Sep
21
21
Video Friday Is…
…some of the music that Germans saw on TV, awhile back, that Americans didn’t:
Wire - ‘Heartbeat’ (2:39), German TV, 1979
Peter Gabriel - ‘The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway’ (7:30), German TV, 1978
Dire Straits - ‘Lady Writer’ (3:56), German TV, 1979
John Fahey - ‘Poor Boy Long Way From Home’ (4:48), German TV, 1978
The Smiths - ‘Hand In Glove,’ ‘Heaven Knows I’m Miserable Now,’ ‘Girl Afraid’ (9:57), German TV, 1984
Douche Baggins said,
September 21, 2007 at 22:55
Woo-hoo, Dire Straits! Smart music. Reminds me of the roadtrip I took with my mother and brother — driving across Europe in the Mercedes that shot icicles out of the air conditioner vents, singing word-for-word the lyrics to “Les Boys” (”Get dressed up, get a little risque, gonna do a little S & M…”) every other hour. Mom didn’t know what do make of her 17-year-old son and his 15-year-old brother. (Four years earlier in the same Mercedes my brother and I amused ourselves by reciting the lyrics to FZ’s “Titties and Beer”. “What’s that you’re saying back there?” “Oh, just some poetry…” *snort*)
a different brad said,
September 21, 2007 at 22:58
Good to see you can still find a song in your heart to chase them McArdle blues away.
She found a new low today.
islmfaoscist said,
September 21, 2007 at 22:58
So you’ve been practicing for a year with your bandmates in the garage, and your friends are saying you sound pretty good and should really sign up for the battle of the bands, in London. The top prize is a recording contract.
You muster up your courage and get a couple of your songs down just perfect. But then, right before you take the stage, the two Knopfler boys get up there and play Sultans of Swing. It just isn’t fair.
Yep, that’s where Dire Straits first record deal came from. You decide to take up screenwriting instead.
objectivelypro said,
September 21, 2007 at 23:15
Yep, that’s where Dire Straits first record deal came from.
Just to pull this up to the present, I recently picked up the new Mark Knopfler/Emmylou Harris album.
Consistenly good with a couple of gems (I’ll admit I’m a sucker for Emmylou’s voice).
Even my CW-disdaining girlfriend likes it.
objectivelypro said,
September 21, 2007 at 23:17
Some people like to put two t’s in “consistently”. Any thoughts?
El Cid said,
September 21, 2007 at 23:24
Wow, a real “Lamb” posting is pretty rare now.
dbati said,
September 21, 2007 at 23:28
Ach, that Fahey clip is not synched properly! My favoritest of his peices and it’s screwey.
It’s still magic. Thanks.
Oh yeah, I’ve got the entire Smiths audio from that 84 show, it is a good one, too.
Incontinentia Buttocks said,
September 21, 2007 at 23:57
And then there’s what the Dutch were watching…
dbati said,
September 22, 2007 at 0:32
Thanks, again, Gavin! I now have watched almost all the Fahey clips on YouTube, including the 4-part 1969 interview with the insipid guitar teacher. My wife watched some of that with me and said “He’s got a bit of the Dylan attitude about him”.
Right now I’m listening to Leo Kotke/Peter Lang/John Fahey…and drinking a beer…bliss.
goodshowtom said,
September 22, 2007 at 1:20
Thanks for posting these (my friend Chris pointed me to this page).
Reminds me how much I enjoyed Dire Straights (’Lady Writer’ being an early fave of mine too) and Wire back then.
The rest are certain greatness themselves, but seeing those two clips posted here immediately threw sparks for me.
I hadn’t realized it until now, that Keith Olbermann was in The Smiths.
Then again, when has Morissey and Keith been seen in the same room together, or Brian Ferry and K.D. Lang for that matter (but that’s a topic for another post)? Wish ‘This Charming Man’ had made the cut here, but big grins nonetheless.
A great way to end a Friday afternoon.
M. Bouffant said,
September 22, 2007 at 1:54
Yeah, what’s w/ YouYube, anyway, they can’t get anything sync’d properly, & they can’t/won’t provide stereo.
And if this is an example of Kraut musical taste, between this & the Oom-pah bands, it’s no wonder they lost the war. (John Fahey’s OK, for a honky playing the blues. Blues = Good; honkies performing it, not so good, in general.)
I just don’t get how all you mean snarky types have such pedestrian musical tastes.
Case in point: Pink Floyd discussion recently. Total suckfest after Syd Barrett left.
Righteous Bubba said,
September 22, 2007 at 2:10
I just don’t get how all you mean snarky types have such pedestrian musical tastes.
Bouffant you big silly, some people like things that sell at Wal-Mart as well as people playing air-conditioning ducts and gay dance music.
Herr Doktor Bimler said,
September 22, 2007 at 2:32
between this & the Oom-pah bands, it’s no wonder they lost the war.
Them’s fighting words. Think about it. Do you really want this thread inundated with Herbert Grönemeyer u-tube clips?
Nylund154 said,
September 22, 2007 at 3:13
Mmmm. How I love me some Wire! I actually have the DVD of this entire performance from German TV. Its really odd. They play some of their older fast and crazy songs and you see these artsy germans just sitting in chairs and clapping like someone has just done a scene from The Seagull. Its quite surreal.
Gavin M. said,
September 22, 2007 at 3:20
Honestly, if it were just about my own personal tastes, it would usually be a 28-minute loop of this:
Or a Nick Drake/SS Decontol mashup or something.
J— said,
September 22, 2007 at 3:38
And if this is an example of Kraut musical taste, between this & the Oom-pah bands, it’s no wonder they lost the war.
Granted, the German Records Critics’ Award pulls together the opinions of critics from Germany and other German-speaking countries, but nonetheless, I would say this reflects well on “Kraut musical taste.”
Righteous Bubba said,
September 22, 2007 at 4:49
Honestly, if it were just about my own personal tastes, it would usually be a 28-minute loop of this:
I have actually listened to that for hours on end.
Righteous Bubba said,
September 22, 2007 at 6:19
A record I still listen to often is Killing Joke’s Revelations. The YouTube stuff available from that record is hilarious and embarrassing: Jaz the singer is kind of a shithead on stage and sometimes ran off to Iceland as in this clip where he’s replaced with a mannequin for Top of the Pops lip-synching:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QgVu6mCk3Vo&mode=related&search=
Insane guitar sound, unmatched for a particular kind of menace.
Ron said,
September 23, 2007 at 1:04
Gotta love this Big Black version of “Heartbeat”, with members of Wir chiming in.
Robert Green said,
September 23, 2007 at 5:52
All teh sux except for Wire, the best shoegazers ever to grace a stage.
Dayv said,
September 25, 2007 at 23:09
I don’t think I’ve ever seen Wire described as “shoegazers” before, but whatever. Call them what you want, just keep listening.