#35: "Hey Ya!" - The Outkast Release Date: 2003 Director:Bryan Barber Fun Fact: The song popularised the term "shake it like a Polaroid picture", which actually created a huge surge of interest in Polaroid cameras again!
Ah, this song is now definitely a classic. No two ways about it, this song is now considered to be one of the best songs of all time, and for good reason. It's just a great hip hop song, using traditional funk and rock 'n' roll, it has amazing lyrics, an incredibly catch chorus and you can't help but move to the track. All of that is put into this video to great effect. If you were to create all of that energy and match it for music video, this is the correct result. Paying homage (but in reverse in many ways) to The Beatles arriving in America to partake in The Ed Sullivan Show, the video truly incorporates the rock 'n' roll movement so well; the screaming women, the back up band, the matching "suits", the Polaroid cameras, the black and white TVs, everything is perfect in this video. It's just one heck of a music video, and I'm sure you'll agree.
Here is the video for your enjoyment!
Click here to see #34 on the list or here for #36!
How's it going? I hope you're all well. Welcome to My Top 100 Favourite Music Videos list. What do you expect to see in this list? Well... 100 music videos? In reverse order of preference? Exactly. Over the next 100 days I'll be doing a post on this website revealing one by one all the videos. I'll also explain why I love the video, maybe get some trivia on the video if I have any, put up some screenshots and of course, show the link to the video. There are only three rules on this and they are: a) This is a biased list, which means this is my opinion. I'm not saying they are the greatest, but to me, naturally they are. b) There is at least one video from 1979. The reason for this, is because by 1979, music videos started becoming a more frequent thing. There are a couple of entries from pre-1979, but there is at least one entri from 1979 to 2014. c) There are no more than 3 entries for an artist on this list. And by that, I mean the same artist (eg The Beatles and Paul McCartney can be classified as seperate, same as Michael Jackson and The Jackson Five, so in effect that could mean Paul McCartney/Michael Jackson individually could be featured more than three times. Not that they are but still.) So without any further delay, here's #100! #100: "House of Fun" - Madness Release Date: 1982 Director: Dave Robinson Fun Fact: The roller coaster ride is from the Great Yarmouth Pleasure Beach and was built in 1932, and is the second tallest and second largest wooden roller coaster in the UK
This video always brings me back to my childhood. That's the simple reason for the inclusion of the video, not to mention it's a damn great video. The not-so subtle meaning behind the lyrics in "House of Fun" are emphasised when you see the young boy trying to buy condoms in the shop but it's the comedy that makes this video great. It's simply Madness, the band, being silly out and about making a fool of themselves. And don't deny it - you want a ride on that roller coaster too! Unless... of course... you don't like roller coasters...
Note: This is the first and last video from the year 1982 in this list.
Here's the video for your enjoyment!
Click here to go to #99 or skip the whole thing and go to #1 by clicking here!
Hello again. I've just done another show, which I can promise is weirder and has more requests than any other show so far. The Rock and Metal Double Feature Show (or it split into two parts) will be my regular show going forward. It mixes everything I love, music wise, and it's enough variety for you guys to put in your song requests. Any feedback is appreciated if you listen to the show, the link is below!
The Rock and Metal Double Feature Show: 14/12/13 Track listing: The Rock Hour It's No Game - David Bowie Since You've Been Gone - Rainbow Paint it Black - The Rolling Stones Iron Man - Black Sabbath While My Guitar Gently Weeps - The Beatles November Rain - Guns 'n' Roses Going for Gold - Shed Seven If Your Dad Doesn't Have a Beard, You've Got Two Mums - The Beards Crazy Bitch - Buck Cherry Panic Station - Muse Smooth Sailing - The Queens of the Stone Age
The Metal Show The Great Destroyer - Nine Inch Nails Insane in the Brain - Cypress Hill Going Under - Evanescence Ha Ha You're Dead - Green Day Ava Adore - Smashing Pumpkins Martyr No More - Fozzy Through Glass - Stone Sour 5 Minutes Alone - Pantera Shout at the Devil - Motley Crue Obsessive Time Directive - Azure Emote Sulfur - Slipknot Seize the Day - Avenged Sevenfold Total show running time: 02:00:00 Other entries you might want to read:
Last month was the sixty year anniversary of the first #1 hit single in this country. Our first ever #1 in this country went to Al Martino with "Here in My Heart". Since then we've had over 1000 songs get to the #1 spot, the spot all music artists aspire to get to in this country. It means that for at least one week, their song is the most popular and most requested. It's like being king for a week I suppose.
Now the problem with #1 hits for me is that it usually goes to pop stars. The word pop comes from popular obviously, so if, like me, you like your rock and metal, chances are it makes it THAT much harder for your favourite tracks to actually perform well in the charts, nevermind get the #1 spot. Over time for me, less of my favourite tracks are getting to the top, which is a damn shame. But that's life!
Either way, I want to celebrate the last sixty years in music, with my favourite #1 hits through the years. Because sixty years is such a long time, and there were so many great songs through the years (especially over the course of the sixties) I've divided the Mixtapes into two, meaning today you'll get the first 30 years of #1s, and tomorrow you'll get the last 30 years of #1s. Remember this is a biased list.
Don't know much about Mixtapes? Here are the rules.
A Mixtape is a playlist of a certain genre, band or era. The
list is generally 80 minutes long, the same length of a blank CD, with further
recommendations if some of the songs aren't to your taste. Remember kids,
downloading is wrong!
So here we go! Here's a list of my favourite #1 hits from 1952 to 1981, with the date it got to the #1 spot! Enjoy!
This
Mixtape is now available to listen to fully on YouTube so subscribe to me if you want to listen to it properly. Enjoy!
So those are my favourite #1 hits from 1952 to 1981. It was an amazing time to be listening to music, as at the time truly great songs were getting to #1 on a regular basis. I can't say the same for today unfortunately. Anyway I'll bring you 1982 - 2012 tomorrow. Join me then!
For the latest updates on my work, follow me on Facebook and Twitter here!
Finally, Kasabian have made a great album - "Velociraptor!" is their finest work to date.
“Velociraptor!” is Kasabian's fourth album, and was released last October, just over five months ago. Kasabian have been around for a while now, they're an established British band who have found the respect of the British public and have tried to break out to the States, with unfortunately little success. For me and a lot of people I know, Kasabian have been one of those bands who produce quality singles but their album material never keep up. Does "Velociraptor!" follow the same pattern? Here's my take on the album.
The album starts off with "Let's Roll Just Like We Used to", a great opener, it's catchy and full of the material that makes Kasabian one of the better indie bands in recent times. Tom Meighan's Leicester accent has always been the thing that make Kasabian stand out from the rest of the indie crowd, and it's prominent in this opening to the album.
The first single off the album is the second track, "Days Are Forgotten", which is a pretty damn cool track. I love the howling in the beginning of the track and as the choruses fade out. The song was also used on WWE's Pay-Per-View "Tables Ladders and Chairs", which was cool, being a wrestling fan, and it was also great to see Kasabian get some exposure over in America. "Days Are Forgotten" is not as good as some of the other singles in Kasabian's library but it still holds its own amongst them. It's a very good track.
Track three is also the third single off the album, "Goodbye Kiss", which, in my opinion, is easily one of Kasabian's weakest singles in their catalogue. Kasabian as I've said a few times produce fantastic singles, and they're usually very catchy. This song is different from most of their singles, as it's a slower, more bitter romantic track, something they don't do too often. This song was also used in the montage for Formula 1 at the end of the 2011 season.
After track three are five brilliant tracks. The middle of this album is fantastic. Track four is "La Fee Verte", possibly my favourite song on the album. It's excellently similar to The Beatles, and it's sung by guitarist Sergio Pizzorno, and his vocals are surprisingly fantastic. I'm not going to pick favourites in terms of vocals on the album, Tom and Sergio both bring different styles to the album and they're both welcome in my opinion. That being said this song is just awesome. It's crafted beautifully and sung so well. I love it. Track five is the title track, "Velociraptor!", by some distance the shortest track on the album but it packs some excellent punch. It's similar to a lot of their singles actually, although it's a bit more fast paced. I'm surprised this hasn't been released as a single yet. It's catchy, a little funky and just sounds really cool in general. Nothing more really needs to be said about it really!
The sixth track, "Acid Turkish Bath" is also sung by the guitarist Sergio and once again it's another well sung, well balanced track. But this time the vocals aren't what makes the song, it's the drums and the violin. This song for me shows the band expanding their horizons a little. Kasabian use an orchestra and this is the first track on the album where you can definitely here it. I really like this song and it's one of my favourites on the album again. Track seven is "I Hear Voices", which sounds good for the most part, but the one thing I really dislike about it is the frustrating new indie/modern new wave electronic music that they've decided to put in the song. It's a personal pet peeve, but I hate this new indie/electronica hybrid that's been around recently, like MGMT and Foster the People. That sound is a sound that I really hate, and to see Kasabian use it annoyed me slightly. But the song otherwise is really good, I like the chorus a lot.
After that is the second single off the album "Re-wired", which is fine. All three singles on this album are quite good but they pale in comparison to some of the stuff they've released in the past 9 years. "Re-wired" sounds good on this album, but when you compare it to some of the great tracks Kasabian have released as singles in the past, like "Empire", "Club Foot" and "Fire", it just doesn't sound like it's on the same level.
But the rest of the album keeps up with these singles very well. "Velociraptor!" the album, is great. I've already said that some of my favourite tracks on this album are the non-singles, and it's true. Because the singles aren't as good as the older material, yet the album quality is much better, the album is overall a very balanced piece of music. It's a strange situation, but the singles lacking in quality a little makes the rest of the album stand out, which is great. This album is critically Kasabian's best work. I'm not the only person who has said this, many critics have and it's true. "Velociraptor!" is their finest work to date.
The rest of the album drops the quality down a little notch, but the best of the three end tracks is the penultimate track, "Switchblade Smiles", which has been used on the new FIFA 12 game (and also part of my "Best of FIFA Trax Mixtape, you can read that here), as well as on Match of the Day 2. This is the most electronic Kasabian have become, and it's not in an annoying indietronica/modern new wave way like in "I Hear Voices", it really kicks ass with the electronic guitars and the electronica music. It's almost Muse-esque, which is a compliment I swear.
Overall "Velociraptor!" is a great album. I thoroughly enjoyed it. It's by far Kasabian's best effort and the album songs are good tracks and support the singles well. It's a balanced album, that tries new things while keeps the elements that make Kasabian stand out a little from all the other indie bands. "Velociraptor!" is Kasabian's finest work to date and well worth a listen if you enjoy Kasabian's singles by norm, and want to get one of their albums. Kasabian usually fail to deliver the goods on their albums, but they've proved me and a lot of other critics wrong. "Velociraptor!" is a cracker of an album, and well worth the risk if you're thinking of purchasing their album.
Rating: ****1/4 stars
Stand out tracks: "La Fee Verte", "Velociraptor!", "Acid Turkish Bath"
Here's the music video for the first single, "Days Are Forgotten":
For the latest updates on my work, 'like' me on Facebook here!
Note:
This is part 3 of 6. I'm posting one part a day. The total word count
exceeds 31,000 words so it's going to be a long read. If you missed part 1 you can read it by clicking here, and part 2 here!
I
left Portsmouth on Saturday morning, the 29th October. It was an odd
feeling, walking towards the station with my suitcase. I was about to do
something that I would remember for the rest of my life. It was nearly a week
without my wife and daughter, and while I’ve spent that amount of time away
from them before it’s not nice, but I knew that it was more than worth it, and
that hopefully overall, it would be one of the best experiences of my life. I
got on the train to the London Underground, and it was relatively straight
forward. I wanted to bring a Nintendo DS, or a Game Boy Advance (retro, yo!)
but I couldn’t find either. I ended up bringing The Beatles Authorised
Biography by Hunter Davies, a great book if you’re interested in the legendary
band from Liverpool. It’s a huge book in size and length, and that’s why I
chose it. At a WHS Smith in London I bought a copy of Kerrang! Too, but that
was crap. I remembered why I never buy that magazine anymore.
I
got to the Underground and took the fast track train to Heathrow. All the time
I spent in London I kept looking around, seeing if there were people taking the
same route as me. I didn’t see any of the contestants on the way there. I got
to Heathrow, and we were all to meet there. We had to board for Madrid for 4pm
if I remember correctly, but my train times got me to Heathrow for around 11am!
The times I was given by Endemol were incredibly early and I was definitely the
first to arrive. I spent over an hour there, impatiently, looking around at
people who looked like they were waiting for other people. I waited outdoors,
and once in a while explored indoors to see if any group of people were waiting
there. It was passed 12pm when my wife called. She asked if I saw anyone yet, I
told her I didn’t. I did get a little worried, maybe I was in the wrong place.
I was at Terminal 3, did I go to the wrong terminal? I checked my instructions
provided by Endemol and I was in the right place.
Terminal 3, Heathrow, the Winter Wipeout meeting point. Exciting.
It
was getting close to 1pm when I noticed a young couple sitting across from me.
The girl was ginger and clocked me too. I didn’t say anything to her and vice
versa, I didn’t think it was a definite contestant or anything so I kept myself
from doing anything. I once again went indoors. It was probably nearly 1:30pm
by then. I went up to the first floor and used the toilet. I didn’t actually
check the first floor previously, and checked the area out again. Once again,
no gathering. So after relieving myself in the lavatory, I went back
downstairs. I saw a small young lady with a clipboard, she had dyed red hair
and an orange top. She looked at me and I her, but once again, I didn’t want to
say anything just in case it wasn’t someone I was supposed to meet up with. I
went outside before I heard a man call “John!”. I turned around and saw this
big man, in his late forties or early fifties, with big frizzy blond hair. He
asked if I was John and I said yes, and he pointed indoors. I went in and saw
the redhead again, who welcomed me, and there were a few other people there
with her.
The 'ginger' lady was Sarah, who looked amazing after just recently having a baby.
This
redhead is Frankie, or Francesca, another researcher who was who we were
meeting at the airport. It was her job to gather us there, look after us in
London, on the plane and to get us to the hotel. She’s in her mid twenties and
a great looking lady, and saw us all as her children, in a funny way. She was
absolutely brilliant. I also saw the ginger girl I mentioned earlier, who was
with her boyfriend. Her boyfriend soon left her and we talked about how we
noticed each other earlier. This was Sarah, a contestant on the show. She’s the
same age as me, and had only months before had a baby, but she was in
absolutely fantastic shape. Sarah and I got on very well; she seemed to like my
sense of humour which is good as I’m usually hit or miss with it. The big guy
with the frizzy blond hair? That was Simon, who is you watched the episode
you’ll distinctively know him as the husband of the couple of caricature
drawers. Simon, and his wife Sheba, were there. Sheba was really nice too, and
her caricature drawings are as awesome as Simon’s. I remember spotting
Sebastian, the stylish clothes shop owner from London, and we looked at each
other and had a little joke about the fact that we were disappointed that we
found someone else with a beard. He’s another ginger, and I have a ginger
beard, but naturally mine was much much bigger than his! Sebastian was cool, we
got on quite well, my favourite thing about him was his hat, I have a picture
of me posing with it on my Facebook! Another person that I remember seeing
early on was Natalie, the Ukrainian dancer, who I have a mutual friend in
common with. This mutual friend went to sixth form with me, and to university
with Natalie. Natalie is absolutely gorgeous, a beautiful lady, but is a proper
Mancunian lass with a hard attitude when she wants to. She’s lovely though and
I mean that affectionately. I can’t remember who else was there already, but
slowly over the next half hour to an hour, the other nineteen contestants made
their way to the meeting point at Terminal 3. My wife called not long after
meeting my fellow contestants, and I told her I was in the right place. That
was the last time I was to speak with her for another five days.
Simon and Sheba, the couple. They do awesome caricature drawings and fought to draw me!
After
most people arrived, Frankie told us that we were to go in pairs, or as she put
it, buddies, and that our buddy would also be our roommate for when we got to
the hotel. The two buddies in each pair would have to look out for each other
so no one gets lost. As I said before, my roommate was generous enough to pay
for my deposit for the hotel room, so I was paired with a really awesome guy.
His name is also John, and he and I are two of three John’s on this episode of
Winter Wipeout. My buddy, John Glass, or Scottish John, or Whiskey John, or Whiskey in the John, was a
really cool guy, we hit it off straight away and talked about music and a
little about video games. He, if you didn’t watch the show, was the whiskey
blender, or, as Wipeout put it, the whiskey taster in the show. It’s funny
because Scottish John doesn’t drink too much and he didn’t like the fact that
Wipeout were making him out to be the stereotypical Scottish drunk! He took it
well though and it’s all a laugh. Another person I hit it off with straight
away was Jody, definitely the smallest person in the group, who was the grave
digger on the show. She was dressed all in black and had what looked like New
Rock boots on, and lots of tattoos. She looked very gothic, and I do love that
look, so it’s natural I hit it off with her straight away.
Jody and I hit it off straight away, she's a really sweet lady, not the angry gravedigger she portrayed on TV!
Frankie
gave us our plane tickets, our 300 peso and also some instructions and
information about who to call in emergency, and some local travel information.
We all got through the ticket checks, the passport security and into the
shopping section. Along the way I started to slowly get to know the nineteen
people I’d spend the next five days with, and attempt to compete with on the
Wipeout course. I’d just like to say that overall, the 19 contestants I spent
my time in Argentina are amazing. I could not have asked to be with another set
of 19 random strangers from Great Britain. I got on with everyone, of course to
different degrees, but I can’t say I disliked anyone, or had a falling out with
anyone there. My Winter Wipeout experience was marvellous, and they definitely
had a major contribution in that.
I
can’t remember who I sat next to on the plane there, if anyone. But the flight
to Madrid was nice and short and when we arrived in Spain it was very dark.
After the short stay in Spain, we headed off to Buenos Aires in our huge 13
hour flight. As I said, I really can’t remember much of the journey there for
some reason. I remember struggling to sleep, which is an oddity for me. That
being said, I’ve never had a 13 hour flight before! I had an issue sleeping
backwards with my head up, it made me feel sick, but resting my head on the
chair in front of me made me, intermittently, get sleep. I also remember having
my first taste of Argentinian cuisine. In the early hours, probably three
quarters of the way there, at around 5am, I got woken up with a sandwich. It
had meat and a liquidly sauce in it, and didn’t look too pleasant. But I was so
hungry, and promised myself that I’d have to adapt to new cuisine in a
different country, so I tried it. It was actually a salami and cheese spread
sandwich, and while the bread itself was dry, it was quite nice. A bit later
on, around 8 to 9am, a few hours before we landed, we had a breakfast. The
breakfast was a similar sandwich, with some dry cereal and milk, yoghurt and
some tea. It was okay, plane food isn’t supposed to be the best so I was
satisfied. We landed at around 10 or 11am and the long flight was over!
Landing in Madrid.
When
we landed, we all walked out and went through customs, to the other side where
we were greeted by lots of protestors. I don’t know much about Argentinian
culture but it seems like politics are very important over there, probably more
so than in England. I didn’t know why they were protesting and what about, nor
with all due respect, did I care. I’m not that big on politics in my own
country never mind someone else’s. We arrived and quickly noticed Nick, the guy
from the audition waiting for us. Nick welcomed us to Argentina and basically
outlined our next day, Day 2 of 6. We were to get on a bus to the hotel, and
leave our things there before having a little wonder about the city of Buenos
Aires, and arrive back at the hotel for 3pm. So that’s basically what we did!
John W, Lawrence, Simon, Sheba, Ben and myself chilling outside a bar. Cheers Ben for this picture!
The
hotel was a complete contrast to the rest of Buenos Aires. As I said the city
was striking but in poor condition, when compared to English cities, but the
hotel was a modern building in excellent form. I mean there were cracks in the
walls here and there but it’s hard to criticise it because the rooms were
great. Before we actually went to our hotel rooms Nick asked us to get out our
Winter Wipeout outfits and put them on, for a photo and so they were happy with
the outfits we had. So the two bathrooms in the hotel were packed full of
random Brits putting on odd costumes, it was hilarious! I put on my outfit,
which everyone loved. Nick liked it too, and I had my photo taken, and then
that was it, it was off to the hotel rooms!
Mine and "Whiskey in the John"'s hotel room. Pretty nifty.
The
hotel rooms were very pleasant. There was nice space, although the bathroom was
tiny, but otherwise it was a really nice room and it was nice and cosy. Me and
Scottish John plonked our stuff on our beds and just relaxed for a bit. We had
a decent widescreen TV there, the first hotel I’ve been in that has one, and
there was a Premier League match replay of Tottenham’s 3-1 win over Queens Park
Rangers. Having a quick look through the channels showed a lot of sport,
especially football, and some Argentinian chat programs that I understood
nothing about, and some random American shows with subtitles or dubbed Spanish
acting. I remember Scottish John and I relaxing later on when they put on Scary
Movie… at 4 or 5pm in the afternoon. They edited a lot of it out, naturally,
having lots of sex, violence, drug use and gore, but a lot of it was kept in,
which was ridiculous! There was a scene where a character gets stabbed over and
over again and won’t die, and it was completely unedited. The swearing for the
most part was edited out. The sex scene with the huge ‘climax’ at the end was
cut short thankfully, and the bathroom ‘peephole’ scene was also edited. But
lots of it, especially the violence, was kept in. It was ridiculous!
We
were next door to two other contestants Sharn and Sam. I didn’t speak much to
Sharn in the entire time I was there, but she was cool, and had an epic night
out on the final night in Argentina. Sam, the pet detective, was really nice
and you could tell she was having a ball the entire time and was pleasant to
everyone. They heard us from next door and told us that at the top of the hotel
was a pool, a sun bathing area and a sauna. I’m telling you, we had some
awesome luxury in Argentina and it was times like these I really realised how
lucky I was to be given this opportunity. Scottish John and I got ready and
headed upwards to the pool. Only we two Johns and then a little later,
Lawrence, went in the pool. All of the ladies were relaxing and sunbathing.
Lawrence is the guy who unfortunately broke his leg. He took the news very very
well; he finished the qualifier in 5th place and was one of two ball
crossers on the episode. He was a major contender to win Winter Wipeout in all
honesty, he was in great shape despite being one of the bigger contestants, and
had a lot of energy on course. He has an amazing lifestyle; he does some form
of Spanish ballet and is also a driving instructor, and really loves his Japanese wife and their two kids. He was a true
pro and had a great sense of humour to boot.
Sharn, Ben and Sam in the tent. Note the TV that they put pirate copies of Total Wipeout on!
So
Lawrence, Scottish John and I were swimming in the pool, just relaxing really
and trying to discretely practise our swimming for the big day, which was the
next day by the way. We soon moved to the balcony, which was the sunbathing
area, and it was incredibly hot. As I said it was spring in Argentina, and
their spring was a little hotter than our summer, which is incredibly hot in my
standards. I sunburn very easily and don’t do hot weather in general, but I
felt I had to make the most of this opportunity to relax and enjoy the sun
because we had some hard work to do after. On the balcony were Sarah, Amy, Ben
and Aarron I believe.
I
spoke of Sarah earlier, but Amy was just amazing. I didn’t really pay much
attention to Amy when we all met up, but soon that would change, as she kicked
ass in Winter Wipeout more than anyone I say. No she didn’t win but she was the
toughest cookie there, and worked her absolute butt off to get to the top
three. Amy and I say this affectionately, was an emotional rollercoaster. She
hated flying; she was so scared of flying. I noticed how nervous she was in
England and Madrid, and consoled her a little, explaining my wife also despised
flying. So she was scared and upset, then when we arrived in Argentina she was
nice and bubbly, then when it came to doing the qualifier she was focused and
hard as nails, then when she made it to the Ski Lift she was crying and doubted
herself, but then she held on long enough for the Ski Lift and was happy. Then
she was crying again and doubted herself about getting to the final three when
she did Winter Blunderland but then was absolutely magical then, and made it
through to the final. She had a very good time in the final too, and would have
won a few of the other episodes. I loved Amy, she was amazing to watch and such
a lovely person, all I did the entire time was want to hug her whenever she was
upset!
Amy was awesome. So was Sebastian. At photobombing pictures!
Ben
was pretty cool too; he also works for the NHS as an ambulance driver. He’s a
really sweet guy and has an awesome sense of humour. He and Amy were really
close and have kept close contact since Winter Wipeout. Aarron who was the
runner up, was someone else I didn’t speak to as much but he’s a pretty cool
guy. He was trying to win Winter Wipeout so he could afford the engagement ring
he felt his girlfriend deserved, which was really sweet. He was very focused
and determined the whole way, right to the end and was a true fighter and
congratulated the eventual winner, John Woodfield like a true sportsman. You
could tell Aarron was gutted but he took it very well and was very respectful
to Woody.
Everyone
was relaxing and it was just amazingly peaceful. It gave me a few moments to
truly appreciate what I was doing. I looked over the balcony to the city of
Buenos Aires. It was absolutely spectacular. I soaked it all in and it was then
I thoroughly realised how far away I was from home. I’d never left the isles of
the UK and Ireland. All of a sudden I was on the other side of the world. I
missed my wife and Vivi but was having an absolute blast at the same time. I
knew I had to make the most of this because it’s a once in a lifetime opportunity,
at least for me anyway.
The view from the hotel balcony. Completely in contrast to the nice hotel.
That
Sunday, day two of the six day trip, was the official relaxing day. Day three,
Monday, was the day we did the qualifier. We knew that at that point and knew
we had to make the most of the evening to come. We all went to a restaurant
suggested by Nick that was about a block away from us that purportedly did
arguably the best Argentinian steak in the city. The twenty of us decided that
it was the place to go. We relaxed for a few hours before the evening, when we
left for the restaurant. There was a slight snag however, not many of us knew
how to speak Spanish! The only person that could speak a decent amount of
Spanish to communicate on a low level, was Mark, and he got the basics right
enough for us all to buy food relatively accurately. Mark was the guy with the
amazing moustache and he is truly awesome. Musically, he was the guy I had most
in common with and he has links in the music industry, as does his girlfriend.
He’s a truly awesome guy with an amazing moustache, and he was probably the
most chilled guy there, he didn’t take it seriously at all and was there for
the ride, which got him to fourth place overall in the competition. I asked
Mark how he felt being so close to the finals and for the second opportunity in
the champion of champions edition but he said along the lines of “that’s enough
for me, I’m shattered and happy with how far I’ve got”. Mark sprained his
finger in a bad way anyway, so probably couldn’t have competed if he wanted to.
The contestants chilling the night before the qualifier!
So
Mark communicated as well as he could. Luckily we all wanted steak, and while
there were different types of steak there, most of us weren’t fussed about
them. We all ordered two variances of the steak and it was absolutely
beautiful. I had mine medium rare and it was a huge piece, I thoroughly enjoyed
it. I was also given a pretty damn huge knife to cut it with, a huge knife
especially when compared to the fork it came with! So we all ate that night and
had a great time, and we all did random sweepstakes for the winner of Winter
Wipeout. Ironically Mark and I had each other in the sweepstake and in banter
told each other that we’re depending on the opposite to win! After the meal, we
all pretty much went to bed. I think it was around 10pm at that time. Why?
Because the next day was the qualifier! And worse yet, we’d be leaving for
around 5:30. IN THE MORNING!
Mmmm... EPIC steak!
So
that morning Scottish John and I got up at around 5am if I remember correctly,
and we had our breakfasts that were left in the fridge, and showered. Our
breakfast consisted of yoghurt, an apple, and a pastry I believe although it’s
a bit of a blur now. Relatively plain food, but it was all good for the
energies we needed to do this course! We most importantly, had our outfits on,
and would remain in them until we finished the qualifier, more than twelve
hours later! We had a very big day ahead of us and it was all about to begin!
We
went downstairs were everyone was gathering, ready for the bus that would take
us to Benavidez, on the outskirts of the city of Buenos Aires, where the Winter
Wipeout course was. The bus arrived and we all crammed on. I think it was on
the bus, that I met Maisie again for the first time since she gave me my
audition and she was basically behind the producer, the lady in charge of this
episode. Andy, the producer naturally has to make sure everything is running
smoothly but he usually lets one researcher take the reins in each episode for
experience and to take some of the load of himself. That was where Maisie came
in. She filmed a lot of the actual television you saw on my episode, she got us
in order, she gave out instructions and was there for any questions. Maisie and
I however, are enemies! She’s a Scouse, but the wrong kind, she’s a Bluenose!
Everton! Urgh! Just teasing of course, we got on very well actually and spoke a
lot about Liverpool, while keeping the Liverpool/Everton banter going along the
way. Maisie is really cool actually, and she has a passion for what she is
doing. She’s also very good friends with Amanda Byram herself, and went on
holiday with her after the season of Winter Wipeout ended.
So
Nick and Maisie I believe, gave us the official countdown of what we were about
to do. This was day three of six, and was the most important day of the
experience. Basically, the run down of the day was arrive, get settled, and
then the 20 contestants would branch out to groups of five. All four groups of
five would rotate to do one of four things. First is basically waiting in the
tent that was set up for us, that had pastries, drinks and a television that
had, you guessed it, episodes of Total Wipeout on DVD. Can I just say that
these DVDs were pirated! Terrible! Blasphemous! Illegal! The BBC need to be
informed of this! What it’s actually the BBC committing these pirating acts?
Hypocrisy! Just teasing of course! Secondly, we were to do some posing and
skits outside of a house decorated in wintery things. All the running around,
waving and growling on camera, that type of thing, was all done here. Thirdly,
we had the rotator table posing. Last, was the interview with Amanda Byram
herself. This interview is often shown on television as I’m sure you’re aware.
Most of these things are cut out but all usually have a part in the total
introductory package for your appearance on the show. Doing all of these things
was weird yet wonderful. It was just amazing to get the opportunity to see how
the show is created from start to finish, and also to take part in it. All the
things that they do take a while to sort out, so you have to admire the effort
and work that goes into the show, and having seen these people from Endemol
Argentina and Endemol UK do their stuff is brilliant. I wouldn’t quite say I
felt like one of the stars of the show but it was something that was sometimes
said to us, so that was nice for them to say that. In my eyes, they were the
stars, they worked so hard to make us look as good or as silly as possible, so
they deserve so much credit for what people see on TV.
Getting ready in the Wipeout tent.
So
my group of five was myself, Scottish John, Jody, and Simon and Sheba, the
caricaturists. First up was the posing by the house. Jody went up first, and
she was absolutely brilliant. They made he pretend to dig with a spade into the
ground, and made her growl at the TV. She was excellent and really went for it,
and set the tone for all of us to do our posing. Simon and Sheba went
afterwards and did individual posing, and posing together, as they’re married.
They did some funny stuff like going into the house itself, before Sheba kicked
Simon out and stuff like that. Simon was an awesome growler. Scottish John was
up next and they made him look like every stereotypical Scottish drinker,
something he was concerningly good at playing. He couldn’t growl to save his
life though! He kept losing his voice and it was funny. I was last and this is
where some of the magic happened. I’ve always been quite decent at roleplay, so
I found what they wanted me to do quite easy. They wanted me to pose like a
wrestler, growl a lot and stomp in and out of shot, growling. But most importantly,
they wanted me to giggle like a little girl.
Now,
if you know me personally, I can reach a high pitch quite easily, and almost
too well. At my wedding reception, I sung “Bohemian Rhapsody” by Queen with the
highest pitched voice properly, and everyone loved it. So, when they asked me
to giggle like a little girl, I knew it would hopefully become TV magic. Sadly (for you!), they never put it on the episode so you'll never see it! Simon,
Sheba, Jody and Scottish John were absolutely killing themselves off set when
they saw me laughing like a little girl and running around in a camp fashion. I
knew I looked an absolute prat but that’s exactly what they want! They want
sillyness and I hope I gave them just that!
Thankfully, they didn't put my giggling like a little girl on TV!
Next
up was the rotator table posing. I’d like to say that this was not done by a
machine, but was done by some poor little Argentinian dude, sitting down,
spinning this plate to turn you round and round! Poor guy! We got there before
the other five contestants had finished, so we all spoke about what we did and
what we had left to do. At that point we were getting so thirsty so we found a
nice stash of water and diet coke to drink. Once again, I was last to do the
posing. I told you that it’s a common theme that I was either first or last in
everything that happened! The posing on the rotator table was quite simple, just
smile and keep still while being spun around slowly. There really wasn’t
anything else to it. One thing I will say is that Scottish John brought out a
whiskey glass and some whiskey to pose on the rotator table with, and he looked
like he was in his happy place when he smelt the whiskey while posing. It was
excellent stuff.
John II and Whiskey in the John posing on the rotator table. Spun by some little Argentinian dude, poor guy!
Next up was the interview with Amanda. Want to know what happened and more? Come back here tomorrow to find out in Part 4 of 6 of My
Winter Wipeout Experience!
If you haven't seen it yet you can see my performance, which was edited by Episode 5 contestant Gemma Murdock below!
You can read part 4 here, part 5 here and part 6 here!
For the latest updates on my work, 'like' me on Facebook here!
“Welcome 2 My Nightmare” surpasses the original album
released 26 years prior, and shows that music doesn’t have to be serious; it
can be pure entertainment and fun.
Alice Cooper released “Welcome 2 My Nightmare” three months
ago. It’s his 26th album and is the official sequel to “Welcome to My
Nightmare” which was released ironically, 26 years ago. Three years ago Alice
Cooper released “Along Came a Spider” and was considering doing a sequel to
that album, but when producer Bob Ezrin (who also sequenced The Fragile by Nine
Inch Nails and has worked with well respected artists like Pink Floyd, KISS and
Peter Gabriel) didn’t like the idea of a sequel to that album proposed they do
a sequel to “Welcome to My Nightmare” instead, Alice Cooper liked that idea
more. Alice Cooper was touring extensively while the album was being prepared
for release and expected it to be released next year, but released it in
September instead.
The album starts off with “I Am Made of You” which is a
great intro, showing the homage to the past while using modern influences too.
How? Well the tune in the beginning is from the track “Steven”, arguably the
best song on the original “Welcome to My Nightmare”, but you can clearly hear
Alice Cooper using modern auto-tune in this track, which divides me personally
as I hate auto-tune, but it doesn’t take too much away from the track. It’s a
great opener, and it does its job well, which is set you up for the rest of the
album.
After the intro track, we’re treated to “Caffeine”, which
shows pretty much all sides of Alice Cooper in one track. On one side you have
a decent hard rock/metal track, but you also see the silly side to the shock
rock legend, which is that he’s simply, singing a song about needing caffeine.
Yes, that’s what this song is about. And the chorus is “Caffeine! Caffeine!” in
a squeaky voice. It’s incredibly cheesy but there’s absolutely nothing wrong
with that at all. If you haven’t followed Cooper’s career much you need to
realise that this guy has never taken himself seriously. Ever. He’s an
entertainer and plays the part so well.
“The Nightmare Returns”, track three, basically sets up
track four, “A Runaway Train”, and is Alice Cooper describing his incapability
of sleeping. “A Runaway Train” which shows tribute to country music and has a
drum beat similar to a train on tracks. It’s a decent track, it shows another
side to Cooper that he doesn’t show too often but in all honesty Alice Cooper
plays what genres he feels he can pull off, and trust me, he can pull of loads,
and he proves he can do country well here.
But track five, “Last Man On Earth”, is my favourite song.
It’s so fricking cool, it shows so much swagger and glamour, and Alice Cooper’s
vocals are brilliant. The song follows Alice Cooper off the “Runaway Train”
from the earlier song, where the train crashed. If you think Alice Cooper is a
has-been, he’s lost it, he’s a relic and can’t go anymore, seriously, give this
a listen and it will prove you wrong. This song is easily as cool and smooth as
his seventies stuff. In fact, this song is proof that Alice Cooper’s “Welcome 2
My Nightmare” project is a success.
“The Congregation” is apparently inspired by The Beatles
according to Cooper himself but it reminds me more of the general glam-rock
sound of the seventies, a sound and era that Cooper was attached to quite
closely. If you listen properly you’ll hear a cameo by Rob Zombie, whose very
good friends with Cooper. It’s a good song, very catchy and it continues to use
modern and old influences in this hybrid album. “I’ll Bite Your Face Off” is
track seven and is so far the only single off the album. It’s an odd choice if
you ask me, but then again Alice Cooper doesn’t always choose his singles well
in my opinion. But it’s a decent traditional seventies rock song, a nod to The
Rolling Stones according to Cooper himself, it’s as decent as most of his
singles over the years have been. I don’t know if Alice Cooper will release any
more singles off this album, purely because he doesn’t chart anymore, he makes
music for fun and for his fans rather than to make money. That being said,
“Welcome 2 My Nightmare” is Alice Cooper’s highest charting album since 1994,
when he released “The Last Temptation”, and in the US since 1989 when he
released “Trash”, so that’s great news.
One of the best songs on the album for me is “Disco
Bloodbath Boogie Fever”, which mixes allsorts of different genres from glam
rock, goth rock, shock rock, disco, techno and dare I say it, rap. It’s odd to
describe, it just sound fantastic. It sounds complicated, what with all the
genres Cooper incorporates but it’s simply good sounding music, and John 5,
once of Marilyn Manson and currently of Rob Zombie, gives a helping hand with a
fantastic guitar solo at the end to top off what was already an awesome song.
I could talk about all the songs in honesty but the feeling
is very similar throughout the album, but there are three more songs I will
talk about. First is track eleven, “When Hell Comes Home”, which is arguably
the heaviest song on the album, what with it’s heavy bass and Alice Cooper’s
dark lyrics and sinister voice. It’s definitely one of the more serious songs
on the album.
However contrasting the sincerity of this track, track
twelve is “What Baby Wants”, which is a duet with, I can’t believe I’m about to
say this, Ke$ha, which is a lot better than it sounds trust me. I hate to say
it but you can trust me, it’s a good duet, the contrasting styles and music
backgrounds all count for nothing in this song because Alice Cooper is in a
silly mood again. And when I say silly, I mean that affectionately, because in
the end music is entertainment and there’s very few entertainers in the music
industry as good as Alice Cooper. The song is about Alice Cooper and his
encounter with the devil, although the devil is actually Ke$ha, and he must
sell his soul to her. It’s silly and fun and Ke$ha, kudos to her, she plays her
part very well and her vocals aren’t as bad as I feared when I heard about the
duet. One more thing though, there’s an auto-tune bridge towards the end of the
song and it’s cringe-worthy, but once again, in a good way. Kind of.
Lastly, the album ends with an awesome outro, called “The
Underture”. This song is basically a Broadway-esque exit to both “Nightmares”;
mixing the music of both albums into a quite simply beautifully crafted outro.
It mixes great songs from both albums, like “Disco Bloodbath Boogie Fever” and
“I Am Made of You” from this album and songs from the original album like
“Steven”, and the title track, “Welcome to My Nightmare”. I can’t sum up how
great the outro is in words, if you’ve heard both albums by the time you reach
this point it’s a great way of wrapping everything up.
“Welcome 2 My
Nightmare” was a lot of fun to listen to. Is Alice Cooper the best hard rock
artist in the world? No, I don’t think so. But I never thought he was, I’ve always
seen Alice Cooper as an artist who consistently brings the goods at a good
level throughout his career. He did in the Seventies, he did in the Eighties,
and while the Nineties or Noughties weren’t too kind on the man, this could be
another surge of interest and popularity for the guy, who’s now in his sixties.
I wouldn’t rule it out. Alice Cooper still has it. Doing sequel albums are a
risky business; you’re paying homage to your former self, while trying to reach
a high level you may not be able to reach again, never mind excel. And that’s
what Alice Cooper does here. Yes I said it, “Welcome 2 My Nightmare” is better
than “Welcome to My Nightmare”. Is this album as good quality as other albums
being released at this time? No it’s not, but the nostalgia is there, the
purity is there, the beauty, is there. And most importantly, this album is so
much fun. It’s so much fun to listen to an album where you can hear the
entertainment value, where you can hear how much of a ball Alice Cooper had
going back into the studio with the same guys he released music with 26 years
ago, and with artists who he has met along the way. Alice Cooper as a person is
in a great place right now, and you know something? His music is too. “Welcome
2 My Nightmare” in a nutshell, surpasses the original album released 26 years
prior, and shows that music doesn’t have to be serious; it can be pure
entertainment and fun.
Rating: **** stars
Stand out tracks: "Last Man On Earth", "Disco Bloodbath Boogie Fever", "The Underture"
Here's the music video for the only single released so far, "I'll Bite Your Face Off":
For the latest updates on my work, follow me on Facebook and Twitter here!
