AC/DC: A Long Way to the Top The Bon Scott Years (1974 - 1979)

One of the more unusual releases is this double 10" album of live  recordings of AC/DC from Coda Records. This features 8 live tracks recorded in Maryland, London and Sydney from the late seventies when Bon Scott was still the vocalist in the band.

In fact it's one of a whole series of releases in this format which is also published on splatter vinyl and limited to 1000 copies. They are not cheap. Advertised at "£24.99" that does not include tax so with postage will set you back some £33.

Other bands being treated in this way include The Beatles and Guns & Roses. They are doing this "buy three get one free deal" with a free record on top of that but it's still a big outlay so this is for dedicated fans however I quite like the format and am a big fan of AC/

(Not actual performance on album)

Available from: codarecords.co.uk

Time to end manichean politics

Every time I pick up the newspaper or go on line and see what's been posted on social media I end up despairing of what has become of political discourse in this country and frankly elsewhere.  When I see The Times publishing an article about the discovery of a transgender Viking I wonder how much history will be re-written or amended to suit the new "woke" politics. 

Have these people not heard of Shield Maidens. In fact are they not aware there is a long history of women warriors. Amongst others I call Queen Boudicca of the Iceni as a witness to that fact. The efforts by trans-activists and their allies to wipe biological women off the map seems to know no bounds. 

There was even a disgusting report of trans activists threatning violence against a woman campaigning against male violence against women. 

Women Are Human reported

FR — Paris. On August 12, 2020, Marguerite Stern tweeted that for her own safety, she had to move from her home, due to threats from trans rights activists. Ms Stern launched the Collages Feminicide movement in August 2019, which involves pasting posters on city walls denouncing male violence against women. Continue reading Transgender Activists Threaten Feminist for Focusing on Male Violence Against Women 

Surely everyone should see the problem therein. Just because Ms Stern doesn't think women have dicks means she and her children are threatened and made homeless by a bunch of self entitled men.  Appalling.

Then I see these anti-maskers marching around claiming that masks reduce oxygen consumption (they don't) and COVID 19 is all about control of the population plus those pesky 5G Masks are transmitting viruses that affect our health. Deranged that last one. The other Corbyn (Piers) is involved with that lot.

Talking of Corbyn there's the question of racism. Because of Jeremy Corbyn and his mates this country has seen antisemitism become mainstream as the comrades target a community over a question of anti-imperialism thereby denying a whole people of the right of self determination. As a result the left adopted the attitudes that Zionists (that's Jews to you and me) control the media, the banks and have many Labour MP's on their payroll.

This hasn't gone away but the comrades couldn't wait to demonstrate their so-called anti-racism by support the Black Lives Matter movement. Yes racism against Black people (and those of all colour's and ethnic groups) needs to be fought and exposed this cannot be done when there is so much racism at the heart of the American based BLM itself. 

Antisemitism was once restricted to a few nutters around the black supremacist Nation of Islam organisation around Louis Farrakhan but this thanks to the left and their Islamist allies has spread to the BLM leadership in the USAand saw BLM UK hijacked by the far left. 

Simply put racism cannot be fought with racism. 

The legacy of the woke and the far left on British politics has had wide spread damaging effects which when combined with the divisions created over Brexit have left a population divided against itself and seemingly bereft of any politicians of reason.

The current government is floundering though the opposition is still far from ready to replace them. Sir Keir Starmer may be more electable than the intellectually challenged Corbyn but the party is in turmoil and it's policies remain to far to the left. McCluskey and Momentum are preparing rearguard action that may keep a stable and rational opposition party from being formed.

Meanwhile faith in the political system flounders. there was a time that I had at least some idea of who to support and what direction to take. That certainty has gone replaced with despair as I look at the world of politics around me.

To so many the world is simply to be seen in black and white. The world and it's problems are not like that. There are shades of grey and nuances that lead to compromise a word long gone from our political lexicon.

I have been lazy with my blogging in recent times I want to make a contribution to political change even if on a micro-level as were my activities as trade unionist which helped me develop a certain pragmatism another concept missing from debate these days.

In the coming weeks and months I will be looking at ways to reclaim politics and the Labour Party in particular from those that see the world in monochrome.

AMARANTHE - STRONG feat. Noora Louhimo (New Album due in October)

It's been a week since I last blogged. Thought I'd take a break. However there is plenty coming up and to start off the weekend is the first of two new music features.

The new album Manifest from Swedish band Amaranth features a duet with Noora Louhimo the lead singer from Finnish metal group Battle Beast.  This is a powerful number and a good reason to pre-order their new album due out on October 2nd.

Amaranth are Elize Ryd (Female Clean Vocals), Olof Mork (Guitars/Synth), Morten Løwe Sørensen (Drums), Johan Andreassen (Bass) and Nils Molin – Male Clean Vocals .

Official website: www.amaranthe.se

Deep Purple "Whoosh!" Official Preview & Review (Limited Edition)

The latest Deep Purple Album, Whoosh arrived on my doormat yesterday somewhat delayed by the pandemic but well worth the wait. I did have some concerns about ordering this album as I was very disappointed by their last release Infinite which was not up to scratch in my opinion.

However having played the new album twice and preparing to watch the live concert on the accompanying DVD which comes with the limited edition version I can say this album whilst not containing any future classics is highly listenable.

This is the 21st studio album from Deep Purple who are Ian Gillan (vocals), Ian Paice (drums) Roger Glover (bass), Steve Morse (Guitar) and Don Airey (Keys).

The following video is an official preview.

Official website: www.deeppurple-whoosh.com

Unite Reps rally against McCluskey's squandering of members money

There is growing disquiet inside Unite the Union as McCluskey continues to be  more interested in defending Corbyn's dreadful record on antisemitism in the Labour Party than campaigning for his members jobs under threat in the pandemic.

McCluskey was elected by just 4% of Unites members with the vast majority of the union abstaining. This is in a large part due to the hard left controlling the distribution of information. This will no doubt help anoint the Broad left's replacement for McCluskey as he retires

There is an alternative that Unite members and especially those who Labour Party members wishing to change the way both are run by supporting the Unite Alliance who have issued the following statement:

Focus on the jobs of our members not the future leader of Unite or the Labour party

It has become clear to Unite Alliance that many senior Unite activists on the very front line of the devastating impact of the Corona-virus have grave concerns about what is going on in our union. At a time when tens of thousands of our members are losing their jobs and tens of thousands of our members are having their terms and conditions attacked our leadership’s unswerving attention on the battle at hand to defend the jobs and interests of our members is essential.

Those that are in danger of losing their jobs need help to defend them, those that are having their wages and working conditions threatened need support to protect them, and everyone at work needs the union focused on looking after their health and safety while they are at work in this dangerous time. Every tool at the union’s disposal, including legal, political and industrial means, need to be entirely focused on this.

But what we are currently witnessing is nothing of the sort. Our union’s leadership seems to be far more concerned with who will succeed Len McCluskey as General Secretary of Unite when his term of office comes to an end in 2022, than it is about the battle our members are fighting day in day out against the effects of the corona-virus and the ruthless employers who are using the crisis as a cover to decimate our members lives. Such a diversion of attention would be an insult to our members at the best of times, but when the Unite Executive Council has not even discussed, let alone called, a General Secretary election, it is a disgrace and a betrayal to the promise we’ve made to do everything possible to protect our 1.2 million members.

Against the background of the current unprecedented threat that the corona-virus poses to hundreds of thousands of our members jobs and industries these actions not only beggar belief, they also demonstrate just how completely and utterly out of touch our leadership has become in relation to the real needs and interests of our members.

As the largest and most visible union in the country we have seen virtually nothing of our leadership at all in the media. There has been no calling the government out on its unbelievably bad handling of the crisis, or the publishing of detailed survival plans for the worst affected sectors.

Our members and activists engaged in a bitter fight for the survival and well-being of our union and its members know only too well what the real priorities are, and they are most definitely not external squabbles about the next General Secretary. Nor are they the internal factional fights being waged within the Labour Party for which Unite again appears ready to squander members money to bankroll yet another costly legal battle. Without a laser like focus on today’s battles whenever there is a new General Secretary there may not be much of a union left to lead.

We the lay representatives will carry on fighting and doing the best we can for our members in this terrible period. We will carry on trying to defend jobs, wages and safety and we will carry on fighting in a battle of a scale that none of us have ever experienced before and we will often be doing that without clear battle plans or ways to proceed.

We will continue to stand together as we have always done come what may, and we will continue to work with the thousands of dedicated members, activists and officers that have stepped up to the plate given their very best. We have taken no position at all yet on who we think should lead our union in the future, but rest assured, when the time does come and a real General Secretary election does take place, we will be asking how and why this situation came about and making our judgement on who was really there for us in our members hour of need.

Steve Hibbert – Chair Unite Alliance –  Unite Executive Council and Rolls Royce Derby Convenor

Sean Beatty – Vice-Chair Unite Alliance – Chair of Unite BASSA branch

More info:unitealliance.org

New Wave of British Heavy Metal: 1978 - 1986 (Various Artists/Cherry Red Records)

The latest compilation album released from Cherry Red Records NWOBHM: Thunder is the second compilation of heavy metal from a variety of British artists during the years 1978 to 1986. Some of these will be familiar as the first of the three CD's opens with Metal Thunder from Saxon. There's also Saracen, Girlschool and Hammerhead amongst others.

The number of bands you may know depends on how deep the listener was into the metal scene during these years. Regardless there are some real gems in this 44 track collection. Amongst those that caught my attention were Rock Goddess and Seige but there's actually nay a duff track on the whole album which gives just over three hours of playing time.

The album also comes with a booklet giving pen pictures of the featured bands.

According to the label:

"By the end of the 1970s, the original trio of British hard rock heroes Zeppelin, Purple and Sabbath had either graduated to the arenas of the world, or split up, whilst the second wave of British heavy rockers, including UFO, Motörhead and Judas Priest were beginning to fill major venues across the UK. Punk exploded in 1977, and the DIY approach that sprang up in its wake soon influenced the grassroots metalheads who had yet to leave their local pubs and clubs. Often independently released, some of the bands in this set never made more than one now highly prized and collectible 45 or one-off EP."

I am encouraged to explore some of these bands including the Pauline Gillan Band and yes she has a famous brother. I had not heard of her so on the list she goes. 

I have only just finished going through this album a couple of times so forward to You Tube and Amazon Music to discover more and probably add a few more albums to collection as my budget allows. 

This album is highly recommended and is available from: www.cherryred.co.uk

Sample track: Flirting With Suicide by Praying Mantis from their 1981 album Time Tells No Lies.

BRATS - 棘 New Single: Toge

As we enter an uncertain but at least sunny summer I thought I'd kick off blogging in August with the latest single from the all-girl indie band Brats from the Land of the Rising Sun itself!

Brats are: Rei Kuromiya (vocals), Aya Kuromiya (bass) and Hinako (guitar).

At present their music is only available as downloads in the UK.

Official website: brats-official.com