fishy cultural classics: coelacanth deep dinosaur

‘… prog rock giant Fish, as he delivered his farewell masterpiece Weltschmerz, acclaimed as one of the finest albums of his storied career… I’m never going to be playing stadiums or arenas again. And I definitely don’t want to be on the chicken-in-a-basket circuit..”
I knew Fish as the lead singer of Marillion in the 1980s, and this is a modern middle-aged version of a Henry Rollins 1980s ‘not selling out’ story I posted last week on Facebook.

5 years ago I finished my epic classic XaW Files: Beyond Humanity, bringing an end to my fantasy fiction writing… on its peak as far as I was concerned, burnt out from the 202 chapters/episodes. It was an introspective arty book, so I didn’t expect it to become a best seller; Pink Floyd said they wouldn’t have become successful nowadays!

I never reached the Fishy salmon heights of stadiums, being more of a coelacanth; rarely seen dinosaur down deep below. If a celebrity such as David Walliams or Russell Brand (I still liked him when writing the second of the trilogy Werewolf of Oz; he was an inspirational critic, like Banksy in art and Sacha Baron Cohen in conceptual comedy; but went against him when he started acting like a cult leader sexual philosopher with his Revolution book, but he’s still popular with the ‘ethical left’; who also support materialistic money orientated rappers!: Glastonbury ‘hippies’ seem to have sold out and given up on the environment!) had released XaW Files I think it would have received the plaudits Fish has received for Weltschmerz, but it’s remained a coelacanth cult classic!

Going halfway against its natural liberal leftie woke readership, keeping to the greenYgrey ethos; being most inspired by the original 1950s-1970s counterculture, but trying to support my working-class/underclass demographic (who mostly don’t appreciate such books); didn’t help, but that was also keeping in line with the punk in me; like Henry Rollins and Fish in the two recent examples.

I’ve enjoyed some bands I hadn’t seen before on the ‘greatest hits’ circuit in recent years; inspiring the gYg rock n’ roll hall of fame; and caught up with some again; and it gives musicians like Heavy Pettin’ a livin’; couldn’t resist a little wordplay parody; and audiences entertainment; so I’m ‘greenYgrey’ about that too!!

Bon Scott AC/DC and Rose Tattoo Rock Music History

Hi, it’s Tony Loboinson, history expert at the Greenygrey. Regular readers of Werewolf of Oz: Fantasy Travel by Google Maps might be wondering about Grey’s travelling partners’ human parallels’ rock n’ roll past, now that Angry has joined Bonzo, Elle and Grey on the dust sandy path.

Bon Scott 33rd Anniversary 

Cover of Bon Scott

Last week marked the 33rd anniversary of Bon Scott’s untimely passing away at age 33. AC/DC were just starting to make it big on the worldwide stage, which made the tragedy all the more cruel. While AC/DC have continued to make great music with Brian Johnson taking over vocal duties, their rawest and most inventive music was found on the Bon Scott albums.

The good news about the Bon Scott life story was that he had time to live a full life and create several albums worth of great music; achieving top ten chart success in AC/DC’s birthplace Australia; well as touring the world living the rock n’ roll life he loved.

The reissue of four old Bon Scott AC/DC songs together with the release of Touch Too Much from the newly finished Bon Scott AC/DC’s Highway to Hell album brought the band their first Top Forty UK singles.

AC/DC Influence on British Rock 

Cover of Blondie

Marc Latham was a youth looking for a musical tribe at the time, with Britain divided into distinct musical cultures such as punks, skinheads, hippies and rockers.

The peak of Blondie and New Wave was waning and he wanted something with more identity. He toyed with Two-Tone, liking some Madness and Specials, but it didn’t quite grab him.

The New Wave of British Heavy Metal (NWOBHM) was getting media coverage; with the barbarian look, sound and attitude appealing to Marc. Together with the raw sounds of Iron Maiden, Def Leppard and Saxon, Rainbow charted with a couple of great songs from their Down to Earth album.

Cover of Highway to Hell (Dlx)

When Marc heard the AC/DC songs released around the time of Bon Scott’s passing it made his mind up. He became a staunch rock and metal fan for the next fifteen years.

Although he sold many of his old albums, he still has all the Bon Scott AC/DC LPs. He also still has the first three Rose Tattoo LPs.

Australian Legends Bon Scott and Angry Anderson

To mark the recent Bon Scott anniversary Classic Rock magazine provided a great long article about his life and the night of his passing, which is available from the above link.

Angry Anderson “Rose Tattoo” (Photo credit: Rossco ( Image Focus Australia ))

It features Angry Anderson of Rose Tattoo; Angry’s human parallel; saying that Bon was the only one he invited to sing with the Tatts.

So, as Bonzo and Angry travel with Grey across Oz, they were also sharing stages in 1970s Australia.

Bon Scott Last Night Controversy

I thought I might have unearthed the definitive version of what happened to Bon on his last night in that Classic Rock article, but then saw in the comments that it was an old article, and Bon’s mysterious partying partner that night had been found, and given his version to Classic Rock and Metal Hammer.

Classic Rock replied that the old article had been updated, and that Bon’s partying partner had only spoken through a third party.

So the controversy will roll on. Thankfully, so will Bon’s great rock n’ roll…

Werewolf of Oz Preface and Y

Hi, it’s Greenygrey. Here’s the Werewolf of Oz preface. Part 3 of the published epic comedy-fantasy, poetry ramble, questionable quest; introduced by a declaration of Y:

Y is the 3-D tree of growth, thought and knowledge at the heart of the
greenYgrey 

PREFACE 

The book was made possible by using technology that has emerged in the digital age. Companies providing the broadband, software and websites include: Virgin, Amazon, Google, WordPress, Wikipedia, Photo Impact, Microsoft, Facebook and Koalanet (Aussie slang words). The author was grateful to acquire friends, readers, inspiration and information through the social media on some of those websites. Family and friends in the real world are also appreciated. Thanks also to those who have published, bought and praised the author’s previous work.

Writing Magazine provided most of the creative writing advice and instruction learnt before and during the writing of this book. The writer learnt most of his old rock from Kerrang and Classic Rock magazines, and usually listened to Planet Rock radio while working on the book. Comedy was learnt from cartoons, comics, television, magazines, films, books, people and animals from the 1960s to the present.

Dr. Marc Latham has been editing for seventeen years: eleven years of further education and six years of creative writing. He took a six-month career break to finish the book. Researching the book was both an enjoyable form of escapism and an informative geography lesson; the author was often sent on a trip down memory lane, and maybe that’s what the dust sandy path (yellow brick road) is all about.