A very Merry Christmas

Should keep me busy for a while... :-)

Ian

Revisiting the Small Faces on Beat Beat Beat and Beat Club tonight and feeling incredibly sad...

Any road will take you there

Well, the A41 to be more precise... Diwali 2014 celebrations at Bhaktivedanta Manor, Aldenham.

For various reasons the Manor has long felt like a place of pilgrimage for me. Bathed in pink lighting, the building was a magnetic centrepiece for the celebrations.

An estimated 10000 gathered on the grass to witness the grand fireworks display.

A funny kind of yellow

Status Quo live on The One Show last night. Special.

On days like these

When it comes to 'heroes' in the film realm, for me, Michael Caine is right up there. Unfortunately, I'd found out a tad too late about his A Night Out With career-retrospective at the Royal Albert Hall (announced on Chris Evans' Radio 2 show which I rarely listen to in the morning). But not to worry, two choir seats were procured easily enough, safe in the knowledge I'd either get the back of Sir Michael's head, or that of his interrogator for the night, Jonathan Ross. On the plus side, there would be a face-on view of the London Symphony Orchestra doing their soundtrack-y duties and having sat almost on top of the stage on a few occasions previously it really is a pretty good vantage point all being said. Even better, the day before the show, it was announced that Quincy Jones ... Quincy Jones! ...would be conducting a couple of tunes from The Italian Job.

Tempting as it was to head to the rear of the RAH and re-enact the fight scene from The Ipcress File on its hallowed steps, half-an-hour before the show saw the great man himself arrive. Whilst his slightly unsteady gait reflected his 81 years, once he'd planted himself in front of presenter Brenda Emanus for a live-to-camera interview, hands firmly in pocket, the sharp-suited octogenarian in front of us was most assuredly the Michael Caine. Still as cool as. Interview done, and with his wife Shakira watching at the door, he happily posed for photos for fans.

Inside, screens helpfully magnified the action for those with awkward seating positions. Two chairs and a small table to the left of the stage indicated where the interview would take place. Once the lights dimmed a box opposite revealed the familiar figures of Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon, arguing amongst themselves about who could do the best Michael Caine impression. A man behind them sat impassive with a programme in front of his face. A few minutes into the mock shenanigans, Michael Caine revealed himself, comically responding with dialogue appropriated from Get Carter. "Did you kill Alf Roberts?" one of the duelling pair called out to riotous applause.

Jonathan Ross did a great job guiding the interview through pivotal moments in Caine's career, with plenty of room for tangential flights of fancy (of which there were many) on both sides. In response to a question about how over-awed younger actors must be his company, and whether his working style channels 'tension' or 'relaxation', Caine confirmed it to be the latter - the important of aspect of film-making, for him, is ensuring that he and his co-actors enjoy the process and 'have a laugh'. Entertaining asides littered the air - the £1 million proceeds of a below-par role allowing him to buy his mum a house; his mother's reaction to the lack of washing lines in LA; the bravery of a Man Who Would Be King stuntman; flat-sharing with Terence Stamp and John Barry and witnessing the latter's 'eureka' moment composing 'Goldfinger'; the irony of his being unable to drive during the making of The Italian Job; his latter-day collaboration with director Christopher Nolan, who had refused to leave his house until Caine had read his Batman script in full. Danny Baker, sat in the box alongside Coogan and Brydon, was clearly enjoying all this as much as the rest of us as his hearty guffaws could be heard loudly from where we were sitting.

The conversation paused at intervals to allow the LSO to perform a selection of themes from Caine movies old and more recent, with accompanying visuals. The lack of swivel chairs for Caine and Ross became a running joke, as both shifted positions awkwardly a dozen or more times to watch the action behind them. An actual cimbalom on The Ipcress File? Unfortunately not. A keyboard approximated its eery strings just below us with such accuracy it would have been impossible to tell from the far reaches of the arena. Joss Stone was surprisingly restrained fronting Alfie, (which could be put down to nerves if her Twitter feed was anything to go by). Lance Ellington, a singer from Strictly Come Dancing, was wonderful performing 'On Days Like These', conducted masterfully by none other than Quincy Jones. Perhaps best of all was the meditative 'Time', from Inception, composed by Hans Zimmer and played in tandem with him via the big screen. In all I enjoyed the music I was least familiar perhaps more that the more well-known themes such as Zulu and The Man Who Would Be King. And the opportunity to clap along to 'The Self-Preservation Society' with Caine and its composer (who, they remind us, share identical birthdays, right down to the hour) does not come around in anyone's lifetime too often. A victorious five minutes at the end of an unexpectedly moving evening.

As he left the stage a slighly startled Caine was collared by an enterprising fan in replica Zulu costume, insisting Caine oblige him with a selfie. He did so ever-so-reluctantly; but, as the photo below attests, Jonathan Ross clearly found the whole episode hilarious.

My brother's back at home with his Beatles and his Stones

Yeah, Baby. Mike and Paul Myers take over WNYC's Soundcheck for larks. It's hard to tell their speaking voices apart, but this is good fun.

That posh bird...

Unutterable excitement at the NFT last week as Edina Ronay's presence at the 50th anniversary showing of A Hard Day's Night enlivened an already ace evening. My friend Tony grabbed a photo with Ms. Ronay, who it must be said looks stunning at 69.

Graciously admitting her appearance was "only small", Susan Campey ("a well-known drag") has nevertheless seeped into Beatle legend...

And, of course, she was the envy of every 1964 teen (and many since), flirting with John in the earlier club scene...

Though I'd attended a similar event in 1999, in which Dick Lester was interviewed by fellow director Steven Soderbergh, it was a pleasure to have an unexpected take two 15 years on - although I shared host Mark Lewisohn's disappointment that he wasn't able to stay for the film itself.

A considerate prompt for the estimable and unassuming Lester, Mark's accompanying slideshow revealed a mass of 'new' photos and clippings, which bodes well for Book Two, whenever it appears. And the buffed-up film looked and sounded great, even if George's once famously ear-shredding crusty roll (well, it was on my mid-80s video) has now been reduced to a whisper.

(In hunting around for AHDN pics online I came across this amazingly detailed page, in which character actors and bit players have been forensically identified. But not, it seems Sheila Fearn, ex-George and Mildred, etc, who has a fairly prominent role as one of the studio make-up artists. And is that really Susan Hampshire? I'm sceptical. And Phil Collins? I don't recall him ever being officially identified before...Still, it's always tickled me that David Janson ended up as Hyacinth Bucket's postie...) 

Do I feel lucky?

A recent late-night bout of Youtube hopping led me to this deliciously meta clip - Kyle Eastwood playing bass with Lalo Schifrin on a suite of Dirty Harry orchestrations, from a 2007 performance in Paris.

It's not brilliant quality but I think I've added several dozen to its view tally already. Oh to have been there.

Marquee of the Provinces

As a native of one of Aylesbury's satellite towns and a serial hoarder of Zigzag mags for longer than I can remember, I felt it incumbent upon me to visit the exhibition commemorating the 45-year history of legendary 'local' club, Friars, currently running at Bucks County Museum.

During my first visit back in March, a film crew from BBC Oxford were on hand to record the memories of founder David Stopps, and a David Bowie fan lucky enough to have caught a bit of his shirt at a Friars gig in 1972 (taking centre-stage in a fascinating Bowie-centric corner of the exhibit). I mostly succeeded in hiding from the cameras.



This multimedia extravaganza is fantastic, concentrating on the club's golden era, spanning 1969 to the early '80s (but also taking in the resurrection of Friars for one-off gigs in recent years). Someone (presumably Stopps) appears to have kept everything - posters (sadly no reproductions for sale, there were plenty I could happily have ripped from the wall), membership cards, tickets, t-shirts, photos.

As you proceed around the exhibition wall panels helpfully list, in sickening detail, all the artists who appeared throughout the club's various phases... Pretty Things, Free, King Crimson, Quintessence, Blossom Toes, Atomic Rooster, Principal Edwards Magic Theatre, Caravan, Mott the Hoople, Renaissance, Liverpool Scene, Blodwyn Pig ... and that's just 1969. A who's-who of progressive rock, pop, folk and beyond (Rotgut and Gilbert Hampshire's Armpit Review may or may not have graduated beyond their Friars support slots...).

It's worth hanging around to watch the extremely thorough audio-visual history of the club which runs on a loop (I took the lot in on my 2nd visit a week or two back). Whilst reminiscences from artists who've played at Friars (Marillion, John Otway, Mike Rutherford amongst them) are candid and illuminating, its the tale of the indefatigable Stopps and his music-loving cohorts which proves to be the heart and soul of the story.

Everyone associated with the club, from those on the door, to the psychedelic lightshow guys to a cross-section of members - many of whom look frankly far too well-preserved to have been teenagers in the '70s - recall an inclusive, almost 'family' scene (borne out by the frequent images of fans queueing for gigs like their lives depended on it). I left pondering when the next 'Friars presents...' show might be (none on the horizon it would seem), just so I could join their hallowed number, albeit belatedly.

The Evolution of Friars 1969-2014 runs until July. More info here.