Fix That Link!

After a while of neglecting my blog, I'm going through and fixing broken links, so if you have any re-up requests please let me know.

Sunday Night Special

More requests and other stuff.

Seven - Stranger Than Fiction (1984)

Private Lives - Swim Away (1982) - Rare B-Side from John Adams and the boys

Kevin Kitchen - Tightspot (1985)

More Goodies

A few more:

Hitlist - High Treason

A Bigger Splash - Silence

Still Life - Away From This Town

East of Java

I had a request for more from East of Java, so here are a couple I have:

East of Java - (Taipo Say) Drum

East of Java - And Chucks Out The Mexican (B-Side of "Different World")

Belated Christmas Goodies

Over the Christmas holiday I was back at home in the US and took the opportunity to rescue my turntable from storage and rip a few more obscure singles.

Some of these were requests, but most were just random picks. I did not have time to scan the covers before flying back to Europe and if there are any problems with the rips just let me know - I went through them quite quickly.

Enjoy!

Search Party - Lost Paradise [new rip, updated link November 2015]

Red Bamboo - Dance of Love

John Adams - Through The Eyes of Love

Delta - Mechanismo

Hitlist - Total Isolation

Update from the edge of the world

For extremely complicated reasons I won't go into, I've been spending the last couple of months back home in Europe which has been quite a change to say the least.

I've not felt like posting anything as you may have guessed but today I have a small story to tell.

A few years ago I wrote a post about my brother Ed and his refreshing attitude (here).

This week we were discussing music like we usually do when we just get a chance to chill out and hit 'random' on the stereo. When the U2 song "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" came on, my brother said that this could be his theme song. My heart fell because my brother, because of his disability, has never had a serious girlfriend and lives quite a lonely existence. I imagined him listening to these songs and being laid low by the experiences. I thought of the inherent yearning quality of the U2 track and privately wondered about the expectations of life. Yes folks, I am a deep thinker.

So we were silent for a moment. Then my brother continued. "Yeah, this is my song. I'm always losing my wallet, my car keys, my phone numbers.... I'm always looking for something!!"

I love you Ed.

Crying In The Library

I was in a fragile mood on Sunday, but that doesn't really tell the full story of how I felt tears welling up unexpectedly during a brief sojourn in the children's section of the library.

I sat down with two books, one of which I don't remember now. The other was a large pictorial history of the rock band Queen. I just thought it might be an interesting light read for a few minutes, and I was in no real sense a fan. I don't own any Queen albums. I know the big hits but none of the album tracks. My strongest (and most shameful) memory of them was politely informing another boy in my 3rd Form class that Freddie Mercury was "a poofter". I certainly had a way with words when I was 14.

And yet here I was, many years later, moved to tears by the explanations of how, despite becoming ill in 1987, Freddie fought to his last breath to make the music he wanted and to make the most of every moment with his loved ones and colleagues before finally succumbing in 1991. It was truly inspirational. And then, to read some of the lyrics of his last works, knowing his time was short, was very moving.

A few years ago I might have made a patronizing comment about how he was still out there performing somewhere. Now, I don't think he is. But it isn't patronizing at all to say that the man continues to inspire, enthrall and entertain through his extraordinary legacy. And that is all any of us can hope for. Or aim for.