Dennis Hopper recites Kipling, objects to continental lager

I've just found out that Dennis Hopper has lost the battle with cancer he's been so visibly fighting the last year or so. He was a true one-off and there are so many wonderful scenes in I recall in which he featured. Here are two tribute clips that should appeal to Carnival Saloon regulars.

This first is testament to both Hopper's temperament and the Johnny Cash Show's left-field booking policy.

Dennis Hopper recites Rudyard Kipling's If


Dennis Hopper appeared in some of my favourite films. His mad cackle in Apocalypse Now is engraved on my brain. Yet the moment that returns to me most often is his objection in Blue Velvet to the lager that reaches the parts other beers cannot reach in favour of "PABST BLUE RIBBON!".

A moment from Blue Velvet

Like I said, a true one-off. He was one of the last of dying breed. 

Vintage Filth

I enthused about the Tony Tost's America podcast in my A Cup of Coffee with Johnny Cash post the other week. I am obsessed. Every episode is an education.

Listening to episode four on my walk to work on Tuesday I heard this remarkable track. Apparently in 1953 Jay-Dee Records boss Joe Davis got The Blenders to make this sweary version of their single Don't Play Around With Love.

MP3: The Blenders - Don't Fuck Around With Love


Hearing that reminded me of the notorious (and far filthier) alternate take of the Lucille Bogan track Shave 'Em Dry. This was recorded with Josh White in 1935. Prepare yourselves.

MP3: Lucille Bogan - Shave 'Em Dry

Find it on Shave 'Em Dry: The Best of Lucille Bogan


Apologies if that pair of corkers offended anyone. Parental guidance service will resume shortly.

Related Links
Tony Tost's America - full podcast archive and tracklist
WFMU: Warm My Weiner - loads more filthy oldies

Jon Langford - The Perfect Nanny

I recently heard an episode of the always intriguing This American Life loosely themed around the subject of babysitting. Between each story they played a different version of The Perfect Nanny from Mary Poppins. My natural inclination towards twang meant that this cover by Waco Brother and Mekon Jon Langford (with John Rice on mandolin) immediately grabbed me. I think you'll enjoy it.

MP3: Jon Langford - The Perfect Nanny


Related Links
This American Life - weekly aural pleasure from Ira Glass and chums
Jon Langford - definitive site

Please Help Save BBC Radio 6 Music

It's been a fantastic week for 6 Music. On Monday Jarvis Cocker and Adam & Joe won at the Sony Awards. Even more notable is this morning's news that the station now has more than a million listeners each week - a whopping 50% increase on last year. That average weekly listening hours have also increased from 5.5 to 7.7 hours is testament that new listeners are really enjoying what they hear and aren't just dipping in out of curiosity because they've heard about 6 Music in the news.

That news, of course, is that my bosses at the BBC have declared, in the Strategy Review published in March, that 6 Music should be axed.

The BBC Trust ends its public consultation about this proposed closure on Tuesday 25 May. That's less then two weeks away. While joining Facebook groups and signing petitions all help raise awareness of 6 Music's perilous plight, there is only one way to guarantee that your thoughts about the station will be heard by the people able to grant it a reprieve. That's by completing the BBC Stategy Review online survey.

• Complete the Strategy Review online survey

Don't rant. Don't rave. And don't be put off by all of the questions - you don't have to answer every one. Simply tell the Trust why you value 6 Music and why the reasons put forward to axe it make little sense.

Jarvis Cocker was typically eloquent on the subject when Nick Wallis interviewed him after his Sony win.


I posted my thoughts on the Strategy Review in March and you're welcome to recycle any of my arguments in your feedback to the Trust. In addition the Love 6 Music website links to an exhaustive selection of news articles and blog posts that cover the arguments very well.

One thing good has come from 6 Music's proposed closure. It's this video:



If you agree with David Bowie please let the BBC Trust know.

Note: The views expressed above are my personal opinions and not those of the BBC.

• Complete the Strategy Review online survey

Related Posts
Some Thoughts on the Demise of BBC 6 Music

Related Links
BBC 6 Music - listen to every show online
Love 6 Music - excellent resource
The Joy of 6 Music - testimony from musicians on why the station shoud be saved

A Cup of Coffee with Johnny Cash

A few weeks ago my friend Pete Marsh alerted me to a wonderful podcast called Tony Tost's America and since then I've been devouring its archives. If you're missing Bob Dylan's Theme Time Radio Hour, this is the place to discover shining nuggets of American musical gold.

During episode three my ears pricked up when I heard this oddity: Johnny Cash hawking Folgers coffee.

MP3: Johnny Cash - Folgers Coffee Jingle


According to Folgers' official site, also the source of the MP3, their jingle was written in 1984 but I've no idea when Johnny recorded his version. Anyone ideas?

This weird discovery seems the perfect opportunity to share another java-related Johnny Cash curio - this seemingly inebriated duet with Ramblin' Jack Elliott from Cash's 1966 album of 'humorous' material Everybody Loves A Nut.

MP3: Johnny Cash & Ramblin' Jack Elliott - A Cup of Coffee

Find it on Everybody Loves A Nut

Related Posts
Shakespeare Was A Big George Jones Fans - great doc about Johnny's pal Cowboy Jack Clement

Related Links
Tony Tost's America - if you like my blog, you'll love this podcast
Ramblin' Jack Elliott - official site