Suriname bird stamps

Suriname Bird Stamps

The Cure, Rotterdam concert 1979

The Cure on Rotterdam, September 1979

This 9 September 1979 photo shows British band the Cure, playing at the Rotterdam, the Netherlands New Pop Festival 1979 in the Zuiderpark.

I took photos there with my Kodak Pocket Instamatic, the cheapest, smallest and simplest camera available. In 2005, photo shops stopped developing and printing Instamatic films. That meant the end of photography forever for me and others for whom expensive cameras for which you needed a Sc.D degree were not an option.

You could only make 12 photos with an Instamatic film. So, I had to be careful not to waste film.

I photographed the Inner Circle reggae band.

I made photos of the Specials.

And of the Cure, as this one also shows.

The Cure in Rotterdam. New Pop Festival, 9 September 1979

The Specials, Rotterdam concert 1979

The Specials at New Pop Rotterdam, 9 September 1979

This 9 September 1979 photo shows British band the Specials, playing ska at the Rotterdam, the Netherlands New Pop Festival 1979 in the Zuiderpark.

I took photos there with my Kodak Pocket Instamatic, the cheapest, smallest and simplest camera available. In 2005, photo shops stopped developing and printing Instamatic films. That meant the end of photography forever for me and others for whom expensive cameras for which you needed a Sc.D degree were not an option.

You could only make 12 photos with an Instamatic film. So, I had to be careful not to waste film.

I photographed the Inner Circle reggae band.

I made photos of the Specials, as also this one shows.

The Specials in Rotterdam

And I saw and heard the Cure at that festival too. About that, later.

Inner Circle reggae, Rotterdam 1979

Inner Circle reggae, Rotterdam New Pop 1979

This 9 September 1979 photo shows Jamaican band Inner Circle, playing reggae at the Rotterdam, the Netherlands New Pop Festival 1979 in the Zuiderpark.

I took photos there with my Kodak Pocket Instamatic, the cheapest, smallest and simplest camera available. In 2005, photo shops stopped developing and printing Instamatic films. That meant the end of photography forever for me and others for whom expensive cameras for which you needed a Sc.D degree were not an option.

There were many bands on various stages at the New Pop festival. I didn’t know at what time there would be what music on what stage. So, when I read the festival line-up now, to my big shame I missed Public Image Limited. It looks like I also very regrettably missed the punky ska girls the Bodysnatchers from England. However … Wikipedia says that the Bodysnatchers played their first concert in London in November 1979, so after Rotterdam New Pop! Someone made a mistake somewhere.

UPDATE: Rhoda Dakar, Bodysnatchers’ singer, has replied meanwhile. Thank you so much, Rhoda! The Bodysnatchers never played outside the UK. So at Rotterdam New Pop 1979 either no Bodysnatchers, or different snatchers snatching different bodies.

You could only make 12 photos with an Instamatic film. So, I had to be careful not to waste film.

I did hear Roger Chapman and the Shortlist. Roger Chapman was a nice chap, but the music was a bit predictable. I didn’t make photos.

I did make photos of Inner Circle, as also this one shows.

Inner Circle reggae band in Rotterdam September 1979

And I saw and heard the Cure and the Specials. About that, later.

Making a red-tailed hawk carving

This video from the USA says about itself:

Enjoy this archived live conversation with artist and Red-tailed Hawk cam aficionado David Cohen as he explains the inspiration and craftsmanship behind his carving of the Cornell Hawks nest that is now on display at Cornell University’s Corson-Mudd Hall.

Philippine eagles, 94 minutes film

This 28 July 2021 video says about itself:

Bird of Prey, the multi-award-winning feature-length documentary from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, weaves a remarkable story of the world’s rarest eagle species and the heroic individuals working tirelessly to save it. Since its release in 2018, Bird of Prey, has screened to countless audiences around the world and throughout the Philippines where the film has become an invaluable tool for raising awareness and support for conservation of the critically endangered Philippine Eagle.

To learn more about Philippine Eagles and how you can help support their conservation visit here.

Linda Lindas new song Oh! out

This 21 July 2021 music video from Epitaph Records in the USA is the new song by the Linda Lindas, called Oh!

Lesser black-backed gull, sculptured other birds

Today, this lesser black-backed gull on the balcony.

See also the other, sculptured birds on the foreground, including a black-throated loon on the right.

Linda Lindas, teenage punk girls band

This 16 June 2019 video from the USA says about itself:

The Linda Lindas are Mila (8), Eloise (11), Lucia (12), and Bela (14).

This 11 August 2019 is called The Linda Lindas – Linda Linda [LIVE]

You can see a bit in these videos that this band of enthusiastic preteen/teenage girl musicians were still learning then … but look at how fantastically they have progressed now that they are two years older! No more need for a guest bass player like in the top video etc.

This 21 May 2021 video is called The Linda Lindas – “Racist, Sexist Boy” (Live at LA Public Library).

Now 10-year-old drummer Mila drums and sings at the same time. Far from easy.

The song is about anti-Asian racism in the USA.

This 21 May 2021 video says about itself:

Official video of punk band, The Linda Lindas, performing a mashup cover of Bikini Kill’s Rebel Girl and The Muffs’ Big Mouth in Moxie 🖤★

Look at that audience, like a sea on a stormy day. Many of them girls in their early teens. A bit reminiscent of this concert in 1980. Some writings depict that age group as stupid musically, incapable of anything but screaming and swooning as manufactured boring boy bands perform. That may be true for some individuals. But it was not true for the whole category in 1980, and it is not true now.

This 22 May 2021 video says about itself:

Teen punk rockers, The Linda Lindas, are going viral with their original song “Racist Sexist Boy.”

Charlie Harper, UK Subs, punk and ska

This 13 November 2020 music video from England says about itself:

Form Square is the lead single from The Mistakes upcoming LP “A head full of damage”. Featuring Charlie Harper of The UK Subs.

So, Charlie Harper recently not only recorded new music for the UK Subs. He not only made a solo 7″. He not only played harmonica with Brighton all-girl band the Ramonas. He also played harmonica with this band from Poole in Dorset, the Mistakes. With a photo of Paul Simonon of the Clash in the background of the video.

The song is about standing strong in difficult situations.

The Mistakes call themselves ‘punk rock and roll with a ska influence.’ You can hear that influence in the song Form Square.

So, what is the relationship between ska and punk?

In the 1960s there was the first international wave of ska, with Millie Small and other Jamaican musicians.

In Jamaica, it became an influence on reggae. In the 1970s, there came mutual influence between ska and punk bands in Britain and elsewhere.

Like one can hear in Brighton band the Piranhas.

This live video is called Cheap ‘N’ Nasty | The Piranhas | The Prince Albert, Brighton | 30/03/2019.

The song was first recorded much earlier, in 1979.

The Piranhas then became an influence on the bass player/female vocalist of Dutch Cheap ‘n’ Nasty, named after the Piranhas song.

You can hear some ska influence in the Cheap ‘n’ Nasty Covergirl EP, with four songs written by her. Not in the first song, Covergirl. In the second song, Unknown.

This video has all four songs of the Covergirl EP.

And today, there is still ska influence in British punk bands. As not only the Mistakes show. Also this video by Smiley & The Underclass.

This 2020 video is called Smiley & The Underclass – We All Get Like This (Official Music Video). This London band has also played outside Britain, eg, in Germany and Japan.

This 2021 video by Millie Manders and The Shutup is called Broken Record.

They also have a song called Panic. Which, like the recent Charlie Harper song of the same name, is about the threatening climate crisis.

The present line-up of the band is Millie vocals, Alex drums, Don trumpet and sax, James guitar, Georgina, bass.