Monday, March 17, 2008

Top o'the mornin' to ya


Seeing as how it St Paddy's day, our minds turn to things Irish, like Bushmills, the Troubles, dead Kennedys, and rain. And, of course, Irish music. The Black family have a long musical history, but Mary & Frances have both done some good pop. So here's Frances' from the 'Talk to me' album, and Mary from her rock album 'Shine'. I'd post Bell XI's wonderful 'Lampposts' but the only one I have is copy protected. Finally, back when Van the Man was just a singer in a band, here's Them with 'Here comes the night'
Leaving aside U2, what are your favorites from the Emerald Isle?










19 comments:

Carole said...

I do like a bit of Van, mostly the old stuff, Astral Weeks, St Dominic's Preview, Moondance etc and I have a great liking for The Pogues.

I used to like early U2 but we are leaving them aside .........................

ejaydee said...

Hmm, I don't have enough of one act to have a favourite, but I really like Galway Bay by Toasted Heretic, Sunday bloody Sunday by U2, Sweet Thing by Van Morrisson and Teenage Kicks by The Undertones.

debbym said...

I wanted to post my favourite U2 moment here, but I'm learning-by-doing and I can't get it to accept the code for the motion picture show - so I'm afraid I'll just have to ask you to click yourselves over there:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=8EDuK46ZqFM&feature=related

Coming from the folk appreciation corner as I do, I must confess that Luka Bloom's version of "Black Is The Colour" gives me goosebumps, and I have a very soft spot for Christy Moore's "Ride On" (no, it's not a bog at the bottom of my garden)!

I've been saving my final Christmas present for today, it's a bottle of special reserve whiskey. So here's a toast to everyone involved in making this blog so very enjoyable - slainte and cheers!

Blimpy said...

Haappy St P's day everyone, I'm going to celebrate by listening to "Screamager" by Therapy?.

Blimpy said...

re Astral Weeks, i must be mssing something - i got it recently cos it's regarded as an amazing piece of work - but I don't dig it (after two listens - should i give it a third?)

goneforeign said...

Yeah, I think it definitely needs a third and maybe a fourth.
Ms. Debby, I was going to mention Christy Moore [again] but you beat me to him, and his brother's OK too. I discovered him at that huge record store at Piccadilly Circus years ago, I was so taken by the B/W photo on the cover that I bought it and have loved it ever since.
Not up for much U2, too noisy.

Anonymous said...

Clannad and Bono - In a Lifetime. Sorry. It's gorgeous

Carole said...

@blimpy - Yes, keep on listening. Hopefully it'll grab you eventually.

ejaydee said...

Blimpy, it took me a few times too to get into it, but it's not like I regularly go back to it either.

DarceysDad said...

Fave Irish?

Thin Lizzy - Still In Love With You (Live version).

Christy Moore's version of The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face. Hang on, haven't we had this discussion? ;o)

Almost anything from Bap Kennedy's Lonely Street album.

Honorary citizenship: Steve Earle - Galway Girl.

Early Hothouse Flowers. Probably Ballad Of Katie or Christchurch Bells if I'm pushed.

In Tua Nua - Emotional Barrier.

Sinead in full heartbreaking cry.

My first pressing copy of The Cranberries' debut, 12 months before the rerelease and success of Linger.

The Pogues - any of the regular tunes from Bradford Pickwicks' DJ sets 1983-87 !!

Slainte!

debbym said...

Having got all housebound children off to sleep, I thought I'd have another go at this: I've realised in the meantime that you can't even click on my link to take yourselves over to the film (it's Bill Bailey taking the Michael btw)

I've scrolled back and read all the techy info posted earlier, also looked on the youtube Help! page, but I still don't understand what I'm not doing right.
Next to the video I wanted to post is an "embed" code. Copy and paste this - so far so good. But the comment box here won't accept this HTML (and I must confess to not even knowing what that stands for, computer virgin that I am). Guess I'll just hve to wait for my Pre-Teen to return from his hols and out me straight...

Blimpy said...

Aaaah, The Cranberries - if ever there was a better example of the "had it-lost it" syndrome, I'd like to hear about it.

I mean, from "Linger" to "Zombie" in one short year!!!!!

Blimpy said...

These comment boxes don't accept html.

Main blog posts will.

If you want to lead to a youtube page in comments, copy and paste the web-address (rather than the embed code) and us readers can then c&p that into a fresh window to see the vid.

Blimpy said...

That bill bailey clip is too funny - he's got U2 nailed there!

Blimpy said...

actually let's try this

debbym said...

Thanks Blimpy, that I can understand!

Blimpy said...

I take it back, debbym!!!

It can be done!

Unfortunately I can't put example code in this box to show you how it's done. I'll do a post about it!

Tempusfugit said...

Nobody's mentioned The Chieftains. Their 'Tears of Stone' album is wonderful - here's a track list:

1. Never Give all the Heart (with Brenda Fricker, Anúna)

2. A Stór mo Chroí (with Bonnie Raitt)

3. The Lowlands of Holland (with Natalie Merchant)
4. The Magdalene Laundries (with Joni Mitchell)
5. Jimmy mo Mhíle Stór (with The Rankins)
6 I know my Love (The Corrs)
7. Factory Girl (with Sinéad O' Connor)
8. Deserted Soldier (An Saighdiúir Treigthe) (with Mary Chapin Carpenter)
9. Ye Rambling Boys of Pleasure (with Loreena McKennitt)
10. Sake in the Jar (with Akiko Yano)
11. Raglan Road (with Joan Osborne)
12. Siuil A Run
13. The Fiddling Ladies
14. Danny Boy

Track 1 is the Yeats poem set to music. I love Yeats. Here's the poem:

Never give all the Heart
W.B. Yeats
Never give all the heart, for love
Will hardly seem worth thinking of
To passionate women if it seem
Certain, and they never dream
That it fades out from kiss to kiss;
For everything that's lovely is
But a brief, dreamy, kind delight.
O never give the heart outright,
For they, for all smooth lips can say,
Have given their hearts up to the play.
And who could play it well enough
If deaf and dumb and blind with love?
He that made this knows all the cost,
For he gave all his heart and lost.

I also like early Hothouse Flowers - 'Don't Go' - and the Pogues - Rum, Sodomy and the Lash.

Funnily enough, just before logging on to the 'Spill, I was online ordering a re-released Mellow Candle album, along with a pre-order for an album called 'Chamber Music' which is a set of early James Joyce poems put to music. Don't get much more Irish than that.I'll let you know how the albums turn out.

Re Astral Weeks - I don't know how I would like it should I hear it for the first time now, but I suspect I would love it as much as I did when I first heard it 40 years ago. I definitaley think it's worth perservering with.

There was a similar discussion in the Guardian recently about Trout Mask Replica. I love that one too!

I still play both albums regularly.

Slainte

Proudfoot said...

Hmm. Thin Lizzy certainly ( I have a weird favourite-The Johnny the Fox album) but I fondly remember the punk stuff from the late 70s. Undertones, SLF, Protex and even the Boomtown Rats.
For a ridiculously good live gig, Dingle Spike in a London pub, about 1990 lives long in the memory. Now THAT was a good St. Patricks Night.I think.
Rory Gallagher would also be a close second in my live gig pantheon.
Christy Moore (The Planxty years, not Moving Hearts)
Whatever happened to Ash though?