Alright, tonight’s the night, we can’t wait any longer, we’re turning out the light and locking up that door! You might put up a fight, but you’ll be crying out for more, when you get given what you really came here looking for… the legendary proto-London-Boys-dancers-whose-heads-stay-in-the-same-place-while-their-bodies-move-around Top Of The Pops performance of Shakin’ Stevens’ inexplicable excursion into Hi-NRG (shortly before, lest we forget, his equally baffling Motown Phase) A Little Boogie Woogie (In The Back Of My Mind), a song that was famously laughably condemned by ridiculous eighties rentaquote comedy politician Geoffrey Dickens who wanted it banned for being “a bit near the knuckle”, and which still enjoys wide exposure despite raking in the readies for its composer, a certain Mr Paul Gadd…

Hej bloggen och alla läsare!

Nu är 2 helt fantastiska kryssningar avklarade! Laddar ner en massa foton, en bildkavalkad senare…Jag åkte i Onsdags till Färjan, Viking Cinderella. När jag satt på Swebus så ringde min mobil, det var Radio Rix Fm och Maria Lindberg. Hon hade sett Färjan, avsnitt5 och tyckte om det hon såg. Det blev en intervju på ca 6 min, som sändes i Onsdags mitt på dagen..Maria funderade på en sak så starkt. Hon undrade hur jag kan ha en sådan energi, medans många andra är rätt slut inkluderat henne själv efter kl 03.00, menade Maria på…..Då förklarade jag var min enegi kommer ifrån. Min energi och kraft kommer från Jesus och min starka tro på honom! Vet ni Jesus är min energikälla! Har inte hört det som sändes, men är mest glad för att jag fick UPPHÖJA JESUS och min TRO!!! Det finns folk som har hört det och tyckte att det var ok. När jag satt där på bussen kom det några tårar av tacksamhet till mina ögonvrån….Tacksamhet till Gud för själva livets gåva. Jag berättade för Maria att jag lever på övertid, har haft bröstcancer två gånger, men med Guds, min starka tros hjälp samt Doktor Bengts hjälp är jag idag CANCERFRI!!!! Det är därför jag utropar: “HALLELUJAMOMENTS, I LOVE MY LIFE”, så ofta!!!Har man “tittat döden i vitögat”, men fått överleva så är man TACKSAM!!!! Jag bad ju till Jesus om att få leva för min familjs skull, för att jag älskar själva livet och för er människors skull som jag träffar på Östersjön och runtom i landet/Länderna. Han svarade på min bön! När jag kom till Cityterminalen, skrek en del: “Hej Ruth”…Vi har sett dej på tv”…Jag hade aldrig sett dem. De gillade Färjan-avsnittet som jag och min familj medverkade på…Min syster Lea mötte mej på Cityterminalen tillsammans med lite folk. Vi käkade på stan, sedan drog vi vidare mot FÄRJAN!!!!Leas dotter Katja, mannen Martin, Katjas tvillingsyster Marika, samt lilla “Färjan- stjärnan” Isabell,  mötte vi i sista sekunden på Viking terminalen…Isabell, 3 år som medverkade på tv hade sagt i bilen att, “nu ska vi färga färjan med Ruth”…Isabell är såååå härlig och glad, energisk tjej. Folk bara älskade henne. Det blev en massa bilder tagna. Folk ville ta kort tillsammans med oss alla, som medverkade på avsnitt5. Isabell fick skriva autografer….Isabell sjöng med Per Nyberg “På begäran-stunden”. Hon sjöng “blinka lilla stjärna”…Orkestern Leif Hermanssons spelade och Per spelade gitarr. Det blev mycket UPPSKATTAT!!!! Isabell sa till mej på morgonen i hytten : “Ruth jag tycker så mycket om dej”. Efter ett tag sa hon:” Ruth, du är min stjärna”! Vi pratade mycket på morgonen Isabell och jag, där vi vilade ..Jag slutar aldrig att förvånas över hennes smarthet. Hon pratar som en vuxen…Hennes mormor Lea (min syster), Isabell och jag hade samma hytt. Isabell lekte i bollhavet med sin mormor. Vi alla gick runt på båten, hela gänget. Isabells mamma, pappa, Marika och vi…Min vän Åsa Lejonclou sjöng så vackert i pianobaren och spelade piano. Vi njöt av hennes skönsång och önskade låtar. Isabell upptäckte att det var ett spegeltak där, så hon tittade uppåt och klappade händerna och knäppte på fingrarna till Åsas sång. Redan när vi kom in i pianobaren utbrast Isabell: “Åh, vad det är vackert här på Färjan”! Hela hennes vackra, glada ansikte lyste som solen utanför på Östersjön….Vi pratade med folk och de kom fram och ville prata med oss och ta en massa foton. När sedan Lea lade Isabell fortsatte jag ut i Färjan-natten och la mej inte förrän efter kl 05.00..Vilka människomöten säger jag bara. Människor “drog” i mej och ville prata, ha själavård, coaching, höra om tron och Jesus! Det kända bandet Shakin Stevens var ombord. Jag fick coacha en av bandmedlemmarna där i natten och han var gråtfärdig! Han sa att han var mycket imponerad av min passion, att jag brinner för och har “gett mitt liv för missionen”. Vidare över att jag var så engagerad och energisk…Jag blev glad…Men det bästa var att mitt vittnesbörd berörde hans hjärta! Hade många sådana fina människomöten i natten. Jag älskar Jesus och människorna på Östersjön! Min systers familj klev av nästa dag. Det var vemodigt, jag kramade om alla och hade önskat att de hade stannat…Isabell saknade jag allra MEST!!!!Hon är så härlig…Hon glädjer mitt hjärta! Hon hade velat stanna på Färjan, hon älskar Färjan…..

Jag skriver inte allt, bara en bråkdel av det jag upplever på Färjan. Bevarar saker, händelser i mitt hjärta och ska skriva mera i min kommande bok!

Jag var på dubbelkryssning…återkommer om Torsdagens kryssning. Är inte hemma än…ska kryssa mycket nästa vecka! Med start imorgon, Söndag….

Nu ska jag fixa mej. Vi ska käka Tacos med Leas familj idag och umgås!

KRAMAR! Ni är värdefulla och älskade av Gud, upphovsmannen till SJÄLVA LIVET och hela världen!

Apologies for the poor quality but this was taped by my Dad after hearing S4C were re-running this rare live performance from 1982.

This was GJ in performance with his band Gudgeon on the early eighties Welsh arts program. “Chymer cenhinen”.

Nice to see Llewelyn Davies on Bass who appeared on Wrexham dance gods K-Klass’s debut album.

In 2005 he married Shakin Stevens in the first civil partnership declared in Wales.

I just found out that my daughter likes Shakin stevens !!!

I just found out my wife has his cd in the car !!!!!

WHICH IS WORSE!!!!!!!!!

but watching my daughter move and wave her arms to ” green door” is hilarious !!

Another Country

Whatever happened to my old home town
used to set off for the bad side when the sun went down.
Down these ghostly streets I stole my first fumble
Came out of the barber’s and she’d snuck off home.

Surgical goods and the left wing book shop
a rock’n'roll hellhole where we damned ourselves nightly
in the sweat and piss of summer ‘76
we laughed we loved and never could get off

But if the past’s a different country
I must be living on the moon
and if ghosts are all around us
how come I feel so alone?

Whatever happened to my old home street
where I used to wander in my two bare feet.
Gone the smiles and the old gold sunshine
gone the crewcuts and the Five Boys Chocolate

Pennorth of Bullseyes – you can get it down Old Hags
do you remember – crisps in proper bags?
do you remember – watching how girls go?
do you remember – the Pinky and Perky show?

But if the Past’s a different country…

If I’m lonely I can talk to
Dog fighting papers on the street
concrete colonnades, Mammon’s sterile temple
and the halogen groves are all in flower

Echoes on the avenue, you heard them too
where lights are perched on jets of frozen flame
it seems a mile away, so near and yet so far
more time than time can tell of, more than time than time can tell

hear the song

Notes:
The cityscape is Cardiff, where I lived from about 1973 to 1987.

The inner city was very much in decline – dingy and dangerous. Now it’s shiny bright, newly developed – the setting for Torchwood and Doctor Who. Is it still dangerous? – I couldn’t comment.

‘76 was a hot summer with a drought.

The ‘rock’n'roll hellhole’ was the Moon Club. a shabby music joint that would (if it had windows – I don’t remember any) overlook the Hayes fruit market. It was brilliant and quite disgusting. One evening they were having problems with the licensing. I was queuing on the stair and as I got to the top where the Management were taking the fifty pences off incoming punters I saw that they was a small heated display unit on the table and each punter was getting a lukewarm pasty thrust into their hand.

Some were protesting and being told that they would have the f****** pasty or get out. There was an issue with the authorities and the Moon Club were trying to pass themselves off as a restaurant to get round a point of law.

The pasties were, of course, absolutely inedible and were dropped on the floor. As the evening progressed a layer of pasty mush got churned across the dance floor. Fair enough – and then some bright spark realised you could skate on this stuff. And fall over in it. And have thirty pissed bikers pile in on top of you. Skating in Cardiff started at the Moon.

The music at the Moon was brilliant. It attracted the very best Welsh musicians: the late great Tich Gwilym, Mickey Gee and bands such as Eager Beaver and Singapore. Mickey Gee was guitarist with Shakin’ Stevens, having previously worked with Tom Jones and Dave Edmunds. I stood at the front and took it all in. As time went on I got to play at the Great Western (the other music joint) regularly but I never made it to the Moon Club.

Anyone of my about my age cannot but be staggered by how much life has changed. When I was little you really could buy bulleyes – served by weight from a jar – and get a quite a few for a penny. Crisps used to be sold in waxed paper. Five Boys Chocolate was made by Fry’s. It showed in relief a range of five emotions crossing a small boy’s face as acquired/consumed the chocolate. There’d probably be issues with it nowadays.

hear the song

It was hard to get away from the main topic of conversation today – Michael Jackson’s untimely sudden death. This afternoon sat in the reception area of the motorcycle training school I go to was no exception. I relayed my surprise at having heard nothing about Farrah Fawcett’s death until much later in the day since it’d been overshadowed by the news of Jackson. The receptionist laughed and said she’d been about to mention it to me and my instructor who was stood opposite me finishing his coffee, but felt we were probably both too young to remember who she was.

My instructor was thoughtful for a second and then queried if she’d been the woman on The Good Life but the receptionist shook her head and informed him that was Felicity Kendall and that Farrah Fawcett was most popular for Charlies Angels. I smiled and informed them both that Felicity Kendall had been Wil’s childhood crush. My instructor smiled and said his childhood crush was Samantha out of Bewitched.

I kept quiet as I didn’t think anyone needed to know that my kid crush was Shakin’ Stevens.

Het kan niet onopgemerkt zijn gebleven dat ik fan ben van Shakin’ Stevens. Vanaf de doorbraak in Nederland met zijn versie van ‘This Old House’ heb ik jarenlang niet veel meer geluisterd in mijn pre-puber jaren. 1981. 12 jaar en zo blue als een pakje boter. Hetgeen overigens tot een paar jaar terug duurde… maar dat is een ander verhaal.

Wat is dan het beste nummer van deze elastieke mijnheer? Met welk voorbeeld kan ik illustreren wat deze 80’s legende uitbeeldde en in mij zo aansprak? Dat moet zeker het nummer ‘Shirley’ zijn met de clip uit MusikLaden. Kijk:

Waar gaat het hier nu om? Het is ongetwijfeld de schijnbaar arrogante manier bijna waarop Shaky zich niets aantrekt van omgeving en een eigen showtje produceert. Express Yourself. Het ziet er heel spontaan uit maar uit een andere video kon ik opmaken dat het volledig choreografisch is geoefend.

Als je dan een knul bent die verlegen is en ‘lang zal ze leven’ nog niet uit zijn strot kan krijgen en dan maar play-backt, dan spreekt dat aan. De –ik trek me nergens iets van aan en ik doe wat ik leuk vind- plus charisma en voila. Soort van liefde maar dan als bewondering. Fan zijn is wat. Dat mijn hele kamer vol hing met posters en zo dat had ik toen niet in de gaten dat dat door anderen wellicht met homoseksuele neigingen werd geassocieerd. Ik had dat beslist niet.

Hetzelfde als dat ik in klas 2 met vriend Daan-Willem innig gearmd over het schoolplein wandelde tot een juf ons erop aansprak… oh.. ach..

Nu begin ik een beetje te smelten en wordt het pakje boter wat kneedbaarder. Maar ja. Ga nu maar eens op tafel staan en do the moves. Niet veel meer is er voor nodig om op een gezellige eenpersoonskamer te eindigen met allemaal norse mannelijke dokters en verraderlijk knappe vrouwelijke medewerkers. En dokters. Natuurlijk. Dat ook.

Hier mijnheer Kreeft, uw pilletje. Slik.

LOL I knew when I looked this video up on YouTube that there’d be a bitter comments war about Shakin Stevens being an Elvis rip-off. Let it go okay – he probably is, but check his nerdy ass in Green Door. In the 80s, when I was watching Ready to Roll and Solid Gold, we didn’t give a shit about Elvis, but we loved Shaky.

With Elvis out of the way, we return to randomly selected lesser-known originals (or, in one case, near-original) of hits by The Animals, Rosemary Clooney (and Shakin’ Stevens), Captain & Tennille, Bob Seger and the Beach Boys. Please feel free to comment!

…

Ashley and Foster – Rising Sun Blues (1933).mp3
Georgia Turner – Rising Sun Blues (1937).mp3
Woody Guthrie – House Of The Rising Sun (1941).mp3
Leadbelly – In New Orleans (1944).mp3
Bob Dylan – House Of The Risin’ Sun (1962).mp3
The Animals – House Of The Rising Sun (1964).mp3
Orchester Günter Gollasch  -  Es steht ein Haus in New Orleans (1973).mp3
The moment Hilton Valentine’s distinctive guitar arpeggio kicks off House Of The Rising Sun, the song is instantly recognisable. It is now The Animals’ song, even though not wildly dissimilar previous versions by folkie Josh White, Nina Simone, and Bob Dylan preceded that by Eric Burdon and pals. Burdon has said that White’s version inspired the Animals’ version, but at other times he has credited the English folk singer Johnny Handle for the inspiration. Dylan, for his part, was miffed that people thought that he had covered the Animals’ version. Ironically, fellow folk-singer Dave Van Ronk has accused Dylan of “borrowing” his arrangement.

The song itself is an American folk song of uncertain date, adapted from an old English tune said to go back to the 17th century. It used different lyrics, though those credited to Georgia Turner and Bert Martin in the ’30s formed the early basis for the version we now know best. Turner’s version featured here was recorded by the great musicologist Alan Lomax in 1937, when she was 16. The oldest known recording, by Clarence Tom Ashley with Gwen Foster, dates back to 1933, using different lyrics. The song was recorded under alternative titles — blues legend Leadbelly went for the title In New Orleans — before House Of The Rising Sun stuck. By the time Josh White recorded it, the lyrics had been changed so much that the best-known version now excludes Turner and Martin from the songwriting credit.

Dylan has also claimed songwriting credit (no doubt to Van Ronk’s mirth), but the Animals’” version — recorded in one take — is credited to “traditional” with arrangement by keyboardist Alan Price. Apparently the record company ordered it was not possible to include all five members’ names on the single’s label, so Price’s went on by dint of alphabetical order, using the first names of the band’s members. It seems that Price has cheerfully collected the royalties without caring to share them with his four ex-friends.

The Animals have been accused of changing a prostitute’s lament (even Dylan sings it from her perspective) to a gambler’s cautionary tale to satisfy radio-friendly requirements. That may be so, but they were not the first to take the gambler’s position. Apparently Lonnie Donegan did so on his 1959 version, which might or might no have inspired Valentine’s guitar part.

The song has been so ubiquitous, it was even recorded in East Germany, by the Orchester Günter Gollasch. Under a regime where rock music was regarded as subversive, Gollasch must have been willing to take his chances. It is a quite excellent version.

Also recorded by: The Callahan Brothers (as Rounder’s Luck, 1934), Ray Acuff (1938), Woody Guthrie (1941), The Weavers (?), Glenn Yarbrough (1957), Lonnie Donegan (1959), Frankie Laine (as New Orleans, 1959), Miriam Makeba (1960), Joan Baez (1960), Nina Simone (1972), Johnny Hallyday (as Le pénitencier, 1964), The Supremes (1964), Marianne Faithfull (1964), Friedel Berlipp (1964), The Telstar’s (1964), Los Speakers (as La casa del sol naciente, 1965), The Brothers Four (1965), Waylon Jennings (1965), Jay and The Driving Wheels (1965), The Barbarians (1965), Marcellos Ferial (as La casa del sole, 1965), The Five Canadians (1966), Herbie Mann (1967), Trudy Pitts (1967), Ronnie Milsap (1967), Catherine McKinnon (1968), Tim Hardin (1969), Nat Stuckey (1969), Jimmy Powell (1969), Jimi Hendrix (1969), Oscar and the Majestics (1969), Mike Auldridge (1970), Frijid Pink (1970), Conway Twitty (1970), Geordie (1973), Idris Muhammad (1976), Hot R.S. (1977), Santa Esmeralda (1978), Alan Price (1980), Dolly Parton (1980), Skid Row (1981), Jan Walravens (1984), Adolescents (1987), Tangerine Dream (1988), Alejandra Guzmán (as La casa del sol naciente,1989), Tracy Chapman (1990), Theodis Ealey (1993), Don McMinn (1994), Sinéad O’Connor (1994), Peter, Paul and Mary with B.B. King (1995), Eric Burdon Brian Auger Band (1998), Don Angle (1999), 386 DX (2000), Blind Boys of Alabama (using the words of Amazing Grace, 2001), Toto (2002), Sarah Brooks with Joe Beck (2002), Muse (2002), Helmut Lotti (2003), Jet Jet Six (2003), Rock Nalle & The Yankees (2004) a.o.

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Stuart Hamblen – This Ole House.mp3
Rosemary Clooney – This Ole House.mp3
Shakin’ Stevens – This Ole House.mp3
The story goes that in 1949 actor and cowboy-country singer Stuart Hamblen was hunting with John Wayne in a remote part of Texas when they happened upon an abandoned, crumbling hut, miles from the nearest road. Intrigued, they entered, finding the corpse of an old mountain man. Hamblen wrote the lyrics right there, on a sandwich bag. As a song about dying, Hamblen’s recording was upbeat yet poignant.

Hamblen sang the song from the first person perspective. Rosemary Clooney in her 1954 hit version became a spectator to the man’s death, giving it a rather indecorous upbeat treatment. In Clooney’s version, it seems that the death of the man is a matter of gratification. The record-buying public didn’t mind: her version topped the charts on both sides of the Atlantic (two concurrently released versions in Britain notwithstanding). In 1981 Welsh rock & roll revivalist Shakin’ Stevens (Shakey!) resurrected the dead man’s epitaph in similar bouncy fashion, also topping the UK charts.

As for Stuart Hamblen, shortly after writing This Ole House he experienced a religious conversion at a Billy Graham rally, became a broadcaster of Christian material. Having lost as a Democrat congressional candidate in 1933, he ran as the Prohibition Party’s candidate for US president in 1952, picking up 72,949 sober votes.

Also recorded by: Alma Cogan (1954), Billie Anthony (1954), Rex Allen & Tex Williams (1954), The Statler Brothers (1966), Les Humphries Singers (1971), Billie Jo Spears (1981), The Brian Setzer Orchestra (1998), Bette Midler (2003), Wenche (2005), Brenda Lee with Dolly Parton (2007) a.o.

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Willis Alan Ramsey – Muskrat Candlelight.mp3
America – Muskrat Love.mp3
Captain & Tennille – Muskrat Love.mp3
Popular music is not brimming over with songs about the romantic pursuits of rodents. Willis Alan Ramsey got his break as a 19-year-old in 1972 when he stayed in the same Austin, Texas hotel as Leon Russell and Gregg Allman. Precociously, he knocked on their doors, introduced himself, and impressed them so much that they invited him to record at their respective studios. Ramsey eventually signed for the Shelter Records label which Russell co-owned. He made only one album (recorded in five different studios), and then became a songwriter of some renown instead. His songs have been recorded by the likes of Waylon Jennings, Jimmy Buffett, Jimmie Dale Gilmore, Lyle Lovett and Shawn Colvin. The most successful of the songs on his poorly selling, self-titled album was intended as a novelty number — how can a song about rodent porn be otherwise? — written in 15 minutes.

Ramsey’s Muskrat Candlelight was first covered in 1973 by soft-rockers America (who I consider to be hard done by in reputation on the back of the much reviled Horse With No Name – see HERE). Unaccountably, America changed the title to Muskrat Love, which is how husband and wife duo Captain & Tennille adopted it three years later for their US #4 hit.
Also recorded by: nobody else, it seems.

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Rodney Crowell – Shame On The Moon.mp3
Bob Seger – Shame On The Moon.mp3
Many of our performers of lesser-known originals never hit the big time, especially when they wrote the successfully covered song (which goes some way to explaining why their originals aren’t better known). Rodney Crowell isn’t one of them. A successful country singer, especially in the alt-country genre headlined by Earle and Van Zandt, he is still churning out records. Among his country credentials is his former marriage to Roseanne Cash, and a recording (and reworking) with his ex-father-in-law of I Walk The Line. Some might include him in this series as progenitor of the Keith Urban hit Making Memories of Us. Not many would associate him with having written and first performed one of Bob Seger’s biggest hits.

Crowell’s version appeared on his self-titled 1981 LP, to no attention at all. A year later, Seger’s version reached the US #2. It features former Eagle Glenn Frey on the harmonies. It was also his only sizeable hit on the country charts.
Also recorded by: nobody else again, it seems.

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The Regents – Barbara-Ann.mp3
Beach Boys – Barbara Ann.mp3
Barbara Ann became one of the Beach Boys’ biggest hits at the same time as the Beatles released Rubber Soul. For the Beatles, December 1965 was a new beginning; for the Beach Boys, Barbara-Ann bookmarked the end of their surf pop era, appearing on the covers album Beach Boys Party! (which included three versions of Beatles songs), as Brian Wilson was already preparing the massively influential Pet Sounds.

The Beach Boys didn’t want Barbara Ann to be a single release. Beach Boys Party! was an informal affair, a very laid back jam session recorded to fulfil a contractual obligation. The group, and whoever else was around, were playing whatever came to mind while they were getting drunk. At one point, Dean Torrence of surf-pop duo Jan & Dean, who had previously recorded Barbara Ann in 1962 and was recording in an adjacent studio, popped in. Torrence suggested the song and sang lead on the recording with Brian Wilson. Torrence left half an hour later, and was not credited on the album. Obviously, the light-hearted Barbara Ann, with its fluffed lines and subsequent laughter and with session drummer Hal Blaine on ashtrays — listen closely at 1:05 — did not quite meet the sophisticated production values which had already been evident on recent recordings, such as California Girls. And still, Barbara Ann reached the US #2.

Barbara-Ann (it was originally hyphenated) had been a 1961 US #13 hit for The Regents, an American-Italian doo wop group from the Bronx. They went on to have only one more Top 30 hit, Runaround. Barbara-Ann — written by bandmember Chuck Fassert’s brother Fred for their eponymous sister —had been recorded as a demo by The Regents in 1959. When they couldn’t land a record contract, the group folded. A couple of years later, a group called The Consorts, which included a Regents’ member’s younger brother, dug out the demo and played it at auditions. One record company, Cousins, liked Barbara-Ann and released it — but not by the Consorts, but the Regents’ version. The Regents hurriedly reunited, and the song quickly became a local and then a national hit.

Also recorded by: Jan & Dean (1962), The Who (1966), Martin Circus (as Marylène, 1975), Vince Vance & the Valiants (as Bomb Iran, 1979 — John McCain’s favourite), Red Squares (1989), Blind Guardian (1991), Travoltas (2003)
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More Originals

elvis a murit, shakin’ stevens spera sa fie el reincarnearea lui elvis, banica asteapta sa moara shakin stevens ca sa devina el reincarnarea lui, iar eu am profitat de ocazie si m-am gandit sa scot pe piata un album live. deocamdata am facut coperta, dar sper sa inregistrez cat mai repede si continutul, daca gasesc muicieni si dame de companiament cu care sa pot comuica artistic si pe cineva care sa-mi compuna melodiile cu tot cu versuri ce pula mea. sper sa iasa un dublu LP de concept.

Durch den Twitter-Feed von BBC Entertainment erfuhr ich heute vom Tod des walisischen Gitarristen Mickey Gee, der fast ausschließlich im Hintergrund glänzte – als Begleiter von Künstlern wie Dave Edmunds, Shakin’ Stevens und Willie and the Poor Boys.

Einen schönen Rückblick auf seine Karriere findet ihr auf der BBC-Seite „Tributes to veteran guitarist Gee“.

Mickey Gee fiel mir erstmals bei einem Konzert von Shakin’ Stevens auf. Sein perlend-virtuoser Fingerpicking-Stil erinnerte mich ein wenig an Albert Lee, einen meiner Lieblings-Rockabilly- und Country-Gitarristen. Die beiden stehen in der Tradition von James Burton, der unter anderem Elvis Presley begleitete und seine Spielweise „Chicken Pickin’“ nannte.

Hier zwei Live-Videos, bei denen Mickey Gee mal im Vordergrund steht:

Mickey Gee: “Baby Jean”

Instrumentals (zusammen mit Dave Edmunds)

Und ein Auftritt als Rhythmus-Gitarrist:

Dave Edmunds: “From Small Things (Big Things One Day Come)”

Wombles – Wombling Merry Christmas

Shakin Stevens – Merry Christmas Everyone

Slade – Merry Christmas Everybody

Wizzard – I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday

Wham – Last Christmas

Check out how everyone in this video bar Shakey himself looks like there’s something a bit wrong about them.

SingStar(R) Lets You Be the ‘Dancing Queen’ This Holiday Season With SingStar(R) ABBA

Kick-Off Your Holiday Party with Hit Songs from ABBA for the PLAYSTATION(R)3 and PlayStation(R)2 systems

FOSTER CITY, Calif., Dec. 2 /PRNewswire/ — Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc. (SCEA) today announced the release of this season’s latest SingStar(R) sensation, SingStar(R) ABBA, available for both the PLAYSTATION(R)3 (PS3(TM)) and the PlayStation(R)2 computer entertainment systems. An essential part of any SingStar fan’s collection, SingStar ABBA expands the franchise’s robust holiday line-up, offering an authentic interactive singing experience set to the iconic music of ABBA.

Developed in full collaboration with ABBA and Universal Music Group in Sweden, SingStar ABBA delivers ABBA’s most legendary songs and videos with popular tracks including ‘Mamma Mia’, ‘Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)’, ‘Dancing Queen’, ‘Take a Chance on Me’ and ‘Waterloo’.

“SingStar ABBA marks the franchise’s first foray into delivering premium, artist-specific content that PlayStation fans have been craving,” said Scott A. Steinberg, vice president of product marketing, SCEA. “Expanding the SingStar catalog with some of the greatest pop tracks of all time, SingStar ABBA is sure to be the ultimate party entertainment for friends and family this holiday season.”

Continuing to grow the PS3 library following the October release of

SingStar(R) Vol. 2, SingStar ABBA for the PS3 system allows players to capture all their special ABBA party moments by using the PLAYSTATION(R)Eye to record their performances and share them with the worldwide SingStar community via My SingStar(R) Online. Players also can connect to the PS3 online SingStore(TM), giving them access to more than 400 downloadable songs to add to their collections. In an effort to enhance the North American SingStore based on consumer feedback, over 60 songs from the European SingStore will be made available to U.S. fans over the next few months. Highlights of the new songs include:

UB40 — ‘Red Red Wine’

New Order — ‘Blue Monday 88′

Men at Work — ‘Down Under’

David Bowie — ‘Let’s Dance’

Starship — ‘We Built this City’

For those in need of some festive tunes to compliment holiday entertaining, a Christmas song pack will be released mid-December on the SingStore. The pack will be available for $6.99 and will include the following:

Toni Braxton — ‘Have Yourself a Merry Little Xmas’

Babyface — ‘Sleigh Ride’

Shakin’ Stevens — ‘Merry Christmas’

Paul McCartney — ‘Wonderful Christmastime’

Celine Dion — ‘Christmas Eve’

Also for the holidays, the full PlayStation 2 SingStar catalog will be accessible for the PS3 system via a free game update coming by Christmas that provides PS3 SingStar owners with backwards compatibility of all PS3 and PlayStation 2 SingStar discs. Popular PlayStation 2 SingStar titles like the recently released SingStar(R) Country, SingStar(R) Pop vol. 2, and SingStar(R) Legends will be easily accessible when running a PS3 SingStar game. This feature is only compatible with SingStar discs for the PS3 system.

The independent Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) has rated SingStar(R) ABBA for both PS3 and PS2 “T” for Teen. For more information about the ESRB visit http://www.esrb.org.

Alright, it’s that time of the year. Here’s my contribution on the fourth issue of the “Santastic” mashup album series. You’ll hear some Destiny’s Child, M.A.R.R.S. and guess what? Shakin’ Stevens

Download it HERE and also check out the other artists tracks as well!

That being said, I really enjoyed it! There was a warm up comedian who came on at every break, the hobbit, and was funnier than the hosts. Altough the show is 30 mins or so, it actually ran for over an hour. It was filmed on the 24th, broadcast on 25th November, and was edited to bits! They edited the soul out of it! I always wondered why the audience laughed at bad jokes, now it’s apparent that the buildup was bigger than is given on the TV, and was actually funny.

Now Listen, the new Skay Stevens album

The guests were Shaking Stevens, a stripper from a Burlesque show (classy) while former Miss World, the annoying Rosanna Davidson, was the guest host. Nice legs on the Davidson one, but she is a horrible person. The striptease act that the burlesque lady did was apparently the first strip act on the podge and Rodge show, so, I should think myself lucky (a five minute act was edited to thirty seconds). But, shakin Stevens was really good! Articulate and fun, and his new song seems quite (surprisingly) good. If anyone wants to go, though, if you get tickets, arrive early, and sit on the chairs, not the bench! You see nothing from the bench, and get a lot of slagging from the comedian! Altough, all audience participation comes from there, and you will probably get to see yourself on the TV!

Apart from that, nowt much happening. The page 3 wag “celebrity” on what is, lets me honest, the Ant-or-Dec show is irritating me. I bought Super Smash Bros. Brawl for the Wii; The Ice climbers are my fave.. mostly because they remind me of folk from Neopets, and i do still like the thrill of cute fantasy animals being beaten silly in a poorly animated death match. Watched Party Monster, the Macaulay Culkin film (he would have been 24, or so, in it) about Michael Alig, the gay party queen who killed Andre Melendez. Apparently is a dark comedy/drama… I didn’t really laugh that much. But, it’s a decent film, if you’re into that sort of thing I suppose.

Honey Drippers (Lush and orchestral)

Phil Phillips

Shakin’ Stevens

Robert Plant

Tom Waits

Cat Power version

….And the movie, “Sea of Love”

Great movie, and Pacino is great and was very attractive here.