Miscellany is the new rock'n'roll.

[zotz]

Thanks to technotom for pointing out that this man could perhaps be the brother of yesterday's sleepwalking airline smoker.

And, passed on from a different source (kixie - thanks), a little article about, including a short chat with, Bill Drummond. Aren't we good to you?

Clive Stafford Smith's a top bloke. Michael Winner's an arse. See their contrasting views on the death penalty here. I mean, having directed Death Wish does actually make you an expert on criminology . . . doesn't it?

The Beeb reckons we'll have heavy snow showers on Friday. The sleet forecast for Saturday will probably get rid of it all, though.

I've spent most of this morning staring at Epson's screen colour-matching software. Now, I'm told that there are fairly severe limits on how much you can do with LCD panels . . . still, nobody can blame me for the purchasing policy, as I wasn't here at the time.

The BBC reports that there's a rumour Bowie's being considered for a part (Nikolai Tesla) in the film version of Chris Priest's "The Prestige".

Finally, I must share with you - well, those of you I haven't already droned on about this to - the Sleeve Pic I Must Have. I saw this in the window of a secondhand shop one evening lots of years ago and thought "I need that on my wall." I've not seen it since at a reasonable price (ie, fuck-all - it's a pitiable record, I'm sure). I speak, of course, of no other album than everyone's least favourite God-bothering poodlerockers STRYPER's album To hell with the devil.

The original, withdrawn sleeve (for being controversial, apparently - I can only imagine that people couldn't decide on a word emphatic enough to describe its breathtaking awfulness) shows the members of the band, depicted as implausibly-muscled angels with eighties-metal big hair, their modesty "tastefully" preserved by wisps of cloud, casting the chained devil into hell. And if you look closely . . . you can see . . . as he falls . . . they have broken his guitar!

Priceless. And yet, simultaneously, worthless.



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Comments

[steer.livejournal.com]

A few nights ago I was watching one of the higher numbered channels (4 or 5 are the highest I get) and there was a half hour documentary in which Michael Winner and Piers Morgan lambasted the fact that people with no talent became celebrities. They didn't seem to realise at any point.

At first I was enraged by the sheer wrongness and wanted to tear holes in the fabric of the universe and escape to somewhere which made more sense. Then I fell asleep.

A friend of mine had a number of Stryper and Petra albums. His dad was a minister and paid for him to buy anything from the authorised christian music mail order catalogue. We both got into this guy Steve Taylor who sang really odd songs like "I blew up the clinic real good" (about an ice-cream salesman who blew up an abortion clinic) and "This disco (used to be a cute cathedral)" which seemed to be about overly trendy churches.

[steer.livejournal.com]

Oh, and from what I can remember of Stryper, those drawings of them are somewhat idealised -- particularly in the muscle tone area.

[zotz]

You amaze me. I suppose their hair isn't actually that bushy either?

[steer.livejournal.com]

Maybe they are cartoon wigs?

[zotz]

Or more funny-shaped clouds?

[burkesworks.livejournal.com]

Why is the devil wearing jeans while the poodlerockers are in loincloths and appear to be oiled up like the Chippendales? Has anyone seen their antics in the green room?

[zotz]

A very good question . . . that may well be answered in Glasgow on Thursday. Excellent. Thanks for reminding me.

[yehoshua.livejournal.com]

Gah! This has been my brother-in-law the Deserter's favorite album for nearly 20 years. It's abysmally bad, exactly what you'd expect (Twisted Sister with Pat Robertson writing the lyrics). He loves it. He has it on CD for the car. My nieces, God help them all, know some of the lyrics. They compare decent bands to Stryper because they assume that's a valid benchmark (except they think the Clash have nothing on the Jesus wankers).

[zotz]

Steal his copy and send it to me. I can sincerely promise never to listen to it.

[devilgate.livejournal.com]

Gah! The last time I heard Winner on the radio he sounded quite rational. But that PoS makes me want to barf. Which is much more the correct reaction to him, of course, so thanks for setting me back on the correct path.

As you rightly say, though, Clive Stafford Smith does some most excellent.

[original-aj.livejournal.com]

I have to confess to a perverse desire to hear it. Probably only once though.

I still wish I'd bought that "Tribute to James Last" LP I saw.

[zotz]

The world (or at least the bit near me) is safer for you missing that opportunity.

[surje.livejournal.com]

i read somewhere that up until recently, if you wanted a flat panel it was apple or nothing, but that some of the other high end manufacturers are now catching up. i'm planning to get myself a spyder at some point next year, but first to get the mac and the software that i need! once i've learnt how to use it, colour may be more important! :)

[zotz]

We have Samsungs. They're not bad - they're fine for general use, I have no complaints on that score - but a couple of times we've been prepping an image for publication and it's been really difficult to get a printout with the right colour balance. And for some reason the journals all want paper prints as well as a file. A CMYK file as well - they won't do that conversion themselves. Perhaps they want to be sure that we supply them with something to check the balance against.

[surje.livejournal.com]

[old notification] i only learnt recently that macs have a different default gamma than pcs, which is set to be already optimised for print matching. so if you're trying to make stuff for web pages that displays correctly on both, it can be quite tricky!

[chillies.livejournal.com]

That is an awesome picture although it looks like the devil can't afford a proper Flying V; his is asymmetric. Either that or Gibson would sue the f*ck outta Stryper so they couldn't depict a real one.

[zotz]

Real Gibsons don't have silly enough headstocks. It's probablly some kind of Ibanez.

[decomposingsoul.livejournal.com]

This album art reminded me a lot of that of Manowar (I pity you if you have heard of them!). This band appears to be much the same as Stryper in that, the art is interesting but the music is shite. These people believe that they are Viking warriors ffs!

Unfortunately I am not clever enough to paste in a picture *hangs head in shame* but I'm going to try for a hyperlink (with the emphasis on "try") to their "chronicles" (discography) page..

http://www.manowar.com/chronicles.php

Judging by the photos, found in the "Biography" section, the amount of muscle on the album covers is more idealised... I particularly like the "Hell on Stage" one

[pigeonhed.livejournal.com]

Way back in 1984 I saw Manowar twice! First supporting Saxon, later headlining.

Yes kids, I wasn't always this cool.

[decomposingsoul.livejournal.com]

Oh dear! How did you survive?!

There is this band floating aroung at the moment called Conquest of Steel ( http://www.conquestofsteel.co.uk/home.html ) who I saw once in Bolton. They did a few Manowar covers. They were so cheesy it was unbelievable. At one point the lead vocalist announced that he was going to sing a song about a sword, then produced a sword (in a crowded pub) and said "For there is nothing more metal than a sword!" Arrrrgggghhhh *Charlotte cringes at the memory*

Have these people got no shame?

[pigeonhed.livejournal.com]

To be fair I think Manowar knew they were cheesy. 'All Men Play On ten' is a real Spinal Tap-esque title for instance. For the climax of the set they came out all clad in loincloth warrior garb with real-ish swords that were thrust into the stage (or a rubber mat carefully placed by roadies). After the gig we headed to Jilly's Rock Club (this was Manchester) and saw Manowar's Ross The Boss (ex-Dictators don't forget) ahead of us in the queue.

Anyway, if you really want me to make you squirm ask me about some of the other bands I saw back then... Quiet Riot, Rock Goddess...

[decomposingsoul.livejournal.com]

Another poor poor person!

Yay you went to Jilly's. Rock World is amazing! Especially on Thursdays when it's £1-50 to get in!

This has really made my day - someone else has sampled Jilly's (easily pleased I know).

(I used to live 45 mins away from Manchester so used to go a fair bit - I am not just crazy)

[pigeonhed.livejournal.com]

Ah yes but the thing is, this was actually before you were born... 1983/5. And I did actually see some good bands back then too... Hanoi Rocks/Johnny Thunders at the Hacienda for one.

I was a student in Manchester for a while, and often go to gigs there now, when I have money.

[decomposingsoul.livejournal.com]

Ok fair enough if you want to get all old on me, but Jilly's is still there! However they have now turned the Hacienda into flats of some description. The best gig I saw in Manchester was Dream Theater at the Apollo. They are amazing!

[pigeonhed.livejournal.com]

Yeah shame about the Hac.

I have heard that Dream Theater are good live. Now that I have got a new job maybe I will get to more gigs. Unfortunately the likely start date makes getting to the one I really, really want to get to: the one off Green On Red reunion in London. I can't take a day or two off in my first or second week at a new job. Damn!

Put you on my F/list if thats ok?

[decomposingsoul.livejournal.com]

Yeh sure. I was rather pissed off as Dream Theater only played in London on their latest tour. I was ready to go for 2 nights to see both their shows as they have this thing where if they play the same venue for 2 nights consecutively, they recreate a classic album. I think they've done Iron Maiden, Metallica, Queen etc. However, I decided there were better things I should spend my money on, such as food....

[pigeonhed.livejournal.com]

I didn't know about the classic album thing. I know Phish used to do a classic album for a regular gig (around Thanksgiving if I recall) and I am hoping to get hold of a bootleg of teh time they covered Remain In Light by Talking Heads.

Some of my favourite bands often do unusual covers live. The first time i heard Thea Gilmore play 'Ever Fallen In Love' live she introduced it as 'a traditional Manchester folk song.' This was at Life in Manchester. After the gig I asked her if she chose a Manchester song because this was Manchester and other 'local' classics in other towns. Disappointingly she said no.

[zotz]

I'm aware of Manowar, yes. And the loincloths.

[pigeonhed.livejournal.com]

Thanks to technotom for pointing out that this man could perhaps be the brother of yesterday's sleepwalking airline smoker.

Ok all together now....

A handbag?

[naturalbornkaos.livejournal.com]

That is such a beautiful piece of art. Utterly absurd. Sheer genius. Always really loved it.

Stryper's music, sadly, was just bad AOR. I remember their single "Always There For You" (naturally, about Jesus) as being irritatingly catchy but everything else I think I blocked out.

[niddrie-edge.livejournal.com]

i want this cover

[zotz]

Mmmm. Tasteful.

[decomposingsoul.livejournal.com]

This is a nice one http://metalenrage.canalblog.com/images/cannibal_corpse_eaten_back_to_life_.jpg

Covers

[grendelis.livejournal.com]

You have got to be joking!

I'd like a copy of the King Crimson gatefold again. Harder to find in NZ.

[micheinnz.livejournal.com]

Wow, that album cover is... _special_, isn't it?

And David Bowie as Nikola Tesla? Wow. I have to see that!