No, I know it's not Friday. But I didn't do one last week. I didn't forget. I'd planned to cut a slice from a live Janes Plane show I pulled from a cassette but when I heard it--for the first time in twenty years--it was so unremittingly horrible I just couldn't bear to share any part if it. I think it was the worst gig we ever did. It was recorded at a club in Hull and I was ill: I had to leave the stage every few minutes to throw up. Ugh. And the drum kit kept breaking. And Jane's guitar wouldn't stay in tune. And, and, and. It just sucked.
Carol and I had just spent a few days at the UK equivalent of Michigan Womyn's Music Festival, where the food was vile and the hygiene even worse. But the women were, y'know, right there, and in festive mood; there was lots o' music, lots o' drugs. I didn't get much sleep. Anyway, we got back to Hull minutes before going on stage. I don't think we even had time for a sound check. Everyone was mad at us. But I felt so awful I didn't care. You can hear the utter despair in my voice. Actually, you can't; you never will; I will not allow another living being hear that recording. Ever.
So here, instead, is another song from long ago: me and Jane doing a cover of Velvet Underground's "After Hours." (Yep, another boombox recording.) For whatever reason, this strikes me as a perfect way to end 2008. (This version is, anyway--it's much more up-tempo than VU's original.) Enjoy.
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So how will you be spending your New Year's Eve? Every year Kelley and I buy the best bottle of champagne we can afford, settle down in front of the fire, and talk about the year that was and the year to come. We laugh (sometimes cry) about our experiences of the last twelve months, then get to the serious business of laying out goals. They're not small things, not Resolutions such as 'I want to lose 10lbs', they're more like: I will do the fucking work or I will remember I don't always have to win. Then we promise to help each other with those goals, and then we eat an enormous dinner. (Often it's Indian food, but this year I think I'll make a spaghetti bolognese and a lot of garlic bread--Kelley loves it.)
I hope you all have a wonderful beginning to your year. May 2009 bring exactly the amount of excitement you desire.
