Next Week's Prospects for Work

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 telephoned an agency to ask what the work prospects were like for next week. She said, “It’s still dire and we’re struggling.” They are the sole agency for one school where I work, but they have cut back. Another regular school of mine had taken on one of her supply teachers directly for PPA and this person was therefore picking up all the supply work as well. However, not long after hanging up, the agency called me back to say they had got work in a year 3 class on Monday all day and Wednesday morning. I accepted them both, including the morning. At one time I would never have taken half-days from agencies, but as this is nearby and things have been quiet, I decided against holding out for a full day. Calling an agency on Friday afternoon also goes against my better nature, but I feel there is no other choice at the moment. Eventually, things will change and improve; I just keep hoping they do so sooner rather than later. Visiting the library this afternoon, I borrowed a book called ‘Start and Run Your Own Business: the Essential Guide to Planning, Funding and Growing Your New Enterprise’ by Jonathan Reuvid and published by Kogan Page.  

Originally posted on Friday, 28^th January 2011

The Last Day of January 2011

An hour later, the agency called to say the school secretary had cancelled Monday, saying it was entirely her mistake. Knowing the school, I think the secretary, seeing an absence, had booked supply, but someone had later said they would cover the non-attendance. The agency thanked me for my undertanding, but I was annoyed at losing Monday. They said they were on standby for redirected calls over the weekend, but I did not find this very encouraging.   

Updated Monday, 31st January 2011

Mr Gove's Education Bill

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ducation Secretary Michael Gove said Ofsted will get powers to put schools into special measures based on their disciplinary record alone. If the school does not improve, they could be shut down. The plans will be included in an Education Bill published today (27th January 2011). Mr Gove said UK classrooms faced a "discipline crisis". He added: "It's the main reason teachers leave the profession, and many good graduates don't become teachers." Ofsted currently grades schools on teaching, leadership and exam results.

Mr Gove intends to allow Ofsted to assess school disciplinary records. Those faring "particularly badly" on discipline may be taken over by a better performing local school or an academy with "a strong record on discipline". The Bill will also enable teachers to seize pornography, mobile telephones and video cameras from pupils as well as give detentions to pupils without parents getting the current 24 hours' notice.

Mr Gove claims that teachers, accused of inappropriate behaviour by pupils, will be granted anonymity unless they are charged. He said, "The whole trend in the last 25-30 years has been away from respect for teachers and towards pupils saying, 'I know my rights'. I want to restore respect for teachers. The public are clear that we need to improve behaviour."

The Bill will also set out plans for free schools and a curriculum review. Teaching unions and Labour are opposed to the changes.

Originally posted on Thursday, 27 January 2011

Mr Gove's Education Review

 

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ducation secretary Michael Gove is launching the Conservative/Lib Dem coalition government’s review of the primary and secondary school National Curriculum today Thursday, 20 January 2011. The review will examine what core facts schools should be teaching, and what flexibility to give to teachers to set courses. Mr Gove said that history and geography lessons should emphasise the learning of facts and equip children with essential knowledge. He attacked the last government for removing "actual content" in favour of a more thematic approach. Ministers are also concerned that the geography curriculum does not identify any continents, rivers or mountains or name any countries apart from the UK – although, they note, it does mention the European Union. The government says the music curriculum makes no mention of individual composers or pieces of music.

Mr Gove told John Humphrys on BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "You (should) have a curriculum, which instead of telling people how to teach, tells them what to teach in certain core subjects.

Christine Blower, general secretary of the NASUWT teaching union, said: "This is a pointless review when ministers have already determined that children should have a 1950s-style curriculum."

Mary Bousted, general secretary of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers, pointed out that, "The subjects and skills taught in schools should not be based on ministers' pet interests. It remains to be seen whether teachers, in Mary Bousted’s words, will, “Be allowed to decide the specifics of what is taught, in partnership with employers and the local community, within a broad and balanced centrally agreed framework curriculum.”

Written on Thursday, 20 January 2011

Originally posted on Thursday, 27 January 2011

Floating

Tuesday 25^th January 2011

I

f I have a spell of inactivity, it usually makes the teaching more difficult . . . when it eventually arrives. Certainly, I felt cautious about approaching yesterday’s assignment, but I need not have worried as the classes mostly worked well for me. This was ‘floating’ in a local school, where I have worked previously.

In the morning, I was with a year 4 class that I knew, but had not taught since the last academic year. They settled quickly to the early morning task and the start of the first lesson, English. Here, the children read an extract from an ongoing text, in turn, which we discussed and found it was about Kitty who felt that being small was unfair. She learned that, while her brother was also small, he did not mind comments as long as they were friendly. Another child in the playground, Tom, she discovered, had his good features (he was tall), but was worried about his negative aspects (his ginger hair). Following a sentence task, the children had to produce a piece of writing in which they were required to imagine that kitty was approaching yet another child and asking them what they would change about themselves. It was also important to describe that child’s good features. Nevertheless, when I marked the books, I found myself writing the same comment, ‘Don’t forget their good features.’   

Next lesson was maths. My instructions were to ensure the children finished sheets on halving and doubling, which they started yesterday. They were also to complete corrections, and could not move on to the next stage (quartering and multiplying by four, ie. halving and halving again/ doubling and doubling again), without doing so. Normally, I do not like finishing-off tasks, but this went fairly smoothly. My only real problem was that I was asked to explain the next stage to children individually, which goes against my instinct because you end up repeating the same thing over and over. That is what happened here and I was spread too thin. As a result the children became noisier and more unsettled.

During these two lessons, one child was chattier, more distracted and therefore more disruptive than anyone else. My frequent requests for co-operation were largely ignored. I found him irritating. At break I asked the class teacher, also the deputy, if she also found him irritating and she replied, “No, because I like him.” That was the end of the conversation, so I suppose the moral is: do not broach a child carefully, explain how he prevents you from teaching.    

After play was ICT. The children were to draw a butterfly or landscape using the reflection in-one-plane feature of Revelation Natural Art. The class teacher explained this at break, adding, “Although they are familiar with the software, the children will ask pointless and repeated questions, because that is what they are like.” I found this a strange juxtaposition with her request to explain the maths individually and her previous comment about the child she liked. As it happened, most of the class worked hard on the activity and did not ask too many questions.  

At lunchtime, I asked the head teacher where I was to be teaching, as he was conducting performance management interviews. He told me this was in both of the year 6 classes and gave me the sequence. The first teacher to be covered was present so she said she would explain the work. She was very vague and indecisive so this took about half an hour of the lunch break, which was less than an hour in any case. Eventually, it transpired that the class were researching WW2 from a prescribed website, with specific questions and writing the results in their topic books. I had to rush my lunch, while simultaneously marking books from the morning. The lesson with the first year 6 class was reasonable, although the boys seemed pre-occupied with listening to music with headphones that appeared freely available. In principle, I did not object to the music, but had to speak to them about the amount of time wasted on the music sites. Finding myself virtually taking the second year 6 class cold, I discovered they were drafting and producing neat copies of WW2 events for a class timeline. They were sensible, but had permission to go to the library, when they had finished and at one point there seemed to be more children out of the room than in. One child, a boy, managed to creep out without finishing, or having permission, but I managed to get him back.  

On my way out of the school, I called in to speak to the secretary and she was trying to use software for a new online timesheet system which she had received that day. On Friday 21st, I had spoken to the agency about my lack of work and they said they had sent a password and user name for the new system. This seemed odd because I had recently checked my emails and seen nothing. Checking again and still finding nothing, I called again to be told that the head office would be contacted. At home on Tuesday, I found that I had been sent the details for the online forms and, after several hours, could not get it to work. Resolving to phone the agency the next day (today), I abandoned my efforts. This morning, with the page opened on the screen in front of me, I did indeed phone the agency and got them to explain the process while I followed step-by-step. Hopefully this will be successful. Passing the head teacher’s office on my way to the door, I said goodbye and he replied, “We’ll see you again soon.” 

Originally posted on Wednesday, 26 January 2011   

 

    

Songs About School

S

chool and the education system has occasionally been the subject of rock songs, from Chuck Berry’s teenage joy to Roger Water’s bitter resentment. Here are the lyrics to a few of these:

School

Performed by Supertramp on Crime of the Century

Written by Roger Hodgson, Rick Davies

I can see you in the morning when you go to school
Don't forget your books, you know you've got to learn the golden rule,
Teacher tells you stop your play and get on with your work
And be like Johnnie - too-good, well don't you know he never shirks
- he's coming along!

After School is over you're playing in the park
Don't be out too late, don't let it get too dark
They tell you not to hang around and learn what life's about
And grow up just like them - won't you let it work it out
- and you're full of doubt

Don't do this and don't do that
What are they trying to do? - Make a good boy of you
Do they know where it's at?
Don't criticize, they're old and wise
Do as they tell you to
Don't want the devil to
Come out and put your eyes

Maybe I'm mistaken expecting you to fight
Or maybe I'm just crazy, I don't know wrong from right
But while I am still living, I've just got this to say
It's always up to you if you want to be that
want to see that
want to see that way
- you're coming along!

Notes: A track on the album Crime of the Century which was a hit in 1974.

School’s Out

Performed by Alice Cooper on School’s Out

Well we got no choice all the girls and boys
Makin' all that noise 'cause they found new toys
Well we can't salute ya can't find a flag if that don't suit ya that's a drag
School's out for summer school's out forever school's been blown to pieces

No more pencils no more books no more teacher's dirty looks yeah
Well we got no class and we got no principals and we got no innocence
We can't even think of a word that rhymes
School's out for summer school's out forever my school's been blown to pieces

No more pencils no more books no more teacher's dirty looks
Out for summer out till fall we might not come back at all
School's out forever school's out for summer
School's out with fever school's out completely

Notes: Alice Cooper has said he was inspired to write the song when answering the question, "What's the greatest three minutes of your life?" He added "There's two times during the year. One is Christmas morning, when you're just getting ready to open the presents. The greed factor is right there. The next one is the last three minutes of the last day of school when you're sitting there and it's like a slow fuse burning. I said, 'If we can catch that three minutes in a song, it's going to be so big.'" It was indeed a hit in summer 1972.

Another Brick in the Wall Part 2

Performed by Pink Floyd on The Wall

Written by Roger Waters and David Gilmour

We don't need no education
We dont need no thought control
No dark sarcasm in the classroom
Teachers leave them kids alone
Hey! Teachers! Leave them kids alone!
All in all it's just another brick in the wall.
All in all you're just another brick in the wall.

We don't need no education
We dont need no thought control
No dark sarcasm in the classroom
Teachers leave them kids alone
Hey! Teachers! Leave them kids alone!
All in all it's just another brick in the wall.
All in all you're just another brick in the wall.

"Wrong, Do it again!"

"If you don't eat yer meat, you can't have any pudding. How can you
have any pudding if you don't eat yer meat?"
"You! Yes, you behind the bikesheds, stand still laddy!"

Notes: A number one single bridging the end of 1979 and the start of 1980. Rebellious school children begin to rebel against their mocking teacher, who is sarcastic, critical and uses clichéd teacher phrases. Roger Waters (both of whose parents were teachers) believed he was tormented at school by abusive staff and this is part of an epic whinge, dragged out over a double album. Many people have to live with, or get over, their school experience. Not Waters, he has to inflict it on the rest of us.   

   

Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard

Performed and written by Paul Simon on Paul Simon

The mama pajama rolled out of bed, and she ran to the police station
When the papa found out, he began to shout, and he started the investigation
It's against the law, it was against the law
What the mama saw, it was against the law.
The mama looked down and spit on the ground ev'ry time my name gets mentioned
The papa say "Oy, if I get that boy
I'm gonna stick him in the house of detention."
I'm on my way, I don't know where I'm goin',
I'm on my way, I'm takin' my time, but I don't know where.

Goodbye to Rosie, the Queen of Corona
See you, me and Julio down by the schoolyard
See you, me and Julio down by the schoolyard

In a couple of days they come and take me away
But the press let the story leak
And when the radical priest come to get me released
We's all on the cover of Newsweek
Well, I'm on my way, I don't know where I'm goin'
I'm on my way, I'm takin' my time, but I don't know where

Goodbye to Rosie, the Queen of Corona
See you, me and Julio down by the schoolyard
See you, me and Julio down by the schoolyard
See you, me and Julio down by the schoolyard

Notes: A hit single from Paul Simon’s first solo album in 1972. The song is about two boys who have broken a law, although the exact law is not stated. When "the mama pajama" finds out what they have done, she goes to the police station to report the crime. The boys are later arrested, but released when a radical priest intervenes. The central character in the song says goodbye to "Rosie, the Queen of Corona". It is possible, that this reflects the place where the events occurred - Corona, Queens.

Summer In The Schoolyard

Performed by City Boy on Book Early

In the summer of '63, it was so damn hot you could hardly breathe.
Kicking dust in the mission square, trace of perfume in the air.
Whatever happened to the calendar girl with the beautiful teeth? Does
she dream of me when she's sound asleep?

(Chorus)
When everybody sang 'Yeah, Yeah, Yeah'.
That summer in the schoolyard
It was oh so hot.
That summer in the schoolyard
Everybody sang 'Yeah Yeah Yeah'

She was Marilyn, Tuesday Weld, we were just thirteen but what the hell? Let
me tell you how a young boy feels When he hears the clickin'of a girls hi-heels.
She wore a pin for a college boy, life's cruel to me.
She couldn't care for the kid with the dirty knees

(Chorus)
When everybody sang 'Yeah, Yeah, Yeah'.
That summer in the schoolyard
It was oh so hot.
That summer in the schoolyard
Everybody sang 'Yeah Yeah Yeah'


School Love

Performed by Barry Blue

Written by Barry Ian Green

The only thing you learn in school is ABC
But all I wanna know about is you and me
I went and told the teacher 'bout the thing we found
But all she said to me is that you're out of bounds at

School love, school love
Even though we broke the rule
I only wanna be ruled in
School love, school love
You an' I will be together, end-of-term until forever

They never ever teach you in history
And yet we seem to learn about it easily
I went and wrote 'I love you' on the classroom wall
I wanted ev'ry one to know the way to fall in

School love, school love
Even though we broke the rule
I only wanna be ruled in
School love, school love
You an' I will be together, end-of-term until forever

After school, oh, I'll be walkin' you home
Just me and you - my very own - very own
School love, school love . . .

Notes: Barry Green was the original bass guitarist with Uriah Heep, but became a prolific singer-songwriter-producer of hit singles. In 1973, School Love was one of five hit singles he had as a solo performer signed to Bell Records.

School Day (Ring! Ring! Goes the Bell)

Written and performed by Chuck Berry on After School Session

Up in the mornin' and out to school
The teacher is teachin' the golden rule
American history and practical math
You studyin' hard and hopin' to pass
Workin' your fingers right down to the bone
And the guy behind you won't leave you alone

Ring, ring goes the bell
The cook in the lunch room's ready to sell
You're lucky if you can find a seat
You're fortunate if you have time to eat
Back in the classroom, open your books
Keep up the teacher don't know how mean she looks

Soon as three o'clock rolls around
You finally lay your burden down
Close up your books, get out of your seat
Down the halls and into the street
Up to the corner and 'round the bend
Right to the juke joint, you go in

Drop the coin right into the slot
You're gotta hear somethin' that's really hot
With the one you love, you're makin' romance
All day long you been wantin' to dance,
Feeling the music from head to toe
Round and round and round we go

Hail, hail rock and roll
Deliver me from the days of old
Long live rock and roll
The beat of the drums, loud and bold
Rock, rock, rock and roll
The feelin' is there, body and soul.

Notes: Aka School Days, a hit from 1957 on the Chess label.

Originally posted on Monday, 24 January 2011

Alice Cooper on Desert Island Discs

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lice Cooper on Desert Island Discs, BBC Radio 4

Broadcast on 21^st November 2010

1.       Happenings Ten Years Time Ago by The Yardbirds

2.       I Get Around by The Beach Boys

3.       I’m a Boy by The Who

4.       Time Out by Laura Nyro (Eli and the 13^th Confession)

5.       21^st Century Schizoid Man by King Crimson (In the Court of the Crimson King)

6.       Been Caught Stealing by Jane’s Addiction

7.       Work Song by Paul Butterfield Blues Band

8.       Ballad of a Sin Man by Bob Dylan

Kirsty Young: “That was King Crimson and 21^st Century Schizoid Man. So, Alice Cooper, how long have you been married?”

Originally posted on Monday, 24 January 2011

End of Week Call to an Agency

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ecause work has been very quiet since the start of the spring term and it was the end of the week, I decided to telephone an agency on Friday afternoon. At first I was told the person I wanted to speak to was in a meeting and no offer was made to call me back, so I phoned again an hour later. I asked if things had been as quiet with the agency as they had been for me. This was affirmed, I think, by, “I just wish the system would sort itself out so we could get on.” I am not absolutely sure what she meant by this; was she talking about the authorities, agencies or schools?  Despite not feeling responsible, I was also informed, “It’s not you.” About an hour after this, she phoned to offer a day in a local school as a ‘float’ on Tuesday 25^th January. On reflection, it seemed as though, in response to my prompting, she had cold-called a few schools to obtain this day. Would I have been offered this work, if I had not initiated the conversation and are they likely to find anything else this week?

Originally posted on Monday, 24^th January 2011

Record Collector 1

Spirit of Prog: 20 Must-have Masterworks
Record Collector (May 2004)

Doesn’t seem to give an order for these.

o Moody Blues – In Search of the Lost Chord
o Soft Machine – Soft Machine (1st album)
o Jethro Tull – Aqualung
o King Crimson – In the Court of the Crimson King
o Nice – Nice (1969)
o Caravan – If I Could Do It All Over Again, I’d Do It All Over You
o Procol Harum – Shine On Brightly
o Gentle Giant – Octopus
o Barclay James Harvest – Once Again
o Van der Graaf Generator – Pawn Hearts
o ELP – Pictures at an Exhibition
o Yes – Close to the Edge
o Camel – Moonmadness
o Rush – 2112
o Oldfield, Mike – Tubular Bells
o Genesis – Lamb Lies Down on Broadway
o Tangerine Dream – Phaedra
o Manfred Mann’s Earth Band – Solar Fire
o Eloy – Inside
o Pink Floyd – Dark Side of the Moon

Classic Albums from 21 Genres for the 21st Century.
Record Collector (Issue 245 January 2000)

What 20th century music is going to survive in the 21st century? How will future generations remember the rock, pop, jazz, blues, folk and country music which has entertained us since the invention of the gramophone record one hundred years ago? To mark the dawn of the new millennium, Record Collector has selected the 20th century’s essential music – 21 genres for the 21st century, each represented by ten classic albums.

Writers: James Blandford; Laurence Cane-Honeysett, Johnny Chandler; Andy Davis; Lewis Dene; Peter Doggett; Laurence Hallam; Mark Hoskin; Tim Jones; Jake Kennedy; Trevor King; Dave Lewis; Joel McIver; Andy Neill; Martin O’Gorman; Steve Patford; Mark Paytress; Dominic Pedler; Bob Solly; Kieron Tyler; Simon Ward; David Wells.

20th Century Essentials

Prog: Concept Albums, Crimson Kings & Rock Operas

· Moody Blues – In Search of the Lost Chord
· King Crimson – In the Court of the Crimson King
· Emerson, Lake & Palmer – Pictures at an Exhibition
· Jethro Tull – Aqualung
· Van der Graaf Generator – Pawn Hearts
· Yes – Close to the Edge
· Genesis – Lamb Lies Down on Broadway
· Tangerine Dream – Phaedra
· Gong – Angel’s Egg
· Marillion – Misplaced Childhood

Psychedelia: the True Spirit of ’67, from English Whimsy to San Franciscan Acid-Rock

· Beatles – Revolver
· Traffic – Mr Fantasy
· Country Joe & the Fish – Electric Music for the Mind & Body
· Cream – Disraeli Gears
· Jefferson Airplane – After Bathing at Baxter’s
· Pink Floyd – Piper at the Gates of Dawn
· Pretty Things – SF Sorrow
· Soft Machine – Soft Machine
· Big Brother & the Holding Company – Cheap Thrills
· Grateful Dead – Live Dead

 

From: http://www.rocklistmusic.co.uk/recordcollector.htm#Spirit%20of%20Prog:%2020%20Must-have%20Mastworks

Originally posted on Sunday, 23 January 2011

Rock On the Box

R

ock, never mind progressive, music is poorly served by television here in the UK. However, on Friday 21st January 2011 on BBC 4 TV, we had:

09:00pm Legends:  Thin Lizzy - Don't Believe a Word. Described in TV Times as a, "New documentary profiling the Irish rock band, which began with singer-songwriter Phil Lynott, guitarist Eric Bell and drummer Brian Downey, and took its name from The Beano." This offered a number of interesting insights including Phil Lynott’s love of being a rock star contrasted with Eric Bell’s wish to concentrate on the music, Brian Robertson’s mercurial talent, Tony Visconti’s controversial involvement in Live and Dangerous, Midge Ure describing himself as Lizzy’s worst guitarist, and Scott Gorham’s desire to remaster a number of albums in collaboration with Def Leppard singer Joe Elliott.

‘Talking heads’ include Lizzy manager Ted Carroll, Melody Maker journalist Harry Doherty, Decca A&R man Frank Rodgers, a clean shaven Eric Bell, Phil Lynott from the archive, Scott Gorham, Brian Downey, Brian Robertson, Bob Geldof, Lizzy tour manager Frank Murray, Midge Ure and producer Tony Visconti. Musical clips include Whiskey in the Jar (197), The Rocker, Nightlife (1974), Wild One (1975), Jailbreak (1976), The Boys are Back in Town (1976), Fight or Fall (1976), Rocky (1977), Dear Heart (1974), Dear Lord (1977), Dancing in the Moonlight (1977), Roisin Dubh (Black Rose) (1979), Do Anything You Want To (1979), Got to Give it Up (1979), Cowboy Song (1976) and Still in Love With You (1974).        

Archive footage of Phil Lynott in interview is almost too painful to watch, especially where he extols the virtue of heroin as creating a distance between himself and his problems. These struggles may have been the result of Thin Lizzy being on the cusp of massive international success, while events seemed to conspire against them - such as Robertson’s hand injury before a big US tour. As is often the case in these documentaries, Lynott comes across as being loyal to his friends and they to him: Brian Downey remained from the early band, Orphanage, enduring racist taunts directed against the lead singer; Midge Ure describes how he could not have been selected as stand-in for his guitar-playing ability; and Lynott was almost desperate to make a Lizzy album with Gary Moore. Tragically, despite the mutual loyalty, none of the long-term cohorts could work with Lynott by the end.  

There is an interesting article on Phil Lynott and the Thin Lizzy Deluxe editions, released through Universal, in Classic Rock magazine, February 2011.     

10:00pm Iron Maiden: Flight 666 (2009). A moderately interesting documentary chronicling the band during their 2008 tour.  

11:55pm Classic Albums: Black Sabbath Paranoid. A documentary exploring the group's influential second album.

12:50am Bruce Springsteen's The Promise: The Making of Darkness on the Edge of Town. Nominee for documentary with most convoluted title.

02:20 am Bruce Springsteen: Darkness Live.

3:20am - 4:20am Legends.

Originally posted on Sunday, 23 January 2011

Progressive Rock's Hit singles 2

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here is of course a difference between hit singles by progressive rock bands and progressive hit singles. In my first list I tried to include the latter, or at least, folk-inspired or psychedelic hit singles by progressive rock bands. In this, the second list, it has proved even more difficult, considering the further distinction between single and hit single. As to what constitutes a hit single, I have referred to the Guinness Book of British Hit Singles & Albums.    

1.       Dreamer by Supertramp, from Crime of the Century, reached lucky 13 and remained for 10 weeks in the UK singles chart. It started the change from progressive rock to a more focussed ‘pop’ sound in the mid-seventies, which led to international success.

2.       Solsbury Hill by Peter Gabriel from Peter Gabriel. A single which bridged the gap between Gabriel’s progressive past with Genesis and his more experimental future in his solo career.

3.       Another Brick in the Wall (Pt. 2) by Pink Floyd, from The Wall, reached number 1 and straddled the 1979/80 UK chart for 12 weeks. A bitter diatribe against Roger Waters’ experience of the education system, performed as an ironic nursery rhyme. If the single is not progressive, with Richard Wright sidelined, it became incumbent on David Gilmour to ensure the album contained a semblance of the band’s past.    

4.       Owner of a Lonely Heart by Yes, a combination of rock and eighties dance music, written by Trevor Rabin and produced by Trevor Horn. The song represents a move away from the band’s seventies epics, but the presence of Chris Squire and Tony Kaye maintains the progressive element.

5.       Day in the Life by the Beatles. A hit single from the famous Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band album in 1967 and an early progressive rock prototype with its sequence of shared lead vocals, changes in tempo and dramatic production.

6.       Pull Me Under by Dream Theater.

7.       Bungle in the Jungle by Jethro Tull, from the Warchild album, was more of a radio success than a chart hit. A jaunty melody belies the sinister lyrics.

8.       Love Story by Jethro Tull, reached number 29 in the UK and remained on the chart for 8 weeks.

9.       Sweet Dream by Jethro Tull, reached number 7 in the UK and remained on the chart for 11 weeks.

10.   Teacher/ The Witch’s Promise by Jethro Tull, reached number 4 in the UK and remained on the chart for 9 weeks.

11.   Life is a Long Song/ Up the Pool by Jethro Tull, reached number 11 in the UK and remained on the chart for 8 weeks.

12.   Ring Out Solstice Bells EP by Jethro Tull, reached number 28 in the UK and remained on the chart for 6 weeks.

13.   Voices in the Sky by the Moody Blues reached number 27 and remained for 10 weeks in the UK singles chart of 1968.

14.   Ride My See-Saw by the Moody Blues reached number 42 and remained for 1 week in the UK singles chart of 1968.

15.   Question by the Moody Blues, on their own Threshold label, reached number 2 and remained for 12 weeks in the UK singles chart of 1970.

16.   Isn’t Life Strange by the Moody Blues reached number 13 and remained for 10 weeks in the UK singles chart of 1972.

17.   I’m Just a Singer (in a Rock and Roll Band) by the Moody Blues reached number 36 and remained for 4 weeks in the UK singles chart of 1973.

18.   Arnold Layne by Pink Floyd, a psychedelia single, reached number 20 and remained for 8 weeks in the UK singles chart of 1967.

19.   See Emily Play by Pink Floyd, their second and final psychedelia hit single, reached number 6 and remained for 12 weeks in the UK singles chart of 1967. The band had to wait until 1979 for their third hit single with Another Brick in the Wall (Part 2) in 1979.

20.   High Hopes/ Keep Talking by Pink Floyd, without Roger Waters and they do not miss him at all, reached number 26 and remained for 3 weeks in the UK singles chart of 1994.

21.   Hocus Pocus by Focus, on Polydor, reached number 20 and remained on the UK singles chart for 10 weeks in 1973.

22.   I Believe in Father Christmas by Greg Lake, on Manticore, reached number 2 and remained on the UK singles chart for 12 weeks in December 1975. It is later number seven in the Christmas Top Ten TV programme on Channel 4 on 10th December 2005. Pete Sinfield says the song is, “About the sadness of learning the reality of Christmas”. The instrumental melody between verses comes from the Troika portion of Sergei Prokofiev's Lieutenant Kijé Suite written for a 1934 Soviet film, Poruchik Kizhe.

23.   Silver Machine by Hawkwind, with Lemmy on lead vocals.

24.   My White Bicycle by Nazareth. The Scottish blues-rock band suddenly changed their mind about Hair of the Dog and instead released a cover from Steve Howe and Keith West’s psychedelia band Tomorrow.

25.   Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen from the 1975 album A Night at the Opera on EMI. Remained at number 1 in the UK for a record number of weeks.

Originally posted on Friday, 21 January 2011

IN MEMORIUM

T

he following is a list of musicians, actors and writers who passed away during 2010.

JANUARY 2010

4 January: Monday. Tony Clarke, British musician and record producer (The Moody Blues) dies of emphysema at the age of 68.

4 January: Monday. Neil Christian, British singer, dies of cancer at the age of 66. With Neil Christian and the Crusaders, he worked with Ritchie Blackmore, Jimmy Page and Joe Meek. He also had a solo hit single in 1966 with That’s Nice.

11 January: Monday. Mick Green, British rock and roll guitarist (Johnny Kidd & The Pirates, Billy J. Kramer and the Dakotas, dies at the age of 65.

13 January: Wednesday. Teddy Pendergrass, American soul singer, dies of complications from colorectal cancer at the age of 59.

16 January: Friday. Carl Smith, American country singer-songwriter, dies after long Smith was the husband of June Carter (later June Carter Cash) and Goldie Hill, the drinking companion of Johnny Cash, and the father of Carlene Carter. He was one of country's most successful male artists during the 1950s, with 30 Top 10 Billboard hits, including 21 in a row. Smith's success continued well into the 1970s, when he had a charting single every year except one.

17 January: Sunday. Erich Segal, 72, American professor, author (Love Story), and screenwriter (Yellow Submarine), heart attack.

18 January: Monday.  Kate McGarrigle, 63, Canadian folk singer with her sister Anna, dies of clear-cell sarcoma.

27 January: Wednesday. Shirley Collie Nelson, 78, American country singer, ex-wife of Willie Nelson dies.

27 January: Wednesday. Zelda Rubinstein, 76, American actress (Poltergeist, Picket Fences), dies of natural causes. She was 4’ 3” tall.  

27 January: Wednesday. J. D. Salinger, 91, American author of The Catcher in the Rye, dies of natural causes.

FEBRUARY 2010

5 February: Friday. British actor Ian Carmichael, 89, dies, leaving behind his wife, Kate Fenton, 55. His first wife, Pym, had died in 1983. Carmichael is survived by his daughters, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

6 February: Saturday. Sir John Dankworth, saxophonist, dies aged 82, leaving behind his widow, Dame Cleo Laine, one son and a daughter.

14 February: Sunday. Dick Francis, 89, writer of thriller books, dies of natural causes.

14 February: Sunday. Doug Fieger, lead singer of The Knack, dies of cancer, aged 57. He was best known for the 1979 hit song, My Sharona.

MARCH 2010

10 March: Micky Jones, Welsh singer and guitarist with the progressive rock band Man, passes away peacefully at the age of 63. He had spent the last five years in and out of hospital due to the re-occurrence of a brain tumour. He leaves behind a legacy in his son, George, who plays guitar in the current line-up of Man and with The Spectaculars.

10 March 2010: Wednesday. Actor Corey Haim, a teen idol in the nineteen-eighties dies of an accidental drug overdose, aged 38. Some of his most well known roles include The Lost Boys, License to Drive, Dream a Little Dream and Lucas. Corey Haim co-starred with Corey Feldman numerous times during his career, the pair even garnered the nickname “The Two Coreys”.

14 March: Sunday. Peter Graves, actor and star of Mission Impossible, dies at the age of 83.

18 March: Thursday. Actor Fess Parker dies, aged 85, of natural causes.

24 March: Wednesday. Robert Culp, actor and scriptwriter, dies aged 79. Best known for his television work, he became internationally famous in the role of Kelly Robinson in I Spy, alongside Bill Cosby. Culp also appeared in numerous other television shows including: Bonanza, The Golden Girls, The Nanny, The Girls Next Door and Wings.

APRIL 2010

7 April: Wednesday. Actor Christopher Cazenove dies aged 66.

8 April: Thursday. Malcolm McLaren, former manager of the Sex Pistols, died aged 64.

13 April: Tuesday. Peter Steele, frontman of the band Type O Negative, dies aged 48.

MAY 2010

1 May: Saturday. Actor John Forsythe dies aged 92. He an actor who starred in three television series spanning four decades: Bachelor Father, Charlie’s Angels and Dynasty. His role of Blake Carrington in the latter 1980s soap opera is the role for which he is best remembered.

2 May: Sunday. Lynn Redgrave dies aged 67. She was from a very well-known British family of actors and made her theatrical debut in 1962. Redgrave won a New York Film Critics Award for her role in the 1966 film Georgy Girl, which also gave her nominations for both an Academy Award and a Golden Globe. In 1967 Lynn Redgrave left theatrical acting

9 May: Sunday. Talented singer, actress and dancer Lena Horne dies in NYC at the age of 92. When she was just 16, Lena joined the chorus of the Cotton Club and became a 9 nightclub performer. She went to Hollywood and starred in a handful of movies before returning to her true love to be a singer.

16 May: Sunday. Heavy rock vocalist and songwriter Ronnie James Dio dies at the age of 67 after battling stomach cancer. He performed with Elf, Rainbow, Black Sabbath, Heaven & Hell and his own band Dio. He was known for his powerful voice and for popularizing the "devil's horns" hand gesture in metal culture.

24 May: Monday. Paul Grey, bassist with Slipknot, dies in his hotel room.

29 May: Saturday. Actor Dennis Hopper dies at the age of 74. He fought a painful battle with prostate cancer and succumbed at his home in Venice, California, surrounded by friends and family. Hopper was best known for his work in films such as Rebel Without a Cause, Easy Rider, The American Friend, Apocalypse Now, and Blue Velvet.

JUNE 2010

6 June: Sunday. Marvin Isley, formerly of the Isley Brothers, dies aged 56.

13 June: Jimmy Dean, 81, country music singer, actor and sausage brand businessman, dies.

JULY

9 July: Friday. Actress Vonetta McGee, 65, passes away after a heart attack.

16 July: Friday. Actor James Gammon dies from cancer, aged 70, of the adrenal glands and liver.

27 July: Tuesday. Actor Maury Chaykin dies aged 61.

AUGUST 2010

8 August: Sunday. Actress Patricia Neal, 84, dies. She was the ex-wife of the author, Roald Dahl, also deceased.

8 August: Sunday. British musician Jack Parnell, bandleader on The Muppet Show and jazz drummer, dies aged 87.

15 August: Sunday. Robert Wilson, 53, bassist with the Gap Band, dies.

18 August: Wednesday. Kenny Edwards, bassist and guitarist, dies. Edwards, 64, was a songwriter and producer who worked with Linda Ronstadt in the 1980s - 90s.

18 August: Wednesday. George David Weiss, a songwriter, dies aged 89. Weiss and Louis Armstrong co-wrote What A Wonderful World.

SEPTEMBER 2010

3 September: Friday. Wesley C Watson, affectionately nicknamed Wally Gator, passes away in Brooklyn, New York. Gator had played drums for many stars like Lionel Hampton, Cab Callaway, Dizzy Gillespie, Al Jarreau, Chaka Khan, Wilson Picket, Liberace and others.

3 September: Friday. Actor Kevin McCarthy, 96, dies of natural causes in a hospital in Cape Cod, Massachusetts.

11 September: Saturday. Actor Harold Gould dies of prostate cancer, aged 86. Gould was famous for being on Rhoda and The Golden Girls.

22 September: Sunday. Eddie Fisher dies aged 82. He was a singer/ performer who, between 1950 and 1956, had seventeen songs in the Top 10 charts, and thirty five in the Top 40.

26 September: Sunday. Actress Gloria Stuart dies aged 100. She is most memorable for her performance as an elderly passenger in the film Titanic, when she was 87.

28 September: Tuesday. Director Arthur Penn, dies from congestive heart failure, in NYC, aged 88. Penn is famous as the director of Bonnie and Clyde.

29 September: Wednesday. Actor Tony Curtis, star of over 150 films since the 1950s, dies at the age of 85, after going into cardiac arrest at his home in Las Vegas.

OCTOBER 2010

4 October: Monday. Actor Sir Norman Wisdom dies at the age of 95. Wisdom excelled at playing comic characters such as Norman Pitkin.

4 October: Monday. Film director Roy Ward Baker dies aged 93.

4 October: Monday. Solomon Burke, 70, soul singer, dies in Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

4 October: Monday. British actor Simon MacCorkindale dies of cancer, aged 58.

4 October: Monday. Stuart Cable, drummer with the Stereophonics, dies when he chokes on his own vomit following a 3-day drinking binge.

10 October: Sunday. Joan Sutherland, Australian opera singer, dies aged 83.

19 October: Tuesday. Actor Tom Bosley, 83, dies after contracting a serious staph infection. He played one of the most iconic roles in TV, as the father of Richie Cunningham, in The Happy Days.

19 October: Tuesday. Bob Guccione dies of cancer, in Texas, aged 79. He was the founder of Penthouse magazine.

20 October: Wednesday. Ari Up, real name Ariane Forster, singer with the British band the Slits, dies after a serious illness, aged 48.

24 October: Sunday. Director Lamont Johnson, 88, dies of congestive heart failure.

25 October: Monday. Gregory Isaacs, 59-year-old reggae singer, dies of liver cancer in London.

25 October: Monday. Joseph Stein, playwright most famous for writing Fiddler On The Roof, died aged 98.

28 October: Thursday. Actor James MacArthur, 72, dies of natural causes in Hawaii. MacArthur was best known as the actor who played Danno in Hawaii Five-O.

NOVEMBER 2010

3 November: Wednesday. Composer Jerry Bock, 81, dies. He was famous for his work on the Broadway musical, Fiddler On The Roof.

5 November: Friday. Actress Jill Clayburgh, 66, dies after suffering from leukemia since 1989.

11 November: Thursday. Italian film producer, Dino De Laurentiis dies, aged 91.

27 November: Saturday. Film director Irvin Kershner dies of lung cancer. He was famous for directing The Empire Strikes Back, part of the Star Wars movie chronology.

27 November: Saturday. Actress Neva Patterson dies aged 90. She had acted for 60 years in around 100 film and TV appearances.

28 November: Sunday. Actor Leslie Nielsen, 84, dies of pneumonia. Nielsen had been acting for 60 years and was best known for his role as the doctor in Airplane! He played funny characters in comedies, such as Detective Frank Drebin in the Naked Gun TV series. He passed away in his sleep, at around 5:30 pm, in a hospital in Florida. His wife, Barbaree Earl Nielsen, and loved ones were at his bedside.

DECEMBER 2010

14 December: Tuesday. Comedy director Blake Edwards, 88, dies after suffering from pneumonia. Edwards was married to the actress and singer, Julie Andrews.

14 December: Tuesday. Don Van Vliet, 69, 1970s rock musician known as Captain Beefheart, dies after suffering from multiple sclerosis.

14 December: Tuesday. Bernard Wilson, US soul singer, dies, aged 64. Wilson is best remembered as the singer with Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes.

14 December: Tuesday. Agatha Von Trapp, the eldest daughter in the Von Trapp family, dies at the age of 97. Agatha was a member of the family that escaped from the Nazis in Austria, during WWII, and was the inspiration for the Sound of Music. She leaves behind four surviving members of the Trapp Family Singers.

14 December: Tuesday. Bobby Farrell, 61, the lead singer in Boney M, dies in St Petersburg. His fame was highest in the 1970s.

27 December: Monday. American singer-songwriter Tina Marie dies aged 53.

T

he following is a list of musicians, actors and writers who passed away during 2011.

JANUARY 2011

4 January: Tuesday. Scottish singer-songwriter Gerry Rafferty, 63, famous for Stuck in the Middle with You and

Baker Street

, dies of liver failure at home. In November 2010, Rafferty was admitted to the Royal Bournemouth Hospital as he had been an alcoholic for many years. He is survived by his daughter Martha, granddaughter Celia and brother, Jim Rafferty.

16 January: Sunday. British actress Susannah York, star of Tom Jones dies.

16 January: Sunday. Former Bolton Wanderers and England footballer Nat Lofthouse dies aged 85. 

FEBRUARY 2011

6 February: Sunday. Former Thin Lizzy guitarist Gary Moore, 58, is found dead in a hotel room on the Costa del Sol. Belfast-born Moore was on holiday at the Kempinski Resort Hotel in Estepona, where he was found in the early hours. After his time with the Irish rock band, Moore went on to forge a successful solo career, including a string of top 40 hits such as Parisienne Walkways  in 1979 and Out in the Fields  in 1985. He was still actively touring.

MARCH 2011
1 March: Tuesday. Hollywood actress Jane Russell, star of The Outlaw and Blondes Have More Fun, dies aged 89.

18 March: Friday. Original bassist with the Shadows, Jet Harris, dies of cancer at home on the Isle-of-Wight, aged 71. He was an integral part of the birth of British rock and roll.   

Originally posted on Thursday 20^th January 2011