Hello!

It's about two hours til 2009, so I'll quickly give my musical (and otherwise) overview of the year.

In about an hour I will be screaming at the TV while Jools Holland plays boogie woogie piano with Kraftwerk, or someone equally inappropriate, so I'll make it quick.

It's not been a bad year. Obama secured his place in history, and we all felt very positive.....for about a fortnight. Then he began selecting his team, and it began to get depressing. Time will tell. Let's hope he can do in the White House what he promised at the hustings.

Israel ignores the protests of the world and gets on with its obscene, murderous agenda. Where is that self proclaimed minister for the Middle East, Tony Blair when he's needed? And the rest of the world gets to grips with the ramifications of capitalism. Boo Hoo.! Hey Ho!

Sorry folks. This is meant to be about ART!!!.....but c'mon!!!

Musically, you should believe all the stuff written about The Fleet Foxes LP, What a beautiful world it suggests. Elbow's "The Seldom Seen Kid" needs your time people. I won't waste any more of your  time banging on about those, or The Hold Steady's "Stay Positive". Seasick Steve's new LP "I Started Out With Nothing, And I Still Got Most Of It Left" is fantastic, and in the song "Walkin' Man" he has written a modern classic, to stand beside Hank. The Tindersticks LP "The Hungry Saw" confirmed that the majesty remains, despite the change of line up. Nick Cave continues to make records that I buy, listen to approvingly, then never listen to again. The Dylan Bootleg Series continues to throw up gems like "Red River Shore" and the long awaited Dennis Wilson re-release "Pacific Ocean Blue" was gorgeous. Or is it "Ocean Pacific Blue"?

Paul Simmonds, chief songwriter with The Men They Couldn't Hang made a beautifully soulful  LP called "The Rising Road". It made me sad about Johnny Cash's leaving us, all over again, as there are a few tracks on this that the master could have shed some further darkness on! "My Side Of The Bed" in particular, and "The Snow Is Falling". If you get the chance, check out his site and get hold of this CD. An understated masterpiece.

Also, fans of Brian Wilson and the Beach Boys should really listen to Gavin Steven's CD "Angels Falling Down". This is a gorgeous creation. Rich with close harmonies and a delicate musical styling. I still listen to this in one hit. It's a song cycle that really lifts the spirit. Time will be its witness. Greatness is amongst us!

Also "That Lucky Old Sun" LP by Mr Wilson was a lot less painfull than I had anticipated.

In fact listen to all my TOP FRIENDS!

As far as gigs go............... I vowed to go to less gigs in 08............but. Madness at The Hackney Empire were awesome, as were The Tindersticks at The Royal Festival Hall, Beck and Morrissey at Hyde Park were great, so were The New York Dolls, The Jim Jones Revue at Madame Jo-Jo's were explosive, and The Men They Couldn't Hang at The 100 Club were a great end of the year blast. 

But the greatest musical moment for me was Leonard Cohen at the O2. We saw the first night and the man was bowled over by the response he recieved. Three hours of pure beauty. I saw Len 20 years ago at The Albert Hall, but this was something else. I can't do it justice with a quick revue, so take my freakin' word!

I love the fact that pop snobs like me are getting so upset that Simon Cowell has taken one of our holy tracts and made it available to mere mortals! "Hallelujah" remains a great song no matter who is singing it! I think there is some cynicism going on, as far as Cowell goes. but a song is a song and nothing can dilute its power. It's strange .. when I saw Cohen in 1987, I don't think he even played that song..but it has taken on mythical status. Like Johnny Cash, I think Cohen is going to end his career on a high, and prove once again that the world of song is not the exclusive domain of the infantile.

Happy New Year Friends, Keep in Touch

Paul XXX

The Hook, A Dockers' Tale.

In the mid -90's my old buddy Jo Clack and I re-united to write and record a bunch of new songs under the alias of "Lee Boo".

Nothing much came of this brief stint, and we again went our separate ways.

Producer Phillip Tennent heard the songs and fell in love with a song called The Hook.

I wrote the lyrics to The Hook after chatting with some of the old Dockers in the pubs of Wapping, where I lived. (I lived in Wapping, not the pubs!). I had been influenced by the songs of Paul Simmonds of The Men They Couldn't Hang, and was keen to articulate a real story.

Jo and I worked the music and recorded a folk arrangement.

Phillip wanted to record a Scott Walker-esque type of arrangement, which I was all for.

With Tim Weller on drums, some amazing bass playing by old school pal Peter Noone, Robin Scott of Bjorn Again on piano and keys, Jo on guitar and mandolin, myself on vocals and Phil adding a bit of electric guitar we set about recording it at Smokestack Studios in Wapping. Where else!

We finished the track and that was that. The only copy I had of the song was on compact cassette. One day I found my one year old son Daniel standing over a mound of shiny unspooled tape, laughing uproariously, he obviously harbours ambitions in music criticism. As Phil had slipped off my radar, I knew that that would be the last I heard of that recording.

 

I had not heard the track in years until I recently managed to track down Phil, who is now managing The Waterboys. He sent me a cd of the song with a very nice message saying he considers The Hook to be one of the best songs he ever recorded. Considering he has recorded acts such as The Cure, Billy McKenzie, The Waterboys, The Levellers and countless others, this was high praise indeed.

So here it is, uploaded for your scrutiny. Let us know what you think.

PS: The final line of the song goes "For time goes round/like the hands on St. Johns' clock". That was little old me embracing the Ackroyd-ian idea that time is circular rather than linear. Soon after we finished the track St Johns clock in Wapping stopped! And remained that way until only recently. At least now I can hear that line without blanching.

 

Paulx

Today is the thirtieth anniversary of the death of the great Jacques Brel.

I never saw him perform live as he retired in 1966, when I was three months old! But I began to explore his music as a teenager after being introduced to him via Scott Walkers' melodramatic interpretations.

Gavin Friday recently said that people who think they like Brel, actually really mean they like Scott singing the songs of Brel. He has a point....up to a point. Once you catch the drift of his style, via English translations, you are, or at least I was, coaxed in to discover the raw diamond that is Brels' music.

Quand On N'a Que L'amour, Heureux, Litanies Pou Un Retour, Seul, La Colombe, Marieke, La Prochain Amour are bone fide masterpieces. Check them muthas' out. Then compare La Mort to the teeth decaying Seasons In The Sun by the Terry Jacks and wonder at the injustice of it all.

Though he stopped performing live at the age of only 37, Brel left some electrifying performances commited to film. His performances are sometimes tragic, sometimes comic, but always delivered with an intensity rarely seen in modern popular song performers. Check out the astounding Amsterdam on youtube, pour yourself a red wine and toast "Grande Jacques".

The light poured out of him!

Paul x

I recently heard about the death of steel guitarist Don Helms. You will have heard his playing even if you can't place his name. You know the song "Walkin' After Midnight"? That mesmerizing intro is all Don! But it is for his contribution to the music of Hank Williams that will ensure Mr Helms' musicianship will be enjoyed for as long as people listen to music.

He was the last surviving member of Hank Williams' Drifting Cowboys, who the great George Jones described as "...The finest musicians in the world with Don as the standout player".

He started with Hank in 1949 and played on songs such as "Cold, Cold Heart", "Your Cheatin' Heart"  and the immortal "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry". These records haunt us still.

Though he carried on playing decades after Hanks' death  (on Jan 1st 1953) he will always be best remembered for his years with The Master.

I've said it before, and I'll say once more; If you don't like Hank Williams and The Drifting Cowboys...you don't like music.

Don Helms RIP

28th February 1927 - 11th August 2008

Paul x

I would not have been a vendor at a newspaper pitch had I not thrown away my education in favour of pop promises. I had Buzzcocks, (not The Buzzcocks, fact fans, but Buzzcocks) to blame for that. I was going to devote my life exploring the possibilities of song, and enchant the world whilst doing so, as my childhood heroes had enchanted me.

"Which way is Chiswell Street mate", came a familiar Mancunian drawl, from an even more familiar face.

"End of this road. second right, third left", I said, playing for time until I was sure it was who I thought it was..."and "Love Bites" still sounds good to my ears Steve".

It was Steve Diggle, guitarist and sometime vocalist of Buzzcocks.

The evening was about to get very strange.

"We're playing a gig at Parker MacMillan, Wass yer name I'll stick yer on the door". I told Steve Diggle my name and thought that he was being kind to an old fan. Nothing would come of it. To be on the safe side I ran over to the HMV store and bought what must be my fourth copy of Buzzcocks Going Steady compilation LP. And a silver pen! Call me sad, call me deluded, but you did not revere Buzzcocks in the way I did.

The local Big Issue seller asked me what I was grinning about. I explained. "Never 'eard of 'em" he replied.

What happened next is almost too beautiful to believe. I stuck on my radio headset and Radio 2 were playing "Ever Fallen In Love With Someone You Shouldn't Have Fallen In Love With".

I called PJ over, the Big Issue guy. "This Lot" I said, placing the earphones over his head.

"Oh yeah man I know 'em".

I cautiously ventured down Chiswell Street, and came to a place I always knew as The Vaults. It can't be here, I thought; Big security men and officious looking ladies with clipboards and head pieces, it all suggested that Howie was on to a loser.

With a face full of apologies, I asked if this was the place where Buzzcocks were to be found. One of the security guys ushered me over to a lady with a list.

"Which company are you with?" she enquired. "None" says I, "I'm Paul Howard with the Buzzcocks". The words sounded alien in my head, but wonderfully exciting. I was ushered in quickly with a curtsy. If you please.

I descended the old steps and was greeted by a young lady handing me a glass of Champagne. So far so good. Everyone was dressed in a suit, or posh dress and had a name tag on their chest. I went to buy a drink at the bar and my money was refused. "Free bar", the bar man said. Could this get any better? I said unto my self. I looked at some leaflets celebrating a punk rock exhibition at the nearby Barbican Centre, paid for by the very bankers present, it would transpire.

At 8.15 pm, on 21st of June 2007, It was all about to get so much better.

"With out further ado", came a voice in these tiny catacombs, "Never mind the bollocks, here's The Buzzcocks".

Four souls sauntered on to a tiny podium. I didn't need to fight my way down to the front, I just placed myself at the left hand side of the stage. Just in front of my best mate Steve.

The first song they played was "Boredom". Never was a song so inappropriately titled. I grew up knowing the Howard Devoto version, but was always thrilled by Pete Shelleys backing vocal. Edwyn Collins nailed it a few years later when he sang; "You know me I'm acting dum dum/ You know the scene is very hum drum/ and my favourite song is entitled Boredom".

This, though was sublime. In a Proustian rush I was transported back to happy days.

Summer was heaven in 77, but yours truely was merely 11. I loved the Pistols, The Clash and The Stranglers, but Buzzcocks offered a different approach. They bucked the trend by singing of matters of the heart. Most 11 year olds were thinking about the next copy of Roy Of The Rovers or working on their Showaddywaddy steps. I was pre-occupied by the singles I bought by this Mancunian oracle.

I learnt to play the guitar with my buddy Mark Walshe. He had a songbook of Another Music From A Different Kitchen. We bought the singles, and marvelled at the designs of the covers, the etchings in the play out grooves, and the quality of the b-sides. The singles we could manage, but LP's were a different matter. That would have meant saving our weekly pocket money. A week is a long time in politics, but in the whirlwind that was punk rock, to those in the provinces, it was an age.

Mark's brother Ed let us listen to his LP records with minimal supervision. It was all there for us. Happy days indeed. It was Ed who in time turned us on to Orange Juice. "It's all in the guitars fella's".

I snapped out of my reverie to enjoy Buzzcocks playing What Do I Get, Promises, Autonomy, Noise Annoys. The whole beautiful lot.

As I was the only one there who appeared to be singing along to all the words, I seemed to catch the attention of the band, who nodded and winked in my direction throughout the set. Steve told the sound man to "turn the fucker up", and when Ever Fallen.. was played some of the audience began to realise who they were watching. During the song 'I Don't Mind', I was braced for that beautiful key change that thrilled me 30 years ago when they played it on Top Of The Pops; When I decided that THIS is what I want to be involved in.

Steve knocked his mic stand over, and after 50 gorgeous minutes they were gone. Though the crowd chattered, the rest was silence.

I found a chair in the tiny bar and basked in the fresh memory. The last time these guys had played a venue this small was probably 30 years ago, when I had been too young to go and see them. It's ironic that the band I did end up following around the country were another Mancunian four piece, not opposed to matters of the heart. Both had members called John Maher, The younger changed his name to Johnny Marr, lest there was any confusion.

Buzzcock bass man Tom appeared. He was signing autographs for the enlightened, so I snuck in there with my CD.

I explained that I had given Steve directions and I was not a merchant banker, (strictly).

"Oh yeah" Tom said, "Steve mentioned you, come with me".

I followed Tom behind the bar to a room down a corridor. He gave the kind of knock that lets someone know that it is a friend enquring.

Steve Diggle came out, eyed me up and down and proclaimed; "Paul Howard!, glad you could make it".

I was ushered into a stark room containing 3 Buzzcocks and 3 bottles of Champagne. A plastic mug was stuck in my hand and quickly filled.

We spent about 45 minutes chatting about all kinds of things from Steve's old school (Monkee Davy Jones went there), Johnny Marr (him again) who had just told the band he had read their biography (called Harmony In My Head), and all manner of musical issues!

Talk turned to Brian Eno. We discussed whether the formidable ex-Roxy man was being used by the various bands he produced, or if indeed he was himself the puppet master.

"Rod Hull and Eno", I inadvertantly blurted.

Now I'm not saying that Buzzcocks hoisted me on to their shoulders, marched me through the City Of London, proclaiming me to be the wittiest person this season, No, But the laugh that my silly quip had earned made me feel as though they had.

A knock came. Some of the great and good wanted to meet the band.

"Stay as you are Paul" implored Steve as I went to leave. We all shook hands (Pete twice!) and said we'd meet up in cyber space. I had taken enough of their time. I had let them know what they meant to me without getting too cloying.

I had a talk with Tom by the bar, I didn't want to cane the hospitality, I'm not the type (ahem!) , and headed out in to the cool night. It was still early and I went to buy a few groceries that Mandie had texted me about. And I got to thinking.

These fella's I had just been shooting the breeze with, made a huge difference to my life, and too a lot of people who had meant a great deal to me.

I got the bug listening to those records all those years ago, should I have thanked them, or blamed them?

I thought about Edwyn Collins who had so nearly been taken from us a couple of years ago after two serious brain haemorrhages. The way his life had been altered by Buzzcocks. So much as to mention them in his huge hit record Rip It Up. Thank God Edwyn is back making records.

I thought about my buddy Mark, who would have loved this night. And his beloved brother Ed, who had encouraged our teenage whimsy of wanting to make music ourselves. Both of whom were miles away in San Francisco. Ed valiantly battling cancer. How music had made us the people we had become, for better or for worse. How the music of that period had help shape us, and had helped us go out in to this beautiful, messed up world with a positive feeling.

"Reality's a dream", so said the poet Shelley. Pete, not Percy!

Dear Ed passed away a few nights later on July 3rd 2007. RIP

The music helps.

"...Or is it all in my head.......