Donald ‘Duck’ Dunn, Royal Albert Hall, April 15, 1970
In the middle of his set supporting Creedence Clearwater Revival, Tony Joe White stepped up to the mic and introduced his band: two of the Dixie Flyers (Mike Utley on organ and Sammy Creason on drums) and—on bass, ladies and gentlemen—the legendary ‘Duck’ Dunn, Memphis maestro (Booker T, Otis, Eddie, Wilson). Not content with Duck’s luminous, numinous credits, Tony Joe informed the audience that we had a Champion in the house (my memory fails me with the precise details, but it was something like All-State Tennessee Hall of Fame Champion). Yes a Champion of… the YoYo. And there, on the stage of The Royal Albert Hall, ‘Duck’ Walked The Dog… he Hopped The Fence… he went Around The World… he Looped The Loop… and 5,000 people whooped for joy, as they gave him a standing ovation.

Julie Delpy, The Film Programme, R4
In a really entertaining interview by Francine Stock, Delpy talks about her new film in which the action takes place over 48 hours. “I like the unity of time, maybe because I’m not very good at storytelling in time-lapse, and I hate the time-lapse sequence of montage with, like, music. Like the typical one was a nice trendy song of the time, then you have a montage of time passing or whatever (laughs)—I just can’t do that! I like unity of time, like when shit hits the fan it really usually happens on like a very short period of time… In Before Sunset the idea of doing it in real time, hour and a half, came from me…”

A Veteran Vibe
Aimlessly flipping from channel to channel, a great juxtaposition: Charles Aznavour (now 87, about 57 at the time of this recording of She) and Engelbert Humperdinck (formerly Gerry Dorsey, let’s not forget, currently 76). Aznavour sings like a piano player, jamming words together in entirely unnatural fits and starts, cramming then letting one word run long— a European version of gospel’s tension-and-release? Whatever, it’s mesmerising, especially as the camera just holds the same closeup of his face throughout the song. Humperdinck sings Britain’s Song For Europe entry, Love Will Set You Free, and, leaving aside whether the song is derivative or fine—what did you expect?—he gave it some going over. The voice was strong, his pitch was dead-on and he negotiated the tricky key change (a Eurovision must) with aplomb. All the best for Baku, Eng!

Alberto Y Los Trios Paranoias
Simon was saying that I should be aware of the Cardiacs, a band I’d entirely missed in the eighties and nineties, and on their Wiki entry I noticed a name from the past—listed as an inspiration—a name you don’t forget. The Albertos were a band I happily watched countless times [mostly, I think, at the Marquee] as they purveyed a wildly cynical take on the music business. It’s hard to describe the shows. Look through the contact sheet of a roll I shot at one of the gigs (it enlarges if you click on it) and you’ll get a sense of what they were like. See drummer Bruce Mitchell—widest shoulders this side of Dick Tracy plus huge wooden nude-girl tie! The worrying balaclava-and-gun look! That alarming codpiece! CP Lee, wearing a Peter Cook-like belted raincoat in the photos and playing a Stars & Stripes guitar, went on to write a great book about Dylan’s infamous ’66 Manchester Free Trade Hall gig, Like The Night. The Albertos were a one-off—they were really good musicians and were also hysterically funny. There’s not many bands you could say that about. [nb: final frame shows my friend Kwok, asleep on my mother’s couch.]

New Sandwich Bar In Town

Really?