Christopher Fowler's Blog, page 522

It Must Be True…

Two men, one eyebrow – Dan & Dan are back with the Daily Mail Song, which I hope by now has become a big hit with Daily Mail readers all over the country. Except in Portsmouth, where they'll try to set fire to it, like they did with pediatricians, thinking they were pedophiles. It must [...:]

What I See Isn't What I Hear

Watching a pianist perform the other night as part of a large orchestra, I realised I was concentrating on her hands as she played a simple through-line to the piece, and slowly became aware that although other sounds (flutes, violins) were coming in around her to complicate the melody, the piece was anchored by the [...:]

The Last Of The Genius Film Composers

To the Royal Albert Hall last night to see Ennio Morricone, who conducted the Roma Sinfonietta Orchestra and the Crouch End Chorus (a total of 210 performers) in an astonishingly vigorous and thrilling performance of suites and pieces written for Italian cinema from the last forty years. Morricone was introduced by Sir Christopher Frayling, who [...:]

So Much For Cool Britannia

OK, I know it's near Liverpool and is meant to be a bit of fun, but by any standard Ladies' Day at Aintree produced a pretty grim picture of British fashion. When I first looked at the photos I thought it was a drag show or a Balkan circus, that perhaps the invite said 'Come [...:]

An End To All Fears

And so we enter our final week. The Campaign For Real Fear ends on Friday 16th April at 5pm – Maura McHugh and I will then choose the top entries for publication, so there's still time to wreak 500 words of havoc on us. If you've only thought about doing so – here's a tip: [...:]

Re:View – 'Clash Of The Titans'

I knew it was time to get out of the film industry when the same films started coming around again. The original 'Clash' was Ray Harryhausen's last gasp – we all wanted it to be as good as 'Jason And The Argonauts', but it wasn't, even with Sir Laurence Olivier as Zeus. Although the Gorgon [...:]

The Return Of Mr Cool

Poking about in the musty basement of Vinmag House in Brewer Street yesterday, I came across this flyer and presumed it was for a long-gone event, but NO! It's not yet happened! Having already had lunch with Hilary Dwyer from 'Witchfinder General' (and probably frightening the life out of her by reciting her dialogue lines [...:]

The Missing Single

I've posted before about an album called 'The Glare' (the title refers to the media's glare) by Michael Nyman and David McAlmont, in which the singer provides a songline over the music of Nyman's compositions, and you can find a track from it on this site called 'Take The Money And Run'. But even if [...:]

Outrage Or Creative License?

Here's a photograph that has a horrible inevitability about it; Imelda Marcos dancing with Henry Kissinger.
David Byrne and Fatboy Slim (Norman Cook) produced a song cycle called 'Here Lies Love' about the life of Imelda Marcos that is still causing outrage on the message boards. First, because to many who lived through the oppressive regime [...:]

Punk Is Dead

McLaren & Westwood 1977

You still see the odd Punk in the King's Road, usually a student who has stumbled upon old photographs and meticulously copied the clothes and hairstyle. One would like to think that punk evolved to oppose the Skinhead movement, but the streets weren't filled with Skinheads and Punks attacking each other's [...:]