“Back To The Future” I & II Comparison.

Cinematic trivia utterly fascinates me. It’s mostly what I use the internet for and this little nugget from “Back To The Future: Part II” always impressed me:

“Claudia Wells (Jennifer in “Back To The Future“) was unable to reprise her role as she had stopped acting because her mother had been diagnosed with cancer. Elisabeth Shue was then cast as Jennifer, and all the closing shots of “Back To The Future” were re-shot for the beginning of this film.”

“Back To The Future” and “Back To The Future: Part II” were shot roughly 4 years apart and Michael J. Fox visibly aged a little.

Folks, we didn’t have Youtube while I was growing up but I’m glad we do now because…

You May Also Be Interested In…
* “Back To The Future” Concept Art
* “The Godfather”: Robert DeNiro’s Audition Tape
* On The Set: The Movie Filming Locations Channel

Glasgow’s George Square Is OUR Rectangle!

The six new shortlisted designs for the revamp of Glasgow’s George Square have been unveiled and I’m almost speechless at how terrible and charmless they all are. ALL of them.

Luckily, I’m not completely speechless and I’d just like to take this opportunity to say this:

George Square Is OUR Rectangle! Leave those Victorian statues EXACTLY where they are!

The moving of Glasgow’s many Victorian statues like gigantic chess pieces is nothing new and it’s not that I or the many other people who live close to the square are against change. As a matter of fact, everybody I’ve personally spoken to is all for a revitalisation of George Square but, and listen carefully, as a PUBLIC and VERY GREEN space!

The statues that surround George Square have been discreetly moved over the years more than once but c’mon! They look so settled where they stand today. And everybody knows it except for the people in charge who very shortly are about to completely ruin George Square as we have come to know it.

Let’s take a look at the six new shortlisted designs for the Square and as always, click on the images to enlarge them.

Design One:

Design Two:

Design Three:

Design Four:

Design Five:

Design Six:

Design Six is apparently the current “most popular” design with Glaswegians. The best of a bad bunch I’d say.

I’m not very good expressing myself when I’m angry without using extreme profanities so here are some photos of how George Square has looked in the past…

1878:

1880:

1929:

1975:

Fireworks Night 2012:

…and here are two panoramic shots of how George Square currently looks today…

Don’t tell me what you think.
Write to Glasgow City Council and/or a decent Glasgow Newspaper you trust.
So not The Daily Record.

Keep right up to date with everything by visiting: Restore George Square.

You May Also Be Interested In…
* Future Glasgow
* The Glasgow Alphabet By Rosemary Cunningham
* Al Cook’s “Necropolis”

‘The Ginger-Snap Cream’ By Alan Cook.

This story is called: “The Ginger-Snap Cream” and it’s completely true.

When I was 8 years old, I tried a biscuit called ‘The Ginger-Snap Cream’ for the first time and I LOVED THEM and later on that same night, when my Mum and Dad were sleeping, I tip-toed down into the kitchen and I stole the ENTIRE packet of biscuits because I wanted them all to be mine.

I crept back up the stairs in the dark and hid the stolen ginger-snap creams under my pilow and over the next couple of days, I was pleased that nobody had noticed the missing biscuits.

One day, I came home from school to be confronted by my Mum and Dad who were holding up the now almost empty packet of ginger-snap creams and straight away, I broke and confessed EVERYTHING!

They told me that I was greedy and that I should be ashamed of myself.
And friends, they were quite right.

When Sunday came, I went into the ‘confessional box’ at chapel and confessed my secret thieveing greedy shame to the local priest who told me that Jesus and God were very disappointed in me and that the only way out of it was for me to say 25 ‘Hail Mary’ prayers, an ‘Our Father’ AND a ‘Glory Be’.

I thought the sentence was a bit harsh but I said every last one of those prayers anyway.

TO THIS VERY DAY, I feel greedy whenever I eat even the smallest amount of food and I also have a problem eating infront of people.

THE END.

Alan Cook. (Age 30).

The Beatles: UK & US Single Covers.

Everybody knows what every album by The Beatles looks like but I’ve found myself wondering about the sleeves of the old 45s.

I have a couple of singles by The Beatles but they’re scratched to all hell and the covers are long gone. They’re pretty much unplayable.

I’ve been looking up the sleeves of the UK singles and their US versions because I wondered what they looked like and it has surprised me.

With the exception of a few, they’re all a bit cheap looking with strange and sometimes out of focus photos.

It took me an incredibly long time to find all of these and I’ve tried my best to put them all in order. I’ve even polished a few of them up so that you can see better but if I’ve missed one or got something wrong, feel free to let me know.

Here are the UK and US covers of The Beatles’ 45s:

* Love Me Do / P.S. I Love You (1962).
UK:

US Version:

* Please Please Me / Ask Me Why (1963).
UK:

* From Me To You / Thank You Girl (1963).
UK:

* She Loves You / I’ll Get You (1963).
UK:

US Version:

* I Want To Hold Your Hand / This Boy (1963).
UK:

* I Want To Hold Your Hand / I Saw Her Standing There (1963).
US Only Single:

* My Bonnie / The Saints (1964).
US Only Single:

* Please Please Me / From Me To You (1964).
US Only Single:

* Do You Want To Know A Secret / Thank You Girl (1964).
US Only Single:

* Why / Cry For A Shadow (1964).
US Only Single:

* Ain’t She Sweet / Nobody’s Child (1964).
US Only Single:

* Can’t Buy Me Love / You Can’t Do That (1964).
UK:

US Version:

* A Hard Day’s Night / Things We Said Today (1964).
UK:

* A Hard Day’s Night / I Should Have Known Better (1964).
US Only Single:

* I’m Happy Just To Dance With You / I’ll Cry instead (1964).
US Only Single:

* And I Love Her / If I Fell (1964).
US Only Single:

* Match Box / Slow Down (1964).
US Only Single:

* I Feel Fine / She’s A Woman (1964).
UK:

US Version:

* Ticket To Ride / Yes It Is (1965).
UK:

US Version:

* HELP! / I’m Down (1965).
UK:

US Version:

* Eight Days A Week / I Don’t Want To Spoil The Party (1965).
US Only Single:

* Yesterday / Act Naturally (1965).
US Only Single:

* Day Tripper / We Can Work It Out (1965).
UK:

US Version:

* Paperback Writer / Rain (1966).
UK:

US Version:

* Nowhere Man / What Goes On (1966).
US Only Single:

* Yellow Submarine / Eleanor Rigby (1966).
UK:

US Version:

* Penny Lane / Strawberry Fields Forever (1967).
UK:

* All You Need Is Love / Baby You’re A Rich Man (1967).
UK:

US Version:

* Hello, Goodbye / I Am The Walrus (1967).
UK:

US Version:

* Lady Madonna / The Inner Light (1968).
UK:

US Version:

* Hey Jude / Revolution (1968).
UK:

* Get Back / Don’t Let Me Down (1969).
UK:

* Ballad Of John And Yoko / Old Brown Shoe (1969).
UK:

US Version:

* Something / Come Together (1969).
UK:

* Let It Be / You Know My Name (Look Up The Number) (1970).
UK:

* The Long And Winding Road / For You Blue (1970).
US Only Single:

* Yesterday / I Should Have Known Better (1976).
UK Only Single:

* Got To Get You Into My Life / Helter Skelter (1976).
US Only Single:

* Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da / Julia (1976).
US Only Single:

* Back In the U.S.S.R. / Twist And Shout (1976).
UK Only Single:

* Girl / You’re Going To Lose That Girl (1977).
Unissued Single:

* Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band / With A Little Help From My Friends / A Day In The Life (1978).

* Leave My Kitten Alone / Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da (1985).
Unissued Single:

* Baby It’s You / I’ll Follow The Sun / Devil In Her Heart / Boys (1994):

* Free As A Bird (1995).

* Real Love (1996).

You May Also Be Interested In…
* The Beatles’ Back Album Covers.
* The Singles Of John Lennon.
* The Albums Of John Lennon.

The Soundtrack To My Life. 20/08/2011.

Well, I’ve slowly been moving out of my flat for the past couple of days now and here are some of the records that have kept me from going mad…

Pokey LaFarge & The South City Three – “Live At The Newport Folk Festival 2010″:

Robert Crumb And His Cheap Suit Serenaders’ selt titled Debut Album (1974):

Leadbelly: “Easy Rider” (3-Disc Compilation):

Big Mama Thornton: “The Original Hound Dog” (1990):

The “One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest” soundtrack by Jack Nitzsche (1975):

Almost 2 years have gone by since I wandered into The Strathclyde Suite in The Royal Concert Hall and saw Pokey LaFarge & The South City Three play one of the best gigs I’ve ever seen and they are STILL one of my favourite bands right now.
Still!
I got a hold of their performance at last year’s Newport Folk Festival and it’s just as good as their studio work.
I listen to these guys a lot and the Newport performance put me right in the mood for some more oldies…

Robert Crumb And His Cheap Suit Serenaders.
- Now there’s a fucking band!
Robert Crumb is of course, THEE Robert Crumb; the World famous (and notorious) underground cartoonist and illustrator. If you think his drawings are the works of a genius, you should check out this debut album because it fits perfectly with his artwork and him and his band will take you right back to the 1920′s.
Back to when music was good and inspired and played with heart.
Back before it was cheap and disposable like most of it is now.

I’ve been playing that Leadbelly compilation up there quite a lot recently too because I don’t know how he gets his 12-string guitar to sound exactly like it does and I want to find out. I’m pretty sure it’s because he tunes real low and hits his guitar rather than plays it.

Big Mama Thorton’s version of  “Hound Dog” will always be better than Presley’s for me but this particular album has a song on it which I love just as much. It’s called “Big Mama” and I love it because it starts off like this:
“WELL…THEY CALL ME ‘BIG MAMA”BECAUSE I WEIGH 300 POUNDS!“
Big Mama Thornton is how I imagine the Woman at the top of those legs in the Tom & Jerry Cartoons to be!

I’m not moving house very far. In fact I’m moving next door to myself but that’s besides the point because moving can still drive you crazy and sometimes it’s better if you just go with it and Jack Nitzsche’s “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” soundtrack will take you all the way to crazy and back.
I love that soundtrack more than the six invisible penguins who helped me move my things out of the flat.
Cheers boys!

Time to lie down for a few days.
Good morning.