Sunday 25 June 2017

A lot of clever bastards


I watched Radiohead at Glastonbury, partly because I know their drummer, Clive Deemer. He goes to our pub.

There, sitting at the drum kit was - indeed - a bloke as bald as Clive, but it wan't him. His nose wasn't big enough. Then, tucked away right at the top I spotted Clive, standing up in front of a load of percussion. He is obviously not their number 1 drummer.

You may remember me telling you about how I saved myself from an embarrassing display of mid-life crisis some years ago, when I persuaded Clive to teach me to play drums. I was about 50 at the time, and he is quite a bit younger than me. The difference was that although he is probably about 50 now, he has been playing drums professionally for many years. He looks to be good at it, actually. Luckily I came to my senses about a day after he agreed.

I think the thing which sets most successful musicians apart from people who play quite well is their versatility - at least that's how it seems to me as an outsider.

Their lead guitarist switched from guitar to keyboards to drums effortlessly. Maybe 'effortlessly' is the wrong word for it. He put an enormous amount of effort into it. I would be gasping for breath after about 2 minutes of what he did. Whether you like their music or not, you have to admit that there are a lot of clever bastards out there, as Ian Dury once observed.

37 comments:

  1. There are a lot .... we watched Foo Fighters on the Pyramid stage last night.... brilliant ..... I love them !! Their drummer left his seat and did a rendition of Queen's ' Under Pressure ' while their lead singer, Dave Grohl, took over on the drums ..... clever bastards and all with fireworks.Best couple of hours viewing for ages ..... 🤘XXXX

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    1. I didn't like them much. Oh well.

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    2. I knew you wouldn't .... I love a bit of head banging .... our son and daughter loved them so we listened to them a lot when they lived at home. I'm not a lover of Radiohead ..... they got bad reviews !!! We can't all like the same things ! XXXX

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    3. Jack@I didn't think he would like Kris Kristofferson either xx

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    4. I'm not wild about Radiohead either. Hard to please...

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    5. And I doubt Sigrid would be your type

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  2. We went to see Ian Dury live once, my Husband attributes his tinnitus to this concert, lol. The supporting band were Root Boy Slim, I wonder what happened to them, ha ha.
    Briony
    x

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    1. Ian Dury lent me his flat in Canterbury once. That is my main claim to fame story, aside from having tea with Peter Gabriel...

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    2. Oh, and I know the bloke who does Radiohead's album covers. He goes to our pub too.

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  3. And Sigrid. She can actually sing and looked real and normal but amazing all at the same time xx

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    1. And not forgetting Kris Kristofferson at 81 who did a brilliant set Friday night.

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    2. I've heard of Kris Kristofferson.

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    3. He was joined on stage by Johnny Depp.

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    4. I heard Depp might be in a bit of trouble when he goes home. Something about threatening to shoot Trump. Good job the FBI doesn't like him either.

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  4. I find it amazing that the entire audience knew all the words to every song that Radiohead did. I like music, but it is not my life outside of work.

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  5. Have I told you all that I went to Woodstock? BBC won't let us see their tv, even replay over here in the States, so I'm a bit cut off.

    I have a running joke with some talented fellows who play conga drums on the subway sometimes. I want to be their apprentice.

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    1. Hendrix... I never saw him. I know a lot of buskers here. One of them has a recording contract. Another is the worst Spanish guitar player I have ever heard.

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  6. I put my feet up, and read a book. Sounds like I should have watched TV after all.

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  7. Replies
    1. Last night I saw one of the Gibb brothers. I was amazed how big it all was. There was a strange couple doing the presenting; no idea who they were.

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    2. Barry. I felt dreadfully sorry for him singing all their songs on his own. Very poignant.

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    3. He should have teamed up with Eavis on 'My Way'.

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  8. Clive's son Joe is also excellent on drums and guitar.

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  9. Practice, practice, practice plus a lot of talent to begin with Tom.
    My son is a professional musician and can turn his hand to keyboard, double bass, cello, guitar and various other similar instruments with ease. I envy the skill.

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  10. I gave up playing the flute once puberty hit. Feeling nostalgic & a bit bummed that I didn't keep up with playing, I bought a used student flute at a pawn shop a number of years ago. Strange, squeaky noises come out of it instead of melodious sounds. Definitely must be the flute.

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    1. A post-pubescent flautist. I used to play a bit of woodwind, then someone said to me that they couldn't live without playing music so I stopped to prove them wrong.

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  11. When I saw Ian Dury live many years ago he kept falling over and having to be picked up by a roadie..which didn't stop it being a great set.....and I used to really really fancy Peter Gabriel.

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    1. I bumped into both Ian Dury and Peter Gabriel, not knowing who they were. I spent a whole afternoon chatting to Gabriel in a tea gardens here before beginning to suspect who he was. It was everyone staring at him that alerted me to the idea. Somehow his imaged was constantly changing in those days - beard one day, short hair the next. I almost asked him what he did for a living. I wish I had.

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    2. I know the Mead Tea Gardens is gone. Is there any place similar for tea in September?

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  12. I saw Katy Perry. Her songs are forgettable, but the best thing was seeing her perform.

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