Then, for a laugh, watch this version

Gee seeing Joe Cocker again got me thinking about the days when you did not need to be a black gangster with an automatic pistol in your pants, to be a larger than life character in the music industry.

One consolation of being old is having experienced my halcyon days when live music was at it's zenith, and Melbourne had the best live music scene in the world.

I remember sharing a "cigarette" backstage at the "original" Hard Rock Cafe" with the boys from AC/DC after one of their first Melbourne gigs.

I never knew at the time how special the scene in Melbourne was, as I had no other experience to compare it to, but after travelling for a few years I came to realise how privileged  we were.

Some of the greatest performances I ever saw were from people you would never have heard of, but the greatest performance I ever saw was from a Kiwi band, on their Mental Notes Tour in 1975/6, with a performance as close to perfection as I could ever hope for.

The joy of seeing so many great bands live, certainly nurtured a love of music that has stayed with me my whole life.

Well my day started out a bit of a dud, I had told my daughter how I used to like sliding down steep hills on bendy boards when I was a kid, and went looking for a steep grassy slope, with no luck.

So we went to the pool instead, and had a few hours mucking around, which was OK.
I want to take her skiing, but my wife hates the snow, and can't ski, so I am meeting some resistance, I wonder who will win out? lol



Maybe I should have stuck with my crush on renee from these days.
SHE would come skiing with us.

Ha ha .. nice Mozza



My mum used to love this ^^^ back when she was young and it was all too beautiful lol

Mind you she's still a stunner even at 61!

Ah Itchycoo Park, what a great song, I still love it.
Ronnie Lane is one of my all time faves as well, I have a lot of 'em,

Blondie was always great, and the summer of 1979 in Europe was the summer of "Heart Of Glass", every country, every disco, pub, marketplace, in every country, had it blaring out, and even after all that I did not grow to hate it, which means it had to be something special.

If your mum does not have it, do her a favour and buy her Ronnie Lane's album that he did with Pete Townsend, called Rough Mix, it would be in my top 10 best albums of all time.
Here is just one track from it.



Ronnie Lane died in 1997 after having MS since this album was made, so many of the greats have passed away, but they still bring joy untold with the music they left us as their legacy.

Awesome Kiwi band .. awesome song!

Wow, they were very, very good Lisa.
I am amazed at the amount of musical talent that comes out of NZ, and I think Ireland may be the only other place on earth which may compete with it on the musical talent to population ratio.

Kiwi mates have played me some amazing music from bands I have never heard of, they just come and go without raising a ripple of interest from the commercial music industry, which is a crying shame when you see the dross that makes the top 40 charts, perennially.

Mind you modern lyricists are remarkable, I think of my daughter's current fave, Justin Bieber, it goes, Baby, baby, baby , oooh, baby, baby, baby, oooh, baby, baby, baby, oooh, baby will you be mine?(repeat, repeat, repeat)

I guess that will be a "Classic" for her in thirty years, so I guess he is just the Bay City Rollers of this generation.

Helian, that surprises me about Hitchens, but I think it is more likely a case of a critic fearing he may not be able to produce anything of a standard that he would consider great, which is a shame, because many of us have much lower standards, and would enjoy his work, even if it was not a great of modern literature.

Wow, they were very, very good Lisa.
I am amazed at the amount of musical talent that comes out of NZ, and I think Ireland may be the only other place on earth which may compete with it on the musical talent to population ratio.

- Mozza

Agree with you on that 100%! I so enjoy listening to their music and it's always amazing