The Runaways - 'Cherry Bomb' : This video looks so dated now
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pMDn6V7ZLhE but I suppose it is.
But watching it again, doesn't it make you feel good that Girlschool didn't fall under the spell of wearing bedroom / stripper attire onstage, and exercised their full decorum by just playing the music, and looking like the girl next door.

The Post Office: here in Upton is supported by MHB's with every stamp bought over their counter. I like keeping things local, because if I don't, it has a habit of being closed down. The large number of village post offices which have been closed down over the past few years have had little foresight behind the actions. Now, the people who supported them have to get in their car, or on a bus, and travel however many miles to do the same thing as they once did on foot; creating extra ozone emissions which, they tell us on the one hand we should be worrying about, whilst forcing us to counteract it on the other. Crazy!

Fanzine Getting Closer: The August fanzine is being printed now ready for Friday collection. The envelopes are addressed, and the stamps are almost done. The UK and R of the World were self-adhesive stamps, but those for Europe have to be wetted. Those of you who remember my 'The Man Who Won't Lick Stamps' essay will know I use a foam pad / oasis, as you never know where the fingers that tore the stamps off have been?
The fanzine will be sent out over the weekend / early Monday morning.

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo: Before Xmas I was excited about the book. I don't go to the cinema as either the tallest person in the world sits in front, or the person sticking their bony knees are in my back.
So last evening I enjoyed the DVD -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rIrjgFphVIc&feature=related
The books are so huge the film misses a lot of the detail to fit in the basic outline of the intriguing story, and despite that, it's well over 2 hours long, anyway. But everything you need to see is there, and some parts are a bit close to the bone, but filmed very cleverly to follow the story but not glorify.
Highly recommend it, one of the best films you will see this year.

The Byrds - 'So You Wanna Be A Rock 'n' Roll Star': It's something of a drawback as well as a bonus when you write a book like 'Bournemouth Rocks!' because inevitably, someone approaches you with a nugget of timeless information which should have been included.
Local rock fan and now a good friend, Ian Pope, thus approached me. With a Byrds box set in his collection, he explained how the booklet told the tale of this particular track. For some reason, the screaming fans were recorded at The Byrds 1965 Bournemouth show, and dubbed on prior to release as a single.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=prxkTbekrMQ
'Bournemouth Rocks!' will be updated at some point, as there are quite a few more nuggets like that to go into a reprint.
Meanwhile, if you missed it, 'Bournemouth Rocks!' can be found at www.natula.co.uk

Darting In And Out: Well, due to timing, yesterday's Motorblog ended up alongside Friday's, but not to worry.
Phil Taylor despatched Simon Whitlock 17 - 6 last evening. All power to The Power, he beats his rivals psychologically before they have even thrown an arrow, his reputation preceeds him, and opponents tremble in their boots and play like amateurs. All well and good, but as I said before, a bit boring to watch.
The Final today with Taylor vs Barney.

Sam Elms, a 19 year old young man who wrote a book about our local South Lytchett Manor, where I went to school, held a local book launch yesterday at the Lytchett Minster Parish Rooms. As I mentioned to Dorset Button Shop owner, Thelma Johns, I hadn't been inside the building since about 1961, when it was our junior school canteen.
Sam did an Author Talk for our Friends 4 Upton Library back along, and invited me to this more official "do."
It was fun, with a lot of local people there, and I met up again with old school friend, Mike "Paddy" O'Hara. So we had a great time reminiscing. Another couple sat down at our picnic table whilst we had a cuppa tea, who recognised me from various local features, and my letters, in the local Daily Echo. They were nice people, and the whole event was slightly over-subscribed in relation to the fairly compact Parish Rooms. But at a local event such as that, it's better being over-subscribed rather than under, and the event went very well, even though Sam was so busy speaking to people, I didn't get the chance to even say 'Hi.'

When We Were Young: It was difficult finding a heavy rock riff which made your hair stand on end. The Who's 'I Can See For Miles' did it, Juicy Lucy's 'Who Do You Love' roared, and Jimi's 'Voodoo Chile (Slight Return)' was a turning point in how a wah-wah pedal could be made to talk. Later, any number of Motorhead tracks had the same desired effect.
And with these 8 grandchildren I now have, I often wonder what riffs they get switched on to? What makes their adrenaline rush?
Well, I have found one of them. The bass keyboard riff is simple yet effective, the plaintive saxophone riff, again, simple, and like some wailing trumpet or bugle in the Clint Eastwood spaghetti western they didn't make. 19 years old, pilled up, and in one of these clubs with lasers, heat, and an electric atmosphere; this track would be one of the soundtracks of my youth. And the chick taking her dress off? Well, you will have to put up with that, it's the video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=64weBig4zbI&feature=related

Darts: is back on TV. But whilst we admire Phil Taylor's achievements as a sportsman, it's more exciting seeing him being beaten. As Kevin Painter mouthed last evening whilst Taylor whupped him 14 - 4, "Boring!"
And sadly, that is true, but until someone, who like Taylor, can stand there, apparently nerve-free and focussed, getting ton + scores with every trip to the oche, he's gonna thrash 'em!

The Head Cat Dates for September:
14th - The Blank Club, San Jose, California.
15th - The Uptown Night Club, Oakland, California.
17th - Dante's, Portland, Oregon.
19th - El Corazon, Seatlle, Washington.
21st - Neurolux, Boise, Idaho.
23rd - El Ray Theatre, Chico, California.

'All Pens Blazing Volume II': My (bought) copy arrived today, and it looks excellent, and more details and purchase details, if you need them, are here -
http://www.authorsonline.co.uk/book/934/All_Pens_Blazing:_A_Rock_&_Heavy_Metal_Writer's_Handbook_-_Volume_II/purchase/
The layout is highly professional, much better than the first edition, and my interview reads well and I'm proud of it. Of course, there are a lot more writers included, and there should be a list at the above link, or the Neil Daniels link on the website.
Think I'll spend a cosy evening giving it a read through.

YESTERDAY: The phone rang at around 05.50 and the answerphone took the call, and then the phone rang again. It was our daughter, Natalie, pregnant and about to bear her 5th daughter of an impending 6 children, we had agreed to babysit the others whilst she went with husband, Neil, to shuck the baby bean. Mrs. B and I were there and they were off to the hospital by 07.15.
The other grandchildren on her side range from 14 down to 3, and we had a fun day with laughter, and a few tears as the long day wore on, when the younger ones became tired.
The fish and chip shop did well out of us, as you can imagine.
Keira Emily was born at around 15.30, mother and child doing well.
Madcap, fun, and used in just about every car programme known to mankind, here is Yello's 'The Race.'
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ey7tGRFLpPE

A Ladies' Excuse Me: Because it's Stevie Winwood, and it's there, and we're men.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CVLH062pz9c&feature=related
And I wish these creaky bones were as supple.

Motorhead's: new album will, apparently, be released in September. No track or album titles are available yet, but it is complete except for some work Lemmy will be doing on it after returning to LA from the summer festivals itinerary.
Meanwhile, here's some classic Robert Johnson -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yd60nI4sa9A

Strange Collection Of Books: Mentioned these last week, and they are rather odd -
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1157379273/ref=oss_product
Published in America by Books LLC in Memphs, Tennessee; if you Search 'Motorhead' and / or 'Hawkwind' in Amazon 'Books' you will find those relating to Lemmy and / or Motorhead / Hawkwind.
Now, everyone has the freedom of choice to do as they wish, but these books are no more than various items from Wikipedia, collected together under one umbrella of semi-related topics, usually making a book of around 68 or so pages. So, you have the choice of buying them or not. There are no photos and the covers are all a flat beige colour.
When I approached them asking if they sought permission to produce the books, the simply replied that as the pages are from Wiki, which is a public domain, they can print them in book form if they want to.
That's fair comment, and by all means, buy them if you so wish; or, save your money and just look at the pages on Wiki for free.

'Electric Ladyland': Yesterday's post made me think of this great Jimi Hendrix album sleeve-
http://www.movieconnection.it/magazine/mc23/electric_ladyland--.jpg
When it was released, it was available in this magnifcent piece of artwork, or, as two single albums with band photos, if you were a bit of a prude.
Released in 1968, when things were a lot different, especially the value of money, the models were brought in to do the shot, topless, for £50 each. The photographer, quite rightly, and if you can imagine it, he was right, thought the photo would look naff with the women wearing knickers. So, he decided to go the whole hog, and offered them another £20 each to do it in the buff. £50 then was like about two grand in today's money, so an extra £20 was a big enough incentive to get naked.
Woudn't it be great to get the same ladies back to do the shoot again now, whilst they're in their 60's. A bit like 'Calender Girls' revisited, in the pop tradition.

Slutfreax - 'Down & Dirty' - My friend, Eric, sent news of this band, with Motorhead mentioned in the review - the review - not the album sleeve...
http://www.archaic-magazine.com/article.php?aid=39215
If you get a black screen and a message, just click 'OK.'

'The Silence': seems to be a rather good and unusual TV thriller. It started on Monday at 9 pm, and the 3 other episodes follow each evening until Thursday.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2010/jul/13/the-silence-deaf-bbc-thriller
It's the story about a late teens deaf girl who, whilst staying with her detective uncle and his family, witnessed an undercover WPC being murdered. It was somewhat slow to start with, but is now quite gripping and not-to-be-missed.
But if you have, the BBC iplayer will catch you up.

'When The Clouds Have Passed': has been ranked #65 in Amazon's 'Books, crime, thrillers and mystery - British detectives.'
My sincere thanks to everyone who helped to achieve that, but I don't think it means I can give up the day job just yet; but thrilling nevertheless.
And then I look again later in the day, and the book has plummeted to #91.
The following day it went to #56, and that facet has now disappeared from the page.
Odd.

'All Pens Blazing Volume II' - Edited by Neil Daniels: and featuring, amongst many other luminaries, a lengthy interview with Alan Burridge, is now available here:-
http://www.authorsonline.co.uk/book/934/All_Pens_Blazing:_A_Rock_&_Heavy_Metal_Writer's_Handbook_-_Volume_II/purchase/

A Plague Of Books Is Upon Us: I reported on one of these dire books with beige covers and no photos titled 'Songs Written by Lemmy' last week. And then another one cropped up, something about famous anarchists, which had Mick Farren's name amongst its heroes. I forwarded the link to Mick, and he decided to get a copy to find out what it's all about, and will report back via his Doc40 Blog.
Today, I found this one -
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Motrhead-Extended-Discography-Members-Burridge/dp/1157379273/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1278923754&sr=1-3
and if you click the 'Books LLC' link under the main book title on the Amazon page, you will see, after the first couple of pages, what I mean by a plague.
Is there a need for books like this?
Should we be flattered?
Should we be annoyed?
Best just to ignore them, and hope they go away.

Donovan - 'Hurdy Gurdy Man' - Working as session men at the time, this track features John Bonham on drums, John Paul Jones on bass, and, if you didn't know who played the amazing guitar solo, Jimmy Page on guitar.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xqhxK_g9mrA&feature=related

Sometimes We Should: take a minute to stand back and recognise we were in the right place at the right time, and lady-luck was by our side.
A Motorhead book I had accepted by a publisher was turned down after they'd had it for 5 weeks. So, I gave them another one, and they were and still are thrilled with it.
Wishing to move on, I asked if they had any interest in the one they rejected, and they said "no, you can find another publisher for that one."
And a day later, I did.
So now there are 2 Motorhead books on their way to publication, (+ Mick Stevenson's new Collector's Guide), so aren't we the lucky ones.
Yahoo!

In Loving Memory: Like me, you have seen the numerous roadside bunches of flowers, crosses, and other paraphernalia left by relations at the scene of an accident where someone was killed.
Generally, I think we notice them, register the what and the why, and then think little more of it.
But this 'In Loving Memory' documentary last evening went much deeper, to places I hadn't even thought about.
It seems that setting the body to rest in a cemetery grave is not good enough any more. Families like to, in such roadside instances as these, have a memorial at the exact spot where their loved one actually breathed their final breath.
Whilst this can be construed as being rather odd, as it has only started happenning over the past 15 or 20 years, some of the councils around the UK are not happy. They regard the sometimes dead and dying flowers as roadside litter, and much to the disappointment of the relatives, have removed the memorial. Other councils, though, had offered the relations the opportunity of paving a small area close by, and having a bench seat there. This had been most welcomed by the family concerned, and they, along with friends of the deceased, had roadside vigils to celebrate the deceased person's Birthday, and the also the anniversary of their untimely death.
Strange?
Normal?
But nevertheless something different to watch and to think about.

Mick Farren: has also been featured in another book similar in style and design to the 'Songs Written by Lemmy' effort mentioned earlier. Mick dutifully reported this -
http://doc40.blogspot.com/2010/07/apparently-im-collectivist-anarchist.html
and gave the fan club a link-check in the process, for which we are ever grateful.

Ozone Hostile Gas: is said to eminate from cow's backsides, and as such is the major cause; far above and beyond that created by exhaust emissions; of global warming.
But now there's a new product on the market which ex-soap star, Martine McCutcheon, advertises on TV with a sickly-sweet smile and glint in here eye; because she knows the truth. And this product, sold under the guise of a yoghourt-style foodstuff flavoured with added fruits which reputedly keeps one's system in check and combats cholesterol, not only depletes the ozone with the gasses it creates in the human bowel, but also chokes fellow human beings with the vile smell noisily and gleefully emitted by the person who ate it.
The smell is insuffereable, and the worst of this range of products is sold in a tiny plastic container that looks like a goldfish bowl; with the usual potted version running a close second. After eating, the resulting smell emitted from the user's sphincter could drop a galloping horse at 20 yards, and brings tears to the eyes of the unaware witness akin to peeling onions.
And the ghastly stuff takes several hours to move through the 25 feet of stomach and bowel inside the human body, all the time creating this vile sewage-like stench, which under the heat and confines of a duvet can cause the loss of bodily hair, toe and fingernails to turn green, and chronic asthma.
In fairness to anyone who does not eat Activia, this product should be taken off the market, or a suitable warning added to the label which should read: WARNING - PERSONS EATING THIS PRODUCT COULD WELL BECOME THE VICTIMS OF DIVORCE OR MURDER!

Spent Last Evening: in the company of long-time friend, Terry Best. We played flick-cards together in the playground at school, and a year older than me, I replaced him at Poole Park Nursery as their junior gardener of 1967, when he moved up a step to being a grade 3 gardener. Some of our escapades working there are included in the 'When Upton Had Trains' book, and by way of our mutual love of blues and rock music in general, we kept in contact off-and-on over the years by meeting up at gigs here and there.
But we hadn't had a get-together for far too long, and the 3 hours in his company last evening was enjoyable, as we still have a great deal in common.

Presumably 'When The Clouds Have Passed' is doing OK? Our eldest 2 granddaughters and 2 of their school friends letterboxed almost 500 flyers around here on Saturday, so only time will tell if they created a click-to-buy on Amazon, or went into the recycling bin.
If anyone reading this does a click-to-buy for it, I would welcome a review on Amazon, please. A couple of sentences or even a paragraph will be knockout, thank you.

Not A Good Book: As the fan club boss, I like to get hold of unusual / unofficial Motorhead output to let you know whether it is worth spending your hard-earned money on? This isn't -
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Songs-Written-Lemmy-M-O-N-E-S-Hellraiser/dp/1155280067/ref=sr_1_14?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1278332320&sr=1-14
There are no photos inside, and the cover, as per the illustration here is drab, drab, drab. Of course, the idea is to avoid any copyright or payment for photos, so this is just pages of general facts and info about a mere 21 of the more famous and well-known Motorhead songs; like Ace of Spades being in the Pot Noodle advert, chart positions, where it was recorded, who played on it, and stuff like that.
Other than adding some more recent facts which have been chavved from the Internet, the balance of this 67 page disgrace is no more than a re-hash of scattered information from my 1981 'Motorhead' Babylon book, and the 'Record Collector' features and 'Illustrated Collector's Guide To Motorhead' book which I did with Mick Stevenson. Agreed, Mick and I have been duly credited where appropriate, and other than the Record Collector features, the other books are out of print. But this sad excuse at making money out of the Motorhead / Lemmy name is no more than a blatant rip-off.
Please don't bother forking out well over £15 for this atrocity, save your money and pre-order a copy of Mick's Fully Illustrated and updated 'Motorhead Collector's Guide' from Amazon, which will now be published on October 21st 2010.

I have contacted the EBay seller offering Mick's new edition of The Motorhead Collector's Guide as a Buy It Now item, and asked him to remove the listing. He will probably tell me where to go, or ignore me, but please ensure that you DO NOT order the book from him, as he DOES NOT have any copies for sale, despite his claim of having "10 or more."

Forever Young: was a BBC4 TV documentary broadcast on Friday evening. It set out to explore what people thought would happen to pop/rock bands and the stars/artistes when their fame was over? This was particularly directed at the 50's and the 60's, when everyone, including the artistes, thought their time in the charts and the fame surrounding it, would last for perhaps 2 years; after which they would return to the office/factory job.
But it didn't happen like that, as we now know.
We as fans still wanted to see those stars live, we also wanted to keep buying their records, so the whole thing kept rolling. And here we are, both the stars and their fans, mostly aged well over 50, and they haven't gone back to the office job or the factory, and we're still here wishing to see them whenever we can.
Snippets from Motorhead's 1980 appearance on Top Of The Pops was shown several times, more especially the 'I don't wanna live forever' line, which, along with The Who's My Generation statement of 'I hope I die before I get old' was the crux of the doc and the main topic of the debate.
Lemmy was also featured in interview, giving his wonderful nuggets of opinion, and it was an excellent programme amongst the sea of dross we have to put up with, or switch off and read a book/listen to an album.

MHB Roger Neville-Neil: sent this link to some great Head Cat videos, well worth a look and a listen -
http://www.reverbnation.com/artist/artist_videos/424122?sel_song_id=4463833&autoplay=true

The Bay FM: interview yesterday was great fun. My third visit there on Geoff Carter's midday spot, we went a bit deeper than those about the local interest books, so perhaps fiction, murder, and people doing nasty things creates a better rapport?

It's my friend, Pam Fudge's turn today, so tune in to listen if you can. Pam also has her 7th book launch at Waterstones in Falkland Square, Poole, at 6pm this evening. Come along for a free glass of wine and a chat.

Lemmy In 'The Simpsons': Well, Mick Farren is reporting it to be so on his Doc40 blog -
http://doc40.blogspot.com/2010/06/i-am-so-fucking-jealous.html

And the third and final part of the Jimmy McCarthy interview should be here -
http://haggischorizo.blogspot.com/
My thanks to Jimmy for taking the time to do it.