WELCOME TO GLASGOW

Friday afternoon finds me on the highway heading home after an interesting week at work. Rush hour yields stop and go traffic. While stopping because of slowing traffic before me, the inattentive driver behind me wakes up and steps on the gas instead of the break pedal. BOOM! Not only am I struck from behind, I'm also pushed into the vehicle in front of me. Front and rear fender and tail gate are messed up, but I believe it is all repairable. More of a hassle than anything else. Some decisions need to be made in the next few days on who will perform that repair. Before the accident I was intending to stop at Second Spin to purchase a ticket to see The English Beat for this coming July, but passed on that opportunity. Had I stopped, this incident would never have happened.


Saturday finds me beginning the summer house renovation season: ripping drywall around a pair of windows off for the purpose of getting some accurate measurements. A trip to Home Depot results in the purchase of 6 windows and one door. The cost to me, well, OUCH! This work will complete the house siding project that I began 3 years ago, as well as the renovation of the room interior at the very top of the house. I like to believe this will be a quick project, but that never proves to be the case. I'm hoping, at the most, I will have part of the summer to do some fun things with the family.

Saturday night found me outside playing CDs on the truck stereo. A pattern is forming here. First up was Public Image Limited, Welcome to Glasgow, a Radio Clyde FM Broadcast from The Barrowlands in Glasgow on May 14, 1986 (24 years ago almost to the day!) and a few tracks from a BBC Radio Session at Maida Vale Studios in London on February 25, 1992. Great sounding recording. John Lydon reprimands the crowd, telling them not to spit, that was a thing of the past, don't do it. The 79 minute recording set me up for what followed.

Download it here:

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=ML83MSP7

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=HU2PPTYN

PiL was immediately followed by Echo & The Bunnymen performing live at Tut's Chicago on April 12, 1981. A very good performance by a young band on the rise to stardom. Ian was somewhat chatty and offered several compliments to the city they were performing in.

While listening to the music I could not help but compare their performance back then with what I've been hearing now. Excluding Ian, I think the band does a better job today than how they performed in the past: maturity and decades of practice have yielded a very polished sound. Will sounds as good as ever. Naturally, Ian's voice shows some wear, but overall it still sounds pretty good, at least during the shows I attended. Everyone has aged over the years and perhaps our expectations have changed with time, leading to the complaints on how the band is performing these days (singing and song writing). I think they are doing the best they can with what they've got, our expectations a little to high. I'm very pleased with what I'm hearing.

I picked this early recording to remind myself of some of their early songs. The band is scheduled to begin their Crocodiles and Heaven Up Here tour in the UK this coming December during which they will perform songs never/rarely played over the last decade or longer. Yes, the thought of going has again entered my mind, to gnaw on me until the desired outcome is decided upon. I bought a ticket to their December 12th show in Liverpool, "just in case" I change my mind. I'm on that slippery slope again.

After listening to the music, I went inside and watched a pair of DVDs given to me by Steve, one on the subject of Eric's music club in Liverpool and a second on the Liverpool music scene at the time Eric's was hosting a myriad of bands that sprang up at the time, including the Sex Pistols (with Johnny "Rotten" Lydon) and the Bunnymen. These were taped right off the TV. I found the commercials to be just as interesting, seeing a slice of what British television is like.