Friday 24 December 2010

Christmas albums (part 1)

When is Christmas coming? Is it the Coca-Cola Lorry convoy advert?  or the Supermarkets and shops putting up their Christmas aisles in November?

At the start of the '90s at the University of Birmingham (upstairs in the Guild at the Mermaid Bar) it was when they changed the cds in the jukebox .  As soon as John Lennon starts warbling in his thickest scouse accent "So this is Christmas...and what have you done?", joined in by three mates from Liverpool, that was it for the next month:  Shaking Stevens, Cliff, Wizzard, Slade, Jona Lewie, Paul McCartney, Greg Lake, all the classics.

Move forward twenty years to 2010, and what is there to look forward to?  Bands or popstars don't really do Christmas songs anymore, not like the ones we used to know.  X-Factor have basically wrapped up the Christmas No. 1 by having three months of free promotion on primetime Saturday night tv.  This year the winner has covered a Biffy Clyro song, which may encourage the download generation to venture outside of their spoon-fed existence and look for the original.  

So this afternoon I've got the Christmas albums out... 

A Christmas Gift for You - Phil Spector (1963)
Some of the best know Christmas radio hits are on here.  Frosty the Snowman (The Ronettes); Santa Claus is Coming To Town (The Crystals); Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer (The Crystals);  

Unfortunately, the Wall of Sound was designed for a tinny transistor radio with a mono speaker, and whereas there are some real classics, they all sound a bit samey on the hifi.  

The Christmas Collection - Johnny Cash (mostly l 963, a few from 1980)
What seems to be a 'Best Of' his several Christmas albums.  The 60's songs are the purest:- simple orchestration, June on backing vocals, harmonies, and Cash's lead - long spoken introductions and that deep voice.  There are a few covers, but it is the originals from the heart that stand out - Christmas as I Knew It, which tells of his own deprived childhood Christmases; and Ringing The Bells for Jim.  It is difficult to imagine this as the country artist of the classic 1968 and 1969 Prison albums from Folsome and San Quentin, or his last American Recordings such as Hurt. 

Christmas Present from Motown (mostly l 963-1970)
Again a fairly recent compilation album featuring classic Motown artists; Stevie Wonder, Jackson 5, Smokey Robinson, Diana Ross and the Supremes, The Four Tops, the Temptations.  A single track each from the Funk Brothers and the Temptations. 

No stand-outs in here, but good to hear some of your favourite groups wishing you a Merry Christmas, and an obviously funky Motown theme to it all, with sleigh bells and coconuts to Christmassify it a bit.  My favourites are Christmas Here With You - the Four Tops and Aretha Franklin; and Frosty the Snowman - Jackson 5: Michael at his early best.  

More to follow ...

Sunday 19 December 2010

Les Taylor and the Football League Paper

Is it compulsory to have Les Taylor in each Where Are They Now feature in the Football League Paper?

Last week (12 December) he was in  the Watford squad for the 1983-84 FACup finalists.  A fortnight before he was also featured in the Reading squad for the 1988 Full Members Cup final (the competition when English clubs were banned from Europe).

What's more, the Oxford-Barnet programme from 4th December featured an article on his playing career as he was  celebrating his birthday, together with his usual page on the Centre of Excellence in his current role as Youth Development Officer.

This week, we have the consolation  of the Milk Cup Final squad from '86 (no Les Taylor)

Saturday 11 December 2010

Lincoln - Oxford. 11 December 2010 - postponed

I don't mind the game being postponed, but have lost out on £40 of train fares.  Some three months ago I booked my advance ticket from Guildford to Lincoln and back on the East Coast site.  At the time I even got the booking wrong, as I could have done a 1 day travelcard for £10,  and the London-Lincoln return for two £11 singles. 

Because it is an advance ticket, it is non-refundable.  Apparently I could amend my booking (with a fee of £10 per ticket), but as the rearranged date is unknown, when would I amend it for? 

Sunday 5 December 2010

Oxford - Barnet 4 December 2010

At minus 5 in the night, car snowed in at the office car-park, and the trains from Guildford to Reading cancelled, I was about to miss my first game of the season.  Luckily I posted a facebook rant and a friendly fan picked me up all the way from Grove.  By 12 when Ian arrived the snow was nearly all gone, and my car had barely an inch of snow -  I felt a bit stupid then. 

Pre-match I think I have worked out where our team is letting us down.  I was asked how we won at Chesterfield, tactics, formation and so on.  All I could come up with was "we passed the ball".  No players had stood out. 

We had a week of fans blaming the club for not having pitch covers in time, and even an appearance on Newsnight as Jim White reported from the Kasstad about England's failure to get the 2018 World Cup.

As for the game, we were one down at half-time, but came back to win 2-1 mostly thanks to the physical James Constable.  Ryan Clarke saved us with an amazing one handed save which was as near to giving away a penalty as it gets.

What's more, I won the OM left side rows W and Z predict the attendance (£7!) and also a prize in the Youth team lottery - a visit to the training ground to meet the players and manager, and lunch too!