ideas.” So I just went to see 8 Mile and it’s a great little rock ’n’ roll film, like an Elvis film. I enjoyed it and I came out like when I was a kid, that feelgood thing coming out of a movie like you’re walking a bit taller.

What are the eternal verities of a great song?

It’s an indefinable magic chemistry which can come many, many ways. Starting at the top… it’s often a great title. It’s often great words, or great melodies, or great chords or a great sound… but the best ones have got them all.

And there’s always a magic moment. Send In The Clowns, for example, has that line about, “Isn’t it queer… oh, they’re here.” Or in The Drugs Don’t Work. I remember hearing that record, the acoustic coming on, but when he hits that line, it’s like, “Fucking hell, that has to be said.” It hadn’t been said before.

If I had to plump for one single element, it would be melody, because not all songs have got words. I can be moved by a great melody on its own.

Many artists adopt personas. Is that what happened with The Beatles?

We didn’t think that was what we were about. We felt more like a little group of students. It was more an art thing we thought we were doing. We were just (adopts exaggerated Liverpool accent) John, Paul, George and Ringo, you know? I think one of the great things about The Beatles, apart from the fact that we were damn good, was that we were very honest – that could be one of the things that has lasted. Also, we were artists. Our artistic development found a home in people’s hearts and they were able to follow it. Yellow Submarine is a kid’s thing; A Day In The Life is more grown up, so it was an interesting body of work.

It’s also a body of work that has haunted him ever since. Despite multi-platinum hits and a wealth of superlative tracks in his post-Beatles output, Lennon-McCartney remains the standard by which all contemporary songwriters, including him, are judged. John’s untimely death put him on a pedestal, moving him effectively beyond criticism, while McCartney got on with the job of living in the shadow of their unwieldy legacy. It must have been galling, for example, to release his acclaimed solo album Flaming Pie in 1997, while knowing full well that it would never match the sales of, or reap the critical plaudits heaped on The Beatles’ Anthology, a compilation of outtakes, backing tracks and rarities, which had been released two years earlier.

Nor did his renaissance man dabblings in classical composition, poetry and painting do much to revive public interest. But then, on June 11, 2002, Sir Paul McCartney married his ex-model girlfriend Heather Mills, in St Salvator’s Church, Castle Leslie, Glaslough, Ireland. Since then, although things haven’t gone exactly smoothly, it seems as if his life is more firmly back on track.

This is a man who obviously likes to be married, enjoys stability and finds pleasure in domesticity’s little routines, presumably to balance the whirlwind of activity that follows every move he makes outside of his front door. Watching him deliever the line, “Oh that magic feeling, nowhere to go” on the stage at Docklands, it suddenly seemed to rank among his most heartfelt.

Following the muted response from critics and public alike to his Driving Rain album of 2001, he makes no attempt to hide the fact that he’s revelling in the acclaim for and success of this tour in America, which has outstripped all expectations. For this 60-year-old knight of the realm to be the biggest-grossing US live act of 2002 – seeing off not just arch-rivals The Rolling Stones but also the young bucks – is clearly a source of immense personal satisfaction.

But who is he really? Bastion of the establishment? Rock idol? Contented hubby? Multi-talented renaissance man? Avant-garde pop genius? All of the aforementioned and more? Or just an old dopehead with a good head for a nice tune?

Over the years, you’ve been busted for marijuana in Scotland, England, Barbados, Japan, Scandinavia… you could probably get in the Guinness Book Of Records for being busted in most countries. Did anybody mention this in the process of making you a Sir?

No, nobody comes and says anything like that. You can be a terrible person and still be a Sir. It must be that way, because they gave it to me. The worst thing about being busted is that you go on computer records. So every time I go to America, they see my name on the database and they know I’ve been busted a lot, but I think they’ve sort of forgiven me. It’s like, “That was his wild youth but he’s all right now.” So they always let me through, but the drug busts, I have had to go and sit with the aliens in Customs, once or twice. It’s a bit embarrasing. That stuff never comes off your records.

What’s the most useful thing about being a Sir?

I can’t think of many useful things about it. George Martin says it gets you a good table in a restaurant, but I get a good table anyway. I ring up and ask for a table for 8.30 and if they say, “Sorry, there’s no tables left,” I will say, “This is Paul McCartney here.” Then you hear a bit of scuffling and suddenly a table becomes free. I don’t actually like doing that, but I will if I’m desperate. But I never say, “This is Sir Paul McCartney.” I never call myself that. I see it as being like a school prize. You don’t really go for it, but get it because of what you are. Like the art prize or the maths prize. It’s nice to get it because it’s an honour, a recognition of what you’ve done, but it doesn’t do you much good. For me, the best thing about getting it was that it was popular. A lot of people said, “Oh yes, he deserved that.” That was important to me.

How about Sir Mick Jagger?

Who cares? I think it’s cool. I don’t think it makes you anything. I think you are ‘it’ already and it’s a prize for being that thing. And Mick is Mick so that’s fine. I can think of people who should get them… like Eric Clapton. He’s a prime candidate. Sir Eric Clapton has a ring to it.

At your level of success, you’re effectively a company. How many people do you employ all told?

Normally, we carry about 140. When you’re in school or college, you’re a scruffy little bastard writing essays all the time, hoping one day that you’ll be a lawyer, a judge, a journalist, rocker, head of a company, your dreams are all there and I’ve actually got my visualisation. I feel very lucjy. I’m really aware that it’s not just me… I’ve had a phenomenal amount of luck.

Heather said, a few months back, that marrying you had brought her a lot of unhappiness. How do you, as a couple, cope with that?

I’d like to help her with it, and I hate to say this, but it’s more how does she deal with it, you know? I think the shock for Heather was that she’d been “Great model who overcomes accident and now she does a lot of work for charity and disabled people.” The minute she married me, it was, “Who does she think she is?” It’s really quite unfair, but she’s a sitting target. I think it did give her a lot of grief. The most grief, the worst thing about it, was that it actually affected the charities she was working for. People actually stopped donating because of what they read in the newspapers, which was largely untrue. They did a lot of silly things. There was a photo of Heather and I at Stella’s fashion show, and it looked like Heather was doing two peace signs with her fingers and some journalist said, “Oh, she’s copying Linda.” And actually, on closer inspection, it was my hands. But who cares? They’re just having a go. I mean, who gives a shit who gives a V sign?

They also claimed she was doing a cookbook when she wasn’t. We get asked to give a recipe to an Amnesty cookbook or a vegetarian society cookbook, so you do that and it comes out as she’s doing a cookbook. It’s changed a bit since the Parky show. A lot of people like that show, and she changed a lot of people’s minds. In fact, we were walking the dog in Regent’s Park this morning and somebody came up and said, “That was really good on the Parky show!” The main point she made that people appreciated was that with this sort of arbitrary press sniping, it doesn’t affect her so much as it affects the charity, and the disabled people who might have got a leg if there’d been the money raised.

Somebody in one of the papers even said she was under investigation for her charity work, and that completely undermines what she’s trying to achieve. It turned out not to be true but, as you know, the apology appears on page 10 where no one sees it three weeks after all the damage has been done. The same thing happened in the early days with Linda but, as Parky said on the show, it comes with the territory – marrying this guy. It’s not so much me, though, it’s just fame. The same thing happens if you marry Tom Cruise, or Michael Douglas. You get a load of shit. You may have married him because you love him, but now you’re a sitting target.

I noticed that George’s death elicited a very different reaction among my friends than John’s did. John’s was horrible because it was sudden and unexpected and he was young. But I think George’s death reminded my entire generation of our own mortality. It’s as if we measure our own lives alongside the lives of artists we loved. Did you get any sense of that?

To me, of course, it was more of a personal thing. Privately, I felt the same way about both of them. I had lost a dear friend who I would never see again. But when John died, because of the shock, during that day I was asked what I felt about John’s death and all I could stumble across was, “It’s a drag.” I couldn’t gather my thoughts. We were just in shock. I was just shouting stuff about the guy who’d shot John.

I was very lucky that my relationship with John had been healed. It had been vicious, but were phoning each other, talking about kids, baking bread, cats, being a husband – all the simple shit that really means a lot to me. That was the consolation before the terrible shock.

With George’s death, because we knew it was happening, I was able to be more considered in my reaction. I was able to go and hold his hand… but the bottom line is that I will see that man no more, and that’s a little bit horrific for me. When you lose someone dear you just wish someone could magic it all back again. And maybe there is some way, who knows, in the great beyond.

After all he’s been through, McCartney seems more at peace with himself than at any time since John’s death. He is keenly aware that, in the public perception, such actions as seeking to change the credits on Lennon-McCartney songs have tarnished his image, but he also knows that one of the greatest tricks of surviving immense fame is learning to recognise that you have an image, realising that your image isn’t you, and stepping away from it in order to get on with real life.

The punchline of that old song, A Satisfied Mind, is that, “It’s so hard to find one rich man in 10 with a satisfied mind.” There’s no telling how long it might last but it would seem that, for the moment, Paul McCartney is that one rich man.

Coming Up

While suffering a near-nervous breakdown during the Fabs’ prolonged disintegration, McCartney quietly worked on an ill-fated side-project that many now agree ranks among his best solo work. Chris Ingham basks in the understated glory of 1970’s McCartney.

Autumn of 1969, Paul McCartney was in a strange place. Feeling redundant following John Lennon’s announcement in an August meeting at Apple that he was leaving The Beatles, McCartney retreated to his farm in Scotland to drink, stay up, lie in and suffer what he would call “almost a nervous breakdown”.

At the same time, in the company of Linda, his bride of six months, step-daughter Heather and brand new baby daughter Mary, he also began to enjoy the ‘glow’ of being in a new family. By the time they returned to his St John’s Wood house for the winter, McCartney was sufficiently energised to do a little work from home. Plugging one microphone directly into a Studer multitrack with no VU monitoring or mixing desk, he overdubbed himself on drums, guitar, bass and keyboards, polishing his DIY recordings at Abbey Road (where he booked in as Billy Martin) and Morgan Studios, Willesden.

The resulting album McCartney – released in April 1970 simultaneously as The Beatles’ split became public knowledge – was almost universally received as a bit of a non-event. Modest, rough-hewn, semi-improvised, it was the unshaven opposite of The Beatles’ pristine work on Abbey Road which had appeared only eight months before.

Yet, over 30 years on, it holds up as a funky home-brew of a record, groovily lo-fi in a way that wouldn’t be fashionable for a couple of decades. The primitive experimentalism and bluesy jams that were for years dismissed as semi-distracted indulgence now sound, well, rather cool. The drumming is rudimentary but deep, the guitar playing bluesy and distinctive (and much admired by Paul Weller for one), the sound is warm and present, “very analogue” as McCartney recognises now.

And as an expression of where he was at – ‘home, family, love’ – it is as vivid as anything he ever did. The informal paeans to his new wife – The Lovely Linda, Oo You – are respectively radiant with natural affection and earthy passion while the majestic Maybe I’m Amazed confirmed that, when he felt like it, his ability to shape inspiration with unmatched pop craft was secure.

Elsewhere, if lovers of McCartney’s straightforward pop are short-changed – the delightful Every Night and Junk notwithstanding – it’s because he just felt like recording other things; the ethereal sound made by wine glasses (Glasses), a dusted-off Silver Beatles instrumental (Hot As Sun), or a rather compelling chant-and-percussion sound painting of an African tribe (Kreen-Akrore). It’s the very wilfulness of McCartney – the organic sound of an artist learning how to express himself in whatever way he pleases – that gives the album a “realness” that somehow appeals more with the passage of time.

As Paul wrote in 1970 to journalist Penny Valentine, who had spoken for many by expressing her disappointment with the record, “even at this moment it is growing on you.” It still is.

Timeless melody

A purveyor of silly songs? No, a compositional genius…

Peter Buck, R.E.M.: Ram is an amazing record. Ram On? That’s like something off Pet Sounds. The Back Seat Of My Car is amazing. Wings’ Wild Life is really cool. It just sounds like he was in the biggest band of all time, he goes, “Hey we just got a drummer, let’s make a record this week, without any songs!” Dear Friend is one of my favourite songs he ever wrote, which is probably about John. I love that song. I actually recorded it with the Minus 5. Needless to say, the stuff he did with The Beatles was pretty decent too. The thing that boggles my mind is that when they broke up, nobody was 30, and George was 26. He was 26?! Jeez.

Brendan Benson: It’s his genuine fascination for music and music theory, him as a composer, explorer and experimenter, especially his post-Beatles work. He’s a great arranger, the way he puts his songs together. Band On The Run is his masterpiece. It works on so many different level: it’s a simple pop record, yet the way he ties in the melodies throughout makes it something more. It’s a work of genius, so huge and epic yet never outstaying its welcome. He tears at the heartstrings with his mix of mellow, dark and pleasing sounds. There’s never anything harsh or abrasive, just super moody songs, full of melancholic nostalgia.

Andy Partridge, XTC: He’s so fab because he’s so ludicrously melodic and he’s not afraid to be soppy. It takes a lot of guts to do that. My favourite song? It’s Getting Better is so fantastically optimistic, with this great convoluted construction, twisting around. And that bass playing –it’s actually just like his singing, piping and flute-like. And Hello/Goodbye, those opening chords reach in like a ray of sunshine. Again, it’s ferociously optimistic. You know you’re going to have a good experience. It’s not this fake seriousness you get now. He’s never had a problem restricting himself to one thing – he can rock out, be avant-garde, do children’s music, pop for the teens… it’s preposterous that he’s seen as the second-best Beatle – I think the whole thing was an equally jewelled tug of love between them. Although I do wonder why you never see McCartney and Angela Lansbury in the same room.

Gladys Knight: For me it was when Paul took control of the group that The Beatles were at their best. He’s so gifted at writing words and I always choose songs for their lyrical content. I must have worn the grooves off Let It Be. I’d get up in the morning playing it, go to bed playing it, cook to it, clean up to it. The title track was just a song that touched my spirit and that’s why I decided to cover it, because it touched my soul.

Tom McRae: The man is a genius for melody. The second side of Abbey Road – particularly Golden Slumbers/Carry That Weight is one of the greatest Beatles’ moments and Paul’s shining moment. It goes from this brilliant beautiful ballad, his voice so lush and romantic, to turning, in a split second, into a raucous rock number; the best of both sides of his art all in the space of one song. It’s so emotive and there’s a challenging simplicity in his melody and lyrics.

Ben Kweller: The first album I ever fell in love with was Let It Be. I was eight and listened to it non-stop. Paul’s lyrics are so focused on the subject matter and the emotion he brings to the songs is so sincere and honest. Those massive piano ballads like The Long And Winding Road just make me swell up inside. His voice is so pure and beautiful and his musicianship is often overlooked. He reinvented bass playing and excelled at the guitar, piano and drums.

[daleisgreat]

Hulk Hogan’s Unreleased Collector’s Series

In recent years on this blog my wrestling entries have been dedicated to recent releases from the past year or two. I am dipping deep into the backlog today however by covering a 2009 WWE Home Video release: Hulk Hogan’s Unreleased Collector’s Series. I purchased this upon its release just over a decade ago and finally viewed it this past week. I remember the peculiar timing of this release because a couple weeks before its scheduled release TNA announced the signing of the Hulkster for his four year run there. That did not stop the WWE from still releasing this match anthology which at the time in 2009 consisted of previously unreleased matches on home video spanning Hulk’s entire career. Since 2009 some of these matches here have appeared in other collections and many can be tracked down conveniently on the WWE Network. Throughout the 80s and well into the 90s WWE filmed major-market live events and only aired them in that market around their original recording. A lot of these old-school cards either feature c or d-list announce teams or no commentary at all. I have seen interviews and reports from and about WWE’s archivists over the years on how they take tremendous care of their video library and the result here is 27 matches and six promos/interviews comprising the collection.

Since past Hogan DVD releases featured matches dominated by PPV and supercard main events we primarily associate with Hogan’s career, Unreleased Collector’s Series specializes in the aforementioned major-market live events and long forgotten TV main events from Nitro, RAW and Smackdown. There are brief 30-to-60 second narration packages setting up the next match and quickly touching on major moments that happened in Hulk’s career such as various world championship reigns and switching promotions. I greatly appreciate these quick video packages setting the table for Hulk’s next rival and showing where he was at in his career at the time. Another nice touch is each match has a quick graphic at the beginning listing the commentators. This compilation has one of the most diverse line of announcers ever. A lot of the major-market live events that feature c and d-list announcers are names I can barely recall, and some surprise past wrestlers I had no idea who take a stab at announcing. Here is a quick list of some of the announcers present throughout – Vince McMahon, Nick Bockwinkel, Bruno Sammartino, Gorilla Monsoon, Bobby Heenan, Tony Schivane, Jimmy Hart, Alfred Hayes, Mongo McMichaels, Eric Bishoff, Michael Cole, Tazz, Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler. What stands out is that WWE brought in Jerry Lawler and Jim Ross to record all new commentary for three of the older matches that saw Hogan square off against Bob Backlund, Andre the Giant and Kamala. Both provide great insight on Hulk and how he evolved in those early stages in his career.

As far as highlights from the 27 matches included I will touch on several that stood out the most for me. There are four matches from Hulk’s first run in WWF in 1979 as the “Incredible” Hulk Hogan. Aside from a couple squash matches, there is that previously mentioned bout against Bob Backlund I highly suggest checking out which features all sorts of school technical prowess until Backlund winds up on the wrong end of an airplane spin. There is also a pre-Wrestlemania III encounter against Andre the Giant from 1980 that has a far-less broken down Andre and Hulk deliver a more intriguing match than their carefully paced Silverdome ‘epic.’ I was a little bummed to see only one match from Hogan’s AWA run included, and it is regrettably a dud handicap match against Bockwinkel & Heenan that sees lots of villain tomfoolery. The Hulk-a-Mania WWF era is unsurprisingly where the bulk of the content is. There is a must-see match against a fresh in his WWF run Macho Man from 1986 that marked the first time I saw a pinfall from a common ‘lift-the-leg’ counter to a top-rope move. Big Boss Man and Rick Rude also face Hogan here early in their WWF runs and have fairly good matches on the Hogan curve and mix in interesting spots with handcuffs and an impromptu arm wrestling contest, respectively. I had no recollection of seeing a Killer Kahn match before, so seeing him against Hogan was fascinating. What was not fascinating was about several of these matches have the standard formula of Hogan’s early fired up offense followed by a long villain beat down until eventually Hogan ‘Hulk’s Up’ for his comeback and hits the leg drop for the W. Some of the latter matches in this collection however found fun ways for Hulk’s opposition to counter his finishing sequence to freshen things up a bit.

I was delighted to see one of Hogan’s matches against Ric Flair towards the end of 1991 in Flair’s first WWF run. This took place during a run of several untelevised matches the two had only on live events to prepare for their expected Wrestlemania VIII battle until plans changed and opponents for both were swapped in the final weeks leading up to the event. I am still bummed those two never had a PPV clash from this moment in their careers, but was glad to finally see this match get resurrected from the archives. It is not paced like a traditional PPV headliner like one would assume, but instead as a brawl with the two frequently dueling outside the ring and exchanging more fists, chops and chokes than traditional holds. It resulted in a fired up encounter I was on board for from beginning to end. Definitely make that 1991 clash between the two one of the first to see from this collection. From there the Unreleased Collector’s Series transitions into Hogan’s WCW run. Unlike WWE, WCW did not film many of their live events/house shows from this time so the five WCW matches are from WCW PPVs and episodes of Nitro that were not released on WWE Home Video before. Highlights include the ’95 Slamboree main event I never saw before with Hogan & Savage taking on Vader & Flair with Arn Anderson and The Renegade as special ringside enforcers. There are two Nitro main events against Sting in 1995 and Bret Hart in 1998 that both feature actual good wrestling, but have screwy finishes that dominated Nitro at the time. I believe this Bret Hart match was the first time the two faced each other in the ring in singles competition and it was disheartening to see the ridiculous over-booked catastrophe it turned out to be.

From there the collection wraps up with four matches from RAW and SmackDown from Hulk’s first WWF return in 2002. For a well-aged Hogan at this point, he still managed to have watchable and borderline good matches against Ric Flair, Triple H and Kurt Angle. The match with Hunter stood out the most from his WWF return matches. Sadly, no matches from his 2003 run as Mr. America are included, or his handful of matches he did for WWE in 2005 and 2006. Also interspersed throughout the collection are six Hogan promos/interviews. A few of them are vintage backdrop solo promos from syndicated shows like Challenge where Hogan is in full on ‘Hulk’ mode which only Hulk can pull off and got me amped up reliving them again for this collection. In the bonus features are eight additional promos/interviews. Some of them are more Hogan nonsensical shouting against rivals like Sid Justice and Vader, and others have Hogan donning a creepy costume taunting the feared Dungeon of Doom. Part of me wanted more of these whacked-out solo backdrop Hogan promos, as I am obviously super nostalgic for them, and for younger fans unaware of them I highly suggest going down a YouTube hole of them immediately! Hulk Hogan’s Unreleased Collector’s Series is mostly a gratifying compilation of previously unreleased gems from Hogan’s career. There are certainly a few duds sprinkled in throughout, and it can be a bit of chore seeing several of the standard Hulk-Up comeback formula matches in a row. Other than that however I dug the variety of opponents and see Hulk evolve over the years and eventually barely hang in there for his 2002 return. I have a few more ‘Unreleased Series’ DVDs WWE released over the years I would like to cover soon that have been sitting in my backlog for a while. These are for Shawn Michaels, Randy Savage and a recently released one for Roddy Piper so be on the lookout for more entries in this series in the near future!

Past Wrestling Blogs Best of WCW Clash of Champions Best of WCW Monday Nitro Volume 2 Best of WCW Monday Nitro Volume 3 Biggest Knuckleheads Bobby The Brain Heenan Daniel Bryan: Just Say Yes Yes Yes DDP: Positively Living Dusty Rhodes WWE Network Specials ECW Unreleased: Vol 1 ECW Unreleased: Vol 2 ECW Unreleased: Vol 3 Eric Bishoff: Wrestlings Most Controversial Figure Fight Owens Fight: The Kevin Owens Story For All Mankind Goldberg: The Ultimate Collection Impact Wresting Presents: Best of Hulk Hogan Its Good to Be the King: The Jerry Lawler Story The Kliq Rules Ladies and Gentlemen My Name is Paul Heyman Legends of Mid South Wrestling Macho Man: The Randy Savage Story Memphis Heat NXT: From Secret to Sensation NXT Greatest Matches Vol 1 OMG Vol 2: Top 50 Incidents in WCW History OMG Vol 3: Top 50 Incidents in ECW History Owen: Hart of Gold RoH Supercard of Honor 2010-Present ScoobyDoo Wrestlemania Mystery Scott Hall: Living on a Razors Edge Sting: Into the Light Straight Outta Dudley-ville: Legacy of the Dudley Boyz Straight to the Top: Money in the Bank Anthology Superstar Collection: Zach Ryder Then Now Forever – The Evolution of WWEs Womens Division TLC 2017 TNA Lockdown 2005-2016 Top 50 Superstars of All Time Tough Enough: Million Dollar Season True Giants Ultimate Fan Pack: Roman Reigns Ultimate Warrior: Always Believe War Games: WCWs Most Notorious Matches Warrior Week on WWE Network Wrestlemania 3: Championship Edition Wrestlemania 28-Present The Wrestler (2008) Wrestling Road Diaries Too Wrestling Road Diaries Three: Funny Equals Money Wrestlings Greatest Factions WWE Network Original Specials First Half 2015 WWE Network Original Specials Second Half 2015 WWE Network Original Specials First Half 2016 WWE Network Original Specials Second Half 2016 WWE Network Original Specials First Half 2017

[fivestarjamz]

“Careless Whisper” by Wham! featuring George Michael (1984)

I’m realizing that the songs that should be easiest to write about are often the hardest to write about. I keep asking myself, how can I do justice to a song that means so much to me? I’ll word-vomit this one and see what comes up. Well, it’s not exactly a word vomit because I’ve been thinking about this for a few hours. Anyway...

“Careless Whisper” is arguably the most well-known ballad of the ‘80s. Weirdly, for such an instantly recognizable song, the title is buried in the middle of the second verse and never uttered again. George Michael had a habit of doing this.

I can distinctly remember a day in early 1985 when I discovered who George Michael was. I already knew who Wham! was. Actually, I discovered Wham! before most of America did, courtesy of the “Bad Boys” video airing on New York Hot Tracks in 1983 and the theme of rebellion embedding itself into my brain. I had no idea who the individual members of the duo were, though. So when my friend Omari showed me the 45 of “Careless Whisper”, I was like “who is George Michael?” Of course, I already knew that a “featuring” credit on a song usually signifies that someone who is not the lead artist (or part of the lead group, in this case) appears on the song. A few months later, I was very, very familiar with the name “George Michael”. 

It’s hard to believe that George Michael wrote this song AS A TEENAGER. “Careless Whisper” is a fairly sophisticated love song. No way in hell I could write a song like this at 41, much less being able to express the experience and pain of lost love that permeates the lyrics and the vocal performance as a 17 year old.

There’s a famous story about George traveling to Muscle Shoals studios in Alabama to work on “Careless Whisper” with Jerry Wexler. Wexler famously produced a ton of Atlantic Records sides in the ‘60s and ‘70s, including almost all of the hits of that era sung by future George Michael duet partner Aretha Franklin. George was unhappy with the results, and ended up producing the song himself. The Wexler-produced version eventually made its way onto the internet, and I have to say George’s instincts were 100% right.  There was a point a couple of years ago when I wondered whether I liked Wexler’s version less just because it was unfamiliar and different. Nah, George’s version is better.

“Careless Whisper”’s album version begins with a long, synth-spiked intro in which George sings the part more commonly known as the second verse of the single version. Then that drum fill and the motherfucking MOST RECOGNIZABLE SAX SOLO IN HISTORY kicks in and I still get chills, thirty-three years later.

And if you haven’t heard El DeBarge (featuring Kamasi Washington) kick the shit out of “Careless Whisper” during his BET Awards tribute to George last year, allow me to present you with this. A much better tribute than Adele or Coldplay was able to muster. 

“but nooowwwwww who’s gonna dance with me? PLEASE stay!” uggghhhhhhh...it gets me every single time. Sam Smith couldn’t touch this with a ten-foot pole.

Four star songs between “Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa” and “Careless Whisper”: “A Capella (Something’s Missing)” (Brandy, 2008) | “Capuccino” (MC Lyte, 1989)  | “Captain” (Dave Matthews Band, 2002) | “The Captain Of Her Heart” (Double, 1986) | “Captured” (Ephraim Lewis, 1992) | “Car Thief” (Beastie Boys, 1989) | “Car Wash” (Rose Royce, 1977) | “Caramelo Duro” (Miguel, 2017) | “Caravan Of Love” (Isley/Jasper/Isley, 1985) | “Cardova” (The Meters,-a song I discovered via NWA, 1969) | “The Card Cheat” (The Clash, 1979) | “Careful” (Guster, 2003) | “Careless Memories” (Duran Duran, 1981)

[dnowit41]

LIVE FROM THE WORLD: LUKA DONCIC’S GLOBAL RISE

BY FRANKLYN CALLE 

“His feet [are] slower than rush hour traffic. Really slow feet…When I look at him on tape, he struggles with quick defenders. Guys getting in his pocket, getting after him… So, his NBA comparison is Hedo Turkoglu.”

“That’s my takeaway—He doesn’t pop athletically.”

“I mean, he’s better than Ricky Rubio but he doesn’t look special to me.”

“Doncic, at 6-7, will get exposed for all of the inadequacies that Dirk had. Dirk is not a great athlete. Dirk doesn’t have explosiveness. Dirk isn’t physical. That’s what is going to happen to Doncic…I’m not saying Luka is setting the NBA world on fire—I’m not sure he’s going to be a dominating NBA player.”

“The athleticism, that’s a problem. The lack of athleticism.”

“I believe Luka should go to a good team. I don’t believe he’s a lottery pick. No, I don’t. I think he falls right outside the lottery.”

“I don’t give a damn about how this kid in Europe looked.”

“We tend to over-sensationalize European basketball. There [are] restrictions that cater to him. You can’t have nine Americans on the floor in Europe. There’s going to be nine bred Americans on the floor with you 95 percent of the time in the NBA. That changes the dynamics of the game.”

—

These weren’t from randoms on Twitter purposely throwing out hot takes for some retweets and follows. These were hoops analysts on ESPN and FS1 talk shows (which, on second thought, sometimes spiel absurd hot takes for the same reasons as the Twitter randoms) giving their thoughts on Luka Doncic’s potential in the lead up to the 2018 NBA Draft. We’re not here to judge or air any of them out, so purposely not attaching any names to these. But you’ve probably seen some of these clips on your own social feeds or on YouTube already. Even Damian Lillard quote-tweeted an 80-second video compilation with some of these very same soundbites the morning after the Mavs star dropped a monster triple-double during last summer’s (still super strange saying that) playoffs. Dame’s caption was simply an “Lol”—which perfectly sums it all up in hindsight.

Doncic had proven himself overseas—going pro at age 13 (he left Slovenia by himself and relocated to Spain to play for Real Madrid—his mom didn’t join him there until three years later), winning MVP of the Liga ACB, EuroLeague and EuroLeague Final Four at 19 years old. The accolades actually made him the youngest MVP in the EuroLeague’s history.  

But a lot of fans (and media, seemingly) in the States had increasingly grown skeptical of highly-touted international prospects after many had not lived up to expectations upon their arrival to the Association. For the sake of consistency, they shall remain nameless here too. There’s that dude from Eastern Europe that got drafted really high in the 2003 NBA Draft by that team that had just played in the Eastern Conference Finals a month earlier. Or that other guy in the previous draft class that went really high too but was never able to make it work in the Mile-High City. Or even three years prior to that when the Knicks drafted a player in the teens that ultimately never saw a single minute of action in the League. There are plenty of posts online attempting to rank which international players were the most disappointing.

Hey, it’s the NBA. It’s not supposed to be easy or for everybody. There’s a reason why the average NBA career length is barely four years. It doesn’t make any of the guys that weren’t able to take off in the Association are any less as hoopers. Luck, timing, fit, politics—whatever the case is, it doesn’t work out more often than it does. Nevermind the complexities in scouting and the challenges of evaluating players competing in leagues of various talent levels.

Nonetheless, it happened. And will continue to. Can’t-miss prospects will miss when they finally get there. And many of those that were overlooked, underrecruited and slighted on social media (and on TV) will turn heads.

It didn’t take long for the very same TV analysts to change their tune about Luka. Like, literally just a few games into his career. And now only two seasons in, the 6-7 Slovenian guard has accumulated a ridiculous amount of shattered records. Forget the two regular seasons worth of games (which include records like surpassing Michael Jordan for the most consecutive 20-5-5 performances since the ABA/NBA merger), just the very first playoff series of his career alone is enough to justify everything you hear about him. The six-game series against the L.A. Clippers dissipated any lingering doubts.  

Game 1: 42 points—most points in a playoff debut by any player in NBA history, first 21-year-old to drop 40+ in a playoff game since LeBron James, fourth player to do it in general (after Magic Johnson, Tracy McGrady and James).

Game 2: 28 points, 8 rebounds, 7 assists—most points (70) by a player through his first two career playoff games in NBA history.

Game 3: first player in Mavericks history to record a triple-double in the playoffs, third youngest player in NBA history to record a triple-double in the playoffs after Magic and LeBron.

Game 4: a gazillion records. So much that Mavs PR Twitter had to create a Twitter thread just to be able to list them all. And even then, there were others they missed. Media members soon chimed in with the additional data.

His 43-point, 17-rebound and 13-assist stat line, which included a buzzer-beater to tie the series at 2-2, made him: the youngest ever to record a 40-point triple-double in the playoffs, the youngest to ever hit a playoff buzzer-beater, the only player aside from Wilt Chamberlain to finish with 43+ points, 17+ rebounds and 13+ assists in a game, the only player aside from Jordan to put up a 40-piece to go with a buzzer-beater while trailing, the third ever 40-15-10 performance in the playoffs after Oscar Robertson and Charles Barkley, second ever 21-year-old to record a 30-point triple-double in the playoffs, the third player ever after Magic and LeBron to have multiple playoff triple-doubles by the age or 21. The list went on and on, but you get the point.  

Although the Mavs went on to lose in six games, they still managed to come away as the real winners in the grand scheme of things—in front of the whole world, they confirmed they had THE one.

In the aftermath of Game 4 and in the weeks that followed, players across the League reacted to Luka’s insane performances. Props were given by the biggest names around.

Even before Luka played a single game in the NBA, back-to-back reigning MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo saw all of this coming from a mile away. In the summer of 2018, the Greek Freak, speaking with Marca, a local newspaper in Madrid, showed that he was better equipped than anyone else to evaluate Luka’s NBA potential as an international player himself.

“He is the most exciting player that has appeared in basketball in recent years. This past year in Europe he has won every competition he has played. EuroBasket, EuroLeague, Liga Endesa. He has been MVP of the EuroLeague, of the Final Four,” said Antetokounmpo. “He has shown that he is more than ready to play, that he has matured faster than the rest. He has played against professionals, as Charles Barkley said. The other rookies played against schoolboys.

“People in the United States sometimes forget that in the EuroLeague they play very well and very hard, more than in the NCAA. You have to be very good to stand out in the EuroLeague, and Luka is. Doncic has a lot of talent. He will have a great first year and, if it is not in the second, he will explode in the third.”

Looks like that explosion may have happened in the second year after all. Unless, of course, that wasn’t the explosion Giannis was talking about. There’s a chance we’re about to witness a whole other level that Luka could tap into. It’s worth noting, as of mid-December, he is the betting favorite to win MVP, according to Caesars Sportsbook with a +400. Defending MVP Giannis is right behind him at +450.

Giannis isn’t the only MVP who’s had high praise for the former Real Madrid star. The King himself, while appearing on Uninterrupted’s Road Trippin’ in early December, made it known that at one point he had intentions of starting a subset of his brand with Luka as the centerpiece.

“I wanted to begin Team LeBron and have Luka as my first signing with Nike,” said LeBron. “I don’t even know if Luka knows this, but he will know it now. I wanted Luka to be the first signing of Team LeBron when he was going through his situation…That’s how much I believed in him.”

In July, Paul Pierce went as far as to suggest that there’s already been a passing of the crown.

“You talk about a kid who made one of the biggest leaps in recent memory from a Rookie of the Year to MVP-caliber player,” said the Celtics legend. “He has won at every European championship that you can think of, every European MVP that you can think of. So, I expect special things from this kid. Clearly, he’s special. He’s a talent. To me, he is the most talented player in the NBA today. The lights are never too bright for him.”

The amount of individual records he’s been able to set and break are so many that his Wikipedia page has an “achievements” section specifically dedicated to that, where people have been able to create a list with 43 different bullet points detailing where his performances have landed him in the history books. Forty-three. Two years in.

“I just feel confident. I know I have the confidence of my teammates and my team, so I just feel confident [in] myself and I love taking those shots. I get motivated. I have to make the last shot,” Luka told Rachel Nichols in a sit-down interview in 2019. When he sat down with her again in 2020, he added: “Pressure was in my life when I was 13, when I had to move from Slovenia alone to Madrid. I live with pressure every day, so I just don’t feel it anymore.”

[tibbysun-blog]

Reflective Journal

The First Week

On 29 October, I went to Dewis the dining hall. I took much more than I could really finish, so I had to waste a few of them. On the next day, I bought some nutcracker toys for me. I already had some and I know actually I don’t need that many. However, I still bought another two impulsively, just for the different uniform they have. On that same day, my favorite novelist, master Zha Liangyong passed away. Master Zha’s novels peopled my youth and lit up my way into the publishing industry. While I suddenly realized I don’t have posses any novels of his, so I bought a collection (paper books) online to show my final respect to him. 

The First Week Consumption Summary

At the end of this week, I began to recall my consumption behaviors of the week and figured out four damaging influences my behaviors could possibly lead to: 

1. Unnecessary Kitchen Garbage. The kitchen waste can only be dumped into the landfill, or burned in an incinerator and then buried in a landfill. Either way, they both pollute the air, land, water, and change the climate. Burning the garbage will release the toxic up into the air, even worse, it can make new super toxic, like dioxin, which is the most toxic thing human-made substance know to science (00:17:13-00:17:44). In addition, what I did was also a waste of natural resources. In the past decade alone, one-third resource of the planet is consumed. If we continue to consume like this, we would need at least 3-5 planets, while unfortunately we only have one. (00:03:48-00:03:55). We are not the last generations in the world, and it is our responsibility to make the natural resources sustainable for our descendants to utilize.

2.  Excessive CO2 Emissions. I refueled my car twice a week. I think I must be a great contributor to CO2 emission because I drove everywhere, even to the small playground close to my house. According to the vast majority of the scientific community, motor vehicle CO2 emissions, as part of the anthropogenic contribution to the growth of CO2 concentrations in the atmosphere, is causing climate change (Stocker, T.F… & Midgley P.M. (eds), 2013). According to the State of the Climate in 2017 report from NOAA and the American Meteorological Society, global atmospheric carbon dioxide was 405.0 ± 0.1 ppm in 2017, a new record high, indicating that the global temperature is  exposed to more dangers of rising than ever before. If we want to stop climate change, what we individuals can do is really important, and I believe reducing the use of cars is one significant method.

CO2 Abundance (1986-2018)

3. Deforestation. We all know paper books are made of wood, and my consumption on books means there possibly would be more trees cut down. The estimate suggests that about 15 billion trees are cut down annually and about 5 billion are planted. In the 12,000 years since the start of human agriculture, the number of trees worldwide has decreased by 46% (Crowther et al., 2017). It is rather detrimental since the deforestation can lead to the bare soil drying out and result in erosion accelerated by the sun and wind, after this, the uppermost layer of soil, which is the most fertile, is blown as dust or washed away with rainwater that no longer sinks into the soil, but simply runs off immediately (Roorda, 2012). As a result, the more trees we lose, the more human beings will suffer. It is really urgent we take actions to stop that from happening.

4. Affluenza. As to the toys, actually, I don’t need to possess that many nutcrackers at all. The very nature of affluenza (a severe form of materialism) is the desire of having things that we really do not need, or acquiring more than we need, and thinking that it is acceptable to do so. It is true that many people may not realize the overabundance of material possessions can be detrimental.  The obsession with consuming, of having more than what is needed, or having items that are not needed at all, is what often drives a wedge between an individual, their community, their family, and even their bank account. Moreover, research by Goldberg et al. (2003) shows that “parents who are more materialistic tend to have children who are more materialistic”. So I agree what Mattison says in the dissertation that it is a civic duty to holding individuals personally accountable for their behavior, primarily in the form of awareness, and conscientious consumerism (Mattison, 2012).

The Second Week

On 5th November, I had a hot discussion with my classmate, we are both super fans of <Game of Thrones>. But I realized that I have just watched the TV series, and never read one book, so I decided to buy one (eBook this time) and read when I have time. On 10th November, since winter is coming, I had to prepare some warm clothes for it, including 2 Canada Goose parkas. When I chose which parka I should buy, I thought of the discussion we had on 29th October, about the Canada Goose’s use of coyote furs. I feel pathetic for the coyotes, so I chose the one without their furs around the hood. Then it comes a horrible day: Single’s day. This is a shopping festival started by Alibaba, and it’s quite similar to the Black Friday in the US. On that day, many commercials have promotions to attract consumers to do more purchases. I failed to resist the temptation, so despite I made up my mind not to do impulse consumption again last week, I still bought some unnecessary toys and house decorations.

The Second Week Consumption Summary

Comparison

I made a little progress since last week, however, impulse consumption management needs to be better.

1. No unnecessary kitchen garbage. This week I took what I really demanded to eat, so I produced almost

2. Excessive CO2 emission. I feel sorry that I have to keep the bad habit of driving everywhere, cause it’s getting colder and I cannot ride.

3. Forest Protection. For the eco-friendly purpose, this time I bought an ebook. I hope I could help save the trees, even just one.

4. Affluenza. Lost in the commercial promotion and bought things I don’t really need impulsively again.

5. Animal protection. Canada goose has long been criticized for its use of coyote furs. Although no data shows that the population of coyote is endangered and some scientists even found that coyotes could withstand as much as a 70 percent yearly kill rate without suffering any decline in their total population (Floras, 2016), too much hunting or overuse of coyote furs can still possibly lead to coyotes’ extinction in the long run.  When species die out, the consequences could be unexpected. When part of a breeding system or a food chain disappears, the entire ecosystem can be affected, with the result being that other species can also be extinct (Roorda, 2012). I chose the one without coyotes furs with the hope of doing some contributions to help prevent them from extinction.

Closing

Sustainability needs to be a daily preoccupation for all of us because our capacity to live sustainably begins with our existing environmental impacts and our modes of interaction with other people and society at large. Actually, there are much that individuals can, and should do in our daily life to help protect the sustainability of our planet: such as determining our use of energy and etc. By analyzing my consumption behaviors during the last two weeks, I believe I have a little bit contribution, although it is just a little. While still, it is not enough, what I should do better is focusing on how to do less impulse consumption.

Reference

Crowther, T. W., Glick, H. B., Covey, K. R., Bettigole, C., Maynard, D. S., Thomas, S. M., …& Duguid, M. C. (2015). Mapping tree density at a global scale. Nature. 7568, 201–205. doi:10.1038/nature14967

Floras, D. (2016). Stop Killing Coyotes.https://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/11/opinion/stop-killing-coyotes.html

Mattison, Merri.  “Emancipation from affluenza: leading social change in the classroom.” Dissertation, Antioch University, 2012.

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, State of the Climate: Global Climate Report for Annual 2017. (2018). Retrieved on November 11, 2018 from https://www.climate.gov/news-features/understanding-climate/climate-change-atmospheric-carbon-dioxide

IPCC.( 2013). Summary for Policymakers. In: Climate Change 2013: The Physical Science Basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Stocker, T.F., Qin D., Plattner G. K., Tignor M., Allen S.K., Boschung J., … & Midgley P.M. (eds.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Priggen, E., & Fox, L. (Director). Story of Stuff. USA: Free Range Studios

[jstanley1998-blog]

Holding All the Roses – A Thorn to Mainstream Music Too country to be rock? Yet too rock to be country? This is the definition commonly used to describe Blackberry Smoke, arguably Southern Rock’s hottest act since Lynyrd Skynyrd emerged in the early 1970’s. They’ve toured with the likes of Skynyrd and ZZ Top, as well as other huge names in country and southern rock to boot. Prior to the release of ‘Holding All the Roses’ in early 2015, Blackberry Smoke had made a name for themselves by touring almost constantly, as well as releasing 3 albums and an EP. To kick this off, it is worth noting that this album is most ‘produced’ of all Blackberry Smoke albums at the time of release. The band hired legendary producer Brendan O’ Brien (AC/DC, Bruce Springsteen etc), and this led to the album having a heavily, almost overproduced sound; there was less emphasis on the instruments individually, and it generally remixed in a more ‘pop rock’ style. Fans were split about this, as previous Blackberry Smoke albums have had a somewhat ‘raw’ quality, notably 2012’s ‘The Whippoorwill’. However, I, as the writer here, am a big fan of the likes of Meat Loaf, and Def Leppard, so I dig heavy production. I believe it makes for a better sonic experience, and with the case of Blackberry Smoke, THE LOUDER THE BETTER! The album artwork is also worth discussing. ‘Holding All the Roses’ is an analogy meaning ‘you’re the winner’. Just listening to the album, you may assume this is a reference from the band to the fact they finally are starting to hit the big top. However, the album cover and rear tell a different story. The front cover is a donkey adorned with roses; it has just won an event. But the background exhibits near empty stands, and nobody is looking; does anybody really care? And the rear cover of the album shows two unkempt, older hillbillies waving their roses in the air. These two are seemingly the only fans and supporters of the donkey, leading us to question whether it’s worth celebrating the donkey’s victory. This sarcastic display is a perfect set up for the album, particularly once you start digging into the lyrics. The first track off ‘Holding All the Roses’, ‘Let Me Help You Find the Door’ is the best example of straight up, loud anger on the album. Dripping with sarcasm and loaded with a guitar riff that could cause an earthquake, singer Charlie Starr belts out a protest to the music industry of today. He’s not gonna take any shit from anyone. ‘Why’s it got to be the same damn thing? Same damn song that everybody wants to sing… Same Sons of Bitches still rigging the game, they sell the same old faces with a brand-new name’. Admittedly, this is a rarity for Blackberry Smoke. They’ve managed to remain neutral and politically correct for their entire career, so a sudden outburst is, if anything, slightly out of character. Nevertheless, if they felt the need to write it, then something must be going on behind the scenes to encourage it. If anyone can find a more damning view on today’s chart music than this, then I owe them a drink. I challenge you. Continuing down the hard rockers aisle, we come to ‘Rock and Roll Again’. This is completely different to ‘Let Me Help You Find the Door’, though it retains the punch and attack from the first song. ‘Rock and Roll Again’ is a classic ‘man loves girl’ rock song, characterised by its thumping shuffle feel. Play this song, and close your eyes. It is almost as though you’re in 1977 watching Status Quo bash through their 3 most iconic chords. Yet open your eyes to the music video and you’re in a Southern American strip club. The music video caused a large amount of controversy among fans due to its heavy reliance upon nudity. Whilst Blackberry Smoke play on the stage of the club, nude cowgirls play with snakes and swings. Through all of this though, the video does have an element of humour, as we see when [insert spoiler alert here] the protagonist, a tattooed cowboy of about 35, tries to slap one of the strippers’ bum. This results in a bar fight (what American music video is complete without one?) during which he makes an escape. All in all, everything about this song is good fun, whatever your outlook. For those of you who are interested (as I’m sure you all are…), be sure to check it via the link provided link. ‘Wish in One Hand’ is one of my personal favourite tracks. Lyrically it is another brash dig at society. Its written about those among us who are loud, obnoxious and just want to be the centre of attention. Yeah, we all like a degree of attention, but this is about the kind of people you see on the front of gossip magazines. ‘You wish you could be everybody’s best friend, know the whole story from beginning to end’. Let’s be honest, we ALL know somebody like this! Musically this song is also a stand out on ‘Holding all the Roses’. The solo section features some beautiful twin guitar work, very reminiscent of the Allman Brothers Band with Duane Allman and Dickey Betts on guitar. The actual improvised solo part is equally mind-blowing. It almost feels like a different song. It doesn’t feel like a conventional solo section, with odd chords and notes regarding the original key. Throughout it though, Blackberry Smoke manage to keep their thrashing mood, and whilst it may feel a bit out of place, it works, and that’s Blackberry Smoke for ya. In my opinion, the most un-Blackberry Smoke song on the album must be the title track. ‘Holding All the Roses’ is a loud, relentless track. To the date the album was released, this was the heaviest track the band had ever laid down. Though saying this, it is tinged with a few bluegrass inspired licks. ‘Holding All the Roses’ is a bit of a musical oxymoron. The chorus is heavy and loud, yet the ‘middle 8’ is based on some chicken pickin’ acoustic guitar and a violin trading licks, and the actual guitar solo is huge. It sounds like Charlie is setting the fretboard on fire, and this is why I love the heavy production. If you haven’t played this song on full volume, then you may need to rethink your life. One of the most memorable tracks on ‘Holding All the Roses’ is a standalone on the album. It’s a short instrumental played on solo acoustic guitar called ‘Randolph County Farewell’. Clocking in at just 1:17, it is by a large stretch the shortest piece on the album. Played by lead singer and co lead guitarist Charlie Starr, ‘Randolph County Farewell’ is a welcome break from the rollicking rockers. It’s also a nice nod to Charlie’s influences with guitar, as its clear that he’s a Merle Travis fan. That ‘Travis Picking’ style is unmistakeable in bluegrass, and we almost expect to hear ‘Cannonball Rag’ in the same piece! Blackberry Smoke may typically be a southern rock outlet, but there’s no denying their roots in country music. The EP they released in 2003 entitled ‘New Honky Tonk Bootlegs’ consisted of 5 songs which are undeniably country infused. Considering that and the fact they managed to record the iconic ‘Yesterday’s Wine’ with Jamey Johnson and the late, great, George Jones, Blackberry Smoke really haven’t done too bad for themselves. There’s a couple of very country infused songs on the album. The first I will talk about is one of my personal favourite tracks, ‘Lay It All on Me’. It’s a predominantly acoustic track which appears towards the end of the album. In my opinion, the lyrics are incredible. Just the opening verse with the continuous rhymes ‘Ruby’s got a brother, her brother’s got a lover, his lover’s got another on the side’. What a way to open a song. Again, this song also shows off Blackberry Smoke’s musical prowess, as the chords make heavy use of chromaticism. Now, most people who know music will think of Stravinsky and Schoenberg when someone says chromaticism, but Blackberry Smoke aren’t like that. Not even close. ‘Lay It All on Me’ is full of interesting turnarounds, most notably the unexpected chord progression at the end of each section. Behind all this is some beautiful electric guitar playing. We’re hearing tasty country licks that sound like something straight out of a Merle Haggard track. Beautiful stuff. The other country laced track is also the only other track with a supporting music video. ‘Too High’ is a stunning track. It’s clearly very bluegrass inspired, as we can hear notably in the chorus. Co-guitarist and backing singer Paul Jackson’s high harmonies take us right back to the times of Hank Williams. It’s enough to bring a tear to a grown man’s eye. It is said that the song is written about Charlie Starr’s first experience away from home, where (unbeknownst to him), his housemates were cooking meth in the basement. ‘Too High’ is a story about trying to get away, but struggling in the process. ‘That mountain is too high for me to climb, the river is too deep and it’s too wide’. Its something that a lot of people these days can connect with, not necessarily directly, but with the basic premise. And that’s the true beauty of this song, we’re all the same deep inside. Preach. ‘Living in The Song’ is southern rocker. No other way about it. If there’s any song on ‘Holding All the Roses’ that wouldn’t be out of place on a Lynyrd Skynyrd album, it’s this one. Despite it’s moderate upbeat tempo, this is lyrically one of the saddest songs on the album. It’s about the protagonist struggling to get by post-relationship. ‘Tell me that the darkest hour is just before the dawn… Whoever said that never spent so many nights alone’. To read the lyrics alone would make for a very stark and moving poem, but set it against loud guitars, a moderate tempo and the key of A major, oh and have Charlie Starr sing it, and you get southern blues. The guitar solo has a sense of melodic prettiness, whilst still having the bite of Charlie’s single p90 pickup, and again, Paul Jackson’s high harmony backing vocals remind us of when country music was good, before the times of so called ‘bro country’ and ‘country rap’. Who even likes Luke Bryan and Florida Georgia Line anyway? I’d far rather crack open a cold one, and listen to Blackberry Smoke, like a real man (as internet sensation Uncle Rob might say). ‘Payback’s a Bitch’. It’s all in the title, straight there in front of you. Everything you need to know about this musical opus. It’s the complete opposite of ‘Living in The Song’ in that the subject matter is the same, but its taken completely differently. ‘Living in The Song’ is the protagonist lamenting about the past complaining about the fact ‘lonesome finds me everywhere I try to hide’. ‘Paybacks a Bitch’ is a protagonist post-relationship vowing to get their back on their not-so-significant other. ‘Don’t think you wrecked it, I’ll get you when you least expect it. And tear down that old tangled web you weave’. It even contains my favourite line on the whole album ‘Karma is about a step behind me’. ‘Payback’ is quite a scary song. Not the kind of scary you associate children’s music boxes and dolls with, I mean it has a presence. You don’t mess with Blackberry Smoke in this one. Easily my favourite part of the song though is at the end. The final time around the chorus. Charlie starts belting out the chorus, but with new lyrics, and there’s extra added instrumental parts to REALLY fill out the texture. To listen to this bit on full volume is an experience, and I really recommend you do it. Right now. ‘Woman in the Moon’ is the slowest song on ‘Holding All the Roses’. I particularly like the production on this song because everything has been given a respectable amount of reverb, and it sounds almost as though we’re listening to it through a tunnel. But it works. It’s also very bass heavy, particularly in the guitar solo. Listening to the guitar solo is quite an experience, as there’s quite a lot going on. Keyboardist Brandon Still is playing something very haunting, and I’m sure there’s an orchestral bass drum thrown in there too. Here we (again) hear a beautiful, melodic solo played by Charlie Starr over the top of it all. ‘Woman in the Moon’ is also in a calm waltz time, which adds perfectly to the haunting feel of it. Despite the reservations you may have after reading that it’s kinda haunting, it’s incredibly laid back, and the lyrics appear to me to be about being different. ‘A Little off kilter, just left of centre, bent just a little out of round’. Charlie Starr has stated that the woman he sees in the moon is Marilyn Monroe, which he states was the ‘weird’ that inspired this song. Further down ‘laid back lane’ we come to ‘No Way Back to Eden’. Generally considered a fan favourite, this is the only ALL acoustic song on ‘Holding All the Roses’. It’s also the calmest song on the album, and has its own little corner on my ‘Relaxed’ playlist. The two most standout things (to me) on this track are the percussion and the backing vocals. From the outset we hear that this track makes use of more traditional sounding percussion over the standard drumkit. I don’t know exactly what was used the recording, but there’s no doubt that drummer Brit Turner’s ‘Shitar’ came into it somewhere! (those who are unaware, the shitar is Brit’s percussive guitar, adorned with all sorts of bells and noisy articles. He usually plays it during acoustic sessions). I also love the backing vocals in this as I feel they’ve been used to brilliant effect. Notably on the first and third lines of each verse, they really seem to bring out the mood of the song. And in the final chorus, the high harmonies really fill the space left in every previous chorus, it builds up to something truly incredible. The final song on ‘Holding All the Roses’ is an upbeat track named ‘Fire in The Hole’. Everything about this track screams Blackberry Smoke. And yet you can still hear the influence of some hard rock bands. The opening chords and verse riff sound like every AC/DC song ever released (coming from a huge AC/DC fan, no offence intended), yet with enough Southern blood to keep it Blackberry Smoke. Lyrically the song is fantastic. It’s quite obscure, I had to really think to understand them, but it seems to me that the song is about people in the world who just go out of their way to f**k things up. People who lie. Its about the kind of people we could do without. ‘It’s a bitter pill, it’s a hard old row to hoe. You’re standing in the way, fucking up the ebb and the flow’. ‘You cross your fingers when you look me in the eye’. Its right there in front of you once the idea hits. That’s one of the beautiful things about Charlie Starr’s song writing, the songs are often obscure until you listen in depth. All in all, ‘Holding All the Roses’ scores a solid 10/10. It’s the perfect blend of country and rock, and never strays too far from the original southern rock formula. It’s like they say, ‘If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’.

[clarareibey7-blog]

Mama Enmeshed Men.

The majority of men definitely would not ever before acknowledge that, also simply a little bit of, they at times desire they were actually even more like girls. Lots of situations in a partnership develop sensations from turndown resulting in a male to consider others that may not reject him. Secondly, manage her like how you would prefer a male to handle your sister, your mother, your woman pals. There are actually items that every man essential to match the transforming periods that will certainly certainly not simply assist him believe excellent but appear outstanding. One european zone official mentioned that money ministers had not covered any winding down of Popular. On the other hand, a guy who is either an organic leader or even has actually honed his management abilities due to the fact that he has actually courted a considerable amount of ladies, are going to recognize when and how to lead. What i pointed out above is actually certainly not to become confused with affection as love needs a deeper connection between a man and a girls to become created to begin with, although you will certainly not have the ability to obtain a women to Katalog.Inforam.pl fall in love with you or perhaps cultivate a link along with her on a further amount if that first sensation from chemical make up or even attraction is actually absent.

To find out the nation's most popular outlets, 24/7 Wall structure St. assessed records off area analytics company Placed. In warm interest from her beginning the Spirit led me to Babylon and also the ziggurat from that urban area where the sun-star showed up with an eye. In a dying human being, political stature is the incentive certainly not of the shrewdest diagnostician yet from the male along with the best bedside manner. An additional prominent precious jewelry alternative for guys is actually a laid-back or more official sort of view. In older men which establish guy boobs the health condition may be more difficult to medical diagnosis. If you intend to remain to feel that he's cool as well as warm because he is actually shed in his opposing sensations for you, you'll remain to be harmed when he keeps disappearing after informing you he loves you and also can not reside without you. Chapman passed away aged 55 in 1934 yet will no question nod approvingly at the man now restoring the pride from a nightclub that almost failed in 2003. Nowadays, low-priced developer Nike Air Maximum footwear are becoming increasingly more well-known in the entire planet. A male that is interested in as well as enticed to you will definitely frequently give you a hard time, yet in an enjoyable, teasing form of means. You can check out the famous people as well as you will definitely find some excellent pairs where the husband is a black guy as well as the spouse is a white women. When I ended up being great at approach located pick-up I started in order to get actually hot women. Yet another preferred myth is actually that Jane obtained the label because of her warnings to males that to upset her was actually to court disaster". Every male which desires to totally unwind after a long time should have bedroom sandals. This would not be reasonable for me to say that every" man is actually motivated similarly. Engaging in more foreplay doesn't essentially suggest a guy has to possess a range of unique dress up his sleeve. Perhaps you've listened to the account about a male which fell down a cliff and also some pupils from Bethel attempted to recover him prior to they ultimately got assistance.

[dangerousgoateeearthquake-blog1]

Can Americans Travel To Cuba? Yes, And also Right here's What does it cost? It'll Expense You.

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Primary thing to begin with: as usual along with teen stories, the lead character looks like your ordinary adolescent who actually has actually hidden potential inside of him; in this particular situation, a skill for technicians that allows him to restore a whole auto at the age of fourteen. The auto air conditioning system functions almost like a fridge and also possesses a multi-component part of machinery. Bulking claims Mercedes also operates carefully with brand names like Google and also Apple to make sure that mobile phones and mobile operating systems are actually integrated slickly into vehicle interfaces, using popular specifications and process that take into account chauffeur disturbance concerns. I am actually quite delighted with that said ... the automobile rotates, as well as I may then increase because path, however the auto basically simply maintains moving in the direction that was actually presently going. 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The story from Classical mythology from Demeter and also Persephone, mommy and daughter, functions as a style for this travel tale. Both are quite economical Asia traveling places by the way, coming from the holiday accommodations down to the meals, you are going to undoubtedly obtain even more bang for your buck at these areas. But neither the gas economic condition body neither the co2 emissions are uncommon for a sports car - actually, they are actually very good. If the player then steers right and also right, I use Adjustment Feature: self.Motion.AngularVelocity, so the auto on its own turns. The Trip Information Pass replaces the outdated European Information Pass, as well as stretches EE's service to a further 11 nations, all of which are actually outside of Europe - hence the title change.