Although I could have sworn that we’ve done this already (maybe in a dream?), today’s musical test of memory concerns songs with colours in the titles and lyrics. Heck, even bands that have taken a colour and made a name for themselves out of it. Think of it as a distraction for those who are already distracted by last-minute transfer dealings on deadline day. (Alexander Hleb to Birmingham City?)

In memory of Birmingham son, Carl Wayne, who died on this day in 2004, this was The Move’s only No.1 single among many a memorable hit – in December 1968.

Perhaps best remembered for his frenzied destruction of stage props during performances, which once included hacking through a Cadillac at London’s Roundhouse whilst strippers did their thing (and resulted in The Move being temporarily banned from every theatre in the UK), Carl Wayne also succeed Allan Clarke as lead vocalist for the Hollies in 2000, found time to act both on stage in the West End (in Blood Brothers – for six years) and on television (including the much-loved British soap opera, Crossroads), and so very admirably ran major marathons to raise funds for research into leukaemia. I think the latter fact alone makes him worthy of your remembrance and respect today.

Here are six songs which have a colour in their title. Can you add to them? There have to be at least a dozen songs for each and every colour in the rainbow – the rainbow as sung by The Dells, preferably. What a performance that is.

- Beatles, ‘Old Brown Shoe’
- Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, ‘Red Eyes and Tears’
- Leonard Cohen, ‘Famous Blue Raincoat’
- Little Barrie, ‘Green Eyed Fool’
- Joni Mitchell, ‘Big Yellow Taxi’
- Red Hot Chili Peppers, ‘Purple Stain’

All that’s left for me to do is remind you that the chatroom will be open tomorrow from 3pm (UK). My apologies again for cancelling yesterday’s chat at short notice; I hope to see you tomorrow instead. Newcomers are very welcome and everything you need to know about the chatroom can be found here, so do drop in.

By the way, I do realise that, scientifically, black isn’t a ‘colour’ as such; colour being the result of the distortion of light and black objects absorb light but cannot reflect it, or something like that. But it still counts as a colour for the purpose of this exercise, as does white, if only because ‘Paint it Black’ and ‘White Rabbit’ are two of the finest songs ever recorded. I mean, who really cares about physics?

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I can now provide a much more thorough answer to the sporadic questions concerning The Orb’s new album and David’s involvement in it. I apologise for skirting the issue until now.

David is not working with The Orb on a new album, contrary to some reports, but you may remember that he had been in the studio jamming with Martin “Youth” Glover in recent months, who was at the time working on an ambient mix of the ‘Chicago’ re-recording, which was released to raise awareness of the plight of Gary McKinnon (as confirmed in News: David & Orb Rumours True – Up To A Point, 7 October 2009).

Alex Paterson was not involved in the sole jamming session and the only plan initially was for David to play guitar on that one track – ‘Chicago’.

However, as it turns out and as you can see, the result of that jam session has now been spread across the next Orb album, Metallic Spheres, which will be released as ‘The Orb featuring David Gilmour’.

So there you have it. He was working on an album with The Orb. Sort of.

It will be released in multiple formats worldwide in October this year, date to be confirmed shortly, and all artist royalties will go to helping Gary McKinnon’s campaign against his extradition.

In addition to the standard album, there will be a ‘Deluxe’ double-disc version: the first disc is the same as the standard, the second is a 3D60™ version, which, as the name suggests, allows you to listen in glorious three-dimensional sound.

3D60™ is a new sound production process developed by Youth, Mike Brady (The Jam’s live sound engineer) and Ian Thompson (musician and multimedia producer). You don’t need any special equipment to enjoy 3D60™, by the way; it will sound amazing on any headphones in any format. Have a listen.

As well as the option of downloading the standard album from iTunes, there will also be a vinyl version, exactly the same as the standard CD, but including a download card permitting you to download the full album plus an additional ambient bonus. So that’s something you’ll be familiar with from the various guises of Live in Gdańsk.

You can expect more at Latest News as additional details, including the release date and various extras that are still being worked on, are confirmed.

That’s all the exciting and unusually relevant news out of the way for the time being. We’ll return to random nonsense next time, don’t you worry.

©2010 The Blog. All Rights Reserved.

Not that it’s gone quite to schedule, this announcement (well, does anything?), but you probably now know that there is video footage from last month’s charity event benefiting the Hoping Foundation and its surprise reunion – care of Roger Waters’ latest Facebook post.

Please don’t all go rushing over to the Hoping Foundation’s website (the link’s been left out on purpose); the video’s not there yet and, frankly, you’re overwhelming the server. It’s not going to be there until Monday at 5pm (UK). Thank you for your understanding.

Meanwhile, please enjoy the two-minute taster provided by Roger, now also available over on the DavidGilmour.com homepage.

We have David’s wife, Polly, to thank for the video, by the way. She gave it to Hoping for exclusive use on their website with the wish that you lot would perhaps consider making a modest donation in return for viewing it. A donation is not required, but would be much appreciated – as were the donations many of you have made since hearing of David’s involvement with the charity (which stands for ‘Hope and Optimism for Palestinians in the Next Generation’).

There’s no longer any need to check back on Sunday, but I look forward to hearing what you thought of the performance when you see the video proper on Monday.

©2010 The Blog. All Rights Reserved.

Here’s something that David has been involved in, following the expected renewed interest in the genius of Syd Barrett since his sad passing in July 2006: an album of 12 of Syd’s songs, including six from Pink Floyd, entitled An Introduction to Syd Barrett.

It’s the first time that any Pink Floyd tracks have been compiled alongside Syd’s own. The Pink Floyd numbers are ‘Arnold Layne’, ‘See Emily Play’, ‘Apples and Oranges’ (in stereo), ‘Matilda Mother’ (remixed), ‘Chapter 24′ and ‘Bike’.

David has been involved in remixing some tracks at Astoria, along with Damon Iddins and Andy Jackson (‘Matilda Mother’, ‘Here I Go’, ‘Octopus’, ‘She Took a Long Cold Look’, ‘Octopus’), and has added bass guitar to ‘Here I Go’, as there was none originally.

Andy Jackson has remastered the others from the original analogue masters.

Of greatest interest to those who need no introduction to Syd, though, is the previously-unreleased 20-minute instrumental, ‘Rhamadan’. This is to be offered as an extra track for download, should you purchase either the CD or iTunes version of the album in its entirety.

The CD will be presented in a smart Digipak sleeve, designed by Storm Thorgerson, with the lyrics included in a 20-page booklet. It is due for release on and around Monday 4 October, depending on where in the world you find yourself, and should now gradually begin to appear on assorted sites available for pre-order.

Track listing as follows:

01. Arnold Layne
02. See Emily Play
03. Apples and Oranges (Stereo)
04. Matilda Mother (2010 Mix)
05. Chapter 24
06. Bike
07. Terrapin
08. Love You
09. Dark Globe
10. Here I Go (2010 Mix)
11. Octopus (2010 Mix)
12. She Took a Long Cool Look (2010 Mix)
13. If It’s In You
14. Baby Lemonade
15. Dominoes (2010 Mix)
16. Gigolo Aunt
17. Effervescing Elephant
18. Bob Dylan Blues

Well spotted, if you did spot it: ‘She Took a Long Cold Look’ is now called ‘She Took a Long Cool Look’.

A good mix of material representing the best possible introduction to Syd’s music for the uninitiated, do you think? And how about that ‘Rhamadan’ rarity finally getting an official release?

Have a good weekend, all. Check back on Sunday, if you can.

©2010 The Blog. All Rights Reserved.

This song, ‘Money for Nothing’ from Brothers in Arms – top of the UK album chart on this day in 1985 and the first album to sell a million copies on the somewhat new Compact Disc format – topped the US singles chart for three weeks, yet only made it as far as No. 4 in the UK. It won the year’s Grammy for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with a Vocal. The video is a classic.

1985 was, of course, the year of Live Aid and the charity singles it spawned in the wake of ‘Do They Know It’s Christmas?’ (‘We Are the World’ and the David Bowie and Mick Jagger cover of Martha and the Vandellas’ ‘Dancing in the Street’). David, as you all know, who had been working with Bryan Ferry on his Boys and Girls album, as well as on the Legend soundtrack (at least, in the US, on the song ‘Is Your Love Strong Enough?’), would accompany him at the famed global event.

Two Eagles saw their best-known solo songs chart in 1985: Don Henley with ‘The Boys of Summer’, Glenn Frey with ‘The Heat Is On’. Katrina and the Waves gave us arguably the ultimate feel-good tune in ‘Walking on Sunshine’, whilst Foreigner’s contribution to the twelve months under scrutiny is perhaps the best power ballad of all-time. Or was that Mr Mister? (Could be a discussion for another time…?)

A few of my favourites from 1985, anyway, before I stand by to receive yours:

- The Alarm, ‘Deeside’
- The Dream Academy, ‘Life in a Northern Town’
- Simple Minds, ‘Alive and Kicking’
- The Smiths, ‘How Soon Is Now?’
- Tears for Fears, ‘Everybody Wants To Rule the World’

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The third in a line of drummers following his father and grandfather (his father is famous jazz percussionist, Joe Porcaro), he co-founded Toto in 1976 with his brothers Steve (keyboards) and Mike (bass). Four years previously, at the age of 18, he had been invited by Sonny and Cher to join them on their television show, which provided the perfect platform for his talents. Not too surprising, then, that perhaps it is for his extensive catalogue of studio work on the albums of others that many remember him with most fondness.

His playing can be heard on David’s About Face, specifically on the tracks ‘Cruise’, ‘Love On the Air’, ‘Murder’ and ‘You Know I’m Right’. Before that he had played drums on ‘Mother’ from Pink Floyd’s The Wall, later on ‘It’s a Miracle’ from Roger Waters’ Amused to Death.

He served many other acts well; talents as varied as Madonna and Michael Jackson, the Bee Gees and Four Tops, Bonnie Raitt and Barbra Streisand. Some of his most substantial studio contributions were made to Jackson Browne’s The Pretender, Eric Clapton’s Behind the Sun, Elton John’s Jump Up and Bruce Springsteen’s Human Touch – and, of course, Cher (Love Hurts). He worked with Steely Dan, most notably on Katy Lied, and Dire Straits (On Every Street); his playing with the former increasing demand for his services greatly.

Perhaps Toto’s best known song – ‘Africa’ – was a Billboard No.1 in February 1983. Here it is, but the video to Toto’s other big hit, ‘Rosanna’, should also be seen (both are taken from the multi-Grammy Award-winning album, Toto IV):

Take a look at this nice tribute, selecting Discographie from the menu at the top of the page, for a startling array of records on which Jeff Porcaro played.

Your favourite of these songs, please. Here are five of mine, leaving out the most most obvious ones so that you have no excuse not to mention them:

- Peter Frampton, ‘Wasting the Night Away’ (Breaking All the Rules)
- Don Henley, ‘Dirty Laundry’ (I Can’t Stand Still)
- Etta James, ‘Piece of My Heart’ (Deep In the Night)
- Michael Jackson, ‘Beat It’ (Thriller)
- Steely Dan, ‘Black Friday’ (Katy Lied)

©2010 The Blog. All Rights Reserved.

It was being recorded on this day in 1968 at Abbey Road.

I won’t apologise for choosing two Paul McCartney songs in as many posts. I just won’t.

If you haven’t yet gamely played along with the last random topic, as there are just so many songs about girls, there might as well be another post in a week or so which should hopefully mop up all those ladies momentarily forgotten about. If you think of any in the meantime, do jot them down.

That’s about it for another week. As promised, in the interests of fairness, I leave you with ten chaps to identify from the lyrics below. Can you name them all, and can you similarly give a tired brain something to reach for?

01. “We miss you day and night
You left town to live by the rifle
You left us to fight”

02. “In the stone, under the dust
His name is still engraved
Some things need to go away”

03. “He goes out
He don’t have no doubt
He don’t have to know
What the world’s about”

04. “My brother, you are older than me
Do you still feel the pain of the scars that won’t heal?
Your eyes have died, but you see more than I”

05. “Never used your head
To find out what this whole thing meant
It’s not what it seems
But it is”

06. “You’ve really made the grade
And the papers want to know whose shirts you wear
Now it’s time to leave the capsule, if you dare”

07. “We’ve got to get on with the film show
Hollywood waits at the end of the rainbow
Who cares what it’s about as long as the kids go?”

08. “I got a cupboard full of fleshy, fresh ingredients
I’m very careful, at the same time, quite expedient”

09. “A smile like the cartoon, tooth for a tooth
You said that irony was the shackles of youth”

10. “With his long tail hanging down
He quietly sits under every tree
In the folds of his velvet gown”

©2010 The Blog. All Rights Reserved.

About the McCartneys’ faithful Land Rover, the chorus goes thusly:

“Helen, hell on wheels
Ain’t nobody else gonna know the way she feels
Helen, hell on wheels
And they’re never gonna take her away”

But the topic today is not songs about motor vehicles, but songs about girls.

Here are ten nine for you to identify. Name that lady. One is the name of my car, as it happens.

I hope you can add a few of your own for others to ponder.

Songs about boys next time; there’s no sexual favouritism here, I’ll have you know.

The chatroom, by the way, will open tomorrow at 2pm (UK). See you there.

01. “Maybe just a good night’s sleep
Would have changed your troubled mind”

02. “She stood there laughing
I felt the knife in my hand and she laughed no more”

03. “Where did your long hair go?
Where is the girl I used to know?”

04. “I met her in a club down in old Soho
Where you drink champagne and it tastes just like cherry cola”

05. “She grew up in an Indiana town
Had a good-lookin’ mama who never was around”

06. “She is like a cat in the dark
And then she is the darkness”

07. “She listens for the ticking of my footsteps, patiently
She sifts the hairy air that’s warm and wood-swept, pleasantly”

08. “She came and stood right by me
Then the smell of sweet perfume”

09. “I used to carry her satchel
She used to walk by my side”

10. “One year ago underneath the summer sun
She was just a restless child”

©2010 The Blog. All Rights Reserved.

The earthquake was of a moderate size, measuring 6.9 on the Richter scale, yet aftershocks of up to 5.0 in magnitude continued for months in the area around the town of Spitak, which was virtually razed to the ground. Freezing winter temperatures and inadequate building construction contributed cruelly to the tragedy; some 25,000 people were killed, including 400 children at a school in Dzhrashen, south east of Spitak, and 80 per cent of medical professionals. A further 15,000 were injured and 517,000 made homeless.

For this cause, an international charity campaigner called Jon Dee suggested that the music industry ought to do something. David was the first to accept the call. It would also be the first time that he and Brian May had played together. (They’d go on to work on the 1991 Comic Relief charity single, ‘The Stonk’, which Brian May also produced.)

Recording began in July 1989 at Metropolis studios, Chiswick, London, and was completed over five sessions.

Taking it in turns with David and Brian on lead guitar were Ritchie Blackmore of Deep Purple and Black Sabbath’s Tony Iommi, as well as Alex Lifeson of Rush; respected session musician, Geoff Beauchamp, played rhythm guitar; vocal duties were shared by Bryan Adams, Bruce Dickinson of Iron Maiden, Deep Purple’s Ian Gillan and Paul Rodgers (how long have you got? Free, Bad Company, The Law, Queen…); with Chris “Fish” Squire of Yes on bass, Queen’s Roger Taylor on drums, Geoff Downes of Asia on Hammond organ and Emerson, Lake and Palmer’s Keith (Emerson) on keyboards.

Led Zeppelin’s John Paul Jones and Jon Lord of Deep Purple were also credited for their assistance behind the scenes.

So, all in all, not a bad line up.

The song spent six weeks in the UK charts, reaching a respectable No.39 in December 1989. (For old time’s sake, have a look at the other songs in the charts back then. How many of those do you remember and do you now appreciate all the more my use of the word “respectable”, considering the bland pap that kids were buying – for fun, nobody forced them – back then?)

An Earthquake album and video were released in 1990, consisting of original tracks donated by those involved (Pink Floyd’s ‘One Slip’ was included on the video). It was the first charity album to achieve ‘gold’ status in the UK. Together, the single, album and video raised an estimated $100,000.

Another noble effort, I’m sure you’ll agree.

Last October, those most actively involved in the project (Ian Gillan, Tony Iommi and Geoff Downes, as well as David and Brian May), together with organiser Jon Dee, were awarded a special Order of Honour on behalf of Armenian President, Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan.

A 20th anniversary re-mix of Rock Aid Armenia’s ‘Smoke on the Water’, plus versions of the original mixes and a new re-edit of the promo video and ‘Making of…’ documentary, is to be released globally via iTunes this year, with the proceeds assisting further relief projects within the earthquake zone.

You can find out more about Rock Aid Armenia at this fine site, which includes some rather nice photos from the recording sessions and launch, and some not-at-all-nice ones of the crippling devastation caused by the earthquake.

As well as your thoughts on the song, album and video (best charity single ever?), I’d also like to know which are your favourites of Brian May’s work.

Happy Birthday also to drummer Ged Lynch, who, of course, played on On an Island – on ‘Take a Breath’. He was also the subject of our very first blog post.

©2010 The Blog. All Rights Reserved.

Roger has explained how it all came to be over at Facebook, so do be sure to read that if you haven’t already done so.

Although fully aware that it will be buried amidst the ongoing and increasing excitement since Saturday’s surprise reunion, which benefited the Hoping Foundation, and granted that it isn’t anything new (but was considered worth a tweet earlier this afternoon), I’ll wrap up what has been an eventful week by presenting to you the results of a simple poll, should you welcome an innocuous distraction from speculation, hope and intrigue. We haven’t had one of these in some time and it’s not good to get too excited about anything, don’t forget.

Take a look at Gibson.com’s bloody appalling somewhat contentious (sorry, I may be biased, but 41st?!) list promising to herald the Top 50 Guitarists of All Time. Results of a readers’ poll are also included. You may jeer, boo and hiss as you rearrange either of these lists to suit your own liking and add the notable omissions in place of the apparent imposters, which I hope you can share with the rest of us. Any combination of fist-shaking, eye-rolling and name-calling will also be permitted during this exercise.

Oh, Gibson.

Now, someone with far greater knowledge of guitars than I ever will possess ought to point out to the suspicious which of the 50 are principally found to favour a Gibson guitar hanging from their shoulders, because that would be revealing.

Have a very good weekend, everyone, and thanks again for giving your reaction to the temporary reunion – both past and future.

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