Connolly’s Corner

Welcome all to 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗻𝗼𝗹𝗹𝘆’𝘀 𝗖𝗼𝗿𝗻𝗲𝗿, a series of weekly reviews by Charles Connolly – an artist in his own right. Here, Charles delves into the greatest brand new singles brought to you by the best unsigned artists on our electrifying and eclectic set of 𝙉𝙚𝙬 𝘼𝙧𝙩𝙞𝙨𝙩 𝙎𝙥𝙤𝙩𝙡𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 playlists.

𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝘿𝙖𝙮 𝘼𝙛𝙩𝙚𝙧 – 𝘽𝙞𝙡𝙡𝙮 𝙇𝙤𝙬𝙧𝙮

Charles talks about tomorrow…

There is something I have always found mildly fascinating, ever since I was young. I mean, even younger. It involves the passing of time, and the way we regiment said passing of time. A birthday, for example. It is a day for celebration. But we have decided this. It is not actually the actual day of one’s actual birth. It is to commemorate x-amount of years since one’s birth. But what is a year? We split life into years, yet this is a human invention. God did not place years on our table. Neither did God invent the table (but its simple perfection leads me to wonder). Sure, the seasons make the idea of years a little easier to digest and swallow, but what if we go further into months… Why 12? Why does January start in, well, January? And what about weeks and even days? Why is Sunday the so-called day of rest? I say “so-called” because on Sunday I had to do a full day’s work alongside constant power tools across the road that only stopped shortly before 7pm. Day of rest, my FOOT!! This fictional birthday I spoke of before, it is technically just another day. Just like New Year’s Day. It is technically just another day. With a “day” only being made official by the sun going up and down like a slow-motion yoyo.

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Welcome all to 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗻𝗼𝗹𝗹𝘆’𝘀 𝗖𝗼𝗿𝗻𝗲𝗿, a series of weekly reviews by Charles Connolly – an artist in his own right. Here, Charles delves into the greatest brand new singles brought to you by the best unsigned artists on our electrifying and eclectic set of 𝙉𝙚𝙬 𝘼𝙧𝙩𝙞𝙨𝙩 𝙎𝙥𝙤𝙩𝙡𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 playlists.

𝙏𝙤𝙢 – 𝙆𝙖𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙨𝙠𝙞

Charles is just being friendly…

Last week was all about ballads. It was about how music makes you feel. I don’t quite mean HOW it makes you feel, but THAT it makes you feel. Dud music doesn’t make me feel. Songs about things I can’t relate to, do little for me. They don’t make me feel. The best music should make you feel, in some way or other. It could be that it makes you cry, it could be that it makes you glow, and it could be that it makes you tingle; up here, or down there. But if there’s none of that, there’s none of that. So there isn’t a great deal of point in listening. Which is the main problem I have with generic pop. It plays, I hear, and that’s about it. It’s as nutritious as a leaf of iceberg lettuce. Basically crunchy tap water without the sweetness of watermelon. I seem to have a thing for that cruddy song ‘Watermelon Sugar’… Anyway! I said last week how sadness is a bigger feeling than happiness. Hence the Blues. But the Blues isn’t just a genre of music; it’s a lifestyle. Well, for some it is, but I only really said that because it sounded cool in my head. What I really meant was, the Blues doesn’t really need to be in the style of Blues music. It’s about feeling blue. So in a way, any sad song is a Blues song. Which sounds ridiculous, but it’s kinda true if you think about it.

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Welcome all to 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗻𝗼𝗹𝗹𝘆’𝘀 𝗖𝗼𝗿𝗻𝗲𝗿, a series of weekly reviews by Charles Connolly – an artist in his own right. Here, Charles delves into the greatest brand new singles brought to you by the best unsigned artists on our electrifying and eclectic set of 𝙉𝙚𝙬 𝘼𝙧𝙩𝙞𝙨𝙩 𝙎𝙥𝙤𝙩𝙡𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 playlists.

𝙎𝙩𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙏𝙤𝙣𝙜𝙪𝙚 (𝙛𝙚𝙖𝙩. 𝘿𝙧𝙚𝙬 𝙉𝙤𝙡𝙙) – 𝙎𝙥𝙖𝙧𝙧𝙖𝙡𝙞𝙢𝙗

Charles gives you three wishes…

You know that game where you pretend to rub the lamp, and a genie gives you three wishes? Ya know, hypothetically speaking, where people say the three things they most want or wish for? Well, what is the one thing that almost always comes up? And no, you can’t wish for more wishes. What is the wish that is wished the most? The one that comes up with pretty much every rub of this no doubt gleaming lamp? A Ferrari? An incalculable sum of money? Heroin without the side effects? Nope. I think you’ll find that the wish most wished, is…….. “Oh, I know. Cheaper train tickets!!!” – … Errrmm… No, not quite. Weirdo. The answer is…… “Oh, I know! Something that stops cows farting because that’s apparently bad for the environment!” – Riiiggghhht. No, you’re not really there. This person is insane. The answer is – no, don’t interrupt, you’ve had too many tries and they were ridiculous. The answer is, peace on Earth. Yep, that old chestnut. I am absolutely sure this is the most wished for thing when playing this completely pointless game. Pointless…? The wishes don’t come true, you see. You have been duped! It was all a lie. But why is it that so many wish for this? Well, the main reason is because Earth is such an unpeaceful place! But the other reason people wish for peace on Earth, is because people wish for peace on Earth. That is “what you do”. It is not because most people are saints. Like when someone asks how you are, and you reply “Fine, thanks. You?”… You quite possibly don’t actually wish to know the howabouts of this person (they’ll lie anyway), but it’s just what we do. I suppose one could call it manners, but I think it’s more automatic habit (manners).

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Welcome all to 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗻𝗼𝗹𝗹𝘆’𝘀 𝗖𝗼𝗿𝗻𝗲𝗿, a series of weekly reviews by Charles Connolly – an artist in his own right. Here, Charles delves into the greatest brand new singles brought to you by the best unsigned artists on our electrifying and eclectic set of 𝙉𝙚𝙬 𝘼𝙧𝙩𝙞𝙨𝙩 𝙎𝙥𝙤𝙩𝙡𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 playlists.

𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙀𝙭𝙘𝙚𝙥𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 – 𝙗𝙞𝙜𝙗𝙖𝙡𝙙𝙗𝙚𝙣

Charles theorises…

What is music? “Wait, wait, wait a sec… You’re actually going to talk about music??” – I know. You’d think I’d be sick of music by now. But no, I ain’t the blasphemous kind. “But you NEVER talk about music in your intros.” – Yes, I know, I usually write about something like ”How to overcome the pressures of the world”, or “What came first, the chicken or the duck?”, or “Have you noticed the increasing presence of the hip flask lately?”… But this time I thought I’d go all out and speak about music. It is, after all, the time and the place. So. Back to my initial question… What IS music? This is something about which people will argue forever. But I’m not going to go into avant-garde nonsense that in my eyes (ears) is simply not worth bothering with. I am talking about REAL music. Ya know, instruments and all that. Something that doesn’t make one scratch one’s head, and something that one actually enjoys, as opposed to reluctantly putting oneself through, for the sake of being kind to the “artist” or in an attempt to broaden one’s horizons. One’s horizon is probably quite big enough, and does not need broadening. So you’ve got your instruments, be them analog or electronic. You’ve got yourself a singer. Bravo! That’s basically done, right? Well, you’ll need a place and a means to record. Okay then, CHECK! Got all of the above. Hit record, we’re ready! “Okay guys, what’s the name of the song?”, the engineer says through the studio’s intercom.

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Welcome all to 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗻𝗼𝗹𝗹𝘆’𝘀 𝗖𝗼𝗿𝗻𝗲𝗿, a series of weekly reviews by Charles Connolly – an artist in his own right. Here, Charles delves into the greatest brand new singles brought to you by the best unsigned artists on our electrifying and eclectic set of 𝙉𝙚𝙬 𝘼𝙧𝙩𝙞𝙨𝙩 𝙎𝙥𝙤𝙩𝙡𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 playlists.

𝙏𝙤𝙣𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 – 𝘼𝙧𝙣𝙤𝙡𝙙𝙤’𝙨 𝙇𝙞𝙯𝙖𝙧𝙙𝙨, 𝙒𝙞𝙡𝙠𝙤 𝙒𝙞𝙡𝙠𝙚𝙨

Charles ch-ch-ch-ch-changes…

Let’s face it. Everything is changing. Perhaps everything has already changed. But then again, this would suggest that things have stopped changing, and that all is stagnant. This will never happen. Whether you like it or not, things are always changing. Sometimes for better. Other times, well, not so much. ’Tis zee vay of zee vorld. I have never quite understood the definition of the word “progress”. I used to think it meant improvement, but now I realise it is more just simple evolution. To progress. To move forward. Not necessarily brilliant, but ultimately vital. I can’t explain why, but it is seemingly and apparently necessary as a civilisation, I think. Right now, we have the dawn of A.I., poking and teasing us like impatient demanders. I won’t go into this because I cannot bring myself to. The biggest change before that was undoubtedly the internet. A truly world-changing phenomenon. I think the first of these “modern” phenomena was electricity. It changed the world. It changed everything. The next big wave of movement – admittedly more of a cultural or societal nature – was possibly the liberation of youth in the 60s. They had power and money, for the first time. They were not tired from war, for they had never experienced it. To a certain extent, this changed a lot of the world. Our way of thinking changed. Younger people were taken seriously. And others who used to have status and respect were relegated to the old folk’s home at the grand old age of 48.

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Welcome all to 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗻𝗼𝗹𝗹𝘆’𝘀 𝗖𝗼𝗿𝗻𝗲𝗿, a series of weekly reviews by Charles Connolly – an artist in his own right. Here, Charles delves into the greatest brand new singles brought to you by the best unsigned artists on our electrifying and eclectic set of 𝙉𝙚𝙬 𝘼𝙧𝙩𝙞𝙨𝙩 𝙎𝙥𝙤𝙩𝙡𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 playlists.

𝙎𝙩𝙤𝙣𝙚𝙨 – 𝙇𝙪𝙠𝙖𝙨 𝙆𝙞

Charles scatters cushions.

The scatter cushion. Why? I mean why do we call it this? I have nothing whatsoever against the humble cushion. But why must it be called a scatter cushion? I couldn’t suggest it were to differentiate between one to “scatter” (the very image!!) and one on which to sit. We have come a long way in chair design, and now have padded seats, thus, a cushion is no longer required for to soothe the aching bones of an anorexic bot like my very own. But okay, say I surrender to the term… “What were you up to today?” – “Oh, you know. Scattering cushions. The usual”. It’s just quite an absurd picture, to picture. Place cushions. Plonk cushions. Or even just plain old Cushions!! I mean, we don’t say a ‘sit chair’, a ‘wear jacket’ or a ‘cut knife’, do we? I don’t, anyway. And don’t get me started on the ‘pan-fried’ and ‘oven-baked’ tautologies – as if we have many other methods of frying or baking…! We do however say ‘juggling balls’. But this is to differentiate from any other kind of balls.

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Welcome all to 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗻𝗼𝗹𝗹𝘆’𝘀 𝗖𝗼𝗿𝗻𝗲𝗿, a series of weekly reviews by Charles Connolly – an artist in his own right. Here, Charles delves into the greatest brand new singles brought to you by the best unsigned artists on our electrifying and eclectic set of 𝙉𝙚𝙬 𝘼𝙧𝙩𝙞𝙨𝙩 𝙎𝙥𝙤𝙩𝙡𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 playlists.

𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙁𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙞𝙣 𝙔𝙤𝙪 – 𝙅𝙪𝙣𝙞𝙤𝙧 𝘽𝙤𝙣𝙚𝙨

Charles is your dealer…

Sometimes you look back at things you’ve done and wonder how you managed. Sometimes it was a doddle to you. Other times it nearly killed you. But either way, you managed. The songs I wrote years ago were definitely more towards the former. The flatpack IKEA desk I built last week would definitely be more towards the latter. Sometimes you look back at things you’ve done, and you cringe. The face crunches up in repulsion. That song I wrote called ‘Library of Love’, for example… Sometimes you do things for a very specific reason, that seemed particularly important at the time. Sometimes things are simply forgotten. A moment in the past that apparently happened, but it either seems so insignificant that your brain hasn’t seen or realised any worth in holding on to that memory, or that it conjures deep, dark memories that you would rather not think about. This is how we deal.

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Welcome all to 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗻𝗼𝗹𝗹𝘆’𝘀 𝗖𝗼𝗿𝗻𝗲𝗿, a series of weekly reviews by Charles Connolly – an artist in his own right. Here, Charles delves into the greatest brand new singles brought to you by the best unsigned artists on our electrifying and eclectic set of 𝙉𝙚𝙬 𝘼𝙧𝙩𝙞𝙨𝙩 𝙎𝙥𝙤𝙩𝙡𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 playlists.

𝙏𝙤𝙤 𝙀𝙖𝙧𝙡𝙮 𝘼𝙩 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙋𝙖𝙧𝙩𝙮 – 𝘼𝙢𝙖𝙪𝙧𝙮 𝙇𝙖𝙪𝙧𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝘽𝙚𝙧𝙣𝙞𝙚𝙧

Charles is pickin’ up good vibrations…

I found myself quietly affected this week. It will not be a secret as to why, and will probably not come as a surprise to many of you. No, it is not anything war related. Neither is it anything political. And it is nothing personal (not really). There has been much in the press and all over the internet about it. Can you guess? Well, how’s about this for a clue. A post I saw yesterday on the International Singer Songwriters Association Facebook group sums it up pretty well: “I have two busts on my Steinway. One is Beethoven. The other is Brian Wilson”… Says it all. I personally might choose to have a bust of someone else on my Steinway. But one, I don’t have a Steinway, and two, I’m not sure Marilyn Monroe would be too happy with my placement of her bust. She’s giving me the excitations, but let’s get back to business. The chap who made this post evidently rates Brian Wilson as one of the true greats of all time. And he’s not alone in thinking this. In the past week, Brian Wilson passed on. I was hit with a silence when I found out. It wasn’t an incomprehensible loss of senses and inability to string thoughts together, like when the Queen died, but I felt strange. I felt like the past was slipping away from me. As if I was pulling on a rope gripped tightly with both hands, but someone had oiled the yarn. “The nearer your destination, the more you’re slip slidin’ away”, as Paul Simon once sang. Wilson is another great gone. Such a kind man, known for his honesty, childlike manner, and playful charm. What we really mourn though, is the loss of a sensationally talented man.

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Welcome all to 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗻𝗼𝗹𝗹𝘆’𝘀 𝗖𝗼𝗿𝗻𝗲𝗿, a series of weekly reviews by Charles Connolly – an artist in his own right. Here, Charles delves into the greatest brand new singles brought to you by the best unsigned artists on our electrifying and eclectic set of 𝙉𝙚𝙬 𝘼𝙧𝙩𝙞𝙨𝙩 𝙎𝙥𝙤𝙩𝙡𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 playlists.

𝙒𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙎𝙩𝙧𝙚𝙚𝙩𝙨 𝙁𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙎𝙞𝙡𝙚𝙣𝙩 – 𝘽𝙧𝙮𝙖𝙣 𝘾𝙤𝙤𝙥𝙚𝙧

Charles reviews a charmful man…

I am going to indulge myself in sticking with a theme. Last week I wrote about two amusing yet thuggish Mancunians. 30 years ago they took over Britain. Shortly after that they took over the world. The same thing happened 30 years previous with four amusing yet charming Liverpudlians. Both sets of Northerners were always incredibly entertaining in very different ways when it came to interviews. In both cases, it was a welcome back to Britannia ruling the waves – the radio waves. Before the mop-tops, it was a quiff-laden pelvis. Before the coked-up thugs, it was… Um… Hmm… Who was world famous before them? An unusual man who walked backwards with style? The thing is, Britain was finally back on top form; certainly in terms of popularity anyway. But it wasn’t just one beat combo to rule the roost; they were simply the top of the league. Many other Britonians marched to the beat of the same drum. But aside from going with this united flow, there was competition. There was supposed rivalry for these young men from Liverpool. This rivalry was a band my father likes to call The Strolling Prunes. And what excellent publicity it turned out to be! There are two important facts to be known however… One: these two “rivals” were actually good chums, and it was all just a well planned media binge. Two: no one could seriously even try to pretend that these Southerners were a threat to the greatness of these Northerners. They just weren’t as good. Example: compare Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band with Their Satanic Majesties Request…

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Welcome all to 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗻𝗼𝗹𝗹𝘆’𝘀 𝗖𝗼𝗿𝗻𝗲𝗿, a series of weekly reviews by Charles Connolly – an artist in his own right. Here, Charles delves into the greatest brand new singles brought to you by the best unsigned artists on our electrifying and eclectic set of 𝙉𝙚𝙬 𝘼𝙧𝙩𝙞𝙨𝙩 𝙎𝙥𝙤𝙩𝙡𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 playlists.

𝙒𝙝𝙮 𝘿𝙞𝙙 𝙔𝙤𝙪 𝙂𝙤? – 𝘾𝙃𝙑𝙍𝙇𝙄 𝘽𝙇𝙑𝘾𝙆

Charles is giving up…

A tree. A humble tree. There it stands in simple pride, to gaze around with much the same open pensive quality as when I gaze at the tree through my bedroom window. Or at least, this WAS the scene for many years until a couple of weeks ago, when I received a text. The text from my neighbour informing me that I should expect a lot of noise the following day. My heart leapt. This tall, healthy bay tree standing in a garden, a while away from the house, was to be “dismantled”. I put it this way so as not to trigger my sensitive heart once more. And maybe yours. It was crippling to me. Crushing and very lowering indeed. As promised, there was a lot of noise for a while, followed by an eerie silence. I could not even draw open the curtain for two days for fear of an expansive overload of daylight. Eventually I plucked up the courage. And in doing so, I sighed and felt like giving up. I had one question for the tree: Why did you go?

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