It was a great gig, I am not sure which album he was promoting the only song I can definitely remembering him playing was the last encore where he did a storming version of The Beats Stand Down Margaret
A man of strong social and political conviction. The hatred that he had for all that Thatcher stood for seeps out of his eyes and skin in this...
Today's top ten is Billy Bragg songs aka The Bard of Barking Between the Wars Sexuality Accident waiting to happen Greetings to the new brunette There is power in the union You woke up my neighbourhood She's got a new spell Way over yonder in a minor key New England Walk away Renee Between the Wars (yes I know that its included twice, played at my dads funeral and will be played at mine and its also one of the greatest songs written and reduces me to tears every time I hear it ) Stay safe everybody
Love Billy Bragg. I've got both of the box sets, which include an additional bonus CD for each album, so this is going to be seriously tough but here goes... A New England It Says Here Honey I'm a Big Boy Now Levi Stubbs Tears Wishing the Days Away The Home Front Must I Paint You a Picture A13 Trunk Road to the Sea Waiting For the Great Leap Forwards God's Footballer That'll have to do as I've run out of choices but have left out loads. Between the Wars has the same effect on me, too.
I love Billy too and picking 10 is almost impossible tomorrow 8 of these would be different Waiting for The Great Leap Forwards Sexuality She’s Got A New Spell Greetings To The New Brunette Levi Stubbs Tears To Have and Have Not England Half English Strange Things Happen Handyman Blues Days Like These
This afternoon, as I was digging up my garden, I realised that 'My 10' doesn't include this... ...and that can't be. So, I'm claiming an 11th because this is unbelievably right and these lines are sooo brilliant... "In the end, it took me a dictionary To find out the meaning of unrequited While she was giving herself for free At a party to which I was never invited"
I love the line in "greetings to the new brunette" I'm celebrating my love for you with a pint of beer and a new tattoo.....
Mrs B's favourite BB lyric is from A Lover Sings... "There is no real substitute For a ball struck squarely and firmly And you're the kind of girl who wants to Open up the bottle of pop too early in the journey Our love went flat just like that" ...Mrs B is definitely for opening up the bottle asap. ...
Billy is a great poet so many wonderful lines we could quote these are a couple of my favourites 'In A perfect world we would all sing in tune - But this reality so give me some room' 'The laws of gravity are very, very strict And you're just bending them for your own benefit'
I was thinking about what bands have you walked out on or had to leave and why ? Golden Earring . They started doing Radar Love for the 3rd time Blue Oyster Cult . So loud that when my internal organs started to vibrate I feared for them and my hearing , I blame my tinnitus on that band Bad Manners . The skinheads from Luton started to smash the Dunstable civic up Toots and the Maytels . The West Indian mob from Luton started mugging white kids in the California Ball Room Dunstable Corner Shop . Asian gangs from Luton started mugging anybody ( are you seekng a pattern develop) Luton is a **** hole don't go there The Four Tops only had 1 top , they were late , out of tune and lowest of lows did a medley Elton John Wembley 1975. Watched Chakka Khan, Joe Walsh , Eagles , Beach Boys just as the sun was setting and did all of their classics and then fat Reg came on and did the Captain Fantastic album in its entirety. Nearly crushed as the crowd walked out
I've been following a Spurs fan on line who does acoustic songs on what he calls the whiskeysessions , worth a visit to @thenewtommitch
I've walked on The Damned a few times - maybe 5? It has to be balanced with having seen them over 130 times...but when they're bad, they're ****ing awful. Often it's because they're pissed and that used to lead to fights between members and someone flouncing off the stage. Now they're older it's rarer but Mrs B and I walked on them when they headlined a Punk Festival about 5 years ago. The Subs were great as were The Dickies but The Damned pissed me off no end and we left mid-set When Prince did a 2 week residency at the O2 for about £35 a ticket, Mrs B and I got tickets for 2 nights. A mate of hers begged and pleaded with us to give him the tickets for the Friday, which we did. So, we went on the Sunday. We walked out after 20 minutes of him coming on stage (over an hour late) when he did a Beatles medley and was **** in a way that is hard to describe....of course, he was ****ing brilliant on the Friday... Mrs B II loved Marc Almond and I did like Soft Cell but I went to see him solo with her - must have been '86. After a couple of numbers, I repaired to the bar to try and forget that I'd ever been there.. To keep in with the 'it all kicked off' theme, I went down to Brighton to see Sham 69 in '78. Ostensibly it was a gig but it was actually a Palace v Brighton match with Pursey pleading with punters to cool it. He shouldn't have bothered and the gig was called off so that the fighting could be ushered out onto the streets.
That reminded me of a Sham 69 gig at Friers Aylesbury , they brought a coach load of Herbert's from south London, mixed with a troop of pissed up farm boys from Buckinghamshire , it made the Alamo look like a vicar's tea party , when they left the coach had no windows or mirrors
That sounds about right. I wasn't a huge fan but I felt sorry for Pursey. He really meant well but couldn't control it...who could at that time?