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| From | "Stewart Mason" <craigtorso@verizon.net> |
| Subject | Re: eMusic alert |
| Date | Fri, 28 Sep 2007 22:09:33 -0400 |
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----- Original Message -----
From: "Andrew Hickey" <stealthmunchkin@gmail.com>
> On 9/28/07, Stewart Mason <craigtorso@verizon.net> wrote:
>> Suddenly, eMusic has nearly the complete works of quite possibly my
>> favorite band of all time, Half Man Half Biscuit: nine albums
>> (including the near-impossible to find THIS LEADEN PALL) and two
>> EPs.
>> Highly recommended to any of my fellow Anglophiles.
>
> Thanks for letting us know, Stewart - HMHB are extraordinary, and
> while I don't know what non-UK Auditeers would make of songs like "I
> Hate Nerys Hughes" or "Fuckin' 'Ell It's Fred Titmus", I think we
> can
> all appreciate "Look Ma, No Tunes" and "Used To Be In Evil
> Gazebo"...
The advent of Google was a remarkable boon to my appreciation of HMHB,
much as the purchase of one of Eric Partridge's indispensible
dictionaries of British slang in the late '80s helped me demystify
some of my favorite Elvis Costello and Chris Difford lyrics. But
honestly, you don't really *need* to know the details to appreciate
the songs, even though there's a hugely helpful concordance out on the
web that explains a lot of the more obscure cultural references.
That's more of an extra added attraction, after you enjoy songs like
"Dickie Davies Eyes" or "The Bastard Son of Dean Friedman" just as
great noisy pop songs.
My friend Terry Burrows was mystified when he learned that I, like
him, was a massive Bonzo Dog Band fan, simply because he hadn't
thought Americans would get the jokes. (And speaking of the Bonzos,
all five albums are out this week from EMI, remastered, expanded and
sounding better than ever. Even the largely crap LET'S MAKE UP AND BE
FRIENDLY sounds a lot better in this context.)
"And all of those people who you romantically like to believe are
still alive are dead/So I'll wipe my snot on the arm of your chair as
you put another Roger Dean poster on the wall,"
Stewart (whose wife bought him a Dukla Prague away kit two Christmases
ago)
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