The History of Rock

Part 13: Punk

The emergence of Punk in the mid-seventies was largely a reaction to the contemporary music scene, increasing commercialism and the spiralling cost of Jaffa Cakes. Punk reached out to a generation who felt excluded from mainstream culture. Its ethos was that anyone could make music and as a consequence the punk scene was mostly comprised of people who couldn't...

More: http://www.bleeding-obvious.co.uk/rock/articles/punk.php

The History of Rock

Part 12: The Great Disco Rush

What is it that makes a grown man pull on a pair of Day-Glo socks, slip into satin shorts and a sequined vest and spend his evenings careering aimlessly around a dingy club, alternately being blinded by strobe lights and falling over people in the dark...

More: http://www.bleeding-obvious.co.uk/rock/articles/disco.php

The History of Rock

Part 11: Glam Rock

Originating in the UK in the early 70s, glam rock is stylistically hard to pin down. That is, until you realise that it's all about the trousers...

More: http://www.bleeding-obvious.co.uk/rock/articles/glam.php

The History of Rock

Part 10: The Great Vinyl Shortage

It's astonishing to think that because of the international vinyl shortage no records were pressed in 1972...

More: http://www.bleeding-obvious.co.uk/rock/articles/vinyl.php

If I want to leave a post title blank, I damn well will...

Burgers

When amateur inventor Darius Bottomly discovered a cache of over 200 burnt and blackened bangers hidden in a patch of weeds at the bottom of his garden he obviously assumed that he had chanced upon some kind of natural sausage spring.   But when groundwater tests revealed an almost total absence of pork or beef, the mystery deepened.  It was only once he had observed his neighbour dropping them over the fence after a family barbecue that he realised that his garden was being used as a dumping ground for unwanted food.

Bottomly's response was to develop the self-propelling burger, a drone patty that can, at a given signal, flip itself up off the barbecue and strike any target within a two hundred yard radius.  The test flight of the prototype saw not only a successful launch but also a confirmed kill as it smashed straight through next door's patio window and fatally impacted the family's second favourite goldfish.  Bottomly's neighbour has since retaliated by stepping up his sausage dumping activities, launching wave after wave of the frazzled bangers over the boundary at random times throughout the day.  And although Bottomly admits that he is currently under siege, he is confident that the tide of the conflict will turn just as soon as he has perfected his sausage-seeking chicken drumstick which will be able to knock incoming meat products out of the air before they have chance to do any real damage.

The History of Rock

Part 9: The Osmonds

At the last count there were over four hundred thousand Osmonds and it wasn't so long ago that there was genuine fear that they would overrun the planet. Thankfully we now know that the population has reached equilibrium...

More: http://www.bleeding-obvious.co.uk/rock/articles/osmonds.php

Ricky Stratocaster's Patently Untrue Rock Facts #2:

Lou Reed is David Bowie's imaginary friend.

There are three different types of rocks:  igneous, sedimentary and metamorphic. (Note, this is probably the wrong type of rock fact).

The Beatles hold the record for the most consecutive weeks spent at No 1 Acacia Avenue, Leytonstone.

Elvis Presley was allergic to Tuesdays.

Record players weren't invented until five years after the invention of the vinyl record.  Officially, CD players still don't exist.