Nick Drake would surely have approved of this:
Nick Drake performs Rainbow (kind of)
There’s real attention to detail, especially the sad face at the window. But it’s just the titles – no Zippy, I’m afraid. The orange one often appears in YouTube searches in our house, primarily because my daughter is a big fan of Rainbow. She is not the only fan, though.
Personally, I like the DVD where Zippy’s cousin from the US, Zippo, turns up and spends most of the episode rapping. I can’t find it on YouTube, but take it from me – it’s excellent stuff. By means of an apology, here’s some more information on Zippo from Wikipedia :
Zippo, Zippy’s cousin, identical in appearance to Zippy, who would make the occasional guest appearance. Originally portrayed as an eloquent Frenchman, but a later episode depicted him as an American-accented rapper with loud, flashy clothing.
Sometimes you miss an article that you later find and think: “Hmmm, this looks tasty”. I’ve just had such an episode, discovering and then reading ‘A sonic postcard from the past’ from The Guardian in early June:
In quiet corners of the British Isles, a strange kind of nostalgic music is prospering. Some of it summons up disused railway tracks and endless childhood summers through guitar drones, samples and field recordings…
…begins the article. They had me at the ‘endless childhood summers through guitar drones’ bit. The article goes on to discuss how a bunch of like-minded artists are making music inspired by concrete precincts and old ordnance survey maps. In other words, the best bits of geography.
The piece refers to a bunch of artists who often hail from the West Midlands and who make music that recalls all the best bits of the last 30-odd years of UK music. Basically we’re talking about my musical bag: Brian Eno’s ambience, shoegazing and 80s indie pop.
I’ve been listening to two of the main protagonists for a while, namely Epic45 and July Skies – both of whom rely on the skills of Anthony Harding. I’ve seen both acts associated with shogazing and post rock, but not Psychogeography – which according to The Guardian: “is the study of the spooky effects of the geographical environment on individuals”.
But whatever the ‘tag’, I like the sentimental mix of geography, guitar drones and the West Midlands.
“Let’s go in here,” I said. And I soon regretted my decision. Four pounds for a teddy bear holding some balloons? Now that’s expensive.
It was a ‘table top’ sale at an old people’s home. I thought there might be a bargain or two; maybe an interesting thing or two. I was wrong. There wasn’t much there and the stuff they did have was pricey. Not that my daughter cared, who co-opted me into purchasing the pricey teddy and a soft toy puppy. Two pounds for the puppy, by the way.
Anyway, I have returned home and completed my research. Here is a picture of the teddy, whose real name is apparently ‘Nina: Beary Happy Wishes’.
The above teddy is available on eBay, you lucky people. And at $5, the little chap works out better value than our second hand teddy. You also get the original box and papers, which is great – if you happen to collect ‘Chreished Teddies’ (as I now know the collection is called).
Still, my daughter seems to like Nina the teddy – which is the main thing, I guess.
In Eastbourne, more specifcally. I’m off to the south coast tomorrow for CIO Connect’s annual conference. I’m not expecting to do much strolling along the prom, or listening to brass bands play. But I am expecting some interesting debates about the current economic downturn and the future of business technology.
