Well, I did say that I would try and get another post in. Let's see if I can finish it before the chimes of midnight come (it's 7.40 pm here in blighty).
Let's have a look back at the year then perhaps?
Well, for me personally it has been an interesting year. I have gone the whole year without owning a car, and that has really been difficult for me because it has meant my not being able to visit family as much as I would like. That is awful to me personally because they mean a lot to me. Some members of the family that I used to see a lot I don't, and I need to get back to meeting other family members who I wasn't seeing often. Family is important. We have our problems like all families, but it's still important.
Louise doesn't like me mentioning the financial side of things, but the year has been spent chasing the debts I had built up. During 2013 though I have made sacrifices in my budget to make paying things simpler. It hasn't always been easy, and my employers have often given me so little hours that it has made it incredibly tight. Louise getting a job late on in the year has really helped a lot. We're virtually there - should be sorted before the end of January :-)
In February I took part in the international songwriting challenge known as FAWM (February Album Writing Month), which was a lot of work but fun at the same time. I always have fun writing songs and creating, and this was especially fun with writing with other people and listening to other people's work. It made a change for me to be writing with other people - something I did more of for the songwriting challenge known as 5090 that is organised by the same people as FAWM.
Unlike the idea of FAWM which is to try and write 14 songs in 28 days, 5090 was to write 50 songs in... Yes, you've guessed it, 90 days - July 4th to October 1st. I didn't do much on October 1st because it was Louise's birthday.
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| Me with my glasses on researching! |
An awful lot of people died during 2013 that I remember nostalgically. When people like that die, it reminds you of your own mortality and makes me think that I really need to stop moping and get on - less time left than I've have so far and all that hey. That's flipping deep!!!
Yes I am researching here and making sure that I don't get anything wrong! Get the glasses on!!! ;-)
We lost the film director Michael Winner in January, who directed some fantastic films starring Charles Bronson (Death Wish and The Mechanic among them). During the later years he was more known for being a critic and, well, a "celebrity", especially with the car insurance adverts where he would say "calm down dear, it's only a commercial", or whatever it was. He really was quite a character! The Mechanic is a film that I have always loved from when I first saw it on the television in the eighties I believe it was. I have seen it many times, and I still think it's a fantastic film!
Not a name that many recognise, but Robin Sachs died in February, and those who are geeky (like me) would know his face (and voice) from things such as Buffy The Vampire Slayer (the series), Babylon 5, Galaxy Quest (a great film that I need to dig out), and the Mass Effect series of games. Most people know that I was and still am a big Buffy fan, and I am a sci-fi geek as well.
We also lost Cecil Womack in February who was part of the Womack family of great singers. So much soul, and an incredibly spiritual person who apparently was always so full of joy for everyone. Most will remember him working with his wife as the duo Womack & Womack, specifically the song Teardrops (which my Louise absolutely hates - differing tastes you see. Paula Abdul was right, because opposites can attract). Anyway, one song I remember that Cecil wrote with his wife was the serenely beautiful song Lead Me On (on which Cecil and Linda both sing) from Eric Clapton's album Journeyman - possibly my favourite Clapton album from the late 80's period. This song in particular has stayed with me since I heard it when the album came out in 1989, because the song is gorgeous anyway, and then there's that incredibly build with the orchestration and everything - fantastic!
We lost the very talented actor Richard Briers in February as well, and I remember him from playing Tom in The Good Life and as the voice behind the Roobarb & Custard cartoons, which were very much a part of my childhood :-) I wrote a full on blog post about him I believe back in February?
Oh I just looked back and realised that I didn't. Anyway, Richard Briers was a fantastic actor, and I have seen him in Shakespearean roles as well - a master of the acting world!
Phew, I remember now that last year's review was in more than one part! I've just altered the title of this one to Part One now as well...
What I should probably have done would be to just list events in a sort of We Didn't Start The Fire style? Maybe even played the music to the song on ukulele while I sing them? I wouldn't want to do that to the song! ;-) Just The Way You Are works on ukulele, but I don't think that We Didn't Start The Fire would work.
In March we lost the jazz trumpeter Kenny Ball, who seemed to be just about everywhere when I was a kid (Celebrity Squares and everything). I don't for the life of me remember anything by him, but his name really does jump out at me. As does the comedian Norman Collier who I only remember from the microphone gag and his walking like a chicken... I will admit that the microphone gag is still funny looking back at it. They all seemed to have something like that back then didn't they? It was his equivalent to Bernie Clifton's sitting on an ostrich business (something he still does to this day, and did at the pantomime here in Newark over Christmas I might add).
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| The Stranger by Billy Joel - one of many recording that featured guitarist Hugh McCracken. |
Some people may not know about this guy, but we lost the wonderful session guitarist Hugh McCracken in March to leukemia. Follow the link and you'll see why I've pointed him out to you. He was an amazing guitarist and worked with some of the greatest artists of the last fifty years that include BB King, Billy Joel, Paul McCartney (he was going to be an original member of Wings at one point), John Lennon, Paul Simon, Loudon Wainwright III, Van Morrison, Hall & Oates... The list goes on, but his work is impeccable. Something to live up to in my opinion! He played on Merry Xmas (War Is Over) by John & Yoko, which is possibly my personal favourite season song, even if it is a rip off according to my friend +Matt Blick ;-)
John Lennon to Hugh McCracken at the recording session for Merry Xmas (War Is Over) - "working on McCartney's Ram album was an audition to get to me. He said you were alright." :D
I've just realised that Hugh played on Billy Joel's The Stranger, which features the song Just The Way You Are - I hadn't even planned that!
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| Phil Ramone (RIP) with Billy Joel & Paul Simon - two people whom he produced classic work with. |
Luckily we will see the Paul McCartney album soon that wasn't issued in the late eighties which was produced by Phil Ramone and featured the wonderful Once Upon A Long Ago (I never knew that song was never released in any form in the US. I love the first verse of that song - "Picking up scales and broken chords, puppy dog tales in the house of lords..." then later in the verse "making up moons in a minor key" - wonderful stuff. Sorry, I got carried away there - THAT'S THE OTHER BLOG SERIES MARV!!!
Okay, we've got through the first few months, and will carry on in Part Two...
In my life, FAWM was the big thing in these first three months. I made a lot of friends (online) through taking part in it, and it gave me the "dream" of doing a road trip across America meeting people who take part in the songwriting challenges (FAWM is too short to fit that in, so it would have to be during 5090 sometime).
Catch up in Part Two... Coming soon ;-)
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