Jack Attack Tuesday – 7/14/15 – Stiff Records, I Am Big Bird and George Harrison
Jack Attack Tuesday
Stiff Records, I Am Big Bird and George Harrison
Well now that we’ve gotten the sappy shit from last week out of our system, I’m delighted to be back from vacation and here to give you the lowdown on some new cool shit I’ve been into lately. Here we go.
This past week I had the opportunity to hang with my uncle for a while. I mention this because he’s the guy from whom I get most of my musical ideology, so typically if he recommends something it’s right on the money. Case in point, The Stiff Records collection. For a little history, Stiff Records was an English label that, while it exists in name today, really carved out a nice little niche audience from the mid 70’s to around 1985, featuring acts like Graham Parker, Elvis Costello, Desmond Dekker and The Pogues on their label. I’m a sucker for compilation records like this and this one is damn good. I’ve listened to most of the collection since I’ve been home, with some standouts being Tyla Gang’s “Styrofoam” and Desmond Dekker’s “Israelites”. Mostly though, this is some great punk/pop/reggae stuff that fits right in line with your standard Ramones/Clash type rock. If you can get your hands on this four disc set, DO IT! Kickass boxset across the board.
I managed to squeeze in a few documentaries since I got home, with the first being the oft-recommended I Am Big Bird. Bird tells the story of Carol Spinney, puppeteer and creator of Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch. I love a documentary that opens your eyes to an entirely new perspective and despite the Kevin Clash documentary from a few years back I am in awe of Spinney’s performance as Big Bird. The way the suit works, and the way in which he has to essentially see the world in reverse to move through it is incredible. There’s no other word to describe the guy as his career and journey are fascinating and ultimately really heartwarming. Here is a guy whom by pure circumstance managed to impress Jim Henson, and despite failing early on found a great character in Big Bird to run with. This is a great film for anyone who even has a passing knowledge of the character as it really fleshes out where the inspiration for him came from and who the man underneath the feathers is. This is an easy 8/10 for me.
Finally, we have a documentary I had avoided for a long time, due to length. George Harrison: Living in the Material World was, to me, a perfect documentary. I can’t really fault anything in the film as it explores the career of my favorite Beatle. George Harrison, to me, was always the Beatle I most related to because of his genuine warmth and inner peace. The guy was a megastar and never really flaunted it. When he did appear live, he did it with class, and the projects he worked on outside of the Beatles, from his solo stuff to Bangladesh to the Wilburys are some of my favorite moments in music. I was especially happy they managed to bring together Paul, Ringo and even guys like Klaus Voorman to speak about Harrison. I know there are some of you out there, and if you’re like me and you devour every single piece of Beatles content out there, this is for you. 9/10.
That’s it for this week. In lieu of a video, I leave you with proof positive of why I was always destined to write for this website. Check back this week for our Elton John MusicCast as well as our daily content, and as always, Binge On!