TO WHERE I AM NOW

So today we were told that in 10 days we have to wear masks in shops. My question is simply this, why in 10 days? If they are bringing this in at all it must mean they are trying to protect us, right? So if they are trying to protect us why are they waiting 10 days to do it? In 9 days we don’t need them, in 10 days we do? Are viruses looking at their calendar and thinking we’ll attack in 10 days? Has de Pfeffel intercepted the secret virus plan, realising from this information that between now and 10 days no damage can be caused but when they strike in 10 days we will be prepared? Then there’s the £100 fine, how’s that investigation of Domestos Crimblings” going, I guess he’ll be getting the OBE (Obvious Bad Egg) for trying out driving on the public roads to see if he will crash…by driving! Making his way to a spot where there will only be a risk of spread, if there’s any damn people there, not that he did anything wrong, file under change the subject.

Out there in the streets, the humans stay confused, unsure what to make of opening up the places where people’s faces are used to do many things, speak, breathe, whilst closing down your face because you shouldn’t be interacting with people who speak or breathe. It’s like the Florida mixed message, biggest cases ever, let’s open Disneyland. Our expert medical advisor won’t lie to the public for us, let’s discredit him. By the way what creature leader whose people are suffering in a pandemic considers whether they look good in a mask? Flump can find narcissistic considerations at every step. Tell me Mel, how do I look on the toilet right now? Does the dull yellow of the golden bowl match my skin colour? Come and look at what I created. What do you think of this hazmat suit, honey? Does the colour suit my eyes? Oh wait a minute, I don’t have any eyes because I couldn’t find a powder blue suit in my size.

I had a turn today, Olivia had one yesterday, the migraine vision thing. As usual, mine has turned into a dull uncomfortable headache with a little aphasia. Olivia was having some head issues too when she danced her head hurt. Olivia is the greatest seventies dancer, she could have been one of Pan’s People/Legs & Co.

 
I talked to a pigeon today. It was sitting on a window ledge down an alleyway quietly meditating. It was mostly white and quite serene. When I said hello, it was definitely listening. It wasn’t like talking to a sparrow, they don’t seem to listen. This pigeon’s brain was definitely engaged. (Wait till you hear Olivia’s pro-pigeon poem Rats With Wings.) Get this from the net:

“Are pigeons intelligent? Pigeons are considered to be one of the most intelligent birds on the planet and able to undertake tasks previously thought to be the sole preserve of humans and primates. The pigeon can also recognise all 26 letters of the English language as well as being able to conceptualise”.

Lovely story from St. Helena College in Melbourne’s northeastern suburbs, instead of a bell, they play Reptile and the kids have the duration of the song to get to class, I knew I should have played a longer solo. Thanks, Lynlea Girard for passing that on (her kids went to that school).

Olivia’s dad, Gerd, has kindly sent my Seagull to the land of seagulls. It was in Germany where I left it after the European tour. I simply couldn’t carry it to England because I had so many albums to bring back to the archive. So why do I need it when I have a 12 string acoustic here? Well, we were thinking of trying to record some of the songs Olivia and I have been playing live so that those who wish for it could get a CD of the songs they just heard performed with 12 string guitar and violin. The Seagull has a special sound (so does the seagull). Anyone who saw us live, what were your favourites?

Also – Happy Birthday Lynne from Atlantaeum Flood!

Music today reminds me that we lost Rupert Hine last month. He was that odd thing, a successful producer of other artists that had his own bands and solo albums. Daniel Lanois is another one like this or Alan Parsons, though his name was more of an umbrella for a giant guest list of musicians. I first heard of Hine without knowing it was him when he had a hit with the band Quantum Jump and the song The Lone Ranger that reached No. 5 in the UK charts in 1977. (Kenny Everett used part of the song as his theme tune, I think?) When I moved to Australia in the eighties I was lucky enough to discover who he actually was when he had a hit in that country in 1981, Misplaced Love. It featured Marianne Faithful in one of the great middle eights! It reached No. 14 on the chart there.

This took me back to his very first album, Pick Up A Bone, released in 1971 on Purple Records and produced by Deep Purple’s Roger Glover. It’s hard to categorise, Hine sings and wrote the music, David MacIver plays guitar and writes the words. Simon Jeffes from Penguin Cafe Orchestra also plays guitar and co-wrote the title track. I was happily enjoying the album and then Kerosene, the longest track, came on. Proggy bits galore that I really don’t mind but a horrible vocal approach. I’m not a fan of the later Floyd albums but can happily be there in the room with them and then that track Dogs Of War comes on…noooooo. Pick Up A Bone has its moments and then some other moments. I don’t have Hine’s second solo album Unfinished Picture (1973) or should I say it hasn’t arrived yet?

Quantum Jump came next in 1975 (I have it), followed by Barracuda in 1977 (I don’t have it), and then a remix compilation of the two in Mixing in 1979 (somehow I have it). Again, it’s hard to categorise whilst being very different to Pick Up A Bone.

In 1981 came Immunity with that great track Misplaced Love, so good I’m posting the video. When Marianne Faithful arrives (sonically, she’s not in the video) it’s an amazing moment:

 
He followed this album with The Wildest Wish To Fly (1982) and Waving Not Drowning (1983) before creating Thinkman with a quite different approach (if you love post-Be Bop Deluxe Bill Nelson, you’ll love this). This from Discogs:

“Essentially a Rupert Hine solo project but presented as a group, with actors hired to play band members for live and TV appearances, including future UK comedy star Julian Clary as keyboardist “Leo Hurll”. By 1990 and the third album, this line-up had changed with the band members now played by others, including Underworld’s Rick Smith and Karl Hyde.”

Unbelievably the eighties solo albums are not on Spotify and Immunity (1981) is a classic.

I lost him soon after this but when you look at his resumé you’ll see how it was easy to lose track. Not only was he a mega successful producer with acts like Stevie Nicks, Tina Turner, The Fixx, Suzanne Vega, Rush, Camel, The Waterboys, Howard Jones, Thompson Twins, Bob Geldof, Duncan Sheik, Geoffrey Oryema…you get the picture, but he also had a supergroup Spin 1ne 2wo with Phil Palmer, Paul Carrack, Steve Ferrone (Tom Petty’s longtime drummer after Stan Lynch and till Petty’s death) and Tony Levin that played covers of Classic Rock songs.

Rupert Hine had the ability to preserve an artist’s sound, let them be what they wanted to be by adding his expertise and not making them sound like Rupert Hine’s vision of sound like say Daniel Lanois, love him for that alone. He died on June 4th, age 72. RIP Rupert, condolences to friends and family.

Song Of The Day is to do with Yesterday and Today so I thought a butcher’s hook at Jules Shear and I performing Yesterday’s Rain on MTV unplugged in 1990.