Well this is embarrassing. After basking in the glory of having just reached the momentous target of publishing 100 posts; after being incredibly grateful to my band of blogging buddies for leaving such great comments and finally; after telling everyone I would carry on for another 100 posts – I now have writer’s (or should it be blogger’s) block!
To be fair it’s not really blogger’s block, it’s just that the list of ideas for “songs and stories” I have jotted down over the months for future posts, now seem a bit dull and boring. I always thought that writing about songs would be easy as I could never, ever run out of material, so could it be that my best stories are behind me? I do hope not. Also as a self-confessed anorak when it comes to listings, cataloguing and alphabetisation, that magical number 100 against “No. of Posts Published” on my WordPress Summary page, is a really tidy one, and when I next press the “publish” tab, it will turn into a bit of an untidy number 101.
Lots of significance however to the number 101 – There is of course the torture room in the George Orwell novel Nineteen Eighty-Four which has in turn been the inspiration for the Radio then TV show Room 101 where celebrity guests are invited to discuss their pet hates and persuade the host to consign them to that fictional room. Works well and hosted by the affable Frank Skinner whom I am warming to more and more as both he and I get older. His Saturday morning show on Absolute Radio is one of my favourites.
Although there have been many albums inspired by the aforementioned novel, the only one I remember personally is The Eurythmics’ soundtrack album for the film Nineteen Eighty-Four which contains the song Sexcrime (Nineteen Eighty-Four), but not something I have in my collection nor would I want to (too intense for my liking). Having lived in Aberdeen for the best part of the ’80s I do feel disloyal to Annie Lennox for having said that, especially as about half the locals I worked with claimed they’d been to school with her (must have been a very big school), but not one of my favourites from that era. Nonetheless Ms Lennox always gave 110 percent as they tend to say on those reality/singing/karaoke shows (or should that be 101%) and also gave us some very striking and androgynous looks over the years.
But back to the number 101 – It does of course also look very much like a “binary number” and if I remember correctly (ok I cheated and looked it up), it equates in decimal to the number 5. There have indeed been many bands and songs with the number 5 in their name – The Jackson 5, Maroon 5, The Dave Clark 5, Five and of course those personable Pearsons from Reading, 5 Star! As for songs, I recently featured that upbeat ditty from McFly called 5 Colours in Her Hair (although not sure if my readership appreciated that one too much).
Final thoughts on the number 101 – Since starting this blog I have found myself in the company of some serious music buffs whose knowledge way surpasses my own and the first time I joined in with The Chain Gang, the link was to a song by the 101ers whom I hadn’t heard of until that point. They were the band that a young Joe Strummer (whose name has cropped up on these pages) left to join The Clash. The band’s name apparently came from the number of the squat they lived in at 101 Walterton Road, Maida Vale. I saw it as a “palindrome number” so came up with the suggestion Pacific State, the 1989 electronic chill-out track by that other palindromic outfit 808 State. Looking back, this choice was probably met with raised eyebrows as not the kind of thing you often see appearing over on The Chain. It was a favourite of an ex-colleague of mine, or rather I kept thinking it was whereas the one he actually did like was called Pacific Highway by someone else. It has become a great source of mirth however that I always got the two mixed up but ended up getting to like the wrong one better anyway. Oh yes, we know how to keep ourselves amused up here in Scotland during the long, dark, winter nights. (And, I only mentioned that because he is one of my very few real-life friends who know about this place.)
So, “What’s It All About?” – I think it’s just about having a bit of a crisis of confidence when sometimes you feel it’s best to quit whilst you’re ahead, but don’t really want to. Having revisited my list of “song and story” ideas however, there are definitely still quite a few in the tank, so you’re stuck with me for a while yet. I will quickly therefore get this post out of the way, as once onto number 102 it won’t seem quite so daunting and will simply be back to business as usual.
Glad All Over Lyrics
(Song by Mike Smith/Dave Clark)
You say that you love (Say you love me)
All of the time (All of the time)
You say that you need me (Say you need me)
You’ll always be mine (Always be mine)
I’m feelin’ glad all over
Yes, I’m a-glad all over
Baby, I’m glad all over
So glad you’re mine
I’ll make you happy (Make you happy)
You’ll never be blue (Never be blue)
You’ll have no sorrow (Have no sorrow)
‘Cause I’ll always be true (Always be true)
And I’m feelin’ glad all over
Yes, I’m a-glad all over
Baby, I’m glad all over
So glad you’re mine
Other girls may try to take me away (Take me away)
But you know, it’s by your side I will stay
I-I’ll stay
Our love will last, now (Our love will last)
‘Til the end of time (End of time)
Because this love, now (Because this love)
Is only yours and mine (Yours and mine)
And I’m feelin’ glad all over
Yes, I’m a-glad all over
Oh, baby, I’m glad all over
So glad you’re mine
Other girls may try to take me away (Take me away)
But you know, it’s by your side I will stay
I-I’ll stay
Our love will last, now (Our love will last)
‘Til the end of time (End of time)
Because this love, now (Because this love)
Is only yours and mine (Yours and mine)
And I’m feelin’ glad all over
Yes, I’m a-glad all over
Baby, I’m a-glad all over
So glad you’re mine
So glad you’re mine, now
(Mi-i-i-i-i-i-ine)
I said I’m so glad you’re mine
(Mi-i-i-i-i-i-ine)
So glad you’re mine, now
(Mi-i-i-i-i-i-ine)
Whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa
(Mi-i-i-i-ine)
What's It All About? 
Can’t see much in the way of writer’s block there!
Excellent title for your 101st post
Joe Strummer from The Clash started out in a band called the 101ers
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Sadly this next 100 might be a bit more difficult but I’ll go for it!
Yes the 101ers – my first dip into the world of The Chain and it’s truly been an education!!
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Love this post Alyson, so much of interest in in it, and agree with CC! The ‘writer’s block’ thing is something I’ve had frequently over nearly five years of blogging, but have often found that as soon as I decide to admit it and write about it, the floodgates open… at least for a while! Just lately though my problem has been one of having ideas but just not having the energy or the time to put them into words, it seems to become a gargantuan effort simply to start the process. I sometimes wonder though if I have just forever lost the knack of writing anything at length with ease; with letters being replaced by emails and now texts, it seems to take more psychological effort to compose anything that’s more than a few sentences long!
I know just what you mean about MJ. I too had a big prepubescent crush on him in the Jackson 5 years; he was cute, and he shared my bedroom wall space with Donny Osmond for a while (and some horses). Who’d have thought he could change so much?!
Love your confusion between Pacific State and Pacific Highway btw…. 🙂
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Thanks C but think I just had to get post 101 out of the way quickly as after the momentous post 100, it was always going to be a bit of a comedown. As I’m still relatively new to all this blogging malarkey compared with the rest of you, my biggest problem is still keeping away from the computer and getting on with the rest of my life, which has been seriously impacted this year! I do tend to give things 100% when I commit however and last year it was arranging reunions with old friends which involved travelling the length and breadth of the country; the year before that it was crafting; before that it was photography/walking and so it goes on… Anyway hope I can keep blogging through 2017 as have really enjoyed it. What I love about your posts is that they tend to be about something really visually interesting in every day life, that we might never have noticed ourselves – The Droste Effect, the names of beetles, old playing cards. Can’t wait to see what you might come up with next? And, less is usually more, so even a short post about something really interesting will always be really well-received.
PS – I’ve been wracking my brain trying to remember which famous painting has the Droste Effect (an identical painting within the original) – I’m pretty sure it was a Rembrandt but can’t find it anywhere. Will keep searching.
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