THE O'JAYS - FOR THE LOVE OF MONEY

And here is a Money March classic from The O'Jays. As they sing "money, money, money" at the outset of "For The Love Of Money".

Review - Priscilla Queen of the Desert - London

Quite last minute Teenboy and I decided to go to see the campfest that is Priscilla at the Palace Theatre on the edge of Gayho. We were lucky enough to secure seats four rows from the front and managed to ogle our way through a show that was enormous fun. Having seen the film, the plot came as no surprise, and all the best lines from the film have been transposed unaltered into the show - including the delicious "cock/frock/rock" line. What did surprise me was that there were no original songs in the show, but just a load of old 80s disco faves. Felicia's obsession with Abba has been updated to Kylie, but that was the only real change. The star is of course the bus, Priscilla, and this is well realised, doubling as set and backdrop much of the time. The costume changes were breathtaking and the delightful use of angels flying in from above was great fun. It was mainly a laugh a second, although Tick's reunion with his son was movingly done. Best moments included "Macarthur Park" , "Don't Leave Me This Way" - oh ok too many to mention. A grand night out indeed 4.5/5

Rave from the Grave - Lost 45s - Number 71

Money March wends its merry way towards its conclusion and next up is this acerbic number about the 1970s banking crashes by 10cc "Wall Street Shuffle"

Review - Tell Me On A Sunday - Hippodrome

I went with my friend Guy to see one of the few Lloyd Webber pieces I hadn't previously seen on stage, the one woman song cycle "Tell Me On A Sunday", a series of impressions of an English girl living in New York and her relationship difficulties. Claire Sweeney was indisposed so Ann Lewis stepped in and had to carry the show. In a way, the whole piece would be better if there was a second person on stage to at least portray the three different men in her life, as this might have reduced the need to rush hither and thither around the stage interacting with props and doing costume changes. The number of times she put on and took off shoes was most distracting.  As it is, the success of the piece depends on the songs and here there are some of Lloyd Webber's best tunes, even if it did sound to me as if bits of Sunset Boulevard were being tried out, especially in the various iterations of "It Doesn't Matter". A short evening and one that wasn't the best theatrical experience ever, but a fairly decent concert if looked at like that. 2.5/5

Rave from the Grave - Lost 45s - Number 70

The Beatles return for the third time during Money March with "Baby You're A Rich Man". Not many left to go until April's theme can be unveiled.

Rave from the Grave - Lost 45s - Number 69

Money March - "Money For Nothing". Woohoo here comes Dire Straits.

Rave from the Grave - Lost 45s - Number 68

Budget day today and so Money March brings "Busted" to you. More well known in the bluesy version by Ray Charles, this is the original version by Harlan Howard.

Rave from the Grave - Lost 45s - Number 67

Money March continues on its merry way with Don Henley serving up "If Dirt Were Dollars".

Rave from the Grave - Lost 45s - Number 66

Styx brings "Half Penny Two Penny" to the table for Money March - live at the Budokan

Rave from the Grave - Lost 45s - Number 65

Money March heads back to 1939 today for an excerpt from the film "The Bronze Buckaroo". This is "Payday Blues" from Herb Jeffries & Four Tones.

Rave from the Grave - Lost 45s - Number 64

Comic Relief inspires today's Money March tune. This is the Monty Python team with their sketch on the Money Programme.

Rave from the Grave - Lost 45s - Number 63

Money March moves from the rich to the poor in the tale by Smokie "For A Few Dollars More", one of several songs about ladies resorting to earning a living by the oldest profession.

Rave from the Grave - Lost 45s - Number 62

Money March turns to the Blues today as those good ol boys, Lynyrd Skynyrd bring a song to "Mr Banker" to the blog!

Rave from the Grave - Lost 45s - Number 61

Today Money March sees the tartan tearaways the Rollers singing one of their forgotten hits, "Money Honey". Any suggestions for Money March will be gratefully received.

Rave from the Grave - Lost 45s - Number 60

Elvis pops up today in Money March with "Money Honey" from 1956.

Rave from the Grave - Lost 45s - Number 59

Elin Lanto from Sweden brings today's Money March song. This is from Melodifestival 2007. Enjoy.

Rave from the Grave - Lost 45s - Number 58

Money March continues with Lionel Richie and his "Penny Lover"

Rave from the Grave - Lost 45s - Number 57

The Clash supply today's Money March song with their story about Daddy's occupation.

Rave from the Grave - Lost 45s - Number 56

Genuinely not a rave from the grave as it is high in the charts now, but this is an acoustic version of Jessie J's "Price Tag" for Money March.

Review - Decemberists and Janell Monae - Bristol

Bit behind with reviews but two recent gigs at the Bristol O2 Academy were (in chronological order) Janell Monae and The Decemberists. Both were very enjoyable, both started with a spoken voiceover intro and both lapsed slightly into self-indulgence. But there the similarities ended. Janell Monae toured following her showy debut album "The Archandroid" and was determined to put on a visual spectacle, complete with back projection, wandering spooky cowled zombie-like figures wearing Scream masks, and even painting during one song. This together with delays for costume changes somewhat detracted from the music and Janell's strong vocals. Unfortunately, the show lacked a good sense of pacing and these breaks didn't help, what was already a short set. When it was good though - "Cold War"' "Tightrope" - it was very good, but the ambition behind the show somewhat exceeded the grasp. 4/5.

The Decemberists had more of a back catalogue to draw on and did so, although enough selections from current album "The King Is Dead" made it into the set - a two hour long set at that - even though "June Hymn" was only the second encore. There was humorous interplay between Colin Melloy and the crowd to start with which warmed up the atmosphere, and as the show went on, the interplay and skitting between band members gave a warm atmosphere. It did descend a little bit into self-indulgence at the end of the set with a long quasi-blues number seeing the drummer come forward to the front, a girl come up from the crowd to play slide guitar, but the encore of the "Mariner's Revenge Song" saw them win the crowd back. And it made me rush out and order up the back catalogue albums I didn't have!! 4.5/5

Rave from the Grave - Lost 45s - Number 55

Today's money song sees Louis Prima with his version of "Pennies From Heaven"

Rave from the Grave - Lost 45s - Number 54

Money March continues with The Members and this polemic against the international banking business.

Rave from the Grave - Lost 45s - Number 53

Money march continues with The Beatles and "Taxman" and this fetching cartoon story.

Review - I Am Number 4 and True Grit

This week saw two trips to the local cineplex to enjoy reclining seats and popcorn and check out two current releases. True Grit is the Coen Bros update on the John Wayne classic with Jeff Bridges playing US Marshall Rooster Cogburn. The unsentimental take on the tale of the mismatched buddy pursuit - grizzled drunken veteran and steely eyed 14 year old girl bent on revenge - ticks all the right boxes: epic scenery; widescreen shots; shootouts; snakebite etc. But I felt that the redemptive tale told at the heart of this story was missing - Bridges may have been a whisky priest, but here he was always a priest. I never felt that he was the fake, fraud shamed into being a man by the strength and resolve of his young companion - 3/5. I Am Number 4 seems to be a big screen take on Kyle XY with Alex Pettyfer playing a young man who is one of nine alien youth smuggled off to Earth, where he is hunted down by evil aliens whose motives are somewhat messy. In true Superman fashion, Pettyfer learns to use his super powers, fit in at school, befriend geek, defeat jocks and bullies, find love with Twilight-lite girl and cataclysmically defeat the aliens in a fight which will cause the school to lodge a large insurance claim. Oh and there is a shape-shifting dog too. there are a few nice shots of Pettyfer in states of undress too, which give it a healthy 3/5.

Rave from the Grave - Lost 45s - Number 52

More from Money March with a video of Alice Cooper performing "Billion Dollar Babies" live.

Rave from the Grave - Lost 45s - Number 51

Money March has another "Rich Girl" today - a proper blue-eyed soul track!

Review - Our House - Redgrave Theatre, Bristol

With trepidation I went along to support the UWE Players and their production of the Madness musical "Our House", a show I hadn't warmed too when I saw it years ago in London - and boy did it start unpromisingly with an almost whispered prologue seeing Joe Casey's parents meeting. But boy, once Will Ferris came on stage as protagonist Joe, who has to negotiate his way through a complex Sliding Doors situation of what-if necessitating numerous quick change routines, including one during "The Sun And The Rain" hidden behind umbrellas that merited its own applause, the quality picked up and never let up. Whilst Will was head and shoulders the best thing in the show, the rest of the cast showed he was never more than one step beyond them with a bright set of song and dance. Villains were suitably villainous, and the camden market scene which took off Oliver was superb. An excellent surprise and a show that was much better than the one in London. Well done to all concerned 5/5

Review - Chess - Bristol Hippodrome

The news that Chess was touring sent me in to paroxysms of joy, not having seen it since the original tour back in the 80s with Peter Joback in it. And this updated version did not disappoint at all. James Fox shrugs off his Eurovision past with a strong and moving performance as the singularly obsessed American player, Trumper, shining particularly on "Pity The Child". Director Craig Revel Horwood produced a coup by staging the orchestra on stage as chess pieces, but this meant that the orchestra was essentially a chamber ensemble, which meant that "One Night In Bangkok" lost the visceral edge to the music. However, a fantastic "Russian Machine", a series of other showstoppers and a constant feast for the eyes with the light, movement and dance made this a triumphant return for a show that hasn't played in too long a time. And Craig RH was in the audience too. 4.5/5

Rave from the Grave - Lost 45s - Number 50

Money March isn't from the grave today but right up to date. Little Justin Bieber has donated a lock of hair for sale. It will no doubt go to some "Rich Girl".

Rave from the Grave - Lost 45s - Number 49

Pink Floyd's "Money" is the next track up for Money March. Please feel free to suggest the next songs for this month's theme.

Rave from the Grave - Lost 45s - Number 48

Went to see Chess last night and there was a quote from this in the musical. Perfect song for Money March. I know this isn't a lost 45 at all, but hey let me slide it's a rich's man world.

Rave from the Grave - Lost 45s - Number 47

March is Money month with a series of songs about what makes the world go around. Here the Fab 4 do their take on Barrett Strong's Motown hit.