Five Things I Saw & Heard This Week: Wednesday 23rd January

Daughter Reviews Les Mis
Running time: 2.5 hours
Spoken word count: 17
Number of times Hugh J cries: 6
Most used facial expression: anguish mixed with constipation
Most enhanced facial feature: lines around the mouth
Number of times stolen bread is mentioned: 12
Laugh-out-loud moments: Sasha B-C and Helena B-C as pick-pocketing inn keepers
Time it takes Cosette and Marius to fall head over heels in love: 4 seconds
Most moving songs: Anne H/I Dreamed a Dream and Samantha Barks/On My Own
Supporting Show Stealers: Daniel Huttlestone as Gavroche and Samantha Barks as Eponine

Reasons That Awards Are Stupid
Chose between these acts for Best International Male at the Brits:
a) Bruce Springsteen b) Frank Ocean c) Goyte d) Jack White e) Michael Bublé

Amazing Facts From Patrick Humphries’ Biography Of Lonnie Donegan, King Of Skiffle
“The first record Art Garfunkel remembers buying for himself was Lonnie’s Rock Island Line; and in Fairfax, California, that same Lonnie song was the very first tune that a shy 17-year-old Harvey Phillip Spector learned to play on the guitar. In New Orleans, the young Dr John—Malcolm “Mac” Rebennack was another who remembers being inspired by the Donegan hit. And way, way down in Texas, Jerry Allison and his buddy, Buddy Holly, were so captivated by Donegan’s Rock Island Line that they began incorporating it into shows they played around Lubbock.”

“Can You Dance To It?”
Listening to a CD lovingly compiled by my friend Tim, of African singles [African Serenades 44: Kenyan Singles] and finding this quote from him on the back: “I taught near Eldoret for two years in the early 1980s, fell in love with the music and then found that my Zigzag-reading, album-sleeve-obsessive completist’s mindset was completely turned upside down because, of course, none of the friends I made cared about who was responsible for that amazing guitar solo or impassioned vocal on individual songs. All they were concerned about was, “Can you dance to it?” Which isn’t a bad take on things when it comes down to it…”

Priceless…
Teaser on rocksbackpages.com: “No one can define creativity. If you don’t have it, you can’t expect to understand it…”
Wham!’s Andrew Ridgeley to Smash Hits (1984)

Snow-based Pop Criticism, Marylebone High Street