U-boats

Where did this interest in U-Boats one start? NOT submarines, U-Boats.

Well, not when I was a child, I can safely tell you that. I did play at Cowboys and Indians, but the whole Japs and Jerries thing passed me by.  I had plenty of relatives that were soldiers, some survived the war, some didn't but I wasn't really "into" it back then. I did have friends who played at this but it wasn't for me. I was an amateur Geek - give me Flags of the World, The Race Into Space, Dinosaurs.

This sort of stuff:

I used to watch "All Our Yesterdays" on TV in the early 60s when the fare, as I remember, was all WW2. I don't recall any of it in detail but there must have been something there for me to remember some old black and white TV show.

As a teenager, I was more interested in the Terrorism that spilled into the 70s with the RAF (Rote Armee Fraktion/Baader-Meinhof), various Arab factions hijacking airliners, and the ever-present "troubles" in Northern Ireland.

As a student, I was still interested in Terrorism but this changed with a BBC2 TV advert for a new mini-series. This was a German series sub-titled in English...Don't get me started on dubbing!

Anyway, the programme was on TV over several nights. It was Das Boot - an epic German war movie based on an older 1973 novel. For some reason, it hit the spot. So much so that I am the possessor of several copies of this story - mini-series, movie, Director's Cut, LP soundtrack, CD soundtrack...even so far as buying the comedy "Beerfest" with a role for Jürgen Prochnow and some Das Boot references.

There was also an overlap with my musical interests in that the narrator of the story was one Herbert Grönemeyer, a well-known and respected tunesmith/wordsmith.

This passion also took me to Germany. To the following: the DM and U1 are in Munich, the U995 is in Laboe and the U505 is in Chicago - on my bucket list.

Persuader by Lee Child

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

View all my reviews

My Musical Alphabet : H

As I keep saying, this stuff isn't mine and may very well be pulled for breach of copyright. You can, of course, go looking on YouTube, or its foreign variants, for copies. I'm sure you know how.

Time to spin some toons and we have reached the Hs.

I suppose it's time to remind everyone (anyone?) that the songs picked for this blog are not the only ones I like, they are the ones that first popped into my head when thinking about this.

This first H is from my childhood, not the ill-fated attempt at Eurovision. I remember lying in bed at night listening through the floor to the young guy below spinning his 45s. This is one of the tunes I particularly liked. It can't only be me because many of the "general" cover acts also have their take on it. Here is Arnold Dorsey, better known as Engelbert Humperdinck.

 That brilliant balladeer can be contrasted with the following brilliant guitarist:

Of course, Hank B Marvin of the Shadows.

Again, I know and love this style of music from the early sixties. I've always liked a nice tune whether it be an original or a cover. This guy can pick a great tune to cover. I could easily have picked something from the early days with Sir Cliff but have opted for this cover of Mike Oldfield's Moonlight Shadow. For added info, there is another great cover of this sung in German - Nacht Voll Schatten by Juliane Werding. Anyway, feast your ears on this.

Lastly, check out Die Toten Hosen's YouTube channel and get your hands on their stuff.  A taster is here:

Yes, I do like a bit of punk/new wave.

I'm sure you'll agree that this mix from the letter H shows a wide range of my favourite styles and not a yodel in sight.

Again, all my take. If you'd like to leave a comment, please do. See you in a few days for something else.

TVJunkie 1962 - Fireball XL5

As I keep saying, some of this stuff is not mine and may very well be pulled for breach of copyright. You can, of course, go looking on YouTube, or its foreign variants, for copies. I am sure you know how.

Fireball XL5, a Supermarionation forerunner of TV21 productions: one of the first tv series I watched because of an interest, unlike Watch With Mother which was aimed at toddlers and kept me quiet at dinner time.

This was on TV for a single year in the early 60s but I did not see it originally. We probably did not have a TV back then. 

This SF TV series was from the pens of that husband and wife team, Gerry and Sylvia Anderson. It wasn't the first and they went on to give us many years of great adventures for children and young teenagers - Stingray, Thunderbirds, Captain Scarlet, Joe 90, Space 1999, UFO.....10 years of memorable TV before cartoons took over.

Set in the mid 21st century (not that far away now, is it?), Colonel Steve Zodiac commanded the space ship XL5. Ably assisted by Dr Venus, Professor Matthew Matic, and an on-board Robot, Robert. There was also Zoonie the Lazoon but the less said about that the better.

Good old science fiction featuring many themes of the golden age - if you watch or read any SF, you will come across many of these.

The series wears well for what it is but I am sure the modern child would be less than impressed - oxygen pills that allow you to breathe in a vacuum, no space suits required, traversing inter-stellar space in 6 weeks, instantaneous radio transmissions, all aliens speak perfect English! Yes, back in the day we weren't all critics and for me, that was a good thing. Also, back in the day the production seemed to be a lot better - lighting, sound, staging, sound, effects - in general far, far better than much of what came later. Even when you consider that it was a "mere" children's puppet show!

But the Andersons did get something right  - the newer generation of rockets - Falcon series - do, indeed re-land in one piece for subsequent re-launch. So it wasn't all wrong. 

If you own a pair of rose-tints, there is a Facebook page...

But, if you want to really, really, really want to know about Zoonie:

 Not sure what the next blog will be about but stay tuned for an update in a couple of days.

My Musical Alphabet : G

Another break from work (entirely above board) and we have reached the letter after G, but first the usual housekeeping:

As I keep saying, this stuff isn't mine and may very well be pulled for breach of copyright. You can, of course, go looking on YouTube, or its foreign variants, for copies. I'm sure you know how.

This first piece is for piano. As I write this I am aware that I seem to have a liking for all strings, plucked, stroked, bashed, bowed. Better have a word with my analyst, see what she says about that.

Anyway. I have James Burke, a real hero of mine for this. It was the theme tune to one of his excellent TV programmes, "The Real Thing." That is also on YouTube.

The piece is by Eric Satie

 

and goes by the title, "Gnosienne No 1."

Gipsy Kings are up next: and would you look at that, a whole raft of guitars! According to an author on Wiki - "Spanish flamenco and gypsy rhapsody meet salsa funk".  I am not really sure how they came to my attention but you can have a taste of them with the following, "Baila Me."

The next clip also features guitars and I wasn't really sure what to use but I've gone for this piece, "Asturias" played by Andreas Segovia. Who says you can't play guiatr with large fingers?

You might want to ignore the Hot Latin Beauties advert that turns up in your news feed on FB from now on.

G is for Glam, and, again, there is loads of stuff to choose. I do think that this is where my real music education started. Before then music was in the background but from the early 70s, I was more interested in it. We had Glam, Prog, Metal, Puck, New Wave.....

My choice would be the following, a bittersweet choice as my dad died as this was on the airwaves.

And then came the 80s:

G is now for Germans and there are a load of them that I could have chosen (from the 80s or earlier). From Kraftwerk to Nena to the Spider Murphy Gang. Foreign music is thin on the ground in the UK charts but then there is radio as I mentioned in an earlier blog.

But I have chosen Modern Talking. Please ignore the shell suits, the lip gloss, the big hair. It was the 80s after all. I like the MT stuff, not so much what Bohlen/Anders have done on their own, but what they did together.

Yet again, I am not sure where I first heard them but it must have been about the time of "You're My Heart, You'reMy Soul" in 1985 as I am the proud owner of this on 12".

Here are a couple from them, the above song and one featuring a bit more guitar.

 

Enjoy!

Computer Games

Where did this start? It would almost certainly have been with Asteroids or something similar. Much of my student grant would have been squandered on these coin-op games - at 10p a game. I managed to avoid the "Pong" games of yore.

But it really took off with Quake. I did get some shareware DOOM bundled with the first PC that I bought but have to admit that its, so called, 3D control left me feeling a bit conned.

Anyway, Quake is where my liking started. This is one of those "shooters". Of the First Person variety. You have a gun of sorts and run around killing stuff. The amount of gore in this game is minimal. A good game to get into with some frightening moments. An odd type of game - Monsters, Knights, Marines.....Being a bit brown was its only drawback. Imagine 3 hours of the above, sprinkled with a bit of red, purple and white.  Yes, the colour palette was somewhat limited. 

To get it at its best you have to play it in the dark with headphones on. Then you get the real atmosphere - it is unreal. Think you're a hard man? Why not take on the monsters by creeping up on them and punching or kicking them rather than take them on at it is a distance with a rocket launcher?

Quake led on to Quake 2, now there's a title! About the same time came out Unreal and Half-Life. Unreal scored with colour, a long way better than Quake. Weapons a bit of a let down, you never really thought you were firing a real gun, more like a pea-shooter. Not like the sexy noise made by Q2's grenade launcher.

Half-Life is easily the best of the bunch for single player games - it has everything from the intro through the game proper to the ending. The sequels/add-ons are also good, if somewhat short. The original Half Life has been through several mods but now we have a HD version and the visuals are stunning. Just check out.

The whole 3+ hours of it. But that intro is a piece of class.

Multiplayer Unreal Tournament (in any of its guises) can't be bettered IMO. I prefer it to the Quake version easily. I know some would say the military shooters (Call of Duty et al) and better but, as I have no friends, I prefer just me and the bots.

Quake is up to version 4, UT was up to number 3 and HL was up to 2 plus the episodes.  All cracking games on the PC - I haven't tried them out on consoles yet, if ever. I just cannot get to grips with the console controllers.

There are other shooters out there that have, at some point or other, been on my computer and I have enjoyed them all in general. Bioshock had a truly amazing setting - Art Deco underwater. HALO, Crysis, Mortyr, Wolfenstein, Serious Sam  and others were there too. I'm not trying o sell you these or provide any critical review. You can choose whatever one you fancy. That's what the comments at the end are all about.

Those are the shooters that I like and there is only one other type of game I spend any time on - the sub sims. Now some of these early ones are quite poor as you can see if you watch the following:

The shooters at the top are all about running around killing stuff. The SubSims are in a different league especially if you have realism set up on high. You can't just point and shoot. A bit more thought is required. These are all about stealth and patience. Sail on the surface and you'll be sunk. You have to plan where you want to be and make sure you are there waiting for the enemy.

My Musical Alphabet : F

Another break from work (entirely above board) and we reached the letter after E, that is F, but first the usual housekeeping:

As I keep saying, this stuff isn't mine and may very well be pulled for breach of copyright. You can, of course, go looking on YouTube, or its foreign variants, for copies. I'm sure you know how.

I'll start off with something from my childhood. That was some time back, so it's in monochrome, or Black&White for you youngsters. There are colourised versions out there but the less said about that the better. Anyway skip to about 1:25 for the song. The puppet series was Fireball XL5 from Gerry Anderson. Him of Thunderbirds fame. Believe it or not there are Facebook groups for all us oldies of XL5 vintage. I wonder if this is where my interest in that big place outside of the Earth started? Again, another believe it or not moment - there are more modern covers of this song as well as a French version!

Moving on from the old days, something I heard a bit more recently is this offering from Germany featuring Roland Kaiser - Friedensangebote. Not sure how it came about but was more than likely heard when I was trawling the radio waves as is my want. Some more trivia, the lady, Julia Meynen, is a German voice artist.

The Fs must contain some Fleetwood Mac. Like many other of my musical choices, I have had to make a choice as to what track particularly tickles my fancy. For 'Mac, it is this number from more recent times. As I type this I am painfully aware that the blues classic "Need Your Love" isn't here. Sorry fellas.

I also have a soft spot for many things French and I'm quite taken with this from Alizee; (the short dress/coat is purely coincidental). Unusually, this foreign language song charted in the UK. Maybe that is where I originally heard it. I very much doubt that, as the charts at that time (as now) were never on my "to do" list. I did not watch MTV either but maybe it was on one of the other music channels that I sometimes skipped through. Whatever, I was recently awakened from a post mid-day bierfest, to hear the song on an intercom and had to use my old friend, Google, to track it down.

Also a French song I quite like is Rina Ketty's interpretation of J'attendrai:

I know this song from an interest in the last world war. It has been covered in many languages but I like this one. Only bettered, IMHO, by Lili Marleen, in German.

I'll finish with Foreigner, in the studio as I've not been able to track down a decent live recording. I'm not really a big fan of theirs but what I like about this is the production - the overdubs and all that gubbins.

And so we come to the end again.

Comments more than welcome and until next time, cheerio!

Underground maps

Let the weirdness begin.

♫ Sexy, sexy, very, very sexy. They're very sexy.♫ 

No, not the cheesecake/beefcake variety but the  Harry Beck variety.

Still clueless?

Well, I speak of the following:

That is the underground map of Hamburg, a city that just has to be on your visit to Germany, but more of that at a later time. I'll just mention the triad - A City, A River, An excellent Underground. There. You're booking your tickets already.

I'm based in England and am more familiar with the London version:

Another fine city that has to be on your radar, not only for the dirndl wearing Mädchen or lederhosen wearing Jungen of the Oktoberfest, is München whose map is shown below.

Then there is this for your next stop off in Vienna:

Then there is the Berlin map

I do have to admit that for this one, you do have to be a special kind of geek and I do admit to spending my waiting time in some train stations just reading these maps with the occasional break to look at the train timetables. There is more to some stations than the sight of (insert train of your choice), or a drink/sausage from an Imbiss stand.

There is a lot of detail in these maps so you might want to use you favourite browser to help you out.

Why do these maps appeal to me? Well as they say in my home city - F**k knows. It just might be the mathematician or scientist in me.

If this has piqued you interest, good, if not then not to worry. BUT there is a load of stuff out there, wiki can get you started.

Sorry for the shortness of this one, I'll make it up at a later date.

Finally, any comments are more than welcome.

Alarm für Cobra 11 – Die Autobahnpolizei

Foreign TVSeries Junkie

What's that all about?

I suppose I'd better explain this one, but with a word of warning - it does not appear to be available in English, not dubbed (yeuch!) not sub-titled.😒

As you might assume from the title, as well as my other likes, this must be some foreign muck.

You couldn't be further from the truth.

I have always liked foreign TV whether it be sub-titled movies, sub-titled cop shows, whatever,  but with the internet...WOW!

First of all, I have to thank two companies: Sky and Action Concept:

Sky for showing something during those channel skipping moments. We all do it, there is only so much class on the hundreds of channels out there. I believe it was called Europe's Greatest Stunts. Stunts from the TV mainly, and non English-speaking TV to boot.

Action Concept for providing a lot of said stunts.

This little blog, a blogette, if you will, deals with the titular. Even if does focus on German TV I can't say Das Blog as that would be made up and stereotyping. And we can't be having that.

Here are some of the links you might want to check out before reading the rest of this, if you are able to get back to it after the smorgasbord available on the 'net:

Wiki's English offering and Action Concept's page. 

So, like you asked, "what's it all about?" 

Well, I'll start with a TV series that began back in 1996 and it goes by the title, " Alarm für Cobra 11 - Die Autobahnpolizei" which translates roughly as "Alarm for Cobra 11 - The motorway police." Yeah, I know that is a lot of help.

Cobra 11 is a team of law enforcers based in/on/around the autobahnen of Germany. The Alarm bit of the title is probably best thought of as "Call out"

As it says in the intro to the episodes:

Their turf is the motorway

Their mission: full speed

Their opponents today: extremely fast and dangerous

Crimes without limit - every job a high risk

For the men of Cobra 11

What we have is a TV police crime series based around the motorways, initially in the Berlin area but now moved to Cologne. We have two detectives along with their boss and supporting officers dealing with crime. All sorts of lowlife crawls out of the woodwork and into a car/truck/bike....and takes to roads to evade our heroes.

But.

Then comes Action Concept. And they destroy big time. 

They take a boring old cop show-car chase and ramp it up several levels. No more seeing that pile of boxes and immediately thinking, "car crash". Not on your Nellie.

And I hate to have to say this but they don't just destroy old bangers. Often shiny new Beemers take the hit. Just like the ones I want. But I'm big enough to get over it.

Yes, Action Concept is responsible for all the stunt work and they do not skimp.

Here are some examples of their craft plucked from our old friend, YouTube:

You might want to watch this without the distracting music soundtrack. But that is just my opinion.

Then there is this:

As you might see, the series seems to be available, not just in Germany, but in several countries. In fact, most of Europe seems to take it. With one glaring exception us in the UK.

The show is still going strong and there have been several changes of characters but the plots keep coming.

So, to sum up, cops-car chases-car smashes. Did I say it was German? What's that you say? No need?

As usual, enjoy and feel free to leave any comments.

My Musical Alphabet : E - EUROVISION !

As usual, I do not own the copyright on any of the links in any part of this blog. They will be removed if required. Or they might just vanish in their own right as the owners ask Youtube to pull them. You can, of course, go looking on YouTube, or its foreign variants, for copies.

We have now reached the second vowel of the alphabet, the Es.

Well, the Es must start with Eurovision, that excellent, longest running, annual song contest. It's even older than I am. Where to begin: With ABBA or with the nul points-ers? I could easily make several blogs with the material. But I won't, there is so much to cram in.

I'll start with my earliest Eurovision memory which, coincidentally, was the winner in 1965. Luxembourg won with the song "Poupee de cire, poupee de son", performed by France Gall. This clip shows the old contest, when a live orchestra was used:

I agree that most of Eurovision is forgettable but even the mighty Quo have produced some duffers. In any case, I like the spectacle, I like the songs, I like the show. The only thing I have a downer on is the UK commentators. The best show I've seen was when I was in Germany following their win with this: Satellite from Lena, sung with a strange English accent.

Not a UK commentator in sight. Bliss.

Some more Alpine stuff now - Edelweiss but not as you know it, not the one from The Sound of Music but this from Edelweiss, that fine Austrian Electronic/Dance band. Did you know there is a crossover with this lot and Star Trek? Another piece of trivia for you pub quiz aficionados.

The Es wouldn't be complete without the E.L.O. and I have to admit trying to whittle their output to one track wasn't easy. But I've plumped for this one - Hold on tight.

Apologies to all you non-guitar people out there but here is another fine little tune by the title El Negrito.

And so we come to the end (as they said in the closedown of RTL back in the day) and I'll repeat what the guy says in the intro to this - the most beautiful yodel in the world,  Erzherzog Johann Jodler.

Remember, comments are welcome. You disagree with my ESC favourites? You think someone else deserves to be listed? You might even have a suggestion as to who should feature in some upcoming episode?

Some more TVJunkie stuff - early 1960s - Danger Man

As usual, I do not own the copyright on any of the links in any part of this blog. They will be removed if required. Or they might just vanish in their own right as the owners ask Youtube to pull them.

Welcome to the next 5-minute installment of the weird and wonderful world of a hard-working scientist. So let us begin.

Every government has its secret service branch. America, CIA; France, Deuxième Bureau; England, MI5. NATO also has its own. A messy job? Well that's when they usually call on me or someone like me. Oh yes, my name is Drake, John Drake.

So begins the TV series, "Danger Man," also known as Destination Danger or Secret Agent. I didn't watch these and I have yet to start collecting non-region 2 DVDs: There is no way I remember this from the original as I was a babe in arms at this time. I remember it from a later series, still in black and white but with this Edwin Astley theme tune and different opening credits. I must have watched it by mum's side, it was one of her favourites too. Note the guitars!

Anyway, to the substance of the TV series:

John Drake worked for NATO in the early series, I seem to remember. He is contemporary with Bond but, unlike 007, only worked with a handful of gadgets. He used brain over brawn, he did not treat women as "bed-warmers". He seemed to be somewhat of a loner and only reported to his bosses directly, on the whole.

You need to remember that it was, in today's parlance, "of its time". Actors blacked up, stereotyped behaviours and accents. To paraphrase Star Trek's Scotty - the whole kit and caboodle. Put a turban on a blacked-up actor, throw in a load of beggars, a train station sign saying "Karachi" and "Boom!" you're in Pakistan.

You can find more in this wiki link and this one. There were 4 series of this TV show going from 1960 to 1968 with an odd gap. It started in black and white and moved to colour.

What I really enjoy about it, is that, unlike more modern shows, there are no real story arcs, each show pretty much stands on its own.  That does have its drawbacks, John Drake's accent changes, his superiors change, his employers change.

Unlike 70s offerings of similar material, these shows are not overly violent. OK, they start off with some sort of death or killing but, then, so does Columbo (maybe more of him later). The deaths are not bloody, violent affairs. No beheadings, knifings, no blood and gore putting you off your tea.

As I said above, it is off its time. The usual suspects are the baddies, Commies of all shades, Central and Southern Americans with mustaches and sombreros, middle eastern power crazed rulers (sans keffiyeh or fez)....you get the picture.

I'll finish here but I'll leave with this question for you: 

Did John Drake become Number 6 from The Prisoner?

Until next time, cheerio!

My Musical Alphabet : D

Good day to you all, my lovely readers. We are up to the Ds but before I start, some house keeping. Most of this stuff has been gotten from YouTube and is not mine. If it is removed, it will be for copyright reasons. I'm sure you're all smart enough to find copies for yourselves if this stuff has piqued your interest. So without further ado, let's begin.

Music does not judge, does not know of races, does not place borders...

I've said before, somewhere that I do like a nice song, I like a nice tune, the lyrics are a so-so. First up in the D section is Das Deutschlandlied. I quite like some national anthems and this is up there with the French, Italians and Swiss. Did I mention that you can purchase a cd of national anthems from reputable retailers? Just sayin'. If you are interested you can find where this damn fine tune is from FJ Haydn String Quartet in C Maj Op.76 No.3

From the sublime, we move over the border into Austria, the Tirol to be precise for DJ Ötzi. The look of puzzlement will vanish as you give your ears a feast. Another reason, if any was needed, to go skiing. There's plenty of Après-ski music and you'll find loads on your favourite digital platform.

Next up is Daddy Cool, not by Boney M but by the Darts. I'm not sure how to classify this but I do like it.

Klaus Doldinger up next with a piece called Erinnerung, a lovely tune first heard by me back in the early 80s when I first saw that brilliant, poignant war movie, Das Boot. Played by two guitars like it was meant to be.

Nothing is more beautiful than a guitar, save perhaps two. – Fredric Chopin

And here is some more evidence:

That was Duo Op34.No.2 by Ferndinando Carulli.

Many of my older followers will name this next song in three........

Yes, a fine Dutch outfit, many an air guitarist was born with this track.

It wouldn't be right to finish without something out there. So here it is, something from the Bee Gees:

A little bit of Disco to finish off.

Want to comment? To quote Harry Callahan, all together now, "Go ahead, make my day."

Thank you for taking the time out to give this stuff a listen.

My Musical Alphabet : C

NB: I do not hold copyright on any of this stuff. It has all be pulled from Youtube.

If the link breaks, drop name a message and I'll find another one. Or you could do it yourself - after all, it's what your right hand for.

Anyway, back to the alphabet.

C is for Crap.

Only in the literal sense, you understand. You have to remember that I've been a quo fan for many, many years and I've heard all the insults. Water off a duck's back to an old codger like me.

In all seriousness, my musical Cs start here. I probably have one of the women in this house to blame for this one. Either via a shared iTunes library or some stuff, they have used their spending allowance on. Definitely not something/someone I would have bought.

Anyway, I'm sure I've heard versions edited for radio with the lyrics removed. In any case, this performance combines my liking for a pretty girl, some American swing and some dodgy lyrics. Christina Aguilera has all three as you can see/hear:

BTW this is a "C" - either for the artist or the song or some other spurious link.

I don't mind admitting that I have a soft core and I quite enjoy some "lurve" songs. Like this C from China. OK, it might be Taiwan. Different for a western ear but in no way crap. Different in that it is a western tune sung in Mandarin (I think). C is also for many things Chinese and I'll continue with the following offering from the late Teresa Teng:

My third link for the Cs is this offering from the Corrs:

 

Another song featuring pretty women - see the theme here?

Again, I'm not really sure where this was first heard or seen but I do like it and it does feature a nice bit of slide guitar.

My musical alphabet wouldn't be complete without the late Chuck Berry. Here he is on stage with someone else who may pop up elsewhere. Again, loads to choose from and there are some who have done his stuff better than him. Just think of all those Johnny B Good covers...

China Girl by the late Mr. Bowie is up next. He passed me by in the 70s. Some school mates thought he was great but the closest I got to that greatness was when I got myself a Bowie haircut. Close but no cigar as I wouldn't have been allowed into school with orange hair.

Did you know that this is from the album, "Let's Dance" featuring Stevie Ray, from the Bs earlier? Well, there you go, some useless information that links much of the stuff in this alphabet.

If you've followed this musical journey, the following Country stuff won't offend. Another dead artist, I'm afraid. The late John Denver. I like it and it was one of my mum's favourites :

My Cs will finish off with this. My bucket list contains a trip back to Paris to see this done live. It is, of course, the Can-Can. I wonder if Offenbach is doing high kicks, cartwheels and splits in his grave?

 As is usual, feel free to add any comments to this or ask any questions. And a reminder  - if you find any 12-bar, guitar-heavy, yodels then please point me in the direction. I'm still looking. Ta.

My A to Z in musical taste: B.

Before we get on to the Bs, I'd like to take this opportunity of saying that you won't be subjected to the most famous North Korean sensation that I came across on YouTube recently. It was one of those suggestions that pop up by the side and I just had to take a look. But I'll let you make that decision yourself should you find it.

My B journey begins with bagpipes. I don't know if you have to be a Scot or not but hearing the skirl of the pipes raises the hairs on my neck. I don't go around screaming, "Freedom!" but it gets close.

Anyway, my offering is the following performance at the Massed Pipes and Drums at the Royal Military Tattoo Edinburgh 2013:

This next one I can only give you audio to. You see, this band is so well produced/mixed whatever that live, they just don't do it for me - from what I've seen on the 'tube anyway. Their albums have been few and far between and had numerous personnel changes. My favourite tracks all feature the vocal talents of Mr. Brad Delp. I'm talking of course of that fine American band, Boston.

That's my favourite, "Something About You"

 Next up are a couple of Germans, one you'll have heard of and one you haven't (probably).

Firstly, the one you've heard of. The piece runs to an age, comes in four parts. This is the part you know with a minimalist production from Andre Rieu and his Johann Strauss Orchestra. Leave your politics and home and give your ears a feast on this:

This from the German you know, Beethoven.

The second German you've probably never heard of unless you're a "European".

Lyrics on screen in German and Italian, sing along with THAT crowd to Andrea Berg:

I probably heard this via Radio Tirol via the good old internet. I've heard a lot of stuff on the internet/radio combo but I take full responsibility.

Next up some more "Europeans", a nice pair from Spain - next door to Portugal:

That was Baccara with an early hit, "Yes Sir, I can boogie".

Did I mention that the Eurovision Song Contest was in May? A quick Youtube search for ESC Kiev will give you access to all 43 participants this year. Just sayin'.

Next up some more "Europeans", this time from Italy. I give you that great ESC-type title, Da Ba Dee from Blue.

The Bs would not be complete without this lot, all two and a half minutes of them. An early memory of mine from the best period of the Beatles, before they went weird:

I'll end with this collection:

This B would be for Blues. Like most of this compendium of stuff, I make no bones about who is listed. I could have had a whole section devoted to the Blues. I've picked ZZTop for that fine Elmore Leonard tune. I've picked Grinderswitch, also playing an old Elmore Leonard tune and finally Stevie Ray.

BTW, did you manage to hear that Grinderswitch track without expecting to hear John Peel interrupt?

So there you have it. When could you come across a blog with blues, classical and Europop all in one place?

As usual, feel free to leave any comments.

Until the next time, with some tasty Cs, cheerio!

My A to Z in musical taste: A.

It has been said that my musical taste is "odd", my musical taste is "different", my musical taste "resides in my nether regions", my musical taste is, basically, "crap".

I disagree (at least with the last description)

I have yet to come across anyone who does not like music in some form or other. It unites us at some deep level. Music exists separate to language; we all hum, whistle, tap our fingers and feet to a rhythm. Music gets to us whatever languages we may speak. So whether you get all teary-eyed to "Ode an die Freude" or a "She Done Me Wrong" blues number, I am sure this multipart bit of the blog will not cause you too much grief. Just do not blame me.

The following items aim to show that my musical taste is, indeed, varied. I would not lower myself to call any of it crap as I do not think it is - given that someone, somewhere, has put their heart and soul into producing the piece, that description also rubbishes them.

I have limited myself to only a few items that are associated with each of the letters of the alphabet. No doubt someone will read this and say, WTF! Why is so-and-so not there? How could you miss out what's-their-name? The answer is easy - they did not pop into my head quickly enough.

Also, I am a bit long in the tooth. I heard some of this stuff on the wireless (the what?), have heard it on reel-to-reel, on vinyl, on cassette, on 8-track......I will not buy it on whatever new-fangled format comes along. So if I have not yet got it onto my mp3 library it may not be listed here.

Do not despair though. If ABBA is missing from the A group, they might turn up under F - that is where Agnetha would be.

Anyway, to get started:

A is, indeed, for ABBA - first met in Eurovision 1974 (Hint. Hint. That is under E). The track I have chosen is not the Eurovision winner though. The track I have picked gets the hairs on the back of my neck tingling and has Agnetha on lead vocals, powerful lead vocals at that.

Hank B (probably listed somewhere in an upcoming blog) also covers this track.

Have you heard Waterloo in Swedish?

Or how about German?

No, I thought not, but if you click on the links.......There, isn't that better?

I'd like to point out now that I don't own any copyright on this stuff and if asked to remove it, I will.

In total contrast to ABBA is this fine track from the southern hemisphere:

 

You did turn the volume up for that AC/DC number? I do like a good old 12-bar guitar and, like many things on here, I could have picked out loads from crackly recordings from the days of slate in schools, to the "turn it up to 11" metal offerings.

I blame my Catholic upbringing for the next one, or maybe my dear old mum who was quite taken with the old tenors. It's Ave Maria. I admit I prefer the two ladies singing. The artists here are Mirusia Louwerse, Andrea Bocelli and Helene Fischer:

Again, in total contrast to these wonderful songs is a song in a less sombre vein. A bit of 12-bar punk/new wave. Fusion has a lot to answer for.

The band is Alberto y Los Trios Paranoias, and the song has an equally long title - Heads Down, No Nonsense, Mindless Boogie. A tilt of the head to Quo (see later in the series).

Also in the A's would be some damn fine accordion music that I was bottlefed. This also crossed over to the Tirol/Bavaria, but more of that later. As I am already taking up your own internet time (Good grief, where did that 5 minute browse go....) I won't give you any links for this category but believe me, you just might come across them later on.

I should end this section here and allow you to get your breath back. because, believe me, you'll need it for this final offering. My followers on Facebook and the old Status Quo message board will be familiar with this. It falls into the once seen-never unseen category.

You may be unfamiliar with this fine European outfit. They go by the name Atomik Harmonik and this is one of their best. Another fine song that ticks many of my boxes - you can decide which boxes. I'll let you track down the Nightcore/Extended mixes......

As is usual, feel free to add any comments to this or ask any questions. And a request - if you find any 12-bar, guitar heavy, yodels then please point me in the direction. Ta.