The Gonzo Daily: Monday/Tuesday
A few years ago when Leonard Cohen died, I wrote something on Facebook, concluding with the line "but at least we still have Scott Walker". An ex-girlfriend of mine, with whom I am still on friendly terms, commented underneath "for you it will always be Scott Walker", and she was right. Ever since - thirty years ago - I first heard his incomparable voice, and said aloud that "if God could sing, this is what he would sound like", Noel Scott Engel aka Scott Walker has been my favourite male singer.
Bizarrely, this exchange of Facebook comments wandered into my mind unbidden this morning as I limped downstairs to face the rigours of the day ahead, but soon joined the other bits of mental flotsam and jetsam, as I sat myself down, and began to formulate the shape of the day ahead. Then Graham came in and said: "I think you'll want to reorganise this week's magazine... Scott Walker has died".
The world went momentarily silent, and I felt an enormous rush of emotion that I was truly not expecting. I am sixty in a few months, and that is far too old to be crying over the unexpected death of a pop star. But cry I did, and whilst somewhat bemused by it, I am not at all ashamed. Scott Walker made an uneasy transition between the arty, cinematic pop music of The Walker Brothers and his first four albums, and the spikey avant garde of his later work (making a couple of peculiar country and western records along the way, and a brief anabasis into 1970s AOR). I believe that I owned all his records, and whilst Scott III and IV were my favourite, I truly believed that they all had no little merit. I acted as a proselytiser for the Church of Scott for several decades, with Max Blake being the person who I converted most successfully.
Scott was an intensely private person, and when I read in the 4AD obituary that he had been "survived by his daughter, Lee, his granddaughter, Emmi-Lee, and his partner Beverly," I was not surprised that although I vaguely knew he had a daughter, I had never heard of either Emmi-Lee or Beverley. But it is hardly surprising. Hardly any of his fans - the Walkerpeople who communicated by fanzine and later by internet news groups - knew anything about his private life. And this is the way that he wanted it, and this was the way that it was, and I don't think that I, at least (and I am an avid reader of rock biographies) ever wished for anything else.
In recent weeks I have been ranting that the BBC have been hardly mentioning the enormous global climate change protests, and I have muttered darkly about "establishment collusion". But someone at the BBC is of like mind to me: Scott Walker, a man who had not had a hit record for 43 years, has made it to the second line of stories on the BBC News website, alongside the Prince of Wales, the Duchess of Cornwall, and Donald sodding Trump. And so it should be. The world is a very different place now we know that there will be no more irritating, baffling, complex, and above all big-hearted music to come from Scott Walker.
And yes, I am still on the edge of tears, and again I would not have expected that.
Toodle-pip
YER EDITOR SEZ:
THE DIGITAL PRAYER FLAG
Regular readers will know that we recently shared the positive news about Corinna's health with you all, and that - at least at the moment - she appears to be cancer free. I am convinced that her condition is a direct result of the good wishes, prayers, and positive vibes from thousands of people around the world.
A prayer flag (Lung ta) is a colourful rectangular cloth, often found strung along mountain ridges and peaks high in the Himalayas. They are used to bless the surrounding countryside and for other purposes.
Find out more:
I believe something similar happens with positive vibes transmitted electronically, and - having used it to such good effect with my dear wife's condition, I want to try it on a larger scale. I am still trying to work out the details, so watch this space.
Blessed be.
ALL TODAY'S GONZO NEWS WOT'S FIT TO PRINT:
THOM THE WORLD POET: The Daily Poem
SCOTT WALKER HAS DIED
LEONARD COHEN
THE GONZO TRACK OF THE DAY: Scott Walker - The Ele...
COMING THIS WEEKEND
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And by the way chaps and chappesses, a trip to the Jon Downes megastore may seem to be in order:
Meanwhile I continue to pretend that I am a popstar, because now I have sold eight whole copies of my new album Coldharbour. If I continue at this rate I will get a silver disc sometime at the beginning of the next millenium. Coldharbour, by the way, can be found here: https://jondownes1.bandcamp.com/releases
I think it is really rather good, but then again I would say that wouldn't I?
I do have good news to impart: Lars Thomas' book about the mystery land animals of Scandinavia and the Baltic States has been uploaded, and over at Gonzo the first volume of Kev Rowland's The Progressive Underground is also imminent. And at Fortean Fiction, my latest novel - 'Zen and Xenophobia' - vaguely a sequel to 2015's 'The Song of Panne' - is now available.
! would warn you that if you are of a nervous disposition, or easily offended, you will find parts of my novel both offensive and upsetting. There is sex, violence, drug abuse, occultism, pornography, firearms, politics, religion, and not a little sociology. But there is also love, kindness, faith, and redemption. And it's a cracking good yarn. Or I think so, at any rate. All I would say on the subject before bidding you farewell is Caveat Lector. And I'm not gonna explain what that means, because because if you don't know what that means then you probably shouldn't be reading the book in the first place.
AND THE LATEST ISSUE OF THE GONZO MAGAZINE:
Gonzo Weekly #329/30
THE EVERYTHING'S GONE GREEN ISSUE
In a specially green issue we bring you the adventures of Charlie X, Steve Andrews tells of the awful fires in Colombia, and Jon and Charlotte go on climate strike. John goes to see Steely Dan and Steve Winwood, we interview Martin Gordon about his Brexit inspired single, Graham keeps us up to date with Hawkwind news, Alan writes about Chrysalis, we review the new book by Stephen Clarke 1980, and Jon is amused by the Queen biopic Bohemian Rhapsody.
Hail Eris!
And there are radio shows from Mack Maloney and Friday Night Progressive AND Strange Fruit. AND there is a column from Kev Rowland, BUT C J Stone, and Neil Nixon, Roy Weard, Mr Biffo, and the irrepressible Corinna are on hiatus. There is also a collection of more news, reviews, views, interviews and rock wallabies who've blown a fuse (OK, nothing to do with the relatively small macropods who are having electrical problems, but I got carried away with things that rhymed with OOOOS) than you can shake a stick at. And the best part is IT's ABSOLUTELY FREE!!!
This issue features:
Bohemian Rhapsody, John Lennon, Yoko Ono, Michael Epstein, Queen, Michael Jackson, Jon Anderson, Yes, Martin Gordon, Shakti Fest, Strange Fruit, Friday Night Progressive, Mack Maloney's Mystery Hour, Douglas Sandom, Stephan Ellis, Edward Isaac Bickert, CM, Paul Williams (ne Paul William Yarlett), André George Previn, KBE (ne Andreas Ludwig Priwin), Leo de Castro
(ne Kiwi Leo de Castro Kino), Keith Charles Flint, Magenta Devine (nee Kim Taylor), Sara Romweber, Mike Grose, Edward Taylor (Eddie Taylor Jr.), James Dapogny, Asa Brebner, Hal Blaine (ne Harold Simon Belsky), John Kilzer, The Fall, Rick Wakeman, The RAZ Band, America, Alan Dearling, Neil Goodwin, Charlie X, Chrysalis, John Brodie-Good, Steely Dan Band, Steve Winwood, Kev Rowland, Hallux, Hartmann, Infinitee, Infrared, Issa, James Christian, Jared Gold, Jupiter Society, Gregg McKella, Dr Sardonicus Midwinter Nights Dream Psychedelic Festival #2, Paradise 9, Broken Lines, Lost Tuesday Society, Sendelica, Twink, Tony Klinger, Steve Andrews, Colombia, Kogi Mamos, Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, climate change, Hawkwind, Jon Downes, The Wild Colonial Boy, Martin Springett, Thom the World Poet, Stephen Clarke
And the last few issues are:
Issue 329-30 (Charlie X)
Issue 327-28 (Hawkwind)
Issue 325-26 (Gonzo)
Issue 323-24 (Irvine Welsh)
Issue 321-22 (Discordianism)
Issue 319-20 (Brix Smith)
Issue 317-18 (Christmas)
Issue 315-16 (Steve Miller)
Issue 313-14 (Hawkwind)
Issue 311-12 (Extinction Rebellion)
Issue 309-10 (Steve Hillage)
Issue 307-8 (Michael Moorcock)
Issue 305-6 (Maartin Allcock)
Issue 303-4 (kOZFEST)
Issue 301-2 (Ringo Starr)
Issue 299-300 (Aretha Franklin)
Issue 298 (Alan in Hungary)
Issue 297 (Shir Ordo)
Issue 295-6 (Robert Berry)
Issue 294 (Bow Wow Wow)
Issue 293 (Stonehenge)
Issue 292 (Rolling Stones)
Issue 291 (Alien Weaponry)
Issue 290 (Frank Zappa)
Issue 289 (Misty in Roots)
Issue 288 (Paula Frazer)
Issue 287 (Boss Goodman)
Issue 286 (Monty Python)
Issue 285 (ELP)
Issue 284 (Strangelove)
Issue 283 (Record Store Day)
Issue 282 (Neil Finn and Fleetwood Mac)
Issue 281 (Carl Palmer)
Issue 280 (Steve Andrews)
All issues from #70 can be downloaded at www.gonzoweekly.com if you prefer. If you have problems downloading, just email me and I will add you to the Gonzo Weekly dropbox. The first 69 issues are archived there as well. Information is power chaps, we have to share it!
You can download the magazine in pdf form HERE:
SPECIAL NOTICE: If you, too, want to unleash the power of your inner rock journalist, and want to join a rapidly growing band of likewise minded weirdos please email me at jon@eclipse.co.uk The more the merrier really.
* The Gonzo Daily is a two way process. If you have any news or want to write for us, please contact me at jon@eclipse.co.uk. If you are an artist and want to showcase your work, or even just say hello please write to me at gonzo@cfz.org.uk. Please copy, paste and spread the word about this magazine as widely as possible. We need people to read us in order to grow, and as soon as it is viable we shall be invading more traditional magaziney areas. Join in the fun, spread the word, and maybe if we all chant loud enough we CAN stop it raining. See you tomorrow...
* The Gonzo Daily is - as the name implies - a daily online magazine (mostly) about artists connected to the Gonzo Multimedia group of companies. But it also has other stuff as and when the editor feels like it. The same team also do a weekly newsletter called - imaginatively - The Gonzo Weekly. Find out about it at this link: www.gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.co.uk
* We should probably mention here, that some of our posts are links to things we have found on the internet that we think are of interest. We are not responsible for spelling or factual errors in other people's websites. Honest guv!
* Jon Downes, the Editor of all these ventures (and several others) is an old hippy of 59 who - together with a Jack Russell called Archie, an infantile orange cat named after a song by Frank Zappa, and two half grown kittens, one totally coincidentally named after one of the Manson Family, purely because she squeaks, puts it all together from a converted potato shed in a tumbledown cottage deep in rural Devon which he shares with various fish. He is ably assisted by his lovely wife Corinna, his bulldog/boxer Prudence, his elderly mother-in-law, and a motley collection of social malcontents. Plus.. did we mention Archie and the Cats?
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