davidfagan.co.uk

Jackie Gets Down

// June 22nd, 2010 // Comments // ...and everything else

The wee man shows his moves to SFA.

Macca is Magic

// June 21st, 2010 // Comments // Arts

I might as well start with a confession.

If Paul McCartney had walked on stage with nothing more than an acoustic guitar and then proceeded to forget half the lyrics and chords to his own songs, I would still have thought it was the most magical event ever.

This is McCartney, the man who, along with three other blokes from Liverpool, helped to invent modern pop and rock music.  He has nothing to prove.

However, last night’s gig at Hampden was no sad swansong.

McCartney provided the audience, all 30,000 of us, with the most memorable gig you could hope for.

With a back catalogue that most musicians – even the great ones – can only dream about – filling a two and three quarter hour set was only going to be difficult in deciding which songs to omit.

Such depth of songwriting allowed McCartney to move seamlessly from intimate moments such as his solo performance of ‘If You Were Here Today’, McCartney’s belated conversation with John to a rocking, driving version of ‘Paperback Writer’.

Equally poignant was his version of George Harrison’s ‘Something’.  Starting on his own with the ukulele that George gave him he moved into a powerful full version of the classic with full audience accompaniment.  A truly magical moment…..but there were so many.

Magical moments such as his version of ‘A Day In The Life’…which moved into the Lennon anthem ‘Give Peace a Chance’.

Magical moments such as the powerful and wonderfully OTT version of ‘Live and Let Die’, complete with deafening pyros and fireworks.

Magical moments such as his civil rights inspired ‘Blackbird’ and his guitar solo tribute to Hendrix.

Magical moments such as the audience participation of the ‘Hey Jude’ mantra.

Too many magical moments to list.

So, is this gushing enough?  Don’t care, you had to be there.

Bank On Owen

// April 23rd, 2010 // Comments // ...and everything else

Today’s guest blogger is Jim Lee, secretary of the Scottish Co-op Party.

The campaign to honour the life and achievements of Robert Owen by placing his image on a Scottish banknote is continuing to gather momentum. That people across the national and political divide have pledged their support stands testament to the esteem in which Owen is held. A founding father of the co-operative movement, Owen’s ideas remain relevant to contemporary society.

From humble beginnings in the Welsh village of Newtown, Owen rose to become one of the most successful of the early industrialists. He is best known for his pioneering reforms in the Scottish mill town of New Lanark, where he in effect created a miniature version of the welfare state.

After becoming manager in 1800, Owen introduced free health and child care; compulsory education for children between five and ten years of age; and evening classes for older workers. To combat the financial exploitation of workers, rife in other factories, he opened a factory store that sold goods at little more than cost price. In its first year, the store made a profit of £700, which Owen re-invested in the community. The practice of social reinvestment has become a fundamental tenet of the co-operative ethos.

Owen’s reforms made business as well as moral sense. Rather than being the expensive drain upon profits that many had envisaged, they enhanced the efficiency and the productivity of his workforce. low wages and poor conditions have a corrosive effect upon morale. The workers at New Lanark were no longer labouring punishing hours for a derisory wage; they were working to improve their current lives and future prospects.

Although he wished to see his reforms adopted throughout the country, Owen was no political firebrand. In an age where the best of ideological intentions descended into violence and bloodshed, he sought to achieve his ends by pacific means.

Like Thomas Paine, Owen did not view his ideas as radical, but as common sense. A skilful self-publicist and lobbyist, he used the empirical evidence provided by New Lanark to influence the high ranking statesmen to whom his wealth granted him access. But whilst many of these individuals shared his commitment in words, this commitment was not always translated into action.

Nevertheless, Owen was a key figure in the passing of the Cotton Mills and Factories Act of 1819, and dedicated the rest of his life towards the creation of a fairer, more equal society.

Whilst this campaign aims to honour the memory of Robert Owen, and pay homage to his services to society, it also seeks to highlight the unrivalled opportunity we have to nurture growth in the co-operative sector. Not only have co-operatives proved more resilient and less dysfunctional than other business models, they have the potential to strengthen the social fabric of society.

During the recent recession, the co-operative sector proved remarkably robust, and is now worth approximately £3 billion to the Scottish economy. However, this contribution could be even greater. The overall market share of retail co-operatives in Scotland is approximately 9%, compared to 21-50% in other European countries.

Areas such as finance and childcare, where co-operatives already have a presence, provide scope for further expansion; and there are other sectors, including forestry, digital and new media, and renewable energy, in which the co-operative potential remains untapped. To redress this, the implementation of favourable government legislation and the provision of funds and advice for emerging co-operatives is a necessity.

A stronger co-operative sector is not only better for the Scottish economy, it is better for Scotland

You can support the campaign by signing the e-petition at:

http://www.gopetition.co.uk/petitions/bank-on-owen.html

The Joys of Campaigning

// April 21st, 2010 // Comments // Wee Politics

Last night I was out campaigning with our candidate, Pamela Nash, in the part of my ward where i live.

I have to say that the feedback was good for an area which, historically, has swung between the SNP and Labour. However, that changed at one door, where one of my council colleagues was told in no uncertain terms to get out the street.

I came upon the chap as my colleague was doing the right thing, i.e. walking away witout arguing.

I am not sure if it was just the bad weather or perhaps I was tired but I just wasn’t in the mood to be shouted at and took particular offence at being told to leave a street in the area in which I live. Also, the feedback from the rest of the street was very positive. So I did what campaigners are always told not to do. I challeneged the guy.

It went something like this:

Disgruntled constituent (dc): get out of here, get out of my street. You are not wanted here!

Me: No!

dc: You have never knocked my door for the last ten years, get out if this street!

Me: No! I live in Petersburn, I have every right to be here.

dc: When was the last time you knocked my door?

Me: Actually I knocked on every door in this street at the last election.

dc: Well, what have you ever done for this street?

dc’s wife who apparently is in the bath upstairs (shouting down to her hubby): stop it, come inside!

Me: Actually I did some work for a number of residents in this street getting a fence repaired in a local school, the site of which was attracting anti-social behaviour.

dc: Aye, that was my wife who raised that issue.

Me: Well it was me your wife contacted and me who helped fix it!

dc: What’s your name again?

Me: David Fagan.

dc (shouting to wife upstairs in bath): He says he is David Fagan.

dc’s wife: Yes, that’s him. It was David Fagan!

dc: Aye……….well……sorry mate!

So you see, sometimes it pays to not just walk away!

A Subway To Be Proud Of

// April 19th, 2010 // Comments // Transport

Recent press coverage in the Herald and the Evening Times has highlighted SPT plans for the modernisation of the Glasgow Subway. Rather than an extended blog on the proposals, I thought it might be more useful and more informative to provide access to the presentation that we received at our meeting on Friday.

As you will see from the presentation, the business case for the modernisation is overwhelming.  To attempt to keep the current subway infrastructure open for the next 30 years would cost around £540m, whereas over the same period, modernisation of the subway, including new trains, signaling and ticketing would cost £390m. Given these figures it really is a ‘no brainer’ to opt for a programme of modernisation and the sooner the better. However, modernisation does require a high level of spend in the first 5-10 years of the project and this requires borrowing. This is the case that we are currently putting to the Scottish Government. My recent meeting with the Transport Minister, Stewart Stevenson was positive and the Minister seemed to accept the case that we put forward. However, what we need now is action, the sooner the better.

The presentation highlights some interesting facts. Significantly, at peak times more than 40% of those who use the subway come from outside Glasgow. This highlights the strategic nature of the subway.

The presentation also included a ‘fly-through’ animation of the proposal for Hillhead Subway Station. This is very impressive and incorporates much of the work of the Subway Design Advisory Group which I have been chairing over the past year. The fly through can be seen here.

Happy to take any questions on the plans for modernisation.

A Night With Rufus

// April 16th, 2010 // Comments // Arts

“The first part of the show will be in the form of a song cycle during which Rufus asks that you do not applaud. You are also not to applaud until Rufus leaves the stage, which is part of the piece.”

A few nervous laughs greet the announcement, unsure whether this is a Rufus gag. When the lights finally dim, a few gently rebellious fans applaud ironically. Then silence descends. Rufus was serious.

A thin shard of light severs the dark, Glasgow stage, slowly revealing, stage left, the strange, disturbing silhouette of a tall, cloaked figure. The ghost of Kate McGarrigle in the form of her pallid faced son glides slowly, slowly towards the spot lit piano.

The room is filled with swirling, haunting Gershwin like piano and then the voice. Surely one of the most sublime, delicate and passionate voices on the planet.

So begins the fist half of ‘A Night with Rufus’. His band of loyal fans knows to expect the unexpected and this was certainly unexpected. A string of songs, each one more haunting and more beautiful than the last are presented by Rufus to himself. The audience sit, an uncomfortable group of voyeurs, glimpsing the pain and sorrow of a man who has recently lost his mother. Songs such as ‘Martha’ and ‘What Would I do With a Rose’ set out his anguish in clear, definite lines. At times the sound is orchestral to a point that defies the single grand piano on stage. These wild, cacophonic moments only serve to highlight the moments of near silence, where Rufus whispers a cry above a single piano note.

The song cycle concludes with Rufus exiting the stage as slowly as he entered, to complete silence, the audience playing their part in a beautiful, artistic moment.

I turn to a woman sitting next to me. “I prefer his old stuff”, she says…dismay.

The second half of the set sees happy Rufus return, full of cute little waves to the audience, awkward jokes and the now inevitable fuck ups in the middle of songs.

Of course, this is accompanied by some of the most beautiful songs, piano playing and singing that you could ever wish to witness.  Particular highlights are beautiful versions of ‘Vibrate’, ‘Cigarettes and Chocolate Milk’ and a breathtaking ‘Going to a Town’.

He concludes his set, as he began it, with a tribute to his mother, playing her reflective and beautiful ‘Walking Song’. This is truly a magical and touching end to a moving, entertaining and spiritually enriching show.

Viva Rufus!

Diamond Celebration in Chapelhall

// April 10th, 2010 // Comments // ...and everything else

This morning I had the pleasure of deputising for the Provost of North Lanarkshire, Tom Curley, in a presentation to a couple on their diamond weddding anniversary. Mr and Mrs Kellison, live within my ward in Chapelhall and as it turns out, I was taught geography by their daughter, who joins them along with their son in the picture.

It was a real community occassional, with many friends and family from the village. Certainly one of the nicer aspects of being a councillor.

Calderbank Pharmacy

// April 9th, 2010 // Comments // Wee Politics

It was great to see the new pharmacy open in Calderbank in my ward. Many sections of the community have been fighting hard for this valuable resource for some time. It was therefore, very disappointing to see that SNP politicians, Alex Neil MSP and Councillor Michael Coyle, had put a leaflet round the village claiming that it was them that delivered the pharmacy. I am sure that, to Messrs Neil and Coyle, this seemed like a smart political move. Claim credit for an outcome that was as a result of broad community and cross-party support. However, such an approach has one central weakness and that is that it completely underestimates the community that it targets.

Locals in Calderbank know that the Calderbank Conservation Society had been campaigning for this resource for some time and had backed the bid by the new community pharmacist, Mr Mohammad. They equally know that the local MSP, Karen Whitefield, had delivered a survey to every house in the village, to help prove that there was a need for such a facility. They know that Ms Whitefield and I wrote letters of support for the pharmacy.

In short, the people in Calderbank know that this was a community effort. No single political party helped deliver it.

And now they know that the SNP are more concerned with making political capital than delivering benefits to the community.

Wild River Apples – Discussion Thread

// April 7th, 2010 // Comments // Arts

Given that this blog site seems to get more hits on the Wild River Apples page than any other, I thought it might be an idea to create a WRA discussion/memories thread.

If you have any memories of the band – good or bad – please feel free to post them here.

So, I should kick off with a few short memories. Unfortunately, my memory is crap – as my wife will confirm – and I am not great on details, but I will do my best.

One of the memories that stands out is The Big Day, in Glasgow. Now, I have to say, that my normally crap memory was not helped by the increasing amount of alcohol in my blood as the day went on. So my memory will, no doubt start fairly lucid and end in a drunken night club. Yes, it is all coming back.

The day started at some hotel in the West End (on Sauchiehall Street, near CAVA studios – anyone remember its name?). This was the base from which the bands – or certainly the bands playing Custom House Quay where we played – were ferried by minibus to the venue. We were bottom of the bill at Custom House Quay, which was the smallest of the venues. In fact I think we were such a late addition to the bill that we weren’t included in the posters. The gig took place on June 3rd 1990. We had been signed with Chrysalis Records for around 6 months or so.

Although we were playing the smallest stage, it arguably contained some of the best artists who performed that day – and I don’t mean us. However, the stage was graced by the likes of Michael Stipe, Natalie Merchant, John Martyn and Paco Pena.

My memory of our performance is sketchy. I know we played it acoustically, with me and Paul on acoustic guitar and bass.

I have more memories of the events after our performance. I remember asking Paco Pena for guitar playing tips – now if anyone knows my guitar playing abilities they will see how drunk I must have been even at that early stage! However, the polite guitar genius showed me how to use my thumb on the upstroke as well as down. Needless to say, I never mastered that.

I remember talking briefly to Natalie Merchant, who was with Michael Stipe. I am sure she struggled to understand a word of my drunken Scottish drawl, but I think I told her how much I loved her music. I also remember speaking with Eddie Reader from Fairground Attraction and trying to convince her that what she needed was another song writing partnership with………err me! Needles to say she never got back to me.

I remember drunkenly heading up to High Street Station to collect my wife before heading down to the big stage at Glasgow Green. This is begining to sound like a confession.

Father, next I remember demanding an artists backstage pass to the main stage for me and wife. The poor, beleaguered Rock Steady security woman finally gave in to my pathetic pleadings and handed two over. I remember being in the buffet tent for the main stage acts, including the mighty Sheena (who would later be pelted by various items – some of which I am reliably informed were thrown by a singer in a punk band in which I had previously been a member).

I remember drunkenly falling back to a nightlcub just off George Square. On the way, Andy, a friend of all of the band members, was nearly lifted by a police officer and I intervened to calm things down.

After that I don’t remember much at all, but I do know that the rest of the night was spent with my wife and the rest of the band. And that is one of the things I remember most about my time in WRA, that we were very close to each other. This was, I think, why we were such a strong live band. Not because of our musical ability – although we did have the best singer in Glasgow (in my opinion) but because were very, very tight, both as a group of friends and as a group of musicians. And that tightness and energy and commitment came across on stage and compensated for any musical shortcomings we had.

Anyway, that’s a started for ten.

Alex’s Brass Neck

// April 2nd, 2010 // Comments // Big Politics

Sitting in the car listening to Brian Taylor’s debate on Radio Scotland and admiring the brass neck of Alex Neil. Questioned by a young student teacher as to why the guarantee’d job she was promised by the SNP has not materialised.

Mr Neil replied that they really wanted to deliver on that promise but it was all the fault of that big, bad Labour Government at Westminster. This is the same person who has called for the resignation of Councillor Jim Logue following a decision by NLC to close four primary schools and two nurseries, primarily for budgetary reasons.

This is irony verging on hypocrisy. If NLC make tough decisions because of cuts coming from the Scottish Govt, Mr Neil happily lays responsibility and therefore blame at the feet of the council. Yet when his government can’t deliver on it’s own pledge to guarantee jobs for teachers he abdicates his responsibility and blames the UK Government.

Whilst this tactic may have initially seemed attractive to the SNP – with it’s double whammy of shirking responsibility for tough decisions whilst at the same time advancing their independence dreams – ultimately it will be damaging. When it comes down to it people want political leaders who take responsibility for their actions and distrust those who never accept that responsibility.