Archive for December, 2008

Poem For National Garreth F. Hirons Week

December 28, 2008

“When the tabloids all say ‘hang ‘em’, they’re usually talking ’bout Chris Langham”

“The Boxing Must Stop!”

December 26, 2008

 
With all that Festive excitement out of the way, it’s time for a short holiday for Out On Blue Six. Stay, as they say, Tuned…

The Alternative Alternative Christmas Message

December 25, 2008

“Hello, this is yer old pal Baron Samedi Off Of Heroes here. When I’m not forming a quasi-religious militia, running down a corridor, or being twatted by Nathan Petrelli, I like nothing better than to take a look back over the last twelve months of Out On Blue Six. And what a twelve months it’s [...]

Christmas Eve

December 24, 2008

Q: Where Is Jaymi Bantok? A: On The Way To Bethlehem!

December 23, 2008

 It’s been featured on here before, and here it is again for your viewing pleasure – a hefty chunk of Christmas Eve With Val Doonican from 1987, featuring the parrot-favouring cardigan-clad crooner performing On The Way To Bethlehem with the aid of St Philip’s Choir and internationally renowned recorder-ist Michala Petri. [...]

Look Out! Cliiiiiiiff!

December 22, 2008

It really is amazing what you can find resurfacing on YouTube these days. Many, many years ago, while calling in on relatives one dark and rainy Christmas Eve, I caught haphazard glimpses of a very peculiar TV show (even more peculiar for having been on ITV) which continued to baffle me for many years.
Some considerable [...]

The Christmas Card That Keeps On Carding

December 21, 2008

Well, it’s time to unveil this year’s Out On Blue Six Christmas Cards… and we’ve recieved the grand total of one, from a Ben Baker off of Keighley. Still, we’re sure you’ll agree that nothing says Out On Blue Six At Christmas like Roland Rat with a seemingly detachable arm. Let snow battle commence! For some [...]

Is This Christmas Music? Part Twelve – New Kids On The Block ‘Merry Merry Christmas’

December 20, 2008

Christmas is, as Louise Hall-Taylor announces at the conclusion of The Nativity, “a time of celebration”. Clap Your Hands was the name of one of one of the tracks on Happy Mondays’ Madchester Rave On EP, which sat a couple of places below Band Aid II and Jason Donovan over the Christmas of 1989. Happy [...]

Is This Christmas Music? Part Eleven – Watch ‘The Nativity’

December 19, 2008

So how can a celebration of the art of the Christmas single, which has defended the use of simplistic seasonal iconography, struck a blow for purveyors of production-line pop and overlooked the presence of a sidesplittingly tacky saxophone, become so suddenly enamoured of a barbed and acidic assault on the very concept it endorses? Well, [...]

Is This Christmas Music? Part Ten – Spitting Image ‘The Christmas Singles’

December 18, 2008

I Believe In Father Christmas is a remarkable collection of ambitious musical and lyrical ideas crammed into the length of an ordinary pop single, and as such is perfect evidence of why those prog rockers should have tried limiting themselves to three minutes or so more often. Lake’s emotive disdain for the autopilot conveyer belt [...]