Influences 3

Well...having waded through the huge response to yesterdays post..I can reveal that there was only one correct answer!Take a bow Devilmood!

Todays choice is probably my all time favourite piece of music. It is once again an extended piece which for the main part is instrumental. The textures and themes contained in it give me something different evey time I here it. Taken from the album 'Duke' and released in 1980 it was originally part of a concept which comprised Behind The lines, Duchess, guide Vocal, Turn It On Again,Duke's Travels and Dukes end.Split up for the album, i've presented here for your listening pleasure: Duke's Travels and Duke's End.

I listen to these pieces very often..especially whilst driving..I always feel uplifted, excited and calmed (if that's possible) If you listen to the construction of the pieces, there is a definite begining and end..it concludes well and emphatically. I've heard this countless times..for you it will probably be the first..there it will sound a little complicated.

The Youtube clip is audio only so as not to detract from the sheer epic and dynamic quality of the music. See you tomorrow when I'll have my camera back and I can keep you up to date with PWM.

I've decided to add another piece which is a brilliant live performance of 'The Lady Lies' Phil
Collins at his best.

Duke's Travels/Duke's End.

The Lady lies (live)

Influences 2

Today i come to the second in this mini series whilst my family and camera are away Yesterday I presented Queen singing 'Bohemian Rhapsody'. Today it's the turn of another singer songwriter who has featured significantly in my life since I first discovered his talents way back in 1973!! Jeff Lynne joined an innovative band called 'the Move' at the late end of the 1960's..along with Roy wood, Jeff strove to reach beyond the limits of conventional pop music. Using inspiration from the stunning multi track recording technique heard on the Beatles 'Sgt Pepper' album..an offshoot project aimed to introduce stringed instruments into a rock and roll show.Thus the 'Electric Light Orchestra' was born.

Jeff and Roy parted company..Roy to form 'Wizard' and Jeff to develop the ELO.The band developed into a massive commercial success with it's most prolific period in the middle 7o's.pioneering the term 'Stadium Rock'..ELO's live shows introduced the world to the giant flying saucer which would rise into the air above the stage to reveal the band underneath...laser beam and other innovative lighting techniques were also used for the first time.

Again similar to Freddy Mercury, Jeff's songs reflect a highly achieved sense of lyricism and musicianship..bucking the trend during the Punk era again and never really being fashionable. For tonight's video..I have chosen the seminal 'Mister Blue Sky' Another 6 minute epic...worth staying with till the last orchestral/piano ending . I've always dreamed of being one of the cello players in ELO..for me, the cello is something beyond description..but that's for another day!
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Tomorrow..my last and most favouretist piece..any ideas?

Influences 1

As far as my musical identity is concerned, a significant event happened in 1975 with the release of Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen. Taken from the album 'A Day at The Races' (named after the Marx Brothers film of the same name!)..'Bo Rap' was totally different from anything that came before it. Timed at around 6 minutes, it didn't fit the average 3 minute boy meets girl pop song format, and featured multi track overlaying voices in an operatic style.

I was amused to see a programme on TV recently featuring a group of eminent professors who met at Oxford university to discuss the meaning of the lyrics of this song. After many hours of heated debate, their conclusion was inconclusive. According to the surviving members of Queen..there is in fact NO meaning to the song.

Freddie Mercury will always be thought of as an individualist who was a victim of his own chosen lifestyle who died long before his time. To me , he was an icon of style and personal achievement. Long before this song was released, I admired and loved the band's music..I saw Freddie dressed in his Zandra Rhodes white silk dress with black painted fingernails singing about fairies and giants.....this at a time when Punk Rock had begun to take hold of the collective ear....I have always loved and admired the progressive and innovative individuals who stuck two fingers up to the rest of the world and said ..." this is me...I am what I am.."


every New Year's Eve..my circle of friends get together for a party...many years ago I suggested that at the stroke of midnight..we sing Bohemian Rhapsody...years later, the tradition continues.You have to imagine a room packed with people of all ages, singing in innebriated joy every sylable and dramatic pause..with every ounce of effort and passion to the very last note...On the album version, Freddie sings the last 'Any way the Wind Blows' very softly..in this live version, it is a defiant challenge...'OK life..you're gonna dump on me sometime...but i'm ready..and i've got my friends around me, and we'll face it together...so come on'!

Please listen to the song...a live version of which is presented here from the 1986 concert at Wembley in London......Tears frequently well in my eyes as the last notes sound "Anyway the wind blows"...">