Who is the real Boss?

Glastonbury, for some people, is the music festival to end all music festivals whereas for some other people, it’s about much more than the tunes. Whatever your opinion on the festival is, you cant deny it manages to bring together a whole host of fantastic artists and two of the biggest names in classic rock are turning up for the fun in what will probably be another mud-fest. If catching trenchfoot isn’t your idea of fun, don’t despair as there is the chance to catch Neil Young and Bruce Springsteen around the UK as well in the forthcoming weeks.
When it comes to long-life and still rocking out, its hard to beat Neil Young. Sure Bob Dylan manages to tour and wow fans the world over but he has moved back to an acoustic showcase but Neil Young remains ‘Rocking in the Free World’ with a set that draws on all the hard rocking albums he has released, many ably assisted by Crazy Horse. They may not be the most technically gifted backing band but they are perfectly summed up by Neil’s own view that Crazy Horse are the American Rolling Stones. Neil Young may be no Mick Jagger at the front of the stage but the boys at the back know how to blend a tune like Keith Richards, Brian Jones and co. Closely linked with The Byrds and Crosby, Stills and Nash, Young has remained at the cutting edge of music since the mid 60s. When many of his era were being scared by punk, Young was singing about Johnny Rotten and working with Devo. Well over a decade later, Young was making music with Pearl Jam and his lyrics about it being “better to burn out than fade away” was quoted in Kurt Cobain’s suicide note. From classic rock to grunge, via folk and electro, Neil Young is worthy of any platitude that may come his way.
Bruce Springsteen may not have the breadth and depth associated with Young but he has no less talent and has a few turns of pace up his sleeve. Some fans prefer ‘The River’ whereas the extremely popular ‘Born In The USA’ will always have support, his live performances are always a joy to behold and can last for hours and hours, depending on his mood. Johnny Ramone or Johnny Thunders may have felt that a short, sharp gig was the way to give their fan base genuine excitement but The Boss believes in giving value for money when he performs.
The thing is though, it is hard to think of Young or Springsteen without contemplating Bob Dylan, a contemporary of the Canadian and a huge influence on the All American boy. The times may be a changing but classic artists never go out of style or fashion and these three big names are proving this to be very true. The exact same can be said for Tom Waits, who may not have shifted the units in the manner of the other three but the gravel throated singer has a huge following of his own and with songs like ‘Tom Trauberts Blues’, more than holds his own in such illustrious company.
These guitar heroes can be found at Glastonbury or at their own major London shows this weekend and in other venues for the rest of the summer so if you fancy getting in touch with some genuine rock heroes, its never too late.

Let Rock Stars rule the world....

With the current financial and political crisis engulfing Britain and most of the world, you’d have to think that some of your favourite rock n roll heroes couldn’t do any worse than some of the clowns in charge of our lives at the moment? Would Ozzy Osbourne be any worse than Gordon Brown or would Angus Young be the man to lead the education department to higher levels of success. Perhaps the school uniform leads you to think that Angus Young will have an affinity with the needs of the kids but rock n roll is full of music school heroes and influences like Sid Vicious or Keith Moon. One musician putting himself in the running to have a say in governing public office is Krist Novoselic, a blast from the past from the 90s grunge world. Novoselic may not be as famous as former bandmates Kurt Cobain or Dave Grohl but he was an instrumental part in the success of Nirvana but he has already admitted his signing up for this role is nothing but a publicity stunt to advertise his displeasure at the flaws in the local political situation. The name of his party, the Grange Party, will bring to mind the era of grunge and the true impact that Novoselic made on the world.
The after Nirvana career of Novoselic may not be as rock n roll as Dave Grohl, the leader of the Foo Fighters a band who have probably outsold Nirvana and positioned themselves as stadium rockers alongside Red Hot Chili Peppers, U2 and AC/DC. Yes, Grohl is as much of an enigmatic front man as Anthony Keidis or Brian Johnson and would probably be guaranteed of enough votes if he ran for political office to sweep to power.
That said, the early 90s grunge band had a huge sway over their fans and have political ideas and this was shown perfectly by Pearl Jam, who are still railing against the injustices in the world. The biggest thing that Eddie Vedder and the boys managed was their campaign and Ticketmaster and the extortionate fees which means that even if Alive or the vocals of Eddie Vedder meant nothing to you, they are deserving of at least some of your respect. Singers like Layne Stayley may have burned out rather than fading away but Pearl Jam have hung around and even though Cobain will be forever linked with Neil Young for citing his lyrics to ‘Hey, Hey, My, My’ in his suicide note, it was Pearl Jam who recorded and played live with Neil Young in the mid 90’s.
Music has always had a strong link to politics with one of the most popular folk rockers and protest singers being Bob Dylan, a strong contemporary of Neil Young. Bob may no longer be the angry young man railing against the ills of the world but his influence still lives on and his views on life back then are still valid today. Many are concerned about the anti social behaviour shown by the youth of today and the lyrics of Subterranean Homesick Blues where Bob wails about the fact that “the pump don’t work cause the vandals took the handles” is as relevant today as it was when His Bobness first launched the track onto the world.

PAINTINGS FOR SALE

As previously mentioned, our new artist in residence, Tom Bloomfield has produced a range of limited edition paintings exclusively for sale at BathroomWall. Limited to just 50 each, these hand painted box canvases are 2 foot by 2 foot and even if we do say so ourselves, looking bloody ace.

The initial run sees paintings of Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash, Bruce Springsteen, Tom Waits, Slash, Morrissey and Bon Scott.

We have dozens more on their way, so keep an eye out.

Just one note, as the paintings are all produced by hand and to order (rather than prints), colours will vary slightly.

Cheers
Alex