Gene_Clark

ok, ignoring the albums, we'll look at the bands i went to see.... The Pop Group - reformed after a 30-odd year hiatus; new album & world tour happening in 2015 Penetration - sell out wherever they play; part of the fairly lucrative punk nostalgia scene, though Pauline has got an album of new stuff ready to be recorded The Band of Holy Joy - extremely enduring Brechtian style bohemian ensemble, singer Johny is from Shields & a lifelong NUFC fan - he sang in first punk band I ever saw (Speed, Aug 77, what is now Newcastle Playhouse) The Mekons - original Leeds DIY punks & post Gramscian country cow punks, now relocated to Chicago - still release albums The Pastels - the definitive C86 band; released "Slow Summits" in 2013 & gig infrequently as they run a record store & label, as well as a cafe bar in Glasgow Lindisfarne - unashamed nostalgia; sold out 3 nights, that's 7,500 tickets..... Midlake - touring "Antiphon" album after a line-up change - was sold out British Sea Power - surely no intro needed? experimenting with 28 piece brass band to reinterpret their back catalogue, after 2013's "Magnificent Machineries of Joy" album - sold out Durham & 3/4 filled Sage Hall 1 The Wedding Present - see previous post; sold out Cluny Vic Godard - enduring Subway Sect front man; certainly an obscure, acquired taste, but the Football League Show often use "Ambition" as part of their background music Death Shanties - obscure free jazz Fairport Convention - the founders of English folk rock; remained almost unchanged in style if not personnel since 1967 Pete Wylie - ex Wah! front man on solo, acoustic tour

he seems destined for a bigger job than Boro & so i think we could be a good English challenge in the top flight.... 2 and a half years with us .... win the League Cup..... secure a top 6 finish & build a squad comfortable with fluent, passing play..... then head home to Athletic & win La Liga for Euskal Herria.......

so a tangential reference to The Cure; any further musical comments?

him or Karaka would intrigue me

i know pal, i know

very funny mate; all the best to you & yours for 2015

Aitor Karanka would be an intriguing choice

but it wasn't funny; it was offensive. cool? now that is funny. i'm 50 years of age son; i don't need friends from the internet - i just expect to be able to hold a sensible debate. sorry if that makes me a "weirdo" - i'd simply state that my standards are unreasonably high.

If you like Mogwai, you could have that album for nowt; it's beyond boring - completely complacent WP is basically Gedge & hired hands, as it has been since he reformed them in 2004. each year they tour an old album (this year it was "Watusi," last year it was "Hit Parade," 2013 "Seamonsters" etc) & play it in its entirety plus 40 minutes of other stuff. last new album was "Valentina" in 2012, though they released a new single ("Two Bridges") late last year each Record Store Day they do a 4 song 10" foreign language EP (French, German & Welsh) - gimmicky, but interesting. apparently in 2015, they're recording a new album & not touring.

ok that's The Wedding Present, The Pastels & possibly British Sea Power covered, but what about all the other genres?

what is said was "i bet you're a voracious, predatory paedophile" - i did this because apparently that's how you lot appear to think social interaction works. so now i've reinstated it; it is meant to be a comeback to your unnecessary, childish, wounding & hurtful dig at me. in the level of maturity of your response, i will say "you started it," which gets me off the hook. why did you make your comment in the first place, other than to offend me? why did you feel the need to offend me? i would imagine if you try that sort of conduct on a stranger you know nothing about in a pub tonight, someone will crack you at best or glass you at worst. that would be terribly wrong, but would demonstrate that actions have a reaction.

as i've said before, the main reason i stopped regularly coming on here was it appeared that every time i said something, regardless of topic, you went out of your way to be snide and offensive; that hasn't changed. perhaps you could stop for one second and contemplate the reality of this is that you don't actually know what you're talking about; i could point out Fairport convention were formed in 1967, Penetration in 1976 & the Wedding Present in 1983, but what would be the point? it doesn't appear you wish to engage with the subject, preferring to make unpleasant, barbed digs at me and that's rather disappointing.

is that West or Bishop Auckland?

Some blinding releases this year. Shellac and the Pop Group do bile and anger better than anyone else. The frightfully talented Alex Neilsen combined “balls to the wall” free jazz with Death Shanties and Copper Family tinged madrigals with Crying Lion. Euros Childs and Jon Langford were as reliable as ever, while Norman Blake and Joe Pernice in The New Mendicants started January with a gorgeous set of tender ballads. I discovered Blueblut and Bardo Pond and rediscovered the brilliance of the Band of Holy Joy who, along with Trembling Bells and Teenage Fanclub, are the ones to look out for in 2015. I also bought the Mogwai album; dull stuff. 1. Shellac: Dude Incredible 2. Death Shanties: Crabs 3. Crying Lion: The Golden Boat 4. The New Mendicants: Into The Lime 5. The Pop Group: We Are Time 6. The Band of Holy Joy: Easy Listening 7. Euros Childs: Eilaaig 8. Bardo Pond: Looking For Another Place 9. Blueblut: Hurts So Gut 10. Jon Langford: Here Be Monsters 11. Mogwai: Rave Tapes Sixteen gigs by 14 acts this year, with The Band of Holy Joy (Cluny in March and Bede’s World in December) and British Sea Power’s Sea of Brass (identical sets at Durham Gala Theatre in July and Cluny Hall 1 in October) being the bands I caught twice. In that instance, I’ve included the gig I enjoyed more in this run-down. This list also includes 12 different venues, of which Durham Gala Theatre, Glasgow Kelvingrove Bandstand, Stockton Georgian Theatre, Jarrow Bede’s World and the superb Leeds Brudenell Social club were new for me. The only bands that were new to me were The Pop Group and Death Shanties. 1. Teenage Fanclub: Glasgow, Kelvingrove Bandstand, August. 2. The Pop Group: Leeds, Brudenell Social Club, October. 3. Penetration: The Cluny, March. 4. The Band of Holy Joy: Jarrow, Bede’s World, December. 5. The Mekons: Cluny 2, August. 6. The Pastels: Cluny, June. 7. Lindisfarne: City Hall, December. 8. Midlake: Whitley Bay Playhouse, July. 9. British Sea Power: Durham, Gala Theatre, July. 10. The Wedding Present: The Cluny, November. 11. Vic Godard: Star & Shadow, September. 12. Death Shanties: The Bridge, August. 13. Fairport Convention: Sage Hall 2, February. 14. Pete Wylie: Stockton, Georgian Theatre, November.

a friend of mine, Mike "the mouth" Elliott, who supported sunderland, died on Tuesday after battling oesophageal cancer for 18 months; in many ways it was fitting his last game on this earth saw his team win at SJP. actually Christmas was made by my mother coming out of residential care after a month; hopefully, with regular input from NTC's reablement team & the district nurses, she'll be able to cope in her own home for the forseeable future. this morning, i saw Whitley Bay beat West Allotment Celtic 3-2, in the company of some good mates; that was a good festive experience too. you may, of course, wish to pretend otherwise by inventing a series of reactions by someone you don't know about a game of football, though i wonder why you would want to do that....

can't remember another loss so close to Christmas to be honest; in my supporting life 24/2/79 could have ruined Ash Wednesday , 10/4/80 could have spoiled Easter Sunday, 16/5/90 could have ruined Whitsuntide, 25/8/99 could have spoiled the Assumption if we'd been clairvoyants, 18/11//00 could have spoiled All Saints if we'd been clairvoyants, 25/10/08 could have spoiled All Saints, 25/04/13 was a little too late to spoil Easter & too early to spoil Whitsuntide, 1/2/14 could have spoiled Ash Wednesday..... but none of them did as it's only football after all.... when Johnson scored on Sunday, i was watching a distressed 85 year old man soil himself in the corridor of Redesdale Court Care Home in Whitley Bay, while around him many elderly people lacking competency sat in their own filth and / or played with dolls, wondering when their mams were coming to pick them up..... sometimes we ought to get a wee bit of perspective; agreed?

I'm dreaming of a Juche Christmas Just like the ones I used to know Where the DPRK glistens, and children listen To hear sleigh bells in Pyongyang I'm dreaming of a Juche Christmas With every Christmas card I write May your DPRK be merry and bright And may all your Pyongyangs be Juche I'm dreaming of a Juche Christmas With every Christmas card I write May your DPRK be merry and bright And may all your Pyongyangs be Juche

Happy Christmas to all the comrades in the DPRK keeping it real with Juche philosophy & to the lads & lasses from ISIS, kicking back against the running dog lackeys of Yankee Imperialism. Our day will come, as the Boys used to say......

The conduct of their fans at the derby, on top of the magnificent gesture of raising £33,000 in memory of John and Liam, was absolutely impeccable. Gus Poyet also went up considerably in my estimation, with his well-chosen and classy response to the events of the game and the day itself. While losing the game in the last minute was deeply disappointing, the fact is, it is only a game and the mutual applause, and indeed respect, at various junctures in the proceedings show that, in all seriousness, there is far more that unites us rather than divides. They deserve to enjoy their fourth successive victory over us and it is instructive to bear in mind the mantra I feel we should all live our supporting lives by; gracious in victory, dignified in defeat. The fact there were only 27 arrests is a source of immense pride to me and as a result of such a statistic. I hope, one day not too soon, that followers of both clubs will be able to mix freely in the pubs before the game, exchanging handshakes before and after the match. Who knows; in time, perhaps we have an end to segregation inside the ground? I’m a firm believer that if you treat people like adults, they will behave like adults.

oh absolutely Stevie; I'll be sending out an email on Monday night or possibly Tuesday morning about issue 5.

Happy Birthday Stevie

check your messages

Pardew is the symptom; Ashley is the disease

"Hi John, this is reception here. There's a Mr Conroy and Mr Sayers here to see you...." I said after his antics at Wigan the other year he should have been sacked for gross professional misconduct; this is just the same pugilistic idiocy turned in on itself. What do I imagine the club will do? Absolutely nothing; after all Carver's words are just the hierarchy's philosophy put into practice.

ah yes the Maine Road Multiplier..... was brought out of cold storage at Wign in 2007 when they allegedly took 14k on a Tuesday night..... the Gillingham game was 27 years ago now; bloody hell!! i'd moved back from london on the Thursday & went with 2 mates, one a Derby fan who moved up here for Uni & still lives here & we sat upstairs in the Clock Stand seats towards the Fulwell; not a scrap of bother as we went in the car. always used to park on Osborne Street by Fulwell end off Roker Avenue for games there...... amazing to think i've never seen NUFC at SoS