Wednesday 3 December 2008

The legend that is Shakin' Stevens

For some reason I seem to have been added to 02 Arena's mailing list; don't know why, never been there. This was today's email:

"A few slots remaining to interview the legend that is:
SHAKIN' STEVEN'S!
Shaky is performing on the 13th December at the Indigo2 at the O2 Arena
For further information and to secure one of the few available interview times
please contact ... "

Tempting, so tempting. Actually, given Tom Harris' current rundown of top Christmas songs, I wouldn't be surprised if he doesn't take up the offer. Aled Jones? Chris de Burgh? With choices like that, surely Shaky has got to be in there somewhere?

P.S. I did actually feel compelled to Google just now to check whether they'd wrongly inserted an apostrophe in Stevens. They have.

26 comments:

Anonymous said...

Shaky's actually a legend of politically engaged rock and not to be laughed at.
His manager, Paul Barrett, used to be a member of the CPGB and Shakin Stevens and the Sunsets were everywhere on the benefit gig circuit for leftie causes in the 70s.

And if you've really got nothing to do with your time Barrett's 1983 biography of the man is available online: http://www.s-stevens.nl/main_frame.htm?book_pb_chap3.htm

Find out how Shaky invented punk rock! Got ripped off by Lennon! And was better than Hendrix! I kid you not!

Old Holborn said...

Is that a joke BB?

I though Billy Bragg was the only ZNL sponge still sleeping with the BBC and Janet Street Porter. And Tom Robinson of course.

Up the workers!

So glad they finally banned the bomb.

Anonymous said...

Can you explain to me the mortgage guarantee scheme as outlined by Margaret Beckett yesterday on C4 news? To put it mildly, the thinking seems incomplete

The Bristol Blogger said...

What worries me about Harris's Christmas song list is that he has tagged his post on Chris de Burgh as 'Family Life'.

What kind of family is this? Playing your children Chris de Burgh? Isn't that cruelty?

Has anyone spoken to social services yet?

Old Holborn said...

Kerry, you are on the O2 mailing list because you have an O2 mobile.

I am so sorry to hear of the tragic loss of one of your new voters

DaveA said...

OH: Just read that article and some choice phrases.

'He assaulted me, he touched me up, ****ing Somalian.'

....group of Somalian men were making a nuisance of themselves talking to women and touching them.

I know someone who works in the social services department of one of the London "right on" boroughs.

Apparently ADHD/ADD is a bit like the supposed passive smoking scam, pseudo science. The reason these kids are so badly behaved is that their parent does not show them enough attention, or in some casesn completely ignore them.

What happens is this: 1. Can't be arsed to try at school and/or get a job. 2. Get pregnant and get council flat and benefits. 3. Young mother sees friends out enjoying themselves, resent child and/or no parenting skills. 4. Go to GP and have child diagnosed with ADHD = More benefits. 5. Child grows up to be feral scum in some cases.

MacPherson and the welfare state have to answer for.

Anonymous said...

One of my neighbours in Kerry's lovely constituency - a teacher, no less - is such a desperately bad parent that she even tried to get her own daughter certified by the child psychologist. To avoid any responsibility for having screwed her child up, presumably.

Her evil plan failed dismally, however, when the shrink turned round and told her that here was nothing wrong with the girl, and suggested that maybe she, the mother, was the one with the problem.

Hoisted!

The Bristol Blogger said...

Sounds like that mother's been playing Chris de Burgh in front of the children.

Old Holborn said...

DaveA

I want the black girl reported for being a racist, the Somali bloke for being a sex offender (posthumously of course)and the pub closed down for letting devout Muslims get pissed there.

Innit.

Diversity. I love it.

Hacked Off said...

Yeah but no but yeat but no but yeah but no but

Guilty verdicts for the Shannon Matthews kidnappers, ie her wonderful mother and some half wit she terrified into helping her.

Now, looking at the "profiles" of the criminals as published in the Grauniad http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2008/dec/04/profile-shannon-karen-matthews-michael-donovan-guilty one cannot help but notice that this woman had made a career out of knocking out bastards by different blokes. It gave her a council house, and plenty of dosh for fags and booze and crisps. Bet they've got a bigger TV than I have.

The Welfare State so beloved by Socialists because it enables them to have a client group guaranteed to vote for them and because it salves their sick need to be "doing good to the poor", has also caused the situation in nearby Sheffield of a bloke repeatedly raping and impregnating his own daughters because the benefits he accrued from this were so much more than he could earn legitimately.

Kerry, is this the Great Britain that you came into politics to help engender? Or has something gone wrong?

The Penguin

Kerry said...

OH: "Kerry, you are on the O2 mailing list because you have an O2 mobile." Oh no I don't.

BB: thank you for your highly relevant comments, which is more than I can say for anyone else on here, and for reminding me of Shaky's radical past - something I'd forgotten I knew. And congratulations, you've just won Comment of the Week.

force12 said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
force12 said...

"And congratulations, you've just won Comment of the Week."

Not expecting many visitors this week then?

Kerry said...

Comment of the Week runs from Thursday to Thursday. (So I have just decided.)

DaveA said...

Sorry Kerry, to get back on message I think Shakin' Stevens is Welsh and my daughter works there as a trolly dolly in the VIP boxes.

Yawn......zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Anonymous said...

"Comment of the Week runs from Thursday to Thursday. (So I have just decided.)"

Policy on the Hoof we see.

o/t and more than three paras, and no, I don't expect an answer, but your poll:

"Which words/ phrases would you most like to ban from this blog?

Sweetie/ pet/ darling
ZanuLab/ Mugabe/ Zimbabwe
"You just don 't get it, do you?"
Stalinist
"26,000 new laws"
Old Holborn"

Not a stitch-up or anything.

Kerry said...

Can I just clarify this three paras thing? A sentence is not a paragraph, even if people use the space bar between each sentence. When I say three paras is getting a bit long-winded, I'm talking past the 100-150 word mark.

force12 said...

"Can I just clarify this three paras thing? A sentence is not a paragraph, even if people use the space bar between each sentence. When I say three paras is getting a bit long-winded, I'm talking past the 100-150 word mark."

Thank you for this clarification.

This will go some way to help those readers who had the misfortune to be educasuned under this government.

Thank you.

Anonymous said...

Re my question, (3rd comment) any ideas at all?

Kerry said...

As far as I am aware the legend that is Shakin' Stevens has had no involvement in drawing up the mortgage guarantee scheme outlined by Margaret Beckett on C4 news yesterday. By all means correct me if I've got that wrong.

Anonymous said...

But if Shaky were to draw up a mortgage guarantee scheme like the one outlined by Margaret Beckett on C4 news yesterday I bet it would rock.

Just back to Tom Harris for a minute though. I've just realised he's doing an advent thing with these Xmas songs isn't he?

He's going to be unveiling a new horror every day.

It's like watching a slow motion car crash isn't it? Aled Jones, Cliff, Chris de Burgh - what the hell next?

He must be stopped. Surely one of your 26,000 laws must be able to be used to prevent any more of these atrocities? For all our sakes.

Bristol Dave said...

OH, actually I suspect MPs, Councillors, etc are on Vodafone rather than O2, as their business contracts with Blackberry support are more preferable.

Kerry said...

To end the speculation... I'm on Orange. And I don't have a Blackberry.

Kerry said...

As for the Xmas rundown... I particularly liked the Cliff disclaimer. (No Tom, they're ALL rubbish). I think we can expect Greg Lake and that 'Simply having a wonderful Christmas time' song any day now.

I could manage a Top 3: Fairytale of New York, Christmas Wrapping by the Waitresses, and Atmosphere by Joy Division (of course it's Christmassy - it's got snow on the cover, and jingly bells on it!) Maybe something from Phil Spector's Christmas Album? And I have to confess to a soft spot for Stop the Cavalry. But I know that's wrong.

The Bristol Blogger said...

'Sleigh Ride' by the Ronettes is the stand out on Phil Spector.

While the best Christmas song ever is 'Merry Christmas, Happy New Year' by Lee Perry and Sandra Robinson, which is that rare thing in a Christmas record, a decent song in its own right.

Most of James Brown's Christmas output is very good too. I'd go for 'Santa Claus Go Straight To The Ghetto' mainly for the excellent title really.

Agree with you on 'Fairytale of New York' and I'd throw in Peggy Lee's 'Winter Wonderland' for sheer Hollywood Christmas schmaltz

That's 5. I'd struggle to do ten though.

Kerry said...

My mates swear by Low's Christmas album, but doesn't do it for me.