Wednesday 30 January 2013

Oh Yes, At The Moment.

Happy Belated Burns' Night! The night some friends of mine and I attempted to attend two ceilidhs (Scottish dancing events, sort of like barn dancing or contra dancing), only to be turned away like Mary and Joseph attempting to find a place to give birth to Our Saviour of The Good Night. Having failed at both, we went to the pub and sat for a while drinking, which is the other traditional Scottish activity. Ah, and I served vegan haggis, neeps and tatties (turnips and potatoes) to the soothing refrains of the Titanic soundtrack off a Youtube Celtic mix.

In other news, I've had a stressful couple of weeks being kicked out of a flat, but it's good to be back in Edinburgh. The title of this post is an English translation of the well-known 'Scottish' phrase "Och Aye The Noo," which nobody says here and which means practically nothing. :)

So in celebration of Scottish artistic heritage, here are a few of the stranger offerings of '70s Scottish bands, with a surprise Swedish ending (Damnit, it was supposed to be a surprise.)

First of all, an amusing (and great, not horrible, just to make that clear) video from a Glaswegian/Paisleyian(?) band that has its own clown guitarist:

The Sensational Alex Harvey Band - Delilah


You must keep watching for the beautifully choreographed keyboard solo. Another of their songs, "Gamblin' Bar Room Blues," features plywood cutouts and no instruments. Sadly, their other hit, "Boston Tea Party" is extremely disappointing. "Next" has a brilliant first Youtube comment and some extremely evocative, sad lyrics about losing one's virginity to an army-sponsored prostitute. Hmm.

Anyway, next!

Wet Wet Wet - Love is All Around is not worth mentioning, but since it's horrible, I'm going to mention it... who knew Scots were responsible for Love, Actually--in a small way.

Back to the '70s, with another band that Zal Cleminson, the clown from Alex Harvey, joined for a bit. They're from Dunfermline in Fife, just across the Forth of Firth. Try saying that three times fast.

Nazareth - Dream On


I don't know if Zal's in this video, though the guy with the acoustic guitar looks a bit like him. Regardless, this video doesn't really need any clowns. I think a clown would just be overdoing it.

Middle of the Road - Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep


This song has been covered in English by at least three other singers (here, here, a German techno-pop version, a reggae version and the guy who wrote it here) and quite a few versions in various other languages, including Finnish, Spanish, Khmer (this one has a chorus of chipmunks), Korean, Vietnamese, Catalan, and German (that one has completely unrelated lyrics seemingly about dancing, whereas this one about hut demolition makes Germans wave their arms in the air and has bewildering lyrics). I think you should watch ALL THOSE VIDEOS.
I really wish I could find a video of The Little Angels Children’s Folk Ballet of Korea doing it--wikipedia says they have. They've done "You Raise Me Up."

According to Wikipedia, the song was "dismissed by critics as bubblegum." Bubblegum? What? This is a deeply pathetic song about baby bird abandonment.

Ok, between this and the trauma of "Next," I'm depressing myself. Not to mention Love Actually.

Right, finally...

A BLOG POST FROM SOBADSOGOOD.COM WITH '70'S BAND COVERS FROM SWEDEN! You're welcome, Swedes. And thank you for the gratuitous matching flares and moustaches. Some of them look more '80s, though. Is it a mistake, or were the Swedes unsung pioneers of '80s fashion?

One of those bands, named "Schytts", has another song, called Det Sa Bom. There isn't a music video to put here but the song makes for good cheerful background music. Now you can say you saw some utter Schytt on my blog. Badum ching.

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