All You Need Is Love

Love is all you need…

	Love, love, love. Love, love, love, love, love, love. Love, love, love. Love, love, love, love, love, love. Love, love, love: It’s easy! Ooh!There’s nothing you can do that can’t be done. Nothing you can sing that can’t be sung. Nothing you can say but you can learn how to play the game It’s easy. There’s nothing you can make that can’t be made. No one you can save that can’t be saved. Nothing you can do but you can learn how to be you in time It’s easy. All you need is love All you need is love, All you need is love. Love is all you need. All you need is love All you need is love, All you need is love. Love is all you need. There’s nothing you can know that isn’t known. Nothing you can see that isn’t shown. Nowhere you can be that isn’t where you’re meant to be. It’s easy. All you need is love All you need is love, All you need is love, love Love is all you need. All you need is love All together now! All you need is love Everybody! All you need is love, love Love is all you need.

Happy New Year!

Artist of the week, month, whatever: Patrick Woodroffe

Today I’m spotlighting one of my favorite artists, fantasy master Patrick Woodroffe. I discovered Woodroffe when someone gave me a copy of his book “Hallelujah Anyway”, published in 1984. That was a long, long time ago, and I remeber how it blew my mind. I’ve recently looked him up, wondering what else he’s been up to. He’s been busy, publishing many books, exhibiting his art, writing poetry etc..  Woodroffe is from West Yorkshire, born 1940, graduated from the Univerity of Leeds. He started his career as an illustrator in the 70s designing covers for books by Roger Zelazny. He’s been publishing and exhibiting his work ever since.

I love fantasy art, but too much of it is cheesy, morbid, priapic, and dystopian. Woodroffe’s work has a sense of fun, a wonderment. I particularly love his tomogpahps of little green merpeople.  He also creates fanstasy landscapes that actually look like places you’d want to visit, and sexy girls who don’t look skeezy.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A signature creation, Elephas Minimus, from the book Mythopoeikon…

 

All Tomorrow’s Parties

All Tomorrow’s Parties, The Velvet Underground & Nico, 1967

 

The old saying goes: No one bought the Velvets’ albums, but all those who did started their own bands. What we know for sure is that there’s a lot of bands who’ve built careers out of trying to sound like the Velvet Underground.

This is a clip illustrating ‘All Tomorrow’s Parties’ with a not-inappropriate fashion show. Since there isn’t any good footage of their famous performances, this does well enough.

This is Nico’s most difiniteve song, the big one, the one she’s known for. She absolutely hated having to perform her old hits, and answering endless questions about Andy and his Factory.  She was mightily frustrated that no one cared about her solo albums or film work. But she new that those songs were her bread and butter, so she continued faithfully performing them. This is a clip, probably from the late seventies or early eighties, showing the singer wild-eyed and drug ravaged but still as strong as ever.

‘All Tomorrow’s Parties’ has been covered many times. This is Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds’ attempt, from “Kicking Against the Pricks” 1986.

All Those Years Ago

“You said it all/though not many had ears”

All Those Years Ago, George Harrison, Somewhere in England, 1981

George was always ‘the thoughtful Beatle’ and this is a typically thoughtful tribute to John Lennon. After their breakup, the Beatles didn’t always maintain the best relationship, with John and Paul in particular feuding with each other. George was always reluctant to discuss the issues he had with his bandmates -  his autobiography ‘I, Me, Mine’ focusses on non-Beatles related topics. This song is probably one of George’s frankest statements about John and the Beatles years. He is joined here by Ringo on drums and Paul and Linda on backing vocals.

I’m shouting all about love
While they treated you like a dog
When you were the one who had made it
     so clear
All those years ago.

I’m talking all about how to give
They don’t act with much honesty
But you point the way to the truth when you say
All you need is love.

Living with good and bad
I always look up to you
Now we’re left cold and sad
By someone the devil’s best friend
Someone who offended all.

We’re living in a bad dream
They’ve forgotten all about mankind
And you were the one they backed up to
     the wall
All those years ago
You were the one who Imagined it all
All those years ago.

Deep in the darkest night
I send out a prayer to you
Now in the world of light
Where the spirit free of the lies
And all else that we despised.

They’ve forgotten all about God
He’s the only reason we exist
Yet you were the one that they said was
     so weird
All those years ago
You said it all though not many had ears
All those years ago
You had control of our smiles and our tears
All those years ago

All the Young Girls Love Alice

There’s some inconsistency as to what the official title of this song really is. On the tracklisting it’s “All the Girls Love Alice”, but some books and sites put as ‘All the Young Girls Love Alice’. I like the latter, so that’s what I’m going with. The song is from Elton John’s 73 mega-hit “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road”.

It’s a very bouncy, danceable tune, with strong piano from Elt. Meanwhile, the lyrical content is provocative and shocking. Alice is a 16 year old lesbian who hustles older women and comes to a bad end for it.

The full original version…

Here’s a crappy incomplete live clip of the song, showing Sir Reggie in his finest feathers.

 All The Young Girls Love Alice :
Raised to be a lady by the golden rule
Alice was the spawn of a public school
With a double barrel name in the back of her brain
And a simple case of Mummy-doesn’t-love-me blues

Reality it seems was just a dream
She couldn’t get it on with the boys on the scene
But what do you expect from a chick who’s just sixteen
And hey, hey, hey, you know what I mean

All the young girls love Alice
Tender young Alice they say
Come over and see me
Come over and please me
Alice it’s my turn today

All the young girls love Alice
Tender young Alice they say
If I give you my number
Will you promise to call me
Wait till my husband’s away

Poor little darling with a chip out of her heart
It’s like acting in a movie when you got the wrong part
Getting your kicks in another girl’s bed
And it was only last Tuesday they found you in the subway dead

And who could you call your friends down in Soho
One or two middle-aged dykes in a Go-Go
And what do you expect from a sixteen year old yo-yo
And hey, hey, hey, oh don’t you know

As a bonus, here’s a picture of myself dressed as Elton John for Halloween. I wanted to do a Bowie costume, but I’m just not thin enough to pull it off anymore. So I went with Elton, because he’s chubby, he has terrible hair, and he doesn’t care if his prints clash.

All the Young Dudes

This was a hit for Mott the Hoople in 1972. Bowie produced their album of the same name, and he gave them the song that would become their biggest hit. Bowie cut a recording of “All the Young Dudes” and realesed it as a single, and continued playing it throughout his career, never letting anyone forget that without him Mott the Hoople would be nobody.

Now billy rapped all night bout his suicide
Kick it in the head when he was 25
All that speed jive
Dont wanna stay alive when youre 25

Lucys stealing clothes from unlocked cars
Freddys got zits from picking off the stars from his face
Funky little boat race
Oh the television man is crazy
Saying were juvenile delinquent wrecks
Oh man I need tv when I got t. rex
Brother you guessed
Im a dude yeah

All the young dudes
Carry the news
Boogaloo dudes
Carry the news

All the young dudes
Carry the news
Boogaloo dudes
Carry the news

Now jimmy looks sweet cause he dresses like a queen
But he can kick like a mule
Its a real mean team
We can love
Oh yes, we can love
Brothers back at home
With his beatles and his stones
We never got if off on that revolution stuff
It was such a drag
Too many snags
Well I drunk a lot of wine
And Im feeling fine
Gonna race some cat to bed
Is there concrete all around
Or is it in my head
Brother you guessed
Well Im a dude yeah

All the young dudes
Carry the news
Boogaloo dudes
Carry the news

All the young dudes
Carry the news
Boogaloo dudes
Carry the news

All the Way Down

All the Way Down, the Rolling Stones. Undercover,  1983

The 80s weren’t the best decade for the Stones. Like many people of their generation they underwent a massive midlife crisis during those years. Between 1981′s classic “Tattoo You” and 1989′s big comeback “Steel Wheels” they produced only two mediocre albums, of which this was the first. Throughout the 80s the Stones lost focus and preoccupied themselves with detoxing (or in Charlie’s case, retoxing), starting new families and pursuing solo projects. The music on ‘Undercover’ and later ‘Dirty Work’ strongly reflects that the old Glimmer Twins had grown apart and no longer saw eye to eye. Mick wanted to embrace a more contemporary sound, while Keith wanted to stick to the roots. In hindsight, Keith was probably right. But the inner conflict accounts for the inconsistency of the material.

I like this song because I think it’s funny. I like Mick’s dry dirty wit, and I like when he refers to himself as a ‘snotty little fool’.

All the Madmen

Nothing says Christmas than a dose of Bowie at his most Nietzschian. Enjoy.

All The Madmen

Day after day
They send my friends away
To mansions cold and grey
To the far side of town
Where the thin men stalk the streets
While the sane stay underground

Day after day
They tell me I can go
They tell me I can blow
To the far side of town
Where it’s pointless to be high
‘Cause it’s such a long way down
So I tell them that
I can fly, I will scream, I will break my arm

I will do me harm
Here I stand, foot in hand, talking to my wall
I’m not quite right at all…am I?

Don’t set me free, I’m as heavy as can be
Just my librium and me
And my E.S.T. makes three

‘Cause I’d rather stay here
With all the madmen
Than perish with the sadmen roaming free

And I’d rather play here
With all the madmen
For I’m quite content they’re all as sane as me

(Where can the horizon lie
When a nation hides
Its organic minds in a cellar…dark and grim
They must be very dim)

Day after day
They take some brain away
Then turn my face around
To the far side of town
And tell me that it’s real
Then ask me how I feel

Here I stand, foot in hand, talking to my wall
I’m not quite right at all
Don’t set me free, I’m as helpless as can be
My libido’s split on me
Gimme some good ‘ole lobotomy

‘Cause I’d rather stay here
With all the madmen
Than perish with the sadmen
Roaming free And I’d rather play here
With all the madmen
For I’m quite content
They’re all as sane as me
Zane, Zane, Zane Ouvre le Chien [rpt]

The original cover of “The Man Who Sold the World’ (1970) featured db in a ‘man’s dress’ by London designer Mr Fish, who specialized in ‘men’s dresses’. Fish also made a ‘man’s dress’ for Mick Jagger. Mick wore his dress at the 1969 Brian Jones memorial concert in Hyde Park.

 

 

All That Is My Own

All That Is My Own, Nico, Desertshore, 1970

The images you see are from the movie La cicatrice interiere by Philippe Garrel, and features Nico’s son Ari.

All Shook Up

 

The weird thing about liking Elvis is, when people find out you’re an Elvis fan they start gifting you with all kinds of Elvis memorabilia. That, and it’s embarassing to admit liking Elvis. He’s just so massively uncool. People tend to think of Elvis fans as being pathetic, trailer-dwelling lardballs. Hey just because Elvis was greasy and fat, doesn’t mean his fans are.

It’s intersting that in terms of cultural impact Elvis was like some kind of Zues from whose brow sprang everyone who came after. But in reality he was more like a cipher, an idiot savant who somehow channeled some cosmic magic. He didn’t have any creative input, did what his manager told him, and didn’t really give a shit about where his career was going. That’s why he spent the sixties making ten million crappy movies instead of making records, which is what he was good at.

This song, dated 1957, is part of his all-important pre-army ouvre, the material that influenced and began pretty much all popular music henceforth. Listen to it – it’s like a pure crystal gem. You know it was probably recorded live in a bare bones studio with three guys playing instruments and one mike. Really, all I can hear is handclaps, guitar and piano. It’s so minimal and yet so massive. The moral is; fancy vocoders and synths don’t make good records, good records make themselves.