What a cool song? – 1985 by SR-71.

The band were named after the famous spy plane.

Sr-71 actually wrote the song, but it was later covered and made famous by Bowling for soup. Here are the lyrics.

1985 – SR-71

Debbie just hit the wall
She never had it all
One prozac a day
Husbands a CPA
Her dreams went out the door
When she turned 24
Only been with one man
What happend to her plan
She was gonna be an actress
She was gonna be a star
She was gonna shake that ass
On the hood of Whitesnake’s car
Now her SUV has become the enemy
Looks at her average life and nothing has been all right

Since Bruce Springstein Madonna
Way Before Nirvana
There was U2 and Blondie
And music still on MTV
Her two kids in high school
They tell her that she’s uncool
‘Cause she’s still preoccupied
With 19, 19, 1985

Woo Hoo Hooo

1985

Woo Hoo Hooo

She’s seen all the classics
at least a hundred times
Breakfast Club, Pretty in Pink
Fast times at Ridgemont High
She rocked out to Wham
Not a big Limp Bizkit fan
Never knew George was gay
Hope they hook up one day

Where’s the fairytale
Where’s her dream
Where’s the quarterback from her high school football team
Where’s the fairytale
Where’s her dream
How many times will she ask herself what happened to me
Ask her self what happened to (the rubber broke)

There was Springstien Madonna
Way before Nirvana
There was U2 and Blondie
And Music still on MTV
Her 2 kids in high school
They tell her that she’s uncool
‘Cause she’s still preoccupied
With 19, 19, 1985

Woo Hoo Hooo

1985

Woo Hoo Hooo

She hates time
Make it stop
When did Motley Crew become Classic Rock
She hates time make it stop
She hates time
make it make it make it make it make it make it STOP!

Bruce Springstien Madonna
Way before Nirvana
There was U2 and Blondie
And music still on MTV
Her 2 kids in high school
They tell her that she’s uncool
‘Cause she’s still preoccupied
With 1985

Springstien Madonna
Way before Nirvana
There was U2 and Blondie
And Music still on MTV
Her 2 kids in high school
They tell her that she’s uncool
‘Cause she’s still proccupied
With 19, 19, 1985

hahahaha

Bowling for Soup do a really cool music video of the song 1985 on Youtube.com, but of course embedding has been disabled, so you’ll have to go there to watch it!

No we haven’t been sucked into a great big black hole, it’s just been a busy few weeks and June was extremely hectic what with 3 concerts (Bon Jovi, Green Day and Glastonbury), and all the football from the World Cup in South Africa.

Glastonbury was fun although it started off with a mini disaster. I mistakenly placed my non waterproof camera into my pocket and then placed a tin of beer in the top pocket only for it to tip over and of course my camera was below it! No more camera and no photos of Glastonbury. Well I got a few from my mobile phone (Nokia N95), which appear to be OK.

Camping was awesome with James, Glenn & Ronelle and Shane oh! and Pammie (blow up doll). Talk about having confidence in the weather, we even brought along our very own swimming pool and placed it in the middle of our tents. It was the talking point for most people wallking past us. The weather was boiling hot for the entire 5 days that we were there – not many people that have been to Glastonbury in the past can say that!

There was so much going on

and tons of stuff to to see, some weird and some amazing.

So many places to eat and drink. You got to go if you’ve never been before. It is such an experience.

Sadly the choice of crowd singing bands were CRAP to say the least. (my opinion).

So some of us decided to do some crazy pole climbing.

I only wanted to see U2 and they pulled out a month before the show because Bono hurt his back (poor rock star). However the Edge did show up right at the end of Muse’s gig and played  “The streets with no name”.  The crowd went mental and were singing along. It was an amazing few minutes.

There were a few semi decent bands on the various stages namely Dizzee Rascal, Snoop Dogg, Willie Nelson, Muse, Scissor Sisters, Jackson Browne, Lightning Seeds, Stevie Wonder, Faithless, Jack Johnson, Ray Davies, Slash, Norah Jones, The Flaming Lips, Florence and the Machine, La Roux, The Stranglers, Magic Numbers, to name but a few.

We witnessed the most fantastic, incredible, awesome Green Day concert at Wembley Stadium. We’ve never seen them live until tonight, but wow! was it worth the wait? Singing along to all their songs with the crowd singing in unison was an amazing feeling. Wembley Stadium as a venue for bands such as Green Day is just brilliant!

They kicked off their show at 8pm with four songs from their latest album “21st Century Breakdown”.

The crowd went ballastic. Then a few recent awesome songs from the American Idiot album and then Billie Joe got into gear singing some of the older songs from Dookie (Basket Case, When I come around, Burnout etc).

The three main band members – lead vocalist and guitarist Billie Joe Armstrong, bassist and backing vocalist Mike Dirnt, and drummer Tré Cool were brilliant and played their part well and looked like they were really enjoying themselves on stage.

Billie Joe is certainly a wonderful showman and could easily get the crowd to sing and clap at his command. Even Tré Cool is a showman in his own right and quite a funny guy.

Tré sang a song or two while Billie Joe played the drums and there was a moment where the two of them went for some record by singing and dancing to the song “shout” made famous by the Isley Brothers. It was quite funny though.

The band even dressed up in drag and sang one or two songs while lying down on the stage.

Some people in the crowd went mental especially where we were standing. That can be a good or bad thing depending on what you are expecting from the concert. I personally don’t mind people jumping around if they think of others, but when they push and kick and punch just for the fun of it, then it can become a bit unpleasant. There were definitely a few English idiots in the audience.

There was a good mix of stage videos behind the band and on the side screens.

With the various lights going on the atmosphere was electrifying.

The concert went on for well over 2 and a half  hours with two encores. The last 6 songs were just incredible, with spectacular fireworks, fireballs, ticker tape even toilet paper being thrown up into the air.

Below is the playlist for the concert.

1. Song of the Century
2. 21st Century Breakdown
3. Know Your Enemy
4. East Jesus Nowhere
5. Holiday
   
6. The Static Age
7. Give Me Novacaine
   
8. Are We The Waiting
9. St. Jimmy
10. Blvd. of Broken Dreams
11. Nice Guys Finish Last
12. Burnout
    
13. Waiting
14. Geek Stink Breath
15. Dominated Love (Slave Tre on Guitar and Vocals, Bille Joe on Drums)
16. Hitchin’ A Ride
17. Welcome To Paradise
18. When I Come Around
19. Metal-Jam Iron Man/ Sweet Child of Mine/ Highway to Hell
    
20. Brain Stew
21. Jaded
22. Longview
23. Basket Case
24. She
25. King For A Day
26. Shout/Hey Jude/I cant get no satisfaction/Teenage Kicks/Always look on the bright side of life
    
27. 21 Guns
28. Minority
    

Encore:

1. American Idiot
2. Jesus of Suburbia

Encore 2:

1. When It’s Time (Acoustic)
2. Wake Me Up When September Ends (Acoustic)
   
3. Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)
   

33 songs in total made it one helleva good evening. If they were playing another night in London I would definitely go again.

All photos taken with Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ7 and belong to lookatbowen.com

There are not many bands these days that can belt out 25 songs with such pace as Bon Jovi did on Friday night. Throw in the fact that they have been around for over 26 years, have released 11 official albums, two compilation albums and 1 live album, and have sold over 120 million records, then you start to see what an incredible feat they have achieved?

This was the second Bon Jovi concert we’ve been too in the past 5 years, the other one being in Hyde Park a few years ago.

The opening act was very disappointing to say the least (The last republic), apparently hand picked by Kerrang! Radio. We don’t listen to Kerrang! Radio because they are crap and their choice of band was proof of that!  At the Hyde Park concert ‘LIVE’ were the opening act, and they were absolutely awesome, playing loads of classic songs that they have become famous for. We have all their albums so that was very special.

We went to the Bon Jovi concert on Friday night with Mike and Kerry of  Wrightaboutnow.com who are also massive Bon Jovi fans. We had seats in row Q of block 106, which were directly in line with the stage but raised over the crowd. The position and location was perfect for seeing all the action and worth the 16500 pennies in my opinion. The O2 is a truly amazing venue for concerts.

The opening scene showed the band walking in a tunnel, similar to the cover of their latest album The Circle. The build up was immense before they lifted the electronic screens and Jon was standing there with his arms in the air singing “Happy Now”.

The two opening songs came from their latest album “The Circle”, before they launched into “You give love a bad name” and “Born to be my baby” from the Slippery when wet & New Jersey album. There was a really good mix  of music from their various albums. It must be quite tricky being Jon and deciding which song they will sing considering they have hundreds to choose from.

There were quite a few songs from the New Jersey album as this was one of their most popular albums with so many classic sing a long anthems, “Bad medicine” was awesome and part way through the tempo eased and Jon and one of the guitarist broke into a rendition of “Pretty Woman”.  Afterwards Richie Sambora sang “Lay your hands on me” by himself and then him and Jon sang the classic “I’ll be there for you”, which had the crowd going nuts and singing the chorus over and over again.

Then Jon called David and Tico onto the mini platform and they sang a few songs from “These Days” and “100 000 000 fans can’t be wrong” with only acoustic guitars, and an accordion. Tico has some sort of a box he was hitting and also had what looked like a rattler. They showed they can sing without the heavy equipment, but any die hard fan would have known that already.

I am not sure if the fancy electronic screens were theirs or part the O2 Arena, but they were cleverly used throughout the concert. There were platforms that moved up and down and the screens could be broken up into different segments and moved independently of each other adding to the atmosphere.

Below is the song list they managed to get through with ease.

1. Happy Now (The Circle)
2. We Weren’t Born to Follow (The Circle)
3. You give love a bad name (Slippery when wet)
4. Born to be my Baby (New Jersey)
5. Radio Saved My Life Tonight (100 000 000 fans can’t be wrong)
6. Lost Highway (Lost Highway)
7. When We Were Beautiful (The Circle)
8. Raise Your Hands (Slippery when wet)
9. We’ve Got it Goin On (Lost Highway)
10. Sleep When I’m Dead (Keep the faith)
11. Bad Medicine /Pretty Woman (Slippery when wet) / (Roy Orbison).
12. Lay Your Hands On Me (Richie Vocals) (New Jersey)
13. Open All Night (Bounce)
14. Diamond Ring (These days)
15. I’ll Be There For You (New Jersey)
16. Something For The Pain (These days)
17. Someday I’ll be Saturday Night (100 000 000 fans can’t be wrong)
18. Let it Rock  (Slippery when wet)
19. It’s My Life (Crush)
20. Working for the Working Man (The Circle)
21. Who Says You Can’t Go Home (Bounce)
22. Keep The Faith (Keep the faith)
23. Have A Nice Day (Have a nice day)
24. Wanted Dead or Alive (Slippery when wet)
25. Living On A Prayer (Slippery when wet)

One particular moment I will remember well was at the beginning of the song “Wanted dead or alive”. Jon started talking about watching the football world cup and then he asked the crowd if there were any cowboys in the house? Richie and Jon then started playing the intro of the song and the crowd sang the entire intro of the song. It was a goose bump moment hearing everyone sing in unison and seeing a beautiful sun rise sillhouetting the band from behind the stage.

It was an awesome night. I’ve uploaded a few photographs into our gallery. Videos and photographs taken with our Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ7. Videos shot in High Definition AVCHD lite format. Videos owned by Lookatbowen.com

The tickets arrived today – I am guessing GETMEIN read yesterday’s blog!!! Let the countdown commence!

[countdown-fx][/countdown-fx]

Here is one awesome song I’ve been listening to recently. It’s a song called “Vacuum Bag” by Stroke 9. I discovered this band on Last.FM. The song comes from the album called “Rip it off”.

Last.FM is a great site that has introduced me to many new bands I wouldn’t have found otherwise.

Here are the lyrics to the song Vacuum Bag:

You’ll never know what happened to me
It’s just one of those things
I was sitting by myself
And my thoughts started pouring out
Remember that time on our trip
You asked me where we were going
I said Barcelona
You said that’s not what I meant
Maybe I’ll never get it
I just don’t think I’m like that
Don’t like planning stuff out
It never happens that way
I’m like a vacuum bag
That holds all that old dirt
Remember that time
we found your mom’s valium
and took it

Don’t hate me
Don’t regret me
Don’t ever forget me
Wherever you go
Whatever you do
Don’t say I never loved you

That summer when we wore no shoes
And we danced on the fourth of July
and we listened to your sister’s records
And Frampton came alive
Even then you knew what you wanted
Even then I had no clue
I was just living in the moment
And the moment was all about you
Remember that time in LA
You asked me what we were doing
I said we’re doing fine
You said here we go again
I’m like a vacuum bag
That holds all that old dirt
Remember that time we said
We’d be together
Forever

Don’t hate me
Don’t regret me
Don’t ever forget me
Wherever you go
Whatever you do
Don’t say I never loved you

Cause it matters to me
Can you hear me
Everyday I ask the same thing

Will you ever know what happened to me
It happens everyday
And you wonder what went on
It’s there and than it’s gone
Maybe I’m sentimental
And I start to reminisce
And every time I do
I still want to tell you this

Don’t hate me
Don’t regret me
Don’t ever forget me
Wherever you go
Whatever you do
Don’t say I never loved you

BIO: Stroke 9 formed in the San Francisco Bay Area in 1989. The band has since recorded five albums and toured extensively in the United States, Canada and Europe. Fueled by the commercial success of the hit song “Little Black Backpack,” their third album, “Nasty Little Thoughts,” went gold in 2000. The single “Kick Some Ass” from their fourth album “Rip It Off” was featured in the movie “Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back.” The band has also had songs in other movies and TV shows including “Ed TV,” “Scrubs,” “Malcolm in the Middle,” and “West Wing.” They released the album “All In” in 2004 and “Cafe Cuts”, an all acoustic album of 11 of their past songs and 1 new song in February of 2006. Their sound is similar to that Third-Eye Blind, Lit, Greenwheel, and many of the other late 90′s alternative bands. For more details please check out Stroke9.com or www.myspace.com/stroke9

Woweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! June 2010 is going to be one awesome month for music! Not only are we seeing Green Day live at Wembley Stadium, but they are releasing their very own Rockband XBOX 360 game on the 8th of June… Clive, are you reading this? Imagine playing your favorite Green Day songs on your big 42″ Toshiba LCD.

Here is a really cool catchy song by Per Håkan Gessle also known as SON OF A PLUMBER. He is also the same guy from the band Roxette & Gyllene Tider. A truly talented guy and one of Swedens most famous artist.

Monday
Jo-Anna spends an hour with her magazine
The day is kinda grey and so lazy
She goes ah-ah-ah-ah-ah…
And hey boy
Jo-Anna’s in the mirror in her dressing gown
Talking to a friend who lives uptown
She goes ah-ah-ah-ah-ah…

My love… and beyond
Oh, I wish she was
My love… and beyond

Jo-Anna says – I’m not the only one
Jo-Anna says – I’ll never be the one
But when she smiles there’s something in her eyes
That tells me I’m not like the other guys
Jo-Anna says – I have to give it time
Jo-Anna says – you just gotta make up my mind
Jo-Anna says – I have to wait in the line
And come back tomorrow

Monday
Sitting in a window in a cheap hotel
Lighting up the room with a candle, candle, candle
I go ah-ah-ah-ah-ah…
Hey boy
She says that I’m a mess any given day
But laughs as she leaves for a party
I go ah-ah-ah-ah-ah…

Jo-Anna says – I’m not the only one
Jo-Anna says – I’ll never be the one
But when she smiles there’s something in her eyes
That tells me I’m not like the other guys
Jo-Anna says – I have to give it time
Jo-Anna says – you just gotta make up my mind
Jo-Anna says – I have to stand in the line
And come back tomorrow yeah
Ummmmm na na na

Oh oh oh oh
Hey Jo-Anna
Oh oh oh oh…

My love… and beyond
Oh, I wish she was
My love… and beyond, beyond

Jo-Anna says – I’m not the only one
Jo-Anna says – I’ll never be the one
But when she smiles there’s something in her eyes
That tells me I’m not like the other guys
Jo-Anna says – I have to give it time
Jo-Anna says – you just gotta make up my mind
Jo-Anna says – I have to stand in the line
And come back tomorrow, yeah

I’m not the only one
I’ll never be the one
Hey hey Jo-Anna, uh uh uh uh…

Jo-Anna says – I have to give it time
Jo-Anna says – you just gotta make up my mind
Jo-Anna says – I have to stand in the line
And come back tomorrow oh oh oh oh

Jo-Anna says
Jo-Anna says
I never be the one
Jo-Anna says
Hey Jo-Anna
Hey Jo-Anna
Jo-Anna says
Yea yea yea yeaaaah
Jo-Anna says

I’ve just been listening to ‘Blood on blood’ by Bon Jovi on last.fm (well it was on Youtube from Last.FM). It’s one of their best songs ever – I think. This was a song from the New Jersey album from 1988. I have probably listened to this song a thousand times over the years. By far my most favorite song of all time. I hope like hell they play it next year at their Circle Tour Concert at the O2, which we have tickets for.

Blood on blood – Bon Jovi

I can still remember
When I was just a kid
When friends were friends forever
And what you said was what you did

Well, it was me and Danny and Bobby
We held each other’s hands
And held tight to a promise
Only brothers understand

But we were so young (so young)
One for all and all for one (for one)
Just as sure as the river’s gonna run

Blood on blood
One on one
We’d still be standing
When all was said and done
Blood on blood
One on one
And I’ll be here for you
Till Kingdom come
Blood on blood

Well, Bobby was our hero
Cause he had a fake I.D.
When I got busted stealing cigarettes
Bobby took the rap for me

Danny knew this white trash girl
We each threw in a ten
She took us to this cheap motel
And turned us into men

We were so young (so young)
One for all and all for one (for one)
Just as sure as the river’s gonna run

Blood on blood
One on one
We’d still be standing
When all is said and done
Blood on blood
One on one
And I’ll be here for you
Till Kingdom come
Blood on blood

[Solo]

Now Bobby, he’s an uptown lawyer
Danny, he’s a medicine man
And me, I’m just the singer
In a long haired rock’n'roll band

Through the years and miles between us
It’s been a long and lonely ride
But if I got a call in the dead of the night
I’d be right by your side

Blood on blood, blood on blood

Blood on blood
One on one
We’d still be standing
When all is said and done
Blood on blood
One on one
And I’ll be here for you
Till Kingdom come
Blood on blood

Blood on blood

Some facts about the New Jersey album from Last.FM:
New Jersey is Bon Jovi’s fourth album, released on September 13, 1988. Approximate sales were in excess of 7 million copies in the United States and over 18 million copies worldwide. The album is the band’s third highest selling album worldwide, and their second highest selling album in the United States.

New Jersey was an immediate success, debuting at #1 in the United States and across the world. Additionally, it spawned two #1 singles, “Bad Medicine” and the ballad “I’ll Be There for You”.

New Jersey holds the record for the rock album to spawn the most Top 10 singles, with five singles charting on the Top 10 of the US Billboard Hot 100 Singles Chart. No other hard rock album has since equaled or broken this feat.

I was just watching Bon Jovi on the telly singing “We weren’t born to follow” – good song. The band is looking oldish, but then again who wouldn’t after 26 fine years of rocking the planet. It’s no secret that Bon Jovi have been my favorite band throughout my life.

I had all their tapes at one time, then all their CD’s (still do although they are in a suitcase somewhere), all their bootleg concerts (I think I have over 60 concerts downloaded from various sources), I even got CD’s from Ritchie’s, David and Jon’s solo careers.  I’ve been to three concerts over the years (too few) and next year in June we will be watching them live at the O2 with the Wright’s, friends who equally enjoy this band.

I can’t wait!

June the 11th 2010 – Bon Jovi – The Circle Tour live at the O2.

In the same month we are watching another band I have enjoyed over the years and that is Green Day. They have also been around for over 20 years. You wouldn’t think so looking at them, although Billie Joe Armstrong the lead singer wears make-up (I think to cover up the wrinkles – ha ha ha).

Their album “American Idiot” is still my favorite. There are some classic songs on this album (American Idiot, Jesus of Suburbia, Wake Me Up When September Ends, Give me novocaine etc).

Green Day will be playing live at Wembley Stadium on Saturday the 19th June 2010.

And finally to top of the concert month I will be joing a few friends at Glastonbury. It’s the 40th show and promises to be the best ever!

I’ve never been, so hoping it’s going to be special. Glastonbury 23rd June to the 27th June 2010.