Differences between Irish, British, Polish, American and other nations culture, tradition, music - loose talk

The only time I watched Eurovision in recent years was when Terry Wogan hosted it on British TV and he just highlighted how funny it was because of how pathetic it was.He made it hilarious.Now he's gone it's just pathetic....

You read that right Miloslaw. Wogan was superb, and we had 10 years of party night in Dougpol Towers with costume dress and different drinks and voting and whistles and blowers - the works.

Miles, miles better than that X factor **** that pretends that anything other than 2 percent of the contestants have any musical charisma.
PS: Polish television has always mistook it for a serious musical event, with the pathetic and tedious viewing experience which follows.

They're hardly alone, lots of countries take Eurovision waaaaaay too seriously. On the other hand, I prefer gentle understated reactions to how weird it is to open mockery.

But Wogan did mockery better than most. You had to be there to witness it. Totally justified, because Wogan, as a music lover, was initially baffled by, and upset by, the lack of professionalism of some "artistes", and the political voting patterns, and then he saw the light.

That eurovison was, and is, in fact, in a (somewhat irritating) way, all brilliant patische.

Who could get irritated by eurovision? Isn't that taking it too seriously? I enjoy it as a one of a kind mutant cultural event (that is it's mutated into something very different than originally planned).

In that way it's a bit like another mutant cultural event - the Superbowl in the US (in which the actual football game is often the least important and interesting part...)

As he once quipped after the Dutch entry "It's 29 years since the Netherlands won Eurovision - make that 30". It was his laid back, relaxed delivery that made it so funny.


Back in the 1950s/60s, it was supposed to showcase the best of musical talent from each country. It was a mix of power ballads sung by the classic 'chanteuse' style ladies and the lighter pop stuff but it was basically normal. I think the novelty element began to creep in during the 1970s and once they let the accession countries in, it's been downhill ever since :)) It's a bit of a joke nowadays but in my childhood Eurovision was a highly anticipated event that had the nation of Ireland in a fever for a couple of months beforehand, I'm not kidding! The night itself was a big deal for kids. We were allowed to stay up late, we had sweeties, crisps and maybe even icecream - and in school we learned to sing not only the Irish entry of course, but the winning entry too. And of course unlike events such as the Olympics, there was always a chance that Ireland might win!!

I haven't heard all of Ireland's winning entries... but the ones I have heard are amazingly awful... I think they impressed the juries because they were sung in English (in a way that let the juries congratulate themselves for understanding the original).

But in terms of songs and performances, the dreary thing that beat Gorniak was a pile of moose dung...

Is that part of what made 'my lovely horse' so funny? recognition that even trying to lose (as I think may have been happening) Ireland kept on winning?

Some of them are absolutely diabastrous as they'd say in Dublin :)) Best of a bad lot is probably the reason we had so many winners. Now here's my favourite Irish entry:

youtube.com/watch?v=6RVo0MD9rB8

Traffic. A million views. Not hard to work out why. Their take on classical has undoubtedly stood the test of time.
youtube.com/watch?v=ocjSc7v83pk

You want to know how did look like Europeans when all of them were Sarmatians, in first period after Ice age was finished and when they in slow migrations again repopulated Europe from ice age refugiums on Balkan and Crimea, along river nets?

They had very pale skin, dark eyes from dark to light brown and reddish hair and body hair. In last 5000-7000 years happened sub-racial differentiation and appearance of blond, brown and black hair and, eyes from blue, gray to green.

Modern example preserved in Ireland >



Conor McGregor, Irish MMA fighter

Modern example preserved in Serbia >



Dragan Djilas, former major of Serbian Capital Belgrade

Have no doubt. This is how original Europeans were look like after Ice age was finished and still this kind of appearance was most usual at time when Greeks and Romans first time appeared in Europe and started to hunt Sarmats (ie Celts, ie Thracians, ie Scythians, ie etc).

The commonest eye colour in Ireland is blue. About 60% of Irish people have blue eyes, including me :)) Very fair skin, yes, whitest people in Europe probably and commonest hair colour is brown. There were 35 girls in my class at secondary school and only two had red hair. However most of us, even with brown hair or fair hair, have a reddish tint underlying it. We are one of the least genetically diverse people in Europe.

You'd spot an Irishman on any beach in the world. A walking milk bottle, with a lash of freckles.

I would always be up for listening to new music :-)


This is the problem. Had a bit of a look on ebay, and most older turntables are not being sold with speakers etc, plus to be honest I would want to have a good look at a a deck before I bought it. Then there is replacement needles....probably not easy to get hold of either.

The Jimi Hendrix Electric Ladyland 50th edition was released today. My favourite album. According to our friends at SteveHoffman.com. the remastering is appalling. Hendrix fandom in meltdown, and the anger in the music community could yet lead to World War.

Brickwalling/loudness wars (digital clipping of sound) is here to stay. Another reason, other than cost, why vintage 70s and 80s pressings are best.


Me too Atch. And my daughter. She is very beautiful, like her mother (my daughters' blue eyes come from her grandmother - the Irish Buckley I told you about). My grandmother also had blue eyes.

I used to get the usual comments from the Nottingham girls along the lines of "gorgeous eyes...shame about the face!"

Doug,that is a weird post......how can you jump from Jimi Hendrix (a subject that I love),
To blue eyes? (A subject that is unimportant,in my opinion)?

Lol Miloslaw. The Mods joined them. Chat about nothing is banned by the thought police on this board. I was simply chatting with Atch - but any social niceties are clearly reviled here.

Which in my view is a pity. You're right though, there is no connection between eye colour, and who was probably the greatest ever rhythm guitarist, unless some anthropological study is going to prove otherwise! Do you have any views on the Experience corporation Miloslaw? I happen to think they are doing a **** poor job on the Jimi legacy.

Hate that digital sound. Years ago I did a bit of singing and always used an analgoue mic even though digital was already fashionable. The analogue is so lovely and warm and rich in tone. It enhances the natural sound, whereas the digital gives that terrible processed sound, kind of like the difference between fresh veg and tinned. Though I must admit I have a weakness for tinned peas :D, not tinned muzak though. I also think the overuse of compressors is an issue in modern musical production techniques.


Very important to those who have them!

Another one of these figures I've never been able to get into...I love Sister Rosetta Tharpe and Elmore James (favorite guitar players ever) and Lightning Hopkins can be pretty great too (though he has a tendency to... prettify blues maybe a bit too much)

I kind of checked out of most classic/album/acid/prog rock and only dipped back in for (mostly American) punk


Sound is a funny thing, one of the things I love about Elmore James' recordings is that they sound like they were recorded in a giant tin can, very echo-y and tinny but it gives it a much more authentic honky tonk vibe, you can almost smell the stale beer and years old smoke residue on everything.

What audiophiles never understand is... anything that makes things sound good (versus whatever it is they're into)

Well yes. Hendrix stole one of Elmore James' compositions (Peoples, peoples) and..er....electrified it. Literally:)

I don't really know much about The Expeience Corp,except that is run by Jimi's adopted sister and his brother,for the benefit of the Hendrix family.

What have they been doing?

@Atch

I,my wife,my kids and most of my family have blue eyes,never thought much about it.
Why is it so important to some?

Ah, right. So the bare bones of the story are these. Janie (Hendrix's step-sister - no relation) shafted Leon (Jimi's kid brother) in the courts and has run the company since the 90s.

She is spoon feeding Hendrix fans with a teaspoon. The result being that you will only get to hear official releases of many outtakes (plus the holy grail - Albert Hall film 1969) if you live to be 200 years old.

This is why I'm against the continued expansion of "intellectual property" rights. 20 years after the death of the creator should be time enough for relatives to cash in. Then it's time to get a real job like the rest of us.

Ha. Rock bands (those who could actually play their instruments) have an extensive library and dead innovators like Hendrix are used as the cash cow. McFly, to take one absurd comparison, are actually good musicians, but didn't have the same popularity:) Nobody will be protecting their legacy.

Rock music is a corp. Nobody will give a monkeys about Beyonce in 30 years, good singer/performer though she be, but real icons will always be a commodity; zero chance of their music being allowed to pass into the public domain:( :(

No processions and crowds or marches for me.
Marking the glorious independence of my second home with bigos, gołąbki, and the greatest living exponent of Chopins's works. Krystian Zimerman.

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But Doug,is there much stuff out there that us Hendrix fans would want to hear?
Have you ever heard his early stuff?

Yes, and yes.
Apart from George's club NJ, most Hendrix pre-Experience is not very memorable, because he only got the odd solo, in fact being fined by the likes of Little Richard for being too flash.

As for is there any more music? Just one example. There are 42 takes of Gypsy Eyes:) :) Unless they lost the tapes.....
There is something called Black Gold, a tape of Hendrix on acoustic guitar from the last two months of his life, which was supposed to be a rough sketch for his 1971 album.....disappeared via Mitch Mitchell into the Experience vaults. By the way Miloslaw I prefer Hendrix 1969/70 to his earlier period. He was maturing brilliantly as an artist, as was the case with most musical geniuses (Wagner springs to mind here..)

I agree. This isn't fair to all the millions of Hendrix fans that want to hear it before we all kick the bucket. She has to be getting older than all of us and Im sure she has plenty of money already. Its just greed, by the time she releases it, all that will be left will be dumbed down millennials saying, Jimi who????

Polish early 90's rock with english lyrics. A nice treat

youtu.be/bix1tb6rVeU

@Joker and @Dougpol1
I didn't realise there was so much good Hendrix stuff still out there.

@Spike31

Wilki are a great band!

This one is for Doug........

Al Dimeola

youtu.be/vGWfDkx4zyY

youtu.be/QgPlwxZVoR4