Afternoon all, I'm still here. I've just had a busy week of it. Writers block, feeling slightly ill and personal business being the main culprits for the lack of blogging. My reading has gone to rot too, I really should have finished my Clash biography at least a week ago. It seems to be creeping back now though. Hopefully I should able to finish it soon.
Anyway - I did watch two excellent music related things today which are both well worth watching.. Firstly, I watched the 2006 Blondie documentary entitled One Way Or Another, originally broadcast by BBC. Funnily enough they're actually repeating the documentary tonight. This was the first insight I've ever had into the history of the band. I'm pretty sure it was the first time I've seen Debbie Harry interviewed as well. I have to say, I really liked the documentary. Admittedly I would have liked it to have been a little more in depth about the music. It's understandable, but a lot of the documentary does focus on Debbie Harry's skills as front-woman and her looks etc. My favourite Blondie albums, Eat To The Beat and Autoamerican didn't even get a mention. I did love the insights into the innovative Rapture though. The other thing that struck me was just how low situations for the band went: I had no idea that Chris Stein suffered from a deadly illness that very nearly proved fatal. The other surprise was just how low their final album before they broke up, The Hunter, actually sold. It's actually one of my favourite Blondie records to be perfectly honest. It's amazing to think they were a top selling band, yet all the members ended up with massive financial difficulties. It's funnty how fast life can turn. It was also great to see Chris Frantz and Tina Weymouth from Talking Heads there too. The sole survivng member of the original Ramones line-up; Tommy Ramone, was also interviewed too. It's a shame that Dee Dee, Joey and Johnny all died before the documentary was made because I think they definitely would have been interviewed for it. In any case, it was a really interesting documentary and I'm glad the band were as interesting in it as I had hoped they'd be!
So after the documentary I wanted to watch something like a concert. After a few minutes I settled with Fleetwood Mac's The Dance. I've seen bits of this before, although not the full show. It was actually my first full length Fleetwood Mac show I've seen which is quite surprising really. I have to say I absolutely loved it. Watching it also gave me a new found appreciation for just how damn good a guitarist Lindsey Buckingham is too. You'd be surprised how often those sorts of things are lost on me. The version of Big Love performed here was brilliant. Other highlights were Everywhere (I think it was even better than the studio version), Rhiannon and the epic closer of Don't Stop, performed with the University of Southern California Marching Band. My only (very slight) grievances were the absence of any material from Mirage, I'd have loved Only Over You to have been performed. Also I wished they had have performed Second Hand News or Never Going Back Again too. Admittedly very minor qualms. It's a great performance though and it makes me wish that one day Christine McVie will rejoin the band. I think I'll purchase the CD of it soon in all honesty, and definitely the DVD at some point also!
So that's me for the moment - I'm hoping that on Monday the iPad will return and I also think I'm going shopping on Friday too. I've another two posts coming today though, so stay tuned!
Anyway - I did watch two excellent music related things today which are both well worth watching.. Firstly, I watched the 2006 Blondie documentary entitled One Way Or Another, originally broadcast by BBC. Funnily enough they're actually repeating the documentary tonight. This was the first insight I've ever had into the history of the band. I'm pretty sure it was the first time I've seen Debbie Harry interviewed as well. I have to say, I really liked the documentary. Admittedly I would have liked it to have been a little more in depth about the music. It's understandable, but a lot of the documentary does focus on Debbie Harry's skills as front-woman and her looks etc. My favourite Blondie albums, Eat To The Beat and Autoamerican didn't even get a mention. I did love the insights into the innovative Rapture though. The other thing that struck me was just how low situations for the band went: I had no idea that Chris Stein suffered from a deadly illness that very nearly proved fatal. The other surprise was just how low their final album before they broke up, The Hunter, actually sold. It's actually one of my favourite Blondie records to be perfectly honest. It's amazing to think they were a top selling band, yet all the members ended up with massive financial difficulties. It's funnty how fast life can turn. It was also great to see Chris Frantz and Tina Weymouth from Talking Heads there too. The sole survivng member of the original Ramones line-up; Tommy Ramone, was also interviewed too. It's a shame that Dee Dee, Joey and Johnny all died before the documentary was made because I think they definitely would have been interviewed for it. In any case, it was a really interesting documentary and I'm glad the band were as interesting in it as I had hoped they'd be!
So that's me for the moment - I'm hoping that on Monday the iPad will return and I also think I'm going shopping on Friday too. I've another two posts coming today though, so stay tuned!
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