:: archive

DUNROCKIN' Parishioner Brian MCluskey: Surely no one could have a thread about retired pop stars without mentioning the late great Fred Neil? Bob Dylan used to play mouth organ with him onstage in Cafe Wha in New York way back in the day, John Sebastian, Steven Stills, David Crosby and Tim Buckley were all huge fans, he wrote songs like Everybody's Talkin', Dolphins, Another Side Of This Life, Green Rocky Road (classics all of them! Look them up now people, you won't regret it) and many others. He influenced everyone, wrote brilliant songs, had a voice to make you weep with joy and what happened to him? He gave it all up in 1971 to work with Dolphins... He died a few years ago and my secret ambition of trying to stalk him and persuade him to record something new died with him...And don't even start me on Capt Bloody Beefheart... Parishioner Ed Ward: One of my favorites is John "Toad" Andrews, guitarist with Mother Earth, the band that started Tracy Nelson on her path to fame. Mother Earth broke up rather unpleasantly after a while, and Toad went back to Austin, Texas, where he'd started out. One summer evening, he noticed the place he was visiting was notably cool, and deduced it was because of the electric ceiling fans, a rarity at the time. Why, he thought, I should open a ceiling fan shop! Of course, this was before the energy crisis, but when people discovered you could halve your hefty air-conditioning bill with one of these suckers -- and not have to run the air conditioning as often -- everyone started buying them, and his was the best-known place in town to get them. He became the ceiling fan king of Texas, and he and his wife had a kid. Unsurprisingly the kid, Jake, was a precocious guitar-player, and pretty soon he was the 13-year-old guitar wunderkind in the clubs. His fans were always shocked: "Oh, wow, your dad was in a band?" And let us not forget Terry Williams of Rockpile and other great bands who retired to become (shudder) a journalist.

WHERE THE PUN NEVER SETS Parishioner Matthew Quinlan: I thought I should bring your attention to the magnificent Birmingham window cleaning business Chamois Davis Junior. THE VICAR ADDS: Like Communist sleepers in the 50s, parishioners are placed in the most influential quarters. Matthew works for Multimap, which means he knows how to get everywhere! Hooray!

SINGLE USE SONGWORDS Parishioner John Innes: I recently heard Sir Paul being interviewed on the superlative Rhinocast. Pretty much the usual run of the mill stuff, "Well I liked what Nigel had done with Radiohead so...", until the birthday boy made a claim which is sure to excite many a parishioner. "I used the word 'peradventure' in this song [English Tea] surely no one else has ever used that word in a song. I must be up for some sort of Guinness record with that one." The only lyrical use of an archaic word meaning 'perhaps'? Surely a challenge that this particular parish is best suited to take up!

more >

:: click here to join the parish >