It is now being officially confirmed by his partner, Sarah Ewing, that David Longdon died as a result of a fall at home. Here is part of her statement:
“To put pay to the rumours, speculation, inaccurate reporting and perhaps to help some of you with your own questions and sense of loss, I can tell you that David had a traumatic fall at our cottage during the early hours of Friday morning. I am not going to share everything which took place. Those intimate details are just for band members, David’s beautiful girls, his Mum and me. But I will tell you that David left this life being held in my arms on Saturday 20th November. I told him how much I loved him, that he was safe and that it was time to take the next step on his great adventure. To be with him during his very last moments is the greatest tragedy and greatest privilege of my life.”
Thanks to watching all nearly 8 hours of Peter Jackson’s “Get Back” documentary on Disney+, I am on a Beatles vinyl kick, listening to my original 60s albums acquired through my Dad when he passed away. The crackles and pops add to the experience. For the record, and as a lifelong Beatles fan, the documentary was an amazing fly-on-the-wall experience that I recommend heartily.
Stephen Sondheim’s “Pacific Overtures”–the complete recording by the original London cast (remastered version). Reminds me how sublime music and musical theatre can be.
Been listening to U2’s 2004 album How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb. I remember not warming up to it immediately on a first listen to it back in 2004, but it grew on me considerably after a couple of listens, but still never reached the level that I, and I think a lot of others, held its predecessor All That You Can’t Leave Behind up to. I think this might partially be because of how important the songs of All That You Can’t Leave Behind became to a lot of people, myself included, as a lot of us navigated some really tough times in the latter half of that year post-9/11. I think this, along with the tour that culminated with that masterful halftime show at the Super Bowl the following February, caused that album to elevated to a place where it didn’t matter what the follow up was, it wasn’t going to be as impactful.
Listening back on it now, it should be held right up there with All That You Can’t Leave Behind as another of the band’s masterpieces. There’s some really standout tracks on here. “Original of the Species”, “City of Blinding Lights”, and “Vertigo”. “Sometimes You Can’t Make It On Your Own” is one that I think I overlooked a bit on its initial release, but maybe it’s just because its subject matter is becoming more personal for me as I’m in the process of experiencing the subject matter of the song, but it’s an absolutely emotional gut-punch of a song that is quite beautiful at the same time. Probably one of Bono’s more underrated efforts, I must say.
Definitely some good stuff in this album and glad I revisited it again after quite a while.
Bono had said he should have called the alb "how to dismantle the atomic Bob " after his father, grief and loss and happiness at life are all there in that album. It’s up there with the band’s greatest albums and as a study in dealing with the shadow of one’s father, it’s incredible.
Alice is basically my lifeblood. He’s the definition of the word Legend. His version of TMWTGG theme is not too shabby, and that was all the way from '73.
Alice has been a Bond fan since his teens. He’s read all of Fleming, PLUS if you’ve heard the Song Halo of Flies from 1971…it’s definitely a Bond song.
To be fair his recent releases have been a bit too retro for me but damn, for a 74 year old he can still rock. It’s a shame he never got the chance to do a Bond theme for Craig’s era, he would have knocked it out of the park.
Novelty Island - How are you coping with this century?
Imagine if the Beatles had gone into a time machine in 1968 and emerged in 2021 Britain and started writing songs about both times - this album sounds like that, and it’s very good too.
I’ve never been a big fan of Lady Gaga. With that out of the way, I’ll giver her the props that she’s due here because “Hold My Hand” is fantastic. I love that this song manages to be a love letter to 80s power ballads, yet it still feels contemporary as well. It also works very well as a video, once again expertly recalling the glory days of the 80s power ballad movie-tie in videos that were, in part, made popular by films like the original Top Gun. While also serving its purpose as a radio-friendly power ballad that will be pleasing to the ears of the younger crowd that seems to make everything that Gaga touches turn to gold, “Hold My Hand” does pack a bit of a punch for an older viewer who may, or may not, have some experience with the original film. The lyrics of the song ("I’ll ride in this life with you / I won’t let go until the end) and the many contemplative shots in the video of an older Tom Cruise. It might just be me in my increasing age as well as facing down some certain circumstances, but those moments pack a punch they might not have a decade ago, and I have to say that I think I like that with my popcorn entertainment.
For all of those that have wanted Gaga to do a Bond theme, I think I can get on board with that now. If she could expertly channel the 80s power ballad into what is certain to be a contemporary hit, there’s no reason to think that she couldn’t take that classic Bond sound and do something similar with it.
Came across this on YouTube earlier today. Haven’t watched the whole thing, but it’s pretty cool that Bono and The Edge would go to Ukraine and give this kind of performance. While I’m sure that there’s going to be some stuff within the show that will give ammo to those who will question their motivations for doing so (it always seems to happen), at the end of the day, giving some people in a war torn country a few minutes of distraction amid their otherwise seemingly endless troubles can’t be an entirely bad thing.
Also interesting to hear some of these songs in a stripped down, acoustic sound rather than the over-the-top arena setting.
