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FROM ME TO EWW
Howzat! was amused to see that Aussie Beatles' tribute band
The Quarrelmen are doing "Ringo-Tones" at The Flying Saucer
Club on Black Friday, 13 Feb - playing the songs sung by
Ringo. It made us think of Michael Witheford's wonderful
new book, which could have been called Help! Instead, it's
The Very Worst Of The Beatles. Yep, Michael has written
about the Fab Four songs that are not so fab, and Ringo
features prominently, as Michael says his job description
"partially involved the singing of the most unbecoming Beatles
songs". Michael - a member of much-loved '80s/'90s band
The Fish John West Reject - obviously loves The Beatles
(he reckons Revolver is their artistic peak; Help! is his
personal fave), but in a world filled with Beatles' hagiographies,
this tome/tomb is a refreshing look at the songs that don't
please, please me. "I'm not exactly picking a serious fight
here," Michael writes in the introduction, stressing that
the band's "worst" is "still a modest percentage of the
whole [but] there's no point pretending that all of it was
fit for human consumption". Michael lists the songs chronologically,
but when pressed to name the three worst Beatles songs,
he mentions their aptly titled Carl Perkins' cover, Honey
Don't, Ringo's Don't Pass Me By, and, perhaps controversially,
Let It Be. "I can't deal with that," he smiles, though he
admits he's probably more a McCartney man, "but that's largely
due to what he did after The Beatles. As far as their Beatles
career, I think they [McCartney and Lennon] were equally
capable of greatness and making a pudding of things." The
Very Worst Of The Beatles is available as an e-book through
Amazon and iTunes.
WISHFUL THINKING
We loved Wishful at the Workers Club. Infectious, sweet
folk-pop, but with a dynamic rock backing. Definitely an
act to watch in 2015.
AUSSIE KIM
In this post-Australia Day haze, it's worth remembering
the words of the recently departed Kim Fowley. The American
impresario, who managed The Runaways, loved Australian music,
digging Daddy Cool, writing a Seekers' single, Emerald City,
with Keith Potger, and a Mondo Rock song, Down To Earth,
with Ross Wilson. Kim - who died of bladder cancer, aged
75 - visited Australia at the end of the '70s, vowing to
find "the Australian Elvis" or "the Tasmanian ABBA". He
worked with Tassie power pop band The Innocents, talked
up Dave Warner, and recorded with Jarryl Wirth from Melbourne
punk band News. Kim also commented on the local sound, saying:
"There is a problem with American and English influences
combining to make Australian music. You need to develop
a singularly defined cultural stance, so anywhere in the
world people can say, 'That's Australian.' Artists and writers
here don't have a wide-enough overview of their international
potential. They should think of the world as a global village.
Of course there's an Australian identity - aggressive isolationism.
You should try to cultivate it."
HOT LINE
"I'm alive tonight!" Perry Keyes, The Soft Blue Sky.
CHART WATCH
Sia jumps three spots to move into the Top 5.
Elastic Heart SIA (number five)
Cosby Sweater HILLTOP HOODS (11)
Sugar Man YOLANDA BE COOL (18)
Take Me Over PEKING DUK (20)
Linger GUY SEBASTIAN (26)
Freaks TIMMY TRUMPET (28)
Chandelier SIA (33)
If You Love Someone THE VERONICAS (36)
It's Tamworth time, but not one Aussie country album is
in the Top 40.
Walking Under Stars HILLTOP HOODS (number eight)
1000 Forms Of Fear SIA (10)
Built On Glass CHET FAKER (13)
Triple J's Like A Version, Volume 10 VARIOUS ARTISTS (16)
Rock Or Bust AC/DC (18)
The Very Best INXS (20)
Jukebox HUMAN NATURE (23)
The Veronicas THE VERONICAS (24)
Dream Your Life Away VANCE JOY (26)
Madness GUY SEBASTIAN (29)
The Merri Soul Sessions PAUL KELLY (34)
Blue Planet Eyes THE PREATURES (35)
HOWZAT! PLAYLIST
The Soft Blue Sky PERRY KEYES
Sister WISHFUL
Pontius Of The Past MONTAIGNE
When You're In Love FIVE MILE SNIPER
Sooner Or Later THE INNOCENTS
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