Hello again maties and welcome to this weeks fun at the fair frolics. Well sort of frolics anyway. Well I say frolics, more like gentle probing into the world of Karaoke. Its always good when Thursday comes around. The expectation of the baying crowds, well Nicky, the grueling song choices you spend all week pondering, well I say all week, usually for me just the ten minutes sat on the toilet before I make my way down the pub! So this week I was all prepped and ready to give another 80's blast to the pub, and thinking I'm in a mood for a bit of The Police, I practiced another Guitar Hero inspired track with Message In A Bottle, only to get to the pub to find I only had a choice of Roxanne of De Do Do Do De Do Do Da! Not my first choice, so my Police week will have to stay in limbo for another week. Still I did manage to get five songs in again due to the fact the pub was again bereft of any singers, leaving the usual motley bunch to entertain ourselves again. On the bright side we did have a new young female singer who actually could sing and whose song choices were a little baffling for a female, even though they ended up sounding brilliant. She sang Arctic Monkeys ' When The Sun Goes Down' and Gnarls Barkley's 'Crazy'. Both not the songs you would of placed her singing if you saw her but she pulled them off brilliantly. Nice to see new singers in who can actually sing.
So this week I have another witty list of the week for you all to have a giggle at. This one is all about those little differences between men and women..........enjoy!
1 Names:
If Annie, Hayley, Tina and Lisa all go out for lunch, they will call each other Annie, Hayley, Tina and Lisa. If Scott, Shaun, Andy and Darren go out they will affectionately refer to each other as Fat Boy, Godzilla, Peanut Head and Scrappy.
2. Dining Out:
When the bill arrives Scott, Shaun , Andy and Darren will each throw in a £20.00, even though the bill is only £32.50. None will have anything smaller and none will actually admit to wanting the change back.
When the women get their bill, out come the pocket calculators.
3. Money:
A man will pay £2 for a £1 item he needs.
A woman will pay £1 for a £2 item she doesn't need but it's on sale.
4. Bathrooms:
A man has five items in his bathroom, a toothbrush, shaving cream, a razor, a bar of soap and a towel stolen from a posh hotel.
The average number of items in a woman's bathroom is 337. A man would not be able to identify most of these!
5. Arguments:
A woman has the last word in any argument.
Anything a man says after that is the beginning of the next argument!
6. Cats:
Women love cats.
Men say they love cats, but when women are not looking, men kick cats!
7. Future:
A woman worries about the future until she gets a husband.
A man never worries about the future until he gets a wife.
8. Success:
A successful man is one who makes more money than a woman can spend.
A successful woman is one who can find such a man!
9. Marriage:
A woman marries a man expecting he will change, but he doesn't.
A man marries a woman expecting that she won't change and she does!
10. Dressing Up:
A woman will dress up to go shopping, to water the plants, to pay the milkman, to empty the bins, to read a book , to answer the phone and read the post.
A man will dress up for weddings and funerals.
11. Natural:
Men wake up as good looking as they went to bed.
Women somehow deteriorate through the night!
12. Offspring:
Ah, Children. Women know all about their children. They know about dentist appointments, romances, best friends, favourite foods, secret fears, shoe sizes, hopes and dreams for the future.
A man is vaguely aware of some short people living in the house.
Final Thought:
Any married man should forget his mistakes.
Theres is no use in two people remembering the same thing!!!!!!!!!!!
Hope that give you all a few laughs, and guys, don't worry if your other half reads it and says ' I'm not like that am I babe ' tread carefully. It's just a ploy to nail your feet ever further into the floor. Just look at her and answer politely ' Certainly not my dear! '
So onto tonight's songs. 1. Day tripper by The Beatles 2. No Way Back by The Foo Fighters 3. Doesn't Remind Me by Audioslave 4. Are You Gonna Be My Girl by Jet and finally 5. Surrender by Cheap Trick.
Day tripper by The Beatles link to video
Day Tripper is a riff-driven rock song written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney and released by The Beatles as a "double A-side" single with "We Can Work It Out". Both songs were recorded during the sessions for the Rubber Soul album. Under the pressure of needing a new single for the Christmas market, Lennon wrote most of the lyrics and the famous guitar break, while McCartney helped with the verses. "Day-tripper" was a typical play on words by John: "Day trippers are people who go on a day trip, right? Usually on a ferryboat or something. But the song was kind of ... you're just a weekend hippie. Get it?" In the same interview he said, "That's mine. Including the lick, the guitar break and the whole bit." In his 1970 interview with Rolling Stone, however, he used "Day Tripper" as one example of their collaboration, where one partner had the main idea but the other took up the cause and completed it. For his part, McCartney claimed it was very much a collaboration based on Lennon's original idea. The lyric may be partly about McCartney's reluctance to experiment with LSD. Lennon and George Harrison had been using LSD since the spring of 1965, when a London dentist slipped it into their coffee after an evening meal. In August, Lennon confessed that he "just ate it all the time." On the face of it, however, the song is about a girl who leads the singer on. The line recorded as "she's a big teaser" was originally written as "she's a prick teaser."(There you go Andy I knew our version was correct!) In this sense, it may equally be about the heroine from "Norwegian Wood." In ' Many Years From Now ', McCartney admitted that "Day Tripper" was about drugs. In 1966 McCartney said in Melody Maker that "Day Tripper" and "Drive My Car", recorded three days prior, were "funny songs, songs with jokes in." Lennon may have arrived at the song's signature riff in an attempt to better The Rolling Stones' "Satisfaction". McCartney provides the lead vocal and Lennon the harmony, in contrast to the Beatles' usual practice of a song's principal composer singing lead. on the night rating 8/10
No Way Back by The Foo Fighters link to video
No Way Back is part of the fourth single released from the Foo Fighters fifth album In Your Honor. It is a double A-Side single with Cold Day In The Sun, which is from the second disc of the album. The song is featured in the video game Madden NFL 06. The video for this was shot on the Foo Fighters' European tour, with the band in Amsterdam. No Way Back was originally planned for the first single from 'In Your Honour' but was scrapped in favour of "Best Of You" as Grohl thought No Way Back sounded too much like a regular Foo Fighters song. The song is also played before New York Rangers games when they take the ice. As I said last week the Foo Fighter are currently my favourite band, and I am itching to sing the new single when it comes out on the new Sunfly disc, due this week. on the night rating 9/10
Doesn't Remind Me by Audioslave link to video
Although the song is by Audioslave, I find have fell for the song due to ex Audioslave front man Chris Cornell singing the track on his recent tour, of which my blog on the gig is coming soon I promise. Doesn't Remind Me is the third single from Audioslave's second album Out of Exile. It was released on May 24th 2005, in the United States, and was nominated for "Best Hard Rock Performance" at the 48th Grammy Awards. After his parents divorced in his teens, Chris Cornell spiraled into depression. He has described this period as consisting mostly of long periods of depression, lots of drinking, and extreme isolation. He says he spent an entire year without leaving his house once. This period is the muse of the song. The song talks about his failures, perceived and real, as well as the pain felt at certain places or while doing certain things. There are also aspects of attempted redemption, which may be more drawn from his current life than his teenage years. Directed by Chris Milk, the award-winning music video for Doesn't Remind Me starts off with a blurred image of an Uncle Sam poster tacked to a wall of a young boy's bedroom, as he innocently plays with a toy fighter plane. This boy is played by Vinny Intrieri, a six year old boxer from Philadelphia, known better by his fight name, Kid Vicious. Shot in a documentary-like style, this fictional story explores the world of Vinny's character.
Throughout the video, Vinny enjoys playing with military planes and dedicates most of his free time to his boxing training. His obsession with planes becomes clearer when the audience sees a portrait of his father, an Air Force pilot, who died fighting in the Iraqi war. As a result, his widowed mother has been forced to raise him and his little sister. "We were all against the war from the very beginning, but now, I think you're seeing more and more that Middle America is turning against the war for reasons that are described in this video. The real human cost, the human tally of this awful war is shown in a very subtle, very real and very humanistic way. All of Vinny's training has been for an upcoming fight. The music video culminates with a fight between Vinny and another boy in front of a packed crowd. Some of the footage seen is of an actual fight that Vinny fought in at The Blue Horizon. When the junior match gets underway, Vinny comes out punching. Between each of the punches, the video flashes back to images from Vinny's father's death. These images include: his father's fighter plane getting shot down over Iraq, his mother picking up the heart-breaking phone call, and the military funeral ceremony. The entire segment ends with Vinny winning the fight and celebrating with the crowd. The video parallels the song by showing the ways in which people find ways to forget about and move on from bad things. In this case Vinny leaves behind his toy planes which remind him of his father and boxes to forget about the painful event of his death. The video is also a take on society's often subconscious promotion of violence without considering its consequences. This video is also the first Audioslave video which doesn't feature themselves performing the song. As Cornell explained: "It wouldn't have been a plus, it would have been a minus, that story is that story, and the members of Audioslave appearing in whatever form would only take away from how amazing the story is."
on the night rating 8/10
Are You Gonna Be My Girl by Jet link to video
Next up is a thumping tune. Are You Gonna Be My Girl is a song by the Australian rock band Jet, featured on their 2003 album Get Born. It was the first single from the album, released in 2003 in Australia and the UK, and in 2004 in the United States. In the UK Singles Chart it first appeared on the charts at Number 23. The single was re-released in the UK in 2004, after it was featured on advertisements for the Apple iPod, and this time reached Number 16 on the charts. It also gave the band success in the U.S. Singles Chart, peaking at Number 29. Brothers Nic Cester and Chris Cester grew up in Dingley Village, Victoria listening to classic rock from the 1960s and 1970s such as The Who, AC/DC, Queen, The Faces, and particularly The Rolling Stones and The Beatles. "It's always interpreted that our father had a great record collection, but that's not true. It was actually a really shit collection that Nic managed to find the gems in", Chris said in an interview for the documentary "Take It Or Leave It" that was also recorded on the band's Right! Right! Right! live DVD. They decided to form a band with Cameron Muncey, Nic's mate from school and with whom he had been in a band, and with bassist Doug Armstrong whom Nic and Chris met whilst working together at their Dad's spice factory. During 2001 an old high school friend of Chris' joined the band on keys, and it was at this time that the band took their current name from the song Jet from Wings' 1973 album Band on the Run. Radio Song, from their album Get Born, was written about the troubles that the band had getting recognition at this time. The new band met Mark Wilson one night in 2002 at a gig and, despite already having a bass player, asked him to play with them. Wilson was then the bassist in a band called The Ca$inos, so he initially declined. However, a few days later he called the band and said he would like to join them instead. In 2002 the band, consisting of its current members, released the Dirty Sweet EP, which drew its name from the T. Rex song Get It On. While the band only pressed 1,000 copies, there was such a demand that they pressed 1,000 more. The timing of this record coincided with the breakthrough of The Vines, meaning that international interest in Australian rock bands was high. NME obtained a copy of the single from Dirty Sweet, "Take It or Leave It", and praised it. Elektra Records offered the band a contract and re-released Dirty Sweet in 2003.
Jet entered the Sunset Sound Studios in Los Angeles with Dave Sardy to produce their debut album Get Born. Sardy had previously produced records for Marilyn Manson and The Dandy Warhols. They also enlisted the services of keyboard maestro Billy Preston for two of the songs. The album derived its name from a line in the Bob Dylan song Subterranean Homesick Blues. Halfway through recording, the band received a call from The Rolling Stones offering them a support slot on the Australian leg of their 2003 tour. Since then the band has performed all over the world as a warm up act on every Stones tour since, as the band are a firm favourite of Ronnie Woods. The band were also on the Hyde Park Calling line up supporting Aerosmith that day. on the night rating 7/10
Surrender by Cheap Trick link to video
Cheap Trick are American rock band from Illinois, that gained popularity in the late 70s. The band consists of Robin Zander (lead vocals, rhythm guitar), Rick Nielsen (lead & rhythm guitars), Tom Petersson (bass), and Bun E. Carlos (drums). Though they have had only brief flirtations with mainstream success, Cheap Trick has held a substantial following through regular touring and a hard-edged yet blissful pop sound combined with the speed and energy of punk rock. The band's biggest hits over the years include I Want You to Want Me , Surrender and The Flame. originally released in 1978 on the album Heaven Tonight. It is a late 1970s teen anthem, describing the relations between the baby boomer narrator and his G.I. generation parents. The narrator describes how his parents are weirder and hipper than many children would believe. For example, the narrator describes how he discovers his parents "rolling on the couch" and listening to his Kiss records late at night. The band still performs this song to this day, and Rick Nielsen often actually throws vinyl Kiss records to the audience in live performances at the moment Kiss is mentioned in the song. The song has also been covered by many bands notably by Green Day, Less Than Jake, Velvet Revolver, Marilyn Manson, and The Tragically Hip. The song is also featured in many movies, notably Over the Edge, Small Soldiers, Daddy Day Care, Fantastic Four and Employee of the Month. Daddy Day Care actually featured Rick Nielsen and Robin Zander. The song is featured in the PlayStation 2 video game Guitar Hero II, so no guesses to where I picked it up from then! on the night rating 5/10
So there we go folks. Another week done and another week closer to our annual dress up like a nutter night, commonly known as New Years Eve. It looks like this year should be fun as the theme is looking ever more likely to be a beach party theme. Not that I look forward to all those bikini clad ladies wandering around the pub mind you, any old chance for me to wear a dodgy Hawaiian shirt! Until next time folks see ya........
" I think Mr. Smithers picked me for my motivational skills. Everyone always says they have to work twice as hard when I'm around! "
Homer J Simpson
Thursday September 20th 2007
- Ah-Ha! So we've established my proposal as sound in principle. Now we're just haggling over price
- Now Will, will you tell me somethin'. Have you come because you need my help to save a certain distressin' damsel? Or.....a damsel in distress? Or.....whatever.....
- Send this pestilent, traitorous, cow-hearted, yeasty codpiece to the brig.
- This is not my vessel. My vessel is magnificent, and fierce and huge-ish and gone. Why is it gone?
- If we don't have the key, we can't open whatever we don't have that it unlocks. So what purpose would be served in finding whatever need be unlocked, which we don't have, without first having found the key what unlocks it?
- I have every faith in your reconciliary navigational skill's Master Gibbs. Now where is that monkey? I want to shoot something!
- When you marooned me on that god forsaken spit of land you forgot one very important thing mate......I'm Captain Jack Sparrow!
- I think we've all arrived at a very special place. Spiritually, ecumenically, grammatically.
- Me? I'm dishonest, and a dishonest man you can always trust to be dishonest. Honestly. It's the honest ones you need to watch out for, because you can never predict when they are going to do something incredibly.......stupid
- The only rules that really matter are these. What a man can do and what a man can't do. For instance, you can accept your father was a pirate and a good man or you can't. But pirate is in your blood boy, so you'll have to square with that some day. And me, for example, I can let you drown, but I can't sail this ship into Tortuga all by me onesies, savvy? So, can you sail under the command of a pirate or can you not?
- You seem somewhat familiar have I threatened you before?
- Gentlemen, Milady. You will always remember this day as the day you almost caught Captain Jack Sparrow!
- Mr Cotton. Do you have the courage and fortitude to follow orders and stay true in the face of almost certain death? Mr Cotton?.......Answer man!
- Commandeer. We're about to commandeer that ship. Nautical terms!
- That's the second time I've had to watch that man sail away in my ship
- It's not just a keel and a hull and a deck and sails that's what a ship needs. But what a ship is, what the Black Pearl really is, is freedom!
- No! Not good! Stop! What are you doing? You burned all the food, the shade, the rum! Why is the rum gone? But why is the rum gone?
- Stop blowing holes in my ship!
- The Immortal Captain Jack Sparrow. It has such a lovely ring to it
- Look! An undead monkey! Top that!
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Thursday September 13th 2007
Well it was Thursday night again, and it all seemed to come around again quickly. Another karaoke night and yet again hardly anyone in to help us entertain them. This is now getting to the stage where we may have to go back to pillaging our singers from other pubs just to get people through the doors. So the night started with the usual banter as it always does. Now I'm going to put the record straight here for a few people. It has been brought to my attention that I was not entirely behind the results gained by England in the football last weekend. Not true at all. Its the quality of the manager and the lack of quality of the replacements he brings in. I am a true football fan. You only have to read my Vale blog to know how frustrated a real supporter gets. My problem with England and the results we have been getting are more like the problems faced at the Vale at the moment. So here's my standpoints on the subject.
1) We never seem to play our strongest players in their correct positions or seem to inspire them to play as a team, therefore when they have a bad international game they get slated (e.g. Owen/Rooney not scoring Lampard not playing well with Gerrard etc)
- People who point at their wrist while asking for the time.....I know where my watch is pal, where the hell is yours? Do I point at my nuts when I ask where the toilet is?........No
- People who are willing to get up and turn a room upside down to find a T.V. remote control because they refuse to get up an change the channel manually
- When people say "Oh you just want to have your cake and eat it too" Damn right! What good is cake if you can't eat it?
- When people say "It's always the last place you look". Of course it bloody is! Why the hell would keep looking after you found it? Do people look after they find things? Who are these people? Find them them and punch there lights out!
- When people in the cinema/theatre say "Did you see that?" No you idiot I paid to get in and stare at the floor!
- People who ask "Can I ask you a question?".........Didn't really give me a choice there did you numpty!
- When something is advertised by being called new and improved! Which is it? If it's new. then its the first and there has never been anything before it. If it's an improvement then there must of been something before it so it couldn't be new numpty!
- When people say "Life Is Short" What moron would say that? Life is the longest thing any of us will ever do or has ever done! What can you do that is longer?
- When you are waiting for a bus at the bus stop and some numpty walks up and asks you "Has the Bus come yet?" If the bus had come why the hell would I be standing here you prat, for my health! Get a life you moron..............
So with all the fussing and feuding over with now on to the singing. Tonight I sang four new tracks, all equally unknown by anyone in the pub except the wife of course, but they all seemed to go down well to the assembled few. So tonight I sang 1. Strutter by Kiss 2. Saturday Superhouse by Biffy Clyro 3. What You Are by Audioslave and 4. My Hero by The Foo Fighters.
Strutter By Kiss link To Video
My first ever Kiss track on the old Karaoke and this one is again inspired by my new favourite PS2 game Guitar Hero 2. Kiss are also one of the most flamboyant and well known rock acts in the world ever. Formed in New York in 1973. Easily identified by their trademark face paint and stage outfits, the group rose to prominence in the mid-1970s on the basis of their elaborate live performances, which featured fire-breathing, blood spitting, smoking guitars, and pyrotechnics. Kiss has been awarded 45 gold albums to date. The group's worldwide sales exceed 80 million albums. The original lineup of Gene Simmons (bass and vocals), Paul Stanley (rhythm guitar and vocals), Ace Frehley (lead guitar and vocals) and Peter Criss (drums and vocals) is the most successful and identifiable. With their makeup and costumes, they took on the personas of comic book-style characters—the Demon (Simmons), the Star Child (Stanley), the Space Man (Frehley), and the Cat Man (Criss). Due to substance abuse problems and creative differences, both Criss and Frehley were out of the group by 1982. The band's commercial fortunes had also waned considerably by that point. In 1983, Kiss abandoned their makeup and enjoyed a commercial resurgence throughout the rest of the decade. Buoyed by a wave of Kiss nostalgia in the 1990s, the band announced a reunion of the original lineup (with makeup) in 1996. The resulting Kiss Alive/Worldwide Tour was the top-grossing act of 1996. Criss and Frehley have since left Kiss again, and have been replaced by Eric Singer and Tommy Thayer, respectively. The band continues to perform, while Stanley and Simmons have remained the only two constant members. In the late 80's they had their biggest U.K. hits, without the make up or original members, with Crazy Crazy Nights and the Bill and Ted inspired God Gave Rock And Roll To You, both reaching the U.K Top Ten. The band then disappeared from the rock radar until 2002 when the original line up reformed for a World Tour. Gene Simmons has had fame in the U.K. recently with Rock School and Gene Simmons Family Jewels. The band are an obvious inspiration for many of the more well known American rock bands such as Motley Crue, Poison, Warrant and Cinderella, but Kiss were the original and the best. on the night rating 8/10
Saturday Superhouse by Biffy Clyro link to video
Another great new song from Mon the Biffy Clyro. It was the first single from their fourth album, Puzzle. It was released on 5 March 2007. The band undertook a promotional tour of UK HMV stores to coincide with the release of the single. The song was first played live on 6 December 2006 at a warm-up concert at The Ice Factory nightclub in Perth, Scotland and first aired on radio on The Rock Show on BBC Radio 1, on 9 January 2007. The song reached number 9 in the UK mid-week chart, and number 13 in the UK singles chart, Biffy Clyro's highest charting single to date. Lead vocalist and songwriter Simon Neil said " This is a straight up pop-rock song. It felt great from the first time we played it together. It's about not knowing if you're making the right choices in life. Life is happening right now and if you're not careful you could wish it away " on the night rating 9/10
What You Are By Audioslave link to video
A great old fashioned rock track next up. This was the fifth single by American band Audioslave, led by former Soundgarden frontman Chris Cornell. Cornell has got a brilliant and unique singing voice, and most of the songs he sings are pretty tough for him to sing let alone a mere mortal like me. He now has a successful solo career, from which he has a huge back catalogue of his own material, plus many Soundgarden and Audioslave tracks. As I went to see Chris Cornell at the Carling Academy earlier this month, I still plan to bring him into your lives with a full blog coming soon to a blog page near you soon, so as not to spoil the surprise or tell you his story twice I will leave writing too much about him until that blog. Suffice to say it is a great track, which is one of my favorites. It's just about in my vocal range, and although it was my least known song of the night it was my favourite to sing. on the night rating 10/10
My Hero By The Foo Fighters link To Video
To round off with tonight, probably my favourite band of the moment The Foo Fighters. If there is a true Rock God then Dave Grohl is his disciple on earth, if not the rock God himself! The group is named after the World War II term "foo fighter", used to refer to mysterious aerial phenomena. The band has earned a worldwide following, and have scored a number of hit songs, including 'This Is a Call', 'Everlong', 'Learn to Fly', 'All My Life', 'Times Like These', 'Best of You', 'DOA' and this track 'My Hero'. Two of their albums, There Is Nothing Left to Lose' and 'One by One', won Grammy Awards for Best Rock Album. On top of their six studio albums, they have also contributed to several movie soundtracks, including the song "The One" on the 2002 Orange County soundtrack. Grohl spent four years as the drummer for Nirvana. Unbeknownst to most of Nirvana's fan base, Grohl had gradually written a stockpile of songs that he had largely held back from the band for fear of ruining their chemistry. Six months after Cobains death in 1994, Grohl went into the studio and Foo Fighters were born. And the rest is history. Grohl has become one of the most reveered rock musicians around. An acclaimed song writer and brilliant musician, the band are about to release their sixth studio album. Regulars on the U.K. festival scene the band has this year played at both the V-Festivals, and in the past has played Reading and Leeds festivals. They also gave the best performance of the Live Earth Wembley concert earlier this year, dedicating this track to Al Gore, one of Grohl's hero's for his environmental work. The band announced a U.K. tour for the end of 2007 which sold out in 20 minutes. With a bigger World Tour planned in 2008, the band is heavily tipped to headline the annual Download Festival at Donnington. Watch this space for more Foo Fighters songs on karaoke in the next few weeks, including the new single The Pretender, currently running in my favourite video slot. on the night rating 9/10
So there we have it folks. All done and dusted for another week. I will try my best to keep my cool before next weeks blog as I am not a stressful person normally, but I do like to let off steam! So in another one of his calming moment, here is the final word from Homer to send you on your way. Until next time.......ta ra!
" Who are you? Why am I here? I want answers now or I want them eventually! "
Homer J Simpson
Thursday September 6th 2007
Guess Who's Back Back Again...Captain Jack's Back Again
Holidays are great. They help to revive the mind, settle the soul, refresh the old bone's etc etc. But there is nothing like coming home to a brand spanking new Karaoke Disc with Thin Lizzy and Thunder on it! So what has happened since I was last blogged up! Well of course I was away on me hols to sunny Newquay. It was my first wedding anniversary as well, so the wife was suitably over excited! (So was I but I won't let on!) We also got back and went to see the brilliant Chris Cornell as well at the Birmingham Carling Arena. For the unknowing amongst you Chris Cornell is the former Soundgarden and Audioslave front man, who now has a solo album out. We first saw at Hyde Park Calling back in June and were hooked, and with this smaller venue we could not resist seeing him and his new band live in more intimate surroundings. Anyway here is a little glimpse of the gig courtesy of YouTube.
So apart from that not a lot has happened worth blogging about. As soon as I sort my pictures out of the holiday (There are some crackers) and of the Chris Cornell gig I will blog those, but at the moment I just don't have the time. Ha Ha the busy life of a pirate! So much pillaging to do and not enough time to write about it all!
Anyway on to the triumphant return to the Karaoke at the Hotel this week. Not much has changed in a week. Shaun informed me that last week was a bit of a quiet, sorry dead night. In fact I think the rotation was only four singers. Must of all known I was away! It was a little busier this week. And it was an opportunity to sing another four new songs yippee! So with the new Sunfly Disc at hand thanks to Shaunio my song choices were hand picked at least a week before I got down to the pub (By the way Shaun I'll be singing the New Foo Fighters and The Queen track off the next Sunfly Set!!!!)
So tonight's songs were as follows. 1. Waiting For An Alibi by Thin Lizzy 2. Satisfaction by The Rolling Stones 3. Low Life In High Places by Thunder and finally 4. Bleed It Out by Linkin Park.
Waiting For An Alibi by Thin Lizzy link to video
Well its taken bloody long enough but finally there is another Thin Lizzy track on Karaoke. Thanks to Sunfly, and a bit of persuasion from Captain Jack and his Campaign for Brit Rock crew, that's two new ones in a couple of months. Well this one is a belter. This is a great example of just how good the band were, and what a genius Phil Lynott was. It was taken from Black Rose: A Rock Legend, and was the ninth studio album by the band, released in 1979. The album debuted at its Number 2 peak in the UK album charts and is the band's most successful studio album to date. For the first time rock/blues guitarist Gary Moore stayed in the band long enough to record an album having had previous stints in 74 and 77 as well as working with Lynott in the rock band Skid Row in the late 60s and early 70s. Around this time Moore recorded the album Back on the Streets with Lynott, spawning the UK top 10 single "Parisienne Walkways" (with Lynott on vocals). He left Lizzy that year following a dispute but worked with Phil Lynott again on his tours in 1984 and 1985 and on the top 5 single "Out in the Fields" and accompanying album Run for Cover, on what were to be Lynott's final performances before his untimely death in January 1986. Of course I fell in love with most of Thin Lizzy's song's like this one while watching Guns & Oatcakes, who do a brilliant live version. Love this one tonight and I think did it justice. On The Night Rating 8/10
Satisfaction by The Rolling Stones link to video
Well I suppose it's about time I got around to singing this one. I can't believe it's taken me this long to get around to it. It is without doubt the greatest guitar riff in the world. When you see the band perform this live sends shivers down your spine. Little treat time... Here is my first YouTube uploaded video of the boy's performing Satisfaction live at the O2 in August this year, shot by me. Only a short clip but I am still learning folks enjoy......
Now as for the song during the Rolling Stones fourth tour of the United States in 1965, Keith Richards came up with the guitar riff for the song. The Stones were staying at the Fort Harrison Hotel in Clearwater, Florida for part of their tour, and one night Richards suddenly woke up, turned on a tape recorder, and promptly played on his guitar the riff that opened "Satisfaction" before returning to bed. Richards later described his first opinion of the song: "It was just a riff. … I woke up in the middle of the night, put it down on a cassette. I thought it was great then. Went to sleep and when I woke up, it appeared to be as useful as another album track. It was the same when it was with Mick too at the time, you know. It goes da-da, da-da-da… and the words I'd written for that riff were "I can't get no satisfaction". But it could just as well have been "Auntie Millie's Caught Her Left Tit in the Mangle" Thank god they stuck with Satisfaction as it soon became one of the greatest songs ever recorded. Rolling Stone magazine ranks the song as Number 2 on its 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. It also made Number 1 on VH1's 100 Greatest Rock and Roll Songs of All Time. In my opinion this song epitomises all that is good about The Stones, a great riff, great lyrics and an all round good vibe when you hear it being played. on the night rating 10/10
Low Life In High Places by Thunder link to video
A change of direction now with this song. This is proper Brit Rock at its finest. Thunder are not the most well known band out of rock circle's, but the band and writing team of Danny Bowes and Luke Morley, formally both from a band called Terraplane. Thunder were signed with EMI after performing a demo audition in 1989, and soon began recording their first album Backstreet Symphony. With their producer, Andy Taylor (of Duran Duran) they created many blues-rock and atmospheric ballads, steering away from the melodic power pop of their previous band. The album was a huge success in the UK, and led to a prestigious appearance at the 1990 Monsters of Rock festival at Donington Park, where I first saw them live. The band split in 2000, much to the dismay of the bands loyal fan base, many of which had been following them from the early days of Terraplane. But the fans didn't have too long to wait for the band to reform. Thunder were tempted back into action by a slot on the touring Monsters of Rock UK arena shows in late 2002, which then prompted a follow up album in 2003. In 2005 they released another album The Magnificent Seventh. The band also took part in the triumphant return of the Monsters of Rock festival in 2006 at Milton Keynes, sharing the bill with Deep Purple, Alice Cooper, Journey, Queensrÿche, Ted Nugent and Roadstar. Hailed as one of the stars of the show Thunder justified their reputation as one of the best British live acts. The band released their eighth studio album on 30 October 2006, entitled Robert Johnson's Tombstone. It follows Thunder's traditions of good honest blues rock albums, with big riffs and big sing-along choruses. The band has just come of the back of a European Tour, their first in nearly 12 years, and later this year they embark on a U.K. tour in November and December, where I shall see them again at the Wolverhampton Civic Hall (Wifey get tickets) on the night rating 7/10
Bleed It Out by Linkin Park link to video
Last one tonight. A very excited Shaun text me earlier today to tell me he had the Karaoke version of this great song by LP. So I think I can safely say that as with the Biffy Clyro track a few weeks ago, this is probably a world premier! Now I'm not going to do a huge write up on this one, as I have written quite a lot about Linkin Park this year so far, but I will say I at least enjoyed it, although Shaun did find it wasn't our best effort on a Linkin Park song, but for a first time shot, and beer affected vocals, I'm sure our next effort will improve dramatically. on the night rating 5/10
So another zany week ends at the pub with me and Shaun screaming our heads off, nothing new there then. A good all round night I felt, eased back into the Karaoke with no problems, and a renewed zest for singing after my short, but well deserved break. Now barring a full scale mutiny I will endeavour to blog my holiday exploits and the Chris Cornell gig later in the week, so for now folks bye bye!!!!
" Homer: Aw, twenty dollars! I wanted a peanut!
Homer's Brain: Twenty dollars can buy many peanuts!
Homer: Explain how!
Homer's Brain: Money can be exchanged for goods and services!
Homer: Woo-hoo!
[Gust Of Wind Blows Twenty Dollar Bill Out Of Open Window]
Homer: D'oh "