last tallinnn night 9 july

Franziska I think particularly but maybe also Steve had persuaded me to visit the Linnahall a few days previously despite my ignorant dismissal... and I was shown to be a dufus, because it was amazing. This time I had suggested visiting the cemetery park near where we were staying (Steve and I had walked past it and observed that it looked like a cemetery though we couldn't quite say why as it had no tombstones, but about 30 seconds' research showed that is precisely what it had been). But Franziska had suggested going a little further afield as well and I knew this would be a good idea even if I didn't know why. 

First of all, just wanted to show you what a few years' exposure to the ice and rain of Tallinn can do to the wooden bits of a building. It's not pretty is it! 

Yet the building itself is amazeballs

Couldn't get a proper picture of it because there was a big fat white van in the way, but you are probably satisfied with Tallinn house pictures by now. 

First, we went past what I later discovered was the cemetery belltower (I'll leave the story of the cemetery park for tomorrow OK). Elegant construction. I am ashamed (?) to say at first I thought it was an aesthetic disguise on something very utilitarian like a sewer duct. 

This is the only cemetery marker I could see in the cemetery (I later discovered I was looking in the wrong place):

This is where we were really headed though. I have no idea what's happening with this building other than what I can see - that it has trees growing in it.

But this is the really amazing thing. It's huge. The sum total of what I know about it is all here. 

And there's the Linnahall off in the not-very-distant distance. 

What do you think this is or was? I just like the way the pixelated waves look. 

We walked back along the waterfront a little. 

New apartments over old infrastructure. And below, back in the cemetery park. 

Steve was pretty interested in this building's balconies and I get it. 

late seventies mushroom

A few months ago....

Listening to one of those Mushroom records CDs of the entire (?) output of the label on I guess 7" single, the CD that starts with 'All My Friends Are Getting Married'. Most of these songs (some of them died a death before I even heard them on radio/TV) are programmed into my mind, with various misunderstood or unknown connotations so that they seem a lot more vivid to me than most music, even though at the same time I am aware they generally speaking suck. But 'All My Friends...' for instance - surely a track written in desperation or at least with strong ambition to keep the Skyhooks machine rumbling along - not a great song. But a song that still means a lot to me, introduced me to some kind of understanding of societal expectations I guess, I don't think I really had a clue (at 11 or 12 or however old I was when this record came out) how old Skyhooks and/or their pitch audience were, but apparently there is an age when all your friends get married, and you have mixed feelings about it. I think even at that young age - maybe not, but soon after that age - I became aware that Shirley Strachan sang songs written by Greg Macainsh who didn't sing. So there is a moment in AMFAGM where a character directly addresses Shirl, and it's like wait a minute - is this Macainsh writing a song about SS's experience? Or did he just transpose 'Shirl' for 'Greg'? Well, I don't know, and from what I gather GM isn't up for talking about his own experience or process much. As far as I know he hasn't written a song for thirty years, at least, he hasn't released any. AFAIK. 

Mother Goose's 'Baked Beans' is just drivel, so is 'The Mighty Rock' whoever that's by (Stars?). 'Don't Throw Stones' and other Sports singles are just completely brilliant. Some other stuff on here is exceptionally good, even Scandal's version of 'How Long' which, you know, who cares? Three years after the original! But I guess their credible answer could be, actually we did a pretty good version of a pretty good song. 

Jo Jo Zep's 'Hit and Run' is, well, amazeballs, still, a hundred years later. 

Well done everyone, is all I can say really. Even the people who did a bad job, well done to you too. You existed in the seventies and permeated my mental landscape. 

This CD ends with Russell Morris and the Rubes' version of 'Hush', which is almost when I was onboarded into seeing pop stars as real people. I have surely mentioned it before - I did work experience at Richmond Recorders, which was kind of a mid-range and affordable recording studio in, god I can't remember where, probably Richmond, and the week I 'worked' there, Russell Morris and the Rubes were recording demos there ('for Japan'). They'd had a hit* with 'Hush' (RM's second time having a hit with 'Hush') and then they made these demos for an album, which ultimately they recorded elsewhere (AAM), but it had 'Hush' on it. Anyway, I have told you about this already, here. 

* Well my top 40 research book says actually they didn't have a hit with that song. So I guess I'm wrong. But it must have got enough attention that Mushroom decided to pay for an LP.