The Electric Light Orchestra

The Electric Light Orchestra and I go back in time buying the 45's as they came out in the 1970's and early 80's a good number in their colourful picture sleeves, playing them at school and home and later on getting a good number of their albums on cd having borrowed  them from either brothers, friends or the public library.

The Elo, were a band that defied the single or album orientation bias  many back then had issuing worthwhile albums and many memorable singles such as Telephone Line, All Over The World, Mr. Blue Sky, Don't Let Me Down and Rock and Roll Is King.

That can make having a compilation quite desirable however there's been a good number starting from 1979's Greatest Hits that in some ways is remains the perfect summary of the 1973-77 singles and double or even triple cd sets.

The one I remember getting in December 1997 was Light Years, a mid price British double issued on cd, cassette and mini disc which was jam packed full of material including edited versions from singles and an EP, in no particular order and suffered from being too consistently loud and bright so I relented and got the original Greatest Hits album on a cheap cd. 

I did briefly get 1991's Greatest Hits Vol II but that sounded very thin although the selection was very good so I got rid of it.

That did leave missing a selection of the later hits as most miss off anything from the  Zanadu soundtrack that gave us three hit singles and to which the title song had been re-recorded in 1991 for the Flashback cd  box set that was criticized for chopping off the very start and ends of a number of tracks.

The one pictured above most would consider the best of the bunch having most of the essential tracks including the very early tracks and was very well mastered by Vic Anesini in 1995 who did excellent work on a number of Columbia projects like the Simon & Garfunkel remasters.

It was only issued in North America and recently I obtained a copy to fill those gaps and having the European Zanadu soundtrack on cd that came out in 1998, the missing tracks from it aren't so much of an issue with me. 

It sounds really good with the extra resolution from using good tapes and taking extra care about how you make each track sounds. 

My feminine gurl likes

 

I've always had something for pleats in my skirts, may be a lingering bit of my memories of trying on girls school uniforms but generally they hang better on me, having that bit extra pouf that I like so it's hardly surprising I like to be put in them.

Today, I'm having to rest, well kinda rest anyway which wasn't really planned for and has little of itself to do with what this blog usually talks about although the weekend started off pretty well. You see yesterday was day one of Study Weekend as I was getting to grips with paragraphing and punctuation which to be honest is something I struggled with at least because I had poor idea of what were never mind how you use them in written English. 

I did pretty well on the set exercises going over what I had learnt which was very much eye opening before it was time to go from where I study to the main lounge to take a break before having an evening meal. 

Talking about fashion,  most of the time when it comes to footwear it's a variation on Mary-Janes or maybe a  canvas plimsoll that I wear not least with poor co-ordination and balance any kind of heel is off.

I must say though these thick soled platform Hello Kitty shoes do have a irresistible cute appeal to me.

Stepping out as you

 

Going off with a mate to play and have fun together was always a part of this life even though modern day gaming was very much in its infancy with small 8 bit consoles that hooked up to your tv and computers were not Personal more corporate back then.

It is interesting how both boys in otherwise fairly masculine attire have cute good luck charms attached to their backpacks where over here at the time I was in my teens it was all about grey and being unobtrusive.

The thing about being a boy is there is lots of ways and you can blend them.

The thing we need to break is this cycle of "only real boys do" which places artificial limits and often gives comfort for homophobic, transphobic and feminine boy hating attitudes and aggression. Girls and Sissy Gurls are into gaming too.

Beethoven symphonies

Collecting classical recordings often seems daunting with many hundreds of recordings being issued over the decades and made available in differing forms. Beethoven was an early passion of mine from hearing many of his works on the radio or through borrowed discs.

When I first started collecting recordings as a teenager this disc and several others that were issued on Classics For Pleasure were what I bought in the lp era and recently they were issued by Warner Japan who bought the rights to EMI's classical output on hybrid Super Audio cds that also have a layer that play on regular cd players.

The set comes in a thick card box holding the discs in a high quality card set of digipak cases with clearly labelled spines and a gorgeous booklet with reproductions of the French lp covers and commentary in Japanese about the recordings and of course Beethoven himself  printed on top quality paper.

 
To me at least there is a difference between seeking out outstanding versions of individual symphonies and finding a set to live with, and while there are undoubtedly performances of single symphonies available which could compete with the best, it is as a coherent and aesthetically consistent survey that Cluytens accounts - available in this set - are best considered.

I feel there is a rightness to his judgement which proves enormously satisfying on repeated listening's and there is a special interest in hearing the fruits of a combination of several stellar talents: the virile, robust sound of the pre-Karajan Berlin Philharmonic, the production genius of Walter Legge working in a congenial recording acoustic, the Romantic but never indulgent interpretations of am under-rated conductor who died all too soon, and the especially fine vocal contributions from an unusual team of soloists and the wholly committed choir of St Hedwig's Cathedral - wrapped up in a set bought from a Japanese owned Ebay store.

In my teens I became acquainted with Beethoven's symphonies through these performances when they were available as budget LP's on the EMI Classics for Pleasure label collecting the complete set and was worried that many years later my judgement would be clouded by sentimental attachment, however having listened intently to a good many other versions, I find that this set stands up remarkably well. 

The Pastoral (my favourite of the lot) and the Ninth have long been praised but you will find equally enthusiastic endorsements of every symphony here in one review or you'll be hard pressed to find a discouraging word. 

They are not the last word in individuality, nor do they bear the stamp of a particular approach, but Cluytens seems to understand and appreciate the spirit and heart of this music. Absolutely no-one captures the cat-like tread of the opening of the Fourth the way Cluytens does; rhythms and accents are beautifully sprung and he pays close attention to dynamics. I was also especially pleased to discover that Nicolai Gedda, was much more impressive than I remembered him in the Choral, and the soaring refulgence of Gre Brouwenstijn's soprano is a special treat.

Herbert von Karajans recordings with the Berlin Philharmonic are often interesting but to me he's never conducted an even as set as this Cluytens set with the same orchestra.

The set had been issued in 2010 as a budget five cd box set of pretty decent sound but comparing that with the new set shows the remastered stereo sound is warmer and more spacious preserving a sense of being present at the session that show the excellence of the recordings made between 1957 and 1959.

Recorded and included on the original lp issues were a series of six overtures which are not on the sacd issue.

Fortunately at the same time the symphonies box set was issued, Warner Japan issued this separate Super Audio disc that gathers them all together with firmer more improved sound.

Around the same time but this time with the French National Radio Orchestra, EMI recorded André Cluyten's conducting Beethoven's Violin Concerto with the celebrated violinist David Oistrakh.

This also was issued in this format newly remastered and I recently picked up a copy.

Gurl world

The world of the sissy gurl can prove to be an interesting place...

Nigel would end up becoming Nigella as they ceased being a boy in any everyday observed sense, finding their rightful place as a gurl amongst and at the beck and call of girls their own age.

Soon you began to crave to have new outfits to match your ever increasing number of dollies you play with your girl friends with.

You find yourself learning how to walk the walk and talk the talk as a sweet young gurl with deportment classes to attend.

Things were never going to be the same but then you never wanted that in the first place cos you knew you were a gurl.

The bonds and emotions of a LSG

It's not that often I talk about emotions least of all what feels to be me  but there are times when I think it makes sense to not least for everything really comes together for me and this whole journey I've been through so far in. 

One thing is a childhood routed in fear, fear of how other kids could and did ill treat me from 'being sent to Coventry' though bullying, of a homelife where domestic tension to the point of things being thrown and calls to the police being made lead to me being at times even now feeling gripped by crippling anxiety. 

That's before all the stuff around being a sissy gurl comes into it.

The problems I have with my disabilities as much as admit to using them as an excuse to be lazy and for adults to allow that to happen, compounded it with difficulties in making myself understood, difficulties in understanding others, in having a understood secure sense of place that I had a working knowledge of 'The Rules'. 

The whole thing leads to a "crippling terror of existence" for me so it's hardly surprising that a protective practically Child to Adult relationship is where I find myself in where the physical expression of affection in the way of cuddles and hugs, the love that is shown in overseeing, guiding me anew and the loving hands that have me at my most vulnerable over their lap spanking me feels so good.

R.I.P David Bowie (1947-2016)

Like most of you I woke up, Monday (1/11/2016) around a quarter of Seven to the shock news that David Bowie had dead at the age of Sixty-Nine something the shocking for Blackstar, his last album had only been released Friday to glowing reviews. 

I'm feeling rather numb even now about this but in looking at his achievements, the first thing I would say is he seldom if ever repeated himself, sometimes to a fault, always reinventing himself and working with new ideas and exploring whole different genres.

His catalogue could never be described as being in anyway samey, indeed you find some fans have one period they major on although perhaps basic I have a more wider interest in music and music-making I'm not in that camp.

He broke new ground in the topics he sang and wrote about, brought new sounds to the mainstreams ears...and moved on to the next.

I could never just pick a half dozen of his albums although Hunky Dory, Aladdin Sane, Diamond Dogs Station to Station and Scary Monsters sure would feature.

The other area I'd say was outside of music, he was a proper actor who did star in three films not least The Man Who Fell To Earth and in several stage productions, did understand the importance of creating personas, costumes and staging  which in conjunction with the use of music videos which he was a pioneer of, provided the total package.

It's quite probable that the American Hard Rockers Kiss were influence by aspects of his work, the story telling and that total package from Hunky Dory and Ziggy era.

The other area was in being open about his sexuality, exploring gender presentation together with  Lou Reed and to an extent Elton John collectively they opened up a conversation around what it means to have a sexual and gender identity, how we express it and how that differs for all of us. 

For anyone who was Lgbtqi in the 70's and 80's you don't need me to say just how being himself, David give us space and aided the greater toleration of difference. 

We owe him that regardless of our music tastes and I suspect for a good number of the depth of feeling we have in mourning him is influenced by that, it has a personal quality to it.

He also to his credit took on MTV in its lack of music of black origin in it's early days and even of the faces of People of Colour from its programming and got that changed.

Rest in Peace David.