the fyrehaus

• Peaches Geldof is annoyed she was sat next to The Enemy at the NME awards last night. [DS]
• Owen Gibson at the Guardian wonders if NME will be successful at making money off the awards. (This is the first time they’ve paired the awards with a gig punters could get into.) [Guardian]
• Loads of random gossip, my favorites being: Alex Kapranos giving his number to Glasvegas’ James Allen, and Kate Nash and Billy Bragg crashing Vampire Weekend’s table to sing along to the Cribs. [NME]
• Yet more random gossip: Pete Doherty was bleeding from a cat scratch, and Alexa Chung got food poisoning, but her Arctic Monkey boyfriend Alex Turner held her hair back in the loo. [Guardian]
• And Vampire Weekend got in a car crash. Drummer Chris Thompson is awake and will probably be released from the hospital this afternoon. [NME]
• To round out the NME awards detrius: pictures! [DS]
• A Heroes soundtrack will be released next month. It will include: Bob Dylan’s ‘Man in the Long Black Coat’, David Bowie’s ‘Heroes’, Wilco’s ‘Glad It’s Over’, Panic at the Disco’s ‘Nine in the Afternoon’, ‘Not Now But Soon’ by Imogen Heap, and ‘He’s Frank’ by Brighton Port Authority featuring Iggy Pop. [DS]
• Did you know Ja Rule was born on February 29th? So was Antonio Sabato Jr! [DS]

I love a well-made documentary, especially the kind broken up into convenient 45 minute bites. So I’ve watched a few “history of rock” things on MTV and VH1 before. But the BBC/VH1 Classic “Seven Ages of Rock” was really fascinating, especially because it’s unapologetically British in point-of-view. They certainly don’t ignore the American scene, but it is really only important in its relation to and influence on the British scene, all leading up to the apotheosis that is contemporary British Indie Rock, cockily titled, “What the World is Waiting For.”

In case you were wondering the ages are:

1. The Birth of Rock: The Who, The Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix (the BBC didn’t pay for worldwide rights to the Hendrix footage, so he’s largely missing from the VH1 cut)
2. Art Rock: Pink Floyd, The Velvet Underground, David Bowie
3. Stadium Rock: Led Zepplin, Queen, Kiss, Springsteen, U2
4. Heavy Metal: Black Sabbath, Judas Priest, Motley Crue, Metallica
5. Punk Rock: Sex Pistols, The Ramones, Television, Patti Smith, The Clash
6. American Alternative: Nirvana, REM, Black Flag (Actually, more like, the story of Kurt Cobain and some other guys. But really interesting.)
7. British Indie: The Smiths, Oasis, Blur, Stone Roses, The Libertines, Arctic Monkeys, Franz Ferdinand

I’m still trying to figure out how this story is missing Factory Records, other than a passing reference to dropping E at the Hacienda, though I suppose one could argue that is the story of Tony Wilson, and not any of the bands or the music. It’s a very linear story they’re trying to tell, so if you don’t quite fit in to the story, I guess they cut you. I’ve also confirmed yet again that I like punk, and generally hate metal. (Except for Master of Puppets and Enter, Sandman? Metallica can leave me alone.)

I’m terribly happy that there was a disparaging remark about Coldplay, whom I hate. For Sarah’s reference, the interviews with Damon Albarn and Alex Kapranos (and Dave Grohl, for that matter) are totally adorable, and Noel Gallagher comes off like a prat. A very rich prat.

You can go to VH1 Classic to see video footage of all the bands, including some that got left out, and keep your Tivos peeled for the reairing.

I’m not a music person. I love music, but I’m a theater person by love and trade, and that includes musicals. Believe it or not, Mamma Mia! (yes, the Abba musical) is a very well-done piece of theater. In my opnion, it’s the best that a jukebox musical can be, possibly because the music is so lame in itself that you can easily fit it into your made-up plot. There’s only 1 or 2 songs in the entire thing that don’t really flow very well within the book. I suspect this is why the Bob Dylan musical, (Times They Are A-Changin) and the Johnny Cash musical (Ring of Fire) crashed and burned so hard, the songs are already so loaded with meaning.

So I was very excited to hear they were making a movie of Mamma Mia! I was even more excited when they cast Meryl Streep, Pierce Brosnan and Colin Firth. I was a little concerned about Amanda Seyfried (Veronica Mars, Mean Girls, the truly horrible Wildfire) as the daughter, but the trailer has erased all concerns. This trailer has even made the totally jaded Megan and Sarah (who hates musicals) want to go see it.

Plus, shirtless Dominic Cooper (The History Boys) is a reason to see ANY movie.

Megan: I have officially started my Bob Dylan Phase
Megan: I’ve had a Beatles Phase and a Johnny Cash Phase
Sarah: Oh god
Sarah: Your phases are clearly ordered in declining interest to me
Megan: I had a Creedence Clearwater Phase
Megan: It was relatively short
Megan: And a Crosby Stills and Nash phase, like, a decade ago
Sarah: Your next phase is going to be, like, James Blunt
Megan: Sarah
Megan: I would NEVER have a James Blunt phase
Megan: That is just insulting

I have a theory.

My theory is such: every person I know can be thought of as a Bob Dylan song. Not summarized, that would be insulting.

It’s just that I feel that there is a Bob Dylan song that will make me think of specific people whenever I hear it. For example, “All I Want To Do” makes me think of Vhary. I’m still figuring out which songs make me think of Elisabeth and Sarah.