August 24th: Dear readers, I seem to have spent most of this week going ‘hmm, that doesn’t seem very fair’. On the news Cameron keeps getting praise for the Olympics that weren’t his idea and the hideous convoluted monarchist opening ceremony is getting heaps of praise unlike the more music-orientated closing ceremony featuring members of no less than four AAA members (which even the spice girls couldn’t ruin). As for the jobcentre – well let’s just say that having another stupid unnecessary form to fill in and being screamed at in the jobcentre for daring to – gosh – be found unfit for work isn’t exactly fair either. It’s a dog’s life – literally if the dark and sinister tale portrayed in this week’s review is anything to go by. All I can tell you is I haven’t seen our AAA mascot Max The Singing Dog around for a while (see various Youtube videos...) and he did mention something about going for a holiday in an animal-infested parallel universe... Meantime, there’s no real news for you this week – or indeed in our news column (unless something amazing happens between now and our next publication date). So, instead, it’s on with the birthdays... ♫ Human League News: There is just one bit of late news for you – a new Human League CD and DVD set entitled ‘Sight and Sound’. The set, which is released on August 27th, doesn’t contain anything that hasn’t been released before but is the first time the music videos (collected on ‘The Very Best Of’ DVD) have been available alongside the music. Given that the League are one of only three AAA bands to have been around since the beginning of the video age (Oasis and Belle and Sebastian being the others) it is a rare chance to see their career develop from first to last – although sadly nothing from unfairly maligned last album ‘Credo’ seems to have made it into the track listing. ANNIVERSARIES: birthday balloons all round for this week’s birthday boys (AAA members born between August 22nd and 28th): Keith Moon (drummer with The Who 1965-78) who would have been 66 on August 23rd and Chris Curtis (drummer with The Searchers) who would have been 71 on August 26th. Anniversaries of events include: Second Beatles film ‘Help!’ premieres in America (August 22nd 1965); John Lennon marries first wife Cynthia in the presence of Paul, George and Brian Epstein but Ringo – who has been in the band a matter of a fortnight – doesn’t find out about it till afterwards (August 23rd 1962); security guards at a Stones concert in Manchester get so desperate to keep control of rioting fans they end up turning hoses on the audience mid-show! (August 23rd 1965); Patti Harrison goes to a lecture given by the Maharishi at the London Hilton and persuades her husband George to visit his next lecture in Bangor when she returns home (August 24th 1967); Mark David Chapman receives a life sentence for the murder of John Lennon (August 24th 1981); The Who revive Tommy for the first time in 15 years with an all-star charity event Los Angeles’ Universal Ampitheatre (August 24th 1989); Brian Wilson makes his only stage appearance with The Beach Boys between 1966 and 1976 (August 25th 1967); Henry McCullough becomes the first – of several – members to leave Paul McCartney’s band Wings (August 25th 1973); The Beatles see the Maharishi at Bangor, Wales (August 26th 1967); 10cc make their first stage appearance at the Isle Of Mann’s Douglas Palace Lido (August 26th 1973); The Beatles take a break from their latest American tour meet Elvis at his Beverly Hills’ Home (August 27th 1965); Brian Epstein, Beatles manager, dies of mysterious causes (August 27th 1967); Apple Records launches in the UK with two singles, The Beatles’ ‘Hey Jude’ and Mary Hopkins’ ‘Those Were The Days’ (August 27th 1968); The Rolling Stones sign with manager Allen Klein (August 28th 1965) and finally, Cat Stevens releases his second-best selling single ‘Moonshadow’ (August 28th 1971).
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