I can Can, can you Can?

Holger Czukay. Holger Czukay. I was always banging on about Holger Czukay. Ask my friend, Martin. Who’s Olga Shoe Kay? Well, he was the man who put can in Can, that great, over-sampled German group from the 60s and early 70s who influenced other leaders from Brian Eno to The Human League, The Fall to David Sylvian, Aphex Twin to Röyksopp. And it’s a happy coincidence to learn that Holger Czukay is 73 in the same week that Lee Scratch Perry is 73. For what these two did for electronica and reggae in their own different worlds is nobody’s business. All of which means it’s everybody’s business. Most of the popular music we hear today has a root in something sprung by these septuagenarians. A fan of the new, I’m not always big on continuity. When it comes to drawing threads from the past through the eye of the present, however, I find that I can’t do any of my daily labour without one of them, a strong cup of coffee and a banana or two. You see, I write in rhythm. I like my words to sing to me. Admittedly, it’s a rhythm you’re not always going to pick up on. Not everyone can hear it. But they’re my words and I can Can.

Mark Griffiths www.idealconsulting.co.uk

Time and time again

Today, 23rd February 2009, is 100 days to my 50th birthday. One or two people have noticed how time is appearing in these blogs in both regular yet serendipitous ways. With such an anniversary on the horizon, it’s hardly surprising that my mind enters the world every day through this horological doorway. It will be interesting for me to see how the flow of time now enters my work. But not today – I have laryngitis. Sleepless of Stratford will not be open for talking shop. Clients often ask me how I write and write again. Sitting in front of a blank piece of paper, or a screen, for something like the ten thousandth time, means you have to be confident of starting somewhere, of being able to start at all. I’ve never had this problem of starting with words. I think it’s because the door is always open to the inspiration of whatever is there and whoever is strolling past. Hello, there’s Howard Jones, asking his perennial question, What is love, anyway? And there’s David Sylvian answering it, singing The Song Which Gives The Key To Perfection. The trouble is, the backdrop to all of this is Ballroom Blitz by The Sweet. Bassist, Steve Priest, is singing that he sees a man at the back, as a matter of fact, whose eyes are as red as the sun. As the cough medicine kicks in, that’s me staring at the mirror. Good day and good night.

Mark Griffiths www.idealconsulting.co.uk