Four on the Floor – Volume 4.

Jack Green – Humanesque – 8/10

This was a strange one, my brother arrived home with it from our local record emporium (remember those days), I had never heard of him, although upon the dawn of the internet I looked him up, it turns out he played for T-Rex and then the Pretty Things, allegedly he was a member of Rainbow for all of 3 weeks before Roger Glover decided that he wanted to join the band, but not before Mr B played a tasteful solo on I call, no answer, is it the best track on the album, no but it is the best solo, as for the rest of the album I loved it, like a British Rick Springfield meets Elvis Costello a similar touch, it was one of the albums I lost when I was burgled in 1983, although I had it on tape so I could play it on my Walkman as I travelled around the UK watching bands, I still love the album all these years later I received a digital copy yesterday and so far have played it 7 times, yes I like it.

Deep Purple – Turning to Crime – 1/10.

I love this band in most incarnations, although since Mr B left the quality control has been dodgy to say the least, this is horrible, I don’t mind cover albums but this should have been locked up and the key thrown away, I look forward to an album with Simon McBride as I think he is better fit to the band than Steve Morse, a super guitarist ( and all round nice guy) but I never felt the connection, this is my personal opinion if you like it, good luck to you, I heard it when it was released and hated it from the second I played it, I have given myself some distance but it hasn’t improved any, I still hate it, and I think I would rather gnaw my foot off then have to endure it again. 49.45 minutes of my life I will never get back and to think Bob Ezrin produced it, maybe he needs to go back on the drugs, utter shite!

Man Raze – PunkFunkRootRock -7/10.

When this was released back in 2011 I loved it , it disappeared under the onslaught of new music, but every now and then it would surface, A member of Def Leppard/Girl, a member of Girl and a Sex Pistol what could go wrong, not a lot really, it hasn’t lost its charm, it also comes across as something more than a vanity project, it has had money spent on it, and its charm shines through on the songs with a bit of energy when its required, I do admit I prefer this to Def Leppard its more up my street, give it a chance you will love it! I saw them support Alice Cooper on my birthday for this album and I thought it went well, well until I thought I was going to get stabbed for shouting for Hollywood Tease, but that’s another story

The Cult – Under the Midnight Sun – 3/10.

I thought I should do at least one new release and to be honest I struggled, I never got them, I thought they were a tribute band, and always thought Astbury was a dick, but I have matured and thought I would give them another chance, I had seen a few interviews with the band saying it was a seminal release, and…..well I still don’t get it, they leave me cold, they can all play and sing, they can write songs but damn it, it leaves me colder than a corpse that has been in a morgue for a week,  don’t worry I don’t care for led Zeppelin for exactly the same reasons, if you like it good luck to you and all that sails with you, and it is still better than the afore mentioned Deep Purple (well more like a Gillan) album that’s already been reviewed earlier.

White Feather.

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Among the Living.

 

So, this one has gone off in a different direction, not in a bad way I don’t think, but not where it was intended, everything had been going in the right direction, some bumps in the road (some big ones but we are staying positive) I was trying my best not to spiral away, I tried but it didn’t work, thankfully I wasn’t depressed, I just a bit angry, I am not going to bore you with the details as its work related, I am still amazed that clots do indeed rise to the top, they may be educated but they are ignorant and as thick as pig shit!

I got over that blip, but it destroyed the serene mood that I had been aiming at, I don’t do angry these days, well not as much as I used to, Thankfully I try and remain zen like, that maybe because I’m getting old and decrepitate, I’m not sure, I’m more like a slow diesel engine as opposed to a rocket powered super jet, just as well as angry doesn’t get you very far I have discovered!

I had been having a discussion with someone from work about how some people can be  antisocial, not generally me, well I was meaning me, but I don’t think that they caught my drift, I don’t think that I am very social at times, I can wear a happy face but in reality, I am just a tad antisocial, I don’t make new friends easily, I can be user friendly, but not friendly, I’m sure that you understand what I mean.

Do I have friends well yes I do, but my really old friends, people I knew when I was a teenager (yes that old) I love bumping into them for that couple of minutes, but they moved on, that’s their choice not a complaint, I have been back in my hometown for nearly twenty years and only one has ever come a calling (and he is my oldest friend) admittedly he came calling because he was after something (and I was grateful that he came)  but it kind of underlined that they let me hang round with them because they could, now it’s a friendly hello but everybody has moved on they all look incredibly happy, me I just look sour faced all the time. Before you all shout at me for it being a two way street, I get that but I did do a lot of the facilitating travelling big distances to little avail, it is what it is do I miss them well yes of course I do, but the world keeps turning.

My friends from Durham (read The Dawn Patrol) it turns out that there is only 2 left, 12 of the group have died in the last two years a couple with covid and some with major ailments, my wife has tons of friends or at least people to talk to, all I have now is the south shields massive, unfortunately Co-vid has put paid to our trips down the hill to visit, I miss those weekends, however one of the bumps in the road (a rather major one) has basically curtailed even the smallest of road trips, I do miss the Tee Hee Club, I am confident that we will rise again like a phoenix, or rather a drunken mob at some point!

 

Warning! Here comes the morbid bit, I have decided that when I die, the wife can do what ever she wants with me, the cheapest way is simply to be cremated (the Co Op is the cheapest about a grand for the function of burning my ass, I don’t want a funeral with three people in attendance, they don’t miss me when I’m a live I don’t want them turning into hypocrites, wailing and gnashing of teeth saying I was a good egg, obviously I wasn’t otherwise you would have kept in touch, but I digress, she can donate me to medical science I don’t care I will be dead do with me as you see fit!

The reason for this blog well  I have had a number of new readers, who try to interact with me, and I simply won’t, read the early blogs and understand why I am just a little distant, I have no intention of going back to the Myspace days, was the readership bigger, hell yeah it was almost twenty times the readership that I have now, this is quite tidal with good times and slow times, I’m happy with it, I get to vent my spleen, and you lot seem to enjoy it, and although I do read the interactions, I tend not to reply directly, yes I know if I did my historical ones the readership might grow, but to be honest some of the memories although great at the time, would be very painful to dredge to the surface, but some of you new people are quite happy to get a mention in print, the questions that asked are being saved for a new “Now Hear This” blog that is about the only way I directly interact, so watch this space you never know a query from yourself might just get picked, yes the are some old hands that I will interact with (Broadsword calling Danny Boy, Sabine, Nils and a couple of others) but trust me I am not doing this to make friends, I am simply trying to get to the finish line in one piece!

So, that’s it, another one gone faster than the speed of light, I am a lot happier doing spur of the moment blogs than trying to write war and peace epics, that doesn’t mean that you won’t get one at some point, I have a couple of memories that I think have the potential to be good historical but not musical, I’m not sure if I am brave enough to venture that far back in the mists of time, so keep spreading the disease, yes the name game is in play, click like, share or whatever you do as the numbers are…..consistent, so until the next time, take care and stay alive, until the next time………….Toodles!