After the revelations of the past week, we believe one place to start the campaign is by lobbying Asda. A massive corporation that could take the first step in cutting ties with this disgusting publication and shutting it down. Please show your support. Below is a copy of a letter and email I have sent to Asda CEO Andy Clarke and Customer Services. Let your voice be heard too.
Dear Sir,
I wish to express my overwhelming disappointment and anger that you continue to stock and affiliate yourself with such a publication as The Sun.
I have been a loyal Asda customer for many years. I am also a Merseysider. I am also a Liverpool Football Club supporter. Members of my friends and family were at the Hilsborough disaster.
Whilst we have known for many years that the hideous stories used to try and disgrace our fellow supporters on that day were lies, Mr Cameron's revelations in Commons from the independent enquiry mean that the world now has definitive proof.
The Sun's editor at the time decided to run with a story that so grossly sensationalised these lies and claims that peoples lives and memories were tarnished. With no regard to TRUTH and real investigative journalism, The Sun wanted dirt. They wanted to sell newspapers. They wanted profit. Hiding behind squeals 'Freedom of Press' they have hurt and damaged thousands of people as they have continued to act in such an immoral and seedy way in the 23 years since.
Newspapers are supposed to be that. A provider of news, of reasoned and rational opinion. The Sun is gutter press at it's worst. They can no longer hide behind their right to an opinion. Because they have been proven to print lies. Slander. Deformation of character.
As a family-orientated company, who have ethics and a strong mission statement. You should cut all ties and affiliations. You could do what is right. You could make SUCH a positive statement to your customers and the world.
Please, PLEASE stop selling The Sun and selling/buying advertising space, for the good of our society.
Somebody asked me to list my Top 50 Studio Albums of all time. And I rose to the challenge with gusto. For somebody who loves music as much as I do, it was imperative that, not only did I list my favourite albums, but I managed to do justice to my varied music tastes.
I came across many problems. How many albums by your favourite bands do you list? If I'm completely honest with myself, Nearly every Beatles album would be in my Top 50 (maybe not Yellow Submarine BUT, 'Hey Bulldog' is one of my favourite songs. It really should have been on The White Album, I digress . . .) but I didn't put them all in, I had to limit myself. In order to create an interesting and varied list that would represent me and also hopefully introduce the people who read it to some albums or artists they'd never heard of, or had, but never checked out.
The Top 5 are in no order (I stick to my view that true music connoisseurs could never pick a favourite) and the 45 that follow are in some sort of random yet very loose order.
1. The Doors - LA Woman
2. The Beatles - The White Album
3. Pulp - Different Class
6. The Doors -Strange Days
7. The Beatles - Please Please Me
8. Pulp - His 'n' Hers
9. Led Zeppelin - II
10. The Kinks - The Kink Kontroversy
11. The Small Faces - There Are But Four Small Faces
12. Cream - Disraeli Gears
13. The Rolling Stones - December's Children ( And Everybody's)
14. The Animals - The Animals
15. Bruce Springsteen - Born To Run
16. The Sonics - Here Are The Sonics
17. Led Zeppelin - III
18. Saturday Night Fever - OST
19. The Jimi Hendrix Experience - Are You Experienced?
20. The Yardbirds - Having A Rave Up
21. Jackie Lomax - Is This What You Want
22. Iggy and The Stooges - Raw Power
23. Kings Of Leon - Aha Shake Heartbreak
24. The Beach Boys - Pet Sounds
25. Them - The Angry Young Them
26. The Who - Live At Leeds (1970)
27. The Electric Prunes - I Had Too Much To Dream ( Last Night)
28. Johnny Cash - At San Quentin
29. Bob Dylan - Blood On The Tracks
30. Suede - Coming Up
31. Booker T & The MGs - Green Onions
32. The Jam - All Mod Cons
33. The White Stripes - Elephant
34. Julie Driscoll, Brian Auger & The Trinity - Open
35. Curtis Mayfield - Super Fly
36. Gil Scott Heron - Winter In America
37. Stone Roses - Stone Roses
38. Paul McCartney & Wings - Band on the Run
39. Electric Light Orchestra - Out of the Blue
40. Moby - Play
41. Love - Forever Changes
42. MC5 - Kick Out the Jams
43. Paul Weller - Stanley Road
44. Pink Floyd - Piper At the Gates of Dawn
45. Creedence Clearwater Revival - Cosmo's Factory
46. Chic - C'est Chic
47. Blondie - Parallel Lines
48. Prodigy - Experience
49. Rage Against The Machine - Rage Against The Machine
50. Jeff Buckley - Grace
I urge you to try doing it yourselves. It's hard. And frustrating. But I spent a few very happy hours listening to songs I hadn't heard for a while and looking at album sleeves I had neglected for some time. The next 50 will be coming soon.
In all the years I have been an avid and enthusiastic music fan, all the countless hours and days I've sat listening to the greatest music from the last 50 years, whether it's been trawling through my Dad's vinyl, from my own collection or in more recent years, the music-lovers dream tool that is the Internet; Bruce Springsteen aka 'The Boss' is somebody I seemed to have passed over. Giving a brief nod to his more mainstram hits from the 80s such as 'Born In The USA' and Dancing in the Dark' (which I must admit, has always been a "dancing in front of the mirror" fave of mine), I had always thought of him as a dated, middle-of-the-road, American Rock dinosaur. Perhaps a little arrogant and narrow-minded of me, considering as it turns out, how little I knew about him, and it also turns out, how sometimes, perceptions can be so very wrong . . .
Considering how devoted my better half Nick is to him, it was inevitable that I would be making a trip to see the man himself at some point, and this turned out to be last Friday the 22nd June at The Etihad stadium in Manchester. As I was already apprehensive about leaving Charlie Jack for the first time, the day didn't start well at all with the skies pouring an incessant dull, pounding rain that didn't look as though it was going to let up. Nick assured me the weather report predicted it was to pass later on in the afternoon, and I simply retorted "Two words - Michael Fish" . . .
Having got completely drenched in the rather large queue outside, discovering that my parka is NOT waterproof and purchasing 2 bottles of warm cider and being relieved of £8 for the privelidge; we then then proceeded to find some seats which, depending on your point of view were good and bad. Good - as they really were quite close to the stage and bad - due to the fact that we were missing the roof covering by several feet. Hood up and feeling the onset of what I imagined to be the first known modern case of Trenchfoot, I settled down, anxious in the knowledge that Springsteen is known for his lengthly stage performances, sometimes in excess of 3 and a half hours . . .
As the impatient and excited crowd erupted into cheers, Bruce and his E-Street Band came on stage and exploded into the opening chords of 'Badlands' and I found myself on my feet, cheering and clapping at his infectious on-stage enthusiasm and, well, sheer bloody talent. The man and his loyal and diverse band are truly amazing musicians, gifted and at the forefront of their art and I recall thinking to myself "I think I'm actually going to really enjoy this".
Well, cut to the scene 2 hours later and I was delirious with happiness, admiration and emotion. I had danced to 'The E-Street Shuffle' and 'Out In The Street', clapped along to rousing, political stompers 'Wrecking Ball' and 'Death To My Hometown' and listened with baited breath to an eerie yet beautiful 'Jack Of All Trades' amongst others, the rain forgotten, my glasses steamed up and my cheeks physically aching from grinning. Despite the absence of sax supremo and The Boss' sidekick Clarence Clemons aka 'The Big Man' who sadly passed away last year, the E-Street band were terrific with the addition of Clarence's nephew Jake on sax, giving the music the sort of power and emotion that has tiny shivers dripping down your spine, yet at the same time making you feel warm inside. A tribute to The Big Man from Bruce with a montage of photos on the big screen brought fans old and new to a heartfelt applause as he remembered his absent friend, ensuring that he remained a part of the legendary E-Street show, as he was for so many years . . .
By the encore, that included a run of songs (according to fans, one of the best he's ever done) such as 'Thunder Road', 'Born To Run', 'Bobby Jean', 'Dancing in the Dark' and 'Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out', I was unashamedly converted; worshipping at the altar of Springsteen along with his thousands of other loyal and dedicated fans that were there with me. And when he finished with an awe-inspiring cover of The Isley Brothers' 'Twist and Shout' (I've never heard it played like THAT before!) I had a few things on my mind, namely; Could this man get any better?, How on Earth does he do this at 62?, Where have the last 3 and a half hours gone? and more importantly - although somewhat worryingly - How has ALL of this passed me by for so long and how many others are out there, blissfully unaware of the greatness that is Bruce Springsteen and his E-Street Band?!!! . . .
So fortunately now, I am one of the lucky ones. I am now a converted 'Tramp' I am proud to say, and will be first in line for tickets when The Boss tours again. But in the meantime, I look forward in anticipation to my own personal journey in discovering the rest of his music, which continued even today with me and Charlie having an impromptu dance to 'Bobby Jean' where the meaning of the lyrics will be noticed slightly more, and that bar here or that note there will literally strike a chord within us, the way that music does with us all. And that is why I continue to love it so much, just now with the very welcome addition of The Boss and his legendary E-Street Band.
Because tramps like us, baby we were born to run . . . . . . .
Well, one type of music I absolutely love is Garage. No, not THAT Garage; the tinny, over-produced, dub-step 'music' enjoyed by a certain urban youngster. I mean the original genre they called Garage. Forerunner to Punk and influencing many modern bands today such as Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, The White Stripes, The Black Keys and Kings of Leon. Garage is INSANELY listenable and I just can't help but want to jump up and dance whenever I hear it (just ask my good friend Viv, as she is usually with me). It's heavy fuzz and snotty vocals, sometimes broken with a psychedelic snippet or horn instrumental in the middle - Garage was also a Go-Go dancer's dream . . .
The most well-known and critically acclaimed Garage compilation, you've probably heard of - "Nuggets". But I've found another which I cannot stop listening to, despite it being in my collection for a good few years now "Uptight Tonight: The Ultimate 60s Garage Collection". Every song is pretty much a treat, one of my favourites of all time being on there anyway 'Psychotic Reaction' by Count Five. In fact I love this song so much that when I was DJing one night in The Zanzibar in Liverpool I played it three times, me and Viv taking to the dancefloor for all of them, I hasten to add.
Now how much do I wish I lived in a time whereby I could wear a bell-sleeved mini dress, backcomb my hair, paint my eyes jet black and dance in a sweaty club all night to music like this? Fortunately for me (and maybe you) there are many Garage revival nights and Festivals across Britain and Europe and Facebook is a great way of keeping in the loop with these things
I have yet to manage to get to one of these weekenders, and with recently having little Charlie, it may be some time. But that's the beauty of this music. I can quite happily bang one of my favourite Garage songs on and dance like a demented Go Go dancer in my living room. The music makes me happy. There's nothing I like more than to share amazing music with people (and if you've ever had the misfortune of being at a house party with me, you will know this) and Garage is definitely one of my preferred choices to share. So for anybody who hasn't really listened to it, or for people who have, it doesn't really matter, here's 10 Garage Rock Gems to start off with:
I Had Too Much To Dream (Last Night) The Electric Prunes
Suzy Creamcheese - Teddy & His Patches
Pushin Too Hard - The Seeds
We're Pretty Quick - The Chob
Trouble - The Music Machine
Search and Destroy - Iggy & The Stooges
Out Of Our Tree - The Wailers
I'm Gonna Make You Mine - The Shadows Of The Knight
Respect - The Vagrants
Looking At You - MC5
Garage also influenced, and was influenced by many British R 'n' B bands such as The Creation, The Pretty Things and The Action but, that just opens up a whole new can of little musical worms . . . Until another time then.
Meanwhile, I urge you all to listen to just ONE of the songs above, kick off your shoes, clear a space in the front room and let go!!!
