One Love

Today marks the 30th year since we lost reggae legend and activist Bob Marley. People across the world today are remembering the legacy the 36 year-old artist through celebration of his life and craft. His father, Norval Sinclair Marley, was a white Jamaican of English descent whose family came from Essex, England. Norval was a captain in the Royal Marines, as well as a plantation overseer, when he married Cedella Booker, an Afro-Jamaican then 18 years old. Norval provided financial support for his wife and child, but seldom saw them, as he was often away on trips. In 1955, when Marley was 10 years old, his father died of a heart attack at age 60. Marley faced questions about his own racial identity throughout his life. He once reflected:

“I don't have prejudice against meself. My father was a white and my mother was black. Them call me half-caste or whatever. Me don't dip on nobody's side. Me don't dip on the black man's side nor the white man's side. Me dip on God's side, the one who create me and cause me to come from black and white.”

The London footprint left by Bob Marley includes a Bayswater B&B, a Chelsea townhouse and the unlikely setting of a school gym in Peckham. Guide books tend to point visitors to an apartment block in Camden, where a heritage plaque unveiled in 2006 honours the Jamaican musician at his former north London home. Robert Nesta Marley lived at 34 Ridgmount Gardens in 1972 when he first came to England, just as his group the Wailers were making a name for themselves.





They also lived in the somewhat bizarre confines of a semi-detached house in Neasden. From here Marley & Co would have enjoyed panoramic views of the North Circular, parts of Wembley and the Welsh Harp by Brent Reservoir.

1977 brought another sojourn in London for Marley, this time for nearly two years as he and the Wailers decamped a Chelsea townhouse at 42, Oakley Street. The financial constraints of the past were gone; the reggae star could afford a cook and was able to bankroll a huge entourage. Marley had a cosy retreat at the top of the house where he was visited by his girlfriend Cindy Breakspeare, a former Miss World.

It was also a highly creative time and the Wailers went on to make a further two albums, Exodus and Kaya, the latter recorded in a converted laundry in Ravenscourt Park. This was the era of hits such as Jammin', One Love and Waiting in Vain. It was also here that a cancerous tumour was discovered in Marley's toe, which later would spread fatally to the rest of his body. Within three years reggae's global ambassador would be dead, leaving a wife, 13 children and no will - and a back catalogue of music that would be mined, reversioned and reissued for decades to come.



Marley is considered by many to be one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century. Most critics agree that no other musician has single-handedly held such sway over a music genre the way Marley did with reggae.

Bob Marley also helped popularise Rastafarianism, which venerates the late Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie. Selassie, who was deposed in 1974 and died in 1975 (many people believe he was murdered), is hailed by Rastafarians as an incarnation of God.

Bob Marley, who was born Robert Nesta Marley, grew up dirt poor on the streets of Kingston, Jamaica. Much of his music aims to lift up the impoverished and powerless, and anthems like "Get Up Stand Up" and "I Shot the Sheriff" carry a strong antiauthoritarian streak.

At a young age Marley fell in with the Rastafarians—known as the blackheart men among the Kingston residents who feared them. The Rastas then were a group of street preachers who taught the Bible and smoked marijuana.


Haile Selassie in 1934


Haile Selassie, Emperor of Ethiopia, the only African country not to have been colonised.

Although its roots go back to the early 1900s, Rastafarianism takes its name from Ras (Prince or Duke) Tafari Makonnen, Haile Selassie's name until he was crowned emperor of Ethiopia in 1930. The faith predicted that a new king with the power of God would rise out of Africa.

Many of Bob Marley's songs had an African connection. "Exodus" and "Redemption Song," for example, decried racism and the European colonisation of Africa, and celebrated freedom from oppression.


Bob Marley and the Wailers, Dalymount Park, Dublin


I only saw him once the summer before he died when Bob and the wailers played their only Irish gig on 6th July 1980 at Dalymount Park in Phibsboro, the home ground of Dublin’s Bohemian Football club. It was a precious memory and despite the lousy sound quality a great concert. But it had its surreal moments also. Behind Bob, The Wailers And his backing singers The I-trees was a large cloth banner in Rasta colours of the Emperor Ras Tafari with the Lion of Judah in the background. By way of contrast in front of the stage being wildly distracting were a group of 30 Dublin skin heads moshing and jumping up and down. I remember Marley looking askance at them on a number of occasions – like the rest of us he wasn’t sure seeing these animated skinheads if Jah would be there. I’m not sure the skinheads “got it.”

Later that year Bob Marley and the Wailers played in New York City in September 1980 (Madison Square Garden), as support to The Commodores. Two days after this concert Bob Marley collapsed in Central Park, and was diagnosed with cancer. He died a few months later on 11th May 1981. What a great journey Marley had made from Nine Mile in Saint Ann Parish, Jamaica. To his fellow Rasta he is on that journey still.

"One love, one heart, one destiny."

Bob Marley

Nesta Robert "Bob" Marley, OM (6 February 1945 – 11 May 1981)

http://www.bobmarley-foundation.com/foundation.html

Happy Birthday Dear Albert!

Happy Birthday Dear Albert! Today 140 years ago in 1871 on the 29th March the Royal Albert Hall was opened by Queen Victoria, with the intention of hosting arts-and-sciences exhibitions, and its beautiful architecture has since led to it receiving the honour of being a Grade I listed building, a fitting tribute to one of London’s most iconic landmarks. It was so named after Victoria’s beloved ex-husband, Prince Albert.


A golden Prince Albert sitting in his memorial looking at the Royal Albert Hall

Located on the border between the City of Westminster and Kensington, the Royal Albert Hall is one of the world’s most illustrious concert venues, making the RAH one of the essential London attractions with music fans of all genres. The Royal Albert Hall is probably most famous for hosting The Proms each summer (which culminates in the famous televised ‘Last Night’) but also hosts a wide variety of other events, ranging from rock concerts by 1960s counter-culture legends likes of Crosby, Stills & Nash through to The Masters Tennis.



For Londoner’s and visitors it has since become a well loved venue nor more so than at the annual “Proms” or Promenade Concerts to give them the full title. Designed to make classical music accessible to all so called because they are a series of Classical Music Concerts where Promenaders, people who walk in, can get unreserved tickets on the night. The other unique feature of The Proms is the promenaders stand in the floor of the hall and their enthusiasm and eccentricity lends a very definite flavour to the proceedings.

http://daithaic.blogspot.com/2008/09/proms-in-park-2007.html


But back to Albert’s Birthday, in the spirit of Victorian exhibitionism engendered by the Great Exhibition the story of its birth is told for all to see on the outside of the building. Surmounting the exterior walls and above the ballustraded smoking gallery, runs a continuous 800 foot long terracotta frieze composed of allegorical groups of figures engaged in a range of artistic endeavours, crafts, scientific and other cultural pursuits. Above the frieze in one foot high terracotta runs the following text which neatly encompasses the evangelical fervour of Victorian England:

“This Hall was erected for the advancement of the Arts and Sciences and works of industry of all nations in fulfilment of the intention of Albert Prince Consort. The site was purchased with the proceeds of the Great Exhibition of the year MDCCCLI. The first stone of the Hall was laid by Her Majesty Queen Victoria on the 20th day of May MDCCCLXVII and was opened by Her Majesty the 29th day of March in the year MDCCCLXXI. Thine O Lord is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty. For all that is in the heaven and in the earth is Thine. The wise and their works are in the hand of God. Glory be to God on high and on earth peace.”


The Frieze

A great Central Hall, dedicated to the promotion of Art and Science, was a key part of Prince Albert’s vision for the South Kensington estate, which was to be developed on land purchased with the profits of the Great Exhibition of 1851. From the outset the Hall was intended to be a versatile building used not only concerts but for exhibitions of art and of manufactured goods, and for scientific conferences and demonstrations. Its purpose was to enable the population at large to engage with the work of the surrounding museums and educational institutions.


The Crystal Palace, home of the Great Exhibition in 1851 held in Hyde Park in front of the site of the Albert Hall and Albert Memorial

This area was dubbed by the Victorian press as Albertropolis' a name coined in the 1850s and resurrected in recent years for the 87-acre site south of Hyde Park, purchased by the Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851 with profits from the Great Exhibition. Exhibition Road - whose route the subway from South Kensington Underground Station follows - forms the spine of “Albertropolis”. The nickname satirised the vision of Prince Albert, the Commission's President, of the area as a centre for education, science and art - an ambition largely realised within a few decades of the Prince's death. There was a great deal of historical revisionism for the truth is Prince Albert was not actually popular during his lifetime. Government and The Court saw him as arrogant, self serving and pushy and the public saw him as German. He was also something of a conspious consumer, building (and largely designing) extravagant homes at Osborne, Isle of Wight and Balmoral, Scotland whilst ensuring the Royal Family enjoyed tax free status. The Cult of Great Albert came about due to a combination of national guilt after his death and Disraeli’s efforts to flatter Victoria and coax the “Widow of Windsor” back to her duties. Few of us today could take a 25 year paid leave of absence to cope with bereavement!


Albert Hall - acoustic "mushrooms" on the ceiling

Plans for the Hall fell into abeyance with Albert’s premature death (1861) and the construction of what was to called the Royal Albert Hall in his memory was due to the determination of Henry Cole, one of Albert’s collaborators in the Great Exhibition and who was later to serve as the first director of the South Kensington museum (now the Victoria and Albert Museum). The design and robust structure of the Hall were inspired by Coles’ visits to the ruined Roman Amphitheatres in the South of France and to his determination that the building should be placed in the hands of Royal Engineers as he distrusted architects. Detailed design of the building was started by Captain Francis Fowke and completed, following Fowke’s death, by another engineer Lieutenant Colonel (subsequently General) Henry Darracott Scott.





The original intention that the Hall should accommodate 30,000 was, for financial and practical reasons, reduced to approximately 7,000. Modern Today’s fire regulations have reduced that figure to around 5,500. Much of the money originally intended for the construction was diverted to the building of the Albert Memorial and work on the Great Hall was further delayed while Cole raised the necessary money by selling “permanent” seats in the Hall for £100 each.


The opening 29th March 1871

Today visitors can complete the Royal Albert Hall tour, giving them a behind-the-scenes view of this famous venue. Whilst waiting for the RAH to open visitor can enjoy the many delights of neighbouring Kensington Gardens (including its imperious Albert Memorial) or one of the three free glorious nearby museums: The Natural History Museum, Science Museum and the Victoria & Albert Museum.

For more about Albertropolis and Kensington see;

http://daithaic.blogspot.com/2008/01/great-circle-line-journey.html

The first Proms concert took place on 10 August 1895 and was the brainchild of the impresario Robert Newman, manager of the newly built Queen's Hall in London so this year is the 112th year of these highly democratic and entertaining concerts, over 100 in total in a two month season attracting some 275,000 in the audience and many more with television and radio broadcasts by the BBC of all the concerts. While Newman had previously organised symphony orchestra concerts at the hall, his aim was to reach a wider audience by offering more popular programmes, adopting a less formal promenade arrangement, and keeping ticket prices low.



To lead the event he approached a conductor whose name has become synonymous with the Proms, Henry Wood. Born in 1869, Henry Wood had undergone a thorough musical training and, from his teens, began to make a name for himself as an organist, accompanist, vocal coach and conductor of choirs, orchestras and amateur opera companies. It is Henry Wood’s inspiration which has defined the informality and eccentricity of the proceedings and lest we forget it his wooden bust decorated with a garland of honour presides over every Proms Concert in the Royal Albert Hall.



As for myself and Londoners the Albert Hall is more than a venue for it is a repository of memories. So much so that they unconsciously refer to “our Albert Hall.” Not too inaccurate either as it is still owned and controlled by the public trust set up with the proceeds of the Great Exhibition and the Crystal Palace. Any performance in the somewhat unique setting of the Albert Hall is imbued with a sense of occasion of this unique and atmospheric building. For me there are the memories of unique Prom concerts, Opera’s “in the round” such as Madame Butterfly where the stage was flooded for the grand finale not to mention some great concerts such as Eric Clapton and Van Morrison. But my favourite evening was a benefit in 1994 for the founder of the Cambridge Folk Festival which featured Tanita Tikaram and Loudon Wainwright among others. The last act was the Irish singer Christy Moore and this was the year Ireland under Jackie Charlton qualified for the World Cup but England didn’t. Christy came out on stage and announced how glad he was not to be in Ireland. He said everybody there was a nervous wreck and all anybody was talking about was football this, football that. England by contrast was far more relaxing, he opined, all he had to listen to were genteel conversations about Tennis at Wimbledon!



That is how most people in London will reference Albert and his Hall - Great nights, great performance, great musicians and great memories. After a discrete series of rolling refurbishments the Old Boy is looking good with facilities and access fit for the next 140 years. So well done Albert, you have seen off so many youthful upstarts in London since but nobody has your sense of place in the affections of the public, your presence and, dare I say it, your sense of majesty. If only the rest of us were looking so good and feeling so loved after 140 years! So all together now, Happy Birthday Dear Albert, Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday Dear Albert Hall!



Renée Fleming, BBC Singers, BBC Symphony Chorus, BBC Symphony Orchestra
Conductor: Jiří Bělohlávek.

KOF is All Good

Long championed by the Sage is that talented purveyor of chunky Urban Beatz from the Pool (aka Liverpool) KOF who’s last single “FIRE IT UP” has had its video featured on MTV. KOF follows the success of 'Fire It Up' with the release of "All Good", an uplifting feel good anthem that is certain to make us all see the bright side of life. This new Merseybeat is the perfect riposte to the manufactured plastic pop which X-Factor et al. are spreading like a rash across the nation.

The New Video Taken From The 'All Good Mixtape' Available for free Download On 18th November from KOFMUSIC.com :-D

On "All Good" KOF hooks up with soul singer Esco Williams and long-time collaborator, Chartstalker, on an up-tempo melody- driven ode to the days when everything goes wrong yet still everything is essentially 'All Good'. This track is sure to cure any post summer blues, get your feet moving and have you humming the melody everywhere you go.

"All Good" has received support from Radio 1, Choice FM, KISS FM and is currently playlisted on Radio 1Xtra. It is also set to enter the Commercial Club Chart.

ALL GOOD

feat. Esco Williams

Produced by: Chartstalker

Erykah Badu does Dallas

Erykah Badu

Singer Erykah Badu has been given a $500 fine in April for filming a video in the streets of Dallas, in which she's naked for perhaps a minute; she's now also been sentenced for 6 month in jail, though on probation. All this sounds quite excessive but does not surprise me for in my humble opinion, Dallas is not a normal place.

The music video is called "Window Seat" and was recorded in one take in Dealey Plaza on a warm Saturday afternoon in March 2010.It shows Erykah Badu, Dallas native and R&B star, doing a slow motion striptease down Elm Street on her way to the spot where JFK was assassinated. Commercial filming shoots require a permit from the city of Dallas, but here, no such permit was sought or granted.


JFK

“She said she was frankly kind of surprised nobody made a formal complaint at the time, though on her Twitter account she says people were yelling at her while they were filming" said Richard Ray, a FOX reporter who spoke with Badu. According to her Twitter post, Badu stated that people she passed shouted things like "This is a public place,” “you ought to be ashamed,” and “put your clothes on."

To my eyes, what she did was bold and remarkable, as she walks the gauntlet of people gazing at her in never changing strides towards her goal: the exact spot at which John F. Kennedy was assassinated, and it is there that she lets herself fall to the ground. Debbie does Dallas this wasn’t rather I saw it as a brave piece of performance art dealing with alienation in Dallas. Let me explain why I found Dallas somewhat surreal.



I went down to Dallas in 1982 and the first shock was the flight from Chicago O’Hare Airport which left at an unearthly hour of 5.30 in the morning. I ran up the air bridge with minutes to spare and settled into the American Airlines flight to Dallas. I then looked at the safety card and realised this was a DC10. Now it just so happens that the deadliest airliner crash on US soil was an American Airlines DC10 taking off from O’Hare three years earlier when an engine separated from the wing and destroyed the control mechanisms. On May 25, 1979, AA flight 191, operated by a McDonnell Douglas DC-10-10, crashed moments after takeoff from Chicago. The jet had 258 passengers and 13 crew on board, all of whom died in the accident, along with two on the ground. As we started to roll the video monitors flickered into life and we were presented with a camera behind the pilot giving us a cockpit view of the takeoff. I thought “not only are we going to crash but we’ll see it happen in real time and hear the Captain scream!”

Never mind – we got to Dallas in the Republic of Texas safely following the mighty Mississippi River through this vast land for much of the way and Paul Simon told no lie; In the morning sunshine the Mississippi really did shine like a National Guitar. Arriving at Dallas Fort Worth Airport (DFW) the surreal feeling continued. Braniff International Airways had just collapsed and there were over 100 of their aircraft impounded on the tarmac surrounded by barbed wire and with guards with shotguns patrolling. The sight of these beautiful looking orange, green and purple aircraft imprisoned on the tarmac was astounding. But then DFW was astounding being designed (in more innocent times) so the Texan cowboys could park their Cadillac’s within 150 feet of the departure gate. This resulted in a huge land grab as confirmed by the hubristic billboard on the exit road “DFW the world’s biggest airport; When DFW is completed it will be bigger than Bermuda; DFW 68 square miles, Bermuda 66 square miles.”


Downtown Dallas from the flood plain of the Trinity River

In Dallas after my business was finished I had a few hours to kill before flying back so I asked my host to drop me to downtown Dallas, for these were the days of Dallas on TV and Ewing Oils gleaming glass office block so I wanted to see for myself. Now the thing is Dallas doesn’t really have a downtown, it has about 14 office blocks on a mound beside the flood plain of the Trinity River, the dried out (in summer) bed of the Dallas River and despite owing its existence to the railway a station with one working platform with the rest being developed into a “themed retail and dining experience.”


JFK memorial

Despite the temperature in the hundreds I went to see the JFK memorial, for after all in Ireland we looked upon him as “our” President. I found it strange, for all the world looking like a raised stylised concrete wall with two gaps and at its centre an empty plinth which looked like it was made for a statue which never arrived. Undaunted I headed from there down Elm to Dealey Plaza, the same route taken by Erykah Badu in her video, where John Fitzgerald Kennedy was assassinated on Friday, November 22, 1963. Now today there is a memorial there and on the 6th Floor of the Texas Book Depository from which Lee Harvey Oswald fired the fatal shots (don’t mind the hocus theories Oswald did the deed – the only question is who was behind him) there is now a Kennedy Museum but in 1982 there was nothing, zero, zilch. It was as if Dallas wanted to forget about JFK.

It became obvious talking to people that JFK was not particularly welcome in Dallas in 1963 and he was still not thought much of today. For people in Dallas, TX, were right wing often wrapped up in a large dose of old time religion. It was obvious that many didn’t accept the Civil War had ended and cars with “Yankee Plates” were honked off the streets. There were still very obvious racial undercurrents here in the “Deep South”, you only ever saw blacks queuing for buses and even the bars appeared to be de-facto segregated being either white or black but not mixed. Indeed there were no bars in much of Dallas as part of the city was in a “dry” county. It was obvious that the White Texans didn’t much care for their black neighbours and didn’t much care for that “Catholic” 35th President of the United States from up north. Whatever else Dallas was, it was no melting pot.


Dealey Plaza, site of the assassination

I’m sure Dallas and the Southern USA has moved on greatly since 1982 and is a very different city today but Erykah Badu’s video and public striptease is not a titillating Debbie does Dallas reprise but rather a brave and challenging piece of performance art. It is about alienation and is associating the exclusion of JFK, made manifest by his assassination, with the exclusion of black people from the city government and opportunity in Dallas as in much of the Deep South for much of its history. By this gesture Erykah Badu, a women of colour, has cast aside the deference to those who have excluded black people and declared that even if they have nothing, they will overcome. It is a brave manifestation of one women’s determination that the future will not mirror the past.

KOF on MTV

KOF FEAT. WILEY & CHELCEE GRIMES - 'FIRE IT UP' (VIDEO EXCLUSIVE)

Long tipped for the top by the Sage is that talented purveyor of chunky Urban Beatz from the Pool KOF whose new release “FIRE IT UP” has had its video featured on MTV. The Wrap Up have been given the exclusive official video from upcoming Liverpudlian MC, Kof. 'Fire It Up' is a dance inspired track and features the one and only Wiley, along with vocalist Chelcee Grimes. The single is due for release August 23.............


Roll over N-dubz, Tinchy and little Chipmunk - KOF is firing it up big time!

Kof ft Wiley & Chelcee Grimes - 'Fire It Up' from MTV - The Wrap Up on Vimeo.

Stay up to date with Kof on Twitter - www.twitter.com/KofMusic

KOF gets famous!

KOF here!

After his storming Glastonbury set KOF is releasing his new single FAMOUS!

http://daithaic.blogspot.com/2009/06/kof-at-glastonbury.html

“In a scene renowned for aggressive lyrics and negative press, KOF is a diamond in the dirt. Fusing new school flair and old school flavour, KOF describes his conscious lyrics and big beats as 'mesh' music. His talents lay not only in his lyrical realism, but also in his soulful voice and melodic flow. He champions an open approach to music, with no boundaries, so you can understand why 1Xtra's Ace & Vis consider him "the future of UK music". KOF has already achieved consistent air play on BBC 1Xtra, Galaxy and Radio 1 and is currently working on his debut album, set for release in October 2009.”BBC Glastonbury website

Just a quick email to say I have a new track on the myspace called FAMOUS.
This will be the first release from my debut album.
FAMOUS comes out on 28th Sept...

Check it out www.myspace.com/youngkofurbeatz

Video coming soon too...


KOF
--
www.kofmusic.com
www.myspace.com/youngkofurbeatz
www.youtube.com/youngkof
www.twitter.com/kofmusic

Facebook: Kofi Owusu
MSN: kofmailinglist.urbeatz@gmail.com

So DJ, Put It Louder


KOF slaying them at Glastonbury

Kof at Glastonbury

Representing URBEATZ from Liverpool at Glastonbury and son of a good buddy ……………….

Click on the link for his storming 25 minute set on the BBC Introducer’s Stage.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/glastonbury/2009/artists/kof/

Here is his intro on the Glastonbury site;

“In a scene renowned for aggressive lyrics and negative press, KOF is a diamond in the dirt. Fusing new school flair and old school flavour, KOF describes his conscious lyrics and big beats as 'mesh' music. His talents lay not only in his lyrical realism, but also in his soulful voice and melodic flow. He champions an open approach to music, with no boundaries, so you can understand why 1Xtra's Ace & Vis consider him "the future of UK music". KOF has already achieved consistent air play on BBC 1Xtra, Galaxy and Radio 1 and is currently working on his debut album, set for release in October 2009.”

Check out Kof’s website;

http://kofmusic.com/

HUB Liverpool

My good buddies at URBEATZ in the great City of Liverpool are involved with HUB which this year is featuring YOUNG KOF.

www.urbeatz.com

www.kofmusic.com

HUB hunt for talent

An invitation is now open to the best musicians from indie to funk, rock to soul, hip-hop to metal to send in a demo which could see them starring on HUB's live music stage (May 23 & 24, Wellington Dock).

Successful bands will earn themselves a slot at the festival, joining confirmed headliner, Liverpool hip-hop legend Young Kof.

Susan Whitehead, Event organiser, said: “HUB has really matured now and attracts the best urban performers from around the world - and we want the best of Liverpool to perform with them. The music search is open to anyone with heaps of energy, style and passion. Only the best talent will be selected to play at what promises to be a wicked weekend.”

Bands have until March 10 to apply with a biography, a completed artists’ contact form and a demo. A panel of music industry professionals will judge all applications and choose their favourites to play at the event. Full line up will be confirmed by Monday, April 6.

Application forms can be downloaded from www.hubfestival.co.uk

Proms in the Park 2007

One of the great British institutions is The Proms, so called because they are a series of Classical Music Concerts where Promenaders, people who walk in, can get unreserved tickets on the night. Now days these concerts are run by the national broadcasting service, the BBC, and are still open to Promenaders who can walk in on the night to the main venue, the magnificent Royal Albert Hall and the Cadogan Hall which is also used. The other unique feature of The Proms is the promenaders stand in the floor of the hall and their enthusiasm and eccentricity lends a very definite flavour to the proceedings.

The first Proms concert took place on 10 August 1895 and was the brainchild of the impresario Robert Newman, manager of the newly built Queen's Hall in London so this year is the 112th year of these highly democratic and entertaining concerts, over 100 in total in a two month season attracting some 275,000 in the audience and many more with television and radio broadcasts by the BBC of all the concerts. While Newman had previously organised symphony orchestra concerts at the hall, his aim was to reach a wider audience by offering more popular programmes, adopting a less formal promenade arrangement, and keeping ticket prices low. To lead the event he approached a conductor whose name has become synonymous with the Proms, Henry Wood. Born in 1869, Henry Wood had undergone a thorough musical training and, from his teens, began to make a name for himself as an organist, accompanist, vocal coach and conductor of choirs, orchestras and amateur opera companies.

It is Henry Wood’s inspiration which has defined the informality and eccentricity of the proceedings and lest we forget it his wooden bust decorated with a garland of honour presides over every Proms Concert in the Royal Albert Hall. Yet although the scope of the Proms has increased enormously since 1895, Henry Wood's concept for the season remains largely unaltered: to present the widest possible range of music, performed to the highest standards, to large audiences. The eccentricities are most apparent on the Last Night of the Proms where the audience are eccentrically attired, wave flags, engage in the customary accelerating clap-along to the hornpipe in Henry Wood's Sea Songs, whistling to See the Conqu'ring Hero Comes, humming to Home, Sweet Home, bob up and down during the Fantasia on British Sea Shanties by Henry Wood, boo Brunhilde when she attempts to sing Wagner (sadly, this has been dropped in recent years!), cheer uproariously when the conductor makes the traditional speech and then join in with extreme gusto in the grand finale as the everyone joins in Land of Hope and Glory, Jerusalem, Rule Britannia and God Save the Queen!


Tickets for the Last Night are at a premium so the event is extended by open air Proms in the Park Events in London, Wales, Scotland and a place some call, with considerable in exactitude, Northern Ireland (N.B. The most northern point of “Northern Ireland” is due south of the most northern point of “Southern Ireland” – A knowledge of geography can be a great handicap in life!). So that is how I came to find myself on Saturday 8th September in the congenial company of some 60,000 souls in Hyde Park being gently cooled by a zephyr from the North Pole as we enjoyed the last of the Great British Summer. Now in its twelfth year, Proms in the Park is one of London’s most popular events, where the world and its live in companion packs a picnic, and heads down to Hyde Park to become part of the climax to the world’s greatest music festival. As well as seeing a host of international musical stars playing live, you get to join the Last Night sing-along in a firework finale.

Will Young

For the £23 entrance you get a line up of over 6 hours of entertainment in a wonderful space in London’s great Royal Park with stalls, catering and good facilities. Most of all you get a great atmosphere as the spirit of the Proms permeates the crowd. The first half was a lightweight fest of popular music with Tony Hadley (late of Spandau Ballet), RyanDan, Chico and T- Rextasy. They were introduced by two “stars” of children’s TV, Dick and Dom. Suffice to say, in any other country their great talent would probably have gone unrecognised. Tony Hadley and his band delivered a solid crowd pleasing set of Spandau Oldies but the event went south somewhat when Chico came on. The rest of the world may be unaware of Chico but he is the contestant with undaunted confidence who didn’t win a televised Pop talent show with the catch phrase “It’s Chico Time!”. Chico, I’m afraid it still isn’t Chico Time! The hit were the T Rex tribute band T-Rextasy who got the crowd going with a foot stomping set of T Rex’s hits. The performer who was “Marc Bolan” was particularly convincing with no sign of a join at the neck. Will Young, the final performer, did win a TV talent show and has carved out a credible career since and finished off in good style.

After the flotsam of the first half we take a half hour break will the orchestra set up for the serious classical half before, by the magic of wide screen, we and the other Park Proms joined the unruly crowd in the Albert Hall for the grand finale.

Terry Wogan

My townsman Sir Terry Wogan hosted a charismatic line-up of musical talent, with this year’s programme headed by the wonderful English soprano Lesley Garrett, Peruvian tenor Juan Diego Florez (King of the high D’s) and Young Musician of the Year, clarinettist Mark Simpson. These were accompanied by Carl Davis and the BBC Concert Orchestra. I need to mention that whilst I am not a TOG (Terry’s Old Geezer’s) as listeners of his BBC radio programme are called, I nonetheless have a considerable soft spot for Terry Wogan as his family were neighbours of my folks (His mum Rose was a lovely person) and he has the great achievement, which he repeats each year, of making the dross known as the Eurovision Song Contest watch able by refusing to take it seriously. He was on good form tonight remarking that the somewhat Wurzel Gummidge visage of Carl Davis is often mistaken for George Clooney (“He tells women he is George Clooney and they tell him he is mistaken”) and that at 18, Mark Simpson was at a difficult age “ too young to buy alcohol and too old to date Demi Moore.”


Lesley Garrett


Carl Davis

Juan Diego Florez is a great talent and my personal favourite was his medley of Latin songs and Mark Simpson has a great future, ending with a crowd pleasing Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy.

The great star must be the irrepressible Lesley Garrett, I know grown men who never recovered from seeing her many years ago momentarily, and tastefully, baring her bottom, when she brought the house down as Adele in Richard Jones 1988 production of Die Fledermaus. She is a talented Diva who is in no way grand whose key phrase is "opera is full of passion - and passion is part of all our lives." Boy, does she practice what she preaches and for her finale she came out in a Union Jack “Frock” and led the crowd in a rousing rendition of “You’ll never walk alone” from Carousel. She also paid tribute to Luciano Pavarotti on this, the day of his funeral in Modena by singing Mimi’s farewell to Rodolfo from “La Boheme”. Rodolfo was the operatic part that Pavarotti first found fame with and the tribute was poignant as this was the same spot where, in 1993 Pavarotti gave a performance to a crowd of 150,000 in the rain, including Charles and Diana. Addio Maestro!


Then over to the Albert Hall to join in the rousing finale in all its Hope and Glory followed by a backdrop of a fine firework display lighting up the London skyline and framing the stage in glorious colour. Tired and happy we wended our weary way home. For visitor or native the Proms are a great experience and if you find yourself in this great city for the Last Night in early September each year treat you and yours to this fabulous feast of musical riches and atmosphere.

Juan Diego Florez performing Ella mi fu rapita (from Verdi's Rigoletto) at the 2007 Last Night of the Proms from Hyde Park.

Farewell Ronnie Drew

Like many native Dubliners I am sadder this weekend as the world and Irish Folk music has lost the great Ronnie Drew, the legendary Irish folk singer and musician, who died at the age of 73. Drew, the founder of Irish folk group The Dubliners, had been battling cancer for some time. In a brief statement, his family confirmed he passed away at St Vincent's Private Hospital in Dublin on Saturday 16 August 2008.

Ronnie Drew was born in 1934 and reared in Dun Laoghaire on the coast of south County Dublin. At an early age he realised he was not cut out for a 'nine to five' job, especially of the a.m. variety and so in the mid-fifties he emigrated to Spain and lived there for three years. During his time in Spain he taught English, learned Spanish and studied the art of the Flamenco guitar. On his return to Dublin, Ronnie met the late John Molloy, a renowned actor, who invited him to perform in a show at Dublin's Gate theatre. Ronnie worked with John in various theatrical shows, singing, acting and playing guitar. It was at this stage Ronnie learned the discipline and art of stagecraft. In 1962 'The Dubliners' appeared from the back room of O'Donoghues Pub on Dublin's Baggot Street. Their style of music created quite a stir. In 1967 they released 'Seven Drunken Nights' entering the British Top Ten with an appearance on BBC's Top of the Pops. In 1995 they appeared once again on the show with Shane McGowan and the Pogues, with their single 'The Irish Rover'. The founding members of the Dubliners were Ronnie Drew, Luke Kelly, Ciaran Bourke and Barney McKenna and the group were the first to popularise Irish Folk music to a worldwide audience.




O'Donoghues Pub

Taoiseach (Irish Prime Minister) Brian Cowen said Drew had been an "iconic figure in Irish music" over five decades who would be remembered worldwide for his music. "I met him and admired his music, his unique singing voice was loved by so many people," he said. "Ronnie, whether as part of The Dubliners or during his solo career, will also be remembered for his promotion of Irish music both at home and around the world.

Drew underwent six months' treatment for throat cancer two years ago. His wife of more than 40 years, Deirdre, died last year. The couple lived in Greystones, Co Wicklow. Ronnie was a champion of traditional Irish music and, with The Dubliners; he re-energised and refreshed Ireland’s unique musical heritage

Con Kavanagh, barman at O'Donoghues, where The Dubliners started out, said everybody gathering at the pub this evening was talking about Drew. "When you mention Dublin, you mention Ronnie Drew - the two just went together," he said. "Everybody loved him." Irish President Mary McAleese said it was with great sadness that she learned of Drew's death. "Ronnie was a champion of traditional Irish music and, with The Dubliners, he re-energised and refreshed our unique musical heritage," she said.


During his career, Drew recorded with many artists, including Christy Moore, The Pogues, Antonio Breschi and Eleanor Shanley. Earlier this year, members of U2 joined fellow Irish musicians Sinead O'Connor, Shane MacGowan, Christy Moore and others to record a tribute song The Ballad of Ronnie Drew. All profits from the release of the single went to the Irish Cancer Society. At the time Bono said; "This is a big fight for him. But like any fighter, it's easier if there's a crowd cheering."

Drew founded the Ronnie Drew Group in 1962, which later came to be known as The Dubliners. The change of name came about due to Drew's unhappiness with the name, coinciding with the fact that Kelly was reading Dubliners by James Joyce at the time.(http://daithaic.blogspot.com/2008/06/james-joyce-and-me.html)
The group included fellow Irish music legends Luke Kelly, Ciaran Bourke and Barney McKenna and they began by singing in O'Donoghues pub in Merrion Row in central Dublin. Kelly was known for singing their soulful ballads and Drew will be best remembered for his gravelly-voiced renditions of songs like Finnegan's Wake and Dicey Reilly.

The Dubliners lived around the city they had named themselves after and were local legends. They were famous (and notorious) for their drunken carousing and Ronnie used to tell the story against himself of bumping into two acquaintances in Lower Baggot Street and a consensus quickly emerged that they should retire to a local pub for a pint of the “Black Stuff.” However every time one of the company suggested the name of a pub at least one of them had been barred from it in the past for some misbehaviour. After exhausting the names of all the pubs in the area they could not find a pub where all of them would be welcome and eventually they decided to shake hands and go their separate ways! At one stage Ronnie lived in a house in the Dublin Mountains at Glencullen and reveled in the porch he had built constructed out of empty beer bottles!


Despite bumping into Ronnie a couple of times in Dublin I only ever heard the Dubliners in concert once and that was in the early 1990s at the Barbican Centre in London, England. This was when the group had some changes of membership and after Luke Kelly’s death. It was a couple of years before Ronnie left the group (in 1995) and truth to tell, whilst pleasant they were past their best with an air of contractual obligation about it all. A couple of weeks later in the same venue I heard De Dannan and Eleanor Shanley in concert and the difference was noticeable, De Dannan and Eleanor grabbed the audience and did not let go until the end of their set.

This made me all the sadder I had not caught the Dubliners live in their prime and with their original line up for in their prime they were a phenomenon which took the world by storm and ironically popularised Irish Folk music not just internationally but also in Ireland. When we think of Irish traditional music, we think of ballad groups. But prior to The Dubliners, there were no ballad groups. It took the international folk boom of the sixties, and the success of the Clancy’s and Tommy Makem in America, to legitimise Irish music to the Irish nation. A good buddy of mine, Liam Weldon who ran the wonderful music sessions in Tailor’s Hall in Dublin, used to always say “There is a big difference between people who sing folk songs and people who ARE folk singers.” The Dubliners and Ronnie Drew had Dublin and Irish Folk music in their hearts and, as we say in the auld town, they were the heart of the rawl!

Ar dheis Dé go raibh anam uasal, Ronnie Drew.




The Dubliners with Paddy Reilly at the Gaiety Theatre, Dublin - Molly Malone




And here's Patrick Kavanagh's Raglan Road: An allegorical poem of unrequieted love. Luke Kelly sang the definitive version.

Arrivederci Luciano!

In the midst of the deservedly warm tributes to Luciano Pavarotti, who died today, 6th September 2007, there was the carping rent a quote on the BBC news from smart ass critic Norman Lebrecht who said that Pavarotti had divorced himself from the real world of opera and music to market himself as a celebrity brand. Such patronising tosh, but of course Norman has some form in attention seeking behaviour being a big Mahler fan (e.g. other end of spectrum from Italian Opera) and his central thesis (“The Life & Death of Classical Music”) being that the modern classical music industry was created by Nazi war criminals.

Pavarotti was not a person who set out to be a career musician rather he was a larger than life character who accurately reflected the great Italian obsessions of Football, Food, Music & Women and who remained loyal to the place from whence he sprung, the great renaissance city of Modena, fiefdom of the Ducs D’Este and modern day home to those great modern day steeds named Ferrari, Bugatti, De Tomaso, Lamborghini, Pagani and Maserati.

Rather having qualified as an athletics teacher (!) he got into music through sheer love of the art form singing in the local choir in Modena with his father, Fernando. Britain played a large part in his career for it was at the Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod in 1955, with the Chorale G. Rossini di Modena which won the Male Voice Choir competition that he, as the lead singer, he got the boost and confidence to follow his musical calling full time. This was such a turning point for him he returned 40 years later in 1995 to give an emotional performance at the closing concert of the Eisteddfod to scenes of adulation which have never been seen before at the event and it is safe to say will never be seen in future.

It was in London’s West End at the Palladium as a replacement for Giuseppe de Stefano he starred in the lead role of Rodolfo in La Boheme for a production which was broadcast to a radio audience of 15 million people which initially made his professional name and landed him a recording contract with Decca with whom he remained for his 45 year career. I might mention he knew the role as he had performed it previously that year at the Dublin Grand Opera Society’s production. He played La Scala in Milan over 140 times. He went onto play in all the world’s great opera houses opposite some of the greatest sopranos and with the greatest conductors . When his career (and voice) was in its peak in the 60’s, 70’s and early 80’s he played the full repertoire in many operas, frequently with his trademark prop of a handkerchief he used once when he was perspiring due to a cold and nervousness.

So this was no sound bite aria basher but a fully fledged performer who was inspired by a genuine love of music and had paid his full performing dues. So what right has Norman Lebrecht to begrudge him his subsequent celebrity and popular success particularly when more than anybody else he succeeded in bringing Opera to the people and democratising the art form. Who else ever got a whole football stadium to sing along to an opera aria? Here is a man who brought the beauty of great operatic singing to the attention of more people than anyone else. It should never be forgotten than behind the “Big Lucy” razzmatazz of the media there was the figure of another more agile singer with a voice of warmth and colour who produced strong effortless top notes which brought audiences to their feet both in opera houses and football stadia. Even in the era of mega concerts there is ample evidence of this brilliance in his earlier recordings and it can still be glimpsed in his later career, after all he sang with the same vocal cords. Even in his celebrity years with his Pavarotti & Friends Concerts in Modena he did much good work to highlight injustice and raise money to help. What right have we to begrudge him his benign celebrity status?

This avid football fan made Puccini’s aria “Nessun Dorma” (Let no one sleep) the unmistakable sound and memory of the best world cup ever in terms of fan satisfaction, Italia 1990, and it was obvious that both were Luciano’s passions. This is particularly as it is an aria from an opera with probably, in a very competitive field, the most ridiculous plot ever featuring a cruel Mandarin Princess, Turnadot, three ministers called Ping, Pang and Pong and a hero whose real name is “Love” who captures the heart of the cruel princess who had already beheaded 13 previous suitors!

So tonight as he lies in state in Modena’s great Romanesque cathedral the spirit of Luciano Pavarotti can afford to ignore the carpings of lesser mortals and repeat the words of Calaf, the suitor of Turnadot which Pavarotti sang so magnificently in Nessun Dorma:

All'alba Vincero! Vincero! Vincero!

At dawn, I will win! I will win! I will win!

Luciano, Addio Maestro et molti ringraziamenti.

Bob Geldof and Me.

Bolton Street College

Dublin in the 70’s was a dreary spot. Ireland was in the grip of the old certainties and the thought control mechanisms were still in place. I found myself studying architecture at Bolton Street College of Technology. Here, there were a number of third level courses (Architecture, Surveying, Engineering and Geo-surveying) grafted onto what was basically an inner city college with no campus run by the worthily titled Vocational Educational Committee. It was a clever way of ensuring you had all the disadvantages of university in terms of stress and pressure without any of the advantages of decent campus facilities and a social mix.


The Sage as a student at the 1975 USI Congress, Wexford

However if you wanted to study Architecture you were presented with Hobson’s choice. The only other course in Ireland was at UCD, University College Dublin, and this had been through years of turmoil resulting in it being derecognised by RIBA, the British Architect’s Institute, for poor standards. Either way in those days the grant system in Ireland was so restricted you had to be the 10th son of a smallholder with less than 10 acres to get a grant so student poverty was not an abstract concept. Bolton Street had the other advantage that its fees were a lot less than UCD; the payoff being that very little was provided when you got there.


The Rats

In 1975 I was Secretary of the Student’s Union and a few of us decided we needed to do something to lift the place so we planned the first “Bolton Street Student Festival”, just like the proper universities had! Being Secretary of the Union was not comparable with Oxford or indeed anywhere else. We had no Student’s Union or Bar but rather had an office in a forgotten room somewhere on the top floor and a Common Room with a shop / snack bar at the back of the canteen in the basement and a modest budget based on a capitation fee. In the previous year we had been at loggerheads with the college on a number of issues with canteen boycotts, sit – ins and all that good stuff. This year everybody wanted a fresh start and the college authorities enthusiastically backed the festival – even they realised a gloss needed to be put on the place.


Early Rats

So the week took shape, parties were organised, an art exhibition was to take place in the canteen, a film week was to take place in the “Kinema”, the only proper lecture theatre in the college, a programme of speakers was organised and we were to have a week of lunch time concerts in the common room. It had some hilarious moments such as the Art Exhibition. One of our lecturers was the well known Irish Artist Charlie Harper and he volunteered to help us get exhibits for the Art Exhibition.




Charles Harper and a Burren Landscape

What actually happened was that Charlie and I spent a day touring the art galleries of Dublin in his Renault 4 (with the back seats folded down and Dougal from the Magic Roundabout on the side!). In each gallery the routine was the same. We arrived unannounced, Charlie would be greeted warmly and introduce me, we would be offered and take a drink, explain why we were there and eventually leave with 2 or 3 paintings by well known artists from the gallery stocks. By nightfall neither Charlie nor I were in good condition and I crashed on the floor of his mews in Monkstown whilst outside there was a Renault 4 parked with 25 valuable paintings. All this lending of paintings was done without one shred of paperwork or indeed insurance, we must have been mad!



Three of the group which became the Boomtown Rats were studying at Bolton Street. Pat Cusack, (aka Pete Briquette) Gerry Cott and Johnnie Moylett (aka Johnnie Fingers). Gerry approached me and said he was in a band which had gone down a storm at student gigs called the Nightlife Thugs. I never heard of them but he was anxious to do the gig so I offered him our standard fee of 30 pounds which he accepted. The Common Room only held 300 and 20p was the most we could charge.

On the day of the concert the Common Room had filled up with apprentices. I should mention these were all big guys who wore Boiler suits and generally walked around with vice grips and wrenches! Just 15 minutes beforehand this tall dishevelled guy wearing boots and an ex-army greatcoat came up and asked to talk to me. He said he was Bob Geldof the leader of the band, he hadn’t known the fee was so little and there was no way they were going to play for that sh#t money! My mind immediately turned to the common room full of oil stained monsters and the consequences of the gig not going ahead so after some haggling I agreed to double it to 60 pounds. We shook on this and he then mentioned that I was to introduce the band as the “The Boomtown Rats” as they had now changed their name. The name came from Woody Guthrie’s autobiography “Bound for Glory” and belonged to a gang formed by the kids of newcomers in the oil boom in Oklahoma City who were excluded from existing gangs.


Give us your Effin Money!

So that was how in October 1975 I became the first victim of the now famous Geldof “give us your effing money” technique and nervously I went in front of a common room of oily monsters and for the first time ever introduced the Pop Group “The Boomtown Rats”. Can I tell you it was a wonderful gig? Well no actually, the acoustics were horrible in the bare brick walled Common Room but even still the Rats, whilst making lots of noise, were bloody awful. Some of the audience did start dancing and saved the day but I was mightily relieved that the first historic gig by the Boomtown Rats didn’t end in a riot. Bob describes the occasion in his 1986 autobiography “Is that it?”

“Well, if you’re so bloody clever, you go and talk to them.”

“I did, but my bluff was called. When I said that 30 pound was an insult and we wouldn’t do it for less than double that, the college promoter said: “All right, 60 pound then.” We were committed.”

So this insight into our respective negotiating skills probably explains why Bob Geldof is a millionaire and I’m not! I become part of pop history and Bob can’t even name check me in his book! After all these years am I not entitled to ask the question “Is that it?”


St. Bob with another Deity - Paul Hewson t/a Bono(vox)