Pirates

I really can’t understand people that become total music pirates. The thought of sub standard tunes downloaded from the net doesn’t really appeal to me and then there are the tacky covers and cases they do.

Firstly I can see the point in downloading tracks of a band you may be interested in, just to get a feel of what they are like.

Secondly the net is a great way of finding new bands and talent, plus a lot of sites like napster are now legit and you pay for what you get.

Thirdly there’s always just the odd track you want, so why by the cd?

Lastly, there’s some obscure stuff out there that’s only available on the net as its most likeable been withdrawn or deleted. I agree in principal with file swapping too as you can get your hands on a lot of rare stuff.

I do all of the above but also tend to buy cd’s also, I like having a lot of cd’s and I like them to be original, so in 99% of my collection, what I have on the pc hard drive I also have on original cd. I just could not have some tacky photo copied insert with a scribbled on cd.

I guess I just like to pay homage to the music I like by buying the original cd and lets be honest folks with sites like Play.com, Amazon, ebay et al, music media is now so cheap and accessible – why copy it?

I guess it’s the same with dvd, I’ve often watched a copied dvd and thought, ‘I wish I’d got the original to watch as this is shit quality’. So nowadays I just buy dvds.

Anyway, moan over!

Woe is me or is it the Cd?

In the early hours of last Wednesday I was surfing the net trying to locate a song I heard on a recent film I’d watched. At first I got nowhere but thanks to Google and the Internet movie data base I made progress and soon found a cd that had the track I wanted on it. My search had led me to Amazon which I sometimes use but have had the odd though minor problem with and the cd was available for £8 and to my good fortune the cd had some other great tracks on by various artists.

So I went ahead and ordered the cd only to notice several minutes after ordering that the same Amazon trader (I’d not ordered direct from Amazon) had another version of the cd with several more tracks. So I decided to cancel the first ordered cd and place an order for the second one with more tracks at the same price, this is where the problems began. Unlike Play.com Amazon doesn’t allow you to cancel online, you have to email the trader and cancel it, there doesn’t seem to be a cool off period before the order is ‘allegedly’ sent.

After my school boy error in ordering I read the terms and conditions about cancelling and decided to send the trader called ‘Second-Sounds’ based in Buckinghamshire a mail to cancel the first order and send my second placed order instead, I made the email fool proof. I also tried to call them when I got home that morning but just got an answerphone asking you to leave full details which I did, they never got back to me. That evening I received an email back from Amazon and themselves, the Amazon email said the order had been placed with the trader and they themselves being the middle men had credited the trader with payment. The email from Second-Sounds said that my order had already been despatched and that I could send the goods back with a covering letter for a full refund. Being pissed off that they’d seemingly not checked their email and amended my order or replied to my voice mail I sent them an angry email asking if they ever checked their email first off in a morning or respond to answer phone messages?

Friday, I received an email again from Second-Sounds with a muted apology stating that because they send goods so speedily there is often no cancellation timescale which is unfortunate but 99% of their customers are very happy. Then Saturday I got another email from Amazon saying that my order would be despatched in the next 48 hours, this infuriated me even more.

Well its now over a week and the cd’s haven’t arrived, to add to the agony I saw the same cd on play.com who have never failed to deliver in less than 3 days, the track I wanted was also available to download on the net – oh woe is me !

My advice is use Play or Gemm when ordering cd’s though I’ve no beef with Amazon about this, just some of their traders though past experiences with traders on Amazon have been positive.

I don't really want to stop the show but I thought you might like to know ...

Most of you out there think the Beatles are actually from Liverpool but the real truth is they are actually from my home town of Mansfield.

Let me explain.

Back in 1957 when Lennon had started the his first band the Quarrymen and bumped in to McCartney they were two enthusiastic lads from Mansfield. Lennon had named his first band after the local quarry here that was near my aunt Flo’s, he and McCartney would often pop in and see her for cheese scones and a cup of tea. When they say they played the Cavern club in 1961 it was actually a club called Harvey’s in Mansfield which is now called the Late Lounge. My dad has fond memories of the Beatles and although he was asked to join the Band when they were still known as the Silver Beatles he refused, something he’s regretted to this day. In December of 1961 Brian Epstein came to Mansfield to watch the Beatles play and then became their manager, sadly Brian told them that they’d have to move to Liverpool and adopt a scouse accent as Liverpool was the then ‘happening’ place at the time and he wanted something different from the usual base of operations of London. Pete Best who washed my uncle Alf’s car for a few shillings wasn’t happy at the move but reluctantly agreed. So off the fab four went off to Liverpool and Pete left soon after to be replaced by Ringo as the drummer. My aunt Flo recalls those early Beatles days fondly, the impromptu gigs on her back lawn, the laughter and those early band frustrations – but their dreams and aspirations began in Mansfield fuelled by her cheese scones.

The boys went on to wipe Mansfield from any records and claim Liverpool as their home, who can blame them or deny them their success, after all not many people have heard of Mansfield, it’s a very unremarkable place but their humble beginnings started here, a grim town in north Nottinghamshire.

Don't you want me baby?

In December 1981 I was a very young and impressionable teenager and that’s when my love affair with the Human League started. Back in that rain soaked month I was on a weekend break with an organisation my mother was a volunteer worker for, the venue was Blackpool and it was the beginning of the illuminations period there. I recall the hotel on the seafront having a space invader machine and with the neon lights shining in through the window it all seemed very futuristic and surreal. The hotel jukebox was playing Boney M and other hits of the late 70’s disco period and then someone put the Human League on, this completed the futuristic setting and the sublime synth tunes graced my young eager ears. Of course I was unaware the Human League had been around for sometime and I remember being drawn away from the space invader machine to the juke box and putting them on again, the song was ‘Love Action’ and it reached number 3 in the charts, the follow up single ‘Don’t you want me?’ reached Number 1 in December.

I was sharing a room in the hotel with some older boys and that night I was suddenly awoken from my slumber by them singing ‘Don’t you want me baby?’ as they drunkenly staggered around the hotel room, they were all about 18 and very naïve but I was sort of awe struck by them at the time as they wore their ‘kiss me quick’ boater straw hats and silver shiny suits with slim luminous coloured ties. They carried on slurring lyrics and recounting the nights events and I listened intently to their adventures, envying them, wanting to be them, wanting to get out there in the neon infested town and boogie to the Human League, thinking my time would come and eventually a few years later of course – it did. The Human League have been with me ever since and they always evoke warm nostalgia when I hear them. The lead singer Phil Oakey is almost 50 yet they still make fab tunes, always in their distinctive yet timeless style. They are also touring again this year and I really gotta see them again – they really are in a league of their own!

http://www.thehumanleague.net/

Manson

Several weeks ago a friend of mine was telling me how she liked to listen to Marilyn Manson and recommended an album of his called ‘Mechanical Animals’. At first I was dismissive but then after she’d worn me down a bit I relented and bought the album. I wasn’t really sure what to expect, like most people I had a stereo typical image of him in my head.

I was pleasantly surprised …

The different fusions and style of his music really wowed me, basically it kicks ass, from goth and glam style shock rock to subverse synth's, it really is an experience. Most people have this image of Marilyn Manson fans being outrageous goths or hoody kids sat in parks drinking strong cider. Ironically then that the friend that recommended him to me is a housewife in her late 40’s!

Platform

I’m reading a book called ‘Platform’ at the moment by Michel Houellebecq that throws up an interesting quote;

‘The more contemptible his life, the more a man clings to it; it thus becomes a protest, a retribution for every moment’

Honoré de Balzac

And when I’ve read this book I’ve got Marylin Manson’s biography to read – now that does look interesting!

Right place, wrong job

On Monday I had an interview with a large phone company over in a town where I want to relocate to, it’s about eighteen miles from me and basically I like the place. The interview had happened purely by chance, my dad talking to someone in a pub and me passing on my cv onto him and then hey presto - an interview. Having worked at my present employer for the last five years I’ve not really had that many interviews, a couple or three I think but I wasn’t really feeling nervous. I paced up and down outside the place a little, took in some air and went in. Having being kept waiting for twenty minutes I was then told by one of the interviewers they’d mislaid my cv, luckily I had another on hand and we sat down to business, though I felt off kilter. Then I was asked a rather stupid set of questions that really didn’t really offer any insight as to who I really was. I’ll be honest and say I wasn’t really in the groove, I’d not really thought about anything before the interview, in fact I was probably too confident, as I hastily burbled my answers I just knew they were disjointed and not really fluid at all. Then came the banker question at the end ‘where do you see yourself in a year?’ a question that really pisses me off, my expression and body language must have projected that.

After the interview I walked back to my dads, a fair old walk but I needed to think. My conclusion was that I’d had a reality check, in all truth I’d not really wanted the job that much, I just wanted to move to that area. In saying that though the salary was crap, 2K less than what I earn now and the people that worked there looked a set of miserable gits. During the weekend prior to the interview I’d been confidant, had my ego stroked about getting the job and was mentally setting myself up to move to a new area. Life gives you a kick up the arse at times – and I got one on Monday, I still want to move to that area but I’ve got to go for a job I really want so it will be a case of right place, right job. Right, I’m just off to drink a bottle of gin …