U2 are looking more and more like aging Irish Porn Stars

PREVIEW: LISTEN to U2’s “No Line on the Horizon”

Just when you thought aging, self-absorbed rock stars couldn’t be more agonizingly full of themselves as displayed in the upcoming TV special of the 25^th Annual Rock Hall of Fame Awards/concerts — U2 strikes again in destroying everything that’s halfway decent about popular Rock music by headlining England’s Glastonbury 2010 Music Festival.

Despite the poor sales of this once-great band’s most recent album No Line on the Horizon, U2 still don’t know when to quit. Since playing on top of buildings in London and causing a carefully orchestrated and televised stir earlier this year didn’t work, perhaps Bono figures that their spanking new songs will resonate with an audience whose only relation to the band is that their parents had Joshua Tree playing in the background during their conception.

In the past few decades Glastonbury has had many classic and relatively younger bands headline at the main, “Pyramid” stage. The honor to perform such a slot is one which hot bands like Radiohead and Coldplay to Arctic Monkeys and Kings of Leon have thrived on. Aged and classic acts have played as well, but not as the focus of attention. Thanks to this usual past setup, it is clear that music festivals are for the young people and their newer music — a tradition that can be traced back to Monterey and Woodstock.

One would imagine that having a stage that looks like an alien weapon from the Halo video games might have suggested Bono and company were joining their outer space brethren after their current tour; however, to many a-one’s dismay they are headed to Glasto-organizer, Michael Eavis’ Worthy Farm. Either way, perhaps this is Bono and The Edge’s final attempt to communicate with aliens through crop-circles — or perhaps just a belated reference to the remake of the crap miniseries V.

– Charlie Weeks

Sermon Text: John 18:33-38a

Today is a special Sunday known as Christ the King Sunday. It is the last Sunday of the Christian year. It’s sort of New Year’s Eve, if you want to think of it that way. Next Sunday is the first Sunday of Advent. While we don’t have noisemakers, party hats, or champagne, we do have good reason to celebrate because Jesus Christ is our king.

Speaking of royalty, when I was 15, my family and I took a two-week trip to the British Isles. We spent a week in England. While we were in London, we had just finished visiting St. Paul’s Cathedral and were walking around the streets of London when something remarkable happened. We stumbled upon a parade and saw the queen. She was about as far away from me as Lisa is. We took a snapshot of her riding by on a horse-drawn carriage. Standing next to me was a small, frail man, probably in his eighties, wearing a rumpled old military uniform that he had proudly worn probably 60 years earlier. He stood motionless, saluting her as she passed, a tear in his eye. Talk about moving! As impressive as it was to see the queen, what stands out more than anything was this old soldier!

We don’t have royalty in our country—aside from Hollywood celebrities, of course—but we would know royalty if we saw it: I’m sure I didn’t know what Queen Elizabeth II looked like before seeing her in person, but you better believe that no one had to say, “That one there is the queen,” when she passed by. There was no mistaking who she was. It was obvious from the pageantry, the decorum, the way she carried herself.

Whatever majestic imagery we have in mind when we think of kings and queens, we need to put that out of our minds when we think of our king, Jesus Christ. Because there was very little about Jesus that would suggest royalty. Born in a humble stable to a family of modest means who lived in a backwater town. Not formally educated. Someone who worked with his hands. It’s true that Jesus must have been a powerful and charismatic speaker, healer, and teacher, but he didn’t command any military force. Indeed, even his closest followers and friends abandoned him and denied knowing him in this hour of trial. So you can imagine what Pilate thought of Jesus. Especially when Jesus informed him that his kingdom was “not of this world.” Pilate must have breathed a sigh of relief at this point: “Well, I’m only concerned about kingdoms that are of this world. You can have your kingdom in the sky or outer space or heaven, for all I care, as long as I get to have my kingdom in this world. A kingdom that is not of this world isn’t a threat to me.”

Now, allow me make a very important point here: Just because Christ’s kingdom is not of this world doesn’t mean that it’s not for this world. We pray every week in this service, “Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come…” Jesus taught us this prayer. It means that we actively look forward to and hope for the coming of God’s kingdom in all its fullness, and we work on behalf of that kingdom until it does come in all of its fullness at the end of history. Why? Because it’s exactly what this world needs. And the Pontius Pilates of the world may think that this kingdom has no bearing on their lives, but we who have been baptized and placed faith in Christ know better. We voluntarily place ourselves under the rule of Christ our king. We live our lives now as if this kingdom were already here. Our will, therefore, is to do God’s will, not simply for the sake of doing good in the world but to bear witness to the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Think about that: our will is to do God’s will. In my own prayer life, instead of seeking God’s will first, I’m often simply asking God to bless or endorse a course of action that I’ve already taken or already decided up. I must think Jesus Christ is a lot like me because I often assume that what Christ wants me to do is exactly what I want to do anyway. How about you?

If you want to know what kingdom living in the here and now looks like, read Matthew Chapters 5-7, the Sermon on the Mount, for starters. “Turn the other cheek when someone slaps you.” “Go the extra mile.” “When you do good works, don’t let the left hand know what the right hand is doing.” “Don’t be greedy.” “Don’t worry about anything.” And we read that and say, “That’s hard,” and I say, “Yep. It is.” And we may say, “But that’s not practical.” And I say, “Yep, you’re right. Some people have even been known to get persecuted and killed because of their allegiance to Christ’s kingdom.” But it’s only hard and it’s only impractical because there’s something wrong with us, and there’s something wrong with the world. There are spiritual forces at work in the world that resist God’s kingdom at every turn. We have, as Charles Wesley wrote in “Love Divine, All Loves Excelling,” this bent toward sinning. We need to let the Holy Spirit to give us power to change us and change the world. Indeed, all of us who have been baptized and joined the church have been given our marching orders to follow Christ our King. Listen to what we commit ourselves to do when we are baptized: Among other things, we “renounce the spiritual forces of wickedness” and “resist evil, injustice, and oppression in whatever forms they present themselves.”

Bono of U2, a deeply committed Christian, takes his baptism vows very seriously. He has identified evil and injustice in the way banks in the industrialized world have placed people in the third world under a mountain of insupportable debt. He’s been campaigning for third-world debt forgiveness. Bono said in a recent interview that if you look at all the money raised by Live Aid, the big rock charity concert in 1985 in which U2 and so many other rock stars participated, it adds up to one day’s worth of interest on third world debt. This debt, he argues, is indirectly killing millions of people. Bono’s efforts are paying off. He’s gotten powerful leaders in the world to join his cause. And because of the “friends” he’s made—including some leaders with spotty human rights records—he’s been criticized and ridiculed loudly on both the political left and right. It’s cost him some good will with his fans. About all the criticism, he said, “You know, I don’t have an ego about that. Don’t get me wrong. I’m a rock star; of course I have an ego; but I don’t have an ego about this issue. It just doesn’t matter. Too many people are dying.” The point is that of course following Christ our King will engender conflict with the forces of evil in this world. We do it anyway. This is the kind of example that our king leaves for us.

Many of you know what it’s like to stand up to evil and injustice. Did you know that a group from our church including Renee Sassaman, Kerri Downs, Bruce and Lori Mack and many of our high school youth have been involved in working for a homeless ministry in downtown Atlanta. Last week, they prepared about 200 meals to hand out to the poorest of poor, the drug-addicted, and the mentally ill living under bridges in the city and offering them a way to get further help. Renee told me that when she first got involved in this ministry, it was all about trying to be a blessing to other people. She said that as time has gone in, she’s found it to be a great blessing to her.

Friends, that’s the way serving Christ our King works. We find our true and best selves by leaving our old, self-serving, sin-addicted selves behind. We find our life by losing it for Christ’s sake. We find true freedom by willingly becoming servants of Christ and others. Think of that old soldier standing next to me, standing proudly, saluting as the queen went by. What wouldn’t he do out of love, joy, and gratitude for his queen? What wouldn’t we do for out of love, joy, and gratitude for Christ our king?

And make no mistake: following Christ our king ought to be about love and joy and gratitude. Did any of you, like me, experience joy at Coffee House last Friday? The joy of sitting at a table with friends… the joy of music… the joy of people using gifts that God gave them to bless others… Listen: the band sang a song earlier called “How Far is Heaven.” There are moments in our lives when that veil that separates heaven and earth is very thin, and we see just how close heaven is, and just how beautiful heaven is. Thanks to the redeeming love of God expressed to us in the life, death, and resurrection of our King Jesus, we know that we have a future in God’s heavenly kingdom. How can we not feel love and joy? How can we not live our lives in gratitude?

It’s New Year’s Eve in the Christian year. Let’s think about making a New Year’s resolution. Think about one new way you can serve your king in this year ahead. It might be getting involved in a new ministry; volunteering for a mission project; going on a mission trip. Maybe it means picking up a new habit related to prayer or Bible study. [I then invited members of the congregation to write it down on a card and place it on altar table.]

I shot the sherif but I didn’t shoot the deputy! – I don’t bloody care!

I’d rather watch Simon Cowell’s comedy freak show, the X-factor. U2’s current album is dire – read my review from earlier in the year here , and there’s absolutely no excuse for pushing this prehistoric monument of a rock band to the forefront of any festival, anyplace in the current world that we live in! I mean I’m all for freedom of trade, astral traveling and parallel universes – even heliocentric worlds but surely Bono could have turned it down and found his own solar system to pontificate to by now!

Read the damning evidence here

Why? Because I said So!

Ik wil beginnen met een reeks over het evangelie.  Ik  zou graag willen kijken naar verschillende manieren waarop het ‘goede nieuws’ uitgelegd wordt, en wat dat ‘goede nieuws’ dan eigenlijk is. De bedoeling is om niet alles zelf te doen, maar iedereen mag zijn bijdrage insturen, die ik dan zal publiceren… Verder is het natuurlijk mogelijk om in de comments te reageren. Ik hoop dat we tot vruchtbare gesprekken komen die ons dichter bij Jezus brengen.

Ik ge beginnen met een ietwat stuntelige uitleg van Bono, uit een interview in het boek ‘Bono over Bono’  waarin hij Jezus vergelijkt met ‘karma’ (of oog om oog, tand om tand)

In de kern van alle godsdiensten rust het idee van karma. Je weet wel, wat je doet krijg je terug: oog om oog, tand om tand. Of natuurkundig, in natuurwetten gesproken: op elke actie volgt een gelijke of tegengestelde reactie. Voor mij staat het vast dat karma de kern van het universum uitmaakt. Daar ben ik absoluut zeker van. En niettemin komt er dit idee, genade geheten, langs en zet het hele ‘wat je zaait, zul je oogsten’-gedoe op z’n kop. De genade tart de rede en logica. Of zo je wilt: liefde doorkruist de gevolgen van je daden, maakt ze ongedaan, wat in mijn geval beslist goed nieuws is, omdat ik een hoop stomme dingen heb gedaan….ik zou diep in de nesten zitten als karma mijn laatste rechter was. Dan kan ik het wel schudden. Daarmee praat ik mijn fouten niet goed, maar ik heb mijn hoop daarom maar op de genade gevestigd. Ik vestig mijn hoop op het idee dat Jezus mijn zonden op zich nam aan het kruis, omdat ik weet wie ik ben en hoop dat ik niet afhankelijk ben van mijn eigen religiositeit. …Ik vind het idee van het offerlam prachtig. Ik vind het een prachtig idee dat God zegt: ‘Hoor eens, stelletje stomkoppen, hoe jullie zijn, jullie zelfzuchtigheid heeft bepaalde gevolgen en bij jullie zeer zondige aard hoort het dat jullie sterfelijk zijn en laten we wel wezen, jullie leiden -geen al te best leven, of wel? Daden hebben consequenties.’ Waar het met de dood van Christus om gaat, is dat Christus de zonden van de wereld op zich nam, zodat wat we doen ons niet vergolden wordt en dat onze zondige aard niet onze ondergang wordt. Daar gaat het om. Het zou ons nederig moeten houden… Het is niet door onze eigen goede werken dat we door de hemelpoort gaan.

Wat denken jullie van deze uitleg. Klopt hij, is hij (on-)volledig Hoe zou je het zelf zeggen? En op welke manier is dit ‘goed nieuws’?

shalom

Bram

I love this:

An expert commission of African leaders today announced their plan for comprehensive reform of music band U2. Saying that U2’s rock had lost touch with its African roots, the commission called for urgent measures to halt U2’s slide towards impending crisis.

“Our youth today are imperiled by low quality music,” said Commission chairman Nelson Mandela. “We will be lending African musicians to U2 to try to refurbish their sound to satisfy the urgent and growing needs for diversionary entertainment at a time of crisis in the global music and financial sectors.”

Concerns about U2 have been growing in Africa for a while. One Western aid blogger testified to the Commission that his teenage kids found U2’s music “cheesy.” The Mandela Commission proposed that U2 follow a series of steps to recover its Edge:

1) Hire African consultants to analyze U2’s “poverty of music trap”

2) Prepare a Band-owned and Commission-approved Comprehensive U2 Reform Strategy Design (CURSD)

3) Undertake a rehabilitation tour of African capitals to field-test and ground-truth proposed reforms

4) Subject all songs to randomized experiments in which the effect on wellbeing of control and treatment groups is rigorously assessed.

Mandela expressed optimism that the Commission’s report and proposed reforms had come in time to stave off terminal crisis in U2, and restore its effectiveness in the 80s arena rock field.

FYI, its cross-posted from Aid Watch

The Aid Watch blog is a project of New York University’s Development Research Institute (DRI). This blog is principally written by William Easterly, Professor of Economics at NYU. It is co-written by Laura Freschi and by occasional guest bloggers. Our work is based on the idea that more aid will reach the poor the more people are watching aid.

And thats all I have to say about that. Except that everyone is freaking out about the Muppet Bohemian Rhapsody, so I’m gonna go ahead and share it with y’all.

love & rawkouts,
Sunshine Superboy

I was at the airport this morning and I looked down at my feet and saw a black leather suitcase. Upon opening it I discovered a thick manuscript titled ‘Twilight 3: Scrappy-Doo Makes A Boo-Boo’. Obviously someone had made a huge mistake and left an item of great value behind.  However a quick skim and I found out that in a jealous rage Scrappy attacks Edward with a meat cleaver and then forces himself on to Bella. Now I thought this was odd as Scrappy, other than being an asexual minor, was in fact a fictional cartoon character. Would it be like when Paula Abdul danced with MC Skat Kat in the ‘Opposites Attract’ film clip? It just wouldn’t work. Surely this version was a clever decoy to keep the “Twihards” guessing. So I installed the latest copy of Microsoft Decoder on my laptop and proceeded to retype the whole script. A day later when I hit DECODE I was presented with ‘Twilight 3: Hot Runnings’. I noticed it was fairly similar to that Disney movie about the guys that form a Jamaican bobsled team, except this was set in Iceland and Edward, Bella, Jacob, Hitler and Gandalf form a relay team that hopes to compete in London 2012. Hilarity ensues when Gandalf realises he was in a superior movie trilogy and plots the deaths of his teammates. After succeeding he has a tea party with Jude Law and Bono. Ha! Nice try, I figured this was also a decoy script as there would be no way Gandalf would let this pass – he would not kill off Hitler and then dine with Bono.

Even though both decoys proved to be of a higher quality in comparison to Twilight 1 and 2, I was still sick of being stuffed around by jackass writers. I was ready to give up. But I decided to give it one last go. Luckily as the true plot was revealed titled ‘Twilight 3: Edward vs Dracula’. Edward is enjoying a quiet nighttime read of ‘He’s Just Not That Into You’ at a local beatnik cafe when the Count comes up behind him, taps him on the shoulder and asks him “are you serious with all this shit?” before ripping his head off and feasting on his jugular. As the petrified cafe patrons look on Dracula boldly declares: “Who is glittering now, bitch?”. The end. Turns out it’s a short film that they plan on running during the halftime show of the 2010 Superbowl.

In conclusion how much did my blog hits just go up? Would it be as much as a post titled ‘2 and a Half Men Is  Abreast Of The Rest’? Results in a few days.

This is just another ordinary week in Edinburgh, which is strange for us.   We know that Thanksgiving fever is radiating across our homeland, and, man, do we miss it.  Prepping and cooking Thanksgiving dinner has to be one of our favorite things to do every year, and it is so odd that this Thursday, we will not wake up to watch the Macy’s Thanksgiving day parade, drink wine and beer with friends/family, and cook a ridiculously indulgent meal for all to share.

But what else is odd about this experience is the fact that, for all its propaganda (I mean, seriously, the pilgrims and the native Americans really weren’t that chummy, if you think about it), Thanksgiving has become a time that Americans are encouraged to reflect on what we are thankful for.  And somehow, without this explicit encouragement, we have found ourselves absent-mindedly forgetting to give thanks.  And so, for our betterment and yours, we are posting 50 things for which we are very thankful (50 things for 50 states… it’s amazing what living abroad can do for your goofy patriotism!).  Today, the first 25.  Enjoy!

1.  Family!  We have been blessed with blood- or law-relatedness of the highest sort.

2.  Wayne DeWald (aka “Dad”)– You inspire us to enjoy the little things in life– from birds to Lemonade Gatorade to naps.

3.  Norma DeWald (aka “Mom”)– We can always count on a conversation with you to make us laugh and lift our spirits.

4.  Nicole DeWald– You work hard and you play hard, and we appreciate your example of that precarious balance.  (Plus, you look so good doing it!)

5.  Bill Kline (aka “Dad”)– Your healthy perspective on life helps us live better.

6.  Karen Kline (aka “Mom”)– Your compassion and wisdom know no end.

7.  Ryan Baker– Your enthusiasm for all your endeavors (including your love for Elizabeth) reminds us that life is exciting.

8.  Elizabeth Kline Baker– You are the spur in the Kline family ass; without you, we’d go nowhere.

9.  David Kline– You are one of Peter’s closest and most trusted friends, which is such a gift for a brother.

10.  Hannah “Fairchild” Kline– A conversation with you covers the whole spectrum of human emotion (exhilarating!), and you have that fiery red hair and British accent to boot!

11.  Matthew Kline– You have the sort of single-minded passion that even the greatest of artists envy.  (Incidentally, we are among the envious!)

12.  Rebecca Kline– You teach us how to love and appreciate all of our relationships, especially those with our family.

13.  Pets!  A friend of ours says that animals are like little shards of Being; and we sure love loving our shard(s).

14.  Bono, our precious little beagle, you are our most favorite being to be with.

15.  Chelsea– We are thankful that you are the one that stuck around and continues to do so.  (For more on the Kline family pets saga, stay tuned for a later post!)

16.  Friends– too many to count and too good to describe.  We don’t know where we’d be in life without each and every one of you.

17.  Food!  Drinks!  Sustenance!

18.  Salt and vinegar potato chips, while not appetizing to some, are a daily staple in our home.  They keep us sharp-tongued.

19.  Cheese.  ’Nuff said.

20.  Tesco sells this incredible pre-packaged tiramisu that is single-handedly changing our lives.

21.  How can we declare the goodness of Weston’s Organic Pear Cider?

22.  Ginger ale, a staple in our house, courses through our veins.

23.  Music!  The Arcade Fire and David Crowder’s new album, “Church Music,” have their unique ways of soothing our souls these days.  How grateful we are for music!

24.  Skype!  Ohholynight, God bless the inventor of Skype.  Our Skype dates with friends and family have strengthened us for many-a-challenge.

25.  Healthcare!  Our Scottish doctor, Dr. McKenzie, is the kindest person we have met in Scotland, and her presence-of-mind-and-heart during our times of need has rekindled our oft-dwindling hope.

See you tomorrow for our next batch of ThanksGivingGoodness!

If you hadn’t already checked Pitchfork or NME today then you’ll be blissfully unaware that U2 are headlining next year’s Glastonbury festival. I’m going to make it known early on in this piece that I fucking hate U2. I have nothing positive to say about them at all. They don’t evoke any emotion in me at all other than the desire to take a sledgehammer to my stereo. Admittedly it is mainly Bono himself who annoys me; sneakily walking between the shadows of God and Bob Geldof, poking his head out whenever there’s a disaster or an appeal he hasn’t yet lent his name to.

There’s that old joke isn’t there:

What’s the difference between Bono and God?

God doesn’t strut around thinking he’s Bono.

And it’s true, Bono does think he’s above everyone else – a higher being as it were. U2 are definitely not one of the band’s who you could see hanging out with, they’re the band who would have you escorted 100 metres away from the rose petals scattered before them as they waltz into the VIP section of that club you’re not posh enough to get into.

Alas this is about U2 headlining Glastonbury and it is a coup for those attending Worthy Farm next year. Tickets to see U2 on their 360 tour were selling for upwards of £50 and if you looked on eBay then it was well into the hundreds. A single Glasto ticket next year is £185 (plus booking fee and postage etc), so you’re actually getting a very good deal. There are seven stages at Glastonbury, culminating in hundreds of bands and you could have paid your £185 to just see U2 alone! If you’re attending Glasto and a U2 fan then you have won the game! Congratulations!

Also for those of you big on rumours, here’s the current roundup for Glastonbury 2010:

Bon Jovi
Chemical Brothers
Dizzee Rascal
Elbow
Florence And The Machine
Levellers
Led Zeppelin/Robert Plant
Muse
Pet Shop Boys
Pulp
Rolling Stones

Bono y compañía por fin harán su debut en el festival de Glastonbury en su 40 aniversario así lo confirmo Michael Eavis  el organizador del evento.

Al parecer el 2010 será un año muy importante y movido para U2, lo bueno es que no estaremos exentos de ello ya que tendremos a la banda por nuestros territorios el próximo año, la banda de 32 años de carrera que por extrañas razones nunca a podido encabezar el Glastonbury o cualquier otro festival de este índole acaba de confirma su asistencia en este festival.

Eavis comento “ Hemos estado intentando por años, pero pues nunca habíamos podido realizar esto, sin dudas todas las trabas quedan aun lado para que esta versión del 40 aniversario sea de las mejores en toda la historia.”

Algunas de las otras bandas que se rumoran que estarán en esta versión del Glastonbury son: David Bowie, Coldplay, The Rolling Stones y Muse.

Bono and his wife, Ali Hewson, have launched their own socially conscious fashion label

Not long ago, ethical fashion had an image problem. No one wanted to wear baggy-bottomed Thai fisherman’s trousers or an ecru smock top. Unflattering and unappealing, eco-fashion was best left to eco-warriors.

But there has been a definite swing over the past year. Ethical consumerism – from buying products made from recycled or renewable sources to supporting companies that adhere to fair trade principles – is on the rise. It is now cool to care.

So cool in fact, that the latest edition of Vogue has devoted 10 pages to ethical clothing. And London Fashion Week, which starts next week, will include an exhibition space dedicated to 13 ethical labels.

But it’s the celebrities behind the movement who are really making a difference. They’ve made ethical consumerism sexy. One is Bono. Last year, along with his wife, Ali Hewson, and designer Rogan Gregory, he launched Edun, a socially conscious fashion label.

Its clothes are made in locally run factories in Africa, South America and India and the company promotes trade rather than aid. The range is brilliantly designed: this autumn there are beautiful Art Nouveau printed silk dresses, elegant tie-neck chiffon blouses, urban skinny jeans and denim trench coats.

This year Bono also launched Project Red, a collaboration between Armani, Amex, Converse, Motorola and Gap. Each brand markets covetable and ecologically sound products under the Red banner; profits are donated to a fund fighting Aids, malaria and TB in Africa.

Project RED’s unofficial face is Scarlett Johansson, who appears in October’s issue of Vogue wearing Armani’s designs for the charity. The actress told the magazine: “We don’t have to live in a teepee and wear a hemp skirt to be conscious about what’s going on. Maybe somebody thinks, ‘It’s cool that she’s wearing the Red T-shirt, I’ll hop over to Gap and pick one up’.”

Gap, which launched the T-shirts in the spring ( parkas, hoodies and jeans will follow) isn’t the only store turning out fashionable and ethically produced clothes. Last week saw the launch of Adili, a website devoted to the top 25 ethical fashion labels, including Ciel, Patagonia, HUG and People Tree, which has a concession in Topshop, Oxford Circus.

People Tree has given the movement a boost with Trudie Styler as its new face. It has designed T-shirts in conjunction with Action Aid; 10 per cent of profits will go to help raise Fair Trade awareness in Asia, Africa and the Americas.

Small, independent fashion labels have also furrowed the green path. Brighton-based Enamore sells everything from pretty hand-made kimono tops to delicate hemp knickers ( far more appealing than they sound).

Chic shoes can be found at ethical boutiques such as Terra Plana, which designs shoes with recycled materials. And rather than squeezing into jeans made from cotton cultivated with pesticides, consumers can now choose brands such as Loomstate, whose eco-friendly designer jeans are sold at Harvey Nichols and Urban Outfitters.

Larger companies are catching on. Timberland, which sells eco-friendly footwear made with vegetable tanned leather and recycled rubber soles, is launching a reforestation project – it will plant one tree for each pair of boots sold.

And Marks & Spencer, which recently commissioned a survey that found that 78 per cent of shoppers wanted to know more about the way products were made, has just launched its own Fair Trade line.

Tesco, meanwhile, is to sell a range of organic clothing designed by Katherine Hamnett, a long-time crusader for ethical fashion.

Of course, it can be argued that eco-fashion is an oxymoron. How can eco-friendliness fit with so ephemeral an industry? The most significant progress should perhaps come from consumers: buying less, and more ethically, could be the most ecologically sound way to shop.

Source: Telegraph.co.uk, Author: Clare Coulson

Celebrities have long endorsed products, and now many are using their fame to promote issues and causes. Shortly after becoming household names, many actors, singers and athletes establish charitable foundations in their names. They use their star power to increase public awareness of everything from diseases to political issues.

TV personality Rosie O’Donnell established the For All Kids Foundation, which gives grants to support the social and intellectual development of underserved kids. The foundation has awarded $10.2 million since 1997, much of it to established child care programs. eBay hosts a charity auction to benefit the foundation with the sales of celebrity items.

The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research hopes to find a cure for the disease by 2010. Television and film actor Fox, who suffers from Parkinson’s, wants his foundation to increase public awareness of the disease and raise funds for research.

U2 lead singer Bono has been involved in many issues throughout the years and supports the work of Greenpeace, War Child and Amnesty International. His latest project is Project Red, a partnership with several large corporations to increase awareness of AIDS in Africa.

Daytime talk queen Oprah Winfrey used her celebrity to power Oprah’s Angel Network. With viewer donations, the network has built 200 homes for Habitat for Humanity and sent 150 students to college. Oprah also gives a weekly “Use Your Life Award” to a local hero who improves the lives of others.

The National Colorectal Cancer Research Alliance was co-founded by Today host Katie Couric. The group hopes to educate the public about the cancer, which is treatable if detected early.

The Christopher Reeve Paralysis Foundation supports research to develop treatments and a cure for paralysis resulting from spinal cord injuries. Reeve serves as chairman of the board and the foundation has raised millions of dollars for individual research grants and programs to enrich the lives of people with disabilities.

After directing the Oscar-winning “Schindler’s List,” Steven Spielberg established the Survivors of the Shoah Visual History Foundation. The group’s mission is to chronicle eyewitness accounts of the Holocaust. Spielberg is also chairman of the Starbright Foundation, which works with seriously ill children.

As more athletes achieve celebrity status, they are also promoting their causes and issues. Soccer sensation Mia Hamm set up her foundation to raise money for bone marrow disease research and programs for young women in sports. The Mark McGwire Foundation For Children works to prevent child abuse. The Tiger Woods Foundation works to help children accomplish life goals.

Many athletes promote awareness of diseases. The Mario Lemieux Foundation raises money for Hodgkin’s disease research. Buffalo Bills quarterback Doug Flutie and his wife Laurie established the Doug Flutie, Jr. Foundation for Autism, in honor of their autistic son. The Lance Armstrong Foundation helps people survive and manage cancer.

Beginning as a vehicle to help sufferers of HIV/AIDS, the Magic Johnson Foundation now awards scholarships and grants to inner-city students and communities as well. Basketball superstar Michael Jordan set up the James R. Jordan Boys & Girls Club and Family Life Center in honor of his late father.

Source: Givespot

Sarah Palin vs. Pit Bull

At last the American right and left have one issue they unequivocally agree on: You don’t actually have to read Sarah Palin’s book to have an opinion about it. Last Sunday Liz Cheney praised “Going Rogue” as “well-written” on Fox News even though, by her own account, she had sampled only “parts” of it. On Tuesday, Ana Marie Cox, a correspondent for Air America, belittled the book in The Washington Post while confessing that she couldn’t claim to have “completely” read it.

“Going Rogue” will hardly be the first best seller embraced by millions for talismanic rather than literary ends. And I am not recommending that others follow my example and slog through its 400-plus pages, especially since its supposed revelations have been picked through 24/7 for a week. But sometimes I wonder if anyone has read all of what Palin would call the “dang” thing. Some of the book’s most illuminating tics have been mentioned barely — if at all — by either its fans or foes. Palin is far and away the most important brand in American politics after Barack Obama, and attention must be paid. Those who wishfully think her 15 minutes are up are deluding themselves.

The book’s biggest surprise is Palin’s wide-eyed infatuation with show-business celebrities. You get nearly as much face time with Tina Fey and the cast of “Saturday Night Live” in “Going Rogue” as you do with John McCain. We learn how happy Palin was to receive calls from Bono and Warren Beatty “to share ideas and insights.” We wade through star-struck lists of campaign cameos by Robert Duvall, Jon Voight (who “blew us away”), Naomi Judd, Gary Sinise and Kelsey Grammer, among many others. Then there are the acknowledgments at the book’s end, where Palin reveals that her intimacy with media stars is such that she can air-kiss them on a first-name basis, from Greta to Laura to Rush.

Equally revealing is the one boldfaced name conspicuously left unmentioned in the book: Levi Johnston, the father of Palin’s grandchild. Though Palin and McCain milked him for photo ops at the , he is persona non grata now that he’s taking off his campaign wardrobe. Is Johnston’s fledgling porn career the problem, or is it his public threats to strip bare Palin family secrets as well? “She knows what I got on her” is how he put it. In Palin’s interview with Oprah last week, it was questioning about Johnston, not Katie Couric, that made her nervous.

The book’s most frequently dropped names, predictably enough, are the Lord and Ronald Reagan (though not necessarily in that order). Easily the most startling passage in “Going Rogue,” running more than two pages, collates extended excerpts from a prayerful letter Palin wrote to mark the birth of Trig, her child with Down syndrome. This missive’s understandable goal was to reassert Palin’s faith and trust in God. But Palin did not write her letter to God; she wrote the letter from God, assuming His role and voice herself and signing it “Trig’s Creator, Your Heavenly Father.” If I may say so — Oy!

Even by the standard of politicians, this is a woman with an outsized ego. Combine that with her performance skills and an insatiable hunger for the limelight, and you can see why she will not stay in Wasilla now that she’s seen 30 Rock. The question journalists repeatedly asked last week — What are Palin’s plans for 2012? — is a red herring. Palin has no obligation to answer it. She is the pit bull in the china shop of American politics, and she can do what she wants, on her own timeline, all the while raking in the big bucks she couldn’t as a sitting governor. No one, least of all her own political party, can control her.

The fact-checking siege of “Going Rogue” — by the media, Democrats and aggrieved McCain campaign operatives alike — is another fruitless sideshow. Palin’s political appeal has never had anything to do with facts — or coherent policy positions. The more she is attacked for not being in possession of pointy-headed erudition, the more powerful she becomes as an avatar of the anti-elite cause. As Rich Lowry, the editor of National Review, has correctly observed, “She represents less a philosophical strain on the right than an affect and a demographic.”

That demographic is white and non-urban: Just look at the stops and the faces on her carefully calibrated book tour. The affect is emotional — the angry air of grievance that emerged first at her campaign rallies in 2008, with their shrieked threats to Obama, and that has since resurfaced in the Hitler-fixated “tea party” movement (which she endorses in her book). It’s a politics of victimization and sloganeering with no policy solutions required beyond the conservative mantra of No Taxes. Its standard-bearer can make stuff up with impunity: “Thanks, but no thanks on that bridge to nowhere”; Obama’s “palling around with terrorists”; health care “death panels.”

After the Palin-McCain ticket lost, conservative pundits admonished her to start studying the issues. If “Going Rogue” and its promotional interviews are any indication, she has ignored their entreaties during her months at liberty. Last week, Greta Van Susteren chastised Oprah for not asking Palin “one policy question,” but when Barbara Walters did ask some, Palin either recycled Dick Cheney verbatim (Obama is “dithering”) or ran aground. Her argument for why “Jewish settlements” should be expanded on the West Bank was that “more and more Jewish people will be flocking to Israel in the days and weeks and months ahead.” It was unclear what she was talking about — unless it was the “rapture” theology that requires the mass return of Jews to settle the Holy Land as a precondition for the return of Christ.

The discredited neocon hacks who have latched on to Palin as a potential ticket back into power have their work cut out for them. But it’s better for Palin’s purposes to remain as blank a slate as possible anyway. Some of her most ardent supporters realize that she’ll drive still more independent voters away if she fills in too many details. And so Matthew Continetti, the author of the just-published “Persecution of Sarah Palin” and her most persistent cheerleader after William Kristol, wrote in The Wall Street Journal that her role model for 2012 should be Bob McDonnell, the new Republican governor-elect of Virginia, who won on “a bipartisan, center-right approach.”

What Continetti means is that Palin could still somehow fudge her history as McDonnell did; his campaign kept his career-long history as a political acolyte and financial beneficiary of Pat Robertson on the down-low. Even the far right has figured out that homophobia is a turnoff to swing voters, which is why Palin goes out of her way in “Going Rogue” to remind us she has her very own lesbian friend. (What’s left unsaid is that the book’s credited ghost writer, Lynn Vincent, labeled homosexuality as “deviance” in her own writings for World, the evangelical magazine.)

But no matter how much Palin tries to pass for “center-right,” she’s unlikely to fool that vast pool of voters left, right and center who have already written her off as unqualified for the White House. The G.O.P. establishment knows this, and is frightened. The demographic that Palin attracts is in decline; there’s no way the math of her fan base adds up to an Electoral College victory.

Yet among Republicans she still ties Mitt Romney in the latest USA Today/Gallup survey, with 65 percent giving her serious presidential consideration, just behind the 71 for her evangelical rival, Mike Huckabee. The crowds lining up in the cold for her book tour are likely to be the most motivated to line up at the polls in G.O.P. primaries. They don’t speak the same language as Romney, Tim Pawlenty, Michael Steele, Mitch McConnell, John Boehner or, for that matter, McCain. They are more likely to heed Palin salesmen like Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh than baffled Bush administration grandees like Peter Wehner, who last week called Palin “a cultural figure much more than a political one” on the Web site of the establishment conservative organ Commentary.

Culture is politics. Palin is at the red-hot center of age-old American resentments that have boiled up both from the ascent of our first black president and from the intractability of the Great Recession for those Americans who haven’t benefited from bailouts. As Palin thrives on the ire of the left, so she does from the disdain of Republican leaders who, with a condescension rivaling the sexism they decry in liberals, belittle her as a lightweight or instruct her to eat think-tank spinach.

The only person who can derail Palin is Palin herself. Should she not self-destruct, she will doom G.O.P. hopes of a 2012 comeback. But the rest of the country cannot rest easy. The rage out there is larger than Palin and defies partisan labeling. Her ever-present booster Continetti, writing in The Weekly Standard, suggested that she recast the century-old populist outrage of William Jennings Bryan by adopting the message “You shall not crucify mankind upon the cross of Goldman Sachs.” If Obama can’t tamp down that rage across the political map, Palin will at the very least pave the way for a demagogue with less baggage to pick up her torch.

Frank Rich
The New York Times

U2 Ditch Hype After First TV Appearance

On 2 March 1978, a band called The Hype appeared on” Youngline”. By the time they won a talent competition in Limerick on 17 March, The Hype had changed their name to U2.

This clip is taken from the best of “Youngline”, shown on the last programme in the 1978 series. Conor McAnally introduces U2 performing “Street Mission” and explains how the band have changed their name. This is U2’s first appearance on television.

Programme Title:
Youngline
1st Broadcast: 01 June 1978
Presenter: Conor McAnally
Clip Duration: 01′20″

You can also see bono at Self aid saying “I dont know what its like to be out of work, to be unemployed, since I was 16 and I got to join this group”. He never fails to sound righteous and self important.

It is a twisted brand of paddy wackery and rage against the machine. He even has a rant about ANCO and Manpower. Where has he been lately on the FAS debacle. They even play sunday bloody sunday in relation to that, seems to be the song they use to conjure up emotion regardles of their message at the time.

http://www.rte.ie/laweb/ll/ll_t19a.html

Schade, dass man von den Corrs nix mehr hört.

Diddy threw a massive party at the Plaza hotel last night for his 40th birthday [which technically was two weeks ago]

Guests included Martha Stewart, Jay-Z, Nelly, Young Jeezy, Kim Kardashian,Rick Ross, Estelle, Russell Simmons, Bono, Cassie, Trey Songz, Tyrese, DJ Clue, Fabolous, Brandy, Andre Harrell, Al Sharpton, Shanon Elizabeth, Spike Lee and MORE!

Diddy was also joined by his three sons [see picture]

Happy Belated Birthday from GiDiLIVE!

Check out some twit pics from the night under the cut

More Professional Pics From The Magnificent Party

As autoridades irlandesas estão amuadas com os U2. Isto tudo porque o Bono não ganhou o prémio Nobel este ano. Aquele que foi para o Barack, que até tem andado muito caladinho. Se calhar foi isso que falhou ao Bono. Ninguém o manda querer ajudar tudo e todos. Andar sempre a promover a ajuda a países do 3º mundo, etc, etc…

Fazes barulho, toma lá com uma multa para não te armares em esperto.

E esta multa foi mesmo porquê?

Porque o pessoal se queixou que o volume do som em Croke Park era muito elevado.

U2, amigos, deixem que o Bandeiras vos dê um conselho:

Em Portugal, falem baixinho ao telefone, porque anda aí a patrulha da escuta e nunca se sabe quando é que vocês são indiciados no processo Face Oculta. Com o Barack nunca se sabe.

I was recently informed that U2 will continue the 360 tour in the U.S. beginning in June 6, 2010 in Anaheim, California and wrapping up in July 19th at The Meadlowlands Arena (East Rutherford, NJ).

Although there are a few tickets available for select U.S. shows,  most venues are sold out as would be expected.  It would appear that one must purchase tickets through the U2 site, so good luck.

I’ve heard pretty amazing things about U2 shows; now may be your chance to get what tickets are left.

Click here to see the 2010 tour schedule.

De denkhoeden-techniek is een manier om de creativiteit te bevorderen. Het dwingt je om je vaste denkpatronen los te laten en het vraagstuk eens van een andere kant te bekijken.  Dit levert vaak verrassende nieuwe invalshoeken en resultaten op.  Maar hoe gebruik je deze techniek?

Het ligt voor de hand om ieder teamlid een hoed (lees: rol) toe te bedelen. De voorzitter verdeelt tijdens een vergadering de denkhoeden. Hij/of zij moet dan denken op een manier die bij de kleur van de hoed past en bekleedt die rol gedurende de gehele meeting.

Maar is dat wel juist?!?
Als je vindt dat dit goed werkt en effectief is, dan moet je het vooral op deze manier doen. Dogmatisch is wel het laatste wat ik wil zijn. Maar het is niet de wijze waarop De Bono het bedoelt. Integendeel! Want wat zegt De Bono daar over:

That is almost exactly the opposite of how the system should be used. The whole point of parallel thinking is that the experience and intelligence of everyone should be used in each direction. So everyone present wears the black hat at the appointed time. Everyone present wears hte white hat at another time. That is parallel thinking and makes fullest use of everyone’s intelligence and experience.

- Edward de Bono · Six Thinking Hats (revised and updated) -

Hoe moet het dan wel?
De kracht van de Denkhoeden zit ‘m in het parallel denken. Iedereen kijkt op hetzelfde moment, op dezelfde manier tegen een probleem aan. Dit voorkomt discussies. ‘Maar discussiëren is toch ook waardevol?!?’ werpt u tegen. Mja… het is in ieder geval leuk. Maar de keerzijde is dat het bij een discussie vooral gaat om ‘gelijk krijgen’. Zo zit een menselijk ego nu eenmaal in elkaar. Bij het zoeken naar een oplossing is dat niet altijd constructief, omdat ideeën van anderen worden afgebrand enkel om het feit dat het niet jouw idee was. Zo zit een mens nu eenmaal in elkaar.

Dus: gebruik je de Denkhoeden, zorg er dan voor dat iedereen tegelijk dezelfde hoed draagt. Degene die de sessie leidt, houdt in de gaten dat alle hoeden aan bod komen en wanneer er van hoed moet worden gewisseld.

1. Billy Field – You weren’t in love with me
2. Camera Obscura – Destitution
3. Department S – Is Vic there?
4. Fantastic Something – The night we flew out of the window
5. Gregory Gray – Books to read twice
6. Herbie Armstrong – Do You
7. Le Change – Back seat of my car
8. Nevada – In the Bleak Midwinter
9. Phillip Goodhand-Tait – Everyday
10. Robert Wyatt – I’m a Believer
11. Rouen – Ordinary Life
12. Rouen – Young for Today
13. Scarlet Party – 101 Dam-Nations
14. Southern Comfort – Return to Frog City
15. Still Life – Away from this Town
16. Stockholm Monsters – National Pastime
17. The Farmers Boys – In the Country
18. The Records – Starry Eyes
19. Tonight – Drummer Man
20. Villa de Ville – Everything Counts

Obscure Seventies songsmith on Elton's label gets welcome revival

 

Phillip Goodhand-Tait

Goodhand-Tait is his real surname, although at school and into the mid 1960s, he was known as Phil Tait. His mother taught piano and his father was an active trades unionist. In 1957 the family moved south to Guildford where Goodhand-Tait attended Pewley school. Before long, he was singing in beat groups several nights every week under names such as Phill Tone and the Vibrants. In 1961, they renamed themselves Phill and the Stormsville Shakers, a group formed with Paul Demers on drums, Ivor Shackleton playing guitar, and Kirk Riddle on bass. “Stormsville” was the title of a 1960 Johnny and the Hurricanes album and ‘Shakers’ was meant to indicate the frantic nature of their performances.

In 1964 the Shakers played the Ricky-Tick club circuit, and backed Memphis Slim. He toured in the early 1960s as Phillip Goodhand-Tait and the Stormsville Shakers (his backing band from Guildford) supporting the likes of Larry Williams.

He wrote songs for Larry Williams; Roger Daltrey (“Oceans Away” – on the album ‘Ride a Rock Horse’ - and “Parade” and “Leon” – both on the ’One of the Boys’ album); Gene Pitney (“You Are” and “Oceans Away”); Zoot Money (“No One But You”) and Love Affair (“Bringing on Back the Good Times”, “A Day Without Love” and “Baby I Know”).

By 1971, he had branched out, and wrote the score for the film, Universal Soldier. In 1976 he played the harmonium on Chris de Burgh’s LP Spanish Train and other stories.

This track is of course a cover of the famous Buddy Holly song slowed down to make an emotive piano-based ballad and featured on the 1971 DJM (Elton John’s label who was a big supporter) album ‘I think I’ll write a song’.

It soundtracked many a teenage romance.

Fantastic Something

Fantastic Something were a UK based duo made up of two Greek born brothers, who had a hit in the early 80s called “If she doesn’t smile”. They disappeared after just two releases. The other one ‘If she doesn’t smile’ I also own – special requests will be treated sympathetically. They were on the great Cherry Red label. A glorious sound.

Camera Obscura

In the early Eighties there were a number of bands like Eyeless in Gaza, White Door  and Thomas Leer around who produced atmospheric synth music. Camera Obscura released this single and then fled – nowadays there is an excellent Glaswegian India band with the same name. The layer of soil thickens above the grave of the original and lamented Camera Obscura.

Department S

The late, great Vaughan Toulouse lent his vocals to this and many other great songs. The three remaining members of the band regrouped a year or so back to record a cover of Alvin Stardust’s ‘My Coo cachoo’

However, this song and their other great song ‘Going Left Right’ will never be bettered.

Rouen 

Rouen hailed from  the town of Bewdley in Worcestshire in the 1980s and signed to Virgin.
They realeased one album and a few singles, getting a listed on Radio 1 for one single – ‘Young for a Day’.

The band comprised of Nick Cox Keyboards with Nick Allsop, J Johnson, Mark Roslanowski and Nick Sellars.

Two tracks are recalled for duty here – ‘Young for a Day was the minor hit – ‘Ordinary Life’ is completely impossible to find anywhere else – so fill your boots.

Scarlet Party

Scarlet Party was formed in Essex in the early 1980s. The founder members were, singer/songwriters Graham Dye and brother Steven Dye, with drummer Sean Heaphy

They began to perform at many top venues, to a well established following, and had already recorded an album of original material, and were signed to a major record company, when joined by fourth member, Mark Gilmour, brother of Pink Floyd’s David Gilmour, on lead guitar.

The debut single, ‘101 Dam-Nations’ was released on EMI’s famous Parlaphone label, on 16 October 1982, along-side a special re-release of Love Me Do, celebrating The Beatles’ 20th anniversary at EMI. This helped to get Scarlet Party noticed, and with the voice of Graham Dye, uncannily resembling that of John Lennon, a television, radio, and magazine, publicity campaign, helped to reinforce the connection. The single was enthusiastically received (Kate Bush described it as her favourite), and reached number 44 in theUK Singles Chart. The follow-up single “Eyes of Ice”, was released in February 1983, on ice-clear vinyl, which was a request from the band, and all art-work for the sleeve was created by Graham Dye, using coloured pencils. EMI then decided not to release the completed album, which was to be called ‘Scarlet Skies’.

‘Scarlet Skies’, was recorded at Abbey Road Studios in 1981-82, but has never been officially released. The linked songs explore themes of war, love, and alienation, in styles reminiscent of both the mini pop operas of The Who, and the progressive concept albums of Pink Floyd.

The band recorded more original songs written by the Dye brothers, as a four piece, until the departure of Mark Gilmour at the end of 1983, and then, once again, as a three piece, also working on other projects, including a musical cartoon adventure based on the band, none of which were taken on by EMI.

Scarlet Party continued performing live shows, joined briefly by new member Micky Portman on bass, and recorded several more tracks at Abbey Road Studios. However, the band now feeling disheartened, and disappointed in EMI, decided to call it a day at the end of 1985.

Graham Dye went on to work as lead vocalist, on several albums by The Alan Parsons Project, and more recently, a new version of ‘101 Dam-Nations’ was made, featuring Graham and Steven Dye, together with Phil Collins  playing the drums. The brothers requested the help of Alan Parsons to produce the recording, which is not yet available. A shame.

Gregory Gray

Scottish-born singer/songwriter Gregory Gray released three fine albums of quirky, danceable pop from 1986 to 1995. However, his story goes back further than that and involves both a brief involvement with a second-string group of Northern Irish bubblegum popsters and a name change to disassociate himself from that chapter in his past. Gregory Gray was born Paul Lerwill in the village of Coleraine, Northern Ireland, on May 20, 1959. Lerwill picked up the guitar as a teenager and at the age of 19, he joined Rosetta Stone, a bubblegummy pop group led by Ian Mitchell, formerly of the Bay City Rollers. Known as “Flash” during his stint in Rosetta Stone, Lerwill stayed with the group until 1982, long past their brief notoriety amongst the pre-pubescent crowd. Following that, Lerwill changed his name to Gregory Gray to disassociate himself from his sugary past and formed an obscure group, called Perfect Crime, who were in more of a Waterboys-meets-U2 vein. He was a friend of Bono from the much more popular U2.

Finally signing a solo deal with CBS in 1986, Gray released his first album, Think of Swans, later that year. An artsy, often obscure record that maintains the Waterboys influence from his Perfect Crime days, Think of Swans was a complete commercial stiff and Gray was dropped after its release. After woodshedding for several years, Gray signed with Atco Records and released his much poppier second album, Strong at Broken Places, in 1991. That album was produced by Gray’s friend Davitt Sigerson, who later became the president of EMI Records. Sigerson signed Gray to EMI in 1995 and released the Stephen Hague-produced Euroflake in Silverlake, a Pet Shop Boys-like album of quirky electro-pop. Unfortunately, it followed his previous two albums into commercial oblivion and Gray gave up on his solo career, moving from Northern Ireland to New York in the late ’90s and forming an Underworld-like dance rock group, Mary Cigarettes.

Nevada

Their version of ‘In the Bleak Midwinter’ is possibly my favourite Christmas song of all. Sadly I can’t tell you anything about them as they are not recorded anywhere – and Last FM talks about a death metal Russian band of the same name – the two are not connected. I remember as a teacher in the Winter of 1981 scouring the second hand record shops of Brighton to acquire all the old favourite Christmas songs to compile into an all time best Christmas album on C90. I then duplicated a 100 at the University language centre and proceeded to pay for my indigent Christmas with the proceeds of a hunderd two quids gathered in from the students in my care. This was pre’That’s what I call Christmas’ days – so this probably represented a bargain.

Southern Comfort

These were the band that made up the others behind Iain Matthews in Matthews Southern Comfort, famous for their version of Joni Mitchell’s ‘Woodstock’ in 1970. After Iain left to go solo the band carried on and had a very minor hit with ‘I sure like your smile’. On the B side of this was this track – ‘Return to Frog City’ from the Harvest album ‘Frog City’ with a great slide guitar erformance from the legendary Gordon Huntley who sadly died in 1985. I played this into the ground in 1971 which may explain its white blitz sound.

The Records

Living as I did in Southend in the Seventies, it was an exciting time to be a music fan. Will Birch was at the centre of the scene as drummer with Eddie and the Hot Rods which he had quit to form The Records with fellow Essex man John Wicks. The Records were far more impressive in potential than fellow bands such as the Kursaal Flyers and even Dr Feelgood – they had pure pop class. By fans of the genre, they are considered one of the most seminal British power pop acts of all time. They are often referred to as The British Big Star. They are best remembered for the hit single and cult favourite included here: ’Starry Eyes’. In the 70s and 80s, the only constant members of The Records were John Wicks, Will Birch and Phil Brown. Today, former members of The Records record and perform as solo artists. Lead singer John Wicks tours in his group John Wicks And The Records, while guitarist Jude Cole continues to record and perform as a solo artist.

Although the original version of UK rock group The Records disbanded in the 1980s, their music continues to be a major attraction in the world of rock and roll. Their hit single ‘Starry Eyes’ is still played on classic rock and college rock radio stations throughout the continents.

John Wicks currently works as a producer/songwriter and has formed a new all-star lineup known as John Wicks And The Records. Wicks performs classic songs from his days with The Records, which he co-founded with drummer/songwriter Will Birch in the 1970s. At a John Wicks And The Records concert, expect to hear classic songs from his years in The Records in addition to all-new material.

John Wicks And The Records continue to play sold out shows around the world, having performed with the likes of Guided By Voices, Dramarama and the Electric Prunes among others. Although they played CBGBs in the past, it seemed only fitting when John Wicks And The Records chose to perform as part of the CBGBs farewell concert series when the legendary rock and punk venue prepared to permanently close it’s doors in 2006.

Guitarist/singer, Jude Cole, was the only American to play in The Records. Today, Jude Cole produces numerous artists and co-owns Ironworks Studios with actor Kiefer Sutherland. Hailing from London, England, The Records performed with such acts as Elvis Costello, The Cars, The Jam with Paul Weller, Robert Palmer and Joe Jackson. The Records formed at the height of rock and roll in the 1970s and recorded three major label albums for Virgin Records. They released several singles including Starry Eyes, Teenarama and Hearts In Her Eyes. Albums included “Shades In Bed,” “Crashes,” “Music On Both Sides,” “Paying For The Summer Of Love” and “A Sunny Afternoon In Waterloo.”

The songs of John Wicks/Will Birch have been covered by artists such as Mary Chapin Carpenter, Michael Monroe from Hanoi Rocks, Blackpool Lights, Too Much Joy, The Methadones and British beat group The Searchers.

The Farmers Boys

The Farmer’s Boys were from Norwich. They formed in the early 1980s and were briefly called “Bang Goes My Stereo” before changing their name to The Farmer’s Boys. The band’s first single, “I Think I Need Help”, was release in April 1982 with a few more releases in the same year. In January 1983 “More than a Dream” was reissued as their first single for EMI. Several more singles including this Shadows cover and two albums were released before the band split in 1985.

Baz and Mark went on to form The Avons in 1985. Mark later joined The Nivens, Stan formed Dr Fondle and Frog joined The Higsons and played keyboards on a Julian Cope tour in the late eighties. Original guitarist Andy left early on to join Serious Drinking. In 2000, Baz, Mark & Stan got back together as The Great Outdoors.

These songs have been rescued from the very depths of Stannard’s Library, converted digitally from their original vinyl state and lovingly brought to your attention. Some of these artists will never record again and have not been washed up on the beach of any long forgotten compilation. I humbly offer them here for your edification and delight. You may never see their like again.

http://rapidshare.com/files/308992682/Roy_s_Library_5.zip