Greetings.  I've been struggling to find my blogging muse recently, so have decided to break out of this torpor by posting about a couple of pretty inconsequential things.     Firstly, I recently watched a doc about ex-Pogue Shane MacGowan called "If I Should Fall from Grace with God".  I was a big fan of the band in the 80's, saw them twice at the Masonic Temple (great shows, despite the forthcoming comment), and so wasn't too surprised when many years ago they booted out Shane for his alcoholism - famous for his drunkenness, and unable to stand up at the second performance we went to - but hadn't been aware of this film, which was made back in 2001, until a colleague at work mentioned it to me.    It's pretty hard watching at times, since Shane has apparently deteriorated in the ten years since he'd been in the public eye, and is still drinking straight from the bottle every day.  But it's also a pretty good telling of the story of the Pogues, and incorporates, as you might expect, a lot of their best music, some great live clips, and interviews with a few band members.    I've since gone back and listened to some of those great records, and for those among us (if there are any) who haven't heard anything other than a few numbers, I would recommend starting with the second and third records  "Rum Sodomy and the Lash", and the next one, the eponymous film title.   I was reminded upon re-listening me what a top-notch song-writer MacGowan was, and what an excellent group of musicians the Pogues were.  A Pair of Brown Eyes would have to make my list of fave songs of the 80's (were I to do one this week - ha).

My second note is on Jackson Browne.  Now here is a guy I thought I had no affinity for.  Sure I quite enjoyed Running on Empty and Doctor My Eyes as radio staples when I was in my early teens, but they never made enough of a connection with me to spend anything more than a passing listen or two with the albums.   He was a foundational element of that whole So Cal singer songwriter scene that I - in my twenties - dismissed as a soft, cocaine-addled Hollywoodization of what had been a great movement in the late sixties.   And his music in the eighties (as was typical of so many 70's giants), when I was listening more carefully, was over-produced and boring.    Can't recall what prompted me to go back and try him again, perhaps just an idle interest, or a radio spot, or the remembrance in the back of my head that he had written a few tracks on Nico's Chelsea Girl (they dated when he was 18, and she 29), but regardless, in the past few months I've bt'd a few of his early records - the self-titled debut, Too Late for the Sky, and For Everyman.    This is music that's not right in my wheelhouse, being very sincere, cleanly produced (overly so), and concerned primarily with relationships.  Also very straightforward musically - all within the standard four/five chord structure.    Having said that, I've found it to be a very rewarding listen, and improving with time, particularly Too Late for the Sky.    Very intelligent lyrically and played with passion.  And David Lindley's guitar work is extraordinary.  Overall a great middle-of-the-afternoon-on-a-weekend vibe.  Arguably just a further indication that I'm getting old, or that some of my adolescent pig-headedness  is finally wearing off.   I've definitely found myself able to enjoy this style of music in the past year - Joni Mitchell, Bill Withers, Roberta Flack, among others.    Frankly I'm still in shock.  

Any of you (I'm thinking Mike and Stuart but surprise me) loved JB before?  Or prepared to re-visit him based on my renewed enthusiasm?