Birth And Rebirth

Happy New Year, everyone!

 

In a break from the past couple of years, no Dubhed selection today. Instead, as a counter to what seemed like continual posting of obituaries and tributes at the tail end of 2023, I thought I'd start 2024 by celebrating a few musicians born on New Year's Day.

 

Before that though, a brief tip of the hat to (I think, still) the world’s longest-running music program, Top Of The Pops, which debuted on BBC TV on 1st January 1964.

 

Even in its heyday, TOTP had more shit than shine, but when it was good it was very good. One performance in particular left a lasting impression on me as a 10-year old. As important and inspiring to me as seeing Bowie and Ronson performing Starman may have been to similarly aged viewers nearly a decade before.

 

Sadly, unlike Doctor Who, which celebrated its 60th birthday last November and is still going strong, Top Of The Pops came to an end in 2006. Despite archive shows currently in regular rotation on BBC4, TOTP is absent from today's schedule; you get the New Year's Day concert from Vienna and The Rambert Dance Company's stage production of Peaky Blinders instead. A shame.

 

So, whilst far from comprehensive, here are a few nods to those who were born on 1st January and with one exception are still with us, doing their thing. Apologies for the all-male line-up: although some ropey internet sources (not just but including Iffypedia) were insistent that Dawn Penn, Zoё Johnston and Miss Kittin were all a year older today, I think they're mistaken. I'm more confident about the ones I've featured here...

 

First up, Joseph Saddler better known to you, me and the world as Grandmaster Flash, born in 1958. Whilst hits like The Message featured on Top Of The Pops, the only clips I could find had either in-house choreography act Zoo or intro/links from Jimmy Saville (or both). Here's the video instead.

  

Morgan Fisher is 74 today. Here he is at home during lockdown in 2020, performing Mott The Hoople's 1974 song Rest In Peace. And very lovely it is too.

As a nod (and thanks) to Ernie Goggin's consciousness-expanding African Odyssey over at 27 Leggies, the Mandatory African Birthday is Kanda Bongo Man. I have it on good authority (well, Facebook) that the soukous legend was born on 1st January 1955.

Going Down Under next and Martin Plaza, taking a deep breath to blow out 67 candles today. Although songwriter and co-lead vocalist with Mental As Anything, the band were really only known in the UK for the Crocodile Dundee movie tie-in Live It Up, both credited to the 'other' frontperson Andrew 'Greedy' Smith. Martin also recorded solo and here's he is performing Lou Reed's Satellite Of Love, which he released as a single in 1994.

Andy Gill sadly left us in 2020, a month after his 64th birthday. A superlative guitar player and producer, this is Gang Of Four at their blistering best.

And, if you're still in the mood for partying, John Digweed's no doubt having a 57th birthday bash later on. Not just a superstar DJ, John enjoyed chart success in the late 90s/early 00s as one half of Bedrock with Nick Muir.

Cheers to all of you!

 

Oh, and if you're wondering about today's cover photo, it was taken in the centre of Gloucester last month. If you zoom in, you'll see that some clever wag has written the word 'bellend' with an arrow pointing to Michael Gove. The beauty and brilliance of this impromptu scrawl is that the LBC news feed also scrolls to an item on Rishi Sunak, word and arrow again perfectly positioned. Let's hope both of these wankers and their contemptible cronies are out of government before the year's end.