What's this blog post all about I hear you cry (well, I say cry, but you're probably not even saying it, let alone think it. You're probably thinking please god not another wrestling blog post...well, your prayers have been answered because this isn't one of those posts). Well, this is my look at some of the things I enjoy.
I like to make lists. I'm an organised person. I make To Do lists at work. I categorise my favourite films & albums into a list. I make Pro & Con lists after I meet a prospective female mate. Its what I do. Call it OCD, but it helps me put things into perspective in a way.
This blog post will be full of lists. These will include random lists, but will give you an insight into my life & what makes me tick. Some of you reading this may also have made lists. If so, please feel free to let me know & elaborate why you chose what you did. It's weird, but certain things can spark an idea. This blog post was created because someone asked me what my favourite film was, & I could only name my top two. This got me thinking, what are my favourite things? Like most people, tastes change all the time. I know mine do. If you ask what some of my favourite things are now I can guarantee that these were all different at least 6 months beforehand.
Lets start off with music. Over the years I've had the fortune (sometimes misfortune) to appreciate a number of genres of music, and most people would claim that I have a very eclectic music library. Being a DJ (especially one who caters for private parties more than club nights) I have to ensure that I can play anything from the 50's onwards. When I look back as to what I actually grew up with & enjoyed, I find that I'm now moving back into that realm of music.
I have tried so hard to remember the songs & albums that shaped my youth, that provided me the ability to appreciate every kind of music. It's weird, I can remember the first vinyl single, the first vinyl album, the first cassette album & the first CD I ever purchased, but I can't remember the first piece of music I ever heard. As a rambuctious youth I was always kept "mellowed" out (if you consider air guitaring & jumping off the front room furniture) by the Queen Greatest Hits album. But then I also had memories of hearing Elton John, The Carpenters, Black Sabbath, Jimi Hendrix, Barry White, Chuck Berry, Edison Lighthouse & many more, especially during Sunday lunchtimes when we would chow down on a roast dinner to the aural delights of the Jimmy Saville show on Radio 1.
At school I was one of the odd ones out. Whilst my schoolmates enjoyed the "delights" of rave and Jungle music, I would always be found listening to AC/DC, Guns N Roses, Iron Maiden and Metallica. The whole boyband & pop phase never really made its way to me, though I did own the 2 Unlimited album, as well as the cassette single for Jamaican In New York. Come to think of it, I may even have owned Mr Loverman by Shabba Ranks. Ok, so I listened to some pap, but 95% of my music collection was rock related.
Towards the end of my school life I became affected by the Britpop phenomenon that was spreading around the UK. I wasn't a supporter of Blur or Oasis, I liked them both, along with Shed Seven, The Supernaturals, Echobelly, Cast, The Seahorses, Mansun, Embrace & more. Outside of school I knew enough people that wanted to go to gigs but would always be boring & stand at the back. That wasn't (& still - to a degree - isn't) my mantra & I was lucky enough to be one of the people picked up & caught on camera in the Oasis video Live By the Sea (I was also in their video for Rock N Roll Star). I was also at Mile End when Blur returned home & managed to get three rows from the front to really rock on - not bad for a 16 year old right?
At college I met one of my closest friends who got me into heavier industrial vibes (NIN, Marilyn Manson, KMFDM, Ministry). From there I moved onto heavier bands (Pantera, Machine Head, Korn, Metallica, Slipknot), and the only progression from there was even heavier (Arch Enemy, The Haunted). I've always been into heavy stuff but over the last couple of years my tastes have changed. I compared my playlist of today with that of one I made (& noted on facebook on the 16th May 2011). Back then my playlist contained 41 songs by 38 bands/artists. Today, I only have 1 artist from that playlist on my iPod.
So now I get to that part where I list my favourite music related things.
My Favourite Song of All Time: Free Bird by Lynyrd Skynyrd
My Favourite Album of All Time: Mechanical Animals by Marilyn Manson
My Favourite Gig of All Time: Black Stone Cherry & Rival Sons at Kentish Town Forum, 28th March 2012
My Favourite Bands of All Time: Lynyrd Skynyrd, Queen, Black Stone Cherry, Arch Enemy, Metallica
The Band I've Seen Live the Most: Black Stone Cherry (7 times)
I'm Currently Listening To: Invaders Must Die by the Prodigy
The Last 10 Tracks I Listened To Are: 1. Lesser Man by Soil, 2. Autre Temps by Alcest, 3. Emerge by Fischerspooner, 4. Supersonic Sex Machine by Steel Panther, 5. Born to Raise Hell by Motorhead/Ice T, 6. Dark Night by The Blasters, 7. Voodoo People (Live) by The Prodigy, 8. Sister Christian by Night Ranger, 9. Jordan by Buckethead, 10. Push Push (Lady Lightning by Bang Camaro
The Last 10 Albums I Listened To Are: 1. Rise by The Answer, 2. Live at London Astoria by Black Stone Cherry, 3. Seeking Major Tom by William Shatner, 4. Born Villain by Marilyn Manson, 5. Picture Perfect by Soil, 7. Rise of the Fenix by Tenacious D, 8. Balls Out by Steel Panther, 9. Les Voyages De L'Ame by Alcest, 10. Get Your Wings by Aerosmith.
The Last CD I Purchased: Between the Devil & the Deep Blue Sea by Black Stone Cherry
The First CD I Ever Purchased: Boss Drum by The Shamen
The First Vinyl I Ever Purchased: Don't You Want Me by the Human League
The First Cassette I Ever Purchased: Bad by Michael Jackson
The First Gig I Ever Went To: Oasis at the Cliffs Pavillion in 1994
The Last Gig I Went To: Black Stone Cherry & Rival Sons at Kentish Town Forum, 28th March 2012
The Next Gig Lined Up: Lynyrd Skynyrd at Hammersmith Apollo, 3rd June 2012
First Festival I Ever Went To: Phoenix Festival, 1995
Last Festival I Ever Went To: Download Festival, June 2011
Tuesday 15 May 2012
Friday 11 May 2012
My take on Wrestling - Part 2
It's been a while since I last put fingers to keys & described how I got into the wrestling business as a fan (I'm not actually in the business, but I needed an opening that can draw the reader in...), and having not long watched the latest pay per view put out by the WWE, I feel compelled to write a further blog about the wonderful world of wrestling.
In "My take on Wrestling - Part 1", I wrote that I got into wrestling in 1988, specifically around the annual Thanksgiving extravaganza that was Survivor Series. Once I watched it, I was hooked. My life suddenly became wrestling. It's not that I was overly obsessed, I was just an energetic & excitable 9 year old. As I've advised previously, one of my friends had access to SKY and was able to video all the shows & pay per views possible - for a fee - so for the first couple of years I was able to keep up-to-date with the Tuesday Night Titans (the old-school fan will get that).
Unfortunately, in 1990 I ended up going to a completely different school to my friend, and he ended up moving out of the area and we lost touch for a number of years (I actually heard from him about 3 years ago, & he's happily married with 3 kids & not into wrestling anymore). A plus point at this time was the emergence of a Blockbuster Video at the top of my road. At the time, I was not a fan of having it there, as my mates dad owned Supervideo, which was also at the top of my road, & was a good family run store that would always give away free posters, as well as book films in advance (there was never more than 1 copy of a film at any given time). However, Supervideo didn't stock WWF videos. Blockbuster did. Every tape released in the UK was available there from the 1st Wrestlemania onwards. I ended up getting a membership & devouring all of them. They also had WCW but to me they were just an inferior product.;
From 1990 to 1993 I brought anything I could afford that had something to do with the WWF (this included a sticker album - the only sticker album that I ever completed - and the innaugural WWF Superstars album that contained Slam Jam (an awesome song)). Then it happened. Wrestlemania 9. The worst ending to a PPV ever as the old-and-boring Hulk Hogan effectively stole the WWF title. Don't get me wrong, as a 9 year old I was a Hulkamniac but, having added another 5 years to my life I realised that he was what was wrong with the business - the same tired moves & refusal to be beaten, Its weird that as a 14 year old I could see that Hogan was ruining the business, yet people kept (and still keep) hiring him. I admire his charisma & the way he works a crowd but come on, the man can't wrestle no more! I was into the more technical wrestlers at this time - Ric Flair, Bret Hart & Shawn Michaels were guys I looked up to, so I was shocked that Bret lost to Yoko who then lost to Hogan. It was obviously his way of becoming champ without beating one of the best in the business.
Following this horrible upset I quit watching wrestling. I went to school & carried on with my life, feeling good about things. I met girls, and we did a lot more than wrestle. I matured from that energetic wrestling fan (who at one point had heckled Pat "The Bomber" Roach at a live event in Southend that also featured Big Daddy, Giant Haystacks & Geoff Capes) into a well-rounded individual. Granted, a perverted individual, but I at least had morals & no longer watched wrestling.
In January 1999, I started working at Demon Internet. After an interim few months getting to know people, a friend tried to get me to watch wrestling again. I explained I used to be a fan but time had passed & I doubt I would be interested again. My interest was piqued though when I watched some video clips of Raw on the WWF site. As I was moving into a flat with one of my workmates & we had Sky Sports, I decided to give it a watch. So it was with great trepidation that I stayed up til 1am & watched Over the Edge in May 1999. Those of you that are in the know will remember that this is the PPV during which Owen Hart died. I aim to go into a blog about dead wrestlers at some point, so I won't go into detail about Owen at this time.
I was amazed at how risque wrestling had become - it really was full of sex & violence at this time (this was during the amazing attitude era) so I became hooked again, though not in a fanboy way. I took the time to go back & watch everything from Wrestlemania 9 onwards, using E-Bay as a way to obtain all the old tapes. In the past 13 years since my return to wrestling I've seen a lot, enjoyed a lot & - more often than not - been disappointed a lot. I don't confess to being a great fan these days, but I do enjoy the odd PPV from time-to-time, as long as there's some good booking and a good feud in there.
I would try to put together a list of the finest matches I've ever been privvy to see, but that is a daunting job, and a definite possibility for another blog...
In "My take on Wrestling - Part 1", I wrote that I got into wrestling in 1988, specifically around the annual Thanksgiving extravaganza that was Survivor Series. Once I watched it, I was hooked. My life suddenly became wrestling. It's not that I was overly obsessed, I was just an energetic & excitable 9 year old. As I've advised previously, one of my friends had access to SKY and was able to video all the shows & pay per views possible - for a fee - so for the first couple of years I was able to keep up-to-date with the Tuesday Night Titans (the old-school fan will get that).
Unfortunately, in 1990 I ended up going to a completely different school to my friend, and he ended up moving out of the area and we lost touch for a number of years (I actually heard from him about 3 years ago, & he's happily married with 3 kids & not into wrestling anymore). A plus point at this time was the emergence of a Blockbuster Video at the top of my road. At the time, I was not a fan of having it there, as my mates dad owned Supervideo, which was also at the top of my road, & was a good family run store that would always give away free posters, as well as book films in advance (there was never more than 1 copy of a film at any given time). However, Supervideo didn't stock WWF videos. Blockbuster did. Every tape released in the UK was available there from the 1st Wrestlemania onwards. I ended up getting a membership & devouring all of them. They also had WCW but to me they were just an inferior product.;
From 1990 to 1993 I brought anything I could afford that had something to do with the WWF (this included a sticker album - the only sticker album that I ever completed - and the innaugural WWF Superstars album that contained Slam Jam (an awesome song)). Then it happened. Wrestlemania 9. The worst ending to a PPV ever as the old-and-boring Hulk Hogan effectively stole the WWF title. Don't get me wrong, as a 9 year old I was a Hulkamniac but, having added another 5 years to my life I realised that he was what was wrong with the business - the same tired moves & refusal to be beaten, Its weird that as a 14 year old I could see that Hogan was ruining the business, yet people kept (and still keep) hiring him. I admire his charisma & the way he works a crowd but come on, the man can't wrestle no more! I was into the more technical wrestlers at this time - Ric Flair, Bret Hart & Shawn Michaels were guys I looked up to, so I was shocked that Bret lost to Yoko who then lost to Hogan. It was obviously his way of becoming champ without beating one of the best in the business.
Following this horrible upset I quit watching wrestling. I went to school & carried on with my life, feeling good about things. I met girls, and we did a lot more than wrestle. I matured from that energetic wrestling fan (who at one point had heckled Pat "The Bomber" Roach at a live event in Southend that also featured Big Daddy, Giant Haystacks & Geoff Capes) into a well-rounded individual. Granted, a perverted individual, but I at least had morals & no longer watched wrestling.
In January 1999, I started working at Demon Internet. After an interim few months getting to know people, a friend tried to get me to watch wrestling again. I explained I used to be a fan but time had passed & I doubt I would be interested again. My interest was piqued though when I watched some video clips of Raw on the WWF site. As I was moving into a flat with one of my workmates & we had Sky Sports, I decided to give it a watch. So it was with great trepidation that I stayed up til 1am & watched Over the Edge in May 1999. Those of you that are in the know will remember that this is the PPV during which Owen Hart died. I aim to go into a blog about dead wrestlers at some point, so I won't go into detail about Owen at this time.
I was amazed at how risque wrestling had become - it really was full of sex & violence at this time (this was during the amazing attitude era) so I became hooked again, though not in a fanboy way. I took the time to go back & watch everything from Wrestlemania 9 onwards, using E-Bay as a way to obtain all the old tapes. In the past 13 years since my return to wrestling I've seen a lot, enjoyed a lot & - more often than not - been disappointed a lot. I don't confess to being a great fan these days, but I do enjoy the odd PPV from time-to-time, as long as there's some good booking and a good feud in there.
I would try to put together a list of the finest matches I've ever been privvy to see, but that is a daunting job, and a definite possibility for another blog...
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