It is extremely tricky to write on the subject of a favourite artist without digressing in to unnecessary and irrelevant anecdotes. I will therefore try to keep such detours to a minimum whilst discussing the legendary Sir Neil Young (honorary knighthood from myself). Another difficulty when attempting to achieve in one post a retrospective of a man who has released over 45 albums since 1966, dabbling in folk/rock/punk/grunge/jazz/rockabilly/country/electro/etc, is which period to represent. I have decided on 1972-79, a very productive and enduring period in the minds of Young's fans and critics alike. Before the 1980s genre hopping that got him sued by label Geffen for producing albums 'uncharacteristic of Neil Young' came a decade fraught with constant tragic events, giving Young the perfect inspiration to release some of the most haunting and raw music ever made. The so called 'Ditch Trilogy' (named after Young referring to himself going from the middle of the road with the commercial success of 'Harvest', straight in to the ditch after a sequence of personal tragedies), consisting of 'Time Fades Away' (1973), 'On The Beach' (1974) and 'Tonight's the Night' (1975) document an artist spiraling in to turmoil, taking his voice and his guitar with him. It is testament to the talent of the man that his career managed not only to survive the period, but to come out the other end unscathed and with a string of beautiful, if not commercially successful, albums. The few years following this period saw Young continue to release affecting material, but with a more sober and accesible delivery, evident on albums such as 'Zuma' (1975), and 'Rust Never Sleeps' (1979).

Below are some tracks that chronicle this period, including a favourite all time track of mine, 'On the Beach', from the album of the same name, also a favourite.

The Needle and the Damage Done - Neil Young (Harvest - 1972)

Written as an elegy to the former Crazy Horse guitarist Danny Whitten and performed alone with acoustic guitar, the song appears on Young’s commercial hit ‘Harvest’, yet deals with issues that the MOR audience of this record did not want to hear about.

L.A. - Neil Young (Time Fades Away - 1973)

An apocalyptic affair aimed squarely at the people of the USA’s West coast, L.A was recorded during the tour that led to live album ‘Time Fades Away’. A ramshackle tour thrown together to supposedly promote ‘Harvest’, Young’s band and voice were falling apart around him due to the death by heroin overdose of Danny Whitten, resulting in the first of the ‘Ditch Trilogy’.

Revolution Blues - Neil Young (On The Beach - 1974)

A menacing lament for Charles Manson, ‘Revolution Blues’ features Levon Helm and Rick Danko of The Band on drums and bass respectively. This rhythm section drives the song along at a furious pace, allowing Young to pick away at some of his best and rawest guitar work to date.

On The Beach - Neil Young (On The Beach - 1974)

Young’s most haunting song of the decade, ‘On The Beach’, tells a story of desperate loneliness. The feel is very laboured, perhaps due to the band’s consumption of ‘Honey Slides’, a concoction of fried honey and potent marijuana. It allows Young to pick a solo that reeks of a weariness hitherto unheard in the history of music.

Cortez The Killer - Neil Young (Zuma - 1975)

In full story mode, Young tells of the brutal conquering of Central and Southern America by Spanish forces, set to a brooding three-chord sequence. Young’s soloing reaches new heights on this track, with some good examples appearing in the two or three minute long intro.

Will To Love - Neil Young (American Stars 'N Bars - 1977)

Pieced together track by track entirely by Young himself in an all night studio session, ‘Will To Love’ wins no prizes for production quality. But the rough nature of the recording complements the sentiments and performances featured perfectly. Young’s voice is fragile and weaves in and out of the various instrumentation, and his lyrical passages are some of his best.

Ride My Llama - Neil Young (Rust Never Sleeps - 1979)

Released on an album that critics proclaimed as a triumphant return to form, 1979’s Rust Never Sleeps’, ‘Ride My Llama’ is a psychedelic folk song using analogies of travellers from other worlds, subtle references to weed smoking, and inventive guitar playing.

Chad is an animator and musician who happens to do many(if not all) his own videos and also many of the bands he shares a record label with on Sub Pop. I'm actually shocked Chad isn't a household name...in indie fans houses at least. Take Neil Young vocals(Chad is also a Canadian - Calgary to be exact) and add some amazing lo fi folk a la the Microphones and you have Chad...but then again, that's almost too limiting as he seems to truly have a unique style that never quite fits into one specific category. See for yourself.

Molten Light by Chad Van Gaalen or maybe it's VanGaalen - I have seen it spelled both ways multiple times and honestly I don't know which is correct.

Flower Gardens by Chad VanGaalen - starts off curiously but you must hear him make stuttering really cool.

Mini TVs by Chad Van Gaalen - this is a pretty good live version but the recorded one is even nicer because it has all kinds of atonal guitar parts and weird sound effects.  The harmonica melody sounds a lot like something on a Neil Young album but I can't remember which song it is now.

The Glow Pt 2 by The Microphones - this is just for bonus points since I mentioned them earlier.

Just read this on Wikipedia, I had to share it; I think it's the best non-fiction article that one can read in under a minute I have ever come across.

A Man Needs a Maid is the 4:05 minute-long 3rd track from Neil Young's album, Harvest about the actress Carrie Snodgress, Young's girlfriend at the time. Together they had a child (Zeke), who was born with cerebral palsy. The relationship ended a few years later. Snodgress spent her time caring for Zeke and was unable to get back to acting. She died in 2004.

The Rolling Stones pianist and movie soundtracks composer, Jack Nitzsche produced the track. He also dated Snodgress, though a few years after her relationship with Young ended, however in 1979 he was sentenced to probation after he beat her with a handgun.

The London Symphony Orchestra played on this.

The song characterises the woman as a "Maid," but it is said that the song meant no disrespect - Young wrote it "in the spirit of the Robin Hood tale Maid Marion"

It's amazing what you can learn in 1 minute.

Ed note: Angie and I caught the Other Lives & Gomez show at the Vic Theatre in Chicago on October 2, 2008.  We interviewed Jesse and met the rest of the band after the set.  This is our story.

I was supposed to wait for the 5:30 train. I get there, it’s 5:28, I figure what the hell, Dan should be on this one right? No Dan. Better text him…buzzzbuzzbuzz, “Errr… I forgot the voice recorder for our interview. I might want to going back to get it,” he says.  Great.  Buzzbuzzbuzz… “No, we’ve gone too far… we have to go on an adventure!” Haha, this is going well already. Can’t wait to see how this one’s going to turn out. Two cell phone stores, a sex shop on Belmont, and finally a CVS later, we figure the best route is the oldest. Pen and paper man. Just like Almost Famous. Lucky for Dan, who claims that he’s directionally impaired, I know my way around the city— and we even had time to spare before heading to the Vic to catch Other Lives.

The show started off very gradually, soft cello bass lines floating out from the stage rising into a sort of rhythmic rocking. Jesse Tabish (lead vocals) moved more like an instrument than a person, keeping time with his whole body, feet never losing a beat as he played. Maybe it was just me feeling the intensity of the music, I don’t know, but the security guard must’ve been used for acts like Henry Rollins, ‘cuz he fell right asleep. Pretty funny.

The second song, “End of the Year,” proved a sort of culmination of the last, a seamless flow, though there was a bit of a change in the lineup. When the band wasn’t playing, Tabish and fellow member Jonathan Mooney seemed to constantly be trading instruments, from piano to guitar to violin… a band of multi-instrumentalists not unlike TBD labelmates the White Rabbits.  Like the White Rabbits’ debut album Fort Nightly, Other Lives’ studio recordings are tame compared to the live performance. The powerful melodies complemented each other throughout “End of the Year,” never competing for the same spotlight. Then the song slips into a beautiful crescendo, an earthy yet cinematic effort.

“We have to tune between songs, sorry it’s a little awkward isn’t it?” Jesse modestly joked between songs.  “Oh yeah, I think they’re selling our EP out front… we kind of have to say that.” Is that an English accent? Something like it— must be the Oklahoma twang.

Each song incorporated more of the folksy guitar driven Oklahoma sound, rather than the ethereal ambiance they started with. By the time they played the politically charged “Paper Cities,” an appropriately fearless Beatles-esque progression rounded out the rest of the set, and before we knew it, it was over.

I was left wanting more, like I could’ve stood there listening for another hour or two.  To our surprise, we later found out from Jesse that this was only their second show as Other Lives. Formerly known as Kunek, this band is evidently composed of seasoned musicians.

“We had a band member leave in the first week of recording the new EP. It was a mutual agreement, and he was a big part of the first band, but we just naturally drifted apart,” he explained through the puffs of a Marlboro in a dark alley behind the venue, under the El tracks.  “Doors closing,” the train responded.

The lineup change was just the start of things. “We were on a small label with our first album, and then Phil [Costello] came and wanted to manage the band. We thought it’d be best to go with his label,” Tabish said.

With lineup changes and a new album on a new label, we wondered, had their roots stayed the same?

“We all love the Beatles,” Tabish commented. “Personally, I like Max Richter, and this Icelandic guy Johan Johansson. Pretty much modern classical stuff, Phillip Glass is a big influence. Oh yeah, and don’t forget Neil Young!”

Forget Neil Young? Hardly.

But as far as influences are concerned one name was fresh in his mind. “Godspeed. They’re probably hands down the best post-rock band of all time,” he gushed. “Yeah, I draw influence from them— there’s no doubt about that. You should go home and listen to them right now.”

I did, and loved it, but with influences like the Beatles and Neil Young, it’s no wonder why songs like Paper Cities, a Dylanesque tribute to the uncertainty of the war in Iraq, appeared on their EP.  Or as Dan put it in a question: “Countless critics agree that your EP predicted the economic meltdown we’re experiencing right now.  How did you prophesize this disaster?” We all shared a good laugh.

“Paper Cities is very political, I mean, it’s right out there and says what it needs to. There’s a lot wrong with this country. I almost hope the economy goes to shit and we really have to change our ways. I hope this election really changes things. The other side has managed to win for so long because of ideology, and it’s only now that people are really starting to care about real things.”

It’s no surprise that recording artists are some of the most outspoken individuals when it comes to politics, but for anyone who isn’t Bono, sometimes a song is all you need. “We’re in the middle of America in Oklahoma, and I think a lot of people feel very helpless. We really feel a disconnect, and maybe this song is just part of us wanting to be involved,” Tabish said.

Simplicity seems to be common ground for all the members of the band, their music as easy to listen to as they are to get along with. “I come up with a song idea,” Tabish explained, “and then the other guys make a mediocre song great.”

Even the much debated question of what defines a band as “indie” doesn’t seem to faze Tabish. “Indie gets thrown around so much, I’m sure people think [our music] is ‘indie,’ and that’s fine if they need to categorize it,” he said.

“The thing about ‘indie’ is that way back when, it used to only mean being an independent band. Nowadays, I think it just means being a band with a little more freedom, so that’s cool.”

With their debut EP to be released to the public October 21^st and a tour underway, we wondered if plans for a full-length album were in the works. “When we get to that point, we’ll just take it as it comes.”

Dan’s final word:  Luckily for Chicago fans, Other Lives just couldn’t get enough of our mustard bathed hot dogs.  On October 21^st, Other Lives will also be playing at Schubas with Hey Champ (electro freshness!) and The Little Ones (also solid— they’re new to me).  Come out and help celebrate the EP release!

The quintessential band that falls into this category for me has always been the Rolling Stones (who didn't just come around, obviously, but have been here since the Stone Age). I appreciate their music intellectually. "Sympathy for the Devil" was a masterpiece, of a sort. I think Keith Richards is one of the best rhythm guitarists ever (players of the Guitar Hero video game will recall his tasty licks). I even agree that "Satisfaction" is the best rock and roll song ever, as determined in some poll a few years ago. But I can't say I like the Stones.

Another band I felt this way about, up until their last album, is Chicago's own Wilco. Their first few years, I liked the singles I heard on the radio. I also appreciated the work they did on the two excellent Mermaid Avenue records, where along with U.K. hard-folker Billy Bragg, they took some long-dormant lyrics written by the incomparable Woody Guthrie and set them to music, in a variety of styles. I thought, "Hey, Wilco started out as an alternative country act, they're supposedly very "literary", their drummer Glenn Kotche went to my high school and graduated with my sister ... what's not to like?"

Then I actually bought and listened to the 1999 Summerteeth record, and found it sort of plodding on the whole, interesting but not much fun. A few years later, I tried again with the critically lauded Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, only to discover it was even more depressing and unnecessarily heady -- a musically dense, lyrically brooding, overproduced attempt to write and perform something "important". I gave it plenty of listens to see if the record would grow on me, win me over. But it didn't, so I threw in the towel and put the band in that "respectable but tedious" category with the Rolling Stones.

But around that same time, I heard an interview and some radio talkshow business discussing leader and main lyricist Jeff Tweedy's struggle with clinical depression. He was beating it, though, so I figured maybe the band's music would benefit from the change as well. And with last year's Sky Blue Sky, which as usual I bought well after the release date, I find I actually do like their unique voice and musical vision. At least it's more hopeful and moving now, instead of just keen observations of what's wrong with the world. Whew! Finally. Thank God for serotonin reuptake inhibitor drugs, or whatever helped Tweedy turn his negative outlook into a reasonably positive one (without being willfully ignorant and upbeat).

Now Wilco's out on the road with my man Neil Young, Kotche recently worked with Kronos Quartet (like another fave, Elvis Costello, once did with the Brodsky String Quartet), and Tweedy's a comfortable family man, and among the more respected mid-career veterans of the music scene. That makes me happy.

For evidence of peace of mind (in the midst of war), just look at the progression from frustration to acceptance, from doubt to a kind of faith, in the following two Wilco songs. The first is from 1999 (Summerteeth), the second from 2007 (Sky Blue Sky).

Can't Stand It - by Wilco (J. Tweedy)

The Way Things Go
You Get So Low
Struggle To Find Your Skin
Hey Ho
Look Out Below
Your Prayers Will Never Be Answered Again

Phones Still Ring
And Singers Sing
Speakers Are Speaking In Code
What Now
Well Anyhow
Our Prayers Will Never Be Answered Again

You Know It's All Beginning
(it's All Beginning)
To Feel Like It's Ending
(feels Like It's Ending)
No Loves As Random
As God's Love
I Can't Stand It
I Can't Stand It

The Way Things Get
You Get So High
Funny How We Make New Friends
Oh Hey Ho
I Gotta Go
My Prayers Will Never Be Answered Again

You Know It's All Beginning
(it's All Beginning)
To Feel Like It's Ending
(feels Like It's Ending)
No Loves As Random
As God's Love
I Can't Stand It
I Can't Stand It

Speakers Speaking
Speakers Speaking
Speaking In Code    (x2)

You Know It's All Beginning
(it's All Beginning)
To Feel Like Pretending
(to Feel Like Pretending)
No Loves As Random
As My Love
I Can't Stand It
I Can't Stand It

Your Prayers Will Never Be Answered Again (x4)

What Light (Tweedy)

And if you're trying to paint a picture
But you're not sure which colors belong
Just paint what you see
Don't let anyone say it's wrong

And if you're strung out like a kite
Or stung awake in the night
It's alright to be frightened

When there's a light (what light)
There's a light (one light)
There's a light (white light)
Inside of you

If you think you might need somebody
To pick you up when you drag
Don't loose sight of yourself
Don't let anyone change your bag

And if the whole world's singing your songs
And all of your paintings have been hung
Just remember what was yours is everyone's from now on

And that's not wrong or right
But you can struggle with it all you like
You'll only get uptight

Because there's a light (what light)
There's a light (one light)
There's a light (white light)
There's a light (what light)
There's a light (one light)
There's a light (white light)
Inside of you

The only way
We could ever beat
These crooked politician men

Is to cast the moneychangers
Out of the temple
Put the Carpenter in

Oh it's Jesus Christ our President
God above our king
With a job and pension for young and old
We will make hallelujah ring

Every year we waste enough
To feed the ones who starve
We build our civilization up
And we shoot it down with wars

But with the Carpenter
On the seat
Way up in the capitol town

The USA
Be on the way
Prosperity bound

It's pretty intense. 

The war in Iraq has lasted longer than World War I, World War II, and the Civil War. 

The film chronicles Young and his bandmates as they tour America in 2006 speaking out against President Bush, the war, while playing tunes from Young's Living with War album. It's under produced, and far from perfect, but it got me thinking and I appreciate that. 

One of the people featured in film is Congressman Patrick Murphy. In 2006 he became the first and only Iraq war veteran elected to Congress. Since being elected, Murphy has been one of the most outspoken advocates for a change of direction in Iraq. He has repeatedly fought to bring our troops home - although his efforts were blocked by President Bush and pro-war Republicans. 

If anyone in Pennsylvania happens to be voting, please help re-elect Mr. Murphy.

PS.

If you're in a band and have a protest song, Neil Young will post it on his website. Very cool.

At this stage it still looks like we will see the release of Sugar Mountain, a 22 track set recorded in Nov 1968 in Ann Arbor, on November 28th.

Here is a great version of that song from Live Aid:

Neil Young stoned in 1975
high looking at the sky
thinking of Danny Whitten
and marvelling over this
beautiful junkie universe

the moon as a silverspoon
with some lovely cocaine
and the stars in the dark
like golden needle sticks

thinking of what someone said
death´s the greatest fix of all
missing and envying his friend
* * *
Att gamla gubbrockare aldrig lär sig att de ska hålla sig till långsam och värdig lubbning och inte blanda in snabba intervaller. I morse drog det till i baksidan på höger lår. Jag och Chippen typ.
* * *
Att skapa är att göra någonting som ingen annan tror finns där.
* * *
»För att skriva fram en sann berättelse måste man inte sällan, för den stora sanningens skull, vara lite utanför sanningen i de små och mindre viktiga detaljerna. Lägga till, dra ifrån, flytta i tid och rum. För att den sanning man verkligen vill berätta ska kunna komma fram mera sant och starkt och äkta.«
Ernest Hemingway; fritt översatt ur »Ernest Hemingway on Writing«, edited by Larry W. Phillips
* * *
Klockan 13 på torsdag kliver den ständige ut till världspressen och meddelar att Paul Auster får årets Nobelpris i litteratur.
* * *
jag varnar
den här dagen
för att göra ett minsta
misstag
sen du vaknat
Bruno K. Öijer
* * *
På rak arm kan jag inte komma på någon annan kriminalförfattare som likt islänningen Arnaldur Indridason skrivit fem helgjutna böcker på raken. »Vinterstaden«, det senaste mästarprovet i serien om den älskansvärde, melankoliske kriminalpolisen Erlendur Sveinsson finns nu i storpocket.
Med mjuka pärmar finns också de övriga i serien: »Kvinna i grönt«, »Glasbruket«, »Änglarösten« och »Mannen i sjön«.
Se där har ni redan nu alla era julklappsbekymmer lösta.
* * *
Nästa stump har varit med förr, men för minnesklena och nytillkomna tittare går den i repris. Dessutom har jag haft en med mina mått körig dag i dag med begränsade möjligheter att värpa bloggtexter.
* * *
»Mamma hade lagat en oxstek med brunsås och vinbärsgelé och syltlök och glaserade morötter och pappa bjöd på snaps till sillen.
När mamma gick ut i köket för att se till steken, tog vi oss en snaps till.
›Lev som du vill‹, sa pappa, ›men låt mig aldrig komma på dig med att dricka vin till inlagd sill‹.«
Claes Hylinger; »Det hemliga sällskapet«
* * *
Vem är det jag som undrar vem jag är?
* * *
Jag har lämnat − vilket är murvelprat för »levererat« − en liten jobbtext. Sjuhundrafemtio anspråkslösa tecken. Minst sjuhundratrettio av dem var ett rent nöje att skriva.
Jag sitter nu kvar i läsåskrivfåtöljen och hyllar det spanska ordspråket.
»Så ljuvt det är att göra ingenting, och sedan vila.«
* * *
Två skitmål bjöd Brage Falun på.
Kuken, ballen Domnarvsvallen.

An article published in the Sunday, October 5th edition of The Sunday Times of London, titled "Why does music so often divide the sexes?" and written by Andrew Smith, takes a look at how certain bands and artists are overwhelmingly supported by the members of one sex while members of the other sex can't stand them. The article puts forth the theory that James Blunt's audience is mostly female. I would agree with that, since I don't know any males who like James Blunt's music. But Blunt (pictured above, top) does sell pretty well, so somebody must be buying it. But the article also claims that women "hate" Led Zeppelin (pictured above, bottom). I don't buy into that at all. While Led Zep's audience is definitely made up of a male majority, I've known quite a few women in my life who enjoy their music. Here's an excerpt from the article:

We all know they exist, but we seldom speak of them: artists whose fanbase skews violently towards one sex, frequently leaving the other irritated or just perplexed. On the men’s side, the Smiths spring to mind as a band whose devotees tend to be male, others being Led Zeppelin, the Fall and geezer’s geezer Neil Young. On the feminine side, scarcely a man on earth professes to understand the appeal of Barry Manilow or his inheritor James Blunt, while mere mention of the name Alanis Morissette has been known to induce hives.

I believe that musical taste is more down to one's life experiences than one's sex. To break it down solely to sex makes for too much of a generalization. I would think that there is at least one man on the planet who listens to James Blunt. But he probably would never admit to it.

To read the article in full from The Sunday Times of London, click here.

Por isso esse é o top 3: músicos ativistas.
Quem sabe não nos inspiramos para o terceiro turno?!

Yes We Can - Barack Obama Music Video
Artistas diversos, se unem para colocar Obama no poder. A inspiração vem de um de seus discursos. O resultado é de causar inveja do novo sonho americano.

Neil Young - Living With War
Só Neil Young sabe fazer músicas feias, simples e extremamente lindas ao mesmo tempo. Nessa, feita à epoca da invasão do afeganistão/iraque, ele canta sobre a tensão de viver com uma guerra nas costas.

Bruce Springsteen - Born to Run
O "Chefe" cantas as mazelas de quem bate cartão e trabalha 8hs por dia e no fim do dia só quer um beijo da mulher e uma boa refeição. Mas falar disso é mexer com os brios das minorias, está aí a tática do velho Bruce para "causar" com seu público.

This Article is taken from "The Huffington Post" - Posted May 19, 2008 | 11:48 AM (EST)

by Vincent Bugliosi (Prosecutor of Charles Manson and now prosecutor of a similar US-criminal: George W. Bush, President of the United States Of America)

---

The Legal Framework for the Prosecution

That the king can do no wrong is a necessary and fundamental principle of the English constitution. -Sir William Blackstone, Commentaries on the Laws of England, 1765

No living Homo sapiens is above the law. -(Notwithstanding our good friends and legal ancestors across the water, this is a fact that requires no citation.)

With respect to the position I take about the crimes of George Bush, I want to state at the outset that my motivation is not political. Although I've been a longtime Democrat (primarily because, unless there is some very compelling reason to be otherwise, I am always for "the little guy"), my political orientation is not rigid. For instance, I supported John McCain's run for the presidency in 2000. More to the point, whether I'm giving a final summation to the jury or writing one of my true crime books, credibility has always meant everything to me. Therefore, my only master and my only mistress are the facts and objectivity. I have no others. This is why I can give you, the reader, a 100 percent guarantee that if a Democratic president had done what Bush did, I would be writing the same, identical piece you are about to read.

Perhaps the most amazing thing to me about the belief of many that George Bush lied to the American public in starting his war with Iraq is that the liberal columnists who have accused him of doing this merely make this point, and then go on to the next paragraph in their columns. Only very infrequently does a columnist add that because of it Bush should be impeached. If the charges are true, of course Bush should have been impeached, convicted, and removed from office. That's almost too self-evident to state. But he deserves much more than impeachment. I mean, in America, we apparently impeach presidents for having consensual sex outside of marriage and trying to cover it up. If we impeach presidents for that, then if the president takes the country to war on a lie where thousands of American soldiers die horrible, violent deaths and over 100,000 innocent Iraqi civilians, including women and children, even babies are killed, the punishment obviously has to be much, much more severe. That's just common sense. If Bush were impeached, convicted in the Senate, and removed from office, he'd still be a free man, still be able to wake up in the morning with his cup of coffee and freshly squeezed orange juice and read the morning paper, still travel widely and lead a life of privilege, still belong to his country club and get standing ovations whenever he chose to speak to the Republican faithful. This, for being responsible for over 100,000 horrible deaths?* For anyone interested in true justice, impeachment alone would be a joke for what Bush did.

Let's look at the way some of the leading liberal lights (and, of course, the rest of the entire nation with the exception of those few recommending impeachment) have treated the issue of punishment for Bush's cardinal sins. New York Times columnist Paul Krugman wrote about "the false selling of the Iraq War. We were railroaded into an unnecessary war." Fine, I agree. Now what? Krugman just goes on to the next paragraph. But if Bush falsely railroaded the nation into a war where over 100,000 people died, including 4,000 American soldiers, how can you go on to the next paragraph as if you had been writing that Bush spent the weekend at Camp David with his wife? For doing what Krugman believes Bush did, doesn't Bush have to be punished commensurately in some way? Are there no consequences for committing a crime of colossal proportions?

Al Franken on the David Letterman show said, "Bush lied to us to take us to war" and quickly went on to another subject, as if he was saying "Bush lied to us in his budget."

Senator Edward Kennedy, condemning Bush, said that "Bush's distortions misled Congress in its war vote" and "No President of the United States should employ distortion of truth to take the nation to war." But, Senator Kennedy, if a president does this, as you believe Bush did, then what? Remember, Clinton was impeached for allegedly trying to cover up a consensual sexual affair. What do you recommend for Bush for being responsible for more than 100,000 deaths? Nothing? He shouldn't be held accountable for his actions? If one were to listen to you talk, that is the only conclusion one could come to. But why, Senator Kennedy, do you, like everyone else, want to give Bush this complete free ride?

The New York Times, in a June 17, 2004, editorial, said that in selling this nation on the war in Iraq, "the Bush administration convinced a substantial majority of Americans before the war that Saddam Hussein was somehow linked to 9/ 11, . . . inexcusably selling the false Iraq-Al Qaeda claim to Americans." But gentlemen, if this is so, then what? The New York Times didn't say, just going on, like everyone else, to the next paragraph, talking about something else.

In a November 15, 2005, editorial, the New York Times said that "the president and his top advisers . . . did not allow the American people, or even Congress, to have the information necessary to make reasoned judgments of their own. It's obvious that the Bush administration misled Americans about Mr. Hussein's weapons and his terrorist connections." But if it's "obvious that the Bush administration misled Americans" in taking them to a war that tens of thousands of people have paid for with their lives, now what? No punishment? If not, under what theory? Again, you're just going to go on to the next paragraph?

I'm not going to go on to the next unrelated paragraph.

In early December of 2005, a New York Times-CBS nationwide poll showed that the majority of Americans believed Bush "intentionally misled" the nation to promote a war in Iraq. A December 11, 2005, article in the Los Angeles Times, after citing this national poll, went on to say that because so many Americans believed this, it might be difficult for Bush to get the continuing support of Americans for the war. In other words, the fact that most Americans believed Bush had deliberately misled them into war was of no consequence in and of itself. Its only consequence was that it might hurt his efforts to get support for the war thereafter. So the article was reporting on the effect of the poll findings as if it was reporting on the popularity, or lack thereof, of Bush's position on global warming or immigration. Didn't the author of the article know that Bush taking the nation to war on a lie (if such be the case) is the equivalent of saying he is responsible for well over 100,000 deaths? One would never know this by reading the article.

If Bush, in fact, intentionally misled this nation into war, what is the proper punishment for him? Since many Americans routinely want criminal defendants to be executed for murdering only one person, if we weren't speaking of the president of the United States as the defendant here, to discuss anything less than the death penalty for someone responsible for over 100,000 deaths would on its face seem ludicrous.** But we are dealing with the president of the United States here.

On the other hand, the intensity of rage against Bush in America has been such (it never came remotely this close with Clinton because, at bottom, there was nothing of any real substance to have any serious rage against him for) that if I heard it once I heard it ten times that "someone should put a bullet in his head." That, fortunately, is just loose talk, and even more fortunately not the way we do things in America. In any event, if an American jury were to find Bush guilty of first degree murder, it would be up to them to decide what the appropriate punishment should be, one of their options being the imposition of the death penalty.

Although I have never heard before what I am suggesting -- that Bush be prosecuted for murder in an American courtroom -- many have argued that "Bush should be prosecuted for war crimes" (mostly for the torture of prisoners at Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo) at the International Criminal Court in The Hague, Netherlands. But for all intents and purposes this cannot be done.

*Even assuming, at this point, that Bush is criminally responsible for the deaths of over 100,000 people in the Iraq war, under federal law he could only be prosecuted for the deaths of the 4,000 American soldiers killed in the war. No American court would have jurisdiction to prosecute him for the one hundred and some thousand Iraqi deaths since these victims not only were not Americans, but they were killed in a foreign nation, Iraq. Despite their nationality, if they had been killed here in the States, there would of course be jurisdiction.

**Indeed, Bush himself, ironically, would be the last person who would quarrel with the proposition that being guilty of mass murder (even one murder, by his lights) calls for the death penalty as opposed to life imprisonment. As governor of Texas, Bush had the highest execution rate of any governor in American history: He was a very strong proponent of the death penalty who even laughingly mocked a condemned young woman who begged him to spare her life ("Please don't kill me," Bush mimicked her in a magazine interview with journalist Tucker Carlson), and even refused to commute the sentence of death down to life imprisonment for a young man who was mentally retarded (although as president he set aside the entire prison sentence of his friend Lewis "Scooter" Libby), and had a broad smile on his face when he announced in his second presidential debate with Al Gore that his state, Texas, was about to execute three convicted murderers.

In Bush's two terms as Texas governor, he signed death warrants for an incredible 152 out of 153 executions against convicted murderers, the majority of whom only killed one single person. The only death sentence Bush commuted was for one of the many murders that mass murderer Henry Lucas had been convicted of. Bush was informed that Lucas had falsely confessed to this particular murder and was innocent, his conviction being improper. So in 152 out of 152 cases, Bush refused to show mercy even once, finding that not one of the 152 convicted killers should receive life imprisonment instead of the death penalty. Bush's perfect 100 percent execution rate is highly uncommon even for the most conservative law-and-order governors.

The above is an excerpt from the book The Prosecution of George W. Bush for Murder by Vincent Bugliosi Published by Vanguard Press; May 2008;$26.95US/$28.95CAN; 978-159315-481-3
Copyright © 2008 Vincent Bugliosi

Vincent Bugliosi received his law degree in 1964. In his career at the L.A. County District Attorney's office, he successfully prosecuted 105 out of 106 felony jury trials, including 21 murder convictions without a single loss. His most famous trial, the Charles Manson case, became the basis of his classic, Helter Skelter, the biggest selling true-crime book in publishing history. His forthcoming book, The Prosecution of George W. Bush For Murder, is available May 27.

---

The following song was done by me in 2007 and has exactly the same theme and reached in early 2008 the No1 on Neil Young's "Living With War Today" (Click to listen):

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="320" caption="White-X-Blues-Band - Lord, There Ain't Everything OK"][/caption]

Lezers,

1. Vandeweek bezochten wij de voorstelling Pleinvrees van het Nationale Toneel. Pleinvrees is 'een hartverscheurende komedie over zes mensen op zoek naar contact. Ze worstelen zich met een uitgestreken gezicht door het dagelijks leven'.

2. Vandeweek besloten wij gezien het weer de bezem eens goed door het huis te halen. Zoals dat gaat blijft men dan de halve middag hangen bij de schoenendoos vol met oude foto's.

3. Gisteren dronken wij rode wijntjes met een vrouw waarvan wij, inmiddels enige tijd, weten dat zij niet degene is waarmee wij oud en grijs willen worden (andersom ook niet trouwens). Aan de orde kwam het ongebonden zijn, en de angst dat dat zo zou blijven.

4. Het is een druilerige zondag. Om precies te zijn: de op drie na laatste zondag van ons 35ste levensjaar.

Lezers, gegeven de omstandigheden hierboven genoemd ontkomt men er haast niet aan op een dag als vandaag eens diep te denken over het Zijn in de relationele zin des woords. Men loopt in gedachten de Dames van Weleer na, draait eens wat van hun soundtracks en overpeinst in hoeverre er sprake was van Grove Fouten Onzerzijds, Gemiste Kansen, Domme Pech of Blij-Dat-Het-Zo-Gegaan-Is. Nadat men ten aanzien hiervan tal van gedachten de revue heeft laten passeren, komt men onoverkomelijk tot de conclusie dat deze excersitie, hoewel zeer beschouwelijk en een interessant tijdverdrijf in muzikaal opzicht, ons geen steek verder brengt.

Ons in Italië woonachtige klankbord E. zal deze gedachtenstromen onzerzijds goed herkennen, omdat deze steevast leiden tot een Klaagzang over dat het nooit wat wordt, dat het ons Neerleggen bij de Ongebondenheid de enige optie is. Haar betoog over 'gewoon pech' en 'geduldig zijn en komt vanzelf' schuiven wij dan natuurlijk steevast met enkele rap ter tafel gebrachte, maar daarmee niet meer steekhoudende, argumenten terzijde (evenwel dank daarvoor!). Overigens wordt deze Klaagzang korte tijd later meestal gevolgd door Betogen over hoe leuk de nieuwe ster aan het firmament wel niet is.

Hoe dan ook, op een gegeven moment dient zich dan een nieuwe gedachtenstroom aan. Het Hoe-Dan-Wel-Te Krijgen-Wat-Men Wil. Men stelt dan allereerst vast dat men geen 23 meer is en dat Zij-Die-Leuk-Zijn zich ten dele al van de markt af bewogen en gebonden hebben (En geef ze eens ongelijk?!). Daarnaast stelt men ook vast dat het werkende bestaan met zich meebrengt dat men zich in een tamelijk beperkte kring begeeft. Een borreltje hier en een etentje daar, maar het Mining for a Heart of Gold wordt hierdoor toch bemoeilijkt. Van het internet-daten zij wij reeds bekomen, dus dat is ook geen optie meer. Op een enkele leuke date na, wiens type wij niet bleken te zijn, bracht dit vooral frustratie over het gebrek aan reactie, na leuk geschreven berichten en Gedane Moeite. Wij zijn ook niet het type dat zich in het weekend alleen het uitgaansgebeuren inwerpt op zoek naar die Parel tussen de Zwijnen.

Tsja, wat dan? Het laten varen van het Pakket van Eisen lijkt ook niet verstandig. Niet dat dat nog hetzelfde is als 10 jaar geleden: inmiddels zijn wij niet meer zo op zoek naar wild romantische, onbegrijpelijke, onvatbare maar daarmee zo verleidelijke vrouwen, maar zijn meer gecharmeerd van een uitstraling van goedheid, fijnheid en een begrip op intellectueel gebied: een mooie, zachte vrouw die ons verwondert. Maar waar vindt men die nog???

Nu ja, dergelijke gedachtenstromen bedekken dus dan al snel de zondagmiddag. En zij leiden tot niets. Dat zien wij ook wel in. In die zin heeft E. gelijk: geduld is de enige remedie, hoe weinig voldoening dat nu ook geeft. En tot die tijd? Tot die tijd rommelen wij her en der misschien eens wat aan, komen daar weer op terug, besteden eens in de zoveel tijd een middag met gedachten als deze en gaan weer over tot de Orde van de Dag. Maar lezers, natuurlijk niet nadat wij voor u een hartverscheurende mixtape in elkaar gedraaid hebben, met liederen afkomstig van de Soundtracks van de Vrouwen van Weleer en tevens Deuntjes van Gemengde Gevoelens.

Jackson Browne - Fountain of Sorrow
The Commodores - Sail On
Townes van Zandt - Flying Shoes
Graham Nash - Simple Man
Paul Simon - Still Crazy After All These Years
Herman van Veen - Ze Boog Zover Voorover
Rick Danko Band - It Makes No Difference
Bruce Springsteen - I'm On Fire
Jacques Brel - Laat Me Niet Alleen
Tim Hardin - Reason To Believe
Saybia - The Second You Sleep
The Beach Boys - God Only Knows
The Beatles - Yesterday
Crosby, Stills & Nash - Helplessly Hoping
Fleetwood Mac - Landslide
Heart - Alone
Kate Wolf - Back Roads
Milow - Out of My Hands
Herman van Veen - Voor Een Verre Prinses
The Rolling Stones - Memory Motel
Novastar - Never Back Down
Prince - Nothing Compares 2 U
Roy Orbison - In The Real World
Neil Young - Heart Of Gold

Luister: Mixtape Heart Of Gold

Specifically, the Harvest Moon is the full moon closest to the autumnal equinox, and what makes it special is the time that it rises. It comes up with very close proximity to the sun going down. And thus making a very short time of darkness, if any at all, between the two. Farmers would use this phenomena to their advantage with Artemis and Apollo united again above them to bring in their crops.

There was no trouble in seeing the moon. It was, as they say back home, "as big as all get out!" I could not see very many stars, but the moon... oh, the moon. A short distance from my apartment, I got it in my sights and I stopped in my tracks. I was entranced. This has always happened to me. When I was growing up, from my bedroom window, I would watch it's slow arc and let my thoughts wander through the day's events, gliding to farther memories or swirl forward to future wonderment. Sometimes for hours, I would moon over the orb. Ultimately returning to bed for exhaustion, disappearance behind clouds or over the house, or quizzical parental units.

I have always cherished this time of year. The shorter days, the cooler temperature, the slowing down, it all triggers a mental inwardness, introspection. Granted, I have been accused of "living in my head" but this is different. Introspection is not being reticent, withdrawn, or even farouche. For me it has always been a personal inventorying of the year past and curiosity of what is to come. To take into account the successes and the disappointments. To learn from mistakes and missteps and attempt to revive merriment from a joyous memory. It seems a natural process. Everything has seasons, even human emotions.

We are spoiled here in the Bay Area. The temperature is an average of 60-70 degrees all year round. There is little alteration in the outlook. People love it. They speak of the weather not in small talk ways but like they are recounting their favorite book. So much so, that any major change in it sends them into a general malaise. As soon as the sun breaks through the clouds, the spirits are lifted and all is well. It can seem a bit childish. This is of no great surprise.

The Bay Area has some of the most desired zip codes in America, present economic woes notwithstanding. The residents know this and treat living here like its a club. An exclusive club. A VERY exclusive club. Where you get whatever you want, when you want it. And if you do not get it you pout, become irritable, or even belligerent. Like that spoiled child, the Bay Area does not pause to reconsider their actions, to put things into a larger scale. Just focused on the infantile demands.

I have found myself slipping into this mindset and I don't like it. I suppose living somewhere for a while, you start to pick up idiosyncrasies. It is this self-revelation that appeared to me in this Harvest Moon. My wandering thoughts also remembered the frost-covered September mornings, the shock of oranges, reds, and yellows in the hills, the extra blankets for sleeping, and visible breath of the Commonwealth.

I have become fairly homesick. I can't shake it. The thing that is really getting to me is the lack of physical change in the environment around me. There is only more of the same. Even today's rain (the first since I don't know when) had little impact on me. I guess the honeymoon is over. Can you have too much of a good thing? Maybe.

I don't know how long I stood on that corner staring heavenward. I was shaken out of my enchantment when a pedestrian happened by. He was walking his dog and was looking at anything but the Moon. "Evening," he said as more of a reaction than a conversation. "Hello," I said. "Cold enough for you?", he asked. "Not nearly enough," I responded and turned home, humming the below song.

Nog los van of je gelooft dat in CO2 de wortel van alle kwaad schuilt- en dan vooral in dat beetje dat door de mensheid wordt uitgestoten-, of Al Gore gewoon een volgevreten hypocriete Yank vindt, er is een aantal goede redenen om bij de les te blijven:

1) Het klimaat verandert onmiskenbaar. We hebben sinds 12 jaar geen fatsoenlijke winter meer gehad. De zomers zijn ook prut. De maanden mei en september daarentegen zijn erg mooi en warm. Gletjers smelten en ijsberen verzuipen.

2) Met onze verslaving aan olie spekken we vooral de portemonnee van allerlei onfrisse lieden. En dan zijn die Texaanse neocon vriendjes van de familie Bush nog lieverdjes. Kijk naar de rest van de wereld: er is een (negatief) verband tussen het aandeel van olie in het BNP en het democratisch gehalte van het betreffende regime. De eerste Arabische staten waar de olie opraakte waren de eerste die serieus mensenrechten gingen respecteren.

3) De olievoorraden zijn eindig en gaan dus op. Een heel aantal van u- mits u stopt met roken, matig drinkt en gevarieerd eet- gaat dat meemaken. Ergens tussen 2030 en 2040 is het uit met de pret. En als de Chinezen en Indiërs net zo auto-geil worden als wij in het Westen- geef ze eens ongelijk!- dan gaat het nog iets sneller. Ik moet bekennen: vooral dat laatste doet dan mij dan pijn. Ik wéét dat het beter is om minder auto te rijden en minder fossiele brandstoffen te verstoken.

Maar het is zo leuk.

Diep in mijn hart ben ik een kleine jongen gebleven. Mijn eerste geluidje was vast 'vrrrooemm'; het eerste woordje 'ootoo'. Ik word high als ik mijn twintig jaar oude Mini aftank met benzine; om nog maar te zwijgen van de prettige gevoelens die ik beleef bij het ronken van de Lycoming in de Piper waarin ik vlieglessen heb.

Ja, vlieglessen. Nergens goed voor, gewoon voor de lol. Dus.

Op hoog octaan bezine, ja. Met zelfs een beetje lood erin. Heb je daar een probleem mee? Talk to the hand, 'cause the face ain't listening!

Benzineslurpende, olielekkende monsters. Ik kan daar echt helemaal lyrisch van worden. Vooral ook door de eenvoud van het concept: beetje peut, beetje lucht, vonkje, vrroeemm. Voet- of hand- aan het gas, en de wereld ligt aan je voeten. Zoals Albert Hammond het zong "Power at my feet, and glory at the wheel."

Diep grommende V8's. Fluweelzacht lispelende zescylinders. Gretig roffelende boxers. Jankende Merlins en brullende stermotoren. Kippenvel. Wat zal ik ze gaan missen. Ja, ik ben een hele grote kleine jongen.

Er schijnt een raceauto meer dan 200 km/u te rijden op elektromotoren. En op zonne-energie sjezen ze Australië door. Moeten we vooral mee doorgaan. Is best knap. En erg verantwoord.

En ongeveer net zo lullig als een café waar je wel bier kan drinken, maar niet meer mag roken. Ach...it was fun while it lasted.

Neil Young - Long May You Run

Lezers,

gisteren huilde de wind nog door het huis, vandaag zijn het de gitaren. Tragische nummers hebben we al vaker behandeld. Soms was de muziek tragisch, soms de tekst, vaak allebei. Maar vandaag richten wij ons eens specifiek op de gitaarsolo. Daarom nu 3 tragische, jankende solo's. We horen natuurlijk graag uw opinie en voorkeuren ten aanzien van dit onderwerp.

Roy Buchanan - The Messiah Will Come Again ***
Funkadelic - Maggot Brain ***
Neil Young - Like A Hurricane ***

Roy Buchanan - The Messiah Will Come Again

Funkadelic - Maggot Brain

Neil Young - Like A Hurricane

The biggest problem with bloody musicians is that none of the fuckers have fucking jobs. Consequently concepts like 9am and 'time to go to fucking work' have no bloody meaning for the pillocks. Nor does 'if you get home after 4am stinking of beer your wife might just go mental'. Nobody ever fucking warns me about these things.

Anyhow, I am less than an hour away from my Friday pub lunch down at the King's Wark. Apart from being the workplace of the rather lovely Izzy, who comments here from time to time, it is also one of the finest scoffing establishments in Edinburgh. Yum. And did I mention that they have beer?

Oh, and I got into another fucking row at a gig, you'll be amused to hear. During Eagleowl's show last night some silly Aussie tart came in and started jabbering away, and clearly wasn't enjoying the music. This is fine, of course; you can't demand that anyone likes anything, but then again if you aren't enjoying it then Edinburgh is hardly devoid of other fucking pubs in which you might drink. If you don't like it, sweethert, then instead of talking through the bastard thing, why not just Go Away. Eventually I suggested, in my usual diplomatic way, that she might wish to enjoy her recreation in the other fucking room if she wasn't enjoying herself. Unfortunately, in the usual manner of vacuous bimbos, she continued to want to discuss the matter endlessly and wouldn't just piss off and leave people to enjoy themselves.

To make matters worse, it then turned out that the grotty old mare was there with Matt, who is a friend of mine and a really lovely bloke, and who managed to stay remarkably calm whilst I insulted his pal. I do open my mouth occasionally, people, but it is usually just to change feet.

The worst thing was that later on we bumped into a couple of other plastered members of the Edinburgh music community and they confirmed that they had also heard me shush people a gigs before. So I am becoming known as the Edinburgh Gig Wheeshter which is not, I have to confess, terribly rock and roll. Honestly though - just shut up or go the fuck away. No-one is forcing you to enjoy it, but no-one is stopping just bloody sodding off either.

Grrr. Anyway, friday, bunch of favourites, de-lurk, etc etc...

You will be pleased to know that Roni Brunn from From sent me an email last night and given the monumental ripping she got from everyone, she was incredibly gracious. So whether or not you like her music it seems like she is a nice lass. Feel bad yet? You should.

1. Best Indiana Jones movie.
2. Custard or rice pud?
3. Painful comedian you actually like (NOT Adam fucking Sandler).
4. Drew Barrymore deserves to die. How should she achieve this?
5. Silliest sports kit - with pictures please.

Gerry Mitchell & Little Sparta - Nocturne in C[audio http://www.matthewjamesyoung.com/sbt/GerryMitchellandLittleSparta-NocturneInC.mp3]
Neil Young - Heart of Gold[audio http://www.matthewjamesyoung.com/sbt/NeilYoung-HeartofGold.mp3]
The Wallflowers - Josephine (For those of you who don't know, this is Dylan Jr.)[audio http://www.matthewjamesyoung.com/sbt/TheWallflowers-Josephine.mp3]
Ghostkeeper - Solid Gold[audio http://www.matthewjamesyoung.com/sbt/Ghostkeeper-SolidGold.mp3]
Marcy Playground - All the Lights Went Out[audio http://www.matthewjamesyoung.com/sbt/MarcyPlayground-AllTheLightsWentOut.mp3]
That last song is one I used to listen to a lot when I first met Mrs. Toad. I lived a long way away at the time and we only saw each other every couple of weeks, and I was so dazed and in love I used to sit at my desk and hum along to this all the time... ♫yes today, all the lights went out...♪ I was developing a soft spot for the girl even then, it seems.

Ian from Broken Records sent me this, by the way. The Luminaire fucking rocks.

Neil Young - Old man

The following week I had an interview with Frankie goes to Hollywood and the week after that U2, just as they had begun to work with Brian Eno.  I was fortunate enough to get the opportunity to record another one with them late that year, an hour special around The Unforgetable Fire,  that was broadcast on New Years Eve 1984…… just as they were ‘going to go away to dream it up all over again’ They did that one pretty well.

I remember I finished the interview with a my most profound statement ever. ‘and rest assured this time next year there will no greater act on earth’ Little did I know that the following summer they would appear on Live Aid and awake the following morning with the whole world at their feet. I wanted to go away and have some business cards made up Tony Michaelides----- Prophet!

Even though I was working these bands they were only too glad to help me in trying to establish a show and get people’s attention. Radio play and support at the level these people were at was vital too so I saw at as us all helping each other.

As previously mentioned I only ended up on the radio because I complained at Piccadilly’s plan to not replace Mark Radcliffe when he moved to London and the national station, Radio 1. You need shows like these and you need them all the time. You can’t dump them when one guy leaves!.... they have to have their place. Fortune prevailed, they saw sense……..and ruined my weekends for the next 12 years. No dirty weekends unless they involved grunge bands.

Radio can be so spontaneous and so much fun if you just let things go with the flow. I had no fear of failure. How could the show be bad if it always had good music in it? I never tried to be a lousy jock and mostly I did OK but sometimes I would open my mouth and utter shite would come out. Going with the flow was never meant to mean verbal diarrhea. I wanted to take a mirror in so I could look at myself and say ‘What did you just say?’  If at times you say something that you don’t understand then how the hell can you expect anyone else to!  At least I made others laugh………

It was handy though, this was a gig I never had to rehearse for. The one thing I did rehearse was my closing link. After 12 years I wanted to go out with a bang. I wanted to leave a damn legacy….I wanted go out ‘cool’

I timed the length of the track up to the vocal……for the first time in my life I wanted to be a DJ, I wanted to kill ’em !... I wanted to talk up to the vocal. It was Neil Young’s ‘I’m the ocean’ For some perverse reason maybe I thought this was my broadcast burial, how the hell do I know! Neil was taking my ashes out to sea and scattering them over the ocean less north west. It was his way of saying thank you for the amount of money he had made by the amount of times I’d played his records.

So here I was, out of an ad break and I started my link. I’d even run through it again in the news. It was all ‘thank you for listening, for being there for the last 12 years, it’s been a gas, so many memories, so much fun , thank you for everyone who made this possible………all the classic bollocks and so perfectly timed. You’d have thought I just had my last curry and they were taking me down the corridor to the electric chair….. I wish they had!

Then…………he started singing. THE BASTARD starting singing, and I hadn’t finished, it was supposed to end with my saying ‘My name is Tony Michaelides, I am the ocean, Goodnight’ and then in came Neil, my friend Neil, the person I had supported all these years, played so much of his music.....it even had the line in 'I'm the giant undertow'  How cool is that, he put my name in a song and I sounded like Bridgette Bardot was sexing me up. I'd finish (not with Bridgette) and I was to utter those final words..... ' I am the ocean ' and he was to cascade in with this thunderous guitar screaming the opening line. He was bidding me farewell, we'd REHEARSED IT. Neil should have been hurting, I was being taken off air. It was a funeral....instead he was fucking up ...Damn it was all coming back to haunt me on my final link, he even had a song called 'Fucking up!'

It was so final, it was so supposed to be perfect, oh so perfect. I hadn’t got anywhere near my closing line and he was bloody singing all over me. WHY??? he’d done the song so many times and on my show, and tonight my last show he came in early!! Why did he do that? This was my swansong, Neil how could you!!!!!

And if that wasn’t enough I emigrated 10 years later to Florida and still he came back to haunt me. Three hurricanes ripped right through where I was living…………I don’t listen to ‘Like a hurricane’ now quite the way I used to in the past.

As we are sure our readers are true guitar lovers, we thought we'd let you know about this exciting competition!

To celebrate the launch of the new book Gibson Les Paul Manual, Waterstones are giving one lucky winner the chance to own a fabulous Gibson electric guitar signed by Les Paul himself.

The all-time favourite Gibson model, the Les Paul is recognized the world over as an icon for rock and roll. Favoured by legendary guitarists such as Paul McCartney, Mark Knopfler, Neil Young, Jimmy Page and Slash, the Les Paul debuted in 1952, and continues to shape the sounds of popular music today.

The guitar is a traditional Gibson Les Paul in cherry sunburst and worth over £1,500. The prize is made priceless by the addition of a scratch plate signed by Les Paul himself!

For your chance to win this money-can't-buy guitar, you must  find the five differences between two Les Paul images and enter the "spot-the-difference competition" on the Waterstones website. Click Here.

You need to be a Waterstones cardholder, but no purchase is necessary and it's free to sign-up for a card. Worth the effort? Absolutely!

Just go to the competition page and good luck!

Mellencamp's songs often speak of life in middle America as well as commenting on the state of our nation - good and bad. He hasn't been afraid to speak against government and stand up for the farmers. He, along with Willie Nelson and Neil Young, organized the first Farm Aid concert in 1985 to raise awareness about the loss of family farms and to raise money to keep farm families on their lands. John Mellencamp is a prolific songwriter with a vast catalog of great music to his credit. Let's celebrate a great musician, who in my opinion, is highly underrated. Cheers, John! Thanks for stickin' up for the little guys.

Below, some of my favorite John Mellencamp songs:

Jack and Diane

Pink Houses

Hurts So Good

Small Town

R.O.C.K. in the U.S.A.

Walk Tall

I'm Not Running Anymore

Your Life is Now

Peaceful World

Neil Young-Love in Mind

Jens Lekman-You are the Light by Which I Travel into This and That

CSS-Move 

Fleet Foxes-He Doesn't Know Why

Fleet Foxes get overrun by an army of goats in this clip for the second single from their self-titled debut LP. Directed by Sean Pecknold.

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