A Book-A Band-A Film

[Cricko]

This idea came to me on Saturday at my Son's 21st party (he was born when I was 8 before you all start)

You have to name one of each that not only you liked but had some significant effect on your life and you have to say why.

For me ..

Book wise ..it was "The Bridge Across Forever" by Richard Bach..I had been through a tough few relationships and I guess I was not interested any more, this book changed my perspective.

Band wise.. This is very difficult as there have been so many but I end up with Abba..so underated in there time and for me "The Winner takes it all" ..is maybe the best pop song of all time and always make me think.There songs just about touch everybody somewhere.

Film Wise.....The Shawshank Redemption....Nothing has ever replaced it , I can watch it today after maybe seeing it 20 times..it still moves me about how simple life can be and how close friends can be....It is a true life lesson.

Over to you people.

 

[MK Shrimper]

Book wise - has to be Naomi Klein's lefty-Bible No Logo that changed my life for the better and opened my eyes to the practices of Mc D's, Disney & Starbucks. I love Pullman's His Dark Materials and Nick Hornby's High Fidelity, but I don't think they changed my shopping and eating habits.

Band wise - Plenty I love, and I'd love to say The Jam, but I never saw them live being too young. So it has to be the Manic Street Preachers, who I sort of fell out of love with until recently where their gig at the Roundhouse in Camden reminded me why I initially fell in love with them.

Film: Has to be Star Wars. As a seven year old I was astounded by it, saw it twice and subsequently I've lost count of how many times I've watched Luke, Leia, Han, Chewy, Lando, Obi-Wan and those pesky droids battle the Empire.

 

[Rusty Shackleford]

Book - 'America Alone' by Mark Steyn. Made me realise I was right about everything.

Band - Rammstein. They make me angrier.

Film - 'Orgazmo'. Made me look at mormons in a completely different light.

 

[OldBlueLady]

Oooooh, good one Cricko!

Book - Roots, simply the most powerful piece of literature I'd ever read. It shocked, appalled and fascinated me. The journey from ****a Kinte's humble life in Africa right up to author Alex Haley's birth and his subsequent return to his ancestor's homeland is just .....I don't know, I'm struggling to find the right word, incredibly moving. It's exceptionally graphic in detail, particularly the horror of ****a's journey from Africa to America and his difficulty in adjusting to slavery, but as the generations pass, there's humour too, particularly around Chicken George and his family. As a teenager reading it, it completely brought home to me the fact that no human being should ever be bought or sold, and that slavery is utterly wrong.

Band - has to be the Osmonds for me, God, I even tried living by Mormon ideals for a while, didn't last long! Some of their lyrics are really powerful and thought provoking, particularly on the Plan album: http://thefamily.com/thefamily.com/theplan/songs/areyouupthere.html
Not what you'd expect from the boys, and that's only one track. I also admire their family unity, the respect and affection they have for each other, and for their fans. Sappy maybe, but I still love listening to their stuff now.

Film - Inn of the Sixth Happiness - Ingrid Bergman's re-enactment of the true story of missionary Gladys Aylward's life in China, rebelling against traditions such as foot binding and then the successful evacuation of 100 Chinese children over the mountains to safety in the face of a Japanese invasion is quite simply inspirational.

edit - how silly the swear filter won't allow the use of his name!

 

[Mr Gilbo]

Book - Too many to choose from. But I will go for The Chronicles of Narnia which got me interested in reading for pleasure.

Band - Nine Inch Nails. The band that made me aware of the alternative genre.

Film - The Shawshank Redemption. Just an awesome bit of story telling.

 

[Pubey]

Book - The Rum Diaries by Hunter S Thompson. Just a stunning book, funny, interesting and an easy read. perfect for lounging on the beach!

Band - Mogwai. Beauty and the noise... brutally loud, but always interesting... whether in the middle of the night whilst chilling, or live at a gig, they have one of the most consistent back catalogues of any band going for over 10 years, and they're a cut above anyone else doing predominantly instrumental music

Film - The Godfather. Just a truly great film, epic, stunning and a brilliant story. should be part of the national curriculum!

 

[canveyshrimper]

Good topic John, and guaranteed to change my mind after posting.

Book - Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks probably one of the most atmospheric books I've ever read.

Band - The Beatles - not because I was a huge, I did enjoy their music, but I preferred bands like the Stones & Who at the time. But via Lennon & McCartney they have proved to be one of the most influential bands of all time.

Film - Casablanca I just love this film, the atmosphere, the smoky dens of iniquity plus the incomparable Bogart & Bergmann. A classic film.

 

[Ulysses]

Book - Head On by Julian Cope got me hooked on biographies and also started listening to the bands mentioned in his book, Echo & Bunnymen, KLF as well as Julian Cope and Teardrop Explodes stuff

Band - Sugarcubes - in about 1988 i agreed to listen to an awful track called Birthday in Icelandic by a kid at school. End up forging a good friendship and we discovered plenty more bands and music

Film - Rio Bravo - before watching this i had no interest in cowboy films, John Wayne and Dean Martin was just some old actor/singer. My Dad is a massive cowboy film fan so this brought us closer together

 

[Rob Noxious]

Book - 'Coming Up For Air' by George Orwell. This was a book which we had to read at school originally and I found myself remembering so much of it years later as it had a big effect on me. The main character finds it hard to reconcile his current life with the joys he experienced in his youth. He goes back to where he grew up to try to rekindle that feeling but is met by quite a surprise. I love the narrative, the way Orwell entreats us to the thoughts of his character, who finds it very difficult to accept that 'modern' equals 'progress.' The older I get, the more reactionary I've become too, so I guess it's given my retrospective focus a bit of credo.

Band - The Clash. The most exciting band I've ever seen. You had to be there...

Film - 'Missing.' Not the story of Alex Revell's career, but a tale of a family's attempt to find out what has happened to an American liberal after the coup in Chile in 1973. Jack Lemmon's performance as the Christian Scientist father who gradually loses faith in his government despite his patriotism stayed with me for a long time and has made me very wary of propaganda of any persuasion.

 

[loz]

Book- probably something by Orwell, both for the power of his political arguments and the clipped efficiency of his writing style. Since i started reading Orwell i've always subsequently found it difficult to deal with flowery prose. I'd probably take '1984', although 'Homage To Catalonia' is pretty close, and his essay on the language of politics is exemplary.

Band- New Order. Incredible melancholic pop songs, my favourite gig ever, and opened a lot of doors in terms of interest in electronic music. I can see a read-across to Orwell as well in terms of a somewhat stark style, which definitely carries across into Peter Saville's designs for the band.

Film- Inherit The Wind. There's been several film versions of the original play (which is a fictionalised account of the 'monkey trials' in 1920's America where a teacher in the Deep South was put on trial for teaching evolution to teenagers) but the 1960 version is by far the best. Most of the action takes place in a single courtroom setting, but the performances by the two competing lawyers in particular (played by Spencer Tracy and Frederic March) are superb- the film stands up as a testament to the power of reason and rational argument.

 

[The Flying Scotsman]

Book - Roots, simply the most powerful piece of literature I'd ever read. It shocked, appalled and fascinated me. The journey from ****a Kinte's humble life in Africa right up to author Alex Haley's birth and his subsequent return to his ancestor's homeland is just .....I don't know, I'm struggling to find the right word, incredibly moving. It's exceptionally graphic in detail, particularly the horror of ****a's journey from Africa to America and his difficulty in adjusting to slavery, but as the generations pass, there's humour too, particularly around Chicken George and his family. As a teenager reading it, it completely brought home to me the fact that no human being should ever be bought or sold, and that slavery is utterly wrong.

Great shout! Still read the book and watch DVD from time to time.

 

[Crawliano]

Book - "VBA In a Nutshell" - I know it sounds stupid, but it's the book that got me to where I am today, so I owe a lot to it.

Band - New Order - fused my then growing love of repetitive 4/4 beat patterns (I'm from Canvey remember...) with Indie and thus opened a whole new world to me.

Film - Boyz n tha Hood / La Haine - Made me realise that "gangsta rap" and the whole youth culture thing wasn't just something that was there for impressionable kids but a protest about how people lived on the other side of the fence, for that I wanted to learn more about how other people live and appreciate it.

 

[MK Shrimper]

Book - "VBA In a Nutshell" - I know it sounds stupid, but it's the book that got me to where I am today, so I owe a lot to it.

Band - New Order - fused my then growing love of repetitive 4/4 beat patterns (I'm from Canvey remember...) with Indie and thus opened a whole new world to me.

Film - Boyz n tha Hood / La Haine - Made me realise that "gangsta rap" and the whole youth culture thing wasn't just something that was there for impressionable kids but a protest about how people lived on the other side of the fence, for that I wanted to learn more about how other people live and appreciate it.

Good call, great film.

 

[Napster]

Book - Probably Secret Diary of Adrian Mole, one of the first books I read for enjoyment, and read it in Spain whilst on holiday with the rents
Band - Living Colour; a chance hearing of Love Rears its Ugly Head, moved onto buying their Biscuits EP, which meant I heard their cover of Hendrix's Burning the Midnight Lamp. Listening to Hendrix gave me confidence at a time I needed it...
Film - Life of Brian - I had a bad stutter when I was 13-16, and that film, and particularly the ending song, gave me the confidence to tell the world to eff off.

Everything since hasn't had so much effect. Although watching Peppa Pig with the little'un is one of life's joys.

 

[Matt the Shrimp]

Book - the two books that probably made a greater impression on me, while growing up, than any others were Aldous Huxley's Brave New World and George Orwell's 1984. Of the two, it's the latter that has stayed with me the longer, and that I've gone back to re-read. It taught me that true liberty can only be exercised by the people, and as soon as the state pretends to be its guardian, liberty is in fact eroded. The concept of Newspeak also resonated hugely - and made me realise that, unless we cherish this language of ours, we will lose it. As a book, it is an extraordinarily prescient work. Personally, I would make ownership of a mobile phone conditional upon the book having been read - perhaps then we'd get rid of text-ese (Newspeak in all but name).

Band - The Dave Brubeck Quartet. Dave opened my eyes to differing rhythms, differing chords, differing soundscapes, and all the while lifted my soul. I count myself a hugely fortunate man to have been able to see Brubeck play at the New Orleans Jazz Festival a few years ago - I almost wept with joy.

Film - The Blues Brothers. A film which, when I saw it aged 10, defined "cool". Hilariously funny, the best sound-track to any film ever, the fat guy (Belushi) got to snog the (mad but) sexy bird (Carrie Fisher), and the biggest car chase in film history. An epic film in every sense.

 

[Jedi Shrimper]

Book - On The Road by Jack Kerouac. Unlike anything I'd read before it, can't remember exactly what made me read it though but I'm so glad I did. Made me see the poetry in everyday life before this book it had all been Lord of the Rings, Star Wars novels etc.

Band - Wow, this is tough. How do I pick one band when so many have influenced me? But I think I have to choose Suede, they're not my favourite band by any means but their eponymous debut album was the one that steered me away from the pop and cheesy rock I listened to before then.

Film - Again how the hell do I choose one movie? Recently there's been Old Joy, I adored Star Wars as a kid, Goodfellas was unlike anything I'd seen before. But I think I'll go for Vanishing Point (1973 version!), because it showed what was possible.

Good thread Cricko!

 

[OldBlueLady]

I found the Book part quite hard, but surprisingly it's the books I read when younger that have had the most influence. To Kill a Mocking Bird was another I could easily have chosen, Animal Farm of Orwell's was my preferred choice, Lord of the Flies - who can forget the savagery of that reading it at school? I guess it's maybe because our (or rather "my") minds were open to suggestion more, and we had less preconceived ideas, I don't know. Still stand by Roots, and TFS, if you loved that, have you read Queen, the follow up and story from Belle's side?

 

[Mad Cyril]

Book - "VBA In a Nutshell" - I know it sounds stupid, but it's the book that got me to where I am today, so I owe a lot to it.

Out of interest where exactly would that be?

 

[chadded]

Book- Bravo Two Zero.

Band- The Saturdays

Film- Anything with Ron Jeremy in. If he can be a porn star, then I'll never have a problem getting laid..

 

[Firestorm]

Book The Waterbabies, Charles Kingsley. At the age of 7 my teacher felt it would be a good idea for the top readers in the class to wade through this tome. It had a massive effect on my life as i doubt if I have read more a dozen works of Fiction in the 44 years since

Band. The Clash, Hearing the first album when I having a rough time in my late teens somehow gave me a whack up the arse and got me back on my feet (well basically out of my bed and listening to Billie Holliday on loop which was fuelling my depression) Still go back to that Album at times of stress

Film Theres not really been any film which has had much of an impact, so i would go for Quadrophenia, the impact that film had on the 14 year olds across the country made me put my Hush puppies under the bed and hang up my sta prest for a good few years.