Tories silent auction gives you chance to be Great Uncle Bulgaria

You might think that the story about the Tories raising money through a silent auction was a spoof when you got to the bit about rich Conservatives bidding on tickets to see the last of The Hunger Games movie. But it's genuine.

There's going to be a plutocrat trying to get their money back when they discover that The Hunger Games has such a sad ending.

With lots like the chance to eat an entire chicken with Michael Gove and Sarah Vine, the line-up of items suggests a confusion between 'silent auction' and 'unspeakable horror', but there were a surprising number of music-related chances to bid.

Perhaps most surprisingly, there was a photo of Suggs. The catalogue describes the photo:

Portrait photograph of Suggs from Madness.
This framed photographic print of Suggs from Madness is a true collector's item. The photographer Stephen Perry has been described as a true visionary and has taken portrait photographs of the stars since an early age. Stephen claimed that he chose to keep Suggs' sunglasses on as he was still a recognisable figure with them on, although it later emerged that he had been in the pub before the shoot and was slightly the worse for wear!

What larks.

I wonder if there's another story about Suggs being in a pub that might be relevant here? How about this one:

Suggs is keen to point out that Madness were always very political. “We were socialists, and still are, to a greater or lesser extent. Our first gig at the Hope and Anchor was the night Margaret Thatcher got voted in, God help us. All that ‘there’s no such thing as society’ and what they did to the unions… We were a little society of our own and tried to create a feeling of belonging. Our House becomes authentic, even though it’s an abstract. It’s the idea of family.

“We did Red Wedge [aimed at raising political awareness among young people] with Billy Bragg, The Specials, Jerry Dammers, Paul Weller, and we did loads of stuff for the miners, benefits for the strikers and families.”

Perhaps the Tories knew all this. Perhaps using Suggs to raise funds for the Campaign to Re-elect The Shiny Porkfaced Cameron is a joke.

Or perhaps they're just inept.

Another lot is to get Mike Batt to write a song, just for you. "It could be a comic song" suggests the catalogue.

But there's a warning:

Not to be used for commercial purposes

Really? You're putting a ban on a person using something they've bought for their own personal enrichment. You've changed, Conservatives. You used to support the free market. Who knew the invisible hand gets slapped back the minute it tries to caress Mike Batt's bottom line.

There's also tickets to see Fleetwood Mac in Leeds, which could be a tribute to that time Republicans bought tickets to a Mac gig and then sold them at a mark-up to fundraise.

It's possible the whole event was some sort of too-clever-by-half in-joke.

But then all the opportunities to shoot things to death... well, that looks deadly earnest.

Stevie Nicks has a competition

I suspect 'Design a shawl for Stevie Nicks' might be the first ever rock/shawl crossover competition. It's not just designing a shawl; it's claiming a place in history.

Gordon in the morning: Everything has a price

As you'll be aware, in order to read Gordon Smart's high-quality journalism online these days you have to pay.

What does your money get you?

Today, it's a story about how Fleetwood Mac's Don't Stop is going to be used in a John Lewis advert.

Who wouldn't think it great value to dip into their pocket to discover exciting news about a television commercial, eh?

Guitarobit: Bob Welch

Former member of Fleetwood Mac Bob Welch has died, apparently of self-inflicted gunshot wounds.

His Guardian obituary contains one of those sad lines of a life almost lived:

Fleetwood Mac's career took off in the mid-70s after Welch left the band. Dreams was a number one in 1977, as was Don't Stop.

He did go on to other success - both as a solo artist, with the band Paris, and as a songwriter. His exclusion from the band always seemed to be a cause of bemusement to him rather than rancour.

Welch had been unwell for some time; he was 56.

Bull And Gate Weekend: Jynxt

Not the highest of fi as far as videos go, but worth a look; this is Jynxt playing the Bull And Gate sometime around 2007-ish:



Jynxt were something of a strange offering: mostly comprised of the children on one of Fleetwood Mac (Jeremy Spencer, to be precise), all the indications were that they should have been dreadful, but they were actually alright. Look, try this without the limitations of live video:



Admittedly, you'd probably have to have a weakness for mid-80s eurorock to really warm to them.

The various websites which remain about the band suggest they were set to rock 2006 and, with a little less conviction, that they were set to rock 2007. I don't think 2008 ever really braced itself to be rocked by them; and, a bit like the Cosby show, the desperate packing of the original line-up with non-relatives watered down the proposition considerably.


[Buy: Jynxt demo]
[Part of Bull And Gate weekend]

Crow lines up for Mac

Sheryl Crow is going to be working with Fleetwood Mac at some point soon, she, erm, hasn't quite announced:

"I don't want to make any official announcements, but I will say that we definitely have plans for collaborating in the future, and we'll see what happens."

Of course, she could have made herself clearer, but if you're going to work with Stevie Nicks, you probably want to avoid being too comprehensible.