Time to pull the plug!

I've been looking for an excuse to pull the plug on this blog for a while.

I've lost motivation, run out of ideas, and run out of reasons to keep it going.

The Mega Upload fiasco has only confirmed that this is the right decision.

But hey, let's concentrate on the positives:

• I finally got around to starting a blog! Five years of thinking about it, one year of experiencing the highs and lows of actually doing it!
• I stuck it out for a year! If you had told me that would happen when I started the blog I would have laughed in you!
• I made a century - with this post! That of course excludes the two posts that were removed from the blog (one by Google Blogger, one on request by a band's representative) - those two posts being the afforementioned lows.
• I introduced some people to some great new music they hadn't heard before!

Thanks to everyone who has commented on my posts. Those comments are the reason I stuck at it as long as I did.

I'm gonna pull the plug on the Ralph Dodger alias as well. That was a bastardization of a nickname I never particularly liked anyhow, so I'm happy to ditch it! So if you see someone with an unfamiliar alias making crass comments on other peoples blogs it's probably me!!

I'll leave you to the strains of the best song ever written.....

Beck - Beercan (Live - First TV appearance?)

Beck performing Beercan live on Australian TV show Denton in 1994.

I believe this was Beck's first TV performance. Presenter Andrew Denton asks Beck whether this is the case and Beck appears to confirm this.

Denton also featured a segment where the musical guests selected a random song from a barrel. The bands then had 30 minutes or so to learn the song before performing it at the show's conclusion.

I won't spoil the surprise regrading which 80s schlock pop hit Beck got lumped with....

Not the best quality, but worth it for the historical significance.

For those outside Australia, Andrew Denton is the only true maverick on Australian TV. Among his many career highlights was the the show Blah Blah Blah, which featured legendary Australian band Lubricated Goat performing In The Raw nude! But that's a post for another day....

Underground Lovers - Australian TV

More from my VHS collection - The Undies, live on Australian TV. Unfortunately I don't know which show this was on, or what year. Any info on this would be appreciated!

Your Eyes is from the Leaves Me Blind LP, previously featured on this blog here.

Losin It is from the follow up LP Dream It Down.

GW McLennan

Finally getting around to digitizing some of my VHS video collection. I'm not going to digitize all 30 cassettes though - if I can't find something on YouTube, then I'll digitize it!

First cab off the rank, the late great G Dubya Mc performing "Easy Come Easy Go" on Tonight Live with Steve Vizard in 1991.

Tonight Live was a blatant rip-off of The Late Show with David Letterman, right down to having a "top 7!" When Letterman finally started broadcasting into Australia, Vizard's gig was up, and he disappeared from public view, until being done for insider trading some years later!

Anyhow, enjoy the GW - what a sad loss.

Lou Reed & Metallica - Lulu

The Lulu album has been out for a while. To say the album has polarised people's opinions would be inaccurate - from my observations, everyone hates it - from the goatee-bearded metal dudes right down to the cerebral Lou Reed tragics, some of who were appalled enough to send Lou death threats!

All of which, being perverse as I am, made me wanna dig it!

I've gave it a few (virtual) spins a month back and was impressed. But given my comment above, I suppressed my urge to recommend the album until I was sure I liked the album for the right reason.

Since then, I've heard the album a few more times, and also managed to catch the performance Lou and Metallica gave on Rockpalast (from which the YouTube clip above arose). And I finally feel like I can rave for all the right reasons.

But I need to provide some background - I've been a huge fan of both Lou and Metallica at different times in my life.

As a teenage metal dude, Metallica were the beez kneez. They revolutionised mid-eighties heavy metal, but somewhere along the line metamorphosed into Spinal Tap! The turning point was probably the death of bassist Cliff Burton. He was the X-factor. After his death, Metallica became just. another. metal. band.

Around this time my musical horizons were expanding, and I finally found the Velvet Underground, and later Lou's solo albums - and Berlin remains one of my favorite albums to this day.

So I approached Lulu as a fan of both artists - albeit a fan who felt that neither had recorded any decent material for over twenty years! And maybe being a fan of both is the key to liking the project?

I've included the link to the soundtrack of the Rockpalast performance below. Much as I like the performance of the songs from Lulu, the version of White Light, White Heat is truly appalling - it's been Metallicarized, and Lou's vocals are woefully out of tune. Included for interests/completists sake only!

As usual, I welcome people's opinions, but hold back on the death threats, please!

Lou Reed & Metallica - 2011-11-11 - Cologne, Germany

1. Iced Honey
2. The View
3. Mistress Dead
4. The Dragon
5. Junior Dad
6. White Light, White Heat

MP3

Happy New Year

Happy new year to everyone!!

Checkout my new Loose Fur post below. For reasons known only to Google Blogger, the post is listed as published on it's draft date (18th Dec) rather than today, so appears under the ROY!! post. Go figure!