21/09/06
With ipod accompaniment -
Categories: Todays entry shall be accompanied by bracketed notes about which songs come up on my ipod shuffle as I write.
(TRACK: "Do you love me - Berry Gordy jr" - a few weeks before my laptop shuffled off it's mortal coil I spent an evening downloading songs from the internet. One of the little projects I set myself that night was to download the entire "Blues Brothers" back catalogue as recorded by original artists. The self-made album is entitled "Roots of the Blues Brothers" and this track is a part of that. In the time it has taken me to write this it has finished.)
I've got a proper hectic week coming up, have spent most of today trying to psyche myself up to it. It's not so much the gig count (every night bar Monday) but more the driving, which shall be of heroic levels. I turned down a gig in Exmouth tomorrow night because of that - didn't want to put another 400 miles on the clock of the car that's going to be pushed to it's limits next week. I'm going to host the East Dulwich Celebrity Pub Quiz again instead which isn't nearly as far.
(TRACK: "I'm your number one fan - The Beautiful South" - this is from a surprisingly good quality live bootleg called "Charmed". The Beautiful South are my favourite band in the whole world -a genuine soundtrack to my teen/adult life. I can rarely get through a concert of theirs without blubbing at some sad memory evoking song. This is a nice song with an uplifting chorus for an insecure performer; "one thing I never said to you, one thing I never can, amongst the false applause and the deafening cheers, I'm your number one fan")
When I booked all these gigs in I sort of forgot I would actually have to go and actually do them. Looking at my diary on paper with the fees next to the gigs it is a financially rewarding week. Looking at my diary on the map it is a fucking road movie. York, Stafford, Paisley (Glasgow), Stratford-upon Avon, Brighton, London - on it goes. For some reason I got it into my head that Blackpool would be a good place to stay on the night of the York gig so have arranged that. Yes I know. Don't know what I was thinking - its about 140 miles away.
(TRACK: "Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy Original radio series" - I have all the "Hitchhikers" radio episodes from the originals to the most recent. A nice thing to have on my ipod but a pain in the arse when it's on shuffle as they don't really stand up as lone tracks! Have skipped it forward to "Are you lonesome tonight - Elvis Presley" - it's the version where he loses his cool and starts to laugh after the first verse, and for the duration of the song. I defy you to be able to listen all the way through without laughing too - it's incredibly infectious, particularly when he attempts to do the talking bit in the middle about the 'world being a stage' through his own loud laughs.)
I don't want to come across as whiny about the gigs by the way. It's better than the alternative of having no gigs at all, just worried about my car is all. It's fast approaching the 100,000 miles mark, and that's when they normally decide to die on me. My last car (a Daewoo Lanos) that I loved, gave in at Gretna services in the middle of the night when I was coming home from a gig at Glasgow uni. I paid a grand to have it fixed only for the big end to go proper on the way to Bangor uni a week later. I eventually sold it to a bloke advertising in the free local paper for scrap. I got fifty quid and kept the cd player and - fuck knows why - the cigarette lighter. He said the engine couldn't be fixed. A month later I got a speeding ticket through for it - despite the fact that I had told DVLA it had been sold. I was more gutted that it was back on the road again and that the bloke who came round had been a lying cunt. I still have the spare key on my key ring (I was very attached to that car!) so if I ever see it on the street I'm just going to take it back.
(TRACK: "Lonely at the Top - Randy Newman" - again, big fan of Randy Newman - musically brilliant and lyrically poignant and hilarious in equal measure. There's a real dry, sarcastic humour going on in a lot of his songs - I very nearly ironically called my Edinburgh fringe show this year "Lonely at the Top" because I like this track so much. It will probably be the title of my show next year, so there's a possible exclusive for you...).
Anyway, look - let's all just hope that my car stands up to the test and gets me everywhere I need to be and not sit here worrying about things that haven't happened yet. I'm going to go now because "Simon Smith and the amazing dancing bear" by the Alan Price Set has just come on and I want to go and listen to it. It's my very, very favourite song. No idea what it's about (it can't be taken at face value surely? maybe it really is a song about a lad with a dancing bear...) but it always lifts me a couple of notches.
Hope all is well in the world with you x
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