Madden and Culture
Thank You Guardian
Hey, I like the Guardian. I even read it but they’ve generally been lukewarm about my boss’s spectacular comeback career. Generally there’s a bit of a sniffy attitude and three stars up for grabs. It’ll say something about how his music is “nothing new” or “stuck in the past”. Anyway, this week we’ve been out doing a show dedicated to being stuck in the past and their review is the most positive one yet. Check it out! I even just re-read it to see if there was a barb I’d missed but no, it’s just really positive.
They’re right too.
It’s a great set with stunning visuals. It all looks like someone gave a fuck.
My favourite moment is Half the World Away. I’ve always loved the tune, probably because I loved the Royle Family like we all did. I love the unabashedly Burt Bacharach break on the Wurlitzer, I think the lyrics are some of the best Noel ever wrote. I think that it’s probably the best vocal that Noel ever recorded too, I love hearing Liam sing it though.
Ron on Jim
If you haven’t watched it yet what the hell is wrong with you? Ron Howard’s tribute to Jim Henson is beautiful and utterly inspiring. Give this trailer a do, go on!
There wasn’t really a lot of footage in there that I hadn’t seen before, mainly because I saw the Muppets themselves pay a moving tribute to Jim just after he died. I had it on video so I watched it over and over again in the 90s. It’s here in it’s entirety but I’m telling you now, you’ll be a blubbering wreck by the end so go carefully.
The main thing that sets the Ron Howard documentary apart is the interviews with family, his five children are all devoted to him and have followed in his footsteps in one way or another but none of them say he was a particularly great Dad. He was incredibly driven and everything came second to his work including, at the end, his own health. You can’t have it all but for somebody so determined and focused he’s left an incredible amount of joy in his wake and no resentment. There you go Madden talked Muppets again.
Yoko
We went to see Yoko Ono’s Music of the Mind at Tate Modern last week and I highly recommend it. I warned my sons on the way there that they would probably have to see this woman’s bottom and she didn’t disappoint on that front. When I came out though I realised I could describe in detail everything I saw and heard in there and I doubt that’d happen in many art exhibitions. She’s endlessly imaginative and very often funny, there’s a real sense of play there. There’s a lot of interactive pieces which I thought would repel me but ended up moving me. My favourite was a room where everybody is encouraged to write something about their mother on a piece of paper and stick it to the wall. Most people had written something along the lines of “My Mum is the Best Mum In the World” but if you really looked there were dark treasures to be had. I read “I love my Mum but I don’t know why she hates herself so much” and also “My Mum is so toxic”. I could’ve stayed there for hours looking for little snacks of negativity.
Guys and Dolls
We watched Guys and Dolls afterwards at the Bridge theatre. It was great and I don’t need to explain that. Old purpose built musicals are way better than when someone decides to take some band’s greatest hits and cobble a script around it. Guys and Dolls is full of belters but when I heard Luck Be A Lady it reminded me of my good old friend Tony Monaco who gave me online jazz organ lessons when the children were asleep. I didn’t entirely pick up what he was putting down but I enjoyed my time with him. Maybe I’ll learn to play like Tony before I die, maybe not. It’s the journey not the destination.
Madden vs Pop Music
It’s seven years since Katy Perry ran into me. I like to think she hated it, perhaps cried in the shower afterwards. I ended up with loads of glitter in my armpit after putting her in a headlock. Amy took this photo of us and I look like drunk trouble waiting to happen. Careful Perry, you’re face to face with a scrubber.