Walking Away

I was surprised when I saw a news story today that Sony has ceased production of the cassette Walkman. Surprised because I assumed this happened years ago. Almost 9 years to the day after Apple introduced us to the iPod, Sony has finally thrown in the towel. The Sony Walkman was not an overnight success. Introduced in 1979 in Japan, it failed to make much headway initially and it was considered to be a strange idea to walk around town listening to your tunes. However, despite media criticism, Sony persevered and ultimately sold 200 million units over the next 30 years.

I bought one similar to that in the picture in 1981 or thereabouts. The headphones had bright orange earpads and, if you were going to be out for more than a few hours, the bulky extra battery pack was a necessity. Measuring about 5 x 3 inches and with a capacity of about 90 minutes on a standard cassette,it is certainly a far cry from the latest iPod Nano which is about 1 inch square and can hold around 200 hours of music.

Although Sony subsequently lost it's way in the portable music player market, those of us who enjoy music on the move owe a debt to the company and it's co-founder, the late Akio Morita, for persevering with what was considered at the time to be an outlandish product.

Wrong!

"A lot of bloggers seem to be socially inadequate, pimpled, single, slightly seedy, bald, cauliflower-nosed, young men sitting in their mother's basements and ranting. They are very angry people. OK – the country is full of very angry people. Many of us are angry people at times. Some of us are angry and drunk. But the so-called citizen journalism is the spewings and rantings of very drunk people late at night."

These were the words of wisdom of Andrew Marr, a Scottish journalist, author and broadcaster in a speech at the Cheltenham Literature Festival recently. He was giving a talk about how modern technology is rapidly changing the way people receive news and current affairs information.

I enjoy Andrew's work but I think he is very wrong to take such a misguided pot shot at the world of bloggers. As a relatively new blogger, let me answer these charges head on:-

Socially inadequate : possibly after too many drinks but, en route, the life and soul
Pimpled : 30 years ago, perhaps. Not now.
Single : not since 1989
Slightly seedy : certainly not!
Bald : OK, guilty!
Cauliflower-nosed : No
Young : Sadly, no
Ranting : During working hours only
Angry : See ranting
Very drunk: Occasionally, however, I would never drink and blog.

So Andrew, please don't tar all bloggers with the same brush. And I look forward to hearing the feedback from the cauliflower-nosed fraternity on those ears of yours...

Remembering John Lennon

Regardless of where you happened to be over the weekend, I am sure you would have been reminded that it marked the 70th birthday of John Lennon. It is, indeed, hard to believe it is almost 30 years since John was shot dead at point blank range outside the Dakota Building in his beloved New York City, robbing the music world of one of it's most exceptional talents.

I was barely out of short trousers when the Beatles hit their stride in 1966/67 with Revolver and Sgt.Pepper but I have never had much doubt it was John's contribution that lifted them into legendary status.

John was always controversial and his solo career ebbed and flowed. During this period, he is probably best remembered for the much loved and many times covered "Imagine",the anti-war "Give Peace A Chance" and the bed-in for peace at the Amsterdam Hilton. However, for me, his most powerful song was "Working Class Hero" from his first post-Beatles recording - 1970's "Plastic Ono Band". Not a radio favourite due to it's acerbic and unprintable lyric, it has stayed in the memory for so long. Here is a sample:-

Keep you doped with religion and sex and TV,
And you think you're so clever and classless and free,
But you're still fucking peasants as far as I can see,
A working class hero is something to be,
A working class hero is something to be.
There's room at the top they are telling you still,
But first you must learn how to smile as you kill,
If you want to be like the folks on the hill,
A working class hero is something to be.
A working class hero is something to be.
If you want to be a hero well just follow me,
If you want to be a hero well just follow me.

The following clip is a great compilation of images of John's life. Strangely, John was the one Beatle who was brought up in what was regarded then as a middle class household. As the Americans would say, go figure.....