Daily Archives: July 24, 2013

Neil Young – pure bourbon

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Mike TadmanMike is not a professional kayaker (it doesn’t look like a real word), but who knows what he would decide given the choice? Mike and Kev ended up as accidental gig buddies. All thanks to Rob, who couldn’t go, but is over it now. No, really, he is, read for yourselves.

 

Another real newbie to the blog here!

A couple of months ago I went along to the Year 4 dads’ Butcher’s Arms session. Whilst there, Kev had asked if I’d been or were going to any gigs soon.  So happened that I was off to B’ham to see Neil Young and Crazy Horse (taking Morgan, my son, to his first ever gig). Rob was going too, but not Kev. Long story short: Rob couldn’t go so Kev ended up coming along too.

An amazing night as old Neil worked his way through the Crazy Horse back catalogue, with a wall of noise and fantastic guitar work. Morgan loves the acoustic stuff, so adored Heart of Gold and a great version of Blowin in the wind, as well as one or two timeless classics, such as Powderfinger and Cortez. He wasn’t so enamoured with the end of Walk Like A Giant, ten-minutes of feedback, abstract walls of sound, waste paper blowing over the stage, Mr Young huddled together between giant fake speakers with Crazy Horse.

Most of us starting to think- will it never end, but “Ah!”, I thought. I know one person who will be hoping for at least another 10 minutes more… And he didn’t let me down in the post gig review on the way home, picking it as one of his 2 top moments, along with the extended F****in up banter between Young and the band. I expected nothing less. Neil Young – pure bourbon!!! (as opposed to Cliff’s Kaliber).

Cheers Kevin, have a great birthday – 1973 – what a vintage. Sorry I can’t be there.

A list or an A-list?

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Simon CoxEver since their first musical meeting, Simon took it upon himself to get Kevin to acknowledge that thinking The Who are the greatest band of all is as OK as being a fan of Led Zeppelin. Can you guess if he’s been successful? Yeah, you guess  right! Doesn’t hurt to try again!

 

A list, Mr Wood?* A favourite Oxford gig list? Mmmm…….Ida Maria in a pub of 40 people, Happy Mondays and feeling young and fit**, Chantelle MacGregor out Hendrixing Hendrix……all good, but please open your mind, park the need for heavy riffs in your impressively tidy garage, and inhale the magic of Half Man Half Biscuit. A John Peel seal of approval must count for something?***

 

How can you not be tempted with song titles: Joy Division Oven Gloves or Something’s Rotten In The Back Of Iceland

Is it just me? No! There were other balding men of a certain age bouncing and sweating gently with joy at the Zodiac on a summer May’s evening. I could extol further but I’ve been  given a clear bore alert and advised that I’m supposed to be wishing you a jolly happy birthday. So, we must celebrate and drink until you’re convinced of the superiority of Keith Moon. Or until we fall asleep.

Have a good one old boy.

Simon

*should that be A-list Mr Wood?

**relative to the audience

*** ‘when I die I want them to be buried with me’

From Poo’le to Woo Le

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Rob PooleRob is another of the four university musketeers. Studying his and Si’s posts will give you a very comprehensive idea of how he spent his Leicester years. Click on Rob’s picture in case you can’t clearly see the sign over his head 😉

 

When I was invited to contribute to Kev’s music blog, my first response was ‘challenging’.

Mind you, not because I don’t know him all that well. I mean I lived with Kev, Si and Pete for 3 years when we were at the University of Leicester and we’re still best mates 20 years on even if we really don’t all see each other half as often as we should.

No, the trepidation I fear here is, I’ll admit, nobody’s fault but mine.

You see, these were great days for a young lad, away from home for the first time. Nevermind and Ten had just been released and Bryan Adams was fresh out of the charts after a 40-year spell at number one. This was a time to experiment, to meet new people, try new things, broaden my musical horizons and finally put away the Deacon Blue LP.

So for me, Kev was a bit of a guru. He knew his music. The problem was, I didn’t. As much as I wanted to I just couldn’t get Rollins Band or Mr Bungle. I tried, I really did. But these were incomprehensible walls of noise to someone that thought Riders on the Storm was ground breaking.

That’s not to say I didn’t push my boundaries. We toured the record shops together on a Saturday afternoon and, to be fair, I bought some right old rubbish.

And then I played it too loud and probably to the wrong audience, whereas Kev would happily retreat with his latest purchase, headphones on, at a sensible volume and, well, you knew he liked it because he’d scrunch his nose up a little and give it a bit of a faux Wayne’s World head bang. I’m sure he still does.

But you know what? Some of it must have rubbed off on me because I know what is and what should never be and it’s all thanks to Kev.

And there’s only a very few who will ever know what is meant by ‘ironing board art’, ‘finial relocation’, ‘loft hatch interuptus’, ‘badge fighting’ and why it’s never a good idea to play cricket with Intense Mark in a crowded park. They are a venerated few and that was a time that I will always look back on with the fondest of memories.

So all that leaves me to say is, from Poo’le to Woo Le, Happy Birthday mate!

It’s all just bloody noise, Kev…

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Emily Crowley-WroeEmily first met Kev stalking the OUP salad bar with Shaun (her future husband) in hot pursuit of mince-meat. She was the first person to accuse Kev of being the fridge thief in the ELT kitchen, stealing random pieces of fruit (half an avocado, a piece of fruit and nut) resulting in the commonly used suffix of greeting “SCAV”, for example, musicalblogscav.

 

… This was my favourite wind-up phrase to sling at Kev over a few drinks of a Fritag, BC (before children) that is. As the Ant put it “ridicule is nothing to be scared of” and so it was with you dear salad-muncher. Most Friday nights at 5 o’clock on the dot, Kev, Shaun and me would leave the pillars of decency (OUP), find a suitable watering-hole and wile away the night talking existential crisis and, of course, music. Much of the music talk would involve a large dose of 80s nostalgia – the 80s being our musical common ground.

It went something like this, “remember  Kev ‘Eee, haa, Eee, haa’, arms erect, cross, uncross, big stride forward. Brilliant Prince Charming vid. Or, the Midge, walking in the cold night air in his Del-Boy camel jacket “the feeling is gone only you and I, aaaggghhhh Vienna”. Don’t forget Frankie, my first LP which I know you appreciated “I, yi, yi, yaahaaa”. What else? Oh yeah, much fond talk of the likes of A-Ha, Toyah Wilcox and Kajagoogoo (snigger) and anything else we could remember taping form the charts. Thanks Kev for all those musical reminisces. Keep-on perforating your eardrums.

Love-ya, Emily xxxx