N°22 JOHAN VERMINNEN - BRUSSEL

Ghinzu was a band formed in Brussels so let’s have someone who was born in one of the duburbs of the Belgian capital and someone who lived and loved this city. 

Johan Verminnen wanted to sing and entertain since he was a little boy. Discovered in a talent show called ‘Ontdek de ster’ (translated: Discover the Star) on television back in 1969. In the early seventies he worked a lot with other famous Belgian singers as Will Tura and Raymond van het Groenewoud. Will Tura would launch him with Jean Kluger’s record label. At that time one of the major record labels in the Belgian music scene. He would become one of the faces of the Flemish chanson. His songs often contain stories about scenes of life or about his beloved Brussels. He even has a few records recorded in French. The lyrics usually are about the same subjects as his Flemish songs.

The song I posted carries the title Brussels and it’s about his beauty but also about its dark sides, the singer’s memories, … it’s a beautifull song. Another one of his best known songs about Brussels is Rue de Boucher (translated In the Butcher Street) which is about one of the most famous streets in Brussels. Something you should see whenever you visit this city.

Verminnen, one of the most important performers of Belgian music, also made other beautifull songs. I’ll only name the best known but I’m sure I’m forgetting loads of beauties which probably are hidden on one of his over 40 albums. That’s best off’s included but then again he has that much to choose from. Here’s a few of his best known songs:

Paulien (about his daughter)

Kvoel me goed (a feelgood song)

Daar gaat ze (about a girl)

Mooie dagen (another feelgood song)

Laat me nu toch niet alleen (a bit sad but oh so nice)

Although he released a huge amout of new albums throughout his career he moved up the ladder in 1992 as one of the founders of ZAMU. A foundation which tries to improve the legal and economical situation of Belgian performers. 15 Years later he would become one of the directors of Sabam; a Belgian society of authors, composers and publishers which collects fees for the use of eg music rights and distributes their incomes to the different performers, writers, …

Johan Verminnen also played a little cameo in the Suske & Wiske (in English Luke and Lucy – in French Bob et Bobette) comic album The Krimson Crisis.

I want to make the next link also a song about a capital. Any suggestions?

N°21 GHINZU - BLOW

The more you use it, the sharper it gets. A famous line for the Japanese Ghinzu kitchen knives. The same baseline could be applied to this Belgian band and back in 1999 Ghinzu was born in Brussels.

Founded by John Stargasm (vocals and keys), Fabrice Georges (drums and later to be replaced by Antoine Michel) and Mika Nagazaki (on bass) who knew each other from a previous band called Las Vegas Parano. They added Greg Remy on guitar and Sanderson Poe on contrabass who was later replaced by Jean Waterlot for some extra keyboard and/or guitar power.

The first 12-track album saw the light back in 2000 and can be best described as noise rock. It has great rhythm, contrast between guitar and contrabass, drumbeats and trashy synthesizers. It’s Ghinzu style all the way and to be honest: The more you listen to it, the better it gets.

Blow, their second studio album was released back in 2004 and rocketed them into French stardom. Since they’re a Brussels band with mostly French speaking band members their appearances in the south of Belgium and the whole of France was more frequent than eg in Flanders or The Netherlands.

Two years back they released their third studio album called Mirror Mirror; released in over 10 European countries at once. It’s a bit more sensitive than Blow but still the typical Ghinzu noisy style. Let’s call it a bit more polished than the previous albums. The album reached first place, a week after it’s release in iTunes Belgium. Says enough.

Ghinzu also scored on several movie tracks like Nous reterons sur terre, Les Chevaliers du ciel et Dikkenek. They wrote the opening track for Irina Palm, a movie with Marianne Faithfull and the end credits of Ex-Drummer an Taken were also supported by their music. Ex Drummer by the way is the movie I was talking about when discovering Madensuyu and Ghinzu.

It’s a bit noisy but still I hope you’ll learn to appreciate the genre.

N°20 MADENSUYU - PAPA BEAR

Since School is cool won last year's Humo's Rock Rally and the won the People's Choice Award at Frappantpop I thought it would be nice to link them to a Rock Rally People's Choice Award winner. It would be most easy to just choose the award winner from last year as well but then I'm more fan of Madensuyu. They won the award back in 2004. Especially since they also ended third in their first ever music contest the link is absolutely perfect.

Madensuyu is a two people band formed by Stijn De Gezelle on guitar and PJ Vervondel on drums. Only two instruments make great music and even Arno, one of the greatest Belgian performers, once declared his infinite love for their music. Their first EP was released back in 2005 and was called Adjust We. It contained only four songs at first. On their debut album which followed a year after Adjust We they added five extra tracks. Together with the original four it formed their first album A Field Between. D is Done, their second album came two years later continuing their post-rock music style of playing music

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The track I listed is a piece of music I discovered while watching a Belgian movie. On that same track list you'll find many more pieces of artwork and one of these you'll discover as number 21 in my list. If you can't wait you can try and figure out which movie it is and take a sneak peak at the tracklist but patience will be rewarded.

Oh, Madensuyu seems like a strange name for a band right? Actually it's a Turkish word and it means mineral water.

N°19 SCHOOL IS COOL - NEW KIDS IN TOWN

First of all, due to some unforeseen circumstances, there were no posts past Wednesday and Saturday. Apologies for those looking forward to the missing links. Life and death lie very close together but in the end life goes on so we’ll pick up where we left off:

 -

The title of School Is Cool’s debut song is completely correct. They are the New Kids In Town The band was formed only 2 years ago in 2009. Five kids, Johannes Genard, Andrew and Michael Van Ostade, Matthias Dillen and female band member Nele Paelinck, formed School Is Cool halfway 2009 and they participated at Frappantpop in November 2009. Frappantpop was only their third live performance ever and they managed to finish third in the contest also taking home the votes from the audience. This first success lead them to the better known Rock Rally; a bi-yearly contest for newly formed Belgian bands. Winning the Humo’s Rock Rally usually guarantees a ticket to play most of the Belgian festivals and that wasn’t different for the five youngsters. 

Right after winning this contest in March 2010 they launched this first single followed by a 250 euro budgeted videoclip a few weeks later. They don’t have an album yet and I’m not aware of a second single being released so far but I’m sure you’ll here more from these youngsters in the near future.

N°18 THE LAST HARD MEN - SCHOOL's OUT

Allright, let's move on the the sequential Scream movies. They get worse with every sequel but if you just take a look at the tracklist it's still yummie. Too much to choose for and so I anticipated already with the next group in mind.

School's out is an Alice Cooper cover made especially for the first Scream movie. This song never appeared on their first, and actually only, track listing in 1998. It did so in the rereleased tracks three years later. And that was the last we heared from The Last Hard Men.

The band was a unique, short tem project of Sebastian Bach (Skid Row), Jimmy Flemion (The Frogs), Kelly Deal (The Breeders) and Jimmy Chamberlin (The Smashing Pumpkins). The four of them recorded a full album in 1998, named it after the band, and then the record company decided not to release it. Yet another label released the CD in 1998 but only for 1000 copies for sale by mail order. 

In 2001 it was decided to rerelease that same album once again adding only a few additional song like this one. This 2001 release can still be bough at some online retailers like Amazon and I-tunes.

I know it's not the best cover ever but still I hope you'll enjoy it.

N°17 MISFITS - SCREAM

If anyone knows how Scream from Misfits ties up with anything from The Cure I'll say congratz to he or she who knows. I'll tell you at the end of this piece.

The Misfits are currently formed by Jerry Only; bass and current lead vocalist (previously backing vocalist), Dez Cadena on guitar and backing vocals and recently with Eric Arce on drums. Initially formed in 1977 the lead vocalist was Glenn Danzig who stayed with the band until their split in 1983. Followed by Michale Graves who'd be singing the lyrics at the re-start in 1995 untill 2000. Ever since bass guitar player Jerry Only started to sing lead vocals.

As you can read, punkband Misfits had a bumpy career with a huge amount of changes in line-up. They've had about 20 different band members during their 22 year career lifespan. The only steady factor was Jerry Only who now is the face of the band.

They are punk, yet not Brittish since formed in New Jersey in the USA and were named after Marilyn Monroe's last film The Misfits. As their original bassist left the band after a single month of jamming, a young man named Jerry Caiafa was introduced to the band. In this original format they released their first single called Cough/Cool. Caiafa's name was misspelled on the EP and he decided he only wanted to be called Jerry Only ever since. His character was born introducing the Devilock (short sides and long in the middle, combed forward) hairstyle.

Misfits released 3 albums during the first part of their existence of which Static Age, their first, to me is still their best. I believe many of the Misfits fan would agree with me. As with many bands, the old stuff usually is the coolest as well. Before releasing their 3rd album Earth A.D/Wolfs Blood the band split up after a huge amount of disagreements between all of the band members. October 29th, 1983 would be their last concert for a very long time. Each of them went their own way. But in the break up period, Misfits would grow popularity to a peak. Huge bands like Guns 'n Roses (Attitude) or Metallica (Last Caress) made covers of  their original songs bringing them to a broader audience. That audience wanted to hear more but ... during that same period, royalties problems would mean the definite end of the band as such it was formed back in 1977.

In 1995, Only would revive the dead patient back to live together with former founding member Doyle 'Wolfgang von Frankenstein'. They sought, and found, a new lead singer for the coming 6 years and they would release 2 albums in that period. One of those albums was American Psycho, named after the 1991 thriller with Christian Bale. Once more in 2001 the band would have great disputes between the members and again Misfits lost not only it's lead singer, but also one of the last remaining founding members. Bye bye Frankenstein.

Jerry only didn't give up and kept Misfits alive with changing line-ups. He was joined by well know musicians as Marky Ramone (Ramones) and Dez Cadena (former Black Flag and still a current member of Misfits). Also  Danzig, the original lead vocalist would return for a short reunion and so Misfits kept going for the next 8 years mostly with Jerry Only himself on vocals. Only one more album would be released but it is said they're working on new material for their new album The Devil's Rain. An album also named after a movie as is their band's name.

Misfits are punk, rock, speed, hyperspeed some say, heavy metal, hardcore, horror, goth, ... just name it. Off course you gotta love it and if you don't; maybe the next music link will suit you better.

Q,

Oh yeah the link with The Cure? Still haven't figured it out huh? Jerry Only ... born in Lodi, New Jersey, USA on April 21st 1959. Robert Smith ... born in Blackpool, Great Britain on April 21st 1959. A bit far fetched maybe but it does tie in, ... right?

N°16 THE CURE - FRIDAY I'M IN LOVE

Let's stick with Friday and this one's a real classic. I like "A Forest" more but then it didn't fit in the link just now. I might use it later on. Who knows?

The Cure is a British band formed around lead singer  Robert Smith with an ever changing line-up linked to the postpunk and new wave scène. Their first single (Killing an Arab) from their debut album Three Imaginary Boys caused some controversy because of it's racist lyrics. On the same album you'll find the hit Boys Don't Cry which was their first big breakthrough. From 1979 to 1984 they released one album each year with more well known hits as A Forest, The Lovecats and The Caterpillar. Their styles were described as dark somewhat gothic music.

Since 1987 the releases were less frequent with albums in 1987 and 1989 and brand new album every 4 years after that with the latest in 2008 called 4:13 dream. In 1992 this song was released on the album Wish which was a bit more happier than all the previous albums. This album though was followed by even more heavy albums which would go back to the roots. Robert Smith himself says that the 2004 album The Cure contains the essence of the band itself. Find out for yourself.

The bigger gaps in releasing albums from late 80's on is also said to be part of the constant rumours of the band splitting. In fact The Cure never ever split at all but bandmembers have changed more often ever since. It was even said that Robert Smith's suicidal tendencies would be the end of the band but that might also be a part of the singer's image. Just take a look at his pictures from the eighties and compare them to these from the latest years. It scares you seeing him now compared to his early years.

I like their hits but I also like their other songs most of the time and as for this one. It makes you happy and wish for the weekend !!! Well let me make you happy and wish it was Friday already !!!

N°15 REBECCA BLACK - FRIDAY

This song received about 73 million clicks on youtube so one can call it a world famous song. And not because it's the best song ever.... It's actually ... the worst EVER. Really. Listen to it. It's not that I'm into Britney Spears but I would if you'd let me choose between Britney and Rebecca.

It's been said that negatif publicity is also publicity and in this case it actually works great for her. The song is just plain rubbish, the lyrics have been written by a retarted lepricorn and the whole is just awful yet she gets a huge amount of attention. Even by me haha.

 The clip and the record were recorded for a mere 4.000$ by LA Ark Music Factory. The amount was sponsored by her parents and apparantly it's paying off since Rebecca signed for that same label and is working on her debut album (for God's sake) Well to them a job is a job I guess. One can't say that she didn't make it to the billboards. She peaked 58 in the USA, 61 in the UK and even 33 in New Zealand.

For the sports I've been searching for the lyrics which you can find just below:

(Yeah, Ah-Ah-Ah-Ah-Ah-Ark)
Oo-ooh-ooh, hoo yeah, yeah
Yeah, yeah
Yeah-ah-ah
Yeah-ah-ah
Yeah-ah-ah
Yeah-ah-ah
Yeah, yeah, yeah

Seven a.m., waking up in the morning
Gotta be fresh, gotta go downstairs
Gotta have my bowl, gotta have cereal
Seein' everything, the time is goin'
Tickin' on and on, everybody's rushin'
Gotta get down to the bus stop
Gotta catch my bus, I see my friends (My friends)

Kickin' in the front seat
Sittin' in the back seat
Gotta make my mind up
Which seat can I take?

It's Friday, Friday
Gotta get down on Friday
Everybody's lookin' forward to the weekend, weekend
Friday, Friday
Gettin' down on Friday
Everybody's lookin' forward to the weekend

Partyin', partyin' (Yeah)
Partyin', partyin' (Yeah)
Fun, fun, fun, fun
Lookin' forward to the weekend

7:45, we're drivin' on the highway
Cruisin' so fast, I want time to fly
Fun, fun, think about fun
You know what it is
I got this, you got this
My friend is by my right, ay
I got this, you got this
Now you know it

Kickin' in the front seat
Sittin' in the back seat
Gotta make my mind up
Which seat can I take?

It's Friday, Friday
Gotta get down on Friday
Everybody's lookin' forward to the weekend, weekend
Friday, Friday
Gettin' down on Friday
Everybody's lookin' forward to the weekend

Partyin', partyin' (Yeah)
Partyin', partyin' (Yeah)
Fun, fun, fun, fun
Lookin' forward to the weekend

Yesterday was Thursday, Thursday
Today i-is Friday, Friday (Partyin')
We-we-we so excited
We so excited
We gonna have a ball today

Tomorrow is Saturday
And Sunday comes after ... wards
I don't want this weekend to end

R-B, Rebecca Black
So chillin' in the front seat (In the front seat)
In the back seat (In the back seat)
I'm drivin', cruisin' (Yeah, yeah)
Fast lanes, switchin' lanes
Wit' a car up on my side (Woo!)
(C'mon) Passin' by is a school bus in front of me
Makes tick tock, tick tock, wanna scream
Check my time, it's Friday, it's a weekend
We gonna have fun, c'mon, c'mon, y'all

It's Friday, Friday
Gotta get down on Friday
Everybody's lookin' forward to the weekend, weekend
Friday, Friday
Gettin' down on Friday
Everybody's lookin' forward to the weekend

Partyin', partyin' (Yeah)
Partyin', partyin' (Yeah)
Fun, fun, fun, fun
Lookin' forward to the weekend

It's Friday, Friday
Gotta get down on Friday
Everybody's lookin' forward to the weekend, weekend
Friday, Friday
Gettin' down on Friday
Everybody's lookin' forward to the weekend

Partyin', partyin' (Yeah)
Partyin', partyin' (Yeah)
Fun, fun, fun, fun
Lookin' forward to the weekend

Oh I was out of the country at the beginning of the week so I'll be catching up on my posts next week. I'll probably post a new link next Tuesday, Thursday and than again regularly on Saturdays and Wednesdays.

Greetings

UPDATE 19/06/2011 : Rebecca Black apparantly has issues with her management about the rights to the video so it has been blocked on youtube. No harm done though ... I found it as a torrent and reposted the video !!!!!