Britain from the Air (1993)

Photographs by Jason Hawkes/text by Jane Struthers

A decade or so ago I was on a family weekend break in Warwick.

At the end of the first day the Frau and I were in the hotel bar.

The tables had built in shelves with a selection of books.

This one caught my eye.

My community spiritedness/fear of getting caught

suppressed the fleeting urge to steal it.

Next day we took a trip out to a re-creation of a medieval farm.

They have old barns with ancient ploughs,

animals you can pet/feed and activities such as archery.

There was a small room with books that supporters had donated.

You guessed it...there was 'Britain from the Air' priced at £2.99.

So I stole it.

Just kidding...I bought it :)

The book has famous landmarks and buildings, as you'd expect,

but many of the pictures are rather artistic and beautiful  in composition.

The Needles, Isle of Wight

Holy Island, Wales

St. Ives, Cornwall 

The Vale of Llangollen, North Wales

Footway over the M4 Motorway

Holiday caravans in Rhyl, North Wales

Glastonbury Tor

The maze at Margam Abbey

Regards

Titus

Whistle and I'll Come to You (2010)

This is a BBC production first shown on BBC2 on December 24th 2010.

It's an adaptation of the M.R. James story starring John Hurt.

Another dark, brooding tale.

regards

Titus

link

Little Feat

Winterland Arena

San Francisco, CA

February 14th 1976

Remastered FM.

The first track is like a soundcheck.

After that the mix improves.

Usual top quality performance one would expect from Little Feat.

"Fuck Off Honky" :)

regards

Titus

01 intro/A Apolitical Blues

02 Skin it Back

03 Fat Man in the Bathtub

04 One Love Stand/Rock and Roll Doctor

05 On Your Way Down

06 All that You Dream

07 Cold Cold Cold/Dixie Chicken/Tripe Face Boogie

08 Willin'

09 Teenage Nervous Breakdown

link

Never heard of the "86" thing before.

I'm still recovering from that bloody 6-7 BS.

I like this photo which leaves little to the imagination as to what Charlie thinks of Donald:

A mixture of pity and loathing is how I'd describe that look :)

300% pity and 1200% loathing in Trump-math.

I'm no fan of the Royals but I have to concede

King Chaz v.3.0 did a good job in his speech to the US congress.

His command of language and reason being in stark contrast

to what usually emanates from that woeful building.

regards

Titus

Cheap Trick

Stanley Theatre

Pittsburgh, PA

November 14th 1977

Remastered FM or soundboard?.

Very rough n rowdy...listen when drunk.

I suspect this may have been a support slot for the band

as they were doing a lot of those around this time.

If so, I don't know who the headliner was.

regards

Titus

01 Hello There/Come On, Come On

02 Elo Kiddies

03 Speak Now or Forever Hold Your Peace

04 Big Eyes

05 Southern Girls

06 Downed

07 You're a Loser

08 Ain't That a Shame

09 He's a Whore

10 Please, Mrs. Henry

11 Goodnight

12 Clock Strikes Ten

13 Auf Wiedersehen

link

You better watch out you better beware Albert said that E = mc²

Cartoon by Gary Larson.

regards

Titus

Jukes

We Might Disappear (2008)

Tammy Payne's Juke project didn't exactly set the world on fire.

This is their second album which I've always loved.

Laid-back Indie/Folk/Country/Lounge music with some real ear-worm tunes.

regards

Titus

01 Pears and Milk

02 Something Important

03 Trust Your Feelings

04 The Stupidest Things

05 From Over There

06 Mother Sister

07 Land All at Sea

08 Lose a Day

09 Born in the Sea

10 He Runs Like the Wind

11 I Love the Snow

link

Hawkwind

Fairfield Hall

Croyden, UK

September 25th 1977- 

Remastered compilation.

I mixed the partial Croyden soundboard with a couple of bonuses.

The jam is from the Quark sessions and sounds a lot like Steppenwolf.

The last track is not the greatest quality

but it's an interesting early Robert Calvert rendition of a poem

that would eventually become the lyrics for 'Spirit of the Age'.

regards

Titus

01 Brainstorm

02 High Rise

03 Robot

04 Wind of Change

05 Jack of Shadows

bonus tracks:

06 A Minor Jam Session (studio 1977)

07 Starfarer's Dispatch (live 1971)

link

Beat Club

Episode 71

September 25th 1971

This episode has a brief bull fighting clip.

I'm not into that disgusting animal abuse.

That aside, it's another decent show.

regards

Titus

Birth Control - The Work is Done

Canned Heat - A Long Way from L.A./Big City

If - Forgotten Roads

Family - Holding the Compass

Creedence Clearwater Revival - Sweet Hitch-Hiker

Curved Air - Back Street Love

Deep Purple - No, No, No

link

 

One finger, one thumb

one nod of the head, stand up

sit down, keep moving

regards

Titus

Ramones

Cahn Auditorium

Northwestern University

Evanston, Illinois

October 13th 1979

Remastered FM.

Repaired and patched where necessary.

Makes your fingers bleed just listening to it :)

regards

Titus

01 intro/Blitzkrieg Bop/Teenage Lobotomy

02 Rockaway Beach

03 I Don't Want You

04 Go Mental

05 Gimme Gimme Shock Treatment/Rock N Roll High School

06 I Wanna Be Sedated

07 I Just Want to Have Something to Do

08 She's the One/I'm Against It

09 Sheena is a Punk Rocker/Havana Affair/Commando

10 Needles and Pins

11 I'm Affected

12 I Want You Around

13 Surfin' Bird

14 Cretin Hop

15 All the Way/California Sun

16 I Don't Want to Walk around with You

17 Today Your Love, Tomorrow the World

18 Pinhead

19 Do You Wanna Dance

20 Suzy is a Headbanger/Let's Dance

21 Chinese Rocks/Judy is a Punk/We're a Happy Family

link

I've seen clearer footage of bigfoot.

regards

Titus

Sound advice from Gary Larson.

regards

Titus

Flo & Eddie

Saltlageret

Copenhagen, Denmark

January 22nd 1981

Remastered audience recording.

Half gig/half slide show presentation.

It's a retrospective ot what can happen should you choose a career in music :)

This should put a smile on anybody's face.

regards

Titus

Disc 1

01 intro/Happy Together (techno)

02 She'd Rather Be with Me

03 Nikki Hoi/Hippo Limbo

04 Just Another Town

05 Eleanor

06 banter/medley feat:

     It Ain't Me Babe

     You Showed Me

     Mom & Dad

Disc 2

01 Karma Sutra Time

02 banter/Keep it Warm

03 commercial break/Eddie Are You Kidding?

     banter/medley feat:

     Fleetwood Mac/Village People/Pink Floyd

04 Happy Together

05 outro

link

The Hound of the Baskervilles (1959)

The classic Hammer adaptation of Arthur Conan Doyle's gothic fable.

With Peter Cushing as Sherlock Holmes,

Christopher Lee as Sir Henry Baskerville

and André Morell as Doctor Watson.

It was the first version of the novel to be filmed in colour.

Multiple optional subs are included.

Subs in other languages are available on request.

p.s. I have switched internet providers.

All seems good and I've saved a lot of money :)

regards

Titus

link

Chick Corea & Origin

Vancouver, Washington

October 22nd 1999

Remastered soundboard.

Another recording I'm unsure about.

It is cited as being an outdoor festival

and the host, Mark Garrick,  mentions "sod" having been put down.

I guess that means grass/turf.

The inference being that this is an annual event where sod was not previously featured.

An open air fest at the end of October though?

There are several radio stations that could be KJazz related

and I couldn't find any with references to Mark Garrick.

Perhaps someone from the Washington area could shed some light?

regards

Titus

Disc 1

01 intro (Mark Garrick)//Psalm

02 band intros/Hand Me Down

Disc 2

01 Bewitched, Bothered & Bewildered

02 Lila/Awakening

03 percussion & marimba/Armando's Tango

link

regards

Titus

The value of money.

Roman Abramovich's primary superyacht, Eclipse, cost approximately $700 million to build.

Live Aid raised an estimated $200 million for famine relief in Ethiopia.

I think I've just found the solution for world famine!

Where's my Nobel prize?

regards

Titus

Rock Family Trees (documentary)

Yes & ELP.

Rock Family Trees was created by British rock journalist, author, and illustrator Pete Frame.

Starting in 1971, he mapped the intricate line-up changes of rock bands

in hand-drawn, highly detailed genealogies, eventually turning them into books

like The Complete Rock Family Trees and a BBC television series.

Narrated by John Peel, this episode focuses on the history of Yes and ELP

with contributions from most of the band members and associated acts

alongside vintage clips etc.

Worth a butcher's if you're into these prog dinosaurs.

regards

Titus

link

Yes

Sounding Out (BBC)

The Pavilion

Hemel Hempstead, UK

October 3rd 1971

First broadcast on January 10th 1972

plus

Jon Anderson

A&E Breakfast with the Arts - November 2005

I took this from an old DVD found in "the cardboard box"

Jon's accent is still solid here which always warms my heart.

New recruit Rick Wakeman:

It's a rebroadcast, with introduction by Glenn Tilbrook,

of the classic 'Sounding Out' footage

combined with a solo spot/interview with Jon from 2005.

All in stunning Lux-or-Vision quality.

regards

Titus

link

More fun from Gary Larson.

regards

Titus

The Frau Luxor has recently developed an interest in the Brontë sisters.

At the weekend we visited their former home in Haworth, West Yorkshire.

They lived in a parsonage (pictured above) which is now a museum.

The village itself is very picturesque

with several great pubs just a stone's throw away from each other.

The steady stream of Brontë enthusiasts makes this economically viable.

Haworth was first mentioned as a settlement in 1209.

This road plunges down from the main square and probably ends in a singularity:

Inside the house, visitors gasped when an eerie figure suddenly appeared.

Grown men fell to their knees and crossed themselves.

Mothers held their children close.

'Twas the ghostly apparition of Heathcliff Luxor:

He recited Biblical passages which turned out to be from 'Pulp Fiction'.

Weird!

regards

Titus