Four on the Floor – The Stranglers.

 So back in the 70’s Punk exploded with a taste for aggression and I suppose a lot of angry young men, actually there was one group of men that wasn’t particularly “young” four men who aged 25 and 30 (two members) and a drummer who was 40, what the hell did they know about anger, quite a lot as it happens!

From April 1977 through to September 1979 they released 5 albums including a live album, the first three albums in the space of thirteen months and boy were those albums good and angry very angry.

 

Rattus Norvegicus: - released April 1977. 8.5/10.

What a treat, I can remember where I was exactly when I first heard Peaches, Consett YMCA Disco, and my mind was blown it was the first time I had heard a bass so prominent, and the band was so tight they used to play 8 disco songs, then 3 rock and then 3 punk so that night I heard Peaches, Sometimes, Hanging around and Go Buddy Go which was a B side at the time, a friend bought the album and whenever we got to his this was the album  that was played, the only track I struggled with was Down in the sewer, which to me was their Light my Fire by The Doors, I’m actually surprised they didn’t get sued as it was pretty close, I didn’t think that they would repeat an album as good.

No More heroes: - released September 1977. 8.5/10.

I was still a kid but even I was a little wary of certain tracks with what I thought were a tad ”offensive” but there was still some cracking tracks and no album tracks on singles at the time (5 Minutes) most of the tracks were in the three minute range with the exception of School Mam, it did seem like they had found a formula, again I didn’t think that could produce something as good, they toured a lot when did they get the time to write, there was an interesting B Side on the title track, What’s that in the shadows, the shape of things to come, I had the chance to see them on this tour but my lifts car got in a smash so it wasn’t to be,

Black and White: - May 1978. 9.5/10.

And on the eighth day god created this, damn this was so different, the bass was like the charge of the light brigade, damn brutal, the guitar was so discordant, the keyboards were like weird radio signals and static bursts of partial morse code, the artwork was stunning , stark and brutal, just like the bloody album, again most of the songs were around the 3 minute mark with the exception of Toiler on the sea ( a flock of seagulls) it was the first time I heard electronic drums on a record, not a bad note on the album, it wasn’t perfect my original album came with a free EP that quickly disappeared, I have my suspicions, but life’s too short and it was 46 years ago. Of the first three this still sounds the freshest of the bunch and could honestly be released today and make waves! And I still play the full album at least once a month it’s required listening!

Live (X Cert): February 1978. 8/10.

A great live album, if a little rough around the edges, I used to have a few bootlegs that were a of a similar quality, a good sample of them live, I felt it was necessary to put a full stop of the total to the brilliance that was the holy trinity of Punk!

 

The Raven: - released September 1978. 6/10.

This is where they lost me, drugs were in there ascendancy, the album was overly polished sound wise, the songs simply weren’t there, there was a couple Duchess, Nuclear Device the best of the album, there were some good ideas but they probably should have had a bit of a rest, this was the last album that I went out of my way to get, it was soon relegated, I never listened to a full Stranglers after this, I enjoyed the odd single and gig, but that was the end for me.

Then Hugh Cornwall left and it was never the same as there was there was some faceless bodies in as replacements, its only recently with the addition of Baz Warne taking Hugh’s spot does it seem to work there’s some great live stuff on YouTube, and I do drift towards them if I see them, live they are still a great band, no other band did as much in the short length of time that was the quality of those first three albums, yes the first two haven’t aged as well but god they are so damn good!

And they you have a musical one at long last sorry it’s been a while but life kept getting in the way, I’m off to play The Raven just to see if I can change my mind (I doubt it) so stay safe and stay alive until the next time……………. ...Toodles!

Clouds and Rain.

Where does the bloody time go, so there I was sat twiddling my thumbs, when I was hit with three good ideas for blogs and so I started to cultivate my thoughts and notes, when out of nowhere I was blindsided and the writing literally ground to a halt, and yes up until then it had all been good in the hood.

Healthwise my diabetes was still (and still is) kicking my ass but we had come up with a cunning plan to try and resolve some of the issues, that soon went sideways, technology wasn’t as good as we had hoped, I should have realised life was going to complicate things. Work was getting incredibly busy, nothing that couldn’t be handled (if my knees would play along, alas they wouldn’t) quite a few heavy days brought me to my knees (no pun intended) but I have started the push regarding my knees with the NHS (I think that there is a few blogs and quite a bit of bile to come out of this fiasco, watch this space) and then when I definitely wasn’t expecting it, “Bob” charged in from the rear, and gave my arse a bloody good chewing and then ran away barking in confidence, that he had screwed me over, he had, but I simply had no intention of going down without a fight, I know that took me by surprise, thankfully it was around four hours of quiet thinking and determination of not wanting to hit the rocks, thankfully could see that I was diligently trying my best not to go down without a fight and I was left alone, its great when people assume you are working hard, but they don’t realise that you are having a ghastly nightmare dealing with horrors of your own imagination.

The person more astounded than me was “Bob” as I shook the lethargy off and my funk while had not completely dissipated, I was on the best footing, the funk stayed with me all day, it wasn’t anywhere near as bad as I have had it, the cause was me simply ignoring the warning signs, the warning signs that I am fully aware of and I am usually prepared for, this was slightly different, but I was still to blame, and I felt guilty because of  it, I know it’s a daily battle with my issues and I need to be on constant guard, being reckless with my mental health only causes issues for me and the few people around me, thankfully I hadn’t decided to stand or fall on the day and I was able to keep two feet firmly planted in reality, if any of you were aware of the backwash, I can only apologise.

Once over the hump I was making sure that I was doing all the right things, its usually an upward trajectory after the event and thankfully that’s exactly what happened, but I was leaving markers open in case it flared up again. I was also trying to help the wife with her own issues which I think that she has turned the corner on, although I’m not cynical enough to think that she still has a hard road to endure, but I am there to help to share the load.

Thankfully it wasn’t all doom and gloom, yes there was clouds and rain, but I quite enjoy them, in my own way, I’m not a sunshine kind of person, I’m quite happy to have cloud cover and the smattering of raindrops, we even did something out of the ordinary and went to see the northern lights along with half of the county, it was like a scene out of “close encounters of the third kind” with so many cars abandoned at the side of the road, initially I thought we had missed it, but once we pulled the car over to a secluded layby and we actually got out of the car, well lets just say if I had a bucket list, that’s one thing that was ticked off, it was a thing of natural awesome beauty that we took the time to enjoy and appreciate, the only issue that I had was the amount of dead wildlife left on the roads with some of the nuggets whizzing around and small country roads, trying to get a better vantage point, the worst thing that was seen was a rather large owl, humans really don’t give a shit!

When I finally thought I was in a good spot for writing I then had technology issues, although  I have a couple of laptops I prefer to use to the steam driven one I have had for over 16 years, now the issue I believe is The Norton anti thingy majig, its turned into a highway robber, finding more and more issues and wanting more and more money to resolve these issues that I didn’t have before, time for a change I think I don’t mind paying for the protection but come guys one price to cover everything like you used to have, not like now you robbing ****************** continued at angryoldman.com . at over 56 minutes simply just to log on, I might have to use a newer model in future because that doesn’t take days to get started!

So I walked away rather than smash the laptop like Basil Fawlty, as I sat down  to type this I was almost felt Zen like (I did, almost) and I have sat here and simply let my fingers do the talking, I haven’t tried to censor myself, this is not my preferred style of writing but it appears to have worked …..today! so what of the three that I was working on, well I have the bare bones there its whether I can pick up the threads, I’m not promising anything let’s just see how it goes!

So there you go finally, I will have to be a little more diligent in looking after my fragile state of mind and my ideas that bloom like mould, that I start but don’t seem to be able to finish (oh look a butterfly) onwards is the order of the day, so look for the skies for incoming, keep spreading the disease, as for the name game 59 people took a guess and nobody and I mean nobody got it right, I was thinking of the Bruce Dickinson track, not what you lot came up with, lets see if anybody can get this one right, I actually think I will dig the album out for the Journey to work in the morning, so go enjoy the last day of the English Football season, and I wills ee you all soon enough , so until then stay safe and stay alive………………….Toodles!

Inertia.

Yes, the name game is in play!

Inertia is the tendency of objects in motion to stay in motion and objects at rest to stay at rest, unless a force causes its speed or direction to change. It is one of the fundamental principles in classical physics, and described by Isaac Newton in his first law of motion (also known as The Principle of Inertia). It is one of the primary manifestations of mass, one of the core quantitative properties of physical systems. it’s safe to say I’m not a happy camper at the moment!

The world feels like its spinning faster and I would appear to be the subject that is at rest, work, life just about everything has got me full stopped at the moment, Life as always is in a state of flux, and no matter what I seem to do, it simply doesn’t seem to help! it’s safe to say I’m not a happy camper at the moment!

Music has been a constant and this blog was meant to be a four on the floor, however my brain keeps taking me off in flights of fancy, a lot of ideas however none of them formed enough to take part of any semblance of help. it’s safe to say I’m not a happy camper at the moment!

Work has simply been work, too much to do and simply nowhere near enough time to complete things, with too many people playing politics as senior people are leaving and people are jockeying for position before the seat is even cold, I like work I like my job, but I think in reality I have had enough, I simply want to do the work to the best of my ability, unfortunately the team I work for seem to be standing alone, simply because nobody else wants to, enough said, its safe to say I’m not a happy camper at the moment!

My health is really shit I work and then snooze at odd times of the day, my knees are crumbling however I have started the process, to get to see a doctor, it’s probably about 6 months down the line if I’m lucky and my diabetes is kicking my ass like I have Mike Tyson chewing on my ear, it’s safe to say I’m not a happy camper at the moment!

Life itself is a ball ache, only because I feel as though I’m drowning not waving, I feel as though at nearly sixty years of age that I still do not know how to help the family with their issues, and while I try, I really do try, I’m not 100% sure that I’m helping, as I continue to blunder through life. it’s safe to say I’m not a happy camper at the moment!

The blog, the one thing that I thought I had got to grips with, is simply laughing in my face, mocking me, just when I think that I have a good idea, doubt and mistrust are the two hellhounds that have turned a number of these blogs to ash, it’s safe to say I’m not a happy camper at the moment!

If I’m honest I feel as though I’m angry with myself, for all of the above, I bounce through life with enough issues to sink a battleship, simply ignoring them in the vain hope that they will go away, at some point I will have to take the bull by the horns and tackle it, it’s safe to say I’m not a happy camper at the moment!

What’s that got to with the blog who knows, all I know is that I’m a lot happier for spewing some bile, I’m going to try harder for the family, for work and just about everything else in my life, health wise I think I’m fucked, but I have no intention of letting the Bastardo grind me down, I intend to pick myself up and kick some ass, probably mine just to get through life, it’s safe to say I’m not a happy camper at the moment!

As for music I intend to play a damn sight more (and I have played a lot) I should probably avoid the album that the blog title comes from as it’s a tad bleak but a great wall of noise that has kicked me in the seat of my pants, its safe to say I ain’t beat yet!

There you go, log jam cleared, so watch the skies for incoming, there will be another one soon the numbers have been great hopefully if I can give my head a shake the blog should simply get better, keep spreading the disease, onwards and upwards, stay safe and stay alive until the next blog……………Toodles!