Blue Thunder
Hong Kong Panoramic, a photo by betta design on Flickr.I discovered all the music I love in the early 90s through this music channel in Hong Kong called Channel V. They had a show in the early evening called Alternative Nation which re-introduced[1] me to Morrissey, Sinead O'Connor, Siouxsie and The Cure as well as helped me discover The Lemonheads, Suede, Cocteau Twins and Blur. I'd record my favourite videos on VHS tapes then play them late at night after smoking joints on my balcony.
Galaxie 500 got played too, but only their video "Blue Thunder". Over and over. I remember liking the photo negative feel of the video and the footage of burning cars. I never tried though to discover the rest of their music; they fell behind with so much other music around me that time. (Juliana *cough* Hatfield *cough*)
Until last week, that is. king_prawn invited me to see Damon and Naomi (2/3 of Galaxie 500) play their material at Café Oto, which is just a bus ride away from me. There were a lot of Japanese fans there, thanks to their current collaboration with Japanese guitarist Michio Kurihara. We sat at a table right by the stage and I got drunk after three pints. King Prawn had said it was unlikely they'd play anything from Galaxie 500 because they were promoting new material, but then the encore came with "Blue Thunder" and King Prawn mouthed "Oh My God" to me.
To be honest, it was better than the original version. The lyrics were brought forward, plus Damon and Naomi are better singers than Dean (the lead in G500). You know one of those days that are filled with stress and you just need to unwind and take your mind somewhere else? It was like that, hands down my fave gig so far this year.
In two weeks, I'm seeing Low play the Barbican, this time with wink_martindale as well as King Prawn. Now that I've (re)discovered Galaxie 500 and I'm listening to them obsessively (thanks alot King Prawn!) I can see how much they influenced Low and other musicians since then.
Damon and Naomi's material is also good and worth checking out. I was surprised and happy to find out that they also have a publishing company, Exact Change, that specialises in re-issues of Surrealist and Dada books that are out of print. How cool is that?! Now you know what to get me for my birthday.
[1] I say re-introduce because this music was around me on Top 40 radio in Brasil. I think brasilians didn't know what the lyrics meant but they liked the melodies, so they pushed singles to the top that didn't fare so well back in the UK. Propaganda's "Duel", for example, was a staple on adult contemporary radios!