When I was a kid, I had great respect for my elders. I also had great respect for my contemporaries simply because that's what I was taught to do. In fact, I may possibly have accorded more respect to many (old and young) than was actually necessary. Not that I should have treated them badly. It's just that I held some in much higher esteem than was warranted.
The older I got the more perspective I gained about sense, non-sense, bluster, honesty, empathy and integrity. I was, most certainly and understandably youth generally is, naive. But I was also idealistic. I thought that a person could be taken at his word, and in that, I was wrong. At least in some cases.
This lesson was driven home for me soon after college. I had a temporary position at a local television station which I had hoped would become permanent. My 'boss' in this position was one of the nicest, most honest, empathetic, sympathetic and virtuous individuals that I had (and have) ever met. I believed that this is what a boss should be. I also believed that this is what other bosses would be. When the position failed to become permanent and I sought employment in another field, I quickly learned that my boss at the TV stations was a rare find, indeed.
What
do YOU think?
http://www.rayjozwiak.com/guestbook.html
My latest release, Black & White Then Back,
can be downloaded digitally at:
(or you can copy-and-paste this URL directly to
your browser: http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/rayjozwiak3)
Some folks think that Margaret Thatcher accomplished much for England. . .
(excerpted from http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/f76c049e-a042-11e2-a6e1-00144feabdc0.html#slide0)
". . . She changed us all. We went from being a people who saw ourselves as eternally on the downward slide to a nation that was proud to be British again. On the world stage too, she made Britain count once more. She was a startling presence who brought a strong and controversial style to our diplomacy after years of Foreign Office blandness. The words are those of Charles Powell, one of the closest aides of the “Iron Lady” during her time in power. Margaret Thatcher, who died on Monday aged 87, not only revolutionised the social order in her own country but did much to reshape world politics amid the crumbling of the Soviet empire. . . "
But yet, after some additional browsing, it appears that the negative opinion outnumbers the positive on the web. And in keeping in the spirit of a music-related blog, below is a list of Thatcher-inspired rock'n roll songs. . .
Dick Gaughan ‘Ballad of 84′Attila the Stockbrocker – Maggots 1 Thatcher 0
Gonna Laugh When Margaret Thatcher Dies – The Forlorn Hope
Pinochet and Margaret Thatcher – Deborah Holland
Margaret Thatcher, We Still Hate Her – Terry Edwards
Miss Maggie- Renaud (unusual French entry here)
The Pogues, Birmingham Six
Heaven 17, ‘We don’t need this fascist groove thang’
Ewan MacColl, ‘What did you do in the strike Daddy?’
Magi Thatcher – Daffyd Iwan a’r Band (this is in Welsh, so I’ve no idea if it’s anti-Thatcher but the tone of the chap’s voice suggests that it is)
Thatcher F*cked the Kids – Frank Turner
Thatcher - Ad Nauseum
Still Hate Thatcher – The Horror
Still Fighting Thatcher – Hard Skin
Merry Christmas Maggie Thatcher - Billy Elliot Soundtrack (” we all =20
celebrate Christmas, cos’ it’s one day closer to your death”)
Angelic Upstarts-”Two Million Voices”
The Blow Monkeys-”She Was Only a Grocer’s Daughter” (whole album)
Billy Bragg-”Island of No Return”
Billy Bragg-”Waiting for the Great Leap Forward”
Kate Bush-”Army Dreamers”
Elvis Costello-”Shipbuilding”
Elvis Costello-”Tramp the Dirt Down”‘
Crass-”How Does It Feel to be the Mother of 1000 Dead?”
Crass-”Sheep Farming in the Falklands”
Crass-”Yes Sir, I Will” (the whole album)
The English Beat-”Stand Down Margaret”
The Exploited-”Maggie”
Fine Young Cannibals-”Blue”
Hefner-”The Day That Thatcher Dies”
Iain Dale-”The Falklands Hymn”
Inner City Unit-”Blue Rinse Haggard Robot”
Iron Maiden-”Como Estais Amigos”
The Jam-”Town Called Malice”
Jethro Tull-”Hard Times”
Kitchens of Distinction-”Margaret’s Injection”
The Levellers-”Another Man’s Cause”
Kirsty MacColl-”Free World”
Christy Moore-”Taking Tea With Pinochet”
Morrissey-”Margaret on the Guillotine”
New Model Army-”The Spirit of the Falklands”
The Notsensibles-”I’m in Love with Margaret Thatcher”
Pink Floyd-”The Final Cut” (the whole album)
The Specials-”Ghost Town” and cover of ‘Maggie’s Farm’
Sting-”We Work the Black Seam”
The The, ‘Heartlands’ ‘The Beat(en) Generation’, ‘Armageddon days are here again’
Richard Thompson-”Mother Knows Best”
UB40-”Madame Medusa”
What
do YOU think?
http://www.rayjozwiak.com/guestbook.html
My latest release, Black & White Then Back,
can be downloaded digitally at:
(or you can copy-and-paste this URL directly to
your browser: http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/rayjozwiak3)
. . . expressed here are not necessarily those of the management . . .
. . . they are, nevertheless, amusing. . .
(an email from UNSIGNED RADIO- http://www.unsignedradio.biz/submit.html)
"REJOICE !
Oh Happy Day !
Hallelujah !
What wonderful news - the most evil woman in the world is roasting in hell tonight !!
My heart was filled with joy at hearing of the demise of the witch who did more to damage the British people and destroy our Industry than Hitler.
So let's all celebrate that we no longer have to share the air we breathe with Satan's sister.
SEND US YOUR ANTI-THATCHER SONGS !!
Calling all songwriters who have ever penned a song condemning the old cow and the wickedness she imposed - send it to me to play in jubilation that the earth is now a happier place .
Send them in soon and get the bubbly out as it looks like we will soon have a grave to dance on !!
Use the drop box at
http://www.unsignedradio.biz/submit.html"
What
do YOU think?
http://www.rayjozwiak.com/guestbook.html
My latest release, Black & White Then Back,
can be downloaded digitally at:
(or you can copy-and-paste this URL directly to
your browser: http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/rayjozwiak3)
(from the Progressive Change Campaign Committee PAC)
"The president is set to include a major Social Security benefit cut in his budget on Wednesday. President Obama is proposing the so-called chained CPI, which would cut cost-of-living adjustments for grandparents and veterans.
Tuesday, April 9th -- at 12:30PM EST, the Progressive Change Campaign Committee PAC is going to deliver hundreds of thousands of petitions directly to the White House telling Obama: No cuts to Social Security, Medicare or Medicaid benefits. "
Seems to me that is cost-of-living increases can be cut from benefits, (to which, by the way, anyone working in the U.S. contributes throughout his working life) the president must write INTO law that the cost of living can no longer GO UP! Seems only fair.
What
do YOU think?
http://www.rayjozwiak.com/guestbook.html
My latest release, Black & White Then Back,
can be downloaded digitally at:
(or you can copy-and-paste this URL directly to
your browser: http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/rayjozwiak3)
. . . of Obama bashing, well, simply because he is Obama. I’m not sure if it’s a subjective thing like, his face, his ears, his smirk or maybe even, (yes Virginia, I’m afraid it’s true) his color. I’m just sick and tired of it. I don’t want to hear about his birth certificate (if that’s a REAL issue which his haters were able to uncover but the election officials were not before the election to his first term, then the haters should be pursuing the election officials), his salary cut, his dogs or even, although they are beautiful, his kids.
Let me be clear. I am not an Obama fan. But none of the reasons above have anything to do with why I am not an Obama fan. The reasons below however, do. . .
• 20,000 Airstrikes (First Term) Cause Death and Destruction From Iraq to Somalia.
• Signed the NDAA into law - making it legal to assassinate Americans w/o charge or trial.
• Escalated the CIA drone war in Pakistan.
• Maintained a presence in Iraq even after "ending" the war.
• Sharply escalated the war in Afghanistan.
• Secretly deployed US special forces to 75 countries.
• Sold $30 billion of weapons to the dictatorship in Saudi Arabia.
• Opened up deepwater oil drilling, even after the BP disaster.
• Did a TV commercial promoting "clean coal".
• Signed the Patriot Act extension into law.
• Continued Bush's rendition program.
• Signed the Monsanto Protection Act into law.
What
do YOU think?
http://www.rayjozwiak.com/guestbook.html
My latest release, Black & White Then Back,
can be downloaded digitally at:
(or you can copy-and-paste this URL directly to
your browser: http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/rayjozwiak3)
(from wikipedia.com)
"Hallelujah" is a song written by Canadian singer-songwriter Leonard Cohen, originally released on his album Various Positions (1984). Achieving little initial success, the song found greater popular acclaim through a cover by John Cale, which later formed the basis for a cover by Jeff Buckley. It is the subject of the book The Holy or the Broken: Leonard Cohen, Jeff Buckley & the Unlikely Ascent of "Hallelujah" (2012) by Alan Light. In a New York Times review of this, Janet Maslin praises the book and the song, noting that "Cohen spent years struggling with his song 'Hallelujah.' . . . He wrote perhaps as many as 80 verses before paring the song down." Many cover versions have been performed by many and various singers, both in recordings and in concert, with over 300 versions known. The song has been used in film and television soundtracks, and televised talent contests. It is often called one of the greatest songs of all-time
In 2004, k.d. lang recorded a version of "Hallelujah" on her album Hymns of the 49th Parallel. She has since sung it at several major events, such as at the Canadian Juno Awards of 2005, where it "brought the audience to its feet for a two-minute ovation." Lang also sang it at the 2006 Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame when Cohen was inducted into the Hall of Fame. Cohen's partner, singer Anjani Thomas, said: "After hearing k.d. lang perform that song at the Canadian Songwriter's Hall of Fame in 2006 we looked at each other and said, 'well, I think we can lay that song to rest now! It's really been done to its ultimate blissful state of perfection'." Lang sang it at the opening ceremony of the 2010 Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver, before a claimed TV audience of three billion.
What
do YOU think?
http://www.rayjozwiak.com/guestbook.html
My latest release, Black & White Then Back,
can be downloaded digitally at:
(or you can copy-and-paste this URL directly to
your browser: http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/rayjozwiak3)
(from wikipedia.com)
. . . (Keith) Jarrett grew up in suburban Allentown, Pennsylvania with significant early exposure to music. He possessed absolute pitch, and he displayed prodigious musical talents as a young child. He began piano lessons just before his third birthday, and at age five he appeared on a TV talent program hosted by the swing bandleader Paul Whiteman. The young Jarrett gave his first formal piano recital at the age of seven, playing works by composers including Mozart, Bach, Beethoven, and Saint-Saëns, and ending with two of his own compositions.[4] Encouraged especially by his mother, Jarrett took intensive classical piano lessons with a series of teachers, including Eleanor Sokoloff of the Curtis Institute.
In his teens, as a student at Emmaus High School in Emmaus, Pennsylvania, Jarrett learned jazz and quickly became proficient in it. In his early teens, he developed a strong interest in the contemporary jazz scene; a Dave Brubeck performance was an early inspiration. At one point, he had an offer to study classical composition in Paris with the famed teacher Nadia Boulanger—an opportunity that pleased Jarrett's mother but that Jarrett, already leaning toward jazz, decided to turn down.
Following his graduation from Emmaus High School in 1963, Jarrett moved from Allentown to Boston, Massachusetts, where he attended the Berklee College of Music and played cocktail piano in local clubs. After a year he moved to New York City, where he played at the Village Vanguard.
In New York, Art Blakey hired Jarrett to play with the Jazz Messengers. During a show with that group he was noticed by Jack DeJohnette who (as he recalled years later) immediately realized the talent and the unstoppable flow of ideas of the unknown pianist. DeJohnette talked to Jarrett and soon recommended him to his own band leader, Charles Lloyd. The Charles Lloyd Quartet had formed not long before and were exploring open, improvised forms while building supple grooves; without quite realizing it at first, they were moving into terrain that was also being explored, although from another stylistic background, by some of the psychedelic rock bands of the west coast. Their 1966 album Forest Flower was one of the most successful jazz recordings of the mid-1960s and when they were invited to play the Fillmore in San Francisco, they won over the local hippie audience. Although the band would become plagued by internal instability and (according to Jarrett) siphoning-off of show revenue by Lloyd, its tours across America and Europe, even to Moscow, made Jarrett a widely noticed musician in rock and jazz underground circles. It also laid the foundations of a lasting musical bond with drummer Jack DeJohnette (who also plays the piano). The two would cooperate in many contexts during their later careers.
In those years, Jarrett also began to record his own tracks as a leader of small informal groups, at first in a trio with Charlie Haden and Paul Motian. Jarrett's first album as a leader, Life Between the Exit Signs (1967), was released on the Vortex label, to be followed by Restoration Ruin (1968), which is arguably the most bizarre entry in the Jarrett catalog. Not only does Jarrett barely touch the piano, but he plays all the other instruments on what is essentially a folk-rock album, and even sings. Another trio album with Haden and Motian, titled Somewhere Before, followed later in 1968, this one recorded live for Atlantic Records.. . . Jarrett has acknowledged that audiences, and even fellow musicians, have at times been convinced he is African American, due to his appearance.[19] He relates an incident when African American jazz musician Ornette Coleman approached him backstage, and said something like, "Man, you've got to be black. You just have to be black", to which Jarrett replied, "I know. I know. I'm working on it.". . . "
What
do YOU think?
http://www.rayjozwiak.com/guestbook.html
My latest release, Black & White Then Back,
can be downloaded digitally at:
(or you can copy-and-paste this URL directly to
your browser: http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/rayjozwiak3)
